CH 88

“Heart Of The Demon Lord…. Just to make sure, it’s not just a gem with a name like that, right?”

Toby shook his head helplessly as I said this with a bead of sweat dripping from my forehead.

“No. …. No, I don’t think so exactly. At least I have heard that this is the ‘stone that contains the power of the Demon Lord’. However, I have not opened the box and seen the contents, so I can’t be absolutely sure….”

“I see, well, that’s true.”

If it’s that dangerous, it was only natural to give several people fake ones and have them transport them separately, not knowing which one was the real one.

But I was convinced that Toby’s was the real deal. In other worlds, I encountered heroes without exception. If someone else was carrying the real thing, then it was strange I was not working with them.

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely the real thing, okay?”

“Eh!? Wha, why!?”

Palm confirmed my prediction. To Toby’s surprise, Palm smiled elated.

“Of course it is. I have confirmed that everything I took from the other four was a fake. I don’t know if there is a sixth person that I don’t know about, but … if you’re worried, I can give you an appraisal. Shall we?”

“… …I shall pass.”

Toby smiled wryly at Palm’s words. I-I see. All the other couriers got hit. … Well, if we hadn’t interfered, they would have taken Toby, too.

“But if it’s so terrific, why are they only letting Toby carry it? Isn’t there normally some kind of escort?”

“Some of the people carrying the fakes were protected by a large number of guards, you know? That’s the way to do it, unless it’s physically difficult to get to, like the castle treasury, then it doesn’t matter.”

“Really? You guys are pretty amazing.”

“… It sounds ironic coming from the people who captured us so easily.”

“Haha, well that means we’re even more amazing. … Oh yeah, Toby, let me borrow that for a second.”

Palm said sulking, to which I replied with a giggle, snatching the box from Toby’s hand and shoving it into the bag attached to my waist.

“…Huh!? Hey, Ed-san, what are you doing!?”

“No, I’m just checking, checking. If it’s something that important, you know, in case of emergency, me or Tia can carry it, right? I just wanted to know if it would fit in my bag since it’s the same size as the metal. You want to do the same, Tia?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“No no no no no! No! Please return it!”

Toby hurriedly snatched the box I held out to Tia. He tucked it into his pocket and looked at me with a slightly reproachful look.

“Give me a break!”

“Sorry, sorry. But there’s a big difference between having to hold it in your hand and having it in your bag, you know? Even your pocket? What will you do if your pocket gets ripped open?”

“Well, That’s true…”

Toby groaned with a very complicated expression on his face. As a Hero specializing in escaping, Toby would know how hard it is to try to fight or flee with something so important in his hands.

“By the way, if push comes to shove, who do you want me to protect, Toby or that box?”

“Gah… can you please do both of them somehow?”

“I’ll try.”

“Assure me! Be certain about it!”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Ed-san!?”

I chuckled dryly, and Toby let out a squeal of annoyance. While playing around like that, we managed to reach the next town… and that night.

“Good Job.”

“!?”

A man entered through the window of the room where Toby and I stayed, and I swung my sword down on him without question. I didn’t cut him because it was still sheathed, but I still hit him in the neck from behind as hard as I could, so he would die depending on where I hit him.

“…They really came.”

“Right. I wonder from where they are this time?”

Toby and I were having a carefree conversation in front of the man who was lying on the floor silently. From their point of view, it would have been a complete surprise attack, but with the information that “other forces may attack us,” and with the use of [Auto Mapping] and [Akashic Compass] the surprise attack was basically impossible to accomplish. The only exceptions would be if they either flew at super-high speed from out of range or jumped with a transfer-type magic or magical tool.

“So, Ed-san. What should we do with this?”

“What, this time it’s easy. …… Oh, you’re alive. Well, let’s try one more time.”

While Toby looked troubled in front of the robber lying on the floor, I carried the man up and threw him out the window. This was the second floor, but I dropped him from the hip, so the second judgment was likely to be kinder than the first.

After doing so and making sure the man fell to the ground with a thud, I slowly closed the window. The wooden window closed perfectly, thanks to the fact that it was pried open cleanly, probably to avoid leaving any evidence.

“…… is there any point in closing that? It was easily broken earlier.”

“Hmm? For security measures, it’s basically useless. But it’s a sign indicating “We are not watching anything”. At the very least, it will save you from being yelled at by the innkeeper or questioned by the town guards tomorrow morning.So, unless the other side is a total idiot or a war-mongering army, this is the end of the situation for tonight. Look, I’ll keep a little more watch just in case, and Toby, go to bed. If you don’t force yourself to sleep, you’re going to have a hard time tomorrow.”

“Ugh, okay. …”

Toby pulled the covers over his face, not convinced in the slightest. I, too, looked around for a while before deciding that there would be no more attacks, so I went to bed. Naturally, there was no commotion about a suspicious man lying by the inn, and we had a good breakfast and restocked our supplies before setting off for the next town.

“We really got out of town without incident.”

“It’s a tacit understanding. They don’t want to make a fuss, I suppose.”

“Hah, I really don’t understand anything about that kind of interaction. Is that something that other adventurers usually know?”

“I’m not saying it’s normal, but people who know, they know? When you’re good at something, you’re bound to get into more trouble than you think.”

“… Just to be clear, an adventurer who is used to dealing with the dark side of a large organization, let alone bandits, is not normal, you know?”

Palm joined the conversation between me and Toby with a dumbfounded look on her face. When I turned my head to look at her, I found that even Tia, for some reason, had a complicated expression on her face.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know much about that kind of thing either. …”

“Eh, is that so? No, but what about the factions that were hostile to Alexis? did they not make a move?”

“Not that I know of, at least.”

“Ehhh…”

Hmmm, even though he was a prince of a major power,…… no, that’s why I don’t think there was nothing going on,…… maybe old man Gonzo was cleaning up the mess or something? Or did Alexis do it himself?

“Maybe you didn’t know, but I’m sure there was a lot going on.””

""

“Is that so? Maybe I should study those things, too?”

“I guess so. Well, I’ll teach Toby how to deal with them, just for the sake of training him. I’m sure it will come in handy many times before we get to Ekurir.”

“T-thank you very much!”

“Fufu, it’s exciting to gain new knowledge.”

In front of Toby, who said with a serious face, and Tia, who laughed happily, I freely shared the knowledge and experience I had gained by crossing over to 100 different worlds. The problem was that their expressions were getting more and more stiff because of the content. …Yeah, that’s how reality is.

“I know I should not say this, but I feel like I didn’t really want to know.”

“Ed has tainted me. … I can’t go back to the days when I was pure..”

“You are exaggerating. That’s still on the light side, you know?”

“”Eeeeee. …””

“… Hey Claude, I’d like to congratulate myself on my foresight in not immediately turning against you, what do you think?”

“I suspect you’re right.”

“……………………”

I could not help but make a face as if I myself was biting a bitter bug at the reluctant looks that the other four people were giving me.

(T/N: Romcom will be uploaded later in the day)