Egaxo
Act 5: Chapter 2: Rumor of The Darkness District
After successfully crushing Ramiel, the 《Ruler of The Sky》, plan and return peace to Peach Dragon Village, we went back to the commercial city of Polorock to inform Rosemonde about Ramiel.
Because Ramiel was a powerless dragonfolk girl, Rosemonde decided to act as her escort.
Thus she couldn't hide her shock when Ramiel suddenly vanished.
After splitting with Pomera and Philia to find Rosemonde in Polorock, we only managed to find her four days later.
We found her after we asked around about a female adventurer who looking for a dragonfolk girl frequenting a general magic tool store called, 《Fairy's Wings》.
And when we visited the 《Fairy's Wings》, we were lucky since she happened to be in the store.
Thanks to the kind shopkeeper, we could talk to Rosemonde in the rest area of the store.
「Eh… Sorry, Rosemonde-san. We wanted to tell you as soon as possible but, we never expected that we would have a hard time finding you in this big Polorock city…」
As a commercial city, I already knew that it was a bustling city alas, I underestimated that impression.
「… Don't worry about that. I've nothing to say since I know that you've fair share of trouble in Peach Dragon Village.」
Rosemonde was depressed.
The air was awkward and heavy.
She was worrying about the missing Ramiel. 𝐟re𝚎𝘄𝚎𝐛𝚗o𝚟el.c𝐨𝚖
That's why I really couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.
Though I didn't do anything wrong with her, I really felt sorry for Rosemonde.
The image of Ramiel sticking out her tongue appeared in my head.
「Uhm, actually the 《Ruler of The Sky》 is…」
Rosemonde suddenly bowed to me.
She was prideful, arrogant, and conceited.
I couldn't hide my shock seeing her bowed to me.
「Sorry… Ramiel got kidnapped. After telling you that I was going to babysit her, I failed to accomplish my duty. Screw 《Rosemonde of Extermination》, I can't even protect a brat.」
「P-Please stop! Raise your face! I mean it!」
「At first, we thought that Ramiel had a hard time living in Peach Dragon Village due to the said underlying alas… After we learned the inside situation, we realized that wasn't the case.」
「Eh, that isn't the case!?」
Originally, Ramiel asked us to tell the Dragon King about the conspiracy of the 《Ruler of The Sky》.
It seems Rosemonde was still under the impression that Ramiel was kidnapped by the subordinate of the 《Ruler of The Sky》.
Alas, that was a huge mistake, Ramiel herself was the 《Ruler of The Sky》.
「I found the clues about them in the last few days. But, that's it.」
「Them…?」
What in the world is Rosemonde talking about?
I lost the timing to tell her the truth.
「This commercial city of Polorock… Has its' dark side. It began around sixty years ago when the former merchant great merchant Greed became the lord of this city. With his policy, the government of the city that centered around competition and money has turned the desolated city into a flourishing city with extreme wealth disparity, thus making the barely legal sense of value which placed wealth above ethics and righteousness.」
「Uhm, what a—」
「In the city of Polorock where money calls to money, you won't be able to climb up again once you fail. The cheap price of land in Polorock has made this city overcrowded. As a result, a place where people can't make a decent living formed naturally, a place where crime such as kidnapping, drug trafficking, and human trafficking is commonplace… The place where murder won't be investigated properly is called by locals "Dark Ward". Ramiel might be kidnapped by the people in the Dark Ward.」
「Y-You're mistaken, the truth i—」
「No, I'm not mistaken. Especially nowadays when most biggest shot of the 《Blood Cup》 lost during the 《Red Authority Cane》's riot. There's even a rumor that the leader of the 《Black Reaper》, Lovis Laudgrey died during that incident too. Now that two criminal organizations is disbanded, some of the members are aiming for Polorock.」
「THAT LOVIS IS DEAD!?」
I was really surprised to hear about Lovis' death.
He might be a scoundrel for sure alas, I feel conflicted inside knowing that my acquaintance was dead.
Maybe he met an opponent who didn't care about his prostating art.
「The Dark Ward is a place with the worst public order in this city, the number of newcomers is rising but, there is a tacit understanding among the dwellers of that place to not affect the surface. I think we will be in quite a predicament if the criminal organization in that place appears on the surface.」
Since the story about Lovis' death came literally out of nowhere, none of Rosemonde's talk entered my brain.
I placed my elbow on the desk as I was thinking about various things.
Killing Lovis wasn't an easy matter since his level was quite high.
The compass that I got from him that I kept as an emergency found if we needed money later now became an item for the deceased.
Now I really couldn't bring myself to sell the compass.
「… Not that, Rosemonde-san! Uhm, actually Ramiel was the 《Ruler of The Sky》 herself.」
「… Uhm?」
Rosemonde's eyes opened wide upon hearing that.
「… Her plan was to invite me to Peach Dragon Village and kill me in there using the power of Dragon Hole. She's placed under the custody of the dragonfolk in the Peach Dragon Village.」
I spoke as quietly as possible and peeked at Rosemonde's face.
She had been looking for Ramiel for almost one week only to find out later that she was duped all along.
「I see… Though I can barely understand, to sum it up, she isn't kidnapped by the criminal organization or the underling of the 《Ruler of The Sky》. She's not imprisoned for her crime but she's alive.」
Rosemonde heaved a deep sigh.
She was really worrying about Ramiel.
「Rosemonde-san…」
She valued Ramiel's safety more than her anger.
Once again, I had no choice but to tip my hat on Rosemonde's good nature.
「Then I'll kick that brat's a*ss once I see her!」
Rosemonde hit the desk and stood up, knocking down her chair.
Well yeah, she was pissed off.
This was a natural result I guess.
「C-Calm down Rosemonde-san! T-This is someone else's store! Your voice might disturb the customer!」
「NO WONDER I FEEL SOMETHING WAS OFF! I'VE BEEN WONDERING HOW THIS BRAT IS SO RUDE, TURNED OUT ALL OF THAT IS ACTING!」
… After seeing how she acted after she was imprisoned, I thought that Ramiel's rude act was her real self alas, let's not add fuel to the fire.
Ramiel told us to bring Rosemonde if we want her to give us the information about the 《Demon King of Sixth Heaven; Nobunaga》 but, I doubt we could bring Rosemonde to meet Ramiel in her current state.
Though she said that she wanted to kick Ramiel's a*ss for tricking her, she wasn't stupid enough to release Ramiel from her seal just to do that.
And I didn't think that I could take her to Peach Dragon Village just to meet Ramiel.