Book 3: Epilogue 4
Book 3: Epilogue 4
** Silver Balance **
Before Dante could open his mouth–
「Dante… Do you think we can get an airship?」Mimino asked.
「What a coincidence, Mimino. I was thinking the exact same thing. We should just enter the Red Gate.」
Dante and Mimino exchanged glances and nodded at the same time.
「NO!!」
It was Non, who objected.
「What are you both thinking?! Have you lost your mind?! Have you lost your mind?!! Reiji-kun wouldn’t be happy about that!」
「Non. We are serious. If the Empire wants to close the Red Gate, then we should just cross over to the other side first.」Dante said.
「How would you even find Reiji-kun after crossing over!!」
「…………」
「…………」
Dante and Mimino exchanged glances again and–
「Intuition.」
「Smell, or something.」
「You have no plan!!」Non shouted.「That is why you always have to get saved by Reiji-kun!!」
「Well… I can’t refute that.」
「Uuh, Reiji-kun…」
Mimino was about to cry again, but clenched her teeth.
「Wait a minute, you three. Calm down, alright?」
As expected, Lulusha intervened.
Abba, who had been silent until then–
「Chupa. I came up with an idea. We might be able to confirm whether Reiji-san and Her Highness Anastasia are safe. Chupa.」
Abba’s syrup has already run out, so he was only sucking the stick. He actually has money to buy syrup, but syrup is also one of the food rations. Instead of idly consuming itーseems that he was self-aware that it was idle consumptionーhe thought it should be given to hungry children.
He has lost some weight thanks to that. Though, still far from a standard body figure.
「What do you mean to confirm that they are safe?」Muge asked.
「Chupa. The Red Gate is connected to someplace else. So, if there was something similar to a long-distance communication magic tool…」
「No. Reiji-san never carried a magic tool like that in the first place.」
「Can’t you think of anything at all? Chupa.」
「Anything, huh…」
At that moment–
「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」
Mimino screamed. A scream so loud, Dante, who was right next to her, flinched, Lulusha’s eyes lost focus, and Zerry, who has particularly good hearing, jumped up like a startled cat.
「This! This, This, This, This!」
Mimino pointed to the bracelet that was handed to everyone when they entered the country.
——Movement within the Empire is restricted. Please be sure to put on this bracelet and do not remove it. Also, please return this bracelet before leaving the Empire. If you do leave the Empire without removing it, an extremely loud alarm will sound off. The bracelet will be rented on your guild plate and the data will be removed when you return it.
「Can’t we determine their location with this!?」Mimino exclaimed.
「That’s… maybe. It may be possible to determine the location since it keeps emitting weak mana waves. And the one who manages this is–」Lulusha said, her eyes gleaming with hope.
「It’s me. The Foreign Affairs Bureau. But I’m not sure if they will reveal the technical information just to find one adventurer… Chupa.」
「That’s where you have to show your skills as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau, right?」Lulusha said.
Abba took out the stick from his mouth and swung it up and down.
「Chupa… I need another stronger reason. If possible, Her Highness Anastasia. That would be a good bargaining chip.」
When everyone was thinking hard on it–
「AAAAA–Mugo!」
Mimino was about to scream again, so Dante and Zerry held her mouth.
「Momogo, Momogo!」
「Don’t scream. If you agree not to, I’ll remove my hand.」
「Mogo!」Mimino nodded.
「I’m still worried.」Dante said.
「It can’t be helped.」Zerry said.
When the two reluctantly removed their hands, Mimino started searching for something inside her tool bag.
「This, This, This, This, This!」
What she took out was a bunch of hair.
The hair Anastasia sent to Silver Balance as a substitute for reward.
「High Elf hair should contain a very special mana! Is there a magic tool that can detect mana with the same wavelength as this mana!? I know usually it’s impossible… However! This place, where the world’s most advanced magic tools are developed, the Lev Magic Empire, you should be able to pull it off, right!」Mimino said, her voice desperate and hopeful at the same time.
** Queen of the Night **
The state-of-the-art airship “Queen of the Night” somehow managed to escape due to the invasion of the snake anemone. However, the lack of fuel was still a problem. When they crossed over to the undeveloped land “Canion”, they found a cliff just a short step away and emergency landed to hide there.
「Boss… how is the young miss’ condition?」
「She’s sound asleep. Don’t make too much noise.」
「There are only five people on this hugeass airship. It won’t be noisy even if we tried.」
In front of the room where the “young miss” was sleeping in, there was a small space in the corridor with a small table. The boss and another guy were drinking sake while munching on dried meat and crackers. Lightly foamed wheat brewed liquor was loaded in the food storage. And since it has a low alcohol content, they were drinking that instead of water.
「So, what’s going on with the Empire?」
「Well… I took a look around earlier, but not a soul was to be found. It seems that the Empire has abandoned the city and is fighting at the checking point instead.」
「Haha… it’s ironic that the checking point built to prevent foreign enemies is now preventing enemies from within.」
The boss then gulped down a glass of liquor.
「But it doesn’t matter to us. We’ll depart as soon as we settle the fuel problem. If not, the young miss’ body will not hold out—」
Before the boss could finish his words,
「——Whose body did you say isn’t going to hold out?」