Chapter 33: Abel’s Knowledge

Ryo also looked around at the Rock Golems that he crushed with the Ice Walls but the magic stones were brilliantly crushed.

“This method was a failure.”

Ryo’s shoulders slumped from disappointment.

“No, we would have been killed if you did not defeat them … for us to survive, you had no choice. In the first place, we didn’t know that the magic stones could be harvested.”

“You’re right. In order to succeed, you must first survive, right?”

Ryo remembered the words of a man who earned more than hundreds of billions of yen a year and crushed the Bank of England.

As one of the world’s three largest investors, it was true that he survived.

So Ryo nodded in agreement.

“It seems that there are some that are still stationary a little farther away … what should we do?”

Only the Rock Golems around the area attacked Ryo and Abel and a good number of rock masses could still be seen in the distance to the west.

“Yeah … honestly, I don’t want to bring upon unnecessary trouble to ourselves. And it would tough for Abel if your pockets were filled with magic stones like this, right?”

“Well, putting aside that thing about my pocket, I agree with not stirring up a hornet’s nest. Let’s quickly resume heading north.”

He said and they started walking north.

“I wonder if the Rock Golem nest was directly above us when we were walking along the wall.”

“That’s likely the case given the position. Although I don’t know why that was the case.”

“Was there any special magical power coming out of the ground … or was it a trap set by someone?”

Ryo commented like a detective.

“Someone … I don’t think there’s anyone in this place.”

“It doesn’t have to be a person, right?”

Ryo’s eyes shone.

“An Elf or a Dwarf?”

“Sigh …”

Ryo sighed as he looked sideways at Abel and shrugged with his hands up, as though he was feeling disappointed.

“Hey, don’t look at me like you’re looking at a pitiful person.”

“If it’s not a person, it should be an Akuma or something like that.”

“Akuma … what is that?”

“Eh? What?”

At the end of 『Monster’s Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition』, Michael (pseudonym) intentionally added some entries as a 『Special Edition』.

They were the 『Dragon』 and 『Akuma』.

Since it was written on purpose, Ryo thought it was common knowledge for humans living on 『Phi』.

Abel had a great deal of knowledge when he explained the central nations.

At least, Ryo thought that he was a person who had above-average knowledge among the people living on this 『Phi』 world.

However, Abel said he didn’t know about『Akuma』…

“Abel, do you know about dragons?”

“Of course. That said, I have not seen one before, them being legendary creatures, but I know about them.”

They were real but Ryo decided not to reveal his encounter.

He felt that it was better not to talk about it…

“Then, haven’t you heard of Devils or Daemons?”

“I’ve heard of Devils. They are adversaries of God and Angels.”

(I see. They are known as Devils?)

(TLN: Akuma悪魔 = Devilデビル but the author is making a distinction that they are different in this world. Edited the entry in Chapter 18.)

However, Ryo felt a faint sense of incongruity.

In that case, why did Michael (pseudonym) write 『Akuma』 instead of 『Devil』?

Moreover, the explanation for Akuma was.

『Not … fallen angels. Origins are unknown.』

(Something’s off. But there’s no point worrying about it now.)

“Then, Ryo, you’re suggesting that these Rock Golems were installed by a Devil?”

“You can’t say that there isn’t a possibility of it, right?”

Of course, he made that claim without any basis.

“By the way, did Abel just say elf or dwarf?”

“Yeah, I did. Although, I was looked at by some Water-Attribute Magician with a look of ridicule.”

Abel glared at Ryo.

“Abel, you can’t be a good swordsman if you stick to such details.”

“I don’t want to be told that by you!”

After surviving through several life-and-death struggles, the two had become comrades.

That was a good thing for traveling companions.

“Well, anyway, tell me more about elves and dwarves.”

Ryo prioritized his interests without worrying about Abel’s yelling.

“Sheesh … Dwarves can commonly be found in cities. After all, many of them are good blacksmiths. About one-third of good blacksmiths are dwarves. Also, they make pretty good adventurers. Because they have strong arms, they are often in the vanguard role.”

“I see. That’s exactly what I imagined.”

“What kind of image do you have … As for elves, there is an extremely small number of them. You will rarely see them even in cities. Even in the City of Rune where I am based, there is only one adventurer, and that is maybe the only elf in the City of Rune. Many form villages in the woods and rarely come out. In the Kingdom of Knightley, they live in a village in the woods west of the kingdom.”

“I see. That’s exactly what I imagined too.”

“Like I asked, what kind of image is it?!”

Abel was feeling half angry and half annoyed.

After passing through the Rock Golem nest, the two had walked for quite a bit.

They wanted to get away from the dangerous nest as soon as possible, and because it was grasslands rather than a forest, they were able to speed up naturally.

When the sun began to set, they reached a river.

“Let’s camp around here today.”

“Okay. Dinner will be salt-grilled river fish then.”

“Ooo, that sounds great. Then, I’ll procure the fish.”

Usually, Ryo, the Magician, would hunt Lesser Rabbits and such, but today Abel offered to do the hunting.

“Are you sure?”

“Hey, oi, don’t look at me with such an intense look of doubt. Mostly, I procured the fish when I was working with my companions.”

“Okay, then I’ll leave it to Abel. I’ll gather the dead branches.”

So Ryo left for firewood gathering and Abel headed to the river.

“Sheesh … I’m good at procuring fish.”

Grumbling, Abel took off his shoes, rolled up the hem of his pants, and pulled the sword out from his waist.

Then he entered the river until it reached his knees.

He entered the river and waited quietly for something.

A few seconds later.

He stabbed his sword into the river.

A fish was magnificently pierced by the tip of the sword that was pulled up.

“Good.”

Abel continued to procure dinner in a similar manner.

Grilled fish for the first time in a long time.

It was basic, seasoned only with salt, but it was delicious.

Both Ryo and Abel loved meat, but …

“Sometimes fish is good. It’s delicious.”

“That’s because Abel succeeded in procuring ingredients properly. I underestimated you.”

Ryo said and bowed his head.

“No, well, it’s fine as long as you understand.”

Abel was a little embarrassed.

“River fish is great after all. Compared to the sea, the sea …”

“Hmm? You were at the beach when you helped me. Do you hate the sea?”

“Yeah, I was almost killed a long time ago …”

“A Water-Attribute Magician of Ryo’s caliber was almost killed … by what?”

“The Kraken.”

When he said that, Ryo firmly vowed to defeat it someday, the Kraken.

“Huh? Was Ryo also attacked by the Kraken? But there was no ship … Oh, was it destroyed by the Kraken at that time?”

“No, I lost one-on-one with the Kraken in the sea.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know what you’re talking about anymore.”

“Of course, I didn’t fight because I wanted to, okay? There are some battles that men can’t avoid, and that was one of them.”

When he said that, Ryo nodded as if he had come up with a good idea.

“I was defeated because I was alone at that time, but now that I have Abel, I should be able to beat the Kraken! When we reach the sea, let’s fight the Kraken, underwater! It’s a revenge match!”

“Oh, yeah, Ryo, do your best, because I’ll be cheering on land! Leave it to me to cheer you on, I’m good at it even though I look like this!”

“You ran away … terrible …”

“That’s a given!”

Thus, the night of the Rondo subcontinent drew late.