Manowa - Chapter 390

That day, four carriages headed west from Torda Hot Spring Town.

Hippomaru-kun was pulling the Thunder Chariot, two crystal horses were pulling the Indestructible Carriage, and Hippo-kun High was pulling Yuuko-nee’s Thunder Chariot Mk. II. And finally, an Earth Dragon was pulling the Dragon Carriage owned by the party『Shield Birth』.

「Gua」

『Haa, Marx-san is having a hard time as well, right?』

And while sitting on the head of the Earth Dragon Marx, who was pulling the Dragon Carriage that the party『Shield Birth』was riding at the back of the procession, Tatsuo was talking while crying Kuwaa.

「Oh, Ogre Killing Princess’ son. What’s bothering Marx?」

The shield warrior Han Mock in the coachman’s seat of the Dragon Carriage was curious about the conversation Tatsuo had had been having with Marx since earlier and addressed him.

Han Mock has heard Tatsuo call Kazane his mother many times over, but he had heard that Dragon Knights would sometimes raise dragons by imprinting a parent-child relationship.

While it was rare for a dragon to speak from such a young age, Han Mock was a rank A adventurer. He was accustomed to incredible people, and he understood that such things happened.

Also, Han Mock was the dragon tamer who Marx obeyed, and he could be considered similar to a Dragon Knight. At Han Mock’s question, Tatuso cried Kuwaa while tilting his head and wondering what to say, but Marx told him「Gugagaa,」so he nodded and started to tell Han Mock.

『Well. He’s lamenting that his meals haven’t been as delicious since he came here.』

Those words made Han Mock blink in surprise. Han Mock and the others were originally active in northern Minshiana and had only come to Tsuvara recently. Apparently, Marx was complaining that the food he had been eating in the previous place was more delicious.

「Mm, is that so? No, that’s right. There aren’t many strong monsters around here.」

Earth Dragons mainly ate monsters for meals.

When they were staying in a city for a long time, they would normally buy him meat, but fundamentally, it was most common for him to eat the monsters they defeated. Actually, the habitats of monsters and humans were different, so monsters generally ate different monsters. Monsters in particular found other monsters more delicious the stronger they were.

By the way, Han Mock had bought a considerably large refrigerated Mysterious Bag for Marx’s food.

「Is that so? Well, I think he’ll be able to eat his fill this time. After all, they’re Brutuzas. If all goes well, he might evolve.」

After Han Mock’s words, Marx happily cried out.

『He says he’s looking forward to it.』

「Hahaha, is that right? Is that right?」

『It’s about time for me to start eating, so maybe I’ll try doing that this time as well.』

Tatsuo said enthusiastically. Han Mock didn’t know what that meant, but seeing the eager Tatsuo, Han Mock nodded.

「I don’t really understand, but eating meat makes you stronger. Especially if you’re a dragon.」

『Okay. I will do my best!!』

And the conversation between the enthusiastic Tatsuo, Han Mock, and Marx continued for a while.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

While Tatsuo and the others were talking at the back of the carriage procession, as was natural after being apart for a while, Kazane and the others were enjoying themselves with conversation inside the carriage.

「Nn, Yuuko-nee’s Thunder Chariot is also working normally.」

Kazane looked through the back window and said that. Yuuko-nee was currently sleeping on top of the carriage she had summoned, not the carriage that Kazane and the others were riding.

Yuuko-nee’s abilities had been synchronized with Kazane, so she could also summon a Thunder Chariot, and with Mana Absorption and Photosynthesis, it seemed she had no problem maintaining the summoning.

「It would be a problem if the summoning was canceled on the way. Especially since it’s not us on board, but Terrace-san and the others.」

Yumika said after Kazane spoke.

Since they were matching speeds with the Dragon Carriage『Shield Bath』were riding, they weren’t going that fast, but even so, it would be a terrible situation if the carriage suddenly disappeared. Because of that, Yuuko-nee was currently sleeping on top of her own carriage. Since she herself would fall if it disappeared, she couldn’t unconsciously cancel the summoning.

Also,『Meteor Rain』was in the Indestructible Carriage while『Wind’s Master』was in Thunder Chariot Mk. II. That was because Terrace had taken a liking to Yuuko-nee.

「Mm, didn’t it move!?」

「Calm down, Jinrai-kun. It’s evolving inside, so it will move sometimes.」

And to the side of Kazane and the others’ conversation, Jinrai was talking to Louise while caressing the cocoon.

「Hmm. A cat born for my sake? What kind of cat will it be?」

「While it’s Yuuko-nee’s underling, it’s a monster with a Childstone as its Core. It’s not a summoned beast, so Jinrai-san will have to nurture it, but is that okay?」

「That means we’ll always be together. Aah, wonderful. That’s the best, isn’t it?」

Kazane’s words made Jinrai’s eyes sparkle. The surrounding people looked at him with lukewarm eyes.

(Yuuko-nee, the Railgun, and now this new cat? I’m not blaming Kazane, but…)

Kazane had been thinking about Jinrai and acting on that in her own way, which wasn’t a bad thing; thinking normally, that was a good thing, and Jinrai was actually being helped.

However, Yumika felt that recently, her master had been gradually changing into something strange, and she was worried. Actually, rather than feeling like he was gradually starting to change, she thought he had already changed quite a lot.

Then, the group arrived at Miritia Town, which was near the west entrance of the Yui Hesal Forest. It was just before evening, but they had probably been contacted in advance, as the group was being welcomed throughout the town.

◎ Miritia Town, Mayor’s Residence

「No, I didn’t expect that anyone would actually come.」

On the night of the day Kazane and the others arrived at the town, a welcome party was being held at the mayor’s residence.

However, since the number of adventurers gathered this time is large, only the leader of each party and the rank S Jinrai, who was considered to be the trump card for the subjugation, were talking to the mayor. By the way, Tatsuo was on Kazane’s head.

「Well, we were only able to come because rank S Jinrai-san and Kazane, the leader of the White Party, are here. As you’d expect, if it was just us, handling those opponents would be impossible.」

Han Mock said that. In fact, they had been waiting in Torda Hot Spring Town with the intention of joining the subjugation after the coronation ceremony. Brutuzas were rumored to be fearsome monsters, to the extent that they judged subjugation would be difficult if they came by themselves or with the adventurers they could gather together.

「No, no. You came to help like this. I’m endlessly grateful for that.」

Relief could be felt from the mayor’s facial expression.

The Yui Hesal Forest was just around the corner. This was the closest town, making it the one most likely to fall victim to the Brutuzas. It seemed most of the residents had temporarily evacuated, so the town had a deserted atmosphere.

「So then, at present, what’s the situation of the Brutuzas?」

Terrace asked the mayor. The mayor prefaced with「That’s right」before he started to speak.

「Their current location in the forest should be about three hours away? It seems they are hunting in the habitat of the Blood Bears.」

(Come to think of it, Triceratopses were herbivores, weren’t they?)

Although it was a little late for it, Kazane thought that, but she kept silent. By the way, Brutuzas were omnivorous, and while the Blood Bears that were the targets of their predation weren’t particularly high level among Bear monsters, they were reasonably strong.

Then Kazane opened here Map Window and grasped the location the mayor was talking about. The map data prepared by Louise in Tolda had already been automatically transcribed on her map, and it showed that there was open land in a location south of the area where the Brutuzas were.

「Mayor-san, to the south of the area with the Brutuzas, there’s a place without any trees, right?」

「Yes, there is. For some reason, vegetation doesn’t grow in that place, and since monsters also don’t approach, it’s become a resting place for hunters.」

Kazane groaned「Hmm…」at those words. It matched the situation that the strategy envisioned, but the fact that monsters didn’t approach wasn’t good for their requirements.

「Does that mean monsters never approach?」

「No. That’s not the case. Resting people have occasionally been attacked.」

After the mayor’s words, Kazane said「Then, shall we do it there?」

Han Mock, Terrace, Vokka, and Jinrai nodded. They had already been informed of the details of the operation. So they understood what Kazane was thinking.

『Mother, we will defeat them there, right?』

「Yeah.」

Kazane nodded strongly after Tatsuo spoke.  And the stage of the battle was decided.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Summoning Fighter

Title: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King, Liberator, Guardian

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragon Eating Ogre Army Armor (True), Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, White Magic Accumulator (Revised) ×2, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring, Angel Bracelet

Level : 39

Health: 155+20

Magic Power: 363+520

Strength: 78+45

Agility: 80+39

Endurance: 44+20

Wisdom : 75

Dexterity : 53

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』『Rabbit Speed』『Flare Mirage』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Kick Decapitation Wave』『Warrior’s Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog’s Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv4』『Aegis Shield』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition: Lv2』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『Sturdier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King’s Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『Space Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur: Lv2』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey’s Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『Boobies Plus』『Living Armor』『Alarm』『Six-sword Style』『Mental Attack Complete Protection』『Spider Web』『Wire Cutter』『Flexible』『Magic Power Absorption』

Kazane: 「However, another cat being added to the party is also a happy thing for Yumika, right?」

Yumika: 「Well, I must admit…」