BXBX NOVEL Chapter 417.1: Target to Protect
It is probably less than a fifth of the size of the Spiders I had been riding so far. It has no armor and is compact with only three legs. I grip the rod-like handlebar sticking out on both sides, straddle the chair-like part, and place my feet in the stirrups and I am now in a horse riding position.
According to Tony-san, although it is small, it seems to have the same speed as the normal ones. Tony-san is a really nice person to lend it to me even though it isn’t a finished product yet.
This small Spider is designed for only one person――So even if I force it, it seems that at most two people can ride on it, so I decided to have Zaza and Lulu uses the mechanized soldier lent by Ohii-sama. There is only one mechanized soldier that has the ability to fly, but since the two of them are children, it should be able to fly if they are held in each of its arms.
“Onii-chan, are you really going to use that Spider-no? Tony-sama’s reaction seems to suggest that it doesn’t meet the safety standards at all.” (Lulu)
“…… You are surprisingly brave, Cry-san. Can you imagine what we were going through while you were asleep, Cry-san? I seriously thought I was going to die. To Royalty, a Class 2 like me is like trash. Putting aside Tony-sama, there was a chance that Nora-sama would dispose of me.” (Zaza)
Lulu and Zaza, who are being held, look my way and each speaks to me. I really feel that I have caused the two of them a lot of trouble. They must have been stuck there the whole time I was sleeping……
“It will be fine. Tony-san won’t give us something weird like that, and Nora-san won’t get rid of you, Zaza, either. After all, you and the others aren’t at fault.” (Cry)
“………… You are really optimistic Cry-san. Seriously, you might want to fix that thinking, you know? It is actually disrespectful. In fact, just calling Nora-sama and Tony-sama with “san” is pretty disrespectful.” (Zaza)“If you say that, then the people who are manipulating Nora-san, Tony-san, and the others are the ones who are disrespectful.” (Cry)
“………… Hah?” (Zaza)
Ah…… My mouth just slipped up. Forget about it. In an Advanced Physical Civilization city, you never know when or where someone might be listening to what you are saying or doing.
“H-Huuum…… You grip the handlebars tightly and use your thoughts to move, right?” (Cry)
Activating it with your thoughts is an incredible technology, but it is common for Relics. I also had trouble activating my Relics until I got used to it, but I have been a Hunter for five years now.
I put strength into my hands gripping the handlebars and use my thoughts to move it.
And then—I only left a sound behind me.
For a moment I don’t know what has happened. I don’t even have time to scream.
Instantaneous acceleration. My body feels a sense of floating and wind pressure over it. The scenery flashes by at breakneck speed.
All I can do is desperately grip the handlebars. It feels much faster than the bigger ones. Maybe it feels that way because nothing is blocking the wind. How can that be, I thought it only had three legs!? ʀ
Just as Tony-san said, there are a lot of people in his area. Even with my kinetic vision, I can barely make out the people walking down the street in a panic.
My thoughts cannot keep up with the speed. I have tried various methods to move before, but this is by far the worst.
Can I turn at this speed?
That thought comes to me at the exact moment when the wall of a building is right in front of my eyes.
As I close my eyes and prepare myself for the consumption of one of my Barrier Rings, my body is suddenly lifted. When I open my eyes, the small Spider is gliding up the building.
What about inertia? What was Tony-san thinking when he gave me this Spider? It is so crazy that I am laughing. No, I guess it is quite exhilarating. Since I don’t run into walls, it might even be better than the 『Night Hiker』.
The small Spider, having covered the height of a skyscraper in just a few seconds, leaps in the air with the same momentum and falls at once after being pulled by gravity. It seems that…… It doesn’t have the ability to fly. The small Spider falls to the ground from a great height, bounces a few times, and then takes off running as if nothing has happened.
Come to think of it…… I didn’t ask how to get off.
“Onii-chan, that’s amazing! I want to try it too! Isn’t that dangerous-no?” (Lulu)
“Does it, look, not dangerous to you? But, with this, we can go over, the area, immediately, right?” (Cry)
“…… I am just thinking, but you are quite the daredevil, Cry-san.” (Zaza)
Zaza looks at me as if he is questioning my sanity as I try to act tough. Lulu and Zaza are flying right next to me as they are being carried by the mechanized soldiers. Compared to flying with this small Spider, being carried by the mechanized soldier must feel so comfortable.
“But now that I look at it like this, Tony-sama’s area is a nice place too-no! This is the first time I am leaving Nora’s area-no!” (Lulu)
“The number of Spiders is simply not comparable, right. Tony-sama’s love of Spiders is well-known, but I can understand how he feels.” (Zaza)
Why are you guys sightseeing and not me? I somehow manage to lift my head and squint my eyes against the wind pressure to see the scenery. The speed is still incredible, but now that they mention it, it does seem like there are a lot of Spiders. Some of them have different colors like the one Tony-san was on.
“Tony-sama apparently gives Spiders to those who worked hard. They are specially made with different colors. Normally, even nobles rarely get their own personal spiders, so it seems to be a real honor. The one that Cry-san received is the latest model, so it is even more amazing. I don’t know why Tony-sama gave it to you, though.” (Zaza)
That…… Doesn’t really surprise me.
By the way, like for the creators of the 『Night Hiker』 is there some rule that says you cannot put brakes on fast-moving vehicles? I grip the handlebars with all my might to endure, but it feels like I will be thrown off if I let my guard down. I also have the Barrier Rings on me, so maybe it would be better if I was thrown off quickly…… The Spider begins to run up the wall of the building again.
At that moment, Zaza turns pale and yells.
“C-Cry-san! This is bad, this direction is――The Royal Tower!” (Zaza)
I widen my eyes. Meanwhile, the Spider doesn’t stop. For some reason, this building――Seems to be slightly inclined. In an instant, the small Spider runs through the wall of the building and jumps in the air.
And then I finally understood what Zaza was talking about.
In the open field, right before my eyes――I see a huge building――A huge tower.
The tower is larger than any other building I have seen in this city so far. It reflects the sunlight, the cold, and stands silently. It is surrounded by an open space with nothing resembling a building around it. At first glance, it is clear that the tower is special. There are countless turrets lined up on the walls of the tower. Several large birds are circling the tower. On the ground, there are more mechanized soldiers than I have ever seen before. Some of them are the same large mechanized soldiers I have seen in the prison. The security is clearly several times higher than that of the prison.
The mechanized soldiers that have been stationary suddenly start moving and look up at me. The turrets move and take aim at me, and the large birds turn around and change course in my direction. I have a bad feeling about this.
“Cry-san, that’s the king’s area, you are not allowed to go in!” (Zaza)
Zaza and Lulu who have been following me are no longer there. Before I can even raise my voice, the guns all fired at once, and my whole field of vision is enveloped in light. Lightning rains down from the sky, and the small Spider movement comes to a halt, clearly against my will. And then I am spectacularly blown into the air.
“Onii-chan, are you okay!?” (Lulu)
“………… I am fine.” (Cry)
“………… Why are you alright?” (Zaza)
Lulu and Zaza rush over to me in a panic as I lay sprawled out on the road. It seems like there is no pursuit. The small Spider I have been riding on is lying on the side of the road.
Apparently, there is no follow-up attack.
Lulu grabs my arm and helps me stand up.
“*Yareyare* Good grief, I thought I was going to die.” (Cry)
“How are you still alive? Invading the king’s territory is enough to get you instantly killed……” (Zaza)
Zaza looks fearfully at the sky. Giant mechanical birds are hovering in the air, staring over here. Rows of mechanized soldiers are lined up on the road as if there is an invisible border.
They will probably attack me if I cross the line. Of course, I have no intention of doing that. What happened just now was an accident, an accident.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas everyone! Santa brought some good news today! Even though Strange Grief anime just ended, A SECOND SEASON IS IN THE WORK! Let’s gooooo!!
So Cry used the small Spider to raid the Royal Tower, sasuga Cry nothing can stop him. And now he just need to make the king think that it is just an accident so he can leave without anyone attacking him, sasuga Master~!
And here is my impression of the 13th episode of Strange Grief:
So Sytry got 950 million Gils for the auction… Still less than Cry’s 10 digit debt XD Haha Sytry trying to lean on Cry but Liz leaned on him first. Really if Cry wasn’t there to stop those 2, they would become the greatest criminals ever with Sytry as the brain and Liz as the muscle.
No opening in this episode, but the sky scene was a bit too long no!?
Yami Nabe Party the return. They didn’t show it but Gilbert reconciled with his old Party member and are now back together. Press F for Gilbert’s Party Member who never made it to the anime. Poor Tino, Cry just forgot to invite her to the auction. Haha that Tino auction fantasm. So funny that all the mob characters are just japanese emoji and Tino, that’s not how an auction works! Did Sytry just take the opportunity to hold Cry’s hand!? So lewd XD
Hahaha the scene of Cry imitating Tino’s voice and him having some withdrawal symptoms for not participating in the auction.
Haha Cry “not” bragging about being mentally weaker than most people. And I don’t know if you can consider that crystal ball as a good weather forecast with a 70% accuracy rate…
Hahahaha Cry showing his true powaaa is so cool, but if you listen to what he is saying, lol, his true power is the power of borrowing money. Of course it is not a coincidence that when Cry decide to say that “The time has come” it is the Akasha Golem that appear! Everything was in fact all for the Golem! Sasuga, Cry the Divine Strategist
By the way why is Liz’s hair like this, behind the chair? So weird. Next shot her hair is back to normal tho’.
Yes Cry, the Akasha used technology “stolen” from Sytry’s alchemist friends, of course… Of course…
Liz being worried about not having enough then not caring because Tino was the proxy, so ruthless. XD Sytry falling all over in love for Cry (even tho’ it was her money (and Lucia’s money))
Hahaha the winner of the bid is Greg-sama! Nice that we have the soul leaving the body animation again. So Tino’s fantasm wasn’t just a joke, that was how she really thought about how to bid in an auction.
That Cry’s face when understanding that Eclair is just going to give the Relic to Ark XD Love how Ark is always taking Cry seriously, even asking if he needs to bring his weapon. Why should he, he is going to receive a Relic, not like he is going to fight something ;D
Noo Eclair you have to give it to Ark so Cry can buy it at a friendly price So all this time when Cry was saying that the Relic was dangerous, it was the truth!
Ew the mask is so creepy on Eclair but of course her drill hair has to float up like a super saiyen. Aaah Ark, you should have listen to Cry, now Eclair think that you want to subdue her. If you didn’t take your weapon with you it would have ended without any fight.
Strange Grief theme song start and what is the epic thing that is going to happen? Liz and Sytry racketeering Arnold. Well the poison was in fact just something that makes high-level hunter drunk tho’. So Sytry sold a potion to sober them up for 110 millions. What a rip off!
Wait Cry only had 3 point when he wore the mask. So that mean that in 6 arc he got 1 more point since then! So in 54000 arc, Cry’s powa will be over 9000!
Don’t skip the credit, there’s a mid-credit scene on Luke, Umuthem, Lucia in the Treasure Shrine and a post-credit scene where we even get a glimpse on Eliza!
TL;DR
And this is it. The final episode of the first season of Strange Grief.
The whole episode was so funny! Every single time I was either laughing or have a smile on my face! The whole commotion was in fact just for Cry to divert everyone attention on the golem! In the end, he end up with the Golem and the mask. Sasuga Cry he is really plan on a 5d chess board!
Too bad at the end we didn’t have something teasing Arnold wanting to take revenge on Cry after what Liz and Sytry did to him. But as I said earlier season 2 is in production right now! Everyone rejoice, it is not the end yet!
My opinion on the anime is that it was really good. The graphism was good, there was no quality drop and the pace of the anime was very smooth. I approve on the fact that they only animated volume 1 to 3 of the light novel and not more. I really like the character design and the direction they took to show funny face to emphasize the jokes.
One of the thing that was really hard to animate is probably the comedy as it needs to make you understand the different misunderstanding that people have on Cry. But even that they did it successfully thanks to Cry’s monologue, the different bgm, sound effect and visuals.
Good job Zero-G, I love the season 1! Keep it up for season 2! And you, what did you think of the anime?