Shinka no Mi

Chapter 114: The Savior, Treasure Chest

After the successful extermination of the monsters, Abel found himself approached by Florio.

「I’d like to extend thanks to you for your assistance。……However, we have a slight problem in that we have no idea who you all are。Are you one of the Adventurer parties?And besides that, those monster that you have with you are……」

Abel had a wry smile on his face as he listened to Florio’s justified concerns and questions.

「Ahー……We’re actually not Adventurers, but……Now that I think about it, trying to explain this mess is pretty difficult!」

He couldn’t exactly just tell Florio that he was one of the formerly dead Heroes, who had recently been brought back to life, and expect his story to be believed.

While Abel was wracking his brains trying to figure out what to say, his comrade Garus and the treasure chest had come along to where he was.

「Something the matter?」

Asked Kasumi, while Abel was at his wit’s end trying to come up with an explanation.

「Erm……I was trying to figure out how to explain our situation to this person over here……」

「Umu……From what I can see, he looks like one of this country’s soldiers……」

Having come to a conclusion based on what he could see Florio and his followers were wearing, Makoto called out to Florio.

「Excuse me, my name is Hiragi Makoto。This might a little sudden, but are you familiar with the name Seiichi?」

「Eh? Seiichi, is it?」

Florio was surprised by what Makoto had said.

「Yes。We’re Seiichi’s acquaintances。Well, to be exact, Kasumi and I are his parents, but……And also, these two monsters here happen to be Saria’s parents.」

「EEEEH!?　S-So you were Seiichi’s parents!　……And, Saria’s parents!?　Wait wait wait, no matter how I look at it, there’s no way monsters could be her pa……」

「Hm?Were you not aware?Saria is of the same species as these two monsters here……」

「Indeed, Saria is a Kaizer Kong, just like us」

「That’s a really shocking piece of news to me!And also, you can speak!?」

Watching Florio’s shocked reaction, Abel comforted himself with the thought that「Ah, thank god I’m not the only one shocked by these turn of events」。

「We only just met Saria’s parents here, but we actually came for a different reason. You see, we just met up with Seiichi not too long ago. We heard about this country when we were searching for somewhere to settle, and managed to get here only with the help of this Abel and his party here. But, the moment we arrived, it seemed like you were having quite a tough time dealing with the situation, so Abel came out to help.」

「Yeah. We were thinking of coming to this country to become adventurers, so we decided to help guard Makoto on his way here at the same time. But we were quite shocked when we saw you being attacked by the large flock of monsters ……Actually wait no, the most shocking thing was Saria’s parents……」

Abel was astonished as he listened to Abel and the others explain their situation

「Sigh……Should I say that this is “as expected of Seiichi’s parents and acquaintances”?……In any case, I’d like to express my thanks for helping us out.」

「Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad we made it on time」

Florio had his head bowed down in thanks, but when he lifted his head, his expression wasn’t exactly great

「……No, this isn’t actually over yet. There are still monsters attacking from the other side of the city……」

「Ah, they should be fine on that side」

「Eh?」

Replied Florio reflexively, when he head what the wry-looking Abel had said

「More of Seiichi’s acquaintances are heading over to that side too……」

「Those must have been the surplus forces……」

「Yeah, they are. I mean, I can’t even think of another person strong enough to accompany the two of them……Ah, that’s excluding Seiichi」

「That so, isn’t it……Seiichi aside not a single person comes to mind when it comes to finding who can even be their opponents……」

「Erm……What exactly does that mea――――」

Not just Abel, but even Garus and his other comrades voiced their agreement with wry smiles.

Before Florio had a chance to ask them what their reaction meant, a single soldier rushed by to interrupt them.

「Florio-sama!Reporting!It’s about the other side but, they’ve managed to clean up due to the aide from two people who suddenly appeared!」

「Eh!?」

「Right on the dot, huh……」

Florio had his eyes wide open in shock as he listened to the soldier’s report.

Even with Florio’s eyes bugging out in front of him, the soldier professionally kept his calm as he continued reading the report.

「According to information from our scouts, the subjugation of the surrounding monsters has been completed, as such, Florio-sama and the S-Class adventurers are to return to the castle and report to His Majesty immediately」

「Understand。Please help me convey this information to the rest of the S-Class adventurers。After that, instruct the Magic Division to keep guard as the rest of the soldiers head out to collect the drop items」

「Roger!」

After receiving his orders, the soldier immediately moved out.

After ascertaining the soldier had left, Florio turned back to Abel and the others, and said, apologetically.

「My apologies……May I ask everyone else here to accompany me there?Of course, that includes Saria’s parents as well」

「Eh?We’re fine with it, but……is that really okay?」

「Yeah. We monster, after all」

「Yes、it’s perfectly fine。You’re Saria’s parents, and you’ve also helped us in our subjugations efforts after all, so if possible, I actually hope you’ll be able to give a detailed account to His Majesty as well ……Besides, you’re Seiichi’s acquaintances after all。We can’t possibly just disregard you two」

Accepting Florio’s offer to accompany him to the castle, Abel and company followed behind with Florio at the front, leading them to their destination.

◆◇◆

「Mm?　You’ve arrived」

「Heeey、over here～」

When Florio, who was guiding Abel and company through the castle, finally led them to the chamber, they found that Zeanos and Lucius were already there and waiting for them.

If you were just to pay attention to the words being said, then the inside of the room might have seemed peaceful, but the atmosphere inside was far more wretched.

「Sob……sob……」

「……Argh……argh……」

「……Hiccup……hiccup……」

While he was smiling, Lucius had 3 people crucified to the wall with his spears of darkness.

Those 3 were, of course, the Apostle of the【Demon God Cult】, and even though they were normally holders of enormous power, that unfortunately meant nothing in front of Lucius.

Florio and the other S-class adventurers were shocked by the bloodstained visage of the three apostles greeting them as soon as they entered the room.

In the face of such a scene of violence, Abel’s facial muscles couldn’t help but stiffen, as he asked,

「E-Erm……What exactly are you doing……?」

「Hmー?These three pissed me off really badly you see。So I decided to punish them a little。Hahahahaha」

「I-I seeー……Ha、hahahaha……」

“This ain’t funny”

That’s what Abel really thought on the inside

Trying to find something to change the subject, Abel looked around the room, only to find gloomy faces on everyone.

Noticing the state of affairs, Florio had a difficult express on his face as he called out to Ranze

「Your Majesty、we’ve returned」

「Hm? Oh, it’s you Florio。Good work out there」

「Thank you very much。Erm……If I may inquire, who are these people……?」

Asked Florio, staring at Zeanos and Lucius’ figures before him, and Ranze let out a sigh as he informed Florio.

「I’m not sure of the details。But, they’re apparently acquaintances of Seiichi。Well, they did help out Louis when her team was in trouble, so I don’t particularly think they’re evil。But if you’re going to ask me that, then how about you explain who you’ve dragged along?It look like there are even monsters in the bunch……」

「Ah……They also appear to be Seiichi’s acquaintances。Those two seem to be Seiichi’s parents, while the two monsters over there claim to be Saria’s parents ……」

「Seriously!? That’s some messed up stuff, in a lot of ways!? But, details aside, Seiichi’s acquaintances being here really helped us out this time。But, to think that not just Seiichi, but even his acquaintances are so out of the norm……」

To that exasperated Ranze, Florio asked what happened to create the current gloomy atmosphere.

「And so, Your Majesty。What in the world happened to cause this gloomy atmosphere?Come to think of it, none of the demons are present right now……」

「Aah……The Demon King’s Daughter……Lutia, was taken out」

「Wha-!?」

Ranze’s reply left Florio speechless.

But, he quickly regained his composure, and asked for the details on what happened.

「So, the Demon Army is ……」

「In a special room, keeping her under constant supervision and nursing」

「How are her injuries!? What about healing magic……」

「We’ve tried it all。But, the tool that the three crucified people over there used was nasty」

「Eh?」

「――――It was a 『Cursed Tool』」

「Ah……」

With that one phrase from Ranze, Florio managed to just about guess everything that happened.

「The type of curse inside the『Cursed Tool』, was the same type as the one that was used on me before……Healing magic, or even restorative medicines, nothing worked。What’s even more vicious is that if we don’t dispel it in three days, she’ll die」

「No way……」

「The members of the Demon Army wanted to immediately kill those three crucified there, but they held themselves back 。Because if we killed them, we’d lose all chance to deal with the curse。Right now, we could use any information we get to save her.」

「That’s……」

Florio was unable to finish his sentence

A twisted smile appeared on the crucified Edmond’s face, as he took in the dispirited looks from everyone else in the room

「Ku……Kukuku……Serves……you all right……That girl’s life……is already forfeit……」

「You’re still so full of energy aren’t you?What should I do?How about, I tear off that loud mouth of yours?」

「Lucius-dono, stop. That would be giving this guy what he wants」

Zeanos attempted to calm down Lucius, who was bearing down on them with his overwhelming pressure

Suddenly reminded of something by the scene before, Florio turned to Ranze and said.

「That’s it!Let’s call Seiichi here!Just like with Your Majesty’s case, if it’s Seiichi, then he’ll surely be able to do something about it!」

The moment Florio said that, Ranze shook his head.

「Impossible。No matter how fast we move from here, it’ll take at least a week to get to Barbadora Magic Academy。There is a person who can use teleportation magic here, but because they’ve never been to Barbadora, we can’t use that method。」

「No way……」

While everyone else was in the midst of their despair, someone suddenly said something in an obviously out-of-place, lax-sounding voice

「May I have a moment?」

「Hm? My lady, you are……?」

The owner of that voice, Kasumi, moved to where Ranze was.

「I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you’re saying that Seiichi is needed here, right?」

「Yes, that’s right」

「I’m not too sure about that details, but can’t the Treasure Chest do something about that?」

「Eh?」

Her sudden suggestion affected not just Ranze, but almost everyone there, with their pupils shrinking to the size of dots in shock

But, Ranze quickly regained his composure, and asked

「W-Who is this Treasure chest……」

「……Mm, that’s me」

「It’s an actual Treasure Chest!?　No, in the first place why does it have limbs growing out of it!?」

「Trivial problem. Don’t worry about it」

「As I thought, that guy’s friends are all weird!」

Ranze had inadvertently retorted on the Treasure Chest’s looks, but regained his seriousness as soon as he remembered the current situation, and inquired about the chest.

「According to that lady, you have the ability to bring Seiichi here but……」

「……I, can do it。Have been to academy, and, can use teleportation magic」

「Aren’t you one excellent treasure chest!?」

In front of his shocked audience, the Treasure Chest jabbed his thumb into his chest, and proclaimed

「……Leave, the rest, to me」

His figure exuded so much trustworthiness that one wouldn’t have thought it was from a Treasure Chest.