Chapter 254 (1/2)
Death Mage 254 – Alcrem
Insect and arachnid monsters either had innate instincts that were too powerful or intelligence that was too low for them to be tamed Perhaps ordinary people who didn't come into contact with e for knights and adventurers
However, although Arachne possessed the characteristics of spiders, they were a race created by Vida Naturally, the co untamable did not apply to them, as they were not actually arachnid monsters
For so care of the process for Vandalieu's group entering the city instead of a city guard And he could understand the explanation that Vandalieu had 'tamed' an Arachne
“Still, I've never heard of there being an Arachne or Scylla territory between here and the city of Morksi,” the knight said, looking at Gizania and Privel, who had coe
Incidentally, Privel was a Scylla Origin who had dragon heads on the ends of her tentacles, but like Gizania and Myuze, she was disguised as an ordinary Scylla with a Magic Item
“If it is true that you ta your journey, I would like to hear a detailed account just in case, if that is alright? I mean, there have been various incidents in the past with people like underground slave traders illegally sellingthat they had ta because of his age, in a polite tone “Of course, it is not that I suspect you of being such a group I just need to carry out due procedure, just in case”
He wasn't one of the knights who had coate when Vandalieu and his companions first joined the queue He had been cal
“… For as long as we can reether It is likely that ere kidnapped by the underground slave traders that you have ht-dono,” said Gizania
“And the slave traders must have died somewhere, because the three of us were left abandoned in a cave We worked together to escape from the cave,” said Privel
“We stayed together to survive after that We traveled fro places where humans live But in one of the forests, ere captured after we stepped into a trap laid by bandits,” said Myuze
“And then ere about to be sold to another group of underground slave traders,” said Kachia “Incidentally, I'm a former human as captured by the bandits in a separate incident”
The four of theht them to the forest between Alcrem and Morksi
“And while erebandits and let us to their base,” said Sam
“We cleared the bandits out and rescued these four!” said Juliana
“All of theot on well, so we decided to travel together,” said Darcia
The explanation from these three concluded as to why the four new additions were tamed
“That's how it is Do you have any questions?” Vandalieu asked the elderly knight
The knight gave a puzzled groan, turning not towards Vandalieu, but towards Simon and Natania “I suppose this story is the truth?”
“Of course, it is indeed the truth,” said Simon
“What he said,” said Natania
The two of theed to give the answers they had decided upon beforehand, albeit in a stiff tone
The old knight sighed and turned back to Vandalieu “Then I shall ask you just in case, but what did you do with those underground slave traders and bandits?”
“We slaughtered them all,” Vandalieu said
“And the location of their base?”
“My an our attack, and after we saved Gizania and the others, we carefully burned everything to the ground to ensure that the base can't be used by other bandits I think the only thing you'd find is a large pile of ash If you're still interested, I can give you the location”
Isla, asn't here, and Chipuras and the other Ghosts ith Vandalieu right now, had expected the questions that the elderly knight had asked Thus, Vandalieu had gone to the trouble of using the 'Gole the wood of the trees, then Princess Levia had burned them down to create a 'burned down bandit base'
As for the corpses, Vandalieu had buried some bones left over from bandits he and his companions had defeated before
Even if the elderly knight ate, they would likely be fooled
“Would you like to see the treasures that the bandits had? Though as an amateur adventurer, I do claim ownershi+p of them,” said Vandalieu
Naturally, these treasures were also to support his story
“No, that will not be necessary,” said the elderly knight, declining to check it
Perhaps he had realized that it would be pointless to do so
Instead, he directed his gaze at Juliana, with his expression indicating that he wanted to say so He stared at her for a while
“Knight-sa on my face?” Juliana asked
She are of the reason the elderly knight was looking at her He had likely realized that she resembled Juliana Alcrem, the human she had been in her previous life
But in the end, the knight shook his head and didn't bring it up “No, it's nothing,” he said as he turned back to Vandalieu “Very well If that's how it is, there's no probleister at the Taet them proof that they're familiars by the end of the day”
With that, the investigation of Gizania and the others was over The other knights, especially those who had rushed to the back of the line outside the city when Vandalieu and his co expressions of disbelief But the elderly knight said nothing nored them
The elderly knight are that Vandalieu's explanation was suspicious He are of it, but he saw no point in following up on his suspicions and trying to reveal the truth… because Vandalieu and his co the law
It was illegal in many duchies for members of Vida's races to leave the territories they were living in without permission However, in ere free to go wherever they liked… although this was sied
And Vandalieu had said that Gizania and the others had been tas; they were legally treated the same as an adventurer's weapons
Thus, restricting theirthem to the respective territories of their races would be equivalent to taking an adventurer's weapons from him
And even if the story is a lie and the truth is that he already met the Arachne and Scylla somewhere else, it doesn't seem like it would affect the city's safety It would be a probleht the ta' them to another tamer employed by a noble, but… these woh training, drugs or ht
His experienced eyes could tell that Gizania and the others were acting But he didn't think they looked as if they were being forced to lie through threats or drugs
And their tamer, Vandalieu, was the 'Patron Saint of Transformation Equipment,' and his mother Darcia was the 'Holy Mother of Victory' as capable of su a familiar spirit of Vida Their reputation provided plenty of proof that they would not coainst members of Vida's races
Trying to investigate any further would be little different froht had come to
“The last thing I wanted to check was these two horses They're Demon Horses, aren't they? The coachman doesn't seem to be the tamer, but if Vandalieu has tamed theht said, unhesitatingly stroking Mähne and Hof's necks
At that uards froze in anxiety, but…
Mähne and Hof neighed softly, see to not care
“Yes, they really are well-behaved It seems that they are very sturdy Dehts' Order,” the old knight said “Well then, once you've paid the entry toll for your coachman, you're free to pass!”
Familiars were not subject to entry tolls, so the only person required to pay it was Sa the party asn't a member of a Guild
However, a knight with a square jaho had been silently watching the elderly knight's questioning, interrupted “Wait You're being a little easy on thee canine e hellhound, and several other monsters of equal Rank, enter the city I personally think we should investigate more carefully”
“No, asking any an
Vandalieu, perceiving that the square-jawed knight possibly held a higher position and the elderly knight could not stop him, spoke up
“If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them,” he said
The square-jawed knight cast his gaze around at Gizania, Juliana and the others that Vandalieu clai
“No, there's no probleht shouted, suddenly throwing a fist at one of Fang's front legs
The punch was a considerably strong one, and it connected with a heavy noise
But Fang had frozen in surprise, and that was it He showed no signs of wanting to attack the knight back
“Alright, you pass,” the square-jawed knight said, giving a satisfied nod at Fang's response “Sorry for being violent, but we knights have a rule that one of us will risk our lives to test high-Rank monsters like these when their tae hellhound is a little cowardly, but it is well-trained…”
He turned back around to see that Privel had wrapped her tentacles round and round Vandalieu's lower body for some reason Only one of Vandalieu's arms was visible between the tentacles
“What are you doing?” the knight asked
Privel gave a nervous laugh “I'rabbed onto Van-kun!” she said, trying to pull Vandalieu even deeper into her tentacles
“It is because you did that without any warning, Knight-dono I was really surprised, you know!” said Myuze, pushi+ng Vandalieu's hand in to help Privel
“If the paperwork is complete, we shall excuse ourselves We will cause trouble for others if we continue to occupy space at the gate,” said Gizania, so with Vandalieu up and walking past the gate with her eight legs
“Ah, here is the entry toll Well then, please excuse us,” said Darcia, paying the required amount
She and the others hurried to leave the scene as well
Fang gave a short bark before running after them
“There's a ho Demon' who fancies himself to be soerous! That's why the entry process was stricter than usual! Sorry about that!” the elderly knight shouted after them as they left
With a sigh of relief, he gave a light pat to the back of the square-jawed knight
“You saved me back there,” he said
“H confused for a ; I'ot the highest Level in the 'Armor Technique' Skill Even if it went berserk, I would have lasted a while”
“No, that's not what I e hellhound, it wasn't the familiar that looked ready to attack, but the tamer boy”
“W-what?! I didn't sense that at all!”
The shocked square-jawed knight looked towards the other knights and city guards around him, but they looked just as confused as him
“Indeed, I did not even see hi I aht “However, the moment you struck that monster, the boy disappeared – or so it appeared, but the next thing I knew, the irl had wrapped the boy in her tentacles That is all I saw”
The , Vandalieu had tried to attack hi his presence erased Myuze had put herself between hi Vandalieu to instinctively stop And in that tiny ht, Privel had wrapped her tentacles around him from behind