12: Grim Reapers
The imperial army’s bombardment began toward the fortress where the thieves had barricaded themselves.
Most of the shots landed on the mountainsides around the fortress, but the gunpowder packed in the cannonballs exploded, and the thunderous noise and shock waves were intensely transmitted to Claude and the others inside the fortress.
Moreover, the imperial army was making trajectory corrections with each shot, and the bombardment was gradually closing in on the fortress.
“Yuri! Can you defend against the cannons with magic!?”
Claude shouted to be heard over the roar of the bombardment.
“I’m already at my limit defending against the fire! If I defend against the cannons, I won’t be able to handle the fire. Fire or cannons—pick whichever you like!”
Yuri unusually shouted back.
Faced with the choice between the flames still swirling around them and the approaching bombardment, even Claude showed signs of panic.
“Murakumo! Can you cut cannonballs with your sword!?”
Claude held onto a thread of hope, thinking that if gun bullets could be cut, then cannonballs might be too.
“Those explode, so it’s impossible! I tried it once before and had a terrible experience!”
Murakumo shook his head.
Did you really try cutting one? Claude thought to himself, even though he was the one who asked, and he shrugged.
At that moment, a cannonball finally caught the fortress. It was far from the dining hall where Claude and the others were, but the stone walls of the fortress were blown to smithereens. Emma shrank back in surprise.
Furthermore, two or three more cannonballs hit the fortress in rapid succession. Being an old structure, it crumbled easily.
“Those bastards plan to blow Emma up along with us!”
Murakumo gripped his sword tightly. Regardless of themselves, he resolved to strike down the cannonballs to protect Emma.
“For now, I’ll put out the fire!”
When Yuri thrust his hands high above his head and chanted a spell, the patterns carved on his entire body shone brilliantly.
The weather around the fortress changed completely, and dark clouds gathered centered on the sky directly above the fortress. Yuri’s great magic that could even change the climate. It demonstrated that his title of genius magician was not just for show.
What those pitch-black clouds brought was rain. A torrential downpour like a waterfall.
The giant fire that had been writhing around the fortress was swallowed by the heavy rain and suppressed. Furthermore, the imperial gunners were also unable to move as they wished due to poor visibility and muddy ground.
“As expected of a genius! I believed in you all along!”
Claude said something convenient and glared at the imperial army below.
“They’ve torn up my fortress! I’ll make them pay dearly for this!”
Claude rushed out of the dining hall, followed by Murakumo, Yuri, and Emma.
What appeared in the view of Claude and the others as they went outside to launch a counterattack was the imperial army approaching the fortress ahead of the rest. However, their numbers were few.
“What are those guys? Only four people? Are they making fun of us?”
Claude showed his anger.
“No, wait. Those guys are [Grim Reapers], aren’t they? The knights directly under the Black Knight. Damn, the Black Knight himself has come!”
Confirming that the approaching enemy soldiers were large knights covered entirely in black armor, Murakumo groaned.
“The Black Knight’s subordinates? Those guys? Such a big shot came out personally to deal with thieves. The empire must be surprisingly idle.”
Claude looked at the approaching Grim Reapers with hatred.
The Black Knight was famous as the empire’s strongest general. And it was also the Black Knight’s army that had destroyed Murakumo and Yuri’s country. Both of them knew well the strength of the Black Knight and his subordinate Grim Reapers.
“The Grim Reapers are troublesome. They wear incredibly sturdy armor that swords and magic barely affect. And they’re bringing a whole bunch of soldiers trailing behind them. Dealing with the Grim Reapers while defending against guns will be tough. That’s how I got taken down.”
Murakumo grimaced. Behind the Grim Reapers, keeping their distance, a large number of imperial soldiers were following. Naturally, they were carrying rifles.
“Tch, should we escape from the back?”
Claude looked toward the rear of the mountain.
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“No, the imperial army has circled around to the back too. Actually, they’re in the process of surrounding the mountain. That’s the Black Knight for you. He leaves nothing to chance.”
Yuri, who had been monitoring the Imperial Army’s movements with magic, grumbled. As soon as he saw the torrential rain fall through magic, the Black Knight had ordered his soldiers to move and immediately deployed them in an encirclement.
“Surrounding the mountain… just how many soldiers did they mobilize? If you’re coming to greet a girl, you should at least prepare a white horse and carriage!”
When Claude glanced at Emma, the princess of the fallen kingdom tensed up.
“I had no idea it would turn out like this! Even at the convent, so many Empire soldiers never came! I… I…!”
To the girl who looked ready to cry, thinking this was all her fault, Claude smiled gently.
“Either way, thieves get hanged. Just like you said. Besides, I’m greedy—once I’ve stolen treasure, I’m not the type to give it back.”
Murakumo and Yuri nodded at those words.
“Well, it’s simple. Beat up the Grim Reapers, and the Imperial Army will get scared and retreat. That’s all there is to it.”
“Right.”
Murakumo drew his sword.
“Can’t be helped, I guess.”
Yuri took something like a jewel from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth.
“…Yuri-san, you eat jewels?”
Emma asked in surprise.
“Hm? This is a magic stone. It contains powerful magical energy. I’m just replenishing my magic power from it.”
Yuri rolled the magic stone around in his mouth like candy.
“Only Yuri can do something like that though. This guy carved incantations even inside his mouth to absorb magic power from magic stones.”
Murakumo laughed teasingly, but Yuri didn’t mind. This instant magic power replenishment was originally a technique he had developed to counter the Empire’s overwhelming numbers.
“This is the most efficient way, after all.”
Yuri’s eyes were bloodshot as he replenished his magic power from the magic stone, and red patterns appeared on his face. Like a god from a foreign land.
“Well then, shall we go? Emma, stay here and house-sit. When we get back, it’s cleaning time again.”
Claude grinned, raising one corner of his mouth.
“Cat, stay with Emma.”
When Murakumo commanded, the cat at his feet took a running start and leaped into Emma’s apron pocket with a plop.
At that adorable movement, Emma momentarily forgot the crisis and her face softened with a smile.
The knights directly under the Black Knight, called [Grim Reapers], were covered entirely in black armor, not exposing any skin. Moreover, they were considerably larger than ordinary men and carried massive greatswords on their backs, giving them quite an intimidating presence.
They advanced steadily and silently up the muddy mountainside in the rain. The heavily armored Grim Reapers were quite heavy, walking by sinking their ankles into the ground.
A light bullet slammed right into the middle of those Grim Reapers. It was Yuri’s magic. It caused an explosion more than twice as powerful as the bombardment the Imperial Army had been conducting earlier, engulfing all the Grim Reapers.
However—the Grim Reapers only stopped for a moment, and as soon as the explosion ceased, they began walking again. As if nothing had happened. Rather, the Imperial Army soldiers who were far behind the Grim Reapers had stopped in fear. Whether they were frightened by the power of the magic or by the eeriness of the Grim Reapers was unclear.
“That’s why I hate dealing with the Grim Reaper guys.”
Seeing the Grim Reapers remain unfazed despite taking a direct hit from magic, Yuri was perplexed. Beside him stood Claude and Murakumo. The thieves had positioned themselves where they could look down on the Imperial Army outside the fortress.
“That armor has been enchanted with magic-dampening effects. It’s not that my magic is weak.”
“So Yuri’s magic is useless this time?”
Claude reproached Yuri, who muttered as if making excuses.
“Not really? If magic doesn’t work, I just need to attack with something that isn’t magic. Like this.”
Yuri elegantly snapped his white fingers.
Then, the mountainside slightly above the Grim Reapers exploded in a chain reaction horizontally. Part of the mountain collapsed, becoming a massive landslide that attacked the Grim Reapers.
“No matter how tough they are, they’re finished if they get buried alive, right?”
Yuri wore a cruel smile.
The landslide swallowed the four Grim Reapers and threatened to engulf the Imperial Army below them as well.
The Imperial soldiers screamed and fled in panic.
“Well then, I guess I’ll chase away the rest of those guys.”
Murakumo was somewhat deflated that they had defeated the formidable enemies so easily, but he put his drawn sword on his shoulder and was about to run down the mountain. However, something strange happened to the landslide that had swallowed the Grim Reapers.
The earth exploded and scattered, and from within it, the four Grim Reapers leaped up and landed right in front of Claude and the others.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me?”
Murakumo’s eyes widened.
TLNOTE
While waiting for the next chapter, I encourage you, dear readers, to explore other masterpieces written by Daken-sensei :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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