Chapter 246.1

Volume 3: Chapter 246 – The Absence of a Great Man (1/5)

“Hey, shadow one. Tell me, how do you kill a monster that can regenerate as much as it wants?”

A girl asked with a bewitching smile while brushing up her golden hair.

“I don’t know, with poison?”

“As expected of a shadow one. Your imagination is as pleasant as I’d thought. But that’s a bit wrong, as the monster might eventually harmonize with the poison. After all, it’s a monster we’re talking about.”

“Then perhaps you can beat him before he regenerates.”

“If that were possible, I wouldn’t be suffering so much. A fragile person’s arms couldn’t possibly kill that monster. What’s more is that it’s a monster that can regenerate endlessly.”

“Haa… That is indeed a troublesome one.”

Seeing the man pitifully scratch his head, the girl laughed in satisfaction.

“Yes. Very troublesome indeed.”

“Can you tell me the answer now? The thoughts of an esteemed person such as yourself are like the heavens up above to unlearned men like me. We could not even hope to fathom it.”

“Very well, shadow one, in light of the honesty you displayed, I shall tell you the answer. Listen well. The way to kill that monster is—”

The moment the words left her mouth, the man’s dream shattered.

“…You have some nerve to fall asleep while on horseback.”

Apparently, he was shaken awake. Esgare knitted his brows.

“Heh, I had a good dream.”

“Oh? Did you dream about a woman you love or something? Your jaw is about to split from how wide your grin is.”

When the middle-aged adventurer said that, Esgare laughed. That wrinkled face looked like it couldn’t hurt a fly.

“Nah, just the words of someone terrifying up high. She was young, but she was really gutsy.”

Seeing Esgare shake his head while trembling so much it was pathetic, the middle-aged adventurer rubbed his unshaven face and laughed, his interest seemingly roused.

“Doesn’t look like that at all to me, though.”

“No, seriously, I’m telling the truth.”

As a wry smile appeared on Esgare, he scratched his head, seemingly troubled.

The adventurers that started a rebellion left Pena and headed north to the Western Capital. They numbered approximately 2,000. Esgare thought they did well gathering that many.

This was undoubtedly a land of death.

A place located right at the center of a country ruled by monsters. It was a miracle that they could have such a peaceful conversation in a place like that. Every one of the people here had an interesting story. They really did do a good job gathering all of these people.

Perhaps this too was designed by that higher-up’s power. His wry smile grew deeper.

“So tell me. What kind of esteemed person would use a man like you?”

The middle-aged adventurer’s eyes glittered as he rubbed his unshaven face.

In the face of that dangerous color, Esgare made a shocked face and moved the muscles on his face, though inwardly he stuck out his tongue.

Seriously, everyone gathered here were people he couldn’t let his guard down against. One step wrong and a killing may very well start. But it was precisely because they were daring and mad enough to do just that in the middle of enemy territory that Esgare could be reassured by their presence.

“That… I can’t say. Isn’t the same true for you too?”

“Well, I suppose.”

The middle-aged man heartily laughed, and then glanced at Esgare and subtly smiled.

“I’ve taken a liking to you. Name is Gaerix. Though I guess you probably know that already.”

Gaerix the Raptor, a rather well known name among adventurers who go to war. That was the name of a man who was rumored to have been forced to leave the country after killing too many civilians. Word has it that he used a large bow and half-interestedly killed fleeing people. It’s uncertain how true the rumor is, but it’s said that he’s killed about 200 civilians.

“Unlike Gaerix the Raptor, though, I don’t have a special name. I’m Esgare. Just Esgare.”

Esgare bowed his head and wished themselves to have a good time working together, then moved ahead. He could feel the man’s cold gaze boring into him.

“Yep, definitely scary. At this rate, our princess is going to think the rest of the adventurers is nothing but scrap iron.”

As a ghastly smile appeared on his face, he urged his horse to go onwards.

As of yet, not even Pale knew what their objective was.

◆◇◆

Ra Gilmi Fishiga, who was meant to chase after them, led his army north immediately after crushing the main force of the rebel army. Although there were indeed enemies present, this was still their territory. Taking full advantage of their intelligence department, they gathered the information on the adventurers and chased after them.

If they were to have miscalculated somewhere, however, it would be the chaos at the Western Capital. Although the king was right to partition the duties of the Governor-General Office and the guild in order to alleviate the burden on the administration while Yoshu was down for the count, the situation was much more grave than they’d imagined.

The work of the guild has stagnated.

This did not mean that the administrators of the guild were incompetent. There was nothing at all wrong up till the part where the king and Pale sent skilled people to manage the guild. The problem lay in the fact that the guild itself was constructed from the ground up to move according to the will of the Governor-General.

In the first place, Yoshu founded the guild in order to help the people gathered at the Western Capital find a job and support its expansion. Because of that the guild naturally grew to function by taking on orders from the governor-general’s office.

Yoshu had a vision for what the Western Capital was supposed to look like, and he built it according to that vision. He was a brilliant man, but the problem is that not enough authority was given to the person taking over for him. His replacement was only meant to fill in for him until he recovered, so the only authority he had been given was to continue the jobs that were already in the works.