start.
start.
When we followed Tergio to the place where the surviving survivors were gathered, we were greeted by the news that the microsmith Carlto Irmel was gathering the surviving survivors and removing the unidentified flesh trees that were springing up all over the city.
Ironically, at the center of the buildings the survivors used as their base was Beatus’s prison, where Jamel was held. Yesterday, Sajita and Carmen had told me that they would visit Jamel separately when they had free time, so it seemed that Jamel and the other four were together when the incident happened in Beatus.
Is it fortunately out of misfortune?
“Your father is here? Besides, have you come to your senses?!”
Surprised Dakia asked the soldier who was standing guard, but the soldier was rather embarrassed and asked back.
“What the hell do you mean by saying Mr. Smile is coming to his senses?”
There was deep bewilderment mingled with that question. Dakia seemed to realize again that the misogynist’s senility was a secret, and she gave up her embarrassment and gave an awkward smile.
“Oh, nothing. I made a mistake for a moment. Could you please tell my father that I have come?”
“One person has already gone to deliver the news. Perhaps the Misogong will send you an answer soon, so please go inside and wait for a moment.”
“Okay. Priest Marnak. Come on, listen…”
Dacia looked at me and was about to say something, but then looked over my shoulder and put on a disgusted expression. Curious about the meaning of that gaze, I turned around and saw a man covered in blood and flesh all over the place, staring at us.
Batis Draco. The three princes of the Dragon Kingdom. Terzio said he was making a great contribution to saving survivors and defending this stronghold, so the identity of the blood and flesh on his body must have been unknown flesh trees growing all over the city.
He looked at us with trembling eyes and was about to say something when a group of figures rushed towards Batis.
“Prince Batis Draco is back!!!”
“Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Prince! Thank you for saving me!!!”
“Thank you for saving my son!!!”
“Prince!!! Come on over here!!! I have prepared water for washing!!! We also prepared a place to rest until the next shift!!!”
“uh? uh…?”
Swept away by that enthusiastic welcome, Batis was dragged away somewhere by the hands of the citizens of Beatus without even being able to finish what he was about to say to us.
Seeing that, Dakia quickly pulled me by the collar and said,
“Go in quickly before I talk to you again!”
It was clear that I would not see anything good if I dared to talk with that dragon prince, so I also completely agreed with Dakia’s opinion.
“I see.”
We were led to a reception room by the soldier’s guide. Terzio took us here, volunteered to get rid of the fleshy trees, and left, leaving Dacia and I alone again.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Fingers knocking on the table involuntarily. Sitting on a chair in the drawing room, Dakia couldn’t calm down as if she was really surprised by the news that the misogynist had come to her senses. After a while, she turned and called me.
“Priest Marnak.”
“yes.”
She looked at me with her golden eyes and asked very carefully. As if it was never intended to bruise.
“Didn’t your father call Priest Marnak separately last time?”
“yes. It was.”
Dakia, who swallowed saliva with a gurgling sound, bit her lip once and spoke in a small voice.
“Did your father already come to his senses at that time?”
It was an accurate guess. At that time, I did not bother to tell Dakia that he had come to his senses as requested by the Miss Worker, and because of that, I am now at a crossroads of choice.
Should I lie to Dacia one more time or tell her that what I said last time was a lie?
My choice was obviously the latter. As long as the misogynist revealed his true identity, there was no reason to hide it from Dakia.
“Your guess is correct. At that time, the misogynist asked me not to tell the princess that he had come to his senses, so I deliberately hid the information.”
There was nothing else to say. But just by looking at Dacia’s face, I could see that she was hurt that I had kept it secret.
“I didn’t mean to deceive the princess.”
She bit her lip once more and spoke in a low voice.
“If Priest Marnak did that, he must have had a good reason. Still, I feel a little bad. It’s shocking that even though my father regained his sanity, he revealed to Priest Marnak, the first man he saw that day, that he tried to hide it from me and didn’t even tell me, his daughter. Was my father really that untrustworthy of me…? And…”
Dacia swallowed, but it was clear what she was trying to say. It must have been that between him and his father, whom he had never seen before, he couldn’t bring out the slightest resentment about why I had honored his father’s request and hid information from him.
“I want to tell you one thing, in case the princess misunderstands. I never hid it with the intention of hiding something from the princess. I just didn’t bother bringing it up because the story that Misogong summoned me and told me didn’t even need to be told to the princess.”
“What… you talked about. As for my father.”
I didn’t bother to say it because it would hurt Dakia if he heard it, but now, if I tried to hide it, it would only cover Dakia’s scars.
I said looking straight at her.
“Misogong told me to take the princess along and eat well and live well, since she will take care of the engagement with the dragon prince herself. And instead of giving permission, he asked me to take the princess and leave Beatus right away.”
“yes?”
Before Dakia’s bewilderment subsided, I added a word.
“I rejected the proposal that the mistress made to me, told the mistress to make such an offer herself to the princess, and then left. That’s all that happened that day. I didn’t bother telling it because I was afraid that the princess would get hurt after hearing this story, but if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have told you right away.”
“Father…”
After hearing my story, Dakia’s cheeks turned red for some reason. I was taken aback by the unexpected response. I thought you’d still be angry or pursue me for more details of the conversation.
“Princess?”
Dakia, who was muttering in a small voice, ‘My father has already given permission…’, was startled at my call and cleared her throat briefly.
“Hmmmm. I understand what Priest Marnak said. but!”
‘Tak!’ the table placed between us. Dakia’s face, which she held with both hands, came closer to me. Golden eyes shining brighter than usual looked at me.
“From now on, I hope you won’t hide the truth from me no matter what happens! Can you do that…?”
It was a word that started out energetically, but ended with a slightly uneasy question at the back. I smiled and nodded.
“I promise.”
Dacia smiled brightly and nodded her head.
“I can do that.”
Before her smile faded, the door opened and a soldier came to us.
“Misogong is looking for you two.”
Dacia stiffened her expression again and nodded.
“all right.”
We followed the soldier and headed to the top floor of the building where Carlto Irmel, a microsmith, was staying. When we opened the door to the room where Miso Gong was staying, we were greeted by a dark room without a single light.
He sat in the middle of the flickering candle light and greeted us.
“Are you here? Sit both.”
I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but Miso Gong’s face looked even more ruddy than the last time I saw him. Behind him stood proudly Sir Dougleck Martin, his faithful knight and deputy in his full power.
I sat down following the misogynist’s words, but there was actually something bothering me.
What Adora, who was dying, told us. She offered to teach Dacia about her father’s ‘true purpose’.
It may have been words that the dying monsters picked up at will to prolong their lives even for a moment, but perhaps the micropores were connected to those monsters.
In the first place, Carlto Irmel and his son Derso Irmel had repeatedly warned Dacia to leave the city, as if they had foreseen the current situation.
It was clear that the two had something to do with it, whether it was the darkness of this incident or whether they were aware of the evil spirit’s followers and were preparing for it.
What should I do?
Originally, I was going to tell Dakia about these suspicions in the drawing room, but I couldn’t because I was trying to clear up the misunderstanding.
I waited for Miso Gong’s next words without letting go of the strings of tension in case of an unexpected situation.
As if old age couldn’t hide his beauty, the misogynist moved his beautifully wrinkled face and opened his mouth slowly.
“As you know, Beatus’ situation is urgent, so it’s time to borrow the hand of a passing dog. I know very well that both of them have enough strength to protect each other, so please cooperate with the soldiers guarding this place to save as many people as possible.”
A very businesslike tone. It was hard to see what he said as being directed at his own daughter.
Dacia asked, glaring straight at her father.
“When did you come to your senses?”
“I have always been sane.”
“yes?”
“I’m busy right now, so go away. If you have anything else to say, ask at dinner tonight.”
Dacia bit her lip at the one-sided celebration.
“So you’re saying you’ll answer everything at dinner?”
“Yes. The two of you will have a meal with me, so wait until then before you eat the meals you are going to distribute to the citizens.”
“Once I get it.”
“Then really go away now.”
Following his decree, we rose from our seats, promising the following. Dakia still had a dissatisfied expression, but somehow she seemed to understand the smile worker’s words that she would answer at dinner.
As he said, it was also a time when he was really busy moment by moment.
Just as we were about to get up and leave the room. The misogynist’s low voice rang out.
“You don’t have to come alone for dinner, you can bring more if you have someone else to bring.”
With those words in mind, we left the Misogong’s room.
***
There was still a little time left before dinner when I came out of Misogong’s room.
“Since Carmen and Sagitta are on guard in the outskirts, should we go see Jamel?”
I nodded at Dacia’s suggestion.
“I would prefer that.”
I heard from Terzio that Jamel was helping with the food distribution to the citizens, so we asked the soldiers and headed to the temporary food distribution center where Jamel was presumed to be.
Fluffy orange hair. Jamel was quietly serving the food. constantly looking at the person next to you.
Dakia, who found Jamel, said in a bright voice.
“There it is! By the way… the atmosphere is a bit strange…?”
“I think it was because of the person next to me.”
“Ah…”
The woman standing next to Jamel and handing out the food was something he had never seen before.
I introduced myself as Tatiana, a member of the Extermination Squadron. maybe.
Jamel’s face lit up when he spotted me as we approached. She shouted vigorously, as if someone had found a rope of salvation.
“Priest Ma Marnak!!! I am here!!! Jamel is here!!!”
At that fierce welcome, I shook my head and approached her.
“How did you get free?”
“It seems that the companions were misunderstanding, so I guaranteed their identities.”
The answer came from Tatiana, who was standing next to Jamel. She smiled and said to me.
“hello? Priest Marnak.”
“Ah yes.”
“Before, I didn’t recognize the name and properly greeted him, but he really was the one who punished many worshipers of evil spirits with both hands!”
Hearing of my reputation, did he voluntarily guarantee Jamel’s status? While Tatiana and I were talking, Jamel sneaked up to me and tugged at my collar without Tatiana’s knowledge.
While Dakia and Tatiana were talking, I put some distance and listened to Jamel, and Jamel whispered in a small voice as if he had been waiting.
“Priest Ma Marnak. Please take me with you now. I don’t want to go with the annihilation squad! It’s scary!”
“I can’t take it out right away, but since I’m going to have dinner with Miss Gong tonight, would you like to go there with me? With this kind of excuse, you will probably be able to get out.”
Smile Gong said to bring as many people as he wants anyway, so calling Jamel would be fine.
Jamel nodded vigorously and replied.
“I like Joe!!! I like anywhere as long as it’s not next to the priest of the Crusade of Extermination!!!”
“Then, we need to have dinner separately, so please wait without eating.”
“yes!!! Then I’ll finish serving you and come back!”
After answering vigorously, Jamel walked quickly and left again to serve food to the citizens.
Having nothing to do, Dakia and I went to the soldiers and asked if there was any work entrusted to us, but he said that no orders had been given yet and asked us to wait.
We sat on chairs on the street and waited for dinner to pass the time. While killing time like that, Dakia spoke first.
“Are you trying to get me to work after I feed you?”
“Probably so.”
“Hmm.”
Looking at Dacia, I opened my mouth very carefully.
“I have something to tell you.”
“which…?”
“Actually, I think the Miso Gong has something to do with this incident…”
Puffed up.
Before I could finish my words, a citizen busily passing by collapsed to the floor.
And starting with the citizen, regardless of gender and age, all of them in turn lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor, unable to get up again.
“Priest Marnak! All four people are collapsing!!!”
Dakia and I quickly jumped out of our seats and checked the condition of the unconscious citizens.
A quick look at the nearest citizen revealed that, fortunately, there were no signs of abnormalities other than passing out. There may be something wrong in a part I’m not aware of.
Dakia also looked at the condition of a citizen and asked me in a trembling voice.
“What the hell is going on right now…?”
When I saw her golden eyes, a thunderbolt of realization rang through my brain.
Smile’s golden eyes. And what he said.
‘That’s right. The two of you will eat together with me, so wait until then without eating the meals that will be distributed to the citizens.’
His warning not to eat the meals that were to be rationed to the citizens.
This was no mere coincidence.
I looked at Dacia and said in a heavy voice.
“I think I should go and see Mr. Misogong right now.”
