Ch.46The Wizard Milia (12)

# The Mage Millia (12)

I’m not particularly strong.

I wouldn’t say I lack talent, but I never had the opportunity to utilize it.

Yes, the black magic I honed to join the Demon Lord’s army.

And the lieutenant rank I achieved through it.

Up to that point, my exceptional talent had served me well.

But after that came the problem.

I was stagnant.

It was an environment where I couldn’t help but be.

While infiltrating the Hero’s party, I couldn’t train in black magic, which was my specialty.

I had to be just an ordinary villager.

The one fortunate thing was that I hadn’t trained my physical abilities.

Thanks to that, I could perfectly act the part of an ordinary luggage carrier, but…

“You’ve got quite a few tricks up your sleeve?”

“Gack?!”

And that’s how I ended up in this sorry state.

I was no match for the Corps Commander, Five.

No matter how much black magic I deployed to bind her ankles or strike the back of her head, she didn’t budge an inch.

Most of my magic was incinerated before it could even reach her, and even if I managed to land a hit, it had little effect.

Her body itself was flame.

“Yes, yes. It’s nice to see you trying. But what doesn’t work, doesn’t work. I thought you’d be able to judge that much. How stubborn are you?”

“Huff… huff… I can’t just quietly die, can I?”

“You should be thinking about escape.”

“And would you let me go if I ran?”

“Of course not.”

Wham!

I get kicked.

Five is not a mage. But at the same time, she’s not a warrior either.

She wields power akin to magic and uses swordsmanship and martial arts based on her memories as a Hero, but that power is essentially stagnant.

Her strength lies in her ability to create doppelgangers and manipulate flames at will.

Of course, that alone is enough for her to rank fifth among the Corps Commanders and to thoroughly thrash me.

This is really unfair.

Stronger than my black magic and far superior to the physical body I’ve trained as a luggage carrier for three years.

How can I not feel wronged?

“Still, wouldn’t your chances have been better than fighting me head-on?”

“I suppose you could think that.”

Five stepped on my chest as I lay fallen, mocking me.

Honestly, it was a somewhat thrilling moment.

Just a little more and I might see something.

There’s a part of me that thinks this queen play isn’t so bad.

Even I think I’m crazy.

“But I’m a demon with a lot of greed, so I can’t help it.”

Escape alone?

Yes, that could be an option.

But if I hold out here, I might be able to save not just myself, but Millia and Eirene too.

Of course, I haven’t forgotten my position as a member of the Demon Lord’s army.

I’ve always kept in mind that the Hero’s party could meet their end in battle against the Demon Lord’s army.

After all, wasn’t she a Hero who took up the sword to fight? If she dies in battle, that’s unavoidable.

But this time is different.

This isn’t our usual escape operation; she’s just interfering because she’s interested in me.

Yes, this is disrupting the operation.

No, I don’t need to think so complicatedly. I simply don’t like it.

That’s all.

In my current state, I’m just following that feeling that even I can’t understand.

“Well then, shall we finish this?”

“Wouldn’t you like to talk a bit more? If we talk, I’m sure we can understand each other.”

“It’s hard to be this bad at stalling for time…”

Five raises a flame above her palm. The flame, rotating fiercely and becoming more compressed, emitted a light so bright it seemed like it could blind you just by looking at it.

I’d probably die instantly if hit.

“But isn’t it funny?”

“What is?”

“Why am I the only one moving? I’m the weakest in the Hero’s party.”

“…”

Five hastily turns her head.

There was Millia, limping toward us, leaning on her staff. And behind her, black tentacles blooming like flowers.

The more I look at it, the more it gives me chills.

It’s not just bizarre; it feels physiologically impossible.

Just remembering the sensation of those things wrapped around my ankles earlier makes me shudder.

“…So you were protecting yourself with that horrible thing?”

“It’s not horrible.”

Yes, Millia protected herself from Five’s attack with tentacles.

It seems like a repulsive thing to do, but… since it’s her own magic, I suppose she has a different appreciation for it than we do. I believe so.

“This symbolizes love.”

Five makes the most shocked expression she’s shown so far.

I’m probably no different.

Goosebumps rise all over my body.

She’s insane. Completely insane.

Five was right. I should have escaped alone. Not from Five, but from Millia. I had forgotten that I was initially running away from her.

“But if you’re going to deny my love…”

The logic of a madwoman.

I felt overwhelmed by it. I simply couldn’t understand.

Even I, who had erased the line and regained enlightenment, couldn’t understand.

What kind of logical circuit led to such a conclusion?

“I won’t let it slide.”

The tentacles behind Millia’s back begin to writhe frantically.

It’s terrifying to watch.

What on earth is she trying to do?

But at the same time, I feel anticipation.

What is she going to do to Five? I’m really curious.

I’m genuinely, extremely curious.

What will happen as they wrap around Five’s smooth legs?

“Uh, um…”

Five too seemed to have imagined her future, as she began to retreat hesitantly.

Despite still being overwhelmingly strong, she couldn’t overcome her physiological disgust.

And just as Millia’s tentacles poured toward Five, and Five was about to throw the flame she had been holding while waving her hands…

Crack!

Suddenly, the back of Five’s head shattered, and her body began to fade.

“Haa… haa… pest… pest extermination… successful.”

Looking back belatedly, I saw the Saintess, Eirene, in an even more immodest outfit than before.

The Hero party’s perfect coordination.

Millia’s madness draws the opponent’s attention, and the priestess Eirene finishes them off.

This would be 100% effective even against the Demon Lord.

By the way, she’s panting in her throwing stance, which is somewhat erotic.

Thud.

And I could immediately see what she had thrown.

What shattered the back of Five’s head was none other than her favorite morning star. Five’s caved-in skull, gushing blood, was a gruesome sight.

“…Good job, both of you. Seems like I stalled for time well.”

I faced Five with my own resolve, but indeed, the genuine Hero’s party is unbeatable.

Look at that.

Look at that pitiful figure trying to cover her tattered clothes with one small palm.

And look at the snow-white skin revealed between her waist and thighs that she couldn’t quite cover.

This is the Hero’s party.

Their resolve to fight the enemy is different from the start.

Hmm, resolve. Good.

“Phew… I’m glad it seems resolved somehow. But I’m sorry. I think this is as far as I can go.”

Eirene seemed about to give her usual pure smile, but then collapsed.

She must have run out of strength.

She’s not dead, I’m sure.

It’s already remarkable that she, a priestess, held out this long.

Now what remains is…

“…Are you alright, Lady Millia? If you’re tired, it’s fine to faint now.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

The mage Millia, still with writhing tentacles.

My head rapidly becomes clear.

Five’s doppelganger has been dealt with, and the conscience of the Hero’s party, the Saintess, has collapsed.

And what remains is the evil mage who said she would kill me to keep me by her side, and her tentacles.

And a pitiful demon spy who has no strength left to run.

“Let’s talk.”

“Inside the tentacles.”

“Lady Millia, calm down. This isn’t good for either of us.”

“I’ll decide that.”

“…No, shouldn’t we decide that together?”

I mean, it seems like an issue deeply related to me too, isn’t it?

Millia approached me with an expressionless face.

As if to counter her expressionlessness, her tentacles writhed frantically.

“…No one would want to see such a sight.”

“I want to see it.”

“The ending will be tragic.”

“Not for me.”

“Lady Millia!”

“…”

When I shouted as if pressing her, Millia stopped.

Her furrowed brow suggested she didn’t like something.

Still, the important thing is that she stopped, even if just a little.

“What were those memories that Lady Millia said were enjoyable for three years?”

“…”

“I don’t know what they were, but at this rate, I’ll end up being an idiot who knows nothing.”

“You’re already an idiot…”

“Me, unable to speak or express anything. Is that really what you want? Isn’t conflict, interaction, and expressing emotions what makes me who I am!”

It’s pretty good, even if I say so myself.

Somehow I feel like my brain has improved. Could it be the result of being forcibly stimulated by Five?

“Lady Millia, memories are what we call the sum of all those elements. Don’t place too much meaning on just my physical body.”

“Then? If I don’t do this, you’ll leave.”

Mage Millia is the most passive person in the Hero’s party.

It wouldn’t be strange if I became a special person to her.

That’s why it might have been painful for her to see me trying to escape.

She probably wanted to stop me. No, she did try to stop me. I can’t say I’m not at fault for continuously planning to escape, but…

“Lady Millia, where there is meeting, there is parting.”

“…Do you really have to go?”

“Yes, because there’s something I want to confirm. It’s the goal of my life. If I abandon that, I’ll be alive but not living. Just like how Lady Millia was in the past.”

“…”

These three years.

Yes, those three years.

The efforts of the fool Lug who tried to understand the person named Millia.

That’s enough now. We’ve communicated that way.

As fools, lacking in social skills. But we were together, even like that.

“But I’ll return someday. To meet again.”

I don’t know when that will be.

But if I meet the Demon Lord, have a conversation, and things go well, there would be no reason for me to stay in the Demon Lord’s army.

I might be able to return then. Of course, I won’t be the Hero party’s luggage carrier.

But yes. These three years of journey were painful, but also enjoyable.

So I think it wouldn’t be bad to meet again someday.

“So let’s look forward to our reunion with joy.”

“Look forward…?”

“Yes, look forward.”

The tentacles writhing behind Millia gradually stop moving.

Yes, we can meet again.

I can persuade her by saying it’s not an eternal farewell.

Although I’ll escape from here and return to the Demon Lord’s army, someday.

Yes, someday we’ll meet again. Like a scene from a fairy tale.

“Then, Lady Millia. Until we meet again.”

“Lug…”

I turned around and said goodbye.

I said it, but I think it was a bit cool. That’s why I’m popular.

Savoring that satisfaction, I thought about my future plans.

Yes, my journey starts now.

“Stop that nonsense and halt. Who said you could go?”

Wham!

And so I was hit on the back of the head by an unidentified attack and collapsed.

That’s strange?

I thought I had persuaded her well.

“Obviously, it’s better to stay together without parting than to promise a reunion. Am I wrong?”

“…You’re right.”

She was right.

That must be why I got hit.