by Hiro Ainana
“That’s not good.”
“…Huh?”
My compatriots looked at me with concern.
I checked the guildmaster’s and Miss Sebelkeya’s status, but neither of them seemed to be in any condition to deal the finishing blow.
They’d run out of magic and gone into an overdose state from using too many magic recovery potions. There seemed to be a cooldown period for using too many potions, like in a game.
The Practical Magic spell Mana Transfer would probably work differently, but I couldn’t just use that here.
“It’s fine.”
I had a backup plan for such an occasion.
Searching through Storage, I started preparing for one last move.
“But…”
Arisa pointed up at the creature that had been Ludaman, which was starting to re-form into an even larger humanoid shape.
I patted the younger kids on the head to reassure them.
“Don’t worry.”
Then I pointed up at the sky above the re-revived Ludaman.
“Black shadooow?”
“Someone’s there, sir!”
Tama’s and Pochi’s exclamations drew the attention of the guildmaster and the others.
“Wait, isn’t that…?”
I winked at Arisa, holding a finger to my lips secretively.
“Who’s that?”
“It’s Kuro, one of Nanashi the Hero’s followers.”
“The Hero’s follower?”
I heard the guildmaster and General Erthal talking behind me.
To be exact, it was a posable life-size mannequin dressed in Kuro’s outfit.
It couldn’t fly on its own, of course, so I was using Magic Hand to move it around.
That was how I’d produced it from Storage, too, of course.
I’d also equipped it with a high-level recognition-inhibiting item so it couldn’t be analyzed.
“Foolish plunderer, who sold your soul to a demon…”
I used the “Ventriloquism” skill to speak through the Kuro dummy.
“I shall destroy you with the power of justice given me by the great Hero.”
The new form of Ludaman reached up into the sky with an armlike appendage.
Checkmate, Ludaman.
I took out a certain object from Storage via Magic Hand.
Something I’d acquired in a place called “the void.”
FLASH!
A blinding light filled the air.
BOOM!
Half a second later, there was an explosive, earsplitting sound.
It was one of the lightning bolts the World Tree had fired at me when I was fighting the space jellyfish.
The lightning of the World Tree could repel even the black dragon Hei Long, so as soon as it struck the revived Ludaman, he crumbled into black ash.
Then, just like any demon’s end, he dissolved into a black cloud and disappeared.
His marker disappeared from my map, too. It seemed to really be over this time.
I wasn’t able to find out who had turned him into a demon, but I could ask the green-clad noble I’d pulled out of the giant pink slime.
“Is it over?”
The guildmaster approached, held up by Jejeh of the Red Ice party.
“Yes, it seems to be.”
“Hmph. I suppose we owe him one, then.”
The Kuro dummy was nowhere to be seen when the guildmaster looked up; I’d already put it back in Storage.
“This area will be difficult to fix up.”
“I’m beyond tired. Let Ushana and Sebelkeya take care of it.”
Between the acid and the lightning, the labyrinth gate area was in a state of utter destruction.
The guild plaza’s cobblestone paving was in shambles, too.
“Good work, all of you. Go home and get some rest—let the others take care of things here.”
With that, the guildmaster headed back to the guild building.
It was probably time for us to get a good night’s sleep, too.
Epilogue
Satou here. It’s fun and relaxing to program by myself as a hobby, but it’s also fun to work with a bunch of other creators, bouncing ideas off one another to make a finished product together.
“You want to nominate me for the Eight Swordsmen of Shiga?”
“I do. It wouldn’t be immediate, but I can introduce you to their leader, Sir Juleburg.”
A few days had passed since the demon Ludaman’s rampage.
General Erthal had summoned me to his office at the labyrinth army barracks one morning to discuss this proposal.
“Your level isn’t high enough yet, but you fought an intermediate demon. Even that hardheaded Sir Juleburg won’t take that lightly. If you can’t join the Eight Swordsmen right away, surely you’ll at least be admitted to the Order of Holy Knights.”
I understood that his intentions were 100 percent good, but to be honest, this was kind of inconvenient.
“I don’t know if you could say I ‘fought’ an intermediate demon. I didn’t really land any hits—I basically ran away from him.”
“That’s only because your level is still low. Nothing a little training can’t fix.”
General Erthal was as thickheaded as ever.
“Besides, you’ve survived encounters with no less than three intermediate demons now, haven’t you?”
“I’m just quick to run away, that’s all.”
I’d even gained a strange title called Runaway King, probably because of all that fleeing from the slime-Ludaman fusion.
“Sir Pendragon, being skilled at evasion is something to be proud of. It’s only by surviving battles that you can build up experience and fight again.”
I absolutely agreed with General Erthal’s statement, especially in a level-based world where you really could get stronger by racking up experience like an RPG.
At any rate, it didn’t seem like any of my excuses were going to work on the general.
I felt bad, but I would have to directly decline.
“I’m terribly sorry, Your Excellency. I truly appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I must decline any such promotion. The only lord I serve is Baron Muno. Truth be told, I only came to Labyrinth City to train with my companions-in-arms so that we might better assist with the barony’s revival.”
That wasn’t exactly true, but it seemed like a good-enough reason to decline, so I decided to give it a try.
“I see… He must be a truly remarkable lord to be worthy of such loyalty from you.”
“Yes, quite so.”
I smiled and nodded.
Baron Muno really was a good guy, especially since he didn’t discriminate against demi-humans and the like.
“Very well. Then I shall not press you any further. But if you change your mind, come back anytime. I’ll gladly promote you.”
“Thank you very much. I’ll be sure to do so.”
General Erthal finally accepted my rebuff of his offer.
“Hey, Excellencyyy! I made some fairy wine as a gift for Sir Pendragon!”
As if he’d been waiting for the tension in the room to ease, the foxfolk officer came in wheeling a wagon.
Sweet melon whiskey turned out to be whiskey poured into the halves of a smallish melon.
“Drinking this early in the day?” the general grumbled.
This was normally when the captain would knock his subordinate on the head, but today he was away heading up the repair efforts.
“Aw, this isn’t enough to get drunk off, right?”
“I suppose not.”
General Erthal nodded.
Are you really okay with that?
“These are high-quality melons. Are they from the Eluette Marquisate?”
“I don’t know about the quality, but yes, you’re exactly right about where they’re from.”
One of the nobles I met at the tea party had given me a bunch of lemons, saying that his wife’s family sent them.
I was plan
ning on making melon sorbet or something to thank him.
“Come on, dig in, Sir Pendragon. The tastiest way to eat it is to mush up the melon inside so the juice mixes with the whiskey…”
The foxfolk officer handed me a bowl and spoon.
I guess I might as well.
“Damn, that’s good.”
“Riiight?”
I was so surprised that I gave a murmur of wonder without thinking.
The melon juice and whiskey went together surprisingly well.
As I went on eating, the ratio of juice to alcohol changed along with the flavor, which was a lot of fun.
“I bet this would work well with brandy, too.”
“We’ve got Shigan sake, too…”
Now, this was a taste I could get addicted to.
A dry breeze blew in through the window of General Erthal’s office, high at the top of the building.
The breeze and the melon cooled me off as I chatted with my drinking buddies.
Somehow, it reminded me of when I would go to visit my grandfather during the Bon holiday and drank umeshu with my family.
I’d have to try making some homemade umeshu to bring here sometime.
Oh, and wind chimes, too.
“Looks like we can’t get in with a carriage here, young master. Shall we go to the parking area?”
Once the early drinking party at the labyrinth army barracks had wrapped up, I went to the west guild in a carriage driven by our new maid Annie.
Of course, I’d already sobered up, and I used Everyday Magic to erase the smell of the liquor.
I was sure Annie and the others wouldn’t want to deal with an employer who got drunk early in the morning.
“No, I’ll just get out here. I want to look around a bit.”
“All right. I’ll go and wait for you in the guild’s parking area, then.”
After parting with Annie, I looked around the repair work being done at the guild plaza as I walked along the path to the guild building.
In addition to General Erthal, the guildmaster and the viceroy’s wife had also requested to speak with me today.
““Ah, hey, mister!””
The two women of the Lovely Wings party waved me over.
“Are you two heading into the labyrinth?”
“Yep, you got it!”
“There’s not enough carriers with all this construction work going on, so we’re joining the garnet-badge expedition party.”
“We’ll be able to pay off a lot of our debt after this gig!”
It seemed they were still paying off the fine from the “chain rampage” they had been held responsible for causing the first time I met them.
As a parting gift, I gave them several watered-down healing potions each.
“Whoa, you sure, mister?”
“Thanks a bunch!”
Once I’d seen off the happy pair, I looked at the workers around the plaza.
I could hear the captain shouting hoarsely as the labyrinth army golems carried materials around.
There were a few very young kids at the construction site, but they were just doing odd jobs suited to their age, not heavy labor.
According to what I’d heard at the soup kitchen, all the construction workers were being fed breakfast and lunch.
That was probably why migrant workers from nearby towns and villages had come to work, too, not only the residents of Labyrinth City.
I was using this influx of people as a chance to release more of the women I was protecting at the Ivy Manor, sending them to live in the tenements the explorer group had rented.
“Don’t just stand there spacing out, young master. It’s dangerous.”
“’Scuse me! Comin’ through!”
Some familiar-looking young ladies ran by carrying a box.
They were probably taking it to the area near the guild where food carts were lining up.
Before long, the aroma of frying food filled the air.
“The croquette line starts heeere!”
“This is the end of the deep-fried-skewer line.”
“Fried potatoes here, piping hot and crunchy!”
Each of the three lines had a child standing at the back with a sign illustrating the corresponding dish.
The master artist behind these DANCING CROQUETTES, WINNING SKEWERS, and FLYING FRIED POTATOES signs was none other than Tama.
The last masterpiece she’d produced at the time, SUNLIT HAMBURG, was framed and hanging in the orphanage cafeteria.
Apparently, some of the kids had taken to praying to it.
“Ah, it’s Mr. Viscount!”
One of the little girls next to the sign holders pointed at me and shouted.
“Looks like you’re all working hard.”
I patted her head, then handed out candies to all of the orphanage kids who were working as sign holders, telling them to keep it our little secret.
“Oh, hey, mister! Lulu, your master’s here.”
The redheaded Neru, who was working as a hawker in a maid outfit, called out to Lulu as she fried the croquettes behind the stall.
There was a bit of a story behind Neru and Lulu working together.
Some of the girls who’d been held captive in the labyrinth were too traumatized to enter it again, and since most of them had no way to make a living short of selling themselves, I had given them some food carts and recipes for croquettes and such as thanks for helping “Kuro” solve the predicament.
Lulu was working with them to demonstrate the cooking techniques.
“Welcome, master!”
Lulu flashed me a dazzling smile.
It was so cute that if this were a shojo manga, the flowers around her would probably spill over into the next panel.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to see her chatting with Tifaleeza, who was taking the money and making change in lieu of a cash register.
Miss Elder Sister and the blond noble didn’t seem to be on food-cart duty today.
“Sorry to interrupt. I was just passing through, so I thought I’d see how things were going.”
“Here, mister, for you!”
“Thanks, Miss Neru.”
“You can just call me Neru!”
I accepted the small parcel of food she handed me, then headed into the guild.
“Smells good. Got some skewers?”
“Yes, help yourself.”
I put the package of fried food from Neru and Lulu on the guildmaster’s desk.
“Fried potatoes, too.”
Sebelkeya peeked inside and nodded sagely.
Unlike Mia, she generally ate meat, but she seemed especially fond of fried potatoes.
Since these ones were fried using oil from the entangling canola that Mr. Dozon had mentioned at the rookie explorers’ class, they were relatively healthy.
“Ushana, let’s get some ale. It’s the perfect pairing for meat skewers.”
“No drinking until your work is finished, Guildmaster.”
Secretary Ushana smiled politely as she denied the guildmaster’s request.
“So what did you need to speak with me about?”
“Oh, fine. But fried food loses its flavor when it cools down. Let’s eat and talk.”
The guildmaster bit into the skewers as she spoke.
“Firstly, about that cultivation business. We’ve learned that you need a special magic circle to do it properly.”
“Does that mean the gag order has been lifted?”
“No, you can still technically cultivate them without one, but it’s not as effective. The gag order still stands.”
As such, the top-brass plunderers who had survived the incident the other day were going to be publicly executed as planned; the others would be reduced to criminal slaves, have their power of speech limited, and be sent to assist with the reclamation of the Azure Lands: a monster territory where the percentage of lost slaves was exceptionally high.
It might seem harsh, but I didn’t feel particularly sorry for them.
They were getting their just deserts, considering their misdeeds.
“As for the main topic…”
The guildmaster’s face grew serious, and she hesitated a moment.
“It’s about that demon incident. Have you ever seen one of these, Satou?”
The guildmaster pulled a cloth bundle from her pocket, unwrapping it to reveal a short horn and a long horn.
“This one is a short horn. So…is that perhaps a different variety of the short horn?”
I paused for a moment, then used my “Fabrication” and “Poker Face” skills to pretend I’d never seen the long horn before.
“Pretend you never saw it, then.”
I nodded, and she put the two horns away.
“Do you know where those horns came from?”
“Yes.” The guildmaster answered me immediately. “Poputema.”
“…Did he confess to that himself?”
“Yeah, he spilled everything. If you have any questions for him yourself, go to the viceroy’s place.”
According to my map information, he was being confined in a separate house on the viceroy’s estate, not in the dungeon below the castle or even the spire where nobles were normally imprisoned.
“By the way, have you heard from that Kuro fellow lately?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then I suppose this is the only place he’s come since then…”
The night after the incident, I’d visited the guildmaster’s room as Kuro and asked her to protect Elder Sister Sumina and the others.
When I’d innocently visited the guild the next day, they told me about Kuro and Miss Sumina, so I offered the fried-food recipes to help them.
It all worked out pretty conveniently, since now I could support them from a distance.
“Well, let me know if you hear from Kuro again.”
“I will, of course.”
Although that was unlikely to happen, since if I needed anything from the guildmaster as Kuro, I would probably just go straight to her.
After that, Secretary Ushana asked if I could spare any assistance for the rebuilding of the guild property; I offered enough money so that I wouldn’t incite jealousy or suspicion from the other nobles.
“…Sir Poputema?”
When the viceroy’s wife and I went to visit, we were greeted by the now-legless Poputema, resting in a casket of white light.