Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Part of the Plan (3)
“Come to think of it. Senior. Your suspension got lifted this time.”
I, who had been lying on the sofa reading a book, flinched at Winter’s words. Now that I thought about it, once this vacation ended, I would have to attend classes again.
“……Should I just drop out.”
“Absolutely not!”
Because I was annoyed, my inner thoughts slipped out without thinking. It had only been a small mutter, but Winter heard it and rushed at me with fire in her eyes.
“You absolutely can’t drop out! Though it’d be difficult anyway unless you had a legitimate reason!”
“I won’t.”
“The Religious Order’s foundation is only just starting to stabilize now. The most important person, the Cult Leader, can’t just disappear.”
“……No, I said I won’t. I was just saying it.”
I stopped Winter, who was nagging unlike herself. She still looked like she had plenty more to say, but she returned to her seat.
I had no idea when she had come all the way from the work desk to here. I let out a small sigh and continued reading my book.
“Dabi~ Isn’t this it?”
Worden and Aro headed to Aro’s laboratory. Instead, I was looking through books together with Canis.
Canis, who had been reading while sitting in a rocking chair, handed me her book. I immediately accepted it and slowly read through the text.
“Found it. Get ready.”
“Mmm~”
After finding the information I wanted, I stood up and prepared to head out. I glanced at Canis, who sluggishly moved around as if she didn’t want to leave.
“I’m diligently~ getting ready~”
Only then did Canis finally prepare to leave as well. Clicking my tongue quietly, I approached Winter.
“We’re heading out for a bit. Hold down the fort.”
“Yes. Senior. Will it take long?”
“That depends on how Canis handles things. I want to wrap it up if possible, but it’s a dangerous place, so if it takes too long, we’ll just come back out.”
“A-Ah. Understood.”
I patted Winter on the shoulder before leaving the chapel. Canis, carrying all sorts of things, followed behind me.
“So~ do we really have to go?”
“It’s the only ruin connected to it. Did you pack everything?”
“Everything~ you told me to bring~ has been packed~”
We headed straight toward the area with the academic bulletin board. I wandered around the sections divided by region.
There wasn’t a single mission related to the dungeon called the Swamp of Gehenna, commonly referred to as the Poison Swamp.
“That’s strange. The Poison Swamp always had lots of missions.”
“These days, one party has been monopolizing them.”
Since we were heading to the Poison Swamp anyway, I figured we might as well handle missions too. Just entering the Poison Swamp itself was troublesome, so I wanted to make the most of a single trip.
But for some reason, there wasn’t a single mission related to the Poison Swamp. A stranger’s voice answered my puzzled mutter.
“Ah. It’s been a while.”
It was the academic staff member who had helped guide us the very first time we went to the Poison Swamp. Seeing a familiar face after so long, I greeted her warmly.
“Yes. It really has been. Student Davide.”
She also greeted me happily. Canis, standing beside me, lightly bowed her head as well.
“You’re heading to the Poison Swamp?”
“Yes. I had business there, so I was thinking of doing missions while we were at it. That party monopolizing everything, who are they?”
The academic staff member smiled awkwardly when she saw my displeased expression.
“You remember the twins you saw the first time you went to the Poison Swamp?”
“The twins? The ones with reddish-brown hair?”
“Yes, that’s right. Those two have been monopolizing the Poison Swamp missions lately.”
I stroked my chin thoughtfully. The Poison Swamp was extremely dangerous. Among the publicly accessible dungeons, it was one of the highest difficulty ones.
I had crossed paths with those reddish-brown-haired twins a few times. Even now, they were still quite close with Winter. Honestly speaking, they hadn’t seemed all that strong.
“The Poison Swamp~ isn’t exactly the kind of place~ people can casually roam around in~”
Canis voiced the same doubt I had. The powerful monsters living inside the Poison Swamp were dangerous enough, but the greatest issue was the poisonous fog filling the entire area.
“Well, it’s none of our business.”
“Ah. You’re just going to leave it at that?”
“Yeah. Well.”
After filling out the entry log, we equipped our gear and entered the Poison Swamp.
“If you received Anaye-nim’s mark, you should be fine.”
“Mmm~ I wonder~ Can I really walk around like you do?”
I casually spoke while looking at Canis, who had wrapped herself up thoroughly. At the question of whether she could walk around like I did, she fell silent.
It would probably have some effect, but it didn’t seem like she would be completely unaffected like me.
“It’d be nice if we ran into another Hellhorn Bull.”
“……You killed two of them with your own hands~ and you still want more?”
“The feeling when hitting them is incredible.”
I answered casually to Canis, who looked fed up as she complained.
Hellhorn Bulls were among the few apex predators in the Poison Swamp, but there weren’t many creatures as satisfying to fight as they were.
“One level below a Fiendbeast? It’s hard to find something that tough.”
Whenever I struck skin that was one level below a Fiendbeast’s, it felt as refreshing and exhilarating as chopping into an ancient tree with an axe.
“Ah~ this is suffocating~”
Unlike me, Canis wore a gas mask and continued grumbling. The inside of the protective suit that covered her whole body was probably drenched in sweat by now.
“You can take off the gas mask. Your resistance is high enough.”
“Even without~ a Duhein body?”
Though she grumbled, Canis still followed along obediently. She also didn’t forget to spread a thin layer of magic around us in preparation for any sudden danger.
At her mention of the Duhein body, I awkwardly cleared my throat. Honestly, I thought the Duhein Family’s natural affinity with water played a part too.
“If I collapse~ then naturally~ Dabi will take care of me, right~”
“…….”
“Mmm~ what a sly little liar~”
We continued walking while exchanging pointless banter. Since we were openly releasing killing intent and pressure, nothing dared approach us.
Of course, there were still some creatures too starved to think properly or driven by competitive instinct that attacked anyway.
“Accu~ra~cy~ Don’t you think my skills~ have improved a lot lately?”
“I don’t know what your old level was like.”
The monsters that charged at us usually ended up exploding or getting pierced apart by the crystals Canis fired.
Every time she launched a crystal, loud thudding noises rang out as though something heavy had been violently struck.
“What kind of monster is this?”
I asked while looking at the canine-type monster whose body had been torn in half. It had something resembling a round shell attached to its back.
“Shellback Turtle Wolf~ Should we take it?”
“……What kind of ridiculous name is that.”
I nodded at Canis’s immediate answer. It was only pocket change, but even this could buy a sandwich.
Since it wasn’t difficult work anyway, we decided to take it. Using the crystal blade I had Canis make for me, I began dismantling the corpse.
“You have to~ carefully preserve the shell~”
I grabbed Canis by the back of the neck while she kept chattering beside me and promptly shoved her in front of another corpse. Though she grumbled, she still got to work.
It seemed the gas mask had drained quite a bit of her stamina, because Canis was unusually obedient.
“We’re here.”
After passing through Zone D and arriving at the center of the Poison Swamp, I spread my chest wide and inhaled deeply. This was the place where I had fought Anash.
After I had stabbed my greatsword into the ground, a bizarre phenomenon had occurred that purified the surroundings. Strangely enough, there was no poisonous fog in the air around this area.
“Phew~ feels like I can finally live again~”
After using magic to confirm the surroundings were safe, Canis immediately removed her gas mask.
Her short blue hair was soaked with sweat and clung to her face. Sweeping all her hair back, Canis savored the refreshing air.
“That time~ was really close~ I thought you were going to die~ covered head to toe in blood, Dabi~”
Canis, who had quickly recovered her energy and started joking around again, received the canteen I handed her. Unlike me, she had sweated buckets, so she needed to replenish herself.
“Hmm? What’s~ this?”
After immediately gulping down the water, Canis tilted her head in confusion. It wasn’t ordinary water—it had a slightly bitter taste.
“Medicinal water Winter prepared.”
“My goodness~ such heartfelt devotion~”
“If I die, then the Anaye Order literally ends.”
Normally, Canis would have teased me endlessly, but this time she restrained herself. It was because she could subtly sense how deeply Winter cared about the Religious Order.
“To think~ there’s such clean air~ in the Poison Swamp~”
Bringing up a different topic, Canis and I headed toward the center of the lake. The official name of this place, known as the center of the Poison Swamp, was ‘Paillet Lake.’
When I first received the skill ‘Trace of Anaye,’ the water-attribute resistance skill had been called Blessing of Paillet Lake.
Considering Anash as well, I believed there was definitely a deep connection to Anaye.
“Do you recognize it?”
“No~ This architectural style is completely unfamiliar~”
The structure at the center of the lake that had appeared after killing Anash. Once we entered it, we thoroughly inspected the surroundings.
Nothing had changed much since back then. As the child of a noble family who had learned many different things, Canis was also knowledgeable about architecture.
At my question, Canis shook her head. Even she had never seen an architectural style like this before.
“No matter how I look at it~ this greatsword seems like~ some kind of key~”
Even after examining the place for a long time, nothing particularly special stood out. There were no phrases related to faith, nor was there anything connected to Anaye.
Pointing at the greatsword embedded in the center, Canis spoke. I slowly walked toward the greatsword.
“It looks~ like stone~”
“It probably is.”
Canis tapped the greatsword a few times as she spoke. I nodded at her words. According to Winter, during the era when Anaye existed, metalworking had not yet developed.
Since it was a time when weapons made from stone or bone were common, this greatsword was probably made of a similar material.
“Hurry and sketch it.”
I ordered Canis. There were two major reasons why we had returned to this troublesome Poison Swamp.
The first was to recover the greatsword used by Anash, the son of Anaye.
The second was to record the architectural style of this structure. Ridiculously enough, Canis had once learned drawing as part of her noble education, so I brought her along.
“Hmmm~ How tyrannical~”
Even as she said that, Canis created a chair and table out of crystal. She pulled parchment and a pen from the backpack she brought and began scribbling away.
―Cruel. Tyrannical.
Anger, who had appeared after a long while, repeated Canis’s words exactly. Annoyed that he only showed up at times like this, I tried to flick him on the forehead, but he quickly slipped back into Canis’s body.
“Do nobles learn architecture too?”
“Architectural styles are just a side topic~ I never learned it~ No, wait~ aren’t you a noble too, Dabi?”
I casually glanced at the work Canis was doing. Since she was drawing something that looked fairly professional, I asked if she had studied architecture.
“If you didn’t learn architecture, then what exactly are you drawing?”
“……Mmm~ I feel like I’m all alone in the world~”
I immediately ignored Canis’s question. Seeing my reaction, she laughed as though dumbfounded.
“I’m just~ drawing absolutely everything I can see~”
I nodded vaguely and waited for Canis to finish her work. I also looked around the area in case there was something hidden.
“Dabi~ I’m all done~”
While I was playing with the clear water of the lake, Canis’s booming voice rang out. I quickly shook the water off and headed back into the structure.
“Good work.”
After praising Canis, who had neatly cleaned everything up, I immediately headed toward the spot where the greatsword was embedded.
“Put your gas mask on.”
At my warning to be careful, Canis immediately put her gas mask back on. Since the purification had begun after the greatsword was embedded, there was no way to know when poisonous fog might suddenly fill the place again.
“Hup!”
I grabbed the greatsword and pulled upward. Even though I yanked with considerable force, the greatsword did not come out easily.
“It feels like~ something’s caught on it~”
At Canis’s comment as she watched from beside me, I let go of the greatsword for a moment. After loosening up my body a little, I pulled the greatsword again with all my strength.
―Clang.
“…….”
“…….”
Perhaps because I suddenly pulled with explosive force, the greatsword finally came free. I nearly lost my balance from the force, but barely managed to steady myself.
And then both of us were left speechless.
“This too is part of the plan.”
The greatsword in my hand had split in half, leaving only the lower portion intact. I looked at Canis.
“Should we run away~”
“That migh……. Ack!”
I unconsciously agreed with Canis’s words when suddenly the Holy Scripture appeared above my head and smacked the back of it.
The blow was more powerful than ever before, and I collapsed in an utterly pathetic manner.
“……Looks like~ Anaye-nim is angry~”
The Holy Scripture stared wistfully at the broken greatsword. Despite being nothing more than a book without eyes, it somehow gave off an unmistakably sorrowful feeling.