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Chapter 53

A huge crater had formed in the grassland a little away from the town.
It was the aftermath of a physical bombardment by the Spear of God (Longinus), which is part of Lilith’s dragon secret art.

「Help… help…」

The man who had identified himself as a C-rank adventurer in the inn’s dining room and had demanded to suck on Liz’s big toe muttered with a pale face.

Just a moment ago, what had occurred here was something that, from the perspective of C-rank adventurers, seemed like the work of a god.

It was something extraordinary.

There was a thunderous explosion suddenly.
And when the dust and soil settled, a crater had been formed.
One could only wonder what was going through the middle-aged man’s mind.

「…I was told not to take your life. Therefore, the Spear of God (Longinus) was a display of power… a demonstration. People like you, who have brains more similar to animals than to the human race, won’t listen unless they see strength… It’s really troublesome.」

And then Lilith took a deep breath and continued speaking rapidly.

「…If you reveal that child’s secret, I’ll kill you. If you talk about us, I’ll kill you.」

She then extended five fingers and continued speaking.

「…You have five hours to pack your things and leave this town, or I’ll kill you.」

Furthermore, Lilith took out her staff, pointed it in the western direction, and with intense concentration, raised it.

「Golden Roar (Dragons’ Genocide).」

The surrounding area was enveloped in an explosive flow of blinding light.
Regular adventurers wouldn’t even be allowed to open their eyes in the face of such overwhelming light violence.

The grassland that had been in front of Lilith, extending in a fan shape for about 500 meters, was stripped of everything – the grass, large rocks, occasional trees that grew here and there, and the surface soil – all of it was blown away, revealing the bare red earth.

「By the way, the man I have with me… has many times, no, many tens of times my strength. And you’ve touched our nerve…」

「H-Help… help… Please, help…」

Lilith tucked her staff into her clothing.

「…I’ll kill you even if I see you within a 200-kilometer radius of this town. That’s it.」

With just those words, Lilith left the scene.

「I’m scared…」

I shivered in front of the entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild.

「…I’m going to teach that scumbag a lesson. So, Lute, after spending some time with Liz, please wait at the Adventurer’s Guild before noon.」

Saying that, she took the middle-aged man somewhere…
That idiot really went overboard, using Golden Roar (Dragons’ Genocide) to threaten a C-rank adventurer.

There’s a saying that a lion puts its all into hunting a rabbit, but isn’t she going too far?

「Or rather, that idiot has no self-control. Well, not that I can say anything…」

As I sighed, Liz was on her 25th skewer of pork, which I had bought as a substitute for lunch.

「Is it delicious?」

She nodded repeatedly.

Seriously, this little girl can eat.
She had even shared more than half of her breakfast with Lilith, and I wondered where it all fit in her tiny stomach.

「Um…」

「What is it?」

Liz pointed to a nearby food stall.

「I’d like to try one of those sandwiches they’re selling.」

At that point, I chuckled.

「That skewer was meant to be lunch for both of us… and you’ve eaten it all by yourself, and now you want more?」

I laughed as I reached for my wallet.
And then, at that moment…

「S-S-Sorry. I’m sorry! Please don’t scold me! Please don’t punish me!」

Her face turned pale, and Liz kept bowing her head to me repeatedly.

What’s going on?
I thought for a moment and clapped my hands.
It seems she thought that she had damaged my mood by eating not only my portion but also making additional orders without reading the situation.

I mean, 「please don’t punish me…」 It seems like she’s had quite a heavy upbringing.

I went silent and headed to the food stall, purchasing a sandwich sealed in a paper bag.
I returned to Liz and handed her the paper bag.

「For now, just eat this.」

「Huh…? Um… I’m sorry…」

「At least at this point, there’s no reason for you to apologize to me.」

I gently patted Liz’s confused head twice.

Actually… and I pondered on this.
Lilith’s plan to let Liz accompany us without leaving her at the inn has turned out to be perfect.

There are about three individuals who are shadowing us, equivalent to upper-tier C-rank adventurers.
Most likely, they have professions as thieves, assassins, or ninjas, specializing in covert operations, and they are probably veterans.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for anyone to notice them.
But, well, this time, they picked the wrong target.
And the other side probably doesn’t think we’ve noticed them even in the slightest.

In that case, having the advantage of us noticing them first is invaluable.
We can lose them in a double tailing, gather information, or even catch the tailing individuals to extract information directly.

「…I’m sorry I made you wait.」

At that moment, Lilith arrived at the entrance of the Adventurer’s Guild.

I whispered to Lilith.

「We’re being followed. Try to act as naturally as possible.」

Lilith furrowed her brow, as if to say, “Don’t underestimate me.”

「I’m aware of that. One of them was following me. Well… to be more precise, one of them used to follow me.」

「In the past tense?」

「…They annoyed me, so I blew them away with Golden Roar (Dragons’ Genocide). Hence, the past tense.」

Seriously?
I then tried to sense the presence around us once again.

…They’re gone.
Everyone has retreated.
The tailing individual following Lilith must have scattered in an emergency evacuation because they didn’t return.

「Hey, Lilith?」

「What?」

「You’re not like Cordelia… you’re not a muscle head, are you? You knew this would happen if you blew them away, right?」

「Is there a problem with how it turned out?」

「What do you mean?」

「If the other party is sneaking around behind our backs… Why not pick a fight head-on? And besides, they’re just one or two small countries. So we’d win the fight anyway.」

Well, it might make sense, but…

With a sense of resignation, I placed my hand on Liz’s head.

「First things first… we need to hear Liz’s story.」