I instantaneously moved to the top of the Aluraune, alongside Selen.
From here, it should be difficult to block attacks with those petals.
"Crush!"
The massive ice pillar Selen shot at the core of Aluraune.
"――――!?"
Aluraune seemed to panic, perhaps not expecting an attack from above.
Just as it seemed the ice pillar would crush Aluraune, the next moment, Aluraune descended into a hole, and the hole closed at an incredible speed.
The ice pillar stabbed into the closed hole.
"It escaped!"
"So it can close the hole..."
The core of Aluraune, now trapped inside the hole.
"I’ll force it open!"
"You don’t need to do that."
I teleported again with Selen.
Inside the closed hole.
"――――!?"
Aluraune looked horrified, probably not expecting us to follow into the hole.
"Ha!"
Selen’s sword severed its neck.
Before it fell into the digestive fluid at the bottom of the hole, we teleported back outside.
"The flowers and vines are withering."
The huge petals began to wither rapidly, perhaps because the core was destroyed and Aluraune had lost its strength.
The vines that had covered the entire city also began to shrink and wilt.
Afterward, an investigation by the Loda Kingdom revealed something.
It seems that the lord of that city had secretly been conducting illegal research on monsters.
The research was focused on controlling monsters or enhancing them, seemingly in an effort to acquire immense military power.
Once the research succeeded, the plan was to stage a coup and take control of the country.
However, an irregularity occurred during the experiment, causing Aluraune to grow at an alarming rate.
It ended up destroying the city.
"The lord was absorbed by Aluraune and is no longer in this world. As for the person, it’s nothing but their own fault, but exposing the citizens to danger and taking away their homes... There’s no other lord this incompetent."
Gaius, who shared the investigation results, spat out in anger.
When he first came as an envoy to my village, he had a rather intimidating and arrogant air about him, but despite his high pride, he was actually not a bad person.
Recently, he’s given off the impression of being a good-natured older man and has been our point of contact with the Loda Kingdom.
In fact, there seem to be many nobles in the Loda Kingdom who don't think highly of me or this village.
Originally, the Celtia Kingdom and the Loda Kingdom haven’t been on good terms either.
Gaius had been tirelessly persuading them, and it seems he’s been working hard to maintain the friendly relations.
"Still, Lord Luke. You have my utmost gratitude for the recent incident with the Empire. Truly, I am grateful. Perhaps we should consider granting you a noble title in our country?"
"No, that’s really not necessary."
"Huh? You want my village’s help? No, no, that’s way too much! How many times has this been now?!"
I couldn’t help but shout.
Of course, I didn’t mind helping.
But the same pattern kept repeating, and it felt unnatural.
It wasn’t just a similar story.
The scenario where former villagers become adventurers and then help people... It was exactly the same.
Moreover, after the Loda Kingdom incident, it had already been repeated about five times, and this would probably be the ninth time.
"What's going on all of a sudden? You’re not being ordered by someone, are you?"
"N-No, not at all!"
When I questioned the client, who was an adventurer in the Barlist Kingdom, they quickly denied it.
Hmm, it clearly seemed suspicious.
"Well, I guess it’s not like they’re doing anything bad..."
But still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
As I was solving various incidents here and there...
The number of people visiting the village’s grand cathedral increased tremendously.
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