When I reached the house, I should say that the first guest was already there.

　She has the face of a woman, but her body has the appearance of a monster that is far from human. Purple wings sprout from her back, and the fingers on her hands are sharp claws reminiscent of a dragon. Its body is covered with scales like a snake, and its feet are like a hawk.
　Golden beast hair sprouts from its limbs, and the tips of its miserable hairs are occasionally rustled by the wind.

　I have heard of such a monster in the lore.

　It was called.

　--The flute of Philimina.

　It is said that anyone who hears its voice cannot lose consciousness, even if their body dies. Thus, while their consciousness is still clear, they will dismantle their bodies in front of their eyes and thoroughly despair before killing them. This is the kind of demon tribe that is talked about in the lore.

　That's right, they are demons. There was the one called 'Seal Designated Individual' there, which creates demons.

　The magic power that covers its body can now be described as violent.

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea to compare it to the monster that I was dealing with earlier on, but it's a miserable mass of magical power that surrounds the monster's entire body.

　A shiver runs down my spine. I noticed my knees began to tremble and I slammed my fist into them.

　I can't be afraid. Because Philimina's flute - it had attacked my house.

　No, I wouldn't be able to call it home any longer.

　Most of what used to be a house has been destroyed, only the closet is now bare.

　And now, again, Philimina was slamming that 'closet' with an excessive amount of aggression.

　Punching and kicking were the norm. Flame, water, lightning, and sometimes even an axe made of earth would strike it.

　The vibrations, the sheer magnitude of it, were too caustic to be expressed in words alone. The closet, which was supposed to be under a protective sorcery, creaked occasionally in the storm of attacks that seemed to strike the concept of violence as it was.

　The screams coming from inside could be my mother's. Each time a cry that seems to belong to Sierra sounds, Philimina's flute twists her lips in lecherous amusement. It's a beautiful woman's face, yet it has a devilish look to all intents and purposes.

　It's a good thing that the walls of the closet are still undamaged by the magic I gave them. However, if you focus your attention, it was clear that the golden aura that enveloped the closet was slowly but surely being chipped away.

　........And yet, what an absurdity that I hadn't noticed such a large mass of magic power until now. Or is it that magic power also has a means of concealment?

.....

　My doubts are endless, but unexpectedly, Filimina's whistle shoots a long-range attack towards me as I'm thinking about such things.

''Disable it.''

　I also counter with magic. The nullified black lightning strike fades and dissipates.

　But just nullifying the current attack seems to have consumed quite a bit of magical power. I'm losing strength in my legs, and I almost kneel on the ground.

　.........In other words, that's how much highly concentrated magic power was put into the current attack? In my current state, it might be a little tough to take out an opponent.

''Hou. It's a good thing that the sorcerer's temperament is such a hindrance to the sacrifice of the body's resurrection.

　Philimina's flute spoke condescendingly to me. That tone of voice was filled with arrogance, even with this, and gave a hint of pride.

It's a good thing that you have the magic power to match your stature. In other words, you've taken a liking to the reconnaissance I've given you,

Scouting...?

You don't remember the boar and the bird?

That's not possible.

Yes. That's right, you killed my little, sweet little pawn. I didn't expect to find a sorcerer in the middle of nowhere but I'm guessing that you were responsible for that ridiculously strong box, too.　It's a tedious imitation.

　I had an idea of the boar and the bird that Philimina's flute was talking about. The boar is that big monster that appeared when I went to the forest with my dad. The bird must be that guy who took the ball away when he was playing with Meir and his friends.

　.........I didn't think it was that it hadn't appeared near the village by accident, but rather that it was scouting for an attack. It was as if I had never imagined it.

　In order to prevent them from realizing that kind of inner feelings, I tried to put a wry smile on my mouth. It's not a good idea to let your opponent see you upset. I can't believe that we can win by letting our guard down.

'Oh. You're right. If it was your men, I would kill you.

Of course. Well, that's just as well, isn't it? I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

　You'll be able to see that it's a very good idea to have a good time. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who are interested in this kind of thing.

　He's not someone I can ever forgive. An instinctive sense of disgust began to well up in me, and I said to him as if to spit it out.

I know you're a designated sealer. So I'm going to seal you up in here again.

'That's a problem. I'm bored out of my mind when I'm sealed up. I'm looking for something more fun to do. You don't want to be boring, do you?　.... and yet...

　Philimina's beautiful willow brow twisted in disgust at her expression, and she spread her hands in an exaggerated gesture.

'Those days of pleasure you are trying to take away from me. I'm in the middle of another meal to revive it, and you show up and water it down. Oh, man!　Do you think this kind of brutality should be allowed to stand?　I just want to see. The human despair. The look of fear in their eyes as they mourn. And then, oh!　It's only there to amuse me, so why do you guys stand in my way?　It's annoying, to say the least.

　His theatrical, exaggeratedly worded phrases seem to suggest that he is selfishly absorbed in himself.

　It's as if he's so focused on his own personal pleasure that he can't see anything else....

　The sheer outrageousness of it all made me want to vomit. And at the same time I realized. I can't ever admit that this guy exists.

"That's the most selfish of reasons. It's annoying, to say the least. Why don't you just go back to your nest?

I'm a demon, and I don't think I'm in the least bit conscientious of my manners to give orders to me. Well, with a magical power like yours, you'd make a great sacrifice for the resurrection. You're going to stay in my belly!

　As soon as Philimina's flute shouted that, the magic she wears blows loudly. The pressure from that magical power is unconsciously pressurized, and I involuntarily take a step back.

　The powerful magic swirling around eventually took on a form. I could clearly see the convergence of the expanding magic power to form its shape.

　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to get it right.

''Wha.........dragon?

　I was blindsided by surprise. The huge body that looked up completely covered the sky, casting another huge shadow. Its tail is thicker and sturdier than a giant tree, and the claws on its limbs, though huge, are sharp enough to tear the ground apart.
　The spread out wings cause the air to swell and the glowering eyes glistening from on high are filled with the arrogance of an absolute powerhouse.

　The dragon species is considered to be a particularly dangerous demon among adventurers. It is said that even the weakest of dragons are in the upper echelon of the ranks, from the lowest to the highest, and if a fledgling adventurer encounters one, he or she will be burned or torn apart before they can escape.

　In the current state of exhaustion, even if it were me, wouldn't it be hopeless to take on them?

　A chill ran down my neck as sweat ran down my neck. It's no wonder that this is the first time I've encountered an enemy to the point where I feel I'm in danger.

''Hahahahaha!　What do you think, young wizard!　I used all the magic I have now to create a dragon!　With my body, I can't make you hear me sing, but I've got enough in my body to teriyaki you good!

　The demon dragon's forehead, just the upper half of its body from between its two eyes and laughing loudly, is Philimina's flute.

　Apparently, the demon singing voice that represented Philimina's flute was not available to her now. Even so, this dragon was troublesome enough.

　Flapping its wings, the dragon flapped its wings and lightly hovered in the air with its blunt-looking body. And so, the dragon flew higher and opened its mouth wide and showered me with flames from above.

　 It was possible to avoid it, but it was clear that everyone would be burned to death if that happened.

　I whip my tired body and speak the spell as I try to muster up the energy that seems to be atrophied.



　I scraped the remaining magic power from my entire body and kneaded it into a magical language. A wall of water blocked the path of the flames, catching them as they evaporated.

　A loud sizzling sound echoed through the air, but I managed to hold off the attack, but most of my magic power was taken away just by holding off the current blow. If the same attack is unleashed again, I don't think I can stop it this time.

　It may be a reaction to all the magical power being drained at once, but that's when I finally kneel down. I managed to lift my head, but my whole body felt sluggish.

''What's the matter?''　You can't even stand up anymore, human. I would have liked to play with you some more, but for me!

　Philimina's whistle laughs loudly. I tried to retort, but to my chagrin, it was a figurehead. I no longer had the strength left in me to stand up.

　If I only had the willpower and awareness, I could shake it off as much as I wanted. But there's nothing you can do about the magical and physical energy you've exhausted. There was no time to wait for them to recover.

　In all likelihood, it was clear that the situation was nothing but the worst.

Geez.....

　At least if I had a little more magic left in me, I could fight.

　I have to do something about it, but maybe it's because I'm too tired to think well. The only thing I could do right now was to stay on my knees and look up at Philimina's flute and dragon.

　But still.

　I want to protect my village. I can't just let my family, my father, my mother, my mother, Sierra I can't just let them die.

　I'm the only person in this place who can do something about it. No one else can fight off Phillimina's whistle and protect us all.

　If it was my dad, he wouldn't give up. He's weak and pathetic, but he has the strength to stand up to the strongest of them all.

　If it was my mom, she wouldn't accept it. You can bet she wouldn't give up hope until the very end. She would rather hug you both together than let go of me and Sierra's hand.

　I'm the child of two people like that, and now I'm going to admit defeat?　You're just gonna let us all die?　And then you'll give up everything?

Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit.

　I don't think that's going to be acceptable!

Hmm. It's not worth the trouble.

I don't know!

　Screw the fatigue with willpower. Even if it's useless, I force myself to scratch my feet.

　My consciousness was sharpened. I could now clearly sense even the tiny amount of magical power in the air floating around me.

　Maybe it's called the zone. I've heard about it in a past life. When an athlete reaches the peak of concentration, he or she is in a situation where everything is right in front of them.

　That's exactly what happened to me. I recognized the magical power around me, took it in through my skin and the air, transformed it in my mind, and put it into a spell. By doing this, it's as if I've obtained a virtually inexhaustible supply of magical power to utilize the magical power around me, rather than compensate for my depleted magical power.

　Who said that almost all of the magic power was depleted?

　Who says you've exhausted your strength to the point where you can't stand up anymore?

　Who's going to leave you all behind?

　And who--

I think we've had enough. You fought well for a human. Well, I'll give you credit. So give it up.

'Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

　Who's going to give up on you?

　The dragon, controlled by Philimina's flute, spits out the red lotus flames again. The flames, much, much stronger and bigger than before, loomed in front of him.

　The air was burning hot. The scorching fire is so hot that it could turn the village itself into ashes.

　But we shouldn't be afraid of this thing. We can't get flustered. It's outrageous to stand still and not be able to do your best.

　Because I am.

"I'm... I'm your son, Gerald!

　How could those two children be so easily despairing?

　The flame had already been erased from my consciousness. Rather, I extended my awareness to my surroundings and took in the magic power that was in place, rooting it out.

　In this way, the magic power that I had put under my control was transformed in my body and focused on my throat area.

''Extinguish the dragon's spitting fire!''

　When enough magic power had accumulated, he cast a spell. Then, with a single word, the dragon's flames instantly dissipated.

　Filimina's flute expression is tinted with astonishment.



"It's the demon nuisance that bothers me. Shut up and go to sleep if you keep talking about things you don't like.

Don't push it, human!　I've killed as many sorcerers as I could in the course of so long as I could who could harness magic!

　It was Philimina's whistle that rang out, but impatience was evident in her tone. That would be natural, too. Earlier this guy said it himself. He used all his magical power to create a dragon.

　If that's the case, defeating the dragon would be enough to defeat Philimina's flute. And now that I'm able to use the magical power floating around, that's an easy job for me.

　I'm going to focus my attention again and let the magic power enter my body. I already knew the words for defeating it.

''Transference.''

　Chanting, he moved to the neck area of the demon dragon. I'm sure it's just about the nape of my neck if I were to say human.

　The flute of Philimina, whose upper body was only exposed from her forehead, turned around and opened her eyes as if she sensed my presence. But it's too late.

　You're already a dead end.

'Stop--'

　Philimina's whistle shouts something. But the voice doesn't reach my ears.

　I raise my sword and focus my magic power around my throat.

　A special spell.

''Slaughter Dragon.''

　He chanted and swung his blade diagonally down to slaughter the dragon.

　No response, no response. But my eyes had definitely caught it. The sight of the blade swung out at an angle, drawing a silver flash and separating the thick dragon's head from its body.

　And the neck composed of its magic power disappears while gushing out glittering magic light from the edge, as if it is no longer able to maintain its shape due to being cut off.

　Filimina's flute, which still has its upper body sticking out of its forehead, was staring at me with a terrific look while falling.

You.......you.......you have a humanistic attitude. I'm the only one who's going to eat you. I'm going to bite your delicious, delicious-looking neck. You will rinse my brains, bite my belly, and sink your fangs into my tender innards, and become my strength. Ahahahahahahaha, you will grow up to be a better man. You will be stronger, more powerful, and more satisfying as fodder for me, and when you become the Court's foremost magician you will surely come back to claim me as your own.

　Philimina's whistle gradually turned into particles of light and disappeared. Still, that laughter was the only sound that echoed until the last moment.

　And at the same time, I realized that this guy was coming to attack me again. I knew that this guy was coming to attack me again. Filimina's whistle appearing at that time must be many times stronger than today's.

''........Transition.

　I cast a spell and landed on the ground and looked up at the sky where both the dragon and Philimina's flute had completely disappeared. I managed to survive this time, but if there was another attack of the Philimina flute in the not too distant future, whether or not I would be able to repel it again... I wasn't sure.

'I have to be strong, I have to be strong. Even stronger than now.....

　I voice my strong determination. I must be lacking in knowledge and experience to fight the whistle of Philimina in its true form right now.

　But for today, the danger of attacking the village has passed. There is no sign of the demon, nor is there any sign of Philimina's flute.

　A strong sense of exhaustion is gnawing at me, but I still think about it.

　I've been able to protect my family and the people of the village, I thought.