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TL: ALT
Chapter 194 – Day 25 of Management Life : Each of Chel’s Rescue Stories Day 2
I clearly remember last night when I returned from the trading town to the demonic land. I left the immobilized soldiers at the training ground in the guard hut.
I sat by the bonfire in front of the cave and made soup. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
It was the first time in ages that I had a dream about my past life.
I wasn’t hunting; I think I was doing some kind of work. I was looking at numbers and getting excited or depressed.
It was a job I’d never seen in this world.
Politics was left to dying old men. I harbored great dissatisfaction, but it was safe. The people walking the streets looked so similar that there was no room for discrimination. Still, some people found tiny differences and forced distinctions upon others.
At work, people fell in love regardless of age differences. People walked hand in hand with the elderly. They kept their covenants with the gods and fasted. Polytheists built stone statues and prayed before them every morning. Everyone was different, yet when disaster struck, they came together to rebuild. When the plague spread, they stayed home and followed the doctors’ orders. It seemed like a tightly controlled world.
The scene rushed past my eyes at incredible speed. It was faster than I could process, leaving me breathless.
“Hah!”
When I woke up, the soup had completely dried out, and the tough meat was charred.
Washing the pot in the swamp, I pondered how to manage the demonic land. After all, I’d never seen a noble manage their own territory, so I had to figure it out myself. Ideally, I wanted land like I’d seen in my dreams from a past life, but achieving that seemed impossible. Besides, the demonic land’s subjects looked entirely different.
Even if I eliminated discrimination, I wouldn’t want those who can fly to dig the ground.
Currently, things work based on people’s strengths and preferences. However, eventually, illnesses will arise that cannot be cured with minimal effort.
“I wish we could solve it together.”
Come to think of it, not everyone has returned yet. Apparently, Chel summoned them, but it must be something I can’t handle since I constantly emit magic just by existing.
I feed the rotting bait in the cave to the Rock Crocodile at the crocodile park, then I check on the “Migrant” monsters at the Midgard ruins. They rampaged for a while, but now they just fly around. Since gaining the ability to fly and expanding their range, they’ve learned to hunt. The surrounding ground is dug up, and the purple tubers are gone.
The young monsters are gone.
When I entered the Midgard ruins, the monsters made a commotion, but none attacked. Perhaps they sensed the danger? When I rotated the magic power in my dantian, they backed away further.
While lying down, I checked the magic levels underground. Unlike before, I could sense an enormous amount of magic power gathering.
Most likely, the “Migrating” monsters accumulated this magic power during their growth process.
Suddenly, the leather pouch hanging at my waist shifted and bumped against my hand. I wondered if the dungeon egg was about to hatch, but it seemed to have merely reacted to the magic.
After digging up some soil and placing it in my hand for observation, I found that it contained tiny, translucent particles of magic stone. There were also crushed bones mixed in.
Fire-breathing birds were pecking at the monster’s corpse and burning it. It was probably a parent monster that had exhausted itself after raising its young. The fire-breathing birds crushed the bones, ate the marrow, and covered them with soil. It was impressive how they didn’t leave a mess.
I couldn’t sense any earth veins deep within the ground anymore. However, it seemed that the magic power accumulated year after year due to the visits of the “migrating” monsters.
“Wait a minute. In the demonic land, not just monsters accumulate magic power, right? If that’s the case…”
I’ve seen it before, too—some plants in the demonic land store magic stones in their root nodules. If magic power accumulates in plant colonies, then there should be reports of gentian blooming in the northwestern mountainous region and dog flowers blooming in the north. Near the entrance, there’s a colony of sleeping flowers.
“Everyone’s gone. I guess I’ll search alone…”
I returned to the cave, prepared for exploration, and borrowed a long, thin bone club from the materials Sylvia had stored in the warehouse. I headed toward the sleeping flower colony.
I parted the flowers with the bone club and placed my hand on the ground, sensing the gathered magic. There was a stream nearby, meaning there was an earth vein deep underground.
I went north, crossed a tributary of the stream, and entered a forest with different vegetation.
Insects, plants, and monsters tried to grab me, so I stabbed them with the bone club to throw them off balance, then ran away while they were distracted. The beetle monsters were tough and troublesome, but the bone stick made it easier to output force straight because it conducts magic power well. It was just a matter of changing my mindset.
Until now, I had mostly relied on my fists, but the body control techniques I learned from the Sealing Clan had made me focus on my bones, even when using tools.
“It’s easier when the bones are aligned, but what the hell is this…?”
Stabbing a beetle the size of a housecat with the bone staff made it clang loudly and fly away. The sound was satisfying.
Black wolves also flew away easily when I timed my magic right.
The mandragora didn’t even scream when I thrust the bone stick into the ground and channeled ice magic through the earth to pull it out.
“It feels different than metal.”
Clang, clang, clang.
As I listened to the goats fighting in the demonic land, I climbed the mountain with the gentian flower field.
The monsters were still burning, and their death cries echoed as before.
I lay down in a cave halfway up the mountain and then sat up straight. I probed the earth and found magic flowing like a river from north to south.
“Earth’s veins?”
The magical flow meandered northeastward.
As I descended the mountain, I followed the earth’s veins as closely as possible and found numerous monster nests. There were sweet-scented maple trees and mandrake colonies. In the marsh, large, blue-spotted newts swallowed beetles and big moths.
Further on, the mountain slope closed in again as if aligning with the vein.
Midway up the slope, I found a buried stone marker. I had been looking for a place to rest, so I replenished my water supply at the stone structure.
As I walked alone through the mountains and forests, perhaps because I focused solely on what lay before me, I felt a sense of freedom from thought, and my mood lifted. I popped some dried meat into my mouth, lay back, and naturally began sensing the magic within the earth.
“Huh!? What is this?”
Along a tributary of the earth’s veins, I saw completely still, solidified magic.
After swallowing the jerky, I headed to the spot. Two thick, vermilion-painted wooden pillars stood there. They were both broken at the top, and their paint was peeling, but they were clearly man-made.
I dug into the ground with the magic cube and uncovered an old mine shaft. Shining the light of the magic stone lamp revealed sparkling walls, floor, and ceiling.
“A magic stone mine…”
Even a quick glance showed that there was a considerable amount of stone.
“Finding it is one thing, but what do we do with it?”
Digging it out or transporting it would require manpower, but Chel and the others were currently separated from their magic. The soldiers at the military facility were not yet accustomed to the demonic land. The golems were busy rebuilding the port town to the southwest. The dungeon dwellers were probably trading with the Meiju Kingdom on the east coast.
Grrrrrrrr!
I thought it was the wind echoing through the tunnels, but it’s a monster’s voice.
There’s something back there.
◇ ◇ ◇
Lipa and Kahiman were brought to the sorcerers’ hidden village, where they were shown a pitch-black mummy. The mummy was human-shaped, with two pairs of wings growing from its back. The mummy bore symptoms similar to those currently afflicting Chel.
“This is a sorcerer who went to the ‘Great Hole’ and returned. The records indicate that he developed this condition after being exposed to excessive magic. However, magic stones kept forming from his body, causing him to weaken and die.”
The masked old man, introduced by Tokitamago of the Curse-Breaking Clan, explained in a raspy voice.
“So, has no method been found to break this curse?”
“No, eh…? A method to break it? Once they’re like this, they’re not sane, right?”
“Not necessarily. They can still converse normally. Right?”
“Yeah, it’s just hard to move.”
When Lipa and Kahiman answered this way, the members of the Curse-Breaking Family pointed at the mummy and asked, “Like this?”
“Can you remain sane in this form?”
“Well, yes.”
“Actually, the normal form is a bit…”
“What does the normal form look like?”
“A normal demon mage, I suppose. Wears tattered robes and sometimes carries a staff.”
Then, isn’t that normal?”
“But in that form, she uses multiple spells and turns far-away monsters into charred husks.”
She walks on water and makes flaming spears rain down.
“Rain down? You mean like rain?”
The old sorcerer asked Kahiman.
“Because it pours down like rain.”
“What… Does she burn the entire area to a cinder with magic?”
The old sorcerer’s mask tilted further and further. He seemed troubled.
“Yes.”
“And that’s normal?”
“Yes, it’s the norm that’s strange.”
The sorcerers froze.
“So, who captured this monster that turned into a mummy?”
Since no one responded, Lipa read the room and asked.
“Farell-sama. He was a hero of Cliff Garuda a hundred years ago.”
Lipa also remembered that he had been a knight in the demonic land.
“Do you know how he captured it?”
“They say he drove stakes through its wings and limbs while it slept and then wrapped it in protective talismans. But the talismans were all scorched, so they just waited for it to weaken.”
“Then won’t that kill Chel-neesan?”
Kahiman looked at Lipa.
“Isn’t there some way to break the curse without killing her?”
“You wouldn’t kill someone afflicted by a curse like this!”
The curse-breaking family was stunned.
“Well, the person afflicted is still sane. We can’t kill her.”
“That’s insane!”
“That’s precisely why it’s insane. Hmm… This is troublesome.”
The old man and Lipa both clutched their heads in frustration.
“May I examine this mummy’s bones?”
Kahiman approached the mummy.
“Go ahead, but it’s dead yet doesn’t rot. It might suddenly start moving. Be careful.”
“Got it.”
With that, Kahiman began dissecting the mummy.
“Actually, that’s a pretty important specimen…”
The curse practitioner’s voice didn’t reach Kahiman.
◇ ◇ ◇
That evening, Hel and Sylvia woke up on the regular ferry bound for the royal capital. The Meiju Kingdom’s monsters were docile and slow, making them unsuitable for travel.
“A-are we almost there?”
“I don’t know, but our time to be active is almost here.”
“Y-yeah, you’re right.”
As the ship progressed along the large river, it reached the vicinity of the royal capital.
At the landing, townspeople shouted, “A cockatrice appeared!”
“If it targets your eyes, you’re done for!”
“Metal reflects light, so it attacks! Take off your bracelets and rings!”
“You’re thieves, aren’t you!?”
“Think what you like. Get the boat out! I’m getting out of here!”
Just as they left the dock, a cockatrice—a chicken as big as an ox—let out a shrill cry and attacked the traveling merchants.
“Come to think of it, I’m hungry. What should we do? Chicken’s fine, right?”
“Wh-whatever, but since we’re here, why not try some local specialties?”
Thud.
An arrow was stuck in the cockatrice’s eye.
“Heave-ho.”
Before anyone could notice, Sylvia ripped open the cockatrice’s belly and spilled its entrails onto the ground.
“””Gyaaah!!!”””
The ship’s passengers and crew who had witnessed this fled.
After neatly removing the entrails, Sylvia rinsed them in the river. Then, she hoisted the cockatrice onto her back and headed for the royal capital.
“Um, do you think this way is correct?”
“There’s a huge castle over there, so I’d say it’s the capital.”
As she watched the castle gleam in the setting sun, Hel polished the cockatrice’s magic stone. She intended to get the highest possible price for it.
At the gate leading to the castle town, two unusual figures were visible from quite a distance:
One was a female warrior carrying the corpse of a large monster, and the other was a sleepy-looking elf. Even the off-duty gate guards had gathered around.
“What’s that?”
Should we let them in?”
“Isn’t that an elf?”
“Have there been any reports?”
“Could they be envoys from the demonic land?”
“If so, is that huge monster corpse a tribute?”
While the gate guards debated, Hel and Sylvia reached the gate.
“Hello. We have business at the castle. May we enter?”
Hel intended to enter regardless of whether permission was granted.
“We’d like to verify your identities.”
“We’re envoys from the demonic land. We wish to share information regarding the demon lords.”
Sylvia also didn’t believe they needed the gate guards’ permission.
“Indeed! You are envoys from the demonic land!”
“Then that monster over there is a tribute for the king!”
The gate guards looked at the cockatrice corpse with keen interest.
“Nah, we just took down the one at the dock over there. We figured selling it with the magic stone might cover dinner.”
“Huh?”
“M-May we pass? Our luggage is bulky, and we’re in the way.”
Sylvia passed through the gate, glancing nervously behind her. Hel followed.
By the time the gate guards shouted, “Hold on a moment!” a crowd of merchants surged in from behind.
“A cockatrice appeared at the dock!”
“No, it was already taken care of, but I had no idea when the arrow was fired.”
“The butchering was over in a flash. Literally in the blink of an eye!”
“Who are they? They must be incredibly skilled adventurers, but…”
The gate guards were just as confused by the merchants’ questions.
“They’re the messengers from the demonic land.”
“So that means they’re Master Michelle’s companions?”
“That makes sense.”
Hel and Sylvia exchanged the cockatrice carcass and magic stone for gold at the Adventurers’ Guild. Then, they entered the restaurant attached to the bakery.
They ordered stewed meat and white bread. Perhaps because they were famished, they polished it off quickly and ordered seconds.
“Chel’s bread is good, but bread made by a professional is something else.”
“Yeah. This is delicious. Excuse me, could you call the chef? It’s been ages since I’ve had something this tasty.”
The old lady working at the bakery poured water into their glasses and said, “There’s no chef here.”
“The stew was just reheated, and the bread was made this morning.”
“What?! Then you must be a genius!”
“We’ve been served something magnificent. If you can create such delicious things, you’ll surely receive a title someday.”
With that, the odd pair polished off their refills, making the lady chuckle. Was she being praised or teased?
“Still, it’s rare to see elves here. Huh? You’re not a demon either. Are you human?”
“No, I’m from the vampire clan.”
“Vampires?! Where on earth did you two come from?”
“From the demonic land across the sea at the western edge.” A girl named Michelle is under a terrible curse. We were heading to the castle to see if they had any information about it.”
“Michelle-sama…?” Wait here a moment, please.”
The old woman said this and left Hel and the others’ table.
“Did you hear that?! The ‘King’s Eye’ is here, right? Send word to the castle immediately! These are envoys from the demonic land. If we don’t give them a proper welcome, the townspeople won’t forgive us!”
The sudden, loud voice startled the two of them.
“It’s fine. This means the castle will send a carriage. Until then, take your time eating.”
“W-what? We’re so sorry for all this trouble.”
“Could she be a genius after all?”
After they finished dinner and sipped their after-dinner tea, the carriage that had been sent to fetch them pulled up in front of the inn.
“Take good care of Michelle-sama!”
Hearing the auntie’s voice bidding them farewell, Hel and Sylvia climbed into the carriage.
In the now completely dark capital city of Mailnoble, the streets shimmered with colorful magic stone lamps and were bustling with demons.
After climbing a long slope, the carriage stopped in front of a large building.
“You are the envoys from the demonic land, correct?”
The moment the carriage door opened, the butler, Stewart, asked the two. Guards stood in line, looking somewhat flustered.
“That’s correct. I’m Hel, the envoy from the demonic land.”
“I’m Sylvia.”
“Welcome. Please, this way.”
Stewart began guiding them briskly.
“You seem to be in a hurry. What’s the matter?”
“I apologize for interrupting your walk. Demon King Julietta has been summoned to the dungeon and hasn’t emerged for about two days. She instructed us to relay any information concerning the demonic land immediately.”
At that moment, Hel learned that Chel had sent a message to the previous king, who had since passed away.
“Did something happen over there?”
“Your Master Michelle received an unidentified curse. We came to lift it, but according to Chel, it’s a ‘devil’s curse.’”
After Hel stated this concisely, Stewart stopped and took a deep breath.
“My apologies. It took me a moment to process. In that case, perhaps we should proceed directly to the dungeon?”
Hel and Sylvia exchanged glances when Stewart asked this.
“If you don’t trust us, should we greet the familiars clinging to the ceiling, the intelligence unit hiding behind the decorative armor, and the guards following behind us?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. This is urgent.”
Stewart changed direction and led the two underground.
He stopped before a red door, wiped his sweat, and looked at Hel and Sylvia.
“Are you ready for combat?”
“A-anytime.”
Sylvia answered. They opened the door to the dungeon chamber.
◇ ◇ ◇
Jennifer was still furious in the dungeon of the Genetics Research Institute.
“Unicorns and Pegasus? Aren’t you guys dreaming too much about fairy tales? Why are you doing things that seem meaningful but aren’t? Face reality a little more!”
“Yes…”
For the first time in her life, the director witnessed someone stay angry for two straight days.
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