Side Story 46. Anemone Smiled Brightly (22)
As Dane Walker took a step back, I smiled at him. "I'm just kidding."
"Really…?"
Of course, I wasn't kidding! With the power of a duke, it was easy to bury most other powers besides the imperial family, much less a mere promising magician.
"Of course," I said with certainty.
However, the man still looked doubtful and said, "If I could, I'd like to help you move on to the Imperial State, but my connections don't work that far."
"We’re grateful for this alone. It's okay since we’re about to smash the walls of the Imperial Kingdom to go in anyway," I said casually.
Dane Walker responded with a nod but then looked at me and flinched. I pretended to have not noticed it and smiled.
"Okay, let's go to war, Doomstone.”
"Oh yeah! Sounds good!"
Doomstone, now in a good mood, hugged me and was about to run when Dane Walker freaked out.
"Wa-wait! There's going to be an international problem!"
Despite Dane Walker's cry, Doomstone started running fast.
"So he says. Will it be okay?"
"It's okay. Do you think war happens so easily? They’re an enemy anyway."
Moreover, it didn't matter because I was going to deplete their strength to the point a follow-up would be barely necessary, let alone a war. Since a great amount of money and time was needed to prepare for war, I was going to absolutely weaken the entire country.
"Ohh! Good! Hold on tight!" shouted Doomstone.
I hugged Doomstone as tightly as possible. Hmm, what a solid pectoral muscle.
Doomstone was running at top speed when he used the momentum and sprang in the air. We rose high enough to see the imperial border wall in the distance. Lit torches hung down from it. At this rate, the expression ‘flying’ seemed more appropriate.
"Extreme Enlightenment! The Disaster of the Sky God!
I don't know how he did it since I was hugging him, but Doomstone moved violently. A huge roar rang out.
"... Wow!"
The border wall was gone. And below, people who looked to be imperial soldiers were moving very busily.
"I knew it, but you are so terrifyingly strong," I complimented.
Doomstone beamed proudly. "Ahem! Of course!"
"What skill is it to devastate that huge wall?"
I was already amazed when he made a huge hole in the marquis’ castle and collapsed it this morning, but it was at the level of cuteness compared to the collapse of the wall. Comparing the wall that was built to prevent up to hundreds of thousands of troops with the stone walls built in large mansions, I felt bad comparing the two. I wonder how many casualties there would have been in the aftermath alone.
"Oh, the Disaster of the Sky God? It is a skill created by the founder of the family when he overcame his limits, but it’s a skill that no more than five people can use in my hometown."
I was amazed to see him answering casually. "Oh! So you're one of the Top 5 Crows?”
"No, that's not it. After using this, the lethargy that sets in is no joke. Also, it's not learned on purpose. Usually, when you're strong enough to learn this skill, you're old enough to take care of a grandchild."
In other words, if you don't become as strong as an elder when you're young, you don’t learn it.
"But it’s amazing since you're 17."
"Ahem! Of course!"
Looking at the confident Doomstone, I realized something.
"Hold on! Does that mean you're suffering from exhaustion right now?"
Doomstone smiled brightly while I hoped in my heart ‘no way’.
"Yep! That's right. I can't put strength in my body very well.”
And as if on cue, the rising momentum paused; unable to overcome gravity, we began to plummet.
"Ahhhhh!"
The fear of falling from dozens of meters high was no joke. Doomstone lost strength vulnerably and fell to the ground.
"Ahahahaha!”
Here I was screaming, and there Doomstone laughed pleasantly as if feeling refreshed.
You’re laughing right now?! Unlike you, who’s a brute and strong, I’m weak! I wanted to shout that but could only manage to scream.
But right before we were going to smash into the ground face down, Doomstone pushed me upwards as if he was going to hurl me away. My falling body floated up again while he simply fell to the ground.
"Ugh!"
Doomstone groaned unlike himself. He then took something out of his pocket and threw it at me. As soon as the small bead touched my body, I floated and slowly came down.
"Huh? What's this?" I asked.
"Mirpa ahjumma's special protective magic tool for children. It also works in the Olympus Forest."
I can't believe there is such an interesting magic tool in the world. Had I had this when I was young, I would have been able to play more brilliantly. What a waste!
"If there was something like this, we could have just shared it!" I said as I drew closer to Doomstone. I was worried he would have suffered a huge shock from the fall.
"Hehehe, had you shared it with me, we’d have exceeded the weight limit. It's for one person and one use only. I only brought it to sell it and pay for a meal, nonetheless, I'm glad I brought it.”
Doomstone struggled to get up and smiled. Perhaps because he was very strong, there seemed to be no major injuries other than a few scratches.
"Ah! It feels so refreshing! I don't know how long it's been since I've moved so much that I have felt this exhausted!"
I punched the happy guy in the stomach. "I was worried, you idiot!"
Ouch! My arm hurts. I shook my painful fist and Doomstone scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward.
"Ahahaha, sorry. Just in case debris shot out from me hitting the ground."
"It would have been nice if you had worried about me, too.”
We looked in the direction in which we heard a voice. There was Dane Walker walking this way from the direction of the Empire, holding the reins of the Wheat Crepes. Three large stones were embedded in the barrier he surrounded himself with. Perhaps the debris had splashed over there.
"You didn’t go back yet?" I asked.
Dane Walker made a sad face. "You left your horses! I even protected your horses, but you're saying that?!"
He was nosier than I thought. If it were me, I would just run away immediately. Well, it's true that I’d received a lot of help, so should I at least repay him?
"Take this." I took a brooch out of my pocket and tossed it to him. "If you take this to the Asteria Duchy Castle and ask for patronage, you'll get good support.”
In the future, as per my plan, the Asteria Market would form a partnership with the Crow Tribe and get a supply of magic materials to make a magician drool. If things went well, it could easily lay the foundation for Dane Walker to become a madosa.
"The Asteria Duchy Castle...?” Dane Walker, upon receiving the brooch, looked blank then surprised.
"You, are you the heir of the Asteria Duchy?!”
"Didn't Glont ahjussi tell you? Well, Doomstone didn't know either."
There was no mention of my name in the newspaper, be it because of information control or that Doomstone was just too shocking. There was a high likelihood that most of the nobles that Doomstone and I gave a friendly visit to were unaware of my identity.
"Anyway, nosy... Thank you for your help."
"Didn't you just say nosy?"
"You know it well. You hear that a lot, don't you?” I said.
In response, Dane Walker pouted in dissatisfaction. Seeing that, I got on the Wheat Crepe No. 2.
"Do you still have the strength to ride the horse?" I asked.
Doomstone mounted Wheat Crepe No. 1. "Of course! I could even fight more!"
In a short time, he seemed to have already recovered to some extent. People weren’t in awe of the battle race for no reason.
"Then please say hello for me! Let’s go! Let's cross the border before the enemies come to their senses! Hyah!"
As I rode the horse, Doomstone warned Dane Walker.
"If you try to mess around, I'll beat you to death."
Then he quickly drove the horse and chased after me.
I asked playfully as we rode side by side, "Why? Did he say he was going to mess with me?”
Doomstone blushed and panicked, not expecting that I had heard it.
"Ah, no. I'm sure you heard it wrong."
Huhu, how cute!
"Really? If you say so, then I’m sure it’s like that."
"Ahem!"
His ears turned red and he avoided my gaze.
"Then, shall we proudly shout out the name of the one who broke down the walls that even the imperial army couldn't break through?"
"Is that okay? There seem to be at least tens of thousands of people over there, but now I feel a little stiff to deal with them while protecting you."
It meant that Doomstone would be fine if he was alone. Certainly, if a large army of that level shot arrows and he accidentally failed to block one and it hit me, I would be in a critical condition. If I got hurt, the curse that I inherited could swallow my body.
"It's okay. No matter how big the army is, do you think they’d attack the superman who smashed the wall with a single blow? If I were them, I'd be busy running away."
"Is that so? If it were me, I'd rush in because it's a chance to fight a strong opponent."
That's only Crows. Moreover, we had to tell them that the incident was not the work of the Empire. That way, the Imperial State would try to catch us hiding rather than trying to attack the Empire. And the more they tried to catch us, the more we would cleave the national forces of the Imperial State.
"Uhuhuhu, that's what will happen in the end. Though it's not like they’ll come at us excitedly like you, Doomstone. But I did promise to let you have fun fighting in the beginning.”
Doomstone laughed cheerfully. "Ahahaha! That’s right! Then shall I shout out loud so that the strongest can come to us anytime?” He took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "I'm the one who broke the wall! I’m Doomstone Blade!!”
Coming out from between the broken walls, Doomstone and I quickly rode our horses.
"Ahahaha! Whoever wants to fight, come out right now and block me!"
Despite Doomstone's provocations, no one came out. Brave soldiers and strong knights who were rescuing the injured from the collapsed walls only stopped and looked at Doomstone with fearful eyes. The reaction was as expected, but they looked too scared. It wasn't that I didn't understand, but it wasn't fun if they were too scared and didn't come at him at all.
"Let's provoke them. Tell them our destination," I softly said.
Doomstone chuckled and shouted, "Ahahahaha! Is there no one who wants to fight with me? We're going to the capital city of Enharayton!! I'll punch the king's cheek who lives in the center until it becomes bright red!!”
Wow, an unexpected event appeared in our schedule. Make the king's cheek bright red. That sounds like it'll be so much fun.
"That sounds nice."
"Ahahaha! Right?"
We bumped fists and flashed devilish smiles.
Now that we'd done this, they'd desperately come to block us on our way to Enharayton, right? If Doomstone had been a nightmare for imperial pro-emperor faction nobles, he might seem like a great devil crawling out from hell to these knights of the Imperial State.
"Try to catch us if you can!"
"Ahahaha! Come after us if you have the courage!"
We rode our horses and went into the Imperial State, but the frightened people couldn't chase us and remained still.
Firstly, let's disguise ourselves and get some sleep in a nearby village. Since this incident took place tonight and they have to fix the walls, they wouldn’t start searching for us right away. We should be able to sleep comfortably tonight.
Perhaps.
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