Ch.390Retreating NPC. (3)

[…So, the market is safe. I never thought that demon would protect the city people too.]

“There were quite a few casualties, but it seems she protected everyone within her reach.”

I was surprised too, I respond to Ragni’s voice coming from the communication crystal, and she acknowledges my words.

Our mission was to confirm Avalitia’s survival and retrieve her. Having completed the survival confirmation, I’m now speaking directly with Ragni, who sighs heavily after hearing everything I’ve told her.

[So, what’s happening with the mayor now?]

“What else? Since we can’t let people know she’s a demon, I’ve given her recovery potions and had Luxuria hide her away with Mr. Devil.”

[Well done. But according to what you said, Jack, other adventurers and surviving citizens have seen that she’s a demon, right?]

“…Yes. Hiding her will only buy us time.”

No one has woken up yet, but those affected by the demonic energy aren’t in any life-threatening condition. According to Luxuria, the reason Avalitia’s demonic energy attached to them wasn’t to take their lives, but to protect them within her authority. To use an analogy, it’s like giving someone medicine to heal them, but the medicine was so strong it caused temporary intoxication. They’ll recover soon after it wears off. In other words…

[Once people who’ve seen she’s a demon wake up, the Empire and Holy Nation’s propaganda about collaborating with demons will become truth and spread across the continent.]

“What should we do? Should I talk to the king and have him launch a full-scale war against the Holy Nation before this news spreads?”

[…What nonsense is that? We needed the mayor because we were already short on resources, and now you want me to tell them to start an unprepared war with low chances of victory just to hide that Avalitia is a demon?]

Ragni sighs at my suggestion, which I thought was urgent, and tells me not to even think about such things, as it’s not my concern. Ugh, I thought it was a good idea!! Ragni responds to my pathetic excuse with just a sigh, and I can’t say anything more. Fine, you do the thinking. What am I using my brain for? People should know their limits.

[Jack, Aigram’s recovery and prosperity ended the moment people discovered she’s a demon. But that doesn’t mean the wealth she’s accumulated over hundreds of years is gone.]

“What do you mean?”

[…There is a way. So, bring Avalitia here. Can you do that?]

“Well, that’s simple enough, isn’t it?”

[Good, then I’ll leave it to you. I need to contact the Academy Director, so I’ll talk to you later.]

I hear the scratching sound of her hastily writing something, and then Ragni’s communication cuts off. Haha, that call just cost me a million cans!

“Well then.”

I had been communicating from between the ruined buildings of Aigram. Now I move to where our party and other adventurers have begun gathering and treating the collapsed citizens.

I should distribute whatever potions I have and help move the fallen people. As I’m lifting and carrying people…

-Bump.

“Oh, ah. I’m sorry.”

“Haha, no, it’s my fault for bumping into you during rescue operations.”

I apologize in surprise after bumping into someone wearing a hood, and they apologize back saying not to worry about it before moving on to treat others. Hmm? Holy power? Is this person from the church in Aigram?

“Rey, is this all the support personnel we have?”

“No. We’ve also contacted nearby guilds, and additional support should arrive by tomorrow morning. The people here now are the fifty adventurers Jack mentioned earlier.”

“I see. Then, Rey, sorry but…”

I grab the busy Rey and, with a smile, make a few requests before heading outside Aigram.

*

-Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle.

In the evening darkness, with a crescent moon rising and its weak light making the mountain appear hazy, soft footsteps echo through the forest.

-Rustle, rustle. Rustle.

And when the sound stops, the gaze turns to…

“…Tsk. Did they escape?”

The place that until a few days ago was called the [Neutral Trading City]. Now it’s just pitiful ruins with a few adventurers who gathered to rescue people suddenly appearing, with only campfires lit.

“I came all this way in person, and this is the result? How displeasing.”

The owner of the voice quietly raises one hand, emitting killing intent strong enough to make the mountain trees tremble.

A few days ago, I couldn’t finish them completely, but now I could easily crush them. Among them must be companions of the one who took the ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’ Eliminating uncertain enemies that threaten the continent here is necessary.

“And when things don’t go well, stress relief is also necessary.”

-Crackle…!!

Gathering a mass of violent holy power infused with personal anger, I prepare to swing it…

“The mountains at night are dangerous, elder.”

“…Haha. I just enjoy night walks, you see.”

-Squeeze.

I dispel the holy power gathered in my hand and turn around at the sudden voice. Sitting on a tree branch, looking down at me, are beast-like orange eyes piercing through me. When on earth did he get there?

“Night walks in the mountains? As a former mountain keeper, I advise against it. Mountains are always dangerous, but at night, they’re dangerously beyond control.”

-Thud.

The orange-eyed man jumps down from the tree, his gray hair appearing almost silver in the moonlight, and approaches me—the Pope of the Holy Nation—without showing any hostility, roughly scratching his head.

“Terrifying nocturnal predators are prowling around, looking to fill their hungry stomachs.”

“…A former mountain keeper, I see. For you, mountain leisure wasn’t relaxation but ‘work’?”

“That’s right. So…”

“Just go back without doing anything,” he says, smiling with the corners of his mouth pulled up, making him look like a nocturnal beast himself.

Ah, this man, he’s the one I bumped into earlier at the rescue site…

“…Hmm. I see. Then, perhaps I’ll walk a little more before returning.”

“Haha. Elder, I’m telling you it’s dangerous, so you should just go back.”

“Then, would you walk with me? With a former mountain keeper like you, any dangers would disappear. Besides, when you get old, you tend to have trouble sleeping at night.”

Please do me this favor, I say with a quiet smile, and the man scratches his head awkwardly before nodding in understanding.

And so, we begin walking deeper into the mountains, away from the view of Aigram’s ruins. The man follows behind me without saying a word. Though we’re walking together, if not for the footsteps he seems to be deliberately making, I might think I was walking alone. Unable to contain my curiosity, I speak up.

“Are you also an adventurer who came to rescue Aigram?”

“That’s right. With the walls collapsed and mountains nearby, I was patrolling in case there might be threats.”

“Hmm. Threats, not dangers?”

“Um, is there a difference between those two?”

I probe him slightly with my question, but seeing him tilt his head as if he genuinely doesn’t understand, I think perhaps I’m overthinking. I turn my head forward again and continue walking through the mountains. We’re approaching my intended location. Well, here I can quietly finish thi…

“Hmm?”

-Rustle.

The footsteps and presence that were there until just now have disappeared. When I turn around, there’s only empty undergrowth.

The mountains at night are dangerous. As if the mountain itself is trying to prove this, I feel as if deep darkness is watching me, and I unconsciously turn my head, letting out a voice searching for the man from earlier.

“When a mountain keeper encounters a threat in the mountains, they take two actions. One is eliminating the threat—leaving something obviously dangerous unattended wouldn’t be good for anyone.”

“…I see. And the other?”

I can hear his voice but can’t see him or determine its direction. Thinking that perhaps I was the one being lured from the beginning, I quietly ask about the second action, and the man immediately continues.

“The second is unconditional retreat. If it’s just a nocturnal predator, I might try to handle it, but if the threat is a ‘natural disaster,’ there’s little a mountain keeper can do. For instance, a landslide—no mere mountain keeper could stop that, right?”

“Hmm. I see. So, in your view as a mountain keeper, am I a nocturnal predator or a natural disaster?”

Did he know who I was from the beginning? Or was his claim of being a rescuer a lie? Perhaps he’s an adventurer who saw me in that city? Either way, thinking I’ve made a major mistake, I begin gathering holy power in one hand.

I’ll likely have to take the first hit, but after defending against it, tearing out the opponent’s heart would be a simple matter. As I increase the tension and stand in confrontation while waiting for a response that doesn’t come…

“…Hmm, an old man has swallowed his pride to ask a question. Are you not going to answer?”

-………

There’s no expected ambush, no killing intent, no answer. After facing the darkness in this standoff for a while, as I focus on my surroundings…

-Glimmer.

“…Hmm?”

Noticing a faint light piercing through the thick darkness below the mountain, I think, could it be? and move my legs. No, I had been staying close to the ground in case the opponent attacked, but if what I’m thinking is correct, walking would be foolish.

Surrounding myself with holy power, I slowly rise into the sky to look at the panorama of the ruined city, and…

“…Hehehe! I see. That statement itself was the answer.”

The view of the truly “ruined” city—now empty of both the adventurers who had gathered around campfires and the unconscious people of Aigram—was the former mountain keeper’s answer.