Chapter 227: Takatsuki Makoto meets the Savior
Chapter 227: Takatsuki Makoto meets the Savior
Lightning Hero Abel.
The Earth Hero Volkh-san certainly said that.
It bothered me that he is not being called the Light Hero, but Savior Abel possesses both the Light Hero and Lightning Hero Skills.
So there should be no mistake here.
“…Let’s free the others from their cages. Momo, let’s go.” (Makoto)
“Yes, Makoto-sama.” (Momo)
“You are a great help. Tell me who you are later please.” (Volkh)
We spoke in a low voice as we headed to the remaining cages.
The one tied up in the neighboring cage was a woman with long hair.
This person must be the Wood Hero Julietta-san.
I cut the chains that were tying her up.
And then, at the cage that was deeper in…was a slender young man who seemed to be the same age as me.
He has his head down and I can’t see his face.
He is…Savior Abel?
The legendary person that I have been told of uncountable times in the Water Temple.
I finally managed to meet face to face with the legendary Hero.
I was silently moved by this reality while I did the same as the time with Volkh-san, and cut the cage and the chains.
“That dagger…just what in the world is it made of?” (Volkh)
Volkh-san was staring at my dagger with deep interest.
“T-Thanks… Who are you?”
“…”
The Wood Hero Julietta-san thanked me.
Hero Abel was still hanging his head down.
“I am Makoto, and the girl here is Momo. I have come to save you people. Let’s get away from here first.” (Makoto)
“So he says. Let’s go, Julietta, Abel.” (Volkh)
“Yes, Volkh.” (Julietta)
“…Yes.” (Abel)
Looks like Volkh-san is the leader within this group of 3.
We 3 left the plaza in the mist while making sure not to get caught by the Gargoyle.
We advanced through the back alleys of the city for a while, and at the time when we arrived all the way to the walls…
*Gan! Gan! Gan! Gan!*
The loud sound of metal ringing and loud shouts of ‘The Heroes have run away!’ ‘Search for them!’.
Tch, found out, huh.
“We are running!” (Volkh)
Volkh-san’s shout made us run all the way to the walls.
The walls were around 3 meters tall.
Momo and I can’t use flying magic, so we were wondering about how to get over it.
“Hnnn!!” (Volkh)
Volkh-san destroyed the wall with his fist while making a throaty voice.
A giant hole was made in the wall.
As expected of a Hero.
We crossed that wall, jumped over the moat outside…and I was about to fail, but Julietta-san hurriedly pulled my hand.
“A-Are you okay?” (Julietta)
“Thanks…” (Makoto)
Why can everyone easily jump over a moat that’s further than 2 meters in distance…?
Or more like, Momo is unexpectedly physically capable.
“We are getting away before the demons find us!” (Volkh)
“Yes, Volkh! Even so, this dense mist really helps out. It is rare to see one this dense around here though…” (Julietta)
“This mist was made by Makoto-sama!” (Momo)
“Oh my, is that so? That’s impressive. Covering such a big area.” (Julietta)
“That’s right! Makoto-sama is amazing!” (Momo)
Julietta-san and Momo were talking as if they were having fun.
Aren’t they getting along too fast?
“Keep the talking to a bare minimum.” (Volkh)
“…”
Volkh-san made a wry smile and Hero Abel was as silent as ever.
He is looking down with a dark expression the whole time.
He is different from what I imagined.
We continued running for a while.
Volkh-san, Julietta-san, and Hero Abel were wounded everywhere and were barefoot, but they ran astoundingly fast.
We continued running inside the dark forest.
We somehow managed to run away.
◇◇
“Maan, you saved us there big time!”
“Haaah~…I thought we were done for for sure this time~.” (Julietta)
We were camping in the cave that Volkh-san made with magic.
Close to the campfire there’s skewered rabbits, and wild birds being grilled.
Julietta-san was the one who caught them.
The nice smell of cooking meat was wafting around.
…*Guuh~* the stomach of Momo growled.
“Hah!” (Momo)
Momo blushed at this.
“Young lady, you must be hungry. Eat. You guys are our life saviors.” (Volkh)
“Momo-chan~, eat a whole lot, okay~?” (Julietta)
“No! Makoto-sama was the one who did all…” (Momo)
“Just eat, Momo.” (Makoto)
I am not that hungry, so I urged Momo to eat.
Momo bites into the skewered meat.
I watch that heartwarmingly…is what I make it look as I use Perspective Change to observe the 3 Heroes.
Earth Hero, Volkh-san.
He is tall and has a good physique. The scars around his whole body are proof of the many hard fought battles he’s had.
The first time we met, he had a stern expression the whole time, but he is now laughing heartily as he eats the roasted meat.
He is saying stuff like ‘I want beer!’ which made me remember the veteran adventurer Lucas-san.
Is he doing well…?
Wood Hero, Julietta-san.
Chestnut color long hair and long ears.
Julietta-san is an elf.
Moreover, an incredibly beautiful elf.
Her attire is in tatters. The dangerous parts of her skin are close to visible, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by it.
It seems like she has taken a liking to Momo and has been caring for her the whole time.
Momo seems to be happy that she can speak to a beautiful older Onee-san.
And…
Lightning Hero Abel.
Glistening blonde hair, sapphire-like blue eyes.
He is so handsome that you could mistake him for a girl, but I could tell that he is a man from his muscles and his chest.
He hasn’t opened his mouth one bit till now and has been watching the campfire.
“Hey, Abel… How about thanking Makoto-dono and Momo-dono at the very least?” (Volkh)
“That’s right. He came to save us, you know?” (Julietta)
“……”
Even with that, Hero Abel didn’t speak.
“Sorry, Makoto-dono. Abel lost someone close to him in the battle of before…” (Volkh)
“He is normally a more cheerful boy, you know?” (Julietta)
Volkh-san and Julietta-san said apologetically, but I shook my head to the sides.
“I am not bothered by that. The one who gave me the oracle to save the Heroes was the Sun Goddess Althena-sama after all.” (Makoto)
“Yeah, that, that! Hey, who are you, Makoto-kun? A Hero? But being able to hear the voice of the Goddess-sama means you are an Oracle, right? But you are a boy… What’s going on?!” (Julietta)
“Uhm…there’s a lot going on…” (Makoto)
It seems Julietta-san was interested in me now, she approached me persistently.
Woah, there’s a nice scent…
The personality of Julietta reminds me of the receptionist of the Makkaren Adventurer Guild, Mary-san.
Oh, right.
Idle chatter is good and all, but I have to ask a lot of things.
“Where do you plan on going next?” (Makoto)
Momo and I are rootless grass.
If possible, I would like to act together with them.
“Aah, we will return to our base. How about coming with us if you are okay with that, Makoto-dono? I would like to consult with you about a variety of things regarding the future.” (Volkh)
Ooh, they have a base.
That’s great.
“Momo and I have nowhere to go, so we will accompany you. Where’s your base?” (Makoto)
“Uhm, do you know Laberintos?” (Julietta)
Julietta-san tells us.
Wait, eh?
“Laberintos is a dungeon, right?” (Makoto)
“That’s right. We have made a base at the upper floor of it. There’s no proper city aside from the Moon Country in this West Continent ruled by the Demon Lords… We have no choice but to hide in dungeons…” (Julietta)
I see…so that’s how they hide themselves.
Dungeons where monsters are in is safer…
“Makoto-dono, from where did you come from? Momo-dono is apparently from the farm, but that’s not the case for Makoto-dono, right? I don’t think you would be kidnapped by monsters with that strength of yours. But the fact that you aren’t familiar with the land around is hard to comprehend.” (Volkh)
Volkh-san asks in wonder.
“I came from a faraway country…” (Makoto)
I can’t really say I have come from 1,000 years in the future, so I just answer vaguely.
“Okay, let’s leave the talk here. Let’s get some sleep, and we will go straight to the bas—” (Volkh)
The words of Volkh-san were cut off in the middle.
The ground shook.
Magic was shot at us?!
“There they are!” “The Heroes?!” “I don’t know, but just kill them!” “If the Demon Lord-sama discovers that we let them escape, we will be the ones dead!”
I heard many footsteps and voices.
They have caught up!
“They found us, huh! Let’s go, Abel! Julietta!” (Volkh)
“Aah, this is the worst!” (Julietta)
“Makoto-sama?!” (Momo)
Volkh-san smacked the shoulder of Hero Abel, and Julietta-san scratched her head while going ‘kiiih!’.
I pulled the hand of Momo who had a pale face.
…I should have taken at least one bite of the meat.
“Uooooh!” (Volkh)
Volkh-san punched the gargoyle that lunged into the cave.
He jumped out just like that, and we followed after him.
“Achaaa, we are surrounded.” (Julietta)
Just like Julietta-san said, there’s close to 100 monsters and demons with just a glance.
I saw a giant dog monster in front of us.
These are hunting dogs, huh.
They followed our scent?
“Momo, don’t get away from me.” (Makoto)
“Okay, Makoto-sama!” (Momo)
I pull the hand of Momo, and take a stance with my dagger to protect her.
We have barely slept since the other day, so I could feel my concentration has dropped a bit.
“It is the Heroes! Capture them!” “If it is not possible, kill them!” “Vuooooo!”
Monsters were attacking us one after the other.
Every single one of them is pretty strong.
“[Water Dragon].” (Makoto)
I drive away the monsters rushing me with water magic.
Maybe because I have been continuously borrowing the mana of the Water Spirits every day, the output is a bit weak.
But I am more worried about the Heroes.
They still have the same attire as the time when they were captured, so they are wearing plain clothes and are barehanded.
Volkh-san is fighting against around 10 monsters barehanded.
Julietta-san made an impromptu whip with the plants around using wood magic and was fighting them with it.
There’s no waste in her movements, and I could tell how experienced of a fighter she is.
…The one I am worried about is…Hero Abel.
He is fighting off the fierce attacks of the monsters coming at him, but he has practically no fighting spirit.
Is he okay…?
Fortunately, the Earth Hero and Wood Hero are strong.
The two defeated practically all of the monsters themselves.
How did these people get caught?
I assist the two in the chances I get.
(That’s a relief. It looks like we will be able to manage somehow…) (Makoto)
At the moment I was about to sigh in relief…
“Abel!!” (Julietta)
I heard the scream of Julietta-san.
When I look, it seems like Hero Abel slipped, he had fallen onto his butt.
A skeleton knight riding a wyvern was charging at him from above with a spear.
T-This is bad!
I hurriedly called the Water Spirits!
Spirit-sans! Help us!
Only one Water Spirit appeared.
“Makoto-sama!” (Momo)
While my attention was taken by Abel, a giant monster had passed by my side.
“Momo?!” (Makoto)
By the time I noticed, Momo had been captured in the claws of a griffon.
The griffon was steadily going higher and higher.
“Eh?” (Makoto)
My head couldn’t keep up with what happened for a second there.
Hero Abel who seems as if he would be skewered after a few seconds, and the little girl Momo who was taken away.
‘If Hero Abel dies, the world ends.’
The voice of Althena-sama resonates in my head.
I had no time to think.
“[Dragon Claw].” (Makoto)
I clad the mana of the Water Spirit into the dagger’s blade, and shot it to the Skeleton Knight and Wyvern.
The monster gets cut to pieces.
By the time I hurriedly turned around, the griffon who took Momo away was already a spec far in the sky.
“Heroes! If you treasure the life of this one, come to the Demon Lord Castle!!”
“Makoto-samaaa!!” (Momo)
I somehow managed to pick up those words with Eavesdrop.
After that, Volkh-san and Julietta-san managed to make the monsters retreat.
Hero Abel was still silent and with a gloom expression as always.
We managed to fight off the monsters, but no one was looking cheerful.
“What should we do, Julietta?” (Volkh)
“Isn’t it obvious? We have to save Momo-chan!” (Julietta)
Julietta-san answered immediately to the question of Volkh.
Looks like they intend to head to the Demon Lord Castle.
These people…are Heroes to the very marrow of their bones.
But if we were to go back to the Demon Lord Castle, the trouble of saving them would be wasted.
“You three, head back to the base, please.” (Makoto)
“Eh? What about Momo-chan?!” (Julietta)
“What are you saying, Makoto-dono?!” (Volkh)
The 3 Heroes made surprised expressions at my words.
…Abel’s expression warped slightly at this.
“Even if you were to return to the Demon Lord Castle without any proper weapons and armor, you would just be walking to your deaths, you know?” (Makoto)
“““……”””
The 3 have tattered plain clothes and were barehanded.
They couldn’t say anything back to me.
“I will catch up to you guys later. The base is at the upper floor of Laberintos, right?” (Makoto)
“Eh?! Only we will go back to the base?! What will you be doing, Makoto-kun?!” (Julietta)
Julietta-san’s eyes opened wide.
Isn’t that obvious?
“I will go to the Demon Lord Castle to save Momo.” (Makoto)