Final Chapter: Dungeon City, Zenelaus

Thinking back on those unusual days living with monsters, the thing that left the biggest impression on me was probably the giant chorus of “oinks” that greeted me whenever I opened my door.

Other than that, it would probably be the sight of those orcs lined up, wanting a Heal from me. And then there were those busy days with no room for even one second of boredom.

I was silent, contemplating it all. You know, now that I’ve calmed down, I’m starting to wonder whether those days were real. Was I really in Huzak, of all places?

The moment I left that extraordinary environment, I began to have doubts that I had actually been living with monsters, even though I had experienced it firsthand.

This meant that telling someone else about what had happened was completely out of the question.

“So what did you want to talk about, Marco? It took so long for a carriage to get here in the middle of nowhere, so let’s just hurry up and go to the capital. Ah, hey! You stopped me, so Charlotte snuck in first!” I complained.

“Young Master! We should make a grand announcement to everyone that you managed to drive a Dustour spy away from Huzak!”

“You...what? Also, shush, you’re too loud! I’m tired, you know?!”

My life in her now monster-filled homeland had exhausted me more than I had expected. When I had returned to the country border after leaving the orc village, we had somehow managed to find an inn and collapsed into our beds. Charlotte had slept for two nights, and as for me... Believe it or not, I had apparently slept for three days and three nights!

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that, but that was just how tired I had been. A big part of my fatigue was probably from stress.

And when I had woken up...this guy had been in my room.

Instead of Charlotte, a man wearing a military uniform had been there.

Marco, the soldier who’d lost his squad to Rooney in Huzak, had been standing there in my bedroom. He had been watching me with bloodshot eyes, gripping my hands tightly in his. It reminded me of a scene from a horror movie.

“You’re a Dragon Slayer, and then you were victorious in Huzak... With this many achievements under your belt, nobody can make light of you, Young Master! There are still people who ridicule you in the capital, but I know that you have changed! We should spread the news to everyone! Don’t you agree, Young Master?!”

“Just saying, but I was quite the popular guy in the capital, ya know.”

“I am not talking about that. I am referring to House Denning. Even though you slew a dragon, there are many in House Denning who claim that they could have done the same deed. However, facing a member of the Dustour Empire head-on is different. I am sure that they will take their hats off to you, or even more!”

“There isn’t any hard evidence that the person you encountered was a member of the empire though,” I argued. “But more importantly, are you trying to say that...”

“Yes. Young Master, I believe you should aim for the position of duke once more.”

Apparently, Princess Carina had told Marco to find me and Charlotte because we hadn’t returned even after the promised date. This guy, who had been forced to take medical leave in the capital, had immediately headed back to Huzak in high spirits. However, perhaps due to his trauma from his battle with Rooney, he had wandered aimlessly along the border between the two countries for a few days.

He had approached several inns, described the two of us, and asked them to contact him immediately if we showed up there. That was why he immediately knew that we had returned.

And when I had woken up, this guy had been right there in my room. Jeez, that really scared me! After that, I gave him a brief explanation of what had happened in Huzak. I had said that I found the man in question, and that we had fought the moment we met, but the man had made a quick escape.

“Marco,” I said slowly. “Even now, I am the good-for-nothing Fallen Wind.”

“Nobody would say something like that if they saw you now!”

“I don’t mind people saying that about me. All of those things are true. But can you really declare wholeheartedly that there wouldn’t be anyone who calls me the Fallen Wind?”

“Still!” Marco insisted.

“I went down the wrong path once. I don’t think soldiers would willingly trust me with their lives without reservation. Give up on nominating me, okay? Now let’s get going already. The thing I’m most worried about right now is what would happen if we kept Her Majesty waiting even longer.”

After all, I had overstayed the promised two weeks.

According to Marco, the queen and her entourage had finished their stumping tour in several countries. They were now waiting for me with a full lineup of people with the most political influence in the country at the ready. Well now, I wonder which one is lying in wait for me: glory or punishment? If possible, I’d prefer glory, but I did tamper with the Mystical Sword. I probably wouldn’t be let off scot-free for messing with a national treasure.

Charlotte poked her head out from the carriage, waiting for me.

“Okay, I shall move on to the next question, then,” Marco relented.

I paused, wary of what it could be. “What is it this time?”

Marco coughed once to clear his throat. “So, how far have you progressed with little Charlotte?”

I stared at him for a long time. “You... What?”

“You two were in the infamous Huzak alone, a pair of a man and a woman. Surely something must have happened. Even I gave up on you at one point and thought that you were hopeless. However, she was the only one who continued to support you and stay by your side the whole time, even during your dark ages. When I spent more than a fortnight with my comrades, I also started to have some...wild thoughts.”

“Hey!” I yelped. “No need to come out of the closet like that to me right now! We really have to get going! If we make the queen and everyone else wait even longer, we’ll definitely be sentenced to death by hanging!”

Plus, Charlotte’s a princess! I don’t really feel a noble aura from her or anything right now, but a person of her caliber shouldn’t have ended up as my retainer in the first place.

Charlotte and I, ending up together in that way during our trip? Your thoughts are as wicked as a demon’s!

And now here we were, advancing down the path towards the capital.

I had returned to the carriage and had my fill of the jolting as we traveled. I nearly lost my fight against the drowsiness attacking me. Oh wait, I guess it’s okay to sleep. I’m no longer in Huzak.

This was my second trip to the capital. The first journey there, from Kirsch, had been painful because Charlotte’s face had been constantly twisted in torment.

However, things were different now. Even though the carriage shook, we were alone here with just the two of us. Even the silence wasn’t an uncomfortable one.

“Master Slowe, you took a while... What did you talk about with Mister Marco? Your face is awfully red.”

“It’s. Nothing. Nothing. At all,” I said stiffly.

“Mister Marco looked really happy because he was able to see you again,” Charlotte commented. “I remember him indulging me sometimes and playing with me when I was a child.”

“You really think so?” I muttered with doubt. “He has always been a hot-blooded and noisy guy.”

“It’s cruel to say something like that! Mister Marco was by your side the whole time while you were asleep, you know?”

Uh, no. That’s a little... That’s very creepy. Though I admit that if it had been Charlotte in his place, I would have been in heaven.

Charlotte sighed. “I still can’t believe what happened, though. Was all that time we spent in Huzak a dream? I still can’t scrub those ‘oinks’ from my head.”

There’s no way we can tell others the truth. Forming good relations with monsters? What kind of fairy tale is that? “It was a dream, Charlotte. We didn’t meet monsters like orcs or pixies there.”

Charlotte nodded at that. “But the man you looked for ended up escaping, right? Aren’t you going to tell Mister Marco that you managed to catch him once?”

“I won’t. More like, I can’t. I have the feeling that he might interrogate me about everything if I did.”

As Charlotte had said, Rooney had managed to run away.

The orcs had been alight with righteous indignation, saying that they must take revenge for all the comrades he had killed, but nobody dared approach him because of their fear. All they could manage to do to attack him was to splash water on the man from afar and throw rocks. However, even after Rooney was captured, he only looked at me. He had been watching me very closely.

After that, Charlotte had returned to the orc village with monsters from White Castle, and the man had taken advantage of the chaos and made his escape. Eagle Eye had tracked him from the skies and reported that the man was heading north. A few days later, the man had disappeared from Huzak safely and without incident.

Wait, “safely” sounds weird. But it’s not like he barely scraped out of there by the skin of his teeth either, so...

“We encountered him by chance and ended up fighting, but monsters showed up, interrupting our altercation. That guy disappeared off to who-knows-where, and we also ran out of Huzak, barely escaping alive... I suppose that will be the story we’ll go along with.”

Charlotte hummed, frowning. “But it feels a little wasteful.”

I couldn’t tell Charlotte this, but I’d never had plans of capturing the guy in the first place. As long as that guy had his fingers burned in Huzak, it would be enough to spontaneously erase the catalyst for the beginning of the war.

Ugh, I really don’t want to get involved with him ever again! Even though he’s that strong, he can’t even hold a candle to the Three Musketeers... That’s so depressing.

As for our identity reveal as humans, well... Apparently, that black dragon had gone pretty wild in Huzak when it’d just woken up. All of the monsters ended up thanking me for defeating it, praising me, and saying that I was truly amazing.

Charlotte stared at me suspiciously. “Why are you grinning like that?”

“Nothing! I’m not grinning or anything like that.”

“You are too! Look, you’re even still doing it! I’ll take this opportunity to say something that has been on my mind. Master Slowe, you were way too lovestruck over Miss Elyas. Sure, she’s cute, but the way you acted was a big fat no!”

“Huh...? Uh, I don’t... Well, I don’t think that was the case at all! It might be a misunderstanding on your part.”

Charlotte didn’t seem convinced. “You were extremely head over heels over her... There’s no way I’m misunderstanding!”

After Rooney’s escape, with our objective accomplished, we had left the orc village under the cloak of night.

However, Elyas had hugged and kissed me during our parting, saying thank you. I had been in paradise. Even now, the memory made a grin creep onto my lips.

“I probably seemed kind to Elyas because, well... You know what I mean. It was the first time I saw a real pixie!”

“A real pixie?!” Charlotte hissed. “Are you trying to accuse me of being fake?!”

Wait, what?! Why would you be upset over that?! I mean, of course I’d be kind to her! She’s a real pixie, you know?!

“I-I’m just joking around!” I said hastily. “So Charlotte, what are your thoughts about your homeland visit?”

Well, I call it a homeland visit, but we were kind of in the orc village most of the time...

We had only managed to catch a glimpse of White Castle. However, it seemed Charlotte was satisfied with just that.

On the topic of Elyas, though... I really couldn’t ever thank her enough. She had been willing to accept me even though I was a human, as well as my claim that the demon would prioritize her as his target. In that darkness, she chose to be in the place we had agreed upon.

It had probably been a terrifying experience for her. And yet she had still chosen to have faith in me. That was why I had been able to break Rooney’s spirit without killing him. Plus, the fact that I was able to talk to Charlotte normally again was thanks to her too.

We had parted with the promise of meeting each other again. However, we were humans, and she was a pixie. That was a future that might never bear fruit.

“Miss Elyas and the others mentioned that they might return to the north relatively soon, right?” Charlotte muttered.

“I guess that makes sense, considering what happened.”

The monsters had ultimately decided that they would go back to the north. Apparently, they would start to gradually migrate monsters there. Oinkus had been against the idea, but that guy’s opinion never really went far in the decision-making process.

After we went through our topics of interest and fell into a comfortable silence...

“Charlotte... Once again, I’m sorry. I deceived you for a long time.”

Once we arrived in the capital, we probably wouldn’t be able to have time where it was just the two of us, like last time.

That wasn’t the whole reason for it, but...I felt that I needed to apologize to her again.

“I also kept my secret for a long time,” Charlotte replied, slowly. “You’re not the only one at fault, Master Slowe.”

I had been guilty about keeping my silence on her secret. I had kept it under wraps for a long time so that it would never, ever come out into the open.

“Can you keep what I’m about to say between the two of us?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah.”

“After going back to my homeland... In the end, I wasn’t able to see anyone I knew again. Honestly, I was actually a little sad, thinking that I no longer had anywhere I could call home.”

I hesitated. “Charlotte...”

“After coming back to Daryth, though, I started thinking about what I wanted to do after this, and it made me really excited. It’s a long holiday, after all! We’ve already gone through half of it, but I think we could still go out and have fun somewhere. And that’s when I realized that the place I could return to, the place I belong to, that’s here. Before I knew it, this country had filled that position in my heart. And that’s why I think I’m a very lucky girl.”

You know, I used to think there was a fair chance that I could have lived like that blackhearted Piggy Duke in the anime. If I had chosen to have second thoughts and to carry my secret to the grave...

Charlotte continued. “And about that... I’m only here today all thanks to you, Master Slowe, so...”

I’d loathe for that to happen, but I know myself best.

After all, I’m the kind of guy who’s a big coward, at the end of the day.

“Thank you so much for saving me on that day!” Charlotte said happily.

Unexpectedly... No, it isn’t unexpected. Tears nearly welled up in my eyes. It’s a critical hit! If Marco hadn’t been trying to spy on us from outside the carriage, it would have been a close call. That bastard...

But hey, isn’t that great, blackhearted Piggy Duke? Your hard work paid off.

“So, please continue to take care of me from now on too!” Charlotte bowed.

Unlike Charlotte, who bowed her head briskly, I lowered my head nervously. “Y-Yeah...” I stammered. “Same here.”

“But please keep an eye out for what I’ll do from now on, okay, Master Slowe?”

“Huh? For what?”

“In the near future, my talent as a mage will explode! Probably.”

I was stunned. “E-Explode?”

“Yes! After all, I’m a princess. I think I’ve become stronger with this return trip to my homeland.”

According to Charlotte, she had leveled up as a mage now that she had managed to visit Huzak again. She had been forced to face the fact that there was nobody left there, but she was still able to overcome her sorrow. Charlotte spoke passionately, saying that she had become formidable since she was able to look forward, instead of being stuck in the past.

Who was the guy who thought Charlotte was always clumsy and not noble at all? She’s so damned cool!

“I pray that my talent will explode...” Charlotte cut off with a gasp. “Wait! Master Slowe, our promise! Do you remember it?!”

“What are you talking about this time?” I asked.

“My wand! You said you’d buy one for me!”

“Huh? Ah, uh, that... Hm? Wait, really?”

“What’s with that half-hearted reply?! You definitely said that! You promised you’d buy one! Please buy me a top-class wand that is suitable for my talent!”

According to Charlotte, her current goal was to treasure the connections she had right now. She wanted to become an outstanding mage, gain the recognition of House Denning, and for them to deem her a proper mage.

Perhaps, one day, we might be separated. However, as long as Charlotte was aiming to become a mage in her own right, we could be together.

Our relationship would probably change from our past relationship as lord and retainer to something new.

Some part of me was relieved. I had thought, slightly dreadfully, that Charlotte would become a whole new person after her visit to Huzak.

“Hey, Master Slowe. May I say something weird?”

“Weird? What, like how a top-class wand befits you or something?” I looked at her face and made a hasty retreat. “I-I was kidding! So please don’t look so scary!”

Charlotte simmered down after a while. “Back to what I was talking about. I think I saw Lady Alicia in the forest back there.”

“N-No way. I bet you were seeing things...”

Now, with this, I had changed the future. Since the war isn’t going to happen, I suppose I could stand by and watch what Shuya and Alicia will do from now on. I’m curious whether or not they’ll become a couple even if the anime plotline doesn’t unfold.

Other than that, I can teach Tina, overflowing with talent, and I can live out my life in the more lavish, reconstructed Kirsch. I don’t plan on sticking my head into the bloody battle between my siblings aiming for the position of the duke, so I’ll just live peacefully as a student at Kirsch.

The vast castle walls around the capital seemed to stretch far into the horizon as they entered my vision.

Nobody knew this, but I had managed to change the future. I’ll waltz back into Daryth with my chin held high. I also need to return the ring to her too.

“Out of the way!” a voice shouted. “Something insane has happened in Zenelaus!”

Zenelaus... That reminds me. Shuya and Alicia are probably in the Dungeon City right now. It was a city of adventurers. In the anime, it had been the first city destroyed by the war.

One of the Three Musketeers had been waiting there for the signal for the beginning of the war, and they had probably returned to the north after the Great Spirit of Darkness contacted them to tell them otherwise. That guy was a reasonable man, after all. On top of that, the man in question didn’t particularly want to invade the south, despite being a member of the empire.

If the war did indeed happen, I would have to face those three. I had wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“The guild master of Zenelaus has sealed off the dungeons!”

So please. Someone, tell me that this isn’t actually happening right now.

●

The Dungeon City, Zenelaus, was in pure chaos.

The biggest Adventurers’ Guild in the south was located there, and it managed all twenty-four dungeons in the area. Those dungeons were great gaping holes in the desolate wilderness that carved gently descending paths down into the darkness of the underground.

“Sealing off the dungeons?! What in the world is going on?!”

“Quit your whining! The will of the guild master is absolute! Come on, out of the way!”

“Do you see how many adventurers have gathered here?! And you’re still not going to give us an explanation! Don’t screw with us!”

A certain boy was among the crowd. He was a youth from Daryth, who had somehow managed to stumble his way into Zenelaus. His friend stood next to him.

The girl, Alicia, would say that the fact they were able to successfully take a shortcut across Huzak had been a miracle.

Still, what was that all about? Alicia had been waiting at the outskirts of the forest when orcs, carrying an unconscious Shuya on their backs, had shown up. The orcs claimed that they were working under the orders of the orc mage and disappeared into the forest once again after they left Shuya there. To be frank, Alicia had no clue what was going on, but there were odd monsters here and there that saved adventurers who got lost in a dungeon.

She decided that had to be it. There hadn’t been any other possibilities she could come up with. But what the heck is going on now?

“Come out! The guild’s staff needs to explain themselves!”

“We were going to enter one just now!” a man yelled. “Look! We bought this much gear; how much money do you think we spent?!”

When Shuya had finally come to, he couldn’t remember what had happened after he had tried to chase that criminal all by himself. He’d been utterly perplexed, but Alicia had brushed the topic aside, saying that he had been lucky just to be alive. After that, they had finally entered the Freedom Union. From there, they had struggled but somehow managed to arrive in Zenelaus, and they’d spent several days recuperating there.

When Shuya had declared that he was ready to be up and about again, he had dragged Alicia all the way to the Adventurers’ Guild. There, Alicia’s identity as Cirquistan royalty had been exposed, causing quite a stir. A man who seemed like he was fairly high up the ladder had tried to persuade Alicia against registering as an adventurer because he had thought it was ridiculous.

And in the middle of that argument, a large crowd of adventurers suddenly crashed into the guild like an avalanche. Wanting to figure out what was going on, Alicia and Shuya looked for an opportunity to go outside, and they took it when they saw an opening.

There was an abrupt, deafening silence. All of the men who had been raging for an explanation were now as quiet as statues.

The largest Adventurers’ Guild in the south was known as Nemesis. A silhouette appeared on the balcony of the building’s top floor. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the figure, and Alicia’s eyes also found themselves drawn to that spot.

Even someone like her who wasn’t too well-informed about the affairs of adventurers could tell who it was. Shuya had professed at one point that he was a fan of this young adventurer. The youth standing on the balcony had a gentle atmosphere to him, and he kissed the ring on his left index finger while everyone’s eyes were still on him.

The next second, a colossal battle-ax appeared, which seemed out of place compared to the youth’s demeanor.

It was a mystical item from the Adventurers’ Guild, which was only given to S-class adventurers. A sublime weapon that changed its appearance depending on the characteristics of its wielder. And its wielder, this youth, was the man who held absolute authority in Zenelaus. Everyone held him with reverence as they waited for him to speak.

“Everyone, please listen to me.” His voice had a mysterious quality to it, which was able to soothe everyone in hearing range.

However, one of the most notable things about the kind-looking youth was the irregular eye patch that covered half of his face.

Beneath it, he possessed a cursed eye. The youth had a tragic past, and when his eye had first awoken, he had reduced an entire village to ashes with flames. Even Alicia knew of the legends of this young, charismatic reformer of the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Right now, the Dungeon City is facing unprecedented danger.”

If the “Three Musketeers” was the title given to those born in Dustour with strength that transcended normal human limits, then those who tackled the monster-spawning dungeons could be considered “Servants of Humanity.”

This young man was the supreme wielder of power in Zenelaus, one of the central pillars of the Freedom Union. He was the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, one of the S-class adventurers scattered across the continent, and he opened his mouth to begin his speech.

Hearing the words of the guild master, the audience turned pale. Some even ran away, trembling with fear. Shuya and Alicia themselves were petrified. However, the words spilling forth from the young hero of the Adventurers’ Guild incited a fire within the listeners, one after another. The youth had the natural disposition of a charismatic leader.

However, there was one single person in Zenelaus who knew the truth. He knew that the fall of Zenelaus had already been set in stone and that they could only choose the manner in which they crashed to the ground.

The Eye of the Crimson Lotus knew exactly what his own words meant, and what they would lead to. His name would probably go down in history as one of the most horrid guild masters.

Even still, he bade the few thousands of adventurers in Zenelaus to certain death. For the sake of the future.

“Marco, I have a request for you.”

The stage had been set in the Dungeon City, Zenelaus, the pride of the Freedom Union.

It was a city of warriors, surrounded by a desolate wilderness and numerous dungeons under human management. That city of adventurers, which had lifted the country of merchants up into becoming one of the four countries in the Great Southern Alliance, was about to tumble into the bottom of the abyss.

At the end of the first story arc of the Shuya Marionette anime, in episode twelve entitled “The Defeated Dungeon City,” these adventurers lost to a single man. One of the defeated adventurers was even the anime protagonist. Many wielded their full strength against their adversary. These included the Archflare, a skilled adventurer who would later become Shuya’s master. The kind hero, Eye of the Crimson Lotus, whom Shuya had deemed as his role model was another. Many more adventurers joined the fray, and even Eldred participated, using Shuya’s body to channel their might.

However, all of this was still not enough to best that lone man: he was one of the Three Musketeers, the pride of the Dustour Empire.

“Go find Silva and force him to wake up. I know he’s somewhere in the castle, slacking off.”

The undefeated man who would take on the Dungeon City was one of the Three Musketeers, one of the most popular characters in the anime. He was even so popular that he was on equal standing in the rankings with Slowe Denning, whose popularity was due to his eternal sorrow.

“Tell him it’s an emergency and he needs to come to Zenelaus as soon as possible.”

All the power gathered in Zenelaus wouldn’t be enough to best Dreibach Steibelt, the half-human, half-fiend apparition.