Erna has a sullen expression and Liz is smiling. Accompanied by two contrasting figures, we were walking down the main street of the city.
“I don’t understand. Why would you go on a date with her?”
“It can’t be helped. She brought me adamantite you see. It is as promised so I can’t go back on words now.”
“But-, what about my feelings then?”
“I…… You were the one who suggested that clause for going on a date. Don’t forget that you are the one who started it.”
“Uuu…… It’s because Shinichi is so insensitive! I thought you wouldn’t notice unless I forcefully make you promise……”
I let out a big sigh as Erna drooped her head. I’m indeed insensitive. I’ll have to admit that. I’m even angry at myself for not noticing her feelings earlier. But that doesn’t mean she should be given special treatment. For just one date, Liz went underground and searched for adamantite while getting muddy all over. In order to reward her efforts and results, I cannot afford to break my promise. Perhaps Erna knows that, too.
“It’s not too late now! Just throw that adamantite! Hurry up!”
……I’d like to think so, but the reality seems to be different.
But what kind of thoughts does Liz have when she wants to go on a date? She had always said that she wanted to get married, but I just thought it was some kind of joke. But if I think about it, it’s impossible. I look young, but inside, I’m already a 56-year-old man. The middle-aged spirit that I exude should not be preferred by a young girl like Liz. Then I came up with one thing. I think she was stimulated by Erna, who she considers her rival. She couldn’t lose so she also asked me on a date. It was easy once I figured that out. In that case, let’s end the date quickly.
“I want a rich and exciting date.”
“O-okay. Let me think about it……”
It’s odd. She’s surprisingly enthusiastic about this. Moreover, I felt that I could even see the flames of spirit behind her.
Don’t tell me…. Is she really serious about me……?
No, no, no, she’s a fifteen-year-old girl. It would be ridiculous. Perhaps it is only further fueled because of her rivalry with Erna. I almost completely had a weird misunderstanding. This is bad, very bad.
“So, are you ready to meet the king?”
Rodman cuts the conversation casually. I quickly changed my mind as I remembered what I was supposed to do.
“I’m ready. I can go anytime.”
“Then, shall we go see the Dwarven King?”
We walked straight down the main road to the castle where King Dartan lives.
“What are you here for in the royal castle? You are not allowed to enter this place without permission.”
Two burly gatekeepers stood in front of the entrance with their spears crossed. I took out a letter from my pocket and asks them to confirm the sender.
“This is…… It seems to be from His Majesty’s friend, Dhal-sama. Then we will take responsibility for delivering this letter to His Majesty.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. The letter is supposed to be handed over directly by me to His Majesty.”
“But we can’t let someone who we don’t know the identity t—”
“Let him through.”
It was the man who came out of the royal castle who spoke. His embellished armor and brown cloak signaled his high status at a glance, and the giant axe he carried showed that he was a man of great stature.
Joy welled up when I saw that familiar face.
“General Grill! It’s been a long time!”
“Tanaka-dono seems to be in good spirits.”
We walk up to each other and shake hands. I haven’t seen him since the war against the Empire.
“Please pardon me. I didn’t know you are an acquaintance of His Excellency.”
“You idiot. This man is a hero who served as the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces. If you’re a soldier of Dartan, you probably heard of that battle.”
“I didn’t expect it to be that human who is rumored to be on a par with the Beast King! Please forgive me for my rudeness!”
The gatekeeper kneels on the ground and begs for forgiveness. What kind of rumors are circulating here? I’m a bit scared to know.
“I don’t want to talk to you in a place like this. Let’s go inside first and tell me what you need.”
“I’ll gratefully take that offer.”
Led by the general, we walk into the castle. We were led to a room that looked like a waiting room, then each of us sat down on the sofa.
“So, why don’t you tell me why you got here?”
“I have only one request. I would like to borrow the dwarf’s wisdom and skill in making great treasure.”
“…… Are you saying that you want to go to the basement of the royal castle?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I wonder if I can ask you a favor for that? Of course, I’ll pay for it.”
The general, leaning against the backrest, crosses his arms and wrinkles his brows. From the atmosphere, it can be seen that entry there is quite difficult.
“This is a matter that I can’t decide on my own. Hey, someone go call His Majesty.”
He called out to the soldiers who were outside the room.
In a normal kingdom, it’s impossible to casually invite the king to a room. I guess that rule doesn’t really apply here. Soon after, Dodol, the King of Dartan appears. He dropped his heavy hips onto the sofa and the legs of the chair creaked.
“It’s been a long time. I’ve heard about your performance against the Empire.”
“It’s thanks to Dartan as well. I am very grateful for your help. Then, let me get straight to the point. I’m wondering if you can lend me the wisdom of the dwarves, which is said to be in the basement of the castle? To that end, I’ve also kept a letter from Dhal.”
After receiving the letter, the king confirms its contents. After reading it, his brows furrowed.
“I understand that you need the treasure, and you need the wisdom of the dwarves to do so. But what will you do with it? Who do you want to fight against?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh-, I see. You don’t understand why the Five Great Treasures were created in the first place. Why do you think they have to create such extraordinary weapon? Think of what they have to defeat. Why took all effort to create them.”
Now that he mentioned it, it is certainly true. The great treasures are very powerful weapons to be used just to fight against powerful magical beasts. Compared to others, their performance is too outstanding. If so, it is inconceivable that there was a suitable enemy. At that time, there were circumstances in which it had to be built.
“Do you know about the Human-Demon War?”
“No, not the details…… please tell me about it.”
“To put it simply, it’s a huge war between demons and humans. It seems to have been a battle that took place during the elven reign. The number of people who died is said to be in the hundreds or tens of millions.”
“I can’t imagine that. Then, are you saying that it is the reason why the great treasures were made?”
“That’s right. The Five Great Treasures were born in this world for the purpose of resisting the demons. It is also a decisive weapon to fight against the great Demon Lord.”
Demon lord…… It is understandable that it means the king of demons.
I don’t really feel it though. But, why does he tell this story? I want to know the true meaning why he’s telling it to me now.
“It is said that the Demon Lord who led the demons was a monster that could not be matched even if the six races worked together. The demons want to exterminate all sacred beasts. Their target are the sacred beasts of this world. It seems that by killing all the six key sacred beasts, they could exterminate mankind.”
“Are those six sacred beasts special?”
“I can’t say they are special. Those sacred beasts also protects the world and its race. Having said that, I don’t know much about them either. Anyway, the six races joined forces early on to resist the demons. Of course, there are sacred beasts that have been killed, but only the six key sacred beasts have been protected.”
Six key sacred beasts huh. There is no doubt that among them is the sacred tree of Sanargia and Silva of dartan. I know from experience how important they are to their kingdom and race. I don’t know how they came to be though. There are still many mysteries in this world after all.
“I have one question, the Demon Lord…… Where did the demons come from?”
“One day, they just came out of nowhere and they attacked us. It seems that at that time, there’s no six kingdom like now. There were countless small kingdom and most of them were destroyed.”
Hmmm, I’m curious about the source of the demons. The vampire I had defeated in the past was also stubbornly trying to keep his origin a secret. In the end, I couldn’t help but force him to speak, but maybe the information was far more important than I thought so I wasn’t able to know.
Dodol continued talking.
“That’s right. The six races successfully defeated the Demon Lord, and the Great War ended with the victory of the humans. After that, the great treasures that had been used were sealed and kept by the various races.”
“Wait, there’s only five treasures now. There were six then, right?”
“You noticed a good point. Yes, there was actually a sixth piece of great treasure. That said, it didn’t have the power of the other five, and it wasn’t like it was choosing a wielder.”
When I heard the words, something crossed my mind. I’ve always wondered. How did the kingdom have such technology? Now it’s clear, it had been given by the dwarves as the sixth treasure.
“…… Is it the man-made skeleton?”
“Oh, you know of it huh. Yes, it was our ancestor, the Progenitor Dwarves, who gave the artificial skeleton as a weapon to the helpless humans.”
It finally connected. Humans were given a sixth treasure, the Artificial Skeleton, and after the war, they turned their fangs on other races. Then came the era of human rule.
“We hate the royalty of the Logas Kingdom because they are the descendants of those who have returned the favor with vengeance. Moreover, they still feel like they’re rulers and look down on us. That’s why we dwarves learned. Don’t give anything to humans.”
“So you want me to give up creating a great treasure?”
“Yeah. In order to avoid repeating the same mistake, I can’t allow you to make a great treasure.”
I see. Dodol is a kind man. He went out of his way to explain from the beginning when he could have simply said no. That’s so that I can properly give up after understanding their feelings. I now understand the meaning of his question.
“Sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just can’t bear it when I think of what will happen after your death.”
“Because if the owner changes, the way it is used will change, is that right?”
“That’s what I’m saying. Well, if a Demon Lord showed up, things would probably be different, but that’s not the case right now. We now live in a peaceful world you see.”
“That’s right, I understand. I’m giving up on creating a great tre—”
The door of the room is thrown open with a bang. One of the knights who entered the room quickly knelt before the king.
“I’m here to report. The Sacred Beast, Silva-sama, has been seriously injured by an unknown person!”
“Whaaaat?! Bring out the horse! We’re heading there right away!”
The king gets up and runs out of the room. I followed them out of the castle and saw Dodol jumping on his horse.
“Maybe I can help in some way. Where should I go?!”
“It’s the Eastern Forest. Silva-sama is said to have fallen there!”
King Dodol departed with his knights. Each of us shifts to a flying form in order to head to the eastern forest.
“Rodman should stay here. In case we don’t return, I want you to go back to the inn first.”
“Understood. Be careful.”
I waved lightly to Rodman and General Grill before soaring into the sky. We’re in a hurry this time so I had Freya fly with Pero in her arms. As we traveled east from the city, we began to see a large forest. In the center of it, the trees have been knocked down and there are traces of battle.
When we went further east, we saw a huge person-like object falling.
It’s Silva, the sacred beast of Dartan. It is about 50 meters tall. The fiery vermilion hair is characteristic, and the toned body has an overwhelming presence. Yet it also wore a sacred air. However, the left arm of such a giant monkey is missing from the shoulder and it can be seen lying on the ground. Countless wounds were left on the body, and it appeared to be bleeding profusely.
“It’s terrible…… Who would do something like this….?”
“We’ll keep our eyes on the surrounding area. Erna and Pero should do the healing with magic. The enemy may still be nearby.”
“Yes. We’ll do everything we can.”
Both Erna and Pero went to the sacred beast. We also surround Silva and stand guard.
“Uggh. It’s heavy!”
“Hey, bring it here, hurry! We need to stick it together quickly!”
On the ground, Pero was frantically carrying the severed arm of the Sacred Beast. It’s like he is laboriously dragging a few tons of chunks of meat and is gradually bringing them closer to the main body.
What caught my attention was the cross-section of the arm. The flesh and bones are neatly cut as if they had been sliced. At the very least, it can be seen that the enemy was in possession of a knife. Or something close to it.
“I’m doing it! Please support it properly!”
“Hurry up, I can’t lift it all the way.”
Shivering, Pero places his arm on the cut part of the sacred beast. Then, Erna activated a water-type healing spell.
“Aquarius Recovery!”
The torrent of light emitted from the staff envelops the sacred beast and it quickly heals its arms and wounds. Gradually, the pale face, which had been distorted by pain, changed to a serene one.
“Little ones…… Thank you.”
Silva muttered. As expected, it also seems to understand human language, just like other sacred beasts. Erna flies to the tip of its nose and asks.
“What happened? I didn’t expect a sacred beast like you to be hurt like this.”
“I was suddenly attacked by a demon I had never seen before. Although I managed to resist, as you can see, it was still like this.”
“Demon……? It’s not a magical beast?”
“It spoke a distinct human language. It also knew that I was the Sacred Beast Silva so he attacked me.”
Hmm, is it a demon that targets the sacred beast?
Maybe there are descendants from the remnants of the Human-Demon War. But Silva said it was a monster he had never seen before. That part gets me stuck.
Jiriririri!!
An alarm sounded in my brain. The danger prediction skill was activated. I draw my sword and check the surroundings with the enemy search(+) skill. A red light spot that seemed to be an enemy was coming towards us at a breakneck speed.
“It’s the enemy! Everyone, be on alert!”
At the same time as the urging alarm, my sword crossed against the enemy’s scythe and sparks flew.
“Gugegege”
A familiar voice.
It’s also a familiar figure!
The enemy wore a black cloth covering the body and only a pair of yellow eyes peek out of the gap on the cloth. A hand with green skin extended from the cloth and is holding a large sickle. It was floating in the air, like a small shinigami.
The one who killed me and Shigeru-san was laughing right in front of me!
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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