Chapter 159 Part 1
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Translator: Jiro Editor: Ryunakama
The Dark Zell disappeared after being clobbered by our attacks for a while.
「The black monsters… I heard that they were formidable foes, but we dispatched it much more quickly than I had anticipated.」 Elise said.
It was only normal that Lydia and Shirushu, both of whom had White Weapon Square cast on them, would be able to dispatch it with ease.
Even though it seemed to Elise to be a simple task, she was unaware that both of them had been boosted by a fourfold spell.
「Lydia-san, Shirushu-san, your movements were extremely beautiful. I’d be really glad if you decided to join my guild.」
「「What?!」」
Both of them were left speechless after hearing Elise’s suggestion.
Who does she think she is inviting them like that?!
Lydia and Shirushu exchanged glances before turning to Elise with a confused smile.
「I hope you’ll excuse us Eli-chi, but we can’t do that.」 Lydia said.
「We’re grateful for the invitation, but I’m afraid we can’t join Elise-san. I’m sorry.」 Shirushu added.
「… I was just joking.」 Elise said while laughing, but it didn’t seem to be a joke at all.
In a previous life, I was a member of Elise’s guild, Bertram’s Guild, but due to a number of constraints, I had to leave soon after.
Come to think of it, she was quite persistent to have me join even after I left. Wait?! Wasn’t that the reason I began arguing with her in the first place?!
Shirushu’s ears twitched as I let out a long sigh.
「A monster… It’s another Dark Zell.」 Shirushu said. 「What?!」
And, just as Shirushu predicted, a Dark Zell emerged from behind one of the nearby rocks.
Everyone was feeling anxious and concerned at the fact that we had to face a series of dark monsters.
It was much more difficult to come across black monsters on the North Continent… To think we’d run into two of them here on the East Continent, one after the other…. What is going on in the world? I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
I could feel shivers run down my spine.
「Maybe there are many black monsters who’ve made the East Continent their home. Wait, what if Town Nanami has already been run down and that’s why they’re here… Damn it! Let’s get to town as soon as possible!」
「Okay!」
I grabbed Lydia’s hand, while Milly grabbed Shirushu’s and we used Teleport.
The environment rapidly shifted thanks to the numerous Teleportations.
「W-WAIT!」 Elise shouted from far behind us.
I could see her desperately trying to catch up.
It seems like she’s shouting something… Oh well I don’t have the time to worry about you now.
Lydia yelled as she stared off into the distance as I cast Teleport once more.
「Zeph-chi, there’s another Dark Zell over there!」
「It can’t be…! What in the world is going on?」
We were encountering just as many dark monsters as regular monsters.
Rather, the closer we got to the Town of Nanami the more Dark Zells we saw.
Damn it! My hometown… My mom…!!
I instinctively bit down as I cast Teleport with all of my might, and after a while, we arrived in Nanami.
It’s right there. As I cast Teleport once more I felt Lydia strongly holding onto my arm.
「Zeph-chi stop!」
Why? Was what I was about to say but then I saw that there was no one behind us. In my panic I had apparently gone far ahead, leaving everyone else behind.
This is bad. My magic power is nearly depleted as well.
「Let’s wait for everyone here, there’s nothing for us to gain from hurrying.」 Lydia said.
「…You’re right. Thank you Lydia.」
「No biggie. While getting worked up is one of your negative characteristics, it can also be viewed as a positive trait.」 Lydia said, nodding my head to help me calm down.
It was just as she said. Even if my bad hunch was right and the Town of Nanami was infested with black monsters, going there by myself would be futile. Furthermore, with my current level of magic power, I was doomed to run to my death.
It would be best to first wait for everyone and completely recover my magic power first.
「Thank you Lydia, I’m fine now.」
「Really? I don’t mind doing this a bit more though.」 Lydia said, laughing.
「Don’t tease me please.」
Good grief, I really can’t win against her.
After a while, I spotted a human silhouette in the distance that resembled Silverie.
Milly and Elise were also following behind her.
「What took you so long?」 I asked.
「I’m sorry, it’s just that…」 Milly muttered under her breath as she cast a look at Elise.
So that’s what happened.
「… No one asked you to help me, you know!」
「I know! Urgh, why must you be like this Elise!」 Milly said, angrily.
「Hmph…」 Elise gasped as she averted her eyes.
They must have gone back to help Elise take care of the monsters. That’s probably why they took so long.
「Don’t worry about it Elise, everyone makes mistakes.」 I said, trying to encourage her.
「Hmph.」 She once again gasped as she moved further away from us.
I made the decision to ignore her and concentrate on our other task.
「That’s the Town of Nanami. There’s a chance it’s filled with black monsters. Everyone, be on your guards.」
「Okay!」
「Elise you wait here, depending on the situation we might not need your help.」
「…!!!」
I can’t figure out what’s going on inside the city. In the worst case scenario, the whole town might have already been wiped out. I can’t afford to look after Elise in this situation.
As soon as I looked at her, Elise recoiled for a brief moment, but she quickly recovered and returned my stare.
「H-Have it your way then! My task is researching the black monsters. I’ll do everything I can to make it happen!」
「… Do your best to stay as far away as possible.」 I said this as I pressed my hand against Elise’s shoulder, pulling her in the direction of Nanami.
Even though she was quite proud, he wasn’t stupid enough as to not understand the current situation.
She trailed us as we approached the city’s perimeter wall, but kept a safe distance behind us.
Well then only god knows what’ll happen next…!
The gatekeeper who usually always stood in front of the town’s tightly locked gate was nowhere to be seen.
There’s definitely something going on.
I thought to myself as I approached with caution, when the door suddenly began to open with creaking noises.
As the door slowly opened all prepared for battle.
Looking behind me I could see Elise standing a safe distance away.
Good. She’ll be able to escape at any time from there.
The door opened halfway, at which point the gatekeeper hurried out from behind it.
「Are you adventurers? … Is there something wrong? What’s the deal with those terrified expressions?」 He inquired.
「…」
We absolutely lost all will to fight as soon as we heard his carefree question.
「Oh my, so you are people from the Magician Association?!」 he said, shocked.
「We’re here to investigate the monsters.」
「Thank you for coming all this way. Please come on in. Welcome to Nanami.」 As he held out his arm, the gatekeeper asked for a handshake.
Apparently the reason we weren’t able to find the gatekeeper earlier was because he had gone to get a drink.
He told us all about it while grabbing the water bottle around his waist and taking a sip from it.
「You’re quite carefree aren’t you. Gatekeepers shouldn’t leave their posts.」 I said.
「That is certainly true… But it’s peaceful here. So it’s fine from time to time. Hahaha.」
「It’s by no means peaceful. There’s countless Dark Zells roaming around the area. Hasn’t the town been attacked?」 I asked.
「Hmph, come to think of it some dark monsters came to the town a while back.」 he slowly began to explain,
「The black monsters… The Dark Zell or I think that’s what the people from the Magician Association called them. They’ve recently started to appear more frequently outside of town.」 he said.
The Dark Zell had apparently just walked around the town at first, but they were later seen eating other monsters.
People leaving town seemed to have decreased as a result of that, but then an incident had occurred in which the Dark Zell were seen eating the livestock of a ranch outside of town.
They apparently tried to repel it but since the average person couldn’t match up to the Dark Zells, they had no choice but to leave the livestock behind.
「However, one day, a traveling Holy Knight appeared out of nowhere and took care of the black monsters.」
「A Holy Knight?」 Milly asked to which the gatekeeper nodded.
A Holy Knight came? He must be one heck of a conceited bastard if he truly calls himself that.
「That’s right. He was extremely strong. He took care of the black monsters in no time.」 the gatekeeper said.
「Wow, that’s amazing!」 Milly exclaimed, but she quickly turned to ask me a question.
「Hey Zeph. Didn’t you say that the dark monsters can only be defeated with Soul spells? Could it be that the so-called Holy Knight-san can use White Weapon?」 she asked.
「Maybe. He may also be a Magic Knight; they are people that used spells in order to boost their battle prowess.」
It was rare to encounter someone who used swords or martial arts in combination with magic.
There were several instances where magicians used tools to aid them in combat, but they were often used for protection or were some sort of special weapon that enhanced their spells, like my sword.
It was difficult to use spells when fighting in close range because they needed a great deal of focus to cast.
That is why choosing one or the other was much more convenient.
「The Holy Knight is still here so if you’d like you can go ahead and meet him. He’s always surrounded by a lot of girls so it won’t be hard to find him.」 the gatekeeper said.
「Huh? Is he handsome?」 Milly asked.
「Doesn’t matter. Let’s hurry up and go inside.」 I replied
After saying our goodbyes to the gatekeeper we proceeded to enter Nanami.
The vastness of the landscape and the slightly rough nature of the townscape. Between the sparsely populated homes, the people moved about in a lively manner.
「Zeph, this really is nostalgic isn’t it?!」 Milly exclaimed.
「It really is.」 As if I shared Milly’s enthusiasm, my fist instinctively clenched slightly.
Next to us, Elise had her arms folded as she looked at the town.
「Hmph… There’s no doubt that it’s the countryside.」 she said.
「It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a good town. I really enjoy this atmosphere.」 Silverie said.
「Se-chi’s right. How about we go to Zeph-chi’s house for the time being.」 Lydia made a suggestion.
「I concur! I’d like to see the house Zeph-san grew up in.」 Shirushu remarked.
Urgh… Well I guess I’ll take them there. It’s not like I mind but I guess mom will be shocked when she sees so many people…
After pondering about it for a bit I turned to face everyone.
「I’m sorry everyone but could I ask you to stay at an inn today?」
「Huh? Why?」 Milly asked.
「Mom would be shocked if so many people barge in at once, so I think it’s best if I go back alone today.」
「Ehh… That’s no fun!」 Lydia said, after which Silverie smacked her on the back of her head.
「Calm down Lydia… Zeph has a point. We’ll definitely trouble his mother if we all go there. And she probably won’t be able to accommodate us.」 Silverie said.
「I don’t mind sleeping outside…」 Shirushu said.
「Well I do! I had no intention of going either way, so let’s just find an inn!」 Elise said.
Even though she was normally quite troublesome to deal with, she ended up saving me this time around.
I guided them to a nearby inn after they all approved.
Even though it had been three years and I had only visited it a handful of times, I still knew where it was.
As we walked, gradually the run-down inn where Claude had stayed before entered my field of view.
I led everyone to the inn as I tried to keep the unpleasant memories from engulfing my mind.
By the time we completed the paperwork, the sun had almost set.
「Well then everyone, see you tomorrow!」
「Yea!」 Milly said, sending me off.
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