Chapter 13: The Boss Appears (Shifa’s Perspective)
“Elanda. What have you done…”
“It couldn’t be helped. Senko is this town’s top adventurer party. If their name were to disappear, no one would feel safe coming to this town anymore.”
Doesn’t that have nothing to do with the child in your belly, or with stealing his personal assets? I thought, and was about to speak, but…
“That’s no reason to have a child! Did Jekyll pressure you?!”
I see. Could that be it?
My sister? I don’t think so. She doesn’t have the kind of sweet personality to offer her body as part of a deal, does she?
“No. I used him. If Lux was dead, it couldn’t be helped, right? I talked Claire into it and handed Senko over to Jekyll. Then, I had the strengthened Senko, reinforced with items Lux left behind and with new solo members, explore the dungeon. As long as we can thin out the monsters on the lower floors, there’s no problem. If my partner is the leader, there’s no worry of him leaving.”
Well, that’s about the gist of it, I suppose.
Jekyll seemed like an easy-to-handle, frivolous man.
Still, she probably didn’t anticipate he was such a frivolous and irresponsible man that he’d run off so easily even after having a child with her. She has terrible judgment.
Father fell silent.
“That doesn’t explain why you stole his personal assets.”
And Michelle-san was angry too. I wondered why she was so fixated on that point, but it wasn’t a situation where I could interject.
“Even if I concede a hundred steps and understand the loss of citizenship due to being declared dead, Lux has an heir, so those assets belong to that person! So return them immediately!”
“Eh?”
“Lux has an heir? …What do you mean? …Where?”
Michelle-san was completely furious. In response, my sister was muttering with a stunned expression, as if caught off guard.
That’s right. An heir doesn’t have to be a relative.
I recall the Guild had a system for registering an heir in case of an emergency.
Normally, only relatives can be registered, though…
“Are you saying you didn’t know? You should have understood immediately if you’d looked at the documents registered with the Guild. Don’t tell me you neglected even that?”
“That’s not… The Guild Master didn’t say anything…”
“I’m surprised. Don’t tell me the Guild Master was in on it too? I think it was your oversight for not confirming. In that case, I’ll tell you. I am his sister by law! That’s why we registered each other as heirs in case something happened!”
“Eeeh?”
That was a surprise.
If that’s the case, I can understand her anger. Though I didn’t know. Sister by law?
“Michelle-san is?”
“Yes. He’s my parents’ adopted son. So we’re adopted siblings. In our homeland, his status is higher, so I haven’t actively talked about it.”
She kindly explained it to me, who had inadvertently asked.
“Now, return it. I heard it was only recently that he was declared ‘estimated dead’ for six months, right?”
“…”
“Say something. This is what you’ve done. Those assets must be returned properly.”
“…They’re gone…”
“Hah?”
“What do you mean!”
“I’ve already used them all, so they’re gone!”
“You!?”
“What do you mean! There were hundreds of gold coins, rare weapons, and items, weren’t there!? You used them all!?”
“That’s right! They’re gone! So I don’t have any money to return!”
“W-Wait!”
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
“Wh-What?”
Right before our eyes, as we were arguing, the Guild Association building was launched high into the sky…
“Kgh, a Stampede? Have the monsters from the lower floors already arrived?”
Michelle-san hurriedly readied her weapon and shield.
“Father, please evacuate.”
I instructed the guards to get Father away from here.
“Wait, fighting monsters stronger than an Orc King is reckless! Flee!”
“Once the adventurers have escaped, I will follow!”
Father didn’t seem convinced, but it would be bad if someone from the lord’s family didn’t remain.
The adventurers who had gathered were here.
Michelle-san was here too.
Since I’ve already resolved to fight, of course I’m staying!
That scum of a sister of mine is fleeing for her life…
In the end, she didn’t say what she did with the money. As for why she had Lux-san declared dead, I think it was to make the money her own…
But there was no more time to think about such things.
The launched Guild building fell onto the adjacent casino building, and they collapsed together.
Thanks to the mages casting defensive magic, the adventurers were unharmed.
Unharmed, but…
“Shifa-sama? Please escape. We’ll handle this…”
“I will not flee. If I am to flee, it will be after all of you have gone. As the one responsible, as the daughter of Riophendal’s lord, I will remain here!”
“Shifa…”
“Shifa-sama…”
Just then, a monster finally appeared from the hole that had opened in the ground.
It was just a single one.
Perhaps the other monsters were awed by it.
After all, what emerged was…
A massive claw, about the size of my own body…
A gigantic mouth baring ferocious fangs… and a face.
Jet-black wings that spread high into the sky…
A monster that couldn’t fit through the hole made by blowing away the Guild building, appearing while causing the ground to collapse in the surrounding area… the inns, the casino, the lord’s mansion, no, an even wider area.
This is impossible…
This isn’t on a level where we can fight it.
It’s not an opponent that puny humans can challenge.
The thing that crawled up, causing the surrounding ground to collapse.
The thing that then spread its great wings and soared into the sky.
It was something I had only heard of in legends and myths.
It was a dragon.