Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 237: Interlude

【208th day】

I’ve made all the preparations I can. I’m sure we’ll pull through.

「Here you go, the items you requested」

「Thanks」

It was just past noon.

Perhaps it was because of the recent incident at the port, but there were fewer people coming and going, and the plain was more deserted than usual.

At the entrance of the city, I received a delivery from Lonewell.

It was a wagon pulled by an old horse.

In the back of the wagon were as many weapons as could be gathered without being traced.

「This too. Well, it sure took a long time. It was a lot of work, you know? I was surprised that our craftsman could process something that Makina couldn’t」

Lonewell pulled out a fine box.

「Hmm?」

What was it again?

I opened the box and found three rings.

One black ring.

One silver ring.

One gold ring.

「Oh」

I remember now.

I had asked him to craft a suitable ring for me. He had kept me waiting for so long that I had forgotten all about it though.

「No no no, you took far too long on this, isn’t it? And you said that Makina can’t process it? What material are these made of?」

「A dragon’s eye」

The one I stole from Lemuria’s treasury, huh?

It was too easy to trace in its original form, so I had left it to him to process it into something else.

「The blacksmiths in the city couldn’t even scratch it, so I secretly asked the materials department of the Adventurers’ Guild to handle it. It seems that even they had a lot of trouble, but that apparently ignited their pride and they said, “No need to pay, just leave it to us.” I heard that they took turns to hammer it continuously for 50 days straight」

「That’s one heck of a brute-force approach they took」

I had heard that it was a gemstone, but just how hard was it?

「They finally broke it apart recently, but the pieces that could be fashioned into other things were rather small. They were about the right size, so I had them made into rings. What do you think? As for how much they can be priced at………no, these are priceless, I suppose」

「Well, I’ll accept them with gratitude」

There’s no custom of giving engagement rings in the alternate world, but I had them made for whatever reason.

I hadn’t expected them to arrive at the very last minute like this though.

「But well, the merchant company sure has gotten bigger since you and I first met」

「Is that right?」

What’s this all of a sudden?

I figured he was doing well, but I hadn’t bothered going through the actual numbers.

「If this keeps up, becoming the Commercial Chairman of Lemuria might no longer be a pipe dream. I wish it were possible to maintain a relationship with you forever, Souya-san. At the very least, I hope this relationship will last until our children and grandchildren’s generation」

「You’re getting ahead of yourself there」

「But isn’t Lanseal-sama already carrying your child?」

「No, that’s………」

Has that been confirmed? I mean, there’s Regure’s case, so I can’t discount a beastkin’s intuition though.

「As a merchant, I would prefer to remain on good terms with future royalty, you see?」

「Yeah, yeah. Just don’t let your greed get you into trouble before that happens」

I’ll just pass it off as flattery.

I can’t think about stuff like the future of Lemuria right now.

「Oh, that’s right. Medimu-sama came to the store and asked me all sorts of questions though……」

「Did you tell him anything?」

It seems that Otou-san is worried about me.

「No way. I would never disclose my business partner’s information, even if it’s the king himself who’s asking」

「Thanks for that」

He’s sure is tight-lipped when it comes to stuff like this……

「After that, your sister and Beltoriche-sama also came to the store」

「What did they want?」

Ea probably went there to probe into what I’m up to, but what was Bel doing there?

「Your sister discussed new products with me, but she slipped in some probing questions pretty skillfully. Not that I was going to give anything away though. Beltoriche-sama just asked me point-blank」

「About what?」

「She asked, “Is he preparing for war?” ………………Are you?」

「No way. These weapons are for the elves to protect themselves with. It’s been pretty dangerous lately, hasn’t it?」

「I had already received your request by then, so tell me such things beforehand just in case」

「I’ll do that. See you」

I got on the wagon and took the reins of the old horse. The wagon began to move forward slowly.

I felt his eyes on me, so I looked back to find Lonewell standing at the entrance to the city, watching me go. Even after he was no more than a speck in the distance, there he remained.

「You can come out now」

When I was some distance from the city, I called out to the presence in the back of the wagon.

The cloth covering the cargo billowed up and she revealed herself.

「………………Are you preparing for war?」

It was Bel, who looked like she was all packed for a journey.

No, it’s Lys now, isn’t it?

「It’s none of your business」

「No, it’s my business. I serve the prince」

「Huh?」

There was no killing intent or anything, so I didn’t have time to get ready for a fight.

Lys moved to sit down next to me.

I couldn’t help but be startled, but that was it.

「When I detect the curse of that Forgotten One, I search for someone nearby with the blood that allows me to possess and take control of them. Once that’s accomplished, my job is to call the prince」

「………………」

To think that there’s an assassin so close by……… Thinking back, Lys had appeared right after I had killed the beast and the deranged knight had yelled his drivel in front of the king.

I had used her because she seemed capable and showed no signs of hostility, but I hadn’t seen this coming at all.

No, but……

「I don’t get it」

「What? You don’t believe me?」

「What I don’t get is why you’re revealing that to me now」

「You’ll have to ask her about that」

Like the flick of a switch, Lys’ expression changed.

「Onii-san, there isn’t much time, so I’ll cut to the chase. Please run away with me. There’s absolutely no way you can beat the enemy who’s coming. Let’s run far far away, find a safe place, and then send word to Ea and Rana-san to join us――――――」

「That’s not going to work. He’ll find us eventually. He’s more than willing to pursue me for all eternity」

Just like how he did with her party members.

He hunts people down like it’s some sort of game, and in the end, he kills them.

「Then!」

「There’s no “then”. I’ll fight him here and defeat him. That’s it. There’s no other option left」

「Why is that?! If we run away, so long as we keep running, we can stay alive! We might be able to find some way to deal with him if we could just buy ourselves a little time! And who knows, maybe someone will defeat the prince in the meantime!」

「Yeah, I guess. You may be right」

A hero who could change everything single-handedly could suddenly pop up and make the world a better place.

Or a genocidal killer who could defeat even the first prince with ease.

Well, that would just be hilarious.

「Even so, I’m a man. Even when I know I’m going to lose, I won’t back down. I won’t change what I’ve set my mind to. Your will or your words won’t make me change」

「Tsk!」

Seeing Bel with tears in her eyes made my heart ache.

But nothing would be more cruel than if I showed her any weird sort of kindness here.

「It’s under the worst circumstances, but I have something to tell you. There are times when a woman cannot back down even if she knows she will lose」

「Go ahead」

Somehow, I knew what it was she wanted to say.

「Onii-san, I love you. Please drop everything and run away with me」

「Thank you. I refuse」

Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever rejected a woman.

Maybe it’s because she’s a lovely girl, but I feel like dying quite a fair bit.

「I understand. This is the most shocking event in my not-so-long life so far. I’ve enjoyed myself all this while. The adventures, the food, the people, the city, everything has been a priceless experience. If I ever fall in love again, it will be with someone who is the complete opposite of you, Onii-san! Goodbye!」

Bel jumped off the wagon and started running.

「Bel! A gift!」

I threw my purse at Bel.

She made a nice catch, and when she looked inside and saw the gold coins……

「Don’t make a fool of me!!!」

……she screamed loudly. She did very shrewdly tuck the money away into her pocket though.

With tears streaming down her face, she ran ahead.

Oh, she fell.

「………………」

She isn’t getting up.

No, I’m not going to help you, okay? If I did, you’d get weirdly attached to me.

The old horse continued on at a leisurely pace, catching up to the fallen Bel. She was glancing sideways at me. I was relieved to see that she didn’t seem to be hurt.

I ignored her and kept going.

After passing Bel, I enjoyed the feel of the breeze for a while.

And then……

「H………………help me up, dammit!」

A scream came from behind me.

Bel raced forward at a sprint.

She overtook the plodding wagon, then turned back to face me when she was about thirty meters ahead.

She wasn’t crying anymore. Instead, she looked kind of angry.

「Take care of yourself, Onii-san! May you have a very long life! Good luck!」

「Farewell! Beltoriche! Take care of yourself too! Don’t catch a cold!」

With a wave of her hands, she ran on ahead of me.

There was no looking back as we set off on paths that would never cross again.

The farewell was too unplanned and under such dire circumstances that it was impossible to be saddened by it.

Besides……

「And what about you?」

I stared at the supposedly empty back of the wagon.

In response, pale green lights gathered to form a plain, ordinary-looking maid that could be found anywhere. The translucent figure looked less like some spirit of the dead and more like some three-dimensional hologram.

「I’ll bear witness to your end, Foreigner」

「Do as you like. But what you bear witness to might just be the prince’s demise though」

Surprisingly, Lys smiled.

「I would like that very much. Accomplish what must be accomplished, Leader」

With an ephemeral smile on her face, the spirit vanished under the light of day.

I don’t need you to tell me.

「If you’re going to call me your leader, then trust me」

Bye-bye, Beltoriche.

It’s parting after parting now, isn’t it? But Lys bombshell just hit. It’s simple, but there you have it, the secret of what it is that possessed Bel all this time. She’s the one who said, “Found it” back there at the end of volume 2 when Souya was falling unconscious after the Luxgaru incident. I’m sure you remember, but one of the rumors said that the first prince/hero controls spirits of the dead. This also explains why Lys is good at Elysium-style magic. But as mentioned in the last release, “Even if they didn’t want it to, trust grew when people put their lives in each other’s hands”. Is it weird that I like this maid who stuffs her face with delicious food wordlessly even though she doesn’t really have much screen time?

Well, we’re past the mid-point now. Things are gearing up, but what for? Two more arcs to go! Stay tuned!