When it came to the end, I hesitated.
　Because King Bohdan the First had spoken the words.

　It might be a trap, but it might bring me back to my senses and allow me to have a normal conversation. If the two people, the Prior King and the Princess, who hadn't been saved at all, could talk to each other, even if only for a moment, it might end a little better now.

　With enough vigilance, the danger is lessened.
　But I have something important to take care of as well.
　The stakes are limited to minor injuries.

Cease fire!　I'm going to try to have a conversation once!　Everyone keep your heads down and stand by.

　Perhaps the miasma was suppressed by the sacred wine and he regained normal consciousness. After examining him, if he regains consciousness, I'd like to arrange a time to discuss the past and future with Karina and Paul.

'Your Majesty Bohdan, my name is Ryota, the exterminator. You died of illness and handed over the throne to your nephew Paul, leaving Princess Karina in your care. Do you remember that?

'....it was. I took the Nectar, but on the contrary, I had a high fever and severe pain, and I left Carina to Paul before I died.

　He's got a good memory, and he's pretty sure he's conscious.

Yes, I've heard that. Do you have any idea why I, the Exterminator, am in the royal mausoleum because of His Majesty Bohdan?

Oh I just remembered. When I woke up, I was in the dark. I crawled out of the mausoleum of the royal family, and I wandered around the castle to ask Paul why, and I happened to find that idiot who tormented Carina. I was consumed by rage and madness...

　You seem to be coming to your senses.
　Maybe it's a temporary thing with the sacred wine, though.

'Yes, as a result of that madness, I have been called in. Right now, Paul-sama has the case under control, but if the matter comes to light, Carina-sama's position will be....

'Well it's Ryota the exterminator. Most of my madness is gone now, but it's beginning to eat away at me, little by little. I have perhaps half a day of sanity left. It will take a lot of time and effort, but I'd like you to take care of me while you still can.

　That's half a day, a few hours to spare.
　Short.........
　But it's better than nothing, right?

As you wish. But would you like to spend that time with Master Paul and Lady Carina?　I can tell you what I wanted to tell you and what you wanted to hear, even if it's only for a short time. I swear that I will take responsibility to protect you both and deal with Your Majesty if it comes to that.

'You'll give us a chance to talk?　Please!　I need to see Carina's fine face one last time!　I have a favor to ask of Paul and an apology to make!

　I was able to confirm my strong will to keep the madness at bay.

　I immediately run Midia to King Pawl's side, removing the armor that was hot from the flaming bullets and watching King Bohdan while I use magic potions to fix the burns. In exchange for the time it takes for the two of them to arrive, I also extract information about Nektar in exchange for an oath of responsibility.

　According to the story, Nektar was left behind by Saratina. Furthermore, it seems to have been sealed for generations to hide its existence and never to use it. I've been told that there is a hidden door in the mausoleum that connects to the ruins of a small but living old civilization, although it has nothing to do with tools.

　A little while after our conversation ended, Paul and Karina arrived.

　I feel sorry for them, but we set a time limit. We light a burning candle for about 30 minutes, and they talk to us until it burns out.

　If the need arises, I can run to her immediately, but the conversation is far enough away that I can't hear it. Still, I hear the occasional sobbing. And I have a job to do later. It's a nasty role but if I don't do it, it's even worse afterwards.

　Finally, the candles are running out, and I have a little consultation with King Paul as I'm leaving. Afterwards, Paul and Karina bowed deeply and left. After my companions asked for an errand, I lied that commoners could not be present at the royal family's suicide and sent them out of the mausoleum.

I have asked Paul to thank you for your help. I'll take good care of you.

"With all due respect, sir, I have a proposition that I am sure you will suffer and die, but if you succeed, I have a bet that you will live out the rest of your life for a few months. Would you like to give it a try?

　King Bohdan first [Huh? I got a look on my face.
　I know - I'm sorry for the pause.
　But simulated calculations take time.

The mere fact is that the miasma is contaminated. I picked up the mines and studied the miasma, and discovered that the miasma is stable when it is combined with the mantle. In addition, the moxie is safe and effective in preventing the miasma from turning into demon.

　In fact, he had used the 30 minutes of conversation time to ask the window flower alone to simulate the miasma and pollution nectar with pure magic element to see if it was possible to stabilize the miasma and pollution nectar.

　The moxie's moxie nucleus had been stabilized by combining with the magic element.
　It's not just the miasma, it's also the miasma of the miasma.
　I was able to have the data from that one verified.

　But there are no clinical trials, and the only high stakes method is the window flower simulate. But if they succeeded in stabilizing the miasma of Nektar's miasma with pure magic, they might be able to prevent him from going insane, even if they succeeded, they would only be alive for a few months.

　Moreover, the procedure is accompanied by terrible pain.
　Furthermore, according to Windowflower's calculations, there's a 10% success rate.
　If that's the only reason you want to live as long as possible, it's a gamble I would never take.

What if I win that bet?　And if you lose?

The odds are 10 percent, and if I take the bet, there's the added horror and pain associated with the procedure. And if you lose, I'll take care of it. But if I win, I get a few extra months of life with both of us, keeping my wits about me after the pain.

　 So even if you don't ride, I even let you finish saying goodbye to the two of them first so that you don't have any regrets.

　It's just that the peaceful exchange between the first king and princess that never happened might be short-lived. I only have the strength to sit in a chair or walk a short distance, but I can live the rest of my life just enjoying conversation and tea.

　The rest is a trivial matter, but if you help King Paul, you can pretend that the will was found afterwards. Since it's written with his knowledge and handwriting, it's almost impossible to deny the great lords and their relatives.

'What, it's only painful to bet?　We've already had the last word, and victory will give you a few more months of life. I'm the king of knights.　It's just painful. I don't need to check. I'll make this easy on you, but I need you to take care of it right away.

Ha, I'm at your service!

　After the removal of the foreign body and plastic surgery with the help of regenerative powers, he puts a pure magic mask on King Bohdan and begins the miasma stabilization procedure. And then 30 minutes later while adjusting the cylinder.........

　After suffering through the pain, Bohdan's predecessor won the ten percent with flying colors. Without pulling up, he called Window Flower, who was hiding, and asked her to make a diagnosis.

　Window Flower......
　What's the point of hiding when you have a master-slave contract?
　I suppose I should know that.　

"His Majesty King Bohdan the First. The miasma and nectar have completely disappeared as a result of the diagnosis. The only problem is that he needs to take a diluted version of the potion every day, and he has a few months to live. He could talk but could not go out for a short time and was bedridden. The day after the miasma is discharged is the last day.

　Afterwards, I called up Paul and Carina again, as well as the rest of the group, to explain the situation.

　After some consultation, we decided that he was Princess Carina's maternal relative. He had no family, and his life was too short due to a tumor. He couldn't be left alone, so King Paul arranged to take care of him in a detached house in the castle's garden.

　From now on, only the caretaker and the two of us will be barred from entering the villa, but the villa is a difficult place to see within the castle walls and is covered with trees. Still, there is a terrace where tea parties are possible. King Paul and Carina are said to meet frequently.

　Also, I negotiated with the Goddess and got permission to share some morphine as a painkiller.
　The rest of us can go out for a short time, so I'll ask Manya to make a prosthetic leg.


★ After the procedure was successful and the three of us pulled up.

'I'm glad Ryota's inner workings were successful!　But you know, even if you had to take care of it, it was good to be with Ryota, right?　It's not that I'm not doing anything wrong, and I know it's hard, but I know it's necessary, so... don't carry it on your shoulders alone?

　Everyone else is complaining about how I broke my promise not to cover for them more than I should have.

　I'm kind of glad they're pissed at me...

　But this time it wasn't because I was scared, I was in a situation where one person was enough for me at the time. That's why I didn't want everyone to have to go through an unnecessary painful experience. That's the truth of the matter.

　But even now, the fear is still there.

　At the worst company I worked for, I couldn't cover up for my subordinates, and I crushed a number of them by leaving them to do the hardest jobs. And I was once used as a scapegoat for a boss to get out of the company. So it's probably due to the assumption that it's hard for subordinates to trust their bosses.

　The term "black company" was used to describe the old black standards at the bottom of the recession. But now, with stricter laws and monitoring, things have improved, and deaths can no longer be easily disguised as illness and death.

　The horrors of the terrible experiences of the past are only harmful to me now.

　Besides, my current companions are extremely tough, both physically and mentally, and they believe in me, even though I am unreliable. So I've made a renewed commitment to overcome my fears as quickly as possible and improve quickly so that I can rely on my friends more.

　Not relying on them is not the same as not trusting them.

Thank you all. I, Ryota, promise that I won't shy away from my friends in the future. However, the management policy of this group is to not let the members do unreasonable recklessness. This policy takes precedence over the promise, so please don't misunderstand it.　

　For now, the case is over.
　I have to investigate the ruins tomorrow, so I'll probably take a nap.



A certain place in Japan

We are unable to track down the reincarnates from Japan due to lack of documentation. Come to think of it, who designed the specs for the Ares incarnation?　We don't have any handover records, so we'll have to ask him directly.

'....Izanami-sama...3,000 years ago...she was an ordinary goddess...but now she's the ruler of Hades...she's very sick...she's in trouble...'

Ryota said that handover documents and specifications are just a formality.