Volume 5 - CH 6.2

“That would be me!”

A stick with a red mark on it was raised up.

Iris won the right to challenge the elder treant.

In terms of level, the elder treant was much stronger.

However, when combined with the performance of her weapons and physical abilities, it’s safe to say that Iris has the upper hand.

So we quickly moved to the location of the elder treant.

Iris, having drawn her lightning-attribute magic sword Tonitrus and wind-attribute magic sword Tempest, stepped forward and took a stance.

While the rest of us were spectating from a distance.

The elder treant whipped countless tree branches at Iris who appeared in front of it.

“Too slow!”

Iris avoided every one of the elder treant’s attacks and approached it. Her path after she moved was filled with lightning trails.

Iris, who had entered within fatal range of the elder treant, swung her lightning-clad magic sword, Tonitrus, at the trunk of its main body.

But just as the sword was about to reach the trunk, a root appeared like a thorn from the ground at Iris’s feet and attacked to skewer her.

“Wha—?!”

Surprised by the sudden attack, Iris, who had evaded by twisting herself, leapt backward, slashing away at the roots with her magic sword, Tempest.

She regained her breath and readied both swords again.

“How about this then——”

Iris increased her speed even more and approached the elder treant.

The elder treant conjured a wall of wood from the ground, but it was too slow.

Iris cut it down with her magic sword Tempest, then climbed over the collapsed wall and slashed at the trunk with her sword Tonitrus.

The lightning-imbued slash cut deep into the trunk of the elder treant.

Then, as if writhing in pain, countless branches attacked Iris.

“Oh dammit!”

Iris complained as she thwarted the attack, but the branches quickly regenerated and attacked again.

“There’s no end to these things!”

The elder treant’s self-regeneration skill had regenerated the branches from where they had been cut off.

It was an extremely troublesome skill that would have allowed the attack to go on indefinitely unless it was destroyed altogether with a high sufficient firepower.

Then, Kusel called out to her, getting excited for some reason.

“Looks like you’re struggling, need help?”

Looking at her, I bet she just wants to let loose.

“No thanks!!”

But as Iris answered, lightning surged out from her body, and the winds around her rose up.

“I’ll wrap it up with this!”

Iris, looking at the elder treant——dashed forward.

Iris approached the elder treant again at lightning speed.

The slash wound she inflicted on the main body earlier had been regenerated with its self-regeneration skill, but she swung her magic sword regardless.

“I just need not give you the chance to even regenerate!”

In an instant, the trunk of the tree was scarred, and the branches that had come close to prevent it were sliced into pieces.

Then, a storm blew up with the magic sword Tempest, which lifted the elder treant up to its roots and blew it away.

Then, lightning started crackling around the magic sword, Tonitrus.

Unable to do anything in mid-air, the elder treant fell to the ground in a heap. Aiming at it, Iris made a single swing.

With a single strike as if lightning had fallen from the sky, the elder treant was obliterated. Yeah, it was literally annihilated by a lightning strike.

Iris had successfully defeated the elder treant.

There would be no problem with the part proving its subjugation, as a severed branch would suffice.

Finne, Kusel, and Asha, who didn’t get a chance to fight, were happy about Iris’ victory and also disappointed at the same time, but on our way back, a few other A-rank monsters appeared, and they were more than happy to get a chance.

～

So we returned to the holy city in the early afternoon, and the Adventurers’ Guild was in an uproar when we submitted our proof of subjugation of the elder treant.

The receptionist, especially, who received the subjugation proof, widened her eyes like they were going to fall off.

“How did a quest to clean out a goblin nest turn into a subjugation of an elder treant and other A-rank monsters?!”

“Nah, as it turns out, we were able to take out the goblin nest pretty easily, and then suddenly had all this free time on our hands to wander around, and so we came across some fairly decent games that seemed like they could serve as targets to measure my party members’ abilities.”

“…”

The receptionist didn’t seem to understand what I was going on about.

She froze for a moment, but after a while she came to her senses and asked me a question.

“Um, what do you mean by ‘everyone’?”

I shook my head at her misunderstanding.

“I’m talking about these four.”

I turned to Finne, Iris, Asha, and Kusel.

Kusel is originally an A-ranker, so it’s still within expectations, but as for the other three, they are still far from being high-ranking adventurers, so it seemed a little strange.

“It certainly does seem plausible with Kusel, but…”

“I can assure you, the other three are also on par with A-rank adventurers. In fact, I think they could win in a one-on-one match.”

The receptionist looked more and more incredulous, but then seemed convinced and said she would pass it along to the guildmaster.

Having spent the morning away, and had no other business in the afternoon, we decided to continue taking on quests.

～

In the evening, we returned to the guild after completing several subjugation quests and defeating some A-rank monsters we happened to encounter on the way.

The receptionist was like, “Another A-rank monster…” with a faraway look, but we got the reward and headed back to the inn.

“Whew, I worked up a good sweat today.”

“Right?  For some reason it felt like the first time we had taken a quest in a long time.”

“It was a little boring for me though, since I didn’t really get a chance to let loose.”

Iris, Finne, and Kusel were the ones who said that.

“Oh come on now. Let’s just go back to the inn and fill our stomachs.”

“I’m starving.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Ephyr’s statement, and we hurried back.

◇ ◇ ◇

Around the time when Haruto and the others returned to the inn, Ilmina was praying in the cathedral.

“…na, lady Ilmina.”

She was concentrating on her prayers when suddenly a voice called out to her

Interrupting her prayer, Ilmina turned around and saw a familiar face.

“…Cardinal Alben? What is it?”

“I would like to talk to you about that matter. We have new information.”

Hearing those words, Ilmina’s expression tightened.

“We don’t know who might be listening in here. Let’s talk in private.”

“I agree. We should change location.”

Nodding to Alben’s suggestion, Ilmina followed him.

“——Let’s use this room.  I will bring His Holiness Pope Liebert with me, so please wait a moment.”

“All right.”

Cardinal Alben bowed and left the room.

While waiting for Liebert, Illumina wondered what Alben’s report was about and how she could limit any further casualties.

But then she suddenly noticed something unusual.

“——?! A barrier?!”

Suddenly, a barrier was set up around the room.

At the same time, she realized that she couldn’t call for help.

The barrier had a soundproofing effect and also a restriction that prevented anyone within from going out.

Why would a barrier, which could only be activated by more than one person, be erected inside the cathedral, and in a room she’s currently inside no less?

Illumina’s thoughts were interrupted as she pondered this question.

Because——

“Who’s there?”

A group of black scruffy figures appeared from the ceiling.

Ilmina immediately intuited that this group was the organization involved in the missing person’s case.

In fact, Ilmina’s intuition was correct, and it wasn’t a bad decision for her to invoke light magic to protect herself.

However, she was one step too late.

“What’s going on…? I suddenly, feel, drowsy——…”

Ilmina was afflicted by intense drowsiness and lost consciousness.

The reason for this was due to the spraying of an odorless and tasteless sleeping gas. The black scruffy figures had made their move before revealing themselves.

“——Target secured. We’re pulling out.”

As soon as one of them said that, the group of black scruffy figures released the barrier and disappeared from the scene with Ilmina in their arms.

～

A short time later, Liebert, who had been brought to the room by Alben, noticed the situation and the cathedral was in an uproar.

The windows were wide open, and Liebert judged that Ilmina had been kidnapped by the enemy.

This was immediately conveyed to the knights, and a search for Ilmina was quickly mounted.

“How did this happen…?”

Liebert lamented as he sat down helplessly on a chair.

“Please, Ilmina, be safe…oh god, please protect her.”

Alben called out to Liebert, who was praying for the safety of his beloved daughter.

“This is all my fault…I should have had a knight stay with her…”

“No, this isn’t your fault, Cardinal Alben. It is the ones who kidnapped Ilmina.”

“I am so sorry…”

Alben bowed his head.

“I will join in the search.”

“…Thank you, Cardinal Alben.”

“Sure. We will definitely find her.”

With that, Alben left the room.

Liebert, who remained alone, was mulling over the seriousness of the situation.

The knights had already mobilized, and the situation had become too big to impose a gag order.

Liebert desperately wondered how he could rescue Ilmina and the other people who had been kidnapped.

Suddenly, he remembered what Ilmina had told him about a certain individual.

And the said individual is——

“…That’s right, If it’s the EX-rank adventurer, Master Haruto, then.”

An EX-rank adventurer, the strongest adventurer in the world. And he’s currently here in the holy city.

And since he’s also Princess Iris’ fiance, he would be more inclined to lend his assistance!

Thinking so, Liebert decided to take action.

He had no idea what kind of reward the adventurer would demand, but this time around, he couldn’t help but rely on him.

Liebert picked up his pen.

I would like to request an emergency designated commission to Adventurer Haruto for the rescue of Ilmina and the others who have gone missing.

After sealing the paper and ringing the bell, a nearby sister came and attended to him.

“Your Holiness, you called?”

“Please give this to the guildmaster of the Adventurers’ Guild as soon as possible. It’s a designated commission. Once he arrives at the cathedral, bring him to me.”

“Certainly, Your Holiness.”

The sister, realizing from Liebert’s tone that it was urgent, rushed to the Adventurers’ Guild.