Chapter 38: Like a Cirsium VII (1/2)

The sky had turned red.

Once dusk had passed, night would come to the city. It would be a night brimming with the heat and craziness of people.

In order to accomplish great things, one had to anticipate the future to some extent and prepare for it. I asked the merchant company to arrange for a ship, asked Makina to manufacture something, and got promises from Ryutetto’s party members. I asked the military policeman that I knew to prepare various documents, including a petition. I got those documents stamped with King Lemuria's official seal.

Just these preparations alone had taken me from noon till evening.

I was currently on the way to where those people were with the proof in hand. And although it really couldn’t be helped, Otou-san, the person who had killed Irvin, was coming along with me.

If not for this person, I would likely be dead. Even though I understood that in my head, it was pretty hard for me to keep calm.

「When all is said and done, we're guard dogs」

Breaking the silence, Otou-san spoke to me.

「Those that keep an eye on the remaining beasts of St. Lyridias in order to prevent them from escaping the cage of humans, you see?」

「”Remaining”, huh?」

It was the truth, but it was an ironic choice of words.

「According to the anecdote about Lyridias, her whole life was a fight against the beast disease. In search of a method of curing it, she traveled the continents, and when the information she found above ground wasn't enough, she explored the dungeons in search of the knowledge of the ancients. She contracted with every god and gathered every bit of wisdom. Inside Vindoobunikuru, there is the name Duin, the Silent. According to Rasta's investigation, it appears that she was actually Lyridias」

Rasta is the barkeeper’s name.

Or rather, that surprised me.

That’s a connection to an unexpected place, isn’t it? Did Lyridias hide her name because she wasn't concerned about fame? Or was there some other reason?

「After her hard work and perseverance, she obtained a miracle and attained godhood in her dying moments. In reality, she only sealed it temporarily. Those knights, who were under the wrong impression, increasingly increased, all the while praising St. Lyridias. The works of a woman who had given everything to cure the disease ended up causing the disease to become widely spread. It’s an ironic tale」

The works of the gods of this world are always full of irony.

They were the words of a person who had fought another disease. If only the beast hunter kings had rotted in obscurity quietly like he did. What a disgraceful thing it was to be heroes who didn't know when to quit.

They were deserving of contempt.

「Otou-san......」

......killed Irvin..................with a really practiced hand.

He wouldn't have become so practiced if he had only done it once or twice.

「......how many beasts have you killed so far?」

Since he brought up irony, I asked a question bristling with irony.*

「Hmm?」

Otou-san stopped in his tracks.

「Let me see………………It was much worse in the past, you see? When I was a kid, and when the governance of this place was entrusted to Dimast, the previous Margrave, those stupid knights who couldn’t even read maps took on foolish and reckless adventures, so beasts appeared almost every day.

Any that were found inside the dungeon were treated as monsters. Moreover, Dimast was using the beasts to conduct blasphemous experiments. Things like what happened this time occurred on a daily basis.

It was a rough time, you see? The adventurers who had gathered here were nothing but atrocious people. Oh, sorry. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting along in age, I prattle too much about useless things. Well, probably one to two hundred. I don't remember the number exactly」

A chill ran down my spine.

「But don't get the wrong idea. I only got lucky and took advantage of openings. It isn't through real ability. Most guys are disappointed when they hear this, but I'll tell you the deepest floor that I've reached. It's the 20th floor」

「Huh?」

As a rule of thumb, adventurers who had reached the 20th floor were called novice adventurers, and those who hadn't were called greenhorn adventurers.

To think that the person known as the father of adventurers was a novice adventurer.

「You're disappointed, aren't you? As I brought those dangerous knights back to the surface, and took care of the greenhorn adventurers while I was at it, there just happened to be those who became heroes and famous adventurers later among them.

Father of adventurers is the name that those guys used to lift me up in order to hide their own shame. I’m neither a great person nor am I much of an adventurer. Be it now or in the past, I’m only a common and insignificant mercenary. Even if you rely on me, I won’t be of much use」

「In that case, I'm counting on you to at least take arrows for me」

「Yeah, it is what it is」

Even so, this person should be stronger than me when it came to close combat.

And in the unlikely event that he gets killed, my heart won't hurt one bit.

「There’s one thing that I want to ask you」

「What would that be?」

Otou-san came to a halt.

And looked straight at me.

With a mechanical expression that didn't have a hint of emotion.

「The explanation that you gave Ryutetto's party members. It wasn’t a lie, was it?」

「It wasn’t」

I had explained to her party members that she had been killed by an unidentified enemy that had attacked us. That wasn’t wrong. I had to hide his name, but it didn’t change the fact that Sanperie was the cause. Even if I had told them the truth, I wouldn’t have been able to explain the reason for hiding the existence of the beast.

「Well, I'll leave it at that」

He probably found it suspicious. Even so, he was handling it like an adult by not questioning me further.

「We’ve arrived」

Otou-san pointed out a bar with his chin.

It was a small and slightly run-down bar. It was a bar that was beneath a hero-sama, but he had been banned from almost all of the respectable bars due to the problems he had caused all over the city.

I entered the bar.

I found the two people that I was looking for in the corner. They were eating dried food that looked unappetizing and drinking liquor that looked cheap.

「Hey~, long time no see, beast hunter Varner-sama and knight-companion Luxgaru-sama. Do you remember me? I’m the person who had formed a party with Irvin・Foz・Gasim」

Negotiations should start with a smile.

I flashed an ominous smile at them. The two of them were startled at the sight of my face and attitude.

「I’ve come today to talk a bit of business」

Luxgaru recovered his composure and spoke to me.

「I've heard about Irvin. It’s unfortunate」

「What do you mean by unfortunate? Who did you hear it from?」

Irvin's death had not been made public. The people who knew about it were me, the king, Otou-san, the Guild President and the Margrave. If someone among these people had leaked the information, it would probably be the Margrave.

With this one thing, their source of information had been revealed.

「No need for this superficial and troublesome probing of each other」

Varner put his foot on the table and swept the food and liquor off the table with it.

I'll kill you, you scumbag.

Were the words that I swallowed. Right now, what I should be prioritizing was not my pride.

「With the father of adventurers in tow, I’m sure that you didn’t come here to play around」

Varner smiled.

I smiled too.

This act of smiling at each other was called threatening.

The reason why he hadn’t wanted to probe each other is because he is bad at it, isn’t it?

「It's a negotiation, Varner・Kalbezzo」

「And? What are you offering? That big-breasted elf you have with you? If it’s her, then I’ll bestow the favor of a hero especially upon her」

I didn’t rise to the bait.

Silently, I thrust the symbol that I had taken out onto the table.

It was a medium of St. Lyridias that was in the shape of Φ. Engraved in small letters on its side was Varner’s name.

I heard a metallic clang.

Sparks flew in front of my eyes and a metal fragment hit my cheek. I couldn’t see anything but the end result. Otou-san had stopped the great-sword that Varner had whipped out using his sword.

I hadn’t been able to discern either the approaching blade or when he had drawn his sword.

Even though I had keen insight, that was something different from kinetic vision.

The surrounding adventurers turned their eyes to us and then quickly lost interest.

「From your reaction, I was able to tell the authenticity of this」

Keeping my trembling and cold sweat under control, I handed the symbol to Otou-san.