Isekai Mahou wa Okureteru! (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Demon General Rajas 

A few days had passed since the trade corps that Suimei was escorting departed from the royal capital of Metel. They had yet to encounter monsters, bandits, or even heavy rain. They had simply been moving forward, only stopping here and there at small villages and relay stations along the way. 

Just the other day, they passed over what was believed to be the major obstacle in the journey—the mountains—and they were now traveling a fairly rugged road. According to the others in the trade corps, they were about two thirds of the way to their destination. Once they passed through the foothills and the following basin, Kurant City would be on the horizon. 

However, even if this was a different world, its principles seemed largely the same. Much like on Earth, nothing would ever go that smoothly here. 

The group eventually made it past the foothills and entered a wooded area that grew dense on occasion. It would have been an extraordinary sight with sunlight filtering through the trees, but it was so overcast that it only made the forest seem gloomy. The ashen sky was almost ominous. There was an unease in the air, and before long, Suimei could sense a dangerous presence in the vicinity. 

“…Suimei-kun, have you noticed?” 

“Well, more or less.” 

Suimei only knew that there was something nearby. Ever since they’d set foot in the forest, he’d felt a bad premonition prickling at the back of his neck. And now as he focused on the presence approaching from the side, that feeling seemed totally justified. Whatever it was… it wasn’t human. 

“Hey, are those monsters? Something doesn’t feel right…” 

“Not monsters. Demons.” 

“Huh… Demons?” 

Suimei and Lefille had talked about that possibility previously. 

“You seem awfully sure about that. Couldn’t it be something else?” 

“No, I’m certain.” 

“Why?” 

“…I’m quite familiar with them. I can say that it’s demons beyond a shadow of doubt. There’s no mistaking it.” 

When Suimei asked for confirmation, Lefille gave a rather stiff reply. As the dangerous presence drew nearer, the others in the trade corps noticed and all movement came to an abrupt stop. Shortly after, an armored adventurer quietly came over to the two of them with a sense of urgency. The grim look on his face seemed to indicate he knew what was going on. 

“Hey.” 

The adventurer called out to them, and Lefille gave a serious nod in reply. 

“Yeah, we noticed it too.” 

“Oh yeah? Hmm… Okay, then I’ll make this quick. According to one of the mages, the things approaching us seem to be monsters. Gallio’s intention is to meet their ambush here.” 

Unlike what Lefille had suggested, the other adventurers seemed to suspect the incoming presence was monsters. But in either case, the plan was to stay in place and wait for them. Suimei didn’t think it was a great idea. 

“We’ll meet them here?” 

“Yeah, that’s right. Is there a problem with an escort fighting?” 

“No, that’s not the issue. What will the merchants do?” 

If they waited for the enemy to attack, it was certain that the merchants they were here to protect would be in danger. In order to make sure they wouldn’t get caught up in the fighting, an escort would normally have the merchants retreat somewhere safe before engaging in combat. The road behind them at the bottom of the mountain, however, was particularly rugged and didn’t have a lot of cover, making it a difficult place to try and hide. Lefille knew that and shared Suimei’s doubt about the current plan, so she tried suggesting an alternative. 

“Perhaps we could have them go ahead and then intercept the ambush?” 

“No, that won’t do.” 

“Then could they go further into the forest?” 

“No, that also won’t work either.” 

The adventurer shook his head at everything Lefille said, but Lefille’s plan was a sound one. She wanted to allow the merchants to continue along the path, then have the escort ambush the ambush. It would be the most effective way to cut them off. But nonetheless, the adventurer was quite set on taking another course of action. He explained himself with a stern look on his face. 

“Listen, it looks like there are monsters ahead of us too. With that and the ones approaching from the side, it’s possible there are also some behind us. In the worst scenario, we may even be completely surrounded. And if that’s the case, rather than moving the merchants around carelessly, we need to gather them and keep them where we can keep an eye on them… That’s what we decided.” 

Suimei was convinced by this, but Lefille still had more to say. 

“Who will be attacking?” 

“Huh? Attacking? No, no one’s…” 

“Why not? If there’s a possibility that we’re surrounded, won’t we need to break through their formation?” 

“What? Th-There should be no reason for us to go on the offensive. If we just tighten ranks and strengthen our defenses, a couple monsters shouldn’t pose any problems.” 

“I see…” 

Lefille quietly withdrew when the adventurer objected. She may have just wanted to avoid getting into an unproductive dispute, but Suimei could hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice. 

“That takes care of what you need to know, doesn’t it? If so, I’m returning to my post in the front. I’ll be leaving the cargo to you guys.” 

“Sorry, but may I say one more thing?” 

“…What is it?” 

“I don’t know about what’s approaching from the front, but what’s coming at us from the side isn’t monsters—it’s demons. Please inform Gallio-dono.” 

“Huh? How do you know that?” 

“From experience. This is not the presence of monsters.” 

The adventurer let out a small groan when she said that. He then paused and gave Lefille a scrutinizing look. 

“…Understood. I’ll let him know that’s a possibility.” 

After conceding that much, the adventurer swiftly moved back to the front of the convoy. Once he left, Lefille took the weapon from her back and removed the wrap covering it, revealing what was indeed an enormous sword. 

Just looking at it, Suimei guessed it was about 180 centimeters from the pommel to the tip of the blade. It was as long as a zweihänder and as thick as a claymore. It was shaped something like an elongated triangle—an elaborate sword made in this world. But it wasn’t gaudy. It shone a beautiful red and silver. Compared to the swords Suimei had seen the others carrying, hers was like an out of place artifact. 

Lefille carried the sword quite casually with one hand, and the few beams of sunlight that broke through the clouds made the blade glitter. Suimei was curious where exactly she hid the strength to wield something like that. He couldn’t figure it out, but he could tell from the way she carried it that she was experienced with it. All of a sudden, Lefille turned and began walking towards the presence that was approaching the convoy from the side—the very group she believed to be demons. 

“U-Uh, Lefille?” 

“Suimei-kun, I’m sorry, but I’m going to take the initiative and head out to attack them.” 

“Heading out… Is that really something you should be doing on your own? They’re still a ways out, so shouldn’t you at least consult with Gallio-san and the others?” 

Lefille closed her eyes and shook her head. 

“No, look around you.” 

He did, but all he could see were the merchants and escorts hurriedly preparing for the danger ahead of them. 

“The other adventurers and mercenaries are completely fixated on only defending. Do you understand?” 

“Yeah, seems that way. I mean, that’s what he said the plan was.” 

“That won’t do.” 

“Huh…” 

Lefille quite flatly put down the strategy that the trade corps was adopting. The way she was speaking reminded Suimei of what she’d said before. 

“That’s… You mean that stuff about breaking through?” 

“That’s right. Demons are, without exception, beings who know only how to steal, destroy, and kill. Above all else, their bloodlust is strong. They’ll only come at us harder if we take a defensive formation. If we want to deal with those things, just defending will do us no good.” 

“I’m well aware of the dangers of just defending. But even if you say it won’t do any good, I can’t agree that running out on your own would be any good either. Just like defending is dangerous, doesn’t attacking also have its fair share of risks? If we’re really surrounded and that’s what we have to do, then it’s what we have to do… but I still can’t say it’s the most reasonable course of action right now.” 

Suimei was trying to hold Lefille back from doing something reckless. It may have just been the opinion of an amateur, but Suimei didn’t believe that the motley group protecting the trade corps would be able to accomplish Lefille’s goals. 

“Are you saying you think we should stay and defend?” 

“No, I’m just saying that it’s unreasonable for you to try and cut through them on your own.” 

Suimei didn’t doubt Lefille, but he didn’t know the true extent of her strength either. As a magician, he didn’t have a trained eye for assessing someone’s ability with a sword. He knew she was strong, but not how strong. And he didn’t know how strong the enemy they’d be facing was. He simply didn’t have enough information. Lefille then turned towards Suimei and gave him a nod like she understood what he was thinking. 

“Your point is certainly valid. But what I said still stands. I know those things very well. There’s no way I’d underestimate them after all this time. And…” 

“And?” 

Lefille paused for a moment. Suimei felt goosebumps for an instant as the atmosphere around her darkened. 

“…And you won’t be able to wipe them out like that, right?” 

The cold beauty’s expression clouded over for an instant, and it wasn’t because of the overcast sky. Her face now revealed the dark shadow behind her righteous heart as a swordswoman. A single red eye glimmering with anger and hatred pierced through that shadow, the very same way it threatened to pierce through her enemy. Suimei was sure there was something behind that gaze of hers. Just how closely were demons tied to this girl’s destiny? 

“Suimei-kun, demons are evil. From the moment they’re born to the moment they die, they are wholly and utterly despicable. They know no other way to live. That’s why… That’s why those things must be cut down. I will kill them all. I won’t leave a single one alive.” 

Lefille’s dark determination overpowered any of Suimei’s objections. 

“That’s how it is.” 

That was all she muttered before turning away from Suimei. 

“H-Hey, Lefille!” 

Suimei called out to her with a flustered voice. And as if to apologize for darkening the mood so dramatically, Lefille looked over her shoulder with a bright smile. 

“Thank you, Suimei-kun. But there’s no need to worry about me. Please help take care of the cargo in my place. See you.” 

With those parting words, Lefille went deeper into the forest. Somewhere ahead of her were the demons she intended to defeat. 

She’s fast… 

It was like watching a red gale cutting through the trees. And seeing her move like that, Suimei could no longer think she was being reckless. The footing in the forest was poor and she was carrying a massive object, but she was moving like that made no difference to her. Suimei found it simply beautiful. If she was capable of moving that swiftly in such conditions, surely there was no chance she’d lose in any ordinary fight. And it wasn’t long before he lost sight of her. The others who had seen her run off were noisily making a fuss in bewilderment and anger, but it didn’t last long. 

“They’re coming!” 

An adventurer cried out as the trees swayed unnaturally and a mana presence closed in. And then, the existence that intended to cut them down finally appeared. Someone yelled in surprise, or perhaps it was fear. 

Demons. Several of them began appearing from the myriad of trees. They had figures similar to humans, but with grotesque, uncanny features—bat wings, winding goat horns, and rusty red flesh. It was like they were an amalgamation of man and beast, truly repulsive in their appearance. They looked like something straight out of a fantasy, the very picture of the monster you’d expect a storybook hero to be fighting. These were demons. 

In general, demons were a cut above other aggressive creatures such as monsters. They were regarded as the natural enemy of humanity, and universally reviled as evil by all the races of the world. According to the stories Suimei had read, their existence was closely tied to the Evil God. It was vague, but all the myths of this world said the same thing in regards to their origin. They also chronicled a few details of the race, including that demons retained humanoid forms and could speak human language. 

Back home we had apparitions, but seeing this kind of thing is really a first for me… 

Suimei had fought against inhuman creatures before. But to face something like this that seemed to have jumped straight from the pages of a book was unexpectedly a first for him. Back on Earth, not even the ancient dragon looked anything like it was described in fiction. Even vampires appeared far more human than these demons did. Suimei never imagined that he’d encounter such vile creatures in this fantasy world before even coming across demi-humans or monsters. 

But the real problem at hand was why the demons were in this kind of place. 

Contrary to what that barcode baldy told me, the demons haven’t made any big movements since assaulting that country to the north… 

It was a difficult story to swallow. The demons were supposed to be in the northern country of Noshias after taking it. And there were two countries and a mountain range between here and there. It was extremely unusual for them to appear here. But his opponents weren’t human, so it seemed that perhaps applying human logic to their actions was a mistake. And with that realization, Suimei knew there was no point in dwelling on it now. 

Suimei narrowed his eyes and let his own bloodlust radiate. One of the demons approaching the convoy noticed and decided to mark Suimei as its target. It came straight for him, prepared to strike. Was it mana, or perhaps aetheric? An artlessly gathered mass of power formed a fiendish shape in the demon’s palm, and with a swing, the projectile flew towards Suimei with the speed of a fired arrow. 

I won’t be so easily? 

Suimei dodged the attack as it whistled passed him. The mass of power blew a hole in the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust. Suimei was unharmed. Anything moving at the speed of an arrow was far too slow to catch a magician. As if chasing after the projectile, the demon flapped its wings and dove towards Suimei. 

It rose up towards the sky and then following an earthbound diagonal line right for Suimei. It was going to rush him, but Suimei lunged forward to meet the attack. This defied all of the demon’s expectations. If he had dodged backwards or to the side, the demon would have been able to correct its course. But with him stepping forward, the demon would have to hit the brakes to adjust its swing. 

“SHA!” 

As their paths crossed, the demon let out a yell and swung its black claws at Suimei. But since its target had suddenly moved, the demon was unable to properly correct its posture in time to make a decent attack. It was a wild swing and a miss. That was Suimei’s goal, and then he used the momentum from dodging the blow to pivot on his left foot. He grasped the demon’s extended arm and gave it a light twist as he spun around. 

“Hah!” 

Suimei let out the air in his lungs and threw the demon. Still moving at the speed of its reckless charge, it hit the ground with a great deal of force. It seemed largely unfazed, however. After rolling along the ground a bit, it got right up and took to the skies again. Flapping its bat wings, it kept its distance from Suimei and stared him down. It was uninjured, but clearly irritated. With a sharp glare and a hoarse voice, it began speaking to Suimei. 

“You damn human, using such strange techniques…” 

“Calling it strange is mean. That was a proper, normal technique.” 

Standing at the ready for another attack, Suimei decided to try a little provocation. The demon scoffed back at him, then shut its mouth and focused its bloodlust on him. 

“Hmph.” 

Feeling the twisted pressure fall over him, Suimei shot a disinterested and cold stare back at the demon. The demon was wriggling its claws like an insect’s mandibles, and it left Suimei with an unpleasant feeling. It seemed that was the extent to which the demon was willing participate in conversation. But though it had no intention of talking anymore, it didn’t immediately move to attack again either. It seemed to be analyzing Suimei’s movements after being so easily caught in his throw. 

Just watching? In that case… 

While the demon was observing him, Suimei took a quick survey of his surroundings. The merchants were hiding themselves well enough that he couldn’t see any of them. The other adventurers and mercenaries were also out of sight now, but he could sense mana in the distance and could hear the din of battle from the vanguard of the trade corps. It seemed that the rest of the demons were focused on where all the humans were gathered. 

He could also sense a great deal of mana deeper into the forest. In other words, Lefille’s preemptive attack may have actually been fruitful. It seemed she’d hit the strategic bullseye. Contemplating all this, Suimei thrust his hand into his pocket. Seeing that, the demon suddenly flapped its wings and decided it was time to act. 

“Die…” 

“Don’t wanna.” 

With a snap of Suimei’s fingers, the ground in front of the charging, low-flying demon exploded. 

“Nu??!” 

The demon let out a grunt in surprise. This was just a smokescreen. The sudden strike magicka brought the demon to a dead stop in its tracks, and it remained floating just above the ground. Suimei took a leap backwards to create some distance. He took a quick breath, and then began his magicka. 

“Now then, let’s see just how powerful the bane of humanity in this world really is.” 

With a mere murmur, Suimei manifested the requisite amount of mana for his spell. He quickly kneaded together his spell, and magicka circles began appearing around him. Each was filled with numbers and words that gave them power, and Suimei called out to them to activate them. This was one of the Kabbalah’s most important practical techniques, numerology. 

“O flammae, legito. Pro venefici doloris clamore…” 

[Oh flames, assemble. Like the cry of the magician’s resentment…] 

A roaring flame came pouring out from the magicka circles hanging in the air. And then, as if being sucked into a single point, the flames converged on the demon. This was fire magicka. But the demon didn’t flinch or even move. It looked intent on letting itself get hit with the fire. 

Huh… 

Suimei had expected the demon to do something, but it wasn’t lifting a finger to evade or defend itself. Was it just that stupid? Or perhaps it had some sort of inherent defense? While Suimei was pondering the demon’s actions or lack thereof, the flames engulfed it. Seeing the demon’s reaction to the fire, however, Suimei furrowed his brow. 

Magickal flames. Upon contact, they would burn an enemy to ashes. At least, that’s what they were supposed to do. But the silhouette within the pillar of flames showed no signs of struggling or even feeling pain. And before long, a strange power blew the flames away. 

“You’re severely underestimating me if you think this level of magic could possibly defeat me.” 

Had his magicka simply lacked the power to do the job? Looking closely, Suimei could see that not even a hair on the demon was singed. He hadn’t been particularly stingy with his mana or choice of spell, yet this was still the outcome. 

Hmmm, with that level of mana, it shouldn’t be able to resist my magicka. And it doesn’t seem to have an especially sturdy body or any kind of natural armor either… 

Suimei had intended to end the fight with that single spell, but apparently he had been too optimistic. Based on the demon’s mana capacity, he guessed that it might be able to put up a little resistance, but never would have guessed that it could render his spell completely ineffective. 

It was strange. The spell hadn’t been outright extinguished, which meant the demon didn’t have particularly high resistance to magicka. And from what he could tell based on tossing the demon earlier, Suimei was convinced its skin wasn’t extraordinary in any way. In that regard, it seemed just like any other living creature. 

It was possible it had an inherent resistance to fire. But even then, it escaping the flames without even a single singed hair should have been impossible. Magickally created flame was even more powerful than natural fire. 

This ignition magicka wasn’t like simple combustion which burned as long as there was oxygen in the air. Instead, the manifested mystery would forcefully inflict combustion on its target. Anything that came into contact with the mystical flames would burn as they commanded. So unless the target was exceptionally resistant to magicka, it would crumble to ash in the flames. If they were merely mundane flames, that would be a different story, but Suimei’s fire was bona fide magicka. This was why he was stumped as to how the demon had survived unscathed. He couldn’t figure out why the flames hadn’t incinerated their target. 

“Is it because magicka doesn’t work externally…?” 

As Suimei muttered to himself, the demon once more gathered power into its hand. It stuck out its arm, and this time it fired off the lump of power without making any sort of motion. It seemed intent on keeping this a ranged fight now. Suimei gave the projectile a wide berth and dodged it by jumping to the side, but the demon quickly made another and then another. It began firing them at random, like an archer with a bucket of arrows trying to pin down a target with a wild barrage. 

Suimei began running and taking evasive action while paying attention to the wagons behind him. The next shot from the demon was a much larger mass of power than before. And as it came for Suimei, it reduced the trees in its path to mere wood shavings. But even at that size and with that destructive power, Suimei could easily evade it and took a big jump backwards. 

The instant after he did, a cloud of dust blew up against Suimei’s body. While shielding his scowling face with his hands, Suimei could hear an explosion to his side. Keeping one eye on the demon, Suimei glanced over and saw that someone else had fired off a spell. A different demon was caught in a magic explosion. Not only that, they were flames. However, unlike in Suimei’s case, the demon was consumed in the flame and perished immediately. 

“That’s…” 

Just what was happening? This meant that the theory about demons having a natural resistance to fire was out the window. While Suimei was deep in thought over the matter, he heard a man call out to him. 

“Hey! What are you doing! Fall back!” 

“Hmm?” 

“You with the black hair! Fall back!” 

The group who’d defeated the demon with the explosion was now running towards Suimei. Taking a closer look, it was the same party of adventurers that Lefille knew. The man in armor was the one shouting to him, and the girl behind him—who Suimei assumed was a mage—was chanting with her staff held out. She looked like she was about to let loose another spell, and sure enough, fire burst forth from the tip of her staff. When the demon Suimei was fighting saw it, it flapped its wings with a thud and took evasive action. 

So it’ll dodge that…? 

It made sure to clear out of the way of the spell with plenty of room to spare. Suimei was bewildered as to why this magic seemed to scare it so badly when his hadn’t even fazed it. Only a few moments later, the adventurers running towards Suimei finally reached him. 

“Fall back. Leave the rest to us.” 

“No, I’m fine. I’ll manage on my own.” 

“You’ll manage…? What the hell are you saying?! You were being pushed back just now, weren’t you?!” 

“Pushed back? No, I wasn’t really…” 

“No? That demon is still perfectly healthy!” 

The adventurer did have a point. But to Suimei, the fight was just taking a bit of time. He still didn’t feel he was in any sort of danger. He’d hardly used his full power yet, and it wasn’t like he’d lost interest in the fight. However, all anyone else could see was that he hadn’t killed the demon yet, much less harmed it. 

“…That may be so, but I would like you to leave this to me for now.” 

“Negative. Retreat back to the trade corps. We’ll take this from here.” 

“Huh? Wait, no, no, no! That’d be a problem!” 

Suimei was frantically protesting against the adventurer who was shaking his head at him. It was indeed a problem for him. If he just left this to others, he wouldn’t be able to solve the mystery of why his magicka hadn’t worked. If someone else took this kill, he still wouldn’t know how much mana he actually needed to use in order to defeat demons. This were things he absolutely wanted to learn, and ideally in a situation that wasn’t dire. Like right now. 

“What? What the hell kind of problem is that? I said we’ll defeat it, there’s no more to it right? Just quietly go back to where the merchants?” 

The adventurer had gotten tired of Suimei’s stubbornness and began rebuking him, but was suddenly interrupted. Suimei evaded an incoming shadow simply by turning to the side. It was another attack from the demon. The adventurer, however, didn’t have the same grasp on the attack and had leaped back a great distance to evade it. 

“?????!” 

The demon let out a roar towards the heavens. It was a jarring voice—no, just cacophonous noise. It was like malice in the form of sound. The repulsive shriek assaulted Suimei’s ears, and with that, the demon’s power began to swell. It was likely drawing out the remaining power it held inside its body. Before long, that power began pouring out of the demon’s body in the form of a black haze. 

What is that? Mana? No, that’s… 

Suimei was gripped by a sense of deja vu at the sight of this power pouring out of the demon. The adventurer loudly raised his voice. 

“Th-This is bad! Everyone, we need to defeat that demon quickly!” 

As Suimei was frowning to himself, the adventurer began to panic. His companions all nodded in agreement, and collectively charged towards the demon. However, the overflowing black power from the demon sent them all flying back as they drew near. 

“Shit! We can’t get close!” 

“Magic! Throw all your magic at it!” 

“Oh Flame! Thou shall become the spearhead which pierces my enemy…” 

At the adventurer’s command, everyone in his party that could use magic began chanting at once and fired off their spells. A flood of fire, lightning, and wind rushed at the demon. However, when the destruction cleared like a fog, lo and behold, the demon was still there without a single scratch. 

“No way! For magic to be ineffective…!” 

The adventurers began to lose their cool when they saw the unharmed demon. In fact, it only continued to pour out its dark power. Suimei could sense it had a potent yet vile talent. The power it was letting out was somewhat similar to when a magician ignited their mana furnace. 

But Suimei had never seen anything like this. 

Things are about to get ugly. If I don’t do something, these guys are in trouble. 

Suimei was interested. He was interested, but now wasn’t the time to indulge his curiosity. If the demon continued to build up power and attack, it would spell certain disaster for the adventurers. So before that could happen, Suimei began his chant. 

“O flammae, legito. Pro venefici doloris clamore…” 

[Oh flames, assemble. Like the cry of the magician’s resentment…] 

When the demon heard Suimei chanting, he scoffed and spat bitter hostilities his way. 

“Ha! Didn’t I tell you that magic from a pest like you would never harm me?!” 

“Is that so? Certainly that may have been the case when I was holding back. But I wonder what’ll happen when I actually put some power into this one.” 

“You think a flame which only gives out that much heat could possibly burn me?!” 

“You bet I do, you devilish looking jerk! Don’t underestimate a magician’s flames!” 

Suimei made this declaration and picked up his chant again. 

“Parito colluctatione et aestuato. Deferto impedimentum fatum atrox!” 

[Give form to death’s agony and burst into flames. Bestow the one who obstructs me with a dreadful destiny!] 

With those words, flames began to flood forth from several magicka circles hanging in the air. Some shot downward from the sky and some shot upward from the ground. All the flames gathered together, but instead of crashing into the demon, this time they wrapped around its body. With the demon as its center, the flames twirled like a whirlpool and burned everything in their vicinity, instantly reducing all of it to ash. 

“Guh! What?! But before…” 

The light of the fire painted the surrounding scenery vermilion, and shone through the trees in a brilliant red spectacle. A burning orange magicka gem appeared in Suimei’s hand, which was wreathed in a small magicka circle. And with the final keywords of his chant, he closed his fist and crushed it. 

“Itaque conluceto! O Ashurbanipalis fulgidus lapillus!” 

[So shine! Oh Ashurbanipal’s dazzling gem!] 

In an instant, the flames that had been coiling around the demon engulfed it entirely with a fiery roar that drowned out all sound in the area. All who witnessed it could see nothing but flames. The ground erupted, the sky was dyed red, and the air was one giant explosion. This was deflagration magicka. 

The surging crimson haze had transformed into great power and exploded with such overwhelming force that the demon wasn’t even able to cry out in agony as it died. It was all everyone else in the area could do to shield themselves from the intense heat of the blast. And when it died down, all that remained was the smell of soot and the smoldering forms of a few trees. 

Suimei had adjusted the power of the spell so that it wouldn’t cause too much collateral damage, but even so, the sheer ferocity of the flames that blew away the demon had transformed the ground below where it stood into magma. The adventurers all stood there, mouths agape as they beheld the scene, but eventually one of them spoke up. 

“Th-That was amazing magic!” 

It was the mage girl of the group. Perhaps coming to their senses after hearing what she said, everyone else began talking too. Taking in the charred surroundings that looked like they might burn you just from looking at them, the other adventurers were saying things like “What destructive power…” and “Th-The ground is melting!” They were all aghast. In a few moments, however, the armored man of the group approached Suimei. 

“Hey, you! You can do it if you try, huh? If you got that kind of trick up your sleeve, then whip it out at the start next time, you hear?” 

“Y-Yeah. But, you see, this was my first time fighting a demon.” 

“What? Is that why you were being stingy? Next time, just take it out first thing, alright?” 

“Y-Yeah…” 

The adventurer let out a hearty laugh, and after Suimei gave a vague reply, he walked back over to his comrades. He seemed to be under the wrong impression, but Suimei didn’t really care. He stood there, scratched his head idly as he pulled himself together, and once more looked over to the ashes of the demon. 

In any event… That’s a demon, huh? 

In short, this was the main reason Suimei and the others had been called to this world. Well, a subordinate of that reason. Suimei had intended to play with it until he had a full grasp of its abilities, but he’d had to prioritize the safety of the people around him and use a spell powerful enough to take it out in one go. And that was easy for Suimei. Defeating the demon had taken some time, but that was all. Suimei hadn’t even had to fight seriously against it. 

“Even using Ashurbanipal’s flame, it took nearly a minute to completely burn it to ash…” 

The magicka Suimei had used to defeat the demon was magicka using the fire attribute. Of the five elements, it was the one he had the most expertise in. He had good aptitude for the spell he’d chosen and it contained plenty of power, too. Compared to other magickas of similar strength, the chant was also fairly short. 

But even then, it still took nearly a minute for the demon to be completely reduced to ash. That was far too long. Normally it would only take a couple of seconds to incinerate something. But one pesky demon had taken the better part of a minute. As someone walking the path of magicka, Suimei couldn’t rationally accept that. He was standing there pondering it, one eyebrow raised and rubbing his chin, when something came flying in at a terrifying speed from behind. 

“Wha??!” 

Suimei turned around when he heard crashing sounds, and what he saw was multiple silhouettes of what he’d just fought—more demons. Or something close. Rather than individual demons, it was a lumped mass of them. There were two or three bodies with bent arms and torn legs and necks. They were all practically melded together after being dealt a horrible blow by something big and heavy. 

What the? 

Suimei focused on this most unusual arrival. They were indeed the bodies of demons, and not far behind them was Lefille, carrying her massive sword in a single hand. The red and silver tip of it peeked through the trees. Seeing her now, she didn’t give off a single hint of the gentleness she had when Suimei met her. She was walking with her head lightly hung down and leaning forwards. One of her eyes was shining with a red light. She held her sword in one hand as if drawing a bow, and she radiated the aura of a fierce god. She was so consumed with a fighting spirit that she nearly looked like she was on fire. 

The sound of someone gulping could be heard in the otherwise silent group of onlookers, making it sound much louder than it was. Taking it as some sort of starting signal, a demon who’d managed to survive lunged out of the mass of corpses towards Lefille. The charging demon, however, was quickly intercepted by a horizontal slash from Lefille. It was a clean swing; the tip of her blade did not waver from start to end. With enough force to create a gale, she split the demon clean in two. And right after the first terrifyingly fast slash, she followed up with a second from overhead. The cross she cut in the air with her brilliant sword was like an X-shaped vortex, and the demon was cleaved longwise this time. 

There was no way the demon was still alive, but Lefille didn’t stop. Any more was needless. She was only carving up a corpse with her slashes now. But completely ignoring the fact that it was overkill, Lefille continued to swing her massive sword like she hadn’t had enough, right up until she finally crushed the demon’s head. 

“Crumble to pieces… Scum.” 

As Lefille muttered those words, what Suimei could sense from her was an overflowing sense of resentment. After a few moments, the tension seemed to leave the air, and Lefille placed her sword upon her shoulder and approached the group. 

“It seems you’re finished here as well.” 

“W-Well, yeah…” 

It was the warrior from the party of adventurers who knew Lefille that replied to her casual comment. It seemed the fight was over for now, but perhaps because of the ghastly sight he had just witnessed, his voice was quiet and stiff. In his stead, Suimei spoke to Lefille. 

“How ’bout you?” 

“Same. With those stragglers just now, I’ve finished cleaning up the last of them. There aren’t any more deeper into the forest that way.” 

“Weren’t there way more over there than here, though?” 

“That’s exactly why I went in that direction. I wanted to take them all out first.” 

“Huh…” 

“There weren’t any problems, right?” 

Hearing her make such a statement so fearlessly, Suimei confirmed for himself how abnormal Lefille was. And not only had she gone on her own personal demon eradication mission, she looked disappointed with herself that she’d allowed one to get away like that. Suimei knew Lefille wasn’t normal, but he didn’t know exactly what she really was. 

Lefille then took a look at the surroundings. 

“A short while ago, I heard an earth-shattering sound from around here. Was it the cause of this destruction?” 

“Yeah, it was my magicka.” 

Lefille looked quite surprised, then gave Suimei a bright smile. 

“No less from Suimei-kun, I’m sure. You played quite the role here, didn’t you?” 

“Nothing of the sort. I spent all this time just defeating one of them.” 

“Wha?Just one?” 

Lefille sensed the incongruity between the scale of the destruction at hand and the alleged number of defeated enemies. With another surprised expression, she pushed Suimei for an explanation. 

“I thought I had confronted all of the extremely powerful demons in the woods, but one of them made it over here?” 

“No, I think it was only about as strong as the others. It was probably the same as the one that you just cut up into pieces.” 

Suimei glanced over at the lump of dead demons. All of them had the same appearance. He didn’t think the one he’d fought was any different from them in terms of strength based on looks alone. 

“But to use magic of such power against a lowly demon… I would have guessed this was at least an intermediate level spell. Am I mistaken…?” 

“Intermediate?” 

“It was, wasn’t it?” 

When Suimei thought about it, this world didn’t subscribe to the five elements. Instead, it bound itself to eight attributes. Not only that, but there was some sort of inexplicable division of levels of magic—lower, intermediate, and advanced. Suimei could remember the joyous celebration at the castle when Reiji had learned advanced magic. 

But just what was used to determine the grade of magic? Suimei didn’t have any point of reference to judge for himself, so he couldn’t really give Lefille a proper answer. Thankfully, the mage girl standing off to the side timidly raised her hand. 

“A-About the magic you used just now… From what I’ve seen from other mages, I don’t think your spell was lacking in any way, but… um… even though it had such destructive force, it didn’t seem like it affected the demon much.” 

“…Is that so?” 

“Seriously… Just what is different?” 

Suimei shrugged his shoulders at this conclusion. He wasn’t sure why his magicka seemed so ineffective. He was forced to draw his fight with the demon to a close before he could figure it out, but he had a faint idea of what it might be. Towards the end of the fight, the demon had unleashed a strange power. Suimei had seen that dark, repulsive power that left the hairs on your neck standing on end somewhere before. It was very familiar to the power wielded by devil worshipers in his own world. 

“Come to think of it, I heard that the demons believe in the Evil God or something…” 

This fact may very well have been the key to the mystery that Suimei was missing. While Suimei was considering that possibility, Lefille called out to him and the others. 

“Suimei-kun, everyone…” 

“Hmm? What’s up?” 

“It seems that wasn’t the last of them.” 

When Suimei turned to the adventurers from the vanguard, he saw that they were all standing there aghast at what Lefille had said. Confirming her claim, Suimei could suddenly sense the presence of mana approaching them. 

“Seriously…?” 

Suimei made a stiff expression, and then the mage girl raised her voice. 

“I-It’s exactly as Lefille-san said! Worse yet, there are more than before!” 

“Really?!” 

“Shit, and now we have injured people from the fight… We don’t have enough forces!” 

After hearing the girl’s report, the other adventurers and returning mercenaries were astir. They were shaken at the prospect of consecutive battles. Though a little late, Suimei sharpened his senses and focused in the direction the demons were coming from. Shutting his eyes and blocking out all unnecessary stimuli, he used his sixth sense as a magician. 

There’s ten… No, twenty of them. Just like she said, it’s more than before. 

And much like last time, the presence was coming right for them. The power he could sense from the group was about the same as before, too. It seemed likely it was another squad of same type of demons. As Suimei was staring off to the west, the other escorts began raising their voices in a clamor. 

“Tch… What do we do?” 

“Our only choice is to face them head on! There’s no escape in a situation like this!” 

“Listen up! Anyone who was wounded in the last fight, fall back! Everyone who can fight, get ready!” 

One of the adventurers let out a battle cry as the tension began to rise in the air. The enemy was drawing nearer. Gallio, who was hiding with the other merchants, popped out from behind one of the wagons. 

“The fighting still isn’t over…?” 

Gallio was as pale as a sheet. To a civilian like him, demons were the very embodiment of fear. It seemed he’d grasped the situation from the conversation among the escorts. One of the armored men turned to Gallio to answer him. 

“U-Unfortunately. Please wait a little longer. It seems there are still demons coming this way.” 

“G-Goddess… Are we going to be alright?!” 

“That’s… According to the kids, there are more headed this way than last time. We also still have injured people who haven’t been treated, so this is shaping up to be a tough fight.” 

Hearing these words from his escort, Gallio was cast into the depths of despair. 

“W-We were only going to Nelferia to do business… Why did demons have to…” 

His face was now ashen, if not ghastly. According to his commission, the journey would be relatively safe and the trade corps should have arrived in the Empire with no real problems. But it seemed all bets were off now. As Gallio began moaning in anguish, Lefille—the one who had noticed the second wave first—stepped forward to clear the air and reassure Gallio. 

“Please do not worry, Gallio-dono. Those demons are headed towards us, but I will defeat them down to the last one.” 

“I-If I remember correctly, you are Grakis-dono, no? I’m glad to hear you so confident, but for a tender young girl like yourself, demons…” 

His next words were likely “won’t be so easy to defeat,” but he trailed off before he could finish the thought. The girl standing before him was surely just an overconfident child who didn’t know what she was getting herself into. The adventurer who had approached Suimei during his fight with the demon then walked up to Gallio without hesitation. 

“No, it’s alright, Gallio-san! Lefille is strong! In the fight earlier, most of the demons were defeated by her alone!” 

“That’s right! On top of that, Lefille-san also has the sword skills to split even an ogre clean in two! So we’ll be fine, even if there are more demons.” 

Backing up the armored adventurer’s claim, the mage girl chipped in her own opinion. Compared to the others standing around, these two didn’t seem to be as anxious. This was surely because they had worked together with Lefille before and knew what she could do. 

“Is that so…?” 

“Yes. So there’s no need to worry.” 

Their words weren’t quite so reassuring to Gallio, but after he took a look at Lefille, who wasn’t betraying a single hint of weakness or timidity, he seemed to calm down some. Ultimately, he now judged this girl to be on the same level as the approaching demons. It seemed the two adventurers had managed to convince him of that much, though there was still something of an air of skepticism about him. Before speaking to Lefille, he cleared his throat and did his best to put his appearance in order. 

“Understood. I expect great things from you.” 

“And I’ll do my best to meet them.” 

Lefille met Gallio’s formality with modesty. Once their brief exchange was over, she turned back to Suimei. 

“Suimei-kun.” 

“Hmm? What is it?” 

“This will be backtracking a bit to our previous conversation, but will you be alright? If something happened in the last fight, there’s no need to push yourself. It would be better to fall back.” 

The root of her suggestion was concern over Suimei’s magic not being effective. For Suimei, as a magician, the safe choice would be to leave this to the Lefille and the others. But there were more enemies than before this time, and it wasn’t as certain that victory would be on their side. He couldn’t possibly just stand by and watch under these circumstance. The adventurer standing next to Lefille echoed her concern. 

“Yeah, will you really be alright? You just used some seriously powerful magic, too. Are you not tired?” 

“I’m alright. I still have plenty in me.” 

“Plenty, huh? If you overestimate your power and stretch yourself too thin, that’s a fatal move, you know?” 

“I appreciate the warning.” 

Suimei gave a blunt but polite reply. He wasn’t about to cause a scene over people being concerned for his safety. The adventurer was still looking at Suimei suspiciously as Lefille continued the conversation. 

“But Suimei-kun, what about your magic? If it isn’t very effective against the demons, then…” 

“Yeah, I’ll manage somehow on that front.” 

“Do you have a plan?” 

“I have many more magicka than what I used just now. If the system of magicka I used before didn’t work, that only means I have to keep testing systems until I find one that does.” 

“Systems… of magic? You mean attributes?” 

“Aaah, right… Well, in short, I have a lot more up my sleeve.” 

Lefille tilted her head to the side in confusion. An invisible question mark was hanging above her head, but there was no time for Suimei to clear everything up. Instead, he gave her a vague explanation. It was true that the type of magicka Suimei had used was poorly matched against demons. However, that wasn’t a fatal flaw for him. Magicka from his world was classified into different magickal schools as systems—evidence that the origin of magicka there was not such a simple thing. The peak of magic as defined by this fantasy world would clearly be considered something far different than back home. In Suimei’s world of advanced civilization and science, there were an untold number of mysteries. 

Kabbalah, star divination, and sorcery were systems of Suimei’s world. Other famous systems included alchemy and the magic used by witches—witchcraft. There was also the group magicka systems of Occultist Taoism, the violent branch of Esoteric Buddhism, and the largest system of magicka on the continent—wizardry. Just counting the ones that Suimei had confirmed himself, there were over thirty systems. Even within these, they could still be broken down further into attributes, sequences, and effects, which led to a staggering number of magickas. 

And with so many of them, there were inevitably magickas that Suimei couldn’t understand. But even discounting what he couldn’t use, there had to be something among the magickas he knew that would work against demons. According to his running hypothesis, exorcism and holy magic seemed like viable options. 

But even then, Suimei’s magicka being ineffective against demons wouldn’t mean the end of the road for him. Even if he exhausted all the magicka systems he knew and couldn’t find anything that worked better, he could always power through with sheer force as he’d done before. Suimei wasn’t too worried. 

If twenty demons came this time instead of ten, he would just have to use that many more spells. That’s all there was to it. Suimei’s actual problem now was the lingering possibility he’d have to put his full power on display in order to take care of things. 

If it comes to it, I’ll have to ignite my mana furnace. But I’ll try everything else that I can before that. 

In an emergency, he wouldn’t hesitate to abandon his experimenting and use his full power. He knew he would regret it if his stinginess drove the current predicament further into the corner. He didn’t want to be responsible for such a foolish, easily preventable outcome. 

“The same was true before, but you sure are calm, Suimei-kun. In this kind of situation, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to be behaving like the other escorts are.” 

“Can’t you say the same about those two adventurers you know?” 

“Even then, you’re different. Unlike them, you’re not showing a single sign of fear.” 

“That so? I could just be putting on a brave front, you know?” 

“How brazen.” 

Lefille saw straight through his little bluff. Suimei then replied more seriously. 

“Well, even if I lose my composure, it won’t help any…” 

As Suimei shrugged his shoulders, Lefille gave him an incredulous look. It was a bit refreshing in such a tense situation. 

“You’re quite unusual. You go along with just about anything, but never show your real hand.” 

“That’s just the kind of person I am. I’m a mage, after all.” 

“If you keep acting like that, I’ll just want to tear off your mask even more, you know?” 

“Hmm… And how will you do that?” 

“Hmph. I’ve always got my sword…” 

“Oooh, oh no… Lefille-san is scaaary.” 

Suimei started trembling in an exaggerated manner, and Lefille gave him a broad grin. The two of them were just joking around as if there were nothing else to worry about. Gallio gave them something of a concerned look. 

“Grakis-dono, do you not need to make preparations like the others are doing?” 

“I don’t. I have this, after all. As long as I have my sword, I’m always ready.” 

“…Understood. But do be careful.” 

Lefille was quite casual about the whole thing, but Gallio looked dead serious. He had been a bit of a mess earlier, but he was still the leader of this caravan. As a traveling merchant, he was a practical, levelheaded man, and that served him well. 

“Now then, it’s about time.” 

“Seems so.” 

Suimei had made an incredibly vague statement with no context, yet Lefille immediately agreed without any hesitation. 

“…?” 

Gallio seemed confused by their exchange and cocked his head to the side. But he got his answer when the mage girl at the front of the group suddenly started yelling. 

“Everyone! They’re almost here!” 

Between the wind and the movement in the woods, the trees began rustling. There was a silent tension in the air, like the calm right before the storm of war. One of the adventurers yelled at Gallio, who was still milling about in confusion. 

“Yo, Gallio-san! Fall back already! The fighting’s about to start!” 

“V-Very well! I’ll leave the rest to all of you!” 

After being barked at by one of the adventurers, Gallio gave a flustered reply and ran off to the back. As the escorts all finished their preparations and took their positions, a group of demons appeared in the sky and immediately rushed down towards the convoy all at once. Their mana presence was great enough that some of the escorts noticed and looked up. 

“They’re right above us too!” 

A mage shouted a panicked warning to the rest of the convoy. The demons were making a perfectly timed surprise attack from the air. Reading the danger of a simultaneous attack on two fronts, Suimei prepared his magicka. And just at that moment… 

“In that case…” 

Suimei heard Lefille mumbling to herself in a cold voice, but what happened next was nearly impossible to believe. 

“Wha??!” 

All of a sudden, Lefille was surrounded by a glittering red light. It was like her aura was pouring out of her body. The darkness of the forest was pierced by the brilliant crimson light she was radiating. An immense power that wasn’t mana was overflowing from within her. It enveloped her body, sword, and the very air around her. 

“HA!” 

She swung upward as if to cut down the very sky. There was no way she could reach their airborne enemies from here, even with her enormous sword. She caught only air with her blade, but the slash cast a brilliant red arc into the sky that flew straight towards the demons. But Lefille didn’t stop there. She kept moving her sword, fluidly following one swing with another. 

She unleashed a squall of red slashes, each rushing towards the incoming demons overhead. The demons weren’t expecting such an attack, and fell one after the other. They couldn’t escape the ominous storm of slashes assaulting them any more than they could the wind. In the blink of an eye, they had all been reduced to corpses. 

“Wha…?” 

Suimei’s surprise escaped his lips. It was a one-sided slaughter. A pure massacre. It had all happened so fast. And the cause was without a doubt that bright red light. 

“Hey, wait a sec, that’s…!” 

When Suimei suddenly grasped what the source of the red light may have been, he was at a loss for words. Surely he was mistaken. It simply couldn’t be what he thought it was. In stark contrast to Suimei’s surprise, the adventurer and mage—who had been watching Lefille without being able to follow her movement—began shouting joyously. 

“Amazing!” 

“Did you see that?! It was just like when she cut that ogre in half, right?!” 

“…It was? Lefille has done the same thing before?” 

“Huh? Yeah, she sure did… Something up?” 

The adventurer knit his brow at Suimei’s question. He must have thought Suimei was a little too stunned at this turn of events. It should have been cause for celebration. 

But apparently this was the same power Lefille had used to defeat the ogre. That helped Suimei start to make a little sense of things. With this, most any enemy would fall before her as easily as the demons just had. 

“Um, is something wrong? Are you feeling ill?” 

“N-No. Nothing’s wrong, exactly, but…” 

Suimei was simply too shocked. His mouth and his brain were hardly functioning. The armored adventurer then glanced behind him and started shouting commands when he suddenly remembered they were in the middle of a battle. 

“Hey, we can’t just sit on our asses here! We’re going in to cover her!” 

“Got it!” 

His party as well as the other adventurers and mercenaries around all responded in unison. Lefille, still clad in her red light, was cutting down more demons. 

Unlike everybody else who seemed to be in high spirits, Suimei was standing stock still in place. It was as if he wasn’t moving at all, or rather that he couldn’t move at all. He was simply entranced by what was happening before his eyes. He was fascinated by that red light. 

It was very likely that in his world, the power that she manifested was known as telesma, a form of spiritual power. It was completely different from mana or aetheric. Its power came from spirits, beings like angels and devils. As such, it could easily surpass what ordinary humans were capable of. It was classified as a higher order power, but its destructive potential wasn’t the only reason it earned that distinction. Roughly speaking, it was a power that existed on an entirely different plane from physical and magickal strength. It was practically unfathomable. It was a ridiculous power that could interfere with anything in existence. 

Did she transform into a spirit? But Lefille is human… No, wait… If that’s not it, then were her body and soul part spirit to begin with…? 

In her current state, Lefille wasn’t just borrowing the power of spirits. No matter how he looked at it, she was directly manifesting the power of a spirit. That was why Suimei was unable to compose himself. According to what he knew, it was absolutely impossible for a spirit to manifest in the physical realm like that. 

In the modern world Suimei was from, the beings classified as spirits—angels, devils, gods, and even evil gods—had been supplanted by the rapid development of science. Their existence had essentially been denied. In ancient times, such spirits came into being simply by being named. They existed on another plane, and came into this world when they were called. In the rare cases that they went unnamed, they remained rulers of their own plane. 

To harness a spirit’s power, one would have to wield a special technique to communicate with it and form a contract. And even after doing so, they would be able to manifest only a small portion of its power. So for Suimei to see this girl unleashing such power completely uninhibited, he was utterly shocked. 

If he had to make a guess, in order for her physical form to be firmly rooted in this plane and still wield such power, she would have to be half human and half spirit. It was extremely unusual. Even though it made sense logically, it was practically unbelievable. Yet something inside of him was telling him that had to be it. To think such a ridiculous being could just quietly exist here… It truly was a fantasy world. However… 

“No matter how you look at it, being a literal spirit is way too cheaty…” 

Suimei finally managed to shake off his astonishment and was now just half exasperated. The situation before him was just that confounding. 

“Is that all?!” 

Lefille howled at the demons as she blew them away. In her rampage, she was draining even their will to fight. The remaining demons were shaken by her thunderous cry, and began to show signs of hesitation in their attacks. 

“Alright! Follow after Lefille! Keep up the pace and take out the last of them!” 

At the adventurer’s orders, the rest of the escort rallied behind him. They now had the upper hand in this fight. Victory was a foregone conclusion now. After cutting down the last few foes in front of them, they would be free from the fighting. That’s what everyone was thinking, but it was too soon to celebrate. 

“W-Wait! Something is coming! With terrifying force!” 

Someone in the group sensed mana moving in the distance and yelled a flustered warning. The mage girl then raised her voice to grab everyone’s attention. 

“Wh-What is this?! Everyone, please be careful! An enormous mana presence is flying this way!” 

A violent roar echoed from behind the demons, and it was only getting louder and closer. It was as if something big was plowing through the air, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. It felt dangerous even to Suimei. The amount of mana it was emitting was incomparable to all the other demons they’d encountered so far. 

Tch, gimme a damn break. It was looking like this was going to end quietly and everything… 

Suimei cursed to himself in his mind with a bitter expression on his face as the dangerous presence closed in. Lefille turned back to the other escorts. 

“Everyone fall back! It will be here soon!” 

Just as she yelled to them, the dangerous presence that had quashed their hopes of an easy victory burst through the woods, mowing down the trees in its path. With an earth-shaking roar, the demon landed violently right in front of them. Pulling its fists out of the ground, it stood up straight in a perfectly relaxed manner. 

It stood nearly two meters tall, towering over the other demons in stature. Its legs and arms were like logs. It was like a brute, pure and simple. The very incarnation of violence. Its muscular appearance alone suggested that strength meant everything. Its combat prowess was obvious just looking at it. The sight of it would strike fear into the heart of anyone. This creature was truly a demon. Its figure was humanoid, but none of its features were actually human. And at last, it spoke. 

“…Hmph, finally found it, huh?” 

Just what did it mean by “finally?” Suimei couldn’t grasp the implication from just that much. And as he pondered that, the rest of the escort began to panic, completely overawed by the sudden appearance of such an overpowering presence. 

“Wh-What… is that? It’s much bigger than the others…” 

“S-Such dreadful power! It’s nothing like the other demons…” 

They were all prepared to flee on the spot. But their reaction was only natural. The oppressive aura the demon radiated was like a poison to humans. 

Tch, hey now… This thing’s seriously on a different level from those small fries… 

Before this demon, even Suimei began sweating nervously. He had yet to grasp the strength of demons in general, and now an extremely powerful one had presented itself without warning. It stood there like a tiger sizing up its prey. 

“However, it’s different from what I heard. Could it be the intel was bad…?” 

The demon seemed perturbed about something. There was a tinge of bewilderment in its voice. After a moment’s thought, it spat on the ground in irritation, pulled itself together, and took in a deep breath. 

“Whatever. It doesn’t change anything. Hear me, humans! I am Rajas, one of seven demons who was entrusted by our glorious leader Nakshatra with an army! Meeting me here spells your inevitable doom! You’d do well to quietly accept your fate at my hands!” 

The very air seemed to shake from the boom of his loud voice. It was like a shock wave, and it drove the trembling escorts further into the depths of fear. 

“Eek…” 

Someone let out a terrified gasp, but everyone present was pale. Internally, they were probably all gasping too. This situation had become just that hopeless. 

“…” 

Lefille, who was standing nearest to Rajas, hadn’t moved a muscle. She was just hanging her head as if she was enduring something, and gripping her enormous sword firmly in both hands. Something was clearly wrong. Could the pressure of the demon also be affecting her? She seemed to be reaching her limit. The anxious gazes of all the escort fell on the girl who had taken the lead in the fight until now. And when she finally broke, Lefille’s emotions violently burst out. 

“You… BASTAAAAAAAARD!” 

She let out a roar that rivaled Rajas’s. It was a shout filled to the brim with anger. She blew away the tense pressure that had stifled the atmosphere, and slashed at the demon before her with her red light. 

“Oh?” 

As the red whirlwind approached him, Rajas flashed a fearless smile and stuck out his arm. The red sword slashes met with his arm, but didn’t cut through it. A black aura wrapped around his skin and clashed with Lefille’s power, causing a violent flash of white light like an explosion. Her strikes had been completely stopped by the power surrounding his arm. Rajas was unharmed. Lefille had made a solid attack and poured all of her strength into it, yet the demon had fended it off easily. Rajas then gave an admiring smirk and laughed. 

“You’re quite good, little girl.” 

“Of course! Did you forget this sword?!” 

“Hmm, what’s this? Your sword, you say?” 

“B-Bastard! Are you… Are you saying you don’t remember me?!” 

Lefille was radiating intense rage. From what she had said, Suimei could infer that she had some connection with Rajas. As the demon began to stir, Lefille jumped back. She safely landed a ways off and corrected her stance. While she did, the demon squinted at her and scrutinized every detail about her. Just as Lefille had suggested, it seemed that he now remembered the connection between them and let out a loud laugh. 

“Ah, FUHAHAHA! I see! I remember now, little girl! You’re that damned survivor from that time in Noshias, right?!” 

“That’s right! You finally remembered!” 

“HAHAHA! I was sure you would die on the side of the road, but to think you survived! Even after everyone else met such a pitiful end!” 

“BASTAAAAARD!” 

Rajas flashed another twisted grin, and Lefille broke into another assault. She had become drowned in her anger and forgotten herself completely. Perhaps it was because of that exactly, but her sword strikes had a power behind them now that could hardly be compared to the blows she’d dealt previously. 

However, the demon was also quite capable. His arms wrapped in their black aura intercepted Lefille’s fierce barrage of slashes. In her blind rage, Lefille left herself open in the midst of her onslaught of attacks. Spotting that, Rajas made his move. In the small window of opportunity after deflecting her sword, he struck. A fist came barreling down on Lefille. 

“Your movements are too monotonous!” 

“Ah?” 

Mesmerized by the fist coming for her, Lefille unconsciously let out a small gasp and stopped moving. It was bad. She had seen the aura pouring out of that arm fend off her attacks. If she was struck by that, even as a spirit, she would be in serious danger. 

“Tch!” 

Everyone else seemed to be frozen in place too. That meant the only one who could break Lefille out of this situation was Suimei. Clicking his tongue and letting out the bitterness he had been holding in, he used his magicka to forcefully pull Lefille’s body, which had locked up at the sight of Rajas’s incoming fist. 

“Wha?!” 

“Oh?” 

Two surprised gasps rang out. One from the girl who’d just been saved, and the other from the demon who’d had his prey snatched away. There was a moment of relief between Suimei and Lefille when the immediate disaster was avoided, but it didn’t last long. Suimei had moved Lefille enough to get her out of the way of Rajas’s attack, but she was still within his grasp. Suimei had no choice but to insert himself between the two of them to defend her from another blow. 

“Suimei-kun, you can’t! Get away!” 

“You damn small fry! You dare stand before me?!” 

Lefille’s shriek of a warning was drowned out by Rajas’s thunderous shouting that struck Suimei’s body like a shock wave. Bearing it, Suimei lunged at Rajas at the fastest speed he could muster. As he approached, he focused on Rajas’s movements. His shoulder moved first. He was intending to swat away Suimei with a single strike of his fist. 

Seeing it coming, Suimei abandoned his plan to catch and throw Rajas. Even if he evaded and caught the strike, it would surely turn out poorly for him. So instead, he jumped. The demon’s fist came down diagonally towards the ground, and Suimei used it as a ramp to run up Rajas’s arm. Having accelerated the whole time, Suimei was already at Rajas’s shoulder by the time his arm was fully extended. 

“Hmph?” 

Standing on Rajas’s shoulder, he unleashed a stomp. Using all the mana he could gather in the time he had, he exhaled and struck with a single foot. The blow was enough that Suimei recoiled a bit, but Rajas appeared uninjured. 

Shit, even a direct hit did nothing… 

The stomp had echoed with a booming sound and the ground beneath the demon had caved in spectacularly, yet the attack seemed to have no effect. The smaller demons had easily been wounded by the adventurers’ swords and other weapons, so this difference in defensive power was truly irritating for Suimei. He was wondering if it was some kind of weird trick. Normally, a strike like that would split its victim in two from the shoulder down. He felt cheated that absolutely nothing had happened. As Suimei fluttered in the air while swearing internally, an agitated gaze locked on to him. 

“You brat!” 

Rajas swung his arm wildly. It wasn’t a focused strike, but it still had enough power behind it to destroy Suimei’s body five times over. He was once again in awe that Lefille traded blows with such strikes with her sword. As expected of a spirit, they were simply amazing. 

“Via gravitas, fingito.” 

[Gravity road, take form.] 

As the attack rushed towards Suimei, he recited a quick chant. Using magicka, he sent his body—which was still hanging in the air—crashing into the ground instantly. Rajas managed to follow the movement with his eyes and kicked at Suimei. 

“??!” 

In the next instant, Suimei was behind Rajas. He’d slipped under his leg as he kicked, and thanks to the cloud of dust it whipped up, it seemed Rajas hadn’t noticed. Suimei wouldn’t have minded seeing the dumb look on his face when he realized he had disappeared. But the next thing Suimei knew, a loud crashing sound resonated through the air as the trees in front of the demon were uprooted from his kick. 

Nearly everything Suimei could see was blown away. He really wished the demon would stop leaving everything to sheer strength. And in that brief instant where Rajas had yet to turn around, Suimei backed off. He was casually strutting away, keeping his distance to observe this demon who was like a storm of violence. 

Suimei focused his sight on the back of the demon before him. His body was immense. His physique was a far beyond what even the most gifted humans with ideal genes could achieve. He exuded power, and his mana overwhelmed anything they’d seen from the other demons. And eclipsing all of that was his pitch black aura. It was coming out of Rajas’s body, but it was clearly something special. Rajas finally turned around and met Suimei’s gaze. Shaking it off like it was nothing, Suimei continued strutting to the side. 

“Tch…” 

Rajas let out an aggravated grunt when he saw Suimei toying with him. He followed up with an attack, and Suimei responded in kind. 

“Contra caelum et terram.” 

[Reversed heaven and earth.] 

“Wha?!” 

Using magicka, Suimei reversed up and down in the space surrounding him. This flipped Rajas upside down, driving his head into the ground. Of course, this wasn’t enough to hurt him. No, this spell was only meant to buy Suimei some time. And with those precious few seconds, Suimei leaped backwards and began weaving together the magicka he thought would be effective. 

“Abreq—Tch!” 

However, he was forced to stop his chant partway. As if the earth itself was attacking him, an avalanche of rocks blew up from the ground. 

“Hah, mere lumps of dirt…” 

Suimei scoffed in a cold voice that made even himself shudder, and swung his arm wildly at the incoming rocks. Coming into contact with the magician who wielded the mysteries of the Kabbalah, they split clean in two, one after the other. When the earth settled down, an oppressive aura filled the air again. 

It’s evil down to the core, huh? 

Suimei concluded that Rajas was just that sort of creature. The power he wielded could only be described as evil. Its presence was enough to make one nauseous—a power that a human would never be able to wield. It was a power from another plane, from somewhere and someone else. As Suimei came to realize this, he once more stood before Rajas. Suimei had his hand in his pocket. Even though Rajas had just flown into a fit of rage at being trifled with, he now had a calm expression. It seemed the title of general wasn’t just for show; he at least had the composure to remain calm when necessary. Brushing off the dirt he’d collected when he met the ground, Rajas let out a scornful laugh. 

“You’re quite good, boy. For a mage, you’ve got some real strength there.” 

“Well, thanks.” 

“But if you’re only able to put up this much resistance, it isn’t much of a fight.” 

“Resistance, huh? From where I’m standing, it just looks like you haven’t been able to hit me. What’cha got to say ’bout that?” 

“Hmph, shut it. You have no room to talk when you can’t muster enough power to even scratch me.” 

Rajas shot down Suimei’s provocation with a laugh. It seemed that Rajas wasn’t going to be goaded by such a simple taunt. Lefille finally collected herself and took her place next to Suimei. 

“Suimei-kun, be careful! This is only a fraction of his true power!” 

“Aah, you’re saying he’s still not serious? Honestly, gimme a break…” 

Suimei let out a deep sigh that seemed completely inappropriate for the situation. Really, he let his inner thoughts slip out. Seeing that Rajas was still perfectly composed, if what Lefille said was true, Suimei estimated that it was possible Rajas wasn’t even using half of his true power. 

“If he wanted to, this entire area would be easily…!” 

“Hey, what? He’s that dangerous?” 

“That’s right. Your exchange of blows just now was nothing but him playing around. Don’t let your guard down.” 

Suimei could see Lefille’s hands tremble as she gripped her sword. She seemed to be remembering something unpleasant. 

“Heh, that’s how it is. A mere human mage shouldn’t get so cocky…” 

“Tch!” 

Rajas’s hideous aura suddenly swelled and cast a dark tension over the area. Lefille braced herself, and the anxiety showed on her face. If Rajas’s power was truly much more than this, it would certainly be bad for things to continue this way. Suimei had to defeat him before it was too late. And so… 

“Archiatius over?” 

When Suimei began his chant, the situation was turned on its head. Just as he thought Rajas was about to charge at them, he suddenly began laughing at Lefille. 

“Heh heh heh…” 

“What’s so funny?!” 

“I just thought of something quite amusing.” 

“Amusing, you say?” 

Instead of a reply, Rajas flew up into the sky. 

“I will take my leave for now.” 

“Wha??!” 

“But remember, woman from Noshias, that damnable power you hold isn’t something we’ll just overlook. I’m going to gather my subordinates here in this land, but I’ll be back for you.” 

“Your subordinates? Then…” 

“This was but a single part of my forces. Compared to my entire army, it was nothing. This you should already know.” 

Lefille was left speechless as Rajas continued. 

“And you should give up any hope of making it out alive again. My soldiers are spread all throughout this area, and any humans we come across are cut down without mercy. To send a message, you know.” 

With those final words, Rajas turned his back to them and retreated with the remaining demons. Lefille made to chase after them, but… 

“W-Wait!” 

“Lefille.” 

“??!” 

Suimei grabbed her shoulder. It was no use. Her eyes pleaded with him as if to ask why he’d stopped her, but he simply shook his head. When she realized the futility of it all for herself, the tension drained from her body. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah. Sorry… I lost my composure quite a bit there.” 

Lefille hung her head in shame as she replied. 

Things calmed down a bit after the demons left, but Suimei’s next task was already waiting for him. He was to use magicka to heal those who were injured in the fighting. On paper at least, that was the reason he was part of this trade corps. There happened to be other mages who were able to use healing type magicka, so the work was finished unexpectedly quickly. 

“Phew. That should be it for now.” 

Suimei let out a small sigh as he finished treating the last person. Since he wasn’t a specialist when it came to healing, he was a little worried that his treatment was somewhat lacking, but seeing as no complications arose, his self-evaluation was a little modest. Taking a look at the people he’d treated, it seemed none of them were any worse for wear because of his care. 

It’s getting awfully noisy over there. 

But some distance away, Suimei could hear a loud voice. The source of it was clearly the other escorts and merchants, but he didn’t know what they were yelling about. Perhaps it was about what to do next. According to Rajas, his subordinates were already crawling in the area and would be gathering soon. The trade corps didn’t have any time to rest if they were going to get out of here safely. Surely they would want to leave as soon as possible. 

If they were raising a fuss over preparations, it was possible there was some sort of trouble preventing their departure. Suimei decided to see for himself what was going on, and headed towards all the yelling. What greeted him when he arrived was an extremely tense atmosphere. Just what had happened that caused things to escalate so much? Wondering that as he got closer, he could see the escorts and merchants all surrounding somebody. 

The one at the center of the circle was none other than the girl who’d fought bravely for their safety, Lefille. Normally, these people should all be thanking her for basically single-handedly defeating the demons. However, judging from the tension in the air, they hadn’t surrounded her to shower her with praise. And then, as if she was tired of it all, Lefille spoke out. 

“What did you all call me here for? Is there something wrong? I believe there are more important things to be doing at a time like this, don’t you agree?” 

As she attempted to push everyone away from her with those words and her expression, one of the adventurers stepped forward. 

“Things to do, you say? Just what is it you think we should be doing?” 

“Obviously we should be heading to a safe location immediately. If we don’t hurry, the demons will attack us again.” 

“Attack us, huh?” 

The adventurer’s words were filled with sarcasm, and Lefille replied to him in a strong tone. 

“What? Do you have something you want to say? If you do, just spit it out?” 

“Yeah, I do. The reason we were attacked is because you were here, right, miss survivor from Noshias?” 

“?!” 

“Tch, and you’re telling us to hurry… How shameless. This is all your damn fault! That we were just attacked, and that we could be attacked again at any minute!” 

The adventurer was yelling, attacking Lefille viciously with his words. Compared to before, Lefille’s behavior became much more timid. 

“C-Certainly that demon intended to kill me, but the fact that we were attacked…” 

“Isn’t because of you? Can you really say that?” 

“…” 

Lefille was unable to respond to the adventurer’s accusation. The demon Rajas had targeted Lefille, only after she came at him. That meant the reason for the demons appearing here in the first place still wasn’t clear. In that light, what the adventurer was accusing her of didn’t seem to be right. But at the same time, Lefille couldn’t say for sure that it was totally wrong. So in the end, she didn’t argue. 

“That demon was chasing after you, right? He brought his army along just to take you out.” 

“Th-That’s…” 

“What? That’s what? If you have something to say, just try it. If you can, that is.” 

Lefille was no longer able to say anything back to the adventurer pushing her into a corner, and hung her head in silence. 

“Can I say something?” 

“What?” 

“Earlier when the demon was fighting Lefille, he said, ‘I remember now,’ right? That would imply the demon didn’t recognize her until after he got here. If he had been hunting her down, surely he wouldn’t have said something like that, right?” 

“Th-That’s unrelated!” 

“What? There’s no way it’s unrelated…!” 

“He could have just been going on vague information. In that case, they wouldn’t necessarily know what she looked like, right? Isn’t that right?” 

It was possible someone fitting her description had been reported in the area and the demons had come to investigate. It was possible that they’d only realized it was her after arriving. Suimei couldn’t argue with that much. 

“Also, before we were attacked, remember what that woman said? She was sure it was demons! How could she possibly know something like that? It could have easily been monsters. Yeah, you get it now, right? She had to have known demons were coming after her!” 

Suimei realized that this was the adventurer who had come to them to inform them of the attack in the first place. This man had been dubious of Lefille’s claim at the time as well. 

“That’s a pretty skewed conclusion. Couldn’t it just be because she has a special sense for detecting demons?” 

“Maybe. But can you prove that?” 

“That’s…” 

It was an extremely selfish question fully intended to railroad Suimei into conceding. Suimei had nothing more to say to anyone resorting to that kind of sophistry. One’s ability to sense the presences wasn’t something that could be proven to others. Even if there were a way to do that, this man was past the point of reason. 

“You can’t, right? So don’t butt in where you don’t fucking belong.” 

“Ugh…” 

Everything that came out of this man’s mouth was grating Suimei’s nerves. He was about to lose it himself, but before that could happen, a man parted the crowd and came forward. 

“Please wait, both of you.” 

“Gallio-san…” 

When Suimei turned towards the voice, he saw Gallio, the man in charge of the trade corps. 

“You’re both here to protect the trade corps, so it would be troublesome if there was friction between you. I would like the both of you to bring an end to your quarrel immediately.” 

“You say you want to end the quarrel, Gallio-san? Then do you got a proper way to end it?” 

“Yes. As the man responsible for managing this trade corps, I would like you to leave this matter to me.” 

“Y-Yeah…” 

As Gallio flatly declared his intention to handle the situation, the adventurer nodded obediently and shut up. Before Gallio’s authority, he simply lost all of his steam. It went to show that he at least had some experience and knew his place, despite how he sounded. After getting the adventurer’s consent, Gallio briefly glanced around at all the others to confirm with them as well. No one had any intention of interfering, and nodded back at him accordingly. All the voices that were yelling at Lefille had now been silenced. And once Gallio had control of things, he turned towards Lefille. 

“Grakis-san, I am the one responsible for this trade corps. In other words, I am in a position where I must put the trade corps’ safety at the highest priority.” 

Everyone present knew this already, but he went out of his way to make his position clear. 

“Right now, the demons have us in their sights. The cause appears to fall on your shoulders. As the one responsible for the safety of this trade corps, I cannot accept that. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, I understand. You’re saying that I should distance myself from the trade corps, correct?” 

“??!” 

“Yes, that is correct. It is a fact that parting with your strength in this situation is regretful, but it is also true that your presence will guarantee we’re a target when the demons come back. I don’t have to say any more, do I?” 

Gallio had been awfully roundabout with his approach, but Lefille understood his intent and nodded firmly in response. As she did, the surrounding crowd began yelling in agreement. “Hurry up and get outta here!” and “You damn jinx!” were just a few of the ill mannered jeers being thrown at her. It wasn’t as though Lefille had put them or herself in this position on purpose. The malice from the trade corps was simply uncalled for. If anything, she was the one in the most danger. She should have been the one distressed. Suimei thought it was just plain wrong for her to be getting this kind treatment at their hands. There was no way he could stay silent about it. 

“Are all of you planning on throwing a single girl out on her own in this kind of place?!” 

“Of course! The demon said he would come back for that woman! If we travel with her, we’ll all be killed by that demon general and his subordinates too, you know?!” 

“So? What is she supposed to do for water and provisions on her own!” 

“Like I give a shit! That woman could starve to death for all I care!” 

After hearing those words, Suimei quietly looked around at all the others. 

“…Do you all share that opinion?” 

He already knew their answer, but felt compelled to ask anyway. However, all he received for an answer were cold gazes. Suimei clenched his jaw, and then the adventurer from before turned his hateful mouth on him. 

“So? How long are you gonna act like a fucking goody two-shoes? Deep down, you also think that woman should just get the hell out of here, right?” 

“What?! I’m not?” 

“If you keep pretending to be close to her, you’ll lose your chance to get away, you know? Or is that it? Did you get taken in by her sex appeal? Aah, that’s right… She’s quite the looker, huh?” 

“Wha?” 

“Man, what a nasty woman. Attracting demons and men alike, huh?” 

His words were directed at Suimei like an open taunt. Suimei was already at his boiling point, and the tension in the air was just enough to push him over the edge. This man was simply too vulgar, and Suimei didn’t have the patience for it anymore. He could hardly help raising his hand, ready to snap his fingers at the nasty adventurer. 

“Oh yeah? What’s with that hand?” 

He was too foolish to understand that, in mere moments, his sleazy smile would be blown right off his face. Using his strike magicka, Suimei would mercilessly put an end to that annoying grin. However, before the righteous indignation from Suimei’s anger could take shape, Lefille stopped him. 

“Stop, Suimei-kun! What would you accomplish by doing that?! In the end, nothing will change, right?!” 

“Tch…” 

Suimei came back to his senses with Lefille’s words of restraint. Certainly nothing would change no matter what he did at this point. There was no way to overturn the fact that Lefille would have to leave. If he thought about it calmly, he already knew that much. Weighing the risks and taking into account the safety of the trade corps, having her leave was the only real option. Suimei clicked his tongue at the frustration at the current situation, and Gallio took hold of the conversation again. 

“Grakis-san, I will repeat myself once more. I believe you already understand this, but…” 

“Yes, I understand. I’ll head in a different direction than the convoy.” 

There was nothing else she could do. That much was clear. It was what had to be done to protect the trade corps. As Lefille and Gallio were having this exchange, Suimei glanced at the party of adventurers who had been on good terms with Lefille. The mage girl that she’d had such friendly chats with. The armored warrior who’d proudly boasted of her achievements. They had all covered for her in unison during the battle, but now they were looking away and refusing to stand up for her. 

Suimei couldn’t blame them though. They had every right to be afraid of an army of demons. They didn’t know what would happen if they spoke up for Lefille instead of pretending to be strangers. Perhaps they too thought she was responsible for the demons appearing in the first place. They were only looking out for themselves, but Suimei couldn’t call that cowardice after what he’d done to protect himself in the past. 

Before long, after negotiations for provisions had been completed, Suimei called out to Lefille. 

“Lefille…” 

“We only knew each other for a short while, Suimei-kun, but I pray that you are able to reach Nelferia safely.” 

Even in this situation, she was able to put on a smile. Looking at that lonely smile, Suimei didn’t even bother asking her if she was truly alright with this. She would surely say that it was fine without batting an eye. And with that, she turned to go. Her figure as she walked away with her conspicuously large sword on her back didn’t have a shred of the confidence she previously gave off. Right now, she just looked like a normal girl to Suimei. That’s why… 

“Hey, wait up.” 

Yes, that’s why… 

“Hey, are you listening?” 

This was different from what happened with Reiji and Mizuki. In this situation, if he shut his eyes, he would simply be abandoning this girl to her fate. The last thing he would ever see of her would be her lonely silhouette as she walked away. That was why, before Suimei even knew what he was doing, he’d made up his mind. 

“Give me some provisions too.” 

“What?” 

“I’m going with her. Much obliged for being allowed to come along with you on the journey up to here.” 

The adventurer gave Suimei a dumbfounded look from the side, and Gallio let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Is this really what you want, Yakagi-dono? If you abandon the request partway, naturally you won’t receive payment for completing the job.” 

“I don’t need it. I only need water and food. I would like you to grant me supplies proportional to the work I’ve done up to now.” 

“…Understood. Stay safe, Yakagi-dono.” 

Gallio replied while with his eyes closed and lightly shaking his head. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop Suimei and simply accepted their parting there. Without the ability to foresee and calmly accept such things, he would’ve been out of this line of work long ago. 

“Hmmmm? So after all that?” 

Just as the nasty adventurer was about to try and get the last word in, he was blown away with a snap. Suimei had no intention of listening to his vulgar yapping anymore. He then turned towards the adventurers who had gotten along with Lefille with a worried face. 

“Hey, you guys, are you okay with this…?” 

“Yeah. You two take care.” 

And with that, Suimei began cramming provisions into his bag. 

“Suimei was used as a decoy?!” 

To confirm whether or not there were any more demons trailing them, Roffrey had gone out on patrol. Immediately following that, what rang out through the otherwise silent environs was Reiji’s pressing and angry voice. 

“There is no reason to be worried.” 

What followed was a fluent explanation from Gregory that Reiji could hardly believe. As Reiji closed in on the man intent to grab his collar, all manners and courtesy flew out of the window. The approach of the violent storm of a man known as the hero caused Gregory to seize up. 

“Is that true?!” 

“Y-Yes! Everything is as I have informed you.” 

“Wha…?!” 

Reiji was at a loss for words at what Gregory had just told him. It was like a joke—one taken way too far. Reiji angrily bit down on his lip, and just as he was about to reach out for Gregory’s collar, Titania, who had been listening absentmindedly up until now as if she were distracted, stopped him. 

“P-Please calm down, Reiji-sama!” 

“B-But!” 

“Gregory is still in the middle of explaining. Let us listen until the end…” 

“…Fine.” 

Titania certainly had a point. All Gregory had said was: “Suimei-dono is being used as a decoy, so there is no major danger here.” Not a word more. 

Seeing that Reiji accepted her suggestion, Titania let out a sigh of relief. And then, with a severe gaze no one ever would have expected from such a gentle princess, she passed a command down to Gregory. 

“Gregory, you shall speak without any lies or fabrications. Is that understood?” 

“Yes, Your Highness…” 

Gregory knelt down as he gave her his reply. He seemed to be shuddering under Titania’s fierce gaze, and sweat began forming on his brow. 

“I heard of this back when I took up the role of communicating with the royal capital. According to people there, the demons had led a large army towards Astel with the intent to bring down the hero. And so, for the sake of making sure that Hero-dono could safely escape, they said that Suimei-dono was used as a decoy.” 

With a somewhat panicked expression, Mizuki then called out to Gregory. 

“Um, you’ve said that Suimei-kun was used as a decoy, but what does that really mean? It’s not like they could’ve asked Suimei-kun to do it and he would’ve just gone along with it…” 

“No. I heard that Suimei-dono is unaware of the matter.” 

They could have perhaps guessed that much, but even so, hearing it said so blatantly was quite difficult to swallow. Suimei was unknowingly being used as a decoy. It was only natural that they’d have some questions. 

“…So how did things end up like this? With Suimei being a decoy, I mean. It couldn’t be that Metel is being attacked, right?” 

“No, Hero-dono. Regarding that, it seems they awaited Suimei-dono’s departure from Metel…” 

“Awaited his departure?” 

“Huh? Wh-What? Suimei-kun didn’t say anything about leaving the city, right?” 

Back when they’d parted ways, Suimei had only said that he was going to live outside the castle. That was why Mizuki was concerned. There seemed to be an inconsistency with what Gregory was saying and the last of what she’d heard from Suimei. 

“A-After we departed from Metel, it seems information came in that Suimei-dono was looking for a commission at the Adventurer’s Guild to escort a trade corps.” 

“Suimei went to the Adventurer’s Guild, you say?” 

“Yes. According to the stories, just a few days after Suimei-dono left the castle, it seems he was already a guild member of the Twilight Pavilion. Based on that, they assumed it was likely that his original intention was always to leave Metel… And then, once the nobles who were involved in the Demon Lord subjugation found out about that…” 

They made use of him. But even with that answered, what Gregory said only led to more questions. Just what was going on with Suimei? He’d refused to accompany Reiji because he wanted to stay safe. Yet in spite of that, he’d turned around and joined the guild. He’d even taken an escort commission with a trade corps. Surely he wouldn’t have done any of that without a reason. 

“I wonder what’s gotten into Suimei-kun… There’s no way he wouldn’t have known that it would be dangerous if he left the city.” 

“I don’t know. But considering it’s Suimei, he must be up to something.” 

Seeing that Mizuki’s eyes were wavering with concern, Reiji continued questioning Gregory. 

“But okay, fine, I understand how Suimei’s name might come up as a decoy. But why did the nobles do something like that? There should be no reason for them to go out of their way to target Suimei, much less without his knowledge.” 

If they knew a large demon army was heading towards them, without the power to fight back, all they could do was run or hide. Or, with the right victim, lead them away. There was no special significance in sacrificing Suimei as a decoy. 

“Hero-dono, what is coming towards us is a large military force of demons. You would think that mobilizing such a large force would be slow, but our enemies are demons. Their marching speed alone cannot be compared to the advance of a human army. To prevent the worst case scenario where you were caught by them, Duke Hadorious said…” 

“Did you say Duke Hadorious?!” 

“Yes, Your Highness…” 

Hearing Titania’s surprised voice, Gregory lowered his head like he was somewhat ashamed. Duke Hadorious wasn’t someone Reiji was familiar with. If he remembered right, it was a name he’d heard somewhere at court, but even as he dug through his memories, nothing concrete came up. 

“Sorry, Tia, but who’s Duke Hadorious?” 

“Duke Hadorious is one of the most prominent grand nobles in Astel. He was appointed by my father to take on the responsibility of all domestic policies regarding the Demon Lord’s subjugation. However…” 

“Then he’s the one who used Suimei as a decoy?” 

Titania gave a slow, heavy nod even though she had no definitive proof right now. They then looked to Gregory, who seemed to know more. 

“It is just as you say, Your Highness. It was the decision of Lord Hadorious and a handful of other nobles. Of course, it isn’t that they doubt Reiji-sama’s power as a hero. I was passed this message, but it seems it was decided that it is still too premature to have Hero-dono stand before an army of demons, even with soldiers prepared in advance for support. And so they adopted this plan instead.” 

“…Even so, that still doesn’t seem like a reason to go out of their way to make Suimei-kun the decoy.” 

“Regarding that, the point is that it is unknown how the demons came to know of Hero-dono’s existence. The demons that Lord Hadorious’s subordinates captured only said that they were coming to kill the hero, no matter how much they tort… Excuse me, interrogated them. In the end, they were unable to find out any more than that. So by using Suimei-dono, who was summoned together at the same time as the hero, they thought they stood a better chance of confusing the demons… And so false information was leaked to the demons, directing them towards the trade corps and Suimei-dono.” 

It was certainly an effective strategy. The fact that they themselves had not yet come in contact with the main force of demons meant that the demon army didn’t know their exact location. They at least, however, knew of Reiji’s existence. 

Strictly speaking hypothetically, if the demons had a way of sensing a hero summoning, regardless of whether it paid off or not, there was value in taking action. Like they were now, if they moved their forces in a broad area, it wasn’t all that unlikely a possibility that they would be able to defeat the hero. However, before any of that, there was information that they had to know of no matter what: the timing of the summoning. 

“The only time we showed ourselves publicly outside the castle was when we took part in the parade. Even if that was leaked to the demons, for them to have invaded so far… Is that even possible?” 

“Yeah, Mizuki’s right. It’s difficult to imagine. It seems too fast, doesn’t it?” 

As Reiji suspected, there were likely those among the demons that had the power to sense such things. 

“And how did this Duke Hadorious leak the false information to the demons, anyway? It’s not like he knows one of the demons or anything, right? So just how did he do it?” 

“A-According to the men I was in contact with, a messenger was sent out to the soldiers in Shaddock. The soldiers who didn’t know of the approaching demons were relayed the false message that the summoned hero was currently headed to Kurant City with a trade corps.” 

“Wha?!” 

“Y-You can’t mean…” 

Mizuki’s voice seemed to be trembling as a repulsive image came to mind. And it seemed she’d properly inferred what Gregory was trying to say. Her anxious face went pale. Gregory too made a mixed expression of bitterness and regret as he replied. 

“When those soldiers were caught by the demon army, they would inevitably be made to spit out what they knew. But since they were only given false information from the start, the only information they could pass on would be lies. And if the demons believed them, then the plan would be a success, which is why that proposal was pushed to the front…” 

“What an unthinkable…” 

“So cruel…” 

It was a considerably strong shock to the girls. Covering her mouth with her hand, Titania was unable to speak any further, and Mizuki looked like she was about to cry. Seeing the two of them like that, Reiji thrust his resentment before Gregory. 

“Using people like that… Isn’t that going too far?! What do you take people’s lives for?!” 

“The life of our hero and the lives of soldiers are not something that can be compared. If we were to save a few soldiers and lose you, the only one who could save this world, then… looking at the bigger picture, it was easy to see the disparity.” 

“And just like that, even Suimei…!” 

“Even the people of the trade corps have nothing to do with it. But despite that…” 

Reiji let his violent emotions run wild as he shouted angrily, and hearing Mizuki’s grieving voice on top of that, it seemed Gregory was no longer able to say anything more. He fell silent. He likely had his own thoughts on the loss of his fellow soldiers. After venting his anger by yelling, Reiji questioned Gregory in a disheartened tone. 

“Was there… no other way of doing this?” 

“By now the demon army will have already passed through the center of Shaddock’s domain and likely be near the mountain range at the national border. There is nothing that can be done…” 

“If they’ve been planning this all along, why didn’t you say anything until now?!” 

“I-I had no choice! I was commanded not to say anything until the time came. As but a single knight, I do not have the right to disobey such an order… Moreover, by the time I heard of it myself, it was already…” 

“N-No way… Then Suimei-kun is…” 

“It is likely that he has already made contact with the demons. According to the information, they have learned that Suimei-dono has no peculiar characteristics, wears uncommon clothing, and is traveling with a trade corps towards the border. None of it is definitive, but even if they searched with just that much…” 

“B-But… if he runs away and hides somewhere, then…” 

“That would likely be difficult. Somehow, the demons have even spread their net all the way over here in the Nelferian Empire. Thinking of it that way, the scale and reach of the demon army must be quite considerable. As long as they have a general location, I believe they’d sweep every nook and cranny of an area to find their target. And in that case, a trade corps that knows nothing of the situation would…” 

Hearing Gregory’s conjecture, everyone present was stunned into silence under the weight of bitter emotions like despair and grief. Faced with this terrible news, Mizuki and Titania’s hearts went out to Suimei. Knowing he had no power to protect himself, they were both afraid for his life. Reiji had concerns along the same lines. But at last, Titania was the one to speak up. 

“What of the country’s—No, what of the defenses in Metel and Kurant City?” 

“I see… That’s right!” 

When Titania asked that, Reiji suddenly realized something. He’d been so absorbed in all this talk of Suimei that he’d completely overlooked it. If the demons were aiming for Suimei, it meant they would be within the national borders, and when they came into contact with the trade corps, there was no way they wouldn’t rampage. And when that happened, it would be unavoidable that the nearby towns would feel threatened. 

“Well, Your Highness, regarding the defenses of Kurant City, they have recruited the aid of mercenaries and those who are able to fight from the Mage’s Guild in the region. In addition, they have secretly summoned the elite from the Adventurer’s Guild. Regarding the defenses of Metel, the best of the knights and magic divisions have been gathered. They are currently getting into formation.” 

“If they can do that much so skillfully, then why use Suimei as a decoy?” 

“There wasn’t enough time to organize the troops. In order to by buy time to send messengers and transfer forces to Kurant City, there was no other way but to sacrifice Suimei-dono and the trade corps…” 

There was no other way. To save the many, a few had to be sacrificed. Reiji understood the principle, but it was unthinkable to treat someone they’d forcibly summoned to this world that way. As his thoughts turned to the unsuspecting Suimei, he grew even more frustrated at these people’s unwillingness to stand up and protect themselves. Mizuki next to him also had tears floating up in the corners of her eyes from the inhumanity of it all. 

“That’s cruel. That’s just too cruel…” 

Her tears and sorrow were unmistakably her true feelings. Even if she held the strength to take part in the demon subjugation, she was still just a normal girl on the inside. They were all summoned over and begged to help, and this was how these people treated the one who wouldn’t cooperate? Anyone’s heart would ache like hers did to be in such a painful situation. 

The same was true for Titania. Her expression as she cast her gaze downward was a mixture of vexation, distress, and disappointment. She’d been so delighted to finally make friends with Suimei when they’d parted ways, and now this… 

Under a heavy moral weight, Gregory once more fell to his knees. 

“My deepest apologies.” 

Just what would apologizing any more do for them now? There was nothing they could do about the fact that Suimei had fallen into danger. Not Reiji, Mizuki, nor Titania had anything more to say to Gregory. Their resentment had already been exhausted. Unable to clear away their feelings, all that was left was a gloomy atmosphere hanging over them. Even so, there was a knight in the prime of his life lowering his head right before their eyes to the extent that his brow was pressed against the ground. Just what was he expecting from apologizing in such a way? Was it merely what he felt obligated to do? A display of his earnest feelings of guilt? A mere veil to hide the dark, secret laughter in his heart? It was like he was racking his brains as he speculated what was going to happen from here in a self-loathing manner. 

Ah! 

It hit Reiji like a bolt of lightning. That was it. Once he could think through it calmly, it made perfect sense. 

“Reiji-kun?” 

Mizuki was puzzled when she saw Reiji’s eyes suddenly light up. 

“That’s enough, Gregory-san.” 

“H-Hero-dono?” 

Grabbing both of Gregory’s shoulders, Reiji brought him to his feet and put an end to his long, deep bow of an apology. There was no need for it. On the contrary, Reiji felt like he should be thanking him now. After all… 

“Gregory-san. In truth, when you heard this story, you were also told to keep quiet, weren’t you? I imagine you were told strictly to tell us that there were demons approaching, and to guide us somewhere else.” 

Titania and Gregory both had their eyes wide open. Mizuki spoke up to try and better understand what Reiji was getting at. 

“Reiji, what do you mean?” 

“If Gregory-san was only doing as this Hadorious nobleman said, then there was no need to tell us about Suimei. It would have enough just for him to get us to escape successfully. There was no need to go out of his way to build up our suspicion against him.” 

“Ah…” 

Mizuki’s quiet gasp of realization was louder than anything else in their otherwise silent surroundings. Gregory had intentionally provoked their mistrust. That was what Reiji was suggesting. Thinking back on it, it was certainly a strange confession. It was a foregone conclusion that revealing what had happened to Suimei would incite Reiji, and knowing that, Gregory had no reason to behave suspiciously and give himself away. As the subordinate of someone who had concocted the despicable plan in the first place, he had every reason to try and hide the truth from Reiji and the others. That is, unless he was subtly trying to reveal himself. In the end, he’d told them all about it willingly. Perhaps he just couldn’t take carrying the dark secret anymore. Perhaps he couldn’t accept the horrible truth either. 

“Sorry, I just put it together myself. I apologize for shouting at you without thinking about your situation.” 

“Hero-dono…” 

Reiji bowed his head and honestly apologized to Gregory, who looked fraught with emotion. Titania spoke up next. 

“Gregory, I owe you an apology as well. Until I heard Reiji-sama’s explanation just now, I thought of you as untrustworthy.” 

Hearing her say that, Gregory once more hung his head down. And then, as if repenting, he began speaking without hesitation. 

“…I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t deceive you who have no ties to this world and were summoned here only for the sake of defeating the Demon Lord. You took on that request so bravely… And now that your friend is in danger, for me to feign ignorance… it would make me nothing more than a villain.” 

After baring his soul to them, Gregory once more lowered his head. 

“My sincere apologies. I was powerless to do anything.” 

“It’s fine. It’s fine already. I mean…” 

To Reiji, even if someone else was to blame, the responsibility ultimately fell on his shoulders. He was supposed to be the only one summoned here to this world. His two friends had just been dragged along. Worse yet, he’d refused to listen to his own best friend’s advice. That’s why… 

“…Reiji-sama?” 

As Reiji stood up and began to run off, Titania’s voice chased after him. When he didn’t so much as look back, Titania once more called out to him in a now panicked voice. 

“J-Just where do you intend on going, Reiji-sama?!” 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to go save Suimei.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding! What can you do even if you go now?!” 

“H-Hero-dono! I understand how you must feel, but you’ll never make it in time! We don’t even have horses now!” 

“We still have one—Roffrey-san’s horse.” 

“Th-That may be true, Reiji-sama, but what will you accomplish by leaving? Even if you do make it in time, you’d be confronting an entire army of demons! You’d only die in vain!” 

Titania remonstrated Reiji to try and keep him from leaving. Her heart was in the right place, but Reiji wasn’t backing down, so she continued to press him to reconsider. 

“Reiji-sama, please think it over. If something were to happen to you, just who will defeat Nakshatra?” 

“…!” 

It was exactly as Titania said. Reiji was a hero. He was their only hero and their only hope. He’d agreed to save them. Casting all that aside and rushing to an early death would be, in a sense, a betrayal. Yet even so, he had his own morals to uphold. 

“I won’t…” 

“R-Reiji-sama?” 

“I won’t abandon Suimei. Suimei is my friend. That’s why…” 

Even as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in vexation, he didn’t want to give up. He wanted to go and help. Suimei was a dear friend to both him and Mizuki. Reiji didn’t want to lose him. So if fate was about to swoop in and take him, Reiji couldn’t just sit idly by and watch it happen. 

Titania implored Reiji. Her pleading eyes were wavering between concern for Reiji and concern for the world at large. She wanted to support Reiji, but she knew what would happen if the Demon Lord went unchallenged. She was torn. Averting his gaze from her, Reiji looked over to Mizuki. 

“Mizuki…” 

“I… I…” 

“Mizuki, let’s go save Suimei!” 

Grabbing Mizuki by the shoulders, Reiji looked earnestly into her eyes. He appealed to her go save their friend with all his heart. He thought she would agree. 

“I, uh…” 

But all Mizuki did was tremble. 

“I…” 

There was a far-off look in Mizuki’s pitch black eyes. Looking at her, Reiji was reminded that she had just finished her first battle only moments ago. It was her first real fight. Her first time standing up against a demon. She’d been seized with fear she’d never known before, and clearly hadn’t handled it so well. In perspective, asking her to take on an entire army of demons was beyond unreasonable. 

There was no way Reiji could force her to do it. Something had to be wrong with him for even asking this frightened girl to consider such a thing. Reiji had gotten hotheaded and carried away in the heightened emotion of the moment, but now that he’d had a moment to cool off, things looked a little different. 

“Sorry, Mizuki…” 

“R-Reiji-kun?” 

Reiji turned around as he apologized, but the apology wasn’t a concession. He still didn’t want to give up. 

“It’s fine if I’m the only one who goes. Everyone, please wait somewhere safe. Roffrey-san!” 

Roffrey was just returning from his patrol, and Reiji called out to him from afar. Roffrey, who had no idea what had just transpired, tilted his head to the side and hurried over to him on horseback. 

“Is something the matter, Reiji-sama?” 

“Lend me your horse.” 

“Reiji-sama? Well, I do not mind, but just what are you…” 

Roffrey dismounted his horse, and as if trying to intercept him, two female voices called out to them. 

“Please wait a moment Reiji-sama!” 

“Reiji-kun, wait!” 

They were hot on his heels, but this time, Reiji… 

After parting with the trade corps to go after Lefille, Suimei tracked her mana presence through the forest. He’d been following her for some time now, but still hadn’t caught up with her yet. It seemed she was in a hurry to get as far away from the trade corps as possible to prevent any further trouble. That was just the kind of thing Suimei would expect from a girl who’d seen through Gallio and accepted his judgment so readily. As he walked around looking for her and thinking, Suimei gazed up at the patches of cloudy sky that were difficult to see through the umbrella of trees overhead. 

We’re really out in the sticks, huh? This is probably just the kind of place wild beasts or fantastical monsters like to hang out… 

Suimei came to a stop for a short moment to take a break. Leaning back against a nearby tree, he gulped down the contents of his canteen and let out a satisfied sigh. It seemed quite likely he’d run into monsters around here. In that sense, the forests of this world were far more dangerous than the ones he was used to. 

For me to walk into a place like this of my own free will.. 

Was it praiseworthy? Or maybe foolhardy? Suimei wondered, but it only inflated his doubts. Before he could take another swig of water to quench his thirst, Suimei casually spoke out. 

“Sorry to interrupt while you’re steeling yourself, but could you spare me from being cut in two?” 

“??!” 

Suimei’s voice was directed behind him at the person who’d approached, ready to strike him down. Suimei’s deadpan request echoed though the quiet forest, and after a few moments, the sound of someone stepping forward and a bewildered but familiar voice reached his ears. 

“…Suimei-kun? Why are you here?” 

“Well, as you can see, I came after you.” 

As Suimei turned around, he was greeted with the sight of Lefille lowering the point of her large sword to the ground. Because Suimei was suppressing his presence, she’d likely mistaken him for a beast and was planning on cleaving him in half right along with the tree he was resting against. After Suimei calmly and frankly answered her question, Lefille’s face distorted with a grim expression. 

“You came after me…? Ridiculous. It’s dangerous to be together with me, you know? Why would you come?” 

“Well, that’s ’cause things’ll be troublesome on your own. So I was worried.” 

“Y-Your concern is unnecessary. I can manage somehow or other on my own. Your actions are just unwanted meddling.” 

“You’re saying you can deal with the dangers ahead on your own?” 

“That’s right.” 

Suimei found this part of her rather stubborn. And seeing her take up this attitude, he put on a cynical smile and raised a pointed question. 

“Then just let me ask you one thing: is that going to be enough water and food?” 

“Well… That’s, um…” 

“Uh-huh.” 

At a loss for words, Lefille awkwardly shifted her gaze to the side. Just as Suimei thought he was able to deliver the final blow and get her to consent, she once more regained her composure and summoned a rebuttal. 

“Despite your criticism, you don’t seem to be carrying much in the way of supplies either. Someone who doesn’t have enough food for themselves doesn’t have any?” 

“How ’bout this?” 

Crushing her serious and triumphant expression before she could finish speaking, Suimei pulled out a wealth of goods from his bag—far more than it looked like the bag could hold—and showed them off to Lefille. 

“…Right to…” 

“Doesn’t have any right to what? Are you saying the food I brought is insufficient?” 

Suimei spoke out with a somewhat prideful tone, and Lefille was left standing there repeatedly blinking in surprise and disbelief at what he’d just done. No sane person would suggest his supply was insufficient. Suimei’s school bag was a special one; it used magicka to increase its internal capacity substantially. Though it only looked like a doctor’s bag, it was as spacious as a 150-liter suitcase. And it was mostly full of provisions, apparently. 

“…What’s with that suspicious magic tool?” 

“Calling it suspicious is a little mean… But, with this, you can’t really say my meddling is unwanted, now can you?” 

“That’s true, but… Suimei-kun, are you alright with that?” 

“Do you think I’d say that I super regretted it after I’d already come this far?” 

“That’s… Sorry.” 

“No freaking way, right? If I was going to get buyer’s remorse, I wouldn’t have come in the first place. So don’t worry about it.” 

Seeing Lefille look dejected as she hung her head, Suimei tried to play things off as a joke, but what he said was true. He never would have come if he thought he’d regret it. Just the fact that he was standing here right now was proof of his resolve. But clinging to hope that she could get him to back down, Lefille continued to offer him reasons to reconsider. 

“But you know I’m being targeted.” 

“Yup.” 

“Then…” 

Then… What? Did she expect him to say that she deserved to be left on her own? Suimei scowled at the accusations that had been hanging over her and tormenting her, and spoke to her bluntly. 

“Are you saying that it’d be better for me to go along with the trade corps and leave you alone?” 

“That’s…” 

Having lost her escape route, Lefille hesitated to speak any further while Suimei decided to redirect the conversation. Looking up through the gaps in the trees, he spoke quietly as if he were talking to the gloomy sky above. 

“Hey, Lefille, honestly speaking, which would you prefer?” 

“Which…?” 

“Between me staying with you or following along with them, which would you prefer?” 

“I-Isn’t that obvious?! It’d be better for you to follow the trade corps! That’s what you should do!” 

“Really?” 

“R-Really.” 

Lefille didn’t look happy as she replied to Suimei’s repeated question. Was she in a bad mood because he wouldn’t believe her, or was she just trying to put on a brave front? Suimei thrust out his index finger in her direction and crushed the last of her resistance with a single sentence. 

“Then can you swear to Alshuna or whoever that you’re not lying?” 

“Wha?! That’s…” 

“That’s?” 

“You’re… quite the bully, aren’t you?” 

After Lefille let out a defeated sigh, Suimei questioned her once more. 

“So, how ’bout it?” 

“It… would be helpful if you came along. But?” 

“You know, there’s no real reason to box ourselves in by saying whether or not what I’m doing is wise. If you’re fine with it, we’ll just leave it at that. That would make things nice and simple, right?” 

“Ah…” 

Lefille was at a complete loss for words. If they kept talking about it and drove the matter into the ground, what would come from that? It wasn’t like they had to come up with a perfect solution. He gave an answer, and she listened. That was all there was to it. That was all it really took to dispel the knots of pain and sorrow within her heart. That’s why he didn’t want her to say any more. No matter where the conversation went on from there, it wasn’t going to help anything. There was no need to drag it on any further, so Suimei stopped her from trying again. 

“What’s wrong? You still got a complaint?” 

“No, you’re right… It may just be as you say.” 

In contrast to before, she sounded a bit relieved. Like part of her heart had been unburdened. She wasn’t being totally honest with herself, but at the moment, she was at ease. While scratching his head, Suimei let out a sigh. Looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, he certainly hadn’t made the right choice. But sometimes right and wrong are in the eye of the beholder. Suimei believed that no matter the outcome, the best choice was the one he made for himself. 

Also, honestly speaking, it was somewhat embarrassing to be moved by cheap emotions. 

“Sorry, Suimei-kun.” 

“Why’re you apologizing now?” 

“The reason the demons appeared is likely my fault. That’s why…” 

“Ah, the idle gossip of that burly demon, huh? It sounded like he didn’t recognize you until he ran into you, though. It really didn’t seem like was targeting you from the outset, no matter how I look at it.” 

Suimei raised an objection to Lefille’s apology. She was just overly anxious after the accusations that had been hurled at her. The things Rajas had said were somewhat fragmented, and there were portions of it that didn’t quite make sense to pin on Lefille. The adventurers had been all too ready to put the blame on her, but thinking about it rationally, it made far more sense that the demons were looking for something else and had just happened upon her in the process. 

What had happened was really the fault of panic. They hadn’t been able to rally in the face of the demon force, and it was just easier to cast fault on an easy target. In that sense, she was just unlucky. No one there was calm or in their right mind after being attacked like that, and the world was full of people who were less than magnanimous in the first place. People often created scapegoats in dire situations like that. That’s all it was, but Lefille didn’t seem entirely convinced. 

“No, those guys still should have been skirmishing with Thoria and the various nations to the west. But they cut through the region and sent a force all the way into Astel. I can’t think of any other possibility…” 

“What’s that? You think they came here just for you? You really must think you’re that special, huh?” 

“I-I’m being serious here, you know! Don’t poke fun at me!” 

“Hahaha, my bad, sorry. I mean, you are pretty special.” 

After apologizing for joking around, Suimei spun it into a compliment. But for some reason, what he received in return was dissatisfied grimace and a stern voice. 

“When you say it like that, I feel like you’re making fun of me.” 

“Not a chance. Just think about how strong you are. Think about how many dudes you cut down in the time it took me to handle one of them.” 

That was honestly what Suimei thought after their battle. But Lefille still seemed discontent about something. She was making quite the frown like she still had a thing or two to say. Setting that aside, Suimei moved the conversation on. 

“So, let’s see… That burly guy said you were a survivor from Noshias. If I remember right, Noshias was…” 

“Despite being so unfamiliar with this region, you know about that, huh?” 

“Ah, yeah, well, yeah…” 

Suimei gave a vague reply, feeling like a dunce as he recalled his situation. He was unfamiliar with the common knowledge of this world, so knowing the details of current events and things like that came across as a little strange. Suimei groaned to himself, and Lefille started to grumble out the details. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Just like he said, I’m a survivor from Noshias.” 

Lefille confessed in a quiet voice. Perhaps that was the identity that she was trying to cover up. She was the survivor of a country annihilated by the demons. It was a pitiable position to be in. 

“If I remember right, it’s the country that sits on the boundary between the human and demon territories. The first one attacked, right?” 

“I’m surprised you know.” 

“It was big news.” 

The fall of Noshias was one of the triggers that brought Suimei to this world. There was no way he would forget it. Getting back to the topic at hand, Lefille confirmed what he said in a lonesome voice. 

“Yeah. Noshias was what held back the demons for quite some time. But even then, it completely capitulated within a single month.” 

“I heard the army that attacked it numbered over a million strong, though.” 

“A million, huh? I don’t know where that came from, but I wonder about that. I’ve never seen that many of anything before, so I can’t say for sure.” 

Her words were cold and blunt, but she almost sounded like she was complaining. Unable to read into what she was saying, Suimei knit his brow. Lefille narrowed her eyes and looked off into the distance, her eyes clouded over like the light in them had dulled. 

“They were like the sea. They covered the ground as far as the eye could see. They were uncountable, and they poured over the national border like a wave as they attacked.” 

Lefille recalled the sight of it all. And as Suimei faintly imagined the scene, he heard himself gulp. The mental image of a tsunami of living beings descending on you wasn’t a pleasant picture. They swarmed the ground and obscured the horizon in their sweeping, deadly approach. 

“So… that’s when you met that big guy?” 

“You mean Rajas, right? I ended up having to fight him back then. Just as you heard before, he seems to be one of seven demon generals.” 

“Now that you mention it, he did say something about that.” 

Suimei recalled Rajas’s self-introduction. He was one of a select few entrusted with an army by Demon Lord Nakshatra, or so he’d boldly declared. 

“There are seven of them, huh?” 

“Yeah, I remember hearing that back then as well. I don’t know the full details, but he was boasting about leading three of the seven armies.” 

“Three of them? And you’re saying there’s a possibility that it was over a million… Then that means, in total…” 

The reality seemed to be getting grimmer and grimmer the more they talked about it. It wasn’t like Suimei ever made light of the situation, but this left a bad taste in his mouth. If three armies constituted a million or more demons, then their entire force was at least twice that. And based on what he’d heard from Lefille just now, the numbers weren’t even enough to do it justice. Their opponents weren’t human. The thought that fighting all of them was going to be placed on the shoulders of only a few summoned heroes was simply unreasonable. That applied to Suimei who’d been summoned here too, but more than for himself, he was concerned for Reiji and Mizuki who’d actually accepted the job. 

“When I fought against Rajas back then, I was unable to do anything at all before his power. Our unit was routed, and after that, that female demon…” 

“Female… demon? Did something happen?” 

“No… It’s nothing. But… it’s likely that there was more to Noshias being targeted first than just its location on the border.” 

That was likely her reason for saying the demons had cut through human territory to chase her down. And Suimei had a clue as to what they were after. 

“The telesma?” 

“‘Telesma?’” 

“Ah, sorry, I mean your power. Back where I come from, that’s what we call it. ‘Telesma.’” 

“There are people who hold power like mine even in the east?” 

“No, nobody has power like yours, but, well… We had something close enough to have a name for it.” 

Suimei tilted his head to the side like he himself was unsure of what he was saying. That seemed to confuse Lefille even further, and she tilted her head as well with a baffled expression. It was only natural. It was likely that in this world, the definition of telesma was different from that of Suimei’s world. Here they didn’t have the influence of nature and science pushing against the mystical, and they didn’t even have the knowledge gained from diverse studies in magicka. They couldn’t possibly have much information regarding telesma, and they certainly weren’t familiar with the details. 

Lefille spent a short while trying to glean Suimei’s meaning, but came up emptyhanded. 

“I don’t know that word, but it’s just as you say. We call it the power of spirits. In our country, it’s said to be a power that was used to oppose the demons in ages long past.” 

“Now that you mention it, you said that your sword techniques were something passed down from generation to generation. Is that the same?” 

“Yeah. My ancestors were born from a mix of humans and spirits, you see. So that humans would have a way to stand against the demons, it seems it was something arranged by Goddess Alshuna. My sword techniques were also born around that time, and it seems that long ago, this sword and power also helped a summoned hero.” 

“A hero? What, seriously?” 

Hearing that unexpected word from Lefille, Suimei quietly, quietly muttered to himself. He didn’t think that Lefille’s ancestors would have aided a summoned hero in the past. Now their descendant was traveling together with someone who’d refused to accompany the hero. That was some truly ironic karma. Lefille then made a pained and lonely expression as she continued to speak. 

“I also wanted to use this power to protect people. To save them, That’s what I thought, but in the end, that was just an out of reach dream. And now… here I am.” 

As she spoke, Lefille dejectedly cast her eyes downward. She’d run away from her homeland, become an adventurer, been scorned by baseless slander, and finally forced into exile and isolation. Surely that only made her feel even more helpless. 

She had the face of a woman who’d had her dreams crushed under the cruel weight of reality. Suimei could see it. She had the desire to protect people. That was her pure, earnest wish. Her pure, earnest wish that was denied unjustly by the malice of others. Her face said it all. That she’d suffered through everything and nothing could be done about it. She felt like she was being punished. 

“Hey, Lefille, just what are the demons?” 

“Those things? Honestly speaking, I don’t really know myself. But it seems that no one in the entire world knows in great detail. There are stories and things that have been passed down, but it’s not like there are ways to go and learn about demons.” 

“And what about the little that was passed down?” 

“Long ago, there was the Evil God who quarreled with Alshuna… the one we talked about before… That Evil God apparently boasted of enormous power, and in the end, it was beaten before Alshuna, the Elements, and the spirits, and was driven away to the valley between worlds.” 

Suimei nodded as he thought. Back during the earlier part of their trip, Lefille had talked about these things. He mostly remembered what she’d said. And when she talked about the valley between worlds, he assumed she likely meant the space between this world and the one outside of it, or in short, the small space in the heavens called the astral plane. 

“The demons seem to be the servants of the Evil God. They receive divine protection from it, and look to fill the world with nothing but chaos and death.” 

Chaos was a grand way of putting it. But just based on the fact that they were influenced by an Evil God, it seemed only obvious that the scale of their affairs was quite large. Perhaps they weren’t much different from devil worshipers. In that case… 

“You said divine protection, so is the source of their power this Evil God?” 

“Yeah, now that you mention it, I think there’s a theory about something like that. I don’t really remember it though…” 

“Hmph…” 

“What’s wrong? Suimei-kun.” 

“Hmm? Nothing. I’m just nursing my own theory on what the demons really are.” 

“Oh? A theory? Sounds interesting.” 

“Do you wanna hear it?” 

“You’ve piqued my curiosity.” 

So she said, but giggled at the thought of how seriously he was taking this. But at the same time, she thought it was commendable. She did expect to hear something interesting, but she didn’t really seem to be expecting him to be able to figure anything out. 

“Alright. Well, to start with, I’ll have to follow up on this Evil God thing…” 

Suimei thought of the devils and angels of his world when he thought of spirits, but fundamentally, spirits were just figments of the astral plane that transmitted powers, similar to gods. They were given names when summoned, and only then did they actually manifest as devils and the like. 

In the other worlds, spirits were generally sorts of vague existences with power, but no real form or figure. But gods, including the gods of this world, were likely of a higher order than spirits. They weren’t vague or abstract existences like spirits, but genuine beings with clear directionality in their will and immense power. In other words, the existence known as the Evil God would be? 

“The Evil God in the valley between the worlds—in other words, the astral plane—desires to fill this world with chaos. Even now, it’s watching vigilantly for an opportunity to do so from the astral plane. However, since its existence is anchored there, unlike back when it quarreled with your goddess long ago, it can’t interfere directly with this world. That’s why, in its stead, the demons who act as its servants are moved by its will. They’re loaned power for their faith and are now trying to drive the world into chaos.” 

“Huh…” 

“Well, it’s a little cliché, but from what I’ve heard, it’s probably something like that. Based on that story, it seems like they’re trying to ruin the world rather than take it back, but?Oops.” 

Suimei wasn’t sure whether that applied to all demons, so the moment he mentioned it, he realized he was starting to derail himself and got himself back on track. 

“Well, enough of the details behind it. Those demons acting as puppets are… Let’s see. Let’s start with their specs… The physical strength of their bodies is superhuman, so they’re either beings that have followed a different evolutionary path, or perhaps that Evil God or whatever designed them to be that way. I don’t have enough to say one way or the other, but that’s the impression I get.” 

“That is indeed an interesting theory.” 

“Thanks. Anyways, since you mentioned divine protection, I’m guessing a large portion of the power they use comes from this Evil God dude. That’s what that pitch black aura that pours out of them is.” 

“…Is that not just a characteristic power of the demons?” 

“That’s what it seems like, but that isn’t a kind of power living beings should ordinarily have. There’s kind of a law that stipulates power that inherently opposes the world doesn’t naturally occur within the world. Thinking about it practically, nobody would consciously create something that would destroy themselves, right? Worlds are the same way. That’s how you know a power like that is unnatural, so to speak. That means they couldn’t have it unless they got it from somewhere else, and that somewhere else is…” 

“The Evil God, huh?” 

“In a nutshell. The very fact that the demons use that power proves the existence of the Evil God. It’s quite the tiresome story, though.” 

In the end, the demons were a consequence of the Evil God. That was the part that was the most troublesome. 

“And so Alshuna or whatever is an existence which counteracts the Evil God, so it’s likely that she’s rooted in the faith of the humans and demi-humans of this world, which marks her as an enemy of the demons.” 

As Suimei brought his explanation to an end, Lefille squinted her eyes like she was scrutinizing the details of what he said. She seemed to be in the middle of collecting her thoughts. Eventually, Suimei calmly asked for her thoughts. 

“How ’bout it? Do you think it’s a sound theory?” 

“Certainly. It does seem reasonable. It’s the first time that I’ve heard of anything touching upon the source of the demons’ powers. Based on what you said and thinking back on what I’ve heard, it does seem to be rather plausible.” 

“Pretty good, huh?” 

“Striking, certainly. There’s quite a bit in there to think about. You’re amazing, Suimei-kun.” 

As Lefille gave an overly serious nod like she was admiring his cerebral handiwork, Suimei added on a supplemental explanation. 

“Incidentally, I think the reason humans are able to fight against the demons is because of Alshuna’s divine protection, you excluded. It’s the reason why even normal guys have the power to oppose them. The Elements also fall under the category of things that are opposed to the Evil God, so the magic from mages is effective too.” 

That was why even regular physical attacks could hurt them. Because the people of this world had their way of life tied to faith, that power naturally dwelt within them. And on top of that, the mages of this world summoned the power of the Elements that were strongly connected to Alshuna and the spirits, which gave them additional effective power against the demons. 

At any rate, that was Suimei’s theory. Because the demons had divine protection from their Evil God, fundamentally, only magic from this world that opposed such a thing would really work against it. However, as long as the Evil God itself resided on the astral plane, it would end up in the same category as gods and devils from the astral plane. Consequently, the demons were a bloodline of evil existences, and magicka would be effective against them too. And just as Suimei was thinking this out to himself… 

“Suimei-kun.” 

“Hmm? What’s up?” 

“Just who are you?” 

It was an honest question. Rather than being suspicious about his identity, Lefille seemed to be genuinely curious about who he was. And in response to that, Suimei answered bluntly. 

“I wonder. Better yet, isn’t it about time that we look for a place to rest?” 

“…You’re right, yeah. Let’s do that.” 

As the forest began to darken, Lefille looked up at the cloudy sky starting to turn deep blue and agreed. Suimei thought for a moment he saw her shrug her shoulders in disappointment out of the corner of her eye. And so, now with Lefille at his side, Suimei once more began walking through the forest. 

Later that evening after rendezvousing with Lefille, while surrendering himself cheerfully to the cool evening air, Suimei was gazing up at the starry sky of this strange world by himself from a rock face with a good view. 

“And it’s that way…” 

Spreading out before a backdrop of deep violet mixed with darkness was a beautiful starry sky. It was something he’d never be able to see in his modern, polluted world. And while admiring the sight, Suimei was measuring out accurate directions using star divination. 

Suimei didn’t know anything about the constellations in this world, but after having spent a number of days here and having gazed at the night sky quite a number of times, he at least had a general understanding of the position of the moon and the stars. He’d reached the point where he could calculate their basic direction without any problems. However… 

Even if I can use it, it’s only about this much, huh? 

The longer he stayed in this world, the more headaches he came across. Despite what he’d managed to gather on his own, the star divination that Suimei could currently perform here was limited. He could certainly identify the stars’ spectrum, in other words, the light being projected by the stars. From that he could more or less infer the magickal categories the stars fell under and what attributes they had, and that made it possible to an extent to use magicka. But when it came to the classic star divination, fortune telling, and the most effective application of magicka using the power of the stars, because he was unable to make use of the names of the stars or their related meanings, and because he couldn’t substantiate the influence of the constellations, he was unable to manifest their full potential in this world. 

To bring up an example, Enth Astrarle would be a good case of it. Back in his own world, as long as the time and conditions aligned, it was a magicka that he boasted of as having fiendish destructive power. But in this world, he couldn’t even brandish half of its maximum potential. And knowing one of the most powerful spells he relied on in battle was reduced to such a humble state, Suimei couldn’t help the despondent sigh that escaped his lips. 

After talking about demons with Lefille, it had started to get dark as they moved deeper into the forest to look for a place to camp. They happened across a pack of wolves but avoided running into any monsters, and managed to find a watering hole and a cave that seemed suitable enough to stave off the evening dew. 

By then, the evening sun had already half melted away, and the cloak of twilight was steadily creeping across the sky over their right shoulders. So as night fell, they quickly finished making camp and prepared a meal. After eating, Lefille had retired and Suimei had gone out to stargaze, which brings us to the present. 

Staring up at the starry sky, Suimei pondered what was ahead of him. Following his heart and jumping into this was fine, but he was at a loss at what to do next. With things as they were, it seemed like he was in for another battle with the demon called Rajas down the line. 

“That guy said he was going to bring friends next time…” 

Suimei measured out his thoughts as he recalled the demon general he’d faced off against that afternoon. Rajas had told Lefille that he would be bringing his subordinates. Suimei didn’t think he would show up with an army equivalent to what Lefille had talked about, but it did seem that they were planning some sort of military movement. Suimei had to be prepared to face something on that scale. 

That was why he greatly lamented the fact that he couldn’t fully utilize Enth Astrarle. It was true that only particular magickas were effective against the demons, but as he’d learned with Ashurbanipal’s flame, spells would work as long as their destructive power surpassed the dark aura the demons possessed. He could more or less overwhelm them with magickal brute force. So being unable to use the maximum destructive force of his magicka meant to exterminate enemies deployed in a wide area was an unfortunate handicap. And as Suimei let out a grand sigh over the troubles to come… 

“Hmm? Lefille?” 

She’d come out of the cave without him noticing, but he caught a glimpse of her dainty figure as she walked off. She appeared to be in just her knight’s outfit and not her armor. What was she doing? Her footsteps looked unsteady and shaky. As if she was being reeled in by a thread, she went off deeper into the woods. 

Just where was she going so late at night without even carrying her weapon? After dinner, she had said that she was a little tired and gone ahead of Suimei to get some rest. Between the battle with the demons, the incident with the trade corps, and their encounter with the wolves, her fatigue had likely caught up with her. So what on earth was she doing now? 

“If I remember, that way is…” 

Lefille was headed in the direction of the watering hole: a small waterfall and a brook. But they’d already brought all the water they could need to the cave, so there shouldn’t have been any reason for her to go out of her way to go back there. 

“…” 

A bad premonition ran down Suimei’s back in the form of a chill, and he tried to rub the unpleasant sensation out of the back of his neck as he pondered what was to come. There was something about the way Lefille was walking. She was unsteady; it wasn’t normal. Moreover, she was going into the woods unarmed. Something was definitely up. 

And in that case, surely it would be best to go after her. 

With that thought, Suimei jumped off the rock face and followed Lefille, who was pushing her way deeper into the forest. Cutting through the thickets and passing between the trees, he arrived at the watering hole before long. When he stepped out of the tree line, his foot fell on something made of cloth, and promptly slipped on it. 

“Whoops… What’s this?” 

Without warning, he was about to smash his rear end right into the ground just like when he was first summoned to this world. Thankfully, however, he managed to catch himself in the nick of time. After righting himself, he looked down to see what he’d slipped on. He stooped down and picked it up with both hands and took a good look at it. 

“Huh—?!” 

Suimei unwittingly squeaked out a startled gasp, and his bewildered mind went a little blank. With what could only be described as a dumb look on his face, he stared confoundedly at the object he was holding up. It was no doubt a garment. Not only that, it was one that Suimei had been seeing quite often lately. Indeed, it was the very same knight outfit that Suimei had seen Lefille wearing from atop the rock face. 

“H-H-Hey, wait a sec. This is…” 

The reason Suimei was unable to even speak properly was the sight that spread out before him. His bewilderment and panic were accelerated by his flustered mind, and it was all he could do to stammer to himself. He’d stumbled across the discarded clothing of a woman he was close with. That alone was enough to fluster nearly any man, but when Suimei looked around, her underwear was also on the ground nearby. That could only mean one thing. 

“She’s not wearing any clothing. That means…” 

Dumbfounded Suimei slowly put it together. A girl’s clothing on the ground + her underwear = no. And as he worked out the devil’s math in his head, his gaze wandered towards the water’s edge as if pulled by some unseen force. There, his eyes fell on Lefille’s stark naked body. 

A-AAAAAAAAAAAH! 

A bomb called bashfulness went off in Suimei’s heart as he screamed internally. But what about the terrible premonition he’d had earlier? Was it just a strange sensation on the back of his neck? Why had he thought this was something awful? Regretting following his hunch, Suimei’s racing mind boiled over with questions. 

Even if this was a simple misunderstanding, it totally looked like he was a complete voyeur peeking at a girl taking a bath. If anybody saw him here, he wouldn’t be able to escape or even argue with being labeled a pervert. And more importantly… 

“No, wait, don’t look, Suimei! You can’t! Actually, I want to look a bit… But no! Forget that urge! Forget it! Just forget everything you saw and go back right?” 

While turning bright red, Suimei did everything he could to deny something within himself. His mind was in such chaos that any and all ability he had to think calmly was long gone. He couldn’t even think to get a good look or to burn the image into his mind. His brain was completely devoted to magicka and had no idea how to handle a situation like this. His fundamentally serious personality took hold, declaring war on thoughts like “they’re big,” or “it’s tight,” or “that’s pretty,” or “what a figure.” They were all his enemy, and as he struck them down one by one, he heard something strange. 

“Ah, ah… Mmm, ah…” 

“Huh…?” 

The faint, fleeting sound of labored breathing hung in the air. Unthinking of the consequences, Suimei let out a confused exclamation. 

That wordless voice he’d just heard… didn’t it sound like it was calling out in distress? It sounded like gasping or moaning. It was the hoarse voice of a woman in distress. She sounded like she was in the throes of an unbearable fever. Did that mean this wasn’t just a simple bath? 

Lured by the sound of her voice, Suimei once more looked towards Lefille. She was laid out on a rock at the water’s edge. Looking closely, the light was gone from her eyes. Rather than taking a bath, it looked she was suffering. And what of the moaning? Just what anguish was causing her to leak out such gasps? Suimei’s eyes were drawn to one cause: a wicked crest had been engraved on her abdomen as if violating her body. 

“Ah…” 

Suimei unintentionally gasped a little when he realized what was going on. His voice, his arms raised out in front of him, his eyes, and his bashful heart all drooped. 

A curse. As soon as that word flashed through Suimei’s mind, the fluster that had come over him cleared up in an instant. 

But why…? Why is there a woman suffering from a curse here too? 

As questions swirled in his head, his heart trembled in the face of helpless emotions like despair and pity. 

This was indeed the work of a curse. It was his first time seeing one like this, but there was no mistaking it. The crest on Lefille’s abdomen, the dark red curves carved atop each other that violated her beautiful white skin, were proof of it. It was a curse from another world. The crest faintly emitted gloomy mana as Lefille’s gasping and agony grew stronger. Her body writhed obscenely, likely due to the burning heat of the fever brought on by that vile crest. Just who had cast such a curse on this girl? And why? 

“Tch…” 

What left Suimei’s mouth was an expression of bitterness beyond compare. He knew all too well of curses and the cursed. 

He’d once been begged by someone who desired to see such a curse defeated. There was a woman who suffered a curse so grievous that it brought her to ruin. That’s why Suimei couldn’t stand them. He hated the very idea of their existence. Something like that couldn’t be forgiven. Such unreasonable sorrow shouldn’t be allowed in the world. 

And that was why the suffering of the girl before him wrenched his heart like it was happening to him. Those obscene movements were unbearable, no matter what was done in exchange for them. 

His sorrow overflowed his heart. This noble girl was seized by a terrible curse and forced to comfort herself, leaving Suimei afflicted by an indescribable pity for her. Burning with an unmanageable fever, she cast aside her own dignity and desires and was forced to perform such shameful actions. If this was not abject sorrow, then just what was it? 

Why did curses only ever sully those who tried to live honestly? Why did they only ever terrorize women? Why did they take such morbid delight in sipping on their tears? 

The rage and pity bubbling up inside Suimei drove him to action. He drew closer to the suffering girl. 

“Lefille.” 

As she was gasping in anguish, Suimei called out to her and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. With that, Lefille seemed to regain a hint of her sanity. She looked up at him with her hazy eyes. 

“Hngh, hmm…?” 

Her flushed face looked at him with suspicion. 

“Ah…” 

And then there seemed to be a moment of realization. Someone had called to her, but she took no comfort in recognizing the man who looked at her with pitying eyes. She fell into an inarticulate despair, her face contorting into a disheveled mess. Why was he here? Why did he have to see it? She didn’t want to be seen like this at all, much less by him. Her pained expression said it all. 

However, even as she realized that someone else was present, her body wouldn’t stop. It was like it was being moved by a power she couldn’t oppose. Like the curse gave it a mind of its own. Against her will, she began to rub herself against the cool rock. 

“Ah, hngh… Mmm, ah… No…” 

Those bewitching movements were her body’s way of trying to find relief from the terrible heat that assailed it. 

“No… Please don’t look… Please…” 

Her voice, already weak from the suffering of the fever, sounded like it might just vanish in the air. But that quiet cry for him not to look at her shameful figure was a scream from the depths of her sorrowful heart. 

After a while, the curse that had been cast on Lefille’s body seemed to calm. She slipped on her clothes, which Suimei had brought over to her as she sat on the bare ground. He then quietly asked about the cause of her suffering. 

“A curse?” 

Without looking at him, Lefille silently nodded. It was just as he suspected. Lefille continued to stare down at the ground with her dim, lifeless eyes. But before he could ask anything more, she suddenly spoke up. 

“I…” 

“…” 

“I’m what you would call royalty in Noshias… Although, since Noshias was destroyed, it would be correct to say I was what you would call royalty.” 

She let out a long sigh. She spoke of herself in a near derisive tone, and kept her head hung low as she confessed her identity. 

“Noshian royalty… Its lineage is based on inheriting the blood of the spirits. Because the power of the spirits was naturally strong in me, I was raised to defend Noshias since infancy. Every single day, I had sword techniques and the way to channel the power of the spirits drilled into me. All for the sake of defending the country when the demons would one day attack us from the north.” 

Lefille then turned to Suimei with a question. 

“I spoke to you this afternoon of how Noshias was made to taste defeat at the hands of the demons, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah.” 

“At the time… It’s already been half a year, huh? We were entrusted with the northernmost fortress, but were routed before the overwhelming demon army. During the battle, my allies were scattered. And by the time we returned to the royal capital, including myself and the people there, there were only a few of us left.” 

It must have been painful for her to recall. Her voice was strained. But nevertheless, she forced herself to keep going as if it was something she needed to talk about. 

“The demons invaded with frightening speed. Before we could even evacuate the citizens out of the country, their massive army had taken hold of most of the nation. At that point, we were out of means to stand against them. There was a clamor to perform the hero summoning ritual that had repulsed the demons in ancient times, but it was far too late by then. Our only remaining hope was my power, and even that was useless before the vast demon army. Our army, which was known far and wide for its strength, was crushed by their overwhelming numbers. In one last display of Noshian willpower, we took our final stand in the castle and held out as long as our resistance would last. It all ended there.” 

In other words, it turned into a siege. It wasn’t a choice they’d made to try and seize victory; it was simply because they had nowhere to run. For the northerners who prided themselves on their bravery and their defenses, it was likely their way of saying that, even when cornered, they hadn’t given up. 

“If you were besieged, then how are you here now?” 

“While everyone was preparing for the siege, I had another obligation. I was not allowed to perish in the castle. Because of the power of the spirits, you see. Since I hold this power, I had to survive so that this bloodline wouldn’t be extinguished. I wasn’t allowed to battle it out to the end in the castle like everyone else. Yes, because I hold this power, my father, my mother, my friends, everyone who was important to me… I abandoned them all. I was forced to. I had no choice but to run away.” 

Suimei could hardly fathom the regret she carried, but he could see it. Lefille’s shoulders hung low as she spoke. As someone from modern Japan, Suimei would’ve been happy just to be alive in her position. But for someone who made their living in battle and prided themselves on carrying on their ancestral duties, the loss she’d been through was grievous. And because she held the sacred power of the spirits, that feeling was only amplified. 

“In the midst of it all, I had a curse cast on me. As I was fleeing to another country, I encountered a group of demons, including that general.” 

“Then was it him?” 

“No, it wasn’t Rajas. The one who cursed me was a female demon that led an army alongside Rajas. From what I gather, she’s a demon general who specialized in curses. I don’t know what her intentions were, but when I was beaten in battle and no longer able to move, she cast this curse on me as if to make a mockery of me. I was forced to grovel on the ground like a worm and comfort myself in a shameful manner.” 

That was everything, or so she said as her body trembled and her voice trailed off feebly. Those were the circumstances of the curse that had been placed on her. But that wasn’t the only reason she hated demons so much. They were the cause of everything bad that had happened to her. Thinking over it, Suimei realized something. Lefille’s curse reminded him of a certain incident. 

“Could it be… at the inn in Metel before too?” 

“Ah, so you remember that… That’s right. The night before, I apparently wandered out to find a watering hole. I came to my senses when I woke in the morning and tried to return to the inn unseen… That’s when I bumped into you.” 

“Do you know what triggers the curse?” 

“When I use too much of the spirits’ powers, it seems things ends up like this. The day before the incident at the inn was the day I took on the guild request to hunt that ogre. It was probably because of that.” 

“Have you ever tried solving the curse?” 

“I’ve attempted it, but I’m no mage. It’s far beyond my capabilities, but even renowned mages and the priests of the Church of Salvation gave up on it.” 

That meant she’d been suffering from her curse all this time. Without a spell to remove it or mitigate it, she would continue to unconsciously wander off and do these things. All on her own, she’d just had to endure it. 

Lefille then sank into a gloomy silence for a while, but eventually, she let out a self-deprecating snicker. 

“Heh…” 

“Lefille?” 

“Just laugh. This is the kind of woman I am. Having such a vulgar curse put on me by a demon… This kind… This kind of…!” 

With those words, Lefille suddenly grabbed Suimei’s collar with both hands. When she told him to laugh, she was pleading with him to laugh it off. Unable to bear the truth, she just wanted him to think of everything she’d told him as a joke. But as her own forced smile crumbled away under the weight of despair, all her stern gaze communicated was hopelessness. 

“Isn’t it laughable?! This is my punishment for being swayed by the power of the spirits and abandoning those that I was meant to protect! All that talk of wanting to protect people with this power… How stupid is that?! I was cursed by my enemy, but even without that, not being allowed to die…” 

Lefille called it a punishment, and that was how she truly felt. Tormented by it all, she bore her heart and vented her pained frustrations. What part of that was laughable? The suffering she’d endured was all too common in this world, and it was no laughing matter. The bitter tears she’d shed weren’t something that could be laughed away. 

“But you wanted to protect them, right?” 

“I… That’s right. I wanted to, with this power…” 

“That wasn’t a mistake. That’s why you shouldn’t blame yourself so much.” 

“But I ran away. Even though I didn’t want to. Even though I didn’t want to abandon anyone. I still ran.” 

“Lefille…” 

Suimei closed his eyes. Driven to tears, Lefille lost the strength in her hands and let go of his collar. As she trembled between heavy sobs, Suimei grabbed her shoulders. 

“Being denied the opportunity to die with your people, and then being cursed to do such shameful things. Can this… this kind of miserable reality really…” 

Her country was snatched away from her. Her loved ones were brutally murdered. And on top if it all, she was now disgraced by this curse. To a woman, there was nothing more unbearable. As that all sunk into his heart, Suimei wrapped his arms around the bitterly weeping Lefille. 

“Lefille, I’m sorry. Forgive me for this.” 

“Ah…” 

And then, taking off the outer layer of her knight’s outfit, he exposed her enticing, wet skin. 

“Ah, no…” 

She must have felt danger at being touched. Shutting her eyes tightly, Lefille’s body stiffened up. The strong swordswoman who fought boldly against the demons was completely unrecognizable in this girl who was frightened of a man. Not minding the change that had come over her, Suimei gently touched her skin where the curse was engraved. 

“Correspondence of all creation.” 

What he cast was analysis magicka. As Lefille cowered in his arms, he placed his hand directly against the curse’s mark and began to investigate the formula behind it. As his magicka circle spread out, information passed into Suimei through his hand. Since it had been inflicted on her, it wasn’t a naturally occurring curse. It was categorized closer to sensory resonance magicka. He could tell that much, but even with his knowledge of modern magicka, it was impossible for Suimei to dispel it. He gritted his teeth when he realized that, but that didn’t mean he was completely powerless. Suimei gathered mana in his hand and used a second spell to alleviate the effects of the curse. 

“Hnn, hngh… Ah…” 

After a short while, Lefille’s unduly pained voice gradually became more at ease. Before long, her ragged breathing had settled down too. 

“How’s the heat in your body?” 

“Ah… hahh, ha… Ah…. It’s considerably calmed down, it seems… What was that?” 

“I’m using magicka to suppress the effects of the curse. With this, you should feel a little better.” 

“Truly? Nobody’s ever been able to do this much…” 

She sounded relieved, but that only made Suimei feel guiltier. Even if he could mitigate the curse to an extent, he still couldn’t… 

“Sorry. Even though I can temporarily weaken its power, I’m not able to dispel it. It’s a tricky case. We’ll likely either have to take out whoever cast it on you, or do something about the intermediary used when it was cast on you. I don’t think there’s any other way to dispel it.” 

As he spoke, Suimei bowed his head down in disappointment. Lefille’s curse was a practical application of sensory resonance magicka. 

Sensory resonance magicka, along with contact magicka, was magicka proposed by Scottish anthropologist and scholar of the mysteries James George Frazer. It utilized the idea that things that had similar shapes, and even concepts which resembled each other, were all connected in an invisible manner, and subsequently able to influence each other. A connection of that nature could even mystically amplify a curse. 

It was essentially the idea behind using a doll modeled after someone or a picture of them in lieu of doing something to the person themselves. Common examples were the Japanese ritual of nailing a doll to a tree or the Haitian voodoo doll. And based on what Suimei learned from his analysis, Lefille’s curse was probably something similar. That meant it wouldn’t be easy to dispel the curse without eliminating whatever medium resembled the target. 

“Sorry. This is the best I can do.” 

“…It’s fine. Thank you.” 

With a curse he couldn’t undo right in front of him, Suimei was forced to confront his own powerlessness. Suimei apologized as he sank into a deep sense of helplessness, but Lefille managed a pained smile and shook her head. Drop by drop, Lefille’s overflowing sadness began pouring down her cheeks. It continued like a sudden rain, drip… drop… 

“Hngh…” 

The pain she was going through was something only she could understand. And as an outsider to her feelings, there was nothing Suimei could really say to comfort her. No matter how much he supported her body, it wasn’t his place. And so as Lefille continued to cry, Suimei was unable to say a word. 

A few days had passed since the evening Suimei found out about Lefille’s curse. Wary both of the wildlife and whatever demons may be lurking, the pair had to proceed with caution, and had yet to actually make it out of the forest. 

Currently, they were sitting in a clearing next to a river and having a modest lunch. After rendering the river water safe to drink with magicka and spreading out the food from his school bag, Suimei began chewing on a hard piece of bread as Lefille pointed to a jar that was next to him. 

“Sorry, Suimei-kun, but could you pass me the honey over there?” 

“Yeah, here.” 

“Thanks.” 

As Suimei handed over the jar of honey. Lefille thanked him and began spreading some on her bread. And as she was excessively doing so, Suimei called out to her. 

“Hey, Lefille.” 

“Mm, this bread is quite hard, isn’t it? It’s better if you lightly dip it in water, Suimei-kun.” 

“Yeah, I get that, but that’s not what I’m saying.” 

“Don’t worry, this honey is quite sweet. Getting it a little wet doesn’t diminish the taste at all.” 

“…” 

Suimei fell silent over the one-way conversation. Lefille had been acting like this since that night. She was clearly affected by what happened. Not only was her behavior unnatural, she was hardly listening to him and would gloss right over anything he tried to say. 

Well, after what happened… 

After he’d learned her secret, there was perhaps no helping the awkwardness between them. However… 

“Hey, Lefille.” 

“What’s the matter, Suimei-kun? If it’s about lunch, I’m fine, thank you. I’ve had enough. Or can I pass you something this time?” 

“No, that’s not what I… You’ve got some honey on your cheek.” 

“Huh…? Bwuh?!” 

Lefille raised her voice in surprise and began scrubbing her cheek with her hand in a fluster before pointing a critical look towards Suimei. 

“Y-You should have said so sooner… Wait, there’s no…” 

“Yeah, I lied.” 

As Suimei said that curtly, Lefille stood up in indignation. 

“Y-You! You tricked me?!” 

“Well, yeah. A certain someone is refusing to have a conversation with me, so I thought I’d give things a little kick-start.” 

“Hmph… That’s…” 

“So, Lefille… We’re working together here, so just talk to me, okay? You said so earlier, didn’t you? If we can talk to each other, our teamwork will be that much better.” 

“…” 

In a complete one-eighty from the act she’d been putting on before, Lefille hung her head down bitterly. Suimei could see sorrow flickering in her eyes. Leaving things like this wouldn’t be any good either. 

“W-Well… You know, after what happened, I know it’ll be somewhat difficult. But it’s also awkward for me, and it might be hard, but I think it’ll be better to put some effort into getting along a bit?” 

“It’s alright, Suimei-kun. I’m happy that you’re being so considerate, but please don’t be concerned about me anymore.” 

“Lefille…” 

Suimei’s expression became somewhat lonely. His proposal to put some effort into getting along was shot down by just a few words of refusal. 

“This is a good opportunity, so let me speak plainly here. You shouldn’t be with me.” 

“Shouldn’t be with you? That’s a little…” 

“Getting involved with me will only bring misfortune on you too. That’s why you should stop trying to get any closer than you need to.” 

Just what was Lefille thinking about as she issued that declaration with such gloomy eyes? Perhaps she was recalling the people she’d been unable to protect in the past. Looking into her eyes, Suimei could sense her pain. 

“Everyone who gets involved with me… vanishes. And if you insist on sticking around, you’ll be killed by Rajas and the demons too. I’ve had enough of it. I’ve had enough of watching people die right in front of my eyes because of me. That’s why…” 

“Don’t just decide on your own that I’m gonna be killed by demons.” 

“But that’s just how it is. The demons are strong, and they make for terrifying enemies. And if it comes down to that, I’ll end up abandoning you. I have to. For the sake of protecting the power of the spirits. And I’m sick of abandoning my friends.” 

“…” 

Suimei remained silent with a stern expression, but Lefille closed her eyes and spoke earnestly and imploringly. 

“I know I’m being selfish, but could you back down here? Once we clear the forest, let’s split up immediately. Please.” 

“That’s so sudden. Surely you don’t expect me to come up with an answer on the spot, right?” 

Lefille awkwardly cast her gaze downwards at Suimei’s reply, but their conversation was brought to an abrupt halt when the thickets behind them had suddenly started rustling noisily. 

“Tch… Suimei-kun!” 

“Yeah.” 

Turning around immediately, Lefille called out to Suimei as if to warn him, and Suimei hailed her back. Was the identity of that obscure, loitering presence a stray dog? A wolf? A monster? Or perhaps even a demon? 

Faced with a potential attack, Suimei put all six of his senses to work and stayed on his guard. Things had gotten serious in mere seconds. With an armed swordswoman and a powerful magician ready to throw down, the air was bristling with tension. But what appeared before them wasn’t at all what they were expecting. What came crawling from the rustling thicket was a badly wounded man. 

“What?!” 

“H-Hey!” 

Lefille and Suimei both voiced their surprise. The wounded man was dressed in armor like an adventurer, but his steps were unsteady, his eyes were vacant, his clothes were stained red with blood, and his entire body was festering from the aftermath of what looked like lacerations and burns. His breathing was but a faint wheeze, as if he was already at death’s door. He was in such bad shape that his eyes were unable to focus on anything. Lefille quickly ran over to him. 

“Hang in there!” 

“Ah, guh… Y-You’re…” 

“What happened?!” 

“W-We… were attacked… by demons… in the mountains…” 

“Mountains? Demons, you said?” 

That was all they were able to discern from the man’s faltering speech. Hearing just those fragmented words, Lefille’s expression became grim. Coming to a different realization altogether, Suimei tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Hey, Lefille. This guy’s…” 

“What about him?” 

“He’s the adventurer from before.” 

“Before? Ah…” 

Lefille was surprised when she realized what he meant. Thanks to all the blood loss and trauma, she hadn’t recognized the man at first. When Lefille was forced to leave the trade corps, this was the escort who’d been so nasty and raised a fuss about it. After being attacked by demons somewhere, it seemed he’d run away on his own. Or perhaps he came looking for help. Suimei didn’t know which it was, but the pressing matter at hand was that this man needed help. While gathering mana in the palms of his hands, he gave directions to Lefille. 

“Lefille, lay him down over there. I’ll cast healing magicka right away.” 

“R-Right… Got it.” 

Lefille responded without any sharpness in her voice. She understood the gravity of the situation and gave a firm nod before approaching the man and helping him lay down on the ground. This earnest girl didn’t seem to have even a hint of resentment for him. 

“I’ll leave the rest to you.” 

“Yeah.” 

Suimei nodded back to her. He then got to work casting healing magicka. As long as his target wasn’t in critical condition, Suimei should be able to use his techniques to save them. Spirit healing was especially effective for external wounds. It couldn’t do much in the way of alleviating the symptoms of serious blood loss, but there was restoration magicka for that. Multiple magicka circles rose up from beneath the adventurer and Suimei’s palm. An emerald light then covered the adventurer’s wounds and sealed them up quickly. However… 

“…” 

Suimei stopped there. In the middle of healing him, Suimei hung his head and lowered his hands. 

“What…?” 

Lefille was bewildered at his actions. From where she was standing, it simply looked like Suimei had abandoned the treatment. Seeing him unexpectedly pull back his hands, Lefille called out to him in a stringent voice. 

“Suimei-kun, what’s wrong?! Why did you stop your magic?!” 

“…It’s no use. His astral body has been irreparably damaged. No healing can help him now.” 

Suimei couldn’t do it. The man couldn’t be saved. It was impossible. But after seeing all his wounds close up, Lefille couldn’t understand what Suimei was saying. The man looked nearly healed to her. 

“Wh-What are you saying? Didn’t you just heal his wounds with your magic? So why…” 

“His wounds were healed. His wounds were, sure, but…” 

“Then?” 

Didn’t that mean he was healed? Suimei was sure that was what she was about to ask, so he preemptively shook his head as he frustratedly bit down on his lip. Seeing that, Lefille looked both pained and confused. 

“Why…?” 

Lefille’s disappointed voice was painful to Suimei’s ears. Deep down, he felt his powerlessness swelling. Even though he’d hated this man at some point, he couldn’t escape that bitter feeling. Lefille, however, still seemed suspicious of why Suimei had stopped his treatment. 

“This isn’t because he’s the one that drove me out of the trade corps, is it? Don’t belittle me. I don’t care about what happened back then! Just hurry up and heal him!” 

“…” 

“Suimei-kun!” 

“No, it’s useless. Like you saw, I can heal the wounds to his body. I can heal those, but just as I said, his astral body… With the shell that serves as the vessel for his soul so badly damaged, I can’t save this man no matter how much healing magicka I use.” 

“What…?! That can’t…” 

Staring at the life that was pulsing away like a haze before her eyes, Lefille was at a loss for words. Seeing her like that, Suimei regretfully explained the situation. 

“Under the right conditions, there may be a slim possibility, but we don’t have time for anything like that. Even if I started preparing now, this man’s body won’t hold out long enough.” 

Hearing Suimei’s declaration, Lefille clenched her jaw and dropped her shoulders. Watching somebody die was hard for anybody, but this was the work of demons. It was especially painful for Lefille. 

But as Lefille and Suimei both watched on in horrified disappointment, the man suddenly turned towards Lefille. 

“Th-The others… a-are still being attacked… by the demons…” 

“There are survivors?!” 

“I don’t know… By some miracle, maybe…” 

“But they might be alive?!” 

Lefille asked him once more, but there was no reply. The adventurer was moving his mouth like he was struggling to get air into his lungs, but there were no words. It seemed he could no longer speak. Seeing him like that, Lefille had an idea and asked the man something else in a calm voice. 

“The others are in the direction of the mountain, right?” 

Was there a meaning in such a question? Her voice was so calm that it could have easily been mistaken for cold. But when the man heard her question and the glimpse of dread in it, he slowly nodded. Not long after, he drew his last breath. 

“Hrgh…” 

Lefille fell silent and Suimei averted his gaze. 

After a few moments, Lefille stood up from kneeling at the man’s side. Her attitude was completely different. Turning her back to Suimei, she looked off in a certain direction. 

“H-Hey… Lefille?!” 

Suimei called out to her, but Lefille didn’t turn around. Instead, she apologized for some reason. 

“Sorry, Suimei-kun.” 

“You can say sorry all you want, but what are you planning? Why are you facing that way?” 

“Why? That’s a foolish question, Suimei-kun.” 

Was she saying the answer was obvious? Certainly it was. She’d turned to look back down the path they’d been walking along so far. And when it seemed she’d fully steeled herself, she turned to Suimei and put her determination into words. 

“Suimei-kun, I’m going to go save the people of the trade corps.” 

“Going to save them? Are you serious?” 

“I wasn’t joking.” 

“Even though you don’t know where they actually are?!” 

“It’s likely that they’re along the mountain path. Even if they strayed off of it, it should be easy to find where.” 

“But you don’t even know if they’re still alive!” 

“No, but they might be. That’s why?” 

She was going to go save them. She was going to make a daring, reckless rescue. But Suimei couldn’t let her do that. After all… 

“Don’t you get it?! This is a trap laid by the demons to lure you in!” 

“A trap, huh?” 

“That’s right! Those guys indiscriminately attack upon seeing humans, right? Do you really think they’d let a single wounded man get away?! Rajas is definitely lying in wait back there!” 

Indeed, it was a trap. They were anticipating that Lefille would come to save the people of the trade corps. It was a cruel plan to lure her back. And part of the scheme was letting one mortally wounded adventurer wander off to find her and spur her to action. 

Certainly, in such a dense forest, the fact that he’d actually managed to reach her was a complete coincidence, but he was the perfect bait. It wasn’t hard to imagine Rajas doing something so sinister. However, all of Suimei’s protests were in vain. Lefille remained calm and unwavering. 

“…That may be so.” 

“No, not may be so! Don’t you understand?!” 

“Indeed I do. It’s just as you say. I know that this is reckless.” 

“Then…!” 

“But even so, I still want to go save them! Things are like this because of me in the first place! That’s why!” 

As Suimei persisted, insisting that she shouldn’t go, Lefille grew emotional. It must have been the pangs of conscience that had been tugging at her all this time. She was desperate to go and save these people, but that was nothing more than a manifestation of her guilt. Suimei thought she was taking it too far. 

“Like I’ve been saying, that isn’t your…” 

“No, it is my fault. You said so yourself, didn’t you? Rajas resorted to attacking the convoy and sending this man into the woods as a way to find me.” 

“That’s… But even so, why are you so eager to rush off to your death?!” 

He had a point. An ambush wasn’t a halfhearted affair. Setting all of this up required a certain amount of preparation, and the demons knew exactly who their target was. Walking into their trap would put her at a serious disadvantage. That’s why Suimei wouldn’t back down, and continued to plead with Lefille as she stood there looking down the path. 

“Lefille, think it over! Just take a step back and think about it!” 

But still, Lefille didn’t turn around. 

“Lefille, look at me! You should understand better than anyone!” 

“…” 

“Lefille! You can’t die, right?! The power of the spirits can’t be eradicated! So?” 

Before Suimei could say another word, Lefille—who had otherwise been silent—trembled and cut him off. 

“What do you…” 

“Huh?” 

“What do you even know about me?!” 

“??!” 

Suimei was at a loss for words when confronted with the scream from the depths of her heart. What she was letting loose was a flood of emotions. 

“Would you have me look away even more than I already have?! After abandoning those dear to me?! After abandoning my family?! You want me to abandon these people too?! These people who are in peril because of me?!” 

Lefille’s words struck a chord in Suimei. Perhaps the violent emotions she was embracing were something that she’d been stifling in her heart all this time. The bitterness of being unable to save anybody before. The continued pain of being unable to save anyone now. The questions she was shouting at him told him loud and clear how much she really wanted to save these people. Who was he to stand in the way of that? 

“Just how long should I run away?! Just how long should I keep abandoning people?! All just to protect my own life! Sacrificing both my own feelings and the lives of others…. I’ve had… I’ve had enough of that!” 

Her screaming voice was pointed towards the injustice of the world. It was her lamentation that had gone unheard until now. Precisely because she’d had to betray her own emotions all this time, her guilty conscience had been all the more difficult to bear. It was even worse knowing that the terrible things she’d done were objectively the correct choices. The contradiction just was too much. 

Tears formed in the corner of Lefille’s eyes as she shouted out her feelings. It was agonizing. It was painful. Bound hand and foot by those fetters, those tears were the crystallization of her overflowing sorrow. 

Eventually, her rough breathing settled and she calmed down. She apologized for losing her composure, but still didn’t turn around. It seemed her decision was fixed. And as if to reaffirm that, she gave her farewell. 

“…Sorry, Suimei-kun. We weren’t together long, but thank you for what you’ve done up until now.” 

“Lefille?! Don’t go! Wait!” 

His words fell on deaf ears. Perhaps using the red power of her spirits, she took off running down the path at an abnormal speed. 

“H-Hey… She’s really gone?” 

Standing there dumbfounded after being left behind, Suimei’s muttering hung in the air. His voice certainly wouldn’t reach her now. Stopping his feet that had immediately begun chasing after her and lowering his outstretched arm, Suimei stood there stock still. She was gone. She’d left to go save the very people who’d driven her away. She left for the sake of staying on the path that she believed in. 

“Tch…” 

Suimei ground his back molars. Was it okay to just let her go like that? Towards a battle that would only bring despair? All on her own? 

As he thought about going after her, his heart trembled. If he followed, he would be taking his life into his own hands. That much was obvious. They wouldn’t be up against just Rajas, but all of his subordinates too. It would be a serious battle, and if he handled it poorly, it could cost him his life. And Suimei couldn’t let that happen. 

Suimei had a reason why he couldn’t yet die. He had to grant his father’s wish and realize the ideal of the Society. He’d made a promise. Even if it wasn’t an agreement that was communicated between them, even if it was a decision Suimei unilaterally made, a promise was a promise. It was final the moment he made his decision. Until he fulfilled it, he couldn’t cast it aside. 

But still… was this okay? If he decided that was reason enough to walk away, if he used the excuse that he had something that he had to accomplish no matter what, would he really be able to walk down the path to that goal without looking back? Could he really pretend not to see the fight that was about to take place? Could he really abandon that girl who was running full speed towards her doom? This girl who had not a prayer of salvation on her own? 

Even if his thesis was about saving those who couldn’t be saved, would it not be preposterous to abandon this girl in the name of that work? 

As Suimei questioned his own motivations, a voice began screaming to him inside his head. Just when did he start fearing something like death? Just when did he start to shy away from things because he was worried something might happen? Just when did he start embracing the same feelings that the powerless did? Since when had he been willing to throw it all away because he was gutless? 

It made him wonder. Just what was it that he possessed? Wasn’t the art of magicka—something he’d studied since childhood—something that could be outdone by no one and nothing? Were there not the mysteries to cut down any and every difficulty before him? Was it not the very power that brought salvation to those who wanted to be saved? 

His heart wavered. No, in reality, he already knew that there was only one answer before him. Even if he was conflicted, even as alarm bells rang in his head warning him of danger, even as he weighed the probability of success and failure on a scale. Even then… 

It was for this purpose that he’d made an oath on that day. 

“That’s right, Yakagi Suimei. You’re a magician of the Society. Just what would a magician of the Society do if they didn’t chase after their dreams?” 

Just what were those words that he spoke to himself? It was like a self-directed poem to validate his own feelings. It was a modest ritual to once more revive what he desired within him. 

And just as he crossed that bridge, something strange happened. 

“…” 

Suimei shut his mouth and coldly narrowed his eyes. He could sense the presence of something behind him accompanied by a power similar to the black aura the demons used. It swayed around just like a revenant. The frail life that had faded had now returned as robust. 

This was the reason the healing had been difficult. 

Realizing what was afoot, Suimei’s doubts regarding the unnatural loss of the adventurer’s astral body were cleared away. The damage to his astral body was beyond what could be normally done through physical harm. Not even fatal wounds could damage the cradle of the soul like that. Certainly when a person was wounded, the power of their soul waned as well, but that was the extent of it. The soul itself shouldn’t be damaged by any normal means of attack. 

That meant the adventurer had been attacked by more than just what had caused his physical wounds. It was either an astral attack that was effective against the soul, or perhaps there was something else that actually had the power to penetrate his astral body. It had to be one or the other, and considering the circumstances, it seemed to be the latter. It was likely something put in place to bring down Lefille in a single strike. 

“Tch!” 

As Suimei decided to chase after the girl who had been brought to tears under the weight of her own conscience, a living corpse closed in behind him. 

She ran. Simply and earnestly. Fast, but just slow enough that her feet wouldn’t be torn apart. There were people who were likely waiting for her. It was like she was being urged on by that reality. Lefille raced back down the path to them all on her own. 

Making use of the abnormal power entrusted to her, her body glowed with the crimson blessings of the Goddess, and she slipped through the trees and forced her way through the coiling ivy and tree branches. Her feet seemingly tore apart the mountain’s surface. Even as the shadow of the worst possible outcome clung to her back as she ran, she simply chose to believe there was still a possibility the people waiting for her up ahead were still alive. 

As she arrived about halfway up the mountainside, she came to a stop and looked back down the way she’d come. 

“…” 

The ominously dark and gloomy sky hung overhead and the eerie, unnatural sound of rustling in the trees surrounded her, but Lefille’s gaze was fixated on one thing. She was looking at what had followed her partway up the path. 

Trailing behind her were a countless number of corpses. They were the remains of the damned demons who obstructed her path as she hastened towards those who should have been waiting for her. 

They were likely those called by the demon general Rajas and were deployed all over, intent on striking her down. In only a few hours, the entire region of the mountain and forest would likely be surrounded by a wall of demons. There would be no escape. 

Rajas was also probably in the area. He would steal everything dear to her, mete a dog’s death on anyone important to her, and even cut down those who had nothing to do with her. That demon would be ready and waiting for her, laughing as if bringing suffering upon humans was the only thing which brought him joy. 

Lefille could still hear cries for help—voices begging for aid from a deep, dark, and distant memory. They were the voices of the people she couldn’t protect, even though she’d heard their pleas and reached out her hand. That was why she couldn’t leave things as they were. So that something like that would never happen again. And just as Lefille reaffirmed the burning rage within her heart… 

“Don’t go! Lefille!” 

“Ah…” 

What suddenly struck her ears were the remnants of a different memory. A voice she shouldn’t have been able to hear anymore shook her heart. She couldn’t resist it as it took hold of her. What flowed through her heart now was a sort of dim sense of loss that she was completely unable to shake off. Like she’d lost someone important to her. 

Yes, back in the forest was the mysterious young man that she had recently gotten acquainted with. His name was Suimei Yakagi. He was the eccentric mage that she had met in Metel, the capital city of the Kingdom of Astel. 

He was a young man who had no special features whatsoever aside from his black hair, which was quite unusual for this region. If there was anything else unique about him at all, it was his gentle eyes. He donned completely plain clothing that was quite common in the area, though he did give off the air of a foreigner. No, that word alone did not describe it appropriately. After all, he was someone who could use magic that she’d never seen before. 

He said he was a traveler that was headed towards Nelferia, but for some reason he seemed excessively estranged from the ways of the world. Yet even so, he also demonstrated surprising knowledge and insight. Lefille herself had been taken aback by exactly that just earlier. 

To explain his nature in simple terms, he was softhearted. Perhaps because he was a mage, he gave the impression of a scholar who put on the self-important airs of someone who was cool and impertinent. But based on all of his actions and words on the whole, she felt like he had a childlike consideration for others. She sensed no cruelty from him whatsoever. 

The day that he’d followed her after she split up with the trade corps was surely a perfect example. Despite knowing full well the dangers of remaining near her, he chased after her without a single hint of self-interest. He was simply thinking of her. After that, he even shook off her attempts to drive him away. That was how she knew what he was really like. 

But that wasn’t the only time she’d caught a glimpse of his true personality. There was also the evening that the curse placed upon her by the demon had activated. After she’d finished the wretched deed, when her exhausted body could no longer move, he’d held her and supported her. 

That’s right. At the time, I? 

She was frightened. She was scared of the young man who’d come running after sensing the abnormality in her. She was afraid. No matter how considerate he may be, he was still a man. After being exposed like that, she had no idea what would happen. And after having performed such a shameful act, she had no idea what he would do. The moment he wrapped his arms around her, even though he was the one who’d come to help her after she revealed herself, she was gripped by an unfathomable fear. 

But the gentle eyes that looked at her had invalidated that fear. There was no ferocity in them, only sympathy and compassion. Surely he’d thought she was pitiable. Yet even when he’d touched her, it was with a gentle hand. Without letting carnal desires grip his heart, the palm of his hand conveyed nothing more than consideration for her and defiant anger for the curse she bore. 

He’d comforted her with that touch, but given her a dispirited apology. He said he couldn’t dispel the curse himself in a weighty, regretful voice that made it clear he rued his own powerlessness. Even though he had no obligation to her to try and help her, he apologized like he was taking personal responsibility for it. 

And then, even as she was about to part with him, he tried to hold her back for her own good. It was clear he acted out of nothing but the kindness of his heart for her. 

“Suimei-kun…” 

That’s why things were okay this way. It was exactly because he was like that that she couldn’t drag him any further into danger. As her fate was one that could only head towards ruin, she couldn’t possibly bring him along with her. 

If he kept quiet within the forest, things would eventually come to an end. Either she would defeat Rajas, or Rajas would accomplish his goal of killing her. Either way, he would eventually leave and Suimei would be safe. And as long as he was safe, there was nothing more she could ask for. 

Even though she wouldn’t ever see that pleasant smile of his again. Even though she could still feel his words tugging at her. Even though the last face she’d ever seen him make was one of mixed panic and sadness. 

She fully understood that her choice was irredeemably selfish. Coming to save the people who had shunned her meant ignoring the feelings of the one person who’d stayed by her side. There’s no way someone like her could be saved. But even so, even so… 

“It’s better like this. It’s better…” 

She was unable to suppress the heat accumulating in the corners of her eyes. Within her heart, there was a wave of heat undulating like a surging sea. She was sinking into the depths of sorrow. It was painful. She wondered what sort of future would have awaited her if she weren’t carrying this destiny, if she had met him under different circumstances. 

When he chased after her, when he still tried to talk to her even though it was awkward, when he tried to hold her back, and all those times that he saw through to her true feelings… That truly made her happy. 

That’s why, when she thought back upon it, emotions that hadn’t been there before began to overflow. It wasn’t the bereavement of losing those important to her, nor was it mourning for her homeland that no longer existed. It was something like the sorrow of separating from someone she yearned for. It was the distinct regret of having to say goodbye. 

But she didn’t want to run away anymore. She was sick of people dying because of her. There were people being tormented by demons, and she could no longer allow herself to do nothing about it. 

“…” 

That’s why she shook off the feverish emotions spilling out of her eyes and put all of her heart into running. 

Cutting down any and everything that threatened to get in her way, Lefille eventually arrived at her destination. Sharpening her senses, she could detect the presence of multiple people and demons. And sensing something unusual in the air just beyond the grove of trees, she cut down the last of the enemies trying to hinder her and leaped forward. 

Within the tightly packed sea of trees on the mountainside was an unnaturally open clearing. And under the gloomy sky and dreary atmosphere, it was the very image of hell. 

“??!” 

Praying that she would make it in time, the first thing that struck Lefille as she leaped out of the trees was the stench of blood and flesh, thick enough to make someone dizzy. Second was the source of the stench. The scene spreading out before her was less like a warzone and more like a mass execution. 

Was this the work of Rajas’s subordinates? Driven into helplessness by the swarming demons and their pitch black auras, the humans who were still clinging to life were bathing in pools of their own blood. The whole area was doused in the angry roars, screams, and gratingly loud laughter of the demons. This was something Lefille had seen once before, and something that she never wanted to see again. Her heart was seething. 

“RAAAAAAAAH!” 

Surrendering herself to the violent emotions swelling within her, she attacked the nearest demon. It had no way of taking any action in response to the sudden strike. A vertical slash from her large sword covered in a red glimmer blew away the demon, its shrieking, and even the earth below it with a thunderous roar. 

And with that, all eyes fell on her. The demons seemed to question whether or not there was really still a survivor who could resist. Wondering what had just happened, and finally realizing the arrival of an intruder, the demons readied themselves. 

“Y-You’re…!” 

But what Lefille heard next wasn’t the voice of someone who was questioning who she was; it was the voice of someone who recognized her. That meant it wasn’t too late. There were still survivors. People who were waiting to be saved. Even surrounded by demons and unable to see beyond their current predicament, there were still those who’d held out. She’d made it in time after all. She had a chance to protect those who had anxiously been awaiting some hope. Lefille ran directly over to the person who had called out to her. But… 

“Why are you here?!” 

What came pouring down on her was that merciless rebuke. 

“Wha…?!” 

Surprised by the sudden disgust and hostility pointed towards her, Lefille slowed down. Why were they angry… at her? She’d come running as soon as she could. 

“Grakis-san…” 

Lefille then heard a second voice call out to her. It was the voice of a man in the prime of his life—Gallio. Being a merchant, he’d stayed out of the fighting and had survived. But despite all that, there was no joy in his words. No, his voice was trembling with rage and all Lefille could see in his eyes was resentment. His grudging glare told her who he thought was responsible for all this. 

“Gallio-dono…” 

“Did I not tell you to get away from the trade corps? That if you were around, the demons would attack?” 

“Th-That’s true, but now isn’t the time for that kind of…” 

They were already being attacked by the demons. It couldn’t be helped, and that conversation would have to wait. They didn’t have the pleasure of discussion right now. But completely contrary to Lefille’s thoughts, the people in the surroundings reacted the same way. 

“Not the time…? That’s exactly the reason we ended up in this situation!” 

“I…” 

Lefille had no argument. The reason the demons were here was indeed her fault, so she could offer no defense against their harsh criticism. She took the brunt of their excessive but justified anger as a wave of demons approached. The man who had yelled out in anger earlier looked at her, his dubious face awash with blood. 

“Wait… You… How did you know we were being attacked?” 

“Just earlier, one of the adventurer escorts came and told me about it. And then…” 

“Came and told you, huh? Even though no one knew where you were?” 

“Y-Yes.” 

As Lefille nodded, the escort pushed on with more questions. 

“How did you get here so fast?” 

“Like I said, now isn’t the time for?” 

Though she was trying to warn them for their own sakes, the escort had no intention of listening to her. 

“Answer me.” 

“I…” 

The escort demanded an answer, heightening the tension in the air. His bloodstained face looked that much more dreadful. But why was this happening? These people should know the severity of the situation better than Lefille, so why were they pressing on with nothing but unproductive questions? 

No… 

Judging that she had to keep vigilant, she pulled her thoughts together. Her focus had wavered, but when she stopped talking and concentrated on her surroundings, she could tell the demons were laughing. They were just enjoying this fraught reunion like morbid spectators. 

“Wha…?” 

Did the demons have no intentions of fighting? Why weren’t they making their move? Lefille could feel an indescribable chill from their ominous laughter. This little internal dispute had been an ideal opportunity to massacre the humans, so what kept their bloodied claws at bay? Something wasn’t right. This was supposed to be a stage where lives were exchanged, so why was this poorly written play completely ignoring that? 

“Hey, you fucking listening?!” 

While Lefille was trying to figure out the confounding situation she’d found herself in, the escort got her attention with an angry roar. 

“…! Why does that even matter now?! Right now we have to quickly rally and retreat!” 

“Retreat? And just where do you think we should run?! The entire area is flooded with demons already! No matter what we do, it’s useless!” 

“That may be so, but… Even so, just talking like this so defenselessly is…” 

“Don’t try to dodge the fucking subject.” 

“I’m not dodging the subject!” 

“…You don’t want to say it right? Am I wrong?” 

“What??!” 

“You can’t say it because you fucking feel guilty, right?! It’s because you were sneaking around near us! That’s why you were able to get here so fast! Isn’t that right?!” 

That wasn’t true. Using the power of the spirits, she’d run a great distance through the forest to reach them. She hadn’t been anywhere nearby. But what did it matter? Now wasn’t the time to? 

“Isn’t that why we were attacked?! Because you didn’t get away from us?! Because you chose to stick around?!” 

“You’re wrong! That’s not true!” 

“No? Then how did you get here so fast?!” 

This man wouldn’t let her escape his line of questioning, and all the other eyes that fell on her looked like they wanted answers too. Did they want to rebuke her just that much? Why was it, even on death’s door, they sought someone to blame? Were the beings known as humans really such merciless creatures? 

“Grakis-san, you…” 

“I…” 

Their blame struck Lefille like a blow to the head. Assaulted by their stares and vicious words, she saw the world start to spin around her. The weight of it all was throwing her equilibrium off balance. 

Why were they torturing her like this? Even though she’d come here thinking of them. Even though she’d come because they were in trouble. And for it all, she’d even brushed away the gentle hand that had reached out for her. 

“Why…? I came to save…” 

“Shut up! This is your fault! It’s your fault this happened to us!” 

“I-I am…” 

They threw abuse at her like curses. Was it her fault? They thought so without exception. These people—the same ones whose safety she’d prayed for—universally despised her. While their shouting was swirling around in her head, a sudden scream of pain filled the air. 

“GAAAAAAAAH!” 

As Lefille turned to see what it was, she saw a thick arm the size of a log unnaturally sprouting out of the chest of one of the escorts. There was no mistaking that it was a demon’s arm. With that single strike, the guard’s body limply crumpled and fell forwards. What appeared from behind him was none other than… 

“So you’ve come, swordswoman of Noshias.” 

“Rajas! You bastard!” 

“You’re as eager as always, aren’t you? What, you want to take my head that badly?” 

As Rajas jeered at her with sarcasm, Lefille directed all of her hostility at him. Was there even a need to ask after all this time? Wasn’t it obvious? Rajas was the bastard incarnation of violence and destruction who’d stolen everything precious to her. He was what inspired such bloodthirst in her now. Yes, precisely because she had such a grudge? 

“It’s all your damn fault that… That this all…!” 

She spoke from the heart, but did he even hear her violent emotions? Rajas was lording his gaze in all directions, then turned to her as if he’d been waiting for her to say exactly that. 

“What are you saying? This is all your fault, woman from Noshias. See, because you’re here, these guys have to suffer like this.” 

He let out a sickening, coarse laugh. Lefille certainly may have been the underlying cause, but Rajas, the one who’d authored such a disastrous scene, had no right to say that himself. Still he laughed, looking down at everyone behind Lefille. 

Ah? 

By the time she realized what Rajas’s words would bring forth, it was all too late. She could feel the glares stabbing into her back. When she looked back at the others, she was met with nothing but embittered hatred. 

“I knew it was your fault…” 

“I-If only you weren’t here…” 

“It’s your fault…” 

They were hardly voices anymore. It was just the sound of malice given form in words, the coalescence of resentment. And for some reason, what came out of Lefille’s mouth in response was denial. 

“Y-You’re wrong! You’re all wrong!” 

“Shut up! It’s you! It’s your fault!” 

All those who could still breathe were raising their voices to curse at her. Before she realized it, even the relatively composed Gallio was hurling words of abuse. Hate boxed her in from all sides. Why? Why did they not believe the woman who’d come to save them? Why did they agree with the demons? They should all understand if they just thought about it. Why were they so captivated with what was right before their eyes, all at the cost of the bigger picture? 

“You’re wrong! It’s not my fault! I never wanted to trouble anyone…” 

“That’s a lie.” “It’s your fault.” “It’s because of you.” “Even the demon said so.” “Murderer.” “Grim reaper.” That was all she could hear—people yelling it was her fault in different ways. 

“I-It’s not my fault! Why… Why can’t you all understand?!” 

A scream burst out of Lefille. Perhaps those were her true feelings that had been hidden deep within her all along. Seeing this, Rajas let out a great, exalted laugh. 

“Heh… AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You damn humans truly are foolish! Whenever something happens, you do nothing but curse and show contempt for others! Once your masks are peeled off, you’re always revealed to be such filthy creatures, lowlier than even maggots!” 

After basking in triumphant joy a short moment, Rajas looked at the demons around him, and… 

“Do it.” 

He gave the order to kill. 

With those words, Lefille’s defeated heart that had been worn down by verbal abuse was invigorated once more. Despite the torment laid on her, and despite the bitter tears welling in her eyes, she couldn’t just stand by and let the demons have their way. However… 

“Huh?” 

Even though her heart was ready, her body wouldn’t obey. She was unable to put strength in her legs like normal. It was like none of her usual quickness even existed. The foot she used to step forward barely moved, like it was heavily weighed down. Her movements were dull. But it was useless to make excuses. Completely useless. 

The reason was perfectly clear. She was pinned down. Not by Rajas. Not by the surrounding demons. It was at the hands of her comrades, the humans. She was bound by their condemnation. And just that delay in her actions was hopelessly fatal. 

“GUAAAAAH!” 

“No, no, no! AAAAAAAAH!” 

“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Ah, ah, ah?!” 

“Stay back! STAY BACK! STAY BAAAAA? Guh!” 

The people in the area were being killed one after the other without putting up any resistance. The escort who blamed her, the adventurers who cursed her, Gallio who looked at her with resentment, and all the other merchants. Just as the last one was being attacked by the demons, her body finally listened to her. 

She wouldn’t make it. But even though she knew that, her heart wouldn’t allow her to stay still. Lefille cut into the back of the demon closing in on the last survivor. And as she looked down, she saw the figure of somebody painted with both demon and human blood. 

It was a girl she knew. They’d taken on a commission at the guild together. It was the mage from the party she subjugated the ogre with. Out of their party, Lefille had gotten closest with this girl. She was a good friend to her. 

When she saw that she was still breathing, Lefille fell to her knees and held her. 

“Hang in there!” 

“Ah, ngh…” 

The girl groaned in pain. The hand she raised to Lefille slowly was trembling and covered in blood. Lefille hardly heard anything at first, but she was talking in a faint voice between her wheezing. 

“If… nly…” 

“What’s that…?” 

“If only… You didn’t… exist…” 

In the end, the girl cursed Lefille as she died. All she left behind was the bloody handprint on Lefille’s neck from weakly trying to strangle her, and a corpse that looked like it would never rest in peace. Her face was warped with hatred, her lifeless eyes still scorching with scorn. And with the target of her vengeance right in front of her, it was like she was still cursing Lefille from beyond the grave. 

The arms of the girl she was holding feebly dangled down. When they fell, Lefille felt like everything she believed in shattered without a sound.