I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 115

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 115

 

“Hurry up. If the soldiers catch us, it’s all over.”

 

The former capital of the Holy Kingdom, once famous for not having even a small fence. A group of men was secretly approaching the barrier wall.

 

“Don’t worry. There’s still time before patrol hours.”

 

The leather-clad man said as he rummaged through his bag. Soon he pulled out a thick rope from inside.

 

“You’re sure there’s no barrier or security magic, right?”

 

“Of course. Do you think the Holy Kingdom has money rotting away?”

 

“Well, I was just double-checking. If we get caught by any chance…”

 

“Yeah, yeah. It would be the end.”

 

The man who cut him off with a sarcastic tone threw the rope. The rope flew in an arc and was firmly secured on top of the barrier wall.

 

The man skillfully climbed the wall and scaled the barrier, and ruins came into view.

 

“How terrible.”

 

The darkness that had covered the Holy Kingdom had disappeared long ago, but its former capital had become abandoned ruins.

 

This was because the Hero who defeated the Great Demon had warned that dense demonic energy still remained in the capital and it shouldn’t be approached.

 

“Just to be sure I’m asking… there’s definitely no demonic energy left, right?”

 

“It’s information I got from a mage who participated in the expedition force.”

 

The man shook his head and let out a sigh.

 

“Look. I understand you’re worried, but we can’t do anything like this. If we keep hesitating, we’ll really get caught by the soldiers.”

 

“Ah, I understand.”

 

After helping the hesitating man climb the wall, he climbed down the rope on the other side.

 

Collapsed, blackened ruins. Skeletons that hadn’t been cleared away could be seen here and there.

 

However, to the man looking at it, it appeared incredibly beautiful.

 

“Oh, ooh…!”

 

The cowardly man who came down late let out an exclamation. After hesitating so much, now that he had actually arrived, he was running around everywhere.

 

“Look, look at this! Gold coins!”

 

The man who had examined the rotted pouch next to the skeleton shouted.

 

“I heard Holy Kingdom People are famous for being wealthy, and it’s really true.”

 

“Where else would that deep faith come from? It’s what you do when you have enough to eat and live well.”

 

Sighing, he threw a bag to the Cowardly Man and said.

 

“Just roughly gather what you can and follow me. That’s not what’s important today.”

 

This was the capital of the Holy Nation, which boasted a thousand-year history alongside the Empire. There were considerable facilities and treasures of historical and cultural value, and the Papal Palace would be filled with sacred relics used by past Popes.

 

If they could salvage even one and sell it, their lives would be completely turned around in that instant.

 

Passing through traces of destruction everywhere as if a great battle had taken place, they reached the Papal Palace. The man immediately stopped the Cowardly Man who was heading downward.

 

“Not there, upward.”

 

“Ah, okay.”

 

Underground was the chapel where the Great Demon had descended. Judging that going there would only show traces of battle and piles of corpses, the man headed upward.

 

His prediction was correct.

 

On the Upper Floors of Papal Palace, they could see treasures of considerable value on display. There were quite a few sacred paintings hundreds of years old and items whose origins were hard to guess. The Cowardly Man’s eyes lit up at the sight of a gem-decorated sword right before him.

 

“This is insane.”

 

“No time to admire. I don’t want to spend the night here. Let’s quickly gather what we can and leave.”

 

“Ah, right. Sounds good.”

 

The Cowardly Man skillfully gathered treasures according to the man’s words. He discarded damaged items without hesitation and selected only those in decent condition. The bag he was carrying seemed to have magic cast on it, as items kept going in endlessly.

 

After about two hours had passed like this.

 

They had even found the Secret Chamber of Papal Palace. Although the Cowardly Man had broken several sacred relics in his haste, even considering that, they had gathered an enormous amount of treasures.

 

It was when the man was about to step outside with a satisfied smile.

 

“How about we check downstairs once too?”

 

The man frowned at the Cowardly Man’s question.

 

“Listen, downstairs is…”

 

“We’re not coming back anyway, right? If we leave behind some expensive treasure, I think I’ll be too upset to sleep.”

 

“Phew…”

 

After a moment of contemplation, the man nodded his head.

 

Honestly, he wasn’t particularly pleased with it, but it wasn’t wrong either. Besides, if he refused, the man seemed ready to leave alone if necessary, so there was no choice. Until they returned with the treasures they had finally obtained, he needed that man, frustrating as it was.

 

‘I’ll just deal with him before we reach the nearby territory.’

 

Of course, he had no intention of sharing the treasures. That was also the reason he had chosen that unreliable man as his companion. Based on what he had observed so far, he was the type who would die without even knowing why he was dying.

 

“Just a moment.”

 

The coward smiled and ran down below. The stench of rotting corpses lingered without escaping, but he didn’t seem to care at all.

 

“Hey, stop there.”

 

The man called out to stop the coward. He was already the one who had broken several sacred relics upstairs. Though they didn’t look particularly valuable, it wouldn’t do if he touched something strange again and caused problems.

 

“I’ll go first.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You’ve been going in first all this time.”

 

The coward tilted his head in confusion, but soon smiled foolishly and nodded. The man let out a small sigh and went down the staircase. And then.

 

Thunk.

 

An arrow flew and lodged itself between the man’s eyebrows. The man lost his strength and collapsed on the spot.

 

“W-wait, wait.”

 

The cowardly man who had been following behind stepped back, raising both hands and shouting. No more arrows followed, but something like tree roots from the floor were slowly approaching the man.

 

The cowardly man shouted desperately.

 

“I’m from the Dawn Order. No, wait!”

 

However, the tree roots didn’t stop approaching. Rather, as they wrapped around his legs making escape impossible, a gleaming arrowhead was aimed at the coward.

 

“Golden Star Trading Company Owner, Dahan! That damn bastard sent me!”

 

“….”

 

The arrow that had been right in front of his face retreated to a span’s distance.

 

The coward. No, the Dawn Brigade Member who had been acting that way let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Phew, damn it. If I had come alone, I really would have died.”

 

The Dawn Brigade Member spat on the floor and grumbled. Remal didn’t lower the bow she was aiming at him and asked.

 

“I know Dahan. What’s the reason he sent someone now?”

 

Remal didn’t have very good memories of the Golden Star Trading Company. Although she had received fairly decent treatment when she visited with Jude, she hadn’t forgotten having to flee like being driven out by the Hero who appeared in the middle of the night.

 

It was even more so because she had been having quite an interesting conversation with Miril.

 

“Well, how would I know? Someone at the bottom like me just does what I’m told.”

 

The Dawn Brigade Member who said that glanced at his bag with his eyes.

 

“I brought something. Is it okay if I take it out?”

 

When Remal stepped back one step and lowered her bow, the Dawn Brigade Member picked up his bag and said.

 

“An Artifact with Subspace Magic cast on it. It’s something I received as compensation for this mission. It’s also something that stupid bastard was coveting.”

 

“Weren’t you companions?”

 

“We were just using each other. He needed an idiot to help carry treasures, and I needed someone to take arrows for me and buy time. He was more cautious than he looked, so I had some trouble luring him out, but…”

 

The Dawn Brigade Member shrugged his shoulders.

 

Soon, he rummaged through his bag and took out food.

 

“Here. These are from the most famous restaurant in the New Capital of Holy Kingdom. I heard you haven’t been able to eat anything for a long time. They said the preservation is good, so you don’t need to worry.”

 

“That’s not your concern.”

 

“No, not you.”

 

The man gestured with his eyes. Remal unconsciously turned to look in the direction the man was looking.

 

In the middle of the wide space, the tree roots that had been tangled as if wrapping around something were slowly opening up.

 

Remal looked at the Dawn Brigade Member with an expression of disbelief.

 

“I told you. Someone at the bottom like me just does what I’m told.”

 

The Dawn Brigade Member answered like that, hiding his surprised expression.

 

* * *

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Along with a feeling of my body swaying, the first thing I heard was a voice filled with worry.

 

‘Who is it?’

 

It sounded familiar as if I had heard it before, but it was hard to recall who the owner was. Even when I leaned my body against the hard tree roots and examined the other person, it was no different.

 

Gray skin but quite beautiful features. The pointed ears allowed me to guess that she was an elf. That was all. I couldn’t tell who the other person was or why she was looking at me like that.

 

“Who…?”

 

“I am Remal. Don’t you remember?”

 

“Remal, Remal…”

 

I frowned at the mild headache and fell into thought. When I heard the name, something vaguely came to mind.

 

“That crazy Elf?”

 

“…!”

 

The gray-skinned Elf seemed shocked for a moment and couldn’t continue speaking, then took a deep breath and said.

 

“I am an Elf, but I’m not crazy.”

 

“…”

 

“Since you’ve awakened after a long time, it’s natural that you’d be confused. It would be good for you to rest a little. Human?”

 

“…Me?”

 

The man who was behind pointed to himself with a bewildered expression. I really couldn’t recall anything about him.

 

The Elf called Remal fixed her gaze on me without affirming or denying and said.

 

“Bring the food you took out earlier.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you have a complaint?”

 

“…No, yes. I don’t. I’ll do as you say. Yes.”

 

The man grumbled as he approached me. Trees sprouted up to create a seat and a dining table.

 

“If there’s something like poison in it, you’d better be prepared. Though it wouldn’t work anyway.”

 

“Yes, yes.”

 

Every time the man who answered half-heartedly pulled his hand out of the bag, steaming hot food came out with it. It was truly an incredible sight. Is that man an Archmage?

 

“Please eat. They say these are from quite famous restaurants.”

 

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

 

After expressing my gratitude to Remal, who spoke in a somewhat boastful manner for some reason, I reached for the food. However, a tree branch that suddenly sprouted knocked my hand away.

 

“…?”

 

What the hell is this.

 

As I stared at the tree branch in bewilderment, the hardened branch fell with a snap. Its shape was remarkably similar to utensils.

 

This is, right. It’s the World Tree. Why is the World Tree here? More than that, what is the World Tree anyway. While trying hard to hide my bitter feelings, I picked up the wooden spoon and took a sip of the food.

 

Right after, the man who had been standing in an awkward position pulled out a bundle of papers from his bag and began reading.

 

“Currently you… Ah, no. Lord Jude is in a state where his brain has been damaged due to excessive exposure to information, it says.”

 

Even during this, the man kept glancing at the elf named Remal. Does he have feelings for her or something.

 

“Uh… Is that okay?”

 

I don’t know the details, but just from hearing it, it sounds really bad.

 

Of course, even though he said that, I couldn’t feel it at all, so I was just eating the food in front of me with the feeling of listening to someone else’s story.

 

The man hurriedly recited the contents written on the bundle of papers.

 

“There’s no need to worry much, it says. Uh, thanks to the World Tree protecting you, you’ll recover within a week… Huh…? World Tree?”

 

The man looked back and forth between the paper he was reading and the tree trunk swaying beside me with a face that showed he couldn’t believe it.

 

“What exactly are you?”

 

“…?”

 

Well.

 

I’d have to remember something first to tell you.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————