Chapter 14

After unintentionally learning about each other's pasts, it seemed to have loosened the tense atmosphere.

"No, why did you bring a Lesser Outer God in your pocket? Are you crazy? No, you're already crazy. What if the knights find out? It's lucky they only took our weapons and didn't search our bodies!"

Agartha was flailing about, saying this was the 16th time in her thief life that her spine had chilled so much.

Wait, isn't that quite a lot?

Honestly, I had nothing to say, but feeling a bit wronged and not wanting to lose to Agartha, I retorted.

"Come on, how was I supposed to know this would happen?"

"Still, wow, I even shared my family history to lighten the mood, but I feel completely betrayed. Did you really do it with an Outer God?"

"I told you I didn't!"

Self-defense.

The Lesser Outer God, peeking out of the pocket to watch our fight, shrank back dejectedly.

The Hunter, watching the two of us, said:

"They didn't search our belongings not because we were lucky, but because they didn't do it. The closer we get to the hearth, the harder it is for Outer Gods to approach."

The Hunter had his double-barrel shotgun taken away, but he showed me and Agartha the BB gun bullets he had secretly hidden.

I couldn't help but laugh at Agartha's gesture of 'Put that away too!'

"The flame burning in that hearth has the power to not only weaken Outer Gods' power but to completely neutralize it.

That's why the knights don't even consider the possibility of Outer Gods invading this far.

It's the reason why Outer Gods tend to appear in the outskirts or launch mental attacks from afar."

Indeed, if Outer Gods like the Observer kept appearing within this domain, people probably wouldn't be able to walk around outside like this.

I guess the Observer was strong enough to ignore even that.

But why is the Lesser Outer God fine even though it's so close to that flame?

Is it somehow different?

As I looked down at the Lesser Outer God curled up in my pocket, it looked up at me with that warm expression.

"Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

As if hearing my muttering, the Lesser Outer God just smiled brightly.

Is this also an effect of the Super Chicken Mod, or is there something exceptional about Lesser Outer Gods?

It was frustrating not knowing, but I thought maybe it's better this way.

Agartha exclaimed as if she had gained new knowledge:

"Indeed, even I've never been caught by the knights for something related to Outer Gods before."

"This kind of incident is absolutely not common in the first place."

For some reason, Agartha clapped her hands and smiled as if this was good news.

"Wow, then we're super lucky, right? Something uncommon has happened to us!"

"Isn't that just being unlucky?"

"Mr. Tanton, it's because you think so negatively that you like things like Outer Gods."

What does that have to do with anything?

"There's no key, and it's stuck to our hands so we can't remove it. You should be confident."

Ignoring my gaze, Agartha tugged at the blue tape binding her hands.

As a thief, she seemed to be losing confidence in this puzzle that humans couldn't solve, this handcuff of Outer Gods.

Perhaps that's why she kept prodding me and the Hunter, seeking a reaction.

"Sigh, when will we be able to escape? We had just regained freedom of our limbs not long ago. My hands are yearning for freedom."

"If you could keep that mouth still for a moment, half of the stuffiness would be solved."

"Oh, come on! I'm telling you I'm bored! If I don't talk, it's too quiet!"

"That's not my problem."

"Bored! Bored! Bored! Bored!"

"...I'll kill you."

"Try it! You can't, can you? Not with your arms and legs all tied up!"

Agartha stuck out her tongue, going "Ebebebe," and avoided the Hunter's reaching hand with divine speed, but eventually got caught due to the narrow detention cell.

"No, that's not what I was trying to do..."

"Say that one more time."

"Tehe?"

Treated like luggage, Agartha made painful noises as she was dragged across the floor by the blue tape pulled by the Hunter.

It had barely been a minute since the Hunter had silenced her.

As I was quietly laughing at the amusing sight, footsteps began to be heard from afar.

Agartha and the Hunter simultaneously closed their mouths, and as the footsteps finally drew near, we could tell who it was.

It was the teddy bear, the Vice Captain.

Still frowning, the Vice Captain looked down at us, quietly unlocked the iron door, and swung it open.

When Agartha and the Hunter remained still, showing signs of wariness, the Vice Captain sighed and said:

"Come out. There's somewhere we need to go together."

"Don't look at the fire. It's disrespectful to the Imperial Princess."

The place the Vice Captain brought us to was none other than the underground, a place called the Communication Center.

Even in this enclosed space, fire was burning, said to be connected to the hearth.

As I was quietly observing the curious yet stuffy-looking sight due to the darkness, the Vice Captain suddenly knelt and paid respects to the flame.

"I have completed escorting the criminals."

Who are you talking to?

Are we now seeing people talking to flames?

Fortunately, it seemed I wasn't the only one seeing this, as Agartha's face also had a question mark on it.

Then, with her hands tied, she extended her index finger, circled it around her temple, and pointed at me.

I didn't want to understand, but the gesture was so direct that I was forced to understand.

'This person seems to have lost their mind like Mr. Tanton, don't you think?'

This girl?

She's suddenly picking a fight out of nowhere.

Just in case, I glanced at the Hunter, but he was just quietly watching the scene.

What's going on?

As I was thinking this and staying still, the Vice Captain suddenly raised his voice as if startled.

"Is that true? No, no, Imperial Princess. Our knight order exists for you. We only follow your will."

Imperial Princess?

Given the name Communication Center, could it be that this flame was a means of communicating with the Imperial Princess?

I felt embarrassed for almost mistaking him for a madman.

"Then we will do so.

...Yes, understood."

The Vice Captain gave a disciplined salute, then let out a deep sigh and turned around.

"The Imperial Princess was greatly moved by your handling of the Observer in the underground prison."

Ah, that.

It certainly is a great achievement, if you can call it that.

Of course, it was closer to it disappearing because it was satisfied, rather than us handling it.

Well, I guess it's the same thing.

But even if we did such a thing, can they be moved by criminals who committed heinous crimes?

As if answering that question, the Vice Captain held up his index and middle fingers and said:

"So She has graciously given you a choice."

The eyes of the Hunter, Agartha, and myself all focused on those fingers.

The Vice Captain looked us over and began speaking, trying to appear nonchalant:

"Decide. Will you be beheaded as criminals? Or will you join our knight order?"

He was trying to put on airs, but to my eyes that saw him as a teddy bear, it was too cringeworthy.

As I was thinking this, the Hunter started to chuckle softly.

Confused by this development, Agartha and I turned to look at the Hunter, but he started laughing even louder.

As if the Vice Captain's words were ridiculous.

W-why is he suddenly like this?

Was this a situation to laugh at?

If they're not going to kill us, we should just accept it gratefully and bow down.

"Knights, you say. You're knights in name only, not even treating us like proper knights. Don't you just need disposable pawns?"

"Ha, for a criminal, you're asking for too much. You should be grateful for even this much."

Thinking it was disrespectful, the teddy bear's eyebrows furrowed deeply.

But the Hunter didn't care at all and just laughed it off, then lowered his voice as if growling.

"Do you still not understand why I've tried to avoid associating with your kind until now?"

"...You're not in a position to talk like that..."

"It's because you're incompetent."

Ignoring the Vice Captain's voice that was scraping coldly enough to chill one's guts, the Hunter was spitting out what he wanted to say.

T-this guy, why is he suddenly going off like this!

He's not saying anything wrong, but if he's not careful, his head might go rolling!

My hand went up to stop the Hunter, but I had to stop my action when I heard the Hunter's next words.

"A group created to exterminate Outer Gods, even those who call themselves experts, couldn't break through an Outer God's distortion that even this small number of people could handle, and showed up late?

I doubt if your abilities match that name."

As he said this, the Hunter glanced around at us, and our eyes met.

Ah.

Is this perhaps subtly praising us too?

Seeing how he's making eye contact with us, it seems that's the case.

"...Shut your mouth."

"And we're not in a position to talk?"

The Hunter's fact-bombing didn't end.

"Do you think I don't know about your implicit rules?"

"..."

"No matter what crimes someone has committed, if they defeat an Outer God, you cover it up and promote them."

At those words, the Vice Captain's mouth shut tightly.

Suddenly, it felt like something I shouldn't know was being revealed, and my heart started beating faster.

"By that logic, isn't what you're doing to us right now an unjust act?

Or is it possible for you because you're noble knights, while we're lowly criminals and on a different level?

Isn't that contrary to the beliefs of the so-called sublime Imperial Princess?"

"You've got a big mouth. Of course, we're on different levels. Do you really think criminals and knights are on the same level? Without the Imperial Princess's mercy, you'd be dead right now."

At those words, the Hunter sneered and jabbed at the Vice Captain.

"I wonder if that Imperial Princess you worship knows this fact."

"..."

"Did I hit the mark?"

I couldn't help but admire the Hunter's brilliant eloquence, which had been silent until now.

Was he always able to speak so logically?

Then Agartha carefully opened her mouth.

"T-that's right! And I definitely heard it. Even knights who committed crimes serious enough to be imprisoned in the underground prison were immediately released just for having a record of defeating an Outer God!"

Wow.

This is irrefutable, isn't it?

Even I could see that in the current situation, the Vice Captain had been completely outargued.

But I couldn't sense any sign of anger from the Vice Captain.

Rather, it even felt like he was calmly choosing what to say next.

No, how much more of an amazing rebuttal is he trying to make here?

They say watching a fight is the most fun; if there was popcorn nearby, I'd want to grab it and start munching.

Finally, the words that came out of the Vice Captain's mouth were...

"You killed an Outer God? No, no... Let's use the right words."

Ah, wait.

Don't tell me.

"What you did was just drive it away."

Ah.

Suddenly, this is really annoying.

Suddenly pulling a 'Anyway, it's not!' move isn't right.

Feeling suddenly deflated, I looked at the Vice Captain with cold eyes, and he spoke calmly.

"It's true that we do give special treatment to those who defeat Outer Gods. There's no point in hiding it."

"As expected of a pathetic group, all you can do is insist."

"No, rather than that."

The Vice Captain said this and suddenly pointed to the ground with his finger.

"Can't you just prove it? By defeating an Outer God once more."

At the Vice Captain's words, joy bloomed on the Hunter's face, while despair bloomed on Agartha's.

"What kind of unreasonable..."

"Not a bad proposal."

"W-what?! Are you crazy?!"

Agartha grabbed the Hunter's shoulder as if grabbing his collar and spoke.

But the Hunter paid no attention to Agartha and was just making eye contact with the Vice Captain.

"If we can prove it with just that, it's what I've been hoping for."

"Huh, your pride is something. As expected of a hunter. It's disgusting, but you're the talent the Imperial Princess needs. Alright, I'll promise you here."

The Vice Captain drew his plastic sword, pointed it at the sky, then thrust it into the ground with a thud and shouted:

"If you succeed in defeating an Outer God, I will erase all your crimes and formally induct you into the knight order. And Hunter, I will guarantee you the freedom of activity as you wish.

I, Marenne Bustian, promise this on my name."

As Agartha and I gaped at this unbelievable, radical proposal, the Hunter instead raised a question.

"So that's your real name, not an alias."

"Do you think we're afraid of being cursed by Outer Gods? We are the knight order that hunts Outer Gods."

"You have your pride, I'll give you that."

The Vice Captain's eyes turned to me and Agartha.

"Any objections? You don't have to follow that reckless fellow.

Defeat in battle against an Outer God means..."

Death.

Silence enveloped us along with the sound of the burning flame.

What we were doing now was no different from weighing our lives to raise our position.

The Hunter's eyes came back to me.

This time, it wasn't the same meaningful look as before.

It could be seen as a look close to a demand, full of confidence, to prove my ability once more.

As a hunter, he could probably take the lone wolf route.

But for me, it's impossible.

The Observer was just luck.

Still.

Although I wasn't confident I could catch an Outer God, I didn't want to be pushed around by them.

...Let's trust the Super Chicken Mod.

After all, to survive in this world, we need to survive against Outer Gods too.

The knight route is open!

"There's an old saying that loyalty should be maintained to the end."

When I said this with resolute eyes, Agartha looked around and subtly said:

"I'll do it too. Since both of them are doing it, it feels weird for me to be left out alone. So we're doing this together, right? Right?"

"No, the test will be taken separately. There happen to be three Outer Gods that need to be dealt with."

"What?"

"I'll tell you each about the Outer God you need to handle. Starting with the Outer God that appeared from a fallen meteorite on the outskirts of Rondan and is capturing people with strange light..."

"Cancel, cancel, cancel!"

"A true knight doesn't go back on their word."

The sight of Agartha's face darkening as she made a "Hieek" sound was quite entertaining to watch.