The Paramere Search Operation (11)
The Paramere Search Operation (11)
An interesting matter came up. I casually asked Rosemary.
"Rosemary."
"What."
"What would you think if there was a man who liked you?"
"Hah?!"
Rosemary scowled. She edged away from me.
"You're not talking about yourself, are you?"
"Hah?!"
I edged away too.
"Say something that makes sense."
"Why are you the one acting more disgusted?!"
"Anyway, answer what I asked."
"...Well, what kind of person is he? And in the first place, there are plenty of people who chase after me because they like me, you know?!"
"Hm."
I glanced over at Daniel. He was fairly good-looking. A handsome type with platinum-blond hair. On top of that, he had a sturdy build. He had a bit of a rough edge, but it was tolerable.
He was the captain of a mercenary company called Blue Punk Mercenary Company. His finances passed, at least. He was a bit of a musclehead, but since he led a mercenary company, his combat ability seemed quite high. I figured he was probably around the level of an ordinary inquisitor.
"He's handsome."
"And?"
"His personality... might be pretty decent too? His combat ability's probably serviceable? Do you like the puppy type?"
"No."
Rosemary cut me off flatly.
"I don't like the puppy type. You mean the kind that only looks at me and keeps clinging, right?"
"Well... I guess it's something like that. Then what type do you like?"
"...A cat?"
"A cat?"
That guy doesn't look like the cat type no matter how I look at him.
"Try compromising a little."
"How do you compromise on your ideal type?"
"Then what are your other conditions?"
"...Hm."
She raised a finger.
"He has to own a house in his own name in the capital region. I have one too, you know. We should at least be on the same level, shouldn't we?"
"And?"
"I don't like people who gamble. Alcohol and cigarettes don't appeal to me either."
"Picky, aren't you. What else?"
"Someone who cooks well would be nice. Someone made my palate demanding."
"Hmm..."
Daniel, who had been following along, let his shoulders slump. The mercenaries beside him patted his shoulders.
"Hang in there, Captain."
"An ideal type isn't everything."
"They say when a woman loves you, ideal types and all that don't matter."
"R-really?"
"I hate people who look like punks the most."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"...Could you at least say something?"
Daniel, the handsome man who looked like a punk, let out a sigh. I quietly slipped to the back.
"Hang in there, Daniel."
"...Did you ask on purpose? Thanks a damn lot."
"It was out of goodwill."
"Haah... Well, the thanks is genuine. In all my life... I never thought I'd lose my heart to a priest..."
Daniel looked me over.
"But how are you so fine?"
"Do I look fine after being covered in rotten flesh?"
"That's not what I mean... There's no shadow in your eyes, and you look like you've been sleeping well every night. Did you have somewhere to hide?"
"That's because!"
Noah suddenly cut in. He cleared his throat with an ahem.
"It's because Brother Zahard is amazing! Good heavens! I've never seen a paladin like him!"
"...Excuse me? What do you... He looks young..."
"Watch your words, Daniel."
Pablo's eyes glinted darkly.
"If you speak carelessly, the Church of Lu will not stand idly by."
"Excuse me?"
"If I were to recount Brother Zahard's great deeds, they would number roughly three million five hundred thousand... If I had to pick just one..."
Noah launched into an impassioned speech. Pablo added comments beside him at every pause.
Daniel wiped the spit off his face and asked with a sour look.
"You're saying he knew and did all that by himself?"
"That's why he's amazing!"
The eyes that turned back were full of doubt. But there was no time to clear it up.
Rosemary stopped walking. A massive building crumbling away.
The entrance to what had once been Paramer's inner fortress had completely collapsed. I stood beside Rosemary.
"Why did you ask about my ideal type earlier?"
"Huh? You were still thinking about that?"
"Wh-wh-why, am I not allowed to think about it?!"
"Why are you yelling? Do you have something to feel guilty about?"
"No? I don't? Could you step away a little?"
"Why do you keep ending everything with a question mark?"
I dropped my axe with a thud. I glanced back at Daniel.
"Daniel. You're curious, aren't you?"
"...About what?"
"Honestly, you're a little suspicious, right? I mean, I'm young, I don't look that strong, and yet they're hyping me up like that, so I seem like some cultist... You were thinking something like that, weren't you?"
"...I won't deny it, but I didn't think that far."
"So you did think it. And in the first place, shouldn't you apologize to us separately? Honestly, you looked down on us and ignored us at the start. You even blew off my attempt to introduce myself. You know you're not in a position to just tag along like this, right?"
"...I will apologize to Priest Rosemary separately."
"And to us?"
"......"
Daniel averted his gaze in silence. For all that, he had his pride.
I snorted.
"Open your eyes wide and watch."
From inside Paramer's inner fortress, the cries of monsters began to echo. I signaled Rosemary with my eyes.
Daniel flinched and straightened up. He drew his sword.
"Get back! This is no time for—!"
"I said open your eyes wide and watch."
"B-but you people have been running away from the monsters! We're the ones used to combat, so we should—!"
"You really don't know anything, so shut up for a bit."
Rosemary snapped in irritation. Flames ignited on both of her axes at once.
"I'm telling you to watch and see what kind of people those priests you ignored were. Why are you being so loud?"
"P-Priest Rosemary! It's dangerous!"
"What's a weakling like you going to do? Shut it."
Ahh.
"Who's worrying about who?"
Now that's more like my pet cat!
. . .
Ian's sword moved. It smashed through the warehouse wall and tore apart the right arm of a monstrous beast reeking of rot.
"Sir Ian! I'll support you!"
Hudson's magic flared. Just after Ian's feet left the rotten monster's back, a fierce wind blew.
Blades of sharp wind tore the rotten monster's limbs apart one by one. Ian flipped his body in midair, and his sword glowed red as if burning.
A mana blade.
A realm only a small number of knights could reach.
BOOM!!!
Amid the thunderous roar, the monster's body convulsed violently.
"Now!"
The knights rushed in from all sides. They hurled the severed limbs away from the main body, and the wizards chanted their spells.
The limbs were sealed. Rotten blood spewed from the giant monster's mouth as if it were vomiting. Ian drove his sword into its twitching, rolling eyeball.
"Filthy thing."
He stirred the brain inside the head and checked the inside of the body. After struggling for half a day, Ian was able to find a filthy black sphere inside the monster's body.
This was the core. When they had first caught a monster, they had truly thought it would never die, and they had tried all sorts of experiments.
Ian forcibly ripped out the monster's core. Along with it, the monster's body, which had filled the warehouse, began to rot and scatter across the floor.
"Bottle it. Wizard."
"...Yes."
Hudson placed the monster's core into a glass bottle. That made two collected.
What was left? Did they still have to search the city further? Ian took out the letter connected to the monster they had dealt with before this one and read it again.
{Hello. I am ###.}
{I went looking for where Bach was, but he was not there. Instead, his descendants remained and were managing this city. That a former attendant manages the city in your place. It is a truly laughable story.}
{I met the lord of the city. He was surprised at first, but he listened to my story with great interest. He said he had his ancestor's diary and brought it out from the warehouse.}
{There were many records written in Bach's diary. It felt strange. Your story unfolded before my eyes as if painted in a picture. But at the end, there was a picture I could not understand.}
{Why? ###. You left me buried underground, so why did you marry Bach? Why is there not a single thing written about me in the diary?}
{Did you deceive me? You threw me, who sacrificed everything for you, into the underground, and all along you rolled around in bed with Bach, who served you?}
{Did you not say you loved me? Did you not say you would long for me for the rest of your life?}
{Was everything you said a lie? Did you... deceive me from the very beginning?}
{...I will go to the Elbich brewery. Beneath it, I remember we buried a time capsule that only the two of us knew about. You once said we should come back and look at it together someday... but now that only I remain, I think it would be all right to look.}
{I will believe that Bach wrote lies in the diary. I still love you.}
{...I hope you loved me too. ###.}
Ian frowned.
"How much food is left?"
"We brought enough for a month, so... we can still hold out."
"Sir Ian."
Hudson stood beside him.
"I don't know about the knights, but my disciples are at their limit. It's too dangerous to continue. We must rest, even briefly."
"Rest? We push on."
"Sir Ian!"
Hudson flared up in anger.
"There's a limit to how much I can tolerate! I'm saying this as the commander from the Blue Magic Tower! Do not overwork my disciples any further! This is a warning!"
"......"
Should I just kill that man now?
Ian suppressed the killing intent that was creeping out. He had to endure. He still needed the wizard.
"One day should be enough. Wizard."
"...Thank you. Sir Ian."
Hudson let out a sigh of relief. Ian suddenly saw someone flicker past behind that sigh.
A presence hiding behind the building, watching him. Ian shoved Hudson aside. He drew a dagger and hurled it.
Thunk!
A scream burst out from the dagger embedded deep in the building wall.
"Aaaagh!"
"...A scream?"
Not a monster?
Ian approached the human form crawling behind the building wall. It was small. Apart from being gaunt, it was like a human child.
But something was different. Parts of the child's skin were stained black. The stains spread across its body in patches like spots.
A rotten smell similar to the monsters roaming the surface.
"Who are you?"
"It hurts... it hurts... it hurts..."
Imperial tongue.
Ian grabbed the child's leg. He dragged it along and threw it in front of Hudson.
"Heal it. Wizard."
"...What in the world is this child? How did it survive inside Paramer...?"
"It hurts... it hurts..."
"Bear it. It'll be over soon."
Healing magic unfolded. Ian glanced around. Come to think of it, he had felt a gaze that hadn't been there before.
Something was there. Something that was neither monster nor human.
Ian raised his foot. He stomped down on the neck of the child being healed.
"Wh-what are you doing?! Sir Ian!"
"Answer me. Brat."
Ian whispered.
"Where did you crawl up from?"
"P-please, spare..."
"I told you to speak."
Two fingers were cut off. The child screamed.
"Sir Ian!"
"Shut up. Wizard. This is a necessary procedure. Brat. Answer me. Right now."
"A-a door opened... so... I came to find food..."
"Where did you come up from?"
"U-underground... underground... beneath the Clock Tower..."
The child sobbed and hiccuped.
"I-I was trapped... there the whole time... so..."
Hudson flinched. He looked at Ian.
Ian sheathed his sword.
"Guide me. Right now."