Chapter 194
Light covered up my line of sight.
And when the light subsided……
I could see a scenery familiar for me.
The Witch’s home.
We were transferred on top of a magic circle set up in the corner.
This is the location that is designated as the area of transfer when the Gem of Teleportation is used.
Taking off the Fly King mask, I hold it on my hand.
Accompanied by a strange feeling of nostalgia, I spoke.
[We’ve made it back in one piece huh.]
I began checking whether everyone is alright.
……They’re fine.
Seras, Eve and Slei have been transferred too.
I check inside my robe.
[Pigii.]
There isn’t any problem with Pigimaru too.
Following me, Eve also took off her mask.
Her ears were twitching, probably because she’s hearing something.
[The sound of footsteps from the distance—– based on the loudness of the sound, those must have been from the golems.]
[For the time being, let’s go check out our belongings first.]
I followed Erika’s advice and reduced the amount of stuff we brought with our transfer.
It looks like everything’s here but……
[Just in case, let’s make sure that there’s nothing that wasn’t transferred.]
If there’s anything we unintentionally left behind where we disappeared, I’ve already prepared a plan.
I made sure that the Princess will either hide or get rid of it.
However, it seems that there are no items that haven’t been transferred.
Just as we were checking our personal belongings like our equipment…
[Mhmm? These footsteps…]
[Big Sister~]
The one who came with a golem in tow was Liz, dressed with an ap.r.o.n.
[——Liz.]
Eve’s voice when she called out her name was low and quiet.
However, I can feel that her voice is overflowing with joy.
Perhaps……
There must have been some kind of sign that appeared, such as some kind of light glowing around here before we were transferred.
Then, that golem who was watching out for this place went to call Liz.
It would really come in handy if I could use that kind of golem in our travels.
[I’m glad.]
Liz clenches her small fist in front of her chest.
She sounds like she’s finally relieved after worrying too much.
[It seems that Touka-sama is safe…… Seras-sama too.]
A slight smile appeared on Seras’ face.
[Yes. We’re all back safe and sound.]
[Pakyuuu~]
Stepping towards Liz, Slei rubbed her cheek to the young child.
Liz gently placed her hands on Slei’s head.
[Suu-chan, thank you for your hard work. You did a good job out there.]
[Pakyuuu♪]
Then…
[Pinnyuuiii~]
Pigimaru jumped out of my robe.
Bouncing like a rubber ball, he approached Liz.
Pigimaru stops.
Bending down, Liz patted Pigimaru.
[Thank you for your hard work, Pigimaru.]
[Pigii~♪]
Looking at them with a pleasant smile on her face, Seras reservedly peered into my face.
[Touka-dono…… What should we do?]
[…………….]
Even at the moment, Erika still hasn’t appeared.
If it Erika, I’m sure she would have come as soon as we return to get her reward for the information she provided.
[Liz.]
I voice out my concern.
[Is Erika alright?]
▽
[Welcome back.]
As soon as we met again, the Witch of Taboos said so.
Erika was lying on the bed in her room.
Liz runs towards the side of the bed.
She then helped Erika raising her upper body.
[Thank you.]
Erika said to her.
……It seems that she couldn’t get up on her own.
[Your current state must have been because you told us about the situation in the Anti-Demon White Castle through your familiar huh.]
Erika’s familiars have been sent to various places.
Through the eyes and ears of the familiars, Erika could acquire information from outside the Demon Zone.
However, even if she could see and hear, she couldn’t speak through them.
No— it’s possible for her to speak through them.
However, speaking through them would set an enormous burden on her body.
Once again, I look at Erika.
[………….]
If she said something through her familiar, this is what happens.
At the very least, just speaking is enough to make her impossible to stand up properly.
And she will have to endure that burden for several days.
If I remember correctly, that’s how she explained it.
Erika lightly raised her frail hand.
[I know that I’m going to receive this burden on my body, so don’t worry about it. Even so……]
Erika’s eyes look like they’re reproaching me.
[If you take this for granted, even Erika would be very upset.]
Then…
[Erika Anarveil-dono.]
Seras knelt on one knee.
Deeply lowering her head, she continued.
[With your help, I was able to wield my sword for the Princess again. I’ll be sure to return this favor in some way in the future.]
[I see.]
Erika inhales—- as if she’s pausing for a bit.
Her gaze swerves towards me.
[That means, you’ve achieved your goal there, right?]
[Yes.]
[Well, that’s good to hear. I was just curious.]
Erika runs her hand through her hair to the back of her head.
[As soon as I informed you guys about the situation in the Anti-Demon White Castle, Erika actually fainted, you know~]
I could see some sweat from her tanned nape peeking out.
[Before I pa.s.sed out, I requested various things from Liz. I asked her to take care of Erika after I pa.s.s out.]
All of our gazes turned to Liz.
Feeling embarra.s.sed, Liz shrank back.
[For those things I’m not very good at doing, I was asking the Golem-sans instead…… so it isn’t that I took care of Erika-sama all by myself.]
[No, Liz’s presence here was great. Golems are good for rough, simple tasks, but they aren’t good with delicate tasks. It’s not like they were able to express heartfelt concern.]
Erika continues.
[On that note, Liz is really a very attentive girl. Well, that’s why Erika was able to pa.s.s out without any worries, you know? She’s even good at cooking, that I couldn’t stop eating them.]
[I used to work in a restaurant before after all…… well, more or less, I think.]
Even though she’s shrinking back, I could see an embarra.s.sed smile on Liz’s face.
[Well, you know…]
I spoke.
[Even if she wasn’t on the battlefield, Liz was still the one reliably working behind the scenes.]
[……Touka-sama.]
[You’re also a splendid member of the Fly King Squadron, aren’t you?]
[Y- Yes.]
Liz neatly bowed.
[Thank you very much, Touka-sama.]
[Fuuunnn…]
Erika has some kind of hidden meaning in her expression.
[You’ve also become quite the splendid king, aren’t you? Touka.]
[Well, yeah.]
“Hoohh…” Erika exclaimed.
[I’ve got a lot of questions to ask—- but all of you look tired, so for the time being, all of you should get some rest. Erika also isn’t really fine either.]
As soon as the thread of tension has been broken, the tiredness will come over your body.
I think it has something to do with the switches by the autonomic nervous system.
From excitement to relaxation—- from sympathetic to parasympathetic, or something like that.
Well, maybe we should rest for a bit for now.
But before I do that, I want to ask Erika one thing.
Before leaving the room, I stopped at the door.
Turning around and looking over at Erika behind me, I called out to her.
[Erika.]
Except for me and Pigimaru who is in my robe, the others were already out in the corridor.
Erika, who was lying down again, turned her face towards me.
[What is it?]
[There are troublesome hindrances that appeared in my goal of crushing Vysis.]
The Heroes of 2-C—– Especially, Sogou Ayaka.
[So, are you giving up just because of that?]
[I don’t plan on doing that.]
[Thought so.]
Feeling that silence is about to weave in, I opened my mouth again.
[I’d like to ask Erika Anarveil one more thing on this occasion.]
Both of our gazes met up with each other.
[How much do you hate that G.o.ddess—- Vysis?]
Erika snorted in disgust.
[I hate her so much.]
I can tell that she really hated her from the tone of her voice.
[It should have been obvious…… Because of that wicked G.o.ddess, this Mistress has been deprived of all of my possibilities? It’s because of her that we have been holing up here many times earlier than I have planned…… Even though there are still many things I need to do out there.]
[Is Vysis’s presence in your way?]
[For this mistress, yes.]
[Erika, can I ask—-]
[What do you want to request?]
Erika interrupted my words.
It’s as if…
“You don’t have to say any of those introductory words. Just get to the point.”
—she’s trying to say something like that.
And thus—- this Dark Elf who had been called as Taboo by the G.o.ddess took the initiative to ask.
[What do you want this Erika Anarveil to help you with?]
[……I’ll talk to you about the particulars later. I just wanted to make sure you have made up your mind first. In the meantime…… Both of us might as well get some rest for now.]
▽
When I left Erika’s room and went to my own, I found Seras in the middle of getting dressed.
[Ehh, uhhh—- aahh, Touka-do—–]
[My bad. I’ll be back a little later.]
From behind me…
[I- I don’t really mind.]
–or so I heard a voice calling me to stop.
However, that’s not going to happen.
At least, as far as I can tell from how she’s in the middle of changing just now.
I lightly struck my fist on my forehead.
……Even though I may be thinking about some things, I need to be more aware of other things too.
Well, that’s why I left my room.
Around this time, Eve might be changing her clothes too.
I mean, I also have to turn her back into her Leopardkin form later.
…………….
If I’m just going to continue thinking, I might as well go wander around outside for a while.
That was when I arrived in front of the room where we eat.
Stopping in my tracks, I quietly peeked into the room.
—–It’s Liz.
She’s crouching with her little back facing me.
I don’t think—- she was sick but…
[…………….]
She appears to be crying.
From the way she’s moving, it looks like she’s wiping away the tears with her hands.
It’s like she’s whimpering.
[I’m… glad…… Big Sister…… safely came back……]
It seems that those were tears of relief.
[Touka-sama, Seras-sama, Pigimaru-chan, and Suu-chan too…… I’m really glad everyone’s safe……]
She’s trying to stifle her cries.
She probably doesn’t want to be found crying.
She doesn’t want anyone who discovers her—- to be worried about her.
……It felt different.
Perhaps, she had been enduring it when she greeted us.
Or else, she may have started crying.
The truth is that she must have been heartbreakingly anxious.
Leaning my back against the hallway’s wall, I glanced at the ceiling.
Perhaps, I should have come out where I’m hiding and talk to her now.
Perhaps, I should say some gentle words to her.
However, that would probably mess up Liz’s consideration to us.
When I look back at her—- Liz was standing up.
Her sobbing has also stopped.
And…
[Alright.]
Liz clutched both of her hands as if she was trying to cheer herself up.
She’s a strong child.
Really.
Most of all—- she’s a kind child.
Making sure that my footsteps can’t be heard, I quietly left the place.
I then walked straight out of the house.
Halfway down the stairs, I stopped in my tracks.
[……I should do that.]
I think I should talk to her now.
▽
All of us have rested our weary bodies.
And—-
We are now sitting around the table.
Erika was here too.
“I think it’s better if you get more rest.”
I advised.
However, Erika…
“No way.”
—stubbornly refused.
Are you a child?
Moreover…
“Erika, you know… has been a really convenient woman for you, so you should try being a convenient man once in a while too. Is that alright? Hu- man—kun?”
Saying so, she pressed her index fingers to my lips as her eyes were reproaching me.
As far as I’m concerned, it looked like I don’t have any way to refute.
However, she can’t walk yet.
That’s why I brought her here.
What’s more, at Erika’s request, I carried her in that so-called “princess carry”.
I tried asking her if just lending her my shoulder is no good but…
“It would be hard to even stand up when I’m forcing myself to cooperate with someone else.”
Since she said it like that, I guess it can’t be helped.
It’s hard to say no when she poking me like that.
Incidentally, while I was carrying her…
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just have a golem carry you?”
I tried asking her just to make sure…
“It’s hard, so no.”
—or so she replied.
It seems that she doesn’t like the golems because they’re hard.
And with all these and that…
We all sat around the table for the first time in a long time and finished our dinner.
This time, our meal took quite a while.
We were talking about various things regarding our information.
The main content is about the story after we went through the Northern Demon Zone.
In other words—- the story after Erika collapsed.
[I see. You’ve linked up the Fly King Squadron with that group of sorcerers, and disguised your skills as sorcery huh…… That’s a pretty good idea.]
Erika said with admiration.
Incidentally.
The magical chariot, the army of golems, the Gem of Teleportation and Erika’s handmade weapons……
That matter where we squandered them, she just lightly let it pa.s.s without any particular care about it.
Although I’ve already expected that her reaction would be like that……
As expected, I wouldn’t know if I could say she’s just being generous or something other than that.
As for Erika…
[I have a considerably longer lifespan than humans. Comparing my feelings to humans have, it may be easier to think that I should take my time to make them again. And well, those things have been of use this time.]
–or so she said.
Eve crossed her arms.
[Without your cooperation, we would not have had this success.]
[I’m not saying that this would be in exchange for that, but I’d like to hear more about the time you used it later. Yeah…… I guess it’s a shame that I couldn’t see it in use with my own eyes.]
[In that case, please leave it to me. I’d be happy to tell you all about how they look like in use.]
[Thank you.]
[No. It’s me who’s most indebted to Erika-sama, so it should be expected for me to help you even if it’s just this much.]
Erika brings the conversation back.
[So, you guys flew here from the Neia army’s camp with the Gem of Teleportation. A mysterious group of sorcerers who suddenly appeared on the battlefield and vanished very quickly…… I don’t know if it will be good or bad for you, but your whereabouts afterward will be a hot topic of conversation.]
[With the help of Princess Cattleya, she spread out the “information” that we were headed north.]
[That’s a pretty good idea too. Even if Vysis suspected that information, it wouldn’t mean she wouldn’t allocate some of her subordinates to the north.]
[It may be just mere consolations, but it will somehow disperse the number of chasers that may follow us.]
We took down the Great Demon Emperor’s Confidant.
Just as Erika said, it will certainly be a hot topic.
And thus, Vysis wouldn’t just leave it alone.
I’m sure that she would take some kind of action.
[Well, depending on the war situation in the east and west, she may not be able to afford to allocate some of her subordinates to search for you all. I’m still not sure how they’re doing though.
Yes.
Because of this, I’m concerned about the status of the Eastern and Western armies.
No—- that also includes the Southern Army.
I’m not talking about the one where Sogou and the others are.
I’m talking about the other half of the Southern Army that was said to be waiting in the royal capital of Magnar.
I don’t even know what happened there yet.
When I used the Gem of Teleportation, I still haven’t acquired any information on the other forces yet.
Whether they’ve won…
—or they’ve been defeated.
One thing I’m particularly concerned about is the Eastern Army.
It was said that the Great Demon Emperor appeared in the East and Vysis headed there.
It seems that Kirihara followed her but……
I was told that the Takao Sisters are in the Eastern Army.
If the Great Demon Emperor is defeated there—- it makes it a little harder for me to move around.
[If the Great Demon Emperor that appeared in the east had been defeated…… They may swoop on their next target, which will probably be exposing the ident.i.ty of the Fly King Squadron.]
[I’ll gather information from each place as soon I’ve recovered enough to at least able to make my familiars move. We need to focus on the east. Though in that case, Touka and the others should stay here for a while longer until you’ve recovered.]
Now that Erika is exhausted, I haven’t been able to gather any information at all.
However, if Erika is in her tip-top shape, it will be a tremendous advantage for us if she can gather information with her familiars in the future.
I’ve already confirmed to her around lunch earlier if I could get her to cooperate with me more in the future.
However, communicating with “those of us who have left the Witch’s home” would be the problem.
While we pushed through the Demon Zone, Erika informed us of the situation in the Anti-Demon White Castle.
By making her familiar speak what she wills.
That information was something difficult to convey without speaking it herself.
However, when she made her familiar speak……
I remembered when I picked Erika up from her bed today.
Erika’s face just as I look at her closely.
I couldn’t say that she’s looking very good.
As she is here right now, Erika appears to be calm and composed.
However, if you look at her closely, I could see that her complexion isn’t very good.
I think it’s somewhat unreasonable to make her do something like that again.
The transmission of her voice by using her familiar…
If she were to do this, she won’t be able to move her familiars properly for a few days.
Erika had been exhausted by that much.
…….Every time she was to use the speaking ability of her familiar, she would be like that.
However, in the future, if we want to know the movements of the Heroes, we would need some kind of means to “communicate” with each other.
And I think we would need to make use of that multiple times.
It’s not like we can’t communicate with each other using carrier pigeons or something like that.
However, they take too much time.
Especially when I need to ask a question, it would take twice as many days to get there and back.
[Erika, I need to talk to you about one thing about that.]
[?]
[Seras.]
[Yes.]
Hearing her name called, Seras took out a rolled-up parchment from the bag behind her.
And when I made s.p.a.ce at the table, Seras spread the parchment there.
Erika pulls her face forward.
[What’s that?]
Making her familiar speak to communicate with us is too exhausting for Erika.
However, without any means of communicating information with us, it isn’t possible to exchange information properly.
And that’s where this enters.
[This is—-]
I’m thinking of using a different type of “cheat”.
[“Kokkuri-san”.]
(T/N: It’s basically j.a.panese ouija. In kokkuri-san’s case though, there’s a “torii/traditional j.a.panese gate” at the top, YES and NO written beside the torii, beneath them is a row of numbers 0-9 and their letters.)
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