Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: [Season 2] The Grendel Mountains Rascal Has Been Freed (1)
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After the demon vanished, a great deal of time had passed.
When they returned to the Miresho, there was no sign of the Demon King anywhere.
According to Lewis, he'd vanished first to take care of some business or other. Cyan had plenty of questions she wanted to ask, but since she couldn't track him down, she had no choice but to let it go.
She could have stormed straight into the Demon King's castle, but she didn't want to draw the attention of the Inquisition for no good reason.
This time in particular, she'd gotten a firsthand feel for just how terrifying holy power could be.
She didn't think she'd lose in a fight against the Holy Order's goons right now, but their attacks were lethal to demons one and all—a fact she'd learned all too well after injuring herself with that holy sword.
In any case, Cyan had safely completed the commission and returned.
The raiders had shown up late, and the Holy Order had detected the demon's magic and headed for the floating island, but everything had been reduced to ashes, leaving them with nothing to salvage.
"......This is?"
But there was one thing given to Cyan.
In the space where the demon had vanished, a mysterious black gem had fallen from the sky...
⚙ ITEM ⚙ ▶ Item – Miscellaneous 『Shard of the World – Black』 "Why is this..."
Unexpectedly, Cyan had obtained a 'Shard of the World' from that spot.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -I possessed the character I created.
『 Season 2 - 'Legacy Left by the Past' 』
1.
Several days had passed since then.
[ "The escort mission to Arke and the Miresho went off without a hitch, just as requested. So now I can demand my rightful reward." ]
With the Arke commission wrapped up and no particular place she needed to be, Cyan was staying at the Turk Merchant Guild.
[ "I need a place where I can laze around—or rather, relax—without drawing stares from everyone." ]
Since Cyan had more than enough money to spare anyway, she'd ordered them, as her reward, to prepare a comfortable room where she could stay without worrying about others, taking into account that she was a demon... no, a high elf.
And this was the result.
It was the topmost spot in the Turk Merchant Guild's headquarters building, which had been built by completely remodeling an entire small mountain.
《 ~Neutral Stage~ Turk Merchant Guild 'Villa' 》 A lavish villa built exclusively for Cyan—through threats or not—by the head of a massive merchant guild.
"Hm."
In that villa, Cyan lay on the bed in light clothing, reading a book.
She'd already gone through dozens of books like this.
Next to the luxurious solid-wood bed stood a tower of books taller than Cyan herself.
"No big deal after all, huh."
-Rustle
But even after devouring over dozens of volumes, Cyan didn't seem satisfied with the answers she'd found.
She tossed aside the book titled 'Myths of the Ancient Transcendents' and opened another.
This one, too, was similar to the others—it had the keyword 'Transcendent' in the title.
"......Haa, useless."
No help here either.
No matter how meticulously Cyan pored over books related to the subject for days on end, she couldn't find a single mention of the 'Shard of the World'.
Not its purpose or how to use it—nothing, not even the name 'shard' itself.
"How is there not even one related book?"
-Sss...
The black stone beside the mildly irritated Cyan was none other than the Shard of the World in question.
⚙ ITEM ⚙ ▶ Item – Miscellaneous 『Shard of the World – Black』 ※ A legacy left by the Transcendent of Life, Delatros. ※ It possesses the authority to create a 'vessel', but to use it, one must be chosen by a Transcendent. Shard of the World.
It was something Cyan had once strained to obtain in the past, but it had been pushed down her priority list due to her lack of power at the time.
"It's definitely a soulstone. But unlike other soulstones, there's no info on how to use it."
At the same time, it was a fragment of power used to maintain the seal on the 'Fallen Transcendent', and its value alone surpassed anything else in this world by orders of magnitude...
"......At this rate, it's just an ordinary rock."
Unable to uncover any functions or usage methods, Cyan felt utterly frustrated.
In Novel Online, the lore stated that even a single shard granted immense power, but strangely, Cyan felt no change despite holding it and even wearing it like a necklace.
"Tch, no luck, huh..."
Another fruitless day. With a sigh, Cyan opened her subspace and stowed the shard away.
To use the true power of the Shards of the World, all seven had to be gathered anyway.
With just this one, it was only natural that nothing happened.
-Thud!
Having scoured every book on transcendents to no avail, Cyan sighed deeply and flopped back onto the bed.
"Haa, those grand sages would probably know."
Actually, Cyan's first destination had been the two high elf twins who were said to know all the truths of the world.
She couldn't teleport directly to their 'Forest of Dawn', but she could reach Arke, where the portal to that forest was located, in one jump.
Teleportation magic allowed instant travel to any place the caster had visited before, as long as it wasn't blocked by a barrier or divided by world-scale boundaries.
[ "......What the hell? Why's it closed?" ]
But even then, she'd come up empty.
The portal to the Forest of Dawn had been firmly shut.
[ "Where the hell did that damn fish-pastry-headed bastard go?" ]
And the portal's guardian was nowhere in sight.
The Guardian of the Sacred Tree was supposed to stand watch at the entrance to the Forest of Dawn 24/7, but there wasn't even a sign of it.
Wondering what was going on, Cyan searched the area and found only a single scrap of paper.
And the note said:
[ 'On vacation. Come back later. On vacatio....... Huh, what was I gonna write? Oh right, on vacation. Please come back la...... Wait, what was it again?' ]
-Crack!
After reading the note, Cyan trembled with rage, but there was nothing she could do.
Only the twin high elves and the Sacred Tree Guardian could open and close the portal, so all Cyan could do was fume.
[ "......Next time I see you, I'll boil you alive in scalding water, I swear." ]
Life rarely goes according to plan, after all.
Thinking about it, things had gone almost too smoothly up until now.
'Hm, so what now.'
And so time flowed on, bringing them back to the present...
-Knock. Knock.
"......What is it?"
Hearing the sudden knock, Cyan threw on an outer robe and checked who was at the door.
-Creak!
When Cyan opened the door, the visitor was—
"Who are you."
"It's Stran. Do you have a moment?"
[Turk Merchant Guild Master 'Stran'] A man with deep fatigue etched on his face—the head of the massive Turk Guild and the builder of this villa, Stran.
"A moment, huh..."
Cyan stared at his weary face for a bit, then seemed to think of something and opened her mouth.
"No."
"Pardon?"
-Bang!
She flatly refused Stran's request and slammed the villa door shut before heading back to her bedroom.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
"So, what did you come to me for."
She'd initially planned to blow him off out of annoyance, but Stran had begged and pleaded so pitifully that she decided to at least hear him out.
Truth be told, boredom was a big factor too.
"Um, is the villa to your liking? We built it close to headquarters to better control outsider access, so I hope you understand..."
"That's fine. This is more than satisfactory."
On top of that, he'd built her a pretty decent retreat.
The hotel in Asral City had been nice, but as a hotel, it came with its share of inconveniences.
'Nothing beats having the place to myself.'
First off, the stares from staff and guests.
Even with Transform, she could only hide her horns, so wherever she went, eyes followed her—and in the hotel, employees and patrons kept gawking.
It was quite annoying.
[ "Isn't that a high elf? She's really staying at this hotel, just like the rumors. But what's she doing in this city?" ]
[ "Word is she's researching sea-related magic. And when those giant tentacles attacked the city last time, she apparently made it rain salt to take care of them?" ]
If they'd approached to hit on her or pick a fight, she could've had an excuse to gouge their eyes out, but they just stared.
[ "Tch, annoying." ]
Even she couldn't stomp someone just for looking. That'd make her a common thug.
Second, weirdos kept confessing to her out of nowhere.
[ "H-Hi, High Elf lady! Please take this letter!" ]
[ "......Get lost. If you're not gone in three seconds, I'll make sure you vanish from this world forever." ]
[ "H-Hiiik?!" ]
Had she stayed in Asral too long? Rumors about her had apparently spread nationwide.
High elves were exceedingly rare here.
Beings of stunning beauty and peerless magic.
She'd expected kidnappers or fools picking fights beyond their station, but instead, guys showed up with bouquets.
'Ugh, thinking about it makes me queasy.'
Suppose guys from across the nation—supposedly handsome and skilled—came seeking her out after hearing high elf rumors.
How would she, the subject, feel?
If she were a genuine, pure high elf girl, maybe she'd react differently.
But to her, they were just repulsive.
Nothing more, nothing less.
She steps out for a simple stroll, and some guy waits with flowers?
The women of this world might swoon, but it gave her chills.
And that wasn't the only issue.
'What the hell are the other high elves like, anyway...'
Rumors said high elves had a lot of perverts among them.
Kidnapping or assaulting random buff men, pretending to be slaves, even having sex with monsters— that abnormal.
'Those two twins were at least somewhat normal.'
Hearing that made even Alena sound normal by comparison.
That pervert who'd licked her sleeping body.
The point was, these guys coming to her treated her like those high elves.
[ "You high elf bitch! Stay still!" ]
It had gotten so bad a noble had lunged at her with a collar.
[ "What the—do you have a death wish?" ]
She'd tossed him to a kraken in the sea. No idea if he survived.
Rescued by people or kraken chow—hopefully the latter.
"Just having no visitors is enough."
"What do you mean?"
"......Nothing."
In any case, she really liked this place.
Thanks to the Turk Guild's influence, even nobles the hotel couldn't stop were kept out, letting her relax without hassle.
So she could hear out a simple request.
"Anyway, this place is excellent—no need to ask. So what's the real reason you came?"
"......Would you consider going to the Beastkin Nation?"
"Beastkin Nation? You mean Sabna?"
"Yes. Like the escort to Arke last time—could you serve as bodyguard for our caravan?"
The Beastkin Nation Sabna, of all places...
"Why there all of a sudden? Your Turk Guild has smooth relations with Sabna, doesn't it? What's the issue? Dangerous monster?"
"I'd prefer if it were monsters... At least then we could request a national subjugation."
And since it wasn't monsters prompting the bodyguard request, there had to be another reason...
Bandits were treated like monsters, so the guild could request national aid there too.
So what had this guy so spooked?
"Well, the rascal of the Grendel Mountains got freed, so no matter what we do, we can't cross anymore. That's why we're humbly asking you, High Elf."
"......The Grendel Mountains' rascal?"