Published at 25th of March 2019 11:07 pm

Volume 12: chapter 4 A gesture of love for this orphanage!

TL: Cannongerbil

Editing: Uranophane, Ulti, Keel the Swift

Part 1

Next morning.

Thanks to the events that took place last night, I ended up tossing and turning without getting even a wink of sleep.

“G-good morning, Kazuma. You sure are early today.”

I went to the kitchen to have breakfast only to meet a similarly sleep-deprived Darkness who gave me a lackluster greeting.

“I’m not up early. I just couldn’t sleep thanks to what you did last night. Why do you and Megumin keep teasing a teenage boy like me? Raising my hopes only to leave me hanging. Do you actually like me or do you just find it amusing to see me suffer?”

“Th-That’s… N-No, nevermind. What happened last night was my fault. I wasn’t thinking straight. To think that I had to be comforted by a girl that’s younger than me… I really failed as a noble… Please forget about what happened last night.”

Saying that, she regretfully lowered her head.

“How could I ever forget that? Not only was I handcuffed to an older noble lady, I got stripped half-naked and even got my first kiss forcibly stolen. That doesn’t exactly happen often, you know?”

“That’s not what I was referring to! No, wait, of course I want you to forget about that too!”

Darkness slammed on the table as she said that, her face blushing a bright red. Then, Aqua, who unusually was awake this early, came down the stairs and said,

“Why are you raising such a fuss this early in the morning? Are you excited because you spent a night with this man? You can’t lose control of yourself like this, Darkness. I know that you have some strange inclinations, but you should still respect yourself more.”

“That was too much, Aqua. But guess what, I know full well how things will progress for a man in this situation. From now on, I’ll have a raucous lifestyle where Darkness and Megumin both fight for my attention. Then, when you are left alone, you’ll end up feeling lonely and eventually realize what your true feelings are.”

With a mouthful of bread that she was having for breakfast, Aqua nodded along to my words and replied.

“That I should have acted sooner to fix this damn NEET?”

“No, of course not! You originally only thought of me as a housemate, but after this you’ll slowly realize that you actually have romantic feelings for me. But sorry, Aqua, I just can’t bring myself to see you as a romantic partner. I can only see you in the same way I see Emperor Zell or Chomusuke.”

“Hey, hold on a minute! Why do you make it sound like I was casually dumped?”

Towards the two of us who were bickering so early in the morning, Darkness, who was wearing her usual school teacher-like outfit, said.

“Hey, I’ll be coming back late tonight, so you don’t have to make my portion of dinner or wait for me. I’ll be staying over at my father’s place…”

Darkness said with a somewhat awkward expression before leaving the house.

… What’s with this atmosphere?

Could she be bothered by what happened last night?

Yeah, I did reject her after all. It’d be stranger if she wasn’t bothered by it…

… Right, I even had my first kiss.

It’s not like sharing the same bed or holding hands, I actually kissed a girl.

No, it still kind of feels like a middle schooler’s awkward romance.

But at the very least, I’ve crossed that line that separates men and boys.

“Hey, Kazuma, what’s wrong? You look much more slovenly than usual.”

Aqua rudely said as she looked at me with disgust.

“You are just as blind as usual. Take a good look. This is the face of a harem owner.”

“Your bed head is really amazing, isn’t it, Kazuma-san?”

Oh, by the way…

“If you’re free, do you want to visit the adventurer’s guild? You don’t have any plans today, right?”

I have an inexplicable urge to visit the adventurer’s guild today.

Then, well, I won’t name anyone, but I want to brag to them about having kissed a girl and becoming an adult.

“Don’t make it sound like I have a lot of free time. I plan to take Emperor Zell to defeat monsters outside town today. I’ll have him start defeating monsters from a young age and start accumulating experience points. If we start his education now, he might be able to swallow the entire Demon King’s castle in a single gulp by next year. ”

“The only way I can see this ending is with you and the chick being swallowed in a single gulp. Anyway, where did Megumin go?”

“Megumin left early in the morning. She said something about boasting about her victory as a woman to Yunyun.”

So that girl has gone to do just what I’m planning on doing.

Still, boasting about her victory as a woman? We still haven’t actually become lovers yet, right?

And she’s fine with telling Yunyun? Even though she wants to keep it a secret from Darkness and Aqua?

After briefly pondering upon my words, Aqua lifted the chick in her hands to eye-level.

“Oh, yeah, now’s the time where the adventurer’s guild comes in handy. I think I’ll be accompanying you after all, Kazuma. I’ll find some bored looking people to help me raise Emperor Zell’s level.”

“I really don’t think there’ll be anyone frivolous enough to help a chick grind levels… but alright then, let’s head to the adventurer’s guild.”

Part 2

The adventurer’s guild has a completely different atmosphere compared to yesterday.

“Giant Frog subjugation quest here! We still need a mage!”

“We still need two frontliners! Ones clad in metal armour! Is anyone available?!”

“Seems like several goblins have been spotted in the forest! That’s goblins! The beloved goblins that are worth a lot of money! In order to make sure the newbies aren’t going to get wiped, we’re going with a larger than normal party! Anyone who needs money, feel free to join up!”

“Anyone who can’t deal with the frogs, want to try dungeon delving with us? We have a policy of avoiding combat and only searching for treasure! People with the thief class are welcome, you’ll be handsomely rewarded!”

The adventurers who would normally laze around getting drunk in the tavern are extremely enthusiastic today.

It’s almost like back when Komekko was still around.

I flag down an adventurer I’m acquainted with.

“Hey, what’s going on? Why’s everyone so hardworking? This isn’t like you guys.”

If everyone’s so hardworking, I will feel bad if I were to slack off alone.

It’s the same state of mind that causes me to start sweating when I see others seriously studying before a test.

“Oh, it’s Kazuma. Well, what else could it be? It’s the taxes yesterday. The taxes. Everyone here was caught by the tax collectors and lost half of their hard-earned money. We’re just feeling the pinch from our wallets being suddenly lightened like that.”

The adventurer with a scar on his nose sighed.

Oh, I see, adventurers are fundamentally loose with money, after all.

After having experienced the luxuries that come with being rich, there’s no way anyone here could bear to see their standard of living drop.

All the adventurers in the guild are desperately running around searching for high-paying jobs that will get them back to that lifestyle.

At this rate, the problem of monsters increasing around the town that Darkness and the guild staff were so worried about would be resolved quite quickly.

“Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san, do you think there’d be anyone who’s free to help Emperor Zell gain some levels? Everyone here seems so busy.”

“That’ll depend on how much you are offering as a reward. Speaking of, do you have a reward prepared?”

Aqua passed Zell over to me before taking out her wallet.

“Well, I have some coupons that can be redeemed at the Axis church for a free confession from me. Do you think that’ll be enough?”

“They’ll probably just rip it up on the spot, so don’t even try. Everyone’s panicking over not having money, after all.”

Still, this is a problem.

I originally came here to find the bunch I usually hang out with and brag about my recent developments…

At that moment—

“Hey, isn’t that Kazuma!? I’ve heard from the tax collectors! Lalatina is the mastermind behind this sudden tax collection, right!?”

An adventurer who I was quite close with suddenly shouted that at us as we were waddling by the entrance.

He was probably caught yesterday; he was visibly angry as he complained to me.

“Hey, we were chased around by Darkness too, you know? You’re complaining to the wrong person. In her words, she said she did this to get the lazy adventurers back to work again, and to resolve the country’s financial issues.”

The adventurer didn’t bother hiding his displeasure.

“Yeah, it’s true that we haven’t been accepting many jobs lately, but even so, didn’t we just recently deal with all the piled up quests…?”

The adventurers around me who agreed with those words started voicing their protests as well.

“She says that it’s to resolve the country’s financial issues, but who knows what she’s actually using that money for? I’ve been hearing rumours, you know? That Lalatina’s been spotted dragging around a young boy and teaching him who knows what.”

In response to the guy who dropped such a bombshell—

“And now Darkness is looking to become a shotacon too? Just how greedy is that woman?”

No, I’m sure that even Darkness wouldn’t cross that line… probably…

And what about that earnestness she showed me yesterday?

It almost drove me to tears to turn her down, but if she was fooling around with a kid behind my back, even I might just end up appearing before Eris-sama again.

Then, Aqua suddenly started looking around excitedly—

“Hey, Kazuma, isn’t this a good opportunity? Look at the covetous gleam in everyone’s eyes.”

She said while looking at the adventurers around the guild with a pitying gaze.

“Aqua-san, I don’t want to hear that from someone who ended up crying after dropping 100 eris down a drain because she was planning on using that to buy ice cream.”

“Shut up, you boorish man. If you keep spreading such baseless rumours, I’ll lay a curse on you that will have you waking up each morning to find that the bed is wet… Anyway,”

Aqua addressed the adventurers who’ve quieten down.

“I’ve found Darkness’s actions to be suspicious recently. As her guardian, I feel a need to resolve the issues plaguing her!”

Aqua proudly hoisted Emperor Zell with both arms above her head.

“I’ve been curious about what she normally gets up to for a long time. Hey, aren’t you guys curious about what she usually does?”

—At an orphanage on the outskirts of Axel.

The kind of place that people from the Eris church regularly bring meals to and wealthy people from other cities occasionally donate their hand-me-downs to.

Aqua, me, and the adventurers that have followed us are currently standing in front of it.

“Hey, oji-san, is Darkness really here?”

“Yeah, you can’t mistake it, Aqua-san. Everyone’s seen Darkness here wearing an erotic outfit and grinning as she looks upon the children playing. I’m not lying.”

I don’t really get the grinning while looking at children bit, but the erotic outfit bit is certainly suspicious.

Just when I resolved myself to knock on the door of the orphanage.

“Lalatina-sama, you shouldn’t do this… It’s still way too early for us…”

What’s undeniably a young boy’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

Part 3

That’s definitely the voice of a boy who has yet to enter puberty.

The boy sounded very apologetic as he said those words.

“What are you saying? The earlier you learn about it, the better. Plus, you’ll need to know this stuff when you become an adult. So, come on, no need to restrain yourself…”

“B-But, Latatina-sama…”

Oh my.

I thought it might have been some kind of misunderstanding, but this is definitely Darkness’s voice.

I suppressed my trembles and placed my ear to the door of the orphanage. The other male adventurers followed suit.

No, not just the male adventurers.

Several of the female adventurers joined us and placed their ears to the door as well.

“Fufu, you say that, but you are actually really curious about it, aren’t you? You can go ahead and touch them.”

Oh my!

I think I recall her saying something along those lines when she was holding me down last night!

Dammit, why isn’t there a skill that allows you to see through walls in this world!? I really want to see what’s going on in there!

… No, wait, it’s still too early to say so.

If there’s a skill such as Farsight in this world, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be some kind of skill that allows you to see through walls.

I should ask about it later.

I wonder who made a gulping noise.

It might even have been me.

“Here, go ahead and touch it. This belongs to you from now on.”

“B-belongs to…”

Hearing Darkness’s words, the boy responded with a voice that’s a mixture of both trepidation and hope.

That girl, what’s with this ‘this belongs to you’ crap!?

After saying all that stuff to me yesterday!

… Has she fallen to such depths because I rejected her?

What’s this clawing feeling in my chest?

Am I jealous that Darkness was taken away by someone I don’t know? And a younger person at that?

No, this is something that anyone would feel if a close female friend of theirs found a boyfriend…right?

Yeah, even we aren’t going out…

“So, what do you think of it?”

“It’s firmer than I expected, and it’s so smooth and soft. ”

After hearing the boy’s words, I finally understand what is going on.

Or rather, I understand what he’s touching now.

Something’s that smooth and soft, and firmer than he expected, that could only be…

“Don’t just touch it, why don’t you try sniffing it too?”

Hey, even I haven’t done that yet.

What’s this inexplicable excitement I’m feeling?

Is this what being NTR’d feels like?

I didn’t have such a fetish the last time I checked…

“Hey, guys, is the door stuck or something? I’m getting sick of standing around out here, so I’m heading on inside.”

Saying that, Aqua, failing to read the mood as usual, goes to open the door.

“Hey, wait—!

I hurried to stop her, but she already opened the door. And beyond that is…

“So, what do you think? A freshly printed book has a really nice smell, doesn’t it? I particularly like the smell of this ink.”

“I like this smell too, Lalatina-sama…”

Beyond the door, a nostalgic scene appeared before me.

Yes, in a room that is almost identical to the classrooms of my world, Darkness, and the boy to whom she’s giving a book to, are happily enjoying its fragrance.

—All the adventurers, including me, stood dumbstruck. Having handed what seemed like a textbook to the young boy, Darkness also couldn’t help but stiffen as she turned to look at us—

“W-Why are you guys here…?”

That’s what we should be asking you.

In the first place, just what is this situation?

All I can see is a female school teacher in a suit giving out textbooks to impoverished children in an orphanage.

“Hey, Darkness, what are you doing? This seems just like a school.”

Hearing what Aqua, who has once again completely failed to read the mood, had to say—

“Y-Yeah, it is. Kazuma mentioned it before, in a certain country, there exists facilities such as this that gives education to children free of charge. The town of Axel has been putting a similar program into action, in order to give the children whose families couldn’t afford private tutors a proper education…”

As we were listening to the explanation, the children who noticed our presence looked at us with sparkling eyes.

Adventurers who battle with monsters every day must seem really cool to these children.

The adventurers who had just their egos inflated by Komekko’s admiring gaze some time ago started getting lightheaded once again.

“Have you always been doing this kind of stuff?”

In that short skirt and white shirt, she really does look the part of a female teacher.

… No, in a way you could also say it’s a very bad form for an educator.

“Hmm, well, I suppose you could say that. By the way, this is the outfit that I normally wear, but I’ve heard that it’s also the uniform of female teachers of a certain country…”

Oh, that’s probably the work of my reincarnated colleagues.

“My father has been thinking about reforming the education system for quite some time, so we’re funding this experiment in Axel out of the Dustiness family’s own coffers.”

Come to think of it, Darkness’s father is said to be a very formidable statesman in this country.

I’ve heard that there are no schools in this country other than the ones in the Crimson Demon Village, but it seems that the people of this country have properly absorbed the ideas brought over by the people from my world and started to implement them.

Just when I was starting to admire that—

“To be honest, it’s not something I often show to others, so having you all find out about this is a little embarrassing…”

Darkness shyly said to the adventurers arrayed before her.

“By the way, what did you guys come here for?”

What we came here for? That’d obviously be to see you…

…No, I can’t say it.

I can’t possibly tell her that we came here to spy on her because we suspected that Darkness might have been collecting taxes just so she could afford to care for her harem of shotas. How could I possibly say something that perverse?

I’m probably not the only one who had such thoughts.

All the adventurers present simultaneously averted their gaze, and the one next to me started nudging me in the back as if to say ‘Hey, say something.’

“So um, you know how we got taxed yesterday? We were concerned about where all that money was going to, so we came here to check things out. Ah, after learning that all my hard earned cash is being used to provide children with an education, I’m now overflowing with the motivation to work. Right, guys?”

“Yeah, as expected of Lalatina!”

“The name Lalatina isn’t just for show, I see!”

“You are really cool, Lalatina!”

“You’re so cute, Lalatina!”

“Shut up! Don’t call me Lalatina! Do you guys want to get punched!?”

I noticed the boy who was smelling the book earlier suddenly appear next to the red-faced Darkness. He was hugging the book close to his chest with an apologetic expression on his face.

Having noticed him too, Darkness crouched down in front of him.

“What’s wrong? Please don’t mind us, okay?”

“Bu-But, I heard that the food and clothes in this orphanage, and these books too were bought using the money earned by these adventurers…”

…

After hearing the boy’s words, the adventurers present fell silent.

Darkness gave the boy a gentle smile.

“Yeah, that’s right. These adventurers fight monsters day and night in order to protect you, and they even give a portion of the money they earned in order to help people like you who’ve lost their parents. So you need to appreciate those feelings and properly treasure that book…okay?”

“… Yeah, I understand. Thank you very much, everyone.”

The boy thanked us with such a smile, and that sentiment was echoed by all the children in the classroom. All the adventurers, including me, were moved to tears.

Then, towards those children,

“I have something to discuss with these adventurers, so please quietly study with your textbooks while we talk.”

Darkness said that while signalling at us to head outside.

Part 4

“…I showed an embarrassing side of me…”

Darkness bashfully said after we exited the orphanage.

“Say, Darkness, is this orphanage really supported with the money you robbed from us?”

“What do you mean rob? Don’t make it sound that bad. The tax money that you contributed went into helping adventurers who got injured on the job and retired adventurers. The occupation of an adventurer has always had an uncertain future after all. With this, the adventurers who’ve gotten too old to work will at least be guaranteed enough money to eat.”

“Is-is that so? But, those children earlier…”

Yeah, they said something about this and that being funded by us adventurers.

“The Dustiness house is paying for their upkeep, but, as ashamed as I am to admit it, we’ve had some financial issues as of late. The money we taxed from you was used to shore up that deficit, so that’s why… But don’t misunderstand! I will definitely properly repay it! Several people got injured dealing with the piled up quests the other day, so there’s been some unexpected expenses…”

Crap, what should I do?

Although she said she’s ashamed, we can’t even bear to look directly at her.

The other adventurers around me were also blushing and pointedly avoiding her gaze.

“Umm…”

To the adventurers gathered, Darkness—

“So, that’s what I did with the tax money you contributed… Is it acceptable?”

—said apologetically.

“Well, we heard that Lalatina was teaching something or the other to children! So, well, after learning that our money was used for something like this, we are very, well, er, you know, right, everyone?”

“Yeah, of course, it’s Lalatina we are talking about. We’re just worried that she might be trying to quietly shoulder some big burden on her own!”

“Right? And just like we feared, Lalatina has been pushing herself again! Right?”

“Aren’t we comrades? The fact that you’re nobility should have nothing to do with this. If you want, we could even escort them on their way to and from school.”

What a smooth reversal of attitude.

I’m not in any position to criticize them, but it’s pretty amazing that they managed to convert so abruptly.

Hearing those adventurer’s words.

“No, there hasn’t been any difficulties in particular so far. Just hearing those words is enough, thank you. The safety of the children from regular households as they commute to and from this school is already being handled by a worker of a certain magic item shop.”

Darkness showed a genuine, unblemished smile as she said that.

“Still… Hearing you all say that really makes me motivated. Thank you very much. I was sure that you all would still be holding a grudge over what happened yesterday.”

“What are you talking about, Lalatina!?”

“Yeah, Lalatina, don’t be so distant!”

“How could we ever doubt you, Lalatina!”

“Umm, I’m really happy to hear you all say that, but I really wish you would stop calling me Lalatina…”

In attempt to cover their tracks, the adventurers repeatedly praised Darkness, who buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

“Hey, isn’t this a little different from what you were saying before? Darkness, I’m telling you, before we came here, Kazuma told everyone-”

Still oblivious to the situation, Aqua was neutralized by the nearby adventurers before she could reveal any critical information.

“Hey, what are you doing! Cut it out!”

Aqua slapped at the hands of the adventurers who grabbed her as she struggled intensely.

In order to divert Darkness’s attention away from Aqua’s antics—

“I here thought you were just a perverted noble. I certainly didn’t expect you to be doing such righteous deeds. Why couldn’t you act more like this in your normal life? If you behaved like this, you wouldn’t be unmarriageable and would probably even have a few children by now.”

“What are you talking about!? I’m not unmarriageable, I just chose not to get married! Had I wanted to, I would have plenty of suitors to choose from!”

Hearing Darkness’s angry outburst, one of the adventurers hammered his fist in realization.

“Oh, speaking of which, Lalatina, I heard that you had a child with Kazuma!”

Darkness couldn’t help but sputter upon hearing that.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Congratulations, Lalatina!”

“Don’t go off and play any strange erotic games on your own now, Lalatina!”

“But isn’t it great? Lalatina-chan does have some weird inclinations, after all. I always feared that she’ll end up getting abducted by some strange folks.”

“I was worried that she would happily head off one day to live in some strange monster’s nest. Hearing this puts me at ease.”

“Kazuma looks to have a pretty secure future. There’s no need to worry about being too poor to afford food if you are with him!”

All the adventurers present started giving us their blessings.

Though, judging from their smirks, it doesn’t seem like they are serious.

Everyone’s probably just teasing Darkness as a little payback over yesterday’s incident.

“You guys! Even after I took pains to explain everything…! You guys don’t get it at all!”

Not noticing that she was being teased, Darkness protested while blushing all the way to her ears.

“We get it, we get it! Every noble has their secrets, after all. It’s okay if you don’t want to admit it! We know how it feels!”

“I hope that the joyous day where the two of you officially declare the date of your marriage ceremony isn’t too far off!”

“You guys don’t understand! You don’t understand at all!”

Darkness desperately tried to refute those allegations.

“So, seriously, how have things been going, Kazuma? Did something really happen between you two?”

“It’s Kazuma-san we are talking about. There’s no way that something’s actually happened, right?”

“Yeah, he’s famous for chickening out at the last moment, after all.”

Oh, yeah, I remembered why I originally wanted to visit the adventurer’s guild.

“All you folks who are still somehow virgins despite working as a rough and tumble adventurer, you better get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness! Don’t think I’ll always be on your level! I even crossed that line yesterday, right, Darkness?”

“Idiot! What are you saying! How could you bring up such a topic right now?!”

Darkness ended up digging herself deeper while trying to refute it.

“She-She didn’t deny it! You’re kidding, right? Lalatina actually admitted it!”

“Wait, seriously? Lalatina-chan, did you actually do it? Hey, how far did you go? Please tell onee-san the details!”

“I thought Aqua-san was just misunderstanding something again when she said that Lalatina had a child…”

“No! You’re mistaken!”

Watching Darkness once again turn bright red and frantically flail around, I decided to throw some more fuel onto the fire.

“What’s so mistaken about it? You tied me down last night, stripped me half-naked and did those kind of things to me! And that was my first time! Are you seriously calling me a liar?”

“No, I do think I was in the wrong, but—!”

“Don’t think that the first time is only important for women! We guys also value our first time highly! It really doesn’t sit well with me to have my first time passed off as some kind of accident!”

“N-no, that’s not what I…! Sorry, that was my fault! I wasn’t thinking straight back then! So, please, let’s both agree to forget about that, please!”

After hearing our conversation, the adventurers around me seemed to be convinced and started looking at me with both admiration and jealousy.

“That’s all I will say about this. I’ll leave what actually took place to your imaginations.”

“You really are…! No, that’s not it, we just—!”

Just as the cornered Darkness was about to explain everything…

“Oh, by the way, I saw a girl in there with blonde hair and blue eyes like Lalatina-chan in there earlier. Is she the child you had with him?”

One of the female adventurers asked with great interest.

Hearing that, the adventurers couldn’t hold back their curiosity any longer, and once again opened the door to the orphanage…!

“You guys, you better cut it…!”

Just as Darkness prepared to resort to violence on the verge of tears…

…She found that the children who were so energetic just a short while ago were now laid lifelessly around the classroom.

Part 5

“—Fuhahahaha! Have you cheeky scamps been studying hard today? Moi have come to fetch you all! Now, all who wish to touch my mask, please properly line up… Hmm, what’s going on here?”

Another troublemaker appeared at the chaotic orphanage with a maniacal laugh.

“Hey, you, what are you doing here? I don’t have time to deal with you right now, so I’ll graciously let you live. Now scram! There’s a deserted alley in that direction, go laugh to your heart’s content over there! As you can see, the children are in peril right now!”

While the adventurers hurriedly ran around setting up blankets and laying the children on them, Aqua worked on drawing a large magic circle in the centre of the orphanage.

“Just what is going on? The orphanage has been very peaceful up till now, so how did… Do you not feel at peace unless you bring trouble to everywhere you go?”

“Don’t make it sound like everything bad that happens is my fault! These children just suddenly collapsed for no reason. You’re a more likely suspect! You didn’t do something to these children, did you?”

Vanir resiliently shot back after being accused by Aqua.

“What are you saying, you bringer of misfortune? As if the ever popular-with-children moi would ever do something like that! The only people who would lay such a curse would be members of the most villainous Axis Cult such as yourself!”

Just then.

“But this is really troublesome. To think that they would come down with Colorin disease…”

Vanir’s muttered words caught attention as I was using freeze on a fevered child’s forehead.

“Hey, Vanir, do you know what caused all these children to collapse? What’s with that cutesy sounding Colorin disease?”

Everyone present turned their attention towards Vanir after hearing my words.

“These cheeky scamps have all contracted Colorin disease… It’s an extremely peculiar disease. It will remain dormant for a time after infecting someone, but once that period of dormancy is over, it will disperse a fast acting toxin into its surroundings just like so. From what my all seeing eyes tell me… That girl over there is the host.”

Vanir pointed to the collapsed Sylphina.

“There are two ways to cure this disease.”

Vanir was sitting cross legged on the floor, illuminated by the faint glow emanating from the magic circle that Aqua drew.

The children seem to be in much less pain than before, probably due to the effects of the magic circle.

“First off, treating the children apart from the host is quite simple. A constant application of recovery magic and detoxification magic would see them healthy in no time. But…”

Saying that, he glanced at Sylphina lying motionlessly in Darkness’s arms.

“Detoxification magic would not work on the host. We can only prolong her life using recovery magic while we work on a special antidote.”

“What’s this antidote!? How do you make it!?”

In response to Darkness’s frantic question, Vanir raised his fingers and started counting.

“There are five ingredients required to make it. The onion of an onion duck, the root of a mandragora, tears of a ghost, and there’s…”

The adventurers dutifully wrote down them down as he listed the ingredients.

“And the last ingredient is… This might be tricky to acquire, but it’s the nails of a high ranking devil.”

“God Blow!”

The moment Vanir listed the final ingredient, Aqua threw a punch at him and turned a portion of his body back to dirt.

“What do you think you’re doing during an emergency like this!? Now the floor is all covered with dirt! This is no time to fool around!”

“Yeah, I’m hitting you precisely because it’s an emergency! Ghost tears will be easy to get, we just need to go home and tell a few sob stories. Nevermind that, hurry up and hand over your nails!”

Oh yeah, Vanir is a high-ranking devil himself.

But in response to Aqua’s words, Vanir slowly shook his head.

“Moi is only using a temporary body to inhabit this world. Other than my mask, the rest of my body is made out of dirt.”

Aqua hammered her fist in realization upon hearing those words.

“Right, how about we pay a visit to those girls in that shop? ‘Excuse us, but we need to pry off one or two of your nails.’”

“You fool. Moi said it needed to be the nail of a ‘high-ranking’ demon, didn’t moi? Those hatchlings wouldn’t even register on the scale.”

These guys are probably referring to the Succubi who work at the shop.

But, if that wouldn’t do…

“That leaves us no choice. Very well, it’s time to resort to the demon summoning ritual that have been passed down through the Crimson Demon clan…”

“Wait, Megumin, that’s a little… Vanir, do you not know any other high-ranking devils? Can’t you do something with those all-seeing eyes of yours?”

Darkness asked as she hastily stopped Megumin who was about to prepare some kind of dubious ritual.

“… Hmm, well, moi does know of a high ranking demon who lives close to this town.”

Vanir thoughtfully touched his mask.

“Wh-Where is he!?”

In response to Darkness’s panicked question, Vanir replied…

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