Arc 25: Daydream Believer
Chapter 238: The Capital Heiron, and a Reunion
The grounds of the previous Imperial Capital of Yuuron, Shenghai, had been turned into a mountain of rubble. The ground was greatly hallowed, and there’s no trace of the gorgeous capital anymore.
This was really something for an attack of the advanced type to blow off everything even till here. I could now understand just how terrible that power was just by standing again in this area.
We, who had transferred from Brunhild, were looking around when Kohaku raised a growl that’s similar to a… warning.
From the direction Kohaku was glaring at, the bad-looking vagrants appeared from somewhere and started approaching us. Each one of them was holding a knife or an ax in their hands.
「Oi, the boy over there. If you value your life, leave all of your money as well as that woman and scram」(???)
One of the men called out to me while laughing vulgarly. The woman he’s talking about was probably Tsubaki-san who’s standing beside me.
「What are those?」(Touya)
「I think perhaps they are a group of robbers that are digging up valuable objects buried in the Imperial capital」(Tsubaki)
So they’ve similar to hyenas, eh? Oh well. They only seem to be the guys with evil thoughts to me.
「b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you listening to me!?」(???)
「I hear you. My ears aren’t bad yet」(Touya)
Did they think that I was looking down on them? Every one of them surrounded us readying their knives. This is really troublesome.
「Oh Fire burst open, crimson eruption, Explosion」(Touya)
I faced towards a mountain of rubble and used explosion magic since there’s nothing left to discuss here. A loud sound echoed throughout the surroundings. Hmm? Apparently, my magic power has gone up. Is this also the influence of my ascending to G.o.dhood?
At times like this, I sometimes wondered whether I would end up joining the ranks of the G.o.ds due to this phenomenon. Having a life span in which one wouldn’t die is something that I’d probably be grateful for.
「Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!?」(???)
「This guy is a magician! Run away!」(???)
The robbers, having ignored me who’s feeling quite depressed, started to escape spreading in all directions at full speed.
This area here seems to be more lawless than I’ve initially thought. Shall we quickly go to the capital where this new heavenly emperor is?
I displayed the map in the air and enlarged it to show the surrounding lands.
「Umm let’s see. The new capital has been named “Heiron”, right?」(Touya)
「Yes. …It’s here. It’s located in the northwest direction from our present position」(Tsubaki)
「All right. Shall we go then?」(Touya)
『Wa-wait a minute. Please, my lord. Are you going to fly there by any chance?』(Kohaku)
「Eh? That’s right. Is there a problem?」(Touya)
Kohaku and Tsubaki-san’s face despaired a lot. It seemed everyone hated being made to fly in the sky very much.
I could also move there with [Teleport], but I was still unaccustomed to long-range movements yet. It would’ve been embarra.s.sing if I appeared above a river or something. Oh well. I guess it can’t be helped then.
「…I get it. I guess I can go to Heiron alone, and open [Gate] from there」(Touya)
「I would like to ask that from you」(Tsubaki)
『I as well』(Kohaku)
d.a.m.n. I should’ve come here with the high-speed flying boat [Gungnir] if I knew that it would come to this. However, I still could fly faster than that boat.
Oh well. It’s alright. I just had to go there with [Fly] without stopping.
I arrived at the destination after flying for 3 minutes will my full power. A big a city was visible underneath my eyes. Is that the capital Heiron?
I wondered why they couldn’t endure this for just three minutes. I then descended into a remote forest slightly away from the capital and opened [Gate] to Shenghai.
Kohaku and Tsubaki-san came over to this side through the connected [Gate].
「Shall we go then? Oops, I suppose I must disguise myself」(Touya)
I then applied an invisibility magic [Mosaic] around myself as a subst.i.tute for curtain, and finished changing my clothes. It’s a magic that humans from my original world would wonder whether I was stark naked or not if I’d been seen by them.
「…It’s flashy ~nee…」(Tsubaki)
Such impression leaked from Tsubaki-san who saw the silver Oni warrior I’d changed into. Seriously? I have been wondering whether, excluding the mask, the black colored Hakama and Jinbaori would look plain though.
「It’s not about the color — it’s the appearance that’s standing up as evil. Although you are saying we’re going to steal, I wonder how I can describe it… It’s definitely a failing mark for a ninja」(Tsubaki)
Mumuu. A ninja inspection is harsh. Oh well. It’s fine. It’s not like we’re going to steal those machines right away.
I led Tsubaki-san and Kohaku for now, and we entered the capital Heiron. I had some trouble at the entrance, but I was able to pa.s.s after bribing the guard. I’d then realized at this point that the guards of this capital were out of place. They didn’t fit in.
The capital Heiron was indeed a town in chinese style, with rows of houses having red pillars to support the tiled roofs. I could also see a high tower. Stalls have been lined up, and something similar to paper lanterns was dangling as well.
I could see what seemed to be a large castle at a distance. It looked like it’s being completely surrounded by high walls, so I didn’t see it very well.
It’s a town where a lot of things were lined up. I could also see slightly depressed people that were coming and going. Is it just my imagination?
「Somehow, it seems everybody is looking toward here though……」(Touya)
『Everyone is looking at you, my lord』(Kohaku)
「As such, this is why I’ve said that you’re standing out as an evil person, haven’t I?」(Tsubaki)
Umuu. Oh well. It’s no use talking about it now. I’ll think about it when we get involved with something.
「Then, what will we do?」(Tsubaki)
「I want Tsubaki-san to collect information about the iron machine soldiers. Kohaku will be Tsubaki-san’s guard. Please gather information regarding the whereabouts of the iron machine soldiers and the one who made it, okay? You don’t need to chase them too far, so only collect information until tonight. Call me anything happens」(Touya)
「I understand」(Tsubaki)
『Leave it to me』(Kohaku)
Tsubaki-san and Kohaku disappeared in the bustle of the town traffic.
I’d then decided to listen to the stories of the townspeople to get information like the rumors about the new heavenly emperor.
「I wonder, isn’t it a basic knowledge to gather this kind of information in bars?」(Touya)
Although I said that, the sun was still high. Should I get information by asking in any shop? Come to think of it, I still didn’t have my lunch yet.
「Umm let’s see…Aah. That place is fine, I guess?」(Touya)
I went toward an open stall at the edge of the road, and sit at the weather-beaten chair. A menu list was placed on the table, but all of items had cooking names that I hadn’t heard before. As such, I didn’t understand what kind of things they were. What was this dish they’re calling [Meat Ramein]? It probably had meat inside, but what type of meat was it?
「…your order?」(Shopkeeper)
The voice of the shopkeeper who was inside the stall called out to me. He looked like he’s looking at me suspiciously. Was it due to the effect of the mask?
「Ah~, one of this meat ramein then」(Touya)
「Sure. A meat ramein, right?」(Shopkeeper)
As I was waiting for my dish, I gazed at the traffic going to and from on the street. Suddenly, I noticed something strange. I felt like there were few women and children.
In exchange, I noticed young soldiers with special shoulder pads modeled after a dragon head. Say, are those the soldiers of this town?
Did some accident took a place and the guards are dealing with it?
「Here you go. One meat ramein coming up」(Shopkeeper)
「…chashuu-men？」(Touya)
Having looked at the noodles in the donburi, I ended up muttering without thinking. Say is Ramien is actually Ramen? No, they are different. The noodles are thin and short. If I have to say either way, I guess it looks like Somen.
In any case, I took a sip of the soup with a spoon, but it’s way too thin. The noodles had a dull feeling as well. Is this similar to a hospital food? It’s because the Chashu is tough and feels similar to beef jerky. Ah! I wonder, will it soften if I soak into the soup? Dip dip dip. …… it’s tough.
Oh well. Let’s just eat this as beef jerky. The more I bite, the more the taste… the taste… the taste… is like rubber.
Or rather, in the first place this, what type of meat……?
「Owner, what meat is this…？」(Touya)
「It’s meat from a troll’s shank」(Shopkeeper)
「I don’t need a change!」(Touya)
I slapped a copper coin on the table and stood from my seat.
What kind of food did you feed me…? What kind of…?
It seemed I’d cried out those words of disgust unintentionally and in a different sense.
This place was close to the Demon Kingdom of Zenoasu, so I guessed the culture of their cuisine were mixing as well. Becoming a n.o.ble of a certain rank like Sakura or Spika-san exempt you from eating the meat of so-called magic beasts though. It’s more likely because it’s not delicious though.
However, we ate dragon’s meat as well. In the end though, the deliciousness of its meat couldn’t be compared to a troll’s shank. I wonder if dragons become strong so that they wouldn’t end up being hunted down to extinction.
This was the time when I wanted to drink something up to clean my throat, but I didn’t want to enter a shop and drink something unpleasant again. I sat on a garden stone on a nearby storefront, took out a thermos from [Storage], and drank ordinary water. For such a normal water to be this delicious. Hmm?
「Where are they!? They shouldn’t have gone far! Search for them!」(Soldiers)
It looked busy for some reason — the soldiers were running around the city — were they searching for somebody? That probably meant that something had happened.
「Oi, you there! It’s a face I didn’t see before! What is this mask!」(Soldier)
One of them called out to me. Ah well. I was wearing this so my image stuck to the minds of other people. In other words, I was suspicious.
「I myself am a traveling adventurer. I wear this mask because my face got burnt in the old days」(Touya)
「Really? Remove it and show me!」(Soldier)
I secretly disguised my face under the mask with [Mirage] and changed my real face a little with illusion while following the order of the arrogant soldier who came up. I put on an illusion of the worst burn I could imagine and took off my mask afterwards.
「Uu… U-understand. It is fine already」(Soldier)
The soldier flinched after being shown a disgusting face. I, who felt a little gratified, then tried asking the soldier a question while putting on the mask again.
「What in world has happened? It seems noisy」(Touya)
「As fearful as it is, we are chasing some guys who has aimed at His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor’s life. It’s a group of three people consisting of two men and a woman. They’re probably the underlings of one of the other, fake heavenly emperors」(Soldier)
Arara. Is this the specialty of Yuuron, the dispatching of a.s.sa.s.sins?
I heard that he was attacked in the courtyard of the castle or something. I thought that the bigger problem was that castle defenders allowed intruders to invade this deep. The emperor was defended by the people who guarded him before it happened though, the criminals seemed to have escaped.
「Among those three who has invaded, the male boujutsu user was injured in his right shoulder. Inform us at once if you see someone suspicious」(Guard)
The soldier said so and left at a fast pace. This country was dangerous as usual.
If you say it is unrelated to me, it definitely is. They also say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so maybe I can obtain some information.
「I wonder, can I look for them?」(Touya)
I opened a map in my smartphone without projecting it in the air because I stood out so much (Thought it may be late for that now) and reduced the scale to the capital Heiron.
「Search. Someone with an injured right shoulder」(Touya)
『Search complete. One person found』
Oh, I found him. I wouldn’t know his appearance just by his injury, but was this guy, who had been hit, was so severely injured that the injury was already showing from his appearance? His shoulder was being laid bare.
I thought they might’ve cured his shoulder injury with recovery magic, but it seemed they didn’t have anyone who could use light attribute magic. They probably didn’t have a potion as well.
Shall I go there and look for him for now? But pardon me from experiencing another suicide bombing like the previous a.s.sa.s.sin’s though.
「Is he in here?」(Touya)
I, having gone out of the street, moved ahead through the black alley and went into a road with a dense bamboo forest spreading out where there was little traffic.
It would be interesting if there’s a panda here. No, there’s no reason for a panda in this world to be normal. At best, it would’ve been someone strange with four arms and who uses kung fu.
I walked the road while thinking about that, but then I halted in my spot.
They were here. There were two people ahead with another one having a different presence. That person had already noticed me and was turning towards me from somewhere else. Eh, from above?
「Haaaaaaaa！！」(???)
「Ooops……！」(Touya)
I dodged by a paper thin margin the blow of the a.s.sailant who came flying from inside the bamboo thicket.
The a.s.sailant, after having landed and turned towards me, launched his punches which I then parried to left and right. The attacker once again sent a turning flying kick which I avoided by taking a distance with a back step.
I didn’t get it very well because he’s wearing a jet black robe with a hood, but the attacker somehow looked like a woman, judging from her voice.
I took a distance and we faced each other. The woman drew out her palm from a half rising stance. Eh!?
「Haaaa！！」(a.s.sailant)
I caught the shock attack that came flying to me with an arm cross. Say, is this… Hakkei!?
Like pressing for an answer, the fist of the opponent approached me and attacked my arms like a storm by using this gap.
I leaned to the side to avoid the fists and swiped at the a.s.sailant’s feet just as how I was currently. The a.s.sailant, having lost her balance, fell back while doing a backflip and made a stance once again. With this jump, the hood of the coat fell to the back exposing the face of a woman underneath it.
「A────h！ As I’ve thought!!」(Touya)
「?!」(???)
The woman from the dragon clan retreated a little, being surprised at me who suddenly pointed to her and said those lines with a loud voice.
She’s none other than the woman who had an intense fierce fight with Elzie in the [Pruning Ceremony] in the Great Forest Sea, Sonia Paralem.
「What’s the matter? What are you doing in a place like this!? Ah, is Rengetsu-san, by any chance, the injured boujutsu user!?」(Touya)
「…Who are you?」(Sonia)
「Eh? Ah that’s right. You won’t know who I am with this, right?」(Touya)
I was still hiding my face with a mask so I untied a string at the back and take off my mask.
「Look here, it is me!」(Touya)
「Who are you?!」(Sonia)
「Huh?!」(Touya)
The startled Sonia-san was surprised to see my face. Ah, I forgot to cancel [Mirage]!
I quickly canceled the illusion stuck on my face. Though Sonia-san had a magic eye that could see through illusions, she couldn’t know it without having to invoke her magic eye? Ah, Yumina and her Eminence the Pope were the same as her.
「It’s me. Mochizuki Touya」(Touya)
「Touya-dono?!」(Sonia)
It seemed she was finally able to understand the situation. Nevertheless, I wonder why is Sonia-san in Yuuron?