Chapter 339: From Acceptance to Assault (2)

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Proofreader: Xemul

And like that, the group continued on through the Kingdom’s territory.

Even though they were moving through enemy territory, Loren and his party were not disturbed or harmed by any of the Kingdom soldiers, their journey proceeded smoothly. 

There were several encampments along the way, but no monsters attacked the group, and the Empire soldiers took care of all the watch shifts and camping preparations, allowing them to enjoy a very relaxed trip.

“Isn’t it strange that we haven’t encountered any monsters?”

“Even though I want to say that you’re worrying too much, I have to agree. Quiet and peaceful is good, but too quiet and too peaceful is abnormal.”

Lapis squinted at the sunlight streaming in through the wagon window. She was reclining on her seat as if in a deep slumber, but the words coming out of her mouth were somewhat stiff.

“I don’t see any sign of large creatures. There should have been signs of wild animals or people from some village, but so far – none.”

[‘Onii-san, I can’t sense any signs of life… I’ve never been in a place like this before.’]

Shayna said that when she used the King of Death’s power to search for signs of life, she detected some plants and small animals, but no signs of life larger than that within the search perimeter, except for their own group.

“The scenery is peaceful, but the atmosphere is that of a cemetery.”

Gula murmured exactly what Loren had in mind.

One of the Empire cavalry accompanying Loren’s group leaned against the window of the wagon without stopping his horse. As Loren looked at him to see if something was wrong, the soldier announced through the open window in a low voice.

“We’re about to arrive. The town should be in sight now.”

As the cavalryman returned to his original position after saying this, Loren looked out the window and gazed in the direction they were going. Across the uneven terrain, he saw what appeared to be the roofs of some buildings.

Almost crawling on Loren’s back, Lapis also looked out, saw the same thing that he had seen, and muttered to herself.

“That’s Megadeth.”

“That’s not Megadeth. That’s Melbula, right?”

“It’s Mercila. What are you guys talking about?”

Gula quipped icily, and Loren and Lapis quickly retreated back into the wagon after exchanging a look with each other.

“So, what do we have to do in this Mercila?”

“For the time being, we’re going to do some investigation.”

The Empire army had been investigating several towns that somehow had been completely deserted. However, the Empire and the Kingdom were currently at war, and soldiers and officers were not accustomed to conducting such investigations in the first place. And because there was not much time, a detailed investigation was not carried out.

The first thing Loren and his team were asked to do was to investigate whether there were any traces in the town that could explain why people had disappeared.

“I’m not very good at investigations either.”

“Hey, that’s why Gula and I are here.”

Lapis, a demon with abilities superior to those of humans, and Gula, an Evil God, might be able to recognize even the slightest trace, something a human would not be able to. In that light, sending Loren and his team to investigate seemed like the best course of action.

Yuri should not have known this information, so Loren assumed it was just a coincidence, but for some reason, he could not shake off the suspicion that this was indeed the case.

“There really is no one here.”

After a while, they arrived at the town they had seen and, without being stopped by anyone, proceeded on their way into the town.

A city of Mercila size should have tens of thousands of inhabitants, but as Loren and his team moved through the streets in formation, there was no one else in sight, and not even a sound could be heard. 

The streets, which did not appear to have fallen into deterioration, suggested that indeed there had been inhabitants not so long ago.

“No Empire soldiers are stationed in Mercila?”

If you thought about it, the town of Mercila was taken from the Kingdom by the Empire army. There should have been some soldiers stationed here to keep it under occupation, but there were no other sounds except for the ones their group was making. It was eerie.

“Under normal circumstances, we would certainly have put some men on the ground, but with the way things are going, the soldiers are getting a little creeped out.”

The Empire cavalryman who was riding alongside the wagon heard Loren’s words and said.

“Have you requisitioned the property of the original inhabitants?”

“No, we did not. If we wanted to, we could take as much as we wanted, but…”

The cavalryman answered Lapis’ question. The atmosphere in the town was so thick that even Loren could not help but agree with his answer.

There were no enemy soldiers to interfere and no residents to resist, so it would have been easy for the Empire soldiers to take away all of the residents’ properties if they went on a raid, but the eeriness of the situation seemed to have discouraged them from doing so.

“If some kind of bandit comes in here, it’ll be like a treasure trove for them.”

“True, yet even that kind don’t show themselves.”

A town that was unguarded, with no inhabitants and only properties left behind, should have been a paradise for those who entered to steal. But if what the cavalryman said was true, that no one even tried to steal from the town, it only added to the eerie atmosphere.

“Is it alright if we secretly pocketed some?”

“We don’t recommend it, but… The General has asked us to turn a blind eye to it. Although, a certain amount must be paid to the Empire.”

“I see. This is very motivating.”

The Empire soldiers did not want to touch anything in this creepy place because they did not know what would happen if they did. However, if Loren and his team had no problem after touching them, the soldiers might want to collect some themselves if they could. For that reason, they would not mind if some of the money ended up in their team’s pockets. That was what Loren thought as he watched the exchange between Lapis and the cavalrymen.

“Alright, let’s start our investigation with that big store. It’s probably a merchant’s house.”

“You’re totally determined to steal some, aren’t you?”

“The property is unclaimed, and the circumstances indicate that it has already become a spoil of war for the Empire army. By the way, it was a good decision to bring Gula along.”

Lapis had learned that Loren was reluctant to lay his hands on other people’s property. That was why she emphasized the ‘spoil of war’ and told him that if they did nothing, the money would go straight into the military’s vault.

Loren understood this, too, so he did not argue with her, and Lapis smiled.

Gula, on the other hand, tilted her head when she heard her name mentioned. Watching Lapis ask the cavalrymen to keep away from the wagon so that they could discuss the investigation between themselves, Loren answered the question that Gula must be wanting to ask.

“We can’t carry that much on our own. With you here, we can store them at your den and take our time to examine the goods later.”

“Ah, I see.”

Gula could move into the space where the Evil Gods lived. Even though Loren’s team could not transport that much goods left in the town on their own, not now or in the future, they could temporarily store them there. In other words, it was as if they had a warehouse with Gula as the counter, and with this, they should be able to recover a considerable amount of property from the city of Mercila.

“We can’t use it too often. It’s too suspicious.”

“If they ask, why don’t we just say we have a magical tool?”

“That’s a good idea. Well, the Empire army will receive its share of the money too, so no one loses. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll give most of it to my mother’s boss to reduce your debt, Loren.”

Loren had a considerable amount of debts.

Currently, the creditors of these debts were Lapis’ mother, a Demon King, and her boss, the Great Demon King, who seemed to be in charge of the entire demon race. He could pay any amount any time without prior demand, so even though he was concerned, he was not worried about it. 

The exact amount was not known to Loren, but it was not an amount that he would be able to pay off on his own. So, if he could repay even a small portion of it with the additional income from this job, Loren had no reason to stop Lapis.

“Do your investigation, too, okay? That is our first priority.”

Loren warned Lapis, who was on cloud nine, but what she and Gula said in response was something he did not expect.

“I already know roughly what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I can already smell it.”

Not much time had passed since they entered the town, and they said they already had a good idea about the disappearance of the residents without having done any investigative work. Loren was surprised, and Lapis’ expression changed from happy to sullen.

“I don’t think I could have figured it out on my own though.”

“It was a piece of cake for me. The signs are so unique. Even after all this time, it’s easy to spot.”

“That’s what I mean…”

“I guess we hit the jackpot with what we said before we went into town.”

Gula had said she knew of an entity that could move a large number of people in a short period of time and without disruption. It was the Evil God of Lust. 

However, Luxuria was not here, so why did Gula say they hit the jackpot?

Loren, wondering if it was really Luxuria who did this after all, widened his eyes when he realized there was another being who might have the authority of the Evil God of Lust besides Luxuria.

“I think Loren has realized it, too. The dark elf that was in the Lust capsule at the facility where we were created… It was a dark elf, right?”

“Noel. Since the shiny black presence of Magna in the Kingdom army is expected, it’s almost confirmed to be her.”

“We still don’t know where they took the people or what he’s thinking. We won’t know that even if we investigate this town.”

“My mission from now on is to pretend to investigate while conducting an enjoyable house search. Depending on the results, we may even be able to give that nasty, shiny black thing a bit of a workout.”

“We’re not going to let that black bastard off the hook, are we?”

“I’m also thinking that instead of killing him off, I’ll leave him almost dead. He’s caused us so much trouble, one after the other…”

Gula and Lapis laughed together in low, restrained voices.

Perhaps sensing that the two were beginning to give off an evil vibe that was enough to blow away the eerie atmosphere in the town, the cavalry horses walking around quickly began to distance themselves from the wagon. Watching from the window, Loren was seized with the thought that these two were better not to be left alone.

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