THE OLD MAN CHALLENGES THE SPIDERS

I chase after the spiders, but they’ve already disappeared completely.

They must have used Large-Scale Teleport to go elsewhere before I could catch up.

I cannot help but admire the magical prowess it would take to transport such a large gathering in so short a time.

At a loss for what to do next, I suddenly remember the words the black-clad man spoke to me.

Put on some clothing, eh?

True enough, I have been naked for perhaps too long now.

I suppose I could return to the town for the time being to retrieve some clothes.

I can try to search for the spiders after that.

With that decided, I teleport back to the town.

Specifically, into the room where I had been permitted to stay.

Even I still have enough sense to recognize that appearing buck naked in public would not be ideal.

However, I hear quite the ruckus outside.

Is there a festival or something?

At any rate, I should start by putting on some clothes.

I rummage through my things.

“Ah!”

I’m still searching for clothes when I hear an exclamation behind me.

Turning around, I see Aurel staring at me.

Oh dear. I completely forgot about her.

“Old geezer! Where the hell have you been all this time?!”

“Ah, erm, well… Finding myself?”

She seems to be rather angry that I left her here for so long.

Hrm. I suppose I can’t blame her.

But when I was leading such an intense life, you cannot blame me for forgetting about a little girl or two, either.

“The hell do you have to be naked for?! Wait, now’s not the time for that! You came back just in time! A huge swarm of spiders is attacking the town! You gotta put that fancy magic of yours to use here. Go get rid of ’em for us!”

“What’s that?!”

A swarm of spiders?!

Could it be?

The same spiders I was with until not long ago?

“Just to be certain, would that swarm of spiders happen to be white?”

“Hell if I know! Just put somethin’ on and get out there, man!”

Aurel retrieves some clothes and pushes them into my hands.

And yet, it is not that simple.

If this swarm of spiders is the same one I know, do I even stand a chance of winning?

And yet, given the timing of the matter, it must surely be them.

Then, indeed, this is an impossible task.

“Come now, Aurel. We must run away!”

“Huh?!”

My bold declaration is met with a wild shout from Aurel.

“Don’t be a dumbass! All those soldiers are fighting out there right this very second! If you’re not gonna work now, what’re you even good for?! Without your magic, you’re just a useless old geezer!”

Isn’t that going a little too far?!

Hrm. But my magic isn’t nearly strong enough to stand up to those spiders.

“C’mon, please! Sir Hero… Julius is out there fighting! You gotta save him!” Aurel looks at me pleadingly, her eyes brimming with tears. “Aren’t you the strongest mage in the world? Just go out there all full of yourself and beat the crap outta those monsters like you always do! I’m begging you, please!”

Aurel’s plea fills me with consternation.

I am not the strongest mage in the world.

After all, I was soundly defeated by the master.

Surely, I cannot take on those nine spiders, each of which rivals that great being in power.

I have no choice but to run…and yet.

“You ran away?”

A voice echoes somewhere in the back of my mind.

Those are my very own words from a long time ago.

“Was that oath of ours a lie? I thought we were supposed to protect humanity together! Where did you run away to? Why?!”

My far younger self cries out deep within me.

That was when the previous sword-king vanished.

During his reign, the people of the Empire called him a god of swordsmanship.

That man was my comrade and friend.

“With my sword and your magic, we will protect humanity,” he once said to me.

We fought side by side, protecting the Empire from the demon invasion.

I thought we would go on fighting together forever.

I never once doubted that.

And yet, one day he suddenly disappeared.

He fled from his own duties like a coward.

From his rank as the strongest swordsman in the world.

From his role in the very future of humanity.

I felt that I had been betrayed.

And at the same time, I swore that I would never run away.

Not from my rank as the strongest mage in the world, not from the expectations of the people, and not from the future of humanity that rested squarely on my shoulders.

…Why was I so determined to reach the pinnacle of magic?

…What was the reason that I so passionately sought more power?

Ah, I remember now.

I remember why I’ve been striving all this time!

So I can protect the people in the stead of the former sword-king who fled from his role!

And yet, I thought to run away from peril that threatens the people because I cannot win?

Unbelievable.

I must do no such thing.

My magical prowess exists for the purpose of protecting people.

If I run away, I really will be nothing but a useless, creepy, naked old geezer.

“Do not cry, child.”

I pull the clothing out of Aurel’s hands and hurriedly put it on.

“Leave it to me.”

I will not run away.

Not from my rank as the strongest mage in the world.

Even if that is a false, unreliable title, I must not run away from it.

Victory would be a difficult task.

But I can at least save the hero who Aurel is so worried about.

I rush outside, leaving Aurel standing there in shock.

When I arrive, the battle is in a grim state of affairs.

The soldiers have no battle formation or strategy to speak of, simply trying to fight back against the spiders that press down on them.

I doubt that formations would work against the spiders anyway, since they can move freely through three-dimensional space.

They leap over the soldiers’ shields, attacking them from behind. No wonder their formations are in tatters.

“Do not think poorly of me for this, sisters, brothers.”

I aim for a place where many of the spiders are gathered and use a large-scale Fire Magic spell.

I still have not mastered the art of packing more magic power into a spell.

But the spiders are naturally weak against fire, so even a basic Fire Magic spell has an impact.

If the nine ringleader spiders don’t show up, I may be able to take them on after all.

“Here I go!”

I spray Fire Magic around as much as I can without catching any of the soldiers in it.

All over, spiders burn up into cinders.

Losing their numbers and their momentum, the spiders begin to be driven back by the soldiers, who have regained some fighting spirit thanks to my assistance.

Among them, I see one short-statured young man.

That must be the hero Aurel was talking about.

Goodness, such a small child should not be taking part in a battle like this by any means.

Looking past him, I see another spider bearing down on him.

The boy is unable to react in time and simply gazes up in horror at the fangs closing in on him.

Quickly, I blow the spider away with a fireball.

“You’ve worked hard, my boy. Leave the rest to me.”

No sooner do I speak to him than the boy collapses, perhaps exhausted from the physical and mental strain.

I catch him before he hits the ground.

“Master Ronandt!” Just in time, Tiva comes running up to me.

“Take care of him for me.”

I hand the boy off to Tiva, then turn to face forward.

Before my eyes, the spiders I lived alongside not long ago stand ready for a fight.