Defiled Hero Chapter 005
Defiled Hero

Warehouse Astrea

Entering the inn, Izayoi placed the luggage on the bed. He regretfully did not check Astrea's storage.

Remaining standing, Izayoi closed his eyes, directing his consciousness inwards.

In the next moment, he found himself in a pure white room.

「Izayoi~!」 Astrea called out while approaching Izayoi.

In order to avoid her, Izayoi pushed her face into the ground.

「Open up the storage, Astrea.」 (Izayoi)

「*Nnmm,* How cold, Izayoi. You helped out the guild receptionist girl, but you won't be kind to Astrea-chan?」 (Astrea)

「I helped her, but it doesn't mean I was being nice.」 (Izayoi)

「Then does that mean you were rude to her?」 (Astrea)

「That's not the problem here, is it? Hurry up and show me the storage.」 (Izayoi)

「Jeez, it can't be helped…」 (Astrea)

After lightly touching her forehead, just like that, an entrance appeared in the pure white room.

「Since this place isn't very fashionable, it's been put in a faraway place, hasn't it?」 (Izayoi)

After pa.s.sing the entrance, the first thing that catches my eye is the mountain of monster materials. Was that all just raw materials? What the heck was I thinking at the time? Of course this isn't fashionable, is it?

Considering the amount, thinking about how much I'd get was pointless.

「Gather the weapons here.」 (Izayoi)

「Got it.」 (Astrea)

With the wave of her finger, Astrea made the weapons appear and float in front of my eyes.

A single spear, a single scythe, a single bow, and a single sword.

I'll need to confirm the weapons.

「Astrea, appraise the weapons in order.」 (Izayoi)

「Understood.」 (Astrea)

Then, in my vision a game-like window opened up.

【Hyouzen no Yari (Spear of Shining Ice)】 《Emperor》
A Hyouzen-series spear made from the core of an Ice Dragon.

【Hyouzen no Oogama (Scythe of Shining Ice)】 《Emperor》
A Hyouzen-series scythe made from the core of an Ice Dragon.

【Hyouzen no Yumi (Bow of Shining Ice)】 《Emperor》
A Hyouzen-series bow made from the core of an Ice Dragon.

【Formless Sword】 《Tier 1》
Mithril-based magic sword. The sword itself is of standard performance. However, if magic is put into the sword, it will be strengthened according to the user's input.

「As expected of Izayoi the hero, you have three of the Emperor ranked weapons.」

In this world there were only four Emperor ranked weapons, and I have three of them......

I don't remember everything you know. How and where I obtained them I might not remember, but when I received the sacred sword it was enough, so I gave the rest to Astrea.

I decided not to use Emperor Rank weapons from the Hyouzen-series in public. Therefore by process of elimination, I'd use the 【Formless Sword】.

Grabbing the hilt of the suspended 【Formless Sword】, I drew it out of its scabbard.

The blade shined silver with a bluish color mixed in. It looked much better than the swords in the weapon shop.

But the problem was magic power. I originally did not have any and therefore could not make the best use of the weapon.

「Astrea, can you appraise my magic apt.i.tude and capacity?」 (Izayoi)

「You don't want to ravish Astrea-chan, Izayoi? Since it's been a while Astrea-chan gets it, but you should keep things in moderation you know.」 (Astrea)

「If I don't want that, then is it fine if I make it so you sleep forever?」 (Izayoi)

「M-My my, it can't be helped then.」 (Astrea)

【Magic Capacity】 《Zero》

【Magic Apt.i.tude】 【Fire】《Tier 2》 【Water】《Tier 2》 【Wind】《Emperor》 【Earth】《Tier 1》

Five years have pa.s.sed and as it turns out my magic capacity remained at zero.

Astrea, who was previously sitting on the ground while holding her knees and puffing out her cheeks, listened to what I said and immediately shot up, holding her chest out in pride.

The same simple child as ever.

Time pa.s.sed, and it reached the dead of night.

While changing into the clothes he bought, Izayoi took out the sword from inside himself.

To be frank he was unprepared for travel.

In regards to his equipment there was no problem, but there was originally a food shortage in the town. The knight order had brought materials with them, but it was awkward for strangers like me to purchase things for several days.

Two days’ worth of food was the minimum amount I had purchased. If I were in one of the towns deeper into the mainland, then it would be possible to resupply, but getting there on foot would definitely be difficult.

I thought about it and made my way towards the town entrance. There, a single carriage loaded up with luggage carrying three people could be seen.

「Oh, are you also leaving the town?」 (40 year old man)

It was the old man with the artificial arm I had met when I first made it to the guild.

「Ah, yeah......That's quite a bit of luggage isn't it?」 (Izayoi)
「That's right. It's the miss', can't fit anything else in the back.」 (40 year old man)

The two men were trying to fit everything in the back of the hard-pressed carriage. The old man held up his artificial finger. Is it cargo? It'd probably be better if I didn't ask what it was.

『Should I look inside them?』 (Astrea)

(No, it's fine. I get the idea.) (Izayoi)

The men were having trouble fitting the cargo.

「By the way, where are you guys planning on heading towards?」 (Izayoi)

「Ah? We're, uhh, going to Laketown. What about it?」 (40 year old man)

We were coincidentally headed to the same place...... They might be useful.

(Astrea, can you let these people use your storage?) (Izayoi)

『Eeeh? They'll definitely think the box is suspicious you know? Will it be safe if they find out about how it’s used?』 (Astrea)

(It’d be bad.) (Izayoi)

『Then no!』 (Astrea)

(We'll have to tell them something, won't we? If they get close to finding out it'll be fine if we can escape.) (Izayoi)

『Fiine. If that's how Izayoi wants it then I understand.』 (Astrea)

Good, next is to get a ride.

「Hey, old man, want to make a deal?」 (Izayoi)

「A deal? You want this thing?」 (40 year old man)

The old man knocked on the wooden box.

「No, not that... I can use s.p.a.ce magic. It can fit two carriages worth.」 (Izayoi)

「s.p.a.ce magic? You've got something good there don't you kid? What's the idea?」 (40 year old man)

「Right, I'm also headed towards Lakeside. In return for taking me, I'll carry the luggage in place of the carriage... What do you think?」 (Izayoi)

The man with the artificial arm made his way to the back and consulted with the other two, and after a short while returned.

「Give us a hand, kid.」 (40 year old man)

「You'll trust me?」 (Izayoi)

「You treated me to some alcohol didn't you? More than that, you were capable of taking out the thief alone. If I refused you could probably take the carriage with your own strength, and that'll be a problem right? I want to be on good terms with you.」 (40 year old man)

「You guys were also where the thief was, weren't you?」 (Izayoi)

「Haa, if we were going to cause an uproar, we'd try to do it discretely.」 (40 year old man)

The wooden box was put away with Astrea, and I was allowed to ride on the carriage. Then, we quietly departed from the town. In the shaking carriage, I was in the s.p.a.ce where the cargo once was with the artificial-arm man's co-workers. The artificial-arm man was acting as coach.

In the front were muscular men. Next to me was a Y-shirt and necktie wearing proper-looking male elf.

I could feel an aura that said, "Don't talk to me," coming from him.

『I think Izayoi is number one at releasing that kind of aura.』 (Astrea)
(I was definitely not planning to do that.) (Izayoi)

『Amazing Izayoi, no villain or professional can compare to you!』 (Astrea)

(Leave me alone!) (Izayoi)

The carriage shook while on its way for a few hours. Departing at midnight, the other side of the mountain was beginning to brighten.

「From here on is the Aspis mountain range you've heard of in the rumors. Prepare yourselves~」 (Coachman)

As the coachman said this, the carriage bay was being covered and divided with cloth. There, the male elf picked up his bow and moved to the roof of the carriage.

The elf species had good vision and search capabilities. If he was able to see threats on the way, it would be fine if we changed course.

(How many paths are there through this mountain range?) (Izayoi)

『Right now there are no other paths. There has always been one main road.』 (Astrea)

If we were to encounter something, we would stop and wait. If it headed this way we would go back.

(Anyways, do you know what sort of place Aspis is?) (Izayoi)

『Yeah, it's a place with nothing nearby.』 (Astrea)

(Then be cautious of our surroundings, Astrea.) (Izayoi)

『Okaay, but do we need to be that cautious? Even if there was an A-rank monster we should be fine right?』 (Astrea)

(That's true, but I'd rather not be involved in something troublesome.) (Izayoi)

I left everything to Astrea and the elf, and closed my eyes.

A while after entering the mountain range, the situation changed.

『There's something coming at us in a straight line 10 kilometers away! It's really fast. I wonder if it'll catch up to us at this rate?』 (Astrea)

We were able to completely grasp it. It'd be impossible to let it go past. Seems like the male elf has yet to realize the situation.

『Fufu~n. Astrea-chan is great at things like this, right?』 Izayoi imagined her speaking with a proud voice and puffed out chest.

The male elf would probably notice once we got around five kilometers into the Aspis range…

If it comes this way, we'll have no choice but to fight, huh...