Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Suspiciously Similar to the One in My Memories
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Suspiciously similar to the one in my memories.
Blushing furiously, Elia stomped her feet.
"Wh-what are you two doing in broad daylight!"
"..."
I flinched, my body trembling.
...That startled me.
Nameless flinched too at Elia's sudden outburst, trembling as he gripped my hand tightly, frozen like a statue.
His reaction was so amusing that I narrowed my eyes and examined him closely.
The boy was so shocked his heart was pounding—thump-thump—away.
And yet, his face had this oddly flushed look to it.
As if...
He'd been caught red-handed doing something naughty by a stranger.
A strange thrill ran through me, making my own heart start to race for no reason.
But I quickly shook my head.
...That's not the point.
I tilted my head, pondering why Elia was reacting so intensely.
If even she was reacting that strongly, something must be seriously wrong...
Hmm, nothing came to mind.
To begin with...
I'd only been tickling Nameless. Nothing more.
There was no reason for Elia to freak out like that.
I tilted my head this way and that, racking my brain, but came up empty and scratched my head.
Then it hit me.
'What if Elia's not talking about me, but someone else?'
I raised my index finger and pointed at myself.
Elia nodded vigorously in affirmation.
Hmm, so it is about me.
What did I do?
I couldn't make sense of it from start to finish, so I kept tilting my head in confusion.
Growing frustrated with me, perhaps...
Elia let out a loud "Ha!" of disbelief and whipped her head away so sharply it almost whistled.
"Hmm."
This is awkward...
I had no idea what to say, so I just worked my lips silently.
I couldn't figure it out on my own.
To get some help, I glanced at the fuming Elia, then turned to Nameless.
"Nameless, why is Elia acting like that?"
Nameless let out a deep sigh as he saw me tilting my head questioningly, then ran a hand over his face.
Even so, he kept a firm grip on my hand with his other one, as if it weren't a big deal.
I felt a little relieved.
In response to my question, Nameless...
For some reason, steadied his ragged breathing with a deep inhale before turning his head away from me.
"I have no idea."
"...Is that true?"
"Yes."
Hmm, he seems like he knows something...
Nameless has one telltale habit.
When he lies to me or hides something, he can't meet my eyes.
Just like now, he turns his head away before speaking.
I tilted my head.
...Why would he lie about this?
Curiosity piqued, I considered pressing him relentlessly, but...
I let it go.
If it were truly serious, Nameless wouldn't hide it.
Besides, he wouldn't do anything to harm me, and the fact that he's hiding it means it's probably something embarrassing if I found out.
With a sigh of relief, I nodded.
...Well, anyway.
Regardless of Elia's baffling reaction...
My original goal of 'comforting the sulky Nameless' seemed accomplished without issue. What a relief.
As that thought crossed my mind and I curled my lips into a smile while looking at Nameless...
"...?"
I shuddered.
The way Nameless was looking at me felt... clingy? Sticky?
This sensation was new; I couldn't quite put it into words.
"Hmm..."
...Did I comfort him properly?
...
After that little incident...
I was climbing the mountain, lips pursed in a pout.
But...
"Is something wrong?"
I let out a small sigh at Nameless, who'd been glancing at me furtively for a while now.
...Why is he like this?
Nameless chewed his lip for a moment before speaking softly.
"...Master doesn't look happy."
Hmm, is it that obvious?
I smiled faintly at my cute disciple's concern and waved it off casually.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Still, it was true that I was in a bad mood.
I jutted out my lower lip again and kept walking.
Was my expression bothering Lucius that much?
He alternated between looking at the map and me, then stopped walking and turned around.
"Lady Heaven Cleaver, if we keep going for about an hour more, we'll reach our destination."
"...Already?"
Already?
At this rate, we'd meet that demon Lili asked us to protect soon...
I bit my lip at the situation unfolding against my wishes.
Seeing my expression unchanged, Lucius broke out in a cold sweat and hurried his steps again.
He must have...
Mistakenly thought I was dissatisfied because we were arriving too late at the destination.
But the reality was a bit different.
...We're going too fast.
Contrary to my wish for even a slight delay...
Lucius's pace didn't show any sign of slowing, steadily heading toward the goal.
...And.
There was another small issue.
I didn't know what our destination was.
A wry smile tugged at my lips from the embarrassment as I beckoned Nameless quietly.
"...So, where are we headed?"
No brag, but...
As you know, I can't read or write the script here.
So naturally, I had no way to read the paper Camilla gave us, hence I didn't know the destination.
You might say just ask Lucius or Elia...
Why wouldn't I have?
I already did.
Back then, Lucius must have thought showing me directly was faster than explaining.
Or maybe it was his way of sharing the details—he handed me the paper and kept walking.
How could I admit I couldn't read it after that?
...Admitting at my age that I can't read is a bit embarrassing, isn't it?
There's no shame in lacking knowledge, but still... at 300 years old, literacy is kinda...
Anyway.
At the time, I had no choice but to nod along.
...Can't ask them now.
Nameless seemed to grasp the situation just from a quick glance at my expression when I called him.
He nodded slightly and spoke.
"I'll explain."
...Good.
This is what Nameless went on to say.
He'd dispatched his own knight order to investigate something at 'the edge of the world.'
Before the knights reached 'the edge of the world'...
They detected enormous demonic energy surrounding the Estr Mountains, as if guarding it.
The small contingent of knights dispatched had no means to deal with that demonic energy, so they returned to the castle.
Ellen was in the thick of war with the barbarians and couldn't spare a large force, so they were in a bind.
That's when they remembered us, searching for a demon, and passed along the info.
Hmm, so that's why he said he was busy—with the barbarians...
Indeed, dealing with barbarians raiding his people took priority over some demon who wasn't acting yet.
I nodded and listened as Nameless continued.
They couldn't completely ignore the demon just because barbarians were causing trouble.
They sent a capable knight order to subjugate it.
But instead, several knights fell victim, and the subjugation failed.
Still, the knights weren't entirely fruitless—they learned the demon's appearance and abilities.
The demon looked like a burly man with massive goat-like horns on his head that oozed foreboding just by looking, and a sharp-tipped black tail.
The knights were on maximum alert against this unfamiliar demon type and attempted subjugation...
But failed due to its unique magic.
The demon used magic to summon endless chains from thin air, they said.
If those chains touched you...
Your mana shut down completely, leaving you no different from a normal person.
The knights had no way to counter such an absurd ability, so the subjugation naturally failed.
That concluded Nameless's explanation.
But even after hearing all that detail, my expression soured further.
The more Nameless explained, the more a certain figure kept popping into my head.
...No way.
Isn't that the beastman—no, demon—I met when I lived in the cabin?
That one, with the overly polite speech that felt creepy, arrogantly looking for Nameless.
It might be jumping to conclusions, but...
Goat-like horns and a tail.
And crucially, fighting by summoning chains from thin air to bind opponents.
The info matched so perfectly it was ridiculous to think it wasn't him.
"..."
The demon Lucius had been tracking was one I had a prior encounter with...
Cold sweat began pouring down my back.