The sudden dissolution of the Empire’s strongest party. I’ve decided to travel freely through life with my cute companion.
After exchanging information, I decided to go to bed early to save on candle expenses.
However, no matter how much I slept on the hard bed, the fatigue wouldn’t go away. The musty smell made it even worse.
Next time, I should pick a slightly better inn.
This place is really meant for people who have no money at all.
My sleep was shallow, and I woke up while it was still dark.
Even though I tried to go back to sleep, my drowsiness was gone.
Suddenly, I felt a weight on my right arm. When I looked over, I saw Mastema clinging to it, fast asleep.
This was nothing new.
Carefully, so as not to wake her, I slid my arm out from under her and adjusted the disheveled blanket.
She looked so peaceful, as if she were having a good dream.
The blanket seemed to bother her, as she pushed it aside, rolled over, and changed her position.
Wearing only a shirt and shorts, her shirt was completely disheveled, leaving her almost naked.
“That’s indecent,” I muttered, pulling the blanket over her again.
I climbed out of bed and stretched my stiff body.
After thoroughly stretching, I wondered what to do next.
It was then that I heard a noise coming from the direction of the wall.
The wall is some distance away from the inn, so for the sound to be this clear, it must be quite loud.
Something must have happened.
I wanted to understand why such a massive wall had been built in this city.
Grabbing the Sky Sword, sheath and all, I got dressed and climbed out of the window.
Traveling across rooftops, I moved toward the wall, the sound growing louder as I approached.
It seemed something was colliding with the wall.
Judging by the noise, it was likely something hard.
I recalled the metal golems that attacked the soldiers.
If it were those, this kind of situation would make sense.
When I arrived at the wall, the area was lit, making it easy to see even at night.
A large group of soldiers had gathered, creating a commotion.
On top of the wall, several guards were looking outside and shouting something.
They seemed frantic. It was probably not a good situation.
I quietly moved away and headed to the left side.
Keeping my distance from the soldiers, I climbed a ladder attached to the wall.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just fly?”
Victor appeared, perhaps because no one else was around.
Still in a buoyant mood, he was wearing swimwear, so I made him change back into his normal clothes.
“It would stand out too much, even at night. I’d rather not draw attention right now.”
“Fair enough.”
Using several ladders, I finally reached the top of the wall.
It was quite high. The strong wind felt like it could knock me off if I wasn’t careful.
As I tried to peek over to see what was outside the wall—
Suddenly, an explosion erupted below, and something crawled up from the base of the wall.
It was something I could only describe as a humanoid abomination.
A metallic head devoid of eyes, nose, or mouth, and four arms climbing up the wall.
I decided to call it a “metal humanoid.”
“What is that thing?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Be cautious.”
“Got it.”
I drew the Sky Sword from its sheath, feeling strength surge through my body thanks to Victor’s blessing.
The creature was slightly taller than me, with four thin arms and a narrow torso.
Its form was unsettling to look at.
Outside the wall, several others with similar shapes were present, though most couldn’t climb higher than halfway up the wall.
This one seemed special, with its two extra arms.
The metal humanoid surveyed its surroundings before its gaze landed on me and Victor.
Even without eyes, it felt as though it was looking directly at us.
Then, it smiled.
I could sense it. There was no doubt it had smiled.
It charged at me, leaning forward as it ran.
Its elongated, thin body made its forward-leaning posture even more grotesque.
I leapt from the wall, dodging its attack, and moved behind it.
I attempted a diagonal slash, but its torso twisted 180 degrees.
The twisted section melted and reverted to its original form.
Though it was made of metal, it possessed an unnaturally high level of flexibility.
My strike was blocked by two of its arms. The blade dug in slightly, but it wouldn’t budge further.
Even though I wasn’t going all out, I had put a decent amount of strength into the attack.
“So, how about this?”
I stopped pressing down and instead lifted the creature.
It was heavier than it looked, but not a problem for me in my current state.
The metal humanoid’s feet left the ground.
No matter how strong it was, it couldn’t do anything without footing.
I slammed it into the ground.
However, there was no satisfying impact.
Looking closer, the part I slammed had turned into a liquid.
The metal humanoid got back up, the liquefied part crawling back to reform its body.
…It reminded me of a certain monster with high regenerative abilities.
Back then, I had defeated it by slicing it into tiny pieces. I wondered if the same method would work here.
“Take this!”
While I was observing, Victor snuck behind the metal humanoid and chopped its head.
Though his shout was rather cute, the impact was brutal, comparable to Mastema’s attacks.
The creature seemed vulnerable to unexpected shocks, as its head caved in completely.
Even then, it tried to regenerate and stand back up.
For such foes, destroying the head was the rule of thumb.
I raised my sword and struck downward at its head.
It looked up at me, but I didn’t hesitate.
The blade met resistance, but I forced it through.
The sword plunged deep into its head, and the creature stopped moving.
To be thorough, I severed its limbs, but this time it didn’t liquefy or move.
It didn’t seem to be pretending, either.
“See? I was helpful, wasn’t I?”
“You did well.”
I praised Victor, who was clearly pleased with himself, his pride swelling.
In moments like this, he reminded me of Mastema.
Thanks to the wind, the soldiers didn’t seem to notice us.
If that thing had managed to get in, who knows what would have happened.
I took a piece of the metal humanoid as a sample and kicked the rest outside the wall.
As long as I wasn’t identified, it should be fine.
Using Victor, I began to quietly descend the wall, but I paused and turned around.
Dawn was breaking. The sun was rising on the horizon.
…Was it my imagination?
“Hey, what do you think that looks like?”
“A large group of humans—no, those are more of the same creatures.”
Silhouetted against the rising sun, countless metal humanoids were writhing.
It seemed the situation was about to become far more troublesome.
