Chapter 92
“You went to catch a Cultist and found a sealed weapon there?”
Listening to Franz’s explanation, Yustia expressed her doubt.
Franz nodded and continued his explanation.
“Yeah, according to him, the Demon God personally bestowed power upon him and told him to guard it.”
“Then where is he? If it were you, I’m sure you would have captured him alive.”
“About that…”
Franz trailed off and scratched his head.
It was because he felt unnecessarily awkward mentioning he had killed the Cultist.
No matter how evil a person was, taking a life naturally brought about a sense of aversion.
But he couldn’t not answer, so he let out a sigh and replied.
“I killed him.”
“You killed…, did something happen…?”
Yustia asked in a rather cautious tone.
Franz couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
If it were the past, she would have snapped at him about treating life lightly and so on.
He realized again that his relationship with her had changed a lot.
Feeling a bit lighter thanks to that, he spoke.
“He asked me… to kill him.”
“The Cultist did?”
“Yeah. He was a guy who received power from the Demon God, and apparently he had already been in that spot for hundreds of years.”
“He’s a Cultist, but I feel a little sorry for him.”
“Yeah…”
In the face of the profound topics of immortality and death, the atmosphere grew heavy.
Not particularly liking that, Yustia immediately changed the subject.
“Then I guess you couldn’t find out any information about the other Seven Great Evils?”
“I asked him, but he said he didn’t know.”
“I see… I thought things were working out quite well, but I suppose this is as far as it goes.”
Yustia let out a sigh after saying that.
Out of the Seven Great Evils, they had only dealt with a mere two so far.
Having to find the remaining five on their own meant the road ahead was truly bleak.
However, contrary to her thoughts, the situation wasn’t bad enough to be called the worst.
“It’s a bit much to call it a substitute, but I did find out where the sealed weapons are.”
Considering the Demon God personally granted power and ordered it to be guarded, the importance of the weapon went without saying.
And there was no way the Cultist bastards following the Demon God would have left such weapons alone.
It meant there was a possibility that the other sealed weapons were also being guarded by Cultist bastards, just like this time.
Of course, it was strictly in the realm of possibility, but it was a much better situation than diving in blind without knowing anything.
It was the moment Franz was about to explain this fact to Yustia.
Click-, clack-.
There were approaching footsteps in the silence.
Franz and Yustia’s gazes turned toward the source of the sound.
Their gazes fell on two people.
It was Arian and Yuna.
Yuna was smiling as always, but Arian had an unusual expression, as if she had some sort of complaint.
“Let’s continue this conversation later.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
The two hurriedly wrapped up their conversation.
There was no particular reason to hide it, but it wasn’t exactly something to go around blabbing about either.
Soon, the four of them, excluding Hera, gathered in one place.
The first to speak was Arian.
“What were you two doing in such a secluded place?”
Fortunately, her expression had returned to normal, but her words were still full of thorns.
Franz was simply puzzled by her reaction.
It would be one thing if they had done something guilty, but that wasn’t the case at all.
And in the first place, there was no reason for him to walk on eggshells around her just for talking with Yustia.
Just as Franz was about to say something.
“We were just having a conversation. Is there a problem?”
Yustia beat him to the punch.
At her nonchalant words, Arian shrugged and replied.
“Not really? I was just curious what you were doing in such a secluded place.”
Arian blatantly emphasized that it was a secluded place.
No matter how dense Franz was, he couldn’t help but catch on at this point.
Arian was dissatisfied that he and Yustia were talking in a place like this. He realized.
Certainly, being alone together in a place like this was enough to draw suspicion.
Considering there were already rumors of that sort going around in the Cathedral, what more needed to be said?
But Franz was innocent.
They hadn’t done anything like that in a secluded place; they had simply talked about work.
‘It was work, right…?’
They had briefly strayed from the topic with talk about having a child and whatnot, but that was strictly a misunderstanding, so it should be fine.
As Franz continued his train of thought, he suddenly realized he was walking on eggshells around Arian and let out a hollow laugh.
This was all because of that promise.
The promise to get married in a year.
If he had to put a label on it, it was like a conditional engagement.
But then, did that make Arian his conditional fiancée?
Wasn’t that a bit weird too?
With Franz experiencing such confusion, and Yustia and Arian engaged in an endless battle of nerves,
In a situation that could truly be called chaos, there was only one normal person, and it was none other than Yuna.
“Why don’t we all stop this and go out to play? We came all the way to the North. It’d be a bit of a shame to just stay in the mansion and go back.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Freed from his thoughts thanks to Yuna, Franz immediately agreed with her words.
Just as she said, they had finally gotten away from the Magic Tower and come all the way to the North, so they couldn’t just spend their time meaninglessly like this.
Besides, he had wanted to look around the village from the moment they arrived at the mansion.
Afterward, the four of them scattered to get ready to go out, then gathered once again at the mansion’s entrance.
It didn’t take particularly long.
Because they were all mindful of someone, the companions had been in a state ready to go out since morning.
As the companions boarded the carriage that had been prepared in advance, a faint vibration was immediately felt, signaling their departure.
Staring blankly out the window, Franz thought.
‘What on earth is Hera doing?’
He had wanted to go out together if possible, but she hadn’t returned yet, so he couldn’t even invite her.
He felt a bit uncomfortable, worried that she might feel like she was being left out for no reason.
That absolutely wasn’t the case, but it was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.
Well, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Fortunately, however, Franz’s worries ended up being unfounded.
Shortly after arriving at the village below the castle, the four of them got off the carriage and soon encountered someone with their hood pulled down tight.
Seeing the green hair peeking out from inside the hood, they had no need to ask who it was.
“What brings the companions here?”
Hera blinked her green eyes and expressed her question.
She seemed quite flustered.
At that, Franz spoke.
“This works out perfectly. I was looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Yeah, I was going to ask if you wanted to go hang out in the village together. But you were already here.”
“I had some brief business to attend to. More importantly, if that offer is still valid, I would like to spend time together…”
At Hera’s cautious words, Franz let out a chuckle, pfft.
“Sure, let’s go.”
With Hera joining them, the group of five began their tour of the village.
The first place they headed to was a nearby shop that sold various goods.
‘Wow, it really is different.’
Looking around the shop, Franz realized again that this was the North.
Unlike Ester, the city where the Magic Tower was located, it was full of winter gear.
Among them were items he truly hadn’t even thought of, so it seemed like it would be good to bring the Researchers from the Magic Tool Development Department here someday.
After all, new experiences were always a source of ideas.
It was while he was looking around the shop with such interest.
Suddenly, he noticed Hera holding something in her hand and looking at it with an intrigued expression.
Wondering what on earth it could be, Franz approached her.
“Hera, what’s that?”
“Ah, it’s a collar.”
Hera wished to become a Slave, and she also desired a collar.
As those two keywords combined, a strange sense of anxiety welled up in Franz’s heart.
“…Why that?”
“Sometimes when you see slaves, there are cases where they wear iron chains as collars. I thought it might be a bit uncomfortable to go that far. If possible, I was wondering how something like this would feel. It’s luxurious and soft, so it’s not bad, is it? Ah, right, if you tell me to, I’ll wear an iron chain or whatever else, so don’t worry too much.”
Hera said that and showed a shy smile.
As if the collar were a wedding ring.
“I see… Yeah, it’s nice.”
Franz said that and simply offered an awkward smile.
If he seriously thought about this kind of thing, his head might explode.
As expected, it was important for a human to empty their mind.
Please, let the other girls be normal.
The moment Franz thought that, the girls were approaching, each having picked up an item.
Please, let nothing happen.