Act 2-31 - Carriage's Movement

Chapter 31 : Carriage’s Movement

I went back to the gathering place of Gamdon’s Suicide Squad along with Mani and Edda.

There were a few more people added compared to the last time.

Though the number of the people in the last meeting was twelve-including Edda and I-, it was now increased to sixteen.

Just like Mani, they might be the people who decided to participate after they heard the situation from the other adventurers.

「Oi, are there no other environmentalists amongst you guys!? I don’t mind even if you can only use incomplete 《Airla》! Though I understand that you might want to hide that ability, please understand that your ability is a matter of life or death for combatants like us!」

Gamdon’s right-hand man, Childick, went around as he said so to the other adventurers.

「Oi, Childick! It can’t be helped if there are no more people who are environmentalists. C’mon, let’s depart before those bas*tards from the army have sniffed out our movement.」

Childick has only stopped after Gamdon called out to him.

「I mean, having only two environmentalists-which including me- is a bit too dangerous. I wanted insurance of insurance in case of an unforeseen accident but…」

「The heck yer talking about, Childick! We only need to worry about that if you’re killed by those bast*ards! Our preparation is going well, don’t pour cold water on them. Oi, let’s head off immediately!」

After laughing at Childick’s worry, Gamdon walked toward the entrance of the bar

「C’mon guys! Let’s kick those grey cultist as*ses, and magus assistant Malty out of this city!」

Childick watched Gamdon’s back but he followed the latter immediately.

Seeing that, the other adventurers started moving too.

「… At least, it’ll be much safer for us if Childick is the one who takes command.」

I let out such murmurs.

I mean, Childick, the environmentalist himself, was thinking that far ahead when it wasn’t supposed to be an environmentalist’s job to worry about such a thing.

We need a spare plan in case Childick got himself killed in the battle.

Meaning that he is still thinking about how to accomplish Gamdon’s suicide squad’s goal even if for example he was killed in action.

「…」

Mani squinting her eyes, glaring at Childick’s back.

「Is something the matter, Mani?」

「No, it just that I don’t have an honest disposition like you, that’s why his action just now looked suspicious to me.」

Mani let out a smile as if trying to avoid this topic.

I’m actually curious about what part she was suspicious about but, I guess there was no need to continue this conversation since Mani herself didn’t wish to tell me about it.

After we left the bar, we got on separate carriages which were already reserved for Gamdon’s suicide squad, and left the city for Romburgh’s underground labyrinth as fast as possible.

It seems the Razin company invested huge sums of money for this operation.

Mani, Edda and I along with two other strangers boarded a five-person carriage.

Mani, Edda and I were taking turns to sit on the coach seat.

「Boarding coach with Dean feels like a fresh experience.」

I snapped out of my own thoughts upon hearing Mani’s remark.

The only time I left Romburgh city was when I’m heading toward a demon labyrinth.

I rarely got the chance to board a coach along with Mani as of late, sometimes we went toward the demon labyrinth by foot, due to economic reasons.

「The company seems to be a fairly influential one. In my opinion, I’m willing to go there by foot if it can increase our remuneration.」

I think Razin company has kept their low profile about their involvement in this matter in fear of being placed under watch of the army but, they’re already investing more than enough for this mission.

This coach was the token of their approval toward Gamdon and co’s determination.

Though Gamdon didn’t seem like a lavish person, it seems he carried so much money that he could play for the rest of his entire life.

「… We’ve to do our best. Because some of the company’s employees have also become the victim of the grey cult.」

「Maybe the amount isn’t as much as we thought. I mean, just think about the amount of tax placed on them by that magus assistant Malty. Even the merchants were irked by it. It might be only natural for those merchants to wish for Malty to die.」

「Yeah, we can also think that it’s the merchants’ true goal…」

The Ryuzu kingdom did appoint magus generals and magus assistants to each of their respective areas to protect the important citys in the kingdom.

There was no reason to keep them if they’re not doing their job properly.

「Well… since the only support those companies give to us is money, we shouldn’t refuse it. What those companies were aiming for has no direct relationship with us.」

That’s right.

Though I don’t know whether those companies did this to protect the city or to get a chance to take down magus assistant Malty, we had nothing to do with that, all we needed to do was to take down the enemy before us.

「The real problem is if we lose against those grey cultists. I heard that the scale of their organization isn’t that big, and they might’ve exhausted themself after staying in a demon labyrinth for a long time… but, every single one of our enemies were powerful enchanted weapon’s user. Well, it’s not like we’ve the right to complain about it.」

「… we should have more leeway if only the army was taking this matter seriously.」

「As for how much manpower they need, I think one unit of Romburgh city’s army should be enough to take care of them. But, if the army makes their move, the grey cultist will also move to ensure that the army will sit at the negotiation table. When that happens, the army will be forced to abide by the cultist’s demand. So things won’t just become easier even if the army make their move.」

… as expected, the grey cult has no intention to clash with the army from the front huh.

I mean, their kidnapping was also aimed for that.

Whether it was the incident with Gaza in which she murdered the adventurers she met in the labyrinth in the name of ritual, the incident with Vlad in which he slaughtered the civilians in the name of revenge, or their declaration which was written with the blood of their victims… though every single one of those incident look like an act of a madman when seen separately, when seeing it as a whole, it was enough to send a chill running down my spine since their action were extremely rational for the sake of completing their goal, forcing the army to sit at the negotiation table without direct confrontation with them.

「They’re not choosing adventurers as their hostage since their hostage is necessary for negotiation with the army but… they might not even hesitate for a second to kill their hostage if things aren’t going according to their plan… in short, this is a tough battle of wit.」

「Yea… you’re right.」

Though Gamdon was filled with confidence, we might have a hard fight against the grey cultists.

The requirement for our complete victory was… no casualty from the hostages side and adventurer’s side but… I doubt things would go our way.

I mean, the chance for all of us to be annihilated in this mission was higher than all of us surviving.

「Sorry, I ended up dragging you into this mess…」

「What are you talking about? This is my own, selfish wish. I just want to be on your side when you’re in this kind of dangerous situation.」

Mani touched her forelocks as she muttered 「Saying such manly words is really embarassing after all」 with flushed red cheeks.

「… Mani.」

「C… come to think of it, I’m curious about something.」

Mani lowered her voice to mere whisper as she matched her eyes with mine.

I then followed Mani’s line of sight, which stopped at Edda who sat beside her.

Edda kept her silence after we got on the coach.

She looks more irritated than usual. Well, it might be because she has yet to get used to the crowd or simply because of the number of people who were riding in the coach.

Mani brought her face close to mine as she whispered in an even lower voice.

「Uhm, Dean… are you sure that it’s okay for me to sit in the middle like this? I mean, the turn for entering the coach should be you first which is then followed by Edda, right? I mean, she only talks to you. Edda-san might want to talk with you too you know?」

「It’s okay, don’t worry about that. Despite her spicy tone, she’s a kind person deep inside. I think it’s okay to open your heart to her.」

「I-I know that, obviously, but still… this pressure, or should I say… haven’t you felt it too…」

… Since I’m still a porter, street smart Mani has always managed to finish her job with no problem, which proved that she was more skillful in the way of words than me but, even that Mani was having a hard fight when it comes to communicating with Edda, the mighty warrior of Narc.

Well it’s not like I couldn’t understand the reason behind her awkwardness since appearance wise, Edda was really beautiful… which mismatched with her thorny speech.

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TN : 14 chapters to go