Episode 88: Like Master, Like Disciple
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“Huh? Maya-san went all the way to the forest entrance, but she hasn’t joined up with Ota and the others yet. What’s she doing?”
After Kenta headed towards the forest entrance, Nara, who remained behind, observed the situation with Meileen.
“That’s true. I wonder what’s wrong?”
Meileen tilted her head, picking up Leon, who had been clinging to her feet.
“Ah, it seems some Weimar soldiers have arrived, as there’s a small gathering of Magic Power. Is she observing the situation because of that?”
“After releasing magic on that scale, it must have made a considerable noise. Even the Human Tribe would notice.”
“Seriously, what is that guy thinking?”
As they were talking, Yulia, who was sitting on a chair holding Aira, said enviously,
“You two are so lucky. We of the Human Tribe can’t detect Magic Power, so we have no idea what’s going on.”
Meileen gave a wry smile at Yulia, who was pouting.
At that moment, the Magic Power shifted, and Nara and Meileen reacted.
“What, what? Did something happen?”
“I’d like to know too. Did something happen?”
Eva, whose belly had grown quite large and whose condition had stabilized, sat next to Yulia and asked with great interest.
Nara answered Eva with a slightly strained expression.
“Ah, yeah. Maya-san finally moved, but… she shot magic when approaching Ota, that person.”
“E-eh…”
Eva was completely taken aback by Kenta’s overly masochistic behavior.
“The fact that Kenta took such action means that Ota must have said something to anger him, right?”
Ivern, who was standing near Yulia, said that even Kenta wouldn’t suddenly shoot magic as a greeting, so there must be a reason.
“That’s probably it. I wonder what he got angry about?”
Nara and everyone else gave Meileen a “seriously?” look.
“Isn’t the only thing that makes Maya-san angry related to Meileen-san?”
When Nara said that, Eva and Yulia nodded in agreement.
“Maybe it’s about us…”
“No way. I feel like that person would just say ‘good job’ even if we died.”
“…Yeah, I can only imagine that scene.”
Ivern’s words, spoken with a glimmer of hope, were immediately rejected by Nara.
And Ivern, who vividly imagined that scene, could only give a wry smile.
“Even so, for Ota to say something that would anger Maya-san… could it be that he started saying he wanted to make Meileen-san his?”
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s no wonder Kenta is angry. After all, Kenta loves me.”
“Ha, haha. That’s right.”
Nara couldn’t help but recoil at Meileen’s words, which she said as if it were obvious, but since it was actually true, he vaguely smiled and brushed it off.
They continued to observe Kenta and the others, but Nara and Meileen both reacted simultaneously.
“What’s wrong?”
When Ivern asked, noticing the change in their demeanor, Nara opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“…A separate Demon Tribe unit has appeared. They’re making contact with the Forest Barrier… Ah! They just broke through the barrier!”
“Oh my… It’s not a barrier that can be broken so easily, though…”
“They’ve made contact with this barrier several times before, so maybe they gained some hints on how to break it?”
“Now that you mention it, the Intelligence Unit and the nobles from the other day made contact with the barrier twice. If they touched the Magic Formula of the barrier at that time, they might have found a way to break it with this much time.”
“That’s the only explanation. More importantly, what is Maya-san doing? He must have noticed the separate unit, so why isn’t he moving?”
It was hard to believe that Kenta would leave a threat approaching Meileen unattended.
But in reality, Kenta showed no signs of moving.
Nara found that suspicious, but Meileen chuckled.
“W-what is it?”
“No, I just thought that Kenta trusts you quite a bit.”
“Eh?”
“Kenta entrusted this place to you, didn’t he? Because he believes you’ll be fine.”
Nara was greatly shaken by Meileen’s words.
“R-really?”
“Yes. So…”
Meileen paused there and turned her gaze to the forest.
“Do your best.”
At the end of her gaze, several members of the Demon Tribe were emerging from the forest.
Having been told by Meileen that Kenta trusted him, Nara desperately tightened his face, which was about to loosen, and headed towards the Demon Tribe members.
“This is private property, so entry is prohibited. Is there something you need?”
Perhaps inheriting it from Kenta, Nara approached while belittling his opponents.
The Demon Tribe members, on the other hand, were bewildered by the fact that there were humans other than Meileen and Mona, contrary to the information they had.
And when they found Leon being held by Meileen, their faces twisted.
“As I thought… the worst-case scenario has already occurred.”
Those words reached Nara’s ears as he approached.
“Worst-case scenario? What are you talking about?”
The Demon Tribe members looked down on Nara as a young man who knew nothing.
They looked down on him.
“Hmph. I have no obligation to teach a brat. More importantly, what is your relationship with that person?”
“You’re asking me a question without answering mine? What’s wrong with you? Are you stupid?”
Also inheriting this from Kenta, Nara provoked them in return.
Perhaps they didn’t expect to be refuted, anger appeared on the faces of the Demon Tribe members.
“Boy… I’ll let you off this time. Answer my question obediently.”
The Demon Tribe members, still looking down on him, did not stop their overbearing attitude, and Nara let out a deep sigh.
“I heard there are a lot of bastards in this world, but it’s true.”
“What did you say!?”
The Demon Tribe members were enraged by Nara’s words, but in the next moment, they decided to stop arguing with Nara.
“Oops. I thought he was going to protect Ota, but he ended up finishing him off.”
They knew that an immensely large Magic Power had annihilated their decoy unit.
“We don’t have time to deal with a kid’s nonsense! Let’s accomplish our objective quickly!”
Nara stopped the Demon Tribe members, who were about to move, by releasing his Magic Power.
“Objective? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of kidnapping Meileen-san?”
“Hmph! W-what is this Magic Power…”
“Answer the question. Is your objective to kidnap or kill Meileen-san?”
The Demon Tribe members did not answer Nara’s repeated question.
That told the story that the question was correct.
Realizing that, Nara sighed again, this time out of exasperation.
“Haa, if you do something like that, the Demon Tribe Nation will disappear from the map tomorrow, you know?”
“Don’t spout nonsense!! We have to do this! What do you know!!”
Nara scoffed at the Demon Tribe member who shouted that.
“Hah, I don’t understand any of that. More importantly, if your objective is achieved, my life will probably be in danger before the Demon Tribe Nation, so for now…”
As Nara said that, he converted his Magic Power into a Magic Formula.
“You saw Meileen-san and Leon, so you guys…”
And then, he unleashed the magic.
“Eliminated.”
“Wh-!? Wh…”
The Demon Tribe members tried to say something, but their figures were wiped out along with the shockwave caused by Nara’s magic.
After releasing the magic, Nara searched the area with Magic Power detection and confirmed that no Demon Tribe members remained.
“Phew, good grief. I hope this means I won’t get scolded by Maya-san?”
Saying that, he returned to Meileen and the others, and Meileen greeted him while holding Leon.
“Good job, Nara-san. As expected, Kenta trusts you.”
“No, it’s not a problem.”
“Ooh! Ooh!”
In Meileen’s arms, Leon reached out to Nara with excitement.
“Oops, Leon, weren’t you scared?”
“I!”
“I see, I see.”
When Nara said that and ruffled Leon’s head, Leon squealed happily.
Then, Eva rushed over.
“Mitsuhiko-sama! Are you alright!?”
A worried expression was on Eva’s face as she rushed over.
“I’m fine. You were watching, right? There was no danger.”
“That’s not it! I mean… are you really okay with killing people like that?”
Looking at Eva, Nara gave a wry smile.
“Unfortunately, I’ve gotten used to killing people. So, I don’t feel anything now.”
“Ah…”
At Nara’s words, Eva remembered that Nara had been forced to participate in the war against the Demon Tribe.
Eva recalled the time when Nara had fallen ill after killing so many of the Demon Tribe in the war, and how they had first become intimate as a way to comfort him.
“Are you scared of me, now that you know how easily I can kill people?”
When Nara asked her that, Eva shook her head vehemently.
“No! No! It was my fathers who drove Mitsuhiko-sama to that! It was us! I only feel sorry, I could never be scared!!”
Eva said, and then embraced Nara.
“I’m sorry… Please, don’t hate me…”
“Don’t be an idiot, there’s no way that could happen.”
“Mitsuhiko-sama…”
Just as their shadows were about to overlap…
“Huh? What the hell are you guys doing?”
Kenta’s voice came from the Forest entrance, and the two separated at high speed.
Seeing this, Yulia and Ivern burst into laughter, and Meileen giggled.
“What are you doing? You guys.”
Meileen approached Kenta, who frowned, not understanding the situation, and said.
“It’s youth, you see.”
Kenta frowned at those words, but was relieved to see that Meileen and the others seemed to be safe.