Chapter 73: Those Who Protect, Those Who Hunt
With Alicia and Mila sticking around, the girl remained terrified, so the two left, and Igni was with the girl alone.
“..................” But since then, the girl has not said anything.
She held onto Igni’s clothes and remained silent.
Igni: “What is your name?” So Igni crouches down to her level to match her height, and as he smiled, he asked her for her name.
“N…...ame…..?” The girl repeated Igni’s words.
Igni: “Yes, a name.”
“?” Igni: (It’s no good. She’s not understanding what I’m saying.)
Igni points toward himself.
Igni: “Igni.”
And simply said that.
“Igni?” Igni: “Yes, Igni.”
“Igni……..!”
The girl points a finger at Igni.
Igni nods to her words.
And then the girl points to herself.
“Sara.”
...is what she said.
Igni: (That must be her name!)
Igni understood her intentions almost immediately.
This man’s brain worked at incredible speeds more efficiently when it came to girls.
Igni: “Sara. That’s a nice name.” Sara nodded her head, making her long hair shake gently.
Igni: (Sara……..it’s not a name I’ve heard before.)
But Igni engraves it into his brain’s permanent memory slot and…
“Igni, is everything okay now～”
A familiar voice echoed inside the room.
Igni: “Ms. Elenoir!”
Since Mila or Alicia couldn’t come near, apparently, they sent Elenoir in their place.
Sara flinched in surprise at the sight of Elenoir and immediately ran behind Igni to hide.
Elenoir: “So this is the girl that was in the [Demon King’s Realm]. That’s an amazing amount of Magic Power.”
Igni: “Her name is Sara.” Elenoir: “Oh, you two are already getting along so well. That’s great～”
Elenoir smiles at Igni.
Seeing Elenoir being so relaxed and calm, Sara peeks her face out behind Igni to watch her.
Elenoir: “She’s so attached to you～”
Igni: “It’s a good thing, no?” Elenoir: “Of course, it’s a good thing～”
Elenoir tries to go towards Sara, but she remains hidden behind Igni.
Elenoir: “She’s a shy one, isn’t she～”
Igni: “Yes she is.” Elenoir: “Hmmー well, we can’t have you remain here forever…..what should we do～”
Igni: “I think Alicia will be able to resolve that problem.”
Elenoir: “?” Elenoir tilts her head as Igni continues his explanation.
Igni: “We have a Magic Artifact that can seal the [Demon King’s Realm]’s Magic Power, so if we can change the shape of it so she could carry it around, she’ll be able to walk around normally. We just have to wait till that artifact is complete.”
Elenoir: “From the Empire～? I thought Alicia was in an awkward predicament with the government there. Will it really be okay～?”
Igni: “Shーshe said she’ll make it work...”
Alicia said she had plans on sealing the [Demon King’s Realm]’s corruption from spreading any further and had the Research Division create a Magic Artifact for that purpose. Will she really be able to ask them to now revise it? In actuality, Alicia’s status should have risen when she brought out the girl who was the source of the issue out of the [Demon King’s Castle].
This is what Igni thought, but Alicia’s status did not just marginally improve.
Humanity has suffered over a 100 years under the [Demon King’s Realm]’s spread of corrupted Magic Power, and they completely stopped it. Igni didn’t know at this time, but a few days from now, every country on the continent will realize this fact. The news will be written down in history, and Igni’s group’s names will be documented in textbooks…….but that’s another story for another time.
Elenoir: “Ummmmmmm, Igni? This is kind of important but～”
Igni: “Yes.” Elenoir: “The Rolmod Wizard Academy will place that girl under its protection……...and also under surveillance～ And for the surveillance, I will be the main supervisor and～ under me, Igni, you’ll be working for me now～”
Igni: “Under…..surveillance, you say?”
But with Igni’s words, Elenoir quickly shook her head.
Elenoir: “Oh, well, it’s not like that. I don’t mean surveillance in the strict manner, but...what I mean is that……..it’s a surveillance to keep the girl protected～”
Igni: “To keep her protected…..”
Igni repeats and mumbles the words to himself. The next moment, because a girl is involved, his brain goes into full gear as he crunches through the facts and starts spitting out answers.
Igni: “If Sara gets abducted, she can be used as a weapon…...is that correct? Sara just has to be there, and the surrounding area will be eaten away by the Corrupted Magic Power, so you can just leave her inside a major city, and it could be destroyed.”
Elenoir: “Yup, amazingly intelligent as always, Igni. You get a gold star～”
And Elenoir lazily and slowly applauds Igni’s answer.
Elenoir: “Since you protected Alicia from an [Extreme]～ we believe you could protect this girl too～ And Ms. Mila and I both came to the same conclusion～”
Igni: “I see. That’s why you chose me…”
Elenoir: “Yup～”
Igni: “.......what do I have to do?”
Elenoir: “No matter what this girl really is…..if she’s a child, then she should be allowed to live freely～ This is all of the faculties’ unified opinion～ If Alicia is able to bring back that Magic Artifact, we want to to be able to live freely and safely here.”
Igni: “MーMs. Elenoir…….!”
Igni felt the tears well up at the kind heartedness of every teacher here at the Rolmod Wizard Academy.
And compared to them, his father is…….!!
Elenoir: “So～ Igni～ Until she’s released from the school’s surveillance…...I want you to protect her～ Oh, and I am responsible for both of you, so you can come to me any time if you have any problems. Okay～?”
Igni: “Yes! You can leave it to me!!”
Although Igni is overly excited…
Sara: “.................”
Sara looked up at him with concern in her eyes.
Igni: “It’s going to be okay.”
And Igni smiled at her gently.
<<<<>>>>
On the farthest, most farthest realms of the east…
There is an Island Nation of Samurais and Ninjas. But just the other day…….due to a <natural disaster>, 3 of its islands were now sunk deep into the ocean.
And there is one man who is currently riding an ocean current that passes by that island.
“Lucas…….that bastard……..he really did me in this time….”
The man’s name is Abyss. He is Abyss, the [Endless Depths].
He is the man who has peeked into the deepest realms of Spells.
Abyss: “Because of that, I can’t even move now……..his title of [Strongest One Man Army] wasn’t a joke…..”
He is currently riding on an ocean current that will take him to the [Demon King’s Realm].
As an [Extreme], the [Demon King’s Realm] is like any other place.
If he can escape there, he will be able to recuperate and gather his strength.
Abyss: “I lost 1025 servants and 67 Doppelgangers…...that was huge…...dangit…….I won’t forget this, Lucas………”
Abyss continues to spew his curses and threats as he floats over the ocean.
Even though they are both [Extreme]s, Lucas holds the highest combat power as a solo fighter, and against such a man, a mere researcher like himself would be no match.
Abyss: “Well, that doesn’t matter now. If I can make an Angel fall, then that’s checkmate. I win.”
He continues to grumble and mumble to himself continuously and Abyss’ body nears the [Demon King’s Realm] and….
Abyss: “What……?”
He noticed that something changed. Something wasn’t right.
Abyss: “........the Magic Power is thinner. The corruption stopped spreading.”
He continues to analyze the air in the atmosphere and comes to a conclusion.
Abyss: “Someone got a hold of the [corpse].......? Who? Which idiot did this…?”
But a smile creeps across Abyss’ face.
Abyss: “Is it the Anthem Kingdom? The Esmeralda Empire? Or the Elves’ Alilimenia? Or maybe the most unexpected Dwarves snatched it? Hehehe…. No matter who my opponent is, this will be a fun battle….”
Abyss narrows the possibility down to 4 countries. One of the four recovered the [corpse].
The strongest Kingdom of Anthem with 2 [Extreme]s.
The Esmeralda Empire that has continued to expand its territory and influence up until today.
The Country of Alilimenia that centers around an [Extreme] and the best Wizards.
Or the [Baldur Machine Country], the country of Dwarves, who is trying to artificially replicate the [Demon King]’s power.
Abyss: “If it comes down to it, I’ll just make Angels fall on all of them.”
People are drawn to those with significant power.
As there are fervent fans for all the [Extreme]s,
As Lucas said, “Women love strong men”,
Strength can make people go insane.
Abyss: “Ahhhhhhh…..just watch, you idiots…”
That is why, Abyss was also drawn to it.
Abyss: “The next [Demon King] ーーwill be me.”
He was drawn to the [Demon King]’s power.
<<<<>>>>
