Volume 16 3 Part 2(2/2)
He had been affected by various status ailments and cooperated with the demons unbeknownst to him.
“(This time the plan seems more complex, if there really is a demon behind this, it must be a pretty smart one, no? But in that case, why would it set up something like this in the first place?)”
“(Since it has a high degree of intellect, it’s using it to make people suffer?)”
Sety answered Filma’s question with a theory. Something like that had happened in the past.
The demon who kidnapped the church’s holy woman crafted a plan to make people suffer.
It could easily have killed them at any given time, but didn’t. Shin and the others learned directly that such demons existed too.
“(Based on the demons we have faced up until now, we can say that their methods have changed a little. It’s also safe to say that they might have abilities we aren’t aware of. There’s not much we can do, but let’s keep each other informed about anything we notice.)”
If they continued the Mind Chat too long they wouldn’t be able to follow Graffior and the others’ conversation, so Shin cut it for the time being.
Schnee looked like she could keep up without trouble, but Shin was struggling to keep up with two conversations at once. Especially this time, there were many things to think about, so he was afraid of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.
Schnee had taken the lead in the conversation with Graffior and the others, so it had worked out until now.
“Let’s use items and purify the poison in groups. The demons might do something, but if we go individually the castle and its functions will remain paralyzed. There might be some who could die because of the poison.”
“I suppose that is inevitable. If the enemy is planning something outside the castle, spending too much time here would play right into their hands. This is quite a difficult decision. To think there might really be demons, though. I honestly thought they only existed in old tales.”
Shin’s party had faced them various times, but few people in this world were aware of the demons’ activities.
Even kings like Graffior were no exception.
Shin thought that they should inform their connections that the demons were on the move again, once the current situation was resolved.
After the conversation, they began purifying the castle of poison. The affected area was wide, but the poison itself was not very strong.
Shin quickly crafted antitoxin items with his skills and gave them to the healed soldiers. He also asked Sety and Filma to continue removing the poison and administering antidotes.
The healed soldiers would in turn become healers, so it didn’t take much time until all the soldiers in the castle recovered.
The menu displayed that it was still a little after 10 PM.
The group arrived in Passner a bit after 7 PM, so about three hours had passed since they started heading for the castle. The actual poison removal took about two hours.
“I thought Durgin would attack, but looks like nothing’s happening at the moment.”
“Right. Why did they spread that poison anyway? No attacks from Durgin or anyone else, nothing was taken, no one was kidnapped. It’s beginning to sound like a sick joke.”
In a room assigned to the party, Shin spoke while looking out of the window and Filma, sitting on a chair, replied while cocking her head in disbelief.
They had been assigned individual rooms, but they gathered in Shin’s room to discuss.
“If the enemy is truly intelligent, it might have noticed our presence and concealed itself..”
“The poison was spread before we arrived, though. That seems a bit far-fetched, no?”
If the demon had only average fighting power, it might have perceived how powerful Shin’s party was and fled, said Filma while thinking.
As Sety pointed out, it didn’t sound plausible.
“Even if it was an indiscriminate terrorist act, the effects are too mild. Could it be that the mastermind is not a demon after all?”
“The possibility is there. It’s not like demons are responsible for all bad things that happen.”
Shin agreed with Schnee’s hypothesis.
In this world monsters were an ever-present threat, but countries would still wage war against each other at times.
At present, because of the power relations between countries and the relations between neighboring territories, no large-scale wars were going on, but the possibility of conflict breaking out in the future still existed.
After the Dusk of Majesty smaller conflicts broke out in various regions, as Shin had learned from a document he had read earlier.
The possibility that this act was caused by a foreign agent was not zero. Even if it was, there were still many unclear points about the whole affair.
“I can’t feel miasma, but there is a strange aura here. Something like..a mixture?”
Only Shin and his party was in the room, so Yuzuha took human form and spoke. Sitting on a sofa next to Shin, she looked perplexed.
Yuzuha could also perceive miasma, but she confidently said that there wasn’t any in the surroundings. She could feel an unusual aura, though.
“A mixture? How does that feel exactly?”
Shin thought it would be difficult to explain such a sensation, but decided to ask Yuzuha all the same.
“Like a negative feeling, close to miasma..I guess?”
It was not a strong impurity, but something closer to lingering negative emotions.
Yuzuha added that Shin and Schnee couldn’t feel it because it wasn’t miasma and it was also very faint.
“Either a long time passed or it was faint from the beginning. We can’t tell for sure about this either. We do know that it’s definitely hostile towards us and that Durgin landed here for a reason.”
The causes were still unknown, but there definitely was a mastermind hiding in the shadows.
Durgin, like Baomultan, was a creature necessary for the world. If possible, Shin wanted to do something for the monster.
“Let’s keep our guard up for today. I’m thinking we should take turns sleeping, what do you all think?”
Everyone nodded to Shin’s proposal. They had all rested plenty in Romenun, so their condition was perfect.
There were items that helped a user not feel sleepy.
According to Shibaid, while convenient these items let exhaustion accumulate faster and made it easier to lose focus, so it was better to rest when possible.
Shin had never used such items after coming to this world, so he decided to follow Shibaid’s advice.
There also were skills that could alert the user if any monsters approached.
Someone would stand guard just in case while the others slept, but there was no reason for everyone to force themselves to stay awake.
“First it’ll be me and— ”
“And me.”
Schnee raised her hand before Shin could end his sentence. Filma and Sety nodded, knowing smiles on their lips.
“I will stay up too!”
Yuzuha joined in while leaning against Shin. She had recuperated most of her powers and looked almost like an adult, but many of her gestures were still childish.
She was taller than before, so her pointy fox ears could touch Shin’s. They would move sometimes, which Shin found a bit ticklish.
“My my, looks like Schnee has a rival here.”
“Not a problem. Shin is not such a fickle person.”
Schnee sharply replied to Filma’s joke, smiling in return. Her behavior and words fully expressed her trust in him.
“Schnee would always panic a little in these situations, but look at her confident smile now..! They definitely did it..”
“This feels more like big sis Schnee, though. She isn’t the type to catch someone and keep them chained, but to catch someone and make them feel like they don’t want to escape. I bet Shin is already caught in all sorts of ways already. Like through his stomach.”
“You two? You do know that if you continue saying whatever you please like that, I will have to take the proper countermeasures?”
Schnee’s aura changed.
Filma and Sety understood that they were about to step in dangerous territory and quickly left, saying they would go to sleep first.
“They’re always ready to make fun of me, those two..”
“Your aura became softer, after all. I guess it’s easier to joke like that now.”
Shin was sure that they wouldn’t have said so much before.
“It’s a problem if they find me easier to make fun of.”
“They’re not just having fun at your expense, you know that. Just let them have a bit of fun.”
“You can say that because they don’t make fun of you, Shin. Besides, they ask me all sorts of embarrassing things when you’re not around.”
Schnee looked really embarrassed, as she went red up to her ears. They apparently dug really deep, probably without restraint as they belonged to the same gender.
Shibaid also wanted to know more about what happened, but, because of his personality, he would never ask intimate questions like Filma and Sety did.
“I kind of understand Filma and Sety. Shibaid never asks me anything though.”
Like Filma and Sety with Schnee, for Shibaid it would surely be easier to ask Shin about what happened while he was alone with Schnee.
Shin couldn’t recall being asked such questions, though.
“I wonder if he’s holding back?”
When they met in this world, Shin told Shibaid to be unrestrained with him, but the Dragnil clearly still felt their master-servant relationship strongly.
They belonged to the same party and entrusted each other’s backs to the other in battle. Even so, Shin felt that there may not be a wall, but a line clearly traced between them.
“In Shibaid’s case, I think it’s more due to his personality than restraint. If Girard was here, he would ask questions as brazen as Filma’s, I think.”
Shin agreed that Girard would have done just that. Even if they were both warriors, Girard and Shibaid’s personalities were quite different.
“Shibaid’s thinking has become more flexible. I suppose his time as king has been beneficial.”
“Really? I didn’t think that he changed much..no, I guess he did.”
Shin recalled what Shibaid said when they met again, words like a general meeting his king, and retracted his statement.
In the game era, Shibaid would never have casually addressed Shin unless ordered it.
“..everyone’s changed. Everyone has lived all this time. Of course they would.”
“Shin?”
Schnee, finding him different from usual, couldn’t help but call his name.
“No, it’s just that I’ve never properly asked everyone about how they lived, what they did while I wasn’t around.”
He had talked about it with Schnee while they were alone, but apart from her, the only one Shin talked with at length was Girard.
Considering he had lived over 500 years, it was just a tiny moment, but for Shin it was something unforgettable.
He had heard very superficial things from Shibaid, Filma and Sety.
While talking with Schnee and Yuzuha, Shin thought that he should talk with those three much more.
“Let me start by speaking about them from my viewpoint, then. It’s better than just waiting, no?”
“Yes, please.”
Shin agreed to Schnee’s proposal, had the sleepy Yuzuha turn into small fox mode and picked her up in his arms. She cuddled up and quickly drifted off to dreamland.
Yuzuha said she would stay awake, but evidently succumbed to sleep.
“It’s already Yuzuha’s bed time.”
“Hard to think that she is a legendary monster..”
Yuzuha usually turned in early at night.
Except when an enemy was near, on normal days she would always sleep soundly. So maybe today there would not be enemy attacks.
Maybe she was getting accustomed to her body while she slept, so she could be doing it now too.
“You can’t go to sleep too, okay Shin?”
“Of course, I know.”
Shin placed Yuzuha on his lap, careful not to wake her up, stroking her fur as he listened to Schnee.