Soulgros and I returned to the place where she had been sent flying by Rast. To my surprise, Lucil and the other members of the guild we had temporarily joined were still there. I had assumed they would have abandoned us, as aligning with the legal guild seemed the more strategic choice.
After all, staying loyal to us, a dark guild, would distance them from the Elixir needed to save Lucika from her curse. But with my magic, I could keep her stable for a few more years.
Oh, I forgot to mention that to them.
In any case, we came back without much hope, but…
“Oh! Soulgros and Master! You’re safe!” exclaimed Lucil, a red-haired boy, running toward us with a joyful smile. He had a few injuries but seemed otherwise able to move.
Lucil… You stayed with us?
“Huh? What are you talking about? Everyone’s still here,” Lucil said, turning to guide my gaze behind him.
“Hey, you’re late,” Apollo called out.
“Man, I’m exhausted…” Pelorro muttered.
Ligg remained silent, his face buried in the ground.
To my astonishment, the entire guild was there. Apollo and Pelorro were sitting on the ground, looking weary, while Ligg lay face-down, appearing dead. It was a stark contrast to his usually composed demeanor.
But they had all stayed.
Oh… I felt a surge of emotion. We were a dark guild, shunned and despised by society. Yet, they had chosen to stand by us.
This is wonderful news for Soulgros and the rest of our guild members. Having more allies than enemies is always better. Maho and Yuuto seemed like they would have sided with us too, but they had returned to their own world…
“Huh?”
When I turned to look at Soulgros, she was gazing back at me with pure, innocent eyes, as if she truly didn’t understand what had happened. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Well, they’ll understand eventually.
“Looks like the most exhausted one is Ligg,” Pelorro commented with a wry smile, glancing at Ligg, who was still twitching with his face planted in the ground.
Is he actually dead? I had wondered, but on closer inspection, it seemed to be a symptom of mana depletion.
“Well, he took care of these guys as well as us. Let him sleep it off for a bit,” Apollo suggested with a laugh. Although, if he felt that way, maybe he should move Ligg’s face off the ground. It was an oddly surreal sight.
I followed Apollo’s gesture to see the remaining members of Praeshield tied up together with a single rope. They all had their heads bowed, apparently unconscious.
“Man, it was tough knocking them out to the point where they’d lose their memories!” Lucil boasted, “The real challenge was healing them afterward.”
Ah, that explains the numerous lumps on their heads. Ligg, now awake, was brushing the dirt off his face with a deeply unhappy expression.
“So, did you manage to take down that Praeshield guy? Well, you must have, since you’re here. I heard he was the strongest of them all,” Pelorro asked.
“Yeah, thanks to Soulgros’s efforts, we managed to defeat him.”
“Feel free to praise me more,” Soulgros said, appearing before me and looking up with a satisfied smile.
Her severed arm had already reattached itself. Initially, I had panicked, fearing the worst, but she had calmly reattached it as if it were no big deal.
During the chaos, I tried to help by amplifying my magic, but Soulgros’s reaction—letting out a sultry moan—was rather distracting.
“Oh, right. We were dealing with Rast,” Soulgros said, tossing a rope she was holding.
Rast, tied to the end of the rope, was flung toward us. Pelorro peered at his face.
“Hey… This guy’s eyes are rolled back,” Pelorro noted.
“That happens a lot when someone faints,” Soulgros replied calmly.
“His tongue is sticking out,” the man added.
“That happens a lot,” the ninja reiterated.
“There’s fluid coming out of every orifice.” His voice was growing more alarmed.
“That happens a lot.”
Pelorro’s escalating concern was met with Soulgros’s increasingly nonchalant responses.
“Hey! We worked so hard to keep things under control, and you’ve practically killed him!” Apollo cried, almost in tears—or rather, actually crying as he clung to Soulgros.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s still alive. See?” Soulgros said, annoyed, and kicked Rast to demonstrate.
All eyes turned to Rast.
“──────”
He didn’t move. Soulgros sighed and shook her head.
“Look closer. He’s twitching, isn’t he?”
“That just means he’s barely alive!” Pelorro shouted.
“Ligg! Use your healing magic, quickly!”
“Again…?” Ligg, already exhausted, staggered over to cast healing magic on Rast.
Slowly, Rast’s external wounds began to heal, though he hadn’t sustained many to begin with.
“Unfortunately, a healer of Ligg-dono’s caliber can’t restore lost senses, nerves, or memories,” Soulgros commented, watching dispassionately as Ligg struggled to heal Rast.
Soulgros watched with a detached gaze as Lucil and the others worked tirelessly to heal Rast. She seemed utterly indifferent to his fate now, having lost all interest in him. Though Rast’s situation was largely his own doing, there was a small part of me that felt sorry for him.
“It’s gotten pretty late,” Apollo remarked, looking up at the sky as Ligg finished his healing. The sun had long since set, and the darkness of night had enveloped us. When we fought the members of the Pride Shield, the sun was still up, but the aftermath and Soulgros’s distractions had extended our stay.
“Hey, Master and Soulgros; if you don’t mind, how about staying at our guild tonight?” Lucil suggested.
“Oh, that sounds great! We overcame a tough battle! Let’s celebrate!” Apollo added enthusiastically.
“I agree; it would be nice,” Pelorro chimed in.
Stay at their guild? I hesitated. There were others waiting for my return, or at least I hoped there were. Besides, Apollo, who seemed like a heavy drinker, didn’t appeal to me. His eyes sparkled as he looked at us, already seeming tipsy. Ligg’s gaze was also telling; it was the look of someone planning to drag us into their revelries, likely tired of handling Apollo and Pelorro’s drunken antics.
“Sorry, Ligg, but I think I’ll pass…”
“Wonderful! I’d love to join you!” Soulgros interjected before I could decline, raising her hand eagerly.
Wh-Why?! You usually respect my decisions! Why now of all times…?
“Heheh. This way, I have a perfect excuse to extend my time alone with Master without returning to the guild. Laladie-dono used the excuse of the heroes to monopolize Master for a night, so I think I deserve this much,” Soulgros whispered conspiratorially to me, a mischievous glint in her eye.
Soulgros muttered something quietly before slowly approaching me.
“Master, finding that Elixir might take a while. Perhaps it’s time we consider bridging the gap between dark guilds and legal guilds,” she whispered.
Hmm. She has a point, I suppose. Still, leaving without informing our guild members feels wrong… Just as I was lost in thought, Soulgros leaned in closer and whispered again.
“Then I’ll use one of the two favors you promised me. Please, Master,” she pleaded softly.
Ugh, she got me there.
I had indeed promised her two favors in which I’d do anything she asked. Using one here was a smart move. Honestly, I would probably grant any request from a Yerkchira member without needing such promises, but still…
Fine. There’s no helping it now.
“All right! Let’s head back and have a drink!” Apollo cheered, grabbing my shoulder.
“Yeah! Let’s drink!” Lucil echoed, his excitement palpable.
“No, Lucil, you’re too young for that,” Ligg interjected calmly.
Apollo’s arm around my shoulder was warm and friendly, while Lucil’s enthusiasm was matched by Ligg’s level-headedness. They really were a close-knit guild.
Well, our guild is just as tight, if not more so!
And so, Soulgros and I decided to accept their invitation and join them at their guild for the night.
As we started moving, I noticed Pelorro had been oddly quiet. Considering his personality, I had expected him to be more involved.
“Was it Rast-dono’s gaze that I felt, or was it something more unsettling?” Soulgros suddenly stopped, deep in thought.
I called out to her, urging her to keep up.
Come on, or you’ll be left behind.
“P-Please, don’t leave me!” she exclaimed, hurrying to catch up.
I chuckled at her panic.
“What about the members of Praeshield the Pride Shield?” someone asked.
“Oh… I’ll adjust their brains again and send them back to their original locations,” she replied casually.
“What does that even mean to ‘adjust their brains’?” Lucil asked, confused.