Book 7: Chapter 17: Magical Circle in the Holy City

I strolled around the Holy City while observing different things after Shin finished discussing his request with me. 

As I thought, I could really sense the aura of the Evil God in various places.

The aura was there, but it wasn’t because there were items related to the Evil God in those places.

Hmm.. Yeah, maybe there was a demon in here?

I ‘concealed’ Youko and Hakua inside a holy barrier so that they could enter the Holy City, so there was a possibility that demons and warlocks did something like that.

Just in case, I placed teleportation circles in all the places where I sensed the Evil God’s aura, so that I could teleport there instantly if the demon appeared.

Around 300 magical circles were stationed in various places while I walked around the Holy City. I also purchased a map of the city and marked those places.

That’s when I noticed it.

A huge magical circle was formed when I connected the points where I felt the Evil God’s aura.

Ahh, this is it!

I saw this in an anime in my previous life.

A city would be sacrificed in order to obtain a rare item, and this magical circle was made for that purpose.

I tried analyzing the teleportation circle written in the Holy City, and apparently, it did not require the Holy City’s residents and mana as energy in order to activate it, so I was relieved.

However, this magical circle would destroy everything within its vicinity when energy was poured in its center.

The mana of a few warlocks was necessary in order to activate this magical circle.

There were only two people in the entire city who possessed that much mana — Saint Seira, and Duke Ifel, the governor of the Holy City.

Duke Ifel was a mage based on his occupation, so even if he had more or less a huge amount of mana contained within himself, then I could only say I guessed that much.

However, I was sure that Seira would never draw a magical circle like that, so by rule of elimination, Duke Ifel would be the most suspicious one.

…Alright, maybe I should go pay him a visit, then.

Of course, I would not go there to point fingers and declare that “You’re a demon, right!”

I was an aristocrat, and the owner of Vestier, Kingdom of the Beastkin. It was only natural that I would greet the person who governed this city to extend goodwill for our relationship hereafter.

I would then take that opportunity to examine Duke Ifel’s mana more carefully.

Time flew past, and it was already sunset, so I decided to go to Duke Ifel’s place tomorrow.

Besides, it was not like he would meet me right away if I went there without any prior notice, so I would request Seira to act as an intermediary between us.

Seira said I could rely on her anytime if I needed anything, so I should go to her at once.

She seemed busy, so would she make some time for me?

At any rate, I decided to go meet Seira tomorrow.

I touched the magical circle drawn within the Holy City while ruminating on those things.

I imitated the wavelength of the evil elements in the places where I could feel the Evil God’s aura, and I added a few more points there. Afterward, I also erased all the incorporated spells that were necessary to trigger the destruction of the city.

With this, the magic spells would no longer be activated, and the Holy City would remain safe.

It was a relief.

I also added some extra effects — nothing would occur if a human tried to activate the magical circle, but if it was a demon or a warlock, I made sure he would regret doing it.

“Alright, let’s go home.”

I already did what I could so I decided to return to the inn where my family was waiting for me.

──＊＊＊──

“I’m back.”

“Welcome home, Halt-sama.”

Tina greeted me as soon as I arrived at the inn where we had been staying since yesterday.

Tina’s magical detection’s range was very wide. She sensed that my mana was heading towards the inn, so she waited for me at the entrance.

“Eh, where’s everybody?”

The room was a huge one, and I slept together with everybody else.

It was like an excursion, so it was fun.

However, Tina was the only one waiting for me inside that room.

“Leaffa and the rest are not here yet. I thought Halt-sama would soon be here, so I returned ahead of them.”

“Is that so, then thanks.”

“No problem. So, have you eaten yet?”

“Hmm…not yet, but I sweated a lot, so I wanted to take a bath first.”

“I thought so, so I already reserved the large public bath. Please enjoy your time there.”

“Whoa, thanks!!”

I had a habit of taking a bath immediately after combat training ever since. The bath at the House of Count Silveray was luxurious so I loved relaxing in the bath over there, but —

Well, the main reason was because Tina would immediately fly to my arms whenever she had an opportunity to do so, and I didn’t want her to smell me all sweaty and stinky.

A spell called “Clean” existed in this world, and it would remove all the dirt, sweat and odor from the body. It was a very important magic to the adventurers who did not have any access to baths when they tackled dungeons for several days up to several weeks.

Of course I could also use that, but it wouldn’t remove the sweat that penetrated the clothes even if the entire body was cleaned, so I would take a bath in order to change clothes, too.

I wanted to change immediately and be all lovey-dovey with Tina.

Leaffa and the rest hadn’t returned, yet, so it was my chance to flirt with her, with only the two of us.

A certain thought crossed my mind.

“Do you want to take a bath with me, Tina?”

My body was already clean thanks to the magical spell, so I could already flirt with Tina as soon as I removed all my clothes.

“I-is that okay?”

“Of course!”

Tina’s ears were dyed crimson while saying that she wanted to take a bath with me.

“Then, I will prepare for a bit.”

“Got it. I’ll go ahead, okay.”

“

Tina already prepared my towel and clothes, so I took them and headed towards the huge bathhouse.

First things first — I set up an obstruction barrier that would prevent anyone from recognizing us, and placed it along the walls of the bathhouse.

It was a high-class inn, so I didn’t think anyone would peek at us, but I still did this just in case. I never wanted anyone else to see Tina’s body, after all.

By the way, I would always do this whenever Tina and I would go out. This world became more open, so there were some baths that were visible from the outside.

I cleaned my body then entered the hot water.

The place was huge.

The baths at the Ifrus Academy of Magic were spacious, too, but this was twice the size of that. 

It was wide enough even if my family of eight and one pet entered it. Well, Shiro should enter while he was in his tiny form.

Wasn’t Tina ready yet?

My heart was pounding in excitement while waiting for Tina, when the dressing room suddenly became boisterous.

“So you’re going to bathe with Master, and with only the two of you, huh. That’s so sneaky.”

“That’s right!” (Mai and Mei)

“T-that’s because everybody hasn’t returned yet…” (Tina)

“But Tina-sama wanted to sneak out of the room, right?” (Leaffa)

“Yep, she wanted to go in with Halt, meow.”

“Ugh, t-that’s…”

“Ahm… I think it’s too early for me to bath with Halt…”

“Oh, come on, Luna, don’t spout nonsense, hurry up and take that off, meow!”

“Kyaahhh!! M-Merdie!?”

“Whoa, Luna’s skin is super beautiful!”

Familiar voices floated —

Eh, wait, don’t tell me……