Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 76

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“So here’s the next one.”

According to the information obtained from the garbage worms earlier, Pumpkin arrived in front of the room where the other hostages were after carrying the concubines to the room that the First Prince had told him about.

“Hmm, did someone beat me to it?”

Two soldiers were on the floor in front of the room, their necks dripping with blood.

The effects of [Resonance Concerto Spell?Good Night Day] did not cause the two soldiers to go asleep; instead, they died from their wounds and blood loss from their necks.

The murder weapon was either a sharp blade or magic that had a similar effect, based on their wounds.

Moreover, taking into account the fact that there were no other bodies, and the fact that the corpses’ faces showed only an expression of surprise, the murder was almost instantaneous and quick. The one who killed them was very skillful.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like they’re too far ahead of me given the significant quantity of magic within.”

He opened the door and entered the room.

Three people were sleeping on top of one another in the room: a male Elf wearing a mask, a Birdman woman, and a young Human woman in a glittering costume.

The Elf and Birdman woman were probably Pumpkin’s colleagues, and the other women were probably the prince’s half-siblings.

But they seemed to be in excellent shape, being entrusted with this job. Even when they fell down, they made sure they were on the bottom so that the princesses wouldn’t get hurt.

Originally, [Resonance Concerto Spell?Good Night Day] was designed to prevent injuries during a coma, allowing the victims to fall from a height of several tens of meters without any problem though.

“I should wake them up anyway.”

However, Pumpkin was fairly positive that they were on his side, judging from the situation, so he dragged the two of them out from under the princesses and knocked them awake.

“…!?”

“…Ugh!?”

“Oh, you’re awake.”

And right after waking them up, the two of them saw him and immediately assumed a fighting stance.

The fact that the princesses were close by, though, was probably what kept them from attacking straight away. It may also be that Pumpkin did not give off a bloodlust.

“Who are you…?”

“I work for the First Prince Saku. And you?”

“…I’m an adventurer commissioned by the Third Prince Gouki.”

“So I guess that means we’re on the same side after all.”

“If what you say is true…”

When the two of them confirmed the position of the princesses, they shifted their own position so that they could protect the princesses at any time, while keeping a watchful eye on Pumpkin.

I mean, I suppose they have zero trust in me after all. That’s only a given though.

“Don’t worry, we’re on the same side. If we had been enemies, I would have finished you off while you were sleeping.”

“That’s certainly true, but…”

“Well, if you’re still concerned, then let’s share information to see whether we can trust one another.”

“…”

Therefore, Pumpkin told them that he had put all the living things in Senkonoto to sleep using magic and that he had rescued the concubines and taken them to a room with a hidden passageway leading out of the castle, according to the First Prince. The duo (the Elf man was the one who mainly talked) told him how they took out the soldiers in front of the room, how they got in, and why the princesses were the only ones in the room.

After they both understood that Pumpkin was not an enemy, they carried the sleeping princesses to the room where the concubines were sleeping and proceeded with the conversation.

“So they’ve already been executed, huh?”

“Yeah, I heard it was done right in front of the people and the princesses. The purpose was probably to prevent a rebellion.”

“Besides, the princesses could be kept for future diplomacy and rewards. This is just sickening.”

And as it turned out in the course of their conversation, the prince’s half-sibling had already executed all the boys who were apprehended in a torturous manner.

At this rate, the Fourth Prince will definitely be ready to play the politics of terror.

As for the king, however, it was said that he has not been executed yet. They presumably expected to use this one against the other princes who haven’t been captured yet as one of their trump cards.

Incidentally, while this conversation was going on, Pumpkin secretly used a magic called [Resonance Spell?Sense Lie] to verify whether or not they were lying about the information presented to him, but it seemed they were telling the truth.

[Resonance Spell?Sense Lie] was a magic that Pumpkin would not like to use if possible because it was more expensive than other resonance spells and it consumed his money more easily because the catalyst was a copper mirror, which was also a high-end product with a processing cost. Pumpkin could claim the cost from the prince later… the prince would permit it… definitely.

“Alright.”

“Phew. That leaves only the king?”

“And I’d like to destroy their trump card too, if possible. I don’t even know if this one exists.”

In the meantime, the princesses and the concubines were awakened by Pumpkin, who had entered the room where he had gathered the concubines with the hidden passageway open.

The two companions were instantly aware of what had transpired with the concubines’ clothes, and although they appeared irate, they said nothing in particular.

Well, that’s better for both sides.

“So… this had happened…”

“Yes. Unfortunately…”

So, the Birdman woman explained the situation to the concubines and the princesses. At times like this, it would be better to have someone of the same sex rather than a man or an unidentified person like Pumpkin to do the explanation.

During the explanation, some of them cried or fainted, but this was inevitable. It was a heavy topic. Pumpkin applied soundproofing magic on them so they can keep crying until they calm down.

With the boundary line he made by spreading his magic power, soundproofing alone would be sufficient to halt any air vibrations.

“So what are we going to do now?”

The woman who seemed to be the most senior among the concubines asked them as a representative.

“Well… thanks to him, all the enemies are asleep, and if possible, we would like to escape from the castle after rescuing the king.”

“Ah, no. The king seems to have arrived.”

“What?”

Pumpkin noticed two huge magical masses approaching them in his vision as the Birdman woman was about to respond to his words. Eventually, the two magical masses halted in front of the entrance.

“May I assume that you are His Majesty Akito?”

[[…!?]]

He can hear a gulp of breath from beyond the door at the sound of his voice as he released the soundproofing magic and asked.

Ah, I should have anticipated their trepidation when I did this. It is a miscalculation on my part. Well, I don’t have time for this, so I’ll just ignore it and move on. Please overlook any disrespect, because the circumstances are extraordinary.

“Rest assured that I am a subordinate of the First Prince Saku.”

And so Pumpkin slowly opened the door to the room, revealing his identity.

“What?”

An elderly man with blonde hair and fox ears protruding from his head as well as a Lizardman man keeping guard over the person at the back of the room came into view.

…

The old man’s fox ears, in my opinion, are quite subtle…

At any rate, that was what Pumpkin thought inwardly.

——————

A/N:

His Majesty has fox ears