Chapter 199 - From Preparation to Departure (1/2)

“Well, well, well. You’ve found a boy quite strong for a human.”

The man smiled cheerfully and scratched his head. He was a fine gentleman with neatly combed hair, and his all black attire looked like that of a butler. However, the color of his smiling eyes were purple, and he had a rather rugged, wide long sword hanging in a scabbard at his waist, so there was no way he was just a butler.

The man, who looked like he was about to enter middle age, sounded much more convincing, posing as Lapis’ parent, than Judie. His name was Aus Arland. The difference between his last name and Judie’s was, Judie’s last name was that of a Demon King, while Aus’ was that of his family.

“So, Lapis’ full name is Lapis Arland?”

“If she takes over the family, then yes. If she doesn’t, she doesn’t have to take Arland as her name, and it will only be ‘Lapis’.”

They were now on a plain near the Demon King’s Castle, and maids were busy loading supplies and materials into wagons in front of them as they talked. All those supplies were the support the Demon King Judie provided to help them fulfill her commission. The wagon itself was also arranged by Judie.

“You can discard it if you need to.”

Aus said in a light-hearted tone. Loren didn’t know what made him happy, but he had been smiling ever since Loren beat him up. He had feared that he was beyond the point of anger and had no choice but to smile, but after talking to him, it didn’t seem to be the case. He seemed to be genuinely happy about something.

“The helmet is enchanted so that it will always let Judie know where you are. If you can successfully throw it into the crater, the magic will stop responding and Judie will know, so you don’t have to come back here if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t think we’ll get paid in that case, right?”

“I’ll give it to you in advance. This, right?”

Aus said and presented the greatsword that Loren had been using, the weapon of a Demon King. He handed it to Loren, who had prepared a set of cloth to wrap the blade and a cord to carry it on his back.

“Is this alright?”

“I don’t mind. I won’t begrudge you if you just take it and run away, either. You’ll have to reconsider your relationship with my daughter, though.”

Aus was still smiling, but the meaning behind his smile seemed to have changed. Feeling a bit intimidated, Loren looked straight back at his face and replied:

“If anything, I’m the one who was asked out.”

It was Lapis who asked him to accompany her. Loren didn’t want to allude anything about how his and Lapis’ feelings had changed, so he just told Aus the fact.

Aus replied without losing his smile:

“If that’s the case, then my daughter’s eyes have been blinded, and as a parent, I’ll have to disallow you to see her again.”

“I’m not sure if Lapis’ eyes can be blinded now. Haven’t guys already gouged them out?”

Whether or not Lapis’ eyes were gouged out or not, the truth was they had been taken away by Judie and Aus, and in her eye sockets were currently two finely-crafted prosthetic eyes.

“That’s true…”

“Um, you too? I’ll cry, you know? I really, really will.”

Lapis put her hand on Loren’s shoulders and started to shake him in protest. He figured he should just let her do what she wanted for a while, and continued watching the maids work while being rocked. But he suddenly realized something and asked Aus, who was watching over the maids with a smile still on his face:

“How long will it take us to get to that mountain crater?”

“Even if you travel by carriage, you’ll have to spend one night on the road. As you know, I don’t approve of premarital sex, so please be prepared.”

“Stupid father… Stupid father, it’s not like that. If we don’t get back until the morning after tomorrow, another party will think we’re dead.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that there’s a group of people who have broken in from the same place as you and are doing a bit of digging. I’ll arrange for them to be informed via the dwarves that there has been some trouble and they should be hiding in some dwarven villages until things cool down.”

Loren did not want to worry Ritz’ party, but Aus promised to take appropriate action immediately.

“‘What kind of support will you give us in terms of fighting power?’

Loren asked as he hung the greatsword he had received on his back as he had always done. Aus’ smile didn’t vanish, but he answered the question with a slight drop in his tone:

“I’m sorry, but Judie deems that it’s best not to not provide you support in terms of fighting power.”

“Oh, come on, that’s…”

Loren was on the verge of protesting, but Aus continued:

“Instead, we’re going to help you with supplies.”

As he said this, Aus handed Loren an item that looked like a big chicken egg but felt a bit harder.

“What is this?”

“It’s a disposable magic item that generates a protective ward. Try crushing it.”

Loren did as he was told and put strength into his hand and the item, just like an egg, shattered fragilely in his hands. At the same time, Aus drew the sword that had been hanging at his waist and swung it at Loren’s neck. He was so quick that even Lapis, whose hands were still on Loren’s shoulder, didn’t have time to raise her voice.

But the strike, which should have separated Loren’s neck from his body, stopped far from his neck as if it had hit an invisible wall, and the blade did not cut into his flesh at all.

“Don’t startle me.”

“This egg is a disposable magic item that builds a protective barrier around the person who crushes it. It should be able to block at least one blow from a dragon attack.”

“It’s quite impressive that it can block my father’s attack.”

Loren’s expression did not change as he listened to Lapis say this, but inwardly he felt a twinge of fear, which he struggled to subdue.

That was how sharp and fierce the Aus’ strike had been.

“That wasn’t retaliation for the beating, is it?”

“Well, what do you think?”