“Yup. They were strangely friendly. I wonder if they’re double agents or something?”
The reason the two of them had been able to sneak into the treasury so easily was because they had helpers among the Angelic Knights. However, Aristella’s reaction put a damper on this.
“If so, Master will deal with them. It’s not something Aristella needs to worry about.”
“Well, even if there is a traitor, nothing gets solved by just eliminating them.”
The two girls were at their limits from tricking their brains into not needing food or sleep using sorcery. They could go a while longer by moving around less and taking turns resting, but having no water really was harsh. In terms of sorcery, teleportation was one that triggered tremendous exhaustion too. Aristella’s stamina was currently low enough that it would hinder her in battle. The fact that she was ready to resort to double suicide really showed how tired she was.
No way I can let that happen. We’re definitely going back to Master Shere Khan! And yet she spent all this time whining. Dexia certainly was in the wrong. She then pulled a scrap of paper from her pouch.
“It’s not like I’ve just been wandering around like a lost kid or anything. The map’s pretty much done.”
Dexia was a fairly rough girl, but she had been jotting down a precise map of the area by counting the number of steps they were taking. The map covered three floors. She was likely more familiar with the labyrinth than the church at this point.
“But we still haven’t found the all-important path to the treasury.”
“Yeah, about that. Is Azazel’s Staff really such a scary treasure that it needs to be sealed in this kinda maze?”
“Scary-wary.”
“...Aristella. Get some sleep. You’re going crazy.”
After having that pointed out to her, Aristella opened her eyes wide, as if she had just received a major shock.
“Dexia is making fun of Aristella... Aristella has no choice but to die now...”
“What do you take me for?”
Dexia glared back at her, but Aristella simply rolled over and put her head on Dexia’s lap.
“Ah, hey. Don’t just use my lap...”
By the time Dexia let out a sigh, Aristella was already asleep. She gently brushed the sleeping girl’s head and innocently smiled as she whispered to her.
“Let’s do our best and kill a whole lotta them, okay? Rare species. Angelic Knights. Sorcerers. Let’s kill them all and make Master Shere Khan happy. Just like that time with Azazel. Okay? Aristella?”
“...Mm. Let’s do our best and kill them all, Dexia.”
Neither of them showed any hint of hesitation or guilt. These two sorcerers were so pure that it was almost pitiful.
◇
The sun had set. It was somewhat too late to enjoy any sightseeing in the Holy City, so Zagan and Nephy decided to stay at an inn.
How did it end up like this?! Zagan and Nephy found a single large bed in their inn room. Just one bed. And yet, there were two pillows. The two of them had already had a meal and bath, so Zagan was currently dressed in a gown. Nephy, on the other hand, was wearing a faint white negligee and looked truly adorable. Her hair, which was usually tied up by a ribbon, was now let down. It gave her a different atmosphere from normal, which was rather nice.
Incidentally, Raphael got a separate room for himself, just like a proper attendant. Zagan told him to just spend his time in the Holy City however he wanted, so he would surely take care of himself.
In any case, Zagan did actually know the reason for the situation before him.
“Th-This manner of room... is used for... a honeymoon, was it?” Nephy said nervously.
They were currently in the Holy City’s largest inn, the Jewel of Raziel. Raphael had made the reservations for them, and after Zagan and Nephy awkwardly referred to each other as honey and dear at the reception desk, the receptionist had simply noted, “So you’re on your honeymoon, right?”
As such, the staff at the inn naturally treated them as a newly-wed couple, so it would be wrong to complain about their hospitality.
But! But come on! What do I even do in this situation?! Zagan timidly looked at Nephy.
“Th-This is... what Manuela told me about...”
Nephy was whispering to herself like she was resolving herself to face some long-awaited event.
I-Is it really okay...? Does this mean it’s fine to go forward? Zagan gulped. There was nothing left to hesitate about... Actually, there was plenty to hesitate about. Zagan was a complete novice at love. He still blushed from the simple act of walking around hand in hand. He’d only ever kissed her that one time too. He only knew what to do in bed theoretically. To sum things up, he had no confidence that he could take the lead for nighttime activities.
Zagan vigorously shook his head.
Gaah! How pathetic! And you call yourself the man who will make Nephy happy, Zagan?! After firing himself up, he grabbed Nephy’s shoulders.
“N-Nephy!”
“Y-Yes?!”
Neither of them said another word. Zagan’s heart was beating like a hammer. He could tell this was the same for Nephy through her trembling shoulders. Her nightgown was thin, and he could feel the warmth of her skin through it. The area around her chest was ever-so-slightly transparent, making him even more nervous and somewhat sweaty.
Zagan peered into her azure eyes and could see his frozen face reflected right behind her snow-white eyelashes. He tried to fire himself up once more, but of all things, Nephy made the first move. She leaned in against Zagan’s chest and whispered so quietly that it felt like her voice would vanish.
N-Next is to take off... Wait, no. It’s too soon for that. Uhh, um... First is... lie down? Just as that thought passed his mind, he realized the two of them were still wearing slippers. Zagan kicked his off roughly into the corner, and then let one of his hands go to gently remove Nephy’s slippers one at a time.
Her exposed toes were stretched out with tension right to their tips, as if even her feet were embarrassed by the act. Zagan then wriggled his way to the center of the bed, lay his head on a pillow, and ended up in a position where Nephy was using his arm as a pillow.
“Hwah...”
A sound akin to both a surprised yelp and a pleasant sigh leaked from her lips.
Oh. Isn’t this how it’s supposed to end? Zagan was wracking his brain, seeing that he didn’t know what the “proper order” was. Nephy also seemed to be right at her limits. Her eyes were twirling about, and she was breathing roughly from her nose.
“...It smells like Master Zagan.”
“Huh? My smell?”
Nephy only just realized what it was she said when faced with Zagan’s bewilderment. Her entire face was bright red right to the very tips of her ears.
“N-No! That’s not! Um, I mean, it’s not wrong, but...”
“U-Uhh. What do I... smell like?”
He never really considered what his own body odor was like. Or rather, even if he sniffed himself, he wouldn’t be able to tell.
“Hwah. Th-Th-That’s... um, like... sweat?”
“Sorry. I didn’t notice.”
“Th-That’s not wh-what I mean. I don’t hate it!”
Both of them were in a complete fluster, and Nephy burst into laughter.
“Somehow... this reminds me of when we first met.”
“Aah... Mm. Well, we did fumble around a lot back then.”
“We did. It was the same that night I told you about myself too.”
“When was that?”
“When I told you about mysticism. Even when I told you about what happened at the village, you simply accepted everything as if it wasn’t a big deal. It really made me happy.”
“Well, that’s because I was much more of a good-for-nothing than you were.”
It was actually far stranger that Nephy didn’t run away after hearing about him.
Nephy then rubbed her face against Zagan’s arm.
“That night... I planned to let you have a good sleep, just like this.”
“That’s exactly what you did. I don’t know how many years it had been since I’d had such a sound sleep.”
“I’m pleased that you say so.”
Zagan stroked Nephy’s white hair.
“You’ve learned to smile much better since those days.”
“W-Was I that curt before?”
She was surely aware of her stoic manner, so she raised her voice in a fluster.
“I wouldn’t say you were curt. That in itself was rather cute.”
“Hyu...”
Nephy’s bright red ears jiggled about, and she then began her counterattack.
“But I do believe you’re the one who has softened up considerably, Master Zagan?”
“Huh? Was I that frightening before?”
“I wouldn’t say you were frightening... Um, at the time, I couldn’t even guess the meaning behind your words... How do I put it...?”
The castle did, in fact, have corpses and torture devices scattered all over the place back then. Zagan was also aware that his conduct was somewhat misleading too. It was surely on Nephy’s mind back then.
Zagan apologetically scratched his cheek.
“Umm, sorry about that. I wasn’t able to honestly tell you that I loved you or that you were cute back then.”
“C-Cute?”
“Well, yeah. Every part of you is utterly cute. Back then, and now. The way your toes stretched out just now was cute too.”
“Why were you looking at that?!”
Nephy covered her face on the verge of tears.
That part of you is also what makes you unbearably cute, though... However, if he continued to assault her with the word cute any more than this, she would probably pass out, so Zagan wisely kept his mouth shut.
“We sure have reminisced a lot today, haven’t we?”
“True... I mean, we haven’t been able to be alone like this ever since Foll came to us, right?”
Now that she mentions it, that’s true! Nephy surely wanted some time alone with him as well. So why hadn’t Zagan of all people noticed that until now? Such was the case, but Nephy buried her face into Zagan’s chest with a satisfied look.
“But I feel like it’s nice precisely because it’s only once in a while.”
“R-Really?”
“I mean, if it happened every day, it’d be so embarrassing, and I’d be so happy, I feel like I’d collapse.”
Zagan’s face cramped at secretly enjoying Nephy’s embarrassment. Then he began rubbing her back.
“Well, you may have a point there.”
It truly was half a year since they were completely alone together. It was fine to have her be as bashful as she wanted. And having reminisced about the past, both of them managed to relax a fair amount.
“Nephy...”
And now, it was finally time to take things to the next stage... but Zagan was left completely dumbstruck.
“Huh? Nephy?’
Nephy had fallen sound asleep with her face still buried in his chest.
Hnnngh! Why did you fall asleep right there?! It was perfectly understandable in a sense. He’d practically dragged her to the Holy City without explaining a thing. It was normal for exhaustion to pile up after spending the entire day being jolted around in a carriage.
So after getting her to relax, Nephy’s fatigue simply peaked out. It was like all the threads keeping her tense were cut loose all at once. And thinking back on that, Zagan let the strength out of his shoulders.
“...Oh well. This is fine.”
He got to see her in new clothes, they called each other honey and dear, they spoke with Oberon and that young knight, and they managed to wax nostalgic at night. Didn’t he get to see plenty of Nephy being cute and lovely?
Their trip to the Holy City was longer than a single evening too. He just had to show that he could do better tomorrow. And feeling somewhat satisfied, Zagan fell asleep.
Chapter III: The More Secret a Sightseeing Spot, the More Exciting
“Sorry Nephteros, I have a mission to do right now.”
Immediately following the meeting of the Archangels, Chastille returned to the waiting room where she talked to an elf with silver hair, golden eyes, and dark skin. One usually didn’t sense it from her strong-willed expression, but when she kept quiet, she really did look exactly like Nephy. This was the high elf created by Archdemon Bifrons, Nephy’s little sister, Nephteros.
A tall Angelic Knight named Richard stood just behind Chastille.
“I shall accompany you.”
“No, it’s fine. Please stay by Nephteros’ side. It seems it’s not a terribly good situation for us.”
“What do you...”
“Bifrons, right?” Nephteros guessed before Chastille could reply. “I can feel this unpleasant prickling in my chest. That Archdemon is nearby, right?”
“...Yeah.”
It could be that her nature as a homunculus allowed her to sense Bifrons’ existence even though she had left the Archdemon’s side.
“Does that mean Bifrons broke through his sorcery...?”
Archdemon Bifrons had a pledge cast on them by Zagan which prevented them from appearing before Nephteros. Breaking the pledge would mean death. It wasn’t worth risking, even for an Archdemon.
“That’s not necessarily true. It seems Bifrons joined hands with Shere Khan. If their current goal is Shere Khan’s priority, Bifrons may not be intending on appearing before you, Nephteros.”
“So shouldn’t we stick together then? I should at least work as an insect repellent.”
“You can’t. All the Archangels will be charging in together. In the worst case, I’ll need your help out here. We can’t take on too many risks.”
Chastille considered Nephteros a dear friend that she had to protect, but she also thought of her as an ally she could rely on. Chastille had made clear enemies within the church. And if they were to pull the rug out from underneath her feet, the only one she could rely on was Nephteros.
Our initial goal was to set up a counterplan against that, though... Oberon’s request was an unexpected situation.
And with no other choice, Nephteros nodded.
“...Alright. You sure are unpleasantly calm in this sort of situation. You should give me a bit more time to hesitate.”
“Sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”
“I-I’m not telling you to make up for it!”
Nephteros shook her head, seeing that she wasn’t really getting it, and a familiar laugh broke out from the shadow at Chastille’s feet.
“Hehehe, you’ve got an idea about what the culprit is planning, right crybaby?”
“Don’t call me crybaby, Barbatos.”
Barbatos was obviously still hiding within Chastille’s shadow during the meeting. He then let out an exasperated sigh from the shadows.
“Well... You deserve it this time. Even though you’re in work mode and all, you were about to go right into a free-for-all slaughterfest if that brat didn’t put a stop to it, right?”
“Ugh...”
With sweat on her brow, Chastille averted her eyes at having that pointed out to her. She couldn’t make any excuses for messing up when Stella showed up.
“Huh? Did you do something again?”
“Don’t you start too, Nephteros! I’ve actually been pushing my limits, you know?!”
“Isn’t that the same as always? Come on, don’t cry.”
Nephteros hugged Chastille with familiar movements and began petting her head.
It’s vexing, but this really soothes my heart... Chastille calmed down, and Barbatos started talking from the shadows once more.
“Let me tell you this now. That ass Zagan is in the Holy City.”
“Zagan? Is he also after Azazel’s Staff?”
“Dunno? He brought his bride along, so maybe he’s actually just doing some sightseeing.”
Chastille and Nephteros bot
h shook their heads in astonishment.
“There’s no way. Zagan wouldn’t do something so haphazard, right?”
“That’s right. This is Big Bro we’re talking about. He probably anticipated Bifrons’ move.”
“...Don’t you guys think a little too highly of that asshole?”
Barbatos was actually right, but nobody believed him. This could be considered inevitable taking into account what he usually went around spouting.
“Whatever. Anyways, we gotta catch the culprit now, or we’ll run outta chances, right?”
As the leader of the Unification Faction, Chastille was isolated in the church. She was even cut off from receiving information.
“The Unification Faction said that they have the cardinals handled. Which means the culprit should be one of the Archangels...”
The moment she began doubting them, frankly, they all looked suspicious.
The most suspicious is Lord Kaltiainen, but... He did call her a traitor straight to her face earlier. It would have been stranger not to suspect him. But he was so blunt about it that it made him less suspicious in a sense. Chastille pondered over it for a while longer, when a laugh came from her shadow once more.
“Ain’t there just one really suspicious guy?”
“...! Really?”
“You really should notice this crap... It’s that guy, the — Oops.”
Just as Barbatos was about to say something, he suddenly vanished. Chastille noticed what was going on just one step later.
Someone’s coming. She regained her composure and began talking to Richard.
“In any case, that’s how it is. Please protect Nephteros.”
“Understood.”
“I’m not so weak that I need protecting though?”
The two of them immediately figured it out and played along. And just then, a knock came from the door to the room.
“Chastille, do you have a minute?”
The one to enter the room was Valjakka. Immediately after he entered, he stared in wonder at Nephteros.
“Lord Valjakka. What do you need?”
“O-Oh... Our opponent is an Archdemon. It’s been decided that we’ll be breaching the treasury in teams of two. Would you like to pair up with me? That’s what I came to ask, but...”
Elves were considered sacred within the church, and Valjakka’s gaze was glued to Nephteros.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 9 Page 12