Chapter 45 (1/2)
Chapter 45: Arrival and Appearance
A large area of the city had burned and disappeared due to Lapis’ magic spell.
But apparently the effective range of the spell was longer than it was wide, and the damage reached close to the president’s mansion.
While Loren felt a cold shudder inside looking at the great deal of damage that was done, Lapis walking along the traces of her spell in a carefree manner, conjured a magic light on the tip of her finger and secured vision around them.
“Why now?”
“I’ve used a gigantic magic spell. They know our location, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Lapis said it like it was nothing.
Loren was confused at her words, and asked her the question that of course, had to be asked.
“Then why did you use such a spell?”
“…Hehe”
After a moment of hesitation, Lapis stuck her tongue out and gave Loren a deceiving smile.
“Don’t ‘Hehe’ me”
“No, but I needed to use a spell like that to defeat a bone dragon. I used it because I needed to.”
Lapis switched to a serious expression and started explaining, Loren continued to look at her with a skeptical gaze and pressed on.
“In reality?”
“I think a weaker spell like > would’ve been fine.”
Surprisingly, Lapis plainly admitted that she chose the wrong spell.
The current situation was because Lapis, who was holding back the whole time, let loose all her pent-up feelings in the form of one of her flashiest magic spells. But since she had admitted it so plainly, Loren thought that it was stupid to blame her any further and decided to change the subject.
“The spell you just used. It’s unrelated to the number of times you could use Divine Arts, right?”
“It’s not related at all. They’re completely different. I can still use Divine Arts three times.”
“Didn’t you say you could use it two times before?”
“I’ve grown a bit since then.”
Loren didn’t know what growth was for a priest, but if the number of times she could use Divine Arts increased, it was something to be happy about, and the progress itself wasn’t something to be worried about.
“Time to go, I guess…”
Lapis smiled as Loren decided to think of it as he could get injured an additional time now and suggested that they move ahead.
“That’s the most constructive action.”
Undead shouldn’t have emotions such as fear.
But maybe there was a chance that Lapis’ magic had struck fear among them.
That was how smoothly they reached the president’s mansion, without running into any undead.
Loren thought that a leader of a nation would be living in a castle of some sort, but the mansion that they reached had quite a fine structure but was far from being a castle.
It was surrounded by a moat, with a somewhat tall wall on the other side, and past it was the mansion, so to Loren it looked like a fortress.
On a normal day there would be soldiers stationed on the bridge to protect it, but currently there was no one to be seen.
Loren and Lapis crossed the empty bridge, went through the gates, and stopped in front of a s.p.a.ce that seemed like a yard that led to the mansion.
“You’re quite reckless to have come all the way here.”
In the middle of the yard was a stand that looked like a stone altar.
On top of it was Shayna, who wasn’t moving at all, wearing a white dress that looked like the one she was wearing when Loren and Lapis first found her in the forest. In front of it was Shutel, who was now wearing a black robe.
Around it was bonfires, giving off enough light to see across the whole yard.
“You’ve got bad taste. What are you up to?”
A girl laid on top of an altar.
It looked like an evil ritual for worshiping some evil deity, and Loren raised his sword and glared at Shutel.
“This is all for accomplishing the work that my master has left.”
“Who the h.e.l.l is that master you’re talking about? What are you trying to do to a young girl, you pervert?”
The corner of Shutel’s lips twitched. At the same time Lapis, who was watching the situation beside Loren, burst up in a small laugh.
Watching Lapis’ cover her mouth with her hand and trembling from trying to keep the laughter in, Loren continued to insult Shutel.
“I’m not interested in the words of a pervert. You’re so called master must be more perverted you are. Perverts like you should rot in h.e.l.l, since you’re undead anyway.”
“W-what!? You uneducated savage!”
“I won’t completely deny uneducated and savage, but I know not to put my hands on a young girl like that. You can’t even do that, you pervert.”
“Age doesn’t matter! This girl had the apt.i.tude!”
Blood did not flow in the veins of the undead.
That was why Shutel’s face stayed the same color, but her face twisted with anger, and glared at Loren with hatred.
As Loren looked back with a glare of his own, Lapis interrupted.
“Apt.i.tude for what? I’m slightly interested. What is the treasure that was bestowed to her?”
“There’s no way people like you would understand.”
“I’m a priest of the knowledge G.o.d. If it is indeed something amazing, I would love to learn it.”
Lapis asked her as she put her hand on Loren’s chest, telling him to wait.
Shutel opened her mouth and looked like she was about to refuse, but Lapis interrupted her.
“You’re not going to say that you can’t, right? You’re trying to complete the work of your great master. If you can’t even explain it to others in a way they could understand, it would mean that you don’t understand it yourself, wouldn’t it?”
“What!?”
“You could at least explain it, regardless of whether or not we could understand what it is, right?”
Lapis asked in a challenging manner, but Shutel sneered at her.
“Trying to buy time, eh? Whatever. The preparations are complete, and you won’t be able to run anyway. If you wish to know, I will tell you. What the great work of my master is.”