chapter 82

Azalea and Grain disappeared at the same time. I was left behind in this place as I tried to catch my breath when fatigue suddenly rushed over me.

d.a.m.n, my whole body is worn out.

Because the bleeding was severe and I used up my magical power, I was completely exhausted.

While my blood was still trickling out, I was barely holding onto Ainbelle and finally let her go, and at the same time, she became a particle of light and disappeared.

At the moment she disappeared, I felt like I heard her voice say “You worked hard today”.

However, as Ain is quite big now, I wonder if she’ll be like that from now on.

When she changes into Divine Sword Ainbelle, the magical power consumption is abnormally huge, and it looks like making her change for a long time will be difficult.

And furthermore, she was cheeky. But then again, it was because of Ain that I was able to win.

At any rate, Quadruple magic by using Time Square and Divine Sword Ainbelle, huh?

Looking at how Triple didn’t do that much damage, even Quadruple couldn’t guarantee defeating him. It was a gamble, but the method of combining Red, Blue, Green, and Sky, the four colors of Magic, came out from that experience.

As a result, it produced a golden light and brought forth a magic strong enough to defeat Grain. The reason why the spirits did not mix together was because the other three colors had bad compatibility, however, well, I intend to eventually get around to testing out mixing them.

Anyway, right now, I’m tired.

My strength left my whole body, my legs buckled and I sat down on the ground.

「Zeph-kun!」

Claude came running and embraced me all her might. She brought her face close and her eyes were a little moist. When I tried to hide my embarra.s.sment by gently stroking her head, she rubbed her face on my shoulder, wiping her tears.

「Thank goodness…..You didn’t really die……」(Claude)

「Do I look like the type to fall behind in a magician battle? By the way, what happened to Milly and the others?」(Zeph)

「I placed Milly-san and the others in a shelter, and from there I saw the fight, but because I heard the chant for that huge magic, I gathered arrows and shields……」(TL note: “I gathered arrows and shields” is a j.a.panese saying that means “I cannot hold back the feeling of wanting to do something”)

The chant for Grand Magic is long, but there are many cases where firing this magic once decides the victor in interpersonal battles. In actuality, if Clause was not there for me in order to defend against Red Zero back there, I wouldn’t be able to have enough time to cast Tetra Crash, in a situation where my magical power restoration was insufficient, I don’t know what I would have done.

「You saved me, Claude. If I were to take on that attack, it would have indeed been awful」

「It’s a given that I would do such a thing」

Claude said that, and maybe because of the Red Zero before, but her clothes were burned all over and her shield completely cracked. If I remember correctly, she said that it was an important shield that she received from her mother. When she looked at the broken shield, Claude noticed the crack and looked a little lonely.

「Ah, it’s fine. It is an important item, but because I was able to protect Zeph-kun, Mother would have been happy」

Although she smiled when she answered, her eyes were clouded slightly, and as expected, it did bother her. Of course, although she was expelled from the house, nevertheless, it was still an item she received from her mother.

「However, since you specifically brought out the topic, may I ask for a brand-new shield from Zeph-kun?」

「……You sure are shrewd, Claude」

I spoke sarcastically and she giggled. That was a completely bad way to dodge the question.

Although she has the ability Screen Point, Claude is not completely resistant to magic. Therefore, her clothes get burned and torn, and she cannot defend until the next side effect. Red Zero….And also a Dispatched Magician, there’s no way to take both of them on and not be injured.

All things considered, the fact that Claude’s shield was completely destroyed while she was still in her side effect is very terrifying.

「I’ll lend you my shoulder. Let’s go back to where Milly-san and the others are」(Claude)

「I’ll leave it up to you」(Zeph)

Claude helped up my injured body and while I borrowed her shoulder, we tottered to the place where Milly and the others were still sleeping comfortably. When Claude and I looked at their carefree faces, I burst out laughing.

「Looks like I have once again been useless at the most important moments……」(Milly)

With a gloomy atmosphere, Milly laid face down on top of the bed. Safely leaving behind Wanaruta Ruins, we returned to the lodge and prepared to have a review meeting in Milly’s room. Sitting next to the Milly who was on her stomach, Lydia gently stroked Milly’s back to comfort her.

「There…..there, I too was useless this time…….」(Lydia)

「That’s not comforting me, Lydia」(Milly)

According to Claude’s story, they were waiting by the entrance and then all of a sudden, the two of them fell down, and while she crouched down to wake them up, she sensed Grain’s presence. Claude realized that a sleeping spell was cast on them and the moment she saw that it was his doing and sensed that she couldn’t win by herself, she pretended to sleep until I came.

「But Clau-chan, I’m surprised that you thought of such a thing in that kind of situation」

「In the past, there were many times I gambled on that move. Especially during the times, I was dressed as a woman」(Claude)

When Claude said that and laughed loudly, everyone backs up a little. I don’t know how I should respond to that. Claude’s life was a grand solitary journey after all. In any case, we were saved by Claude.

「However, I’ll be troubled if you forgot my achievements」

From behind me, a voice could be heard and with a light, Ain appeared.

Oi Oi, the grown-up Ain can now appear without me casting Summon Servant now?

Claude was looking at the fluttering Ain, but Lydia and Milly were surprised and stared in wonder at the new changed form.

「Um……who is that?」(Milly)

More precisely, it seems like they don’t understand what’s going on. Ain looked a bit offended at Milly’s voice.

「Aah! That ribbon, could you be!」(Lydia)

Lydia noticed the ribbon and raised her voice. She’s the same as me…… Ain’s eyes now became more and more scornful.

「Ain-san, the way you fly, you’ve grown, haven’t you?」(Claude)

「Muuu….」(Ain)

When Claude petted Ain’s head, maybe Ain didn’t like it, but she sulked a little.

「Ain had a big part in this battle. Let me correct myself, you were really helpful to us」(Zeph)

I said that and followed up with placing my hand on her shoulder. Ain looked embarra.s.sed and looked to the side.

「…….For the time being, I’ll say it again, I’ll be in your care」

She said that and together with a light, she completely disappeared. Oi Oi, she can disappear on her own as well? She won’t just disappear on her own in the middle of a battle, right?

Suddenly, a golden light shone and could be seen from the bag that I was holding. By chance, this light is….. I opened the bag, and when I checked the contents, the high-quality media had completely disappeared. If I’m not mistaken, there were supposed to 500 of them.

「……Did she just eat everything?」(Zeph)

「Because she became that large, she probably needs to eat that much…..」(Claude)

While Claude held her chin with her hand, she was deducing such.

If she is going to eat that much at once, then won’t I need a substantial amount of money to sustain her eating expenses?

Kyururururu……..

While I was troubled at this new fact, I heard the sound of a grumbling stomach from Milly’s direction. When everyone noticed that, Milly suppressed her stomach and blushed.

「H…..hey, aren’t you guys hungry?」(Milly)

「Yes. I am starving」(Claude)

「Fufun, I thought you would say that……so I brought some lunches~!」(Lydia)

I don’t know when she prepared these, but Lydia unwrapped her specially-made lunches.

「Originally I had planned to bring these for lunch when we went hunting, but I had completely forgotten about them」

Lydia stuck out her tongue.

「Let’s dig i-n♪」(Milly)

「Let us dig in」(Claude)

「Go ahead」(Lydia)

「Well, then, let’s eat up」(Zeph)

As I continued to fill my mouth with Lydia’s lunch, I happily munched down. I’m glad I was able to protect everyone from Grain. I felt that way from the bottom of my heart.