Chapter 65.2 - side story 4

Chapter 65.2 - side story 4: Resurrection

A waterside town in a maritime nation called Kalahad, in the Amid Empire’s southern region.

This place in that waterside town, which resembled a bar, was the base of the only S-class adventurer in the western region of the Bahn Gaia continent, the Thunderclap Schneider.

It seemed rather unfitting to be used as a base by an S-class adventurer, but he was not using it as a ‘guest’. He had bought the entire building and was using it as the ‘owner’.

Four men faced each other in seats placed far inside the bar.

Two of them were sitting in the seats. One of them was a man in his thirties with numerous scars on his face, and it was easy to tell even through his clothes that his body was well-trained. Standing behind him were two men who appeared to be accustomed to fighting.

The man facing them was a tall man with blonde hair who appeared to be in his early-to-mid-twenties.

His face appeared to be well-featured and feminine on close inspection, but his body was packed with enough muscle to dilute that impression and there was a wild air about him.

If the beauty and ferocity of a large, wild carnivore were turned into a person, this man might be the result.

“So, you’re saying that you’re messengers from Duke Marme?” said the man.

He was the Thunderclap Schneider. He was sitting with his legs outstretched and crossed over each other as he gestured for the messenger from a duke of the Amid Empire to continue speaking.

“That’s right. We want to request that you investigate the southern region of the Bahn Gaia continent.” The man who gave this response had sweat forming on his forehead. As he was a lesser nobleman himself, he should have been reprimanding Schneider for his arrogant behavior, but this was something that he would never do.

Schneider had the privilege of the ‘strong’.

Numerous noblemen who had incurred Schneider’s wrath in the past had been buried.

Among them was an earl who had been directly punched to death in a public place without any schemes or hidden plans.

However, Schneider received no punishment whatsoever. No, the earl had forced him to accept an illegal request that would normally have ended in his death, but… he had pleted the request easily and returned quickly.

Marshukzarl, the current Emperor, had acknowledged Schneider’s results, acquitted him of his crimes and crushed the family of the earl who had been punched to death.

That had been the moment the Emperor declared that Schneider was more important than foolish noblemen.

“Investigate, huh? How long do I have to investigate for and what am I supposed to investigate?” Schneider asked. “If you just tell me to investigate, all I’d have to do is go there, e back and say, ‘I’ve investigated the continent’s southern region,’ and that’d be it, messenger.”

In reality, however, anyone with superficial skills would bee monster food on even a short trip to and from the continent’s southern region.

Even if one took the sea route from Kalahad, there would be numerous Devil’s Seas, seas that had bee Devil’s Nests, along the way. They would be crawling with enormous monsters such as Krakens and Sea Dragons that were capable of sinking large ships.

So even if Schneider was able to perform the investigation that he had described, even though it wasn’t really an investigation at all, it would be a great enough achievement to leave his name in history.

“… We want you to dispose of a certain Dhampir, and then e back,” said the messenger.

This was what Duke Marme, the man who had sent the messenger, truly wanted to request. Not an investigation, but the murder of a Dhampir.

Duke Marme, Marshukzarl’s cousin, was a devout follower of Alda and held the honorable position of Cardinal himself.

High Priest Bormack Gordan had bee an Undead and attacked a town as a result of the expedition. For Duke Marme, this was a problem that needed to be dealt with immediately.

“Oh? I’ll have you tell me all the details,” said Schneider. “Lissana, it seems that this conversation is going to take a while. Bring some drinks.”

“Okay~♪”

An Elf woman with a sensational, dancer-like appearance brought a pot and cups. The men standing behind managed to resist running their eyes over her mostly-bare legs and bouncing breasts, but the jaw of the messenger dropped.

“Schneider-dono.”

“Ah, sorry, but you’ll have to make do without alcohol. I’m abstaining for health reasons, you see,” said Schneider.

“No, it’s not that. This is a private conversation. If possible, people should –” The messenger suddenly became unable to continue speaking. Being stared down by Schneider’s gleaming eyes, his tongue had bee immobilized.

“Did you not investigate properly at the Guild before ing?” Schneider asked. “Lissana is one of my party members. If you can’t trust her, hurry up and get out. Or would you like me to help you with that?”

“N-no! Stop! It was a slip of the tongue! Lady Lissana, I humbly offer my apologies! Please fcomive me!” The messenger poured everything he had into his apology. If his apology had been a moment too late, Schneider would have grabbed him by the head and thrown him outside. Schneider’s Title of ‘Person Launcher’ was famous in the Empire.

“It’s fine, I’m not bothered by it.” Lissana seemed unfazed as she poured tea into the cups, as if this was a regular occurrence.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Schneider asked, his bloodthirst vanishing as if nothing had happened at all.

The men moistened their dry throats with the tea they couldn’t taste or smell to calm their minds, and the conversation somehow continued.

Duke Marme had a pride that couldn’t overlook a being who had damaged the dignity of the Church of Alda, but another very probable reason that he had gone out of his way to ask Schneider to exterminate the Dhampir was that he couldn’t simply leave a dangerous individual who was somehow capable of taming thousands of Undead.

The reason he had asked Schneider to carry this out was because the Dhampir lived in the southern region of the continent that was full of unexplored Devil’s Nests that couldn’t be reached by incapable individuals, and, most importantly, because the Dhampir could apparently tame Undead.

If large numbers of men were dispatched in the hope of overwhelming the Dhampir with numbers, there was the possibility that the dead would switch over to the Dhampir’s side. Considering that the expedition army of thousands had e back as Undead, this was almost certain.

In other words, it would be preferable to send a small number of powerful individuals.

“So, you want me to do it, huh?” said Schneider.

“That’s right,” said the messenger. “And this isn’t certain, but the Divine Message from Alda could be related as well.”

“Divine Message? Ah, ‘Be prepared for disease,’ was it?”

The Divine Message that had been made public several days ago was sent by Alda, who had seen through the Records that Vandalieu had rendered the expedition army helpless with a disease, but… Strangely enough, its true meaning hadn’t been understood.

But supplementary budgets had been granted to mages of the Mages’ Guild specializing in the research of disease, and the priest-warriors were trying to acquire the Disease Resistance skill. The Divine Message hadn’t been entirely meaningless.

“No, not that one,” said the messenger. “The one before it.”

“The one about the Demon King… So, you’re saying he’s the Dhampir?” asked Schneider.

“Duke Marme believes so.”

“I see…”

As Schneider looked to be deep in thought, still holding his cup, the messenger saw hope and pressed him for an answer.

“Schneider-dono, you are someone so great that Alda worries for your safety. I believe that you are interested. And the fees paid will be substantial. The Duke will pay 100,000,000 Amids, and I have received word that you will be allowed to take up to ten women from the duchy and Amid’s Church. Of course, anything you acquire while pleting the request is yours without question.”

The messenger’s words made it clear just what people all over the Empire thought of Schneider.

A worldly-minded person who loved money and women despite being loved by Alda, the god of law and fate. This was the nobles’ image of Schneider.

“No, I have to decline.” Schneider’s answer was one of refusal.

“W-why?! If the Pope-sama accepts this, you can take as many as you want from the monastery; if you want priestesses, they can be made to live secular lives!” the messenger exclaimed. “Please reconsider!”

“Hey, hey…” Lissana whispered. The messenger was saying something that would bee a terrible scandal if it ever became public, but she was the only one to take any notice of it.

Alda was prone to being thought of as a god with strict teachings as his teachings included, “Uphold law and order.” But in reality, this teaching could be interpreted as, “As long as law and order are upheld, everything else is fine.”

The reality was that excuses such as, “This is for maintaining order,” and, “This is what the law has decided,” were being more monly used among the Great Church’s high officials lately.

One reason High Priest Gordan had refused the position of Cardinal and continued working on the frontlines was because he hated these high officials.

“No, it’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the rewards being offered,” said Schneider.

“So why?!” the messenger demanded.

“… I’ve bee rather sensitive to the cold lately.” Schneider opened his hands for some reason as he answered the question.

“It’s summer now, but it will be autumn and then winter soon. Whether I cross the mountain range or take the sea route, it will be cold, won’t it?”

“… I-it can’t be, you’re refusing for that reason?”

The men’s jaws dropped.

Schneider gave them a frustrated frown. “Look here. Despite my looks, I’m in my fifties and my body is on the decline. Are there really people who make faces like that when a well-aged old man is worrying about his sensitivity to the cold?”

In fact, Schneider was well over fifty years old. He looked like a man who was only in his twenties, but remaining records showed that he had been registered at the Adventurers’ Guild over forty years ago.

His Guild Card and Status displayed the same thing, so it was impossible to doubt this information.

There were all kinds of rumors about how he maintained the strong, well-trained body of a man in his twenties despite his age.

A rumor that he had killed and bathed in the blood of so many Dragons and Elder Dragons that he had bee immortal.

A rumor that one of his mistresses was a master of love-making, and it was thanks to her that he was staying young.

There was even a half-slandering rumor that he had signed a contract with an evil god that he was supposed to defeat, gaining perpetual youth.

But if anyone asked him, he would simply answer, “I just look young,” and he was a troublesome man who used his age as an excuse at every opportunity he got, as he was doing now.

“Can your eyes not see these white hairs? They used to be blonde back in the day…” Schneider pinched his platinum-blonde hair that he was calling white. There was indeed proof that his hair had once been blonde, but because it was so glossy and abundant, nobody other than him thought that it was white hair.

“Schna*, you’ve been plaining about the same thing for ten years, you know?”

TLN*: In case this isn’t immediately clear, this is a shortened nickname for Schneider.