Chapter 162 – On the Morning of Departure

When I returned to the church, I stowed away all the debris and remnants of the sacristy. I was especially careful around the area where I thought the altar had been.

“What do you want here, Takifu?”

“It’s just a hunch. I thought there might be something here… Oh, there it is.”

A collapsed opening that appeared to be the entrance to a basement, at what appears to be the site of an altar. The opening must have been broken by the explosion, and when the debris was cleared away, a one-meter square entrance was revealed. We descended to the basement via a ladder.

When we illuminated the entrance with a Maglite, a scene that could be described as gold, silver, and treasures emerged.

“Wow, it’s like a thief’s treasure room.”

“Not just like, but exactly that.”

Yes, it is. It is a bandit guild, isn’t it? But still, it is a very big hoard.

“How shrewd.”

“Yes, that priest has accumulated a lot.”

“That’s not it. I am talking about you.”

Is that so? Because it would be stupid to go home empty-handed, wouldn’t it? The total amount of money we have lost so far due to being cheated and ripped off is, let’s see…

…It’s not even close to 100,000 yen.

No matter how you look at it, the treasure in front of us is worth tens of millions of yen.

In addition to the coins in wooden boxes and jars, there are swords and works of art. There are even rolls of cloth that appear to be silk, as well as mysterious spells and magical tools, but of course, I have no idea what the individual items are worth.

I’ll just have to collect them and go back home.

I feel sorry for those who were robbed, but we don’t have the time, ability, or desire to go around returning them.

“If we didn’t have this kind of perk, we wouldn’t be doing this kind of work, would we?”

“Umu, you’re right. We are becoming more and more like the Demon King day by day.”

“We are on vacation, though…”

In a matter of minutes, all the treasures were retrieved, and we were on our way to the surface.

Citizens who heard the commotion and came outside were stunned by the cleanly vanished church.

“Should we proclaim the coming of the Demon King here?”

“I don’t want to. I came to the Republic just for fun, and I don’t want to get into trouble again.”

“I don’t doubt that, but your words and actions seem to be contradicting each other.”

That’s true, though. I was going to have a quiet winter vacation with Myrril, but where did I go wrong?

“…From the very beginning, I guess.”

“What?”

“No, it would have been nice if there had been some kind of a template like when you register as a newbie at the Adventurer’s Guild and gets involved with an experienced macho guy, and you have to deal with him, but it just blew up in the opposite direction. It’s strange. It’s been less than ten days since we entered the Republic, and we’ve already killed hundreds of people.”

“You are still obsessed with your incomprehensible ideas. You’ve already killed 30,000 people in Casemaians, and a hundred is nothing to worry about, is it?”

Well, that’s true, but… The kind-eyed Myrril urged me to regain my pride as the “Demon King.” I decided to kill my enemies. Now, I’ve stopped wondering if I’m going to kill my allies. I may mess up from time to time, but at least I’ve decided to do so.

“Well then, let’s go, Your Majesty the Queen.”

“Umu. Whatever you wish.”

But isn’t it strange to address one’s wife by her title? While receiving a silent rebuke, the temporary Demon King crawled out of the basement.

◇ ◇

Despite the commotion spreading throughout the town of Roses, it was quiet in front of the inn we had returned to with teleport. Louis was crouched down, and Tig was leaning on his spear, looking bored.

“What happened?”

“The guild’s stronghold was pulverized.”

“It sounded great.”

“I’ve got some treasure. We’ll share it later.”

“Wha?”

I looked back and saw Moff, the snow-white wolf, wagging his tail. I thought he was coming out very slowly, but he looked back at me and led me to the stables as if to say, “Follow me.”

“What’s the matter, Moff?”

“Woof.”

Myrril looked at Moff and then looked at me with a doubtful expression on her face.

“It seems he’s done some work.”

“Work?”

I understood as soon as I entered the stables. Three guards, covered in straw and horse manure, were lying unconscious.

“I wonder if they thought we hid the contracts and stuff in the sleigh.”

“Whatever the case, well done, Moff, you’ve done well.”

“Woof♪”

It’s not nice to kill an unconscious man, but it’s not nice to deal with one, either.

“Takifu!”

One of the guards, who seemed to have woken up, took a stance as if to jump on me, so I shot him through the head with my shotgun.

“Sorry, Mir.”

I guess I didn’t hesitate. Needless to say, I was naive, even if the muscle brains told me otherwise. I’m naive, in my sides, in my stuffing, and in my personality.

The rest of the guards who tried to escape were shot as well, and their corpses were stored away, so there was no need to worry about the consequences.

“This is in contradiction to what you said earlier, Takifu. Don’t get too used to killing. I have a soft spot for that kind of naivete in you, too.”

“Thank you, Mir. I’ll be careful.”

“Takifu? Mir?”

McCain and the others upstairs shouted when they heard the gunfire from the stables. They were getting tired of being out of frame for so long.

“It’s alright; you can come out now.”

Everyone was awake and ready to go. I received and stowed the blankets, sleeping bags, and military beds and instead took out the luggage and loaded it into the wagons.

It would be a few more hours before the sun rose, but the snow had stopped. The wind is not too strong, either.

“Colon, go get Tig and Louis. It’s a little early, but let’s get out of here.”

“Roger that.”

I tied the horses to the sleigh that the Calmon family was riding in and using a wooden box that had been left over from the bed, I set up a bulletproof board with wire to protect them from the wind.

“This time, you go in front of us. Mir and Moff will escort you.”

“Understood.”

“Colon, we are the main force here. Eino-san, you watch the rear.”

“Alright, sir.”

“Hey, do you think they’re coming after us?”

“Just in case. I think we have destroyed all the hostile forces, but there might be survivors from the bandit guild.”

We headed for the city gate in the still dark. This time, I was ready to kill anyone who tried to stop us with a gun, but the gatehouse was empty.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“If we leave now, we should be in Lafan by the evening.”

That is if nothing goes wrong on the way.

I swallowed my words to Tig, who obviously knew that.