Chapter 16 — She Was Hoping You Had Come Night Crawling
Raiza lay motionless on the pavement of the city square. He had been attempting to move even while lying facedown, but Yogiri had quickly put an end to that. All four of the former ruler’s limbs and the muscles needed to breathe had been eliminated. His back had been violently torn apart so that Mokomoko could retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone from him. While it all appeared rather inhumane and cruel at first glance, considering Raiza’s actions, Yogiri had a hard time feeling they had gone too far.
“Looks like we’re surrounded,” he noted.
“Not that it seems like anyone is interested in revenge.”
Raiza, Yogiri, and Mokomoko were surrounded by the residents of the City of the War God. The crowd gathered around them was enormous, to the point where it didn’t look like they’d be able to push their way out. The locals must have come to see what had happened when they’d realized that Raiza had destroyed the tower. And once they were greeted by this unbelievable sight, they had all but frozen solid.
Raiza had lost. It must have looked unreal. Even with him lying on his stomach, helpless, it was understandably hard for them to believe. That was how powerful he had been. They couldn’t even imagine the possibility of him being defeated.
“So, what do we do with the people of the city?” Yogiri asked. “They’re separate from the ones who were forced to fight each other, right?”
“Right. Sustaining the activities of a city requires the work of ordinary citizenry, after all. The city itself is quite peaceful, so it has become a rather popular destination. The right to live here is apparently traded at a high price.”
In order to accommodate a large number of challengers, the city was well equipped with the facilities and infrastructure to serve their needs. Raiza may have been a tyrant, but he never raised a hand against the people of his city. So for the ordinary residents, it was a comfortable environment.
“I suppose the citizens might look upon you as a villain who has come to disturb their peaceful lives.”
“That’s just a matter of perspective,” Yogiri replied.
Whether or not Raiza was viewed as a benevolent ruler by the locals, the atrocities he had brought upon the rest of his lands knew no limits. From their viewpoints, Yogiri would be a hero.
“Allow me to give you a piece of advice,” Mokomoko said. “Worrying about issues like that is significantly more human.”
“I guess you’re right.” He had to agree with her, although the fact that he hadn’t realized it on his own was concerning.
On the other hand, being trapped in another world wasn’t exactly the right time to be worrying about such things. While developing himself to be more human was an important goal, he was in no position to go on a leisurely journey of self-discovery at the moment.
“Do you think they’ll move away if I ask them to?”
“The confusion does seem to have died down a bit now.”
As Yogiri was starting to think they would need to make a move, the crowd split to allow a group of well-groomed men and women to pass through. They lined up in front of him and dropped to their knees.
“We are the servants of Lord Raiza,” one of the women said, speaking as their representative. They didn’t pay the slightest attention to the fallen Sage, indicating that they had already given up on him. “The agreement for this fight was that the winner would take ownership of the Philosopher’s Stone and the city. After consulting, we have decided that there is no doubting your victory.”
“It’s probably weird to be asking permission from you, but I guess you mean I’m allowed to take it?” Yogiri asked.
“That is correct. Since Lord Raiza is unable to protest, as the one responsible for the management and administration of this city, the duty of that announcement falls to me, the mayor. All things related to this place are now yours.”
“I guess that’s that, Mokobot. Can you call Euphemia?”
“I’m already on it.”
Mokomoko’s real body was at Tomochika’s side. Delivering instructions to the half-demons waiting outside the city was a simple matter.
“Ha, ha ha ha. Lying on the ground like that, Raiza looks pathetic, doesn’t he?” a man called out from the crowd gathered around them. It seemed the shock was beginning to wear off. The man stepped up to the fallen Sage.
“Wait—”
Yogiri tried to stop him. He tried to tell the man that Raiza wasn’t exactly dead, but it was too late. The man was instantly blown backwards. Yogiri wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but the Sage had probably twitched his body to send off a shock wave somehow. The man struck a building before falling lifelessly to the ground.
“Umm... Are you not going to finish him off?” the mayor asked.
“You already admitted that I won, right? You can do whatever you want with him.”
The mayor seemed to want to complain, but Yogiri felt no obligation to strike his enemy down. He had already accomplished his objective, so there was no need for him to do more. From Yogiri’s perspective, the Sage was a rare breed of scum. But that didn’t mean he had the right to execute him while he was lying there helpless. That was someone else’s job now. For the moment, they would leave him there. If no one approached the dying Sage, there would be no danger. And if those present made sure to tell the others, it would be enough to keep them safe.
After a while, the half-demons arrived. Of course, they were currently disguised to hide their half-demon ancestry. Theodisia had once used magic to disguise herself, so this effect was likely something similar.
“I’m giving the city to these people,” Yogiri announced, then turned to the new arrivals. “Can you be their representative, Euphemia?”
“If no one else minds,” she replied.
There were no objections from the half-demons. Since they were a group consisting of multiple tribes, the power dynamic among them must have been complex, but it was hard to deny that Euphemia, as an Origin Blood, held the most power out of any of them. There wasn’t anyone more appropriate for the job.
“All right, then. We’ve finished the first stage of finding a home for the half-demons.”
Satisfied with the role he had played, it seemed like Yogiri intended to wash his hands of the matter after that.
A few days passed after the fall of the City of the War God. There was a fair amount of chaos, but for the most part the transfer of power went smoothly. There was no one willing to challenge the person who had defeated Raiza, so those who were not satisfied to be ruled over by a group of mysterious strangers left the city behind.
Once it was widely known that Raiza was gone, the place could very well come under attack, but it would take some time for the rumors to spread. For now, the City of the War God was at peace.
Late one night, Yogiri and Tomochika were standing inside a stable.
“This one is...no good.” Yogiri looked at the long teeth protruding from the horse’s mouth. Even if horses had canine teeth, they shouldn’t have been long enough to extend past their jaws. It seemed this horse had been turned into a vampire. And by doing so, it was physically much stronger than usual, not to mention the vampire who had turned it likely had a greater degree of control over it. It was hard to know if anyone other than a vampire could safely ride it.
“I was wondering why you suddenly showed up in my room and pulled me outside. Care to explain?” Tomochika asked.
“I’m getting sick of the crowds and figure it’s time we go looking for the next Sage.”
She was hoping you had come night crawling, Mokomoko interjected.
“Not even a little!”
Raiza’s palace had been turned into the home base of the half-demons. Yogiri and Tomochika had been given rooms there.
“Can you even ride a horse?” she asked.
“I figured it couldn’t be that hard, so I was just going to try it and see what happened. Is that unrealistic?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s harder than driving a car.”
The Dannoura School of Archery had a long history. Learning mounted combat was a natural part of their training regimen. Tomochika was highly experienced in horse riding, and that experience was enough to tell her that someone completely untrained had no business being on the back of such an animal.
“Oh, really?”
“Anyway, I let this slide a second ago, but we’re leaving now?”
“I don’t like it here.”
Up until this point, very few people had been aware of Yogiri’s abilities. But in this city, every single person recognized him as the most powerful being around. Having people constantly acting afraid of him, kissing his feet, ogling, flattering, and heaping praises on him made him feel uncomfortable.
“Are we allowed to just take these horses?”
“Everything in the city belongs to me, apparently.” After all, ownership had been officially given to him even though he had delegated the responsibility of running the place to the half-demons.
Taking one or two horses shouldn’t severely impact them. But are you sure it’s the best way for us to travel? the guardian spirit asked.
“I spent a few days searching for a car, but it doesn’t seem like there are any around here. There might be a way for us to get one, but I don’t feel like waiting and lazing around for that long.”
“Lazing around, huh? I guess that is what I’ve been doing...” For the past few days, Tomochika had lived a true life of luxury. She had enjoyed extravagant meals, magnificent baths, and had been treated like royalty everywhere she went.
You’ve been pretty useless, honestly.
Tomochika had no response to that.
“I’ve been looking into where we might be able to find another Sage,” Yogiri continued, “and I’ve gathered some supplies.”
“These are them?” his companion asked, looking at Yogiri’s backpack. Although he had obtained a new pack somewhere in the city, it didn’t seem big enough to carry enough supplies for a serious journey.
“It holds a lot more than it looks like. I don’t know how it works. Things like that seem pretty ordinary here, so I’m not overthinking it.”
“Okay, I’m not going to question it either, then!” Tomochika replied, quickly accepting his statement.
In the end, they decided to travel by carriage. Riding a horse as a total novice would have been too difficult for Yogiri, and riding double wouldn’t have been much better. So they used one of the horses left behind by the Invincible Battalion to pull a carriage for them.
The armor that the horse wore served to not only strengthen it but also healed its injuries and recovered its stamina, so it could pull the carriage for as long as they needed it to. Using the Enju-type robot, Mokomoko was driving up front. Tomochika had wondered if Yogiri would mind her using Enju in such a carefree way, but he hadn’t said anything about it.
“This is a carriage for nobles, isn’t it?” Tomochika asked. “Won’t it stand out?”
“I figured it was more important for us to be comfortable.” He had asked the mayor to prepare transportation for them, and this was what she had provided. “Let’s start by heading east. There should be something that way.” According to Yogiri’s investigations, all of the Sages in the region were already dead.
“Wait, hold on!” Tomochika cried. “I feel like we’re ignoring a lot of important things here!”
“Are we?”
“What about Carol and Ninomiya?!” Aside from Mokomoko, the two of them were the only ones in the carriage.
“Why would we bring them with us?”
“I’m surprised you can say that so bluntly! They’re our classmates, aren’t they?!”
“We couldn’t stop them from following us, but that doesn’t mean we have to go out of our way to stay with them.”
“Really?!”
“They may not have any bad intentions, but you can’t trust the Agency or the Institute.” It was difficult for Tomochika to believe that those two were plotting something, but Yogiri felt differently. Tomochika didn’t know what had happened in the past, but he simply couldn’t trust the organizations their classmates belonged to.
“What about Euphemia and the others? We should at least say goodbye or something!” Now that the half-demons had found a home, it was unlikely they’d be interested in accompanying the two of them further, but they could have at least exchanged goodbyes.
“Sounds inconvenient.”
“That’s all you have to say?!”
“We didn’t exactly hide the fact that we were leaving. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”
“What about Risley?! Didn’t she have something she was going to ask you to do?”
Risley had originally introduced herself by asking Yogiri to marry her, but she’d clearly had some other favor she had wanted to ask.
“Oh, don’t worry, I already got the Philosopher’s Stone from her.” Yogiri pulled a round, transparent stone from his backpack. It looked like a pretty rock, but the Philosopher’s Stones contained enormous amounts of energy.
“Did you decide to do what she asked?” The child had wanted him to kill someone for her, but Yogiri hadn’t seemed too thrilled by the prospect.
“What am I, a hitman?”
“Why did she give you the stone?”
“I said if I met the person somewhere out there, I’d deal with them however the situation dictated.”
“So you didn’t even promise her anything? I guess she couldn’t have turned you down anyway, considering how much she likes you.”
“Having someone you don’t care about push their feelings on you is a nuisance.”
“Could you try and sound a little less coldhearted?!”
“Come on, even I wouldn’t say something like that to her face.”
“I wonder...” Tomochika wasn’t sure that he was capable of such tact.
“We needed the Philosopher’s Stone no matter what. But I can’t just be like, ‘Okay, I’ll go kill your sister for you,’ can I?”
“Sister?”
“Yeah, Lain’s younger sister. Though I guess she’s a total stranger to Risley.”
The child was a clone who had been made by Lain, but she hadn’t inherited any of the Sage’s memories. So the favor she was asking was technically none of her business.
“All I could say was that I’d think about it if and when I met her. She said that was fine and gave me the stone.”
It wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that Risley trusted him that much.
“Well, we’ve already left, so I guess it’s too late to second-guess. Could you talk to me about these kinds of things beforehand next time?” As she said that, she realized that traveling with Yogiri had become something she took for granted.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
You’ve become awfully shameless, haven’t you? Mokomoko whispered.
“What’s to the east?” Tomochika quickly changed the subject, pretending she hadn’t heard the family ghost.
“There’s a Sage there acting as an emperor. Since his location is pretty much guaranteed, I figured it would be easy to go find him.”
“So, after the War God, we’re going for an emperor now. They really like their shady titles, don’t they?”
The Sages’ whereabouts were normally shrouded in mystery. Raiza had made his location public knowledge in order to invite challengers, but he was an exception. Clearly, this emperor was another.
With their next destination in mind, they continued their journey towards the empire in the east.
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