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Chapter 60 Part 2

Emmy and I opened our eyes wide when we heard that and looked around.

There were regular commoners, passersby who momentarily glanced back at us with curious gazes, the food stall owners, the street vendors, and the jeweler from yesterday…. was the only one who wasn’t around.

「……That’s right. He could be anyone in this city.」

When Sybilla said that, I instantly felt like everyone else except the three of us was something else entirely.

When I turned my gaze to Emmy, she was looking at me too with a mixture of anxiety and fear.

Then suddenly, Sybilla clapped her hands.

「Well, it’s no use thinking about it now since there’s little we can do about it. I don’t know since when the Demon Lord of Seiris Dungeon has been able to do that, but the fact that he still hasn’t done anything to this city must mean he’s obsessed with something.」

「The city aside, I wonder why he’s still not coming for us?」

「He’s probably just found it troublesome to deal the final blow, right? Assassinating someone in broad daylight is also a bad idea, so that’s also unlikely. So for now, I’m going to put the Demon Lord stuff at the back of my mind. There is a possibility that the Demon King can transform, but if not, then assassinating Emmy-chan would be too risky considering the the chance of failing is high and it could expose his identity to the world. ——Which in turn would make him unable to roam around this city anymore.」

I see… so after thinking about it that far… she decided to lower her guard against the Demon Lord.

「……This is the farthest I can predict. Note that prediction is not the same as prophecy. I’m not an oracle, so none of what I said is one hundred percent precise. But—」

While she said it as if she had given up since there was nothing more she could do, she continued.

「——An oracle isn’t just some guy with a smart head making a prediction, but someone who actually has the skill to predict the future. So in a way, it is dangerous to rely on it. What I thought of so far are just possibilities of what could happen.」

She then began walking again after she finished explaining these.

Emmy mumbles to herself as she watches her back.

「Maybe she felt responsible?」

「…Responsible? Sybilla is?」

「Yeah. Maybe she felt that because of her, the beachgoers were in danger. That might be why she didn’t play much today. Even though I wanted to swim together with Sybilla-san today…」

From what I could tell, the two of them talked a lot and seemed to get along well, so I understand why Emmy wants to have fun together with her.

That Emmy…… she must’ve cared a lot for Sybilla.

I, too, noticed that even though Sybilla was all smiling and having fun today, she seemed somewhat concerned.

…I wonder if she’s feeling responsible for the loss of the previous 【Twilight Sorcerer】 in Seiris’s Third Dungeon, as I thought.

It’s not fair to blame Sybilla for something she had no control over, but… even so, she thinks it’s her fault because she felt it’s something she could’ve prevented. 

This part of her makes me respect her more.

We headed back to the inn, quietly following Sybilla’s back.

In the evening, Emmy and I had a seafood buffet at the inn and we enjoyed every second of it. I envy those who live in Seiris because they can eat so much seafood every day.

Maybe it’s because Emmy and I were playing so much for the day, we were so hungry that we picked up the food one after another and ended up eating almost all of it.

I’ve grown quite fond of the food in Seiris.

But surprisingly, after having this delicious food every day, I began to miss having meat and vegetable dishes back in the village.

I guess I miss the familiar taste of home.

…This time too, Sybilla was silent the entire time.

By the time we got back to our room, the sun had completely set.

As for Emmy and me… there was an awkward atmosphere in the air, partly because Sybilla, who’d usually been the one to start a conversation and the most quipy in our party, was quiet.

At the same time, I felt reminded once again that this party was, after all, centered around Sybilla.

「…Fu, fufufu…」

Hearing laughter from behind us, Emmy and I quickly turned around.

There we saw… the fearless smile of Sybilla we’d been waiting for.

「Russell, cast Heal and Cure, please.」

「Got it.」

When I did as I was told and used my magic, not only was the fatigue from playing all day gone, but I felt like I’d been freed from mental fatigue as well.

…I guess I was still feeling overwhelmed, and I was glad to have fun at the beach with Emmy. Emmy, too, seemed to be much more energetic it was hard to believe that she had been feeling woozy in the morning.

「Now then, come with me, fully equipped.」

Emmy and I both followed after Sybilla’s back in a completely different mood than we had been in the evening, feeling reassured by Sybilla’s confident words.

As it turned out, the place she guided us to was the beach.

An empty, lonely beach.

「Wow, it’s so beautiful.」

A large full moon is floating in the pitch-black sky.

The reflection of the moon on the surface of the sea is swaying on the water, moving like a long tail toward us.

Sybilla then suddenly walked up to my side.

「You’re allowed to say that the moon is beautiful too you know, Russell.」

「Why would I need your permission to say it huh? …but well, it’s true that the moon is beautiful.」

「Good.」

I gave my thoughts as she told me to, and for some reason, she nodded in satisfaction and moved away.

It was so random that I didn’t even know what to make of it and tilted my head when my eyes met with Emmy’s. Well, as long as Sybilla is satisfied, then I guess all’s fine.

All of us walked along the sandy beach for a while.

With the few landmarks on the beach itself, the scenery doesn’t really look all that different. At best, you can only get a sense of the location from the remains of a nearby food stall and the surrounding buildings.

How long had we walked since then I wonder?

Sybilla then stopped near a steep rock formation that seemed inaccessible to beachgoers.

「Fufu, fufufu…」

She suddenly started chuckling happily in this remote place.

Who would’ve believed that she was a Goddess with this appearance? Anyone would believe that she’s a crazy woman with dangerous eyes.

But… if she’s laughing this much after being silent all day, then there must be some meaning to it.

「I might’ve been outwitted many times, but I should at least be able to figure out the reason quickly, right?」

「Outwitted you say… are you talking about the time we encountered the Demon Lord?」

「That’s right. Now then, Emmy-chan.」

Sybilla lightly tapped the surface of a nearby rock with her back fist.

「Please come here.」

Emmy did as she was told and mumbled a small 「Ah」as she came near the rock.

「You’ve noticed it too, right?」

「A breeze is… flowing from in front of my feet.」

Without being told to by Sybilla, Emmy put her hand against the rock… and the wall of rock creaked loudly.

Sybilla folded her arms and looked at Emmy, as she began to share her thoughts.

「Needle Rabbit. That is one of the monsters in Seiris’s Second Dungeon. That’s why right now, the soldiers and gatekeepers are frantically trying to investigate what’s going on in the second dungeon.」

「That’s obvious.」

「Exactly, it’s obvious. After all… if you want to hide a tree, put it in the forest!」

At the same time as Sybilla’s sudden shout, Emmy used her ability to knock down the cliff.

And then… the question like how did that monster appear on the beach undetected and where did it come from… I began to understand it all as the sight unfolded before my eyes.

That bastard hid the location where that Needle Rabbit is coming from in a city with a dungeon that has Needle Rabbit in them.

「It’s hard to imagine since they’re the same monster. That’s right— the possibility of Seiris’s Fourth Dungeon, that is!」

Beyond the cliff Emmy destroyed… was the entrance to a dungeon no one had yet discovered.