The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 83

Four days have passed since our little scuffle with the kingdom’s Fourth Knight Order.

During that time, I’ve been holed up in Second, relentlessly engaged in [Compounding] and [Alchemy] at rental facilities.

Yeah.

The whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth, so I figured I’d lay low for a while.

So, I focused on my original goal of production activities, steadily creating various items.

Ah, production activities are great.

It’s amazing to be able to immerse yourself in your own work without having to interact with others.

This aspect reminds me of my creative process as an artist, and I feel quite refreshed.

By the way, in LIA, itinerant compounders and alchemists without their own workshops can use [Compounding] and [Alchemy] by renting production facilities in town.

Of course, if you have a basic compounding or alchemy set, you can do it outdoors too, but that limits you to relatively simple recipes.

Also, like in Evil Grande, there are free production facilities in the production guild, but in Second – or rather, in human countries – production activities seem quite popular, so it’s always crowded. I gave up on using those.

It’s hard to get a turn, and you can’t work in peace, so I decided to pay for rental facilities instead.

The silver lining is that rental facilities have better equipment than the free ones in the production guild, making it easier to create higher quality items.

So, while doing some [Compounding] and [Alchemy] at the production facilities, I occasionally reminisced about forging swords in Gaga-san’s workshop and tried my hand at that too. Before I knew it, four days had flown by.

Today marks the tenth day of our inn stay.

As I was leaving the rental production facility, debating whether to extend our stay or not, I spotted a familiar figure.

“Oh. Hey, Airu-chan!”

“Uwaaaaah!?”

Airu-chan yelped, jumping up and looking around frantically.

Then, upon spotting me,

“I am, I am, I am…”

She started chanting some weird spell.

Yeah.

Ever since that incident four days ago when Airu-chan nearly got killed, she’s been acting strange.

Her reactions are a bit amusing, so I can’t help but call out to her, and today she gave me another weird response!

Hmm, satisfying indeed.

“Ugh, stop it… Don’t approach me with such lovely effects…”

“Huh? Are there effects flying around?”

I instinctively checked my surroundings, but there weren’t any special effects.

Maybe it’s the effect of [Judgment’s Eye]?

Can she see things that are invisible?

That would be a scary skill.

“Are you okay? Need a street healer?”

“So kind… My heart skips a beat… No! I’m not supposed to feel this way!”

Airu-chan started hitting her head repeatedly.

I don’t really understand, but she seems seriously affected.

Is it because of her near-death experience?

I mean, I was there too when it happened. Maybe seeing me… well, my figure since she can’t see my face… reminds her of that time and makes her lose her composure?

If that’s the case, I feel like I might be doing something cruel…

“Hah, hah, everything looks wonderful… What should I do…”

“Everything looks like steak!? That sounds really tough…”

“That’s not it!? Ah, even that airheaded side…”

Airu-chan really seems to be struggling.

I hope she overcomes this illness soon.

As we were making a commotion at the edge of the street, a large shadow fell over us.

“Heading back, God?”

Ah, it’s Tsuna.

“Hey, Tsuna. I just finished. You too?”

“Yeah, I dove into the sea, defeated some monsters, sold them to the guild, and now I’m heading back.”

“You do that a lot, huh.”

“Well, it’s not something amateurs can do. Parts get damaged easily and it’s dange— …”

Tsuna’s words suddenly stopped, and his gaze seemed to be fixed on something else.

So I turned to look in the same direction, but all I saw was Airu-chan smiling brightly.

“What’s wrong, Tsuna?”

“Nothing.”

When I turned back to Tsuna, he was still observing Airu-chan.

“Is Airu-chan unusual in some way?”

“Not unusual, but was she always like that?”

“Apparently, she’s traumatized from her near-death experience…”

“Traumatized? That thing that looks like an angry cat going ‘Shaa!’ is traumatized…?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

I quickly turned around, but Airu-chan still had the same bright smile.

Then, pretending to turn back to Tuna, I whipped around to look at Airu-chan with all my might.

She was hissing “Shaa!” threateningly.

“…”

“…”

Ah! Airu-chan covered her face with both hands and ran off somewhere!

“Aren’t you going to chase her?”

“Why?”

“… Never mind. Let’s go back to the inn.”

“Okay~ Oh, by the way, Tuna. Here, take these.”

I handed Tsuna five [Resurrection Potions] that I made last night using [Divine Artifact Creation].

“What are these?”

“[Resurrection Potions]. Use them at your discretion.”

“Hmm, understood.”

Well, it’s best if there’s never a need to use them, of course.

Walking side by side with Tuna, I sighed in admiration at the colorful townscape bathed in the sunset.

I love the pastel-colored scenery during the day, but when the sunset paints everything orange, it’s equally spectacular.

Scenes like this that move your heart really make you appreciate traveling.

As I was enjoying the scenery in high spirits, we arrived at the inn and noticed someone standing in front.

What’s this?

A beautiful woman with purple hair and tanned skin, dressed in a black suit that seems completely out of place in a port town. She gives off a strong impression of a capable secretary.

It feels a bit odd to see such a woman standing in front of the inn.

But I thought it wasn’t my business and was about to enter when…

“You’re Yamamoto-sama, aren’t you?”

Ugh.

Could this be another troublesome matter related to me?

“I’m a messenger from the Demon Lord. I would be delighted if you could spare some time to talk…”

Gah!

A messenger from the Demon Lord means it’s about the Four Heavenly Kings thing, right!?

I hadn’t even thought about the conditions at all!

In fact, I was so engrossed in production activities that I completely forgot about it!

Oh no. What should I do…

“Um, well, this isn’t really the place for…”

“I understand.”

So, while Tsuna was having dinner in the first-floor dining hall, I guided the Demon Lord’s messenger to my room on the second floor.

“Sorry about the small room…”

“It’s not a problem.”

The messenger entered the room with a model’s walk and stood gracefully in the center of the room.

“Ah, please feel free to sit down…”

“Don’t worry about me.”

She said that, intending to remain standing the whole time.

Hmm. This is awkward…

As I sat on the bed, I realized that the person in front of me must be incredibly polite and serious.

While I was thinking about this, the messenger bowed gracefully, maintaining her perfect posture.

“I apologize for the sudden visit. Are you indeed Yamamoto-sama, the candidate for the Demon Lord’s Four Heavenly Kings?”

“If you mean the Yamamoto who was told by Iko-san to ‘do your best as the new Four Heavenly King,’ then that’s me. But how did you know I was Yamamoto?”

Yes, that’s what I was curious about.

I thought I had crossed the sea without being noticed by anyone related to the Demon Lord’s army, so isn’t it strange that my identity was discovered so easily?

I even changed my outfit…

Maybe this person is incredibly skilled, but if there’s some trick to it, I’d like to know.

“Given that you are a monster race, it was unlikely that you would be unemployed, so I accessed the databases of the Adventurers’ Guild, Commerce Guild, and the church to search for your registration information. There, I found your initial registration information from Evil Grande, and Milene-sama provided information about your appearance. Then, using the Commerce Guild network, I investigated your recent quest completion information and traced you to this town of Second.”

“I see. But even if you say ‘the town of Second,’ it’s still quite large, right? My height might be the same, but my appearance has changed. Wouldn’t it be difficult to find me?”

“For that, considering you defeated Raiko-sama, who excels in both physical and magical abilities, we narrowed down our search to those with overwhelming magical power using [Mana Sensing]. If you wish to conceal your abilities, I recommend learning [Disguise] immediately.”

“I see…”

So [Mana Sensing] can be used as a substitute for [Appraisal].

That means anyone with [Mana Sensing] can discern my true strength…

Considering the possibility of getting involved in strange situations, maybe I should acquire it?

I spent some SP to immediately acquire [Disguise] and casually set my status to around 50 across the board. Well, for something impromptu, this should do.

“How’s this? I acquired [Disguise].”

“At first glance, it appears your magical power has been suppressed. It should suffice.”

“At first glance” means that upon closer inspection, it’s still noticeable, huh.

I guess I’ll have to level up the skill?

After all, it’s only at level 1 right now.

“May I move on to the main topic now?”

“Ah, yes. Please do.”

That’s right, we still haven’t discussed the Demon Lord’s Four Heavenly Kings.

Well, I guess I’ll just have to go with the flow and deal with it somehow…

“I would like Yamamoto-sama to accept this.”

Saying that, the messenger handed me a slightly large envelope sealed with wax.

I turned it over, examining it carefully.

“What’s this?”

“It contains a magic circle imbued with the effect of [Far Speech], which allows a direct hotline to the Demon Lord. [Far Speech] enables you to speak while seeing the other person’s image, and we would like Yamamoto-sama to use this magic circle to speak directly with the Demon Lord.”

Speak directly with the Demon Lord…

This means there’s absolutely no escaping from becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings, doesn’t it…