Her outfit is quite cute after all.
As for Chastille, she was simply standing there dumbfounded, unable to understand what that reaction meant.
“Did I say something to offend you?”
“The hell? How’d it come to that?”
“But, you’re angry?”
“I’m not!”
“...See? You’re angry.”
“I’m telling you I’m not...”
She apparently took Barbatos’ blushing for anger. This left even Nephy sighing.
Chastille... that’s far too pitiful for Lord Barbatos...
Well, it couldn’t really be helped since Chastille wasn’t in work mode. She found this both charming and vexing at the same time and strained a smile at them.
“Hey, isn’t Kuroka in danger? Take this seriously.” Nephteros interrupted them.
And having someone finally say something proper in the current situation, the small vulpin girl even had tears in her eyes.
“Sniff, thanks Miss Nephteros.”
“It’s alright. Big Br... Zagan went to save her. Believe in him.”
The vulpine girl, whose name was apparently Kuu, recovered slightly from having Nephteros comfort her. And looking over them, now it was Stella who had questions.
“I don’t really get what’s going on, but is it something you can tell me about?”
“Yes. Miss Stella, you are Master Zagan’s older sister, after all.” Nephy answered, as Stella nodded back.
“What kinda girl is this Kuroka?”
“Let’s see... Putting it simply, she is the daughter of Master Zagan’s butler. Her circumstances are somewhat complicated, so she usually weighs on Master Zagan’s mind.”
“A butler! That Zagan. I leave him alone for a bit and he’s living all nice and proper, huh? Ah... your big sis is so happy... hang on, doesn’t that mean we have to save that girl?”
Stella then turned around and looked at the young Lisette who was clinging to her from behind.
“Hm? But judging from the timing of the attack, is the culprit maybe the same guy who attacked Lisette?”
“Hah? There’s no wait it’s the same prick. That’s just a normal ass girl, right? The ones being targeted are likely all rare sp... uh... oops...” Barbatos replied casually, to which everyone focused on him.
“Lord Barbatos, do you know something about this incident?”
“Aaah, not really, it’s more like Zagan forced it on me or something...”
“I shall request Master Zagan to recompense you, so please tell us about it, Lord Barbatos.”
“...Dammit. What a shitty day.”
Nephy lowered her head and pleaded him to tell them, leaving Barbatos with a sour expression. He then went on to tell them about the incidents five years ago and what was happening now.
“Rare species hunt...?”
“Yeah. The one who’s likely leading around the cat lady right now is called Shax. He was the culprit’s, Archdemon Shere Khan’s disciple. I got no clue why he’s being chased after all this time, but judging from what he said, he likely betrayed Shere Khan or something and now he’s here to pay him back.”
“But why has he appeared within Master Zagan’s domain?”
Zagan had already reached a stage where it was unthinkable for even another Archdemon to plot against him. These were the fruits of his labor over the past half a year. That’s why those with special circumstances like Nephy were able to live peaceful lives.
“Why?” Barbatos replied in exasperation. “You even realize how many rare species are gathered here?”
“Oh...”
Nephy turned red to the face. It didn’t even need to be mentioned. It wasn’t just the cait sith Kuroka, but the high elves Nephy and Nephteros, the dragon Foll, the natives of Liucaon Selphy and Lilith, as well as the sorcerers Gremory and Kimaris whose races were said to even be extinct.
There was a mountain of reasons for this town to be targeted. Barbatos leaned against a wall as he continued explaining.
“Considering the time it happened, the one who destroyed that cat lady’s home was probably Shere Khan. Moreover...”
Barbatos then shifted his attention to Gremory. In an unusual turn, the witch was pale to the face.
It couldn’t be... is Miss Gremory also being targeted, I wonder?
The fomorians were also a bloodline on the verge of extinction, but judging by Gremory’s reaction, it felt like that wasn’t that case.
“That damn Kimaris... I wondered why he wasn’t hounding me today... so that’s what’s going on.”
Gremory hung her head down and grumbled to herself before suddenly pulling out an enormous scythe from her clothes.
“Lady Nephy, I have some business to attend to.”
“Miss Gremory?”
Her expression wasn’t her usual foolish self, it was bloodcurdling.
“Please calm down Miss Gremory! Where do you plan on going in the first place?”
“Yeah. You have no idea where the culprit is, right?” Nephteros added.
“Grr...”
Gremory came to a stop as if her anger had lost sight of where to go. Nephy took her hand, and looked straight into her eyes.
“It’s alright. Master Zagan is with him. If danger is to approach Sir Kimaris, Master Zagan would surely never abandon him. Master Zagan’s feet are even faster than his at such times, after all. So Miss Gremory, please believe in him and wait.”
Something bad would surely happen if Gremory were to go now. Nephy urged her with a near unreasonable hunch about how things would turn out, and Gremory’s vigor abated as she nodded meekly back to her.
“O-Okay! I get it already. You’re too close! You’re too close Lady Nephy!”
“Oh... my apologies.”
Nephy let go of her hand, and Gremory sank to her knees and put her hand to her chest.
“Hnngh, to think Lady Nephy would be so overbearing, I was careless... Ah, crap, my nose is bleeding.”
Gremory had apparently returned to her usual self. However, they still had no clues as to what was going on from what Barbatos had told them. It wasn’t clear where the culprit was, or if it really was Archdemon Shere Khan. Such was the case, but...
“Um, hey, I probably know where he is. The culprit I mean.”
And the one to speak up here, was Stella.
“Huh?”
“I just have to search for the real body of the one who targeted Lisette, right?”
Stella brushed back her bangs and revealed her artificial eye.
“This eye can see traces of mana-like threads in the air. I was a little curious about the ones coming outta the guy who attacked Lisette, so if we just follow it, can’t we get to the culprit?”
“I see.” Barbatos’ eyes shot open. “That the same as that ass Zagan’s eyes?”
“What do you mean?”
“Zagan can see mana as if it had actual form. That’s why he can easily weave together stupidly complicated and detailed sorcery.”
In other words, Stella’s artificial eye possessed the same power.
“In that case, we can probably find him. But, if the culprit is in fact Shere Khan, we can’t just go and pick a fight. Bifrons got the shit beat out of him for the same crap. We need some kinda plan. Not that we can ever prepare enough to go and scrap with an Archdemon, though.”
Nephteros’ expression clouded over ever so slightly at the mention of Bifrons. It surely wasn’t an easy feat to forget her previous master.
Nephy was left somewhat stumped at Barbatos’ entirely logical point. However, the first to deny him was Nephteros.
“There’s no need to take him head on or anything, right? He’s the one standing back safely while sending out his underlings, right? It just means we should do the same and attack him from safety.”
“But, how do we...?” Nephy asked in bewilderment, to which Nephteros simply looked back at her in astonishment.
“With your celestial mysticism, Nephel
ia. When do you ever plan on using it if you don’t use it for a time like this?”
It was like a bolt out of the blue. Both mysticism and celestial mysticism were powers that simply came to Nephy from the heavens. They weren’t powers she obtained by her own strength. Precisely because it was borrowed power, Nephy never thought of proactively putting it to use.
But, if Master Zagan is to lend his strength to Kuroka...
Then it may have been worth giving it a try. However, there was a problem precisely because Nephy tended to keep this power at a distance.
“Am I capable of such a skillful feat, I wonder? I’ve only used celestial mysticism a single time by mimicking you.”
“There’s no need to worry. I’ll handle the minute control. You have more firepower than me, so just pour in everything you’ve got.”
This may in fact have been the moment that these two sisters were truly working hand in hand.
As the older sister, I can’t possibility shrink back now can I?
Nephy nodded back firmly.
“Understood. I’ll be relying on you, Nephteros.”
After the sisters traded nods, Stella cut in.
“Hang on a sec? I said I could see the threads of mana, but there’s strangely a ton of them. I think there’s maybe over a hundred of em. I’m gonna need some help with it maybe.”
“Help? You can’t do it?” Barbatos asked, and Stella shook her head.
“It’s because it’s the artificial eye’s power. Even if I can see it, I can’t touch it.”
“See...? Hmm. Hey, are you perhaps unable to share your sight with others?” Gremory asked.
“Share...? Nope, it might not be impossible, but I’m still a novice sorcerer. All I’ve got in my brain is how to hit people, I don’t know any sorcery for sharing my sight. Is it hard?”
“If you don’t think it’s impossible, then you should be able to. We have four people here who are former Archdemon candidates and direct disciples of Archdemons. We can weave together some mere sight sharing sorcery completely impromptu.”
The former Archdemon candidates were Gremory and Barbatos, while the personal disciples of the Archdemons were Stella and...
“Huh, me too?”
Nephteros stood there blinking back in surprise.
“Celestial mysticism is not your only redeeming feature is it now?”
“...Got it. I don’t know how much I can help, though.”
Seeing her little sister being relied on, Nephy put her hand to her chest.
Even I’m learning sorcery directly from Master Zagan...
And yet, she was hopelessly behind on this front. Zagan had told her that she was more than fast enough at absorbing it all, but compared to Gremory, Barbatos and Foll she was basically completely incapable. It would probably be arrogant to assume that she could catch up in just half a year, but she felt ashamed that she couldn’t be useful in such situations.
She then noticed that her best friend next to her was also twiddling her fingers in a crestfallen manner as well.
“Is something the matter Chastille?”
“Not really, I can’t follow what’s going on when you talk about sorcery is all. It’s just a little disappointing...”
It was only reasonable for an Angelic Knight to feel like a complete outsider in a conversation between sorcerers. Nephy could only return a bitter smile to her as she had the same concern on her mind, though.
But, I’ll show that I can be useful!
Just as Stella said, it surely wasn’t impossible. A technique to accomplish what they wanted certainly existed, and there were those present here who could do so. However, it was such good fortune that all pieces to do so were completely gathered in one place that it could be called a miracle.
◇
“Hey, you’re kidding me, right...? Why isn’t anyone here?”
Shax was left in shock after running to Archdemon Palace. It was an old ruin whose walls could serve as a fortress located underneath Kianoides. There was a space akin to a courtyard directly at the front door, and Gremory’s golem was enshrined there as if guarding the gate.
Normally, sorcerers and familiars used for communication would be running about here in a rush. Gremory and many other sorcerers were left with managing the palace, and Shax chose to run here, since it was closer than Zagan’s castle, but it seemed to be completely deserted.
And with no help to be found, it was no better than a cul-de-sac. He could at least scrounge up a few weapons by digging through his lab, but it didn’t seem like they would be particularly useful against an army of undead.
Shit, why the hell is my luck so bad?!
In truth, Shax’s judgement wasn’t wrong. Under normal circumstances, he could have Gremory save him, and it was also simple to request for reinforcements from Zagan here. His luck just happened to be extraordinarily bad this time around. He did in fact receive a letter from Foll which notified him of the situation, but he had stuck it in his pocket and never read it. He was attacked by an undead the moment he was going to.
“Meow...”
What was even more unfortunate was that he was carrying a cat who was even more unlucky than he was. Alshiera found the sight of Shax panicking, not knowing the situation at hand at all, rather charming.
“Tonto, have we not arrived at our destination? Please hurry up and open the door.”
This was still the base of an Archdemon. The front gate required authorization from a sorcerer under Zagan’s command to open. Traps would immediately activate if any outsider were to attempt to do so. This vampire surely knew this full well herself.
Well, I guess barricading myself inside is better than nothing.
With no other choice at hand, Shax lowered the girl to the ground and touched the gate. The gate had no padlock, no doorknob, and nothing that resembled a keyhole. But upon touching it, a terrifyingly intricate and complex circuit took shape. This circuit was like a puzzle, and wouldn’t allow the door to be opened unless a predetermined process was followed.
After Shax traced his finger along the magic circle several time, a heavy sound rang out and the door began opening.
He’s really insane to set up such a complicated circuit just for a lock.
And perhaps that was just to be expected of an Archdemon. The magic circle was even capable of individually distinguishing between the mana of all of Zagan’s subordinates. It made Shax dubious as to whether Zagan possessed an extrasensory organ far outside the realm of regular humans.
After Shax watched the door open in both admiration and exasperation, Alshiera slipped in through the opening.
“You would do well to hurry up. They’ve already caught up.”
“Huh...?”
Shax turned around and spotted the shadowy undead surging into the courtyard behind him.
How the hell many are there?!
There were more than just ten or twenty of them, it was already in the realm where they were uncountable due to the darkness in the area as well. Shax dashed into Archdemon Palace, left at his wit’s end.
After slamming the door shut in a hurry, he immediately heard a repulsive scream.
“Teehee, it really is the Silver-Eyed King’s trap. He shows no compassion for intruders.”
It seemed that the Archdemon’s trap was rampaging on the other side of the door. However, Alshiera’s expression didn’t reflect the composure of her words, and she began walking off the moment Shax wasn’t about to question her about it.
“This way.”
“Huh? You been here before?”
“Back when Marchosias was the lord, I was invited over just once. It was quite a long time ago, though.”
Archdemon Palace was the preceding Archdemon Marchosias’ base, and it hadn’t even been a year since his death. It was completely unknown when exactly this vampire came by here.
Alshiera carried on with certain steps as Shax then called her to a stop.
“Hey. Where are you going? The only
thing that way is the archives. There’s nothing else...”
“Except for a graveyard. That’s fine.”
Archdemon Palace was vast. It’s said that even Zagan didn’t have a full grasp of the place. Nevertheless, Alshiera was headed toward the outer archives as well as a strange space that was somewhat like a graveyard.
“And what exactly is gonna be at a graveyard?”
“...Who knows? Let’s just say it’s my intuition.”
Is there something there more worth it than dropping by my lab?
The traps outside would not last much longer. Even if one assumed that the traps were able to obstruct a powerful sorcerer, they would be unable to hold an unlimited army at bay. It was likely difficult to set hundreds of different traps that could all fully realize their potential around each other. The time the few traps that were out there were capable of buying was precious.
On the other hand, just how much could he trust this mysterious vampire in the first place?
“Hey missy, are you somehow related to Marchosias?”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say we were related. I was... no, we siblings would be more appropriate... we were acquainted to the former lord of the castle.”
Her reply seemed to hold deep implications.
The fact that she went out of the way to correct herself means that her brother or sister or whatever is also related?
But the preceding Archdemon Marchosias was famous for not having any disciples or women by his side in his final years. Moreover, even if she mentioned former lord, Archdemon Palace was Marchosias’ base for a thousand years. It wasn’t very likely that there even was another lord of the castle other than Zagan.
It felt like Shax had even more questions now, but judging by her willingness to share that detail, this girl seemed to suggest that she was being amicable.
The spiral staircase from the entrance hall led to an open space with a countless number of bookshelves lining the walls. Alshiera did not even glance at any of the books, and simply proceeded further within. The sound of something being smashed then rang out from the entrance hall.
“Oh my, it seems they’ve already broken through. Does this mean that we have finally been cornered?”
“Now’s not the time for casual commentary! This is bad! What’re you gonna do?!”
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 8 (Premium) Page 15