Chapter 440: Heroes and Maiden
At the end of the hall, there was a place where a huge door had been sitting――or so it seemed, but only the remains of the door were scattered about. It was the work of the metal corroding potion that Eihwaz had used.
No matter how huge and airtight the door was, if it was a metal door, it would be ripped apart by the metal corroding potion, and that"s how the other potion got in. Once again, it was a horrible potion.
Fran and Eihwaz stepped over the wreckage of the door and continued on. What lay ahead was a prison. A st.u.r.dy-looking metal grate was set into it.
The swordsman on guard was still alive, but one-on-one he was no match for us, who knew how to deal with him. He was killed instantly.
「Gallus!」
Immediately after stepping into the room, Fran started to run. Yes, there was Gallus lying in the prison. After appraising him, it seems that he is only unconscious.
「Hmm?」
Fran grabbed the bars and put a lot of pressure on them, but it wouldn"t budge off. Apparently, it was a special metal and had not been corroded by the metal corrosion potion.
「It"s probably a magical steel alloy. That potion doesn"t work well on magic metals」
「…s.h.i.+!」
However, this level of grating would not be a problem if it were not for the magic cancel. Fran easily sliced through the bars and stepped into the prison.
「Gallus? Are you okay?」
「……」
She shook Gallus lightly, but he didn"t respond.
「――Grea―ter―He―al! How was it?」 (1)
『It"s no good, he"s not waking up』
It must be the effects of the narcotics. I don"t think it was Eihwaz"s potion. Maybe.
『In the meantime, let"s get Gallus out of here』
「Nn. Urus.h.i.+」
「woof!」
Fran straps the unconscious Gallus to Urus.h.i.+"s back. The burden on Gallus would be less if we moved while supporting him with telekinesis.
『What happened to Eihwaz?』
「Nn?」
Eihwaz was crouching in front of the jail. He seemed to be examining the corpse of the watchmen.
「Hohoho. So, he"s inserting the sword into his back from here. Looks like it runs down the back of his spine. It"s durability is…I see. It"s not as powerful as a magic sword. Did they build it with this use in mind from the beginning? And about this technique? This is――」
He was dripping a mysterious liquid on the sword and checking the condition of the corpse. On the contrary, he was piercing some kind of needle-like tool into its eyeb.a.l.l.s and cutting its wrists to draw blood.
「Eihwaz, back to top」
「Hmm. I see. Well, there doesn"t seem to be anything here anymore. So, is the dwarves safe?」
「But, can"t wake him up」
「Hmmm. Let"s have a look」
With the corpse firmly tucked away, Eihwaz approached Gallus on Urus.h.i.+"s back. Fran was not sure if she should stop him or not. But in the end, she decided to let him examine Gallus.
「I see, I see……」
Eihwaz is flipping through Gallus" mouth and eye lids, checking the flow of his magic.
「It must be the narcotics. He is mentally drained, and it"s affecting his body」
「Will get cured?」
「From the looks of it, the contamination is quite advanced, but it hasn"t reached the worst of it. With time, healing won"t be a problem」
「Is that so. How can I treat him?」
「It could be a high level healing magic or detoxification with alchemy. Narcotics have a strong impact, but there are several medicines to deal with them. If you want, I can treat him for you? A dwarf affected with a narcotic is a very rare specimen」
Nonono, there"s no way in h.e.l.l I"m leaving him with Eihwaz! It"s like throwing a roll of raw meat in front of a starving wolf. He would never get away from it. I could only imagine a future where Gallus would be dissected.
「No need」
「Hmm, is that so?」
「Nn」
「Wa-wait. I"m saying that I"ll cure him right away, right?」
「It"s fine」
「Muh…」
Fran seemed to have thought the same thing as me, and rejected Eihwaz"s words.
『With that said, what should we do now』
I"d like to take him to a safe place and ask for medical treatment, but where should I take him? The n.o.ble district is in the middle of a battle……
『Fran, let"s go to the Adventurer"s Guild. It"s far enough away from the n.o.ble district. They might have a fighting force and someone who can heal him』
「Go to the Adventurer"s Guild」
「Hmm. It"s not a bad decision. In your point, you can"t just leave it in the hands of the thieves" guild」
Surprisingly, Eihwaz agrees with her. I thought he would insist that we leave it with the Thieves" Guild.
「Leave the dwarf to them and let"s go to another battlefield. I"d like to observe them in action」
Was his matter of interest simply in the pseudo fanatic sword?
What"s more surprising is that he doesn"t want to go on his own. With his personality, I"m afraid he"s going to leave Fran and go off on his own. No, I"m afraid to unleash Eihwaz alone, so it"s better if he stays within my sight, though.
「The world"s rarest thing, an evolved black cat kin…Its true value is not to be missed」
This guy was curious about Fran too! The way he looked at Fran held the same curiosity that he had for Gallus and the pseudo fanatic sword. It was the way he looked at his precious experiment.
『Fran, never let Eihwaz get to you, okay?』
(Of course)
Well, Fran has been keeping a wary eye on Eihwaz since a long time, and I"m sure she"s fine. Maybe she has a wild intuition and senses the look that Eihwaz is giving to her.
After Fran and Eihwaz got out of the hole they had plunged into as it was, they picked up Face, who was getting anxious, and hurried to the Adventurer"s Guild on their feet.
The commotion already seemed to be spreading, and people were looking anxious in the civilian and downtown areas. In fact, some travellers and vendors seemed to be hurrying to the gates to escape from the royal capital.
「This is a bad. If the battle drags on, it could cause panic as people try to escape from the royal capital」
It was no wonder that Face was muttering anxiously. The battle seemed to be getting more intense, with loud explosions echoing in rapid succession and mysterious lights emanating from the n.o.ble district.
「No one in here?」
When we arrived at the Adventurer"s Guild, it was surprisingly deserted. Other than the receptionist, there was no one around. The first person to notice Fran was Stellia, who was still picking at her cookies in her spare time.
「Oh, isn"t it the Black Lightning Princess? what"s up?」
「What happened to the adventurers?」
「The guild sent out an urgent request for security. All the people who have time to spare are out of town」
It seems that the guild is also working properly.
「I want you to take care of Gallus」
「Gallus…by any chance, the Honorary Blacksmith, Gallus?」
「Nn」
Fran told her that narcotics was keeping him from awake, and he needed medical treatment, and that in some cases the enemy might come to take him back. Then Steria raised her eyebrows and frowned. With no adventurers around, she must be wondering if she can keep him.
「What are you mulling over? Get on quickly」
「Haa? Who the h.e.l.l are you?」
「I"m a former adventurer named Eihwaz」
The change in Stellia"s face when she was told this by Eihwaz was dramatic. Her scornful expression changed, and she looked like a maiden in love. No, she"s just an old lady.
「Ei-Eihwaz-sama? A-are you by any chance, Eihwaz the dragon binder?」
「That"s right. This is the guild card I used to use」
「I-I’ll take a look!」
Steria picked up Eihwaz"s guild card with a slightly trembling hand. Then, with a serious face, she checked it for authenticity.
「I-it"s the real one! It"s the real Eihwaz! I-it"s a honor to meet you!」
「Umu」
It"s a cla.s.s change from being a pouty old lady to an idol chaser. Stellia is staring at Eihwaz with sparkling eyes. The tone of her voice is probably a step higher.
The other receptionists stared in amazement at her transformation.
「So, can you take care of this dwarf and treat him?」
「Ye-yes! Of course!」
I guess she really admire him. Instead of being offended by Eihwaz"s big att.i.tude, she nodded happily, and her cheeks dyed red.
But, is it okay if it was this easy?
「Are you okay? The enemy might come here」
「I"m fine! Just leave it to me! I"m still a former rank B adventurer! Besides, I"ll summon all the high-ranked adventurers who didn"t respond to this call as soon as I can! I"ll also call for a healer and an alchemist right away!」
Do the adventurers who didn"t respond to the call would listen to her?
「Fufun. How many years do you think I"ve been in this guild? I at least have three or four adventurer"s weakness. I didn"t want to work for the n.o.ble, but for Eihwaz-sama, that"s a different story!」
It seems that Aunt Steria was more powerful in the shadows than I had imagined. Well, I guess I can leave this one to her.
Besides, come to think of it, he"s a blacksmith with the potential to make something as crazy as a pseudo fanatic sword. It might be a bad idea to leave him in this country. Mainly in terms of Gallus" freedom. If King Kranzel had big ambitions, he would not have the option of freeing Gallus. I can only imagine a future where he is forced into slavery and then forced to engage in the ma.s.s production of pseudo fanatic swords.
In this respect, the adventurer"s guild can be a strong voice for the country. However, let"s make a push. Fran takes out a million golds on the counter and tells Stellia.
「Then I"ll make the request. I want you to take care of Gallus and keep him safe. And no one but us. In particular, do not hand him over to the country or anyone else. This will cover your expenses」
「Let"s add my name to the list. I don"t want to be ripped off by the state」
「Is there a reason for this? Well, that"s okay. If Eihwaz-sama asks me to do something. I"ll do it, no matter what! And the rewards are plenty」
It was a request made directly to the guild by an adventurer. The guild"s reputation would be at stake if they lost Gallus. I"m sure they will protect him.
「Also, I"m leaving my follower. Urus.h.i.+, if anything happens to him, take Gallus and run away」
「Woof」
Worst case scenario, Urus.h.i.+ should be able to protect Gallus.
「Well then, we"d better get going」
「Nn」
Our goal is to get to the square in front of the royal castle. I"ve heard that Count Bailleys is there.
Note:
(1) ――グレーターヒール gure-ta-hi-ru, i don"t know why the use of s.p.a.cing is, for intonation maybe.
(2) That was the longest Fran"s line that i can remember lol…