Hmm. Well, good luck with that.

　The wizard girl stared at the demon and smiled wryly.

　--There was only one skeleton.

(And this guy........one hand.)

　The old armor-clad human bone was holding a sword in his right hand, but his left arm was not at the base. Could it be that he had lost it in the fight against Asbell-san and the others?

We don't need to use magic to get one. --Merle, can you handle it?
Yes.

　I stand in front of the two girls with my 'Fang of Marl' at the ready.

　Soltis is staring at my back, confidently, and Ryuta-san is staring at my back, anxious.

　Kotsun.

　The skeletons slowly approach, their bony feet clanking.

　No more 'pressure' than a hobgoblin.
　I don't think it's that strong.

　--Okay, I'll decide on it all at once.

　I thought, and held my posture low, like a beast just before I pounced on it.
　And then.

(...Huh?)

　I think it's very, very important.

"Hey, Solstice?
Hmm?
How do you think a skeleton can be made to bleed to death?
...Yes?

　Solstice's good looks were pockmarked.

　Skeletons are bones.
　Only bones.

　They don't bleed or bleed like goblins.
　Its body is made up of nothing but hard bones.

　In other words.

(...my 'caressing sword' doesn't work?)

　This is a problem.

　Oh, this is embarrassing.
　A cold sweat trickles down my cheeks.

"...Hey Merle?　.........you're going to betray me, who I trusted, right away.......?
..........

　The two girls' cold gazes stab me in the back.
　'No, no, it's okay.

'Hey, I'll take care of it!

　I answered desperately, and boldly attacked the skeleton.

　Yurari.

...!

　Skelton held up his sword.

　The moment I saw it, a shiver ran down my spine.

　-- It was beautiful.

　The skeleton's sword is thrust out at me as I understand its meaning.
　I, too, attack with the Fang of Marl.

　Gein, Gigiin.

　Sparks flew in the dark ruins.

(Fast........!)

　The skeleton's sword attacks me in succession.

　Huh Garrit, giggin, bakin.

Using the 'White Silver Armor' and 'Marl's Fangs', he flicked them back and pulled backwards once.

　With a distance of three meters, they will face each other.

　I thought to myself, as I kept my breath.

(..........you're kidding, right?)

　This skeleton, this skeleton is incredibly strong.

　Compared to the heavy blows of the hobgoblins, the attacks of the skeleton are very light. Even I, as a child, am at a level where I can adequately strike each other.

　But that sword had a 'technique'.　

　The skeleton in front of me is in the form of a soldier equipped with armor and a sword.

(.........Perhaps he learned sword skills before he was born?

　I thought so.

　Not as much as Mr. Kilt, of course.

　But there's not much of a gap.

　On top of that, the trickiest part was that the movement was incredibly 'fast'.

(Because there's no extra heavy meat, I guess?)　

　The sword speed is outrageous.

　In the slash earlier, I couldn't go faster than the speed of my sword. ...while this one is a light dagger.

　And one more thing.

　Earlier, I was able to get a single stroke of the "caressing sword" into my leg bone. But as I thought, it only left a small wound.

Well that's a bad match.

　I beat the hobgoblin.
　But if that hobgoblin fought this skeleton, I think the hobgoblin would crush his bones with his mighty sword and win.

　And, on the contrary, the skeleton will be able to defeat me........

'........it's like rock-paper-scissors.

　I keep my mind on the sarcasm.

　An angry girl's voice comes from behind me.

'Hey, Merle!　Really, what are you doing, get your shit together!
..........

　No, I'm doing it, okay?

　But yes.
　I have two little girls behind me to protect.

(Don't whine about it. I can't, but I have to... right?

　I plunge in again.

　Skelton readies his sword.

　Huh? Geez.

　The sound of sword blows pops out, and between me and the skeleton, fierce sparks fly.

(If a blade can't do it, how about a peak!)

　He spins the dagger around and switches the sword quality from 'cut' to 'strike'.

　Gah! Gah!

　He popped the skeleton sword and struck the rattling ribs.
　But it didn't even crack.

(No!)

　The only thing Kirt-san showed me was the movement of the 'caressing sword'.
The movement of the 'striking sword' is unintelligible.

　Moreover, if you change the quality of the sword poorly, the entire movement, including evasion, becomes hilarious.

　I quickly turned the dagger back around.

　Geez, geez, geez.

Phew!

　We struggled to strike each other while disturbing our breathing.

'Skill' and 'speed' - fighting with these two weapons was the same for me and Skeleton.

　Don't lose, Marle!

　Inspiring himself, he waved his dagger at the skeleton.

　Gyn.

　The blades collided with sparks, and they became a battle of wits.

''!''

　In a moment, I tilted The Fangs of Marl at an angle and moved one step to the side.

　Clank!

　The skeleton loses its balance and is pinned forward.

　--a move that the Golden Mark demon hunter Kilt Amandes did against the Red Fang Dragon and the man-eating demon (Ogre).

(Now!)

　I held the Fang of Marl at the top level - and dropped it.

　Gahhhh.

　The swinging blade cuts off the neck of the defenseless skeleton from behind.

　Gein.

　The skull falls to the floor and the helmet he was wearing rolls off.

(--Yay.)

　That was the moment I thought that.
　The headless skeleton swung its sword at me, who stopped.

(Huh?)

　Yuck!
　It appears to be in slow motion as the skeleton's sword closes in on my neck, where my reaction is delayed.

　-- unavoidable.

　Just when I thought that, a single butterfly made of flames snapped to rest on the skeleton's chest.

　Dpaaaan.

(!)

　The flaming butterflies exploded and I was blown away and hit the wall from my back.

''................Kahaha.

　The impact made me choke.

　The skeleton that had nearly killed me had, of course, been torn apart by the explosion.
　Countless white bones were scattered on the floor.

　There was no longer any sign of movement.

　Checking this, I look around.

　At the end of the corridor, next to the surprised Ryuta-san, there was a beautiful young girl, a wizard, pointing a large staff of glowing red magic stone at me.

''Merle's useless.''

　A brief word from a flushed Solstice.

　And then, when he finally got the nerve to finish me off.

"...I'm sorry, Solstice.

　But thanks.

　I chuckled and sat down on the floor with a henpecked smile.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


Well I was originally going to defeat it with my magic, so it's okay.

　Solstice was still a bit unhappy as she said this.



　As I stand up, I fall back down.

'No, I didn't think you'd move when I dropped my head.
'Of course!　I'm already dead.

　Solstice is surprised.

　Yeah, you're right.
　But I'd forgotten all about that moment.

(How can skeletons move when they don't even have muscles to begin with?)

　That's the question.
　When I asked her about it, the girl who knew things told me in a dumbfounded way.

'The principle is the same as the aura of darkness.
Aura of Darkness?

　Or was that that one from the Red Dragon?

There are a lot of conditions... when you die of hatred and anger and all those strong emotions, sometimes they leave 'negative thoughts' on the body.
"Hmmm?
It's not just a matter of time before you get to know them. --The undead and skeletons are the ones that move with that magic power. The rest is just a dead man's instinct to attack the living.

　Haha, I see.

'Indeed, with the aura of darkness.
Right?　So you'd have to take your whole body apart to bring it down.
Okay.

　So, I guess I'd still rather have a "strike" than a "cut"?



　I think about it for a moment.

"Well, it's true that it's not as powerful as the aura of darkness. But you can't be too careful, can you?
Yes.

　Finally, Solstice concludes with a look at the bones scattered at her feet.

(.........hmm?)

　Suddenly, I realized that Ryuta-san was looking at us suspiciously.

''Hey, you guys.......don't tell me you've ever seen a demon with a dark aura?''
'What?　Oh, yeah.
Yes. Most recently, the Red Dragon.
The Red Fanglong!

　It surprised me tremendously.

(Could it be that auras of darkness are rare?)

　I'm quite familiar with them.

(In the depths of the Great Forest of Aldoria, there were many, many of those purple lights...)

　It was a bit nostalgic.

　Luta, for some reason, rolls her light blue eyes and looks at the two of us younger, as if stunned.

　Solstice puts her hands on her hips and says as she switches.

'So much for the chatter, let's move on, shall we?　It would be awful if Asbell and the rest of them were in the company of the skeleton.

　That's not going to be funny.

　Ruta-san, you look so blue.

　And so we resumed our search for the ruins of Dior.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　It's tapping.

　Our footsteps are echoing inside the ancient ruins.

　I am in the lead.
　Ahead of us, a magical light bird created by Solstice is flying, illuminating our path.

　In the middle is Solstice.
　He's the most valuable asset among the three of us, so he's the least likely to be attacked.

　At the back of the line is Luta-san.
　Use the big elf ears to hear everything behind you. Also, I had them carry a lantern just in case.

(Still, it's a big place...)

　Compared to the above-ground portion of the building, the basement is a much larger structure.
　It's like a pyramid if you were to imagine it.

　This is the first level - the first basement floor.

　As I walked down the corridor, I found an entrance to a room from time to time.

　Inside, it's a living space.
　Broken beds, shelves and desks are scattered about.

　The rooms you find are all of those things.

(Was this the floor where the people of this temple lived?)

　There's a small Buddha statue lying on the floor, decapitated....a bit creepy.

'Asbell and the others, they're gone.
Yes.

　There are traces of battle.
　But there's no sign of them.

　I mean, it's not like there's any sound of fighting on this level or anything.

　Luta-san says, thinking.

''Maybe they were chased by skeletons and escaped to the lower level again...''
Yes.
Yeah.

　Me and Solstice nodded.

　........The worst possibility was not mentioned.

'So which is the staircase that leads to the lower level?'
It's that way.

　We proceeded in the direction Luta had told us to go.

　The stairs to the bottom were easy to find.

(..............It's kind of disgusting.

　It was eerie, as if it was leading to a deeper darkness.

'Let's go,'
Yes.

　By the light of the light bird, we descend the stairs.

　The second level.
　It was a row of dungeons.

　Inside the bars, there were unmoving skeletons lying around with manacles attached.

"..........

　The smell of rot.

　Behind me, Solstice was also frowning.
　Luta-san said.

''They say this is the compartment where they keep the criminals. And there's also a torture chamber at the back.
..........

　I see.
　I have a feeling it's going to be a skeleton of hatred and anger.

Is there any other room on this floor where you could lock yourself in?
That's the library, right over there.

　Luta's slender fingers pointed to the opposite side of the torture room.

'The books in the room were all brought back to the King's Capital by the 'magicians' from the previous search, and although there's nothing in there, the door is sturdy and could be locked.
Okay. Well, let's go for it.

　We nodded and started walking.

　Tapping.....

　Footsteps reflect in the darkness.

(...yeah, there are signs of a fight here too.)

　Bones scattered on the floor.
　New scars on the walls.

　Undoubtedly, Asbell and the others are passing through here.

　And that's when.

　Kin..........gagan.......

　I heard a faint noise.

'What was that?'
It sounds like something hard hitting.
"Ass, Galleon!

　Mr. Luta suddenly ran off and we rushed after him.

　We run down the aisle.
　Turn right, then left, then straight again.

　Eventually, as we turned another corner.

!

　There they were.

　A large number of skeletons gathered in front of the door of one of the rooms at the end of the aisle.
　It's not just 10 or 20 of them.

(Oh, there are definitely more than 50 of them, right?)

　The skeletons clattered and clamored together, thrusting their hand swords at the wooden door, repeatedly and violently.

　Thanks to this, the door is in tatters.
　Through the torn part, I could see the inside of the door. Apparently, they've knocked over several bookshelves to make a barricade.

　In other words, there are people in there.

(Thank God, Asbell-san and the others are still alive!)

　Luta held her mouth and let out an audible, "Oh.

'Solstice,'
'I know. I'll wipe out all those bony people with my magic in a heartbeat.

　Solstice laughing with a huff.

　And - perhaps noticing our presence, the gathered skeletons looked at us in unison.

(Woah!?)

　This is scary.

　Gasp!

　There are about 20 or 30 of them coming at us.

Shit. --Merle!
Yeah!

　I step forward.

"We need 30 seconds to buy ourselves some time!　This time, please do it for me!
Okay.

　He nodded, held up The Fang of Marl and lowered his posture.

(No more mistakes, you can't!)

　I told myself, I kicked the floor and challenged the approaching swarm of skeletons - and I was ready to take on them.