Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Rescue

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Author’s Note: This is the completion of the first arc.

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“Yuuri, that was nasty…”

“You have no right to say that, Alec, you mincemeat maker.”

I make sure there are no longer enemies in our surroundings, and give Alec some first aid.

Ripping the end of my skirt to make a simple bandage, I then use “appraisal” to make sure the arrow didn’t hit any important blood vessels or nerves.

After cutting the end of the arrow off using magic, I pulled the arrow out quickly, and stopped the bleeding with the bandage.

“Ghk! Be… jeez, be a little gentler!”

“When you get a girlfriend, go ahead and tell her that.”

When I finished the immediate treatment, I released “appraisal”.

If I used it for to long, even with “adaptability”, I feel like I’ll go crazy.

It seems like the length I can sustain it is shorter than [body reinforcement]. Maybe about five minutes?

“Anyway, don’t we need to secure Marle? Can you walk?”

“Yeah, I’ll manage. I can’t hold sentinel though.”

“So you’re done if your right arm gets hurt somewhere, huh…? Guess we’ll have to think of countermeasures for this, too.”

I carry sentinel with both hands, and we enter the cave.

I wonder if the bandits had to work really hard to make this place easy to live in? The space was lit up with torches, and the footing was evenly leveled.

“Hum, even though this is ‘that kind of place,’ they at least cared about the amenities, eh?”

“Ahmenetees?”

“It means the things that make it livable, and comfortable.”

“Ahh… this looks like it used to be some beast’s nest, but it isn’t smelly.”

Smelly? I thought back to when I got close to the boss, but…

“Those guys were pretty smelly though.”

“You think so? I didn’t really notice, but… well, I was kinda desperate to stay alive.”

“I’d heard that women are more sensitive to smells, but does this mean it’s really true?”

My feminine qualities… are increasing.

Anyhow my old body basically became a mess of ground meats, and I’ve given up on becoming male, but still.

“This cave is surprisingly deep.”

“—Hyaa!?”

Alec’s mutter was replied to with a stiff scream.

Is there someone in the back, in the dark area?

“Is that you, Marle? I am Haster’s apprentice, Yuuri. I’ve come to save you.”

“We’re not gonna hurt you, so don’t be afraid, alright?”

At the end of the cave, chained to a metal pole in the ground, there was the figure of a shackled young girl.

“S-save…?”

“Yeah, so you can relax now, see? Since we took care of those bad jerks!”

The ghastly appearance of Alec, with his injured right shoulder and no left arm, anxiously talks to her.

I think that will actually make her more scared.

“Do you know where the keys to your shackles are?”

“… Iunno.”

“Hum, I’ll go look—”

“Don’t leave me!”

He’s the long awaited rescuer to her. She’s probably frightened that he’ll part from her again.

“Then, Alec, please stay with her. I’ll go search for the key… ah.”

“Got it, but what’s the “ah” about?!”

I was being thoughtless… there were a lot of people I “evaporated” out there.

What will we do if one of those guys was holding the key?

“A-actually, let’s go ahead and break the shackles. It’s not like we need the key!”

“Oh, come to think of it… how many people did you evaporate?”

“Don’t dwell on the past!”

“… … …?”

‘What’s wrong?’ Marle seemed to be asking as she tilted her head to the side without saying anything. Hnngh, this girl is CUTE!

Ahem. Anyway, first we use sentinel to cut the chain, then move to a brighter place.

After that, I use all the strength of my [telekinesis] to tear the shackles off.

I gave special attention to avoid carelessly hurting Marle’s legs. To keep from breaking the hinge, my focus is on the key area, slowly pulling it apart… there.

“Well? Are you injured, or does it hurt anywhere?”

“Nope, I’m fine. Thank you, Miss.”

After giving me a proper thanks, she clings to Alec. My oh my. Without thinking, I give him what my Master calls a “villainous face”, a mischievous smile spreading from ear to ear.

“What’s that look for?!”

“Oh~no~, no reason at all?”

“Don’t give me that!”

“I’m really looking forward to ten years from now. Take good care of your girlfriend, alright?

When I call her a girlfriend, Marle gets strangely red.

Hohoo, even at this age, she’s very much a “girl”.

While having our silly chat, we were going to head back to the cottage when suddenly before us… a Great Demon God stood in our path.

~*~

“… Well? What’s your excuse?”

My Master towered over me imposingly. The vein lines on his forehead are so charming.

I’m back at the cottage, being forced to sit in seiza position. Yep.

“A-Alec was…”

“Does my senior apprentice intend to push responsibility on to her junior?”

“No… that’s…”

“I ran off first, it was my fault.”

“Naturally, I’ll have you reflect on your reckless behavior. But, it was supposed to be Yuuri’s duty to stop you.”

“Yessir, I’m sorry.”

“Haaa, well since the result is that you saved the girl in the nick of time, though I don’t like how you did it… thoroughly reflect on this, and be careful from now on.”

I have no excuses to give. What my Master says is always right.

I wanted… to test out sentinel‘s performance… and even if that wasn’t my intent, I still used Alec’s behavior as an excuse. I’m certain that my Master figured that out.

Since I had just gotten a little better with magic, I got carried away and ended up putting Alec in danger.

As tears come to my eyes and I clench my fists, my Master casts a disgusted look at me while treating Alec’s shoulder.

—I disgusted him.

Those genuine feelings made tears drip down my face. I can’t stop them.

In my previous life, I wouldn’t have been crying this much though…

“I’m, sor, ry”

I let out another apology.

In response to me, my Master tenderly hugs my head, and strokes my hair.

No matter how foolish I was, my Master comforted me, letting me know he wouldn’t abandon me.

In my previous life, even my family half-abandoned me.

“I was really worried.”

“Yeah… thank you, very much.”

Burying head in my Master’s chest, I make a complicated expression.

Kind of happy, kind of sad, my heart was filled with those strange feelings.

“Could you two stick to flirting to when you’re all alone maybe—?”

And it would have been perfect if Alec wasn’t there being bothered about whether he should be watching or not!

Hey, Alec, hasn’t Marle been stuck to your back for a while now too?

“Alec, you should be reflecting too. If Yuuri hadn’t sent up those stupidly huge fireworks, I still wouldn’t know where you were.”

That’s right, I let my [heat ray] wildly fly toward the top of the cliff when I released it.

It evaporated the archers, gouged out the cliff, and then the beam of light flew off into the sky; that resulted in letting my Master know where we were.

Eh? Of course, that was all in my calculations.

“Fufufu, exactly as I calculated…”

“Liar.”

“And the truth is?”

“I totally snapped, and let out as much power as I could without collapsing the cave.”

I thought the charged particle cannon was overdoing it. If the melted lava blocked the entrance, I’m not sure what would have happened…

“Oh, but Master. We need to hurry and let Mr. Halt know that Marle is alright.”

“Uh, that’s right… although I have Alec’s treatment to do…”

“I can see Mama and Papa?”

“Wait just a little longer. It’s because I got injured…”

“That’s not your fault, mister!”

Swinging both of her arms around, Marle sticks up for Alec. That’s so cute.

Certainly, by seeing how horrible Alec’s wounds appear, it looks like he was caught up in a fierce battle to come and save Marle; like a prince on a white horse… I guess?

“If Alec and Master can’t move, then I’ll have to take her there.”

“Just so you know, she won’t be able to handle your high speed maneuvering, got it?”

“I’m not going to do that!?”

Using [body reinforcement] while holding a little girl; I don’t even need to think about that. It’s way too dangerous!

“If we start riding the horse down to the village now, we’ll be there by morning. I’d like to send her there faster, but…”

“After I’m finished with the treatment, I wouldn’t mind flying her back, though…”

“Aren’t you worn out from flying to and fro without rest, Master? Even more so in this darkness.”

“I certainly wouldn’t want to carelessly drop our important guest. It’s our only option. Yuuri, I’ll leave it to you.”

“I’d like to ask why you’re saying “It’s our only option” about this in detail later.”

“Do you really wanna know?”

“No, not really.”

And so when I delivered her to Mr. Halt’s place, they cried tears of joy. Naturally.

When I stated the role Alec played in the rescue, even the people who resisted accepting him couldn’t keep their mouths shut, and his position in the village was established.

However, many people were still hesitant to step forward as foster parents, and in the end he got a deal on a hut at the edge of the village where he started living alone.