-Calamity Witch, Nevia.

The person that’s said to be the traitor of humanity in the history of the West Continent. 

Also, the Moon Oracle of the Dark Era.

“We are surrounded, Spirit User-kun.” (Mel)

“Looks like it.” (Makoto)

From the shadows of the plaza, knights in black armor were showing up one after the other.

The ones in black armor are Templars of the Moon Country…I think.

Why did we get surrounded as if they had been waiting for us?

The innkeeper must have informed them about us after seeing we were leaving. 

There’s no point in thinking about it at this time.

I was worried that our secret meeting with Ira-sama has also been exposed. 

I lightly held the necklace that I had on.

(Ira-sama~, hello. Can you hear me?) (Makoto)

(…What’s the matter, Takatsuki Makoto? At an hour like this… Have you escaped from the capital?) (Ira)

I heard a sleepy voice.

Was she sleeping?

What a worry-free Goddess-sama.

(We are currently surrounded by the knights of the Moon Queen.) (Makoto)

(Wa?! Are you okay?! What are you going to do?!) (Ira)

(We will manage here somehow. Be careful too, Ira-sama.) (Makoto)

(W-Wait! Are you really o—) (Ira)

I cut off the thought transmission.

“So, can you tell us your names?” (Nevia)

Saying this, Queen Nevia’s eyes shone golden.

This is bad!

“Momo, don’t look! Mel-san!” (Makoto)

“I know!” (Mel)

I hurriedly covered the eyes of Momo, and the White Dragon-san covered the eyes of Hero Abel.

“Are you okay, Mel-san?” (Makoto)

“No…it takes my everything to go against the eyes of that woman… To think the Charm of a human could be this powerful…” (Mel)

The White Dragon-san was sweating bullets.

What a fearsome Charm user.

“Spirit User-kun, you as well. This is not a level of Charm that a human can go against…” (Mel)

“Charm doesn’t work on me at all, so it is okay.” (Makoto)

“…You really are full of mysteries.” (Mel)

Mel-san smiled wryly. 

“My eyes are not working…?” (Nevia)

The Moon Queen opened her eyes wide in slight surprise.

Those eyes are shining golden.

“Queen-sama, actually, we have urgent matters we have to attend to. Please forgive us for leaving the city at this hour.” (Makoto)

I don’t think she will be letting us go obediently, but I tried to just in case.

“That reaction despite looking into my eyes this whole time… I am interested in you. I want to have a long talk with you. I welcome you.” (Nevia)

The exact moment she said this, the black knights all ran at us at once.

“Mel-san! Let’s run!” (Makoto)

“Spirit User-kun! Buy 10 seconds!” (Mel)

“Got it!” (Makoto)

The White Dragon-san and I exchange a short talk.

“Time Magic: [Mind Accel].” (Makoto)

I accelerate my thoughts.

“E-Eh?” (Momo)

“Uhm! What’s going on?” (Abel)

“You two, stay put.” (Makoto)

Momo and Hero Abel-san were confused with their eyes still covered, but there’s no time to explain.

“Dia!” (Makoto)

“Yes, Our King!” (Dia)

Even in the time I was calling the Great Water Spirit, the black knights were approaching.

“Water Magic: [Mist].” (Makoto)

When I shouted this, a mist so thick that one wouldn’t even be able to see 50cm ahead of them covered the place.

I use Stealth, and I could tell that the black knights had stopped on their tracks and were confused.

3 seconds.

“XXXXXXX (Get rid of it, Wind Spirit).” 

I heard Spirit Language, and the Mist was blown away in an instant.

The one who chanted that was a black armor knight that stood out within all those knights and had divine armor.

(Geh! Demon Lord Cain!) (Makoto)

The Apostle of Noah-sama was mixed within that group.

What an unbelievable guy.

“Water Magic: [Squall].” (Makoto)

The next spell I chanted made heavy rain pour as if a bucket had been turned over.

The black knights were flustered by this, but Demon Lord Cain rushed at us.

When I checked, the Moon Queen was looking over here with calm eyes.

The Queen’s body was shining faintly, and the rain wasn’t hitting her. 

Must be barrier magic.

6 seconds.

“Die! Heretics!” (Cain)

“Wait, you must not kill them, Cain-san. I can’t have a talk with them otherwise.” (Nevia)

“Guh.” (Cain)

The moment Demon Lord Cain brandished his sword, the Moon Queen stopped him.

Oh, lucky~.

It saved me the trouble of stopping him with Dia.

“Water Magic: [Storm].” (Makoto)

Thunder roared with my 3rd spell, and lightning fell outside the capital.

The complexion of the Moon Queen changed.

“This is not good. Confirm if there have been any civilians who have been injured!” 

The Queen ordered.

Cain’s movements stopped.

10 seconds.

“Let’s go!” (Mel)

The White Dragon-san returned to her dragon form.

Momo and Abel clung onto the back of the White Dragon-san with their eyes still closed.

This is bad, I am running late…is what I thought, but the White Dragon-san grabbed only me with her hand.

Thanks, Mel-san.

“Tch!” (Cain)

Demon Lord Cain once again lunges at us.

“Dia! Please.” (Makoto)

“Okay~.” (Dia)

The Great Water Spirit created several layers of ice barriers in front of Demon Lord Cain.

With this, he won’t be able to reach us.

“Your Majesty, I dropped all the lightning outside the city!” (Makoto)

I shouted this before the White Dragon-san flew off into the sky.

“…”

I felt like the Moon Queen made a face of ‘you got me there’ for a second, but we flew high in the sky in an instant, and the city grew smaller. 

Mel-san flew away from the Moon Country’s capital at astounding speed just like that.

◇◇

“We managed to escape… It doesn’t seem like there are pursuers.” (Mel)

Mel-san sighed.

I have also moved to the back of the White Dragon-san.

“What’s the meaning of this…? The one together with the Moon Queen was the Demon Lord Cain, right?” (Momo)

The Great Sage-sama said insecure.

She had her eyes closed, but she must have noticed when the Moon Queen shouted the name of Cain.

“Why…? The Queen of a human country is together with a Demon Lord…? That’s impossible…” (Abel)

Hero Abel’s voice was trembling.

Rather than calling it uneasiness and fear, it is more like anger.

I was also surprised.

Is Demon Lord Cain using the Moon Country as his base? 

It would be better to not get close to that place again.

(Ira-sama, we managed to escape. What about your side?) (Makoto)

(Yeah, we are okay. Geez, don’t worry me like that.) (Ira)

(We met Demon Lord Cain just now. Did you know that a Demon Lord was in Laphroaig?) (Makoto)

(Huh?! You must be kidding, right?) (Ira)

Looks like Ira-sama didn’t notice Cain either.

Well, if she had known, she would have told us.

Cain is also a devout believer of Noah-sama like me, so he must be outside the sphere of Ira-sama’s Clairvoyance.

(…I will be escaping at once too.) (Ira)

(Please do.) (Makoto)

It would not be funny if the Destiny Oracle were to be killed.

After that, our travel in the sky continued for a whole day. 

We passed the Moon Country, and the giant mountain range at the edge of the Sun Country was beginning to appear in sight. 

The one in the middle of that mountain range is the Ascraeus Sacred Mountain.

The Sun Temple is apparently covered in a barrier that makes it so that it can’t be seen by the naked eye.

But Ira-sama taught us the way to find the place.

“The place where 7 peaks line up. Only at the time when you move in a specific manner after locating that place, you will be able to reach the Sun Temple… It is a troublesome barrier, but that’s what makes it safer.” (Mel)

I heard the mutter of the White Dragon-san.

Just as she said, after she flew in complicated patterns, the scenery changed.

The summit of the mountain had vivid green growing thickly and there was a spring as if the place were an oasis.

And further in…there’s a temple standing quietly there.

We arrived at the hidden Sun Temple. 

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter