145 - The Forbidden Arts Underground
Taking a break for lunch, we ate a meager meal and hydrated ourselves.
At times like this, if Monica were here, she could prepare a lavish lunch, but for now, we only had hard bread and water. Following Monica's advice, I also ate a small amount of salty dried meat to replenish my salt intake.
As I sat on a nearby rock, Mei was beside me, tearing into the hard dried meat and eating it heartily.
It was tasteless preserved food, but Mei didn't seem to mind.
The people we were escorting were resting in the shade of the trees. Since Eva and Clara were keeping watch, Aria was also resting.
When I turned my gaze toward the key figure, the Saint Candidate—Aura-san, it seemed Gastone-san was trying to persuade her.
"Aura-sama, you cannot run forever. It is necessary to enter the protection of someone."
Aura took a sip of water.
"Is that Rolfis? I refuse. I know well enough how much I am hated."
Selma-san also looked troubled, but it seemed she couldn't force the matter too much. After all, Aura-san had been dragged into this because they were the ones who had pushed her forward.
(Does a Saint Candidate dislike it that much?)
Then, perhaps noticing my gaze, Aura-san stuck out her tongue and went "Bleh!"
Mei laughed.
"Ahahaha, you've been hated, Lyell. But why can't the other Saint do it? If she has no motivation, why not let the one who does do it?"
Mei's opinion was natural, but there was a reason why Selma-san wouldn't do.
After all, Selma-san had lost in popularity to the current Saint. The difference apparently wasn't large, but the fact remained that she had lost.
They had prepared Aura-san as a rival, but since she had no motivation, those around her had sided with the current Saint.
"Selma-san is... well, she's grown too old as a Saint. Look, normally one does it for ten years or so, but she's been a Saint for twenty. She worked hard. It's time for her to rest."
At that, Mei looked at Selma-san.
"From my perspective, there isn't much of a difference. As long as she can bear children, it's fine. Speaking of which, why didn't you woo her?"
Turning back to Mei, I chewed the dried meat I was holding.
"...I didn't woo her. That was a misunderstanding."
Then, the voice of the Fifth Generation came from within the jewel. When Mei was nearby, the Fifth Generation spoke often.
'That was a nasty incident. It's fine now, as I made him swear never to do it again.'
Perhaps curious about our conversation, Clara and the others seemed to be peeking from behind the porters. Then, suddenly, Selma-san began to panic, seemingly sensing something.
The content of the conversation hadn't reached them, but it was fully audible to Eva and Mei.
Eva rejoiced that she could make a song out of it, and Mei said I should have just wooed her like that.
"It's a pain. So, why is a younger one better?"
I returned my gaze to Aura-san and spoke.
"Apparently, the Saint is a kind of object of worship. While they worship the final goddess—the seventh goddess—they still need a representative for the country. For a decorative role, they wanted a young and beautiful woman."
The role of the Saint was decorative.
However, before they knew it, power had accumulated, other countries interfered, and Zain used other countries to create the current form.
The Fifth Generation's voice spoke.
'Aura would be better for standing at the forefront. Even when negotiating with Rolfis, a new representative would be slightly better. There is a possibility they will let their guard down. That seems unlikely with Selma.'
Currently, our plan was to side with Rolfis and intercept Zain. For that, we needed someone who could claim to be the legitimate successor of Zain.
(I need to go back and gather information again. Depending on the case, it doesn't have to be Rolfis.)
If it were better to have a third country intervene, I would choose that. If nowhere worked... I would have to push things a bit.
The previous heads had also said they didn't recommend it much, so I wouldn't put it into practice.
That would be independence in a place where there are many Aura-san supporters in Zain. It would shave off Zain's national power and allow us to team up with Rolfis, who is in conflict with Zain.
But from the perspective of my goal, it was not a very pleasing method.
I stood up and spoke to Mei, who had finished her meal.
"We're moving out. We'll arrive in Beim tomorrow."
As I said this, I was pondering.
(I'll think of a way to draw Aura-san in. Maybe I'll rely on the Third Generation.)
—Beim.
It was a large building.
Previously, it seemed to have been used by a merchant called a millionaire, but since adventurers found it inconvenient, they neither bought nor rented it.
Next to the mansion was a large warehouse, large enough for the porters to fit comfortably. Monica was satisfied with the size, which could accommodate several porters.
"We can make noise here without any problems. The surroundings are a bit distant."
A magnificent mansion, a wide garden, and a large warehouse.
There was a reason we could acquire such a property. It was quite inconvenient.
It was far from the center of Beim, and furthermore, there were rumors that the millionaire merchant still wandered there.
In fact, it seemed something had happened, and Miranda and Shannon had entered the basement of the mansion to deal with it.
Novem had begun cleaning the mansion; Monica and the others had bought this mansion, which was almost a derelict property, cheaply.
"If you try to demolish it, you'll become unfortunate... I see, so no one bought it because there were many accidents."
Monica did not believe in ghosts or occult things. But now, it was different.
"Hmph, in a world where fantasy things like magic exist, I'm not surprised by mere ghosts now. However, it is my duty, Monica, to get everything finished before that chicken coward returns... I'd like to eliminate the ghosts."
Monica took out some goods that seemed to have some effect, but seeing the plain water sold as holy water...
"It's just normally dirty water. The others are just ornaments. I tried collecting cheap things, but they don't seem to have any effect."
Leaving those as they were and walking inside the warehouse, Monica scanned the surroundings.
"...Is this some kind of hidden passage? The warehouse seems to have a basement, but there's something in the basement of the mansion. I must uncover this."
Swaying her twin-tails, Monica began walking happily, and upon discovering the entrance to the basement, she forced it open with strength and descended the stairs.
"I couldn't accompany the chicken coward, but I can provide souvenirs and topics of conversation. If a ghost appears, I'll have to tell him the story in the middle of the night!"
Entering the dark basement, Monica was humming happily—.
—Shannon was clinging to her older sister, Miranda.
She held a lantern in one hand, illuminating the surroundings.
"Fu, fuhahaha! I can see the flow of magic that is invisible! I can s-see right through the traps set by the merchants of old!"
Miranda, while looking as if it were difficult to walk, threw the knife in her hand at the wall of the basement passage.
The mechanism moved halfway, and rusted spears popped out from the walls and floor. Their movements were sluggish, and some of the spears were broken.
"I suppose it's like this because it's been left alone for so long. Now, I wonder what's further inside."
The trembling Shannon spoke in a bold tone.
"It's s-surely the millionaire's treasure! Since he was rich, he must have amazing treasures!"
Even hearing that, Miranda seemed uninterested.
After all, it would have been enough to make the mansion usable. Besides, even if she expected something, she didn't think anything significant would come out.
(I often hear about millionaires or nouveau riche being tricked into buying strange things for huge sums of money. If he was tricked into buying a fake and kept it carefully stored with these traps, it would be a funny story.)
When a sound was heard in the distance, Shannon clung to Miranda.
"Shannon, it's hard to walk. Besides, you've been completely useless for a while now."
"But it's scary! Something that isn't a human presence is moving! And, I feel like we're being watched, or rather, this place is definitely bad! That's why I said it! Even if it's cheap, let's stop this place!"
Since Shannon looked like she was about to burst into tears, Miranda sighed and firmly gripped Shannon's hand.
As they started walking, they discovered another trap.
She threw a knife to trigger the trap, and upon hearing a strange sound, she confirmed it was broken.
"They stop working if left alone for decades, don't they."
Miranda was curious about what kind of traps were installed, but considering they had been left alone for many years, she judged that nothing would work properly.
Deciding it was no problem even if Shannon clung to her, she continued walking.
"We have to check what's in the basement. It'll be a way to kill time until Lyell and the others return."
As Miranda walked, Shannon looked around anxiously and walked while clinging to her so as not to be separated—.
—Inside the mansion.
Novem was cleaning the study of the mansion's owner.
Since it was decided that it would be Lyell's room, he was cleaning it carefully.
As he opened the window and held his tools, the window suddenly closed even though there was no wind. Bam!
Hearing the loud sound, Novem decided to open the window again without being surprised. However, this time, the window could not be opened even though it wasn't locked.
It felt as if it were being held down.
"I would like to finish cleaning the main rooms today... could you please not interfere?"
Turning away from the window and looking at the center of the room, there was a fat man with purple skin.
He wore several rings with large gemstones on his fingers, and a gold necklace around his neck.
Facing the former owner of the mansion, who was no longer of this world, Novem put down his tools and greeted him.
"Nice to meet you. I am Novem... Novem Foxuz. Lyell-sama's lover who purchased the mansion... no, that's not right. The engagement was canceled long ago. I'm not a vassal either. I wonder what I should call myself? Well, perhaps Lyell-sama's loyal servant?"
As he flashed a smile, the man wearing a black robe slowly floated up. In his hand, he held a large scythe.
Looking at the opponent, he understood what kind of existence it was.
Novem narrowed his eyes.
"I thought all the forbidden arts had been erased, but it seems someone gathered what remained. Immortality is not a good thing..."
As Novem waved his right hand, the Foxuz family heirloom staff was gripped in that hand.
Seeking immortality, research had once been conducted on fusing magic stones, materials, and the monsters themselves.
All of that was supposed to have been kept out of the public eye. All records were supposed to have been disposed of, but it seemed the millionaire who once lived in the mansion had grasped a clue and experimented on himself.
The former owner of the mansion, who could no longer even speak, swung the large scythe down at Novem.
Novem caught the scythe with his left hand. He gripped the blade, and no matter how much force the opponent put into it, he didn't budge.
"I cannot leave those who have stained themselves with forbidden arts as they are. At least, rest in peace—"
A scythe appeared on the staff held in Novem's right hand. A silver-shining great scythe flashed through the opponent's abdomen.
The man with purple skin opened his black-stained mouth and screamed. Then, a pale blue flame burned the man to ashes, leaving only ash on the floor.
Novem watched the ash drift away and returned the scythe to the staff.
"Some still remained, I see."
Saying so, he put away the staff, tidied up the cleaning tools, and decided to explore the mansion—.
—Miranda discovered Monica at the end of the basement passage.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing Monica holding a book in the dark room, Shannon had collapsed, opening her mouth without screaming.
Miranda snatched the lantern from Shannon's hand and illuminated the room.
Monica was looking through books and documents.
"Truly interesting research. It seems experiments were repeated here. There is a jail in the back, and it seems there were monsters there. Well, this cannot be made public, so it must be disposed of."
Hearing that, Miranda surmised that the millionaire who once lived here had been doing strange research. She narrowed her eyes and illuminated the walls and bookshelves.
Books with quite unfamiliar titles were lined up, and there were books in languages she couldn't read. There were also dictionaries for reading them.
There were several desks in the room, and it seemed several people had been working or researching.
Placing the lantern on the desk, Miranda looked at the entrance of the room. Footsteps were heard from there, but neither Monica nor Miranda seemed flustered.
Because they knew who had come.
The one who entered the room was Novem.
"You discovered it first. It seems the owner here had rather unpleasant hobbies. I will dispose of all the books and documents here."
At a tone stronger than usual and a gaze that would not permit contradiction, Miranda shrugged her shoulders and went to Shannon's side.
Monica put down the book and looked around.
"This room can be used. Shall I do the cleaning?"
Then, Novem nodded.
"Please do as you like. However, I will dispose of everything placed in this room. The furniture is the same."
Miranda looked exasperated.
"Even though there are expensive-looking desks?"
Unlike usual, Novem looked at Miranda in silence. Miranda brushed back her hair, sighed, and nodded.
"Do as you please. Well, using furniture used in a room like this... I'd rather just dispose of everything from start to finish."
Novem spoke.
"I think the mansion itself is fine. However, please keep this matter a secret from Clara-san. She has a strong obsession with books."
Monica nodded. Miranda did the same.
Shannon... since she was unconscious, no one looked her way—."