Ch.261Chapter 261 – Like Snow in the Spring Breeze

Thinking about it, Somnus didn’t appear this time.

But the reason was easy to guess.

“He probably had no reason to come.”

Even if that guy recklessly collected things related to the Hero or schemed behind the scenes, it’s highly likely that there was nothing more for him to plot in Ferarius at present.

Considering various stories, the only thing here related to the Hero that Somnus might be interested in would be the Hero’s equipment.

If that’s already in his grasp, then he has no reason to come here.

“He can just have others eliminate any obstacles anyway.”

In other words, if there’s nothing urgent, he has no reason to come here at all.

[Still, we should be concerned that all the equipment has been handed over. Especially the sword being transferred is problematic.]

Dvel said quietly.

“Just how powerful a weapon is it?”

[It’s equipment that allows the full power of that mighty Hero to be unleashed, little goddess. It’s a unique weapon blessed by the finest craftsmen, materials, and all the gods of that era.]

“I see.”

[Though I’ve strengthened your sacred relic making it more powerful… it’s no comparison to the Hero’s sword.]

So such a powerful weapon might have fallen into the hands of the Emiris Order.

The fortunate thing is that there’s no Hero at the moment, so they won’t be able to wield it.

After that, Beatrice and the others exchanged opinions for a while, but there was no further progress.

After all, the loss of the Hero’s equipment was already a done deal.

What mattered now was what came next.

[What will you all do now?]

Dvel asked us.

And after briefly exchanging glances with Eve and the others, I quietly said:

“…We need to break the next seal. There are still two of Evgenia’s seals left.”

[A good idea.]

Although the main reason for searching for Evgenia’s seals—the heresy charge—had been resolved by Chris, there was still something Evgenia had left inside them.

For now, it would be best to break all the remaining seals.

“However, I don’t plan to move right away. Considering Kei’s physical condition and our fatigue, we should rest for a few days.”

[Wise decision. No matter how urgent, overexerting oneself won’t accomplish anything.]

When I glanced slightly at Eve, she nodded lightly.

“We’ve finished discussing with everyone.”

It seemed the conversation had progressed while I was unconscious.

I had no complaints since I also felt that rest was necessary.

Rather, I was more concerned that Eve might rush to leave because of my lifespan.

“Our overall schedule is like this… Perry, Lara, Asam, and Eina will be returning to the Kingdom of Mikea.”

“Lara too?”

Surprised by this unexpected lineup, I asked, and Lara smiled and said:

“I was curious about Perry’s forge.”

“Hmm.”

Is that really her purpose, this dwarf?

Apparently, she had already sent word to her homeland.

And Perry quickly spoke up.

“I’ve been away from the forge for too long. I need to get back before my master starts cursing me out.”

“I see.”

There was no need to question him further.

Perry cleared his throat and quickly looked at Eve, saying:

“Oh, I’ve loaded the items I repaired here onto the guild leader’s carriage, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

He must be referring to the things we had to leave behind when we went to destroy the Soul-Absorbing Formation because the timing didn’t work out.

Eve nodded lightly to express her gratitude.

Next, looking at Asam, she grinned and said:

“I need to go research. Dimensional research. I’ve obtained expensive catalysts and money here, so I think I can make more progress.”

“I see.”

“About what we discussed before… I’ll see what I can do on my end.”

She had mentioned before that she might need to search through the Trigiena New Kingdom for dimensional research.

Of course, since it was dangerous, she said she would first investigate using methods available to her.

“And as discussed earlier, I’ll be taking all the Red Knights with me.”

“They would be anxious when they wake up. I plan to help manage them as well.”

Eina stepped forward and said.

Then she bowed her head to me.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Thanks to you, we were able to save many more people.”

Eina said with a smile.

“For now, we should send the knights to the magic tower today. The facilities should be ready by now.”

“I’ll help.”

“After that, we’ll rest a bit before leaving, according to your schedule.”

Asam said with a smile.

Then she looked at Mask and asked:

“What are you going to do now, Mask?”

“I need to prepare for a journey.”

Mask smiled and said it was a secret.

Soon she clapped her hands once and said:

“Let’s start getting up. There’s nothing more to gain by staying longer.”

Mask said this while looking at Rubrum.

And Rubrum nodded, then quietly began to disappear.

“At least say goodbye.”

Mask grumbled lightly.

Shortly after, we began to leave the conference room.

+

After the meeting, we returned to our lodgings from the lair.

“We’ve been here longer than expected.”

“Indeed we have.”

Since Rubrum had forcibly kept us here for a period, Rubrum’s lair had become the place where we stayed the longest in Ferarius.

We had tried to escape once, but since Chris had entered an egg to ascend as a god here, most of our belongings were in this place.

“We need to organize everything before we can start our next journey.”

Therefore, we decided to start by organizing our belongings.

Of course, they had done some of it while I was unconscious, but it seemed they had planned to do the main organizing after I woke up.

Our luggage had also increased.

“We need to organize the rewards from Rubrum too.”

After the meeting ended, Lorona and Lirina began carrying large amounts of treasures.

They had already given me my promised reward.

“The thing I like most is what Kei is holding.”

“Indeed.”

I nodded quietly while looking at the healing stone in my hand.

True to its reputation for stabilizing physical condition, there was definitely a feeling of comfort when I placed it against my chest.

Chris had said that it really did recover lifespan, albeit very minimally.

Still, he said it was too minimal to be a fundamental solution.

“If we research that stone, we might find other ways to restore Kei’s lifespan.”

Sera said with a smile.

For now, since we needed to organize our belongings, Sera hadn’t taken the stone, so I was currently using it occasionally by placing it near my heart to recover my body.

“What should we organize first?”

“Hmm…”

I gathered my thoughts for a moment.

While it makes sense to organize personal belongings first, sorting out what to load onto the carriage would also be a big task.

“Let’s first sort out what needs to go in the carriage. There will be a lot.”

I thought it would be cleaner to do that first, and then organize personal belongings as well.

“Those who won’t be using our carriage can start with their personal belongings.”

“Got it.”

Lara smiled and answered my instruction.

Soon, the other members except our party returned to their lodgings, and the remaining people began moving to sort out the luggage.

And I quietly asked the person following behind:

“Are you here to help load the luggage?”

“Of course. We’re not strangers, are we?”

Mask said with a smile.

“I’ll be going with you, so naturally I should help.”

“Huh?”

I stared at her blankly, wondering what she meant.

“Ah, Kei was unconscious, so you didn’t hear.”

“We should have told you that first.”

Sera and Chris approached together, smiling.

“Since Mask is strong, Eve arranged for her to join us. She’ll be helpful going forward.”

“Eve did?”

“…Yes.”

Eve’s expression momentarily became clouded.

Seeing this, Mask quickly said:

“Well, I have a contract with Rubrum to accompany you.”

“Contract?”

“…A contract to serve the little goddess until all of Evgenia’s seals are broken.”

Mask said, looking at Chris.

“A half-demon and a little goddess—don’t you think it’s a strange combination?”

“Indeed.”

You’d think they’d normally try to devour each other.

But perhaps because they had fought together, the two showed no such signs and were on friendly terms.

‘That’s fortunate.’

I remembered when Lumen had told us to expand our party.

At the time, I thought it would be difficult, but now I felt lucky.

Mask was strong, and not bad-tempered, so there was nothing wrong with having her as a companion.

“By the way, now that we’re in the same boat, I’d like you to stop calling me Mask.”

“What should I call you then?”

In response to my question, Mask thumped her chest.

“Call me Sia. That’s what my close friends call me.”

“Sia.”

Hearing her name, I smiled quietly.

“That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Sia said with a smile.

I extended my hand to her and said:

“Looking forward to working with you, Sia.”

“Likewise, Kei.”

I said as I shook hands with Sia.

After finishing the handshake with Sia, the other members gradually gathered around her.

And watching someone shake hands with Sia, I suddenly thought:

‘That’s strange though.’

I quietly thought while watching Chris shake hands.

‘Chris’s chest couldn’t possibly be this big.’

I felt a slight sense of discomfort even when I was out of it earlier, but they’ve grown too much.

Chris, who used to be flat, now had a chest similar to or slightly larger than Sera’s…

“Kei, are you looking at my chest?”

“No, I… sorry.”

I quickly apologized since it was honestly true.

And I quietly said:

“Is there something wrong with my chest?”

“It just seems like it grew too rapidly.”

Chris looked blank for a moment after hearing my words.

But soon she smiled and said:

“Well, I’m a goddess now, right?”

“That’s true.”

“I grew rapidly with the sacred power of a goddess. Isn’t goddess power amazing?”

“Is that so?”

Does divine power also affect physical growth?

While I was looking at Chris with curiosity, she smiled shyly and said:

“…Would you like to touch them?”

“Ah, no.”

If I did that, I’d be socially dead.

Before that, I might be killed by Sera, who gently placed her hand on my shoulder, or Eve, who was looking at me with a smile.

Seeing this, Chris started to giggle.

‘She planned this.’

It seemed she was deliberately trying to provoke those two.

And making me uncomfortable as a bonus.

‘How should I get back at her?’

I don’t want grand revenge.

I just have a slight desire to embarrass her in a way that we can laugh off like children.

While I was contemplating various ideas looking at Chris, Sia spoke up as if she just remembered something:

“Oh, Seraphina. Could you show me that Divine Chaff?”

“Why?”

“Well, I’m curious. They say it interferes with divine magic, but I couldn’t see it properly during battle.”

“Ah, this would be especially useful for you, Sia. Since you’re a half-demon.”

Sera smiled at Sia’s words.

Then she took out a small bottle from her chest and said:

“There’s not much left, so you can have it.”

“Thank you… but isn’t this quite expensive?”

“It contains magic stone powder, so it’s not cheap. But it’s cheaper than a whole magic stone.”

According to Sera, as long as it can hold pseudo-divine power, the quality or quantity of the magic stone doesn’t matter much.

Creating the pseudo-divine power itself is more problematic.

“Beatrice, Asam, and I all know the manufacturing method.”

“It’s quite complex.”

Beatrice said with a smile.

“By the way, Asam plans to try mass-producing it at the magic tower. Seraphina gave her an optimized recipe.”

Beatrice said that if there were any questions about alchemy, she would ask Sera through her.

“Mass production?”

“Yes, mass production. I think it might come in handy later…”

Beatrice said with a smile.

Indeed, as an item that interferes with divine magic, it was extremely useful.

It would be good if they could mass-produce it.

Just as I was thinking that:

“Achoo!”

Sia, who was holding the bottle of Divine Chaff, suddenly sneezed.

“Are you alright?”

Sera immediately asked Sia, who waved her hand and said:

“Ugh, maybe it’s because I’m a half-demon… the sneezing… Achoo!”

However, her sneezing continued, and as a result, the bottle she was holding slipped from her grasp as if by magic.

The small amount of remaining chaff spread around like snow and began to melt like Chris’s chest.

“Huh?”

My thoughts momentarily froze.

Then I opened my eyes wide and looked again.

Chris’s chest was melting.

Like snow melting in water, Chris’s chest began to dissolve and disappear.

Everyone’s gaze focused on Chris’s chest.

And from Chris’s mouth, who was staring blankly at the Divine Chaff falling like snow, came a scream.

“Uh, kyaaak?!”

Chris belatedly covered her chest, but it was already too late.

Her chest had already half-melted, and through the melted gap, a flat wall the same color as Chris’s clothes was visible.

“…Pouches…”

Eve muttered blankly.

With an expression and voice rarely seen from her, the structure of Chris’s chest became visible.

Chris’s chest was a divine power pouch.

A pouch made by creating a slightly thick membrane and stuffing it full of divine power.

She had attached that pouch right in front of her clothes and then disguised it with an illusion cast with divine power.

The illusory divine power pouches began to lose their power due to the chaff sprayed into the air by Sia’s sneeze.

“Ah, aaaah…!”

Chris cried out pitifully.

She waved her hands as if wanting to somehow gather the escaping divine power back into the pouches.

But once an illusion’s true nature is revealed, it quickly loses its power.

Even for Chris, an illusion that had already been interfered with and exposed couldn’t be fixed immediately.

“No…!”

By the time Chris’s futile cry spread around, her original appearance had already been revealed.

The large, voluptuous mounds had already turned into a flat plain.

“No…!!”

Chris’s face was filled with despair.

Not just me, but everyone around turned their heads away quietly, as if they couldn’t bear to look at her despairing face.

“Nooooo…!!!”

Chris fell to her knees, placing both hands on the ground.

The divine power pouches that had briefly held Chris’s voluptuous dreams melted away like snow in the spring breeze.