“Yep. Finished exploring the interior of the lake. There was a cavernous labyrinth where I peeked in and saw lesser demons swarming, took them all out already.”
“Did you say you took them out?”
“Yes? Exactly what I said.”
I answer Eve, who narrows her eyes at me.
I’ve already used remote magic to vanquish the mob demons protecting their master. Now all I have to do is find and defeat the main one.
“Geez, so weird.”
Eve sighs at me. Rafine also reacts with a wry smile.
Letty was her usual “Shisho is so cool!”
Well, normally I wouldn’t bother wiping her before engaging. It’s super tiring to manipulate magic remotely. This time, I just did it as a precaution.
I hand out magical tools that repel water and allow breathing underwater, keeping us dry and breathing freely.
The earrings are also very fashionable. Rafine and Eve were really happy that they’re disposable because they can keep them forever. No need to cherish disposable items, guys…
After confirming that everyone had equipped them.
“Alright, let’s go.”
We step into the lake.
Some time later.
“Here…?”
We reach the cave where the demon master is supposed to be.
“Probably. Looks like lesser demons were guarding it, so the boss is probably hiding inside.”
“But there’s no reaction resembling one…”
Rafine scans the interior with Detection and finds nothing.
“There must be some kind of clue. Demons can also hide in objects, maybe they are hiding somewhere… Rafine, Clairvoyance please.”
“Leave it to me!”
Rafine begins to concentrate magic to activate clairvoyance.
After a while, she must have sensed something, because she stops.
“There is something. This way!”
We follow her guide for a few minutes, coming out in a large cavern-like area.
“I think this is it.”
Rafine points to the altar-like object at the back of the room.
No magical reactions, but this is almost certainly related. A small sword pierced its center as if sealing something.
“No response to probing magic either…so it activates on touch?”
When we entered the room, we weren’t attacked. Probably the touch-reactive type. Summoning or teleportation…only one way to find out.
I approach the altar, stopping an arm’s length from the sword.
Glancing back, I lock eyes with Rafine and the others, looking for confirmation. They nod firmly.
…Come to think of it, Letty’s been strangely quiet for a while. I thought she’d act impulsively, scream loudly with selfish demands, derail the mission…but she’s said almost nothing, obediently keeping her distance.
Wondering about this, I look at Letty and she snaps to attention. Letty grins adorably. She doesn’t seem to be lacking in energy.
…Well, whatever, I’ll leave it if she doesn’t feel sick or anything.
“Here goes.”
Touching the sword. The girls gasp.
The moment I make contact, a stream of black miasma pours out of the sword without end, vision instantly covered in dark fog.
“It’s okay. It’s not harmful.”
I reassure Rafine and the others, who are tense.
The miasma isn’t a problem, but…
As the blackened vision gradually clears.
“Teleport? No, this is…”
Seeing the abruptly changed scenery, I calmly think it through.
I thought teleportation at first, but… that’s wrong.
The demon doesn’t appear, and this scene wouldn’t make sense if it were teleportation.
Paved streets.
Brick buildings lining the streets.
People walking in the streets.
No mistake, this room is most likely…
“Could this be…?”
Eve seems to have noticed as well. She’s never been here, but noticed the similarity to the current public areas and buildings.
This is the past. Or rather, within the past.
I knew for sure, because this is the scenery of the area that was destroyed by a demon in Librehero some years ago.
Now the Restoration District.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
I circulate magic through my body, staying alert and ready to react if necessary.
No demon reactions – is it watching us? If so, why is it showing us this scene? What’s the point?
“…?”
I silently scan the area.
The people on the streets pass by without noticing us.
“What is this place…?”
Rafine blinks in surprise at the lack of reaction from the people. She must have thought it was a teleportation.
“This is an illusion world. These images are not real.”
Just phantom visions conjured up by the demon.
Besides, these are images from the past. We can’t interact or be attacked. They are simply vestiges of the past.
These illusionary worlds, a kind of alternate plane, cannot be escaped until the master caster – the demon – is defeated. The sword I touched was the trigger that pulled us in.
But… the purpose is unclear.
It would have attacked already if that was the goal, and there are far more disturbing things it could have shown us if it wanted to cause us mental anguish. I don’t understand what it wants.
…In any case, the demon’s motives are unknown, but first we must escape. It doesn’t seem to be harmful here, so we might as well leave quickly.
Illusion worlds have distortions like alternate planes. Look for them.
“No, that’s not it either…maybe that too?”
I examine the surroundings carefully.
A parent and child walking hand in hand.
A lively tavern filled with laughter and friends chatting over mugs.
A boy gazing longingly through the window of a weapon shop at a sword…
Nothing seemed particularly out of place.
“Hmm…okay.”
A deep breath. Calming myself, I continued to concentrate.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of panicking and frantically searching when you’re new to this magic, but it’s important to watch the very first scene shown to you with a cool head. Since she chose to show something first, there may be hidden clues.
Blue skies. Bustling streets. Peaceful people…
“! Let’s go.”
Saying just that, I immediately start walking without waiting for an answer.
The others nod silently and we follow the person with the slight distortion.
They just crossed the street in front of a grocery store, grabbed some fruit with great force, and broke into a run.
The red-haired boy hides his face under a tilted hat.
Following him leads us out of the bustling city and into the outer walls of the countryside.
The boy takes narrow, dim alleys along the outer wall, eventually slipping through a crumbling section and into the overgrown forest.
After a few minutes of walking along worn animal trails, he comes to a clearing and stops.
A dilapidated, vine-covered hut that you’d never think could house people. Nearby are a water bucket, a wooden sword, and other necessities that barely give a sense of life.
[Alright…]
The boy suddenly slaps his cheeks, tightens his face, and enters the hut.
We follow the boy inside.
He can’t see us.
But we shuffled in awkwardly and slowly, as if we were intruding.
“Master Jirei, could he be…?”
“Yes…probably.”
I immediately recognized who this boy was.
The neat face. The red hair peeking out from under the hat. His current appearance is still visible. No doubt about it.
[Henry, I bought breakfast. Let’s eat.]
Removing his hat, the boy takes some hard looking black bread and fruit from a cloth bag and places them on the rough table.
[Yes, thank you, big brother.]
The figure lying on the simple, homemade wooden bed tries to sit up, but suddenly clutches his chest and goes into a painful coughing fit.
[Sorry…just stay as you are and rest.]
Beast ears covered in fur. Red hair, beast ears…he resembles the boy, but with a kind and gentle face, unlike the sharper impressions of him.
The boy called Henry looked sickly and unhealthily pale.
[Excuse me.]
[Don’t apologize, I told you not to worry so much].
The boy tears off a piece of bread to make it easier to eat, then puts it in Henry’s mouth.
[But without me, big brother would…]
[Stop. Don’t say it again. I will never abandon you. If I abandoned you when your slave collar broke and you escaped, I wouldn’t have carried you when you couldn’t run. Here, eat.]
He places the bread in Henry’s mouth.
[It’ll be all right, I’ll think of something. The Knights must be looking for us. We’ll be back soon. Then we can cure your Soul Blight.]
[Yes. But don’t overdo it. The bread must have been hard to buy, right…]
[I’m not exaggerating. I bought it on the job.]
[But who would hire half-breeds like us?]
[Not all people are bad. It’s not strange for good people to employ me as a half-beast and sell me bread. Can’t you trust your brother’s word?]
[No. Sorry.]
[I told you not to apologize.]
The boy peels fruit and feeds it to him by hand.
[Cough…oh, you’re not eating, brother?]
[I already ate. You can have this]
[I see…]
[The people who employ me provide food. Much better food than this stuff. Good, right?]
[Ehh, lucky. No fair, brother.]
[Then hurry up and get better. When you can venture out, I’ll treat you to a feast.]
[Really!? Yay. That’s a promise!]
[Yeah. So eat up and sleep well.]
Henry beamed. He looked up at the boy with pure, trusting eyes.
The boy is probably lying.
If he was really paid enough, he wouldn’t have needed to steal fruit and would have moved to a better place.
The bread is probably stolen as well.
As for work, he’s certainly not employed.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
