Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Tragicomedy - 1
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We soon gathered together.
......
Huh? One person's missing.
"What the heck is she doing?"
Neril pointed to one spot.
Jenia was sprawled out beside Agril's head, rolling around her whole body against it.
"Ahaha. This is just too good. You're loving it too, right? Agril."
"Kruk. Krrruk."
"Yeah. I really missed you. Sorry I couldn't take good care of you all this time."
"Kruk."
"What do you mean, no? You're saying you're the one who's sorry? How is our little one so sweet-hearted?"
Offense, who had been watching intently, spoke up.
"She seems kinda broken."
"Offense. Even if that's true, that's a bit harsh."
"Hmm. Sorry."
"That's just straight-up busted."
"What's the difference?"
Jenia kept nuzzling for a good while longer before her eyes suddenly met ours.
......
......
She smoothly got up and walked over to us.
Then she sat down demurely and said,
"You could've at least told me we were gathering."
"I called three times."
......
"That much fun?"
Jenia's face flushed red.
"Agril's been with me almost as long as Ophelia has. Maide, thank you so much once again."
"It's nothing to thank me for. Protecting your comrades is just what a hero does."
"Hehe."
"Anyway, now that you're settled, let's talk about what's next."
Whoosh.
At that moment, Adwin raised his hand and spoke.
"Before that, bro. About that last technique you used."
"Hm?"
"I've seen that technique, 'Sword of Conviction Piercing the Heavens,' a few times before, but this one was on another level entirely, right?"
Is this Adwin's naming for the sword toss?
I wonder when I'll actually be able to tell them the real technique name.
[Not until dirt's in my eyes.]
Risel nodded along.
"Just to make sure, is that the same as 'that thing' from the Atrium Territory?"
"Yeah. I had this gut feeling that Adin's final attack would pin me down completely. So my body just moved on its own."
......
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
It wasn't just Risel.
For people who'd just witnessed an astonishing new technique, no one looked thrilled.
Neril spoke up.
"Your other techniques were at least barely believable, even if they were a stretch. But this one was just way too different."
"Neril."
"For example, abilities that stop time always come with severe backlash. But you used this insane power with no cost at all, so it's a bit..."
"A bit?"
"A bit scary. It feels like you're going too far away."
I remember hearing something similar when I mentioned Imperlium.
Even I felt a little uneasy after hearing it, but I couldn't start acting all serious here too.
I shrugged lightly.
"But thanks to it, we're all safe, right?"
"That's true, but..."
"More importantly, let's talk about what's ahead. That's why I called you all in the first place."
Serein reacted to that.
"Right. First, we should hear what Mime has to say?"
"Yeah. But Mime?"
"Since he did help us this time, we agreed to show a little respect."
Then a voice belonging to someone not present rang out.
"Should I say thanks?"
It was Mime.
He'd stopped pushing Agril and was now flying over beside us.
He was even bigger than Agril, so all we could see was his massive head.
Serein muttered with a fatigued look.
"I hate big things now. Feels like I'll get megalophobia."
"Hmm. More than that, it's inconvenient. Can you make yourself smaller, by any chance?"
Mime scoffed.
"Why the hell should I cater to your convenience..."
"Get smaller, Mime."
"Yes, my queen."
Ssslruk.
Mime shrank himself down to the size of a palm.
We stared at him with indescribable emotions.
He lightly landed on Risel's shoulder and said,
"Got a problem?"
"Tons, but I'll skip 'em. So, how about it?"
"What a vague question."
"You know what I mean."
......
"Think back to those scenes we saw at the starting line. Time to decide."
I continued in a low voice.
"You still think I can't kill the heavenly god?"
Mime stayed silent for a moment.
We hid our slight anxiety and waited for his answer.
Soon, his mouth opened.
"I'll admit it. Especially when your last sword pierced Adin—that sealed it for me."
"Then..."
"Very well. I'll follow your lead."
He turned his head to look at Risel.
"I won't ask anything unreasonable of you anymore. You don't have to become a full spirit."
"Mime."
"Leave killing Adin to Maide. It's not exactly in exchange, but..."
He trailed off a bit awkwardly.
"When the chance comes, could you let us spirits appear in the world again?"
"Pardon?"
"Adin erased us from human memory. But you've already defied his orders multiple times."
......
"Please use the trumpet to bring us back into the world. That's the hope of all spirits, right after revenge on Adin."
Neril tilted her head.
"Not to be rude, but why do you want to show up again so badly? Didn't you hate humans?"
"We did. But we still miss them too."
"What do you mean?"
"Long ago, we joined forces with them to build and advance civilization. Back when Adin was just an ordinary nature mage."
......
"That longing remains. If we could show ourselves to humans again, that era would surely return."
Everyone fell quiet for a moment.
Because we could somewhat understand Mime's feelings.
Risel spoke.
"I'll do it. I promise."
"Thank you truly, my queen."
"You're gonna keep calling me queen?"
"Even if you don't become a full spirit, I've accepted you as queen in my heart. If it's uncomfortable..."
"No, it's fine."
Risel continued in a slightly embarrassed tone.
"And I'm the one who's grateful. You helped us out big time this round."
"For you, anytime."
What a heartwarming atmosphere.
I smirked and opened my mouth.
"Welcome to the team as our ninth comrade, Duke Spirit Mime."
"Aren't you guys seven? Ah, you're counting Agril too."
"Yeah. Racial barriers mean nothing when we're killing the Demon King."
"Ninth comrade... Hmph. Fine, I'll accept it."
Mime put on an arrogant front, but changed his tune when Risel glared.
"Thank you for accepting me as a comrade."
"You don't have to switch to formal speech all of a sudden. You really do remind me a ton of Iori."
"Whoever that is, it pisses me off for some reason."
That's when Trail protested.
[Why ninth? I'm ninth!]
'You're saying the exact same thing as with Agril. Then introduce yourself.'
[......]
'Always goes quiet at times like this.'
Idiot.
Don't you know you're the zeroth comrade?
Clap.
I clapped my hands lightly and said,
"Back to business. Now that you're in the party, time to earn your keep, Mime."
"What do you mean?"
"Every time we travel via Agril from now on, you provide support without fail."
......
"With your support added to Agril's speed, we'll fly way faster than before."
Jenia nodded.
"It's not just 'a bit faster.' With that, it's practically teleportation levels, give or take."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Let's see... We might cross the entire continent in three hours."
Everyone gaped in admiration.
Serein summed it up neatly.
"No more distance constraints."
I grinned.
"Exactly. This gives us a counter to Idria's spatial authority."
...!
"Not just counter—we can plan new strategies. But right now, the urgent thing is separate. We need to land on the ground immediately."
Everyone tilted their heads, finding it sudden.
I lowered my voice slightly.
"Idria still doesn't know what happened at the starting line. She doesn't know we got Agril back."
"Ah."
"So she'll try another speed blitz next time. Before she does, she'll scout us once."
"We can't let her spot us on Agril's back!"
Exactly.
If she sees us fretting over losing Agril, Idria will be satisfied and send the monsters and Kaild to the next territory.
Trail will pop up a red screen to signal Idria's observation.
'Then we check the secret right away, figure out which territory...'
[We'll fly faster than Kaild.]
'Right.'
The only wildcard is Bellosian.
He's definitely communicating with Idria.
That enigmatic guy might tell her we recovered Agril.
That's out of my hands, so I'll leave it to luck.
"Camping out sucks, so let's find a nearby territory. Time to sleep in a bed for once."
"Anywhere's fine? No need for Tetra Territory specifically."
"Yeah. Now that we can cross the continent in three hours, no point waiting in the central territories."
That's when Jenia spoke up.
"You're right. We'll head back to Tetra next time."
......? "Do we really need to go back?"
"Our carriage is there."
Oh yeah, we left the carriage and horses behind since levitating them with flight magic was too wasteful.
I chuckled and said,
"We'll just buy a new one."
"No way."
"Why?"
......"Just 'cause."
Neril answered for her.
"Ah. You stocked up on meat not long ago, huh."
The morning after staying one night in Gebera Territory.
Trail brought up a red screen.
Idria's gearing up for another speed blitz.
After holding off a bit and using the Eye of Omniscience, I learned the next target was Havel Territory.
'She's not even hiding the destination from Kaild or her minions anymore. She knows we can see the secrets.'
[She's gotten through to us several times already. Idria probably thinks we lost our wings with Agril. No need to hide.]
'Hmm.'
[Heh. Not anymore.]
Right. Not anymore.
We've gained wings and speed incomparable to before.
This info gap will hand us the win.
During breakfast, I spoke to the party.
"Idria just checked our position."
The party members reacted indifferently.
"It's getting so routine it's not even scary anymore."
"Typical Demon King, peeping on people like it's nothing."
"But honestly, Maide bro does his share of that too... No, forget I said that."
"Thanks for the full night's sleep. My stamina's recovered."
"Where to this time? Maide."
I answered Risel's last question.
"Havel Territory."
Shwaa.
Neril automatically spread out the map.
"Southwest. Pretty far out."
"Even Agril would've struggled to make it in time."
"If we only had Agril, yeah."
At those words, Mime on Risel's shoulder spoke up.
"You saying that for my benefit?"
"Yeah. But you've basically claimed Risel's shoulder as your permanent seat?"
"Problem?"
"Not for me."
Risel chuckled and replied.
"It's fine by me. Doesn't even feel heavy."
"As expected of the queen's mercy."
"Ugh. Don't tease."
"Anyway, everyone eat leisurely. Want another cup of tea?"
We acted all relaxed like that before boarding Agril.
"Agril, hungry?"
"Krrruk."
"Yeah. Eat your fill of holy power."
She wasn't cold before, but since getting Agril back, Jenia had become the incarnation of kindness.
To the point where she'd say this as Serein habitually approached to supply holy power.
"Nah, I'll do it. Rest up, Serein."
......
"What's wrong?"
"Weird? This shouldn't feel right, but somehow I feel empty."
Habits are scary like that.
Risel said to Mime.
"Then give Agril a push."
"Sigh. Yes, understood."
Mime flew up from Risel's shoulder and returned to his massive size.
Soon, Mime's support boosted Agril's flight speed.
In an instant, the territory we'd stayed in faded into the distance.
Jenia said,
"At this speed, it'll take about an hour."
......
Maybe catch a nap.
Trail muttered.
[The spatial constraints are really gone.]
'Hmm.'
[If it's like last time, Kaild arrives in 5 days. But us? One hour.]
'Exactly. More than enough.'
I grinned.
[Plenty of time to get there first and lay the groundwork.]