CH 6

3-6 A Small Welcome

The wavering silver membrane pushed out a mute pressure. Unlike the original border, the unintentionally created borders of Raphia are probably incomplete in every sense. It sways and sways like an immature protective magic and its huge body rests in place.

When I took my gaze away from the dazzling scene and looked back, I saw Chris standing there with her lips pressed together as if she had made up her mind and Marie standing there as if to protect her.

“Chris had once gone into Raphia to investigate by herself. As soon as Raphia sank into the light, I blindly trusted in her abilities and sent her there without hesitation, even though she wasn’t even a holy knight at that time……”

Suddenly, there was an extraordinary increase in the quality and quantity of monsters. After the test was suspended in light of this, Leon confessed this drawing our attention. He supplemented the missing information with his tone of voice and put his hand on Sage’s shoulder as he searched for the right words to say. The small creak of the thick armor seemed to speak of Leon’s regret.

“I’m sorry. Sage. …… Take care of my sister, Christia.”

“It’s not like that, Leo-Aniki.”

Sage’s voice came out hesitantly and Leon looked up helplessly.

“I don’t know what happened then, but Chris’s current abilities are good enough to be used in uncharted territory. I guarantee it.” (Sage)

“……Even if you’re lying, say something cool like ‘I’ll protect her’.”

“No, that’s not my style……”

“Yes…. maybe you’re right……”

After a brief silence, Leon removed his hand from Sage’s shoulder.

“Be careful.”.

“I’ll manage. Be careful too, Leon.”

Leo-aniki at that time felt so weak that you wouldn’t imagine his usual appearance of overcoming predicaments while aloof. He was sending his sister to a place where she should be prepared to die and he was in a position and situation where he wasn’t even allowed to support.

I wondered if Chris had been in the same state of mind since I left. I wonder if her recklessness in accepting the investigation of Raphia, which she was ordered to do immediately afterwards, was an act of outrage after she had been tormented and cornered by a sense of helplessness.

“Chris.”

“Yes.”

Without pausing, there was a straightforward reply. It was hard to believe it was from a person who would be stepping into a place touched by death again.

If my departure was the remote cause of this trust that bordered on insanity, I had to respond.

“I’ll leave my back to you.”

“Yes!”

As if to embody her cheerful reply, Chris hugged Marie in front of her from behind.

I turned on my heel at the smiling scene and put one foot into the silver screen. The soft, jelly-like elasticity gave a small resistance, but as soon as I put my weight on it, the discomfort disappeared.

At the original border, the wall of magic power that adorns the sky and earth, exerts pressure on the intruder, as if to constrict them. The torrential downpour of magic power that is mercilessly hurled at us sifts out those who are unable to resist, but the power of this border is considerably weaker. This is a good thing for now, but it’s not all that welcome, since it’s allowing monsters to come and go.

When I walked through the dim space for dozens of steps, the borderline that had blurred the field of vision was cut off and a clear view jumped in.

“…… So this is Raphia, the Scarlet Country?”

As if asking himself, Sage ruminated the words in his mouth.

The dense forest that continues from Lurain is declining in density with the borderline as a threshold and behind the line of sight is a desolate land with exposed reddish-brown soil. The original borderline was on the left side and the mountain range with the zenith hidden in the clouds was on the far right side and Raphia formed a half-moon shaped territory in the gap.

But that’s all in the past.

“It’s your first time here right?”

With a distracted sound like a cork being pulled out, Chris’s body appeared through the haze of the border.

“It’s the first time I’ve even been to Lurain.”

Sage replied lazily, as if admiring the spreading scenery, but after a few beats, he turned around as if in a panic.

“I’m sorry. I lost the tone of voice I used when I called myself the Demon King.”

“No, you’re superior in terms of rules, so please refrain from worrying.”

“…. I’ve only heard of It but is Sage in such a high position in the human world?”

Marie said as she moodily squeezed her messy hair. The question mark at the end of the sentence was a clear indication of her attitude towards the question.

“I’m a little troubled to say it concretely…… What’s this?” (Chris)

I held out the magic tool to interrupt the slackening conversation. It’s for the sake of the mission, not because I couldn’t bear to listen to my own story, which was about to begin. Never.

“It’s a magical tool for locating enemies. If it detects another magic power at the throwing point, it will make a sound and light to inform you of a close encounter.”

In this way, I made a light run and threw the magic tool at a rocky mountain that looks hazy in the distance. Perhaps the unfamiliar armor is a little unresponsive but it shouldn’t be a problem.

“…. I see, so you use magic tools to prevent people from knowing your location?”

“Yes. It’s difficult to hide the location of the caster with normal detection magic, but with this, you can detect them one-sidedly……”

Chris looked at the spherical magic tool I handed her and then raised her head as if she had made up her mind.

“Please throw it in the mountains as far as possible.”

Chris nodded and kicked the ground. The wind magic that she had used to start the throw could probably give away her position, but I kept silent about it and watched.

“…Do it!”

The magic tool was released with such force that if it hit anyone, it would be dangerous. It pierced the sky in the direction between the zenith and the horizon and disappeared without drawing a parabola. Chris, who had come out of her throwing position, looked at me and smiled happily.

As I smiled back, a pillar of light rose up from the vicinity of the forest, which was still far away.

“Alert!”

As if to drown out my raised voice, a bursting sound roared from the vicinity of the light. It was no doubt a reaction to the magic tool that had been thrown into the air and the air that had been flowing slowly became tense in a single breath.

“Blue Crystal Wings, Bless Her.”

I chanted quickly, and deployed a protective spell against Chris, who had pulled out the reborn Hitenryu.

We no longer needed to worry about being detected. We were already aware of each other’s existence via magic power.

One faint magic power, probably from a monster. There was another powerful magic force that seemed to follow it.

I reconfirmed the distance between us and relaxed my palms. The sound of the trees rippling became louder and louder and then the creature revealed itself.

It was the same type of monster that had attacked the examination site yesterday. When it saw us, it turned its headless body to the sky, spread its arms wide and roared.

“I won’t let you escape! Hahhhh!!”

The monster’s roar, however, was halfway taken over by a screaming human voice. A pale crescent-shaped blade was swung down on the back of the black demon in front of their tense eyes, as if it were being sucked in. The monster’s body, which still showed the intention of resistance, was cut off in the second slash.

The scythe that pierced the monster’s body lifted up and the figure on the other side shimmered.

With a burst of speed, Sage’s right arm shot up. In the open palm of his hand, the magic of flames was already flickering, waiting to be shot out, and would burn down the target with a single thought of Sage’s.

As it turned out, the landscape did not go up in flames.

The breathtaking pressure stilled as if the entire space had been cut off and a chilling silence fell.

“…… Are you human?”

With his stretched hands and magic, Sage frowned and opened his mouth intimidatingly.

“Hey! that’s my line. What are you? I thought you were a monster because you have such strong magic.”

The girl who revealed herself put down the scythe she had pointed at Sage and the first thing she did was glare venomously at him. When the handle of the scythe was separated from the delicate fingertips, the scythe shone phosphorescently and disappeared in a flash.

The air that swirled and disappeared shone with a grainy glow, probably because she was controlling a cold air magic similar to that of Leon. But that’s not the problem.

“…… Um, what were you doing?”

Chris couldn’t hide her confusion. As she put down her sword, which she drew with great enthusiasm, she spoke slowly, trying to find her tone.

“You see, I’m looking for these guys and sweeping them up. But no matter how hard I try, it’s never over.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear. But perhaps it was because it was right after the battle, she was looking at me so piercingly that it was hard to pursue.

“I thought the inhabitants of Raphia had been swallowed up by the borderline. ……”

“I thought so too. I didn’t think they were going to make it either.”

When she said it as if she wasn’t there when it happened, she looked around and nodded lightly.

“Nn… Today turned out this way. Well, see you later.”

“Eh, wait…..!”

As soon as she turned on her heel, one foot was already kicking the ground. Rather than digging, they weren’t touching the ground at all.

“…… What’s this? You didn’t come here for me, did you?”

“That’s….. true, but ………”

That’s not what I want to say. What can I say to get the attention of this petite girl?

As I tried to rack my brain, which had no experience in dealing with children, Chris glanced at me with her eyes and walked up to the girl.

”Hey, you find and defeat monsters every day, don’t you?”

“Hmm ……? Well, I don’t want to do it.”

Chris looked at me curiously and I nodded my head.

“We’re here to investigate what happened to this country in the past and what’s going on now. We’re here to help you with your work and we’d like to know what happened to those monsters too.’

“Well, I appreciate it but ……”

With a grim look on her face, the girl nodded her head. It was probably not my imagination that the gaze she occasionally flashed was frozen.

“…… Well it’s fine. It’s better than being left alone to do something you don’t understand.”

At last, the girl ran down the ground, bluntly saying that. She cut straight through the middle of the forest without shaking her eyes or even looking back.

“I’m sorry, I let the flow take me ……”

“No, thank you for your help. we don’t have any other leads, so let’s just follow her.”

I was thinking mainly of exploring the territory that had turned into a wasteland, so I couldn’t read the direction of the divergent current situation at all. If there’s something I can get on board with for a start, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try and get on board.

“…… hmm?”

As soon as I floated using wind magic, a kind of embarrassing uncomfortable feeling turned into a voice and spilled out.

“Did you forget something….?”

I exchanged glances with the two who had become still in the air in response and twisted my head in search of the memory that was lodged in the back of my throat.

Two seconds later, a flash of light and an explosion exploded in the girl’s direction, followed by a series of screams and shouts.