Chapter 50 (1/2)

Chapter 50

Chapter 50: After the Fog

“U, u, UOOOHHHH!!”

“Awesome, awesome, awe~SOME!”

“A single blow against such a gigantic Shadow Demon!”

It looks like [Destruction] worked properly in pulverizing that monster.

What a relief.

The city guards and adventurers are so hyped that they are roaring out at the top of their lungs.

That gigantic Shadow Demon had felt several times more dangerous than even the Rock Demons that I had seen in the Shadow Demon nest. Having suddenly been released from that heavy bloodthirst, I can understand the adventurers and guards being a bit high.

“The power of your magic is every bit as absurd as the rumors claim…...”

“...... I don’t know what rumors are out there, but at least what you just saw was real. Though it wasn’t magic, but wizardry.”

Even the voice of Gad, the experienced adventurer Leader, is filled with heat. The Carbanera knights had responded the same way when we subjugated the Shadow Demon nest. Does this make me seem like someone who likes advertising his own name? Well, I guess I am trying to spread my name, so I suppose there’s no helping that.

But this is not the time to daze out thinking about such things.

“By means of this spell, may 108 living beings within my field of sight be paralyzed. [Greater Hold].”

I use a spell to paralyze all of the black hooded people, who seem as shocked as Baron Koval. They all fall down due to suddenly being robbed of their movement, but I hope they’ll bear with at least this much.

“...... Capture them all! Draw back their hoods!”

Coming back to his senses, the city guards’ commanding officer barks out an order. At that, the guards rush towards the black hoods.

“Carefully investigate every inch of the place! There might be escape routes or traps, so stay on your toes!”

“You got it!”

Gad and the other adventurers undertake the searching of the vicinity, making full use of their skills.

I myself also keep a sharp eye on the surroundings and the remains of the pulverized Shadow Demon statue for a while, but don’t notice any particular problems.

♥♦♣♠

“Uaa….. uaaaghh……”

When all the hoods were removed, the city guards confirmed that the the leader who had been manipulating(?) the gigantic Shadow Demon was indeed Baron Koval.

Just like Jyagul had been after being de-petrified, the Baron was no longer in a state where conversation was possible. Seeing the dim golden flicker within his eyes, I tried to use my ESP Medal on him, but only learned that the Shadow Demon influence had reached very deep into his heart.

I suspect that he did not begin wors.h.i.+pping the Shadow Demons on his own volition.

The city guards did not recognize the man who had been cut up by the gigantic Shadow Demon’s pincers. One of the adventurers, however, claimed that he resembled the Village Head of a village under the Koval House’s rule. Considering the fact that he had been the one offering prayers in front of the altar, he was most likely one of the main perpetrators as well.

The rest were, as expected, dark elf girls.

With dark tanned skin in commo

n, each and every one of them were young ladies with their own characteristic charm.

All of them were in a completely emotionless doll-like state, exactly like Leiha had been. Their fully golden eyes indicated that they had already been completely brainwashed.

Although I had only prepared 1 charge of [Curse Break], I thought about trying to dispel the brainwashed status of all them with [Dispel Magic]. While [Curse Break] is a single-target spell, [Dispel Magic] erases all effects due to wizardry within a certain radius, so it is very convenient spell.

“............?!”

“What’s going on?!”

“Gah…… gafu…… guhooh?!”

“Oi……?”

Therefore, I tried [Dispel Magic] on Baron Koval and the dark elves all at once.

The very moment the Shadow Demon influence was eliminated from the inside, the Baron’s body began twitching so violently that it seemed his spine would almost snap…… then he died.

Based on my knowledge from TRPGs and fantasy works, the Shadow Demon curse must have already fused with his life, such that when the curse was removed, his life also went with it.

But still.

Despite the fact that he was the one who plotted harm against myself and Mora and the rest, I still felt a bit depressed about letting someone die.

Since if I had been able to safely undo his brainwas.h.i.+ng, he might have become able to live a normal life again……

As for the dark elves, they merely lost consciousness, but seemed otherwise fine. Judging by the color of their eyes, it seemed like they had even deeper under Shadow Demon influence though. Perhaps the depth of the brainwas.h.i.+ng and the strength of the relations.h.i.+p to Shadow Demons are two separate factors.

I’m sorry to the Baron, and I can’t say this out loud due to ethical reasons, but…… if I’m honest with myself, I would probably have been much more depressed if it was these girls who died instead of the Baron……

♥♦♣♠

“Per your command, the dark elves will be transferred to the medical center for treatment, after which then they will be imprisoned.”

“It seems like there really isn’t anything else around here.”

Hearing the city guards’ commanding officer and Gad’s report, I can finally breathe easy.

Though they said there’s nothing, there are still lots of things that the city guards will have to dedicate time and manpower to examining later on, such the doc.u.ments inside the mansion related to Demonism wors.h.i.+p and the human remains piled up around the ritual grounds.

Even though Baron Koval and the priest-like man are both dead, we do not know for sure that there are no more Demonists in Lelis. The investigation needs to be thorough and, depending on the situation, my help might be needed again.

Whether everything is truly over will depend on the results of their investigation.

But still, this has now given me a slight bit of peace of mind.

♥♦♣♠

The rest of the time I spent in Lelis were head-spinningly busy.

The very day we failed to apprehend Baron Koval (though everyone calls it ‘successfully defeating Baron Koval’), I had to partic.i.p.ate in a joint meeting with the Council Chairman, Adventurer’s Guild guildmaster, Magician’s Guild guildmaster, and the Garrison Commander in regards to our next move.

I personally wish to build a strong friends.h.i.+p with the city of Lelis. The Council Chairman, being who he is, was worried that the scandal of such a well-known personage being revealed as a Demonist would turn into censure against the Council.

The countermeasure that we came up with was to use the trial of the dark elves. I would take that chance to explain the incident to the citizens, and to appeal to them the fact that the Council had done everything in its power to resolve the situation.

When we promised to share some of the credit with the magicians and adventurers, the two guildmasters also agreed to go along with the plan (though I didn’t bother digging into Heldol’s inner thoughts).

As there were still 10 more days before the trial, I stayed at Irudo’s mansion and spent the time cooperating with the investigation and going around greeting the various powerbrokers in the city.

The encounter that left the deepest impression on me was, as can be expected, the talk with Count Andel of the Council’s n.o.ble Faction. In other words, Claura’s grandfather.

The obese elder who was unlike his granddaughter in every way possible remained in jovial spirits the entire time. Apparently he had had a very bad relations.h.i.+p with Baron Koval, despite being fellow n.o.bles in the same party.

“This is the best that I’ve felt in the past 10 whole years! Wizard-dono! How about riding this flow and marrying into my family and taking over all of Lelis?!”