So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 8

by Okina Baba

  But if I stop moving now, it’ll be the end, so I force myself to go on with my last reserves of strength.

 

 

  I hear a voice in my head, but I don’t have time to stop and think about what it means.

  How far have I run?

  I’ve lost all sense of time. I don’t know if it’s been minutes, hours, or even days.

  I just keep running, without any destination in mind.

  Propelled forward by panic, I keep moving as far as my body will carry me.

  And just as I stop, thinking that I can’t run anymore, another light beam comes toward me.

  Then the cycle repeats itself.

  That elderly mage won’t let me be.

  Terrible fear washes over me, dragging my feet forward.

  No matter where I run or how fast, that mage is always one step ahead, waiting for me.

  Gradually, the exhaustion wears on my mind, until my thoughts are too hazy to come together properly.

 

 

  At some point, the fear of not knowing how long I have to run starts to give way to a bubbling rage.

  Why am I running away?

  It’s only one person.

  The old knight isn’t here.

  I can kill him, can’t I?

  Exhausted by all the running, resentful of the way I’ve been driven into a corner, I feel my fear turn to anger.

  That’s right.

  I don’t need to run.

  If he intends to chase me wherever I go, I’ll just have to kill him.

  I stop dead in my tracks.

  A beam of light hurtles toward me.

  It grazes my body, but I don’t feel the same kind of fear as before.

  Instead, I’m overcome with rage, strong enough to drive my body forward.

  “GRAAAAAH!”

  Howling, I charge right toward the elderly mage.

  “?!”

  The old mage’s expression doesn’t change, but I can tell that he gasps slightly.

  Setting my flame katana ablaze, I swing it at the old man.

  The mage is unable to dodge my attack, and it cuts right through his body.

  “Huh?”

  However, even though the blow definitely connected, it feels as if my sword is cutting through air.

  It’s so unexpected that I nearly lose my balance and fall forward.

  Instead, I stumble two or three steps before regaining my balance.

  My body passed right through the old mage.

  “Wha—?”

  For a moment, I’m not sure what’s happening.

  It’s almost as if the old mage is just an illusion, and my sword and my body both went right through him.

  No, wait a second.

  Not almost. Is that actually what’s happening?

  An illusion?

  I spin around immediately, but the old mage is no longer there.

  Checking my surroundings frantically, I see a black-clad person standing not far from where the old mage appeared to be moments before.

  The person is dressed from head to toe in all black, like a ninja.

  There’s not a hint of skin, so I can’t even tell if this person is human, never mind what their gender might be.

  “Fear dispelled. Illusion partially dispelled.”

  The black-clad person murmurs emotionlessly, and I finally have some idea of what just happened to me.

  Illusion and fear.

  Someone created the illusion that the old mage was still chasing me and used some kind of skill to inflict fear on me so that I wouldn’t realize what was going on.

  In video game terms, they used multiple status condition changes on me.

  If you’re aware what’s going on, then it’s nothing too major, but having it done to you in real life is a terrifying combination.

  I never knew people could fight like that in this world.

  But more than being impressed, I feel the rage growing inside me.

  Anger at myself, that I was fooled so easily into running away from nothing.

  But most of all, anger at the person in front of me, who’s responsible.

  “Graaaaah!”

  In a fit of rage, I charge toward the black-clad person.

  But the person dodges easily, with movements so light and nimble that they appear virtually weightless.

  “Withdraw.”

  With a simple word, the black-clad person turns around and flees.

  “You’re not getting away!”

  I chase after them as they run.

  Another chase scene, but this time the roles are reversed.

  As I pursue the person in black, we seem to be moving at around the same speed: I’m not getting any closer or farther away.

  The person in black just keeps running, never once looking back.

  Eventually, we reach a place that seems somehow familiar.

  Then the black-clad figure stops abruptly.

  Without hesitation, I slice into their back with my sword.

  But my attack goes straight through the person’s body, jabbing into the ground.

  It’s the same feeling as before.

  Another illusion?!

  I’ve been had!

  They must have switched out with an illusion sometime during the chase.

  Or maybe I was chasing an illusion from the very beginning.

  Realizing that I’ve been playing into their hands the entire time, I grind my teeth.

  The anger is so strong that it threatens to turn my vision red.

  Looking up, I see several people staring at me in shock.

  Then, when I look more closely, I realize that I know this place.

  It’s that awful village where I was once held captive.

  But I killed everyone who lived here already.

  Where did these people come from, then?

  With a snap, the rage inside me starts to overflow.

  “Aaaaargh!”

  Unable to hold it back any longer, I cut the nearest person down with my sword.

  Sliced in half by my flame katana, the two pieces of the corpse catch flame.

  Seeing that, the other people all start shouting something.

  What are they saying?

  I can hear the noises they’re making, but I can’t seem to process them as words.

  It must be a different human language from the one I learned.

  Well, whatever.

  That doesn’t matter right now.

  If they’re in this village, then I don’t care who they might be.

  I’m going to kill all of them.

  I start to cut down the next person.

  At the same time, a small girl runs over to me, shouting.

  “Sasajima!”

  It’s a familiar name. My name. But not one that anyone in this world should know.

  Are the illusions so strong that they even affect my hearing?

  Don’t call me by that name!

  I have no right to answer to that name anymore.

  Kyouya Sasajima is the name of a human who died long ago.

  As if to dispel the illusions, I swing my flame katana at the screaming girl.

  THE PONTIFF AND THE SHADOW AGENTS

  “So you succeeded in luring the ogre to the empty village where the elves were lying in wait?”

  “Indeed. I used Heretic Magic to guide it.”

  “And the Appraisal of the ogre?”

  “As you suspected.”

  “…I see. So it really is a reincarnation.”

  “…Then should we have done otherwise?”

&nbs
p; “From your perspective, did it seem like it could communicate?”

  “No.”

  “Then that is your answer. If it causes harm to the human race, then it is an enemy of mine, reincarnation or otherwise.”

  “As you say.”

  “My apologies to your son. But this, too, is for the sake of humanity.”

  “I am certain Sajin will understand.”

  “I wonder. Unlike us, the reincarnations are victims who were brought to this world without their consent. If he knew that his own father had chased one of his classmates to his death, then he would surely grieve. Best to keep this incident a secret.”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you be able to monitor the battle between the ogre and the elves?”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  “Excellent. Then please continue to keep watch. Take note of how much damage the ogre is able to deal to the elves.”

  “No, I was unclear. My apologies. The battle is already over.”

  “Oh? That took much less time than expected.”

  “The elves only had ordinary forces, but I believe the main cause was the ogre’s high combat capabilities.”

  “Am I to gather from your turn of phrase that the elves were defeated?”

  “Indeed. Aside from one who appeared to be the elves’ commanding officer and a young elf girl, they have been completely annihilated. The surviving pair fled via teleportation.”

  “A commander and…a young girl?”

  “Yes. Blond hair, blue eyes. Being an elf, her true age was difficult to gauge, but in human terms, she appeared to be only two or three years old. Her purpose there was unclear. She was not wearing any special equipment at a glance. However, it’s possible that she was attempting to call out to the ogre.”

  “And were you able to read her lips?”

  “Not in full. She was too far away and not facing me entirely.”

  “I would appreciate whatever you did understand or any educated guesses.”

  “Sasaji…pleez lissen toomie…teechur. That is all I was able to pick up.”

  “Well, that is certainly unclear. Ah, unless…perhaps it was the language of the reincarnations…?”

  “…”

  “…I suppose it’s too soon to tell. But no, perhaps we had best act under that assumption. Thank you, your report has been invaluable.”

  “Of course.”

  “Now, what did the ogre do after the battle?”

  “It began moving toward the Mystic Mountains. Shall I pursue it?”

  “The Mystic Mountains… No, there’s no need.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “What stage has the ogre’s Rage skill reached?”

  “…Wrath.”

  “Truly?! I see. That is indeed the worst case imaginable. Then we should not make the mistake of pursuing it. Let the ice dragons of the Mystic Mountains take care of it. Even if the dragons do nothing, it won’t be a problem if the ogre emerges in the land of demons. If it takes up residence in the mountains, that is acceptable as well. As long as the creature does not return here, there is no need to provoke it. But we should continue to insert agents in the nearby towns, just in case it does return.”

  “Understood.”

  “Then go about your business. Oh, and do not forget to follow up on the situation with Lady Ariel.”

  “We have already used the Church to place pressure on the guild. The adventurers and the imperial army will not lay a hand on her.”

  “Excellent. Thank you for your service.”

  “Of course.”

  A CERTAIN ADVENTURER’S NEXT STEPS

  I stare at the sword in my hand.

  It has no scabbard, so its blade is bare.

  The single-edge long sword with a slight curve is a design rarely seen around here, where straight, double-edge blades are the norm.

  The gleaming blade looks masterfully wrought, as if there isn’t a thing it couldn’t cut through.

  Just holding it in my hand seems to fill me with power.

  In fact, according to Sir Ronandt, who gave it to me, it really does have the effect of strengthening its wielder.

  On top of that, he said that it can control lightning.

  Even compared to other magic swords with special effects, it’s in a class all its own.

  I can’t even imagine how much money this single sword must be worth.

  If I sold it, I could probably live in luxury for the rest of my days.

  Yet, despite how amazing this sword is, my feelings are mixed.

  “Ahhh…”

  A sigh escapes my lips.

  Do I really have any right to wield this sword…?

  “‘Don’t interfere with them’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  This was a little while ago, when I went to the guild master’s office.

  I was there because I’d received orders from the guild master not to interfere with the group that showed up at the guild a few days ago, the ones who were most likely demons.

  “Dunno. But that’s what the Church told us. Seems they’re closely linked with the Church, and they personally guarantee that there won’t be any problems.”

  “The Church?”

  My voice sounded doubtful, but I don’t think you could blame me for that.

  Why would someone working in service of the Word of God religion be supporting such a shady group?

  “S’right. So don’t try any funny business, got it?”

  “…I don’t like it.”

  “Well, it don’t matter if you like it or not. Thanks to that ogre, this town’s lost just about all its adventurers. You wanna pick a fight with the Church in that state? You know the guild took out a huge loan from the Church, yeah?”

  I knew what the guild master was getting at.

  The Church is no ordinary religious group.

  Many adventurers faithfully adhere to the Word of God religion, which believes in honing one’s skills in order to hear the Divine Voice.

  As a result, the guild and the Church have a close connection, and they frequently help each other.

  What would happen if the guild was to take action against the wishes of the Church?

  The other guilds would all shun us, and the Church might even withdraw its financial support.

  After the incident with the ogre, that kind of trouble might even bring our guild down entirely.

  So the guild would probably prefer to cut off any adventurer who caused trouble like that.

  In this case, that means me.

  It’s the guild master’s job to protect the guild, so I can’t blame him for prioritizing the Church’s desires over mine.

  I understood all that, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  “Should we talk to the imperial army?”

  “If the Church says they’re not a problem, do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “Right.”

  If we went to the imperial army about this, it’d be like ignoring what the Church told us.

  “Gotou. I don’t know what’s got you all worked up about this, but the Church gave us their word. If they’re that confident about it, I’m sure it’ll be fine. There’s no sense in jumping to conclusions here, okay? If anything does happen, the blame’ll fall on the Church for telling us not to worry when we raised suspicions, not us. We’ll just let the Church handle it, yeah?”

  The guild master was right, of course.

  But I couldn’t help feeling like if we left that group to their own devices, something terrible was going to happen.

  Just then, the door swung open, and two old men entered.

  “Pardon the intrusion. Oh, Guild Master, perfect timing.”

  It was Sir Ronandt and Sir Nyudoz of the imperial army, who’d been sent out to deal with the ogre.

  “You’ve returned safely! That must mean you were able to defeat that ogre, then!”

  The guild master looked excited, but Ronandt’s expression was grave.


  “Well, about that. Unfortunately, I cannot quite say that we defeated it.”

  Sir Ronandt is the world’s strongest mage, and Nyudoz is a master of swordsmanship.

  And yet, even with them leading an army, they weren’t able to defeat that ogre.

  It’s a bit hard to believe, but Sir Ronandt would have no reason to lie.

  “Th-then it got away…?”

  “Indeed. But we can discuss the details somewhere quieter.”

  “All right. We’ll go to the upstairs room, then.”

  The guild master and the old men headed for the stairs.

  As they went, the guild master shot me a meaningful glance.

  It came out as more of a glare, so he was probably warning me not to say anything reckless.

  But in the next moment, Sir Ronandt rendered that look meaningless.

  “Hrm. If I may?”

  With that, Sir Ronandt turned his gaze toward me, and I suddenly felt a strange sensation assail my body.

  I’m not too familiar with it, but I could still tell it was the feeling of being Appraised.

  “Oh-ho. Rather impressive. Come along with us, then.”

  Sir Ronandt must have approved of my Appraisal results, because he invited me along.

  The guild master and I both stared, dumbfounded, but the two elders went on ahead as if it was perfectly natural.

  You never can tell what these big shots are thinking.

  Thus, I got a rare glimpse inside the guild master’s room, and Sir Ronandt allowed me to listen in on the tale of their battle with the ogre.

  As the man himself said, it seemed as if both sides suffered losses.

  What would have happened if the ogre had stayed and fought instead of fleeing?

  Honestly, I’m not so sure anymore.

  And it seems that Sir Ronandt and the others couldn’t tell, either.

  Which was probably why he decided to entrust it to the servant of the Church who appeared directly afterward.

  When I heard that, my first thought was: The Church again?

  Until now, I’d never paid much mind to the Church, but now I’m beginning to find it highly suspicious.

  “They certainly have their secrets, but I have faith in their abilities if nothing else. If they say that they will take care of it, then there is no need to worry about the ogre any longer.”

  As an important person who has supported the empire for countless years, it seems that Sir Ronandt has his share of experience with the Church.