"Are you okay, Shea?"
I spoke to Shea.
In the aftermath of the monster's magic attack, there is burning all over the armor.
There was blood dripping from my left hand.
"I suffered a few hand injuries, but I'm fine. Thank you, Master Chrome."
"I'm glad you're okay."
Say it, I'll shift my gaze to the scary girl behind Shea.
Is she about the same age as Shea in her late teens?
Cut out the blue hair by the shoulder and the crushed eyes give the poor impression.
What you're wearing is a white and blue apron dress, white Katyusha.
It's like what you see in a noble mansion, in made-up clothes.
"No, stay away from me..."
She lagged behind with a blue face.
"What's up?
The maid of honor just shakes her neck left and right when she sifts.
"Aren't you scared?
Shea said.
For some reason, look at me lightly in the eye.
"Master Chrome has a suspicious aura."
"Really?
"It's a whole villain-like vibe"
Well, I have the power of [Darkness], and it's no wonder there's such an atmosphere.
Nevertheless,
"... don't be sassy and rude sometimes, you"
"Excuse me."
Shea smiles like a prank while I say it.
These days, she sometimes gets this look on her face.
An age-appropriate, girly smile of seventeen.
With Liot, my sister's enemy, dead, and some time gone by, maybe changes are also happening inside Shea.
Maybe my feelings are starting to turn upward.
Of course, it will still take some time for sorrow and anger to heal.
Or maybe that day won't come forever.
Still, I felt that Shea's change was her will to move forward positively.
When I've finished avenging everyone, too, will there be a funny day like this?
"Yes, no, you know, that doesn't mean I'm scared... well, that guy over there has a little scary vibe. There's a suspicious aura."
The girl I met even told me.
"Look, you said it"
Shea who is good at chesting for some reason.
"Too proud to win"
"Hehe."
Shea smiles.
"Because being with me makes you unhappy"
A girl saw us and gave us a sad exhale.
"What?"
"I... call the devil."
"Aroma of Darkness".
The seal engraved on the subject by the technique produces a fragrance that lures the demon.
She named herself Yurin, which means she's a resident of a nearby village.
A few weeks ago, Lilyn was kidnapped by a certain magician's gesture.
And you think he was treated as an experimental primitive in that lab and stamped the aforementioned crest?
I managed to see the gap and escape, but the scent intensified at night, so they attracted powerful monsters like the one they had earlier.
To date, he said, he was forced out to experiment in the open, at the expense of many unrelated humans.
It's suicidal to go outside alone with such a curse on yourself.
"You - maybe you wanted the demon to attack you and die?
of sin, in consciousness.
"I'm scared..."
To my question, Lilyn neither affirmed nor denied it.
"I..."
Are you speechless any more, big tears spill out of your crushed eyes.
Later, later.
"And the curse placed on me. And about the people who wound up and let them die. It's flat out even with horrible technique, and that magician... all, scared... oh"
"'That Magic Instructor'..."
Crush me.
Well, eighty-nine out of ten, 'he' would be.
"Being with you makes you unhappy, because that means attracting demons"
"Yes, so get away from me"
"My skills are near. All enemies are destroyed. Don't worry about it."
I'll explain to Yulin.
"Even you would have seen that now. Where the demons disappear in an instant."
"So, but..."
She was still anxious.
"Don't worry, Yulin. Because I've been helped many times by this one, too. Master Chrome's power is real."
Shea palates.
The look on Yurin's face soothed whether her words of the same sex, about the same year, inspired relief.
"Oh, I'm late for my application... thank you for your help earlier"
Yulin bowing her head deeply.
"So, who's the one who put that spell on you, a certain magician?"
I stepped to the core.
I had predictions, but I wanted to hear them directly from Yurin's mouth to confirm them.
"Huh...!
The look on Lilyn's face gets tight.
"Yes, no, it's..."
"If you say so, they'll kill you, huh?
"... Yes"
"But either way, you die as you are now. Not far away, attacked by demons."
I could see Lilyn taking a breath with Gokuri.
"You have no future if you stay the way you are. If there is a way to survive, first tell me what's going on and seek refuge. And to radically remove the cause..."
I looked to Yurin.
From the front.
"Fighting,"
Silence flows.
Eventually, Yurin exhaled as loudly as she had decided.
"It was the sage Valerie, a member of the Brave Party, who performed the ritual on me…"
Yes, I confess.
"Again, it's him"
The fact that Valerie has a research facility around here was under investigation.
Besides, the spell he put on Yulin is something he might think about.
I don't even think of people as people.
Use everything you can to explore magic.
Just a tool.
That would be Valerie's view of humans.
It's pretty simple.
But because of his simplicity, he's... he's broken up, and therefore, he's strong, and he's terrible.
"We're on our way to Valerie. You coming too, Yulin?
"Eh."
"You were in his lab, weren't you? Then it would be helpful to ask for directions."
I told Yulin.
"If you go to him, you might find a way to un-structure him. I think it's a story that benefits you, too. Me and Shea will make sure you're safe."
"I'll take care of it. I'll try to protect Yulin."
Shea grins and cheers.
"To the laboratory..."
Yurin glanced at him with an imaginary face.
It would be brave to go back to where you escaped because of it.
What if they refuse?
It's just a fact that Valerie's lab would also have a magic trap set up, so it would be helpful to have directions.
"─ Me, can I go back to my original body?
Lilyn raised her face.
"It's possible. But definitely not."
I shake my head small.
I wonder why I made this suggestion to Yulin.
Ask yourself.
Maybe I'm overlapping her with myself.
Just like when Shea was.
Shea was fighting for the purpose of 'revenge', just like me.
Against my will, Yulin was subjected to a curse ritual.
What overlaps with my situation is the same for Shea and Yulin.
So maybe it sprouted in a corner of my mind.
I want to help her if I can.
"As it is now... I will never be able to return to my original life again"
Lilyn snapped pompously.
"Me, I want to see my family again. I want to see my friends. I want to see everyone in the village..."
The words change from midway to whimpering.
"Want to bet on the possibilities, Yulin?
I asked her.
"Go to the lab with us and possibly break the curse."
Yurin looks up and stares at me.
Wet eyes in tears, straight.
"─ Please."
In the words of the decision, there was no more whimpering mixed.