In the woods near the road. Under the moon peeking through the clouds, people in robes surrounded the summoning magic circle in a slightly open space, humming incantations.



　It's so weird!



　I wondered if my father had ordered them to do something for my safety, but I had never seen these people in the castle before, and they were too dangerous.

　I was watching them from behind the leaves of the grass, when I decided to call out to them.



"Excuse me. What are you doing?



　Everyone was understandably startled by the sudden appearance of the black-clad prowler. The voice is made to sound like an electronic voice so as not to give away the identity of the person.



"Who are you?



"Oh, I'm just passing by, I'm not suspicious. I'm just passing by, I'm not suspicious.



　As a mysterious hero of justice, you may run into soldiers guarding the territory. At first they were very wary of me, but now they are friendly and cooperative.

　He is also known to the people as the Black Warrior.

　Even my father doesn't know who the Black Warrior is, but he tolerates him.



　But...



"You're one of them!"



　They don't know who I am. And they don't even know who I am,



　Bang, bang," came a sound right next to us.



　I looked to see one of the robed men pointing one hand at me. Did he shoot magic?



"What?　How did you prevent my magic now?"



　There's a defensive ward covering me. I'm afraid of being suddenly attacked by a demon.



What are you doing?　Get rid of him!　Don't let them get away!"



　A man who looked like the leader yelled. They're all dressed the same, so it's hard to tell them apart.



　But, okay. You're going to take care of them whether they're there or not?



　The people surrounding the magic circle all pointed their hands at me at once. They're saying a different spell than they did before.



"Gya!" Gwah!""" Gosh! "GGGH!" and so on.



　Everyone is blown away before they can unleash their magic. You're late. I hit the invisible block ward first.



Did you do that?　d*mn it, I'm going to have to go to ......."



　Uncle Robe, who seemed to be the leader, put his hand on the ground. He mumbles something, and the magic circle shines brightly.



"Come on, Night Skeleton!



　The magic circle glows even more.

　Then, out of the light, many extremely pale and skinny people appeared with a clatter.



　Correction--bones.

　They are white because they are bones, and they are skinny because they have no flesh. They looked like skeletal specimens, wearing armor and carrying swords, shields, spears, and bows.

　There were more than fifty of them.



"Kill him!



　Uncle Loeb shouted, and the skeleton soldiers at his side clicked their teeth and raised their swords,



　Zzzzz." Aaah!"



　I cut down your uncle, didn't I?



"What are you doing?　It wasn't me. It's him, kill him!"



　But the skeleton grits his teeth and angrily slashes at his uncle. It's all a bit contrived.



　The uncle makes a small magic circle in front of him to prevent it. Someone else comes by and casts a healing spell on his wound.



　The crowd of bone and bone is in a frenzy of excitement. They all attack the robed men.



Stop it, or I won't!　I'm not sure I understand. ......,why?　Why don't you follow orders?　Did you fail to summon them?"



　Uh, yeah. Maybe it's my fault.



　When the magic circle lit up, I put some kind of stakes in the ground. I was just trying to get in the way, but I didn't know it would end up like this.



　It's starting to look like a melee.

　But those skeleton soldiers are strong. They form a small team, checking each other with bows and spears, while swordsmen attack on the flanks. Shield holders block their opponents' attacking magic.

　The small teams work well together, and to be frank, it's a one-sided battle.



　What should I do in this situation?



　As I was thinking, my eyes met those of a skeleton soldier with a bow. No, I don't have eyes on him.

　I brace myself, but the skeleton grinds his teeth and fires an arrow at the robed man who is about to fire a spell in the distance.



　Huh?　He didn't attack me, did he?　I guess I'm not recognized as an enemy because I'm standing there in a daze?　Or some kind of glitch that carries out orders in reverse?






"No, Captain. We cannot stand against that many night skeletons.



　In fact, with half of them down, it's only a matter of time before we're all wiped out.

　But we can't let that happen.

　We need to hear what Loeb and his men have to say about who they are and what they want.



"I'd rather not kill you if I can help it. ......"



　Poof.

　The Bone and Bone Army stopped moving.



　Click, click, click, click!



　Teeth clattering in unison. It's so loud.



　And then they attacked Loeb and the others again, ...... but without killing them. He didn't slash them with his sword, he hit them. They turned their spears upside down and stabbed at them with the bladeless end. The bows were clearly aimed at the legs.



　Could this be .......



"Let's hear the battle cry! Let's hear the teeth!"



　Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock!



　Sorry to make you do this, but it's so loud!



　I knew it. I knew it. The Bone and Bone Army will follow my orders.



　But I didn't order them to attack Agent Loeb and the others.　I wonder if he got mad at me because I tried to kill him.　So, you identified the people dressed like your uncle as your enemies.

　Makes sense.



　But why are you obeying my orders?

　Because I cast my wards on the magic circle for summoning.

　Yeah, I don't get the logic of it at all.



d*mn you!

"Ta, Captain!　Where are you going?



　The uncle called "captain" (the first one who was cut down) ran away at a trot. He disappears into the forest at great speed.

　The rest of them followed him and ran away,



"BUUGH!"

"What, a transparent wall?"

This one's no good either!



　Sorry, but you (・・・・) won't get away. We've got you trapped with invisibility wards on the ground and on top.



"Well, you'd better catch those people."



　With a clickety-clack reply, the Bone and Bone Army began to chase after the robed men with even more vigor....



　



　I leave the scene and come out onto the street.

　In front of me floats a sort of translucent screen, showing a map of the area. On the map, red marks were moving.



"So they're not running on the road, they're going over the road and heading deep into the forest."



　The captain, who was the first to flee, had a tracking ward secretly attached to him.



　There was no sign of a meal or a tent for sleeping in that place where the magic circle was located. That's why I thought they had a base elsewhere.



　So I let the captain go on purpose and planned to ask him to show me the way.



　The red mark stopped.

　It looks like another open area in the woods.



　I erase the map and make a new boundary. It's an arrow-shaped warding that "connects" with the tracking warding I put on the uncle.

　The arrow quivers and points right at the direction to my right. The uncle who ran away is up ahead.



　

　--So...



　

　As it turns out, it's not a base.

　There was a summoning magic circle there, too, and a stone giant was waiting for us. But when I cast wards on the magic circle, they obeyed my orders after all. I didn't mean to, but it seems that I can take away their command. That's strange.

　Well, it made capturing him a lot easier.



　So, let's get on with the interrogation...