Inside a certain company, one woman was quietly eating her late lunch at the canteen while making various expression as she fiddled with her phone (Translating and etc). And then, she received a notification that made her stand up and said,
", you are way too early to be having a relations.h.i.+p!"
Haha. Anyway, enough about that. Nothing much to say in this chapter. It"s just that this conference will extend up to the end of this arc. Haa….
With that said, enjoy Chapter 262.
4 chapters left before Arc 6!
Inside the conference room where the Demon Lord Eveam and the Cruel Brigade officers gather, there is a long table in the center of the room used to do their meeting.
Among the personnels present were Eveam, Aquinas, Marione, and then the guests, Liliyn, Silva, and Cruzer.
In a position where one could see everyone, there is a dedicated chair for the Demon Lord, and of course, Eveam was on that seat. Aquinas and Marione sat besides her, while Liliyn and the others occupied the vacant seats left.
"Well then, could Cruzer-dono tell us everything you know that happened in 【Shanjuumon Cave】?"
When Eveam urged Cruzer to speak, he talks quietly as he held hand on his chins.
"Understood. Then first would be "who caused the collapse of the said place"…"
When he mentioned it was the Predecessor Demon Lord, even though Liliyn and the other were surprised by this, Eveam and her company had hardly any surprise in their expressions. Apparently they seem to have a rough idea of who caused such a deed.
"As expected…so it was Avoros…"
Eveam muttered those words with a bitter expression. As Cruzer heard those words, he was convinced that they had antic.i.p.ated something like this.
"However, how was he able to do that…"
"I"m also anxious about that, Cruzer. A while ago, you were talking about a sword he possessed, what is that sword anyway?"
Liliyn recalled sword he was talking about before and inquired it again.
"A while ago, I talked about a sword he had. It"s name was 《Sacrifice》"
As he had expected, hardly anyone reacted to the mention of that name. However, he noticed Liliyn"s movement. It was due to the usually expressionless Aquinas who raised his eyebrow slightly.
"Sacri…fice? It"s a name I haven"t heard of, but what is that sword?"
Marione asked back as he rubbed his prided moustache.
"….《Cursed Sword – Sacrifice》. It was dangerous sword that should have been sealed in the past."
"… sealed it? Please wait a minute. The way you said it sounded like you were the one who sealed, was I mistaken?"
Eveam"s doubt was well founded, and her two subordinates also looked at Cruzer with suspicious gazes.
"No. You are not mistaken. 《Sacrifice》 was a sword that I had sealed with this two hands of mine."
"I-I see…but why does Avoros have that 《Cursed Sword》?"
In face of Eveam"s question, Cruzer answered with a slightly downcasted expression.
"That"s what I don"t understand. I do not know how he knew the location of the sealed sword and also the method of releasing it. But I"m definitely sure that he had 《Sacrifice》 with him."
"…..may I know where it was sealed?"
"I sealed it at the bottom of 【Belial Sea】"
At the mention of that name, almost everyone became speechless.
"【Belial Sea】….it"s the sea on the far north from here, where there"s a nonstop occurrence of whirlpools and violent oceanic current. And most of the monsters living in that area are rated Rank SSS….are you telling me that sword is in there?"
It was Marione who inquired further while explaining so. Although Cruzer nodded in affirmation,
"Preposterous! It"s certainly not a place for any half-hearted person to step foot into, but for someone like you to enter the bottom of that sea? There"s a limit to one"s own foolishness you know?"
When Marione let out an amazed sigh following his words, it wasn"t Cruzer but Liliyn who made a displeased expression with regards to those offending words. However, Marione didn"t stop there.
"Furthermore, it"s already suspicious that you said to be a resident of that place. 【Shanjuumon Cave】 is not a place that can be habituated by any average person. From the way I see it, you"re just a lying 『Imp Race』 in my eyes."
"Marione, restrain your words."
"But Your Majesty…"
Marione was speechless to Eveam"s unreserved words, but he didn"t withdraw his words and only shrugged his shoulders without care.
Liliyn who was at limits of her irritation due to his rude att.i.tude, tried to open her mouth and bash him with words of her own but,
"Marione, as a fellow comrade, let me say that you haven"t seen the true essence of this person yet."
It was Aquinas who had not spoken until now.
"W-what are you talking about?"
"You don"t know whether that person is telling a lie or not, right?"
"Mu…"
Marione broke away from his gaze when the two of them exchanged glances with each other.
"I can understand that you"re frustrated about the 《Core》 being deprived. However, it is also true that we need as much information as we can on this. Have a little composure at least."
"As if I could leisurely do that while listening on this conversation! The 《Core》 had been stolen by that Predecessor Demon Lord you know! If we don"t retrieve it as soon as possible, he will surely cause a great disaster in this country!"
Marione who was full of frustration, *bann, pounded the table with such intensity. However, Aquinas wasn"t unfazed by the direct reception of his anger, and said,
"That person is not telling a lie. If I had to say something about it, his appearance is the strange one."
The long slits in Aquinas" eyes narrowed when it turned to Cruzer. Even Eveam and Marione who bit into his words, raised their eyebrows in wonder, but Liliyn clicked her tongue and murmured the words "d.a.m.n it".
"What do you mean by that Aquinas? About his appearance being strange?…… Liliyn-dono?"
Eveam faced Liliyn who had substantial knowledge on Cruzer"s circ.u.mstances. Cruzer seemed to have been confused too and stared at Liliyn.
(….haa, those eyes are really a pain in the a.s.s)
Liliyn seems to have been dismayed by the outcome and s.h.i.+fted her gaze to Aquinas" crimson eyes with clear irritation.
"Please be relieved. Whoever that person may be, he would remain as a guest in this place. I do not wish to relinquish his stay in here."
"……………"
The two did not avert their glance and mutually stared at each other.
"…I promise you that."
"Hou, how generous of you to say that, are you sure you can thoughtlessly make such a promise like that? You"re not the Demon Lord you know?"
Liliyn"s response was rather extremely natural. But it was Eveam, not Aquinas, who responded next to the provoking words of Liliyn.
"Liliyn-dono, it is as what Aquinas say, I will also promise you of that."
"……what will you do if you break your word?"
"That will absolutely never happen. I a.s.sure you of that as the Leader of this country"
"…..on one condition. Even if his ident.i.ty is revealed, you must swear that you will not disclose his ident.i.ty to anyone else in this place."
"…..you have my word."
At the mention of such words, Liliyn leaked a sigh, and gave Cruzer a nod when she faced him. Cruzer also pondered for a bit, before he returned his positive consent. Although he felt uneasy, he seems to have reached an understanding based from Liliyn"s worries and Eveam"s personality.
And so, Cruzer quietly began to speak for himself.
"To tell you the truth…"
Cruzer talked about his ident.i.ty of not being an 『Evila』 but a 『Gabranth』. Then, Marione gave a more stern look, while Eveam opened her mouth slightly, but Cruzer continued to explain as it is.
"I-Impossible…are you saying you are that "Cruzer Jio"?"
Marione spoke his name with an unbelievable look in his face. Eveam however had a look that she couldn"t relate to it. It seems she had not heard of a person known as Cruzer Jio.
"Cruzer…when I heard that name I thought it was just a coincidence, but to think you were I had guessed."
Aquinas seemed to have predicted that Cruzer was a master blacksmith based on his wisdom of the past and true nature he saw with his eyes.
"It was Hiiro-san who had changed my outer appearance, so that I could avoid unnecessary trouble."
"I-I see….so this kind of task is also easy for Hiiro."
Eveam seems to have been nodding a lot of times in consent.
"I-if that"s the case, do you have evidence to prove your words?"
"So that wasn"t enough make you believe, huh?"
Liliyn makes a grumpy face in pursuit to Marione"s words.
"Hmph, if that"s the case why don"t we ask mister 《Rank 1》-sama to check if Cruzer isn"t lying? Surely this kind of authentication won"t be quite the labor with that distinguished eyes of yours, no?"
At urgence of Marione"s word, not only him but Eveam also glanced at him. Aquinas quietly closed his eyes and opened his mouth.
"……it"s the truth."
Such simple words was enough proof. The two had grasped that Aquinas" 《Devil Eyes》 perceived the truth without any lies. And since he said it wasn"t a lie, it also proves that what Cruzer had said were the truth.
"B-but why were you living in such a place? Ah, let me take that back, rather, why did you come out now out of the many years of your seclusion?"
"I don"t think those matters has nothing to do with the current agenda of this conference, right? What we are here to discuss now is that 《Cursed Sword》, and the countermeasures regarding it."
In face of Marione"s curious doubts, Liliyn quickly struck down that question as if it was natural. Since she had a point, Marione did not refute and remained silent.
"T-that"s right. It"s as Liliyn-dono says. I apologize for doubting you Cruzer-dono, if you are one of Hiiro"s companion then there is no problem. I will keep my promise and will not say anything whether where you are from, your birthplace or even your personal career. For someone admitted by Hiiro, you have my word."
In face of the words of Eveam, Cruzer opened his eyes in surprise and smiled gently.
"I"m grateful for your kind words. To think that boy"s influence would reach even here, the boy is really quite an unexpected one."
Apart from the fact that Cruzer was won over by the Demon Lord"s redeeming words, Liliyn seemed to have also noticed another meaning behind Eveam"s words.
"Then, back to the heart of the matter, please tell us what you know."
"Understood."