CH 197

Chapter 197 – The One That Rolled And Escaped

I knelt down next to the king-like man who was lying on the ground and took his wrist to check his pulse while watching Sylphy being petted by a woman who seemed to be her mother. His body was as cold as ice, and I could not feel any pulse from his wrist. I knew that he had bought time by freezing the lives of his wife and daughters in exchange for his own life, just as Lime and the others had told me.

“Lime.”

“What is it?”

I called, and something fell from the ceiling. The falling object quickly formed a human shape and tilted her head. As I expected, she had been observing our movements.

“Is the king already beyond saving?”

“Impossible, I think? He used all of his magic and life force, and his soul already shattered 20 years ago.”

“I see…”

I wish I could help him somehow, but I guess that will not work out that way.

“At any rate, we can’t just leave him like this…”

I glanced at Sylphy, but she seemed to be still crying with her face buried in the chest of the Elven woman who seemed to be her mother. First of all, I should make contact with Sylphy’s sisters.

I get up and approach the woman who was called Dri-aneesama by the other two sisters. She looked to be the oldest of the three sisters. The woman called Aqua, who was the first to wake up, had bluish silver hair, the woman called If-aneesama, who was the second to wake up, had shiny red hair, and this woman, who woke up last, had gorgeous blonde hair that could be described as golden.

Aside from Dri-san, the other two women’s hair would never have been that color on Earth unless it was dyed. At least I’ve never seen or heard of anyone with hair that naturally that color.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Kosuke. I was picked up in the Black Forest by Sylphy… Sylphiel-sama, and after my life was saved, I have been fighting with everyone in the Liberation Army to take back the Merinard Kingdom from the hands of the Holy Kingdom.”

“I see… I am Driada Danal Merinard. I’m Sylphiel’s older sister. The red-haired girl over there is Ifrita, and the blue-silver-haired girl is Aquawill. They are also Sylphiel’s older sisters.”

“I see… Is it correct to say that the woman over there is the queen… your mother?”

“Yes. Seraphita Danal Merinard… is the wife of King Ixwil Danal Merinard and the mother of us, four sisters.”

“Four sisters… is that right?”

“Yes.”

Saying this, Driada-san gives a slightly troubled smile. Perhaps it is because, even from her point of view, Sylphy’s appearance has been drastically changed. The current Sylphy looks about the same age as Driada-san, who is in front of me right now, or even a little older, if I’m not mistaken.

Sylphy is probably taller than Driada-san, and her growth in various areas is probably almost the same as Driada-san’s. In other words, Driada-san is about shorter than Sylphy, but… if you look at her that way, you’ll probably be guilty of disrespect or something! Anyway, there it is. It’s very impressive.

I also look at Ifrita-san and Aquawill-san, who are snuggled up on the multi-seater sofa and looking at us. Ifrita-san’s physique is slim, while Aquawill-san is as flat and smooth as Isla’s. But all three of them are beautiful women and girls beyond reproach. It is not surprising that the people of the Holy Kingdom would want to get their hands on them at any cost. In addition, they are also strategic supplies that produce one-hundred-thousand soldiers. It’s nauseating.

“First of all, I know you must be worried about the suddenness of the situation, but please don’t worry. We have been fighting together with Sylphy to save you and restore the Merinard Kingdom. And that battle is now in its final stages. Perhaps.”

“I see… How long have we been asleep?”

“About 20 years. I know you have just woken up from sleep, and it must be hard on your body, so I think it would be better to explain in detail after you have rested.”

“You may be right…”

She said this and slowly stood up, holding and closing her hand as she did so.

“Ah.”

“Eh?”

As she stood up, Driada-san’s clothes crumbled to ragged dust. The two fruits that tumbled out in front of me swayed.

The air in the room froze with the suddenness of the event. Hahaha, it’s just like before Sylphy broke the spell.

At any rate, I closed my eyes, covered my eyes with my left hand, took a clean white sheet out of my inventory, and held it out in the direction of Driada-san. Naturally, I don’t do anything to touch her body in doing so. After all, I had a good sense of distance from her!

“…Can I open my eyes?”

“…Yes.”

I called out to her a little while after the weight of the sheets had disappeared, and I opened my eyes as Driada-san’s shy voice returned to me. I then saw Driada-san’s bright red face, wrapped in a white sheet, sitting back down on the single-seater sofa.

“I’m kind of, I mean, I’m sorry.”

“N-no… it was an accident.”

Driada-san’s voice sounded as if it was about to fade away. I know; that’s what happens when a man you’ve never met looks at you naked, right? But I had no choice. It’s a man’s nature to freeze up when he is shown something like that under any circumstances. In fact, I should be praised for recovering at an early stage, covering my eyes, and holding out the sheet. Maybe.

“Um…”

“D-don’t look at me!”

When I turned my attention to Ifrita-san, she was red in the face and hugged Aquawill-san as if to protect her and stuck her palm out at me. Oh, if you move so much…

“Hyiuuh!”

“Sooii!”

I quickly took out a second sheet from my inventory and threw it at Ifrita-san and the others when I saw their clothes start to fall apart.

“Whaah!”

The white sheet spread out spectacularly in mid-air and covered Ifrita-san and Aquawill-san. Fufufu, I am a man who can learn. I won’t make the same mistake twice.

“Melty.”

“Yes.”

Without looking back at Sylphy and the others, I call out Melty’s name, take out the third sheet from my inventory, and lift it over my shoulder. As soon as I did so, the sheet fell away from my hand. Melty would take care of the rest.

“Uh, maybe the clothes have been under cryogenic temperatures for a long time and have deteriorated or something like that.”

“Hmm, maybe so. I hadn’t noticed.”

“I’ll just throw out all the clothes I can find in various sizes. Sorry, Lime, you’ll have to carry me out of the room.”

“Leave it to me.”

I threw out all the women’s clothes from my inventory, covered my face with my hands, and crouched down. Then my body was lifted easily by something soft and started to be carried. Lime is a good and convenient girl.

No, I don’t mean convenient in a bad way, you know? I don’t mean to take advantage of her. I just mean that she’s dependable.

I heard the door close behind me and opened my eyes. I then see that not only Lime and I but also Ellen have come out of the room.

“It would be impossible to have a pile-up conversation with an Adolian saint in the same room, right? I am a caring saint, you know.”

“I see. Well, I’m glad to see that one of Sylphy’s goals has been fulfilled, anyway. If possible, family is… well, it is better to stay together.”

I don’t really feel it, though. My parents divorced, and then my mother died of an illness, and my father and I were estranged. There must have been some good memories when I was little, but even those memories are fuzzy now.

“Kosuke doesn’t have very good memories of his family, does he?”

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. It’s not something I can talk about quickly. The sense or consciousness of marriage is probably different from this world.”

Unless you are from a very religious family, the Japanese marriages that I know are very casual, or you just go to a government office, write a document, stamp a seal, and that’s it. Well, I don’t think that is actually the case. I heard that divorce involves alimony, child support, and various other troublesome matters.

However, having witnessed the various events leading up to my parents’ divorce, marriage and family were something I could not relate to. I felt as if they were on the other side of a wall or even an LCD monitor. I can see them, but I can’t touch them. I don’t even want to touch them. It’s like that.

“I don’t have very good memories of it. My parents were devout Adol believers, and as soon as they found out about my powers, they gave me to the Adol religion. In exchange for a bag of gold coins.”

“In exchange for a bag of gold coins. That’s not a nice thing to say.”

“Well, as a saint, I was raised like a butterfly and a flower, and I was carefully nurtured and cared for without starving, and I am sure that my parents lived a good life with the gold they got in exchange for me. No one was unhappy.”

“Can I have my little sadness back?”

“You demand something that has no form… So you will demand obscene things from me because of your heartbreak, are you?”

“Oh… Kosuke scheme?”

Ellen narrowed her red eyes and cuddled herself as if to protect herself with a thin smile, while Lime looked at me with eyes that were extremely pure and yet exhilarating.

“That’s not it. It’s not like that. And I’m not a schemer or anything.”

I feel exhausted after talking to these two. But my mood may have lightened a little.

“Well, for Sylphy, it’s an emotional reunion… Then, after the emotional reunion, the death march begins.”

“It’s tough.”

Fufufu… I’m saying this like it’s someone else’s problem, Ellen, but I’m willing to have you help me, too. At least for me! Although I have no idea what I’m going to ask you to help me with, I’m definitely going to ask you to help me with something!

“Do you want some help from Lime too?”

“Well, if there’s anything I can get Lime to help me with, I’ll ask you. I’d like you to help Sylphy and the queen and the others first, though.”

“I understand.”

I thought that Lime was so cute and honest… when I saw a glimpse of red and green slime in the corner of the hallway. 

“Oh, I’m tired, I’m so tired. I wish Beth and Poizo would heal me.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“We will jump out when we are called out-nanodesu.”

Beth and Poizo came out of the corner of the hallway, and together with Lime, they lifted me up and started shaking me. Am I some kind of portable shrine or something?

“…Really, it doesn’t matter if it’s a human, subhuman, or monster, does it?”

Lime and the others seem to be more like spirits than monsters. I seem to have the disposition to be liked by spirits and fairies for some reason. There doesn’t seem to be a shred of magic involved. More importantly, once you sleep on the Lime and the others’ jelly-like beds, you’ll be addicted to it. You should give it a try.”

“…A little bit then.”

Ellen looked a little wary but saw me relaxing without any problems. She seemed to have decided to try the slime bed. Fufufu, you should fully enjoy this demonic pleasure that must ruin even the saints.