Volume 12 Chapter 10 The Idol Of The Holy City
And soon, we arrived at the plaza――.
"――Everyone, it's your lovely Ravuri! Is everyone feeling lovely today? ♪"
"WHOOOOAAAAAHHH! Ravuri! Ravuri! Ravuri!"
On the stage, a girl in a fluttering costume was holding a microphone.
The crowd was cheering towards the girl, shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Then, let's sing right away! Ravuri, Ravuri, dressing up♪!"
"WOOOOOOH! YES! YES! YES! YES!"
The music started, and the girl began singing with enthusiasm.
The crowd joined in, shouting along to the song at the top of their lungs.
"...What's going on here?"
I couldn't quite keep up with what was happening.
I couldn't quite understand. Or rather, where's the...monster?
"...So I told you to wait."
Miss Miimo finally caught up to us.
"Miss Miimo, is this...a curse?"
"I know it's confusing, but calm down."
She let out a sigh.
"This is an idol concert. The girl singing on stage is Ravuri Forte...the idol of this holy city."
"Ah, an idol...?"
'Did you call me?'
"No, I didn't."
I looked back at the stage again.
The pink-haired girl was singing and dancing with a microphone in hand.
And the fans were going wild for her.
"Our princess is beautiful today..." "Love you so much~" "...Now, she's looking at me. She definitely saw me." "Hey, you in the back, stop singing! We can't hear cute Ravuri's live voice!"
This is an idol....
I knew the concept of an idol, but this is the first time I've seen one in person. Except for that self-proclaimed idol doll, that is.
"By the way, can't you stop this? There's a monster around, and it's dangerous..."
"...Did you think I wasn't stopping it?"
"Ah, yes. That's right."
"Well, I am stopping it. It's just that we can't do it too strongly. She's... well, a princess from a neighboring country, after all."
"Ah, that's the princess...?"
I took another look at Ravuri, and she was wearing a tiara on her head.
Yeah...it's a pretty half-hearted, princess-like element.
"That's why I decided to give permission and put it under our control. If we can limit the places where citizens gather, it'll be easier for us to protect them too."
"Ah."
"And lately, the citizens have been getting gloomy because of the curse, so it's a good opportunity to lift their spirits, don't you think?"
It seems like there are various intentions at play.
Well, it's none of our business anyway.
"If there's no problem, let's get back to investigating the curse."
As I said that and was about to leave,
"...Rav?"
Suddenly, Cirrul muttered.
For some reason, she was staring at Ravuri with a stunned expression.
"Nh...nng!?"
Ravuri also fixed her gaze on Cirrul, her eyes wide open as if she had been slapped.
"Eh, Cil...?"
She stopped singing and stared at Cirrul.
The music stopped, and the murmuring crowd. Among them, the 2 of them were exchanging gazes as if time had stopped.
"...! Open a path!"
Suddenly, Ravuri jumped off the stage.
The fans quickly cleared a path.
And then, Ravuri rushed over to Cirrul――.
"Cil!"
"Rav...nbuh?"
Ravuri's tackle was perfectly executed.
Cirrul stumbled back, and Ravuri hugged her tightly.
Is this a heartwarming reunion scene...?
"You're Cil, after all♪ It's been a while Were you doing well?"
"U, yeah. If you had hugged me a bit more gently, I'd still be doing well..."
"I was worried about you! You never came to the holy city, and when I went to Sunpool, I was told you'd gone missing!"
"Yeah, thanks for worrying about me..."
"Ah, you remember Ravuri, right? You didn't forget, right? We used to play together during summer break, and Cil is still lovely as ever♪ My Ravuri sensor went off with just one glance! Ah, by the way, why are you cosplaying as an Inquisitor? Did you have that kind of hobby?"
"Cosplay? No, this is..."
"Ah, is that your boyfriend sitting next to you? Oh, Cil's so cool! I thought I could make a boyfriend before Cil, but no way! And Cil's boyfriend, nice to meet you, lovely♪
"Uh, lovely...?"
"Yeah, lovely♪"
"Ah, yes."
Clap, and we high-fived.
Then, Ravuri looked at Juju sitting on my shoulder.
"Ah~ What's with that doll, lovely♪ can I touch it? Can I touch it? I'm gonna touch it anyway!"
"Eh? Ah, yeah..."
'...Wait a minute!?'
"Wow, it's even more adorable than it looks♪ Super lovely♪"
Juju was kidnapped.
"Does this doll have a name? It has to, right? You're carrying it around like it's your partner, so it can't not have one And detective Rav is deducing that it's probably Chucky. So, can I call it Chucky? Can I call it that?"
"...No, it's Juju..."
"Hehe♪ I can hear the sound of snot dripping But that's the lovely point♪ Ah, look! This Jujju, when you squish its eyes, it gets all cute and twitchy So, let's squish its eyes some more♪"
'...Help me, Noroa...'
"Sorry, it's no use."
I couldn't keep up with her machine-gun talk and carefree attitude.
But gradually, I realized...this girl is like Juju.
"...That guy, he's getting lovely for the first time." "...Doing lovely without permission from the committee is against the rules" "...Even we, the executives, haven't gotten lovely yet."
And before I knew it, the gazes of the people around us were fixed on me. Or rather, they were looking at me with resentful eyes.
Ravuri didn't seem to mind, but I felt really uncomfortable.
"Ah, that's right! Since I finally met Cil and the others, let's go to a café to celebrate our reunion! That's lovely! Yeah, today's Rav is on fire When I get an idea, I act on it right away Baboon, and I charge forward! But since it's dangerous to run in the holy city, I'll walk carefully, okay? Rav is amazing!"
Without taking a breath, I pulled Cirrul's arm with all my might.
"Hey, what about... the concert?"
"It's fine, it's fine! I do it every day anyway!"
"This, you do every day!?"
"Yeah! Lately, my throat's been a bit dry and my body aches all over, but I think of it as a chance, like a trial given by God? So, I do it every day with love♪"
"Uh, isn't that... a sign that you should take a break and rest your body?"
"Then, let's go to the café right away! Ah, Rav know a new delicious shop that just opened up! They have pancakes with ice cream on top, you know? You don't know, right? The shop just opened, and it's been a while since Cil has been to the holy city... Ah, speaking of which, I remembered something at the café ―― 'Canaria' is an old word that means 'dog' Rav is so smart! Come on, everyone, let's say it together Ready, set!"
""――Lovely Rav, you're so smart!""
"Thanks, everyone!"
"...Uh, she didn't hear me."
Cirrul was being dragged away, muttering to herself.
By the way, Juju was still being carried off without anyone noticing.
"Hey, can I have that doll back..."
I rushed over to Ravuri.
At that moment, I forgot what was happening because of Ravuri's impact.
"...! Noroa-kun, be careful!"
Miss Miimo shouted. Almost at the same time, a splash came up from the waterway beside Ravuri.
What emerged from the waterway was――a Sea Serpent.
It was the monster that the Inquisitors had failed to defeat earlier.
"...Eh?"
Ravuri, who was being glared at by the Sea Serpent, froze with her eyes wide open. The Sea Serpent took aim at her――and opened its mouth wide.
This is bad, she's going to get attacked...!
"Ku...!"
Miss Miimo rushed to Ravuri's aid in a panic.
Fast――but not fast enough.
"Ram!" "Got it, Master!"
I didn't even have the luxury of transforming my wristgear (Slime Sword) into a sword. I directly extended the sword body from my wristgear. The sword, which was like a projectile, pierced through the head of the Sea Serpent flying towards Ravuri.
"Kyaa!"
The Sea Serpent fell to the ground, writhing in agony.
I quickly embraced Ravuri, protecting her with my Slime Shield.
Although it was already a fatal wound, the Sea Serpent's movements soon came to a halt.
"Are you okay?"
"Eh...? U, yeah..."
Ravuri stared at me with a dazed expression, her eyes fixed on my face.
"......What...are you?"
"Huh?"
"...I, I mean, it's nothing, yeah. Thanks for saving me."
Her attitude seemed a bit off, as if she wasn't quite aware of the situation.
Still, it was a close call. I was lucky to have been near Ravuri.
However...things didn't end there.
"..."
Monsters began to emerge from the waterway, one after another.
The Sea Serpent was just the beginning. Unseen aquatic monsters crawled out of the waterway, flooding the plaza.
"Uwaaa!" "Monsters!?" "What's going on, with this many?"
The onlookers panicked and fled.
"We have to protect the onlookers Noroa, can you handle the monsters over there!"
"Got it, Miss Miimo!"
I prepared to face the monsters again. That's when I felt a sense of unease.
"Eek...! W, what's going on...?"
All the monsters' eyes were fixed on Ravuri.
Even though there were many humans in the plaza, the monsters only saw Ravuri.
It was clear they were targeting Ravuri alone.
"..."
The monsters ignored me and charged towards Ravuri.
I quickly extended my Slime Sword's blade, sweeping away the monsters.
Except for the Sea Serpent, the monsters' ranks were low. Moreover, aquatic monsters were weak on land, so it wasn't difficult to take them down.
"W, what's going on...?"
The monsters are coming at her one after another, and I'm getting fed up.
It's as if various monsters are moving with a single purpose. If they were the same type of monster, it would still be understandable, but it's impossible for this many different types of monsters to be working together.
"...Are they being controlled or something?"
'Well, there's no point in thinking about it now.'
Juju slipped back into the shadows and returned to my shoulder.
She looked satisfied, as if this was her designated spot.
'Anyway, let's take down these monsters for now.'
"Yeah, that's right."
I readied my Slime Sword again.
It didn't take much time to wipe out the monsters from there.
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