Eugene heads for the mountain of death

"Now then, let's depart, Eugene-kun, Lily-kun." 

The one who spoke to us was the captain of the 2nd Division, Jacqueline-san. 

She is the captain of the special team that will be investigating Raum this time. 

Long hair tied up in a ponytail and a slender physique. She gives a delicate impression, but the aura that her body emits and her movements made me feel like she is not much different from a Gold Knight Captain from the Empire. 

"Yes, Captain Jacqueline." 

"Understood." 

The members are me and a holy knight apprentice, Lily Whitewind, from the same Legendary Hero Department. 

(3 people is so few…) (Eugene)

I thought this, but this is apparently the result of carefully selecting the ones who have strong resistance to the Curse of Death.

By the way, these two were apparently former Holy Maiden Candidates. 

They went through tough Holy Maiden Candidate training in the Goddess Church since their childhood, so they apparently ended up with a constitution that's strong against curses. 

Incidentally, Sara, who has a Holy Sword on top of having stronger curse resistance than those two, is a better candidate, but she is an Upcoming Holy Maiden, so she obviously wasn't chosen to be part of the team.

The person herself apparently wanted to join though. 

We departed in the morning of the next day and encountered Raum.

There was the option of sneaking into the shadows of the night, but other monsters get active in the night and Raum doesn't make a sound, so there's the possibility we wouldn't notice an attack. 

It is easier to find him when the light of the sun is present. The Great Demonic Beast is gigantic after all.

We walked through the precipitous mountain road silently. 

We have already gone past the location where we encountered the Great Demonic Beast before.

We aren't walking that fast, but the ruggy mountain road saps away at my stamina no matter what.

The two who are wearing holy knight armor look like they are having a tough time even if they have made the weight lighter with magic.

I can see the color of fatigue in Lily. 

"Want me to carry your luggage?" (Eugene)

"...No need." (Lily)

I volunteered to carry the big bag for expeditions that she was carrying, but she straight out rejected me. 

Jacqueline-san saw this and spoke to me. 

"Let's take a break here. We are hidden by the trees and it is a blindspot from the surroundings." (Jacqueline)

"I-I can still walk!" (Lily)

Lily must have felt like we were being considerate of her here and objected.

"I was also beginning to get tired. We will be going straight ahead without breaks afterwards, so let's take a break properly, Lily." (Jacqueline)

"…Yes." (Lily)

Looks like she agreed after being told this. 

We sat down on a relatively big tree, and began eating the rations we brought with us. 

Ham and cheese sandwiched between hard bread. 2 of them. 

I wasn't that hungry, so I ate only one and drank a bit of water. 

"You haven't sweated one bit, Eugene-kun." (Jacqueline)

Captain Jacqueline spoke to me while eating. 

"I don't carry much." (Eugene)

I only have my exploration clothes from the magic academy and 2 katanas on my waist. I also only have a small exploration bag for a day trip. 

"You are going to be investigating the Great Demonic Beast with that equipment…? Aren't you being too careless?" (Lily)

Lily said this in a slightly scornful manner. 

It is true that I am lightly equipped compared to the two of them. 

"I need to throw away the unnecessary stuff if it turns into a battle after all." (Eugene)

I only have food for two meals and mana potions in my bag. 

I will deal with the wounds I get with healing magic. 

"The strongest swordsman of the Empire, the Imperial Sword, apparently jumps around the whole time on the battlefield with lightweight equipment." (Jacqueline)

"My Pops…hates armor." (Eugene)

I do understand his opinion that: 'I wouldn't be able to feel the killing intent with my skin if I am wearing armor'.

But I don't understand his opinion of: 'It wouldn't be fun without the thrill of being cut'.

Pops is way too much of a battle junkie. 

I am lightweight because I can use barriers to substitute armor, so my reason is completely different from Pops. 

"Anyways, I wonder why the Great Demonic Beast has suddenly become active." (Eugene)

I casually changed the topic to our current main objective. 

"That's what we are here to figure out." (Lily)

Lily Whitewind is always cold. 

"How much do you know about Raum of the Tarsis Mountain Range, Eugene-kun?" (Jacqueline)

"Let's see…" (Eugene)

I dig out the knowledge I have of the Great Demonic Beast in the Holy Union.

◇A few days before departing to the crusade◇

—Floor 100 of the Last Dungeon. 

We went to Floor 100 as usual after training around Floor 110 with Claude.

Eri is often here lately. 

Rita-san and Eri were surrounded by a large amount of documents just as I imagined. 

It looks like Rita-san is helping out with the paperwork.

"As I said~, you should just report this in a more brief fashion. The Goddesses don't have any interest in the achievements from Floor 99 and below anyways." (Eri)

"Eh?! Really?! But I heard that the Destiny Goddess of the West Continent, Ira-sama, has a grasp of all the people that she has given a special skill to-ssu yo." (Rita)

"That girl is way too thorough, so you shouldn't use her as reference. You should already know that the Destiny Goddess in charge of the South Continent, Ilia-chan, isn't watching that strictly, right? I bet she isn't properly checking things about the lower floor explorers anyways, so just give a short report of it. In exchange, make more detailed reports for the explorers that have gotten through Floor 100, especially the ones who have most recently been promoted to A rank." (Eri)

"I see… Then, we make around 10 papers…" (Rita)

"Idiot. The Destiny Goddess is swamped with work. She wouldn't look at a file with 10 pages. Make it 1 page, 1 page! Summarize it all in that!" (Eri)

"T-That's impossible-ssu yo~. There's no way I can summarize this amount of information in 1 page!" (Rita)

"Stuff all the important information in 1 page, and make an appendix for the detailed info. Make sure not to forget to add the page number for reference. Make the messages brief and clear. Go on, redo it!" (Eri)

"Hiih!!" 

Looks like the Demon Lord is coaching the Angel-san. 

""…""

Claude and I look at each other's faces. 

I was wondering what to do here since it seemed like we were intruding here.

"Eri, we are intruding." (Eugene)

"Rita-chan, I have brought gifts." (Claude)

Claude and I spoke to the two. 

"Oh my, Eugene, you wanted to see me?" (Eri)

Eri showed a bright smile. 

"Yay, let's take a break, Eri-senpai!! Nice job coming here, you two." (Rita)

Rita-san raised both hands and celebrated.

"Can't be helped. Just a bit. Come on here, Eugene." (Eri)

There was a table for 4 in a place different from where they were doing their paperwork by the time I noticed.

There are teacups and a pot with steam wafting out. 

Floor 100 apparently has a spell cast that makes it possible for the Angel-san to materialize anything that she thinks of.

Claude and I placed the things we brought on the table. 

Rita-san seems to love sweet things, and Eri likes salty stuff. 

I was assigned the seat by the side of Eri, and Claude sat by the side of Rita-san. 

"So, you came here because you had some sort of business, right?" (Eri)

Eri asked this while stirring her wine glass. 

"I wanted to learn more about the Great Demonic Beast of the Tarsis Mountain Range…about the Darkness Bird." (Eugene)

I tried digging through the documents in the library of the academy and the Dungeon Alliance as a way to gather information at the time when I was wondering whether to accept the request to subjugate the Great Demonic Beast, but I couldn't find any noteworthy information. 

That's when I went to ask Eri and Rita-san who seem to know about stuff like that. 

"Raum-chan, huh. If I remember correctly, it is a Great Demonic Beast that has lived the longest in the South Continent?" (Eri)

"Right-ssu ne. It is an old Great Demonic Beast compared to Haagenti and Vepar. The troublesome thing is that each and every single feather has the Curse of Death on them, and your life energy will get absorbed if you touch it. That's why it is necessary to either have resistance to curses or barrier magic-ssu ne." (Rita)

"Is there a way to subjugate it?" (Eugene)

"Wa? Could it be that you are planning to go there to defeat it?" (Eri)

Eri showed a slightly unamused expression at my question.

"Just an if." (Eugene)

"Don't do it. Going out of your way to fight a Great Demonic Beast that's holed up deep in the mountains is just…" (Eri)

"Everyone will be happy if we defeat it, right?" (Eugene)

The Empire has at least obtained a rich plain and will develop even further after defeating the Great Demonic Beast. 

"Who knows… Humans are greedy creatures, so they might end up desiring unnecessary things if they obtain it. Oh well, fine. You want to know about the Darkness Bird, right?" (Eri)

"Yeah." (Eugene)

I nodded at Eri who said something that bothered me a bit.

"If we are talking about plain strength, it would be weaker than the other 2 Great Demonic Beasts in the South Continent, I guess." (Eri)

"…Really?" (Eugene)

Even though it is the oldest?

"It is smaller than Haagenti, and doesn't have the aggressiveness of the black mermaids. But Raum has 3 cores, so you have to defeat the 3 of them or it will resurrect, and the most troublesome thing is the Death Retribution Curse." (Eri)

"Aah, that's indeed troublesome-ssu ne." (Rita)

"Rita-chan, what's this Death Retribution Curse?" (Claude)

Claude, who doesn't know much about curses, asked this. 

"About that—" (Rita)

"The curse of the one who killed them is definitely dying." (Eri)

"Aah, I was going to tell them, Eri-senpai!" (Rita)

"Even Eugene should be able to know at least that much…right?" (Eri)

She threw it to me, but I am actually not that acquainted with curses. 

"I have learned about it in class, but…I see, the Darkness Bird has the curse of retribution, huh… It will be difficult to defeat then." (Eugene)

"Moreover, it isn't only the person who killed it, but also the one that ordered it, their family, lovers, and even their friends." (Eri)

"""Eh?!"""

Claude and I weren't the only ones who raised their voice in surprise, Rita-san did too.

"Rita-chan?" (Claude)

"Rita-san?" (Eugene)

"Why are you getting surprised too?" (Eri)

"Ooh, so that's what the curse of the Darkness Bird-chan has become, huh. That's not written in the document of the Divine Realm-ssu yo." (Rita)

"Don't trust the files in the Divine Realm that much. There are times when they wouldn't be updated for centuries." (Eri)

"I see~~, so that's how it is-ssu ne." (Rita)

{Hey, Claude.} (Eugene)

{Sounds like it would be better to listen to what Rita-chan says with a huge grain of salt.} (Claude)

{Yeah…} (Eugene)

Claude and I whispered to each other. 

"Hey, you two! What's the meaning of that-ssu ka?!" (Rita)

Looks like Rita-san heard us.

She has good ears.

"Hmm, I wanted to ask about Vepar though." (Claude)

"I have new information about that one, Claude-kun! Wait for a bit~." (Rita)

Rita-san began to turn the pages of a thick file. 

"Oh, found it, found it! … The Great Demonic Beast of the Black Sea, Vepar. Also known as the black mermaid, or the darkness mermaid…" (Rita)

"Fumu fumu." 

Looks like we have moved to a different Great Demonic Beast.

Claude and Rita-san are talking there.

"Is there any other question?" (Eri)

Eri peeked at my face from the side. 

"Well, with how we can't kill it…" (Eugene)

"Yeah, yeah, give it up." (Eri)

Even if I manage to endure the curse with my barrier, there's no point if the curse spreads to my families and acquaintances.

I was slightly dispirited here, so I sipped a bit of the now lukewarm tea. 

"Then, that's the end of your business here, Eugene. I will have you tag along with me for a bit☆." (Eri)

"I am fine with that. What is it?" (Eugene)

I asked this and she grinned suggestively. 

"Hey, Rita, materialize a king size bed over there later. I will use it with Eugene." (Eri)

"?!" 

I spurt out the tea. 

"Eh~, do that stuff in your own room please, Eri-senpai~." (Rita)

"Isn't that fine? You are not losing anything anyways." (Eri)

"Eugene…you…" (Claude)

Claude looked over here with wide open eyes. 

"About this…" (Eugene)

Speaking of which, I still haven't told Claude about my relationship with Eri. 

Explaining afterwards was a real pain. 

◇◇

"This is as much as I know." (Eugene)

I told them a simple explanation of what I was taught by Eri and Rita-san. 

Of course, without telling them about Eri and Rita-san themselves.

""...…""

Captain Jacqueline and Lily Whitewind made serious faces. 

"Is something the matter?" (Eugene)

"This is my first time hearing about the Death Retribution Curse…" (Jacqueline)

"Eugene Santafield, where did you learn about that?!" (Lily)

Hm? 

Rita-san mentioned it as if it were common knowledge, but maybe it is not that well known? 

"I see…so the reason why the Destiny Oracle-sama predicted: 'A calamity will happen if the Great Demonic Beast is defeated'. It was because of that curse, huh…" (Jacqueline)

"Eugene, answer! How do you have information like that?!" (Lily)

Captain Jacqueline was thinking about something and making a complicated expression while my classmate was pressing me. 

"I was told by…Principal U-Uther." (Eugene)

Count on the Principal when in trouble. 

Let's apologize later.

"Kuh! Why is the Principal always giving preferential treatment to this man?" (Lily)

"I-It is not clear information, so I think he didn't make it public because of that." (Eugene)

That's what Rita-san said, so it isn't a lie. 

"Well, anyways, our objective is to investigate. It is about time we move onwards." (Jacqueline)

"Right." (Eugene)

"…Understood." (Lily)

We finished our break and began walking to our destination again. 

A few hours after advancing the precipitous mountain road…

An ashen color mountain showed up from deep within the dark green trees. 

"…There it is." (Jacqueline)

"…" 

"That's…" (Eugene)

Ahead of the gaze of Captain Jacqueline, inside the mountains of the Tarsis Mountain Range, there was one mountain that clearly stood out from the rest. 

The ground, rocks, and trees; every single part of it is ashen. 

An abnormal mountain that I can barely feel any life from. 

We arrived at the Mountain of Death, Shishapangma, where the nest of Raum is.