episode_0090

The next day, I started moving to find Milaia’s whereabouts.

The only information I had right now was that she had left alone to ownerless land without any support.

Looking at the map of the continent, the ownerless land was vast.

Between the Demon Realm and the Kingdom, there was a land that divided the continent vertically like a demilitarized zone, known as the ownerless land.

The Horn Canyon, where the previous subjugation operation took place, was at the edge of the kingdom, facing the ownerless land.

But if I had to find one person in the ownerless land, it was daunting to figure out where and how to start.

Searching for a person while crossing the continent in the vast land that divided the continent vertically was an impossible task.

So, instead of focusing on the ownerless land as the starting point, how about focusing on Milaia?

“Tina, can we request information from the guild?”

I asked Tina at the adventurer guild reception.

“Information? We don’t really take requests, but we do provide information we know to adventurers…”

“Then, can you look up information about Milaia?”

“Her?… Oh, the famous Gold-ranked woman.”

“Just a moment. We have regular information exchanges with other guilds. Let me check.”

After rummaging through some documents, Tina came back and said, “There is recent information available, right?”

“Yes, the most recent.”

“Milaia is such an important figure that there is information exchanged regularly about her.”

“What does it say?”

“She moved to the capital Pifnelo to help a hero…”

“A hero?”

What is this about?

Could it be referring to the infamous trash hero known for his terrible personality?

Wait a minute, wasn’t there a rumor about a hero recently?

I distinctly heard that the hero left to defeat the Demon King.

So, is Milaia with the hero?

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you. Do you have any information about the hero?”

“Um… You mean the hero.”

Tina rummaged through the documents again.

“It says she recently found the Holy Sword and set off on a journey to subdue the Demon King with a hero party.”

“A hero party…?”

“Milaia and another person set off together.”

What kind of hero party is that? A hero duo.

Milaia wasn’t alone…

I requested a few more pieces of related information from Tina, but there wasn’t much else to be found.

It seemed that news had stopped coming in since the hero left with Milaia on a journey to subdue the Demon King.

That Milaia had embarked on a journey to subdue the Demon King with the hero.

It wasn’t a problem, but for some reason, I felt strange.

She never had confidence in her own judgment and always relied on me to an unusual extent.

She defended me to survive, but for her, it was taken strangely, and it had been like that since that day.

Could it be that after thinking I had died, she chose the hero as a new source of determination…?

“Yunoa, is something bothering you?”

Suddenly, Tina asked me.

“Yes?”

“Just now, you looked really upset…”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Did I make that expression?

Milaia, in my eyes, was a woman with a peculiar dependency disorder.

Who she chose to rely on didn’t matter much to me.

Besides, because of Milaia, I had experienced several awkward situations.

The battle at Horn Canyon wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t been so stubborn.

A hero…

I heard that he had an irredeemable trash personality, receiving all kinds of insults wherever he went.

And Milaia was helping such a person…

There wasn’t anything particularly special or significant about my relationship with Milaia.

Somehow… for some reason… I felt uneasy.

“Yunoa felt uncomfortable knowing that he didn’t own Milaia, yet she was helping the heroes.

Could it be that he harbored feelings for Milaia without even realizing it?”

Feelings? For Milaia?

I paused for a moment at the absurdity of the narration.

I had never sworn to the gods to entertain such thoughts.

“If he didn’t harbor feelings, he might just be a playboy.

He had seen Silphy’s panties and buried his face in Meruru’s buttocks.

He didn’t even know who would be the next victim of his desires.”

…The narration seems to be getting more accusatory towards me.

But there was something the narration overlooked.

I’ve gotten used to it now.

No matter how much the unwarranted accusations escalated, they no longer affected me.

That aside, if I’m going to sell, I wish I had some help.

Finding Milaia’s exact location required more than just knowing she was in unowned land.

“At this point, Yunoa had no chance of finding Milaia on his own.

He was a man who couldn’t find anyone properly without help.

But the magic researcher Mariel had various ways to track people.

Unlike the incompetent Yunoa, she could easily track Milaia if she set her mind to it.”

That’s right, that’s it.

Even though direct communication with the narration was impossible, I now had a sense of something.

Although there were times when the narration came unexpectedly, after enduring the relentless accusations, it would provide me with useful information to help me in my situation.

Mariel…

She was definitely not an ordinary magician but a peculiar person who called herself a magic researcher.

While most adventurer magicians only specialized in one or two attack spells, Mariel had researched a wide variety of magic, even using teleportation magic from her first appearance.

Moreover, she had managed to get a promise from me to do anything if she became a human test subject.

“Thank you for telling me various things, Miss Tina. I’ll take my leave now.”

I thanked Tina for her help and headed straight to the Bellafolk Mansion where Mariel had set up her research lab.

—

The scenery of the Bellafolk Mansion had changed significantly since my last visit.

The trees in the garden were charred as if they had been struck by lightning.

Unknown runic symbols were densely written on one side of the mansion wall, and most importantly…

“Intrud… Intruder… Detected…”

A crudely made metal doll at the entrance of the mansion spoke in a mechanical voice, looking at me.

“What is this…”

“Intrud… Intruder… Will be… Eliminated…”

The mechanical doll approached me, uttering harsh lines, but it tripped over a small step at the entrance and fell, its head and arms separating.

Crash!

“Grr… Grrr…”

And then it stopped moving.

What is this monstrosity…

“Oh! You! Have you destroyed my Guardian No. 1!”

At that moment, the door of the mansion swung open, and Mariel rushed out in a panic.

She then knelt in front of the broken metal… no, ‘Guardian No. 1,’ lifting and shaking the broken metal pieces.

I began to wonder if it was really appropriate to ask this eccentric magician for help.

Tracking Milaia with magic also creates ‘mistakes’, so something might go wrong.

“What is that over there?”

“My masterpiece! Guardian No. 1! I created it based on the ancient guardians who protect the hero’s holy sword in the ruins! Oh no! It’s completely broken! What have you done!”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh… Guardian No. 1… to end up like this fighting against a heinous intruder… What a tragedy!”

“Excuse me?”

“Yunoa! Hey! What will you do to compensate!”

Marie suddenly stood up, pointing her index finger at me.

I really didn’t do anything.

I just came to the mansion, and suddenly she’s accusing me of being an intruder and tripping over my own feet.

“It’s really not my fault.”

When I denied with a stern face, Marie said with a pouty face.

“Uh… I actually know. Guardian No. 1 is a bit unstable, so its walking ability and durability are lacking… I thought it could hold up a bit longer… It’s a shame… Next time, I’ll make a stronger one that will beg you to spare it!”

No, that’s not necessary…

Marie was indeed a strange woman.

I came to ask for help in finding Milaia, but before I could get to the point, I was quickly entangled by her.

She was definitely not someone you could let your guard down around.

If I didn’t stay alert, I might end up being a subject of her experiments again.

“No, today… I came to take advantage of the opportunity you offered to help with any request.”

Before getting further entangled, I brought up the main point.

Marie listened to my words, her eyes widening as she stared at me.

“Oh?! Is that… that thing….”

“You can’t possibly have forgotten about it.”

“I… I know! How could I forget! Haha… hahaha….”

Her reaction was suspicious.

But with Algote as a witness, I couldn’t just pretend it didn’t happen.

“So, I have a request regarding that….”

“Wait! Wait a moment… Are you really going to make that request? I… I…”

“I haven’t even told you yet.”

“Uh… I haven’t even showered yet!”

What is she talking about?

Ignoring Marie’s strange reaction, I continued.

“I’m looking for someone, and I was hoping Marie could help.”