Ex Strongest Swordsman Longs For Magic In Different World

Chapter 350 (Self Edited) – Making Final Confirmation Before Going to The Royal Capital

In the end, Soma and the others left the rest to the middle-aged men in charge, although they stayed overnight in the city, they left soon after. Somewhere along the line, word had gotten out that they had defeated those men, and the town had been overly kind to them, making it easy to gather information, but it was impossible to gather the crucial information.

However, that wasn’t surprising when Soma thought about it. They talked to the middle-aged man for a bit, and he told them that the situation in the area was as bad as they had imagined. The soldiers were still rampaging, and the terrible pat was that the whole city had become mobs and they could do whatever they wanted with each other.

And because of that, the information network that should have existed between cities and villages had been cut off. That was why they didn’t know what was going on in the royal capital. The middle-aged man was also going around to punish the rampaging soldiers, but since they hadn’t been to the royal capital, they still didn’t have any information. So, Soma’s group gave up on gathering information, rested their bodies in bed for the first time in a long time, and left for the royal capital immediately.

They stopped at villages and cities along the way… just in case. However, it wasn’t to gather information, but mainly to observe the situation. If it was peaceful, they would have just walked right past it, but… unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. In every village and city, there were always two or three people who were rampaging as they pleased.

Soma’s group was from another country, so they had no right to punish them. But it would be far better than pretending not to see it. Besides, since Cecil was here, there was an excuse for the time being.

In any case, it didn’t take long to realize that the situation was abnormal, and they went to the royal capital while punishing those people. Obviously, the closer they got to the royal capital, the more violent these people became, and the more severe it was.

The village they had just visited had been wiped out due to the escalating conflict between the inhabitants, and it was getting depressing.

“Even so, it’s finally over, isn’t it?” (Soma)

“Yes… well, the biggest obstacle stands in the way at the end.” (Aina)

“…The royal capital itself.” (Sheila)

“That’s right. It’s also terrible here, so… I wonder what’s going on there.” (Cecil)

While having this conversation, they looked at each other and let out a sigh. They would like to be excused if they could, but that wasn’t going to happen. Soma let out a sigh again, remembering what just happened.

At the moment, they were in a room at an inn in a certain city. It was the city that they stopped after the village, where the villagers had been wiped out, and it was also the last city to stop by when heading to the royal capital. There were no villages or towns between this place and the royal capital. So, once they left this place, they would head straight for the royal capital.

However, the city, which was supposed to be the end of the line, was also in a troubling situation. The city was divided into two and at odds with each other. For some reason, an unwritten rule was established that it was alright to do whatever people wanted to the person they were in conflict with. Thus, the conflict intensified. If the situation continued, it could lead to a war involving the entire city. Soma’s group just appeared there and after various things, they succeeded in extinguishing the conflict.

There would probably be some lingering bitterness between two sides for a while, but they couldn’t help with it. They hoped that their efforts wouldn’t be in vain.

However… what was still interesting was that this was also an anomaly. As they listened to the story, they realized that they couldn’t find anything that could be the source of the conflict that occurred in this city.

There were some misunderstandings when they asked about it, but… no one was at fault. Minor misunderstandings and miscommunications piled up, and one day, the Devils came out of the blue.

Perhaps, the people remembered it at a moment’s notice. They remembered that the acting king had said that they could do whatever they wanted.

And strangely enough, for some reason, the misdeeds were transmitted to the other side. Some of them said that someone had seen the scene by chance, some of them said they had seen the scene in a dream, and when they actually confirmed it, it was exactly as they had said it was.

Something extraordinarily strange was happening in this town, and that something had never happened before.

Moreover, after successfully solving the problem, the cause of the problem remained unknown in the end. No, or perhaps… it might not have been resolved. Even if they managed to bring it to a lull, there was a possibility that the situation would reignite again.

However, Soma also had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the case. The reason was probably in the royal capital.

If they had come this far, there was no mistake. It was either the Devil itself, or the second prince who seemed to have borrowed the power of the Devil. Either of them was the cause of this time.

Well, even if they were almost certain of that, whether they could find the second prince, and even if they did, whether they could do anything about it or not, that would be another matter.

“At any rate, I feel that we’ve done a lot of work on that…” (Cecil)

And as Soma was thinking about this, Cecil suddenly muttered.

By the way, the reason why they were all in the same room wasn’t because they were staying in the same room, but simply to make final confirmation. They heard that it would take three days from here to the royal capital, but as expected, they couldn’t take it slowly along the way. Therefore, mutual recognition must be done here.

After all, they couldn’t get much information up to this point. However, that was also proof that something was going on in the royal capital.

That was all, but that was why when they were looking back at their journey, and that was probably why Cecil muttered so. However…

“Now… what do you think? We were able to stop by some villages and towns and helped a bit, but… I’m sure there are more places where we didn’t.” (Soma)

Yes, indeed, Soma’s group could have been of some help in places they stopped.

But on the other hand, the places they couldn’t stop by were still there. When Soma thought about it, he didn’t feel like he had done very much.

“…I’m sure there are other places where things are still bad. However, I don’t think that’s the case for all of them.” (Cecil)

“Hmm… why do you think so?” (Soma)

“There must be other people like those in the chivalric order. And… no matter what I think about it, it’s an unusual situation. I think the people who supported us also noticed it and have made some moves.” (Cecil)

“…Support? You mean Demento and Radeus?” (Sheila)

“Eh?” (Cecil)

Cecil’s eyes widened in surprise at the names that came out of Sheila’s mouth.

She looked as if she had been told something she hadn’t expected at all, and Sheila looked as if she had just said the obvious. Given Sheila’s appearance, it didn’t seem like she had predicted it… it might be simply that she knew it.

“H-how did you know that…!?” (Cecil)

“Hmm… are you saying, you knew about this all along, Sheila?” (Soma)

“…Yes, I knew. But I didn’t know it was Cecil and the others. After all, it was a coincidence that I met Cecil.” (Sheila)

“Hmm…” (Soma)

It seemed that it was just a coincidence, rather than sneaking in knowing everything from the beginning. However, that was how she got the upper hand.

“Heh… I thought that was the case with Demento, but so was Radeus.” (Aina)

“From the way you say it, it seems you have heard something, Aina?” (Soma)

“I’ve heard that they have been helping people who are being persecuted before. I was wondering if that was the case because the conditions were right.” (Aina)

“I see.” (Soma)

“…Strictly speaking, Radeus first. Then, they asked Demento for help, right?” (Sheila)

“Ooh… so, that’s the connection. Well, it’s true that there is almost no relationship between us and Veritas. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to support them.” (Aina)

“…Yes, I heard about Soma’s through Demento.” (Sheila)

“Ooh, really?” (Soma)

Indeed, Soma had noticed that Sheila seemed to know about him to some extent from the talk.

The Radeus side shouldn’t know, but when he thought about how she knew it, it seemed that it was through Demento. Or rather, it should be said through Iori. Strictly speaking, Iori shouldn’t talk about this, but he should be able to predict the situation to some extent.

As Soma nodded his head, Cecil asked in a fearful way.

“U-uhmm… could it be that Aina-dono is related to Demento? And Sheila-dono also… related to Radeus?” (Cecil)

“Hmm? Regardless of Aina, didn’t Sheila say anything?” (Soma)

They weren’t asked in particular, and they didn’t have the chance to do so. After all, Soma and Aina rarely talked about themselves to Cecil, but apparently, Sheila did. He thought that Cecil had accepted it, but it seemed she simply didn’t know.

“…Well, I met and helped her by chance, and when she asked for help, I just agreed.” (Sheila)

“I think the explanation is a bit too complicated, but from what I’ve seen of… Cecil, it looks that way.” (Aina)

“No, I was wondering if you came from Radeus because the place we met was close to Radeus, but… you didn’t have that kind of pretense, so I just wondered if you were a common person.” (Cecil)

“That reminds me. If you weren’t aware of her, I wonder why you were so easily agreed. I just want to fully understand that.” (Aina)

“Well, the place I met Aina-dono and Soma-dono was there, so… I thought you were from the Empire. I accepted it because… you said you would help me…” (Cecil)

“Well, in fact, we went to Veritas from the Empire, so it’s not wrong technically, but… I think you’re too careless. It’s a bit late for that, though.” (Soma)

From the looks of Cecil, there was no indication that she was lying. In other words, she really accepted Soma and the other’s help for that reason alone.

She did wonder why Soma agreed, but…

“Goodness… wasn’t it something that was often done at the royal palace of Veritas? Or maybe, that’s why you weren’t in the eyes of the two princes, right?” (Soma)

“…Eh?” (Aina)

“Hmm…? (Sheila)

At Soma’s words, Cecil’s eyes widened even more than before, and she stared at Soma with a stunned look on her face.

However, it wasn’t just Cecil. Aina was also starring in surprise, and Sheila seemed to be surprised as well even though she didn’t let out a sound. However, Soma shrugged his shoulders at the three of them as if nothing were happening.

“You’re not paying enough attention, are you? The story just now was obviously strange.” (Soma)

“Eh… what do you mean?” (Aina)

“The fact that Cecil knows that she has support from Demento and Radeus is.” (Soma)

Demento and Radeus were enemies to Veritas. It wasn’t information that could be given to a single branch manager of a guild, such as receiving support from the enemy.

“The only person who would know that information would be literally the head of that organization.” (Soma)

“…That means?” (Aina)

“Well, it is what it is. Isn’t that right? The third prince of the Veritas Kingdom… no, from now on, should it be called a princess?” (Soma)

In response to Soma’s word, Cecil… a person who had called herself Cecil, repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, as if she couldn’t breathe, while staring at Soma’s face.