Volume 3 Chapter 14.4
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Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
「Two problems. How we get there, and what to do if it’s a dud.」
Everyone went silent when Mio pointed that out. They had never gone to the Sweltering Tower, so they couldn’t use a transportation stone or magic. They didn’t know the shortest route for cars and would end up making a lot of detours. Even if they somehow got to the tower as quickly as possible, if it were all a ruse then they probably wouldn’t even have enough time to locate the right place.
Even worse was that they lacked adventurer experience. Even with special permission, the Norton sisters still had to be escorted, and they could not enter by themselves right now. They needed someone who could be used as a special permit.
「Unless we got a real good lead, it ain’t gonna be easy……」
「And this was just an analysis based on conjecture……」
No demands from the culprit, nor was there any means of contacting them. 30 minutes had already gone by. They felt tense, but could not do anything. But then a carefree voice broke the deadlock.
「Message～、message～」
「Ｑ２～、Ｑ２～」
「To short dial～」
「Almost unlawful～」
「Large sum of money requested～」
「Shut up！」
As per usual, the octogals appeared out of nowhere and played a strange word game while gathering around everyone.
「Telegram～、telegram～」
「Milk in critical condition、go back now～」
「Sakura abduction～」
「We don’t need your memes right now, just inform us on the matter.」
Mio cut them off. She did find pleasure in memes and gags, but now was really not the time.
「Informative matter～、informative matter～」
「Elle-chan and Chem-chan are being held captive at Sweltering Tower～」
「Enemies are swarming all over the place, so be quick in rescuing them～」
「And that was all of our message～」
After being cut off by Mio, the octogals just said what needed to be said. Now the group knew their deduction was correct. There was only one thing left to do.
「Our destination is secure, so gather your equipment and move out！」
「What about the permit？」
「As long as we git to the tower we can figure somethin’ out.」
「No, there will be no need for that.」
The queen had returned amidst all their preparations.
「I shall be your permit.」
「Ya sure bout that？」
「I am a queen after all. I should have that much authority.」
「Then we just got one problem」
Hiroshi now had pliers out in addition to his pole axe and giant mace for some odd reason. He asked the octogals his last question.
「Hey. Couldja transport us all to the Sweltering Tower？」
「We can～」
「But we get hungry～」
「Then first I’ll feed y’all some earthworm burgers, and then I’ll serve ya takoyaki after it’s all over.」
「Roger～」
「Transaction complete～」
The octogals swarmed happily over the mountain of earthworm burgers he took out from his bag. As they did that, he checked to make sure everyone was ready before checking back.
「Kay, everyone’s ready so I’d like ya to start carryin’ us.」
「Oki～doki」
「Ah, forgot to tell you～」
「They’re kidnapped on the top floor～」
「Someone likes high places～」
「As I thought.」
Hiroshi said, cutting off the additional information. It would be a real drag if the girls were being kept on the fourth or eighth floor instead of the fifteenth floor.
「Time to teleport～」
「Please do! It’s time for a raid！！」
Hiroshi was oddly pumped up to beat up, or rather, kill something, and the sentiment spread through everyone else. The big Darl incident had reached its climax as soon as it had begun.
Meanwhile, atop the Sweltering Tower.
「Quit singing that annoying song！！」
As the two Barolds writhed in pain at Haruna’s song ringing throughout, Aearis borrowed the power of the goddess and continued casting a quarantine barrier like mad.
「Oh dear, it really works.」
「I’m getting the feeling that the miasma is letting up spectacularly.」
Looking down from the safe area, Aearis and Artiem observed the thrashing Barolds with keen interest. The current song playing was Sutra of Love Death Metal Arrangement. Haruna’s voice didn’t seem like it would have so much force to it, but the music player oddly did have enough power, so it was a very strange arrangement.
「How very peculiar indeed.」
「Now what might you be finding so peculiar, priestess princess？」
「Well, there was a fight we had with these people back in Farlane.」
「Hm, and then？」
「Haruna-sama’s song didn’t have as much of an effect then. But now once we use this magic tool with the sound toned down, the effect is greater than that time.」
Aearis sounded quite composed despite the fact that danger was at their door. But she genuinely felt that way. Aearis and Artiem were combining their moves to erect a blessing attack amplification field across the entire floor, their defenses were perfect with a good luck charm made from spirit cloth for the revised version of Dancing Edge, they had the souls of fallen adventurers assisting them, strength in numbers to fight back against the odds. If need be, Aearis could even give her body over to Alfemina and slaughter everyone on the floor with the highest powered time-space attacks.
Then again, Alfemina’s descent was a last resort. Alfemina wouldn’t be able to move at all, plus it would take a lot of energy out of Aearis.
「You and Alfemina-sama have quite a few options I see……」
「We have rescue on the way and some trump cards up our sleeves. Right, Artiem-sama?」
「Yes, yes we do.」
Judith clicked her teeth together, squeezing out a comment. Much like Aearis, Artiem also had it pretty good. Aranwen enabled her to call out to the fallen adventurers and have them support her. Douga’s defenses, Aearis’s Dancing Edge, and Artiem’s impediment magic would be more than enough to stall for time.
「Unbelievable. I’m simply jealous of all your abilities.」
「Absolutely. Despite being a priest, I can’t even use much magic.」
「And I’m supposed to be a priestess, but once I’m out of the temple I’m no different than a regular human. How pathetic.」
The three Darl residents sighed all at once. True, the two priestesses had it good, but that was mainly due to the items Hiroshi made for them. Then there was Douga, who left them what he called “parting gifts” which included magic steel plate mail, a lance, and three sets of large shields. Activated with just one keyword, these items were reigning in the Barolds.
「Well there’s no use crying about it, so getting back on topic…」
「Are you talking about the song？」
「Yeah. I’ve never heard it in person so I don’t know, but this already sounds like an amazing song. And yet you’re saying it’s inferior to the original？」
「Yes. By several levels.」
Aearis said confidently as she listened to Heart Sutra Gospel. She didn’t know what the lyrics were saying, but a hundred out of a hundred people would definitely think she had an amazing voice. But Aearis had already heard it in person and decided that the raw version was far more outstanding. Artiem and Douga and even the sisters happened to agree.
「But this one has more of an effect. Which means there might be a difference in the song variety.」
「Song variety？」
「Yeah. Maybe the song or the song’s contents has strong power to drive off miasma.」
「Oh, I see. That does make sense.」
Aearis had to agree with Nazarina. She didn’t know this, but Nazarina’s guess was actually super correct. The original had greater power than the songs playing right now, and if Haruna really tried with some of the blessing songs, all miasma would be blasted away within a certain range.
The cleansing effect was one step behind the hymns, but the heart sutra gospel was skilled at penetrating through demons. The evil god figure even testified that the gospel version had the strongest effect.
Hiroshi’s group hadn’t tested this, but apparently the combination of holy songs from the west and the east had an even stronger effect. Haruna had been half joking when she sang the whole heart sutra series, but if she had sung it right here it would have tortured the Barolds far more.
「Oh dear, Mana Charge is almost over.」
「Then turn that off briefly and I’ll activate mine.」
「Thank you.」
She nodded at Artiem’s proposal and cut off the switch once the song was over. Now that the mana had been cut off from the magic tool, the Barolds got back up with a grin and raised their fists to smash through the barrier this time when suddenly a super powerful acapella song burst through the area. And once again, the strong cleansing song caused them to writhe on the ground.
「This is really working.」
「When Haruna-sama arrives, we will have to request some live music.」
「I can’t wait.」
The three priestesses were saying pretty savage things, and the Barolds looked up with angr but still couldn’t do anything but groan. As they were considering just risking the last resort attack and crushing them, the tower began shaking tremendously.
「Eeek！！」
「W-What is this！？」
「Ah～、it looks like、rescue has arrived.」
「Hiroshi-chan is here～」
「The pitcher is chicken～」
The octogals who had been fine until now popped out with carefree voices, as if answering the Norton sisters. The only reason they hadn’t said anything until now was because no one had mentioned asking for help.
「That was faster than I thought it’d be.」
「We brought them here～」
「All you can eat takoyaki～」
「I see, that is very handy.」
Douga went from intimidation relaxed mode into battle formation as he agreed with the octogals.
「Well at this rate, the boss fight will be far more of a let-down than last time.」
Despite being trapped at the top of the dungeon, everyone was in a winning mood. It was a little exasperating, but Douga cautiously prepped his attacks.
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