LEGEND

Chapter 107

As Rei and Elena were talking behind the inn, Rei has an expression of surprise at the sudden mention of 『Artificial Body』.

「……Where did you hear that from?」

Rei slowly took his hand out of the grasp of Elena’s smooth hands.

Rei longer held an expression of surprise and instead looked her in the eyes to ascertain her motive.

However, although Rei looked at her, Elena remained unperturbed as she shook her head slightly.

「Don’t worry. I don’t plan to say anything about the matter. ……In addition, a 『Seed of Contract』 has been placed in my body. You would understand best that I can’t say anything that may disadvantage you right?」

When Elena mentioned the 『Seed of Contract』, his mind, which had been previously half asleep, finally started working as he loosened his expression as he spoke up.

「Then, it was the first time we saw Grimm.」

「That’s right. Everyone else other than Rei and Set had been stopped by Grimm’s time magic, but should I say fortunately for me, I kept my consciousness. That is why was able to hear the story then. I think it was because of the magic stone of the Ancient Dragon I had on me that I resisted the effect of Grimm-dono’s magic.」

「……I see.」

He nodded at Elena’s explanation while leaning against Set with a sigh.

Normally, he would have needed to do something to silence her, but since 『Seed of Contract』 had already been used, she was already silenced. Because of that, Rei judged that there was no need to do anything more.

「……So, since you know, what do you plan to do?」

「I don’t plan to do anything differently. However……well, if it’s fine, I would hear about Rei’s world.」

Rei had a surprised expression when Elena spoke about it as it it were nothing.

「You’re fine with that?　More like, for example, you don’t want the Power Axe for free or that I give another magic item?」

「……Rei, I’m troubled that you would think that of me. Do I seem like a person who would take advantage of someone’s weakness to gain their possessions?」

At the power of Elena’s slight glare, Rei unconsciously tried to retreat. But since he was leaning against Set, he was unable to do so and eventually just stayed quiet as Elena glared at him.

After being glared at by Elena for several seconds, Rei raised his hands in surrender as he spoke up.

「I’m sorry. It was certainly my mistake. I didn’t intend to insult you. Please forgive me.」

「Hmm, it was unexpected that you thought of me as such a person. ……Well, it’s fine. Still, that means that Rei’s story about being a mage’s disciple was a complete lie.」

「That’s right. However, I was reborn in this artificial body after my soul was pulled from another world……even if I talked about it, would you believe me?」

That would be impossible, Elena nodded at Rei, who was smiling ironically.

「That is probably true. Even for me, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard the story from Rei and Grimm-dono back then. Also, more so because it was the Majin called Zepairu that saved Rei’s soul and sent it to this world.」

「I never thought that thousands of years would have passed in this world since Zepairu died. Though I inherited his knowledge, most of it has become useless after thousands of years.」

He murmured while stroking Set’s back as he leaned against him like a sofa.

「That would be so. There are few things that wouldn’t change after thousands of years. ……By the way, since you being a mage’s apprentice is a lie, could the magic item you’re wearing possibly be……」

Rei nodded at Elena, who had asked the question cautiously.

「Ah. Dragon Robe, Shoes of Sleipnir, Bracelet of Magic Absorption. ……And, Misty Ring, the item box. All these were made by Esta Nord, the alchemist of Zepairu’s organisation.」

「To think that, well……do you know?　That he is said to be the greatest alchemist of all time?　The highest level of the Magic City Osus, which currently holds the best alchemists in the world, are said to be the descendants of his partner and his students.」

「That is probably a lie.」

At those words, Elena had no idea what to say.

「What do you mean?」

「As I said earlier, I gained all of Zepairu’s knowledge. If he had the time to nurture disciples, Esta Nord was someone who would rather spend the time concentrating on his research. With such a personality, he did not marry in his life. ……Well, I only know about Esta Nord after he entered Zepairu’s organisation. There is a possibility he had taken disciples earlier or that they are descendants of his blood relatives, so it’s not impossible.」

「……My view of that legendary person just got ruined by you Rei.」

Originally, he had been exalted as a great man from the past, Elena had a bitter smile as she thought about his unexpected character.

Like that, the two of them talked for about an hour before they saw a petite figure come towards them from the inn. It was Linde, who was in charge of the inn chores.

「Elena-sama, you have some guests.」

Knowing that the other party was a noble, though his cheeks went red at Elena’s beautiful face, he still spoke in a polite tone.

「Guests?」

「Yes. Walker-sama from the guild would like to listen you your story.」

At those words, she remembered that the guild staff member at the dungeon had said that he would contact the guild.

「That reminds me that was so. ……For the person in charge to come, that was unexpected for him to be able to move so easily.」

「Well, he’s still young.」

「……There’s no doubt he’s older than the both of us. What will you do Rei?　Would you like to come with us?」

「No, that’s too troublesome for me. I’ll take it slow today and rest my body.」

With a smile, he waved his hands while leaning against Set.

「Fuu~. I certainly am the party leader. I have the obligation to explain what happened to Walker. Ah, yes, that’s right. Because we’re leaving here tomorrow, please do that.」

Elena stood up with a sigh as she talked about tomorrow’s schedule.

After fainting when Vel from the magic stone, she hadn’t taken a break at all. As expected, even Elena was feeling the fatigue.

Adding on to that, she had just absorbed the magic stone of the Ancient Dragon.

Rei nodded at Elena when she mentioned about the next day.

「Guru~?」

Set, who had been a silent sofa until now, gave a cry asking if it was okay.　As he gave a cry, he turned to look at Elena.

Smiling like a beautiful rose for a moment, she gently stroked Set’s head before returning to the inn with Linde.

「The party leader is still hard at work.」

Seeing her off, he put the two platinum coins into the Misty Ring before leaning back against Set to enjoy a moment of rest.

A waiting room of the first floor of the inn. Walker was waiting for Elena.

Walker stood up from the sofa he was sitting on and gave a bow.

「Elena-sama, sorry for coming to bother you.」

「Don’t worry about it. Because I was planning to report anyway before I left the village, it saves me the time and trouble.」

Elena nodded at Walker and sat on the sofa opposite him. Seeing that, Walker exchanged a look with the owner of the inn, who then brought in some tea.

「This inn is certainly a place where nobles and big merchants stay. The tea they serve is very good.」

「Well, considering what you can get here, it’s quite the expensive tea leaves. ……Now then, how can I help you?」

Elegantly carrying the tea to her mouth, Walker began to talk as he admired her.

「The Altar of Inheritance. I want to ask about what happened there. I was told that the person known as the General Princess went to challenge the dungeon and as a result, came back with only half her party. As the person in charge of the guild here, I have to ask what happened.」

「……Hmm. I understand what you mean, but that said, there are some things I can’t talk about.」

As she murmured that, Elena was troubled in her mind as she thought about how to explain things.

Members of the nobility……furthermore, Viscount Sails’ house, which had been close to the Duke Kerebel, a central figure of the Mireana Kingdom, had defected to the Bestir Empire. They weren’t things she could talk about.

(No, to be exact, they probably haven’t left yet. Communication from my letter or Vel, it’s a fight between which one will reach father or Viscount Sails first.)

Walker considered Elena’s words for a short time.

He was someone who was in charge of the guild branch near the dungeon, even at his young age. He quickly understood that Elena’s statement indicated a political issue and gave a small nod.

「Well, then you can just talk about what you can.」

「I see……then to put it simply, my two subordinates were caught in traps or attacked by monsters and died.」

「……Traps and monsters, is it?」

「Ah. Traps and monsters. ……Do you know what I mean?　At the very least, it’s better that you do.」

For a few seconds, not more than ten, the two people looked at each other. Although they were just looking at each other, the tension in the room rose as if crossing swords.

「……I understand. I don’t want to get involved in politics. If Elena-sama says so, I will follow.」

「Sorry about this. I’ll get someone to pass you some money as compensation later.」

「No, I don’t care……is what I want to say, as we are a frontier guild branch, I’ll welcome any support we can get.」

Walker gave a pleasant smile, as if the tension before had been a lie. Likewise, Elena also smiled.

Although they smiled at each other, both smiles were rather fake. Walker’s smile was like a smile had just been pasted and stuck to his face. Because of her beauty, Elena’s smile had the same feeling as smiling doll.

They weren’t sincere smiles, but rather smiles for show. Not smiling from their hearts, but instead only putting on a smiling expression.

While they understood each other, they did not say anything. ……No, they couldn’t.

Like that, with a smile that would cause Rei to doubt his eyes if he saw, she took a card out from her waist pouch and placed it on the table.

It was the one they had borrowed from Walker before entering the dungeon, the card that gave the bearer equal authority to Walker.

「Well then, I will return this card as well.」

「Thank you very much. Was it useful?」

「Ah. Thanks to this card, we didn’t have to spend extra time waiting in line to enter the dungeon.」

「That is good.」

Still smiling, Walker put the card into his pocket.

「Since you’ve returned this card to me, your business in the dungeon is finished. ……May I assume that?」

「Umu~. I’ve done everything I needed to do here.」

「In that case, you will be leaving soon?」

「Rather than saying soon, I am planning to leave here tomorrow.」

At those words, Walker had a slight expression of relief.

Elena, the General Princess, was the daughter of Duke Kerebel, a central figure in the nobility. If something had happened to her in the dungeon by any chance, it could be expected that the resulting fallout would affect more than just the village around the dungeon.

While guessing Walker’s thoughts, Elena kept the same fake smile she had before…

「That reminds me, if you don’t mind, could you tell me your impression of the dungeon?」

At that sudden question, Elena brought the tea to her mouth as she remembered the incidents that had occurred in the dungeon.

「That’s right. We proceeded along the shortest route down to the third floor using a map. After that, we had to search around, so it took longer. I didn’t expect that there would be a forest on the fourth floor, we had to fight a troop of Water Monkeys there. As for the fifth floor……」

Saying up to there, Elena paused for a moment.

(It would be better not to say anything about Grimm-dono. In other words, it’s the same for the infinite loop trap.)

「Elena-sama?」

「Ah, I’m sorry. Regarding the fifth floor, it’s filled with Undead. Because of their odour, your sense of smell becomes useless. Beasts and people with sharp senses in particular will suffer more. A lot of troublesome traps were located around the sixth floor. The lowest floor……well, although we didn’t fight it, unexpectedly, there is a S rank monster Silver Lion protecting the dungeon nucleus……that’s about it.」

「Thank you very much. Especially since the number of adventurers who can reach the sixth floor are few, Elena-sama’s information is very useful.」

「What, there’s not need to worry about it, you’ve also helped us plenty.」

After exchanging information on the dungeon for about 10 minutes, Walker stood up.

「I’m sorry, but I’ll have to get going. Since the guild branch is small, there is also less manpower available.」

「I see, you’ve saved me a lot of trouble. As I said earlier, I’ll be leaving tomorrow so this will be the last time I see you.」

「Yes, I know.」

Rising up from the sofa, Walker gave an elegant bow before leaving the inn.

Seeing him off, Elena went to her room.

As expected from her fatigue, she slept soundly……and thus, their last night in the village built around the dungeon passed.

In addition, Rei slept outside until he was woken by Linde. Set was in a good mood after spending some relaxing time with Rei, which he hadn’t done in a long time.