“There are many monsters in history. Those with outstanding physical abilities, those with innate senses and skills. The world calls such people geniuses, and some of them earn the name of hero. But you see. Usually, it’s just that ‘individual’ who is exceptionally talented.”

Some sentences, regardless of how easy or difficult their content was, refuse to be understood by someone.

That was exactly Adelaide’s state.

But the witch, as if she couldn’t help but enjoy presenting cruel facts to Adelaide, continued her explanation kindly and caringly, “A genius’ child isn’t necessarily a genius. A hero’s child doesn’t necessarily become a hero. But how about the Lion Duke’s bloodline? Even after nearly 200 years of generational changes, the characteristics of a single ancestor still manifest in the children. That’s how they were from the beginning. That’s the kind of blood they have from the start.”

Adelaide was too shocked to close her mouth.

Not human. A homunculus.

If this were to be known to her companions…

…Huh? It feels like it wouldn’t matter much?

Adelaide briefly recalled her companions’ personal details.

It was a party where a metal doll and a vampire proudly coexisted.

It seemed like she wouldn’t get much of a reaction even if it turned out that one of her distant ancestors was a non-human, let alone Adelaide herself being a homunculus.

Thinking that, Adelaide’s heart suddenly became peaceful.

“Then, who was the alchemist who created my ancestor?”

“…How did you suddenly become so composed?”

The Witch of the West showed a strangely displeased reaction to Adelaide’s calm questioning.

Perhaps disappointed that the expected anguish and despair didn’t come, the witch discarded her kind tone and voice she had maintained until now and spoke coldly.

“That’s none of your business. Besides, isn’t this not the situation to be concerned about such things?”

As the witch operated a device on the laboratory wall, the examination table Adelaide was tied to folded, putting Adelaide in a sitting position.

It clearly wasn’t intended to make Adelaide comfortable.

That was because there was something in the sky beyond the window in front of her.

Golden monkeys flapping large wings, and Sophia caught in their hands.

Adelaide momentarily forgot she was tied up and almost tried to approach the window. The examination table, now like a chair, rattled.

Laughing as if pleased by that reaction, the Witch of the West said, “Watch carefully.”

When the witch gave some signal, the golden monkeys in the sky reacted.

They grabbed Sophia’s limbs with rough hands and wielded cruel violence.

As if showing off to Adelaide, Sophia’s body, torn into pieces, fell to the ground.

A giant toothed caterpillar that sprang out from the forest swallowed those remains in one gulp.

Adelaide couldn’t close her open mouth.

The Witch of the West spoke threateningly, “If you don’t want to die and become food for magic beasts like your companion, it would be better not to think of any unnecessary resistance.”

Adelaide bowed her head deeply and remained silent.

The witch, perhaps interpreting that silence as despair, left with an unpleasant laugh.

It seemed she had only come to check the situation this time and didn’t intend to “research” her immediately.

That was fortunate for Adelaide.

After all, this gave her the opportunity to cover her facial expression by bowing her head.

***

After being scattered by Dorothea’s transfer magic, the first thing Franka did was hide herself.

This was an extremely rational action.

It was thanks to Franka’s magic that the group could locate each other’s positions, and the moment Franka was caught, the golden thread bracelets she created would lose their effect.

Delicate magic, such as position detection, would be impossible for the gloomy and foul-smelling necromancer, so only Franka’s magic was the sole hope for the party to regroup in one place. For strategic reasons too, it was right for Franka to ensure her own safety rather than moving around recklessly.

Originally, hiding in another mage’s workshop was an extremely difficult action, but Franka was the Witch of the West’s disciple.

As she knew perfectly well how and where the golden monkeys serving the Witch of the West would search, deceiving their eyes wasn’t such a difficult task.

Franka’s judgment was correct, and the lost lambs gathered, using her as a beacon of hope.

She compassionately embraced the tired and wounded, praising their efforts—

“If you spout any more nonsense, you’ll get beat up.”

“Eep.”

Franka’s lengthy explanation was abruptly cut off by Dorothea’s fierce glare.

As if to protect the cowering Franka, two golden monkeys stepped forward.

Encouraged by their appearance, as if protecting their mother, Franka opened her mouth again with a prim attitude, “What? I didn’t say anything wrong, did I? Without me, regrouping would have been impossible-“

“Not me, he says he’ll hit you.”

Dorothea pointed at the Tin Knight with her staff, and this time Franka fell completely silent.

Even the monkeys seemed cowed, sweating profusely.

Dorothea looked at them with displeasure.

“Why are you making such a grand story out of something that could be ended with ‘I was scared of being caught if I moved, so I hid in a hiding place until someone came’?”

“I can’t help it! This is my master’s domain, and the creatures inside are like my master’s vanguard! If I carelessly contacted or fought them, it would be like advertising where I was! Isn’t it natural to move while carefully observing the surroundings!?”

“…”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says ‘…’]

The two who had reached this place by recklessly plowing through everything in their way, regardless of caution or anything else, were silent for a moment.

Dorothea cleared her throat and asked, “So, were you really just hiding and passing time?”

“Of course not. I did what I could while waiting.”

At Franka’s signal, a large golden monkey with insect wings removed a tent from the corner of the hideout.

What was revealed inside was…

“…A ship? A carriage?”

“Both are correct. I made it amphibious.”

There was something with its lower part shaped like a ship, but with wheels on both sides, and a large ballista attached to the front.

Additionally, as if it were natural, all parts were made of gold.

Dorothea narrowed her eyes.

“It seems like it might be useful, but is this something to prepare so grandly? Don’t you alchemists just assemble anything on the spot if you have the materials?”

“That’s for disposable items to use and throw away on the spot, but powerful tools imbued with mana can’t be made that way.”

Franka glanced at the wheeled bag she usually carried.

Dorothea recalled that the bag was full of numerous golden blocks.

“If we call the standby state of multipurpose catalysts A, changing to pre-memorized forms B or C is quick and consumes little mana. But there’s a limit to the number of forms that can be memorized, and to memorize a completely new form like this, we need to design it anew and go through the process of adapting the catalyst to it.”

“Hmm.”

“What, are you doubting me?”

“Not particularly. If that’s how it is, then that’s how it is.”

Dorothea didn’t deny Franka’s explanation.

After all, if Franka were to lecture her about necromancy or curses, Dorothea was confident she would laugh through her nose.

Originally, one should respect others’ areas of expertise.

Perhaps sensing this, Franka continued speaking with a slightly softened attitude, “Anyway, if it’s my master, she would have long since blocked the original exits. To get out of here, we need to defeat that person. Now it’s bright, so when it gets dark, then we’ll secretly—“

“—No, we’re moving right now.”

“What?”

Dorothea looked at the bracelet on her wrist.

There were a total of three strands protruding from the bracelet, two of which were pointing at Franka and the Tin Knight respectively, and only one was pointing somewhere else.

“One strand disappeared during the move, and another greatly changed direction. They’ve probably been captured and taken away.”

“Wait, aren’t you jumping to conclusions based on just the movement of a thread?”

“While this guy and I were coming here to find you, we didn’t see the golden monkeys even once. It doesn’t make sense unless someone drew their attention and gathered them.”

Franka frowned, but soon nodded.

“…If your companions are really captured, it would be better to hurry. It means the opponent knows our location, too.”

“Can’t we make it so that we know the opponent’s location while making them detect the wrong place?”

“It’s impossible to change the effect remotely without touching it.”

Actions after reaching a conclusion were swift.

At the front of the amphibious golden carriage, where the ballista was, were Franka and the bat-winged monkey.

On the pedals in the center was the insect-winged monkey.

Finally, at the very back, were the Tin Knight and Dorothea.

As the insect monkey diligently pedaled and rotated, the wheels turned powerfully, making the carriage move forward.

Since it was originally facing the direction of the beach, the carriage soon fell into the sea, but it didn’t sink.

Moreover, the wheels that originally looked like normal carriage wheels elongated sideways, changing into a form similar to a water wheel.

Although Dorothea didn’t have extensive knowledge about ships, she had to admit that this “pedal-powered ship” was quite fast.

Dorothea said, “Tin Can, no, you with the bat wings. Catch one—no, two fish.”

[Ooki?]

The monkey briefly looked at Franka for approval, but once Franka gave permission, it immediately went into the sea and snatched some fish.

Dorothea took out a knife, cut the fish’s belly from side to side, and put the golden thread bracelet she had been wearing inside.

She said to Franka, “Give me yours too.”

“…Do you know how much this is worth?”

Although grumbling, Franka seemed to think it was better than dying, and cooperated with Dorothea’s plan willingly.

Soon, two bait fish with thread bracelets in their bellies were completed, and when Dorothea imbued them with mana, the dead fish flapped as if revived and dove into the sea.

“It should be enough to distract them for a while.”

How far did they go like that?

Finally, the destination island began to come into view.

And dozens of golden monkeys roaming the sky above it.

Dorothea frowned.

“Was the bait ineffective?”

“No.”

Franka denied Dorothea’s words.

Her eyes were complexly intertwined with anxiety and fighting spirit.

“It must have been effective. Originally, the monkeys the master handles are ten times this many.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders if the difference between 3 and hundreds isn’t too extreme, no matter what!]

It was something that would have infuriated Franka if she had heard it, but Dorothea didn’t bother to relay those words.

“How strong are they individually?”

“One-on-one, my children would win comfortably. Even with two, they might manage somehow. Three or more is the limit for holding out.”

Dorothea’s eyes narrowed.

In fact, the monkeys Franka handled were quite high-level among familiars handled by mages.

Individuals that could match such beings with just two, and there were over 50 visible in the sky right now.

Moreover, she said the total force was over ten times that, which truly deserved the evaluation of terrifying.

Especially considering that the Witch of the West handled other magic beasts besides monkeys.

It won’t be easy after all.

Behind Dorothea, who had hardened her face, the Tin Knight stood tall.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ burns with enthusiasm, saying he’ll finish it for sure this time!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shouts that recycled bosses lose half their charm after the third playthrough, so he’ll kill her at a beautiful moment!]

As always, it was crazy and incomprehensible nonsense.

But it was also unmistakably Tin Knight-like words.

As if responding to him, Dorothea also smiled fiercely.

The golden monkeys discovered the intruders and rushed in.

The ballista attached to the carriage fired arrows.

The curtain marking the second decisive battle had finally risen.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken