Chapter 740 ·The Cursed One

Chapter 0740 The Cursed One

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“That was quite something, Ryo. As expected of you.”

“Aw, it was nothing that impressive.”

Abel praised him, and Ryo blushed bashfully.

The group was slowly making their way back to the lord’s manor.

The defeated monsters were being butchered by the soldiers stationed in the city, who were extracting their magic stones.

The evacuation order for the sea had also been lifted, and people had begun returning to the city.

“We’ve got our chance to buy grilled fish from the street stalls back.”

“I think you’re the only one who would look at it that way, Ryo.”

Ryo looked delighted, while Abel shook his head.

“Still, that was the best possible diplomatic card.”

“<The Icicle Lance Shower ‘Fan’> certainly puts on a spectacular display. It saved the residents and showed off our power at the same time. With this, there probably won’t be any countries left willing to oppose the Kingdom.”

“I don’t think this emirate originally intended to oppose us, though.”

“Who knows? They could have taken King Abel prisoner during his visit and threatened the homeland with him as a bargaining chip... We can’t say for certain that something like that would never happen.”

“Yeah, I think that’s absolutely impossible.”

The Premier Duke spun an imaginary conspiracy theory with a thoroughly sinister look on his face, while the King completely debunked it.

They returned to the lord’s manor, where Lord Chukudy of Borne once again expressed his gratitude.

“Your Majesty, Your Grace, I cannot thank you enough.”

“Don’t worry about it, Chukudy-dono.”

“I was merely following His Majesty’s command as well.”

Of course Abel did so, but Ryo also adopted a modest, proper tone in situations like this.

“We intend to head to Hosoina, the capital of the Emirate, from here. Perhaps this was the perfect thing to bring as a gift.”

Abel said this with a broad smile.

“Yes, of course. I will report what happened to Hosoina. From the Emir on down, I doubt anyone will treat the people of the Kingdom of Knightley with anything but the utmost respect.”

Chukudy nodded firmly.

Anything involving a king becomes a diplomatic card.

Whether it succeeds or fails, every action and every result...

This time, it had been quite a major success.

Even so, Abel had one small question.

“That rampage of monsters has been given the name ‘stampede,’ so I assume it has happened many times before. You couldn’t have abandoned the city every time, could you?”

“Of course not, Your Majesty. It occurs every few years. That said, in most cases, there are only around a hundred monsters. A number exceeding ten thousand like this time... has never happened in the past hundred years.”

“And yet you still have the smoke signals established.”

Exactly. A red smoke signal had been raised this time, and Chukudy had muttered that it was ‘a scale at which abandoning the city might be necessary’.

“That was decided by our Emir long ago. Our Emir can see the future, you see.”

“Really?”

Ryo was surprised by Chukudy’s words.

However, Abel beside him did not seem surprised.

((You’re not surprised, Abel?))

((I was taught before that, among the leaders of the Dark Continent, there are occasionally people who possess the power of foresight.))

Ryo asked through ‘Soul Resonance’, and Abel answered.

Apparently, not being surprised was the result of his education in the ways of kingship.

“We had anticipated that a large-scale stampede would eventually occur. So we had already drawn up evacuation plans for the residents, but... it seems there were still shortcomings in various places.”

“Things rarely go according to plan.”

Abel responded to Chukudy’s words with a wry smile.

It was an honest sentiment from two people who knew firsthand the difficulties that came with being involved in administration.

“Do you know what causes those stampedes?”

“No, we do not.”

“If they’ve occurred so many times before, surely you’ve investigated?”

“Yes. The only thing we know is that the monsters go berserk as they move outward from the center of the continent. Because of those occurrences, no cities can be built farther inland than the coastal areas.”

“I see.”

There seemed to be another reason why most of the people living on the Dark Continent were confined to the coastal areas.

“That is why, even now, we do not know what lies at the center of the Dark Continent.”

“What happens when that rampage... reaches the coast?”

“They begin cannibalizing one another.”

“Cannibalizing one another...”

Both Ryo and Abel grimaced.

“In the end, once only a few remain, the people who had evacuated to the sea return to land, defeat them, and begin living there again.”

“...That’s quite a system.”

“However, the city of Borne has grown too large and too populous.”

“Then there won’t be enough time to evacuate. Not being able to simply celebrate the city’s development...”

“Yes. It’s deeply saddening.”

Chukudy also grimaced.

But he gave a small shake of his head and continued.

“We cannot tell the people to leave the city now. We will work to make evacuation smoother and strengthen our defenses. When another stampede of the same scale occurs... even if Your Majesty and Your Grace are not here, we will make sure that the people do not have to suffer any casualties.”

“Yes, I think that’s the right thing to do.”

Chukudy spoke with a look of determination, and Abel smiled and nodded.

Governance never stops.

The Kingdom of Knightley’s party would be moving to a residence prepared by Chukudy, the Lord of Borne.

That said, it was a residence adjacent to the lord’s manor grounds, apparently intended for receiving important guests from other countries like this, and there was also a separate building for their guards.

They would stay for one night, then set sail for Hosoina aboard the Skidbladnir tomorrow morning.

“You did it, Abel.”

“What did I do?”

“There’s no doubt that we’ll be served this area’s finest food at dinner tonight.”

“Yeah, that certainly makes me happy.”

It was while Ryo and Abel were having this conversation as they traveled that it happened.

Thump.

“What was that?”

“Did you feel it too, Abel?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it was, but... I felt an incredible pressure.”

“Yes. It was as if the air itself were trembling... or as if someone had grabbed my heart in their hand... Whatever it is, it’s nothing good.”

Both Abel and Ryo stopped and looked around.

Naturally, the Royal Knights serving as their escort stopped as well.

“Your Majesty?”

“Didn’t Zack or Scotty feel it?”

“Huh? Feel what?”

No one in the Kingdom Knight Order had felt anything.

Was it only Ryo and Abel who had sensed it?

Thump.

“There it is again.”

“Yes.”

“Your Majesty?”

Once again, only Abel and Ryo... the Royal Knights had felt nothing.

Eventually...

“I thought ‘Mizuiro’* had done it, but I was wrong... Two powerful ones, huh. You two, did you defeat the monsters?” (TLN: Literally means Light Blue, most likely an appellation)

“That voice...”

“Yeah, I can hear it.”

Ryo and Abel could clearly hear the voice... but apparently, only the two of them could hear it.

No one else, including Zack and Scotty, could hear it.

“Interesting. Why don’t you two come visit me?”

“I don’t know who you are, but no.”

“Come fight me. It’ll be fun.”

“We have something much more enjoyable waiting for us.”

Ryo clearly refused.

“Something more enjoyable than fighting? Is there such a thing?”

“We travel around eating delicious food from different places. It’s very enjoyable.”

“...”

Ryo stated it with complete certainty.

Abel remained silent. The voice that only the two of them could hear also fell silent.

“I’m glad you seem to understand.”

“...Fine. You’ll come eventually anyway. Until then, eat some good food. The ‘Black Fool’ seems to have come as well. This should be fun.”

With those final words, the pressure disappeared.

“It seems we’ve caught the attention of a rather troublesome being.”

“Seems that way.”

“And there was even more troublesome information in what it said.”

“Hm?”

“The existence called ‘Light Blue’.”

“Yeah...”

“From the way it spoke, wouldn’t that mean ‘Light Blue’ can easily defeat more than thirty thousand monsters, just like I did earlier?”

“That’s what it sounds like.”

“Given the name ‘Light Blue,’ it could possibly be a water-attribute magician...”

“Can’t rule it out.”

Both Ryo and Abel grimaced.

“And apparently, the ‘Black Fool’ has come as well.”

“Yeah... I don’t know why, and I have absolutely no basis for it, but the face of one man comes to mind...”

“How strange. The face of a male Djinn comes to my mind as well...”

“His name starts with Gar and ends with Win.”

“He may have been wearing black clothes, but I’m pretty sure no one has ever looked down on him as a fool.”

“Strange.”

“It is.”

For some reason, when they heard “Black Fool,” the Djinn Garwin was the one who came to mind... poor Garwin.

“Come to think of it, Abel always seems to end up taking on troublesome situations.”

“Me?”

Abel looked puzzled.

“Even when you fought Garwin, wasn’t it the same? Maybe you’re cursed, Abel. Cursed to attract troublesome beings.”

Ryo pointed it out emphatically.

“If anything, you’re the one who’s cursed, Ryo.”

“Huh? Me?”

Abel said it while shrugging his shoulders, and Ryo looked genuinely offended.

“The Akumas, the Illusionkin, even Garwin. In the end, wasn’t it you who fought all of them?”

“I-I’m only protecting myself and the people I know. I’m doing something very good. The problem is with the people who come after me.”

“Even so. Well, there’s no point arguing about it here.”

“True.”

The two of them sighed at the same time.

For the time being, there was nothing either of them could do.

“Can’t be helped.”

“Yes. Let’s eat something delicious and take our minds off it.”

“...I suppose that’s the best option.”

That night, Ryo and Abel, along with the rest of the Kingdom’s party, thoroughly enjoyed a delicious dinner.

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