Sousetsuka

Chapter 328 Strongest Sage, Treated as Symbol of Fear

 

Grevil replied to the knight commander.
Seeing them... Ruli and Alma looked dumbfounded.

"...Now that you mention it... It didn't sound like we're going to fight a strong demon... Yet that just came off naturally to me..."

"Are you saying we've gotten used to these critical situations...?"

"Well, I mean it's rarer for us to fight enemies that aren't way over the top instead..."

Now that I think about it... It's true.
I feel like we keep getting ourselves involved in extraordinary situations with barely any time to rest ever since I was enrolled to Second Academy.
No, rather than getting involved, it's more like we've been dealing with them a lot... But this frequency is not normal.

"When you put it that way, there's some truth in it..."

The past me often got dragged into these similar situations.
Before I realized, what was abnormal became normal to me to the point that I couldn't distinguish what was ordinary and what was not anymore.
That doesn't apply to me now since I have acquired common sense though.

However... Ruli and Alma were ordinary students originally.
I might have dragged them into this stuff way too many times regardless if they're party members.
Though it's probably not a big problem to Alma who had always wanted to earn money as an adventurer...

"Now I'm feeling bad for dragging into this stuff even though you wanted to get into a production role..."

Ruli is a production type mage who loves to create things.
Tempering her mana through battle in order to better her production type skills is an effective way to go about it... but I feel kinda bad when it's so excessive like this.
I do teach her production type magic since she's got the talent for it... But she's also been participating in all my fight somehow.

While I was thinking that... Ruli spoke out.

"Sure, there were a lot of combats... But, I'm glad I could get in your party Mathi-kun, you know?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"...You are?"

"I'd rather fight together than just watching you fight from the side line, Mathi-kun! ...And most importantly, I can be together with Mathi-kun when I'm in your party..."

I see.
Indeed, in order to study production type magic, close to me would be the optimum location.
The past me was a bearer of Glory Crest (known as First Crest in the past) that specializes in production type, a mage who stood at the supreme height of production type magic.
In that sense, being my party member would present the most ideal environment for that purpose.

"Umm... Did you get what I was trying to say?"

Ruli asked me with a worried look on her face.
I nodded firmly.

"Yeah, I did."

"...Yeah I don't think so..."

Alma murmured when she heard me.
...I got what Ruli wanted to say loud and clear though...

While thinking that, Iris muttered in earnest.

"I'm truly glad that I'm in this party..."

Her words were full of emotions.
To be frank, I think Iris is the biggest victim in this party though.

After all, we dragged her out of her mountain while she was resting to recover her wounds just because we needed a transportation.
As I look at Iris while thinking that...

"...I mean, as long as I'm in this party, I won't antagonize the symbol of fear to all dragons!"

"Mathi-kun you were known as that...?"

"First I've heard of that... But I won't be surprised if you tell me dragons fear Mathi-kun... He erased that [Dragon Breath] and all when we met Iris-san back then..."

She's talking about the past huh...
That was a story from thousands of years ago though.

"No, I'm only a symbol of fear to Iris, I think..."

I recall all the extraordinary situations we faced up until now.
Such situations weren't unusual in my past life either.
However... Those were in the span of once every few years or decades.

Compared to that, there's way too many irregularities in this world.
My past life would even look peaceful if you directly compare to the rush of extraordinary situations we've been dealing here.

It's more like there are just way too many abnormalities in this world than just us getting dragged into one.
Almost like a complication would arise every month.
Demons aren't supposed to get revived one after another like this to begin with.

There might be a [True Cause] to this all behind the scenes.
I've got a few candidates on mind already... But we've got to resolve the situation we have at hand first thing first.

"Tell me though, since you're heading straight to the site... You've got a chance, don't you?"

The principal asked me.
I nodded without any hesitation.

"Yeah... There is no chance but winning here."

Honestly speaking, it's doubtful if I can defeat Zadokilgias by myself.
But it's not an opponent us four cannot win against.






Previous Chapter

20





Girls quickly crowded around Eda when she and Lecan came to the orphanage.

And Lecan had a line of kids waiting for his piggyback.

However, today the vice temple head had given her directive to only let three kids get on him at a time. Lecan could use his <Float> and <Move> to catch the kids even if some tumbled down when he carried five, but none of the staff members here know about that. Since Lecan had no interest in disclosing his abilities, he chose to obey the directive given.

As for Eda, she's using all her ten fingers to create shapes like birds and animals. The girls are really into it. They can't seem to mimic Eda's amazingly dexterous fingers however.

Lecan introduces a game where you try to drop nuts put on a stake with a ball made of rounded up ivy to the kids. Distances and stakes differ depending on the kids' age groups. They were playing by the rules at first, but then they started hitting the ivy balls against each other midway through. Lecan was the last target standing in the end. He ended up running all over the place to avoid the balls as he couldn't exactly hit back.

After lunch, Eda drew on the ground with a stone. She was unexpectedly really good at it.

Seeing her, both the girls and the boys started drawing on the ground as well.

"You were a great help today Eda."

Back at home, Lecan said his thanks to Eda while drinking liquor after dinner.

"But wow, you're really popular with children, aren't you Lecan."

"Even I didn't expect 14 year old kids would be that ecstatic to get a piggyback."

The oldest kids there were aged 14 year old. There were two girls and two boys in that age range.

"Lecan."

"Yeah?"

"They have to leave the orphanage and start working once they turn 15."

"Yeah, so I heard."

"No matter how hard things are at work, or even if they get fired, they can never go back there."

"Yea."

"So this is the last chance for them to act spoiled."

"Fumu."

"And, maybe."

"Hum?"

"Most of the kids there never know how their parents look like."

"Seems so."

"They probably imagine that's how it feels like to have a father."

"...Eda."

"Yes?"

"How old were you when your father passed away."

"It was when I was ten."

"I see."

Thinking again, Eda is the same age as the oldest group of kids at the orphanage.

Normally, Eda is still at an age where she depends on her parents.

"Piggyback."

"Eh?"

"Wanna hop on?"

"No, I don't."




<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka. com >
21





"Ha ha, it was a disaster. We had emergency cases carried here looking for you two even though we were closed yesterday."

"Hou."

"What happened to them?"

"I gave some pain relief to one and asked him to go home. His chronic illness acted up, but honestly, there was nothing I could do to that."

"My condolences."

"The other one suffered injuries. I gave him an emergency treatment and referred him to the temple."

"You can get treatment at the temple?"

"Where were you born, Eda?"

"A small village near Boyd."

"What's the village's name?"

"I don't think it has one."

"It should have one though. But I see then. No temple would be built in somewhere more rural than Boyd."

"Yes."

"All temples offer treatment for the sick and wounded. And they charge a fee for their service."

"Fee..."

"Medicine and herbs mostly make up the cost of treatment employing them, so it's not too expensive."

"Yes."

"However, Temples despise the idea of treatment solely by medicine. They strongly encourage the usage of <Recovery>. Cause well, <Recovery> are divine acts of gods to temples."

"Is it expensive?"

"It is. Even the lowest class of <Recovery> costs five silver coins per casting. Though it's effective on all kinds of diseases and injuries, only the most skilled practitioner is able to fully heal a patient with a single <Recovery>. Meaning, it often needs twice, thrice the casting. They would even demand gold coins if two priests work together to cast <Recovery>."

"Buying a red potion would be cheaper by the sounds of it."

"Where'd you buy something like that?"

"Don't they sell those?"

"I've never seen red potions in store shelves here in this town. Some noblemen and the wealthy did manage to get those potions, but for great prices I believe. Wait a minute."

"Hum?"

"You two are adventurers, aren't you. A top one even in Lecan's case. Could it be that you've got red potions with you? I'd like to purchase a few pieces of small red potions if so."

"I do. But none a small red potion. Only mid to large."

"Oh I can't afford mid ones. That's a shame."

"I don't need money. We are in your debt. I'll give you all red potions I have."

"No no no. Those won't be for me to use on. And I've got to charge money if I were to use those potions on my patients. Charging less than the market price is bad."

Lecan had no clue what's so bad about it, but that's probably true if Norma said so.

"OK then, I'll get you some small red potions during my next dungeon expedition."

"That'd be helpful. But make sure you use some for yourself when you need 'em, you hear me."

"Small red potions are practically useless on me. Even the large ones hardly do anything."

"What? Something like that... could only possible if, Lecan, you're... I see. That left eye, it's"

"Norma-sama. Your ride is here for you."

"Ah, it's that time already huh. Well then, Lecan, Eda, let's go visit our patients."

"Yeah."

"Yes."





Previous Chapter

Chapter 89 Reconciliation

CRACK!

"OUUUUUUUUUCH."

"Ow ow ow, hey, be gentler will ya, these old bones ain't gonna get any younger."

A black-skinned man and an old man cried out as their dislocated shoulders were getting reattached.
Please don't ask the impossible. This is the only way Master taught me to do it, y'see.
I'll cast heal on them just in case anyway.

"Sorry, you're a lifesaver."

Jerindo bowed as he said that. He's the leader of this party [Foolhardy Giants]. The same party who was attempting to capture me under Jami's order back then. Well, I made them fall asleep and confine before they could even come across me though, so it's prety much our first meeting. I don't really care about the past anyway.
I would have never imagined that Kurei-san would join this party though.

"Don't worry about it. I was just unwilling to abandon an acquaintance."

"Nobusada-sama, I'm truly grateful for saving this life of mine not just once, but twice."

Wait a minute Kurei-san. Why are you adding sama suffix. Look, even Mitama is staring at me now. I beg of you, please stop that.

"Well anyway, is anyone else hurt? Looks like they did a number on you. Never seen those monsters before myself, they were armed and all."

"Oh are you not familiar with them? Those are Cinnamonkeys. They're crafty greedy barbaric monsters. We wouldn't dream of even fighting them if not for a quest ourselves."

Apparently, these Cinnamonkey monsters would attack adventurers and plunder their weapons and armor to make them their own. Oh right, their equipment remained even after they were defeated. That's dirty, Cinnamonkeys, way dirty.
As it turned out, they accepted the quest I saw before and was smoothly beating those monsters one by one while collecting drop items when two of their members got pushed into a bottomless marsh by the monsters, immediately putting them in a precarious situation.

"So what are you planning to do now? I don't think you can fight in your conditions."

That's right, Naina's and Buraran's weapons have been lost in the depths of marsh. The two who almost drowned themselves are full of mud and can barely move. Jerindo is wounded badly due to him holding out the frontline. I wouldn't be surprised if he got tetanus if it's left unattended. That said, turning around and getting out of the dungeon won't be so simple either. And even if their wounds are treated, they must be exhausted.

"I'm sorry, I'm aware how shameless this sounds but could you share some food to us? Those monkeys snatched our belongings which included our food supply during the scuffle earlier."

Ah, I see now. Food might have been those Cinnamonkeys' goal all along.

"Young'un. We've got plenty of food ourselves anyway, how 'bout you go helpin' 'em here eh?"

The moment Wakamoto-san on my back spoke, [Foolhardy Giants] members froze all at once. Yeah of course they're surprised. Even the girls at our house still get spooked by him sometimes.

"Naturally of course, that's always been the plan. Anyway, you probably shouldn't walk far with your conditions. Wanna head to our base and rest your bodies there?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kurei-san even prostrated herself. Stop that, I don't derive pleasures from making ladies prostrate themselves.
Hence, we got ourselves new companions as we headed back to our base. They were left dumbstruck when they saw me and Wakamoto-san shooting down birds, monsters and stuff left and right along the way, but I paid no heed. It would weigh on my mind if I did. Didn't think our magic pouch would be full before we could put all the drop items in though. We somehow managed to collect everything by making everybody carry some.

<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.>

The members of [Foolhardy Giants] were completely stunned when we arrived at our base. Oh yeah, I've no clue how an average adventurer party spends their night in a dungeon. Apparently it's usually done by a party of 4-6 with alternating night shift. As such, fatigue accumulates quickly, and a week stay is very straining on the body even for the experienced. You can get around that to a degree by having more members, but that also means more food expense and less income, a dilemma.


The ladies washed their bodies in the indoor bath tub while the men dived into drum-styled outdoor bath. The two who were covered in mud were especially thankful to tears.


Meals for adventurers are usually flavorless preserved food to decrease luggage. By the way, our dinner this time is a boar meat hot pot using ingredients we got earlier. The seasoning is of course, miso! I made it without any problem since I've been making it forever. The soy sauce is still a spiral of failure however. I can't get the brewing process right even now, it's full on trial and error.

This was the fourth day for Kurei-san and her party, they had been starving for warm food. I ended up having to grill some meat on a bedrock for those who couldn't wait for the hot pot a second longer.


They immediately fell asleep like logs once they had their fill.


That night, I'm preparing for tomorrow by myself. Making smoked food including for Kurei-san's group's shares. I made a stone hut with a tall chimney to smoke the boar meat and stuff inside. May it turn good.


Rustle


Hm? Someone came by while I was chuckling at myself to the smoking stone hut.

"Could I have a moment of your time?"

It was Jerindo. His bare face under his full iron armor (not of the plate mail type, but plates put over leather armor) looks younger than I thought. He's got tsurime eyes, and blond slightly-pompadour-styled hair. But wow, it's incredible how he retains his hair style under that iron helmet of his. A profound mystery.

"What's the matter? Don't worry about lookout, go ahead and get some rest."

"Well, uh, you see. I wanted to apologize."

Jerindo bowed.

"Huh, what did you do to me again?"

"Please, you can drop the act. While vague, I still had my conscious when you put us to sleep in an attempt to escape our pursuit back then."

Whoops, he's talking about that one time huh. But really, so they were still awake then. I've still got a way to go.

"Even though we were going to gang up on you, not only did you not finish us off, you even made magical walls for us instead. I thought you were just naive, but once we realized how fishy that quest was, we regretted ever trying to mess with you. Feel free to beat me up until you're satisfied. That's the only thing I can offer you."

I'm not some vigorous young man who corrects attitude by punching them down or anything, so no I won't. It would be another story if they did something to the girls, but since it was just me, and an attempt at that, I don't really care.

"Since you probably won't take it if I tell you to not mind about it, I'll just ask you to take care of Kurei-san. She's an important friend of our Mitama."

Jerindo had a foolish anticlimatic look on his face when he realized that his resolve to get beaten had gone to waste.

"Are you... really fine with that?"

"Yeah, that's that. So long as you don't try to harm our girls, I'll bear what I can bear. In hindsight, that experience was a sort of wake up call to me as well. Just think of it as a tutelage fee."

"Got it. I can accept that if you're fine with it. But this debt we owe you is a different matter. Earlier, we would have lost our lives for sure if not for you guys. From here one, we [Foolhardy Giants] will come running to help you guys in time of need. We all agreed on this. Sorry for taking your time. I'll take up on your offer earlier and get some sleep."

After saying that, Jerindo went back to base. I thought he was the idiotic rascal type, turned out his core was pretty decent. I've got a better opinion of him now. Jeez, these guys gonna be my favorite.



The morning after, I put some food including the smoked food I finished that night along with potions into a magic rucksack and handed it over to Kurei-san. I also gave spare weapons and armor such as daggers, a rarely used short bow and arrows to Buraran-shi and an iron spear to Naina-shi. Since their equipment was sunk in the marsh when I saved them. We saw them off after I told them that they could gave it all back inside the magic rucksack to Eleanor-san once they're done with it.
Apparently, they're going to have another go at it since they haven't got the required quest items yet. I gave them lots of Cinnamon from Cinnamonkeys drop though.

Well, since they're with Kurei-san and all, I wish them best of luck. And since I gave them a stone carving with a Tama-chan mark that would afford them potion discount at [Shut-in Lamia], things should be a bit easier for them from now on.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 327 Strongest Sage, Infects the Lack of Common Sense

 

◇

"...The principal's room's gotten really extravagant in the past few days huh..."

Principal Edward together with Grevil were already waiting for us at his room when we arrived at Second Academy.
The room has been furnished full of anti-bug equipment that weren't present before.
To the point of being excessive for an educational institution.

"Second Academy is not just your average school anymore... We have made the improvements with the help of students."

Grevil touches a soundproofing magic tool installed near the entrance.

"Extra care have been given to Principal Room due to the hotline connecting to the royal castle. Up until now I had to go to the castle myself whenever something cropped up... But now I simply need to activate a magic tool."

A magic comm tool has been put on top of Principal Edward's desk.
It's a wired type comm tool with countermeasures against wiretapping put in place.

This place feels more and more like a military installation of the utmost importance than a school now...
Well, Second Academy don't fall behind the kingdom knights in term of strength, so that may not be necessarily wrong.

"So today we're here to gather intel about the place where the new demon showed up..."

"Yeah. We've already pinpointed the location... It should be around here, no?"

The principal pointed at a map unfolded on his desk.
There's an X-mark... on the spot where I detected Zadokilgias's mana coming from.

That's probably the place where Zadokilgias had been reincarnated.
The demon must have not gone far since there was no obvious movement afterward.

"How's the area around it are like?"

"We're currently gathering information while being careful as to not get detected by the demon. Some people had suggested we should go defeat the demon with the combined effort of knights and Second Academy considering its mana pool... But Grevil was opposed to the idea. We're strictly intel gathering right now."

A wise judgment.
From what I've seen in their training, even Second Academy students themselves would manage dealing with an ordinary demon no problem.
But against Zadokilgias... They're only gonna get utterly destroyed.

"Well done, Grevil... The demon this time is an extremely dangerous one. It's probably stronger than even Zaridias in a 1-on-1 confrontation."

"Thank you. I feel bad for always relying on Mathias-kun though..."

As we were talking... A knight opened the door behind me and entered the room.
It's the kingdom's knight commander Gayle.

"I've got all the information we have on it in the castle here with me."

The knight commander put a bundle of documents on an empty desk.

There's about 10 documents.
It's neither too much or too little, just about right to get proper info.
<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 how is it?"

"The town closest to the source of that mana... is Boseil, information pertaining the town has been sparse ever since a change in lord a year ago. Reports delivered to the kingdom have some suspicious parts as well."

"Suspicious parts... What do you mean?"

"There were sudden bumps in harvest yield figures... The lord there may be trying to increase profit by overvaluing the numbers."

"...An attempt to game tax huh."

The lord of a territory decides on their own tax in this country.
Hence, the act of changing tax itself is not illegal.

That said, tax rates have their own market price as well.
If it's too high, the populace will emigrate en masse, yet if it's too low, people will congregate from other territories, causing problems in those territories.
As such, in practice, taxations are governed by the country in the form of [Correction Counsel] guidance, continuously ignoring that will eventually incite punishment.
Hence, these tax rates don't tend to change.

However... There's a way to get around it, like falsifying yield rates.
Say you impose a fixed percentage of tax to the populace.

Here's an extreme example, by reporting a field that only produces 100KG of product as producing [200KG], you get twice the tax.
Of course, the populace will ultimately be the one shouldering those burdens.

Normally, a change in lord doesn't normally bring improved yield numbers.
It's not impossible if the new lord has ideas to improve productions... But a drastic increase in yields would have created rumors in the neighboring areas.
Yet there isn't any... Which means there is no change in yield in reality.

"...Has anything been done to it?"

"We have sent out a Correction Counsel. It was brought by someone capable of Passive Detection and we confirmed that there was no demon in the area. Neither was there a demon that died from the [Lights of Heavens]."

I see.
The [Eyes of Heavens] magic is known as [Lights of Heavens] to the people, referring to lights pouring down the sky.
If no demon fell victim to that magic there... It means that either there's no demon in Boseil, or there are only mid and higher class demons there.

But had such demons were making their preparations to awaken Zadokilgias there, there would have been traces of that in the Sand Graph documents.
Yet there was nothing about demons in the vicinity of Boseil in those documents.
Not even anything about lesser demons, so there's no way a mid-class demon would be there.

Which means... There's probably only Zadokilgias in Boseil right now.
The fight would be much harder if there were other demons.
I'm thankful that's not happening.

The lord is probably a lowlife who unjustly levied heavy taxations on his populace, but he's just that, a lowlife.
We can probably regard him unrelated to demons.

"Doesn't seem like there'll be an obstacle in our subjugation effort... What about the neighboring cities?"

"We haven't detected anything suspicious as of now. There were demons lurking in Borsan, an adjacent town, but they had been eliminated by the [Lights of Heavens] already...  Those [Lights of Heavens] are really something huh."

The truth is lost in the dark now, but those demons might have been there to prepare for Zadokilgias's awakening.
Perhaps I could have prevented the awakening had I used that magic earlier.

"I understand the situation now... OK then, time to go beat up some demon."

"Un, let's go!"

Alma promptly responded to me.
She seems more enthusiastic than usual somewhat.

"...Alma, you look like you're having fun... Did something good happen?"

Ruli seemed to find it weird as well and asked her a question.
Then... Alma replied.

"You know, Boseil's famous for their food right? I've always wanted to give it a taste at least once ever since I heard about it when I arrived here!"

"Ooh! That's a very good news! Let's hurry up and go!"

Iris is eager to leave the principal's room as she makes a beeline for the exit.
Watching them... Principal Edward muttered with an incredulous look on his face.

"...You're talking about food huh. This isn't what a conversation before fighting a demon I imagined would sound like..."

"And their opponent is a demon stronger than Zaridias... I wouldn't blame a common soldier trying to turn away from reality in such a situation, but this is..."

"That's probably not it, more like this is turning into just another day to them."





Previous Chapter

17-40. Dungeon Highways and Lunar Corridor (2)

 

Satou here. I love exerting my full power whenever I'm playing sport and fighting games. And once you've reached the limit, whether you're able to take another step forward toward further growth or not is a turning point.



◇



Moon or Seryuu city.

As if substantiating what the purple little girl said about Netherworld encroaching, black sludge spilled down from the full moon high up in the sky, and I received a report from Phantasmal Labyrinth's Dungeon Core about an attempted hacking done to her, and that she had lost contact with Seryuu City's underground dungeon.

I headed for the moon.

I would have chosen Seryuu City if I let my emotion took over, but since I had a premonition that postponing going to the moon would make situation go real bad, I made the decision to follow the signal Crisis Perception skill told me.

After getting close to it, I see that the situation has gotten really bad there.

Black sludge miasma is gushing out of craters on the surface of the moon like magma, impurities are spreading not only on its surface but even the satellite orbit.

This is seriously bad. I really made the right choice believing in Crisis Perception.

I change my title to [God Slayer], draw the Divine Sword and head toward moon surface while erasing the materialized miasma along the way.

Ugeeh, gross. Repugnant sentiment and resentment are assaulting my body like undulating waves.
I never imagined that mere vestiges from the thick part of miasma I cut apart with Divine Sword would torture my mind so severely like this. If it could do this much to me with my resistant skills and Nanashi's equipment, I don't think even gods would survive a direct hit of this.

Those vestiges would have been erased as well had I recited the Scripture <<PERISH>>, but since that mode has a limited uptime, I decide to save on it.
Then, I somehow managed to arrive at the moon surface even while slightly regretting that decision.

I touch the rugged surface of the moon.

The real show starts now.

I push my palm on it and wish.

--Storage.

A moment later, the moon vanished.
Success. I bet on being able to put the moon in my Storage, and it was proven true.

Several individuals that appear to be demon are floating in what was the core of the moon.
I'll just leave those guys alone.

More importantly--.

The black sludge in the satellite orbit has begun its descent toward the planet now that the moon's gravity is no more.

"Ah man, dealing with all that stuff by myself will be a pain."

It looks simple outwardly, but the amount of miasma enough to completely cover the surface of a huge satellite is no joke.

『You're not alone!』

An energetic voice reached my ears as I groaned. It's Arisa's.

『That's right nodesuyo! Pochi is right over here nodesuyo!』
『Tama too~』

A large space ship with Arisa and the girls on board came flying into the satellite orbit.
Arisa must have used her space magic to transport it from base.

『Master, I'm gonna go a bit wild today!!』

A purple aura ran over the space ship.

『GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!』

Space magic [Hyper Deracinator] powered up by her Unique Skill [Over Booost] assisted by the space ship stopped the black sludge.

"Geez, she's really going wild."

So that her effort won't go to waste, I used Flash Drive to soar toward the part with thick sludge and erased it with <<PERISH>> Scripture-activated Divine Sword.

--Gueh.

Vestiges remain even with <<PERISH>> on, though it's less taxing than before.
I continue to work on it while enduring the unpleasantness tormenting my mind.

The girls are also helping purifying the sludge with purification-type ritual magic and anti-god magic.

--ＡＬＥＲＴ.

After erasing some part of the black sludge, monitored Status of some of my acquaintances at Seryuu City started looking bad.

『I need to help out at Seryuu City for a bit. You girls take care of this place for the time being.』

I suspended my sludge-cleaning work and moved to Seryuu City with Unit Arrangement.
Got a complaint through Mass Tactical talk, "That's cheating, cheating!", when I cast Planet Guard before teleporting out though, but eh, since that came a bit too late, I just ignored it.


<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.>
◇



"Battlefield, battlefield--over there huh."

I scan over Seryuu city from atop the sky.

The core of this commotion is--the greater black demon, Moi-kun. The demon who kept reviving itself no matter how many times I beat it.
It's clad in a purple aura that seemed to be a Unique Skill, beating up Kigori-shi and Zena-san's little brother, Yukel-kun at incredible speed.
Unique Skill-ed demons are a pain.

I change my black sludge-dirtied clothes, and cut Moi-kun in two using the Divine Sword right as I landed with Flash Drive.
A [God's Fragment] came out of Moi-kun's disappearing black mist, and I dealt with that using Divine Sword like always.

I was tempted to show up as Satou and accomplish the promise I made with Earl Seryuu to [Exterminate foreign enemy once], but were Yukel-kun lose his life due to me playing around, I would never be able to look at Zena-san in the face again.

Since Yukel-kun and friends are safe, I believe I made the correct choice here.

I return the still active <<PERISH>> Divine Sword to its scabbard.
A Dragon Fang Sword or a holy sword would be more than enough to deal with dungeon enemies.

"One defeated means nothing. Moi, meets."
"Shadow has no limit. Moi, advent."
"Moi, arrives."

Mass produced Moi-kun emerged en masse.
I'm not sure how much of what they said is true, but the real body must be lying in wait somewhere, and these guys above ground are probably just projections or copies?

"""Moi, high speed kill."""

The black greater demons came rushing at me from all directions at unbelievable speed.

"Moi, killer move."

Moi-kun #2 went from behind and reaped Hero Nanashi's neck with its elongated blade-like claws.

"Nanashi-sama!"

Yukel-kun and the others gasped when they saw the scene.
The headless Hero Nanashi vanished.

Well since I'm watching it unfolding and all, naturally that's just an afterimage.

I cut apart Moi-kun #2 to pieces with a holy sword before it could realize what was going on.
And since Moi-kun is quite tenacious, I also burn down its pieces with a napalm mixed with Dragon Fang powder.

"What strength."

As Hearing skill picked up Kigori-shi's murmur, I went around exterminating the other two Moi-kun.

"Moi, revives."

...It just went and revived itself even after all those rigorous undertaking.
I can keep cutting these demons to pieces until they can't revive anymore... But that's way too much work.

"""Moi, revives."""

The other Moi-kun revived themselves one after another as well.
I guess the fact that Moi-kun with a Unique Skill isn't reviving is a silver lining here.

"So long as moi seedbed, the dungeon, remains intact, moi immortal."

That's so annoying...

"Hero-sama! We've got to do something about the dungeon!"

Yukel-kun stated the obvious.
Well, destroying the dungeon itself is a simple matter, but it being a resource-producing mine, there's no way earl Seryuu would agree to--.

"Pen--Hero Nanashi!"

Earl Seryuu showed up next to Kigori-shi and shouted out loud.
I was worried to see him in this danger zone, but turned out it was just a well-made projection. Must be the City Core doing its magic.

"Fulfill your promise to protect Seryuu City once!"
"Haven't I done just that?"

--Or rather, I made that promise to you as Satou, you know.

"No you haven't! Get the dungeon gnawing on Seryuu City--"
"I might have to erase the dungeon, are you fine with that?"
"...I have no objection. This dungeon is said to be a base those demons use for conquering [Dragon's Valley]. It's unfortunate, but I will not compromise on my people safety."

Hee, first I've heard of that.

Well, since I've cleared the biggest obstacle, aka the permission from the earl and all, let's get on it real quick, I've done all the prep work and all.

"OK then, here I go."

I activate a barrier I've laid out beforehand.
A glittering blue light wraps Seryuu City which then turns into a multi-layered purification barrier that purifies miasma out of monsters flowing out of the dungeon.

"Moi, astonished."
"Moi, roars."
"Moi, shrieks."

This multi-layered purification barrier covers the entire Seryuu Earldom, and the effect is especially prominent at its focal point, the dungeon. It's at a level that afflicts even greater demons.
I'm able to deploy a barrier of this scale thanks to the connection to thick Dragon Veins of Dragon Valley.

"Moi has not lose yet. Moi, indomitable."
"Moi indestructible so long the dungeon is here. Moi, immortal."

--Yeah yeah.

I activate the trap I've had pre-installed in [Dungeon Core].
Right afterward, an earthquake hit. The dungeon must have started collapsing due to the destruction of Dungeon Core.

"Pendo--Hero Nanashi-dono, what is--"
"Oh I just destroyed the dungeon. And don't worry about a thing, I've made sure it won't collapse."

I forcefully close down cracks and land subsidences with Earth Control magic.

"It's a--checkmate."

I moved in to exterminate the slowed down Moi-kun while wielding a holy sword and a dragon fang sword in both hands.

"This barrier will protect the entire earldom for about 10 days. OK then, gotta get to my next stop"

I waved at the people who weren't done processing what happened yet and went back to cleaning up the moon orbit.



◇



"Phew, think that does it?"

It's been a while since I went all out, so it was tiring.
Well, it's mostly caused by the stuff with black sludge though.

I get back to the large space ship where the girls are waiting.

"I'm back. Now that we've closed off the Dungeon and Moon gates, the Netherworld won't come crashing down on this world anymore right."

Guess god Tenion's quest is complete with this?

"Huh? Where's Ringrande-sama and the others?"

I've only just realized that they're not on board of the large spaceship.

"Onee-sama and her group had departed saying, 『Leave the ground to us』."

According to my Marker list, they're in capitals of influential nations like Saga Empire.
They must have used solitary island's teleport gates or asked Arisa or Aze-san to send them with Space Magic.

People are most likely panicking on the ground after all, I'm sure they're the right people for the job to settle the situation being attendants of Hero Hayato who had toured the world and all.

"Irregular! Save milord next!"

The purple little girl clung to me.
Oh right, we were talking about that.




※ Next update is planned for 11/17.



Previous Chapter

Intermission: Little Goddess

 

"Demon God, you ok?"
"Parion huh."
"Un."

Demon God raised his body in his luxurious bed.
He's currently resting in order to remove the impurities he got from fusing with the [Poisonous Satou], a trap set up by the pantheon.

Demon God stopped Parion as she was about to innocently hug him like she usually does.

"Why?"

Parion asked the reason since Demon God would usually be delighted whenever she hugs him when they're in material forms.

"You'd get infected with the impurities."
"...Uh huh."

It seems she's still not used to her newly created body, her face is all wriggly like 'poyayan'.

"But I'm impressed you managed to get this far."

Impressed that she was able to reach the deepest part of Netherworld filled to the brim with demons who absolutely loath gods without causing even a single commotion.

"Authorities, cultivated."
"I see, good girl Parion"

Praised by Demon God, Parion puffed her chest triumphantly.
An unfamiliar object came into Parion's view.

"What is that?"

Parion shifted her attention toward a pearl scythe clad in rainbow colored lights decorating the bedroom.

"『Godreaping Scythe』--a weapon capable of slaying gods."
"Slaying gods?"

Parion took the scythe in her arm as she muttered.
It appears to be too heavy to Parion's body, she's staggering around dangerously.

"That thing is dangerous, put it back Parion."
"Gotta go kill first before that."

Parion unsteadily takes a stance with the scythe.

"That is still incomplete."
"Why?"

Parion tilted her head like 'poyayan'.

"That doesn't yet have Divinity in."
"How do you put it in?"
"That weapon is the reason why I created Purple Towers, to collect divinity. They will have enough to fill it up in 10,000 years."
"Why not use Nymphs' Divinity?"
"Nymphs have too little Divinity to matter. Even all of them together won't be enough to fill this scythe up."
"How much it needs?"
"About one god's worth of amount."

Parion's eyes opened wide to hear such an enormous amount.

"What to do."

Parion tilted her head and her body with furrowed brows.
She never thought the completion of a god-slaying weapon requires the contradictory action of slaying a god first.

"I'll come, again."

Parion left Demon God's palace after murmuring that.



◇



"Demon God. I thought up of a good idea."

Parion immediately got straight to the point on her second visit.
Demon God isn't sleeping in his bed today, apparently the poison inserted in the fake Satou has gone already.

"Welcome, Parion. What is this good idea of yours?"
"Let's use White Radiant Crystal."
"--White Radiant Crystal? That thing hidden in the innermost part of God's Realm huh..."
"Un."

Demon God realized that god Parion was telling him to use the White Radiant Crystal to charge the Godreaping Scythe when he saw her glancing over at the scythe.

"Enough?"
"The crystallization of Divinity [White Radiant Crystal] will indeed suffice... But I cannot agree to that."
"Why?"
"That crystal is needed for the protection of human world on top of God's Realm."

It's the [Seven Gods' Barrier] that's protecting the human world from the threat of [Outsiders] wandering in the void sky, and the White Radiant Crystal is a booster that converges the power to make that a reality.

That's the extent of Demon God's knowledge on it.

"It's OK."

Parion threw out her chest confidently.

"Is that so?"
"Everyone can just deliver. Everyone is hiding spare Divinity."

Parion insisted that the gods could make a new White Radiant Crystal if they all just put together their hidden stash of Divinity.

"Our ambition can be realized then."

Demon God ponders. He could free humanity from god's reign if he used the [Godreaping Scythe] to threaten those gods.
Just what's in the mind of the smiling Parion--.

"Let's do it."
"Very well. I'm counting on you to guide me to Realm of Gods."
"Count on me."

Thus a tag team of Demon God and Parion was formed, and the theft of White Radiant Crystal from Realm of God was carried out.



◇



"Demon God, you OK?"
"...Pa-Parion."
"Un."

Demon God couldn't even afford to raise his body off his bed as he looked up at Parion in pain.
The divinity overflowing out of his body is far beyond the usual amount, but it's stagnant like a black sludge.

The impure miasma fog covering the whole Netherworld was apparently all from the Demon God.

"What happened?"
"Those gods got me good. The White Radiant Crystal had Malice in it."

Malice--The [Forbidden Power] sealed in the moon.
Demon God was saying someone had put it in the White Radiant Crystal.

He probably needed to take the Divinity into his body before he could unload it into the scythe.

"Who did?"
"Most likely Zaikuon. He's the only one who would do such a self-sabotaging foolish act among those gods."
"Uh huh."

God Parion nodded with her 'poyayan' face.

"Has it been filled with Divinity?"

God Parion asked while pointing at the [Godreaping Scythe].

"It hasn't."

Discontent dwelt in god Parion's face once she heard Demon God's reply.

"Why?"
"If I did that, the 『Godreaping Scythe』 would be defiled by the impurities too. It would have been a repeat of last time."
"Uh huh."

God Parion walks toward the [Godreaping Scythe].
A demon in the form of a saintess stood before Parion just as she stretched out her hand toward the scythe.

"Move."
"You must not."
"I can't kill without that."

The saintess is looking at the [Gimme] god Parion with a troubled look.
The saintess's guard was impeccable, she blocked all attempts god Parion made to take the scythe.

"Stop, Parion. There's no need for you to get revenge on Zaikuon."
"But."
"Don't worry. My trusted retainers are currently making scapegoats to transfer the impurities over. Let's think about threatening those gods afterward."
"Okay."

Parion nodded reluctantly.

"Leave Netherworld, Parion."
"Why?"
"I cannot hold back the impurities at this rate."

If he failed at holding it back, the netherworld will be contaminated by impurities severe enough to defile a goddess like her.
Demon God fears that his power would end up defiling the little goddess.

"I cannot let human world be defiled either. I must shut the gates to the human world before that happens. Leave Netherworld before the gates are shut."

Demon God is apparently aware that she makes a transit at the human world whenever she visits Netherworld.

"I'll come again."

After saying that with her poyayan-face, god Parion left Demon God.

Thanks to her Authorities, none of the demons coming and going in the passages she takes notices her.

"A scapegoat to transfer impurities over..."

God Parion murmured.

"...There is one."

Parion knew.
That the Satou Demon God took in was a fake other gods had created.

Parion didn't tell him.
Since she thought that Demon God was already a perfect form that didn't need Satou.

Parion mulls.
Demon God's Uniform Body that's in the human world will fit best as a scapegoat to transfer the impurities over.

Parion plots.
A way to bring the Uniform Body to Netherworld in order to transfer the impurities.

"--There."

There stood one of the pink-haired little girls in Parion's vision.
She's one of the girls who have been pointlessly moving about in the corridors while saying stuff like, "Oh no~", "What should we do~" restlessly.

Parion approaches the little girl who has strayed off from her group.

She fixes up her 'poyayan' face while moving, putting up a face befitting of a goddess.
She hasn't lived for 100 million years for nothing. So long as she wills it, Parion is capable of playing the act of a sublime goddess.

"You, yes you girl, do you wish to save Demon God?"
"--Who?"
"I am an old friend of Demon God."

The little girl relaxes her guard at Parion's gentle voice.

"I shall give a mission to you who loves Demon God the most among all his familiars."
"Mission?"
"You can save Demon God if you do as you're told."
"Truly?!"
"Yes, I promise. Will you undertake this mission?"
"Un!"

Thus, god Parion cunningly sent a poor lamb to where Satou was at the human world.

She even gave her an authority to wrench open the shut gates.
Even though there is no way a god like her isn't aware that doing so would bring the impurities over to the human world.

"Kufuu, kufufufufu."

Parion laughed innocently.

"I will finally get my hands on it. 『Godreaping Scythe』--a weapon to slay gods."

Parion's whisper disappeared into the rift without ever reaching anyone's ear.
Nobody knows the true nature of god Parion.







Previous Chapter

16





"Doctor! Doctor Norma! Please help!"

"Our kid! Our son, he's!"

A man and a woman carrying a kid of around 10 year old rushed into the medical center and made a commotion.

Norma immediately left the patient she was examining and went to the waiting room. Lecan and Eda followed after her.

"Oh. Mr. and Ms. Yubo-san. What happened to Majifu?"

"A noble carriage ran him over! His leg, our son's leg, it's!"

"Lecan! Put a blanket over the sofa! Eda, we've got to wipe his body. Get water in a bucket. And some towels!"

The two quickly moved about.

The kid was listless. He's covered in mud and his right leg is bent unnaturally.

"Lecan. Soak a towel and use it to wipe Majifu-kun. Clean up all the mud."

"Got it."

"Eda."

"Yes."

"I need you to use <Recovery>."

"Yes."

"Listen well. Cast <Recovery> three times. Doing so successively might be hard, but I'm sure you can do it."

"Yes."

"Right now there's a lot of mud and small stones inside Majifu-kun's leg. They would get trapped inside him if you cast <Recovery> while they're still inside, rotting his leg from inside out. As such, make the first <Recovery> expel mud and bad stuff out of his leg. Foreign substances and stuff."

"Y-yes."

"Lecan. Wipe more firmly. Don't hold back. Change the water. Keep at it until the wound is bare open."

"Got it."

"Eda. The second <Recovery> will be the hardest one. The bones in Majifu-kun's right leg have been broken down, crushed and bent."

"Y-yes."

"The treatment has to be done while we're restoring his leg to its correct state. If you cast weak and careless <Recovery> when it's at that state, the bent bones will stick together, rendering the leg unable to return to its original state forever."

"Eeeh?"

"Hence. Clad your wand, I mean hand in mana, examine the left leg, then restore the bone in the right leg to a similar state as it. First, mend only the bones."

"Yes."

"The third <Recovery> is to treat muscles, arteries and blood pipes. So long as you get the bones right, this should come naturally."

"Will this do."

"Very good, Lecan. Now then, Eda. Do it."

"Yes. <Recovery>."

Norma readies her short wand and watches over Eda's <Recovery>.

"Nicely done. And fast. The foreign substances are getting rapidly driven away. Lecan. Wipe off the expelled mud and pebbles."

"Got it."

"You're getting there, just a bit more. Simply amazing Eda. You're very impressive."

With a serious look on her face, Eda frantically operates her <Recovery> while keeping her eyes on the now drenched patient.

"All right. Eda. Clad your left hand in mana and examine his left leg."

"Yes."

"Make a mental note of that state for the right leg to... Eh?"

Green lights dwell on both Eda's hands. The left light on the left leg while the right light on the broken part of the right leg.

"No way... Dual parallel casting of <Recovery>?"

Norma looked shocked for a moment before pulling herself together and clad her wand in mana once again to examine the patient.

"Right... Keep at it. His bones are getting restored back. It's working. Nice... Eh? The crushed bones are reforming back into new bones? No way."

The kid is groaning while sweating out. The mother is wiping his sweat with a towel. The father is cheering for his son, 'You can do it, you can do it'. The boy is unconscious, but perhaps the warmth from his family is getting transmitted to him.

"Alright. Eda. You're done with the bones. I can't believe you fixed them up so quickly like that. Now get ready for the third <Recovery>."

Eda recited the spell name for another <Recovery>, restoring the boy's muscles and skin. The scene of crushed muscles returning back to their original state is truly a magical sight to behold.

After checking the patient and Eda, Norma instructed Eda to cast the fourth <Recovery>. Putting it over the boy's entire body, intended to raise his stamina and treat his condition.

Once the treatment was done, Norma lay down on the sofa.

Since Lecan and Eda couldn't exactly do her work, the medical center ended up closed for a bit.





17





In the afternoon, a blood vomiting middle-aged woman was suddenly carried into the clinic.

"Uwaa. There must be a hole in her eating organs. Lecan. We've got to close up that hole."

"Got it."

Lecan probed the insides of the woman's belly with <3D Perception>.

"I see. There's a gaping hole right below these entrails."

"Eh? You got the spot right yeah, but how'd you figure out? You didn't use your mana, did you?"

<3D Perception> allows Lecan to see shapes and positions of things, but it's an ability not magic. Mana is not needed for it.

"I have an ability that enables me to know locations and shapes of stuff."

"Eh? That sounds so convenient."

"There's some sort of blood clot coming out of entrails, can we really close the hole while ignoring that?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that. No choice but to leave it to her body's autopurificatory system."

"Shall I take it back to her entrails, or maybe even get it out through her mouth?"

"No no. That can't be done. Would be nice if it could though."

"Move <Torim>."

"Eeh?"

A while later, a dark blood lump of blood came out of the woman's mouth, floating mid air.

"Where to dump this?"

"What, did I just, saw? Some sort of illusion?"

"I'm asking you where do I dump this."

"Lecan-dono, please discard it here."

Jinga presented a small jar where Lecan put the blood clot in.

"I'm closing it."

"Y-yeah."





18





The day after, four emergency cases were carried in.

By this point, Norma did nothing but gave instructions to Lecan and Eda.

"Both you Lecan and Eda are very talented and skilled. The <Recovery> you two wield are either at mid-class or maybe even already knocking on advanced class. Your mana pools are simply top class."

"Oh not at all. I never realized that treating others was such a daunting task."

"I too have learned many things during the past four days. Compared to your knowledge and skills, we're downright amateurs."

"Both of you are superb <Recovery> users, but if I had to say, Eda is really good at treating illness. You're excellent at drawing out the latent healing powers a person possess."

"Thank you very much."

"Lecan is skilled at removing affected parts and healing holes in entrails and wounds by adding external forces. Lecan, your ability to examine the inside of a person body is probably unrivaled by any other medical practitioner in this country. Then you've got that <Move> magic of yours to top it off. I never would have imagined how convenient it was for a medical practitioner to practice <Move>. Hat off to you, truly."

"Yeah."

"Fufu. That's a weak reaction if I ever saw one. Are you maybe bashful. Still, your <Move> is radically unlike the <Move> I know. The magic <Move> is usually quite loose. How were you able to control it so precisely? And without a wand to boot."

"No clue. Felt like I just could."

It's probably thanks to his <3D Perception>. However, Lecan has no intention of telling Norma about his unique abilities this world aren't privy of.

"We'll take a break for a day tomorrow. I need to check up on some things in addition to resting. The day after tomorrow, we'll be doing house calls. It will be for four patients, all suffering serious conditions. Please lend your powers to them. I also believe that there are rooms for improvements for your <Recovery> control. Do prepare a wand if you can. This doesn't have to be done by the day after tomorrow though."

"Got it."

"I understand."

"And also, Eda."

"Yes."

"You shouldn't bring your <Box (Luuf)> with you on the day."

"Yes."

"You too Lecan, could you please wear some more casual clothings instead the intense one you have now."

"Got it."





19





Afterward, the two went to Shira's house to report on their progress at Norma's place and to ask her about wands.

Shira handed over a short wand to each of them.

Lecan's wand was of deep brown color, while Eda's was light brown almost whitish.

"Lecan. Since you seemed so busy and all, I had gone to pick up and process Shiarigi sprouts myself. You process it the same way as Nichia grass we worked on the second month, I don't need to teach you on that again, do I."

"I'm sorry about it."

Both Nichia and Shiarigi grass are ingredients for mana recovery medicine. Shira doesn't sell such medicine to the pharmacy. And since she rarely ever uses one herself, she only makes a few every few years. For this year, they gathered a lot of Nichia grass since Lecan had asked her to teach him about it, and Lecan himself had anticipated that he would need quite a lot. She had told him they would go gather Shiarigi on the fourth month, but then Lecan went and forgot about it.

They're now only missing Tago Grass that can be gathered between ninth to tenth month, and Zahad Moss that grows all year round.

Shiarigi is a shrub so it grows well on a level plane. In reality, most of the plants beside the poisonous plants in Shira's garden are Shiarigi.

"Follow me."

Shira went to her garden.

Most sprouts have been plucked out sans for a few.

"Look here, those with light green and puffed up roots are the one you want to pick. You do it like this."

Shira plucked off the sprout and carefully peeled off the husk.

"Pick out the insides. Afterward, let it dry for two days, grind it down and then dry it off completely. Make sure to take note now."

"Got it."

Lecan and Eda went back home and had a meal together.

"Are you taking a break tomorrow?"

"No. I'm going to the orphanage. Best to get the annoying stuff over with first."

"Doesn't look like you're annoyed by it at all though."

"Do you have empty holes for eyes?"

"That's so cruel, Lecan. That aside, gotta remember to leave <Bow of Isya> behind the day after tomorrow."

Eda usually leaves most of her luggage in the house, but she has the <Bow of Isya> and her money secured inside the <Box> Shira gave her. She put the Box in spots that were always within sight in the medical center.

While Lecan has most of his belongings inside his <Storage>. Only few things like laundry and stuff aren't inside.

Eda's anxiety is justifiable. No matter how secure the lock is, leaving such a valuable thing behind will make you worry for sure.

"Just leave the <Bow of Isya> on me the day after tomorrow."

"Eh? Isn't your <Box> inside your black overcoat's pocket, Lecan?"

"No. My <Box> is a specially made one, it's invisible to other people's eyes."

"Eeeeeeh? That's no fair."

"Don't tell anyone."

"Un."

She believes it so easily.

With her too honest a personality, it would be difficult for Eda to keep Lecan's <Storage> a secret were he divulged her about it. He's got to be careful about the extent of things he talks to Eda.

Eda herself doesn't fuss over fine details, being a broad-minded character she is.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken her in as a pupil.

She won't question him over trivial stuff, nor she doubts Lecan even though there are things he doesn't tell her. In a way, that's her virtue.

Eda doesn't decide whether to believe in someone or not by analyzing and predicting things in her head. She does so by instinct.

Then, it suddenly hit Lecan.

Shira too must be interacting with Lecan while being careful on things she talks to him.

He's got to be keep the trouble he causes to her at minimum, swore Lecan.





Previous Chapter