Chapter 125
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After making sure the Dioral Kingdom started getting rebuilt, we left on a journey once again. Ellen… princess Norn remained to rebuild the Dioral Kingdom.
Many n.o.bles and civilians died, so we had no choice but to use the people the feudal lord of Ra.n.a.litta gathered to rule it. But if we leave it to them, the Dioral Kingdom will be occupied from the inside.
That would be unforgivable. It's my toy, so I have to reconstruct it to how I want it to be.
To start rebuilding it with those people, a first-cla.s.s ruler isn't enough. We need the best ruler.
"The dragon knights haven't come yet." (Kearuga)
We came to a forest near the Dioral Kingdom.
From here, we're planning to return to the demon king territory.
Going on foot would obviously be too far, so we're using dragons.
I had the dragon knights return to hand over a letter to Eve, and requested for them to return the day after the Dioral king gets executed.
Since it would stand out if a dragon were to come to the capital, we made the forest that has the hidden pa.s.sage to the castle to be the meeting place.
"The air is delicious here, being in the castle for so long made it hard to breathe. I had to take the appearance of princess Flare too, so my shoulders became stiff." (Freya)
While saying that, Freya straightens her back.
Freya is a beautiful girl with pink hair.
Since she had been taking the appearance of princess Flare recently, Freya's appearance feels fresh.
"Yeah. It doesn't feel bad being called a champion and being respected, but as long as they look at us like that, we can't do anything imprudent." (Kearuga)
Freya and I rose up as champions that saved the country, so we worked hard under Ellen's orders.
The Dioral king's rampage caused a lot of damage to this country, so if we don't appeal to them as their idols, champions who saved the country, the citizens wouldn't be able to keep going.
Thanks to that, the Dioral Kingdom started slowly but surely going forwards.
… Even now, I think that making the Dioral King go one lap around the capital while getting stones thrown at him was a masterpiece. His whole body had swelled up and was spilling blood, but he still didn't die.
I chopped off his head in front of the citizens since it couldn't be helped, and they started praising the hero of【Healing】, Kearu, as a champion. It felt pretty good.
"Kearugsama, Setsuna likes journeying rather than living in the castle." (Setsuna)
"I am of the same opinion. That suits us more." (Kureha)
The beautiful, wolf-eared girl Setsuna and the beautiful swordswoman Kureha both seem happy to be away from the castle.
"Leaving aside Setsuna, it's surprising for you to say that, Kureha. I thought you would be more used to it, considering how big your n.o.ble family was." (Kearuga)
"Not necessarily. My family were great n.o.bles, but it was their pride to constantly go to the battlefield and protect the citizens by killing as many monsters as they could. So, I have never stayed at the castle for that long." (Kureha)
That sort of style is unusual among the n.o.bles. That's probably why Kureha was raised to be so straightforward.
"Since Guren can eat tasty meat, she's fine with living in the castle forever!" (Guren)
While everyone else was happy that they could leave the castle, Guren alone had a face that seemed disappointed.
Right now, she's on my shoulder in her cub kitsune form.
She has an awful personality, but I rub her head since this form is cute, and she makes a 'koyaaan' sound. Guren is sly.
Even in the castle, she constantly extorted meat with her cute appearance and actions, and was especially popular with the women.
We look up at the sky.
It's about time for the dragon knights to come.
"Kearugsama, they are here!" (Setsuna)
Setsuna finds the dragons first.
As she has the properties of a wolf, her eyesight and presence perception is superior.
We wave our hands, and the dragons show off their acrobatic flight.
It's probably their way of greeting.
I'm glad they could come to pick us up safely. Going to the demon king's castle by land would be tiring and take time.
I want to return as fast as possible. I'm worried about the demon king territory. After all, they had many uneasy factors straight after the demon king changed.
We fly through the skies on the dragons' backs.
They turned out to be the same dragon knights that dropped us off.
I call out to one of the dragon knights.
"Has anything changed in the demon king castle?" (Kearuga)
"It is peaceful as of now. Of course, there has been slight trouble and brief arguments, but they were within expectations." (Dragon Knight)
I feel relieved now that I've heard that.
If something happened to Eve, my revenge targets would increase.
I've finally reached the point where there's only one revenge target left, so I don't want to increase my revenge targets at this point in time.
"Then that's good. It sounds like Eve and the elders are going on well." (Kearuga)
Eve is a quick-witted girl, but she's overwhelmingly lacking in experience.
Because of that, she took the style of letting the elders, from the tribes that
"I have not heard any bad rumours about Eve-sama's skill." (Dragon Knight)
"I'll have to praise her when we get back." (Kearuga)
Eve is a lonely and spoiled child.
And, she's quite lewd. She's probably wetting her pillow and even her underwear right now, thinking about me.
I'll give Eve love for a whole day.
The dragons speed up.
At this pace, we should reach Ra.n.a.litta, our stopping point, by the time the sun sets.
We reach the disarrayed town, Ra.n.a.litta.
We're dropping by here to let the dragons rest.
Although they are dragons, flying from the Dioral Kingdom to the demon king castle in one day is impossible.
They need to insert rests sometimes. Since we chose the forest near Ra.n.a.litta as a resting spot, we're letting loose in Ra.n.a.litta.
As expected of a free city. Even though they were overrun by the Dioral Kingdom's black knights, they've almost finished restoring the town back to normal.
It's a town that doesn't refuse anyone that comes to it and develops by taking in everything. Because of that, it's terrifically heated.
The stores are booming and they seem to be in good condition.
"Just as planned, we'll take separate action from now. Freya, you guys head to the inn first." (Kearuga)
"Certainly, Kearugsama." (Freya)
"Let us meet again later." (Kureha)
"Sorry about this, you guys can eat first if I'm too late." (Kearuga)
I didn't only come to Ra.n.a.litta because it's suitable for the dragons to rest.
It's also for the sake of gathering information.
And I'll do that by using an intelligence network in the shadows.
Because of Ra.n.a.litta's nature to not refuse anyone that comes, there are many ruffians and humans of the underworld.
Their intelligence network is outstanding, and they even surpa.s.s the Dioral Kingdom's secret information division depending on the field.
"Kearugsama, take me please, Setsuna won't disturb you. Setsuna lives to protect Kearugsama. She has no worth if she can't protect Kearugsama." (Setsuna)
I smile wryly at her serious eyes, and those words.
"Alright. I'll bring you as a guard." (Kearuga)
They would get cautious if we intrude with too many people, but it should be just barely safe if it's only Setsuna.
We're going to have a foul conversation, and I'm going to have to show her a face that I didn’t want to show any of them. Those are some reasons why I wanted to go alone, but Setsuna won't betray me no matter what.
"It's unfair that only Setsunchan gets to go." (Freya)
"True, we were enduring our want to go after all." (Kureha)
"She's just more suitable for this. Humans of the underworld are good at surprise attacks, so Setsuna's sharp senses are suitable as a guard. Well then, let's go." (Kearuga)
"Nn. Setsuna will protect you from your side." (Setsuna)
Like this, we started our separate actions.
It would be nice if we can procure some useful information.
We advance to the outskirts of the slum quarters.
The air around here is heavy. It's overflowing with vagrants and beggars, and there are shops selling illegal goods and slaves.
Setsuna frowns. She used to be a product here.
People like Setsuna are still being sold here.
"There sure are a lot of shops selling slaves. It's probably not fun for you since you're a former slave, right?" (Kearuga)
"… That's true. But Setsuna thinks it can't be helped." (Setsuna)
Setsuna took a philosophical view, despite her young age.
Contrary to her appearance, she's actually an adult.
We enter one bar.
By paying the commision there and saying the secret code, we get taken further in.
There's an informant here.
Although he's skinny, a guy seems intelligent was sitting in the room inside.
"Bro, you don't seem to have much cash, but the information here is pretty expensive." (Informant)
"I have money. Is this much enough?" (Kearuga)
"… Hee, it's plenty. I'm surprised. You're earning quite a lot, even though you're young. Is there some information you want so badly that you would pack this much cash for?" (Informant)
"There's a man I want you to search into. I want to know where that man is and what he is doing right now, as fast as possible. I want every piece of information you have, including the people that get involved with him. I don't care what the price is." (Kearuga)
I take out a piece of paper from my chest.
Bullet's looks were sketched on that paper, and it also has every piece of information I have.
"That's a big shot. The hero of the【Gun】, Bullet. … Were you dug out by that pervert priest too?" (Informant)
I lost my words for a moment. It's the fact that it was a bull's-eye, but that's not all.
"I'm surprised in two ways. One, is that you know what he's doing in the shadows, despite his mask of being a good person looking after an orphanage. Two, is that you gave out that information for free." (Kearuga)
"I'll tell you why. I know because the hero of the【Gun】, Bullet, is one of our customers. The boys in his orphanage is full of beauties, and that's not a coincidence, it's because the shops in the shadows service him with children. Those guys behind the scenes are connected. You should take care too. Information about people who use those shops in the shadows circulate. Well, it seems the hero of the【Gun】, Bullet, uses us even while knowing that. He comes to buy information too." (Informant)
… Bullet is that kind of guy. He lives however he wants to, but he's not an idiot. He takes risks and acts while making sure that it would be fine.
"And the reason I told you that information for free, is to show that I actually know about him. You seem like a good customer, so I need to appeal to you to show that I have this much information." (Informant)
"Very well. It seems like I'll be able to trust you as an informant." (Kearuga)
"Yeah, trust me. Kearugsan the alchemist. Or should I call you by your other name." (Informant)
I ended up smiling wryly.
To think he knew that much.
"That's even better than I imagined. In that case, I'll make a request. I'll pay all of these gold coins as advance payment. I want you to gather information about him. You don't know where he is right now, right?" (Kearuga)
"Exactly. However, there is a way of finding him. Our customer Bullet has a disease. He'll definitely try to put his hands on a handsome boy he likes, and fall into our web." (Informant)
"I'll be expecting it. … Also, I don't mind if you sell Bullet the information that the hero of【Healing】 Kearu is searching for him." (Kearuga)
The informant scratches his face.
"Ah, you knew, huh." (Informant)
"You're doing that kind of business. Besides, he'll move if he knows that I'm searching for him. Just as I want him to." (Kearuga)
Kearu is the ideal young boy for Bullet. If he knows that I'm searching for him, he'll probably come to meet me with a bulging crotch.
"Alright. I accept. How should I contact you?" (Informant)
The informant and I work out the details.
I request him to send everything he knows, in detail, to a place in Buranikka.
As expected, he wouldn't be able to send one to the demon king territory.
Thinking about it normally, Bullet should have died already.
Investigating about him is meaningless.
However, I'm sure of the premonition I have inside of me. He's still living, by some way or another.
I made the Dioral Kingdom's secret information division investigate him too, but I visited the informant because I felt that that's still not enough.
Once we reach the demon king territory, we can even use demons and monsters.
I'll accomplish my final revenge no matter what.
For that sake, I need to find him.
I definitely won't let him escape.
It's strange.
In the first world, I was scared of him, wanted to run away from him, and just afraid of him, but right now, I can't help but want to meet him.
I'll make him taste even more pain, fear, humiliation and pain that I had to go through.
By just imagining that, a dark smile crept up to me.