Chapter 6 (1/2)

ALPHA.

Chapter 6: Maou and Hero, Meeting the Rabbit Part 2

The Maou, Pearlnight, and the Hero, Yomawari Meguru, are walking down the path connecting the Maou Castle and Hals.h.i.+on City.

Having finished with all the shopping, they’re on their way back. Even though Meguru is holding two ma.s.sive shopping bags in both hands, he’s not walking any slower than Pearlnight.

「Fumu, the place lacked more goods than I’d expected」

Turning around, Pearlnight, who leads the way, throws a question at Meguru.

While he thinks that a town that big shouldn’t have lacked goods and citizens…

「No, I don’t think it’s like that? I’m not sure, but we were able to buy everything we need」

「Well, fumu, that’s probably true…… But I still don’t get it」

「Hmm…」

…he half-ignores her and continues walking.

For some reason, at times like this, Pearlnight is unusually sharp.

This is the first time Pearlnight and Meguru travel as mere Adventurers but not as Maou and Hero. There were many times where they would fall into some sort of dilemma because of Pearlnight’s sharp perception.

That’s why, had Meguru thought a little bit more carefully about the matter…

…he would’ve realized that the strange distribution of goods in that town was probably caused by supplying military troops somewhere else.

Maybe, there weren’t many people there because they’d all run away, fearing the soldiers.

At this point, if Meguru has realized that much… …he could’ve prevented the death of the Bunny family – though, it’s just a possibility.

However, the two of them couldn’t arrive at the correct answer.

「Well, even so, they really mistook you as an errand girl or something」

Meguru laughs.

「Shut up…… That old woman didn’t really mean it like that. If she looked a bit closer, she’d recognize my matchless beauty」

Pearlnight says.

With a strange tone.

「She even gave me some candies and freebies. It seemed like a good thing to me」

「That’s good, then. You’re not losing any accepting that after all」

「You’d better stop talking about people’s problems like that. In fact, Meguru isn’t that much taller than me, so it’s the same with you」

「No, my lack of growth is because of the negative effects of magic. If it wasn’t because of that, I would’ve grown a lot taller by now. You should understand that much. Otherwise, I won’t be able to live with it…」

「That’s definitely a common pattern……」

Pearlnight says, not stopping her steps.

She’s in a somewhat bad mood. She was cranky because somebody treated her like a kid in Hals.h.i.+on, but the main reason for her bad mood is probably because she couldn’t get her hands on the spider threads she asked for so easily. She managed to buy some subst.i.tutes, though.

However, she keeps walking without saying it out loud.

At one point, her path changes from a paved road to a dirt road surrounded by trees.

A world where there’s a road directly connecting the Maou’s castle with a town certain exists somewhere out there, but, since Meguru is only a luggage-holder, he buries that question deep down and simply follows Pearlnight.

After the two of them have quietly walked for quite a while…

「……Hn?」

Pearlnight suddenly tilts her head to the side.

「What’s wrong?」

Meguru, who doesn’t understand what’s going with her, raises a question.

「Well, come take a look at this」

Saying so, Pearlnight points her finger at something. Meguru turns toward where she’s pointing at. There, a number of unnaturally chopped trees are lying around.

「What……the heck is this?」

「At least, it’s not the work of a monster. It’s obvious that whoever did this was running away from something. But, if they were running away from monsters, why would they use this kind of technique……?」

「……Pearlnight. Is there a settlement of Beast People around this area?」

Having noticed something, Meguru asks.

「Hm? Beast People huh…… Yeah, I think there’s a small tribe not very far away from here, but what about it?」

Pearlnight tries to grasp Meguru’s intention behind that question.

As soon as he hears Pearlnight’s response, Meguru dashes forward at full speed, tracing the route that person might have taken.

「Ah! Oi! Where are you going!?」

「I’ll explain as we run! Just hurry up and follow me!」

Pearlnight begins to run after him.

「Wait, what are you doing? What do you want to do!?」

「I’ll go save that guy who’s being chased」

「Hah?」

Pearlnight raises a hysteric voice.

「Are you serious? It’s a bother, you know?」

Pearlnight asks, confirming his words.

Besides, in no time…

「I’m serious. I really am. Besides, it’s not like I’m going in blind. If I’m not wrong, the guys who have been chasing that person could be those Magic Armors made by Cecilia from the Magic City of Enterisk. If we’re lucky, we can capture one of them to interrogate」

「Enterisk, huh…… Why did those guys have to go all the way here? Besides, what does it have anything to do with the Beast People you asked about?」

…Meguru enters a bad mood because of Pearlnight’s question.

It’s as if he doesn’t want to talk about it.

After a brief silence, Meguru opens his mouth.

「That b.i.t.c.h Cecilia only does live-experiments on Beast People. She only wants to invent new magic even if she has to experiment it on herself. I didn’t see it directly, though. I did hear her talk to the Magic Department in Enterisk once in the past. At that time, she was trying to use Beast People as materials to make something. I don’t know exactly what it is, though」

「That’s why they’ve come all the way here just to capture Beast People? This place is so far away, though…… There are Beast People near their national borders too, you know? ……Don’t tell me」

Having realized something, Pearlnight becomes speechless.

Then, to confirm her thoughts, she speaks again.

「They’ve already hunted all the Beast People near their area……?」

「I don’t know. We’ll know when we’ve captured one of them. Don’t kill all of them, alright?」

「Got itーーOi! I see something!」

After running for a few minutes, the scene of a Bunny Girl sitting on the ground surrounded by three machines enters their field of vision.

Machinery SFX

The noises those machines make echo all the way to where Pearlnight and Meguru are.

「Meguru, what should we do?」

「What are we gonna do? We save her. That’s a real Bunny Girl right there! She’s so d.a.m.n cute even from a distance」 [TN: BAHAHA]

As soon as he says that, Pearlnight frowns.

「I’m cute, too……」

Her mumbles are unfortunately drowned out by the noises those machines makes.

『『『We shall not harm you if you give up on resisting. Obediently following us is highly recommended』』』

Synthetic voices echo throughout the area.

Hearing that, Meguru and Pearlnight quietly make eye contacts and leap into the air.

「G.o.d OR WHATEVER! SOMEONE! PLEASE SAVE ME!」

As a perfect follow-up with the girl’s scream, Meguru forces his way through.

「I ain’t no d.a.m.ned G.o.d, but imma save you anyways!!!」

「Good grief, you’re such a stupid trouble-magnet, oh well, it’s fine. I’ll use this opportunity to test out my new Spider Threads」

Also following up his words, Pearlnight says.

It’s not an exaggeration saying that they appear out of nowhere.

However, the machines aren’t letting down their guards, either, even though they’ve cornered their prey. If anything, they’re on full vigilance; the fact that two people have appeared before them doesn’t confuse them one bit.

As if not understanding the situation, the machines spoke in synthetic voices.

「「「Don’t get in our way. Do you know who we aーー」」」

「I know who you are」

Meguru cuts them off.

「You belong to the Mobile Unit 『Valkyrie the War Maiden』 of the Enterisk’s Magic Troupe, right?」

Hearing those words, the machines’ synthetic voices become fl.u.s.tered, despite them being just machines.

For them, this pair of one boy and one girl isn’t their target this time.

The order pa.s.sed down to them was ‘avoid any unnecessary battle and make the Bunny Girl their primary target’. For that reason, they’re puzzled for a moment. In reality, they shouldn’t have hesitated at all.

They could receive an attack from the enemy during that one second of hesitation.

The one second they hesitated was fatal.

「Hey, how about we make a deal?」

Meguru says, taking a step forward with a smile on his face.

「I’m a kind person. I don’t want to kill anyone, if possible. That’s why, if you give up on this target, I’ll pretend I’ve never seen you guys. And since I’ve never seen you guys around here, you guys wouldn’t have seen us before, either. You guys didn’t see anything, so we also didn’t see anything. On top of that, if you guys don’t kill us here, we won’t kill you. A person’s life can’t be taken so lightly. I think there’s some s.p.a.ce for negotiations between us, don’t you agree?」

「「「Do not mock us!」」」

Having said so, the machines take battle stances.

No, they’re about to enter battle stances.

They notice a strange condition where they can’t move their arms, legs, or even their entire bodies.

「I see. That’s the end of our negotiation, then. There’s no helping it. It really is a shame. It’s a shame that my partners don’t know how to discuss things out」

Meguru makes an eye signal at Pearlnight.

Having received that signal, Pearlnight shakes both hands, which have a pair of light-brown leather gloves on, like a musical conductor. That moment, the machines’ bodies, which are covered in steel, begin making metallic noises as they’re slowly being squished.