CH 60

Rikka-chan and I listened to Helvetia’s words as we ran towards Aries. Although she can hear her voice, Rikka-chan can’t actually see her.

「 You sound just like Toto-chan. This is a strange feeling. 」

She smiled at me.

Just now, Helvetia told me that she used to have the ability to give abilities to others, as one of her powers.

The trigger was a kiss, and that day I kissed Rikka-chan, which gave her my abilities, if you can call them that, 『 Undead Attributes 』 and 『 Super Strengthening of Physical Ability 』 which made her less susceptible to illness,・・・・・・・・・

So Helvetia muttered『 I knew that she was gonna die 』 when she saw Rikka-chan since she knew that her illness had been progressing as usual and her body reached its limit.

However, now that Rikka-chan had the same undead attribute as me, she was able to keep living as an undead. Well, I’m not sure if I can call her alive in her current state…….

It seems that the day I talked to her a long time ago, I was very upset and mentally unstable, and I didn’t notice her paying attention to me, even more keenly than usual. She heard my voice and saw my figure.

『 Also, Toto, I’m sure you’re wondering, but I should add that my kisses don’t have any mind-altering effects, which is why I’ve not been able to use this ability. Even if they are acquainted with each other, it is unthinkable for the demon race to give their abilities to someone they cannot control. 』

Helvetia told me, hovering as she had done the other day.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I might have ruined Rikka-chan’s life with that kiss, but that was a relief.

But Helvetia reminded me that Rikka-chan had confessed to me when she first appeared.

I had forgotten all about it while fighting the Giant, but now that I remembered it, my face is getting hotter and hotter.

『 In the first place, I wasn’t sure if my own abilities would work with Toto’s, so it was just luck. That’s why you’re alive now, Rikka. 』

When Helvetia finished speaking, Rikka-chan suddenly froze, so I stopped and turned towards her, and she bowed in front of me.

「 Thank you very much. 」

『 Never mind, I told you, it’s luck after all. If you’re going to be thankful, be thankful for Toto and your own luck. 』

「 Toto-chan, thank you! 」

「 Wafu 」

My face got buried in Rikka-chan’s chest as I took the first body slam attack in a long time from the front. You’ve grown taller again, even though I’ve only grown a little.

Mugyuu.

But now is not a good time. I feel like I’m going to hug her back, even though I’m still confused about her confession. I haven’t even thought of a proper reply… What should I do?

I pushed back lightly, and Rikka-chan was looking at me fervently.

I wonder if I should give a proper reply to her confession. But what should I say? It is true that I like Rikka-chan, but I don’t like her as a girlfriend, and we are friends…….

『 What are we stopping for, aren’t we heading towards the capital? 』

「 That, that’s right, let’s go 」

As I was thinking about it, Helvetia raised a question, not a helping hand……, so I turned around and started running again.

Either way, I’m going to have to come up with some kind of answer soon. I don’t know what I’m going to do.

It took us three days by carriage, but with a few short breaks along the way, we were able to make it through in one day.

As we crested over a small hill, we were at a loss for words when we saw the royal capital in the distance.

「 Wha, what is that 」

「 Oh no, they’re all undead, is the city okay? 」

I muttered to myself as I looked at the city that was swarmed by the undead, like ants swarming around a dead insect.

『 Toto, I apologize for the suddenness of this, but can you lend me your body? With this many, it would be quicker for me to do it myself. 』

「 Mu, can you do that now? 」

『 I don’t know. Theoretically, it should be possible, but in this situation it’s too urgent to think about it, even if the results would be a failure. 』

「 Will I ever lose my mind? 」

『 I’ll adjust that for you. You’ll just be in the same position as my own. 』

Hmmm… I’m a little scared, but Helvetia has been helping me for a long time now, so I don’t think I should be reluctant here.

Rikka-chan, who can only hear Helvetia’s voice, is restless, looking this way after hearing that I’m being replaced.

「 Alright, go ahead 」

After saying that, I closed my eyes and waited for a change, but there was no sign of it.

『 Wait, wait, wait. I want you to touch the magic stone that you wear as a necklace. In fact, I pour a small amount of my own magic power into it every day, and I came up with the idea of switching minds when I saw it. 』

「 Okay, so what should I do next? 」

I grabbed the necklace and asked Helvetia, who said yes while nodding grandly.

『 Stay like this for a bit while I adjust your magic. 』

「 Nn 」

「 Wow, Toto-chan, you’re glowing! 」

When Rikka-chan said that, I looked down and saw that my whole body was indeed glowing. Is this the adjustment of magical power?

The light was getting stronger and weaker for a while, but then it got stronger and stronger, and suddenly I felt something slipping out of my body.

「 Now, Toto-chan, there’s two of them.……? 」

In front of me, Rikka-chan was watching me with her curious eyes, or more accurately, looking at someone behind me?

I turned around and I saw that another me was indeed standing there, although the usual dress and golden eyes were definitely hers.

Not as a phantom that I see all the time, but as a being that I can firmly feel the mass of.

「 Wha, What’s going on? 」

「 It seems that the effect of the magic stone was stronger than I expected, I’m glad I didn’t have to use your body, it turned out alright. 」

Helvetia, standing in front of us with her arms crossed in a pompous manner, and that pose would not have looked good on me even if I had tried it, but when she did it, it looked strangely cool, even though we looked the same.

「 So, Helvetia-san is the same as Toto-chan, huh? 」

Rikka-chan seemed confused, alternating between looking at me and Helvetia and making remarks that I don’t think she quite understood.

「 As I briefly explained to you before we moved, I am Helvetia, the Twelfth Demon Lord. 」

「 I see 」

Rikka-chan put her hands on her chest and took a deep breath, then nodded respectfully in return, as if she had finally regained her composure.

Rikka-chan and Helvetia are a bit distant from each other, but I guess it can’t be helped since they’ve never met before.

『 Toto, Rikka, we’ll start with a super wide area magic to wipe out the ones outside. But there are a lot of people inside the city, so I’ll basically leave the inside to you guys, though of course I will follow right after. 』

「 Nn, Okay 」

Helvetia moved her index finger with great speed tracing red light letters in the air with her fingertip.

As she wrote a huge amount of letters in a moment, a shimmer of magic power danced around her, and a huge magic circle appeared at her feet.

『 My ally, the Thunder Emperor, grant my wish from afar. 』

She spoke a chant and wrote something like a mathematical formula in the empty space.

『 The spear will become a thunderbolt to destroy our enemies. 』

One more word, this time a long one, next to the one she had just written.

Then, black thunderclouds began to cover the sky, and it became slightly chilly. The magic circle on the ground rotated once clockwise, and another magic circle was added outside the existing one.

『 My ally, the Water Emperor, grant my wish from afar. 』

Thunder has already started rumbling around the royal capital. It looks like they are waiting for the magic to be completed.

I’m not doubting that Helvetia is an expert in magic, but there’s a solid black cloud covering the royal capital.

『 Its shield, as a rain of love, will wash away all of them. 』

The magic circle began to glow, and a glimmer of magic power gathered in Helvetia. Helvetia smiled fearlessly with her whole body glittering. It all looked very mysterious.

『 《 Theologia Tonitorus! 》 』

Almost as soon as the chanting ended, there was a roar, and a huge lightning strike hit the swarm of undead. They were obliterated. Before anyone could even realize what happened, the next lightning strike obliterated another swarm of undead.

「 Let’s go. The area where lightning is striking is dangerous, so we’ll have to jump over the wall to get in this time. 」

「 Nn, got it 」

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see how the heavy rains washed away the terrain damaged by the lightning strikes, and the grass grew back in their place like in a time-lapse.