Maou no Hajimekata

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist Editor: Weasalopes

Try to be more careful next time, Sarnak.

Yeah, I will and thanks.

Sarnak growled while lying down with his head wrapped up in a bandage.

Before they hypnotized Radico he was given as much first aid as possible after she beat him down, but all of his wounds were quite severe. In their current situation where the magical power was scarce it was impossible to completely heal him in an instant, so they had no choice but to leave the rest to the natural recovery.

But werent physical attacks supposed to be ineffective against you?

Oh, that. Thats because she probably possesses a Silver Arm instead of Iron Arm.

Sarnak answered with a bitter tone. Now that he mentioned it, radico did say something similar to that.

Silver Arm?

An upgraded form of Iron Arm, something like two levels above it. Its true that my Steel Shield can negate physical damage, but it cannot block the Skills that are ranked Silver or higher.

Aur was shocked by Sarnaks answer. He understands that in terms of quality steel is better than iron, but he wasnt able to grasp why silver would be better than steel, and how exactly did that work. Right now, so many questions were going through his brain that he had trouble selecting which ones to ask first.

So all that talk about your Skill being invincible was just you allowing its power to go to your head?

Shut the fuck up, would you?! If you must know, only a handful of Skills can completely negate the effects of shield Skills! And when it comes to Skill ranks, silver ones are rare even among the denizens of the Upper layer!

Sarnak shouted with his face reddened by anger.

But I have t admit that I have let my guard down. I thought that her attacks wont work against me since shes called Iron Arm, and I have paid the price for it. I never would have imagined that she managed to obtain the silver rank

Cant you just upgrade your Skill to the silver rank then?

In response to Aurs question, Sarnak shook his head weakly.

Its impossible. The rank and level of the Skill are determined at the time of the Skills crystallization, and cannot be changed. Skills with different ranks are treated as completely separate Skills. That is why I have never thought that someone called Iron Arm is going to have more Skills up her sleeve.

Even if you possess the Skill Silver Arm, its effects wont stack with those of the Iron Arm. In other words, if you obtain Silver Arm, the effects of Iron Arm will be completely wasted. That is why normally one person does not have two Skills of the same type.

Froro supplemented Sarnaks words with her own.

Wasnt it possible that we were being deceived about it in the first place?

When Aur pointed that out, Sarnaks and Froros expressions became stiff.

Nagia! That bitch!

But if she was lying, then wouldnt Aur know about that?

In contrast to Sarnak who was biting his lips in frustration, Froro calmly asks.

Thats right, but she knows about that. Which means that she either found a way to bypass that, or she was lied to in the first place. In any case, there is something that I was wondering about for a while now.

Aur looked at Sarnak and Froro, and continued in a lowered voice.

How does the enemy keep track of us?

They werent able to say anything to that, so they just exchanged glances.

If we were being spied on by something akin to Froros Eye of the Ruler I would have been able to tell, but it doesnt look like such a Skill is being used against us.

When Froro was sharing her senses with her slaves through the Eye of the Ruler, Aur was able to detect each and every slave who shared their senses with her. Of course, not only slaves, but also walls, floors, ceilings, and empty spaces were inspected by him in the same way.

Then, how?

There is a simple method to do something like this regardless of the world youre living in that does not require the use of any Skills.

Floro leans her head to the side while thinking about such a thing before she finally realized what he was talking about.

There is an insider among us.

Aur nodded seriously

Froro had the Eye of the Ruler already before she even met me. Before I arrived here, Courteau wasnt even aware of my existence. Sarnak only learned about Froro the other day. Then who else was it that knew about all those things?

Nagia

Froro muttered quietly. Even before she met Aur she worked as a merchant, and she often exchanged materials and Skills that she had aquired from killing monsters.

After they were released, most of the slaves went to Froro so that they could serve her under the influence of the Eye of the Ruler. But there were a few who wanted to stop being slaves after their release.

Nagia was one of them. Her reasoning behind it was Because I already belong to Aur. Froro didnt question it at the time, but thanks to that excuse she was unable to determine what Nagia was up to.

WHOS THERE?!

Suddenly, Sarnak shouted over Aurs arm. Froro turned her head sharply, but saw nobody there.

. Hmm.

Froro continued to look around, while Aur noticed something lying on the ground and picked it up.

Aur, this is

It was a small, purple-colored scale.

I see. So Radico lost, huh?

Yes. That man named Aur seems to be a more dangerous man than we expected.

Two women were present in the room. One is a demon with long silver hair and horns toward the back of her head. The other had short gold hair and was dressed like a typical member of the Wall Tribe. Strangely enough, the reporting one was the human, and the demoness just stood there and listened to her report.

She lost even after you gave her the Silver Arm?

Yes. So the responsibility of getting rid of it falls unto me

Wait, Yueloi. Youre in no position to decide that by yourself.

But, Lady Bran!

The one called Bran closed Yuelois mouth with a gentle gesture of her finger.

Yuelois voice lost all its sharpness as her face, neck and ears went bright red.

This time, I will go myself.

B, But!

I wouldnt be able to bear it if I lost you. Also

Bran squinted her eyes, stroking Yuelois chin.

you dont think I would lose so easily, dont you?

. N-no, of course not.

Patting her head softly, Bran flipped her skirt in a playful manner.

Good girl.

She grabbed her hand and guided her towards the back room.

Come. I will be sure to give you lots of my love today.

She whispered into her ear.

L-Lady Bran! S-Something like that!

My oh my, do you not like it?

Bran wanders at Yueloi.

.. I, I didnt say anything like that dummy.

She softly stroked Yuelois back, sending shivers down her spine.

Ah, that reminds me.

Pulling Yueloi onto the bed, Bran acted as if she just remembered something.

That Tail Tribe you mentioned Nagia was her name, I believe? What has become of her?

She was my spy, but it looks like her usefulness has come to an end.

For a moment, Yueloi went back to her calm, clerical tone as she explained the situation with Nagia.

Get rid of her then.