Chapter 316: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 316
Roland stared at the collector and said.
"I am doing the goddess' work. Step aside."
The collector scratched his head and said.
"I'm sorry, but you need gold coins to use the Cheche Bridge."
"I don't have money now. I'll write you a check, so claim it from the Royder Order later."
"I'm afraid a check is a bit..."
"Are you saying you won't accept a check from the Royder Order?"
"The principle is to receive gold coins. If checks worked, why would those people over at the ferry be waiting? They would all just write fake checks and leave."
Of course, he could accept checks. But he already had gold coins received from that strange man wearing an eagle helmet, so he was just making excuses.
Roland drew his sword. The sword with many missing teeth looked ominous just by looking at it.
The collector was startled and stepped back. It was because the murderous intent was overwhelming, as if he would cut off the collector's neck at any moment.
"Take my sword as collateral."
However, Roland said something unexpected.
"This sword contains 5% Pluma. It's a fine sword you couldn't obtain even for 100 gold coins, so you should accept it as collateral."
"Uh..."
At Roland's words, the collector scratched his head. Since he had received money from Caesar, his conscience wouldn't let him just allow passage, but seeing Roland's straightforward eyes made it awkward to refuse.
'This should be enough.'
"...Since you're a Holy Grail Knight, I'll accept your check."
Roland put his sword back in its scabbard.
"Thank you."
Roland wrote a check and placed it in the collector's hand. Roland took out the Holy Grail and checked the direction of the light. The light was clearly pointing toward Undertour.
***
Caesar sat in a comfortable sofa and looked at the clock. 5 PM. It was about time for the sun to set.
"Why isn't the mayor of Undertour coming yet?"
He had been waiting for the guy for 2 hours already.
Raven had clearly said she wanted to see him, but the guy said he was in the middle of official duties and asked to wait a little, but there was no sign of him.
"He should be running barefoot to get here, so why is he so late?"
"We did come looking for him rather urgently."
Gloria looked around the reception room.
"By the way, there are a lot of items in this room that look very old."
In frames hung extremely elegant paintings from who knows when they were painted, and on the table were placed mechanical devices or sculptures whose identities were unknown.
Raven took a sip of tea and said.
"Those are all artifacts."
"Huh? Artifacts?"
"Yes. All from the forgotten era."
Raven stood up and looked at the painting.
"This was discovered in the Three Countries of Yel. It was excavated from Smaurne’s lair, and there's a theory that the woman is a polymorphed Smaurne."
"That blue hair?"
"Yes. The interesting point is that it's neither oil nor watercolor. There are no traces of brushstrokes and no traces of ink. The prevailing theory is that it was created with dragon language magic."
"So Smaurne drew herself?"
"Who knows. We don't know for certain."
Raven looked at the artifacts in glass cases.
"All the artifacts here were excavated but I've never heard information about them being traded or taken by someone."
"I wonder how they obtained such things? Is it because this is the city of adventurers?"
"Rather than obtaining them because it's the city of adventurers, it's probably because Undertour is the best black market exchange."
"Black market?"
"Yes. In the old days, Undertour was truly a city of adventurers in the true sense. Artifacts were traded, information was exchanged, and like-minded adventurers formed teams to explore ruins."
"But it doesn't seem like that now?"
"That's right. Artifacts do still gather here. But the characteristic of artifacts is that they're all small and expensive, right? Being small and expensive means they're good for forming slush funds."
Raven lifted a glass case containing a stone with dragon language inscribed on it.
"That means it's easy to corrupt, and what about someone who leads a corrupt city?"
"Uh... It would be a bit dangerous?"
"That applies to nobles or the rich."
"And?"
"It means there are quite a few things to be guilty about."
Raven frowned.
"But these are all imitations."
"Eh? Didn't you say these were all artifacts?"
"Looking closely, they're all imitations. Well, how could they display genuine items in a reception room? What if someone stole them?"
At that moment, the reception room door opened.
"Hahaha! I'm really sorry for being late!"
The mayor of Undertour had quite a good build.
A muscular-fat type of man with an appropriate mix of muscle and flesh? But wearing a fedora, a monocle, and even a purple suit, he gave off the smell of a nouveau riche.
As soon as the mayor of Undertour saw Raven, he offered a handshake.
"Nice to meet you! Wizard Raven! I'm Gelman, the mayor of Undertour!"
Raven lightly took Gelman's hand.
But Gelman, as if to show off his strength, grasped Raven's hand quite strongly and shook it.
"You're much smaller than I heard! Hahahahaha! Just kidding! Hahahaha!"
Raven frowned when she saw the magic waves flowing from Gelman's body. He was a typical human suffering from the ‘I'm great’ disease, arrogant, haughty, and acting as if he were something.
"Honestly, I was quite surprised. If I had heard that Raven had come to Undertour, I would have rushed over immediately. I guess people didn't recognize who had come because of your small stature! Hahahaha!"
Raven disliked this Gelman character already.
Caesar sighed.
This is why I didn't want to meet this bastard. His rudeness is passive.
When Raven fired lasers at Caesar, Caesar stood up.
"Nice to meet you, Mayor Gelman."
"Ah! Nice to meet you! Lady Gloria!"
Gelman didn't even look at Caesar and immediately grabbed Gloria's hand and shook it vigorously.
"I heard that Lady Gloria's beauty is exceptional, and it truly is! If you weren't a knight, there would have been frequent duels among young noblemen!"
"...Are you now..."
"Hahahahaha! I'm joking! Is complimenting appearance appropriate for a knight? Of course, if you want to hear about your sword skills rather than your appearance, you'll need to work harder!"
A cold wind blew across Gloria's expression. Caesar could see that she was contemplating whether to twist his neck right away.
"Ah! How rude of me! It's Sir Caesar! Oh dear, I should have called you Viscount ... I apologize! You'll understand, right?"
Gelman playfully laughed while patting Caesar's shoulder. And as he sat at the head of the table, he said.
"Come, let's sit. Undertour is famous for its butter cookies. Hey! Bring more refreshments quickly!"
The door opened, and plates filled with cookies were set on the table. Gelman greedily chewed on cookies while drinking tea.
"Why are you staring at me like that? I must be quite handsome? Hahaha!"
"No, I was just contemplating something."
"Contemplating? Oh right! You mentioned you had something to say. What is it?"
"I was debating whether to remove your right arm or your left arm."
Gelman's face froze while chewing a cookie.
However, shortly after, he laughed boisterously again.
"Hahahahaha! What kind of violent joke is that?"
"Since you're right-handed, I'll pull out your right arm."
This has always been the best remedy for guys like him. Caesar pulled Gelman's right shoulder forcefully.
Crack!
"Aaaaaaaaargh!"
When Gelman's shoulder dislocated, he screamed.
At Gelman's scream, knights waiting outside rushed in.
"Mayor Gelman, what happened?!"
"This friend was being disrespectful to me, so I was teaching him some manners. Go back to your duties."
"These bastards!"
The knights drew their swords. Gloria put on her armour and drew her greatsword, while Raven took out her wand. Gloria growled.
"If you don't want to be completely ruined, get out now."
"Die!"
As the knights charged, Gloria deflected one's sword with her greatsword and stepped on his foot.
"Argghhhhh!"
The knight's boot was crushed, and blood splattered.
"Uhhhh?"
The knights who charged at Raven couldn't move their bodies.
They were under a Stuck spell. Gloria raised her greatsword toward the knights caught in the Stuck spell.
"If you don't want to watch your head fall off, stay still."
Caesar looked at Gelman, who was crying with tears and snot running down his face.
"You know. I was going to let it slide, but you not only crossed the line severely but did a tap dance on it, so what could I do?"
Caesar grabbed Gelman's hair as he trembled.
"Just because we came to ask you for a favor, you think you're something? Do we look that easy to you?"
"Ah, aah... I'm, I'm sorry."
"Good. That's the proper attitude."
Crack!
"Urrrghhh! Why, whyyyyyyy!"
"Bear with it. It's usually more painful to treat a painful area."
Caesar said while patting his shoulder.
"I fixed your shoulder, so it's fine now, right?"
As if it's fine. Is it okay to forcibly tear someone's shoulder and put it back? But Gelman couldn't say anything. He was afraid that Caesar might pull out his neck and put it back, saying, 'I fixed your neck, so it's fine now, right?'
"Y-yes!"
"Then everyone get out."
When Raven released the Stuck spell, the knights hesitated before retreating. They realized they were no match even for just Raven.
Caesar wiped Gelman's sweat from his hands onto Gelman's clothes and said.
"Good. We don't have time, so I'll get to the point."
"Yes, yes! Please speak!"
"You took three diving suits from a place that sells The General Store That Makes What It Doesn't Have., right? Hand them over."
"Ah, ah... You mean those diving suits?"
"Yes. Surely you're not going to say they're gone?"
"Right now... They're not available."
Caesar had a headache.
"What nonsense is that again. What do you mean they're not available now?"
"Well, recently some adventurers I was sponsoring said they discovered a secret passage under the Eileen River. I sent adventurers there, but..."
"And they all went missing?"
"Y-yes, that's correct."
At that moment, Raven glared at Gelman.
"You're lying."
"W-what?! It's true!"
"You're still lying."
Caesar grabbed Gelman by the collar.
"What? You're lying?"
"N-no! I really...!"
"You did send adventurers. But you didn't just recently discover that secret passage."
"H-huh! How did you know that?!"
"I guessed, but I was right?"
Of course, it wasn't a guess. He read his thoughts through psychometry. And it was true that they wore Caesar's diving suits and went missing.
"You really want to die, don't you?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"You think saying sorry makes it all better?"
Caesar slapped Gelman's cheek hard.
"Ugh!"
"Bring the diving suits now."
"B-but there are no more..."
"What do you mean there are no diving suits? You have several more."
The diving suits that he possessed entered Caesar's mind.
The diving suit he had was better than the one made at the general store. Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?
"Huh, gasp! How did you know that?"
"Listen, I can tell just by looking at your eyes whether you're lying or not. If you don't want to die right now, bring the diving suit. Understand?"
"B-but that's..."
"Which is more valuable? Your right arm or that diving suit?"
"...I'll bring it."
-D-damn it. When I get out, I'll tear these guys to pieces!
"You're not thinking of something else, are you?"
"W-what?! Absolutely not!"
"I think you were thinking about tearing us to pieces. Right? Raven?"
Raven stared at Gelman with a menacing gaze.
"He did emit killing intent."
"You heard that? Raven's radar says you're desperate to kill us."
"N-no! Really!"
"Then have your knights bring three diving suits right now. Don't go yourself."
Caesar slapped Gelman's cheek once more.
"You can't leave this place even for a step."
"A-are you th-threatening me, the mayor?"
"Why? Are you trying to invoke the law in this situation?"
He knew without having to experience it whether the law would be faster or Caesar's fist.
The mayor of Undertour finally realized he had gotten himself into serious trouble.
***
Caesar, Gloria, and Raven put on the diving suits.
The diving suits were different from those on Earth. They felt similar to armor made of a single piece of metal, and if compared to Earth, it was like wearing a spacesuit.
Caesar checked the light attached to the head. It was an electrically operated light, not an artifact.
"Hmm, this will do."
Gelman smiled while sweating profusely.
"Is that all then?"
"What are you talking about? We need to prepare a carriage."
"A-a carriage. Ah...! So you're going in now."
"Yes."
"Then I must arrange it immediately. I'll guide you to the dock."
Caesar grabbed Gelman's shoulder.
"No, you need to stay put. Send your knights."
Gelman looked like death. But what could he do? He was already caught by Caesar.
-Just wait until you get to the dock.
-I'll fill you with bullet holes.
This guy still has a long way to go before becoming a decent person.
Just as Caesar was contemplating giving him more education, a servant entered the reception room.
"Mayor Gellman."
"What!"
"Sir Roland of the Royder Order wishes to enter."
"What? Why here?"
An alarm went off in Caesar's head. What? Roland already?
"He didn't give a reason and is just coming in. By now he should almost be..."
"Here I am."
Roland pushed past the servant and walked into the room. Then he held the Holy Grail forward. A red light emanating from the Holy Grail shone toward Gloria, who was wearing the diving suit.
Roland and the Grail Knights knelt on one knee toward Gloria.
"We have come to escort you, Saint."