Battle War; Magic, Sword and Dragon

The Magnet of Trouble

After registering the mission they took, the three headed for the entrance of the culvert that could be found easily in a corner of the city.

Lori and Resla immediately closed their noses due to the pungent smell of the culvert, while Riku looked ordinary.

When compared with the princesses who always inhale the fragrance, where maybe Riku is affected by the unpleasant smell that is arguably trivial. His experience during a trip around the world made him ever smell more foul and stinging.

They entered using lanterns as street lighting. Some of the small animals that used to live in the culvert they encountered, but all of them immediately avoided human existence.

"We still haven't found a giant rat. Is it true that the monster is in this place?" Complain Resla.

The complaint feels natural. Despite nearly half an hour tracing the culvert, they had yet to find any of their targets.

"Calm down, there's got to be."

"Why can you say that?"

Riku smiled a little.

"Although clearing monsters wasn't the Knight's main job, it was impossible for them to let monsters live in the sewers of the capital quietly. Must have been Knight doing periodic extermination to regulate the monster population so as not to overdo it."

"Continue?"

"Isn't it weird? If there were periodic extermination, why would there still be missions in the Guild?"

Resla and Lori fell silent. The two of them started to think about Riku's words.

"In my experience, this usually happens because monsters multiply faster than they should. The busy Knights couldn't handle the trouble and ended up making missions in the Guild."

"This also explains why it is rare for monster subjugation missions in the capital. Hm... Aren't we in trouble?"

Lori started to look panicked. If what Riku said were all true, wouldn't they be outnumbered?

"No problem. Missions are categorized as easy missions not because we have to complete the mission perfectly. If the enemy is too much and exceeds the capabilities, we can retreat and give a report to the Guild. The mission failed, but we won't get a penalty."

Lori started to look calm.

"Hmmph.you can say that because you feel it doesn't matter if the mission fails, but it doesn't apply to us."

"I understand your situation. Relax, we're just getting started anyway. Success or failure is determined after we find our target."

"Hmmph!!"

Resla threw away her face in annoyance. He moved his legs faster and walked first.

Lori let out a small sigh and caught up with Resla. While Riku followed them while remaining vigilant paying attention to the surroundings.

Not long after, after passing through several hallways, Riku suddenly raised his sword while directing his gaze to one of the hall branches.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Riku's sudden behavior change, Lori asked.

"Didn't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"..."

Getting that response, Riku let out a small sigh in his heart. It seems that both of them are really not the type of fighter.

"I felt an uncomfortable magic pressure from there."

"Do you want to say that a giant rat is there?"

"Maybe... "

Alertly, Riku began to approach with the sword still sheathed.

"wait. At least if you want to fight, first remove your sword from the sheath..."

But Riku ignored Lori and continued forward.

He created a fire bird and flew it into the hallway.

The dark hallway began to appear. And as expected, a giant rat was there.

The size of the rat was one meter with fiery red eyes.

"Groan!!!"

The one who shouted was not Riku, but Resla. He took out a bow-shaped Arm and attacked with a fire arrow.

The attack missed and made the giant rat escape quickly.

"Lori, we're after!!"

"Un!!"

Lori follows Resla and chases after her. He also took out a large hammer-shaped Arm.

The Riku that was left just sighed. He wanted to say that following a giant rat without knowing its direction was reckless, but he could not.

In the end Riku could only catch up with the two out of worry. After all he was the only one who was experienced in dealing with monsters like this. If something happened to both of them, he would feel guilty.

After catching up, Riku started to feel uncomfortable. Especially when he saw Resla and Lori not so concerned with the path they took.

They're really sloppy.

"That mouse went there."

They continued to run after the mice that ran faster than expected.

Resla occasionally tries to shoot, but always fails.

"Tch!! Who says it's an easy mission?"

Resla complains. While Riku and Lori can not do much because they are close combatants.

No. gabe.

If Riku intended to defeat the giant rat, it would be easy for him. He could even defeat that mouse with the fire bird he had created earlier.

The reason why he had still not brought out his true ability was due to curiosity towards the abilities of the Academy disciples.

Indeed both claimed to be only C rank magicians and had expertise in fields other than combat, but that was no reason not to be able to fight.

The existence of witches themselves has become the basis that they will not live a life like ordinary humans. That was why other than fighting strength, they also had to have the power to protect themselves from harm, especially from other witches who had evil intentions.

Giant rats themselves were categorized as F-level monsters because they could be defeated by E-rank magicians easily.

But how could a C rank like Resla be difficult to do?

(There are only two possibilities, the first being Resla is weaker than an E rank magician despite having a C rank. The second possibility is.).

Riku wanted to throw away the second possibility. Because if true, an easy mission for them is harder than it seems.

(But too early to decide that. I will follow the direction of this mission. If anything bad happens, I just have to draw this sword)

The sword he always carried with him was the only weapon he trusted. The weapon is not special, but it is different if the sword has been removed from the sheath.

So far Riku has almost never pulled the sword except in emergencies.

"Because of you!!"

At the thought of that, Resla finally managed to shoot the giant rat and kill him. That rat was indeed nothing more than an F rank monster.

"We just need the tip of his tail as proof of conquest."

Lori picked up a small knife and prepared to cut off the tip of the rat's tail, but she stopped as she looked back around them.

They exited the passageway and arrived at a spacious place resembling a large hall with many tunnels. In one corner there is a kind of large tool that reads the sign is still working.

But in various places there are many collections of wood and various kinds of garbage with a pungent odor. There were even some pieces of flesh and bones that had rotted away.

"What kind of place is this?"

"Geez, did you never know about wastewater treatment? Every city in the empire has this facility underground." Resla.

The three of them started to see the entire place as this was the first time seeing the facilities in person.

Riku himself easily understood how the underground facilities worked.

"....There's no one here."

"This facility can function independently and does not require maintenance. But it will still be checked periodically."

"so. Is it usually this dirty?"

"Cannot be. Because this is a municipal wastewater treatment facility, it can't be left dirty like this. If you do, what's the point of building this place?"

Hearing that Riku smiled.

"...in that case, we're in trouble this time. Big deal..."

"What do you mean?"

From the hallway came the sound of small, noisy and disturbing footsteps. You can guess that the owner of the footstep is not a human. And most importantly, their numbers are not small.

"Damn..!!"

But it's all too late.

Countless gigantic rats emerged from the passageway. Their sizes vary. Of the smallest was the size of an ordinary mouse, but there was one that was over a meter.

"This isn't an F rank mission anymore."

"It's no use complaining. Resla, what should we do?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Both of them turned towards Riku with hope.

Why should I? riku thought in his heart.

"I didn't expect you to hand it to me." Riku sighed." It's not a big deal. They are just F rank monsters, we just have to defeat them all."

Lori and Resla felt that what Riku said was right. The three of them were two C rank magicians and one B rank. Defeating an F rank monster was no big deal.

It should be so, but with the number reaching countless, are the three able?

"You're out of your mind. How could we possibly defeat them all."

"I agree with Resla. Maybe we can win, but we don't know their real numbers. We'll run out of magic energy before we beat them all."

"...why are you afraid? Don't you want to successfully carry out the mission?"

Resla and Lori could not answer. Riku reminded them that they went to that place for a mission that must be successfully carried out.

"Do you think we're cowards?"

"You're smart."

"Ba!!"

Resla directed her bow at Riku with rage.

"Resla, this is not the time to fight with each other."

Lori who saw the situation heating up broke both of them.

"And you're Riku, I understand you think you have the ability to fight them all, but we don't. Don't make us fight."

"...yeah..."

Riku sighed deeply in disappointment at the two of them. They were both the type of people Riku hated the most.

"Alright, if you don't want to fight, leave quickly. I will do something to help you escape. After all, making the road quite difficult with that amount."

"...Riku. you.."

A fire butterfly appeared near Riku and flew towards the road they had previously crossed.

"Follow that butterfly. He's gonna get you out of this place."

"Hey, don't be a sombo-"

"GIRL!!!!!!"

"?!"

Resla was surprised. He never expected that Lori whom he had known so gently yelled at him.

At the same time the giant rats started attacking. They don't seem to want Lori and Resla to leave easily. They blocked the path they took to get out.

"Phoenix Flame!!"

Riku created a huge fire bird and attacked the rats blocking the path. It was all reduced to dust and left nothing.

"Go quickly."

Resla and Lori are shocked by the magic, but quickly realize there is no time to do it.

"Riku, come with us. We can all run away from them."

"Don't worry, I'll catch up. Get the fuck out of here. If you can get help immediately."

Riku beat and burned the giant rat with his magic. They are easy opponents, but their numbers are not reduced at all.

Realizing that there was nothing the two of them could do, Lori clenched her hands tightly.

"Lori, we're leaving."

"All right..."

After deciding what they were going to do, the two quickly ran after the butterfly that flew first.

The giant rats that blocked the path had indeed been destroyed by Riku with his magic, but they just kept appearing. It didn't take long until their numbers reached the hundreds.

"I can't believe their numbers are this much. What exactly is going on?"

After killing about 60 more, Resla realized that the situation they were in was now very abnormal.

Interestingly, he realized that the rats they first encountered were more powerful than the ones blocking them. This proved that the giant rat rat was indeed nothing more than an F rank monster, but why was there such a special one?

Resla and Lori thought of many possibilities, and that thought led to something bad.

"Don't think too much. We need to quickly ask for help. If we only face this much, how much does Riku fight?"

"..."

Resla was instantly deathly pale. He didn't want to imagine that at all.

Suddenly the butterflies they followed disappeared.

"What's going on?"

Magic will be active for as long as it takes depending on the magic it is created. The butterflies were supposed to drive them upstairs.

If the butterfly disappears before its goal is reached, there is only one possibility.

Something happened to Riku.

He's in danger.

***

What they both imagine is not wrong, but it is also not true.

The butterfly that escorted them both disappeared because the butterfly was controlled by Riku's parallel mind. That parallel thought is not some sort of independent mind like a multiple personality, but is just one technique for dividing the mind to do two things simultaneously.

The enemy is weak, but their large number makes Riku have to concentrate more on facing the enemy, which is why he decided to control the fire butterflies that drove Resla and Lori.

Moreover, he felt that the two of them could find their own way easily.

After killing around 200 giant rats, piles of corpses with pungent odors began to fill the place. Riku's robe was now covered in blood with an unpleasant fishy smell.

If he was serious, he could scorch all the giant rats easily, but he was worried that it would damage the nearby facilities.

But that's not all that worries him. It was clear that the giant rat did not attack him out of anger because his friend was killed. After all they were F rank monsters known to have low intelligence. Normally how could they all dare to face Riku?

That's why Riku is patient. He wanted to see who was behind this.

And after killing around 300 more, his patience finally paid off.

"Tsk!! I can't believe a B rank magician like you can face them all so easily. Who the hell are you?"

From within one of the hallways, a figure of a man in a dark black robe appeared. His face was so deathly pale and his body looked thin like it had no nutrition. At first glance he was like a living skull.

From the magic partner that the man put out, Riku knew he was not weak.

"...are you the Monster Tamer?"

"Haha, you can see for yourself. I've been taking care of these kids for a long time, I wish they could do something useful. I guess facing a B rank magician is a little too hopeful."

If Riku was an ordinary B rank magician, indeed he would have already lost. Top rank magicians or not, they would have a stamina limit. Defeating such a large number of monsters would exhaust them.

Darling, Riku has above normal stamina.

"Something useful is it possible to kill them both?"

"You're smart enough, because you already know, you have to die here."

After saying that, from the hallway appeared 10 giant rats of abnormal size. Their bodies were as large as 3 meters more with claws and larger teeth resembling swords.

I really am fucking!

He just got home, why have you been involved in the incident twice? Could he have a trouble-carrying magnet?