Chapter 73

Possibly, The Most Suitable…

The direction where those black dragons flew away .

The dragon’s roars .

I followed these and entered the forest .

Thanks to that, tracking these dragons weren’t difficult .

My running speed .

Stamina .

Is it thanks to the correction in my status?

Having both of them in my arsenal, it helped me arrive before anything bad had happened .

Seras slips out from under the man wearing a black armor .

I could exclude some target under my discretion while I’m designating multiple targets .

Therefore, she is not paralyzed together with the others .

My skill is quite convenient .

[To—]

Seras quickly closes her mouth .

It seems like she was about to speak out my name .

However, it seems that she has averted the situation where the man in armor hears my name .

It seems that she has earnestly thought what I said before .

[Umm… I guess I should thank you first for helping me out . ]

Seras respectfully bowed .

[I’m glad I came right in time . ]

After saying so, I turned towards the man in black armor .

[Is this one of those Black Dragon Knights?]

[Yes, they seem to be the Bakuos Empire’s Dragon Knights . ]

[Is this guy one of those rumored Five Dragons?]

[No, though he called himself the deputy of the vanguard corps of one of the Five Dragons . ]

Seras stands next to me .

I then turned towards the girl beside me .

[It seems that you’re in quite a mess . ]

[Why did you come here…?]

Seras’ eyes were still towards the paralyzed dragon knight and that black dragon of his .

It seems that she’s still wary about them .

Before I answered her question…

[]

I invoked Poison into the dragon knight .

For the time-being, I’ve only set it into non-lethal .

Though, I’ve applied lethal poison towards the black dragon .

Now that I’ve confirmed that the poison has been endowed towards them, I began answering her questions .

[Rumors about you has been flowing around Mills without pause . These rumors said that you had escaped . You even managed to escape towards this place . And so, I came into this forest again just to search for you . ]

The seriousness on Seras’ face began increasing .

[That isn’t what I w- wanted to know . What I wanted to ask was…]

[Wait . ]

[Eh?]

[]

I made both the dragon knight and the black dragon fall asleep .

If she were to ask some questions one after another, she may slip out something that others must not hear .

As if she felt a bit ashamed, Seras looked down .

[I- I’m sorry that I didn’t notice . If we were to talk about complicated things, you would have to deal with eavesdroppers first . Umm, then… Why are you here?]

[I hired you as my escort . Besides, according to the information I received in MIlls, it wasn’t like you’ve betrayed and ditched us . ]

[Pii♪]

Pigimaru happily added his comment too .

[D- Didn’t you understand after this happened? If you were to stay with me…]

[I will also be chased by the Black Dragon Knights?]

[T- That’s right . That’s why, please get away from this place already . For now, it seems that they haven’t sensed your presence yet except for this man…]

[Can’t we just escape together after you use that Illusion Technique you’ve used before? Or is it that you can’t change your face other than to that face you’ve used before?]

[I can indeed use it to change into other faces but… the spirit that could use the illusion is currently confused right now after the effects of the Illusion Breaker . I can’t seem to be able to use its ability until it calms down . ]

[When will its confusion subside?]

[…I don’t know . ]

Seras takes out a pouch from her pocket .

[I’m sorry . That guard mission that we’ve talked about before, I will be canceling it . I will also be returning this Azure Dragon Stone back to you . ]

I breathe out a sigh .

[Why is it suddenly canceled?]

[Like I said…]

Seras puts her hand over her chest .

[If you are together with me, you would be exposed to danger . ]

She looks like she’s quite pained when she said this .

[To be honest, this is really quite troublesome . ]

[Yes— That’s right! It would be quite troublesome if you were to go with me . ]

I inadvertently scratch my head .

[That’s not what I mean . ]

[W- Well then, what do you—]

[I mean, it’s a hassle for me to search for a guard again that equals or exceeds you in the requirements that I needed for my guard . ]

[———–]

I feel like Seras’ words were stuck under her throat .

She took a brief pause…

And then after that, I could see some indications of her tenaciously facing me .

[I- If you were to go north of Mills, then you should be able to pass by the capital city of Urza before you get into the Demon Zone . You should be able to hire a skilled mercenary there . If you want to exchange the Azure Dragon Stone into money so that you could hire an expensive mercenary, I can also tell you about someone that I know that could exchange that jewel…]

As I thought, she knew of an under the table route to cash out this Azure Dragon Stone huh…

[Hey, Seras . Which of us has the problem here?]

[P- Problem…?]

[The reason for cancelling out our agreement . Is the problem on your side or in my side?]

Seras cast her eyes downwards .

[…I- It goes without saying . It’s my problem . ]

[Then, there’s no problem with it . Our agreement shall continue . ]

[H- Hati-dono!]

[Take off your clothes here . ]

Seras’s time suddenly stopped .

Her eyes blinked out in surprise .

[—Eh?]

I put down the backpack I’m carrying .

I started taking out women’s clothing that I bought before .

[The size may be a bit different, but I have procured you some clothes . Those guys back in Mills should still remember the clothing that you’ve been wearing . Just in case, you would avoid wearing those clothes you’ve worn before until we’ve entered the Demon Zone . ]

[Ah— S- So that’s what you mean…]

Seras seems to be a bit embarrassed .

Hmm?

Ah, I see .

[Did you get confused by the words I spoke before . I’m sorry about that . ]

[That’s right… Though it was a fact that I’m a bit upset—]

Seras looks as if she suddenly became aware of something .

[P- Please wait! Our guard agreement would be going to continue for quite some time, but my problem is much bigger than you might be thinking…]

I turned towards the dragon knight that has been suffering in his sleep .

[I’ve heard about it before, that the Black Dragon Knights were supposed to be strongest . Was it something like the strongest Knight Corps in the whole continent? And, this supposedly strongest knights were chasing you . That’s why you have to escape while you have to keep yourself hidden from their sight… or something like that, right?]

[………… . . ]

Did I push it too far?

[Can I ask your real reason why you want to go to Jonato?]

I thought that she would probably not say anything and began suspecting me but…

After hesitating to speak out a few moments, Seras finally confided .

[From the port at the western borders of Jonato, there is a ship that goes towards the west continent . However, it requires a lot of money to get into that ship . ]

I see .

That’s why she needed that 300 gold coins .

[Is that story about you’re participating in this call for the Monks not true?]

[Yes… I’m sorry that I’ve lied about it before . ]

I’m not really that surprised .

I thought it was possible that she could have lied about some things .

Our conversation continues .

[To put it shortly, it should be fine if you could just hide yourself somewhere safe?]

[That’s right . That’s what I was—]

Seras grasps her hand tightly and places it over her chest .

[Because, that’s the last command I received from that person . ]

It seems that there was someone who guided Seras’ escape somewhere .

The way she spoke about it…

Well, that place should be good enough .

[Thereupon, I have a suggestion for you . ]

I spoke about the suggestion I have .

[How about trying to negotiate whether the Witch of Taboos can hide you?]