How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 112

123. Meeting and Grace as Planned (4)

“Tch! Can’t you ever take it easy!”

To counterattack, I unleashed a spirit lightning toward the direction where I sensed the water spirits.

A couple of them were hit, and their presence disappeared, probably because their summoning was canceled, but the rest are still there.

Moreover, they are rapidly increasing in number.

She summoned more.

‘If I compete head-on, I’ll be pushed back, won’t I?’

If I only defend passively, I’ll definitely end up losing.

‘I guess I have to face this seriously.’

There’s no room for half-hearted persuasion.

Even if I were in Lucel’s position, I wouldn’t be foolish enough to listen to the other side.

And there’s a bit of personal interest too.

Could this be an opportunity?

‘More than anything, the skills of a main character… I wonder how my current level compares to that elf?’

It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but I’m confident that I’ve unexpectedly grown stronger.

Even if I don’t measure up to the real powerhouses, I think I’m at least capable of defending myself.

‘To set future standards of behavior, I want to know how effective my strength is against the key figures here.’

That way, I can also gauge when to pull out.

A main character would make a great punching bag… no, sparring partner.

Anyway, with Princess Elenia unharmed, this trivial misunderstanding will be resolved someday.

They seem to be stunned by our fight, but well, it doesn’t seem like Lucel will harm her, so it’s okay to leave them be.

Most of all.

‘Even if it’s an unavoidable misunderstanding, I’m still annoyed that I got hit in the first place!’

I won’t feel better unless I pay her back in kind.

If I get hit, I have to hit back the same… no! Even more!

‘First, I’ll find that damn elf!’

I’ll face her seriously.

As soon as I decided on that course of action, I activated my space control ability.

Activating teleportation, I launched myself.

I moved vertically, flying straight up 200 meters ahead.

From there, I repeated the process twice more, rising even higher.

It’s still dark because the sun hasn’t risen yet, but at least I can vaguely make out the extent of the forest as a dark mass.

I looked down at the forest below.

She’s concealed somewhere there.

‘If Lucel is determined to hide, there’s no way I can find her with my current abilities.’

I immediately gave up on finding her.

With my current abilities, I can’t match the precision of Lucel’s spirit magic.

Know thyself.

You must know your own limitations well.

Otherwise, you’ll cross the line without even realizing it.

My current goal is to create an opportunity to talk to Lucel and persuade her.

I don’t necessarily have to win fairly.

Right now, I just need to land a hit on her somehow and get her attention.

‘I don’t know where she’s hiding, but she probably hasn’t moved more than 1 kilometer away.’

The range of her spirit magic, as depicted in the original story, shouldn’t have increased beyond that yet.

More than anything, her personality would never allow her to retreat far away, leaving the hostage she needs to save behind.

‘Then it’s simple.’

The conditions have been set.

Lucel is concealed somewhere within 1 kilometer of here.

And it’s impossible for me to detect her with my skills.

In that case, if I just completely destroy that entire area, she’ll react.

It’s not like we’re playing hide-and-seek!

There’s no point in aimlessly searching!

“As a matter of course, the best tactic for flushing out concealed guerrillas in modern warfare isn’t precision strikes, but…”

I summoned a large amount of fire in the air and then.

“…carpet bombing the entire area!”

If you know it, you have to put it into practice.

I shot out flames indiscriminately, as if scattering them.

Here, have a taste of burning hail.

I intend to burn away everything within the range of her spirit magic.

Moreover, the fireballs I shot out are further accelerated with gravity control.

I won’t give her any time to react with her current level of skill.

‘Burn all the objects within the range!’

Kwagagagagagagagag!

Each time a randomly fired fireball landed, it tore through the forest and began to burn it.

Heat and a faint reddish light began to fill the surroundings.

“Come out now! Otherwise, this forest will be completely burned down before the morning sun rises!”

As I unleashed another round of bombing.

Kwagagagagagagagag!

Sure enough, I felt a sensation as if spirit energy, not my own, was being scattered from a certain point.

‘Found her!’

There’s no need to double-check.

I immediately summoned a large amount of lightning with spirit magic and.

“I know you’re hiding, so come out!”

I dropped it without question on the spot where I sensed it.

A pillar of blue current pierces through the ground, burning and smashing the grass and trees in the area all at once.

Amidst the scattering fragments, her presence finally moved overtly.

“…That’s completely insane! What is that!”

In the end, Lucel couldn’t stand it and shouted as she jumped out.

I finally found her.

Lucel seems to be planning to hide again after defending, but it’s too late.

‘Now that I’ve found her, I’ve won!’

I moved in front of Lucel, who was trying to hide somewhere to conceal herself again.

“…Ah?!”

Lucel is surprised and tries to attack reflexively, but with her momentum already broken, it’s meaningless.

Because I know the activation speed of her spirit magic.

“It’s over, genius spirit mage.”

I lightly applied gravity control to generate a small anti-gravity field.

And shot it towards Lucel’s slender body.

“Uwaaaaaak?!”

Bang!

A sound like a balloon bursting echoed in the air, and Lucel’s body soared.

Even though she looks like that, she’s sturdier than most mercenaries, so there’s no need to worry.

Elves are a more resilient race than humans, after all.

Lucel’s body collided with the air and became fixed in place.

I’ve trapped her by overlapping panels using space fixation [a technique using space manipulation to create an unyielding barrier].

“Got you.”

With my current abilities, I can maintain it for a few minutes, so it can be used as an excellent prison.

“Ugh! Let me go!”

It’s no use.

She doesn’t know how to break space-based abilities yet.

To her, struggling in resentment, I’m about to finish her off…

‘Oops, that’s not it!’

I almost forgot.

My purpose is to persuade her, not to defeat her.

There’s no point in winning against someone who isn’t even a villain.

“Sorry, Miss Elf? You’re completely misunderstanding the situation. How about we talk first?”

Let’s start persuading her.

It would be troublesome if we fought seriously here.

“Or are elves perhaps similar to orcs in that they don’t understand words?”

“Who are you calling orc-level!”

I deliberately provoked her, and Lucel finally reacted angrily.

“…And a misunderstanding? That’s ridiculous!”

Lucel shakes her head in disbelief.

“You’re the suspicious one!”

This is troublesome.

She doesn’t seem to be willing to listen at all.

How annoying.

‘If she really won’t listen, I could just beat her until she loses consciousness and then tell her it was a misunderstanding later, but.’

If I do that, my relationship with her will be over.

Considering the future, there’s a possibility that we’ll encounter each other several times.

Considering that time, I want to resolve it as amicably as possible.

Most of all, Lucel is probably already acquainted with the princess herself, which is also a problem.

Look, even now.

“Wait! Lucel!”

Princess Elenia, who had been momentarily stunned by the fight, hurriedly called out to Lucel, trying to stop her.

“He’s not the one! He seems to have saved me for now… at least he’s not the culprit. So stop it!”

No… why would you say ‘for now’ there?

Of course, she won’t listen quietly.

“Hey? Princess? Are you believing this guy’s claims right now? That he just happened to find you and save you?”

Lucel retorted as if she was dumbfounded.

“More than anything, you. Why are you loitering around in a place like this at this hour? And you expect us to believe that’s a coincidence?”

“Because I’m a spirit mage. Isn’t the forest at this hour a good time to meditate to enhance spirit energy? The moon is so bright, and there’s plenty of natural mana at this time.”

I had prepared an excuse in advance.

Suspicion is a basic requirement, and having an excuse to evade it is common sense for a member of society!

“More than anything, I received permission in advance to enter the forest. It’s okay to camp too.”

I had already obtained permission in advance to enter the forest.

Of course, I used methods that were almost half-coercive.

Princess Elenia, your territory’s soldiers seem to be weak to tips, so you’ll need to reflect on that later.

“Seeing as that elf is also a spirit mage, she should understand to some extent how necessary this kind of training is, right?”

“That’s a separate issue. The timing is too perfect. You’re not expecting us to pass it all off as a coincidence, are you?”

As expected of a main character, she’s not easily fooled.

“More than anything, what’s a spirit mage like you doing in a place like this? I’ve never even heard of your name.”

“Spirit mages like me are common. I’m just from a mountain village.”

“That’s a lie.”

If you’re so serious, I won’t have anything to say.

“If you’re really suspicious, I can sufficiently prove my identity through someone else in the future. I even spoke with a vassal named Dellesros not too long ago.”

“That’s why I can’t believe it…”

Hmm, she doesn’t believe me at all.

At this rate, simple persuasion won’t work.

Should I try threatening her a little?

“More than anything, if I were you, I wouldn’t recklessly attack any further.”

“…What?”

Lucel ignored me, thinking it was just a provocation, and tried to summon a spirit while still trapped in the air.

But somehow, she can’t proceed with her next action.

She’s probably starting to realize it. The meaning of what I said a little while ago.

“I understand why you attacked me at first, considering the situation, but continuing to act like this isn’t a very wise choice, in my opinion.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I mean that you’re not serious, but I haven’t used all my strength either.”

Lucel’s eyes widened at those provocative words, and she glared at me.

Then, she gritted her teeth in resentment and…

Conceded.

Her spirit energy subsided to a surprising degree.

“Tch, I get it, so release this first.”

“But I don’t want to fight.”

“I said I get it! Release me! I won’t attack… I won’t, okay.”

“You won’t, right?”

“I won’t! I won’t, so trust me! Were you born to be deceived?”

Have I only lived being deceived? Well, mostly in the real world, on Earth.

Anyway, the moment Lucel chose to postpone her judgment according to my suggestion.

A message popped up above my head?

Hmm? I didn’t exactly defeat Lucel, did I?

A strange message appeared.

The points acquired aren’t that strange compared to the results, but the message that was announced before is bothering me.

‘What does it mean? Is it not just about gaining influence?’

Does something happen just by lightly confronting and persuading a main character?

There was no such phenomenon during Cruse?

Is it because the conditions are different?

This is half excitement, half fear.

I have to be careful in the future.

I released Lucel and retreated.