Chapter 576 (1/2)

Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?』

「Oji-chan, I think they have arrived」 (TLN: Uncle)

『They’re finally here, huh…?』

My partner, who had better detection abilities than me, was staring out the window of the inn.

It was already nighttime. The stars were shining bright in the sky, and the curtain of darkness had fallen.

But I was sure that my partner could feel it. He could feel the presence of the many people within the darkness of the night.

Not many people had that ability, even for an E-ranked adventurer. In particular, his ability to sense presences and danger had grown remarkably as a result of struggling on his own for years.

On the other hand, my ability to sense things had dropped significantly since I got into my current body. I guess it was because my survival instincts and intuition had been dulled. However, I am now able to sense things that I couldn’t sense before.

I focused my attention to look for any presence. Even though I don’t have the same accuracy as my partner, I could still sense the presences if I concentrated.

And Indeed, I could feel the presence of a large number of people outside the town.

They were finally here, huh?

10 years… It felt like it had been a long time, but it also feels like a blink of an eye. But I couldn’t turn back time, so I had to be prepared.

『It looks like Romio was also there』

「Yeah. But he’s crying like a baby as if he doesn’t know what’s going on, which is annoying」

An annoyed look showed up on my partner’s face as he spoke about Romio.

『Don’t say that. It’s normal for someone of his age, right? For a child like that, all he sees must be new to him』

「You’re right…」

『There’s also that damned High Elves near Romio』

I guess it was just like before, huh? I’ve brought Magnolia’s bloodline with me in case of emergency.

We were the ones who leaked the information about Romio and Zelos Reed to lure that High Elf. We thought it would be better than them being captured by Zelyse and treated as lab rats.

But was this really the right thing to do? That High Elves also had her eyes on the sealing technique that resided within Romeo after all.

At this rate, we’ll just end up in the same situation as before… But we had prepared to prevent that from happening, so we should be fine.

「As expected of a High Elf, her presence is so tremendous」

『I’d like to beat her to death, but It’s impossible for us now』

「She’s too strong. I just realized how monstrous a High Elf is at my age」

『…』

She had killed my previous partner before, and now, she might kill my new partner too.

But I must prevent that from happening.

However, I couldn’t find any hint of dislike or hatred on my partner’s face when he talked about the High Elves. On the contrary, he seemed to genuinely admire her.

『Are you sure you want to do this?』

「This is the surest way」

『That’s true, but…』

「I’ll do my best to prevent that from happening again」

『Well, unlike last time. Zelyse won’t intervene this time. The seal has loosened considerably due to the replacement, but we can still manage it for now』

「I’ll do something about it too」

『Ou』

It seemed that this slow-witted kid had learned to talk some sense.