Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 074: ...To The Land Of The Myriad Kings I & II

Translator: Solo

<...To The Land Of The Myriad Kings I>

「Pardon?」

The queen tilted her head.

I couldn’t grasp the current situation at all.

I should have been on the right continent till just a while ago. But the moment I was thrown into the portal, I ended up two continents away on the left continent.

I had landed inside an unfamiliar cathedral.

In front of a noble-looking queen.

「Aren’t you a Brave?」

「A Brave………」

Oh, something comes to mind.

There’s a distorted V-shaped pattern on my left palm. It seems that it’s the crest of the Brave. No way, is that the cause?

「A descendant of Gastolfo called Frey did more or less force the crest of the Brave on me. But I’m sorry. I don’t believe I have the strength to help you」

「Hahaha, dear Brave, don’t be humble. Because of the sudden summoning, you probably weren't able to get yourself ready. I’ll lend you the royal family’s prized weapons and armor. So please vanquish that damned black elf」

「Ah, umm……」

Now what? My individual strength is rubbish though. Will this person believe me even if I tell her that, I wonder?

「Excuse me, Your Highness」

A maid, who had been waiting behind, walked up beside me. She was a Hemu with features that could be mistaken for a white-skinned elf’s.

Anyway, I’m still feeling the effects of the drug and I can’t even stand.

「This person has the crest of the Brave, but he has yet to show his proof of identity. These days, the title of Brave is not what it used to be. If I may be so bold to ask, please allow me to investigate this person who bears our hopes of saving the country」

「Dear Brave, I beg your pardon, but is that alright?」

「Yes」

Well, the result is obvious. With this, she should understand.

The maid took out a scroll. I cut my thumb, made the blood well up, and then smeared it all over my thumb. I pressed my seal of blood onto the scroll.

「Regina, a follower of Vindoobunikuru, unravels the history of the transient Brave here. In the name of Thrusuovu, inscribe the truth upon this scroll. I’ll close my eyes to shame and speak not of disgrace. However, now, in this place, inscribe your achievements and the proof of yourself」

The scroll shone with light. It was a scene I had seen many times before.

Come to think of it, I've survived lots of adventures since then. I’ve met many people. I’ve fought to no end. I hadn’t checked it, but I wonder how my achievements and history look now.

「Excuse me, Your Highness」

Bringing the scroll with her, the maid walked over to the queen’s side.

「………………」

She looked at my history and the look on her face became amazing. It wasn’t an expression that royalty should be showing.

Huh, is it that bad?

「Dear Brave, what is this?」

「Even if you ask me that…… Like I said, I don’t have the strength to help you」

「How can this be?!」

She hurled the scroll away. It conveniently rolled open and I took a look. In the letters of this world, “elven archery, beginner”, was the only thing written on it.

My history has unexpectedly not changed one bit. It hasn’t improved at all. No, wait, the Velsvain archery is gone. Oh, is it because Lumidia is now at peace?

………It’s deteriorating. Uwaa, my track record is deteriorating.

「To think that the Brave who appeared after we used our only treasure as a medium would only have a worthless archery skill……」

「Your Highness?!」

The queen staggered unsteadily and was caught by the maid.

「I'm terribly sorry. But for that reason, can you please return me to where I came from?」

I'm sure they summoned me here by mistake. I get the feeling that the voice that had me thrown into the portal has nothing to do with this queen. It'll be awkward, but I’ll have to ask Makina and Yukikaze. Everyone must be worried when I disappeared all of a sudden. I have to go back quickly.

「Return? What are you talking about?」

「I mean, you summoned me, so the responsibility to return——」

「What responsibility does a queen have to a lowly person like you?」

「………Pardon?」

She’s bringing up social status out of the blue. Which means that……

「Guards, he’s an eyesore. Throw him away」

Two of the guards grabbed me under the shoulders and dragged me away.

「Wa, wait a minute! Return me to the right continent!」

「Shut up」

I was hit in the head and lost consciousness.

I woke up outside the castle.

The chains of the drawbridge rattled as it closed. It appeared that I had been thrown out of the castle.

「Umm……………… What the heck is this?」

Am I restarting without any equipment on another continent all by myself?

Calm down,

Calm down.

Awaa, awawaa, it’s hopeless, I’m totally flustered.

「Ah-choo」

Cold.

It was a completely different season from Lemuria here. It was winter. The sky was gray and snow was falling around me. I guessed that it was about noon. There was little sunlight because of the cloud cover.

The effects of the drug had worn off, and I was able to walk sluggishly.

I checked my belongings.

I had the glasses-type device that I always had on me. It booted up, but its functionalities couldn’t be synchronized with the A.I.s. They were too far away. For some reason, the A.I.s’ quantum communication received a lot of interference in the alternate world. According to its original specifications, it should be able to easily communicate across distances as far as one Earth-sized planet.

In addition, one karambit. One cheap, functional, sturdy, Japan-made digital wristwatch. One pen case with Gravius-sama’s feather in it. Other than those, I had in my pocket 2 gold coins, 5 silver coins, and 5 bronze coins. As well as one 100 yen lighter. I had on a linen shirt, army pants and boots.

In this cold weather, I would freeze to death at night unless I bought winter clothes with the money I had on me.

I walked around the city in search of clothes, but it was completely deserted and there was not a soul to be seen.

It was no wonder.

The city had fallen into ruin.

Most of the buildings lining the streets had been burnt down, leaving only the skeletons of the buildings and their foundations. It was a city of charcoal, ash and rubble. I spotted a stone house that was still barely standing, but I regretted it when I looked inside out of curiosity.

The corpses had turned into dried-up mummies. The clothes and the furnishings had been damaged by the heat, though some remained.

The corpses were of children and the adults shielding them.

I put my palms together and left.

Is this city about half the size of Lemuria? Since there is no dungeon, it looks smaller. I’ve looked all over the city, but everything except the royal castle had burned down.

Her Highness had said that tentacles of evil are about to invade this land, but this is probably the aftermath of an invasion. There is no future for a country with no people. Rather than saying that it’s dying, this country is already no more.

When I left the city, a dead plain spread out before me. There were mountains to the right and a dense forest to the left.

In front was a large army.

I put on the glasses and switched them to standalone mode. I searched through its various functionalities and started up its telephoto function. The copper-colored army flew four different types of flags. There were spear-wielding cavalry and foot soldiers, as well as archers. Laid out behind them were a sea of field tents.

I measured their numbers using the glasses’ targeting function.

There were 5,000 soldiers in my sight. 5,053 if I included non-combatants such as messengers and the like.

The army’s position was close to 1.5 km away from the city. It was close, but also far. If they wanted to capture the royal castle, they should have set up their camp closer.

Both the outer walls and the city gate had given way and collapsed. There should be nothing hampering them.

Is there something holding them back? I mean, if that army attacks the city, I’ll die, won’t I? Can I somehow hide until they go past? Quickly escaping this city is the right thing to do, I guess.

After escaping, I’ll look for a ship bound for the right continent, no, but the money……I definitely don’t have enough money for that. Even if I want to work, is there a job in this alternate world that will make me money? Should I use Gravius-sama’s feather to get a job in a merchant company?

I’ve come up with various ideas, but there’s one thing for certain, and it’s that staying here is dangerous.

A strong wind blew. The cold cut me to the bone.

However, I can’t leave the city dressed like this. I won’t last long.

Deciding that it couldn’t be helped, I went back to the stone house that I had entered earlier.

As far as I could see, every house other than this one had burned down to nothing. There were places that I hadn’t checked yet, but I had neither the time nor energy to search through the city.

「I'm sorry」

I put my palms together, and then carried the corpses outside. They were heavy, be it the children or the adults, and their smell made me grimace.

It probably wasn’t the time to be doing something like this, but I dug holes in the yard using a suitable piece of wood.

Three for the children and two for the adults.

If I made them too shallow, they would be dug up by wild animals. I wanted to dig them 1 meter deep, but 80 cm was all I could manage with my physical strength.

It was hard labor.

By the time I finished digging the graves for all five, I had forgotten the cold and was covered in sweat.

I’ll fish through their house after I bury them, I thought as I placed toys inside the children’s graves. For their parents, I put in a hair ornament for the woman and an old dagger for the man so that their gender could be identified.

Once more, I put my palms together.

I’m sorry for burying you according to the customs of a foreign land, I apologized.

My sweat turned cold rapidly and my whole body started shivering.

I started my search of the house. I found a brown leather hooded coat with fur lining the inside. I passed my arms through its sleeves. It was heavy, but warm. I found a bag, and then wavered for a moment before putting money and things that I could likely sell in it. I also crammed some dried-up bread and cheese into the bag.

I still have stamina and I also don't feel hungry. However, I don’t know the land and the climate is harsh. There is no one I can rely on. This is the moment that decides whether or not I survive. In order to survive, moralistic ideals are not enough.

There are people waiting for me on the right continent.

So I have to survive no matter what it takes.

It's weird.

To think that a person who thought of his own life as garbage would think like this.

My parents had brought me up that way, and even though my grandfather impressed upon me a purpose to life until his dying day, I remained a piece of trash. I had thought that I would die like that, but things sure have changed.

Who would have thought that I would strive to live for someone's sake.

Well, robbing the dead is very much the actions of a piece of trash though.

I had scraped together all the necessary items I could carry. I shouldered the bag and went outside.

I unexpectedly ran into someone.

She was a white-skinned beastkin with silver hair.

She was petite, baby-faced, and had a slender body as well as rabbit ears. Her loose and fluffy hair was cut in a short bob hairstyle. There was a cherubic smile on her face. Despite the cold, she was dressed lightly, which was very beastkin-like. She had on a leather jacket with fur lining the collar, and wore hot pants, which exposed her bare legs generously.

Silver hair should be rare, but I was strangely fated with silver-haired people.

「Oh, hello」

「Ara, hello」

After the greeting,

She knocked me out, no questions asked.

<...To The Land Of The Myriad Kings II>

I came to while being dragged along the ground.

To think that I would get knocked out and dragged twice within such a short amount of time, this land, it doesn't agree with me, does it?

As I savored that painful realization, we arrived at a dilapidated watchtower.

「Your Majesty~, Your Majesty~, I found something weird」

「What is it?」

I was thrown in front of a gigantic man.

He was 190 cm tall, which was tall for a Hemu, had long limbs, and was thick. I didn’t mean fat, but thick with muscles. His limbs, his neck and his torso were all thick. Moreover, he was exceedingly well-knit.

I wondered if the strength of his body was the reason why he was lightly equipped. He wore black leather armor and had a fur cloak draped over his shoulders.

He had long red hair, brown eyes, and a sharp gaze, but his expression conveyed a sense of composure. He had the look of an extraordinary man.

If Heracles, the hero of ancient mythology, existed, he would probably look like this man.

His gigantic body looked even bigger as he was atop a horse.

It was a horse ridden by a man like him, so it wasn’t an ordinary horse.

It was big enough to be mistaken for a small elephant. Even though it was black, which tended to make things look smaller, its body was distinctively big. Like its owner, it had a long mane.

The Heracles atop the black horse carried a great-sword on his back. He was also holding a large lance in his right hand.

The sheathed great-sword was wide and thick. As for the lance, its handle was quite thick, and its total length was abnormally long at 8 meters. The head of the lance was thick enough to be called a mace. He was holding it lightly with one hand.

Neither weapon was of a size meant for Hemu use.

「Is he a spy?」

His voice was also thick(deep).

「No, he was looting an empty house, so he’s a burglar, I guess. But he buried the corpses in the yard. What a strange guy, I thought, so I brought him」

「Put him aside for a moment. The army is moving」

A low, somber voice rang out.

Behind Heracles was a man who was waiting like a shadow.

He was an old man with white hair. He wore dull, marred, gray armor and a marred, scarlet cloak. He had a thick longsword.

Though I called him an old man, he had a good physique and looked impressively seasoned. I was sure that he must have lived through long years of immersing himself in conflict. He was also riding a horse, which had spare lances lashed to its body.

「I'll leave it to you to take care of things and that man while we’re gone. We're off to battle!」

「Yes, Your Majesty」

Heracles and the old man spurred their horses away.

Come, said the beastkin woman after elbowing me, and we went up the watchtower. I watched the two men leave the city and then head across the dead plain.

Straight at the army of 5,000, with just the two of them.

「Umm, can I ask one question?」

「What is it?」

The beastkin hugged me from behind. Rather than having some ulterior motive or fondness for me, I guessed that it was probably to prevent my escape. For some reason, she was sniffing my neck really hard.

「Hmm? Hmm? Somehow, I smell an acquaintance’s scent on you」

「Y, yes, umm, so can I ask my question?」

「Yeah」

「Are they choosing to die a warrior’s death, or rather, are they making a final suicide attack in order to make their name?」

「What are you talking about?」

「No, I mean……」

It's 2 vs 5,000, you know? The terrain is so unfavorable that even the Spartans will throw in the towel. Taking on that large army from the front is at the level where it’s hopeless unless you bring a giant robot.

「Ohh, are you thinking that His Majesty will lose?」

「………He’s not going to lose?」

Just watch, she said as I got whacked in the head. She scrambled up my body and then rode on my shoulders.

I did as I was told and watched. I set the zoom of my glasses to the maximum and followed the two of them.

The enemy lined up in battle formation.

The archers were in the front row, with spear-wielding foot soldiers at the ready behind them. The cavalry formed up a distance away.

I thought they would attack with the two of them, but I was wrong.

At the same time the archers nocked arrows to their strings, Heracles charged out into the lead.

He was more than just fast. It wasn’t the speed of a normal horse.

A panicked officer signaled, and the archers released their arrows simultaneously.

Countless arrows darkened the sky and closed in on him. Heracles continued onward without any hint of hesitation. He swung his lance with both hands. It ripped through the air, whipping up a blast of wind that swept the arrows away easily.

I could see the alarm on the soldiers’ faces, but the archers stepped back, and the foot soldiers lowered their spears, bracing for his charge.

Those were the movements of well-trained soldiers.

However, I witnessed a greatness that made such things meaningless.

The foot soldiers’ spears were 10 meters long. They formed a bristling line facing him. Heracles’ lance was shorter than the foot soldiers’ spears, but it was thick and sturdy, and the man wielding it was gigantic and long.

It was a terrifying sight.

Soldiers who were hit by the lance exploded into mists of blood. Soldiers who were blown away by the shock-wave pinballed into the other soldiers.

Twenty soldiers were sent flying in all directions by a single sweep of his lance. Thirty soldiers were caught up in the return sweep.

Blood fell like rain.

Those who were unlucky enough to be directly in front of him were even more pitiable as they were trampled to a pulp by the horse's giant hooves. Screams spread like wildfire. Without putting up any resistance worth mentioning, the foot soldiers were scattered away.

Charging cavalry are strong. They’re a directional weapon with mass behind them.

However, stationary cavalry, depending on the direction their enemy is in, can be inferior to even foot soldiers.

After charging easily into the foot soldiers’ formation, Heracles exited from the right of the formation, made a slight turn, and then charged at the cavalry's left flank, opposite of the side they held their weapons. The archers released more arrows at him, but he warded them off by waving his cloak and entangling the arrows in it.

The movements of the battle formation were overwhelming slow compared to his.

That was to be expected. No matter how one looked at it, battle formations were for dealing with armies, not for taking on abnormal individuals.

The cavalry were bowled over like dominoes and he proceeded to wipe them out.

All hell broke loose.

Pandemonium ensued wherever he passed. He blasted away the cavalry soldiers by bludgeoning them with his lance, and the horses that lost their riders went into a panicked rampage, plowing into and trampling the foot soldiers from behind.

They were good soldiers. They followed orders faithfully and their coordination was good. However, they lacked flexibility and inventiveness. Something like individuality was undesirable in warfare. Things that hadn’t been taught, that hadn’t been ordered, weren’t wanted. For that reason, it was probably the job of soldiers to simply die when unable to cope with unexpected situations.

But do they have little actual combat experience, I wonder? Their panicked state seems amateurish.

The old man, who had caught up, spurred the confusion.

The army had officers who wore helmets with red feathers, and generals who commanded the foot soldiers from horseback. There were also lightly equipped messengers.

The old man went around throwing lances, meticulously killing all of them.

The lances that had pierced through their targets formed a line like grave markers. Having lost its command structure,

「Has it been decided, I wonder?」

The army was no more than a group of confused, powerless people fleeing from a disaster. Their large numbers also added to the confusion. The more people there were, the greater the fear grew.

In the dense formation, they pushed and shoved one another as they scrambled to escape, stampeding those underfoot to death.

Throwing away his ruined lance, Heracles pulled out one of the lances stuck into the battlefield and swung it around, killing the enemies near him.

If Ryofu(Lu Bu1) was actually here, I wonder if he would be like this.

After that, it was a massacre where people were mowed down like grass before a scythe.

Another 150 fell to his lance.

While covered in blood, he shouted something in his deep voice. My glasses didn’t have a function that could pick up sound from so far away, so I had no idea what he said. But it was so loud that even the fleeing soldiers were transfixed.

「What is that person saying?」

「He’s bringing the battle to a close」

Well-dressed men emerged from the back of the enemy’s camp.

They were all armed and on horseback.

「If he calls them out after the army has been trounced to such a state, the people on top will have no choice but to come out. If they refuse to, they’ll be ridiculed for the rest of their lives by their soldiers and the other Myriad Kings. They’ll also lose the people's hearts. They’ll be killed in their sleep and their clan will be eradicated」

「I see」

They seemed to be giving one another their names.

And then, it proceeded to a one-on-one duel with the oldest man among them.

I thought it would be an easy win, but it wasn't. Three times their lances crashed together as they tilted against each other, and inevitably, Heracles won. His lance took his opponent in the throat, decapitating him.

But he had been wounded. There was a small cut on his cheek.

Ahh, I see.

So he’s letting the other party save face. This person, he isn’t just strong.

He said something to a young man among those who remained. They were probably words of praise. The young man was holding the head in his arms, so he was probably the man’s son, but rather than anger or hatred, his expression was filled with pride.

That was only natural.

His father was the one and only person who had wounded the man who had driven off an army of 5,000 pretty much by himself. Even if the wound was small, it was probably something to be greatly proud of. Their side had lost, but they had saved face to some extent before their army and their people.

The old man was recovering the undamaged lances.

Heracles turned his horse around and came back towards us. He really returned victorious from a 2 vs 5,000 battle.

It’s utterly absurd.

But that was the scene unfolding before me. It was as if I had witnessed a god’s battle, and tremors rippled through my body.

Looking back on it afterwards, I believe that's the moment I was enthralled.

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