chapter 74.1

It’s been 20 days since I took my family to the island . Just when I was thinking of making preparations to go to Corundum again, Wild herb-san came to me to report about the harvest with a beaming smile on her face .

「Caam-san, look at this! I’m not sure whether this is because of the good soil or the sun but we were able to get this much from just a single potato you know? Are we going to replant half and store the rest for consumption?」

「That’s right . We’ll keep doing that for now」

「Understood . Hmm hmm~ . Freshly baked potatoes~」

Plenty would have found her cute based on the standards from my previous world but I haven’t even seen her together with a man before . I wonder why? Is it because of cultural differences? I might be in the minority in this world but I like the carefree types like her .

Hm? What’s this? There’s a merchant ship approaching the island but they didn’t raise the signal .

「Oi Caam . There’s a ship coming but……」

「Huh? I wonder if this is about pigs and sheep that I asked for? I’ll go and get the doc.u.ments so please go on ahead and wait for me at the beach」

「Sure」

That ship must belong to Nils-san’s acquaintance but it’s strange . It was such a hot day but the men who were lowering the livestock into smaller boats so that they could get closer to the island were fully covered in cloaks .

「Caam, something about this feels strange . Be careful」

「Roger . Well, I can already tell there’s something fishy about this since the merchant didn’t have employees nor guards like that after all」

The sound of rowing got louder as the merchant and his suspicious subordinates got closer to the island . When they reached the beach, the merchant immediately got out and approached us .

「Are you Caam-sama? Here are the pigs and sheep that Nils-san asked me to deliver . I’ve been told that you’ve already paid half so I will be receiving the rest of the payment here」

「Yes yes . Let me just get the money okay~? Old man, I’ll leave this with you」

The merchant’s suspicious subordinates were looking around .

The situation was kinda sus so I armed myself with the usual equipment then went back to the beach .

「Sorry for the wait . Here you go . Please make sure it’s the exact amount」

With a shovel in hand, I gave him the money .

「Um, what’s with the shovel?」

「Well, your subordinates look kinda fishy so I brought it just in case」

「I-I see……」

He was obviously tense . I guess I was right .

□

I, Iwamoto Takeru, who had been accepted to a certain university with flying colors, graduated from high school without any problems . I had already made use of the free attendance to move out so I had nothing to do .

I was clearing out the trash in my room when my parents went out shopping so I decided to wipe the hallway floor with a rag . Suddenly, everything turned white and when I came back to my senses, I found myself in some sort of underground cellar . The floor was made of stone so it was cold and hard .

When I looked around, all I could see was stone so I figured it was some kind of underground structure . Light didn’t pa.s.s through the ceiling so it was pretty dim with only a torch as a source of illumination . The air was stagnant as well so airflow was probably bad .

I fell over so my body was sore when I got up . After checking my condition, I was met with a sight you’ll typically see in games or movies . A blond girl wearing a white dress was in front of me surrounded by several soldiers wearing armor and had short swords . The girl looked like a typical princess type character and it seemed like she was talking to someone . She looked pretty young so I was sure she wasn’t the queen .

Looking behind, there was a middle-aged man who appeared to be a magician from the robe he was wearing .

It seems like the magician was the one that the princess was talking to .

I can’t tell what they’re talking about though .

But even if they were speaking my language, I would still find this situation quite dubious .

I thought I was just dreaming but when I looked at my hand, I was still holding the rag that I used to wipe the floor . It was a bit damp and there were marks of the dust I wiped off so this was definitely the same rag .

「――――、――」

The princess in front of me was saying something but I still didn’t understand .

Seeing that, the princess shook her head while looking at the middle-aged mage behind me . After that, I heard him murmur something then a faint light started coming out from my body . When the light faded, the princess girl in front of me started speaking again .

「Can you understand me?」

「Somehow」

「I am sure there are plenty of things you want to ask but we need to restrain you first . The soldiers won’t harm you if you don’t struggle」

After she said that, I was handcuffed .

I’ve only seen this kind of situation in Ber**rk .

I was led through the hallway, up a set of stairs, then into a slightly wider room . There, the girl sat on a comfy looking chair then began to speak .

「Let’s start with introductions first . I am Rels Att.i.tude, the fourth princess of this country . I would appreciate it if you would not use “you” when you refer to me」

Att.i.tude? I might bite my tongue saying that .

「I’m Iwamoto Takeshi」

I’m not sure if the way I said it was wrong but the soldiers were glaring at me and shouting “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” but the girl called Rels waved her hand and said . 「He is not from this world, remember?」 which caused the room to fall silent .

Basically, this is what happened after that encounter .

I learned that in order to exterminate the inferior demonkin, the humans of this world are summoning people from other worlds and calling them heroes .

It seems like there have already been several people that have been summoned in this world in the past . They have even pa.s.sed along knowledge and technology to the inhabitants of this world .

Since I was young, I was treated as a fighting hero instead of an innovator so I received basic training and was taught the fundamental knowledge in this world . Based on the rumors, I’ll have to go defeat someone that the demonkin called the Demon Lord . It was like the stories in those games .

I may not know much when it comes to creating new things for this world but all of the people they call the summoned beings come with special skills when they arrive in this world . They also exceed the limits of humans in this world and get stronger faster than them .

I had also acquired a skill but I won’t know the details unless I use a.n.a.lysis on myself .

After I finished the training, I cut down those things they call monsters for the first time . If I was asked to kill a dog or cat, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it . If I just think of them like these monsters though, I might be able to do so like in those action RPG games .

I had a hard time getting used to the smell of blood and innards at first but I eventually did and it doesn’t bother me anymore .

There were also the people who have been acting as my companions ever since the first time I killed a monster .

First is Mason, our hard-working tank . He’s pretty buff that you could say even his brain is pure muscle .

Next is our rear guard who can also use recovery magic, Jackson .

Finally, there’s Sophia who acts as our scout and is great at hit-and-run tactics using her bow .

They are all nice people . We’re also pretty close in age so we get along well .

It seems like people can start drinking liquor when they’re 15 years old in this world . In my previous world, I heard that in certain countries, you start drinking those types of drinks once you’re 18, however, since I’m j.a.panese, I haven’t been able to try it yet .

When I told them that, they recommended I try the mead . I can understand the spoken words because of magic but I can’t read the characters yet so I usually just leave the menu to them .

The first alcoholic drink I had was sweet and pretty easy to drink .

After that, a Demon Lord on an uninhabited island appeared . There were rumors that he was treating humans as slaves so while we were minding our business subjugating monsters, the princess sent out her knight to summon us .

After I was summoned, I was pushed onto other people so we haven’t really met that much . It seems like something big is going to happen so a hero was called this time .

By the way, I don’t think that a man from another world should be getting together with a member of the opposite s.e.x . Well, I guess she seems to be at the far end of the line of succession so that would be better for her than being forced to marry some high-handed, egotistic n.o.ble from the countryside .

「You called for me?」

「There have been rumors about a Demon Lord on an Uninhabited island but I a.s.sume that has already reached your ears」

「Yes」

「I see . I think it’s about time for you to fight the existence that the demonkin called the Demon Lord . To that end, I have already taken care of everything . Take this letter, go to Corundum, and set sail towards the uninhabited island」

「As you wish」

「Demon Lords should have a small seal engraved somewhere on their bodies . Make sure you take that back with you as subjugation proof . It should look like this」

As she said that, a somewhat proud looking old man gave me, who was only fed the minimum amount of information, the letter and other doc.u.ments .

「So, what was it about?」

「It seems like it’s time for us to defeat a Demon Lord」

I showed them the papers I received after saying that .

「Oi oi, that’s a pretty big deal right>」

「It’ll be fine even if it gets a little dirt」

「You shouldn’t treat it so roughly you know? It has the signature and seal of the royal family after all」

「That’s right . You should at least maintain its shape even if it’s just for appearances」

After that, we went to the cafeteria to eat our lunch then talked about what we’re going to do about this . By the way, the karaage here sure was tasty .

◇

「That’s the uninhabited island」

「I see . Then let’s just proceed as planned to rush in」

「Roger!」

However, before we even reached the beach, off, we were met with stick-wielding slaves who were in pretty horrible condition and a menacing Demon Lord behind them . Once our boat reached the sandy beach, I immediately jumped off and then ran as quickly as I could towards the Demon Lord .

「I’m a hero! We’ve come to save you! Everyone, run, and don’t look back!」

As I said that, although unsteady because of malnutrition and fatigue from rigorous manual labor, the slaves ran towards the sh.o.r.e . I ran past them towards the Demon Lord while simultaneously checking his status with 【a.n.a.lysis】 . He had higher strength than me but that shouldn’t be a problem .

While I was thinking about that, I didn’t notice that there was a small fireball coming towards me but Jackson negated it with a waterball while Sofia shot out an arrow aiming for the Demon Lord’s body . While he was off balance from deflecting that, I took the opportunity using the sword that I’ve only recently gotten familiar with, After that, Mason came in with an overhead swing using his two-handed longsword which sealed the deal .

「That was surprisingly easy」

「Rock, you went too far in . At least wait for Mason first」

This Rock person she’s talking about is me . Having them call me Iwamoto or Takeshi would feel weird so I just translated Iwa to English . Well, it’s pretty stupid but they like it in this world for some reason .

「You’re pretty quick after all」

「The Demon Lord has been defeated so you can relax now . There is plenty of bread and dried meat on the ship so please help yourselves to them . 」

While we were messing around in front, Jackson was having that conversation with the slaves at the back .

Jackson…… you’re even more of a hero than me……

Well, I guess we should have done something about the captured slaves first . After that, I started looking for the Demon Lord’s seal which looked like a sword with wings of fire that had a snake curled around it . It was on the back of his right hand so I just cut the whole thing off then had Jackson burn the rest of the Demon Lord’s body before we went back . 2

With the Demon Lord’s right hand in hand, I went back to the castle . I was made to wait a long time but I was only told that I did a good job, given money by the old man from before, then was escorted away .

「That princess is bad news in all sorts of ways huh?」

Hearing that, everyone smiled wryly then we evenly divided the money among ourselves . With that done, we ate at the diner while talking about what we’re going to do next .