If There Is a God (5)
Despite the gravity of the crisis, the situation improved in just two and a half days.
Yesterday would probably have been enough, but Baramson had clung to me, begging that we wait one more day to watch how things progressed.
As far as my concept went, I wanted to slaughter the demons on the other islands right that second—but unfortunately, I had no idea how to sail a ship. Baramson, the only one who could actually handle a vessel, held the opposite view.
Recruiting some other captain or crew wasn’t realistic given the circumstances either.
So I had no choice but to work myself ragged for a day and spend the rest of the time half-asleep. From my main body’s perspective, it was extremely satisfying.
From the third day onward there was almost nothing left to do, so I completely wiped out my fatigue. Hehaha.
“It appears all the zombies have been put down. As a precaution, however, we have sealed off every zone where they appeared, and those who were bitten but have yet to show symptoms are being monitored with gags in place.”
Anyway—the people who had been coordinating with contacts across the city and directing the overall response brightened at the report.
Of course they did. Who wouldn’t rejoice after successfully defending against a trial as enormous as a zombie outbreak? Even if exhaustion hung heavy under their eyes and their limbs drooped under the weight of fatigue.
“The captured pirates are currently under interrogation… and, well, thanks to that adventurer’s intervention we have learned a few things. Ah—we also rooted out several spies who had been hiding. That person found them.”
“…Being referred to as ‘that person’ feels pretty strange.”
That was the first I had heard of anything Dev had done. I had been wondering why he was wandering off on his own—turns out he had been helping with intel gathering and enemy identification. Well done, Meat Dumpling.
“According to the information obtained that way, the demon worshipers have joined hands with Bipurit.”
The man giving the report kept glancing at Dev, then grew solemn the moment he moved into the proper briefing.
“Spreading the zombies across the island, bringing the demons here—all of it was the work of the demon worshipers who allied with Bipurit.”
“What!”
“That mad dog finally did it!”
As the report continued, the faces of everyone present took on the same dark cast.
“Furthermore… because of that, Montata Island seems to have become a truly, truly horrific place.”
“…The people who set out to check on Montata completely lost contact. This is very likely the reason.”
“It would appear so…”
The only person who kept her expression under control was the lord; she made a small gesture.
“Has there been no word of those people?”
“Regarding that, still nothing… Ah, there was talk of someone spotting an outlaw in Ayu Hin.”
“Is that so. Well, that child always clung to survival harder than anyone. Good. Beyond that… what is Montata’s current state? Is Ayu Hin still holding out? And the cities Bipurit occupied?”
“No one knows what became of Ayu Hin. As for the places Bipurit seized… a great many of the city’s people have turned into zombies, and the survivors have either been taken as slaves by the pirates or offered up as sacrifices.”
“And?”
“The castle is packed with Bipurit’s officers and people presumed to be demon worshipers… Through the residents offered as sacrifices they are summoning demons or performing some kind of ritual.”
The reporter added one more sentence.
“Apparently the demon used in the assault on Zakrati was summoned that way as well.”
The conference hall erupted like an active volcano.
“These bastards!”
“They’re not even human! How can they remember what happened forty years ago and still bring demons into this land!”
“Even if we cut off all four limbs, take their heads, and display them for a hundred years it wouldn’t be enough!”
Anyone who doesn’t know about that forty-years-ago incident is feeling pretty left out right now…
I narrowed my eyes. There was no one I could ask and my position didn’t allow it, so I would just have to piece things together from the clues I had. Good thing my instincts weren’t bad.
“Naturally so. On this land, demons were nothing but vile things of which not even a trace could be witnessed.”
“We must kill that man at once!”
“Do not present the obvious as though it were brilliant insight. And you—did you learn their objective?”
“That is…”
“What, dominion over the island?”
“…Yes.”
“Ha. So they joined hands with demons just to seize a single piece of land. How far do they intend to fall…”
The lord’s refined brow twisted hard. Her long hair was swept back by her fingers, then gripped and held fast.
Black flames seemed to flicker in her dark eyes.
“You.”
At that moment the lord looked my way, still not fully reining in her fury.
She was also the one who had deliberately called me—an outsider—into this meeting, and her presence was so intense that I pushed force into my own gaze in answer.
“I heard you intend to depart for Montata Island today if possible. Advancing from Garorimryang in sequence, correct?”
Montata Island was the one Bipurit’s faction had seized, and Garorimryang was the place that had to be broken through if they wanted support from other cities…
Right. It would probably go just as the lord said. I hadn’t heard anything about the plan changing.
And yes, departing today if possible was also true. Right before the meeting Baramson had said that the moment word came the city was stable, we would leave at once.
“I was told the expedition force will be the same number that arrived here—is that accurate?”
Separately, that wasn’t my department, so asking me wouldn’t help… Please ask Baramson, not me…
“You only took three days’ worth of provisions as well. Is that truly sufficient? If you need anything, do not consider our circumstances—speak freely. I will provide the greatest support possible.”
Bold of her. But again, not my department.
“Discuss that with Baramson.”
I dumped the matter onto Baramson, who for some reason always grew restless the moment he stood in front of the lord.
In return he looked at me like a traitor…
Hey, what did I do wrong? You’re the leader! I’m just the troll who ignores the leader and mindlessly charges in! Only now I actually have the skill to carry while trolling!
“…Do you truly desire nothing? A variable called demons has entered the picture, so perhaps an additional contract regarding that…”
Meanwhile the lord was also looking at me with an inscrutable expression—well, “inscrutable” only because she was managing her face; otherwise it would have been pure disbelief.
“If you can immediately prepare a ship so I can kill those goddamn demon bastards, that would please me.”
But? Beyond that, there really is nothing. Ta-da.
“…What a truly curious adventurer.”
The lord let out a short, empty laugh.
“Then what must I give you to entrust you with one task?”
…I had been thinking, oh, she’s just being generously supportive, how different from other lords—but that wasn’t it at all.
Good thing I had hesitated about asking for a nice longsword. If I had, I would have had my nose cut off with my eyes open.
I silently praised my own choice and gave the stingy lord a chilly look.
“It would depend on what is desired.”
“That is also true.”
The lord lightly agreed, then took a brief breath. One slow inhale and exhale later, she held out a sheet of paper.
In the center of the creased page was a portrait that rather resembled the lord yet somehow carried a different impression. Beneath it, large characters that looked like a name were stamped.
“My lady!”
“That is!”
People gasped at the paper; the lord raised a hand. The hall fell silent in an instant.
“The bounty on that neck is ten million gal. After the things he has done the amount can only rise further, and having joined hands with demons, his survivability will be so high that even a steel-necked mule would pale in comparison.”
I pushed off the wall and approached the table. The paper’s distinctive rustle-and-flutter sound filled the air as the portrait came into clearer view.
Bipurit. That was what the letters below read.
“But I can wait no longer. So tell me—what do you need? What more must I offer for you to bring me that man’s head without fail?”
In other words, she wanted me to kill Bipurit?
∎ Destroy the stronghold of Bipurit’s faction
∎ Eliminate demons 215 / ∞
∎ Bonus: Kill Bipurit
The quest window updated right on cue, spurring my certainty. Lord Piuon had decided to kill her brother, who had gone too far.
“This is a separate commission from driving Zakrati’s enemies from this land. So speak. What do you desire? What must I stake for you to accept this request?”
But there was one problem.
So… was she giving me the bounty, or not?
I burned Bipurit’s portrait into my brain in detail while sinking into thought.
Tsk. If she had simply said she would pay the bounty, I would have yelled “Deal!” without a second thought. But her wording was so ambiguous that whether the bounty was included remained unclear.
From the nuance it sounded like she wanted me to name something on top of the bounty…
Yet when I thought about it that way, the city’s situation was the city’s situation.
How was she supposed to pay ten million gal? It wasn’t the kind of sum you pulled from private funds, was it?
Even if she had it, using it for reconstruction costs would be better than giving it to me…
“There must be a craftsman who forges swords in the city.”
Hm. Screw it. If she’s offering, no reason for me to refuse.
As for certainty about the bounty—well, I was going to kill him anyway. Getting paid would be nice; if not, so be it.
“Of course there is. Do you require a craftsman?”
I set the paper down and gripped my inventory bag. When I lifted it onto the table, flipped it, and shook, several things tumbled out with soft thumps.
“Wait—my lord, that—!”
“…Aren’t those that bastard’s scales?”
“When we return, one sword must already be complete.”
I tossed a few pieces of dragon scale and fang onto the table and retrieved the inventory.
If the craftsman’s level is too low, even good materials will produce junk? That’s for the lord to solve. Ah—she was the one who told me to name what I wanted.
“…What is this?”
The lord, who had not yet identified what I had dropped, picked up a scale fragment and turned it this way and that.
“Mm. Understood for now. Is there anything else?”
She would come to regret those words.
But I would not be the one regretting, so instead of adding more demands I simply confirmed the conditions a little further.
“The head need not be intact, I assume.”
“…If you can give certainty that the dead man is Bipurit.”
“Confirmed.”
I wanted to draw up a contract… but given my concept’s pride, that was not a word I could bring up first, so I abandoned the idea with tears in my eyes.
I gather money for the sake of dignity; I will not abandon dignity for the sake of money…!
“Then the business for which you summoned me is finished.”
“It is, but…”
“Then there is no further reason to remain.”
“Wait—are those all the conditions?”
If the terms were generous I would just think “sweet, free loot,” yet these people kept double-checking.
Or maybe they simply defaulted to suspicion? That was actually the smarter approach. When the terms look too good, the other party is more often a scammer than a sucker.
“Add ‘stop clinging to me’ as well.”
But I am the former. So go ahead and take full advantage. Just be prepared to handle the temper!
Bang.
Judging that I had heard everything I needed, I made a bold escape from the conference room. It was not the sort of thing one did in front of a castle’s master, yet no one rebuked me.
“…Uh, we’ve already thought this through and prepared, so we don’t need any more support. We’ll just head out now.”
“Wait, Suri—”
“Let’s go!”
“Stop grabbing me by the scruff!”
Instead, Baramson—who had been nervously reading the room—scooped up Dev and hurriedly followed me. Perfect timing. If we hadn’t escaped now we would have been stuck waiting until the meeting ended!
“Uuuugh. Hey, are you really taking that commission?”
“None of your business.”
“Damn it… I don’t have ten million gal either!”
“Were you planning to pay that sum in her place?”
“…Look, I’ll somehow scrape together ten million gal, so can’t you just not accept it from the lord?”
“He really is planning to pay it for me.”
Dev, did you read my mind? How did you voice my exact thoughts without a single word out of place?
“I’ll add it on top of the previous commission—”
Separately, this was a bit much.
I drew the scimitar I had been using well ever since I picked it up and set the blade just beneath Baramson’s throat. His hands shot up in a reflexive posture of surrender.
The keen edge lightly scored his skin and let a single drop of blood fall.
“I care nothing for the direction of your devotion and sacrifice. But you would do well to stop testing my patience by saying to me the words you should be saying to someone else.”
I muttered it as sinisterly as I could, adding a touch of genuine irritation.
It felt a little over the top, but if it was for the concept then this was exactly how it should go, so I discarded all hesitation. More importantly, Baramson had crossed the line first.
“Remember that you are not the only captain who can take us to Montata.”
I withdrew the scimitar slowly, then faster, and slid it back into its sheath. Flutter. My coat hem swayed heavily in time with the motion.
“This time Lord Baramson was in the wrong.”
“…Seems so.”
“Anyway, let’s hurry. If we keep Sir Knight waiting any longer, we’ll get cut down before the demons do.”
“…Right.”
It really had been quite a while since our last sortie.
The Inquisitor stroked her mace while watching the island slowly approach from the horizon—though in truth it was the ship she rode that was moving.
From the island, the lingering remnants of uncleansed Demon Energy came through with vivid clarity.
“Ships!”
At that moment several vessels began to leave the harbor. Those ships were clearly heading straight for the one she was on.
“Raise the white flag and send signals.”
At the captain’s order the sailors began to move in a flurry. Signs declaring they had no intention to fight went up desperately across the ship.
And when at last the vessels that had left Zakrati’s harbor drew near theirs, negotiations began.
“We are the support force dispatched to fulfill the contract with Baramson.”
It was the Archmage who stepped forward to speak on behalf of everyone aboard. What he held out was the contract written with Baramson; at the sight of the Adventurer’s Guild seal stamped at the bottom, the expressions of the Zakrati side eased a fraction.
Even if the possibility of forgery could not be entirely ruled out, an Adventurer’s Guild seal still carried enough weight to offer a little reassurance.
“Are you truly the Great Sage of the Magic Tower?”
Yet the other party was not so easily placated. Especially sharp wariness poured across the gunwales.
“I am.”
“Then the ones in white behind you? Unless my eyes deceive me, they look for all the world like people of the Church.”
“…That is also correct.”
The Archmage affirmed it with difficulty. In the next instant the chilling sound of blades being drawn rang out across the water. Every one of those sounds came from the Zakrati ships.
“What shamelessness makes the Church think it can set foot on this land! Get out of here at once!”
The hostility that poured forth was sharper than any blade.
The Inquisitor clenched her fist at enmity more fierce than she had anticipated. The haft of her mace settled firmly in her grip.
“Get out now!”
“Leave these waters before we kill you!”
“Disappear!”
But she must not draw it. She could not draw it. She would never repeat the past.
“Just once!”
So the Inquisitor released the mace and stepped forward. Even without the Church’s emblem upon her, the sight of one who proclaimed herself a servant of God more loudly than anyone else made the atmosphere grow even more vicious.
“Please listen to us just once!”
Yet she continued without faltering. It was not difficult.
The Inquisitor understood what she had to atone for, but she was not so soft a person as to shrink under guilt.
If she had been that sort to begin with, she would never have apologized outright at her third meeting with the Demon Knight, nor clung to him begging to be taught mercy.
“We have nothing we need to hear from you!”
“I know. But once is enough!”
Clumsy and stubborn. Those traits became shortcomings in many moments—yet every once in a long while they became strengths.
“We don’t need it!”
“Please hear us just once!”
And that moment was right now.
“Please give me—give us—just one chance!”
Green eyes that might break but would never bend shone brightly.