Chapter 186
TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/week mon-fri
Illustrations: none
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Killing a massive monster with mere arrows might sound ridiculous.
It''s not like there''s an HP bar. How could a monster die from being poked with toothpick-sized arrows?
But contrary to such misconceptions, HP bars do exist.
In the form of blood.
When an arrow pierces a monster''s hide and wounds it, blood flows from the gaping injury.Naturally, even a monster will die if it loses too much blood.
It''s simr to how a 2-meter tall person can die from a 2-centimeter dagger to the throat.
"Wow."
Ian marveled at the river turned crimson.
As dozens of crossbow bolts pierced its soft underbelly, the Hunter Stingray began bleeding profusely.
It had already lost strength to Ian''s whirlpool.
Coupled with massive blood loss, the Hunter Stingray passed out.
From afar, it looked quite dead.
The sailors cheered at the sight of the Hunter Stingray floating belly-up.
"Woohoo!"
"The monster is dead!"
"Hurrah for the knights! Hurrah for the wizard!"
Unlike the ecstatic sailors, the Knights of Santiago were rtively quiet.
They knew the creature wasn''t dead yet.
"Hmm. Seems it''s just unconscious."
"Should we bring the ship closer?"
"No. That''s too dangerous."
Salvador, an experienced monster hunter, assessed the Hunter Stingray''s condition at a nce.
"Come with me, old man."
"With you?"
Ian proposed apanying Salvador to deliver the final blow.
Now was when the river''s mystery favored Ian.
Even if he fell in, he could escape, so moving now was the right call.
"What an excellent wizard...!"
"Lord Ian''s skills are just as Lord Salvador described!"
The Knights of Santiago marveled at Ian''s courageous action.
They thought wizards were just entric, self-centered oddballs...
Not only did he provide magical support splendidly, but he even showed such initiative!
Ian shrugged.
In truth, he nned to milk the mystery''s favor while itsted.
But if the knights wanted to overestimate Ian, he had noints.
"Ho ho. Then I''ll leave it to you, Ian my boy."
Ian borrowed a nearby fishing boat to move with Salvador and a few knights.
"Wow."
"It''s really huge...!"
The Hunter Stingray was muchrger up close than they''d thought.
It was big enough for knights to climb onto its body and finish it off.
"Confirming the kill is important."
Monsters sometimes recovered from blood loss on their own, being monsters.
It was safer to deliver the final blow while it was unconscious like this.
"I''d love to butcher this thing, but..."
The Hunter Stingray''s body was enormous.
Stripping the bones, flesh, skin, and organs would yield tremendous resources.
But Ian shook his head.
Ian wasn''t a fishing vige resident. He didn''t have time to leisurely butcher this thing.
"Let''s hand it over to the vigers."
"...! Are you sure that''s alright?"
Salvador was inwardly surprised at how easily Ian gave up the monster''s corpse and asked again.
Seeing is believing, and with the monster''s corpse right before their eyes, greed could arise.
Though they had no way to deal with it now, if they hauled this to port, they could butcher it and turn it into money.
Ian had made a huge contribution to killing the Hunter Stingray.
The atmosphere was such that he could im ownership of nearly half its body.
And he was giving it all to the vigers!
"How devout of you!"
"Huh?"
When Dehitri eximed in admiration, Ian was bewildered.
''No, I just meant we should hurry since we don''t have time...''
Ian knew the abundance of food in modern life, so he wasn''t too attached to the monster''s corpse value.
But medieval people were different.
Coolly giving up hunting spoils like Ian required tremendous willpower!
"It''s Brother Ian''s intention tofort the fishing vige people who suffered most from the monster!"
"Ohh!"
"How devout indeed!"
"..."
Ian didn''t know it himself, but apparently that was his intention.
The Knights of Santiago, as well as Salvador and Belenka, looked at Ian with moved eyes.
"Ho ho. I didn''t know you harbored such charitable thoughts..."
"To give that up. Impressive."
As people made a fuss, Ian grew curious instead.
Is that corpse really so amazing?
"It''s just meat and hide, right?"
"Oh? Did you want something else?"
Ian answered honestly.
"Well, if it had magical power, I''d be interested."
''Wow...!''
The Knights of Santiago were greatly impressed by Ian''s answer, seeking magic even from the monster''s corpse.
To not think of abundant meat and hide, arrows made of bone... when seeing that huge monster corpse!
''He really has nothing but magic in his head!''
''That man. He''s crazy about magic...!''
''So you have to be that obsessed to be a wizard...!''
To the Knights of Santiago, Ian, who greatly deviated from medievalmon sense, looked like a bizarre oddball.
But no one rebuked Ian.
Rather, they unanimously understood him.
If it were a normal person it''d be a bit strange, but...
Since Ian''s a wizard, it could be like that!
"Ho ho. Then take the tail, my boy."
"...? The tail? Does the tail have some magical power..."
"Ho ho. Just how much do you love magic!"
"Huh?"
Ian couldn''t understand Salvador''s words.
Why give him the tail if it has no magical power? (He really doesn''t know)
"The Hunter Stingray''s tail is very hard and sharp!"
"Ah. I see."
Salvador wore an expression of ''That should exin it, right?''
But Ian was honestly unimpressed.
What would a wizard like Ian do with a super hard tail?
Unless it was an offering the mystery coveted.
But the Knights of Santiago all looked at Ian enviously.
"The Hunter Stingray''s tail... such a treasure!"
"... But I admit it. If not you, no one deserves to have the tail."
"..."
---
---
In the end, the Hunter Stingray''s tail became Ian''s share.
The vigers recovered and took back the rest.
Ian nkly stared at therge, fishy, unpleasant lump before him.
''What is this.''
He felt like the owner of an illegal medicine shop...
Like he should run off to brew some tonic right away.
''I''ll have to find a use for it.''
Separately, the sailors'' gazes toward Ian were pure adoration.
"Hah! The tail ended up being the wizard''s share!"
"Of course! Who else but the wizard could be the tail''s owner?"
"..."
The sailors couldn''t help but cheer.
He was a wizard who subdued an underwater monster with a whirlpool, for crying out loud.
Whirlpools and underwater monsters. Both are nightmares for sailors.
Yet this wizard showed the miraculous feat of subduing something terrible with something terrible!
"Hurrah for the wizard!"
"Hurrah for the knights!"
The sailors raised the Hunter Stingray''s tail high and cheered in unison.
Ian once again felt certain these people were descendants of barbarians...
"Ho ho. Quite a sight, isn''t it?"
"Indeed, Lord Salvador."
Salvador and Dehitri watched the sailors drunk on victory with fond eyes.
The Knights of Santiago were just as pleased.
They had bravely fought a giant monster.
But the corpse became the fishing vige people''s share, and the tail became Ian''s share.
All that remained in the water was the result of defeating the monster.
Yet none of the Knights of Santiago expressed dissatisfaction.
The reason they faced the monster was to see the happy faces of the people, after all.
"Good work, everyone."
"You too, Lord Salvador!"
"The heavens must have been watching your shining devotion."
Salvador and the Knights of Santiago sat in a circle and began to pray.
"Today''s victory is thanks to the radiant sun blessing us."
"Praise the brilliant sun!"
"Long live the heavens!"
Today, the knights had umted great merit.
They believed they would surely be rewarded for their devotion after returning to heaven.
That was the driving force that allowed the Knights of Santiago to fight monsters.
''The waterway is certainly fast.''
Ian thought as he watched the rippling river.
After hunting the Hunter Stingray, the ship quickly headed north.
Ian marveled anew at the ship''s transcendent transport capability.
If this many people had walked onnd, just packing food and water would have resulted in an impossible pile of luggage.
But on a ship, you just shove everything in the hold and it''s all solved!
"Hehe. Wizard!"
After hunting the Hunter Stingray, the captain tantly favored Ian.
He brought better food earlier than others.
Ian''spanions received simr treatment, but Ian was always the top priority.
Inn looked at Ian enviously.
"When did you learn water magic like that?"
"I learned the basics of water magic long ago. This time I referenced Senior Anton''s technique a bit."
"... The more I see you, the more fascinating you are."
Inn was starting to notice that the magic Ian had mastered wasn''t just one or two types.
And he knew how difficult it was to master magic from multiple schools simultaneously.
''I thought he was just a wizard who learned rare magic before, but... looking closer, he''s no ordinary fellow.''
Inn resolved to bring Ian to the university and have a thorough magical discussion.
After a few days of peaceful sailing like that.
"Wi-Wizard!"
Ian, who was overseeing Kira and Maria''s Maroniusnguage study, came out to the deck at the captain''s voice.
Salvador, Belenka, and Sir Dehitri were already looking into the distance with serious expressions.
"You''re here,d?"
"Yes. What''s the matter?"
Ian looked where the knights were staring.
"Hmm?"
A ship without a g was drifting there.
"Looks like a band of pirates..."
When Salvador spoke, Dehitri nodded.
The appearance of pirates meant they were nearing their destination.
"We should prepare for battle."
Naturally, Salvador nned to arm the knights.
But Ian tilted his head as he looked at the drifting ship.
"Is there a problem?"
"No. It''s not that..."
Then Belenka chimed in.
"Ian. Doesn''t that ship look familiar?"
"Yeah. I was about to say that."
Ian felt déjà vu, as if he''d seen that pirate ship somewhere before.
To check if it was just his imagination, Ian called Kira.
"Kira!"
Kira was startled when she saw the approaching pirate ship.
"Ian! That ship! Doesn''t it look like the one we saw in Baron Devosi''s domain?"
"Right?"
It wasn''t just simple déjà vu.
This was truly a ship he''d seen before!
It was the pirate ship Ian had briefly borrowed to travel to Baron Devosi''s domain!
The pirate ship rapidly approached.
When it came within shouting distance, Salvador yelled.
"Stop! Who are you?"
Then came the reply from the other side.
"Hello, friends! We''re Baron Talian''s navy!"
"...?"
Ian blinked.
What? Whose navy?
"In the name of the great Baron Talian! You must pay us a ''toll'' to pass here! Hahaha!"
"..."
Ian was dumbfounded.
There are norge rivers in Talian''s territory.
Of course there''s no such thing as a navy!
Then there''s only one answer.
''Scum impersonating Lucy''s name!''
It was the case of pirates putting on airs by iming to be backed by a noble!
Ignorantmoners would tremble at the noble''s name and pay the toll!
Pissed off, Ian stepped forward.
"Who just spoke?"
"Who? Haha! This young friend has swallowed rudeness for breakfast..."
The pirate captain swaggered forward.
And.
His eyes met Ian''s.
"...?"
As expected, it was a familiar face.
Ian grinned and said.
"Hey. You know me, right?"
"!!!"
Then the pirate captain eximed in shock.
"Wi-Wizard bro?!"
He had no memory of having a pirate brother.Toggle New Ads
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