CH 123

Jornwerner’s Scary Stuff

Cut, cut, cut.

How much time had passed? The sun, hidden among the clouds, was much lower before they knew it.

Even Sheila, known for her physical strength, was finding it hard to keep moving without a break. Her arms felt as heavy as a rod, but she continued to swing her sword desperately.

Clauschezade, on the other hand, still showed no signs of slowing down.

Sheila had thought that his method of enhancing and extending his sword with magic power was the reason for his legendary status, but she might have been wrong. The way he stood unwavering in the face of such exhausting battles must have been what had made him legendary.

The swarm of demons showed no sign of ending.

Even so, Jornwerner’s offensive magic hadn’t ceased, and Leidyrune’s healing speed remained as fast as it had been at the beginning. Sheila wasn’t the only one tired, but she couldn’t afford to lag.

A large, lizard-like demon stood in front of her and looked down at Sheila with its five gigantic eyeballs. Two fangs, longer than its face, protruded from its lower jaw toward the sky.

She immediately flew backward to keep her distance. Its long tail was full of stingers, like a club. A direct hit would inevitably result in serious injuries.

First, Sheila struck a blow into the torso of the demon, which was so large that it covered my field of vision. Its scales looked as hard as armor, but thanks to the strengthened sword, the blade entered smoothly.

After giving a fatal wound with the second blow, the giant lizard demon collapsed with a thud, engulfing the smaller demons.

At that moment, Sheila was aghast when she checked Clauschezade’s position.

She thought she was fighting in a position where she could see him, but before she knew it, he had pulled away from her.

Clauschezade must have noticed, too, because his face soon contorted. But no matter how many he defeated, there were too many demons between them to join up.

‘Not good, we’re separated….!’

Sheila was so absorbed in the battle that she had forgotten that demons were creatures that flocked to magical elements.

Clauschezade, Jornwerner, and Leidyrune possessed enormous amounts of magic power. In other words, they were a superb feast for the demons. The demons could rush to them, and Sheila could be clawed to pieces. It was a possible outcome, and she hadn’t even anticipated it.

If things continued as they were, the formation would deviate greatly from the one Clauschezade had envisioned. It would be too much of a burden on all three of them except for Sheila.

Even if they hurried to return to the correct position, their path was blocked by a muddy stream of demons. There was no way to cut them off. At this rate, she would lose sight of Clauschezade and the others.

As a chill ran down her spine, Clauschezade shouted.

“Jornwerner! Protect Sheila!”

Before Sheila could even comprehend what he meant, Jornwerner, who had been named, was on the move. He struck a barrage of ice magic in front of himself and immediately rushed to her area.

Certainly, Jornwerner was closer in terms of distance. But then what would happen to Clauschezade and Leidyrune?

“Jornwerner-sensei! At this rate, Clauschezade-sensei and Leidyrune-senpai will―”

“Don’t worry. Clauschezade will take care of Leidyrune. Anyway, I’m sure he wanted to avoid isolating you. It’s just that I was the one who could get to you the fastest. Good grief, he’s really a slave driver.”

“….”

In the end, she was being protected.

As Sheila gritted her teeth in frustration, Jornwerner opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry, you’ve been very helpful. It’s just that Clauschezade worries too much. Well, I guess he decided that Leidyrune would have plenty of mana and stamina to spare.”

Perhaps Jornwerner was trying to comfort her.

It was unthinkable from his past, but it must be because he was in high spirits. It was understandable that this predicament would have no small effect on his emotions.

The whole area was cold because of the ice magic that Jornwerner had unrestrainedly cast. Sheila grasped back the hilt of her sword with her numb hand and slashed the cat-like demon that moved around agilely.

“Right… If I have time to be depressed, I have time to defeat as many demons as possible.”

“Good, that’s the spirit.”

Sheila smiled boldly, and a similar smile returned.

Although the situation right now was out of Clauschezade’s strategy, for the time being, she just had to continue fighting alongside Jornwerner.

With Jornwerner covering her back, she cleared out the demons in the vicinity. Jornwerner used his ice spear to pierce the ones that Sheila had missed.

Since they had been fighting together for some time, it wasn’t difficult for them to coordinate their steps. Jornwerner had a dagger for self-defense, so he could probably defend himself at the very least.

As Sheila moved her body, she gradually forgot about the cold he had created. The bitter coldness that felt as if it would cut her skin felt comfortable.

The only problem, however, was that a fog was forming around Sheila, probably due to the extreme temperature difference. The fine particles of ice that were originally floating around the area were obscuring her vision.

Sheila was often disoriented by the icy mist.

The demons, perhaps tossed about by the poor visibility, ceased their incessant attacks. She could hardly find anything other than those with a good sense of smell.

‘This….’

It might work.

“――O Spirit of Light!”

Sheila created a ball of light in the palm of her hand as she had envisioned and irradiated it with a needle-thin beam toward the icy mist. If she put her index finger between the two, a vague shadow of a person was created.

A rare phenomenon that could usually be seen in the winter mountains of Denan Village. When sunlight shone on a collection of fine particles of water or ice, a shadow of a person or a beast could be seen.

Of course, it didn’t form a clear image, but the small demons were heading toward the obvious targets floating in the light. When they had gathered to a considerable number, Sheila struck them with the full force of her wind magic.

In the huge whirlwind, the demons, which were having difficulty breathing, fell down in a flurry. Moreover, by using wind magic, her field of vision suddenly became clearer, killing two birds with one stone.

When Sheila, who had been bending over, stood up, her arm was forcefully pulled from behind her.

She was about to shout an accusation at the hard pull but was speechless when she saw the look on Jornwerner’s face.

There was no sign of his usual bewitching smile as if he had lost all his emotions. His azure eyes were dark, as if she was about to be swallowed up by the deep darkness.

“Jornwerner-sensei….?”

“――What was that?”

“Um, I reflected the light on the ice particles. That way, I can project various images.”

Sheila replied, puzzled by the flat voice.

It must have been a rare phenomenon for Jornwerner, who lived in the city, but she wondered if he intended to explore his desire for research at a time like this.

Sheila noticed that the grip on her shoulders had tightened.

Jornwerner’s hand was trembling slightly. She knew it wasn’t because of the cold.

Little by little, as if a thin membrane was cracking, his emotions were revealed.

His tense expression was tinged with sadness. Like an infant clinging to its mother’s lap, enduring pain.

Jornwerner slowly buried his face in Sheila’s shoulder carefully, as if to avoid a reaction from her bracelet that was designed to avoid contact with him. His soft blue-gray hair tickled her cheek.

Sheila strangely didn’t feel like rejecting him, not only because of the bracelet but also from within herself.

“You…. I thought you were dead.”

His mumbled voice at her shoulder sounded hoarse. The hands gripping her clothes felt desperate and helpless. Jornwerner seemed to be clinging to her.

However much the demons were dwindling in numbers, she knew that this wasn’t the time to be doing this.

But Sheila put her arm around Jornwerner’s back.

She gently patted him to appease him. She was a little surprised at how broad his back was for a researcher. His body temperature was also unexpectedly high.

“…. I was scared.”

The words came out hollow.

Sheila squinted her eyes softly. Until the demons attacked. Or until he calmed down.

She was going to keep patting his back, she thought absentmindedly.