Chapter 275: Cornering Division Head Hutter

The light shone on me as I flew through the air. I didn’t think they needed to light even this pose, but thanks for the trouble... Beyond the height of the roof I could see the archer older sisters and Rudolf standing on the roof. Rudolf was flustered, but I signaled with my hand that I was fine. I didn’t know if it got through. The older sister was laughing like an idiot; was other people’s misfortune that enjoyable?

I wondered what had lifted me into the air, but I couldn’t see anything so it was probably a lump of air? That meant Division Head Hütter was a great magician who used the four attributes of fire, water (ice), earth, and wind. I absolutely had to have him teach me. If I took the Division Head down here it would be convenient for getting him to teach me something. How about it?

While I was flying through the air, ice spears launched from Division Head Hütter toward me, but the accuracy was quite sloppy and they didn’t hit. And they were slow. Division Head Hütter could use various magics, but the accuracy was unfortunate. He probably didn’t have enough experience points, but for me right now it was a relief they didn’t hit.

I was in free fall. Crowds of spectators watched from the balconies. Ice spears passing between them made a surreal scene. Voices from the spectators asked "Where are you aiming?" I thought that was exactly right, but this was the man’s own responsibility.

Anyway, just how much mana did Division Head Hütter have?! While thinking that I grabbed onto the balcony that came in front of me. This time it was my right hand so I managed to hold on.

"Ohh~~!!"

Relief? rose from the people on the balcony. Then an ice spear passed just over my head and stabbed into the wall above the window! The window frame broke and glass scattered! Hoyoyoyoo—ice spears were being driven into my area wildly. And the accuracy seemed to be gradually improving. Everything is practice. Ice spears were driven in around the balcony until the balcony was gone without a trace, and I fell together with the balcony.

I landed safely on the ground and hid in the shadow of the still-standing earth wall.

"Hiding is cowardly—! Come out—!! A man should fight fair and square—!!"

Division Head Hütter’s voice rang out, but was a surprise attack from behind all right?! I kept that thought to myself.

"Lord Robbie, are you injured?"

Lily came over. For some reason Bardos was following too. Dinger? He was gone; someone seemed to have taken him away.

"I can’t use my left hand. An arrow hit my hand earlier."

"I’ll treat it."

Lily wrapped my hand and held it to her chest to treat it. Bardos looked a little surprised and envious. Bardos, you look for all the world like you’re in your mid-twenties. Lily is about twenty years older than you. Don’t overestimate the defensive range of appearance.

While I was worrying about unnecessary things my hand healed and the pain vanished.

"All right, let’s go!"

At my declaration of resolve Lily said:

"I’ll accompany you!"

so Bardos said:

"U-um, what about me?"

Bardos, in whom a sense of camaraderie had already sprouted, was probably thinking it one-sidedly toward Lily rather than me, but a corner of his mind still seemed to remember we were enemies; his eyes were shifty.

"Bardos-san, please wait here. After the earlier rescue of Dinger-san, no one will criticize us for moving together."

That was so. Voices of "Hurry up and fight—!!" could be heard, but voices of "What are you doing, you’re enemies—!" could not. The ones being urged to hurry up and fight were me and Division Head Hütter.

"Lily, do you still have the bow and arrows?"

"I do, but what will you use them for? If you shoot blindly with no target in sight you can’t expect an effect, can you?"

"Yeah, that’s true, but light is on Division Head Hütter so I can roughly grasp the direction, and Rudolf will tell us from the roof."

I pointed at Rudolf on the roof. Rudolf was startled, but he seemed to understand I was giving some kind of instruction and conveyed agreement with a hand sign.

I nocked an arrow, drew the bow tight, and shot toward the sky! I changed the angle a little and shot! Then again! They drew parabolas and fell beyond the wall.

Looking at Rudolf, he told me a little farther back, so I loosed three in a row. This time it seemed to have gotten through to the spectators what I was trying to do as well; an

"Ooh—!"

rose all at once, and voices like

"A little more to the right!" "About ten feet more to the right!"

went up. I had shot blindly and suddenly this accuracy!

Having fun now, I adjusted to match and loosed three, and then:

"The target moved!" "Moving is cowardly!" "Seven feet back!"

Advice like that reached me. Fleeing from arrows was a natural act, I thought, but people who only watched were selfish.

Right now it had become an event of whether I would hit Division Head Hütter with an arrow, and the spectators were kindly teaching me the target on their own.

I loosed three more; unable to dodge them all, a fireball was finally launched at the arrows. I was impressed he had time to chant, but the power was insufficient and it couldn’t burn the arrows. The arrows fell as they were. Then from the spectators a loud

"So closeeee—!!"

rose. In that case I loosed three in the same direction! I changed the angle a little so they could dodge and loosed three, then three more. We realized that if light was put on the arrows Hütter would dodge, so the lighting crew stopped putting light on the arrows. Considering entertainment it was a good decision.

The spectators held their breath watching the arrows I loosed. The arrows were sucked into the pitch-black midair, vanished from sight for a moment, then suddenly appeared from the darkness and fell. Unable to bear it Division Head Hütter lit a light himself, but it wasn’t enough; at last there was a

Gon!!

sound and Division Head Hütter’s scream of

"Gyaaaaah—!!!!"

rang out. At the same time cheers and huge laughter from the spectators. Pitiful, but I loosed three more, three more, three more. I shot them up in the same direction.

Division Head Hütter’s light weakened; the moment I thought I could see the arrows they fell. Even over the wall I could tell the light was concentrated on Division Head Hütter.

"Gya! Gya! Gya!"

Three screams in a row, the voice growing weaker. From the spectators came yai-no-yai-no voices. Voices urging "Shoot more!" could also be heard.

Bardos said slowly:

"Shall I pretend to go help Division Head Hütter and check on the situation?"

What kind of thing was "pretend to go help" when you were an ally? This man had already completely taken our side.

"Bardos-san, if you do that you won’t receive a reward from Count von Kirchhoff, will you?"

"It’s fine already. A magician who acts that high and mighty can go to hell!"

He said it looking quite happy. Magicians and knights not getting along wasn’t only a light-novel thing.

"Stand up—!!"

"You can still fight, right—!"

"Do it like your life depends on it—!"

Hearing the spectators’ selfish jeers, Division Head Hütter seemed quite weakened. And unpopular?

"Bardos-san, he seems all right, so the two of us will fight."

When I said that Bardos answered with a look of regret:

"Is that so? Then I’ll leave it to you."

If Division Head Hütter could use detection magic he would attack the exact spot where we appeared.

"Lily, let’s split to both sides of the wall and attack from the other side. Hütter should attack one of us. I have a mark so he’ll probably aim at me. If he attacks toward me, close in on Hütter in that interval. It seems he barely has any mana left. All right?"

"Yes, understood."

Lily and I moved to opposite sides of the wall, which was more than twenty feet wide. For some reason Bardos followed after Lily. You might be fine with that, but everyone is watching you, you know? In full view of the public it only looks like you’re chasing a woman’s ass—is that all right?

Anyway, knowing I would be aimed at, I popped my head out in a quick attack and pulled it back just as fast. An ice spear flew byun. It flew all the way to the mansion and hit the wall. But it had lost the power to break the wall.

I showed my face again. An ice spear was thrust in front of me. Division Head Hütter grinned and thrust the spear. But this man had never trained with a spear; it was only a hand-tip thrust with no hips in it. So I dodged easily.

"Don’t run! That’s cowardly!!"

While saying that Hütter pulled back and thrust, but it was pitifully slow. From the spectators came even more:

"Hütter!! What are you doing—!"

"Take it more seriously—!"

"You should have trained—!"

"That’s why only using magic is no good—!!"

They said whatever they liked. Of course the jeers I could hear reached Division Head Hütter as well, so his face gradually turned red. Then unable to bear the weight of the spear his arms dropped and the thrusting in and out slowed as well.

When I kicked the slowly thrust spear the tip snapped pokin.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

Division Head Hütter protested, but it was already impossible. Behind him Lily stood looking stunned. I put the tip of my sword to Division Head Hütter’s throat and declared:

"That’s enough. Please surrender."