Retired Hero Wants To Sleep

Mission No.1 Magic Swordsman’s Return (15)

“Whoa, whoa, what a bar, master. You really want to be a bard.”

Ewald had the most surprised expression since waking up in the dungeon. Perhaps he had said goodbye to his unknown grandmother who was waving from across the river, and Elif, who had approached Balt before he knew it, was also surprised with his mouth wide open.

And Ewald’s head quickly began to gather all the information so far.

Dungeons, demon lords, dying, singing voices, and bards.

“Haaa…”

Got a sense Before the sigh was over, Ewald quickly pulled the gag from the woman’s mouth.

“… ?”

“Hi Goya…”

“… Kyaaa?”

The woman was ready to scream quietly. However, Ewald, who freed the woman’s tied hands, let out a deeper sigh.

“… Kya?”

“Haaa…”

The woman in front of Ebalt’s eyes tilted her head to the point where she wondered why she was doing this.

Then, quietly, her woman’s mouth opened.

“If you sigh, you will be blessed, so don’t sigh like that.”

A disorganized, barely pitched voice came from the woman. His voice is so soft that it makes my heart feel refreshed. There will be someone who will fall in love just by listening to your voice. For a moment, Balt had to laugh bitterly at her while admiring her voice.

“The lady was the culprit.”

“… I didn’t do anything particularly bad, so what are you saying?”

“Then it wasn’t a bad thing that you attacked me with sonic waves, did you mean to save me?”

“…”

No words. Ewald still caressed her tingling chin and couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of her.

“My name is Ewald Kitska, but what is the bard lady’s name?”

“My name is Adele Meles. Nice to meet you, Kitsuka-san.”

‘Meles? Meles. Meles?’

She tilted her head at the thought that Ewald was a surname she had heard somewhere, and Adele continued her words with drooping eyes.

“The bard is right, but not now.”

“Aha, not now?”

Ewald smiled slightly mockingly.

“You almost killed us all with your mana-mixed voice, but you’re not a bard?”

“That…”

“You’re not even a bard, are you telling me to believe that you mixed mana into a song? Almost 100,000 volumens of mana were sucked in.”

What did you figure out so much about in the meantime? Adele looked at Ewald with her suspicious eyes. However, her opponent was Balt, a magic swordsman.

From the moment he started to walk, he has been in and out of dungeons rather than playgrounds, a battle maniac, a swordsman mad with magic, a genius in mana management, and the greatest monster on earth – based on 25 years ago – with various other nicknames.

Ewald caught his breath.

“There was a report that the Demon King appeared in the monastery.”

“Mind… A king?”

Elif nodded at Adele’s question.

“Yes. Moribund people have been found around the monastery. That’s why we went out.”

Of course, Ebalt and Elif were put in separately.

Ewald raised his finger and pointed at Adele.

“Is that what the lady did?”

“…”

A face that is neither positive nor negative. With a somewhat dazed face, Adele avoided Ewald’s gaze, but soon opened her mouth.

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“I am the culprit, the culprit. Master, I got you!”

Ewald looked at Adele, not paying attention to Usbel’s reaction.

“I guess so. It wasn’t that their energy was sucked, because everyone regained consciousness within two days. If there was malice, they would have made it as a sacrifice or as food.”

“Kitsuka-san, how do you use people as food? I brought enough to eat.”

Ewald glanced around.

Dull lights were on all around. There are torches and bonfires, and enough light sources are supplied to ensure sufficient visibility.

It is a space that feels like a hideout somewhere. Household items and ingredients were piled up here and there, and on one side you can see what appears to be a sleeping bag. A bonfire is burning comfortably.

These are household items that are just the right amount for one person to live.

No matter how you look at it, this is where this woman lived.

“… I see.”

After clearing his throat once, Balt continued his words.

“Did the song you sang bring people down?”

Adele took exactly three breaths, then he opened his mouth in a slightly resigned tone.

“… That’s right. But not on purpose. There were people who rushed at it without hesitation, and there were also people who were attacked by monsters. So…”

“Did you blow it up with the monster?”

“Mostly… Yes.”

“I came to catch the demon king, and then I catch the bard.”

A hollow laugh escaped from Ewald, but Adele slowly denied his words.

“… Again, I am not a bard.”

Ewald put on a puzzled expression.

“If you put mana into a song and move people, that’s a bard. Is not it?”

“…”

“Why did the young lady come down to this dangerous place alone?”

“… This is the hardest question.”

Adele paused for a moment, but he opened his mouth as if he couldn’t help it.

“I’m here for training.”

“Samurai training?”

“… It is bard practice.”

It was the first time I had ever heard of bard training. However, Ewald tilted his head and slightly frowned.

“Have you been training with mind control against monsters?”

“Not that…”

Adele bowed her head with a very melancholy expression.

“I was practicing singing.”

It’s singing practice. Ewald began scratching his chin.

“Singing practice?”

Adele, who hesitated for a long time at Balt’s question, finally brought his words out with difficulty.

“… I can’t sing in front of people.”

* * *

“… To?”

Adele lowered her reddened face.

Bard.

A mysterious clan that moves people by pouring mana into their songs. A mind control specialist who does not manipulate people like magic or hypnosis, but allows listeners to move on their own.

Bard is precious It’s incredibly valuable. Although wizards are said to be precious, they are nothing compared to bards. Ewald, who is an adventure lover, has also met countless parties for nearly 20 years, but has not had a single bard. Most of the adventurers did not even know the existence of a bard.

At least, according to the information Ewald had from 27 years ago, that was the case.

But what about this bard girl?

“… Tone deaf?”

“What are you saying…”

But Adele, biting her lip with a dazed expression, had to bow her head again.

He is right that the world calls someone who sings like him tone-deaf.

“… That’s right. Tone deaf.”

Is such a precious bard tone-deaf?

Ewald’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“I thought I was honing some kind of killing skill.”

Adele, who suddenly became a pre-killer, burst out in anger in a flat tone.

“You are rude. It’s a killing technique. It was training to refine the tone to the last.”

Adele was very polite and angry.

“I think I’ll win even if I say ‘mandragora’ and put up a fight…”

“No! I’m here to practice singing!”

“Why?”

“Yeah…”

In an instant, Adele lowered her gloomy eyes and spoke in a crawling voice.

“Because the family doesn’t want a tone-deaf bard.”

“… Is it.”

Sensing a bitter taste in his mouth, Ewald nodded slowly and met Adele’s eyes.

“So you came all the way to the bottom of this deep monastery to practice singing?”

“That’s it. Although there were intruders.”

Those intruders must be adventurers. They must have been victims found near the monastery in a dying state. And it must be the monsters who died miserably with their ears closed.

All the nervousness, knowing that he was the demon king, was useless. No, rather, I should say it was fortunate that I wasn’t a demon lord.

Ewald let out another sigh, unable to tell whether it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of regret.

“Well, the fact that the Demon King appears in a monastery like this is itself ridiculous.”

In the end, Ewald had to let out an airy laugh.

It’s light.

There was no demon lord, and since he figured that out before the knights, he won’t lose Usbel.

That alone was enough for now.

“There was no Demon King.”

“I guess so. It’s not a place for a demon king to come out.”

Having said that to Adele, Ewald stood up.

He still had shocks in his body, but he thought it would be okay to rest and move. In fact, Ewald, hungry and full of thoughts of rest, was snooping around and met Adele’s eyes.

Adele has a blank face, different from that of the fierce Elif. He was looking at himself with eyes that were out of focus somewhere, but his eyes were empty enough to make me wonder if he was looking farther away.

She is a woman with a weird vibe.

Ewald scratched her head.

“Oh, there is something I want to ask you.”

“… What is it?”

“Why did you sing before I fell?”

“Are you talking about Alpheus’ Lament?”

“The song that Alpheus confessed to Aladike and died after being kicked?”

“… What do you mean by interpreting a sublime love song like that?”

“It’s up to whoever interprets it.”

What is the difference? Ewald shrugged her shoulders.

“Anyway, that song I almost died listening to, so why did you sing it? Did you know we were coming down?”

For a moment, Adele’s blank eyes focused. She looked intently at Ewald and nodded her head.

She said, “I knew how it came down…”

“Because I sang to kill you.”

Goosebumps ran down Ewald’s back.

“… You mean you sang to kill us?”

Another incomprehensible remark came out of Adele. But she, Adele, has gone back to her blank face. Thanks to that, Balt opened her mouth with her bewildered face.

“Hey, lady. Singing to the adventurers, is that really an accident? Didn’t you try to deal with it by faking it as an accident?”

“No. I wasn’t trying to kill people, I was trying to kill something else.”

“… Something else?”

Adele nodded her head to Balt as she slowly began to feel strange about her and opened her mouth in her flat voice.

“Cerberus.”

* * *

“… What?”

“I was trying to kill Cerberus.”

“Ha ha, ahahahaha!”

Ewald laughed at her ridiculous voice.

“You must have misunderstood the wild dog.”

“It was Cerberus.”

“… What do hell dogs have to do in such a shabby monastery? It’s not a monster, it’s a demon realm. Devil, devil. Not a monster, but a devil.”

“It was definitely Cerberus.”

“How long have you been training here?”

Ewald asked such a question out of the blue.

“About a month.”

“What… They say that if a person stays alone in a dark place for a long time, they sometimes get delirium or something like that. But that’s right, isn’t it Cerberus?”

“You don’t believe me?”

Of course I don’t believe it.

“I have only met Cerberus once. It was also summoned by a mad devil bastard while on his way to catch Beelzedeus. Cerberus isn’t some kind of street mutt.”

“There, there, master.”

Usbel, who had been listening silently until then, interrupted.

“Here is the master, here is the master.”

“… What are you talking about?”

“Oh really. Pleomax, Pleomax.”

“… Why Pleomax?”

Usbel opened her mouth, gagging with her face still saying “I don’t know.”

“Cerberus is what Pleomax is managing in Hell.”

Ewald stopped himself.

The Wiltsburg Monastery was originally a monastery that worshiped Pleomax.

By the way, after Pleomax fell and fell to hell, is it Cerberus who is managing it?

“What nonsense…”

“What. It’s not, it’s not. Pleomax feeds Cerberus, bathes him, takes him for a walk, and cleans up his poop. So, newcomer crave?”

“… Do people called gods do that?”

“If you can’t eat jjambab, you have to crawl, you have to crawl.”

Ewald’s expression became serious.

“Are you saying that Cerberus might be in this monastery?”

“There is a possibility. Since it has three heads, Pleomax might get confused while counting. One, two, three, child, many.”

“… It must be confusing.”

“And if you miss it, it’s Cerberus who runs away.”

“No, I mean, can I be in ‘this monastery’?”

“In theory, right? It is a place where the waves of Pleomax are buried. Hell dogs don’t really like changes in their environment. I like being in familiar places.”

How does the atmosphere flow unpredictably? Ewald took his gaze away from Usbel and turned to Adele. And Adele opened her mouth with a rather clear face at the end of Ewald’s gaze.

“Can you believe me now?”

“Cerberus…”

Ewald stroked his chin and smiled at him.

“It will be fun.”

The blood drained from Elif’s face at Ewald’s terrifying remark. Then he started laughing with a serious expression.

“Ho, ho, ho! Me, everyone, I’d rather just get out of here if possible. It’s Cerberus. Ho-ho-ho!”

Laughing really awkwardly Elif, who was dripping with sweat and moving his hands, desperately continued his words.

“Ke, there’s nothing good about running into Cerberus, right? It’s only natural for one or two monsters to live in a monastery anyway, so let’s just leave it for granted. We’re here to investigate the demon king anyway. We are good and Cerberus is good.hehehe.”

“If you can’t see it, you don’t have it?”

Adele hit the spot. Elif gasped and drew in his breath, and Ewald swung his shoulders around with a somewhat excited look.

“Cerberus, Cerberus. Uhm.”

Usbel, Elif, and Adele’s gaze quickly turned to Ewald.

Now, Balt was letting go of his snort as if he was having fun. And even mixed with muttering ‘Cerberus, Cerberus’.

He said the color drained from Elif’s face.

“Do, do, do, go back, Mr. Kitsuka. Ahahahahaha, ahahahaha!”

“It’s a dungeon that many beginners and adventurers can come to often.”

Aye Ewald began to sing.

“You’ll be surprised if you meet Cerberus~ You should get rid of it before you get surprised~”

Elif, who was on the verge of crying, tried to get down on his knees as if begging for help, but Ebalt turned around while humming his song.

“Oh, you don’t have to go on an adventure in the first place. Just go up yes? Leave Cerberus alone…”

However, Elif’s voice passed through Ewald’s eardrum.

“Adele, when did Cerberus appear?”

“aaagh! Please listen to me.”

Adele blinked twice.

“It first appeared this morning.”

Ewald nodded his head. Elif’s heart sank at the sight, but before she could say anything to her, Ebalt gave out an evil smile and a determined voice.

“Let’s go to George.”