Chapter 88

Cornkill, who had been involuntarily strangled, struggled.

“Long time no see.”

“Cou-cough?”

Long time no see?

Despite being in the middle of strangulation, Cornkill’s eyes widened in surprise.

A low-pitched languid voice echoed through the air.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember. Because I remember. Even after a long time, I couldn’t forget the memory of you hitting me in the back of my head.”

“Guu-Kuho……?”

“I thought you were a hostage, and I sacrificed my life to save you, but he was the leader of the bandits. It was a shock to my young heart when I found out.”

“Kuu-huu……?”

“But there was no room for being traumatized by such psychological shock. The dungeon that you lured me to…….because of that, I tried something like suicide for the first time.”

He wanted to ask what the heck this guy was talking about, but the only sound coming out of Cornkil’s mouth was a squeak.

Even the gods who were watching at this point were a little confused.

[‘The World-building God’ wonders if he was originally so talkative.]

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ says this episode 17 seems to be very different from the original as it is an exception from the main lead being alive.]

Just in time, Thesilid wrapped his remaining hand around half of his face and said.

“Ah, I don’t usually talk that much, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here, so I’m a little bit emotional.”

“Ku… kugu……”

Cornkill was now almost out of breath. But even in the midst of it, the man’s voice was clearly stuck in his ears.

“Did you know? It is a good deed for a knight to punish his opponent for the honor of a lady.”

“……!”

“If you cry, who is comforting whom?”

“Kuhu……!”

Kugugugu.

The saliva and foam that flowed from Cornkill’s mouth were about to wet Thesilid’s wrist.

“But I have decided to live a good life this time.”

The strength in the hand that was holding his neck loosened like a lie and the blocked air violently rushed into Cornkill’s lungs.

“Kuh huh! Cof, cof!”

Thesilid turned back without any regrets from the frantic Cornkill who cough his lungs out.

The beautiful and cool back of the handsome man melted away in the dark.

✠

“Thank you. Thank you very much…!”

“I will never forget the grace you showed for saving us. Hic…”

As desired, I received many thanks from the male hostages.

With this, it seems that the hideout has been cleaned up. As I was shaking my hands, Thesilid approached.

“Ellet, I think you should see this.”

“Yes.”

As I left the cave prison, I saw thieves who had been tied in groups of three and five with the harp string of the king of spirits.

They were on the verge of death.

“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Aww!”

“Hot, hot! Help me! Aghhhh!”

The skin surface was burning around the red mark on their forehead.

“The time has come.”

I gave a short answer to the puzzled Agnes. Thankfully, Thesilid gave me a more detailed explanation.

“The original hideout of The Ducks and Drakes was inside a dungeon without an owner. But not long ago, an S-class boss was born and claimed the seat of the new owner, and they were branded as slaves.”

“If you don’t sacrifice ten men a week in the time of the human world, your head will burn to death.”

“The reason why only men are accepted as sacrifices is……because the boss is the Queen Harpy. For a more detailed explanation……well, I don’t want to say it myself.”

“……Orcs are the counterparts.”

At first glance, the two seem to be talking, but they were not. Thesilid cannot detect Agnes’ presence.

I can’t believe he’s even kind to an invisible being. What a great specimen of a knight’s manners.

I quietly approached the dying bandits. The light of divine power drifted in my hand. Thesilid and Agnes, who had an intuition at what I was going to do, said one by one as if they were surprised.

“Ellet, don’t tell me……”

Removing the stigma by using an ultimate skill is no burden at all. But I wasn’t the kind of person who did fair deeds to trash either.

Good deeds for the sake of is not even hypocrisy. It’s evil.

I looked back at the two of them and smiled.

“Do you think I would?”

Contrary to my words, a healing light poured from my hand. The tanned skin was restored and the red stigma disappeared. The thieves who were rescued from the claws of near death had tears in their eyes.

“I-I lived….”

“Th-thank you……”

“You have nothing to be thankful for.”

Painful screams could still be heard around. Because I only saved ten people.

The number ten had a specific meaning.

“Aww!”

The bodies of the thieves were wrapped around with The Spirit King’s Harp String and stitched together. Like dried yellow Corvina.

“Come on, let’s go see the Harpy Queen.”

“Hiiiic!”

“Nooo!”

The bandits who understood my intentions cried out.

“I’m sorry! I will never do that again!”

“Please forgive me! Anything but dragging me to the Harpy Queen, please……!”

“I’d rather you kill me!

That’s why putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is so important. Aren’t they finally shedding tears and having runny noses of regret only when they are made to be sacrificed as tributes themselves?

I smiled kindly and showed mercy.

“Don’t give up. If you hold out until I catch the boss, you can live.”

“Noooo!”

“Arghhhh!”

Oops, I forgot to switch off my killing intent because they were so contemptuous.

Pulling the rope, no, The Spirit King’s Harp String, I looked back at Thesilid.

At that moment, he was staring at me.

“Let’s get in, Terry!”

“……”

“Terry?”

“Ah.”

It was as if he had been dazed and then came to his senses.

“The dungeon is this way.”

Thesilid smiled and took the lead. Somehow I thought he looked happy for some reason.

The entrance to the dungeon was located deep in the cave and was used as a prison. At the end of the road, the gate opened its wide mouth.

“Argh!”

“Save me…kwah!”

I pushed the thieves into it first, and put one foot forward inside. Then held out one hand towards Thesilid.

“Come on.”

It’s a way to escort a gentleman I learned from my mother.

“……I’m openly being treated like an underdog.”

“It’s true that you are weak now. Anyway, catch it, gentlemen.”

Thesilid no longer complained and took my hand.

As usual, the field of vision was surrealistically squashed and then opened again, changing into a new environment.

[ You have entered the S-level dungeon ‘Hatching Nest’.]

A field-type dungeon with a rugged mountainous area. Half-human and half-harpy beasts flew around the mountain peak.

Kieee, kiee kiee!

Kieee, kiee kiee!

The thieves were astonished at the number, which was reminiscent of a flock of migratory birds.

“Hey, what are all those things? Why are there so many!”

“I-It wasn’t like this when I came here before! What happened!”

Are you really asking because you don’t know?

“Looks like the Harpy Queen’s eggs just hatched. It’s all thanks to your hard work.”

“Argggh!”

A month is enough time for freshly hatched harpies to grow into adults.

Beasts have a strong instinct for slaughter and breeding, especially the Harpy. The next expected situation was obvious.

Kyaaaah!

Kyaaa! Kyaaa!

Harpies flew this way, howling as if they were excited. And…

Swish! Whik!

“Sa-save me! Argh!”

“N-Nooo! I hate it!”

One by one, the bandits were whisked away.

It was an instant before the tribute to the Queen was sold out on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Oh, dear.”

After letting out a ‘sad’ exclamation without an ounce of feelings, Agnes and I explored our surroundings.

Among the many mountain peaks, there was one that looked like the top had been cut off. It looked like a crater, just right for a nest.

“That one looks like the Queen’s nest. What do you think of Agnes?”

“Terry, Agnes says is right there.”

Thesilid, who received the message, said with a very nice and handsome face.

“You must hurry. There must be hostages still alive in the Queen’s nest.”

“The question is, how do we get that far very quickly……”

“There was that way! Ah, if I had known this would happen, I would have grabbed them when the harpies came down to snatch the bandits.”

It was a time when I regretted being a little bit late. Thesilid said as he adjusted the sea-blue eyes.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about. There are still things left to lure the harpies.”

“What?”

“It just so happens that one is coming over there.”

I saw the silhouette of a harpy flying in this direction with its back to the setting sun.

But how come it seems bigger than the other harpies?

As the distance drew closer, the darkness of the silhouette faded, revealing the harpy as it approached. It had by far the largest size, wings more colorful than a peacock’s tail, and even a Crown worn on the head of a human woman!

[ Dungeon owner, 780th place in the Demon World, ‘Queen Harpy Pignellis’ has appeared!]