NOVEL NEXT chapter 85
Chapter 85
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“So, we have a new travel companion. This is Envy-chan. Let’s give her a round of applause!”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘so’?”
The next day—
As we eagerly checked out of Fuuka-tei, I reintroduced Tsuna and Envy-chan, but it seems I couldn’t convince Tsuna with my enthusiasm alone.
With no other choice, I explained the situation in broad strokes as we walked.
Time for a quick recap!
“So, because God is too strong, the Demon Lord’s army came to scout you?”
Just like a professional baseball scout.
While not entirely wrong in the grand scheme of things…
“No, to be precise, the Demon Lord himself expressed a desire to speak with Yama-sama, who is likely to become one of the new Four Heavenly Kings. I came to deliver the [Far Speech] magic circle for that purpose.”
“Demon Lord? Four Heavenly Kings?”
Ah, I had carefully avoided explaining those parts to Tsuna, but now I sense it’s all going to be ruined!
“To begin with, I’ve been ordered by the Demon Lord to treat Yama-sama as one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”
“I… I see…”
I can sense an “You’ve got it rough, huh?” vibe from Tsuna.
Yes, it is rough!
But more importantly, I need to stop her from constantly repeating my name as Yamamoto!
You never know who might be listening!
“Envy-chan. I’m sorry, but could you call me Yama-chan when addressing me in public?”
“Or God works too.”
That’s not good! Tsuna, don’t try to spread that! It’s already gaining traction in certain circles!
“Understood. Then, I shall address you as Yama-sama.”
Yama-sama…
For some reason, I feel like a Korean pop star…
As we continued this conversation, we walked towards the outskirts of town.
At this point, Tsuna seemed to wonder where we were headed. He turned his gaze towards me.
“By the way, where are we going? It looks like we’re heading out of town…”
“Huh? Oh, didn’t I mention it? I’m thinking of going to Firth since I’m bored of Second.”
“Deciding on a destination without informing your travel companion. Four Heavenly Kings points, plus one…”
“…”
Tsuna gives Envy-chan a look that says, “What’s with this person…?” but Envy-chan doesn’t seem to notice. She’s busy scribbling notes as she walks.
“Well, if we’re going to Firth, that’s fine, but I haven’t prepared for a journey.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve stocked up on various things.”
“Thoughtful preparation. Four Heavenly Kings points, minus one…”
Envy-chan, it’s dangerous to write notes while walking. Look where you’re going, okay?
As for the travel preparations, I took care of them quickly.
I sold several swords I made on the World Market, so my wallet is quite full. It feels like I’m being extravagant.
“What’s in Firth anyway?”
“Well, it’s not so much Firth itself, but there’s talk of various materials in the forest south of Firth. There might even be a dungeon in that forest, apparently.”
“A dungeon… EOD might be there!”
Tsuna’s morale suddenly skyrockets.
Well, that reaction isn’t wrong at all.
I mean, both the Crystal Dragon and the big Worm said “hello” in dungeons, right? If someone told me dungeons equal EOD lairs, I wouldn’t find it strange at all.
Rather, I’d wonder if that wasn’t the case.
“Anyway, the plan is to go to Firth to gather some materials.”
“It’s not advisable for a Demon Lord’s army executive to move freely in human countries…”
“Right now, I’m still like a Four Heavenly King (provisional), right? It’s fine, it’s fine.”
It’s just like going wild on a graduation trip before starting a new life, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
And so, we arrived at Second’s gate.
Although it was only a short ten-day stay, I feel like Second took good care of us in various ways.
Burning the colorful townscape into my memory… well then, adieu!
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
As I was trying to look cool by raising my index and middle fingers to my forehead and saying “Adieu!”, we were spotted by Airu’s party passing by.
Gaaaah, how embarrassing…!
“Onee… You! Don’t do things that make my heart flutter!”
“…Ridge?”
By the way, “Adieu” is cool, right? It makes your heart flutter, right? Yeah, yeah, I totally understand the feeling of wanting to try it. I actually did it. But digging it up would be self-destructive, so I won’t touch on that!
“I just misspoke! Don’t nitpick!”
“Ah, yeah, sure.”
It seems Airu has regained her composure quite a bit. Her face is still a bit red, so she might not be back to normal yet.
“I am, I am, I am…”
She’s chanting that spell again!
And she’s recovered! So fast!
“You lot! You’re lucky! We’re heading to the royal capital, Sars, from today! We’ll undergo class change there and obtain new powers! I-If you’d like… w-why don’t you come along!? Want to go to Sars together!?”
“Eh, sorry. We’re going to Firth now. So, we can’t.”
“…”
“Um, I’m really sorry, okay?”
“Go die from a cat scratch!”
Saying that, Airu ran off, leaving even her party members behind.
“Ah, we’re sorry for the trouble. Well then… Airu-chan, wait for us!”
The PROMISE members chase after her.
Hmm, chaos.
“Well, shall we get going too?”
“Yeah. [Carriage Summoning].”
And we’re just as self-paced as they are.
Maybe we’re not in a position to say anything about Airu and her friends.
I wonder why Envy-chan is the only one furrowing her brow and mumbling “Hmm.” Is she confused?
“That attitude towards Yama-sama, one of the Demon Lord’s Four Heavenly Kings… She’s not an ordinary person, is she?”
You’re reading too much into it!
She’s just a controversial streamer!
■□■
And so, I sit on the carriage driver’s seat with Envy-chan as we rattle along.
Tsuna?
Tsuna climbed onto the carriage roof and is looking up at the sky. He says if he sees birds flying, he’ll shoot them down to add to our dinner ingredients.
The sky is clear. Clouds drift lazily by, and the carriage moves through a pastoral atmosphere.
They weren’t kidding when they said the Farland Kingdom was peaceful.
It’s the epitome of peace when you don’t even encounter monsters while traveling on the main road.
As the carriage progresses without incident, there’s something that’s been bothering me a bit.
“We’re being followed.”
“Indeed.”
“Yeah, we are.”
As Tsuna says, there’s a group that’s been keeping a constant distance behind our carriage, neither too close nor too far.
It seems they’re using us as monster repellent to make their journey easier, but…
“I wonder how far they’ll follow us. That—”
“Band of thieves—”
“Assassins—”
“Carriage—”
Huh? Weren’t your voices supposed to harmonize there?
Thinking I might have misheard, I can’t help but ask.
“Eh, what did everyone say? Aren’t we talking about the carriage?”
“The carriage? You mean that slightly luxurious-looking carriage following behind us?”
“Yeah, that one. It’s been following us since we left Second, right?”
“That’s right. And it seems there are some bandit-like folks disguised as adventurers following that carriage.”
Tsuna says there are bandit-like individuals disguised as adventurers chasing the carriage behind us.
When I asked how he could tell, he said his [Wild Instinct] skill kicked in, giving him the intuition that disguised individuals were following us.
It’s a skill that only works occasionally, but it often provides crucial information, so he finds it quite useful.
And Envy-chan says,
“Even further behind those adventurer-like individuals, there’s a pair of suspicious-looking people dressed all in black. They’re about three kilometers behind.”
While I can’t even see the bandits Tsuna mentioned, Envy-chan says there’s a suspicious duo even further back.
I can’t see any of this at all!
What exactly can Envy-chan see?
Does she have some kind of unique skill?
I can only see the carriage following us!
If only Tsuna and Envy-chan’s detection ranges were the same.
I think my detection range would automatically expand to balance things out.
As it stands, we have long, medium, and short detection ranges, which in a sense is balanced, so [Balance] doesn’t seem likely to activate.
Hmm, what a waste…
“By the way, are those suspicious-looking people assassins?”
“Their attire closely resembles that of typical assassins in our country.”
“Our country? Not the human countries?”
“I’m not familiar with the typical assassin attire in human countries.”
I suppose that makes sense.
But the fact that she knows the typical assassin attire of the monster race country means those kinds of people frequent the castle, right?
Whether they’re the users or the targets, it leads to some dangerous speculation!
“Still, it’s impressive that you can spot people so far away.”
“As a secretary to the Demon Lord, this much is only natural.”
Are the Demon Lord’s secretaries generally incompetent but highly skilled? I really can’t tell.
“The bandits are probably after the carriage behind us, but what about that suspicious pair behind them?”
“Which one?”
“There’s a possibility they’re after us too, right?”
Tsuna pops his head down from the roof to ask this.
Ah, I see.
There’s also the possibility that we’re the targets.
I had completely assumed they were only after the carriage behind us.
…Hm?
“No, no, no, there’s no way upstanding citizens like us would have our lives targeted, right?”
“I think God might have unknowingly made enemies due to your various antics.”
What a harsh thing to say!
But the sadness of not being able to firmly deny it!
“There’s another possibility, isn’t there?”
Envy-chan raises her hand to speak.
Yes, go ahead.
“Couldn’t the assassins have been sent to kill those bandits?”
Would criminals engage in killing each other like that?
Or maybe because they’re criminals, they’ve made enemies and assassins were sent after them?
Well, no matter how much we discuss it, we won’t reach a conclusion.
In the end, we used these mysterious followers as a topic to keep our conversation lively.