The Hero Party Couldn’t Kill Me

Chapter 12: Unfinished Problems (3)

For now, I decided to go to Space as planned.

“… Thank you for sheltering me and helping me avenge myself.”

“Didn’t Master do something bad to you? It’s something I should have done instead.”

Still, Marion smiled innocently. If that’s not acting, she seems really innocent…….

“Your physical condition has improved a lot, right?”

“Yes, now all that remains is to rebuild the Blanc Magic Tower with Rafaela. I’m going to start accepting requests and sponsorships that I haven’t received in the meantime. Now I have to let the whole empire know. That Blanc Magic Tower is still in good health.”

“Good.”

I smiled and shook Marion’s hand.

“I… Edmund. Regarding that scalp restoration… ….”

“No, you don’t have to anymore. I’m getting used to it now.”

“Are you really okay? Of course, it still looks great without the hair….”

“Oh, it’s really okay.”

“… Sorry.”

I laughed with a relieved expression. Rafaela put on an apologetic expression.

“I hope you will realize your dreams here in the future too. I will now live the life I want.”

“Yes, you must be healthy!”

As Rafaela and I exchanged our last goodbyes, Marion stood in front of the device in front of the door to warp her lair.

“Then I’ll teleport the lair now. Should the coordinates go to when we first met in the White Forest?”

“Oh, that would be nice.”

“Okay. Then I will go there.”

Marion said while controlling the device in the lair. For a moment, the ground shook like an earthquake.

When the shaking stopped, the door opened by itself.

The scenery that appears in front of the door is a forest with white trees everywhere.

It’s been a while since I came to the White Forest.

In an instant, an unknown feeling came up. Actually, I haven’t been here for a while, but just looking at this place made me feel like everything was over.

To live peacefully in a forest like this. How long have you been hoping for

“Now, goodbye. Thank you for that time.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Goodbye. I hope you find peace here.”

Marion said goodbye with an innocent smile. Rafaela watched me go, she wept.

“I… Can I see Edmund-sama off to the village?”

“Well, do it if you want.”

In the end, she crawled after me. Seeing Marion willingly let go, I thought for a while and walked with Raphaella through the woods.

“… Don’t you want to go back to Speth?”

“Me? Sometimes I miss the people who live there. Because you have been very good to me. But… I’m a mage of the Mage Tower now, right? We cannot abandon that duty.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Still, if I miss Edmund very much, I will come to see you. Or, on the other hand, Edmund-sama should also contact you, okay? If you’re concerned about being detected by that Rogue Magic Tower, I’ll use this hideout as I do now! Of course, I will also take Marion-nim’s permission.”

“Yes, I promise.”

I went to talk with her about this and that. Fortunately, Rafaela was accepting the breakup better than she thought.

And she soon found out why.

When you come to a distance where the hideout is no longer visible. I used search magic to see if there were any summoned creatures following me around. I also made sure that there were no eavesdropping devices attached to me.

“… Neither do I.”

Rafaela gave her signal right away. She quietly looked at her and pulled out a piece of paper from the space.

“I found out yesterday. But this is very inaccurate. As soon as I grabbed the paper, the security magic was applied to the original and it was burned, so I made the best use of my memory of seeing it briefly.”

“Do you know what magic this is?”

“No…. Really sorry. But Blanc Magic Tower seems to use a completely different magic formula. The language they speak is also different.”

I thought for a moment. On the paper on which the magic circle was drawn, he even drew a magic that would burn up immediately if someone other than Marion touched it.

It seems to be magic that I wanted to hide that much, but it was even more suspicious.

“How is Marion? Do you have any doubts?”

“It’s strange that you recently collapsed and feel unwell. I couldn’t figure out what the cause was. But… Edmund-sama also interrogated Marion-sama while using the Sphere of Truth.”

“… It did.”

At least, Marion had no idea that Pesima had used soul transfer magic or other resurrection magic. She was too neat to have manipulated the Orb of Truth.

Nevertheless, it seems that Marion is involved somehow, but on the other hand, she is the number one vigilant.

Then what the heck……. I looked at the magic circle.

To be honest, I was the one who learned magic only by memorization without fully understanding the principle, so I don’t know what it is just by looking at it.

‘Chinese characters?’

However, the writing at the bottom reminded me of Chinese characters. Or not… It’s like the curvy letters that come out when you stamp it.

Anyway, something looks strange.

“Anyway, I get it. Please continue to pay close attention. If there is anything strange, let me know right away.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Oh, and Rafaela.”

“Yes?”

“If Pesima is resurrected, you too could be in danger. You know what I mean?”

“… Yes. If I’m not careful, I could be held hostage.”

Rafaela nodded her head with a stern expression.

“Are you really okay? Actually….”

“You can’t stop here. Now I am the wizard of the Blanc Magic Tower.”

She smiled briskly as if telling her not to worry.

“Yes, then take care of yourself. Just go back.”

“Yes? Actually, I was thinking of taking Edmund-sama all the way to Speth.”

“Marion will wait too long.”

Conversely, she had left Marion alone for too long. Rafaela, who understood my meaning, nodded her head immediately.

“Ah, Sir Edmund.”

“Why?”

“Can you call me Ella next time we meet?”

Rafaela asked, her eyes twinkling. I hesitated a little.

This looks like a death flag or something. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“Yes, Ella. Go carefully.”

Rafaela was delighted like a child. Effortlessly hiding her smile, she bowed her head in greeting.

“Yes, Sir Edmund is well too!”

Her steps toward her lair again seemed lighter.

I looked at her back and smiled. Why does she look so cute today?

But she soon hardened her heart.

‘Don’t worry. I will make sure that nothing happens to you.’

With that resolution, I headed for Speth.

And then I realized something.

It took an hour to walk from Speth to the hiding place before.

So… Now I had to walk another 50 minutes.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have asked to warp a little closer.’

***

“Welcome.”

After a while. I finally got to Speth.

Speth was as quiet and peaceful as the first time I saw it. If there was anything that had changed, it seemed that there were more cabins than before.

The wooden city walls also seemed to be taller.

When I arrived at the entrance to the city, the gatekeeper immediately recognized me.

“It looks like we are late, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Swann is waiting for you right now.”

I headed for Swann’s residence under the guidance of the gatekeeper.

“Welcome. It took a lot of hard work to come.”

Once inside, Swann welcomed me with open arms.

“It’s been a while.”

“I’m glad you’re back.”

“Yes, it is fortunate that Swann-nim is well. Did the agreement with the Empire go well?”

“Sure. We will not invade this place for the next 50 years, and we have recognized the entire White Forest as our land.”

Here I felt something gross.

Strictly speaking, the White Forest is not an imperial territory. In addition, I came to the conclusion that it is not worth much in the Empire.

I can’t imagine not paying reparations for giving this away. No matter how different the national powers of the Empire and Speth were, I wondered if this was too raw to eat.

“… And what was the ransom of the captives?”

“It asked for items that could not be obtained in Speth.”

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me how much you got?”

“Let’s stay…….”

Swan recited the list and quantity of the items he received at that time. I was dumbfounded when I heard it all.

Calia’s ransom alone had to be paid several times more than that. No matter how much Calia lost her heroic powers and was stripped of her ducal title. But here are the ransoms of other captives.

“Did you really make an agreement with that condition?”

“Was it too cheap for you to see?”

“I should have gotten at least ten times more than this! The princess thought Swann didn’t know the value of those items, so she slapped them!”

I got a fever for no reason. And he was also disappointed in the princess. No matter how much they had to save face, they could have given more than this.

This was just about seeing Speth as a protector.

“… What can I do? In fact, when we first received these items, we were satisfied. These are things you can never get in the White Forest.”

“But… ….”

“If I come and protest against the princess, will you accept it? And, wouldn’t the princess be suspicious?”

“… ….”

But what I regret is that there is no way to change this now. Because a peace treaty has already been signed.

“… Sorry. I should have given you some advice beforehand.”

“I don’t blame you. Wasn’t it difficult for you to come to a peace agreement at that time as well? And cheating is our fault, not yours.”

“But… ….”

I should have known that earlier. That Speth has never had any exchanges with other countries.

And that the princess, who would not do anything to harm her self, would make full use of that point.

“… Instead, I will serve and pay the price for Speth.”

From noble mtl dot com

So I lowered my head and said. However, Swann reacted in a similar way.

“Well, I don’t think you mean it.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you tell me before? You said that the Empire still has work to do.”

“… ….”

“And looking at your expression, I can understand it. That coming here is temporary.”

“… When everything is over, I still feel the same about settling in Speth.”

“Then I should relieve you of your worries in advance.”

Swan said as he took out a card.

Is it another tarot card?

However, I didn’t have any particular complaints because it happened according to Swann’s fortune telling. Rather, I even thought so.

Perhaps Swann is also someone who can see the thoughts of a goddess like the saintess.

“What you still have left is revenge, right?”

“… I can do that.”

“Then, think about the target of your revenge and draw three cards.”

I carefully drew three cards from Swann’s deck. Swann laid out his first card.

The devil was drawn on the card she opened. She didn’t speak, but she was a demon with a grotesque face and two horns on her head.

Swan unfolded the second card.

“… What is this?”

The same devil was drawn there. Swann was taken aback by something strange.

“This can’t be like this…….”

Swan hesitated for a moment. Before I could ask anything, she unfolded her last card.

As always this time. The devil appeared