Master’s Smile

C87 – Iron Queen’s Executives

I sighed when I saw Rousseld, the guildmaster of Inicken, fall in front of me.

Geez, it had been a long time since I’ve been in close combat, so I was really nervous to the point where I couldn’t breathe.

As expected, close combat, where the slightest mistake could endanger my life, wasn’t meant for me….

I would rather be a magical turret from the rear instead.

“Master, thank you for your hard work. You were majestic, yes.”

As I was deep in thought, Sorglos came walking up to me.

Oh, are you hurt?

“Aaah, there’s no problem at all. We quickly sucked up water from the lake and recovered, yes.”

Sorglos replied with a smile as if it was nothing.

Well, I guess she’s fine being that she’s a slime….

As Sorglos’ guildmaster, I felt like becoming her parent, and when she got her stomach pierced, it really made my blood boil….

This was also the reason why I engaged in close combat with Rousseld.

I wanted to pay him back with my fist for hurting my daughter.

…Yeah, It’s been a while since I was that pissed.

“Oh my…. To think that you fought for us…. Ah, this is not good. A lot of things are going to leak….”

What is?

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the writhing Sorglos.

“I-I didn’t know Master was that strong….”

Lucille also approached us.

You’re also not hurt, are you?

“Ou. It was thanks to Master for saving me.”

I see, that’s good to know.

It’s been a while since I had teleported someone, so I was worried.

“Can I ask you something, Master? How did you manage to defeat the undead Rousseld? It looks like you didn’t even let him recover….”

“Ah, We’re not saying that we’re with Lucille-dono, but we’d like to hear it too, yes. Was there magic like that before?”

Lucille and Sorglos looked up at me and asked.

I think they were referring to the magic I used before I attacked Rousseld.

It had the ability to make an opponent, who had no sense of pain, able to feel it, and also inhibit self-healing.

The latter, well, it was necessary to win, right?

If he regenerated over and over again, the situation would get gradually worse and worse.

The former was… partly because I was a little upset with him hurting Sorglos.

Rousseld didn’t seem to know the pain of hurting others, so I just taught him a few things.

Well, I’m not as noble as what people would think, though….

Sorglos said that there was no such magic, and you’re right.

I needed one so I created one. I’m glad that it worked well.

“…Created magic? Can you even do something like that?”

“…Was Master a great mage…?”

Lucille asked Sorglos, but she was busy mumbling by herself.

Yeah, I think it’s pretty easy to do.

If you think about what kind of magic you want to create and follow the proper process, anyone can do it.

Well, the fact that I was able to do it in the middle of a battle was due to something like the wisdom of age.

But I’m still young, though.

“Guh, oooh….”

As the three of us were talking, I heard a groan from below.

It was Rousseld, who was lying on the ground with only his upper body remaining because of my kick.

As expected of an undead. Not only was he not dead, but he was still conscious.

“Uheee. he’s persistent like a cockroach, yes.”

…Sorglos, isn’t that awful?

Well, she was kicked and pierced by Rousseld, so I guess she had the right to say that much to him.

“…He’s not dead yet?”

Lucille said so while glaring hatefully at Rousseld.

In order to kill an undead, you have to use powerful holy magic or a weapon blessed by Angelism.

I’m not a believer, so I can only use the former method, but if I tried to use that kind of magic in front of him, who is all about close combat, I’d probably get beaten up instead.

He had quite the strength, seeing that he was a master of a guild.

I couldn’t forgive him for hurting Sorglos and killing Apollo and the others.

Yet, Sorglos was only looking at Rousseld with a rather disinterested look, so I think I’ll leave the rest to Lucille’s decision. I had also gotten over my irritation, too.

“Ah, hyahyahya…!”

As I was thinking so, Rousseld let out a slightly unpleasant laugh.

…How can he talk when all he has is his upper body? The undead are amazing.

“You think you’ve won with this,… YELQUCHIRAA…!?”

Rousseld glared at me and said so.

I restrained Sorglos from swinging her leg after she said “What are you staring at Master for? I’ll kill you.”.

…What do you mean? I thought we already had a winner here.

Or perhaps, do you still have a trump card that can break this situation?.

“Ahyahya…! This is not a one-on-one battle between you and me. It’s a war between both guilds,…between Inicken and Yelquchira…! Of course my minions are moving too, you know…?”

“Hohou!”

For some reason, Sorglos reacted happily to Rousseld’s words.

If I had to guess what he was trying to say, I’d say that Inicken is attacking my guild members as well.

…Really, why does Sorglos look so happy?

Now then, Rousseld was saying while looking proud assuming he was victorious, but I wasn’t that worried..

They are not weak children that I have to worry about.

Yeah, It’s fine. If I can beat him, then there’s no way the girls will be defeated.

“Huh? Where are you going, Master?”

Lucille asked me as I turned on my heels.

I was just curious about something, that’s all.

(TLN: such a tsundere)

It’s not like I’m worried about them, and tried to go check on them either.

“Master! Let’s have a talk here for a while to decide how to deal with Rousseld-dono, yes!”

Sorglos flew over and clung to me.

Nuoooooooo!! Let go of me, Sorglos!

I can’t think about Rousseld until I know for sure that they… those girls are saaaaaaaafe!!!

Lucille! You can do whatever you want with him!

Well then, I’m going!

When I tried to walk away, leaving Sorglos, who was sticking to me, behind….

“AAAAAAAAAAH!! What are you doing clinging to Master like that!? You mere slimey slime!!!”

“Ugeeh….”

A very familiar, high-pitched female voice rang out.

Sorglos looked at her and twisted her face in blatant disgust.

I turned around once again.

She had long and silky golden hair with a gorgeous red dress that made her even more gorgeous.

The one who was glaring at us, dressed very oddly for a forest outing, was Vampir.

W-Why are you here…?

“There’s nothing to be done about it. I went back to the guild to tell my saga, but Master hadn’t returned yet. Thus, having no choice, I, believe it or not! Deliberately! By myself! Went out searching for you!”

Vampir put her hand on her ample bosom and arched her back with pride.

Saga…? Did you finish some big job?

“Yes, I did! I… what was it again… umm… iron scraps…?”

“It’s Inicken, miss clumsy noblewoman.”

Vampir put her lovely hand on her chin and nodded her head, but then she quickly turned her head and groaned towards the direction of the voice.

The person who offered her a helping hand was another person I knew well.

She had short silver hair and healthy tanned skin.

A girl named Schwarz, who was wearing a maid outfit with a distinctive long skirt.

“It’s been a while, Master. I’m almost in tears to finally be able to see you. All because of that stupid ninja….”

“Ugeeh… Not only Vampir-dono, but also Schwarz-dono….”

Schwarz bowed her head beautifully and said so.

I see. I’m happy to hear you say that, but we just met two days ago, right?

Also, Sorglos. Why is it that your reaction is hardly what I would expect when someone meets their friends?

In any case, I didn’t expect that two other members of Yelquchira would gather here….

What in the world is going on?

“Master. I’m here too, you know?”

There was a little tug on my sleeve.

When I turned around, I saw a gray-haired girl, Krankheit, standing there, somehow showing a bewitching smile in this kind of situation.

Huh? Krankheit too?

What’s going on here, really?

“Wha…!? T-These guys are….”

Rousseld was in a terrible condition and could barely talk but some words managed to slip out from his mouth.

Well, he only had the top half of his body, so I suppose that was to be expected.

Rather, It’s usually stranger that he can talk, though.

“Ara? What is this torso apparition?”

Vampir looked at Rousseld, who was on the ground, with curious eyes.

And mumbled in disgust.

“This is the Guildmaster of Inicken. He was easily defeated in the battle by the indescribable brilliance of Master, yes.”

For some reason, Sorglos reported proudly.

No, it wasn’t that great of a fight, though….

Vampir’s eyes fluttered when she heard Sorglos’ words.

Then, a smile immediately came through of her.

“Surely you jest. Saying that Master, who had been away from the frontline for so many years, managed to defeat a guildmaster from the same dark guild…? That’s impossible!”

Vampir’s words pierced me like arrows.

It hurts… It hurts a lot….

“You don’t have to do anything, Master. I’ll do everything for you….”

Krankheit, can you please not stroke my cheek with that bewitching smile of yours?

Or rather, ‘don’t have to do anything’… Am I really that untrustworthy…?

“It is I who serves Master.”

Schwarz was competing with Krankheit.

Ugh… Certainly, I’m not as strong as you guys, but I can still somewhat fight….

“Oh my, as expected, you have to see Master’s greatness in person to understand it surely! So far, it’s only us, yes!”

Sorglos blurted out, with a smile on her face, to me, who was feeling depressed.

If that’s the case, then Laladi probably knows about it, too, though?

“Speaking of which, why did you three come here? Were we disturbing you?”

Sorglos’ question brought me back to my heavily derailed thoughts.

That’s right. Why did the girls gather here?

“Aah, if it’s about that-….”

“I was going to report to Master about this.”

Shwarz interrupted Vampir’s words.

About what?

I tilted my head as it seemed that Vampir and Schwarz had the same reason.

They each brought something and wanted to show it to me.

“Y-You guys….”

When Rousseld saw that, he let out a cry of disbelief.

There were two dead bodies right in front of me.