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TL: ALT
Chapter 63 – Day 8 of Exploration
“Oh, someone died.”
I was eating breakfast when Hel muttered to herself.
“What? Did someone die in the demonic land?”
“I think someone crossed the stream at the entrance. The spirits of the birds are making a fuss.”
“Can Hel see the spirits of the monsters?”
“I used the bird spirits near the entrance. Oh, I didn’t tell you because Makyo is afraid of spirits. Just forget it.”
“No, I can’t forget it. Did the dead go to heaven?”
“They don’t go to heaven so quickly. If they turn into ghost-type monsters, just throw a healing potion at them.”
“Then we’re safe. No, we’re not safe. That means someone else has broken into the demonic land again, right? That’s annoying.”
“Don’t panic. Let’s have breakfast first.”
“We also need to prepare the healing potion.”
“Don’t worry. We have our weapons ready.”
Chel and the others are calm.
After a good breakfast, we all went to the stream at the entrance. Chel is a demon tribe, so she wears a light disguise.
When we got to the stream, the monsters seemed to have noticed something strange, and they gathered on the hill I had made.
On the other side of the stream, the slaves were lined up. The log bridge that should have been there had collapsed, and on the demonic land side, slime swarmed around the fallen slaves.
“So those who died were the slaves?”
A translucent bird circled above Hel’s head. I’d like to keep it away from us if possible.
“What are they doing in the demon land?”
Jennifer tilted her head.
“Isn’t it for pioneering?”
“Ah, I see! So they have enough money to kill slaves for no reason.”
“D-d-damn it!”
When the slaves started to cross the stream again, Sylvia ran out. Maybe she had some thoughts as a former slave.
We followed her.
“Come on, next! Keep crossing!”
The man commanding the slaves was a man in iron armor with a leather helmet. The only thing that was iron was the mask, so he looked unbalanced.
Slime jumped out of the stream. Sylvia smashed them with her bone hammer, and we kicked the slime away as well.
“What are you doing~?”
“We’re from the Zamurai Fruit Company. We have permission from the Margrave!”
A man in a steel mask shouted from across the stream. He’s one of the Zamurai’s men.
“I am the Margrave.”
“Oh, so you’re the one.”
“I gave you no permission.”
“Didn’t you tell our representative, ‘If you can do it, try it’?”
That’s right, I think I said that.
“So you’re sending slaves to the demonic land to kill them?”
“That’s just part of the investigation.”
“I don’t want you to cause unnecessary casualties and turn them into ghost-type monsters, so please stop this immediately.”
The man in the iron mask made the slaves who were trembling in front of the stream step back.
“Hey, you, the one in charge of the demonic land! The Margrave is here in person!”
The man in the iron mask shouted, and a group of people on phi-horses rode up. They wore scarlet cloaks, but they were unarmed. Their appearance was that of merchants.
“I am Marchia, in charge of the demonic land for the Zamurai Fruit Company. I have come to help you develop the demonic land!”
It seems that the person in charge of the demonic land is a red-haired woman.
“Well, thank you very much. However, it looks like you also destroyed the log bridge, so it doesn’t look like you’re helping at all, does it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m having trouble communicating with my men, so I’ll fix the bridge right away.”
Marchia tried to give the man in the iron mask some instructions, but the man in the iron mask kept looking at her and not listening.
“No, that’s fine. But did you come through the forest from East Kenya to the demonic land?”
“Yes, we were attacked by monsters as we made our way along the pathless path.”
“It’s hard for a mere fruit seller.”
“In order to get sweet fruits, we have to cross mountains and valleys and open up unknown territory. This is the Zamurai Fruit Company.”
“I see. However, the forest you’ve come through is military property. Did you get permission to pass through?”
The forest outside the demonic land is a military training facility.
“Military? It’s a forest full of monsters.”
“There are owners of forests and mountains. Someone, go to the training facility and inform the captain.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll be here soon.”
Hel said. I don’t hear any hoofbeats, and there is no sign of them coming.
“Are you sure?”
“Hmm, you seem hesitant, Chel.”
It seems Hel can see things I can’t.
“Hmm?”
“Please.”
“Yes.”
At the same time as Chel answered, she used magic to create a fireball and sent it across the stream. Of course, she sent it so that it wouldn’t hit the slaves or Marchia, but the hot wind blew, and the horses fell over.
The next moment, an explosion was heard in the forest on the opposite bank, and it caught fire.
“Chel!”
“I made a mistake. This is strange.”
Chel didn’t seem to be using much magic, but it was definitely too much.
“Isn’t that the military forest?”
Marchia shouted.
“Yes. I’ll apologize later.”
Soon, Sasha arrived on a phi-horse with the soldiers.
“What are you doing in the demonic land? Leave at once!”
Sasha and the others approached Marchia and explained.
“Wait! It was the people of the demonic land who unleashed the magic. We are from East Kenya and have come to help the demonic land develop.”
“Sasha, that’s true. We’ll start putting out the fire right away.”
I also have to deal with what Chel did as the local lord. I jumped over the stream and used the Swimmer’s Bird’s staff to extinguish the burning trees.
Meanwhile, Sasha questioned Marchia and the others. They told the truth, but she lectured them and told them to let the army through from now on.
“So you’re saying that the military will trade all the items from the demonic land?”
Marchia snapped at Sasha.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Isn’t the military holding the demonic land by the throat? It will be impossible to make a fair trade! In order to buy and sell items from the demonic land at a fair price, you need to make multiple trading partners!”
I think I can understand the logic Marchia is talking about.
“The staffs made in the demonic land are extremely powerful weapons. If only the military keeps them, it will be seen as an act of intimidation by the neighboring lords and could lead to a rebellion!”
“Then what do you want us to do?”
“We want you to secure the trade routes and establish a market. Since this will probably take some time, how about starting by building a hut as a trading place? Of course, we will bear all financial costs as compensation for the recent civil war.”
Marchia rattled off a quick list of demands. It seemed that East Kenya had a lot prepared.
“Well, even if you say that… What do you think, Margrave?”
Sasha turned to me, who was in the middle of putting out the fire.
“If you go to the demonic land, you’ll die like those slaves. Even if you want to build a hut, you’ll have to build it in the military forest, won’t you?”
“Aren’t you against it?”
“I don’t mind developing the demonic land. But it’s annoying when slaves are killed for no reason in the demonic land…”
“Those slaves will run the trading post. There are monsters in the military forest as well, you know!”
Marchia interrupted the conversation between Sasha and me.
“That’s what I heard. Please discuss this with the captain at the training facility.”
“Understood.”
That was the end of my conversation with Sasha.
“From now on, you have to go through the military. If you go directly to the demonic land, you will get into trouble. Do you understand? This is military property. You can’t do what you want here!”
“Understood.”
Sasha’s call made Marchia obedient.
“By the way, Sasha, didn’t you go back to the royal capital?”
I asked, putting out the fire, and Sasha let out a long sigh.
“I was appointed as the Margrave’s overseer. How can the Margrave live in a place like this with nothing? There are no shoe or clothing stores, and the only sweets are dried persimmons. It looks like it’s impossible to survive here for more than a year.”
It seems that Sasha is surprisingly picky about fashion.
“Why don’t you ask the merchants in East Kenya? They’ll have it ready in no time.”
“We have a wide range of products here, from the latest trends to Elf baked goods.”
Marchia also wants to help.
“Huh? If the military finds out about the bribes, they’ll fire me immediately. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I won’t do anything that might make the demonic land or the royal family into our enemies. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it openly and legally. Let’s go.”
Sasha led Marchia and the others to the training facility. The man with the iron mask and the slaves followed.
“Hah~, I’m tired. I’m sleepy. Can I go home and sleep?”
It’s time for Hel to go to bed.
“Yes, let’s go home. We haven’t even finished exploring the demonic land, but can’t we do something about the commotion outside?”
“When the hut is built, I’ll negotiate.”
“We can sell the weapons!”
Jennifer and Sylvia look a bit happy.
Hey, where’s Chel?
When we returned to the cave, Chel was looking at her hands by the river.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. Makyo, a little later.”
Does she want me to give her a moment later? I don’t really understand, but if I can help, I will.
“Okay.”
We started surveying the ruins in the south at noon. Today, it’s just Chel and me.
“If we’re going to build a hut, it would be better to make a flower garden around it, wouldn’t it? Even in forests other than the demonic land, there are still monsters to deal with… Hey, Chel?”
I turned around to see Chel using magic to raise a column of water from the river.
“What the hell?”
The person who raised it didn’t seem to understand.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know! Something’s wrong with my magic.”
“What is wrong with it? Up until now, you’ve been able to create such water columns with magic, right?”
“No, that’s right, but… I’m using less magic power.”
When I listened closely, it seemed like the amount of magic power used had suddenly dropped by half.
“Why? Has your level increased?”
“Level? Oh, I see…”
We hadn’t really paid attention to our levels before, but maybe they’re suddenly increasing.
Anyway, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong, so we go to the ruins and start digging. The surviving Lamia also ran away when we approached. They haven’t found a new place to live yet?
While we were cutting the grass around the ruins and picking up stones and rocks, we found a silver bracelet. Surprisingly, these things are easy to find. There was a pattern on it, so it might be something used in rituals. Anyway, it would be inconvenient if it was cursed, so I put it in a bag and took it home without wearing it.
“Ah!”
Chel noticed something.
“What is it?”
“I know! Look at this!”
Chel came over to me, holding the insect monster in her hand.
“What is it?”
While I stared at the still-moving insect monster, Chel produced a ball of fire from her fingertip with magic.
At that moment, the insect monster collapsed.
Chel hadn’t even held it, and the insect monster had just fainted.
“What’s going on?”
“I think it ran out of magic power. When you use magic, you have to concentrate your magic power, right? When I use magic, it seems like I can absorb magic power from my surroundings. That’s why I only used a little of my magic power.”
“What? What’s that? So you’re using my magic power as well?”
“I don’t know, but I think so!”
“That’s not fair! But how did you learn to do that all of a sudden?”
“Yes. Maybe I’m sick?”
“Maybe it’s a curse?”
“Yikes, that’s possible! Oh, it’s a bone!”
In the end, we found what looked like human bones and finished our digging for the day. It seems that Chel may have been cursed by the ancient people.
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