6-year-old Wise Man Wants to Walk in the Shade

Chapter 16 - "Strengthening: Princess Clarice"

The footsteps were approaching with incredible force.

There was no time to use detection magic to investigate.

"Eddie-sama, get behind me!"

On the surface, I was being protected by the princess, but I subtly prepared myself.

In the worst case scenario, I was ready to activate magic at any moment.

Immediately afterwards, the source of the sound appeared from beyond the trees.

"======================" (Huh? Why are there humans in a place like this?)

The words they were speaking were those of the dragon race.

I could understand them.

But the princesses probably wouldn't understand.

"Hii...! A-dragon race...!?"

The guards trembled in fear at the sight of the demons looking down on them from their horses.

There were about ten enemies.

All of them were on horseback, and they surrounded us with practiced control of the reins.

"Princess, please stand back!"

"No, I'll fight too!"

The guards and the princess formed a circular formation to protect me, a child.

We huddled together in one place, our backs pressed together, and readied our weapons.

"===========" (Hey, stop it. Ah, there's no way they'll understand the dragon language.)

One of them snorted and started speaking a different language.

"Hey, is there anyone who understands the official demon language?"

"...Uh... that's it, I'll speak."

The princess responded, and began speaking the official demon language a little haltingly.

But the princesses probably wouldn't understand.

"I'm glad we could communicate."

The dragon man grinned, his face covered in scales down to his chin.

Even though he was a dragon man, his standing posture wasn't all that different from a human's.

They have pointy ears, silver scales that cover their entire body, a height of about two meters, and a tail that looks like it could destroy anything around them with a single swing.

Hmm, quite a difference, isn't it?

But they walk on two legs and can converse in the official demon language.

It's safe to say that there isn't much difference.

--But still, these dragons.

They must be pursuing the werewolves, but they're fully armed.

They're wearing armor over their scales, and a large sword is hanging from their waist.

What was written in that secret letter is finally becoming a reality.

"What are humans doing here? Depending on your answer, I'll kill you."

"Lady Clara, please run away...!"

Clara is the princess's alias.

She'd decided on this beforehand, so that she wouldn't be recognized as the princess in case of an emergency.

"... Calm down. These people are just asking questions."

The princess took a deep breath and spoke very slowly.

"We are soldiers from the country of Maylee. We're here to inspect the border area. We have no intention of engaging in combat.

This is more than just a bit awkward.

It's fine because we understand each other.

The problem right now is the current situation.

Why are demons in human territory?

Entering without permission is strictly forbidden by the alliance.

The princess probably wants to pursue this issue, but she probably knows that in this situation, it would be a bad idea to anger them in a clumsy way.

For now, I just calmly explained that we had no hostility towards them.

But the dragon people still seemed suspicious.

I think I need to push back a bit.

When I saw the right time, I spoke up.

"Sis, it's scary...! Didn't you just come here for a walk today...?!"

"...Ah? You've brought a child with you?"

"Hmm... it seems like you really didn't mean to do anything bad. There's even a kid here, so there's no fighting."

The dragon people looked at us appraisingly, but seemed to be convinced.

"Hmm. Anyway, get out of the way, human. We've got business with your pooch."

"It's not a pooch, it's already dead. Call it a rag."

"Hahaha, that's true."

It seems they didn't even look at us from the beginning.

They didn't even try to hide how they looked down on us.

"Come on, come on, run away. If you don't want to get killed."

"H- ... Even though I couldn't understand what she was saying, she probably figured out what she meant by the rough attitude she showed as she pretended to swing her sword.

The dragon people are one of the strongest demon races, and are said to be the end of your enemies.

It's only natural that the guards were so frightened, as they were being glared at by such an opponent.

"Let's go, everyone. Thank you, dragon people."

I nodded at the princess's actions.

That's right. In this situation, the best thing to do was to run away.

It's said that a single dragon person can wipe out an army of humans, and with these numbers there's not much we can do.

No matter what we do from now on, we can't make a decision now.

We have to get through this once and for all.

Just as we were about to mount our horses--

"Hey. This guy, I don't have anything resembling a secret letter anywhere."

"What did you say...?"

The dragon people called out to us.

"Hey. Humans, did you touch this guy's corpse?』

『……Noooo』

『That's weird. I can smell a human. Even if we're not as good as you dogs, our noses are still a lot better than you humans.』

『……I just went near him to see if he was alive or dead.』

『Did you take anything from his pocket? Maybe a letter, for example.』

The dragonmen got off their horses and approached us.

One of the guards began to tremble.

It was him who had the secret letter.

『Hey you guys. All of you, take your clothes off and check.』

『……Huh. Wait a minute!!』

Princess Clarice, with a pale face, glared back at the dragonmen desperately.

『We are proper knights of the royal army! Don't be so rude.』

『Ah? Rude? "

"Buhaha, did you hear that?! Humans like you tell us to follow etiquette!!"

"I see, I see. Well then, I'll do as you say."

The leader of the dragon people stretched out his arm with a mocking smile.

His thick finger pointed to Princess Clarice.

"Was it ladies first? Woman, I'll check with you first."

"We're polite gentlemen, after all."

Moving their arms obscenely, the dragon people approached the princess.

It was obvious what they were trying to do.

"Lady Clara!! Run away!!"

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

I thought we could settle this peacefully, but this isn't going well.

This is the situation.

It's difficult to escape now.

The only one who can fight is...

The guards are trying to protect the princess, but it doesn't look like they're able to fight properly.

Princess Clarice was the only one who trembled but kept her lips together and had not lost her fighting spirit.

"Lord Eddie, run away..."

"Hey, princess. How confident are you in your sword skills?"

"Eh?"

Surprised, the princess turned to me, looking as if she wanted to say something, but answered my question instead.

I guess she could sense the seriousness in my voice.

I don't want to let go of the life I'd earned by reincarnation here.

That's why I want the princess to get out of this predicament no matter what.

"I may be a woman, but my sword skills are second to none. Even my father acknowledged that much. But I've only ever been undefeated when it came to fighting humans..."

"If you have the skills that the king acknowledges, then that's enough."

I approached the princess and whispered something.

"I'll cover you with magic, so you princess fight him with your sword."

"Eddie-sama, but..."

"It's okay. I won't let you die. Trust me."

"But then, Eddie-sama doesn't want anyone to notice his power..."

"Ah... well, I suppose so."

Sigh.

Even at a time like this, she's still trying to keep her promise to me.

Even though she was shaking and turning blue, the princess still tried to fight on her own without relying on my magic.

I really thought she was a nice person.

"Thank you for worrying about me, princess. I'm fine. In return, I'll put your guards to sleep."

Actually, it would be quicker if sleep magic worked on dragon people too.

But I knew that these kinds of status abnormality magic rarely work on demons.

I didn't have enough MP to test fire right now.

"Let's fight together, Princess and I."

"...!...Okay. I'll wield my sword for you!"

"To do that, can you show me a little bit of what it's like to fight alone first?"

"Hey. How long are you going to keep whispering? Come over here..."

The dragon men stopped in their tracks as a human fell to the ground with a thud.

Seeing our guards falling one by one due to sleep magic, the dragon men tilted their heads in confusion.

"What?"

"...Let's go, Eddie-sama!"

The princess readied her sword, kicked the ground, and lightly charged into the dragon men.

Wow, that's fast!

The princess's sword stroke was light, and I was genuinely surprised.

"Waah!"

"Hmph... just a human!"

The dragon man drew his great sword and swung it down at the princess.

A heavy blow cuts through the air as it attacks the princess.

The princess swiftly dodges it, jumping backwards and slashing her slender sword at the dragon man who has now taken the opportunity.

The princess's movements are overwhelmingly faster.

However――

"What's that? It's just ticklish."

"No, that's not right..."

"Next up!"

The dragon man attacks the princess with his armored hand, swinging his arm down.

"...Ahh!?"

The princess is blown backwards by the powerful blow.

She manages to deflect the blow, but slides across the ground and slams her body into a tree trunk.

"Ugh...!"

"Princess, are you okay?"

I rush over to her and look into her face.

Blood is oozing from her cut lip, looking painful.

"I'm sorry, Eddie-sama...! I was no match for you..."

The princess was breathing heavily and frowned in frustration.

I shook my head and gently touched her arm.

She hadn't been killed in an instant by that dragon man.

That alone was quite impressive.

She had indeed faced off against the Orc Kings alone until the very end.

"I'm sorry, Princess. Do you think you can try one more time?"

"Yes, there's no problem...!"

"I've pretty much figured out your movements. From here on, I'll coordinate with you."

"What... that's all...!?"

"Yes. Trust me."

"Yes!"

Supporting a swordsman with magic is a very common fighting method.

After all, that's what people form parties for.

But what I was trying to try this time wasn't a simple coordination.

I didn't want these dragon men to know that I could use magic.

In that case, I would need to make it look like the princess was fighting alone.

I had never tried this method in my previous life, though.

I was convinced that it was technically and theoretically foolproof.

The reason I had never used it was simply because it was my first time forming a party with someone.

I knew that if the opportunity arose, I could always put it to use.

"Here I go -- haaaah!"

As the Princess kicked the ground again, I chanted a fire spell in my mouth.

However, I didn't activate it right away.

I sent magical power from my right hand to the ground, and from there I made it wrap around the Princess' sword.

It was as if vines were wrapping around the blade.

An invisible aura was enveloping the Princess' sword.

Up to this point, everything was going according to plan.

I was activating the magic from a long distance, not from my own body.

It required considerable control skills, but that was something I was very good at in my previous life.

I could tell that feeling hadn't faded away even now.

"Princess! Attack!"

"Y-Yes!"

With my signal, the Princess swept her sword away.

In time with that, I activated the magic.

At that moment.

The blade of the sword in the Princess's hand glowed red, and a powerful flame spewed out.

The dragon men's eyes widen at the burning sword.

"Hey, what's that!?"

"This is dangerous! Hey, run..."

"Princess, don't hit the dragon men with your sword, blow them away with the hot air! Sweep them with all your might!"

"Yes! -- Yaaah!"

A whirlpool of hot air spun from the blade, and with just one cry from the princess and a swing of the sword, blew away all the dragon men.

"Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

Iron armor is heat-transmitting.

The dragon men wearing it must have suffered considerable damage.

Although they weren't dead, they fell to the ground and couldn't get up.

Dragon men are weak to heat.

It doesn't matter how hard their scales are.

"Th-This is..."

The princess stood there in shock at the blow she had unleashed.

"Wow, you're very strong, Princess!"

I turned to the Princess, who was blinking repeatedly in shock, and gave her a smile.

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