Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 80

Chapter 80

“I… Iril?”

“Hic, sob… If it weren’t for you, he’d be dead. He would have died so foolishly. Thank you so much, El. Hic….”

Perhaps because the tension had finally broken, Iril began to sob as she hugged me tightly. I hesitated for a moment before patting her back, deciding to let her calm down; she must have been very shaken. The others watched us with gentle eyes. Then, Huesen approached and offered me a handshake.

“Thank you so much, El. My brothers have a habit of surprising people like this. You and your brother are our benefactors. We will repay you handsomely for today’s work.”

“Ah, no, you really don’t have to. I just did what felt right.”

“But…”

“It’s really okay. We’re comrades, even if only for a short time. I’d be disappointed if you gave me a reward for something like this.”

Huesen smiled awkwardly and nodded. Then, Mighty, who had been listening quietly, suddenly shouted.

“Wait a minute! Why didn’t you heal me when I got hurt, even though you have that ability? You just watched me!”

“Huh? Uh, that’s….”

“That’s unfair! You’re discriminating against me!”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so I struggled to come up with an excuse. Surprisingly, Sherry came to my rescue, scolding him with a frown.

“What are you saying, Mighty? Are your situations the same as Herol’s? Instead of thanking him for helping, why are you cornering him like that?”

“B, but the price of holy water…!”

“Hmph, wanting to receive something so expensive for free is even worse, you know? El, don’t worry about it. None of us are losing sleep over the price of holy water, except for a certain miser.”

“N, no! Sherry! That was just a joke! You misunderstood!”

“A joke? There are jokes you shouldn’t make, so why make that kind of joke? Anyway, you’re really unattractive when you’re like this.”

“Keuheok!”

I watched Mighty collapse, quietly offering my condolences in my heart. It wouldn’t be easy to accumulate negative points so diligently. I figured a relationship that could never be achieved was exactly like that. Huesen was watching the scene with a satisfied gaze.

“Sorry, El. Don’t take it to heart. We’re all grateful to you. Anyway, Mighty just said some unnecessary things….”

“Ah, no, I understand. I heard holy water is very expensive, almost the price of a house….”

“Of course, it is. But considering our average income, it’s not *that* expensive.”

“R, really?”

“Of course. It’s not something to brag about, but we’re one of the better-earning mercenary groups. Even just being a Silver Paw [a rank within the mercenary group] brings in a lot of high-end requests, so we rarely have trouble making a living.”

After saying that, Huesen leisurely looked around, his gaze settling on the behemoths’ corpses lying on the ground.

“…Besides, we occasionally have unexpected side income.”

* * *

The meaning of Huesen’s words was soon revealed when the group began preparing to return and I saw them collecting the behemoths’ corpses. If it was just to show proof of the hunt, they could have just cut off the heads, but they insisted on carrying the entire huge corpses on their backs. They even searched every nook and cranny to make sure they didn’t miss a single whisker or claw. Puzzled, I couldn’t help but be surprised when I heard the reason.

“Gasp! You’re selling the corpses?”

“Yeah. There’s quite a demand for higher-level monsters for magic research and various crafting materials. Especially creatures like these magical beasts; they’re like walking treasure chests. There’s nothing to throw away from their bodies. Their skin and eyeballs, as well as their internal organs and blood, all sell for a high price.”

“Hee, I see.”

The person who explained it to me was Iril. When I nodded in amazement, she smiled brightly.

“You didn’t know? That’s why there are quite a few wealthy people among professional hunters. Thanks to that, the Hunter’s Guild also has a considerable standing. But even the top dogs there probably haven’t caught two magical beasts at once, especially behemoths.”

“Is it rare?”

“It’s rare indeed. Originally, magical beasts aren’t native to this place. Even if you deliberately search for them, the probability of encountering them is almost nonexistent. Moreover, magical beasts usually act alone. Among them, behemoths are particularly few in number. Most people might only see one once in their lifetime, if at all.”

“Hmm, so the fact that two appeared here….”

“It’s a really incredible thing. If this fact becomes known, the Hunter’s Guild will be turned upside down.”

Iril’s expression looked very excited as she said that. It seemed she thought they had one-upped the Hunter’s Guild.

At that moment, I spotted Trowel standing blankly in front of the magical beast’s corpse. While everyone was busy preparing to return (or rather, busy collecting the magical beast’s corpse), he was standing alone, staring intently at something.

“Matthew? What’s wrong?”

“…Ah, there are some bugs….”

“Bugs?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Puzzled, I asked again, and he smiled and shook his head. Then, he muttered something completely incomprehensible.

“It’s annoying, but it doesn’t seem like it will have a big impact.”

“Huh? What? Are you talking about bugs?”

“Yeah, bugs.”

After answering vaguely, he gave another incomprehensible smile. I searched diligently around, but I couldn’t see any bugs he was talking about anywhere. In the first place, with the weather entering winter, there shouldn’t be any bugs active outside yet.

When I looked back at Trowel, he was already helping the group as if he had lost interest. I wondered what he was thinking… The more I got to know him, the harder it was to guess what was on his mind.

After a while, the group, having finished preparing to return, gathered the bodies of the workers who had been sacrificed to the magical beasts. Unlike when they were collecting the magical beasts’ corpses, the atmosphere was solemn and respectful. They gathered the collected bodies in one place, then closed their eyes and offered a short prayer. Perhaps because of the guilt of not being able to protect them, everyone’s faces were contorted with grief.

“I wish we had come sooner.”

“Don’t say that. We did our best.”

“Sherry’s right. It’s unfortunate what happened to them, but it was something we couldn’t do anything about. Let’s be satisfied that there weren’t more casualties here.”

As a leader, Huesen encouraged the depressed group. Of course, his complexion was just as dark as he said that. As time passed and the atmosphere calmed down to some extent, I asked him a question.

“What are you going to do with these bodies now?”

“Ah, it would be nice to take them all and return them to their families, but that’s not something we should get involved in. The local guard will take care of it.”

“So you’re just going to leave them?”

“We have to for now. But monsters or wild animals might come down smelling the blood, so we need to take measures. Mighty, you stay here and guard this place.”

“Me? Ugh, okay.”

Mighty, who was singled out, nodded obediently, though with a displeased expression. The rest of the group supported Herol, who was still unconscious, along with the magical beast’s corpse. I, too, carried Isana on my back.

It was when we had finished all the preparations to return.

“The smell of blood!”

“Here, this way, this way!”

“……?”

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from beyond the bushes, and men clutching weapons appeared. They were Bildt and Cowell, the leaders of the Cocktail Mercenary Group, whom I recognized at a glance.

“Is everyone safe! We’ve come to help…!”

The solemn cry continued for a moment, then they, who had appeared with hardened faces, soon fell silent upon discovering us standing there blankly.

Soon after, armed people began to appear one after another behind them. They were all familiar faces, the mercenaries who had been on this trade journey together. Among them was also a young man wearing an old clergyman’s robe. Kaitain, the priest of Eluien [likely a deity or religious figure in this world], was right there.

“El!”

“Oh? Mr. Kai?”

Those who appeared late also looked bewildered upon discovering the situation here. They seemed flustered by the sight of us being greeted peacefully, without any fierce battle.

“What? Why are you all alive?”

It was Cowell who broke the strange silence with a question. At that moment, with a thud, his head bowed forward sharply. Bildt, who was next to him, had hit him on the back of the head.

“Keup! That hurts! What are you doing?”

“What are you even saying right now? Why are you alive! You always have to say things like that!”

“It’s just because it’s amazing! The guys who went to deal with the magical beasts are too fine, way too fine!”

“This guy really!”

“What happened, everyone? How did you get here….”

Huesen approached them as they were bickering. Only then did Bildt, who had stopped arguing, feel embarrassed and grab the hand that Huesen offered.

“Ah, Mr. Huesen. I was worried that we were too late, but I’m so glad you’re safe. You went to catch the magical beasts with just your group, and no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t just sit still. So I hurriedly gathered people and rushed over.”

“I see. Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing. Actually, we could have come earlier, but the soldiers in front of the city gate stopped us, so we only arrived now. By the way, where are the magical beasts….”

At that moment, Bildt’s eyes widened as he carefully examined the area. He had discovered the magical beast’s corpse among the group. In fact, it was too big to go unnoticed.

“D, did you catch the magical beasts? And two of them? Good heavens. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Are there really two of them?”

“It’s as you see.”

When Huesen affirmed, everyone, including Bildt, wore shocked expressions.

“W, wow! That’s amazing. As expected of the Champagne Mercenary Group. You really caught the magical beasts!”

“It’s not even just any magical beast, it’s a behemoth! And you caught two of them? Are you guys really human?”

Among the admiring people, Cowell wore a bewildered expression. Then, he noticed Herol, who was unconscious, and his face hardened as he approached.

“What, how badly is this brother hurt? His clothes are all dark red.”

“Ah, that guy….”

“What? Is he hurt?”

“Priest! Come over here!”

Before the group could answer, the people hurriedly led Kaitain forward. He nodded calmly and looked at Herol.

“Please lay the patient down. I will examine the wound.”

Then, a flustered Huesen waved his hands.

“No, it’s okay! It’s just that there’s blood on him; the injury has already been treated.”

“You treated it?”

“Yes, fortunately, El here is an aspiring priest and can use divine power. Thanks to him, he’s completely healed.”

‘……Ugh!’

I never imagined that my lie would face a crisis in this way. It was a heart-stopping moment.

A formal priest would know how absurd Huesen’s answer was just now. As expected, Kaitain looked at me with a slightly stiff face. I felt like my whole body was shrinking under his calmly scrutinizing gaze.

“El, did you treat him?”

“Ugh, yes… Th, that’s right….”

“You used divine power?”

“……Yes.”

I was frantically thinking about how to get through this situation smoothly. Then, Cowell, who had been listening from the side, interjected with a puzzled face.

“What, that kid is an aspiring priest? But can an aspiring priest even use divine power?”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard?”

“Hey, there’s no such thing. An aspiring priest hasn’t even received the divine mark yet, right? Even formal priests who have received the mark can’t handle divine power well, so an aspiring priest can use it? Does that make sense?”

“But El said so? He actually healed Herol like this.”

“Are you really sure about that?”

“What?”

“Are you sure that the ability that kid used is divine power? If it’s not true, isn’t this almost a case for a religious trial?”

“R, religious trial?”

A commotion spread among the surprised people. The group’s faces were also pale. Cowell chuckled and raised his voice as if to show off.

“That’s right. A fake priest without a mark healed someone; which denomination would tolerate that?”

“Don’t arbitrarily accuse people! Even so, a religious trial!”

“That’s why I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. Is that true, Priest? Is such a thing really possible?”

“…….”

One second felt as long as several hours. I closed my eyes tightly and thought about the miserable times that would follow. The four letters ‘religious trial’ were floating around in my head. I felt like a prisoner facing a death sentence.

But at that moment, an unexpected answer came, breaking the expectations.