Chapter 74

After taking a deep breath, I sat down at the teahouse and relaxed for quite some time.

During that time, I watched to see if the men I had left a distance away would wake up, but there was no sign of them stirring.

I glanced at Jeanne.

Even though she had changed her appearance through mimicry, Jeanne was sipping tea with grace. There had been a time when I thought her elegance would give her away, but it seemed that hadn't changed—probably couldn't be changed.

She exuded an elegance that couldn't be hidden, and when our eyes met, she tilted her head slightly.

"Is something wrong, Sir Cyril?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Is that so...? —Oh, wait, could it be!"

Jeanne suddenly became flustered.

"Is there something stuck on my face!? Oh no, I made such a common mistake in front of Sir Cyril."

Jeanne hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe her face.

"No, that's completely fine. Your face is still beautiful."

"—Huh?"

"Huh?"

She looked at me in surprise, frozen in place.

"Wh-What did you just say...?"

"Beautiful? Your face is beautiful?"

"——!!"

Jeanne's face turned bright red instantly.

Her expression was a mix of happiness and embarrassment, and she started to fluster.

"...Ah."

I realized my mistake a bit late.

I hadn't exactly said the wrong words, but I had caused a misunderstanding.

"Beautiful... You mean, Sir Cyril thinks I'm beautiful..."

I thought about clearing up the misunderstanding, but seeing Jeanne mutter happily, I decided it was fine.

It wasn't wrong to think she was beautiful, and I actually did think so.

Most importantly, the happiness in Jeanne's expression was gradually increasing.

So, I thought, it was fine.

'Ha ha ha ha, you're quite the ladies' man, my heart friend.'

"No, no..."

I couldn't think of a response to Chris's teasing and could only smile wryly.

Well, then.

I looked at the group again.

They still showed no signs of waking up.

I realized Jeanne must have dealt a significant blow to them.

I had planned to wait for them to wake up, gather their hate, and avoid causing trouble for the shop, but I couldn't wait any longer.

I stood up and went to the old man and the waitress who were running the shop.

"Thank you for the meal, we're leaving now."

"Yes. That will be thirty reels."

"Here you go."

I took out some coins and paid the bill.

"Those guys—"

"Oh, don't worry about it."

The waitress seemed to understand and interrupted me.

"I know how to handle people like that."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. And the old man is quite strong too."

I looked at the old man with a "really?" expression.

The old man remained calm and smiled lightly.

I thought, "I see."

He was completely unfazed—neither scared nor excited.

If he was completely calm, it made sense.

"Alright, I understand. I'll give this to you just in case."

I took a card from my pocket.

It was about the size of a playing card, made of thin iron, with a mark on it.

I had it made based on a guild card.

Unlike a guild card, it had no practical use, but—

"This is... Dragon First, that's...!?"

The waitress was surprised when she saw the card I handed her.

"Yes, if they start complaining, tell them to come to us."

"Understood."

The waitress smiled and turned away.

I hoped everything would be fine.

☆

After leaving the teahouse and traveling for about half a day,

we arrived at a certain lake.

The lake, reflecting the sunset, was fantastically beautiful, and it was worth the journey just to see this.

"Beautiful..."

It seemed Jeanne thought the same thing, as she was moved by the sight of the lake.

On the other hand, I turned to Chris and asked,

"Is this our destination?"

'Yes, this is Indulain.'

"Indulain—there was another name, right?"

'Thunder Mountain.'

"Where is that?"

'Yes.'

Chris nodded but didn't answer.

Instead, he took a few steps forward and faced the lake directly.

I was wondering what he was going to do when—

"——!"

Chris looked up to the sky and opened his mouth wide.

Then he breathed fire at the lake.

It was a scorching flame unlike anything I had seen before.

The moment Chris looked up, I thought, "This isn't good," and quickly stepped in front of Jeanne to protect her.

"Aaaah!"

"..."

I said, half in surprise and half in exasperation.

The flame Chris breathed instantly evaporated all the water in the lake.

After the water disappeared, a large hole was left behind.

'Alright.'

"Next time, tell me before you do something like that. It's dangerous."

'Ha ha ha ha, the flames won't affect you, my heart friend, because of our contract.'

"But Jeanne is here too."

'I wasn't worried. I thought you would easily protect her.'

"Really..."

I was even more exasperated.

I didn't mind being trusted, but I wondered about this approach.

"A, ah...?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you... Sir Cyril..."

Jeanne blushed and thanked me happily.

'Ha ha ha ha, how about that? Just as I planned. You can call me the love cupid.'

"Come on."

'If you're going to be liked, you might as well be liked more. It's better for the girl to be infatuated with a man like you than to fall for some random guy.'

I was a bit exasperated.

From Chris's tone, I could tell he was serious and that this was his way of being kind, but I still thought this approach was questionable.

But arguing wouldn't change anything, so I decided to ignore it.

"So, we just go down?"

'Yes, can you see the cave over there?'

Chris nodded.

I approached the edge of the hole—what used to be the shore—and looked down.

"A cave?"

"Isn't that it, Sir Cyril?"

Jeanne, who had followed me, pointed.

I looked in the direction she was pointing.

There, as she said, was a cave-like opening.

Water was trickling out of the cave.

"Is that it?"

I asked Chris.

'Yes, that's Thunder Mountain.'

"Got it. Let's go."

"Yes!"

I nodded and led Jeanne down the hole.

Since it was originally a lake, it wasn't a sheer cliff but a gentle slope.

Thanks to Chris evaporating the water instantly, the slope was dry and relatively easy to descend.

We reached the bottom and headed towards the cave—when—

"Something's coming out!"

Jeanne shouted.

From the cave—Thunder Mountain—something was coming out in a swarm.

"What is that?"

I squinted to get a better look.

"Paper... dragons?"

Jeanne described what she saw, and I had the same impression.

There is a craft where you cut and fold thick paper to create three-dimensional shapes, known as paper crafting. The objects looked like paper dragons.

Each paper dragon was the size of a human.

"What is that?"

'They are guardians, a type of dragon artifact by human standards.'

"A type of dragon artifact?"

"Are they monsters?"

Jeanne asked.

I didn't understand Chris's words, but she was participating in the conversation based on my responses.

Recently, Jeanne seemed to have gotten used to this kind of situation.

'No, they are not monsters. They are not dragons either.'

"Not dragons either?"

"Then I'll take them down!"

Jeanne said and bravely charged forward.

Midway, she shouted, "Transform," and took on the form of the war goddess.

In the sunset, her transformed form glowed golden, almost as if she was emitting a divine light.

Jeanne fought well.

If it were a one-on-one battle, she would have definitely had the upper hand, but unfortunately, there were too many paper dragons.

It was a bad move to charge in alone, and she was quickly surrounded and put at a disadvantage.

"..."

I nodded and took a few steps forward.

As I moved, I extended my hands.

Then I released a flame bullet.

Nine-fingered flame bullet.

The nine flame bullets I shot from my fingers hit the paper dragons one after another, setting them on fire.

I cleared out the paper dragons that had emerged and rescued Jeanne.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes!"

Jeanne nodded, and her eyes seemed to sparkle even more in the sunset.

"As expected, Sir Cyril. You're much stronger than me even without transforming."

"Jeanne is strong too. Just don't rush in alone."

"Y-Yes!"

I smiled at the obedient Jeanne and turned to the cave entrance again.

I thought, there must be more obstacles... this can't be it.