Chapter 175: The Tobacco’s Damaging Effects (2)

I…I couldn’t believe that Duke Leon really took advantage of this opportunity to attack us!!

「…Seriously. That guy is surprisingly cautious. 」

A husky male voice echoed. A man gradually appeared, stomping through the fallen leaves. Caron spoke in horror.

「Invisibility!? I didn’t feel any presence at all!! 」

「Are you from the Principality of Galvano!? Seiya’s intuition was right again!! 」

The man burst out laughing after hearing Eich’s remark.

「Don’t worry. I’m not your enemy. 」

While saying this, the man took out a pack of cigarettes from his leather jacket, pulled one out of it, and lit it with a silver lighter. Purple smoke rose above his curly hair.

…This…This person was…for sure…!

I recognized the relaxed-looking middle-aged man, wearing a leather jacket, and smoking a cigarette. He gave off a wild vibe. The man said after exhaling a large cloud of smoke from his mouth.

「I’m John Dae. I’m from the Tarmine Kingdom…」

On that moment…a bursting sound filled the surroundings! The ground beneath the man collapsed, and he got buried up to his neck in the ground while he was speaking!

I looked at Seiya in surprise. Before I knew it, Seiya had changed back from being a Fire Magic warrior to an Earth Magic warrior and was crouching down with one hand on the ground.

Colt scratched his cheek with a puzzled look on his face.

「What a frightening earthquake. The man was completely buried up to his neck. I wonder if we shouldn’t protect ourselves with a magic barrier. 」

「You’re wrong, brother! I’m also an Earth Magic user, so I understood what happened! Seiya used advanced Earth Magic to cause the ground beneath that man’s feet to collapse! 」

「Ah, I see. But even my reasoning was wrong. In fact, even if we protected ourselves with a magic barrier, there would be nothing we could do if the ground beneath us collapsed. 」

While the siblings were chatting casually, the buried man screamed out loud.

「I said, “Don’t worry”!! I’m not your enemy!! 」

I hurriedly pointed at the man and said to Seiya.

「Hey, Seiya! This person is John Dae! Don’t you remember him? 」

John Dae was a vassal of Princess Tiana during my previous life, and a general of the Tarmine Kingdom. And he acted alongside us as a companion when we saved Exfolia during one of our last quests.

「Look at him! There’s no doubt he’s John Dae! The undead! 」

「Huh!? I’m not a zombie!! 」

「Eh, my bad. I’m sorry…」

It seemed he wasn’t an undead this time. In any case, John Dae, who was buried up to his neck, was so angry that he couldn’t help but yell at Seiya.

「Anyway, why did you attack me all of a sudden!? I was laughing and smoking a cigarette, clearly giving the impression that “I wasn’t an enemy”!! 」

「But you were invisible, so your actions were suspicious. 」

Seiya agreed with Colt’s words.

「Yeah. Besides, there’s another reason why I took away the freedom of this guy with Earth Magic…This is the reason. 」

Seiya stomped on the lit cigarette that was lying on the ground with his foot. Then, he looked down at John Dae, while showing his furrowed eyebrows.

「Smoking is considered a hobby. I’m not telling you to stop. But I have to save the world. I don’t have time to suffer from lung disease from the damage caused by secondary smoke. Stop smoking. 」

「You said you wouldn’t stop me from smoking, but you ended up telling me to stop! You’re such a mess! 」

「I’m telling you to stop in front of me. Anyway, now you understand. 『Smoking causes all kinds of harm and does no good. 』 Addiction. Lung disease. Heart disease. You’ll end up buried in the ground sooner than later. 」

「Bastard! You did exactly the last one! And I don’t smoke that regularly in the first place! 」

He looked so angry…! Bu…But it was true that he got buried so suddenly without warning!

Seeing John Dae yelling angrily, Caron suddenly realized and hit his knee.

「John Dae…That’s right! This person is an engineer from Tarmine Kingdom! 」

「Huh? What do you mean, Caron? Is this person that great? 」

「Of course, Eich! He’s the Director of Tarmine’s Technological Agency! He’s so amazing that I can’t even compare to him! He’s even building an airship! 」

I was no longer surprised when I heard the word “airship”. In a world where drones existed, it wouldn’t be strange to have giant flying boats. Caron continued talking while spitting.

「Most of Tarmine’s magic technology was invented by this person! He’s a big deal! 」

「But why did such a person become invisible like a spy and get here in Galvano? 」

Colt questioned Caron’s explanation. We all looked down at John Dae, who looked like he had a severed head. John Dae laughed a little bit.

「I’ll explain. But before that…can you please let me out of here!? It isn’t cool to be all buried like this!! And everyone is looking down on me from above!! 」

「Se…Seiya. Can you release him, please? He doesn’t seem dangerous…」

「Anyway, this guy continues to be hopeless. Just when he stopped smelling like a zombie, he started to smell like cigarettes. 」

While muttering, Seiya canceled the Earth Magic’s spell. John Dae crawled out from under the ground, gasping for breath. Celseus smiled bitterly near me.

「Hahaha! John Dae came out of there looking bitter with a crushed cigarette in his mouth! How miserable! 」

Ah, right. Celseus also knew John Dae. When we tried to save Exfolia last time, Celseus had John Dae and Kiriko practice their sword skills in the God’s realm. However, since they were both stronger than Celseus, they stopped training earlier than expected and started helping out at Celseus Cafe. Celseus initially hated working with part-time workers which were an undead and a killing machine, but after seeing the two of them obediently helping with his work, he warmed up to them.

「Maybe there’s a Kiriko in that place called Tarmine. 」

Suddenly, Celseus mumbled those words. They were completely innocent words. However, my chest felt tight.

「Celseus…you know, I didn’t tell you yet. But Kiri is no longer…」

Roaring sound! Suddenly, Celseus and his wheelchair were buried underground! When I looked back, I saw Seiya placing his hand on the ground to activate his Earth Magic!

「Why!? Mister Seiya!! I don’t smoke, you know!? 」

「You’re loud. Shut up. 」

He ordered Celseus, who only had a visible neck, to stop talking. Celseus probably didn’t realize that he had touched on a topic that was sensitive to both me and Seiya.

In any case, Father Luke and Caron worked together to rescue Celseus, who was crying after being buried by Seiya. John Dae looked at the dominant hero and shook his head.

「You’re such a cruel bastard. I can’t believe this. I even tried to send a rescue ship. 」

「What’s a rescue ship? 」

When I asked, John Dae took a deep breath as if to change his mood, then looked at me with serious eyes.

「I hope you’re not too happy thinking that you “saved this town” after killing Mayor Bunos. You know there’s no point in killing Bunos. 」

Immediately, Eich changed her expression.

「But Bunos’ tyranny is over! Our town will get better for sure! 」

「Duke Leon will soon appoint the next mayor. It’s going to be a bad guy anyway. The tyranny won’t change. 」

「Nonsense! From now on, in Bunos’ place, we’ll take over the real power of this town! We have a plan in mind! We’ll use my Earth Magic to replicate Bunos’ body shape and take his place as the town mayor…」

I was surprised while listening. This was because Eich’s plan was similar to Seiya’s previous actions in Exfolia. Last time, by making full use of the Transformation Art, Seiya disguised himself as a dog beastman, and I disguised myself as a fishman, deceiving Grand Leon’s eyes.

However, John Dae laughed at Eich.

「Miss, do you seriously think that such a fairy-tale method will work? Duke Leon is a monster who is very intelligent and has a high fighting power. He will see through you in no time and eliminate all of you, rebels. 」

「Ugh…! 」

Eich pressed her lips at John Dae’s words. I took a quick glance at Seiya. Seiya noticed my gaze and gave a small nod.

「There’s a high probability that a method that worked last time won’t work this time around. In fact, in this world where the difficulty level of salvation has increased, it is more likely that such disguise will be seen through. 」

「I…I agree. 」

I nodded too. Seiya stepped in front of John Dae to take Eich’s place in the conversation.

「Hey. Don’t waste my time. Tell me what you mean by “rescue ship”. 」

After snorting, John Dae sent Seiya and me a glare.

「A Hero and a Goddess with Artema have appeared…those rumors have even reached the Tarmine Kingdom. And, on the orders of Queen Carmilla, I became invisible and sneaked into Galvano’s town. 」

「Queen Carmilla…! 」

My mother from my previous life seemed to be ruling the Kingdom as a Queen even in this twisted Exfolia. John Dae continued speaking.

「Her Majesty Lady Carmilla is a noble person who is concerned about this turbulent world and seeks peace. Out of compassion, she would like to invite you to Tarmine. 」

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Its great they’re finally going to Tarmine.

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