Chapter 454.1: Side: Ashwrath (I)

「The continent of Gilberd huh. It's been a long time since I've been there」

「You are a big guy! Are you from the demon tribe?」

「Ou, perhaps」

「Are you on a business on this continent?」

「No, it's not like a business......」

It was on a whim that I crossed over from the continent of Krome to the continent of Gilberd.

「Well. I guess I just followed my intuition」

「Haah, intuition?」

I have a unique skill called 『Imbecility』, which is a skill that strengthens your intuition and instincts. With this skill, I could tell if the other person's words were a lie or not. I could somehow tell if they were speaking from the heart or not. Sometimes I am wrong, but many times this skill has saved my life.

My intuition was telling me that I should go to the continent of Gilberd. It was originally triggered by the words of an evil person named Murellia.

The last thing she said to me was that she wanted me to save a boy named Romio. I couldn't feel any lie in those words. It must have come from the bottom of her heart.

And then the man I fought afterwards, Zelos Reed. He was a vicious man, but I could also feel his deep sadness. I didn't know why at the time, but......

Later, when I heard that Zelos Reed had kidnapped Romio, it became clear. Ostensibly, it looked like Zelos Reed had betrayed Murellia, but I guess that was just for show. I don't even know why he did it......

With that in mind, it seemed only natural that Zelos Reed would act to fulfil Murellia's last wish.

I can also predict the destination that Zelos Reed will take Romeo to. The results of a survey of orphanages around the country had been compiled to determine where Murellia would leave Romeo.

Among them, an orphanage in the big city of Barbra was apparently being checked out as a promising place to leave the child. This is what I've heard from Miss Mea and the others, so I'm sure it's true.

It's not like there's anything in it for me to go after. I'm not sure if I want to save Romio or if I want to have a rematch with Zelos Reed. But I felt that I should see it through. And the next thing I knew, I was on a ship bound for the continent of Gilberd.

「But I didn't realize it was a vain attempt......」

Once I got off the ship and started asking around, I quickly found out the location of the orphanage. It seemed to be a very famous place in Barbra. Recently, a rank A adventurer had taken shelter at the orphanage, and the name seemed to have spread even further.

I asked the strangely low-key woman who came out to respond about Romio, and to my surprise, she said he wasn't at this location.

「Zelos Reed took him, huh?」

It didn't end up here.....

「I had a bad feling」

It felt like a small fish bone was stuck in my throat. Maybe I should leave it alone, but I couldn't help wondering. Where did Romio and Zelos Reed go?

Besides, it would be boring to cross the continent and come up empty. At the very least, I wanted to see Zeros Reed and Romio at least once.

「So where should i go to next....?」

Zelos Reed is a criminal who is wanted all over the world. It must be difficult for such a man to continue raising a child. If he has to keep running away from his pursuers, he won't be able to settle down.

But there is a place where even such a person can live without worrying about his pursuers. A place where criminals from all over the world flee for their lives. It is harsher than any other place in the world, but if you are as strong as Zelos Reed, you will have no problem in that place.

「A place where all of your past is forgiven if you are a capable warrior. The continent of Gordisia」

On the continent of Gordisia, as long as you join the allied forces and meet your daily quotas, your past criminal record is considered irrelevant. Losing a capable warrior for trivial reasons is a great loss in that hellish place.

Undoubtedly, Zelos Reed would have aimed for the continent of Gordisia.

「So the best thing to do would be to cross the continent of Gilberd and take a ship at a port town on the eastern coast」

On the way, I stopped at the royal capital of the Kingdom of Kranzel. It was indeed the royal capital of a great country, and it boasted a tremendous grandeur. It wasn't often in my long life that I had seen such a large wall.

To begin with, there are only a few places in this world where you can build a city of this royal capital level. This is because it is difficult to build a large city in a place that does not have the conditions for the generation powerful demonic beasts, is ecologically stable, and does not have bad transportation or water.

It is especially difficult to find a place where there are no strong magical beasts in the vicinity. It's impossible to build a city in a place where large magical beasts such as dragons and giants frequently appear, and even if you could, it wouldn't last long.

In that sense, the royal capital of Kranzel is a wonderful achievement. Most of the demonic beasts in the vicinity are of medium size or smaller, and it is not difficult to defeat them if you have a sufficient number of adventurers and knights.

It's hard even for a big country to have strong people. It's fine as long as you happen to have a strong people by chance, but for a country to lasts for hundreds of years. Considering this, a system that can always provide a certain level of defense with numbers and tools is more reliable.

I thought it would be very developed inside......

「But I didn't expect to get caught up in the turmoil here」

I was in the middle of gathering information on Zelos Reed at the tavern. But I didn't get any information on him though. But apparently Fran and his master were in the royal capital. When I was about to meet them, I saw that there was a large-scale battle going on all over the capital.

I don't know if it's a civil war or a coup d'état, but people are fighting each other. Could it be that they were invulnerable to external enemies but vulnerable to internal disturbances?

But even so, there's still a lot of noise. While I was thinking about it, I was attacked too. They were weird guys with swords stuck in their backs. They were pretty strong. If these guys are on the rampage, the royal capital might be in a quite dangerous state.

I heard from the adventurer's guild that the Marquis had staged a coup d'état. The people with swords stuck in their backs seemed to be his army. The guild master and others seemed to be leading an elite group of people to various places for support.

「I can't just ignore this huh」

I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate for the people of this city that I'm here, but.....I want to make sure that Miss Fran is safe.

For the time being, I'm going to head for the royal castle where there are people related to the Knight Order. I'll go there and get some information, and if necessary, I can destroy the Marquis. Thanks to Fran and the others who held him down, there should still be enough time for her to run away. I'm sure I can help.

However, it seems that thinking was too sweet. In front of the royal castle, a girl with tremendous power was overrunning the knights. She's a dragon kin, but her magic power is comparable to mine. It's not as if she has a purpose, but it hasn't led to large-scale destruction, but if she's serious, even this royal capital should be cleared in less than half an hour.

I'll have to do it myself. If I leave her alone, it'll be a disaster for Miss Fran and Master. I called out to the pompous men who were talking about old man Demitris and gave them a bite, but it didn't do much damage. If I don't get serious, I'm the one who's going to get hit.

「Now, how long can I keep this up.....?」

The problem was that if I went out of control, there would be more damage. I had to get it over with before that happened.

「Oi! Get these people out of the area. They'll be involved into the fight」

「Yo-you are....?」

「I'm an adventurers, Ashwrath. You can call me a comrade in arms」

「Y-you are....Oi! All hands retreat! Use the royal castle to escape immediately! Hurry up and evacuate the residents」

「Ha!」

Apparently, he knows who I am. The knight who seemed to be the most important one moved immediately. This would make the fight a little easier.

「You, have you ever heard of the adventurer known as the Black Lightning Princess?」

「Do you know Fran, Ashwrath-dono?」

「Yeah, where she is now?」

「They're searching Marquess Ashtner's mansion」

「Is that far from here?」

「more or less」

It's good then. She's less likely to get involved.

「There's nothing to regret! Divine Sword Release!」