“Today I’m sleeping with master.”
“Not with Mia and the others?”
After having dinner, and just around the time when we start to go to bed, Hikari rolls into mine.
I look to the others for help, but they just mouth ‘please’.
She’s been very clingy with the others recently, so it’s been a while since she slept next to me. We spent a lot of time together when we were camping, but she looked more serious than usual while keeping watch.
“We haven’t slept like this in a while.”
“…Yes.”
“…Ah… Hey, Hikari. A lot happened when we went to the ruins, but were you shocked when they found out where you were? I don’t think anyone escaped, so I doubt Elesya knows about us.”
“…No. That’s not it.”
She holds me tightly. Now that I think about it, it was like this when we first met too.
The difference is that now I can sort of read her expressions.
Of course, I don’t know what’s causing Hikari to be like this, but I can tell something has her feeling hesitant. She keeps opening and closing her mouth a little, like she doesn’t know if she should talk.
“Don’t force yourself. If something’s bothering you, you can talk when you’re ready.”
“…Yes.”
After a while, I hear her sleeping.
Judging by how she’s acting, she might have regained her memories.
Elesya captured the summoned people, and used their powers for their own gain. I’m sure Hikari is a descendant of these victims, and I think her black hair and black eyes are proof.
I don’t know what they made her do, but I can’t imagine it was anything good. She had a slave mask, and was apparently made to do their dirty work. At least from what I could see.
There’s a good chance those memories are ones that would be best left forgotten.
Maybe it would be easier to talk to Mia and the others than to me… No, that doesn’t make me feel lonely.
The next day, I go to the adventurer guild with Rurika and Chris.
I haven’t been in an adventurer guild in a while, and the mood inside feels a little brutal.
I gulp without thinking when I step inside, and feel multiple eyes turning this way at once.
“I’m going to ask some things. Chris, go check out the quests with Sora.”
Is that because she thinks it’s dangerous to leave me alone?
“There aren’t a lot of hunting quests.”
“This area is a wasteland, so it might not be a good environment for monsters to thrive.”
“…I don’t think the wasteland matters, but it might be an environment that’s difficult for monsters to live in.”
Compared to forests or grasslands.
But among the quests, one stands out, the one about invading the dark forest. At the bottom it says the deadline is near, and the reward is much higher compared to the others.
“Does the deadline mean they’re going to start soon?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it is already partially underway.”
The dark forest is big.
But the goal is to defeat the demon king. I think only high ranking adventurers will actually participate in that, meaning the other, lower rank adventurers, are tasked with opening a path.
It makes sense to want the high ranking ones to be fresh.
And the people summoned from another world are among those high ranked adventurers.
But in this world without telecommunications (although there is a service to transmit messages), how are they going to coordinate… Hm, they both believe in human supremacy, but I can’t imagine Elesya and the empire working together either.
Especially since apparently Elesya wants to expand their territory. They’re probably thinking about using this to weaken the empire.
Is humanity going to be all right? I can’t help but wonder, but according to Yutaka, there was a time when they continued to summon people after they failed to defeat the demon king, but eventually, they began to defeat it in the first try.
Does that mean they have a surefire way to defeat the demon king?
What about the goddess descending? Will the goddess defeat the demon king herself?
“What are you thinking about, Sora?”
“…How are they going to defeat the demon king? I know exactly how strong demons are, so it’s hard to imagine.”
I mean it. I heard about the damage Ignis did to the kingdom by himself.
From my experience of standing opposite Ignis, I can tell I’ve never been more afraid before or since, no matter how many monsters I’ve faced since then. And I feel like that hasn’t changed, even though I’ve grown.
There were high rank adventurers in the ruins, even A ranked ones, but honestly, they can’t hope to beat Ignis at that level.
But do they actually need to beat Ignis?
Rurika returns, and we head straight to the inn, without really walking around town.
I feel like we’re being watched the whole time, but maybe it’s just in my head.
But when I use Presence Detection, I sense someone following us.
“What an amateur, uh?”
Says Rurika.
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Thanks for the treat.
The for chapter. So looks like they are being followed what I wonder is it just hoodlums trying to steal or is it focused on getting her as they don’t like her, may be a slaveer or targeting them