The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

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"What a magnificent giant body! The jet-black horns standing tall! The powerful muscles bulging like hills! It's simply splendid!"

Mamared de Mataisa was excited.

For the past few days, she had been constantly bored. She didn't expect people to casually talk to her, but excessive consideration and flattery were just unpleasant. When treated as royalty without wanting it, she had to respond as royalty. If she responded carelessly, it wouldn't be the equal treatment Mamared sought.

The only time she could relax was when she secretly talked with Ruruk, who was following in hiding.

However, encountering this mutant Bicorn here raised her spirits. It was understandable.

This giant monster was probably A-rank. Normally, Mamared, a C-rank adventurer, would never be allowed to take on such an opponent, but—

"Blessings of father and mother, entangle—'Mud Carpet'!"

Mamared chanted a composite magic of earth and water.

She turned all the ground beneath the charging Bicorn's feet into mud.

"Kyuooon!"

The Bicorn slipped and fell.

Bicorns are monsters specialized in physical strength, and can only use speed-enhancing magic. Unlike magic-focused Unicorns, Bicorns specialize in running speed and can only use their bodies to attack. In the adventurer community, it's said to be extremely difficult to land an attack on a Bicorn, but if you reduce their mobility like this, they can be easily defeated with magic.

Knowledge is a weapon. Mamared always believed this.

"Steal my enemy's wings and cast them to the ground—'Oxydown'!"

The next magic she activated was advanced wind-attribute magic.

It was quite a professional-level magic that temporarily thinned the air around the target, depriving them of breath.

Although the effect range wasn't very large, Mamared accurately created it at the nose of the thrashing Bicorn, continuously obstructing its breathing.

It was a technique that required considerable magic proficiency, but for Mamared, who had slaughtered numerous monsters with this technique since ancient times, an opponent that was merely giant was trivial. The Bicorn quickly lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen.

While Ripard and his guards were dumbfounded, Mamared unhesitatingly approached the fallen Bicorn and stabbed its body once with her long sword. With Mamared's skill "Body Temperature Perception," she could clearly see where each organ was located, so it was easy to pierce the heart.

The Bicorn twitched and died.

In front of the giant corpse, Mamared took out many short knives and buckets from her item box.

"Now, it's dissection time!"

This is where the real fun begins, the enjoyable time.

Ignoring her companions who were still in shock, she started dissecting the Bicorn while humming. From what she could see, although it had grown gigantic, the density of its muscles and bones hadn't decreased much. She had heard from Ruruk about the "Giants' Garden" in the middle layers of the Stoania Dungeon, a nest of gigantified monsters, so she could somewhat imagine the mechanism of biological changes during gigantification. Normally, when the body weight increases several dozen times, walking would become difficult, but the gigantification probably also benefits the additional status. As long as the status strength value is secured, no matter how heavy one becomes, only the proportional values of bone density and muscle fiber count determine whether movement is possible or not. This is the same for living creatures of any size. However, what was unexpected was the high blood pressure. The moment she pulled out her sword, blood gushed out, staining her white coat completely red. The ground was a muddy pool of blood. Despite preparing buckets, she had lost quite a bit of blood, which was a point for reflection. Come to think of it, giant creatures do have stronger hearts. From now on, she'll approach this more carefully. Now, next is—

"Um... are you finished?"

Ripard timidly called out about an hour after Mamared had started dissecting.

Honestly, she had only roughly dismantled it so far and there was still a long way to go. Under this summer sky, the freshness of the materials is greatly affected by the speed of dissection, so she had been prioritizing speed out of habit, but thinking about it, there was no need to dissect here since she had an item box.

"I apologize. Let's move on."

Mamared quickly stored everything in her item box and changed into a new white coat.

As she was about to get back into the carriage with Ripard—that's when it happened.

"!? Watch out!"

She grabbed Ripard and fell to the ground. A moment later, a throwing knife stuck into the carriage door.

She quickly got up while activating "Body Temperature Perception."

"Body Temperature Perception" can detect the body temperature of living beings within a 26-meter radius. It can see through obstacles and can distinguish multiple people even if they're overlapping. It was one of the most useful perception skills.

This skill detected the presence of over a dozen people in the surrounding forest.

"When did they—"

"Guh!"

"S-stop!"

"Gyaaaah!"

The three guards collapsed, seemingly hit by projectiles.

Another throwing knife flew towards Ripard at Mamared's feet, but she knocked it down with her sword. She hasn't lived such an easy life that she'd miss a single projectile when on guard, but still.

"Oh ho, the Mataisa princess is more skilled than I heard."

From the shadows of the trees appeared a man with pointed dog ears, a beast-man.

Carrying twin swords, he sent a sharp gaze towards Mamared. He had the appearance of a seasoned warrior.

At that signal, those who had been hiding all revealed themselves. Surprisingly, they were all beast-men.

This was a group of beast-men, rarely seen in this country.

"...Bandits?"

"Now, now, Princess, don't lump us in with those guys. We're mercenaries."

"I see. What business do mercenaries have here?"

"Come on, don't you get it? You've got a pretty empty head, huh?"

"Is your target me?"

"What else could it be? The solo adventurer Princess Mamared."

As expected.

From the looks of it, they were quite a skilled group. At least, not opponents Mamared could handle alone. They first targeted Ripard, and the coachman and guards were already subdued. The fact that they weren't directly attacking Mamared was as good as confessing their purpose.

It seems Tanya and the others' concerns were correct.

"Who put you up to this? And, your name is?"

"Hey, hey, you think we'd honestly answer that?"

"No. I just thought I'd ask. I wanted to at least know the name of the person kidnapping me."

Saying this, Mamared threw away her sword and raised both hands.

The beast-man mercenary grinned.

"Oh ho, aren't you understanding. Well then, I'll at least tell you my name. I'm Bilkesso... Bilkesso, captain of the 3rd unit of [Blood-Stained Forest]."

"Could you be the 'Scorching' Bilkesso?"

"Oh, you know me? I'm flattered."

Mamared was genuinely surprised.

The heroic tales of the [Blood-Stained Forest] mercenary group from the Beast-King Kingdom of Inwander are often sung by the bards of this country. Led by the strongest mercenary, the "Crimson Calamity" Crimson, all the unit captains are famous.

Among those captain-class individuals, "Explosive" Markeril, "Scorching" Bilkesso, and "Severe" Caribou were said to have top-tier abilities, on par with the captains of our Mataisa Royal Knight Order.

At the very least, they were clearly stronger than Mamared.

Mamared, who originally had no experience in fighting against people, could probably only buy a few seconds of resistance at best.

"I didn't expect someone as famous as the 'Scorching' to lend a hand in kidnapping."

"Well, well, we have our circumstances too."

"By the way, where do you intend to take me?"

"What good would knowing that do you now?"

"There's no one else around. Since you're going to take me anyway, there's no harm in telling me, is there?"

"...Tch, what a spoiled princess. Fine, but this is the last question, got it? We're going to guide the princess to the Maguu Empire. We're employed by the empire, you see."

"Is that so. Indeed, it's a country we can't let our guard down against. Is your employer the emperor?"

"Oops, questions are over. Now, quietly—"

"That's what they said. Was I of help?"

"Yes, thank you for drawing out the information."

The carefree response came from right behind.

The one who had been hiding with advanced perception interference was, of course, the adventurer Ruruk.

He was standing majestically on top of the carriage, winking at Mamared.

"What the—when did you get there—"

"[Blood-Stained Forest], huh. I wonder if Ketsa-san would get angry if I caught them."

The moment he muttered that, all the beast-men except Bilkesso collapsed.

Mamared couldn't understand at all what he had done.

"What's wrong with you guys!? Why are you sleeping!?"

"'Scorching' Bilkesso, was it? I'd like to know which part of you is scorching."

"Don't mess with me, you brat! Urah!"

Bilkesso clenched his fists and leaped straight towards Ruruk.

He's fast!

Both his hands were glowing bright red and—

"Meteor Fist!"

The scorching fist was swung at Ruruk—but Ruruk disappeared.

It wasn't teleportation, he had just jumped. Mamared's dynamic vision just couldn't keep up with that speed.

It seemed the same for Bilkesso.

"What, he vanished!?"

"Heh, a skill for burning fists? That's romantic."

"Ugh!"

Ruruk stomped on Bilkesso's back, kicking him down to the ground.

It didn't seem to be much damage, as Bilkesso rolled with the fall and regained his stance, then without hesitation thrust his fist upwards at the falling Ruruk.

Ruruk caught that red fist normally with one hand.

"What!? This technique can even break through iron doors!?"

"Is that so. But all my companions can easily break iron doors too, so I'm used to this level."

As if there's a party leader who can stop such attacks with one hand.

Mamared almost retorted, but she held back.

Bilkesso still seemed hot-headed, but—

"Well, anyway, we know who's behind this now. Here we go!"

Ruruk instantly dove into Bilkesso's guard and uppercutted his chin.

His brain rattled and his eyes rolled back.

It was an unexpectedly quick end.

"Now then, are you uninjured, Mamared-sama?"

"Y-yes. I'm fine... But you're really strong, aren't you, Ruruk-sama?"

"Hmm. Actually, ever since I fought a certain individual, I can't seem to feel any challenge from others."

Ruruk looked genuinely troubled.

Mamared was intensely curious about what kind of opponent could make someone of 'Scorching' level seem like child's play, but now wasn't the time to discuss that.

"Thank you so much."

"No, no, this is my duty. Ah, Ripard-san, I think you should treat the coachman and guards quickly."

"Huh?"

Ripard was slumped on the ground, dumbfounded.

Well, it's understandable to freeze up when suddenly faced with such a situation.

This time, neither Mamared nor Ruruk had any reason to be considerate towards Ripard and his companions. Although Mamared was the target, it was clear that Ikaho Trading had set a trap.

They had no intention of providing healing potions.

They expressed this intention, but Ripard didn't seem to quite understand.

"The giant Bicorn from earlier might have been a trap too. Mamared-sama didn't tell anyone she was heading to Souka Plains, right?"

"Yes. If information leaked, it could only have been from Ikaho Trading... Moreover, considering that a skilled fighter like Bilkesso was waiting, it seems quite planned."

"Huh? Us?"

Ripard started to panic in earnest.

Well, it's true that he was almost dealt with first, so probably Ripard himself didn't plan this.

"Ripard-san, was the designated request for me your idea?"

"N-no... that was the branch manager's idea, but surely—!"

Ripard panicked.

It was too realistic to be an act.

"Then the branch manager is the culprit, right?"

"It seems so."

"Then we can assume that Ikaho Trading is connected to the Maguu Empire behind the scenes, right? Ripard-san, did you know anything about this?"

"I... I'm completely at a loss..."

Ripard took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat flowing down his face.

He seems to be aware that he's being suspected of complicity in the kidnapping of royalty. If found guilty, he'd probably be executed without question, so he seems to be desperately racking his brains.

"Should we wake up Biscuit-san... Cricket-san... Clinic-san? and interrogate him?"

"That won't be necessary, Ruruk-sama."

Suddenly, a voice was heard from behind.

Mamared held her breath. Several masked women were standing right there. As if they had been there all along, without any sense of incongruity.

Their appearance was clearly that of Luney Trading Company members.

"Pentan-san. You were here?"

"Yes. I thought it was about time for things to be settled."

"As expected. So, there's no need to interrogate?"

"Please leave the interrogation of the troublemakers to us. We will inform you of all the information we extract at a later date."

"That's fine, but... Ah, could it be that you also have a request from someone? Then shall we leave it to you?"

"Yes. Thank you for your understanding."

Pentan and the other Luney Trading members bowed slightly.

Seeing their quite friendly manner, it made sense that they had made the designated request to Ruruk.

"Your Highness, please return to the royal capital with Ruruk-sama. There is currently some confusion in the royal capital."

"Confusion... you say?"

"Yes. Actually, Princess Mamared was not the only one attacked this time."

"What do you mean?"

Mamared frowned.

Pentan's next words were more than enough reason to make Mamared hurry back to the royal capital.

"From First Prince Aubin-sama to Seventh Princess Maple-sama, all of His Majesty's direct descendants were attacked simultaneously. The royal capital is somewhat in turmoil due to the aftermath of these events."

< Teacher Arc → END NEXT → Nation Saving Arc >