And there was the answer. The proud knight commander of the Liberion Order, Allucia Citrus, was here and fully armed with her beloved new sword in its black sheath. How could we not be shocked by this? In a sense, it was far more unexpected to see her here than Lucy.
“I’m not quite sure how to answer that,” Allucia said. “I just happened to reach a good stopping point with my work, so I decided to take a nice long break and come to Vesparta for some relaxation. I then just happened to see Master Beryl and decided to come say hello.”
“Hah?! There’s a limit to such shameless lies!”
I couldn’t help but agree with Surena on that front. It was beyond transparent at this point—there was no way that excuse would work. I’d gotten here the same way, but Allucia’s status was on an entirely different level. Can’t really complain about everyone doing whatever the hell they want, though. We’re all guilty of the same thing. Only Surena can say anything about it.
“Master, it seems you are on your way out,” Allucia said, keeping up the farce. “Where are you heading?”
“Ha ha ha... Let’s see...I suppose I was thinking of having a picnic halfway up the Aflatta Mountain Range.”
“That sounds wonderful. But is the Aflatta Mountain Range not rampant with monsters? It seems you’ll be better off with at least one more escort.”
Allucia already knew all the details of why I was in Vesparta. After all, the information I’d gotten from her had kicked everything off. It was perfectly obvious to her where I was going and why. The only things she hadn’t known before were that Surena had already been rescued and that our goal was to hunt a specific named monster—and she’d just found out about Surena.
“So she says. What do you think, Surena?” I asked.
“Tch! I resent it, but we couldn’t ask for better. I resent it, though...!”
“How cold, Lysandra,” Allucia teased.
Surena was technically in charge of this hunt, so we couldn’t ignore her opinion. Still, her reaction to this suggestion was rather harsh. I was well aware that these two didn’t get along, but Allucia had definitely come here partly out of concern for Surena’s safety. Surena had to know that too. She couldn’t just tell Allucia to get lost.
If Allucia truly hated Surena, she never would’ve shared the information about her circumstances with me. The adventurer’s guild and the Liberion Order were separate organizations. Allucia could’ve easily claimed to know nothing about Surena’s plight. However, she’d chosen not to do that and had even pushed things in the right direction—her actions implied her obvious concern about the situation.
“If you’re coming, then let’s get going already,” Lucy said. “I’m not made of free time.”
“I’m surprised you can say that after coming this far,” I quipped.
She definitely wasn’t one to talk. She’d shelved all of her work as the magic commander and the headmistress to make this long journey. She was as guilty as the rest of us.
At any rate, Allucia was intent on coming along no matter what Surena said, and Surena hadn’t exactly said no. There was no point wasting more time here.
“Haaah...” I sighed. “Now, now, you two, leave it at that. Time is of the essence.”
I forced the two of them to stop arguing—as much as I could, at least. Time was now an extremely valuable resource. We couldn’t keep the two commanders here for long. It wouldn’t have been a problem had they shown up on an official mission, but that wasn’t the case.
I didn’t know anything about Lucy’s schedule, but Allucia had likely forced an opening in hers. We needed to accomplish our objective as soon as possible.
“Shall we get going?” Lucy said. “Beryl, lead the way.”
“Yeah, yeah.” As I started walking, I turned and asked, “So? Miss Magic Commander, you got any ideas?”
“A few,” she answered. “The rest will come when we make contact.”
“We’re counting on you here,” I told her. “Honestly, wizardry’s our last ray of hope.”
“I’ll do everything I can. After all, I’m also endlessly curious.”
By “ideas,” I was referring to a way of overcoming Id Invicius’s trick. She’d definitely given it some thought, but there was no telling what would work until she saw the thing for herself. Lucy had once said that the magic humanity had successfully analyzed wasn’t even ten percent of all the magic in the world. If that were true, it was highly likely that Id Invicius was using magic that was still unknown to us. That said, if Lucy was incapable of doing anything about it, the probability of having any options beyond running away would basically plummet to zero.
Even if we managed to do something about its invisibility, its durability was nothing to sneeze at. Its hide wasn’t damaged by even my blade. That had to be something magical, so I was hoping Lucy could solve that too.
Worst case, its tough hide was natural, and we would need a masterwork of even higher caliber than my Zeno Grable longsword. Unfortunately, I had no idea where we could find something like that. And if one did exist, would we be able to arrange to borrow it?
At any rate, this was definitely a formidable foe. I walked on for a while, theorizing that we had to carefully scrutinize multiple possibilities while keeping retreat in mind.
Suddenly, Lucy interrupted my thoughts.
“Ha ha!”
“Hm? What is it?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said. “Remember what I told you that one time? You take the front, and I take the rear—a splendid combination, don’t you think?”
“Aah, you did mention something like that...”
Had it happened before we defeated Zeno Grable or after? I didn’t remember the exact time, but the memory of such a conversation lingered. I’d refused on the spot at the time, but you could never guess what the future had in store. I could have possibly foreseen a situation like this.
Regardless, she was right about watching my back—I could think of no greater heroic figure than Lucy for the job. Naturally, I could also trust Allucia, Surena, Ficelle, and Curuni to the rearguard. Maybe I’m just sitting on my high horse and being picky. Anyway, the girls were swordswomen who would fight by my side. Having a wizard watch my back was a first for me.
“Well, I suppose that’s true,” I conceded. “I doubt I could think of anything more reassuring.”
“Right? Right? Feel free to show me as much respect as you want!”
“I’ll refrain.”
“Ha ha ha! How cold.”
I felt no unease at the prospect. I knew how outrageously strong Lucy Diamond was, even if I’d only witnessed a fraction of her power. I doubted I was placing my hopes too high. Lucy was exactly the kind of woman to surpass any and all expectations.
“Lucy, Allucia...”
“Hm?”
“Yes? What is it?”
I came to a stop and turned around. The two of them gazed back at me in confusion. I didn’t call Surena out—after all, I’d been under the impression that I would have to save her alone.
“Thanks for going along with me on this.” I bowed my head. “Please lend me your strength.”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was honestly a little late for this, but I hoped they could forgive me for that. So much had happened so quickly in these last twenty-four hours. But I had to get this across. I’d nearly just gone along with it casually because they’d shown up so out of the blue, but my self-respect wouldn’t allow that. It’d taken a while to remember my manners, though.
“Ha ha ha! I suppose we have to now that you’ve asked,” Lucy said. “Let’s enjoy our picnic while gathering some materials from a named monster.”
“All is as you wish, Master,” Allucia added. “Wielding a sword for those in need is a knight’s duty.”
“Thank you. I’m counting on you two.”
Their reactions were polar opposites, but both felt good to hear. I was truly blessed with wonderful connections.
Now then, all that’s left is to find that bastard and beat it up. Just you wait, Id Invicius—Liberis’s strongest force is coming to grab you by the throat.