Chapter 73
Possibly, The Most Suitable…
The direction where those black dragons flew away .
The dragon’s roars .
I followed these and entered the forest .
Thanks to that, tracking these dragons weren’t difficult .
My running speed .
Stamina .
Is it thanks to the correction in my status?
Having both of them in my a.r.s.enal, it helped me arrive before anything bad had happened .
Seras slips out from under the man wearing a black armor .
I could exclude some target under my discretion while I’m designating multiple targets .
Therefore, she is not paralyzed together with the others .
My skill is quite convenient .
[To—]
Seras quickly closes her mouth .
It seems like she was about to speak out my name .
However, it seems that she has averted the situation where the man in armor hears my name .
It seems that she has earnestly thought what I said before .
[Umm… I guess I should thank you first for helping me out . ]
Seras respectfully bowed .
[I’m glad I came right in time . ]
After saying so, I turned towards the man in black armor .
[Is this one of those Black Dragon Knights?]
[Yes, they seem to be the Bakuos Empire’s Dragon Knights . ]
[Is this guy one of those rumored Five Dragons?]
[No, though he called himself the deputy of the vanguard corps of one of the Five Dragons . ]
Seras stands next to me .
I then turned towards the girl beside me .
[It seems that you’re in quite a mess . ]
[Why did you come here…?]
Seras’ eyes were still towards the paralyzed dragon knight and that black dragon of his .
It seems that she’s still wary about them .
Before I answered her question…
[]
I invoked Poison into the dragon knight .
For the time-being, I’ve only set it into non-lethal .
Though, I’ve applied lethal poison towards the black dragon .
Now that I’ve confirmed that the poison has been endowed towards them, I began answering her questions .
[Rumors about you has been flowing around Mills without pause . These rumors said that you had escaped . You even managed to escape towards this place . And so, I came into this forest again just to search for you . ]
The seriousness on Seras’ face began increasing .
[That isn’t what I w- wanted to know . What I wanted to ask was…]
[Wait . ]
[Eh?]
[]
I made both the dragon knight and the black dragon fall asleep .
If she were to ask some questions one after another, she may slip out something that others must not hear .
As if she felt a bit ashamed, Seras looked down .
[I- I’m sorry that I didn’t notice . If we were to talk about complicated things, you would have to deal with eavesdroppers first . Umm, then… Why are you here?]
[I hired you as my escort . Besides, according to the information I received in MIlls, it wasn’t like you’ve betrayed and ditched us . ]
[Pii♪]
Pigimaru happily added his comment too .
[D- Didn’t you understand after this happened? If you were to stay with me…]
[I will also be chased by the Black Dragon Knights?]
[T- That’s right . That’s why, please get away from this place already . For now, it seems that they haven’t sensed your presence yet except for this man…]
[Can’t we just escape together after you use that Illusion Technique you’ve used before? Or is it that you can’t change your face other than to that face you’ve used before?]
[I can indeed use it to change into other faces but… the spirit that could use the illusion is currently confused right now after the effects of the Illusion Breaker . I can’t seem to be able to use its ability until it calms down . ]
[When will its confusion subside?]
[…I don’t know . ]
Seras takes out a pouch from her pocket .
[I’m sorry . That guard mission that we’ve talked about before, I will be canceling it . I will also be returning this Azure Dragon Stone back to you . ]
I breathe out a sigh .
[Why is it suddenly canceled?]
[Like I said…]
Seras puts her hand over her chest .
[If you are together with me, you would be exposed to danger . ]
She looks like she’s quite pained when she said this .
[To be honest, this is really quite troublesome . ]
[Yes— That’s right! It would be quite troublesome if you were to go with me . ]
I inadvertently scratch my head .
[That’s not what I mean . ]
[W- Well then, what do you—]
[I mean, it’s a ha.s.sle for me to search for a guard again that equals or exceeds you in the requirements that I needed for my guard . ]
[———–]
I feel like Seras’ words were stuck under her throat .
She took a brief pause…
And then after that, I could see some indications of her tenaciously facing me .
[I- If you were to go north of Mills, then you should be able to pa.s.s by the capital city of Urza before you get into the Demon Zone . You should be able to hire a skilled mercenary there . If you want to exchange the Azure Dragon Stone into money so that you could hire an expensive mercenary, I can also tell you about someone that I know that could exchange that jewel…]
As I thought, she knew of an under the table route to cash out this Azure Dragon Stone huh…
[Hey, Seras . Which of us has the problem here?]
[P- Problem…?]
[The reason for cancelling out our agreement . Is the problem on your side or in my side?]
Seras cast her eyes downwards .
[…I- It goes without saying . It’s my problem . ]
[Then, there’s no problem with it . Our agreement shall continue . ]
[H- Hati-dono!]
[Take off your clothes here . ]
Seras’s time suddenly stopped .
Her eyes blinked out in surprise .
[—Eh?]
I put down the backpack I’m carrying .
I started taking out women’s clothing that I bought before .
[The size may be a bit different, but I have procured you some clothes . Those guys back in Mills should still remember the clothing that you’ve been wearing . Just in case, you would avoid wearing those clothes you’ve worn before until we’ve entered the Demon Zone . ]
[Ah— S- So that’s what you mean…]
Seras seems to be a bit embarra.s.sed .
Hmm?
Ah, I see .
[Did you get confused by the words I spoke before . I’m sorry about that . ]
[That’s right… Though it was a fact that I’m a bit upset—]
Seras looks as if she suddenly became aware of something .
[P- Please wait! Our guard agreement would be going to continue for quite some time, but my problem is much bigger than you might be thinking…]
I turned towards the dragon knight that has been suffering in his sleep .
[I’ve heard about it before, that the Black Dragon Knights were supposed to be strongest . Was it something like the strongest Knight Corps in the whole continent? And, this supposedly strongest knights were chasing you . That’s why you have to escape while you have to keep yourself hidden from their sight… or something like that, right?]
[………… . . ]
Did I push it too far?
[Can I ask your real reason why you want to go to Jonato?]
I thought that she would probably not say anything and began suspecting me but…
After hesitating to speak out a few moments, Seras finally confided .
[From the port at the western borders of Jonato, there is a ship that goes towards the west continent . However, it requires a lot of money to get into that ship . ]
I see .
That’s why she needed that 300 gold coins .
[Is that story about you’re partic.i.p.ating in this call for the Monks not true?]
[Yes… I’m sorry that I’ve lied about it before . ]
I’m not really that surprised .
I thought it was possible that she could have lied about some things .
Our conversation continues .
[To put it shortly, it should be fine if you could just hide yourself somewhere safe?]
[That’s right . That’s what I was—]
Seras grasps her hand tightly and places it over her chest .
[Because, that’s the last command I received from that person . ]
It seems that there was someone who guided Seras’ escape somewhere .
The way she spoke about it…
Well, that place should be good enough .
[Thereupon, I have a suggestion for you . ]
I spoke about the suggestion I have .
[How about trying to negotiate whether the Witch of Taboos can hide you?]