The Garbage Collector Who Stumbled Upon Mythical Weapons! - Chapter 29
A large amount of blue bl00d gushes out, and a scream echoes through the air. The spider writhes in agony, no longer appearing to have the strength to fight.
After a while, the spider loses all its strength and stops moving. Garm lets out a sigh of relief. As he steps down from the spider, Clay approaches.
Though his shield and armor are burned and tattered, and he himself is in bad shape, it seems he only suffered minor injuries.
“Did we do it?”
“Yeah, it’s over.”
As the two of them look at the fallen spider, something strange happens.
The spider’s body begins to crumble like white sand.
“What… is this?”
Garm looks at it suspiciously. The smaller spiders have left behind their corpses, but only the large spider’s body turns into fine dust, rising into the air and eventually vanishing like smoke.
—A strange monster.
That thought crosses Garm’s mind, but when he looks at the spot where the monster disappeared, he notices something.
“This is…”
“What is it, Garm?”
It is a black orb, small enough to fit in his palm.
Garm holds it up in front of him and examines it. It looks like a beautifully polished gemstone.
“Hmm, it’s a black orb. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll take it as a trophy.”
“I see.”
“Hey! If you’re done, help me already!!”
Celesti, who had been lying on the ground, yells.
“Ah, I forgot! I’m coming now!”
Garm and Clay rush to Celesti and struggle to remove the threads wrapped around her.
Afterward, Celesti uses magic to heal Van’s poison.
Though Van somehow manages to stand up, the rest of the team remains collapsed on the ground. The question of how to carry them all back becomes a problem.
“For now, I’ll carry Amber and Sophia.”
Garm takes both of them, while Clay carries Maria and Rosa. Van carries Calvan on his back as they make their way out of the dungeon.
“The problem is…”
Garm looks at the large men lying on the ground.
Among them is Macaus and the rest of the Albatross members. He tries slapping their faces a few times to wake them up, but they are completely unconscious.
Realizing that carrying any more people is impossible, Garm decides:
“We’ll leave them.”
“Yeah, that’s for the best.”
“We have no choice.”
“Agreed. Besides, they’re disgusting.”
Celesti’s last remark is particularly harsh, but in the end, they leave Albatross behind and exit the cave.
—We can send a rescue party for them later.
Garm is only concerned about the possibility of monsters appearing, but on the way back, he senses no threats.
“It must be because we defeated the giant spider, the boss. Besides, we had already cleared out a lot of monsters on our way in,” Van explains while leading the group.
“So, that means no more monsters will show up?”
“Not guaranteed, but I don’t think we need to worry.”
Hearing that, Garm feels reassured that Macaus and his group won’t be attacked.
—Even if they’re terrible people, leaving them to die would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
With Amber, Sophia, and the other Minazuki members in tow, Garm and his team manage to escape the cave and return to the town.
Utterly exhausted, Garm, Clay, and Van collapse onto the floor of the inn and fall asleep immediately.
Watching them, Celesti sighs.
“Seriously! How pathetic. Just from this?”
Despite her words, she glances toward the Minazuki members sleeping peacefully in their beds.
Seeing her safe companions, a deep sense of relief washes over her.
—Thank you, Van, Clay, and… old man.
◇◇◇
Deep in a dense forest, hidden within towering cliffs, stands a solitary castle.
Inside its dimly lit halls, a man sits on the throne in the king’s chamber. His entire body is shrouded in shadows, making his expression impossible to discern.
“So… have you found the one who defeated Faunus?”
“N-No, sir. We are currently searching with all our might, but we have not yet found them.”
A man wearing a gray robe with his hood pulled low kneels humbly before the throne.
Clearly nervous, he hesitantly speaks to the seated figure.
“Forgive me, but… is it truly certain that Lord Faunus was defeated? I can’t imagine anyone strong enough to kill a demon as powerful as him.”
The man on the throne gives a faint smile.
“No, he was definitely slain.”
“B-But, sir, the search of the Vidal Forest did reveal traces of battle. However, the only bodies found were those of Lord Faunus’s subordinates. His own body was nowhere to be found. I hesitate to suggest it, but… is it possible that he simply killed his own men and fled?”
The hooded man knew of Faunus’ nature. If he was in a foul mood, he would slaughter indiscriminately.
—It wouldn’t be the first time. This might just be another case of that…
“Heh heh heh…”
The man on the throne lets out a sinister chuckle. His eyes gleam with certainty.
“No, he was utterly erased… The opponent was far stronger than expected.”
“Impossible… That Faunus was…?”
The man on the throne shifts his gaze toward the window. The night sky is dark, and a pale moon rises.
“Also, I hear that the beast we were researching in the northern labyrinth was killed.”
“Y-Yes, we received a report about that earlier. It seems an adventurer defeated it…”
“I was told that, if the experiment had succeeded, not even a group of A-rank adventurers would have stood a chance.”
“T-That’s what I believed as well! Perhaps the test subject was still incomplete… I will investigate further and report back!”
The man on the throne contemplates.
If the research had been successful and the beast was as powerful as intended, then the one who defeated it may be the same person who killed Faunus.
—Well, in time, I will find out.
“You may leave.”
“Yes, sir! Excuse me, Lord Demon King.”
After his subordinate leaves, the throne room is empty.
The Demon King smiles quietly.