And so, we arrived at the infamous graveyard.
No one knows the official name of this graveyard.
Everyone just calls it “that graveyard” or simply “the graveyard.”
We took our pre-determined positions at the entrance and began exploring the graveyard.
“…An Archdemon isn’t appearing, is it?”
“Well, it would be a problem if such an opponent appeared so easily.”
“That’s true. I’m sorry. Cain-san, where did you fight the Archdemon?”
“The center of the graveyard… which is here.”
“………”
“………”
“………”
“………”
Everyone fell silent.
“W-well then, shall we measure the amount of magic power in the air here?”
“Ah, that’s a good idea.”
Nice one, Saga-san.
If there’s an anomaly in the amount of magic power in the air, it means the Archdemon was born naturally.
We measured for 10 minutes.
“It’s slightly higher, but not enough for an Archdemon to be born.”
Then, it was either artificially created or brought here.
“Let’s take a look at the state of the graveyard around here and the strength of the Demons, just in case.”
And so, we explored for four hours.
…………………………………………
…………………………
……………
“Hey, isn’t there nothing unusual? We’ve come to the deepest part of the graveyard, but there’s nothing that looks like an Archdemon…”
“That’s right. Enema-san, did you search for anything?”
“I couldn’t.”
“I see… there’s nowhere else to investigate, so let’s call it a day.”
With that, everyone began to return.
On the way back, we encountered two Demons.
Saga attacked with arrows, Paul with magic, and I with thrown stones.
That alone annihilated one of the Demons.
Alright! One left.
Ganjis swung his greatsword and it was over… or so we thought.
The Demon started to glow.
“Whoa, what’s going on!?”
The next moment, the Demon was gone, and the Archdemon we faced before was there.
“It appeared! An Archdemon.”
“Hey, that guy just evolved, right?”
“That shouldn’t be possible… I think.”
That’s right! If a monster evolves, it’s only when its level increases.
There’s no way it would level up without even fighting.
“Then what the heck is that thing?”
“…It looks like we should defeat it, for now.”
“Understood!”
I threw a knife coated in Holy Water that I had for emergencies.
“Gaaaaaaaah!!!!”
The Demon seemed to have taken significant damage, and was in great pain.
But a normal Demon would have died from that.
That level of damage means…
“It seems to be an Archdemon, after all.”
Hearing those words, Saga and Enema moved to attack.
However, their attacks barely worked on the Archdemon.
“Guh!”
“It’s no good…”
But Cain and Ganjis stepped forward.
“Leave it to us.”
“A blow of brute force!”
“Strength 30,000!”
The Archdemon was immobilized by the two’s coordinated attack.
Now, it’s time for a full-on assault from everyone.
“Phew… we managed somehow.”
After defeating the Archdemon, we decided to measure the amount of magic power in the air there.
However…
“Yeah. It’s still just a little high, but within the normal range.”
“But an Archdemon actually appeared.”
“And it didn’t just appear. It evolved on the spot.”
“Let’s go back and report to the Guild, for now.”
Without letting our guard down, we returned to the Guild and told the Guild Master about what happened.
“I see… that’s certainly strange. Why did it suddenly evolve?”
“We don’t know. There were no abnormalities in the magic power or the environment.”
“…I suppose we’ll have to hire an investigation team again.”
“Yes. We should call in an expert next time.”
“Ah, let’s also ask for help from the Church’s priest.”
Actually, the Church’s priest is a master of healing magic, and can use the B-rank magic ‘High Heal’ to heal most injuries.
That’s why they are often called upon during these kinds of mysterious incidents involving Demons and Ghosts.
But, why did it evolve like that…?
No, let’s stop thinking about it.
It’s not my job from here on out.
After receiving our reward for the request, we disbanded in front of the Guild.
“Well, please ask us again if you have the chance.
I won’t be participating in any more graveyard requests though…”
“Me neither. I don’t want to fight something like that ever again.”
“I’d rather not if possible.”
Everyone seems to be fed up with Archdemons.