“We were so busy dealing with the monsters so that I hadn’t made a report yet…but I actually caught one of the guys who was carrying the cursed stone . ”
“Caught… So there was someone who tried to bring a cursed stone into this town!?”
“No, it was actually some slimes that were far away who caught him . ”
I said as I pointed to the slime on my shoulder .
Well, it wasn’t actually this slime that did it .
“A slime caught a human…? Well, we’ll leave that for now . So, can we question this person?”
“No . I had captured him alive, but he then killed himself . ”
“Killed himself… It would be one thing to do it while you were being questioned, but right after being captured? That is very strange . He was either incredibly loyal to his organization . Or there was something else… But even large kingdoms rarely have soldiers who are so skilled . ”
So the manager thought so too .
There was too little information from the culprit…the only thing I could relate was the words he said before killing himself .
“He said, ‘to save this tarnished world!’…what does that mean?”
I asked the manager without much expectations for an answer .
But–the blood seemed to drain from his face as he heard this .
“Yuji…is-is that what the culprit really said?”
“Yeah . What does it mean?”
“I have an idea . But…no, it can’t be . ”
Apparently, there was some important meaning behind the words I had said .
However, I had no idea what it would be .
“…Those words, is there something special about them?”
“There was a criminal organization called Blue Moon of Salvation that fell about 40 years ago… Well, it was practically a religion . And those were the words they would say before death . ”
I see .
It was an old religion .
Still, I didn’t understand why that would make him react so strongly .
“So, this Blue Moon of Salvation was an especially large criminal organization?”
“No, they were really just made up of about 20 people . …Still, 500 people died in order to bring an end to those 20 . They were not normal . ”
500 to kill 20 .
As they were being sent to hunt down a criminal organization, the people who had partic.i.p.ated were likely strong knights and Adventurers, not average citizens .
“They were that powerful?”
“Yes . Their skill with magic exceeds what the kingdom is capable of today . Besides, they did not put much value on the lives of their own . They easily used suicidal magic . …Had it not been for that, casualties might have been halved . ”
…That sounded horrible .
Perhaps their magic skills were gained through human experiments .
However…
“But you said this organization, the Blue Moon of Salvation, was dead?”
“They should be . …But aside from that great country, the Blue Moon of Salvation was the only organization that was capable of making cursed stones . Besides, those words before death… We cannot be sure that members of the Blue Moon of Salvation did not survive . ”
The manager said, deep in thought .
“Is it really possible that the organization could still exist after being destroyed 40 years ago?”
“Normally, no . However, there was definitely something odd about the way their organization fell . They were always odd, really . And so we hadn’t thought about it too much… But if they had only made a theatrical show of being destroyed while descending underground in order make cursed stones…well, it would explain a lot . After all, they were good with summoning and production magic . ”
Summoning magic…
Indeed, monsters had been summoned from the fragments of the magic stones .
—In a way, I had also been summoned to this world .
If I was summoned—that would mean someone in this world summoned me .
My summoning and the cursed stone .
The timing couldn’t be just a coincidence .
Perhaps—these two events were related to each other .
…I was starting to feel that this world was incredibly dangerous .
Back when I first met the slimes, I had thought it would be a peaceful world .