Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

「Sorry that I’m late to the party, everyone. Those pesky goblins annoyed me to no end … But, all is well, I guess!」

「Goblins?」

I asked him in return. Come to think of it, what’s become of those goblins that invaded Algore?

「Come to think of it, how’s the situation with those goblins invading Algore?」

Maybe because he is similiarly worried about Algore too, Omiros asked that question of the werewolf.

「It’s okay. All of those ugly goblins were driven away by the soldiers that were summoned by that old man minstrel.」

Rietto replied.

Then, something jumped out to the watchtower.

The things that appeared were three soldiers equipped with round shields and swords. It seems those soldiers jumped to the watchtower without using the stairs.

「Spartoi!」

I unitentionally let out an admiring voice. These are the soldiers that could be summoned by my dear master.

「Summoned by the minstrel? He gave me this shield, too … Just who in the world is that minstrel?」

Omiros asked while touching his shield. The minstrel who gave that shield to Omiros was also the one who summoned the spartoi. All threads then suddenly connected in my head.

「AHAHAHA」

I unintentionally let out a smile.

「Regena?」

Omiros looked at me, laughing out of nowhere, with a puzzled face. But how can I not laugh in this situation?

I mean, now I understand everything that happened here. Everyone gathered in this place was by my dear master’s arrangement.

I then looked at Goz who was trying his best to prevent the short sword from stabbing him.

Why in the world was I scared by this kind of guy again? I mean, there’s nothing for me to fear anymore.

Even without my dear master by my side, he made these arrangements so that I had no need to fear the situation. If that was the case, then there was nothing to fear.

「Sword, back to my hand.」

I raised my hand and called back my sword.

Thus, the sword that was trying to stab Goz was now in my hand.

The relieved Goz gazed at me.

「Pu, so tiny. Not even a tenth of my dear master’s size.」

I sneered at him as I looked at his lower half.

I recalled the time when I was scolded by Kuna-sama for entering the bathroom when she was rinsing the back of my dear master.

My dear master’s little master was many times bigger than Goz’s.

Whether in sword, magic, or appearance, my dear master was a million times better than Goz. As if someone as insignificant as Goz could do anything against my dear master.

Nevertheless, it would have been really dangerous just now If I decided not to fight back. I drew my sword. It would be an easy win as long as I fought alongside Omiros. This sword gave me the power to fight.

Even if it was a mistake, I recalled that my body was still trembling whenever I saw Goz.

It was because I had no courage to fight back. Omiros was hurt because of my weak heart. Yes, it was all my fault.

But it’s okay now, my dear master’s smile has saved my heart.

Pointing my sword towards Goz, I declared with strength,

「Bring it on, Goz! I’m not scared of you anymore!」

Goz was retreating upon seeing my sword. I could see fear coloring his face.

「F*CKING HELL … ALL OF YOU … F%CKF%%CK」

Goz grumbled.

「Hey Omiros … Who the hell is that…」

Rietto was clinging on to Omiros and asking so as she saw Goz.

「That is Parish … He was morphing his face all this time with magic. This face now is his real face.」

「No way, that is Parish …」

Rietto shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she heard just now.

「I see … So he is the terrifying opponent that you wanted to defeat no matter what, huh? In that case, it’s easy peasy.」

The werewolf said while looking at Goz. Not just the werewolf, there were also those spartoi.

This is the end for you, Goz.

「F%CK … IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE SHALL BE DESTROYED!!」

After saying so, Goz took out a small bottle.

「It should have ended without me using this but … YOU FORCED ME TO DO THIS! COME FORTH, THE RETAINER OF GOD OF DESTRUCTION! COME FORTH AND DEVOUR THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY!」

Goz threw the small bottle out of the watch tower.

「GUOOO!」

An extremely loud scream, which felt like it was going to pierce the heavens, resounded.

A black smoke rose from below the watchtower. From that black smoke, the figure of a giant with numerous hands appeared.

「What the…」

I unintentionally muttered. Looking around, I could see that everyone’s face was painted with fear.

「GAHAHA! BEHOLD, THE KIN OF THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION, THE HUNDRED-ARMED GIANT! NOT EVEN THE DARK KNIGHT CAN WIN AGAINST THIS GUY! So then, good bye!」

After saying so, Goz pushed us aside and disappeared from the stairs. We were too focused on the appearance of the Hundred-armed Giant to care about him.

The Hundred-armed Giant was looking at us.

「LIKE HELL WE CAN WIN AGAINST THAT!」

The werewolf screamed in fear.

Every one of us was filled with fear. The spartois, being the only ones who could move, charged ahead towards the Hundred-armed Giant. But they were caught by its numerous arms and eaten without being able to leave a scratch on it.

And then, one of its arms headed towards us.

「OH NO, RIETTO!」

I pushed Rietto aside. The arm that should have caught Rietto took me instead.

「KYA!」

「Regena!」

Omiros couldn’t do anything but call my name.

The arm kept raising, bringing me closer to the Hundred-armed Giant’s mouth.

「MASTER!」

I closed my eyes and desperately called for my dear master.

Thereupon, my body was suddenly liberated.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the figure of my most beloved person. The most gentle person clad in jet-black armor.

I was carried by my dear master in a princess carry on top of his dragon.

When I looked around, I saw the figure of the Hundred-armed Giant far away from us.

「Are you alright, Regena?」

My dear master asked for my wellbeing. Though I couldn’t see his face due to his helmet, I knew that he must have been worried about me.

「Yes, I’m alright, master. There’s nothing for me to fear anymore…」

Yes, there was nothing to fear anymore. I felt so as I embraced my dear master.

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

Somehow, I barely made it in time.

It was what I felt as I looked at Regena in my embrace. I prepared various countermeasures to make sure that Regena was safe and sound, but the current situation exceeded my worst expectations.

Really, everything I did ended up for nothing. Though I’m glad that she was somehow safe and sound, just a little misstep, and Regena would have ended in that thing’s stomach.

Sorry for making you go through such a scary experience.

Regena was clinging tightly to me. It might have been an extremely scary experience for her to embrace me so tightly. [ED: YOU DENSE MOTHERF^$#%!!!]

The giant was knocked back by Glorious’s ram and was now pushed a few metres away from Algore.

The knocked back giant stood up and headed toward Algore for the second time.

「GUOOO!」

Glorious fired scorching hot breaths accompanied by terrifying roars. The dragon’s breath headed towards the giant and blew several of its arms to pieces.

Seeing that I thought “Hell yeah, it’s an easy victory.” But I revised my evaluation after seeing the blown arms regenerating from its root.

I won’t lose against this kind of opponent, but it seems it would be an extremely troublesome one. Though that giant stopped moving as it might be using its regeneration ability, as soon as it was done with the regeneration of its arms, it started moving again.

I jumped from Glorious while carrying Regena and then descended toward the location of Omiros and the others.

Well, what should I do now? First, I returned Regena to Omiros and the others.

「All is well, Regena.」

After saying so, I separated myself from Regena. Regena left my side with a slightly regretful expression on her face.

「You are…」

Omiros looked at me.

「Was that shield useful to you, young prince?」

Saying so, I unfasten my helmet.

Fufufu, surprised are you now?

I mean, you would never expect a mere minstrel to be the Dark Knight.

「You’re that minstrel? I see, so everything is within your expectations, huh…」

As I expected, Omiros was surprised by finding out my identity. And what do you mean by “Within my expectations?”

「MINSTREL OLD MAN! Amazing! YOU REALLY RIDE ON THE BACK OF A DRAGON!」

The little girl on Omiros’s side started shouting with a delighted face. If I’m not wrong, her name should be Rietto? Please stop calling me old man…

「What in the world happened here, Omiros?」

Someone ascended the stairs. I remember the face of the person who just climbed the stairs.

His name is MacGaius.

「AH, YOU ARE THAT MINSTREL, RIGHT? MOREOVER, WHAT’S WITH THAT ARMOR?」

「MacGaius … He is the Dark Knight.」

「… Eh!? W-What!」

He let out the loudest exclamation of today.

「So noisy. What are you shouting for?」

Another person climbed the stairs. It was Reiji’s little sister, Kyouka.

「Oh my, Kuroki-san. What are you doing here? Are you done talking with Shirone?」

She calmly asked those questions. It didn’t seem like she was hostile towards me. That made me feel relieved since I thought she was hostile towards me for almost causing Reiji to die.

「EVERYONE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!」

And now, Shirone flew along with Kaya to our spot. It seems she picked her up along the way.

What a line-up we got here.

「Oh my, are you okay, Kaya?」

Kyouka asked as she looked at Kaya.

「I’m okay, milady. Just a little bit sleepy, but I can move just fine.」

Kaya glared at me. It seems she developed some sort of resentment against me.

「GUOOO!」

The giant let out a loud roar. It seems it could finally move again.

「Hey, what in the world is that?」

Shirone asked as she pointed at the giant.