Chapter 20: The Demon God


TL: Scaramochi


***


"Sha! Let's go to the labyrinth!"


"Sorry, I have something to do today, so I'll pass."


"Aah!"


I apologized while raising my hand to the child, who was in high spirits again today, and Frey, who was thrown off the track, snapped at me in disapproval.


"Even if you say so, I can't go if you can't go."


"If you want to go shopping again, I'll help you."


"No, this time it's for my own personal use. So you don't have to go out with me. I'm sorry, but I need you to go to the labyrinth by yourselves today. I'm sure Athena will be there to help you......."


"I see....... I understand."


"Well, I'll start working hard tomorrow. I'll try to set a good example."


I was to close the door and the three of them were to leave the house first.


Before leaving the house, I called out to Mirialia, who was sleepily stretching.


"Mirialia, I'm asking you to take care of them."


"I don't get it. Why me......?"


"I don't understand. Why do you entrust them to Mirialia and not to me, the leader of the group?"


"Yes, why do I have to be babysat by her?"


"I don't mean anything by it. Go on, get out of here."


With a wave of one hand, the three of them headed into the labyrinth with dubious looks on their faces.


"Well, I guess I'll go too."


I sipped the last of the coffee in my cup and prepared to head out as well.


***


"......It's been a year since I've been here."


I was visiting a small hill in a meadow area a short distance from the city, where a beautiful flower garden was blooming.


A soft breeze was blowing, swaying the flowers and gently caressing my cheeks.


It was as if I was being greeted with a "hello."


At the edge of the hill was a white gravestone with a golden sword pierced into the side to protect it.


The headstone was dusty and the sword was tangled with weeds.


"I'll clean it up for you now."


I approached the tombstone and the sword and cleaned them with the cleaning tools I had brought.


It didn't take me long to clean them up, and then I worked hard to make a crown of flowers.


I wasn't very good at this kind of work, so it took me a while.


"Here you go, your favorite flower crown."


I gently placed the crown of colorful, slightly ugly flowers on the headstone.


Then, I started talking to myself.


"I've been...... doing all the right things for no reason to live until now. Oh, did I tell you about that before? But a while ago, there was someone who invited me to a party, a grown-up kid named Athena. I kept saying no, but she was so insistent that I had no choice but to join her. She was really insistent. At first, I said no softly, but she was so insistent that I told her I'd kill her if she got involved any further. But she said, "Try it!" Normally, adventurers wouldn't invite an unknown man drinking alcohol in the middle of the day at a guild where they work, right? I don't get it. But she made me want to go along with her. She said her dream was to become the world's greatest adventurer. She was talking nonsense like some idiot. It's funny, right? I swear ..... I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest when I heard those words. I wonder if there were still idiots out there who would seriously pursue such an unfulfilled dream. But then I decided to take a look. I wanted to get close to her and see her shine."


You never know how far you're going to climb.


She might break down along the way.


But I wanted to see where Athena would end up.


"There's an elf kid in the party named Mirialia, and she's a pain in the ass just like me. She's got more talent than anyone else, but she has no ambition at all. That worries me a little."


She was at the party just to be with Athena.


But at this rate, she might not be able to walk beside Athena in the not-so-distant future.


If that happened, there was a chance I would end up following in her footsteps.


But the trouble was, Mirialia was the type of person who sulks, so I couldn't say anything too strongly.


"There's a new kid from the dragon tribe named Frey, and she's a rambunctious little horse. I wasn't sure how I should treat her, but I was very preachy, but she tried to respond to me. She's got a cute side to her, too."


I was really confused about how to deal with her.


She had a bad mouth and only thought about herself.


In my worst case scenario, I might have actually tried to kick her out of the party.


But I didn't want Frey to be buried in the ground, and I wanted her to do well as Athena's rival.


And she was surprisingly honest and endearing.


I didn't forgive her for calling me an old man, though.


"There was also a kid named Est at the party a while ago. He was a pure and innocent guy who did his best for the girl he liked. I thought of him as my little brother. But he didn't grow in strength, and I had to kick him out of the party. I feel like I did a bad thing. But I don't regret it. I think Est's awakening to power was partly because he left the party...... and Athena. Well, maybe that's just my wishful thinking. But now he's surrounded by cute girls and seems to be having a good time. I'm so jealous. I'm surrounded by girls, but I'm just babysitting them. I'm not happy at all."


I stood up and said my goodbye.


"I'll do my best. I'll come back to see you next time with a souvenir story. See you later, Isiah."


I turned on my heel.


At that moment, a gentle, warm breeze blew, as if hugging my back.


"Thanks."


***


After finishing my business, I thought it would be a bit tasteless to just go back to the house, so I stopped by the Adventurer's Guild liquor store for a drink.


Then, I ran into a guy I'd missed.


"Hey Est, are we done with today's game?"


"Dale......"


The man I met face to face was Est, a former party member I had banished from Stardust.


His dreamy, sparkling eyes had turned dull, and his bright boyish face had taken on the air of an enlightened adult.


I didn't want him to grow up like that.


Well, I couldn't say anything about that, since we were the ones responsible for that.


Est only moved his gaze to look around me and opened his mouth to snicker and make fun of me.


"Hey, I don't see any other members. Maybe Dale got kicked out too?"


"Too bad, we're just separated today because I have some business to attend to. You don't have any new friends, do you?"


"They're just going home for the day. I'd rather you didn't get involved with me too much, Dale. If they see you talking to me, they'll make fun of you. They'll think I'm a fallen Stardust flirting with a Starlight who's on a roll. And for the record, I'm not going back to you guys, even if you ask me to."


"Thanks for the heads up. And Est, I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but Stardust is not going to bow down to you."


I told him clearly with a smirk, and he turned his back to me with a bored "Oh, well. Whatever you do, just don't try to undermine us. If you do, I will never forgive you."


"Well, while I'm at it, don't you get in Athena's way either."


""......""


My and Est's gazes crossed.


"Hey, kid, if you're going to pick a fight, grow up a little before you start."


--- "It's the Demon God! A demon god has appeared!"


""--?!""


The adventurer who entered with the force of smashing down the door shouted with a desperate look, causing tension in the guild.


"A demon god!"


Why a demon god?


"That's a lie! There was no sign of a demonic god appearing!"


Hearing the word "demon god" the adventurers around us panicked.


That was how much of a threat the demons were to adventurers.


Demon gods.


They were monsters created by the labyrinth.


They were so strong that in some cases, cities had been destroyed by their appearance. It was a disaster-class monster that could be defeated only by a team of gold-ranked adventurers, and even then only at great cost.


Although the reason for this was not yet known, demon gods were often born when the labyrinth master was defeated in succession or when the monsters were defeated too many times.


However, there were signs before a demon god was born.


Such signs included the appearance of irregular demons and abnormal behavior of monsters. If something like that happened, it was immediately reported and became a rumor, so there was no way you couldn't tell.......


I had a bad feeling about this, so I approached the out-of-breath adventurer, grabbed him by the chest, and asked him, "Hey, what's going on?"


"Is it true that a demon god appeared! Which labyrinth did it appear in!"


"Ho, it's true! It appeared in an intermediate level labyrinth! The other adventurers have been killed! I was the only one who got away to report this!"


"An intermediate level labyrinth?"


I bit my back teeth with a grimace when I heard that story.


Don't be stupid...... Athena and the others were going to that labyrinth right now!


"Tell the people of the city about this, quickly! And call out to the gold-ranked adventurers' party, too!"


"We'd better call the Royal City for help too!"


"The demon god...... has to get out of here!"


"Oh no, this city is finished!"


The guild staff shouted angrily at each other, and the adventurers looked down with despair on their faces.


In the midst of all this, I called out to Est.


"Athena and the others are in the labyrinth. I'll go help them, but what about you?"


"Ha, the other party is a demon god, right? What are you going to do if you go there, Dale? It's like going to die. Besides, I'd rather go to my own people than Athena and the others."


"Well...... you're right. Tell them quickly."


(Est...... I'm a little disappointed in you.)


I told a dubious Est, and I kicked the floor and headed for the labyrinth.


"Don't die until I get there, kids!"



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