Chapter 130: Thanks

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Translator: Soafp

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I wonder how long Ashera and I embraced each other. El, who must have grown impatient, coughs conspicuously.

“Ah, ahem…”

Feeling guilty for El, I slowly let go of Ashera and spoke to him.

“El, thank you. If you hadn’t come, I probably would have died.”

“No, rather than that, let’s get out of this area. Right now, I only have half my magic power.”

“Got it. Ashera, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

The three of us tried to dash into the sky to leave the enemy’s territory. At that moment, I noticed the Emperor’s “index finger” rolling around.

For some reason, I felt strangely drawn to the “index finger.” I decided to put the “index finger” into a small pouch in my water bottle and take it back with me.

After about two hours of leaving the forest, my magic power began to recover, and suddenly my ring began to shine.

“Aldo! You’re alive. Your vitality is like a G!”

This guy will get it someday.

As soon as he made a joke, Aoi suddenly furrowed his brow and looked at me.

“…Aldo. What is that?”

I have rarely seen Aoi ask me with such a serious expression.

I, too, decided to speak the truth without any intention of joking.

“It’s the Emperor’s ‘index finger.’ I cut it off with my final attack.”

Aoi looks at my face with an indescribable expression. Well, I can’t read the expression of a raccoon-like creature either, but…

“That’s probably the ‘proof’ of that master, right?”

“‘Proof’?”

“Aldo, you’re still clueless, aren’t you? It’s the ‘proof.’ Aldo has one too, right?”

“Eh? I have one too?”

“Haa… Well then, what about that ring? It’s the ‘proof,’ isn’t it?”

I look at the ring on my right hand.

“So this ring is the ‘proof’…”

“It’s the ‘proof of our contract.’ Don’t you even know about that…?”

“Aoi. What if my finger, along with this ring, were to be cut off?”

“Well, without a the ‘proof,’ you wouldn’t receive any protection.”

“Wait a minute. So, the emperor can’t replenish his magical power right now?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying. Aldo should listen to what people say.”

I wonder why I’m being provoked like this… It’s strange because talking to him makes me feel like I’m stupid.

“El, Ashera, let’s stop for a moment. I want to hear what Aoi has to say.”

“Understood, Nii-sama.”

“Got it.”

The three of us stopped on a nearby road. The view wasn’t great, but with this group, it should be fine.

“Aoi. Can a new ‘proof’ be made right away?”

“No way. It’s tied to the Mana Spot. You can’t just make one like that.”

“I see. Then how do you make a new ‘proof’?”

“There are various ways… but the quickest way is to take it by force.”

“Take it?”

“Aldo took it from the master, right? I don’t get why you’re asking about things you’ve already done.”

“Physically take the ‘proof’…?”

“Yeah, once it’s separated from the body, the ‘proof’ loses its power. You have to renew the contract with the Mana Spot to gain ‘protection’ again.”

“So, if I go to the Mana Spot in the Magic Forst, will I become the ‘master’ of the Forest of Magic?”

“That’s right. Destroy the ‘proof’ at the Mana Spot and touch it with your ‘proof’ ring.”

“The ring…”

“That way, the Mana Spot in the Magic Forest will be under my control.”

“Aoi, what happened to the ‘master’ when the ‘proof’ was taken away?”

“They should return to what they were before becoming the ‘master.'”

“Does that mean they become the Goblin King again?”

“Haa… Aldo really is foolish. If the Goblin King becomes the ‘master,’ wouldn’t he become the Goblin God?”

“God?”

“He’s probably just an ordinary goblin. At best, maybe a goblin warrior?”

“So he’s just an ordinary goblin now? Wait… does becoming a ‘master’ make monsters incredibly strong?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It depends on the size of the Mana Spot, though. The Mana Spot in the Magic Forest is decently large.”

I must have been mistaken… I thought the Emperor had retreated due to some trouble, but… by chance, I took away the ‘proof,’ and he returned to being an ordinary goblin.

It wasn’t out of arrogance, but before my final blow, the Emperor must have been terrified.

Perhaps, when he returned to being an ordinary goblin, only his fear of me remained… and he fled?

If that’s the case, it would make sense why I wasn’t finished off and why the ‘proof’ was discarded.

The Emperor, now an ordinary goblin, would pick up the ‘proof’ and become a ‘master’ once again. But my head didn’t have the capacity to think that far…

Certainly, goblins wouldn’t be able to think deeply about things. Most likely, they fled in fear without understanding anything.

…Huh? …Eh? …Is that it?

The Emperor… became just a regular goblin… really??

I suddenly feel exhausted. Becoming an Apostle and winning by a stroke of luck during the first Mana Spot opening…

Come to think of it, what happened to the goblin army that retreated with the Emperor?

“Aoi, what do you think happened to the goblin army?”

“Well, it’s unimaginable for that many goblins to naturally form a group. They have no food. Probably, the Emperor allocated most of his ‘protection’ to reproduction. Now that the Emperor is gone, the Goblin Kings will probably form factions and kill each other. Some might be lucky enough to escape to other lands, but they’ll be few.”

“I see… So does that mean… it’s all over…?”

“Hmm? Aldo, didn’t you win by taking the ‘proof’?”

Seriously? Winning without feeling the triumph… That’s not good.

To be honest, I don’t feel happy at all… huh? I just feel confused…

Looking at El and Ashera, their eyes lack any spark… What kind of ending is this?

“If it’s true that ‘fact is stranger than fiction,’ then the person who wrote this must lack any sense.”

The three of us were silently gazing up at the sky… In the cloudless sunny weather, a crow flies away as if mocking us… What nonsense.

I’m incredibly tired, but there’s one thing I need to decide.

“Aoi, should we go change the ‘master’ right away?”

“Well, it’s better to do it quickly. Is your body okay? If you hurry and die, you’re not just a fool. You’re an incredible fool.”

“I’d prefer to go back and rest, but if we return, we don’t know when we’ll be able to come out again…”

“Is that so? People who restrict the actions of Apostles are arrogant.”

“Well, don’t say that. You’re just worried about me.”

“Hmm. But if that’s the case, maybe it’s better to change the ‘master’ right away.”

“I see…”

“Yeah, because monsters will come looking for the ‘proof.'”

“Hold on. Did you just say monsters will come looking for us?”

“Ha? Yeah. If the ‘proof’ is left unattended, and the ‘master’ is about to change, it’s natural for monsters to come looking for it, right?”

I held my head… Why is this guy… seriously… enough already!

“Aoi, do you know where the Mana Spot in the Magic Forest is?”

“Who are you asking? Of course, I know.”

“Can I ask where it is?”

“Huh? If you just head straight into the forest and turn right at the first mana pool, then keep going diagonally left for a while, you’ll see the Mana Spot.”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“Haa… I thought Aldo would have a hard time understanding, but… Haa.”

He sighed at me twice. What’s with this feeling… I really want to punch him.

With a face full of frustration, I gave Aoi a piggy nose!

“Abdo! What are you doing! Stop it!”

I felt a little relieved.

Since then, I’ve learned that Aoi, being a ring, can come out anywhere if he’s charged with magic.

Within his domain, he can come out regardless of my objections, but outside of it, he can’t come out unless I send magic to the ring.

Being able to come out anytime means… he can come out during XX or YY situations too.

If he suddenly talked to me in the middle of XX, it’d be a Condense Ray situation!

Fortunately, knowing that it’s not possible outside of the domain was still a valuable lesson.

El, Ashera, and I are in the middle of a round trip to the Magic Forest.

With the Emperor gone, there shouldn’t be any monsters that could be our enemies in the Magic Forest… right?

We’re running on the ground for now because we’re worried about Ashera’s remaining magic power.

When I mentioned sending Ashera to the Blue Ring earlier, she strongly opposed it.

Her stance was as if she was saying she would follow us even if she had to beat down El and me.

While El and I were discussing what to do, Ashera put on her Wind Bullet.

El and I exchanged eye contact and immediately approved Ashera’s request to come along.

After running for a while, we’re about to reach the battlefield between me and the Emperor.

I charged magic into the ring and summoned Aoi.

“Which way is the Mana Spot?”

“To summon me out of the blue for a business matter… Aldo…”

“Hurry up. Every second counts.”

After giving me a glance, Aoi sighed visibly and began speaking.

“Haa, you see that big tree over there? There’s a big rock at the foot of it. That’s the Mana Spot. Aldo and Elphus should be able to see it.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

With that said, I cut off the magic to the ring and Aoi disappeared.

Honestly, I feel bad for treating him like this, but this is an urgent matter. I hope he forgives me.

Moving towards the big tree Aoi mentioned, Ashera suddenly stopped us.

“Wait…”

With just that word, Ashera prepared ten Wind Bullets (for monsters).

I didn’t understand why she suddenly put the Wind Bullets in standby mode, but she must have seen something with her magic eye.

Ashera activated the Wind Bullets and started running at the same time. A considerable number of monsters, more than one would expect, were driven by Ashera and came running towards us. There were goblins, orcs, their subspecies, boars, and even wind wolves. It felt like a museum of monsters from the Forest of Magic.

Did these creatures instinctively sense the absence of their “master”… or did they simply happen to be nearby when the transition of power was taking place? Either way, the prospect of changing masters with so many monsters around was terrifying. Another Emperor emerging would be no laughing matter.

El and I joined the battle, albeit a bit late. With this many monsters, it would have been a serious threat if they had coordinated their attacks, but instead, we saw them fighting amongst themselves, allowing us to pick them off one by one.

After about 15 minutes, we successfully cleared out all the monsters that were about to change masters.

Ashera glanced up at the trees one last time and then fired off her Wind Bullets. I wondered what she was aiming at, but then a giant snake fell to the ground, shattered into pieces.

Ashera looked around, and then, as if to say that all preparations were complete, she gave us a triumphant look. That’s great, but please don’t puff out your ch*st like that… I might accidentally touch it.

I switched my focus and slowly walked towards the rainbow-colored rock that emitted light.