Chapter 97
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Enjoy~
ED: LonelyMatter
Chapter 97 – Adventurer Experience and “Her” Sister
Lloyd and his group went on the second investigation into the former demon king’s territory.
And Krone went to the city. Finally, Ain had left the city for a little picnic.
The bodies of the red fox couple were no longer left behind. But there might be something in the area. With such expectations, Ain walked along the snowy road with his two guards.
“Hey, Ain. The fruit of that tree is poisonous, but poisonous insects eat it well, so I’m sure it’s tasty.”
“Thank you very much. I’ll have some.”
He reached for the tree without paying attention to anything else. It was a poisonous fluorescent pink, and at first glance, no one would think of touching it.
“Sour! What’s this? It doesn’t taste good! Instructor, you lied to me!”
“…It’s not something that humans eat, so I don’t really know what it tastes like.”
“I mean, Your Highness. You should at least be a little careful when you put something in your mouth…”
He didn’t really care if it was poisoned or not. He tried it with such a light feeling, but it was just sour, and he felt like he was losing it.
“It didn’t have any effect anyway. I’ll just remember that it didn’t taste good.
It’s only good for insects, d.a.m.n it. Ain was openly annoyed.
“Speaking of which, Your Highness? I heard that poison doesn’t work on you, but is it just ordinary poison?”
“What do you mean by ordinary?”
“Well, let’s see… There are natural poisons produced by plants and animals, and there are neurotoxins and other poisons if we dig deeper. I wonder how far the range of effectiveness goes.”
When asked this question, Ain realized that he had never checked the range of the effects.
He thought about it for a while, but he still did not know how far it would work. So, he decided to explain some past cases.
“How far would it go? I don’t know either. But I was fine with the blue fire rose and the miasma in the cave.”
Majolica and Kaizer heard this. They both looked at each other with blank expressions.
Then, Majolica was the first to speak. From Ain’s words, he was able to come up with an answer.
“The poison of the blue fire rose is a variant of the hemorrhagic poison. Most of the time, the miasma is a kind of neurotoxin that doesn’t cause much pain. So the difference in the type of poison should not be a problem…”
“Another thing is the strength of the poison. That rose is ridiculously strong. It’s not something you’d normally use because you’re risking your life to carry it around, but if you feed it completely, it can kill even a medium-sized dragon.”
“I’m also surprised by this new revelation…”
Ain was the one who was most surprised and thanked G.o.d for this amazing ability.
In the past, he used to think, “What a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” But now it’s a great partner.
“So, Ain. You might be able to enter a place called ‘The Graveyard of the G.o.d of Death."”
“W-what is that scary place?”
“Oh, that’s right, Your Highness could go there.”
Majolica also seemed to know about the place and opened his mouth after Kaizer.
“The place is a bit deep in the territory of the former demon king. There is a swamp with a diameter of about 30 meters in the gap between the mountains.”
For Ain, it would be like a bonus stage. After all, there’s nothing to be afraid of in this land, and it’s a new place for him, so he’s excited.
“I have heard that there is something shining in the middle of the land. But I don’t know what it is.”
“You can see something glowing, but you don’t know what it is?”
“Yes. Because of the poison and the miasma, the visibility in the center is ridiculously poor. So no one has ever seen what it looks like.”
“In that case, you could stretch something out and take it from a distance.”
All you had to do was make a magic tool for it. It would cost a lot of money, but it would allow you to find out what the treasure was.
“High-quality materials from Ist, to monster materials. They’ve tried all kinds of things… but just touching the air will melt it. They did something similar from the air, but the result is the same. So somehow… you have no choice but to go in.”
“If you think about it like that, Ain. You should go there some time; you’ll see what’s there, right?”
Of course. There was no boy who did not feel the romance of a treasure in a place where only he could go.
Still, the first question was whether or not he would get permission. If the place was so dangerous, he didn’t think they would give him permission.
“I’d like to go, but it’s difficult…”
“Huh… My goodness. Where’s your usual energy? You always do what you want.”
“Wait, Kaizer. Unlike you, His Highness is able to think things through. That’s why chickens without crests…”
“Hey, you. I’ve always wondered, did you just make up that stupid a.n.a.logy? Hey.”
“Oh, by the way, Your Highness? Are your legs okay? Don’t you get tired on snowy roads?”
This was probably what Kaizer’s role was. He may have taken on the hardships of the party and brought everyone together.
In a word, he was a hard worker but an indispensable person.
“You’re ignoring me again…”
“Majolica-san… Can you just ignore him?”
“It’s okay; it’s that guy, after all. So, is everything okay?”
“Y-yes. ——By the way, my body is fine; I was more tired the other day when I went to the former demon king’s territory.”
Despite the snow, the road was mostly flat.
Occasionally, they climbed a slight slope, but compared to when Ain went to the former demon king’s territory, the slope was only modest.
“That’s good to hear. Come on, we’re almost there.”
Kaizer slapped him on the back with his strong arms.
Although he looked annoyed, Ain never seemed to mind. For some reason, these two were also very close to each other.
＊＊＊
“Ain! How is it going?”
“Your Highness? What’s wrong?”
It had been about an hour since they left the inn. The road was relatively easy, but they had to take a few breaks to get around.
This area was covered with forests, but this place, the destination, was an open area with no trees. According to Krone’s information, there used to be a small village here, and Ain guessed that the red fox couple might have lived there, hiding their true ident.i.ty. He expected that.
“Hmm… there is nothing here! Only trees and rocks lying around!”
He could find an old well and a large hole in the ground that looked like a garbage dump. However, just because he found them, there was no way to get any more information than that.
There had been a body there in the past. That was all the information he had, and the discovery was not recent. So Ain was half in a picnic mood, expecting it to be fruitless.
“Well, it seems to be an old story. It won’t be that easy.”
“Speaking of which, Your Highness? Is there any record of how this dead red fox died?”
Majolica wanted to know more and asked Ain. Then Ain answered him in a cheerful voice.
“Oh, I’ve heard about that. Krone had the guild check the old records, so wait a minute.”
He opened his heavy coat and took out a sheet of parchment from his chest.
The cold air came in, but it felt good on his body, which was burning from all the walking. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the clean air.
“Let’s see, the red fox, who was probably the husband, was stabbed in the heart. The red fox, who was the wife, was covered in cuts and burns. In addition, her eyes and uterus had been gouged out…”
They did not know why there was such a difference, but the red fox’s wife was a messy corpse.
They had a complicated feeling when they heard about the incident, and their mouths were agape.
“I wonder why the wife is more messed up…”
“What a terrible thing to do… First of all, I don’t even know if it was humans or monsters that did it. Ain, what happened to the magic stone?”
“There seems to be none left. The red fox has a magic stone in its heart, and a core on the other side, and the magic stone was gouged out.”
“This is a very scary story. I don’t understand its purpose at all.”
Ain agreed with Kaizer’s words. It was hard to understand why someone would go to all this trouble to kill someone, but the crime, as if they were enjoying it, was very red fox-like.
“I heard it’s called enjoymentism, and maybe it’s a crime committed by the same race… or something like that.”
“Maybe it’s not a mistake. The person who has a strong desire to kill the wife… maybe it is jealousy?”
“Fuh….. What’s that, Majolica-san? It just means that the red fox is very similar to humans, isn’t it?”
“Ara, but isn’t it? They have a strong ego, and they are male and female. It’s not strange for them to have love, hate, jealousy, and s.e.xual desires.”
The way Majolica said that while twisting and turning his body was quite shocking. But Majolica’s words were persuasive.
“But there doesn’t seem to be a clue.”
“That’s right… The red fox had that kind of humanity. Is that enough for a conclusion?”
“Yes, that’s right. It is better to have a little insight than to know nothing at all.”
And about the murder of the red fox couple, they had no intention of looking for the culprits, nor did they want to think about it any further.
They searched the area for about an hour without making any progress.
“Let’s have lunch, I think it’s time to take a break.”
“Come to think of it, it’s a good time… what should we do?”
“You both said we’d get something locally.”
To refresh the mood, Kaizer suggested that they have lunch. Majolica and Ain agreed, realizing that they were getting hungry.
“There’s a good one up there. That’s enough, Majolica; why don’t you bring the third ball?”
“I brought some. Yes, use them.”
“I’ll leave the fire to you. I’ll show you something good, Ain.”
“What’s good? …Or rather, what are these b.a.l.l.s?”
Majolica opened his coat and put his hand in his pants, not in his pockets… and took out some b.a.l.l.s. Ain was curious what they were, but he didn’t feel like he’d lose if he pointed them out.
“Here’s the thing. It’s an amazing ball that can easily catch that stupid bird flying in the sky right now.”
I see… it’s an amazing ball, Ain thought. The source of the ball was in Majolica’s pants, but considering that, it’s hard to react. Was this something to laugh about?
“By the way, what is that bird?”
As Ain and the others look up into the sky above them, they see a bird circling.
It had gray feathers and a bald head, and its size was about 3 to 4 meters.
“Those monsters are called Rickbirds. They’re sometimes called cowardly birds because they won’t touch their prey unless it’s sleeping or weak.”
“Oh, something like that…”
It sounds good to be cautious, but it feels a bit cowardly. But it was necessary to survive in the harsh environment of nature.
“I’m going to throw this ball to that bird. Then… Oraaaaa!”
Then Kaizer threw Majolica’s ball into the sky.
The ball was thrown with such force that it hit one of the Rickbirds that could not avoid it.
“Gyaagyaaa!?”
As soon as it hit, it immediately disintegrated, enveloping the Rickbird in a semi-transparent, rectangular, box-like object.
Naturally unable to fly, Rickbird continued to fall headlong to the ground, eventually hitting the ground.
As soon as it hit the ground, the translucent object disappeared.
“So, that’s it. Isn’t it easy? Majolica is good at making these things.”
“Hey, if you drop it, bleed it out quickly! I don’t want to eat the stinky meat!”
“…I’ll teach you how to use it, too. Are you interested?”
“Y-yes. I’d like to learn how you do it…”
Momentarily surprised by Majolica’s voice, Kaizer regained his composure and asked Ain.
“Then let’s have a special extracurricular lesson. I’ll lend you a knife, but let’s start with the strangling method…”
Ain took the knife from Kaizer’s hand and approached the fallen Rickbird.
It was not dead yet, and now it seemed to be unconscious.
“A bird-like monster is, of course, one of the easiest to kill. For now, it’s stunned and docile. Is that okay?”
“Yes. It is indeed stunned.”
“And Ain. Keep this with you; I’ll use it right away.”
He also handed Ain a piece of rope. It was thick, strong, and of high quality, an essential item for any adventurer.
“If it faints, it will take about five minutes to wake up. …First, tie the rope around its legs.”
The way he wrapped the rope around the legs with a familiar gesture proves that he has been an adventurer for many years.
Kaizer, who had never been seen like this at school, was quite dignified, even if Ain did not say it out loud.
“So hang it on a suitable tree and help me pull it… Ain!”
“Yes!”
The two men pulled up and hung Rickbird’s body from the tree. The remaining rope was wrapped tightly around the tree as well.
“Then the blood will rush to its head, won’t it?”
“I wouldn’t want that to happen to me.”
“O-oh. Who would? Well, it’s easy if you go this far. Just cut it off right here at the neck.”
“Let’s see…is it here?”
He pointed the knife at the indicated spot and asked Kaizer for confirmation.
He nodded with a smile and encouraged Ain to do it.
“…Oops.”
Kaizer’s knife is sharp. Ain swung it with reasonable force, and the blade went through more than it was supposed to.
“It’s done well. Then, the blood will start to drip on the ground. That means the blood will flow out easily.”
“Oh… it’s so red.”
The snow pattern was stained red from the large amount of blood that had been spilled. Some people will find this beautiful, while others will find it scary.
“What I just taught you is how to cut the large blood vessels and strangle them. To be honest, I’ve always done it this way… Yoo.”
As soon as Kaizer approached the Rickbird, he quickly and without hesitation waved a knife at it.
“Ehh… what is this? It doesn’t make any sense to me…”
“Hahaha! Well, it’s okay to do it that easy, but this is a cla.s.s. I have to teach you something right, don’t I?”
He cut off the Rickbird’s head, and the blood began to flow heavily.
He often took the trouble to do this and poof, the head was off. It was faster than anything else.
“There are many more ways to drain the blood. There are many more ways to process it for high-end ingredients. But it doesn’t affect the taste, so don’t worry about it.”
“It’s important that it’s simple, though.”
“Hahaha! I know, right? Well, let’s put it aside for a moment, and then we’ll butcher it. The skin on this one is not good, so we’ll take out the feathers along with the skin. After that, we will open the belly and take out the meat.”
It was an unexpectedly masculine way of handling the meat, but it must be easy. In fact, Kaizer has been doing it this way for a long time.
Even for Ain, it’s something of a learning experience.
“Hey, is that the magic stone?”
“The one around his neck is the magic stone. If you want it, you can have it. It’s not really worth anything.”
“Really? Then I’ll take your word for it… Itadakimasu.”
“Itadakimasu…? What do you mean?”
At Ain’s words of “Itadakimasu,” Kaizer looked at him and said, “What are you talking about?” But he could not hide his surprise at what Ain did next.
“Hmm, boiled eggs without seasoning… They don’t taste very good.”
He emitted a light and absorbed the contents of the stone. He had heard about it from Sylvird, but it was a different shock to see it.
Seeing Ain doing it as a matter of course, Kaizer sighed in his mind that it was really nonsense.
“Are you really absorbing this? I mean, what’s with this tasteless…”
“I have absorbed it. It can help me become stronger. I don’t know why it’s tasteless because when I absorb a magic stone, it usually has a taste. Rickbird’s magic stone tasted like boiled eggs.”
“You’re full of things that don’t make sense to me.”
It was unthinkable for a human to absorb a magic stone, and that was Kaizer’s common sense until then. However, when he became involved with Ain, his common sense began to crumble.
＊＊＊
Majolica built a fire, and they took the meat they had just cut to the fire.
Of course, they didn’t have any fancy cooking utensils, so they decided to “barbecue” the meat by tying it to a tree.
Seasoning? As if they cared about such things, they just sprinkled some spices and salt on the meat.
Ain, who had never been to a barbecue in such a snowy landscape before, was intoxicated by the atmosphere, even though it was such a simple and tasty lunch.
“It’s a big meal, but maybe it’s the atmosphere that makes it taste so good.”
“But you know what, Ain? When you get used to this kind of thing, it can be annoying, even though it’s similar to cooking at home… you don’t have to worry about that, right?”
“What are you talking about when you influence the crown prince, you idiot?”
“…I can’t talk back. But you’re always so annoying!”
They spread a cloth on the snow and tasted Rickbird’s meat in a lively atmosphere.
Soon after, Kaizer suddenly fell silent, and Majolica began to look around to see what was going on.
“…..”
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? You suddenly went quiet…”
“Hmm? Ah… No, I was just thinking about all the places I’ve been. I just remembered.”
It had been a long time since he had been involved in such adventurous activities, and he was nostalgic for the old days.
It was the time when Kaizer formed a party and went adventuring on the continent of Ishtar.
“That’s right… There was me, you, and Celes. Sometimes Lloyd was there too.”
“Uh, wait, Majolica-san. Lloyd-san is… you’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Ara, haven’t you heard? Lloyd used to travel with us.”
Of course, there was no way he had heard about it. But Ain thought he understood why Lloyd had left Majolica and Kaizer in charge of Ain’s escort.
“I-I didn’t know… But does that mean there were four of you traveling together?”
“Well, actually, there were five of us. There was just one other person.”
Majolica, like Kaizer, had a friendly look on his face as he remembered the old days. But his face showed a sad emotion as if he regretted something.
“That Celes and the other one?”
“Yes, that’s right. By the way, this Celes is Celestina, Chris’ sister.”
As they continued to eat, the new revelations that continued to flow in were not over yet. Christina and Celestina…yes, they were indeed like sisters.
“You know that problem child I mentioned before?”
“Problem, child? Haha! Hey Majolica, did you teach him that?”
“Yes, actually, I did, didn’t I? She was a problem child.”
Kaizer also had memories of Chris’ older sister.
When he heard the word “problem child,” he smiled even as he chewed on his meat.
“Oh, she was a problem child; you can put that in your head.”
“That’s definitely true. And also… she’s ‘super’ strong.”
“Oh sure… she was strong, she was ridiculously strong.”
“I heard that she was stronger than Lloyd-san. Was she really that strong? Lloyd-san is also ridiculously strong.”
Stronger than the sword slash he saw the other day. The one who surpa.s.ses Lloyd with that kind of strength is Celestina, Chris’ sister.
But most of the time, the imagination couldn’t keep up. For Ain, anyway, the strongest was Lloyd.
“Yes, Ain. She’s even stronger than Lloyd, or rather, even beyond his reach…”
“That girl was actually Lloyd’s master, wasn’t she?”
“Lloyd-san’s master?
It would not be surprising that the man had a master. But Ain had no idea that she was Chris’ sister.
Rude as it may seem, Ain spat out some of the Rickbird he had in his mouth.
“Calm down, Ain! I’ll tell you everything!”
“I’m sorry… But when you say master, do you mean that Celes-san? Did she use a greatsword as well?”
“No, she didn’t. She used a knife and a bow. I’ve never seen her use a sword. Right, Majolica?”
“Yes, that’s right. She didn’t use it because she said something like, ‘I don’t want my arms to get too fat!"”
She said something cute, but the fact was that she was still a more powerful person than Lloyd.
Ain’s mouth still hung open.
“But that doesn’t mean she can’t teach swordsmanship, does it?”
“That’s right, but she had a really good sense. She could use any weapon and give good advice.”
“N-no way.”
Ain was astonished and wondered if there was such a way to teach.
She didn’t talk to one side or the other anymore. It was not so different, he thought unconvincingly.
“She was such a great person, but where is she now…?”
Frankly, if she was so brilliant, he’d like her to help him. Investigating the red fox was a natural thing to do, but it reminds Ain of the Sea Dragon case.
Considering that Chris is about to die, he even resented why she wasn’t there.
“Ah. I know that’s what’s bothering you.”
“…What should we do, but it’s Chris’ fault for not telling him. Ugh…”
The two of them looked uncomfortable. Seeing them start to think about what was going on, Ain was sure that something was wrong.
It probably wasn’t that she was dead or something. If she was dead, they would have said so as soon as possible.
“Tell him. It might not be right for us to tell him, but Ain is the crown prince. He has the right to know.”
“T-That’s right. Yes… His Highness is also concerned about it.”
“Well, you don’t have to push yourself too hard, but…”
It seemed to be harder than Ain had imagined, and Majolica hesitated a bit.
As for Ain, he didn’t like being forced to listen to it, so he decided to withdraw from the discussion.
“No, this is something you have to know. So tell him, Majolica, about the two who committed the deadly sin.”
It was Kaizer who did not approve of ending things halfway.
Just as Ain was about to stop, Kaizer told Majolica to continue the story.
“A deadly sin? And two people…?”
What does that mean, two people? One of them is confirmed to be Celes, Chris’ sister.
But he doesn’t know about the other one and blurts it out.
“It’s all kinds of taboo stuff. What you’re about to hear is not to be mentioned anywhere, okay, Ain?”
“Y-yes… I understand.”
The air Kaizer created was so pressurized that Ain nodded his head obediently. And then Majolica coughed and opened his mouth.
“I will tell you, Your Highness. She led a certain person to a certain place. And they both disappeared from the world.”
“…Who is this certain person?”
He swallowed hard and urged him to continue. Ain was also curious about this certain place, but first he wanted to ask about the person.
Majolica also took a deep breath and then told Ain the name of the person.
“The first prince, Lyle von Ishtalika. He is the brother of Katima-sama and Olivia-sama and our fifth party member.”