Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Signal Flare

Eisel sat still for a long time with her face crimson, then barely raised herself.

Then Zeto stood from the ground and brushed off his coat.

“That was dangerous.”

“...”

Eisel still could not raise her head.

Meanwhile, Sierra was clinging to Zeto’s shoulder and glaring at Eisel.

“A thoroughly calculated movement... As expected, she is no ordinary girl.”

Even if she had deceived Zeto, she could not deceive her. Sierra thought so.

Zeto had not especially been deceived either.

“Why did she not catch it?”

He merely felt a small doubt as to why Eisel had not caught the Mustere.

In the end, Eisel, who had been lowering her head, opened her mouth first.

“I realized at the last second that we were not supposed to kill it... I’m sorry.”

“...That can happen. Then shall we change methods?”

Soon, Zeto let it pass as if that were that.

Meanwhile, Yuri and Lucia, who had been secretly watching them from over in the forest...

“M-M-Miss Yuri! Fire! Fire! At this rate, the whole forest will burn down...!”

Lucia, her voice urgent, waved her arms in a great fuss.

Around Yuri, who had been blankly staring at Zeto and Eisel, sparks were crackling and scattering.

It was unconscious.

Magic was not originally so easily affected by emotion, but Yuri had been born with talent for flame magic and had grown up eating elixirs related to flame, such as “Salamander’s Tail.” Because of that, her aptitude had risen as high as it could.

Thus, Yuri’s flame magic had to be considered greatly affected by emotion.

Anger, in particular, made good firewood.

That was right.

Yuri was currently extremely angry.

It was an emotion she herself had not felt in quite some time.

The “anger” she had naturally forgotten after meeting Zeto early and spending time with him was blazing inside her.

She had to endure it.

She could not show ugly anger before Zeto.

To begin with, she had no real justification.

It was probably something close to coincidence.

Simply, the man who could be called her closest “friend.”

Tangled together with a woman who had been reading a book like “101 Ways to Capture a Man” last night...

“...Is it a coincidence?”

Yuri suddenly recalled what her father Zeras had told her.

“Love, you see, becomes quite painful if you miss the right time.”

At the time, Yuri had not understood why Zeras, after asking again about Eisel, had said such a thing.

“Then even if Miss Eisel and Young Zeto whisper love to each other before you, you will feel nothing?”

But now she felt she could understand a little.

She did not feel nothing.

For some reason, anger rose within her.

Soon, after confirming that Zeto and Eisel had raised themselves, Yuri took a deep breath.

“...Huu.”

Then gray smoke seeped from her mouth, as if she had put out the anger that had been burning.

Yuri was confused.

Whether she truly liked Zeto.

Or whether it was her selfish possessiveness.

Because compared to the love in the fairy tales she had seen since childhood, this felt very different, as though something in it had twisted greatly.

And so she was truly confused.

***

“Pii!”

The Mustere that had climbed onto Zeto’s head let out a cute cry, as if excited.

“To catch it this easily...”

Eisel said this while raising her head to look at the Mustere.

A faint trace of disappointment was mixed into her voice.

“...I heard Musteres like honey very much.”

Zeto said this while feeding the Mustere on his head a piece of honeycomb dripping with honey.

This was knowledge he had gained while playing “monster tamer” in the game.

There had been a bit of trouble, but Eisel and Zeto successfully caught the Mustere.

As a bonus, Zeto also learned how to control the waves of Perception.

If he gathered energy and sent out a wave, it spread that much farther, but there was a delay in information returning, and the information was not very detailed.

Conversely, if he spread the wave narrowly, it felt as though he could learn details.

The maximum range of the wave was fairly wide.

Zeto guessed that if he invested skill points, wider and more detailed information would come in.

Then, in Zeto’s sight, Eisel appeared, staring at the Mustere with sparkling eyes.

And so he held out the honeycomb in his hand toward her.

“Would you like to feed it, Miss Eisel?”

The Mustere confirmed that the honeycomb had moved to Eisel and quickly leapt from Zeto’s head into Eisel’s arms.

Because the Mustere perched on her body was cute, Eisel focused on it with her mouth slightly open.

She was weaker to cute things than expected.

The hand she held out with the piece of honeycomb trembled faintly.

Soon, the Mustere cried and accepted the honeycomb.

Since both the excited Mustere and the careful Eisel were cute, Zeto wore a smile.

Now, the class would end early as soon as they returned to Edward. Though the people who had not caught a Mustere would still have to wander the forest.

While returning to Edward with the Mustere, Eisel grabbed Zeto’s arm.

“It seems class ended early... Would you like to have lunch together?”

Eisel asked him, tilting her head slightly.

The Mustere on top of her head tilted its head along with her.

Zeto thought for a moment.

“I was going to go learn a skill...”

But one meal would be fine.

There was plenty of time.

“Will she eat Herald’s curry?”

For him, Herald’s spiciness was still unfamiliar... but he also felt he had not spent much time with Eisel lately.

Just as he was about to answer Eisel.

Zeto, about to open his mouth, suddenly turned his head slowly backward.

Through his Perception, he had sensed presences approaching them at high speed.

Eisel also turned her head following him.

Not long afterward, she too felt their presences.

Soon, they approached Eisel and Zeto.

Among them, the blue-haired girl opened her mouth while panting.

“Um... M-Miss Yuri... a little... slower...”

It was Yuri and Lucia.

“Huu... uh... Mr. Zeto, Miss Eisel!”

Soon, Lucia discovered Zeto and Eisel, and her eyes grew round.

As if she had never been tired, she smiled brightly and waved her hand.

Unlike Lucia, Yuri beside her had an indifferent expression.

“Finally caught them.”

Lucia was simply happy to meet Zeto and Eisel by chance, but this was an intentional approach by Yuri.

“...What a coincidence, isn’t it? Running into you in a place like this. We just caught ours and were on our way back too.”

In Yuri’s hand as she said that was a Mustere.

After confirming that Zeto and Eisel had caught a Mustere, Yuri had desperately caught one and then chased after them.

“Pii...”

The Mustere grabbed by the scruff of its neck in Yuri’s hand let out a gloomy cry.

“Kyaak—!”

At this, the Mustere on Eisel’s head hissed, as if sensing the danger its kin faced.

“...It is. A coincidence.”

Matching that, Eisel, now with an indifferent face, said that.

“Why is she interfering?”

Eisel barely held herself back from clicking her tongue.

Putting Eisel’s reply behind her, Yuri immediately approached Zeto.

Then she linked arms with him.

This time, it was an arm link that meant she would not miss him.

Because Yuri’s feelings were running ahead, she had unknowingly pressed her chest against Zeto’s arm.

“Zeto. After class ends, eat with me.”

As Yuri asked Zeto this, she was not actually looking at Zeto, but glaring at Eisel beside him.

Soon, Eisel also linked arms with Zeto’s remaining arm.

“Mm... Zeto already decided to eat with me.”

Eisel glared at Yuri.

“Do not interfere and get lost.”

That was what Eisel was saying.

“That was only when the two of you were alone... But now that you have run into me like this... should we not ask Zeto again?”

Noticing this, Yuri asked Zeto quietly.

“...”

Zeto said nothing in particular.

[ Wh-why are these girls all acting like this at once...! Enough. Throw all of it away. Disciple, since you drank that elixir yesterday, today I shall cook for you. ]

It was because even Sierra had joined the commotion.

Amid the suddenly chaotic situation, Zeto barely caught Lucia’s tiny voice over there, as she fidgeted and murmured, “Um... I’m hungry too...”

“Haha... Then why do the ‘four’ of us not all eat together...?”

Zeto answered them with the brightest smile he could manage.

This was the best choice for him.

“O-okay...!!”

Lucia’s face brightened dramatically.

***

Into a room reeking of acrid stench stepped one woman wearing a flawless white dress.

Eclin, vice-captain of the Silver Wings Knights, who had been waiting for her, opened her mouth.

“...Saintess.”

At this, Bernice showed her a faint smile.

“Eclin, I am not late, am I?”

“As you commanded, I left him breathing.”

As Eclin said that, the silver armor she wore was spattered here and there with the black blood unique to demons.

“...You worked hard.”

At Bernice’s words, Eclin lowered her head.

Information had entered the knight order that there was a black mage who cast curses on specific people in exchange for money, and after investigating, it turned out to be the work of a demon.

Demons who cast curses were not especially common.

Most of them specialized in magic using demonic energy, or close combat through physical reinforcement.

Bernice had commanded that the demon be kept alive for a short while, because she personally had something to ask it.

Following Eclin’s guidance, Bernice entered the room.

“Hah... hah... cough...!”

In one corner of the wall, a demon whose arms had been cut off was breathing heavily, and an unpleasant black liquid was spilling from its mouth.

“...I would like to speak with him alone for a moment.”

Bernice said this while looking back at the demon.

At Bernice’s words, Eclin and the members immediately left the room.

Bernice approached the demon, bent her knees, and met its eye level.

She stared steadily at the demon.

The demon knew very well who the pure-white woman before its eyes was, and what “the Saintess” was to demons.

Then, when the demon met Bernice’s left eye, which seemed ready to suck it in, overwhelming fear rushed over it.

Just as a rapid panorama of the demon’s life was passing through its mind, Bernice tilted her head and asked it a question.

“I hear you handle curses.”

“...”

The demon barely nodded.

It did not want to answer, but the divine power slowly leaking from her was dyeing its skin with pain that felt as if it would burn away.

“Then... do you know about curses engraved on the heart?”

“...”

When the demon gave no answer once again, Bernice increased the strength of her divine power.

Demons often acted like this.

They were easier to interrogate when they at least maintained human form.

“Kraaaaaaagh—!!!!!!”

Then the demon screamed in pain.

“Your answer?”

Bernice’s short words after withdrawing the divine power for a moment.

In the end, the demon’s mouth, its body trembling violently, opened.

A little time passed.

Bernice walked out of the room.

“...Could you retrieve the horn?”

At her calm voice, one young knight who had only recently entered the order went into the room.

The demon had been burned so badly that its original shape was hard to recognize, and smoke was rising from it.

The member covered her nose against the terrible smell and retrieved the horn.

Eclin, who had been leaning against the wall, asked Bernice as she walked out with a calm expression.

“How did it go?”

“Mm... I still managed to gain something.”

Bernice said this with a bright smile.

She had gotten the answer she wanted.

But the question had not been resolved.

Bernice stepped outside and tapped her lips, thinking.

“There is only one curse that can be engraved on the heart, is it... Was it truly a curse?”