For now, his assistance was absolutely necessary, and so Shreckheimer finally steeled his resolve and looked at Dugu Cheng’s face.
“Um, Hero.”
“I am no hero. If anything, call me a demon. That would suit me better……”
Shreckheimer was startled.
“A-are you saying your name is Demon?”
“Not quite. Strictly speaking, my name is Dugu Cheng. Dugu, Cheng.”
Truvenia’s translation magic perfectly overcame the gap between languages. Thus, the meaning of Dugu Cheng’s words was conveyed precisely to Shreckheimer—even the hidden meaning within the ideographic Chinese characters.
“Alone, solitary, achieved. A strange name. In any case, very well. If you are to stay here, you will need a name, so I shall give you one that suits the meaning of your original name.”
After falling into thought for a moment, Shreckheimer soon came up with both a surname and a given name.
“Solo. How does that sound? It seems to suit the surname Dugu best. And the name Demon may not be usable here. Perhaps Damon would be better……”
But Dugu Cheng did not care in the slightest.
“I do not mind. If it is easier to call me that, then do so.”
Damon Solo. Thus was Dugu Cheng’s name in Truvenia decided.
“Then, Damon. Do you now understand why we summoned you?”
“I do.”
“Then you will surely help us, will you not?”
Shreckheimer stared straight at Dugu Cheng, his eyes filled with expectation. Dugu Cheng wore a troubled expression for a moment, but then silently shook his head.
“Regrettably, I cannot help you.”
Shreckheimer’s gaze wavered for an instant. His face showed utter disbelief.
“W-why……? You have heard all about the circumstances of our continent, have you not? Though we are from another world, we too are human.”
“Of course I want to help. So much so that I myself regret being unable to. But you have chosen the wrong person, and decisively so. Because……”
Dugu Cheng’s voice was steeped in a sorrow even he did not realize.
“I have already lost all my strength. In other words, I am now no different from an ordinary man—no, I have become a cripple who cannot even properly wield a sword.”
Of course, Shreckheimer could not easily understand.
“W-what on earth do you mean by that?”
Dugu Cheng’s expression hardened as he began to explain the reason.
“I do not know by what methods the warriors of this place train, but in the world where I lived, we learned something called internal energy arts. And in order to master it, the organ within the human body known as the dantian is of utmost importance. Only with it can one manifest sword force or sword qi—what this place calls an aura blade. But I have lost that very thing. Due to the desperate struggle I went through while escaping, all the internal energy in my body—what you call mana—has vanished. Do you understand now? That even if I wish to help, I cannot……”
Shreckheimer’s face stiffened rigidly. Seeing that, Dugu Cheng spoke bluntly.
“I heard that you people possess a technique that can identify a Master. If you cast it, you should be able to know the condition of my body well enough. Try casting it once. You will immediately know whether my words are true……”
After staring at Dugu Cheng’s face for a moment, Shreckheimer began casting without delay. He was attempting to examine Dugu Cheng’s condition by casting Seek Mana Force. The search did not take long.
“T-this cannot be……”
Shreckheimer’s mouth fell open. Dugu Cheng’s words were true without the slightest error. The mana felt from his body was, if anything, inferior even to that of an ordinary person. In other words, they had summoned not a Master, but someone who was not even equal to an ordinary soldier.
All at once, Shreckheimer felt despair sweep through his entire body. A hollow voice slipped through his lips.
“After enduring so many hardships and succeeding in dimensional travel……”
“I too regret that I cannot help you.”
Having finished speaking, Dugu Cheng turned his body away while seated cross-legged. First of all, he did not want to show the tears flowing from his eyes, and moreover, he had no face with which to confront him. Though it was not his fault, it hurt him all the more to have betrayed the expectations Shreckheimer had placed upon him.
Behind him, Shreckheimer remained silent for a long while. After a moment, a voice sounded as if it had been tightly choked off.
“For now, I must report this to Lord Rosengart. And……”
As if he had sobbed alone, Shreckheimer’s voice had become wet before he knew it.
“At least, I thank you for listening to my story with interest. Now that I have failed in my mission, I do not think I will be able to see you any longer, Damon. Then, farewell……”
Behind him came the sound of Shreckheimer turning away. But Dugu Cheng did not turn around to the end. Even after Shreckheimer had completely left the room, his body remained rooted in place without the slightest movement.
After that, Dugu Cheng did not see Shreckheimer for some time. Moreover, the days continued in which he saw no one except one woman who appeared to be a maid attending to him. Even that woman was extremely afraid of Dugu Cheng. She would come in trembling, set down a plate of food, then leave while averting her gaze, giving Dugu Cheng no chance at all to speak to her.
“Damn it. What am I, a ghost that eats people?”
However, Dugu Cheng did not know that even here, the only beings with whom he could converse were limited to magicians capable of casting translation magic. Thus the boring days continued, one after another. After some time had passed, at last, a guest came to see him.
Clack.
At the sound of the door opening, Dugu Cheng’s head reflexively turned. At the wide-open doorway stood several color-eyed men in splendid attire, staring at him. Among them, the face of one middle-aged man entered Dugu Cheng’s eyes. He was a blue-eyed middle-aged man with an impressive beard. Dugu Cheng tilted his head.
“I’m sure I’ve seen that face somewhere?”
Not realizing that the man was Benitez, the magician who had saved him when he fell from the cliff, Dugu Cheng merely tilted his head.
The color-eyed men stared at Dugu Cheng’s face for a long while, then soon began whispering among themselves. Naturally, since they had no reason to cast translation magic, Dugu Cheng could not understand their conversation. However, from the way they glanced at him as they looked him over, Dugu Cheng could recognize a reaction he knew all too well. It was the gaze of contempt, filled with utter disdain.
“These bastards?”
Rage welled up in him, but there was nothing he could do. While he stared at them like that, the color-eyed men’s conversation continued.
“Is this the man?”
Benitez nodded.
“Yes. At the time, I barely managed to save him as he was falling from a cliff.”
Sergei looked at Dugu Cheng once more and frowned.
“He is truly hideous in appearance. I fear I might see him even in my dreams. And you say this man is that powerful?”
At those words, Benitez nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. The Sword Masters who died by his hand at that time numbered nearly fifty, even by our count alone. At the time, we thought perhaps the War God of that continent had manifested in the flesh.”
At those words, Duke Sergei appeared quite shocked.
“That is absurd. How could one man possibly handle fifty Sword Masters……”
“But it is the truth. Those Sword Masters manifested aura blades that could be recognized at a glance. But this man went a step further and deployed an aura blade so great that it dyed the entirety of the clawed gauntlets he was wearing.”
“Hmm.”
Sergei nodded and brought a hand to his chin. No matter how he looked at him, the other party was nothing more than a hideous and small-statured foreigner from whom no sense of strength could be felt. Even so, he had no choice but to believe it. He knew all too well that Benitez was an honest and straightforward man who would not lie without good reason. After thinking for a moment, Sergei tilted his head.
“But why did the High Prelate say that this man had lost his power?”
“It seems that statement is true as well. As soon as I entered this place, I had already measured the amount of mana this man possesses. As a result, High Prelate Shreckheimer’s words proved to be true without the slightest error. This man now possesses only an amount of mana inferior even to that of an ordinary person.”
“Oh? And the reason?”
Benitez wore a rather perplexed expression.
“I do not know the reason either. Perhaps because the dimension is different……”
Sergei shook his head and cut him off.
“That makes no sense. If he cannot use his power because the dimension is different, then how would you explain Emperor Crosen? In my opinion, this man is surely lying.”
“What? Lying, you say?”
“That’s right. After many twists and turns, he came here, but he surely had no desire to help us without receiving anything in return.”
“T-that cannot be……”
As if almost certain of it, Sergei spoke confidently while staring at Dugu Cheng’s face.
“No matter how severe the injury, the body recovers. I have never once heard of a Sword Master’s mana vanishing just because he was wounded. Surely the method used to deal with this man was wrong. High Prelate Shreckheimer’s method, I mean. Benitez.”
“Yes.”
“Cast communication magic. I shall speak with him……”
“Can you understand me?”
When an intelligible voice came from the mouth of one of those who had been whispering for quite some time, Dugu Cheng’s eyes widened. In any case, he had not known that conversing with another person would feel so welcome.
“I hear you.”
“Allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Sergei von Nerman, prime minister of this Icarot Empire. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
Unlike the case with Shreckheimer, the conversation between the two was quite dry. Partly, this was because Damon, having learned through this place’s history how its rulers acted, was deliberately behaving that way, but it was also largely due to Sergei’s own somewhat blunt personality.
“As you must already know from High Prelate Shreckheimer, our continent is now in a crisis as precarious as a candle in the wind.”
“Of course, I have heard and am aware of it.”
“Then this conversation will proceed easily.”
Sergei stared piercingly into Dugu Cheng’s eyes.
“How much will it take?”
“……”
“Tell me how much we must pay you in exchange for helping us.”
Dugu Cheng’s face gradually began to stiffen.
“So you are saying you will give me money in exchange for helping you?”
“Precisely. Though we are at war and cannot prepare an enormous sum, we can at least pay you enough gold, silver, and treasures for you to live in luxury here for the rest of your life. Ah, if you wish, we can also procure as many women as you desire. Just as you want.”
A smile gradually spread across Sergei’s face. For the moment, it did not matter at all how much that foreigner wanted. He would surely be dispatched to a place where the chances of returning alive were slim……
And even if he completed the mission safely, it would be the same. Judging by the precedent of Emperor Crosen, the mere existence of a person from another world in this place would itself become an enormous risk. If they could only obtain the Oath Stone, that man’s life would immediately be brought to an end.
Of course, not through a frontal attack, but by poison or some other method.