Disciple of Immortal

Act 2: Chapter 20: 《Rosemonde of Extermination》

After accepting the commission and finishing the minimum preparations, such as food, to subjugate Ragnos, we quickly departed towards the forest outside of the city.

I reread the document I got from the adventurer’s guild which had details regarding the commission.

Amongst the information provided was the frequency which the Ragnos appeared at.

Since I wanted to hunt a large number of Ragnos at once, I looked at the places with a high frequency in appearances which was recommended for B-Rank adventurers and above.

「But… this is strange. Pomera has never heard about this kind of 《Monster Parade》 with only one kind of monster appearing at this kind of scale.」

Pomera spoke as she wondered about the situation.

「As if it’s some sort of omen huh?」

「Maybe. The adventurer’s guild itself seems to be investigating this matter too.」

On the document that explained the commission details, the guild had also added additional rewards for anyone who could provide vital information regarding the incident.

It seems that the adventurer’s guild wasn’t letting their guard down.

Though my initial impression about this incident is just an increase in numbers of D-rank monsters, the explanation of this commission alerted me that there might be more to this than meets the eyes in this incident.

「… Kanata-san, we’re about to arrive. I can already feel the presence of monsters around us.」

Pomera warned me.

I closed my eyes and sharpened my five senses after I heard her warning.

Sure enough, I felt the same presence as the ones who attacked our caravan before.

It seems that those Ragnos were hiding under the ground.

In addition, I felt another presence, different from the Ragnos approaching in our direction. And that other presence turned out to be a human wearing black overcoat, standing atop of a nearby tree.

I saw metal protectors beneath that person’s overcoat.

Their face was hidden beneath a simple, goat-like mask made of metals and on their back was a cross-shaped metal pole.

That metal road was almost as thick as my clenched fist. A cane as big as that was a rarity.

Braided, orange colored hair was draped down from the side of their mask.

「A… woman?」

Pomera spoke timidly while pointing her cane at the person on top of the tree.

The person with the goat mask jumped down from the top of the tree and landed on the ground.

Cloud of dust fluttered in the air upon her landing due to her sheer weight.

「You guys are too lenient with your surroundings. Go back now, this is a dangerous area.」

The masked person spoke with a muffled voice.

「This is my hunting zone. Leave at once. I have no intentions of kicking you out forcefully if you don’t want to leave, but you guys look far too weak for this kind of dangerous place. Heed my warning and turn around obediently if you still want to live.」

The masked person kept barraging us one-sidedly with her warning.

「You, who…」

A solo adventurer belonged to the minority.

Moreover, this is the first time I’d see a well-protected adventurer like them.

Guessing from their weapon, they looks like a mage to me, but the metal protector that covered their body was too unusual for a lightweight mage.

Even swordsmen, who preferred close combat, aren’t as well protected as them.

「I’m an A-rank adventurer, Rosemonde. Since you don’t know about me, does that mean you guys aren’t citizens of Manarak? I don’t know who you are, but get out of my sight immediately.」

A-rank adventurer… meaning that they were in the same rank as that Alfred.

When I thought so, her imposing appearance suddenly looked a little bit cuter in my eyes.

「Thank you very much for your consideration. But don’t worry, the danger… is the very reason we’re visiting this place…」

「It seems you’re too stupid to understand my words. I don’t care about your circumstances, but you’re just a hindrance to me. That’s why get out of here right now.Taking someone else’s prey is a serious offense and it’s hard to fight calmly when rats such as you guys loiter around in this place.」

Rosemonde’s metal-covered arms pointed toward us as their fingers made shoo’ing motion.

The joints of their metal protector made a clinking sound as they moved.

「I hate rewardless fight like this but it seems I have to teach you a lesson.」

Rosemonde grabbed the huge metal cross-like rod on their back.

「If you’re not willing to back down then I, 《Rosemonde of Extermination》, have no choice but to beat some common sense into your stupid brain. Now then, pick your choice?」

I felt rather surprised upon hearing Rosemonde’s remark.

Well, I guess we’ve no choice since they doesn’t seem like someone who will back down that easily.

Though their one-sided threat to force us to retreat was really annoying… if we force ourselves to compete with them, even if we won, I’m afraid that we’ll only earn their grudge.

If that happens, we’re literally on the losing side since the other party has been active in the magic city of Manarak for a long time and a genuine A-rank adventurer on top of that.

I guess we shouldn’t fight them…

Let’s leave this place and look for another dangerous area to hunt Ragnos.

「Understood. We’re going to leave this pla—」

Philia had already stepped forward before I finished my sentence with a confident look on her face. She was pointing her arm toward Rosemonde.

「STOP! PHILIA-CHAN GET BACK!」

I’m afraid that if she summoned Progenitor Dragon again, she would end up killing Rosemonde and changing the terrain of this area.

「Philia wants to be useful for Kanata… Philia, should be able to do something about that person over there…」

Philia spoke with a dejected look on her face.

「What the hell is with that brat? Are you looking down on me?」

Rosemonde was walking closer to us as they spoke with irritated tone.

「S-Sorry, we’ll leave this place immediately…」

I bowed to them.

「That person… seems like a sorcerer, right, Kanata-san?」

I tilted my head in confusion upon hearing Pomera’s remark.

「Sor… cerer? What made you think so?」

Sorcerers… I’d heard about them before.

They’re mages who specialize in wide AOE-type spells.

White magic aside, since I’ve pretty much learned all kinds of magic, I should belong to sorcerer-type too.

But, in Rosemonde’s case, they doesn’t look like sorcerer-type mage to me.

Their alias, 《Rosemonde of Annihilation》 did make them look like a sorcerer, but it was still too soon to decide on their combat style with just that alone.

「Let see… Pomera feels that no one but sorcerers would wear that kind of equipment. Though it doesn’t make that person look like a sorcerer-type at glance… those protectors and heavy metal cane seem to be ill-suited for close combat equipment. That mask’s main function might be for protection against shockwaves instead of claws or blades. I think those protectors’ function is mainly to protect the caster from the effects of their own magic.」

「Though you lot look like small fries who can’t even differentiate between mage and sorcerer… that woman over there seems to be quite sharp.」

Rosemonde was laughing as if scorning me.

「… So the reason you wear such heavy equipment is to protect yourself from the aftermath of your own spell? I think such things happen simply because you can’t control your own spell properly. In my opinion, you shouldn’t fight using magic that you have yet to gain complete mastery and focus on lower rank magic which you’ve already gotten used to…」

Though Lunaire had taught me various types of magic, she never told me about reckless tactics such as letting loose an uncontrollable cannon while putting various kinds of protectors on my body.

In the first place, since I’ve got a perfect grasp on all kinds of magic that I could use, I wasn’t afraid of the after-effects of my own magic since I won’t stay inside the AOE of magic that I released, and even if I did, I still have this robe to protect me.

「K-Kanata-san, front, look in front of you…」

Before I realized it, I gave my own opinion for Pomera’s remark about Rosemonde and when I snapped out of it, I felt killing intent emanating from Rosemonde.

E-Eh, did I just… hit the bull’s eyes?

「… Cough, let’s forget about it. My apologies for my ignorance.」

I bowed to Rosemonde while apologizing to her but it was too late.

「HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OF ME! NOW I’M GONNA KICK YOUR AS*ES FOR REAL!」

Rosemonde took the metal cross on their back, and knocked the ground with it.