LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 254.1
Chapter 254.1. After Defending Hakata
A few days after the stampede, the city of Hakata rapidly regained its footing. The head of the Jesters’ Knights, the masterful mage Taira Konoha, had obliterated nearby enemies with a massive spell.
The pier, once dirty and desolate due to prolonged battles with monsters and a thin trickle of trade, was now occupied by a fleet from Tokyo unloading supplies. Trucks were quickly filling up and transporting goods into the city.
The people of Hakata worked energetically, their faces filled with smiles, seemingly unaffected by the cold. After all, not long ago, they couldn’t even step outside; the city was on the verge of falling. But now, the surroundings were peaceful, with no monsters in sight.
Supplies were being distributed to the areas that lacked resources, and for the first time in a while, life was returning to Hakata, dispelling the lingering darkness.
Even in the ruins left by the stampede, people were gathering and collecting monster cores.
“Hurry up with those monster cores! Don’t pocket any. I heard Amatsugahara Corporation is buying them.”
The captain, commanding the soldiers, instructed them to collect the monster cores scattered like a mountain. Some B-rank monster cores glittered like piles of treasure.
“How much do you think these go for?”
“Cores are worth around 30,000 yen for C-rank, and 3 million yen for B-rank.”
One soldier, unfamiliar with the system of buying monster cores, tilted his head in curiosity while another informed him, recalling the temporary price chart from the Adventurer’s Guild.
“Wow, 3 million for a single core? A few of these could make up for an entire year’s income.”
“And how are you planning to sell it? A high-level core would stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Plus, you don’t want to get caught. You’d end up angering the Queen of Jesters.”
“Better be safe and just collect them properly.”
The soldiers continued gathering the cores in silence, the massive quantity keeping them busy, until one soldier pointed something out.
“Look over there. It seems like another dungeon’s been conquered.”
They looked toward the direction he pointed, an area that should have been inaccessible, filled with fiery blossoms.
The dungeon transformed into a rainbow, vanishing like bursting bubbles, revealing two silhouettes at its center.
Even with the dungeon gone, the field of fiery blossoms remained, unleashing flames like a flamethrower at the figures. Though it seemed the two would be consumed, one of them waved a hand.
[Life Drain]
Darkness spread from their hand, covering the field. The fiery blossoms turned gray and withered where they touched the darkness, and soon the once-fiery landscape transformed into a realm of death.
Left standing were a man clad in black and a girl in an unusually provocative kimono, untouched by the flames’ immense heat.
“How many dungeons does this make today?”
“I just saw a cat-girl and a fox-girl conquer a dungeon with a water serpent.”
“And a guy in full armor being dragged by a black tiger finished another one.”
“Those are the Jesters’ Knights… all monsters in their own right.”
The soldiers were stunned by the power of the Jesters’ Knights from Tokyo, who had been clearing dungeons around Hakata one by one in recent days. Despite the dungeons’ difficulty, they dealt with them swiftly.
In particular, the man dressed in black and the girl in kimono showed overwhelming strength as they tackled dungeons in lands filled with magical flora like fiery blossoms and ice blossoms, places humans should not be able to enter. The soldiers felt awe mixed with fear.
And there was one more thing on their minds.
“Another load of cores to pick up…”
One soldier sighed.
“Yeah… I could use a break soon.”
As they looked at the pile of monster cores around the man and girl in black, the soldiers, glad the dungeons were vanishing but annoyed by the endless work, realized it was yet another day of gathering.
The guardian warrior rolled his shoulders, feeling the strain of back-to-back dungeons. The fatigue was setting in.
“You were impressive, Master. Clearing so many fiery blossoms with a single spell.”
The beautiful girl in modified kimono, Yukihana, folded her arms, admiring the withered field.
“These were only C-rank. Their stats were low, and against my A-rank maxed stats, they’re no match. Not to mention I have Celica’s equipment and my custom-made Shadow Puppet.”
“Shadow Puppet… even flames can’t get through it now. The quality is outstanding.”
“Indeed. It’s incredibly useful, though it doesn’t offer temperature resistance. It’s getting chilly.”
With the fiery blossoms gone, a wave of winter air came in, making him pull up his collar. Brr, cold. He missed his fox-fur scarf, though he’d let his companion keep it, knowing she’d likely stay transformed as a monkey forever if he took it back. It was really warm, though.
“Shizuku is a jealous one. Don’t tease her too much.”
“Got it. Changing the subject, I’m glad we came to Hakata. Any later, and it would’ve likely fallen. A B-rank dungeon this close to the city’s outskirts is no joke.”
The dungeon they just cleared was B-rank, close enough to the city to highlight Hakata’s perilous situation. The city had only avoided disaster because the B-rank dungeon here, being plant-based, hadn’t actively attacked. Hakata had some luck left, it seemed.
Well then, I’ll handle the B-rank core.
[Expand, shadow]
[Shadow Move]
With a snap of his fingers, his shadow extended around, swallowing and collecting the monster cores left from the dungeon.
Yukihana raised an eyebrow and watched, impressed.
“Quite a skill. You can extend your shadow now?”
“I’ve become skilled enough to handle even low-level spells freely. [Shadow Bind] now extends, so it should be quite effective. Dark magic isn’t just about learning new spells; it teaches a lot of tricks, too.”
“[Shadow Bind] is too weak to affect the level of monsters you’re facing now.”
[Shadow Bind] was a basic spell, unlikely to work against A-rank monsters. Still, every spell has its use.
“I use it on humans. It works well as a bluff, like when I tried it on Daiki. He was startled.”