Chapter 176
Yuna and Hera had decided to join this trip, but Franz was not entirely pleased about it.
“Honestly, this is something I could do alone.”
Dealing with the Seven Great Evils was a trivial matter. Just as it had been so far, it would pass without any major issues.
Yusti-ah had worried, thinking about the incident with leviathan, but since when was it easy to encounter a monster like that? It would be faster to hope for finding a needle in a haystack.
Even so, the reason he had specifically asked Hera and Yuna to accompany him was because he had no confidence he could withstand Yusti-ah’s grumbling.
She would definitely glare at him fiercely and lunge as if to kill him, so how was he supposed to endure that?
“Franz, is something the matter?”
Were the thoughts in his head showing on his face? Hera asked, looking worried.
“No, it’s nothing much.”
“That’s a relief, but… Honestly speaking, I wish you would rest a little more. It was only recently that we returned from Ganiphus.”
“I’m just going to finish this quickly and rest. I feel like it’ll get even more annoying if I needlessly put it off.”
Even though he said that, he actually intensely wanted to rest. But since that was what he always thought, it could be said that it was no different from usual.
Was retirement truly the only salvation? How was it that nothing had changed at all between his past life and his current one?
Time was continuing to flow even as he did this, so it was better to move quickly.
“Hera, are you all ready?”
“Well, there is nothing in particular to prepare, but I brought this just in case.”
Hera reached into her pocket and took something out to show him.
A leather choker and leash was a gift received from the King of Ganiphus.
Why did the thing she brought “just in case” have to be that?
If she had developed an attachment to it in the meantime and was carrying it around like a talisman…
'…Let’s not think too deeply about it.'
Not delving deeply into things he couldn’t understand was Franz’s way of living smoothly in the world.
“Let’s go pick up Yuna.”
“Let’s do that.”
Franz immediately snapped his fingers and used Spatial Movement Magic.
The place they arrived at soon was in front of a massive mansion. More accurately, it should be called the front of Duke Esteban’s mansion.
“Franz-! Hera-!”
Yuna, who had been in front of the entrance, waved her hand and approached as if she had been waiting.
“Did you wait long?”
“No, I just came out too.”
“That’s a relief. Is your family doing well?”
“Yeah, they’re doing well. But the house is so big that I’m wondering what it would be like if we had a bit more family?”
Yuna smiled brightly.
Unlike her, Franz could not bring himself to smile. It was because he had only recently heard Yuna’s story from the emperor.
'I really don’t know.'
It was hard to think about getting into that kind of relationship with someone, or growing distant from someone.
Perhaps it was because he was too busy dealing with the rushing tide of incidents.
So wouldn’t he have a bit more certainty someday when everything was over?
Franz organized his thoughts like that. For now, resolving the incident right in front of him came first.
“Then let’s go now.”
Snap-.
Along with the crisp sound of snapping fingers, a magic circle was drawn beneath their feet.
Their destination was Rome, the nation of barbarians built upon a desolate land.
The magic circle began to shine, and soon the figures of the three disappeared without a trace.
* * *
The land of Rome was made up of soil where it was difficult for plants to grow. There were many rocks and no nutrients, so the word barren suited it perfectly.
In the midst of that, it didn’t even rain, so it was common for sprouts to dry up immediately even if they grew.
It was truly a desolate land.
Standing upon that Roman land, Franz looked around. The ground was cracked here and there, and not a single person could be found.
“Where should we start moving from…”
The situation could be said to be the absolute worst so far. Because there were no proper hints, he couldn’t even ask anyone.
But it was still too early to despair.
“Leviathan, do you know anything?”
He had the compass of the Mythical Era, no less. Surely, if it was he, the path leading to the sealed weapon…
[I think we should go left for now.]
“Are you sure?”
[I am sure. Probably.]
Could 'sure' and 'probably' coexist in the same sentence?
His words were highly suspicious, but regrettably, there were no other options.
Snap-.
Franz snapped his fingers. There was no specific destination. They were just moving appropriately for the Western Region.
It happened right after they shifted their location like that.
RUMBLE-!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and a loud roar was heard.
Franz hurriedly turned his head toward the source of the sound.
“Crazy, what is this now?”
Men on horseback were charging in from the left and right, kicking up dirt and dust. Melee weapons were held in their hands, so they seemed to be knights or soldiers.
'There’s no way they realized I was coming.'
If so, he had to assume they were charging toward each other from the very beginning.
Had a civil war broken out? Or was it a mock battle?
It was when Franz was organizing the situation like that.
“Franz, what are you going to do?”
Yuna, who had drawn her holy sword at some point, asked.
Beside her, Hera was drawing her bowstring so she could fire at any moment.
What was he going to do…
“You guys stay still. I’ll take care of it.”
Humans are, by nature, creatures capable of conversation. So there is no need to shed blood from the start.
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, magic power stretched out in all directions.
The extended magic power ensnared those charging from the left and right.
They stopped in that exact posture, like a single painting.
“Ah, can you hear me?”
Franz projected his voice directly into their heads. Because there was quite a bit of distance, it didn’t seem like it would reach them if he spoke aloud.
“I would like to speak with the highest-ranking person from both sides.”
He had no intention of interfering in their fight. He just thought he might be able to find something out from them.
Even if they didn’t know about the Seven Great Evils, they might know the location of the holy artifact.
Having finished conveying his message like that, Franz snapped his fingers once again. Then, the paused painting began to move again.
They wouldn’t just charge in blindly, right?
Usually, if you showed this much of an overwhelming difference in skill, even fierce people were bound to become compliant, but since they were barbarians, he couldn’t be relieved.
That was because, according to rumors, barbarians were people crazy about fighting.
They fought while having a contest to see who could lift a heavier rock…
Anyway, it was certain that they were not ordinary men.
But were rumors really just rumors after all?
“I am Garr Pa, chieftain of the Garr Tribe.”
“I am Ru Deli, chieftain of the Lu Tribe.”
Not long after, the two chieftains came over.
Seen up close, they were larger than expected. Their height approached seven feet, and their bodies were entirely made of muscle.
If he fought them without magic, he was confident he would be folded in half in an instant. Though he didn’t know if he could call that confidence.
“Shaman, if you have business, I hope you speak quickly, because we have to kill those bastards and reclaim the river.”
“Who is killing whom? You’ll be the ones celebrating your memorial day, Garr Pa.”
“Are you asking for a fight right now?”
“Good. Raise your sword.”
Ru Deli and Garr Pa glared at each other and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
Usually, rumors were bound to be exaggerated to some extent, but amazingly, the men in front of him were exactly as the rumors said.
No matter how he looked at it, they were definitely crazy about fighting.
But he couldn’t just stand by and watch them fight.
You have to give me a chance to speak, you bastards.
Snap-.
Franz snapped his fingers and bound them.
“W-what is the meaning of this! Let go at once!”
“Are you trying to interfere with a noble battle!”
Seeing how well they matched each other left him dumbfounded. It was to the point where he doubted if they were the same men who had been growling to kill each other just a moment ago.
“I have no intention of interfering with whatever you do. Just answer my question first. Then I’ll leave right away.”
“We have no intention of falling for the words of a wicked shaman-!”
“Don’t use cowardly tricks and fight fair and square!”
Did these guys seriously have brains of stone?
Franz let out a short sigh and snapped his fingers.
A small, red-glowing magic circle was drawn in the air, and a fireball about the size of a fingernail was fired.
“You may be skilled in binding shamanism, but your magic is pathe…”
“With that level, you cannot defeat our tri…”
Before their words could even finish, the fireball touched the ground.
BOOOOM-!
A massive pillar of fire surged up, and the air was pushed away explosively.
Seeing that, the two barbarians simultaneously gulped, swallowing their saliva.
“Then, may I ask my question now?”
“…”
“…”
“Answer.”
“S-speak.”
“We will tell you everything if it is something we know.”
Anyway, they only listened when he did this. How nice would it be if they just cooperated from the start.
Well, then they wouldn’t be barbarians, though.
“By any chance, have you seen an axe blade shining with golden light?”
At Franz’s question, the two barbarians exchanged glances.
“We have seen it. But it has now fallen into the hands of an evil bastard.”
“It is entirely that bastard’s fault that we ended up like this. He stole the place we lived and killed our comrades.”
It seemed he had hit the right answer.