Adventure 23 ─ Festival

After the worm incident, we returned home and reported what had happened. The royal family was confused and frightened. Angely asked me for more details, so I told her everything that had happened.

"I understand. I'll send some knights and court magicians to investigate. This cannot be left like this," said Angely. "I even tried to find out about the giant squid, and there's no response."

"Lion, take a break. You've been working a lot and need to rest," she added.

Alice opened the window and pointed to a certain place.

"There's a festival in a nearby village today. We should all go."

"That sounds good, but we have work to do," I replied.

"Just look at your sister working without complaining."

We observed Mary's face; her eyes were hollow, and she was muttering things.

"Why are there so many expenses? Where does the money go to make the country's debt grow so much?" Mary was clearly experiencing the horrors of administrative work.

I remember it well: spending sleepless nights and drinking energy drinks to stay awake, it's hell itself. Alice approached and whispered in my ear:

"Hey, why don't you take Eliza-san for a walk while we finish up here?"

"Eliza?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm sure she'd love to spend some time with you. When was the last time you went out together?"

"I don't remember."

"Then take her and enjoy yourselves…"

Suddenly, there was a tremor, causing Alice to fall silent. We all knew it wasn't an earthquake but something else. I sighed and said:

"Don't worry, I'll give Eliza and someone else a nice gift."

"Sure."

I was about to leave when I saw Mary collapse.

"I can't take it anymore! It's too many numbers!"

We all tried to calm her down.

◇

The neighboring village is an hour away by carriage, so we arrived just in time for the festival. The villagers were preparing everything; it would start soon as the sun was setting. Next to me was Eliza, wearing an outfit chosen by Alice. On the other side was someone unexpected.

Years ago, she attacked the kingdom. She was a strange black dragon named Sapphire, belonging to the Six Dragon Pillars, creatures that spread happiness in the world until an extra one appeared, corrupting them all, and they became the Seven Calamities. The culprit was someone who reincarnated as a child named Fenrir.

He retained his dragon powers, combined with his blessing of devouring everything he saw, making him the most dangerous being on the planet. Imagine opening your mouth and everything around you is swallowed by a void. That's Fenrir's ability.

To make things worse, he could become a werewolf and regenerate his wounds. Thanks to Eliza's railgun and Sapphire, we managed to defeat him. He's the only enemy, after Thor, who made me feel it was impossible to defeat him.

Back to Sapphire, when she took human form, her skin darkened, her hair turned white, and her eyes red. She changed her name to Olizia so that no one would be frightened by the thought of a fearsome dragon turning into a human.

"Oh, look, husband! This thing called pudding is delicious. It looks so weak but is so delicious," exclaimed Olizia.

"Master, I'd like to have a pudding too," said Eliza.

"Do you want one?"

"I don't want one; I need it. I'm seeing various couples eating together, and I want to feel like one of them. We can have intimacy, but that doesn't mean I can get pregnant like the others."

"Eliza, please don't speak so loudly. Others don't need to know what we do."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to emphasize that our third wheel shouldn't be here."

It was evident that Eliza wasn't happy with Olizia's presence. I approached a vendor on a corner who was selling the pudding Eliza wanted. I took out some money, and just as I was about to order...

"Master, dodge!"

"Huh?"

I heard a strange sound. Something was behind me and delivered a powerful kick. I felt my skull crack as I was sent flying into a building. Lying on the ground, covered in blood, my healing blessing activated. I got up and saw my attacker: a humanoid with the appearance of a jaguar. Curiously, the jaguar also had white skin and red eyes.

Eliza and Olizia rushed to attack. Olizia's hands turned into those of a lizard, while Eliza drew a rifle and aimed at the jaguar. The monster quickly ran to avoid the attack. It ran on all fours, darting around. Olizia chased it, attacking in every direction. Her attacks were easily dodged, even though her speed surpassed mine.

"Lizia-sama, please try to keep it from escaping!"

"Understood."

Olizia positioned herself in front of the jaguar and used her magic power to create several copies of herself. The copies looked real, but they weren't. The jaguar was confused, but it was too late. Eliza approached and fired several shots. The jaguar was riddled with holes like cartoon cheese.

I got up late as my regeneration took a while. I approached them.

"Sorry, it caught me off guard."

"It doesn't matter; the monster is defeated, so…"

A dry sound followed, and Eliza was sent flying, parts of her body destroyed. I looked in the direction of the blow and saw Olizia with a hole in her abdomen. The jaguar, who should have been dead, stood before me, regenerated. I grabbed Eliza's rifle and, before aiming…

"Do you think you deserve this?" the jaguar spoke to me, its voice raspy, like a smoker's, as it approached.

"I repeat, do you think you deserve this? You don't deserve it. You don't deserve any of this. You should do everyone a favor and die."

I didn't understand what it meant, but I didn't care. I charged at the jaguar, and it jumped to a rooftop. With Eliza's rifle, I fired in its direction but only hit the roof.

(It's excessively fast.)

The jaguar leaped from roof to roof, trying to land a critical blow on me.

(I finally understand. The jaguar, the squid, and the worm are accomplices. But they all feel different. Why is the jaguar the only one who spoke?)

It doesn't matter; what matters is eliminating it. I began to condense my magic power into the rifle and then used the blood on my shirt, depositing it inside the barrel.

"Die! Scum like you doesn't deserve this!"

I aimed the rifle at the front direction where it appeared, pulled the trigger, and the bullets pierced the jaguar's body. Not before it attacked me. It kicked me, sending me to the center of the village. It approached to deliver the final blow, but at that moment…

"…"

"…!?"

Its body began to blacken. If someone tried to use my blood to heal, they would be poisoned as a punishment. The jaguar started to rot, writhing on the ground.

"You don't deserve… you don't…"

The jaguar melted away completely. I healed myself and went to see Olizia.

"Lizia, are you okay?"

"I am. It was just a light blow."

"I understand. I'll go check on Eliza. Be right back."

I ran to Eliza and checked her artificial heart. It was still beating.

"Master, I'm sorry," she said in a melancholic tone, feeling guilty for letting me get hurt.

I hugged her and told her she was wrong.

"You're wrong. You did your best. We defeated it together, and that's what matters…"

"…"

I turned around as I felt something strange.

(That was bloodlust, no doubt. Someone was watching me, but I can't locate them.)

"Master?" Eliza asked.

I focused on her.

"It's okay. We're going home."

Three consecutive attacks by creatures with the same skin and eye color, there's no doubt that something suspicious is happening.

_________________

The final fanservice belongs to you-know-who.

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/4262173

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/7393285