Chapter 344: (Beetle) BUBUBUBUBUBU!
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Maqueterra Lotten.
Former viscount.
A great sinner who, blinded by shallow desires, tried to sell his country to the demons.
In other words, a wanted man.
"......Mmmgh!?"
He woke up in pitch darkness.
Even when he opened his eyes, it was pitch black.
And his upper body wouldn't move freely.
Is he restrained?
Or rather, it's hard to breathe.
He can't breathe properly.
Why!?
Is he buried somewhere!?
"Mmmgh, mmmgh, mmmghーーー!?"
Unable to understand his current situation, Maqueterra panicked and thrashed around, desperately moving his body.
Fortunately, thanks to that, he was able to escape the mysterious restraint before suffocating...... and landed on his butt with a thud.
"Haaーーー, haaーーー......?"
Breathing heavily with a flushed face, he looked around.
This place, dimly lit by streetlights, is a back alley in the royal capital.
In front of him is a large hole in a stone wall.
It seems he was stuck in this stone wall, headfirst.
How much force did he crash with for that to happen?
Maqueterra, possessing a large amount of mana far exceeding that of an ordinary person, thanks to his training as a mage in the past, and having fully enhanced his body with [Body Strengthening], was alive and well without any major injuries......
But if he hadn't, his head would have surely been crushed upon impact with the stone wall, and he would be dead.
Maqueterra turned pale and trembled in fear, realizing that now.
"No, wait, wait...... Why? Why was I embedded in a wall......?"
Desperately trying to recall his actions, with his mind still hazy from lack of oxygen, Maqueterra began to remember.
First of all, it's currently the beginning of 'Dawn Day', in the middle of the night.
The day this royal capital is supposed to be destroyed by the demons' attack.
Maqueterra, a collaborator with the demons, went to the forest on the outskirts of the city during the day and collected a bucket full of honey.
That was because Deo-something, a demon commander, ordered him to smear it on the walls of the royal castle.
Fortunately for Maqueterra, collecting the honey was done in no time.
He was able to find a giant Hamejika Honeybee nest only about ten minutes after he started searching.
There are many Hamejika Honeybees living in this forest, and collecting honey isn't that difficult...... but even Maqueterra didn't expect it to be over so quickly.
In other words, he had some free time.
And then, Maqueterra.
Was tempted.
(Everyone will die anyway. The royal capital will be destroyed. And I...... will probably die too.)
Maqueterra is a collaborator with the demons, but he is a human.
For them, he's nothing more than a disposable pawn.
Deo-something ordered Maqueterra to smear honey on the castle walls at the time of the attack.
He wasn't told anything about what to do after that, but it doesn't seem like there would be time to escape.
There's no way the cruel demons would show any concern for the life of a pawn like Maqueterra, which means he'll probably be killed along with the other humans when the demons launch their attack.
Well, to be honest, Deogandai had no plans to carry out an indiscriminate attack on humans, and he thought Maqueterra could just run away after completing his task...... but Maqueterra, emotionally unstable and pessimistic, assumed that's what would happen.
(Then, at least...... at least, I want to drink some good sake one last time.)
And Maqueterra thought that.
Maqueterra is actually a heavy drinker.
But lately, living as a fugitive, he naturally hasn't had a single drop of alcohol.
He wants to drink sake.
Once that thought crossed his mind, there was no stopping it.
Using his honed magical powers, he attacked a liquor store.
He successfully stole several bottles of high-quality sake, hid in a back alley, and guzzled them down.
......It was delicious!
He couldn't stop!
And then, he ended up completely drunk.
Even when drunk, he remembered what he had to do.
He had to smear honey on the castle walls.
So, holding a bucket filled with honey, Maqueterra, swaying unsteadily, was making his way through the back alleys towards the royal castle.
"Ugh...... Pu."
But because he was drunk, he was walking very slowly.
He walked a bit, took a break, walked a bit, took a break.
And while taking his umpteenth break under a streetlight, he spotted her.
A good-looking woman to his liking, walking towards him.
He tried to make a move on her.
And then, Maqueterra.
And then......?
(Damn, I don't have any memories from this point.)
Maqueterra rubbed his aching head, staring blankly at the cobblestones.
The ordinary cobblestones of the back alley spread out before his eyes.
Lying on top of them is the bucket that was filled with honey until just now......
"Huh!? The bucket!? Where's the honey!?"
Maqueterra jumped to his feet and realized that something sticky and viscous was clinging to his backside.
He hurriedly touched it, and what stuck to his hand was golden.
He licked it, and it was sweet.
In other words, honey.
It seems the honey he was supposed to smear on the castle walls somehow ended up on his backside.
"This is bad, this is bad...... What about the time!?"
Maqueterra hurriedly checked the wristwatch-like device the demons had given him.
It's a video projection communication device, but it also has a time display function.
"Hawaーーー!? I'm already past the appointed timeーーー!!"
He screamed.
He accidentally overslept!
Well, it's not like he overslept, he was embedded in a wall, but it's probably his fault for being drunk.
"If, if I hurry! If I hurry, I might still make it!"
Maqueterra, in a panic, his backside covered in honey, started running towards the main street, almost tripping over.
He'll rush to the royal castle and rub his backside against the walls!
With that, his mission from the demons will be complete.
What would happen if he failed to carry out his orders?
Knowing those cruel demons, they'd probably subject Maqueterra to torture worse than death!
He doesn't want that!
He no longer has any attachment to this country, this royal capital, or his own life, which has no future anyway, but he doesn't want to die in agony!
He was running, thinking such things, but then.
In front of him.
"BUBUBUBUBUBU!"
With a thud.
Shaking the ground.
A super giant beetle landed!
"Huh? What? Ah?"
Maqueterra involuntarily stopped moving.
The beetle, on the other hand, moved the five horns on its head as if sniffing the air, and then......
Stared intently at Maqueterra.
"Hih, a......"
Having a bad feeling, Maqueterra took a step back, two steps back.
The super giant beetle.
Destroy Bunbun.
Stared at Maqueterra.
After a moment of contemplation, as if pondering something.
Suddenly exposed its beautiful transparent wings.
Flapped them at high speed, and rose into the air.
......And then, began to charge towards Maqueterra!
"BUBUBUBUBUBU!!"
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"
Not knowing what was going on, Maqueterra turned around and started running away from Destroy Bunbun!
But this super giant beetle is fast!
The distance between them was closing rapidly.
"UOOOOOOOOOH!? Don't underestimate meーーー!!"
But, however, this Maqueterra!
You wouldn't imagine it from his current shabby appearance, but he's a former viscount, and moreover, a former top-class mage!
"Wind, carry my body! [Fly]!"
He easily used the ultra-difficult flight magic spell and floated into the air!
"NUOOOOOOOOOH!!"
"BUBUBUBUBUBUーーー!!"
Now, at this moment.
At midnight, as 'Dawn Day' had just begun.
Above the Ashgo Kingdom's royal capital, where no one was watching.
A desperate chase between a dirty, honey-covered old man and a super giant beetle...... had begun!!
This concludes the first stage of Chapter 17.
From the , we enter the second stage!
I'll do my best to write it!