Arc 25: Daydream Believer

Chapter 246: Suspicious Person, and the Feedback

Surprisingly, the cat patrols that Nyantaro had organized were very excellent.

If theres some kind of trouble in the town, they immediately run to the knight post and called over the knights. When they spotted a suspicious person, they indirectly pursued and watched the actions of that person. They also urged the adults to pay attention to kids If they tried to play a dangerous game.

Theyd managed to accomplish so much despite not being able to speak. The townspeople came to cherish the cats to the point of being able to see cats all over the place before anyone even noticed it.

That large number of cats shouldve increased the theft of fishes or their misbehavior, but I didnt hear any kind rumors like those. Nyantaro was apparently handling the reins skillfully.

In addition, there were adventurers who one-sidedly bullied the obedient cats, but they were then discovered in back alleys completely tattered. They said countless scratches were found on their bodies, leading to a conclusion that theyd been attacked by a quite numerically large group. After that, the number of adventurers who had tormented the cats for fun sharply dropped. Even if cats were animals, they still could get angry. Incidentally, the adventurers who had been attacked seemed to suffer quite a bit of trauma and developed a phobia of cats, prompting them to leave the town.

With this, the cats had gained a right of citizenship in Brunhild.

So, are you saying that theres suspicious person?(Touya)

Nya(Nyantaro)

In the shadows, Nyantaro and I were watching a person in the bar thats beside the guild. Fiana-san was spending the day right now with Sakura in the castle, so Nyantaro was removed from guard duty.

The suspicious person, whom the cats had found, was slowly drinking sake at the farthest counter. I couldnt see the persons face since hes wrapped in a hooded robe thats slightly dirty, but I felt that the person was a woman rather than a man for some reason. Its only my intuition though.

The hands and the legs that extended from the robe were being covered with gauntlets and greaves. Is she a knight from somewhere?

Oh well. If you say shes suspicious, then shes definitely is, but not to the point of being cautious against. I dont want to know her real identity, and she may have her own circumstances as well.

Shes definitely suspicious, but the thing that bothers me the most is that she doesnt have any scent~nya(Nyantaro)

She doesnt smell? (Touya)

Every person has their own peculiar smell to a certain degree ~nya, but theres still a body odor at the very least ~nya. Of course, a perfume can be often used to cover that smell ~nya, but having no smell at all is very abnormal ~nya(Nyantaro)

I see. Although cats sense of smell wasnt on the same level as that of dogs, theirs was still several tens of thousand times more sensitive than that of humans. Its being said that they could judge the quality of food through their olfactory senses and that they could mark the body of their owner with their own smell by putting their bodies against their masters legs.

Those cats are saying that its abnormal, so there might really be something else about this.

There are three possibilities ~nya(Nyantaro)

Nyantaro says so and puts up his three short fingers. Oi, arent you nimble?

First, the smell is being erased by magic. This is also the same as an artifact ~nya. Second, shes an undead. In this case, however, its strange that she doesnt have the stench of death~nya. I guess her being a spirit body is a possibility too ~nya. Lastly, shes a golem or a magic creature otherwise. However, Ive never seen a golem as small as her ~nya. This makes the first possibility as the most probable ~nya(Nyantaro)

Speaking of golems, there were those that resembled Frankensteins monster who could be called a flesh golem, but thats akin to an undead. It seemed to have the stench of death though.

Assuming that her body scent was being erased by some sort of magic, it raised the question of why that person was doing it anyway. In the first place, does a magic like that really exist? It may be possible though if its a non-attribute magic.

Thinking about it normally, deodorizing magic is used if one smells really terribly. But if thats the case, then this town has public baths which are available. If she can afford to drink sake, then she should be able to go to a public bath as well

I guess she really is suspicious if youre saying shes suspicious, but its not like she has done something(Touya)

His Majesty is too optimistic ~nya. If something happens, then itll be too late already ~nya. Its better to place countermeasures at once before its too late ~nya (Nyantaro)

Really? Shes just quietly drinking sake. Even if we dont do anything.. oh?

Two drunk adventures for some reason picked a quarrel with the hooded suspicious person. She was standing out in a bad sense, so I believed it couldnt be helped if people like those suddenly came out.

I wonder, should I stop them?

While I thought about something like that, I secretly hid behind the bar entrance and observed the situation. One of the adventurers who had picked up a fight was quickly blown away in front of my eyes. Eeh!?

He, who has been blown outside from the entrance, fell headfirst into the ground, being sent flying by the hooded suspicious person

The male adventurer was considerably tall and tough. I wonder what herculean strength did this woman have to have made him fly that far.

As I looked inside the bar again, the other adventurer came flying outside as well. That was dangerous, you know?!

I then drew my neck back like a turtle as he flew in the air the same way as the previous man, and fell to the ground.

Peeping inside the bar again, I saw that the hooded person wearing was still there slowly drinking sake from her glass again as if nothing had happened. Apparently, she was quite a gutsy person.

This bastard! (Adventurer A)

Stop fooling around! (Adventurer B)

The flustered adventures pulled the swords from their waists and tried breaking into the bar. Arent you quite drunk? As expected. I had to stop those guys.

Sorry, but this is it. Any more will be going overboard. Until the swords are drawn its just an ordinary quarrel, but it will lead to murder once they are. As expected, this isnt something that can be overlooked(Touya)

Whats with this brat!? You! Are you his companion? (Adventurer A)

Dont get in the way!Do you also want to have a painful experience?! (Adventurer B)

Am I being treated as a kid? I was already past 17, but my appearance didnt seem to grow up very much for some reason. I still got that kind of reaction even now. It surely increased the credibility that perpetual youth was granted by an effect of divinification Far from eternal youth, it might even be immortality, but I couldnt bring myself to try it by myself.

Whats going on?

Did you see some adventures rampaging?

Or rather, isnt that his majesty?

A crowd had gathered around the bar before I even noticed it. Even the kids were waving to me.

Your Majesty~ Do you best~

Get them~

No-no, its not like that, you know.

I made a wry smile and waved my hand to the kids, but did that hurt their feelings? One of the adversaries tried to cut me.

Uraaaaaaa

I then agily dodged from his overswing line of attack that didnt even have a posture to it. His feet were unstable too. Is it because hes drunk?

Nonetheless, theres no doubt that he was in a dangerous state.

Knocking him down with a paralysis bullet from Brynhildr wouldve been fine, but I ended up worrying that having the gallery have a bad image of me like I had just killed someone wouldve been good, especially since they were already here.

I slipped through the incoming attack of that man, touched his body and invoked [Paralysis]. Looking at his companion who had collapsed as if the threads from his body were cut off, the other one brandished his sword and came at me too, but I caught the blade between my fingers and broke it off with [Power Rise]. What a cheap weapon.

Whaaa?!(Adventurer B)

Just like that, I then invoked [Paralysis] which incapacitated him.

Fuu(Touya)

The moment Id neutralized the two, the guild master, Rerisha-san, came out from inside the guild next to the bar.

Your Majesty? What in the world is this commotion?(Rerisha)

Oh, Ive just subdued these two drunk men since they were acting violently. They appear to be adventurers, so please give them a warning just in case(Touya)

To be exact, the guild couldnt supervise adventurers, but actions like that harmed the position and image of an adventurer. In case there was an actual harm to the guild, a penalty ranging from deduction of rewards to deprivation of the guild card was usually given out. There were rumors of an assassination corp lurking in the shadows as well, but I didnt know if those were true or not.

I understand. Ill strictly caution them this time, without imposing a penalty. It wont the end of it, should they continue this behavior again and again. However, pointing a sword at the king of a country normally warrants a death penalty, and its something that cant be helped(Rerisha)

Well, I think Ill overlook it (Touya)

The guild staff dragged the two collapsed people away into the guild. Those two had been paralyzed but they still could hear and see everything around them, so they shouldve heard the story from a little while ago. Both of them had pale faces. Did they sober up?

I want to ask something

Uouuuu(Touya)

A voice has suddenly called out to me from behind, so I unintentionally let out a strange voice. The one standing behind me was the girl that was drinking at the bar counter, the suspicious person. I didnt feel her presence at all!? Who is this person? From the sound of her voice, she seems to be a woman as Ive thought but..

Your Majesty. Since youve being called by that title, are you the [King] of this country, right?(Suspicious woman)

Thats right?(Touya)

Then you are Mo-chi-zu-ki To-u-ya, right?(Suspicious woman)

I nodded to the suspicious hooded person with a gulp. What in the world is going on? Dont tell me shes yet another assassin sent by some country, huh? Though no other countries that do things like those come to my mind aside from Yuuron.

Can we talk for awhile in a place with no other people around? I wont take too much of your time(Suspicious person)

I understand(Touya)

I felt somewhat reluctant to follow a suspicious person of this huge level, but I conceded since I didnt feel any hostility from her. I was also a bit interested on her story.

From behind the hooded woman whos walking ahead, how should I say this? I cant feel anything. I feel like Im following a puppet or a robot.

Just in case, I left Nyantaro in that area. She, having led me, took me to the forest by the canal on the east side.

After confirming that theres no one around, the woman in front of me took off her hood, exposing her face to the sunlight

Wha!!(Touya)

I involuntarily leaped backward, pulled Brynhildr from my waist on reflex alone, and aimed it towards the woman. The face in front of the gun muzzle was considerably ordered and probably belonged to the category of beauties.

However, what attracted my attention more than anything else were those glittering red eyes and hard hair that grew from her head. The hair that was shining like a crystal, Id seen it twice before. The first was in Rodomea, and the second was in Zenoasu.

Ruler-class(Touya)

Damn! Why has a ruler-class been able to enter Brunhild!? There was no response from the board, wasnt there!?

Wait. I have no intention to fight(Suspicious woman)

?!(Touya)

She doesnt have the intention to fight!? What does she mean?

My name is Rize. If you are Mochizuki Touya, then you do know Endemuon, right(Rize)

Endemuon? Are you talking about End?(Touya)

That guy, did he really have such a name?

Endemuon hasnt yet returned from the dimensional gap. Its just a little slip though, but it looks like its taking a lot of time. Therefore, I want to ask you to rescue him(Rize)

Rescue?(Touya)

I didnt understand the reason and thought that this is dubious, so the ruler-class that introduced herself as Rize threw out something from under her robe. I then reflexively received it. Its a triangular crystal prism approximately 10 centimeters in length.

Pour magic power or something into that object. Once that power exceeds a certain amount, it will pull Endemuon hereApparently(Rize)

Apparently?(Touya)

Endemuon has said so. Unfortunately, I dont have what you call magic power. He told me to rely on Mochizuki Touya, the [King] of this country if ever Im in trouble(Rize)

I really dont know whats what anymore. Though the one in front of me is certainly a ruler-class, why is she trying to help End? Isnt that guy supposed to be hostile toward frazes?

Or is this a trap?

I took a quick glance at the ruler-class who had introduced herself as Rize, but I couldnt see any emotions from her. However, I felt that shes slightly different from the two ruler-classes whom I met before.

I poured a little magic power into the prism, but there were no particular changes to either myself or the prism. Is it alright?

I poured magic power a little by little, gradually increasing its amount. Not too long afterward when Id poured about a tenth of my magic power, the prism broke into several small pieces.

Uwaaa(Touya)

I unintentionally separated my hand from the crushed prism. Those small glittering fragments then became a big ring. End suddenly appeared from inside that ring as if theres nothing in it and passed through to this side.

Ah. Its Touya after all. Youve saved me~ If Ive stayed like that, I wouldve been unable to come back for another half a year. Woops, Im back. Rize(End)

So you came back, huh? Endemuon(Rize)

As usual, with a fluttering white scarf and a smile, End returned to this world.