Chapter 42

"Is it over?"

With those words, the emblem master tore off his tattered coat, which had been shredded by Arrancia's slashes. His brown, tattoo-covered body was now exposed.

"Fighting a fool like you is a relief."

The emblem master chuckled. The goal of this operation was to evaluate the combat capabilities of the tattooed lizardmen and to repel the kingdom's army. Yet, he had managed to slay even the supreme commander! From his manner of speaking, he must have been a person of significant importance. His death would undoubtedly send a shockwave through the kingdom.

(That old man will be pleased.)

He thought this, but the emblem master soon shook his head.

"No—such a fool. It might have been better in the long run to let him return alive and involve him in the government!"

The emblem master burst into laughter. At that moment, a lizardman approached him and reported something. The emblem master narrowed his eyes.

"Hmm... the white arrow mage has been found, has he?"

A mysterious mage who could take down even the super-strong individuals that the emblem master considered masterpieces with a single strike. This mage was a far more formidable presence than the foolish supreme commander who had come to the front lines hoping for a miraculous victory.

The emblem master placed his finger on his chin in thought. Eventually, he twisted his lips into a smirk.

"Alright. Lead me there."

The emblem master decided to eliminate this mage as well. With the supreme commander dead, the battle was over. There would be no Fifth Battle. If the mage's whereabouts were not found now, it would be too late.

(This mage should not be left unchecked.)

The emblem master made his decision.

'A mage of extraordinary strength.'

He was still not entirely convinced that the mage was as strong as the lizardmen claimed, but the damage was real. Besides, he was confident that he could defeat the mage.

(Hah... with 99% cut resistance absolute defense, no matter how strong a mage you are, you're no match for me...)

Rather than letting the mage run loose and kill other grunts, it was better for him, who was certain of victory, to take action. If so—now was the time. The emblem master whistled. Five large lizardmen, their bodies covered in tattoos, appeared.

"It's hunting time. Follow me."

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"Hmm, something feels off..."

Rihilt said.

"I agree," Filbus nodded.

Indeed, even I, who am rather slow, could tell something was strange. In the Fourth Battle, we had defeated several lizardmen, but that was all. Since then, the lizardmen had stopped approaching us. They only watched us from a distance. Even when we encountered new lizardmen, they would whisper to each other and then ignore us, heading off somewhere else. As a result, we had been wandering the battlefield for quite some time.

"They're being cautious..."

Rihilt sighed.

"Well, we did go overboard last time..."

Filbus mused. Last time referred to the Third Battle, the day we joined Rihilt's squad. Perhaps because we were assigned to harass the lizardmen as a separate unit, they kept appearing one after another, and I kept firing Magic Arrows.

The number of lizardmen we repelled that day was—

"Over two hundred. The report was rejected because they said it was an impossible number for a single squad to achieve in a day. Even our allies didn't believe it..."

Rihilt sighed deeply.

"I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes... Of course, the enemy would be cautious after taking such heavy losses..."

Filbus nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, Albert. You worked so hard, but the headquarters didn't recognize it..."

"Me?"

"Yes. Didn't you take out about 98% of them?"

"Ah... it's true that I delivered the final blow with my Magic Arrow, but Rihilt and the others were also crucial in keeping watch and reporting the locations of the lizardmen. I consider it a team effort."

"No, no, no, no, no."

Rihilt waved his hands.

"Really, there's no need for such consideration. We didn't do anything at all."

I don't think that's true... I looked at Filbus, puzzled.

"Isn't it a team effort, sir?"

"No, no, no, no, no."

Filbus waved his hands.

"Albert, I can't tell if you're being modest or just oblivious, but it sounds insincere when you overdo it."

"I didn't mean it that way..."

I looked at Lora, feeling helpless.

"Lora, it was the result of everyone's hard work, right?"

Lora thought for a moment and then said,

"I think! Albert is really amazing!"

I felt like she was dodging the question. I don't think the battle situation could be changed by my slightly powerful Magic Arrows alone. Maybe everyone is overestimating me. I'll just consider it a team effort.

As we were having this conversation, we heard a voice from a distance.

Before we could react, the lizardmen around us started making strange noises.

"Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei!"

"Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei!"

"Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei! Gei!"

"What the—!?"

Rihilt drew his sword and became alert. The lizardmen's voices stopped after a while, and a tense silence enveloped us.

Then, suddenly, a voice fell from above.

"Hey... are you the group with the skilled mage?"

To our right, there was a ten-meter-high cliff. The voice came from there. Before we could respond, five large shadows landed with a heavy thud. They were five lizardmen, more impressive in build than any we had encountered before, with numerous tattoos covering their bodies.

Then—

A man descended, landing with a light thud.

"Human—"

I blurted out. Yes, the man was not a lizardman but a human. He wore a turban and pants, with his upper body covered in countless tattoos. A human with numerous tattoos, standing alongside lizardmen. This meant—

"Are you the 'emblem master'?"

Filbus asked in an unusually serious tone. The man smirked and replied,

"Yep, that's me."