211: I'm a magician, you know?
Honestly, these members are no good without me.
What a bothersome team.
"Ha? What is it? You guys."
"But, they're too good-looking, though. Right, Leader?"
"Sure, I can get a good price for these. Hey, how much are these guys worth?"
"About three gold coins per person, even if it's a used slave with a fine body as this."
"Guess the deal. Hey, lads, surround these guys to stop them from getting away."
And when the bandits saw us, instead of running away, they were conversing about what they would do if they sold us.
Have these men not heard the rumors of the recent attacks on those who trade in illegal slaves?
Or do they think that since only the imperial organizations were attacked, the Kingdom's dark forces set up to eliminate their competitors were doing it in secret and that the Kingdom ones were not a target?
In this case, it would be the latter because there is no way that those who live behind the scenes have not heard about the Empire's dark business associates getting destroyed.
"But then again, there's little to no sense of urgency here."
And I sighed deeply when we saw them.
Although we have different aspirations, we all live behind the scenes, yet when I see how their work ethic is too low compared to ours, it makes me want to sigh even more.
Judging from their work ethic, these guys probably don't have much to offer either.
Then all that's left to do is to beat them up and reduce them to slaves as usual.
"Hey. Go ahead and beat these guys up just enough so they don't break. And remember, they're the product, so don't forget that, okay?"
"Hei-hei, I know. Then I'll take that little elf girl over there. Looking at that collar, it looks like she's already someone's slave, but we can nab such a thing and override the slave contract. Since they're all second-hand, they're probably used. Unlike the previous ones, you can get a taste of these top-notch beauties all you want, so it's really a lucky day!"
And when I was disappointed with them, a stubbly-bearded, swordsman-like man with a nasty smile on his face looked at me longingly.
At that moment, my body reacted so badly that I felt goosebumps all at once.
"So, the little elf lady doesn't seem to be a magician by the looks of it, which is unusual for an elf. Well, from my point of view, it's easier on me if she doesn't use magic because that would be more troublesome."
"Ara? I'm a magician, you know?"
212: Depending on your reply, I'll show you no mercy
The man who appears to be a swordsman thinks I am not a magician just by looking at me.
Certainly, in the eyes of the general public, a magician is nothing without their staff, so he probably judged me not to be one when he saw that I did not have a staff, the very lifeblood of a magician.
There was nothing wrong with that, but when I commented that I was a magician, he lowered his guard, behaving as if the battle was already over.
Seeing his attitude, I was filled with anger.
He wrote me off as a weakling who didn't need guarding.
I'm a member of the Black Rose and a slave of Kaisar-sama.
I could bear it if the insult was directed at me, but to insult Black Rose and Kaisar-sama, my master, through me, even indirectly, was something I could never stand.
And to put it simply, I was pissed off for the first time in my life.
I was never this angry when I got betrayed by my people in the Elven Village.
"Just now, you've decided that I'm not a magician and let your guard down... What do you mean by that? I won't forgive you depending on your answer."
"Ha? No way, you call yourself a magician, but can't be one by the looks of it, can you? Moreover, what's the reason for you to lie? I don't understand. However, if you were a high-level fighter instead of a magician, there would be no reason to say you are one, let alone lacking a staff. Really, it's so ridiculous. It's like you're saying, 'This is just a bluff. I have no combat experience.' If you understand, hurry up and get laid by me— BEFUHH!?"
The conversation was not over yet, but I could not resist and punched them on the right cheek.
"I told you, didn't I? I said I would not tolerate it, depending on your response. And since you are mistaken, let me tell you something else. There are magicians who don't need staff, you know? You should know that."
Then, unlike before, I put magic power into my fist and closed the distance between us as he was getting up unsteadily as if he got brain damage from being blown away, and get into the motion of punching him.
"I am a fully-fledged magician. One called an Impact Magician."
213: The fruits of my love with Kaisar-sama
"An impact magician...!? How could there be such a magician!? Do you think I'm an idiot? I've risen to become an S-rank adventurer in the Kingdom, yet I've never heard of such a thing!"
That would be the case too.
This type of magic was inspired by a casual conversation, "There was once an unfortunate fellow called Ebiwara, who could attack with fire, ice, lighting, and other attributes on his fist. At first, it wasn't all that powerful and everyone made fun of him, but once he got his steel fists, which divided his techniques into physical and special, no one laughed at them anymore."
It is no wonder that he doesn't know about it since I took the hint from an everyday conversation and improved it in my own way to make it my own.
The reason why I got thrown into slavery in the first place was that I couldn't release the magic in my body. Even though I had a lot of magic power, I couldn't even use the [Torch] magic, let alone [Fireball] that even a child can handle.
I wish I punched my father that day when he asked me to go on a picnic. I was so excited because he was so kind to me, even though he was usually so angry.
Ultimately, it was not a picnic but an excuse to lure me out to the slavers who had come all the way to the elven village to buy me.
However, I am deeply moved by how I am here today because of them.
I had given up because I could never use magic, no matter how much I raised my level as a member of Black Rose until I heard Kaisar-sama's story.
If you can't release it outside, you can build up the magic inside and use it.
From there, it was a continuous process of trial and error until my body got torn to pieces.
I somehow brought it into shape by having Kaisar-sama patch up my wounded limbs every day after the magic was half-activated and exploded inside my body. So, it is a new way of fighting that Kaisar-sama and I created through our joint efforts.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the fruit of our love.
It is still in its infancy, but I am confident enough to say that there is no way I can get beaten by a former S-rank adventurer who has retired from active service and fallen into the role of a sidekick.
And one day, I'm going to beat the c**p out of the people who abandoned me.
"Whether you have heard of it or not, isn't it obvious from the sword that prevented my attack?"
As I said this, I pointed to the lump of ice that formed on the spot the sword blocked my attack.
214: My Master's child
"You... What the h**l did you do? Trying to fool me is not going to work. There is no way you can pull off a trick like this without chanting, and even if you did chant, it must be some different type of magic because there is no such thing as magic that freezes the spot a strike happens. I guess this is how you've been able to fool your opponents as an eccentric magician until now, but you've never met anyone on my level as a former S-rank. I'm afraid your charade has come to an end."
Even though I showed him how to practice and use magic in such an easy-to-understand way, his mind must have become something dense.
If there is actually an unknown tactic that he doesn't know about, he seems to say, "There is no such tactic in my experience, so you must have used some kind of trick." If it were me, I would be too embarrassed to ask even my acquaintances, let alone my enemies, because it would be like exposing my ignorance, but apparently, my enemy was not so shy.
He was probably an idiot for asking the person with whom he was fighting, "What's that?" And even after going through the trouble of showing him, he just said, "There's no such magic."
So this is what it means to be helpless?
"Ara, you don't believe in the power of the impact magic that I wield? Is that what you say?"
"I've been telling you that for a while now. No matter how much you try to deceive me with bluffing, it's useless. You are not even a magician, and you can't even use magic. There must be a magic circle or something hidden somewhere from which you can perform your trickery. So give up already."
It is the fruit of the love between Kaisar-sama and me...
"You? What did you say just now? I think it sounded like you said.... that this impact magic, which is the fruit of love between Master and me, or in other words, our child, is a fake."
I thought I heard some yells behind me, like, "That's a quirky overstatement," or "No, kids are just too much," but I guess it was just my imagination.
However, I swear to myself that I will make them regret the fact that they have been firmly in the background after this, even if it is just in my mind, but right now, my top priority is to smash this swordsman in front of me.
I'll never forgive him for saying 'fake'.
"No matter how you look at it, it's fake... Huh?"
And even so, to make it easier for the man who insists it's a fake to understand, I put flames on my right hand and lightning on my left fist.
"Then, I will show your body if it is fake or not. And yes, it will be plenty until I'm satisfied."
215: Puppet nation
"Of course, you're bluffing! I'll show you that such a bluff won't work against the top rankers in the world!"
"Ara, you may talk big, but do you know that your equipment can't protect you from electric shocks? Do you also know that metals become brittle if they are cooled and heated rapidly and repeatedly?"
"Heh?"
Then, with my right fist, I hit the spot covered with ice with a fist clad in flames and his stomach with a fist clad in lightning.
"Aaaggaaggaa!?"
And the self-proclaimed former S-rank man convulsed violently after his weapon was broken and fell to his knees with a thud.
"So, what was that about being the top ranker?"
"Ii, ki.... M-my bad! See, I'm sorry, please forgive me! I was wrong."
And the man, who had been mocking me until now, knelt down on the ground and asked for forgiveness.
"Seriously, if you insist that much, I'll forgive you this one time only..."
"There's no way I'd say that, you— idiot!"
"Ara, what a coincidence. I have no intention of forgiving you either."
"Heh? Ah... stop, Gboooo!"
I walked up to the man and swung my fist down on him as he was on his knees, saying I wouldn't forgive him.
The man was thinking the same thing I was and tried to surprise me, but I could still feel his killing intent while he was on his knees. I knew his words were a lie because of the killing intent directed at me, and there I was going to take a surprise attack from someone I knew was going to do it. Instead, I swung my first through where he tried to raise his face to surprise me.
I used ice attribute, so the part where I hit him froze.
Then, when he fainted, I put water on my fist and hit him lightly, and when he was awakened forcefully by splashing water on him, I grabbed him by the chest and forced him to stand up.
"Please, give me a break... this time, I was wrong..."
"No, you can't. I told you, I'm going to make sure you know that my magic is not fake. This is just the beginning."
◆
[Kaisar's POV]
"My bad. I might have misheard you, so can you repeat that?"
"Yes, Master Kaisar-sama. I have managed to turn the Kingdom into a puppet nation of the Black Rose."
Yeah. No matter how many times I hear it, nothing makes sense.
I can't wrap my head around how this happened. No kidding, but it doesn't make sense why these girls turned the Kingdom into a puppet state without my knowledge.