Chapter 88

Today is the second chapter. Please be careful.

Brad stood there, watching.

He watched the wall he had slashed with the sword in his hand explode, and quickly gathered his thoughts.

（Probably... this man is too much for us. At the very least, Elka should escape. I need to buy time and wait for Tia and the others to come up...!）

Brad started to back away, keeping Elka behind him.

Elka was still in a daze, and it was inevitable that she would be taken out of the fight.

“Oh? Are you trying to run? That’s not good... Why don’t you stand up and face me with some dignity?”

“Unfortunately... we’re not foolish enough to challenge a fight we can’t win.”

“Hmm... Well, that’s fine. I do want my prey to put up a little resistance, after all!”

“!”

Explode kicked the floor.

Brad pushed Elka away, sending her into a nearby room.

“You let your companion escape!”

“Guh...”

Brad blocked the sword that was swung down with a knife.

“You touched it, didn’t you?”

“! No way!”

Explosion――――――――――.

Brad, his body scorched, rolled on the floor.

Even though he had jumped back in a hurry, his body was covered in burn marks.

(This is bad... If I get hit directly, I won’t be able to move after one hit...)

The pain in his body told him as much.

He managed to get up, but he couldn’t move as nimbly as before.

“Look! In this state, it will be over soon!”

“Muu...!”

Brad rolled on the floor, barely dodging the sword.

However, the sword hit the wall and exploded, sending him flying again.

“Haa... haa...”

“Well, you dodged well... But even if I want to savor the fight, Lady Creasill’s orders are absolute. Let’s cut the fun short and start the extermination.”

“Creasill... So you’re one of his allies.”

“More like a child? Well, it doesn’t matter. Are you going to die here...?”

The sword was swung again.

But the speed was incomparable to before, and Brad couldn’t even move in time.

He thought this time it would be a direct hit, but――――――――――.

“Hey, you just said Creasill, right?”

“...What?”

Someone grabbed Explode’s arm from the side.

It was the arm of a girl who had been hiding in the room and came out when the wall was destroyed.

The girl, who harbored an overwhelming hatred for the god Creasill, burned Explode’s arm with black flames.

“! Gyaahhhhhh!”

“Shut up, stop making noise.”

“Gah――――――――――”

He grabbed the head of the fallen man and lifted it.

Brad’s body trembled at the bizarre scene.

“Yūhi... Why are you here?”

“I’ve made up my mind, Brad.”

Black flames rose from Yūhi’s body.

Her eyes were dark and hollow, but they still held a firm hatred.

“Creasill killed Yuki... So I have to make them suffer the same fate... I will burn all of his allies to the ground.”

“S, stop――――――――――”

“Yūhi has set... It’s already... night time.”

〈Flame Night〉.

Black flames enveloped Explode’s entire body.

For a moment, a scream was heard, but it quickly stopped, as if his throat had been burned.

The flames not only burned his body but also destroyed it.

When the flames subsided, there was not even a speck of dust or ash left.

“I will kill them all, Yuki... I will make that rotten woman who hurt you suffer until the end...”

The black flames flickering in her body were as clear as the night sky, and they were terrifying enough to keep anyone from approaching.

◆◆◆

“Auntie, another serving.”

“I want one too.”

“I would like one as well.”

“I will have one too!”

“Sure thing! You guys sure eat a lot.”

In a not-so-large restaurant in the city of Lacria, we were eating.

Gru was locked in one of the rooms at the inn.

By the way, we also rented two other rooms for our share.

All of it was paid for by the treasure Gru had in his cart.

Is that cheating? I can’t hear you.

“Hey, Setsu... We have to stay in this town until tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. The news of the king’s assassination has already spread, and this area is in chaos. There’s only one carriage a day, if that. We might have to stay another night.”

“Haa... I wish we could go back and relax.”

“Zion, you haven’t forgotten about the existence of Creasill, have you? We just heard about it a while ago.”

“Yes! I know that!”

Zion shouted and forcefully threw the meat from the plate into his mouth.

He’s not angry, this is just his normal behavior.

“There might be holy swords hidden somewhere in this town. But if we try to deal with all of them, we won’t have enough lives. We can only hope they’re not around here and pass through.”

“That’s true. I’m also worried about Desastor. I would like to test my skills against the holy swords...”

“Spare me. No one can heal wounds right now.”

Zion has a point.

Since I don’t have any magic power, we don’t have a healer.

We could use the Gluttony ability, but that’s our trump card.

We can’t use it so easily.

“I don’t understand, but is there anything we need to do in this town? If not, shouldn’t we go back to the inn? Setsu, I want to sleep.”

“Lazybones... Well, we’ll go back. What about you guys?”

“I’ll wander around the town. Since we have some free money, I’ll enjoy myself.”

“I want to check out the guild. There might be some information, and if there’s a good job, I’ll take it as a warm-up.”

“Got it. See you back at the inn tonight.”

◆◆◆

After paying the bill, Straw and I walked back to the inn.

“Hey, can you really do it? Possessing divine power and all?”

“I don’t know. I just think it’s worth doing.”

Hearing that answer, I scratched my head.

It’s just... not very satisfying.

Since even he doesn’t know the outcome, it’s understandable, but uncertainty is still frustrating.

“Anyway, make sure you get a good night’s sleep. It’s going to be a long night of training, and I don’t want you to collapse.”

“Yeah... I understand.”

We reached the inn five minutes later.

As we ducked under the large double doors, we were greeted by the lively voice of a young girl.

“Welcome! Oh, it’s the people from room 12, welcome back!”

“Hey! Use proper language, Mira!”

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s reassuring to have such an energetic girl around.”

“R, really? If the customer says so...”

Got it! The girl, who thrust her fist with a thumbs-up at me, is Mira, the daughter of the couple who runs the inn.

She has brown twin-tails and a small build.

She’s about 13 years old, from what I’ve heard.

She’s a bit of a joker and talks to guests like us enthusiastically.

She’s a big draw for the inn, contributing to sales at such a young age.

“Where are the other two? They’re in different rooms, but they’re with you, right?”

“Yeah, they’re wandering around the town. I’m too lazy, so I’m going to sleep in the room.”

“I know that! People like you are called lazy!”

“Shut up, leave me alone.”

That one hit home, in my heart.

I gave Mira a light tap on the head and went up the stairs to our room.

I could hear her grumbling behind me, but I ignored it.

“You seem to enjoy interacting with that girl... Could it be that you have a thing for young girls?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not a lolicon. It’s just... she reminds me of my childhood friend.”

Brown hair, full of energy, and friendly.

There’s not much else that matches, but she reminds me of her somehow.

“Anyway, don’t show yourself until we get to the room. You’ll be charged.”

“...You’re so stingy.”

Money is good to have, so of course, to save on the room rate, I asked Straw to remain invisible to others.

“...I’ll check it out.”

Before entering our room, I changed my mind and opened the door to the next room.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“...Terrible.”

There, tied up, was Gru.

Bound to a pillar in the room, he couldn’t leave unless he had a sharp weapon.

“Well, if we hand you over to the Demon King, I’ll ask them to treat you well. If you cooperate, that is.”

“...”

“See you later.”

Since he didn’t respond, I left the room and finally entered our own.

Well, as he said, I’ll get some sleep until tonight――――――――――.