Chapter 319: Send-off
After concluding the contract with Cormi, we left the mansion to find Glen waiting for us outside. Cormi hid behind my back with only his head peeking out.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” [Ryouma]
“I didn’t wait that long. Is that the monster?” [Glen]
“Yep. That’s him. Cormi the fairy. We were able to talk after I suppressed him once. I promised to let him off as long he released the undead. He also became my familiar.” [Ryouma]
“Oh? Well, if you’re fine with that, then so am I. I guess the gate and the fence not opening since earlier was his power too?” [Glen]
“Gate? I think so. Cormi?” [Ryouma]
“That man’s been slamming on it since earlier. It took a lot of effort to fix it.” [Cormi]
“And I struggled so much because you kept fixing it right away. Who would’ve thought it would be such a tiny brat behind that? Anyway, since you were able to talk, I take it your business here is done?” [Glen]
“Oh, there’s still something left to do.” [Ryouma]
In regards to the souls that Cormi asked me to wait for a bit, well, as it turns out there’s a juvenile Cannonball Rhino that’s been frequenting the village. The soul in question is its mother.
As the story goes, they were attacked by enemies outside, and though they were able to flee up till the manor, but the mother died from her wounds. Cormi saw that and turned the mother into an undead, allowing it to live with the kid.
They were wild monsters, so they of course usually lived outside the mansion, but he could summon the mother through his necromancy. The soul of the mother could also be released anytime, but Cormi hoped to give her more time to spend with her child.
“According to Cormi, the mother has lived in the wilds for a long time, so she can easily come to terms with her own death, but she’s worried about her kid, so she hopes for him to enter a new herd. Only, she wants to first confirm for herself that the herd could protect her child until her kid grows up.” [Ryouma]
“…What the heck is that? Can undead monsters really be that smart?” [Glen]
“Cannonball Rhinos are one of the smartest monsters in the Great Forest.” [Ryouma]
“Apparently, they communicated through illusions and dark magic. Cormi just verbalized it.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, so they didn’t talk in monster language? Still, I’m surprised to find that monsters want to protect their kids too. Didn’t know they had emotions. Your familiar is pretty amazing too being able to talk that much.” [Glen]
“Linguistic barriers don’t really exist for Cormi if he uses his abilities.” [Ryouma]
His abilities would be even better than any translation device in my past life. After all, he can see straight through one’s thoughts, so there’s sure to be no misunderstandings. The downside is that he can also pull out memories, so trust issues could be a problem.
“Apparently, the herd, that the cannonball rhino’s parents were at, had its leader go berserk, leading to the collapse of the herd. The leader regularly patrols this area, so if we can take him down, that should be enough to show our strength.” [Ryouma]
“In other words, you need to stay here for a bit more.” [Glen]
“Yes, it seems the rhino will come to the reservoir in this village within the next few days. He’s still berserk, so he’ll make a lot of noise when he arrives. Anyway, will you be staying too?” [Ryouma]
“Sure, why not? My Item Bag still has some space left, and I don’t have anything that I have to deal with right away anyway. Also, since it’s like this, I might as well go back with you. That way seems most comfortable.” [Glen]
“Well, yes, compared to how you usually camp.” [Ryouma]
Sounds like he’s been tamed. Well, it doesn’t take much to prepare the food. He more than makes up for it too with his labor.
“Oh, speaking of cooking, do you dress your spoils? It seemed like you just toss everything into your magic tool, though.” [Ryouma]
“Yeah, I usually just toss it in as is. I know it’s better to dress them first, but they make my knives go dull, and I just end up making a mess, such that the people I sell them to tell me, ‘Might as well just leave the spoils as is than have you mess them up like this!’” [Glen]
So that’s why his storage magic tool is imbued with ice magic to prevent the deterioration of material.
It wasn’t just an item box but a cooler box.
“Well then, how about my goblins dress them for you? There’s this one goblin who sees dressing spoils as his life’s calling, so if you give him your prey, he’ll be more than happy to oblige. Moreover, by removing the unnecessary parts, you’ll get to have more storage space. We can also give the unwanted parts from dismantling to the slimes as food, and by recycling them, we’ll be able to reward the goblins too.”
“Seriously? Then I’ll leave all the raptors to you. Just give me the scales, claws, and fangs. For the others, let me sort them out first. Where should I put them?” [Glen]
“For now, we can store them in my Dimensional Home—” [Ryouma]
As I was about to say that, someone tugged on my left sleeve.
“Cormi?” [Ryouma]
“We have a warehouse. Facilities for dismantling too.” [Cormi]
“Oh, right. This place used to be a base for pioneering the forest.” [Ryouma]
“It also served as a military base and shelter, so it probably has all the equipment you need too.” [Cormi]
As such, we decided to use the facilities in the mansion.
I got Cormi to promise not to use his abilities before Glen-san entered, but I also made it clear to Glen-san that he could use illusion magic and dark magic.
“Oh? Well, it’s probably fine. It doesn’t feel dangerous anymore.” [Glen]
But Glen-san just had that to say and entered without a care.
It was a bit weird, but the mansion was well-maintained despite its age, so we decided to stay over.
“Cormi, are you ready?” [Ryouma]
We left Glen-san in the warehouse and went to a corner of the courtyard with the grave slimes. Once, this place was used for transporting goods with monsters, but now it was just a garden. It wasn’t spacious, but it’s big enough for us to hold the releasing of souls.
“How do we start?” [Ryouma]
“If you bring out the undead, I’ll be able to perform the release, or rather, I won’t keep them from leaving anymore.” [Cormi]
“In that case, I should prepare to send them off too. Do you know how my magic works? You can read my memory.” [Ryouma]
“…Done. Should I inform the souls too?” [Cormi]
“No need. I’ll just pray for them as usual.” [Ryouma]
When we were ready, I gradually released the undead that the Grave Slimes absorbed. The first to appear were the undead that didn’t resemble humans anymore like the zombies and the skeletons. They seemed confused but nonetheless disappeared without resistance as they absorbed the smoke.
“How is it?” [Ryouma]
“It worked. They’re gone now.” [Cormi]
Cormi seemed a bit lonely, but he accepted it more easily than I thought. I was worried he would get sad and refuse to proceed, but it looks like that was needless worry on my part.
“Did you have a lot of good memories with them?” [Ryouma]
“Memories…” [Cormi]
“Yeah, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” [Ryouma]
“I don’t mind. It’s just that there isn’t much to talk about.” [Cormi]
Cormi had kept their souls because he was lonely, but that didn’t mean he had a lot of interactions with them. Despite binding their souls and turning them into undead, their memories from when they were alive, particularly those from their moment of death, remained, leaving them confused. Moreover, many of them were already troubled individuals due to the hardships of life in this village that had been swallowed by the Great Forest, so even if they could communicate, there wouldn’t be anyone who would be favorable to Cormi.
That’s why Cormi showed them illusions of happiness and fulfillment just like he tried with me, allowing him to stabilize them. Unfortunately that also meant that they were more interested in the illusions than in Cormi.
However, with this method, although their mental states stabilized, the residents became more interested in the illusions than in Cormi.
Cormi didn’t mind that though.
While he would love to interact with them, he was also satisfied just watching over them. He mentioned being lonely, so I thought he’d want to interact with them, but he seems he just wanted for someone to live here.
“Now that I think about it, you are a ‘home,’ so I guess it makes sense.” [Ryouma]
No wonder he agreed when I mentioned that the goblins and I would live here.
“Look forward to it then, because the goblins will be sure to multiply.” [Ryouma [Ryouma [Ryouma [Ryouma]
“I will.” [Cormi]
“They’ll be dressing spoils and brewing, though. You okay with that?”
“It’ll be fine. There are plenty of rooms available, I can tell right away if a pest or monster gets in, and I can drive them away with my illusion.” [Cormi]
The grave slimes continued to spit out new undead as they ascended, and soon undead that looked no different from humans began to appear.
“W-Where is this? The outside of the base? No, it’s the courtyard.” [Reanimated 1]
“We should have been outside.” [Reanimated 2]
“Damn it! Where are my subordinates!?” [Reanimated 3]
“Oh! Gods!” [Reanimated 4]
It didn’t take long for them to notice us.
“Hey, what did you do to my subordinates!?” [Reanimated 5]
“Cormi?” [Ryouma]
“I’ll explain to them.” [Cormi]
They must have thought the battle at the gate was continuing. But before I could retaliate, Cormi pacified them with his illusion.
“Lies, all lies! I don’t believe in your illusions! I’m the great thief, you know! I can make even kings bow down to me!” [Great Thief]
Seeing as how the undead were making noise, it seems Cormi has finished explaining. There was undead that was particularly noisy, though. From the sounds of it, he seems to be a thief of some sort that had been exiled and thrown into this forest. Guess he couldn’t accept the reality that his supposed success was nothing but an illusion. But then again, it’s dicey whether you can call being a thief successful in the first place. Looks like I’ll have to forcibly purify this one.
“Pathetic.” [Baron Destria]
“What was that!?” [Great Thief]
A man in armor grabbed the shoulders of the thief. That man was none other than the one who claimed to be Baron Destria back at the gate.
“Let go! Who do you think you’re grabbing!?” [Great Thief]
“I don’t know who you are, but surely, you understand that you’re dead, right?” [Baron Destria]
“Ugh, th-that’s just an illusion! That beast must be trying to deceive me!” [Great Thief]
“No one’s trying to deceive anyone. I can tell you that I know now that I died back then. Moreover, this feeling that’s guiding me, you must be behind it.” [Baron Destria]
The baron turned to me.
“May I ask for your name?” [Baron Destria]
“I’m Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]
“Never heard of you before, but I won’t pry. I am Alus Destria. Thank you for freeing me. Although being imprisoned wasn’t too bad, I’m sure I’ve kept my subordinates waiting. I’ll leave quietly now. If possible, I’d like you to convey to my family that I died fighting until the end.” [Alus Destria]
“I do have connections to a ducal family, so while I don’t have a personal relationship with our house, I’ll inform the duke to ensure that your message reaches them.” [Ryouma]
“Thank you. It’s not much of a show of gratitude, but I’ll be sure to drag this man along.” [Alua Destria]
“What!? Don’t go making decisions on your own! Let go! Damn it!” [Great Thief]
“You can’t even shake off this little strength? How could you call yourself a great thief?” [Alus Destria]
“Hey, help! I’m not dead yet! Stop it!!” [Great Thief]
Baron Destria disappeared into the smoke with the thief in tow, and the surroundings grew quiet. A sister approached me.
“Excuse me, Saint. I wish to express my gratitude to you too.” [Sister]
“Saint?” [Ryouma]
“The presence of the great gods is strong with you.” [Sister]
The presence of the gods? Oh, right, Glen and the others did mention that rarely there were people who could sense that.
“You’re not wrong. Just recently I received Meltrize-sama blessed me with her divine protection.” [Ryouma]
“Ah! To think that I would be able meet a saint in my last moments, especially one blessed by Meltrize-sama. There can be no greater honor as a servant of the gods. And, in the end, this means that the gods didn’t abandon us!” [Sister]
“Huh? Wait! Oh, she’s gone.” [Ryouma]
She reached a conclusion all by herself and ascended to the heavens blissfully. I was hoping to ask about the effects of blessings on magic, but oh well. I’ll just ask the gods myself next time.
“Hey.” [Old Man]
A familiar voice called out, and when I turned to it, I saw a familiar old man talking to Cormi. That was the appearance Cormi had taken during the battle. I didn’t know who he was, but he looked sternly at Cormi.
“…Sorry for leaving you all alone.” [Old Man]
“!” [Cormi]
“Everyone, let’s go. Village chief orders.” [Old Man]
The old man turned around with those words and disappeared, then the others too followed suit. When the last person had vanished, the fire I lit petered out. Cormi didn’t say anything and just quietly looked up at the sky until there was nothing left to see.