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The one addressing me was the white figure that I was quite familiar with. She was a young girl, looking to be about the same age as me, yet somehow overflowing with bewitching charm.

It was my ancestor. The God of Destruction, Yuuri, in the flesh(?).

Since the Goddess appeared before us without either of us realizing it, Maxwell became alert—or so I thought. I couldn’t see him, but I could somehow feel that he became tense. And also heard the faint rustling of his clothes.

I spread my hands and stopped him before he could do anything rash.

“Wait, Max-… Old man. She isn’t an enemy.”

I decided to refrain from saying his name since we were downtown with a lot of pedestrian traffic. Even if he wasn’t visible, given his royal blood and the Hero status, his name alone was enough to gather attention.

Since she appeared in public, it would be a bad move to gather attention. She wasn’t exactly an Evil God, but she didn’t have a good reputation either.

“It’s been a while. About three years, right?”
“Yup. Ever since the matter of the Carbuncle.”
“Nicole, is she your acquaintance?”

Maxwell’s tensed voice reached my ears. It was his first time meeting her like this. I have mentioned her as the owner of Michelle’s bow before, but it was his first actually meeting her.

“Yeah, she’s the owner of Michelle’s bow.”
“Owner of that bow… Could it be!?”

I intentionally made it vague, but he seemed to have realized her identity. His tension then turned into a different kind of nervousness.

“So then, what exactly did you mean by him not coming?”

Earlier, she said that “Elliot wouldn’t come”. I don’t mean to brag, but I couldn’t imagine Elliot breaking the promise, given how head over heels he seemed to be about me. In that case, there must’ve been another reason.

“Right, but before that, thanks for restraining the person behind you. I didn’t want any needless fights in a place like this.”

The Goddess smiled and bowed to me. But that gesture made me more annoyed if anything. It felt like she was intentionally doing it to gain time.

“Ah, well… Actually, frequently interfering with the human world is kinda against the rules… I mean, it’s not exactly restricted buuuut…”

Honestly, the way she hesitated on her words while playing with her fingers looked cute. If this was a moment of confession, the other party would’ve already been conquered.

However, this was no such moment. Elliot was important, and at the same time, a hectic person. I couldn’t imagine him just ditching the appointment without even a word.

“Did something happen to Elliot?”
“Well… Outright saying it would be, well, against the agreement, and uhh, I mean… Maybe check that alley out and you might find your answer?”

What the White God pointed at was a narrow road a little bit ahead of us. It was a shortcut towards the lodging house where Elliot resided. As I looked towards it and then back to the Goddess, she was already gone.

“And she’s gone again.”
“She… Cast chantless magic in an instant.”
“Chantless magic? The same ability that Maria has?”
“Perhaps it was even beyond that. She used magic without even thinking about it. You could say she did it as casually as breathing.”
“Beyond even Maria, huh… Hard to even imagine.”

Our comrades starting with Maria were individuals who had transcended the human limits. Honestly speaking, Cortina and I were at least a level below the rest of the Six Heroes. Maxwell and Maria, in particular, were practically inhuman. Yet, she was someone who exceeded even Maria…

“I suppose her title as a God isn’t just for show.”
“At any rate, let us head to where she pointed us. I worry about Elliot’s well-being.”
“Ah, right!”

Maxwell sounded unusually flustered. And that was natural, as Elliot was the keystone of the United Three Nations. If by chance, something happened to him, that kingdom could split back into three kingdoms and give rise to a civil war.

Still, it was impressive that he managed to keep his Concealment magic active despite his tension. That magic had a weakness that demanded precise control or it would come undone. For that reason, you couldn’t fight while casting it, and if you did it would be released instantly.

But then, how did he manage to cast those flame pillars from earlier…?

“Anyway, let’s go check it.”
“Right, we should.”

With that exchange, we hurried towards the alley. While we were heading there, the previous question popped up in my head.

“Maxwell, how did you cast those flame pillars earlier? One can’t use magic while using Concealment, right?”
“Ah, well. I cast it while hiding there.”

He pointed towards the back of a shop. It seems that he was observing me from there. But that leads to another contradiction.

“Using magic from there and appearing beside me under Concealment… should be impossible, right? The distance is too big.”
“Well, that magic wasn’t cast instantaneously. I used the Delay Spell.”

Delay Spell belonged to the middle grade of the Interference system. It had no effect on itself, but if you used another magic on top of it, that magic would only activate after the set time had passed. It was a support magic for magic itself, so to say.

It was a difficult spell that needed you to cast it while taking into account all kinds of information, but Maxwell seemed to have no problem making practical use of it.

I should be able to use it if I keep refining my Interference magic, but I doubt I would ever be as good at it as him.

“I see… Huh?”

A little after we rushed into the alley, a scene covered in the red spread before my eyes. And in the center of it was a person collapsed like a doll with its strings cut.

“Priscilla!?”

Collapsed there was Elliot’s bodyguard, Priscilla.