CH 67

Chapter 67 - Night Breeze and Recollection

As usual, the twin moons were still shrouded in thick clouds, and it was not a good night to walk at night without lights.

Two people, a man in a business suit and a woman in a red dress, hurriedly walked along the street at night, relying on the magical lights floating slightly in the air. The night wind was getting stronger and colder on their skin, and they both wore cloaks to protect them from the wind.

“Louise-san, you’re on vacation, but you’re going to be working at the Adventurers Guild. I apologize.”

“No, don’t be. It’s part of my job to deal with situations like this too. Besides, it was a good workout today …… I’m sorry, Souya-san. But please forget about the drinking.”

“It’s a job like this. There will be times when you want to complain. Don’t worry about it. Your value will not be damaged by such things.”

Souya smiled, and Louise shyly put on the hood of her cloak.

From the way she had handled the work when Jackal and the others had arrived, it seemed that she had nothing to worry about. Even if she didn’t feel like it, her mind and body would remember what needed to be done.

“…… Souya-san. What kind of conversation did you have with Seran-kun before I came?”

“He doesn’t talk much. But he did tell me one important thing. He told me about the Silver Demon and the Red Horn.”

Louise’s expression faded when she heard Souya’s words. 

According to Seran, she was supposed to have been part of the team that defeated the Red Horn when the village of Lugino, near Ilstadt, was destroyed by them. 

“As I thought …… I guess that’s the only way for him. But I want to defeat the Red Horn too. I can’t retire until then ……”

Louise turned her head and muttered in a dignified voice. 

“Do you have a history with it too, Louise-san? To the Red Horn.”

“No. It’s not that I have a personal reason with them, like Seran-kun …… But, two villages near Ilstadt have been destroyed. We have to do something before they do any more damage. We have to do something before more damage is done …… Besides, we can’t be sure that this city won’t be attacked at any time.”

A strong gust of wind blew, causing the hood of Louise’s cloak to roll up and her honey-colored hair to flutter.

As she stopped to endure the wind, Souya stayed where he was, holding his cloak in place with his hands, waiting for the wind to die down and thinking about what Louise had murmured.

Ilstadt has a number of platinum and gold-class adventurers in its ranks. Even if the Red Horn was a powerful demon, it would not be able to attack the city easily.

However, it was a silver demon with a track record of destroying many towns and villages. If it were to enter the city, it would inevitably cause serious damage. As Louise said, it was definitely necessary to keep this possibility in mind.

After all, we have to be prepared to fight against the demon.

Souya had been reminded of the horror of its existence. Just recently, he had been killed by the a four-armed Silver Demon. And twenty years ago, too.

As the strong wind blew, Souya reminisced about the time when he was the young magician, Rei, twenty years ago.

◇ 　 ◇ 　 ◇ 　 ◇

“Oh my, did you want to see me that badly, Rei? You’re the only one who’s dead while the rest of your team is okay. That’s a minus of one million points. “

It was during an adventure. Rei was cursed with the dark arts of the Silver Demon.

It was to protect Rosalind, but it was a very tragic end.

The place where I wake up from death is usually in the shade of the garden’s tree, where a blue-haired woman who calls herself a goddess often mutters sarcastic remarks.

“…… It’s no use. I’ve been informed by my friends that I can be brought back to life with my blessing. I need to put my body on the line, you know ……  Anyway, Ellis. Teach me the rest of the magic. “

“You’ve finally come to rely on me. What level do you want at this time?”

“Grand Master level …… Ranak is on par with me. I don’t want to be underestimated by him.”

There were several times when the goddess Eris taught me higher-level magic every time I died.

Whenever Rei wants to learn something from this evil woman, it is usually because he is inspired by Ranak, a genius boy who is a member of the party and a bishop of Luster, the God of Knowledge, who is a rival in knowledge and skill.

“Time Domination ……. In this space, you can practice as much as you want without worrying about time. But. You are not a genius, Rei. If that’s the case, you’ll have to spend more time learning than others. “

It took years under the goddess’ training to understand the higher level of magic. Rei had an excellent aptitude for understanding the theory of magic, but he was not within reach of the realm of genius.

Eris had given him the Grimoire, a book of magic written in dirty letters. It contained information on lost magic that had been lost in the human world, as well as immortal grade magic that manipulates time and dimensions, something that humans can never reach.

Who exactly is this goddess? There was a time when Souya wanted to find out the identity of Eris and the goddesses, but he eventually realized that it was pointless and stopped doing so.

“Rei. You know. Aren’t you getting stronger when you come back from the dead? When did you become a Grand Master level …… I guess you’ve surpassed me again.”

A boy with a chestnut-color, wearing the vestments of the God of Knowledge, Luster, asked in a curious tone, frowning in frustration.

“…… I’ve been training in magic at the end of the world to beat you. I’m not lying.”

“Oh? Who taught you that at the end of the world? The Grim Reaper?”

“Kuku, well, something similar to that …… Ranak, I’ll tell you something about the Grim Reaper …… The Grim Reaper has a dirty handwriting.”

◇ 　 ◇ 　 ◇ 　 ◇

(The returner from the dead, Rei …… I was weaker than any of my friends. Twenty years of blanks. I’m sure I still am.)

Souya couldn’t help but chuckle as he recalled his old friends who were rivals and even the days of training with the humiliating goddess.

“…… Souya-san. What’s wrong?”

When Louise called out to him, Souya stopped his ongoing reminiscing and returned to reality.

The strong wind that had been holding them back for a while slowed down, and Souya started walking again with Louise.

“No. I was just thinking something for a while …… In the future, if you’d like to form a Red Horn strike force, and I’m available, I’d be happy to join your ranks.”

“…… It’s reassuring to hear you say that, Souya-san. I’ll let the vice guild leader know.”

“But as long as I’m working with Mia-kun, I’m not going to push myself too hard. She’s got good qualities. I’m sure she will make an excellent priestess.”

He came up with a Dad pun, “All you need is experience and piety,” but considering the situation, Souya stopped himself.

She had seen the proof of her superior qualities in the salvation of the ghost boy. She has the courage to do her job without panicking, even in the battle against the Silver Demon. She should have had the qualities to soar to great heights.

“I think so too. I wonder if the strong will she sometimes shows comes from her faith in the earth mother goddess Mikaela? This is both a strength and a concern, but …… with Souya-san’s help, we can rest assured. Please take care of Mia for me.”

Louise bowed her head. She felt responsible for the dissolution of the Windbreakers and was quite depressed, and her regret for this was strongly expressed in her complaint today. There was no way I could let her hear any more bad news. Souya’s responsibility to protect Mia was a serious one.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Before approaching the section where the adventurer’s guild was located, Souya turned off the magic lights.

As more and more buildings were lit, it was no longer necessary to maintain magic in order to walk slowly. Since he didn’t belong to the Magician’s guild, it would be undesirable to use more magic than necessary.

“Thank you very much, Souya-san. Um …… let’s have another drink if we get a chance. The uniforms are …… well, I can just go like this. I’m actually off duty.”

Louise smiled at Souya and covered her body with her green cloak, which completely covered her red dress, as if she was too lazy to go back to her home. It seemed that she was planning to go into work in her cloak instead of changing into her uniform.

But the red dress she wore looked a little flashy for a casual outfit, so she might not want to expose it to the public, given her image.

“I’ll see you later. Yes, if there is another chance. Just be careful with the amount of alcohol you drink. I don’t mind if it’s at Doga-san’s place.”

Souya smiled back and went into the adventurer’s guild to see Louise off to work.

After seeing her off, he went outside to think for a while and then headed to the adventurer’s tavern. What I was thinking about was what to do for dinner before going to bed.

I had grown accustomed to the simple meals of this world, but there were times when I missed the food of the real world. However, now that he had become accustomed to soups that were too light and not salty enough, the food in the real world might be less palatable.

Thinking about this, Souya took a seat at an empty table and ordered a tasteless soup, salad, and drinking water from the waitress.

———————-

This is the end of Chapter 4.

The second volume of the book version is a greatly expanded version of chapter 4.

If you’re interested in it, I’d be happy if you’d pick it up.