CH 33

Chapter 33 – Moonlight Shrine

By the way, everything there had crumbled into sand.

The Demon gave a wry smile at this sight and let out a sigh, laying down in the shape of a 大, as if she had given up. Speaking of the way these guys died, I knew of it, and it was something like this.

After I approached her with a Magic Circle floating above my palm, the Demon shook her head.

“There’s no need to stop. I don’t feel anymore pain.”

…She’s still capable of exchanging words with someone, huh? Though, I had no intention of making friends with a Demon.

If that were the case, what should I ask her?

Should it be about her purpose? If the expected Cardiff House Summoner was a Demon, then maybe she made the Black Dimension Stone. Perhaps that was a good reasoning?

What was its purpose?

……

“–The Moonlight Shrine.”

The Demon stared at me in amazement after I said that. Although I didn’t have the time nor the method to interrogate her, I could at least observe her response after asking her a leading question. It didn’t really mean I was confident though.

In regards to her reason for being here, whether it was to gain a profit from kidnapping people or to devour the victim’s feelings, both were rather understandable.

“Geez, you’re interesting. In fact, you’re a very interesting brat.”

Whether or not the Demon realized that I had tricked her into revealing something, her shoulders slightly trembled.

“You, what’s your name?”

“…Theodore.”

“Is that so? Be proud, Demon Killer. My name is Lynette.”

The Demon gave me a laugh, and then her whole body quickly turned into sand and was swept away by the wind.

…Guys like her were disastrous. There were people who considered that of all Demons though.

I shook my head for a bit, then switched up my thoughts. I had other things to consider after all.

The Moonlight Shrine.

It was an area in one of the lower levels of the Termuilles Labyrinth.

It wasn’t even implemented in BFO, but the game gave hints to its existence.

For example, in the past, its seal was destroyed by Demons, and its treasure was taken away.

It wasn’t certain though, since I didn’t know when on the timeline it happened, and if the Demons’ objective happened to be in Termuilles, then I thought it would be the Shrine.

If research had been conducted into the Dimension Stones in order to invade the Moonlight Shrine, then it wasn’t like they wouldn’t know the reason for Demons finding their way into Termuilles as well.

If that was the case, then did it mean that the Moonlight Shrine’s seal had yet to be destroyed?

Perhaps this event would occur anytime between the start of the game’s story right now and 10 years into the future.

Either way, this country, which includes Termuilles, was peaceful in the game.

The area that was dangerous at the start of the story lied to the North. After all, large outbreaks of Monsters occurred there.

Although these were referred to as Grand Quests that were distributed along the way, if I were to yell about such a thing with a loud voice right now, then people would only think of me as delusional.

Magic Trials were pointless. Although you could see if someone was telling a lie during one, it wouldn’t work for those who seriously believed they were telling the truth.

These were labeled as Grand Quests, but BFO was a game where one could live as they pleased in a fantasy world.

It didn’t necessarily mean that the main plot wouldn’t progress no matter what, so a part of me had set it aside for later.

Although I didn’t know which direction the outbreak of Monsters would spread to, which could be all the way to the South, it wouldn’t be a loss if I preserved my strength. I had no problems fighting opponents from the Labyrinth.

…Well, perhaps the treasure that was taken away had to do with the large outbreak of Monsters…?

That might be plausible. Speaking of Demons who let Monsters run rampant, the game’s plot was composed such that it was easy to understand, so stray Demons that appeared in the game were also called rogue Demons.

If one were to consider what they were doing, then they might be Demons who had orderly plans with some type of goal.

I couldn’t say that those were tied to the situation at hand because I might be thinking carelessly…Presently, there was the existence of Prince Albert and Holy Sword Oswald as well.

Anyhow, about the Moonlight Shrine…Maybe it was because I heard about it from the Demon, but should I put it up for discussion?

Even if I was to say that the things the Demon said were nonsense, and even if they didn’t like it, she was probably aiming for the Moonlight Shrine. The information I wouldn’t be privy to later on would probably be examined by the higher ups as they pleased.

“Theodore-sama!”

The guys who had fled from the plaza all at once had gathered. Whether or not they came due to the commotion, Grace and Ashley pushed their way through the crowd and looked at me.

“Oh, it’s you two.”

“They said a D-Demon appeared…!”

“No way, did you defeat that Demon by yourself?”

The two of them looked worried. As for me, I thought it was better for the Demon to not come across the three of us when we were together.

Morris’s matter hadn’t been tidied up yet, so we had been on alert since yesterday.

The day had ended after releasing the victims from their base, and bringing us to today.

Since we had arranged a meeting for an explanation, I had visited the Adventurer’s Guild by myself.

It appeared that the arrangements on the officials’ side had gone wrong and they had ended up making trouble for themselves.

From there, the Hydra and the Demon had appeared after they breaking out of the Count’s residence.

Although the members of the Adventurer’s Guild helped out with the city’s evacuation, I, who was free at that time, took the opportunity to go on the offense. If I was to summarize and explain the situation, it would be something along those lines.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Theodore-sama, blood is…”

Oh, was it from the backlash of using Advanced Magic? Although the bleeding from my left hand had stopped, now that I thought about it, I told them that there was a dull pain.

Ashley took my hand and cast Healing Magic on it.

“Thanks, Ashley. Grace, over here.”

I said my thanks to Ashley, and then I applied a seal on Grace.

Grace’s cheeks flushed red, she appeared absent-minded.

I wondered if her vampiric impulses would show up because of the smell of my blood. It could turn into something bad.

“Theodore, I owe you one. I’ll be sure to give you my thanks sometime.”

When I turned towards the voice, I saw Sheila amongst the crowd, and then she vanished from the area.

For her to reach a conclusion on this with a smile…her friend was probably safe.

The victims of the kidnapping incident were fine. This problem was really piling up.

The treatment of the female Monsters that had been captured hadn’t been decided yet, and I had more things on my mind, like the matters concerning how Morris would be handled and how the position of Talcott, who was under the care of the Prince, would be affected.

Personally, I had acted violently without any hesitation under the public eye, so it looked like things were going to become noisy for a while.

Hmm…crushing Demons was fine and all, but being sought after was troublesome.

I wonder if I should descend the Labyrinth first thing in the morning for a while starting tomorrow. Let’s also ask Rossetta about having Ashley come into the Labyrinth as well.

Although it was likely that this country would continue to be peaceful for a while…there probably wouldn’t be any loss in having Ashley become stronger quickly.

//

After telling the officials a dramatized version of the exchange I had with the Demon, and that she had targeted the Moonlight Shrine, we resolved the necessary matters and returned home.

Now, after that, Grace, who appeared apologetic, was in the master bedroom, her shoulders squared and head hanging, while wearing her night clothes.

“…I’m sorry for the trouble, you two.”

“It’s f-fine, Grace-sama.”

Ashley appeared to be a little embarrassed.

…What should I do in this situation?

“I didn’t think it was much of a problem though. Would drinking my blood cause you to get drunk to a certain extent?”

“Yes…I feel that it has a very nice smell.”

…Perhaps this had to do with her mentality.

Even though it had become night, the reactions of Grace, who had ended up getting drunk off of the smell of my blood, had yet to disappear.

It took quite a bit of ・・ effort you know.

(TN: I’m sure you can figure out what ・・is censoring :P)

Due to that, Grace, who was fine with us being together even when we slept today, complained. It seemed like she was saying that, as long as I was on equal terms with both her and Ashley, then…so Ashley was also with us. It was fine as long as the relationship between the two of them was good.

It appears that they have been worried ever since I fought with the Demon.

But…Umm. To sum it up, I would be sleeping between the two of them in the shape of a 川.

Something like that.

It couldn’t be helped, no matter how long we looked at each other, so the two of them finally lied down, with me in the center of the bed.

“Theo…”

Grace, who muttered that, touched my cheek with her slender hand and smiled at me in satisfaction. It was somewhat ticklish.

“Umm, Theodore-sama…”

“Go ahead, it’s fine.”

“–Yes.”

Ashley also placed her hand around my shoulder in a shy manner.

When I looked to my right and to my left, there were two strikingly beautiful women.

The two of them soon became quiet and began to fall asleep…

…I can’t sleep. Pull yourself together, me!