Revelation
Revelation
It didn't take long for Asilie to come out after she'd sorted through the belongings in the house Jin had kept neat and tidy.
Since Jin had already diligently searched for and disposed of the more perishable items, tidying up our house ended more simply than expected. There was a whole process of checking the chicken coops and crates we'd used when first bringing the livestock, loading them one by one onto the worn-out cart, but it was still simple enough.
My parents' grave and the small Pantheon I'd built were in fine condition. Part of that was because as I got older I'd gradually replaced the original wooden construction with stone and repaired it, but I could tell at a glance that Asilie had been consistently maintaining them in my absence.
"Next time, I'll at least bring back the head of some Demonfolk bastard."
Since those were the only words I had to offer right then, I finished paying respects at the grave simply before we returned to Ogwen. Jin had to ride in the cart with the livestock, but he smiled leisurely, saying he was glad he didn't have to walk.
"Ah, Eldmia!"
After that relaxed return, what greeted us was Sen and her party, holding the horses we'd originally brought with us, their faces twisted in dismay.
"Ah."
"Oh dear."
We'd just left them there and gone off.
The mess those creatures, who had no skills beyond eating, shitting, and running, had created, made my vision go dark.
Those scaredy-cats. I'd brought them to sell anyway, so they could've just gone and sold them off properly, but it looked like they'd been walking on eggshells around me and ended up stomping in place, achieving nothing. The immature brats were cackling because the horses shat, so those kids were already full of the makings of truly hopeless adventurers.
"Yeah, it's my fault for forgetting after I'd set them aside."
In the end, we had to wrestle with horse dung for a while before we could finally dispose of the horses.
Fortunately, the horses sold for quite a good price. Apparently the trickle-down effect from adventurers that Madam Alisha had mentioned was considerable, as the recent demand for wagons had been increasing. There were even some dungeons appearing nearby, so wagon services going back and forth to them were springing up, or so they said.
Whether you could really call that a boom during wartime, I didn't know, but since they said it was driving the market, I just let it go at that.
Even after enduring that whole series of disasters, we still had time until evening and it wasn't clear where to go, so we decided to sit in the inn hall where Sen and her party were staying and talk about Bellesica.
"Fortunately, Bellesica's parents arrived safely and were under the temple's protection."
If it had been that super elite adventurer party of justice, the Gaendal party, they'd have set down countless cups on the table and launched into talk, but of course those things weren't allowed for these kids yet. The conversation, begun under a motto of strict solemnity, dignity, and seriousness, wasn't bad, but it wasn't entirely clean either.
First off, since it had been an emotional family reunion, they'd agreed to discuss the details when we met tomorrow; I liked that they'd left the cultists there, and that they'd gotten confirmation that the Holy Light Cross Order in Ogwen would do everything to protect the saintess. But what I didn't like was that Priest Ashel, who'd made those bold assurances, had asked to see me tomorrow as well.
"Did you guys mention my name there?"
"Yes? To find Priest Ashel, naturally..."
"Don't give me that clueless crap. I asked if you told them I was involved in what happened to you."
"Uh... just... that you sort of helped us?"
"...But why would he suddenly call for me, then?"
"We... we don't know. He just seemed to be pondering something, then abruptly said that."
Was he calling for me because of all the shit I'd pulled in the past, just assuming the worst...?
While I was pondering, since no particularly good reason came to mind, Sen, eyeing the abundant drinking party at another table, smacked her lips and said,
"More than that, this has gotten oddly big. A saintess candidate and cultists, of all things."
"What's there to get big about? The Holy Light Cross Order will handle the saintess problem on their own, and the cultist bastards will all be dead soon anyway."
"...Um, Eldmia? It's not that we doubt your skills or anything. Can I ask you something?"
"Hm... fine. What?"
They wouldn't pull any arrogant crap like asking my age and dropping honorifics at this point, and since they'd been cooperative so far, I could afford to be magnanimous enough to entertain one question.
"Those cultists, well, they may be cultists, but as I mentioned earlier, a lot of them bolted from the battlefield."
"So?"
"And they're numerous. Even excluding the thirty, there should be about a hundred left."
"What the fuck, a weird-ass religion like that... No, let's say that if you lose your mind on the battlefield, that could happen. So?"
"...Are you sure you'll be alright?"
Even if I could tolerate the way they were watching their words, the constant roundabout way of speaking was grating on me, so I almost snapped. But then I thought, if I got angry here for no reason, I'd just look like a lunatic throwing a fit because they were ignoring me, so I reined it in.
"You don't need to beat around the bush that much. You want to ask if I can win a fight against those guys, right."
"Yeah... well, that. Actually, for us, just ten of them was already overwhelming, and according to the one we captured, even those guys weren't the strongest among them. So I can't quite imagine it."
"It's possible."
If this were something that could be solved with bluster and bravado, I could claim even the Demon King could be taken down, but that's not how the world works. This was confidence based entirely on thorough reasoning. Their doctrine was already complete bullshit, wasn't it?
They die and are reincarnated as Demonfolk.
A doctrine built on fear and something close to admiration for another race stronger than themselves—obvious at a glance.
In other words, those cultists were just advertising themselves as weaker than the Demonfolk on the battlefield. Moreover, as they even built a hierarchy within their pathetic little religion, they didn't share the results of their contract with that obvious demonic fucker with all their followers, and instead created some half-assed title of 'priest' to enforce a class system. Well, in a way that could be insurance to prevent reckless use of demonic power, but the result was that they threw away the chance to all become stronger equally.
So in the end, the vast majority are just there to fill headcount.
"The thirty who accepted the request and rushed to sacrifice the saintess candidate couldn't have been the dregs at the bottom, right? According to the one who might be getting a holy water baptism at the Holy Light Cross Order right now, there are elites, but ultimately that guy was also one of the core forces, the main strength of the cultists. But punks like those, even if fifty of them came at us, it wouldn't be much of a problem."
If I couldn't coat my sword in Magic Power, it would be a different story, but with just that, it's no different from a time-limited cheat key. Could they possibly block it with equipment that's barely at the level of deserters?
Only someone on par with Envelde in pure swordsmanship would be dangerous, but would bastards like that be messing around with a cult?
......It wasn't impossible, so on the way back, I'd definitely have to stop by Mr. Balkun and pick up the item. But it wasn't enough to reduce my confidence, so I could continue without a hitch.
"As you've seen, this is equipment that can cut through both horse and man. If a lot come, they'll just get cut down. From that point on, numbers are nothing but a body count."
As I spoke, I tapped the sword at my waist a couple of times, and naturally their eyes wandered there. They'd heard me brag to Hans on the way here that it was a dwarven master craftsman's weapon, so their imaginations were probably soaring.
"But more than anything, we're not going to confront them head-on, so it'd be weird if we lost."
The most ideal situation would be if, while we were on our way back, those guys sensed something off and sent additional reinforcements. Divide and conquer is the best way after a surprise attack. Even if that doesn't happen, I'd eventually drag that captive near their hideout and release him; thinking he'd escaped on his own, he'd go back to his hideout, rally forces, and attempt a surprise attack, and then I'd deal with the split groups one by one.
So if I can handle them in three separate waves, that'd be even better.
"...I mean, no matter how you slice it, it's almost a one-man fight against a hundred... I think it's more weird that you consider losing that to be weird..."
Sen's reaction—her face clearly saying she had plenty more to say even after she'd said all that—made my eyes widen.
It was surprising that she used the phrase 'almost the same as being alone' and was taking it for granted that she and the other companions would join in my plan; it was also surprising that the other kids didn't seem to have any complaints—but what really struck me was that the statement, that treating a hundred as no big deal was weird, was an extremely normal statement.
"Huh, now that you mention it, you're right."
This time I had to admit it plainly. That my sense of things had gotten really warped due to recent events.
It was a sense so twisted it made me laugh in disbelief, but there was no fixing it now.
"But it's the truth, so what can I do."
I don't know whether to call it gaining experience points just from beating up slimes, but after fighting so many groups of middling opponents, I've gotten a rough sense of what to expect. If I were alone, unforeseen variables beyond that estimate could be dangerous, but now, even excluding those kids, Asilie is here, and I've still got my hidden ace that's in the works.
Having experienced too much to be afraid of broken remnants driven mad by fear, I said again with conviction.
"There's no problem at all."
Even though I had no idea how those guys would take my answer.