Chapter 153
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The woman in front of me lets out a sigh.
She’s an incredibly beautiful woman.
Her black hair, reaching down to her shoulders, reminds me of the veil of night. It contrasts beautifully with her white, dress-like attire.
Perhaps noticing my gaze, she lowers her eyes for a moment. When she lifts them back to me, I catch my breath.
I sense a sharpness in her eyes that seems to see through any lies or deceit.
While her gaze could almost come across as severe, the intelligent color in its depths and her dignified bearing elevate it, contributing to her overwhelming beauty.
「I was asked by that pervert Anon to come help… Are these two supposed to be the ones going with me?」
She asks, appraising me and Angelica.
「Ah, y-yeah, my name is Ich– I mean, my name is Low.」
Her eyes pierce into me.
After a moment, though, she tilts her head as if a question mark has appeared above it.
「You said your name was Low, right? Haven’t we met somewhere before?」
「No, I don’t think so…」
I answer vaguely, breaking into a cold sweat.
She might know me from when I was in the party—when I was a Holy Knight. Even if it was a false accusation, I didn’t want to dig up unnecessary things from the past.
「Well, if you say so…」
She seems unsatisfied but appears to have set her doubts aside for now. At that moment,
「I’m Angelica Honest.」
Angelica introduces herself succinctly. Orphelia responds,
「Ah, so you’re Angelica the Wise. I’ve heard rumors about you.」
Her tone is loaded with meaning, but it doesn’t feel like the right atmosphere to inquire further. Just then, Anon chimes in,
「The wise Angelica, was it? Oh right, you were here too.」
She’s been here the whole time!
Anon! There’s something prickly about the way you’re talking!
「To be honest, I don’t trust you as a person. That’s why I called Orphelia as backup for Low. But well, since you’re heading to Virtuous anyway, try not to slow Low and the others down too much, will you?」
Ouch!! What’s with that?!
Why are you saying such things when you’ve just met?!
This should be enough to make Angelica explode—and yet,
「Ororo?」
She just stays silent with her head down.
I see, so you must be hungry.
Food is good. Once your stomach is full, you won’t care about fights or anything else!
As I’m trying to escape reality with these thoughts,
「Well, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll have a chance to talk with the wise one again soon. Low, sorry for holding you up. Crane’s Guidance is this way.」
With those words, Anon leaves the room, and we follow.
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「I sincerely apologize for burdening you so much, Low. I’ll head to Virtuous as soon as I can.」
Anon says, gripping my hand.
Such tiny hands. Make sure you eat properly, okay?
「Yeah, but you know what? We’ll have it wrapped up by then.」
「You’re reliable, Low.」
As we’re talking, Orphelia, who’s been glaring at us, says,
「Don’t tell me you two are in that kind of relationship… No, actually, I don’t care. It’s about time we get going.」
Nodding at her words, I turn to face Angelica.
She nods once in response.
「Well, see you, Anon!」
And so, we set off for the city of Skuld, the headquarters of the Virtuous front, via Crane’s Guidance.
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Upon arriving in Skuld, we follow Anon’s previously given instructions and visit the guild headquarters. We ask to be put through to the top of the famous clan we were told would be there. While I’m dismissed as some nobody (which they actually say), the other two are nothing short of superstars.
Angelica Honest, known as the wise, and Orphelia Verite, the most promising rising star of the super-strong clan Seventh Blue.
The small fry who were shouting, 「Meeting the Master?!」 and 「Which idiot made such an outrageous request?!」 suddenly turned pale and wet themselves at the sight of these two big names, giving us an immediate pass!
Sniff… I’m not sad at all.
Those underlings, their faces now drained of color, humbly escorted us to their Clan Master, all their previous aggression seemingly a lie.
After some back-and-forth with the Clan Master, we thanked them for the flying dragon they prepared for us (nothing compared to my Bourbon) and its handler, and hurried towards our destination—where Purume is likely fighting right now.
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We’re riding on the dragon’s back.
The order from front to back is: the handler, Orphelia, me, and Angelica.
Perhaps due to our earlier exchange, or maybe because they’ve sandwiched the mysterious nobody (that’s me) recommended by Anon between them, neither Orphelia nor Angelica initiate conversation with each other.
Well, I mean, it would be rude to talk across someone sitting between you, right? That’s probably it.
Sighing, I turn to Angelica and ask,
「Hey Angelica, you didn’t contact Purume after clearing the Light Dungeon, did you? Didn’t you think about getting in touch with her at least once?」
Angelica remains silent at my question.
I realize my tone might have been a bit harsh.
「I’m not trying to blame you or anything… I’m just asking how it was. Don’t overthink it, okay?」
It takes a while before she responds.
And eventually,
「I… didn’t contact Puru.」
Her answer is as I expected. However, what follows is unexpected.
「Why did I… forget such an important thing—no, the me back then thought it wasn’t necessary—」
She starts muttering to herself, holding her head.
「Hey! What’s wrong all of a sudden?!」
Angelica continues to mutter something, ignoring my question.
「Are you okay?」
「Whether I’m okay or not… I don’t know anymore.」
After saying that, she falls silent.
Apparently having overheard, Orphelia chooses this moment to speak up,
「We should be arriving soon. I don’t know what you two are talking about, but let’s discuss what to do after we arrive. It’s not much though. You two can do as you like. After all, hastily cobbled-together cooperation isn’t worth much anyway.」
She addresses us while still looking ahead.
「Come on now, I get what you’re saying, but if we don’t work together, we might lose even if we could have won.」
「I never said I wasn’t going to cooperate.」
「Then—」
As I’m about to ask what she means, she raises her chin, leans back, and turns a somewhat provocative gaze towards us.
「I’ll adjust to you two.」
Even though she doesn’t know our skills, having just met us—
「I can do it, that’s why I’m saying it.」
As if it’s a fact of this world,
「Who do you think I am?」
She—Orphelia Verite—declares.
Just then, the dragon handler calls out to us.
「Over there. I can see it now.」
Though still in the distance, in the direction he’s pointing, I can clearly see a massive Tri-Head Dragon. The monster is so enormous that the people facing it look like mere specks. The difference in size is so extreme that the sense of scale seems completely off.
And more importantly, standing in defiance of the dragon is none other than Purume, said to be the linchpin of the Virtuous front.
The three heads of the dragon move sluggishly, each jaw glowing. Even from this distance, I can tell that an immense amount of power is concentrated there.
Then, the Tri-Head Dragon releases its accumulated power all at once.
One blast pierces the sky above, another smashes through the mountain behind Purume and her group, and the third heads straight for them.
「Hellgate」
In response to her summons, a majestic gate wreathed in flames appears with an overwhelming presence—I witness this moment with my own eyes.
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