Leave a comment

Author’s note: We are returning to Nicole’s pov.

Cortina was in danger. The moment I learned that, I left Michelle and the rest behind and returned to Raum on my own. I had no time to match their pace during this race against time.

I was about to rush to Maxwell’s mansion as I arrived in the city, but then I stopped. That old man must have taken someone along and headed to either Qaum or Lilith.

That meant that the only Six Heroes member in the city was Maria.

“Then, I’ll tell Maria… No, wait, how should I even explain this!?”

I met some suspicious man outside the city and he dropped this letter. I suppose it wouldn’t be suspicious if I just say that, huh?

But in that case, she would not take me to Cortina.

No, that should be enough. This information would get to Cortina and she would be more vigilant, and Maria would also be there to guard her. That should make it hard for Klein to pull off anything.

Cortina’s strength was her ability to make use of people, rather than her individual power, so Maria being there should considerably raise her combat power.

Even so, I couldn’t stand still knowing that she was in danger. After considering my current options, I decided to run to the Adventurer’s Guild. They had a magic tool here that allowed distant communications.

However, it didn’t deliver the messages in a proactive manner, so there was no knowing when the other person would see the information.

Even so, it was far better than not doing anything. Besides, I could also confirm whether the guy from before had stopped by or not.

If luck ends up being on my side, I could overtake and apprehend him on the spot.

I rushed into the Guild, to the same lady that I took the request from not long ago. There were some Adventurers in line, but I had no time to care about that now. Besides, everyone knew my face here, so no one blamed me for it.

“Hello, did a guy come here to send a message?”
“For the message service? Yes, there was one such person earlier.”
“Was it—”

I described the features of that man, and found out that it was the same person. It seemed that I failed to beat him to the punch. In that case, I also had to send a message of my own.

“I-In that case, I’m also going to send a message, and I need to do it fast.”
“That would cost you ten silvers, are you sure—”
“I am! Cortina is in danger!”

Hearing my words, the lady jumped to her feet and guided me to the other room by the hand. She was also aware of the matters regarding the slave traders and Cloud’s injuries. As such, she was prompt in her response.

We quickly sent the message and confirmed that Qaum and Lilith both received them. If we were lucky, my warning would reach the intended people, but the chances of that were slim.

Thus, I had to go there directly.

Thanking the receptionist, I rushed back to Cortina’s home. I wouldn’t get anywhere without letting Maria know. As such, I rushed into the house and screamed her name at the top of my lungs.

“Mom! Mom!?”
“Welcome back, Lady Nicole. You are back early today.”
“Ah, thanks, Finia. Where’s mom?”
“Lady Maria is taking laundry in the backyard…”

Leaving Finia, who welcomed me as always, behind, I headed behind the house. She saw me off with a puzzled expression, not realizing what was up with me. I had no time to explain to her the reason.

In a moderately-sized backyard, Maria was holding a big pile of three people’s worth of clothes. Seeing me, she asked in surprise.

“Oh, Nicole. You are early.”
“There’s no time for that, mom!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Her lax attitude was a usual thing, but it was frustrating in this dire situation. I took out the letter from my pocket and pushed it at her.

“And what could this be?”
“Read it, Cortina is in danger!”

She looked surprised hearing that, but didn’t say anything and simply read the contents. As she did, her expression turned grim.

“…Understood. Leave this to your mother, Nicole.”
“No, I’m coming with you.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I know. That’s why I’m coming!”
“I understand that you are worried, but Cortina is working with Lyell now. Calm down and wait for me, okay?”
“No! I’m not backing down on this!”

I could understand her worry. But knowing Cortina was in danger, there’s no way I could just sit still. We didn’t even have time to keep arguing like this. Maria knew that as well.

“Can’t be helped… Alright, but make sure you listen to everything I tell you, okay?”
“Okay.”

I answered with a docile face. Seeing that, Maria tossed the laundry inside the house and left the rest to Finia who came to check on us.

“Finia, I’m heading to where Cortina is so I leave the rest to you. The situation is looking a little suspicious, so please call Michelle and Cloud and guard them inside. Be extremely vigilant until my return.”
“U-Understood!”

They decided to target Cortina who was the weakest among the Heroes. They could very well target Finia and Michelle for the same reason. However, these two weren’t as famous as her, nor were they actively pursuing Klein, so perhaps they weren’t in such a big danger.

Still, it never hurt to be too careful, as the enemy was far too unpredictable this time. I wanted to keep everyone connected to us protected, just in case.

By the time Finia tossed the laundry inside the basket, Michelle and the rest seemed to have arrived at our house. There was a bell on the door, as well as voices calling for me.

I was also worried for Letina, of course, but she lived in the Marquis’ mansion, so no harm should come to her as long as she remains there. Then again, if she was together with them now, we could protect her here instead.

While Finia was dealing with them, Maria took the opportunity to draw the magic circle on the ground.

She still couldn’t use this spell as freely as Maxwell. Not to mention, this was part of the Interference system that was outside of her specialty. In fact, despite another system being her focus, the fact that she could use advanced spells of another system could only be described as inhuman.

Thus, I clung to Maria and prepared for teleportation.

“Alright, let’s go then. Be careful not to get teleportation sick.”
“As if being careful would change anything. It’s in my constitution.”

After exchanging small jokes, Maria activated the spell.

The magic circle shined bright, and by the time it settled down, we were already in a completely different city.

I had been to Qaum before, but the scenery before me looked unfamiliar. Which meant, we were in Lilith.

“We first have to confirm where she is. Her appearance stands out quite a bit, so we should be able to easily find her if we ask around.”
“Right.”

Cortina was a cat beastman. And her race wasn’t big in number. Not to mention, she was probably the only long haired feline with shining golden that people could think of.

As expected, after asking a few passers-by, we narrowed down the inn that someone of her appearance was staying at. As expected from her, it was a reliable inn located on the main street.

Right as we were on the way to that inn—an unbelievably loud crushing sound reached our ears.