Chapter 136
Christina and the rest met up with Dran’s party who had been unexpectedly joined by Sperion and his companion. After that, they resumed their journey toward the elevation platform that would bring them to the ground level. As Dran and Christina led the way, they spoke to each other about their current situations.
Christina had heard from Lababa about the facility of the Devas buried in the abandoned mine seven days’ walk northwest of the Royal City of Aleklaftia. After the Abyss Dawn members had caught wind of this underground facility, they excavated the mine by caving it in and funneling poison gas into it. Once they had accomplished this, they started operating it.
Sperion, Frau, and their dedicated knights seemed distressed having been brought to the base of these heretics. On the other hand, Dran and his companions revealed not the slightest trace of grimness as he walked on leisurely. Though, their composure and utter lack of fear should be expected considering the trials they had experienced.
Dran continued his conversation with Christina in a low voice so that Sperion and the rest would not overhear.
「Christina, were you teleported with Princess Frau in the midst of your tea party? That shouldn’t have been possible if the Arc Witch was in the castle. Did you happen to go somewhere?」
Merle was someone who had reached the limits of human potential. Dran believed that she was able to detect and remove all intruders immediately. The fact that Christina and her companions were teleported away meant that Merle had been absent from the royal palace for some reason. That was certainly an undesirable situation.
「While that happened to us, you seemed to have finished greeting the gods and was about to end your meal. Prince Sperion even sneaked out to speak to you.」
「If you’re referring to the ongoings in the afternoon, we were merely out to ask about sightseeing when we met some unexpected individuals.」
Christina, too, would not have been pleased if the crown prince of the kingdom butted into her romantic date. With this thought in mind, she glanced briefly at Sperion behind her. Selina, who was trailing slightly behind Christina, spoke up and expressed the feelings of all three lovers. Perhaps it was due to the desserts bought for them by Sperion, but she did not seem particularly upset. Moreover, she probably understood that she could not be upset in such a situation.
Selina’s lower body had been in human form before the teleportation. However, she had undone the shapeshifting the moment they had been teleported to focus on battle. Thankfully, Frau, Radia, and the rest did not seem irked by Selina’s lower body, and Selina had not suffered any hurtful reactions.
「After that, we were shown around the Royal City. We were learning about the various markets, the lifestyles of the people, and the streets when we were surrounded by six magic users…」
「Then, we ended up being teleported to the same place. It’s fine as long as none of us were captured. We were able to find out from the bandits that there’s a path leading up to the ground level ahead, but what about Selina and the rest? I’d like to hear what happened just for my reference.」
In addition to the interrogational torture of the mind and body, reading the minds of people was a piece of cake for Dran. Moreover, Selina was a Lamia, a species that possessed bewitching magic; Diodora possessed poisonous confession drugs; Dramina could suck blood and had hypnotizing beauty. Dran had many ways of gaining information with the casual snap of his fingers.
「If Dramina revealed her face, the truth will be spilled immediately. Christina, have you mastered a similar skill?」
Selina muttered something about already knowing the answer, while Christina gave an honest affirmation. Then, Christina smiled and added that she had merely chosen the quickest method.
All Christina and Dramina had to do were to remove the Agrilia’s Bracelet and veil respectively to get things done. Neither of them needed to exhaust any magic or physical energy. Hence, this was truly the easiest and most efficient method.
Dramina was not concerned about using her beauty as a tool, but Christina still remained hesitant. However, the kidnapping of the princess was an emergency. Christina had swiftly dismissed all shame and used her looks to her advantage.
「It’s the easiest way after all. Since I’ve been born with this face, I’ve been thinking that I should make use of it instead of begrudging it lately. It has caused me much suffering in the past, and it’s about time all that misery was made up for.」
As Christina spoke, she caressed her cheeks. Selina seemed a little troubled by the utterance of a fellow female and replied.
「Christina-san and Dramina-san have looks that are the envy of all. Hm… Even though they seem to have beauties of a different realm. Envy doesn’t even seem applicable.」
「Don’t you think that’s an exaggeration? I’ve been born with this face and experienced a lot because of it, especially unpleasant incidents. Anyway, it’s a stroke of luck that we met up with Dran and the rest. Even though we have more people we need to protect now, our defense has also increased by leaps and bounds. Right now, those heretics are insignificant pests to us even if you weren’t here, Dran.」
「That’s because Dramina-san is around.」
Despite Selina’s comment, she, too, possessed astounding power that was beyond the ordinary Lamia. She was merely belittling herself like Christina due to the many unbelievably powerful figures around her.
「I never even dreamed that those from Abyss Dawn would strike at the worst timing for us.」
Selina agreed wholeheartedly with Christina’s statement. There could be no greater threat to those villains from the Evil Dragon Cult than Dran. Moreover, Christina—the dragon slayer of dragon slayers—was present as well. From Selina’s point of view, she could only envision a future where Abyss Dawn failed to achieve their goals and fell into ruin. On the other hand, it was remarkable that they had not been destroyed by now.
「That being said, why now? Is someone trying to make Dran destroy Abyss Dawn?」
Selina speculated that some god from the celestial realm or demon realm had orchestrated this to provoke Dran into crushing Abyss Dawn. It was hard for the living creatures on the ground to understand the profound thoughts of the gods, but it was not entirely impossible to grasp such machinations. If these notions were rather simple, they could easily be guessed.
Moreover, Selina and her companions had communicated directly with Aldeath and Mairahl in the past. These experiences were sufficient for Selina and her acquaintances to realize that the gods were not as incomprehensible as they once thought.
「Who knows? Though, I doubt the gods would make use of Dran. Mairahl-sama and Aldeath-sama would make a direct request to Dran. Any god of a lower rank than those two would shrink in fear rather than ever try to manipulate him.」
At this moment, the image of Chrono Maze popped into Christina’s mind. She was one god who had always been obsequious to Dran despite her blunders.
Christina expressed her unreserved opinions about the gods, while Selina had a different opinion in addition to her agreement with Christina’s statement.
「Perhaps some new gods born before Dran’s reincarnation are reckless because they’re unaware about Dran’s identity.」
「I see. Dran did mention that quite a long time passed before his reincarnation after all. In that case, it wouldn’t be odd if there are a few ignorant ones who close an eye to the warnings of their predecessors. But Dran hasn’t said anything yet, has he? In that case, we don’t have to worry about the intentions of the gods.」
「Well, that’ll be a real coincidence if it’s true. Those Abyss Dawn folks just happened to strike while we were with the Princess and Prince. That’s… really horrible timing.」
As Selina had mentioned, it was truly terrible timing to have a tryst interrupted and attacked by the worst enemy possible. However, neither woman felt any sympathy in this situation. Ever since they had joined Dran on his travels, their opinions about the gods had changed entirely due to their interactions with the great gods and the primordial seven dragons.
In fact, the gods would be helpless against Dran even if they tried butting in. Their only choice in this coincidental attack was to fight Abyss Dawn. However, it was hard to exclude certain feelings of resentment in the two women’s determined expression from having their sightseeing of the Royal City and tea party disrupted respectively.
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