Chapter 354: Chapter 255

Translator: “Hakou” Editor: “Weasalopes”

Night is in full swing. The red-light district of the royal capital is bustling with activity, the lights on the streets and inside the stores overwhelmed the twinkling stars.

After finishing the test play of 『the revolutioner’s new invention』 at the end of the century brothel, I was riding the stream of people to go home.

(It doesn’t feel right)

I frowned while holding my own butt with one hand.

In the end of the century brothel, I had fought with the women in the store with a toy wand, and the stick in my butt vibrated when I was hit.

I’ve attacked the back of Light instructor-sensei, causing her to fall into a coma and I ended up getting banned, but I’m not used to it being done to me.

(Let’s cast healing magic on it when we get home)

I wonder which one is effective, the cure injury or cure abnormal status conditions? I doubt cure disease will have any effect.

While thinking about this, I climbed the stairs of the three-story stone building.

「I’m home~」

When I opened the door, I saw my familiars. In addition to the caterpillar and the dung beetle, the turtle is also with them today.

「That’s rare for you to welcome me too, Zaratan」

Usually, he doesn’t come out of the garden pond unless I call him.

Then Imosuke, the leader of my familiars, explained. He said Zaratan had something to tell me and had been waiting for me since the sun went down.

「I’m sorry about that, you must have waited quite a while now」

I had planned to come home a little earlier, but the unexpected invitation to a test play made me late.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

I apologized to everyone and headed for the living room with the three of them in tow. I put the bath towels on the floor and sat down together.

「Okay, let’s start the family council」

After I said that, the turtle gave a small nod and began to speak. It was about the Capricorn.

The herd had been in the Spirit Forest until recently, but they had disappeared. The one that was there this morning was apparently a young man who had left the herd to improve himself.

「Eh? So you sent that Capricorn back to the Spirit Forest?」

What he said next surprised me.

The Capricorn, frightened by the sight of the giant me, fled into the garden forest. When he returned a little while later, my familiars explained to him that I’m not scary.

After listening to them, the Capricorn earnestly wished to leave.

『Apparently he has an idea where his herd is』

Zaratan said.

The young Capricorn reacted to the information that his herd had recently seen in the northern countries.

The mountainous area southeast of the Spirit Forest. He said that no Capricorns lived there, and that the herd must have moved away.

「But isn’t it too sudden? He could have taken the night off and come back early tomorrow morning」

Then I would have been able to heal his injuries and Zaratan would not have had to teleport there in daytime.

At this point, Dangorou took over the conversation. The Capricorn had made up his mind when he saw a large amount of poisonous plants growing in the garden forest.

「I see…」

There’s not much to eat in the place we were, and my herd must all be starving. It would be dangerous if I didn’t bring them here soon.

That’s what he thought.

「Hm, what’s that? I see, is that so」

The fifth instar larva of the swallowtail butterfly lifts his upper half and moves its warty legs to make an appeal.

If the young Capricorn could convince the herd, Imosuke can just pull the rest here.

「Now that you mention it, you did say that you could summon them if the other party wished for it themselves. Aren’t you amazing? As expected of the leader of my familiars」

After looking at the caterpillar, who was pleased when I praised it, I moved my gaze sideways to the turtle.

「It looks like you’ve been teleporting to the Spirit Forest when the sun is still up. Didn’t the elves find you?」

To avoid this, we usually started the operation late at night, and back early in the morning. Zaratan’s answer was that he was probably fine.

He had only been there for a very short time.

The Capricorn was lighter than the Heavy Lancer, and jumped down easily without needing him to come to the shore.

「He looked like a mountain goat, so I guess he had no problem with jumping off edges and cliffs」

I was convinced, and was glad that things were going well. Hopefully, we will be able to welcome new residents in the near future.

Seeing that this talk was over, the turtle opened his mouth.

(Next was a sermon on how I surprised and scared the Capricorn, huh)

I was prepared, but it wasn’t that. When he said he wanted to talk to me this morning, I thought he was referring to the information that a herd of Capricorns had disappeared from the Spirit Forest.

Turns out, it was a different matter, and it seems to be something from this morning.

『There is something I’m troubled with』

That’s what he said before he started talking. There was a lot I didn’t understand about magic and stuff, but if I were to sum it up, it was like this.

(He has been getting a bunch of spam calls)

A call that had been coming intermittently for the past few days. He wondered what it was and answered it after sending the Capricorn.

『I was careless』

When he did, they forced their way in, and for a brief moment, they were able to peek through his senses.

He immediately shut it off, but since then, the crazy mass of calls continued.

「……That sounds though」

The window that kept opening even after I closed it. Remembering this experience, I said in a low voice.

「You can’t cut it off completely because you’re also in contact with me and Imosuke?」

I asked him what I could do, and he said that healing magic might work.

「Okay, let’s try it then」

Using both of my hands, I reached out to him and grabbed him by his shell. Then, I tried the F-rank cure injury, cure disease, and cure status abnormality in order.

I felt like I was hitting a wall when I cast cure disease and cure status abnormality. It might be something like a virus.

「I think it’s working somehow」

The fact that there’s a response means that it can be cured.

I reassured him and looked at the window. The curtains were closed, so it would be no problem to use a C-rank or brighter higher magic.

(Let’s start from the lowest rank and go up)

“Firstly…” I said as I cast an E-rank cure disease magic.

***

We go back in time a little and move to the Spirit Forest.

This is the workshop of an old high elf woman in the elven village. It is a wooden structure built on stilts at the base of the World Tree, and looks a little like Baba Yaga’s house.

『The best pharmacist in the village and a user of water-element magic』

It was because of this that she was allowed to set up her workshop on the roots of the World Tree.

(It’s a success)

A magic circle shines brightly on the floor inside the room. In the center of it, the old high elf woman stood with her face frowned and sweat on her forehead.

By adding the magic she had absorbed from the world tree to her own magic power, she had activated a great magic that could connect her consciousness with Zaratan.

Now all she had to do was wait for him to heed her call.

(It’s connected!)

Zaratan, the great spirit beast, who was the guardian of the Spirit Lake and watches over the elven people. However, he suddenly disappeared and his current whereabouts are unknown.

It is only when he is gone that the elves realize the many benefits they have received from him. Her hard work to search for Zaratan has finally borne fruit.

(!?)

Zaratan’s vision was reflected in the old woman’s mind.

There was a giant tree with huge branches in the sky and translucent leaves.

(A world tree! And it’s different from the ones in our village)

There’s supposed to be only one world tree in the world.

The possibility of there being another one was considered certain based on the world’s magic power balance. However, this was the first time she actually see it with her own eyes.

The old woman’s consciousness has exceeded the limits of processing and has stopped moving.

(Get yourself together, me)

What restarted it was a change in vision as Zaratan moved his gaze.

A turtle that seemed to be in the lake lowered its head, and he could see a group of large magical beasts that looked like Heavy Lancers, strolling along the shore.

(I need to memorize every bit of this scenery and figure out where it is)

But that resolve was shattered when his gaze moved sideways to the base of the world tree.

(The roots are being eaten!)

It was a fierce-looking, multi-legged demon beast completely covered in hideous thorns. It was digging up the base of the world tree.

From the contrast with the Heavy Lancer nearby, she could tell that it was an incredibly large demon beast. The size of it could be called a hill.

(I got it!)

Seeing that sight, a lightning bolt ran through the old woman’s skull to her spine.

(That is the mythical being that harms the world tree and destroys the world)

It was because of this that Zaratan left the spirit lake. And now he must be fighting to save the next generation of the world tree.

Now it all made sense to her that he had disappeared, and the haze in her mind was blown away.

(Zaratan! We elves will lend you a hand)

He may have gone alone to keep his beloved elves out of the battle.

But there was no need for such consideration.

(Noblesse Oblige)

We are the elven race. Because we are high ranking and noble beings, we have duties to the world.

The vision we see is different from those who only think about themselves every day.

『Where are you? Answer me! I’ll go there right away!』

The old woman called out to Zaratan using her spirit language. She was probably the only one among the elves who could speak it so fluently.

(Eh? What happened?)

But the next moment, her vision suddenly blacked out. She knew that the connection had been severed.

(I was found out by that World Enemy!)

He must have set up a barrier or something. The speed of his reaction convinced her that the World Enemy was not just a simply powerful being.

The old woman combined her hands and poured more magic power into them. She must somehow confirm the location and go to help Zaratan as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the world will be destroyed.

(Please answer my call, Zaratan!)

The magic circle grew even brighter.

***

We’ve returned to the present, in the living room.

「E-rank is no good huh? This thing is quite the big deal it seems」

I muttered to myself as I lifted the turtle up.

I nodded to reassure him after feeling a hint of worry in his dull eyes.

「Alright! Let’s try D-rank magic next」

I felt a piercing sensation when I cast the cure status abnormality. I guess it’s safe to say that healed.

Then I activated the cure disease, and it worked too.

「How is it?」

When asked, Zaratan looks up at the ceiling. After a short pause, he turns to look at me again.

「You’re still hearing the voice?」

Cure status abnormality and cure disease. Both of them showed signs of healing him.

I thought it might be a good idea to apply cure injury magic, but he doesn’t seem to be injured.

「Hmmm」

Something that never happened before. Just to be sure, I applied cure status abnormality again.

「What’s happening? It’s not healing」

I’m sure that I have broken through, but I still feel like I’m hitting a wall.

Having absolute confidence in the Akashic Magic lent to me by the stone statue, I made a hypothesis.

「Did it come again?」

Horrible spam mail. While I was healing one, the other must have been invaded.

「Now then, what should I do?」

If I deal with both at the same time, I think I can handle it. But I can only use one magic at a time.

I lowered the turtle to my chest and thought about how to deal with it.

「I guess I’ll just have to use brute force」

I guess you could say I’ve made up my mind. My lack of knowledge regarding magic made it impossible for me to deal with the technicalities.

「The same amount of magic I used to heal your tail. Is it okay if I use that?」

If you don’t know something, it’s best to ask someone who knows it. The long-lived, know-it-all turtle shakes his head and says it’s okay.

「It’ll be a little bright but bear with me」

I say this not only to Zaratan, but also to the two other animals that are watching us. It’s a B-rank cure status abnormality magic that I will use.

「Here we go!」

At the same time as I shouted, the turtle glowed with green light.

What I felt at that moment was like the cork of a wooden air gun flying. I could almost hear the sound of it popping.

「One more!」

The disease must be cured before it pushes back. After a pause, blue light filled the room.

「Hm?」

This time, however, there was no response. It felt as if I had pushed the stick into the wooden air cannon from behind without putting a cork on the tip.

It slipped through easily.

「How is it now?」

I tilted my head and asked Zaratan. The turtle, whose eyes were tightly closed, slowly opened them at the sound of my voice.

It gazed at me with its black eyes and nodded its head.

『It’s gone』

At any rate, it seemed to have worked out.

Zaratan said that he would be more careful from now on and not answer any strange calls.

「And? Who was it from?」

When I asked him while feeling relief, he narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth in disgust.

It was probably the elf. He said that they might have peeked into his vision, but they wouldn’t know where he is still.

「…Again, huh」

Their shadows are everywhere in this world, one way or another. They are a troublesome bunch.

Afterwards, we all had a bad-mouthing contest about elves. It was an ill-mannered thing to do, but it made it all the more exciting.

It was a night that made me realize once again the depth of their sin.

***

The time returned just after Tauro used his D-rank magic.

The location is the old high elf woman’s workshop in an elf village.

(What a pressure. As expected of the World Enemy)

The old woman was dripping with sweat while gritting her teeth.

After half a day of using magic with potions instead of water.

The enemy finally decided to counterattack, and intensified their efforts to completely sever the connection between her and Zaratan.

(I am the best water magician of the elves. I’m not going to let that happen)

She showed a slight leeway in the midst of a difficult situation. After pushing back several waves, she was able to figure out the upper limit of her opponent.

(If it’s only this much, we’re going to be fine. I can hold on)

Now, if there is any action from the Zaratan side, we will be able to build a strong bridge that will not be interrupted by anyone.

Just as she was sure of this, an intense green light filled the room around her.

(What?)

That night, an explosion occurred in a corner of the elven village. The roof of the workshop was blown off high in the air, and the old high elf woman who lives there was left unconscious.

There was no announcement from the High Elves to the people of the village as to the cause of the explosion.