27 Chapter 21: The Start of Adventure (1/2)

Fleur: ”And lastly…”

Fleur resumed her light tread, leaving only the sound of her footsteps and Purin's rustling and occasional bouncing.

Fleur: ”Albeit that void of yours… I see freedom in your heart.”

[Freedom…]

Fleur: ”Yes. … Not bound by anything, you seemed to be free from anything that usually chains a person. One thing that I have once longed for my whole life. I mean, look at me. I was born in a stiff family. I am not saying I was not happy, but I can say that I am not satisfied. And after all that, I turned into a killing monster. In the end, I was left to die.”

She paused for a while and heaved a short sigh.

Fleur: ”I was given the only choice of death. I deserved it, I know. But I still wanted to be free from it. I wished to travel along borders, I wished to see the world with my own two eyes. That is why, when I saw you trying as hardly to live, I could not leave you alone, and used my remaining Crysaztel to heal you. Ah! Th-This sounds like I am saying that you owe me or something, right…? A-Ahaha… It is not like that.”

She faced me waving her free hand left and right with her face flustered. She's also blushing on top of that. She's really expressive, I find it hard that the person I'm talking to right now is the Demon Lord.

So cute.

When I came to this world, if I ever met the Demon Lord, I was expecting a more sinister vibe and more abominable than anything or anyone. I wasn't expecting a cute girl who was lonely with a slime as her only companion. And that girl seemed to see me in high light, to boot.

[It's cool. You don't seem to be that type to do such things to me.]

There were nothing of that sort of feeling in her after all.

Fleur: ”Thank you. That is also the reason for 'Ciel.' Free as the sky, reaching almost anywhere; enveloping horizons. That kind of freedom…”

[… I see.]

Fleur: ”That is why back then, although I knew that I do not have enough time, I at least wanted to hear your stories. I had come to think, 'Ahh… Will he stay for a while, I wonder? I want to hear his stories…' … like that. Fufu.”

Just how much did one girl had to suffer through to be satisfied of mere stories? Just how much did she went through just to be happy with a story of a monster with a possible person's soul? I can't imagine.

She had already lost hope, yet, she tried to find that single glimmer of light in me…

Well, I know that it doesn't have to be me.

But still…

Fleur: ”And perhaps, even at my last moments, I will feel that I have travelled. That I accomplished my dreams, even…”

Brought upon by her mix emotions, she hanged her head down.

There's only one response here, is there?

[I guess, we'll just have to go and explore the world then. What do you say?]

Fleur: ”… Yes!”

O-Ohh… Even I felt the happiness coming from her. I feel happy, too.

Well, whatever. It's not a bad thing to see this girl's smile, after all. It makes me want to see her smile even more.

I know that I have to do something about the thing I'm worried about, and I don't plan to set that aside too. But somehow, her smile just makes me want to prioritize her wishes more than anything else.

I mean…

She's cute!!

Freaking cute!!

Purin: ”*stare*”

[A-Ahem… What is it, Purin?]

Purin: ”Curse: Paralyze”

[Wai-!! H-Huh? I'm not paralyzed…]

I certainly felt that her skill activated but it faded instantly…

Purin: ”Hmph! Milady, purin~! What do thou desire to do after we got out of here, purin~?”

Huh, she's jealous.

*sigh*

… This slime… Not cute at all.

…

..

.

Fleur: ”It has been so long… Fufu~ So this is the outside world…~?”

Fleur gazed around the surroundings as if to immerse herself on the new environment she's been longing for.

The pitch black clouds, pitch black trees, pitch black ground and boulders, only illuminated by wisps and Glow Stones from here and there. It's not dark per se, but wherever you look, the only hue you will see are shades of black and brown.

A boring scenery, to be frank.

Nonetheless, Fleur still looks elated to have a fresh look of the outside world she had longed for.

If my guess is right, Fleur was still young when the incident happened. On top of that, she's a young lady of their highest noble. It's no wonder that she knew close to nothing about the outside world.

[Fleur, did you know? When someone suddenly go out after staying indoors for so long, he or she will instantly grow ten feet taller?]

Fleur: ”Eh?? I-Is that true? Wh-What should I do…? I did not know…!”

Yeah. Me neither.

Fleur flailed around as if to find a place to take shelter, completely believing what I said.

Purin: ”Stop with thine nonsense, purin. There is no truth in his words, purin. Milady doth not have to believe in him.”

Hearing Purin's words, Fleur heaved a sigh of relief.

Who would ever want to grow ten feet taller, right? In a person's standards, that is.

[Finally out, huh. Phew… Damn, that was tiring.]

If I had a body right now, I'd be stretching my whole body to relieve me from stiffness.

I was only floating, so I'm not really that tired. Well, I am not tired the least. But you get what I mean, right? No?

Purin: ”Thou art only floating. How art thou tired, purin?”

[Urk…]

This slime…

Whatever. I can't have her get on my nerves every now and then. I have to focus on what's in front of me. We got out of that stifling dungeon and that's what's better. Yeah.

I told them a portion about me. But of course, there's no way I would tell them everything, considering our current status quo. But I told them how I got here in this world and how I got the skill to resurrect. Needless to say that I also told them that it's limited. I don't want them to rely on it and get overconfident like me.

About the Curse… The curse was latched onto her soul. Normally thinking, there's no way that she could live after the Curse ate her soul away. But because of the reconstruction of the Resurrect skill, the Curse was successfully removed without destroying her soul beforehand. It looks like the Curse was only meant to be activated once, and once it's done its purpose, it will disappear.

I also explained everything to Fleur, about her status, her titles, about the link, and her skills.

She gained an Arcana Title which is the Arcana – Judgement.

I asked her if she knew about it, but it looks like it's the first time she has heard of it. She seems to still be bothered by her titles so I told her that I'll just explain how the Arcana Title works next time.

Another thing, she was surprised by how high her Crysaztel Gauge and Magical Attacks are, but she readily accepted it since her mother was the Demon Lord, who is known for her powerful magical abilities.

Since her magical capabilities far overpowers her state as a Half, it turns out that it will still grow stronger than what her body can withstand. Even now, her CG is increasing by tens every minute. But I'm constantly eating those away, carrying the excess and releasing it one way or another thanks to the link. So the possibility of her entering a berserk state is low.

But that will change if this continues. I still don't know her rate of growth. We'll have to find a way to make her body adapt to her unstoppable growth as an Eclea-Realne.

Fleur: ”Haah… Nh.”

[Fleur? Are you tired?]

I glanced over Fleur only to find her sweating a bit with her breath ragged. Her face is quite flushed to boot. Maybe her body is not quite adapted yet to her current state and is making her sick.