The Witch and the Doll Swear

EP.7 Miss Liaison's first adventure

Even though it was already summer, the wind above the sky was still chilling, causing goose bumps on the girl's skin.

There is the whistling of the wind in my ears, and the free spirit of the wind is chuckling in the whistling wind,

It is the first time to overlook the land from such a high angle, the first time to see the familiar hills under the sky, and to see the sea surface turning into a piece of blue color on the winding coastline, at the far end of the sky and sea Merging with the sky into a clear gem.

The water vapor that made up the clouds passed over the calf, wet the thin stockings, it was cold and itchy.

If you haven't really experienced flying in the wind and piercing through the clouds with your own body, you will definitely not understand what it feels like.

Flying is a long-standing dream of human beings without wings since ancient times. Even if the magic of flying exists, it cannot be grasped by anyone. It is an honor to set foot on the sky where the giant dragon is flying as a mortal. Only after flying in the boundless sky can one understand it.

However, the girl who flew above the sky with a mortal body did not dare to move at all.

The girl who was hugged by a girl who was even smaller than her was still looking around because of a novelty that she had never had before when she took off from the terrace of the castle. She saw the castle getting smaller and smaller in the field of vision, and the sea breeze rolled up on the hills facing the sea. Deep green grass waves.

Until even the large merchant ships at sea were as small as a beetle crawling slowly on the blue silk, Tingna glanced down.

At that glance, Tingna saw the distance between herself and the earth, and saw that the guarantee that she would not fall was only Liliana's immature arms, and she saw it.

Absolute [height] that human beings can never surpass.

dizzy.

A nauseous feeling surged from my stomach.

For the first time, Tina knew.

——It turned out that I was afraid of heights.

"Oh, oh, Miss Tina, hold on a little longer, we're almost there—"

"I, I try my best..."

Closing her eyes, even answering Alice's words seemed to make her fall downwards, the girl held her knees tightly

Holding the witch's slender arms, his hands wrapped around her neck, not daring to move.

"..."

Therefore, the witch who was occupying her field of vision blinked in confusion, and called out a few eyes of the mage.

The greenness of the land gradually came to an end, and in front of the field of vision, the land close to the coastline and a mountain peak was covered in light red.

Generally speaking, coastal mangroves refer to the evergreen woody plants that grow luxuriantly on the coastline and nearby salt marshes, but the mangroves in the north of Yansha City do have a beautiful red color.

"...It may be dangerous to fly above the forest where monsters inhabit. The next road must be walked."

At the edge of the mangrove forest, Liliana put down Tinna whose face had completely lost all color.

The down-to-earth feeling almost made the girl cry.

——Human beings cannot fly.

Ting Na now deeply understands this point.

Tingna, whose eyes were all red, looked pitifully at Liliana, who was flipping through the big book she had taken out from nowhere, as if nothing happened.

"Miss Liliana, can we not fly when we go back?"

"...Is it scary?"

"Very, very scary! Uh...why do I have to come..."

It's like the god of death putting a scythe around his neck and laughing strangely in his ear. If Tingna hadn't passed the toilet before departure, Tingna can guarantee that she would leak out of Liliana's arms!

"...Because only Miss Tingna knows the looks of those four people, if they are still alive, it's a different matter, if they are dead..."

"At least someone who knows the face must come to collect the corpse."

There is no excuse.

Within an hour, Tina was resenting herself for who she had been less than an hour earlier.

"The feeling of flying is still too exciting for ordinary people. Miss Tingna is so scared. When you go back, you can walk back normally. Anyway, it's only a two-hour journey. Just treat it as an excursion."

Knowing that this lady witch is insensitive to many emotions that humans naturally have, Alice patted the girl on the back and helped Tina straighten out her breath.

"……Oh well."

Liliana thought for a moment and nodded.

Then.

"...Miss Tina, do you have any of those people's belongings?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

Covering her mouth while squatting on the ground, Ting Na shook her head, not understanding why Liliana asked this suddenly.

"... Then you can't use the person-finding technique to find those people... Are there any other clues?"

Liliana was silent for a moment, then reached out and opened a page of the book floating in front of her.

Those people—obviously referring to the four adventurers who came here yesterday to complete the commission, namely Lydiala, Mode, Muthra and Mark.

One of them was left at home last night, and the talisman used to convey peace to the family was suddenly damaged. If it was that, it might be used as the material for the "finding people" technique Miss Liliana mentioned.

Thinking this way, Tina faced the witch's second question.

"...Well, I just know the name of the place they went to, but..."

The girl shrank her neck.

"It's my first time here, I don't know the way... and I don't have a map..."

Liliana was silent.

Tingna sighed softly as if hearing that small lips that were always tightly closed except for speaking.

And Alice beside Tina...

"Pfft, hahahaha! Miss Tingna, did you plan to save people like this?"

After hearing Tina's words, she didn't know why she found it very interesting, and laughed out loud.

"No, I'm very sorry, I didn't think carefully..."

"No, no, it should be the fault of not considering that Miss Tingna, who has never taken any risks before, would be unprepared. Lily, what should I do?"

"...I can only use a stupid method. The source of water for those people is at the foot of the volcano."

As if she could cross the low mangrove forest that was two people tall, the witch looked to the west of the forest.

The dark pupils reflected the towering mountain.

Volcano [Visuka].

Surrounded by lush mangroves, it is an extinct volcano nicknamed [Red Salt Volcano] because it is rich in a kind of red rock salt. At the foot of the mountain, there is the source of underground water veins around Yansha City.

The outlet of one of the water veins is on the surface, and the water and sea water mix to soak the land here, which is also the source of the light red color of the forest surrounding the mountain.

"...Let's go over there first."

Sprinkle the materials for casting spells—some ore fragments and plant branches and leaves on the pages of the book, so that the rainbow-colored magic circle enveloped herself and Tinna. Liliana closed the book and signaled Alice to protect Tinna's safety.

"Then, Miss Tina, let's go too."

Sitting on Tina's left shoulder, she slightly pulled the neckline of the slipped lavender kimono, and a vermilion ceramic bowl appeared in Alice's hand again.

"Okay, okay..."

A look of no sense of urgency, be it Miss Liliana or Alice.

Tina smiled wryly.

"It would be nice if it could be quicker..."

"Because I don't have any clues, there's nothing I can do. Originally, rescue requests for adventurers value the luck of the rescued person more than the ability of the rescuer. Even if you urge them, there is nothing you can do. This kind of terrain, smells, and footprints. You can't count on it. Rather than urging, let's pray to the true god to bless these guys."

Alice shook the sake in the bowl, shaking her feet disapprovingly.

Because that was an irrefutable fact, Tina could only silently cross herself on her chest, praying from the bottom of her heart, as Alice said.

I pray that those boys and girls who should have a better future are safe and sound.

No matter in the dry summer or the cold winter, the mangrove forest will always have a layer of water that is enough to submerge the ankles.

The sunlight through the shadow of the trees splashes on the tranquil water, which is slightly floating because of the subtle water waves.

The water is very clear.

But because of this, people can see the reddish color of the soaked mud at the bottom of the water.

Liliana stood on the edge of the shallow dividing line between the water surface and the grass, and took off her small white leather sandals.

Just like that, with bare feet, he walked forward calmly——

"—Wait, wait a minute, Miss Liliana, how can you walk to such a place without wearing shoes!"

Tingna quickly reached out and grabbed the girl's slender shoulders.

"...Miss Tina is the one, quickly take off the shoes and put them in the space storage ring, as well as the socks."

The witch who tested her face blinked.

"...The magic of [Walking on Water] is directly applied to the surface of Miss Tingna's skin. Wearing shoes will have no effect, and wet socks will feel uncomfortable."

"Eh? Yes, is it?"

"..."

Liliana took a step forward in silence.

The little feet stepped on the clear water, but because of the mud at the bottom, it looked like a light red stained curtain, and stood steadily on it.

As if standing on the crystal clear and solid ground, only two circles of water ripples proclaiming that this is still a piece of water.

The magic of [walking on water] is familiar even to ordinary people. Indeed, Tingna understands that with this kind of magic, even the water-soaked ground can be as smooth as walking on it.

but.

"This is very dangerous, Miss Liliana, without any protection, you will be injured by the monsters in the mud!"

The danger of this mangrove forest is not just the inconvenience caused by the soaked mud.

When she was still in the Adventurer's Association, Tingna heard from several adventurers that although the deepest part of the mud below could make a 1.8 meter man disappear in an instant, even the shallow place could be submerged deeply. Knee, however, the real deadly thing in this wood is the dreadful vipers and mud-dwelling monsters that dwell in the muck.

Unless there is magic to detect the response of life, no one knows when and where these dangerous hunters hidden in the mud will launch a deadly attack, no, even if there is such magic——

"Some monsters, such as mud snakes, mangrove poisonous shells, devil fish, etc., seem to be dead when they are in ambush. Even life detection magic is difficult to detect."

A certain adventurer who lost a leg said so.

Almost all the adventurers who came here to complete the commission recognized this, only by wearing metal-covered rubber trousers can they move here with more peace of mind.

It's just [comparison] peace of mind.

Ting Na doesn't know how safe this [comparison] is, but it's definitely not wearing nothing on her feet!

"...Miss Liliana, you've never been here before."

However, Liliana shook her head lightly, as if she didn't care about the girl's claim.

"...Alice."

And she didn't seem to want to explain, she opened the book and seemed to be using some other magic.

"But--"

"Well, well, Miss Tina, calm down, because Miss Tina has never actually come here to take risks, so she doesn't know."

In the girl's ear, Alice blew coquettishly, stopping her next words.

"Do you know what the monsters mentioned by Miss Tina rely on to find their prey?"

"……No."

"So Ms. Tingna doesn't know. Mud snakes are blind. They rely on their keen perception ear holes to sense changes in the fluid around them. Mangrove poisonous shells are no different from stones as long as they don't step on them directly. Devil fish have no visual organs. There are many thorns on the body, and these thorns are easy to react due to the changes in the fluid around them... Is it understandable? They are all mud-dwelling monsters, and all their organs are used to detect prey in the mud. After [walking on the water surface], our movements will be completely hidden by the water, and these monsters will not notice us."

The puppet, whose face was obviously flushed with drunkenness, but without a trace of drunkenness in his voice, explained in detail to Ting Na, who was not even a beginner.

"You can also see how little movement Lily walks on the water."

"Yes, is that so..."

Ting Na looked at the puppet on her shoulder and hesitated.

"There is a difference between the so-called knowledge in books and the reality, and the old man's experience may not be all correct. Compared with the monsters under the mud, we have to beware of the monsters on these low trees, for example..."

The shaking wine bowl pointed forward, subconsciously following Ting Na who was looking over.

I saw it, beside Liliana who was looking down at the big book, there was a reddish air root hanging from a mangrove tree——

"!!"

Bend suddenly.

Like a taut spring, it shot towards the girl flipping the book.

That was an unimaginable speed, even compared to the previous Shadow Demon, the girl only saw the vine——the vine-like monster curled up like a spring, turning into a blurry light red afterimage ——

——and flew out spraying darker blood.

"... Vine leaf snakes or other arboreal monsters, well, you don't need to be careful."

The second half of Alice's words drifted to her ears slowly.

The reddish "vine" hung down feebly again, half broken, and blood was still dripping from the cut.

Then, it should be Liliana who was attacked...

"...Are you still leaving?"

He didn't even show a little expression, just like facing dozens of black wolves that night, like being attacked by the members of the Rat Society in black on that turbulent night.

His face was expressionless, as if there was no fluctuation in his heart, as if he was not the one being attacked.

Tina thought for a second, bent down, and took off her pointed leather shoes and black stockings.

Passing the high heels and stockings to Liliana, a subtle sense of shame made the girl at a loss, but this feeling was immediately dispelled by the coolness of the soles of her feet.

Standing barefoot on the water feels amazing.

The supposedly soft and fragile water surface is like a somewhat soft glass plate. Stepping on it is cool, as if the soles of the feet are soaked in water waves, but when the knees are bent back and the soles of the feet are touched with fingers, there is no trace of being wet at all.

—Magic, indeed, is wonderful.

Tingna, who began to regret that she didn't study magic in the academy, looked at the snake that was shortened a lot.

"...Does that magic exist on me now?"

"Huh? That's not passive defense magic, is it? It's just an instant [Wind Blade Art]. Although Lily is a witch, she is different from ordinary witches. Her five senses and reflexes are no worse than elite warriors."

"So, can you give me a magic shield...I'm just an ordinary person, a little scared..."

This lightning-like vine-leaf snake made Ting Na feel a little terrified. If I remember correctly, this kind of snake...is extremely poisonous.

"The essence of the magic shield is a highly concentrated magic power. It is easier to attract powerful monsters when the magic shield is turned on all the time in the jungle where the monsters inhabit. It is not only for saving magic power that it is not necessary to use magic. , or Miss Tina..."

The girl who lowered her head in frustration when she heard Alice's words lifted her chin up by the doll's calf.

Her face was half-forcibly turned away, and in front of her eyes was Alice's small face holding a wine bowl and smiling lightly, her lips covered in red lipstick danced frivolously, and she pinched the tip of the girl's nose with one hand.

"Do you not believe that Alice can protect Tina?"

"No, no..."

The blond girl stuttered.

The enchanting temperament that was revealed at that moment, which was completely different from that immature body and face, caused her to stop thinking for a while.

"Well, it doesn't matter, Alice will prove it. Although it is Lily's doll, Alice is not weaker than Lily at all."

She raised her chin proudly, and the doll girl let go of the bewildered Ting Na with a light smile.

"Now, let's hurry up and go."

"...Let's go."

Saying this sentence for the second time, the witch who closed the book took the lead to walk deep into the dense forest.

Tina quickly followed.

However, in the girl's mind, the doll's frivolous smile gradually turned into the black tea-flavored kiss, and the petite back in front of her, the beautiful body under the short dress.

"..."

Like a broken picture stone, it keeps flashing.

"...I, haven't I, become strange..."

Can't help but whisper to himself like this.

No matter who it was, there was no answer to the girl's unconscious self-question.

After walking to the depths of the woods for about twenty minutes, the trees beside me became taller and more lush, the water under my feet became deeper and deeper, and the color of the mud under the water was confirmed by Tingna after looking back repeatedly. The color is getting closer to dark red.

"...This shows that we are approaching the water source of the mangrove forest, and there is still a lot of distance from the water source of the underground water vein in Yansha City."

"But... well... it's really strange. Lily, when Alice and Lily came here for the first investigation, was this mangrove forest so quiet?"

On the way, Liliana stopped and re-used [Water Surface Walking] twice. All the way here, except for the vine leaf snake that pounced on Liliana and was chopped off by a wind blade, not even a single monster was seen.

It seemed that this made the drunk puppet very dissatisfied, she shook her little wooden shoes and complained loudly.

"In this way, Alice has no way to prove to Miss Tina that Alice is knowledgeable and reliable!"

"Hahaha……"

Tina added a prayer in her mind.

"...Indeed, it was too quiet, but the investigation on this."

While talking, he and Tingna had already added the [Water Surface Walking] magic for the third time.

"... Wait until the rescue is over."

After speaking, the little witch continued to walk forward.

Looking at her stretched toes that were somewhat comfortable stepping on the water, Tingna suddenly thought of a question.

"That, Miss Liliana."

There is a slight sense of disobedience since entering the mangrove forest.

"……What?"

"Why didn't Ms. Liliana cast [Water Walking] on our shoes in the first place? I remember that everyone usually does this, and they seldom enchant this magic on their feet."

"..."

The witch walked forward in silence.

He seemed to be thinking about how to answer the girl's question.

But Tina felt that she hadn't overlooked it.

It is because the usual Liliana is too calm, it can also be said to be monotonous, her expressions, movements, and the way she expresses her emotions...

Therefore, once there is a behavior different from these, it is still easy to detect.

For example, when stepping on the water, the white jade-like toes suddenly curled up.

"..."

"...Miss Liliana?"

"..."

Ah, the originally stretched toes are curled up again.

"Huhuhu... It's because of the material suitable for enchanting."

Tina stared at Liliana's moving feet solemnly. The little witch walked in front of her silently. The wind swept over the tops of the mangrove trees. Among the rustling leaves, Alice smiled as if she felt amused. with.

"Material of enchantment?"

"Miss Tingna already knows that enchantment is to change the nature of one material into another through alchemy. In contrast, enchantment is just to attach a magical effect to something. To describe it, It’s like the feeling that the bumpy surface is not easy to stick the paper on evenly, the material of the enchanted item is very important.”

"But even the instructions for the [Water Walking] scroll sold in the alchemy store say that it is suitable for any foot armor..."

Ting Na looked at the little puppet on her shoulder, her smile was very, very happy, so happy that Ting Na had to be suspicious.

"Most metals are very suitable for enchanting, especially silver. Relatively, gold is not so suitable. Steel is very common, neither good nor bad. The so-called armor, most of them have steel components? Even the ranger's boots, The style without steel on the sole was gradually eliminated 210 years ago, so it is suitable for most armors."

The wine bowl in Alice's hand disappeared, replaced by a long pipe, and the little doll took two puffs, exhaling the fragrance of roses.

"However, Miss Tingna's high-heeled shoes and Lily's small leather boots are all made of leather, and the raw material of the leather products is the leather of monsters. There is no special treatment for the leather, and they basically continue their characteristics that are still on monsters, that is, foreign magic power. Relatively speaking, human skin with no natural magic resistance is more suitable for enchanting, and in order to prolong the enchanting time as much as possible, it was not applied to the shoes. That's it."

"……that is it?"

It made sense, at least with Tina's superficial basic knowledge of magic, she couldn't detect any loopholes.

But the girl's intuition vaguely told her that maybe... no.

It must be more than that.

"of course not."

Alice shrugged, and quietly approached the girl's ear, simply confirming the girl's intuition.

"But for the next part... Ms. Tingna has to prove it to Lily herself."

"Hmm..."

Although... I don't think Liliana will tell her what she looks like.

After this conversation ended, the rest of the journey became a little boring.

Tingna, who couldn't find a topic to talk about, just stared at the swaying white skirt of the girl walking in front of her.

Alice was smoking the pipe, exhaling sometimes fragrant, sometimes elegant floral fragrance, and swinging her feet leisurely.

There are no monsters, no danger, as if this is not the mangrove forest in the north of the city full of dangers, and I am not taking risks. It's even more like rescuing adventurers who may be in danger.

If I am tired from walking, I can rest anytime and anywhere. No one is a scout, and no one is constantly vigilant about the surroundings. It is not like an adventure at all, but just three people having a picnic together. The overly peaceful atmosphere makes Tingna's thoughts fly to The other side that I don't even know.

until a dead body appeared.

Leaning against the mangrove tree wearing tattered leather armor, when the corpse without left hand and right leg was suddenly seen, Tingna couldn't help screaming—before that.

"...Calm down, Miss Tina."

Liliana stretched out her hand towards her, and accurately covered her body with the sound-blocking enchantment.

"Miss Tingna, it will be very troublesome to yell at the water source here, so please calm down, the corpse is very decayed, it can't be any one of those four people, this , has been dead for many years."

"Uh...uh...why can Miss Liliana and Miss Alice be so calm..."

Shouting in the jungle full of monsters—covering her mouth in a hurry, Tina, who realized that she had done something stupid, looked around nervously.

However, her voice was restrained in this small area by the sound-proof barrier. The light red waters at the foot of the mountain did not behave as the girl expected. A large group of monsters jumped out from all directions because of her voice.

It's better to say that she didn't encounter any monsters along the way, which made Tingna wonder if it was her luck.

"It's enough to be calm after seeing a lot. Let's go, the water source is close in front of us... Then Miss Tingna, please be mentally prepared?"

"...I, I will work hard..."

Ting Na pursed her lips and nodded heavily.

She understood the implication of the little puppet very well.

The rescued died before the savior arrived... This kind of drama happens from time to time in the Adventurer's Association, even in this small town.

And it is often accompanied by disputes between commissioners and adventurers.

"Very well, this forest is really too quiet... I don't know what the water source is like..."

Touching the girl's soft blond hair, the little puppet met the witch standing silently in front of the corpse in the blind spot of Tina's sight.

There is no reason why Liliana can't detect the abnormality that she can detect without words and communication.

And the petite witch, just as Alice thought, nodded, a silver pocket watch appeared in her hand, and disappeared in an instant.

Then, she walked to the junction of the mangrove forest and the mountain, spread out the book she had been holding in her hand, and put a candy and a few light blue flower petals on it.

The iridescent magic light was lit up, and a circle of magic was drawn on the water surface with Liliana at the center.

"Miss Liliana, what are you doing..."

Liliana's actions diverted the girl's attention.

"That's calling the water spirits so that they can ask them about what happened recently. This is a common method of criminal investigation on the mainland. It is always a sure thing to catch criminals who don't have this awareness."

"But... There should be no magic that needs sugar and flower petals as materials for casting..."

Even Tingna knows that there are three elements in casting spells: [Original Code] or [Interpretation] of magic, magic power, and spell-casting materials.

Liliana's big book seems to save her from [interpretation] of chanting magic, but what are sugar and flower petals?

Are elves made of this kind of thing?

"It's not wrong that most of the casting materials will become part of the magic... But here, it's just a small gift."

"Gift?"

"Miss Tina will know soon. Look, the water spirit is coming."

The surface of the water under Miss Witch's feet suddenly formed a circle of ripples. In the center of the ripples, the water surface bulges. Before Tina can see what it is, the bulge disappears.

When the girl looked at Liliana again, on the big book, a small, transparent villain was holding the crystal clear fruit candy and the light blue petals, seeming very happy on the page. Go round and round.

——Is that the spirit of water?

"——"

"——!—!———!"

In words Tina couldn't understand, Liliana and the water elf talked a lot, and the little water elf also answered a lot in the same language.

For the first time, the girl saw seriousness on that expression that seemed to never change at any time.

"...that. Ms. Liliana...?"

The barrier of sound insulation was released, and he touched the little head of the water elf with his fingers, watching her jump back into the water with a gift and disappearing the witch, silent for a moment.

"...The water elf said that she saw four people walking up this mountain road yesterday, and they didn't return."

"Really?!"

"In other words, they should still be near the water source, right?"

"...That's right, and then...she said that the water in the direction of the water source is running wild."

Liliana spread out the book.

One after another magic circles flickered beside her, forming magic that Tina didn't know.

Those pitch-black pupils gradually turned silvery white.

After a few minutes, Liliana closed the book, looked at Tingna with her eyes that had completely turned silver, and stretched out her hand to pull the girl to her side.

"Eh? Eh? Wait, wait a minute, what's going on, what does it mean that the water is running wild?"

The confused girl was pulled to Liliana's side, and Alice fell from the girl's body to the witch's shoulder.

"……immediately."

"Miss Tina will know."

Liliana and Alice did not answer.

But right away, as they said, Tina knew what they said about "the water running wild."

Leaving the mangrove forest, climb a short distance to the mountainside of [Visuka] along the not-so-steep mountain road, and then go down at the fork, and soon you will come to a valley.

This is one of the outlets of the Vesuka underground water vein, and it is also the source of the largest tributary of the White Salt River in Yansha City.

Common name, source of water.

In the conversations of the adventurers, this is a valley with a ruins built in the mountains and left behind in unknown ages. There is a beautiful lake with green grass beside the lake, and occasionally there are gentle herbivores. Walking there and coming here is like crossing the hell called the mangrove forest and seeing the heaven where God is.

However, what the girl saw was not such a peaceful scene.

"Then, what is that..."

On the path leading to the valley, behind a certain rock on the way downhill, Tina cautiously poked her head out.

When she saw the entrance of the valley, the girl was stunned.

"...The water is rioting... Of course it's not the water in the water source."

"It's the water element... the lowest water element, the slime's riot."

At first glance, it seems that the water in the valley has overflowed and flooded the entrance of the valley and the nearby land, but it has not rained recently, and the lush grass behind the mountain pass can also be seen.

The most important thing is that the water will not squirm endlessly.

"Slime... is this one so big?!"

"No, these are a group of slimes, and they are slimes in an alert state. Miss Tina, you once said that slimes are very dangerous monsters, right?"

"Yes, yes, because although it looks dull and harmless to humans and animals, it is an elemental life after all, it is difficult to kill, and its speed is also very fast. When there is water nearby."

"It will also turn into a terrifying monster that even the Noble Phantasm class would feel headaches from. Miss Tingna, please hide here, please, please don't run out, otherwise..."

"No, what if...?"

Alice floated off Liliana's shoulders, and picked a stone from the ground that was bigger than her little head.

"Hey."

Throw it out.

The rock made an obvious collision sound on the rocky ground, bounced forward for almost ten meters, and then hit the side of the narrow road.

"..."

Nothing happened.

"Love, Miss Alice?"

"Wait a minute, because slimes don't have visual and auditory organs, they are relatively insensitive to physical noise, but..."

The little puppet pulled the collar of the kimono that had slipped off due to the forceful throw. Before she could finish her sentence, she was staring at the position where the stone collided with the rock wall, and was about to look away from Tingna.

--boom! ! ! ! !

It was as if hard rocks collided with something equally hard, rubbing violently—it was such a tooth-piercing sound.

However, Ting Na, who subconsciously covered her ears and opened her mouth, confirmed that what collided with the rock wall on the left side of the mountain road was not a hard rock.

Use your own eyes.

Now, it is not much time until noon, the sun falling from the valley illuminates the floating dust in the air, near the moist mangrove forest, even in the mountain valley, there is not much of these floating dust, so when that white streak When a straight thick water column washed away the glittering floating dust, and carved a groove on the rock wall that was even bigger than the rock that was hiding now.

"... Goo..."

The girl lost her words because of something she had never seen.

Even the small gravel fell in front of him, as if he didn't realize it.

"...Although they are relatively insensitive, and the so-called hearing and vision are different from humans, they are not blind or deaf."

The gray-white rock turned into a deeper color due to being wet, and the white water column lost its invincible momentum in a short time, turning into a pool of colorless water, sliding down the rock wall .

The water flowing down carries the fine stones and flows silently along the downward slope, which are just chiseled from the rock wall, smaller fragments, when these fragments encounter larger stones, they stop Movement, water flow is also powerless to push those fist-sized stones, just like people's general impression of water.

"...Li, Miss Liliana, Alice...that, what is it..."

"The ultra-high-pressure water cannon is about one meter in diameter and appears white because of the large number of air bubbles."

The witch picked up the stone that fell in front of her, and looked at it with Tingna. There was a groove that was more than ten centimeters deep.

"Slimes in the normal state are very in line with the public's first impression. They are dull and weak. Even a child can smash them to pieces with a wooden stick. But... the slime in the alert state is different. "

Looking at the groove, and then at the rock where the three of them were hiding now, Alice took a puff from her pipe.

"For example, it is from the useless whiteboard of one fee in the magic card to the beheaded main force of seven or eight fees. This is really not a joke. In the alert state, they can move at super high speed and will actively group together , will consume its own volume to emit this kind of high-pressure water cannon that can penetrate ordinary city walls with just one blow, and can even kill people with treasures. Even Alice and Lily find it tricky now. Look, they It has become as big as before, and it seems that there are a lot of slimes in the grass."

After launching a blow that was enough to penetrate the walls of Salt Sand City, the size of the slime swarm became much smaller, but soon, the puddle that overwhelmed the tall grass squirmed and returned to a similar size as before .

"In that case, aren't Miss Liliana and Miss Alice very dangerous? And, if it's so scary, those adventurers will..."

The magic card is one of the most popular board games in the mainland, and holding a treasure is also a proof of the strongest on the continent, and the fighting power of Alice and Liliana is the [strongest] known to Tingna.

No matter which metaphor is easy to understand, to the point that she truly understands that the girl in front of her face loses all blood when she realizes that in various adventure stories and novels, the monsters that are easily killed by fledgling masters are more dangerous than imagined. .

"There are countless great adventurers in the world who drowned in slimes at their first step. This sentence is not a joke. Miss Tina, now I know why this commission requires Miss Tina to pay for the next year. Did you live? That is not the value of the lives of those four people."

——It is the risk of this entrustment.

"..."

"Don't show that expression, Miss Tina, everything you think is written on your face."

"...Because of lack of intelligence and insensitivity to danger, the transition between the general state and the alert state of slimes is very slow. It is very likely that these slimes became like this after the adventurers went deep into the water source. And even in the state of vigilance, slimes don't have the wisdom to take the initiative to patrol, if their luck is not so bad, it's only been a day now..."

"Is it still possible to live?"

Nod, nod.

After speaking, Liliana took Tina's hand again, and returned to the junction of the mangrove forest and the mountain.

Here, the mountains are thick enough to withstand a slime's powerful water cannon, and it doesn't get too close to the mangroves. After arriving here, Liliana had that thick book and a silver pocket watch in her hands again. The witch opened the book and placed a block of glass on one of the pages. The feathers of a bird Tina didn't recognize, the shriveled eyeballs of some monster, and a few light blue vines, released a rainbow in the flashing rainbow light. colored bird.

【The Witch Eye of Liliana】

Tina heard the name of the magic.

The little bird quickly became transparent and flew from Liliana's hand to the water source. After a while, the witch opened the other pages and put spell-casting materials on it, and [Liliana's Witch's Eye] It's different, these all seem to require chanting, and after the chanting is over, the magic doesn't appear immediately.

"Miss Tingna, since Alice is right in front of you, don't stare at Lily. Although wearing this suit, Alice can't use magic, but isn't Alice cute today?"

What kind of logic is this...

Tina even waved her hand.

"Eh? No, no, no, it's not cute, Miss Alice has always been very cute..."

"So, please make a pact with the lovely Alice for three chapters, can you?"

"Yeah!"

The small teeth of the puppet bit the girl's ear, and the strange touch made Tingna scream, looking pitifully at Alice with a flesh-eating monster-like expression on her face.

I feel, I feel that today's Alice is more dangerous than the previous devil maid Alice, what is this suit!

"Elemental life forms are quite sensitive to magic power, so we need to keep a little distance to prepare. Then, this place is relatively safe, suitable for Miss Tingna to hide, and... Uh huh, there are so many, it's a bit troublesome... Although Ellie Si and Lily will use long-range magic to deal with the large pool at the entrance first, but there are still many things inside, so remember, Miss Tina."

When Alice was talking, she seemed to see something, thought for a while, and then grabbed Tina's left hand and raised her fingers one by one.

"First, Lily will leave a protective barrier here, no matter what Miss Tina you hear or see, even if there is an unfortunate monster approaching you - please don't leave here anyway. "

The so-called barrier for protection is a concentric circle that Liliana drew on the ground in less than 20 seconds where Tina was sitting, with characters Tina couldn't understand.

This seems to be able to protect herself from harm... But Tina didn't know if it was really useful.

But I can only trust Liliana.

"above!"

"... Isn't it three chapters?"

"In the Dongguo term, three is just an imaginary number, at least Alice thinks it is."

Nodding seriously, the little puppet let go of Ting Na's hand.

It's like a tacit understanding.

Liliana, who was standing not far away, closed the book, and Alice floated onto Liliana's right shoulder.

There are no "let's go" "let's go" words. Ting Na suddenly realized that maybe these two people really didn't use these words, maybe the communication along the way was all for her own sake.

"……So."

"Alice and Lily, let's go."

"……Wait a moment!"

After realizing this, a pang of sadness welled up in my heart for no reason.

And the feeling of going home on that night that turned the whole city into a mess.

"...?"

"What's wrong?"

"...I... really don't want to just wait here powerlessly, at least... I want to see Liliana and Alice fighting, at least it's better than waiting here without knowing anything Peace of mind!"

——Most [Mage's Eye] and similar magics can share the field of vision to multiple people. As a detection magic, this is the most cost-effective one.

The magic theory class that I used to always fall asleep in, and some of the knowledge memorized when I frantically crammed ducks on the eve of the exam, came to my mind at this time.

"Well, Miss Liliana, your [Liliana Witch's Eye] can also share vision, I won't say something like taking me with you... because I know I'm just a burden, but, Please at least let me see it, so I can feel at ease!"

Stand up and repeat.

The blond-haired girl frantically repeated her claim.

On the other hand, he was worried whether such hope would cause displeasure to the witch and the doll, and looked at them nervously.

I'm afraid they will use that same tone of voice.

——Even if you see it, what can you do?

Say something like this.

Tingna understands that she is a burden very well. On the way here, Liliana lowered her flight speed because she couldn't stand it. She stopped and stopped because she needed to rest after walking for a while. For the first time in her life, she In the adventure, the role I play is like a princess in a fairy tale who is waiting for the prince to save him, and he can't do anything.

Girls don't like this.

It was because she hated this kind of princess-like powerlessness that she once cut off her long hair and tried her best to make herself capable.

but.

She is a liability, that is, an irrefutable fact.

So, at least—

"..."

The witch tilted her head slightly, as if she was thinking about the rationality of her request, and then.

"……Can."

Nodding her head, she walked in front of Tingna.

Leaning on the girl's body, she stood on tiptoe, raised her small head, and slightly parted her normally closed, plain cherry blossom-like lips.

"...Eh? Ehhhh?"

Before Tina was relieved and happy because the witch agreed to her request, she was fooled by the girl's action.

"That...Miss Liliana...this is..."

This, this posture, no matter how you look at it, it looks like a cute girl, the little bird is asking for a kiss!

Tina looked at Liliana in bewilderment, and then at Alice who was floating behind Miss Witch.

The little doll is smiling happily.

"...Miss Tina said that she wants to share the vision of [Liliana Witch's Eye]."

After waiting for a while, Tina didn't respond, and the pair of silver-white eyes blinked.

"...However, Miss Tingna can't use magic power and magic, and can't maintain the technique of sharing vision. Therefore, you need to get magic power from me. The fastest and safest way is to exchange bodily fluids."

The silvery white pupils are as pure and flawless as that color.

"Body fluid exchange..."

The girl repeated it dryly.

This is knowledge that even oneself knows.

This is not asking for a kiss.

This is an easy way to give magic.

However, in terms of behavior.

——This is still, kissing.

"..."

Tina was silent.

Kissing, mouth-to-mouth kissing, is called kissing, that is, for women—no, for everyone, it should be a cautious behavior.

Want to kiss?

Kiss a girl?

Kiss a (look) many years younger than yourself, such a cute girl? In order to exchange saliva and absorb magic power?

"...Wow wow..."

Just thinking about that scene, Tina felt her face was burned.

"...Miss Tina, please hurry up."

However, Wugou Witch is urging again.

Even though she knew it didn't mean that, but in such an atmosphere, Liliana's words looked like cute coquetry and urging no matter how she looked at them.

"... Mmm..."

At the end of the distress, it is almost like giving up on oneself.

The girl grabbed Liliana's shoulders.

"—I'm sorry, Ms. Liliana, please act as if you didn't hear what I said before, I'm really sorry...Leave me, a big idiot...to calm down alone..."

Gently, hard.

pushed away.

"...Don't you need it?"

"No, I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have made such a request..."

As if her whole body had lost strength, the girl sat back on the stone, covered her burning face, and moaned.

--Oops.

—Oops oops oops oops!

Faceless, she met Miss Liliana's eyes.

"...Understood, then, let's go."

"Well, be careful all the way..."

When I raised my head again.

The petite figure and the giggling puppet were all gone.

"..."

All around, all of a sudden, there was only the sound of my heart beating.

"Woo, what am I thinking, what am I thinking, what am I thinking, what am I thinking!!!"

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

The girl patted her cheek angrily.

For a moment, I was shaken.

Completely shaken.

Even when he was grabbing Liliana's shoulder, what flashed through his mind was the imminent touch on his lips.

"Ugh...it hurts..."

The attack was a bit harsh, and in the concentric circles of rainbow light, the girl leaned her back against the mountain wall, covering her flushed cheeks with tears in her eyes.

"But... I almost kissed... I almost did that to Miss Liliana..."

Heart beating endlessly.

Accompanied by it is an unspeakable sense of guilt.

If he really kissed him, he would have to apologize with death. It was this level of guilt.

It's the same as when I was treated like that by the devil maid Alice before, even more intense, why is it...

Although until now, my age will start with 2 in two years, even though I have never been in love in such a long period of life, but.

"……No way."

Tina suddenly thought of a question that she had never considered before.

"...No, no, I, I should be a very ordinary woman, although Liliana and Alice are very, very cute, but I should—— woo!"

A loud noise suddenly exploded in the sky.

Immediately afterwards, the rocky ground shook violently.

"Bite, bite your tongue, what's going on...something..."

The sudden change made Tingna finally ignore her small thoughts, and fell off the stone. When she raised her head, the words she spoke were lost due to the change of the scene in front of her.

The sky darkened.

At some point or other, dark clouds came from nowhere, covering the cloudless clear sky.

Like a curtain of iron and lead color.

"...This is...Miss Liliana did it..."

There doesn't seem to be much more explanation than that.

Suddenly, thunder exploded.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Immediately after the earth shook and the mountains shook, the solid rock walls trembled because of the divine hammer of punishment that fell from the sky.

Not only once, the interval between the roaring was so short that it became one piece, the air was filled with the smell of burning and thunderstorms, and the rumbling thunder stimulated the girl's nostrils on the shaking ground.

In the corner of the field of vision, you can see a glimpse of the silver-white lightning. The silver gun that pierces the sky and the earth is the only existence at this moment. With lightning, a storm of destruction rolls up on the other side of the cliff!

As if never ending, as if going on forever!

——How terrifying is Liliana's strength?

Ting Na covered her ears and opened her mouth wide, desperately recalling her superficial magic knowledge.

If I remember correctly, magic can be roughly divided into ordinary magic, great magic, extremely large magic and forbidden spell according to its power and consumption. It also includes [Magics with an area of more than 1,000 square meters are all considered as huge magic or forbidden spells at the city level], [Great magic cannot be used by one person] and so on.

And this magic, at least covered the entire water source and a large area of mangrove forest, which is definitely more than 1,000 square meters! This is a great magic, and the caster... Alice said that she can't use magic in that kimono, so.

Only one person!

Liliana used a terrifyingly great magic all by herself! Great magic enough to change the terrain!

"!!!"

The bridge that was blown in the city and has not yet been repaired suddenly popped up in my mind.

It was Liliana who defeated and captured the heretics of the Melted Bridge.

Thinking about every time, Liliana's big book can be taken out from nowhere, and put away without knowing where.

Although it is true that Liliana has space to store rings on the fingers of both hands, but.

The proof of the strongest class in the mainland, the [Noble Phantasm] created by the [World] has two basic characteristics.

One is that it is difficult to damage.

The second is... the call and recall of freedom!

How long did the storm of thunder and lightning last?

The rumbling thunder and the uninterrupted earthquake made the passage of time thin.

For a long time after the ground stopped trembling under her feet, the roar of thunder still echoed in Tina's ears.

"finished……"

When the hearing returned to normal and the dark clouds dissipated, the Saigon Sun had climbed to the center of the sky and sprinkled the extraordinarily warm midday sun on the mottled water surface of the mangrove forest.

"It looks like no one else has been victimized...well."

"...Although there are a lot more slimes than expected...but I have a good control."

Liliana and Alice also came back to Tina.

It was still the same as before, the little puppet didn't even lose its hair, and on the witch's body, there was only a tattered dress to prove that it was still not easy to wash the floor with great magic.

"The clothes are torn again, there is such a big hole in the stomach... are you okay? Miss Liliana."

"...I was just scratched by stray bullets a few times, and hit by a single shot...It's okay, I am an immortal witch, but the clothes are a bit pity..."

"..."

What a pity...?

Tingna looked at it speechlessly, the piece of fabric that could barely perform the function of clothing.

When encountering such a thing, is it usually the clothes that are a pity?

"Those four adventurers..."

"Because I was busy cleaning up the slimes, I didn't look for them. Generally, even if it is a water source, there will not be so many slimes. In that ruins, Alice did feel the breath of four lives. It seems Their lives are not bad, but when they greeted, Alice and Lily were busy strengthening the seal, so they didn't answer."

"--Really?!"

—their life is not bad.

Because of this sentence, Ting Na's face revealed a look of surprise.

She was ready to give up after seeing those scary slimes.

"Really, so, let's go now? Miss Tina."

"Of course!"

Unable to wait, Tina jumped up and ran in the direction Liliana and Alice came from.

After running a few steps, the girl turned around anxiously.

"That...there is no slime anymore..."

The shock of a group of slimes cutting off almost ten centimeters of the rock wall was not weakened by the terrifying thunderstorm.

While drinking leisurely while holding a wine bowl, Alice burst into laughter.

Even Liliana seemed to have a smile on her face. The girl walked up to the embarrassed girl and took her hand.

"...Let's go."

………………………………………………………………………………………

After the baptism of that unimaginable thunder and lightning storm, the grassland next to the water source turned into a veritable scorched earth.

Liliana and Alice said that there are more than a hundred slime clusters scattered in various locations, and all of them are on alert. When they realized that it was impossible to solve them one by one secretly by means of pre-estimation, they Decisively used great magic to annihilate them all.

Even the lake water near the shore became turbid due to the fly ash of vegetation.

"...Although I feel a little sorry for the environmental damage caused..."

"But the ashes of vegetation will also become nutrients for new life. As long as there is one or two rains, this place will return to its original appearance."

The air was still filled with the pungent and anxious smell after the thunderstorm, and the flames in some places near the lake shore were still not extinguished. Tinna, who was holding hands with Liliana and walking towards the ancient mine ruins by the lake, was overwhelmed by the scenery. Shocked.

"Miss Liliana, that's amazing..."

With the girl's meager vocabulary, she could only sigh with such words.

"... I think those guys who put more than a hundred slimes into a state of alert are even more powerful. This is definitely not a normal situation..."

"Because it's really abnormal, I hope you can tell the whole story, miss adventurer who died?"

Alice suddenly raised her voice, and Tingna, who was looking around, turned her head and looked over, following the line of sight of the puppet, at the ruined sword that had been built for an unknown number of years and was exposed to the wind and sun.

I saw a gray face.

"Are you... are you here to save us?!"

Noticing that the eyes of the three people were gathering here, that person came out from behind a stone pillar in the ruins.

With maroon curly hair and a green mage robe whose hem was torn, Tina recognized the girl.

"Miss Lydiara..."

She wanted to shout hello, tell her they were safe, but she couldn't raise the volume.

"Alice and Lily are just here to deal with the affairs of the Wizards Association. Are you the ones who died?"

The puppet patted her on the shoulder and answered.

--Eh?

Tina froze.

——This is different from what you said!

Didn't he come to save people? Why, it suddenly became the business of the Wizards Association? !

"The business of the Wizards Association...is it..."

After Lydiala heard the answer, even though she was a little far away here, Tingna saw that she breathed a sigh of relief and crossed herself on her chest.

Probably muttering, God bless or something like that.

"One of our companions is injured, I'm sorry, can you help? Although we may not be able to pay much... Ah, we will come down immediately!"

After finishing that action, the chestnut-haired girl seemed to be going back, maybe to the temporary camp.

at this time.

"...No, we'll go up, and then, I hope you haven't messed with anything you shouldn't."

After finishing these words indifferently, Liliana opened the book.

A rainbow-light staircase extended from the witch's feet to the third floor of the ruins. When Tinna was held by Liliana and walked up this staircase to the girl, Leidy, who was holding an academy staff, Yara, her puffy eyes stared like two eggs.

"You, are you, the Rainbow Daughter?"

From her mouth, a word Tina had never heard of came out.

"...It's just that the color of the magic light is the same. I am a scholar, not a child of the curse."

Then Liliana spoke a noun that Tina also knew.

[Son of the Curse]——Humans who have the characteristics of the phantasy species [bisexuality] because of the phantom species in the blood that does not belong to humans, or the awakening of the blood of the demons, because they have two reproductive organs and cannot reproduce, and have far more than The magical power and magical talent of ordinary people, this kind of people are called "cursed children".

...After all, judging from the concept of human beings when they were just civilized, being unable to have offspring is undoubtedly cursed.

Then, the characteristic of this kind of people is the rainbow-colored magic light... Let's put it this way...

Tina recalled a moment.

"Miss Liliana, you are not a cursed child."

After all, Liliana lived in front of her without clothes all day for more than a month, and she didn't see any organs on Liliana that normal girls shouldn't have.

"Yes, is that so, I'm sorry..."

"Where are your companions?"

Listening to Lydiara's awkward apology, Tingna sighed helplessly.

Her voice was a bit puzzled, but it was probably because she heard the voices of three people just now, but there were only two people in front of her. She stared at herself and Liliana before turning around. .

"Yes, yes, I will take the two of you right away! Then, that, let me ask again, have the two ladies brought any medicines? Because of the serious injuries of our companions, we have used up the medicines we prepared, and now he is still distributing them. high fever……"

It looked like the girl didn't recognize herself.

...Forget it, that's fine too.

"...is the wound infected?"

Lydiala led the way, and the girl walked very anxiously. She led Liliana and Tingna through the still relatively intact arch built of grayish-yellow stone bricks, and went around a few bends.

"None of us has a degree in medical science. Although we tried our best to disinfect him with medicine, the wound was too big, and the environment in the ruins is also quite bad. Maybe... it's an infection."

Also answering questions.

"...Is it festering?"

"No, at least it doesn't appear to be."

Soon, lights appeared in the dim ruins.

It is said that this relic was not only a management facility of the mine in the past, but also an exchange. The building embedded in the rock wall was three stories high and was well preserved.

In a room on the third floor, Tina saw the remaining three people.

Mark, who was on guard because of the stranger's appearance.

He hurriedly introduced Lydiala, two members of the [Magicians Association], to his companions.

Holding a staff and curled up in a corner, Muthra questioned their identities and asked Liliana to show proof.

besides……

"ah……"

At the end of the room, on the simple mattress made of four sleeping bags, Maude was in a coma, panting in pain.

Seeing this scene, Tingna felt as if a large piece of heavy haze in her heart had dissipated.

She made the sign of the cross across her chest.

All four survived.

Thank goodness.

However, when she saw Maude lying on the bed, Tina couldn't laugh.

One of the teenager's legs was bandaged, and everything below the knee was gone.

He was in a coma, uttering chaotic ravings.

"...was it cut by the slime's water knife?"

Putting away the seven-wing badge of Magnus, which symbolizes the seven magic systems, Liliana stood beside the boy calmly.

Alice was held in her arms, and when there were outsiders, she pretended to be an ordinary doll, and also covered the big hole in the clothes on her stomach.

...Perhaps it was because of this that Muthra asked them to show their identification.

"...to save me."

The red-haired girl stood up from the corner and nodded.

"...Where's the severed leg?"

"I can't find it, even if it wasn't decomposed by slime as food... now it's just a piece of coke."

Lydiara sighed heavily.

"Ah, no, I'm not blaming Ms. Liliana and Ms. Assistant..."

She quickly explained again, flustered.

"...I can't die in a day or two. Now, tell me, how did you provoke so many slimes."

But Liliana didn't care at all.

She took out a bottle of light green potion from the space storage ring, and handed it to Lydiala.

The girl was stunned when she saw the label on the medicine bottle.

Immediately afterwards, she understood the meaning of this self-proclaimed scholar who looked like a girl who was at most eleven or twelve years old.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'll just say it... But, we don't actually know why..."

Holding the bottle of expensive potion that was enough to buy all the belongings of the four families, Lydiala handed it to Muthra. Seeing the red-haired girl weeping with joy, she fed the potion to Mo De bit by bit. Started to tell.

But like she said.

They were also at a loss for so many slimes appearing here—and they were [mutated] slimes.

Yesterday, they spent a whole morning riding a carriage from Yansha City to the village closest to the mangrove forest. After exhausting their efforts to reach the water source, it was only half an hour before dusk.

It took less than half an hour to eliminate the slimes. These water balls soaked in the water without anything to do was not alert and extremely slow. The four magic apprentices used magic blades to easily sweep away a large number of slimes And Kong, after confirming that the collapsed water polo did not gather again, Mark also joked that chopping firewood was more tiring than doing it.

Afterwards, they camped on the grass not far from the lake, rested for a while, and prepared to leave.

Those slimes seem to have appeared at that time.

"After resting for a while, we went to the lake to replenish our drinking water. We found a group of slimes by the lake. We didn't think much about it. We thought it was just the slimes hiding in the water that crawled to the shore. So, Muthra said that we should clean up along the lakeside this time and leave, picked up the staff and walked over..."

Having said that, Lydiara looked at his friend.

The red-haired girl had already given Mo De a bottle of medicine to drink, and the effect was remarkable. The boy's complexion looked much better. Muthra, who was kneeling beside him, stroked the boy's blond hair, and took up the topic in a low voice.

"But those slimes are different. I just attached the magic blade to the staff. Before I took a few steps, they wriggled violently. Then, a terrible water knife brushed past me, killing us The fire was split in half, we were all stunned, but the slimes didn't stop, they fired water knives at me again, if it wasn't for Mo De pushing me away, I would have already..."

"...about how big are those slimes?"

Liliana continued to ask.

"In the beginning, the beach was not big, only about three to five square meters, but, like a continuous crossbow, it kept spraying terrifying water knives. We desperately brought Mo De into the ruins, At that time, there were already four or five pieces of slimes of that size, and then, until this morning...Damn it, how could we encounter such a dangerous mutant!"

Mark slammed his fist against the wall.

In their first activities as adventurers, they only hoped to earn some school credits, but they did not expect this to happen.

Look outside, it's a powerful magician - although it doesn't look like it - using great magic to wipe out all the slimes! Even so, her whole body is in tatters. How could such a consignment association be rated as C?

——There must be a limit to joking!

"If Miss Liliana and Miss Assistant hadn't appeared, we might have been trapped here to death. To be honest, the supplies have already run out... That...Miss Liliana...will help us leave."

As Lydiala spoke, she looked at the girl who had been expressionless all the time with some anxiety.

She is much younger than them all.

Of course, it might just be the appearance, but in any case, in fact, she has no obligation to reach out to rescue.

Give them potions, they trade information, now, the information is over, next...

What else could they give the magician with what looked like an insanely expensive doll?

"Of course!"

Ting Na immediately answered loudly.

"Because Ms. Liliana...isn't someone who would never save her...isn't it..."

Then, under the suspicious eyes of the three and Liliana who was about to say something, he grabbed Miss Witch's shoulders and shrank behind the girl guiltily.

The atmosphere in the house was a bit awkward and tense, in the ancient stone room with only four walls illuminated by the dim [Light Art] that was only used by Lydiala and the others.

"...Finally, I will ask again."

Only Liliana was unmoved by it.

"...you guys, you didn't touch anything you shouldn't touch, right?"

Words without any emotion mixed in, cold as a blade.

Those eyes, which had cooled down to pitch black at some point, seemed to blend with the darkness of the house, making it hard to breathe.

"No, no! We didn't damage any part of the ruins, and we didn't dare to explore the depths of the ruins...Although we did go down a little bit for drinking water, it's really only a little bit!"

"No! That's right! We just transported Mo De here, and then did nothing!"

Those hair-raising words seemed to turn into cold murderous intent if they made mistakes or lied.

Lydiala and Mark shook their heads desperately, explaining hurriedly.

"..."

The witch swept their eyes one by one with her deep eyes, and after a long time.

"...That's the best."

Using four words made them limp like puppets with disconnected strings.

"Li, Miss Liliana, let's take them away quickly, this person is seriously injured."

"...Well, the seal has been strengthened, so maybe it can last for a while..."

"Miss Liliana?"

"……nothing."

The witch muttered something softly, then put away the book in her hand, and wiped it from the space storage ring.

An old metal spiral emitting red light appeared in her hand.

"...Stand here, let's come together."

After finishing speaking, she squatted down and thrust the palm-sized spiral into the gap between the ancient stone bricks.

On the spiral, a ring of flame spread out, followed by.

"……Eh?"

The scenery in front of him suddenly changed into a familiar garden.

Not far in front of you is the gate of this small castle. The angel hanging upside down is still falling endlessly in the crimson sky.

The pattern of this path is a bit different from what I saw this morning, but the green grass on both sides of the path is indeed a color I am already familiar with.

"We're back……?"

In the middle of the path, Liliana was pulling out a spiral dagger from a pile of burning flames. With a flash of iridescent magic light, the dagger turned back into a crimson spiral.

Lydiala, Mark and Muthra stood beside Tina and Liliana, looking around in a daze. Maude was still lying on the ground, and seemed to be moaning uncomfortably because of the change in the touch on his back.

Perhaps, except for the boy who was still in a coma and Liliana who caused this incident, no one could react from what happened in an instant.

"This is... the haunted one outside Yansha City..."

Tingna heard Lydiara talking blankly, then covered her mouth again, and swallowed the last two words.

"...The rest of the way, you can go on your own."

But obviously, Liliana, who had already carried Alice to the door with the relief of an upside-down angel, had no intention of leaving them to have a cup of tea.

Leaving this sentence indifferently, she pushed open the door and disappeared from the sight of Tingna and them.

"Ah, yes, thank you very much..."

Even Lydiara's thanks couldn't catch up with that petite figure.

"...Then, let's go too, we need to send Mo De to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Ah, you're right. Although there is still a little distance to Yansha City, they have all been sent here. We, too, have no ground to complain."

After a moment of silence, Mark carried his unconscious friend on his back.

"Then, Ms. Assistant, thank you very much for your help. Let's take our leave. Next time we have a chance, we should thank you and Ms. Liliana."

Lydiala and Muthra bowed to Tina with relaxed expressions.

"Eh? Uh, um, even though I didn't do anything..."

"No, if it wasn't for Miss Assistant, Miss Liliana would have really wanted to abandon us at that time. Most powerful magicians have this tendency. They don't like to meddle in other people's business... Besides, this teleportation magic , it consumes a lot of mana, the mana fluctuations on Miss Liliana's body became very weak when she pulled out the dagger..."

"Eh?!"

"It may also be the consumption of the great magic before and running around the lake to draw some magic circles, Miss Assistant, it's time for you to help Miss Liliana, we... no problem, it's just a few kilometers away It's just a road, once we enter the city, we can still call a carriage... Really, I'm sorry to bother you."

The chestnut-haired girl finally smiled at Ting Na.

Turned around and left.

………………………………………………………………………………………

"Liliana!"

On the sofa next to the library door, Tina found the Platinum Witch.

The tattered clothes on the petite body had already disappeared, and the undressed strands crossed the legs, and the whole body fell in front of the girl on the soft sofa, floating the book that he hadn't read before.

It looked exactly the same as it did before departure in the morning.

"...Miss Tina...what's wrong...meow..."

However, as decisively different is.

The girl's dark and deep eyes were slits in the sleepy mouth, and her little head drooped, like a sleepy cat, even the mouth craving when she couldn't get out of bed in the morning.

"Oh, it's been a long time since I've been exhausted to this point. I don't even have the magic power to keep Alice moving. Hey, Lily, if you're so tired, take a rest."

Alice, who was sitting on the armrest of the sofa, seemed to be unable to move anymore. The hands of the little puppet were hanging down on both sides of her body, and she couldn't even lift her head.

One of the sequelae of a large amount of mana consumption is extreme sleepiness, just like what Lydiala said, Liliana used up a lot of mana today.

"...No...today's...work..."

Liliana barely raised her head and turned a page.

But within a few seconds, those eyes, which had been slit into a slit, were completely closed.

After a while, it was difficult to open it again.

"Miss Liliana, if you are sleepy, you should take a good rest. If you are working... I haven't done my work yet, and lunch..."

The clock in the big library showed that they had been out for more than three hours, and it was just after noon, and Tinna, who thought of the big bag of materials in the study because Liliana mentioned work, felt her stomach growling.

"Oh, oh, Alice can't cook anymore, and Lily looks like the same. I'm sorry, Miss Tina, Miss Tina already knows the location of the kitchen, it's good to be one person, Alice and Lily, you don't need food."

"...That's true, I'm sorry..."

After walking all morning, I saw scenes I had never seen before. To be honest, Ting Na was also very hungry.

Even if you want to work or something, you have to fill your stomach first.

So, after about half an hour.

"Miss Liliana... ah..."

Filling her stomach, Tina, who returned to the library with a bowl of potato stew and some bread, lowered her voice.

The big book fell to the ground, and the bent legs stretched out.

The girl on the sofa closed her eyes, and she could no longer feel the mysterious atmosphere in the usual place.

"Miss Liliana...Miss Alice?"

No one responded.

Tina put the plate on the desk beside her, and tiptoedly stepped on the soft carpet to the side of the Witch and the Puppet.

Alice's black eyes closed too.

"...Fall asleep..."

It seemed that Liliana was really exhausted.

"...Really, seeing such a cute sleeping face... Even I... Huh..." The tiredness of trekking in the field all morning and the sleepiness after a full stomach came together at this time.

"Well... Really, if you are sleepy, you should stop reading, this is..."

"Salt Sand City Myths and Stories Collection".

It collects the myths and stories circulating in this area into a book, which is such a reading material, including the sea monster, the psychic weasel on the hills, the white rats, the three-eyed grandmother who has lived for hundreds of years, and the volcano. The following big evil dragons and the like are all interesting legends.

"So Miss Liliana also likes to watch this..."

Picking up the book from the floor and putting it on the desk on the other side of the sofa, Tinna turned her head occupied by slobs.

"Hey..."

Miss Witch's body is lighter than expected, like a soft feather.

Holding Liliana in her arms, Tingna sat on the sofa and stretched out her hands to comb her luxurious hair that gradually changed from light gold to white gold.

Although his chest is not majestic, it can also be a good pillow. Thinking of this, he put the girl's little head on his chest.

"..."

At this moment, the witch's sleeping face was closer than ever before.

The witch, who had lost her usual mysterious aura, looked even younger now.

It looks even cuter and more beautiful.

Like an ordinary [girl].

Not a powerful witch.

Not the mysterious honorary adventurer.

But just an ordinary girl named Liliana.

Ordinary, cute.

Liliana.

"..."