Kuro no Senki (LN)

January of Empire Calendar 43.

At night, Verna snuck out of the bed of a recruit training center...... barracks.

The barracks are wooden bungalows.

There are no compartments and crude bunk beds are arranged at equal intervals.

Verna glanced at the elf resting peacefully in the next bed.

The Elves, who came from the Marquis of Elakis territory, went through more than three months of basic health enhancement training and became Verna's contemporaries.

Basic reinforcement training is meant to enable you to use them as soldiers.

Still, if they decide they won't use it, they throw it out.

As far as Verna could tell, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the elves were kicked out.

But as soon as the elves held the bow and arrow, they stopped falling zero.

I finally see why elves and half elves become archers.

Even though there are exceptions, elves are racially famous for bows.

Other sub-people also possess racial strengths.

For example, Minotaurs and Lizardmans are tough enough to sneer at.

Verna's attack is not even frightening.

Conversely, the opponent can render Verna incapable of combat with one shot.

The same goes for beasts who are no different in length from humans.

It's not just muscle strength, it's different speed of response.

Verna's attack cuts the sky.

The only decent hit is when you set up the feint.

That doesn't make sense after the second time either.

If Verna uses her head, her opponent grabs her head, too.

I mean, that's the thing.

At the very least, they would be able to fight each other if they had the talent for swordsmanship and martial arts, but they reminded me that I had no talent in the last five months.

Damn it, and Verna grabbed the wooden sword and went outside the quarters.

Not to escape.

To train alone.

At the end of February, we must return to the Marquis of Elakis.

At that time, I'm too sorry to be in the same condition as I was when I left.

Fortunately, the recruit training center has a loose eye for surveillance.

This would be due to the fact that the training center is outside the walls that surround the imperial capital.

You have to go through the castle gate if you're going to escape into the imperial capital, and if you're going to escape to another city, you have to walk quite a distance.

Verna clenches the wooden sword and stands as taught.

Shake the wooden sword carelessly.

I sweat inside waving a wooden sword.

"What are you doing?

Verna was called out and looked back reflexively.

Then there was one young man succumbing.

It's a man in white military uniform, a testament to the Kingsguard knight.

Slightly longer hair is gray and eyes are the same color.

His face is quite neat, but he leaves behind his childhood.

Maybe my age is lower than Verna's.

I'm smiling, but it makes me feel strange and frigid.

"It's swordsmanship training. KUH, HUH, HUH... who are you like that?

"I'm a training center instructor."

"You'll find out soon. Don't throw up lies!

"How did you know it was a lie?

"Clothes, clothes! The white uniform would be a sign of the Kingsguard knight!

Verna shouted at a young man with an unexpected look on his face.

"Well, yeah"

"So, who are you?"

"I'm Ne..."

The young man silenced on the way in and picked his own forehead.

"I'm Gray... is Gray not too twisted? If so, is it easy for Ash? Surnames are Kira, Kiral, Kill, Murder? Oh, I'm Ash Kilmer."

"That's a fake name, I suppose!

"Rude!

That said, young man...... Ash Kilmer got up.

"I've been with Gash, Gash since I was a little girl."

"Don't forget the pseudonym you just named! Ash, right? Ash Kilmer!

"Oh, I was. I'm Ash Kilmer."

Ash bragged proudly.

"So, what's your name?

……

Verna hesitated to name him.

I really didn't want to get involved with this guy.

"It's Verna, Verna"

"Ah! Verna, don't remind me. When I was little, Verna said," Brother Ash, Brother Ash. "

"Don't make it up to my past!

"Huh? Verna, don't you remember me?

Verna was questioned in the face and stuck in words.

As far as I can remember, I'm supposed to meet this guy for the first time...

"Oh, maybe that's what happened"

"No, deny it there. It's our first meeting."

"I knew you were lying!

As Verna slammed her fist into Ash's flank, Ash blew it off as if it had eaten a blow from a large subhuman.

It spinned many times and finally stopped moving.

"You're lying, aren't you?

Verna stared alternately at her fist and Ash.

I'm sure Ash jumped from herself.

Otherwise I can't explain it.

Anyway, I didn't feel like I hit you.

"Well, that's a lie"

When Ash rose to momentum, he approached Verna as if nothing had happened.

"By the way, he said he was training in swordsmanship, but if I were you, I'd talk to him."

"Don't go crazy about something."

Verna scratched her head and decided to tell her how she had been.

Meet Chrono, that one nobleman took him away to the Marquis of Elakis, that he became a maid there.

That noble friends have been made.

That I wanted to be a soldier and be useful to Chrono.

"Okay. In short, you want to be strong."

"Well, yeah."

Verna blurred in her mind that there was a little more to say.

"Mr. Verna, how was the magician?

"Whoa! I've mastered the Demon Bullet System until the ceremony!

"Eh? Is that a demon bullet?

Ash glanced at him and said.

"It was unattributable, you have no choice!

Verna screamed in disgrace.

Demon bullets are inferior sorcery that emit rubble of magic from your fingertips.

I was explained that it was the foundation of all sorcery, but it just seemed like a lot of naming.

Attribute magic is named "X Dance" or "XX Random" in the wind, whereas demon bullets are only increasing in number with X-ray demon bullets, parameter demon bullets, and wanton demon bullets.

Demon bullets have the power to punch holes in thick oak plates more than a dozen meters away.

Two or three Demon Bullets unleash the Demon Bullets thirty times in a row.

The Enchanted Demon Bullet is a magic trick that spreads small pieces of magic debris.

The effective range is extremely short and the further away you go, the less powerful you become.

The wannabe demon bullet is powerful enough to snap the marutai, but it's slow and has a short range anyway.

"I would have liked to have worn more powerful magic."

"There is only a limited amount of magic that can be used for attacks without attributes. You're not going to let the recruits master special magic."

Ash said smudged.

"How about my swordsmanship from you?

"Fair enough."

"Oh, yeah?

Verna scratched her head in the light.

Wait, I think again.

I know my immaturity best.

"Really?

"I hope you didn't die in the first place."

Ash said with eyes that looked away somewhere.

"You can't do it at all!

"Good grades at recruit training centers (here) and military schools don't necessarily make it through in action. They die lightly in the first place."

"Neither body nor lid."

Verna threw up and resumed her bareback.

"Why do you keep swinging?

"It may not make sense, but you have to try."

Oops, and Ash opened her eyes gently.

"With that said, Mr. Verna worked for the Marquis of Elakis, right?

"That's right."

Ash was whining about something with the bumps,

"As long as Mr. Verna is good, I'll give you one, won't I? What, those eyes? I just want to help Mr. Verna."

"I can see the bottom line!

Verna stopped shaking and shouted.

"Well, I'm telling you so you know."

"You don't deny it!

"I wouldn't give you a hand if you didn't have a heart."

"Wow, I'm pissed"

Verna was irritated by Ash's tone.

"So, what's your bottom line and what do you teach me?

"Work patterns, I wanted to be close to Marquis Elakis"

"Oh, you're a Kingsguard knight. You want me to mediate."

"Yes."

Verna was convinced.

I don't know where Ash stands, but I don't know if he wants to sell his face.

"So, what are you telling me?

"If I insist, is it physical? Practice it and show it to me, so shoot me a demon bullet from about ten steps away."

"You don't even know if you're hurt, do you?

Verna distance herself from Ash as she was told.

"Are you sure you're okay?

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Honestly, are you okay? I believed the word" okay "and I shot him, and he died, I don't like it, do I?

"You don't have to worry so much"

"You've decided to. If you're dead and you say it's okay to shoot, no one will believe you. Killing nobles is a sure death sentence."

"The shards aren't worried about me either."

"You bet."

"If you're so worried, why don't you just aim for your feet?

"Oh, you can't die on your feet."

Verna pointed her fingertips at Ash's .

"Demon Bullet!

Magic Ceremony... An unexplained mass of letters flows down from top to bottom of sight, and the rubble of magic releases from Verna's fingertips toward Ash's feet.

Chu, chu! The sound of dripping droplets in a hot frying pan sounds continuously.

That's the sound of magic debris being played.

The rubble of magic was bouncing without touching Ash as if it were held back by an invisible wall.

"What do you say?

"I don't know, it's just awesome."

But I've seen it somewhere - and Verna tilted her inner neck.

"You don't just prevent witchcraft. You'll be able to do many other things."

"Heh, you're gonna tell me that"

"Yeah, if you keep training for five years."

"Five years!

Verna didn't think, she screamed.

"Come on, were you listening to me? I'll be strong by the time I get out of the recruit training center."

"Uh-huh, well, there are ways to get ready to use it?

"That's what it is."

"I don't really recommend it, if Mr. Verna wants it"

Ash walked over to Verna and stopped about a half step away.

And I smashed Verna's forehead with my fingertips.

What the fuck! and the moment Verna opened her mouth to yell, the heat blew out.

The pores in my body are opening and the heat is blowing out of it.

Heat is power.

Strength is increasing.

Compared to this feeling, I have been equal to sleeping.

That? and Verna remembered her glare and knelt on the spot.

The force is rising, but that's just superficial.

Originally, it drips things that shouldn't be dripping.

Such a sense of crisis springs up.

"... what did you do to me?

"Magic is the technology that transforms magic into a physical phenomenon… the power that creatures prepare for at birth"

Ash began his lecture as he circled around Verna.

In the meantime, the spill of power continues.

My body is lazy.

I can't even stand up.

"Earlier it was a wall of magic...... well, that's not the essence of the technology I was trying to teach you just how to use it, but you need to perceive it to manipulate magic. If you don't realize the tools exist, you can't use them."

So Ash laughed nicely.

"I drilled a hole so I could perceive the magic. And then remember how to plug the hole by the time your magic runs out and you die."

"Duh, what are you doing?"

"Come on?"

Ash flaunted his shoulder.

"Oh, come on, say it first."

"I gave you some advice, didn't I? In the first place, it takes just as long to master the technology that others have acquired over five or ten years. If you want to learn that in the short term, you should take the appropriate risks."

"Ku, ha, help..."

Verna stared at Ash and realized the foolishness of asking for help.

Ash remained smiling.

It's not a satisfying grin that your plan went well, or a grin that you like to see others suffer.

It's a masked cropped grin.

Maybe Ash will look for something else if Verna dies.

Without feeling guilty for killing people.

Tiredness had become so strong that it was hard to resist.

Sleepy.

It's a hundred million bucks to be opening your eyes.

The fact that he was drooling had painstakingly connected Verna's consciousness to reality.

What, that? and Verna gazed and looked at Ash.

Something like black and disastrous swirls around Ash.

That must have prevented the demon bullet.

"... k, soh,"

I don't know what else to do if I find out, but I need to push the plug, the force, and stop...

Dark, in the dark.

No, I'm just assuming you're in the dark.

I feel the flow of power with just a little awareness.

Magic is circulating through Verna.

When you turn your consciousness out, you can perceive magic other than yourself.

The magic currents appear disorderly, but when you turn your consciousness further out......

"... you won't be able to go back any further, will you?

Am I right? And Verna opened her eyes.

That was just a thin, dirty room with a bed.

My body is lazy, but it's no big deal compared to my sense of vanity and tiredness then.

Moving only her gaze and looking next door, Ash Kilmer was sitting beside her bed.

"... What is this place?

"Is it good in the infirmary?

Anger came up in the tone of a pungent ash.

"Oh, my God, you lied."

"This is how you live because you've spotted a lie."

Chip, and Verna punched her tongue.

Ash Kilmer said he drilled a hole, but the facts are different.

Ash Kilmer just manipulated the magic flow.

Magic regains its original flow if it is aware of its underlying self.

"What am I wearing? Unlike the engraving technique?

"Mr. Verna is very knowledgeable."

I felt like I saw it somewhere when Ash played the Style Demon Bullet.

That should be it, too.

Because it looked just like the engraving 'place'.

"The art of divinity is the art of empathizing with and drawing strength from the Six-Pillar God, the art of engraving is the same as the Six-Colored Spirit... but it is the art of synchronizing, I guess, with the Six-Pillar God. As a secondary effect, your physical abilities can be enhanced or you can create a" field "with the magic released."

"Engraving is better."

"I guess the people who developed this technology didn't think so."

Ash sat back in the chair.

"So, what were you thinking?

"He tried to transcend the human race."

"It's not stupid."

As Verna threw up, Ash deepened her grin.

"That's a cultural difference there. This technology seems to have come from far east."

"I've never seen a guy who could use it for that?

"Say you didn't mean to spread it, or say the person you turned into a patron was bad"

Ash put his arms together and drooped his head.

"I turned a criminal organization into a patron. I think it was like a caution stick at first..."

"But what is it?

"The group has become an assassination group."

Ha-ha-ha, and Ash laughed.

"It's not every laugh! Beyond humans, you can be careful with sticks, you can use that technology for assassinations, and you can use artifacts!

"Well, it's not like you can live by eating Xia, and it's not like your will will will take over until the next generation."

"Oh, how many decades are we talking about the next generation?

"That's what I mean"

Ash nodded.

In summary, this is the case.

Decades ago, a man came flowing into the Kepheus Empire.

He was hired as a caution stick by a city criminal organization.

The organization favored the man.

Not just because of the arm's length, but because I found the man's knowledge to be beneficial to the organization.

Eventually, the man formed a child with the woman of the organization.

Men and organizations were afraid to cut off technology and knowledge.

The born child aspired to be as tall as the man, but his grandson gave priority to being a member of the organization rather than aspiring to be tall.

From this time on, the organization is not a criminal group, but darkens its colour as an assassination group.

In the name of my great-grandson, the organization changes its name… i.e., "Arm of Death".

His great-grandson, who became the leader of The Arm of Death, efficiently increased the number of assassins.

He bought children at times, grabbed them at times, and sorted out those who were qualified and those who were not.

The method is the same as that of Verna...... I raised only those who survived by scratching the magic currents.

No, maybe it should be called elimination.

Even those who were supposedly educated lost their lives in action.

The 'Arm of Death' will be strengthened and destroyed by the betrayal of one assassin.

It took him ten years to increase his company and flip the anti-flag.

Losing his chief and executive, "The Arm of Death" has been torn apart, and now he says he is uncooperative.

"… back to the first question, this is a technology that creates the world. Of course, in the extreme."

"What can I do now?

"Is it enough to weaken the power of witchcraft or increase your speed of reaction and motor skills?"

"That's all I got when I was dying."

Verna sighed as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Mr. Verna, haven't you forgotten?

"What?

"It's a one-handed promise. I'll give you the next month to tap into the foundation."

Ash laughed nicely.

Verna had a hell of a bad feeling, but all she could do was snort.