“Hey, have you seen Chris?”
Asks Rurika, after popping in the kitchen just as we’re almost done preparing breakfast.
“No, I haven’t seen her.”
After waking up, I washed my face and got to work on breakfast right away.
We’re still in Suiren’s place, and we’ve been taking turns making breakfast. Today, I’m preparing it with Mia and Kotori.
I was surprised at first by how Kotori is surprisingly skillful, but apparently she used to help her mother in the old world, and she’s also been helping out here ever since she came to the faraway town. She says she’s used to their way of cooking too.
“I see. When we woke up this morning, Chris was gone. I looked around the forest nearby with Sera, but we haven’t found her.”
Rurika possesses the skills to look for someone, so if she can’t find her, could she be outside of town?
There’s sweat on her forehead. She says she only looked nearby, but there’s no doubt that it was a pretty wide area.
I summon Map, and use both Presence Detection and Magic Energy Detection.
In town… Nope. Then outside?
Right now, Chris can use spirit magic freely, so she’s pretty strong. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s supposed to be in the back row. She has a shield, but she’s still going to be in danger if monsters get close.
I look outside of town, and there’s still no sign of her. Even after pumping more magic energy to expand Map, I still don’t see her reaction.
But I do find something else. Multiple reactions approaching the demon king’s castle.
For a second I imagine the worst, but then I notice another possibility. But she disappeared this morning. I can’t imagine she’d get there so fast just walking normally.
But there is a way. I take the magic item Ignis gave me out of the Item Box, and look at it.
What if they also gave Chris one of these?
Ou did say that people with high magic energy could use it. In our party, that means me and Chris.
If that’s the case, someone must have given Chris one of these items. But who?
I can’t imagine the demons would, considering how Eris feels. Or maybe the demons gave it to Chris precisely out of concern for Eris.
It feels like Eris has accepted her fate, and doesn’t mind ending up being sacrificed. But what about the demons that call her their lord? I feel like they’re looking for ways to protect her.
Maybe there are demons who want to use Chris to get Eris to fight against her fate. The way the demons treat the demon king… Eris, did seem a bit odd.
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Yes, Map doesn’t show me Chris either.”
Rurika gulps.
She’s probably thinking that no reaction means death, but that’s jumping to a hasty conclusion.
“There’s a chance that she’s in the demon king’s castle.”
Rurika seems flustered, and I explain everything to her about the barriers covering the castle and the faraway town, and how that affects the reactions on Map.
“Then she went to the castle on her own? Through the dark forest?”
“No. I can’t imagine she would go through such a dangerous place alone, even if she was worried about Eris. It’s not realistic. She has to have used a magic item.”
“Magic item?”
“Yes, you know the one that transported us instantly to the castle. Ignis gave me one too. I didn’t understand why, but maybe he was thinking that someone might have given one to Chris.”
I also say that the demon called Ou told me Chris and I could use it.
“Then we have to go after her!”
“I get that you’re in a hurry, but we have to be ready. We don’t know what’s going on there. Talk to Sera and Hikari. I’ll talk to Mia.”
We split up, and go prepare.
None of the demons have come to the faraway town since then, so we don’t know how things are in the demon king’s castle. Maybe they’ve contacted this town, but Suiren hasn’t said anything about it.
I’m cooking, but I’m almost done anyway. Kotori can handle the rest… Probably.
I tell Mia and Kotori about how Chris isn’t here, and when I tell them about going back to the demon king’s castle, it’s not just Mia who wants to come, Kotori too.
There’s nothing that can be done about it, so I tell Suiren about us going to the castle, and ask her to take over making breakfast. And while I’m at it, I ask if there was any word from the demon king’s castle.
She goes to her room to check, and comes back in a panic.
She says that she’s tried calling them multiple times, but there was no response.
“Please be careful.”
Says Suiren, and we nod.
“We don’t know where we’ll end up, so we might be facing enemies all of a sudden. Of course, demons too. Just be ready for anything.”
I cast a barrier on everyone, which should block any surprise attacks.
Normally it would be better if I went first, but I have to maintain the magic item, so I have to be the last one to cross.
I’m sending a golem too to act as a tank, but I feel like the demons might attack it.
Actually, there is a higher than zero chance that demons that don’t know us are flying around, and that they’ll attack us.
Anyway, I activate the magic item, and give orders to the golem.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
Thanks for the treat.
Ben busy the past week or so playing plauge tale almost at the end clickers I would catch up with this series and some others. Looks like the fight is on