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TL: ALT
Chapter 90 – Day 35 of Exploration
It was late at night, too early to call it early morning, when Chel came into my room.
“What’s up?”
“Are you tired of digging?”
“It’s the same work, so it’s mentally exhausting. My stamina is fine. Is something wrong?”
When I asked, Chel made a big face and groaned, “Ugh.”
“What’s with the face? Didn’t you come to talk to me about something?”
“I came to talk to you. But I don’t want to.”
“This is so annoying. Anyway, there’s no point in talking in this dark cave, so let’s go to the campfire.”
It would be annoying if Jennifer got any strange ideas again.
“Hel and Sylvia are there.”
“Even if you only talk to me, I can’t give you any good advice, so it’s better to have more brains, right?”
“That’s true.”
Finally, I sat down next to Hel and Sylvia, who were working outside by the campfire.
“You trust them, right? Please listen to what Chel has to say while you work.”
“I’m making a sleeping potion, so please don’t come too close.”
“I-I-I’m sorry if the wood chips fly.”
Both Hel and Sylvia wear masks. Sylvia appears to be sharpening the handle of a club.
“It’s hard to explain…”
Chel asks, looking at me.
“Just tell us.”
“We went to the Cliff Garuda, right? When you saw the magic tools and the airships, did anything change within you, Makyo?”
“Lipa came.”
I replied simply.
“And then?”
“After that, the trade with Cliff Garuda will start, right?”
“Well, no, I mean… hasn’t your attitude or sense of crisis changed?”
Unlike usual, Chel asked seriously, without an accent.
“Uh, what? Should it have changed?”
“I think it should have changed.”
Chel looked at the sky and made a strange face again.
“Even if you say that, the excavation has already started, so I’m pretty busy, you know.”
“It seems like the demon kingdom of Meiju and Cliff Garuda have been trading with each other, right?”
“Oh, is it finally time for Chel to confess your position?”
“Well, that’s not really important, so let’s put it aside for now and talk about it later. But more importantly, don’t you think it’s a little dangerous that Meiju and Cliff Garuda are connected?”
“Not really.”
“I think so.”
“I-I-I’m a little worried.”
It seems that Hel and Sylvia have a sense of crisis.
“That’s right! Makyo is definitely up to something, isn’t he? Oh, thank goodness.”
“What?”
“Makyo has no sense of responsibility as the Lord of the demonic land. That’s why you can be so carefree.”
“Since I don’t understand the sense of crisis that Chel and the others have, please explain it to me so that I can understand.”
I feel like I’ve woken up for nothing.
“The people of the Meiju Kingdom are mostly demons. In other words, magic and the development of magic tools are flourishing. If the flying technology of the Cliff Garuda has been passed down, then the transportation technology should have developed as well.”
“Is that so? When Chel was here, about two months ago, wasn’t it so developed?”
“It hadn’t developed. At least not openly. However, I feel like I’ve been summoned by the former Demon King a few times lately?”
“Hmm? What do you mean? Is it like a communication spell?”
“Chel’s is more like a curse. The previous Demon King is dead, after all.”
Hel added.
“Eehh~, so you’re saying that Chel can hear the voices of ghosts?”
Hearing the word ‘ghost,’ my face contorted involuntarily.
“See, you’re making a weird face again! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“You scared me. It’s not a weird face. Anyway, you said you’re getting messages from the ghost, right? So what?”
“It means that the Demon King has changed several times!”
“Is that so?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you, but I was appointed to the position of Demon King by the previous Demon King, but I turned it down.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. Were you supposed to become the Demon King, Chel?”
“That’s why I didn’t want to become one, and that’s why I turned it down! Don’t look at me with pity!”
“Then why is the Demon King in such a remote place? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s why I ran away!”
Chel punched my shoulder.
“Why do I get hit when I take your advice at this late hour?”
“It’s a misunderstanding, so just try to understand.”
Hel said, and I finally forced myself to swallow what Chel said.
“Alright, I understand. Chel, you’re the next demon king, but you ran away to the demon country. I don’t really care. Live as you like!”
“So you don’t care about me at all, you bastard!”
For some reason, Chel is shaking with anger. It’s probably because of me, but I don’t know why she’s angry.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t get much education, and until recently, I had been just an adventurer. I’m just the ruler of the demonic land without really understanding what’s going on. I have a place to live, clothes to wear, and food to eat. What’s the problem?”
“In other words, with the change of government, there may be a technological revolution in transportation in the Meiju Kingdom. Of course, this technology will not only be used for commercial purposes, but also for military power.”
“W-w-well, the demon army could fly in the sky. There is also a grudge from 100 years ago.”
Hel and Sylvia explained for Chel.
“It doesn’t have to be an army. When I was a student, I wrote a draft that suggested the demons work with the government and spread out across the world, slowly expanding their territory. I wrote it because I thought it would be better to have the same goal together instead of widening the gap between people based on family background or ability, but it caught the attention of the Demon King.”
“W-w-was Chel that good?”
“I think I was just well-liked by the previous king because I was often with the common people. And I had a distant relative in the Cliff Garuda. You saw her, right, Makyo?”
“Ah, the one who judges everything.”
“Even before my draft, the Meiju Kingdom had sent demons to the Cliff Garuda.”
“It’s only natural that the demons with the highest abilities get the highest positions.”
Hel said as she sniffed a stimulant to wake herself up.
“If the technology to fly in the sky spreads, the demons will surely come.”
“I see, so I understand that Chel is not just a magician who likes bread. So what?”
“So that means airships might come to the sky of the demonic land!”
“What’s wrong with that? There are monsters in the demonic land. They’ll probably bring down the airship. Even the adventurers of Cliff Garuda couldn’t enter the demonic land because of the monsters there.”
“That may be true, but…”
“If they gain air superiority, it’ll be inconvenient. They might drop something poisonous and leave. The elf kingdom could be finished in one fell swoop.”
Hel looked into the distance to the north.
“M-m-maybe we should tell the kingdom of Estinia as well.”
Sylvia looked to the entrance of the demonic land.
“Makyo, do you understand now?”
“Yes. Well, since the demonic land allows the demons to enter as long as Chel is there, if something comes flying, we can just drop it and think about it later.”
“It might be too late when something happens! It’s important to strike first!”
“Then, Chel, you should hurry up and make a boat and go talk to the Meiju Kingdom.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Soon, Chel’s tone had returned to normal.
After that, we talked some more, and in the end, we decided that from now on, when we go to collect salt, we’ll stay on the east coast for a while.
In the morning, I slept a little and told Jennifer and Lipa about the conversation we’d had during the night. Then, I went to the hut outside the demonic land and told the elves that the demons might be flying in the sky.
“Is this about the airship you spoke of the other day? So you think the country of the Cliff Garuda and the demons are trading?”
“You are quick to understand. That’s right. When the army of Estinia comes, let them know. And tell the elves as well.”
“I understand. I’ll tell them, but it would be better for you, the lord of the demonic land, to tell the army. They’re coming to the forest for training soon, so you could tell them then.”
“If the time is right. Well, I’ll tell them anyway. We’ll attack them when they come here.”
After saying that, I returned to the demonic land.
After an early lunch, I took a nap. The late-night discussion had dragged on, so I was sleepy from the morning.
In the afternoon, we all went to the excavation site.
As expected, there were a large number of insect monsters that had come out in search of cam fruit and poison berries. The croaking of large frog monsters could be heard everywhere as they ate the insect monsters.
According to P.J.’s notebook, it seems to be a frog monster called a giant toad that spits hallucinogenic poison from its countless warts. It’s about the size of a large dog but not very strong. We left its extermination to Lipa.
We dug through the hill with a shovel made of palm sap. Chel used magic to collect the dirt we dug up and threw it into the swamp.
It’s easy to break up the soil, but it’s hard to control the force so as not to destroy the ruins. After digging roughly, we carefully dug out the earth. We also found hard rocks and the bones of small monsters, but it was a time-consuming task.
Everyone worked silently, but then Lipa collapsed after being overcome by the giant toad’s hallucinations. He didn’t seem to be hurt, so we put some smelling salts in his nose and let him sleep.
During the break, Sylvia knocked the giant toad down with a club, and Hel collected its venom. “It could be useful as an anesthetic.”
Hel said, but P.J. seemed to be boiling the poison in a pot and letting the flying monsters inhale the fumes. It seems to be effective against the monsters that sometimes appear in large numbers.
When something that looked like a wall appeared, we woke Lipa and finished the job. On the way home, Hel sprinkled the fallen cam berries and the dead toads with sleeping powder.
“Because tomorrow, you’ll only have to kill the monsters.”
“Yes. Thank you!”
Lipa replied after waking up.
“By the way, what kind of dream did you have?”
I asked since he was talking in his sleep.
“No, it was a dream I couldn’t do anything about. I was controlling a fire-breathing lizard and defeating the monster.”
“A monster user. Lipa is liked by monsters, so it might be unexpectedly good.”
Maybe I’ll try to catch a fire-breathing lizard next time.
Before the sunset, we returned to the cave.
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