Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 2

by Ennki Hakari

  The innkeeper shrugged her shoulders and let out a heavy sigh.

  She told me that haunted wolves had started appearing along the road, attacking travelers and merchants. As the story spread to neighboring towns, fewer and fewer people came to Selst. The local nobility called the mercenary troupe and ordered them to slay the haunted wolves—not a bad proposition, since they would be able to sell the pelts for a tidy sum. However, they’d seen little success so far.

  After listening to her story, I made my way to my room.

  I set my bags down, removed my cloak, and sat on the bed. Ponta summoned up a gust of magical wind to fly over to the window and look out at the town below. A moment later, I heard a knock at the door. Ariane announced herself before stepping inside.

  As soon as the door was closed, she yanked off her hood, sending her long, white hair spilling down and revealing her amethyst features.

  Her usual confidence was missing from her golden eyes, which were downcast. She seemed uncertain about something, so I waited. After a long moment, she finally spoke.

  “Arc…I’d like to go to the forests at the base of the mountain tomorrow.”

  “Hm? I heard it’s faster to head southwest and cut through the forest…but I’m guessing that’s not what this is about?”

  She nodded. “It has to do with the haunted wolves we heard the mercenaries talking about. If possible, I’d like to take a small detour tomorrow to get my hand on a wolf tail.”

  “Your wish is my command. If it’s a wolf tail you need, then I will do my best to assist.”

  In the face of such an uncommon request—from Ariane of all people, a woman who needed no man’s help—how could I say no?

  I hoped my eager agreement would please her, though she looked slightly ashamed for having asked this of me.

  “Actually, my sister is about to get married.”

  “Oh, that’s fantastic news!”

  This conversation seemed to have come out of nowhere, so I simply nodded and prompted her to continue.

  “I’d like to give her a veil made from the fur of a haunted wolf’s tail.”

  She looked a bit sad as she spoke, but once she’d finished, she looked back up at me with a smile and explained her plan.

  According to Ariane, haunted wolves’ tails glowed a deep blue in the presence of abundant mana. Veils made out of their fur gave off a unique light when worn, making them a rather expensive gift.

  However, getting a tail was no easy task. Haunted wolves were a difficult beast to hunt, thanks to their ability to create multiple illusions to confuse their prey.

  A monster that could summon shadow copies of itself…

  Ariane would have no trouble taking a haunted wolf down on its own, but unfortunately, these monsters tended to travel in packs.

  She seemed a bit worried about asking me for a favor that had nothing to do with saving her fellow elves. However, I understood. When a rare opportunity crossed your path, it was only natural to want to take it.

  What’s more, since she was doing this as a gift for her sister, I really had no reason to refuse. My biggest concern was the monsters’ strength, but if she was capable of taking one down on her own, then we would be fine…so long as I stayed alert.

  “All right, tomorrow we’ll head through the forest along the base of the Anetto Mountains on the way to Houvan.”

  “Thank you, Arc.”

  With that out of the way, Ariane’s cheeks flushed, and she bowed her head.

  I could have stared at her embarrassed expression forever, but after only a moment of my gawking, her golden eyes darted back up to mine, glaring.

  I cleared my throat. “Shall I go buy us some dinner? And probably some rations for tomorrow, as well.”

  “Kyiii!”

  Ponta cut its yawn short and responded enthusiastically. A gust of magical wind sent it flying over from the window to land on my face. It scurried up to perch on top of my helmet.

  As I made stepped out into the town, dyed orange by the setting sun, I wondered just how Ponta was able to understand our conversations.

  We left Selst first thing the following morning, heading straight toward the forest facing the southern gate.

  The most commonly traveled route ran along the edge of the forest. However, we marched straight into the woods, making our way toward the Telnassos mountain range to the southwest.

  Without a compass, it would have been almost impossible for me to find the right direction. But Ariane, true to her elven upbringing, seemed to have no problem.

  There was a light haze hanging in the air here as well, but it was nothing like the magic-blocking mist we’d been confronted with in Canada, so I was able to use Dimensional Step. However, the forest grew denser the farther in we traveled, making it difficult to use the teleportation magic to its full effect.

  I’d noticed the day before that the forests on this side of the Librout River were notably different from those in Canada. Compared to the massive, ancient hardwoods that made up the elven realm, the trees were far more like what I was accustomed to seeing elsewhere in the world.

  Whenever we came to a large enough opening, I used Dimensional Step to speed up our progress.

  Around noon, we found a small clearing and sat down to eat the food I’d purchased the day before.

  Our lunch consisted of dried potatoes and salted smoked meat, along with some walnuts and dried apples. In total, it had cost a little over three silver coins, though the apples were one silver coin on their own. I still had over a thousand gold coins in my leather purse, though, so I wasn’t terribly concerned about money. In fact, I really had no use for it outside of lodgings and food. Spending a little extra on fruit was worth it just to see Ponta’s expression as it stared longingly at the dried apples, its tail wagging excitedly.

  “You’re being so mean!”

  I’d been playfully holding a piece of apple just out of the fox’s reach when Ariane scolded me. I patted Ponta on the head before giving it the object of its desire.

  I summoned up Fire to lightly roast my dried potatoes. However, the flame was too strong, and I wound up turning them into a charred lump.

  “You’re pretty clumsy, Arc.”

  Ariane summoned up her spirit magic, perfectly grilling her own potatoes.

  I gnawed at my charred mess, newly impressed with my companion—and newly ashamed at my lack of ability to control my magic. I needed to practice more.

  After we finished lunch, Ariane once again led the way into the woods.

  Ponta had abandoned its usual perch in favor of sleeping in Ariane’s bosom. I was jealous for a multitude of reasons.

  I had no idea how deep into the forest we’d traveled at this point, but the bird calls and animal cries had died off, leaving only the wind rustling through the trees.

  Ariane also seemed to notice something was amiss. She set down her bag and wrapped Ponta around her neck. Ponta gave a kyiii of protest, a look of confusion on its face.

  I unshouldered my bag and dropped it at my feet, drawing the Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg and lifting the Holy Shield of Teutates.

  Something was rushing through the undergrowth toward us, seemingly from all directions.

  Without a word, Ariane and I stood back to back, covering each other’s blind spots.

  I caught a glimpse of movement before a pack of massive white wolves tore out of the bushes toward us. Each wolf was around two meters long, and they all bared their large, ferocious fangs, jaws snapping in anticipation.

  I swung my blade horizontally through two of the leaping attackers, only to slice cleanly through the air as the wolf dissipated in a cloud of mist.

  I yelled out in surprise. “What the hell?”

  Another wolf leaped toward me. It closed in fast, making my sword useless, so I punched it in the head. I didn’t have time to put much strength behind the blow, but the wolf still howled as it tumbled backwards.

  “Graoooowl!”

  Befor
e I could even get my bearings, I was attacked again, this time on my other side. Two wolves were throwing their bodies against my shield.

  I swung my shield down, but just like the first wolf, these two turned to mist. I felt a wolf bite down hard on my sword hand, twisting wildly as if to rip my whole arm off. There was no pain, thanks to my Belenus Holy Armor, but the fact that it could throw me around so easily was still quite troubling.

  I lifted my arm, and the wolf along with it, and used centrifugal force to throw it into the air, thrusting my sword up after it. Unfortunately, I’d thrown it a little too hard, and I was only able to score a glancing blow on its front leg, resulting in a light spray of blood.

  I put some distance between myself and the pack, then focused on the tip of my blade and summoned Fire, sending a wave of flames toward the real and phantom wolves as they readied themselves for another attack. The spell roasted everything in its path and raised the temperature of the surrounding air by a few degrees.

  I tried to use Dimensional Step to flank the wolves, but they were moving too fast for me to find an empty space to teleport to. I couldn’t have picked a worse time to discover such a limitation to my teleportation.

  I glanced behind me to find Ariane easily handling her own pack—both real and phantoms. She made the most of her spirit magic, keeping her front clear with fire and easily injuring any wolves that came close enough to strike. She’d stabbed one of the wolves in the eye and severed a tendon in its leg, preventing it from moving. The other wolves were all similarly injured, their white fur mottled with blood.

  I was truly impressed by her fighting prowess, built up over many years serving as a soldier. Even with all of my power, I was only able to stand my ground through brute force alone. In a battle against multiple opponents, my shortcomings were all too apparent.

  I could probably take out the whole lot of them if I used an area-of-effect spell, but I hadn’t tested that kind of magic in this world yet. Not only might I inadvertently end up harming Ariane, but using an attack like that so recklessly could also cause significant damage to the forest. I was already worried about the flames I was using to hold the wolves back, but fortunately, nothing had caught fire so far.

  There had to be something I could do…

  My mind raced for some way to get the upper hand when suddenly my eyes locked on one of the wolves, deep in the pack. This wolf wasn’t joining in the battle. It was hanging near the back, its attention on me. Up until now, I’d overlooked this one, distracted by all of the wolves rushing toward me.

  The leader of the pack emitted a low growl as it watched the battle unfold. The area around it was clear, giving me a perfect spot to focus on. I’d only get one chance to strike it down and end this battle.

  I looked beyond the pack of wolves held back by my Fire, focusing on a spot to the right of the leader. Then I cast Dimensional Step.

  As soon as I disappeared, the pack of wolves froze. At that very same instant, I was appeared next to the pack leader, bringing my sword down toward it.

  Somehow, the leader sensed the motion of my blade and darted back into the pack. Refusing to let it get away, I used Dimensional Step again to give chase.

  Since it bounded into the air to avoid my previous attack, I estimated how far it’d travel and then teleported to the spot where it’d land. The wolf saw me and tried to twist out of the way midair, but it was all for naught. My sword sliced easily through its throat. It let out a gurgling howl as it slammed into the ground.

  A geyser of blood rained down, staining the ground red. I quickly teleported back to my place beside Ariane.

  I raised my sword against the pack of wolves, but they were no longer attacking. They’d seen my mysterious powers, and they chose to turn tail and run.

  “Arc, I need at least one more!”

  “Roger!”

  I threw my shield to the side and summoned up my Rock Shot ability, sending rocks hurtling out of my left hand into the path of the escaping wolves. The rocks exploded like grenades as soon as they hit the ground, peppering the trees and earth with stone shards and sending dirt into the air. Through the frenzy, I spotted a wolf that had been stricken by the attack and fallen.

  “Dimensional Step!”

  I teleported in front of the injured wolf and cleaved off its hind legs.

  The wolf let out a blood-curdling howl and rolled around on the ground. I thrust my blade into its throat, but I must have struck vertebrae. There was an awful snapping noise, and I felt my sword catch for a moment before the wolf’s rapid panting ceased.

  And so I was able to secure Ariane’s third catch of the day.

  Still, I had a lot to learn from this battle.

  I knew I needed to get serious about my training. I was too direct in my fighting style—I tended to get flustered and neglect all of the skills I had at my disposal. I laughed as I remembered a certain blue robot cat and all the incredibly useful gadgets he had at his disposal.

  I thought back on the brutal training session I’d had with Glenys. Maybe I’d ask Ariane to help me work on my swordsmanship.

  The dark elf returned her sword to its sheath and ran over to me, examining the lifeless wolf at my feet.

  “Thank you, Arc! I never would have imagined that we could take down three haunted wolves! This will be a wonderful gift for my sister.”

  I was captivated by her brilliant smile, much brighter than anything I’d seen on her face thus far. She tilted her head to the side, confused by my lack of response. I broke the silence with a cough, struggling to turn the conversation around.

  “So…these are the haunted wolves I’ve heard so much about? Their tails certainly glow, I suppose, but not as much as I expected…”

  I looked down at the dead wolf, but its tail only gave off a faint glimmer.

  Ariane stroked it, checking the quality of the fur as she spoke. “That’s because there’s very little mana energy in this forest. If you take it back to Canada, it’ll emit a beautiful blue light.”

  Ponta, still wrapped around Ariane’s neck and much calmer now that the fighting was over, gave its body a shake, puffing out its fur.

  “I’m really sorry to ask this of you, but could you use Transport Gate to take us back to Lalatoya really quick? I’d like to get the work on these started.”

  I took a look at our surroundings. “That’s fine, but…if I use Transport Gate to return to Lalatoya, we’ll need to start our trip to Houvan all over again from Selst. That is, unless there’s some sort of unique and memorable location nearby.”

  Transport Gate, my long-distance teleportation spell, would only allow me to teleport to a place that I had committed to memory. Out here in the forest, surrounded by endless trees, there was simply no way for me to pinpoint a location.

  “Hmm, all right. Maybe you could look for someplace nearby that you could teleport back to while I prepare the wolves’ bodies?”

  “Good plan. I’ll start looking then.”

  After retrieving my shield and dusting off my cloak, I began my search.

  Seeing me start to leave, Ponta dove from Ariane’s shoulders and flew up to my helmet. Apparently, we were going together.

  If there was some sort of notable landmass or building, I could use that to return here from Lalatoya using Transport Gate. However, if I just haphazardly wandered off into the woods looking for such a landmark, I might never find my way back to Ariane. I needed to pick a direction and head in a straight line.

  I launched myself forward using Dimensional Step, searching for anything unique. But everywhere I looked, there were just trees, grass, dirt, and rocks. Nothing seemed particularly memorable.

  From time to time, I came across blood-stained underbrush or tracks from the haunted wolves. They must have made their escape this way. Given their hasty retreat, it seemed unlikely that I’d run into them at my current pace, but I still proceeded with caution.

  I glanced up at the small patches of sky I could make out between the
branches and leaves. Ominous gray clouds blanketed the forest in darkness. I looked behind me, but Ariane had long since faded into the deep shadows of the forest.

  Imagining how easy it would be for me to get lost, I broke off a few branches from a nearby tree and shoved them into the ground at regular intervals so I could find my way back.

  Ponta spotted some berries from its vantage atop my head and cried out. Since we certainly weren’t starving to death, and I didn’t particularly want to get lost in the woods chasing after fruit, I decided to ignore its cries.

  After walking a bit farther, comforting Ponta all the while, I suddenly heard a sound like someone talking. I stopped to listen.

  Amid the trees swaying in the breeze and the cries of animals in the distance, I could faintly hear people bustling about.

  The sound was slightly off my set trajectory. If changed direction now, I’d need to leave another marker behind. I ripped several more branches off a nearby tree and stabbed them into the ground in a circle.

  That should be good enough.

  I made sure Ponta was secure on my head and started walking in the direction of the voices.

  As I moved through the forest, I distantly held out hope that I might be headed toward some sort of unique building.

  The sounds grew louder, but it soon became apparent that I wasn’t just overhearing some sort of boisterous conversation—there was a fight in progress.

  From up ahead, the wind carried the sounds of anger, sadness, and fear. I caught the scent of blood, mixed with the stench of something burning. I had a bad feeling about this.

  I wrapped Ponta around my neck, took several deep breaths, and made my way toward the clash of battle ahead.

  ***

  The forest opened up into a narrow path, bordered on its left by a small embankment. A wall of trees ran across the top, their roots compacting the earth. Thick bushes sprouted beyond that, making it impossible to see any farther.

  A massive black carriage, drawn by a team of four horses, made its way along the forest path. The carriage was adorned with an elegant design, showcasing the true skill of the craftsman who’d made it. Its owner must have been wealthy indeed. Knights on horses and other soldiers surrounded the carriage—an enormous force of more than fifty men devoted to its protection. Each man walked with his gear held tight, well-trained and vigilant.