55 54.Would you give up your eyes to fly?.txt (2/2)

In close combat with the sword, Maria has absolutely no chance of winning. With all the strength in my status muscle, I unleash Maria's hand and turn behind her.

Maria is unable to keep up with the speed of my movements, and furthermore, my arms are taken and my hands are passed behind my back. As it is, I fall down with Maria, and while pressing her to the floor, I check her status with 'gazing'.

[Status]

State: confusion 4.23

There's no doubt about it.

Maria is not normal. It's also losing her sanity due to the effects of external factors.

It's hard to believe that she's living a normal life and her confusion has built up to this point. She must have been affected by magic or a skill.

I think back to the person in my memory who might have done it, and I scream as I hold Maria down.

'Maria, listen to me!　Have you met a knight named Palinkron or something like that lately!

Palinkulon--?

'The knight who sold you in the slave market sometime ago. He looks at you like he's observing people, a little taller than me, dressed like a merchant, a suspicious one!

'Such a ......!　That's not the point: ......!

Maria tries to burn me from below by spewing more fire.

I strengthen my magic 《Freeze》 and withstand it.

'Maria, didn't you fall under some kind of spell!　You're impossibly confused!

'Magic ......!　Confusion ......!

I'm going to spend all of my magic power on the magic ”freeze” while staying close to them.

Fortunately, I've been practicing the magic 《Freeze》 since yesterday, and my control of the cold air is perfect. It weakens Maria's flames and even takes away the heat that lit up her body.

Literally letting her head cool down, I convince Maria to calm down.

That method was unexpectedly effective.

Along with the cold air, Maria's strength drains from her body and she becomes calmer.

'Yes, calm down ....... Slow down, take a deep breath and calm down .......

Maria repeats her deep breaths, though wildly, as I instruct her to do.

Then, when Maria's body has completely cooled off, she shows signs of coming back to herself.

'What ......?　What, is that ......?

'Are you okay, Maria ....... Have you calmed down?

[Status]

State: confusion 0.44

Maria's confusion disappeared as she lost her heat.

That leads me to suspect that Maria's flames were the cause of her confusion.

If that's the case, the most likely suspect is - the Arti who taught it to her.

However, I don't believe that such forceful measures are effective. This kind of thing is not good for Maria. Even if I were to support Maria's love life, it's too far off the mark.

Even if my life was the objective for some reason, it's obvious that a force as strong as Maria's would be able to seize it like this.

I grit my back teeth, unable to determine Arti's purpose.

''S-Sorry ......!　How dare I: ......!

Maria sees this and continues to apologize underneath me, sullenly.

'It's okay. I know. I know I said some things that weren't in my mind because of the mess. You don't have to apologize: ......'

As he says this, he is about to retreat from Maria's top and feels the morning sun coming through the window.

Seeing this, it occurs to me that the culprit in this is aimed at sabotaging Lastiara's rescue.

However, it was only yesterday that I thought of doing the rescue myself, and only Maria, Dia, and Arti know about it.

After all, is Arti ......?

But that doesn't mesh with the purpose. Arti shouldn't have anything against Rastiara.

'Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me ....... Master ......'

Maria keeps apologizing while I'm guessing.

In the meantime, I need to calm her down.

'You don't have to apologize. More importantly, are you okay?　From the looks of it, though, the confusion has died down considerably.

I pat Maria's head and check her self-consciousness.

'Yes, I'm not at all ...... anymore. I'm really sorry, I'm ......

Maria seems to have no idea what happened. But the memory seems to remain, and she continues to apologize for what she did anyway.

She is calming down.

With this, she should be able to at least be able to stay at home.

But (...) --

Intuitively, though, I have a bad feeling about this.

But it's also true that I'm running out of time. The sun is already beginning to rise.

If I miss this moment, Rastiara is in danger.

I make a choice, crushing a bitter bug.

A choice I will probably regret for a long time to come.

Maria, I'm going to go get Rustyala now. I'll be back soon. I'll be back soon.

'Ha, yes ....... If the master decides to do so, then of course .......

Horribly, Maria was honest.

She seemed to be atrophied by the turmoil that had preceded her.

'Until then, Maria will wait in this house. Lock the door and never let anyone in.

No one?

Yeah, me too. I'm gonna break in through the window. No one comes in the front door.

Just to be sure, I tell Maria.

If truth be told, I would like to leave it with someone I can trust. But I can't think of a suitable person.

I thought about asking her to wait for me at the bar, but now I have more strength in Maria than in the manager.

I had no choice but to make Maria wait at home alone.

Probably, the retaking of Rastiara is a blitzkrieg.

It should be fine for that short time.

''I understand. No matter what happens, no one will be able to get in!

Maria senses what I'm thinking with her 'eyes' and swears not to contact anyone. There's a certain intelligence in those eyes, and they're not crazy like they were earlier.

This should be fine .......

I'm also worried about Maria, but Rustyala is about to die. The urgency of the situation compels me to take Rastiala.

Well, I'm off to ....... Maria.

...... Yes, have a good day. Master.

I turn my back to Maria and start moving.

I hurry out of the house and run towards Hoosier's.

I had no choice but to run, even if I had to shake off the look on Maria's face as we parted.

I take a large stole from my 'belongings' and wrap it around my neck, covering my face up to my nose. I know it's useless, but I hide my physiognomy as best I can. Those who can see it, but those who can't can't understand it. That's the ideal.

We drive through the town of Wald in the morning glow and cross the border into the Hoosiers.

Even though it's so early in the morning, there are a lot of people walking around in Hoozjaz.

All of them must be participants in today's Nativity celebrations. They are all walking towards the cathedral with a buoyant look on their faces.

The week-long pre-festival has prompted people to feel their best. From parents and children to old couples, everyone is talking about the anticipation of the Nativity at the cathedral.

I weave my way through these people and run as fast as I can towards the cathedral.

On the way, I apologize to the people whose shoulders I bumped into.

I apologize in my mind for what I am about to wake up.

I run through the main street of Hoosiers.

And then I go through the numbered numbers, lowering the number in order - I'm almost to the single-digit number. When I get to this point, I can see the cathedral.

I run down the main street, checking out the cathedral with my eyes, and I can sense a strange magical power rising up beyond it.

It's not from the cathedral.

Outside of it - I'm there.

Mixed in with the crowd, there is one man standing in the middle of the main street.

The man was staring at us.

Hein Helvirshine.

He was a knight of the wind with his short gold hair dominating.

I can't ignore that.

Among the many knights that would be waiting for me, I can't ignore this person alone.

Slowly lowering my running speed, I get in front of Hein-san.

Before I knew it, a crowd of people had broken up.

The air that Mr. Hein and I exude makes the people around us avoid us.

Mr. Hein-san was dressed similarly to the last time I saw him. But he was unusually dirty. He was covered in mud, slashes were everywhere, the hem was frayed, and his clothes were torn here and there.

The two rings that were on both fingers are the only two left.

The sword also seems to be missing one of its parts.

I don't need to look at his status to know that he has wounds all over his body.

The wounded man, Mr. Hein, slowly approaches me and says, ”You're here at last.

'You're here at last, Mr. Christ: ......

Mr. Hein was waiting for me.

He must have been convinced that I would pass through here today, at this time.

What does that mean?

Are we here to keep you from passing?

Or is it the other way around?

Of course, I am convinced that I am right about both.

As far as I know, he was the only one who had tried to drive Rastiara out of the country before this day.

So I proceed without hesitation.

I get close enough to reach him and face Mr. Hein.