Happy Monday!
Here is the chapter, enjoy. This chapter and the next one will be from Amelia"s perspective.
ED: Ignite
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was not my beloved person"s ordinary pointed black eyes, but a large pair of bright emerald eyes instead.
「Ahh! You"ve woken up.」
So slow, I got tired of waiting, I jumped up when I saw him innocently laughing while looking like a child.
I was fl.u.s.tered and wanted to get away from him, but I could not move my body.
「Ah–you can"t do that–! I have sealed your movements. Even if I didn"t do that, you used『Resurrection』, so your body is weak–.」
Though he said that, I could still move my head, so I looked around.
It wasn"t that I was restrained by chains and other such items, I just couldn"t move.
It seems that he had used some kind of magic to restrain me.
And, I remembered my cheeks coming into contact with the sand.
The location was different, but the atmosphere and the ambience was the same.
「…a dungeon.」
「Right, right! As expected of Princess Amelia.」
I glared at the demon youth who was nodding in satisfaction.
I feel like he had given his name before I was killed, but I did not remember it nor did I have any desire to know it.
My gaze that was filled with killing intent was warded off as if it were a gentle breeze, and the youth cheerfully laughed.
「Don"t do that–. Don"t look at me like that. You"ll ruin that beautiful face of yours?」
I gritted my teeth when I saw that the youth was so easygoing.
I tried to move my body, but it wouldn"t budge.
I could feel the ground.
As I had been lying down on the rugged ground, my back hurt.
And yet, I couldn"t move.
The youth who a short distance away from me was walking towards me, his footsteps resounding as he came.
「I told you, didn"t I? Don"t move. Demon king-sama told me to bring you to him without injuring you, so I used my trump card–.」
His pace made one question if he was really walking. The youth crouched down next to me and his face was suddenly right in front of me.
「I had always wondered, what would happen if I used the technique that demons used to control monsters on the elves, humans, and beastmen–. Thanks to you, I know the answer.」
He was within arm"s reach, but I could not kill him.
No, I may not be able to kill him, but I could at least run away. However, even that, I could not do.
I have become a hindrance to Akira.
「As expected, it was completely ineffective, and I couldn"t even control you, but it could render the elves whose magic was second to the demons completely immobile. This was a good harvest.」
Smiling, the youth walked away.
Rather than that, I was worried about what Akira would think of me.
If Akira abandoned me, I would definitely not be able to continue living.
…no, right now, it would be best to extract as much information from him as possible rather than wallow in these kinds of negative thoughts.
「…why are we in a dungeon.」
My first question made the youth"s eyes shine.
It seems that he wanted to talk to someone.
He was a demon, so I thought that he was a lot older than me, but he was childish, just like his appearance.
「You see, perhaps he could be said to be my superior? The second ranked demon can use magic circles. So, we used that magic circle, and came to this dungeon, but to return, we still need to use that magic circle, so we need to go down–.」
Surprisingly, he easily revealed the information, and it was quite jaw-dropping.
Of course, my mouth was not actually open, but it was inevitable that my eyes had widened in surprise for a moment.
The second strongest demon used magic circles.
Moreover, the magic circles could even connect the demon territory and the beastmen territory.
It wasn"t as powerful as the magic circle that was in the lowest floor of the Continent dungeon, but it was quite troublesome.
I didn"t think that they could use a long-distance one during a war, but if he could use long-distance teleportation magic circles, he could use short-distances ones as well, so appearing from a blind spot behind you…or something similar would be possible.
Even if you drew just the circle in advance, without needing to chant, one could activate it just by pouring in magic.
It had its merits, however, it also consumed more several times more magic than normal magic activation.
In other words, humans who had a small amount of magic power could not use it.
It was also impossible for the beastmen.
If it were the elves, we might just barely be able to use it, but it would be impossible for the ones that exhausted magic power like the teleportation type magic circles.
In the first place, I heard that magic circles were something that the demons had developed, and it may be used exclusively by the demons.
Due to the demerit of magic exhaustion, it was not researched much, so no one knew anything about magic circles.
If I remember correctly, years ago, a human researcher had developed a magic circle that curbed magic exhaustion, but before he could publicize it, he was abducted by the demons.
We still don"t know what happened to them, but he probably died.
「Yeah—, it"s annoying, isn"t it—. I think that too. I came here while riding the monster-chan from the lowest floor, but demon king-sama said that at the very least, using monsters was prohibited, so we have to go back on foot. Maa, right now, we"re taking a break though.」
It seems that he had interpreted me widening my eyes in surprise incorrectly.
How convenient.
「How many floors do we still have to go down.」
「Nn—…I don"t really remember, but probably around twenty. Ah, I had used magic to carry you, so you don"t need to worry—.」
If that was true, then right now, we were around the eightieth floor.
If he was together with Yoru, then he might make it in time.
…if he came to rescue me.
If I were to die, I wanted to die together with Akira.
That"s why, I had no plans on dying, but in this situation, my chances of survival seem slim.
For the time being, the best course of action would be to continue gathering information while keeping this demon youth appeased.
「…」
How pathetic.
What was, a miko, I wonder.
That kind of thing, even though I didn"t want it.
I have never understood the meaning of this occupation.
As well as the characteristics, and the reason I was selected.
a.s.sa.s.sins a.s.sa.s.sinate, wind magicians use wind magic…like that, the characteristics of other occupations were as their names suggest. Even though that"s the case, I did not understand what a miko should do.
There were hardly any records of the mikos of the past, so I also did not understand what the occupation entailed.
I, up until now, had only been living in the position of the first princess.
After, Kirika found out that she was the only one among the elves who had the apt.i.tude for the sword, she became engrossed in her sword practice.
I saw her, and I was envious.
What about me.
No matter what she did, she could do it well.
There was nothing that I was pa.s.sionate about.
After all, before one became engrossed in something, one had to be able to do it.
As someone who couldn"t do anything, I understood that this was a needless worry.
However, even so, I yearned for it.
I envied Akira.