CH 205

“…… It’s dark when it’s still noon.”

“Yeah, the Treants and the other monsters are moving around a lot, we should be careful …… !”

Just as I said that, the giant centipede, Eat Centipede jumped out at me and I hit it in the face with a fire arrow. 

“I’ll take care of the rest!”

“It’s still as tough as ever.”

In no time at all, the giant centipede is surrounded by the adventurers and is quickly cut into pieces. As of now, no one has dropped out, and those who were injured are recovering from my healing, so there are no holes in our strength.

…… but ……

“Lars-sama, let’s keep going!”

“If you underestimate him as a child, you’re in for a world of hurt. I’m counting on you, Lars-kun.”

“When we get back safely, let’s go out for a drink.”

“Haha, that sounds like a good idea too.”

“I want a drink too.”

…… and when the adventurers found out who I was, they were all excited. When they were recovering at the encampment, they thanked me all the time and praised me for some reason. I’d like to introduce my skills if I could, but I guess that can be done over drinks. Anyway, I went to talk to Croix.

“We’ve walked a long way, is it going to take much longer?”

“Almost there, I guess? There’s a marshy area ahead of us, where there’s a high-quality magical energy coming from the muddy bottom. They’re using it as a starting point to increase their number.”

“……”

So we’re at the increasing part now.

If he’s planning to tell us about the mastermind, is that intentional? The only thing I can say for sure is that he’s in on it too.

I carefully observed Croix’s movements, thinking that there might have been a quarrel among the group or something like that. As I walked through the grass for a while, the ground gradually became muddy, and Makina, who was walking beside me, pointed ahead and called out.

“Oh, maybe that’s it? There’s something that looks like a mud pond.”

“It looks like …… it really happened.”

“I told you, I’m not a liar. All right, well, if you destroy this mud pond, then you’re done.”

“Destroy it …… you say, but how do we do it?”

Conrad crosses his arms and asks Croix. The other adventurers are looking at the mud pond from a distance and discussing it with each other. Should we use magic to blow it up?

“Is it possible to blow it up with magic?”

“Well, it is, because magic rises up from the bottom. Now, let’s talk about what we wanted to hear.”

“What’s with the suddenness? I thought you were going to destroy the source.”

When Cave confronts Croix with his finger, Croix softly stops him and starts talking. 

“If you’ve come this far, your goal is as good as accomplished, right? Now, the person who started this whole torrent fiasco is the guild master of Oriola, Kelbrem. He’s the mastermind behind all of this.”

“……”

“……”

We and Conrad narrowed our eyes and looked at Croir in silence. In all honesty, the only thing I can think of is, “I knew it”. But the adventurers who are “trusted by him” are closing in on him.

“What did you say ……!?”

“Muu …… that’s ridiculous! He may have a bit of a temper, but he’s not the kind of guy who would do anything to get people in trouble!”

“You’re trying to trap the guild master, aren’t you? You call him your friend, but you actually hate him, is that it?”

The adventurers were shouting and grabbing Croix’s chest, saying they were not convinced. But Croix shakes off their hands, takes a flying step to open the distance, and starts laughing loudly.

“Hahahahahaha! Well, he was doing well, so I can understand how you feel. But it’s true and real, you know? The threat letter was definitely the work of Kelbrem.”

“…… If so, why are you betraying your friend? Why do you want us to know about it?”

When Makina crosses her arms and looks quizzically, Croix’s eyes peeking through the bandages twitches, and he looks over at us with his hands outstretched and replies 

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t know about this plan either, so it’s mutual. Him sending me here too. He was probably thinking about getting rid of the ‘thing he wants you to defeat’ here and you guys too? I don’t consider him a friend, and I’m sure he doesn’t either. I’m here telling you this because, well, if I had to say, it’s annoying, I guess?”

“That’s the only reason ……!?”

Cave takes a step back in surprise, and Croix shrugs his shoulders. 

“You know, you all have people you don’t like too, right. It’s the same thing. The plan is to send out threat letters to threaten the lord, and while he doesn’t move, increase the number of Treants. When the time comes, the damage will increase on its own, and the lord will be accused of being a coward who won’t do anything, and he will be dragged down to set up a pawn for us. But he’s probably planning to become the lord himself. We’re supposed to be behind the scenes, we’re not supposed to stand out.”

“Not supposed to stand out ……? Do you have any other friends?”

When I opened my mouth, Croix looked at me and continued happily.

“I’ll leave it to your imagination, Lars-kun. Now, having said that, the lord has started to use the adventurers there to exterminate the Treants, and it has become a troublesome story for Kelbrem. If I had to guess, I’d say that the hot-tempered Kelbrem might be on his way to raid the lord’s house? Kuku …… the lord’s family may be dead by now.”

Croix’s still talking like he’s having fun. I wonder …… I feel like I know this guy …… But despite these thoughts, the adventurers surround him with disgust.

“Kelbrem-san said that ……?”

“So you mean we can trust what you say ……? Are you sure you’re not bluffing ……?”

“He’s got a temper, that’s for sure, but not that much ……”

“But he’s got a big appetite for money.”

Some of them may be somewhat like that. He is a typical type of person who changes his attitude depending on the person. He seemed to be weak against agitation. So Croix stretches out, scrunching her hair.

“Fuf~, I’ve talked and talked! That’s all I have to say, so please finish the rest. I’m leaving.

“Where do you think you’re going? Don’t think you’re the only one who can go home, okay? If you knew what you were doing and lured us here, even a child could understand that you were just as guilty.”

Conrad’s glaring at him with a sword. I hide my right hand in there to gather the magic power and say to Conrad. 

“It’s no use, Conrad. There’s a reason why he’s talking so much.”

“Reason?”

I kept nodding in response to Borzov’s words.

“For one thing, he’s convinced he can get out of here. He knew this would happen if he spoke. But he did. It’s just to confuse us. And one more thing ……”

“……”

Croix looks at me with a smirk in his eyes and mouth, as if he is enjoying the answer. When I saw that the magic had built up, I held out my hand to Croix and shouted.

“One more thing …… that’s because he’s going to annihilate us here! Dead men don’t talk, and that’s why he told us everything! That’s how it is, right! .”

“Hahahahaha! Correct, one I want you guys to defeat is …… this one.”

The moment Croix said that, a huge shadow jumped out of the mud!

It landed on the ground and was a glowing Treant. After evading the Flame, Croix stands over the Treant and pulls out a dagger.

“It came out from the mud ……? If it’s just one, it’s no problem, attack it all at once! Don’t let Croix escape!”

“Ohhhhhh!”

Conrad shouted that he should be outnumbered, and the adventurers readied their weapons. But Croix was looking down at us with a refreshing face.

“I’m going to break that composure now.”

“Hmm? You’re good …… As expected of Lars-kun.”

I narrowed my eyes when I saw the water jail that was entangled in his leg just as he was about to jump over to the Treant. And then we began our attack to finish it ……! 　

Now, will they be able to end him!?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

It’s a bit long, so I think I’d like to curl it up ……

“Well, it’s necessary ……”