Sousetsuka

Chapter 222 Strongest Sage, Drinks Poison

 

『Where should we run to?』

『How about going back to Eis Kingdom? We need to report about the dollmaster and all...』

Alma pointed at the direction of Eis Kingdom.

That would be the correct choice if this were a normal war.
However, it's not.

『No, if we did that, Relaia Barondom will relax their defense.』

『I mean there's no need for it anymore right, isn't that better?』

『It's true that there's no need to keep the defense up, but doing that would be the same as announcing that Eis Kingdom is aware of what's happening in Saihill Empire. It'd be a big pain if our enemy went into hiding because of that... What we need to do here is to find where the enemy is and deal with them swiftly.』

That said, with the way we're doing things, it's only a matter of time before they find out.
The demons must be paying attention to me considering the many demons I've slaughtered, so once they realize that we're nowhere in Eis Kingdom and the dollmaster has been defeated, the jig is up.

We've got to defeat them before they get to that point.

『You gotta deceive your allies if you want to deceive your enemies, like that?』

『That's right.』

『Then we'd better stay away from the border. The demons are probably watching there too.』

『Yeah. We're heading to the general direction of the empire's capital. Where exactly... depends on the result of this.』

I took a little bit of water I drew earlier from Storage magic and put it in analysis magic.
Since the impurities mixed in the water amount very little, analyzing the substance takes time... Should be over in five minutes though.

『Analysis magic... Is there something in the water?』

『Almost definitely yeah. Since the imperial water service extends to the whole country. If you mix a special poison that can absorb life force in an upper stream of the waterworks network, gathering life forces from a huge amount of people would be a simple matter.』

『Oh that's right, then you'd only need to control the waterworks' upstream, no need to install magic tools in the entire country either...』

Then Ruli stares at the water inside the analysis magic.
After a little while, she looked doubtful.

She probably didn't find anything mixed in the water.
Even if there's poison in it, the concentration is probably so low it's undetectable just by looking.

If the concentration is high enough to be noticeable by naked eyes, there would have been a big uproar about people suffering from severe illness everywhere in Saihill Empire.
The demons are able to gather life forces without anyone noticing precisely because the poison they've mixed in the water cannot be detected with naked eyes.
Even if the scheme could only gather little life forces from each individual, doing that in an entire nation would still net them quite an amount.

『But that means, we won't know where they put the poison, no? The empire's waterworks network is a closely guarded secret after all.』

『I guess it's only natural, their enemy nation would go for it if they knew where the center of the water service were...』

Indeed, the network of these waterworks is unknown... is what we're taught in Second Academy.
During wars in olden times, enemy nations conducted a search under the assumption that water should flow from a higher elevation, but they apparently couldn't find anything.

The analysis was complete when I was thinking that.
Composition of the impurities... My guess is mostly correct.

『The result is in. The empire's water service has been polluted with poison indeed.』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『Then our enemy is the waterworks bureau huh... Maybe we could locate where they put the poison in if we do our best to sneak in?』

『No, actually, I've already found out where they're doing that.』

I took a huge paper out of Storage magic.
Then I used magic to draw a map on the paper.

『...This is the empire's waterworks network.』

Ruli was surprised to see the paper.

『Y-you got a grasp of the water network just from analyzing the water!?』

『Well, it's unlikely to be 100% correct, but it should be in general.』

Minutes details down to fine branches in every corners of the empire are drawn on the paper.
But I didn't actually found all this from analyzing water... Or rather, such a feat is simply unfeasible.

I simply had prior knowledge.
The 『Great Empire Waterworks』 used by Saihill Empire presently is the exact same thing as the 『Aegis State Waterworks Network』 that was in my past civilization.
There should be some places where the network got cut off after the civilization perished, but the fact that water reaches here must mean that it's still intact to a degree.

Analyzing the water was partly to check for that.

Sure enough, the water that got here had a similar composition with the 『Aegis State Waterworks Network』.
Supplying a large amount of such clean water like this is impossible in the current age.

『No no, even in general, this is terrifying...』

『This magic could ruin a country depending on how you use it...』

『I can do that if I want to but there's no point in doing so... So yeah, the places where they mix in the poison should be around here.』

I draw two circles on the map.

Both are near the cores of the waterworks called, 『Sources』.
The source of all water in the network is called 『Great Headwater Orb』, it's a type of large-scale magic tool.

There are around 20 of these 『Sources』 in the waterworks, and these two are of particular large scale.
They're called 『The First Source』 and 『The Sixth Source』 respectively.

『Topmost upstream... There the poison...』

『If there's only two, then we only need to go take a look at them in turn! ...Where'd we go?』

『This one has a high probability of being correct.』

I point at the 『The Sixth Source』.

『Aegist State Waterworks Network』 is a product of ancient ruins.
Since the waterworks were underground and built really sturdily, it managed to withstand the Mana Fusion Reactors explosions and survived until the present days... but 『The First Source』 was situated close to a Mana Fusion Reactor.

If one of them still remains today, it would be The Sixth Source
The demons should have enough life force to move that many dolls by gathering life forces from places where water from The Sixth Source flow to.

『Got it!』

『Let's hurry up before there's more victims!』

We push our way into the highways while talking.
...Oh right, before that.

『Let's drink this water.』

I put water from the empire's waterworks into three cups and present them to the girls.
I also prepared my own cup and drank it all at once.

Ruli and Alma looked like they couldn't believe what they just saw.








Previous Chapter

4



After leaving the apothecary, Lecan followed the route Shiira taught him toward the Adventurer Association.

On his way there, he got behind a cover and changed clothes. Wearing attires with proper defense and his trusty overcoat really calm him down.

He wasn't told how many Service Quests must he complete in particular.

According to Shiira, she would know the state of quests that Lecan had done.

"I'll send you a message once you've passed."

In other words, he's got to continue doing these Service Quests until the passing verdict comes.

As Lecan needs to earn his keep, he's told her that he might have to do other quests beside the Service Quests.

Inside the Adventurer Association, there's four boys and girls in their teens, and a man in his forties.

"Telnis-san, I'd recommend this quest."

A woman sitting behind the counter showed a piece of paper to a girl.

"What's written there?"

"The topmost is number, 181. Next is the subject. <Warehouse Cleaning>. Next is the client's name."

She's explaining what's written there gradually. The other youths are huddling together as they stare at the paper and listen attentively to her. They're probably trying to learn written words even by a little through her explanation.

The man in his forties is glaring over papers posted on the wall one by one.

The woman was done with her explanation before long.

"I'm gonna take this quest."

"Yes. Then, write your name here. <Telnis Accepted. Aira Received>. There, contract established. Do you know where it is?"

"Un."

"Very well, don't forget to get the coin from the client once you're done with the job okay. It's the same as usual, you know the drill right?"

"Un. I'm going now."

"Next is, Gado-kun."

"Hold it. Can't you deal with my quest first."

"My, Bordos-san. Of course. Everyone, wait a moment OK."

The man interrupted, and the woman who seemed to be a staff member of the association checked his quest.

Lecan looked at the papers posted on the wall while listening to them behind him.

The wall is partitioned into four sections. Seems it's to differentiate qualifications for the quests one can accept. Copper Rank, Silver Rank, and Gold Rank. The fourth section has no qualification written on the quest tags, so any rank can probably take these quests. However, there's some subjugation quest for some very powerful magic beasts among the quests there. Must be do it at your own risk things.

Thankfully, Lecan understands most of the written words here. Even words he cannot understand, he can read it out loud, so he can just ask someone else. He has no idea how long he'll stay in this world, he's got to learn the words used in this world as much as possible.

Everyone else besides Lecan had already left, so he went to the counter.

"Good day (Haleef). I'm Lecan."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Ah, yes. I've heard about you from Chaney-san."

"From Chaney?"

"Yes. He dropped by yesterday to meet the association's chairman. We've been told that a skilled adventurer named Lecan would soon pay a visit here, Chaney-san wished for us to accommodate the adventurer in question with him as the guarantor."

Chaney must have been told about this test when he went to meet Shiira the day before. And he went out of his way to come here and put in a good word for Lecan.

"I'm a staff member of the Adventurer Association here, please call me Aira. First of all, we need to have you registered."

She took a register from a file cabinet behind the counter, spread it on the counter and asked Lecan.

"Would your name be just Lecan."

"Yea."

While listening to Lecan's reply, Aira wrote on the thick register.

"Birthplace?"

"No clue."

"Work experience?"

Lecan considered to mention his guard job at Zaidmahl house for a moment, but refrained so.

"None in particular."

"Age?"

"Who knows. Should be around 28 I guess."

Lecan knows not his birth date or stuff like that, to begin with, one year in this world is different from one year in his former world. Even the length of a single day probably differs. So the age he just blurted out is truly haphazard.

"Your height."

"Never measured it."

"Then please get up and stand in front of the pillar over there... OK, it's done. Please take your seat. Do you have a specific ability."

"I think I'm moderately good at handling swords. I've worked as a guard too."

After several more questions, Aira stopped her hands.

"That will be all. From today on, Lecan-san has been acknowledged by Vouka's Adventurer Association as a Copper Rank adventurer. You can be promoted to Silver Rank once you've given enough results. I'll have your Adventurer Badge ready by tomorrow noon, so don't forget to drop by okay. And as you wish to take on Service Quests, I'll look for suitable ones."

"I don't see this Service Quest on the wall though."

"As Service Quests are not something anyone could take, you have to ask the counter if you wish to take one. Staff members will assign the Service Quests most suited for the adventurer in question."

"Who makes the decision if a quest is completed."

"The client does. This applies to other quests besides service quests as well, clients are given a coin with a particular number by the association when they put up a quest. The coin will then be given to the adventurer who has completed the quest."

"I see. So you won't get rewards if you kill a magic beast not described in a quest."

"As a general rule, there is no reward for doing a job not specified in a quest you took. But the town lord will give additional rewards to those who protect the town peace. It doesn't happen often though. We're happy to purchase your magic gems and materials anytime."

"Where at?"

"It's behind this building."







Previous Chapter

Chapter 221 Strongest Sage, Blasts Away

 

『Alright, I'm done.』

『How was the dollmaster?』

『The demons had put him under a spell, he died as soon as I bound him... Managed to get the info I wanted though.』

『Info you wanted?』

『The mastermind's location... Let's get away from this warehouse first.』

I urge the girls to get away.
There's something I've gotta do here.

『Is there any problem with the warehouse?』

『Don't tell me, it's going to explode?』

The girls had evacuated the place while sounding puzzled.
I set up a simple magic tool on the warehouse's lock while responding to them.

『It won't explode even if we get away from it, but I'm going to ignite it now.』

『Ignite!?』

『We're gonna really stand out if we do that...』

『No, it's the opposite. Our enemy would find it suspicious if this warehouse didn't blow up... There's a timer on the explosive device anyway, we'd better off blowing it up now when no civilians are around.』

From the very start, the enemy has always planned to blow up this warehouse if it's been found out.

Evident by the same type of bomb locks put on all entrances to this warehouse...
There's even a magic tool that will automatically make the warehouse explode if it doesn't detect the dollmaster's mana in three days.

With these many traps, defeating the dollmaster inside while stopping the timer bomb is the same as telling the enemy that there's someone knowledgeable about magic tools amongst us.
That's only going to make them needlessly more cautious of us.

It's a better idea to follow along (?) and let the warehouse go up in an explosion.

『Even time bomb... Won't their own countrymen get caught up in the explosion that can blow away an entire warehouse?』

『Of course they would. Well, the guys who attacked Eis Kingdom don't seem to care even if this whole town is slaughtered, so they probably think nothing of some fatalities.』

『Uwaah... Then it's better to let this explode when there's no one around...』

I check the inside of the warehouse once again.
Yup. Can't find any good materials.

『Alright, I'm blasting it off!』

Afterward, I got away from the warehouse and pour mana into the magic tool I set up.

...Soon after, the warehouse's door got blown away and the warehouse went up in a blaze with sounds of explosion.
Looks like the explosive devices set there were focused into burning down the inside.
Still, anyone within 10 meter radius of the warehouse would have died instantly by the explosion.

At this rate, everything inside the warehouse would have been burned down to ashes and be unrecognizable by the time anyone could get near it.
Just convenient for destroying evidence.

『Good, let's take advantage of this confusion and move out.』

『Where are we going?』

『For now, to the guild. There's something I'd like to check.』

I ran to the guild.
There were some people who were running away from the explosion so slipping in among them was a simple matter.

『Guild? Are we going to take a quest?』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『Nah, I just want to look at the guild's water.』

We're not going to take a quest.
Heck, we're not even going to enter the building.

My goal is the guild's water facility.

Adventurer Guilds are usually joined to a drawing water facility.
From rehydration to maintaining weapons, such a place is very relevant to adventurers after all.

In Eis Kingdom, the drawing water facilities are usually situated next to the guild buildings.
We never used one since we could just use water magic ourselves though.

『Guild's water...? Since Saihill Empire has waterworks system, I don't think we'll find a well there like at Eis Kingdom...』

『Aah, I've heard about that!』

『I mean that's in the lesson at Second Academy... That water is our objective.』

I arrived at the guild while talking.
Just as Ruli mentioned, the guild's drawing water was from a water service instead of a well.

I was highly suspicious about the water service from the start, but since it was located inside a building, I had it postponed.
The stealth magic we used earlier isn't well suited for sneaking in places like the guild.
In a town as small as this, the guild staff probably remember those who come by the building.

However, in a state of panic after a huge explosion such as this time, us going in and draw the water won't draw attention.
We'd probably look like people who're getting water to fight fire.

I draw about 1 liter water and put it into Storage magic.

『Alright, let's get out of here!』

『Are you done with the guild?』

『Yea. We've no business here now with this water.』

As we were about to leave the guild... My eyes caught a paper posted next to the exit.

...It's a paper with a wanted list of criminals.
Of course, it's not unusual for there to be a wanted list. Like bandit wanted list and such, every guild has these.

The reason I stopped was because one of the portraits posted there looked similar to the dollmaster I defeated earlier.
No, it's not just similar anymore.
Even the moles and scars matched perfectly. It's practically the same person.

Here's the content of the wanted poster.

――――――――――Wanted――――――――――
Wanted: Garijig Slauther
Crimes: 38 Murders, 17 Robberies, and participant in 187 miscellaneous crimes.
Reward: 15 Million Sahia
Note: Broke out of jail in the imperial capital three days before his execution. As he was not in a situation where he could have escaped alone, there is a possibility of collaborators.
―――――――――――――――――――――――――

...Looks like that dollmaster was a wanted person scheduled for execution.

The demons most likely demanded for his obedience in exchange of freedom.
He ended up like that as a result though.

But the fact that this wanted list exists means that the whole country is unlikely to be controlled by the demons aka the worst case scenario.
I would find out where they intervene with the country if I analyze the water I just drew.
If the water has been tampered with, the empire's waterworks service is definitely an enemy.

I rushed out of the guild toward a forest while thinking that.








Previous Chapter

16-71. Saga Empire, Satou's Battle

 

Satou here. In horror and mystery stories, often there are characters whose thought process you can never guess present. In most cases, there is a reason to these characters' actions, told in the story.
However, I think the real scary ones are those whose actions don't have any rhyme or reasons behind them.



◇



"--Where is he?"

I arrived at a [Mapless Area] after pursuing the goblin demon lord into shadow.
I head to where he is by relying on the light dot displayed on the Radar.

That light dot suddenly disappeared.

I've put a marker on the demon lord, so he cannot escape me.

His marker info pertaining location displayed in my vision changed to one of the satellite cities of Saga Empire.
He must have sensed my chase and got out of the shadow space.

I broke out of the shadow space myself with that in mind.

Big blue open sky, with a sprawling town under my eyes--I'm currently on top of a steeple in the center of the town.

"There."

There's one building with a broken window.
I jump into one of the windows with Flash Drive.

"Oh yer' here already--"

The goblin demon lord that had wasted the room like some kind of burglar jumped out of another window at the opposite side.
I caught sight of the demon lord's long fluttering hair as he jumped out.

--Dark purple?

Did this demon lord who should have been bald grow hair, or did he put on a wig, I'm not sure.
He also didn't have the white coat he wore until just now.

What interrupted my fleeting thoughts was a red explosion outside the window and screams of people.

I jump out of the window.

The demon lord is shooting elementary and mid-rank fire magic all over the places as he jumps from roofs to roofs.
To stop this brutality, I shot at the demon lord with the light magic Laser.

The demon lord jumped down the roof, escaping in between buildings at the expense of his right arm.

He might be using evasion or crisis sensing-type of Unique Skill.

I use fire extinguish magic at a building that caught fire from the fire magic the demon lord shot and grazed by the laser I shot.
I had weakened the laser's firepower to decrease collateral damage, but as it was a mid-rank magic, it still wasn't enough to prevent secondary damage.

After landing on the ground with Flash Drive, I chase after the demon lord who escaped behind buildings after buildings.
Apparently this demon lord possesses Ground Shrink skill himself, I can't catch up to him.

Moreover, he kept shooting out fire and explosion magic whenever he hid behind something.
The fact that he mixed in some delayed activation spells among those is really annoying.

After chasing him through two, three blocks all the while preventing damage, the demon lord fled into shadow once again.

--He's done with just setting fire?

I jumped into the shadow while having some doubts about the demon's lord action.
There were some small fires that I failed to extinguish, but I'd leave those to the locals to take care of.



◇



"--What is this guy (demon lord) plotting?"

I arrived at another satellite city after passing through the shadow.
Chasing after the light dot shown in the radar, I discovered the demon lord who was destroying a water fountain while laughing maniacally.

In order to prevent him from escaping again, I use shadow magic the same way as sealing space magic to stop him running away into the shadow space.

The demon lord noticed me and ran away as if he was purposely letting his figure seen.

When I was about to give a chase, a block of wood rolling among the fountain debris caught my eyes.

--It's a barrel.

Scattered barrels that spread Vampire Mosquitoes around which brought upon the Vampire incident that destroyed Tokiswolk Kingdom flashed on my mind.

It's the same barrel.

I heard an explosion sound from afar.
Looks like the demon lord has started his destruction run again.

I isolated the debris of the destroyed fountain with space magic and sterilized it with fire magic.
These Vampire Mosquitoes eggs should turn into ashes after this much roasting.

The method is a bit rough, but I had to prioritize saving time here.

I went after the demon lord by tracing on the sounds of explosions.

Whenever I try to use teleport and pull-type space magic on him, he keeps getting away behind buildings using Ground Shrink during the slight window of time lag before activation of those magic. Sight-based Unit Arrangement is no different from Ground Shrink.
I would have never imagined that a Ground Shrink user who put everything into running away could be this troublesome.

The chase this time was easier than before since the demon lord was mainly using explosion magic and sound-only wind magic, thus there was no need for fire extinguishing and such.

Just like earlier, after chasing the demon lord through several blocks of the city, he escaped into the shadow once again.

That's right, he escaped.

I didn't think that he could leap over the blockage I put with shadow magic.
Since I saw him got clad in purple light when he was diving into the shadow, it must have been some kind of Unique Skill.



◇



I continued to chase after the demon lord for another five cities and two towns.
Once, I tried to encircle the demon lord using ninjutsu clones, but he immediately ran into shadow after noticing it, thus I abandoned any similar attempt onward.

But still, how far does he intend to flee.

--No, wrong.

I noticed something odd.

Why would the Gob demon lord continue to run away when it's just an Avatar?
He could have just hopped onto another replaceable Avatar body if he wanted to, what would be the point of running away without doing so.

While chasing and preventing the demon lord's harassment-like attack magic in the 13th city, I'm racking my brain to guess his goal.

What has he done so far?

Set fire to stuff, destroyed a water fountain, attempted to spread the Vampire Mosquitoes around, destroyed buildings, and surprised the populace with sounds of explosions.
Aside from the Vampire Mosquitoes, none of the acts could be fatal to an entire city.

--It's weird.

He may be weak compared to Wild Boar King and Dog-Head, but he's still a level 99 class demon lord.
He could even submerge an entire city in flames like with the old capital if he had just used advanced-rank magic chantlessly.

I saw his long purple hair disappearing into a corner.

I went after it.

"There's another one over here!"

Black knights with magic edges at the ready rushed in after I turned around the corner.
I evaded their assault with rapid usage of Ground Shrink and got back to chasing the demon lord.

--Another one?

I see.

I didn't connect the dot since the only thing similar was the colors, but the reason why he wasted the room in that mansion in the beginning was because he was looking for clothing similar to Nanashi's.
It's actually not the same at all if you look closely, but it should be difficult for ordinary people to tell us apart when we're moving at super high speed.

But this method is too roundabout if his goal is to smear Nanashi's name.
He could have just dispatched homonculi in my attires to every cities, he didn't need to go out of his way and drag me along.

I'm growing more irritated at myself who can't figure out this demon lord's ploy.

I saw the demon lord looking here with a grin and sneer on his face for an instant.
While enduring the impulse to attack him with the fast-moving light magic, I used Ground Shrink.

The demon lord escaped into shadow once again when I was just one step away from him.
I dived into the shadow while getting irritated.

--Don't go after him.

I felt like I heard a faint youthful voice while I was entering the shadow.

--Trap.

And that was the continuation that I felt I heard, but I'm not really sure since it happened right when I was going inside the shadow.
It felt like something inside my mind rather than a voice.

『Arisa, did you call?』
『Unnya, I didn't say anything.』

I thought it was the Familiar Link, turned out not.
It can't be the always-connected space magic [Tactical Talk] either.

『Did something happen over there?』
『No well, I've just been pursuing the demon lord to cities after cities.』
『That sounds rough~ be sure to call us anytime if you need our help! I'm gonna send help with the Familiar Powah~』

I feel my accumulated irritation vanishing thanks to Arisa.
She's really the mood maker.

『Thank you, Arisa.』

I cut off the Familiar Link after saying that and went out of the shadow space.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
◇



"Back to the starting point huh?"

The destination was the place where the demon lord first showed up, the old capital.

I look at Map.
The demon lord isn't inside the city.

--There he is.

He's in the [Hill of Heroes] located in the old capital's suburb.

This hill with a nice view is an ancient temple where god Parion's miracle, [Heroes Summoning], get performed.

--The magic circle is active?

The mana accumulated in a giant magic facility under the hill's ground is flowing into the magic circle laminated on the temple's ceilings and pillars, it feels like it's about to get started.

Of course it is--.

Inside the temple that was usually devoid of people besides the custodian, miko and priests of Parion Temple along with two blue dots that signify my acquaintances are present.

While feeling slightly impatient, I close in on the ancient temple where the demon lord is with Flash Drive.

There he is, Goblin Demon Lord.

"Good work out the~re."

His mouth that was peeking out of his white hood grinned repulsively.

The miko and priests are bound by chains made of dark purple lights, piled up on the floor, with the demon lord is sitting on top of them along with one blue light dot I discovered earlier--an attendant of hero, and a Parion Temple priestess, Loreiya, next to him.

She's also bound by dark purple chains like the other priests, the demon lord is restraining her from behind, with a dark bladed dagger thrust before her neck.

"Nanashi-sama!"
"Sorry for being cliched, but don't ya dare move a muscle if ya wanna see these hostages alive. No matter how out of the ordinary yer'are, killing these people before yer' ground shrink got here is easy peasy."

He's telling the truth.

That dagger is bad news.
It's giving off a more dangerous vibe than the demon lord himself.

I put markers on everyone with Map Search.
Same like how I did during the incident at the old capital, I use space magic <<Aport an Object>> to--it failed?

"It's the Unique Skill version of yer' Space Magic Sealing magic y'see. A goblin I am 's a weakling, but I got lotsa slots for Unique Skills, been real helpful."

The demon lord boasted.

The goblin demon lord living in Selbira Labryint's lowest layer, Yuika, had 13 Unique Skills, but I don't believe that it's a characteristic of goblins.

However, considering the many Unique Skills this guy has used thus far, the claim that he possesses as many Unique Skills as Yuika might not be necessarily a lie.

"What's your goal."

I examine the dagger thrust before Loreiya while talking.

--Dagger of Deicide.

I read the troublesome-sounding name and the remarks column while feeling a cold sweat down my spine.
It was made from a fragment of Dragon God's claw, a vicious dagger capable of even killing gods.

--Eh?

The name of its creator is--.

"Nanashi-sama! Please forget about us and kill the demon lord--"
"Shut up boobs."

Loreiya's shout turned into a painful scream.
The demon lord grabbed her breast and forcefully silenced her.

Loreiya meaningfully turned her line of sight toward the right interior for an instant.
I nodded back lightly to hide it from the demon lord.

There is another blue dot over there.

The other blue dot I found alongside Loreiya earlier, an attendant of Hero Hayato, The long earkin archer, Wiyaryi.

I peer at her while being careful as to not draw attention.
She's readying her bow while hiding in the shadow with some kind of stealth skill.

She's holding a longbow made of sapphire-like blue crystalline substance at the ready.
The arrow set on the longbow is clad in holy blue light--that's a holy weapon not unlike holy swords that was displayed in the Museum of Heroes.
When I'm getting ready to support Wiyaryi, the demon lord stops me just as I'm about to move a leg where my center of gravity is.

"Don't move 'k, I'mma seriously kill 'em if ya--"

An arrow of blue light pierced through the demon lord's head from diagonally behind.

Half of his head was blown away like it was sucked in.

"I did it!"

The long earkin girl that shot the blue arrow, Hero Hayato's attendant Wiyaryi let out a shout of joy.

The dark purple chains binding the priests are still persisting.

"Don't let your guard down!"

There's a high chance the demon lord is still alive.

"I got it!"

I got a reply immediately.
Wiyaryi began to prepare for the second shot while keeping her guard up.

In order to save the hostages, I went to the center of the temple with Ground Shrink where the demon lord and Loreiya are.

--Floating sensation.

I noticed that the Magic Essence in the surrounding area had disappeared when I reached out my [Magic Hands] toward the hostages.
It's the same as the Mana Neutralizing Space that got us good in the vertical passageway of the Phantasmal Labyrinth.

The mana inside my body is still intact, but whenever I attempt to use Sky Drive, the accumulated mana disappears.

I turn my gaze down.
There's a 40-meter underground space below.

Me aside, the other people here would die at this rate.

I let out seawater I had in my Storage into the underground space.
The facilities to summon heroes might break by doing this, but lives are at stake here.

We landed on water after falling about 10 meter down.

I put the seawater back into my Storage to lower the water level.
Something's weird on Radar Display, this underground space is apparently a whole other Map.

The demon lord's body disappeared into black mist inside the decreasing seawater.
Looks like his Avatar had come undone.

At the same time, the dark purple chains binding the priests also vanished.

Without minding her wet hair and clinging clothes, priestess Loreiya went to operate a control panel located in a small tower at the center of the underground space.

Looks like the Mana Neutralizing space has been lifted off, not sure when.
Since there were many that got hurt during the landing, I treated them with advanced-rank water magic. The priests take too long to chant their healing magic after all.

I used All Map Exploration just in case, but it appears there is neither a hidden door nor a hidden room in this space.

"Nanashi-sama, the summoning magic circle that was in the midst of activation has gone out of control! At this rate, it will continue to summon heroes from another world until the lives and mana of everyone in the old capital have been exhausted up!"

Is this what the demon lord had been scheming?

I ran to the control panel to prevent the worst-case scenario.



※ Next update is planned for 11/11








Previous Chapter

3



Steeling himself, Lecan knocked on the door.

After a bit, a voice came from inside.

"Okay okay. I'll be right with you, hold on a bit."

And then, after some time, the door opened slightly.

"Come'in."

A soft voice.

Lecan put his hand on the opened door's knob and went inside.

The room smelt of beast.

The left side of the room is covered in straw, a long-arm ape (Zanvald) is sitting there.

Its fur looks really glossy. It must be eating nicely. Its face is of deep black color which also has a nice luster to it. It's looking up at Lecan with its big round eyes, seemingly slightly puzzled.

The person who opened the door had her back facing Lecan as she walked to another room in the back.

"Over here."

Lecan passed through the still opened door, following after her.

The room he came into was shockingly spacious.

There's a work desk in the middle of the room.

At the farthest end, in other word, right by the outer wall, there's a fireplace with a huge chimney in the back. The size of the fireplace doesn't match the chimney's. As if the fireplace is just an extra.

A small table along the wall near the fireplace has teacups, a kettle and such placed on it.

And the walls in every directions are full of shelves filled with pots of various sizes.

Since the ceiling is very high, there's a lot of shelves, and countless amount of pots.

Wonder how are the pots on top getting taken in and out.

"Heave-ho."

The woman who's sitting down on a chair behind the work desk has long white hair.

Lecan's right eye opened wide for a bit.

<3D Perception> is able to perceive the shape of things, but it cannot distinguish colors and materials. Thus, the figures of people caught by <3D Perception> are often quite different than the ones caught by his bare eye.

However, this apothecary is a special case.

The figure of this apothecary caught by <3D Perception> is that of a young woman.

Yet, the apothecary reflected in Lecan's bare eye is that of an elderly woman.

In other words, the figure seen by the bare eye is a false image. This apothecary is tricking bare eyes through magic. A magic that makes her look old even though she's young in reality. Since she's maintaining such spell indefinitely, she should be continuously emitting her mana, yet Lecan cannot sense it. Since the amount of mana this apothecary possesses is far too large.

The long-arm ape <Zanvald> got in and closed the door behind Lecan.

"Pardon me. I'm Lecan. Are you Shiira."

"Correct. I'm Shiira. Hmmm, you huh."

"I assume that Chaney has given an explanation. I'm wondering if you'd hear my wish."

"Right then. First thing first, have a seat. Jericho. Get a chair for our guest here."

The long-arm ape called Jericho fetched a backless chair from one corner of the room and put it in front of Lecan. Then it skilfully moved away with its long arms and positioned itself on the floor next to the elderly woman.

Lecan put his bag on his feet, removed the sword on his waist, leaned it on the bag, and sat down on the chair. He's not wearing his overcoat today, but a tidy proper one.

The woman is staring straight at Lecan with her droopy gray eyes.

As for Lecan, he's comparing the woman's real figure and false one. Looking closer, they're very similar. The contours of her jaw and nose, the shape of her eyes. Perhaps, her outward appearance is that of hers in advanced age.

"We really owe you one in the matter this time. I have to say my thanks first. So I heard you wanted to learn the skill of an apothecary. Limited to physical and mana recovery."

By 'this time', she must mean the matter with Chaney. From the way Chaney talked, it didn't seem like he was that close to her, but they were in fact close enough for her to express her gratitude in his behalf.

"Those two are my main objectives."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"So I heard it was for adventuring, by physical medicine, do you mean for treating wounds."

"That's right. For treating wounds, and if possible, an all-purpose type that works for illness."

"Don't think adventurers would normally go and make their own medicines and magic potions though."

"That may be the case, but in mine, I am often going on an adventure in forests and dungeons for months on end without stopping by inhabited villages or towns once. Thus I found it inconvenient if I couldn't make my own medicines. Besides, it's something I hang my life on, so I'd like to know in depth about its mechanism, the way to make it and problems. And I also like to make medicines. When I'm wounded and my mana isn't enough to heal me, using the medicines I made myself felt, I can't explain it well, really impactful, and nice."

The young apothecary Shiira who puts on an illusion of old woman ponders for a while after listening to Lecan.

"Huh, I did not detect a lie in your words. Besides, I like how you're fond of making magic potions. Could you show me medicines that you make."

Lecan took two medicines out of his bag. One physical medicine, and one mana recovery medicine. Both are well made mid-grade medicines in his former world. They're his masterpiece among his work.

"These are some peculiar containers. How'd you open these."

The lids shouldn't be opened without good reasons, but he has no choice here.

"You need to twist and turn the part covering the top to the right."

"Like this? Ah, it came off. This is one nice container. Is it tough?"

"It won't break even if you drop it on the floor from that height. However, it cannot withstand blunt force well."

"Hmmm. Are these containers for sale?"

"I can't get my hands on one anymore. I won't sell them."

"My, is that so. That's a shame."

Shiira stared hard at the medicine inside the container.

--By any chance, does this woman. Possesses the appraisal ability?

Higher ranking appraisal even allow the user to see ability of humans and magic beasts.

Lecan felt uneasy.

Shiira put a drop of the medicine in her palm and licked on it.

Afterward she closed the lid and did the same with the mana recovery medicine.

"I see. I have no idea what materials these are made from. This never happened before, y'see. But it's wonderfully effective. If you could make something at this level, you'd be treated as skilled apothecary anywhere. Lecan."

"What is it."

"Let's put you to a test."

"Test. Fumu. What do you want me to do."

"It's clear that you are serious in medicine making after seeing your work. I also like your reason for wanting to make them. However, I am not sure whether you will have the wit and perseverance needed once you've become my pupil. I also want you to help with the store once you're my pupil, but there's no telling whether you're capable of that. So could you go and accept the Service Quests at the Adventurer Association."

"What are these Service Quests."

"If you post a quest for an adventurer, you need to pay for their reward. However, there are those who desperately need helps even though they cannot afford to pay for it. There is a system put in place to help these people, with the rewards paid by the lords. When there is an application for a Service Quest, the Adventurer Association will make an assessment, and they will approve it as a Service Quest if they deem it acceptable. The reward paid to the adventurer is one big copper coin regardless of the content of the quest. As you're offering your service to the society, they call it Service Quests."

"One big copper coin huh, that's low."

"It is low. However, it's more than enough for a novice adventurer to support their day to day life. Furthermore, your records on Service Quests will be referred in the assessment of the promotion exam from Copper Rank to Silver Rank. Many kids make use of Service Quests as a mean to gain experience."

Lecan felt a weird sensation as he listened to Shiira. Shiira's true identity is that of a young woman. However, her way of talking is not that of a prickly young woman, he felt composure and sagacity. Her slightly horse yet soft voice is pleasant to listen to.

Perhaps, the elderly woman seen by his bare eye is actually the true form of this woman.

While thinking that, Lecan told Shiira that he would take on these Service Quests stuff.








Previous Chapter

Chapter 220 Strongest Sage, Extracts Info

 

『Of course, there would be a trap. Probably the instant the lock at the entrance was broken, the entire warehouse would go up in an huge explosion magic.』

『But then, the dollmaster would also die if they did that...』

『The dollmaster is a sacrificial pawn anyway. Blowing them all away would erase both those who could damage the dolls and evidence along.』

In fact, mana reaction that feels exactly that is leaking out of this warehouse.

The dollmaster was probably told that the magic tool was for eliminating intruders in time of emergency.
The dollmaster who cannot read magic circles probably set up the magic tool themselves without knowing that it would kill them along with the enemy.

There's a high chance that they're under a high level of mind control that bars them from even questioning what the magic tool is even.

『Uwaah, they're really treated like a disposable...』

『Because they are. To the point that you feel sorry for them.』

Well, that doesn't mean I'm going to hold back though.

Even the demons must have picked humans that were easy to control.
Those who are virtuous steer clear of demons, so they're usually hard to manipulate.

Folkia had a great number of citizens controlled, but that was because the sub-demons were staying nearby.
Strong mind control that persists long after the demons have gone away requires willingness from the person put under the control.

The dollmaster must have allowed the demons to control them due to some kind of reasons.
With that in mind, there's no need for sympathy.

『...Here it is.』

We're standing in front of a warehouse with blue walls.
It's quite old, but the door has a newish lock installed.

『Entry off-limit for non-personnel.』
『Managed by: Waterworks Administration Bureau - Ecial Branch.』

That's what written on the door.
Looks like this building belongs to the so-called Waterworks Administration Bureau.

Mana reactions of one human and the dolls could be sensed inside the building.
The human's mana reaction is very small.

『Waterworks Administration Bureau.... I've heard that Saihill has a large-scale water service, is it being managed here I wonder?』

『Doesn't seem like there's flowing water inside, this place is probably a mere warehouse... Anyway, that lock is a trap, so don't touch it.』

The lock looks like a simple padlock, but the inside seems to be fitted with a transmission-type magic tool.
It's probably connected to a magic tool inside that will blow up if it gets broken.

Well, the fact that it won't go off without breaking the lock is proof this trap is third-rate.

『Will it explode if you touch it?』

『It won't explode as long as it's not broken, but there's a possibility some kind of alarm will go off if you touch it... Not like we need to politely go from the front anyway, we can just do it this way.』

I invoke soundproofing magic and put my hand on a wall next to the door.
Afterward, I invoke attack magic the size of a human.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『Ah, you're going to break it...』

『Wouldn't it be quicker if you just let me go ahead and break everything then? I mean, I'd be all right even if the whole building go under.』

『That would badly mess up the inside. Something that could be a clue might be there, so I'd like to preserve it as much as possible.』

I don't really have much expectations, but there might be something that could be a hint inside.
And even if there isn't, causing too much uproars could lead them to us.
Well, punching a hole on the wall isn't any better though.

『...Then it might be better if I don't go in...』

『Yeah. You three, please be on the lookout here to stop anyone coming. Our enemy is alone, I'm gonna capture them real quick.』

『Got it!』

After we're done consulting, I destroy the wall with the attack magic.
There's no sound due to the soundproof magic, the hole is just enough for me to pass.

I jump inside through that hole.
Just as the mana reactions tell me, there's a huge number of dolls and one man inside.

"...Ah?"

As the man sounded confused to see me coming through a suddenly collapsing wall, he threw a sword in his hand at the same time.
It's like attack first, question later, before confirming the situation.

He looks to be very adept at it, there's absolutely no awkwardness in the way he moves.
It's probably not something from the demons' control, but originally his.

...I figure it out after seeing his movement and atmosphere.
This guy had killed dozens of people even before the demons came into the picture.

Well, it's not like he's strong though.
Not like he could use chantless magic like Giruas after all.

"Wha... The hell are you!"

The man pulled out another sword while sounding surprised to see me swatting down the thrown sword with my hand.
He even had a spare sword ready huh.

Of course, I'm not obliged to answer.
I zeroed in on the man and restrained him with magic.

...Right then, I felt something strange.
The mana on the man's his body isn't that of a normal human.

Unrelated to the fact that this man's a murderer.
His heart isn't pulsing.

Dead man... Or rather, it looks like the man got revived after purposely being killed off.
I didn't notice until after I got this close since the camouflaged spell art used life force instead of mana as a base.

And the reason the enemy went out of way to do all this must be for silencing the guy.
Sure enough, the moment my restraining spell was cast, the magic that maintained his life force was canceled.

To extract info, I attempted to cast a new spell to maintain life force, however...

"...Been dealt with huh."

My spell was blocked off.
Looks like it's been made so that only spell that makes use of life force can work.

...Guess I'll confirm one thing before this guy dies.
There's probably nothing much I could get out, just a hint should be enough.

Simple questions with either yes or no answers can be done with a certain magic.
The magic has a heap of side effects, but there's no need to worry about that on someone that's about to die.

"Are the people backing you related to Waterworks Bureau?"

I cast 【Magic Interrogation】 as I asked.
It's called interrogation, but in actuality, this magic practically reads your thoughts.

It causes a huge load on target's brain, so it can probably only used once on this guy.
Even if the target is of healthy body and mind, using this magic five times would make them practically dead after all.

However, it fits well in situations like this.
You simply need to cast the magic as you ask a question, and the answer will come out soon.

--Then, the magic returned a response.
I immediately analyze the mana and derive an answer.

The answer is yes.
Just as I thought.

...With this information alone, I ascertained which places should we raid to trace the people who are collecting life force.

Next, we just need to cross check with the info we got from observing this village, and whether we should raid the place or not.
I got out of the warehouse while thinking that.










Previous Chapter

1



Lecan was hesitating in front of that door.

There is neither a bell nor a knocker. Which means, he has to either knock on the door or call out someone.

However, should he really knock on this door.

Lecan was hesitating.



2



Before they entered Vouka Town three days ago, Lecan suddenly stopped moving and asked Chaney.

"Chaney. Do a great number of magic beasts inhabit this town?"

"Eh, magic beasts? Aah! Yes, they do. They're tamed magic beasts, you see. Like apes and wolves. The apes are tamed <Long-arm Apes (Zanvald)> while the wolves are tamed <Tree Wolves (Treuje)>. People don't refer to them as magic beasts, but as House Apes and House Wolves. It's not rare for other big towns to keep either House Apes or House Wolves in, but I think only this town has both types."

When Lecan probed the inside of the town with <Life Detection>, he found a surprising number of blue dots signifying magic beasts. Some places even have more than 10 dots crowded together. Additionally, as you'd expect from a big town, there are several red dots signifying mana-bearing humans. There is even an extremely strong one mixed among these red and blue dots.

Asking Chaney about this means Lecan is disclosing the fact that he possesses a peculiar detection ability, but after what's happened thus far, Chaney probably has noticed it himself. That he went out of his way to point out, [People don't refer them as magic beasts, but as House Apes and House Wolves], a fact that anybody should have known, was probably because he had perceived that Lecan is poorly informed of this world's common sense.

Lecan stayed at an inn provided by Chaney during hist first night at town of Vouka. The inn provided not only dinner but even breakfast.

He received his rewards at noon of the second day from Chaney, that was when Lecan asked Chaney to introduce him to a skilled apothecary.

Chaney asked for his reasons, and Lecan spoke of his circumstances.

He had been making his own not-too-effective magic potions. It's a necessity for someone who's constantly knee-deep in battles. However, due to a certain circumstance, he's found himself far away from home, somewhere full of unfamiliar vegetation, he has no idea how to make magic potions with these plants. Thus, he intends to study under an apothecary to learn the necessary skill. He also wants to stock up on magic potions he cannot make himself.

"Humm. Which means, you'll be going on your way once you've learned from the apothecary. In that situation, you will need to pay tuition fee if you wish to study under them."

"Naturally."

"And learning from a skilled apothecary means the tuition fee will not be cheap. Ah, but an adventurer like you could earn your daily expense and tuition fee all while studying. What kind of magic potion do you wish to learn to make."

"Physical and mana recovery ones. Mainly these two."

"All right. Hmm."

After thinking for a while, Chaney put forward one apothecary's name.

The person is an exceptionally skilled apothecary, but never takes an apprentice for some reason.

Many people wished to learn under her, even the town lord repeatedly asked her to have his subordinates study under her with huge rewards as compensation, but the apothecary refused and even threatened to leave the town if they persisted.

"That's how that person is, thus I think Lecan-san might have little chance to get accepted. However, her skills are in a whole entire league compared to other apothecaries. Even though I'm fully aware that she might refuse, I still intend to ask her to take Lecan-san under her wings. Besides... No, never mind. I shall try asking her for now."

Lecan couldn't ask for more. For him, no amount of money or effort is too much if it means having a chance to learn from such a skilled apothecary.

Since Chaney asked Lecan to wait one or two days, he asked Chaney where to find a cheap inn.

"I don't care if it's cramped or stinky. The cheaper the better. I might have to stay long after all."

"Haha. And besides, I suppose a slightly dangerous location should be fine with Lecan-san. I understand."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
Chaney skilfully drew a map.

"This here. It's quite far in the back from here, but I'm sure Lecan-san would find no problem."

"Thanks."

Since his lodging fee for the day and tomorrow's breakfast had already been paid, Lecan stayed at the inn he was at, and immediately checked out on the third day after having his breakfast.

The adventurer girl, Eda, who went with him to escort Chaney stayed inside the inn all this time. She's probably sleeping in.

That day, Lecan walked around the town and headed toward the inn referred to him around evening. It was quite cheap at one copper coin a night.

And yet, the bed had straw and didn't smell of mold, and the sheet was fairly clean. There's even water in the washbasin. He paid extra for dinner, but both the amount and flavor were quite satisfying.

The next day, Lecan slept in a bit to heal his piled up fatigue, and went downtown after telling the inn he'd be staying again tonight. He went around some stores and bought daily necessities and stuff.

He got back to the inn before evening hour, paid for a one night's stay and went to his room. A different room than yesterday. This kind of inn won't keep your room even if you tell them you're gonna stay for multiple nights.

Lecan threw the purchased goods inside the luggage bag into <Storage>.

He suddenly recalled something, took foodstuff out of <Storage> and inspected it. Some were clearly not fit for eating anymore. He's got to dispose of it. He took various luggage and inspected their conditions. Quite a lot of magic potions couldn't be used anymore, quite unfortunate.

Chaney's messenger dropped by right when Lecan went downstairs to get some grub.

The messenger expressly went to Lecan's room and conveyed a message from Chaney there. It's probably something that mustn't be overheard by other people.

The apothecary agreed to meet Lecan at least, and he was given a map of the store. Whether he would be accepted as her apprentice or not, that would be up to Lecan.

He was given a map to Chaney's store as well.

"Master has requested for you to come by the store once the result of your negotiation has come to light."

After saying that, the messenger went back.

The next day, Lecan went to visit Shiira the apothecary.

The location of her house was quite convoluted.

It was at the edge of the outer wall far off the shopping district.

In a place where complex rows of old desolate big buildings, inhabited by the poor who's probably not the actual owners of those buildings, living side-by-side as if joining shoulders together, the map led him deep inside such a place.

After passing through many junctions in narrow alleys, he finally arrived somewhere that was completely surrounded by hedges.

The plants growing beyond these hedges must be medicinal plants, but it's full of weird poisonous-looking grass and short trees.

He could see a wooden house far in the back. Houses in this town are mostly made of bricks and stones, it's unusual for one to be made of wood.

It doesn't seem to have a second floor, yet the ceiling is unusually high for a single-story house. And near the center of the house, there's an unnaturally large chimney poking out.

And no matter how you look at it, there's no path that goes to the house.

However, according to the explanation in the map, you can enter by pushing the rightmost hedge.

After entering through the hedge, there was a secret pathway hidden by an arch of grass.

At the end of that pathway, there stood a door.

But, of all places, it has to be here.

Lecan had his doubts when he saw the map the first time.

This is the one place he didn't want to get anywhere near to, yet this is also the place the map led him to, the place where the bearer of overwhelming mana that's not unlike a boss of dungeon's deepmost level resides.







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