episode_0026

37.

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The voices of Anis, Barche, and Elise rang out one after another as they passed through the rocky mountain path.

The gazes of the three people who stopped with a questioning sound crossed each other.

“Did you feel it too?”

“I guess I’m the only one who felt it. Elise, you felt it too, right? This too…”

“Yes, it certainly looks like someone other than us used the hero’s power.”

Barce was the first to react violently to Elise’s words, which put a wedge in the speculation.

“Even if it’s someone other than us, they’re only heroes! What could possibly happen to the hero…!”

“Barce, calm down. It is unlikely that what you are worried about has happened.”

“Yes, you must have felt it, Barche, but the hero’s power was only used for a moment. If something serious had happened, the hero’s power would have been used continuously, or…”

Elise couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to say.

Just imagining a situation in which the hero’s power could no longer be borrowed, not only Elise’s but also the other two women’s faces darkened slightly.

“Anyway, the hero’s power is now quiet again without any problems, so I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”

“But, why on earth…”

Barce kept turning her head to look back at the path she had taken so far, chewing her lip with anxious eyes. Anis, who was quietly organizing her thoughts next to her, opened her mouth.

“Maybe the hero is trying something of his own over there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t the hero’s strength become stronger again, albeit slightly, not long ago? We still don’t know the exact cause, but the hero may be discovering something and experimenting with various things to help us by increasing the hero’s power.”

“Oh, if you think about it…”

Barche recalled a time in the past when he comforted a depressed warrior by telling him that there must be a way to control the power of a true warrior other than a sword or magic after being judged to have no talent for swords or magic.

And at that time, the memories of the warrior who had hugged him suddenly came back to him, and Barce felt his face instantly heat up and his heart tingle.

Feeling a little relieved and relieved, Barce spoke in a much calmer voice.

“The hero could definitely be doing something. Because he was such a foolishly sincere guy. Is that so, is he still doing something without giving up…”

The three looked for a moment with faint eyes at the sky in the direction of the castle where the hero would be.

Then, Elise looked at the other two and said something that suddenly occurred to her.

“But if you have figured out how to increase the hero’s strength, wouldn’t it be better to go back for a while, sufficiently increase the hero’s strength, and then come back?”

The two had a harsh look on their faces for a moment, but both immediately shook their heads.

“That’s difficult. It’s not clear whether our return will help increase the hero’s strength, and if we do return, the time may not be right.”

“Yes, to put it bluntly, it may not be related at all, but since we are sure that the hero is safe, we should trust the hero and do our job.”

After finishing speaking, Barce realized that the two people’s expressions were looking at him strangely, and narrowed his eyes.

“Why do you both have eyes like that?”

“No, the first thing I did was panic and make a fuss to go back right away, and now I’m saying the word cool… that’s not right.”

“What, what isn’t it?!”

“I can’t think of an appropriate expression that doesn’t violate etiquette. Let’s move on.”

“Yes, I don’t think there’s any need to say it. When it comes to witches, it seemed like everyone was cool-headed and relaxed, but these days, I’ve been getting closer to Barche… After all, people shouldn’t be prejudiced.”

Barce’s face turned bright red and she was about to open her mouth when a voice suddenly cut in between the three of them.

“You guys were here.”

“Who are you!”

The first to react was Anise, who had already drawn her sword. Although it was a little late, Barce and Elise also reacted quickly.

The three women, who had become accustomed to fighting together, formed a triangular formation with Anis stepping forward to protect them and Barce and Elise moving back slightly to support them, and to be wary of anyone who suddenly appeared and raised a voice.

She had luxuriant, wavy purple hair, and was two heads taller than an average woman. However, the perfect feminine curves and proportions revealed through the thin, flowing cloth covering her made it difficult to feel that she was very large at a glance.

In terms of absolute size, it is larger than Barce’s, but the body itself is half as big as Barce, so the voluptuous chest that does not feel overly large is quite noticeable, but in fact, there is another part of her body that stands out the most. .

On top of her head, slightly above her temples, black horns rose toward the sky and curved slightly inward, clearly revealing that she was not human.

“It’s really annoying to have to search through everything to find it because I’m not sure if it was here at this point or not because there are errors every time.”

“I asked who it was!”

The woman, who had been grumbling and muttering something incomprehensible to herself, looked straight at Anis, Barche, and Elise, who were on guard, and took in their appearances one by one.

Every time the woman’s eyes fell on each of them, they felt a distant gap just by looking at each other.

They could only think of one such being, a being who could feel a significant difference in rank just by looking at the top party of humanity, who had even borrowed the power of a hero from the Demon King’s territory.

“No way, no way, no way…”

Barce’s voice filled with shock came out in a stutter, and although Anis and Elise did not say anything, they knew without saying that they all felt the same way.

“Even without introducing myself, I think everyone knows who I am. Rest assured, I have no intention of harming you right now.”

The woman, the Demon King, smiled brightly at them. It was a smile that seemed kind and uncharacteristic of the devil’s reputation.

No one said the cliche question of how to believe that.

There was no point in refuting the fact that an opponent of such a high rank that his life was already on the line would not be hostile immediately.

Anise asked cautiously, maintaining her guard against the Demon King.

“If you don’t intend to harm us, then what’s the point?”

“I came to keep the contract.”

And the image of the Demon King suddenly disappeared from Anise’s eyes.

“Aaagh!”

“Elise! You mean! You say so well that you have no intention of harming anyone!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, I don’t mean to harm you.”

“What, wow!”

When Anise hurriedly turned around at the sound of a scream coming from behind, Elise had already collapsed and the Demon King was holding Barce’s head.

“Ugh, ahhh!”

When the Demon King let go of his hand holding Barce’s head, Barce sat down on the floor, grabbed his head, and screamed.

Anise raised her sword without saying a word and rushed towards the Demon King, maximizing the strength of the warrior. There was no chance of winning, but I couldn’t just accept it.

Even though she couldn’t win, it seemed difficult to even injure him, but Anise swung her sword in the hope of leaving at least a scratch on the Demon King’s body, but even that didn’t work.

Anise felt the hero’s power rushing out of her body and looked at Elise, who had stood up in disbelief.

They connected the path between the warrior and the warrior through which the warrior’s power could be borrowed, and they were able to bring the warrior’s power at any time. Even if someone else was using the hero’s power, it was the same.

If two or more people try to use the hero’s power at the same time, the hero’s power will not be able to be used properly unless one of them gives up.

In this case, Elise’s borrowing of the hero’s power was clearly an act of interfering with Anise, and it did not even seem like a mistake.

“Elise! Why on earth?! Pfft! Even you, Barche?!”

Anis, who was unable to use the hero’s power, saw a chain made of magical energy wrapping around her body and immediately recognized that it was Barche’s work.

An incomprehensible betrayal, Elise and Barce were looking at Anis with pale faces and soulless eyes.

“Thank you for your kind cooperation, then I will finish this.”

The Demon King said those words to Elise and Barche, still smiling leisurely, and then took a long step towards Anise.

Could it be that the Demon King has the ability to brainwash? If so, it might be better to commit suicide here.

With that thought in mind, the Demon Lord suddenly approached Anis, who was about to burst her heart by moving the magic power around her body without hesitation.

“This is the end of the contract, so I can’t leave it alone. I know what you’re thinking, but I’m misunderstanding, so please wait a little longer. I’ll let you know soon.”

The Demon King poked Anise’s chest with his finger. That alone stopped Anis from moving the magic power inside her body.

And just as he had done to the others, the Demon King’s hand grabbed Anise’s head.

“Keuuu….”

Anise did not collapse screaming like the others. I just stumbled a little with a painful groan.

“Did you finish everything according to the contract? I’m leaving now.”

The Demon King said that and immediately disappeared from the eyes of the three.

And at the spot where the Demon King had left, the women looked at each other with haggard faces and wide eyes.

After a while, in silence, with no one speaking, they began to go back the way they had come.