Ch.232Meeting the NPC Now (2)

The former Prime Minister of Ponia, now the Lord of Tapun Territory, provided truly substantial support as promised.

[I needed four high priests, but I was barely able to restore one to his senses.]

After leaving the territory and traveling for a day, as I approached the Poria territory, the Prime Minister’s voice began coming through my small crystal sphere. When I listened, it was overflowing with exactly what I had been hoping to hear.

[You were largely unaware of how Poria has changed, weren’t you?]

“Yes. From what you told me the other day, I only know that Poria has become a walled city, and that the area I used to manage is now handled by nine rangers working in three-person teams on rotating shifts.”

[That’s right, and all the rangers you stopped were those Poria rangers. When the Seven Deadly Sins descended, they moved without delay to deal with the demons that arrived with it. They also tracked down and drove away the followers who had facilitated the summoning.]

“…When you say ‘drove away’…”

[It seems there was a clever enemy.]

The rangers I met yesterday were all powerful individuals with levels in the early 400s. If they had tracked down the demon followers with the intent to annihilate them, they certainly could have succeeded. However, apparently a clever enemy managed to escape into the mountains—their own territory—by splitting into decoy and main forces and setting traps.

Why does this give me flashbacks to what happened at Aigram?

[Strangely though, while the followers escaped, the Seven Deadly Sin remained behind in the mountains.]

“That’s not strange, is it? A being of the Seven Deadly Sins’ caliber would be confident in their strength, so they fought the rangers…”

[Well, the rangers ambushed the demon as soon as they found it. Apparently, it wasn’t particularly strong, and even showed signs of fleeing in surprise at the rangers’ strength.]

The Lord continued, saying they had easily dealt with the surrounding demons and had even inflicted serious injuries on their target, nearly bringing it down. After saying this much, the Lord let out a small sigh, and I voiced my question.

“But the rangers were all defeated. How could that happen in such an advantageous situation…?”

[It’s hard to believe, but they said that just as they were about to finish it off, the demon suddenly shouted something, and they saw what looked like magic activating before they lost consciousness.]

The Lord concluded by saying these weren’t the type of people to fall so easily, making this a truly dangerous situation. Reviewing his account, it simply meant the demon shouted and then they lost consciousness.

Hmm, so they had the upper hand but couldn’t finish it quickly? It’s fortunate for me that Luxuria didn’t die, but from the rangers’ perspective, it must have been a horrifying experience. And if they lost consciousness right after she shouted, it suggests she had already activated her divine power. This means…

[Jack.]

“Ah, yes, my Lord.”

[I don’t doubt your abilities, but wouldn’t it be better to accept the support of a priest? From what the recovered priest said, it sounds quite dangerous.]

What a truly kind person! Even though his own territory is under attack and short on priests, he’s concerned about us and offers to send a priest our way within two days if needed. But that won’t be necessary.

After all, against Luxuria’s divine power, priests can only help with “removal after being affected.” Of course, if I were asked how I know this, it would be awkward, so I politely declined, saying we all three have resistance to mental attacks.

[…Resistance to mental attacks. I see. Very well, I’ll await your report of success.]

With that somewhat uncertain response to my explanation, the communication crystal disconnected. It’s quite painful to think that 1 million can just disappeared like that, but since it wasn’t my money being spent, it doesn’t matter. It hurts to see taxpayer money wasted, but fortunately, I don’t pay taxes in this country!

“Jack, are we heading straight to Poria then?”

“I’ve been checking the surroundings, and it’s quite ominous. There’s not even a trace of human scent, let alone people. All I can hear are monsters. If the approach to Poria, which is supposed to be a walled city, is in this state…”

While I was talking with the Lord, the sisters had returned from scouting the area. As they reported and asked for our next move, I nodded as if it were obvious.

“Yeah, we’re going today. There’s no benefit in further delay. And both of you need to stay alert—not just for the monsters we’ll encounter, but also because the demon will certainly be dangerous for you two.”

I’m not stupid enough to say something like “it’s dangerous, so wait here.” There’s no absolutely safe place in this world, and places beyond my sight could be even more dangerous. Even Green Doll, who was a deus ex machina, ended up like Shanks, so I can’t leave the kids near any water. We immediately began walking quickly toward Poria. As we walked, I started thinking that maybe I’ve kept Ira away from my side for too long. I’m really starting to worry. Sigh.

“Huh? A sudden sigh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“…I miss my little sister.”

“Suddenly?!”

Both of them exclaimed in surprise together, but you two wouldn’t understand because you’re sisters who stay together! Ah, once this is over, I’m definitely going straight back, no matter what. I really feel like I might collapse from worry at this rate. Come to think of it, didn’t Green Doll also head toward Poria? If we meet up, we might be able to resolve the situation more quickly.

“I’ve been tracking the Elder’s scent since I heard he came, but unfortunately, it seems he took a different path than us.”

“But Jack keeps changing the subject. It’s kind of scary…?”

“Hmm… probably because of this crystal sphere.”

When Chikuyo tilted her head in confusion at my scattered conversation, I pointed to the small crystal sphere I had just used to talk with the Prime Minister.

“The crystal sphere? Why?”

“Ah, I get it.”

“Huh? I don’t understand, but Miho figured it out?”

Chikuyo tilted her head with her ears perked up in confusion, while Miho nodded in understanding. Hmm, our Miho has really changed. The kid might not have 100 points in perceptiveness, but she’s got at least 10 now.

“Jack has been separated from Lady Ira for 9 months now. Well, thanks to the Spirit Master’s mess-up, another 3 months were wasted, but anyway, he hasn’t seen his sister for over half a year. With that crystal sphere, he could hear her voice anytime. I think he’s excited about that possibility.”

“…Huh, I knew Jack talked about his sister a lot, but was it that serious?”

Correct answer, white tiger beastkin! Damn, I was hoping the Prime Minister would mention that he’d already connected with Naty during our call. But things don’t always go smoothly in this world. It seems the Lord hasn’t arranged that yet, thinking of it as part of the payment.

As we continued chatting, Chikuyo suddenly raised her ears and tail alertly and spoke about something else.

“Three monsters approaching. All quite strong.”

“*sniff sniff* Sis’s ears are really something. They’re coming from that direction.”

The sisters, who detected the monsters before I did, immediately prepared for battle. Looking in that direction, I checked my status window and saw information about three monsters in the mid-300 level range. Moreover, these were monster names from ep. 4. It seems Luxuria’s divine power has started strengthening all the monsters in Ponia.

“Coming our way are a Chaos Boar and two Undead Trolls. I’ll leave the boar hunting to you two.”

“Okay. Leave it to us.”

“Huh? How did you know what monsters they are?”

While Miho immediately nodded and prepared, Chikuyo asked with curiosity, and I shrugged as I answered.

“Well, this mountain. I used to manage it, so there’s no reason I wouldn’t know.”

In truth, these monsters weren’t here when I managed the area, but that explanation was sufficient. Not long after, the monsters appeared, and we began our battle.

Now, we enter Poria’s (Luxuria’s) domain.

*

“…Sob, sob.”

In a dark, cold space, a woman’s crying echoed, but the only witnesses were the skeletal remains of beasts.

“It hurts… it’s cold. *Sniff* Really, why did things turn out like this…”

Her purple skin still bore unhealed sword wounds that leaked black blood, and one of the two horns on her head had been cut off with no signs of regeneration. At times like this, she would normally wrap her massive wings around herself for warmth, but her wings—torn to shreds in the previous battle—showed no signs of recovery either.

Naturally, even a “demon” who has had their throat cut multiple times and heart stabbed repeatedly will prioritize healing vital organs, delaying the recovery of other wounds.

“*Sniff* Those bastards. They just summoned me and all ran away, what am I supposed to do… Without properly gathering human mana, blood, or souls, they just threw me here and expect me to figure everything out while risking my life? What kind of followers are they? What kind of plan is this? If I knew it would be like this, I would never have come to the human realm.”

Sniffling, she curled her wounded body, wrapped her one functioning arm around her knees, and looked around the space she was in.

This was probably a collapsed cave from some time ago. How did she end up in such a cold, foul-smelling place?

After she activated her divine power, the humans who had attacked her tried to kill her until the moment they lost their senses. Fortunately, she was able to quickly place some under mental control and make them fight each other, but having just been summoned with little remaining magical energy, she couldn’t control them like proper minions. In the end, all she could do was force her barely functioning body to flee from them while sobbing like a weak girl, and during her escape—

Whether due to her divine power or because the ground there was weak to begin with, she experienced an unwanted fall that broke her relatively intact arm and leg, leaving her unable to move. However, this wasn’t entirely bad.

At the very least, it bought her time for her divine power to take control of the human pursuers who had maintained their senses until just before the fall, and afterward, she no longer heard them tracking her on the ground. And thanks to that, she was still alive now. But…

“*Sniff* It hurts, it’s cold, and I’m lonely.”

The dark, cold cave with nothing but the carcass of what was clearly a horse was not a particularly good shelter, even for a weakened Seven Deadly Sin.