I decided to jump out the labs window in order to be able to stave off Roxys starving impulse as soon as possible.

Its quite high, but it should be fine since her body is that of a holy knights. Moreover, Im starting to get used to this body.

Although she looked thin in appearance, due to her blessings and continuous training, Roxys body was much tougher and quicker than I expected.

Following me through the window, Miria did an outrageous action.

[Im going along too! Tooooh!]

[You little! Dont do something reckless!!]

Shes coming after us. Not even thinking much about what shes doing.

It might be something she usually do, but this would still upset Roxy if shes awake.

I reached out to Miria.

[I dont care anymore. On my back!]

[Yes!]

As both of my hands are used to carry Roxy, I told Miria to hang on my back.

[FufufuRoxy-samas bodyis soft]

[You little, this is a state of emergency!]

Miria climbed to my back. Somewhat managing with the weight, I jumped from a building to another.

If its me or Roxy, we wouldve been able to handle the shock from such landing. But thats might not be the case with Miria as shes not as good as a holy knight.

She might be seriously injured by the landing.

[It takes times and effort]

[Im just worried about Roxy-sama. Dont pretend to be my companion!]

[Then hold on tighter.]

[Yes]

Kicking the wall of the lab, I managed to put a brake to my falling speed. Then, in a same way, I kicked the wall once more to propel us to the next building.

After that, I repeated the process to control the falling speed.

Id land faster if I were to go straight down to the ground, but this speed was okay too. To be honest, if I knew that Miria would tag along, the labs elevator mightve been a better choice.

[Were going to land soon, hold tight]

[Understood]

[Ehh~, how come youre more straight laced than usual]

[Because I.cant afford to be selfish at times like this.]

She sounded angry when she said that. But to my surprise, shes actually aware of her own regular actions.

Once we landed to the ground, I immediately dashed and jumped over the wall separating the military district and the holy knight residential area. I couldnt be bothered to pass through the gate normally at the moment.

With the strength of a holy knight, jumping through the wall was piece of cake. Miria asked anxiously as we entered the state of weightlessness in the air.

[Will Roxy-sama be alright?]

[Un, shell be okay shortly. Firstly, I need to take her to the Barbatos mansion. Then go kill the goblin shaman.]

[Ill fight too! Ill defeat this Goblin Shaman. Roxy-sama is an important person for me too]

[I cant bring Miria along this time]

I was thinking about asking Aaron to assist me in killing the goblin shaman. Hes someone of Area E, and has more than required battle experience to boot.

If possible, I would also like to have the white knights to help. However, I couldnt really get along well with those girls who swore to only serve Eris. Besidesly, itll be difficult for them to leave as Eris is currently absent, and theyve been entrusted with the task of managing the kingdom on behalf of the queen.

And Miria was clearly the lesser if compared to them. If possible, I needed holy knight-level allies while fighting against the ancient monster

Holding her shoulders firmly, I asked her to stay in the mansion with Roxy.

[I, want to be Roxy-samas strength.because Roxy-sama was the only one. willing to help me]

The only one willing to helpthose phrase struck me right in my heart.

When I was still working under Rafal, it was Roxy who saved me from dying of the torturous violence of the Burix. And then, I went to Gallia under the pretense to help her, when what I actually want was to find a way to get rid of the Gluttony skill. In all honesty, all I want was for her to save me.

In fact..it was a pathetic story. Of me seeking her help. Thats all.

That aside, Miria seemed to be no different than me.

As we went towards the mansion, Miria began to talk solemnly.

[I was an orphan just like Fate-san.]

[I see]

[Look, because I had this magic sword mastery skill despite being an orphan, many things has happened to me]

When she became self aware for the first time, shed been already living at the orphanage. Its not clear why her parents decided to abandon her even though she had magic sword mastery skill. Most likely because they needed money in order to pay the appraiser to examine the newborn child.

Perhaps, her family was too poor to even do that.

Be as it may, if only they knew about her skill, she might not have ended up at the orphanage in the first place. One day, a merchant came and had an appraiser examined the orphans, saying it was a charity.

Only Miria had this special skillparticularly the magic sword mastery.

Realizing such a good bargain, the merchants eye changed its gleam. And then, he looked for the sister, promising that he would take care of Miria, letting her live without inconvenience in the future. He also said that he would donate large sum of money if hes entrusted with the little girl. The sister believed in his sweet words. Wellof course she would. If shes not such a good person.she wont easily believe to those sweet words, but in turn she would also be unable to take care of these orphans. In fact, when Rafal recruited the commoners for his human experiment, the sister believed him and was easily deceived. Always believing and looking for salvation..shes that kind of person.

This is a common occurrence in the slum. Even if many lost their lives to Rafals human experiments, no one blamed the sister for being misled.

Similarly, Miria did not seem to blame the sister for selling her either.

However, she was taken to the holy knight residential area. She was put on a collar that emitted unbearable pain, starting from her neck to her whole body, if she didnt abide to the order given to her.

She spent nearly 5 years, treated as a slave like that. Given minimal nourishment to eat, shed always be sent to subjugate the monster attacking the holy knight territory.

[Thanks to that, I got a lot of experience, so my level is quite high.]

As I heard the story, I came to wonder.such a young girl having to fight monsters at such an early age. Even I thought itll be tough for me to fight a monster if I were on the same age. I managed to go through my first fight because I had Greed with me. Just having a strong skill doesnt mean that youll have an equally strong heart after all. That kind of thing only comes from the tempering of repeated battles.

[Fight, and more fightsone after another, that I thought there was no end to it. As my level kept going up, I expected that my stats are also rising up. I was betting on it.]

[Could it be?]

[Yes, look here.]

On the way to Barbatos mansion, Miria showed me her neck, and I could clearly see a fading long scar there. Rather than a slashing scar, it looked more like a burnt mark

[There was a gap between my neck and the collar. I plunged my burning sword into that gap, trying to cut down the collar. It was so hot, I felt like Im about to die, but luckily the collar broke apart before that could happen. Afterward, I escaped with my life to the capital.]

With nowhere to go, Miria was attracted by the gorgeousness of the capital, and finally arrived there. She thought that there must be something she could do at such a marvelous city.

That way of thinkingisnt itthe same as me !? No noIm not on the same level as Miria!! Right..?

[Whats wrong? Are you listening? Im talking seriously here!]

[Im listening. Im listening very seriously.]

[I wonder~]

[How rude, Im the Head of Barbatos Family, how come I ignore such thing!]

[You rarely bring out the family namethats suspicious.]

I could feel her tight grasp on my shoulder. But it weakened soon.

[Wellnevermind. Without a penny to spendand my clothes in tatters, I wandered around the slums, then fell unconscious due to starvation. Then]

[Roxy picked you up?]

[Ah, why do you have to cut in. Its an important part!]

[Good griefits rude to cut in like that.]

[Sorry, sorry.]

For a short while, she was angered again. But quickly regained her calm and continued.

She said that Roxy picked her up and nursed her back to a healthy state at the Heart mansion. Roxys benevolent and spirit attracted her, and so the two of them got along well.

[I thought that I would never believe anyone else, I thought itll fine if I only put my trust in Roxy-sama alone. thatI think Fate-san can understand it. But now there are also Mugan-san and Raine-san. Its all thanks to Roxy-sama.]

[I see]

[After a lot of considerations, in order to be able to help Roxy-sama, I tried entering the Royal Army. You see, magic sword mastery skill is quite rare. But even then, I managed to enroll into the army thanks to Roxy-samas influence. I was useless. Even this time, Im still useless.]

The usually energetic Miria, is actually talking in manner. Where was her strong headed attitude gone to?

So I told her this as were approaching the Barbatos mansion.

[Dont you dare think like that. I understand. Lets help Roxy together. Will you lend me your power, Miria?]

[Yes, thank you very much]

Miria jumped off of my back as she happily replied. Weve already arrived at the mansion front gate.

Opening the gate, she said this.

[Ive already told you about my past, so Fate-san should tell me about himself next time. I wont take a no this time!]

[Yeah, Ill tell you about it after we defeat the goblin shaman. Its quite long, so dont you dare fall asleep midway through.]

[It depends on the content of the story. If its not interesting, then Ill fall asleep.]

[Whether my life story is interesting or not, who am I to judge myself?]

While laughing heartily, Miria entered the mansion, perhaps going in to call Aaron.

I had always felt some distance when talking to her, but now that distance has plummeted a little. Taking that aside for now, I entered the mansion, carrying the still unconscious Roxy.