Ch.37Descent – 7

After finishing the last page of the report, I gathered the papers, tapped them neatly on the desk, and handed them to the investigator.

The investigator, with a tense expression, snatched the report I offered and began reading intently.

Not long after, he frowned deeply and let out a sigh.

“These statements… can you be certain they aren’t false?”

His voice was filled with doubt and anxiety. Even though he hadn’t turned past the first page, the content at the very beginning had already caused him cognitive dissonance.

Judging by how long he’d been reading, he was probably around the part where Scarface transformed into a monster. I nodded lightly.

“Yes. The First Knight Commander of the Royal Elizabeth Order will verify their authenticity.”

I referred to Serena by her title without hesitation, since she wasn’t being interrogated in the Adventurers’ Guild building like me, but was likely receiving questions separately in some fancy room with all manner of hospitality.

If she had heard me, she would have looked devastated, but she couldn’t hear me now. Besides, this was the proper way to address her officially.

When I asserted that the Royal First Knight Commander would verify everything, the investigator couldn’t question further and quietly buried his face back in the report.

After all, he was just a low-ranking investigator. He wouldn’t dare challenge something the Royal Knight Commander was willing to verify.

Although this was a major city quite far from Cartina’s domain that Serena had demolished, that was merely the power held by a lord.

So naturally, a low-ranking investigator like him could only tread carefully around Serena. Even Cartina herself used honorifics when speaking to Serena.

We, who had been left alone in the destroyed city, initially wanted to inform the neighboring lords about the situation.

At first, I thought of sending Serena alone, but that would have left just Cartina and me behind, so we decided that Serena would carry us along.

I knew exactly what expression Serena would make if Cartina and I were left alone.

Following my suggestion, Serena grabbed Cartina and me with each arm and ran at an incredible speed, allowing us to reach a distant city in no time.

Cartina, unable to adapt to the speed, dry-heaved as soon as Serena dropped her on the ground. For a being that claimed to have lived for so long, it was quite an unseemly sight.

When the Royal Knight Commander suddenly appeared carrying two people, the guards were startled but quickly made the wise decision to call their superior.

The hastily summoned guard captain was shocked upon seeing us, bowed repeatedly, asked us to wait a moment, and then dashed toward the lord’s mansion.

Meanwhile, Serena and I coordinated our story.

The gist was that while Serena was in the forest looking for a dragon at the lord’s request, cultists who became desperate upon seeing her activated a sacrificial ritual targeting the entire city, resulting in the entire population being offered as living sacrifices and the adventurers transforming into humanoid monsters.

We decided to hide the fact that something the cultists worshipped still resided within Cartina’s body.

Since she had already confirmed that she would soon cease to exist, revealing that fact would only cause unnecessary suffering for Cartina on the lord’s side.

After that, nothing much happened. Serena and Cartina were provided with a carriage and headed to another location, while I walked directly to the Adventurers’ Guild building.

By now, those two were probably receiving attentive hospitality at the lord’s mansion or a luxurious hotel.

One was a Royal Knight Commander, and the other, though her domain had been destroyed, was still a noble.

Me? As a lowest-rank adventurer, I naturally wasn’t entitled to such treatment. When Serena found out I couldn’t ride in the carriage, she was about to throw a fit, but I forcibly stopped her.

In public, Serena and I weren’t master and servant, but a lowest-rank adventurer and a Royal Knight Commander.

After silently paying my respects to the people around us who could barely breathe under Serena’s intimidating presence in the carriage, I entered the reception room and wrote down everything I knew about what happened in that city.

What followed was as you saw. The investigator who received my report immediately experienced cognitive dissonance and sighed heavily throughout his reading.

“Humanoid monsters and a city infiltrated by cultists…”

Having finally read the last page of the report, the investigator clutched his head.

It was understandable. An entire city had vanished because of cultists, and there was no guarantee the same couldn’t happen to their city.

As if that wasn’t enough of a headache, there were also monsters that could disguise themselves as humans. Whether this disguise was one-time or could be used repeatedly was unknown, but it was certainly enough to cause concern.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. I only did what needed to be done.”

“Um, and regarding this matter…”

“I understand. You mean I shouldn’t disclose it. Don’t worry.”

“You’re quite perceptive. That’s fortunate.”

After this perfunctory exchange, the investigator clutched the report and hurriedly left the reception room.

“Fortunate that I’m perceptive,” huh? I wondered what he would have done if I hadn’t been. I smiled inwardly at the investigator’s final words as I stood up.

As soon as I came down to the first floor, I encountered an atmosphere cold enough to make me shiver.

The lobby of the Adventurers’ Guild building, which should normally be bustling with adventurers looking for quest partners or boasting about their exaggerated exploits, was so quiet I could almost hear people swallowing.

The cause was, of course, Serena.

With the Royal Knight Commander standing in the middle of the lobby emanating a menacing aura, even the most good-natured or reckless adventurer would keep their mouth shut.

Cartina, standing beside her, seemed to have adapted somewhat; though she was cautiously watching Serena, her face remained quite composed.

Serena caught my eye as I was halfway down the stairs. Her face briefly lit up before she flew up to the second floor.

When Serena literally disappeared in the blink of an eye from where she had been standing, the adventurers in the lobby looked bewildered, while Cartina, as if she had expected this, calmly walked toward the stairs.

Leaving behind the growing murmurs in the lobby, I climbed back up the stairs to the second floor, where I found Serena kneeling in the middle of the corridor with her head bowed.

The menacing aura she had been emitting earlier had vanished as if it had never existed.

“Are you well, my lord?”

“What could possibly happen to me? What about you, Serena?”

“I’m perfectly fine as well. Thank you for your concern.”

“Let’s stand up first. It would be awkward if someone saw us.”

“As you wish.”

As Serena rose, Cartina finally peeked her head up from the staircase, as if checking if it was safe. I gestured for her to come up.

Cartina climbed to the second floor while keeping an eye on Serena, then stopped at a distance from me. She seemed to have grasped Serena’s temperament well in that short time.

Well, after learning through physical confrontation, it would be impossible not to understand.

Recalling her words that Serena was actually more suited to the title of god in terms of power, I led Serena and Cartina back into the reception room we had just left.

I sat on the sofa first, Serena naturally stood behind me, and Cartina sat across from me.

“You seem to be much more cautious around Serena now.”

Cartina flinched and averted her gaze, as if I had hit the mark.

When we were in the city, she would watch her words but still speak her mind. Now, she seemed too intimidated by Serena to even speak.

After hesitating, Cartina gave a small nod.

“It’s natural as my power weakens. Memories are becoming more mixed up. The original owner of this body’s personality is gradually becoming stronger, so it can’t be helped.”

“Should I take that to mean you don’t have much time left before you disappear?”

“Precisely. At most, I’ll lose all my power in about two days, and the woman named Cartina will return. And… it seems the original owner of this body was quite afraid of that woman. The feeling of fear, which I had only heard about, is gradually growing. It’s quite a mysterious emotion.”

At Cartina’s words, I turned to look at Serena, and Serena avoiding my gaze was now a familiar pattern.

“So, what will you do now?”

“You mean about yourself? Or other matters?”

“Obviously about my treatment. I will soon cease to exist, so I have no interest in other matters.”

“You’ll probably be able to reclaim your position as lord. The city needs to be rebuilt. The kingdom will likely cover the reconstruction costs. Of course, rebuilding the city and having people return are separate issues.”

In the end, those who quickly fled the city when rumors of a dragon spread were the winners.

They would have salvaged some of their possessions, and more importantly, they avoided the terrible fate of being sacrificed or transformed into monsters.

Although most people were probably part of the cult that worshipped whatever had possessed Cartina, given the scale of the human sacrifice, there must have been some innocent people as well.

“I see…”

Cartina stared blankly into space.

Since her power was weakening and her memories were becoming jumbled, she seemed to be viewing Cartina’s situation as something she herself would have to face.

Deciding to give her some time to think, I turned to Serena.

“Serena.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“What did they say to you?”

“Nothing much. They asked about what happened in the city, and when I told them monsters appeared and I cut them down, they said they understood and left.”

“Just as I taught you?”

“Yes. I repeated exactly what you taught me, without changing a single word.”

“Good job.”

“I only did what needed to be done.”

The conversation ended quickly. Serena was fundamentally not talkative, making it difficult to maintain a lengthy conversation.

If I left her alone for about eight years like yesterday, her emotions would probably overflow and she’d become quite talkative, but I wasn’t certain what would happen if that occurred again.

Given that she was already blindly loyal to me and would agree to whatever I said, it was natural that most conversations with Serena ended up like this.

Neither of us found it uncomfortable, which was a good thing.

“Hey, you…”

As no one spoke after our conversation ended, the door suddenly burst open, and a different investigator from before entered.

The investigator was about to call out to me when he alternately looked at me and Cartina sitting on the sofa, and Serena standing behind me, then gasped.

Oh no, this isn’t good. I quickly signaled to Serena with my eyes. Understanding my gesture, Serena approached the investigator as if she had just risen from her seat.

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah, n-no, Royal First Knight Commander! I didn’t know you were here. I sincerely apologize!”

The investigator bowed at a 90-degree angle and offered a heartfelt apology to Serena.

Perhaps he had felt Serena’s killing intent earlier when she was in a bad mood? His trembling body suggested it wasn’t simply due to the unexpected encounter with a Royal Knight Commander.

“If you have something to say, say it quickly and leave.”

“Y-yes! Understood! Well, then…”

The investigator, with pitifully trembling hands, managed to turn a page.

“R-regarding the appearance of humanoid monsters, there’s a direct request for an audience from the royal palace.”

“Directly from the royal palace?”

“Y-yes…”

Serena frowned at the mention of the royal palace. The investigator now looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.

“Who is being summoned?”

“T-the one over there—”

“Over there?”

“T-the one who is—”

“You’re being brief.”

“T-the nameless adventurer over there, sir.”

Looking at Serena, whose mood had rapidly deteriorated, and the investigator who was on the verge of tears, I casually asked a question.

“Has the report already reached the royal palace?”

“Y-yes, it has. Recently, crystal balls enchanted with message magic connecting each city have been introduced on a trial basis. They’re quite efficient, so I think they’ll be officially adopted soon.”

I ignored the fact that the investigator had almost spoken informally before quickly switching to formal speech after receiving Serena’s menacing glare. What caught my attention now was the crystal ball enchanted with message magic.

‘So they finally succeeded with that?’

The message magic that Charlotte had developed was actually initially designed to kill me by bursting my eardrums with sound waves.

But I recovered from that as if nothing had happened, and Charlotte, seeing some potential in the magic, said she would try to refine it, and it seems she succeeded in this way.

“A-as it’s still in the testing phase, it’s only been distributed to large cities like this one, but when it’s officially supplied, each regional lord will receive one…”

So that’s why Cartina didn’t use this and instead spent a lot of money on teleportation gates. Compared to here, Cartina’s domain was truly a remote region.

“Thank you for the explanation.”

“Not at all, not at all! So, will you be going together…?”

“I will not go.”

“Pardon?”

Serena blocked the path between the investigator and me. From the other side of Serena, I heard a hiccup.

“Did you not hear me? Relay this message: I will not go.”

“B-but the royal palace directly—”

“That’s not my concern. Now leave.”

Faced with this resolute and fierce dismissal, the investigator left the room, trembling. After the door closed, Serena knelt before me.

Cartina sat on the sofa, trembling with her hands clasped in front of her chest and legs drawn together.

“I apologize, my lord.”

“What do you have to apologize for?”

“I allowed you to hear such an unpleasant request.”

It wasn’t an unpleasant request for me, but for you, Serena.

Smiling slightly, I patted Serena’s head a couple of times. Her expression immediately turned cheerful.

It was impossible to believe that just moments ago, she had been standing with the intent to kill someone.

“…That transformation is something I cannot get used to, no matter how many times I see it.”

“Who would ever imagine Serena could make such an expression? Not even if they died and came back to life.”

I patted Serena’s head again to calm her as she was about to growl at Cartina.

“By the way, did you hear anything different?”

“You mean what I heard?”

“Yeah. Serena said she just answered as I told her to. What about you?”

Cartina covered her mouth with her hand and pondered briefly, but her deliberation didn’t last long.

“They sent a reconstruction request to the kingdom, and said I could stay here until then. Other than that, nothing much. According to your version, I was merely an innocent victim, so there wasn’t much information to extract.”

I had instructed Cartina to testify that she had almost been sacrificed but was rescued in time by Serena, and if anyone recognized her and questioned her changed hair color, to answer that it was a side effect of exposure to the sacrificial ritual.

Even if they doubted this explanation, they would have to believe it with the Royal Knight Commander’s endorsement.

Though it was a position I would soon relinquish, I might as well use it properly while I had it.

“What will you do now?”

“Me? I’m planning to leave now. Even though Serena refused like that, I still need to visit the royal palace.”

At my words, Serena, who had been quietly enjoying being petted, made a sulky face.

I was going to go, but she had abruptly refused on my behalf. I smiled and patted Serena’s head, and watching this, Cartina slowly spoke.

“Then this is farewell.”

“That’s right.”

“…”

“What, do you have something to say?”

Cartina shook her head.

“No. I just… wanted to say goodbye.”

“That’s sudden.”

“We met suddenly, didn’t we? So it’s fitting that we part suddenly.”

“Are you really a god?”

“No.”

Cartina glanced cautiously at Serena. Serena was quietly accepting my touch with her eyes closed, looking extremely happy.

“Most certainly not.”