We advance through the southern forest, and head towards where we feel strong magic energy clashing.
Arc and Seti are fighting, while Mister Dine and Miss Phi watch over them.
“If it isn’t Arata and Edinburgh. What brings you here?”
Cara is sitting on a rock, watching them from a little far away.
We might as well hear from her too, but when we approach her, an evil smile forms on her face.
“Could it be… Kufufufufu, a secret rendezvous? I’ll have to tell Reina…”
“No. Edinburgh wants her memories back, so we’ve been going around talking to different people.”
“Eh…”
The moment she hears that, her face spasms.
She turns to Edinburgh like a rusty tin doll, and Edinburgh nods.
“That’s it. You all have known me the longest, so tell me…”
“Whoa! I just remembered I have something to do.. Guge!”
She quickly gets up from the rock and tries to get away, but Seti’s wind magic hits her on the back of the head, and she falls.
““…””
Seti looks this way, seemingly feeling awkward.
I guess he was so focused, that he didn’t even realize we were here.
“What now?”
“Let’s tie her to the rock, or she’ll get away.”
“I’d feel bad for her…”
It looks like the seven great mages treat Cara poorly. Well, she sounded like a villain from what I heard from Reina…
But to me, she feels less evil and more unfortunate.
Edinburgh lost her memory, but she’s hard on her for some reason.
“If she runs away, we just have to catch her, so leave her be.”
“If you say so.”
Edinburgh sits down, puts Cara on her lap, and pats her like a child.
She hugged her when they were reunited, but she really does look motherly like this.
“Geez! I wish Miriel would learn from you!”
“Hello Miss Phi.”
“Good boy Arata, for properly greeting me.”
The small fairy, Miss Phi the wind great spirit, gets on my head and pats it.
Hearing her say that feels ticklish.
“Hum, is Cara okay?”
“It wasn’t killing magic, so she will be. Even though it did hit her head.”
Arc and Seti approach us, looking at her with some concern.
Cara herself looks a little happy, with her head on Edinburgh’s lap.
“She looks fine.”
“Hahaha…”
I laugh awkwardly, because it feels like Seti and I are thinking the same thing.
“Ah, Seti! You need to control it better! Wind is unfettered, so you need to keep a close eye on it!”
“Yes…”
“If you understand, then you need more training! Don’t you want to survive on this island!?”
Says Miss Phi while landing on Seti’s helmet, and then she instructs him to walk further away.
“…Arc, you can take a break.”
The loud Miss Phi and the silent Seti might not be a bad match.
The palm-sized great spirit is actually a veteran, and among the strongest on this island.
She might seem like a goddess to Seti in particular because she controls wind, so is that why he’s obeying her?
In any case, there’s no one better to ask to see his magic.
“Ahh…”
“Good job. You’ve been training with Seti lately, right?”
“Yes. We’re being protected by you and the others, but I want to be able to protect them.”
“I see.”
He’s serious, and at the same time, I think it’s great.
Monsters on this island are tremendously stronger than on the continent, but he’s not giving up, and is still trying to get stronger. That’s respectable.
“How is it going?”
“Well…”
My question changes his expression. Is it not going well?
“I’m surprised by how much stronger I’m getting.”
“Eh, that’s nice.”
“Yes. I can’t hold a candle to all the others here, but at this rate, I think I’ll be able to explore the forest alone!”
He says happily, bringing a smile to my face too.
“Reina is also a lot stronger than she used to be.”
“And Xellos. Seti says he used to be stronger than him, but can’t compete with him now… He doesn’t want to lose, so he’s been training with me.”
Reina and Xellos are weak compared to the strongest races, but can beat monsters in the forest.
Xellos in particular goes out into the forest to hunt with Tiltue and Luna, and they even compete to see who can hunt more.
Although he always loses.
They had to be protected when they first got here, so they really are stronger.
Well, they’ll still have to run if they come across a rabbit… Just how strong are those rabbits?
“I need to get strong enough to protect the two girls too…”
“You’re actually evolving quickly. No wonder you’re called a hero.”
“Mister Dine… Thank you.”
Mister Dine has been watching them train, so if he says so, it must be true.
“By the way, didn’t a hero… Try to kill Wil?”
“That was when Miss Wilhelmina was the demon king. I was surprised to learn she was real…. But heroes are people who fight demon kings.”
“Eh… Fight, not beat, so the hero didn’t win?”
“That changes with the times. Heroes are chosen by the current saint of that generation, who receives oracles. Heroes go to the demon kings to defeat them… Some win, some lose.”
I can’t imagine even a hero chosen by god defeating Wil.
I look at Edinburgh, and she’s gently stroking Cara’s face.
Arc doesn’t know a lot about her past, but I also don’t want to bother Seti’s training…
“Can you tell us more about heroes?”
“Sure.”
It sounds like the word heroes lit a fire under him.
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Thanks for the treat.