"Coming right up~! Thanks for waiting~!"
Samania set dishes down on the Cerberustan's table.
"By the way, Rel from Thunder Fang is my brother. Enjoy~"
She said that with a mischievous grin and headed back to the kitchen.
The three of them couldn't help but follow her with their eyes.
"What a surprise."
"No way..."
"What a small world."
I thought the same.
After a short wait, dishes arrived at our table too.
While eating, I listened to them talk about Cerberustan.
They'd arrived in Heizen yesterday.
Then they went to the guild, and by the time they made the round trip, they'd found out the Full Moon Bazaar was already over.
Apparently they went back and forth debating whether to give up on the Full Moon Bazaar.
They had enough funds to stay for about ten days even without earning anything, but they still wanted to make some money.
"We heard the Full Moon Bazaar has a lot of hidden gems when it comes to weapons and armor, so..."
"Worried about your weapons?"
The Sword of Ulfen that Nabel had with him was an OOPArt.
It was made from a special metal and had its own dedicated Relic.
"I'm not worried or anything, but I thought it'd be good to have a spare on hand. The Sword of Ulfen is a family heirloom and I trust it. But you never know what might happen, right?"
"Fair point."
I broke knives left and right, so I understood wanting a backup.
"I want a slightly stronger spear. My current one—its Wind Relic only boosts power a little. When I think about climbing ranks going forward, that feels weak."
I see.
"Well, I'm happy with my staff, but the robe... Whether it's an OOPArt or legendary, I just want something stylish and nice."
"That's pretty selfish."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"But I get it. The Full Moon Bazaar should have something like that, right?"
There, eating a funky ham sandwich, I let my question slip out.
"Where does the Full Moon Bazaar get held?"
At first I figured it'd be somewhere in the city.
But the Full Moon Bazaar had over a thousand outdoor vendors setting up shop.
If a plaza like that existed, it'd have to be a tourist landmark.
But I'd never heard of one. So where did it take place?
"The Full Moon Bazaar is held outside Heisen, on the Heisen Plains. From one end of Heisen to the other, vendor tents line up, and a mobile palace appears."
Coran-san answered my question.
While twirling seafood pasta around his fork.
"A mobile... palace?"
"The Full Moon Bazaar spreads across the Heisen Plains in a semicircle, divided into three tiers. The lower area, the middle area, and the upper area. The upper tier is what you'd call a VIP area. The lower and middle tiers are open to anyone. But only a select few are allowed into the VIP area."
"That's the mobile... palace?"
"That's right."
The chosen few didn't need to be told—they already knew.
It had to be the Three Great Families, or royalty and nobility, or something like that.
But so that was really how it was.
"You sure know a lot."
"I'm from around here. Plus, when I was a kid... there was a thief who snuck into the VIP area, got caught, and was executed on the spot. I've never forgotten that..."
"Koran..."
"Uh, execution on the spot—is that actually allowed?"
Normally, the guards would apprehend you. Toss you in a cell, then hold a trial.
Depending on the result, you'd be shipped off to the Prison Continent. That was the usual flow.
Koran let out a knowing chuckle.
"Wof. This is Heisen. Not Hydrangea. The Three Great Families are the rulers, and the law is whatever they say is justice."
"Yeah... that about sums it up."
Whether he was reminded of what had happened earlier or not, Bid was looking displeased.
Well, I'd gotten the same feeling myself.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do"—but this was one time I didn't want to go along with.
Sorry, but even if the Three Great Families were on the other side, if it came to a fight, I wouldn't hold back.
Of course, I wasn't delusional enough to think I could take on anything.
I couldn't claim I had the power to destroy the Three Great Families or reduce Heisen to a sea of flames.
Even in a situation like that, I had no intention of losing.
I'd just give it everything I had and make sure I got at least one good hit in.
Still, instant execution — what kind of merchandise do they even sell in that VIP area?
"Hey, I was thinking — wouldn't that witch qualify to get in?"
Plancy said, stirring her potato soup with a spoon.
Maybe she had a sensitive tongue for hot food.
"Yeah, that actually seems plausible."
"True... if it's a witch, then probably."
"So how does that work, Wof?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. I'll have to ask."
If the witch was on good terms with the Zenxera family, she should qualify.
Maybe I could even search for Mineha's "Spear" in the VIP area.
That wrapped up the talk about the Full Moon Bazaar, and the conversation moved on to the Forest Wave.
Starting with the general rundown of how much you could earn, the topic shifted to "damaged goods."
"Why is the bounty so high on those?"
"See the big X-shaped scar on the illustration? That was left by a Sword of Swords."
"——It failed to finish it off?"
"There's a monster like that out there?"
"So that's why the bounty's so high. Makes sense now."
A monster that even a Sword of Swords couldn't defeat. Something like that actually existed.
"That's about how strong it is. But what's really bad about the 'Scarred One' isn't the strength. The Relic it carries is the worst part. It's a Relic that erases Relics."
"Erases Relics?"
"Yeah. It completely removes Relics from their holder. It has that kind of Relic."
"It's not an effect — the Relic itself does that...!?"
"There's a monster like that?"
"That must be why the bounty's so high. That makes sense now."
Something about this sounded familiar.
"Actually, there are plenty of delvers who fought the 'Scarred One' and survived. But most of them quit. Because their Relics got erased."
Generally, without a Relic, you're no longer a delver.
The same probably held true for bounty hunters.
"Even so, why would anyone go after it with a bounty like that?"
"Because it's dangerous and they want it dealt with quickly, maybe?"
"Oh — it's because if you beat the 'Scarred One,' you get your hands on its Relic."
"You mean the Relic that erases Relics?"
"That's what they say, but who knows."
"…………"
Not many people knew about it, but there existed a plate that could transfer Relics.
Maybe using that would make it possible.
"It's been pretty noisy outside for a while now."
"Yeah, I'm hearing screams and stuff."
It had been oddly noisy outside for a little while now.
What was going on out there?
"Hey, Koran. Does this happen a lot?"
"Fights and stuff? Sure. It's rougher around here than in Hydrangea."
"Sounds dangerous."
If that was the case, there was no point worrying about it.
By the time the commotion died down, Nabel and the others had already finished eating.
Apparently they were going to check out the eastern market.
They also told us which inn they were staying at.
"Phew, thanks for the food."
"Thanks for the meal."
Bidd. All that mountain of meat, and he actually cleaned his plate.
When I stood up to pay, a woman came out from the kitchen.
She was tall, with black hair streaked with gold highlights. Her tan skin was accented by prominent sheep horns and a tail.
A sheep-kin, then. She looked at us.
"You lot. I overheard — you're friends of Hoss?"
"Yes. We've been traveling with Hoss."
"We're friends, yeah."
She showed a dark expression for just an instant, then broke into a smile.
"Tell Hoss — it's fine now. Just having seen him is enough."
"……I understand."
"Got it."
"Thanks."
She smiled faintly, somehow.
To me, it looked like she had given up on everything.
I could tell there was clearly something going on.
That didn't mean I was going to rashly pry into it.
Bid looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything in particular.
We left Berk's eatery.
Outside, despite all the commotion earlier, there was nothing.
Why? Why?
Why is the daughter of the great sword goddess, a god among gods, being sent on some pointless errand?
Ugh, being told to bring back some lowly eatery girl, and a weakling at that.
Do they think we're pushovers? I'll kill them. I'm just saying, if Guene hadn't stopped me, I would've killed them already.
I'm holding back for the sake of our goal, but it's not like it'd matter if I killed a few of them.
If it weren't for the traitor Geea, if that mirror-faced man wasn't around!
We never would have needed the help of these insects crawling on the ground.
And who is this person, anyway? The one who destroyed Vinu.
If they can destroy that Barrier guy, they can destroy every last one of the daughters.
Sigh… All I want is to take human form and live freely, doing as I please.
And yet, why am I going through all this trouble?
I finally managed to escape from that place called a lab, and now this.
"Burke's Diner. This is it. What a dump—the kind of place where all the bottom-feeders gather. So who am I supposed to bring back?"
"Right away. It's Luma."
"Then let's go get them already."
"R-Right."
Ugh, seriously, why is this so pointless.
"What's that? Over there. A dark stain on the ground?"
"Dark... was something like that on the ground?"
"No, there was nothing there when I looked a moment ago."
"What is it?"
How annoying. These insects.
Maybe I should just tear them apart with the Authority Relic [Sharp Edge].
"Uwaaaaaahhhh!"
"Gyaaaaaahhhh!"
"Guaaaaaahhh!"
Wh-What? Those hideous screams out of nowhere—are they gone?
They've vanished.
"What's going on? Well, I couldn't care less what happens to a bunch of worms."
The dark stain...
There
is
no
way
that
kind
of
thing
could
possibly
be
real.
What's black is the ground underfoot.
«The ground?»
Was the ground beneath me always black?
In that instant— I threw my eyes wide open and leaped backward.
Right after I jumped back, from the black stain— what even is that? An octopus? Octopus tentacles?
I don't know why, but four enormous octopus tentacles surged out.
— Wh-what's going on!?
In an instant, the tentacles coiled around my body. Way too fast!
Me...
Rube—
No time to cast—hey, let go!
The tentacles, those filthy octopus tentacles—
Rube—
had tangled with.
They squeezed tight—
Rube—
cracked.
Huh? Ah—I'm going to die.
You've got to be kidding. To die here without even managing to take human form, killed by something I can't even understand.
Seriously, this makes no sense.
Same time. The Zenwela estate. The terrace.
She was sipping the tea Gyiza had brewed, taking it easy.
— Ah... it just vanished...
Gyiza perked up.
— What is it?
— The Sword Goddess's daughter. One of the three, probably. I felt one of them vanish.
— Isn't that fast?
Seiran was half impressed, half exasperated.