Ch 174.2
To keep the intruder from escaping, I put up an intimidating magic barrier around the house and pumped magic power into my right hand.
Once he comes out, I’m going to strike him…!
I kept my artificial arm at the ready while I quietened my breathing.
I heard the floorboards creaking as someone walked over them and slowly approached me.
The moment I saw the intruder’s silhouette, I threw myself upon him and shouted as I cornered him against the wall.
「Don’t move!」
However, the body of this person seemed much smaller than I had expected.
When I took a closer look, I realized that the silhouette belonged to someone I knew.
「Wha-what’s going on!?」
「…Elise?」
Her red hat fell to the ground with a rustle.
Seeing that Elise seemed to be having a tough time breathing, I took my arm away from the base of her throat.
She coughed with teary eyes as she slowly moved to sit on the sofa in the living room.
「…Why are you here?」
「…I was asked by Claude-san… to come and look after a friend who is here…」
Saying that, Elise produced a key to the house as evidence.
It appears that Claude had beat me to the punch.
As usual, she sure is attentive to others. Nice job, Claude.
「Sorry about that. I thought that there was an intruder. Thank you for coming all the way here.」
When I expressed my gratitude, Elise’s face turned red as she looked away.
「I-It’s not as if I did it for you! It-It was at Claude-san’s request… I just had no choice!」
「I know. But I’m still grateful.」
「H-hmph!」
Still flushed, Elise looked down.
She might be strong-willed, but unexpectedly, this girl seems like quite the shy type.
When I accidentally chuckled out loud, Elise stared at me.
「By the way, did you notice that there were monsters outside?」
「Oh yeah, I encountered one earlier, but I sent it flying.」
「…You must be quite strong huh… You even treat that black monster like it’s nothing… As expected of you…」
「What did you say?」
「I-It’s not like I said anything! Then, I still have work to do!」
Elise was in a fluster as she stood up and left the house.
As usual, I don’t get her.
When I went into Lydia’s room on the second floor, I found her sleeping there.
I grabbed her by her exposed shoulders and shook her, but only her breasts shook while she showed no signs of awakening.
「Hey, wake up, Lydia! Hey!」
「…」
No response. She’s sleeping like the dead… Just in case, I checked that she was breathing, but she wasn’t budging at all.
Lydia usually has a bad sleeping posture and talks a lot in her sleep… This time she must have been pretty worn out.
…There’s no helping it, I guess I’ll have to carry her on my back?
「Heave… ho.」
I dragged Lydia out from the bed and somehow put her on my back.
Ugh… She’s heavy… in various ways.
Especially the weight of those lumps pressing against my back… They’re exceptionally heavy.
《Zeph! That lounge of black lizards is approaching the house! What happened to Lydia!?》
Milly’s voice rang out in my head.
I firmly re-positioned Lydia on my back while I responded to her.
《Umm, Lydia is fine. She’s still asleep though.》
《…Even if Lydia may be asleep, I hope you’re not doing anything weird to her during this important time…》
《There’s no way I would do that, would I?》
《Hmm… never mind, then.》
《In any case, come back here. Since Lydia is showing no signs of waking up, we’ll ride Uruk to take shelter at the association.》
《Yeah yeahh.》
I dismissed Milly’s complaint and asked her to head towards the house.
As I walked while carrying Lydia, I felt a pleasant sensation of something bouncing on my back.
…Milly, I have to say, I’m not doing anything weird though… This is simply what is called a side perk…
When I stepped outside the house, Lydia stirred awake on my back.
「Mm~ Zeph-chi~?」
Lydia murmured in a sweet voice at my ear. Did she finally wake up?
At that thought, Lydia suddenly chewed on my ear.
「H-Hey Lydia! Don’t bite me!」
「Mguu…?」
Lydia continued play-biting on my ear.
The strange sensation sent shivers down my spine and I subconsciously let go of Lydia.
「Howaah!?」
Lydia quickly responded and clung tightly to me.
She was still half-asleep earlier, but now she became wide awake.
When I turned my head to look at her, our eyes met while our noses almost touched, and Lydia’s face immediately turned scarlet.
「Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-What!?」
With the unusually long stutter, Lydia moved like a wild animal as she distanced herself from me and jumped onto the house’s roof.
She’s way too flustered. In the first place, I’m the one who’s supposed to be flustered and stuttering here.
「…Heyyy, come down, Lydia.」
When I called out to Lydia, she timidly peered down at me from the rooftop. Her face was redder than you’d normally expect.
「Erm… Why is Zeph-chi here..?」
「I came here to wake you up.」
「Is the Heavenly Mage Festival already over?」
「I guess you could say that, but… I think it’s quicker to show you the current situation.」
I snapped my head in another direction and Lydia followed my gaze.
There stood a giant black dragon, Tiamat.
「…Wow, what’s that? A huge lizard?」
「It suddenly appeared at the Tower of Heavenly Souls. Many other types of black monsters have also appeared on the streets.」
The air vibrated as Tiamat’s footsteps echoed.
When I looked up towards the monster, I realized that the number of ice lances raining on it has decreased significantly.
The interval between the sounds of Tiamat’s footsteps has clearly shortened, while it has also gradually grown louder.
The dispatched mages’ attempts to block its advance have clearly reached their limit.
「That’s why, Lydia. Let’s hurry and escape.」
「Mm, you’re right.」
Lydia leaped off the roof and dashed right past me.
「Hey, where are you going?」
「I’m going to check if there’s anyone left behind! I’ll just check on our neighbors, at least!」
Lydia waved me goodbye while she deftly dodged the Mushussu’s attack and ran off.
She sure is energetic, for someone who just woke up not too long ago.
Look in front, in front… Well, if she can move that well, I’m sure she won’t lose to the monsters.
It’s Lydia after all, it should be fine even if I leave her alone.
「Zeph!」
As I saw Lydia off, I heard a voice from the sky.
With a whoosh sound, I saw Uruk flapping his wings as he descended.
Oh right, I had asked Milly to come over earlier.
「Sorry to keep you waiting! …Eh, wait, where’s Lydia?」
「She had already gone off because Milly was too slow.」
「What! I even flew here at full speed…」
Seeing Milly’s crestfallen look, I felt my lips curl into a smile.
「He he, I’m kidding. She just went to check if any of our neighbors were left behind.」
「Geez! Don’t be silly at a time like this!」
「Sorry sorry.」
Milly was so amusing that I couldn’t help but tease her, but she’s right that this isn’t a time for jokes.
Tiamat raised its head and howled towards the sky.
「Uwooooooo!!」
The air shook as the reverberations from Tiamat’s howl reached even this far away.
Meanwhile, the ice lances that were about to pierce Tiamat were broken under the impact of the soundwaves.
At this rate…
「The city is in danger… right?」
Milly verbalized the rest of my thoughts.
「Umm, let’s join in the fight.」
「Mm!」
I’ve no idea how much help we can be, but if we just left things as they were, the city would be destroyed soon.
This is the city we’re living in after all. We ought to protect it too.
Several Mushussu can be seen here and there, but there’s almost no one nearby who is still trying to escape.
They could have escaped, or they could have been attacked and lost their lives… In whichever case, if there is this much space, I should be able to Teleport around.
「Giruru…」
I was about to cast Teleport to quickly get past the Mushussu in front of me, when a gigantic pillar of water poured down from the skies and crushed it.
「Gagi…」
The Mushussu tried to move, but even more water bullets rained down on it, drowning out its groans.
It was as if all the rain in the area had come together in a storm of water bullets.
Is this… Blue Bullet?
The Mushussu tried to force his way out, but it was simply impossible for him to move.
「Gah…ah…」
Together with its hard scales, the Mushussu was flattened, but that wasn’t the end yet.
The monster began to regenerate its squashed parts right away.
Black monsters tend to regenerate themselves even when some physical damage is dealt to its body, so long as their magic power is not being shaved off. As expected, this monster has the same characteristics.
「…Won’t allow that.」
Shortly after, a man’s voice came from the sky.
Once again, water bullets rained down on the regenerating Mushussu like a waterfall.
As I had thought, that doesn’t seem like just a Blue Bullet spell… It seems like an arrangement, or maybe something was added to the original spell.
Mushussu’s body, which was almost fully regenerated, bore the brunt of the attack, while the land surrounding it was also being eroded with a thunderous roar.
A few moments later, the roar ceased.
I peered into the large hole that was gouged out from the land, and in it, I saw a man and the vanishing Mushussu.
The man wearing a blue jacket noticed my presence and he quickly pushed his glasses back and turned to face me.
His sharp gaze gave off an intimidating air, and his hair was short, while strands of it stuck out in places, probably because he had a bad case of frizzy hair.
He looked to be in his mid-twenties, and most of all, he looked strong.
Within him contained a quiet but heavy, oppressive magic power.
A crest was proudly affixed on the collar of his jacket. It was a green crest adorned with five stars, in other words, the crest of the Aqua of Aqua.
A Heavenly Mage…!
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