Gluttony Demon King with the Swampman ~A Man with No Magic Power Who Dreamed of Magic, Wielding Knowledge from His Past Life Through Steady Research and Hard Work to Become the Most Vicious Final Boss~ - Chapter 14: Never Tried It Before

Chapter 14: Never Tried It Before

The abnormality in these mountains is probably not man-made.

An ice dragon just happened to settle here and threw the whole ecosystem out of balance. That part is pure coincidence.
Because even if it’s only a lesser dragon, no ordinary person could control a wild dragon.

But—

The Levi sisters just happened to arrive in this exact area right when everything was going wrong. Can we really call that a coincidence?

Who told the sisters about the thesis?

Who dangled that thesis in front of them and urged them to visit the Moscaneira family?

Who lied and said the road was safe?
Who made Noiche’s stealth magic useless and lured monsters to the camp?

And the man who was supposed to be their best bodyguard—why did he drop dead without doing anything?

If we assume their own butler was pulling every string, every single question is answered perfectly.

“That guy’s name is Kujack. Noiche, his family name?”

“…Meandoll.”

“House Meandoll? A baronet family that fell more than twenty years ago, right?”

“Yeah… I heard Papa took pity on him and hired him as a servant,” Zaria added.

I nodded. That makes sense.

Which means he’s repaying kindness with betrayal, pure and simple.

The man himself just laughed dryly, as if the whole thing amused him.

There wasn’t a shred of noble pride or butler’s sincerity left in him.

“…Doesn’t feel like wounded pride either. Money, then?”

“Sharp eyes, young master. You read people far better than these sheltered little ladies.”

Zaria ground her teeth. I stopped her with one hand and waited for Butler Kujack’s next move.

He pointed at the black leather pouch tied to Noiche’s waist.

A spatial-storage magic tool.

Top-class item that ignores weight as well as size. Sell it and you could build a small castle.

“…You work for a ducal house. That desperate for cash?”

“Well, yes. A little gambling problem.”

“Huh? Gambling?”

“I need a big lump sum to pay back right now.”

He cleared his throat once.

“If I don’t pay, the underworld beats me half-dead. Even if I pay by honest work, they’ll keep threatening to tattle to the duke forever. So… what reason do I have to keep serving House Levi?”

So that’s why he went after the pouch.

I couldn’t tell if he was clever or an idiot. Noiche and Zaria were speechless.

Of course they were shocked.

He was someone they had trusted for over ten years.

“I went to all the trouble of luring monsters, but you ladies somehow survived. Then the idiots walked straight into a dragon’s mountain! I thought this time I’d just take the pouch off your corpses. Simple job—”

He cut himself off and glared at me.

“—but you got in the way, brat. Never thought these girls would pick up a mage this strong in some nowhere town. They really are lucky.”

That’s how he saw me: a temporary bodyguard mage hired by the sisters.

Whatever. Being recognized as a mage didn’t feel half bad.

I smirked. Noiche pinched my cheek from the side.

“…Haro, we’re out of magic.”

“I know. I’ll handle it. How strong is he?”

“Stronger than us. Good with spells, but his swordsmanship and real combat experience are on another level!”

“Got it.”

A veteran. A man who was alive twenty-plus years ago could easily have served in a knight order in his youth.

“Well, this works out nicely,” I muttered.

Kujack frowned.

“Don’t underestimate adults, kid.”

“Nothing like that. I just realized—after killing a dragon, I still haven’t tried it on a human.”

This guy’s evil makes even my brother look cute. No guilt required.

I danced the ink across my fingertips. Kujack’s temple twitched; he reached for the longsword at his hip.

And the next instant we clashed.

“Burst forth, o thunder!”

“Chain Crown: Chainsaw.”

Lightning crackled along his blade as he took a guard stance. My chainsaw chewed straight into the steel.

“…!? What kind of cutting is that!?”

First exchange—mine.

But when the blade was half gone, Kujack whipped his sword around in a counter-slash.

He chose to attack instead of block, and that single flash easily sliced through the ink.

“So it’s slime! Then you can’t lock blades!”

Correct.
Ink is liquid. When I attack, impact works, but when the enemy swings, the blade just passes through.

“Noiche.”

“On it.”

She instantly understood. Noiche pulled a random sword from the pouch; Zaria tossed it over with a cute “Eii!”

I caught it in my right hand and parried Kujack’s next strike.

“—Tch!”

Of course I was blown away.

Adult strength plus magical body reinforcement—something I can’t do.

I rolled with the impact, but he was already closing in.

“Bounce Seal: Pinball.”

“Tch, slippery little… Crawl, o thunder—race through the storm clouds!”

I dodged the downward slash. Half the ink became bounce seals; I leaped far back.
At the same time Kujack swung his sword and unleashed magic—not bullets this time, but a writhing whip of lightning.

The remaining half of the ink—

“Bounce Seal: Pinball.”

“You little… all you do is run!”

—became more bounce seals.
I stepped on black circles and ricocheted like a bullet.

I slipped past the pursuing lightning whip and dove into his chest.

“Chain Crown: Chainsaw.”

“Brat…!”

Reformed the ink in my hand.
A feint—he’d seen the move once. He dodged, then countered with his sword.

I blocked with the borrowed blade in my right hand and got blown away again.

“Float—awaken, o thunder! Now die!”

Yeah, still going strong.