CH 36

「About the woman I met two years ago, I didn’t realize it at that time, but that voice, that attitude, she was someone I knew. That woman was the definitely the 《Mad Scientist》Marius Weavery」

「Marius?」

Mad Scientist! The first thing that pops in my mind when hearing that would be a person who doesn’t mind doing experiments on humans or one who develops highly destructive weapons without care.

「Umu, however, that person Marius was known to have died already.」

「Don’t tell me, she an undead? However, before I was able to confirm it, she used a teleport gem to run away so I actually thought that she might have been a demon.」

Dell-san continued drinking her tea while staring at Hannou-san. Hannou-san responded with a nod, while sharpening his looks which was a little scary.

But then Dell-san shook his head, then he signaled by crossing his fingers.

「Well, we still don’t know. Marius was an ordinary human who lived in the capital. Also it seems she was infatuated with the former king. Back then she was the head scientist……」

Reminiscing the past, Dell-san closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then continued talking about past events.

◇Five Years ago――――――

The former king, Triora Foa Eresbell, was afflicted by an illness, but even in that case, he was still splendidly doing his job.

「Please don’t give up, it’s not yet the time to end it!」

This was a conversation between the former king and Marius, however, one day the king suddenly died. At that time, Marius was working on a certain research, but then, one day she was arrested by the knights who raided her institute.

「My studies are meant for the King, not for anyone else!」

This is what she confidently declared to the knights who raided her laboratory. She might have felt nothing wrong for her to do so, due to her regrets after she was unable to save the king.

「This is, to become undead, to be able to transcend death…… Marius, you――」

Before his death, the former king might have unconsciously whispered something to her, something that shook her to the core. It might have been something that the king wouldn’t have ever talked about normally.

It was a directive for her to research medicine in a secret laboratory that would give him eternal life but she was to do so without using any sacrifices. This was boosted by her admiration and longing for the previous king.

Although she had a character that was quite difficult to approach, Marius was still deemed to be the most prominent scientist of the kingdom, but because of the king’s dying wish, she started on a dangerous path that she should have avoided at all cost.

That is, the human experimentation using dangerous chemicals.

At first, her research aimed at pursuing eternal life as its goal. However, the time it took to gain results was very long and the research itself was very time consuming. She didn’t want to waste such precious time when the king’s life was nearing its end.

That’s when she started watching the opposite side of things, which is creating an undead with its own established knowledge consciousness and memory. With that in sight, she wouldn’t mind if the king died because she would just need to revive him at a later time.

The research went smoothly, but the last steps did not go well. There were many cases that were recorded in her research diary about frustrating and less meaningful results.

The current king Carnelius Foa Erresbell immediately took control of the knights after the king’s death and ordered a raid on her laboratory. When they arrived at that place, which was located underneath the city, it was so miserable that they didn’t even need to look for evidence in order to arrest her.

The special units that were assigned to Marius confronted the raiders in order for her to escape the raid. But it was a futile effort because she was captured, caught by Vanil Mirth, who was vice deputy commander at that time, and her arrest was successful.

The Special Forces were also easily suppressed and didn’t offer much resistance, which was actually quite strange, considering the strength of the unit.

After that, in order to prevent a scandal that would expose a weakness for the royalty, an execution was held in secret. Even though it was not really a problem if information about Marius and her laboratory was revealed, they still made sure that her disposal along with her laboratory was done in secret and all information about it was buried in darkness.

◇――――――

「I was one of the people who attended the execution of Marius. Not only am I acquainted to her, but I am also one of the people that she personally knew」

After finishing his story he continued drinking the cold tea and sighed, right then Hannou-san leaned a bit and asked.

「If that is so, does it mean that Marius was able to complete the medicine」

「After studying her research diary, it seemed that she didn’t have any significant results…… however, it would be better to assume that she was able to succeed」

「Then master, is the reason why you called us related to this matter?」

「That’s right, I want to assign an official request to the 《Undead Hunters》, that is to hunt down and subjugate Marius, if she is found」

「What about me?」

「Toto-dono, I would also like to ask for a request. If something happens in the capital, I want you to immediately respond if possible」

「Oh, umu」

I wonder if he’s planning to do something? No, that’s probably the reason why he was asking me. 

「Perhaps Marius thought that she was discarded by the former king, the possibility of her targeting the capital for her revenge is quite high. In addition to that, there are people from the top nobility that are probably connected to her, which would be the reason why she possessed those teleport gems. I have pinpointed a few of them during these few years that I’ve hidden myself」

「Teleport Gem, is that expensive?」

「You might have not heard of them before, but a handful of those would be enough to purchase a large house with plenty of rooms」

「Uweeeh」

Hmmmm, well, I will be staying in the capital for a while, and he only requested for me to help in case something happens, and if something did happen then I would probably have no choice but to fight anyway.

「As a matter of fact, I have already investigated about Toto, but even though I know about your fighting power I can’t make an official request because you are not yet registered at the adventurer’s guild. Also, even if you were registered as one, I won’t be able to request you directly, not unless you are of a certain rank, else my request would be deemed to be suspicious.」

「In addition to that, you were also summoned by the knights order to be under their watch for the time being, right?」

「Fumu, that’s true」

「That’s why I couldn’t do anything else but inform Toto about the situation, and if something did happen, just knowing that there will be someone reliable to help would make me feel at ease while I conduct my investigations」

「What about the knights, or the king, you didn’t contact them?」

「I’ve already sent a note to the king informing about the current situation along with report of my survival. A more specific countermeasure can’t be organized because of the many ways to attack that could be used. That also includes the nobles that are still hiding in the shadows, since they may also turn out to be enemies.」

「I see」

If you have already told them then I won’t be that worried. There are many powerful people in the knight’s order after all, like the people I’ve encountered during the martial arts festival. Including me, the protection of the capital would be near perfect.

When Dell-san finally finished what he wanted to convey,for a moment silence engulfed the room, and then my stomach grumbled.

Oh no, I forgot because I was too distracted by the things that we were discussing, that I have been hungry from the moment we arrived in this town. Or rather, I’m actually quite impressed that my stomach didn’t grumble during that discussion, it felt like it was reading the atmosphere.

「Oh my, should I prepare some snacks?」

「Want」

「Fufufu, then please wait for a bit more.」

「Hannou, I’ll help. It’s alright for me to help right, master?」

「Ah, please do so.」

Hannou-san and Zanbara-san then disappeared into the kitchen, so the only ones left behind were me and Dell-san. Because I’m a bit bored, so I also wanted to help. 

As I was trying to look for something that I would like to do to distract myself, Dell-san spoke to me once more with a serious face.

「Well, that time was really unbelievable. Looking at you now, I could only think of you as an ordinary girl if not for that encounter.」

「Nn, I’m not scared, you know.」

「Hahaha, sorry, it’s just that during that time I was at my wits end. Please forgive me for that.」

「Eh, so it was like that.」

「Umu. You see, I could only face 2 of those monsters at most, so if Toto didn’t help me at that time, I wouldn’t have survived.」

『Warwolves, you see, are clever monsters that specialize in group battles, and that’s why they are considered strong opponents. Besides, their strong physical ability and good sense of smell makes escaping them almost impossible. That’s why they say that if you can’t win against them, then don’t even try fighting them.』

「Is that how it is.」

All of a sudden, Helvetia-san entered our conversation and made a commentary, but because I know that Dell-san can’t hear her, I replied to him instead.

So Warwolves were actually quite dangerous. I was thinking that I might have stolen Dell-san’s prey, but it seems that wasn’t the case, and I’m glad that I was able to help.

Now that I think about it, I could ask Helvetia about what Hannou-san mentioned earlier. It was regarding demons and how she could have survived if she was one, so now that Helvetia is around, maybe she could tell me more about it. What are demons in the first place, I want to hear that directly from her.

While we continued having some small talk, Hannou-san and Zanbara-san returned with some type of food called sandwich. It was made out of soft white bread with sliced vegetables in between.

It seems like in this world, bread like this is called《Sandwich Bread》 but in my original world, this was called a sandwich.

「You might be tired from the long trip so stay here for today, though if you stay for a little while longer, I feel like search parties of knights will be organized by the knight commander to look for you.」

「Nn, thank you.」

I only stayed for a night at Dell-san’s place, and then, on the next day, I was once again riding on Zanbara-san’s horse, heading towards the capital.

《Undead Hunting》 will also start their activities immediately, so today Hannou-san is with us.

The capital was much closer that I have expected compared to the distance we traveled from my village to that place. As expected of a village in the frontier, I guess……

Before we went out of town, Hannou-san quickly got on a horse while Zanbara-san took out the robe she used to cover me then placed me on the horse before riding behind me.

「Well then, shall we go?」

Zanbara-san who was riding from behind me took the reins while looking at me and waiting for my confirmation.

「Nn, let’s go!」

In response to her, I pointed forward as I answered.