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When we returned to the town, we were met by several men standing at the gate. It seemed that they had become worried that one of their residents had gone missing.

I asked for details afterwards, and it turned out they decided to be more alert just in case after seeing Fafnir descent in the forest. The Demonic Dragon often dropped by the hot spring, so it was ‘just in case’ to the end.

When they saw us carrying Mikey along, they broke into loud cheers and rushed off somewhere. Probably to tell Jessica about it.

But the next moment they realized he was unconscious and their expressions turned grim. As they fell into a panic, Cortina announced in a dignified voice.

“Please calm down, everyone. He simply fainted. Perhaps due to the cave gas.”
“In a cave? He entered the cave? He should’ve known how dangerous it was…!”
“There was a Carbuncle living in it. He snuck out to see it.”
“A Carbuncle you say!?”

Hearing that a protected Mythical Beast had settled nearby had them completely shocked. Next, their expressions turned complex. The Carbuncles were famous for their highly-valued Dragon Ball on the foreheads. If its existence was made known, countless Adventurers would come to poach it.

Being filled with people was of course a happy thing for the town, but it was a different story when those people were just criminals.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Fafnir already took the Carbuncle away.”

Cortina explained to the townsfolk. I let her know about it on the way back, so she knew the situation already.

“Ah, so that’s what it was earlier! S-So then, the Carbuncle is gone?”
“That’s right. It’s no longer anywhere near, please be at ease.”

Cortina understood their perplexment. For that reason, she intentionally stressed the point that the Carbuncle was already gone. Too bad for Mikey who got attached to it, but for his own safety, it was better to have him forget about it.

After all, if that hamster-like thing was around him, similar events like today would continue to occur.

“Mikey!”

At that moment, Jessica suddenly rushed at us while panting. She ran so fast she even forgot to breathe. That was just how worried she was for her child.

“I-Is Mikey safe—”
“Don’t worry. His life at least isn’t in danger. He isn’t waking up, so let’s show him to a doctor at once.”
“Y-Yes. Please, follow me.”

Under her guidance, we arrived at the town’s healer. Mikey had no injuries and his breathing was stable, too. Even his complexion was normal, so there were actually no outwards signs of gas being the cause of it. Even his leg injury was already dealt with by Cortina, so he shouldn’t have been in any grave danger.

“Oh, he’s just sleeping. If I had to say, probably due to exhaustion.”

After we hurried him to the town healer, he gave us that anticlimactic diagnosis. We had him diagnosed with a spell called Medic, which could find abnormalities in the body, but even that didn’t show anything.

Perhaps that exhaustion came from enduring his leg injury all night which drained him of all energy. After waking up and eating his fill, he would return to normal, the doctor stated confidently.

And with that, this turmoil had finally reached a stopping place.

“Lady Nicole, you have my sincere thanks for what you have done.”

Seeing that her son was safe, Jessica came to say her thanks. She finally regained her calm and could afford to take her mind off Mikey and think about other matters. Cortina waved at her and responded.

“No, this must also be the work of fate. Besides, it wasn’t a fruitless effort even for me.”
“Eh?”
“Oh, I’m just talking to myself.”

Jessica looked puzzled, not understanding Cortina’s words, but that was a natural reaction. Someone with Reid’s appearance showed up before her. Moreover, that someone had used a similar battle style to defeat his enemies.

That was proof that it was the same Reid that she knew so well. This incident should have made her more certain that I reincarnated. Moreover, I could’ve been reborn anywhere on this entire continent, but I was actually in Raum, she was certain of that now.

“Well, I don’t feel like ever using that form again, though…”

I muttered to myself, seeing Cortina’s somewhat happy yet sad expression. For better or worse, that appearance had wounded her. I decided that the next time I showed up in front of her with my previous appearance, I would make sure to first learn the Polymorph magic and gain a physical form.

Until then… I had to use some different form instead.

“Ah, there you are! Did everything go well, Nicole?”
“Lady Cortina, welcome back!”
“Lady Nicole, are you wounded anywhere?”

Following that, Michelle and others showed up boisterously inside the medical facility. Just seeing Finia’s worried and noble expression along with Michelle’s energetic one was enough to heal me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“We seem to have worried you. How about you yourselves?”
“There were no incidents on our side.”

Finia reported the situation in a businesslike manner. When Michelle heard about Fafnir, her eyes started sparkling and she leaned towards me.

“Nicole, you saw Fafnir!? How was it, was it cool?”
“Wai-, you’re too close. Uh, Fafnir is known for its high intellect, so there was no danger to my life, okay?”
“Of course. If there was, you’d be dead now!”

Letina said that in a bragging manner for some reason… But well, she had a point. While we did defeat the Evil Dragon Colchis that was at around the same level as Fafnir, it took our party the utmost effort, planning, locational advantage and luck to accomplish.

If it reached a point where I had to fight independently against Fafnir, I’d have run with a tail between my legs.

“Good grief. But it’s good that you managed to quickly handle the matter.”
“True, it’s just past lunch now.”

We got involved in this incident right as we were heading for our morning meal, after which we set out straight for the cave. Then we found Mikey, got in a fight with those Adventurers, repelled them, and at the end, the God of Destruction and Fafnir took the Carbuncle away.

All these events followed one after another, so not long had passed since.

“Then let’s go eat lunch together. We can still pass it off as a late lunch now.”
“Yaay!”
“Yaay, indeed!”

Hearing about food, Michelle and Letina broke into cheers. I got that part, but why did they grab my hands and raised them together? Thanks to that, I ended up joining their cheers, whether I wanted or not.

Rather, due to Michelle’s height and Letina’s good physique, I ended up hanging between them as they raised their hands along with mine.

Seeing us like that, Cortina laughed behind her hand. It was a peal of carefree laughter, a genuine smile that fitted her the most.