25 Strix Tower (1/2)

Dark Knight Kroki

You had fun last night, didn't you?

That's what he told me at the opening when I left the separate room and went to Gallios' house.

I can't say anything back because I honestly don't remember anything.

What happened last night?

I don't know what Raina's aim is.

Normally, we should be in a situation where we have to get out of here in a hurry.

It was supposed to be .......

...... For some reason it seemed to be okay.

The reason for this is that Rage and the others are not moving against me. Nothing at all.

When I woke up in the morning, I was confused for a long time.

You're going to have to run away immediately, but you've done a good job of cleaning up the room that you've made a mess.

After that, quite some time had passed when I realized that I had to run away.

I looked at the room and it was very clean.

I think I tried too hard to clean it up. I didn't even use fabric softener on the sheets, but they are still fluffy. I really wonder what I'm doing. ......

Even after all this time, they haven't done anything. There was no sign of them coming to raid this room.

Is Raina not going to do something about herself?

Or did Raina not tell Rage about herself?

Or did you tell him but he won't do anything about it because he's so insignificant to Rage that he's insignificant to himself?

The last one seemed particularly likely.

That made me angry, but I didn't know what it was really about.

'Black. What about her?

He must be talking about Raina. Gallios asks with a smirk.

'I'll be gone when that happens ......'

I answer honestly. I'd like to know where Raina is.

Gallios is surprised at his words.

'That's funny, I'm sure he'd notice if someone walked by: ......

Perhaps he left here with the magic of flight.

Did he go to Rage and the others?

Gallios is also tilting his head. But he can't do anything about it because he doesn't know.

”And you, Black. You'd better look in the mirror. You've got a hell of a face.

Gallios says with a laugh.

''?''

Gallios told me to go to the bathroom with the mirror.

The mirror in this world is made of polished metal. It's a little bit of a bad reflection, but I was able to see enough.

There are marks on his face where he was hit. And there were many other red marks.

”What are these marks ......?

But it looks like I'd better wash my face.

I draw water from a jar that holds water and wash my face.

It doesn't come off very well: ......

It may be cursed or something, but the red stuff doesn't fall off easily.

I'm sure it will fall off sooner or later, but maybe it's better to spend today hiding your face.

''Does Gallios-senpai have Kuro-dono?

A loud voice suddenly rang out. It's Lember's voice, what's going on?

I turned toward the living room and saw Lember.

'Senior! Black-dono!　I need your help.

Lember bowed to himself and Gallios.

◆Silone, the maiden of the sword

Unfortunately, it's cloudy today.

Walking outside the city walls didn't look like much fun.

But I don't have the luxury of not having to wear that embarrassing armor all day.

Everyone except me should be looking for a pervert today.

I hope you can find a way to get home: .......

To be honest, I'm not too keen on going home, except for Chiyuki-san.

Reigi-kun, Reno-chan and Nao-chan seem to think they don't need to go home.

Sahoko seems to think that she only needs to stay with Reiji, and Kyouka and Kaya are not enthusiastic about going home, although I don't know about them.

So what about me?

I honestly don't know.

I enjoy being with everyone. So part of me is relieved that I can't go home.

I'm glad to know that I can still be with you guys.

But that doesn't mean I don't want to go back.

It's probably right to go back like Chiyuki-san says, and there are people in the original world that I want to see.

That's why I can't forgive Dihardt, the reason why I can't go home.

I'm very disappointed that I lost to a guy like that.

And maybe I'll have a rematch with that Dihardt.

Before the rematch, I want to move my body a bit.

I want to blow off that hazy feeling, so I go to the tower.

I stand tall and catch my breath.

Someone comes to my side. It's Lember, a knight of this country. He will be my companion today.

'Lady Syllone. We seem to be in order.

I turn around as Lember reports.

There is a group of people in various armed groups near the gate outside the city walls.

They are the people who came to help me from the Rox Kingdom to investigate the tower.

Since I don't have any detection skills, Chiyuki-san requested that the Kingdom of Roxx dispatch personnel.

Of course, the kingdom agreed to send personnel.

Well, it's only natural that they'll be the ones to suffer from Striges.

The number of people dispatched was 12. Since Nao-chan couldn't come, the investigation would have to be covered by numbers.

The problem is that we don't know if we can deal with the demons in the tower.

There are supposed to be demons in the tower, so even if I'm fine, it might be dangerous for them.

I'm not saying that I need to be as strong as Reiji, but I'd like to see him at least have the ability to protect himself.

I know it's a pity to compare myself to the cool and strong Mr. Rage, but I can't help but compare myself to him.

This is a bad habit. I need to get rid of it.

It's like Chiyuki says, we shouldn't look at men in reference to Reigi.

He turns to the members and bows his head slightly.

''Good day to you all.''

Each member bows his or her head when I say hello.

I look at the members.

First of all, the leader of this group, Lember. He comes from a family of knights who have been in the Kingdom of Roxx for generations, and he himself is a knight. As he's engaged to the princess, he's also quite high up in the kingdom.

Next is the de facto leader, Gallios. He seems to be a former knight, but now he's a freedom fighter. Apparently, the fact that he was able to gather so many people on such short notice is largely due to his skill.

And then there's Stol, the ranger. He seems to be the best ranger in the country, teaming up with Gallios to exterminate the monsters of the forest.

Nimli the Magician. He's a wizard in the kingdom of Roxx and is the chief strategist for this group. He's an ordinary ordinary sorcerer with a good appearance.

There are also eight freedom fighters, but it's hard to remember them all. I'll only remember four of the main characters for now.

These twelve, plus myself, make a total of thirteen members of the tower's investigation.

Well then, shall we go, gentlemen?

There's a bit of a murmur as I say it.

'Um, Sir Syrone-sama, may I ask you to go to ......?'

One person comes out. That's Stoll the ranger.

What is it?

'It's more than half a day's journey from here to the tower, do we camp near the tower? I don't have anything prepared for you: ......

Stoll says with concern.

'Oh, that's fine. I'll use my movement magic.'

The members look at each other as I say it.

I'm not as good as Reno, but I can use a bit of wind spirit magic.

There's a magic that uses that wind spirit that allows the person following to move as fast as the person leading the way is going.

If I run at the front of the pack, we should all be at the tower within 30 minutes.

Everyone looks at me when I explain it to them.

But it was too much of a hassle to explain any further.

''Well then, let's go!

Shirone the Maiden of Swords

We arrive at Striges Tower.

'Oh, aren't there a few of them?'

I look behind me and there are fewer of them than when I came at the gates of the city walls.

'It's ...... but apparently it's ...... that has dropped out by the time they get here.

Lember says, exhaling coarsely.

'Oh ...... too much ...... couldn't keep up with ...... speed ...... It looks like .......

I'm discouraged by those words.

I thought I came as slowly as possible, but it was weaker than I expected.

There were four of us who were eliminated.

It looks like we'll have to explore the tower with the four people I remembered, including Lember, plus four freedom fighters and nine people including me, but when I looked at the remaining people, all but one were on all fours and breathing heavily. To be honest, they didn't look useful.

The exception was one of the freedom fighters whose name I couldn't remember. That person seemed unconcerned, though his face was covered by a cloth, and he was caring for Nimri beside him.

He might be useful in this one. I thought I'd ask him for his name again later.

Leaving the care of one of them to take care of me, I approach the tower gate.

'Huh?'

I notice something strange.

'Maybe it's the wards: ......

I feel some kind of magical power that is different from before.

It was like there was a warding that blocked detection.

Chiyuki-san might be able to tell me more about it, but I don't know for sure.

Moreover, I feel that the person who put up the wards has quite a powerful dark power.

''You don't think he's really here?''

If so, it's too easy to understand. But the Striges I had met before had never felt such powerful magic.

''Silone-sama, what do you want me to do?''

Lember comes in, wobbling.

'Of course we'll go. Last time we went in through the air, but today you guys are here, so let's go in the front.

In fact, last time I only entered the Striges' living quarters on the top floor of the tower.

Even with Nao's detection, there was only a hint of undead, and since there were no signs of life, she assumed that she had defeated all of the Striges and left.

Therefore, there should still be traps inside for fighting off the undead and intruders.

However, since we've come to explore, we should explore the part below from the living quarters that we haven't seen yet. Also, since none of the members can fly, I'm going to enter through the front gate.

We don't even know what's in there.

But we'll find out when we get in.

I'll be okay on my own. And if you think it's dangerous, run away immediately.

I say the same thing that Chiyuki said to me. Honestly, I don't want you to die, so don't take it easy.

And we broke into the tower.

◆Kuroki the Dark Knight

It was a very bad situation.

How many times do I have to wonder about that?

Glorious is in that tower.

When Lember came to Gallios' house in such a hurry.

I thought he had found out about me.

However, it seems that this is not the case.

At Lember's request, I went to the house and found Shirone.

I didn't expect to find Cyrone there, but I was glad I kept my face covered to hide the red marks on my face.

And I could tell from Sirone's demeanor that Raina hadn't told Rage and the others anything.

But there was another problem.

If they didn't do something about it, Sirone and Glorious would meet up with each other. If they didn't do something about it, Glorious would be defeated by Shirone.

However, they came to the tower without a good idea.

''Black-dono ...... sorry ......''

Nimli apologizes to himself.

I had pulled Nimli, who was about to drop out when he came to this tower, myself.

Nimli was able to escape, but some of them were left behind in the forest. Hopefully, those who were eliminated will be able to return safely.

Although the forest is defeated, it is not entirely free of demons. There will be danger.

Compared to us, the people of this world are weak, will they be okay?

And even those who have reached this point seem to be unable to move, breathing coarsely.

But Silone quickly headed towards the tower, leaving those who couldn't move.

I wish I could give him a little bit more of a workout, but I don't think that's possible with his personality.

Syrone is hard on men.

To be precise, it's the men who are weaker than me. I had a vague idea of the reason for this, though.

Sirone's family, the Akamine family, had never had a boy.

Akamine's uncle didn't say it in words, but he wanted a boy to take over the dojo.

I think it was evident in his attitude.

I think he knew from a child's heart that a boy was desired. I think he was trying his best not to lose to a man.

This made Shirone far stronger than the men out there. And Sirone came to hate men who were weaker than her.

Girls seemed to be good at being weak, and Sirone would protect those girls from violent men. For this reason, he was very well-liked by his peers.

I think the comics and novels that she liked were all about girls fighting off bad guys.

I remember that she often made me play the role of a villain when I played with Shirone.

I was willing to play a villain because it made Shirohane happy, and Shirohane, the main character, would beat me up.

But it's probably because I was always playing that kind of villain that I couldn't get Cyrone to like me.

But it's only recently that I've realized that.

And in the stories that Shirone liked, there was always a boy who helped a girl fight the bad guys. All of those boys seemed to be similar to Rage.

Maybe that's what Rage was to Shirone.

I guess I'm the villain in contrast. Even now, I'm still sneaking around behind Shirohne's back.

But this time, I couldn't let Shirohne play an active role. I'm not going to let him become a dragon slayer hero.

When I look at them, I see that Renber and Gallios have finally recovered to the point where they can move, and they are following Shirone, starting with those who have recovered.

I'm following them.

What should I do now? I've been thinking about it for a while now.

Dark Knight Kroki.

The Striges are a winged race and therefore do not need an entrance on the first floor.

However, the reason it is there is because the Striges are purposely building it for the Striges to prey on humans.

According to Lember, the nations surrounding the tower, including the Kingdom of Roxx, have formed a strike force to challenge the tower, but no one has ever entered the tower and returned. Perhaps Striges had sucked the blood out of them and they died or were turned into the undead.

Even now, there are many traps and monsters in the tower to catch intruders, and they are said to be dangerous.

But I think it's safe because Shirone and I are here.

''Speaking of which, Kuro-dono, why are you hiding your face?''

Lember asks me where it hurts.

There are many reasons, but the biggest one right now is because I don't want Shirone to find out who I am. But I can't be honest. How will I cover it up?

'Well, well, Lember.'

Gallios laughed and approached and gave Lember an earful.

'I see...is that why? Black-dono does it unexpectedly too.''

Lember says with a little laugh.

'Wha?　What are you talking about?!

I protest to Gallios myself.

The reason for wanting to hide his face seems deceptive, but I'm not convinced. After all, we don't know what happened last night.

'Sorry, sorry. Let's get the hell out of here.

'That's right, Mister Black. We're going to be late for Master Sirone.

They laugh and go on.

I'm not convinced, but I can't make excuses, so I go into the tower.

Inside the tower is wide and dark, and I'm okay with that, but without a light, Gallios and the others won't be able to see anything.

The sorcerer Nimli has been working on a magical light, but it does not seem to illuminate everything in the tower.

I'm not thinking about the pace of my companions in such a dark tower, but I'm going through it all by myself.

”Rembar. It's a good thing that Striges isn't here, but I have a bad feeling about this tower. Is it safe to let that girl go first?

Gallios looks at Silone, who is walking in the lead, and says.

''I don't think we need to worry about that. I heard that Sirone-sama is far stronger than us.''

Cyrone's appearance is that of a dainty girl. From Gallios' point of view, she wouldn't look very strong.

''Sirone-sama, as well as her sword skills, can use spirit magic, healing magic and sunshine magic despite her low rank.

He says he's a magical warrior. Perhaps even if all of us here were to band together, we would be no match for them. Therefore, we must protect ourselves so that we don't have to deal with Shirone-sama.

Rember said and instructed themselves.

'Teacher Nimli, the sorcerer, will use his magic to light up the area, and Stoll, the ranger, will look around for anything suspicious. The rest of you will guard the two of you as we move on.

The front of the pack was Stellos, who was with us the night before last, and he was the last.

Steros was in the lead because he wanted to be in the lead.

It seems that he has impure thoughts about Silone, and he wanted to be at the front of the pack where he could see Silone's back.

Today's equipment is normal, but looking at yesterday's outfit, it's not hard to understand that feeling.

Of course, if they try to do something, I'll do my best to stop them.

When you are walking, Shirone suddenly stops.

'There's something here.'

Stoll, walking second, seems to notice something and points forward.

Gallios and the others may not be able to see it, but he can see something approaching in his own eyes.

It was a zombie. Moreover, it seemed to be human in origin, and it was also armed.

They could be members of a former defeating party. There were about five zombies and they were slowly but surely approaching.

''Sunlight!

When Cyrone shouts, a blinding light floods out of his hands and illuminates the zombies.

It is said that only high-ranking priests can use this sunshine magic.

The zombies melt away in a puff of smoke from the light. A few minutes later, they are gone, leaving only their clothes and armaments behind.

''Wow, it's only a moment.''

Nimli marvels.

The undead are a troublesome opponent to defeat. After all, normal attacks are ineffective.

Also, some of the zombies have left their abilities before they were born. There were signs that the zombies just now were also using swords and shields.

If there was no Syrone and it was just Gallios and the others, they might have struggled.

This may be the difference between having magic that can deal with the undead and not having it.

''Defeating them with magic wouldn't be much fun.

But Cyrone was not happy.

'They're still coming!

Stoll shouts.

Dozens of zombies are approaching us.

We were greeted by a group of so-and-so zombies entering the tower.

But with the magic of sunshine, they could be eradicated in an instant.

However, Silone drew his sword and headed towards the zombie army.

''Eh, sunshine magic!

I let out a confused voice to myself.

'Flame Blade!

Flames cling to Sirone's sword as Sirone shouted.

''Flame slash!''

As it is, he slashes into the zombies.

'Su...... awesome......'

Gallios lets out a surprised voice.

'Nothing but sunlight shouldn't do much for the undead: ......

Nimli also says in a gasp.

It's a very difficult opponent to defeat the undead, as they turn into skeletons when burning zombies, and turn into ghosts when crushing their bones, which are shapeless astral bodies.

In particular, the shapeless astral body cannot be defeated with normal weapons, and you need to use magic swords and other weapons to inflict damage.

The blue shining sword that Sirone has is probably a magical sword. It's not only able to do damage as it is, but it also has the attribute of fire in it, slicing through the flesh and bones of zombies with its astral body.

It's not a bad idea to have a good time, but it's not a good idea to have a good time.

Everyone is astonished at his or her movements.

In the midst of all this, you are the only one to defeat them with your sword. You are the only one who uses a sword to defeat them.

”Well, let's go on and on.

Sirone-sama looked back with a refreshed expression.

We watched that way ourselves with indescribable feelings.

Dark Knight Kuroki

'Korya, that's awesome Lember ....... A brave man's wife is so strong.

Gallios muttered.

Thanks to Silone's help, they could easily come to the middle of the tower.

The undead, as well as the bloodsucking bats and giant spiders, were not Syrone's enemies.

Almost all of the demons before coming here were defeated by Sirone.

Of course, there were traps and such, but Silone managed them with brute force.

If an arrow comes flying at you, it drops before it hits you, if there's a falling hole, it moves in the air before it falls into the hole and escapes, and if the ceiling falls on you, it bounces back with one hand and puts it back on.

Do we honestly need to be ourselves?

''I think it's amazing too. I've seen the power of the brave master before, but I didn't expect his wife to be as good as he was.

Nimli admires it as much as Gallios does.

He could do this much himself. But it seems like a great thing for the two of them.

But still, it's not very interesting that the two of them call Shirone as Rage's wife.

Even in the original world, she was treated as Rage's woman. It doesn't seem like they are treated much differently in this world either.

When I think about it, it becomes ridiculous to protect them.

Should I still go for the dragon's horn?

And it might be a good idea to get a beautiful girl like Raina.

For some reason, when I think of Raina's face, my heart is upset.

I'm wondering about Raina.

What in the world is Raina thinking about?