Ex Strongest Swordsman Longs For Magic In Different World Chapter 209

About a week had passed since then.

However, Hildegard had yet to get any new information. After all, she never had to fight monsters.

That was why she spontaneously let out a sigh.

"Hmm… this is irritating…" (Hildegard)

No matter how she thought about it, this situation was strange. What was weird was there was no movement in the past week.

The people in all villages around the royal capital had disappeared, and there was no one there. She didn't understand the meaning of this, but in any case, it wasn't unlikely to go back to the royal capital because she had no business over there.

In other words, someone was intentionally causing this situation, so she couldn't help it but to accept the fact. She came out with such a conclusion since nothing happened for a week and nothing could be found.

When Hildegard searched around while holding that thought, what she found was a scene that seemed to be quiet from the beginning. Despite seeing a familiar scene, this time, Hildegard was alone since Lars and Helen were resting.

Nothing had happened, but it was obvious that this was also an anomaly situation. It couldn't be helped to be vigilant naturally, and eventually she would get tired. It was even more so since Lars and Helen were strangely full of vigor.

However, it was hard to notice their weariness because of their vigor. Maybe if Hildegard left it alone, they would keep trying to the point they were about to collapse.

The attitude was good, but it was a problem if they collapsed in the middle of an investigation. For that reason, the two of them were occasionally forced to rest.

And speaking of Lina…

"Hmm… I still can't find anything…" (Lina)

Lina seemed to have returned as she said such a thing. It might be a problem that no one was watching the surroundings even though the two of them were resting. Basically, they were doing it alternately. The watchman was Hidegard, and Lina went to search the surroundings.

But as she could see from Lina's appearance, it seemed that nothing was found this time.

"Well, it couldn't be helped to give up if we find nothing so far. To be honest, I have also given up." (Hildegard)

"…? Then, why are you still investigating?" (Lina)

"Well, we couldn't find anything, but it's almost certain that something will happen. Rather than from the investigation, I got that feeling because of my hunch." (Hildegard)

"I see. Eh? If that's the case, why didn't you say so? Speaking of your hunch, I'm sure that the things to search again will change." (Lina)

"Well, if I say it, those two will work too hard, you know? On the other hand, even if I don't tell you, you will definitely notice it." (Hildegard)

"Should I consider that you trusted me, or you just want to let me do all the decision-making… Well, I feel like I can't say anything…" (Lina)

"You can interpret it the way you like." (Hildegard)

By the way, if Hildegard had to answer, both answers were correct. She fully trusted Lina, and that was why she could leave her to make decisions.

However, if anything, it would be for the sake of ascertaining the situation.

"Hmm… I suppose I can think that I'm trusted. Oh yes, I thought of this suddenly while watching various things." (Lina)

"What? Did you find anything?" (Hildegard)

"No, I didn't find anything. It's just that I notice it." (Lina)

"Hmm? What do you mean?" (Hildegard)

"This situation… don't you find it strange?" (Lina)

It was too late to say that. It was obvious anyway.

However, that was probably not the case. It meant that Lina had noticed something that she hadn't noticed before. As she nodded while glancing ahead, she continued.

"We have never fought monsters in the past week." (Lina)

"Hmm, that's not… so?" (Hildegard)

"No matter what you think about it, it should be impossible. No, even before you think about it, after I joined you, we didn't encounter any monsters during the move. Except for the Shadow Eater, but… that's why it's so strange. No matter how much we walk outside the village, we won't encounter any monsters…" (Lina)

"…I see. Surely, that's true." (Hildegard)

As a matter of fact, barriers to prevent monsters couldn't be spread so widely. There were many places where it couldn't be setup, and if the place was at the level of village, it probably wouldn't be setup.

It was similar to the one around the royal capital, and it didn't actually spread out. Needless to say, there was no barrier to prevent monsters if it was outside the royal capital.

After all, monsters usually exist everywhere. The only places that monsters didn't exist were places that burn to nothing. Of course, there was no monster where they were now.

Certainly, the information conveyed at the beginning of this situation was that the number of monsters was decreasing. There was a possibility that it was happening here as well.

However, if the information was correct, the number was just getting less and less. Even if it didn't happen at the usual interval, they would have encountered a monster.

In that case, it wasn't normal that they didn't encounter any monster while moving between villages and when they investigated the surroundings of the village.

"…Is that so? I wasn't aware of it because the situation is already way too abnormal, but to begin with, it was impossible for villages to remain beautiful when the villagers are gone.” (Hildegard)

"Yes. It would be fine to think that it's caused by the Shadow Eater, but it's impossible that there is no trace of monsters attacking the villages." (Lina)

If there was no intervention, the monster's form of thought was not much different from animal. That was why it was impossible for monsters not to go to blank areas.

If it was three days, she might not understand why. But two weeks had already passed since the investigation began.

Nevertheless, it was unlikely that no monster had reached the villages yet, and every visit would leave a trace. That fact that there was no trace meant that the monsters didn't go to the village, despite being unthinkable.

When she considered it… there was only one conclusion.

"In other words, there are currently no monsters around here." (Hildegard)

"Yes. Normally, it wouldn't be possible." (Lina)

— Authority.

She denied it every time whenever the thought popped up in her mind, but it made sense if she related it to the present situation. Well, she could probably say that there was no other possibility.

These days, she had come to think that authority might be the only reason, but… it seemed it was almost a fact.

Really–…

"It's awkward, and if possible, it's something that I don't want to think about…" (Hildegard)

"Yeah…" (Lina)

It was a hassle to be able to simply manipulate monsters, but to be honest, it wasn't that much. Monsters couldn't cross the barrier even if they were manipulated.

In fact, since the monsters were part of the a part of the authority, it wasn't still possible to cross the barrier if the authority was used to manipulate the monsters. The barriers that placed especially in the royal capital were powerful. Depending on how it was down, the people of the royal capital might be a bit confused, that it wouldn't be more than just a hassle.

So, the annoying part was Hildegard might not be able to do her best against someone who had that authority. A dragon wasn't a monster, but it was close when viewed by those from this world, and a dragonkin wasn't an exception. Because of this, she wouldn't be manipulated, but there was a good chance that the authority would disrupt her to some extent.

Honestly, Hildegard was somewhat affected by the barriers to prevent monsters, and her abilities dropped about fifty percent inside the barriers of the royal capital. If the other side could disrupt her at the same level, it would be quite bad.

Of course, depending on the opponent, Lina might be able to do something about it…

"Well, now that I know that, I don't think I can do anything in particular right now…" (Hildegard)

"I see… so, are you going to report it?" (Lina)

"Well… Sophia said she didn't try to detect monsters to preserve her power and she didn't know what was going to happen. However, it's better to tell her to detect monsters in this situation. She is likely to catch the sign. If she tried to do that from the beginning, she might have noticed it immediately. Oh well, that can't be helped." (Hildegard)

There was one problem. How should she explain it?

The people in this world shouldn't know about authority. That included the Seven Heavens. Alexis, who was the king of the established nation, was even more so.

However, she was supposed to explain it somehow, but… here was a question.

–Lina obviously knew about authority.

That if she related Lina's previous remark about monsters. Otherwise, there were too many things that didn't fit the picture. No matter how she thought about it, Lina's remark made sense if she knew about authority. However, how did she know about it?

Hildegard had explained to Soma about authority, but she expected that he would never mention it to anyone. She didn't think that there was such a timing between explaining to Soma and when he disappeared.

To put it simply, Lina learned about authority from someone other than Soma.

"Anyhow… what we do for the time being isn't going to change." (Hildegard)

"Yes. In order for Nii-sama to come back with peace of mind, I'll do my best to investigate!" (Lina)

From that behavior, she looked like the usual Lina, but… for some reason, Hildegard didn't think that she was mistaken that Lina got to know about authority from someone else. As Hildegard was convinced, she squinted and looked at Lina. Then, she quietly let out a small breath.

Chapter end