Foreigner Volume 9, Chapter 193

Volume 9 Chapter 193, Demonic Dragon ~ 08

　The Sorcery City of Ares

　Located near the center of town, off the main street, the four-story inn, Gray Crow Pavilion, has a history of 80 years and sells quality and solidity.

　The sun has set and there are still a few drunken guests lingering in the communal bar area on the first floor, but most of the rooms where guests stay are almost completely dark, and most of them are asleep. The sorcery of 【Light】 often used for lighting consumes a certain amount of magic power, and oil-based lights are not often used unless there is a particular reason to save on the cost of oil.

　One of the rooms is a corner room on the third floor. There was no sign of light in this room as well.

　However, the two male guests were not asleep. Noticing a tapping sound on the window from outside, the swordsman-like man quickly got up and opened the window.

　A small bat flutters into the room in response, but quickly, and when it reaches the bed, it begins to glow faintly and takes shape as a beautiful, naked woman.

「Yuki.」

「My apologies, I messed up a little.」

　Yuki, who had taken the long robe offered by Granfeld, whose back was turned, and put it on, spared no time to compose herself before reporting so. The Lord gave no sign of paying attention to Yuki's sensational appearance and looked at her in surprise.

「It's rare that Yuki messes up. What happened?」

　Yuki reported slowly, with a hint of regret in her thin expression.

　The house of Maylander, the target, was on high alert, and it was difficult to even contact the family members, so she gave up looking at them. She also added that from the reactions of the guests who kept coming to the house, it seemed that none of them had been able to contact Sheryl.

　She then gave up on contacting the Maylanders, and when she left to attack from the rear, she broke into the former High Mentor Coogan's mansion on a whim, only to find a Gryphon there.

　The Lord did not blame her, but let out an exhale as if she was a little surprised.

「I've never heard of a Gryphon in Coogan. Gryphons are rare in this part of the world.」

「My apologies ...... I got a little panic」

「If Yuki is panics, it's the same result as anyone else. It can't be helped. I don't mind.」

　He really doesn't care, is just the attitude of the man. But what is there is not kindness, but almost indifference. That is frustrating to Yuki. Not that she wants to be praised, but she is frustrated with herself for not being of service to this Lord.

「Now ...... it's time for us to go out from Ares, and I'm not reluctant to retreat. ......」

　Granfeld turns around to see that Yuki has put on her long robe. The nudity of the too-glamorous female True Ancestor is poisonous to both the eyes and the mind. He never sees her virtuous naked body except in emergencies.

「In conclusion, we ask for help from that Satoru-kun or whoever he is. Or rather, that's our only option.」

　A man's voice echoed in the darkness.

　Although he was muttering as if it were a matter of course, it was the man himself who knew how difficult it would be.

　By ordinary means, Satoru would not cooperate with them.

「The question is how to contact him and get him to cooperate.」

　Herein lies the problem.

　Even if they contact him and ask for his cooperation in ordinary means, he will most certainly reject their request. There is a reason for that, and he thinks Yuki would naturally agree.

　The nature of the cooperation is, in a sense, a death sentence for Satoru.

　Granfeld is the part of the story that he is not told in detail, he is only told that that is the way it is.

「I'm not sure what his purpose is. I think he's probably just trying to get back to his world.」

「How do we lure him out?」

　Granfeld's question made the man groan. The tension that Yuki has with Granfeld is mainly absent from this man.

「He has a connection, and the one person who knows for sure is Sheryl Maylander. But it's hard to do Yuki and use it as leverage. ...... And then there's the Dark Green Forest.」

「I'm very sorry, but I have been spotted. If I return to the homeland, I'll ask His Majesty to dispatch an intelligence officer. ......」

「I'll leave that to you. I will not interfere in what your country does. That's the deal.」

　Granfeld bowed in silence.

　It is true that Granfeld knows that there is such a promise between his homeland and this man. However, his homeland has ordered Granfeld to provide this man with the utmost convenience, and that is why Granfeld has also made a contract with this man and sworn his allegiance to him.

　The country to which Granfeld has pledged his loyalty owes him an immeasurable debt of gratitude.

「Considering the route from the 『Deepest Labyrinth』 to Ares, it is possible that he left his footprints in the three countries of Galhassan, Goldor, and Knappstein.」

　The man's gaze wandered as he listed the names of the nations stretching westward from the Dragon's Back. The Deepest Labyrinth belongs geographically to Galhassan ― though it is not clear that it is dominated by it.

「But still, the footprints he apparently left on the road to Ares are extremely few. This is an indication that he is being surprisingly cautious. And we haven't received any information about Leia-chan, either.」

　Even in the dark, it is impossible to peek at the expression on the man's face, who wears his hood deeply. However, the man's tone is that of a man who seems to be enjoying himself, despite the obvious difficulty.

「In other words, Leia-chan is lurking in Satoru's shadow. I don't know which one is the Lord and which one is the follower, though.」

「First of all, shouldn't we find out where Satoru is?」

　Granfeld's words went without saying, and the man shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile.

「I think I have an idea where he's going to go next.」

「Where?」

「Nevis.」

　There is no one in this world who does not know the meaning of this very lightly spun place. It is a being that sits in the center of this world and watches over the lives of all living creatures from the beginning of this world (good morning) to the present (good night). This is the land where Feather Dragon, the king of the Five Dragons, the only absolute being far above the King of All Beasts (Lion), lives.

「Hmmm...... but there was a promise with Feather Dragon, so we can't just wait for him there.」

「......Now that you mention it, there was a story about that, wasn't there?」

　The exclaimed Granfeld muttered as he recalled. Granfeld knows that this Lord also knows most of this world. He doesn't often share his knowledge, though.

　The man lifted his chin a little at Granfeld's muttering.

「Come to think of it, Granfeld-kun, you didn't know much about the story between me and that Golden Dragon, did you?」

「Yes」

「I see. Well, it's not the kind of thing that you can just tell anyone.」

「I know.」

　It is not good for one's mental health to listen to stories that lie deep in the darkness of this world. It has been less than a season since Granfeld started following this man, but his words and actions are lighter and friendlier than he had heard, but he seems to know what to say and what not to say.

「The quickest way to find out is from Miss Maylander, who says she has a connection with him.」

　The man's body suddenly tilted at an angle as he looked up at the ceiling with his hands behind his back on the bed.

「......Ohh」

「......!」

　Yuki rushes over with a pale face, and Granfeld is also blindsided. This is because the man's right shoulder on his back fell off like a fragile wax figure.

　The man showed no sign of pain. He just had an expression of "Oh no, I've messed up" at the corner of his mouth. He picked up the broken right arm with his left hand and pressed it against his right shoulder, muttering very lightly.

「We took a little too long. We have to go back.」

　―The next morning.

　Knock-knock, the innkeeper's old man is knocking on the door of one of the rooms on the third floor, where breakfast has not been picked up even after the stipulated time. If you don't eat breakfast, I don't care, but if that's the case, please say so ― because it won't be cleaned up anytime soon.

「Sir. Kylas-san, are you not here?」

　Even if he knocked hard, there was no answer from inside. Thinking back on it, it was a strange visitor. A traveling swordsman, probably from the East. At first, he refused to rent a room for four to a single guest because it was inefficient, but when he offered to pay for four, the innkeeper had no reason to refuse, and he has been staying here for several days now.

　He was a good guest because he paid well and was not noisy, but the innkeeper's longtime intuition told him that the man was not a regular. Thinking back, the guest who stayed in that room about 45 days ago, a large young man with several women, also had a strange atmosphere―I wonder if that room emits a smell that attracts such unusual guests. I'm sure they didn't cut corners on cleaning.

「It's strange ...... I didn't see any sign of him leaving.」

　As the innkeeper, he of course checks the comings and goings of guests. While he himself is asleep, he has a servant man check on him, but he reports that there were no comings and goings. As he casually puts his hand on the doorknob, the innkeeper notices that it is unbolted, and cautiously opens the door.

「...... hmm?」

　The room was empty. He looked around the room, but there was no sign of anyone or anything, not even his luggage.

　Well, whatever―the innkeeper said. Perhaps a servant had dozed off and left while he was asleep. The eccentric swordsman, who called himself Kylas, had paid the innkeeper daily, so if he was gone, this room would be empty.

　I guess I'll have to scold the servants later. With a sigh, the innkeeper walked down the stairs.

Previous Chapter --- TOC --- Next Chapter