Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 5 Read online

  But I couldn’t bring myself to say that to the handsome civil official as he puffed his chest out with childish pride, so I picked a question at random.

  “What sort of demon lord did the ancestral king Yamato fight?”

  “Ah yes, the Golden Boar Lord.”

  …Golden?

  Was that the same as the “Golden Lord” or whatever that the lesser demon had mentioned before?

  He was talking about resurrection, too, so considering that this ancient demon lord might be making a reappearance at some point, I should probably listen carefully.

  “His body shone with gold that repelled even a Holy Sword, and his twin sabers slew two heroes… Yes, he was truly a lord of demon lords, said to be the strongest ever known. Even the ancestral king Yamato fell to him twice before finally defeating him with the help of the flying dragons.”

  Clearly in his element, the handsome official expounded at great length.

  I wasn’t sure how much his drunken testimony could be trusted, but if it was true, that meant there had been at least three heroes.

  If this demon lord could repel even Holy Swords, did that mean he was basically invincible?

  “Hmm, I must make a small objection to that view. Wouldn’t the strongest demon lord be the Dogheaded Demon Lord, who traveled the world destroying gods in ancient mythology, or perhaps the Goblin Demon Lord, who forced Parion to implore the dragon god to summon the first hero?”

  “Hmm-hmm. I’ll grant you that the Goblin Demon Lord was perhaps stronger, as he sank even the light boats of the elves and could not be eliminated even by the gods. That much is true. However! I take issue with your suggestion of the Dogheaded Demon Lord.”

  “Even though the scriptures of many temples report his strength to have rivaled a god’s?”

  “True, I certainly do not deny his power. However, this ‘Doghead’ was not in fact a demon lord but an offspring of the Demon God. In fact, it is now believed by yours truly that this creature would be more accurately named the ‘Dogheaded Evil God.’”

  The civil official got even more worked up, reeling as he spoke.

  Yeah, I didn’t really need information about some unreasonably strong enemy.

  What if it jinxed me and ended up with their being revived one after another?

  I especially don’t want to meet this Mr. Doghead guy, okay? Let’s change the subject…

  “Are there any records of what level the ancestral king Yamato was?”

  “There are varying opinions, but some texts, like the ‘Depths of Celivera’ that I mentioned before, suggest a superhuman level of eighty-nine.”

  “Indeed. However, successive generations of heroes have rarely exceeded level seventy…”

  “I beg your pardon, Baron Muno…! The Saga Kingdom’s first hero was level eighty-eight. Are you suggesting that a later Shigan king falsified this information to compete with him?!”

  Guess nations get competitive in fantasy worlds, too.

  Their conversation was becoming heated, so I took the first opportunity I saw to change the subject again.

  “Could you tell me about King Yamato’s Holy Sword?”

  “Do you mean the Holy Sword Gjallarhorn he created?”

  The ancestral king made that sword, too…? These legends were starting to sound made-up.

  I wondered if this meant that the Holy Sword recipe I found also came from him.

  “Or did you perhaps mean the Heavenly Holy Sword gifted to the king by the goddess Parion?”

  “The latter, if you please.”

  “Truth be told, there are several differing anecdotes about the ancestral king Yamato’s summoning to the Saga Kingdom, but it is theorized that the sword the king wielded at the time was either Durandal or Claíomh Solais…”

  The Holy Sword Durandal was actually tucked away in my Storage.

  “Well, which was the sword that the ancestral king wielded against the demon lord?”

  “That would be Claíomh Solais! There is a famous verse that goes thusly: ‘Dance, Claíomh Solais, become thirteen blades whirling through the skies…’”

  After sharing an absurd description of the ludicrous sword—which apparently boasted a homing function, the ability to break into smaller blades, and elasticity—the handsome official went on to explain other anecdotes about the ancestral king, and we had great fun until he finally drank himself unconscious.

  With all the information I got, I felt like I could put together a whole book about the adventures of Yamato the Hero myself.

  Four days after the night of the feast, when Miss Sara and her party were departing, we decided to leave the Muno Barony as well.

  Miss Sara had already left, and now our wagon was the last to depart.

  We weren’t the only ones hitting the road along with her; Miss Karina and her attendants were leaving as well.

  The baron’s daughter was going to the royal capital by way of the old capital, in order to deliver a letter to the king summarizing the events of the demon attack in the Muno Barony. As I understood it, the only people in this territory with titles befitting a messenger to the king were Miss Nina and the baron himself, neither of whom could leave at present.

  For that reason, it was decided that sending a member of the baron’s family would be the next best option, and ultimately the duty fell to Miss Karina.

  It seemed that a report to the king had already been made using the City Core, but it was considered courteous for the lord to send a messenger to explain in person nonetheless.

  As I mulled over this information, Lulu called out to me from the coachman’s seat.

  “Master, I believe we’ll be departing soon.”

  Indeed, the number of wagons departing from Muno Castle’s parking area had greatly decreased, and it would soon be our turn next.

  “Satou, please take care of my dear Karina.”

  “Of course. We’ll be parting ways at Bolehart City, but until then, you can certainly count on me.”

  I smiled reassuringly at the worried Baron Muno.

  Bolehart City was the dominion of the dwarves in the Ougoch Duchy. I had yet to meet a dwarf, one of the most famous denizens of any fantasy world, so I was very much looking forward to the visit.

  “You know you can come back here once you’ve seen Lady Karina to her destination, don’t you?”

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. We need to bring Mia back home to the Bolenan Forest.”

  Miss Nina’s comment was offhand yet serious, so I responded sincerely.

  She had also given me a letter of introduction to several influential aristocrats, as well as a few personal letters that she’d asked me to deliver.

  “I wish you’d at least leave Miss Arisa with me. Without her, my workload’s about to double.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t! I just can’t bear to live unless I’m by my darling’s side.” Arisa appeared out of nowhere to respond to Miss Nina’s complaint.

  I would’ve liked to object to the whole “darling” bit, but this was standard practice for Arisa. I just pretended not to hear it.

  Arisa was peeking at me hopefully, clearly expecting me to jab back at her, but she’d just have to wait.

  More importantly, I was a bit concerned about the maids who were slowly but surely drawing closer.

  They were all clutching their hands to their chests and gazing at me rather tearfully.

  …Ummm?

  I hadn’t so much as touched a single one of them, yet they were looking at me like a litter of abandoned puppies.

  “Please don’t go, Lord Hereditary Knight.”

  One of the maids, a slender redhead, rushed forward with a cry and clung to me.

  Sadly, she was a little lacking in volume.

  She had opened the floodgates, as a wave of maids cascaded toward me to embrace me and try to stop me from leaving.

  Some of them even tried to kiss my cheek or my forehead. If I were a lolicon, this would probably be a moment to remember. />
  Instead, thanks to the enthusiasm of the younger maids, I missed my chance at a little intimacy with the shapely adults.

  Arisa and Mia kicked me from behind in protest (“Enough with the swooning!”), but I ignored them.

  “Sir Knight, please stay here forever!”

  “Yes! Who will make crepes if you are gone, my lord?”

  “Forget crepes! Can’t we get one more taste of that fried chicken?”

  “No, marry me and cook for me forever!”

  “At least leave little Tama with us!”

  “What are you saying? Pochi is much cuter!”

  “I want to hear Lady Mia’s music forever…!”

  …So at least half their reasons for wanting me to stay were food-related. I never knew I’d captured their stomachs so thoroughly.

  …Oh?

  I felt a familiar tugging on my legs, so I looked down to see Pochi and Tama.

  Why were they hanging off me like that?

  They were looking up at me keenly, their eyes sparkling. Did they think all this shoving was some new game?

  The head maid clapped her hands briskly, drawing her subordinates’ attention away from me.

  “Everyone! I understand we’re all sad to see Sir Knight go, but you mustn’t trouble him so.”

  “That’s right. Besides, he baked a pound cake for us that’s sitting in the dining room right now. Once you finish your work, you can come and have a piece each.”

  With this announcement from Chef Gert, the maids all flooded away from me like the ebbing tide.

  …I’ll admit it hurt my feelings a little.

  “You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? It may not measure up to your cooking, Sir Knight, but please take this if you’d like.”

  “Thank you very much. I’m sure it will be delicious.”

  I accepted the boxed lunch that the head chef Gert handed to me and passed it to Lulu in the coachman stand.

  “Are you heading out? If you get bored of traveling, please come back anytime.”

  “Once we’ve trained in Labyrinth City for a year or two, I promise we’ll return awhile.”

  Nodding to Miss Nina, I boarded the carriage.

  “Please take care of little Tama and Pochi.”

  Baron Muno spoke in the same tone he’d used when entrusting his own daughter to me. No, if anything, it was even more emotional.

  During our stay, he’d doted on the two like they were his grandchildren, so it wasn’t surprising that he was sad to see them go.

  “Don’t worry—I will.”

  The baron still looked worried.

  “It’s okaaay!”

  “Pochi is fine anywhere, sir!”

  Tama and Pochi, who were busy receiving little pouches of sweets from Miss Soluna, turned to the baron and grinned cheerfully.

  I helped the pair board the carriage, then joined them in waving out the window to our Muno Barony friends.

  Behind the baron and company, the rest of the castle staff, as well as the children and elderly in the care of the castle, had all gathered to see us off.

  Of course, this also included Miss Soluna and the former fake hero, Hauto; Sir Zotol; and the other soldiers.

  With Liza and Nana leading the way on horseback, our carriage departed from Muno Castle.

  We said our farewells to our unexpectedly cozy visit in Muno City and set off for the Ougoch Duchy.

  The Home of the Dwarves

  Satou here. Sometime in junior high, I learned that there were different kinds of dwarves than the ones I saw in picture books as a kid. I remember being surprised to read that female dwarves had beards.

  Five days after we left Muno City, we finally reached the fork in the road that branched off toward Bolehart City.

  Not only was our party large, but the mountainous region at the border of the territory was quite difficult to traverse, so it took longer than I’d expected.

  Monsters attacked us a few times over the course of our journey, but the soldiers and knights traveling in front of us took care of them each time, so we never had to battle for ourselves.

  “Well, here we are. I hope we meet again in the old capital.”

  “Indeed. If you go to the old capital, please do visit the Tenion Temple.”

  At the crossroads, we bade farewell to Miss Sara and company—or rather, we exchanged a promise to meet again.

  “S-Sa… Sir Pendragon. Are you certain there’s no way you might accompany me to the old capital?” Lady Karina gazed at me like an abandoned kitten.

  As usual, she seemed to be too embarrassed to call me by my first name.

  “I’m sorry, Lady Karina. I am duty bound to deliver Miss Nina’s letter to Bolehart City.”

  I depended on my “Poker Face” skill to keep my expression from faltering as I apologized.

  I couldn’t tell her that I was too excited to see dwarves to go with her.

  “Hee-hee. You seem to be quite close to Sir Pendragon, Lady Karina.”

  Miss Sara might be a priestess, but she was still a girl, too. Evidently this meant she had a fondness for romance, as she was watching us with an amused smile.

  It was a misunderstanding, of course, but I didn’t have the heart to…

  “I—I have no such r-relationship with this person, I’ll have you know!”

  “Oh? Denying it so fervently is rather insulting, is it not?”

  Miss Sara’s smile only deepened at Miss Karina’s desperate denial.

  …All right, I guess I should help her out.

  “Lady Sara… Lady Karina is quite innocent at heart, so please don’t tease her any further.”

  “Hee-hee, I suppose you’re right.” Miss Sara accepted my suggestion easily enough and returned to the original subject. “We will be waiting in the riverbed city of Gururian for a few days, so if your business is brief enough, Sir Pendragon, perhaps we will meet again there.”

  “Then I shall have to put our cart horses to work and bring that to fruition.”

  I didn’t think it would actually be possible, given our itinerary, but I responded diplomatically just in case.

  To be honest, though, I didn’t really want to work our horses too hard.

  We shouldn’t keep blocking the road, so we parted ways with Sara and her party and journeyed toward Bolehart.

  We’d acquired a new four-horse carriage for the journey.

  Since this doubled our horses while lightening the weight of the carriage itself, we were able to travel an extra 30 percent or so per day with our newfound speed and endurance.

  Thanks to the shock absorber I’d made with earth and stones on the journey to Muno Barony, as well as the new cushions, the journey had become considerably more comfortable.

  In addition, I’d installed a mechanism to quickly transform the seats into beds.

  And two additional horses accompanied us at all times, usually ridden by the armored Liza and Nana.

  This was intended to fend off thieves. I had spotted more than a few bandits when I was surveying the Ougoch Duchy with a handmade hang glider before we departed, so we needed to make the proper precautions.

  It would be easy enough to defeat them, but taking care of what came next was much more involved than just beating monsters, so I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

  I opened the door that connected the carriage to the coachman’s stand and spoke to Lulu.

  “Lulu, let me take over for you.”

  “That won’t do, master. You’re a noble now, so you must leave the coach driving to your servants.”

  True enough. I could still see the soldiers from Miss Sara’s group behind us.

  I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal if they saw me driving, but Lulu seemed to be enjoying herself. I gave up for the time being.

  “All right. But may I sit beside you, at least?”

  “Yes, of course!”

  Lulu shifted to one side, then patted the seat next to her in an exceptionally cute gesture.
/>   I thanked her as I sat down and looked around.

  Fresh green leaves were beginning to bud all around, bringing the first signs of spring to the Ougoch Duchy.

  In this world, Ritual Magic could affect the change of the seasons using City Cores, so I wasn’t sure how much the conventional wisdom of Japan applied here.

  Still, though, any weather that let you steer a carriage without freezing half to death was welcome in my book.

  “There you are, you big flirt.”

  Arisa popped out to join us, latching onto me and making a deadpan joke. Naturally, she chose to squeeze herself between Lulu and me.

  “Arisa, you’re such a green-eyed monster sometimes.” Lulu smiled and patted the other girl’s hair.

  Then, Tama and Pochi shoved their way in, crushing Arisa.

  “Geh!”

  “Flirtiiiing?”

  “That’s forbidden, sir.”

  The two of them seemed happy that it was just our little group again.

  “Forbidden.”

  Mia, who had started riding on Nana’s horse with her a while back, puffed out her cheeks and prodded me lightly with her staff.

  “Master, please look ahead, I suggest.”

  Nana pointed forward, drawing my attention to the path before us.

  When I followed her gaze, I saw that Liza had dismounted a short ways down the road and was crouching next to a brown lump on the shoulder.

  According to the AR display, it was a large wild boar.

  Most likely, it had tried to attack Liza and was soundly defeated for its troubles.

  “I guess we’ll have boar hot pot tonight.”

  “Yaaay, hot pooot!”

  “We’ll help break it down, sir!”

  I opened my map to see if there were any sources of water nearby.

  “Liza, there’s a village a little ways away, so perhaps you can find out if we can use some water there.”

  “Yes, master!”

  I took a long stick and a rope from the Garage Bag and handed it to Liza to transport the wild boar.

  The Garage Bag was a Magic Item that could hold much more than its appearance suggested.

  I’d recently acquired a lesser one, which was currently the saddlebag of Liza’s horse. It was primarily used to store Liza’s magic spear.