Chapter 44 - Post Processing and Return
With the goddess’ blessing, Souya’s body, which was supposed to be in eternal sleep, was revived.
The smell of earth. Perhaps I had been carried out of the fort. When Souya opened his eyes, the sky had already turned a deep blue, and many stars were beginning to shine.
“Souya, hey, don’t die! Don’t die …… Ugh, damn it ……”
In front of me, Merylou’s body was trembling, screaming in grief. She seemed to think that he was dead. No wonder. He had just died and come back to life, after all.
“…… Hey, Merylou-kun.”
When Souya confirmed that his body had regained its senses, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Merylou by both shoulders.
“Uh …… Uwaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
Merylou, struck by surprise, screams and retreats.
“Rest in peace, damn you!”
“That’s rude. You just told me not to die. I’m still alive.”
Souya raised his body, brushed off the dust from his business suit, and swept his hair back with both hands.
“…… Souya, y, you, …… your heart stopped beating completely …… and then …… What happened to the poison?”
Merylou muttered with a trembling expression, with a taken aback expression.
“I did a little cheating and came back to life. It’s a trade secret …… Oh, Merylou-kun, have you been crying?”
When Souya looked at Merylou’s face, her eyes were bright red.
“…… What? I’m not crying. The dust got in my eyes, and …… I wouldn’t cry over the death of a man. “
Merylou was rubbing her eyes and snorting while saying that, and Souya smiled.
“You’re not so honest, are you? …… By the way, Merylou-kun, how many hours have passed since then?”
Souya found a rock of suitable size, sat down, looked up at the starry sky, and muttered. It was before the sun went down when we broke into the fort, so several hours must have passed.
“Hmmm …… about three hours? …… For now, we just carried Souya, Mia, Rebecca, and Randy’s body out to the entrance.”
When Souya looked around, he saw Mia wrapped in a blanket and asleep. It’ll probably take a while for her to wake up because of the depletion of magic power.
“…… Where’s Thomas-kun?”
“He went to the guild to ask for help. There are bodies too, so we’ll need a carriage …… Rebecca is like that, and the inside of the fort is a mess, too messy for us to handle. We should leave it to the guild to explain to the village and handle the rest.”
The rescue of the three kidnapped villagers ended in failure. All three had already been used as sacrifices in the ritual, so there may not have been much of a chance to start with. It was possible that they were still alive when the Windbreakers group, led by Randy, rushed in, but there was nothing they could do about it, at least not when Souya and the others arrived.
Souya looked at Rebecca and saw that she was tired of crying and had fallen asleep in a huddle. Randy’s corpse was beside her.
“…… The results were harsh. You were right, Merylou-kun.”
The Windbreakers’ Randy and Bud were used as a ritual sacrifice just like the kidnapped villagers. And the madness of the Dark Priest of the God of Destruction Ragnus. In order to summon the Silver Demon, was he working from the beginning with the intention of sacrificing himself as well?
“…… Well, from what I heard, I thought it would be tough …… It’s a shame, but we did our best, and it’s better that none of us died in the rescue.”
“That’s for sure. When I saw the Silver Demon, I thought that it’s determined that we would be annihilated.”
“…… That’s right. If Souya is still alive, you should get this naturally.”
Merylou picked up the horn that had been randomly placed on the ground and handed it to Souya.
“Ohh …… Is it okay for me to take it? It’s a nice thing to have for the future.”
What Merylou gave him was the horn of the silver demon. It’s the proof of a demon slayer, and it’s a high-grade material that carries strong magical power.
“Who else could it be but you? …… Now you can call yourself the Demon Slayer Souya. “
“I don’t want to call myself that. I didn’t do it alone, and we killed each other. I think it’s overrated.”
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Souya was feeling a little depressed, thinking about the future. The reality is that the Silver Demon has been defeated and Souya survived. Even if he didn’t like it, people would know that he become a demon slayer. If it becomes well known, it might get in my way of enjoying the second life at a leisurely pace.
“…… Souya, you’re looking a little pale. Go back to sleep. I’ll take care of the lookout.”
“You must be tired too, Merylou-kun.”
“Listen to what your senior says.”
“Then I’ll take your word for it …… If you get sleepy, you can always wake me up and request a change.”
In fact, my physical condition is perfect, thanks to the blessing of the goddess Eris. But it would be a shame to make Merylou worry about anything else, so Souya wrapped himself in his cloak in front of the fire and went back to sleep.
The next day. When Souya woke up early in the morning, Mia was awake first.
“…… Good morning, Souya-san …… I’m glad you’re safe. I’m sorry, it’s because I wasn’t strong enough.”
She was in a coma due to magical depletion, and even though she was supposed to have slept well, her eyes were bloodshot and there were tear marks around her eyes.
“…… Where’s Marylou-kun? In the end, I left the lookout to her overnight.”
“She took turns sleeping with me. It was just before dawn.”
Merylou had fallen asleep on her back. I wonder if it was Mia who put the blanket on her. Souya felt sorry for Merylou because she was probably more tired than he was.
“Mia-kun, you did a great job with your recovery. If the wind spirit Sylph’s wall had been breached, it’s possible that all of you would have been defeated by the swarm of poisonous bugs.”
Wind Spirit Sylphs are immune to poison, so Merylou’s decision to stop them by using them as a wall was appropriate. And Mia’s decision to continue her healing spell against the wind spirit Sylph to maintain it was also correct.
“…… I hope I was able to help you. I only lament my helplessness.”
“Mia-kun, you shouldn’t underestimate yourself too much …… Never mind that, how are you feeling? It was a tough fight that could have been traumatic.”
“I’m fine. I’m calmer now …… More importantly, it’s Rebecca-san.”
Mia turned her head and looked at Rebecca. Rebecca had already woken up and was sitting beside Randy’s corpse with a blank expression on her face.
“Rebecca-kun.”
Souya approached Rebecca. Mia followed suit and slowly walked up to her.
“…… Souya-san. Thank you for saving me. Thank you, too, Mia. For using Preservation to Randy.”
Preservation is a sacred art that protects objects, and their effectiveness stopped Randy’s body from decomposing. It seemed that Mia had used it on Randy’s corpse while Souya was asleep.
However, it would not be possible to revive Randy. As far as Souya knew, there was only one person who could do that, and that was a long time ago, and he didn’t even know where that person was now.
“Your magic saved my life. I thank you. I also apologize for breaking the magician’s staff I borrowed from you. I promise to pay for it.”
“…… No. Don’t worry about it. And, it’s okay now …… Souya-san, I didn’t know you were an amazing magician …… I’ve never seen the magic, Magic Bombardment Penetrate, being used before.”
Rebecca’s voice had lost its liveliness. It’s no wonder because she lost her beloved childhood friend. I thought I should leave it alone because it would be hard to say anything, but Souya dared to open his mouth.
“You said that you and Randy-kun are childhood friends, didn’t you?”
“……Yes.”
“The reason he let Rebecca-kun go first was probably because he wanted to save you, his childhood friend. He may have felt responsible for your opposition to the raid …… He was feisty and provocative, but I didn’t dislike him. Louise-san also said that he had a good talent …… Let us pray for him, a hero, to rest in peace.”
Rebecca, who was listening to this, shook her shoulders and began to cry. Mia snuggled up to her as if to comfort her. Souya looked at her with a somber expression.
(I made her cry again. — I can’t even say anything clever, I’m so ashamed of myself.)
When Souya looked up at the sky, the sky was leaden, as if to express his own feelings.
It was two days later that the two carriages dispatched by the Adventurer’s Guild arrived in the morning. It seemed that the guild’s staff would be entering the fort to investigate what had happened inside.
They were going to investigate the circumstances of the incident, as well as confirm and collect the goblins and dark priest that were the targets of the reward for subjugation. Also, Thomas said that the Silver Demon was not included in the list of targets, but might be eligible for the guild’s special reward.
Leaving the cleanup to the guild staff, the carriage carrying Souya and the other five members of the subjugation team drove off toward the city of Ilstadt.
It was fortunate that the five of them were still alive, but the request itself had ended in a bad ending. At any rate, they all needed to rest, both physically and mentally, for now.
Souya picked up the parchment notebook and the pen, which he used as a diary, as he swayed in the carriage on their way home.
(T/N: Merry Christmas to everyone!)