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I slept like a log.
After breaking the curse for Claus, Rose, and the knights in their employ, I slept as soundly as I had after the mass curing at the church.
Noon had long since passed by the time I realized the amount of time I’d spent in bed. The moment I woke, the brightness of the day outside startled me.
What time did I fall asleep, anyway?
After checking the time, my eyes snapped wide open in shock—so wide that my eyeballs might’ve flown out of their sockets—and I made my way to Claus’s chambers as quickly as I could.
Two knights were standing guard outside his door, clearly indicating that he was still inside. I quickly got permission to enter, and no sooner had I stepped into the room than Claus sat up on his bed, bright and full of energy.
“Is it okay for you to be sitting up, Lord Lycoris?” I asked Claus, who was perusing some documents on his bed.
Smiling gently, he replied, “I’m the perfect picture of health—thanks to you, Hisui. But what of you? Did you wake up just now? How are you feeling?”
“I slept a ton, so I’m feeling pretty good too. Sorry for borrowing one of your rooms without permission. I can’t believe I slept in so late either.”
“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t just save me—I heard you broke the curse on my dear Rose as well, and furthermore even helped my knights. I ought to be the one apologizing for putting you through such trouble.”
Claus looked up from his papers and gazed at me for a few moments before bowing.
I hurriedly shook my head and waved my hands at him.
“Y-You don’t need to apologize! You were the victim in this mess, after all.”
“That is a bit reassuring to hear, since you do keep saving me and mine. First, you delivered us from the dragon attack, then you helped solve the outbreak of the curse in town, and now you’ve saved my life yet again. I really haven’t the foggiest clue how I might repay you for the favors you’ve done for our town.”
“Please, think nothing of it. I didn’t help because I wanted a reward or anything—I helped because I wanted to.”
“Come now. You must be properly compensated, Lord Hisui.”
The door behind me suddenly opened, and someone entered the room. The words that accompanied the footsteps froze me in place, my mouth agape.
“Rose?” Claus said. “Did I not tell you just this morning to stay in your room and rest?”
The new visitor to Claus’s room was, in fact, his very own daughter. Casually flipping back her long, red hair with her hand, she spoke with an impish grin.
“I think it’s quite unfair to exclude me from this conversation now that Lord Hisui’s awake.”
“That wasn’t my intention at all. Besides, I imagine Hisui would have gone straight to your room after our conversation was concluded in any case.”
“If I must return to my room, then why don’t we go together? We can discuss your reward,” Rose said, turning to me.
“Huh? But like I said, I don’t need—”
“You do.” Rose sharply cut me off and raised a finger.
“Come on!”
“You’re far too humble. Considering you saved a lot of people’s lives, you really ought to demand much more compensation! Think about it from our point of view—being the overseers of this land, we have to repay favors, or else it’ll reflect terribly on our reputation.”
“Couldn’t I just accept your gratitude and be done with it?”
“Absolutely not. This is a matter of pride for our house.”
“I see... All right. In that case, I suppose it would be impolite of me to refuse.”
Continuing to deny them seemed more rude than just accepting, especially after Rose’s explanation. I had to admit that it would never hurt to have more money, so accepting it from people who could afford to pay me was probably a good idea. Besides, that way, I could help ease the burden on Azalea once we met up with her.
I raised both hands in surrender and smiled disarmingly. Rose smiled back.
“I’m glad things have worked out,” said Claus. “As for the precise terms of your compensation, feel free to discuss it with Rose. Provided your request is not too outlandish, you can rest easy knowing we’re happy to grant you whatever you desire.”
“Thank you, father,” said Rose. She bowed her head modestly, then grabbed my arm tightly. “Let’s go. We mustn’t disturb my father all afternoon. Let’s have a nice, leisurely talk in my room.”
“Um, okay,” I said, sighing. “Don’t go too hard on me.”
I didn’t know exactly what to say, so in the end, all I could manage was an awkward, confused reply.
Rose led me out of Claus’s room and into the hallway. I never would have guessed she had such a strong grip.
Then, at that moment, I sensed something terrible far in the distance.
“Huh? I just felt something just now...”
“What’s the matter?” Rose, who had been dragging me along by the arm, suddenly stopped and gave me a puzzled look.
“Well, it’s just...I sensed the presence of something terrible just outside of town,” I admitted.
As I explained what was going on, my expression grew increasingly grim. With each passing moment, the unpleasant feeling I’d first sensed intensified. We seemed to be far away from the epicenter of the sensation, so why did it still manage to instill so much anxiety and repulsion in me?
A single comment from the Chaos Goddess, who appeared floating in midair just above me, immediately answered my question.
“How quaint. Someone’s performing a ritual to summon a demon from another world.”
An otherworldly ritual to summon a demon? Now that sounded ominous.
“I can’t just ignore this... Sorry, Lady Rose, but we’ll have to discuss my compensation later.”
“Huh?”
“There’s somewhere I need to be!”
With that, I shook Rose’s grip from my arm and raced down the hallway in a blur. Dashing out of the manor with a great burst of speed, I bounded over the entrance gate without even pausing to greet the knights on guard.
Despite the height of the gate, I hit the ground running and sprinted through the town streets, pushing myself to the limit for as much of the distance as possible.
As I ran, I asked Cult about the ritual she’d mentioned earlier.
“What did you mean about the summoning?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds. Some artifacts possess the power to draw in creatures from across dimensions and space. They function similarly to my spellcraft powers, but they use an entirely different kind of magic.” She giggled in amusement. “How exciting.”
“Summoning artifacts? Who would have something like that?”
“You’ll be able to tell when you get there. The ritual isn’t being held too far from town.”
“They must be worried about getting caught, since they’re going out of their way to avoid being seen by others.”
If they were summoning monsters so close to town, did that mean they were planning an attack? If that was the case, then it’d make more sense to summon the monsters directly inside the town instead. The main reason for performing the ritual in such a remote location was probably to avoid being seen. In other words, the criminals were people who couldn’t afford to be recognized.
The image of the Erebos acolytes drifted into my thoughts. They were the only ones who fit the bill at this point in time.
“An excellent challenge. I have the feeling this will be enjoyable,” said Aruna, who had been floating next to Cult with her arms crossed. The goddesses each gave off the impression that they were pretty dang optimistic.
“This’ll be a real trial for Huey! The enemy’s pretty creepy, but I think you’ll be okay.”
“And if it comes down to a fight and turns out to be too tough for him to handle, then I’ll take care of things. Everything’ll be fine,” Aruna said.
“Are you implying you’re not going to step in until I get killed?”
When I asked, Aruna looked away. And without a single word!
I wanted to protest and complain that they were asking for too much again, but I was well aware of how important it was to solve problems with my own power. If I avoided every threat and relied on the goddesses to do everything, I would never grow as a person.
Despite this, however, the goddesses did usually end up taking care of most things. Ordinarily, that wasn’t an issue, but there was always the chance something might go wrong, and refusing to help when I’d been gifted such powers would’ve been nothing but laziness. I wanted to be the kind of person my sisters could be proud of, which meant that I had to be careful not to rely on the goddesses too much—especially for situations that could involve combat like the one I was currently facing.
“The attempt will be well worth the effort, Hisui. Uncommon opponents are very precious—it will be an enlightening experience.”
“A-All right, fine. Sorry if I die, I guess.”
“If you do, Fouré will revive you for a second round!”
“You’re a monster!”
What, were they just going to keep reviving me until I finally defeated the enemy?! Were they never going to take care of the enemy no matter how many times I died?
I got the distinct feeling that Aruna’s hardcore training regime was getting tougher by the day, so I couldn’t help but be taken aback. The only reason I didn’t just up and pass out on the spot was that I suddenly felt a mysterious, burgeoning swell of energy, as if something were about to come into the world.
Boosting my speed even further, I sprinted to make every second count.