Chapter 180
If you were to sum up a girl named Suiren in one word, it would be “genius.”
By the age of ten, she’s mastered water and wind magic to a King-class, hailed as the once-in-a-lifetime prodigy of Wano Country.
To her, men were nothing but insignificant creatures.
Clumsy, lacking intelligence, vulgar, and base.
They seemed like the worst sort, always looking for an opportunity to pounce on a woman.
Wano Country originally had a higher regard for men over women compared to other countries.
In such a society, her rise must have been an unwelcome anomaly to those at the top.
That’s exactly why she became an adventurer, a profession where only true meritocracy ruled.
In adventuring, gender didn’t matter if you had the skills; you weren’t bound by petty social restrictions.
With her own abilities, she believed she could thrive anywhere, and so she opened the door to becoming an adventurer.
Indeed, as an adventurer, she remained a genius.
In just three years, she climbed to S-Rank, and as a result, there was not a single man who could order her around.
In the midst of all this, she met him.
A man named Kirishima Aoba.
Their meeting was shocking, fateful, and dramatic.
Their first encounter was during a mission, hunting monsters in the forest.
She was struggling with a unique monster that suddenly appeared when Aoba appeared out of nowhere and took it down in an instant.
Suiren was captivated.
His overwhelming strength, spirituality, the peril and transience he harbored within were a stark contrast to all the men she had known.
She was quickly entranced by him.
Her world changed. Her heart felt lighter.
She had fallen in love with Aoba.
She wanted to be his strength, to live alongside him, to love, to marry, to have his children.
She was so enamored with Aoba that it didn’t matter to her that he was labeled a pedophile because of her.
In fact, if that made him notice her, it was like a dream come true.
To Aoba, she might have been just another comrade, but that didn’t matter to her.
She was determined to make him look her way.
The girl who had fallen in love for the first time was burning with passion.
She accompanied him on missions she was told not to, all to catch his attention.
Like the previous time with the death dragon, and now again.
She believed that together, they could overcome any difficult situation.
And now, in the present———
………………。
………。
The moment her head was severed———Suiren’s eyes met Aoba’s.
By the time she realized it, it was all too late.
The end came so suddenly.
“Oh, I’m going to die.”
There was no fear of death.
Only her heart ached.
―――Aoba,, I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to be of any help…
Her thoughts were of Aoba until the very end.
“I didn’t want to die…”
“I wanted to be with Aoba more…”
With her unrequited love, Suiren’s consciousness faded away.
Immediately after, Aoba screamed.
But his voice never reached her.
Never again.
◇◆◇◆◇
The squelch of something crushing is the first thing I hear.
The air fills with the smell of rusted iron.
Rugios beheads Suiren and crushes her underfoot.
It takes me a few seconds to grasp this fact and move to the next action.
In that short time, the situation whirls into chaos.
First, Aoba springs into action.
With a roar, he launches an attack at Rugios.
Simultaneously, Léna-Lloyd moves.
She slips between Aoba and Rugios as if to intercept.
Aoba draws his sword, and as he pulls it free, the blade glows pale blue.
It must be the wind’s secondary attribute, “lightning.”
The blade, its cutting and destructive power maximized, closes in on Léna-Lloyd.
But she dodges it by a hair’s breadth.
After Léna-Lloyd moves, there’s a sound.
…Did she just break the sound barrier?
Without hesitation, she closes in on Aoba and counters.
She strikes his chin hard with the heel of her palm.
Aoba stumbles, reeling from the blow.
Then, she lands another strike in his side.
Losing his balance, Aoba falls to the floor.
Léna-Lloyd mounts him, pinning both his arms with her legs in a dominant position.
Aoba tries to shout something, but she covers his mouth before he can.
To prevent any retaliation, she rips off the weapon along with his wrist and tosses it aside.
Next to move is Sister Dia.
She aims her gun, poised to shoot Léna-Lloyd.
But in that instant—her gun falls apart into pieces.
Sister Dia’s face is painted with shock.
Before her stands Elibel, clutching numerous tools in her hands, like drivers and tweezers—magic tools, no doubt.
She must have been analyzing the strange gun’s structure while concurrently applying a binding spell.
For Elibel, such analysis is a walk in the park.
But the swiftness of her work is nothing short of astonishing.
In less than a second, she disassembles the opponent’s gun and renders it useless.
Elibel quickly ties up Sister Dia with black ropes.
They’re not ordinary ropes, but magical ones meant for binding.
She trips her up, lays her on the ground, and pins her down, seizing her freedom.
Incredible.
Elibel can’t use magic right now.
She should have only the strength of an ordinary person.
Yet, her movements are on par with Rugios and Léna-Lloyd.
I hadn’t noticed before, but Elibel’s physical capabilities are high-spec, too…
She’s truly a cheat character…
Finally, Rugios approaches Aoba and severs both his arms.
The arms he cuts off are instantly turned to ash with a fire attribute magic. Ruthless.
The sword Ascalon is placed at Aoba’s throat.
Checkmate.
All this, in about two seconds.
By the time I stand up and move, it’s all over.
Léna-Lloyd, Elibel, and Lugios.
The extraordinary trio resolves the situation in an instant.
What am I even doing here?
◇◆◇◆◇
「Damn monster…」
Aoba glares at Léna-Lloyd with pure loathing.
But even with his gaze fixed on her, she remains utterly unfazed.
「How rude. But if we’re talking about monsters, the real blunder was yours, challenging one with such a feeble plan. I am not at fault here, not one bit.」
「Damn you!」
「Wow… that witch is something, but you’re amazing too. Uh, what was your name again—OWOWOW, my joint! My joint hurts!!」
Meanwhile, Sister Dia, who’s also held down by Elibel, seems remarkably composed.
She doesn’t appear to be too shaken by Suiren’s death.
I mean, just witnessing that splatter moment nearly made me vomit.
「Oh, you seem quite relaxed? Or perhaps, do you have some kind of ace up your sleeve?」
「OWOWOWOW! No, I don’t have any ace! It’s sad that Suiren is dead, but that’s just because you guys were stronger—OWOWOWOW!」
「Judging by your outfit, you’re a sister from the Holy God Church. Plus, a silver gun… There’s a saintess known as ‘Silver Bullet,’ high-ranking, if I recall. Her name was… Diana Beretta.」
「Oh, you know about me? Yes, that’s correct!」
Even when her true identity is revealed, she remains nonchalant.
The highest-ranking saintess… That means she’s on par with Orion Karla, the saintess who was escorted during the Continental Congress by Una and Dos.
「Dia! Are you okay?! …Ugh.」
Aoba, now armless, cries out in agony.
「Ah, Aoba, this is totally our loss, huh? What a predicament.」
In contrast, Sister Dia doesn’t sound troubled at all.
Her expression doesn’t show any signs of panic either.
Their attitudes are so strikingly different that I can’t help but wonder if they’re really on the same side.
「There’s no way we’re turning this around, huh? What do we do now, Aoba—OWOWOWOW!」
「Stop blabbering unnecessary things」
「….」
Aoba’s expression is one of pain, and the fact is, a turnaround here seems impossible.
At least for me, it is.
He sighs, as if resigning himself to the situation.
「…Ah, a comeback is indeed impossible now.」
His gaze shifts toward Sister Dia.
「I’m sorry, Dia. It seems this is as far as you go.」
「Eh? What do you mean by that, Aoba?」
The sister tilts her head at the sudden apology.
The three opponents become more alert.
「Indeed, ‘winning’ may be difficult. —But, ‘our goal’ will still be accomplished!!」
The next moment, the ground at Aoba’s feet begins to shine brilliantly.
「Oh—?」
「It seems we’ve made it in time.」
Aoba’s lips curl into a grin.
Léna-Lloyd tries to do something, but before she can act, vines emerge from the light and entwine her.
「—!?」
The vines swiftly wrap around Aoba as well.
The light from the magic circle grows increasingly intense.
This light from the magic circle—it can’t be!?
「A teleportation gate!?」
「Tch.」
Rugios springs into action immediately.
He attempts to behead Aoba with his greatsword, but the vines from the teleportation gate entangle the sword, momentarily hindering its descent.
That split second makes all the difference.
The teleportation gate activates.
『Rugios!! Protect Elibel and Earth!』
Léna-Lloyd’s thought transmission come through in place of her voice.
『Lady Léna!?』
『Since we’re going there, let’s take this opportunity. It’s actually convenient, saves us the trouble. I’ll go check it out, see if my guess is correct―――』
With those last words, the place is engulfed in light.
When the light fades, Aoba and Léna-Lloyd are gone.
In the silence that follows, I, Elibel, Rugios, and Sister Dia, still pinned to the ground, are left behind.
◇◆◇◆◇
「Wow, they’re gone…」
Sister Dia mutters, still pinned down by Elibel.
「So, you’re going to tell us where they went, right?」
「Ow! Owowowowow! I don’t know! I really don’t! I swear I wasn’t told anything detailed!」
She pleads her case desperately while Elibel locks her joints.
「Don’t lie! Spill everything you know, every last detail!」
「Ow! I’m not lying! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Just please, be a bit more gentle! I’m going to break! I’m going to bre-e-eak!」
…What a peculiar woman.
She’s nothing like when she first appeared, taking Léna-Lloyd down.
And actually, her unique vibe feels somewhat similar to Elibel and Léna-Lloyd.
Reluctantly, Elibel loosens her hold.
「Phew… owie… Okay, first things first, I’m not really Aoba’s comrade.」
「Huh?」
After appearing to ponder for a moment, she continues.
「…I was pretending to be their comrade for a job. My true master is the Holy Dragon, Harsha Lude. And my job was to monitor the reincarnate――—Aoba.」
…Huh?
What did this sister just say?
「Harsha? And monitoring a reincarnate?」
「Yes. Lord Harsha has been searching for a particular reincarnate for a long time. And then we found Kirishima Aoba. I took on the mission to monitor him, infiltrating his group. Though I only joined them around the time of the turmoil in the imperial capital.」
Sister Dia’s gaze sweeps over us.
「So… I actually knew about you all. The witch Léna-Lloyd Reynolds, her knight Rugios Tranjetta, the son of the Divine Catastrophe Dragon King, Earth. And then…」
She glances briefly at Elibel.
「Um… who are you?」
「Why don’t you know about me!?」
「I didn’t hear about a beautiful woman like you! I swear, it’s true!」
「What, who’s got a genius brain and unmatched beauty! Flattery won’t loosen these ropes, you know!」
Ah, right.
Elibel’s transformation into her current form happened so recently that the news probably hasn’t reached Harsha yet.
And Elibel, don’t embellish the story.
No need to be shy.
『Ah, would you know me if I said ‘the Skeleton Sage’?』
「Ah! I’ve heard from Lord Harsha! Wait, are you ‘that’ sage, Elibel Löwenherz?」
「Yes, that’s me.」
「Wow!! I’m so moved! Oh, I’d love an autograph later! I’m a fan!」
「Uh? Oh, sure… uh, fan?」
Really, what’s the deal with this sister?
Her peculiar vibe is totally throwing me off.
Anyway, we need to dig a bit deeper into her story.
I’m also curious about why Holy Dragon Harsha knew about Aoba.
Should I call for backup from the dungeon?
We can’t really have a proper conversation here.
If we restrain her magic and other things, we should be able to take her to the dungeon without issue.
And if worst comes to worst, we can always kill her.
Next up, we need to find out where Léna-Lloyd and Aoba have gone.
I’d like to think they’re safe, but it feels like we should act sooner rather than later.
Let’s have Elibel and Gijie look into it.
Ah, more tasks to handle.
Really, what a hassle.
I just want to go home, munch on some magic stones, and sleep…
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