Chapter 160: Rest (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 160: Rest (5)
“I’ve managed to get quite a few good shots.”
With a smile full of satisfaction, Senior Loreliya checked the photos she had taken with Daisy.
She looked even more pleased with these than with the photos of me, which had been her original goal.
“……”
Beside her, Daisy sat huddled on the ground, her expression ashen as if her soul had departed her body.
“With these, those annoying collateral branches will keep their mouths shut for a while.”
It seemed she harbored quite a grudge against the collateral lines; I had never seen Senior Loreliya look so gleeful.
“Here, the camera. Junior Adam, feel free to use it as much as you like.”
“…Daisy is a customer too, you know.”
“I’m saying the obstacle is removing herself.”
And so, the second lover (not really) handed me over to the first lover (not really) and vanished.
“……”
Thus, Daisy gained exclusive rights to me… but having been so thoroughly burnt out, she had yet to regain her senses.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay…”
To think the Daisy would give such an immediate, blunt answer.
“Should I take some photos for you?”
“Photos… right. To take photos… but I’ve already taken so many…”
Had she developed PTSD regarding photography?
Daisy, trembling, bit her lip and forced herself to stand up.
“That’s right. All those embarrassing things… I endured them all just to take photos with Adam!”
Her legs were still shaking, but our RoFan heroine had overcome her hardships and risen once again, just as she always did!
However.
“……Why was I doing that again?”
Watching Daisy mutter to herself.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“……”
I answered honestly. Why was she asking me?
At my remark, Daisy stood dazed for a moment, holding the magic tool camera.
“L-Let’s just take them for now!”
A resurrected Daisy grabbed the camera in one hand and my hand in the other, beginning to pull me along.
Usually, she wouldn't be this assertive.
It seemed her physical contact with Senior Loreliya had significantly lowered her inhibitions.
“Hmm. How about here?”
“Oh…”
I evaluated the spot Daisy had huffed and puffed to reach.
“It’s pretty terrible, isn't it?”
“Excuse me?”
I’ll say it again: in my past life, I liked taking photos, not having them taken of me.
However, thanks to the basic sensibilities of a citizen from a country where 'proof shots' were mandatory, I occasionally allowed myself to be photographed when it was important.
And so, I could say with confidence:
“Is there… really a need to take a photo here?”
The location was a cliffside by the coast.
The problem was, if we went higher up, we might get a decent background. Or if the sea were at least visible, I could find a good angle.
The sea was there, but the scenery was… obscured, so to speak.
To come to a place like this when we were wearing swimsuits and had the beach right in front of us.
If the genders were reversed, I could only assume there were some lecherous schemes afoot…
“Gasp!”
But where were we?
Unlike my past life, this was a fantasy world where the balance of power could be reversed at any moment.
Furthermore, my companion was Daisy, who was closer to a hero from a shonen manga than a RoFan heroine!
Bringing a fragile man to such a remote place meant she either had dark intentions…
Or there was a high probability she had detected and tracked down some black-robed dark mages…
“……?”
The sudden hypothesis made my thoughts halt.
No, that couldn't be it.
The dark mages here had been wiped out long ago.
There were no signs of any external intrusion either.
So, there was no way a dark mage would be in a place like this.
“…Actually, there might be?”
But if we were talking about common sense, the Academy shouldn't be breached so easily.
I first asked Daisy why she had come here.
“J-Just because? It felt like most of the photos were taken with Senior Loreliya… so I thought we should go somewhere we haven't been?”
“And you chose a place like this?”
“W-What’s wrong with this place!”
“It’s dark, it’s a cliff so there’s no escape, and people rarely come here…”
“Uh…?”
It seemed the RoFan heroine’s Confucian Dragon, which had fled because of Senior Loreliya, had returned upon hearing my words.
She suddenly looked flustered and glanced around. Seeing not a single soul in sight, she started repeating, “Uh? Uh?”
“I thought maybe you’d found a dark mage and brought me here.”
I tried to brush it off lightly, but.
“T-That’s right! A-Actually, I felt the presence of a dark mage here!”
The panicked Daisy began to spiral, her eyes practically spinning.
She grabbed my hand again and started dragging me around frantically.
She even began using divine power, touching various parts of the cliff.
“……?”
“……?!”
And just like that, she opened a secret dungeon.
How Lamentable.
The dark mages of Aken Island had been annihilated.
The pure dark magic faction had lost most of its strength to the Demon of Emotion.
The few survivors had attempted a life-or-death escape, only to be swept away and destroyed by what could only be described as a natural disaster.
Furthermore, the faction following the Demon of Emotion had been incinerated while trying to protect her and one of the twenty-four Legion Commanders she had been trying to resurrect—Ras, Commander of the Fury Legion.
The Demon of Emotion herself was currently flash-frozen by the RoFan male leads, on the verge of becoming a specimen for human technology.
Therefore, there were no dark mages left on Aken Island.
There were no Demon Tribe members operating properly either.
—……
No ‘properly operating’ demons, that is.
—The plan has failed.
However, thanks to the efforts of the Demon of Emotion.
The resurrection of Ras, Commander of the Fury Legion, had been significantly accelerated compared to the ‘original work.’
They had pushed themselves that hard, which was why they had all been subjugated.
—But in three years… no, two years, I will be able to fully resurrect.
This was a pace that moved the Legion Commander raid part of the original work forward by at least four years. Considering the strength of a Legion Commander, Violet would have screamed that the balance was broken, regardless of how fast Daisy and the RoFan male leads were growing.
A Legion Commander of the Demon Tribe was that significant of an existence.
Of course, the fact that there were twenty-four such beings meant that, despite their initial impact, they were destined to be defeated by the main characters in the later stages.
But their initial impact had been powerful enough to shock the readers of the novel.
There were even suspicions that the author had hastily inserted them after starting to play Lost Ark!
—Until the damn Goddess’s curse fades… I just need to endure a little longer.
Thus, Ras, Commander of the Fury Legion, waited calmly, contrary to his name.
Fury was something that grew stronger the more it accumulated.
Being angry alone was nothing more than a psychotic outburst, not true fury.
The demon who bore the name of Fury.
Ras waited calmly for the time to unleash his wrath, but.
—……?
The barrier suddenly shattered, followed by the arrival of the Goddess’s grim reaper.
—Ah.
In the end, he had no choice but to be furious.
But as one who was sealed, there was nothing he could do.
“……”
“……”
Having suddenly entered a dungeon, both Daisy and I were at a loss for words.
“…See! A secret dungeon, just like I said!”
“Aren't you embarrassed?”
“I-If you know, just let it slide!”
Daisy shouted, her face turning red.
However, the situation was not ideal for a RoFan development.
A sudden dungeon entry.
Our attire—if this were a game, it would boast the ultimate defense according to the formula that defense is proportional to skin exposure.
But in reality, that was never the case.
We were in swimsuits that couldn't even protect us from a stray branch, let alone a weapon.
Furthermore, what Daisy held in her hand was not the invincible magic sword that made the Academy’s strongest swordsman tremble and mages despair.
It was merely a fantasy-version camera she had barely received from Senior Loreliya after enduring all sorts of humiliation.
Therefore.
“First, give me that and take this.”
“……Where did a sword suddenly come from?”
I handed her a sword for self-defense—though it wasn't a magic sword—and tucked away the expensive magic tool camera.
“A subspace pouch. It’s an essential item for surviving the treacherous life at the Academy.”
“……”
As a rule, a prepared agent should always carry at least one subspace pouch to ensure survival anytime, anywhere.
At the beach? In a swimsuit?
Don't make me laugh.
Our diligent dark mages wouldn't wait for us to finish our happy-go-lucky swimming in a RoFan development.
…Or would they? Maybe they’d wait for the sake of the plot.
Honestly, I couldn't be sure, but it was certain that they wouldn't wait for agents like me or Uncle Aeryun, even if they might wait for the RoFan cast.
That’s why one must never let their guard down.
“It’s not a magic sword, but it’s dwarf-made, so it’ll be sturdy.”
“…And why do you have another one of those?”
“Swords are consumables, after all.”
This is why you shouldn't deal with someone whose first sword was a magic sword sealed by a Goddess and used by the Demon King, the presumed final boss of the original work.
Normally, no matter how well-made a sword is, it doesn't protect itself by drawing out the opponent’s mana.
Furthermore, it doesn't automatically repair itself.
Literally, such things were impossible unless the item’s existence could be explained away by the ‘Mythological Era’ and the handiwork of gods.
“I-I see.”
With a dubious expression, Daisy nodded, and we began exploring the place—whether it was a dungeon or a dark mage’s secret base, we didn't know.
“There are no monsters…”
“It’s better not to say things like that. Usually, they appear right after you say it.”
“…I-Is that so?”
“Yes. And you must never say things like ‘Is it over?’ or ‘I did it!’ when an enemy falls.”
“I-I heard that from Violet!”
It was around the time I was briefly injecting the RoFan heroine with common sense for surviving a fantasy world.
“……”
“……”
Reaching the end of the space, we looked down at a suspicious magic circle and a stone coffin placed atop it, which clearly looked like it was sealing something.
“There don't seem to be any enemies…”
“It looks like something is sealed inside, just like a magic sword. It’s not a magic sword, is it?”
“Are you planning to swing this around, Daisy?”
A magic sword in one hand.
And swinging this in the other… that would be quite terrifying.
“O-Of course not!”
Daisy shouted and cautiously poked the sealed, statue-like object with her sword.
“It’s hard.”
I also infused my sword with mana and gave it a light poke.
“Hmm…”
It wasn't just hard; I felt something magical.
Even though I couldn't use Aura, my refined sword energy couldn't even leave a scratch.
The good news was.
“I don't feel any repulsive force.”
“R-Right.”
“And for now, it doesn't seem to be… a living creature.”
It was worth a try.
I pulled out my subspace pouch and widened the opening.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Let’s just take it with us.”
“T-This…?”
“It clearly looks dangerous. Are we just going to leave it here?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
Leaving the blinking Daisy behind, I opened the subspace pouch as wide as possible.
It looked like an ordinary drawstring pouch, but it wasn't something you could get just by having money.
It was a premium line from the Dale Royal Family, something only the royalty could barely obtain.
…I have to give it to Dale’s magic tools.
They were of such high quality that it was an insult to even compare them to the dust at the feet of the Leon Magic Tower.
Credit where credit is due.
“Should I put it in? Or do you want to do it, Daisy?”
“P-Put what in?”
“What else is there to put in here? Only that.”
“Ah, s-should I do it?”
Flustered, Daisy picked up the stone coffin herself. Seeing how easily she lifted it, it didn't seem that heavy…
Creeeeeak!
…Apparently, it just wasn't heavy for Daisy.