Yuusha Party no Kawaii Ko ga Ita no de, Kokuhaku Shite Vol 3 Chapter 1.2

Volume 3 Chapter 1: I tried becoming a chuuni  (2/2)

It had been eight days since I left Minerva.
I was, at that moment, in Quebec Mountain where many dangerous demons live.
The reason I was there was naturally for the sake of the quest as I had to harvest the medicinal herb growing at the top of the mountain.
This was my third quest, so I still had another incomplete quest remaining.
Considering that I had made that declaration the other day, I had to complete all of them within ten days.

“Hmm, as expected of A-rank quest. I guess it was naive of me to think that I could complete them easily as long as I have the skill.” [Youki]

I murmured to myself as I made my way to the summit of the mountain.
The two quests before this had eaten up most of the time since they weren’t just simple missions that involved demon extermination or herb gathering.

I had to climb up to the peak as soon as I could to find the herb, but the constant ambush by the demons slowed me down.
I unsheathed the sword that I wasn’t accustomed to using yet and imitated Duke and Raven’s stance. There was a possibility that I would be laughed at, though, if my completely novice manner at handling the sword were to be seen by an ordinary swordsman. Nevertheless, I was in full chuuni mode at that moment. There was nothing for me to fear even if I was a beginner in swordsmans.h.i.+p.

“You should regret appearing before me.” [Youki]

I swung my sword at the group of muscled apes that attacked.
These demon monkeys with abnormal muscle growth are supposed to be rank-B demons, but that only applies to them individually. It was a completely different story when they attacked in a group. They were unexpectedly a bunch of pretty smart demons that coordinated well with each other.
Sure enough, the moment they cried out loud, as if they were raising a war cry, the first troop of monkeys headed for me.

“Hmph… fools.” [Youki]

I used body reinforcement magic on myself and cast another magic on my sword at the same time, enveloping it with lightning.
Even though I called it black lightning (due to my name), it was actually just an ordinary coloured lightning. It might be a disappointing fact to the others, but I couldn’t care less about it. Nothing could be done if I really couldn’t conjure a black coloured lightning.

I decided not to kill those monkeys since I couldn’t ruin the ecosystem of Quebec Mountain.
…It might actually be much cooler to spare their lives.

“Gyiii–!”

“Rest a.s.sured. I will not kill you guys… I’ll just have you all sleep for a while.” [Youki]

A chunni sounding line that I would usually be too embarra.s.sed to say escaped my lips as I slashed at them. The attacks couldn’t have killed them since I had already adjusted the intensity of the lightning on the sword, and the result proved to be just as I had calculated. The apes’ muscled bodies convulsed from my attacks and fainted one after another.

Probably because they were enraged at the sight of their defeated comrades, several of the remaining apes started launching themselves at me, but the consequence was the same. They collapsed before me by my swordsmans.h.i.+p while the rest of the muscled apes started fleeing the scene, most likely because they finally realized the difference in our strengths.
It seemed that the one at the back of the group might be the leader who had instructed them to retreat. It was a wise decision.

“I will not go after those that escaped. I’ll let you guys off.” [Youki]

I threw my head back and laughed at the fleeing muscled apes.
Since the battle had ended, I sheathed my sword and resumed my walk.

The same thing happened again after that as I was attacked by more demons, but nothing could stop me at the moment.
I laughed by myself as I continued on, reaching the summit eventually and gathering the herb successfully in no time at all.

There was no point staying in a place where demons would appear any longer seeing as I had already acquired the herbs.
Time is of the essence, so I hurried back to the client as soon as I could.

“Here’s the item you requested for. Please receive it.” [Youki]

“Y-Yes. Thank you. My daughter will be saved with this herb…” [Client]

The client of this quest was a certain n.o.ble.
It seemed that her daughter was seriously ill so she needed this herb to cure the sickness.

When I reached the n.o.ble’s mansion and handed her the herb, I was startled by her unexpected weeping.
…As a parent, I supposed that reaction was natural.
Even that two particular individuals in the inn, who were flirting with each other, were extremely grateful upon knowing each other had survived.

That thought crossed my mind for a split second, but I shook it off immediately, reverting to my initial state of mind.
I’m not Youki at the moment… I’m Magic Knight of Black Lightning.

“Hmph, all I’m doing is just completing my quest. Please excuse me. I have another quest to complete…” [Youki]

“P-Please wait! First of all, I would like to apologize for my rudeness when we first met. Also, if possible, I’d like you to meet my daughter…” [Client]

“That request is not possible… I’m Magic Knight of Black Lightning. Even if there is a misunderstanding in the beginning, I’ll still accomplish the quest without fail. Also, since I have already achieved my mission here, there is no reason for me to stay. I bid you farewell.” [Youki]

I left the place, disregarding the n.o.ble who tried to stop me.
By the way, when I first met that n.o.ble, I could feel intense revulsion directed towards me. So the sudden change in her att.i.tude towards me now was amazing, considering the disparaging remarks she threw at me, accusing me of being a dodgy character and such in the beginning.
Although, the previous two clients before her had similar reactions as well.
It seemed that this appearance of mine could easily arouse misunderstanding. I had no intention of stopping, though.

“Now then, the final quest is to subjugate the thieves. This’ll be a piece of cake. Kukuku… I’ll turn you into the rust on my sword…” [Youki]

Despite completing all these quests, I was still in perfect condition. I began making my way towards the last location of the quest.
The places where the thieves would possibly be, were more or less indicated in the quest form, so all I needed to do was to strengthen all my senses and search for their whereabouts by detecting the smell of blood and their voices.
I decided to ‘eliminate’ them once I locate them, then just hand them over to the knights stationed nearby. The quest would then be over once I do so. However, despite having such a strategy and wasting the whole day searching for them, I still couldn’t find any leads.

“d.a.m.n… Why can’t I find them?! Tch, I guess that’s just what I’d expect from a group of thieves. They’re not to be dealt with ordinary means.” [Youki]

They had probably gotten the information that the guild had issued a request to subjugate them, so they must had taken the precautions and moved to another location before the adventurers from the guild were despatched.

“Don’t think you can escape me, Magic Knight of Black Lightning…” [Youki]

Without taking a moment of respite, I broke into a run.
I was running out of time since it would be the tenth day tomorrow.
They should not have escaped too far yet.
I gathered the information by inquiring the people from the neighbouring towns and villages. Even though they threw a suspicious glance at me, I paid them no heed. After acquiring the clues about their whereabouts from the witnesses and victims, I rushed to the said locations.

And, by the time I found their hideout, it was already night time.

“Fuhahahaha! I finally found you bunch of thieves!” [Youki]

“Tch, are yeh the dog sent by the guild? Yeh sure sniffed us out real fast even after we changed our turf.” [Thief]

The thieves started cursing, probably because I had found their hideout.
They seemed to be quite decently equipped, though, despite being thieves. The thought of the amount of money they earned from robbing people amazed me.
There were a few who looked savage, too. Could this be a group of former adventurers?

“Surrender obediently and you won’t get hurt… What’s your choice?” [Youki]

I wished to hear their answer before I beat them to a pulp. I had already antic.i.p.ated what their reply would be, but I would still like to give them a warning as the superior one here.
That was because it would be cooler this way.

“Are you freaking stupid? Your appearance is even more suspicious than ours. I don’t know which guild you’re from, but you’re going against us alone. Let’s do it guys!” [Leader of Thieves]

At the command of the guy who seemed to be the leader, the other thieves started attacking.
The enemies consisted of around ten people. I didn’t detect anyone else in hiding when I examined the area by strengthening my senses.

I decided to play around with them a bit, just to gauge my own strength. I guessed each of them were using a weapon that they were good at since they were quite skilled with them, and they had pretty good teamwork, too. As one would expect from former adventurers.
But… it was naive of them. Their coordination was similar to the muscled apes I had recently fought, so I was already accustomed to their movements.

Once I had my fill playing around with them, I leaped off and landed slightly farther from them. I then unsheathed my sword and made my declaration out loud.

“Hmph, you should prepare yourselves once you’ve pointed your weapons at me. Repent yourself for not surrendering to me, Magic Knight of Black Lightning!” [Youki]

This play had reached its conclusion… It might have been a good idea to cast thunderbolt, an intermediate level magic as the grand finale.
I should do that the next time.

Several of the thieves who were discomposed by my declaration began muttering among themselves.

“Who the s.h.i.+t is that person? Leader, we’re being played for a fool by a nutcase.” [Thief]

“Magic Knight of Black Lightning? I’ve not heard of that name before.” [Thief]

“You’re only one person here, so what nonsense are you blabbing about! Let’s finish him off quickly!” [Leader of Thief]

Hmm… It seemed that they were looking down on me. Not to mention, they insulted my outfit as well. Unforgivable.

“Come at me. It’s showtime. I’ll play with you guys as much as you want!” [Youki]

I cast thunderbolt repeatedly around the thieves as a payback for their insults.
The sudden magic attack threw them into a state of panic momentarily, but they soon regained their calmness and launched themselves at me.

I braced myself and cast magic on my sword, enveloping it with lightning.

“Ye got a strange looking sword there. Ye won’t be able to cut anything with that, ye know.” [Thief]

One of the thief threw that remark upon seeing my sword.
It was certainly not an ordinary shaped sword; The shape of the blade is jagged like a lightning bolt.

“Hmph, a bunch of fools. You don’t understand the magnificence of this sword!” [Youki]

I evaded the thief’s attack with ease and slashed at him, paralysing him with the lightning and knocking him unconscious.
It would certainly be hard to slice through things with this sword, but it didn’t really matter since I would be using lightning attack with it. It would be fine as long as I could defeat my opponents.

I began annihilating the thieves with the combination of my magic and swordsmans.h.i.+p. The instant I reduced their numbers by half, they started fleeing the scene.
This might have been their strategy from the start, but I wouldn’t let them escape since the situation this time was different from when I fought against the muscled apes.
I knocked all of them unconscious one after another and bound them.

“Fuu, it’ll be over once I hand them to the knights from the nearby town.” [Youki]

The moment I had that thought, I heard the sound of footsteps coming close.
It didn’t seem to be just one person.

“Who are you?!”

The one emerging from the darkness of the night was a knight in armour. Could it be that our fight had caused too much ruckus?
It seemed that the commotion had drawn the attention of the knights on patrol.

“Hmph, I’m Magic Knight of Black Lightning… Hm?” [Youki]

As more knights gradually made their appearances, I noticed someone familiar among them.
That seemed to be Raven… and Duke next to him.
All of them were in armours, but if one were to take a close look at only Duke, you would notice metal fittings connecting his helmet to his armour.

“Hmm? Were you the one who did this to these guys?!” [Knight]

One of the knights had apparently gotten the wrong idea.
He seemed to have misunderstood me as a thief who had attacked these guys.
I guess it couldn’t be helped. Considering all the misunderstandings I had caused when I was working on my quests, I had understood it well that my outfit would give people the wrong impression.
The way things stood, I would end up getting drawn into needless trouble.
Should I just take my leave?

“I’m not sure what you’re misunderstanding there, but… my name is Magic Knight of Black Thunder! These guys are thieves and I am someone who was despatched by the guild to subjugate these people. Now that I’ve completed my mission, I’ll let you guys handle the rest… Farewell!” [Youki]

“Wha-!? Oi, hold it right there!” [Knight]

After saying what I wanted, I leaped backwards and activated ‘Vanis.h.i.+ng Wave’, fading into the darkness and disappearing from his sight.

“d.a.m.n it… Search for him. He shouldn’t have gone that far.” [Knight]

I had indeed disappeared from his sight, but I hadn’t actually gone far away.
Even though the first knight who had discovered me gave the command, the rest of the knights were in a state of panic.
That reaction of theirs was a given, though, since someone suddenly disappeared from their sight.

I decided to leave this place as is.
However, before I could do so, I heard the sound of a handbell coming from Raven.
…Was he trying to calm the agitated knights?
After confirming that all the knights had settled down, he whispered something to Duke.

“Raven’s… I mean this is the instruction from commander. You don’t need to pursue that person earlier. These people seem to be the thieves from Raven’s list of wanted criminals, so we will be apprehending them.” [Duke]

Duke gave the command on behalf of Raven.
…Was this how they usually operate?
How on earth did Raven instruct the knights before Duke joined?
The knights then began to make a move as instructed by Duke, no, as instructed by Raven. The knight who wanted to pursue me looked slightly discontented, though.

As the knights hauled the thieves away, Duke and Raven stayed behind to inspect the area. I, on the other hand, remained in the same place while still being invisible.
I had somehow ended up staying behind as well as I wanted to see how the group of knights operate.

“…Sorry, Duke. You had to give the command in my place. It’s hard to give them the instruction with my memo since it’s too dark.” [Raven]

“Seriously. Please graduate from your handbell soon.” [Duke]

Duke shook his head in resignation.
Well, it would certainly be impossible to convey a message through memo in the dark, and it was inefficient to use a written memo for every single thing, too.
He should at least try taking the first step while he was with the group of knights.

“I understand it, but… I’m really sorry.” [Raven]

“If you’re really feeling apologetic, then do something about it. At this rate, you’ll not make any progress in your romance.” [Duke]

Raven’s face stiffened.
The words earlier must have hit his sore spot.
What he said was true, but Duke sure hit him where it hurts most.

“…I will do my best.” [Raven]

“Then it’s fine. Raven should go back first. I’ll be done with this patrol soon.” [Duke]

“Yeah… I’ll leave it to you. By the way, was that person earlier… Magic Knight of Black Lightning? Somehow…” [Raven]

“Ahh, just go back quickly. The doc.u.ments about the thieves apprehended earlier will be out soon.” [Duke]

“True. Then I’ll return first… Sigh.” [Raven]

Raven’s shoulders seemed to droop a little as he made his way back.
…His appearance from behind seemed sorrowful, as though he was fading into the darkness of night as well, further intensifying his melancholic aura.
I should probably invite Raven along the next time I go somewhere.

“Now then. You’re still here, right? Captain?” [Duke]

Duke began glancing around all of a sudden.
Why did he stay behind? Also, how did he know that I am Magic Knight of Black Lightning?
At the moment, I was in my incomplete demon form.
My voice should have been different, too, due to the helmet over my head.

Well, it would be fine as long as I didn’t reveal myself.
There was no need to hide myself from him, but it would be much cooler to conclude this incident as a mysterious individual.

“It’s fine if you don’t wish to reveal yourself, but you should come to your senses soon. I don’t know when you started this Magic Knight of Black Lightning business, but… whenever you do this kind of thing, you will always end up regretting it. Right, Captain? Well, I’ve given you the advice, so I’m going back.” [Duke]

Duke waved his hand in a broad arc before leaving, probably because he didn’t know where I was.

I cancelled the ‘Vanis.h.i.+ng Wave’ spell and began pondering over the events that had transpired.
Since Raven and the rest had hauled the thieves away, the mission was completed.
It had ended, in many ways…

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!”

After I completed my mission and listened to the conversation between Raven and Duke, my state of mind seems to have returned to normal.
Duke’s words then dealt the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

I would always end up regretting it… It was true, wasn’t it?
I couldn’t help but to shout out loud at this conclusion.
I took off what I was wearing and changed back to my usual attire in a hurry.
After shoving the chuuni outfit into the bag, I began to run back as I yelled.

“WHAT THE HECK WAS I DOING–?!!” [Youki]

I found out about it at a later date, but it seemed that Duke had heard my voice. My only saving grace was that Raven hadn’t heard me, probably because he was too depressed that he hadn’t paid attention.