Chapter 70

Chapter 70 – The Quest Isn’t Done Yet (5)

Jaime’s inn should have been similar to the inn occupied by Artpe’s party.  However, the atmosphere inside the inn was subdued.  Artpe opened the door to the inn.  When he entered, he saw that every single person had their head buried in their table.

“······what the hell?”

[Nyaa.]

Artpe surveyed his surrounding.  He wonder if they were in mourning.  A female waitress ran up to him, and she whispered to him.

“A man tried to make a pass on a pretty woman, and she······”

The following story was something a normal male shouldn’t hear if one wanted to maintain one’s mental health.

Indeed, everyone was taking some time to extend their sympathy towards this man.  Artpe also gave a short prayer.  He prayed for the rest of the man’s life.  He would no longer be able to have any children now, so he wished the man to live an enjoyable life.  Ah…   He wouldn’t be able to enjoy himself.

After he finished his prayer, he raised his head.  The female employee asked him a question with a solemn expression on her face.

“Would you like to order something?”

“No.  I’m here to meet someone..”

Before Artpe ascended the stairway, he wondered if he should go put on a codpiece.  However, he gave up on the idea, since he couldn’t stop her if she truly wanted to harm him.

[Nyaa, nyaa-ahhhhh?]

“I need a chastity belt instead of a codpiece?  No, she has a law-abiding spirit.  She won’t lay her hands on an underage male.”

[Nyaa······.]

Artpe ignored Roa’s narrowed eyes, and he knocked on the door at the end of the third floor.  It was the corner room.  She had been constantly emitting a thin thread of magical energy.  It allowed him to locate her.  Even if he didn’t have his Read All Creation ability, he would have been able to easily locate her room.

[Come in.]

“I’m coming in.”

Artpe heard Etna’s reply.  He relaxed as he opened the door when he heard her calm voice.  For a split second, he worried a sack would be placed over his head.  Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Artpe.”

“Hello, Etna.”

A beauty with burning red eyes was standing there.

“······yes, hello.  Are you feeling a bit better?”

“Yes.”

He thought the greeting they had exchanged hadn’t been that bad, but Etna remained still.  She didn’t budge from her initial position after opening the door.  Artpe felt the need to say something, so he opened his mouth.

“I came here to give you what I promised.  I wanted to come here as soon as possible, but I lost consciousness.”

“It’s all right.  I haven’t been waiting too long…..”

Etna had a soft smile on her lips as she spoke.  However, she clamped her mouth shut when she saw the sword that appeared in Artpe’s hand.

The long sword had a red sword aura, and it was named the Netherworld Flame Sword of Madness.  It was famous for being the sword of a knight, who performed admirably during the rebellion within the Diaz kingdom.  In truth, the Fire Spirit Meltia was sealed within the sword.  It allowed the user to perform incredible feats, but in the end, it took the wielder’s life as the price.  It was a demonic sword.

Of course, Roa had completely extracted all the curse from it, so the Fire Spirit could leave the sword if it wanted to.  This was obvious but the curse was something that couldn’t be harvested so easily even if one wanted to do it.

“······no, I’m not alright anymore after seeing this.  The curse…  How were you able pull this off…..  No, if I start talking about it, it’ll lead me to talk about all the other thing I want to ask you.”

He was sure he had done everything she wanted, yet Etna’s expression remained absolutely serious. Her mouth moved several times as if she was about to say something, but in the end, she closed her eyes shut as she sat down on top of the bed.

The brief silence felt as if it had lasted an eternity.  A hollow voice flowed out from her mouth..

“Artpe….  Who are you?”

“I’m young, yet I have a crazy combination of level and ability.  I’m a damn fine kid magician.”

“No, I’m not talking about that!  There is this sword, and the infallibility you showed me that day…..  Are you perhaps a….”

However, she couldn’t finish her words.  Artpe could clearly see the black shackles around her neck.  It was an absolute yoke that couldn’t be broken if one was from the Demon race..

“….what I’m trying to say is…..”

The shackles disappeared.  It seemed she was successful in choosing her words.

“I have a bad feeling about this.  It is as if I’ll have to fight you one day.  It feels inevitable.”

“I’m much weaker than you right now.  If you want to kill me, now is the time.”

“······eeek.”

Artpe spoke jokingly, and it caused Etna to glare at him as if she really wanted to kill him.  Artpe finally smirked as he continued to speak.

“We aren’t going to fight right now, so why worry about it?  If we do fight later on, we can worry about it when we reach that point.”

“I envy you.  You are able to speak such words with ease.  You alway seemed like an old soul, yet you are acting your age right now.”

“I am a kid”

“······yes, you are a kid.  How the hell did I….”

After Etna finished her words, she let out a big sigh.

However, when she raised her head again, her expression became a bit brighter.

“All right.  I give up.  I’ll do as you’ve suggested. It would be foolish for me to worry about it.   I’m living a life where I have no idea what I will do next.”

“Are you feeling a little bit better?”

“I’m not fine, but I decided to act as if it is fine.  That is my specialty.  Hoo-hoo.”

Her words made light of the situation, but from the perspective of someone hearing her words, he could tell that wasn’t the case. However, her attitude changed before Artpe could react and say anything.  She acted as if the prior conversation had never happened.

“Hoo-ooh······.”

Her body became a little bit less tense, and her eyes narrowed slightly in a mischievous manner.   She acted as if this was a normal interaction between a man and a woman.  She asked him a question.

“So who is your girlfriend amongst the three of them?”

How come every single woman Artpe knew decided to use this question as an introduction?  Artpe lamented as he opened his mouth.

“She’s the most pretty one.”

Of course, he didn’t have a girlfriend amongst the three of them.  Even if his lie was revealed, he decided to pick lies that would put a broad smile on Etna’s face.  When Etna heard his answer, she let out a sigh as she replied.

“I’m glad you didn’t answer by saying all three of them were your girlfriends.”

“What if I had given that answer?”

“I won’t stand for a playboy, who makes many women cry.  That is why I would have put you in a situation where you would be able to make only one woman cry.”

Artpe got ready to run away as he spoke.

“I’m sorry, but could you translate it into words that I can understand?”

“I would have immediately kidnapped you, and I would have bounced from this place.”

“You stay there.  Don’t come this way.”

“It’s a joke.  I’m joking.”

She was sitting at the edge of the bed.  She patted the spot next to her.  Artpe’s own safety had been threatened, so he was very hesitant.  However, in the end, he did as she wanted.

Their bodies weren’t touching, but the two of them were close enough that they were able to feel the faint traces of each other’s body temperature.  Artpe weirdly felt ticklish, so he tried to widen the distance from her. Etna kept looking at him with soft eyes, so he had to give up on that idea.

“Is that your cat?  She is incredibly well behaved.”

“She’s my familiar.”

[Nyaa-ooh.]

It seemed Roa picked up on the mood, so she was well-behaved.  No, she might be too afraid of Etna at an instinctual level.  Etna extended her hand, yet Roa didn’t even think about running away.  She offered her body up to Etna.  Roa was completely in a nonresistance mode.

Etna also realized this fact, so she let out a bitter laugh.

“······it has also been like this.  Animals have always been sensitive to my energy. It has always been like this.”

“I’ll bring her back after I raise her.  She’ll be strong enough that she won’t be afraid of you.”

“Oh my.  Are you already requesting another date?  I’m glad.”

Etna carefully retracted the hand she had extended towards Roa.  This time she gently took Artpe’s hand.  Her hand was slender and delicate.  Her hand felt hot as she grabbed his hand in it entirety.

When Artpe tilted his head in puzzlement, Etna pouted as she spoke.

“You said you wanted to hold my hand.”

“Ah.  I cooked up those words, because I wanted your magical energy.”

“Ooh-doo-doohk.”

The same sound that was coming out of Etna’s mouth was heard from the joints of Arte’s hand.  Etna ignored Artpe’s scream as she kept holding onto his hand.   After a long while, she finally let go of his hand.  His hand was red.

“You are young, yet you are trying to play with a woman.”

“Are you saying it would have been fine if I was older?”

“Yes. ······so please grow up fast..”

“······huh?”

What the hell?  Didn’t he say something similar to someone?  Artpe felt himself sink into an odd mood.

Before he could dredge up the answer from his memories, Etna extended her hands to grab his shoulders.  She gently pulled him towards her, and she gave him a light kiss on his cheek.  Her kiss felt blissful hot befitting the daughter of the Phoenix.

“Uh······.”

“Hoo-hooht.”

At the unexpected sneak attack, Artpe became dazed.  Etna let out a bright smile as she stood up. There was a mischievous smile on her lips.

“When you grow up and if we don’t need to fight each other at taht time, let’s meet up once again in earnest.”

“Didn’t I tell you that I have a girlfriend?”

“Hoo.”

Artpe used the invincible shield to protect himself, but his defense broke into tiny pieces.  Etna snorted.

“You really think I can’t tell that you were telling me a lie?  You are great at hiding everything else.  I don’t know why you are so obtuse regarding this subject.”

“Uh······.”

….it was weird.  Everyone seemed to be able to read his inner thoughts today.  He wondered if a magic that revealed his inner thoughts was placed on him.  He explored his face with his hand.  Etna let out a cloudless laughter when she saw this.

“I want to stay with you longer, but my time limit is approaching.  I have to go now.”

“Etna?”

“Also, this is my present to you.”

Etna pushed the sword towards him.  He didn’t even have to check it.  It was the Netherworld Flame Sword of Madness he had given her when he entered the room.

Artpe received the sword, and he looked over its information.  The Fire Spirit Meltia wasn’t residing within it, but a powerful fire energy remained within the sword.  Artpe immediately realized that it was Etna’s power.

It was absolutely inferior compared to the sword that had Meltia residing within it.  However, the Record left behind by Meltia remained inside the sword, and it worked harmoniously with Etna’s power.  It had turned into an Artifact that was priceless.

“I’m not as good as you, but I’m skilled at enchanting items with my power.  Please take care of this sword.  You should think of it as me.  Ah, you can’t give it to that girl.  I’ll really hate you if you do.”

How the heck did she know that he had been planning on giving to Maetel….  He was having such thoughts, yet he shamelessly shook his head from side to side on the outside.

“No, I was going to use it.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Hoo-hooht.  It sound like a lie, but I’ll trust you.  Be seeing you.”

In the next moment, Etna really disappeared from the spot.  She completely disappeared using the same method she used in the pub couple days ago.  However, she had traveled a much vaster distance compared to before.  She controlled fire, yet she travelled quickly like the wind.

[Nyaa.]

At that moment, Roa was barely able to regain her composure.  She hopped on top of Artpe’s lap.  She looked up at him as she cried.  Her eyes were filled worry and fear.

[Nyaa-ahhhh······.]

“No, she isn’t a woman that would be swayed by her affections.  If a day comes where she has to kill me, she won’t hesitate to kill me.”

[Nyaa nyaa, nyaa-ooh-ahh.]

“Yes, if that happens, she’ll probably be hurt more than me.  That is why….. .”

Artpe thought about the lonely expression on her face, and the black shackles that encircled her neck.  She was supposed to be a radiant fire that should be freer than anyone else.  She wasn’t able to spread her wings.  When he thought about her miserable state, it made him grind his teeth.

Still, he was able to confirm something once again today.  He was sure of it now.

In the past, the Demon king’s power had felt absolute to him, but he was no longer afraid of it now.

“I’ll end him with my own power this time around.  Are you going to help me, Roa?”

[Nyaa!]

Roa gave a short yet fierce answer.  Artpe smirked as he petted her head.  Then he stood up.  He equipped the flame sword given to him by Etna, and he hid it using his robe.  Then he bravely headed outside.

“I’ll take care of my remaining tasks.”

After bartering with Mycenae, he was able to flawlessly rebuild the 1st barrier wall.  It was already late into the night when he returned to the inn.

It seemed Sherryl and Sienna had already become friends.  They slept as they leaned against each other’s shoulder.  Unlike them, Maetel was glowering as she waited for him.  She wasn’t up for anything important.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Artpe?”

“You might not believe me, but nothing happened.  I had other tasks I had to finish.”

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“I want to hear a detailed account of what you did.  Come here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He wanted to go to sleep.  The night was fast coming to an end.  It took him 30 minutes to convince Maetel that nothing had gone on between Etna and him.  After being harassed by her, he was finally able to go to sleep within her embrace.

From Maetel’s perspective, she was trying to make up for the time and affection she had lost to Etna.  This was nothing but a form of punishment from Artpe’s perspective.

Still, it was strange.  He was able to sleep really well that night within her embrace.  He slept for three hours.  He had been busy running around Frate, yet all the fatigue he had accumulated was completely washed away as if it had been a lie.