Whatever invisible thing bound Theo’s arms and legs was removed, and he was freed.
Helvi’s heart was still in disarray, but she still made sure to hold back so as not to hurt Theo when she used her magic to free him.
Helvi held back her anger, and hugged Theo while feeling guilty.
“I’m sorry Theo, I was careless… I put you in danger.”
Theo was shaking with fear just a few minutes before, but seeing Helvi come to rescue him made him feel relieved.
Because of this, he was now bewildered, as he had never seen Helvi looking so meek before.
He had no idea he would be kidnapped, so it would be hard to prepare for. Also, he still did not know how he was taken in the first place, so it would have been very difficult to deal with it.
“Helvi… Thank you for saving me…”
It was alright.
He was very thankful that Helvi came to his rescue.
With those feelings in mind, he wrapped his arms around Helvi and hugged her back.
Helvi felt Theo was trying to put her at ease and hugged him even tighter.
The hug lasted for dozens of seconds, until they finally let go.
By the time it ended, Theo was no longer feeling afraid or bewildered, and he was instead just embarrassed.
Looking at it from the outside, it seemed as though Helvi came to rescue Theo, he hugged her while crying, and she consoled him.
It was only natural that he would be embarrassed.
As if realizing what he was thinking, Helvi looked at him and chuckled.
(You really are cute… You are so kind and cute, and I am so irritated by my inability to protect you. And… By that trash as well.)
She held back her anger as it rose to the surface again, and pat Theo on the head.
“Wait here, I will chase away the enemy.”
“Ah, y-yes. Be careful…!”
Theo raised his head, even though his face was completely red, and Helvi lightly placed her lips on his.
She could not hold back, perhaps because she felt so relieved to see Theo was alright.
“You two wait here too, and don’t let Theo out of your sight.”
“Yes yes. Go on.”
“I thought you finished him with that attack.”
Responded Xena and Celia, who had been brought all that way there by Helvi.
And then, Helvi was suddenly gone.
Theo, who did not notice Xena and Celia were there, suddenly realized they saw what just happened between him and Helvi, and found himself unable to look at them.
(Run… Run…! Where that person cannot reach me… Quickly!)
The man Helvi hit ran at full speed.
It was all he could do after his plan failed. It was all going well when he used the bandit as a distraction to kidnap Theo, but he had apparently vastly underestimated Helvi.
His face did not retain its original shape after being punched by Helvi, but it regenerated. In fact, his body was hit the hardest, as it continued to dig into the mountain after Helvi blew him away.
Still, his entire body was regenerating, and he continued running.
He could teleport a hundred kilometers at a time, which was considered a lot even for a devil.
Doing it many times in a row put a strain on his body, so much so that he started vomiting blood, but he still continued doing it as he ran.
At this point, he was over a thousand kilometers away from the mountain. Much farther than Nemophila, the town where Helvi and the others came from.
(I’m sure this is far enough that even…)
“…!?”
The moment he thought he was safe, she appeared before him.
“Did you think you could run away, trash?”
Helvi let out her jet black horns and wings and looked down on the man with a blank expression.
“H-how…!? So fast…!”
It was too outlandish.
The devil could count on one hand the number of devils that had a wider range of teleportation than him.
He was at a loss, wondering how Helvi could have possibly caught up with him.
“As long as you are on this planet, you cannot run far enough away for me to be unable to reach you with a single teleportation.”
“Ah…?”
‘On this planet?’ He thought.
“I can reach the other side of this planet in an instant. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can get away.”
This overwhelming difference in power could be felt even among devils.
Not only that, but Helvi could also read his mind, meaning he was literally an inferior devil compared to her.
However, this devil already knew this.
“Ha…Haha…! A-as expected from you miss Helvi…!”
Said the man while his face twitched.
“…Who are you? I can see we are the same species, but give me a concrete answer.”
Helvi had never even heard of other devils.
She could not understand this genuine respect the man felt for her, even though she was peeking into his mind.
“You should return to hell…!”
“…Hell?”
It was not a word Helvi was used to hearing, but she had heard it before somewhere.
“You should be king, and rule over hell.”
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I remember back when I thought this was going to be a major plot point.
How silly of me.
i’ve never read the raws and even then i was 100% sure this won’t be a plot point, my greatest expectations were for the devil to be a girl and start stalking theo
wait this is not a plot hole? damnit I had thought I had found something wrong with this book… other than the you know uh Theo being 14 but eh nothing has happened so it’s fine. right?