Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 54

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Chapter 24 : A story where no one can be forgiven

“Well then… With this, the anomaly is probably over.”

After purifying and storing the dungeon core, I looked around.
There are no more branches or roots that are moving. The miasma is also thinning and it will completely disappear with the passage of time. Well, It still will take a long time for the forest to return to normal.
As for the polluted soil… Well, let’s do it little by little. I’m kind of tired today, and I still have one more job left to do.

“What should I do now…”

“Are you talking about Fricka’s father?”

“… I’m sorry for the inconvenience…”

Fricka is apologetically looking down, but it’s not your fault. So don’t worry about it.
Even so, she didn’t refuse me like the last time, so she probably accepted my intervention in this case.

“If we can get in touch with Wiega, we might be able to arrest him before things happen, but…Well, our return will definitely stand out anyway.”

“Right~.”

“And because that.”

To me who let out a sigh, Uru sticks up one of hers fingers.

“How about we do something like this?”

Using the return stone, we returned to the open space that the Creator God’s statue is, in Alness Village. And before I forget, let’s make another return stone.

“Then Uru, I’m counting on you.”

“Umu.”

Seeing off Uru, who will be acting separately, Fricka and I kill time while slowly walking towards the village.
Before long, I could see the fence at the entrance of Alness village that I saw in the first day here. The guards were also standing just as they were that day, and apparently they had noticed us too.

“Miko-sama, have you returned!”

“I will go inform the elders!”

One saluted and another tried to run into the village, though.

“That won’t be necessary.”

One of the elder trio appeared together with Fricka’s father. ……And Fricka’s father brought the little sister with him.
…… Hmm, how troublesome. I thought that he would definitely take an action when we returned, but I didn’t take into account that it would be so fast and that one of the elders would be together with him.
Well, it might be troublesome for them if we enter the village like this. And Fricka’s father is openly glaring at me, so it doesn’t seem like he is appreciating my return.
The elder… I think his name was Kaina. I vaguely remember the name, but I remember his bitter face from when I treated the elves. That person tapped Fricka’s father (Thinking about it, I haven’t heard his name before. Well, It’s fine though) on the shoulder as if saying to wait, and then came forward.

“Miko-sama, what happened to your other companion?”

“…She was injured, so she is treating her wounds.”

Either he believed my lie or he didn’t, either way he wasn’t interested in Uru in first place. And without any particular intention to continue to question me about it, he just snorted and moved on to the next topic.

“The fact that you’re back means that this incident has been resolved, right?”

“Yes. You won’t be able to feel it right away, but the forest will gradually recover.”

In response to my explanation, the elves who gradually began to gather let out shouts of joy.
However, Kaina just frowned his face and didn’t seem happy at all.

“Do you have anything that could be evidence? No, I’m not doubting miko-sama words, but we can’t just wipe away our unease that quickly.”

“…The whole surrounding area had turned into a dungeon, so the dungeon’s absorption of the land’s vitality was the cause. And this is the magic stone that was the core. It was already been purified.”

I took out the core from the item box and raised it the eye level so they could see it easily.
Since it’s a fairly large magic stone, there shouldn’t be anyone who would mistake it for a monster’s magic stone.
Well, what kind of reaction you will give me? I was mentally prepared that he would look out to find fault with anything. … But in reality it was even worse.

“Hahaha, you’re joking too hard … This grave robber!”

“……Hah?”

At Kaina’s sudden false accusation I became stunned, and the surroundings become noisy.
And just like that, Kaina speaks to the remaining two elder trio members who arrived a little late.

“Ash, Ort. Do you recognize the magic stone she is holding up?”

“Come to think of it, that size…”

“It’s similar to the treasure that our father had… No way?”

The one that they refer as their father is that miko.
If this magic stone was a burial item, then it wouldn’t be strange if it looked familiar…!

“Ah, that’s right. To steal our father’s treasure, which is like a holy relic for us, and after all, to say that it was the core of a dungeon… Be ashamed, Hyuman! ……Isn’t this incident itself your fault?”

Leaving aside the latter case, in the former case If you are not aware of the dungeonization, it might lead you to such conclusion?
But… Leaving aside the remaining two, Kaina is definitely hiding something about this incident. If he really didn’t know anything about it, he wouldn’t call me a grave robber, without properly checking if it was true or not, and on top of that, without showing a single hint of being shaken up by my statement this whole time. Isn’t he trying to cause a commotion to deceive the surroundings that he is hiding something …?
In the first place, how could an outsider like me know where the treasure was? How do you artificially do a super-wide range of weakening effect, that can even affect plants?
I think there is a degree to being a bad lier, but even so, he is one of the elders who has a strong voice in this village. Some may believe him.
Even if it’s an obviously strange statement, there are actually people who will agree with it, if it said with confidence from a high-ranking person. ……In fact, the commotion is getting bigger.

“No, but, the sick people condition has been improved with the medicine that this person brought, you know?”

“Yes, right… It’s a little regrettable, but even the miasma that we couldn’t cure…”

Oops, To this kind of comment came out, were Ash and Ort innocent? If it’s not an acting, though.
As if to convince the two of them who were worried, Kaina was steadily piling up nonsense.

“What are you talking about? If it’s a disease that she spreaded, it wouldn’t be strange to her have an antidote to it.”

“”… I-I see.””

Is not ‘I see.’! As expected these people are no good.
I’ve had enough… I started to want to throw everything away… But there’s no way he noticed my inner thoughts, Kaina took a step forward.

“Well, you can’t get away with it, thief.”

“I’m no thief!”

I grabbed the magic stone in my hand to my chest and stepped back as much as I was pressed on.
People saying “Don’t run away!” and “Catch her!” started to appear. Among them, there are even people with staffs and bows.
When they took one step closer I retreated another step back.
Bump! My back bumped into something.
When I looked back in a panic… It was Fricka who had been silent all this time.

“Th-that’s right, Fricka say to them too! That I’ve successfully conquered the dungeon!”

“…”

Fricka does not reacts to me at all. When I tried to request her again, I was interrupted by an angry voice.

“Fricka!!!”

“…!”

The owner of the voice is Fricka’s father. He ostentatiously puts his hand on Fin’s shoulder and holds up his staff.
……Ah, that grinning smile. Instead of trying to point the cane at me, I guess it’s a threat to Fricka, as if he was saying “I can hurt your sister at any time, you know?”.

“Didn’t you already understand? She’s not a noble being like a miko, she’s a great sinner who stole our holy relics…. Kill her and take it back!”

‘Otherwise, you know, don’t you?’ With only the movement of his mouth, he conveyed it to her. And he also didn’t forget to subtly turn the position of his staff.
I wonder if it’s to in case if she resisted even if her neck was strangled for violating the order… He is really a scum…!

“Fri??”

??Putsu!

I couldn’t raise my voice again.

Because.

By the knife that Fricka took out without I even realizing, I was stabbed.

“… Gaha!”

The commotion stopped for a moment, and I felt that my voice sounded awfully loud.