LIGHTNOVELONLINE Book 5: Chapter 2: Part2
Part 2
After that──
I asked Lily to use her power to transfer us to the surface, just as we had done when we first arrived.
The destination was the garden of the guest house.
Looking above our heads, we saw a golden-colored barrier with a shimmering light, in which Zogral was sealed.
“The barrier lasts only three days, right?”
Iris said.
“We need to find a way to defeat Zogral while the Greedy Dragon is holding it back.”
“The key is [Creation] and Kou-sama’s memories, right?”
“Yes.”
I nodded at Letitia’s words.
“Regarding my memory, [Full Assist] is investigating it for me. In the meantime, it’s [Creation].”
“Then, I’ll let Kou work on [Creation], and I guess it’s our job to gather the materials.”
“Fortunately, this is the royal capital, and there should be plenty of things here. Perhaps we should ask King Octo for his cooperation.”
“I agree.”
Lily nodded.
“And I would like to convey the words from the God of War to King Octo.”
“Well then, we must have an audience with King Octo first.”
However, with the appearance of Zogral, the royal capital would be in turmoil, and it might be difficult to meet him.
As I returned to the guest house with this in mind, a male staff member called out to me.
“Kou-sama. King Octo is here. Please come to the common room if you would like.”
“The king is here?”
“Yes. He has been here for about five minutes.”
“I understand. I will be right there. Please show me the way.”
The male staff member took me to the common room, and there I found King Octo. He was sitting comfortably on the sofa drinking coffee, but when he saw us, he got up and came to us.
“Kou-dono, I am glad you are safe. …It seems the God of War has passed away.”
So he knows that?
I was about to speak, and I remembered that I had been told before to speak more comfortably.
Then, it would be more appropriate to answer like this.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Of course, it is because I am the [Descendant of the God of War]. The skill will help me to know what is going on with the God of War immediately. It is unfortunate that I could not meet him in the end, but I am sure the God of War would not approve of me abandoning the country and rushing to his place. Did the God of War say something to you?”
“If it’s a message, it’s entrusted to Lily… isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Lily nodded at my words.
“He said, ‘You have done well to protect the underground where I sleep until today. I thank you.'”
“…I see.”
King Octo’s mouth relaxed, and he murmured.
“These words alone are enough to make all the hard work I and my family have done worthwhile. May I offer a silent prayer for a while?”
“Yes. May I pray with you?”
“Of course. Let’s pray together in remembrance of the God of war.”
So, everyone, including me, King Octo, Iris, Lily, and Leticia, prayed in silence for about a minute.
A quiet moment passed.
After that, we sat down on the sofa and began to talk.
“First of all, let me explain the situation in the royal capital.”
It was King Octo who opened his mouth first.
As expected, the appearance of Zogral caused unrest among the people of the royal capital, and it seemed that panic was about to break out.
However, King Octo himself, who had “Charisma A+,” appeared in front of the people and worked to settle the situation, and it seemed that he had regained his composure for the time being.
“Currently, we are dispatching knights possessing [Calm] to various parts of the royal capital to prevent any new turmoil from occurring. However, there is a limit to how far we can go with our skills. Will you please tell me what is going on?”
I see.
“Of course.”
I nodded at King Octo’s words and explained what had happened so far.
He seemed surprised about the existence of the Greedy Dragon, but thanks to the fact that Leticia had previously told him that she was the reincarnation of a calamity, he understood it easily.
“I see, so you had a great calamity in your body. And now he has separated from you and is holding Zogral back.”
“Yes. We have three days. We need to be ready to defeat it during that time.”
“Three days? It seems long but very short at the same time.”
King Octo nodded with narrowed eyes.
“So, what are you going to do with the preparations? …I’ve been watching Kou-dono’s battles, and I can’t think of a single way to defeat Zogral.”
“According to the Greedy Dragon, the key is my memory and [Creation].”
“Kou-dono’s memories? I understand that [Creation] is the key, but what do you mean by your memory?”
It was right after King Octo muttered that. The voice of [Full Assist] echoed in my brain.
The inspection of Kou Kousaka’s memory domain has been completed.
A sophisticated seal has been made in the deep layers of the memory domain, and it is extremely difficult to release it.
“Pardon me? Is it impossible even with [Full Assist]?”
Yes.
However, it may be possible to unlock it by performing a special ritual using the Twilight Scroll.
The twilight scroll was one of the items that Milia gave me before.
Spirit, Creator God, Dragon God, God of War, and Calamity.
It worked miracles by uniting the five powers into one.
As a result of using it to stop the eruption of Mount Mahoros, the power of [Creation] was boosted, and the volcano was transformed into a mine.
May I perform a fast installation on the content of the ritual?
The time required is three seconds.
“That’s surprisingly short. Sure, do it right away.”
Understood.
Now, let’s execute the fast install.
Immediately after, I felt something flowing into the back of my head.
I see.
It seemed to be the same as on Mahoros Island, where the power of me, Iris, Lily, and Leticia would be united into one to break the seal.
However, it seemed that more than a hundred people would be needed to carry out the ritual by controlling the power from the outside .
And control was a delicate thing, and failure was not allowed.
It was quite difficult.
It would be difficult to gather more than a hundred new people and perform a ritual that no one has ever done before in a limited time.
There is a solution to that.
The voice of [Full Assist] announces.
While they are not a human race, more than a hundred beings with a unified will are──
“Ah. I figured it out too. You mean the Helper Slime!”
Yes. They are considered the perfect beings to carry out the ritual.
Indeed.
I nodded by myself.
While I was doing so, King Octo, who was sitting on the sofa across from me, asked me quizzically.
“What’s wrong, Kou-dono? You’ve suddenly gone quiet.”
“I have found out something important. It is not just King Octo. Everyone, please listen to me.”
After saying so, I told everyone present that my memory was sealed and that there was a ritual to release it.
“I see.”
Iris was the first to open her mouth.
“You mean there might be a clue to defeating Zogral in Kou’s sealed memories?”
“I think there is a possibility.”
Lily nodded and said.
“But, I wonder who sealed Kou-san’s memories?”
“I think we’ll find that out too when we unseal that part of it.”
Leticia looked at me as she said this.
“By the way, are you aware that you are missing some of your own memories?”
“No, I’m not. That’s why it’s so strange.”
If my true identity was that of a Greedy Dragon, then what would be sealed up were the memories of my previous life, but since the Greedy Dragon and I were two separate entities, there was no possibility of that.
That being the case, I won’t know for sure until I unseal the seal.
“At any rate.”
King Octo said.
“Kou-dono and the others will now perform the ritual and look for a way to defeat Zogral, is that right?”
“Yes. Time is limited, and we will begin preparations immediately.”
“What about the location? If you need me to go there, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“Well, that’s…”
I’ll think about the rest of the operation.
I needed a lot of Helper Slime for the ritual, but they couldn’t leave the underground city near Aunen.
However, my flying ship─Blaznir─has “Helper Slime Summon EX” as a granted effect, so I could put Helper Slime on it as an exception.
Considering this, the ritual should be performed aboard the Blaznir.
Then, all we need is enough space to make Blaznir appear.
Since the total length is over 100 meters, a suitable place would be necessary.
When I discussed this with King Octo, he replied, “Then, you can use the central square of the royal capital.”
“It will be easy to bring out Blaznir in that place.”
“Then may I ask you to lend me the place?”
“Of course.”
King Octo nodded his head.
“At present, the only people who can deal with Zogral are Kou-dono and the others. If so, as the king of this country, I will provide my absolute cooperation. If there is anything else you need, please let me know.”
“I understand. When can we start using the square?”
“If necessary, I will make it available immediately. With my “Charisma A+,” I can do that easily. When the time of the ritual is decided, you can tell the guest house staff.”
After the conversation was over, King Octo left the guest house.
He said that he would share the information about Zogral with his other vassals and take steps to prevent the people of the royal capital from panicking.
The four of us, myself, Iris, Lily, and Leticia, remained in the common room to discuss our future plans.
“The first step is to prepare for the ritual. What do we need?”
“As far as things go, all we need is Blaznir and the twilight scroll, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Iris answered.
“You can also call the Helper Slimes as ritual performers with the “Helper Slime Summoning EX.” …Speaking of which, where did Surara go?”
“He was asleep in his room earlier today.”
The one who answered was Lily.
“No way, he is still sleeping in his room.”
“It’s possible if it’s Surara-sama, isn’t it?”
Leticia muttered with a giggle.
“Let’s just try to find him.”
I activated [Auto Mapping].
A blue-white window appeared in front of me, displaying a map of the area.
“Tell me where Surara is.”
As soon as I said this, a red dot of light appeared on the screen.
According to this, Surara was on the roof of the guest house.
What in the world is he doing?
“Maybe he’s keeping an eye on Zogral.”
“That’s possible.”
I nodded at Iris and got up from the sofa.
“I’ll go get him. You guys wait here.”
“Ah, Kou-san.”
Lily said as she sat up from the sofa.
“Can I go with you?”
“I don’t mind. What about Iris and Leticia?”
“I think I’ll just wait here.”
“That’s right. I’d like to have a chat with Iris-sama if that’s all right.”
“Okay. I’ll be leaving now.”
So I took Lily and left the common room.
“Yawn…”
Hmm?
When I turned around, Lily was holding her hand over her mouth.
It seemed that she was yawning.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I mean, if you are sleepy, you can go ahead and go to bed.”
“I’m still fine. I’ll try my best until I get a better idea of what the ritual is going to be.”
“I understand. But if it gets really tough, let me know.”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
Lily bowed her head.
“Kou-san is very kind, isn’t he?”
“This much is natural for an adult. When you grow up, Lily, please be kind to younger people.”
I said this and thought about the future.
If Zogral loses, this world will cease to exist, and even Lily will not live.
I can’t say that it’s a big deal to protect people’s future, and it’s impossible for me to bear such a thing, but I would at least like to protect the future of my comrades, the girls in front of me.
“We must defeat Zogral for sure.”
I whispered in a low voice and started walking toward the rooftop.
Lily followed alongside me.
“Kou-san. Can I ask you about the fight we just had?”
“Yes, of course. Is there something on your mind?”
“Um.”
Lily was about to say something but then closed her mouth.
It seems that she is thinking about it, unable to articulate it well in her own mind.
I wouldn’t bother rushing her.
People have their own pace.
After walking in silence for a while, Lily spoke up.
“When you were fighting with Zogral, weren’t you scared?”
“I didn’t really feel that way.”
It was not something that I was trying to be strong about, but it was my honest opinion.
“I mean, I was so busy fighting Zogral at the time, I didn’t have time to think about being scared or frightened or anything like that. How about Lily?”
“I’m the same way. But…”
“What’s up?”
“When Zogral tried to swallow Kou-san at the end, I almost suffocated. …I was so scared that I thought that Kou-san might die. That thought scared me so much.”
Lily shuddered and shook herself.
“Lily is so kind. You are much kinder than I am.”
I pat Lily on the head.
“Um, is that so?”
“Yeah. The fact that you worry about me like that is proof of your kindness. Thank you.”
“Kou-san is an important friend of mine. So, please don’t push yourself too hard, Kou-san.”
“I understand. By the way, Lily has changed, too.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. In the past, you used to be so full of thoughts that you were willing to die for the sake of the mission. Compared to that, you’re a lot more cheerful now.”
“It’s probably thanks to you and everyone else. …I’ve been living my life thinking only about [God of War’s Shrine Maiden], but you taught me that there are many fun things in the world.”
“Then, even more so, we must win against Zogral.”
“Yes. I’d like to go to the casino in Fort Port, too.”
“Yeah, sure.”
There is a big casino in Fort Port, where we stopped on our way.
However, even though it is called a casino, it is actually more like a large-scale amusement park with a huge maze, athletic activities with prizes, and attractions like a real-life escape game.
I’d been curious about it myself, but the timing hadn’t been right for me to go visit.
“Well, after the battle with Zogral is over, we’ll go to the casino in Fort Port, too. I promise.”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”
Lily nodded, her mouth tearing up.
I suddenly had an idea and stopped right there.
Lily also stopped and turned around.
“Kou-san, what’s wrong?”
“I told you before that I came from a different world, didn’t I?”
“Ye. I heard that you used to live in a country called Japan.”
“Yes. There is a special spell there for this.”
I held up the pinky finger of my right hand.
“Lily, can I ask you to do the same thing?”
“Like this?”
Lily pointed her right pinky toward me with a slightly awkward movement.
“Yes. Then, let’s go.”
After I hooked my pinky finger to Lily’s pinky finger, I continued to speak.
“It’s a pinky promise. If I lie to you, I’ll drink a thousand needles… Finger cut.”
“Is that a spell?”
“Yeah. It means that if I don’t go to the casino in Fort Port, I will be forced to drink a thousand needles as punishment.”
“That’s a terrible promise…”
Lily rolled her eyes and muttered.
“Is your hometown a very dangerous place, Kou-san?”
“No, it’s rather peaceful. I told you before; there are no monsters.”
“It’s a mysterious place, isn’t it? …I would like to visit there, too.”
“Well, if we ever get the chance.”
And it’s uncertain if there’s any way to get back to the world I was in in the first place.
As expected, I can’t make a pinky promise on this one.
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