Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku Vol 17 Chapter 8

Published at 15th of April 2019 11:19:18 PM

Chapter 8
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17-8. Growing Purple Mounds

※ Please note that the Recollection part is told in third person.

Satou here. I believe solving riddles have been a form of amusement since time immemorial. Doing that alone is fun, but having a group of friends sit together debating about it is also pretty fun, isn't it.

◇

"It's grown so big..."

I looked at what was once a Purple Mound.
It's grown from a few meter big to dozens meter tall now.

"This thing is more like a purple tower than a mound now, isn't it."

Arisa spoke as we looked up at the tower.

I got back to the Capital with Unit Arrangement to join up with Arisa who called for me through Familiar Link, afterward we headed to the Purple Mound located at the capital's outskirts.
I've forwarded a message to Sera who's waiting at Duchy Capital's Tenion Temple through the previous head miko--currently miko apprentice Lily with space magic [Telephone], telling her that I've gone ahead to the capital.

"So what happened while I was away?"
"It's gonna be a long story just you know--"

Arisa said that as a preface before narrating.

◇◇◇◆◆Recollection◇◇◆◆◆

"A change on the Purple Mound?"

Arisa first received the report at her Solitary Island's private room on the fifth day since Satou's departure.
Arisa put away a male shirt she had been burying her face in into her Item Box and got out of the room together with the House Fairy (Brownie) who brought the news.

"What kind of change?"
"The Purple Mound has grown bigger."

Arisa asked as they walked in the corridor.

"What about the other girls?"
"Mito-sama and Zensama had rushed out ahead right after they heard the news."
"Liza and the others are currently training at the Ancient Dragon's continent, and Sera's standing by at Duchy Capital's Tenion Temple, aren't they."

By [Liza and the others] Arisa meant Liza, Pochi, Tama and Karina.

"--And Nana?"
"Nansama went out to visit Borunean Forest together with Misama this morning."
"That's rare. Wonder if she wanted to go meet the Winged Fairies there?"

The brownie had no clue about the reason for their outings.

"We have contacted Nansama, Misama and Sersama, but since we have no means of communication to the Ancient Dragon Continent--"
"I know. I'll give them a call with 『World Phone』 once I arrive at the capital."

Arisa, who knew that Liza and the girls that went with her were gone for training, went through Solitary Island's gate while thinking, "I don't wanna get in the way of their training, guess I can hold off contacting them till after I confirmed the situation with the Purple Mound?"

"Arisa of 『Pendragon』. I've come per Duchess Mitsukuni's summon."

Arisa showed her face out of her carriage and said that, then the soldiers securing the perimeter pushed out the crowds and led the carriage Arisa was in toward the Purple Mound.
Arisa had judged that it was of a [Low Emergency] and came on a carriage instead of teleporting since Mito didn't send out an emergency signal.

"Arisa! Over here!"

Mito beckoned.

"Whoa, it's gotten pretty big."
"Around 20 meter tall, I think?"

The two looked up at the Purple Mound.
It's as big as a tower now.

"According to the people guarding the mound, it got this big in one night."
"But there was no report in the middle of the night?"
"That's err--"

"""We deeply apologize!"""

The guards in the area bowed their heads all at once while Mito was stammering.
Arisa asked about the circumstances, apparently they were assigned to guard the Purple Mound and none of them noticed any change until dawn.

"None of them noticed?"

"Well, the fog was pretty thick last night after all."

Mito told the reason as Arisa inclined her head.

"Where's Zentan?"
"She's gone out to check out nearby villages with flight magic."

Zena had gone out to investigate if other Purple Mounds had any change.

"I'll go check other Purple Mounds as well."

Arisa whispered in Mito's ears and called Echigoya Firm with [Telephone].
After all, it's the speediest place to gather information from all over the world.

『About Purple Mounds?』

General Manager Elterina asked back to Arisa whose call connected to her.

『Yes, is there any news about them?』
『So far we only know that the Purple Mound at the capital's outskirts has gotten bigger. Currently we're contacting the people who have been assigned to watch over Purple Mounds in the surrounding villages.』
『Thanks, I'll get back to you later.』

Arisa called off and conveyed what she learned to Mito.

"What do you think? Should we contact master?"
"I think it's still fine, no? Ichi--Satou had already predicted that there would be some changes anyway."
"Guess so and besides, it'd be bad if we called master at a bad time like what if he was talking with the gods."

Mito and Arisa had the same idea.

"So, does it only get bigger?"
"There's some differences as well."

Mito said that and gave a signal to the field commander.
One of the knights removed his gauntlet and put his hand on the Purple Mound.

"--H-hey!"
"It's okay. Apparently it doesn't have the Drain effect."

The field commander boasted that they first tested it by using summoners, then slaves.
For an instant, Arisa and Mito were disgusted at the field commander who treated slaves like disposables, but neither the commander nor the surrounding people noticed it.

"Next, if you would."

The knight who had removed his gauntlet stood before the Purple Mound and hit it with the gauntlet.

"It's lost its physical permeability too?"

Mito affirmed Arisa's question.

"Would love to know if it's the same with the mounds near villages here."
"No worries, we'll find out soon."

Mito pointed at the sky where Zena had come flying back.

"I have verified the sites. There is no change on the Purple Mounds near villages around here. They're the same size as before, thrown stones still pass through them, and putting my hand on them also still drains my strength."

Zena gave a report to Mito.

"Hey that's dangerous. You should have tested it out with bugs or a chicken instead."
"I'm sorry. I was being too hasty."
"Now now, Arisa, let's leave it at that. Thank you, Zena."

Mito soothed Arisa who got harsher with her words out of worries for Zena's safety.

"Then maybe the permeability and the drain ability were for protections until it got bigger and to fill its energy?"
"Un, I don't think there's any mistake about that but we don't know enough to draw a conclusion yet, do we?"
"Well, yeah I guess."

Arisa looked at scholars who were having an argument while drawing and tracing something near the Purple Mound.
Their debate seemed to have heated up, a tall bespectacled scholar raised his voice hysterically.

"What are those guys doing?"
"Would be quicker to see for yourself."

The girls drew near the scholars.

Apparently the scholars were debating about a relief that had appeared on the surface of the Purple Mound.

"Relief of a tree?"
"Look at the tips of its seven branches. At the center of the circles on the tips."
"Colored stones? Bitter orange, blue, yellow, green, blue, red, blue--so many blue."

"Do you have holes for eyes?"

The tall bespectacled man stood before Arisa as she read out the colors.
He raised his chin smugly and spoke sarcastically.

Arisa found out that he was a researcher belonging to Royal Research Institute by analyzing him.

"Bitter orange, cyan, yellow, green, indigo, red, and blue. Those are the gems' colors. They're--"
"Colors representing the seven pillar gods huh."
"T-that's right. Looks like even holes know a thing or two."

The bespectacled man spoke like a sore loser in frustration for having what he wanted to say got said ahead.

"Stop that, runner-up! You're talking with the duchess and her companions you know."
"D-don't call me runner-up! I'm not going to play second fiddle to that guy! My luck is the only thing lesser than him! I just have the bad luck of not encountering an appealing subject! It is I who is fit to be the next chief!"

The other scholar's words seemed to have hit the bespectacled man's nerve as he got heated up by himself.

"Aah, he's someone we shouldn't get involved with."
"Rather, he's the type that must not be allowed to grope around delicate places like this."

Arisa shrugged next to Mito who looked like she couldn't believe it.
Zena only smiled wryly and refrained from commenting.

"Since the spots where fruits should be represent the seven gods, does that mean these mounds are the handiworks of gods?"
"Un, I wonder about that? The base color is purple after all--"

"Indeed!"

The bespectacled man cut in vigorously.

"A tree that signifies the gods appearing on a tower that possesses a taboo color! This must be something made by demons to release the demon god from its moon seal by sucking up the power of gods!"
"Runner-up! You're going to the extreme. Earlier too--"
"Quit calling me runner uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup"

The bespectacled man heated up too much and became violent.
The guards couldn't stand it any longer and seized the bespectacled man.

"Let me gooooooooo. You'd find out if you just check the arrangements of these mounds on the entire contineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeent."

The guards dragged away the bespectacled man who wouldn't stop his tantrum.
The other researcher might have wanted this to happen that he kept saying [Runner-up].

"Our apologies. He may be haughty, eccentric, irritating and have a short fuse, but his abundance of knowledge is real at least."

The scholar talked to Mito while saying something that didn't help with the bespectacled man's case.

"The only thing we know is that the gems embedded on this tree relief may be of the same colors as the colors that represent the seven gods as depicted in the old documents belonging to the temples."
"What about the thing about demon god and arrangements of mounds?"
"It's just a delusion the runner-up has. It has no basis."

The girls came up with a question after discussing about the mound arrangement all over the world, "Perhaps it's some kind of magic circle?", but judging from the drawing of the mounds' locations they made by referencing a copy of Satou's Map information, they couldn't confirm if that was the case.

"And what about the cracked spot over there?"
"Ah, that's..."

The scholar looked at the place Arisa pointed at while looking like he was enduring a headache.

"That, you see--"

It was the runner up scholar's doing.
Despite having been strictly told not to do anything reckless by the higher ups, he came with a pickaxe from who knows where and broke the spot.

"What an idiot..."
"Un, I'll talk to Sete and have him removed from his post here."

Arisa and Mito had the same expressions as the scholar earlier.
Zena smiled wryly without commenting.

"So did you figure out anything?"
"Yes, that the surface of this mound was only about as hard as fieldstone, and that the broken pieces vanished into thin air like an illusion. Once it broke enough to fit a wrist inside, the pickaxe passed through it like it was before the change, and putting your hand on it drained your strength."
"Is it like the shell of an egg I guess?"

The method was rough but the results were intriguing.

After asking opinions from scholars who had gathered at this place, it was decided that they would add more guards to watch over the mound for a while.

◆

There was no change on the next two days--.

But the day after that, the morning Satou got called back, another change happened.

"It got even bigger again eh."