Old Man Isekai - Chapter 8

After a two-day journey by carriage, we arrived near the mine's base. From a distance, we observed the demons and confirmed that there were 10 of them. Their number matched ours, but could we handle them?

What concerned me was the appearance of the demons. Their skin was a dark brownish color. Upon seeing them, the knight captain, Miguel, let out a furious shout.

“Still as tainted as ever with the color of darkness. Disgusting! We must rescue our allies from these barbaric brutes as soon as possible!”

In response to his words, Yuno objected.

“They look like ordinary people to me.”

“That’s because Yuno-sama doesn’t know how cruel they are!”

Watching the knights’ behavior made me realize that racism exists in every world.

“We’ll go in just before sunset, as planned.”

Apparently, even though demons can see as well at night as they do during the day, their vision worsens during dusk due to the transition between day and night vision, so we decided to strike then.

There was also a plan to wipe them out using Yuno’s power, but that was rejected as it might destroy the mine. Using overwhelming force is tricky...

We had Sharon and Iris stay in the rear, while Iris’s magic beasts led the way, slipping through the demons' defenses. These wolves are incredibly competent—let’s not dwell on the fact that I’ve been bitten by them!

We found the room where the captured knights were being held, but they were weak and exhausted. Apparently, they had been defeated in battle with the demons. In an effort to rescue the miners quickly, we spoke to the weakened knights and learned that the demons had taken the miners away.

“What!? Those demons! I won’t forgive them any longer!”

Miguel and the others, unable to contain their rage at the knights' condition and the miners being taken, charged out and started fighting on their own. Why engage them head-on when we managed to infiltrate? Are you idiots!?

We couldn’t abandon Miguel and the others, so we joined the battle to prevent things from escalating.

But we were stunned at the scene before us. While the knights fought the demons, there were exhausted demon children standing behind the demons they were fighting.

“Let’s get the children who can still move back to our land as quickly as possible! Their families are waiting for them. We must protect them at all costs!”

Miguel then ordered the knights to retrieve the children.

“Damn it! Don’t let the children escape! They’re valuable labor!”

It turned out the "miners" were actually demon children. I had considered this possibility, but since there were no demon slaves in the royal palace, I’d dismissed it as unreasonable. Now, I wasn’t sure whose side we should be on.

“Heroes, hurry up and defeat the demons!”

“Heroes? Then we’ll kill the kingdom’s heroes first!”

“Us? Uh... wait... Damn it!”

Yuno hesitated, but as the enemy approached, we had no choice but to fight.

“Haa! Haa! What’s going on here!?”

“I don’t know! Who’s in the right here!?”

During the battle, I heard the cry of a small girl.

“No! Help! Let me see my mother!”

“Stop! Don’t take my little sister away!”

“Come here!”

Miguel was dragging a child by her hair. The older sister wanted to save her little sister but was too scared to move and sat frozen.

“Somebody help...”

Seeing this, I made up my mind to save the demon children. Not because the older sister was cute!

“Miguel! Stop it!”

“Dai-sama, this is a demon child. It’s no different from livestock.”

“She’s still a child!”

I punched Miguel and freed the little sister, handing her back to her older sister.

“Hurry and get out of here!”

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

“Thank you, mister!”

After confirming that the sisters had escaped, Miguel stood up, enraged, and pointed his sword at me.

“You traitor!”

“There’s no such thing as betrayal here!”

Everyone stopped fighting and stared at me. I then advised the demon leader.

“Hey! Now’s your chance! Take the children and go!”

“...! Thank you! I owe you!”

“Wha—!? These are our laborers for the mine! What are you talking about!?”

“What’s the point of forcing children to work!?”

While I was arguing with Miguel, the demons escaped with the children.

“No! Don’t let them get away!”

I blocked Miguel’s path. Seeing this, Yuno and the others intervened to stop him.

“Dai, that’s enough! Stop!”

“Stop it, old man!”

“Dai-dono!”

“Yuno, don’t come. I’ll handle this myself!”

If Yuno and the others got involved, it wouldn’t just be my responsibility, so I told them to stay back.

“Are you prepared for this? You’ll be charged with treason!”

“It’s just me! Yuno and the others have nothing to do with this!”

The knights surrounded me, forming a tight formation.

“We know about you. You’re low on magic power, so you’re finished once you’re surrounded.”

“Are you an idiot? Did you really think I’d come forward without a plan?”

“I’ve heard you’re a sharp one. Everyone, be on guard!”

“Yes, sir!”

In reality, I had no plan! This is bad... What should I do? Should I apologize while the bluff is still working? Will they forgive me? Probably not... In that case, I’ll use my trump card! I created a stone with earth magic and threw it at the soldiers.

“Take this!”

“What!? Brace yourselves!”

The knights were so focused on the stone that they just stared at it.

“Nothing’s happening...”

While they were distracted, I made a run for it!

“He’s running away! After him!”

I ran straight to the classic location: a cliff with a raging river below. If I jump, will I die? Or maybe I’ll get lucky and survive?

“We’ve cornered you! There’s no escape now! Even if you jump into the river, you’ll die in the rapids. Either way, you’ll be executed for letting those slaves escape!”

As I considered whether I could do something with water and wind magic, the knights cast their spells at me.

“Damn it! Here goes nothing!”

I jumped, but as I hit the water, I was sure I was going to die. I’d get smashed against the rocks by the rapids... However, Maya jumped in after me and used magic.

“Old man! Grab on!”

“Aqua Shield!”

A water barrier formed around us, and even as we were swept by the rapids, the rocks didn’t harm us. Eventually, we ended up in a forest, though I had no idea where we were.

“Haa... Haa... Maya, thanks. You saved me.”

We were still in danger, but at this point, Maya and I had no choice but to rely on each other. Maya, however, was staring at her phone with a devastated look.

“My magic power... it’s finally hit zero... I’m powerless now...”

“What happened?”

“I need magic power to use my spells, and the only way to recharge it is through either my own magic or by absorbing mana from the atmosphere...”

“Then can’t you just recharge it?”

“There’s barely any mana in this world, so I have no choice but to use my own magic... How much magic power do you have, old man?”

“I was ranked at the lowest level, E.”

“I see... I’m ranked even lower than you. I’m an ‘F.’”

“What!? Aren’t you a Sage? How could you have no magic power!?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I had no magic power, so I developed techniques to efficiently and quickly absorb mana, and that’s how I climbed my way to the rank of Sage. That’s why people called me the ‘Sage of Zero.’”

This is bad... This is far worse than I expected. With Maya now a powerless girl, I need to find a way for us to escape the forest. What should I do?

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