[Good News] After My Childhood Friend Was Stolen by a Playboy, I Woke Up With a Crazy Fast Level-Up Ability and Turned My Life Around in One Year ~ Then a Famous Streamer Broadcast Me Without Permission and I Went Super Viral!~ - 91

Chapter 91: Surrender for the Sake of Conversation

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An armed humanoid monster rode atop each individual dragon, and the voice seemed to have originated from one of them. While flapping their massive wings, the dragons landed on the ground as if to surround us, and one of the armed riders dismounted. With their entire body encased in sturdy armor and an iron mask, the figure was reminiscent of a medieval knight. The chest area of the armor protruded… was it a woman?

“Just as I thought. There was a reaction indicating that the illusion magic had been dispelled, so I came to investigate. To think that someone has finally managed to intrude upon this world…”

The armed person muttered this, but the moment they saw the face of the girl standing beside me, they became agitated. Pulling a long spear from their back, they roughly aimed the tip at me.

“Princess?! Why are you here?! Y-you!! What have you done to the Princess?!”

“Wait!! Just hold on a second! What is all this the moment you show up?! Who even are you people?!”

“No more words!! Yahhhhhhhhh!!!!”

The individual, who refused to listen to reason, flew into a rage and immediately lunged toward me, thrusting their spear. First a horse monster and now an armed woman. Today was certainly a day for things to come charging at me. If possible, I would have liked to hear what they had to say if a rational conversation were an option, but it seemed the blood had completely rushed to this one’s head.

I suppose I should help them cool down a bit.

I moved away from the girl they called “Princess” and evaded the enraged warrior’s haphazard thrusts. The armed person immediately stood in front of the girl, shielding her and forcing her to step back.

“Princess, are you unharmed?!”

“I am fine… Elfin, more importantly…”

Frenzied with bloodlust, the warrior did not listen to the girl’s words. She merely turned her bloodshot eyes toward me from beneath her iron mask.

“Everyone, surround him! Do not give him any room to escape!! For the sake of the Princess, we fight!! Everyone, charge!! Uohhhhhhh!!!!”

With the spear pointed at me, the warrior began to rush forward once more. At her command, the other armed riders surrounding us also began to move. Judging by the movements and behavior, it was clear that the person in front of me was the leader of this unit.

This was the first creature since the little fairies that possessed intelligence comparable to a human, capable of using tools and possessing the linguistic ability to command its surroundings. However… seeing as she was far too focused on striking down the enemy before her, this wasn’t a situation that could be settled through conversation.

If I were to exercise my power here and cause casualties, whatever tiny amount of positive prejudice they might have had toward me would never again develop into the concept of trust. If that was the case, there was only one thing to do: make the leader come to her senses.

The surrounding warriors maneuvered their mounted dragons and closed in on me. They intended to surround me so that the moment I evaded the leader’s attack, they could crush me under the massive feet of the dragons. However, I had no intention of evading her attack at all.

Using the minimum movement necessary, I dodged the thrust of the warrior who came charging in like a bull, and then slammed her into the ground using the principles of a shoulder throw.

“Ugh?!”

A tremendous shock must have surged through her body as she hit the ground along with her heavy armor.

“Guh… Curse you…”

Her attempts to move suggested she was suffering from a mild concussion due to the impact. Her hands moved first in an attempt to push herself up, but her body seemed unable to follow properly. Seeing that she still intended to stand and face me, I stood before her and spoke.

“Wait! At the very least, I have no hostility toward you all! If you can communicate, then talk to me!”

“No hostility… you say? As if anyone could believe that…!”

“Captain Elfin?!”

“He evaded the Captain’s attack on the first try?!”

The surrounding warriors were unable to hide their agitation at the sight of their leader being floored in an instant. They probably wouldn’t attack during this interval. In that case, I would prove it to them here.

I stowed the weapon I was holding into my 【Item Box】 to disarm myself, then raised both hands in a gesture of surrender right before their eyes.

“Is this enough?”

“Elfin!!”

The girl with horns ran over to the fallen woman and gently helped her up.

“P-Princess… please forgive me.”

“Elfin, you must not fight him!”

“But, Princess…!”

“Even if the races are different, if we can speak, then we should speak together! Besides… perhaps this person is…”

“…”

The leader of the dragon knights looked dissatisfied, but she took the girl’s hand, slowly stood up, and raised her right hand. At that signal, the knights in the surrounding area slowly backed away. I didn’t fully understand the situation, but it seemed that, thanks to the girl’s words, combat had been averted.

“Big Sister…”

In the midst of the cooling atmosphere, another presence instantly appeared beside the leader. Unlike the armed warriors here, this person wore an outfit made of thin, black fabric that concealed their mouth, looking very much like a Japanese ninja. The person was tall, and her lean, toned body was entirely dark-skinned. Judging by the long hair tied to the side, she didn’t look much different from a human woman. However, her ears were longer and more pointed than a human’s, and her yellow eyes were very distinct.

“Velina… What is it?”

“I discovered a separate group in the vicinity… but since there was no notable resistance, I restrained them immediately and kept them alive.”

A separate group…? Does that mean, could it be…

My hunch turned out to be correct.

Led in from behind by a squad dressed identically to the dark-skinned woman were Piyoko and the others, whom I had left behind on the way here.

“Wahhh… Keita-sama…”

“Where did you go, dechi!”

“Danna-sama, I am terribly sorry… I let my guard down and was caught by a surprise attack.”

I was surprised that they possessed the teamwork and strength necessary to restrain even Momiji. However, they probably didn’t realize that being restrained quietly was actually the best course of action right now.

“And… I caught this one, too.”

Another squad appeared from beside Momiji’s group, bringing along one more restrained individual. It was an unexpected person I never could have predicted.

“O-Ogawa-kun!! What on earth is happening?!”

The unexpected intruder was Ikeda from the Levia Guild.

“Ikeda?! Why are you here?”

“Well… haha, there’s a long story behind this…”

“…If you are acquaintances, that makes things simpler. For now, we will follow the Princess’s order. We are taking these people to our country. We will talk after that.”

Thus, by surrendering through disarming myself, I was able to temporarily avoid combat. I didn’t know if they would truly listen to what I had to say, but in order to gain their trust, I decided to follow their instructions in silence for now.

I would have to press Ikeda for the reason he was here later, too…

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