Ch. 72 Munchkin – Chapter 72
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 72
Thud!
As Agrevan disappeared, the space began to shake.
The walls crumbled, and boulders fell from the ceiling.
“It’s collapsing!”
People panicked in shock.
Zeke pointed to one side of the wall.
“This way!”
The staircase had reappeared there.
“Everyone, head up the stairs!”
Boom!
Part of the ceiling collapsed.
People ran toward the staircase, dodging falling rocks.
“Lucy!”
Brian and Thomas rushed to Lucy.
“We need to get out of here now!”
Brian hoisted Lucy onto his shoulder and began running.
Thomas hurriedly followed.
“Ugh…”
Finn crawled out of Lucy’s clothes.
“What’s going on…?”
Finn had fainted the moment Agrevan appeared and had just woken up.
“Why is it collapsing all of a sudden?!”
“No time to explain!”
Brian shouted, urging them to move faster.
Just then.
A large boulder fell toward Finn.
“Watch out, Finn!”
Thomas quickly reached out and grabbed Finn.
Thud!
The boulder slammed into the ground.
Finn trembled in Thomas’s hand.
“W-whoa, I almost got flattened. Thanks, Thomas.”
“No problem. Stay in here for now.”
Thomas tucked Finn into his pocket and continued running after Brian.
“Everyone, this way!”
Zeke directed the situation from the top of the staircase.
The mages, now able to use mana, cast shields to help people escape.
A moment later.
As everyone made it outside the castle, a loud crash echoed as the castle completely collapsed.
Crash!
“…”
Everyone stared blankly at the ruins of the castle.
Some sat down in despair, while others wiped away tears of relief at having survived.
Thomas, panting, pulled Finn out of his pocket.
“Sorry, Finn. Was it cramped in there?”
Finn shook her head.
“It’s fine.”
Then, she widened her eyes at the sight of the collapsed castle.
“The castle completely fell apart?”
“Yeah, it was close. If we’d been any slower, we wouldn’t have made it out.”
Just then, someone muttered in disbelief.
“Cecilia was Cryfel…”
It was Marco, a member of Cecilia’s party.
“And that demon… what was that…?”
People’s gazes slowly turned toward Lucy.
When everyone had been dragged toward the pillars earlier, Lucy had remained standing unharmed.
Shadows flowing from her body had blocked Agrevan’s dark red energy.
No one could mistake that for anything other than dark magic.
And using dark magic meant Lucy was a witch.
“W-we need to capture her…!”
Someone pointed at Lucy and shouted.
It was the cleric from Zeke’s party.
“Now that we know she’s a witch, we can’t just let her go!”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Brian scowled.
“If it weren’t for Lucy, we’d all have been sacrifices to that demon. Lucy saved us all! And you want to capture her after she saved your life? Are you out of your mind?”
“Sh-shut up!”
The cleric snapped.
“A witch is an evil being! It’s only natural to capture her!”
“I won’t let you lay a hand on Lucy!”
Brian drew his sword with a fierce expression.
The cleric looked incredulous.
“W-what are you doing? Are you pointing your sword at me? I’m an official cleric of the Bellagard Cathedral. It’s my duty to capture and report any witch I find!”
The cleric looked around at the others.
“It’s not just me! Everyone here is affiliated with the adventurer’s guild. If we find a witch, we have to report her to the cathedral and arrest her immediately. Even if the witch helped us!”
People awkwardly averted their gazes, and no one stepped forward.
Zeke spoke up.
“Enough, Anna. We’re not here to hunt witches. We came to exterminate monsters.”
“Zeke! But…”
“The Bull Slayer is right. If it weren’t for that kid, we’d all be dead. You could say she’s our savior. It makes no sense to capture our savior.”
“Even so! Witches are…”
Anna tried to argue, but Zeke firmly shook his head.
“Everyone’s exhausted. Let’s head back to the city and rest first.”
Zeke addressed the group.
“Does anyone here actually want to capture the witch?”
No one stepped forward.
Everyone shared Zeke’s sentiment.
“Witch or not, it doesn’t matter… That kid saved us…”
“It’s ridiculous to capture our savior…”
Anna, frustrated by the group’s reaction, shouted.
“Y-you’ll all regret this! You don’t know how evil witches can be…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Brian barked harshly.
“Lucy is a good witch! She saved me and Thomas before! I won’t forgive anyone who speaks ill of her!”
Brian raised his sword, ready to charge at Anna.
Anna, frightened, took a step back.
She remembered how Brian had sliced the Minotaur in half with a single strike.
“…”
In the end, Anna had no choice but to fall silent.
◈
On the way back to the city.
The atmosphere had improved somewhat.
People quietly approached Lucy and spoke to her.
“Th-thank you for saving us.”
“That was amazing back there.”
“Thanks, kid.”
Lucy quietly nodded in response.
Right now, Lucy’s mind was only on Hon.
She had left Hon behind at the inn, and she was worried about how he was doing.
“Hey, kid.”
Marco approached Lucy.
“I don’t care if you’re a witch. In fact, I think it’s cool. A cute kid like you being a terrifying witch? That’s amazing. So, what do you say? When we get to the city, want to check out the night market with me? Bellagard’s night market has a lot to see.”
Marco smiled brightly as he continued.
“There’s a lot of food and things to look at. I’m sure there’s plenty you’d like. What do you say?”
Lucy nodded.
“Okay.”
“Haha, great. Oh, and by the way, can I just touch your cheek once…?”
“You creep!”
Brian quickly stepped in to stop Marco.
“I told you not to get too close to Lucy!”
“I’m not being creepy.”
Marco waved his hands.
“I just invited her to the night market. She said she’d go.”
“Lucy, are you going to the night market?”
“Yeah.”
“But…”
Brian lowered his voice.
“Isn’t it dangerous? We were planning to leave the city as soon as we got our reward. What if that cleric reports you to the cathedral…?”
Just then.
“That won’t happen.”
Anna approached and spoke.
Brian looked at her warily.
“What?”
“I won’t report her. Honestly, you’re right. If it weren’t for this girl, we’d all be dead. Capturing someone who saved our lives would be wrong, both as a cleric and as a human.”
“…”
Brian narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“And you’re not planning to secretly capture her?”
“Why would I do that?”
Anna looked incredulous.
“I’m a cleric. I don’t betray trust.”
“Hmm…”
Marco clapped his hands, trying to lighten the mood.
“Alright, then let’s all go to the night market together. Even the saintess is invited.”
“I’m not a saintess, just a cleric.”
“Anyway. It’ll be fun if we all go together. It’s fate, after all.”
“…”
Anna glanced at Lucy and sighed softly.
“Well, alright. I do want to repay the person who saved my life.”
“Great, then the night market party is set!”
Marco grinned and raised his hand triumphantly.
Anna, as if resigned, smiled and held out her hand to Lucy.
“Nice to meet you, Lucy.”
Lucy also smiled faintly and took Anna’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
◈
When they arrived at the inn and opened the door, Hon poked his head out from the crack.
His glare seemed to say, “Why did you take so long?”
Lucy smiled and reached out to Hon.
“Were you good?”
“Grr!”
Hon butted Lucy’s hand with his horn.
But the horn was small and blunt, so it didn’t hurt at all.
Realizing this, Hon bit Lucy’s hand instead.
“!”
Lucy’s eyes widened, and she smacked Hon’s head with her other hand.
Thud.
“Grr!”
Hon let go of Lucy’s hand but turned his head away.
He was sulking because he’d been left alone.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t take you with me to hunt monsters.”
Lucy picked up Hon and entered the room.
The room was a mess.
The pillow was torn, and the blanket was sprawled on the floor.
The curtains were half ripped off.
“Hon…”
Lucy sighed.
Hon wagged his tail and licked Lucy’s cheek.
“What did you even do…?”
Just then, Finn, Brian, and Thomas entered the room.
They were all shocked by the state of the room.
“Wow.”
Finn’s eyes widened.
“Did you have a battle in here?”
“And it looks like it was a big one.”
Brian shook his head.
Thomas looked worried.
“We’ll have to pay for all this…”
“…”
Lucy sighed again and looked at Hon.
Hon stuck out his tongue slightly and stared up at Lucy.
As if pretending he had no idea what happened.
“This is the last time, Hon.”
Lucy stroked Hon’s head and whispered softly.
“If you do this again, you’ll be hunted down too. Got it?”
“…!”
Hon flinched and drooped his ears.
It seemed he understood Lucy’s warning.
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
It’s late, but happy new year…!
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Happy new year to you too, author!That being said, Lucy probably has access to all Demonic summons, heh.
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