Chapter 957 – Is It Not Okay to Pursue Friendship at the Training Center?

000

Shake it up!

After the long training was over, Cleon was so relaxed that he had no choice but to sit down on the ground without realizing it.

His body felt as heavy as if he were carrying a lead, but it didn’t feel that bad.

He thought he had learned many things, and he received the highest praise from Melusin.

Cleon let out a small sigh as he recalled that it was an ordeal that made him reflect on himself in many ways.

“Thank you for your effort. I believed that you would be able to pass this ordeal.”

And then, Melusine approached Cleon and spoke her words.

Her Cleon glances up at her

Although she didn’t know it when she was frantically clashing her swords, she was by no means a physically dominant person like other martial women she had seen so far.

She’s seen women who are taller than her, who have more muscles than her, or who have special body parts that don’t help her in battle.

Just pure magic power that she has trained over countless hours and as a fairy.

And, her flexible thinking that respects her opponents and is not afraid to absorb and imitate their techniques is what made her the best swordsman in her fairyland.

At the same time, Cleon, who could sense that she was a great person, was talking while looking at her.

“If you look at it this way, the fact that you were Vuvre seems like a lie.”

＂Tsk!?＂

At Cleon’s words, Melusine flinched, her shoulders trembled, and her face blushed.

“Well, please forget what happened when you looked like that! At that time, I wasn’t myself, I just existed as a demon.”

It seemed like I still had all the memories from that time.

However, it may be difficult to accept mentally.

The various things that a proud fairy knight did when he turned into a reckless and reckless demon beast.

＂Ah… But.＂

But Melusine turned her face away, her cheeks blushing, and she still spoke cautiously, as if she were embarrassed.

“I heard that you defeated the returner who captured me. Thank you Probably, if that hadn’t happened, when I was a demon beast, I wouldn’t have followed you and would have gone back into the wild somewhere and lived like an animal.”

Cleon and his companions may have come to Fairy Village after that, but Buvre may not have been there with them.

“… Thanks to you, I can once again hold the sword for Fairy King Feha and this land.”

And, Melusine bows down and conveys her heart to him with her sincere gratitude.

Cleon looked at her like that and after being quiet for a while, he answered her.

＂It happened because I was frantically trying to solve the problem in front of me… But this is it. Thank you for dealing with me. And that word from earlier.”

＂Huh?＂

When Meluzin tilted his head as if he didn’t know what he was grateful for in Cleon’s words, Cleon responded with a slight blush on his face, as if he was a little embarrassed.

“Well… He told me that I could become a swordsman like Lesia. Even if they are empty words, they are extremely valuable to me.”

In response to his reaction, as if he was a little embarrassed to say it himself, Meluzin nodded her head as if she understood.

“Ah! Hehe. I mean it. There is no doubt about it, because I have dealt with both of them.”

However, Melusine spoke confidently to Cleon as if she were guaranteeing her own words, and upon hearing those words, Cleon looked up at her Melusine with sparkling eyes.

＂…＂

And Melusine, who received that gaze, must have quietly looked at Cleon for a moment.

A man like him also has eyes as innocent as a child.

Just as Cleon felt a part of Lesia’s sword in her, Melusin also felt the same in Cleon.

The two were connected in more ways than either of them thought, and were reflecting each other.

“I think you and I could be good friends.”

So saying, Meluzin held out her hand to Cleon.

“I see. That’s a good thing.”

When Cleon stood up while holding that hand, a warm atmosphere flowed between the two.

At that time.

[Hey- Now, please save us too-]

Far away, Galatea, stuck in the ground, was calling out to Cleon.

The two swords were frozen in the ground because of Melusine’s frozen sword that fell together when they were driven into the ground.

[I’m slowly losing consciousness… I’m sleepy…]

[No, idiot! If I fall asleep here, it’s over!]

Galatea tries to wake up Caliburn by shaking her body while kangling.

Cleon sighed as he looked at the two of them talking as if they had been in a shipwreck on a snowy mountain somewhere.

“Wait a minute, I’ll take those two out and come back.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

Melusine nods at Cleon’s words.

A cold sensation overtakes his palms as Cleon leaps to his feet and raises his hands to pluck the two men stuck in the frozen place.

＂It’s cold!＂

[That’s right…]

[Because we are metal.]

Hearing the two’s giggling voices, Cleon realized that the two had been waiting for them to pick him on purpose and sighed.

“Ah. The sheath is here.”

At that time, Cleon turned around at the sound of Melusine’s voice coming from behind her, and saw Melusine holding the scabbards of Galatea and Caliburn in her hands.

＂…＂

And then we looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

Cleon quickly received her sword sheath from Melusine, returned Galatea and Caliburn to it, and hung it on her belt.

At that time, Melusin stretched out her hand.

＂Excuse me…＂

And, by pressing Cleon’s arm a little, it seemed as if he was checking its thickness.

＂…＂

Cleon will be surprised by that action, but eventually she will talk.

“Hmm… It’s not that thin. If the scabbard is heavy, I think I need to do some upper body work, right?”

＂Ah, yes… That’s right…”

Cleon responded awkwardly to her words.

As a result of her bluff, Melusine’s response pricked Cleon’s conscience.

“Anyway. Let’s slowly join the others. If His Majesty were watching, he would move us…”

As she said that, she looked around her, but even after waiting for a while, she showed no signs of transitioning.

“… Nothing happens?”

When Cleon asked that question, Meluzin also looked a little worried, placing her hand on her chin as if to say something.

“It’s strange. Your majesty? Please move us!”

After calling the king’s name once again, I and the man, Cleon, faced each other in a quiet space.

“What happened? This is a big deal. If Your Majesty doesn’t let us go…”

“What happens if Vivian doesn’t let you out?”

＂… There is no way out.＂

＂…＂

At her calm answer, Cleon had no choice but to keep her mouth shut for a moment.

However, the contents were shocking, so even Cleon could not remain silent.

“I’ll call you too. Maybe my colleagues are out there too.”

As she says this, she quietly closes her eyes and tries to mentally connect with the other companions she is connected to through imprints.

A spreading thread of magic.

However, in reality, it was blocked by a wall somewhere along the way and was refused to proceed.

＂… Is it blocked? ＂

“It seems like it was magically blocked.”

After hearing Cleon’s words, she also nodded her head.

He must have seen her imprint floating in his eyes, that is, Cleon’s magic power was spreading through the magic power, but it was blocked.

All that is around is a stretch of dirt covered ground that seems to have been created to be used as a stage for this ordeal.

“Was it like this before when Lesia came?”

“No. At that time, something like this happened… Anyway, I checked with my magic vision where your magic power was blocked while it was spreading.”

As she said that, she raised her hand and pointed in one direction.

Then, Cleon would make eye contact with her, shake his head as if he understood her, and start walking slowly in the direction she pointed.

If Melusine followed suit, the two would soon reach one wall of the space.

The space that seemed to extend forever, beyond the blue horizon, was actually a wall that blocked everything around.

However, there was some kind of illusion magic hanging on the surface, making it feel like a fairly large space.

＂… Is this place?＂

With that wall in front of him, when Cleon tried to channel his magic through the imprint again, he could immediately feel the sensation of it bouncing in front of him.

Cleon frowns at this and reaches out to reach Galatea’s waist, but then stops and looks at Melusine.

＂… Can I break it?＂

However, since it was beyond her common sense to destroy the walls of a place where she was not the owner, Cleon also checked with her.

“I would like to say no, but there may be an emergency outside. It can’t be helped. Your Majesty will understand.”

As she said that, she also created not a frozen sword in one of her hands, but a frozen mace and held it in her hand.

Certainly, it might be better at destroying walls than a sword.

＂Galatea.＂

As she spoke as if asking her Galatea, Galatea sighed and gathered her dark magic into the tip of her blade, forming something similar to her hammer.

[In this case, it is not a magic sword, but a magic sword.]

When Galatea said that she didn’t like being used for purposes other than a sword, Cleon smiled bitterly but tilted her arm back and prepared to swing.

“I will count to three and then hit. Let’s get the timing right.”

＂Ah!＂

At Melusine’s signal, they decide to swing at the same time, and a countdown of 3, 2, 1 occurs.

And, the moment it reaches 0, Cleon and Melusine’s arms swing at the same time and hit the wall where the scenery unfolds in front of them.

Kwasik! When you think you hear the sound, the stone wall behind the illusion collapses.

“… It broke easier than I thought?”

＂I see. It was unexpected for it to be this weak.”

Melusine also spoke as if she was a little surprised, and the two tried to look beyond the broken wall.

Then, beyond that – it wasn’t like another room was spreading out, it was a dark space extending far into the distance.

＂This is…＂

Cleon looks into complete darkness, unable to distinguish between top, bottom, and sides, and then looks at Melusine.

“Even if I go outside like this, I don’t think I can go anywhere…”

＂I see… I never would have thought that the outside of the Chamber of Trials would be like this. “It’s still a ruin with a lot of unknown details.”

＂…? I heard it’s a relic of trials for the Fairy King. Then, aren’t these ruins made by you fairies?”

Cleon asked that question, and Melusine looked back at Cleon and answered.

“I only know that much. Your Majesty seems to have more information… But I don’t think it will be much different from me.”

＂I see…＂

Cleon nods his head as if he understands.

Anyway, now that the wall has been destroyed, Cleon is trying to channel magic power through engraving once again.

This is my third attempt, so this time I do it without even closing my eyes, and the magic continues to go somewhere beyond the wall.

＂… It’s quite far.＂

＂The underground space is divided here and there, so it can be moved through transfer magic.＂

Melusin answered like that, but she looked somewhat anxious.

The magic power of Cleon that advanced like that-

Then, suddenly.

It was really sudden.

[Who…? Here, is there anyone else besides me…?]

There was someone’s voice that flowed into Cleon’s head.

When a ringing female voice suddenly penetrates into his mind, Cleon feels a tingle and slightly stumbles.

＂Cleon! Are you okay?”

Melusine was worried as she looked at Cleon, but Cleon nodded and glared quietly into the darkness.

＂Just now…＂

＂I felt that Cleon’s magic was lost due to something while it was flying. However… It was different from before.”

Melusine’s expression changes to something full of worry.

＂It was different?＂

＂Yes… It looks as if it has been eaten by something… ＂

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment as she said something meaningful.

However, it is still impossible to communicate with others outside.

I needed to think for myself and act on whether I could wait like this.

“… Let’s check, let’s see.”

As Cleon said this, she created a small ball of light and floated it on her hand.

And, at the same time, it rose into the air using flight magic and went over the hole in the wall.

＂Cleon?!＂

Melusine looks at the scene and lets out a surprised voice.

Even though adventurers were a fearless race, she couldn’t help but be surprised when she saw Cleon step into the darkness.

“Are you okay. It’s really just a space with nothing in it.”

As Cleon answers Melusine, she floats in the air and stops near where the magic she had been channeling through the imprint connection a moment ago disappeared.

“… Is this nearby?”

As Cleon thinks so, he looks around, but still doesn’t see anything, so he tries to turn on the light a little more.

It was the moment when she infused a little more magic and increased the brightness.

Whirling! Something stretched out and grabbed Cleon’s leg.

＂Huh?＂

Cleon was completely caught off guard because there was no sign of him, and he couldn’t see anything even though he quickly turned on the light.

And, when I looked down at my leg, I had the feeling that something was sticking to it, but I couldn’t see what was there.

However… It only feels like something’s tentacles.

＂Okay, sleep─＂

Cleon raises his voice as if anticipating what will happen next.

And, right after-

Cleon’s body continues to be sucked downward.

＂Aaaaah! Stop it! Are you going to do something harsh to me!?”

[Like adult content!? No way, if you don’t protect Cleon’s butt!]

Cleon being dragged down while letting out a strange scream.

Hearing the sound, Melusine quickly chases after him and goes outside the wall, but-

There was already no sign of Cleon, and there was only a cliff with darkness below.

＂… Cleon…＂

Melusine, who sounded vain, thought for a moment about what to do.

Soon, his expression hardened as if he had made up his mind, and he began to follow Cleon down toward the place where he had fallen.

Without even anticipating the secrets of the fairy-scented world beyond that.