Chapter 51 - The warrior fights the necromancer

Blop, blop

Kaede smiles and pours the ingredients into the pot.

Purple grass.

Creepy humanoid-looking vegetables.

Meat of a mysterious origin.

Tamp.

Close the lid.

"It's almost ready, Master."

"Good."

I nodded in agreement.

Poloa and Lynn, who were watching Kaede cook, turned pale with astonishment.

The hand holding the bowl seems to tremble.

"Fufu, are you scared? Relax, Kaede's cooking is delicious."

"I'm not scared of your food! It's just that… It's very strange to me.

"I'm scared. The color looks horrible."

This fear is very understandable.

Kaede's plate scared me when I first saw it.

And with the type of ingredients it contains, you'd think it was poison.

But its taste, contrary to its appearance, is out of this world.

How Urara taught her to cook is a mystery.

Whether she follows the recipes to the letter, or just adds ingredients depending on her tastes. It's all a mystery.

"Come here, Kaede, I'm going to brush your tail."

"Thank you for your help."

Frau took out a comb, and was brushing Kaede's tail.

The fur on Kaede's tail, which had a rough appearance, became truly beautiful after being brushed.

"Hey, don't get in the way."

"Kyui."

Panda tried to approach Frau, but before Frau could do anything to him, Kaede caught him and held him in her arms.

Panda's eye glazed over and he becomes quiet.

"Instead of being a party of adventurers, you're more like a family."

"Really?"

"We are something like that too, but not on your level, Nya. I get sleepy every time I watch you guys, Nya."

"I don't like it. You guys look too distracted to be adventurers."

Poloa still does not seem to be satisfied with everything we do.

Maybe it's because he's the underboss of the Flame Axe Gang, but I get the impression that he's a stickler for common sense.

Lynn, on the other hand, has a laid-back personality that doesn't worry about these details.

She has a more relaxed attitude while Poloa is in charge of thinking about problems.

I have been shown many such scenes on this trip.

"Shi-ya".

Poloa and Lynn react to the sound and draw their weapons.

"Don't worry, it's Rosuke, my hunting beast."

"Rosuke?"

Rosuke stretched out his long body and moved through the air.

I had him come out of the seal the moment we got here. But apparently the two of them didn't see when I called him.

"Rosuke is like a watchman, he'll keep away the demons that come near us."

"It looks like a snake."

"I'm not sure I like snakes either."

"Sha!?"

Shocked, Rosuke curls up in my arms out of sadness.

Although he is a rough beast that has no feelings, it seems that he can't stand to be mistaken for a snake.

"The food is ready."

Kaede opens the pot, and extracts the thick purple liquid.

As I expected, it smells great.

It strongly stimulates my stomach.

"It's… Delicious."

"I can't believe it."

When they put the soup in their mouths, they froze upon seeing the difference between its appearance and flavor.

On the second day of our trip, we arrived at the mountain range.

It was worth taking the shortcut, and we arrived at our destination ahead of schedule.

There is a valley road located in the center of the mountain range.

The corpses of humans lie everywhere, and the remnants of a fierce battle can be seen.

They must have been attacked by demons while trying to pass through here.

"Kaede, how many enemies are there?"

"Many. I'm starting to see them."

Approximately ten masked demons jump off the cliff and onto the road.

The man in the black robe who appeared at the end may be the commander.

"Hello, humans. Do you want to come this way? Are you lost? Are you looking for something?"

"No. We're here to get rid of you."

"That task will not be easy. Are you heroes? Who are you? Are you only human? Am I wrong?"

The man in the black robe was gaunt and had sunken eyes.

His words, actions and behavior are unnatural and creepy.

I can deduce that he is a wizard, because he has a wand.

"Poloa, Lynn, you guys stay back."

"We can't do that. You're going to fight a mage, nya."

"Tell me what to do and I'll help you."

"No, with me it's enough."

Poloa brought up the rear, "at least let me cover you."

Now, third general of the demon king, show me how powerful you are.

I drew the great sword and held it in both hands.

"You're Roiz, right, can I ask you something?"

"I don't like to talk to the enemy, but I suppose I have to in order to gather information. I'll let you ask something just once, and in return you'll answer my questions."

"Why did you block the road?"

"It's bait to lure the hero. The greatest enemy of all demons, the one trying to kill the Demon King."

I see.

So the demons are going straight for the hero.

Maybe they wanted to kill him before, but they couldn't find him since they haven't heard any news about what Sain is doing for a while now.

If it's any consolation, I also want to kill the hero as much as you do.

"Now it's my turn to ask you a question – where's the hero?"

"I don't know."

"Let's change the question – who was it that killed our compatriots, the demon king's generals?"

"It was me."

The demons made a stunned noise.

Roiz also stepped back, as if he had not expected that answer.

"Who are you?"

"A simple warrior."

"Nonsense! We'll end this now!"

The ten demons accompanying the general drew their knives.

They disperse and start attacking from different directions.

"Wind cut!"

Fuush

The demons were cut down by the wind blade.

The enemy flinched as Kaede held out her iron fan so gracefully.

"Break Hammer! Aaaaaa!"

Frau's hammer hits the enemy directly, and the opponent is sent flying and driven into the wall.

"Only you are left."

"They are only disposable tools. Roiz's real power comes after his men are dead."

Demons that should have been dead rise from the ground.

In addition, the corpses of humans lying dead in the vicinity also rose up and we were suddenly surrounded by more than fifty opponents.

So this is the famous necromancy I heard so much about.

An abhorrent magic that manipulates corpses to obey the caster.

"Get away from me!"

"That's disgusting, nya!"

Poloa fights from a distance with a bow, and Lynn fights to keep the corpses away.

This situation is something we can easily overcome, but just in case, I'll bring out my escort.

I called Rosuke and ordered him to protect Poloa and Lynn."

"What can I do for you, master?"

"If you want me to get rid of them, I can do so gladly."

"No, I'll do it. You guys keep an eye on the general and make sure he doesn't escape."

I held the great sword and controlled my breathing.

I used the [Dragon Knight] and [Great Thief] skills simultaneously.

In addition, I will use the moves learned from Alusha to be more agile.

"Hah!"

My speed increased so much, that one of the corpses reacted to me and looked back the moment I cut it in two.

Then I cut one after another until they were all lying on the ground again.

Roiz still couldn't process the fact that his army was lying on the ground in the blink of an eye.

Roiz was left alone again, and stepped back.

Did you realize that you have no chance of winning?

"Ice Rock!"

"Eh!?"

Kaede acted fast, and froze his legs so that he could not escape.

I slowly approach him.

"Get away! Get away from me!"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of killing Sain, so you can die peacefully."

"Wait, what do you…"

From one second to the next, Roiz's head flew through the air.

I put my sword away quietly, and turned around, Lynn and Poloa staring at me in amazement.

Both were frozen with weapons in their hands.

"Is something wrong?"

"Are you really level 50?"

"Yes."

"That's a lie! You're hiding your true level with some camouflage item or something!"

Ugh, he knows.

I knew that at any moment someone would notice once they saw I wasn't struggling.

On the way back to Grigit, Poloa and Lynn were completely silent.