二十六話
『〝ミナウラ〟での魔物の掃討ってのは、何も全部の魔物を倒す必要はこれっぽっちもねえんだ』
シヴァは言っていた。
『そもそも、〝ミナウラ〟に蔓延する通常よりもずっと濃い〝瘴気〟を払う事なんて土台無理な話だからな』
全てが払えない時点で魔物を根絶するという行為は不可能であると彼は指摘する。
とすれば、〝ミナウラ〟で行われている魔物の掃討。それはどうすれば終わるのだろうか。
『だからオレ達は〝ミナウラ〟のどこかに潜んでやがる魔物の頭を殺す必要があるんだ。早い話、そいつさえ殺せば、取り敢えずまた一年程度の平穏がやってくる。定期的に生まれやがるとんでもねえ魔物を倒し、新たにそれが生まれ、また倒し、新たに生まれ。言っちまえば、その繰り返しなのさ。簡単だろ?』
魔物を殺しても意味がないとは言わない。
〝ミナウラ〟とは他から言われているようにまごう事なき————〝呪われた街〟である。
他よりずっと空気中に存在する〝瘴気〟の密度が高いせいで定期的にこうして掃討の段取りを組まなければ、隔離する為に存在しているであろう傷跡だらけの壁すら食い破って魔物が他の村や街へと襲いに向かうからだ。
ただ、それに関する対処の仕方は既に確立されており、シヴァ曰く、魔物共の頭を殺せば何とかなるらしい。
そして。
「————酷いねこれは」
〝ミナウラ〟の街並みを見回しながら、俺はひとりごちる。
焼き焦げたような廃墟がそこら中に立ち並んでおり、所々血のような跡が散見。
心なし、空気もずしりと重くなったような気にすら陥る〝ミナウラ〟の街。
ただ、いくら高く聳え立つ壁に外から隔離されているとはいえ、入り口付近はまだぽつぽつと人の姿が見受けられた。
「街というより、これはもう戦場かな」
びゅぅ、と吹き散らされる灰のような、砂礫のような何か。続くように、焼け焦げた独特の臭いが俺の鼻腔をくすぐった。......あまり、好きにはなれない臭いである。
「............冒険者か。一人で来るとは命知らずな」
足を止め、〝ミナウラ〟の景色を確認する俺を見て、どこからか侮蔑の声が上がる。
恐らく、俺の幼い容姿がその感情を助長してるのだろう。「たまにいるんだよ、お前みたいな勇敢と蛮勇の言葉の意味を履き違えた馬鹿が」なんて言葉が幻聴されたが、きっとそれは俺の勘違いではないと思った。
声の発声源は何処だろうかと見回し——発見。
少し離れた場所で、壁に凭れ掛かり、包帯に巻かれ手当てをされていた足を伸ばす中年程度の男性が俺の視界に映り込んだ。
親父よりも少しだけ歳上だろうか。
忌々しそうに俺を見詰めるその男は、痛みに蝕まれているのか、苦悶の表情を浮かべながらもひたすら俺に呆れの感情を向けてくる。
男の身なりから俺は男の正体を端的に断定。
きっと、俺よりもずっと戦闘経験のある人間からの有難い忠告である。だから胸に留めておくくらいの価値はあると思った。
ただ、俺に話しかけた人物がたとえ誰であれ、これからの予定に一切の変更はない。
嘗て、ある埒外の『星斬り』の修羅は語った。
————ひたすらに、強く在りたいと。強くなるのだと渇望し、手を伸ばし続ければ、いつか到る事が出来ると思った。
そんなとんでも過ぎる理屈を当然のように語っていた。そして、そんな人間に憧れを抱いてしまったのが俺という
強くなるにはこうするしかないのだという極端に偏った知識しか無いが為に、そもそも信じて疑っていない。
掲げた目標に到る為にはこうするしか手段は無いのだから仕方がないじゃんとどうやっても帰結してしまうのである。
故に、言葉を投げかけてきた男から視線を外し、再び足を進めようとした。
「......どういう経緯で〝
負傷した騎士の男は更に言葉を付け足そうとして。けれど、どうしてか、言い終わるより先に口を閉ざしてしまう。
どうしたのだろうかと感想を抱いた直後。
濃く深い〝黒〟が俺に被さった。
それは、影だった。
大きな、大きな影であった。
「チ、ィ......————ッ!! あのクソ野郎が反応したって事はお前、
言うなれば、それは〝呪われた街〟と呼ばれた〝ミナウラ〟からの俺への洗礼だったのかもしれない。
俺を覆った影は、二年前に相対したオーガですら優に上回る程の大きさであった。
そして気付けば、半ば反射的に飛び退かんと俺の足が動いていた。
程なく、俺のいた場所が鋭利な何かで貫き穿たれる。それは————何かの爪であった。
いきなりの戦闘開始。
そのあまりの容赦のなさに苦笑いをもらさずにはいられない。
はっ、と顔を上げると、そこには背中から翼を生やした巨大な化け物がいた。
前の脚による一撃は、容易く地面を砕き割っている。もし、反射的に動けていなかったら、俺がどうなっていたかなぞ、想像に難く無い。
体格差は歴然。
普通にやっては勝てないだろう。さあどうするか、と一瞬のうちに次に起こすべき行動を考える。そんな折、
「何してんだお前ッ!! ここからさっさと離れろクソ餓鬼!!! その魔物を〝ミナウラ〟の外に出す気かお前はッ!?」
悲鳴のような怒号が再び俺の鼓膜を揺らした。
は魔法使いに反応する変異種だ!!! いいからとっとと奥へ走れッ!!!」
魔法使いに反応する変異種。
そんな話は冒険者であるリレア達からも一度として聞いたことはない。
けれど、ふと、常識は捨てておけと忠告してくれたシヴァの言葉が脳裏を過った。
......成る程、そう言う事なのかと今更ながらに言葉の意味をきちんと理解する。
こんな俺の十数倍はあろう
騎士の男の言葉に従う選択肢を掴み取る。
現に、大声を叫び散らし、足を負傷して身動きが取れない騎士の男には目の前の化け物は全く反応を見せていない。
ぎゅうぅ、と絞られた猫のような双眸はじっ、と俺だけに焦点をあてている。
だから、向けられた言葉は真実であると判断。
「だけ、どっ! 自分で望んだ事とはいえ、初めからでかい壁過ぎないかなあっ!?」
泣き言のような言葉を洩らしながらも、腰に下げる剣すら手にしていない無手となっている両手を開き————
短剣が形取られ、程なく手の中に収まる一対の短剣。
焦燥感に駆られる中で、最適解と思える行動を正しく認識。あの図体だ。
斬る事は骨が折れるだろうが、しかし刺し貫くだけであれば。
「これ、でもッ!! 食らっとけ————っ!!!」
駆け、逃げ出そうとする挙動をほんの一瞬だけ見せてから————俺はぐるりと身体を再度反転。その動作の勢いすら利用し、手に握る短剣を右、左の順に投擲。
の双眸へと向かい——けれど、ガキン、とやがて聞こえてきた硬質な音によってそれは阻まれてしまったのだと理解。
だけれど、眼球を刺し貫く手前で何か、見えない障壁のようなものに投擲した短剣は弾かれていた。
「......そう都合よく事は運ばない、って?」
仕掛けた事により、一層強く向けられるようになる殺意。敵は翼もある上、そもそもどんな能力で、何の魔物なのかすら分からない現状。
これは流石に拙いかと。
Chapter 26
"Clearing out the monsters in Minaura doesn't necessarily mean that you have to defeat all of them."
Siva said.
"It's impossible to get rid of the thick miasma surrounding Minaura in the first place."
He pointed out that eradicating monsters was impossible when all factors couldn't be taken into account.
If that was the case, then how could we finish clearing out the monsters residing in Minaura?
"That's why we need to kill the head of the monsters that's lurking somewhere around Minaura. In a nutshell, as long as we kill the boss, it will guarantee this town another year of peace or so. When we defeat the strongest monster that periodically arises, another one is born, and we just have to defeat it again, and so on. In other words, it's just like a continuous cycle. Simple, isn't it?"
I wouldn't say that killing monsters was meaningless, but Siva was telling me that unless I killed the head of the monsters that was lurking somewhere in this town, there would be no end to this process.
Minaura was, as the legend said, a "cursed town" without a doubt.
The density of miasma in the air that surrounded this town was much higher than in other places, and if one didn't make regular preparations like this, the monsters would surely attack other villages and towns, eating through the scarred walls that were supposed to isolate them.
However, the way to deal with this had already been established, and according to Siva, killing their leader seemed to do the job.
And then...
"--This place is terrible..."
Looking around at the streets of Minaura, I chuckled to myself.
Ruins that looked as if they'd been burnt to a crisp stood in rows all over the place, and in some places, there were even traces of blood.
And without a care in the world, the atmosphere gradually felt heavier as I walked around the town.
However, even though it was isolated from the outside by a high wall, the entrance area was still densely populated with people.
"It's more like a battlefield than a town."
What seemed to be ashes and gravel were being blown around, and as if to follow, a peculiar smell that I didn't like very much-- the smell of burnt flesh --tickled my nostrils.
"...An adventurer, huh? How reckless of you to come alone."
I stopped to examine the surroundings of Minaura, and a voice of contempt emerged from somewhere.
Perhaps it's due to my young appearance that contributes to this feeling, but I heard a voice say, "Sometimes there are idiots like you who come here confusing the meaning of the words brave and courageous," and I was sure I wasn't mistaken.
I looked around to see where the voice was coming from-- and found it.
A middle-aged man, leaning against a wall a short distance away, stretching out his leg, which was wrapped in bandages and being patched up, appeared in my field of vision.
He was probably a little older than my father.
The man stared at me in spite and, perhaps consumed by the pain, he looked at me with an expression of anguish on his face, yet directing his feelings of disbelief at me.
From the man's appearance, I determined his identity straightforwardly.
Surely, it was helpful advice from someone with much more combat experience than me, so I thought it was worth keeping in mind.
But no matter who talked to me, I didn't plan on changing what I intended to be in the future.
A certain "Star Slayer" once told himself--
As long as he kept on longing for it, he would be able to reach it one day.
He was talking about such a ridiculous theory as if it were a matter of fact.
I had no doubt in my mind that this was the only way to become strong because I only had an extremely biased understanding of what it meant to be one.
I had no choice but to do this in order to reach the goal I had set for myself, so I concluded that it was inevitable.
Therefore, I took my eyes off the man who had spoken to me and tried to move forward again.
"...I don't know what brought you to this place, but..."
The wounded knight tried to add a few more words, but for some reason, he shut his mouth before he could finish.
Just immediately after I wondered what was wrong...
A deep, dark, black being covered me.
It was a shadow.
A big, big shadow.
"Tch...! If that son of a bitch reacted, then that means you're a magician...!!! H-Hey! Get the hell out of here, reckless kid!!!"
If I had to say, this might've been my baptism from the cursed town called Minaura.
The shadow that covered me was even bigger than the ogre I faced two years ago.
I realized that my legs were moving to jump back half-reflexively.
Soon after I did, the place where I just was, was pierced by something sharp-- A massive claw.
And suddenly, the battle began.
I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer relentlessness of it all.
I looked up and saw a huge monster with wings sprouting from its back.
The blow from its front leg easily shattered the ground.
The difference in size was clearly evident.
I wouldn't win against it in normal circumstances, so in a split second, I thought of what to do next. And then...
"What the hell are you doing?! Get out of here, you fucking brat!! Are you trying to get that monster out of Minaura?!"
The screaming rage shook my eardrums again.
"That monster son of a bitch is a mutant that reacts to magicians!!! Just run to the rear quickly!!!"
A mutant species that reacts to magic users.
I'd never heard such a thing from Lilea and her fellow adventurers.
But I suddenly remembered Siva's words, who told me to throw away my common sense.
...I now understood exactly what he meant.
If such a monster-- a monster more than ten times my size --were to head for my village...
I seized the opportunity to follow the knight's words.
As a matter of fact, the monster in front of me showed no reaction at all to the knight, who was screaming his lungs out, wounded in the leg and unable to move.
It was focused only on me, with its cat-like eyes squeezed tightly together.
And so I assumed his words were true.
"But... isn't this wall too massive to begin with?!"
While letting out whiny words, I opened my hands, both of which were unarmed, not even holding the sword that I carried at my waist--
A pair of daggers formed, finally resting in my hands.
In the midst of the frustration, I had to be a level-headed person who would correctly recognize the most optimal course of action.
Slaying him would be painstaking. However, if only to pierce through his defenses...
"Make sure to-- eat this!!!"
I ran, and after showing the behavior of trying to escape for just a moment-- I turned my body around and flipped in the air over again.
And so the daggers flung in the air, aiming not too far from the eyes of the monster, but the hard sound of a clank made me realize that I had been blocked.
But just before piercing its eyeballs, the dagger was repelled by some kind of invisible barrier.
"...Things don't always work out your way, do they?"
The enemy had wings, and I didn't even know what kind of ability it had, let alone what kind of monster it was to begin with.
As one would expect, this was definitely not a good situation, and I needed to retreat.
Star-Slaying Swordsman
星斬りの剣士
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/star-slaying-swordsman/
Action Fantasy Martial Arts Mature Psychological Shounen
Adapted to Manga Dark Fantasy World Male Protagonist Mature Protagonist Medieval Philosophical Romantic Subplot Sudden Strength Gain Sword And Magic Sword Wielder Transplanted Memories
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7336gg/
アルト／遥月