Chapter 57 — Volume 5 Side Story — Eris Goblin Suppression
32 min read ·
Part 1
This is sudden, but let's talk about the boy known as Cliff Grimoire.
Cliff was now 13 years old; his age was right between those of Eris and Rudeus.
When he was old enough to understand what was going on, he was in an orphanage.
It was an orphanage in Milishion. It was an orphanage that could be said to be the symbol of the prestige and authority of the Milis religious organization.
There were no problems with the management, and the children were able to grow without worries and were sent off to foster parents.
When Cliff was 5, he was adopted by his current foster parent.
He was an old man named Harry Grimoire.
He was a person who held a high position in the Milis religious organization.
Before he had been adopted by Harry, Cliff had been receiving special education for gifted children.
In just a few years he had reached advanced rank in healing, detoxification and summoning magic.
In offensive magic as well, he had reached intermediate rank in all elements.
He was even more proficient in fire magic, and had reached advanced rank.
Cliff was a genius.
Praise rained down on him from all around.
Everyone had anticipated that he would surely become an amazing individual when he grew up.
It could be described as a childhood quite similar to Rudeus.
However, unlike Rudeus who had retained memories from his previous life, Cliff was becoming impudent.
He had become conceited, as though he had no betters.
At any rate, even amongst his peers in the classroom, there was no one who could use as many different magics as Cliff.
There were those who had reached Saint rank in healing.
There were those who had reached Saint rank in detoxification.
However, only Cliff had reached Advanced level in all three.
Because of his diversity, there were those who began to call him a sage in the making.
Cliff grew even more impudent.
He gradually stopped listening to his teacher's words.
In the future, Cliff was to succeed his foster father in his occupation.
Cliff had understood this as well.
But even so, Cliff longed to become an adventurer.
Why an adventurer?
That was due to the influence of his days at the orphanage.
Many of those who had graduated from the orphanage became adventurers.
If the children at the orphanage weren't adopted by the age of ten, they would enter into a school managed by the Milis religious organization.
There, they would train for five years.
For example swordsmanship or magic, it was combat training. Like that, they would train for jobs that their talents suited.
Those who excelled in not only studying, but also swordsmanship and magic could become knights.
However, the majority became adventurers.
As a result, there were many adventurers among the orphanage alumni.
These alumni would occasionally come to the orphanage.
While greeting their former teachers, they'd also tell fun stories of their adventures to the orphans.
Hearing these, the orphans would yearn to become adventurers.
Cliff was no exception.
Of course, Cliff didn't think his dream would come true.
Though he longed for it, he also understood his own circumstances.
As an orphan, selfishness wasn't permitted.
He endured.
Indeed, in the beginning.
However, this stiff lifestyle accumulated resentment inside Cliff, and as the praise continued to be showered onto him, Cliff grew more arrogant by the day.
On a certain day, Cliff ran away from home and thought to register as an adventurer.
It was a bit of a test of his power.
There were even those amongst the teachers who as former adventurers would speak about their past boastfully.
'When I was young, I wanted to pile up experiences like that.' they would say.
He got ready.
With the staff that he received from his foster father on his 10th birthday in hand, he left the Sacred District and entered the Adventurers District.
On the way, he bought a robe like those magicians would wear.
It was blue colored. He headed to the Adventurers Guild.
If he registered as a healer, he'd probably be immediately found by the church.
However, if he registered as a magician then it would be fine.
While believing foolish things like this, he finished the registration.
And like that, he was an adventurer, just like everyone else.
'A great adventure awaits me in a world I've never seen.'
He thought, and surveyed the surroundings in excitement.
Everyone was a brawny man.
He realized that everyone was something like a warrior or a swordsman.
Cliff had heard from his seniors at the orphanage that their parties had desperately needed a skilled magician.
That's why he had thought that if he called himself a magician, he'd immediately be able to enter a party.
Cliff had ignored the talk about adventurer ranks.
He had thought of parties as groups that didn't involve ranks.
Of course he had been rejected.
Bluntly rejected.
Over and over, rejected.
By the fourth time, Cliff's patience had reached its limits.
"Why!? Why can't I enter the party!?"
"Like I said, your rank is different."
"So what about my rank!? I actually have the strength of an A ranker! I said that because it couldn't be helped, I'd bear with partying with you lot, didn't I!?"
"What was that…? Don't get too carried away, you brat! Do you think a magician like you can win after picking a fight at this distance…?"
"You're not good for anything but swinging a sword around. Don't get carried away!"
"You sheetty brat…"
Cliff was grabbed by the collar, and was thinking that if he showed his true power, he could drive them away somehow.
"Stop that. You're being childish, you know."
The one who interrupted them was a red-haired girl of about Cliff's age.
Part 2
Going back in time a little…
Eris Boreas Greyrat turned her feet towards the Adventurers Guild.
From an outsider's perspective, she was making a pleasant smile whilst quickly making her way down the main street.
She was dressed in her usual adventurers outfit.
Over her thick clothing were guards made of fur.
Over her fur pants were boots made of a thin but tough material.
At her hip was a sword, and at a glance anyone could tell that she was a swordswoman.
She wasn't wearing her usual hood.
If she wore the hood to the Adventurers Guild then she'd be mistaken for a magician, and strange men would approach her.
It was something she'd experienced countless times this past year.
Eris arrived in front of the Adventurers Guild.
The Milishion Adventurers Guild was at the end of the main road.
As expected of the headquarters, it was the largest building in the Adventurers District.
Without being overwhelmed by the awesome, and huge gate, Eris stepped inside.
Looking at the huge lobby, she unconsciously folded her arms.
Anyhow, it was even larger than the banquet halls in Roa.
It goes without saying that it was larger than all the Adventurers Guilds she had seen thus far.
If she were a young girl becoming an adventurer for the first time, in the face of such a spacious room, she might have shied away.
However, this was Eris.
She was an A ranker.
A competent adventurer.
She immediately began to walk towards her objective.
It was the request board.
It was far larger than other requests boards, and was overflowing with attached requests.
Eris looked at them, arms folded.
She wasn't looking at her usual B ranked requests, but was looking at the E ranked area.
There, she was looking for requests that were classified as Free Quests.
Free Quests were requests that were periodically issued by the nation.
The pay was lower, but because of its urgency, adventurers of any rank could accept it.
The reason Eris hadn't seen any on the Magic Continent was because there were no nations to speak of.
Amongst all the other requests, Eris had managed to single out the one she was looking for:
===================================
Free
Job: Goblin suppression
Reward: 10 Milisian Copper Coins per ear
Job details: Culling goblins
Location: Eastern Milishion
Time limit: None in particular
Deadline: None in particular
Client name: Holy Knight Orders of Milis
Notes: Beginners be aware of the hobgoblins that occasionally appear.
Additionally, please do not tear off this request, and simply bring
the gathered items to the counter.
===================================
Goblins were monsters that only appeared in the forests and plains.
Though they were humanoids and could use simple weapons, they couldn't comprehend human speech.
If there were just a few of them, it'd be fine to leave them alone, but if left to their own devices, they would steadily increase in population and start to attack the surrounding villages.
They were vermin, so to speak.
Be that as it may, because they lived in the forest and its surroundings, they acted as a natural defence against outbreaks of monsters from the forest.
Additionally, goblins were weak and so a young boy who dabbled in the sword was more than a match for one.
Making use of this fact, the Adventurers Guild prepared a reward suitable for beginners, and would prepare goblin suppression quests as a kind of introduction to suppression requests.
Also, though it was something Eris wasn't aware of, goblins were also used as a torture instrument for spies from enemy nations.
Due to the above reasons, the goblin population in Milis would be carefully maintained at a moderate level.
Now then, why would an A ranked adventurer like Eris, who could defeat the average C ranked adventurer barehanded, and whose strength had already been recognized by Ruijerd, be accepting such a request so late in her adventurer life?
There were two reasons.
First of all, it was simply one of Eris' dreams.
In the past, Eris had attended school for just a very short while.
Her male classmates had been huddled together, and talking about something.
That topic was about what they would do if they became adventurers.
First they would hunt goblins, and with money saved up from doing so, and whilst travelling bit by bit towards the southern region of the Central Continent, they would challenge themselves with dungeons and high ranked requests.
They spoke about that kind of dream.
Eris, who had been listening in from nearby, began to have delusions of one day doing so as well.
Her delusions began to swell, and then she approached the happily talking boys and told them to let her join in as well, but for various reasons they fought, and then she beat the three of them up.
After that, she dropped out of school and met Ghyslaine, and each time she spoke to Ghyslaine her feelings about adventurers became stronger.
After meeting Rudeus, she was filled with dreams of going on adventures with him.
She would be a swordswoman, and he would be a magician.
They would challenge dungeons, just the two of them.
However, after going on a journey for real, it was different from her dream.
In particular, Rudeus was more cool-headed and pragmatic than she had imagined.
Because of the danger, not once did they approach a dungeon.
If she proposed goblin hunting, he'd probably ask "What for?" with a stunned expression.
Eris was a woman who had become an adventurer on the Magic Continent, after all.
He wouldn't be able to understand what meaning there would be in hunting goblins now.
But putting that aside…
Goblin hunting was number one on Eris's list of 『Things I want to do when I become an adventurer』.
Even if there wasn't any meaning in it, it was something she wanted to try.
That was the first reason.
As for the second reason… it's a secret.
"I wonder if I'd be able to return before the sun goes down…"
While looking at the requests, Eris was thinking of the time it would take to go there and back.
This time she would be travelling on foot.
It was still morning at the moment, but it would be better to do things with time to spare.
"…Hm?"
Incidentally by the F ranked requests, a certain memo was attached near the edges of the request board.
『Refugees from the Fedoa region, please contact the following address』
Without reading the rest, Eris moved her gaze away.
She had seen this memo at Saint Port as well.
Rudi hadn't spoken about the Fedoa region issue.
Eris had thought that Rudeus had been considerate of her, and had undoubtedly been trying to avoid worrying her.
Today's independent action as well was probably so that he could work out what to do about this matter.
'I wouldn't understand difficult matters' Eris had been thinking.
'Even if I don't think deeply about it, Rudeus has probably thought of something, so Rudeus will properly discuss it when the time comes.'
So thought Eris.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that Rudeus hadn't even known about it.
"Now then!"
With the request confirmed, in high spirits Eris got ready to leave the guild.
All there was left to do was walk east, and then hunt the goblins. Considering Eris' current enthusiasm, she would probably even destroy one or two nests.
There wasn't anything left to stop her.
It was time to sing a requiem for the pitiful goblins.
"Why!?"
Or so it had seemed, but suddenly hearing a shout, Eris stopped her feet.
It was the voice of a young boy.
She casually looked towards the source.
A youth was encircled by men twice his height.
"Why can't I enter the party!?"
The shouting youth was wearing a blue coloured robe.
He was a bit shorter than Rudeus, and his hair was dark brown.
His eyes were hidden by long forelocks.
His staff wasn't as splendid as Rudeus' 『Aqua Heartia』 either.
However, from the size of the mana crystal, it could be seen that it was still a staff made of expensive materials.
'My family is higher ranked than his, huh?' Eris naturally thought.
"I actually have the strength of an A ranker! I said that because it couldn't be helped, I'd bear with partying with you lot, didn't I!?"
Because of that arrogant manner of speaking, the men naturally became annoyed.
Even Eris would wallop him had those words been said to her.
"What was that…? Don't get too carried away, you brat! Do you think a magician like you can win after picking a fight at this distance…?"
"You're not good for anything but swinging a sword around. Don't get carried away!"
"What was that, you sheetty brat…?"
Even caught by the collar, the youth still gave off an expression of composure.
However, Eris hadn't overlooked that his legs were shaking, if only a little.
Eris casually walked towards them, and placed herself between the two of them.
"Stop that. You're being childish, you know."
Had Rudeus been there, he would have been staring in wonder.
'Childish.'
They were words that you couldn't even imagine being said by the usual Eris.
Eris had gotten carried away by the mood.
'I'm an A ranked adventurer so I'm higher ranked than the angry men.'
'A man who's hurting a newbie, and me who's objecting.'
'So cool.'
It was that kind of mood.
"…Tsk. You're right. We were being pretty childish."
The man easily removed his hands from the boy.
Eris had already assumed that she'd get into a fight with the man, so she was a little disappointed.
"Let's go, guys."
The men had left, and only the youth remained.
With a composed expression, Eris awaited the youth's thanks.
'Thank you for saving me. Who are you?'
'I'm nobody famous.'
'At least give me your name.'
'Alright. Let's just go with Ruijerd of 『Dead End』.'
She had been thinking it'd go something like that.
Incidentally, it was something that Rudeus did on occasion.
"I never asked anyone for help, you know!"
The youth spat out these words, and Eris' proud expression froze.
"With my magic I could have worked out something of that level! Don't just decide on your own to butt in and settle things, ugly!"
The boy was lucky.
He had been knocked out in one hit, after all.
Not only that, but the men from before were still nearby.
Had it not been for their efforts in desperately stopping the enraged Eris, there's no doubt that the boy would have lost the two orbs that were most important as a man.
Part 3
Despite having become a little displeased, Eris had come to the gates of Milishion.
Though she was the type to change gears quickly, she was still unhappy.
As for why…
"Wait! Please wait!"
The youth who had been revived after fainting had come running after her.
"I'm sorry about before. I was a bit confused from the shock…"
The youth had said this and politely bowed his head.
It was because of this that Eris' mood could still be called "a little" displeased.
The boy had just barely managed to escape from death.
However, had it not been for fainting after one hit, then he probably wouldn't have been capable of doing something as vigorous as running after Eris.
"I'm Cliff. Cliff Grimoire!"
"…I'm Eris."
Eris had decided to give up on giving the name 『Dead End』.
She couldn't give Ruijerd's name to a person she had beaten up in impatience.
"Eris-san! That's a wonderful name! That outfit means you're a swordswoman, right!? By all means, please form a party with me!"
Dead centre in the middle of the road was Cliff, who was talking on and on.
Eris had been thinking to just go with the flow and knock him out, but for now she was enduring.
"Don't want to."
Eris turned away in a huff and walked away.
Honestly speaking, she wasn't used to this kind of person.
To continue to approach her even after being beaten up…
Of the people she knew, there was basically only Rudeus.
"Is that so? Then please, at least let me cover you from behind! People have been saying that I'm a sage in the making. I'll definitely be useful!"
Had Rudeus been here…
'Just who exactly is a sage in the making(lit. sage's egg)? At best you're an unfertilized egg, you virgin asshole!'
He probably would have spat out such insults towards the boy.
In his mind, at least.
Eris didn't say such vulgar insults.
'If you're an egg, then how about I break you to pieces and fry you sunny side up?' was all she had been thinking.
"I don't think even you've met a magician as strong as me, Eris-san. At any rate, I'm stronger than your average A ranked magician after all."
Being told this, Eris became annoyed.
To her, the "strongest magician" was none other than Rudeus.
Rudeus was such a skilled magician that even Ruijerd had acknowledged him.
Though he was certainly A ranked, you couldn't lump him together with any run-of-the-mill A rankers.
"By all means, please confirm this with your own eyes!"
'Then I will have a look!' Eris had ended up thinking.
"Fine. Come along, then."
"Yes!"
And like that, Eris and Cliff left to hunt goblins.
Part 4
Seven goblins were burnt to cinders in an instant.
"How was that!? It was amazing, right!? An average magician wouldn't have been able to do this, you know!"
Making a face as if to ask 'How was that!?', Cliff looked over the annihilated goblins.
The goblins were completely carbonised, and were in a condition where you couldn't even collect their ears.
"Is that so? It wasn't amazing at all."
It wasn't a bluff.
Eris had meant it from the bottom of her heart.
Advanced Fire Magic 『Imprisoning Blaze Fire Bullet(Exodus Flame)』.
Eris had seen Rudeus using this before.
He hadn't spoken a long chant like Cliff had, and it was more powerful than Cliff's as well.
However, Rudeus would never have used such a magic against opponents as weak as goblins.
Had it been Rudeus, he would never have made the mistake of losing the goblin ears.
Also, until he had finished chanting, Eris had been fighting those goblins.
Because Cliff hadn't said anything to her when he had finished his chant, she had almost been caught up in his attack as well.
Had it been Rudeus, there was absolutely no way he would have done something as dangerous as that.
"Eris-san, you don't really know much about magic, huh? Listen, okay? In the first place, magic is something that…"
Cliff began a long and drawn out explanation of the tiers of magic from elementary to advanced, and how the one he was using was advanced, and was advanced enough that even the men from before couldn't use it.
Of course, this was something Eris knew.
It was discussed in Rudeus' lessons, after all.
Not only that, but Rudeus' lessons were 10 times easier to understand than Cliff's explanation.
"Do you understand just how amazing I am now?"
'Should I hit him?' Eris had been thinking.
Even though it was the goblin hunting that she had been dreaming of for so long, because of this guy, things had been spoilt for her.
Because of that, Eris took an imposing stance with her arms crossed and spoke ruthlessly.
"That's enough. You don't seem to be of use, so just go home."
Had it been Rudeus, he probably would have chosen to retreat temporarily.
However, it seemed as though Cliff couldn't read the mood.
"What on earth are you saying!? You've been struggling to fight just a few goblins. There's no way you'd be able to do it alone!"
Before she had noticed, her fist had already swung towards him.
Cliff grasped his face, while his nose ran with blood.
He had immediately chanted Healing, and stopped his nosebleed.
"What are you doing!?"
"Tsk."
Eris had clicked her tongue.
Because it wouldn't do to leave someone knocked out in the plains, she had gone easy on him, but the result was that he was able to get carried away like this.
"Yeah, of course I understand. That you're strong, Eris-san, is something I reaaally understand. In that case, let's head into the forest this time. I can't show you my true worth by fighting goblins after all."
There were no ulterior motives to his words.
He wanted to show Eris how amazing he was.
However, it was definitely not the case of a boy wanting to show the girl he loved his cool side.
He had simply wanted Eris to be amazed at his powerful self.
"The forest is no good."
Eris spoke briefly.
The forest is no good.
It was something that Rudeus always said.
Moreover, Ruijerd would agree with it.
Thus, Eris obediently abided by it.
"Though you'd be the last person I'd expect to say this, Eris-san, are you afraid?"
"I'm not afraid!"
However, Eris was still a simple girl.
As long as you used such a line, she was easily swayed.
It wasn't acceptable to allow someone to look down on the Boreas family like they were novice adventurers.
"The forest, right!? Fine! Let's go!"
And so the two of them made their way towards the dim forest.
Part 5
"Even if we head into the forest, since it's Milis it's still no big deal, huh?"
While saying this, Eris was cutting down monkey monsters named Utans. They were D ranked monsters though, so they were no match for Eris.
"That's true. They aren't a match for me either."
Cliff spoke while again killing an Utan with intermediate wind magic.
Like that, they rapidly headed into the depths of the forest.
"Ah-"
Suddenly, Eris raised her voice.
"What's wrong, Eris-san!?"
With a happy expression, Cliff approached Eris.
Eris was openly making an unhappy face.
She then folded her arms, spread her legs shoulder-width apart, and overlooked Cliff with her chin raised.
"You. Do you know which way heads back to the city?"
"I don't."
Naturally, there was no way Cliff could know such a thing.
Because they had done this due to a sudden suggestion, they hadn't brought any equipment for entering forests.
"I see. Then we're lost, huh?"
Eris had calmly declared this.
Cliff had kept silent. And then, very quickly, his face became pale.
"W-, what should we do?"
Eris was calm.
Thus, Cliff had thought that she had some kind of idea.
However, deep down Eris had also thought that the situation was bad.
If those two found out that she had become lost in the forest, they'd be shocked.
They'd wonder why she entered a forest while hunting for goblins, and be shocked.
However, she would never show this in her attitude.
A lady of the Greyrat family should always be composed.
"Cliff, fly into the air for a bit and find out which way the city is in."
"There's no way I'd be able to do something like that, right?"
"Rudeus would be able to do it."
"Rudeus? Who's that?"
"My teacher."
"Ehh!?"
Eris let out a sigh.
Even if they argued, there'd be no meaning in it.
'What should I do at a time like this?'
Then it came to her; it was something that Ghyslaine had taught her for times when she was lost.
If she remembered correctly, it was to collect tree branches and start a fire.
The smoke would rise to the air, and could be seen from afar.
However, who would see it?
Ruijerd had said that he had things to do today.
Rudeus had said so as well.
Nobody would notice.
"…"
At some point, Eris had unconsciously folded her arms, and in an imposing stance, and the corners of her mouth had curved downwards.
She then closed her eyes and thought carefully. Ghyslaine had said this.
That at these times when she was anxious that she especially needed to compose herself.
Because of that, no matter the situation, she would never panic.
"Eh, Eris-san. What should we do?"
"There should be other adventurers in this forest."
"I-, I see. If we depend on them… Let's look for them."
Cliff had started running flusteredly.
However, Eris didn't move.
Ruijerd had taught her this.
That in times like this, she should stay still.
That while staying still, she should search for the presence of others.
She had also been taught how to search for them.
Even without a third eye, she could perceive sound, and the surroundings, as well as the flow of mana.
Though Eris was still immature, she did practice everyday.
"Eris-san…?"
"Quiet!"
Eris took a deep breath and then with her eyes still closed, she sharpened her mind.
The sound of the forest.
The sound of leaves rubbing against each other.
The sound of moving animals.
The sound of flying insects.
And then, the faintly audible sound of weapons.
"I've found them. This way."
Immediate decisions and immediate action.
Without hesitation, Eris began to walk.
"What is it? What did you find!?"
"People. They're that way."
"How!?"
"I searched for their presence."
"Did your teacher teach you this too!?"
Having been asked that, Eris thought for a little.
Is Ruijerd a teacher?
He's a teacher, right?
Though it's not as much as Ghyslaine, I've been taught various things by him as well.
He's a teacher.
No, he's someone you could even call a master.
"That's right."
"He's pretty amazing huh, that Rudeus person…"
"Hm? …Right. Rudeus is amazing."
Without understanding why Rudeus's name was suddenly brought up, Eris continued forward.
Part 6
They had left the forest.
The moment they did, they spotted a horse carriage being turned over.
"Get down!"
"Gueh!"
Eris had immediately gripped Cliff's head and thrown it to the ground.
As for herself, she was crouching and confirming the situation.
"…"
There were 6 people standing there.
One person was a knight in full body armor.
The knight was standing with their back to a tree, and had their sword in a guard.
In the area were men dressed from head to toe in black.
There were 5 of them.
The black clothed men were surrounding the knight.
In the area were three corpses.
All of them were wearing armor.
They were wearing the same armor as the surrounded knight.
The men slowly tightened their encirclement around the knight.
The difference in fighting ability was already clear.
Though this was the case, why wasn't the knight escaping?
The knight had their back to a tree, and looking carefully, a girl could be seen crouching by the base of the tree.
Her expression was brimming with anxiety and despair, and her face was wet with tears.
"Eris-san, that armor means that the knight belongs to the Order of the Temple!"
Cliff informed Eris in a whisper.
Eris' heart was beating fast.
The Order of the Temple.
She had heard of it.
It was one of Milis's three knight orders.
The elite group in charge of defending the country, the Order of the Church.
Spreading Milis' teachings around the world, making known their power, and doing mercenary-like work, the Order of Instruction.
Finally, the branch in charge of heresy inquisitions, their name a synonym for passing judgement onto heretics, the Order of the Temple.
Respectively,
The Order of the Church wore white armor.
The Order of Instruction wore silver armor.
The Order of the Temple wore blue armor.
Though the knight was a long way away, their sky blue armor could be seen.
There was no mistake.
The one who was now cornered was a Knight of the Order of the Temple.
"You bastards! You know who this lady is, don't you!?"
When they raised their voice, it was understood in an instant.
The cornered knight was a woman.
The men looked at each other, and then abruptly broke into laughter.
"That's obvious."
"Then why!?"
"It goes without saying, right?"
"You bastards! Are you with the pope's faction!?"
Eris couldn't understand their conversation.
However, she understood that the black-clothed men seemed to be bad guys, and wanted to kill that girl.
Eris placed her hand to the sword at her waist.
Cliff questioned it.
"W-, what are you planning to do, Eris-san? However you look at this, it's bad. That girl is the shrine maiden said to be one of the candidates for next Pope. In other words, those black-clothed men are definitely an assassination squad employed by the Pope of Milis. They're all skilled. Even if it's us, we don't have a chance of winning…"
Eris hadn't even wondered why Cliff knew so much about this.
All Eris was focusing on was the fact that if Eris couldn't save the girl now, she'd be killed.
Also, Eris was a member of 『Dead End』.
If she abandoned a child, she wouldn't be able to face Ruijerd. Rudeus would always say that as well, and would lend his hand to others.
"Let's just stay unnoticed, and let them do it."
"It's too late. We've already been noticed."
Eris understood.
One of the men had noticed them when she had pushed Cliff down.
She didn't know what the man was thinking.
However, whatever the case, Eris planned to take the initiative.
"You can just keep hiding here, Cliff!"
"E-, Eris-san!"
Eris drew her sword and at the same time leaped towards them.
In an instant, the black-clothed men had spread out.
However…
"You're slow!"
Eris' steps were more nimble than the men had anticipated.
Sword God Style Advanced Rank 『Soundless Longsword』.
As a technique below that of the longsword of light, it was a technique whose swing didn't leave a single sound.
Thanks to Ghyslaine and Ruijerd, Eris' skill in swordsmanship was improving considerably.
The sword entered one of the men from the shoulder, easily bisected his ribs, and perfectly split him in a cut that ran diagonally from the shoulder.
Without being bewildered by the sensation of cutting someone for the first time, Eris turned her sword towards the next opponent.
The men moved to surround Eris.
However, Eris's movements were even quicker.
She had been lectured quite a bit by Ruijerd on what to do when surrounded by multiple opponents.
Many types of monsters like to swarm their enemies.
It was a theory that involved killing them before you were surrounded.
"Haaaa!"
In the blink of an eye, one of the black-clothed men had been cut down.
A tremble ran through the men.
Eris' rhythm was irregular, and after preliminary movements that they couldn't grasp, her slashes came flying.
Because her attacks were difficult to deal with even when the men devoted themselves to evasion, they couldn't do anything else while defending.
However, the men were professionals.
Sacrificing one person, their encirclement was complete.
Two of the black-clothed men leaped in towards Eris at different times.
They were fast.
However, they weren't as fast as Ruijerd.
Their cooperation wasn't to the level of the Pack Coyotes on the Magic Continent either.
They were lukewarm.
"Those guys have daggers soaked in poison! Be careful!"
The knight protecting the girl had shouted that, whilst moving as well.
A slash from outside the encirclement killed one of the men.
When the woman moved, whilst predicting the movements of the men, Eris found an opening in their encirclement.
'I can win.'
Eris had confidence.
Whilst thinking this, she cut down another man.
There were two left.
"Retreat!"
One of the men had yelled this, and in an instant the two had turned around and made to escape.
However, Eris wasn't a naive girl who would relax near the end.
In a flash she had caught up, and slashed into one of their backs.
His upper and lower halves separated, and he fell with his entrails scattering about.
The other man was nowhere to be seen, and had disappeared beyond the plains.
"Hmph!"
Eris snorted.
She sent the blood on her blade flying with a swing.
Eris appeared as she usually did.
However, her heart was beating loudly.
Thinking about it, it was the first time she had fought a human for real, and it was also the first time she had killed a person.
Moreover, the enemy had daggers coated with poison.
They were weapons that could cause a fatal wound with just one cut.
There wasn't anyone like Rudeus or Ruijerd to protect her back either.
Though she had jumped towards them without a thought, had it not been for that female knight, Eris might have died.
However, Eris didn't reveal any of those thoughts.
She returned her sword to her scabbard, and turned towards the female knight.
"Sorry. One of them escaped."
The knight was a little taken aback by those words.
After all, though she was a girl who hadn't yet reached adulthood, she had passed through a life or death battle and looked excessively calm.
Without taking off her parrot-like helmet, the knight raised a fist to her abdomen and expressed her thanks in the proper manner for a knight of Milis.
"I humbly thank you for your assistance."
"As long as the child is safe, it's fine."
Without returning the courtesy, Eris remembered her own speaking style, and had spoken in a blunt manner.
"I am Therese Latreia of the Order of the Temple. I assume you're an adventurer, but could I ask for your name?"
"I'm E-…"
Eris had thought to give her real name, but stopped.
That's not it.
Rudeus wouldn't have done things like that.
"『Ruijerd of Dead End』. Though I look like this, I'm a Superd."
Hearing 'Superd', Therese's expression had become stern.
Though Eris didn't know it, the Order of the Temple was calling for the expulsion of the Demon Race.
Naturally, Eris didn't exhibit the characteristics of a Superd.
That's why Therese's expression loosened.
Because Eris had not given her real name, but the name of a race that the Order of the Temple was not comfortable with, Therese had judged it to be implying that Eris hadn't wanted to become mixed up in this incident any further.
Though she had saved someone of importance, she didn't desire thanks.
Therese had thought well of this attitude.
"Is that so? I understand…"
Therese had taken a long look at Eris, who was staring intensely with her arms crossed, and committed her face to memory.
After that, she whistled.
When she did, a single horse came running from inside the forest.
The horse which had escaped when the carriage was overturned had returned as practiced.
She placed the girl on the horse, and got on as well.
"If you ever have any trouble, remember the name Therese of the Order of the Knights!"
Therese had left those words, and rode away on the horse.
Eris silently saw her off.
Like a scene from a fairy-tale, the mounted knight rode away and was seen off by a fearless, red-haired swordsman.
The youth who had been hiding and unable to stand, did nothing except continue to watch them.
Part 7
A certain priest of the Milis religious organization had fallen in love with a halfling woman.
A child born from the two of them had grown up, and married a woman.
And like that, Cliff was born.
Around the time of Cliff's birth, that priest had been in the midst of a power struggle.
Cliff's parents had been caught up in this and had died.
For the sake of keeping his grandchild Cliff away from the power struggle, he was temporarily left in the care of an orphanage.
The priest then triumphed in the power struggle and became pope, and welcomed in Cliff.
In other words, Cliff Grimoire was the grandchild of the pope.
However, even within the church there were few who knew this.
Because of that, Cliff knew quite well who the attacked girl was.
She was the trump card of the archbishop who was now competing against his grandfather for power, a shrine maiden who possessed wonderous power.
He was even acquainted with her.
Cliff didn't know why she was in such a place.
However, he knew the black-clothed group quite well.
They were the teachers that taught Cliff.
Cliff knew that they were in charge of these kinds of jobs.
And he also knew of their strength.
He had faced them many times in training, but hadn't won even once.
Those teachers hadn't been a problem for Eris.
In reality, she had just barely won, but what was reflected in Cliff's eyes were foes that he couldn't defeat even with all his might being overwhelmed by her.
Before he had noticed, Cliff had been looking at Eris with eyes of yearning.
The girl was walking towards town with a tired expression.
'This person will definitely become someone amazing.'
When he thought this, words spilled from his lips.
"Eris-san, please marry me!"
"Eh, absolutely not!"
Immediately making a displeased expression, Eris rejected him.
Cliff had thought that it was impossible that a proposal from his talented self could be rejected.
'Why?' he wondered.
He considered the conversation he had with her today.
Right, there was the person she had called her teacher.
She had mentioned her teacher again and again.
If he remembered correctly, the name was Ru… Ru…
"Rudeus."
When he recalled the name and he had tried saying it, Eris had turned to face him.
"What kind of person is the Rudeus that you mentioned?"
A few minutes later, Cliff had begun to absolutely hate himself for having asked that question.
He had thought that Eris was a taciturn girl, but that wasn't the case.
When telling stories about Rudeus, as though there were no one better, she continued to boast.
From the plains to the Adventurers Guild, she continued to talk.
Moreover, the expression she made was undeniably that of a maiden in love, and the contents of her talk were nothing but excessive praise.
Cliff had been made more than jealous enough.
"…It's about time I head home."
While aware that he was making a discouraged expression, he had said that to Eris.
Though it seemed as though Eris felt that she hadn't talked nearly enough, when Cliff said he was going home she simply waved her hand without concern for him.
"Bye then."
That curt attitude seemed like a completely different person from the one who had been passionately talking just a little earlier.
Until he could no longer see her figure, Cliff wordlessly saw her off.
The man named Rudeus who had softened the strong, beautiful and perfect Eris to this extent…
Thoughts of the as of yet unseen Rudeus had come to Cliff's mind as he returned home to the church.
After that, he was scolded by those who had been looking for him.
Because of the incident this time, the power struggles within the religious organization intensified, and because the Pope had considered that Milishion was too dangerous for Cliff, he sent his grandchild to another country but… that was something completely unrelated to Eris.
---
By the way, speaking of Eris…
When she had returned to the inn, the instant she saw the depressed Rudeus, the memories of this time's events were pushed into the recesses of her mind and she ended up completely forgetting.
However, that's another story.