Chapter 142: Chapter 142: 15-year-old Inglis and Hyrule Menaces’ Escorting Directive (50)

「「「Lady Ripple……!」」」 「Ah, everyone……Thank goodness. You are all safe!」

Ripple was relieved to see the faces of Silva, Leone, and many other students around her.

「Safe or not depends on how things go from now. It’s a little bit dicey out there, you know?」

When Leon called out to her, Ripple’s eyes widened.

「L-, Leon!? Wh-, why are you here!?」 「Well, let’s not ask that now, okay?」 「As it is an emergency, we take whatever help is needed. I’m sorry for letting you see something as dirty as him, Lady Ripple. We’ll have him in custody as soon as we’re done.」 「Oi oi, what kind of thing do you take me for? I’m trying to help you out, man.」 「N-, now now. That’s all well and good, but……then, that means we’re in a pretty tight situation? What happened?」 「Lady Ripple, please put your hand here.」

Silva held out the barrel of his rifle Artifact filled with mana to Ripple.

「Kay!」

Ripple touched the barrel and she immediately noticed the change in herself.

「Ah! I don’t automatically absorb the mana!? That means, I’m…!」 「Yes. We believe we’ve summoned the last Magic Stone Beast.」

The anomaly that happened to Ripple took advantage of the Beastmen’s special extrasensory to summon Beastman Magic Stone Beasts. The Beastmen had already died out as a single species, and thus there would be no new instances of Beastman Magic Stone Beasts. In other words, its number was finite. Ripple not absorbing the mana was a sign that there were no more of them.

「Th-, that’s so… thank goodness. I don’t have to bother everyone anymore, do I……I can become everyone’s Hyrule Menace again!」

Seeing her tearful face made not only Silva, but also Leone, Liselotte, and everyone felt proud of what they did. It was worth every risk and effort.

At the same time, it made her feel reliable as well. Hyrule Menaces were the guardian deity of this kingdom. She was the heart and the soul of the Knights who fought against Magic Stone Beasts.

She was the most dependable person in this situation. That Ripple had returned.

「Still, Lady Ripple, we can’t be all happy about it.」 「Ah, yeah, you’re right. You said we’re in an emergency, what happened?」 「Yes. The last Magic Stone Beast you summoned was……a Prisma.」 「EEEeeehh!? One of my fellow Beastmen became a Prisma!? N-, no way——」 「Well, it’s not a full Prisma just yet, but it’s still way stronger than any Magic Stone Beast I’ve encountered so far, you see… I guess those Prismas are monsters alright.」 「Where is it now!? We have to stop it!」 「It’s currently running amok within the Academy’s ground, outside this subspace. The Principal made a barrier so it wouldn’t go out into town, but because it was about to launch a wide-area attack, we…」 「We were, all thanks to Leone’s Artifact, able to evacuate to this subspace. However, the Principal remained outside by herself to keep the barrier standing.」 「Miliera did!? That’s reckless!! At any rate, we have to go back there fast!」

Silva nodded strongly at Ripple’s words.

「Yes, Lady Ripple! Only a Holy Knight armed with a weaponized Hyrule Menace can take down a Prisma! I may still be in training, but should you lend me your power, I shall show you I can do it! Please!」 「Silva… we……can’t do that yet.」 「B-, but why!? Am I still not enough?」 「That’s not what I meant. Leon said that it’s not a complete Prisma just yet, right? If that’s the case, then maybe we have other ways to defeat it. I’m just saying, we have to do everything we can.」 「Lady Ripple, you said the same thing as the Principal!」 「Holy Knights and Hyrule Menaces are the aces for Midlanders. It’s called an ace because you don’t show your ace that easily. Well, you’ll understand it soon enough if you keep up your training.」 「You who threw your status have no right to say anything.!」 「Ha-ha! Ain’t that the truth!」 「……Either way, we’re going! Leone, can you bring us back?」 「Yes!」

As Leone released her Gift, the scenery changed completely. It returned to the scenery of the collapsed Knight Academy enveloped by a Barrier.

Compared to before the Prisma released its countless beams of light, the buildings were even more devastated, almost completely rubbles, while the ground was riddled with craters.

「Miliera! Are you okay!?」 「Aah, Miss Ripple! What impeccable timing! I pushed through somehow, but I really could use some help!」

Principal Miliera sounded okay, but she seemed to be suffering from various shallow wounds. She was breathing quite haggardly, too. She must have really been exhausted.

However, putting it the other way around, she was able to survive Prisma’s vehement attack and got away with just shallow wounds and nothing more.

「Yeah, leave it to me! I’ve been causing everyone trouble all this time, so let me protect all of you this time! That’s what it means to be a Hyrule Menace, after all!」

Ripple revealed her twin golden guns in her hands and held them up. With a light jump, she stood in front of Miliera to protect the latter.

Then, as she turned to face the Prisma and gazed at it, she recognized.

「Eh……!? A-Aaahh—— N-no way……! It can’t be——」

Tears began to swell up in her big eyes as she looked at the monster.

「Miss Ripple? What’s wrong!?」 「M- ,my dad——that’s my dad! He became a Magic Stone Beast when a Prism Flow destroyed our Beastmen village! And now he’s here!」

It was a story from a long, long time ago. A distant memory of a time before Ripple became a Hyrule Menace.

Her father, the chief of the Beastmen race, was struck by Prism Flow and became a Magic Stone Beast. The village was destroyed, and Ripple was the only survivor.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Had he been living as a Magic Stone Beast since then and even turned into a Prisma?