Sword of Gluttony Queen - Chapter 8 - Anxiety

Chapter 8 : Anxiety

「The Demon Core of the Archdevil Beelzebub…」

Mani repeated my words, as if to confirm it.

「I know that you’ll have a hard time trusting me, but it’s real.」

「… No, I trust you. I mean, you’ve never lied to me since a long time ago. Moreover, I’ve never heard of a Demon Core that can’t be appraised by 《Imu》 and has its own will on top of that. Even if its not Beelzebub herself, I would still think it’s the core of high ranking Devil.」

Mani touched the Demon Core of Beelzebub with her hand.

『Who do you think you are to touch me like that!』

「Dean…… What are you going to do about this Devil? 」

Mani looked at me.

「What I am going to do to her is….」

「If it’s such a prized item, it’s only a matter of time until the army sets eyes on it. I mean, that’s just how much a high ranking magical vessel is directly related to status and glory for both the soldier and adventurer.」

Mani was looking at me with an anxious expression.

「That’s……」

Perhaps, I took this matter too lightly.

I felt that not telling anyone about Beelzebub’s Demon Core was the correct choice.

「 Especially Malty, the Magical Assistant, who rules over the area around the city of Romburgh. He won’t shirk away from dealing you in, and in an extremely cruel manner in the shadows. You must have heard about that man before, right? It might’ve been a better choice to find an inconspicuous area to get rid of the demon core as soon as you left the cave.」

『HAAAH! T-This mistress is a devil to whom Dean is indebted! What in the hell are you telling him! Dean! This mistress hates this girl! She hurt my feelings! 』

Beelzebub’s Demon Core flickered rapidly as it rolled around on top of the table.

So that’s as far as she could move her core, huh.

But, I did agree with some of Mani’s words.

I was too happy thinking that I could finally leave the poor life of a porter. I never think that far ahead about my own situation.

『Tell me Dean, what is this “army” thing? 』

「So Devils have never used that word, huh. Let’s see….」

When I was at a loss for words to explain the meaning of “army” to Beelzebub, Mani raised her hand lightly.

「Let me explain it to you. Just think of an “army” as the self-defense organization of the government of Ryuzu Kingdom. Their job mainly is to act as a countermeasure against the Devils, Riots, or Demonic Beasts that rampage everywhere, and they also take the role as a countermeasure towards foreign country’s invasion.」

The biggest difference with an adventurer and a soldier was the fact that in exchange for being robbed of their freedom of entering the labyrinth, a soldier’s livelihood and territory was guaranteed on the area they’re assigned to. They’re responsible for the area entrusted to them and couldn’t just escape in a dangerous situation.

““““““““““““

Besides, it was extremely difficult to enter the army especially if one had no real abilities nor blood relatives in the army. Even if they by chance, managed to enter the army, it doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to have an easy life.

It was a tacit understanding that only people with real skills and abilities made up the entire army.

Although there were several harsh conditions for a normal person to enter the army, the first and easiest to understand was the fact that they had to be【Lv:25】 at the minimum.

Naturally, even though there’s a big difference in talents, the minimum level adventurer’s equivalent was a veteran adventurer who had spent at least continuous fighting for 15 years.

Even if someone were to enter the army by using their connections through blood relatives, once they were in the army, it would only lead them to be pushed around in the group.

As for adventurers, if they were able to join the army, their living conditions would be far more comfortable and safer than before. Therefore, a majority of adventurers who fulfilled the minimum condition wished to enter the army.

「There are Four Magical Generals, each have control over one of the four cardinal directions surrounding the kingdom’s capital. Each of the generals have appointed Magical Assistants to aid in the protection of large cities like Romburgh as their base. Below Magical Assistants were a few Magical Instructors and subsequently, below them were common soldiers.」

Mani explained in detail to Beelzebub.

『… This mistress is asking Dean, not you.』

Beelzebub complained.

「I am rather mediocre when it comes to detailed explanations.」

『Well, I can understand the gist of the situation. Those kinds of organization exist in whatever age you are.』

…. For a city the influence of the Magical Assistant, the de facto ruler of the city, was huge.

Especially Magical Assistant Malty of Romburgh city, he was unpopular with many shady rumors about him.

Although it’s been close to ten years since he became the Magical Assistant of this area, the slums grew thanks to him raising taxes. To make everything worse, even when the Demonic Beasts increased in number and damaged the number of adventurers readily available, he didn’t even bother to increase the number of people in the army.

The Magical Inspector who opposed of Malty was said to be killed by bandits prior to their dispatch.

There was a rumor about him sending assassins after his others subordinates too.

If the Magical Assistant Malty was aware that I have Beelzebub’s Demon Core in my hand, he might do everything to take it from me, even if it meant killing me.

The army personnels were filled with powerful Magical Vessel user after all.

I couldn’t fight against superior numbers, no matter how high I raised my level.

「……」

『O-Oi, DEAN! DON’T TELL ME, YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO ABANDON ME! 』

「N-No, I won’t leave you in a place where no one can find you… I feel that the next person who finds you will be able to use your power to its fullest.」

『H-HOW DARE YOU! DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WANTED TO BECOME A PROPER ADVENTURER! AND THIS MISTRESS! DESPITE MY UNWILLINGNESS! HAD SAID THAT I WILL SUPPORT YOU! AND YET… YOU COME TO THIS LANKY GIRL WHO LOOKS LIKE A CLAY DEMON! YOU EVEN PROMISED THIS MISTRESS THAT YOU’LL TREAT ME THAT 《Depth of Earth Moss Soup》! 』

The Magic Core of Beelzebub on the desk rolled around without stopping, sometimes taking small leaps.

She… Could even move like that!

「I’m telling you before that it’s not a promise. I mean, that soup isn’t as tasty as it looks you know! ? 」

Mani touched her chin and pondered for a while.

「… My previous customer seems to have a connection with the shopkeeper of Temple of Lost Item, you see.」

「Temple of… Lost Item.」

Temple of Lost Item was the shop that bought things like stolen goods or the luggage of adventurers who fell in the Demon Labyrinth.

Originally, it was a place where the army kept custody of the luggage of the adventurers in this Romburgh city in the name of investigation of Demon Beast.

And then, in most cases… it was never returned.

The usable goods might be used to equip the army.

Trading side by side in secret without giving it to the army’s custody by the way of Temple of Lost Item, was considered as a crime.

Though there’s some shady shop… We who live in the slums could tolerate such an evil deed to some extent.

「If you sell it there, you might be able to fetch some hundreds thousands Temis for this Ominous Devil’s Magic Core. Nevertheless, the values were even less than a hundredth of its original values, but…」

「…………」

Even fetching some money in a proper way was hard enough for me.

But, hers might be a more realistic solution.

『Y-YOU BASTARD DUO, HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS SCHEME TO SELL THIS MISTRESS! ONE OF THE RULERS OF SEVEN DEADLY SIN, THIS BEELZEBUB-SAMA! ? DO YOU THINK I AM GOING TO LET YOU GUYS EXECUTE YOUR EVIL PLAN! ? 』

Beelzebub’s Demon Core was rolling around in a circle on top of the desk.

I wished she would stop doing this, it’s rather disturbing when she was moving on her own after all.

「Allow me to….. consider it.」

『You better cease such foolish thought! I DO RECOGNIZE YOU AS MY SERVANT AFTER ALL! 』

Beelzebub’s Demon Core sprung up.

Mani chased after those movements with a worried look on her face.

「Well, I am going to support you in whatever’s your choice. That’s why just tell me what you really want to do after you’ve made your choice. I’ll try to ask if it’s possible for the previous client to be the middleman if you want to contact the Temple of Lost Item. I mean, since that person is bragging so much about himself after all.」

「…. Thanks a lot, Mani.」