Chapter 56: The Neighborhood Demon King X

「You idiottt!」

……up not being over.

The arrows were all repelled by a longsword.

「If you’re doing this kind of stuff, call me! Call me!」

A red-haired boy had appeared.

He was a small-sized boy with androgynous features who was dressed in light leather armor and had a longsword that didn't seem to match him in his hand.

The sword had become eye-catching after it was repaired. It was originally a straight sword that was merely sturdy and long, but when it received an impact, the blood-vessel-like traces of repair on the blade shone.

For some unknown reason, Shuna's skill with the sword also rose at the same time.

「Shuna, you came at a good time」

It was great timing on his part.

A little distance away, Bel was also walking over.

「When I went to the camp to sponge lunch off you, it was somewhat noisy, so I thought, Could it be? And then, it’s as I expected. You know, if you’re going to have a fight, call me! Before everything, call me!」

「Yeah, I’ll do that from now on」

「So, what’s that?」

Shuna pointed to the pot.

「It’s the Demon King Gormlaith」

「Huh………Isn’t that a pot?」

「No, it’s a Demon King. That’s its second form!」

「What the heck?」

Don't think too much about it.

Bel came strolling over like she was taking a walk. She stepped between us and the pot.

Whoa.

「Bel, it’s dangerous! Move back! Back!」

She absently took no heed of my words. Behind her, the pot quivered, and then attacked her with countless tentacles.

「Defend」

My fears that she would be impaled were stopped by one word.

It was a magic that I had seen many times.

A dome of light had enveloped the pot. Perhaps it was surprised by that, but the pot swung its tentacles around and rampaged wildly.

The barrier was strong and blocked the tentacles’ attacks easily.

Is this such a sturdy magic? On top of that, it had activated instantly! What on earth is the person inside Bel?

「Rauaryuna-san’s husband, who is this wonderful red-haired boy?」

Frey was looking at Shuna with a dazed look. Her face was a little flushed and when Shuna noticed her impassioned gaze, Frey hurried averted her eyes.

Well……

I had witnessed the moment someone fell in love.

Err, now isn’t the time for this, is it?

「Frey, make the golem stand up」

At Rana’s voice, Frey came back to her senses.

「No, Ra・Nyaunyau-san, my magic is perfect. Your roots are what caused the leg to break」

She was back to being no good.

「I told you that I’m not good at life-giving. You should have known this since the Hohens days」

「Is it only your boobs that grew? Does your skill in magic not grow?」

「If anything, my boobs are smaller than they used to be. My skill in magic has gotten better!」

「Is that right? Are you sure they haven’t both decreased?」

Alright, don't quarrel~.

The neglected golem is having some trouble, you know?

However, I have no choice but to leave it to these two people……………….huh. But, maybe, there’s something……

「Roots? If that’s the case, maybe I can……」

Shuna looked at the golem’s broken leg and seemed to have thought of something.

In all likelihood, I had also come up with the same idea at the same time.

「Rana, can you leave it to us? We just have to repair this golem’s leg, right?」

「That's right. But do you have the ability to――」

『We do』

Shuna and I said in unison.

In the first place, his god’s main work was planting trees. He should accelerate the growth of not just delicious vegetables, but trees as well.

「Bel, how long will the barrier hold?」

「No idea」

I’ll need to somehow resolve this person’s lack of communication later.

「Hold it for as long as possible, please」

「………………」

There was no reply.

「Shuna, I’m counting on you. I’ll also follow after your chant」

It likely won't go as well as what I just saw the magicians of Hohens do, but it's worth a try.

「The most I’ve ever done is fix the trees in the yard when I was a kid though」

「I’ll think of another plan if it doesn’t work. Think about what happens after you fail only when you’ve failed. Just take it easy」

「Well……… I'll do it, I guess」

Shuna stabbed the longsword into the ground, aligned his fingers and put both hands together.

I also put my palms together in the same way.

「Ukazor, the Tree Spirit King, Shuna of Azorido begs for a miracle from the god I revere. Give life to withered trees, revive the dead trees, and those who wish this, though small...…………errr」

「Ukazor, the Tree Spirit King, Souya of a foreign land begs for a miracle from the god that I’m temporarily contracted with. Give life to withered trees, revive the dead trees………?」

I followed Shuna's words.

However, Shuna was lost for words for a moment.

「………Umm, please. Become big, become big! Please. Please!」

Is something like this okay?!

Ah, no, but the point of what is known as magic is to ask for a miracle from god, so at worst, even something like this is okay?

I also followed those simple and honest words of prayer.

「Grow bigger! Grow bigger! Please! Thank you!」

Taking no heed of the cold looks from the women, Shuna and I faced the golem and shouted to it.

It's like the induction training of a black company, the moment I was thinking something like that……

「BOOOOOOOO」

……our prayers reached.

The golem's leg was being repaired by Ukazor-sama’s miracle. New roots coiled around, densely and thickly, and that wasn’t all. The trees all over the golem grew vibrantly, sprouted new leaves, and the fruit trees all bore fruit.

The king of the plain stood up.

It set both feet firmly and brought both arms up into a double bicep flex.

「BOOOOOOOoOooooooooo!」

The golem roared menacingly at the pot.

「It’s breaking」

Just as Bel said, the light that she had created shattered to pieces.

「NyuUuuuuNyuuuuuuuuu!」

The pot also swelled up and grew to 18 meters, the same size as the golem.

It became a black giant with a pot on its head.

As I thought, it’s imitating its opponents. The reason why it doesn’t do anything to Makina is because she’s harmless.

「Lars! Its head! The metallic part is its weak point! Decide it in one blow!」

I tried giving it an order.

But could it settle the fight?

「BOOOOOO」

Came Lars’ reply.

The growth of the trees was still continuing. No, they had grown too much. Only its right arm had extended to more than twice its length.

「No way」

The trees on the extended right arm split apart.

Lars had not been extending its right arm. It had been making a weapon.

「Huh, what is this? Ra・Nyannyan-san?」

Frey couldn’t hide her surprise.

「I don’t know」

Rana also didn’t quite understand what was going on.

Although it was made of wood, it had a round hand-guard and a curve in the blade, which had a narrow, single-edged design. In other words, it was very similar to a katana.

If that was due to Ukazor-sama’s power, his birthplace would be narrowed down significantly though.

「NyuUuuuu」

The pot also tried to make a sword in the same way.

That was this guy’s weakness. If it imitated after seeing, it would be one step behind in battle.

The wind howled as the katana was raised. Lars held it high above it with both hands.

It was what was known as the Jigen-style[1].

They were still close to 40 meters apart.

It was beyond the reach of its sword, but regardless of that, Lars swung the katana downwards.

(It’s what I learned later,

But the sight of this time’s destruction could be observed even from within the kingdom of Lemuria, and I got questioned about the situation by the king)

I closed my eyes at the sudden blast of wind.

I was buffeted by the incredible sound and wind. My ears and cheeks were pelted by pebbles. It felt like I was steeped in the aftermath of a bombardment. Even when I opened my eyes slightly to ascertain the situation, I couldn’t see anything because of the clouds of dust. Someone collided with me, so I hugged and protected that person. I couldn’t breathe properly. I pulled my poncho up and covered my mouth to help me breathe.

While still holding that person in my arms, I kept my body low and endured.

After a while,

The sound of the wind stopped and was replaced by a ringing in my ears.

Feeling the sunlight through my eyelids, I opened my eyes slowly.

「Ooh」

The shock-wave created by Lars’ slash had split the pot and the black giant right down the middle. Along with the plain behind it, the destruction extending far into the distance.

Alright, I’ll blame it all on the Brave.

Dealing with an aftermath of this scale will make me unable to explore the dungeon again.

「The dirt went into my mouth」

Ptooey, went Shuna as he spat. He brushed off the dirt in his hair.

Rana had remained spotless.

Frey, who she had used as a shield, was covered with dirt.

「Get off me」

Bel, who was in my arms, brushed me off.

If it was the previous Bel, she would have reacted cutely though.

「Looks like it’s over」

Lazarissa, who had returned, patted Frey roughly to brush off the dirt. She was doing it rather violently. I felt a twinge of pity.

「The Demon King Gormlaith was a formidable enemy」

At my emotional words,

「………I agree」

Rana answered with a face that was as white as a sheet. She was probably lamenting her talent in cooking, which had created such a thing.

「Well done, everyone. I’ll thank all of you later, first things first……」

Frey met Lars’ eyes.

「Thank you, Lars. Walk until I say it’s fine. Don’t go in a direction that has the red flowers」

「BOOOO」

The golem started to walk.

Lars turned back from time to time, as if to ask,『Not yet?』

『Not yet』,Frey would reply.

Lars was roughly 100 meters away.

「It's fine~」

「BOOoooo」

Lars waved his hand when he heard Frey's voice.

Huh, I wonder why. I have a very bad feeling.

「Rauaryuna-san, you can at least fire off one more, right?」

「Yes」

「Well then」

Hey, wait.

Without giving me time to stop them, the guides of the final flame began chanting and unleashed their magic.

『Doragubein!』

Both of their voices sounded a little tired.

A fireball flew like a volleyball and set Lars on fire.

「BOOOOOOOoOooooooooo」

Lars let out a long death cry as it burned.

But before long, it accepted the entirety of its fate and fell silent.

Without even a struggle, it went to its knees nobly and gallantly. Almost as if it was a martyr. As if it was a samurai who had committed ritual disembowelment.

「LaaaaaaaARRSSSsssssss!」

As if responding to my scream, Lars gave a thumbs-up as it burned to death.

Only charcoal was left.

「………You didn’t have to go so far as to burn it」

It’s too much.

It’s too much, you magicians of Hohens.

「Eeeh? I can't take care of something like golems. Their maintenance costs are also not to be sneezed at, they can’t be sold as their lifespans are unstable, and bringing up something that’s strangely smart will cause problems, right? It’s something that is created, so it has to be disposed of properly as well」

「………I see」

In the end, it was a bittersweet ending.

[1] Jigen-style(示現流) is a famous martial arts style that has the philosophy that the first strike is everything, and that a second strike should not even be considered. Traditionally, sword users from the Jigen-style use the Dragonfly stance, which is a super-offensive stance with the sword held high over the right shoulder in preparation for a diagonal downward slash.

The one below is commonly mistaken as the Dragonfly stance, but it is not. It’s merely one of the five basic stances, called the hasso(eight directions) stance. Note how the sword is held at shoulder height, instead of high above the shoulder.

Such a manly golem. Doing a double bicep flex upon standing up. It reminded me of Major Armstrong from FMA for some reason. We’ll miss you Lars.

What a bittersweet end to the battle. That thumbs-up... And because the last line of what Frey said applied exactly to Rana’s creation, that’s why Souya couldn’t say anything back. Hmm, is Ukazor-sama from Japan? But that would mean…… Well, 2 more chapters to go. Stay tuned!

Also, notice how everything on the cover of volume three is basically from this arc and the previous one? Lanseal is holding her tamagoyaki with cheese and mushrooms and the pot-au-feu is on the table before her. The various curries are in the foreground, the giants are in the background, and don’t miss Yukikaze making breadcrumbs in the kitchen! =)