So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 8 Page 9

  That probably means the Word of God religion, right?

  In that case, she’s probably wasting her time.

  I’m sure the Word of God people are already well aware that we’re in this town.

  During our journey, I’ve learned that the organization known as the Word of God religion is truly terrifying.

  They have a church in just about every town and village, and all these churches constantly provide the organization with information in secret.

  Since being reincarnated into this world, I’ve become painfully aware of the true value of information.

  Here, it’s perfectly normal for something that’s common knowledge in one town to be completely unheard-of in the next.

  That’s a huge adjustment from Japan, where you could look up anything online whenever you wanted.

  In extreme cases, one town might be panicking on the verge of starvation while the next town over is flourishing with an overabundant harvest.

  In this world, information mostly travels on foot.

  So the farther away one place is from another, the longer it will take for information to arrive.

  There are some special methods like teleportation, but there are precious few individuals with the skill.

  You’d have to be a Spatial Magic master or powerful enough to be able to use a teleport gate.

  Both of those things are completely inaccessible to the average person.

  Which is why in this world, people don’t really understand the value of information.

  If you don’t have any way of knowing what’s going on in other places, it might as well not be happening at all.

  By establishing churches in various places around the entire world and staffing every outpost with people who have a certain skill, the Word of God religion can gather information from everywhere at once.

  That skill is known as Fartalk.

  It’s an advanced form of the Telepathy skill that allows you to communicate telepathically with people who are far away.

  When I was a baby and still couldn’t speak properly, I relied on this skill quite a bit.

  But in this society, most people consider that skill pointless.

  The common view is that you might as well just communicate in person directly, and most of all, you have to use scarce skill points to acquire Telepathy.

  After all, the only other way to get skills is by doing related actions until you build up enough proficiency to acquire the skill naturally, and there’s no “related action” for Telepathy.

  Well, I guess there might be, but there’s certainly no way you could acquire Telepathy just by living your life normally.

  That means the only sure way to acquire the Telepathy skill is to use skill points, but those are a highly limited resource.

  I was born with a huge amount of skill points, maybe because I’m a reincarnation, but most people aren’t born with any at all.

  The only way to get skill points is to obtain them naturally as you age or level up.

  And that only earns you very small amounts, so people have to be cautious about how they spend them.

  As a result, there aren’t that many people who choose to use skill points on something like Telepathy, it seems.

  I do think it ends up being a useful skill if you have it, but most people won’t spend their valuable skill points on something that’s only mildly convenient.

  But the Word of God religion really uses the Telepathy skill to its maximum potential.

  They have their personnel train up their Telepathy until it evolves into Fartalk, allowing them to converse with people who are far away, and then they dispatch those personnel to far-off towns and villages so that they can gather information instantly.

  The resulting information network is one of the Word of God’s greatest assets.

  In a society where towns can’t even communicate conveniently with their neighbors, this religion can gather information from any of their churches across the world.

  Frankly, there’s no organization in this world that could possibly beat the Word of God religion in an information war.

  If the Word of God was so inclined, they could easily spread false rumors or cover up any inconvenient truths.

  And they use that informational power to keep their influence strong.

  The Pontiff’s strength is proof enough of that.

  And since the Word of God has this information network, I have no doubt that they already know where we are.

  We’re too important for the Pontiff to ignore, especially Miss Ariel.

  In addition to their church-based information network, no doubt they have surveillance on us as well.

  In the incident two years ago, the Pontiff was able to appear in front of us in no time flat, even though we were carefully avoiding the public eye.

  So even if that receptionist goes running to the Church, I’m sure she’ll only be telling them what they already know.

  And I don’t think the Pontiff would be stupid enough to make an enemy of Miss Ariel just because of that.

  I’m sure he’ll handle the situation gracefully.

  That’s the one thing he can be trusted to do.

  …Even if it leaves me with complicated feelings to trust the man partly responsible for my parents’ deaths with anything at all.

  At this time, even as my senses are linked with my familiar in the guild, I’m also walking along with Ariel and the others.

  Not only am I focusing on the familiar, I’m thinking about unnecessary things, which I suppose means my guard is down.

  “…shi!”

  That’s why I react a second too late.

  I hear a shout and feel someone grab my arm.

  “Huh?!”

  Whirling around, I see a small girl.

  She looks just as young as I do—no, even younger.

  And she’s reaching out from an alleyway, grabbing my arm.

  Normally, I might freeze up in the face of such an unexpected event.

  But this time, I react on pure instinct.

  Because this girl’s ears are long and pointed.

  “An elf! Don’t touch me!”

  I shake off the girl’s hand and push away her small frame with all my might.

  On top of that, I even cast magic at her.

  My Ice Magic courses through the alleyway, freezing it over.

  However, the elf girl has already disappeared before it can freeze her.

  I felt something strange when I pushed her away, and I realize belatedly that she was holding hands with someone.

  That person must have used Spatial Magic to teleport away with the girl.

  What if her hand had still been on my arm?

  I would’ve been teleported along with them.

  That must have been the goal of their attack. They used a little girl to get me to let my guard down in the hopes of abducting me.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I think so.”

  “For now, let’s just get out of here before anyone notices.”

  Miss Ariel guides the others and me away from the alley.

  Since I used my magic to the best of my ability, the entire alley is frozen over, which is sure to draw attention.

  Considering the situation with Gotou, it might lead to some major problems if anyone finds out we were involved in this ruckus.

  “Did she call you Negishi?”

  On our way back to the inn, Miss Ariel murmurs something to me.

  “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’m sure it was just my imagination.”

  Though she brushes it off lightly, Miss Ariel’s expression looks grim.

  THE OLD MAN FIGHTS AN OGRE

  “Urrrgh.”

  “What’s the matter, Master? You finally gonna croak ’cause you’re so damn old or what?”

  I drop a fist on the head of my incredibly rude second apprentice.

  “Owww! What the hell, old man?! Are you out of your mind, smacking a young lady on
the head like that?! Wait, no, I’m sorry. You’ve been out of your mind for a long time now.”

  Even a light smack isn’t enough to stop this young lady’s foul mouth.

  She’s always been crass, but it seems to me that she’s only gotten worse over the past few years.

  I originally hired Aurel as an assistant of sorts, but after a surprising turn of events led me to realize her magical potential, I made her my second apprentice.

  Specifically, this happened when my first apprentice, Julius, was halfway through death’s door, and Aurel used Healing Magic to save him.

  Imagine my shock when I saw a tearful Aurel re-create Healing Magic just based on what she’d seen before.

  After all, using magic without the assistance of a skill is a feat I have only ever seen performed by the master.

  It was only for a moment, but when she cried out, “Sir Hero, don’t die!” and managed to replicate a healing spell, I was struck with admiration.

  With enough training, she could be as powerful as I—no, perhaps even more so.

  Thus, I somewhat forcibly made her my apprentice, but the unfortunate reality is that she seems to be utterly unmotivated.

  Still, she already has more talent than your average adult mage, so my eyes did not deceive me.

  “The problem, old man, is that you’ve filled your whole head to bursting with nothing but damn magic. If it seeps into your body, too, and makes you explode or something, you’d be doing the whole damn world a favor, I guess.”

  …No, it’s definitely not my imagination. Her abusive language toward me has grown far more colorful over the years.

  As I raise my fist again in silence, my apprentice emits a strange little shriek and dodges away, taking cover behind an elderly knight in golden armor.

  “Sir Ronandt! Do you think it chivalrous for a knight to raise a hand against a child?!”

  The armor-clad individual bellows so loudly that I fear for my eardrums.

  “I am no knight, so that is of little consequence to me. Besides, this is simply my method of teaching. Have you not heard of ‘tough love’? If anything, my second apprentice here is at fault for attempting to flee.”

  “Oh-ho! I see!”

  The old knight, who is all too easily won over by my words, is called Nyudoz.

  As you might guess, he is something of a muscle head.

  To borrow Aurel’s phrase, his head is filled with nothing but muscles, just like the rest of his body.

  In other words, he is a moron.

  However, as a veteran who once fought alongside the previous sword-king, his strength is indisputable.

  He is a master swordsman, perhaps even on the same level as the previous sword-king himself.

  Though he is just as far along in years as I am, he is still on active duty, standing guard over the northern fortress.

  Of course, this is only due to a command from the nobles who do not wish to let the lowborn Nyudoz too close to the heart of power, but a simpleton like him is happier swinging his sword around in the thick of battle anyway.

  Today, he is assisting me in leading the assault against that ogre as a field commander, but he is far too foolish to actually do any commanding.

  “Very well! Go and accept your beating, then!”

  “What the hell kind of logic is that?!”

  Nyudoz grabs my second apprentice and pushes her in front of me.

  He’s a moron, all right.

  “Ah, forget it. But, Nyudoz, could you lower your volume a tad? My ears can scarcely bear the pain.”

  “Oh-ho! And how might I go about lowering my volume?”

  …Ah, forget it.

  Somehow, this simpleton is beloved by all his soldiers. Truly, some things in this world are beyond comprehension.

  As I stare at him grimly, a messenger runs up to inform us that the soldiers have taken their positions.

  “I see. Then preparations are complete.”

  “Indeed! No ogre stands a chance against my sword and your magic! For the sake of our fallen brethren, let us turn this beast into rust upon my sword!”

  I cannot help but agree wholeheartedly with Nyudoz’s declaration, if not with his volume.

  With Nyudoz at the front and myself at the rear, no ordinary enemy stands a ghost of a chance.

  However, this ogre is no ordinary enemy.

  “Apprentice Two. Do you remember the intelligence we received about this ogre?”

  “Uh-huh. You know I do.”

  “Then, as practice, please recite the traits of an ordinary ogre and the unique traits of this one.”

  Instead of following my instructions, my apprentice looks at me suspiciously.

  “Is there a problem, child?”

  “No, no. I was just wondering—you didn’t already forget what they told us at the guild, did you, Master?”

  “Nonsense. Of course not. It’s this fool who’s doubtless forgotten.”

  I point at Nyudoz, and understanding dawns on Aurel’s face.

  Nyudoz is standing with his arms crossed, looking serious.

  But serious though his expression may be, it’s obvious that he’s forgotten what we were told.

  The man’s brain consists of nothing but muscle, after all. I’m sure any and all explanations go in one ear and out the other.

  Even if the information contained within was gained at the cost of many adventurers’ lives.

  “Ahem. So a normal ogre is no big deal, right? They’re humanoid monsters, and their intelligence varies from one to the other. But most of them are supposed to only be as smart as a human of around three years old, so they can’t do much more than speak a few simple words and wave their weapons around. Your lesser ogre has the physique of a grown human male, give or take. When they evolve, they get bigger, and supposedly an Ogre King is several times the height of a human. They’re generally power types, just like you’d expect, so they’re not super-fast, but their attacks are pretty damn strong. Since they’re humanoid and all, a few of them might have magic or other unexpected skills, but that kinda thing is rare as hell. Most ogres move in groups and rarely leave their territories. Uh…I guess that’s about it? Is that good enough, old man?”

  “Indeed it is.”

  I nod my approval.

  Apprentice Two’s description is quite accurate.

  “So with all that in mind, could you describe the ogre we’re about to face?”

  “With all that in mind? I mean, are we sure this thing’s even an ogre? It has next to none of the features I just listed.”

  Hrmmm. She’s not wrong, but I wish she’d just get on with the explanation.

  “This ogre has a whole bunch of special skills, and it seems to be pretty damn smart. A lot of the details are still shrouded in mystery, but we know that among its skills there’s something that provides sudden, total recovery. Its wounds, magic, and even energy can just get completely maxed out of nowhere, apparently. Also, its stats can temporarily go way the hell up. Far as we know, the effect doesn’t last long, but it’s crazy dangerous in combination with the whole healing thing. And the most important thing is it seems to have a skill that allows it to make magic swords.”

  “Magic swords, you say?!”

  Why is Nyudoz responding only to that last part?

  In fact, why is he reacting this way at all when we heard the same explanation at the guild?

  He reacted the same way the first time, but clearly he’s already forgotten.

  “An ogre with magic swords, indeed! Perhaps my beloved blade has found a worthy opponent!”

  Nyudoz’s sword is a magic sword, too.

  I guess this sparked his competitive nature…

  “Yeah, I don’t think it’s that simple. It doesn’t just have a magic sword; it has a skill that can make magic swords, remember?”

  An ogre with magic swords would be surprising enough on its own, but a skill that can make magic swords is completely unheard-of.

  “Hrmmm?! Now, how ex
actly is that different?!”

  “It’s incredibly different, you idiot.”

  A monster with a magic sword would be bad, but a monster that can create magic swords using a skill is infinitely worse.

  If it just happened to have magic swords, then we would need to worry only about those swords’ abilities.

  Magic swords are powerful weapons either way, but they have a limited range of abilities.

  If you know what a magic sword is capable of, there are plenty of ways to counteract it.

  But if the ogre can create magic swords freely, and especially if it can change those magic swords’ abilities at will, then it’s all but impossible to prepare in advance.

  We were told that the ogre fought with two magic swords—one fire and one lightning—but it’s possible that the situation has changed since then.

  We have no idea what our opponent will be planning.

  And if it can create magic swords, that means it could have any number of them.

  One magic sword is dangerous enough, so having more than one is a serious threat.

  And this ogre even has magic swords that it doesn’t mind destroying in the course of combat.

  It seems that it can produce them without limit, after all.

  In fact, the adventurers who fought the ogre before were wiped out by exploding magic swords.

  Magic swords are generally far too valuable to use and throw away, but if you can make them in unlimited quantities, it’s quite a different story.

  This ogre can produce many different kinds of magic swords and use them disposably without hesitation.

  What a troublesome opponent.

  “Do you understand now? Hrmmm. It seems that you do not.”

  I attempted to explain why a skill that creates magic swords is so dangerous, but Nyudoz’s only response is steam rising from his ears as he attempts to process the information.

  I thought I phrased it as simply as possible, but it seems that even this was too difficult for a moron of this caliber.

  “In other words, I suppose, this enemy is very strong.”

  “Oh-ho! Yes, I understand everything now!”

  No, I don’t think you do…

  “Shall we go over our strategy, then?”

  Ignoring Nyudoz, I turn my gaze to my second apprentice.