Chapter 25 – A cursed suit of armor
A suit of armor was just standing there in the middle of the great hall. It was a rustic looking armor with a sword and shield in hand.
It’s pretty strange for a decorative object to stand in the middle like that.
Perhaps Yuuri thought the same, so she spoke up with a trembling voice.
“T-that looks like it will start moving for sure.”
“It certainly gives off that feeling….”
Elysia also nodded and readied her sword.
“What should we do, Alec-sama? I can’t detect any mana that feels especially out of place.”
“Let’s see….. This might be a Guardian.”
“Guardian?”
“They were moving suits of armor made during the era of the ancient empire. A kind of magic tool, to be exact.”
Apparently, they were frequently used to guard many important places like noble’s mansions or government buildings like this.
Their creation method is long lost by now though.
There were rumors that living humans or the bodies of monsters were used to make one. At any rate, they became something to avoid.
“But, perhaps rather than not recognizing us as intruders, it may just not have any mana left to move anymore. If we provide it some mana, it might start moving again. I’ll go and take a closer look.”
“B-be careful, Alec-sama!”
After nodding to the worried looking Yuuri, I stepped closer to the suit of armor.
The armor itself was most likely made of some kind of magical metal. A sturdy material that contains mana and has some resistance to magic.
Also, I could feel a minute amount of mana from within the armor.
Could that be the fuel that’s responsible for moving the armor? ──!?
When I was just a few steps away, the armor suddenly swung its sword.
It must’ve waited until I was close enough that it could chop my head off.
However, I used 《Teleport》 to move behind the armor to escape disaster.
“A Living Armor…..? With Wisps outside I thought it might be the case.”
It’s a type of undead.
It’s basically the same as a Wisp, with the difference being that it’s covered by armor.
The Living Armor turned around and swung its sword at me again.
I immediately used 《Teleport》 to move back to the right and shot a 《Dark Cutter》 towards its head.
The blade of dark mist managed to knock down its helmet. As expected, the armor itself was quite sturdy.
With this the Wisp itself should be visible now── Hmm?
A kind of viscous fluid scattered around from the helmet that was knocked off.
“A slime!?”
It seems rather than a Wisp, it had a slime inside.
In other words, this wasn’t a Living Armor, but an Armored Slime. It’s a slime that moves like a human and is able to make use of armor and weapons.
The slime quickly withdrew into the armor again, then started swinging its sword at me once more.
If I pour every drop of my magic into a 《Dark Cutter》, then it might be enough to break an armor made of magical metal, but…..it might also blow away the entire building as well.
With that in mind I shot a 《Dark Cutter》 while holding back on my mana, but as expected, it wasn’t powerful enough to do anything.
While I was busy trying to calibrate my mana input, I heard Elysia speak.
“Alec-sama, I will help!”
Brandishing her sword, Elysia closed in on the suit of armor.
The swords wielded by Elysia and the suit of armor met, with the sounds of their clashes reverberating against the dome of the great hall.
The Armored Slime that was moving that suit of armor was quite adept with a sword as well, not losing out to Elysia the least bit.
However, Elysia’s sword was made of steel. In contrast, the opponent’s sword was made of magical metal. If this turns into a prolonged fight, then the steel one will most likely break sooner or later.
I shouted towards Elysia.
“Elysia! I’ll use 《Conceal》 on you!”
“Understood!”
So I hid Elysia’s body with 《Conceal》.
With that, the armor lost sight of Elysia. Despite that, perhaps by going after her mana signature, it kept swinging its sword in her direction.
However, it could not keep up with Elysia, who moved like the wind.
Its sword was then knocked out its hands and went sailing off in a high arc.
The suit of armor went to pick up its sword, but I quickly put it away in my 《Pandora’s Box》.
Elysia targeted the joints of the suit of armor that had its back to her, cleaving off its extremities.
The slime tried to reach out with its body to reconnect the armor parts again, but Elysia prevented this by kicking away the disconnected pieces.
“Still want to fight?”
Elysia pointed her sword at the slime that appeared from the torso.
The slime was visibly shivering.
However, suddenly a bunch of splashing sounds could be heard from all around us.
Yuuri exclaimed.
“T-that many slimes!?”
We were surrounded by a large group of slimes.
“I see….. So this place was a hunting ground of slimes.”
As Elysia spoke, the slime that came out of the armor’s torso kept jumping in place, as if trying to say ‘how about this, hah!’.
However, if it’s just slimes, then…..
Elysia and I looked at each other.
“…..I will just wipe them all out with Dark Magic.”
A black mist gathered in my hand.
Let’s spread this out and take out all slimes in the area.
“《Dark Wave》…..huh, what?”
The slimes skittered away from the great hall like baby spiders.
Perhaps they felt my mana and lost their will to fight because of that.
Yuuri exhaled in relief.
“W-we’re safe.”
“I was afraid of what would happen-ssu…..ah!”
Tia noticed the slime that was moving the armor trying to run away.
However, that slime was caught and covered by Elyc.
“Good job, Elyc. Hmm….what should we do with this one.”
If we take it down, we would get some slime Jelly and its core out of it. We could use it as stuffing for cushions at most. As for the core, it can be used to make a Mana Potion I think.
The slime that Elyc covered started trembling.
In reaction to that, Elyc shook its body a certain way as if to convey something.
Then, Elyc freed the slime.
The defeated slime stretched out in front of me, as if trying to bow down to me.
“Does it want to become my Servant?”
The slime jumped once.
I heard that the slimes in the capital subsist on moss and mice from the sewers. If I want to develop this island, then they might come in handy for some things. There are some that take slimes as their familiar to help out with transportation as well.
“Hmm, very well…..Let’s recruit the slimes here into our group.”
When I nodded, the slime was covered in a bright light.
Just as with Elyc, its appearance and voice did not change. Let’s call it Eleanor for now.
“Good, looking forward to working together after this. Sorry about asking this right away, but would you go around and ask the other slimes if they want to become one of us?”
Hearing what I said Eleanor jumped once, then quickly hopped outside the great hall.
“Pfuuh….Elysia, excellent work. You did well holding out against a suit of armor and sword made of magical metal.”
“It’s thanks to your magic, Alec-sama. Nonetheless, it was quite a sturdy armor.”
I did not notice it, but Elysia’s sword made contact with the armor a few times it seems.
Faint scratches could be seen on the armor.
“It’s a suit of armor made of magical metal. It’s all but impervious against normal steel swords, so……Elysia is really amazing.”
Able to scratch it like that is kind of a big deal by itself.
“Nonetheless, this is an amazing find.”
A single suit of armor and sword made of magical metal are easily worth enough to buy a mansion within the capital, with a garden attached, where a lower ranked noble might live.
We could use them ourselves, or melt them down once and make something else out of the metal. Or perhaps we could make some magic tools out of it too.
We could sell it or use it. It’s hard to decide with a find like this.
“We should think some more on how to use it later…..Let’s pick up its torso as well and continue exploring this building.”
With that in mind, I reached out towards the armor.
“!? ──Uwaaaaaah!?”
Without thinking, I responded to the scream emanating from the armor with one of my own.
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Thanks for the chapter!
I still haven’t given up hope. Acquiring a territory could be a turning point.