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Volume 2 Chapter 5: I listened to the Guardian Deity"s wish (part 1)
Ten days have pa.s.sed since that day.
Since my ban had been lifted, I had gone to see Cecilia several times within that timeframe. I did not pay her a visit today, however. Instead, I went to the guild to report to Clayman on a request that I had completed.
“Hey, how many more requests do I have to take before I get promoted to A rank?” [Youki]
“Hah? Why are you asking that all of the sudden?” [Clayman]
Clayman asked in return as he processed my work in an exasperated manner.
“No, that’s because I managed to achieve B rank from an F rank easily. But, I have done quite a fair amount of B rank quests already, right?" [Youki]
“Stop being so demanding! It"s actually rare to find someone who can even achieve B rank in just less than six months." [Clayman]
“But I want to be an A rank adventurer as soon as possible.” [Youki]
"When it"s impossible, it"s impossible. I mean, just think about it. Once you become an A rank adventurer, you"ll be receiving more troublesome jobs. At the same time, there will be more troublesome processing work that needs to be done as well. As a result, my workload will also increase; making it even more bothersome. Do you understand?" [Clayman]
“For now, I understand that Clayman is just being lazy as usual.” [Youki]
This guy… So he didn’t want to raise my rank for his own sake? Is it acceptable for an a.s.sistant guildmaster to be behaving like that?
After that, I tried to carry on for a little longer to talk it out with Clayman, but he changed the subject every single time. In the end, I wasn’t able to bring up the subject about my promotion to A rank.
“d.a.m.n it… I want to take up A rank quests as soon as I can.” [Youki]
I muttered as I was on my way back to the inn from the guild.
Clayman had said that my promotion would increase his workload, but that shouldn’t be the only reason for his refusal.
He did mention that he had rarely seen someone who could achieve B rank in less than six months. That would mean that the number of people who achieved A rank would be even fewer. Thus, there was no doubt that it would be very conspicuous if someone managed to do so. Clayman might have refused promoting me to A rank for the sake of my own well-being.
…Although, it might also be true that he had refused to do so because he was afraid that it would increase his workload.
“Well then. What should I do today?” [Youki]
I went back to the inn and mulled over my plans for the day, as I walked towards my room. I didn’t feel like taking up any guild request, since if I had intended to do so, I wouldn’t have returned to the inn. That said, I didn’t have any appointment with anyone today.
I entered the room, feeling distressed as I couldn’t decide on what to do.
“I’m back, wait there’s no one around… no, there is.” [Youki]
The stone statue, which had received a high appraisal from all of the visitors, was present. I had simply changed his form as payback for giving me such a dangerous dream after he cast 《Nightmare Sleep》 on me the other day. However, his appearance ended up receiving overwhelming approval instead.
Considering the result, it could no longer be considered revenge anymore.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong so I gave up in frustration in the end.
“Gai, are you awake? Or rather, get up!!” [Youki]
Since I couldn’t decide on what I should do today, I woke Gai up just to kill time. When I gave the stone body a light tap, I could hear a soft echo resounding through the room.
“Mu… What is it, brat? You"re surprisingly early today." [Gai]
“Well, I lost my purpose of leaving today, I guess.” [Youki]
I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I left the guild without taking up any job, since I failed to negotiate with Clayman.
“Hmph, so you went even though you had no plans… Anyway, that means you’re free now, right? I have something that I need to talk to you about.” [Gai]
“I don’t mind it. Is there anything wrong?” [Youki]
“It might be easier to show it to you before I explain… Mnn!” [Gai]
The instant Gai raised a strained cry, the layer of soil that masked Gai’s appearance burst into a cloud of dust and scattered around the room.
“Uooi!? What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!” [Youki]
I complained to the perpetrator as I s.h.i.+elded my face from the sudden burst of dust a.s.saulting my eyes.
Since the clouds of dust enshrouding the room couldn’t be dissipated, I opened the window for ventilation. After ensuring that the room was fully ventilated, I turned towards Gai to question him about his action.
“Wha–!?” [Youki]
What greeted my sight was Gai in his original appearance. It had been a long time since I last saw him looking like this. It was his demon form after he lost both pair of wings and one of his arms due to Mirror, the hero from Gallis Empire.
However, what caught my attention in particular, were the cracks that spread from the portions where his wings and arm were missing.
“…The damage I received at that time was more serious than I thought. My body is gradually crumbling away." [Gai]
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? You must have noticed it, right?! Does Tiel-chan know about it?” [Youki]
“Even if I were to tell her, what can she do? That would only serve to prolong the moment of her sorrow. That’s why, I’ve decided to tell her only at the very last moment." [Gai]
Was it because he wasn’t afraid of dying? He was saying it nonchalantly as if the matter was totally unrelated to him.
“There should be a way to restore your body, shouldn’t it? Even Tiel-chan was working hard at Cecilia’s mansion because she was desperately looking for the means to cure you!” [Youki]
“Sigh… It’s unfortunate but I don’t have much time left. The crack will spread and my body will crumble into pieces in probably five days time. That"s why, brat. I’d like you to take care of Tiel for me.” [Gai]
He was worried about Tiel-chan even though there was a possibility that he might die in five days time.
"Gai, you…" [Youki]
“Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s not because I’m that ‘rorikon’ or something, alright?!” [Gai]
“No, I understand that.” [Youki]
Gai glared at me.
I would’ve have teased him that way normally, but I wouldn"t be doing such things at a time like this.
“Then it’s good. I’ll be more direct about this. Tiel is probably is in a condition where she could collapse at any time. That’s why, I want you to save her.” [Gai]
Even though Gai was on the brink of death himself, he gazed at me with a serious look on his face as he lowered his head.
“Tiel-chan is… Wait, are you serious?!” [Youki]
“I could tell, since I’ve been watching over her since her childhood. Her condition is obviously strange when she came by recently." [Gai]
“Since her childhood… Exactly how old was Tiel-chan actually when you first met her?” [Youki]
"I have known her ever since Tiel’s grandmother started believing that I was the Guardian Deity of that village. She often brought the young Tiel along when she came to my place. They would leave food as offerings and put their hands together to pray, even though I am merely a demon who had taken that village as my residence." [Gai]
For some reason, he appeared forlorn when he recounted what happened in the past.
Although Gai was nothing more than a freeloader to me, I would be still troubled if he were to disappear.
“…Leave the matter about Tiel-chan to me. I will ask Cecilia and Sheik about her condition." [Youki]
“I see. Sorry for troubling you. With this, I won"t have any more regrets…” [Gai]
“But, I will also try to save you. No, I will definitely save you!” [Youki]
I decided to flash him a smile that I was proud of and struck my usual pose, causing the initially serious atmosphere to s.h.i.+ft 180 degrees.
At the sight of me – who had flipped my chuuni switch – Gai was rendered completely speechless. Come to think of it, it was the first time Gai had witnessed me turning into a total “chuunibyou". If that’s the case then it would be a good time as any to brace myself to face any complaints that he might throw at me.
“Brat, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Did you hit your head somewhere? No… most importantly, did you just say that you’re planning to save me? My body could only last at most five more days, so it"s definitely impossible." [Gai]
"How would you know that it"s impossible if we"ve not even tried it yet?! Do you have to make me spout out such a cliched line, Gai?" [Youki]
Good grief. I shook my head in annoyance.
“It has already become troublesome the moment I consulted you about it, brat… but, certainly, what you said might be true. However, does that mean that you"ll find a way to restore my body within five days?" [Gai]
Though I had ended up blurting out something that got me entangled in a mess, I wished he wouldn"t look down on me. One shouldn’t make light of my mentality once I entered my chuuni mode.
“Ah, leave it to me… If you’re gone, this lonely room will only get even lonelier. Besides, I still need you to a.s.sist me in creating a masterpiece, so I"ll be troubled if you’re not around. I will definitely find a way restore your body." [Youki]
“Heh, well I’ll be waiting for it, but I won’t be expecting anything. I’m going to sleep. Even if it’s just a little, I might be able to prevent my body from collapsing if I remain still. Brat, even if you couldn’t find a way to save me, you don’t need to feel bad about it… I’ll entrust Tiel to you." [Gai]
Gai fell asleep after saying so.
“Well then. What should I do?… I guess it would be best to ask Duke about it since it"s a matter relating to demons. I think he said that he will be patrolling the town today.” [Youki]
He might be together with Raven or that elven knight that I had caught a glimpse of the other day.
“First of all, I should find out where he’s at. If that elven knight is with him, I guess I could make up some sort of excuse to pull Duke away… but before that.” [Youki]
Using my magic, I changed Gai’s appearance into something that would be fine even if it was seen by someone. I didn’t do it indiscriminately this time. I tried moulding the shape while imagining the appearance of a cool looking samurai.
“Look forward to it once you wake up.” [Youki]
Though I knew that I wouldn’t receiving any response, I delivered such words to him and left the room.
I turned around momentarily when I closed the door. I could see the new Gai with a samurai appearance through the gap between the door and frame.
And also…
“Geh!” [Youki]
…a room that appeared devastated, with piles of dust scattered all over the place.
I should clean the place up once I return.
For now, let"s look for Duke.
“I don’t know where he is though.” [Youki]
There is no such convenient magic that would enable me to look for a specific person in this world. I couldn’t use the same method as the time when I was in Cecilia’s mansion either, since it would be impossible to look for someone by strengthening my senses in the middle of the town. It"s not like I"m a dog, so I can"t possibly distinguish the scent when there are too many people.
“The fastest way would be to grow my wings and look for him from the sky, but…” [Youki]
I would cause an uproar in the town if I were to do so.
Although, that might not be a bad idea, actually. All the ruckus would probably lead the knights here. Thus, Duke would also come to subjugate me. Wait, am I stupid or something?
“I wish Raven’s here at a time like this.” [Youki]
I turned around as I thought about it, hoping that I might luck out, but what greeted my sight there was a squalid crowd of pedestrians consisting of humans and demi-humans.
“There is no way it would turn out that convenient for me. It can’t be helped. I have no choice but to look for him by foot." [Youki]
I had no idea where to start my search, but Gai’s life was on the line, so this little bit of trouble was nothing to me.
I looked ahead and started running to search for Duke. Nonetheless, even after spending around 3 hours running around in the Imperial Capital, I still couldn’t find Duke, who was supposed to be patrolling the town. Although, it seemed that Duke was not the only one who was a.s.signed to keep a lookout over the town as I had encountered other knights as well. I tried enquiring them on where Duke might be patrolling, but somehow, I still couldn’t find him even after heading to those places.
“Huff…huff… Seriously where the heck is that guy?!” [Youki]
Since I had been running around the entire time, I paused for a moment so I could catch my breath.
Then I searched my surroundings again for any sign of Duke, but to no avail.
A sense of exasperation was starting to get the better of me after all my failed attempts, but I endured and tried to ponder over it calmly. Seeing that I still couldn"t find him after so long, the only possibility left was that he was inside one of the buildings.
“Could he be having lunch? No, it’s already past noon. Then, could he be at the knight’s headquarters?” [Youki]
It was a waste of time to deliberate about it any longer. For the time being, I decided to go take a look at the knight"s headquarters, so I started running towards the place without a moment’s delay.
“If worse comes to worst, I’ll ask Raven for permission to wait there until Duke returns." [Youki]
While grumbling under my breath, I finally arrived at my destination.
“Ah!” [Youki]
However, upon entering the building, I noticed Duke at the reception desk having a conversation with someone. The elven knight whom I had met the other time could also be seen beside him.
I walked over to Duke and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Nn… Isn’t it Captain? What’s up?" [Duke]
“Utterly horrible. I’ve been searching high and low for you…” [Youki]
“You were looking for me? Is there any problem? Wait, could you hang on for a while then? I still have reports to make." [Duke]
After saying so, he returned to his conversation with the receptionist. It didn’t seem as if it would take a short time, so I took a seat on the couch nearby to wait for him. My fatigue had been building after running around the Imperial Capital for three hours, so I leaned back on the couch to rest myself.
“Ahh… I’m tired.” [Youki]
"Umm…"
As I was leaning against the couch lazily, someone called out to me. It was the elven knight who was accompanying Duke.
“Erm, if I’m not mistaken, you’re the one with Duke…” [Youki]
“Ah, I-I am Irene. You’re an acquaintance of Duke-san, right? I’ve always been under Duke-san’s care… and today, too.” [Irene]
For some reason, she seemed fl.u.s.tered even though she was simply introducing herself. Was it because I looked scary? It could be just the way she is, but whatever the reason, she seemed like the kind of girl who it would be fun to tease.
I should try it.
“Aa, I’m Youki. Nice to meet you. I"m Duke"s captain, since he used to be my former subordinate." [Youki]
“A-Are you a captain?! Youki-san is an amazing person, isn’t it? B-By the way, you"re a captain of…?" [Irene]
“I can"t say. Or else your life will be in danger.” [Youki]
"Eh?!…" [Irene]
“If you were to know about it, Duke might have to disappear from your sight, too." [Youki]
“Eeeeh!?” [Irene]
I tried desperately to hold back my laughter when I saw her becoming even more agitated. Duke is one smooth operator as well for being able to work with a girl like her. He’s definitely not to be underestimated.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Capta… What’s going on here?” [Duke]
“Ah, D-D-Duke-san…I-I, I didn’t hear anything about you at all. So, so please don’t disappear from my sight!” [Irene]
On seeing her shaking Duke"s arm, I couldn’t contain my laughter anymore, so I covered my mouth with my hand.
“Captain, you were teasing Irene, weren’t you? What on earth did you tell her?” [Duke]
“…I guess I’m busted.” [Youki]
“It’s hard not to notice it from the way you"re holding back such unnatural laughter. How long do you think I’ve known you?" [Duke]
I couldn’t see Duke’s expression due to the helmet, but he must have had an amazed look on his face.
Duke was right. He understood my personality well, probably because we have known each other for many years.
"Hahaha… Well, that"s true. My bad, my bad. I may have gone a little overboard with my joke." [Youki]
“Seriously… You hear that, Irene? I don’t know what Captain has told you, but they’re all lies." [Duke]
“Eh?… Is that so? So Duke-san will not disappear from my sight, right? I’m glad… Eh? Then, what is he a captain of?” [Irene]
“It’s something like a nickname. You don’t need to mind it.” [Duke]
Duke calmed Irene-san down and explained it to her. Once the talk ended, Irene-san lowered her head towards me before she headed off somewhere.
“For the time being, I still have to write my report, so I can’t leave my desk. But, this is better for you, right?" [Duke]
"Well, yeah. The matter about our discussion cannot be disclosed. If I remember correctly, Duke is well-versed in demon ecology, right? …I have something to ask about Gai." [Youki]
“I’ll try to answer whatever I can as long as it is within the scope of my knowledge. What happened?" [Duke]
While I explained to him about the incident that happened this morning, I prayed silently, hoping that what Duke knew would save Gai.
“…That’s how it goes. So, do you know if there"s any way to cure Gai’s body?” [Youki]
“That’s easy. It’ll be solved if you feed him with magic ores." [Duke]
“I see… Eh?!” [Youki]
I was so completely taken aback by that reply that my voice quivered. I didn’t expect that there would be a solution right after my explanation.
“What’s with that strange cry? Even so, seeing the symptom has already worsen to the point that the body starts cracking, it is certainly dangerous. It wouldn’t be strange even if the cracks spread further, causing the body to crumble instantly.” [Duke]
“That means, if we don’t find magic ores to feed Gai soon, it’ll be really bad, isn’t it?” [Youki]
“That’s right… But, it’s strange. If he’s a gargoyle, he should know about magic ores.” [Duke]
“That’s because he"s a gargoyle who had only been sleeping the entire time in the dungeon and the village. He must have been clueless about those things, isn’t it?" [Youki]
Since he had been doing nothing but sleeping, he shouldn"t have known anything about it. I guess he didn"t have any other gargoyle companions when he was still residing in the dungeon. If he had one, they should have shared their knowledge with him.
“Still, even if this is about demon ecology, this is something that you should at least know as well. Captain, you"ve been neglecting your studies, too.” [Duke]
I didn’t expect him to start lecturing me instead. The time that could be used to study when I was still in the Demon Lord castle had gone down the drain. Considering that Duke and Happiness were around at that time, I didn’t think that I needed those knowledges so I hadn’t studied at all.
“Uuu… A-Anyway, it’s unexpected that I’ve managed to find the solution to restore Gai’s body that easily even though Tiel-chan was desperately searching for one on her side. With this, there’s a probability that Gai’s body will recover. I’m glad, I’m glad." [Youki]
“Captain, you’re changing the subject, aren’t you? Well, it’s natural that humans wouldn’t know the methods to restore a demon’s body even if they were to go looking all over for it. After all, who would go heal an enemy? Even if they do know about it, those are usually researchers who have been studying about demons." [Duke]
I smiled wryly when I imagined the look of amazement on Duke’s face once again.
If I had been seriously studying, I wouldn’t have needed to spend three hours running around just to find Duke today. If I had asked Duke about this from the beginning, Gai wouldn’t have end up in this state as well. But what is past is past. Dwelling on this would be pointless since it would be the same as ridiculing Tiel-chan’s effort, too. I won"t be telling this to the person in question, though.
“…Which reminds me, were you here the entire time? Since you said you were supposed to be out patrolling today, I spent three hours running all over the place to look for you." [Youki]
“Aa… Is that so? I was indeed on patrol today. We might have missed each other." [Duke]
“Even so, it shouldn’t have been possible for us to miss each other so many times! I ran into other knights midway and asked them about you. After that, I rushed to those places where you might be immediately." [Youki]
I didn’t expect my string of bad luck to have continued till now. I had not recalled saying anything stupid to myself in front of the mirror today.
“To tell the truth, Irene kept getting herself entangled in thugs’ troubles at one place after another. Thanks to that, we had deviated from our patrol schedule since we had to haul those thugs back here every time. That might be the reason why we kept missing each other." [Duke]
“Wait, how did a knight keep getting herself entangled in something like this?! It’s supposed to be a knight’s duty to help those who got caught in trouble, not the other way around.” [Youki]
That was supposed to be the reason for the patrol. Although, it did seem that Irene-san is the type of person who has a high probability of attracting trouble to herself. She was teased by me earlier, too.
“What Captain said might be true, but Irene is doing her best in her job too, so she"s not at fault." [Duke]
“Well, she does look like a girl who seems really earnest in her work. Sorry, I guess I had somehow made fun of Duke’s partner.” [Youki]
“Weren’t you just teasing her a while ago?… You used to do that to me a lot too.” [Duke]
He murmured the last part in a barely audible voice.
“I don’t think you’re in the position to say that.” Was what I thought, but I couldn’t say it out loud.
Since I had found the way to restore Gai’s body, it wasn’t necessary to prolong this conversation, and it seemed that Duke still has work to do at the knight’s headquarters as well.
“Well anyway, thanks for that, Duke. Please apologize to Irene-san on my behalf. Good luck with your knight’s work.” [Youki]
“I got it. Best of luck too, Captain.” [Duke]
After exchanging parting greetings with each other, I left the knight’s headquarters. What I should do next was to look for magic ores to repair Gai"s body.
“By the way, where can I find magic ores? In the first place, what is a magic ore?” [Youki]
I came to this realization once I exited the knight"s headquarters. What should I do? I don’t know anything about magic ores at all.
It would be embarra.s.sing to go back and ask Duke about it after I tried to look good by giving him such a parting line, but it couldn’t be helped.
While I was having such thoughts, I suddenly caught sight of a familiar looking carriage heading towards me.
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of me and the door opened, revealing an impatient looking Cecilia who held her hand out at me.
“I finally found you. Youki-san, get inside the carriage, quickly!” [Cecilia]
“Did something happen?” [Youki]
“I’ll explain it while we’re on our way back. Anyway, get inside the carriage!” [Cecilia]
The moment I got in the carriage at Cecilia’s insistence, it took off.
“What happened? I’m actually busy right now as well.” [Youki]
“Tiel-chan’s condition has gotten worse. Sheik-kun is looking after her at the moment, but he asked me to call Youki-san over just in case. So I have been looking all over for you." [Cecilia]
“Seriously? …Tiel-chan too?” [Youki]