Hard Work Will Never Betray Me - CH 81

“Gaahhh!”

With an animal-like yell, the man at the very front jumped at us. His movements were not refined in the least, instead they were quick and wild, as if he had turned to the nature of a wild animal.

“…… ‘blink-and-you’ll-get hurt -‘!”

“Gotcha ……!”

But even if they are quick, they are still novices. It was an obvious moves, so it was easy to avoid. If I hit him with a counterattack like this, he would not even make a motion to avoid it, and he would fall down with his eyes peeled back.

“Surround them!　We have to overwhelm them with our numbers!”

The leader of the group shouted and gave instructions, trying to get the advantage in numbers against us, of which there were only three of us. But that thought is naive. You are underestimating us .

“Iris!”

“I got it.”

Multiple magic circles deployed under Iris’s feet, and took us out of the way of attack .

“We’re avoided it “.

Iris took us through the gap to escape the attack But they ignored us as if they couldn’t see us, and as a result, we succeeded in passing right through them.

“They can’t see us?

Yes. They are under an illusion.

That’s pretty amusing. It would be impossible to handle this if it were happening to me for the first time. The She has carefully reproduced even the smallest facial changes, so there is no sense of difference despite the fact that it is an illusion.

“You’ve done an excellent job ,Sergeant Steinfeld”

“Thank you very much.”

I could defeat Iris by myself by using “Absolute Realm Killing Zone” or something like that, but that would not be for real battle training for Iris. Besides, if she gain experience little by little like this, Iris should be able to work together with me as a good teammate without pulling me down. I think she has a lot of potential.

“take that !　……?”

The enemy, who charged at the illusion and the attack struck out, looks dumbfounded.

“Heat flux laser beam!”

The man who looked stunned collapses to the ground when Iris’s “heat flux laser beam” reached him .

The leader of the group warned, “…… be careful, there must be some kind of a trick!”

But he was unable to come up with any particularly effective countermeasures. Now is our chance to take them all down.

“Iris, let’s try a combined attack.

Can we do it?

Don’t worry, I’ll cover you “.

“I’ll do my best.”

Iris converged the light in her palm. The amount of magic power that can contain several people seems to increase to a certain extent, and a very powerful light flooded out.

“–‘Heat ray luminous flux laser beam’!

bum bum bum !

A heat-popping sound rang out, and the group of men fell to the ground in a flurry. It worked like a good thing that the guys were deflated because they couldn’t figure out what the attack was, a miracle that didn’t work. Thanks to this, Iris was able to hit all of the men with her attacks.

“That’s good work!”

“That’s a great attack.”

I and General Eulenberg did almost nothing, but Iris alone succeeded in subduing almost all of the thugs. It was quite a spectacular debut.

I wonder what that “potion” was anyway?

It is true that the men who took the potion became more aggressive, and their movements were wild and quick. But that’s all. They did not become particularly strong, and the effect was too weak to be doping. It was as if the effects had not worked.

“Well, we just have to take it home and investigate.”

General Eulenberg seemed to have no idea what it was. I don’t understand why such an unknown drug was sold on the dark market. I think it must have some effect because it’s available on the dark market. ……

And was I wrong to think that way? The men who were supposed to have collapsed started to get up, shaking and swaying, as if their current thoughts were a flag.

“everybody, be on the guard!”

“Yes, sir!”

.”….. is disgusting!”

The eyes of the men who stood up were unfocused. It was as if they had been forcefully awakened by a drug,…… with such an ominous expression on their faces.

That……”

“What?”

“The leader of the group says something. ”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh ！！！！!”

Gross!

“Hee…”

“…… this is yet another bizarre behavior.”

And if you watch closely , he’s not the only one. The men around him were beginning to scream and exert themselves as well.

Theirs the wounds!

The wounds of those who had been injured by Iris were healing rapidly. The sight of the wounds closing up with a puff of smoke was, to say the least, horrifying.

“”Zombies? ……””

That drug is a “zombie drug”. What a terrible thing they drunk .

“Their magic is increasing.”

“What?　…… Oh, it’s real.”

As General Eulenberg pointed out, their magic power had roughly doubled. Even I had that amount of magic power in the old days, and it took me several months to double it!

The body also seems to have increased in strength, with blood vessels floating and muscles increasing in strength.

‘Slow effect, huh, ……?’

‘Looks like ……. Sergeant Steinfeldt, you must make yourself invisible and try to remotely attack them from outside their sense of perception. Be in support, and do not try to be in the front. You can’t fight at close combat.

“Yes, sir.”

Sergeant Hal. If we let them get away, it will be dangerous. Let’s take them down for real. With …… their resilience, it won’t take more than a few minutes to kill them, and the questioning can wait until afterwards.”

“Understood.”

I jumped out of Iris’s “optical camouflage stealth” with my “cloak” activated, and with the speed and power of the Hokusho Bujinryu, I punched the guy closest to me.

‘ “Oraaaa!”

“‘Gahhhh…………!”

With a cracking …… sound of broken ribs, a man with a white eye is blown several meters away.

Hmph!”

He then slammed a roundhouse kick into another man about three meters away, also blowing him several meters away. I heard a sound, a gurgling sound, and I think I might have broken his neck. I wonder if this will be my first killing ……, but since I’m in the middle of a battle, I switch my attention to another target so I don’t get too distracted .

When I glanced at General Eulenberg, I saw that he seemed to be calmly and accurately striking the enemy. It was semi-intermediate magic, not very powerful, but the interval was almost nonexistent, so it didn’t catch the enemy off guard at all. It’s just as it should He is very steady.

Next, I tried to look at Iris, but unfortunately her “optical camouflage stealth” was casted , so I couldn’t tell where she was.

However, the fact that it is casted probably means that Iris has that much room to spare. I was curious, so I asked her if she was using “active sonar” (so-called “sonar”) or “passive sonar” (so-called “passive sonar”). I decided to add “cast ” to distinguish it from “passive sonar,” which is also used. This time, it seemed to be conscious of ” taking more damage,” and each blow was solid and powerful.

Just when I was about to start dealing with another enemy with a sense of relief, I felt an uncomfortable reaction caught on the edge of my “active sonar” that I had just used.

“What was that?”

It was the same uncomfortable feeling I felt when I first entered the slum, as if someone was looking at me from a distance.

“Ah.”

The moment I become aware of his mana , the suspicious mana disappears.

—-!”

I felt as if my head, which had been heated up by the battle, was suddenly hit with a splash of cold water.

–The reason for it, that we are fighting right now?

It is because we have discovered an illegal drug that is causing a disturbance in the public order of the empire.

–Where are these drugs coming from?

We don’t know. These guys are experimental disposables. At least not the source of distribution.

–I don’t know who is mastermind behind it but it is such a powerful and inhumane drug. I am sure that the current battle with them is a test for the drug. And as is usual in such experiments, there must be someone to monitor and report on the results.

“‘Active sonar’!

I cast off a detection spell at maximum strength, determined not to let a single mouse escape.

A powerful wave of magic, so powerful that it even felt a vibration wave, rushed through the Imperial City, exposing suspicious mana reactions.

I found it.

It seems that he had traveled quite a distance in the last moment, but it was still only about a hundred meters.

” Sergeant Hult!

General Eulenberg!　I found a suspicious mana reaction. It’s probably master mind of that case n. I’m going after him. I’m counting on you!”

Perhaps suspicious of the unusual magic power wave I emitted, Brigadier General Eulenberg, who was in the middle of a battle, looks back at me and said ,

“…… understands. I’ll leave it to you. We’ll take care of things here .

“Thank you!”

I used my “flying wings” and soared through the air. The suspicious response had already moved several hundred meters when I noticed it, but I chased after it at a speed even faster than before .

After flying for a dozen seconds or so, I finally succeeded in catching the suspicious reaction visually. He was too fast to be human, but he didn’t disappear like Iris, nor did he escape by metamorphosis like Lily. It’s impossible for him to escape from a being like me who can fly and be detected.

“—- ‘Gusty Wind’!”

In an instant, I casted the “Silver Armored Aegis” and converged it in my right hand, and attacked it as I fled from the sky above.

The ground was gouged out with a “thud!　 …… “Did he evaded?

……

I landed about 10 meters ahead of him and faced him head-on. The suspicious-looking figure, covered all over with a hooded robe, straightened his posture and turned to face me as if nothing had happened. I was annoyed that the attack didn’t work, but it seemed that he had no intention of running away now.

Now, let’s see who you really are.

He puts his hand on the hood. The identity of the person who is to mastermind behind this incident was about to be revealed.