Proofreader: Xemul
Regardless of the course of events or outcome, Luxuria was certainly right, and Loren and his friends decided to spend three or four days in the inn town.
Fortunately, spending time in this town, where hot springs are available, was not too painful for the party, and they were able to spend a relaxing time for the first time in a long time.
If there was a problem, it was that Loren himself felt a sense of uneasiness about the fact that various things were being paid for out of Lapis’ pocket, but Lapis quieted Loren by telling him not to worry.
“It’s like interest for the debt you owe to His Majesty.”
“There’s nothing comforting about that.”
Having said that, Loren actually didn’t have any choice but to rely on Lapis, and that fact left him a bit hunched over.
There was one person who did not hold back at all in this situation though, and it was Luxuria, who had come to accompany Loren’s party before he knew it. The guy ordered a large quantity of food from the inn and forced the men of poor conduct, who were handed over to him by Lapis, into a room. He then stayed in that room from morning till night while consuming large quantities of hot water and cloths. The cost of those things also came out of Lapis’ pocket.
“Lapis-chan, I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you this, but why do you even take care of Luxuria?”
“If you take your eyes off him, you never know what he might do.”
Lapis seemed to think that it would be better to keep a close watch on Luxuria, even if it cost a little more, than to be in a situation where they couldn’t know what he was doing.
That said, it seemed that the staff at the inn had some detailed information about what Luxuria and his friends were doing in their rooms, and they were paid more for their cleaning services than usual.
“If you don’t pay attention to his behaviour, he’s a very good fighter. I’m sure he can at least serve as a shield for me and Loren.”
“Well, I can assure you that he’s not a bad fighter.”
While listening to the conversation between Lapis and Gula, Loren suddenly looked back at his own party.
Although he was a human, Loren had Shayna, the King of Death, existing inside him and Nig on his shoulder to support him in his activities. Lapis, their priest, was a demon who was fluent in both light and dark magic, and could also fight in melee combat. Gula, who is nominally a sorcerer, boasted of her Evil God powers as well as magic powers, and her combat abilities were in the realm of the ridiculously strong.
“What the heck did Luxuria register at the Adventurers’ Guild as?”
From the way he dressed, which looked terribly uncomfortable to move in, it didn’t seem to Loren that Luxuria was registered as a warrior. However, concluding that he must have registered as a priest or magician just from that fact seemed like a bad joke.
In the first place, Luxuria was unarmed, and his role was not discernible from her appearance.
“Why don’t you just ask him?”
Loren looked uncomfortable when Gula told him this.
The only way to talk to Luxuria, who rarely came out of his room, was to wait for whenever he came out, or to visit his room. Loren could not talk to him right away, and he definitely would not want to visit Luxuria’s room even if his life depended on it.
“He probably registered as a priest.”
It was Lapis who made such an unbelievable statement.
Not only Loren but even Gula looked at her with an expression “was the world coming to an end?”, to which she continued with her usual expression.
“I think he registered as a priest of the God of Earth.”
“That can’t be true, can it?”
“It seems that his title of priest is an official one. He must have been able to obtain a position in the temple after his resurrection.”
“Oh God of Earth, is it alright to grant priesthood to that guy?”
“Well, Luxuria’s existence is not in that much contrast to the teachings of the God of Earth. In fact, it can even be considered that he endorses their teachings, and I think that’s why he got his approval so easily.”
“No way?!”
“Because the teaching of the God of Earth is to love all living beings in this world. There are various sects that exclude demonic creatures or demons, but none are excluded due to gender.”
As far as Loren knew, the God of Earth was a benevolent and loving God of Creation, but when he heard Lapis’ story, he thought that the scope of their protection was too broad.
“I don’t think I can be a follower of the God of Earth.”
“The God of Knowledge always welcomes you.”
“That’s another thing I can’t do.”
Loren’s abrupt answer brought about a slightly hurt look to Lapis’ face. For this was the God in whom Lapis believed, and used a pretence to boldly declaring “Because I am a priestess of the God of Knowledge” at every possible moment. The ability requirement seemed to be so high that Loren thought he would never be able to serve as a priest.
And so, Loren’s party rested for four days before resuming their journey to the Empire.
By the time they left, the amount of money that Lapis had paid to the inn must have been substantial. But when the party, who could be considered as the best customers, told the staff that they were leaving, the only emotion on the staff’s faces was relief.
Loren felt somewhat sorry for the inn, thinking that they must have been quite troublesome guests. But since the most of the troubles must have been caused by Luxuria, he felt somewhat better by assuming that all the blame was placed on the Evil God of Lust.
Talking about Luxuria, he must have thoroughly trained, or maybe brainwashed, the men Lapis had captured and passed on to him. They had become completely different from before and Luxuria came out of his room surrounded by men with sparkling eyes.
“Are you going to take them with you?”
Loren asked Luxuria for a confirmation, even though he had already known the answer.
Loren did not know, nor did he want to know, what had happened over the past few days, but the men who had been locked in Luxuria’s room seemed to be completely submissive to him. The fact that they all seemed to take supreme pleasure in doing so only creeped Loren out further.
“We can’t just leave them here, can we?”
“That’s… Well, I guess so.”
Loren nodded as he looked at the staff of the inn, whose faces were coloured with despair as soon as they heard the word ‘leave’. He would like to leave them all, including Luxuria, somewhere in the wilderness if he could, but the fact that he did not know what evil shadow they would cast over the world later on kept him from carrying out such an idea.
“And it’s a good thing that you’re taking us with you, you know.”
“I don’t really want to hear it, but humour me.”
Loren prompted while keenly aware of the greatsword on his back, thinking that if the Evil God spouted something nonsensical like ‘I’ll tell you at night’, he would do the whole world a favour and cut him down right there and then.
Luxuria folded his arms in front of his well-developed chest and replied proudly.
“You have more people now.”
“What’s so good about that?”
“Well, the adventurers coming from Kapha wouldn’t have arrived here even after we reached the Empire, you know?”
Even if they were to add up the time they spent in the inn town, only about six days had passed since Loren and his party left Kapha. Adventurers traveling on the special transport prepared by the Adventurers’ Guild would take about ten days to reach the Empire, and even if they had made good progress, they would still be behind Loren’s group, who would enter the Empire’s territory in one more day.
“If only three or four adventurers showed up at the post under the current circumstances, they’d be laughed at and received their pay at the gate.”
“And that’s coming from a guy who went to report on his own?”
“I’ve learned from experience. Stop putting blame on me.”
The truth was, Luxuria was so powerful that it was hard to know how many human soldiers could be a match for him, and anyone who knew his true identity would not ridicule him if he reported alone. But if you thought about it, one or two people claiming to be reinforcements would be nothing more than laughing stocks to the army.
“But with these cute children, there will be about ten of us.”
Considering the size of the army, ten or so adventurers would be nothing, but they were still a decent number, and could be a force to be reckoned with. Luxuria said that it would be much easier for the Empire to accept them than if they were on their own.
“It will reduce the chance of being turned away at the door. Why not take them with us then?”
“It’s not free to take them with us though.”
Four people would be alright, but about ten would make a rather big group. Naturally, the amount of luggage they could bring with them would increase, but the cost to prepare such luggage would also increase. This was what Loren was concerned about, but Luxuria sniffed and said:
“You’re not the one paying though.”
Loren was at a loss for words at this reply. He looked at Lapis as if asking for her opinion, thinking that he indeed had no rights to talk about money in any way, and she answered without hesitation.
“It’s a small price to pay for a wall or a shield.”
“Your partner… She really can talk like that despite her pretty face.”
Luxuria, with a slightly resigned expression on his face, said this to Loren, but Loren could only shrug lightly as he could not find anything to say in return.
“If possible, I would appreciate it if your group die nobly in the battlefield, Luxuria.”
“I agree with that.”
“Would you be willing to blow yourselves up with the enemy general?”
“What do you guys expect from us?!”
“”Suicide bombing.””
Lapis and Gula answered in unison, and as expected, it caused quite some psychological damage to Luxuria. As the Evil God and his followers fell silent, Loren picked up his own luggage and called out to everyone.
“We’ve got to get going. We have things to buy. I’m sorry, Lapis, but you’re going to have to pick up the tab. It’s better to have enough men to get accepted into the army.”
“It can’t be helped then. I’ll give Luxuria a loan.”
“Wait a minute?! Isn’t that interest too high?!”
“It’s nothing compared to the debt Loren owes.”
“I wish you wouldn’t use me as a reference there.”
Confronted with a number that was sure to be outrageously high, Luxuria closed in on Lapis, causing her to run around to evade him.
Loren looked up at the sky in the direction of the north where they were heading, thinking that the bustling atmosphere was not a bad thing, but for God’s sake he hoped they would tone down by the time they met up with the army.