Chapter 59 (1/2)
Chapter 59 – Post-processing (事後処理) ?
「……Do you live in this area? Could you tell me the reason you’re in this sort of place?」
After restraining the self-proclaimed Demon King and calming down, the armoured man called out to me.
By the way, with the exception of me and the man in front of me, there are around twenty people in this place. Since everyone is wearing similar armour, I think they’re probably from the Chivalric Order.
In other words, could this be an interrogation?
Well, though isn’t necessary to hide anything in particular either ne.
「I’m an adventurer that accepted a Goblin subjugation commission from the Adventurers’ Guild. I’m here for the purpose of that commission.」
After giving a simple explanation (?), sure enough, the armoured man was surprised.
「From the Adventurers’ Guild…? Commission, you say, you’re an adventurer? No, but…. Come to think of it, I have heard a rumour though…」
Tsk, as expected, so it’s become like this on our first meeting huh. Although I thought I’d gotten accustomed to these exchanges, the thought of repeating the same thing over and over from now on for the rest of my life… That d.a.m.ned self-proclaimed G.o.d-sama(laugh)…!
Despite being irritated, I silently presented my adventurer’s card
「fumu…… certainly…. This confirms you’re an adventurer. Because of that, if possible, could you talk about what you know? At the time we came, the Lesser Dragon was acting violently so we immediately entered combat you see. To be honest, we don’t know anything about this man either.」
He said, while looking at the tied up and unconscious self-proclaimed Demon King.
Since there’s no need to hide this either, I answered within the scope of my understandings.
「I see, Subordination Magic huh…. That sure is a troublesome thing. However, it’s fortunate that it was stopped before it caused any large damages.」
It appears it hasn’t done any damage to humans at least ne.
Come to think of it, I wonder why the Chivalric Order is in this sort of place?
At least it doesn’t seem much time has pa.s.sed since I first discovered the dragon. If you think about it normally, even if the Chivalric Order gets contacted for an immediate subjugation, it should take a few hours getting here from the Royal Capital. Looking at the position of the sun, I believe not much time has pa.s.sed but…
When I tried asking that question, the armoured man’s response was this,
「We are the survey team for the highway and the surrounding’s subjugations. When we stopped by Aire Village, a man came rus.h.i.+ng in. While screaming 『there’s a dragon!』. I immediately asked for the full story and came rus.h.i.+ng here. Since I dispatched a messenger to the Royal Capital as well, I think they’ll be arriving soon. Well, it’s not necessary anymore thanks to you. More importantly though, I want to know, what are you?1 Fighting an S ranked over Lesser Dragon alone, furthermore, easily cutting off those hard scales and skin…」
n? So that means, the Chivalric Order arrived here around 30 minutes after I collapsed?
However, even if he asks what am I…… right?
「I’m just an adventurer you know?」
「There’s no way you’re just an adventurer! I saw your card just now but, you’re a D rank right? There’s no way a D ranked adventurer could fight a Lesser Dragon alone, furthermore, defeating it while being uninjured!」
「Even if you say that…. I’m re
ally just an adventurer. Besides, I wasn’t uninjured you know? I was on the verge of death from its tail’s attack.」
Ah, I feel angry after remembering it again. That d.a.m.ned self-proclaimed G.o.d-sama(laugh)…!
「Verge of death you say……. no matter how I look at it, aren’t you uninjured!? Besides, no matter how you think about it, don’t you think it’s strange? To cut off a dragon’s tail in a single blow!!」
Aー, that was…
「Perhaps, I think you wouldn’t believe me even if I said it but… When I was on the verge of death, I met a person who called himself G.o.d-sama you see. Because of that, my body got restored, and my weapon also got blessed, was what I was told.」
Also, there’s that curse in the name of a blessing as well!
Well, even if I said something like that, they’d think, ‘isn’t she insane?’ ne2. I’d also think it’s strange if I heard that.
However, the armoured man’s reaction was different.
「What? You met G.o.d? Furthermore, receiving a blessing you say…. Then, that weapon is a sacred treasure!? If that’s the case, I’d be convinced…. Could you show me that weapon!?」
Hey, please don’t get so close! Scary, it’s scary you know!?
I hurriedly nodded and handed over the katana.
「Ooh…, so this is a sacred treasure huh…. I never would’ve thought, the day I could lay my eyes on it would come…!」
He was awfully moved.
Well, it is a sacred treasure nee…. Although I’m not happy since it’s that self-proclaimed G.o.d-sama’s blessing. Well, it should certainly be sharp, right?3
A sacred treasure is, well, just like its name, is said to be a weapon blessed by G.o.d-sama, or a magic tool created by G.o.d-sama.
Although it’s said there are twenty-three of them on this continent, all of their existences are nothing but rumors, so no one knows whether it’s the truth or not. That’s because, the items that are referred to as sacred treasures are stored as national treasures so they can’t be verified. Exhibition of sacred treasures are rarely done, but of course, let alone touching, getting close to one is difficult, much less something like the ability to verify them, it’s absurd4.
In the first place, it’s said that sacred treasures chooses its user, if a person other than the chosen uses it, it turns into an ordinary trash.
And its number one feature is…… a curse. Although it’s said to be a curse, if the proper user possesses it, there’s no problem in using it. However, it’s said if an unrecognized person tries to use its ability by force, or if they steal it from the owner, a calamity will befall upon them. Although I don’t know much are truths since they’re rumors, there are stories such as a person who tried to steal one suddenly got run over by a carriage, or tripping over a roadside pebble then falling down and dying from a hitting their head. Also, when a certain country tried to possess a sacred treasure and prepared for war, before the start of the war, an epidemic attacked that country and half the soldiers died, furthermore, they even received serious damages from droughts and floods. Well, it’s a suspicious legend though…
Although I don’t know whether they’re true or not, the fact is there have been large conflicts that have occurred concerning sacred treasures during history and the truth hasn’t remained.5
Furthermore, once it recognizes an owner, it seems it’s impossible to part with the sacred treasure until you die.
Even if its thrown away, it seems it’ll return to your hands before you know it, and of course, it’s the same if its stolen. Because it’s a famous story, it seems that not to mention buying and selling sacred treasures, there is no one foolish enough to steal them.
What I mean by ‘it seems’, is that from the records, the last owner of a sacred treasure was around two hundred years ago.
By the way, it’s said if you try to abuse the power of a sacred treasure, or if you use a sacred treasure to commit crimes, a calamity will fall upon the owner.
Aah, it’s incredibly troublesome, don’t you think? It’s somewhat unpleasant nee…
「I want to throw it away… (mumble)」
Maybe he heard the mumbling that I unintentionally leaked out, the armoured man added another thing.
「I think you know this since it’s a famous story, but there’s never been a case of a sacred treasure being lost. Even if it’s stolen, even if it’s thrown away, since it’s said it’ll return to its proper owner, it’s surely impossible to part with it.」
Well, no matter how you see it, it’s like a cursed item. It’s similar to something from a ghost story I’ve heard…. A cursed doll, was it?
That self-proclaimed G.o.d-sama (laugh), how is it a blessing? The weapon, the eternal youth, I think they’re all curses. Aah, the next time we meet, I’ll tear out all the hair on his head and use it to plant a lawn (lolololol) in exchange6. And then I’ll call him hair-sama (lol). fufufu…. (note: a pun, hair can be p.r.o.nounced as ‘kami’, the same as G.o.d (kami))
I ended up unintentionally using the internet slang my elder brother taught me as I thought of the self-proclaimed G.o.d-sama(laugh)’s retribution.
Ahem, when I calmed down, the armoured man returned the katana to me.
When I received the katana, for some reason or another, I made sure to hold it between my fingers, I think it can’t be helped.
Ah…, which reminds me, the Goblin subjugation, what should I do about it…?
More or less, there’s a rule where you have to take with you the body parts as verification for the subjugation commission, but… No matter how you look at it, I won’t be able to obtain it, don’t you think…? Besides, it was the dragon that defeated them…
Would this time’s commission turn into a failure?
For the time being, I’ll ask the armoured man since he knows more than me.
「Umm, it might be strange to hear this sort of thing but…. Although I received a Goblin subjugation commission, what happens this time? At the time I came, the Goblins had been annihilated, is this a failed commission as expected, or…?」