Chapter 150 The Inescapable Trap
The next morning, I headed towards Ciello's tower with Platonovena.
I'm waiting in the rear, always on high alert. However, I've only fired my crossbow a few times.
I used Wentle-sama's power to land a powerful shot on the monster's back, which was attacking Julius from a blind spot.
"Whoa, thanks Laura-chan, you saved me!"
Julius swiftly cut down the monster that had lost its strength after being hit by the arrow. The monster fell and stopped moving.
I let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Then, Julius approached me with a smile.
"Laura-chan, thanks. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, somehow."
We started walking together, side by side. Julius looked up at the towering Ciello, which had grown even larger, and muttered.
"We're getting close, aren't we?"
"I think the number of monsters has increased too, so they might be waiting for us."
Lukas caught up to us and walked alongside. Julius let out a deep sigh at my childhood friend's words, saying "Maybe so."
We encountered several more monster attacks, but no one was hurt, and we finally reached the entrance to the forest that spread out before the tower. Diona, who was leading the way with a map, turned back to us.
"It seems we'll reach the tower if we get through this forest. The forest itself isn't that deep, and the path is straightforward――."
――It was because of Diona's guidance that our companions let their guard down.
Heh, someone nodded, and we stepped into the forest. At that moment, a large magic circle spread out beneath our feet.
"What the...?!"
Lukas cried out. When I looked, his feet had "disappeared".
――It's magic. That much I understood.
"Grab the arm of the guy nearby!"
Arnold shouted. In an instant, my vision blurred, and I felt a floating sensation.
I felt like I was going to pass out, but I still tried to grab someone's arm, just like Arnold said. And then, someone grasped my hand firmly.
* * *
"――lady, young lady."
The warmth on my shoulder and the voice that resonated in my eardrum brought me back to consciousness. It seemed I was being held by a strong arm.
I opened my eyes. And then, our eyes met ―― Vake's worried-looking green eyes.
"Young lady, are you okay?"
"Vake-san...? Where are we?"
Vake looked around, then shrugged and shook his head.
"It seems like we were scattered by magic. Probably somewhere in the forest."
――It's a common development in RPGs.
I thought to myself, but I couldn't stay leaning on Vake forever, so I got up. I didn't feel any pain anywhere. Maybe Vake had protected me when we landed.
When I smiled and said "I'm fine" to Vake, who was watching me with concern, he let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky. I did the same, and saw the tower of Ciello, our destination, towering high in the sky.
"Let's head towards the tower for now. Lukas and the others will probably do the same."
I nodded, and then hastily checked my bag. The water spirit was curled up inside.
I was relieved to see it was safe, and the spirit looked up at me. And then,
"Laura."
"What's wrong?"
It jumped out of the bag. It started sniffing the ground like a dog, its nose close to the ground.
"There's a smell."
"What kind of smell?"
"Ciello."
"...You mean the Sky Spirit?"
It seemed the water spirit had a keen sense of smell. It could detect the scent of the Sky Spirit, Ciello-sama.
As I followed the water spirit, which was slowly sniffing the air, I turned to Vake. He was looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"Vake-san, it seems the water spirit is guiding us to the tower."
"...Is this real? I'm saved."
After a brief moment, Vake, who seemed to believe my words and the water spirit, chased after the small figure of the spirit. I also started walking, holding my crossbow and arrow.
"Young lady, can you take care of the right?"
"Yes."
The right side is Vake's blind spot. No matter how skilled he is, his reaction speed will still drop a bit.
I stood beside Vake on his right, observing the movement of the grass and trees while walking, and focused on not missing even the smallest sound.
Two people and one spirit. If we're attacked by a large group of monsters now, we'll be in grave danger. Thinking that, I hurriedly walked through the forest, but ―― strangely, no matter how far we walked, the monsters didn't attack.
"...This is weird. There are no monsters at all."
Vake muttered. It seemed he was thinking the same thing.
I nodded with just my words, keeping my gaze fixed.
"That's right... I thought it was a trap to disperse our fighting power and attack us from there."
That's what I thought was the demon king's strategy. If they dispersed our fighting power with magic and got attacked, it would be easier to take us down. I thought it was that kind of "trap".
But the monsters didn't attack at all. There was no sign of them. Was this also part of the strategy? Were they trying to make us let our guard down and then attack?
"If we get lost in the forest and get tired, it's not like we can go that deep into the forest anyway."
"Is there another purpose?"
My words made Vake stop in his tracks. He muttered in a small voice.
"Maybe... another ally is being targeted intensively?"
Another ally. The one the demon king wants to eliminate the most ―― our ally. That's undoubtedly... Hero.
I couldn't help but look at him. Vake also seemed to have reached the same conclusion, with a worried expression.
We nodded to each other and hurriedly headed towards the tower...
"Laura! Vake-san!"
We were called out from behind.
The voice was that of the ally we were just worried about.
I hastily turned around. There, Lukas was waving his hand towards me, and Diona was standing a few steps behind him.
"Luka! Diona!"
"...Looks like the most in danger Lukas and the others are safe."
As I called out their names, Vake let out a sigh of relief beside me.
Lukas, who possessed the power of the Hero that could counter the Demon King, and Diona, who had the power of light that was effective against monsters. From the Demon King's perspective, they were the most annoying existences, ranking first and second. But they were safe. If anyone was going to be targeted, it would be these 2, and I, as well as Vake, thought so.
It was unexpectedly reassuring ―― but still, we felt a sense of relief as we reunited, and the 4 of us headed towards Ciello's tower. As far as I could tell, Lukas and the others didn't seem to have any abnormalities on their bodies.
We followed the guidance of the water spirit and made our way through the forest. As we got closer to the tower, I was called out to again.
"Lukas~ Laura~!"
A cheerful female voice call me. I knew it was Marta without even turning around.
"Marta, and Julius too! I'm glad you're both safe."
Lukas let out a joyful cry and was overjoyed to be reunited with Marta and Julius. The 2 of them didn't seem to have any noticeable injuries either.
There was me and Vake, and then Lukas and Diona, who had joined us later, and Marta and Julius. There was only one more companion left.
"Is the last one...Arnold?"
Well, he should be fine. Vake muttered, and the others all nodded in agreement, their tension easing.
We continued to be vigilant, exchanging conversations as we made our way through the forest. The number of trees gradually decreased, and eventually, the "exit" came into view.
The water spirit seemed to be saying it had finished its guidance, and it rushed towards me, urging me to hurry. It must have been tired. I thanked it and tried to put it back in my bag, but it suddenly vanished into thin air, just like Wentle-sama and the others, hiding its presence in a different time-space.
"Oh, we'll be out of the forest soon――."
I looked up at Vake's voice.――And there, standing at the forest exit, was a familiar figure.
Ah, I thought, and Lukas was already rushing towards that figure.
"Arnold!"
Lukas's call was responded to by that figure ―― Arnold, who raised his right hand slightly. Now, all our companions have gathered.
"I'm glad we were able to reunite more easily than I thought."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Lukas's words.
When we listened to his story, it seemed like no one was attacked by a monster, and therefore, no one got hurt. It was just a pointless commotion. ――But, is that really true?
Would the demon king, who set up such a thorough trap at the entrance of the forest, really miss such a perfect opportunity and make such a careless mistake? The demon king I know is more cunning and would never do that――
"I thought we'd be surrounded by monsters after being sent flying, but it looks like they're lacking in monsters instead?"
"Marta, stop joking around."
"I'm trying to keep the mood light. I'm tired, Julius."
I snapped back to reality with Marta and Julius's lighthearted exchange.
Anyway, we should be happy that we've all managed to reunite safely. I don't have the luxury to be suspicious or anxious right now.
As Marta and Julius continued to bicker, I took a step forward to intervene, and
"Let's go."
A few moments earlier, Arnold had spoken up.
"Huh? Let's go..."
"The entrance is this way."
Arnold said briefly, and turned around. Our companions followed his back a few seconds later.
Diona walked alongside Arnold and asked,
"Did you investigate ahead of time?"
"Yeah."
As expected, no mistakes.
I was secretly impressed in my heart. Suddenly, a "weight" appeared in my bag. I stumbled for a moment, but managed to steady myself and peeked into my bag.
There, as expected, the water spirit appeared. However, what was unexpected was that the spirit was staring intently ahead, tilting its head in a puzzled manner. I thought it was sleeping in my bag.
"What's wrong?"
My question was met with no response. The spirit just kept staring ahead, tilting its head intensely.
"What's going on?" I thought, tracing the water spirit's gaze, but all I saw was the backs of my friends, multiple of them.
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