I Want to Live a Normal Life - Episode 10: Just a Slightly Stronger Mob

Episode 10: Just a Slightly Stronger Mob

(Note: the dialogue with *…* is said by MC)

“*Do you know the direction of the royal castle?*”

“Just wait a moment. Um…”

“That way.”

“*Huh?*”

“Hallways, over there and there.”

“…Oh, you’re right. How did you know?”

“They told me.”

“Who?”

“Seirei-san.”

“”*――Huh!?*””

The girl with silver hair pointed out the direction of the hallway. Despite seeming younger than Miss Liela, she had quite a bit of magic power. I was thinking about that when a surprising word came up.

“Seirei.” They appeared in the original work as sentient entities of magical power that exist everywhere. They are said to be like nature itself and cannot be detected by my [Magic Detection] or [Magic Sense]. Judging from Miss Sasha’s reaction just now, she probably can’t see them with [Magic Eyes] either.

Only those with [Spirit Eyes] or [Spirit Sense] can perceive them. Especially [Spirit Eyes], like [Magic Eyes], are one of the [Divine Eyes]. Those born with them are called “Beloved Children of the Spirits” and are said to be capable of communicating with the “Spirits.” So, does this girl have [Spirit Eyes]?

In the original work… This has to be the same pattern as Miss Sasha, right? Because that third prince, what’s-his-name, definitely doesn’t have “Beloved Children of the Spirits.” Absolutely not. No way. I thought it was odd when it appeared in the original work. He was ridiculously weak, and above all, had zero elements to be loved by the “Spirits.”

“*Ugh, what a country…*”

Nevertheless, considering Miss Sasha’s eyes, it might have been a good timing. We could change the course of fate now.

“*The passage to the royal castle seems to be over there.*”

“I never expected there to be so many soldiers and temple knights…”

We hid the rescued people and completely blocked the second passage, so there are only two left leading to the royal castle and the temple. I thought we’d start with the royal castle, but it’s pretty heavily guarded. Well, it’s right under the royal castle.

“*All right, let’s do it.*”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“*No problem. Please cover any leaks. [Shotgun].*”

“””Guah!”””

“What’s going on!?”

“[Light Spear]!!”

“”Uwah!””

This time, I opted for [Shotgun], which prioritizes quantity over accuracy, rather than [Bullet]. The accuracy and power decrease, but if it’s opponents like these, just shooting randomly should be fine. Yeah, Miss Sasha is also properly finishing them off. I was a little worried about that. It would be troublesome if she hesitated now.

“*Oh, [Land Mine] [Earth Wall].*”

Before completely blocking the passage with five layers of [Earth Wall], I set up [Land Mines] on the floor on the palace side. [Land Mines] are magic that go boom when stepped on, just like the original Mine-kun’s magic that killed the “Sword Saint.”

After setting the [Land Mines], I sealed off the passage with full-powered [Earthen Walls]. They’re as sturdy as they come, even a [Bullet] would only scratch them a bit. However, I slightly reduced the strength of the outermost [Earthen Wall] and placed an explosion magic between it and the second [Earthen Wall]. If someone forcibly breaks through, it will explode. Whoever breaks through must be quite skilled. I’d be happy if they either died or got injured and withdrew from the battlefield.

“*Okay, let’s hurry to the next one.*”

“Yes.”

“*Sorry about this.*”

“Eek!”

This time, we couldn’t sneak in quietly, so things around us started to get noisy. From here on, we’ll move quickly. So, I carry Miss Sasha and run.

“*—I see them!*”

“Stop, you thieves! This place is――”

“Oh, is that Priest Dolnero!?”

“*[Bullet] [Shotgun].*”

“Huh!? No way, Ser――Gah!”

“Uwah!”

Among the enemy group, there was a pompous old man, but I didn’t care and fired [Bullet] and [Shotgun] without hesitation. It’s easy not to leave anything above the neck. He seemed to be an acquaintance of Miss Sasha, but being here makes him an enemy, so there’s no mercy. I’ve already told Miss Sasha beforehand that anyone she meets here is to be shot without question. I’m not here to chat leisurely in enemy territory. There might be other acquaintances of Miss Sasha, but she’s already given her consent to this. There’s no holding back.

“What!? How dare you, to Lord Dolnero!”

“――, ‘Apostle’!?”

“*[Bullet].*”

“You’re naive! With that, it’s not enough to make “*[Earth Spear]*”――me “*[Bullet]*”.”

It seems that the one who survived earlier was one of the “Church of Miltia Apostle Dogs” The [Bullet] was blocked, but the [Earth Spear] from the ground caught him off guard, and I finished him off with another [Bullet]. If he had rushed in without talking, it might have taken some time, but seriously do these guys die if they don’t talk? Well, even if they don’t, they die anyway.

“*I’ll block this area too. Please be on guard.*”

“Uh, um…”

“*[Land Mine] [Earth Wall]… It’s done. All that’s left is to take care of the ones left inside and let the rescued people escape.*”

“There’s no one left around here. They’ve all gathered in the central room—Wait! Someone with considerable magic power has appeared.”

“*….Appeared?*”

“They shouldn’t have been here until just now. How!?”

“*…It’s probably [Teleportation]. There’s no reason to stop concealing their magic power at this point.*”

“…In that case, it’s probably a magic circle. I can feel strong magic coming from the floor.”

“*Let’s hurry. It’ll be troublesome if it’s activated again.*”

“Are we going!?”

“*If possible, I’d like to nullify it. If not, we’ll retreat*.”

Gathering in one place means there’s someone in command. And, the big shot that Miss Sasha saw with her [Magic Eyes]. It’s probably at the level of a cardinal, so it’ll be tough, but if there’s a chance we can win with a direct hit, I want to take them down. No holding back. It would be pointless if they die then.

“Hey… Is there an option of retreating from here?”

“*…There isn’t, but why*?”

“Someone in that room is quite powerful even among the church members. Plus, they’re fully prepared and waiting. If we get caught—”

“*I see. There’s no need to go straight to where the opponent is waiting.*”

“Yes, so—”

“*Let’s weaken them first.*”

“Huh?”

Yeah, I was completely ready to charge in head-on. Maybe I was getting carried away. Even though my motto is not to overdo it. That was close. Luckily, I have a means of attacking from a long distance. In that case, there’s only one thing to do, right?

“*[Cannon].*”

So, I stood at the end of the corridor leading straight to the central room and set up three cannons on the floor. This is also a magic spell I’m unveiling for the first time. Well, it’s just firing the big [Bullet] from the cannons. The explosions inside the cannons accelerate it upon firing, so the speed and power are incomparable to [Bullet], but the drawback is that the accuracy drops a bit.

Once the setup is done, all that’s left is to give the activation phrase. Oh, by activation phrase, I mean the one you say when firing the standby [Bullet].

Direction looks good. Angle is probably good too. Shall we go?

“*[Fire]!*”

“Ack!”

“””Uwaaaah!!?”””

“W,what’s…?”

“*[Fire]!*”

“””Gyaaaaaah…!!”””

With the activation phrase, the first shot is fired with a roar. The door blows away in one shot, and screams can be heard from inside the room. It must be the ones who were about to attack when the door opened. Too bad. After confirming that the door blew away, I fire the second and third shots as well. I’ll add a bonus with the fourth shot and onwards.

“*A little tweaking and… [Fire]!*”

“””Guaaaah…!?”””

I set up explosion magic in the warhead to explode upon impact. This should increase the range of damage. While repairing the distorted [Cannon] with each explosion, I keep firing away. I hope we win.

“*Is this enough?*”

I fired dozens of shots for now. There were screams at first, but now all we hear are the sounds of bombardment and explosions. It would be nice if this was the end.

“*How’s inside?*”

“…One heavily injured and one lightly injured. The lightly injured one is the one who appeared earlier. Oh, and it seems the magic circle has lost its effect.”

Ugh, two survivors, huh. And one of them is lightly injured. There really was a big shot here. Well, even though [Cannon] is strong on direct hits, the explosive power that can be packed into that size isn’t much. There’s no helping that. Plus, now that the magic circle is destroyed, there’s no need to worry about reinforcements or escape.

While suppressing them with a barrage of [Bullets], I approach them until they enter the range of my [Magic Detection].

“The heavily injured one is down. Only one left.”

“*Oh, he entered… An ice wall? It looks pretty tough.*”

“What do we do?”

“*…Let’s see. [Bullets] from this distance won’t be effective, so let’s approach first. Please be on guard in case a new player shows up.*”

“Yes, understood.”

Since the [Bullets] from this distance seem to be blocked by the ice wall, I’ll approach and try shooting. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try punching. I leave Miss Sasha as a guard and quickly close the distance.

“You, who the hell do you think—”

“*Don’t know. Die.*”

I fired [Bullets] at point-blank range, but since they didn’t penetrate, I tried smashing it with a mace, and it easily shattered. Even though I’ve been practicing fighting with a mace against Alt, I’m somewhat improved. Well, I’m just relying on stacking [Body Reinforcement] and brute force.

But man, this guy, judging from his tone, he must have been someone important, but his voice doesn’t ring a bell. Which means he probably died or fell from power before the start of the original story. In other words, he’s just a slightly stronger mob. Similar to some ‘Sword Saint’ or something.

“I-I am Mii— “*[Bullet]*”—Cheeky! [Ice Wall] “*[Bullet]*”—Boom!—Kuh!? Why won’t the “*[Bullet]*”—Ugh!”

“*Hmm… Can’t seem to break through…*”

I tried changing the angle while firing [Bullets], but the ice wall forms too quickly, and the attacks don’t quite reach the main body. But well, if it’s just this level of strength, I should be able to handle it somehow.

“Hmph, even now, you “*[Bullet]*”—Enough, it’s useless “*[Bullet]*”—Annoying!”

“*[Bullet]*”

“Hmph, you fools—Wha! Guh!?… So, cowardly…”

While chanting [Bullet], I sprout [Earth Lance] from the floor. He barely notices and tries to dodge, but I manipulate the ground beneath him to grab the hem of his robe. He managed to evade the previous attack, so I learn from that. Immediately after, the earthen spear deeply pierces his left side. Sorry about that. I don’t have any chivalrous spirit, you know. So, goodbye.

“Sto—”

“*[Bullet]*”

…

“*Sasha, I’m done over here.*”

“It seems no new players have arrived yet. Things are getting quite hectic on the other side of the wall, though.”

“*Is that so? Then let’s quickly search the nearby rooms and make our escape.*”

“Yes, sounds good. …Huh? Th-this emblem belongs to Cardinal Holmz!? To think someone of that caliber was involved…”

“*Considering the scale of this facility, it might involve both the royal family and the church, don’t you think?*”

“That’s…?”

But man, this guy was a cardinal? Well, his magic power was impressive. But it’s strange that he wasn’t that strong. His spell casting seemed awkward, and the impression I got from his magic power didn’t match the actual fight. I was even considering fleeing at one point. Well, it’s all good since we won.

“*Well, let’s leave it at that for now. There’s still plenty to do.*”

Gathering evidence, helping the captured people escape, scattering evidence, destroying this place… Ah, I also need to deliver the letter from the Border Count. Hmm, I’m busy.