Chapter 151 - Chapter 150: I Wanted to Try It
In the deep forest where the scent of blood lingered, Mika grinned, lifting the corners of his mouth.
Around him lay the corpses of numerous magic beasts.
With other magic beasts swarming over those corpses and more surrounding Mika himself, over a hundred magic beasts had gathered in this area.
"Fufufufu..."
Mika laughed with an unyielding air.
"My power increases far beyond my limits every time I transform. I have two transformations left. Do you understand what that means?"
There was no reply.
They seemed to be just ordinary magic beasts...
The magic beasts intimidated Mika however they pleased, mounting each other or letting out roars.
Mika watched such magic beasts with half-closed eyes.
(............Hmm. It's not quite satisfying if they don't give a reaction like 'What the hell?!'.)
It was a bit anticlimactic.
Well, there was no way they would reply anyway.
After all, they couldn't understand words.
I said the lines I wanted to say, but it didn't get very exciting.
"Well, never mind."
Mika lifted one leg and lightly dodged Sou-Labi, which had tried to bite his foot.
"Absorb Wing!!!"
As Mika shouted the "spell name," shining light wings appeared on his back with a swish.
This was Mika's second form.
Of course, there is no third form.
I can't transform twice more, yes.
But at that sight, the magic beasts showed even more open alarm.
"Air Cutter!"
He unleashed countless "Air Cutters" on a magic beast that looked like a caterpillar made of connected rocks, slicing it into pieces in an instant.
Mika suddenly opened both hands.
"Iron Bullet!"
Like machine guns firing wildly, he rained iron bullets onto the magic beasts on the left and right.
Of course, since he added rotation, the penetration power was outstanding.
Several Agu Bears turned into Swiss cheese and fell over, thrashing.
Dokodokodokok......!
A giant boar-like magic beast, over two meters tall, charged at Mika.
But Mika deliberately did not dodge, instead pointing both hands at it.
"Iron Wall!"
Doshaaaaaa!
A thick iron wall, about fifty centimeters deep, suddenly surged up from deep underground.
The giant boar crashed headfirst into the iron wall.
Zugaaaaaaan!!!
A terrible impact sound echoed through the forest.
But there was no further movement.
When Mika went around the iron wall, it seemed the boar's head had been crushed.
(............What kind of thing is it that you can't withstand your own charge?)
This species really manages to survive.
I can only see a future where they destroy themselves and perish.
With normal prey, the opponent would be blown away, so there would be no problem, but it seems they couldn't withstand the "Iron Wall," which doesn't budge at all.
Mika left the mysterious iron wall (Monolith) and moved to a new location.
It's strange to say I made it myself, but frankly, it was in the way.
"Here, over here, over here."
As Mika guided them deeper into the forest, he used "Air Cutters" and "Iron Bullets" to take down the magic beasts one by one.
While moving like this, he noticed something.
Ahead of his movement, there was a giant monster he had never seen before.
"Telescope."
Mika confirmed that giant monster, still hundreds of meters away, while moving.
(............Giant? A Cyclops?)
If it were just a big human, attacking would feel reluctant, but I could see its eye glowing bright red.
It was definitely a monster.
"Laser Cannon!"
Mika thrust out his left hand, firing lasers one after another at the "Cyclops."
Since there was distance, he was concerned about the attenuation of the focused light, but this was also a test.
Buoooooooooooooo!!!
Five lasers pierced through its chest, yet the "Cyclops" let out a vigorous roar.
The caliber was too small; while it was dealing damage, it seemed unable to finish it off.
It's a laser that can make two-centimeter holes in trees, you know.
"It looks like it can be cut if I slash it... Well, let's try that. I want to finish it soon."
Mika jumped into the air, accelerated all at once, and approached the "Cyclops."
He gathered all his mana and poured even more mana collected by "Absorb Wing" into it.
The drawback is that it requires too much mana, but one can expect that much power. ...Or so it should be.
Mika sent the gathered mana toward the "Cyclops."
That mana expanded all at once the moment it hit the "Cyclops."
A sphere of mana completely enveloping the "Cyclops."
"Here I go! Implosion!!!"
The moment Mika shouted.
Zudon!!!
The "Cyclops" was swallowed by a bright red sphere.
Over a hundred explosion points, arranged evenly, all exploded simultaneously.
And the kinetic energy of those explosions was controlled to all move toward the center.
Instead of dealing damage with the explosion itself, it dealt damage with pressure from the evenly arranged explosion points.
I can't confirm with numbers how much pressure is applied to the center...
Zun!
"Guh!"
Immediately after the "Implosion" vanished, a shockwave came that threatened to blow him away.
And what remained was the remains of the "Cyclops," turned into charcoal.
About five or six black objects, the size of a basketball, were left behind.
"So a huge monster like that ends up like this?"
Some might have been blown away or burned, but the power was quite impressive.
It seems the pressure didn't leak outward due to any misplacement of the explosion points.
Next time, I want to use it on a monster known for its hardness and conduct further verification.
Mika returned to the ground and kept taking down the gathered magic beasts with "Air Cutters" and "Iron Bullets."
Magic beasts kept gathering no matter how many he took down.
Guiding them deeper and deeper into the forest, he scattered them as if intent on total annihilation.
"Oh my."
He took down monkey-like magic beasts swarming by numbers with "Iron Bullets," but they still got close to Mika.
While dodging, the corners of Mika's mouth couldn't help but lift.
"You're doing well."
He suddenly extended the range of mana spread around himself to twenty meters and cleared it all at once.
"Thousand Edge!"
Mika activated "Thousand Edge" while dodging the lizard-like magic beast's attacks as if dancing.
At that moment, the monsters around them all stiffened their bodies with a shudder and began falling over one by one, writhing in pain.
"Haha, this is a bomb."
Common in shooting games.
A trump card to clear everything around at once.
And so, he began taking down the magic beasts that had started swarming again.
(Crap. This is so fun.)
Blood boiled, flesh danced.
Wrapped in a sense of elation, Mika danced amidst the blood smoke.
Dokun!
With the further rise of elation, it felt as if even his heart was dancing.
Dokun!
No, this wasn't just elation.
Omnipotence. Omnipresence.
In a bliss so intoxicating, Mika danced while slaughtering magic beasts.
(More, more, more more more...!)
Make me happy!
Mika turned the wolf-like magic beast, already cut in half by "Air Cutter," into dust with another "Air Cutter."
"Aha. Ahaha..."
Laughter bubbled up involuntarily.
And so, forever and ever, Mika continued dancing in the deep forest, continuing to slaughter the magic beasts.
Bashaaaaaa!
Mika poured hot water from a "Waterball" over himself in the bath, washing away the blood and sweat.
He hadn't taken any attacks from the magic beasts, but it was difficult to dodge all the splattered blood.
But since Kistil and Nerisfeene would worry if Mika was covered in blood, he quickly washed it off.
He weakly released "Water Splash" from his hands and scrubbed his whole body.
Then, he poured another "Waterball" over himself.
"Phew... That feels refreshing!"
Mika changed into new clothes and headed for the village meeting hall.
About a hundred people had gathered in front of the meeting hall.
Everyone held a plate and ate while standing.
It seemed they ended up with a standing buffet format, just preparing a few tables and chairs.
Today was a sunny day. A day off for everyone.
It had been about three weeks since Mika returned to Rish Village.
Mika wondered if there was any good way to thank all the villagers for the donations.
When he consulted with Kistil and Nerisfeene about this,
"How about serving some cooking?"
Kistil proposed.
"But wouldn't that just be my thanks?"
With Mika's cooking, it would be harassment rather than thanks.
Since she made the proposal, Kistil must intend to cook it herself.
"Of course it will be. The villagers won't find it strange if I lend a hand for Mika-kun's thanks. Because..."
Saying that, Kistil blushed shyly.
"It's us. As long as Mika-sama does his best with the costs, it's fine."
"Well, of course I'll pay the money, but are you two okay with that?"
Rish Village had about two hundred residents.
Even excluding small children who couldn't eat yet and bedridden elderly people, it would still exceed one hundred and seventy.
If making extra, they would need to prepare for about two hundred people.
"Since there are many people, we have to plan and cook properly, but it's fine. Leave it to me."
And so, a party named "Mika's Thanks," featuring homemade dishes by Kistil and Nerisfeene, was held.
They consulted with the Village Head to borrow the meeting hall and asked him to advertise to the villagers as well.
"That's fine, but is it okay? I know I shouldn't say this, but won't the costs be quite high?"
When told they would serve not just food but also alcohol and fruit juice, he seemed a bit worried.
"The costs aren't a problem. Rather, I'm worried about the cooking. After all, there are too many people, and I'm of no use."
When Mika said that with his chest puffed out, the Village Head smiled bitterly.
"In that case, shall we try to find a few people to help on the day before and the day of?"
"Please do."
Depending on the dish, some need to be prepped and marinated from the day before, so he asked for help arranging people.
But this problem was solved immediately.
"Hey, you should have told us about that first!"
"Mom and the others will help, so the others are fine, Mika."
Amalia and Loretta, having heard the news, joined the fight.
And thus, hosted by the Noisheim family head, a party serving food was held.
That's basically what it was.
To the villagers, Kistil and Nerisfeene were already considered part of the Noisheim family.
Thanks to the excellent Public Relations Minister.
Mika looked around in front of the meeting hall and headed toward the Public Relations Minister.
"I'm back. I think I reduced the number quite a bit, but what do you think?"
He spoke to Ninetiana, who was wiping the mouth of Dur, who was devouring the food.
For the past week, Mika had been thinning out monsters and magic beasts in the forest.
Because of that, regarding this food-serving party, he had only helped a little with shopping and left almost everything else to them.
"Yeah, good work. I think we're probably fine now. Thank you."
She smiled brightly at Mika.
■■■■■■
About ten days ago.
Ninetiana and Diego came to Mika's house and consulted with serious faces.
"This forest has been very unsettling for the past few months."
So, Ninetiana's expression darkened.
Diego supported Ninetiana's words.
"I can only sense presence and such like anyone else, but Ninetiana's intuition isn't stupid. She's saved her life more than once or twice because of it."
Since she was an active adventurer, Ninetiana had said such intuition sometimes worked.
"Probably, maybe too many magic beasts have increased in the forest..."
Ninetiana seemed to think that individuals pushed out from their original habitats preferred by magic beasts were increasing.
She thought that these individuals were gradually expanding their habitat and coming closer to Rish Village.
"......Sorry, Mika-kun."
So, Ninetiana apologized to Mika.
"Why are you apologizing?"
Mika answered cheerfully as much as possible.
"I was the one who said to tell me if anything happens?"
But Ninetiana and Diego's expressions remained dark.
They must feel it painful to rely on a child like Mika.
"Leave it to me. I'll show you that a title holder isn't just for show."
So, Mika smiled at the two of them.
And then, Mika bowed his head to the two.
However, the two this time were not Ninetiana and Diego.
They were Kistil and Nerisfeene.
"I was the one who suggested the thanks to the villagers. I'm really sorry."
"No, don't apologize, Mika-kun."
"We're perfectly fine. Rather, we're worried about Mika-sama."
The planning for the food-serving party was progressing, but the host couldn't help.
"We originally intended to ask Mika-sama to help with shopping, so as long as he helps with that. For the arrangements with the villagers, we have Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law..."
Nerisfeene said, turning her face bright red.
If you're going to be that shy, you shouldn't have said it...
Anyway, within Rish Village, Kistil and Nerisfeene were completely considered Mika's wives.
Thanks to the excellent Public Relations Minister.
Strictly speaking, they were fiancées, but what about having two fiancées?
The villagers seemed to think even that was "As expected of a Mage-sama."
Mika had become tired of denying it.
Mika had also expected that bringing the two to the village would lead to such misunderstandings.
But what was unexpected was the intensity of it.
"No, that's not it~."
He thought that explaining it like this would easily clear up the misunderstanding.
But instead,
"Hey, you're getting shy."
"Don't say things like that, it's not manly!"
No one listened to Mika's words, and he ended up being scolded to "be more serious."
Most importantly, saying "no" in front of them would be terribly hurtful.
And so, as things flowed, it completely became that way.
He had misread the power required to seek a country wife.
One could say he had underestimated it.
To be honest, Mika also thought the two were very cute girls.
But since he was originally an old man in his late forties, it was also true that extra ethical views kicked in, thinking things like "Getting engaged to a kid like this smells like a crime!"
This is something he couldn't say even if his mouth were torn open, but anyway, Mika's strike zone was higher up.
So, thoughts like "Is this the Hikaru Genji Project?" would bubble up.
■■■■■■
During his return home, Mika had been thinking about something with his surplus time.
About developing new magic.
With the mana supply from "Absorb Wing," he could now handle magic that required more mana than before.
Upgrading versions as before was good, but he wanted to think of some new magic as well.
So, he decided to try out whatever came to mind for both.
So, first, the upgraded ones were "Stone Bullet," "Air Cutter," and "Earth Wall."
These were upgraded to "Iron Bullet," "Air Cutter," and "Iron Wall."
There was a significant increase in mana consumption, but the material changed from stone and earth to iron.
The name of "Air Cutter" didn't change, but the small stone particles were changed to iron particles.
Without using "Absorb Wing," these would cause mana depletion immediately.
It's not that they can't be used, but "Absorb Wing" is essential for rapid fire.
And as new magic, there were "Laser Cannon" and "Telescope."
These were realized by manipulating light.
Until now, Mika had considered light manipulation somewhat troublesome.
The reason was that the essence of light is electromagnetic waves.
To put it bluntly.
Mika didn't understand light well.
For Mika, the representative of electromagnetic waves was radio waves.
Things sent and received on radios.
Even if told that light is the same thing, he would just go "Hmm?"
He had dragged along the aversion he developed during his student days.
And with that aversion, he had vaguely avoided magic related to light.
But "Absorb Wing" could be created with a light-hearted feeling that it looked cool in anime.
It was troublesome because he thought too hard, but thinking "I want to use it, so I'll use it" was enough to handle it.
So, thinking that, he first tried making "Telescope" and further developed "Laser Cannon."
By the way, a magic for indoor lighting called "Lighting Ball" has also been developed.
Sometime, I want to make optical camouflage too.
And then, "Implosion."
There was already [Explosive Flame] for simply exploding magic.
I thought it was a bit much to make a similar magic on purpose, so I twisted it a little.
Reproducing the phenomenon of explosion with magic was quite troublesome, but essentially, it's a shockwave caused by sudden pressure generation.
Creating a large amount of atmosphere all at once, and if you add things like fire or stones, you can reproduce the state of an explosion.
So, thinking about how to increase power beyond [Explosive Flame], the idea of "Implosion" came to mind.
I forgot why, but I remembered that such compression methods were used in atomic bombs, etc.
So, I tried it.
To increase the pressure in the center, the atmosphere must not leak.
But while I can manipulate the atmosphere I created, I cannot move the air that originally exists.
So, I needed to cover the range of "Implosion" all at once with the atmosphere I created and push it toward the center.
This control was quite difficult, but it finally started functioning properly.
I tried various things with the created atmosphere, increasing oxygen, adding hydrogen, igniting all starting points simultaneously, etc.
Well, the explosion from the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen was a bonus.
The main point was the explosive generation of atmosphere.
I wondered how much pressure could be applied with air pressure and steam, but surprisingly, it worked out somehow.
■■■■■■
Mika told Ninetiana how many and what kind of magic beasts he had hunted while stroking Dur's head as he enthusiastically ate.
And so, he headed toward the entrance of the meeting hall.
As he wove through people talking and smiling with food in hand, he was told "It's delicious" and "Thank you" many times along the way.
At the entrance of the meeting hall, Kistil and Nerisfeene, who had finished making all the dishes, were resting.
"Thank you, both of you. It seems everyone is happy."
Both of them had nice smiles that conveyed a sense of accomplishment.
"Mika-kun, good work. Are you injured?"
"I'm fine. I haven't taken any attacks either."
When Mika answered like that, Kistil smiled softly.
"Mika-sama, please have some too. I'll prepare it now."
"Oh, it's fine. I'll get it myself."
Mika said that, but Nerisfeene immediately went to get the food.
Just then, the Village Head arrived.
"Mika-kun, it seems to be a great success."
"Village Head. Thank you for your cooperation."
When Mika bowed his head, the Village Head's face became a bit serious.
"This is nothing special. Rather, I heard from Diego. You're hunting magic beasts in the forest? Are you not injured?"
It seemed Diego had reported to the Village Head.
"That's fine. I'm used to it."
When Mika said that, the Village Head smiled bitterly.
"If that's the case, that's good. Don't overdo it."
"Yes."
Seeing Mika nod obediently, the Village Head offered words of encouragement to Kistil and the returning Nerisfeene.
Amalia and Loretta were also chatting with the Cafeteria Ladies who had helped with serving.
(Yeah, I'm glad I did it.)
Seeing everyone's smiles, Mika thought so from the bottom of his heart.
(............Now, I just need to find a way to thank Amalia and the others, and Kistil and Nerisfeene.)
Worried about how to thank the four of them, as well as apologizing for almost handing everything over to them, Mika was the one in trouble.