79. Powerful Moss
The banquet hall, once crowded with human conversations and monster roars, fell silent.
Even though there was no blood on the sword, Cream reluctantly rubbed the holy sword on the corpses around it. Certainly, she seemed to be feeling a bit tired from the prolonged fight.
“······Ahh.”
Well, even the top monsters in the Sunset Mountains aren’t Cream’s opponents, but the sight of the ghosts engulfed in pain swaying away is a blow to Cream’s fragile mind… Hmm, isn’t it?
Okay, we had a really good fight. Monsters are famous for their tough vitality as well as their tricky special abilities. In the end, though, they all became cold corpses.
[In the end, I couldn’t find a clue.]
[Huh?]
[Why or how did the Dark Church do this?]
Well, digging into evil organizations is a hobby of mine, but this time I really had no clue. Because monsters are nothing more than test subjects that have been used, and those who have been baptized have been crushed by ogres.
If you search this peak, you may find more clues, but I don’t want to go that far. I only got up quickly thanks to the elevator, and the peaks of the Sunset Mountains are famous for being rugged.
[If you think about it that way, there are no clues at all.]
[Do you have a clue?]
[Yes, those fraudulent spells and imitation stigmata belong to the Dark Church, but think about the elevators and the clothes they were wearing.]
In the first place, the technique to deal with the soul is not of the Dark Church, but since it was also used in that labyrinth, even if you say that it is passed, the technique applied to this peak is definitely different.
Even if I put aside the similarities with the Earth I lived on, there are very few groups in this world that can handle this level of technology.
[About the imperial family or the underground dwarves?]
And either way, it has little to do with the Dark Church.
[There’s no way the Golden Eyes would abandon their duties, but they’re God’s illegitimate sons…]
[Let’s not make hasty judgments. In any case, we will continue to collide with the Dark Church in the future. After all, wouldn’t the tail naturally come out?]
Thinking about the secret organization was normally a fun pastime, but I’m not very relaxed right now? I was annoyed.
[Let’s go down here for now. Why did you come here in the first place!]
[Ah.]
You’re here to fix me! It is no longer something that clings to Cream’s shoulder like a parasite. If I don’t return to the sword as soon as possible, I think I’ll even forget the sense of cutting meat.
“Do you hate it?”
[Leaving aside the issue of likes and dislikes, I am a sword.]
My life only finds value when it is held in someone else’s hands and wielded. So, it is inevitable that the situation of becoming only the burden of the owner is cramped.
[But it’s coming soon.]
There are two peaks where morale soared in the Sunset Mountains. I just leveled one of them, so now there is only one left. The elder lich will live there.
With her bizarre abilities, she might be able to repair me. If she says that it is impossible to reach the Elder Reach, then I should go and find the maker of the holy sword… Eww.
The geek has no clues to find, and he is reluctant to meet him personally.
“Now, let’s go.”
After tidying up her disheveled appearance, Cream raised her body. We took the lift again and came down the peak. After getting off the lift, Cream swung her sword.
The elevator made of composite metal was easily cut like tofu. In case the remnants of the Dark Church would come again, she used her hand.
[Come to think of it, what kind of person is the Elder Lich?]
The deeper we went into the mountains, the more eyes were on us, but unlike the beginning, no hunters showed their teeth hastily.
Even the divine protection of cleanliness could not be completely erased, and the faint smell of blood from all sorts of monsters remained and hovered around Cream. The quick-witted ones hid tightly, fearing that even their own shadows would be caught.
And what about the ignorant things?
[Is it delicious?]
“Yes.”
It became a meal for Cream. Most of the meat of monsters is terribly tough and tasteless regardless of whether it is poisonous or not, but the snow mountain boar meat was an exception.
[What am I going to eat? Are you the only mouth?]
“There is no mouth.”
Because they only appear in the polar regions, I only ate them a few times when I was an adventurer. Perhaps feeling my regret, Cream patted my shoulder as if comforting me.
“Later.”
[Huh?]
“If you have a blade, then.”
[Yes!]
I feel sorry for the tone of it, as if it were soothing a child in the hospital, but I nodded. Seeing us doing this, the Holy Sword cleared his throat.
[Why? Can you join me too?]
[Yes… No, that’s not it! So what kind of person is the Elder Lich!]
[What, well? Nothing special. Still, he must be the most gentle of the liches I know.]
Well, she’s the only living lich I know in the first place. Still, considering her status as an undead and the years she lived, she was very decent.
Are normal people crazy when they go crazy? Rather, she was more like a case where a madman went crazy and became a normal person.
[Well, ask directly if you’re curious.]
[Yes? What does that mean…]
[This is true, you still have a knack for breaking colic.]
The Holy Sword, who responded bluntly, was startled by the voice that intervened in the conversation. Cream also didn’t notice her approach, and she was surprised, but her eyes were wide open.
[How?!]
[It’s been a while, Shire Pen.]
[Huh, didn’t you ask me to call you by your nickname the next time we meet?]
On the other hand, I, who noticed the approach from an early point, greeted me calmly. At my response, the woman with gray hair smiled and waved her hand.
What can I say? She is the last Elder Lich to survive in the present age. True to her name, Elder, she lived as long as a dragon, and she was a transcendental being with a power comparable to that of a dragon.
[Nice to meet you, sacred gentlemen.]
The elder lich waved her hand nonchalantly. Cream and her Holy Sword, who were wary of her, soon noticed her trick that allowed the Elder Lich to get so close.
Her presence was vague and was close to nonexistent. As if insubstantial, her image swayed with the currents of the air, like the rustling wind and the scattering dandelion spore.
[Illusion?]
[This is the correct answer, can’t it be that I’m crazy and meet people like you in person? No matter how many lives a lich has, her life is a precious law.]
Her woman’s mouth drew arcs and chattered merrily, but her dark gray-blue eyes bore a chilling piercing look at her uninvited guests who had entered her own territory.
[So, what happened? Even with my best work.]
Her gaze touched Cream’s shoulder in an instant. It was a brief glance, but I knew the elder lich was watching me.
[······What, are you going to come out so heartless? Aren’t you happy?]
[Of course, I’m glad to see you, but as a friend, if I had to give you a word of advice, I’d rather go out with friends.]
Even though she was smart, the elder lich’s attitude was wary. Well, it’s natural. She, like me, belongs to the realm of darkness. Her hero and holy sword are a burden to her just by their existence.
Even if the lich is one of the two branches of immortality sought by shamans, it does not mean that the real she is undying. That’s a realm only allowed by true gods.
[I’m willing to welcome them if they leave them behind, how is it?]
[hahahaha, look at me. Can’t you see my tail right now?]
[This is serious. Then too?]
[Right, fix me.]
The vision of the elder lich is fast approaching. Cream flinched for a moment, but soon stood motionless so she could observe me.
[It’s hard to recognize because of the divine protection. Hmm······. It’s a big damage just with the blade flying, but looking at it, the inside is also a mess. Besides, they are all wounds caused by divine power.]
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After muttering that, the elder lich raised her head and looked at Cream and me alternately. Soon she turned her reproachful gaze to me.
[Why are you walking around with a hero? Just by being together, that power will eat you up.]
[hahahaha, you know. I know, but…]
I hesitated for a moment before shrugging my shoulders.
[I can’t help it. I signed a contract with this guy.]
[What is it?]
In the end, I had to repeat the explanation I gave to the high elves to the elder lich. That I bonded with the hero by soul. So far that you can’t fall.
[Huh… Really, something unbelievable happened.]
[So please help me. I know you got burned by the hero too, but this guy is really nice. Yes? Cream, it won’t hurt the shair pen, right?]
“Right.”
Cream nodded her head like a puppet at my words. Seeing her pitiful appearance, the elder lich frowned at her for a moment before speaking.
[······ Ha! I can’t help it. Seeing that you noticed that I was here, it looks like you came after hearing from Sigma.]
[Sigma?]
[Speaking of Kalia Sigma, I can’t help but admire your personality every time I see you.]
When the elder lich talked about her unrequited love, Cream’s whole body instantly exploded with life. No, why are you still revealing the dark history from hundreds of years ago!
[Oops!]
[Let’s stop talking about the past. I was too young at the time.]
[Well, that’s good. If it’s Sigma’s guarantee, I can trust it myself.]
The high elf called her by her nickname, but the elder lich called her by her last name. The elder lich vision nodded humorously.
[Crime and Aries, I invite you to my workshop. It’s probably the first time since the dawn of time that a being of light set foot in my workshop, so you can be proud of it.]
[Tsk.]
The Holy Sword clicked her tongue as if this situation was not appropriate. However, Cream was already moving her steps following the elder lich’s vision.
[Of course, you can trust me to act like a guest while invited as a guest, right?]
For an instant, the vision of a skull wearing a crown with gray eyes burning over the young woman with a mischievous smile. Cream nodded her head without blinking her eyes.
“Don’t worry.”
Since the Elder Lich’s vision was together, the shadows that had been roaming around also disappeared. We leisurely headed for the Peak of Morale.
A dense and dark fraud that cannot be compared to that of the Dark Church. The moment Cream stepped into it, white flames crackled over her body, then faded.
“If you can, if you can, fix Karbal.”
Cream was deliberately suppressing the divine protection that was trying to bloom from her body. As if she didn’t want to go against the planting of the elder lich next to her. It was extremely rare for her to show such consideration.
“I will never, ever, ever fight.”
No, did Cream ever notice someone else? The elder lich was silent for a moment, then she spat out as if talking to herself.
[You have a unique corner as much as I do.]