ルーチェが俺へと不安げに尋ねる。
ルーチェも〈
〉の心臓であり、通常は奥地に引き籠っていて動かない。
だが、例外的に〈
今回も恐らく同じことだ。
実力の及ばない冒険者が無理をして〈夢の主〉へと挑み、まともにダメージを与えられずに敗走したのだろう。
もっとも〈天使の玩具箱〉の主は少し特殊であり、前情報と準備なしでダメージを与えることが困難であるため、〈マジックワールド〉でも〈
〉については、冒険者ギルドでも注意喚起しているのを耳に挟んだことがある。
俺も厄介な事態を引き起こしてくれた......とは思うが、冒険者達の認識不足のせいだとは一概にいえない。
迷惑なことには変わりないが。
「間違いない、今の赤ん坊の声は〈天使の玩具箱〉の主のものだ」
「ま、まずくないですか? ここの〈夢の主〉って、かなりレベルが高いんですよね? 完全攻略の推奨レベルが五十でしたし......」
「いや、実はそこまでまずくはないんだ。確かに対応を誤ると面倒なことにはなるがな」
ここの〈夢の主〉の移動速度はそこまで速くない。
素早さに秀でたルーチェであれば、袋小路にでも入り込まない限り、今のレベルでも余裕で逃げ切れる。
重騎士である俺は少々怪しいが、こういうときの逃げ方も、〈夢の主〉の性質も熟知している。
そう、それだけの簡単な話だ。
冒険者業はできることを全部やっているつもりでも、予想外の難事が舞い込んでくる。
そこまで急がなくてもいいくらいなのだが、何があるかはわからない。
魔物に囲まれでもしたら追い付かれかねない。
俺達は早速踵を返し、来た道を引き返すことにした。
だが、すぐに雷鳴のような轟音と共に、人の悲鳴が響いてきた。
俺は思わず立ち止まり、音の方を振り返っていた。
曲がり角の先から、男女二人組の冒険者が姿を現した。
二人共血塗れで深手を負っているのは間違いない。
女の方は意識が朦朧としているらしく、相方が彼女の肩を担ぎ、半ば引き摺るように歩いていた。
「助けてくれっ! と、突然、これまでとは桁外れの強さの魔物が出てきて......!」
どこか甘く考えていた。
〉で、きっと何人も死者が出ている。
ここで逃げれば、目前の二人は間違いなく命を落とすだろう。
『我々貴族は、平民共よりも遥かに偉い。贅を尽くすのは、当然なのだ。何故かわかるか? それは我々が、大きな力と......そして領地と民を守るという使命を持っているからだ』
別に今となっては、彼を盲信しているわけでも、尊敬しているわけでもない。
情がなく、頭が硬く、横暴で身勝手な男だ。
だが、あの言葉だけは心に残っている。
〈加護の儀〉のことも、貴族としての使命を優先した結果なのだと思えば、許せないまでも理解はできる。
そして俺も、腐っても貴族の端くれなのだ。
転生者として前世の記憶がある。
だが、エルマ・エドヴァンとして十五年......エドヴァン伯爵領を守る次期当主として生きてきたのも、間違いなく俺なのだ。
父からは、俺にその力はないとして、家から捨てられた身だ。
今更次期当主に戻りたいわけじゃない。
父を見返してやりたいわけじゃない。
ただ、それでも、信じてきた誇りと矜持までは捨てたくなかった。
「......ルーチェ、悪い。俺が魔物の気を引くから、二人を助けながら外まで案内してやってくれないか?」
「それは構いませんが......で、でも、ここの〈夢の主〉は、推奨レベルに近い【Lv:50】前後なんじゃないんですかぁ? さすがにエルマさんでも......」
「敵の性質はわかってる。ちょっと気を引いてから逃げ切るくらい、俺単体ならできることだ。元々重騎士は、敵を引き付けるのが基本的な戦闘スタイルだからな」
俺は言いながら、負傷している二人の許へと駆けた。
俺の後をルーチェが追う。
二人の背を追うように、奇妙な姿の魔物が現れた。
黒い帽子を被り、赤い軍服を身に纏う。
手には短剣を有しており、大きなラッパを背負い、革のベルトで身体に太鼓を固定して......と、随分と派手な格好をしている。
目の代わりにバツ印があり、鼻が高く、コミカルな顔付きをしている。
そして全身につるりと光沢があった。
〈マジックワールド〉のときとまるで変わらない。
「おでましか......ブリキナイト!」
刃と身体が、返り血で濡れていた。
既に一人以上奴の犠牲になっていることの証だった。
「俺が時間を稼ぐ! 俺の仲間がここから出口までの道筋を知っているから、あいつに教えてもらって逃げてくれ!」
「す、すまない......ありがとう、本当に!」
男が俺へと頭を下げる。
俺は剣を抜き、向かってくる魔物......ブリキナイトへと刃を構えた。
魔物:ブリキナイト
Lv :40
HP :21/47
MP :31/31
......なるほど、HPは削れている。
「エルマさん! 確かに強い魔物ですけれど......相手は弱っています! きっとアタシでも、力になれると思うんです! 二人で倒しましょう!」
ルーチェが俺に並び、〈鉄石通し〉をブリキナイトへと構える。
「......いや、倒すのは無理だ。ルーチェ、逃げてくれ」
「で、ですが......!」
「ブリキナイトはな、〈夢の主〉の本体じゃないんだ。ただの手足みたいなもの......すぐに本体が来る」
俺がそう口にしたと同時に......先頭のブリキナイトに続き、二体のブリキナイトが姿を現した。
ブリキナイトは動かないバツ印の目を俺達へと向ける。
なぜかその顔は、冷たく笑っているように感じた。
ルーチェは三体のブリキナイトを前に蒼褪めた。
「嘘......【Lv:40】が、三体......」
「ちょっと時間を稼いだら、すぐに後を追いかける」
「ダ、ダメですようっ! こんなのエルマさん一人に任せて、アタシだけ逃げられるわけが......! だってエルマさん、アタシを仲間にしてくれるって......!」
「はっきり言わないとわからないか? 足手纏いに気を遣って戦えるほど、ヤワな相手じゃないんだよ。邪魔になる」
俺が言うと、ルーチェはぐっと口を閉じた後、俺へと頭を下げた。
「......そう、ですよね。ごめんなさい」
そう言い残して、ルーチェは逃げた二人と同じ方へと走っていった。
「すぐ......追い付いてくださいね、エルマさん」
俺はその言葉に、振り返らずに小さく頷いた。
Luce asked me anxiously.
It seems Luce knew about Wandering Lords too.
The Dream Lord is the heart of the Dungeon and ordinarily does not move from its place in the deepest depths.
However, there are exceptions when it moves out from its place and starts wandering around.
Most likely the same thing happened this time too.
Adventurers who were not up to snuff tried to challenge the Dream Lord and were routed before doing any proper damage.
That being said, the boss of the Angel's Toybox is a bit special, which makes it very hard to hurt if you go in without proper intel and sufficient preparation, so even in Magic World a Wandering Lord appeared frequently.
As for the Wandering Lord phenomenon, even I heard the adventurer guild's warning about it before.
I also think that this is a bothersome situation they caused, but.... I can't really say it's solely because the adventurers were careless.
Although that doesn't make this situation less bothersome.
"There is no mistaking it, that baby voice just now belonged to the Angel's Toybox's Lord."
"I-Isn't that bad news? The Dream Lord of this place has quite a high level, right? The Recommended Level for conquering this place was level fifty after all...."
"No, the situation is not that bad. Although if we don't handle it properly it might turn into a problem."
The movement speed of the Dream Lord of this place is not that fast.
Luce with her excellent Agility would be able to easily run away from it even at her current level, provided she avoids running into a dead end at least.
With my Heavy Knight Class it might not necessarily be the case, but I also know how to best run away in cases like this, and an important relevant characteristic of the Dream Lord.
Yes, it's that simple.
As an adventurer there are times where you run into dangerous situations despite doing everything you possibly can to avoid them.
There may not even be a need to hurry that much, but the situation is still mostly unknown.
If we get surrounded by monsters then it may even be able to catch up.
So we turned right around and left the way we came.
However, a thundering sound was accompanied by the screams of people.
I stopped without thinking and turned back towards the noise.
From around a corner a man and woman adventurer duo showed up.
Both were drenched in blood and were obviously seriously injured.
The woman was clearly dazed, needing to get dragged by the shoulder, her partner all but carrying her as they walked.
"Please help us! Suddenly an incredibly strong monster appeared out of nowhere....! "
I did not take things seriously enough.
There must be a few people that died to this Wandering Lord already.
If I run away right now, the two in front of me will die for certain.
'We nobles are much more important than those plebeians. Them doing their best to support us is natural. Do you know why? That is because we have great power in our hands.....and the duty to protect our land and people with it.'
It's not like I believe in him or even respect him at this point.
He is a heartless, bull-headed, tyrannical, and egoistical man.
However, those words of his left an impression on me.
If I take what happened at the Divine Blessing Ceremony as the result of him prioritizing his duty above all else, then I may not be able to forgive him for it still, but I may be able to understand it to some degree.
And I'm still a noble, even if barely at this point.
I have my memories from my previous life.
However, my fifteen years as Elma Edvan... the life I've lived as the next head of the Edvan County with the duty to protect our land and people was also undoubtedly mine.
My father decided that I would be powerless to fulfill that role, so he threw me away.
It's not that I want to return to being the next head of the family.
It's not that I want to prove my father wrong about me.
I just don't want to throw away even my pride and my dignity at this point.
"......sorry about this, Luce. I'll attract the monsters' attention, so could you help guide those two to the outside?"
"I don't mind doing it, but.... th-the Dream Lord should be close to [(Lv:50)] , like the Recommended Level suggested, right? Even Elma-san may not be able to...."
"I know enough about the enemy to confidently say that I should be able to divert their attention for a while and run away if it's only me here. The Heavy Knight Class is all about fighting while drawing the attention of monsters like this to begin with."
As I said this I ran towards the two injured people.
Luce followed after me.
Chasing after those two, a strange looking monster appeared.
It had a black hat on its head and was wearing a red military uniform.
It had a short sword in its hand, a large trumpet on its back, and a large drum tied to its waist with a rope. A very flashy getup, all things said.
The two X shapes instead of eyes and its large nose gave it a somewhat comical expression.
In addition, it also had a glossy finish on its entire body.
It looked just like it did in Magic World.
"So you've arrived.... Tin Knight!"
Its blade and body was splattered in the blood of its victims.
It was undeniable proof that at least one person has already died to its hands.
"I will buy you time! My teammate knows the way to the exit, so listen to her and run!"
"S-sorry..... and thank you, truly!"
The man bowed his head at me.
I pulled out my sword and aimed it at the incoming monster.... the Tin Knight.
Monster: Tin Knight
Lv: 40
HP: 21/47
MP: 31/31
.....I see, its HP has gone down somewhat.
"Elma-san! Although it's a strong monster... it's been weakened already! I should be able to help too! Let's defeat it with the two of us!"
Luce stood next to me and aimed her Iron Piercer at the Tin Knight.
"....no, we won't be able to kill it. Luce, run away now."
"B-but....!"
"The Tin Knight is not the Dream Lord itself. It's only something like its limbs.... the main body will be here soon."
Just as I said that....following the first Tin Knight, two other Tin Knights appeared.
The Tin Knights turned their unmoving X shaped eyes at us.
For some reason it felt like those heads were coldly laughing at us.
Luce went as white as a sheet from coming face to face with those three Tin Knights.
"No way....three [(Lv:40)]  monsters...."
"I will follow right behind you after buying some time."
"I-I can't do that! I can't just leave Elma-san alone here and run away by myself....! Elma-san, you asked me to be your teammate.....!"
"You won't get it unless I tell you straight, huh? I can't fight these opponents if I have to watch out for you too. You will just get in the way."
Hearing me say that, Luce closed her mouth and bowed her head at me.
"....I, understand. I'm sorry."
Leaving those words, Luce ran in the same direction the two others fled just now.
"Please....catch up to us right away, Elma-san."
Without turning around, I gave a small nod at her words.
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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