Chapter 395 - Chapter 9: Cave of the Demon Realm
Four days later, Harrison-san arrived on a super-high-speed bowl.
The Morandine side was abuzz at the appearance of the hero and renowned evil spirit exterminator.
"What on earth do you intend to do?"
Sir Edgar asked.
Until now, under the guise of scouting the Demon Realm, we had been flying the bowl day and night. At night especially, the guide Gigant would practice getting on and off a large bowl, we'd scout the location of the cave in question from the air, and I'd go to see the sea with the Gigant who had never seen it before.
Actually, I wanted him to see the state of northern Nakanohara, but super-high speed requires two super-high-level bowl users, so it was impossible. It was decided that he would see it once we actually defeated the source of the monsters.
By the way, Sir Edgar. Actually, we'll have him carry out a diversionary operation this time too. However, since the center of the unit is James-sama, it will be a significant tactical shift. That itself requires an explanation.
"Actually, it has been discovered that there is an extremely powerful evil spirit in a certain cave in the Forest of the Demon Realm. Most likely, the monsters are gathered around the evil spirit. However, the monsters of the Forest of Ruins seem to dislike the evil spirit. Therefore, with the support of Bishop Harrison, we will infiltrate the Forest of the Demon Realm and exorcise the evil spirit. That way, it will be easier to drive away the Gigants too."
Price-sama explained. The script was by Eleanor-sama. She struggled quite a bit to make it, but it's full of points to nitpick. Of course, it's not a lie. And as for why such a thing was discovered, no questions were asked. It was the word of the Vice-Archbishop of the Medioland Royal Capital Great Church. Moreover, behind him were the three princes who saved the country in the Revenant encounter. Doubting it itself would be disrespectful. Eleanor-sama's aim was correct, and when Sir Edgar conveyed it to the Royal Palace, there were apparently no particular questions.
The sortie is, of course, during the day. It's close to the middle of July. Since the moon is large, evil spirit extermination at night is forbidden.
"Bishop Harrison. Is this kind of equipment really necessary?"
Gwyn-sama had chains hanging loosely from his chest. From the collar, several iron tags with exorcism words written on them were hanging. Not just the chest. The back was the same. The stomach, limbs, back of the head, and forehead also had various large and small tags hanging. At a glance, he looked like he was bound recklessly with chains. Since the chains were wrapped around the thin parts of the elbow and knee joints and the tags were hung, his limbs could move, but they must be in the way, clattering.
"Without those tags, you will be possessed."
Priests are apparently protected to some extent by their faith. And since they can use holy magic, they can defend themselves. So, they don't wear tags.
"It's fine for a short time, but if the battle goes on for a long time, your body will become heavy. You'll lose even your momentary speed."
Eowyn-sama also seemed to find it unpopular. Certainly, I've never seen a warrior wrapped in chains all over their body with iron tags clattering.
Roberts-sama and Edward-sama were wearing bed sheets over their heads, saying this should be fine.
"It is precisely because of your well-trained bodies. Now is the time to show the results of your training."
That was Price-sama. Come to think of it, Price-sama was saying that the mental strength cultivated in the process of honing those skills and bodies and so on. I never thought it meant this. Certainly, it seems like something only the muscle-bound could handle. I'll have them do their best.
By the way, one spectator was added. It's King Seldic's Second Son, who is attending to the Boy King.
"It is His Majesty's intention that I should observe an investigation that even King Seldic joined."
It's not His Majesty's intention or anything. He must have offered himself.
"Hmm. Then, you should come with me. The scene of evil spirit extermination is primarily for priests. I will explain the outline of the operation as we proceed. If you go over there, you'll have to wear that kind of equipment."
At the end of James-sama's gaze were four warriors wearing bed sheets and hanging evil spirit tags all over their bodies. When they opened the front they were holding at their chests, the clattering could be seen.
"Oh! Will Crown Prince James himself teach me? That is most appreciated."
We successfully got rid of the nuisance. It's quite something that he'd come to the front line, but if he's lured by James-sama's name and moves away from the main force including Roberts-sama, he's still got a long way to go.
"Hmm. This look, it's not bad in its own way."
"Indeed. It's perfect for repelling evil."
I decided not to hear what Gwyn-sama and Eowyn-sama were saying.
After seeing off the diversionary unit led by James-sama, we took a carriage to the inn.
Perhaps because the rumor that it was a special unit to repel evil spirits and that others should not approach worked, there was no one on the highway. After arriving at the inn and taking a break, we entered the familiar grove and joined up with Henry-sama's group. We immediately vanished and went to the Forest of Ruins. If we used Magic Reflection, it would interfere with Violet and the Gigant, so it was just Camouflage.
When we went to the square where the ruins were, Violet and the Gigant were waiting.
Perhaps because they heard various things from Violet who stayed overnight, other monsters were also coming out. Seeing a Goblin child on the shoulder of a Cyclops or Troll, you could tell how well they got along.
Henry-sama's group, full of service spirit. When they prepared a large bowl, they departed for an aerial tour with the Gigant, who liked the sightseeing flight when he saw the sea, along with the Goblin children. James-sama and the others shouldn't have arrived at the planned point yet. And a message should come once the operation starts. In the meantime, they could deepen their friendship.
Since the Cyclopes and Trolls also said they wanted to ride, the large one took one at a time, and others as many as could fit, and they enjoyed short aerial tours in turn until the message came that James-sama's diversionary unit had entered combat. It's time to move.
We set out carrying the Gigant and Arachne.
The diversionary unit had built a camp in the northeast of the Forest of the Demon Realm... that is, on the opposite side of the Forest of Ruins. The monsters of the Demon Realm should be heading that way.
Flying at an altitude where magic reactions couldn't be sensed, when we reached the vicinity of the entrance to the target cave, we descended all at once.
The cave opened its mouth at a step where a part of the north side of a mound-like earthwork was cut away. It has been confirmed that there is a wide area around it. Furthermore, from the Gigant's information, for some reason, monsters are normally not around. We deactivated the bowl as soon as we landed. The Gigant climbed to the top of the mound, and Violet climbed a tree in the blink of an eye.
"They're not here!"
"It's okay. Now's our chance."
Scouting information from the Gigant and Violet. There's no doubt.
Eleanor-sama, who nodded, created an ice defensive wall around us with Glaciate.
Harrison-san and Price-sama cast double support magic on everyone exploring the cave. With this, even if a rock fired from a catapult hit, it should only be extremely painful.
"Henry, I leave the rear to you."
"Yeah. We have powerful help too. We definitely won't allow any intrusion from outside."
Henry-sama answered Price-sama's words.
"Then, Father, Mother. We're off."
At the signal of Roberts-sama lightly waving his right hand, we entered the cave.
The cave looked like a hole dug by the Great Earthworm I saw once. Something strange was attached to the entire surface, hardening it. Apparently, it might be a Queen Earthworm rather than a Queen Bee. The height was just enough for Edward-sama to barely swing a spear, and since the cross-section was circular, it had a certain width. It's fine for two people to line up in formation, but since it's a column, it might get congested when encountering an enemy.
The lead was Gwyn-sama, acting as a scout. Even if he says his night vision is good, it's pitch black. I had him hold a lantern. Just in case, he also played the role of disarming traps if there were any.
The second was me. I played the role of the lighting person and detecting living creatures with Sense Living. If anything happened, I'd deactivate it, hold Fireflies in both hands, and protect everyone from evil spirits along with the priests' barrage of Holy.
Following were Harrison-san and Roberts-sama, Sianya and Edward-sama, and the last were Price-sama and Eowyn-sama.
The hole first went up slightly, then became a gentle descent. It was basically a winding one-way road with no branches or intersections. There was no reaction from Sense Living. Sense Living can cover a considerable distance. Despite that, the fact that there was no reaction from living creatures meant that either there were only ghosts, or there was a considerable distance.
After walking for about half an hour, we came to a fork. To be precise, it might be better to call it a side road. The thickness was the same, but the angle was slightly different. There was a second passage at an angle as if a new passage had been provided in the wall of the passage we had been walking. The Gigant apparently proceeded on all fours, and he said he ignored side roads that might be tapering off.
However, Price-sama said that in such cases, the basic is to eliminate them starting from the side roads. In short, he probably thinks it's not the main target, just like the Gigant.
The result of Sense Living was no reaction.
In that case, the first four people in the formation began the exploration. I had Gwyn-sama, who was going ahead, hold a Firefly, and I proceeded while illuminating the ground from behind.
"Please stop."
It was Harrison-san.
Gwyn-sama lowered his posture and drew the sword at his waist. He was illuminating the depths with the ball held in his left hand.
"There is one ghost. Please rest assured, it is not an evil spirit. I shall go and let it ascend. Please turn off the Firefly."
Just like that, he walked off with a lantern and a silver shakujo (T/N: A Buddhist monk's staff) in hand.
When we followed behind, there was a ghost. Perhaps afraid of the light of the Firefly we had been burning until just now, it was trying to flee swaying into the depths.
"Ah, there, there. Please rest assured. We are priests."
He called out in a tone as if talking to an old man in the neighborhood.
The ghost that was called out stopped.
"What is the matter? Did you get lost?"
When he called out in a gentle tone, it came swaying closer.
It was a ghost wearing a chainmail stained with blood on its upper body. Its face and part of its neck looked as if they had been bitten off by a beast. Was it done by a Revenant or something?
"I am a Bishop, as you can see. If you like, won't you tell me your story?"
Saying that, he sat cross-legged on the spot.
Perhaps because the ghost lacked experience, it couldn't speak well.
"If my statement is wrong, shake your head horizontally, and if it's correct, shake it vertically, won't you?"
Harrison-san proposed a conversation method to compensate for the opponent's insufficient words. Sure enough, the ghost shook its head vertically.
"You are a Morandine soldier, are you not?"
It shook its head vertically.
"You must have fought bravely. Was the opponent a Revenant?"
It shook its head vertically.
If the opponent were a commoner, this method would be difficult. However, this time, we have a general idea. The state of the injury is also convincing if the opponent was a Revenant. As expected of an evil spirit extermination specialist. He knows well how to deal with ghosts.
In the end, it was the same as the ghosts we met at the battlefield mound. The difference was that there was a direction that it was strangely bothered by, and when it approached, it was here.
Surely, the evil spirit called it. The purpose is, of course, to power up. However, there were apparently those who fled before being taken in, and the ghost we met this time was one of those.
Harrison-san made it so the ghost would cooperate after talking to it. In exchange, it was decided that it could ascend with Price-sama's prayer.
We took the warrior ghost we met in the cave back to the main unit and introduced it to Price-sama. Having been addressed by the hero Harrison-san and having been able to have an audience with the former hero and Vice-Archbishop of the Medioland Royal Capital Great Church, along with the princes of each country starting with the hero Roberts, the ghost expressed its joy by making its body glow, and before we knew it, it had taken on a clean appearance without the injuries from when it was alive. The four princes with literally resounding names are wearing strange outfits with sheets over them, but their names and the influence of their positions are still wonderful things. Moreover, someone with a real Bishop's ring is introducing him, so there's no mistake.
The ghost, filled with joy, shone brightly and became able to answer Price-sama's and Harrison-san's questions with more than just head movements, and became able to respond to quite probing questions.
Thanks to that, a rough map was completed. Basically, it's a one-way road, but there are side roads in places. There are apparently rooms at the ends of the side roads. There are over twenty side roads, and while looking at those rooms, it apparently got fed up and was wandering around trying to escape from the cave when it met us.
"Thank you very much. And I pay my respects to your brave fighting against the Revenants and your magnificent fulfillment of your mission. Truly, thank you for your hard work."
"Indeed. Thanks to your struggle, the Morandine army was able to gain time to regroup. It was magnificent."
"The Revenants were annihilated thanks to you. You can rest easy."
The ghost was moved by the words of appreciation from Price-sama, along with being addressed by the two parties involved, Gwyn-sama and Eowyn-sama, and its cheeks flushed.
"Now, shall we ascend?"
Of course, without refusing, it ascended safely, sent off by Price-sama's prayer and everyone's chanting.
"As expected, the evil spirit was gathering ghosts as Jeanne guessed."
"However, to call and gather distant ghosts, rather than just taking in ghosts that came to its own habitat, is no easy matter."
After seeing off the white light flying toward the entrance, Price-sama and Harrison-san were talking seriously. Since the evil spirit extermination specialist says it's no easy matter, it must be quite powerful.
"We're relying on Jeanne's Light."
"Indeed. In any case, pushing forward recklessly is forbidden."
Please don't rely on me too much.
According to the ghost's information, the side roads are dead ends. However, we have to find the reason why the ghost got fed up while looking and tried to escape. There must be something.
Since there was no reaction from Sense Living, we produced four Fireflies and had the warriors hold them.
When we reached the end, in the floor of a room that was wider than expected, many square white pot-like things were buried. The contents were empty.
"What are these?"
Even when I asked Price-sama and Harrison-san, they didn't know.
"They look like barnacles. What do you think, Sianya?"
"Right. But since they're empty, they're just shells."
Edward-sama was asking Sianya.
What is a barnacle?
"It's a shell-like thing that clings in large numbers to the rocks on the shore. It's a nuisance because if it clings to the bottom of a ship, the speed drops."
As expected of someone who just wanted to be a fisherman. He told me in detail. Come to think of it, such things were clinging to the rocks on the shore. The size is quite different, though.
"However, the fact that they are empty means they didn't increase on their own. And there's no tide."
If they were barnacles, new pots would apparently increase one after another. Could they be terrestrial? However, the fact that they are empty means they are already dead...
"P-Price-sama!"
"Yes, Jeanne. I think your thought and my thought are the same."
"Then, are these Orc or Ogre eggs..."
If that's the case, it's something outrageous.