The Strongest in the World Doesn’t Want To Do Anything

8 – Episode 8: Arrival Unannounced

Gilbert, who had been running a stable on the outskirts of Tessa for twenty years, welcomed the news of the succession more than anyone else.

Not only was it the biggest reason that he would no longer be threatened by demons, but there was also the expectation of compensation for the horses conscripted during the war.

Moreover, considering the numerous land reconstruction projects in the future and the increasing number of travelers who could travel safely and freely, the demand for horses was sure to skyrocket.

Thus, Gilbert found himself happily humming a tune at the thought of a bright future while cleaning the stable beneath the darkening sky.

After tidying up the last pile of hay and looking at the well-groomed horses with a satisfied smile, he sighed contentedly.

Then his gaze fixed on a horse.

Bigger than the others, with a lustrous jet-black coat flowing like a shadow, it was undoubtedly a sturdy and elegant horse to anyone who looked.

Gilbert approached the horse and caressed its face.

“Our Ghost, you’ll never be sold unless I’m truly a great hero. You deserve someone like Sir Wolfgang!”

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Ghost seemed to understand his words and rubbed its face against the hand that was caressing it.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for eating well and listening to me today. Now, go rest deeply.”

Speaking to the horse with a gentle voice as if dealing with a child, Gilbert turned around and stretched, heading towards the house next to the stable.

Kuaaaaang!

Eeeheeheeheehee!

After about thirty steps, a sound of explosion accompanied by the horse’s scream echoed from behind.

Startled by the sudden disturbance, Gilbert, who had fallen, saw a stable rising with dust.

The place where Ghost was tied seemed to have been destroyed by something that fell like a bomb.

“No…please!”

With an ominous premonition, Gilbert rushed towards the stable where Ghost was tied.

“Ghost! Ghost!”

Entering the stable with his nose and mouth covered by one arm, the thick dust made it difficult to see Ghost’s condition.

“Cough, cough.”

Then, a coughing sound came from inside the stable.

“Ah… it’s the first time.”

“Who is it!!!”

“Darn.”

When the dust settled a bit, a giant silhouette came into Gilbert’s view.

“What should we do with this…”

“Who are you!!!”

Holding a pitchfork placed next to the stable like a weapon, Gilbert approached the silhouette slowly.

As the dust cleared enough, a man with a hood flipped over his head was sitting awkwardly.

“Ugh…hello.”

Exhaling a sigh, the man greeted, and below him, Ghost lay in pieces.

“Ghost!!!! This da—”

“Oh… well, just a moment.”

In the shattered appearance of the Ghost, Gilbert, overcome by madness, swung his claws towards the giant figure.

Dodging the indiscriminately flying claws, the large-bodied man attempted to calm him down by initiating a conversation.

“No, sir. I-I’m sorry.”

The owner’s eyes were already completely covered in white.

“He’s completely lost it.”

Realizing that communication was futile, the giant, with a flying claw aimed at his side, took the hit without resistance.

“Ugh…”

The giant groaned lightly, exerting force on his side.

The claws that had pierced through flesh were firmly stuck in the muscles.

Gilbert tried to pull out the claws embedded in the giant’s body, but there was no response.

“I’m going to kill you!!!! I’m going to kill you!!!”

“Owner! Just a moment… darn it, there’s no other way…”

While Gilbert, who was roaring like a beast, was trying to be subdued, the giant began channeling energy into his right arm to release the deeply embedded claw.

‘Is this enough? Darn it, I can’t get a sense of it. How do I control this power?’

As the giant struggled with the clumsy energy manipulation, the hood that had been flipped backward revealed his red hair.

Seeing him like that, Gilbert, who had lost his sanity, gradually calmed down.

“W-Wolfgang?”

Wolfgang nodded slightly.

“Yes… hello?”

Gilbert sat on the ground, bowing his head to the floor.

“I-I’m sorry!!! I never dreamed you were Wolfgang!!! I’m truly sorry!”

“Oh, it’s okay. Get up.”

Wolfgang breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out the claw embedded in his side.

Though blood was seeping out slowly, he paid it no mind and slowly lifted the trembling Gilbert.

“I told you to get up… These wounds are nothing to me. I’m not angry either.”

“I-I’m really sorry… thank you, no, I mean sorry…”

Gilbert’s face, covered in tears and sweat, looked quite pitiful.

Avoiding that face, Wolfgang shifted his gaze to the ground, where scattered fragments of the horse he had been sitting on were strewn about.

“Anyway… I’m the one who should apologize. It was my first time trying teleportation, and I didn’t know where I would end up, let alone falling from the sky.”

“I-it’s fine… I’m just one of many horses… um, I mean, beings.”

“Still, this was a horse raised with great care…”

“G-Ghost… among the numerous words, it was undoubtedly a word that stood out… the finest word that couldn’t be found anywhere in the world… It was the best horse that was intended to be sold only to heroes like Lord Wolfgang, without selling to just anyone… Now it has turned into a chunk of meat… but, as it met its end in Lord Wolfgang’s hands, it must have been a somewhat honorable death…”

“Yes… a horse raised with great care.”

Gilbert trembled but expressed his sense of loss very precisely and clearly.

Upon seeing him like that, cold sweat ran down Wolfgang’s back.

“W-Well… the palace will take care of it… A-after all, there was something we had to receive…”

“Oh, about that… should we try to resolve it among ourselves first? Don’t call the guards for now.”

“They will probably arrive soon… Our stable is enchanted with an automatic alarm spell.”

“What?”

Every business of Tessa had an automatic alarm spell for security.

It was a magical spell that, when triggered by physical damage to the establishment, automatically sent a signal to the nearby guards without the need for the owner to activate it.

Forgetting this fact, another bead of cold sweat dripped down Wolfgang’s back.

Thump, thump.

Footsteps of several people were heard approaching from the entrance of the stable.

“T-They are here…”

“Fast.”

“The guards are around here…”

“Owner, where is this?”

“This is…”

The address confirmed by the owner was in an outlying area quite far from the palace.

If the events at the palace had not been discovered yet, there was a high chance that the news had not reached the guards in such a distant outpost.

Wolfgang, who wanted to avoid senseless slaughter, stared at the approaching guards from a distance, preparing for the possibility.

Two lightly armed guards were carrying torches.

At this level, they could be easily subdued using force without any special abilities.

“Gilbert! What’s going on? I heard an explosion-like sound despite the alarm.”

“N-Nothing serious! H-here…”

Wolfgang quickly covered Gilbert’s mouth and gave a dubious smile to the guards.

“Uh, thanks for your hard work. It’s me.”

The guards, who noticed Wolfgang belatedly, adjusted their posture and saluted him.

Fortunately, it seemed that the events at the palace had not reached their ears yet.

“Wolfgang? What’s going on here?”

“Weren’t you in the palace?”

In response to their questions, Wolfgang scratched his head and carefully spoke.

“Oh… well, you see, I had a bit too much to drink. Fooling around with various abilities, I accidentally ended up in our friend Gilbert’s stable. Hahaha. I’m really sorry, Gilbert.”

Wolfgang patted Gilbert, who was frozen, as if asking for help.

“I-it’s okay… um, yeah… you, you said you’d compensate enough for, for this… I, I didn’t know how to turn off the magical alarm. I, I apologize for causing this mistake.”

As the guard officer, who was solemnly jotting down statements in a notebook, descended, he looked at the visibly tense Gilbert with strange eyes.

“Well, we have nothing to apologize for. It’s fortunate that you’re safe. But Gilbert, sir…”

The guard officer’s expression became even more serious.

Under his gaze, Gilbert unconsciously swallowed dryly.

Wolfgang, also sensing the tension, exerted the strength of his fist while assessing the positions of the guards.

“You completely froze when you saw a real war hero!!!”

The guard officer laughed heartily, pointing at the stiff Gilbert.

“Yeah, why were you so tense? Hahaha.”

Another guard officer laughed along, and only then did Gilbert’s tension ease.

The strength in Wolfgang’s fist also relaxed.

“Hahaha. Is it easy to see a war hero? It’s not every day that someone like that falls from the sky and surprises you!”

Wolfgang let out a sigh of relief and slapped Gilbert on the shoulder as if to reassure him.

Gilbert forced an awkward smile towards the guard officers.

“Well… well. Did you expect anything different from us? Haha… Anyway, it’s nothing serious. You can go back in now.”

“All right, all right. Wolfgang, we trust you’ll compensate adequately. We’ll go in now.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for your hard work. I’ll handle it well, so go inside quickly.”

“Take care!”

As the guard officers exchanged salutes with Wolfgang and began to walk away, Gilbert exhaled a sigh of relief as if the tension had finally lifted.

“But why was I so tense about making a mistake? I had nothing to hide.”

Although he had a puzzled thought, seeing Wolfgang’s relieved face made it seem like something had resolved well.

“Master… well done…”

At that moment, a thick mist rose in the air, revealing the image of the hall Wolfgang had just left.

“Of all times… a phantom spell now…”

There, the queen, holding a fallen warrior in her arms, appeared, weeping sorrowfully.

The patrolling guards, on their way back, halted their steps and gazed at the mist.

Soon after, an apparition illuminated the queen’s face closely.

[Everyone… Wolfgang has murdered a hero and fled.]