Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 520

520

“Well, you brought me quite a catch, so I should at least do this much.”

“Weren’t you saying you didn’t like big catches?”

“Honestly, who doesn’t like big catches? Even if the fishing boat gets a little damaged, a big catch is still a big catch.”

You were just complaining about the boat being damaged. I stared at him, dumbfounded, but he just grinned back. Those sly old foxes never tell you what they really mean.

“So, where are those big catches now?”

I was talking about Ira and Edith, whom I had entrusted to him. Lamias understood immediately and replied,

“They’re doing well in a large, safe tank I made. They’re both much more stable now.”

“How many people know about that tank?”

“Only me and my people. What, you don’t trust me?”

“Well, Duke Sepion is a pro-Imperial noble, and the Crown Prince is in that state because of demons.”

“Sorry, but I’m loyal, not a sycophant. I don’t just follow the Emperor when he makes bad decisions and goes on a rampage.”

The Emperor, on the verge of losing his only heir, had lost his reason in a fit of rage. There was a way to help, but even so, killing a young princess to lift the curse was inhumane. Even if they did it, there was no guarantee the curse would be lifted, and even if it was, there would still be problems. At the very least, the Kingdom of Epen would resent it, and at worst, the entire continent would condemn it.

So, the Emperor chose war with the Demon God Church. He made a grand declaration of war and is now gathering troops from all over the region. The problem is that the Demon God Church isn’t in this empire right now, so attacking it would mean going to another country. Inevitably, it turned into a war of invasion, putting every country with a Demon God Church on edge. The situation on the continent was going very well (sarcastically, of course).

Given the circumstances, I was honestly a little worried. Secretly protecting Demon God followers in this situation was clearly an act of treason. Even if he was a dragon, I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be wary of the Emperor, given his dedication to the ‘fun’ setting. But fortunately, it seemed my worries were unfounded. Seeing his resolute face, I felt a little relieved.

I gave an awkward smile, and Lamias became very upset, asking how I could think of him as such a person. That Umbra agent (he must be talking about Davian) was also constantly wary of him even after he helped, and he was so upset he couldn’t live with it. I was annoyed, but I felt bad for doubting him, so I patiently endured it.

“More importantly, why didn’t you tell me you were a Sword Saint? Thanks to you, the Emperor chewed me out for ten days straight, asking what the intelligence agency is even doing.”

“I didn’t know either.”

“Really? It’s not like you’re hiding it on purpose because I’m a pro-Imperial noble?”

“Don’t be sarcastic. I really didn’t know.”

“Damn it, how am I supposed to find out something even you didn’t know? Other people’s jobs always look easy. That damn Emperor.”

Lamias, grumbling, was the typical subordinate being harassed by his superior. The people who had been harassed by him and left looking dejected just a while ago looked exactly like that. As I watched him, he twitched his eyebrows.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, I was just wondering if the purpose of a dragon’s game wasn’t to enjoy the world.”

“I’m regretting becoming a noble, so don’t point it out.”

Lamias grumbled again, saying that you shouldn’t take other people’s lives so easily. It’s not like anyone knows he’s just borrowing a persona. If it’s just a game, he could just do it half-heartedly, but he was surprisingly responsible.

“But how can you not know you’ve become a Sword Saint?”

“Well, I don’t know. I drank something Ifrit gave me that day, and I think it’s because of that.”

“Huh, you drank the wine I gave you before. That should have been more than enough, but he fed you something else on top of that? What did he give you this time?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me.”

“What did it look like?”

I thought Lamias might know what it was, so I described the drink I had that day in detail. But for some reason, his expression didn’t get any better. He seemed taken aback, and he seemed dumbfounded. Either way, it wasn’t a good reaction. He shook his head as if he had a headache and sighed softly.

“In my opinion, Ifrit is the craziest of the Spirit Kings. The fact that he’s so cheerfully crazy that most people don’t even realize he’s crazy is even more infuriating.”

“Why, why? What is it?”

“No, never mind. It’s better for you not to know. Whatever it is, as long as the result is good, that’s all that matters.”

No, it doesn’t matter at all! Saying that just makes me more anxious!

What on earth was that drink? It’s not like it was monster gut juice or a potion made with claws and eyeballs, is it? Just thinking about it made my skin crawl and my stomach queasy. It’s probably already been digested and become part of my body, though.

“Anyway, you’re going to see your kids, right?”

“……Saying it like that makes me feel like a dad dropping his kids off at daycare.”

“It’s not that different, is it? Everyone’s waiting for you so eagerly, too.”

So, he’s admitting this is a daycare. I tried to replace Lamias with a kindergarten teacher in my mind, but I stopped, wondering what I was even doing.

I’ve been out of my mind for the past ten days too. I was suddenly revealed to be a Sword Saint, so I was harassed by stalker-like reporters, and I was called in to various organizations to testify as the main witness at the scene of the incident. Some of them were watching me because I seemed to know the demons. I wasn’t interrogated or questioned because I had saved everyone, but I was followed everywhere, making it difficult to move around freely.

In fact, that’s still the case now, so the road here wasn’t easy either. If it hadn’t been for the magic tool Ifrit lent me, it would have been hard to shake them off completely. Of course, the only reason I went to all that trouble wasn’t just to see Lamias (in fact, it would have been faster to call him to my side if I only wanted to see him). Now, we’ve really reached the main point. I took a light, preparatory breath and finished the remaining tea, putting down the empty cup.

“Okay. Where are my kids?”

* * *

The large tank Lamias mentioned was in a small detached building on the estate. It was a space created for a change of pace when he was too lazy to go far on holidays, and it was equipped with various security magic from the time it was built, making it the safest place, he said. Lamias proudly assured me that it would be fine even if a wide-area magic spell fell on the capital.

Even though it was on the estate, it was as large as a national park, so we had to travel by carriage. When I arrived, someone was just coming out of the detached building. He checked the approaching carriage and watched indifferently, but when he realized it was me getting out, he hurried over.

“El!”

“How have you been, Davian?”

“Yes, I’ve been well. How have you been, El?”

“Well, it’s been a little hectic. I’m glad we’re meeting again, safe and sound.”

I replied with a smile, and Davian’s face, which had been examining me with concern, brightened up. Just then, I heard a rattling sound, and Ira bounced out of the house. She must have heard the conversation inside and ran out immediately. Ira looked at me with a slightly nervous expression.

“You’ve come.”

“It’s been a while, Ira. Am I a little late?”

“No. …El.”

A faint smile appeared on her stiff face. We looked at each other and smiled for a moment, just like we did when we parted ten days ago.

“I’m here too, you know……”

No one paid attention to Lamias’s muttering from the side.

The detached building consisted of a small kitchen and two rooms. When I went inside, Edith, who was sitting on the bed, hurriedly tried to get down. I stopped her, telling her it was okay, and her gaze rested on me. I looked back at Edith. When our eyes met, Edith opened her mouth with a startled expression.

“I was staring too intently, I apologize. Although it’s late, allow me to introduce myself. I am Edith, a foolish servant of the Demon God.”

“I’m the Spirit Master, El. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Yes, I remember. I heard all about it from Ira. Our benefactor has helped us again. I don’t know how to thank you enough. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. How’s your health?”

“I’m much better, thanks to you.”

The girl, who had been trapped in a dirty secret room and was in such a mess that she couldn’t even recognize her own appearance, had very pretty pink hair and clear green eyes when I saw her again in a clean environment. It was a slightly rude thought, but she seemed pure and innocent, unlike a Demon God follower.

In the conversation that followed, I heard about what had happened. First of all, it was Karyuan who had told them the location of the secret room where Edith was trapped, as expected. The two of them knew him as an apostle sent by the Demon God. An apostle, what a terrible title, but there was a reason for it.

“We received a revelation.”

“A revelation?”

“It meant that a hand would come to help us avoid disaster. After that revelation, he revealed his presence. He gave the priests something like a whistle and told them that if they blew it in an emergency, he would appear.”

I remembered Edith, who was terrified when I first met her, trying to take something out. That must have been the tool to call Karyuan. I had a strange feeling it was ominous.

I don’t know what Kanos was thinking. No matter how you look at it, Karyuan is a bigger disaster. Deron and other demons have plenty of talent, so why Karyuan of all people? In fact, Karyuan wasn’t of much help. He told them the location of the missing priests, but he didn’t save them directly, and he stood by and watched whether they failed or not. Rather, he kept creating rifts to avenge the priests, causing unnecessary disturbances in the capital. No matter how powerful a force is, it’s just a disaster if it’s not controlled. The Demon God Church even went looking for him to stop him. The times I saw Ira were exactly those situations.

‘So, when she pretended to know me, it wasn’t just to get rid of me, but also to get rid of Ira.’

I felt a surge of anger again, so I took a deep breath for a moment. The process of Neb becoming Karyuan is shocking no matter how many times I think about it. I still feel like I’m having a bad dream.

“But how did you get caught even though you had that whistle?”

“I didn’t have time to blow the whistle. I was ambushed and lost consciousness. When I woke up, all my belongings were gone.”

Edith bit her lip as if she remembered the situation at the time. It was useless help if it was useless when it was really needed.

“How did you two get to know each other?”

To change the subject, I turned to Davian and asked what I was most curious about. He calmly explained the past events. Their relationship began in the Kingdom of Epen. At that time, the Demon God Church in the kingdom was already at war with the mermaids. For some reason, the mermaids had started attacking the Demon God Church at some point. At first, they seemed to be attacking randomly, but gradually they focused on kidnapping priests, and the age range they were targeting became younger and younger. No matter how thoroughly they defended themselves, the increasingly sophisticated methods were useless. They requested a subjugation from the kingdom, but they only received a cold response that the church should handle its own affairs.

The Demon God Church in the Kingdom of Epen was small, and there were few high-ranking priests with strong divine power. Eventually, they decided to request support from the larger church in the empire. However, every time they tried to go to the empire, their path was blocked. It was as if someone was deliberately interfering, and every dispatched person disappeared or died.

It was probably the royal family’s doing, but at the time, no one even suspected the relationship between the royal family and the mermaids. In the meantime, contact was made with Davian’s side, who was conducting intelligence activities, and they accepted Davian’s offer to help and entrusted him with secret escort to the empire. However, after deploying the escort personnel, Davian acted separately due to another mission, and he was captured in the middle, so he didn’t even join them by the promised date. Moreover, the group that left safely was attacked by mermaids during the voyage and died. It was the very incident that happened on the ship I was on.

“The three people who were captured by the mermaids at that time?”

“Ah, yes. It’s three people, but…….”

“Officially, it’s three people, but the actual number of deaths is six. Agents don’t leave records.”

Lamias, who had been listening silently while the explanation continued, suddenly interjected. He had an excited look on his face, as if he had heard a very interesting story. Of course, only his expression was like that, and his eyes weren’t smiling at all. I wondered why he was angry, but there was a good reason.

“But secret escort? And it was our offer? I’ve never heard of any of this.”

Come to think of it, I heard that the intelligence activities in the Kingdom of Epen were a joint operation with the intelligence agency. The main points should have been reported to Lamias as well. Davian hesitated for a moment before answering.

“It was under the orders of Neksia.”

“Oh dear, it seems Neksia didn’t trust me as much as I didn’t trust Umbra.”

Lamias lightly clicked his tongue.

“The only person who can prove your claim is Neksia. And Neksia is now like a simpleton, so she won’t be able to explain anything about this.”

“……Yes, that’s right.”

Davian, who answered with a gloomy face, lowered his head. Rather than being frustrated that there was no one to testify for him, he seemed to be distressed by the fact that Neksia was ill.

“I have something to say about that matter.”

Ira, who had been watching his expression, carefully opened her mouth.

“It’s true that we locked up the people who broke into the church. We had no choice because we didn’t know who was the enemy and who was the ally. But we didn’t do anything else.”

“Then what about the agents who lost their memories?”

“We don’t know what happened either. But it wasn’t something we intended to do.”

“A colleague of that friend of yours was kidnapped. I heard that he saw the kidnapper’s face at the Demon God Church, what about that?”

“We don’t know about that either. But we have a guess.”

Davian’s face was calm as he listened, as if they had already discussed the matter in advance. Lamias glanced at him and looked back at Ira.

“A guess?”

“We once raided a hideout to save a kidnapped priest. I heard that a civilian who was trapped there with them took advantage of the commotion and escaped.”

This must be it. Chris also said that there was a commotion outside when he was trapped. He said he was alone, so they must have been locked up separately. Lamias was silent for a while, with a thoughtful look on his face.