CH 87

“So, now that the deal is done, … Tia, drop them.”

“Okay.”

At my words, Tia released the magic. Then the ivy, including those already not restraining anything, shortened and disappeared as if time was rewinding. With nothing to support them, Palm and Claude were thrown from midair, but they did not lose their posture after a fall of only one meter.

“Phew~, At last. This old body can’t take the strain.”

“You’re letting us go so easily?”

In contrast to Claude, who was lightly patting his body, Palm was slightly grumpy. Perhaps she was unhappy that they were treated as only “that good” and since she was right, I replied with a small shrug.

“Well. I’m a man of my word, you know?”

“…… I see.”

Palm’s face clouded as she accurately grasped the implied meaning, “So, you’ll keep your promise, and if you break it, you know what will happen?”. Seeing the exchange between me and her, Toby, who was standing beside me, suddenly muttered something.

“But this, if you think about it, is the same as accepting the first proposal, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? That’s not true, Toby. If we had accepted the situation at that time, we would have been the ones to be rescued by them. But we single-handedly defeated the enemy, and even captured these two. They’re bad guys after your treasure, and if we hadn’t shown them what we can do, they would have betrayed us and taken it from us in a heartbeat.”

“Uh!? That’s true… I’m sorry. I’m not used to this kind of exchange at all.”

“No problem. Uh, but let me ask you something then. Why did you add the Ojou-san …. no, Palm, to the release conditions?”

To show that we were clearly on top, I dared to call her by her name and asked Toby about it. Toby frowned with hesitation, but began to speak his mind.

“Well…I can’t explain it properly, but I had a premonition. Palm-sa…… I had a bad feeling about letting Palm go, … there were so many paths in front of me, and I felt like they were being blocked one by one.”

“Oh, ……?”

“W-Was it not allowed?”

“No, I’m with you. I think you should treasure your instincts.”

“Thank you, Ed-san!”

I pat him on the shoulder, and Toby smiled happily. I see, as expected of a hero specialized in running away. His ability to avoid danger was definitely high.

In fact, even in my opinion, it was definitely not a good thing to leave her alone. Claude was ready to give up everything for Palm, and if Palm was not by his side, he might resort to some kind of suicide bombing.

In addition, while Palm also cared about Claude, she would be ruthless enough to cut him off at the drop of a hat. If she had a goal that took precedence over Claude, she may very well choose radical measures that would incorporate Claude’s death.

It would be as dangerous to take your eyes off of one half of two people who were bound by such trust that they were willing to die or let the other die, as it would be to fight the country.

…… By the way, there was no point in thinking about it because the reverse situation was not possible. The only time it would be acceptable to release Claude with Palm as hostage was if there was a near absolute certainty of victory on Palm’s side. It would be futile to envision a negotiation they were sure to lose when it gets accepted.

“So, let’s put the money aside for later and get to the bottom of who’s out to get Toby, shall we?”

“I understand. Then I will explain it to you as we move.”

Even though we had defeated the enemy for the time being, there was nothing good about staying in a place like this. Leaving the lead to Palm and her butler, Toby and I lined up in the center with Tia in the front, and we resumed our journey to the town. On the way, Claude spoke without looking back, and what he said made my head hurt.

“No way, they’re after you that hard!?”

“There are some ambiguous parts, but if anything, I think it’s better to assume that you’re being targeted.”

“Haa…………”

“Hey, hey Ed? What do you mean?”

I sighed heavily and Tia, who came up to me, tugged my sleeve and asked me a question. The confusion on her face matched my inner feelings perfectly.

“I’d be happy if I misheard you, but you mentioned a lot of names, didn’t you?”

“Ah, Yeah. There are so many… well, it seems that almost all of the surrounding countries are targeting us.”

“Ah, I knew it. ……”

Tia was giving me a pained smile as I held my head in my hands. If it were just a neighboring country, or if someone said that even countries that did not share a border with us might come to steal our treasures, that would be the kind of face I would have.

Although, in truth, that was still not unacceptable. The worst part was–

“Is it true what you just said?”

Toby, who had a very pale complexion, asked Claude with a slight tremor in his voice. I can’t believe it, I don’t want to believe it. Toby couldn’t even hide these thoughts anymore, but Claude shook his head ruthlessly.

“Of course. I will not lie to you, since you released me on those terms.”

“B-but! That’s…. No way, The Kingdom of Osperanto is after us too ……!”

The Kingdom of Osperanto….. that was, the country we were in now, the country that asked Toby to carry the treasure. It was only natural that he would not be able to keep his cool if the person who asked him to do so was targeting what he was carrying.

“That’s the way it is in the country. I don’t know if there are factions that want to dispose of it quietly and others that want to use it, or if they want to use Toby-sama as bait to create the fact that it was ‘stolen’ in order to hide the fact that the whole country is going to use it.”

“……………………”

Toby looked down dejectedly at Palm, who spoke coldly but in a matter-of-fact way. His steps were quite heavy, even though we still had a long way to go to the town.

“Evidence… do you have any evidence?”

Even if they say there was no such thing, there was no going back to the way things were. Even so, the reality of Toby’s question, which still held out a glimmer of hope, was mercilessly confronted.

“I have it. It seems that the box in which it is placed has been modified.”

“… this…?”

But still, even what should have been a ray of hope was easily shattered, and Toby took a small box from his pocket with his voice and hands trembling.

The black metal box was solid and luxurious, but at the same time, it looked somewhat ominous. Tia spoke to Toby, who was staring at it intently.

“Hey, can I have a minute?”

“…What is it?

“I know I said before that I wouldn’t ask, but we’ve come this far and I want to know what ‘it’ is. Aren’t you the same, Ed?”

“Hmm? I guess so. Palm and Claude seem to know what it is, just me and Tia, who are escorting Toby, don’t. It’s not like we’re safe if we don’t know, since we’ve already fought off the Empire. Hey, Toby, tell me. What the hell is that? What are you carrying?”

That’s a fact that not even Toby, who spent a long time with me in the first round, could tell me. But now that I think about it, it was only possible because Palm and Claude took care of almost all the nuisances, and I was just an outsider until the end.

But not now. As long as I fought to protect Toby, Tia and I were both involved. If we were to be captured by the enemy, we would never be able to make the convenient demand that we don’t know anything, that we haven’t heard anything, and therefore we should be released.

“…………………… I understand. “

The longest silence ever. At the end of it, Toby said with determination.

“What I’m carrying is the …… heart of the Demon Lord.” 

(T/N: WHAAA!!!???

“What!!?”

The answer that came to me after 100 years was far greater than I had expected.