RAW:
TL: MbypobjzfSisjnq
Oi ify, tpnfaijoh gjobmmy ibqqfofe
「La.s.sie!!」
「Uwa!?」
It was the day after I came back from the lake.
I was in my hut, calmly drinking a cup of tea while doing basically nothing. I was supposed to report back to Wanzardt-san about what I found during my investigation, but it would be better if the one responsible for it to tell Wanzardt-san instead.
「Eh!? Wanzardt-san!? Why are you here? Where"s Av?」
「I heard from that Mr. Ex-Demon Lord that la.s.sie is here. So let"s go!!」
Wanzardt-san grabbed my arm. I almost dropped my teacup.
「Wai- Hold on a second! Where are we going? Something happened?」
「To the royal capital, of course! C"mon!」
「Geh?? Nonono, aren"t you the one who told me to NOT go to the royal capital? So why are you taking me there?」
「They"re back!」
「……who?」
「The Demon Lord Subjugation Corps! They"re back!!」
「EH!?」
My teacup fell to the wooden floor.
Doesn"t matter.
「I heard they came back last night, ‘round midnight I… think?」
「…came back?」
「Ou. Y"know that missus that came withcha before?」
「Emyu-san?」
「That"s the one. That young missus asked me to bring you to her, but to tell the truthー O-oi!!」
I jolted from my chair and dashed outside.
They"re back.
The Demon Lord Subjugation Corps were back.
That means that they……
Rey-sama was back.
I hurriedly entered the teleportation circle to the royal capital and ran again after. I ran right into the public cafeteria. Meanwhile, Av was standing right outside for some reason.
「Hm? Where"s that burly man that was supposed to go with you?」
「He"s… I… forgot…… about him. Anyway, Av, where areー」
「……Emyurill is right at the last room on the second floor」
「Thank you!!」
I ran without looking at him.
There was so much going on inside my mind at the time.
So much that I didn"t even notice Av"s discomfort towards the whole situation.
「Emyu-san!!」
「Rio-chan」
I almost tumbled into the room, but Emyu-san caught me in her arms.
「Thank goodness you"re back! Wanzardt-san told me. So… umm… injury! Are you hurt somewhere? Are you alright? The othersー」
「Rio-chan… Rio-chan hold on a second」
There was so much question that I wanted to ask, but Emyu-san stopped me.
「I want you to listen to me. I don"t have much time. I will tell you everything that I know, but please leave the questions for later」
「Emyu… san?」
After the adrenaline-rush ended, I finally noticed everything.
I finally noticed the discomforting feeling in my gut.
「Rio-chan. We failed. The subjugation failed. Only a handful of people managed to come back, including the G.o.ddess-sama, the prince, and us from the relief squad.
Emyu-san told me to calm down and listen, but it was more like telling herself to calm down and not breaking down at moments notice.
Everything felt like slowing down to a crawl. Even Emyu-san"s voice sounded like coming from really far away.
「The Demon Lord"s army somehow read our movement. Suddenly, we were surrounded by enemies. The Demon Lord even led the ambush himself. The relief squad was located relatively close to the G.o.ddess-sama and the royalties, so when they ordered a retreat, we were able to escape along with G.o.ddess-sama. The people from Red Pavillion and Frontline Vanguard Corps… T-they stayed to held the enemies back」
I could feel her body shivering.
Tears were running down her sunken face.
「There was… this huge explosion. Everything around us was turned into flames. The demon lord"s army suffered quite a lot of damage, but the Demon Lord himself didn"t look like suffering from any damage. After that, we went back to the royal capital. The king doesn"t want to announce our failure to the public. Every surviving member are gathered inside a room and cannot leave. I managed to escape thanks to the others, but I have to go back before the guards noticed that I was missing」
I"m sorry
She said.
「…Emyu-san, it"s alright. Everything will be alright. I am glad you are safe and sound」
Emyu-san started breaking down and cried.
Something unfamiliar was boiling inside me.
I didn"t know what it was. I didn"t know if I should tell it to anyone.
So I just stood there and quietly pat Emyu-san"s back.
TL: Rfygbsbt nvta ejf gps cfaafs tapsyafmmjoh