The Fervent Sand Baths

by Nagaharu Hibihana

  “Yeah... we can’t exactly enter through this.” Goldfish looked agape from inside the bucket Roni was holding.

  Even if there was a tunnel underneath all this, it’d be an immense amount of work to clear all the debris.

  “Well, we have no choice. Leave this to me.”

  “I’ll help, too.”

  Rulitora stepped forward, followed by Rium. She’d puffed up her chest. Perhaps she was in possession of an item in her crystal magic collection that we could use for this task.

  Roni started talking from beside me.

  “Sir Touya, there’s a tunnel under here, right? How about we dig a hole above it and enter from there?”

  “Oh yeah, we could do that. And we do have some digging tools in our cargo.”

  “...Touya, what about your earth spirit summoning? That spell was originally supposed to be used in these situations.”

  “...Oh.”

  I had completely forgotten. Clena gave me an exasperated look.

  “Bwahahah, fools! This ‘ere tunnel was put together usin’ every last one o’ Hades’ magic techniques! As if some measly spell from yer Earth Goddess temple would put a dent in it, hah!” Goldfish laughed heartily, scoffing at our conversation.

  Though I didn’t really have a comeback, since it was a stupid conversation, I could, however, say one thing.

  “But this gate is still destroyed, isn’t it?”

  “Well...” Goldfish’s laugh faded instantly.

  That’s right. This tunnel was created using the magic techniques from Hades. The gate should have been part of the tunnel, but the Torano’o tribe destroyed it long ago.

  “This is just a bunch of rocks now, so why don’t we try?”

  “Grrr... Well maybe the weather just did a number on it over the years?!”

  I disregarded the peeved Goldfish, summoned some earth spirits, and started clearing a hole from within the mountain of rubble. More specifically, I used the spirits to change the overall shape and pushed the debris in the center to the sides.

  It took a bit of time, but eventually a slope made from a strange material began to show itself from under the dirt and debris. So this was the underground tunnel that was made using the magic of Hades.

  I tried changing the shape of the slope using my earth spirits, but it wasn’t quite working. So Goldfish wasn’t all talk, after all.

  “Y... Y’ain’t half bad, for a brat...”

  Goldfish couldn’t hide his surprise, perhaps from seeing the tunnel open up for the first time in hundreds of years. Or maybe it was from my magic, having cleared such a large hole in the ground.

  “I’m glad it’s a slope and not stairs. The carriage could pass though it if it were a bit wider.”

  “Hmph, what did’ya expect? The army used this tunnel for transportation.”

  “So the demons came out from here as well...” Rulitora muttered as he stared inside.

  After hearing that, Clena started looking uneasy.

  “That doesn’t mean the demons are still there, right?”

  “No idea. I dunno what it’s like these days.”

  “Should I take a look by myself first?”

  “No, I bet there’s no light in there. I’ll go, too.”

  We left the carriage to Clena and the rest, while Rulitora and I took the lead and entered the underground tunnel that supposedly lead to the desert kingdom, Hadesopolis. I summoned five light spirits around us, we equipped our weapons, and made our way inside while staying alert of our surroundings.

  Inside was an arch-shaped corridor made from stone. It was wide enough for two of our carriages to pass each other with room to spare. The ground was paved in stone, made from the same material as the slope behind us.

  I was afraid of a gas buildup inside, but Rulitora’s nose hadn’t detected anything unusual, so we decided to continue on. We walked for another 100 meters or so but didn’t detect anything living, much less any demons.

  “There’s nothing here.”

  “What if the tunnel is also blocked up at the other end, making this an enclosed space?”

  “...That’s possible.”

  It was easy to imagine if Hadesopolis had really been destroyed.

  “We should continue with everyone instead of scouting by ourselves from here.”

  “I agree. At this rate, it’d be more dangerous to leave Rium and the others by themselves.”

  Especially with Goldfish around.

  “Alright, let’s go back.”

  “Yes. We still need to be on guard, but we should go on as a group.”

  We ended our investigation there and returned to get the rest of the gang.

  “I was wondering what it’d be like after all the years underground, but...”

  “It’s much cleaner than I expected.”

  Those were Clena’s and Roni’s first words after seeing the tunnel illuminated by the light spirits.

  It was indeed much cleaner than I had imagined, too. I thought it’d at least be covered in moss or something.

  “Oh yeah, Clena. Can you use spirit magic to ventilate an area?”

  “You mean run air through it? I can keep the spirits around us, but that’s about it.”

  “Could you do that for us? We’re fine right now, but if the tunnel is sealed off on the other end, then the air might have stagnated deeper inside and we won’t be able to breathe.”

  “There might also be a gas buildup.” Rium responded to my worries in kind.

  Even if there wasn’t any gas, if the tunnel wasn’t ventilated, there would be less oxygen the further we went. We couldn’t exactly carry an oxygen tank with us, so we had to ensure some other way of keeping the air flowing. And the other solution I arrived at was Clena’s spirit magic.

  Maybe Goldfish could do something about it, but I was too afraid of letting him use magic to ask.

  “It would use a lot of my MP, but I’ll try.”

  “Sorry about this.”

  “Don’t worry. If I do it right, then I might get a crazy amount of MP like you.”

  I couldn’t relate, but I knew that it took a lot of stamina to keep using MP. I apologized to Clena, but she gave me a smile in return.

  Rulitora took the lead, while Roni and Rium stayed toward the back of the carriage and kept watch behind us. Clena concentrated on maintaining her wind spirits, and I stayed in the driver’s seat as we progressed through the tunnel.

  It was chilly inside since the sun didn’t reach, so we all had our cloaks on. I also changed into my metal armor for its higher defensive capabilities.

  Naturally, Goldfish would end up my conversation partner as he hung beside the driver’s seat. But since everyone else was working so hard, I was willing to surrender myself to the fish’s ramblings.

  “How much do you lot know about the demon lord?”

  “I only know what’s been recorded in the first sacred king’s biographies.”

  “Well, at least ya done yer homework fer someone who got summoned here.”

  “I’ve been researching what I can.”

  “I s’pose ya weren’t just gonna submit to the wishes of yer summoners, huh?”

  “...I guess not.”

  What with information on the desert kingdom having been sealed off and all. And us not knowing anything about the demon lord’s true form, either.

  If the desert kingdom had a sacred king like Jupiteropolis did, then this might end up in a war between two kingdoms.

  “Oh yeah, the Goddess of Light summons people who’re still alive, right?”

  “...What?”

  “Hm? Or were you dead?”

  “No, I never died...”

  It’s not like I had any memories of a truck about to hit me before I got summoned.

  “The Goddess of Darkness doesn’t forcibly summon beings that’re still alive. Her summoning gives new life to already deceased souls.”

  “Huh? Wait, so you’re saying... that there’s such a thing as heroes of the Goddes
s of Darkness?” I asked, dumbfounded, but Goldfish looked at me like I was a fool.

  “This brat, I swear... What d’ya think the demon lord is?”

  “...Huh? What do you mean? So, the battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord was a battle between two summoned heroes?”

  “That’s right. And here you say ya studied up? You don’t know jack.”

  In my defense, the temple had covered all of this up.

  I turned to Clena, but she only looked back and shook her head in silence. It seemed she didn’t know this, either.

  “Don’t tell me you lot don’t know about the 16 demon generals, either?”

  “I know that the living ones took the sealed demon lord and fled.”

  “Sayin’ they fled... Why, it’s an insult to their greatness.” Goldfish took offense as he continued talking.

  This was all information on the demon lord that no one else knew. I perked my ears to his story.

  “The Hadesopolis army—or the demon lord army, as those Jupiter wretches would call ’em. Among ’em were 16 generals who’d managed to achieve great feats.”

  “So they were called the 16 demon generals? Huh, so you guys called them demons, too.”

  “No matter how ya feel about it, that title was a highly honorable one to followers of the Goddess of Darkness. ’Twas proof of havin’ received the blessing of the Goddess.”

  Another one of those culture gaps.

  “Anyways. There were 16 demon generals working under the demon lord. The Dragon General. The Storm General. The Silver Sword. The Golden Armor. The Guardian. The Enchanting Jester. The Tyrant Saint. The Queen of Night. The Laughing Lion. ...Well, all of ’em shoulda died 500 years ago.”

  “What, they’re all dead?”

  “Some were attacked on expeditions by those Jupiter bastards. Others were caught in the crossfire during the battle between the demon lord and the first sacred king. Well, a lot happened.”

  So those were all nicknames. Some of those names piqued my interest, but I kept any questions to myself.

  “Aside from the ones who died, the Beast King, the Masked Cleric, and the Five Great Demon Generals should all still be alive. ”

  “Five Great Demon Generals?”

  “They were all summoned from another world like the demon lord. Along with the other eleven generals that used to be part of the Hadesopolis army, they formed the honorable 16 Demon Generals of Hades.”

  Goldfish looked proud. Every other nation, including Jupiter, only spoke ill of the demon lord, but to a resident of Hadesopolis he must have been someone they looked up to and revered.

  “Speaking of which, I got a visit from the Beast King soon after the battle. It was then that I learned of the demon lord’s defeat at the hand of the first sacred king, and how many of the generals had their lives taken.”

  “......”

  The Goldfish stared distantly. He must have been through a lot.

  “Um, did the five great demon generals have nicknames as well?”

  “Hm? ’Course they did. The Dark Prince. The White-Faced Ogre. The Dark Giant. The Demon Dog. The Flame Devil. All of them were summoned from another world like the demon lord and given new life.”

  They all had pretty strong-sounding names.

  “When you say they were given new life, does that mean they were raised from the dead?”

  “No, they became a part of the demon race thanks to the blessing from the Goddess of Darkness.”

  “The demon race...”

  Though it had been 500 years, I wanted to know if they were fellow humans from my world—but it seemed like they had given up their humanity. That was the only way they’d still be alive now, 500 years later

  Besides the five great demon generals that were summoned, the other generals had also been blessed by the Goddess of Darkness and achieved power surpassing that of any ordinary human. It was the same basic concept as the Goddess of Light granting us our gifts. I wonder if there was a general who could summon baths?

  “By the way, that Prince, is it who I think it is?”

  “Aye, he was the demon lord’s kid.”

  “So they were summoned as parent and child, huh.”

  “I believe one o’ the generals even died by takin’ up the role of the demon lord’s rear guard, givin’ him the chance to escape unharmed...”

  If that was true, then the demon lord sure had a loyal army. I mean, it’s not like I suddenly thought the demon lord’s army was full of good people, but it did change my impression of them somewhat.

  Nonetheless, Goldfish’s stories were packed with new information. He really was alive 500 years ago. Or maybe he had even been blessed by the Goddess of Darkness? That would explain how he had stayed alive for 500 years.

  This tunnel was so devoid of life it was almost unsettling. It wasn’t the worst thing having to listen to Goldfish reminisce while we made our way.

  “Oh, and the demon lord...”

  It had been three days since we entered the underground tunnel. Goldfish had continued telling his stories whenever we weren’t sleeping or eating. The only times we were freed of it were when we were inside the Unlimited Bath.

  We hadn’t encountered any other living beings, so Rulitora kept watch on Goldfish during the night. I apologized to him, but he laughed it off, saying it was a good way to kill time. Though he probably couldn’t stand listening to Goldfish all day long, so during the day he’d stray a short distance ahead of us to scout out the area.

  The majority of Goldfish’s stories were just bragging. Almost none of it contained any notable information. All we’d learned could be summarized by saying that the demon lord army was a bunch of gallant, determined warriors.

  The battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord took place about 500 years ago. More accurately, it was somewhere between 400 and 500 years ago. At the time, Japan was nearing the end of the Muromachi period and entering the Sengoku period. People summoned then would have had plenty of battle experience.

  “By the way, what was the demon lord’s name?”

  “That would be Lord Amann Naga.”

  If I remembered correctly, Naga was the name of an Indian deity whose upper half was human and lower half serpent. The demon lord had been blessed by the Goddess of Darkness and granted superhuman powers, but maybe he also had given up his humanity and become half-serpent as well.

  There was a “Demon Dog” among the Five Great Demon Generals as well, but maybe they were literally a dog, or a demi-human with the head of a dog.

  Rulitora suddenly came back holding his glaive, which had a light spirit attached to the tip. We’d applied this technique to create a portable light source for him.

  “Sir Touya, the path ahead is blocked.”

  “I knew it.”

  Apparently there was rubble blocking the road.

  The tunnel was being ventilated thanks to Clena’s wind spirits, but without that, the stagnant air would have had us gasping for breath by now.

  “Alright, let me open up a hole.”

  There was no choice but for me to remove the rubble blocking our path. I stepped down from the carriage and approached the rubble. It looked like it was an accumulation of sediment and the materials used to build the tunnel. It should be a piece of cake with my earth summoning. I summoned the spirits as I placed my hand on the rubble.

  “Follow behind me.” I said, and Rulitora, Clena, Roni, and Rium all nodded.

  I used the spell to burrow our way through the rubble, but no matter how much I dug, we were only met with more rubble. I figured just one portion of the tunnel had collapsed, but that might not have been the case.

  Come to think of it, there was the story that Hadesopolis had sunk underground. Maybe the road leading to it had also completely collapsed and was gone now.

  Even if we kept going like this, we might not be able to reach Hadesopolis. I was doubtful, but we kept progressing through the tunnel as I dug.

  Af
ter a while, my hand suddenly lost contact with the dirt and I lost balance as I hit an air socket. I pulled my arm back, and light shone through the hole it had left behind. I thought we were underground this entire time, but it looked like we had connected back to the outside world.

  My spell had cut off since losing my balance. I summoned the earth spirits again and widened the hole so our carriage could pass through.

  “What in the world...?”

  After I opened the hole, an unbelievable sight leaped into my vision. A city... no, more like a castle?

  The ground was sloping downward like we were inside a vortex, and the hole had led us to the outer edge of it. The buildings on the outer edge had collapsed and were slanted downward, but from what I could see in the distance, the buildings near the center were still fine.

  “Ah, yes... that there building is the demon lord’s castle.”

  “So this is definitely Hadesopolis?”

  “Aye, aye. This here’s Hadesopolis’ city center. It’s all still here...”

  “By city center, you mean that there are other parts of the city outside of this?”

  “Sad to say, but this seems to be the only part that survived,” Goldfish answered Clena’s question. He seemed so occupied with the sight, though, that his reply felt only halfhearted.

  Looking up, I saw something like a dome made of stone, streams of sand seeping from its cracks. Somehow a tall tower had fallen from the outer edges toward the castle in the city center, and now both of them were keeping each other in place, creating a space shielding everything under it from the sand.

  “The tower of the 16 demon generals. That tower had a barrier that protected the city center. Huh, it continued protecting the demon lord’s castle even after it withered...” Goldfish muttered in earnest.

  I had thought it was an awfully tall tower, but now I knew why.

  After the battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord, the center of Hadesopolis—the demon lord’s castle—sunk into the earth, and the desert in the void enveloped it all. The collapsed tower had formed a dome, protecting everything under it from the sand above. It was still fulfilling its original purpose.