CHAPTER 42: THE CREST MASTER’S ATTACK

“Guess it’s over.”

Immediately after speaking, the Crest Master tore off his tattered coat and tossed it aside.

His tanned body, which was engraved with countless tattoos, was now exposed.

“Saves me the trouble if my opponent is an idiot.”

The Crest Master laughed evilly.

The goal of this military operation was to evaluate the tattooed lizardmen’s combat ability, as well as to repel the kingdom’s army.

And yet, to think I was even able to kill the Supreme Commander!

From his way of speaking, he probably held an important position within the kingdom; His death would cause huge shockwaves throughout the kingdom. 

I guess geezer will be pleased.

The Crest Master immediately shook his head after thinking that.

“No, he was that big of an idiot. It would’ve been better long term to let him go back alive and work in kingdom politics…!”

The Crest Master roared with laughter.

Just then, a lizardman approached the Crest Master and reported something to him.

The Crest Master narrowed his eyes.

“Really now… We found the white arrow magician…”

That mystery magician shot down not only the enhanced lizardmen, but even the super-enhanced lizardmen, which were the Crest Master’s masterpieces.

To the Crest Master, that magician was far more worthy of caution than the foolish Supreme Commander who fantasized about a complete reversal and carelessly waltzed onto the front lines.

The Crest Master put his finger on his chin and fell into thought.

Before long, his lips curved into a grin.

“—Alright. Guide me there.”

The Crest Master made a decision.

He would exterminate that magician as well.

Now that the Supreme Commander was dead, this war was over. There would be no fifth battle. With that being the case, he’d be unable to pursue the whereabouts of the magician.

I shouldn’t let that magician run loose.

The Crest Master concluded like so.

An extraordinarily strong magician.

The Crest Master didn’t fully believe that he was actually as strong as the lizardmen said he was, but it was true that he couldn’t ignore the damage dealt by him.

Moreover, the Crest Master had the confidence he could take him down.

Kukuku… My Absolute Defense cuts 99% of all damage. You aren’t a threat to me, no matter how impressive of a magician you are…

Rather than letting him loose and have him kill the small fry, it’d be best for the Crest Master, who’d unconditionally win, to make a move and strike.

If that was the case—then now is the time to move.

The Crest Master made a high-pitched whistle.

Five huge lizardmen with tattoos carved all over their bodies appeared.

“We’re hunting. You’re all coming with me.”

“Hmm… something feels weird.”

After Lihilt spoke—

“Agreed.”

—Firvus nodded.

It was strange enough that even someone as thickheaded as me felt bothered about it.

We defeated several lizardmen during the fourth battle. However, that was all that happened.

Since then, the lizardmen stopped approaching us.

They just stealthily observed us from afar.

Even if we encountered new lizardmen, they would ignore us and disappear somewhere after the lizardmen sneaking around shouted something.

As a result, we’ve just been constantly wandering around the battlefield for a while.

“They’re on guard against us…”

Lihilt breathed a sigh.

“Well, I guess that’s cuz we kinda overdid it last time…”

Firvus spoke softly.

Last time—that is to say, the third battle—was the day we joined Lihilt’s squad. Maybe it was because our role as a detached squad was to disrupt the lizardmen, but they kept showing up one by one, and I kept shooting Magic Arrow’s one by one.

The number of lizardmen we repelled during the battle was—

“It was over 200, huh. My report was rejected after I was told that a single detached squad couldn’t produce those numbers in a single day. Not even our own allies believed that number…”

Lihilt sighed heavily.

“Even I’d think it was a lie if I didn’t see it with my own eyes… The enemies would be on guard after taking that much damage as well…”

Firvus nodded in agreement.

“Sorry, Albert. Even though you tried so hard for us, we weren’t able to get recognized by headquarters…”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes. I mean, Albert defeated like 98% of them, right?”

“Aah… While it’s true that my Magic Arrow finished them off in the end, I believe Lihilt and his soldiers carefully watching our surroundings and informing me of the lizardmen’s location played a huge part too. I think our score was a team effort.”

“Nononononono.”

Lihilt shook his hands back and forth.

“You don’t need to look out for us like that anymore. We really didn’t do a single thing.”

I didn’t think that was true in the slightest, though…

Feeling troubled, I looked at Firvus.

“This was the team’s achievement, right, Mr. Firvus?”

“Nononononono.”

Firvus shook his hands back and forth.

“Albert, I can’t tell if you’re being humble or you’re just thickheaded, but it’ll sound like sarcasm if you’re too excessive with it.”

“That isn’t my intention, though…”

Feeling troubled, I looked at Laura.

“Laura, this was the result of everyone trying their hardest, right?”

“I! think Albert is really amazing!”

I couldn’t help but feel like my question was being dodged.

My slightly stronger-than-average Magic Arrow wouldn’t be able to do all that in this war by itself. Isn’t everyone just overestimating me by a long shot?

I’ll just think of it as a team effort and leave it at that.

While we were having our conversation—

I felt like I heard a lizardman’s voice from far away.

Before I even had a chance to say “what”, they answered for me.

“GEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEI!”

“GEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEI!”

“GEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEIGEI!”

All of a sudden, the surrounding lizardmen began making strange throat noises.

“W-What’s going on—!?”

Lihilt drew his sword and carefully watched our surroundings.

The lizardmen’s voices stopped after a little while. A tense silence enveloped us.

Before long—

A voice suddenly came from overhead.

“Yo… Are you the ones? The lot with the master magician?”

There was a steep cliff around ten meters to the right of us; We heard the voice come from there.

Faster than we could respond, five large shadows landed on the ground, making a heavy sound.

They were five lizardmen.

Their physiques were more imposing than any of the lizardmen we’ve met so far, and their bodies were engraved with a massive amount of tattoos.

Last but not least—

A man came down. He landed smoothly, making a light noise.

“A human—”

I reflexively spoke.

That man wasn’t a lizardman, but a human. Clad in a turban and trousers, an innumerable number of tattoos were carved onto his exposed upper body.

A human carved with a large number of tattoos, who was accompanied by lizardmen.

That must mean—

“You’re the ‘Crest Master’, aren’t you?”

Firvus spoke with an uncharacteristically stiff voice.

The man broadly grinned and answered.

“Yeah, what about it?”