Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Time to Learn

Clank clank.

At the sight of the Republic, Deia’s mood soured for no reason as she looked outside the carriage.

The moment she saw the invitation, Deia knew that it would come to this. And now that it was actually happening, she could only sigh deeply.

An invitation to the banquet had also been sent to the Griffin Royal Family. And from the perspective of Griffin, they couldn’t ignore this event, especially considering that the Clark Republic had lowered their heads first.

Therefore, they had no choice but to set off to attend the banquet.

“Don’t hate it too much. The ones who live here are also humans.”

“So, is that why you are active in the Resistance?”

“That... of course, is because there are more beasts than people here.”

Then, beaming with a smile, Findenai shrugged and pointed out the window.

“Flowergarden? Are we going to stop there?”

“Uh, yeah. The horses are tired from crossing the mountain range, so I think we should rest here for a day.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t seem like the best decision.”

“Why?”

The signboard labeled ‘Flowergarden’ had a cheerful atmosphere as it welcomed the guests from Norseweden.

And the yellow flowers being cultivated in the distant vinyl greenhouse especially added a poetic ambiance to the village scenery.

“Ssspp, I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

Deia murmured, resting her chin on her hand.

Since the Clark Republic itself was quite secretive, Deia had seen many villages that were not marked on the map during their journey.

However, the name ‘Flowergarden’ still felt strangely familiar. It was like she had heard it somewhere before.

Surprisingly, it was Findenai who gave her the answer.

“Emily. It’s the hometown of the girl who had become the Human-Bone Centipede in the basement of your mansion.”

“Ah!”

Emily, the girl who loved flowers.

Because of the girl who said she liked the yellow flowers from her hometown, Deus Verdi would often leave flowers at her grave in the Norseweden Mountain Range.

“Indeed, it’s a type of flower that a child would’ve liked.”

“...”

Upon hearing that statement, Findenai remained silent and simply stared out the window.

After all, Deia would discover the truth sooner or later, so there was no need for Findenai to inform her about it in advance and incur her resentment.

As they approached the village, Deia noticed a thick layer of yellow pollen in the vicinity, which gave her a strange sense of unease.

“Cough! Cough! Khek! Khek!”

All of a sudden, the old coachman who was driving the carriage started coughing uncontrollably, gasping for breath.

“Ah, damn it.”

With an incredulous expression, Findenai stepped out to bring the carriage to a stop and ushered the coachman inside.

Thanks to that, the other carriages behind them that were carrying the rest of the party were also forced to stop.

“Hack! Haaack!”

“What’s happening?! Why is he behaving like that?”

Ignoring Deia’s question, Findenai brought the coachman inside with haste, fetching water as his face swelled.

Only after the coachman’s breathing began to stabilize did Findenai let out a sigh.

“Does he have bronchitis or something? We haven’t even reached the vicinity; why are the symptoms already showing up?”

Findenai turned away in frustration. But when Deia demanded for an answer, she finally responded with a shrug.

“Flowergarden is the Republic’s largest drug production site.”

“What? Drugs?!”

“Yeah, all those flowers are used as raw materials for drugs. They’re specially processed by the Republic, so they’re pretty harmful to the human body even in their raw form.”

Finding it ridiculous, Deia stared at the distant flower field before quickly turning her head.

“Then what about Emily?”

“You heard her thoughts, right? She said her parents never allowed her to touch the yellow flowers.”

“Ah...”

That was why Emily admired and loved yellow flowers; she had never even touched them once.

“You can think of that village as a kind of colony. They have special laws that apply only to them.”

For example, a law that prohibited dating until the age of 20.

“Dating?”

The clause did feel somewhat random, but Findenai shrugged and explained the truth behind it.

“Roughly, if you spend around 20 years in there, you’ll develop enough antibodies, right? They want only those people to reproduce.”

“...”

“That’s the only way they can keep the cycle going. Don’t even think of giving birth to children who won’t survive. Something like that.”

“Crazy bastards.”

Seeing Deia’s reaction, Findenai could only agree in silence. It was at that moment that Deia understood why the people who had escaped from Flowergarden tried crossing the Norseweden Mountain Range.

Yes, it seemed she was a very smart kid.

“I wish I could close my eyes as well.”

As Deia sighed, with Erica as the focal point, golden mana from her hands began spreading around.

Erica’s magic began to clear the impurities from the air as it formed a circle.

“You even know spirit magic.”

It was magic assisted by elementals. Thus, even without gas masks, it seemed unnecessary to worry about the impurities in the air.

“Still, go and put on the gas mask on him.”

As Deia pointed at the fallen Deus, Findenai rushed to comply with her instruction.

***Thud!

I felt like something was shaking.

I wondered if it was just my imagination, but considering where I currently was, maybe something had happened to Deus’ body.

“So, how long are we going to stay here?”

The scenery around us was a lake this time.

However, instead of fishes swimming about, the clear, transparent water had stars.

Observing the night lake, it felt like I could see the reflection of the sky, and it was exactly like that.

In front of that, Stella and I were each holding a fishing rod without any actual purpose.

This was the perfect moment to say ‘fishing for time’1.

“Huh?”

Upon hearing my question, Stella, who was sitting right next to me, asked in bewilderment.

“D-did you not like it?”

“It is not that.”

“Actually, I have wanted to try something like having a date while fishing.”

“...”

Though I was somewhat speechless after hearing her say that, I forced myself to continue.

“It was nice. However, I do not feel like we should just be sitting still like this. I feel comforted and was able to take a break thanks to you, but now, it is time for me to return.”

“Is that so?”

Stella looked at me with a hint of disappointment. I almost softened under her gaze for a moment, but I still needed to return.

As I slowly got up from my seat, Stella followed suit with a smile.

“I am sorry. I wanted to spend time with you even to the extent of being selfish.”

“Huh?”

“See you next time.”

Clunk!

As Stella waved goodbye, horns protruded from her forehead and her eyes turned into those of a demon.

“You enjoyed your time with Stella enough, right? It’s my turn now!”

“What are you talking about?”

I had told them that I needed to leave, so what was she talking about here? Still, Velica raised a finger to silence me.

“What am I talking about? Of course, I mean I can’t just let you go, you know.”

Did she have to make such gestures with Stella’s body?

“What are you going to do after leaving this place? Are you planning to fight against Magan again? You’ll really die this time, you know?”

“...”

“Hey, if you die, do you know how many demons will flock over to devour Stella, me, or even you?”

It was crude, but what she said wasn’t wrong. My life wasn’t just my own anymore.

There were two women within me that I had to take care of.

“You lost Lemegeton, and your right arm had been cut off.”

With my power drastically reduced, I would be defeated immediately if I fought against Magan again.

“You foolish bastard. Of course, that’s because, being a Necromancer, you left out your strongest card while fighting him.”

“My strongest... card?”

When I looked at her suspiciously, Velica pointed to herself confidently and shouted.

“To face a Demon Lord, don’t you think you need another Demon Lord of the same level?”

She grinned widely as she called herself a secret weapon.

“Don’t you have incredible talent? Stella keeps boasting about that all day long.”

“...”

“The guardian of the boundary between the living and the dead. That’s exactly who the man standing right in front of me is! Gaaahhhh! It’s going to be fun!”

Thud!

As Velica took a big jump, the surroundings began vibrating and started changing dramatically.

The lake disappeared, and the stars in the black sky vanished.

Only Velica’s sinister eyes remained illuminated as she gazed at me through the pitch black darkness.

“So, Necromancer, can you handle me?”

1. Grand Duke Jiang (Jiang Ziya) often said this. It probably originated from the image of someone gazing at a tranquil lake, repeatedly contemplating and enjoying a leisurely life as they wish.