Yuusha no Furi
Chapter 37 God and the demon lord
In the afternoon, warm sunlight shone and gentle sea breeze blew.
I returned to the bay.
The town people had started swimming right away.
The quiet bay this morning was now brimming with happy voices.
As a God, it made me happy that my action resulted in their happiness.
It probably showed on my face.
Afterwards, I roamed around the sandy beach, searching for Celica.
But I could not find her. I only found Minya, who had changed to normal clothes, sitting with her legs folded.
It made me worry at first but I was relieved after finding her at a different spot.
She had entered the water with Lapisia. Lapisia was deep in with only her head out.
I listened in to their conversation with multi-ear.
“You were able to stay a whole 1 minute under water, Lapisia-chan! That’s great!”
“Lapisia is great!”
“Then, let’s try curling up under water, shall we?”
“Curling up?”
“You do like this”
Inhaling some air first, she put her face underwater and held her knees, curling up. Her blonde hair spread out like a folding fan and her white back could be seen floating in the waves.
After staying like that for a while, she came up inhaling deeply ‘Fuaah~!’
“Just like this.”
Lapisia observed with golden eyes sparkling in excitement.
“I will try! Fuuuaa-”
Inhaling a lot at once, she, too, submerged her face underwater and curled up. This time, her blue twin-tails spread out in the waves.
Her small body kept going in and out of the water.
And then she came out, inhaling a lot again, just like Celica,
“Fuaa~! I did it!”
“Good job, Lapisia-chan! You did really well!”
As Celica stroked Lapisia’s head, she smiled with her whole face ‘Ehehe~’.
—This looks like it will be better if I leave it to them for a while.
I am the God of the River so it is pretty natural for me to do these.
For now, I guess I will just go swim.
I slowly swam deep, away from the bay.
The sea was still big inside the bay. Gentle waves hit against my body. it felt nice.
And after a while, I went all the way to the entrance of the sea.
On the other side of that huge entrance, through which even ships could pass through, a never-ending, magnificent sea spread out.
Unlike in the bay, the waves here came pressing on vigorously.
On a boulder beside the entrance, sat Ieturia. She was wearing a silver bikini and was holding a harpoon.
“Keika-sama? I see people have started coming.”
“If you see someone drowning, please help them out.”
“I understand.”
Her sharp red eyes had a sign, observing both the distant sea and the bay.
“Sorry about this, making you look out for monsters as well as humans.”
“It is for my race. This much is nothing. Besides, after the tribe chief went under you, our distant allies have also joined.”
“I am glad. More people will probably be coming here. It would be better if someone were to look out for the humans and an
other for the monsters.”
“I also thought about that.— but”
“What is it?”
Ieturia looked at me with respect and said,
“I thought the hero was a being fated to beat the monsters and the demon lord but, I see you also bestow people with happiness as well.”
“Well, that is also one of my goals, after all.”
“Why is that?”
I worried for a moment, whether I should tell her or not.
But, it does seem like she noticed that I am a God so it would be better to tell her.
“I want to become God.”
“Oho?”
“I am not the God of this world. In the previous world, I failed to gather believers. I wanted to become a God worthy of respect from the people. And so, in this world, I want to try once more, to become a God the people idolize.”
“So that’s why you didn’t immediately go to defeat the demon lord…. Keika-sama is a wonderful person. I am sure you can become a God both in name and reality.”
Being told that so honestly, I became a little embarrassed.
“Thank you. I will do my best…. Ah, right” I said scratching my head and looking off to the distance.
“What is it?”
“I want to learn about this world’s God. I went around to the temples and shrines but, a single person wasn’t there. Is it the work of the demon lord?”
“Hmmm….”
Ieturia nodded and became silent.
I wonder if there is something they cannot say.
I climbed up the bolder and sat next to her.
“Is it a complicated matter?”
“No, there is no doubt that the Gods were sealed and rendered powerless by the demon lord.”
“As I thought. Do you know how? He did turn the God of land into a spirit by taking Lapisia as a hostage.”
“That is right. There are various ways. Even though they are Gods, they are not almighty. The demon lord takes advantage of his opponent’s weakness and puts them into a disadvantageous situation.”
“That is quite frustrating. Although a very good strategy. I, for one, like going all out more.”
“You consider things very well normally but sometimes you put yourself in danger.”
“I will be careful…. Do you think the demon lord already knows that I am a God? You seemed to have found out immediately.”
“No, it’s just that I am different. How did you conduct yourself till now?”
“That is….”
I told her about everything that happened after I came to this world.
Ieturia furrowed her eyebrows and said,
“No, I think you are probably in the safe zone. If there is a problem, it would probably be you killing one of the four deva, Greyhades. Normal blade attacks shouldn’t work on him.”
“After defeating him, I dissolved his body though.”
As I didn’t take his head, I thought destroying all the evidence would be good at the time.
“Oho! That was pretty clever of you. Then you are probably safe till you defeat the next deva. You probably can’t win if you don’t use your Godly powers.”
“Ebil Squid, eh.”
“He will be a formidable opponent. Not only will your water, wind or fire not work, he will continuously regenerate from physical attacks.”
“Will he clone into two if I split him apart?”
I asked while recalling that one time I killed that black earthworm.
“No, it seems like he just sticks back if you do that.”
“So the only weakness is earth, huh….”
I looked at Lapisia who was training on the shore.
Celica was dropping coins into the water and she was picking them up with her mouth.
“So that girl is Lapisia. She is still very immature as a God.”
“I was entrusted to raise her by her mother. —Well, I can come up with some countermeasure after you have told me that much. I think I can defeat him without revealing my identity. Thanks.”
“No biggie. Is there something else you want to ask?”
“Hmmm, right, do you know of the demon lord’s goal? It seems different than the world domination I know of.”
Ieturia looked down. Her graceful face looked gloom.
“The demon lord is a fiend. His objective is not to kill or take over. He just wants to inflict pain and see the weak writhe in agony.”
“Like?”
“Us, the Naaga tribe, were idolized by a particular group long ago. But when the demon lord’s underlings attacked the place and killed everyone, they spread a rumour that it was our doing. Our previous chief who had tried to explain the situation was atrociously tortured and killed by the humans.”
“So that is how you lost your home and are now being chased by both humans and monsters….”
“It was an escape without relief…. it was painful.”
She murmured while staring at the sea. Her monotonous voice sounded somewhat lonely.
I reached my hand out and stroked her silver hair. It was silky and smooth to the fingertips.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you.”
“I am grateful.”
She came leaning onto me. So I naturally held her. I could get the scent of the sea from her silver hair.
After a while, when she had calmed down, she separated herself.
“I am sorry to have caused you trouble. If, in the future, your name is damaged for my existence, please feel free to cut me down. If it’s for your reputation, I would die satisfied.”
“Are you talking about the possibility of this town’s people getting killed and blaming it on you? That will probably not happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“The deva’s probably got tired of this toy. And also this country. I always found it weird that the deva Greyhades was so deep inside the forest in the north. They probably wanted to execute a pincer attack. The west is also the same.”
“The west?”
“It seems like the dragon is rampaging. I learnt that the dragon is neutral from the hero test, you see.”
“There’s the dragon in the west so even the demon lord couldn’t make a move.”
“I am sure they are facing a situation just like yours. If the hero defeats the dragon, then it will be like killing two birds with one stone for them.”
“I see. That dragon is….”
It seemed like she was about to say something but she stopped and shaked her head.
I smiled and said,
“If they really are not bad, then I will save them. So, is the demon lord in the north?”
“The rumour says he is in the ice fields in the north which freeze everything to the core. As there is always an ice storm blowing there, no one has been able to invade.”
“Which reminds me, the previous hero encountered the demon lord in the middle of his journey and lost, didn’t he?”
“He probably got rid of him as he would be a problem fully grown.”
“Encountering the last boss while just normally walking in a field, talk about a shitty game.”
“Shitty game?”
Ieturia inclined her head in curiousity. Her blank, puzzled face was adorable.
“Nothing. More importantly, I leave the rest to you.”
“Leave it to me. Being of use to someone is a pleasure for me.”
I nodded and dived into the sea again.
I thought while swimming.
I found out the weakness of the Four Devas.
It also depends on Lapisia’s growth condition but if I can set up a plan, I will win as the hero.
All that’s left is to save the sinners on the final day and defeat the Four Devas.
However, what bothers me is that the sinners are nowhere to be seen. Not even in the mayor’s residence or the lighthouse.
They should’ve been brought and escorted so it wouldn’t be weird even if they were not in town anymore.
Do I meet the mayor and ask?
No, the hero has the right to handle the sinners. For example, using them as bait to draw out monsters.
But in this town, they probably want to have a show of killing them. They probably won’t let me save the sinners.
It is also okay to defeat them while protecting the others on the appointed day but I would have liked to meet the sinners beforehand.
They know about my existence so they probably cleared out of their houses.
But still, the hero has investigatory power only when it’s related to the demon lord.
It would be faster if I had evidence that the mayor was providing info to the monsters.
Should I fabricate some suitable evidence and trap the mayor?…. I need to think of something fast.
All things considered, the demon lord being in the far north is a pain.
It’s probably that, the test you have to go through in a dungeon to meet the boss at the bottom.
It feels like there would be a lot of traps like floors which change direction as you step on them.
If that’s the case then I could just continue being the hero and wait for him to come by himself.
I should probably learn Ultima Slash soon.
I reached the shore while I was thinking.
As I drew closer to the spot where Celica and the others were, Lapisia came and stuck out her hand which was full of silver coins.
Her childish face is brimming with a smile.
“Keika! I picked them up 20 times! 20 times!”
“Oohh, good girl. That is amazing!”
“Yayy!”
As I patted her head, she started going round around me.
Her wet, heavy twin-tails hit my body.
And they also hit Celica’s breasts, making her swimsuit come loose and fly in the air.
“Kyyaaa!”
I quickly caught the swimsuit and put it on to her chest. I could feel the softness from direct contact.
And then immediately made her squat in the water so that I can put it on.
“It’s okay, nobody saw.”
“Uuuu…. the string.. the string….”
“Wait a little, I will tie it for you.”
I reached my hands out towards her back and tied the string.
Lapisia stared puzzled and said,
“What happened, Celica?”
Without being able to say something, she just shook her head.
I told Lapisia,
“Lapisia, you are forbidden to rotate like that in the sea for a while.”
“Ehh nooo!”
“People might get hurt if your twin-tails hit them, so no is a no. Or do you want to shave off your hair?”
“That is- more nooo! — I understand.”
Lapisia pouted in discontent but it looked like she had agreed.
I stood up after tying the string.
Celica said with a pale face,
“As I thought, this swimsuit is risky”
“Please endure it a bit till Lapisia levels up. “
“I understand.”
Even though she said that with her mouth, she was looking up at me with bitter teary eyes.
She went towards the sea and put her face underwater by herself this time.
“Thank you for making Lapisia get used to the water.”
“I am also thinking of starting her swimming training from tomorrow.”
“I guess I will go make a flutterboard from a tree then.”
“What is that?”
“It’s something which helps you float.”
Celica came close and said,
“I see. As expected of Keika-sama!”
Her wet blonde hair was shining in the sun.
After a while, we went back to the lodge.
I got hold of a tree on the way.
For ease of carrying and to not get hurt, I cut the edges and corners.