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Chapter 70 Part 1

The Twisted Demon Lord’s Worth And Our Final Battle Against Him — Part 1

 

On the beach devoid of people, so I can finally freely use my magic, stood the wounded Demon Lord, who glared at me after getting hit by my magic.

The timing was perfect.

 

He must have let his guard down, thinking that there’s no way anyone would notice him.

It’s really funny and feels good to see the self-proclaimed smartest Demon Lord, who got us fooled several times, fall into a trap himself.

 

At the same time, I finally understood something about Sybilla’s bracelet.

 

「I see now, no wonder you said this is all thanks to Eve.」

 

「Right? That child is really the best.」

 

Emmy, on the other hand, turned to us with her head tilted and went, 「Eh?」.

I then explained everything to Emmy, who still seemed not to understand what was going on.

 

「About the bracelet, I just don’t believe Sybilla would suddenly buy such an expensive thing without telling us. If that’s the case, just when did she obtain it? The correct answer is… when we were in the Seiris’s fourth dungeon.」

 

「Huh? That place we fought the floor bosses?」

 

「That’s right, and that bracelet is actually…」

 

「——AAAaaaaaahhhhh!? T-That thing is, that’s mineeeeeeee!!」

 

The Demon Lord’s eyes widened in shock as he pointed at Sybilla’s bracelet.

When Emmy heard that, it finally clicked for her.

 

「Eh? But isn’t the culprit behind that bracelet is… Ah!」

 

「You guessed it. That guy was dressing like a noble just now, wasn’t he? He must have been going around this city buying a lot of stuff using counterfeit currency. He hid the poor Demon Lord, who had no real money, behind his nobleman disguise. That’s why no one could suspect him.」

 

「So then, what Sybilla-san is wearing now is…」

 

That’s right. Normally, it would be impossible to take the bracelet the Demon Lord bought and use that as the starting point to solve this case.

But… there is someone who has made the impossible possible.

 

「Eve had landed a single strike at the Demon Lord with her knife in our battle on the lowest floor of the dungeon. Something must have fallen out of the bag on his waist during that one time, and Sybilla must have picked it up. And that very bag… was the bag that contained the bracelet the Demon Lord bought at the stall next to the place where I bought Emmy’s bracelet!」

 

Hearing my explanation, the Demon Lord was taken aback with a shock, and Emmy, finally understanding the whole situation, cried out, 「Ahhh—!」

 

Until Sybilla told me, he really looked like just another noble.

For a moment, I thought I had seen him before, probably because this Demon Lord had the same appearance as the Demon Lord I had met before in the dungeon near Adria village.

But he had used some kind of magic to make him look just like any ordinary human.

 

It was a very Sybilla-like move.

Still, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain that key if not for Eve.

This Demon Lord was practically defeated by Eve with a single swing of her knife.

 

「I bet you can’t prepare that many nobles’ clothing for your disguise, can you~? I mean, it’s true that 【Twilight Sorcerer】 trap ability has a low chance to hit, but it deals tremendous damage to whoever or whatever steps on it. It will blow everything away without a trace, like your clothes, and even those jewelries you love so much… truly, what a shame~!」

 

Sybilla looked at him with a smug grin like a tiger looking at a cornered rabbit.

The Demon Lord groaned in frustration and began summoning monsters on the beach.

 

Emmy immediately moved in front of me to protect me. Then she brandished her sword with her shield raised and rushed toward the Demon Lord. 

And while her eyes are burning with determination, the corners of her mouth are upturned in a confident smile, as if she understands that this situation is the biggest crisis for the opponent who kept getting away until now.

With a similar expression on my face, I followed suit with Sybilla on my side.

 

A confrontation with the Demon Lord.

…After what happened the other two times, I don’t think it’s a good idea to shoot my offensive magic.

This is because I still have no idea how he managed to dodge my magic when he turned his back on me.

 

Whilst I was silently bestowing the swords the three of us held with dark magic, the Demon Lord suddenly opened his mouth.

 

「…To think that I would be cornered to this point by a bunch of cheap trash like you bastards… looks like I let my guard down too much…」

 

「Hah, I doubt you would’ve been able to do anything about it even if you had planned everything out. Not even I could’ve predicted that Eve-chan would become one of our members, after all. That’s the girl who took this thing from you, which became our clue to track you down.」

 

Sybilla tapped the bracelet in her hand with her fingers and put quite a force behind it.

That resulted in the surface becoming dented, and given how roughly she had handled the bracelet, the Demon Lord frowned in displeasure.

 

「Tsk, you snobs who don’t even know how to handle such a luxurious item. Can you stop touching it with your filthy, darkness-filled hand? You’ll only leave a scratch on it. Besides, that thing is originally mine.」

 

「Ha? Are you right in the head? There’s not one point in time that this thing ever belonged to you.」

 

「What did you say…?」

 

Sybilla’s demeanor suddenly changed.

Even Emmy gasped in shock.

 

Then, as if to deny everything the Demon Lord had done up to this point, Sybilla lashed out with anger in her voice.

 

「A true wealth is something that you obtained through process and hard work with noble spirits! The wealth of any nobility in this world is something they obtained through the accomplishments of their ancestors. Even the present that a certain boy gives to a girl to make them happy is bought with the money they earned through hard work! If that’s not noble, then I don’t know what is. Yet you… You dare trample all over this process and even use counterfeits like filthy criminals! So much for someone who calls themselves noble!」

 

Sybilla kicked the broken pieces of the necklace that were scattered on the sand and sent them flying into the sea.

 

「That’s why you have no right to wear these! You, who have no respect for the craftmen who poured their blood and sweats in their crafts, will never deserves these! Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for people to be able to make these kinds of things, even those who are below the rank of commoner you hate so much!」

 

「……」

 

「Your gold coins are fake, your achievements are nonexistent, everything about you is but vanity! O, self-proclaimed “great” Dungeon Maker of Seiris. The 『Price』 for the efforts you made to obtain these crafts is nonexistent! Zero, I say! That’s why——」

 

Sybilla then deals the final blow by uttering the words that define the status of this Demon Lord.

 

「——No matter what kind of orphans they are, you are definitely 『cheaper』 in comparison.」

 

…It is just as she said.

 

The gold bracelet I bought for Emmy.

Even though I was unable to play an active role in my previous party in the past, I was finally able to get it as a present for her with the money I earned after selling the materials dropped from the Fire Dragon.

It’s cheaper compared to the one Sybilla wears now, but in exchange, it has another 『value』 that’s incomparable to any gold in the world, which is the fact that I bought it with the money I earned with my own hands.

 

Even the ancestors of Seiris’s ruler couldn’t have been wealthy from the beginning.

Each and every item in the jewelry shop is likely made and earned through steady, hard work day in and day out.

The people who buy and the people who sell it. Every action they’ve made has added more value to it.

 

Counterfeit currency, on the other hand, has none of that.

None, nada.

It has an absolutely zero value.

 

「Fu, Fufu… Fufufufu…」

 

The Demon Lord began to laugh quietly.

Has he gotten over his anger that he couldn’t talk back to Sybilla?

At least that’s what I guessed after seeing his reaction.

 

The Demon Lord spread his arms and brought monsters out of the summoning circle.

What appeared was a winged creature… that looked like a large dragonfly, with an eerie appearance.

And just as its eerie appearance, one after the other, more insects appeared and rose up into the air while emitting a somewhat eerie sound.

 

Did I guess right, I wonder?

But there’s one thing I know for certain, that is——.

 

「I will destroy this city now.」

 

——we must defeat this Demon Lord right here, right now.