The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 147

147

“Halt! Stop right there! Halt!”

After a full day’s ride, I arrived at , located at Imperial Crossroads 4-3.

It was a castle five days away from the southern border, . The number of merchants passing through day and night was high, so even though it was small, it was quite prosperous.

I handed over my adventurer’s identification tag as a pass and ID, and the gatekeeper looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s good that you’re a Bronze rank, but you have a very ominous name.”
The name engraved on the adventurer’s identification tag was Rain.

However, the Rain that the world remembers, the next rising star of the Ludwig family and the one who died in the Black Spot incident, is a boy with black hair and red eyes.

“Why is that?”

“Why do you ask? Most adventurers with this name have died.”

“I was lucky enough to survive.”

“Hmm.”

On the other hand, I had dyed my hair red to prove Aki’s identity, at least in terms of appearance.

On top of that, my clothes, soaked in the rain, were moth-eaten and looked like rags, and my unwashed body reeked.

Seresilia’s aura was mysteriously beautiful, but other than that, it would be difficult to see me as a noble.

“What about that baby?”

“He’s my late younger brother.”

“Ah-baa!”

“He looks just like you. What’s your purpose here?”

“I’m going to spend the night, buy some clothes, and, above all, take a bath.”
The gatekeeper scratched the identification tag with his fingernail to check its authenticity.

Soon, a cluster of light rose, proving that it was a genuine magic tool issued by the Alliance.

This is the primary screening process, and it is possible to forge it sufficiently, but unless it is a strategic point or a confidential area, most people are too lazy to bother.

“Hmm.”

For the time it took my heart to beat three times slowly, the gatekeeper stared sharply at the boy.

Just when I was starting to think something was wrong, the gatekeeper said, “Pass,” and waved his hand once.

Soon, the guards withdrew their spears, which had been crossing in front of the gate, and I was able to enter the castle.

‘I guess it’s going to be difficult to use this often… Someday I’ll have to register as an adventurer again and get a different identification tag.’

Of course, I can’t use my status as a noble anymore, so that’s a story for when I have companions who can vouch for my identity…

“Listen carefully, Aki. We’re going to the Alliance branch now, okay? Don’t make a fuss. Don’t do anything that stands out.”

“Out!”

“Don’t worry? I don’t trust you, even if I want to. Pipi, just stay inside Seresilia.”

“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”

From the shadow of the castle tower, a three-eyed crow secretly looked down at the boy, then ominously cawed and flew into the rain.

It took the boy half an hour after entering to find the Adventurer’s Guild branch.

It was located in the center of the castle, but the streets had turned into muddy paths due to the rain, which even made the Alliance flag droop, and there were very few people around.

There were quite a few people inside the guild. A dozen tables were full, probably adventurers escorting merchants. As the times became more turbulent, the demand for adventurers and mercenaries exploded.

“Hmm?”

The moment the door opened and a cold wind blew in, the adventurers who had been noisily tilting their glasses glanced at the doorway.

A red-haired boy… a face I’d never seen in this area before.

He was a little taller than average and had a delicate face, and he looked like a rookie at first glance, but for some reason, he had an aura that was hard to approach, so the skilled ones quietly shut their mouths.

“This is no place to bring a daughter.”

“That’s right, there are a lot of bad guys.”

“Hahahaha! Did your wife run away?”

While the boy holding the baby crossed between the tables toward the counter, all the guys who flirted with him were Bronze-ranked rookies.

“…….”

There were also those who glanced at the boy with strangely ominous eyes while pressing down on their hoods, but strangely, they had no expression on their faces. Was I wrong?

‘Now that I’m on the run, everything is scary.’

The boy deliberately ignored those gazes and stood face to face with the branch employee at the counter.

He had tired eyes, and he yawned and reached out his hand.

I wondered what it was, stared at his palm for a moment, and then handed over my identification tag. The young man roughly checked it and quickly returned it.

“What can I get you? Alcohol? Sorry, but we don’t have a baby-sitting service.”

“A meal, a bath, a set of casual clothes for me and this child. And a room with an iron door.”
The reason I chose the Alliance branch instead of an ordinary inn was precisely because of this.

Whether they had obtained valuable gold and silver treasures during their journey, or had been resented by someone, or could not trust anyone…

For those people, most branches provided Iron Rooms, so-called iron door rooms, to adventurers. It had an oak door with iron trim, and the guild staff even took on the night watch, making it an extreme refuge.

“22 Black Tortoise silver coins.”
The employee said so without any change in expression. One silver coin is the daily wage of a typical worker.

When I took out my money bag from my pocket and poured silver coins onto the counter, he didn’t bother to count them properly, but roughly swept them up and handed me a heavy key.

A steel key about the size of a hand… As I carefully took it, the employee pointed upstairs with his thumb.

“Third floor. Unpack your luggage and come down to the first floor. I’ll heat up the bathwater.”
The room was locked with as many as three locks, and the ceiling was low and the width was narrow, as if prioritizing safety over convenience.

The feather bed had a faint smell of urine, so I sighed softly and opened the window slightly.

‘This is 22 coins, what a bunch of daylight robbers…’

After unpacking my luggage, I picked up Aki and was about to go down to the first floor when I stopped.

‘Seresilia…’

I was worried about Seresilia hanging on the clothes rack. To be exact, the Mirngardia dragon egg inside that subspace.

Is it okay to leave it here?

Well, it’s much safer than putting it in the closet in the bathroom… Actually, that’s why I chose the iron door room.

But should I be extra careful?

It’ll get wet, but I should just take it down to the bathroom. And one more thing, just in case, I should install an alarm magic that signals when someone invades the room.

As soon as I rolled up Seresilia and went down to the bathroom, both of them went crazy.

“Awoo!”

“Awoo, awoo.”
Aki also had a higher body temperature than humans, like a sun parakeet, so at first he seemed to be wary of the hot water, even baring his fangs, but he soon came to like it.

Before entering the bathtub, I scooped hot water with a gourd to wash off the dirt, and he laughed and made a fuss, making me lose my mind.

“Come here! No, don’t eat the soap! Don’t shake the water, ah really! Are you a puppy? Stay still, stay still. Please.”

“Stay still, stay still, stay still.”

“Ah-sit.”

“Yes, yes, good Aki. Warm, right? Warm and good, right? Just stay still.”

“Ah, ah, awoo!”

“Surprisingly, there aren’t any lice. Do they all die because it’s hot?”

That battle, which was more intense than the fight with the magic castle Seigan, was calmed down only after Aki was put into the bathtub.

“Raising a child is harder than saving the world, is this right…?”

This will increase by one more someday? What does Karen Den want from me…

I soaked myself deeply in the hot water of the bathtub and thought about the journey ahead for a while. I need to cross the border into the Republic’s territory as soon as possible…

I felt my consciousness relax in the warm steam, and I must have fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes, Pipi and Aki were also fast asleep.

“……?”

I put on the cheap tunic that the servant had prepared outside the door, and carefully dressed the sleeping Aki in clothes made of rough cloth. And as I stepped out of the bathroom, my back suddenly went cold.

It’s quiet.

It’s too quiet.

Even though it was late at night, it was strange that there was no one in the hall… and above all, the faint smell of blood made my mouth dry.

“…….”

I tried to raise my concentration to read the signs, but there were no signs of people being detected… Instead, a dark blue mist was wriggling eerily under my feet, and I didn’t know when it had risen.

I bloomed a pure white flower in my eyes and looked into the structure of the mist that was wrapping around my feet.

01010101001… The combination of the incantation-type Altigma and the forbidden-type Orbios…

‘Forbidden Orbios, black magic?’

When I rushed out into the lobby, what I saw was a sight so unbelievable that my hair stood on end.

All the adventurers… no, not only the adventurers, but also the branch employees were collapsed.

Someone had their nose buried in a plate of soup, and the servant who was carrying a tray of food between the tables was collapsed on top of the spilled food and broken plates.

Tingle.

And a sensation that something sharp brushed past my mind… the barrier sent an alarm.

‘I thought it was ominous before coming to the city, but as expected, nothing is easy…’

With Aki and Pipi tucked under my arm, I hurriedly summoned the Staff of Flames and immediately ran up to the third floor.

The unknown rotten smell, more disgusting than the smell of blood, became thicker… and somewhere, the suppressed groans of men flowed out.

Two branch employees were collapsed and asleep, and through the gap in the door where all three locks had been neatly cut out.

I hurriedly opened the door and stepped inside, and a tense breath burst out.

“…….”

“…….”

Seven giants were writhing on the floor. All of them had knife marks in places that avoided vital points, but strangely, dark blood was flowing…

‘Those expressionless guys from before.’

It was the right answer to take Seresilia to the bathroom. My ominous premonitions have never been wrong. Just like now.

“It’s more naive than I thought.”

At that moment, the blade that had flown in, approaching without a sound, collided with the staff raised as I turned around, and spat out a chilling metallic sound.

“No, are you pretending to be naive? To lure me in like this? If so, it’s quite good.”

I could tell at once. That he was a killer of great skill. And that there was no murderous intent in that surprise attack just now. Was he trying to test my skills?

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, the swordsman withdrew the sword that had been aimed at my neck and threw something.

An adventurer’s identification tag, the one I had left on the side table.

“Rain Ludwig… right? I received a request to bring you in.”

For a moment, I wiped the cold sweat that had formed on my brow and turned my head.

I could see a swordsman in lightweight armor made of chains and leather, with only partial iron greaves [armor protecting the shins].

A short sword that could be freely wielded in a narrow space was hung on his waist, and the shield hanging on his left hand was also small. In addition, he had daggers, short swords, and short bows all over his body.

I could tell that she was a woman from the curves that were vaguely revealed over the armor, but I couldn’t recognize her face because the helmet had a full face mask on.

One more unique thing was that she had a single-edged sword wrapped in old bandages on her back. The blade length seemed to be somewhere between a short sword and a long sword.

“I’ve been looking for you for ten days. I don’t have time to explain who I am, so just know that. Now, real guys will come instead of those punks.”

“Who’s coming?”

“Take a good look at those guys’ hearts.”
The moment I glanced at the giants that the swordsman pointed to with his chin, cold sweat dripped down.

Crows, they were crows.

The crows that had stuck their heads out of their hearts were gnawing on rotten flesh and cawing ominously. They were not black feathers, but heteromorphic crows made of dark blue poison.

“The Black Church…?”

“Follow me. I’ll help you get out of this castle.”

“No, wait.”

I had some trust in him because he didn’t finish me off when he had a clear advantage, but I still couldn’t rest assured.

“How can I trust you? Aren’t you in cahoots [conspiring together]?”

The swordsman, who was walking down the hallway first, replied in an emotionless voice as if the question was not even funny.

“Don’t worry, I’m not helping you out of kindness.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s because of money. The Witch Association hired me. To bring you in safely.”
The Witch Association…

That was the Republic’s integrated organization. You can think of it as playing the same role as the Empire’s Magic League.

That’s why my vigilance soared. The Witch Association and I are complete strangers, so why would they want me?

“If you really don’t trust me, take a look at this. But if I were you, I’d choose to run away right now. Do you have any idea who’s chasing you right now?”

What the swordsman took out of his pocket was a small scroll that looked like a contract of some kind.

There was a seal stamped on it. A seal of magic that only the Witch Association can use and that no one can manipulate.

In the meantime, the crows were cawing loudly with tearing sounds, and I felt the magical fog getting thicker.

‘I have no choice…’

After putting my arm into Seresilia’s sleeve, I put Aki on my back with the swaddle that Seresilia automatically formed, and ran down the stairs after him.

“Okay, I’ll follow you for now. How about a quick introduction? I’m Rain.”

“Goblin Slayer.”

Goblin? Goblin Slayer?

It seemed like a ridiculous joke, closer to a derogatory term than a famous name, but I couldn’t laugh at all at the time.

Because the advice of the Water Dragon Yeriserica was throbbing in my mind.

– Returned one, go south and find the little goblin.

Goblins are also called small demons. A dazed gasp stopped in my throat, and I stopped on the landing for a moment.

‘The little goblin that Yeriserica was talking about, could it be this guy…?’