157-Episode 157: At the destination

After defeating Venom Beat and the demon, we were discussing the future.

''Now that we've defeated the Venom Beat as well, we don't have to worry about the Corroded Earth spreading any further.

Yes, the conspiratorial demon has been defeated, so I guess that's a relief.

All that's left to do is cleanse the corroded earth that has spread far and wide, and the whole problem will be solved.

'We took down the Venom Beat and you still need to purify it?

Liliela, who thought that defeating Venom Beat was the end of everything, nodded her head.

''Yes, the erosion of the Corrosive Earth itself was caused by Venom Beat, but the poisonous swamp itself that was left behind will remain. If we don't purify that area, another poisonous demon will make a home there.

Well, in case there are any Venom Beat eggs left, they're not very good.

Liliella nodded her approval.

'That's what I mean,'

The Venombeet eggs that the demons were trying to hatch died out after our purification cut off their nutritional supply.

But it's possible that there are still Venombeet eggs left in the land that hasn't been purified yet.

If that happens, there's a risk that the mutant Venombeet will be in danger of causing a stir again.

So the land of corrosion must be completely cleansed.

''Oi brother!

And then Jairo-kun and the others came over, shouting.

"I suddenly felt a tremendous amount of magic, what's going on?

Apparently, Jairo-kun sensed the aftermath of the fight with Venom Beat and came in a hurry.

''It's okay. It's all over now.''

d*mn it.

Jairo-kun roars in frustration when I tell him that the fight is already over.

''d*mn it! I just thought I could fight with my brother!

Sorry, sorry, I'll leave some enemies in charge next time.

Absolutely, my brother!

'No, you don't say that casually, like you're leaving a feast like that.

Mina muttered with a dumbfounded look on her face.

''Oh?　Was the fight already over?

From behind him, Lady Aydra also appears.

''So, what were you fighting this time?''

'Yes, yes!　Tell me about it, brother!

'Yeah, actually...'

I'll explain to Jairo and the others what happened here.

So, my brother killed the cause of the Corrosive Earth?

I mean, was a demon involved in this incident again?

I guess so.

By the way, the body of the witch is right here.

"Whoa!　Oh, my God!　So does that mean Miss Liliella really did defeat a demon all by herself?

Huh, well, I guess that's just how it is.

Liliella is a bit proud of herself as she replies, "I'm not sure I'm the only one.

'Kyu!'

Immediately, Fluffy tries to take a bite out of the demon's wings, but I stop him.

Sigh.

I'm not sure why you would want to interfere with that, but you can't do that with your face.

You can't do that because it's your prey, Liliera-san.

Coooooooooooo........tch!

Fluffy Fluffy kicked the demon's head like it couldn't be helped, and went towards the Giant Poison Centipede that was buried in the ground.

Well, if it's that thing, I guess it's good.

''d*mn!　I wish I could have fought a demon in a tie-breaking match!

You're not worth a d*mn.

'No, it's not!　I can do it now!

Well, well, Liliella is amazing at defeating a legendary demon.

Dora, that's a bit light, don't you think?

Aydra-sama raises a smiling voice as she looks at the defeated demon, and Jairo-kun shows her a puzzled look.

This laid-back reaction, as expected of a princess.

''But Lex is really great. The problem of the Corroded Earth is not only a problem for the surrounding countries, but also for the church. That's a medal. Countries are vying to have Lex as a nobleman.

I was just thinking, when Master Idra said something extraordinary.

'Um, well, I was wondering if you could keep this to yourself?　I'm not very good at standing out, and besides, the only reason I was able to defeat Venom Beat was because the Ancients weakened me with their special seals. Otherwise, I would have struggled a lot.

I don't think so.

That's weird. I agree.

No, no, no, neither of you, because it's really not just me.

Well, now I know how Lex feels. You're all my friends and I love you. If you don't want to do it, I'll respect your wishes. You've been very good to me.

Thank you, Dora.

Whew, I'm glad that Aydra-sama is someone who knows how to talk.

As expected of the princess Megri-san, she's just a princess in her service.

''Okay, then, let's resume the cleansing of the Corrosive Earth!　It's possible that there may be some Venom Beat kids still alive, so if you find them, don't get too close and keep your distance and fight them.

""Yes!"

'Oh, I'm not a goth but thanks to Lex, I'm immune to poisoning, so I can't be accidentally approached.

Oh, Dora-la-lazy!　Brother, give me poison resistance too!

You're not a child's toy...

It's time for Fluffy to go too!

Squeak!

Then Fluffy comes back with some white blob in his mouth.

'I mean, isn't that a Venom Beat egg!

To my surprise, Fluffy brought the Venom Beet egg I dug up from the ground earlier.

'Coo!'

And the mofo began to mug the eggs.

'Coooooooooooo.'

Um, did you like the Venom Beat eggs?

Megri.

When I was a child, my mother once took me to see the corroded earth.

I came to understand my future mission.

Pointing to a swamp full of poisonous and fearlessly deadly dangers that would claim the lives of anyone who came near it, she said, "May I remind you, Meghlielna, that in the future you will be a part of that hell.

You will give your life to protect people from that hell in the future, Megrielna. That is what you were born to do.

My mother told me sternly.

To be honest, I don't think it's something I would tell a child.

But from a young age, my mother had always told me that it was the mission of those of us in the background to die for our country and the royal family.

My mother was a strict person, but she was equally kind, so I never felt any resentment towards her. Likewise with my father.

I'm well aware that the man had his place in the world and that he couldn't formally acknowledge my existence.

Besides, I had seen those two get along with each other as a child, so I understand that I was born to be wanted.

So I didn't feel the need to resent them.

He was the kind of person who would come to see me sometimes, pretending to meet me by chance, and give me sweets, pretending to have them again by chance.

Because he was such a clumsy father, I wanted to be useful.

And I also like my own sister, who took care of me as a shadow warrior by my side and treated me like her own sister.

I never felt jealous of my sister, who was playing the role of a princess without knowing what she was doing, nor did I feel jealous of her when she was supposed to be a princess herself.

As the princess's bodyguard, I was trained to pretend to be a princess, and I knew very well how cumbersome and cramped, yet close to danger, a princess can be.

I had to train in combat as a shadow warrior, so my frequent trips to the countryside to visit my grandfather were one of the reasons I didn't envy the princess's position.

I had very fond memories of the friends I met there.

I just felt a little sorry for Norbu, who was sacrificing himself by being my collateral damage.

He said to me before we started this pilgrimage, "I'm sorry, we're not a church," he said.

'I'm sorry, we churches have been ungrateful.'

Oh, he's really a very serious person, I thought, and Norbu was so good.

Even though there was nothing wrong with Norbu when it came to the Corroded Earth.

And it was the same with Baharun and the others.

Just because they were too short for their old age, that didn't obligate them to go on a journey that they would never return to.

So I decided that I would at least do my duty well.

That is why I thought it was important to protect the people I care about and not waste the thoughts of those who sacrifice with me... but...

"The temple.....is gone....

According to the story I heard beforehand, there is a hill around here and a temple on top of it, but even if I look around, I can't find anything that looks like a hill.

It's just that there's a large amount of dirt that looks like something that has collapsed.

''What... what is this... what do you mean?''

When he arrived at the Corroded Earth, he found that the Corroded Earth had disappeared and the people in the neighboring villages were screaming that the Goddess had purified the Corroded Earth.

Led by the mysterious light, I went deep into the Corroded Earth and found that the temple of the seal didn't exist where it should have been.

''Lord Megrielna!　Look at this!

As I was stunned, Baharun, who had apparently found something in the dirt, called me over.

'What have you found?'

He went to Baharun and saw what appeared to be the remnants of a building buried in the dirt, a stone structure.

'Perhaps this is the Temple of the Seals...'

So, does that mean that this crumbling pile of earth was the mountain where the temple was located?

Do you think this is a bit much for a mountain?

Indeed.

And the seal?　We need to find the seal.

The important thing is not to find out what's going on, but to re-seal the seal.

We decided to dig up the soil and look for the seal.

''Well, I didn't expect you to come up here and play in the dirt.

"Ha-ha-ha, that makes me feel like a child again.

Come on, you guys, be serious.

I know that.

While it looked like he was joking, the Honorable Baron Albrea was firmly using his magic to dig up a large amount of dirt.

''Lady Megrielna!　Here!

At the sound of Norbu's voice we all gathered beneath him, and there we found a chunk of rock that had been carved into a circle.

'There is a magic circle carved into it in the ancient language, and presumably this is the seal.

But this is....

The magic circle of the seal that Norbu had found had been scraped away by a large wound.

''Norbu-dono, we're not very familiar with magic, but is this okay?''

Ex-Count Russell and the others ask Norbu if the seal is safe.

But Norbu shook his head with a bitter face.

''No, the seal doesn't make sense with this. It's completely broken since there's no reaction from the magic power.''

So it's been released?

Possibly.

Princess Megrielna, what happens if the seal is broken?

The Honorable Baron Albrea asks me what will happen if the seal is broken.

As the head court magician and master of magic, he knew of the existence of the seal due to his position, but the existence within it was not taught as a top secret of the royal family.

I remember my mother telling me that since the seal is a royal secret, there is a separate institution that conducts research on it.

''According to what your mother told me, once the seal is broken, the beings who created the Corrosive Earth will be released. And I was told that the deadly poison of the demon that created the Corrosive Earth would spread at a tremendous rate, and the poison would cover not only our country, but the entire world.

What...?

Everyone shouts in agitation at my words.

'So, but isn't it odd for that?　Despite the fact that the seal was destroyed, the demon poisoning is not overflowing, and most importantly, the corroded earth is gone.

Yeah, that bothered me too.

But the problem of the corroded earth has been a huge problem that has plagued the royal families and churches of many countries for a long time.

I can't believe it will suddenly disappear and disappear one day.

''Then does the fact that the seal has been destroyed mean that something that was sealed up has gone away somewhere?

'No, even if it were, it wouldn't be a reason for the corrosion ground to disappear. I'm sensing some third party agenda.

Norbu is right. It's still unnatural that the Earth of Corrosion has disappeared and is gone.

'Hmm, I have no idea why, but aren't you glad that the land of corrosion has disappeared for now?　Most of all, I'm glad the two of you weren't sacrificed.

What?

Yes, for whatever reason, I'm glad to see that no young lives were lost.

''When you think about it, maybe this is also the work of a mysterious goddess. Not only did she purify the Corrosive Earth, but she even erased the cause of the seal, which is beyond grateful.

A mysterious goddess.....

But who is she really?

It was said to be a woman, so it doesn't look like it's Lex.

I thought it could be Liliella or Mina, but those two shouldn't have been able to use purification magic, and they weren't the same as the sighting conditions to begin with.

Currently they were a complete mystery to me.

Is she really a goddess?

Indeed. Thank the goddess for that. I'm sure she's not a bad one, given that she cleansed the corroded earth.

Yeah, maybe so, but don't you all take it too casually?

Everyone was so easily convinced that Norbu was more confused than he was.

'Hahaha, monk boy, you're serious. It's better to take it easy when you're like this. You won't get any answers by worrying about what you don't know, you know.

That's true.

Oh, thank the mysterious goddess!

""Hahahahahaha"

Huh....

Serious Norbu seems to have been completely persuaded by the three old-timers.

In fact, the land of corrosion has disappeared, so we can say we are thankful for that....

But the mission is gone...

I don't know what to do with myself now that the reason I've been doing this for most of my life is gone.

It's true that I came as a sacrifice, so it's not that I'm not happy to have survived, but it's still something I can't explain.

''Goddess, who the hell is this...?''

Afterwards, the rumor that the mysterious light had purified the corroded earth caused a sensation in the countries that had been eroded by the corroded earth.