Chapter 156 – Underground

000

Under the protection of the sun, the devil’s veil loses its power and holds its breath, but when the dark moon rises, mysterious magical energy begins to linger in the royal capital again. The curse flowed through a part of the leyline contaminated by a spell that was not noticed by the general public – no, it was ‘designed’ so that they could not notice it. Again, without realizing it, they turned the outlet of their desire to a dream, and the power to live, that is, vitality, was absorbed by the demons.

This was quite a clever trick, but first of all, ordinary people who have no resistance to dark magic are cursed and dreamed of, and even if their power is being taken away, they will forget it when they wake up in the morning. Most of them forgot what kind of dream they had last night and what kind of adverse effects it had on their bodies. I just tilt my head as if I don’t know the source of fatigue as I spend the day feeling only boredom and fatigue for which I don’t know the cause.

Then, what if you are a human with some resistance power? For example, priests. Priests basically have the power to counter black magic, and thanks to that, they don’t listen to weak curses. The reason why this curse is subtle is right here. If priests belonging to the church become the target of this curse, the body naturally blocks the curse and protects itself with divine magic. This is a very natural phenomenon, and it is a kind of reflex action that the priest activates even if he is not aware of the curse.

That’s why priests don’t dream. They were supposed to detect and solve the problem of the devil, but they didn’t notice if the curse was happening. A very, very low-ranking cleric might feel a slight discomfort, but he lacked the knowledge and strength to recognize where it was coming from. High-ranking priests subconsciously purify the curse before it even reaches them.

This is why the current cult is not aware of the curse of demons. Since the leyline used by demons to spread curses was originally a huge flow of magical power, even if a drop of ink was mixed with a huge stream of water, people wouldn’t notice. But in fact, who can figure out that the ink is a cursed drop to turn humans into prey?

Ishtal was silently looking down at the desk displaying the miniatures of the Royal Capital that glowed in a suspicious purple light. Next to her is Reynolds, who informs her that Kamala, who was there during the day, was attacked. No, there was Remilia’s figure. Most of the demons working in her shop were dealt with when they came out with Kamala’s head her, but he returned to Astarothe’s home base where Ishtal was located as soon as Aruru was regenerated and disappeared from his presence her. Because her employer was Ishtal himself, not Kamala.

“Yeah… Kamala’s store. It’s said that the other side has also started working in earnest by bringing in Cleon.”

After listening to Remilia’s report, Ishtal put her glasses on the desk. The magic light flowing from the miniature still remained, but the light faded a little after the owner finished observing it. Remilia looked at Ishtal’s expression of her, but contrary to Remilia’s expectations of her, she had a smile on her lips. Despite the loss of her capable contract horse her and the store she had been running and earning her money from her, she had plenty of room for her.

“Are you all right?”

Remilia wondered if she felt more than she needed to and had trouble expressing her feelings of her. Because humans sometimes express incomprehensible emotions.

But fortunately, Ishtal wonders if she wasn’t of that kind of race, and she nods her head, saying, ‘Of course’.

“Certainly. There was regularity and money that Kamala collected, but it was just a bonus. It was only released to satisfy Kamala’s desire for dominance. .. Well, I was given a very fancy suit.”

Ishtal says so. However, Remilia’s expression her never improved. She knows That this was Ishtal’s carelessness in her. In adventures as well as on battlefields, Remilia knew that there were many cases where she would be careless and miss work in an overwhelmingly advantageous situation.

“Kamala did not die, but she was taken captive by them.”

“That’s right.”

“…Wouldn’t she tell us a lot about us?”

“Even if you don’t tell me, there’s a skillful wizard over there, so they’ll steal the information by force.”

Silence passed between the two of them.

“You look like you don’t understand.”

When Ishtal looked at Remilia’s face and said that, Remilia also nodded her head. She was one of the few people within Astarothe, other than Lilim, who could give her opinion of her to Ishtal. It was proof that Ishtal valued her resourcefulness her and her experience her as her original adventurer her.

“Although this Remilia, because of the contract with you, my body changed to a woman. I gave up my ethics as a human being. However, Ishtal-sama seems to be too optimistic about the situation. It had the role of a hand that could be used sparingly, but if she didn’t die and was taken prisoner, Saint Princess might launch a counterattack based on the information she had.”

At Remilia’s words, Ishtar laughed and said, “Whoa.” While nodding her head.

“…Do you remember what our ultimate goal is?”

“…Use the power of ‘crystal’ to bring down the great demon… Demiurge. If so. The false peace created by humans will collapse, and the foundation for a new order will be created.”

Remilia returns from Ishtar the answer she had heard of her when he made a contract with her. Ishtal then nodded her head and replied.

“That’s right, but in this world, there are too many ‘systems’ to prevent such things. Winged lizards stuck in caves. The ‘Adversary’, an apocalypse preventive device created by the will of the stars. Each of those things If you don’t move by calculating it. No matter how hard you struggle, in the end you will meet the epilogue as you were destined.”

Ishtal realized that fact once again through a series of events at her academy. Like the demonic sword emperor, they couldn’t get out of the frame created by the stars and failed.

“Are you saying all of this is to go beyond those things?”

“That’s right. Remilia. You said that you would not waste your life, body, or soul for the cause, right?”

Remilia nods her head at her master’s question her.

“Then. When the ‘great collapse’ you want happens. It doesn’t have to be us standing on top of the royal road where the sky burns and the earth splits, wielding demonic power. Don’t you think so?”

001

A pure white moon showing its appearance little by little through the clouds in the sky. Moonlight pouring down there. The only light visible in the black sky without a single starlight was the moon of ‘Demonic Star’, which evoked more uneasy feelings than when seen elsewhere. When the moon looks down at you, it is an ominous magical power that creates the illusion that someone is watching you with the moon as their eyes her. Cleon, dressed as an adventurer for the first time in a while, passes through the shadows of the dark streets and heads to his back alley tavern, Shay’s Shifter.

A holy sword and a demonic sword were hung from each waist, and the body was covered in familiar black armor. A belt that can carry potions. A pouch containing light consumables such as lock picks and flints. A throwaway dagger was hidden in each arm and leg.

The door of the store opens, and when the hanging bell shakes, Rubera and Amelia, who have been waiting inside, turn their gaze toward the door. Amelia was wearing a cheap robe that covered her entire body with her, and Ruba was not wearing a plain or maid uniform, but the black skin-tight outfit she had been wearing while fighting Tal Chek. It sticks to her body and reveals lines here and there, but it will be much more comfortable compared to the two clothes to move around. One of her important parts her is padded with removable thin iron plates to maintain her defensive power her, but for her using her assassin’s sword, it is assumed that her sword her collides with her sword her or gets hit. The fighting law itself was nonsense.

“You’re here.”

“…Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”

“Oh, no. We just came too.”

To Cleon’s question, Amelia answered. She seemed a bit taken aback when she saw Cleon as a fully armed adventurer, different from the lightly dressed Cleon she saw during the day. On top of that, the magic sword and holy sword at her waist her must have been enough to attract her attention to her. It was curious to see that two guns that could never coexist with common sense were together.

With Amelia by her side of her, Ruba looked at Cleon and opened her mouth.

“I got a call from Iona. They said they were successful in rescuing the idiot. And… What happened to that human body.”

“Yes. The Tromeia family is protecting them now. The same goes for the other adventurers in the store.”

“…Before, I saw succubuses transform men who seemed to be tramps into women in the brothel where Astarothe and Lubera used as a base. Was there…”

At Amelia’s words, Ruba also recalled that scene. When a man who was her guest passed out, the intense scene of the succubus attacking and transforming his body was strongly imprinted in her mind her.

However, Ruba says, putting her hand her on her forehead her as if to shake off those cumbersome memories of her her.

“They said there is no cure yet.”

“I think it will be solved only when Ishtal, who has the magic, is caught. Rubera is trying to extract information from the demons he has captured, but the demons don’t disassemble magic into ‘spells’ and just use it like a natural phenomenon. He said he did n’t have an image of the ceremony in his head.”

Spells are, so to speak, a blueprint for magic created by disassembling and analyzing the laws of the natural world in order for humans to use magic. The magic formula requires knowledge of the way magic flows until magic is activated, and the coordinates needed to activate magic in a three-dimensional space. Therefore, magicians naturally had to study the magic formula and make it their own, and that is why there are many researchers among magicians.

However, demons are different. The existence of demons has surpassed human awareness, and their bodies are only temporary to stay in the material world. Even if they don’t study the spells, they can use magic like breathing, so they don’t try to understand the existence of the spells humans use, and they don’t study them. Therefore, they could use magic at random without knowing the structure of the magic they were using or how to cancel it.

“…If it’s too much for Layla, we’ll have no choice but to eliminate the source.”

“Yes. … But it’s not like there was no harvest at all. The demon I caught told me a lot about Ishtal. In particular, I passed on information that might be helpful.”

“…Any information that might help?”

Cleon nodded and took out a map showing the geography of the back alleys. If you say something like this before you know it, he replies that he sneaked it from the office of the captured demon-Kamala.

“Yeah, I’m sure adventurers take their loot.”

“No, this guy is a bit peculiar. …Rather than that, I’m concerned about the area marked with an X here.”

Where Rubera said so and pointed her finger, there was definitely a place that had recently been painted with a red X. It was on a street in a back alley, nothing special on the map. Cleon recounts information extracted from Kamala.

“There is a sewage system in the basement of the royal capital, and further down there are ruins where excavation has stopped, right?”

“Yes. Originally, it was discovered during the construction of the capital and excavation was being carried out, but I heard that there are ruins that have been neglected because it was judged that they could not be touched at this time because of the existence of a huge seal. Before the war with the Empire, since it was in the early days of the kingdom, it has been neglected for quite some time.”

Cleon also nods at Amelia’s answer. This was the story I had heard from Laila. And, Kamala added a few stories after that.

“At the place where there is a mark on this map, there is a passage that leads to the ruins through the underground water supply. They seem to have escaped. After that, they say they haven’t touched the ruins.”

“…A guardian of the ruins. Is it something like a golem or a gargoyle?”

At Amelia’s guess, Cleon shook his head. The knowledge she possesses is excellent for her young age her, but unfortunately this time was different.

“When Kamala addressed him, she said ‘she is the woman.

“It’s like having a human form, or being a human.”

Ruba nods her head as if she understands Cleon’s words her. Since she is protecting the ruins of the ancients, it’s hard to say that she’s a normal human. It was also true that the possibility of being able to communicate with them was greater than that of golems or gargoyles.

“If Ishtal is a person with the power to be feared, it wouldn’t be bad to enlist him as an ally.”

“… What if we get attacked too?”

When Ruba asks an obvious question, Cleon answers.

“Well, it’s a pity then, but I’ll have to give up and come back. Even if that’s not the case, there’s something Ishtal wants in the ruins she’s guarding. You need to know what it is.”

“What they want is a large amount of magic power for the descent of Demiurge. Is that something like that sleeping inside the ruins?”

“…Maybe.”

Cleon nodded at Amelia’s guess as she sorted out the map and put it back in her bag. As if using that as a signal, Ruba and Amelia also got up from the chairs they were sitting on.

“…It’s better than wandering around the back alleys aimlessly looking for traces of them.”

“Because the captured devil could n’t blow on the location of the hideout because of the oath, and he couldn’t get any information. Even if a needle was stuck in his head, he would n’t answer.”

“Mmm, needles in my head…? Is there such a torture method…”

Amelia’s face turned blue as if a terrible sight had flashed into her head at Cleon’s words her. No matter how much he is a saint princess and a crusader who fights demons, Cleon reflects that the remark he just made may have been a little irritating.

The three leave the bar together and proceed cautiously down the back alley. It was because the succubus might be sensitive because of daytime work. It was because if there was a needless commotion, a superior or an executive could come and disrupt the search, just like yesterday. Behind the three people walking through the cool moonlit air. The fact that there are gray eyes watching them from the shadows, they haven’t noticed yet.

002

A stinky sewer passageway. It’s been decades since the underground facility was renovated, and a stench was constantly coming up from rusty iron rods here and there and wastes piled up in the sewage treatment facility. The reason might be the garbage that the vast population of the capital creates every day. Unlike the sewage system in general places that are relatively frequently maintained, back alleys are neglected places even in the kingdom. For this reason, it is natural for maintenance, but there was a discriminatory aspect.

Cleon, Ruba, and Amelia each cover their mouths and noses with a cloth and proceed inside. Of course, it was not a full-fledged protective equipment, so even if the respiratory system was protected, the stench was unavoidable. Amelia was already pale with her face darkening.

“…Are you okay.”

As if Ruba was worried about Amelia, she checked her complexion her and grabbed her shoulder her.

“Gwa, it’s okay. Rubera. At this level, I can bear it.”

Ruba saw Amelia like that and nodded her head. Soon after, she looks at Cleon and puts on an expression saying, “Try to do something” With her words.

Both Ruba and Cleon developed some resistance to this kind of environment as they went through various troubles, but it would be harsh to expect that level of resistance from Amelia as well. While thinking about what to do, Cleon tries to purify the air around her a little by using the divine magic of ‘Purification’ among Quon’s divine magic.

Certainly, it felt as if the air had become clear for a moment, but to no avail, the surrounding stench roamed around in the air, and if you purged only one part in an unventilated environment, it would quickly return to normal.

“…To solve this with purification magic, we’ll have to purify the entire underground waterway.”

“Is that possible?”

Ruba opened her eyes wide as if a little surprised by Cleon’s words to her.

“No, I can’t. Quon would be able to.”

However, she soon returned to her usual expression at Cleon’s words and looked at Cleon.

“Then what about this?”

It was then. When the three of them hurriedly turned their heads at the sudden voice that came from behind them, a child with gray hair was standing there with a strange mask on his face. The mask protruded like a bird’s beak, and had glass lenses inserted into its eyes. Every time I breathe, I hear a peculiar sound like ‘push-ko-‘.

“…Who are you?”

When Cleon warily puts his hand on the hilt of his sword, Rubera blocks him.

“That’s the detective I saw yesterday.”

“That’s right! It’s a sword with a good memory.”

Gray smiles and approaches her. Then, she handed over a mask similar to the one she was wearing. Since Cleonion, in the case of Gray, was the person who provided the ‘Replica of the Ring of Convenience’, a clue to save Eustes, he soon relaxed his guard and looked down at the mask.

“It’s a gas mask I made! It’ll definitely block odors and toxic substances, so I’m going to ask the woman over there to wear it.”

“…Why are you here? Are you following us?”

When Rubera raised an obvious question, Gray nodded her head openly.

“That’s right. As a citizen of the kingdom, I am also very interested in the incident that is happening. If you are, you seem to have a clue to solving the incident, so I followed you.”

“Do something useless…”

As Ruba let out her sighs, Amelia silently grabbed Cleon’s sleeve her. Cleon, who grasped the intention, talks to Ruba.

“But it’s true that I received help. Wouldn’t it be okay to act together?”

“…Are you serious?”

Ruba turns her attention to Amelia. She had to avoid revealing her true identity of her.

“It’s okay! I’ll never mind that girl! And even if she knows her identity her, she won’t brag about it. Her credibility her as a detective is at stake.”

“…Couldn’t you have figured out who it was already?”

When Cleon asked, Gray only whistled.

Anyway, when Amelia flips the mask she received from him, she too looks a little funny, but she notices that her breathing her has eased considerably.

“It’s amazing…! Really, the stench and stuffiness are gone.”

“Hehe, that’s a good sword. With this, can I go with you?”

Ruba and Cleon meet each other’s eyes, and soon after, Ruba sighs.

“…Please don’t interfere. And follow us properly.”

“Of course! Tailing is a detective’s specialty.”

Gray’s face was hidden by her mask of her, but he seemed to understand why there was a smile underneath her. Like the gas mask, and the replica of the Ring of Convenience. It was clear that he was no ordinary detective, but Cleon trusted Gray on the basis that he had no ill intentions.

“…Ah! Are you Mr. Cleon?”

“…Did you know me?”

“Of course. Aren’t you Miss Layla Flamewatch’s lover?”

“…”

When Gray said that, Cleon nodded awkwardly. They kept the fact that in 10 months she might be Lila’s father to her baby her.

“Well. I also owe you a little.

“That, yes…”

When Gray holds out his hand, Cleon grabs it and shakes it. Even holding his hand his, I felt that I was not sure whether it was a man or a woman.

“What are you doing? Follow me before I leave.”

When Ruba, who had already walked a long distance, said so, Gray hurriedly ran towards her. Looking at Gray’s back her, Cleon moved her steps to meet Ishtal’s `the woman she feared’.