Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 4

“Aren’t you a sight for old eyes.”

“Good to see you again, Master.”

It has been a long time since I last saw apprentice number one, also known as Julius the hero.

We haven’t been face-to-face like this in many years.

Thanks to interference from the Word of God Church, I’ve scarcely been allowed anywhere near him.

What an irritating lot.

“Glad to see you looking well, eh?”

“You too, Master. It’s amazing that you’re still active at your age.”

“Who do you think I am, boy? I’ll be out and about until the day I die, fool.”

“You haven’t changed one bit.”

Apprentice number one chuckles demurely.

When I first looked after him, he was still rather innocent, but he’s done a lot of growing since then.

“Julius… Ah, and Elder Ronandt. When did you arrive?”

A boy enters the room without even knocking—Hyrince, I believe his name is? One of my old apprentice’s friends.

“Just a moment ago.”

“He teleported in out of nowhere. I keep asking him to stop scaring me like that…”

“If you can’t even detect incoming teleportation, you still have a long way to go, boy.”

I ignore his complaints.

We have to meet secretly like this, or the Church won’t get off my back.

“Guess the old man hasn’t changed, huh?”

Hyrince sighs, though his general impertinence hasn’t changed much, either.

“So, did both of you need something?”

“Indeed. But your bratty friend Hyrince can state his business first.”

My business isn’t anything important—just a touch of meddling, really.

It can wait.

“Bratty, huh? I guess that’s fair if it’s coming from you, but still, c’mon.”

“What’s wrong with calling a brat bratty? If you’ve got a problem with it, let’s see you get strong enough to defeat me first.”

“Give me a break, please.”

The brat flashes a grin, then turns serious.

“Elder Ronandt, this information is technically top secret military information, so…”

“Very well, child. I promise I shall not repeat anything I hear in this room.”

I’m sure the brat was hoping I would leave, but he should know better. Given how long we’ve been acquainted, this much should be obvious.

Sure enough, he quickly shrugs and begins his report.

“The scouting party didn’t return at the appointed time. It’s safe to assume they’ve been wiped out.”

At this, my first apprentice’s face turns grave.

The troops stationed here on humanity’s first line of defense are no ordinary soldiers.

They’re as elite as it gets.

Even so, their scouting party failed to return with any information—a clear sign of just how dangerous the enemy is.

“Hrm. How many groups have failed to return?”

“All of them.”

What a mess.

It’s even worse than I thought.

Before a major battle like this, scouting parties tend to split into smaller groups before gathering information. That way, even if one group is caught and killed, the others can still bring back anything they find.

But this time, not a single group came back.

Which means that the enemy’s intelligence network and detection capabilities were superior to all the scouts’, and on top of that, they were strong enough to wipe out the elite scouting parties with ease.

It’s also likely they have enough numbers to attack several scouting detachments at once.

Surely, the scouts had ways to contact one another even after splitting up. They must have been trained to quickly withdraw if any of the other groups ran into trouble.

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But since that didn’t happen, they must have been taken out at the same time.

The detection skills to locate the scouting parties.

The combat strength to destroy them.

The enemy has soldiers capable of both and has them in great enough numbers to at least match the scouting parties.

“Sounds like this will be a bloody battle,” my apprentice murmurs.

He must be dwelling on the scouting party members who were killed.

“Apprentice.”

It’s time for me to knock some sense into him once again.

“Knowing you, I’m sure you’re thinking of the soldiers who were lost, but that’s a waste of time. Better to think about yourself instead.”

“Master! What do you mean, a waste of time?!”

Normally, my apprentice’s voice never wavers, but he’s sensitive when it comes to the life and death of others.

“I’m saying that the deaths of the scouting parties are not what you need to focus on right now.”

“Master, there are some things that aren’t okay to say, even for you. If you keep it up, I’ll get really angry.”

“Oh-ho? And how do you plan to act on that?”

The brat flinches at my threat.

My apprentice doesn’t show any fear, but I know that’s just an act.

“You say that you’ll get angry with me, hmm? Surely, you do not think you could defeat me in a fight?”

I put more emphasis into my voice, keeping it low and even.

Did that audible gulp just now come from my apprentice or the brat?

“Do not get ahead of yourself, boy. There is always someone stronger than you. Even if you are the hero.”

With that, I relax my threatening aura and rap my apprentice lightly on the head with my staff.

“The same is true of the scouting parties. They did their job to their best ability and died in battle. It is not wrong to lament their deaths, of course. But it is wrong to feel as if you are somehow responsible. You do realize that even a hero cannot save everyone all the time, yes? Or are you so foolish as to think that you should’ve joined the scouting parties? Even when that would have been the most disrespectful thought of all, acting as though those who perished were not worthy of the duty. Surely, the great hero would not dare think such a horrible thing?”

At that, my apprentice looks lost for words.

He hangs his head in silence.

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Apprentice number one has always been like this. He tries to take on everything, even burdens that are not his to bear.

When someone falls in battle, the blame lies with them alone and no one else.

But somehow, this boy feels guilty unless he’s able to save every single person.

He seems to still not understand that would be impossible for anyone but a god.

“Julius.”

For once, I call him by his name.

Slowly, he raises his head.

“On the battlefield, you must think only of yourself.”

If you get distracted by anything else, you could die in a battle you might have otherwise survived.

“There is always someone stronger. You know that as well as I do, yes? And only the strong can protect others. But you are weak, too weak to even defeat me.”

“That’s easy for someone as strong as you to say, Master…”

Julius retorts half-heartedly, and I chuckle.

“I am no exception, either. You know there are those who are stronger than me, too, hmm?”

Julius has encountered the master before, too, so he must understand.

Such power is far beyond the reach of any mere human.

“Do you understand? If things get dangerous, you must flee without a second thought. In the end, you are still the hero, yes? A hero who flees is far less of a problem than a hero who dies. You must get that into your head.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to protect Julius.”

What is this brat babbling about?

“Hardly reassuring when coming from one even weaker than my apprentice.”

“Oof, that’s harsh!”

I’m sure he’s reacting so absurdly in an attempt to lighten the mood, trying to cheer up my apprentice so that he doesn’t go into battle still forlorn.

I admit the brat is a good friend, even if his strength is lacking.

“Ha-ha. I guess I’ll take you up on that.”

“Good. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

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Sure enough, my apprentice’s mood recovers a little.

“Still, Elder Ronandt, you came to check in on your darling apprentice, huh? Guess you’ve got a kind of cute side.”

“Th-that was certainly not my intent!”

What is this idiot blathering about?!

I thought he was a good companion for my apprentice, but clearly I misjudged him after all!

“Aw, look, he’s blushing.”

“I certainly am not! Honestly! I’m leaving now, you brats!”

“Okay. Thanks for today, Master.”

“Harrumph.”

I use Teleport to make my exit.

That was just a few days ago.

“The enemy army is in full retreat.”

“Indeed.”

I nod at one of my apprentice’s words.

Ever since I took Julius on as my first apprentice, I’ve shifted my focus from training myself to raising apprentices.

I have grown old.

My end is in sight, no matter how much I train.

Better, then, to pass on what I have learned in my life to future generations.

Perhaps one of my apprentices will even go on to someday gain power beyond that of any human.

A faint hope, to be sure.

I gathered applicants from many different lands and put them through rigorous training as my apprentices.

Most of them were unable to handle my training and ran away before long…

Of course, that simply gave me more time to spend on the worthy ones who have remained.

Now they can finally handle the first level of my training.

Some have even learned to use Space Magic.

Still, they have a long way to go yet.

None has surpassed my first apprentice thus far.

Since my first apprentice is the hero, that much is inevitable, but disappointingly, none has managed to surpass my second apprentice yet, either.

My second apprentice, Aurel, was originally my helper.

I simply made her my apprentice on a whim because she seemed to have a knack for magic.

As a result, she’s not particularly motivated.

Even so, her strength is still second only to Julius among my apprentices, so I don’t know which is more infuriating: the inadequacy of the others or the fact that she could be even stronger if she only made more of an effort.

But in any case, the base potential of mages today has far outstripped that of previous generations.

That much is clear, especially after this battle.

We scored a decisive victory after engaging in a ferocious magical exchange with the demons.

A spell’s power is generally fixed, with very little variation based on the difference in the user’s stats.

This has long been accepted as common knowledge.

But after my meeting with the master and my later training with the spiders, I realized that it is indeed possible to increase the potency of spells.

The key is the caster’s Magic Power Operation skill level.

Until this discovery, it was thought this skill was necessary only to initially learn to use spells.

But I discovered that if you raise your Magic Power Operation skill level, you can alter the very structure of your spells and make them weaker or stronger.

This is a fundamental change in our understanding of magic.

It makes it possible to deal major damage to the enemy without using large-scale magic, which requires multiple casters and a great deal of time.

The demon army we faced seemed to specialize in magic, too, but they were focused on grand magic, the strategy of the past.

That is not enough to defeat the likes of me.

The enemy general appeared to be a little boy, but I finished him off easily with an enhanced long-range attack spell.

I doubt the demon even realized that he had died.

It’s difficult to tell a demon’s age from their appearance, but given his looks, he must have been fairly young.

His inexperience was obvious from how he commanded his forces, so I imagine I’m not far off the mark.

To become a general at such a young age, he must have had a great deal of talent.

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It is a shame to see such potential go to waste.

But it would be foolhardy to show the enemy mercy.

As a general myself, I know there are soldiers who have put their lives in my hands, too.

You mustn’t think less of me for it.

But still, I believe I can at least spare a moment to pray that this boy’s soul passes on in peace.

“Our casualties are minimal. I was frightened that our forces might be too understrength, but at this rate, we should be able to defend the fort after all.”

“It would appear so.”

I nod at my cheerful-looking apprentice.

We were outnumbered, that’s for certain.

The exchange of spells was intense. We were able to win because the apprentices I’d trained had an edge over the demons’ antiquated magic techniques, but it was by no means an easy victory.

If it had been anyone but myself and my apprentices in Fort Dazarro, perhaps this place would have fallen by now to those demon mages.

Our victory came down to nothing more than a stroke of good luck.

If armies of that scale have been sent to the other forts, too, several might very well fall.

And for some reason, I am still haunted by a sense of unease.

I cannot help but worry that it might be a sign that something terrible is going to happen.

“Do not let down your guard. Our enemies are demons. They are bound to have stats higher than we humans.”

“Ah! Of course.”

My apprentice reins in that overflowing excitement and regains some composure.

“Make sure the wounded are treated right away.”

“Yes, sir!”

My apprentices scurry out of the room.

There are more preparations we must make.

I only hope this premonition of mine turns out to be an old man’s groundless fear.

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MERAZOPHIS’S BATTLE THE KEY POINTS!

Welcome back to White Explains It All!

As you can see, the fort Mera’s attacking is situated between a lake and a forest!

And a lake can mean only one thing: NAVAL BATTLE!

Or so you would think, but this world’s sailing technology isn’t actually very advanced.

I mean, most bodies of water here are home to super-strong monsters.

If you try going for a swim in the ocean, a water dragon will pop up to say hi in no time flat.

Lakes are a little better, but if you try to sail on one, you’re still definitely gonna sleep with the fishes.

Is that scary or what?

Anyway, that means the lake is just a no-go zone for both sides in this battle.

The fort has the advantage of being able to just ignore the flank that’s covered by the lake, letting them focus completely on the land.

Still, you can’t rule out sneaking around to the back of the fort by using the forest as cover, so the defenders can’t let their guards down, either.

Both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages given the terrain.

Guess that means it’s gonna come down to pure strength.

Well, Mera should be fine on that front!