Trampled Slow Life

In Zoltan's working-class section, Ares's eyes filled with loathing as he looked up at

the RED & RIT'S APOTHECARY sign.

"Bringing the Hero to such a pathetic little shop… What are you scheming, Gideon?"

Ares and the Asura demon Shisandan, who had assumed the form of Danan, were

standing in front of the humble shop.

Ares had chased Ruti halfway across the world after she'd disappeared with the

airship. At last, his journey had led him here. He had been aided along the way by

Albert, who had struck a deal with a contract demon to fight alongside the Hero—and

Shisandan. More than anything external, however, it was Ares's obsession with Ruti's

blessing that had gotten him this far.

Ruti was not there, though. She was currently with the Alchemist Godwin in the

ancient elf ruins on the mountain, seeking to create the Devil's Blessing.

Red—the name Gideon had taken in Zoltan—was nowhere to be found, either. He was

headed to the ruins with the real Danan to save Ruti. It went without saying that

whatever scheme Ares had imagined, was false. Red would never, even in his dreams,

have thought that Ruti would come to Zoltan.

Ares was fixated on the Hero but didn't understand anything about Ruti or Red.

Raising a hand, Ares touched the door. The iron lock holding the thing closed turned

to dust. For a high-level Sage, it was a simple task to destroy a standard lock without

making a sound, using magic.

He stepped confidently into the shop where Red and Rit lived. The place was decidedly

empty. Ares searched through the entire building on the chance that there was a secret

room hidden somewhere, but it was clear that no one was around.

The tableware Red and Rit had bought together, the walnut double bed Stormthunder

had made, Red's notes about various illnesses that spread around Zoltan, the tools he

had used to prepare remedies, the living room where everyone had shared such

delicious meals, the kitchen where those dishes had been made, and the storefront

where Red and Rit had sold so much medicine to the people of Zoltan…

Ares tore through it all, flipping what he could and smashing or trampling everything

else. The Sage stomped around the house, stewing at the fact that he had not gained

anything for his efforts.

"Dammit!"

With a knife, Ares tore into the bed to see if there was aught concealed within.

Shisandan's lips curled in amusement.

"So you've turned this place upside down, and what we've learned is that there's no

discovery to be made here."

"Shut your damned mouth!"

Shisandan just shrugged at Ares's menacing shout.

"It seems likely that Gideon has gone off to wherever the Hero is."

"And what evidence do you have to support that?" Ares snarled.

"Why ask me? You're the one who said the Hero came here because she realized Red

was Gideon, right? If that's true, then shouldn't we assume they are working together?"

"…Hmph…"

Ares violently kicked the front door open and headed outside. Shisandan started to

follow, but paused for a moment to examine things. The medicine cupboards had been

thrown open, and the substances inside scattered around the floor. The angel statue

in the center of the room had been toppled, breaking one part of the wings.

It was a tragic scene. Red and Rit had shared so many smiles together in the sleepy

little home. The place was a symbol of their slow life together.

"Hmm."

What would Gideon think when he saw this state of things?

"Humans are truly fascinating creatures."

The Asura demon Shisandan could feel his interest in the human species grow deeper

still at the thought that Ares, who had just torn the building apart, was the very same

creature who had journeyed together with Gideon for so long.

"Shisandan is still alive?" Red could not help repeating it back.

He and Danan were running along a road through wetlands.

"No doubt. The guy who bit my right arm off was definitely the same Asura demon we

fought in Loggervia. There's no mistaking it."

"But didn't we defeat him?"

We'd quite literally seen his head roll. There hadn't been time to recover his whole

corpse, but Rit had carried his skull back to Loggervia and offered it to the king as

proof of taking vengeance for Gaius. I'd heard that after that, it had been left on display

for a while before being buried in a grave.

"Are you sure it isn't a brother or something?" I questioned.

"No, I never forget someone I've fought before. That figure, and the way he wielded his

sword, that was Shisandan for sure."

If Danan was that certain, then there was no way he was wrong.

"Hmm, there's a lot about the dark continent and demons that we still don't know…

Can they revive the dead?" I wondered aloud.

"If you don't know, there's no way I would. But it's not really something to be worried

about. I'll just have to keep murdering him every time he comes back. That's all.

Nothing to it," Danan said with a hearty laugh.

Ahead of us, a guard was riding a horse. We dashed past on either side of it. By the

time the man started calming his steed, which had reared up in shock, we were already

far into the distance. Though it must have appeared a remarkable pace, I was moving

slower than usual so Danan wouldn't fall behind.

"You've taken Immunity to Fatigue now, too?"

"Yeah, it's a skill in Martial Artist."

Immunity to Fatigue, something I had only reached after raising a common skill to

mastery, was freely available as an inherent skill. Inherent skills really were powerful.

Any average person trying to match the pace we were keeping would have been

gasping for air in a matter of seconds.

"Gideon!"

"…!"

Danan and I felt a daunting presence above us. We immediately ducked into the

underbrush and looked up. A dragon was flying high in the air.

"A spirit drake?" I wondered aloud.

"Someone would've had to have summoned it, then," replied Danan.

"I don't think there's anyone in Zoltan who can use magic at that high a level."

Conjuring a drake was the pinnacle of the summoning line of spells and required

incredibly high-level magic. Forget Zoltan; there wasn't even anyone who could

accomplish that in Central.

"That direction… Wait, isn't it headed for the mountain where you said the Hero was?"

"Yeah, it looks like it. Who's the rider?"

Moving as the crow flies as opposed to following a road that wound through the

wetlands was far swifter.

"Don't worry about me, Gideon. Just go on ahead. I'll catch up as fast as I can."

"Sorry."

"Be careful. It's dangerous to assume there's nothing in the boonies that can tangle

with us. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up like they do whenever I'm

about to fight someone powerful."

I touched the hilt of the bronze sword at my waist. "I'm weak, so I'm not about to make

that sort of mistake," I replied. My feeble bronze sword was incapable of wrecking

anything or anyone too great. "I'm just going to do what I can. If I happen upon a strong

opponent, I plan to hide. So make sure you catch up quickly."

I flashed a smile and then dashed off at full speed. Before long, Danan was a point in

the distance behind me. Then he vanished from sight altogether. The spirit drake in

the sky remained visible all the while, however. It was incredibly fast.

"It's had its speed enhanced or something," I remarked.

Had the flying beast and I been on the same course, we would've been an even match,

but I was stuck following a path on the road. Every curve and bit of mud slowed my

advance.

"Ruti should be okay, though…"

My little sister was far, far stronger than me. There was probably nothing I needed to

worry about. Still, the thought of some stranger coming after her set me on edge.

After I had sprinted for a while, two riding drakes came into view ahead.

"Ah, I caught up."

Even at this distance, there was no mistaking Rit from behind.

"Rit! Tisse!" I called.

"Red!"

The riding drakes squawked and peered at me in curiosity as I kept pace alongside

them.

Water and wind elementals were hovering around the creatures. I didn't have any

skills or magic for analyzing, but I guessed that the water ones were for alleviating

exhaustion and the wind ones boosted speed. Rit had been using her magic to go even

faster.

"Did you see that spirit drake in the sky, Rit?"

"Yeah. But there's no one in Zoltan capable of that. Not even the Archmage Master

Mistorm from the old B-rank party."

Rit was Zoltan's strongest former adventurer and had a clear grasp of who the

powerful people in town were, so if she could say that with confidence, then there was

no mistaking it.

"So it's an outsider."

In addition to Danan, there was another in Zoltan with a blessing level that could

match ours. Was it just a coincidence?

"Oh, right. Danan should catch up to us in a bit."

"Danan?!" Rit fired back in surprise.

Tisse's eyes opened wide in shock, too.

"You ran into him?"

"At the port, yeah. He came here looking for me."

Hearing that, Rit seemed to hesitate a little.

"I see… I'm sorry. The truth is, I encountered him a little while ago," she admitted,

averting her eyes slightly.

"You did?" I asked.

"He said he had come to bring you back, but since you were living peacefully, he

decided to pretend he didn't find you. He asked me not to say anything," she detailed.

Wait. Danan said that? He definitely wasn't the kind of guy to say something like that.

This was the man who took being a musclehead to a whole new level. Understanding

being content with a simple existence was beyond him.

Danan would've argued something like, "If you enjoy living together, then both of you

should come with us to defeat the demon lord. Two birds with one stone." That not

adventuring was a crucial part of our happiness would be totally lost on him. Danan

was just that sort of guy.

"When was that?" I inquired.

"Ummm, the first time I saw him in Zoltan was when I was investigating the

production base for the Devil's Blessing…," responded Rit.

That didn't make sense. Danan said he'd only arrived in Zoltan today. I couldn't think

of a reason for him to lie. Yet there was no reason for Rit to fib now, either.

"Rit, was there anything different about him?"

"Different? Not really? But I never spoke with him that much. So I couldn't say for sure."

When Rit joined the Hero's party and we'd ventured through the bewitching woods,

Theodora and Danan had stayed behind to help defend Loggervia, so she had never

gotten to know the Martial Artist.

Even so, she should have caught how out of character he had acted with her.

"Did your Danan have both arms?" I questioned.

"Eh? I don't really get what you mean…"

"I'm speaking literally. His left arm and right arm. Did he have both of them?"

"Y-yeah?"

"What are you getting at?" Tisse tilted her head, lost to what the point of my question

was.

"The Danan I met was missing his right forearm," I stated.

"Mr. Danan lost an arm?! What happened?!"

"B-but when I saw him, he definitely had both limbs…"

"…Rit… It's not like I know all the details, and trying to tell you not to be surprised is

pointless, but—"

"I'm already plenty shocked!"

"According to Danan, his right arm was bitten off by… Shisandan."

Rit froze. Sensing its rider's confusion, her drake tried to stop, but I reached out and

pulled the reins, urging it to keep running. It looked at me, black eyes filled with

unease, but it obediently continued forward.

"That's not possible! We killed that monster!"

"I know. You took his head back with you, and it was buried in Loggervia."

None despised Shisandan more than Rit. The demon had killed her master. Accepting

that the target of her vengeance, a foe she had watched die, was still alive was beyond

difficult.

Rit's expression contorted with abject hatred.

"Shisandan… That was the name of the Asura demon that Ms. Ruti fought in Loggervia,

wasn't it?"

I nodded at Tisse's question. "I haven't confirmed it myself, but that's what Danan

said."

"Are you sure he wasn't mistaken?"

"Truthfully, no. But Danan never forgets an opponent he's fought. I would say it's a

credible report."

The three of us continued in silence for a time.

"Then the Danan I saw…," Rit began.

"Was most likely Shisandan. If he ate Danan's right arm, he would be able to transform

into him," I finished.

There were many mysteries about Asura demons, the one species in all the world that

did not have blessings. During the battle in Loggervia, Shisandan had eaten Rit's

master, Gaius, the head of the royal guard; taken his form; and inserted himself into

the nation's central workings. Evidently, he had employed that shape-shifting trick

again.

"If I had told you sooner… I'm sure you would have been able to see through him. If

you recognized the imposter, then I… I could have… then and there…," Rit fumbled

clumsily.

"You would have gone to take him down," I said.

"…Yeah. I don't have any desire to continue as an adventurer, but he's a different story."

There was a clear conflict in Rit's heart. She wanted to keep running our shop and

sought to treasure our simple life together. Those desires were unmistakably her true

feelings. However, vengeance demanded action. Shisandan was the one who'd killed

her master and deceived and slain all the royal guards, soldiers, and Loggervian

adventurers who had put their faith in Rit.

"…I don't know whether that has anything to do with Shisandan or not, though."

Some distance ahead of us, the spirit drake was still flying through the air. It was

gradually widening its lead.

"Whether Shisandan is involved in this or is still in Zoltan, we'll take him down

together. We'll get vengeance for Gaius this time for sure," I declared.

"Red… but…"

"I know I said I was done with battles for the sake of the world and all that."

That was why Rit looked so pained. I had chosen to live with her over returning to the

quest to save the world. She felt like she owed it to me to forget revenge and choose

our life over settling things with Shisandan. And she was suffering because she

couldn't bring herself to make that choice.

"If you have a reason to fight again, then I'll be there at your side. Our easy days aren't

meant to keep us from what we want. That would defeat the purpose. There's no point

in avoiding something if it troubles you."

"…I'm sorry…" Small tears dotted the corners of Rit's eyes. "If I see Shisandan, I'm going

to return to being Rit the hero one last time." There was determination in her gaze as

she glared at the spirit drake above. "Thank you. I'm okay now. You go on ahead, Red."

"Okay. Got it."

I poured more strength into my legs. The road was nearing the mountain, so the path

would get worse, and my speed would fall. I wasn't going to be able to catch up to the

spirit drake. With luck, I'd be able to arrive no later than ten minutes after it would,

though.

"You two be careful," I cautioned.

The riding drakes were startled when I overtook them. They tried to keep up, not

wanting to lose, but I was beyond the creatures in only a few moments.

"Gyaaagh!"

I could hear their disappointed screeches as I raced off ahead to where Ruti waited