Skeleton Knight, in Another World Chapter 21

Translator: Silver Unedited

「a.s.sault on Diento’s Lord」 Part 2

Author’s note:

I softened Ariane’s att.i.tude and some of her mannerisms. Arc’s behavior has also been revised.

I transferred to the first floor and chased after the three elven women. Leaving the stair room, they made a beet for the room at the end of the hall and appeared in the middle of the main hallway.

A large central stairway extended to the second floor from the main entrance, and stairs to the third floor seem to be on both sides of the second floor overlooking everything. At the top of the central stairway, a portrait of a man with grey hair and a protruding stomach decorated the wall.  In the center of the room hung a large chandelier, and the diversity of the expensive furniture displayed here showed the power of the master of this place.

“The feudal lord’s bedroom is on the third floor. Still for no one to be watching the hall…… It’s strange〜?”

The short-haired former captive elf murmured that as she glanced around the main hall before a flame formed in her right hand. She would probably shoot the spirit magic at any on duty guards.

“The staff is spread thin do to the fires in town……”

I voiced my opinion after I caught up with them in the central hall. The hall’s floor was made of polished marble and made quite a sound when I walked on it in my armor, so I unintentionally stop.

“That’s convenient! Let’s hunt down that pig immediately!!”

The long haired elf let out a fearless laugh as a unnatural gale filled the room and quietly jumps into the air. Ponta let out a call as the woman’s fabric cloth fluttered in the wind as she landed on the second floor.

She must be a wind manipulator like Ponta.

The other two quickly run after her as they headed towards the third floor stairway.

“Kyun Kyun!”

Since Ponta was in a fit  atop my head, I used 【Dimensional Step】to move in front of the third floors stairway.

When I reached the third floor I heard men and women screaming as a the sounds of battle rang out in the depths of the hall.

With a 「Doon」sound, I saw servant women coming from the depth of the hall that  was decorated with ornamental armors clad in a ordained mantles.

They were probably the eyewitnesses to tonight’s events. If their testimony says that a suspicious knight was here it will be difficult to move about in the future.

Telecommunications haven’t been created yet and many men wear armor in the city, so they testimony probably wouldn’t do much, but I should still be careful here.

When I saw one of the half naked servant women getting close, I moved to the side and pretended to be one of the ornamental armor suits. Ponta, who was a top my head, read the mood and didn’t move an inch. From the side Ponta’s thick far should pa.s.s as the plumage often seen on roman helmets. While I was thinking about such trivial matters, another servant dashed out of the room.

The once luxurious double doors were now mercilessly battered and what seemed to be the bodies of the guards were scattered about. Here and there I could see the missing limbs of these poor souls scattered about.

Stepping beyond the doorway, I found myself in a bedroom of considerable size. Even with my untrained eye I can see that articles in this room were all expensive, from the beautiful sculptures to the canopy with a large bed inside.

The whole room was filled with crystal-like objects on candlesticks, that illuminated the room like fluorescent lights.

At the back of the room, a portrait similar to the one in the hall was hung, in front of it was a pitiful man with his lower body fully exposed and a knife in his hands.

The long-haired elf kicked the exposed lower half of the man with all her might.

“Gyaahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!”

The man screaming like it was the end of the world was probably the lord; while this body was only made of bones the joints of my hips trembled.

The feudal lord didn’t even fall as he held the insides of his thighs, covered in sweat and gasping for air, he desperately yelled out in a strained voice.

“You……! D-Do you think that you can do something l-like this to me and get away with it!! I am a marquis of this country!! This me before your eyes i-i-i────”

To the feudal that endured the pain between his thighs, Ariane removed the hood of her cloak and looked down upon him as filth.

The lilac skin that had beed hidden became visible, her snow white hair was disheveled, and the room’s crystal provided lighting made it look like she was slightly blus.h.i.+ng. The atmosphere around her was chilling as she took a step forward.

“Are you perhaps misunderstanding something?  Even if you’re killed here, this country is in no position to retaliate against the elven country of Canada. Therefore, for breaking the Rhoden’s treaty…… Disappear.”

When she command it in a blood chilling tone, she stuffs a piece of a torn sheet in the marquis’s mouth, and turns back and nods at the two elves that had been releasing magic power behind her.

The two leap at the marquis immediately; only m.u.f.fled screams could be heard in the room as blood sprayed within the vicinity. I felt like I was watching a scene from a gangsta drama. No matter how high this body’s abilities are it would be best not to provoke them……

While trying to escape the brutal reality of the room, I came upon a solid door that was sealed shut with a strong looking lock.

The beautifully engraved lock was enough to create curiosity about what was on the other side of the door.

I draw my sword from my waist and slashed at the door. The lock to keep out intruders was useless as the door was as easily cut diagonally as a piece of paper cut by scissors.

After I tore what remained of the door off its hinges, I advanced inside to find expensive looking furniture and artworks crammed in the room; at first glance it seemed like items I would have no use for were randomly thrown in here.

The were several wooden crates in the back, and when I opened them I found that they were stuffed with leather bags filled with gold coins.

What is it about gold that never fails to charm people? I felt like I had an unintentional grin on my face when I found this treasure. Though there were no facial muscles to grin with……

As you’d expect it would be difficult to take all of the gold coins now, but I could take quite a bit of them if I repack some of the leather bags.

Like she said before, the way in which I acquire wealth is indeed dubious. Thought nothing rude can be said about stealing from here.

At least I think so as I promptly throw bags of gold into my sack. Since its really gold, my luggage sack might tear if I’m too greedy. While I was searching for more gold coins with a overjoyed expression, one sword displayed on the wall caught my attention.

There was a faint mottle above the blade and the sword itself gave off a faint silver l.u.s.ter. The halt was in the shape of a lion’s head that had red jewels for eyes.

Where have I seen that sword before────

Ah, it was a sword I’ve seen in the game. It was a masterpiece grade item given out for completing an achievement call 『Sword of the Lion King』. If I’m right, it’s a weapon that raises base speed and attack. Thought I don’t know if those effects are applied in this world or not……

I’ll take this as well, if I left it here it would only gather dust.

I thought so as I took the sword. While I was storing away the gold coins in my bag, the bedrooms seemed to have become lively.

“There’s a thief on the premises!!! A thief ahhhhh!!”

“Someone set them fre- Gyaaa!!”

From the sound of the footsteps guards must be entering the bedroom one after another, and I could hear the sound of metal clas.h.i.+ng. The sound of men screaming also echoed behind the occasional explosion.

After a particularly loud explosion the entire castle shock,  a「para para」sound could be heard as something collapsed, after which the sounds of something burning could be heard.

The castle must have caught fire.

Then a person entered the room and called out to me with a look of disgust on their face.

“What are you doing?”

Her gray cloak flutters as she folds her arms. Her ample twin hills could be seen from the top of her corset-shaped leather armor, and they were even more p.r.o.nounced with her arms crossed.

I probably looked like a thief in the middle of filling up his leather bag with gold coins before taking off to her.  If I had a green cover over my head the image would be perfect.

I could probably pa.s.s for Santa if a fireplace was nearby, but there was a savior lack of fireplaces.

“It cost money to unexpectedly have to rebuild an organization.”

“?”

The two elves showed up once they were finished, and stood behind her with dubious expressions as I spoke.

“If I intended to re-launch a kidnapping organization, it couldn’t be reconstructed without the necessary funds. We can greatly hinder the opposition by taking away a large amount of money and property here.”

While I was only blinded by the gold coins, I was able to come up with a plausible excuse to tell her. What I said shouldn’t necessarily be wrong……

When Ariane glanced back at the two elves, they both nodded as if in agreement and began to fill a leather bag with gold coins. Ariane also started to randomly throw gold coins into a bag.

“Still, carrying such heavy gold coins over our shoulders…… This in more than three time my weight……that’s……”

“Even if you have a good plan, isn’t it a serious problem trying to escape with with these heavy things over our shoulders?”

“Um〜〜, Heavy〜”

The three of them looked ridiculous with the big leather bags over their shoulders.

“It’s okay, he can use transfer magic. We don’t have any more business here, so let’s go.”

“Uh?! Huh!?  Isn’t it just a legend that a single person can use transfer magic?!”

“Um〜〜, A single person would lack the mental discipline and mana〜”

While they were in the middle of that exchanged the lower floor became noisy again. We weren’t allowed to be leisurely in our escape for this place.

Most of the remaining gold coins had been gathered by the three of them, so there was indeed no more business here.

“【Transfer Gate】!”

The magic circle formed on the floor and started to emit light in the room. In the next moment, the surroundings s.h.i.+fted in an instant and we were transferred downstream from Diento.

“The escape was successful. That transfer magic sure in convenient, I wonder if I could learn it……”

“Eh?!! This is a lie!? That was really transfer magic?!”

“Oh〜〜, I’m tired〜. Where are we?”

The three of them were looking around and even I’m surprised about where we ended up. Everything that was within the magic circle seems to have been transferred along with us.

The artwork and furniture that was around the room a while ago were all sitting on the gra.s.s.

The smoke from the fires still rose from Diento, and it seems to have increased. I did remember the sound of fire spreading in the feudal lord’s castle……

“So, I take it that all the requirement for the request have been mate?”

Ariane stopped gazing over the river and looked in my direction; she took out five elven gold coins and tossed them at me with a fearless laugh.

“You really saved us this time. Here’s your reward as promised. Thought the gold coins we stole are more valuable……”

I say “Anytime” as I catch the coins with one hand and put them in the leather bag tied to my waist.

“Arc, I’m heading to the closest village 『Raratolaia』 would you mind meeting the elders?

Lowering the bag of gold coins from her shoulder, Ariane asked me that question with a serious expression.

I personally wanted to see the elf village. However, I would like to be excused from meeting the elders.

“Hmm, I would like to go to the elf village…… Do I have to meet with the elders?”

“That’s expected. In order invite an outsider, I first have to request it from the elders. And to be honest, I would like to continue to use your powers in the future…… I would like to introduce you to one of the elders to gain their trust. Why?”

The two elves beside Ariane were surprised, yet the waited quietly as she made her proposal.

“I cannot take off this armor…… No, you say you want to give me your trust, so I will stop lying────. I don’t want to take off this armor.”

“For a meeting with the elders, you’d have to take it off to show your face…… Is that a problem?”

I answer her question with silence.

“May I hear your reason?”

It’s hard to answer when asked my reason. I personally don’t want to lie to her too much. However she may not understand even if I told her the truth.

“When I take off my helmet, Ariane promise me that you don’t point your sword a me──”

“If I promise not to rise my swords will you show your face?”

Her golden eyes never leave my visage. There it is after the deluge. I can use their reactions to my exposed figure as a guideline for my future actions.

When I move my hand to take off my helmet, Ponta skillfully jumped from my head to my shoulder.

I remove my helmet and faced them.

──── They all had a surprised looked on their faces.

A skeleton in armor stood before their eyes, with the pale flame of the dead flattering in its eye sockets.

The elves on the side immediately took action as a surge of magical power flew out of their bodies.

However, Ariane stood in front of them and grabbed their hands to control them.

“Arc……, You, is that your…… body?”

Though she was surprised she tried to keep it out of her voice, but she still asked in a hesitate tone.

Even if I say that this was the appearance of a game character and that I was throw into this world with it, they would not understand that.

“I don’t know……, l just know I was thrown into this country with this cursed body……

“Isn’t that person an undead?!”

“That undead in the armor is frighteningly strong〜!”

The two elves scowl without breaking their stances, and Ariane fixed her eyes on them and spoke to them with a calm expression.

“Look closely. He doesn’t carry the pollution of the dead……  A spirit beast would never take to an undead tainted by the pollution of death. Could an undead use healing magic?”

The two elves were gradually confused by her words.

“T-That? That’s a fluffy fox on his shoulder…… a spirit beast. Oh? What is this??”

“The undead use the cursed power of darkness, it’s impossible to use the purifying power of light magic right〜?”

Ariane was the only one laughing at their confusion.

“Arc used his power to help our brethren…… He did not have to reveal his body’s secret. Depending on the type of curse it is, the elders may have some insight on it.”

I’m thankful for that. Anyhow, even though two barely clothed elven women are standing before me, it was saddening as a man that there was no reaction from my crotch.

No, this isn’t a place to crack jokes……

“I’m truly thankful. If the curse on my body can be removed it would be truly wonderful.”

Giving such a response, I put my helmet on again.

I still wonder why I choose a skeleton avatar, but it was too late to regret my past actions now.

“I’ll introduce myself once more. My name is Ariane Glenys Maple. A warrior of the Canadian forest from Maple.”

She held out her right hand while saying so. I grasped it back.

“Arc. I’m travelling to remove this curse from my body.”

When I said it, my future goal had been decided.

It was set within my mind, traveling to break my curse, though it’s likely to be an unachievable feat.

“Then let’s go meet Danka upstream!”

She laughed as she placed one of the bags of gold coins over her shoulder.  I picked up some of the heavier bags as well and gaze out at the forest as it connected with the river upstream.

Without day even breaking, under the glow of the moonlight, for the first time my path has been decided.

──── Then shall we sit off?