Ch.161Pursuit (6)

# Pursuit (6)

There was a gap in Eight’s spider web from the beginning. Or more precisely, there was someone who had permission to pass through.

That’s only natural. Eight was monitoring the rear, not blocking it alone.

That’s why Legion Commander Seven was there, and someone was needed to relay information in case of emergencies.

And that applied to Lilith from the Operations Staff Department as well.

She wouldn’t stick to the spider webs surrounding the area when she touched them, and Eight would open a path with just her touch.

That’s why Lug, following behind Lilith, could quickly escape from Eight’s domain, unlike the hero party who had to take detours to avoid touching the spider webs.

“Hmm, it seems neither of us anticipated this.”

“…How could we have predicted this?”

As they approached the exit, Lug blurted out those words, and Lilith muttered as if feeling wronged.

They had taken the fastest route, practically a straight line.

Considering the spider web space was twisted like a labyrinth, there couldn’t be a faster way.

But…

“What’s going on here?”

Someone’s “intuition” had found an even faster path.

Lug and Lilith stood in stunned silence as they encountered Tina near the exit.

And Tina was equally surprised.

Despite Lug’s words, Esmeralda, who couldn’t bring herself to leave him behind, had asked Tina, the hero party’s scout, to bring Lug along—that was the root of the problem. Who could have predicted this?

“I thought the hero might send a separate unit to find me, but…”

“Considering the environment, I thought it wouldn’t matter.”

How could someone arrive faster than a person moving in a straight line, no matter how good their intuition was?

But there was a critical flaw in their plan.

“And who is that person?”

Both Lug and Lilith had poor physical abilities.

The two might have run through the spider web maze in their own way, but Tina’s agility was exceptional.

Combined with her unique intuition, it wasn’t impossible for them to arrive more slowly than Tina, who had taken a roundabout path.

“Hello? Lug?”

“Lady Tina. This is actually fortunate.”

“Oh, right. I did find you after all. But the situation looks a bit strange—don’t tell me you’re escaping?”

“…”

Tina hit the nail on the head with her usual joking tone, and Lug and Lilith’s hearts sank.

But it was still okay.

It was just suspicion for now, so they could make up any number of excuses.

“Come to think of it, I remember seeing you before. Wait a minute. You disappeared with Lug back then, right? And Lug was definitely a demon spy at that time… A person suddenly appearing in the demon realm, right in the middle of a battlefield, doesn’t make any sense either.”

But clear circumstantial evidence had emerged.

Tina might seem foolish at first glance, but she was a scholar. Someone who synthesizes given information to reach conclusions.

That’s why she was assigned the role of scout.

“Hmm, I see. I understand completely.”

With those words, Tina casually drew her weapon.

“Normally, I’d turn a blind eye to your crimes, but unfortunately, given the current situation…”

Tina likes Lug, just like everyone else. But she’s relatively close to being normal.

No, not relatively—she might as well be the only normal person in this crazy hero party.

Of course, they say when blood rushes to her head, horns, wings, and a tail sprout, and she becomes completely honest about her desires, but that’s not Tina’s fault, is it?

Although the source of that desire was within Tina, not being able to control it wasn’t her fault.

“If you come back now, we can pretend nothing happened. Lug.”

“What about me?”

“You…”

Lilith raised her hand cautiously as the atmosphere grew strange, and Tina had to ponder for a while looking at her.

She’s a demon. An enemy.

‘Did the Demon King appear in person when that woman was in danger? Judging from the circumstances, it’s most reasonable to assume he appeared to save her.’

Moreover, considering what happened before, she seems closely connected to the Demon King. She herself has value.

Esmeralda shows no mercy to enemies.

Eirene Saintess thinks it’s fine to crack open the heads of demons first.

To Millia Asrin, demons are just sturdy experimental subjects.

Considering the prevailing attitudes in the hero party, killing or capturing Lilith would be the right move.

“But since you seem to know Lug, I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything if you just go back. That would be fair.”

Tina, a true saint maintaining a kind heart among all these crazy women, didn’t want to kill someone over something like this.

She felt uneasy about attacking someone who wasn’t clearly an enemy and showed no hostility toward her, just because they were an important figure.

“I disagree.”

“…?”

But Tanha’s thoughts were different.

Lilith’s body stiffened as Tina’s attitude suddenly changed from waving her hands dismissively to something else.

“What do you think will happen if we let them go? Have you forgotten how we got here? It’s better not to leave variables. That’s for our allies’ sake.”

Considering we’re in the middle of a war, isn’t her family bleeding right now?

She doesn’t want to create unnecessary variables that would make their sacrifices worthless.

“Um, well…”

Tina’s mouth began alternating between opposing statements as if a role-play had begun.

Lilith was terrified in a different way.

But there was something that neither Tina, Tanha, nor Lilith expected:

“That would be difficult, Lady Tina. I have no intention of going back right now.”

“…”

Tina & Tanha, who had been discussing Lilith’s fate, fell silent at Lug’s words.

“Do you need to learn the hard way?”

“Yeah, I should lock him up for three days and nights to remind him what kind of person I am. That might cure his wandering eye a bit.”

Tina and Tanha’s united hearts.

Faced with this situation where they could achieve the strongest synergy ever, Lug took a step back.

But quickly regaining his composure, Lug decided to offer a compromise.

“Why don’t you come along, Lady Tina? You haven’t heard why I left the hero party at this point, have you?”

“…”

Tina frowned.

Yes, that was also a problem. She still hadn’t heard why Lug had escaped and what he was trying to do.

“Moreover, there’s no one standing between you and me right now, Lady Tina.”

“Eh.”

And adding a spoonful of desire to that. For Tina, who had always been careful even to extend a finger due to Eirene and Millia’s checks, an opportunity for exclusivity had now arrived.

In Tina’s vision, small fry like Lilith had long disappeared.

Meanwhile, Lilith was biting her lip in frustration, but what could she do?

Just as Tina was overpowered by Eirene and Millia, she too would inevitably be overpowered by Tina—that’s the reality of power.

“…Well, I’ll hear you out for now. I found you earlier than expected anyway.”

With those words, Tina stuck herself to Lug’s back.

She indulged in behavior she couldn’t normally do because of others watching.

Lug, enjoying the warm and soft sensation, said:

“Let’s talk as we go. We don’t have much time.”

***

As they proceeded through the cave, Lug, Lilith, and Tina began their conversation.

“So, Lug, you want to resolve things through dialogue with the Demon King?”

“Yes, that has been my goal from beginning to end.”

“Did you really need to escape for that? Even Esmeralda doesn’t necessarily want to kill the Demon King.”

Furrowing her brow as if she didn’t understand, Tina spoke, and Lug slowly shook his head.

“The hero is the most dangerous weapon capable of killing the Demon King. Imagine trying to have a conversation while holding a weapon. Would that be a dialogue?”

Asking for a sincere conversation while holding a sword would only sound like a threat.

That’s why Lug needed to separate from the hero party.

In a sense, you could say Lug used the hero party. After all, Lug got this far smoothly thanks to traveling with them.

“Well, the Demon King is strong enough that he can’t be dealt with by just the hero right now.”

“That’s why we decided to attack together with La•Pa. Come to think of it, they must have already started fighting—can you stop them?”

“Yes, that should be fine. My situation is different from the hero’s.”

The Demon King’s side already knows that Esmeralda is the hero.

However, the fact that Lug is a celestial being hasn’t spread so far.

In such a situation, if Lug appears, Belphegor would feel more curiosity than caution.

If an armed stranger from a wanted poster invaded, he would fight back, but the current Lug is an exceedingly weak being.

That’s the difference in perception between the hero and Lug.

“Hmm… But wouldn’t it have been better to include that in your explanation?”

“…”

Tina pointed out the part Lug had deliberately omitted.

If that was Lug’s goal, wouldn’t it have been better to persuade the hero party to help him meet Belphegor first?

Wouldn’t that have been a hundred times better than parting ways like this?

“Ah, it seems we’ve arrived.”

Lug evaded Tina’s point without answering. He still had something hidden.

But Tina also had no room to protest such an obvious evasion.

“This is…”

The place where the group arrived.

A vast underground cave presumed to be where Demon King Belphegor and La•Pa had fought.

“There’s no one here? You didn’t lie to me, did you?”

There was already no one there.

And that meant their pursuit so far had been in vain.