「Uwah!」
「Kyaa!?」
The slime-like Evil God? —Horax—thrashed wildly, kicking up clouds of dust.
「Guhehehehe! This body! It’s the best aaaah!!」
He cackled loudly, convinced he had crushed us after Croco pulled us underground.
「That was close～」
「Croco, thank you.」
「Thank you, Croco-chan.」
Selene and I took turns patting her head. She beamed happily.
「All right… We can’t let him rampage too much. Let’s finish this quickly…」
「Um! Yuuki-san! Could I handle this one!?」
Selene drew her odachi with an excited gleam in her eyes.
「Sure, why not. If things get dangerous, I’ll back you up. Go ahead and do what you want.」
「「Yes!」」
「Wait, no, Croco, you stay here.」
「Ehh…」
Croco’s shoulders slumped. Was she always this battle-hungry?
「Then let’s go.」
「「Yes!」」
We stepped out into the open. Inside the massive slime-like mass floated a brain and eyes.
「What!? You’re still alive!?」
「That’s gross…」
「Yeah…」
「Kinda nasty…」
「You bastards!!」
「Haa!」
A flexible tentacle whipped toward us. Selene sliced it clean in two.
「Gyaaaaan!!」
「Selene (Onee-chan)!」
「「Go get him!」」
「Yes!」
Selene leaped forward energetically. In midair, the jewel on her forehead shone brightly.
『I call upon the power of flame! Become arrows that burn my enemies to ash!!』
She created arrows of fire and fired them one after another.
——Sssssss!
「Gyaaaa!? It buuurns!!」
The sound of searing flesh filled the air. A stench like a sewer rose up. I pinched my nose.
「Ughhh, it stinks so bad!! 『I call upon the power of wind! Let me soar and be freed into the vast sky!』」
I used wind magic to leap into the air and escape upward, continuing to chant the next spell while staying airborne.
『I desire it! The mighty power of the earth! Become my blade and cut down my enemies!』
I wrapped rock around the sheathed sword, forming an extended blade.
「This is it! The finishing blow!!」
With a thunderous roar, I crushed and sliced the enemy, carving a massive scar into the ground as it shattered and ground apart.
「That was total overkill…」
「Fweh hehe…」
Croco pinched her nose as she spoke. Hmm… I hope some evidence remains…
Afterward, I used earth magic to clean up the mangled plain and gathered the fragments of Horax along with his belongings.
I sent Croco to search for the bodyguard, but there wasn’t a single trace left.
He was probably devoured…
「Okay, that should do it. 『——Restore』」
I used restoration magic on the items.
There was a small amount of money, preserved food, a memo from the king, and finally the small vial Horax had drunk from, along with its contents.
「Hee… So it’s a strengthening agent made from a fragment of the Evil God…」
It seemed drinking this would cause 【Evil God Sprout】 implanted in someone to germinate and turn them into an Evil God…
「I’ll have Marian look into this…」
I casually stuffed everything into Horax’s bag and stood up.
「The remaining issue is… this guy…」
It was the memo mentioning Selene. Well, since she’s listed as the new Demon King’s fiancée, it’s not strange that they’d know her name…
「We need to review the security measures…」
「Yes…」
We have to anticipate people like this who are willing to self-destruct…
「All right then, Croco, Selene—leave the explanation to Noctarl-san to me. I’m heading to Marian’s place for a bit.」
「Yes!」
「Understood. Leave it to us!」
After confirming the two slipped into the shadows, I jumped straight to where Marian was.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
「Hey, Marian」
I teleported to the divine realm and called out to Marian, who was in the middle of working.
「Huh? Yuuki-san, is something wrong?」
「I got my hands on something interesting.」
「What is it?」
Marian tilted her head. I took out the small vial in question.
「This is a drug that makes 【Evil God Sprout】—the seed of the Evil God that’s been implanted—germinate.」
「!?」
Marian’s eyes widened. She opened and closed her mouth in shock. She clearly hadn’t known about it.
「The assassin sent by the king (Baldan) was carrying this. That means there’s probably a large stockpile of this drug somewhere in the royal capital.」
「In other words… I need to locate it, right…」
「Yeah… Though I don’t suppose you could make a counter-drug or vaccine or something?」
「Well… I won’t know until I try, but… we might not have enough time…」
「I see. Then it can’t be helped…」
「I’m sorry…」
Marian looked truly apologetic. Was there any way to improve the situation…?
「Oh, right. Why don’t we call Rie and have her look into it?」
「That’s a good idea! I’ll go get her right away!!」
Marian opened a door and stepped through. About ten minutes later, she returned with Rie in tow. And wow, that was a lot of luggage…
「It’s been a while, Yuuki-kun」
「Ze-haa… ze-haa… Yuuki-san… this is… from your wives…」
——Splat.
「「Ah…」」
We rescued the crushed Marian and spread out what she had been carrying.
「Side dishes, cake, sweets, Japanese study books, and… one whole sack of rice…」
The rice was obviously the main culprit. I stored everything in spatial storage (item box) while continuing.
「And this one’s from Hikari-chan.」
Rie dropped a heavy bag. Something box-shaped peeked out from inside. Wait… was that…?
「『It’s fine to do it, but make sure you use contraception, okay?』 she said. Must be tough～」
「Ah… yeah… so she knew…」
「Of course. She’s been watching.」
Rie laughed dryly. Yeah… figures…
「Yeah… I’ll apologize properly next time I see her…」
I swore that to myself.
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