Kays Translations

Chapter 104

“Upheaval”—if I had to describe last night’s events, no other word came to mind.

To start, the largest noble faction completely collapsed overnight.

In the Divine Principality of Lendia, the head of one of the great noble houses—those second only to royalty—was captured, and the house was abolished.

The national knight order swept through the entire noble district, crushing all opposition and objections from other houses, and concluded the matter with lightning speed.

The operation had been kept completely secret—not even other court nobles nor the knights themselves were informed ahead of time.

And to make matters worse, there was the fact that the neighboring nation, Golda, was involved in the incident.

“…I see. You’ve done well to protect our knights. As for the otherworld hero candidates you captured… we will respect your opinion on the matter.”

“Yes. I’m honored. With this, my role in Lindblum is finished, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. However, shouldn’t you speak with the captured individuals once more? We’ve already heard some of their story, but…”

“…True. I should at least give them a final warning.”

Now, the morning after the incident, I had been summoned to the royal palace to hear the full report.

…Naturally, including the two who escaped.

“Shizuma, do you have any idea where the two who fled might have gone?”

“Most likely back to Golda. There must’ve been another collaborator in the mansion that night. Have you interrogated anyone about that yet?”

“No, not yet. That’s why we want to hear from you first.”

“I see. Understood.”

“…Shizuma, what are your plans after this?”

“Well, once I’ve heard their story and reported to Kokuri-san… I plan to return to the brigade. Same-san should be coming back soon.”

For now, my part in all this is over. At least, officially.

At that moment, Cres, who had been present at this secret audience, suddenly raised her hand.

“Cress, what is it?”

“Your Majesty, may I also speak to Shizuma?”

“You may.”

Huh? Cres-san wants to talk to me?

“Shizuma… can’t you stay in this country? I don’t mean anything strange by it, but… I want you in the knight order. That night, you showed a strength that even surprised me. You made the best possible decisions to minimize casualties. You still tend to act independently at times, but I sincerely hope you’ll remain here.”

Ugh… even Cres-san is saying that…

“…I’m sorry. I can’t stay in one place. I want to return to the brigade.”

“I see… I understand. I won’t press further. My apologies for interrupting, Your Majesty.”

…Yes, even Cres-san.

There was one more person who had said they wanted me to stay.

I asked the Queen about them.

“What happened to the members of Killcrawler?”

“…Among the members, three were seriously injured, and seven had minor injuries. While none of them died, several residents of the Underside are currently missing.”

After the knight order withdrew from the Allheus estate last night, they headed to guard points throughout Lindblum to rejoin the patrols of the Underside.

Of course, I was among them.

However—while we were on the move, a massive explosion occurred inside the Underside, opening a huge hole that led all the way outside of Lindblum.

During that time, Killcrawler, who had been patrolling, engaged in combat with unknown individuals and suffered considerable damage.

“…From the eyewitness reports, I believe two of them were my former comrades. But the third person…”

“Hmm. We haven’t been able to confirm their identity either. That’s why it’s crucial we get more information from those individuals you captured.”

“I see…”

Even if Isaka is the strongest among them, I thought he wouldn’t be a match for the Killcrawler members. But judging by the damage, it’s likely their collaborators—or someone backing them—is extremely powerful.

“In that case, I’ll go meet with them immediately. Are they in the dungeon?”

“No, they’re being held in a containment facility managed by Kokuri.”

“Oh, right. That monster guy is probably there too, huh? I suspect one of them is undergoing the same process. I want to analyze the monster in comparison to their human state. Honestly, a ‘hero from another world that we could dispose of if needed’ is a rare specimen—I don’t want to let that go easily.”

…Looks like those guys are doomed. Honestly, they might end up suffering worse than execution.

After the audience, I was led by Kokuri-san to the research facility that had come up multiple times in conversation.

Apparently, the building isn’t directly connected to the castle—it’s an independent, large facility, about the size of a school campus.

As soon as we entered, every staff member bowed to Kokuri-san and moved briskly about their duties.

It really gave off the impression of an elite research institution.

“They’re isolated in my private lab. The monster is there too. Although, due to the danger, it’s being held on a different floor.”

“This place is really spacious.”

“Yes, we conduct a wide variety of research here. Some departments even work on developing new kinds of bread. Lately, we’ve been focusing heavily on genetic modification.”

“Oh… that actually sounds kind of interesting.”

“…To be honest, Cres isn’t the only one who wants you. I want you too. Knowledge from another world is never a bad thing. Honestly, if those heroes I’ve imprisoned prove useful, I’d keep them forever.”

“…Well, as long as they’re useful, you can do as you like. But if they resist or try to escape, you’d better have a mechanism in place to dispose of them immediately.”

That’s my honest opinion.

Those guys may not be on my level, but they definitely have the potential to grow stronger.

But at the same time, if they’re properly guided, they might be able to correct their path.

Well—I’m not going out of my way to plead for leniency though.

“Now then, go on in. I wonder how many years it’s been since we let a ‘person’ through here.”

…As I looked at my former classmates locked up in the visible cage, I felt a deep fear at what Kokuri-san had just said.

They don’t even see them as “people.” Incredible… I came here only to discover how abnormal this person really is.

…She did say it herself, but she’s such a beautiful woman…

“Um, the people in the cage… they’re moving their mouths a lot. What’s that about?”

“Ah, I used magic to block their voices so we couldn’t hear them. You’ll be wanting to talk to them, right? I’ll disable it now.”

As soon as they saw me, Kazunuma and Samie clung to the bars of the cage like wild animals.

Only Hishida just stared at me, as if she had already given up.

Kokuri-san waved her hand over a crest of some sort, and the voices from the cage became audible.

“Shizuma! Help us! We want to negotiate a way out of here!!!”

“Let us out! We won’t do anything bad anymore, I swear! We were tricked, you have to believe us!”

…So noisy.

“Shut up. You guys have no human rights left. This is an experimental facility, and you’re test subjects. Whether you’re dissected or used as materials, it’s all allowed now.”

“Eek!”

“No way…”

“Answer all of the questions I’m about to ask. Then maybe… I’ll suggest to this person here that you’re still worth keeping alive. But I’ve already told her to kill you all the moment you’re no longer useful. You guys really don’t get your situation at all, do you?”

I go over the list of questions I want to ask:

• “What kind of information did you hear in Golda?”
• “What kind of experiments were conducted on you, including Muraki?”
• “Who else in this country was cooperating with you?”
• “Why did you attack the auction?”
• “Why did Allheus assist you?”
• “What is King Golda’s ultimate goal?”
• “Do you have any idea who might be behind Golda?”

That should cover most of it.

I’ll throw these questions at them and see how they respond.

To be honest, I don’t expect them to be able to answer everything. Apparently, I trust their intelligence even less than I thought.

“Experiments…? What are you talking about…! Tell me what happened to Muraki!”

“Are you playing dumb? Did you really not do anything special in that country?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know…”

Kazunuma kept repeating that he didn’t know. And then—

“Wasn’t it that thing… the one only the boys underwent? The one that was supposed to ‘draw out power’… Yes, that was only for the boys. They told us that girls weren’t physically strong enough yet.”

Hishida-san answered in their place.

“I see, so something was done. Kokuri-san here will get the details from you later, so be sure to answer her. By the way, she’s one of the top-tier powers in this country, so it’s best you don’t defy her.”

“Mmm… I suppose that’s true. Don’t worry—I won’t dispose of you as long as you’re useful.”

She says it so calmly, in her usual tone. And that only makes it more terrifying.

“What about the rest of the questions? Hishida-san, will you answer? You seem more coherent than the other two.”

“…Right. At this point, the only way for us to survive is to prove our usefulness… isn’t it.”

Then, unexpectedly, Hishida-san began to reveal quite a lot.

“First of all, we were beaten to the dungeon core by other adventurers in the Scorched Valley. We hid that fact from the king. But when he found out, he told us something…”

Apparently, the king made up a complete lie to motivate them.

Everyone else was stirred by his words, but Hishida-san sensed something off and remembered it to this day.

While she was explaining, Kokuri-san kept chuckling—seems like the story was far from the truth.

But at the same time—

“Hmm… there was one thing that caught my attention. How did Golda… even if only partially… know how to use the dungeon? That’s one of the deepest secrets uncovered by our country’s past research. Why would a country that’s never even conquered a dungeon know about it? Strange, isn’t it?”

“I see… So perhaps there is someone behind Golda after all?”

“Could be. So, Hishida, was it? Please continue.”

Apparently acknowledging Hishida-san’s usefulness, Kokuri-san called her by name and urged her on.

The next part… seemed to be one of the answers I was really looking for.

“Marquis Allheus… showed great respect toward a certain gentleman who was helping us. I think he was someone of higher standing.”

“Oh? Then it’s possible there’s a powerful organization behind all this. Did you ever see this man in Golda?”

“Yes. He was present during the ‘power extraction procedure’ performed on the boys. It was my first time seeing him there.”

“Hmm… So, he may have been involved in that ritual. I see… Then it’s possible he’s connected to everything that’s been happening in our country.”

With that, Kokuri-san brought the conversation to a close.

“For now, I’ve decided what to do with them. Hishida, you seem like you still have a lot of useful information, so you’ll remain here. As for that boy, he’s likely undergone the same procedure as the one who ‘turned into a monster,’ so he’ll stay too for comparative analysis.”

“A monster…!? Muraki… did he really turn into a monster…?”

“That’s right. So by comparing and analyzing them, we might be able to identify the nature of the spell, and if we do, we may be able to reverse it. This transformation spell was already under investigation anyway, so I’d like to dig deeper.”

“…If there’s a chance that Muraki—Shigeru—can return to normal… I’ll cooperate without hesitation.”

At the very least, Kokuri-san seemed to have judged that these two still had value.

The problem was this one—Samie.

So far, it was unclear whether she understood any of what was being said. She’d just been sitting there quietly, listening.

“Shizuma-kun, does she have any outstanding qualities?”

“Not really. Wouldn’t it be better to ask those two instead?”

When I passed the question on, the two of them very clearly averted their eyes.

…Hey, nothing at all?

“S-She’s… uh… a mood maker! Samie keeps the atmosphere upbeat!”

“Right, she does liven things up.”

“…That’s not going to cut it. You’re talking about yourself, you know? Don’t you have anything worth mentioning?”

…I almost felt sorry for her.

So you’re just… comic relief, huh?

Come to think of it, even back at the mansion when we made wishes, she was all over the place with her attitude.

…Maybe in a life-or-death situation like this, it’s better for her to say nothing at all.

“A-Ah! I am useful! Seriously! That guy! Shizuma totally betrayed us and ran away, you know! We’re way more useful than he is!! So please—”

The next moment, Kokuri-san touched the crest, and the sound coming from the cage was completely cut off.

“Shizuma-kun, I’ll take care of her.”

“Understood. If possible, do it in full view of the other two as a warning. They probably still haven’t grasped how serious this is at the core.”

…Being an idiot is rough. Marching straight to your death in a situation like this.

And so, I left behind one hopeless former classmate and two who might still have a chance to be saved.

“Kokuri-san, please report everything we’ve learned to the queen. I’ll return to the brigade. I’m going to… bring Same-san.”

“Mm… Got it. In that case, could you ask him to come back as soon as possible? There’s a small gathering coming up. Ideally, I’d like him back within three days.”

“Understood. I’ll let him know.”

With that, my role—Shizuma’s role—in Lindblum finally came to an end.

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