Ep : 82
“Oh, my God….”
Muriel couldn’t keep her mouth shut at the massive pile of monster corpses. The situation was rapidly evolving with Kaiton and August leading the way for the wizards. Kaiton swiftly dealt with the horde of monsters like fish in water, striding the territory, while August prevented the remaining monsters from escaping the moat. The black wizards assisted the two by clearing up the monsters within the moat one by one or chasing down the smaller ones that Kaiton couldn’t handle one by one.
Unable to stand idly by, Muriel quickly tried to join them when a black wizard with a familiar look approached. She was one of the wizards who called Muriel Captain along with Sadie, showing friendliness.
“Captain, please help us move the corpses aside. It would be troublesome if we leave the dead monsters be and a flock of Murishi appear.”
Where she pointed to the entrance of the forest, a distance away from where Murishi seemed to be lurking.
“But wouldn’t it be better to kill the monsters first?”
“That’s something Kaiton and Eklum can handle quickly on their own. I never thought I’d live to see a day where Ur and a Guardian cooperate, but as long as those two are here, we should be able to manage the situation reasonably well. We’re just here to assist them.”
“Ah…”
Muriel agreed. There was no need for her to intervene. Kaiton and August had complete control over the situation. Perhaps thanks to this, there was no tension among the wizards. While they sighed or lamented the collapse of the painstakingly constructed moat, they didn’t seem overly afraid of the monsters pouring out from it.
Muriel reminded herself that now was not the time to smile and cracked down on the corner of her lips trying to curl. However, the once fearful black wizards were walking confidently among the monsters, believing in Kaiton and August. It was a sight so heartwarming that she couldn’t take her eyes off it.
A sense of camaraderie and belonging filled Muriel’s heart as she thought, ‘We have truly become one team.’
“Yes. If there’s Kaiton and August… They’ll be able to fix it in no time.”
“They’re so reassuring, right?”
“…Yes.”
Muriel couldn’t hide her proud smile in the end. Even as they made their way towards the pile of monsters, she found herself glancing at Kaiton. Kaiton moved on the sky with a freedom that seemed as natural as walking on the ground. He flew and leaped, using various spells simultaneously as if flying magic was nothing.
“Ah…!”
Muriel, who was walking while looking at Kaiton, felt as if their eyes met for a moment and quickly turned her head. It could have been just an illusion since they were far apart, but it seemed like Kaiton had found out exactly where she was and looked at her.
Muriel lowered her head and headed towards the forest. She wanted to lift her head and confirm if Kaiton was really looking at her, but she deliberately turned away.
“Ugh…”
As they approached the entrance of the forest, a terrible stench filled the air.
The monsters were already horrifying, but their appearance after death was even more gruesome. It was astonishing how quickly they lost their vitality. The monsters decayed at an extraordinary rate upon death. Black fluid oozed from their skin, melting into the ground, emitting a nauseating odor and releasing a pungent gas that made one’s nose sting. Their bodies dissolved to the point where even the bones melted away, causing the flesh to ripple and shake like slime when lifted.
“Ugh… How can they… eat this… ugh… as a delicacy? Ugh… Murishi, ugh… they must be the true monsters.”
Debbie covered his nose with a cloth and grimaced in disgust. She was using telekinesis to lift the monster corpses in the air and transfer them to a large pit. Every time a monster was lifted from the ground, she couldn’t help but retch continuously at the sight of the black fluid dripping down.
“Debbie, why are you here when you have such a weak stomach?”
Muriel glanced at Debbie, who was constantly retching, and then at the black wizards assisting Kaiton and August on the moat. Sadie, who claimed to be Debbie’s best friend, followed Kaiton like a hunting dog, eliminating the remaining monsters. Muriel turned her head slightly because she felt somewhat creeped out at the appearance of Sadie smiling as she ruthlessly destroyed the demons. She looked at Debbie, who was trying to hold back her discomfort with a pained expression.
“Why? Is there another reason?”
“Just… punishing me. This job… ugh, it’s the most painful.”
What did she mean by punishment? When Muriel looked at Debbie with a confused expression, she opened her mouth with a strained one. Whether she decided not to breathe to avoid the smell or her voice was actually blocked, her voice sounded quite comical. Even in the midst of speaking with a serious expression, she made a gagging motion as if it was unbearable. It was a bit funny, but she seemed so distressed that Muriel felt sorry for her.
“I was the one in charge of the moat. We all made it together, but I was the… the leader! So, I have to take responsibility. Because of me… everyone’s efforts went up in smoke. It’s become a very disgusting failure, too.”
Debbie looked very ashamed when calling herself the leader. However, Muriel caught a glimpse of the pride hidden behind it. It was unexpected. Debbie always dedicated herself to the project, but she had never expressed a sense of responsibility or pressure to do well as the leader.
“Ah… so that’s why I was sent here as the captain. Someone told me to come here.”
When Muriel smirked and shrugged his shoulders, Debbie glared at her disapprovingly.
“It’s true that you’re the captain, but you are not responsible for this. You didn’t do anything.”
Muriel was embarrassed by Debbie’s sharp remark. If she was called the boss, shouldn’t he have to do something? Surprised that Debbie also referred to her as the captain, Muriel murmured self-deprecatingly.
“…I think that’s also why I’m responsible.”
Muriel rolled up her sleeves enthusiastically.
“Anyway, let’s share the responsibility. What should I do? Can you teach me that magic too?”
“You’re terrible at magic, that’s enough… Can you set fire to the pit?”
Creating a small fire was a basic magic that anyone could do regardless of their elemental affinity. However, Muriel was particularly weak at creating fire, and wasn’t confident that she could create a fire large enough to fill a fairly large pit.
“Well… I’ll give it a go.”
Muriel had no choice but to borrow the power of the Ur fragment embedded in her Pacio when using magic. So, this time as well, she tried to harness the power of the fragment as much as possible, but only after her chest grew cold did she realize her mistake. She shared her pacio with Kaiton. Was it alright for her to use magic while he was using it too?
At the belated question, Muriel turned to look at Kaiton, who was fighting monsters in the sky. Kaiton seemed to have sensed Muriel using magic, as he turned his gaze in Muriel’s direction.
Kaiton stumbled and then descended to the ground precariously, as if plummeting. Muriel couldn’t even scream at the sight and covered her mouth. She felt dizzy when she thought Kaiton would get hurt because of her, so she couldn’t bear to watch Kaiton’s fall and tightly closed her eyes.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Kaiton… Kaiton… Does he look okay, Debbie?”
“Kaiton Ur? He’s perfectly fine. You’ll be the only person who worries about Kaiton Ur, Muriel.”
“Really…? Does he really look okay?”
Muriel carefully opened her eyes, but couldn’t bring herself to look at Kaiton and asked. In response, Debbie tilted her head as if not understanding, then clicked her tongue while looking in Kaiton’s direction.
“Look. That arrogant figure over there… flying around and slaughtering demons. As expected… Kaiton Ur is the demon king. Seriously, what kind of wizard can cast a level 3 composite spell over a wide area and even fly? It’s impossible unless you have extraordinary concentration… No, even with exceptional concentration and overflowing pacio, it’s impossible. That kind of thing is possible because he’s not human, but a demon king.”
Debbie, while clicking her tongue like she was cursing at him, eventually got mesmerized and stared at Kaiton, asking, “Isn’t he amazing?” Only then did Muriel look back at Kaiton with a little relief, who was casually flying in the sky, like he’d never stumbled.
“Yeah… Why do I keep worrying about Kaiton?”
***
In the end, setting fire to the pit became Debbie’s job. Muriel didn’t even need to say that she couldn’t use magic. When Debbie saw the small fire created by Muriel, she decided to throw Muriel as far away from the pit as possible.
“In the book…couh…it said that Murishi have an exceptional sense of smell…heh…but that’s probably all misinformation. There’s no way a nose that can smell correctly would put such a thing in their mouth.”
Muriel went to the courtyard of the estate, thinking about the Murishi pony who’d once taken the talisman that she’d buried in the ground and ran away with it.
“Is that so? Murisi can definitely catch the scent of minerals buried underground.”
“Hmph! If that’s really possible, wouldn’t Murishis be able to help find all the Tapahite buried here?”
Debbie snorted, saying there’s no way that would happen. Muriel’s mouth dropped open in surprise at Debbie’s casual remark. It was all the more surprising that she didn’t realize what she’d just said.
“That’s it, Debbie!!”
As Muriel let out a cry and clasped her shoulder, Debbie looked bewildered.
“W-what…what?”
“The idea of using Murishi to find Taphite. That’s a pretty solid plan, Debbie Calliger.”
Muriel looked at the monster corpses disappearing into acrid smoke as they burned. If she didn’t burn the dead bodies and left them piled up, some Murishi might smell it and come up.
They were scavenger guys who had no hunting ability, so there was no way she could turn a blind–eye to the well-prepared table.
She couldn’t ignore the well-prepared meal for the Scavenger creatures, who had no hunting skills whatsoever.
Could she suffer from the stench of decaying monsters for a little more while…?
Muriel quickly organized her plans for the future while considering the possibility of encountering the cowardly traitor pony. That guy had abandoned Muriel and run away, who had fallen after being attacked by the wolf monster in the forest, but she would be quite glad to meet him again.
At that moment, Debbie let out a frustrated cry.
“There’s no way that’s possible…! Murishi is not a spirit! It can’t be treated as a familiar! How could you make a species that is extremely wary of humans cooperate…?! Maybe you can confine it and tame it by feeding it rotten monster meat, but who knows how long it will take to train it to find Tapahite… Maybe it’s impossible to tame it even in a lifetime….”
Realizing that she hadn’t properly explained it to Debbie, Muriel responded calmly.
“Oh…don’t worry about that. I can talk with the Murishi. I used to think it was a useless ability…but maybe it was given to me for today.”
Muriel’s tone sounded a little too relaxed as she mentioned an ability that had never before existed in the world. It sounded like saying that overseas travel was no problem bow that she’d learned a foreign language. However, the ability to communicate with Murisi was a remarkable thing. In the kingdom, there had never been a single person who could communicate with beings other than humans. While if they tried, they could talk to their contracted familiars through effort, but having a conversation was impossible.
“Ha…!”
Debbie always looked at the fierce-eyed woman who shattered her common sense. When she first approached her to work with her, she already had a vague sense of what was to come. What she’d noticed then. The vigilance and the hesitation she’d felt in making a decision.
Muriel, realizing that he hadn’t explained it properly to Debbie, replied strangely.
“Ah… it’s a bit of an ominous ability, isn’t it…? You’re not scared, are you?”
“I will be loyal!”
“…What?”
Muriel, who was worried that Debbie was scared, was embarrassed by the unexpected words. However, Debbie didn’t pay any attention to Muriel’s reaction and raised her voice cheerfully. Actually, due to her small stature and high-pitched voice, it was closer to a squeak than a booming voice. Anyway, Debbie laughed heartily with a relieved expression on her face.
“I’ll be loyal forever, Captain!”
“…No… I mean, I don’t need that…”
“No, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll be with you forever from now on. Then I’ll probably be able to experience something crazy like Eklum and Ur working hand-in-hand today again, right? Being able to talk to Murishi? Haha, impossible… it should be most definitely impossible, but if it’s you, Muriel Storm, it’s possible. If I follow you… I can personally witness you persuading Murishi to find Tapahite for us? Haha! Come on!”
Debbie had a practical, vigilant personality. Her biting remarks that pierced through others’ hearts were synonymous with her deeply ingrained sense of correctness. For her to believe easily in ‘I will have the Murishi mine Tapahite through conversations’ was no small thing. If it were her usual self, she would have struck back with, ‘There’s nothing more pathetic and pitiful than wasting pacio on impossible tasks. The wise thing to do is use pacio for things that are more probable to work.’
But Muriel acted as if there was nothing impossible in the world. She’d brought in the real Sharan who wasn’t even known to exist in the world, and showed generosity and magnanimity to the Demon King Ur, who she’d thought was more evil than the Devil. On top of that, she had the complete trust from the heir to Eklum.
Debbie was sure now. With Muriel by her side, she could become a true magician who experiences great adventures. The genius who was almost buried in the snow of the plateau had finally met the true colleague she had dreamed of.
“Loyal. Loyal. Loyal.”
“Uh…I’m not sure I like the sound of that. It’d be great if you won’t say that… Well, do as you please.”
Moreover, Debbie wanted to do anything she could for the monster moat, which had originally been Muriel’s wish, but was now her own. She was actually in such agony that she couldn’t even bear to look at the collapsed structure of the moat. If possible, she wanted to escape into the pages of a book like before and hide. Even though she’d arrogantly said her design was perfect, she was plagued by anxiety and wondered if things would’ve been different if they were handled by Kaiton. If Kaiton Ur had made it, would the moat have not collapsed? Kaiton Ur would probably have been able to produce a perfect moat without needing materials like Tapahite.
Debbie knew only one way to shake off this distrust and anxiety. To create an excellent moat with her own hands once again.
“I think I can do it with the captain.”
