Volume 3 Chapter 53
「This Historical city: Paravata town…. Is on the verge of falling to ruins!」
The next day, in a private room of a restaurant called “The Thieving Bear”. I was sitting on the table opposite of the Deputy Mayor when she suddenly started to talk about a disturbing matter. The trio adventurer girls along with Celesta who was accompanying me on this trip were all taken aback by such a statement.
「Allow me to introduce myself Magician Tooru-dono, I am the Deputy Mayor Leifell. For your previous bravery in defending the town and its citizens, we wish to express our deepest grat.i.tude once again」
「Umm…. Deputy Mayor-san. Before you introduced yourself, you were speaking in such an urgent manner, why were you being like that?」
「From my experience, it is essential for the adventurers to grasp the severity of the situation, so I inadvertently…」
Leifell had a strange tone of voice and spoke in this really serious manner, however her outer appearance was like a career woman in the middle of her twenties.
On the tip of her nose, she wore small round gla.s.ses, her slightly wavy hair was an ash brown in colour, styled in a short bob haircut. On top of her head she was wearing a pale green beret hat.
In the gap of the hat she had a pair of dog ears and I could also see a tail jutting out of the edge of her seat, while she may not live as long as the Elves, her race had a relatively long life and she was one of the more popular mixed races. I know that she was a half-dog and half-human breed.
(When I heard that she was a Deputy Mayor, I a.s.sumed that she would be some kind of old lady or something, but unexpectedly she’s quite the beauty…….. Well, in terms of making her mine, let’s postpone those thoughts for now…)
Paravata city is a town that doesn’t belong to a specific nation, it is a neutral city and for many generations, it has been their culture to elect their own Mayor via an election, they have a peaceful ruling system.
According to the information I obtained from Sierra and the other girls, the present Deputy Mayor: Leifell may possibly have more influence than the Mayor of the city. Not only was she a sharp and capable person, she was also very popular with the ma.s.ses.
Her actions were a little eccentric but just from how respectful she was when she spoke to an outsider like me, I could tell that she dealt with people fairly and was quite tactfully.
「Well, considering that as a Deputy Mayor you took the time to personally request for a mere adventurer party like us… The crisis in Paravata City may not be that exaggerated after all」
「It is exactly as you say. Moreover, the fact that I am about to disclose to you is top secret in nature, so I would like to request that you keep this secret undisclosed and as a private matter between us ——」
The Deputy Mayor stopped her words mid-way before taking a glance at my Magical Slaves who were behind me.
It is clear as to what she was implying.
「You don’t have to worry. I believe everyone behind me has very tight lips, they are all my most trusted confidants and also my companions」
I looked over my shoulder as I vouched for their integrity. Celesta looked like she wanted to say something but she withheld herself.
After seemingly approving and giving a single nod, the Deputy Mayor started to talk, as per expected the secret content and topic was in regards to the Shadow Beasts that appeared suddenly and unexpectedly within Paravata City.
「This has been cla.s.sified as a crisis that could bring the downfall of the city. The thing is the “ma.s.sive rock core” that supports Paravata City……. is equipped with a teleportation device so that we can access the core, but right now the monsters known as the Shadow Beasts have occupied the area surrounding the teleportation equipment and we have lost control of it」
The ma.s.sive rock is 1 km in total length and is located in the centre of the city.
How this particular magical rock has managed to exist floating above the city and how it manages to stabilise itself is a mystery, but it remains a fact that it is an object that acted as a sort of core to the city. This mysterious rock was apparently discovered around 100 years ago.
Furthermore, in order to reach the core there is only one available method to do that, and that is to use a teleportation equipment connected to it.
Although it is unclear how these group of people have managed to build a transportation device capable of reaching this core, if by some chance, the current Shadow Beasts destroy the core then…..
「Oi oi. are you telling me this whole city will fall from the sky?!」
「If such a situation was to occur, not only will the people that live here be affected, but the towns underneath is going to be inevitably destroyed, it would become such a huge tragedy!」
Hearing such devastating information beyond what they were expecting, even Nina and Amelia were fidgety.
「No wait a minute Deputy Mayor. How about you inform the corresponding army division and gather a large number of people, and then can’t you just send forces towards the core? Merely inviting a small party like us, will that really be enough?」
Although Celesta points out an obvious fact, the Deputy Mayor shook her head with a bitter expression on her face.
「It was judged that such a plan would be extremely dangerous to follow through. That’s because both the people who were guarding the teleportation device, and the first suppression corps that was sent the other day have——」
「—— Have been converted and their bodies have turned into the very vile Shadow Beasts they wanted to destroy. If you were to send in people carelessly the number of victims, no the number of enemies will only increase. I’m guessing this is what you were going to say, am I correct?」
The Deputy Mayor showed that she was surprised and I could tell that my guess had been correct.
That’s right, only our party would have encountered something like this before.
The Shadow Beasts we faced the other day were composed of a similar type of broken fragment of the “Divine Corpse”. This was like the material that eroded and stuck to the bodies of both Dianne and Nana like a parasite. Additionally, it overlaps with the Princess’s prophecy that a fragment of the Divine Corpse is within this city.
「…….! I-it is exactly as you say. When the Shadow beasts take away your life, they also transfer some of the crystal like things from their body and attach it to your own…..!」
I used to wonder what happens to the body and mind of a person who has become completely eroded by the crystal fragment. I used to think about this question all the time, and now the horrifying answer is given to me right here.
Those people are turned into wicked monsters that attack the city……. So if Dianne was not saved by Nana at that time and her body was completely eroded she would have become this thing…. Once again I am reminded and truly grateful of what Nana did.
「This is the precise reason you want a select few……. people like us, to be sent in to deal with the Shadow Beasts whilst the mission is to secure the teleportation device, is this correct?」
「Yes. You were able to defeat the Shadow Beast cla.s.sified as one of the gigantic high grade Shadow Beasts…… This strength…. right now within the entirety of our city, I judged that you respectable people have the strongest war potential while being in a small group」
This was a race against time. If we are not able to secure the teleportation device that is connected to the core, at that time the whole of Paravata City and its neighbouring areas will have no choice but to be evacuated in order to escape circ.u.mference of the dropping rock.
However, this is an agonizing decision which will turn a large quant.i.ty of citizens into refugees without a home. She wanted to avoid a ma.s.s panic. I could understand that she wanted to bet until the last minute and take any opportunity in order to possibly secure the teleportation device.
「We understand the contents of your request to us. On top of that, allow me to ask you one thing. Why are we receiving this request not from the Mayor, but from you who is the Deputy Mayor?」
「…..The Mayor, has insisted that it is necessary to abandon Paravata city immediately. Even if there is only a small chance that the core is destroyed, the Mayor believes that we should give top priority to securing the citizen’s lives」
I see now, well that is also another valid opinion of thinking about things.
「However, I was born in this city and I don’t want to abandon it…… While the town may be known for its own mayhems, I believe that in the city, there is also energy and warmth. Including the Mayor, everyone one of us loves Paravata」
「Therefore as a last resort, you suggested to the Mayor that a mission to recapture and secure the teleportation equipment be requested」
Raising her round gla.s.ses, the half-dog person had an earnest expression on her face as she looked towards me. Her dog ears which seemed to be down cast before were now standing up.
「Yes. This is not an exaggeration at all, you people are the last hope of Paravata city. Magician Tooru-sama…….. Will you please accept this request of mine?」
「And, you’re telling me that you accepted the request of the Deputy Mayor? Hmph……. Because this is you we are talking about jya… I don’t think you did it just out of the kindness of your heart, there must of been some other reason right?」
In the lounge of my Magical s.h.i.+p, I was briefing the girls who were set on house-sitting duty.
She stopped munching on the fruit tart that I got for her as a souvenir and with a satisfied expression on her face, the goth loli demoness was questioning me.
「You know me well don’t you, Palmyra」
「Kufufu, it’s been awhile since we have known each other so」
I placed the coin shaped object that the Deputy Mayor had given me on top of the table.
Reacting to a certain command word, the object would project a 3D three-dimensional image of complex map of a winding tunnel.
This image was recorded with the use of s.p.a.ce Magic, and it is a map that will point the direction towards the teleportation equipment.
「Everyone, please look over here」
Using two of my fingers to touch the image of a room that was nearby to the teleportation device, I was able to enlarge the image like enlarging a picture in a smartphone.
At that moment, Flamia who had all this cream on her mouth and was currently having her mouth wiped by Princess Sistina raised her voice in surprise.
「Ah! that’s that guy jyan! hey, don’t you think so as well, Sistinaa?」
「Yes, I think that it certainly has a resemblance to Nana-chan as well desuwa」
The image that was projected was currently one of an Armored golem with a huge body. Although half of its structure was buried under a wall, the design was really similar to Nana’s previous armour.
「Even Nina and the other girls vouched that the room they discovered Nana in looked just like the one in this picture right now」
「Then, if we went there, we may be able to find another body for Nana-san!」
「I’m so glad….. Nana-dono is after all one of my huge benefactors」
Both the Princess and Dianne spoke in a delighted tone.
That’s right, I was able to obtain a concrete route for one of my most important objectives which was to revive Nana, and if the Shadow Beasts were coincidentally part of this obstacle for me to reach her, then there’s all the more reason for me to take on the request.
In addition to this, it is still very likely that the fragment of the Divine Corpse is actually still somewhere in the depths of this place.
While I am definitely interested in getting Riruna, in order to be able to control her cheat like abilities, it is definitely necessary for me to increase the strength of my current party members and perhaps obtain this new fragment of the Divine Corpse. There is also the need for me to beat the Iblis party to the punch.
「Nevertheless, if it’s like this is there perhaps some sort of connection between Nana-chan and the Divine Corpse….?」
The question Kirika just asked was honestly one of the questions that’s been on my mind as well.
Nana was not eroded by the Divine Corpse and instead, she was able to integrate it into her body and powered up.
Not only that, the Shadow Beasts has the crystals sticking out of their body just like ones Nana had on her body……… I mean, piling up all these things together, it is highly unlikely that this is just a mere coincidence.
「I don’t know. However, in order to find out the answer, we have no choice but to go into the depths historical city and search for the answer」
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement to my resolute declaration.
We depart tomorrow.
All the members of our party deeply wished in their hearts to be able to revive Nana and now, the method to do so was potentially right in front of our very eyes.
…….However, I would never have antic.i.p.ated. That another unexpected request came over during the night….. it was something that even I would not have foreseen.
「Wha…..? Where is this…….!?」
Before I noticed it I was laying down on a bed with a bunch of cus.h.i.+ons. There was this gigantic square sized bed sheet that was red in colour, and it was about the size of a king sized bed? The feeling of the bed was also really soft.
After coming into this world I have never seen another cherry blossom tree, but right in front of me was a full-blooming tree. Like it was made for some sort of aristrocrat n.o.ble or something, there was this golden seat to be used for the flower viewing process….
However, the scene that was spreading around me was a terribly unrealistic spectacle.
From top to bottom, left to right everywhere around me was a blank starlit sky almost like I was in outer s.p.a.ce. The seat for enjoying and viewing the cherry blossoms and the tree itself had no ground to support itself, it was just floating there.
It was a scene that defied the law of physics, and this made me confirm that I was inside of a dream.
「A dream? wait a minute… Don’t tell me it’s…?!」
Suddenly a memory that I once forgot when I was in the real world came back to me.
Just when I was convinced that a certain “person” was going to be here, I turned around and there she was——！
「Hi. We meet again, don’t we little boy」
It was the Immortal Fox G.o.ddess Mikura. I simultaneously remembered her name.
A white j.a.panese kimono was wrapping around her voluptuous body, she had fox ears and was a blond haired bombsh.e.l.l. Out of the cus.h.i.+on she was sitting on, several of her tails were waving about as she showed this gorgeous smile.
「Fufu, you don’t have to be so cautious. Today I’ve only come to do business with you, little boy」
「A… deal?」
Whispering in a voice that seemed to wrap around your soul, the enchanting Kitsune pointed her pipe that wasn’t lighted towards me.
「First of all, shall I properly introduce myself? I am known as the Immortal Fox G.o.ddess Mikura…….Several thousand years ago I was a part of the oldest member of the n.o.ble Eight Demonic Family」
「The Eight Great Families……! Is that so, it is as I expected….」
「Ara? Strangely you don’t seem to be that surprised, little boy」
She seemed slightly disappointed but then Mikura playfully shakes her long pipe.
Whenever she changed her posture, her big b.r.e.a.s.t.s which was about to overflow out of her kimono revealed itself more and more.
「After all, I can make a vague guess. This dream world, is it some sort of different spiritual world that you rule over? being able to close such a vast distance between us and appear before me, this kind of power…… It wouldn’t make sense unless you were one of the big-shots」
「Nfufu, Oneesan over here really likes boys that are quick-witted, you know?」 (TL: Oneesan= elder sister)
Are you really at an age where you can refer to yourself as elder sister?! Is what I wanted to tell her but I stopped myself.
「And so, are you just like Palmyra, who wants to use me for my Slavemancer powers in order to win your power struggle within the demon world?」
「Nfu, as expected Palm-chan was aiming for that goal when she got in contact with you. But my desires are a little different…… I’ve never been interested in the power struggle of the demon kingdom to begin with you see」
Oddly enough this fox-eared great demoness, was calling Palmyra in the same manner that Nina was calling Palmyra.
「Listen up okay little boy? Both me and Vladoveri —— ahh, this is the name of another demon who is part of the eight great houses —— Since thousands of years ago up until now, both of us have lived a carefree life within the demon world. Wanting to overthrow the three grand dukes, or control the other eight great houses…… these kinds of pointless dreams have long since been forgotten」
I a.s.sumed that everyone within the devil kingdom were schemers and plotters like Palmyra and Iblis who wanted to advance their own standing, but hearing the opposite from Mikura’s explanation made me quite surprised.
I see, even though she has a lot of influence and is an important person —— she is in the conservative faction within the devil kingdom.
「However….. Ibi-chan….. is a different. That girl, she seriously wants to take control of the eight great houses, no, even the three grand dukes is not out of the reach of her ambitions, she plans to grasp the entirety of the devil kingdom within the palm of her hands, she has that kind of audacious ambition」
Hafuu, letting out a melancholic sigh, the enchanting fox girl seemed to be depressed.
Is that where this is going….. I can already read into a little of what Mikura wants.
「In other words, Iblis is becoming a sort of obstacle for you? And so since I have an antagonistic relations.h.i.+p with her, you want to cooperate with me, is it that kind of deal?」
Mikura’s lips let out a satisfied smile, supporting the fact that my guess was correct.
But that was obviously not the end of the explanation.
「However, there is something I don’t understand. For a great demoness like you who holds much power, why would you go out of your way to depend on a human like me?」
「Nfufu…… Well, what do you think is the reason?」
Her fox-ears were twitching up and down as she seemed expectant for me to state the correct answer.
Summarizing all the information I’ve already gathered I generated a logical response.
「You do not want to start a fight amongst the eight great houses…… is that it? Because both you and Iblis are in separate factions, if you were to directly clash with her, it would cause a large-scale war within the devil kingdom. Mikura, you do not desire for such a thing to happen, am I right?」
「What about the possibility of me using my powers to drag Ibi-chan into this dream world of mine and eliminate her in that manner?」
「This is just my guess but, your powers in this dream world are probably not without limit. Just like how I was able to resist you previously, even within your dream world, it does not guarantee that you will one-sidedly defeat your opponents. Much less to say, if your opponent was Iblis who is also part of the eight great houses, it would be natural to think that she has already developed counter measures and or have the means to escape from you」
Mikura doesn’t wish for a great disturbance or a war to befall the devil kingdom, and attempting an a.s.sa.s.sination is a risk that she is afraid to take.
There are probably many demons who are going to use the chaos between their fight in order to make their own gains. If you forcibly start a fight, it will give Iblis and her faction a reason to start a rebellion.
「……Nn fufu, as expected, little boy, you are really smart. I’m beginning to like you more and more」
Before I knew it, her glamourous body was already snuggling up to me.
The feeling of her fox b.o.o.bs pressing against my arm, felt really nice….. No, wait wait, this isn’t the time for me to be charmed by her seductive techniques.
「So, what is it exactly that you want from me?」
「I want you to obstruct Ibi-chan from obtaining anymore fragments of the Divine Corpse. Although I may have other plots that could strike back at her, this particular thing…. is something that can’t be allowed to happen」
Even for Mikura, the focus seems to be on the demon king’s inheritance, the Divine Corpse…
I guess that just goes to show how much influence this Divine Corpse had on the eight great demon houses, it was enough to cause one of the older generation demons to be afraid…. It was sort of like a wildcard that was capable of overturning the current devil kingdom ranking system.
Without the need to speak any further, it was obvious that the fragment that Cruz stole from us is within Iblis’s place right now.
「Can you tell me exactly what you mean by “can"t be allowed to happen” so that I can understand?」
「Well alright…. It’s not like it’s everything but…. Oneesan was once part of the generation of demons that got to experience a little of the fight between the demon king and the hero…… there are various bad memories attached to that period」
Viewing the past with a sense of nostalgia Mikura’s expression was for an instant, filled with the colour of fear. For a great demoness such as her that was several thousands of years old to be affected to this state…….. Just how powerful was the demon king and the hero?
「In saying that….. Little boy, unless you agree to accept my terms, I won’t be able to speak any further than this, you know?」
「Oi oi. Whether you asked me or not, I will make the Divine corpse mine, and it is inevitable that I will clash and fight with Iblis. Understanding this much, you realize that there is no meaning to creating this deal right?」
Naturally if she is the one to approach me and requests for me to help her, then she should show me some sort of considerable advantage.
And as long as it is bad for Iblis to find out that Mikura is supporting me from behind the scenes, it will be difficult for her to provide me a helping hand in public. If it was that simple, then she may as well use her own strength and just fight herself.
「Nfufu, of course I’ve prepared a suitable reward. It’s the thing that you want the most right now」
「The thing that I want the most…. you say?」
Mikura’s scarlet lips formed into a sensual crescent shape. It was one of those smiles that the devil’s in fairy tales would make before contracting you to sell your human soul.
「That’s right. That Hero-chan…… that you are currently unable to obtain…….. I can provide a method to deal with her……!」