CH 63

「 Lu……Luttie! 」

As I ran through the alleyway, I encountered a rapier-like needle from an undead I had never seen before, piercing Luttie.

Luttie was limp and motionless, as if her entire body had lost its strength, and there was a huge pool of blood on the ground. That’s not good……!

Anyway, as I started to run to save Luttie from the needle, I was surprised to see something go by faster than me and I stepped on it.

I turned around to see what was going on and was even more surprised.

I had never seen Helvetia’s angry face before. Her long black hair was floating in the air, swaying as if it had a mind of its own.

With one hand outstretched and open, I knew she must have used some kind of magic.

「 I shalt never forgive thee for messing with me, or any of Toto’s friends for that matter. You shall not be cleansed. You shall live in a never-ending nightmare. 」

As I gripped my open hand tightly, I heard the undead from earlier crumble behind me and turned around in a panic.

Helvetia’s hands cut the undead into pieces and it showed no signs of coming back to life, and Luttie, still with a needle in her chest, was slowly laid on the ground, floating.

「 Luttie! 」

I rushed over to check on her condition. Blood was still flowing and staining the ground red, and Luttie’s face was rapidly turning pale due to losing blood.

「 This is really bad. 」

「 Quick, cast Restoration Spell! 」

I shouted to Helvetia, who came right next to me in the manner of teleportation, while Rikka-chan discreetly ran up from the back and watched from a little distance.

「 ……I’m sorry, this one can only heal minor wounds, I can’t use miracles like reviving someone on the verge of death. 」

「 Why! 」

I tried to grab Helvetia in anger, but she teleported backwards making me grab through nothing but air.

「 Fool, if you grab her with your strength, she’ll die. 」

「 Kuh 」

「 More importantly, she’s still breathing, just barely, so kiss her quickly. 」

「 Kiss? 」

I realized that if I could make her immortal like I did with Rikka-chan, maybe she could still be saved.

I cradled Luttie’s head in my arms and kissed her forcefully, the feeling was warm and sickening, and it stained my whole body with blood.

「 Hey Toto, pull this needle out very slowly, for this one is not strong enough. 」

Slowly lowering the Luttie, Helvetia crouched down next to her and placed her hands near the needle.

「 I, I got it 」

While holding Luttie down, I took the needle and pulled slowly, and Luttie jerked and coughed up more blood from her mouth.

「 Hey, are you sure this is okay!? 」

「 Just get it over with! I can close the wound. I can’t perform miracles to bring back the dead, but I can do that. If this kiss is going to make her immortal, you have to take it out or she’ll become one with it, or worse, she’ll transform under the influence of this needle! 」

「 U, Un 」

The needle seemed to have pierced Luttie’s heart, and when I pulled it out while enduring the horribly uncomfortable feeling, Helvetia’s magic had repaired it to a level where there was no scar left.

But Luttie just lay there, not opening her eyes, not breathing.

「 Was it no good……? 」

「 No, you’ve succeeded. The magic is flowing properly. 」

「 Toto-chan’s Kiss…… 」

Suddenly a small murmur escaped from Rikka-chan, Rikka-chan looked at Luttie expressionlessly, a little scared.

At that moment, I thought I heard a loud explosion in the direction of the castle, and then a yellow membrane was created in that direction. It looked like a sphere, and as far as I could see, it seemed to be surrounding the castle.

「 A Barrier, I wonder what happened? 」

Helvetia narrows her eyes and speaks up, I wonder if the barrier is like the one I was trapped in at the haunted house.

「 Toto, let’s go. They may need your help. 」

「 Let’s go, but 」

I know it seems like a difficult situation to have a barrier around the castle, but I can’t leave Luttie in this situation, and I can’t take her with me.

While I was looking at Luttie and wondering what to do, Helvetia tilted her head and responded.

「 There are already no powerful undead left, why don’t we just have Rikka look after her? 」

「 Eh, m, me? Is it alright for a complete stranger to…… 」

Rikka-chan was flustered by the sudden mention of her name.

It’s true that Helvetia’s great magic seems to have defeated most of the undead outside, and if there are no strong undead, it’s safer than taking them with us.

Fortunately, my house is close to here, so I’ll ask Rikka-chan to wait there with Luttie.

「 Sorry, Rikka-chan, please! 」

With my hands together, I bowed towards Rikka-chan as a plea, while Rikka-chan tapped her cheeks, thinking about it.

「 If Toto-chan says so, it’s fine. 」

I don’t think it’s my imagination that her cheeks are somewhat red. I feel like I’m taking advantage of her, but I don’t want to dawdle too much, so I’ll leave it to Rikka-chan.

I carried Luttie in my arms like a princess and ran to my house, but laying her on my bed when she was covered in blood, it would be quite a mess later getting blood all over the place.

「 Then, Rikka-chan, I leave it to you 」

「 Un, Toto-chan, be careful 」

Rikka-chan saw us off and we ran off towards the royal castle.

◇At the Royal Castle――――――

「 Teleportation gems, I can go to any place I’ve been to instantly, it’s very convenient. Well, that one was the last one though. 」

Marius walked slowly towards Cornelius while muttering to herself.

Vanil Mirth and the rest of the Knights were around him, but not only were they unable to get close to him because of the barrier, but they were also unable to break the barrier.

Suddenly Marius appeared, and before the Order could react, she created a doughnut-shaped barrier, leaving only herself and Cornelius outside it.

「 But, Triora, you’ve gotten so young, you don’t need me anymore, do you? It’s not so funny. 」

When she stopped in front of Cornelius, Marius looked at his face and called out the king’s name with an angry voice and a forced smile, as if she was somehow trying to suppress it.

Cornelius raised an eyebrow in response to being called Triora.

「 Triora is my father, I am Cornelius Fore Errsbell, a different person. 」

「 Heh, that’s an interesting thing to say. Yes, there was a prince with that name, I believe. But it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to kill you all anyway. Before you die, listen to me. for I’m very angry. 」

With her arms wide open, Marius began to speak ostentatiously.

Vanil Mirth wondered if there was anything he could do about it, but he couldn’t hold his sword with his weak arms, and he couldn’t use magic either, as he felt the magic drain away.

「 Damn it! 」

He forced his arm up and slammed it into the barrier using only the force of gravity, as if he could do nothing but watch the helpless situation.

『 What’s happening right now? 』

At that moment, Vanil Mirth suddenly heard a familiar voice in his mind. He immediately recognized the voice as Toto’s, but the way she spoke made him wonder.

『 Who are you? 』

The voice echoing in his brain was probably telepathy, a magic ability to communicate with a specified person, mind to mind. However, this is a high level magic, and as far as Vanil Mirth knew, Toto would never be able to use such a thing, so he asked the owner of the voice a question.

『 Who do you think you are, and why do you care about her? To put it simply, I am a friend of Toto. I don’t know you, but I know what you’re capable of, so I’m asking you now. Are you sure Marius and the King are outside the barrier while you are inside? 』1

Hearing that she was a friend of Toto’s, Vanil Mirth lowered his guard, for there was no need to deceive her now that he had lost all his power in the barrier.

『 Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s those two. 』

『 Then I’ll send Toto there right after I destroy the barrier. Perhaps Toto will go straight into battle with Marius, can you manage protecting the king? 』

『 Because of the effect of the barrier right now, I have no power and no magic. 』

『 It’s just a trick. You’re receiving my telepathy now, aren’t you? If you really can’t use magic, this telepathy would have ended up being invalidated. Try chanting magic, it should work without any problems. 』

『 ……I see 』

『 Now then, I will signal twice, then destroy the barrier. If chanting is necessary, start chanting on the first signal. 』

『 All right, I leave it to you. 』