Chapter 92 Holy Water
The next day after I relayed Arnold's answer to Reinhardt-san, another meeting was scheduled in the conference room after work.
Reinhardt-san and Arnold sat facing each other across the table, and I sat next to Reinhardt-san. Another person participating in this meeting was Kasper-san, who was standing a few steps behind Arnold.
"We want to be fully prepared for any eventuality."
Reinhardt-san nodded in agreement at Arnold's words. The Rustu people would also want to be fully prepared.
Reinhardt-san took out a map from his pocket and spread it out on the table. He pointed to a spot on the map and muttered, "Here it is."
"We are currently considering our city's temple as the location. Do you have any preferences?"
It seemed that the place Reinhardt-san pointed to was the Rustu people's city. If I focused my eyes on the map, I could see a city near the sea to the east of the royal capital, Savila. It was probably closer to the royal capital than Emme Village.
"What about the guards?"
"We will place Rustu people both inside and outside the temple. The strongest ones will be positioned around Elvira-san, and they will rush in if anything happens."
Based on Reinhardt-san's words, I could imagine a vague image in my mind.
Elvira would be in the center of the temple, surrounded by the Rustu people in a circle. For some reason, my mind was drawing a magic circle at Elvira's feet, and that image might not be too far off.
Suddenly, Reinhardt-san turned his gaze towards me and said,
"I've asked Laura-san to invite Hero Lukas to come, and I plan to have Lukas wait near Elvira-san."
My heart skipped a beat when I heard the title "Hero" placed before my childhood friend's name. I guess he'll be carrying that title more often from now on.
By the way, I already wrote a letter to Lukas to inform him about this. I haven't received a reply yet, but I'm sure he'll lend a hand.
Arnold glances at me before turning back to Reinhardt-san.
"We have no objections to the location being the temple you mentioned. However, we have one condition. We want the Savila Knight Order to provide additional security."
"Of course."
Reinhardt-san readily nods in agreement to Arnold's condition. With the Rustu people and the Savila Knight Order joining forces, it's going to be a pretty big group.
The location is set. Both of our requests have been accepted without any problems. So, the next thing is――
Arnold opens his mouth again.
"When are we doing this?"
"Elvira-san's health comes first. We would need about 5 days to prepare."
Everyone's eyes naturally turn to Arnold to see how he will respond to Reinhardt's words. He puts his hand to his chin as if to think for a few seconds, but he answers without much delay.
"Then we will contact you again. We haven't made any preparations yet."
"Yes. ...As for the plan for the day, the Rustu people will use their power on Elvira-san. We want to see what changes will occur as a result."
Arnold didn't say anything, but he certainly nodded. Reinhardt-san stands up after seeing this. His profile seemed to be slightly relieved.
Arnold stands up after Reinhardt-san. Naturally, I also stand up from my seat and move a few steps away from the 2 of them. ――That's when I notice Kasper-san.
He was staring at Reinhardt-san with a serious expression. I don't think the phrase "cold expression" is quite appropriate to describe it. To me, it seemed more like he was intently examining Reinhardt-san.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Arnold-san."
"The pleasure is all mine, Reinhardt-dono."
Arnold and Reinhardt shake hands before my eyes, Arnold and Reinhardt-san shook hands. I felt a sense of relief that we were finally about to take the first real step. But I also tightened my grip, knowing that the real challenge was yet to come.
The demon king, who had been resurrected and was now lurking within Elvira's body. The Self-destruction disease that was being caused by this. If things went well, we might be able to seal away the demon king, the root of the problem.
Whether we succeeded or failed, this would be a big step forward either way. But first, we had to take that step.
*
After Reinhardt-san left, Kasper-san followed him out of the living room. Maybe they were talking now.
Meanwhile, Arnold and I remained in the living room. We didn't talk much, but there was a comfortable silence between us, now that the tension of the previous moment had eased.
"――...Even if we prepare as much as we can, I don't know what we should be prepared for."
Sitting deeply in his chair, Arnold looked up at the sky. His heartfelt words made the air feel heavy again.
Arnold's words were true. We had hired the Savila Knight Order as guards, but what else could we do?
"The Drinking Water of the Spirits needs to be replenished, the healing potion needs to be synthesized, and we have no choice but to rely on Lukas for the Hero's power. And then..."
"I wonder if the skills of a magician without special powers will be effective against the demon king."
Though I thought to myself that there was no need to worry about that, I nodded in agreement.
Some of the party members were magicians, but he was supposed to be a very ordinary magician. Moreover, Elvira's magic had been the main firepower in the battle against the demon king. Even if there was a hidden setting that wasn't revealed in the main story, like all the party members having special bloodlines, I thought it shouldn't be a problem since Arnold was Elvira's brother. But maybe I was being too optimistic.
(Besides magic, there must be something else that can fight the Demon King... an 'item' that can damage monsters...)
I thought and went back through my past life memories ―― suddenly, the battle screen from "Last Brave" came to mind.
In the battle screen, "I" called up the item menu and selected a certain item. Then, the character would throw the item at the monster in the battle. This would damage the monster and end the battle.
I was lost in the dungeon and my magician friend's MP ran out during the battle. Not only that, but I was almost out of healing potions, so I opened the item menu in a desperate attempt to find something. I saw "it" jump out at me. I remember that I could only get it in the dungeon and couldn't buy it from the item shop.
I hesitated for a moment because I didn't have many left, but I didn't have any other choice and I used it. It did more damage than I expected. I remember being surprised. The name of that item was...
"――Oh, holy water"
That's right, there must have been an item called [holy Water] that can damage monsters. I've never used it against the Demon King, so I don't know if it will work on him, but it might be worth a try.
"Holy water?"
Arnold seemed to have heard the word that accidentally slipped out of my mouth. His black eyes turned towards me.
My memory of the [holy water] I just remembered is still vague. It's an item I get from treasure chests in the dungeon, and I don't even know if it exists in this world. I don't remember being able to create it using the game's synthesis system. There probably aren't any treasure chests in dungeons in this world. So that means it either exists naturally like The Drinking Water of the Spirits, or... we can create something similar using synthesis.
Anyway, it's not enough information to report yet. It's not even information. I decided to cover it up and opened my mouth to say something, but...
"N-no, nothing――"
He glared at me, making me smile wryly. His expression seemed to say, "Don't even think about hiding anything."
Resigned, I opened my mouth to speak.
"I can't remember where I read it, but I recall reading something about holy water that evil monsters hate."
Of course, I can't say that I know this from my previous life. I have to lie to make it sound believable. Arnold, intrigued, sits up straight from his chair.
"Is this different from the 'Drinking Water of the Spirits'?"
"I think so... I'll try to go through my memories later and see if I can remember anything else. I'll let you know if I do."
Arnold nods at my words, and the conversation ends there. For now, I will have to fight with my own memory. How much will I be able to remember about the "holy water"?
I look at the door to the reception room. If I open that door and leave this room, I'll be back to running around busy again.
I slap my cheek lightly as if to encourage myself. And then I take a step forward.
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