Heyho readers! Here"s what you all have been waiting for… kind of. The story went a little different from what we expected, but that"s the nice things about stories right? Keeping readers on edge as much as possible is one way to have them want to keep reading.(and possibly rage for whatever reasons) That doesn"t change our translating speed though, chapters are still quite large.
~~Enjoy the chapter!
TL: SpecterZe
ED: Speedphoenix, Jun
Chapter 46 Exile and the a.s.sa.s.sin"s dagger
[And so, where are the explorers who helped Cattleya and brought Julius" corpse all the way here?]
[Sir! They are waiting in the room next door.]
[I see, then I should go and express my grat.i.tude first.]
The king heads to the room next door immediately after he hears our location.
As the soldier opens the door, a man in his forties enters. He is an attractive middle-aged man dressed in high-cla.s.s looking black and blue clothes.
The king approaches as he sees us. The princess follows right behind him too.
[You saved Cattleya did you not? Not only that, you also cooperated in bringing Julius" remains back as well it seems. I am truly grateful. I believe Cattleya had told you this, but we will be giving you rewards afterwards so, will you not wait for us in the castle for a while?]
[Yes, I don"t really mind. Would it be fine if I ask you a question?]
[What is it?]
The soldiers don"t seem to think well about me asking a question. I guess they"re thinking that he isn"t someone the likes of an ordinary explorer can talk to. Well, I"m not one to worry about something like that. Oh, he"s more or less a king so polite speech. Well, just to be sure.
[I heard from princess Cattleya that this situation was caused by a Hero who had been sent from Eludia.]
[Yes, it is a deplorable event. Escaping by abandoning his comrades, I cannot possibly call him a courageous person.]
True. Heroes are originally people that are recognized for the things they have carried out, so I believe the act of summoning him as a Hero itself is a great contradiction.
[So, could you tell me how you will treat those heroes from now on?]
[You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, the mere likes of an explorer is planning to interfere in politics!?]
The soldier, no, his equipment is extravagant, so maybe he"s a knight. One knight roars.
[It is alright.]
[However…]
[I said it is alright.]
[Alright…]
The king brought it to a close for us for now. That knight is glaring at our side from time to time.
[Our treatment of the Heroes is it? First will be our withdrawal of our declaration as a Hero supporting country. Eludia declared “Protection from threats including demons”, but they dispatched someone who would flee and abandon comrades. They cannot possibly be trusted.]
It caused damage to the royal family, so the Hero is a threat instead.
[And then, the deportation of the Hero. If possible I would like to charge him for a crime and kill him, but going that far will put a complete fissure towards our relation with Eludia.]
After he spoke this much, a soldier enters the room.
[The Hero has been summoned to the audience room. Please make haste, your Majesty.]
[Yes, I understand. Let us go there now. Let us hand you a gift after we have exiled the Hero. Please wait here until then.]
The king says that and tries to leave. The princess seems to be thinking about something and doesn"t try following behind the king.
[Cattleya? Let"s go?]
[That is right! Won"t everyone go watch with us how the Hero will be exiled?]
Princess suddenly proposed something like that. I stop my move to deploy Tamo-san.
[Oh Cattleya, what are you suggesting so suddenly? It isn"t really something to show to other people.]
[No, Otousama, this is something to show to others. A Hero who sticks his nose in the air being exiled is something we can make a show of is it not?]
[Well, however…]
[Moreover, my anger still hasn"t abated. The matter regarding Oniisama and the knights is natural, but even I am well in a terrible state .]
[Now that you mention it, you have been wearing a robe the whole time, but…]
Having said so far, Cattleya takes off her robe. What appeared was a girl in an appearance riddled in wounds. I guess she didn"t change her clothes after returning to the castle. The burns on her whole body and her worn-out armor stood out. Her blue hair was burnt and frizzled. Her right arm is broken, dangling loosely.
[What in the world…]
[My whole body is full of burns and my right arm is broken. I can"t move it at all now.]
[Ah, ahh…]
The king was at a loss for words.
[I don"t want to think about my current condition as much as I can. But it was impossible. Not only oniisama, my future is also completely bleak. I absolutely cannot forgive the Hero. In order to dispel even a little of my pent up anger, I want to make it a show and corner him as much as possible.]
I thought she is extremely calm, but she"s just been holding it in it seems. If she can"t kill him, then she must want to at least see him suffer even a little.
[…Alright, Cattleya. If you say this much, then let us approve of it. You all, come with us.]
With what felt was a lifesaver, we"re able to see the Hero exiled too. But Sakura doesn"t want to see hero directly. I"m also his acquaintance too, I don"t plan on showing myself in front of him on purpose.
[My apologies. Could two of us wait here?]
[Well, I will not say the unreasonable.]
[That is a pity.]
Says the princess disappointedly. Do you want to show us the “Hero getting what he deserved” that much?
[Then, everybody else, please come and see the Hero.]
[Alright.]
[I understand]
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We see the girls off who replied as they pleased, only Sakura and I remained in this room. Shortly after…
A : The king"s group and the Hero are in the audience room.
Then, please.
A : Understood. Please close your eyes.
I close my eyes like I was told. That instant, a different field of vision spread around me. My point of view is a little higher, so this must be Sera"s.
[I"m Mio-chan.]
[I"m Sera.]
Alta went out of her way to give us different points of view. Quite elaborate there.
On the throne sits the king and beside him is the princess wearing a hood. The Hero is standing in front of them. By the way, Sera and Mio among my companions are lined up on the right side from the king.
I can identify the Hero, but he"s really the Kusakabe I know of. Around him are Eludia"s soldiers. As expected they won"t let him go as an envoy alone.
[Hero. Do you know the reason I summoned you here?]
[Yes, it is regarding the promised support. The promise that the Heroes will protect the Estia kingdom from threats including demons in exchange for funds, resources and personnel.]
[It involves that matter as well. However, there is something I have to ask before that. It is the matter of the dungeon.]
[Ah…]
It was a moment,but hearing that Kusakabe made a troubled look.
[Hero, you said volcano golems that should not be there appeared and the prince and princess died a n.o.ble death protecting you, right?]
[Yeah, I fought together, but both the prince and the princess covered me and died as a result. Following that opening I dealt the finishing blow to the volcano golem. I"m alive now thanks to them.]
[I see…]
The king is probably trembling and shivering with anger. He"s amazing, fluently lining up packs of lies until here.
[If that is really the case, then what is the meaning of this!?]
He says and the princess beside him moves forward and removes her hood. The princess full of burns shows her figure..
[Wh!]
Naturally Kusakabe was the only one to see that and be surprised. The soldiers behind him are perplexed.
[It- it"s an impostor! I am certain the princess was killed by the volcano golem! Somebody disguised herself as her and! Right, there"s no doubt a demon has disguised herself as her!]
Yep, there actually was a demon that falls under that category. The coincidence is scary. But I already killed that one.
[Cattleya was saved by explorers who happened to pa.s.s by by chance when she was about to be killed by the volcano golem. What Cattleya said was that you Hero encountered the volcano golem and you slashed Julius and ran away by making him and her a decoy as soon as your first strike was ineffective against the volcano golem.]
[Please don"t lend your ears to what the likes of an impostor says!]
[Hero, you said the remains of the prince and princess corpses were burnt away by the volcano golems with none remaining. However those explorers brought back each of the remains of the prince and knights. There were some whose injuries were terrible, but it is at the level where one could make individual instinction. And there is a trace of being slashed with a sword on Julius" remains!]
[Those are fakes too! Your majesty, please don"t let them trick you!]
Kusakabe"s lines lost variation.
[I can not see anything but you Hero, no you b.a.s.t.a.r.d lying to me! Therefore, I will withdraw our Hero support and deport you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You will not enter this country for the second time!]
As the king said that, Kusakabe"s expression collapsed.
[Don"t f*** with me… Just when I thought I could do whatever I like after coming to the other world, you think I can endure people getting in my way in this place…?]
[Quickly throw that man out!]
The king orders his subordinate"s soldier. Soldiers from Eludia"s side were also baffled, but still step forward to protect the Hero. However, the one who moved before anyone started any definite movement.
[Don"t f*** with me!]
Says Kusakabe and he invokes his
Capable of accelerating his body and consciousness. 1 second for ordinary people will become 3 seconds for the user. It"s limited to 5 seconds. This means 15 seconds for the user. Its cooldown is 10 seconds.
Simply speaking, it"s an ability where everything beside the user go slowmotion. Since the attack power isn"t increased dramatically, it was hardly effective against volcano golems. On top of that, seems convenient for escaping.
The accelerated Kusakabe started running toward the king. He takes a sword on the way from the item box he held and pierced the king"s stomach. …Confiscate it beforehand, okay?
[Guha~!]
[Hahaha! It"s punishment for getting in my way. Die!]
The king spits out blood and collapses. While accelerated, Kusakabe goes between the soldiers and slips out of the audience room.
Everybody there are dumbfounded by the sudden violence. It immediately becomes a big uproar. Soldiers from Eludia are arrested and knights are going after Kusakabe.
[Otousama! Healing magic users are coming! Please don"t let go of your consciousness until then!]
Princess clings onto the king and encourages him. There doesn"t seem there are any healing magic users in this place, so the soldiers went to call one in panic, but I"m almost certain they won"t make it in time at this rate.
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I leave the healing to Mio who is the nearest to the king.
[Y-You lady are?]
[I can use recovery magic so!]
[I-Is that so! Please heal father!]
[Leave it to me! "High Heal"!]
The king"s HP recovers by the “High Heal”. Honestly, I feel relieved Kusakabe is weak. Because he didn"t shave away his HP even though he stabbed him that openly.
[He will be all fine now!]
[Uugh…]
The king should be alright now. Now then, what will become of the problem Hero I wonder.
When the hero escaped, I released Tamo-san as a pursuer. I let Tamo-san mimic the falcon monster "Hawkeye" and use skill to chase after him.
No matter how fast he can move, there"s time restriction and cooldown. Even if it is too hard to capture him, it isn"t that hard to chase after him from the sky. Of course, I can capture him alone if he"s inside the map, but this is for when he goes to a different area.
It seems the hero went to the hotel. Is he an idiot or something? Shouldn"t you get out of the capital before word gets out?
Yeah, he is an idiot. If not, he wouldn"t do something meaningless like stabbing the king. Because he won"t be able to be in this country either way.
[I thought I would feel satisfied when the Hero gets exiled, but the plan somehow ended up going in a strange direction didn"t it?]
[It sure did. Didn"t he get the that he still won"t be able to stay in this country if he stabbed the king in a rush and there"s no other chances other than being put up as a criminal?]
[If he knew he wouldn"t have done it. That sort of thing.]
[That"s also true. I"m curious about Eludia"s response afterwards. It"s a barbaric act towards a royal family at a public place, so I don"t think even they can cover that up…]
[Honestly speaking, it doesn"t seem useful or meaningful.]
[No doubt about that.]
But, why could that idiot become an envoy? I hate the guys who goes to the same school on a fundamental basis, but there should be a few decent guys there. Going out of their way to make that their envoy or something, I can"t understand it.
There is movement in the audience room. The king narrowly escaped death but he still lost his strength: it seems like he"s resting in a room while receiving medical treatment.
My companions are guided to a guest room. “I would like you to stay in the castle today” is apparently what was requested by the princess. A soldier is now coming to get in touch with us.
A moment later, the soldier came in and guided us to the guest room too. I was told they will prepare private rooms, but there was no particular need for that so I had them put us all in the same room. The maid gave some simple explanation of the room, but at the end I was told "This is the royal castle. Please refrain from doing something outrageous". Why?
A : (A single man in the same room with a many women. And if nearly all of them are slaves, then it would be natural to be misunderstood…)
[Well~, I really didn"t expect the king to get stabbed~]
Says Mio sitting on a gorgeous bed inside the royal castle"s guest room. Dora is already sleeping.
[That"s right. His Majesty the King would have been dead if it weren"t for us. What in the world is the Hero trying to do I wonder?]
[I don"t think he was thinking about anything.]
[That sort of person being a Hero is unbelievable isn"t it?]
As Sera said, the king was really on the verge of dying. Everybody"s Hero evaluation is steadily dropping too. Well, they"ve already heard it from us, so it was low in the first place. It"s that new low thing.
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It"s not like I don"t understand Kate"s complain. Yep, I also have that doubtful feeling whether Maria can be called a hero or not…
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[Right. There"s no turning back for him. I"m thinking about trying to leave it up to fate to some extent. There should also be some sort of talk with the king and princess and even if there isn"t, we will link up with Maria and the others in the noon. …Oh, that"s right. shall we ask about Maria"s situation?]
I contact Maria with Telepathy.
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I conveyed information from our side to Maria. It seems Maria has something to say.
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There is a disadvantage of going to another town by transfer stone, which is, in short “to give up the capture”. For example, no matter how far you"ve gone in floors, you will end up starting over at the first floor because you went to the entrance by using a transfer stone on the first floor. It is a valid method for those moving normally, but it"s not something explorers can use freely. Well, I don"t know how much Elinsia moves as an explorer though.
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As far as Elinsia is concerned, Kusakabe is already a target that ought to be killed. Well, the chances of the royal family"s response leaning towards that side isn"t low either…
However, when Maria talked with her was until the part where he harmed the prince and princess. The king also held his ground with the exile after all. Meaning Elincia shouldn"t have any intention to carry through with that.
Honestly, I don"t care whatever Kusakebe is dead or not. Because as far as I"m concerned, nearly all the schoolmates who were Hero summoned have already degraded to trivial beings. I don"t have a reason to hate them enough to want to kill them nor do I have any reasons forgive them for what they"ve done. If Elinsia, the king or princess wants to kill Kusakabe, then I"m even fine with a.s.sisting them depending on the reward.
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I finish my contact with Maria and decided to sleep already for today. Because Mio and Kate are sleeping before I was aware of it. It"s because it got late due to lots of things happening after finishing the exploration.
The following day, we were called by a soldier of the castle and so we headed towards the audience room where the king and princess are waiting. From what I heard from the soldier, it seems the king recovered completely. According to him healing magician working at the castle continued to cast "Heal" and other healing magic on him without sleeping. There"s nothing else to say but thanks for your hard work. I would"ve even sold them Midori brand secret medicine if they had told me.
I enter the audience room and see the king sitting on the throne and the princess sitting next to him. Beside her sits a boy around 12 years old. When I check his status, he is a prince. Also, Elinsia is in the room normally. There was no timing for it so I didn"t greet her or anything though…
When we go in front of the king, the king himself said we don"t have to kneel. Many of the surrounding knights and authorities are making a sour look, but they don"t seem to be able to complain since they"re in public . Must be because our achievements are big.
[First, I give you my grat.i.tude for your swift response yesterday.]
[No, we have done what was to be expected of us.]
Just in case I answered. From their standpoint Mio is my slave. The master basically takes all of their slaves" achievements so there is no problem (Is what Alta and Kate told me). Though I"m saying it this late, there"s also the problem of letting someone with a slave position talk in the audience room. I"m telling them Mio and the others are my slaves.
[We have built a large debt, including the matter with the princess. We will bestow you with a reward later so I would like you to be relieved.]
[Yes, thank you very much.]
[Hum.]
King nods grandly to that and starts speaking again.
[We have three reasons for summoning you, including the matter of the reward. First is the matter of the Hero.]
That is naturally an expected and appropriate subject.
[I have decided to put the Hero on the wanted list for yesterday"s matter. And then I intend to object fairly strongly against Eludia including this matter.]
[I believe that is natural since the Hero stabbed the king.]
[Yes. After all, it is like they are telling us they have low opinion of our country by just making a person like that their envoy.]
As expected that"s not how it is, right? But I suppose there are any amount of people much more suitable than him.
[So, I would like to request you the capture, or subjugation of the Hero.]
[Subjugation…you say?]
So a subjugation is suddenly here. It isn"t surprising in a meaning.
[Yesterday, the knights have searched the city after I was stabbed and it appears that the Hero entered the dungeon.]
When I got up this morning, Tamo-san was in the dungeon so I was surprised. The Hero seems to be in the 18th floor"s safe zone right now.
[It would be more correct to say that the Hero who saw the knights was searching for him took refuge in the dungeon. It seems he used a transfer stone immediately after entering, so he should be around the 19th floor at the moment.]
[Yeah, meaning he should be close to our transfer stone"s recorded location isn"t it.]
[That is correct. Right now, there is no one else among the people of this country who is in a party active around the 19th floor, has seen the Hero"s face, has enough ability to capture the Hero and who also know of the situation. I cannot possibly say until you discover him, so you can search for about one week around the 19th floor.]
Sure, if I satisfy that many conditions, it"ll be natural for them to want to request us.
[I would like you to arrest the Hero if it is possible, subjugate him if it is not. Naturally, please do not forget to bring back his remains in the case you subjugated him.]
[But, we are explorers. No matter how much of a criminal he is, what if murdering the Hero will become a problem?]
To be honest, I just wanted to try saying this. I"m not particularly afraid of Eludia and such and at best it"s only a feeling of “Nuisances would seem to increase in our travels I guess”. That said, it"ll become verification whether or not the king has been properly thinking about that area.
[…Certainly, you will be seen as the Heroes" enemies from Eludia"s point of view, so they may come to pursue you. Of course, we will conceal anything related to your ident.i.ties and in addition to that, I am thinking about letting Cattleya accompany you as a precaution.]
[Her Highness princess Cattleya?]
That"s…It"s a safe bet that the princess" restarting point is also at the 19th floor. She"s clearly going to be a burden you know?
[Hum, I would like you to say that you were just a.s.sisting Cattleya and the one who subjugated the Hero was Cattleya. Of course, I will not ask for the truth.]
[Are you saying you will let Her Higness princess Cattleya take the full brunt? It is dangerous you know? Besides, does it not matter to you that you are entrusting Her Highness to people of unknown origin?]
[Umm, Cattleya has accepted all of it. Rather, Cattleya herself said she wants to go, so made that sort of plot. Of course, it will not come to that if it ends with his capture however…]
[If possible I would truly like to deal the finishing blow. I could certainly deal the finishing blow if there is the opportunity for it.]
Cattleya said that with eyes ffull of anger.
[I am saying something unfair, but in the case you captured him, it would save us the trouble if you stand watch so Cattleya does not deal the finishing blow. Also, please protect Cattleya.]
The king went and behaved unreasonable. Take Cattleya along with us, protect her, capture the Hero or murder him and when capturing him, protect him from Cattleya dealing the finishing blow. Normally it"s impossible right?
[It is also involved with the second topic, but as a matter of course, I shall prepare a suitable renumeration. How about it? Will you accept it for us?]
Now then, what to do. I won"t be at fault even if I say I won"t accept I guess. That said, I"ve already gone too far to go back now. Yesterday night I even thought I"m even fine accepting it if we were requested.
[Understood. Let me accept that request.]
[Oh, you are accepting it. That would help us. However, Even I have never requested something like “Defeat the Hero” so I would like to further discuss the renumerations for it.]
Usually when you make those requests it would be for demons I think.
[Yes.]
[The second topic is about the rewards different from the Hero subjugation. I have heard that beside saving us two, you have also played an active role in the isolated dungeon of the other day as well as the release of the monsters at Kastal"s national border. It seems you have not received the rewards for the isolated dungeon, so I shall give you in this place as well.]
[Ah, it"s about that, but could you put together the rewards and make it extravagant?]
[What do you mean by that?]
[The “Recovery of Your Majesty the King”, the “Rescue of Her Highness the princess” and the “Information on the Isolated dungeon” that are decided I can receive immediately. I would like these rewards to be put together in one extravagant reward is what I mean.]
[I have no problems with that in particular, but is there something that can become a reward equivalent to those? If it comes to paying with money, how much would be appropriate…?]
The king ponders. However, what I want isn"t money. I went to the trouble to get in a position to be able to negotiate after all. There"s something I want even if I have to use three rewards as a negotiation card.
[What I would like is not money.]
[What would it be then? Do you want to become a n.o.ble?]
[Status is unnecessary as well. What I want is just one thing. The used “Large Magic Crystal”.]
The “Large Magic Crystal” is a gigantic magic stone that can be found rarely in the dungeon. It"s an article that can move the magic items inside this castle for 30 years with just one of them. The no longer in use part means that all the magic power it saved up inside has been used up.
The usual monster stone will fall apart when its magic power(MP) is used up. However, the “Large Magic Crystal” will not fall apart when its magic power(MP) is used up. And also it can become usable again by increasing its magic power(MP) from the outside. However, this replenishing is inefficient for emergencies and even if all the magicians in the castle load it with magic power for one year with all their effort, it can"t even replenish 1% in the current situation. It is a rare article without a doubt, and it may be useful when a technology breakthrough arises, but there"s currently no means to use a used “Large Magic Crystal” and it can"t be called a valuable article.
[Used…? What are you going to do with it by accepting such a thing?]
I"ve decided to refill it and reuse it of course. Because the fact that it can save up magic power (MP) feels useful in many ways.
[It is not that it will be used for anything in particular. Currently the “Large Magic Crystal” is bought up by the kingdom, so even if it is used it won"t turn up in the market, would it? It"s a rare chance for me, so I"d like something that I normally can"t get my hands on even if I wish for it you see.]
I noticed it when I tried saying it, but well, it feels like a reason that"s kind of me. What I wanted to hint at is keenly transmitted.
[Certainly, if you handle it well outside then it should become valuable in itself and people possessing it should be rare so it even a sense of superiority could be earned I suppose. Although it is a little rare, the kingdom possess seven of those that are used, so it is not like it is nonnegotiable by any means. …Very well. I shall hand over one of the “Large Magic Crystal” possessed by our country to you.]
[Thank you very much, your Majesty.]
The king instructs the soldiers to take a “Large Magic Crystal” from the storage. The “Large Magic Crystal” that was taken out of an item box is about one meter big and very heavy. Looks like one can"t carry it without an item box. By the way, it is transparent and clear. According to what I heard, it will shine rainbow colors when its magic power is replenished.
When it was declared that the king personally hands it over and the “Large Magic Crystal” put on the floor enters my Item box, there was an applause from the surroundings. It must be because it is more or less the place he bestows rewards. Normally the king would be personally delivering it, but it"s heavy and he can"t carry it so it can"t be helped.
The talk of the reward comes to a stop (The discussion of the Hero subjugation rewards will be even later), and the king begins to talk about the last subject.