The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 392: The Eddo Boars

Chapter 392: The Eddo Boars

“Hey, hey, hey! So you’re Poer, huh!? Lookin’ pretty kiddy for someone supposedly so awesome!”

When I walked out of the mansion, I saw a man with a fava bean-like head.

He resembles Guile, one of Polco Adams’ employees, quite a bit. And then there’s the part where Guile was a leader of his own team… called the Kugg Boars.

But this guy can’t be Guile. They may look similar, but not THAT much.

“Hello. I’m Asley.”

“You sure? Lookin’ a bit too shabby to be Poer, don’tcha think?”

Ah, right, I never did get to change my clothes.

And now I’m standing in front of a whole crowd of people. Man, this is embarrassing.

“Well, I did operate under that name for some time.”

“Oh yeah? So what’d your ‘Poer’ do?”

“I would call it… killing Devils, I guess?”

This guy’s been pretty quick to make assessments of me.

Leaving myself aside for now since I have no arcane energy, but he has no issue standing in front of someone as powerful as Pochi, so he must have a great deal of confidence in his combat skills. As in, she should be strong enough to casually walk through an area full of ferocious monsters, at least.

Moreover, while he’s glaring at me, he’s not laughing. That means he does know how strong I am… but decided to confront us this way anyway.

Why would he be doing that, though?

“Um… so what exactly do you want from me?”

“I — and by that I mean WE Eddo Boars have been keeping up this long-standing task of asking a set of questions to people who claim to be the Holy Warrior Poer.”

“…A test, then.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Questions… huh. What’s the meaning of this?

Even if I’m not Poer, they’d still be fighting for the fate of humanity eventually.

Would something change just because they know I’m the real Poer?

Maybe they would become more cooperative with the Resistance? That wouldn’t change anything either, since they’d still be fighting against the Devilkin when they attempt to destroy the T’oued.

So what could be the reason for them wanting to know whether or not I’m actually Poer?

“I understand. Ask your questions, then.”

“I’ll ask you three things. First, what was the former name of our team, before we took on the current name of Eddo Boars? No one’s been able to answer that before, y’know.”

“Kugg.”

“–!?”

“You were Kugg Boars.”

At that moment, the expressions of the faces of the whole Eddo Boars crowd froze up.

Looks like I wasn’t wrong. Well, considering how similar to Guild this leader-like guy is, probably even Pochi would be able to make that connection.

“…Heh, looks like you weren’t lying when you said you were Holy Warrior Poer. But I’ll believe you only when you answer everything correctly.”

“Find by me.”

“Who was the leader of that Kugg Boars team in the era of the Holy Warriors?”

“That would be Guile!”

When it comes to questions like this, Pochi always tends to butt in…

But, well, since it doesn’t really make a difference who gives the answer, I’m sure they’ll let it slide.

“So that’s your Familiar? You sure you wanna count her answer?”

Good thing they’re asking to confirm that.

I nodded to them, confirming that I was fine with it.

“……Last question. Who was that man’s employer?”

“Polco Adams.”

As soon as I said that, the whole group’s intense gaze subsided in an instant.

Not only that, they cast down their eyes and knelt down.

“We’ve been waiting for your return! Master Poer!”

The leader’s attitude changed completely, to the extent that Pochi and I had to turn to look at each other with confusion.

“I am Eigul, a descendant of the original leader, Guile! I apologize for our disrespectful behavior!”

Whoa, he’s even got a similar name.

“Oh, no, I understand that you have a purpose, so it’s totally fine… I guess?”

“Your insight is remarkable, Master Poer, as expected of a Holy Warrior!”

What a tremendous change in their attitude.

It would have been understandable to act like this in the past, but now, five thousand years later? Why so formal? 

…Really, I don’t get it.

“So, Eigul, did Guile leave behind any message for us?”

“No, he did not! Well, we do have a message, but it isn’t from him!”

When Eigul said that, Pochi and I looked at each other in surprise. 

Now then, who could it be?

“However, it’s not appropriate to relay the message in public! I apologize for the inconvenience, but please let me provide you the full report in private!”

“…All right, let’s go inside the house, then.”

“Thank you!”

With me telling Eigul that, he proceeded to tell his comrades to scatter around.

They guarded and patrolled the outside of the mansion, showing off their high level of professionalism to me and Pochi

“Hmm, his team really is as good as the Siler General, sir.”

“Maybe they’re even better, you know?”

“Huh, what do you mean by that?”

When we reached the reception room of the mansion, Eigul knelt down on the spot without sitting on a chair.

“P-please take a seat.”

“Excuse me!”

I don’t think even Adolf would be this formal even if he were to grow up. 

When everyone finally was seated, Eigul let out a subtle sigh and told us the purpose of this visit.

“As you may have already noticed, we are a team made up of descendants of the Kugg Boars. There are also members who joined us along the way, of course, but all the main members have inherited the blood and legends of that era. Under the guidance of our original leader, Guile, the Kugg Boars eventually moved to T’oued and became the Eddo Boars. Discipline is strict, and members are expected to possess fairly high skill levels. The team has faced the threat of disbandment many times. However, we were able to keep things running until now due to a millennia-old request from a certain individual.”

“…A certain individual?”

I asked, and Pochi tilted her head. Eigul lowered his voice even more.

“Master Polco Adams.”

“”–!? Master Polco!?””

“Yes, he was the one who left a message for us to relay. Even if the family name and their territory were to persist through the ages, it does not necessarily mean that the leading person is excellent. As such, it is not necessary for the head of the household to be the one who safeguards this message. Instead, Master Polco has bound the Kugg Boars to a contract under the guise of an aristocratic mission, spending a huge amount of funds to do so.”

Makes sense — he wouldn’t know how long it would be until the message was relayed.

After all, Polco didn’t know which era I was originally from — only that it was during the time when we would fight the Devil King again.

With that in mind, it was reasonable to think that adventurers had a higher chance of survival than aristocrats — because, unlike most aristocrats, adventurers hone their survival skills daily.

And by binding this mission to a contract, the risk of information leaking out is low.

Polco was one of the most powerful mages of that era. At the point when the activity of monsters subsided, the possibility of stronger individuals appearing was low, too, meaning the chances of the contract’s details leaking due to outside influence were close to none.

As expected of Polco Adams… He really thought this through.

And this doesn’t even involve Kaoru and Jun’ko — the only other known immortals at the time — so he must have taken into account the probability of the message persisting through the ages.

…It’s impressive. Very impressive.

“…Thank you very much. We respect the loyalty and beliefs of Kugg Boars and Eddo Boars.”

“Oh, no, not at all. We are simply fulfilling our mission as adventurers.”

Hahaha… That’s exactly the kind of thing Blazer and Argent would say.

“So, what is Master Polco’s message?”

Pochi seems happy, what with that being a name quite nostalgic to her.

Polco and Pochi did get along quite well back then, so this kind of reaction is understandable.

But then Eigul seems to look… somewhat troubled.

“…Perhaps our original leader knew the actual content of this message, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to relay it as originally intended…”

“In other words, due to how long it has been, the message has become more like a code… is that it?”

“Yes, I suppose…”

Pochi and I turned to look at each other again.

No matter what kind of code it may be, though, we must hear whatever Polco intended to tell us. 

We nodded and turned to Eigul.

“”Tell us.””

Eigul, seeming relieved, cautiously conveyed Polco’s message to us,

“The message is ‘Dig beneath the feet of the legendary Holy Warrior Poer.'”

At that moment, Pochi remembered something and burst out laughing.