Chapter 13 — What Proof Do You Have of Such a Thing?! That Is a False Accusation!
“I suppose we should get moving as well,” Edelgart said to the frozen Luu. The goddess hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d seen the Philosopher’s Stone split in two. Not wanting to leave her behind, Edelgart and the elf, Sakut, had waited patiently for her to recover.
The woman named Luu, who had appeared out of nowhere, claimed to be a goddess. Though she needed to collect the Philosopher’s Stones, she couldn’t take them by force for some reason, so she had come to join Cavern Quest. Sakut and Edelgart were planning to get revenge against Yogiri, but they couldn’t think of how that would be possible. They had agreed to work with Luu in exchange for her help, but apparently, what she had witnessed had been too much of a shock. Luu was as still as stone herself.
“Um...I am a god, you know.”
“Yes, you mentioned that,” Sakut answered when Luu finally spoke.
“There are all kinds of gods. The scale of their powers and territories differ quite a bit.”
“The only god of interest to me is Malnarilna,” Edelgart said. “I can’t say I care much about any others, should they exist.”
“Malnarilna is nothing. Her powers only function in this world.”
“Sure, but as far as I’m concerned, this world is all that matters.” Edelgart was a bit irritated by her god being put down. People often came here from other worlds, but once they did so, they became a part of this one. There was no way for Edelgart herself to affect any other world, so she couldn’t care less about them.
“I am a god who ruled multiple worlds. A god even among gods.”
“So, like a king who rules over many lords?”
“A pretty simple metaphor, but if it helps you understand, sure.”
“Why does that matter?”
“That stone was a part of me!” Luu exclaimed. “Don’t you think it’s strange she can easily make copies of it?!”
“Doesn’t seem that odd to me. We just watched it happen, so there’s not much else to say.” Edelgart pulled out the stone she had acquired. While Luu had been standing there, frozen, Edelgart and Sakut had gone to get their own stones.
“Let me see that,” Luu said. Edelgart handed the stone to her. “It is the real thing. I can fuse with this,” she murmured, staring at it intently.
“Please don’t. I don’t want to get stuck up ahead.”
Luu handed the stone back.
“I can understand your shock, but don’t you think we should get moving?” Sakut asked.
“That’s right. What’s the problem if there are more stones?”
“Now that you mention it...I do still have the divine core.”
“Let me get this straight,” Edelgart said. “You were told by some higher-up not to steal the stones and ruin the game. But if you join the game, there’s no problem collecting them, right?”
“That is something I am not so sure of. Even if I follow the rules of the system, with my powers, stealing the stones from others would be easy. But then the game wouldn’t be able to proceed. So instead, I thought I should collect them as if I’m helping you out.”
“Okay. For now, let’s go to the location where we need a Philosopher’s Stones in order to pass. All the stones will end up there eventually, and Yogiri Takatou should be there as well. The more stones you have, the more powerful you’ll be, right? So this is perfect for you, isn’t it?”
“That’s right... With that many stones, I could even ignore Alexia...”
Though seeing parts of her so easily replicated was a considerable shock, it seemed Luu was starting to accept the situation.
“There’s also that witch, Evon. We should probably work with her.”
“True. We need to do anything we can to help with killing Yogiri Takatou,” Sakut agreed. At first, she had been so overwhelmed by hatred towards Yogiri that it seemed she would lose her mind, but now she had regained a sense of composure. She understood that charging forward in blind anger wouldn’t accomplish anything.
The three of them headed into the forest.
◇ ◇ ◇
The army of cheaters made their way through the trees together, but they quickly split up. Though they had gathered to work together, there was no sense of leadership among them. Hanakawa had gone along with them, but he felt it was better if they didn’t stick together as a group. If they all confronted Yogiri at once, there was the possibility of them all dying together.
“Umm...what should we be doing now?” he asked as they walked down the forest road. He had never expected to be approaching Yogiri as part of such a large group.
“Good question,” Carol replied. “If we join up with Takatou, we’ll be recognized as enemies of the world, so everyone here will attack us.”
“Takatou is invincible, but that doesn’t mean he can protect everyone around him,” Ryouko said. “There is a chance we could get caught in the cross fire if we get too close.”
“Perhaps it is best to leave him be, then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sir Takatou will eventually wipe out all of his attackers. He will then be left with a tremendous mountain of Philosopher’s Stones, surely enough to take him home. So why not just enjoy ourselves in this world?”
“Do you think you can live a proper life in this world?” Carol asked.
“Personally, I would like to return home too, if possible,” Ryouko added.
“Even so, since we are acquainted with some Sages, I am sure we could eventually find a way to accomplish that!”
“The surface is overrun by the Seyla, though. Do you think you can last inside this game?” As long as they were in Cavern Quest, they were safe from the Seyla. But the game wasn’t a particularly safe place either.
“I think that should be no issue,” Hanakawa replied. “The world is going to be reset, is it not? With Sir Takatou gone, it should all be returned to normal.”
“Yeah, about that. Even if Takatou goes back to our world, won’t he reappear here once the world resets?”
“Huh?” Hanakawa froze, having never even considered that. Now that he thought about it, it did seem possible.
“If Takatou is brought back here, the fight to kill him will continue. In the end, it’ll keep repeating until everyone in this world is dead.”
“But wait. No matter how powerful the Great Sage is, do you really think he is capable of influencing foreign worlds like that?!”
“Who knows? We can’t rule out the possibility.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?!”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Carol said. “We just need Takatou to kill the Great Sage. Then he won’t be able to reset the world anymore.”
“Wait! Please do not say something so dangerous so loudly!” Hanakawa hurriedly looked around. Luckily, there was no one around them. Everyone else had already gone on ahead.
“Either way, it’s better to be at Takatou’s side, don’t you think? No matter what happens, he’s going to be at the center of it.”
“I cannot say that sounds particularly appealing...” he grumbled. They were talking about someone who could inflict instant, unavoidable death. Though Yogiri wouldn’t kill them if they weren’t enemies, that didn’t mean Hanakawa felt safe around him. After all, it was pretty standard for his gross habits to infuriate the people around him.
In truth, Sir Takatou’s death would actually be most convenient for me...
Even if he wanted to live in this world, it was being thrown into chaos by Yogiri’s presence. If he was gone, things wouldn’t be so insane. There would be plenty of room for Hanakawa to hide in some corner of the world and build up a harem.
Even though I was brought here against my will, I had longed for a second chance to be summoned to this world! At this rate, it will all be for nothing. Is there no way to neutralize Sir Takatou’s powers?
“What are you plotting now?”
“Eh?! Wh-Why would you assume I am plotting? Wh-What proof do you have of such a thing?! That is a false accusation!” Hanakawa was flustered by Carol’s question.
“The proof is the disgusting look that was on your face.”
“I would prefer you describe it as a fearless expression!”
“Japanese is really difficult, huh?”
“I’m sure you two are having fun with this stupid conversation, but we’re being left behind,” Ryouko interjected.
“I do not believe there is any need for us to keep up with them—though it appears something is happening up ahead.” Having leveled up as a Monk, Hanakawa had obtained a skill that allowed him to sense the spirits of others. He could use that to find hidden enemies. That skill was now telling him ten people had stopped ahead.
“Sounds suspicious...”
“The only thing ahead of us is that big pyramid we saw from the beach, right? If that’s where we have to go, we can’t really avoid them.” Carol also had a skill that gave her an understanding of the environment around them, even beyond the people in it.
“W-Well, there is no meaning in adventurers fighting amongst themselves here, is there? They are all working together to slay Sir Takatou, after all.”
Everyone was working to kill Yogiri, so there was nothing to be gained by killing each other. There was no bonus for being there first. He just needed to be dealt with by someone. If so, there was no problem going on ahead.
Telling himself that, Hanakawa continued forward. Emerging from the forest, he was greeted by a large wall stretching to his left and right. Looking up, he saw that the wall continued upward like a staircase. Though he couldn’t see well from this distance, this must have been the pyramid. There was some space between it and the forest, where some adventurers had started gathering, but the one who stood out the most was, of course, the succubus. It looked like she was facing off against the other adventurers.
The succubus had posed to show off her figure, while a short distance away stood three men. For a brief moment, Hanakawa was confused, having sensed more people than that before arriving, but then he noticed the blood. Bodies had been torn apart and scattered across the ground. It was hard to tell how many had died, but it couldn’t be less than five.
“What on earth happened here?! This suddenly seems extremely dangerous!”
“Oh, it’s Carol! Hi!” the succubus called out happily. It seemed she had taken a liking to Carol after their brief conversation.
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