novelraw Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Ch.34 Master, Pipi is…
Two days passed quickly.
In the meantime, we spent the time quite smoothly, listening to Leah’s adventure stories.
Thus, our short—perhaps short—four days in the Sand Elf village came to an end.
After receiving the carriage from the merchant and loading all our luggage, we were bid farewell by Nekhuf and Nephert.
“Brother. I’m leaving now.”
Seeing Nekhuf scratching his cheek awkwardly, I replied,
“Yeah. It’s time to go.”
“Will… will I be able to see you again someday?”
“Of course you will.”
Nekhuf will likely leave the village soon.
The moment Nekhuf departs from the village coincides with the official start of the ‘Dragon War’ storyline.
When the New Continent descends into chaos, he will set out on his adventure.
“The next time we meet, I’ll defeat you.”
Nekhuf said with a gentle smile, and I responded with a smile of my own.
“Alright, see you next time.”
I’m not sure if I’ll meet Nekhuf again.
If I prevent the war with the dragons, the story will flow in a different direction.
And in that story, there’s no reason for me to get involved.
“Then, we’ll be off!”
-Pip!
Leah and Pipi waved goodbye to them, and I sat in the driver’s seat, gripping the reins as we set off once more on our journey.
Leaving the Sand Elf village, we emerged into the desert.
-Clack… clack.
“Master, we won’t encounter that monster again while traveling, will we?”
Considering how much Leah suffered the last time she met the Giant Deathworm, it’s understandable she’s afraid…
“That kind of creature won’t appear anymore.”
The Giant Deathworm was originally a mob that could only be hunted after reaching a certain level of growth in the New Continent.
We were supposed to arrive at Houston Port, but due to an unexpected accident, we landed south of Houston, putting us in a tighter situation than anticipated.
“Hmm… then that’s good news. I was really terrified when I saw that monster last time. I’ve never seen such a huge monster in my life.”
“Is that so?”
When the Giant Deathworm was first revealed, it was notoriously infamous.
After various countermeasures were discovered, it became a laughingstock, but before that, it was genuinely difficult to deal with.
Its body was absurdly large, it was dragon-level high, and the sand made it hard to land magic attacks.
“Yeah. If such a monster had been in the Demon King’s army, just imagining it would have been horrifying.”
Leah shivered slightly as she spoke, as if goosebumps had risen on her skin.
“Hehe, even such a monster falls to me in one hit.”
As I asserted my authority as a master, Leah smiled brightly, her face slightly flushed.
“Yes, Master is the best.”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard by Leah’s unexpectedly timed compliment, I felt flustered.
“Hehe…”
Seeming embarrassed by her own words, she linked her arm with mine and rubbed her face against my arm.
“Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve been alone together.”
To be clear, we only stayed at Nekhuf’s house for about three days.
“It’s only been three days.”
Trying to pick at the suddenly awkward atmosphere, I spoke, but Leah gently lifted her head and gazed at me with soft eyes.
“We’ve been together every day recently, but we haven’t been alone together for three whole days, have we?”
-Pip?
This atmosphere… it’s dangerous.
If I’m not careful, I might fall for Leah’s tricks. I pointed to a vulture flying far away.
“Hey! Look at that vulture over there! Isn’t it amazing?”
“Pfft… what’s that, Master? You’re being a little cute…”
Leah started to speak but then trailed off, her expression slightly darkening.
She vigorously messed up her hair and wailed,
“It’s a disaster.”
I asked her,
“Why? What’s wrong?”
At my words, Leah slowly turned her head like a petrified statue.
“The Imperial Palace… the festival… I completely forgot.”
Ah… the festival held to commemorate the defeat of the Demon King.
This is the moment when the DLC officially begins.
Leah looked up at the clear sky.
“I wonder if everyone’s doing well?”
“Why? Do you miss them?”
At my words, Leah smiled softly and shook her head.
“No? They’re probably all happily spending time with their lovers and have forgotten about me by now.”
My conscience trembled violently at Leah’s words.
“Huh? Master, your pupils are trembling. Is something wrong?”
“Ah… no! Nothing’s wrong.”
I hastily replied, and Leah chuckled.
Lucky I didn’t get caught.
“What’s that expression? You look like you’ve done something wrong.”
“Eh, no way. But is it okay not to go to the Imperial Palace festival?”
Desperately changing the subject, I spoke, and Leah, sinking into worry, finally said,
“I told the Mage Tower that Master and I went to the New Continent… so it should be fine, right?”
“Yeah? Then that’s good.”
As I said that, Leah looked slightly disappointed, gazing at the vast desert with a lonely expression.
“Everyone’s probably forgotten about someone like me and is doing just fine.”
***
Meanwhile, the Hero party…
“Alright! We’re going to abolish slavery, right?”
Cecilia stood on the stage in the city square, raising both arms and shouting. The citizens filling the square also raised their arms high and shouted.
-Yes! We promise before the gods to abolish slavery!
-That’s right! Slavery is evil!
-How could we make fellow children of the Light God into slaves? That’s wrong!
The citizens shouted at the top of their lungs.
But strangely, their faces were covered in bluish bruises, or they had limbs broken and in casts.
Everyone’s condition was far from intact.
As if they were being threatened at knifepoint to comply or face death, their bodies trembled slightly.
Though they forced smiles, they couldn’t hide the fear in their eyes.
Cecilia smiled brightly.
“Then, shall we start the abolition vote right now?”
-Ri… right now?
-Vo… voting now is a bit…
In the New Continent, slavery is an extremely heated topic.
Even within the New Continent, opinions are divided between southern and northern cities.
The Southern Alliance actively supports slavery, so if rumors spread that Houston, part of the Southern Alliance, abolished slavery, the city’s very existence would be in grave danger.
Thus, the citizens forced smiles, unsure of what to do.
Unable to bear it, Mia deliberately threw a dagger to the ground, threatening the citizens as she spoke.
“It seems our re-education wasn’t sufficient.”
-Thud!
-Hiik! No! We wanted to abolish slavery!
-The weather is so nice today, let’s vote right now!
-No! Let’s vote to abolish slavery!
-That’s right. It’s outrageous that such an evil law exists in Houston City!
But before violent re-education, political issues aren’t that important.
As the citizens, seemingly not voluntary yet pledging voluntary abolition, nodded in agreement, Mia nodded.
“Then we’ll do it right now, and for every opposing vote, everyone gets hit once.”
At Mia’s declaration that opposing votes wouldn’t be tolerated, the citizens despaired.
Soon…
The vote on the continuation of Houston’s slavery system ended, and the counting began.
-Ye… yes, one vote in favor.
The citizens, fearing punishment as the first vote was cast against abolition.
Though abolishing slavery would mean the loss of vast wealth for many citizens, facing immediate merciless violence, wealth became unimportant.
-Two votes in favor.
The counting, which began like this, finally ended hours later.
“Uh… then, with 90% in favor, we will abolish slavery in Houston City from now on.”
-Ah…
-It’s over.
-Sob…
Deep sighs echoed from all around, but Mia and Cecilia nodded, seemingly quite satisfied.
“Abolition is abolition, but having 10% opposition is concerning.”
As Mia frowned, Scarlet stepped forward to calm her.
“Mia. We have a lot to do; we can’t go that far.”
At Scarlet’s words, Mia nodded in agreement.
“You’re right. We have too much to do to waste more time on this.”
Abolishing slavery isn’t the end. We must safely return those brought here as slaves to their homelands or allow them to stay here legally.
Moreover, we must urgently track down Hans and Leah.
“Then, let’s conclude the slavery issue… and find Leah and Priest Hans.”
Cecilia, having somehow descended from the stage, said this, and Scarlet and Mia nodded.
“Right. First, let’s search the trading houses to see if any wealthy people have arrived recently.”
Soon, the Hero party inquired among people dressed in wealthy-looking clothes to find news of Hans but ultimately failed to find anything.
They didn’t know Hans’s ship had sunk, leaving him penniless, so it was only natural.
“Haa… what should we do?”
“Exactly.”
Scarlet and Mia wore exhausted expressions, feeling lost about what to do next.
“Hoo… don’t worry, everyone.”
Cecilia approached them with a confident, reassuring smile.
“Huh? Do you have a good idea?”
Scarlet asked, hoping Cecilia might have a good plan…
“Hehe! I know Leah’s personality well. Soon, rumors will spread about a short, red-haired witch causing trouble. We’ll use that to find Priest Hans and Leah.”
Scarlet and Mia, having no alternative to Cecilia’s idea, despaired and fervently hoped for news of Leah.
***
We finally escaped the desert region.
Seeing the lush forest and river, Leah and I were overwhelmed with emotion.
“Waa… we’ve finally escaped the desert.”
“Tell me about it. I thought I was going to die.”
I hadn’t expected crossing the desert to be this difficult. Even though we traveled by carriage, feeling the scorching sun and sand-laden wind with our entire bodies was grueling.
“Hoo… it’s early, but shall we camp here today?”
As I said that, Leah and Pipi nodded in agreement.
“Alright!”
-Pip!
As we set up the tent to camp…
-Pipk! Peee! Pippyep!
Pipi’s loud cries echoed from beside us.
As Pipi cried noisily, I unknowingly turned my gaze…
Pipi was facing off against a brightly striped snake that had appeared from somewhere.
“Huh?! What… what is that?!”
I stood up and hastily grabbed a nearby stick to subdue the snake.
-Pip!
But before I could act, the venomous snake tried to bite Pipi, who nimbly dodged and began pecking at the snake’s head.
-Pip!
Is it a divine creature because it’s a phoenix? After all, even if bitten by a snake, a phoenix wouldn’t die.
A fully grown phoenix emits intensely hot flames from its entire body.
Thus, it was impossible for a venomous snake to defeat a phoenix by attacking it, but seeing Pipi humiliating the snake, I realized again that Pipi was indeed a phoenix.
I had thought it was just a chick, since recently it had only eaten, slept, and cried.
The snake violently shook its body, trying to shake Pipi off, but…
-Fwoosh!
Pipi emitted a small flame from its body.
“Huh?”
Can it already control fire?
As I marveled slightly, Leah’s voice came from beside me.
“Master. Pipi is… huh? Master, why aren’t you helping Pipi?!”
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