Chapter 333 – Criminal

000

Cleon grabbed the demonic sword and ran towards the ogre holding a huge club.

An earth-shattering slam, after avoiding it with a quick roll-

“Infernal Prison!”

A fence of burning flames wrapped around the ogre’s body.

And, as it tightens up, you burn the skin and try to burn the inside-

Another ogre was throwing a huge rock at Lyla floating in the sky.

No matter how much she defends herself with magic, if she receives that mass as it is, Layla’s body might explode.

However, the rock was split into hundreds of pieces in an instant.

“Where…!”

Beatrix emerges from beyond the split rock, sword in hand.

“Wait! If you break it like that, Emma down below will be in danger!”

Illenu’s voice from below.

Certainly, when a piece of broken rock falls down, it reveals where Emma has been hiding.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! This much can be avoided!”

After more than three years, Emma, ​​who was suitable for the journey of two adventurers who boasted monstrous strength called Illenu and Cleon, somehow escaped, evaded, and her skills in hiding were at a high level.

If she decided to hide or run away, it seemed very difficult for her monsters and people to find her.

“Illenu!”

“I know!”

When Cleon shouted, Illenu instantly grasped his intentions her and charged forward with his rapier her.

When the ogre threw the rock as a support and jumped up, it pierced the two hideous eyes with a rapier in an instant.

[GrrrrAAA!!!]

When a roar filled with screams resounded, Illenu’s rapier was imbued with terrifying magical power.

The same was true of the demonic sword Cleon held in his hand.

Then, as if the two of them were pulling each other, they gave their bodies to the attraction and rushed.

“”Cross Saber!””

In order to match the breath, shouting out the embarrassing technical name that was decided in advance seems to have become a habit now.

Using the acceleration generated by the pull of Cleon’s sword and Illenu’s sword, the two cut the heads of the two ogres at the same time.

Layla and Beatrix too. And Emma too.

Again, she is delighted that she was able to safely complete the request.

Seeing the head of a large ogre fall to the ground-

Thud! With a whoosh, Lila tumbled off the bed and landed on the floor of her room.

‘Please, I hope this is a dream.’

Lila opened her eyes as she thought.

Until what time was it yesterday- No, the expression ‘yesterday’ must be wrong.

She recalled falling asleep past midnight, like a rooster crowing at dawn.

With no one to correct her habit of staying up all night, as if torturing her body her, her lifestyle her was messed up again.

When she manages to raise her body her with a sluggish gesture, magical objects automatically fly in and adorn her body her.

Brush her hair her, change her clothes her, and even wash her face her.

As proof of her trust her, she handed one side to him, and tied the left side of her hair with the ribbon she had only one side left, and her usual Layla was completed.

Today was the start of a not-so-fun day.

With a rustling sound, he walked through the messy studio and his room and opened the door. A savory smell like butter and flour being baked stimulated his nose.

To prevent the contents of the room from spilling out, I closed the door with my magic power and closed it. When I went out to the living room, I saw Beatrix with tea and toast spread out on the table.

“Good morning, Bea…”

“Good morning… It’s already 11:30. It’s pretty early for Lila, but…”

“I don’t have plans to go anywhere, and it’s okay to wake up at what time.”

After saying that, Lila laid her heavy butt on the sofa in her living room, scratching her head.

When her soft touch her, unlike her her bed her, wrapped around her own body her, it was as if the soma, which had been distant from her a moment ago, was once again beckoning to herself.

“If you’re that sleepy, why don’t you wash your face in cold water?”

At Beatrix’s advice her, Layla shook her head with an ‘ugh…’.

“Why do I have to deliberately break this good feeling when I’m sleepy?”

“The answer is because the sun of a new day has risen.

Lila lets out a dry laugh, ‘Ahaha …’And moves her fingers to bring a piece of bread off the table to her side her.

“Oh.”

Beatrix nags from the side, saying, “At least use your hands,” But to Layla, who was in lethargic mode, it was nothing more than a warning.

Even if she did n’t move her body her, she could use her magic her to move everything as she wanted.

“Lyla… And then she turns into a cow?”

“Cow…?”

Lyla sighed at Beatrix’s words and examined her friend’s whole body her.

After coming to this town, Beatrix put the eye-catching red uniform in her closet her and put on the simple commoner’s women’s clothes.

However, even though she was wearing clothes with almost no decorations or frills, her breasts were puffed up, and somehow, thanks to her tight waist her, a tight diagonal line was created from her breasts to her waist her.

After seeing the scene, Layla couldn’t help but sigh.

“…Like Bea?”

“Who is Sora!”

When she bleeds and her Bea’s rage her spreads, Lila blocks her ear in advance and lets the reaction go.

When Beatrix let out a sigh while watching such a friend, silence passed between the two for a moment.

Tick ​​tock, I could hear the clock in the living room doing its job.

Suddenly, Lila opened her eyes as if she had remembered something, and she opened her mouth as she looked at Bea as she bit into the last piece of toast.

“Bea.”

“Yes…?”

Looking back at Layla, whose voice suddenly became serious, her bea sweeping the crumbs from the corner of her mouth her-

“Isn’t it time to go out soon? You said you had a part-time job at the school today?”

“——Oh!?”

Perhaps it was because she was too relaxed, and Beatrix, who was working as a temporary teacher at the school, an educational facility for young children in the village, had to go to work right in front of her nose.

“N-I’m late! Sorry Lila! Clean the dishes!”

Beatrix hurriedly rose from her seat, stuffed the rest of her toast into his mouth her, and stormed out of the house.

Layla let out a sigh and, lying on her back her, tried to move only her plate her —

‘…Should I move my body sometimes?’

I wasn’t worried that I would never become a cow, but perhaps I was aware that my lack of exercise had gotten worse lately.

Then, I put the plate in the dishwasher in the kitchen-

When you move your finger while saying Whirik, the scrubber and detergent automatically move to wipe the dishes.

In the end, having solved the important part with magic, Layla turned her body and glanced at the watch.

It was still until noon, but Emma was nowhere to be seen.

‘Is it time that she went out to work as an inn, even Emma.’

Emma, ​​Beatrix, Illenu, and Lyla.

In this small mansion where four women live, it is Beatrix and Emma who are earning their living on a daily basis.

Illenu’s body is weakened because he has not been able to vampirize since he lost Cleon.

Furthermore, the side effects of her vampirism were not erased, her enhanced vampiric blood, her robbing her of her resistance to sunlight.

In place of Layla and Illenu, who have fallen into lethargy, thinking of the two of them working every day to earn her living, Layla feels sorry for her, but she can’t help but feel that her motivation her is not welling up. Hate

Previously- this never happened.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Lila isn’t doing anything.

While she was a wizard, she was also an excellent alchemist.

If it was a medicine that was needed in such a rural area, there was almost nothing that could not be made, so when another colleague who was touring the village took the order for the medicine, a high-grade medicine came out in just about a day.

There were even rumors of how effective the medicine was, and even came from the next village, but Layla was able to pass it somehow by telling the villagers to be careful not to spread the news to other villages because Layla is a body that is chased .

Of course, the return you will get will be reduced, but it is better than putting your colleagues at risk.

However, the villagers did not think that it was Lyla who created the medicine.

Although Layla hated her gossip about herself, she even pretended to be Beatrix’s creation of her.

The prickly image of Lyla is reminiscent of her specialty, fire magic of destruction and incineration.

Of course, the attribute of ‘flame’ is typical, but there was also a positive aspect called ‘regeneration in ashes’.

To those who are unfamiliar with magic, she has only the perception of a dangerous eccentric wizard.

As a result, even when she went out to her village her, her gaze her toward Layla was stinging.

Aside from Illenu, the other two are actively interacting with the villagers and somehow earning money to live together as friends.

In the eyes of others, Layla clings to such others, making her look like a leech that eats up the money they’ve been making.

…, Laila let out a self-deprecating laugh at the thought of her supposed image of herself and her ‘lethargy’ of her in part.

Leech… Leech.

Before she was kicked out of her academy, wasn’t that what she shouted to the Senate?

Negative thoughts cause a negative past, and depression accumulates as rust on the body because it is not washed away.

Feeling frustrated, she suddenly looked out the window and saw sunlight falling from the blue sky.

Although it was a light that troubled Illenu, it was an indispensable existence for humans.

And- suddenly thought Layla.

‘Photosynthesis is necessary.’

In the studio, which was always dark, even the windows were covered with curtains and work was carried out by relying on magical lights. Layla had fewer opportunities to get sunlight than Illenu.

Perhaps, this lethargy can be cured by improving your relationship with such sunlight.

I had read in a book somewhere before that the energy of the warm morning sun actually exists.

How long has it been since he went outside other than to buy magic ingredients?

Lyla Flamewatch taking a walk for a change of pace.

That too, not with anyone, but alone.

When he heard it, he would laugh inside the coffin.

“At this time, Illenu will be in the plaza… Now, where should I spend another meaningless day?”

As Lila said, she left the house.

She said so, but up until this point, Lila wasn’t feeling too bad.

…Even up to this point.

001

What spoiled Lila’s mood was, of course, the cheeky little boy in front of her, ‘Solina’.

It’s not like Layla would say – a kid.

Lila is also a 19-year-old girl at most.

Lila, who is relatively short even among her party her. ‘Solina’ was a girl of about the same height as Layla and Illenu, the tallest member of her party.

However, if she was sitting still, the side of her lila would come to the higher level of her eyes.

As she watched her her, who had been suppressed by her own magic pressure her, and she was finally freed her, she was breaking out in a cold sweat, Lila twitched the corners of her mouth.

She had stopped because of Illenu’s restraint her, but when she recalled what she had just said, Layla’s ardor still flared up.

“Now then, let’s hear it again? You’re suspecting me of what I’m doing in the tomb ruins?”

“You’ve all been listening…”

Solina looked away from her words as if to her dismay.

“Yes, I was listening. So? Why were you talking about that to Illenu?”

“I-I was just trying to hear the circumstances!”

“Aha. Hasn’t this Lyla Flamewatch been acting suspiciously lately?”

Layla’s words made Solina shrink even more.

Illenu gives Lyla a look that seems to tell her to calm down a bit as she pushes her Solina.

Then, Layla looked at her for a moment—quietly—and spoke her mouth her once more.

“Wilhelmina Workers.”

“…?”

Illenu and Solina tilted their heads at the resonant words that sounded like someone’s name that suddenly jumped out of Layla’s mouth.

“Did you doubt me without knowing that…? That’s the name of the ‘necromancer’ sealed in the ruins you mentioned.”

Solina stood up from her seat as if very surprised by Lila’s words her.

Lila, who had been eye-to-eye with her naturally, had veins forming on her forehead from the fact that she had to tilt her head up, but for now, she decided to wait and see what her Solina would say.

“Oh, how do you know!? None of the villagers know! As expected, Laila-san, to that ruin…!”

“The first thing I did after I came to this village was to read through the book in the ancient language that the village chief kept. There is no one in this village who can speak the ancient language, so there is no way you can read what is written in it.”

“You mean you’ve read all those books?”

Solina, too, had seen the items written in the ancient language kept by her village chief her.

But, of course, even to Solina, who couldn’t read the ancient language, what was written in it seemed like nothing more than her crawling earthworm her.

“Except for the ancient language, no expertise is required. It’s just a journal entry of when this village was born.”

It’s easy to say, considering that ancient languages ​​are also a high level of expertise, she could feel once again that the position of head of the academy was not obtained by chance.

“There was nothing written that would appeal to me. The only interesting thing about her is that she was a vampire named Wilhelmina, and that she was originally a companion of the hero.”

“… A vampire, a companion of the hero?”

It was Illenu who responded to the word vampire.

Of course, what Solina cared more about was the fact that the next word, the vampire, was the hero’s companion.

“Yes. Wilhelmina was a warrior’s ally, and at the same time a necromancer. Now it is widely recognized that necromancer is an evil magic that enslaves the dead, but in ancient times this was not the case. Among those who use necromantics, the There were also those who helped them to communicate with the spirits, or who brightened the way for their companions by receiving advice from spirits still wandering this world. In ancient times, they were called ‘spiritual mediums’.”

In the past, such people were able to see and hear more than ordinary people, so they were often referred to as wise men and sat in a high position in the group.

“…Why did such a person… Become hostile to the hero?”

In response to Solina’s question, Lila continued her story as if she had meant to.

“I think there was one more companion of the hero besides Wilhelmina. But when that companion died during the adventure, Wilhelmina said she would revive him and left the hero’s party on her own.”

“…”

Necromancer is the act of turning the dead into dead bodies, not magic that turns the dead into living ones.

The only thing that could do that was the miracle of the highest-ranking clergyman in exchange for the life of a sorcerer.

Even that was a spell that was prohibited from being cast or even prepared unless it was an extremely special situation.

“Eventually, Wilhelmina went mad and tried to raise her death force, and her champion, who came to stop her old comrades, cut her down and sealed her in the tomb of her remains… It’s the whole story. Really, it’s a legend that’s so cliched.”

Lila let out a sigh and shook his head.

This kind of story is one of those stories that spread everywhere on the continent, just by changing the characters and jobs.

Although there weren’t that many cases where the actual remains were attached.

If you simply look at the structure of the story, there was nothing special about it.

“Now, is there anything here that I would be attracted to? Necromancers and vampires don’t matter to me. Wilhelmina says she made herself a lich before she died… Becoming a lich doesn’t interest me either. .”

The feeling of wanting to be with someone, even if it means enjoying eternity, is dead.

As Lyla spoke while swallowing her sentences, which seemed to boast of her own solitude, Solina looked at Layla with a slightly embarrassed face-

Soon, she lowered her head.

“…Sorry, I doubted…”

“Well, I’m well aware of how people perceive me. It’s been a while since I’ve been outside, so I’m like this. It’s better to stay at home.”

Layla and Solina, who were sarcastically speaking, still couldn’t raise their heads.

“…Lyla, she’s apologizing properly.”

Illenuga, who was quietly watching the scene, helped Laila with a word, and Laila let out a sigh and spoke.

“Yes, I know. Really, the way he speaks is the same as that one, so he reminds me of everything…”

Like that, pouring out complaints once and for all.

“…So? If you don’t like someone coming and going to the ruins, I can investigate.”

“…Jung, are you sure?”

When Solina lifted her head as if surprised by Laila’s words, Illenu opened her eyes slightly and looked at Laila.

“Why, what.”

“No… It seems like it’s only been a year and a few months since Layla took the initiative to help others…”

“Sometimes I help out with Emma and Beatrix’s chores…!”

Layla tries to engage in a futile battle of nerves, but she sighs and turns around.

“Uh, where are you going?”

“Wherever, that’s where your brother is. If I told you, wouldn’t you give me permission to go there?”

When Solina asked, Layla gave a sullen answer.

Certainly, Solina was just a village girl, and she couldn’t grant her permission to access the ruins maintained by the guards.

“That’s right…! Then, let’s go together! I’m sure Reese will be happy that we’ve had a good time!”

Solina, who wanted to be of her brother’s help her in some way, as she talked, she took the lead and led Lila to the barracks.

“I might be a little late today.”

Layla hurriedly turned her head to talk to Illenu, who waved at her hand her with a small smile.

002

“No.”

“Haa… Yes. Then it can’t be helped.”

“For a moment!?”

Rhys refuses at once, Layla gives up too easily. And Solina, who raised her screaming voice in bewilderment.

When the three beats were done at a good tempo, there was a silence as if a comic conversation had ended.

Soon after, Reese clears his throat and tells Solina.

“I’m sure, I would have told you not to care. After talking about it… Bring the culprit?”

At Rhys’ reaction, which seemed to be absurd, Solina said “Ugh…” And frowned at her as if she had nothing to say.

Lila shook her head and said.

“I just overheard it. If you don’t allow me to investigate, at least refrain from ‘meaningless’ things like spying on me.”

“…I know that you are not interested in the ruins. But that is only your story. As the captain of the guards, I must prepare for anything that poses a danger to the village.”

At Reese’s words, Layla thought to herself something like ‘this stuffed guy…’, But she decided to put up with it for now and let out a sigh.

Even in his words, she had some truth.

Of course, from Lila’s point of view, who had no idea what to do, it was an unfair false accusation that limited her range of action to her.

As long as she was confined to the workshop anyway, her daily life her did not change, whether there was surveillance or not.

But even so, she was the kind of character that Lyla had to say.

“In the first place. Why do you limit access to the ruins to humans?”

“…What do you mean?”

At her Lyla’s words her, Reese raised her eyebrows and looked back at her.

“Since it is a ruin where a powerful lich is sealed, it is true that mana is flowing out of course… It is said that humans are not the only ones attracted to the scent of such magic.

“…The traces seemed to be human, but…”

“Have you ever seen a humanoid monster? Orcs and goblins. Orcs, in particular, still have a culture that values ​​​​necromancy, so I think the odds are high. In addition… There are traces that a country guard like you can find, do you think I’ll leave it behind? I can fly in the sky, and I can move most things using magic. If I had that in mind, I’d be confident that I could walk around the ruins in one day and leave no footprints or handprints.”

In response to Laila’s confident answer to her, Reese raised her finger between her brows with a sigh.

Certainly, the traces that were found were always ‘human-like’, but it was not known whether they were definitely human.

Besides, it was also true that if a powerful person like Lila was the culprit, there would be no way they would be able to find traces at the level of the guards.

If that happens, the timing just coincidentally overlaps.

Laila and Illenu’s colleagues had nothing to do with the ruins.

Seriously, if the humanoid monsters appeared because they were attracted by the magic of the ruins…

‘…It’s not strange to think that monsters are better than having to deal with Lyla Flamewatch…’

Reese thought so, looked at Laila blankly, and nodded her head knowingly.

“I’ll gather a member of the guards and investigate the vicinity of the ruins.”

“Well, then I-“

Solina held her hand her, and Liss held Solina’s hand her.

“Have you already forgotten what I said earlier? There’s no need for you to be involved here. Solina. If the opponent is really a monster, the guards should deal with it.”

“Ha, but if the monster is too strong…?!”

“It’s our job to deal with monsters like that.”

Reese said that and then quietly turned her head to Lila.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Layla. We will take care of it from here on out.”

“When you die, I’ll pick up your bones and bury them well. If you die near the ruins and become undead, led by Wilhelmina’s magic, you’ll end up looking ridiculous.”

At Layla’s teasing words of hers, Solina looks at her coldly.

Reese rather nodded her head at her words her.

“Solina. Go home. And be prepared to go to the capital. This is a request from her older brother her.”

“…Lease…”

Solina tried to say something to her brother’s words her, but she just clenched her fists and bowed her head.

Maybe, what he said is right.

She herself, she had already ignored him once, and she had embarrassed herself and him alike.

“…Okay. Then… You have to be careful.”

After leaving her words her, Solina left the barracks.

However, Rhys questions Layla, who does not leave her seat her.

“…Anything else to say?”

“… You, if you try to carry anything on your own like that. You’ll die soon.”

Layla spoke in a way that seemed to remind her of someone somewhere.

Her expression was a little darker than when she entered the barracks.

“…”

Reese, thinking he knew it best, only nodded his head.

003

From the day Reese started investigating the surroundings of the ruins with the guards.

And, from the day Solina left town for her entrance exam to the Holy Knights

Three years passed.

Investigating the surroundings of the ruins, there were traces of monsters that had not been found through patrols alone until now.

Dealing with them wasted time and manpower, and the days of re-examining the ruins were repeated.

Ryla also looked around the ruins secretly from the guards when the investigation was too slow.

Even if traces of what seemed to be human were found, the reverberation of magical power was not felt.

Could someone really be visiting the ruins?

If it was a monster, there should have been a thicker reverberation.

Nothing much has changed in the village.

In a town like this, change doesn’t come easily.

As long as there was no stimulus from the outside, like when Illenu and the others appeared.

It was a repetition of daily life as if time had stopped.

“Illenu…!”

Beatrix’s sad voice rang out.

And, Illenu’s condition was getting worse.

No, I couldn’t call it a disease.

In any case, they were simply dying slowly due to a lack of essential elements for the vital activity of living things.

He could have been fine if he drank someone else’s blood, not Cleon’s.

However, Illenu stubbornly refused to do so, and was just trying to calmly accept the approaching death.

That it was for himself and his others.

It was because Illenu was aware of it.

Beatrix, Ryla, and Emma too.

Because it seemed like he was wasting his life his, chained to his immobilized self his.

“Please, Illenu. Either one of us is fine, so drink our blood…”

Even Lyla asked for that, but Illenu just shook her head with little effort.

Hansako’s reason for refusing blood was, of course, the guilt of drinking the blood of his comrades.

It was because he still felt the existence of ‘it’ that still remained in him, albeit weakly.

“…Emma…?”

“… I wasn’t in the room, I think I went out to work again.”

Emma has been quietly leaving the house lately.

Both Lyla and Beatrix seemed to be trying to get rid of the depressed mood caused by Illenu’s illness by simply immersing themselves in their work.

However, Beatrix just shook her head as if she could n’t understand Illenu’s absence her.

… Of course, seeing Emma’s emaciated face her made her heart ache more than making bitter comments about her.

“It’s time to finish work, so I’ll come and pick you up.”

Saying that, Lila got up from her seat.

When Beatrix nodded as well, Illenu said that she was asking for help, and she fell asleep with a faint sound.

Layla erased the weakened form of her comrade from her line of sight her by closing her eyes and turning her body around.

We walked through the village where the night air was chilly and went to the village inn where Emma worked late.

From cleaning to laundry to cooking.

It was also the best place for Emma, ​​where she could make full use of her specialty, housework.

But- the landlady of the inn just tilted her head at Laila’s visit her.

“Emma? If you’re Emma, ​​you’ve already left work a few hours ago.”

“… How many hours ago? Didn’t you always work until this time?”

“Ah, it’s like that for a few days, but I’m leaving work early for one or two days a week. What, didn’t you know?”

Laila felt a sudden chill at the innkeeper’s words in her.

… Emma’s demeanor was so natural that no one noticed her.

No, she wasn’t exactly suspicious.

Like herself or Beatrix, she hasn’t trained her magic or martial arts enough to do anything, she’s just a normal human being.

She may have some deviations, but it was honestly difficult to imagine the scene where Emma, ​​who always shows a bright side, deviates.

At that time, when the inn door opened, one of the guards rattled and brought something inside the cloth.

“Madam! I ate well today!”

She seemed to have come to return the lunch box she had received.

Come to think of it, she seemed to be what Emma had been talking about.

Originally, Solina asked her to deliver it to Rhys, the captain of the guard, but she liked the quality of the lunchbox, so she ended up asking the inn for everyone.

It was a big deal for Emma, ​​too, because she had a lot of work, but she was happy to cook and deliver, she said.

“Ugh, since you guys always go out to work in the woods, our employees have to go there to deliver them.”

“I’m sorry. The investigation around the ruins took too long. But whenever I see Miss Emma smiling and coming to me when I’m having a hard time, my energy rises, right?”

“Emma…”

When Lila heard the two of them talking, she hurriedly turned around and ran out of the inn, as if she had remembered something.

‘Undetectable reverberation of magical power… A person who is not strange to see in the vicinity of the ruins…’

Biting her lower lip and flying up with her flying magic, she heads towards the ruins.

As she passes through the forest road and looks down from the sky over the ruins, Layla casts her spell.

“Clairvoyance.”

If you complete the magic by drawing the target you want in her head her, rather than simply strengthening your eyesight.

Her eyes her turned naturally to the shadows moving on the ground.

“Ugh…!”

Then, she descended rapidly to the ground and ran towards the figure she had found.

Feeling that someone was approaching, she also skillfully ran away, but it was meaningless to Layla, who could fly.

Then, as Lila grabbed the shadow’s wrist, she called out her name.

“Emma!”

She, their trustworthy, ‘normal human’ colleague.

Inside the ruins, she stood with a large shovel in her hand.

“Lyla…?”

Then, seeing her Lila holding her own wrist her, she opened her eyes wide and faced her.

“Was it you…!? The one who was in and out of this ruin…!”

Lyla’s voice her, startedled by her unbelievable fact her, echoed through the clearing of the ruins.