Hello again, everyone who read this. Happy belated Easter. I hope everything went well on your end, wherever you are.
Let's proceed to the next chapter. See you again in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
E-Rantel Adventurer's Guild, One Week After The Demonic Disturbance In Re-Estize.
The Adventurer's Guild in E-Rantel was still as busy as ever. Adventurers of various ranks were busy with their own activities such as browsing the job board, claiming their rewards, discussing next plans with teammates, and so on. Some teams were considering to venture into Katze Plains again since the restriction on the area has been relaxed. There had been several investigation trips done by groups of high rank adventurers, and none of them found any traces of the monsters which had almost completely wiped out a Gold Rank team.
Still, despite the investigation parties finding only regular undead monsters, the guild had not removed the high-threat zone status of the plains yet. They only lowered the threat rating to medium for two reasons. One, the fact still remained that a Gold Rank team had been wiped out leaving only one survivor. Any monsters capable of pulling that feat was surely a lot stronger than the regular undead monsters, and chance of them still being there somewhere was not zero. Two, the recent disastrous event in Re-Estize might have influenced the monsters in Katze Plains, despite the distance.
The hustle and bustle within the building suddenly stopped when a group of three people entered. All the adventurers stopped their activities to take a look at the newly-promoted Adamantite Rank team known as Ignite Maximus. The team consisted of one warrior and two magic casters, one of whom was the survivor of the wiped out Gold Rank team.
The team had been recently promoted thanks to their deeds during the aforementioned disastrous event. Darkness Team had vouched for their great performance and recommended their promotion to the guildmaster, and so it happened.
What caught the attention of many people in the room today was the warrior of the team, Lily Vangraf. Due to the contrasting traits of a warrior being a short girl, she was quite well-known among adventurers. The confirmed news that she once had singlehandedly slayed a skeletal dragon had also reinforced the fame, and so it was hard for anyone else in the room to miss the obvious fact that her equipment had been updated.
Her helmet was now closer to being a full plate helmet with visor, obscuring her eyes from view. The wing decoration on her new helmet looked fancier and more prominent than her old helmet. The new pauldrons and gauntlets looked more complex in design and still looked tough, sporting a decorated cape which went halfway down the back of her legs. Instead of rigid plate armor, what she wore on her body now looked more like armored clothing, which somehow looked easy to move in and protective at the same time. Her new greaves looked tougher than her old ones, and they had wing decorations near the heel part like the helmet.
It was still easy to recognize Lily because her new looks still had the same trait unique to her alone among E-Rantel adventurers: bare thighs. Though unlike before, now she wore armored short skirts over her black tight shorts instead of the tasset which had been part of her old breastplate armor. Her weapon seemed to be still the same; two swords, sheathed neatly on each side of her waist, though her new gauntlets didn't have a shield like before.
The gaze upon the group didn't last any longer than three seconds, since it was common knowledge that staring at other people was rather rude, and nobody wanted to show disrespect towards the city's Adamantite Rank adventurers, even if not on purpose. And so everybody went back to their activities.
[X][X][X]
Tomb of Nazarick, Armory, One Day Before Present Time
"Woah!"
Ryu, Alice, and Lily herself couldn't help getting astonished by Lily's new armor set, which looked similar overall but had more complex details and decorations.
Ainz had suddenly called the group over, saying that he wanted to give some useful things. The group had not had any reason to refuse, so they had come over with [Gate] provided by Ainz, and the first thing they received was a new full set of armor for Lily.
Lily looked at herself all around, admiring the new armor set she was wearing. Though she still had not worn the new helmet, which was still lying on the nearby table.
"Thank you, Papa!"
"Well, aren't you going to wear the helmet?"
"But I'm afraid my hair will get in the way. And the visor..."
Indeed, the new helmet didn't have openings at the backside for her long ponytail hair to go through. In addition, the visor of the helmet was rigid and she would need some time to get used to the vision obstruction.
"Try it first"
"O-Okay, Papa"
Lily then took the helmet and tried putting it on. What happened next was a surprise for everyone other than Ainz. The helmet went to her head with no trouble, and her ponytail disappeared without a trace.
"Wha-?"
Lily, seemingly surprised, took the helmet off. At this point, her ponytail reappeared, which once again surprised both Ryu and Alice. Lily herself didn't seem to notice what was happening, as she once again put the helmet on.
"I-I can see? I mean, it is as if the visor isn't there!"
Lily said it while rubbing the visor of the helmet with her hands, still not noticing the matter about how her helmet somehow hid her ponytail completely. Ainz let out a little laugh at this point.
"Hahaha! That's the beauty of magic equipment!"
"This is great! Thank you, Papa!"
"There's more. Try defending as if you have a shield like your old armor had"
"Huh?"
Lily seemed to be confused but she did it anyway, putting herself into a defensive posture with her left arm in front. Immediately, her gauntlet shined and a medium-sized shield materialized there.
"Woah!"
"You can also do that with the other gauntlet, but only one shield at a time"
Lily then tried defending with her right arm, and indeed the shield of the left gauntlet disappeared as a new shield materialized on the right gauntlet. She then went back into relaxed stance, and the shield disappeared.
"Do you like it, Lily?"
"I like it very much, Papa!"
Lily was very happy and excited, but Ryu couldn't help wondering about something, so he decided to ask even though he hesitated.
"Uhh, Ainz-dono. There's something I'm concerned about..."
"What is it, Ryu?"
"Why does the new armor set still leave her thighs bare?"
"I thought to keep her overall look the same as before. Is there a problem?"
"Well, it is easier to inflict damage to exposed skin, so I'm worried. That night at Nfirea's house, the female kidnapper stabbed her thigh all the way through. There was also one time when some kidnappers ambushed her with a poison dart to her thigh. And just recently her leg was bitten off at the thigh..."
"I see your concern, but you no longer have to worry about that. Lily, stay still where you are"
Ainz conjured a sword as he said that, and then he quickly did a stab right at Lily's right thigh.
CLANK!
"W-Wha-?"
The sword was deflected by the bare skin of her thigh. There was no injury at all, not even the lightest scratch. Ainz just calmly unsummoned the sword as everyone else were bewildered.
"Unlike before, the enchantments on the new armor set are much stronger now. This is thanks to her evolution removing her equipment restrictions, so I can go all out in providing the new gear"
"Papa... why are you giving me so much?"
"Because we now have a new threat looming over this world, and as long as other ARKS are still not here, Ryu will be the only one knowledgeable about the enemies. I'm counting on you to protect him"
"Yes, Papa! I will protect him even if I have to die for it!"
"Lily, don't say that so lightly. Your life is as precious as any other residents of Nazarick, whom I consider as my own children. Even when you are protecting Ryu, you have to cherish your own life as well because you only live once"
Ainz said that, patting Lily on her back. Lily's face slightly blushed, perhaps because she was a little ashamed of her own words.
"Alright, Papa..."
"Now, let's move on to the next things I'm going to give you all..."
***Flash Forward***
Present Time, E-Rantel Adventurer's Guild
And so the sole warrior of Ignite Maximus had gotten a full equipment upgrade. Ainz had also given Ryu and Alice a few useful items, but Lily was the only one given a special treat. It was understandable since Lily was Ainz's child in a sense while Ryu and Alice were mere allies, but he couldn't help feeling a bit envious. In addition, he was also worried that Alice might felt the same despite not seemingly so.
Today, the group went to the guild just to check out if there were any jobs that would catch their interest. They actually had agreed to stay in the city as much as possible in case Darkers lurking in Katze Plains would become aggressive and attack the city, but so far nothing like that happened so they got bored waiting.
"Hey, Ryu-san. Look"
Alice pointed at one section of the job board. Ryu then noticed that one job note posted there was unlike any other. The paper was larger and seemed to be of higher quality, the writings on it were written in blue ink instead of the regular black, and the guild stamp at the bottom was more decorative than the plain stamp on other job papers.
"Is this... Adamantite Rank job?"
"Yup, haven't seen one for a long time"
For Ryu, it was the first time he saw a job of that rank. He was curious about it, since his team had just been promoted to Adamantite and this would be his first job of the rank should he accepted it.
"Let's take a look"
Ryu then read the text written on the job paper. Both Alice and Lily also read the note, and it didn't take long for them to finish reading.
"A demon has appeared in Baharuth Empire and wiped out tens of adventurers, including a promising Orichalcum Rank team. Pursue and eliminate the demon. This job is basically that"
"What do you say, Ryu-san?"
"I want to take it for two reasons, Liz-san. One, I want to experience an official Adamantite Rank job. Two, I believe Baharuth Empire is to the east, right? Someone I know went there, so maybe I can meet her by chance"
"Who is this person?"
"Mel Rose. She is a stranded ARKS like me"
"Whoa, so there is actually another ARKS? Why did she separate? I thought it was common sense to stick together"
Ryu looked around, making sure that nobody else was close enough to overhear. He then leaned over to Alice and spoke in a lower voice.
"To put it simply, she didn't like Ainz"
"Oh, I see..."
"For now, let's get briefed for this job. I bet the briefing of a job of this rank will be from the guildmaster himself"
Alice and Lily nodded as Ryu took the job note. He then went to the receptionist and gave the note. As expected, the group was told to go to the guildmaster's office for briefing, and so they went there and entered the room.
"Ah, Ryu-kun! Welcome!"
"Good to see you again, Ainzach-dono"
Ryu shook hands with Ainzach, and the other two followed.
"Ah, you have that paper, so I suppose you are going to take the international-scale job"
"Yes, so please fill us in on the information you have that is not mentioned in the job"
"Certainly. Please take your seats"
The group then sat on the available seats and then Ainzach began telling them additional information regarding the job. The demon in question first appeared at night some weeks ago and killed an escort adventurer mercilessly. A subjugation party consisting of multiple high rank teams had been dispatched the next day, but they had been almost entirely wiped out in a brutal way.
"That is all the information relayed to this guild. For further information you should meet the guildmaster of Adventurer's Guild in Rothar. Any questions?"
"Why is the job all the way here from Baharuth Empire? I believe there should be other Adamantite Rank teams over there, right?"
"From what I heard, the Adamantite Rank teams there all refused the job, fearing that they would just die like flies. According to witnesses, those who died were killed in a single hit. So both Adamantite Rank teams there decided to stand guard within the cities for defensive position advantage"
Hearing Ainzach's answer, Ryu began to hesitate. This demon could be as strong as Demiurge, and by all chances it might be a subordinate of Ainz. It would be bad if Ryu ended up interfering with whatever Ainz had planned. Still, this was his first chance at Adamantite Rank job and his own curiosity had won him over.
"Alright. We will depart as soon as possible"
"Be careful out there. Just a friendly reminder, it is not a shame to flee from an unwinnable battle"
"Understood, Ainzach-dono"
The group then left the office and went back downstairs. Once again, a lot of people down there looked at them briefly with an admiring gaze before continuing with their activities. Ryu felt a little awkward with it and tried his best to ignore it by speaking to the other two.
"Just to make sure. We are pretty much already prepared, right?"
"Yeah, this thing is practically a godsend"
Alice was talking about one of the useful items given by Ainz which she was carrying. In terms of looks, it looked like a simple travel bag commonly carried by adventurers. But it was actually a magic item which could store an enormous amount of items. In addition, things stored there would keep their condition and never decay. Thanks to this fact, the group had put a month's worth of food and drink into the bag.
"Let's depart immediately then"
The group then went outside the guild building and flew straight up. During their promotion to Adamantite, they had been told that their rank was pretty much a permanent free pass to every city and country associated with the guild, essentially giving them permission to fly over city gates and border checkpoints.
The group went into a rather high altitude which was still low enough not to have their vision towards the ground obscured by the clouds, but already high enough to make them no longer able to recognize people on the ground.
[Wind Shield]
Alice casted a spell, and an energy sphere appeared covering them. The spell's effect was to stop the wind from affecting an area, which was useful for this occasion because she was about to take out a map from her bag. Without the spell, the rough wind of this altitude would blow the map away. She took a few seconds to read the map and look around the surroundings, and then she pointed to a direction.
"Rothar is about straight that way"
"Nearly the same direction as Carne Village"
"Yes, but the distance is about three times as far. Double that distance, and you will arrive in Arwintar, the capital of Baharuth Empire"
"How long do we need to get there?"
"With our capabilities now? Just two hours, give or take"
"Let's go then"
All three of them then flew straight towards the direction Alice had pointed. Their speed was greater than when the aides of Marquis Raeven had transported them with Floating Board to Re-Estize, which was understandable since maintaining Fly and Floating Board at the same time would drain the mana of the aides too quickly if they didn't maintain the most efficient speed.
Ryu looked to his left where Lily was following him, and he couldn't help smiling in awe. The armor set from Ainz gave her access to a unique spell [Valkyrian Flight], which was essentially the same as regular [Fly] but did not consume mana at all and had no limitation unlike the Flight Necklace which had a duration limit of one hour, after which the necklace would need another hour to recharge. Ryu, being a special case, could keep charging the necklace with photon, effectively eliminating that limit. Alice could cast the spell herself and her own mana pool was more than enough to maintain flight until the necklace gets recharged, leaving only Lily with the limitation, which was no more now thanks to the unique spell.
But what made Ryu smiled in awe was the fact that [Valkyrian Flight] made Lily sprout a shiny pair of angelic wings which made her look gorgeous. Anyone not in the know would mistake her for an actual angel.
"Something wrong, Ryu-san?"
"Ah, no. Not really. It's just that... you look gorgeous with those wings"
"Huh? Uhh... thanks?"
Lily seemed to blush hearing Ryu's remark. Alice, who was positioned further to the left, then added to the conversation.
"Pretty much anyone would mistake you for a real angel"
Alice let out a little laugh after that, while Lily's face was getting more red from blushing. The trip continued anyway, and finally a city was in sight. The group stopped their flight and maintained a hover.
"Is that Rothar?"
Alice took out her map, casted the shield spell again, and checked the surroundings.
"Should be"
"Looks quite smaller than E-Rantel"
"E-Rantel is a frontier city near the borders of two other countries. It is natural for it to be large and heavily fortified"
"Yeah, makes sense. Anyway, do you know where the Adventurer's Guild of the city is?"
"Nope, never been there"
"Then we should go through the gate and ask for directions"
The group then landed near the gate of the city, and they naturally drew awed gaze from all the people there including the guards. In the end, they had no trouble entering since it was not hard for the guards to notice their Adamantite Rank plates. The guards also provided directions to the location of the guild when asked, so now the group knew where to go.
It didn't take long for the group to find the guild building, which was a three-story building. The group entered the guild building and found that the room inside was not that much different than the guild building in E-Rantel. Probably because such room arrangement was standard issue.
As expected, most of the people there stopped their activities and gave an awed look towards the group, very likely because of the Adamantite Rank plates the group wore. Ryu tried his best to ignore the stares, walking straight towards the receptionist.
"W-Welcome! How may I serve you?"
Ryu ignored the receptionist's bewilderment and gave her the job paper from E-Rantel guild.
"We are Team Ignite Maximus, and I would like to inquire for this job"
"R-Right away, sir! Please follow our staff to a conference room"
The group then followed a staff member to a conference room, which was essentially the same as the ones in E-Rantel guild.
"Would you like some food or drink while you wait?"
Ryu looked at Lily and Alice, who both shook their head in response.
"No, thanks. We're good"
"Alright, please wait a moment. The contact person will arrive as soon as possible. If you need anything, feel free to ask me. I will stand right outside"
The staff member then left the room and closed the door. The group then sat down on the available seats and waited.
"So, what do you think so far?"
"I felt like everyone downstairs back then stared specifically at me, Ryu-san. It felt somewhat... awkward"
"People tend to gaze on a person wearing full plate armor, and you pretty much are wearing one. Anyway, I can't say anything yet. Let's wait for the contact person to arrive, whoever that is"
The group then waited for another ten minutes, and the room's door opened. The ones coming in were a group of three Mithril Rank adventurers; Two men and one woman. One man was clad in partial armor befitting a warrior, the other man seemed to be a magic caster, while the woman seemed like a ranger.
"I apologize for the wait"
The bald warrior-looking man, seemingly the leader of the group, spoke as he walked into the room followed by the other two.
"We didn't wait for long. So it's alright. I am Ryu Seika. This is Lily Vangraf, and this is Alice Vegelshaft. We are Team Ignite Maximus"
"It's an honor to meet you. My name is Tibor, the ones behind me are our team's druid and ranger, Morian and Elize. We are your contact persons for this job, mainly because we are survivors of the massacre that happened"
Ryu shook hands with Tibor as he introduced himself. Everyone then sat down on available seats after exchanging handshakes.
"I have heard about the wipeout of the subjugation party. Are you the only survivors?"
"Actually, there are several others but... we are the only ones who still continue working as adventurers"
"Trauma, isn't it?"
"It's... a little more complex than that. I believe it is better so see for yourself, if you don't mind. I know one of them nearby"
"Alright, lead us"
All the people in the room stood up and walked from the room. Ryu's group followed Tibor's group, leaving the guild building and walking for several minutes towards the inner part of the city. They stopped at a simple two-story house facing a secondary street, the first floor of which was a weapon shop.
"Hey there"
Tibor greeted the shop owner, who currently had no customers. The owner, a middle-aged man, didn't seem too happy to see him.
"Oh, Tibor. What's your business here?"
"Is your brother here?"
The owner sighed hearing Tibor's question.
"Still the same. Go ahead if you want to visit him"
"Sorry about this, but is it alright if it's only Ryu-dono coming with me? The house is a little too cramped for comfort"
The shop owner just looked slightly displeased upon overhearing Tibor's words, which were quite loud and clear to begin with.
"Alright"
Ryu then followed Tibor to the second floor of the house. Across the stairs there was a door which seemed to lead into one of the bedrooms in the house. Tibor knocked the door three times and spoke.
"It's me! Tibor!"
A voice then replied from behind the door.
"W-What is your business, Tibor!? I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!"
"Come out, Kendrian!"
"No! I can feel it! It is hunting me down!
"The demon isn't here! It's been weeks already!"
"It will find me and kill me in revenge! I'm sorry! I was just following orders! Please don't kill me-!"
A wail of hysterical cry could be heard from behind the door. Tibor just sighed and turned back to Ryu.
"This is one of the better cases. Other survivors I knew either lost their mind completely and had to be put into asylum, or committed suicide"
"Makes me wonder why your team didn't become like them"
"I will tell you later, after we regroup with the others"
Both Ryu and Tibor went back outside where the others were waiting. All of them were still there, having some idle chat.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, I will tell you"
Tibor folded his arms and leaned to a nearby wall.
"There is actually a piece of information still undisclosed about this job. In truth, there is a second demon"
Morian and Elize's face turned into displeased expression as they heard Tibor's words.
"Oh? Why is that information kept hidden?"
"Let me tell you first that I actually don't agree with this reasoning, but it was the guild's decision which I have to follow. Simply put, it is to increase the chance of the job getting accepted because like I said before, none of the Adamantite Rank teams here accepted the job. Telling that there are two demons would be a deterrent to other adventurers out there"
"Desperate measures, in other words"
"Yeah. Moving on, the second demon looked exactly like a normal human, and she infiltrated the subjugation party saying that she was a lone traveler wanting to move in a group. The party figured out her disguise at the next day and captured her for interrogation on where the other demon was hiding"
Tibor sighed, and so did Morian and Elize. It was Morian who then spoke out.
"The party's interrogation method was... rough, if you get what I mean"
Alice immediately spoke out, knowing what those words meant.
"They tortured her, didn't they?"
Morian sighed again.
"Indeed, under the command of our party leader at that time. An Orichalcum Rank. The three of us didn't agree with the method, so we only watched from the side. It was really hard for us to look at the scene without feeling pity for her"
As Morian told the story, Elize's face expression showed a horrified look.
"It was horrible. I can't ever forget her pained scream as they did that to her while cheering..."
"And I guess the wipeout happened?"
"Yes. The other demon suddenly rained the party leader and his two aides with decapitating arrows. We immediately turned tail and ran, not willing to see what happened next. It was later when we knew that the other demon had wiped out most of the subjugation party"
Ryu folded his arms and thought about the info he had obtained so far. There was still no clear indication on what the demon's motive was, but it was pretty clear that the demon wiped out the party to save the other.
"So, it was fear of retribution which made the other survivors like that?"
"Yes. We are still able to remain calm because we are clinging to the hope that the other demon saw us not the same as the others"
"Are there any leads on where the demons go after that?"
"Unfortunately no, Ryu-dono. With the huge loss, the city's guild was too shorthanded to do any further investigation. In fact, we were promoted from Platinum to Mithril just to fill the holes left behind by the wiped out adventurers"
"I guess the best thing to do now is to look at the scene and see if we can find any clues. Can you take us there?"
"Sure, though it is a forest quite far from here. A full day trip by walking"
"Hmm... All three of us can use Fly, but we need you all to guide us once we're there. Is there a way...?"
In the middle of his thinking, Alice poked Ryu at his shoulder.
"I have an idea, Ryu-san"
***Flash Forward***
"Here we are"
"That's Adamantite Rank for you, huh?"
The entire group had just arrived at the edge of the forest where the wipeout had happened. Alice's idea had been simple. They had rented a carriage without horse and had Tibor's team sit on it, then a spell to reduce weight was casted on the carriage and the people on it. With that, Lily could easily carry the entire carriage and the people on it while flying.
"Let's get to the scene before dark"
It was still quite a number of hours until the sky got dark, but there was no telling how long this investigation would last, so it was better to be quick about it.
The group walked through the forest with Tibor's group at the front and Ryu's group following right behind. The natural path was fair enough to allow normal walking, so it was easy to chat while trekking through.
"Ryu-dono. Is it alright if I ask some questions about your team?"
"Depends on the question, but sure. Ask away"
"I have actually never heard about your team. How long have you been adventurers?"
"A few months, though Alice here joined the team after her old team was disbanded. We just got promoted a few days ago"
Alice then added to Ryu's answer.
"Two years for me, and you don't need to hide the fact that my old team was wiped out"
"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss"
Elize spoke out her sympathy. Alice just smiled slightly hearing that.
"Climbing to Adamantite within a few months... that's impressive!"
Tibor commented on the feat with an impressed tone. It wasn't difficult to see that he was genuinely impressed.
"Not that impressive compared to another team which started on the same day as us"
Upon hearing Ryu's words, Morian seemed to notice something.
"Oh, did you mean Darkness, Ryu-dono?"
"Yes. They climbed to this rank within less than a month"
"Impressive, alright! But don't be so humble. The fact that your team became Adamantite is already a proof of your capabilities"
Tibor laughed after saying that. Ryu was glad that Tibor finally could talk casually with him, since before now he had been speaking in a restrained manner.
"By the way, Ryu-dono"
"Yes?"
"You have every adventurers' gratitude for taking this job"
"Hmm? Isn't this just a normal thing to do?"
Morian then answered Ryu's question.
"Everybody's morale was rock bottom after the incident, even more so after knowing that none of the Adamantite Rank teams in the empire were willing to take the job. I could see it in everyone's eyes back in the guild, that your presence gave them a light of hope"
Ryu was speechless hearing that. He never thought that taking this job would have such significant impact. All the goals he had in his mind had been to experience a job of Adamantite Rank for the first time, and to take a chance of finding Mel Rose so she could be brought back to assist him in fighting Darkers and Dark Falz. He just realized that he had been taking this job too lightly.
Elize seemed to notice Ryu's expression.
"Is something wrong, Ryu-dono?"
"Ah, to tell you the truth, I took this job with a different goal in mind. Morian's words made me realize that I have been taking this job too lightly"
"It's fine, Ryu-dono! As long as we can get the job done nobody will complain!"
Tibor cheerfully spoke, and his words made Ryu feel relieved a bit.
"By the way, if I may ask, what is the goal you have in mind?"
"I'm looking for someone who went towards this empire the last time I saw her. I'm hoping to find her by chance during this job since a threat is looming over and I could use her assistance"
"A threat? What kind of threat?"
Ryu thought for a little bit. Since Darkers had already become a legitimate threat on this planet, it wouldn't hurt to spread awareness about them little by little, starting from a chat among adventurers like this.
"Ferocious monsters named Darkers. You probably haven't heard about them, but they exists. Exterminating them while protecting citizens is the goal of ARKS people like me"
"Indeed, we have never heard of them. So, this person you're looking for, is she an ARKS too?"
"Yes"
"Is she strong?"
"By all accounts, she is probably stronger than me"
"Wow, who is this person? What does she look like?"
"Mel Rose, or just Rose. She is a girl with long red hair and green eyes, and she is slightly shorter than Lily"
Tibor's team suddenly looked surprised and then their face turned grim upon hearing Ryu's answer.
"Is something wrong?"
"Ahh, n-nothing. We will arrive soon, so prepare for some wild monsters and maybe undead as well. There are a lot of dead bodies ahead after all"
While Tibor was speaking, suddenly Lily noticed something and spoke. Her voice sounded like she was excited.
"Ah, look!"
"Huh? What is it?"
Ryu looked at the direction where Lily was looking at, and then he noticed a squirrel on the branch of a nearby tree. It looked like a regular squirrel but its fur had multiple colors, and the colors were unusual. Ryu could see at least five different colors on it: green, blue, yellow, orange, and purple. In addition, it seemed that the fur pattern altered its colors constantly.
"A squirrel?"
"It's so cute! I wanna touch it!"
Without warning, Lily excitedly ran off towards the tree the squirrel was at.
"Hey, Lily! Wait!"
Alice shouted, but it was too late.
POOF!
The squirrel suddenly made an explosion of some colorful powdery substance, which quickly engulfed Lily and obscured her from view.
"Seriously?"
Alice just bowed her head facepalming while the rest were bewildered, especially Ryu. Before he could ask, Alice explained.
"Don't worry. It's harmless, though there is a rather funny effect"
A few seconds later, the dust settled and Lily came back into view. But as Alice had said, the powder had affected Lily with its rather funny effect, making her as colorful as the squirrel which had ran away during the explosion.
Ryu and Alice approached the confused and colorful Lily while Tibor and his partners stayed on the natural road.
"Am I in trouble?"
Lily said that while grinning in embarrassment. Ryu felt relieved that Lily was alright, but he was slightly upset seeing that she could be that careless.
"You sure are. That squirrel could have been something much more dangerous"
"Eheheh... Sorry..."
Alice then readied her staff weapon.
"Stand still. I will wash the powder out"
[Clean]
Alice casted a spell on Lily which gradually cleaned the colorful powder off from her body. From the speed of the gradual cleaning, it would take about one minute until she would be cleaned completely. While this was happening, Alice took glances at Tibor's team, who seemed to be whispering at each other in worried face and trying not to be heard. They definitely were hiding something.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
Curious on how Ryu's team will react when they find out that the 'second demon' is Mel Rose? Well, so do I! XD
To reply to the comment of the concerned guest, rest assured that this story will only get abandoned if I suddenly get killed in a freak accident. If that happens... well... "Fk u, fate" I guess?
See you again later!
