Published: September 4, 2025
Satou here. I heard that whale meat used to be served in school lunches. When I visited my grandfather’s house, I once ate some whale meat that had washed up on the shore. I remember it was incredibly delicious.
Though that might be a bit glorified since it was so long ago.
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In the end, while hesitating, I missed the chance to attack.
For now, let’s prioritize making sure no one dies.
I moved from the spire to the arena’s spectator seats.
The Duke and the king’s body doubles still seemed to be struggling.
Alright, time to use that thing.
Among the magic I recently acquired is a spell called “Magic Hand.” It’s a magic power manipulation skill that intermediate arcane magic users inevitably learn.
To put it simply, it’s similar to psychokinesis. Mages use it to grab documents out of reach, scratch their backs, or massage their own shoulders.
This “Magic Hand” only has the strength of a weak mage, so few use it in battle. As one masters the arcane magic skill, they can use multiple “Magic Hands” simultaneously, like shooting several magic arrows at once. Also, skilled users can extend these hands quite a distance. In my case, I can stretch 120 hands about 500 meters each.
Apparently, very few mages can skillfully control more than two hands.
I smoothly extended countless “Magic Hands,” grabbed the three monsters blocking the Duke’s path, and threw them into the arena.
Controlling them is a bit tricky.
Someday, I want to wield swords with these “Magic Hands” like a thousand-armed Kannon goddess in battle.
The Duke’s guards were surprised the monsters were suddenly eliminated, but they prioritized the Duke’s escape over figuring out who did it. Some searched for the culprit, but no one noticed me. I guess it’s thanks to skills I learned on a previous infiltration mission.
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Alright, it seems the evacuation of humans who can’t fight monsters properly is complete.
Of course, I didn’t just watch. I used “Magic Hand” to grab people who were left behind and tossed them into evacuation routes.
Gathering monsters near the hero party and the yellow-skinned demons to the opposite side of the arena was a real hassle. Thanks to the hero’s initial area taunt skill, the monsters kept returning no matter how many times I threw them.
Two especially persistent ones I gave up on and left to the hero party. I bet those with tiger or wolf ears will handle them.
Six monsters remain.
I hope the princes will go deal with them, but for some reason, they keep targeting the yellow-skinned demons, so the numbers won’t decrease. Inefficient bunch.
The middle-aged man from the Shiga Eight Swords probably withdrew early because he took heavy damage from the yellow-skinned demons. Pathetic.
The battle-crazed boy was roughhousing with the princes and yellow-skinned demons but got knocked out by a tail strike. His armor’s stomach is dented, but his HP doesn’t look critical, so it’s fine to leave him be. He’s positioned away from any area attacks.
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“Yasaku, hold back on big moves. We don’t know when the others might break down. Save your stamina.”
“Fool, you’re too cautious. We should reduce their numbers quickly with a big strike.”
“Hey, Yasaku and Tan, save the chit-chat for later.”
“Yeah, don’t get careless—it’s dangerous!”
The party fighting the war mantises seems fine. They have a well-balanced team: heavy warrior, magic warrior, mage, and a pole-arm wielding priest.
Of course, not all parties are like that.
“Lord Hohen, I will support you here. Let us go forth!”
“Nonsense, Lord Muzuki, this is the perfect stage to show your valor!”
The knights in front of pillbug-shaped monsters were politely deferring to each other.
These two are just shy of level 20, but their accompanying knights are high-level, so they’re safe.
Can I take these?
No one’s watching, right?
I secretly used “Toss Stone.”
It’s an earth-element beginner-level magic spell, but it pierces weak abdominal spots from below, making it quite useful. The pillbug was impaled by a stone spear through its belly and thrown into the air, but it’s still not dead. The monster’s HP is roughly 20% left. The knights are rushing in from safe positions to finish the fight quickly. They were polite just moments ago, but now they’re all about the kill.