Chapter 24.1 (1/2)

Chapter 24.1 : Night Banquet

◆Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki

「The surviving Striges….」

I glare at Reiji with an expression that’s as cold as possible for me.

But Reiji’s showing a nonchalant face while ignoring my glare.

Even if he notices it, he’s not the kind of man who cares about the ill intention of others.

I want him to at least notice it, though.

「Yeah, the corpses of goblins and orcs that were already turned into zombies had gathered around the rampart just yesterday night. So, it might have something to do with the surviving Striges, right?」

Striges are demons that possess a form that crosses between a human woman and an owl.

They should have been exterminated by us around one month ago.

At that time, we made use of Nao’s perception ability to search for their survivors inside their nesting place.

Currently, only the undead made by them as intercepting force could be found in that tower.

Could it be that that undead has come out of the tower?

But the undead shouldn’t be able to move without its master command.

When I think about it, maybe it was because there were no Striges in that tower at that time we searched or they might have hidden from Nao’s perception with some kind of means.

In the first place, those Striges were the ones in the wrong.

However, from Reiji’s story, it seems it couldn’t be concluded whether the culprit was really those Striges.

「What shall we do then?」

So I coldly enquired him.

「Ah, let’s beat those Striges for the sake of this kingdom」

Reiji’s smiling while saying so.

「Humph, for this kingdom huh…. Then I assume that it’s a request coming directly from princess Almina, right?」

Reiji nods to my question.

It seems that Reiji was sauntering around with Almina to enjoy the festival when we were enjoying the hot spring.

Thereupon, she asked him to take care of the zombies’ matter during that time.

But, I know that it’s just a lie. There’s no need to hide his whereabouts if he was just enjoying the festival with her.

It’ll make you even guilty. Thus, I can imagine the general situation. That is the reason why I’m looking at him with such a piercing cold glare.

「Look at me, where do you think those Striges are right now? 」

「Who knows?」

Reiji is raising his hands to make a gesture indicating that he does not know the answer.

「Youuu….」

I place my hand on my forehead.

The one at fault during the previous incident is definitely the Striges. Their nest location is also well known.

But we don’t know whether the Striges are the culprit in this incident.

「Geez…. We really can’t do anything unless we know who the real culprit is」

I can’t believe it, this man received such a request without knowing the situation just because it came from a princess.

Maybe we have to start from looking for the culprit first? Please stop making such unreasonable promises since we are occupied with the Diehart matter already.

「Well, we’ll be able to do it somehow」

Reiji is smiling confidently.

I’m staring daggers at Reiji.

「Reiji-kun, be more serious about this matter, you’re basically the one who’s responsible for this」

「I’m always serious you know」

Reiji retorts so in a nonchalant tone.

He doesn’t seem to be serious at all.

「But then, I don’t feel like searching for the culprit」

Reiji is surprised upon hearing that.

「Searching?」

I nod after hearing what Reiji asked in a questioning manner.

「You won’t search the culprit?」

Reiji nods.

「Why？」

When I ask him for the reason, his reply is as follows:

「Because they’ll show themselves sooner or later. It seems they’re making use of those zombies. I’ll make my move at that time」

I understand what his plan was after listening to his words.

「They definitely will show themselves….」

They’re definitely that type. They’re bound to cause some sort of incident.

Maybe it’s faster than scouring for the culprit one-by-one.

It seems Reiji’s answer has few meanings.

Reiji hates simple jobs such as gathering information and investigation.

He never even considers the option of preventing the incident; he always makes his move after the incident has happened.

In exchange for that, he moves as soon as the incident happens.

The problem lies in the fact that there might be some victims if he moves after the incident has happened.

Not choosing to prevent the incident but to settle it after the incident has happened. Maybe his actions are just like a hero in a certain meaning. At any rate, he’s praised by everyone for that kind of action.

「Thus, let’s take our own time until it happens」

I think “Is that so?” in hearing his words.

「Hey, Chiyuki-san. If it’s about Striges…. There’s that tower, isn’t it?」

Shirone suddenly interrupted my conversation with Reiji.

The tower she’s referring might be the tower where those Striges made their nest.

「Well, the culprit might be there but….」

「In that case, we should try searching in that place」

「Certainly, it’s better if we investigate this matter faster」

I reply with slightly evasive words.

「They are quite the troublesome people…. It’ll be a different story if we demolish that tower, though」

Reiji responds with such extreme words. Though Reiji will have no trouble in destroying that tower with his power, it’s way too barbaric.

「Reiji-kun. We won’t know whether there are Striges or not in that tower if you end up demolishing that tower. If you’re going to do that, do it after proper investigation」

Will this incident be solved as long as that tower is demolished?

So, we should investigate this matter properly. But that tower itself is bothersome since the inside resembles a labyrinth. Moreover, I don’t want to approach that place due to those loitering zombies.

In fact, that is the reason why I’m hesitating to investigate that tower. Moreover, the result of our investigation might end up being completely unrelated to this incident. Honestly, this matter is annoying.

Though it’s not Reiji, we might as well demolished that tower the last time we went there.

「Shall we travel to that tower tomorrow?」

Shirone suggests that.

「Shirone-san, I think it’s better to leave the investigation part to Nao-san」

Shirone isn’t that good in terms of investigating. If it’s for investigation, Nao and I are better choices.

When I glance at Nao, she shakes her head indicating that she doesn’t want to go. Well, I don’t want to go, too.

「We will only look at the situation for a while. Beside…. I want to swing my sword a bit」

It seems that’s her real intention. After losing the way to return to our world on top of losing to Diehart, Shirone fell into a slump. Maybe she wants to vent her stress out.

「I see, that sounds good to me」

Reiji agrees with her, too.

「In that case, please lend your hand, Shirone-san. I think you won’t meet any danger, but run as soon as the situation becomes dangerous」