Chapter 156
It was early dawn, before the sun had even risen.
Franz dragged his still-fatigued body out of the room.
“Of all things, the code had to be like that…”
The place where the sun rises from the sheer cliff.
If only that code hadn’t pointed to the sunrise, there would have been no need to move this early in the morning.
It would have been so convenient if it meant the time when the sun was high in the sky.
Harboring such complaints was pointless now.
“Good morning!”
Yuna, coming out of her room, raised her hand high and offered a cheerful greeting.
They had both gone to bed late last night, so how could she be so positive?
Thinking she was amazing, Franz raised his hand in return.
“Yeah, good morning.”
“You look really tired, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I can just take a nap later.”
Even if they ended up encountering the Seven Great Evils, it wouldn’t take that long.
He had the entire Hero’s Party and even Arian with him.
For an opponent to force a long battle against this level of combat power, they would have to be at least on the level of the demon race’s Four Heavenly Kings.
“The worst-case scenario is that the interpretation of the code is wrong.”
If that happened, they could forget taking a nap; they would have no choice but to run around asking pedestrians.
Considering that even that might take days, it was a truly dizzying prospect.
Franz desperately hoped the latter wouldn’t happen.
It was then.
“Good morning.”
“I’m tired… Somehow this feels harder than going to work at the Magic Tower…”
Hera and Arian came out of their rooms at almost the same time and greeted them.
Hera looked the same as usual, but Arian was drooping with a tired expression.
She had walked around so much and gone to bed late yesterday, so it would be stranger if she wasn’t tired.
“Arian, let’s finish this quickly so you can come back and take a nap.”
“No. You guys are going to go play without me.”
“I’m going to sleep too, though?”
“If the Magic Tower lord is doing that, maybe I should sleep together with you…?”
Arian spoke in a meaningful tone, glancing at Yuna and Hera next to her.
At her seemingly boastful display, Yuna and Hera narrowed their brows.
“Then I’ll sleep with you too.”
“Well, if you two are doing that, I have no choice either.”
“Oh ho, it seems both of you are perfectly fine?”
Seeing that they still had the energy to bicker this early in the morning, it seemed all three were perfectly fine.
While that conversation went back and forth, a door opened, and Yusti-ah finally came out of her room.
Everyone’s gaze turned to her, and for a moment, silence fell, turning the atmosphere awkward.
The first to break that atmosphere and speak up was Franz.
“Yusti-ah, did you sleep well?”
“I’m a little tired, but I’m fine. Did you sleep well?”
“Well, so-so.”
The conversation cut off, and the atmosphere grew awkward once again.
They had come on a fun trip, so what in the world was this?…
Anyway, to enjoy at least the remaining days, he had to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.
Thus, just as Franz was about to say something,
“Franz, I’m sorry about yesterday.”
Yusti-ah bowed her head and apologized.
“I was too selfish. You acted with us in mind in your own way, but I ended up ignoring that.”
Franz was simply flustered. He had been about to apologize, but ended up receiving an apology instead.
But that was only for a moment. He soon gathered his thoughts and spoke.
“It’s fine. Everything you said was right. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“Then are you forgiving me…?”
“Forgiveness or whatever, it wasn’t your fault to begin with.”
“Then let’s just pretend it never happened, since we were both at fault.”
Yusti-ah offered a bright smile.
Although she hadn’t shown it outwardly, she must have been deeply troubled by yesterday’s events in her own way.
Even though Franz didn’t think she had done anything wrong at all.
Anyway, the awkward atmosphere had dissipated, so it was a good thing.
“Then let’s get going, everyone.”
Franz got into the carriage with them and set off.
How many minutes had they traveled since leaving the villa?
Arriving at the location Perchi had told him about, Franz halted the carriage in a suitable spot.
Getting out of the carriage and looking around, he realized it was a place perfectly suited to the phrase “sheer cliff.”
The cliff, which dropped vertically and even carved inwards, gave anyone looking at it a dizzying sensation.
“Wow, it’s a bit scary here…?”
“You’d definitely die if you fell.”
While everyone looked at the cliff and shared similar sentiments, the sun was rising, piercing through the endless horizon.
If they hadn’t come for work and it had been a real trip, they could have enjoyed the view.
That was a bit of a shame, but it didn’t matter much.
The sun would rise tomorrow and the day after that, anyway.
He could just come on a trip with them again someday and see it then.
It was then.
“An island…?”
Right where the sun was rising, there was a small island.
If the cliff mentioned in the code was this place, the answer would be that island.
Hera spoke.
“Franz, it seems to be that island…”
“I think so too. We’re going to head over there first. Does anyone have a different opinion?”
Everyone shook their heads. It seemed there were no objections.
Now that the destination was set, all that was left was to move.
It was so far away that it was barely visible to the naked eye, but that didn’t really matter to Franz.
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, a massive magic circle was drawn beneath their feet.
Soon, the magic circle began to glow, and the five figures vanished from the cliff.
The place where they reappeared was an island ten hours away from Ganiphus by boat, and, more specifically, a densely wooded forest within it.
“The trees are feeling uneasy…”
Hera said, stroking a massive tree with her hand.
As an Elf with a special power, she seemed to feel something.
However, Franz was also feeling a similar sensation to hers.
“The island itself is just full of unpleasant mana…”
Should he say it felt like being surrounded by thick smoke?
Because his mana sensitivity was so high, it was enough to make him nauseous.
“U-Ugh…!”
In fact, Arian was dry-heaving next to him.
Franz silently patted her back, tap-tap-, and exuded pure mana into the surroundings.
If he had to put it into words, it felt like becoming a living fount of pure mana.
It was the same method he had used when facing the monster tamer in the cave a while back.
The efficiency was terrible, but the effect was certain.
The problem was that this wasn’t perfect either.
“H-Haa?! M-Magic Tower lord, please lower the output a little…!”
Arian startled and grabbed Franz’s waist.
Her legs trembling and her body flinching, she looked exactly like a drowned rat.
Though another place was a little wet, Franz was completely unaware of it.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”
Franz lowered the output of the mana he was exuding.
In truth, even this much was enough to erase the unpleasant mana in the area, so there was no real problem.
“Haaa… Thank you. I’m saved thanks to you…”
Exhaling rough breaths, Arian straightened up and looked around.
“Anyway, it’s strange. With this much unpleasant mana filling the air, the surroundings should be full of monsters, but I don’t see anything.”
“Well, we’ll figure that out gradually.”
Franz snapped his fingers and used mana detection.
The detection range had narrowed because the entire area was full of unpleasant mana, but it was still enough to scan a small island like this.
Franz hadn’t just stayed stagnant either; it was thanks to his growing stronger through all sorts of incidents even after subjugating the Demon Lord.
“If we go a little further from here, there’s an altar. And there’s a woman inside it.”
There was a sealed holy relic at the altar where she was, but he didn’t bother mentioning it.
“Then our destination is set.”
Saying so, Yusti-ah clasped her hands together and offered a prayer.
The radiant golden divine power flowing from her seeped slowly into their bodies.
However, the feeling was a little different from usual.
If her usual divine power felt like it was warmly and gently wrapping around their bodies, at that moment it brought a sense of elation, making them feel like they could do anything.
In addition, their bodies felt a little lighter, meaning some kind of change had occurred in Yusti-ah as well.
“Franz, I thought about it a lot while talking with you. I wondered if maybe divine power could be altered like magic. It’s still a bit lacking, but it will be more helpful than before.”
“That’s amazing. Tell me more about it later.”
“Well. I’ll have to think about that.”
Arian smiled playfully.
If Yusti-ah had possessed this kind of ability back when they were subjugating the Demon Lord, that hellish journey might have been a little easier.
Though having such thoughts now was pointless.
Anyway, now that they had even received a blessing, there was only one thing left to do.
To take down the Seven Great Evils on this island and find the sealed holy relic.
Snap-.
Franz snapped his fingers and used Spatial Movement Magic.