novelraw Chapter 52 : Minor Demon Realm (2)
Chapter 52 : Minor Demon Realm (2)
Minor Demon Realm (2)
"Wa-wait a second, Ian! Isn't that woman connected to the spirit stone quarry raid incident?"
"Her? Does she look like someone who would commit such a crime?"
Plerine wore her trademark blank, expressionless face.
"Just by looks, definitely... No, I shouldn't judge by appearances... Haa."
Soon Ralph clutched his head in frustration.
"Even setting that aside, this is driving me crazy. Why me of all people?"
There were actually several reasons I chose him,
but the biggest was this:
"You seem like someone who would keep a secret."
Ralph, as I had observed, was the model northern soldier.
Obsessed with strength,
honed his martial skills more than anyone,
a northern soldier who knew how to uphold honor and loyalty.
Such a Ralph experienced advancement through my cooking.
The fact that he remained at 2nd-rank until forty,
and that rank was limited by one's inborn talent,
made the boon he received from me little short of a miracle.
To prove it, Ralph's intimacy in the system window [Regular Customer] was as high as 88%.
"A secret? Haa. Well, my mouth's tight enough that my jaw's grown big, I suppose."
Does that really connect?
As the silence drew out, Plerine tapped my shoulder and gave a hand signal.
Just leave him, let's go on our own. We don't have time.
― it said.
To which I replied:
It's much better to have him than not. Trust me and wait just a bit more.
― I answered back in hand signal.
"Ian."
Ralph spoke, sounding resolved.
"Your proposal is really generous, but I can't go with you into the minor Demon Realm. Sorry."
Plerine openly signaled, 'See? Told you so.'
But I ignored her and opened my mouth.
"This is unexpected. The Ralph I know would have followed me without question. Why not?"
It was aimed at Ralph, whose hunger for strength was more desperate than anyone's,
and he avoided my eyes, staring at the floor as he answered.
"I know. I'm aware that your invitation to join you in the minor Demon Realm is an amazing opportunity. But this... It's not something I should be greedy for."
I silently watched the sadness in his eyes.
'So the Spirit Orb should be claimed by his superiors, not himself.'
Rather than his own ambitions, he meant it was for the greater good—for the officers to become stronger.
Truly a textbook northern soldier.
And yet, thinking that, it felt all the more regrettable.
If only it had been Ralph, not an idiot like Hank, who had the talent.
'He should've been the one to become company commander.'
With that thought, I decided to try once more.
"Why can't Ralph be greedy?"
"Don't you get it? The Spirit Orb in the Demon Realm isn't for a squad leader like me, but for company commanders who control the frontlines."
That was the answer I waited for, and I smiled as I replied.
"Then Ralph, become a company commander."
Ralph, who had been staring at the ground, looked up at me.
"... What?"
"The Ralph I know is the one who most embodies the northern spirit in Granfen. I see you as exactly the kind of person suited to be a commander."
I wanted to add, 'far more than someone like Hank,' but I edited myself.
"I appreciate the high praise, but becoming company commander isn't something anyone can do. You need the strength to match."
"That's exactly it. So let's go get you the strength that matches that position. So you can become company commander."
Ralph furrowed his brow.
I could see something swirling inside him,
so I delivered the decisive blow.
"Just like always, I'll help you. So come with us."
Ralph bit his lower lip, then slowly spoke.
"Ian. I was deeply grateful to be able to reach 3rd-rank thanks to your cooking. That alone was a blessing. But... Would it really be all right for me to desire even more?"
Okay. He's in.
"For the sake of this village and the Duchy, please do. Be greedy."
I offered my hand for a handshake as I said it.
With a resolute face, Ralph took my hand,
lowered his head, and, nearly sobbing, said,
"Thank you, Ian."
Not at all.
I'm doing it all for my own sake, you know.
*
With our party of three assembled,
it was time to prepare for the expedition.
I donned my padded armor and started to check my new equipment.
'Introducing the Utility Knife Belt!'
A belt strung with ten fruit knives, each blade slightly longer than a finger, five in front and five in back.
There were slots on both sides for kitchen knives as well.
I secured it tightly around my waist.
'Hmm. Feels sturdy. Almost like a cartridge belt.'
Actually, I'd already wondered about this since my swordsmanship feat didn't activate with combat knives.
There's not a huge difference between kitchen knives and standard knives, after all.
So I went to Gerald, Granfen village's master blacksmith and a dwarf, with this request.
― Can you make ten of these, fruit-knife-sized kitchen knives? They'll only be used in the kitchen."
In the medieval era, steel was precious.
A kitchen knife was just a kitchen knife—no such thing as a utility knife, so Gerald looked at me like I was crazy.
But when I paid him enough, he made them without complaint.
As a result,
I learned that my swordsmanship feat triggered even with a utility knife, and I could use Hunting Time as well.
So maybe the activation condition for my feat was 'the maker's intended use for the tool'.
Gerald saw them as only for kitchen use.
'I'll have to research how far I can push this.'
After my equipment, I packed food in my backpack.
Weren't we heading to the Demon Realm today?
Despite being busy, I made this and that during breaks to prepare for departure.
"Let's go."
Once ready, Plerine and I donned our robes, fully covering ourselves,
and quietly followed behind Ralph.
We passed behind Flaco's house and went through the red-light district.
Now, the second reason I'd recruited Ralph would soon become clear.
"Squad Leader Ralph?"
The guard at the village's east gate called out.
"Where are you heading at this hour? And who are you with?"
Ralph, as if waiting for this, tossed him a coin pouch and answered.
"Passing adventurers. They asked me to guide them down the road."
"......"
The guard silently checked the amount and then said,
"Squad Leader Ralph, when you do things you usually don't, you'll get hurt."
"Mind your business. Right now, you saw nobody—including me."
Without waiting for a reply, Ralph started walking,
and Plerine and I followed suit.
Luckily, the guard let us pass without further checking.
"Take care out there, squad leader."
"... Keep running, all right?"
Tap, tap. I patted Plerine on the shoulder, signaling, 'Good job bringing Ralph, right?'
Plerine gave a little shrug, admitting it.
"It's near post 13, right?"
Ralph asked.
"Yes."
"Let's go. Just follow my lead."
Free pass at the checkpoint, plus guiding the way.
Very nice.
Recruiting Ralph was definitely the right choice.
'Except for the snow piling up—harder than expected.'
Unlike the main road leading to the Grey Fortress,
the road to the eastern spirit stone quarry was rough,
and finally, Plerine couldn't hold back and reached out.
"Boss, this isn't working. Let me melt the snow."
"No, Plerine."
I'd decided to have Plerine save her mana as much as possible until we entered the Demon Realm.
She's the alpha and omega of our party's fighting power;
we should save her strength for the boss fight.
"If it's any consolation, take one of these each."
I took out a small bag from my backpack and handed one to each.
Both took it without complaint and popped it into their mouths.
"Mm! This is so sweet!"
Plerine said as she sucked on hers,
and Ralph crunched his and spoke,
"Ian, this is that thing, right? Like what goes in fondue bread? Man, this is great!"
"It's a compressed candy with none of the extras."
The sugar candy I'd sworn to make after returning from the Grey Fortress.
It filled hunger only a little, but gave a sugar buff.
"This ought to be enough to march through the snow, ha ha!"
Watching their satisfied faces, I put one in my mouth, too. Nom.
'Ugh.'
My brain immediately rejected it.
Unlike the two medievalers, who'd never had candy before,
I'd tasted candies developed by modern food corporations after extensive research.
This sugar candy just didn't suit my modern tongue.
But I didn't make this for the taste.
I made it to survive.
Crunch!
.
.
〈 Focus slightly increased. 〉
〈 Stamina slightly increased. 〉
〈 After consuming enough sugar, stamina loss halted (30 minutes). 〉
After forcing through forested snowy hills for hours,
we passed the distant spirit stone quarry,
and a rotten fishy smell began to waft in.
None of us said anything, but we all knew we were drawing near the Demon Realm.
"Here we are."
The minor Demon Realm appeared before us.
Maybe they'd already ordered the retreat,
but no northern soldiers were to be seen.
'It's so much creepier in real life than in dot graphics.'
In the game, I thought there was just fog,
but this was different. The entire area shimmered like TV static,
creepy just to look at.
And outside this marred land, countless monsters were stationed,
as if daring any to try and approach.
'Damn, there's a lot.'
Hank said there were 200 impets,
but now, by sight alone, there were clearly more than that.
Instead of counting impets, I searched for other types of monsters.
It would be a major problem if there were anything more dangerous than impets or imps here.
As I scanned the minor Demon Realm and its surroundings, a strange feeling crept up.
'What is this? Why does this feel familiar?'
Luckily, I soon figured out the source of this déjà vu.
In this strange medieval fantasy world,
anything familiar to me could mean only one thing.
'I experienced this through the game.'
At that moment,
the dot graphics from my memory began to overlap with reality.
"Ah."
Beyond the minor Demon Realm stood three mountains in a row.
On one of them, the peak of the central mountain was cut perfectly flat.
'Damn it.'
It was indeed the place I'd often visited in the game.
How could I ever forget?
The Demon Realm was located
right where, in the game Belkhazium, that wretched 'labyrinth' would emerge.
*
In the labyrinth, artifacts could be found.
These artifacts could be gear, skills, or consumable items.
There were as many types of labyrinths and artifacts across the continent
as there were events and incidents caused by them.
The problem was, why did the minor Demon Realm have to appear
in the exact spot where 'that labyrinth' was going to spawn?
'This is the worst.'
What if even creatures who died before the labyrinth formed could affect 'that artifact'—?
"Boss."
Plerine's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Just as we guessed. Only imps and impets around. It's definitely a low-rank minor Demon Realm."
As expected of a high-circle mage, Plerine made a quick judgment.
And Ralph, suddenly bold, drew his sword.
"What, Ian, got cold feet now that we're here?"
If Ralph could joke like that, my expression must have been deathly serious.
I pushed away my worries, drew a kitchen knife from my belt and gripped it in my right hand.
"Who, me, get scared?"
Bad memories had just surfaced for a moment.
My characters had been erased in 'that labyrinth' more times than I cared to remember.
'Well, that is what it is.'
The labyrinth hadn't shown up yet.
For now, I'll focus only on why I came here.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yep!"
"Of course!"
I waded forward, pushing through snow up to my calves.
I could feel the two of them following at my back.
Crunch. Crunch.
We neared the minor Demon Realm and the impet horde.
Screech. The unique cry of an impet rang out toward us.
"Let's go as planned. First, we'll deal with the impets and imps guarding the minor Demon Realm—"
Puh-puh-puh-BOOM! Puh-BOOM!
Before I could finish, blue flames exploded.
Limbs of impets, severed, popped up like popcorn.