novelraw Chapter 37 : Chapter 37
Chapter 37 : Chapter 37
Chapter 37. Moltke (5)
“……Waaater.”
Alvarez was on the verge of starving to death.
It had already been 10 days since he'd had a sip of water, let alone food.
He had stopped feeling hunger a long time ago.
What was more painful than that was the thirst that felt like it was burning his throat.
The harsh training he had endured to become a knight had instead become his poison.
An ordinary person would not have lasted even five days.
Nevertheless.
Alvarez's life force was rapidly depleting.
‘I was foolish.’
At first, his pride wouldn't allow it.
He thought it better to choose an honorable death than to beg for his life.
When Adel tried to feed him herself, he even deliberately resisted fiercely.
‘Because I thought Adel would pity me more that way.’
And that seemed to work to some extent.
He could feel Adel being slightly swayed by his words.
But was the provocation too much?
She hadn't shown her face for a week now.
‘If it was difficult for her to come herself, she could have asked someone else……. She must be determined to kill me.’
Was this what a death-bed vision was like?
Memories of his childhood came to mind.
Adel, playing in a field of flowers.
Himself, smiling as he watched her in silence.
‘Ah, Adel……. What on earth have I done to you?’
If Moltke hadn't tempted him.
Would he have ended up in such a miserable state?
His vision was growing increasingly blurry.
Before long, his last breath cut through the cool air and vanished.
Alvarez, whose future was promising as the runner-up in the knight exam.
He thus passed away in the basement of the mansion, unable to leave even a will.
It was an unspeakably miserable end.
***
A few days after that.
Isabel and Iris were able to stamp the agreement with bright faces.
“This seems sufficient.”
“I think so too. You've worked hard.”
At Iris' much softer tone, Isabel smiled faintly.
The decision for the Goddess Cult and the Unseen Ones to cooperate was made quickly.
Because such things could be settled with a single word of agreement.
But the trivial matters.
For example, negotiating the detailed issues such as how to communicate and how to act was a matter that required quite a long time.
In that process, Iris took the lead, putting all her effort into coordinating it.
‘She has no talent for swordsmanship or magic, but her head certainly works well in these areas.’
When Iris first manifested, there was great concern from those around her.
Most of the Children of God were exceptionally skilled in either martial arts or magic.
Despite their young age of 10.
They had manifested from the beginning with skills that surpassed veterans.
But Iris was different.
‘She had little magical power and a weak body, so there were many worries. But she was smarter than anyone and had an extraordinary charisma.’
That was why Isabel wasn't particularly surprised when she heard from Rude that Iris was the leader of the Unseen Ones.
She was gazing down at Iris, who was re-examining the agreement, when, suddenly, Number 1, who was behind her, spoke.
“We must absolutely adhere to the prerequisite of basically not touching each other.”
Isabel slowly nodded her head.
“Of course. This cooperation is, after all, cooperation at a loose stage. The enemy's true form has not yet appeared.”
Currently, all they had was Daniel's claim of Primus' revival.
Why he wanted to kill the Goddess.
In what way he would kill the Goddess.
What kind of conspiracy he was plotting for that purpose was something no one knew.
If the one who had made such a claim hadn't been Daniel, this agreement would have been difficult to even come to fruition.
‘Who could believe such words. Even I am still skeptical.’
But Daniel's prophecies had never been wrong, not even once.
The one who had predicted the appearance of every Demon King with 100% accuracy was none other than Daniel.
The trust in him was high on both sides, the Goddess Cult and the Unseen Ones.
After the agreement was quickly concluded following Iris' decision.
Isabel called Iris separately and arranged for her to meet two people.
“Huhu. We meet again here.”
“Master!”
Unlike Rude, who greeted her warmly, Noemi just waved her hand lightly.
Iris asked Noemi what was going on.
“Don't tell me you predicted this too?”
Noemi shook her head.
“I didn't know I would see you here again, big sis. My Future Foresight isn't all-powerful, you know.”
“Keke. That's a relief. If you could foresee all futures, that in itself would have been scary.”
Then she wouldn't be able to look at Noemi as a younger sister anymore.
Because every single action would seem like it was predicted and intentionally
orchestrated.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I have to go back home.”
“I see.”
Iris' face grew lonely.
She wanted to talk with the two of them a little more, but she had to return to the Empire soon.
Moreover, her days would become even more hectic than before.
Because cooperation with the Goddess Cult would increase with the unknown enemy, Primus, in the picture.
Noemi, this time too, told her not to worry too much and held her hand tightly.
“Don't worry. We will eventually be with Father.”
Iris flinched at the word ‘Father’.
She retorted with a pouty face.
“What on earth do you like so much about that person?”
At that, Noemi answered immediately as if it were obvious.
“Everything, from head to toe.”
“Haa, it's giving me the creeps. You're crazy.”
“You don't know, big sis. How Father thinks of us.”
“Hmph. I don't want to know either.”
Iris found Noemi's love for Frank repulsive, but on the other hand, there was a part of her that understood.
She was the youngest, cute, and possessed immense magical power.
Her magical talent was so outstanding that even her teacher, Rude, had said she would be the next Sage.
‘Right. You must be different from me. You probably received a lot of love from Frank, whether you knew it or not.’
If she were to bring about Frank's downfall, she might have to face Noemi as an enemy.
It was by no means what she wanted, but nevertheless.
‘I will walk my own path. So, Noemi, you should do as you wish too.’
While she was thinking that.
Daniel, a cardinal of the Goddess Cult and a member of the Unseen Ones, appeared.
Though the Goddess Cult side, including the Saintess, probably had no clue about this.
Daniel approached her silently and gazed at her.
Iris frowned and parted her lips.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“You did well.”
“About what?”
“About signing the agreement.”
Iris spat out the words as if it were no big deal.
“It was just a decision for everyone's sake.”
Then Daniel leaned into her ear and whispered softly.
“You must keep this in mind. To stop Primus, the power of the Unseen Ones, the Goddess Cult, and Frank and his daughters are all needed. If even one of these three pillars is missing, you will never be able to stop Primus.”
“Ha?”
Leaving behind the dumbfounded Iris, Daniel approached Noemi.
“It seems you share the same fate as me. Being able to see the future is a lonely thing in many ways.”
“…….”
However, Noemi showed no reaction.
The atmosphere grew chilly.
To prevent the atmosphere from becoming awkward, Isabel stepped in.
“You're going back to Rarc Village, right?”
“That's right. I was thinking of borrowing a hot air balloon, so it would be great if you could help.”
“I'll lend you something even better than that.”
“Something better? What is it?”
At Rude's question, the corners of Isabel's mouth rose high up to the sky.
***
Adel and I stared at each other in silence for a long time
The first to break the silence was Adel.
“We have to go back right now!”
I also nodded my head.
No matter how much I disliked Alvarez, leaving him to die was a bit much.
But even if we returned now, it would take at least a week to get home.
There was something called the 3-3-3 rule of survival.
A human can't survive for more than 3 minutes without air.
3 days without water.
3 weeks without food.
Of course, if one had trained their body or had extreme mental fortitude, they could endure for a longer period, but even so, 10 days would be the limit.
Beyond that, survival is impossible due to severe dehydration.
More than anything, going any further was excessively dangerous.
‘We've already entered nearly a third of the Demon Territory. Any further would be impossible.’
Also, since I had been able to grasp the unusual symptoms within the Demon Territory, which was the goal of this trip, I wasn't returning empty-handed.
‘Normally, we would have been able to see mid-level demons from around here. We would have encountered one or two high-level demons as well.’
But surprisingly, I couldn't even see a single mid-level demon.
Of course, the deeper we went, the stronger the monsters that appeared, and the number of low-level demons increased, but that was it.
I couldn't encounter any beings beyond that.
‘Now that the remnants of the old Demon Tribe have been dealt with, it's about time for the New Demon Tribe to seize power and do something, but it's surprising that not a single one can be seen. Something is definitely happening.’
It wasn't certain if it was because of Primus, but other than that, no other variables came to mind.
‘It would be best to think that Primus has gathered mid-level and higher demons and is plotting something.’
Once I returned home, I would have to start preparing countermeasures against Primus in earnest.
That aside, through this trip, I felt like I had become closer to Adel again.
It was perhaps a natural result.
‘Because we spent every day together, sticking close to each other.’
It was true that we lived together when we were at home, but that was spending separate time in our own spaces.
But here, we stayed together without being apart for a single moment.
Together when hunting.
Together when eating.
We even slept right next to each other.
It was an environment where we naturally had to talk more, and now, the sense of wariness in Adel's eyes as she looked at me had long since disappeared.
I casually threw out these words.
“Adel.”
“Yes?”
“Do you trust me a little more now?”
Adel slowly nodded her head.
I felt like her trust in me had risen sharply.
***
‘Father was right about everything.’
Some kind of strange phenomenon was occurring.
This was only her second visit to the Demon Territory, but by this point, it wouldn't have been strange for much higher-level demons to appear.
But all she saw were low-level demons.
And stronger monsters.
She couldn't even catch a glimpse of mid-level and high-level demons.
It was proof that, just as her father said, something unknown was in progress with Primus as the central figure.
And that wasn't all.
‘Father's power is definitely in a weakened state.’
Once, while she was engrossed in hunting and cutting down monsters, her father had been in danger of dying.
When Adel saw her father struggling and running away from a monster that she could easily subdue, she knew instinctively.
‘So that's what it's like to have your power sealed by the Demon King's curse.’
He wasn't just running away because he was scared.
He knew in his head how to catch the creature, but his power was sealed, so her father had no choice but to make a strategic retreat.
If he didn't know the monster's habits and fighting methods, he wouldn't have even been able to escape.
Also, when they hunted demons, very occasionally, a magic tool she had never seen before would drop.
Her father's eyes would sparkle as he kindly explained the magic tool, and his explanations were never wrong.
“Oh! To think such a high-grade magic tool would come from a low-level demon.”
“What is this?”
“It's a potion that revives the dead.”
“Whaat? There's such a thing?”
If that was true, it was worthy of being called a national treasure-class magic tool.
But her father made an ambiguous expression and continued.
“It's more like subjugation than revival……. It's a potion that can resurrect them as undead.”
“Oh my. That's the worst kind of potion. That's not something you should do to the dead.”
“Huhu. Well, you could think of it that way, but depending on the situation, it can be a useful item. Let's take it anyway.”
Her father chuckled like a child and pocketed the potion.
‘The reason countless unidentified magic tools are sleeping in the underground treasury is because Father is the Hero who even defeated the Demon King. I can understand now.’
It wasn't that he had intentionally collected suspicious magic tools; they were simply rewards he had obtained from defeating enemies.
In Adel's mind, there was no longer any room for the doubts left by Alvarez.
Just as when they came, another week passed.
As soon as they arrived at the mansion, the two of them, without anyone having to say it first, headed for the basement.
“Kugh.”
“Damn it. We're too late.”
As the basement door opened, the smell of a rotting corpse assaulted their noses.
Under the faint light reflected off the wall, Alvarez's body had already changed to the point where its shape was hard to recognize.