Chapter 33 /// Affirmation of Abilities ///
As a result of the strategy meeting, the following was decided.
First of all, the event will take place tonight as planned. And the participants will be Crail and Shion’s party, plus thirty of the finest soldiers.
The captain is a muscular man of about forty.
“My name is Darga, and I command the troops. Thank you for your cooperation this time, Lord Shion”
“Likewise, Captain…”
Shion raised his eyebrows as he shook his hand, because it was a very strong grip. This is not the kind of strength you can put into a simple handshake.
The King’s orders? Shion looked in that direction, but there was no sign of observation. So, he decided that it was Darga’s sole decision.
“I look forward to working with you”
“Fununu - aaaaagggh!?”
With a thud, Darga lost his stance and fell to the floor on both knees. At first, he tried to fight against Shion, who grabbed him back, but he was completely outmatched.
“What’s the matter, Darga?”
Everyone in the room, including the king, wondered what Darga was doing. Sweating and contorting his face, Darga begged Shion before reporting to the King.
“W…Would you kindly release my hand, my good sir. Please…?”
“Oh, I’m sorry about that”
Sion releases the captain’s hand.
It is a common practice in the legion to check your opponent’s strength and mount them at the same time, though Shion doesn’t like it very much.
Crail, who had spotted this exchange, asked in a whisper as he woke up the captain.
“Is he strong?”
“…… Very. I don’t think he’s human”
“Interesting”
Crail smiles one side of his face for a moment, but quickly returns his expression and speaks to the King.
“As for the strategy, the soldiers will lead the way first, and then me, Shion, and the others will fight when the big guy comes out. Any questions?”
“That’s fine. If something unusual happens, you don’t have to take it easy. We must not lose our Hero”
“I understand”
Now that they had a plan, they were free until nightfall.
Shion was about to return to the inn when Crail stopped him.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to spend a little time with you. I’m just about to try out some recently acquired magic tools”
“…… I understand”
“Please don’t look so uncomfortable. Also, I don’t need honorifics. Let’s make it more casual. Oh, me using honorifics are just a habit, so don’t worry about it”
Shion followed Crail, as they were going to fight together. The King and Queen seemed to be observing as well, so they moved together.
When he moved to the courtyard of the castle, he found an iron cage with a number of Winged Goblins trapped inside.
“I’m going to use it now to try out on this one”
Crail lifts his seemingly ordinary longbow and makes an interesting move.
“The opponent is a Winged Goblin. It’s a good opponent for a trial run”
It has a certain amount of flying ability and is so small that a beginner archer would not be able to hit it. If you can hit that thing without difficulty, you can be judged to be quite skilled.
“Now, I want you all to move back. When you’re ready, leave one of them alone and let it out of the cage”
That’s what Crail tells them. After confirming that everything was ready, the soldiers opened the cage. When four of them jumped out, they quickly closed it, leaving only one inside.
Why leave only one? Shion had a vague idea.
All four of the winged goblins attacked Crail, who was hostile to them, without hesitation. One of this monster’s specialties is to descend as if gliding and kill a human with its fangs in the neck.
“I like it. I’m a little excited to kill you”
Crail, on the other hand, did not seem distraught and took the odd action of putting four arrows on the string at the same time.
“Disperse beautifully, you ugly monsters!”
He pulled the string and shot the arrows. Each of the four arrows that flew apart hit a charging goblin in the forehead and struck right at the brain. Every last one of them died instantly.
It seemed like a random shot without aiming, but all the bullets hit the target. The King and the soldiers who were watching applauded enthusiastically. The one who applauded the most was his party of thirty people……
He bowed and raised his bow.
“Have you all seen this? The arrow you shoot will always hit the enemy - this is the power of my magic bow!”
It could hit not only one arrow but at least four. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was a considerable magical tool. Crail turned his head towards the cage and made a suggestion to Shion.
“There’s only one left, but if you’d like to take it out, I’d be happy to”
Shion, who had expected that this would be the case, walked to Crail without any particular confusion.