Chapter 159 (Self Edited) – The Monsters, the Demon King and His Daughter
“Anyhow, just by knowing it, whether it is easy to do it or not, it will be another story. At least, I can’t do it.” (Steina)
The words that came along with the shrugged shoulders were true. In fact, Steina had tried it before and she had failed.
However, since she didn’t have the hobby to speak proudly of her failures, she didn’t mention it.
“Hmm… can I ask you why do you know it?” (Soma)
“I don’t really mind to tell you. Well, my father taught me.” (Steina)
Nonetheless, she didn’t know why her father knew such a thing. At that time, it was mostly because she wasn’t interested. There was no way to know since she didn’t ask for it.
“So… what is the method? I think it will be easier to find out who is involved in this case.” (Felicia)
“Aah, well, those who can do that are pretty limited. It’s like stepping into God’s realm.” (Steina)
“…God? What do you mean?” (Sheila)
Sheila’s and Felicia’s reaction slowed down momentarily might be because they didn’t expect to hear it. Well, it might simply be due to the very word of God, but… she pretended not to notice it and continued to speak.
“The meaning as it is, right? Just now, Soma said that powerful monsters were summoned at the costs of various monsters, but that is probably not correct. To be exact, it should be powerful monsters appeared in place of miscellaneous monsters. Well, if my guess is correct thought.” (Steina)
Steina thought that she was almost correct, but she didn’t know everything about this world. There was a possibility that she could do something thing similar even without having the knowledge, so she couldn’t say that it was impossible.
However, she didn’t think so.
“Hmm? Judging from the way of saying it… do you happen to know about the ecology of the monsters?” (Soma)
“As for the ecology of monsters, most of them shouldn’t have been known, right?” (Steina)
“Hmm, even if it’s about reproduction… no, I’m not sure if that’s necessary.” (Soma)
Indeed, that would be a general perception. All they knew was that monsters didn’t go extinct no matter how much they were killed. Moreover, the number was even back to the original. If people defeated them, they might temporarily disappear. Hence, it was also said that the monsters might lurk somewhere.
But there was nothing to be done about it. It was just simply because…
“Well, you know it, right? It’s just a matter of the power of God. It’s like that because the God manages it that way.” (Steina)
It seemed that it was strictly governed by the power of God, but it wouldn’t be much different. Anyhow, there was no difference that the God was in control of the monsters.
“In short… does that mean the monsters are being created by that power?” (Felicia)
“I don’t know that much. Well, I think shouldn’t it be like that? If not, the number of the monsters won’t return to normal.” (Steina)
“…If that is true, why is it not known?” (Sheila)
“Come on. I don’t know about that too, but… well I can guess. It seems that this power belonged to the God who was originally called the Evil God. In the past, there seemed to be a time when it was to mention that name. Various information were also lost at that time, so I wonder if the knowledge has deviated.” (Steina)
“Hmm… you said that it ‘WAS’ the power of the Evil God, is it?” (Soma)
“Aah… are you responding to that information? I was going to smoothly let it pass.” (Steina)
Shouldn’t that be the case? While various information were pouring in, it was necessary to grasp important information.
Although there were times when Soma worked intuitively, he couldn’t forget the information as he was very sensitive.
“To begin with, there seems to be a condition, but it was a mouthpiece that I could manage to get somehow. It’s like interfering with skills or something, or perhaps, it’s inherited. However, is it be hard to guess that it would be somewhere around these information?” (Soma)
“No, I think it’s usually hard. In fact, the two of them haven’t understood it halfway, right?” (Steina)
“…Please excuse me. I think I will catch up with the understanding later, but I’ll do my best to put it together since there are a lot of unknown information has come out.” (Felicia)
“…Yeah, somehow I don’t understand yet.” (Sheila)
It should be normal… or was it not normal? These two only understood only up to this point but they were excellent.
What Steina could talk was something that she knew. Moreover, this knowledge was hammered in her brain for over a long period of time. If Steina didn’t know anything, it would be impossible to explain it to them.
However, that was normal. What they were talking about was the power of God. There was no way to know and to understand.
Far from knowing and understanding, it was an anomaly when Soma showed a sign of understanding.
“…Well, you know that, right?” (Steina)
“Hmm? What do you mean?” (Soma)
“It’s nothing. Incidentally, Soma’s guess is a hit. The authority is within a magic tool…… It has too much power to call it, but it exists in the form of a tool. However, in order to use it, it seems that you need a specific skill, which is a born talent.” (Steina)
“Steina-san, earlier you said that you couldn’t do it. Does that mean you can’t use it?” (Felicia)
“That’s right.” (Steina)
“…So where is it?” (Sheila)
“The last time I saw it was in the treasure vault of the Demon King castle. Well, I guess it’s not there right now.” (Steina)
“Does that mean… the Demon King is involved in this case?” (Soma)
“Yeah, it make sense if there is a relation, but the person in question is irrelevant, I think? Maybe, it was stolen from the treasure vault.” (Steina)
“…Yes? Stolen, is it? How can it be…” (Felicia)
Felicia was looking at Steina while being surprised, but she just shrugged her shoulders. It would be natural to think so if she didn’t know the circumstances…
“Aah, yes. A year ago… no, I think two years ago, that place was… At that time, there was a revolt at the Demon King castle.” (Steina)
“Revolt, you say?” (Soma)
“Well, the Demons aren’t old fashioned also. The mastermind of the rebellion is the so-called previous Demon King faction. They attacked since they didn’t like the current King.” (Steina)
“…Directly?” (Sheila)
“Yes. On the contrary, they were crushed, but still, I should say they worked harder than I expected. At that time, they also intruded the treasure vault during the confusion. It seemed they were succeeded in some way, and some things have been stolen.” (Steina)
Steina was going to talk as far she should talk. To be honest, she was wondering whether it would be alright to tell everything except for the important parts. It was true that there were only a limited number of Demons who knew about the revolt, but Aina would probably return there later. When Aina came back, someone would naturally told her about that time, and when Steina thought about it, there was no meaning to hide the information.
Rather than hiding in strange ways and the story became awkward, it would be faster to talk directly.
“You didn’t know what was stolen? At least, one of the things stolen was something bad…” (Felicia)
“There were many things thrown inside the vault. The taking over didn’t go well, and to begin with, the Demon King didn’t know everything inside. In addition, even though he crushed the revolt, he didn’t crush everything including the ones who robbed the treasure vault.” (Steina)
“Aah… was it guerrilla tactic?” (Soma)
“It’s similar. When they were about to forget, they did something like pestering him. After that, the Demon King didn’t properly take over. It seemed that he had no choice but to postpone the treasure vault arrangement because there were other things around there. Since they didn’t know everything inside, it was impossible to figure out what were stolen.” (Steina)
At that time, Steina was becoming estranged, so they just listened to her, but it was actually quite difficult. Well, the revolt at that time was thought to finally settle down. Even though they were aimed, if the stolen things weren’t there, this situation wouldn’t happen.
When Felicia remembered such a thing and thought about it, she raised her hand sparingly.
“Um… I have a question from a moment ago, may I ask?” (Felicia)
“Yes? What is it? Well, I think that there are many things that you don’t understand since I’m talking about the flow in general, but… would you like me to explain all over again?” (Steina)
“That… of course the taking over that you said… who was taking over from who?” (Felicia)
“No matter who are the people, it’s decided that the side that winner will take over the side that was defeated. Even though it was a faction of the Demon King…No, I mean, it’s troubling if the defeated was killed, right? So, they waited until they properly take over. Technically speaking, the Demon King doesn’t lead the Demons, but he’s a symbolic presence.” (Steina)
“Ooh… was the Demon King defeated?” (Felicia)
“Even if I said he was defeated… it was more than ten years ago, right?” (Steina)
In other words, it took more than ten years to settle down, but that would have been unavoidable. Anyhow, it didn’t matter whether it was a Demon or not, if that person defeated the Demon King, he would take over the throne. Although he did various things like using the power of the Demon King’s bloodline, it was possible to calm down the situation.
However, it wasn’t a perfect take over, and that was why revolt happened.
“The Demon King was defeated… Sheila, did you know that?” (Felicia)
“…No, I’ve never heard of it.” (Sheila)
“Eh…?” (Steina)
It was Steina’s turn to tilt her head when hearing the two. At that time, it was an important matter, and she thought that people would obviously know about it, but…
“Soma, you also don’t know about this right?” (Steina)
“I’m not sure if I knew it or not, but I was wondering if that was the case. But at least, we don’t know everything.” (Soma)
“Is that so…?” (Steina)
Did this mean that the matter was concealed from the outsiders?
Well… if people thought about it, it was a matter of course. It was like telling others to attack them since they were in an unstable situation.
If it was going to bring danger, it was a good idea to stay silent until things had calmed down.
“Sorry about that. But yes, that was the situation.” (Steina)
“Yes… I understand. Thank you very much.” (Felicia)
“It’s fine because it’s my error. So, uhmm, to what extent we’re going to discuss our plan?” (Steina)
“Aren’t we going to talk about this anymore?” (Soma)
“Is that so? …Aah, yes, that’s probably it. Well, that’s why in this case, I expected that the thing was stolen at that time.” (Steina)
She was tired from talking all at once, so she exhale a breath there.
Now, how far that they had grasped the situation? To be honest, the second half of her story was a useless addition.
“Hmm… assuming that you are correct, why do you think they are using the tool here, Steina?” (Soma)
Soma was asking that because he understood everything. That made Steina happy since it was worth explaining the situation, but then… she let out another breath.
“Well, I suppose they do it as an experiment, right? I mean this is a remote area, so it’s not a bad place to try that kind of thing.” (Steina)
“Experiment… is it? By the way, what can you do if you use that authority?” (Felicia)
“Aah come to think of it, I didn’t mention that, right? Uhmm, the place where monsters appear seems to be divided into many sections. It’s not visible to our eyes, but it’s true that there will be types of monster appear in each section.” (Steina)
So, the magic tool that had the power to decide the place for the monsters, had the power to rewrite the authority of God. However, it was impossible to do it freely, and the capacity seemed to be decided depending on the location. If it was weak monsters, the number could be increased since the capacity used was small, but if it was strong monsters, the number would decrease since the capacity used was large.
“…Is that what’s going on right now?” (Sheila)
“I think so. But even if they do something here, it doesn’t mean anything. That’s why I thought they are experimenting with something.” (Steina)
“What are they going to do after experimenting?” (Felicia)
“There’s a high possibility that the former Demon King’s faction has the magic tool. I think they don’t dare to create disorder with the monsters in the surrounding area of the Demon King’s castle. I don’t think they can just do it yet, but if they had given up, there wouldn’t be a revolt from the beginning.” (Steina)
“Speaking of that tool was used before this… does that mean there was a person who could use it by chance?” (Soma)
“I think so? Perhaps, the present situation is caused by these people who are trying hard to go against the odds.” (Steina)
Steina didn’t expect to say that, but it might be true to a certain extent. She wouldn’t have known whether she could use the tool since the beginning.
“In the meantime, we know that they are most likely using it, but… do you know the features of the tool?” (Felicia)
“Well, it was a black sphere with the size of my palm… at least, that was what I had seen. After that, the tool should be near here to be able to interfere with nearby places. I mean, there’s a good chance they’re in this town.” (Steina)
“…So, it’s all good if we can find it?” (Sheila)
“Yes. I was wondering what to do in the future, but if I know this much, do we have to go out until we know how to deal with them? If there’s a problem, it’s whether to let the guild know about this or not…” (Soma)
“Hmm… it’s fine to let them know, but it’s going to be a bit troublesome.” (Steina)
“So, why don’t we try to do something first, and talk to the guild if we can’t do it?” (Felicia)
“…I have no objection.” (Sheila)
“I have none.” (Soma)
“Got it. By the way, how specifically do you intend to make a move…” (Steina)
—
They decided to make a move tomorrow. Well, after dinner, the feeling of pleasant fatigue had assaulted their body. When Steina returned to her room, she fell straight to bed, without going against the feeling of fatigue.
“…Haa.” (Steina)
The reason why the sigh leaked by chance was because she thought of various things while feeling tired. She felt like it was strangely dark today.
…No, it wasn’t because of the mind, but actually, it would have been so.
She got what she wanted here. Then, she was attacked by monsters, and she got rescued. The one who rescued her was Soma, and she was asked whether she wanted to travel together with his group. She put the reply on hold, and when she went back to the town and looked for an inn, she encountered a strange scene. That part could be seen in Soma where he felt nostalgic by a little girl, to decide to go on a trip together with Soma’s group, and to come across the experiment of the former Demon King’s faction was…
“…Isn’t it a bit too dark?” (Steina)
Rather than a few days, she would think that it would happen in a month and she would die from these excessive intakes of feelings. If it was done poorly, these kind of things might happen in the future.
“…Goodness, what am I doing?” (Steina)
She had done many things. It was about everything she did today, as for herself… and these things made her slightly relieved.
“…Haa. Well, it’s fine for now. I’m really tired today, and I should go to sleep.” (Steina)
With a murmur like an excuse, she closed the eyelids. However, it was true that she was tired, so she immediately fell into the abyss of darkness.