The Waterway Monster
The banquet hall was packed with nobles and distinguished guests.
Roan and his party were also seated there, enjoying the feast.
"This is actually delicious. Eating this after surviving on nothing but bread is heaven."
"You shouldn't only eat the sweets, Jane. You need to make sure you eat your vegetables too."
"Ugh, nagging again!"
Jane grimaced at Belgard's nagging. However, perhaps because she was currently enjoying such exquisite food, she didn't put up much of a fight.
"Anyway... the wine is surprisingly high quality. It really feels like they're welcoming us."
"Indeed... It seems those thugs really did just make a mistake."
Both of them had suspected the Lord, but seeing the genuine scale of the banquet seemed to have dispelled their doubts.
"...Wait a minute."
Jane, who was about to stuff another piece of high-class food into her mouth, suddenly froze.
"Roan."
She called out to him.
"Is there really nothing going on this time? Usually, whenever we're in a situation like this, you go, 'Wait...! According to my past memories...'"
"It's not that there's nothing."
"Does that mean he has an ulterior motive...?"
"I don't know that much."
Roan didn't know the exact details either. He didn't remember absolutely everything, nor did he know about events he hadn't personally experienced.
The grand mansion and the Lord's hospitality—none of this had happened in his past life.
"Still, it doesn't hurt to be suspicious. My intuition is usually spot-on."
Having grown up in Melgen, he had been swindled and backstabbed plenty of times. Because of that, Roan's survival instincts were honed to perfection.
It was then.
"Now! We shall begin the main event of this banquet: the introduction of our heroes!"
The Lord, who had been mingling with the guests, drew everyone's attention. He pointed toward Roan's party.
"Though they come from different backgrounds and walks of life, they united to save our territory! Distinguished guests, please give them your warmest welcome!"
The Lord raised his glass to toast them. The sloshing red wine inside looked exceptionally crimson.
"Haha! Thank you! We're honored to receive such lavish treatment!"
While Roan played along with a jovial laugh, Jane and Belgard looked slightly uncomfortable.
The Lord signaled the musicians to stop playing and approached them with a smile.
"To be frank, I did not invite you to this banquet solely to treat you."
The Lord's expression darkened with feigned worry as he added,
"There is a favor I must ask of you esteemed heroes."
"Right, so you do have an ulterior motive. What is it?"
When Jane asked bluntly, the Lord's expression grew even more solemn.
"For the past few days, a weeping sound has been echoing from the waterways beneath the city. We do not know if it is the work of a monster or something else, but because of it, the citizens have been unable to sleep at night."
So please, subjugate the culprit making that noise in the waterways. His request carried an underlying tone of pressure.
Only then did Jane and Belgard read the Lord's true intentions.
He was trying to kill two birds with one stone: investigate the waterways, and keep these rising heroes—who might threaten his authority—in check. Whether they succeeded or failed, the Lord stood to lose nothing.
Clever. Though, of course, that plan falls apart if we just say no.
"We'll do it!"
"Hey!"
Jane yelled at Roan's immediate, thoughtless acceptance.
But what could she do? Roan was the de facto leader of their party. Even Belgard seemed to agree, since it involved protecting innocent people.
"That is wonderful to hear. In that case—"
"However, we have our own reputation to consider, so let's make a promise first."
"...What kind of promise?"
"A promise that if there actually is some shady business going on, you will take full responsibility, Lordship."
For a split second, the Lord's eyes flickered. While everyone else in the hall ignored that brief lapse, Roan's party caught it perfectly.
"Well! It's best to handle these things quickly, right? We'll head out around evening today! Make sure to unlock the waterway gates for us in advance!"
Roan wrapped up the conversation smoothly, and the party made their exit from the banquet hall.
After leaving the grand mansion, they returned to their inn.
"...That was incredibly suspicious."
Jane was the first to speak.
"Indeed. Even I, who am usually dense about these things, felt it..."
Belgard agreed.
It was a level of shadiness that anyone could perceive, and the reactions of the people around them only amplified it.
"He practically had 'I'm up to no good' written on his forehead, yet not a single person said a word."
"I felt the same way. They all just clapped as if it were rehearsed..."
Looking back, everything about that mansion was bizarre. The fact that those thugs from earlier had shown the most human, natural reactions of anyone they'd met in this city spoke volumes about the state of things.
After discussing it for a moment, the two turned their gaze to Roan.
"Roan, are we really going? No matter how I look at it, it feels like a trap."
"I agree with Jane. It's highly suspicious, no matter how you spin it..."
"I think it's a trap too,"
Roan said. He had felt it as well.
"Then we're rejecting the request, right? If we just head to another city—"
"No. We're still doing it."
"You're walking into a trap knowing it's a trap?"
"Yeah. Because there might be a disaster brewing that I don't know about."
This was the rule he had established after dealing with Serenar. Since the future could change, any suspicious activity had to be dealt with the moment it was discovered.
"I won't force you to come with me."
Having said that, Roan immediately added,
"Is what I'd like to say! But honestly, I really want you guys to come with me! Even if I try my best, going into the unknown completely alone makes me anxious!"
"You're brutally honest, aren't you?"
Jane sighed and took a step closer, as if she had no choice.
She didn't even consider the possibility of failure. Roan was a shield that sturdy, and she was a mage that magnificent.
"I will lend my strength as well. After all, helping people is why I joined this party in the first place."
Belgard, who wanted to help people regardless of whether it was a trap or not, felt the same. Thus, all three of them were in agreement.
Roan wasn't moved. After all, they were a trio that always bickered but ultimately joined forces in the end.
"Y-You guys...!!"
...Actually, he was incredibly moved. The past life was the past life, and this life was this life. Even without their old memories, they were still willing to follow him.
"However!"
Roan, who was about to shout, Let's head out right now! paused.
"I think we need some information first."
"Information?"
"Yeah. It's definitely fishy. We should look around and see if there are any rumors about that mansion."
"True. Besides, the citizens here have been very friendly to us."
"We gather information quickly, and if there's anything suspicious, we proceed with caution. How about that?"
Having proposed the plan, Jane looked at Roan.
"Oh? Are you asking for my permission? I thought you'd just push ahead on your own."
"...Got a problem with that?"
A little bit.
Jane's identity was usually defined by throwing tantrums and acting on impulse, but right now, she felt more like a well-trained, loyal hound.
She'll probably go back to her old self as time passes. She just hasn't fully matured yet in this timeline.
Roan swallowed those thoughts and kept them to himself.
...
A short while later.
The three returned to the inn to share the information they had gathered individually around the city.
"Alright, so there are basically three useful pieces of information here, right?"
Roan pointed to the circled sentences.
◈ The Lord was replaced not too long ago.
◈ The new Lord placed incense burners all over the city to "change the atmosphere."
◈ Someone spotted a carriage heading toward the waterways in the middle of the night.
Below those, words like "Illness?", "Successor?", and "Most people don't care" were scribbled.
"We don't need these extra notes anymore, right? Since we've all pretty much figured it out."
Jane crossed out the extra details on the paper, wrapping up their discussion.
—The current Lord murdered the former Lord and dumped his body in the waterways.
"If that is truly the case... then he is a man who has committed a horrific deed."
Belgard's eyes burned with hostility. The idea of murdering someone just to steal the title of Lord clearly disgusted her.
There were still some lingering questions, but the priority right now was to get the job done.
"Let's get moving."
With those words, the party set off toward the waterways.
"...I smell a fragrance," Jane muttered.
"Indeed. Though it seems this place hasn't been used in quite some time..."
Belgard replied, lightly brushing her hand against the dark, damp surroundings.
"There is moss growing on the floor, and no signs of running water."
"Yeah. The ground is slick, so watch your step."
Just as he said, the further they ventured inside, the more their boots squelched against moss and stagnant puddles.
"Hey... aren't you two uncomfortable? It's pitch black in here."
Jane looked at them in disbelief, baffled by how easily they navigated the absolute darkness.
She raised her index finger, conjuring a small flame the size of a candle. The light pushed back the shadows,
"Gasp!?"
and froze on a single spot.
There was something standing between the damp walls of the seemingly endless corridor.
A face draped in rotting flesh. It was staring directly at the three humans.
Splash!
Jane took a sharp step back, splashing the stagnant water.
Yet, the figure only swayed unsteadily, making no move to attack. It was a corpse, merely shuffling in place.
"So... resentful..."
Its raspy voice echoed through the waterway.
"Re-Resentful?! Don't give me that! I'm the one who's resentful after you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Wait a moment, Jane."
Belgard cautiously stepped toward the creature. She moved even further ahead than Roan, who was holding his shield high in preparation for any sudden danger.
A few sparse strands of hair clung to its scalp. Its eye sockets were completely hollow, devoid of eyeballs. Its flesh was so heavily decayed that it was hard to find a single intact spot.
Showing no fear, Belgard scanned the corpse from head to toe. Then, she turned back to the other two.
"This person... is the former Lord."
She pointed to the corpse's features, confident in her deduction.
"The pure gold necklace. The worn cloak. The badge that the other guests at the banquet were wearing. And the fact that he appeared here in the waterways."
"Ah... Now that you mention it."
Jane recalled the rumors she had temporarily forgotten out of fear. If this corpse really was the former Lord...
"Jane. Belgard."
Roan called out to them.
"Is the former Lord being forced to move by black magic or some kind of curse?"
Those were the two most common methods of reanimating the dead. Jane, putting aside her fear to examine the corpse, shook her head.
"No. There are no traces of black magic."
"What about you, Belgard? Did you find anything?"
"Yes, I did."
Belgard nodded firmly.
"The resentment in his heart is too immense. That is what is forcing his body to move."
As a priestess who frequently lent her aid to the slums, she had inevitably encountered many corpses. It was this experience that allowed her to discern the truth behind the reanimated body.