Chapter 22 – The Stagnant Water Was Starving.

Lucia and Asta were confused by the unexpected situation.

“Why on earth is no one coming out?”

“It doesn’t seem like there are any people living there at all.”

Even though it was thought to be a simple task, no one thought about leaving the house when they called. The windows, outer panes, and even curtains were closed, so I couldn’t look inside.

“I can feel there are people inside…”

A search using a marker clearly indicated that there were people inside. It would have been somewhat understandable if they said that they were scared and didn’t want to come out because strong monsters kept attacking them.

“Asta, do you see something strange?”

“Not a single guard is visible, as are the villagers.”

If that’s true, wouldn’t it be normal for the guards to continue working? It may have been a ruin, but it seemed strangely unpopular for a village where many people lived.

“What’s the problem? I don’t think there were any records of cases like this.”

“Not even the teacher has ever told me this.”

Neither Lucia nor Asta had any knowledge of this situation.

“Wouldn’t Tiaran know something?”

“… A Gold-level adventurer might have this experience.”

In the end, all that was left for them to do was ask Tiaran. Because he was the most experienced among them.

‘We really depend on Tiaran.’

Asta thought blankly. Now that she had been with him for a while, she had become accustomed to acting and thinking according to his opinions. Even Lucia, who was said to be wary of Tiaran, wants to hear his opinion even in this situation.

‘What did Tiaran do in the past?’

It was hard to think of him as an ordinary adventurer.

‘Master said that adventurers are no better than barbarians.’

When they decided to hire an adventurer, what they were most worried about was behavior rather than skill. Perhaps because of his name as an adventurer, he is talked about romantically by bards.

There is also the fact that people with unknown origins or status can easily obtain status, so it is common for people who are planning to commit crimes in a certain territory to be caught pretending to be adventurers.

Therefore, considering their special situation, they hired adventurers through recommendations from the guild leader. I thought that if it was a serious matter, they would appoint someone with good health.

‘Lucia seems to like it too.’

Although Lucia often complained, Asta seemed to like her Tiaran. He might get angry if I tell him directly.

“There’s nothing we can do. Let’s join that person.”

“Okay.”

That was the way they were returning to the confluence point.

“But Asta, what is it that you like so much about that person?”

“Ugh?!”

Asta had never thought that Lucia would ask her this question first, so he bit his tongue.

“Gaga, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“But this is the first time you’ve seen Asta act so proactively?”

Asta’s face grew even hotter at the sight of Lucia poking her with a smile as if she had discovered her fun toy.

“Ooh, ah! That!”

“Hmm, what about that?”

As she repeated what she said, not paying attention to her own embarrassed voice, she ended up crying. Because she never thought particularly deeply about why she had such feelings for Tiaran.

If you think about it, it is true that she was curious about his free-spirited manner of doing things without hesitation, without worrying about what anyone thought.

It may seem unique, but that’s why Tiaran was like the adventurer Asta admired when he was young.

‘How can I say it was something impulsive!’

But even putting that fact aside, it was definitely an impulse that caused him to have this strange feeling that tickled his heart.

‘Who started it!’

Asta glanced at Lucia. Yes, if only someone hadn’t done that with Tiaran’s fingers that were asleep first.

When he, who I thought was asleep, woke up with me, I felt my heart drop. He thought he would be pounced upon as soon as he encountered him.

He never thought that he would actually criticize him. Because of this, her curiosity grew even more, so the next day she tried to encourage him again.

‘Ha, why me!’

Even Asta never thought she would do something like that.

‘Big, hot, something…’

The atmosphere of that day came back to me again, the urge to inadvertently get wet underneath, the feeling that filled my mouth…

“I don’t know!”

“Huh? Really?”

“I don’t know!”

Eventually, Asta grabbed her face with both hands and spun her around to avoid Lucia, who was trying to look into her face.

“Newbies! Here and here!”

“Hey!?”

At the sudden sound of Tiaran’s voice, she quickly hid behind Lucia, who was chasing her. In fact, from that day on, Asta had to put in a lot of effort not to reveal what had happened.

‘What if they think I’m a slut!’

What kind of old woman in the world would act like a fool holding the finger of a man she met just one day, and even swallow his things with her mouth on the second day?

It was only later that Asta realized what she was doing and kicked the blanket she was sleeping on several times. She had somewhat forgotten that Tia Ran’s training was difficult.

‘I was rough with my hands… Ugh!!’

Once she started thinking about it, the feel of his hand came back to her unconsciously, making it even more difficult for her to see Tia Ran with her mind.

‘Puh, I heard you’re cute.’

Lucia swallowed her laughter as she approached Tiaran, leading Asta to hide behind her. Was it because of Asta’s personality that they became closer than expected?

‘At first, I thought he was a stern man because he was a warrior.’

How surprised was I that it turned out to be a woman of my age?

“I discovered the identity of the monster.”

“You already figured it out?”

Just before Lucia remembers the first time she met Asta. She was startled by Tiaran’s voice interrupting her. They couldn’t even see the faces of the villagers.

“The monster nestled in the forest is a class A rust python.”

“Rust Python?!”

The Rust Python was a monster that spewed poison so strong that it could melt metal weapons and armor.

“Mr. Raina…”

“She sent me back first. She recognized the path from the villagers, so you can follow her.”

Even if it was a guide to the village, you wouldn’t be able to take the receptionist with you to hunt monsters. That was when they followed Tiaran out of the village.

“Lucia. Stop.”

“What’s wrong? Asta?”

For some reason, Asta caught her and stopped her.

“Who are you imitating Tiaran?”

“… After all, a hero is a hero?”

Lucia opened her eyes wide at the next words. Tia Ran, or rather, someone who was imitating her, looked back at the girls with admiration for Asta’s words, as if she had no intention of hiding her identity as soon as it was discovered.

“But how did you know? Her fantasy must have been perfect?”

“The way he spoke was strange, but I could see the totem but no sound.”

“Totem…”

When Tia Ran first met them, she did not sell the goblin totem she had acquired to her guild.

“Why would you carry that totem?! It’s useless, right? That!”

“It’s useless! Because it’s useless, it’s useful to be called Rukta!”

Even though Lucia begged her to sell it due to the strange looks of people who kept flocking to her, she made such incomprehensible noises and decided not to sell her totem but instead carried it with her.

“[Laudo Tellum]!”

As soon as Lucia realized her situation, she fired the fastest spell she could use at her opponent, who was imitating Tiaran.

“You also have an impatient personality.”

“What… Kyaaa!?”

However, her attack was easily wiped out by her opponent’s hand, and she quickly came in front of Lucia and swung her sword.

“[Color Kaido]!”

-Kaang!!

Fortunately, Asta took the lead and blocked his sword, but her expression was not so good.

“Ha, it’s a holy sword. And it even has a Maka that uses light.”

“Wow…!”

‘Asta is being pushed out?!’

Lucia was astonished at the sight of her opponent, who had started to crush Asta with only her strength without even using her Maka, but she immediately tried to use her Maka to help her. 〉

“[Raudo…] Huh?!”

-Aww!

On the way, she felt something sharp flying towards her and quickly avoided it, and sure enough, there was a trace of something cutting her where she was.

“It’s not as unusable as I thought. It’s much better than most Macasias.”

‘Nonsense. You clearly didn’t even swing the sword?’

Lucia was being trained by Tiaran, and she broke into a cold sweat thinking about what would have happened if she hadn’t instinctively avoided it.

“Ageuk…”

“Asta!”

Meanwhile, Asta collapsed. She tried to use her Maka to save her again.

“[La…] Ugh?!”

“Kaheuk?!”

Soon, even that failed as he kicked Asta in the stomach and sent him flying into Lucia.

“It seemed like there was a lot of potential. It’s a shame. Consider it a misfortune that we met so early.”

“Cough! Tiaran, Tiaran. What did you do?”

Asta glared at him as he approached her, clutching her stomach and groaning.

“You’d better stop thinking that he’ll come to save you. He’s probably caught in Laurentia’s trap by now.”

“Lauren, Sia?!”

They opened their eyes wide. The world is full of dream horses that fly long and long. However, there was only one demon named Laurencia, the famous succubus queen, one of the demon king’s limbs.

“You all know that there has never been a single man who has escaped her charm.”

“Ah, ah.”

Tears leaked from Asta’s eyes. Because there was no one who didn’t know what it meant to be possessed by her succubus queen.

“You don’t have to worry. We captured you like this and treated you as our slaves… Ugh?!”

-Wow!!

“Why don’t you stay away from us newbies?!”

But he could not continue speaking. He tried to block something that flew out of nowhere with his sword, but the impact caused it to bounce off with a clanging sound.

“How dare you touch newbies?”

Next, a voice that became familiar to them was heard.

“Tiaran?” “Mr. Tiaran?!”

The owner of that voice was the real Tiaran.