“What are you trembling for? Is this not the development you were hoping for?” The boy asked.
“───W-What are you…” Lilisha said.
The tone of the boy suddenly changed. He sounded amused and seemed to be ridiculing them.
But the words he said shocked her too much to be able to form a reply.
Even Kite could tell that the boy had apparently gotten it right.
But just what did he mean by this being as she’d hoped?
“!?”
But before Kite could ask that, the boy moved first, and before Kite or Lilisha knew it, he was already in front of them.
He raised his arm and slowly brought it down toward Lilisha.
The princess erected a barrier by reflex, but it was pushed back along with her by 5 to 6 meters.
That was an unimaginably powerful attack considering how slow it was, but it was weak considering what he’s shown so far.
The princess held her ground and carved the ground as she was pushed back, but with how wounded and exhausted she was, she still collapsed in the end.
“Princess! You!”
Upon seeing that, Kite furiously swung his sword at the boy.
He tried to cut him in two, but the boy merely parried it to the ground.
With all of Kite’s strength behind that attack, the sword ripped through the earth and created a cut 10m long, but it didn’t matter how strong his sword was unless it hit.
“What!?”
“The Tenkorius is a monster beast. On Earth, it would be classified as an animal.”
“Huh?”
While Kite was shocked to see his sword parried by such gentle movements, the boy started nonchalantly talking.
“In comparison, monsters are pseudo-lifeforms born in places where miasma and ether have stagnated and reached a certain level. Possessed by their destructive impulses, they are monsters in the truest sense of the word and are completely different from monster-beasts.”
“Hah? Monster-beast? Monsters? Miasma and ether? What are you—!?”
These were all terms that Kite had never heard before, so he struggled to understand.
But the boy didn’t seem to care and just continued his explanation while continuing to attack him with his bare hands.
“The relationship between monster-beasts and humans in this world is more or less the same as that in Earth. And it can largely be divided into three types. Pet animals available only to the rich and powerful, domestic animals, and harmful animals that cannot co-exist with humanity because of their temperament and ability. However, there exists a fourth category for ‘others’.”
“Tsk, make up your mind if you’re going to talk or fight— Ku!”
The boy continued to attack him with an expressionless face, but it was obvious that he was pulling his punches.
The speed and power were such that Kite could sometimes avoid them and sometimes receive them.
But even so, a narrow dodge would tear the skin, and a poor receive would cause his body to scream from the impact.
Already, his Silverganth gauntlets had cracks on them and half his breastplate has been burst open.
“The Tenkorius falls under this. A species that rules at the top of monster beasts be it in combat prowess or intelligence. However, they are beautiful and dislike fighting, so they are loved by people for a different reason that domestic animals. In Earth, they are what you would refer to as a divine beast or a guardian god.”
But for some reason, his words still managed to enter his ears.
Though he was desperately trying to avoid all of these lethal attacks, the words the boy said carved themselves into his brain.
It was as though he knew instinctively knew that everything would end if he failed to understand.
“───Killing such creatures would invite the disapproval of many nations and people.”
Those accusing words made Kite aware of his sin.
He had slain a beast that was treated in this world as a divine beast.
Because of that the nation of his comrades would be criticized.
It was his fault. And the guilt from that made his whole body tremble.
“Huh, gah!?”
Of course, the boy wouldn’t miss that opportunity.
And with a strike, the remaining breast plate was destroyed. The impact from that choked Kite and made him collapse to the ground and let go of his sword.
“I wasn’t being attacked. I came here because I had business with them, who lived here. In the first place, those attacked by the Tenkorius are seen as guilty.”
“Gu, ah!”
Kite thought he had to get up, but the boy stomped on his head and buried his face into the ground.
Earlier, the boy had just stepped on him, but this time, it was basically a kick.
The ground all around him was depressed for a moment, creating a depression that was by no means small.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the cracks that appeared on the ground made it possible for him to breathe.
Regardless, the impact that assaulted him was so great that he might have lost his consciousness if he’d let his guard down.
“That’s how much the world trusts and loves the Tenkorius that you killed. I’m sure countries will appear to protest and cut ties with Earthgant as a result. And while Earthgant may be a major power, it will not come out unscathed from all the criticisms that will pour on it. Who will take responsibility for that? But even then, it would be good if the matter merely ended there.”
The boy mumbled to himself as though none of this concerned him and warned that it would not merely end on that note.
No matter how great a power Earthgant may be, its royal family has not only messed with the revered Tenkorius but has killed two of them, what more in another country.
Already, it was doubtful that they would be able to hide this matter. After all, they’ve already destroyed a portion of the forest.
Some people must have noticed the commotion already. And if the local Tenkorius don’t do anything, then it’s only a matter of time before people realize that they’ve gone missing.
There was plenty of fuel for international criticism and anti-Earthgant sentiments to rise.
This wasn’t something they could reason away as the foolishness of an otherworlder or the selfishness of the second princess.
This was a matter grave enough to require the nation to apologize and assume responsibility.
A creature this important was no longer just a monster beast.
“I won’t let that happen!
Unable to accept such a future, the princess unleashed her magic with reckless abandon.
Lightnings shot out of her palms and tore through the air, but the boy just deflected them without so much as a word, sending them to crash into the nearby trees, obliterating everything in that vicinity, yet not a single burn could be seen on the boy’s arm.
In fact, not even on his clothes. All the princess managed to accomplish was to get him to move his foot away from Kite’s head and look at her.
“What absurdly precise mana!”
The princess was shocked for a moment, but she quickly analyzed how he’d accomplished that.
She’d thought it was just her imagination when she saw it for the first time, but when she realized she hadn’t been mistaken, sweat poured down her.
There was a mana thinly covering the boy’s body. Literally, just a thin layer of mana that wasn’t anything like the barriers or strengthening magic that they knew.
It was gathered there on him with such absurdly high precision that it functioned no different from a powerful armor that was nigh impenetrable with magic.
Silverganth could probably penetrate it, so that’s probably why he’s been parrying the attacks from weapons made of it.
“You won’t let it happen? Then what are you going to do?”
An impossible defense and a mana technique that she did not know of.
Yet the boy did not seem to care about her surprise nor her attack and just asked that question.
She found that humiliating, but with no way back, she threw away her calm thoughts and angrily yelled—
“Ku, if we kill you, we can hide everything!”
—Those words that even she thought was stupid.
“P-Princess, that’s…”
Even Kite as he lay on the ground found her words outrageous and impossible.
Yet surprisingly, the boy became a little surprised and blinked his eyes.
“…Huh… Maybe I was wrong about you.”
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