Chapter 173

✠

“……”

“……”

Only then did Raywin take his hand back, flushed with embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry, Frintz. I got a little carried away for a moment.”

“That’s all right. Let’s talk about it later, Raywin. About the person reflected in the mirror earlier.”

“……Ah, okay.”

At this point, Frintz was giving off a harsh aura, unlike his usual gentle personality.

On the other hand, the Little Duke, who was supposed to be confident in everything, seemed to have some kind of weakness.

What? Didn’t the two become friends?

[‘The Critic who adjusts the balance’ wonders if Frintz was actually a good cadet in the military academy.]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ says that’s a reasonable suspicion because the Rofan-type brother is bound to have duality.]

‘Hey, what are you talking about?’

How nice my brother is! There’s no way he would do that.

……but I’m a little worried.

“Brother, be nice to the Little Duke. He is a person who has gone through a lot of hardship.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

“Little Duke, please take good care of my brother.”

“Huh? No, on the contrary, please take care of me.”

I absent-mindedly mediated the friendship between the two. I was optimistic that there wouldn’t be any problems in the future since they weren’t people who would give an answer I didn’t like.

Just then, my necklace rang.

“……Ah.”

I almost forgot for a moment, but there was one more person in the room besides me, Frintz, and Raywin.

When I turned around, there was a shivering girl with her arms wrapped around her knees.

“Are you okay?”

“……”

“Hello?”

It seemed like the shock of encountering a strong demon right in front of you was great. Worse still, her throat was almost cut by that scythe.

“White Wizard, it’s okay now.”

“Miss Hilde, it’s all over. Calm down.”

The worried, soothing voices of Frinz and Raywin gave me information.

“You must be Hilde Marcellion, the White Mage.”

An unfortunate supporting character, abused by the Marcellion family and exploited by Princess Odellit.

In the 17th timeline, she was destined to die during the last Hellkaion subjugation battle, but it seems that she survived thanks to my active destruction of the original work.

Recognizing the negative connotations underlying Agne’s question, I retorted briefly.

“This one is a little different.”

I saved any further explanation so as not to make people around me feel suspicious.

Agnes looked at Hilde as if she had decided to abandon her prejudices and said.

As expected of Agnes, there is no better combat power radar than her.

For reference, a white wizard is not a real wizard but refers to a citizen of the Magic Republic of Ragneif who has awakened divine power.

In order not to lose healers to the Church, the Magic Republic covers their eyes and pretends not to know.

I sighed while lost in thought.

‘What should I do with her?’

She’s barely able to walk properly.

Since it would be impossible to move with her, would it be better to give her enough food and leave her in the Mid Boss’s room?

“Huh?”

I felt a tug in my sleeve.

When I lowered my gaze, I saw Hilde’s trembling hands.

“Pl-Please, don’t leave me behind.”

“……”

“Ju-J-just a moment. If you give me just a little time……I’ll pull myself together……I’ll do better……I’ll be good…..”

……Oops. I just remembered something I’d forgotten.

Hilde is quick to notice.

Especially when it comes to women of an age where they can overlap with the Odellit and it looks like I’m narrowly within that range.

I put one hand into my subspace inventory.

When it came out again it was filled with chocolate, candy, and caramel. I handed it to Hilde.

I may be treating a grown girl too much like a child, but right now, I can’t find any other good tricks to use.

“Eat. If you eat something sweet, you’ll feel better.”

“……”

Hilde, who had been looking at my hand in a daze for a long time, finally stuttered a reply.

“Th-Thank……you……”

A pair of neatly clasped hands gingerly took the sweets from me.

Meanwhile, her skinny wrists were exposed between the loose sleeves of her robe.

I know, Agnes. Just seeing that is making me angry.

That’s because, to add insult to injury, she was abused by the Marcellion family.

After listening to Agnes’ words up to this point, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Well, shall I take her with me?’

It’s not just about sympathy.

I’m also a healer, but when I’m on the offensive, it’s good to have a Heal Shuttle or rather a precious fellow healer.

Furthermore, Hilde’s value as an addition to our total power output does not stop at the fact that her sacred power is at the 7th rank. She was a talented person with a ‘Threat-Immune’ constitution. No matter how many heals she pours, she doesn’t have to worry about aggro.

To be honest, she is a mouth-watering talent.

“Hilde.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you have any thoughts of seeking asylum?”

“Ah……Eh?”

“……No, forget it.”

I realized I’d said something impulsive and retracted it immediately.

Hilde has never had a choice in her life. This was not a topic worth mentioning lightly.

It seems like Hilde has regained quite a bit of her composure, so we’d better get ready to move on.

I turned to everyone and said.

“Come on, everyone. Attention, please.”

“Yeah.”

“hmm.”

“Yes.”

“Now that we’ve defeated the Mid Boss, this room should be safe. You can stay here and wait until Anaxia is subdued.”

“Eli, what about you?”

Frintz and Raywin looked at me with serious faces.

“I’m going to go catch the boss with my paladins, brother.”

“You want to catch the boss? How many paladins are there in your order?”

“Five people including me.”

“What? The hell……”

“What nonsense are you talking about? How can you do that with so few people? It’s too dangerous!”

Raywin suddenly cut off Frintz’s words and shouted apprehensively.

When Frintz and I, who were surprised, looked at him with stunned glances, he stammered an apology. However, Frinz seemed to agree with the content itself.

“I think so too. Even if we exclude the Chimera Researcher because we have qualms about him, wouldn’t it be better to join Marquis Lecandro and fight the boss together?”

“No.”

I was adamant.

“My paladins are in danger right now and the clock is ticking. More than anything, there is a problem with following my brother’s suggestion.”

“Problem? What is it?”

“Finding and joining the Chimera Researcher and the Marquis of Lecandro will be difficult. They’re probably stuck somewhere they can’t get out of right now.”

According to the original work, Morifis and Marquis Lecandro would have been trapped in a water mirror in the basement of the castle. Even if we go to rescue them, we have no choice but to wait for them to escape on their own.

By the time I see their faces and exchange first words, I will be in a situation where I cannot guarantee whether my group will live or die. In the first place, I had no intention of borrowing the power of the Marquis and the Chimera Researcher to defeat Anaxia so I don’t want to waste time.

I glanced at the three and opened my mouth.

“Brother, Little Duke, Miss Hilde. From now on, I am going to fight the dungeon owner, Anaxia Pelhemstein.”

The sound of dry swallowing could be heard here and there. It seemed like my tone was unnecessarily solemn, so my last words were accompanied by a light chuckle.

“Now, if anyone wants to come with me, raise your hand now, and I’ll give you a special treat.”

✠

At that time, the paladins accompanying Ellet’s doppelganger were well on their way up the tower.

“You-you’re……! Aaaah!”

One of the demons guarding the room was torn apart in an instant.

Breaking through was bound to be easy because the being wearing Ellet’s shell was none other than the owner of the dungeon.

There was no way the vassals, who were absolutely subordinate to their master, would dare to attack her.

The party’s current location was the 7th floor, the top floor of the Castle of Mirrors, and soon to be the Boss Room.

Ellet’s doppelgänger, Anaxia, who was leading the way, was currently suppressing the corner of her mouth that wanted to turn into a smirk.

‘Just a little more, just a little more and we will arrive.’

To her newly renovated Boss Room, the Fourth Demon King’s Throne Room.

Her entire body tingled with pleasure at the thought of entering it.

The four lowly and foolish humans currently accompanying Anaxia must have believed with all their hearts that she was the Vanquisher of Evil.

Under those circumstances, what if they finally arrived at the destination room just to discover the boss was not there?

And what if I leisurely walk across the room and gracefully sit on the throne?

And what if I arrogantly look down on them and reveal my true identity?

What faces would the shocked humans show in this sequence of events!?

‘Ah, just imagining it is thrilling!’

Anaxia’s pupils were torn vertically due to extreme excitement.

Without The Vanquisher of Evil, these four human men were not much of a threat to her.

Still, their faces were pretty, and it would be fun to play with them like a toy doll. Among them, the silver-haired paladin who had a slight resemblance to ‘Newborn Chaos and Evil’ was particularly her favorite.

Let’s make him a tattered mess by doing a lot of unholy things that cannot be done to ‘Newborn Chaos and Evil’.

Then, when the Vanquisher of Evil arrives, I’ll throw away the bodies of the four men one by one at her feet, as a show of pride.

Since ancient times, wailing and screams have been the most popular songs in the demon world.

‘Vanquisher of Evil, I will play to Reed the aria of despair you will sing at the top of your lungs!’

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