Lily took a series of deep breaths and then began to speak slowly.

''Well, um, ......, I came to this city to reduce the damage of the undead. ......

　Reduce the damage of the undead.
　Then is Lily in an adversarial relationship with the undead user earlier?

I'm sure that if this is the case, the city of Surie will be in even greater danger. I am trying to stop that from happening.

　Lily told him with a very serious expression.
　Her blue eyes were straightforward to all intents and purposes, and she didn't look like she was lying.

''I'm sorry. That's all I can tell you right now. ...... I don't think you would believe me if I told you, because.

　Lily whispered and took a moment to skitter away.
　Sweet.
As long as the 《God Speed Blessing S》 is there, she can't shake me off.
　I quickly caught up with him.
　Let's do it a bit more forcefully this time.
　After grabbing Lily's arm, I immediately activated 【Spatial Leap】.

　The destination is ...... ancient ruins.
　There's no way we can escape there.

　The surrounding landscape becomes squishy and distorted.
　Lily and I had warped to the ancient ruins' residential area.　
　Lily was quite surprised at the sudden transfer.

''What ......!　What happened, what happened, ......!
'My skills have taken me to another location. This is an ancient ruin near Onen.
Ruins: ......?

　Lily tilted her head.
　It's not unreasonable.
　I took a [Spatial Leap] to the living quarters of the ancient ruins, but there was an orderly and beautiful city there.
　It's a city that's as good as new, where the word "ancient ruins" doesn't fit at all.

　It's been about 10 days since I last visited here, and the reconstruction of the residential area must have progressed during that time.
　As for who did the reconstruction work, it was, of course, the resident of the ruins ...... Osewa Slime.
　I used my [Ruins Control] skill to summon the slimes to this place.
　In less than a minute, the slimes gathered from all over the city.

''Master!　Long time no see!
'Yay yay!　You're welcome!
'Ah!　Master's got a girl with him!
Welcome to the ancient ruins.
Maybe it's a kidnapping!
You're going to kidnap me and make me your wife?
A forced romance would be nice!

　The slimes begin to buzz around Lily and make a lot of noise.
　Lily, who has become the center of attention, can only turn over, red to her ears.

''Oh, oyome-san......!　Oh, aww, ......

　There's something quite adorable about a beautiful silver-haired girl looking shy.
　However, I don't have time to relax and admire it.
　I called out to Lily.

You said you couldn't tell me what's going on right now. That's fine with me. I have other things to do.
Are you going to torture me, ......?

　Lily mumbled something like that, moping for some reason.

'No,'

　I deny it crisply.
　I mean, how do you get that idea?
　I hear Lily is 14 years old, but I don't understand the thought process of young people.
　Oh well.
　I don't want to spend time worrying about it, so let's get on with it.

''I'm going to clamp down on the undead user after this. I'm going to make him come clean about everything, including his backstory. I'll share that information with Lily at ....... In return, you'll tell me what's going on with Lily.

　In other words, it's a trade off.
　I'll provide the 'information the undead user has' and Lily will offer her 'own circumstances' in exchange.
　Lily thought about it for a while, but eventually she nodded her head.

'I understand, sir. ....... But I don't think you'll believe what I'm telling you .......
I'm not so sure about that.

　I gave a small shrug.

'If I may say so myself, I'm apparently substandard. If the situation Lily is having is out of the ordinary, it might be best to leave it to someone like me.

　After telling Lily that, I turn my attention to the slimes.

'She is my valued guest. Please entertain her courteously.

　At my words, the slimes said, "Yes! I replied in a voice.

'If it's someone important to you, Master, I'll serve you tightly!
A warm bath and a fluffy futon!　Slime's Special Massage!
You can get the whole set, now for half price!
When you cut a zero in half, it's still a zero!
I mean, it's free!
Yay!
Okay, first thing is bath time.
「「「「「 oh! 」」」」」

　Slime and the others carried Lily up as if to raise her body, and then carried her away with great speed.

''What?　What?　Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!

　All that's left is Lily's faint scream.

　Well.
　I'll finish what I have to do.
　I have to get back to Surie's town and clamp down on the undead messenger.



　* *



　I activated 【Spatial Leap】 and returned to the city of Surie.
　I head to the guard's choke point.

　The undead user has already regained consciousness and seems to be under interrogation.
　However, he seems to be consistently remaining silent.

　The guard looks troubled and says: "We won't be able to talk about it.

''We are unlikely to be able to make them talk. Could you please help me with the 《Dragon Slayer》 Lord?
Okay, let's do it.

　I was led by a guard and stepped into the interrogation room.
　...... Immediately after that, the attitude of the undead messenger changed drastically.

　You will be able to find out what is going on in the marketplace and what is going on in the world.

''Ryuu, Ryuu, [dragon killer]!　No, my Dragon-slayer!　Skills!　Please restore my skills to their original state!

　In the fight just now, I'm using Skill Bind EX.
　All of the undead user's skills are still sealed.

''Please!　Make sure you can use your skills!　I'll do anything!
'...... Tell me everything you know. Then I won't have to think about it.
"W-W-Whatever, I understand!　Thank you!　Thank you!　Oh, shall I lick your shoes!

　Don't do it, you'll get your shoes dirty.

　By the way, I'm not going to return the skill.
　I thought for a few tenths of a second about whether I should return it or not, so I should have kept my promise, for all intents and purposes.

　The undead user turned around and admitted to the charges and began to blabber on about all the facts.
　There is a lie-detecting magic tool in the interrogation room, but he didn't react even once, so it seems he didn't lie.
　The guards rolled their eyes at the change too much.

''As expected of the [Dragon Slayer] lord, I didn't expect you to make the undead wielder's mouth open just by showing up. ......
Don't tell me that the Dragonslayer-dono can seal your skills?

　One of the guards asked me a question, and I nodded my head, "Yeah.
　As soon as he did, all hell broke loose.

'Awesome ......!　I can't believe you can seal your skills, you can't lose against a human. ......!
''You're just so strong, and on top of that, it's foul to seal your skills: ......!
I don't want to fight only the Dragonslayer.
That's what I'm thinking.
It's okay if you just lose. If your skills are sealed off, you're dead in the water. ......
"Dragonslayer-dono, or should I call you "Skillslayer"-dono, ......?

《Skill Slayer》 is a bit delicate in terms of wording, so I prefer to keep it as 《Dragon Slayer》.

　Anyway, regarding the undead user's testimony, a surprising fact was revealed.



　Apparently, the undead user had been hiding in this city for more than half a year.
　And this time, he took advantage of the chaos of the Needle Turtle to rampage the undead and try to take away people's souls.
　For what purpose?
We're going to bring back My Lord.

I don't know much about My Lord, but there's more to it than that.
　The undead user had an accomplice.

"Dude, dude, the head of the city's mercenary guild!　He's a servant of 'my Lord' just like me!

　I see.
　I can see the plot now.

　Why would the Mercenary Guild launch an attack on Needle Turtle on its own?
　It was probably to enrage the Needle Turtle and throw the city into chaos.

　If the mercenary guild's chapter leader and the undead user were connected, then everything was simple to explain.

　It's hard not to think that a supposed chapter leader would be involved in evil deeds, but it's a mercenary guild, .......
　Maybe it's because I haven't heard a rogue reputation, but rather, I'm a bit convinced.

　Good.
　We have one more job to do before we return to Lily's place.

　Let's get into the mercenary guild and take down the chapter leaders.