Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 3

by Ennki Hakari

  The boy narrowed his reddish-brown eyes at me. He pointed the dagger in my general direction, but his hand was shaking so bad that I couldn’t tell exactly what he was pointing at.

  The other boy got up from the dirt, his face completely white, and rushed over to the boy with the dagger.

  “Cut it out, brother! What are you doing yelling at the people who just saved our lives?”

  The second boy, apparently the younger of the two, had light brown hair that he wore somewhat long. He seemed more easily spooked than his bravado-filled brother, though also possessed more common sense. The two boys shared the same reddish-brown eyes.

  The younger boy hit his brother on the back of the head and bowed politely.

  “I’m sorry for my brother! My name is Lefit and this is…”

  “I am Lyot Dalsen du Grahd, the future lord of Grahd!”

  Completely ignoring the chiding from his younger brother, the older boy crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. To be honest, I found it endearing. It was quite impressive that he could act this way in front of a black-cloaked knight in full armor and a mysterious gray-cloaked woman.

  “Cute kids.” Ariane snickered as she looked over the two boys.

  So, these two were the sons of a noble? I decided to ignore Lyot for a moment and instead asked his younger brother what the two of them were doing outside the town’s walls. However, before Lefit had a chance to answer, his cocky older brother stepped in.

  “Don’t call me a kid, got it?! There’ve been a lot of monsters around Grahd lately, so I decided to go hunting and bring the people some peace!”

  Like most kids, he clearly thought he was older than his years.

  “Well, don’t do anything too crazy. You could die, you know.”

  “This isn’t crazy, really!”

  Lyot grew red-faced, stomping angrily on the ground. We couldn’t spend all day here, however, so I turned my attention to the younger brother again.

  “Lefit, could you perhaps tell me the way to the nearest town in the Revlon Empire?”

  Lefit looked extremely apologetic as he shook his head. “The closest town? I don’t really know, but I’m sure Father does.”

  I hadn’t thought we’d need to bother the nobility just to ask for directions, but since it seemed like we’d be entering Grahd no matter what, I entertained the idea. Lyot, however, had other thoughts.

  “Don’t you ignore me! I’ll have you know…”

  “Kyiiii!”

  Ponta, apparently tired of the boy’s yelling, let out a mew from atop my head, sending a magical burst of wind into Lyot’s face.

  “Mwaaugh?”

  Lyot stumbled backward, the weight of the shield in his hand causing him to lose balance and fall on his behind.

  “What was that? You… You green little devil!”

  “Kyii! Kyiiii!”

  I decided to let the glaring boy and spirit creature be for the moment and hefted the fang boar over my shoulder by its hind legs.

  “Let’s make our way into Grahd. We can accompany you two back to your father.”

  “Th-thank you!”

  Lyot was busy wailing about something, but I left him in the dirt as Lefit led Ariane, Ponta, and me toward the town.

  A wooden bridge extended over the deep ditch that encircled the town’s wall, leading to a front gate where several guards stood watch. The men came rushing over to us when they realized who was approaching.

  “Lefit! Lyot! Where did you run off to?! Lord Dalsen has been gravely worried about you.”

  One of the guards gave the brothers a quick check, a look relief spreading across his face. However, the sternness never left his eyes. Lyot, in stark contrast to the bravado he’d shown earlier, seemed suddenly at a loss for words. Lefit explained the situation, and Ariane and I were allowed to enter the town without much of a fuss.

  The guards led us to an open square in the center of town, where a large group of people bustled about. The atmosphere was tense. There were around twenty knights, all armored, and another dozen or so mercenaries in leather armor, wielding various weapons.

  The guard who’d led us here ran to a man in the center of the group and saluted him.

  “Lord Dalsen, your sons have been found!”

  Dalsen was a large, muscular man outfitted in an exquisite suit of armor that stood out among the knights surrounding him. He looked to be in his thirties, clean-shaven with short-cropped hair. He shot me a scrutinizing glare, his eyes the same reddish-brown color as his sons.

  He could almost have passed as the leader of a group of mountain bandits or mercenaries, were it not for his lordship and his armor.

  Even from where I stood, I could see a vein bulging in Dalsen’s forehead, though he contorted his mouth into a smile as he walked toward us with long, powerful strides. He slammed his fists down on Lyot’s and Lefit’s heads with a dull thud.

  “Owwwww!!!”

  Lyot dropped to the ground and Lefit crouched, both holding their heads.

  Dalsen shook his fist in the air as he yelled at the boys.

  “You little bastards, getting everyone all worked up when we have other things to worry about!”

  He turned to me next, his words dripping with suspicion.

  “What brings an outsider like you here?”

  “My name is Arc. I am a wandering mercenary. This is my travel companion, Ariane.”

  Not wanting to be left out, Ponta piped up as well.

  “Kyiii!”

  Dalsen’s gaze came to rest on the fang boar hanging over my shoulder.

  “What’s that you’ve got there?”

  “Ahh, this. We came across this monster attacking your sons. I have no use for it and would be greatly honored if you would take it off my hands.”

  I lifted the fang boar with one hand and held it out to Lord Dalsen, drawing gasps of amazement from the onlookers. The man in front of me, however, didn’t seem intimidated. He focused his gaze on Lyot.

  Lyot scrambled to his feet and hid behind several of the nearby knights.

  Dalsen rubbed his temple and let out a snort of frustration before turning his attention back to me, giving the motionless fang boar a kick.

  “You said you were a mercenary, yes? If you were able to put this monster down on your own, then you must be quite the skilled fighter. Would you be interested in a short job? I’ll make it worth your while.”

  I glanced at Ariane.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’m already employed.”

  Dalsen frowned and scratched the back of his head, letting out a sigh.

  “In that case, may I ask what brings you to Grahd?”

  “We’re traveling to the nearest town in the Revlon Empire, whatever that may be. Do you know the way, Lord Dalsen?”

  He grinned, looking over at Ariane.

  “Unfortunately, the road to the nearest town has been overrun by ogres. Heading into Revlon is quite a perilous journey at the moment.”

  I’d dealt with many ogres back in the game. They weren’t all that difficult to defeat, despite their high strength and attack stats, though they could be a bit of a hassle if you ran into a mob of them. Still, they were good for farming experience in the early and middle parts of the game.

  Ariane and I would have no problem tearing through them. We could even avoid fighting them altogether using Dimensional Step.

  Judging from Dalsen’s demeanor, however, it didn’t seem like he was going to give us directions.

  Dalsen turned to Ariane, probably assuming—correctly—that she was my employer.

  “I have a proposition. You see, we were about to head out to eliminate the ogres. Perhaps you’d care to join us. It’s rare for a mercenary to travel to the villages along the border, especially one with your man’s talents. We could really use your help.”

  Ariane’s golden eyes glanced at me. I nodded.

  If they were willing to tell us how to get where we wanted to go, then we could certainly take car
e of any ogres we encountered along the way.

  “That’s fine with me.” Ariane agreed to Dalsen’s proposition, eliciting a smile from the older man.

  “I appreciate your kindness. I will make sure you are both properly rewarded. Arc, was it? I trust this arrangement suits you?”

  “I have no objections. How large is this mob of ogres?”

  “According to our scouts, there are about fourteen of them.”

  I figured we’d be finished by noon.

  “We’ve got ourselves a strong ally, but that doesn’t mean we can let down our guard yet, men! Proceed with caution!”

  The soldiers let out a loud cheer.

  “Oorah!”

  Ariane and I watched as the knights’ friends and families embraced them, seeking promises of a safe return. Ariane shook her head. Apparently, she saw something I didn’t. Dalsen didn’t seem all that worried about the expedition. Then again, if the leader of a hunting party exuded hopelessness, then the chances of success were practically nonexistent. It also seemed rather remarkable that the lord himself was leading this expedition. However, given the size of the town and the number of knights, they probably needed all the manpower they could muster.

  Ariane stepped forward and looked pointedly at Dalsen. “Well, shall we get going?”

  Dalsen’s eyes went wide. “Actually, I figured you could stay here and await our return.”

  “I’m a powerful magic user and a gifted swordsman. You’re going to need me.”

  Ariane summoned a small flame in her palm, letting everyone get a good look at it before closing her fist and extinguishing it.

  “Well, well! It seems our luck has gotten even better, boys! I expect to see you all back here with me at the end of the day, alive and kicking!”

  “Oraaaaah!”

  The crowd of men let out a thunderous cheer.

  ***

  The soldiers marched along the road leading out of Grahd in a long procession.

  Lord Dalsen led his contingent of twenty knights and another dozen or so men from the town who could fight. Ariane, Ponta, and I followed along behind them.

  Less than an hour later, and not that far out of town, we turned off the road as it began sloping upward, making our way toward the western woods.

  A short distance into a small cluster of trees, I caught sight of a steep cliff in the distance, where the hill ended. Dalsen crouched down and motioned for us to do the same. We moved forward like this, doing our best not to make a sound.

  Once we reached the edge of the cliff, Dalsen motioned for everyone to look over the edge.

  At the bottom of the cliff, a large mob of ogres wandered about.

  The ogres were large and muscular, standing about two-and-a-half meters tall. They had ruddy skin, a small horn sticking out of each of their foreheads and tusks protruding from their lower jaws. Around their waists, they wore animal pelts, and they wielded various crude weapons such as stone axes and wooden clubs.

  Many of the men shifted nervously at the sight.

  Dalsen whispered to one of his knights. “Hand over the bows and arrows. We’ll launch the attack from up here.”

  He passed the weapons along to Ariane and me.

  I tilted my head to the side, unsure of what he wanted. Dalsen simply motioned over the edge with his chin.

  “First, we’ll fire off some arrows. Then, we’ll lead the ogres back to the road. It’s an easy climb up either side of the hill, so they could follow us up here if we aren’t careful. The arrowheads have been dipped in poison, but it’s only enough to slow their movement. The last thing we want is for them to disappear into the woods.”

  Humans’ greatest strength was in fighting as a group. I wasn’t sure the number of men with us was enough to assure victory, but I recognized that it would be even less assured with everyone running around the forest.

  I didn’t think it would have been much of a challenge for Ariane and me to simply head down the hill and take out all the ogres, but I figured it was best not to undermine Dalsen in front of his men. I wasn’t here to be the leader.

  I shot Ariane a glance. She shrugged, apparently thinking the same thing.

  I hadn’t actually used a bow before, but I figured I could copy the techniques of those around me. Since we were just trying to anger the ogres, I supposed it didn’t matter how accurate I was.

  “Ready your bows.”

  On Dalsen’s command, they all leaned over the edge of the cliff, nocked their arrows, and drew back on their bowstrings.

  Dalsen made a silent, sweeping motion with his arm, and, right on cue, all thirty of his men launched a volley into the ogres.

  I focused my aim on one ogre in particular and pulled back hard on the bowstring.

  However, right when I was about to release the arrow, I heard an awful snapping noise and looked down to see that the bow had broken in two.

  “Huh?”

  I’d heard that it was difficult for a novice to properly draw a bow, so I’d put a lot of strength behind it. Unfortunately, it looked like I’d overdone it.

  Ariane and Dalsen looked at me in stunned silence, mirroring the shocked expressions of the other soldiers. I always managed to stand out…but never in a good way.

  I slid the broken bow behind my back. “Uhh… Seems like this bow is…defective.”

  Ariane’s arrow had flown straight toward her target, grazing the ogre before embedding itself in the ground. She apparently wasn’t a gifted archer either.

  I resorted to throwing arrows down the cliff side, still feeling a bit dejected, though I was at least successful in drawing the ogres’ attention. They roared in anger.

  Several of the ogres now had arrows sticking out of them, but due to their thick, muscular bodies, not a single one had been killed.

  I looked around for more things throw. A stone from this height would at least be enough to knock someone out, but unfortunately, there weren’t any sizable ones nearby. I wasn’t sure a small rock would do anything but rile the ogres up further, but I picked one up and chucked it down at them anyway.

  The rock hit one of the ogres like a speeding fastball. I heard a loud thud and saw it drop to the ground, a gaping hole in its head.

  A cheer erupted from the men around me as they continued firing their arrows. I nodded to myself in satisfaction.

  Dalsen wordlessly handed me several more rocks, a smile on his lips. It appeared this was a good way of thinning out our enemies’ numbers.

  I chucked another rock and discovered that my first shot had been beginner’s luck. Any stone striking a target at breakneck speeds would almost certainly be lethal, but the faster I threw it, the harder it was to be accurate. Even given the ogres immense size, they still presented relatively small targets from up here on the cliff’s edge.

  The ogres roared again and started making their way up to where we stood via the sloping paths on either side of the cliff. I felled another one with a rock, leaving about eight remaining.

  “Kyiii!””

  Ponta let out a surprised yelp from atop my head.

  Right as Dalsen was giving the order to retreat to the road, two more ogres suddenly broke through the tree line. The men froze in surprise. Even Ariane and I had been too consumed with our attacks—Ariane with her arrows and me with my rocks—that we hadn’t been paying attention to our backsides.

  One of the ogres made a beeline for Dalsen, waving its stone axe wildly.

  Ariane sprang into action. As soon as she saw the ogres come out of the woods, she discarded the bow and drew her sword. Just as the ogre’s massive, tree-trunk arm swung the stone axe down toward Dalsen’s head, Ariane slid in and brought up her own blade, easily deflecting the blow. The axe caught on her hood as it slammed into the ground.

  Ariane’s amethyst skin and golden eyes were now exposed for all to see. But this didn’t stop her, not even for a second, as she gracefully swung her sword into the ogre’s arm, which still clutched the axe.

 
The ogre let out a loud shriek, releasing the axe and scrambling backward to get away from Ariane. She pursued it.

  It attempted to swing its massive fist at Ariane to keep her at bay, but its arm didn’t respond, due to the muscle damage Ariane had inflicted. The arm dangled uselessly at its side. Ariane lunged in, driving her blade deep into the ogre’s thick neck.

  The ogre collapsed, its hand pressed tightly over the wound as blood gushed out like a fountain. After a few moments of writhing about in agony, it finally ran out of energy and fell silent.

  Meanwhile, I had an ogre of my own to deal with.

  If it hadn’t been for Ponta’s urgent cry, I probably would have taken the ogre’s attack on my back. My Belenus Holy Armor would have protected me from any real harm, but there was still the real risk that something could have happened to poor Ponta.

  The fox dropped down from my head and wrapped itself around my neck, as it did whenever I entered combat.

  I spun to face the ogre, grabbing its thick wrists. The ogre tried to swing its club, but I only increased the strength of my grip. A look of pain washed over its face as it struggled to escape.

  “Hehehe! You’re not getting away from me!”

  I could hear the bones in its wrists starting to crack. The ogre let out an agonizing cry. I head-butted it with all my might, crushing its skull and snapping its neck.

  I pushed the ogre away, just as Ariane finishing pulling her sword from her own ogre’s neck and drew her hood back up.

  Dalsen and his men were completely awestruck.

  “The rest of the ogres are almost here.”

  My warning seemed to wake Dalsen from his daze.

  “Fall back to the road!”

  The men moved in unison as they retreated.

  At Dalsen’s command, they broke into four-man squads once they reached the road, forming a line parallel to the woods in order to ambush the ogres as soon as they left the trees.

  The ogres, enraged at seeing their own kind struck down in front of them, rushed at us. Dalsen waited for just the right moment before issuing his next command.

  “Throw the oil pots! Miss Ariane, take it from here!”

  The squads hurled small, clay pots filled with oil at the oncoming ogres, drenching them as the pots shattered. Ariane began launching fireballs.