Translator: Jiro Editor: Ryunakama
Well I guess I’ll store a single Tetra Crash in Divine Greatsword Ainbelle for the time being.
A brilliant golden light emerged, which Divine Greatsword Ainbelle quickly absorbed.
「GYA!!」
The Dark Wyvern in turn fired a spell in order to try and stop me.
Black Bullet huh.
Hundreds of wind bullets emerged in front of it and fired at us.
「…!! G-Green Bullet!!」 Milly shouted out as she cast her spell, trying to cancel out the Black Bullet.
Countless explosions occurred right behind me.
She was a little bit late, but thanks to the quick casting, she was able to make up for it.
As soon as the explosions settled down I lifted up Divine Greatsword Ainbelle and swung it down while also casting White Crash. Penta Fusion: Platinum Break.
The golden-white light slashed through the smoke, slicing the sky in half.
The Platinum Break landed directly on the Dark Wyvern’s body. Despite the fact that its body was melting as a result of the attack, the Dark Wyvern proceeded to stare me down with malice.
「Just 1, 200, 000 to go… If you keep it up like this, you’ll need six more of those…」
「A small matter. I’ll slash it as many times as necessary. Milly I trust you to take care of its attacks!」
「I-I know!!」
As we flew away from it, I steadily whittled down the bastard’s magic power while continuing to cast Platinum Breaks.
But no matter what the Dark Wyvern didn’t give up and constantly regenerated its body as it chased after us.
「GYA!!」
「I won’t let you!!」
The Dark Wyvern cast Black Bullet once more, but as before Milly was there to stop it.
Her movements had become very fluid by this stage. It was most likely that she had become used to it.
Good, good. She’s giving it her all.
「Milly. You should’ve gotten used to its attacks by now, right? How about you join me in attacking?」
「Huh?!!B-But it’s dangerous…」
「Don’t worry. I trust you can do it.」 I said as I handed Divine Greatsword Ainbelle to Milly.
「Wow… It’s so hot…」 Milly exclaimed.
「That’s because there’s a spell stored in it.」
The stronger the spell Divine Greatsword Ainbelle had stored inside of it, the hotter it became.
As Milly held the sword and squeezed it, I put my hands on top of hers.
Seeing us like that, the Dark Wyvern behind us began to gather magic power.
Noticing that, Milly tightened her grip around the sword and began to cast Green Bullet.
「It won’t work!!」 she exclaimed, totally cancelling the Dark Wyvern’s spell and creating a smokescreen.
But despite that I had already remembered the Dark Wyvern’s position. Without waiting for the smoke to settle, with Milly’s help I raised Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.
「Milly! Match my timing!」
「Okay!!」 she replied.
At the same moment I cast Time Square.
While time was stopped I cast White Sphere four times.
The four White Spheres I had previously stored, along with these four and the one Milly cast, resulted in a total of nine White Spheres.
Nona Fusion: White Sphere Cube.
Behind me, a flood of white light erupted.
Even though I was turned with my back at it, it still felt like I was about to go blind.
When I felt that the light was beginning to die down I decided to turn around.
The Dark Wyvern was nowhere to be found, except for a black rock that had fallen to the ground where it had just been.
「Good grief. It’s finally over.」 I said as I nodded Milly’s head.
「That sure took some years out of my life.」 Milly said, followed by a long sigh.
I instructed Uruk to run again while clutching the reins.
As some time passed I felt Milly move about.
「What’s wrong?」 I asked.
「Well… Don’t you think it’s about time you untied us…?」
「Oh…」
I had completely forgotten that we were tied to each other.
I drew Milly closer in order to untangle us, which caused her to moan.
「Urgh…」
「Hm, this is a bit…」
「Zeph… if you move too much our bodies will brush against each other…」
Each time I pulled on the reins I could feel Milly’s body rubbing against mine.
She tried to resist it by burying her head in my chest and shutting her eyes.
Well that’s a problem…
「Milly, we’ve got a bit of a problem.」
「I won’t come off?」
「Yea. It became even more tangled.」
The more I tried to untangle the reins, the more Milly’s body became entangled in mine.
Furthermore, we were on top of Uruk’s back, which wasn’t a stable place by any means. If I were to make even a single wrong move, we could fall down.
「Well there’s no helping it now. Let’s just go back like this.」
「HUH?! … L-Like this? But that’s embarrassing!!」
「Stop complaining. Just make sure to hold onto me so you don’t fall.」
「O-Okay…」 Milly said, her face blushed, as she didn’t resist anymore.
I wrapped my left hand around my and used my right in order to hold onto Uruk’s reins.
「Zeph-chi welcome back!!」 Lydia yelled out.
Despite the fact that we were very high up, Lydia was still able to see us riding on Uruk’s back.
She was still holding onto Silverie and Shirushu.
It appeared that both of them had yet to wake up.
I used the reins to get Uruk to land safely.
「Wow… Zeph-chi, just now you looked like prince charming, riding on top of his white horse. You were quite cool!」 Lydia teased as she hit me with her elbow.
「If I’m a prince then that would make Milly a princess. Kukuku.」
「W-Wha…!! Y-You… You…」 Milly said, her face blushed.
Her expression was a complex combination of happiness and distress.
Didn’t she like being treated like a princess? She did quite well today so I guess I might as well treat her like a princess a bit more.
I borrowed a knife from Lydia and cut the reins before leaping off Uruk’s back and reaching out my hand to Milly.
「Will you do me the honor of taking it?」
「You and your jokes…」 Milly said.
Even though she sounded like she was complaining she still ended up grabbing my hand.
However, when she tried to get down she ended up slipping and lost her balance.
I immediately stepped in and grabbed her.
「Good grief. Are you alright princess?」 I asked.
「… y-yes…」
Her face was as red as a beet as she murmured something as she looked away.
「I’m so jealous of Milly-chan. I want to be held like that as well ♪」 Lydia exclaimed.
「You’re quite heavy you see…」 I said.
「How could you!! Zeph-chi that’s so mean!!!」
After that, we all headed towards Prolea once more.
4
After walking for two days we finally reached Prolea.
「We’re finally back…」 Lydia said.
「I want to take a bath so bad!!」 Milly exclaimed.
「We’ve been out for quite some time so we need to clean up after that as well.」 Lydia continued.
After going back and entering our house, Milly and the others immediately entered the bath.
I’ll just wait for them and go in by myself later.
「… What’s this?」
There was a letter left on top of the table.
This thing wasn’t here when we left… Did someone leave it while we weren’t here?
I picked it up and noticed that it had the Magician Association’s stamp on it.
I removed the seal and took out the contents.
「Let’s see here. To: Zeph Einstein From: Yera Schugel with lots of love <3」
Yera and her jokes… I was just about to throw it without reading but then stopped myself and decided to give it a quick look.
More sightings of the black monsters have been recorded around the world. Some of them seem to be very skilled in combat and have a proclivity for attacking people.
Zeph, since you’ve fought them already you probably know, but they are quite the tough ones.
The Heavenly Mages and the Dispatch Magician have been attempting to deal with them, but we haven’t been able to make much progress due to our excessive workload. So, as much as it hurts me to ask this of you so soon after you’ve completed your mission, could I please request that you go out and subjugate them?
The black monsters have apparently emerged not only here, but also in your homeland, the East Continent.
I would like to ask you to head there first and evaluate the situation.
If you’re willing to take on this mission, take this letter and deliver it to the Red Heavenly Mage’s tower.
If you do that, the people there will escort you to the East Continent.
That is all.
「That old hag…」 As soon as I finished reading the letter, I murmured out.
I told Yera about the black monsters just before leaving to seal the Dungeon, but to think that there would be other people who have encountered them as well… Additionally, there are those on the East Continent who are attacking people? It makes me sad to think that my mother is alone in Nanami. This is something I can’t ignore.
「That’s a letter from Yera-san right?」
I turned around when I heard a voice behind me and saw Milly, who had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in her everyday clothes.
Everyone else began to gradually flock towards us as well.
「So the black monsters have appeared in the East Continent as well huh… I thought it was strange that we’ve been seeing more of them in the last few days. It’s possible that their numbers are growing.」
「You must be kidding?!I wonder if pops is okay…」 Lydia said, a bit worried.
Come to think of it, her father was also all alone.
「The East Continent… The place across the sea…」 Shirushu said.
「Everyone, let’s go! I can’t help but worry about Lydia’s dad and Zeph’s mom!」 Milly exclaimed, her eyes darting around the room.
「You’re right… It really does make me worry a bit.」 I said.
「Same here. By the way I still haven’t met your mother Zeph-chi.」
「Zeph-san’s mother… I’m curious about her personality.」 Shirushu said.
All three of them seemed quite curious, as if their real purpose lay somewhere else…
Well I guess it’s fine as long as they don’t complain.
「Well then it’s decided! We’re headed for the East Continent ♪」 Milly expressed her delight by raising her index finger.
Milly saw the East Continent as both a sign of our meeting and a place where we spent a lot of time together.
Of course that was the same for me as well. The more I thought about it the more nostalgic I got.
◆ ◆ ◆
We finished our preparations the next day and set out for the Red Heavenly Mage’s tower.
The Red Heavenly Mage’s tower was situated on the capital’s north main street, making it very noticeable.
It was made of red bricks and soared high into the sky, giving it the appearance of a real flame.
「… This brings back memories.」
「Did you say something Zeph?」 Milly asked.
「No, it’s nothing.」 I said as I nodded her head.
Upon seeing the tower, I was reminded of a time in my former life when I was the Flame of Flame and lived here for a while.
We reached the tower’s entrance and spoke to the elderly guard at the front.
「May we talk to you for a second.」
「Yes. What do you need?」
The elderly guard standing before me looked quite familiar.
Come to think of it, I think he was also the guard even when I was the Flame of Flame. He seems to be a few years younger than he was back then, but it’s hard to believe he’s been here for so long.
I kept speaking to the guard while being enveloped by nostalgic feelings.
「We have business inside, so I’d be grateful if you let us in. Here’s our invitation.」
「Let me see… This is certainly Yera-sama’s signature. You may come in.」 The elderly guard said as he turned around to fiddle with the door behind him.
The door made a metallic sound.
The elderly guard proceeded to open the door and invite us in.
「Wow. So this is the inside of the Red Tower… It’s quite different from Yera-san’s Sky Tower isn’t it.」
「The design of each of the Towers was chosen by the first Heavenly Mages. It’s normal that they’re completely different from one another.」
「You know quite a lot for your age, young man.」 The guard responded.
「I read about it before.」
We kept walking past the red-brick walls until we arrived at the tower’s centre.
From there we walked a bit more until the guard stopped in front of a room.
This was probably the room where the Dispatch Magicians who were expected to escort us to the East Continent.
A response was heard from the other side as soon as the elderly guard knocked on the door.
「You may come in.」
「If you will excuse us.」
Translator: Jiro Editor: Ryunakama
Well I guess I’ll store a single Tetra Crash in Divine Greatsword Ainbelle for the time being.
A brilliant golden light emerged, which Divine Greatsword Ainbelle quickly absorbed.
「GYA!!」
The Dark Wyvern in turn fired a spell in order to try and stop me.
Black Bullet huh.
Hundreds of wind bullets emerged in front of it and fired at us.
「…!! G-Green Bullet!!」 Milly shouted out as she cast her spell, trying to cancel out the Black Bullet.
Countless explosions occurred right behind me.
She was a little bit late, but thanks to the quick casting, she was able to make up for it.
As soon as the explosions settled down I lifted up Divine Greatsword Ainbelle and swung it down while also casting White Crash. Penta Fusion: Platinum Break.
The golden-white light slashed through the smoke, slicing the sky in half.
The Platinum Break landed directly on the Dark Wyvern’s body. Despite the fact that its body was melting as a result of the attack, the Dark Wyvern proceeded to stare me down with malice.
「Just 1, 200, 000 to go… If you keep it up like this, you’ll need six more of those…」
「A small matter. I’ll slash it as many times as necessary. Milly I trust you to take care of its attacks!」
「I-I know!!」
As we flew away from it, I steadily whittled down the bastard’s magic power while continuing to cast Platinum Breaks.
But no matter what the Dark Wyvern didn’t give up and constantly regenerated its body as it chased after us.
「GYA!!」
「I won’t let you!!」
The Dark Wyvern cast Black Bullet once more, but as before Milly was there to stop it.
Her movements had become very fluid by this stage. It was most likely that she had become used to it.
Good, good. She’s giving it her all.
「Milly. You should’ve gotten used to its attacks by now, right? How about you join me in attacking?」
「Huh?!!B-But it’s dangerous…」
「Don’t worry. I trust you can do it.」 I said as I handed Divine Greatsword Ainbelle to Milly.
「Wow… It’s so hot…」 Milly exclaimed.
「That’s because there’s a spell stored in it.」
The stronger the spell Divine Greatsword Ainbelle had stored inside of it, the hotter it became.
As Milly held the sword and squeezed it, I put my hands on top of hers.
Seeing us like that, the Dark Wyvern behind us began to gather magic power.
Noticing that, Milly tightened her grip around the sword and began to cast Green Bullet.
「It won’t work!!」 she exclaimed, totally cancelling the Dark Wyvern’s spell and creating a smokescreen.
But despite that I had already remembered the Dark Wyvern’s position. Without waiting for the smoke to settle, with Milly’s help I raised Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.
「Milly! Match my timing!」
「Okay!!」 she replied.
At the same moment I cast Time Square.
While time was stopped I cast White Sphere four times.
The four White Spheres I had previously stored, along with these four and the one Milly cast, resulted in a total of nine White Spheres.
Nona Fusion: White Sphere Cube.
Behind me, a flood of white light erupted.
Even though I was turned with my back at it, it still felt like I was about to go blind.
When I felt that the light was beginning to die down I decided to turn around.
The Dark Wyvern was nowhere to be found, except for a black rock that had fallen to the ground where it had just been.
「Good grief. It’s finally over.」 I said as I nodded Milly’s head.
「That sure took some years out of my life.」 Milly said, followed by a long sigh.
I instructed Uruk to run again while clutching the reins.
As some time passed I felt Milly move about.
「What’s wrong?」 I asked.
「Well… Don’t you think it’s about time you untied us…?」
「Oh…」
I had completely forgotten that we were tied to each other.
I drew Milly closer in order to untangle us, which caused her to moan.
「Urgh…」
「Hm, this is a bit…」
「Zeph… if you move too much our bodies will brush against each other…」
Each time I pulled on the reins I could feel Milly’s body rubbing against mine.
She tried to resist it by burying her head in my chest and shutting her eyes.
Well that’s a problem…
「Milly, we’ve got a bit of a problem.」
「I won’t come off?」
「Yea. It became even more tangled.」
The more I tried to untangle the reins, the more Milly’s body became entangled in mine.
Furthermore, we were on top of Uruk’s back, which wasn’t a stable place by any means. If I were to make even a single wrong move, we could fall down.
「Well there’s no helping it now. Let’s just go back like this.」
「HUH?! … L-Like this? But that’s embarrassing!!」
「Stop complaining. Just make sure to hold onto me so you don’t fall.」
「O-Okay…」 Milly said, her face blushed, as she didn’t resist anymore.
I wrapped my left hand around my and used my right in order to hold onto Uruk’s reins.
「Zeph-chi welcome back!!」 Lydia yelled out.
Despite the fact that we were very high up, Lydia was still able to see us riding on Uruk’s back.
She was still holding onto Silverie and Shirushu.
It appeared that both of them had yet to wake up.
I used the reins to get Uruk to land safely.
「Wow… Zeph-chi, just now you looked like prince charming, riding on top of his white horse. You were quite cool!」 Lydia teased as she hit me with her elbow.
「If I’m a prince then that would make Milly a princess. Kukuku.」
「W-Wha…!! Y-You… You…」 Milly said, her face blushed.
Her expression was a complex combination of happiness and distress.
Didn’t she like being treated like a princess? She did quite well today so I guess I might as well treat her like a princess a bit more.
I borrowed a knife from Lydia and cut the reins before leaping off Uruk’s back and reaching out my hand to Milly.
「Will you do me the honor of taking it?」
「You and your jokes…」 Milly said.
Even though she sounded like she was complaining she still ended up grabbing my hand.
However, when she tried to get down she ended up slipping and lost her balance.
I immediately stepped in and grabbed her.
「Good grief. Are you alright princess?」 I asked.
「… y-yes…」
Her face was as red as a beet as she murmured something as she looked away.
「I’m so jealous of Milly-chan. I want to be held like that as well ♪」 Lydia exclaimed.
「You’re quite heavy you see…」 I said.
「How could you!! Zeph-chi that’s so mean!!!」
After that, we all headed towards Prolea once more.
4
After walking for two days we finally reached Prolea.
「We’re finally back…」 Lydia said.
「I want to take a bath so bad!!」 Milly exclaimed.
「We’ve been out for quite some time so we need to clean up after that as well.」 Lydia continued.
After going back and entering our house, Milly and the others immediately entered the bath.
I’ll just wait for them and go in by myself later.
「… What’s this?」
There was a letter left on top of the table.
This thing wasn’t here when we left… Did someone leave it while we weren’t here?
I picked it up and noticed that it had the Magician Association’s stamp on it.
I removed the seal and took out the contents.
「Let’s see here. To: Zeph Einstein From: Yera Schugel with lots of love <3」
Yera and her jokes… I was just about to throw it without reading but then stopped myself and decided to give it a quick look.
More sightings of the black monsters have been recorded around the world. Some of them seem to be very skilled in combat and have a proclivity for attacking people.
Zeph, since you’ve fought them already you probably know, but they are quite the tough ones.
The Heavenly Mages and the Dispatch Magician have been attempting to deal with them, but we haven’t been able to make much progress due to our excessive workload. So, as much as it hurts me to ask this of you so soon after you’ve completed your mission, could I please request that you go out and subjugate them?
The black monsters have apparently emerged not only here, but also in your homeland, the East Continent.
I would like to ask you to head there first and evaluate the situation.
If you’re willing to take on this mission, take this letter and deliver it to the Red Heavenly Mage’s tower.
If you do that, the people there will escort you to the East Continent.
That is all.
「That old hag…」 As soon as I finished reading the letter, I murmured out.
I told Yera about the black monsters just before leaving to seal the Dungeon, but to think that there would be other people who have encountered them as well… Additionally, there are those on the East Continent who are attacking people? It makes me sad to think that my mother is alone in Nanami. This is something I can’t ignore.
「That’s a letter from Yera-san right?」
I turned around when I heard a voice behind me and saw Milly, who had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in her everyday clothes.
Everyone else began to gradually flock towards us as well.
「So the black monsters have appeared in the East Continent as well huh… I thought it was strange that we’ve been seeing more of them in the last few days. It’s possible that their numbers are growing.」
「You must be kidding?!I wonder if pops is okay…」 Lydia said, a bit worried.
Come to think of it, her father was also all alone.
「The East Continent… The place across the sea…」 Shirushu said.
「Everyone, let’s go! I can’t help but worry about Lydia’s dad and Zeph’s mom!」 Milly exclaimed, her eyes darting around the room.
「You’re right… It really does make me worry a bit.」 I said.
「Same here. By the way I still haven’t met your mother Zeph-chi.」
「Zeph-san’s mother… I’m curious about her personality.」 Shirushu said.
All three of them seemed quite curious, as if their real purpose lay somewhere else…
Well I guess it’s fine as long as they don’t complain.
「Well then it’s decided! We’re headed for the East Continent ♪」 Milly expressed her delight by raising her index finger.
Milly saw the East Continent as both a sign of our meeting and a place where we spent a lot of time together.
Of course that was the same for me as well. The more I thought about it the more nostalgic I got.
◆ ◆ ◆
We finished our preparations the next day and set out for the Red Heavenly Mage’s tower.
The Red Heavenly Mage’s tower was situated on the capital’s north main street, making it very noticeable.
It was made of red bricks and soared high into the sky, giving it the appearance of a real flame.
「… This brings back memories.」
「Did you say something Zeph?」 Milly asked.
「No, it’s nothing.」 I said as I nodded her head.
Upon seeing the tower, I was reminded of a time in my former life when I was the Flame of Flame and lived here for a while.
We reached the tower’s entrance and spoke to the elderly guard at the front.
「May we talk to you for a second.」
「Yes. What do you need?」
The elderly guard standing before me looked quite familiar.
Come to think of it, I think he was also the guard even when I was the Flame of Flame. He seems to be a few years younger than he was back then, but it’s hard to believe he’s been here for so long.
I kept speaking to the guard while being enveloped by nostalgic feelings.
「We have business inside, so I’d be grateful if you let us in. Here’s our invitation.」
「Let me see… This is certainly Yera-sama’s signature. You may come in.」 The elderly guard said as he turned around to fiddle with the door behind him.
The door made a metallic sound.
The elderly guard proceeded to open the door and invite us in.
「Wow. So this is the inside of the Red Tower… It’s quite different from Yera-san’s Sky Tower isn’t it.」
「The design of each of the Towers was chosen by the first Heavenly Mages. It’s normal that they’re completely different from one another.」
「You know quite a lot for your age, young man.」 The guard responded.
「I read about it before.」
We kept walking past the red-brick walls until we arrived at the tower’s centre.
From there we walked a bit more until the guard stopped in front of a room.
This was probably the room where the Dispatch Magicians who were expected to escort us to the East Continent.
A response was heard from the other side as soon as the elderly guard knocked on the door.
「You may come in.」
「If you will excuse us.」
