Chapter 145
Chapter 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Demon and Archmage (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A pale crimson contrast seeped into his dim vision.
Kadim slowly opened his eyes.
He twisted his upper body to avoid the sunlight, but a prickling pain surged through every corner of him, forcing him to stop. It felt like every muscle and bone had been crushed in a press and spat back out. In the end, he lay there on the bed like a corpse for a good while.
Once the pain became bearable, he finally managed to sit up.
"Hoo..."
The room was in the inn where he'd been staying, The Gold-Swallowing Whale. He vaguely remembered collapsing the moment he returned from the Magic Tower yesterday. Fortunately, despite the exhaustion and muscle aches, there were no other lingering injuries. On the way back, he'd stabbed the corpses strewn in front of the tower with his blood guisarme and absorbed their blood.
Kadim rolled his stiff shoulders and neck with a series of cracks. He rose slowly from the bed and approached the window.
The sky after the typhoon unfolded like a dazzling painting. Clouds scattered like clumps of torn cotton soaked in sunlight, dyed milky white. A gentle breeze rippled along, waves bubbled tamely. It was as if the chaos had never happened, the scene casually pretending nothing was amiss.
But the city remembered it all too well.
Buildings with roofs and outer walls collapsed in heaps, streets littered with broken crates and furniture. Countless people bustled about repairing homes and clearing debris. Every now and then, beggars could be seen sprinting through the streets, howling madly. The city, once pristine in gleaming white, had turned into a chaotic mess in just one day.
Even that was tame, though. The area around the Magic Tower, where the civil war had erupted, looked like it had been carpet-bombed into oblivion.
There hadn't even been time to clean up with magic; corpses and rubble remained untouched. No surprise, with the elders and countless mages slaughtered, and even the Magic Tower Lord dead, leaving the surviving mages in utter disarray.
Kadim turned away after taking it all in.
Truth be told, he didn't care much what happened to the city or the mages' lair. His head was heavy enough just mulling over the facts he'd learned yesterday.
He sat back on the bed and sank into thought.
"......"
Many questions had been answered, only for even more to arise.
What had really happened to the Hero, Gale? Why had Melissa gone to the Great Forest? What was she doing there? How had she stayed alive all this time? That fat chairman's rumors turned out to be surprisingly true. How much should he tell the Arch Paladin who gave him the lantern...
Surely, the rift to another world had summoned the demons.
"......Hoo."
Sitting here wouldn't reveal the answers. He'd have to go see for himself. His next destination on the journey: the Great Forest, the continent's largest woodland where the elves and the archmage had secluded themselves.
Staying here long wasn't advisable anyway. He was the prime culprit behind the deaths of the Magic Tower Lord and elders. He'd slipped away amid yesterday's chaos, but once the truth came out, it would spell serious trouble.
Kadim immediately prepared to depart.
He checked that his inventory, gear, and demon blood were all intact. He discarded his tattered clothes and pauldrons, changing into fresh ones. While he was at it, he swapped his leather boots for a new pair—then realized he'd overlooked something important.
He swept his hand through every corner of the room. Nothing. No presence at all. Frowning, Kadim burst out of the room.
The inn's hall was a wreck from the typhoon too. The innkeeper, midway through plastering a broken wall, whipped his head around.
"Ah, are you alright, sir? I was worried when you went out in that typhoon yesterday... No trouble out there?"
"No trouble. More importantly, haven't seen my companion?"
"The short one with the beard? Well... I saw him following you yesterday... but where he went after..."
"......?"
I'd clearly ordered him to stay hidden, so why follow me? What the hell? As Kadim furrowed his brow deeper, his concern fortunately dissolved.
Duncan strolled in at that very moment, all casual innocence.
"Oh! Milord! You're up! Feeling alright?"
"What is it, Duncan. Where've you been..."
"Ah, ah! W-wait just a sec! I'll be right back!"
But he bolted right back outside.
"......"
Kadim considered hurling an axe to stop him but decided against it. His muscles were still too stiff for sudden exertion. At least his head was still attached. He'd wait for Duncan to return, nursing his throat in the meantime.
He flicked a few gold coins over; the innkeeper dropped his work and promptly served rum. As he'd heard before, the rum was top-notch. Savoring the rich oak aroma and bittersweet tang, he downed two bottles in a row.
With the walls and doors busted, he had a clear view of the street from the hall. On his third bottle, Kadim witnessed up close the beggar sprints he'd glimpsed earlier.
"Huff, huff, huff! Hweee..."
"Aaaaaaah!! Freedom!!!"
"......"
Men, women, elderly, children, allies, Atalans... ragtag bunch with little in common beyond their beggar rags. He'd seen similar types somewhere before...
Kadim asked what they were. The innkeeper scratched his head awkwardly and explained.
"Pr-prolly folks captured in demon lairs or the Magic Tower. Debts, insulting a mage, demon possession... whatever. Yesterday's lightning wrecked the lairs, something big hit the Tower too, so they all escaped..."
"......"
"Don't worry too much though! Even if they're rampaging, they won't make it out of the city. Mages'll round 'em up soon enough!"
Doubtful. The mages had no head for that now. Kadim, half-responsible for the mess, shrugged it off and chugged his bottle.
He quietly wished those escapees a life better than magic stone fodder.
Around his third bottle's end, Duncan returned.
"Huff, huff! Sorry I'm late, milord! Come out here a sec?"
Sweat-drenched like a drowned rat. Had he been loading cargo at the docks? Kadim followed anyway.
But what the merchant showed him was no dockhand's wage.
In a dingy alley corner, chests brimming with gold coins piled high. Duncan pounded the lids proudly, like a pirate who'd raided a treasure galleon. Kadim recognized them immediately, narrowing his eyes.
These were the funds the dead elder Oklamud had brought to the auction house.
"......Where'd you get these, Duncan."
"From the Magic Tower, naturally, milord! Cleanly snagged, no worries!"
"......"
"How I got 'em: snuck in yesterday to help you, spotted mages hauling these. Recalled your big auction spend, thought, ah, this'll cover it..."
Duncan blabbered excitedly. In short: posed as a high mage, bullied some mages, hijacked the slush fund mid-transport. But noticing Kadim's darkening face, his voice trailed off.
Finally, a heavy voice thudded to the alley floor.
"So you disobeyed my order to hide and acted on your own."
"......"
"What if the mages caught you? Hostage? Magic stone fodder?"
Duncan hiccuped and froze.
For the first time in a while, the suffocating pressure clamped down. Pale and trembling, he crawled out words.
"S-s-sorry, milord... I overstepped... N-never again..."
"......"
Kadim stared, then sighed sharply. He'd started as a spineless runt, but he'd changed plenty.
No helping it now; the gold was here. Couldn't very well return it to the Tower. Kadim dumped the coins into his inventory and said flatly,
"No next time. Your journey ends here."
"......!"
Duncan took it as a death sentence, prostrating desperately.
"Milord! I deserve death! B-but for old times' sake, spare my life? Take all the gold..."
"......No, what're you on about. We agreed you'd guide to Vesta from our first meeting. Business here is done; no need to follow anymore."
"......Pardon?"
As he jolted in shock, dry encouragement followed.
"Good work all this time, Duncan. This'll fund reclaiming your Delutana assets. From now on, your life and savings are fully yours."
"......"
"Your hometown's Maltana, right? Load's heavy; I'll see you that far."
Not a word registered. His bearded face twisted like a fish dropped in desert sands, bewildered.
The merchant, reclaiming his life after half a year, just stared mutely at the barbarian for a long time.
Caked in eye gunk, the gaunt horse—looking ready to collapse—panted and snorted.
- Huff, phurrr, phurrr...
"Whoa, whoa... Yeah, yeah, good job. You did great."
The rider in olive-scaled armor gently stroked the horse. Shabby as he looked, this wasn't some nag. Traversing from Delutana to Vesta in just over ten days would wreck any steed.
The rider's name was Feldric, a soldier under Remtana's envoy, Enrico Turis.
No high rank, but Feldric was a trusted confidant of Enrico's. Otherwise, he wouldn't get such a vital mission.
Feldric gripped the reins tight, recalling his orders.
'Feldric, deliver this letter to Lady Sesilion, this one to Lord Kadim. She's a renowned high mage at the Tower; she'll personally help him access the records he wants. Oh, and tell Kadim to stop by Delutana after.'
The promise Enrico had made Kadim long ago: aid with Tower records. This was crucial to fulfilling it. Feldric had accepted without hesitation.
Not just loyalty to Enrico, though. Feldric swallowed hard, eyeing his hydra-scale armor.
The 'Demon Slayer' Kadim. His fame now blanketed the Alliance, save mercenary-apathetic eastlands.
'Knew he was something from the start, but a legend like this...'
The higher Kadim's renown soared, the prouder Feldric felt. He'd seen him fight at Twin Canyons, traveled briefly on the Golden Highway, and wore armor from his own hunt's spoils.
Not enough for real acquaintance—Kadim probably didn't know his name. But this mission would etch it in.
Feldric daydreamed: soon, mission success, heartfelt farewell with Kadim.
'......What's your name?'
'Feldric, milord.'
'Thanks, Feldric. By Atala, I swear I'll never forget your dedication coming this far.'
'An honor. Then, as a token of friendship, could you engrave your name on this armor, milord?'
'Ha, easy.'
Returning to Delutana in it... the envy it'd draw. Just imagining made his lips curl skyward.
Feldric grinned, then ahem, cleared his throat self-consciously. The horse snorted ahead, oblivious.
- Phurrk, phurrk...
"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Let's hit the city and rest."
Entering the miracle city Vesta at last, Feldric beheld:
Beggars howling through streets, the downtown in pandemonium.
"Kwaaaaa!!"
"Run!! Gotta escape the city!!"
More ghost ship than miracle. Stunned, Feldric grabbed a wall-repairing citizen.
"Uh, excuse me. Why's the street such a mess? Big festival last night?"
"......Not festival, typhoon. You outsider? Don't rub it in; beat it, soldier."
"......"
He nearly blacked out. Shook his head clear.
Fine, didn't matter much. As long as the Tower stood. No way it'd be wrecked; heard it had sturdy magic barriers...
Regrettably, the Tower vicinity was worse.
Vanished barriers, pulverized earth, corpse mounds like hills, robes uniformly blood-black. Apocalyptic devastation.
Feldric wandered the ruins dazed, snagging a passing mage.
"Uh, excuse me. I have an appointment... Know where Lady Sesilion is?"
"......"
The mage shot a grim look, pointing to a corner.
"......Over there."
A shriveled, blood-drained corpse lay there.
Feldric collapsed like a gambler who'd lost everything.