Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 032
Chapter Title: Still, We Live On #1
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The Erdari froze.
It was the moment when it became clear that the card I held was quite impressive.
"Send that man over there this way if you want to save your young lady!"
"What did you do to Nineveh?"
The Erdari gripping the massive bow nocked an arrow.
*Creaaak—.*
As the bowstring was drawn taut, emitting an ominous sound, Hammer warned us.
"That's the strongbow that once pierced Gotvaldt's head in a single shot. If that hits us, we'll suffer at least a fatal wound!"
"I know that!"
So we had to do something, anything.
I shouted as coldly as possible.
"If you so much as touch a fingertip of ours, that Nineveh of yours will suffer the same fate—know that!"
"Lies."
"The thieves of Lendo are liars."
The Erdari advised their bowman.
The bowman's eyebrows wriggled like earthworms.
"What guarantee do I have that what you're saying is true?"
"Don't believe me then. Your lady was bawling her eyes out begging to be saved—it's still vivid in my mind. Heh heh heh—."
"Lies after all!"
"Yeah, Nineveh doesn't cry!"
"Kill them all and crack open their skulls!"
The demon bloodkin raged like furious monkeys.
At that moment, even the bowman glared fiercely.
"But it's not entirely a lie. Hearing my name from a Lendo's mouth... He definitely met Nineveh."
"You're Salinor, right? Now that you know it's not a lie, hurry up and send that guy over here!"
"Felix! Come here quick! Hurry!"
Hermit beckoned to Felix.
Felix, who had been on his knees, glanced at the Erdari before grabbing the fallen shaman's shoulder and dragging him over to us.
Hammer sighed at the situation.
"...This is actually working!? So, Yor, what's the next plan?"
"Heh heh, you think I'd have one?"
Still, we had to make it work somehow.
As I thought that, the fully joined shaman chuckled lowly.
"I thought we'd be brutally slaughtered by the Erdari. Thanks to you, Mr. Yor, I survived."
*Swoosh—.*
The shaman pulled back the cloth draped over his face, revealing himself.
*Gasp—.*
Even in this situation, it was shocking.
His face was so pretty it could be mistaken for a woman's!
"I am Moltma, the one who cultivates the Way. I find myself wanting to keep in touch with you often from now on, Mr. Yor."
"Really?"
"Yes. If I had a sister, I'd want to introduce her to you."
*'Shaman Moltma!'*
*'If he had a sister, she'd probably be just as pretty!'*
Putting aside the regret, his extreme politeness was quite likable.
I'd want to stay in touch with a guy like this too.
"Let's focus on surviving this first."
I patted Shaman Moltma on the back.
Then an Erdari asked me.
"Nineveh?"
*Creaaaaaaaak—.*
Salinor's strongbow aimed an arrow at my head.
This was the turning point.
The most crucial moment.
"Your Nineveh—."
Right as I opened my mouth to bluff something—
*Ruuuumble—.*
The ground shook like an earthquake.
*Crunch crunch—.*
Sounds of something collapsing continued.
Soon, a thunderous roar pierced our ears like an arrow.
—*Queeeeeek…!!!!*
Turning my head, a spider the size of a small mountain was bursting through the fortress into the world.
It was several times larger than the 'soldier spider' we'd killed earlier.
"Queen spider…!?"
Its massive foreleg lunged at the Erdari.
Even the clustered Erdari had no choice but to scatter from that enormous attack.
"Spider queen, huh. Damn it."
Salinor's strongbow targeted the queen spider's forehead.
*Creaaak—. Twang—!*
*Thwack—.*
The arrow buried deep.
—*Queeeeeek…!*
The massive queen spider let out a furious screech.
Just the sound made the hairs on my skin stand on end.
"M-Monster…!"
Then Hermit shouted.
They did look monstrous.
"A monster's coming!"
A monster's coming?
What the hell was coming?
My curiosity didn't last.
*Whoosh—.*
From the destroyed fortress and the gaping abyss entrance, something enormous suddenly rose.
Everyone froze.
Even the spiders.
"......"
It was tall like a spire.
Bone.
White bone.
To be precise, it looked like some kind of hand bone.
*Ruuuumble—!*
That hand bone crushed the queen spider.
—*Kweeeeeek—!!!*
*Splat—.*
The queen spider burst like it had been swatted by a flyswatter.
Even the Erdari seemed frozen by the sight.
"...Crazy Lendo bastards, what the hell did you hide underground!?"
"Ahh…."
Shaman Moltma trembled.
"...It's over. This whole area will become a wasteland…."
The immensely huge something's bones from underground kept swinging its hand.
Like trying to fish a coin out from a tight crevice at the bottom of a fridge.
Everything was swept away by that casual gesture—.
"...No way, is that Degaros's bone!?"
Hammer shuddered with a rattle.
He seemed to know something.
"Damn it, that's why spider vermin gathered—with that monstrosity on the floor! Shaman! Am I right!?"
"The abyss and fortress were its tombstone seal. It was top secret, but now that it's like this…."
*Whoooosh—.*
Then a mountain-sized palm came crashing down toward us.
Like watching a mountain collapse right in front of you—what would that feel like?
*'Am I gonna die!'*
I squeezed my eyes shut.
*Ruuuumble—!!!*
Despite the massive impact, I was still alive.
Cracking my eyes open, someone had landed squarely in front of us.
"Not a moment too soon!"
The bald old man with blood streaming from his head was a welcome sight.
"Lieutenant General Raiden!?"
"Hammer, no time. Lead your unit and escape."
Lieutenant General Raiden stood before the mountain-like bone palm, gripping two greatswords.
His back and shoulders were rigid, as if challenging it to a fight.
"...What about you, sir!?"
I couldn't help asking.
"I'll stay. I have to stop it from crawling out."
My breath caught.
A human facing a mountain—that meant death.
"You could die!"
"Yeah. But that's what being a soldier is."
"Yor, let's go!"
Hammer grabbed my shoulder and pulled.
Whatever happened.
We'd bought time.
We ran as hard as we could until the fortress was out of sight.
Ran and ran and ran some more.
No time to talk.
Just fleeing.
The ground shook like something was happening behind us, but no one looked back.
We finally reached the nearby relay station and were about to board the carriage when trouble hit.
"Gasp! Moltma!"
A massive arrow was embedded in Moltma's back.
When the hell did he get shot?
"...Ugh…."
*Huff huff—.* The shaman struggled to breathe.
He looked like he'd keel over any second.
"Hammer! Don't you have any more of those 'red potions' you gave Felix earlier? Sprinkling that healed wounds right away!"
"None left. And that's an Erdari poison arrow. Red potions work on cuts and gashes, not poison."
"Shit, no way…."
It was infuriating.
This guy was supposed to broker my spider gem sale.
I hadn't even picked an item from the treasure vault!
"Aaagh! Moltma! Don't die!"
"...Newbie, it's Moltma, not Moltba."
"Moltma!"
Moltma, lying on the ground, grinned faintly.
"My... my key…."
With trembling hands, Moltma unclasped the necklace from his neck.
He placed it in my hand.
"My... my greatest trea... sure…."
"Is this a treasure chest key?"
It didn't look like a key.
The necklace pendant was like a pitch-black stone.
A jade-like gem shaped like a '6' or '9' dangled from it—not particularly valuable-looking.
But I felt his strong will in the hand gripping my wrist.
"With this... the great... spirit lives... on…."
Moltma's breathing stopped.
His closed eyes looked quite at peace.
"Good guy."
I rummaged through Moltma's pockets and took a few coins.
*Clink—.*
Pretty hefty.
Hammer's sigh was heavy too.
"Haa, Yor... Aren't you afraid of divine punishment doing that?"
"Why? Can't just bury him for free."
"What, you gonna bury him?"
I pulled a shovel from the black satchel.
"I'll help."
*Scrape scrape. Shove—!*
Hammer and I dug a hole, buried Shaman Moltma, and erected a wooden marker on top.
He liked totems, so he'd probably like a wooden headstone too.
*Cicadas chirping—.*
The cicadas were awfully loud.
Two days had passed since the Erdari incident at the fortress.
Great Wall.
Command Room.
"The Black Fortress has completely vanished. That area's pure Night territory now."
Major Jeremiah stated flatly.
"The problem is even Lieutenant General Raiden's fate is unknown. Honestly, you surviving and returning is a miracle. You got lucky."
"Lucky?"
A question popped out of my mouth like a rice grain while boredly listening to the damage report.
Jeremiah grinned.
"Raiden—that old monster held the top, so I couldn't climb up. But he vanished on his own, so yeah, lucky."
"How can you say that!"
Lieutenant General Raiden was the highest person I knew.
And he'd treated me well.
Even sacrificed himself for us.
Hearing that his death was 'lucky' pissed off even mild-mannered me.
*'First time in my life wanting to punch a pretty girl full force!'*
But I'd probably lose a fight, so I stayed quiet.
Jeremiah clicked her tongue at me.
"Soldier Yor, you're mad at the wrong person. I didn't kill Lieutenant General Raiden. It was the Erdari and humanity's traitors who joined hands with them."
"That's…."
Hearing it, yeah?
These demon spawn were the root of all evil!
"I'm pissed too? Moltma's gone. The only human who could make sensory grub elixirs died. Huge loss for the Empire."
Jeremiah clicked her tongue.
Her eyes turned to my neck.
"But that necklace?"
"You know what this is? Seemed like a treasure chest key."
"Hmm... Looks familiar."
"Then we'll take our leave. Major. Yor, let's go."
Hammer grabbed my shoulder and we left the command room.
Finally done with this endless debriefing.
*「Eight-Armed Great Demon Statue」, went to fetch it and went through hell.*
While at it, I headed to the bathroom.
And asked from outside the door.
"Germain sis around?"
—Yeah.
"Brought the statue you asked for, sis."
—As expected of my little bro!
"But a lot of people died in the process."
Seeing so many die for the first time left me kinda down.
—Little bro, everyone dies someday.
"Yeah?"
—You've nearly died how many times?
—Did anyone cry for you then?
I'd been hanged too.
Before and after, tons of near-death experiences.
But no one ever cried for me.
—Street rats like us? When we die, folks spit on the corpse and piss on it.
—So we don't have to grieve others' deaths either.
"That's some weird logic."
But it worked.
The sadness and gloom lifted a bit.
*Click—.*
The bathroom door opened.
Germain sis looked at me.
"Ready for the next lesson?"
"Next lesson?"
"Don't play dumb. Time to fuck."
"Eek…!?"
"Mountain folk gotta keep living, right?"