Chapter 95 – Abduction – Necessity Named Fate (5)

At the unexpected reunion, I stared blankly at her figure. Two legs that are perfectly attached and two blue eyes that come face to face instead of eye painting. And the flawless skin felt very awkward. But Vanessa didn’t know about that, so she brusquely opened her mouth.

“Is that Luca?”

“It is.”

“The swordsman who was specially served by the imperial family.”

“Okay.”

“Ha…Yes. I guess so.”

As I felt a strange sensation, Vanessa pursed her lips while squinting her eyes. Then, he crossed her arms and spat out in a very indifferent voice.

“So it seems that you are naturally short-talking. If it was like before, I would have said that I spoke short-spoken at the border.”

“Ah.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Um…This wasn’t intentional, it was habitual…”

“If you come to our nursery school, you’ll get along very well. There are also a lot of rude kids there.”

It’s not because it reminds me of the past. However, it was an excuse that would not work for anyone in this world, so I couldn’t say it out of my mouth. So when she put on her displeased expression, her weather hurriedly stepped forward.

“Calm down, Vanessa. It’s because she hasn’t seen the outside world in a while.”

“I’m not angry. How could I be angry with an honored guest in the imperial family?”

“Are you serious?”

“It would be very sad if we sincerely accepted that. It is a secret operation to infiltrate the core of the land of demons by forcing busy people to return to the unit.”

“Hmm…”

“Isn’t it, Mr. Weather?”

Vanessa grabbed Weather’s shoulder and let out her heavy breath. Although it didn’t contain her smoke, it still smelled of stale cigarettes.

But she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Then she let out a thin sigh of hers, this time towards the sky.

“Well, relax, detective man. No, an investigator or something. Anyway, as long as you get paid, you should do your job.”

“…Thank you for your understanding.”

“I think there is one more person to serve than that. Who is this?”

As Weather rubbed her eyes with another strain of fatigue, Vanessa moved towards Ellie, this time. Ellie hid behind me, avoiding the smoke from her cigarette, and then she poked her head out.

“Nice to meet you, Vanessa, my name is Ellie, but you don’t have to worry about her too much. I just followed her husband.”

“Husband? Are you Luca-san’s wife here?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“Hmm. That’s right.”

Vanessa gave a sudden look of interest and she looked back and forth between the two of us. Then, as if to confirm again, she asked me this time.

“So that means you two are a couple.”

“By the way. Is there something wrong?”

“No. I just asked. As a priestess of the goddess Ennesic, the goddess of life, it’s always interesting to see the source of her birth.”

“…Hmm.”

“Anyway, it’s time to go to work soon.”

Vanessa lifted her head with a lighter look on her face while I had mixed feelings about the name Enne. Then she smiled sweetly as if she had become a different person.

“That’s why Luka-san is the first to be in the land of demons.”

“Well… That’s right.”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard beforehand, but around this time of year is the spawning season for goblins, so if you go now, you’ll see hordes of demons swarming all over the place. If you’re unlucky enough to have their festival period overlap, you’ll truly experience mountain hell.”

“…”

“But don’t worry. Our talented detective has asked for help from the demons. And you may not see it that way, but I’m a veteran with a lot of experience.”

I know that better than anyone. At that moment, much of my doubts about the guide were dispelled, but Weather continued to ask if he was still uneasy.

“So Vanessa, could you explain to me how to get to our destination? We’ll take a carriage, too, right?”

“It’s similar. I’ll go with a mule, not a horse.”

“As expected… Wait. A mule?”

“Yes. The roads in the land of demons are basically rough and rough, so you can’t ride a horse. A mule is much more comfortable.”

“But aren’t horses much faster? And mules smell…”

“The speed is about the same. It may be a bit slow. But, well, it’s not urgent, is it?”

Vanessa smiled and walked right past Weather. The same goes for her attitude towards Rachel in her old days, to the point where she suspects she has some kind of sadistic tendencies on her part. Meanwhile, she whispered in a low voice, asking if Ellie was amused by Weather’s bewildered look.

“Why, I guess I couldn’t see the future this time?”

“No. I did, but…”

“I just thought it was a cute looking horse…”

The mule-drawn wagon was not as bad as I thought. Anyway, I’ve ridden it before, so it didn’t matter, and Ellie said the mule looked cute, and she really liked it. The only one who was dissatisfied was Weather.

“…It smells a lot. It shakes a lot.”

“The shaking is because the ground is rough, detective man. And the smell will be fine with time.”

“No. It won’t be okay with time.”

“That’s something you don’t know.”

“I’m sure.”

Weather, as if foreseeing his own future, curled up in his corner and began cursing his inevitable fate. He was a pretty pitiful sight, but he didn’t seem to change anything if he cared. Vanessa seemed to have had similar thoughts and soon turned her eyes to us.

“So you two are a couple.”

“By the way. Is there anything you want to say from earlier?”

“No, just. Like I said, I just enjoy seeing people who love each other.”

“Is it.”

I don’t think I was like that before. But on the other hand, if you think about it, she was the one who never gave up her belief in her goodness even in that hopeless world, so she could have been what she saw that way. While I was lost in my thoughts, Ellie began to speak softly.

“At first I was a bit intimidated by the impression, but you seem to have a really deep heart, Vanessa.”

“I hear things like that. People are surprised when I say I’m the head of an orphanage.”

“I see. It’s exactly what I’ve been told.”

“Yes? Who did you hear me from?”

“No, just…Somewhere.”

Ellie looked at me and blurted out her words. Then, to defuse the situation, she brought up another story.

“More than that, Vanessa-san, do you have someone in your heart?”

“The only way a priest can express love is through faith. I’m half-let go, but I’m still part of the Ennessic Order.”

“Still, Vanessa must have had many opportunities to meet men for a priest. Did you really have no feelings?”

“Well, my ideal type is a rich man.”

Vanessa suddenly looked into space. Then, as usual, he lit a spark on the tip of his finger and answered.

“Well… Maybe one day I’ll meet someone I love. But there hasn’t been a decent man yet. Am I really picky, or are the men in the world so messed up?”

“Do you have an ideal type?”

“Well. For example, he’s a man who doesn’t seem to die no matter where he’s thrown. I guess it’s because I’ve seen a lot of guys who die so badly on the battlefield.”

“Hmm…”

“As expected, it’s too picky. That’s why it’s so amazing to see someone who just falls in love with anyone. I once saw a knight who fell in love with slime…”

“Ah, I’ll pretend not to listen to that. I tend not to listen to gross things.”

“…It’s a rather interesting story. Listen to it and see.”

His voice was a bit bitter, but his eyes were clearly smiling. Come to think of it, he wondered if this was the first time he’d heard a personal story from Vanessa. Her conversations with her in the past were always filled with vengeance and hatred.

If you think about it like this, it might not be such a bad thing to reunite with your fate.

“Anyway, that’s why it’s fun to see others love me. Should I say it’s a kind of vicarious satisfaction?”

“I understand now.”

“It’s the same now. It’s quite fun to see the two of you holding hands like that.”

“Ah…Well…”

“The most important part of love is sharing even the smallest moments.”

Vanessa smiled as warmly as ever. It even felt pretentious because she had never seen her before.

After staring at us like that, she suddenly added a nonsensical word.

“…But the most important thing is the birth of a child after all.”

“Uh…Yes?”

“Do you two have children or plan?”

“Um… I have a plan…”

“There are plans, but you’re still there. Well, being pregnant doesn’t always go the way you want. And after giving birth, you go through a lot of hardships because of childcare. I’ve even seen a lot of couples fall apart because of it. A child who should be blessed. Birth becomes the seed of discord. How unfortunate.”

“Excuse me…”

“That’s what I’m saying, so don’t misunderstand.”

Vanessa, who had been following her words like a rapid-fire gun, suddenly pulled her thick stack of papers from her bosom. Then she held it in front of us and went on with her words.

“Adoption is not as bad as one might think, contrary to popular opinion. As you may know, women’s bodies deteriorate a lot before and after childbirth. Then, in the early days of childrearing, they go through hardships and become a aunt. The same goes for men.”

“Hey Vanessa…”

“At night, the baby cries for food. Even the strongest men can become devastated in an instant if they go through such a thing a few times. However, adoption is not like that. Skip all the difficult processes and start with the really fun part!”

“Thank you for that, but…”

“Don’t do that, take a look. These are the nicest kids in our nursery school. Would you like to start with the girls? First of all, this is Celie, and she is very pretty. And she doesn’t call her Kate, but she is very smart. Is Bella…No, that’s okay. Anyway…”

“Vanessa.”

At that point, I slowly opened my mouth. Ellie was perplexed, and she hadn’t heard of names in a long time. Facing Vanessa’s blue eyes like that, I brought up a thought I had been thinking for a long time.

“After hearing it over and over again, it seems like it costs a lot to run an orphanage. Because the facility will have to bear the pain of childcare.”

“It is, but it’s not necessarily that way. I just…”

“I’m going to need a lot of donations too.”

“That’s true too. But…Um.”

“…”

“…Do you have anything to share with me?”

At that moment, her eyes subtly lit up. I, too, did not have the ability to convey emotions with my eyes, but I made eye contact nonetheless. While we were sharing such strange glances, Ellie quietly spoke to me.

“Lucca. I think there’s something I need to say before that.”

“That’s right, Ellie. Actually, I should have told you first. There’s that…”

“No, not that.”

“Huh?”

“It’s coming from above. Can I not care?”

Only then did I raise her head in the direction Ellie pointed at her. But it was already too late.

Sizzling flames were already covering the sky with huge shadows.

“Gooooo!!!”

“Damn it, Ellie…!”

“Huh…!”

I momentarily tried to cover Ellie with her body, but Ellie had already risen from her seat and stretched out her hand toward the blazing flames. Just as her outstretched fingers trembled slightly, the entire sky distorted and flames began to eat into her subspace.

“Gooooo!!!”

“…What a crazy world.”

“Ah…Damn it.”

To the truly ignorant response, Vanessa and Weather each came up with their own reactions. In the meantime, the dragon shut his mouth without showing any embarrassment, and swooped down, pressing down on the ground with all his might. Then, with a loud bang, the whole ground cracked and dozens of rocks sprang up like waves. Seeing that, I spoke to Ellie in a low voice.

“Ellie. Take care of the others.”

“Okay, I get it.”

Then, with all his might, he jumped into the air.

The air high in the sky was cool and wet his lungs. In an instant, the old senses returned, and I felt a thrill at the tips of my fingers. It seems that my body was longing for this moment, despite the years I had been hiding.

It was as if the world was shouting at me, asking why I had come back only now. I, who was floating with such a strong perfume, spurred the air and plunged to the ground in an instant.

“Whoa…”

…

As I caught my breath in the dust that rose up, the old memory of recklessly rushing towards the demon army came to mind. Even then, there was obviously a huge enemy in front of me. However, unlike then, the enemy now had dark red scales all over its body, not pure white feathers.

Moreover, the size was incomparably enlarged. The Demon Dragon, who had been glaring at me with the force of a mountain, drew in a full breath and let out a frenzied sound.

“Gooooo!!!”

“…Ugh.”

In an instant, I felt as if all the air around me was being torn apart and even the space was distorted. The teacher I met after a long time was crying out to the world with a more ferocious spirit than I thought.

What is so disappointing about it? Nadia struggled in a miserable life even after she had once corrected her destiny. With a thin sigh, I drew my sword and spat out a word to myself.

“I think you’ve become really useful now.”