Book 6: Chapter 30

「S, sorry to keep you waiting.」

「No, no, we didn’t wait even a little bit.」

Seeing Luuty seated on the sofa with friendly smile on her face, Nefas and Seira responded with ambiguous smiles while standing at the room’s entrance.

Next to her, Sancreed, who was silent with a sullen face, was sitting there, and seeing that, Seira’s eyes secretly sparkled.

She thought, “I knew it, there’s something going on between those two”.

However, it was there that Luuty cleared her throat.

「The same goes for earlier, but I do think that sticking one’s neck into another person’s love circumstances is a bit questionable in character, you know?」

「Ugh.」

After Seira groaned, Luuty put up her index finger.

「To begin with. For Sensei, even if it were a hundred or two hundred lovers, I could make that many if I felt like it. Rather, I didn’t have any since it would be troubling if it did turn out like that. Having a mistaken idea in that is……Hey, what is that, that face you’re making.」

「I didn’t say anything.」

Although Sancreed objected to the sudden false accusation, he was shaken by Luuty and was unable to object any more than that.

「No, you made a face that looked like you wanted to say something. Rather, you were going to say something.」

「Oi, she’s your teacher, right? Please do something about her.」

Sancreed sought help from Nefas and Seira with a fed up face.

However, neither Nefas nor Seira could do anything about her.

They knew that Luuty would occasionally show a childish side to her, but this was their first time seeing go full throttle like this.

「More importantly, the reason why I came here today is……Oi, stop pulling on my hair.」

「I told you to stay quiet since I would explain it.」

After disheveling Sancreed’s hair, Luuty, acting as if the place was her own room, prompted Nefas and Seira to take the seats in front of her.

「Well, have a seat and let’s have a nice leisurely talk.」

「Haa.」

Seira sat down on the sofa without reservation, and no longer having the willpower to make a retort, Nefas sat down next to her.

「Nefas, you stay standing.」

「I refuse.」

When Seira reseated herself so that she was away from Nefas, Luuty watched over them with a pleasant look on her face.

And then, she formally started talking.

「And so, let’s see. This man here is Sancreed. He is a person of the Zadark Kingdom which has formed a treaty of friendship with the Jiol Forest Kingdom.」

「Then that means, he’s a Mazoku, right?」

「Yes, that is right.」

Luuty replied as if seeming to want to say “what about it?”.

Seira spoke out Ietta’s question from earlier.

「Erm, about that. Even though he’s a Mazoku, he fought against the Goblins who were also Mazoku, right? Um, the one who came together with me……ahー, my attendant said that she was wondering why that happened.」

Receiving that question, Sancreed stared at Seira.

Seeing those eyes, Seira winced for an instant, but immediately glared back as if to say “like hell I’ll lose”.

Sancreed kept his gaze on her, but he showed a bit of disappointment in his voice.

「What a worthless question.」

「Eh?」

「If you’re going to say that conflict doesn’t break out just because the race is the same, then mankind’s territory wouldn’t have turned into the sort of situation it’s in now. If I were to go even further with that, there shouldn’t even be a need to there to be a town patrol. Am I wrong?」

「B, but. This and that are……」

「They’re the same.」

Interrupting Seira’s words as she was about to say that they were different, Sancreed made an assertion.

「If there is a need, even if it’s a friend, there will be times where you need to cut them down. If it’s someone who you’ve never seen before, and moreover, if they become an obstacle to your own objective, it becomes even easier to cut them down. Am I wrong?」

「Th, that’s wrong!」

「In this country……no, in this continent──」

Sancreed, without any mercy at all, threw out those words.

「I’ve heard that they give the death penalty to bandit groups without a single exception. Even those that were meet with bad luck, resisted it, and turned the tables on it, they would also become reward targets.」

That’s right, that was not a story limited just to the four major nations.

In almost all of the nations that existed in the Shutaia Continent, acts of banditry are severely punished.

In particular, bandit gangs that attack things like merchant carriages and even take lives are maximum priority targets of annihilation, and if put into another way, they were treated the same as monsters.

That is because the way of thinking where they wouldn’t acknowledge those that would attack fellow members of mankind and make a living out of killing them as fellow members of mankind was the basis of it all.

「Compared to that……」

「Sancreed.」

Luuty stopped Sancreed, who looked like he was going to continue even further.

「I understand that her question was unpleasant, but could you please not bully her any more than that?」

「……」

After confirming that Sancreed had fallen silent, Luuty turned to Seira and gently smiled.

「Seira-san. This might be a bit hard to understand but……The Mazoku of this continent, to the Mazoku of the Zadark Kingdom, they seem to be being similar to what would be bandit gangs and enemy nation soldiers in mankind’s terms. That, is what he wanted to say.」

「……Yes. I understand, that was quite the foolish question for me to make. I am sorry, Sancreed-san.」

After confirming that Seira had quietly nodded, Luuty poked Sancreed’s head.

「And you, what is wrong with you. It would have ended if you just said that you killed them since they were enemies. Was there really a need to make the story complicated?」

「But……」

「Quiet. To begin with, you came here to ask something to Seira-san, right? What are you doing trying to belligerently win an argument? Since you’re an adult too, you should have just lightly brushed it off. Are you an idiot? You must be an idiot.」

Seeing Luuty tug on Sancreed’s ear, Nefas covered his mouth, and Seira burst into laughter with a *pu*.

「……Don’t just laugh, do something. She’s your teacher, right?」

「No, the one there certainly is our teacher but……kuku, it’s impossible. I would like you to do something yourself.」

「Pukukuh, th, that’s right. I, don’t want to jump into that. Ahah.」

Suddenly realizing things from the two’s teasing words, Luuty once again cleared her throat and took her hand away from Sancreed’s ear.

「In, in any case. Erm, that’s right. Why don’t we move onto the main issue at hand.」

「Main issue, you say?」

「Fire Charge.」

Seeing Seira ask that to Luuty in return, Sancreed suddenly threw those words out.

「I heard that that’s what you said. I wanted to ask about those words, or rather that technique.」

「That seems to be the case. In short, he has an interest in your spear techniques……」

「That’s wrong. What I am interested in, is about the Fire Charge itself.」

After Seira also went into a serious face from Sancreed’s serious inquiry, she became puzzled over how to answer for a while and fell silent.

「If you say that they are just mere words, I shall accept it as that. If you say that it is just a mere Magic Spear, that is also fine. But, if you say it is something different from those……」

「In that case, what would you do?」

Sancreed answered Seira’s question without any hesitation.

「I won’t tell you to teach it to me. I want you to show it to me. But, if you say that you can’t do that, then I don’t mind that either.」

「Then, Sancreed-san, what is it that you seek from me?」

「An answer.」

From the start, he had no intention of telling her to teach him in a kind, careful, and thorough way.

Sancreed only wanted an answer to the question that he himself harbored.

「I thought that you would know the answer to the thing that I am currently seeking. So, could I have you answer my question?」

「What would you do if I said that I didn’t want to?」

Sancreed fell silent for only a bit, but he focus on Seira from the front and……*fu*, laughed.

「At that time, it can’t be helped. I will give up on hearing it from you.」

Hearing that answer that he made much too easily, Seira made a face as if she were attacked in an unguarded moment for an instant.

Hanging her head just like that for a while as if thinking about something, Seira then raised her head, looked at Sancreed, and spoke.

「I, am bad at explaining with words.」

「Is that so.」

「And while I’m at it, I really hate honorifics and polite language.」

「In that case, you don’t need to use them. I don’t mind.」

Watching attentively wondering what Seira would say next, Luuty and Nefas were surprised by the words Seira continued with.

「And so, fight with me. Since I feel like I could communicate an answer that you could agreee with like that.」

「Got it. Let’s do that.」

「Wa, wait a second!」

Seeing the two nod at each other in agreement and stand up, Luuty panicked and raised her voice.

「Don’t stop us, Sensei! This is something important after all!」

「That’s right. Besides, it certainly was boorish to try and have her speak of it with words. This is a scene where I should apologize.」

Seeing the two grin at each other as they sympathized with each other on a strange part, Luuty shouted with a voice loud enough to shake the room.

「Look, I’m telling you to wait! Sit down for a bit!」

Luuty slowly glared at Sancreed and Seira who were startled by the trembling atmosphere.

「……I told you to sit down. Did you not hear me?」

「N, no.」

「R, right. We heard you, Sensei.」

After glaring at the two, who hurriedly sat down on the sofa, with eyes cold enough to freeze them, Luuty slowly spun out her words.

「I don’t want to believe this, but you aren’t thinking about exchanging blows with Magic Swords, are you? If that is the case, I also have my own idea.」

With Luuty’s eyes completely set on her, as expected, even Seira was completely frightened.

「Wh, what idea……」

「……Let’s see. Sensei will also practice her magic.」

「P, practice you say.」

「Yes, more specifically, for the two silly fools that started exchanging blows with Magic Swords, I was thinking of first starting off with throwing Wyr-bang[1] Magic at them. Yes, I believe that is a good idea if I do say so myself. So, with that, I will ask again……What were you thinking of doing?」

Seeing Luuty who couldn’t seem like anything but being completely serious, Seira felt a chill go down her spine.

If she were to receive Wyr-bang Magic, Seira most definitely flutter through the sky even higher than the roof of the Temple of Wind.

「W, wait. You misheard us, Luuty.」

「Oya, Sancreed. What are you saying that I misheard?」

Although she said it like that, Luuty’s eyes weren’t smiling at all.

「It’s that……She didn’t want to exchange blows with me. She meant that she wanted me to accompany her a bit.」

Hearing Sancreed’s poor excuse, Seira nodded several times and silently backed him up.

「Hou?」

「Look, there’s the Goblins from the highway. You were worried about them too, right?」

「And so?」

「H, here’s the thing. We are about to go out to crush the Goblin settlement now, and she will show me the answer within actual combat……see.」

Finally undoing the tension, Luuty lightly pressed on her own brow after making a small exhale.

「……Well, fine. I’ll go along with that passoff of yours. At any rate, that is a matter that urgently needs to be dealt with promptly after all.」

Confirming that the anger had vanished from Luuty, Seira’s group pressed down on their chests in relief.

It seemed that they had somehow escaped danger.

「However, what are you saying that you’ll do? We can’t do anything but figure out their general location, you know?」

「Nn? Ah, yeah. That’s not a problem. There’s someone most suitable for that after all.」

Translator’s Notes:

[1] This had me stumped. Original: 暴風陣, read as: ウィルバーン