v1c15-1 - Intermission 5 - Ellie, the Arch Wizard who is thinking of leaving the Hero party, which is about to collapse because Alex has been replaced too badly.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Stella! You ……≪Thunderbolt≫!”
After defeating the monster that attacked Stella with lightning magic, she rushes over to her.
“Are you okay!?”
“Yeah. I can use magic for now, so I’ll heal myself.”
So saying, as Stella began to heal her own injuries…
“Hey, Roland! Stop the enemy properly!”
“Kuh …… sorry about that.”
I should complain to Roland who let the enemy through to the rear guard.
This is because after Alex left, Ms. Monica, whom Roland had considered as his replacement, turned him down, and as a result, Ms. Grace, a rogue, joined the party.
Since rogue is a job specializing in attack, also known as a dual wielder, with a dagger in each hand, Roland would inevitably be the one to protect us.
Both Stella and I were very anxious about this, but Roland had accepted a request from the guild on his own, so we had no choice but to go.
“I finished defeating the monsters ……. Ms. Stella, are you okay?”
“Yeah, somehow.”
“I’m sorry. If only I had been able to defeat those monsters sooner.”
“No, it’s not your fault, Ms. Grace. You handled that many monsters, after all. And it’s impossible to wipe out so many monsters before they attack you.”
As soon as Ms. Grace has destroyed the demons, she rushes over to Stella and calls out to her in a worried tone.
In fact, Stella was right. There was no way we could encounter a group of monsters and defeat them without letting them attack us even once.
That is why we, the rear guard, need someone like Alex to protect us.
“What the hell, Stella. Grace is not bad …… you mean you want to say I’m bad!”
Roland, who has replaced Alex in the role of protecting the rear guard from monsters, says grimly.
Or, in fact, as he says himself, if anyone is to blame, it is Roland.
Even though Grace has been entrusted with the role of attacker, Roland is in a more offensive position than defensive, and he is attacking the weakened monsters rather than the ones that are trying to attack him.
The result.
The monsters are allowed to attack, Stella is attacked, and he becomes grumpy, which makes the mood of the party worse.
“Next time I’ll be careful. But Stella and Ellie, you have to avoid them a little yourself.”
There’s no way we can do that.
Both Stella and I are concentrating on controlling our magical power in order to use high-level magic.
If the control is neglected, the magic won’t activate, or worse, the attack magic will hit Grace or Roland, you know!?
……The other day, Tabitha told me that Alex had turned her down and she wanted me to continue our activities as before for now, but I’ll still have her pass my name on to Alex.
I am sure that Alex will not turn me away at the door.
Then I would live happily with Alex in a house alone with no one to bother us.
It may be hard to get used to it, but I’m sure I’ll be fine since I’m going to live with Alex, whom I love more than anything else!
This time, I will make sure that Alex keeps his promise to protect me!
“…… -lie! Ellie!”
“Huh!? S-Stella!? W-What’s wrong!?”
“…… That should be my line. Are you okay? You were in a daze, though. Did they put some kind of status ailments spell on you?”
“What!? I don’t ….. think it’s like that, though?”
Well, I did think about Alex, and I did escape reality a little bit.
There are no monsters around, so I don’t think it’s that kind of thing.
“I see. But be careful. Mr. Alex’s paladin skill even prevents status ailments, but to be frank, I think our current party is very fragile. For example, if I were to be hit by a status ailment like paralysis or silence ……”
“Ah! No one can use recovery magic!”
“That’s what I mean. Mr. Alex would have been able to use medium healing magic, so even if the worst happened to me …… no, nothing would happen to me if Mr. Alex was there in the first place.”
“Yeah. Unlike someone else, he protects us properly.”
“I guess so. Mr. Alex …… I wonder when is he coming back…”
I see Stella let out a sigh and suddenly realize.
That’s right. If I leave this party, Stella will be in trouble.
Before I go to Alex’s, I have to say something to her.
“You know what, Stella? After we’re done with this request …… I have something I want to talk to you about.”
I whispered to Stella in a small voice so that Roland, who was walking in front of us, could not hear me …… and got her approval.