Chapter 43: Fantasy

After the situation was briefly resolved, I looked around Shax’s lab just in case.

Just in case he left behind a memo.

Just in case Shax left behind a crystal ball that communicated with his superiors.

Just in case he had a portal scroll that could take him to Zephaar.

But there was nothing like that.

All we had were the bones of corpses and broken automata, and we had made no progress.

“Mr. Morgen. When you report to the association, please leave out Lucius’s activities.”

“Understood.”

This time, Lucius had done a brilliant job.

However, I didn’t want anyone to know that Lucius had used my power-or rather, I had possessed him-to wipe out the enemies.

“We fought a fierce battle, and after fighting as hard as we could, we defeated them all. Warlock Shax blew himself up without saying a word. Please leave it at that.”

“Understood, Witch. Then, should we…?”

“Please take care of everything here first. I will check again to see if there are any traces of the mastermind behind it.”

“Understood.”

I asked the three of them to take care of the inside, and then I looked around what was presumed to be Shax’s research space.

“Then everyone, I will organize what I will report to the Adventurer’s Guild. Since this is a special situation, I will write it down in front of you and review it…”

“Can I do that?”

“Of course not. But given the current situation, I will organize it, so please review it.”

Morgen organized the report while talking to Lucius and Rosemath.

Now, only the information we want will be disclosed.

No matter how much Morgen likes Lucius, he cannot keep it a secret when such a commotion occurred in a place managed by the Guild.

You just have to hide the most important truth.

In that case, it would be better to hide the fact that Lucius can display the fighting power of an A-class adventurer if the conditions are met.

Or that I defeated the enemy’s automata with fire magic.

Lucius bravely swung his sword at the enemy and cut down the skeleton.

Rosemath eliminated the enemies all at once with Arrow Rain.

The Morzen examiner was really surprised while examining them from behind.

Those things can go into Morzen’s report.

It’ll have a positive effect on the examination.

Despite the sudden appearance of the enemy, they successfully defeated the enemy.

The large number of automata…

“Wow, they’re all destroyed without a trace.”

Perhaps because it exploded from a small hole, the cut cross-section was so beautifully melted that it was difficult to see.

You could tell that the power inside was destroyed and exploded, but you couldn’t tell that it was a mark from the sword.

I cut it pretty cleanly.

It was so clean that there was no trace of the cut itself when viewed from afar, so the parts of the body that were cut off probably melted and stuck together as the explosion burned.

This is how I handle the sword well.

Lucius’ body was also a good body for me to show off my sword skills without any regrets.

My technique and Lucius’s physical.

With the two combined into one, there didn’t seem to be much to worry about in terms of handling Lucius’s power without it being detected.

The worry was…

“There’s nothing inside.”

Shax was thorough.

Even though it was a long-abandoned laboratory, there should have been at least one trace of contact with someone since they had recently come in, but he meticulously erased it all.

“Don’t be meticulous in a place like this,” Cheeky Acedia.

Even if they were the ones who wanted to succeed the Belphegor Demon Army, what good would it do if they left some traces somewhere clumsily?

“We can’t chase Acedia like this.”

A member of Acedia was just here.

That was all.

The rest of them had no idea why he was here, why Shax was bringing so many automata here, or why Shax was holding Mammon-style machines.

So…

“Witch, the report is finished.”

“Yes? Can I take a look?”

“Of course.”

I looked over the simple report Morgen had written.

It was written in a cute handwriting and in a modified style, so I could easily confirm what she had seen from the perspective of an examiner, and I could also confirm that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

“Thank you. I hope it spreads widely, to this extent.”

“Th, th, over there…”

Morgen pointed to the report with worried eyes.

 

“Really, can we spread the news about Acedia?”

“Yes.”

We were sure that Shax was Acedia.

In the report.

Mine Shax was indignant at the fact that Witch Belle called her ‘Bell Pegor the bastard.’

From what I’ve seen, Shax revealed that he was a member of Acedia.

Although we didn’t find any traces of other Acedian sects here, we could draw out other Acedian humans.

“Those who approach us after seeing the report will be the culprits.”

They’re coming to avenge the death of Shax.

They’re coming to punish me for swearing at the Great Demon King.

In short, they’ll include the content in the report as is to attract the attention of the enemies.

“If we can’t chase Acedia, we’ll make them come to us.”

“Hmm…”

“If you’re worried, if you’re worried that you might be targeted, you can leave it out. I won’t blame you.”

It’s Morgen’s job to write the report.

If she removes the phrase “Shax is Acedia” from the report, Acedia will have a hard time finding the person who killed Shax.

That will also delay my revenge.

Still, I can’t just force it.

Morgen is just caught up in it.

Acedia won’t question Morgen if she finds out that she left out Acedia-related content in the report.

However, if she includes Acedia-related content, Morgen will fall under their surveillance net.

Will she hide the truth and remain silent?

Will she reveal the truth and fight against injustice?

“What will you do?”

“…I will report it.”

Morgen clutched the report tightly and nodded heavily.

“Acedia is a serious issue for the Adventurer’s Guild. If I remain silent about it, I will be disqualified as an adventurer. And…”

“And?”

“If it can be of any help to the Witch and Lucius-sama on their journey.”

Morgen held the report close to his chest and smiled bitterly.

“Adventurer’s Guild… Receptionist. Hora Morzen will do everything in her power to help you on your journey.”

“Thank you, Morzen.”

“No.”

Morzen lightly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“I will do my best to help you where I can.”

Knowing that he could do nothing, Morzen gave up.

On the way back to the village of Normans, Lucius was lost in thought as he watched his master, the witch Belle, walking forward with brisk steps.

In his subconscious, Lucius was clearly dreaming, but he could clearly see something very special.

It was someone’s fight.

It was a memory of a fierce and sad battle against a giant black dragon.

A young man with black hair.

He was wielding a sword that was all too familiar to Lucius, and was facing the black dragon.

The Holy Sword of Wind.

Riding on the golden wind, he swung his sword.

No.

He wasn’t riding on the wind, he was controlling the wind.

The golden storm swept forward toward the path he was to take, and the wind that had advanced first protected the young man by deflecting the attacks flying toward him with a blade.

Kaooooooooh!!

The dragon roared and tried to kill the young man.

It gathered a huge amount of mana in its mouth, and shot a massive breath towards the young man.

The breath, shining with an ominous black light, seemed as if it would swallow and destroy everything.

However, the young man did not pay any attention to the breath, and simply smiled and ran through the air.

-Bigi.

Treading on the sky.

Treading on the wind.

The young man ran forward faster than the breath was flying towards him, and raised his sword high.

Then, he powerfully swung his sword forward into the air.

-Gale of Faith.

The young man cut through the black air.

He did not charge his sword with an aura and strike with a slash, nor did he create a sword wind to deflect the breath.

He simply powerfully swung his sword vertically in the air.

Naturally, the young man’s body is pushed down, and the young man’s body is turned upside down.

Without turning around, it spun around once.

The sword that had fallen down began to shine a stronger golden light as it rose.

Gooooo—!

 

The young man’s body began to spin around.

As his body spun around, the golden wind gathered in his sword also became rougher and faster.

Kyaaaaaa!!

The dragon quickly raised its head towards the young man to try to hit him with its breath, but the young man was already near the dragon’s forehead.

-You fought so hard. Right?

The young man, who stopped in midair for a moment, raised his sword high and tried to strike the dragon with it.

-It’s over. Demon dragon.

Crunch.

The young man swung his sword down.

The golden storm gathered in his sword became a clean slash and fell precisely on the black dragon’s forehead.

Square.

Along with the breath that was spurting upward, the dragon’s head was split in half.

In an instant.

Lucius met the young man’s eyes.

The young man, who was looking at him over his shoulder with his eyes rolled back, only twitched the corners of his mouth once.

-Can you do it?

As if bragging.

As if showing off.

Or.

As if telling him that this was where he had to reach.

The young man fell between the dragons that had been cut in half with a stern look in his eyes while being proud of his own strength.

-Become strong, warrior.

And.

The young man, falling down, aimed his index finger at Lucius.

-You, protect.

“You.”

Saaah.

Everything began to disappear.

A warm, golden wind began to surround Lucius, and the world Lucius saw changed.

And when Lucius came to his senses, his master was before his eyes.

Lucius was in agony.

Who on earth was the young man he had seen in that dreamlike place after joining hands with his master?

If you wield the golden holy sword, perhaps….

“Arthur. What are you thinking so intently about?”

“..Master.”

“Yes…?”

“What kind of person was Master in the past?”

A red lotus magician.

A witch who mainly uses flame magic.

And…

She knows suspiciously well about the wind holy sword.

As he watched his master boldly advance, Lucius’s thoughts became more and more complicated.