#064 Discovery
#064 Discovery
Normance, which had been attacked by Acedia, narrowly escaped disaster thanks to the Flame Hero.
That news spread to every corner of the world through the Adventurers' Guild.
The Normance branch reported the situation to the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, and after a brief investigation, the Adventurers' Guild posted the story as a newspaper article in every Adventurers' Guild hall.
-Flame Hero Bareness defeats Acedia!
At the center of attention was, without question, Hero Bareness.
She had been observing and investigating anomalies near Normance when she discovered traces of Acedia, and the moment her investigation began, the cornered Acedia opened a Dimensional Gate and launched a surprise attack.
"What? That's just the Hero doing her usual thing."
"If you're the Mercenary King, you should obviously be able to do at least this much."
"...But is this really worth making such a fuss over?"
The Hero had stopped Acedia, the remnants of the Demon King Army, from stirring.
That alone seemed like it should have been enough, but the Demon King Army remnants had apparently moved far more systematically than expected.
"While the Hero went to close the Dimensional Gate, they tunneled in with Sandworms for a surprise attack? Shit, how do you even stop that?"
"They assassinated the people guarding the Magitech Detector beforehand? Wow, Normance must've been wrecked."
"Let's see... it says 'Scarlet United' drove them off?"
"Scarlet United? What's that now?"
New powerhouses who had protected Normance in the Hero's place while she was away.
Information about them was classified as 'top secret' by the Adventurers' Guild, but their composition was properly reported in the article.
"A witch who uses fire magic. A knight who split a Sandworm in a single strike. An elf archer who unleashes a hail of silver arrows."
"...That sounds exactly like 'that party.' Right?"
"Right? The knight's a man. That settles it."
The emergence of new heroes.
For humanity, an increase in those who stand against Demonfolk—especially the remnants of the Demon King Army—is always welcome.
"If they're hiding their names and personal details to that extent, they must be quite promising prospects.... Well, since they got tangled up with Acedia, who knows where Acedia might take revenge."
"They're probably already moving. Those Acedia bastards are thorough when it comes to revenge like this."
"Tch, I can't help but worry Normance might get attacked again."
"I'd rather they just stay in Normance. If they go somewhere else for no reason and get spotted by Acedia, wherever this team is will immediately become a battlefield."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How ironic."
Because of the revenge Acedia might actually carry out, they have to hide their identities even after saving a city.
It's regrettable, but for the safety of many citizens—for the 'greater good'—it can't be helped.
"If they're heroes who love saving people, shouldn't they be willing to make that kind of sacrifice? Heh heh."
"Hey, more importantly, go look into something else first. I hear Count Odron is forming a knight order this time."
The unfortunate heroes were nothing more than passing gossip.
The adventurers, mercenaries, and those dreaming of knighthood in the County of Odron all immediately turned their interest to the poster bearing the Count's signature.
-Knight Recruitment.
-Minimum twelve.
-A knight order like family.
-Experienced candidates preferred.
Although a county was of course far larger in scale than a barony or viscounty, it was rare to recruit as many as twelve knights at once.
And that was the 'minimum.'
Considering that recruiting a single knight cost an enormous amount of gold, this was nothing short of a tremendous opportunity for those aspiring to knighthood.
"Could it be, you know, that they're trying to form a knight order for the Holy Sword Hero?"
"The Holy Sword Hero?"
"Yeah. They say a real Hero came from that Holy Sword Village, the one that's gone now."
"...The owner of a Holy Sword that supposedly hasn't appeared for hundreds of years? Ha, what a joke. The other six Holy Sword wielders are active, so by process of elimination it's the Wind Holy Sword? Does that even make sense? It hasn't shown itself for the past five hundred years."
"That's why it's a legend. The Wind Holy Sword revealing itself again after five hundred years. Kheh, it gets my blood boiling."
The Wind Holy Sword.
At first, people wondered if the owner of an existing Holy Sword had changed, but when the wielders of the other six Holy Swords all announced they were alive and well, it became known to the whole world that the last Holy Sword had begun to move.
The Wind Holy Sword Awakening.
Recruitment for House Odron's Knight Order.
While these major issues were stirring up the County of Odron, a small Magic Circle unfolded in a forest on the county's border.
"Heave-ho."
Three people who still had no idea they were known by the name 'Scarlet United.'
* * *
A village on the border of the County of Odron, 'Lastima.'
"It's a quiet village."
"It sure is."
We arrived at a village in the County of Odron.
I'd had various worries while opening a Portal at the county's border and crossing over, but fortunately, no traces of Acedia appeared right away in the village.
If anything, it was so quiet it was suspicious.
The village was so peaceful that I started worrying for no reason.
'Something always happens in a village like this.'
If nothing happened, that would be a betrayal in its own way.
"There's an inn, right?"
"If a village has no inn, wouldn't that be a serious problem in its own right?"
"Right. We can't exactly rent a stable and sleep there."
A stable?
I'll pass on that.
It's not like we're short on money, and the world is full of soft, fluffy beds—how could anyone sleep on the ground?
"They're not going to turn us away at the inn just because we're outsiders, right?"
"I don't... think they have that kind of attitude. No, maybe a little...?"
Most of the villagers glanced at us and then went back to their work.
A few, a small number, watched us from a distance with wary eyes, wondering why on earth we had come.
"That's a relief."
"Why?"
"They're suspicious of who we are."
"Is it a relief that they're suspicious of who we are?"
"Yes. Rosemas, listen carefully. When you visit a remote village for the first time and everyone treats you well? That's a 100% trap."
What village community in the middle of nowhere welcomes outsiders?
'This is the baseline for a remote village.'
Three strangers—two women and a man—had newly appeared in the village, and one of them was an elf.
We must have looked like typical adventurers, and it was only natural for the villagers to be wary of adventurers.
"Just wait a bit. Soon, someone will come to us...."
"Excuse me."
A stooped old village chief approached us.
Leaning on his cane as he came over, he had a rather stern impression and looked us up and down with a doubtful air.
"Are you people from the Guild?"
"The Guild?"
"...No?"
"We are travelers from 'Sarvance' over there. We're on our way to the 'Odron branch' to take on requests, but...."
I stepped in before Lucius could say something unnecessary.
"You crossed over from Sarvance?"
"Yes. We have a skilled archer with us, so we dealt with all the Magic Beasts that attacked us along the way."
I pointed at Rosemas behind me.
"She's from the Guardians of the Forest."
"Hmm...."
He still seemed unconvinced, but the old man's suspicion appeared to ease somewhat.
We crossed over from Sarvance.
It's roughly the neighboring area to the County of Odron, and the road crossing over from there has quite a lot of Magic Beasts.
Saying that a 'Guardian of the Forest'—in human terms, a member of a fairly famous knight order—had dealt with them made the story plausible.
"But you were looking for people from the Guild—is something the matter?"
"A matter, well...."
The old man trailed off.
"Well, I thought you might be adventurers who'd come to solve our problem...."
"Something—"
Lucius seemed to show considerable interest—because he's a sucker who thinks he has to help people in trouble—so I stepped back slightly, stepping on Lucius's foot to restrain him.
"Well, if it's a formal request registered with the Guild, we can check it when we go to Odron. If no one else has accepted it, we'll look into it."
"...Fine."
Trying to swindle a party of adventurers who fought through Magic Beasts with a verbal contract?
Absolutely not.
"I don't know what the request entails, but surely someone is preparing to resolve it and is on their way here."
Cutting things off coldly, almost callously, is my role.
When you need to look heartless, that's when a tactless Hero has to step up.
I gave Lucius a light flick of my fingers behind my back, lifted my foot off his, and pointed toward the village.
"Then take care, elder."
"Um, Master...?"
"What?"
"Still, shouldn't we at least hear what it's about?"
The old man's face lit up for a moment.
The corner of my mouth nearly curled up too, but I waved my hand with a thoroughly annoyed expression.
"If it's a request formally filed with the Adventurers' Guild, we shouldn't meddle in it carelessly. If someone who accepted the request from the Guild comes and finds out we already resolved it, they'll have made the trip for nothing, won't they?"
With my back to the old man, I mouthed a signal to the two of them.
More, more, more.
"Witch. Still, wouldn't it be good to at least hear the story? We still have a little time before we rest."
"Hmm...."
Pretending to think it over.
"Is there any way to contact the Adventurers' Guild from here? If so, couldn't we accept the request without going all the way to Odron?"
"Well, that's true...?"
"There is!"
Got him.
The old man's eyes began to shine, and I scanned the direction of the village.
"There's a mage in the village. She has a remote crystal orb that can contact the County of Odron, so if you speak with her, the matter of accepting the request will be resolved quickly!"
"A mage...."
Now this piqued my interest.
Most of the people I'd seen so far were followers of the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess or ordinary people; I hadn't met a proper mage.
Even in Normance, they were rare to encounter.
Whether the mage profession itself had become rare, or whether mages had been persecuted at some point in the last 500 years, mages were hard to find.
...Correction.
Skilled mages.
"Fine. Let's hear it as we walk. What on earth happened that you filed a request with the Adventurers' Guild?"
".......Every night, livestock have been disappearing."
"......."
It's the kind of request that seems fitting for adventurers while also being perfect for getting dismissed.
"I see. Livestock disappearing is usually wild animals or Magic Beasts...."
"They come back three days later with all their internal organs gone, their bodies otherwise intact and full of flies."
"......."
Flies.
"......We might need to look into this a bit more closely."
Beelzebub.
The Demon King of Gluttony.