Chapter 8

"There are traps too. Well, they seem like something that could fool a child."

The building was filled with traps set up to deter intruders. However, compared to the vicious castles and dungeons they had tackled together with Grandpa, none of these were particularly formidable.

Eventually, Edel reached the room. The entrance was hidden by a concealment spell, but it couldn't deceive Edel's eyes.

He easily bypassed the barrier and entered the room. Inside, he found an old woman and a beautiful woman with glasses. The old woman was called Lady Maribel, and it seemed she was an acquaintance of Grandpa's.

The two women continued their conversation without noticing Edel's presence. They seemed to be deeply engrossed.

Edel quietly waited for their conversation to end, but then his eyes met the old woman's.

"Wh-Who are you!?"

"Huh?"

It seemed they had finally noticed him. Just as he thought he could finally talk, the beautiful woman with glasses drew her sword and threatened him.

"Huh? Are you maybe on guard? No, I just came to deliver a letter to someone named Maribel... um, you're the old lady, right?"

"Old lady... How dare you speak to Lady Maribel like that!?"

"It's fine, Shartia. Rather, who are you? The letter?"

"Here it is."

Finally, Edel was able to hand over the letter, and he felt relieved.

"T-This is..."

The old woman's eyes widened as she read the contents. The letter was still sealed, and Edel hadn't read it, so he didn't know what was written inside.

"...Shartia, could you please leave us for a while?"

"Huh? B-But..."

"I want to talk to him alone. It's fine. He's not a dangerous person."

"...Very well."

The beautiful woman with glasses, called Shartia, left the room with a suspicious look.

"...So, you're Edel?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Your teacher... How was Mr. Ramirez's last moments?"

"Grandpa's?"

Ramirez was Grandpa's name. However, Edel felt strange hearing it with the honorific "sama."

"He was energetic until the very end. I think it was about a month before he died. He was slaying Bahamut alone."

"...I see. That sounds like him. Wait, Bahamut!? That's an ultra S-class monster! When it appears, a state of emergency is declared, and a large-scale extermination force is formed... To slay it a month before his death..."

"State of emergency?"

Bahamut was something Edel encountered frequently in the demon world.

"Where was your teacher...? It's been over twenty years without any word, but I always thought he couldn't be dead..."

"It seems he was in the demon world."

"The demon world!?"

The old woman almost fell off her chair.

"So, your teacher really crossed the 'Abyss'... Impressive. Even the four of us heroes had to turn back halfway due to the difficulty... Wait a moment. If that's the case, where did you meet your teacher...? The letter said he found and raised you..."

"I was picked up as a baby in the demon world and raised by Grandpa."

"...Pardon me, but are you human?"

"I think so?"

"Why were you in the demon world?"

"I'm not sure either. But Grandpa said that sometimes holes open up between the human world and the demon world, and I must have fallen through one of them."

If Grandpa hadn't found him, he would have died soon. In a way, it might have been a stroke of luck.

"Even with your teacher, it's impressive that you could grow up in such a dangerous place as the demon world...? I've never been there, and I only know a few things about it..."

"It was indeed harsh, but Grandpa trained me."

"...Impressive, just like your teacher."

"By the way, old lady, you keep calling him 'teacher.' What was your relationship with Grandpa?"

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