Chapter 76: Volume 4 - CH 20

“Um…Ah, found her.” Lieze walked around in front of the World Tree, spotting Yuriga with a cheerful tone.

“What do you want?” Yuriga clearly saw Lieze as a bother as always.

“I’m sending you off. You’re going back to the demon territory, right?” Lieze smiled like it was obvious.

After everything was said and done, Kyle and the group returned to the World Tree. Irumera helped transport Ghrud back, and Kyle’s group took care of the rest, so she didn’t technically break the law. As Yuriga finished her duty, she most likely would now return to the demon territory and report the events here to the Demon Lord. Knowing Yuriga, she wouldn’t even say her goodbyes and just leave immediately, or so Lieze thought. However, a final report to Zeurus was also due, which is why Lieze asked Irumera to contact her if Yuriga came over.

“I mean, we may have moved independently, but we were working together, so I want to at least properly say goodbye. Kyle clearly didn’t like the idea of that, though.”

“Of course he wouldn’t…” Yuriga sighed, seeing that Lieze still didn’t understand anything. “Just as you said, I don’t particularly feel anything towards humanfolk. And, the Demon Lord-sama does not wish to fight you…However, that is only the current situation, and we may end up in total war starting tomorrow. Once that happens, I will kill you without hesitation. That’s what it means to fight a demon.”

“……”

“It would be best if we both didn’t get involved too much…for our both’s sakes.”

This couldn’t be any greater rejection. Lieze was about to open her mouth, but no words came out. As the two went silent, a blessing in disguise appeared.

“Huh? You going home?” Seran showed his face.

“You…how is your left arm doing?”

“Just fine, aye. Managed to attach it as if nothing happened.” Seran showed the part with the scar on his left arm.

It was so faint you would barely realize if you didn’t look for it, but he could perfectly move his arm and every one of his fingers.

“The magic medicine really worked wonders…So, you don’t have to worry about cutting it off or anything.”

“I was never worried in the first place.”

“Oh, right…By the way, why are you two looking so awkward right now?”

He must have felt the weird mood between the two girls, or just subconsciously even, as Seran asked them with a nonchalant voice.

“Keep it simple, ladies. When you’re saying goodbye, a simple ‘See you again~’ is more than enough.”

“You’re just not thinking about it enough…” Lieze complained but nodded. “Then…see you again, Yuriga. Take care, okay?” Lieze said with a smile.

“…We might have to fight the next time we run into each other, you know?”

“We’ll think about it then. Of course, I’m not going to hold back at all, so don’t worry.” Seran grinned with the simplest words as always, once again forcing Yuriga to sigh.

However, this time it was more a relaxed one instead of simple exhaustion.

“If I was as simple-minded as you, I bet life would be a lot more enjoyable…and, I doubt we will even run into each other again.”

“Didn’t you say the exact same thing before…?” Lieze tilted her head.

“This time for sure! Normally, it would be unthinkable for humans to regularly meet a demon…Really, dampens my mood.” Yuriga turned her back towards the two and started walking, only to turn towards Lieze one last time. “Your cooking…wasn’t bad, Lieze.” She said, smiling for the first time, and walked away.

“You seem oddly happy, you know.” Seran commented on Lieze’s grinning face, as she watched Yuriga walk off into the distance.

“I mean, she said ‘wasn’t bad’, right? And she even called me by my name, while she smiled…This is big progress, don’t you think.” Lieze smiled happily, making Seran remember something.

“Oh yeah, there was a time when you were desperately trying to have a stray cat like you…Like, you’d get excited the more caution the other party showed.” He still remembered Lieze’s smile back then.

“Hey! Don’t treat Yuriga like some cat.”

“It’s something like that…Right now, you’re smiling like back when you hugged that cat.”

“W-What’s your problem? A long time ago, you and Kyle both—”

The two threw complaints at each other, reminiscing about the past.

“How is Ghrud looking?” Shildonia asked.

Zeus, Shildonia, and Kyle were discussing this incident in the special room of the World Tree.

“No problems. His consciousness has returned fully. However, he was in a very bad mood. He said he would definitely make that human pay, and all that…” Remembering Ghrud’s previous attitude, Zeurus sighed.

“Maybe in a hundred years, if possible…” Kyle said, still exhausted.

The injuries he had suffered from his battle with Ghrud brought him to the brink of death. After drinking a lot of recovery magic medicine, he managed to heal up, but he didn’t want to go through the same thing ever again.

“From now on, we will keep him confined here, and give him an adequate punishment,” Zeurus said with a heavy tone, and yet Shildonia felt a glimmer of happiness deep inside of them.

Even if Ghrud caused a bit of a mess for him and the entire clan of dragons, as he was his grandson, Zeurus must still be happy about his return.

“Well, that just shows how much energy he has got himself. What’s left is…to not repeat the same mistake again, alright?” Shildonia warned Zeurus.

“I am well aware…Now, Kyle, I’ve been in your care, and I want to repay you. Is there anything you desire?”

“Then, when the Great Invasion happens in two and a half years, I want you to side with humanfolk.”

“…That I cannot do, it crosses my authority.” Zeurus rejected Kyle’s greatest wish.

“Authority…you are the [Dragon King], what are you saying?” Shildonia complained.

“I told you before, but I merely am the oldest one alive, acting as a representative. I cannot force everyone to follow my decision.”

“Stubborn bastard…” Shildonia cursed.

Surely, he could force them, but he didn’t want to. This fact made Shildonia even more annoyed.

“But, there’s nothing else I could wish for…” Kyle was thinking of just letting this one go, but Zeurus continued.

“Instead of Ghrud, I want to repay the favor as myself. I can offer you my skin that I last shed five hundred years ago. It is worlds apart from the lower-grade dragon leather you are wearing.”

Shildonia let out an excited ‘Ohh’ voice.

“Your skin, huh…Just like the fang part of my sword, it’s top-class material.”

“So if we could turn that into armor…”

“Indeed, it would raise your defensive value drastically.”

When it came to the equipment you could pay for, this dragon leather armor Kyle used was at the top of the market, but Zeurus skin was material never found before. Using it to create defensive tools would most likely result in armor unprecedented on this entire continent. To Kyle, who almost died because of Ghrud, naturally was more than interested in this.

“The problem is how we can even process such material. Back in Zaales, we would have been fine, but…is there even anybody who can make worthwhile use of such a material?” Shildonia showed a complicated expression.

Kyle realized what she talked about, and instantly lost all his excitement as well.

“Well, whatever you do with it is up to you…Finally, we will not cooperate with the demons, that is what I promise in my life.” Zeurus declared with no shred of hesitation in his voice.

That meant Kyle had accomplished the main goal of coming here.

“Then we have to get back to Erina and the others. Can’t have them wait forever.”

As they had to get Ghrud back to the forest first, the dark elves were waiting in worry. With that in mind, Kyle left the room, and Shildonia was about to follow him when she turned around to ask Zeurus one last question.

“Why did you have humanfolk, demons, and dragons work together?”

Zeurus crossed his arms, showing a complicated expression.

“…What I want in this world is harmony. That’s why I couldn’t help but dream a bit. Cooperation of demons and humanfolk, with dragons a part of that.” Zeurus showed a distant gaze, like he was looking at a place far away, and then up at the ceiling.

“A pipe dream, indeed. You, who has seen a war between humanfolk and demons, is saying that?”

Having stood at the peak of human folk, fighting the demons, Shildonia knew better than any other how difficult to achieve this would be.

“With the current Demon Lord, it may be possible, acting as the trigger…No, it’s just me dwelling in past emotions, just forget about it.”

“Aren’t you in high spirits? Is the current Demon Lord that great of an existence?”

“Enough to make me dream.”

Hearing Zeurus speak this highly of the Demon Lord, Shildonia couldn’t help but be curious herself.

“I see…I’d love to meet them myself.” Shildonia showed a distant gaze herself.

Having Irumera send them off to the village of the dark elves, they grouped up with Erina. She must have been worried to death, because Erina leaped at Kyle with tears in her eyes, but clapped her hands together in joy when she heard that everything had been resolved. Hearing that the poachers and threat of the dragon were caused by the Mera cult, now all taken care of, the dark elves were relieved as well.

“…And yet, nobody’s coming to see us off.” Seran said, half-complaining.

Even as Kyle’s group was about to depart, only Paserane and Roas came to see them off. Most of the dark elves were merely watching from a distance. With Irumera behind them, they probably wished for the group to leave immediately before they would cause a calamity themselves.

“Paserane-san, thank you very much for everything.” Erina deeply lowered her head.

“No, there is no need to thank me. In fact, you were the ones who saved my life…Hey, Erina, do you really have no intention of coming home? After this incident, they surely won’t chase you out again. And if I put in a good word for you…” Paserane sounded almost desperate, but Erina simply shook her head.

“My mother is still in Rinecol, see.”

Erina’s mother, Luctera, is a human. There was no reason for Luctera to return to the village, even more so since she was still sick.

“I-I see…”

“But…the fact that this is my hometown won’t change, and I will never forget it either.” Erina smiled happily, pulling Paserane along with one of hers, as she looked at Kyle.

“Kyle, was it? I’m leaving Erina to you.”

Paserane seemed oddly passionate about that. In fact, when Kyle would look at Erina, her face turned a bit red, and Paserane didn’t miss that. Even if he happened to save her in such a dire time, Paserane fully understood the meaning of that. Basically, she was saying that she would not forgive Kyle if he dared to make her cry.

“Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

However, Kyle had no idea about this and simply responded with the intention of caring for Erina’s sick mother Luctera.

“This is a promise.” Paserane pushed it once more.

After their final farewell was done, Kyle’s group got on Irumera’s back, and departed.

“Let us meet again, my maidens.” Roas sent off Lieze and the other girls with a loud and teary voice. “And there they go.”

“Yeah…” Paserane answered with no strength in her voice.

“…Why did you ask Erina to come back to the village? You were the one who initially pushed the decision of chasing her away.”

Paserane’s expression showed clear shock at Roas’ words.

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“So…you knew. When Erina is around…I just can’t stop hating myself.”

The reason Paserane treated Erina kindly was that she was the child of the person she once admired, calculated to earn extra points with him. And when her father passed away, the reason she told Erina to leave the village wasn’t out of goodwill because it might be too much, but rather because she would keep living in self-loathing every time she saw Erina. However, after they had run into each other, and when she saw how thankful Erina was, this feeling of guilt only became stronger.

“Then, why did you tell her to come back?”

“Because this time…I wanted to become something like her older sister. Without any ulterior motive…well, it was also for my own sake. I expected that it would make me feel a bit easier…You must be disappointed with me, right?”

However, Roas simply showed a perturbed expression.

“What are you saying? I’m sure Erina must have realized this to some degree. Even so, she cared for you like this…there’s no need to be feeling indebted.”

Paserane was surprised at Roas’ words once more, glancing over at the direction Kyle’s group had left towards.

“I’d like to meet her again…and then talk about everything. With my honest feelings.”

“…A troubled maiden in love is quite the charming sight.” Roas nodded.

‘I have returned.’

Having taken Kyle’s group to Rinecol, Irumera returned to the [Dragon Nest] and reported to Zeurus, who was back in his dragon shape.

‘Good work…And, how did it feel to work together with humanfolk and demons?’ Zeurus question was filled with a faint bit of anticipation.

He valued Irumera quite highly, and when Ghrud would eventually become the leader of the dragons here, he wanted her to be an aid to him. However, because Irumera was far too diligent for her own sake, sometimes unable to adapt to the situation. And, although this wasn’t solely limited to her, she had the tendency of looking down on humans. For Zeurus, who had been in direct contact with the Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales and Magic King Shildonia, he had greater respect for humanfolk. In order to make Irumera understand this, he gave her the duty as the observer in this incident.

‘I only got to spend a short time with them, but…in the end, they are still barbaric and foolish.’

Irumera most likely was pointing towards the Mera followers.

‘I see…’ Zeurus showed a disappointed nod.

‘However…just as you said, I learned something from them as well.’

‘Oh, and what is that?’ Zeurus pushed his body forward, expecting something.

‘There are many different ways to perceive law and resolutions.’

‘That way of learning, is it?’ Zeurus was a bit worried.

‘That human…when I helped carry Ghrud here, he told me. “Dragons don’t exist for the law, but the law exists for dragons. You shouldn’t experience misfortune because of some law!”…It’s a bit embarrassing to admit it, but I was quite shocked to hear that. I didn’t expect humans to feel this way.’

‘That most definitely isn’t wrong. That fact in itself is absolutely correct, but…’

Zeurus was unsure if this change in Irumera was for the better or not. He knew that blindly following the law was most likely not the best course of action, but looking for ways to evade it might not be too great either. On a side note, Kyle’s words actually weren’t his own, but he got them from a heroic tale and changed them up a bit. Lieze and the others, who knew about that, showed somewhat bitter smiles, but that apparently worked wonders for Irumera, after they had helped in saving Ghrud.

‘I decided to give this some more thought.’

‘R-Right…Well, that should be fine.’

Zeurus still didn’t know if this was a positive change or not, but at the very least—something changed.

“It feels like I was just dancing on someone else’s palm.”

A few days had passed after the battle with Ghrud. Kyle was resting in an inn room at Rinecol, grumbling to himself. Only Minagi and Kyle were present in that room. Lieze and the others were out shopping and spending their break, whereas Erina was taking care of her mother. Kyle stayed in his room to exchange information with Minagi, but even if he wanted to leave, he couldn’t.

“Aren’t you in a bad mood today, Dragon Killer?”

“Stop with that name…I really don’t want to hear that right now.” Teased by Minagi, Kyle complained once more.

“Why is that? Receiving the title of [Dragon Slayer] is the greatest kind of fame as a warrior, no? They’ll pass down this story for generations.”

It’s just as Minagi stated. The last dragon-slaying had happened several hundreds of years ago, with heroic tales being left behind even to this time, so surely Kyle would receive the same treatment.

“…How’s the town looking?” Kyle asked.

“It’s crazy, full of rumors about you. If you set even one foot outside, they’d probably storm you.” Minagi was clearly enjoying this.

Even the evaluation towards Kyle amongst the adventurers changed drastically. As adventurers worked on the creed of absolute strength, since Kyle bested a dragon in a one-on-one, they had to accept his skill. According to Minagi’s report, Getsuga was even willing to treat Kyle to a drink for having saved him. They assumed that the second dragon who had arrived recovered the remains of the one Kyle defeated. Thankfully things were slowly starting to calm down.

“Putting all of them together, many of the rumors were fairly positive…so I’d say things are going great. There’s even the talk of another dragon having arrived to thank you for subjugating one of their own who had gone rogue.”

“Does that…”

Minagi’s expression turned serious for once.

“Yes, that’s clearly intentional…Most likely set up by the Mera cult. When it comes to spreading your honor, they’re working in the shadows.”

“I see…”

“Can’t accept that? I thought this was exactly what you wanted.”

“You’re not entirely wrong, but…”

To Kyle, becoming a hero wasn’t a goal, but a means. He wanted to become a hero no matter the method he had to rely on, but the real deal starts after achieving that.

“Still, I didn’t expect the Mera followers to be working in the shadows even in a place like this…”

Minagi showed a somewhat troubled expression.

“…Honestly, that just shows me being inexperienced and careless, and that they’re one step ahead of us.” She bit her lip.

After coming to the country of Eddos, Minagi had begun to look into the Mera cult, but she could barely grasp any leads. And yet, there were supposedly hundreds of cult followers present in this single down. Luckily she found them gathered at one point, but it could have ended up a battlefield with casualties if luck wasn’t on her side. She made it sound casual, but deep down, that actually hurt her quite a bit. Especially her pride.

“This failure was…”

“I believe in your skill, Minagi. If you really feel responsible, then you just have to make up for it from now on, right?” Kyle said, not letting her complain any further than that.

“…Got it.”

Met with this profound goodwill, Minagi swore to never fail again and relied on his kind words this once.

“Not to mention that you still helped us a lot this time around. If not for you, Lieze and Urza might have been in deep trouble.”

Ever since that incident, the two had been a lot more friendly and amicable towards Minagi. Having their lives saved by her, fighting side by side was a great boost for their relationship.

“Yeah, also about the case you asked me…it’s exactly as you expected. That Luctera person was given poison, which made it look like a sickness.”

“I see…”

That was the one assumption Kyle didn’t want to be spot-on. As far as he knew, in his previous life, Luctera had never been plagued by a sickness that involved life or death, so he had Minagi look into that.

“They are both living in a row house, and their neighbor was from the Mera cult, and the doctor also under the patronage of the cult.”

“And, this cult follower…”

“Yeah, no need to worry about them anymore. I confirmed what kind of poison it is, so I’ll be making sure she recovers.”

“Good…” Kyle sighed from the bottom of his heart. “…So, what do you think the reason for that was?”

“Hmmm…she probably got on their bad side after marrying a dark elf, and giving birth to a child…but, I don’t see the reason for making it look like a sickness.” Minagi was thinking.

Kyle joined her, but came up with one possibility. If Luctera were to suffer from a sickness, Erina would run around trying to earn money. At that time, if a request with a big reward were to appear, she would immediately jump onto that.

Don’t tell me…

This dragon subjugation incident which had been plotted by the Mera cult from start to finish needed Erina’s participation. Without her, Kyle’s group would not have made it to the World Tree. Or it would have at least taken a lot longer, and they wouldn’t have been able to negotiate with Paserane and the dark elves. But if this was their goal, it was far too roundabout. They managed to make the two parties work together in a natural way, and Erina didn’t assume she was being controlled. It was the same with Ghrud. Nobody would have been able to guess this chain of events, and yet Rockfall said that it happened exactly as this Holiness person had predicted.

Is it just a mere coincidence? It worked out for them, but the need for luck is too big…Or maybe it was…

“I feel like it would all make sense if this Holiness person knew what would happen beforehand.”

Minagi seemingly had the same doubt as Kyle, voicing it out loud.

“Yeah…you’re right.”

Normally, Kyle would scoff at this possibility, but after everything he went through, he could not laugh in the slightest.

“Also, the Unicorn horns were already transported outside the country.”

“I see…”

Kyle would have wished to recover these as well, and return them to the dark elves.

“As for anything else, it seems like the entire Mera cult changed its course of action roughly half a year ago. Up to that point, they were scaling down, and yet now they’ve suddenly started to become a lot more active.”

“Any reason you can come up with?”

“Hmm…Their Holiness may have been replaced by somebody else? They say that their orders come from that person after all.”

“So it really is that Holiness after all…I guess I have to meet them at one point.”

“That’ll be dangerous, you know?” Minagi sounded worried.

“I don’t know why, but they seem oddly fixated with me. I’ll bet on that.”

“Yeah, they’ve taken quite the liking to you…Did you do something to that Holiness person?”

“That’s what I want to know…seriously.” Kyle sighed.

“And, how do you even plan on meeting them?”

“That…is something I’ll come up with soon enough. Looking at how things went, they’ll reach out to me again anyway.”

Kyle realized that they were an individual he at some point would have to meet either way. And, another point of interest was that demon Targ. If Yuriga’s words could be believed, then it was a demon not even the current Demon Lord was aware of. Most important of all is that this could be related to the new Demon Lord who initiated the [Great Invasion]. There was a good chance that, by striking down that demon, the entire invasion could be avoided. But, staying here in the human territory forever won’t get them any new information.

“I guess I’ll have to head there at some point…to the demon territory.”

“…No idea what’s plaguing you this much, but aren’t you forcing yourself?” Minagi doubted his sanity after hearing that comment. “…Say, Kyle, what are you aiming for with all of this?” Minagi asked with a serious tone.

His goal wasn’t to become a hero, that was merely a step on the way, and she knew that. However, Kyle’s actions and intentions were far too unclear for her. That’s why she wanted to hear from Kyle what his final goal was. Kyle thought about it for a moment and then answered with a serious expression himself.

“…Live a happy life and die of old age?”

Minagi didn’t hesitate a second to ram her fist on Kyle’s head.

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