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Chapter 410: Trust is a Two-Sided Road. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2023-04-15 02:46:28 +0000 UTCEdit: Added a single change at the very end to make the scene cooler.
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Certain sections of my scale wall were cut down, which should be rather hard to do for the knights, even if Lautrex had some hidden weapon that didn’t apply holy damage. But that was when my nose caught the smell of that bitter scent I attributed to those dragonslayers. That uncomfortable skin prickling feeling came from bone daggers the four knights were carrying with their mainhand.
It was then my suspicion became true as I saw Karlst and Falamm slice through some scales with those very dagger, albeit, with some difficulty as they had to hack into a section twice to separate them. Meaning, those daggers were coated with anti-dragon blood poison. Did they get them from the dragonslayers, or were they given to them by the Empire? Question, I couldn’t smell those daggers up until now, so where—Oh shit!
[Storage Magic]!
I was mostly a trial and error type of person, but goodness, I should have probably thought about checking the students' inventories. One of them probably carried those daggers and kept them hidden.
However, what confused me the most was how the students even betrayed us. I kept my ears sharp and listened to everything, only for my parallel minds to remind me I had told the students to use [Telepathy] if they wanted to speak behind my back. Seeing the four students before me as enemies right now, I activated [Mana Eyes], and to my elation, I was able to read their entire Profiles! Yay!
Although, my mood instantly dropped when I noticed how, well, solidly rank C they were. Well, I shouldn’t be too surprised considering Tatsuya and Kyouya weren’t that much better than them. In any case, I did confirm they all had [Telepathy]. Did they just buy that? Did I actually just give them good advice, only to have it turned on me?
Well, it didn’t matter. I tried to get along with them, but I guess their paranoia just got the better of them.
Tatsuya! After my brain assessed the situation, my eyes locked onto Tatsuya as he pulled out his spear from Chifuya’s stomach. His throat was bleeding and the pain on his face contorted his expression as he began to cough.
“Sorry, Tatsuya-kun!” The magic swordswoman grimaced in horror as she tightened her grip over the blade she used to cut Tatsuya, before a flush appeared on her face.
“Adrenaline Rush!”
Veins appeared on her face as she steeled her resolve, blade ready to attack Tatsuya as his body began to morph, growing in size as he took a step back. However, before that could unfold at all, the heat inside my throat grew to the point I unleashed a white flame breath at them, intending to heal Tatsuya and push Chifuya back, not kill her!
However, my flame breath suddenly avoided them, traveling to the side as I noticed the flames disappearing as they gathered around Natsume—party Takuma’s offensive mage. They entered her right hand as she carried a crystalline ball with her left—probably a catalyst—before it began to glow red and white.
“Too much! Too much! I’m overflowing!” she screamed as her face began to turn purple-blue. It was arcane corruption, and it probably would have surprised me if I hadn’t made sure to learn the student’s unique skills before this.
<Savior: Sacrifice 20% of max health to shroud your body with holy mana and obtain savior armor, granting temporary [Sacred Resistance Lv. X], with X = [Savior Lv. X]. Grants a 10% increase in stats and 5% more up per party member you lead, up to 25%. Increases every allies’s stats by 10% and amplifies aura-based skills or attacks>
<Saint’s Oath: Allows the sharing of all current positive status effects on the owner through an aura skill. Efficiency of the transferred buff is determined by the skill’s level. While an aura is active, it applies a passive health regeneration on all allies and periodically reduces the effects of status afflictions. Effects boosted with a beneficial aura skill>
<Enmity’s Pain: Activates upon the sensation of pain regardless of the source and can only be maintained by that sensation. Limits abnormal status afflictions to the minor stage. Reduces damage taken by [Enmity’s Pain Lv. X] * 5%. Increases strength and intelligence by a percentage according to the owner’s health or mana, respectively>
<Elemental Absorption: Allows the absorption of elemental spells and attack, neutralizing the elemental effect or spell entirely, turning it into mana. Excess mana can be channeled into other objects, or released into the air. If the intelligence stat of the absorbed attack’s owner is higher than this skill’s owner’s intelligence + wisdom, slowly build up arcane corruption. Decrease arcane corruption gained by [Elemental Absorption Lv. X] * 5%>
Takuma’s [Savior], Aiko’s [Saint’s Oath], Chifuya’s [Enmity’s Pain], and Natsume’s [Elemental Absorption]. According to Franz, their unique skills “evolved” during their stay in the Empire, apparently due to a ritual performed by the pope after they performed a major feat. It was used to “ask” Aurena to evolve their skills, acting as a propaganda piece as the entire Church of Aurena HQ in the Empire was filled up with people.
To visualize, it was apparently as large as the Vatican’s main cathedral, although still smaller than the faith’s capital in Aureolis. The Emperor, many noble families, and even dignitaries attended the session, so it was a pretty big deal. It really was good advertising material, even if I knew the demonkins probably influenced the skills somewhat, although I wasn’t sure how.
[“Don’t kill them!”] I reminded Vifi’Yok, since I couldn’t speak with me breathing fire.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll beat them an inch before death. Start heal—Huh!?”
The demonkin suddenly fell back, barely stopping herself by planting her foot down, but her body still fell down the stairs, looking like she was being pulled away by an invisible hand. She struggled, even digging my glaive into the wall to stop herself, but it was useless. This relentless force’s source only became clear when I saw Hayato fly past her, up the stairs towards me.
<Switcheroo: Using mana, switch position with a target. The process cannot be stopped until the positions have been switched or the user or the target perished mid-way through the activation process. The usable distance increases per level. Mana cost is determined by the distance>
All their unique skills are so unbelievably broken!
Downing three health potions like some alcoholic, Hayato’s beat-up and broken body was healed up, as if Vifi’Yok hadn’t just given her a traumatic experience. He pulled out two bone daggers from an opening in the air—[Storage Magic]—and attempted to slash me with them.
Seeing how my flames weren’t doing anything with another anti-mage around, I closed my mouth and snapped my body around. Although my scales couldn’t defend me properly from those anti-dragon weapons, I could use them to deflect his attacks, allowing me to use this opening to use Sis’s martial training to disarm in.
“I can play this game, too!” I shouted before grabbing his daggers and stuffing them into my own storage, before taking out a holy flame grenade.
I pushed Hayato out of the way to gain the space to throw my grenade, but the latter used his unique skill again to switch positions with me. He caught the grenade as it just left my hand, but I was already prepared for this. I blew him away with [Wind Blast] and snapped my fingers as I began singing [Dragon Fire]. The scale-dust I left on his body from disarming him blew up as I performed a simple spark fire, causing the grenade to blow up in a hail of white flames.
<[Music Resonation (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Although he couldn’t get hurt by the flames, he was still vulnerable to the explosion itself. He was blown away as my white flames healed him, Tatsuya, and Chifuya. Natsume was already absorbing the fire, but this still gave everybody enough time to react.
Tatsuya transformed into his vampire bat form, frightening the students as he spread his leather membrane arms. He challenged Chifuya with his spear, prompting the girl to pull out a needle to stick into her finger, activating her unique skill before she engaged her classmate in a clash of magic and steel. Although still a newbie, Tatsuya’s elemental armguard allowed him to perform some simple magical attacks, but he was mostly overpowering her with his spear techniques he honed through Yorshka’s training.
I also wanted to check on Kyouya and Franz’s side, but my [Danger Perception] warned me as Lautrex charged in. I ducked under his blade, finally feeling some threat from his attacks. I thought he was hopeless without his gauntlets, so where did he get this sword from?
I cast [Panzer] over my body like armor before pulling the dragon daggers I just stole from Hayato to parry his blade, only for me to lose one of them as it instantly broke apart the moment it touched his weapon.
Dammit! This isn’t Grimnir-sanctioned equipment! Ahhhhhh! Useless!
So, instead, I formed purple flames around my arm and hardened them into an obsidian spear, using it to shove Laturex back. The weapon splintered, but it didn’t matter as I could just continuously produce more throw-away weapons. I saved the last dragon dagger and released my body heat while singing [The Heir of Hope].
<[The Shield of [The Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“Your paranoia really got to you, huh?” I snarled, exposing my fangs as I considered him a bit of a nuisance at this point. “You could have had me swear to Kramps to not scam you. Here I thought my promise would do the trick.”
“My duty is to serve the Holy Emperor of Mankind. If protecting the Heroes of Aurena is the only way for me to bring peace to this endless struggle with the demonkins, then I will give up my life! Even if we knights die, if we get that key to the Heroes, we will have served our role!” Lautrex’s formerly lackadaisical expression hardened as he scowled at me. “If you have fought Sir Larent before, then I shall not dishonor you once again, my lady. I will show you what a real Hand of Heaven can do!”
He raised his free hand, revealing three magic rings he was wearing. “The Emperor sent me here for a false mission. I was sent here to slay an evil dragon, but I see how that was a—Urgk!”
“Woah!” I snapped my head as I noticed a signal coming at me, pushing me aside before jumping up and slamming his axe onto Lautrex.
“Don’t need a casus belli any longer; the fact the other has to die for the other to survive makes this a war! Whether Kargryx is neutral to its princess’s suffering or not, that is a casus belli in my book, youngling. Bladdarg, and she’s my guest, idiot!” It was the Ankoran King, and he didn’t sound happy. “I heard even the lowest Hand of Heaven can take on a whole party of rank Bs, maybe even duel two As. How about two As and four Bs?”
“King—” My aura stopped a bit as I noticed four dwarves move past me—three earthshakers and one samurai. I wanted to respond to them, but King Fugnarus did not allow it.
He kicked Laturex back before swinging his axe over his shoulder before pulling out the data chip “I told you this already, Princess. My word is my honor, and if I commit myself to a cause, I will fight with it till the bitter end. Shake up; I’m here to rescue you, so sit back and watch. Come on, knight, you need one of these, right?”
‘We dwarves honor our debts and oaths. If we become allies, I will muster my people to fight in your name if you need to, Princess Hestia …’
Those were his words to me when I first arrived in Inkoran-Tazul and had my meeting with him and King Drangleic. They repeated in my head as he walked forward with his dwarven guards. Behind me, I felt unnerved as the silent steps of the elven rangers were barely audible, only for me to watch in horror as they pulled out their arrows. “Incapacitate,” I told them, but their weak “We will try” did not inspire much confidence.
But that was when I heard Franz shout “Eyes!” before I saw a rock ball being thrown at the ceiling of the building. It exploded, releasing a blinding light like a flashbang, catching everybody surprised.
“[Switcheroo]. Weakness: The target needs to be within eyesight to perform the switch!” Franz’s words pierced through the combined groans inside the room, following the war cries of the dwarves, probably saved from the blinding light due to their helmets protecting their eyes.
As I opened mine, I saw the four knights were quickly assaulted, with the king taking on Lautrex by his lonesome while the samurai took on Royce. The three fully armored shieldbearers ganged up on the remaining knights, quickly overwhelming them and pushing them back.
Franz, Kyouya, and Tatsuya, on the other hand, took on the students. Franz—maybe he had suspected this ambush—was taking out multiple tools and items from his storage, using them against his classmates to neutralize their powers.
Kyouya, donning his black armor, pushed back Takuma, tanking whatever attack the other threw at him while keeping him at bay with the help of [The Heir of Hope] boosting his stats. Meanwhile, Tatsuya used his druid form to knock out the shouting Hayato, stopping him from using his unique skill, again.
Seeing them all fight without even needing my help, I had to admit I wasn’t needed here. In fact, all I needed to do was sing.
All buffs up.
<[Various Spell Buffs] [Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Sanctified Blaze] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“L-Light?!” Chifuya was next after she saw one of her comrades blacking out.
“You're the ones that provoked us. [Enmity’s Pain]. Weakness: Dull nerves, anything to prevent physical and mental sensations. Answer: Laughing gas, sleeping poison.” Franz pulled out a glass bottle with a lid with a hole just large enough for the dagger he pulled out. He placed the bottle back in his storage before rushing at the girl.
“Back off!” Natsume, though, reacted just in time, shooting out a fire ball at him and forcing him to dodge back.
However, in one swift motion, he opened his storage again, pulled out what looked like a wooden pipe and threw his dagger at Natsume, instead. It barely glanced at her cheeks, but blood was drawn. He then blew into the pipe, shooting out what looked like a needle at Chifuya, who swiftly cut it down.
Franz landed on his feet and conjured up his spectral sword, again. “[Elemental Absorption]. Weakness: Mana paths blockage. Close up mana entrances into the body, preventing mana from exiting or entering the owner’s body. Very, very hard to do … that’s why we use arcane corruption poison to make it hard for the mage to cast in the first place. Words are the same.”
Just like he said, Natsume’s skin around her cheek turned purple. Despite the healing aura coming from a cowering Aiko, Natsume coughed, looking ill as the poison spread through her body.
Speaking of Aiko, she was hiding herself from the battle by staying in the corner of the room. She had her staff raised, but her eyes darted around the room, unsure what exactly to do. It didn’t even seem like she had ever seen a real battle with how she acted.
“Hestia, camera! Record this!” my cousin ordered me to, only for him to interpret my hesitation that he had to elaborate on his plan. “Nagata, Ishigami, and I have this! Stand there and record everything. Sensei needs to know what exactly is happening! You also need proof for the other students in the basement.”
Basement!
I snapped my head around, only to see Vifi’Yok sitting on the stairs, pointing her glaive at the other two student parties. She was blocking them from coming up by looking intimidating.
Seeing that was covered, I pulled out the recorder and began to film everything. From the fight with the knights and King Fugnarus, to how Franz was exploiting everything about his classmates.
“Arrgh!” Natsume fell onto her knees, unable to hold herself up. “Argh, there’s more than just arcane corruption in there! I feel numb!”
“Well, of course,” Franz stated as if it was obvious. “Do you think I have an infinite storage? Some of my toxins just have overlapping effects.”
“Light!” Chifuya charged in with a wild scream, only for Tatsuya to take her on. “T-Ta—Get out of my way!”
“Greeeeeeeeccck!” he screeched, causing the girl to flinch back in fear. “You really should have just listened to Hestia-san!”
Two students unable to fight, one occupied with Tatsuya, one too afraid to move away from her corner. Meaning, there was only one more person to take care of.
“[Savior]. Weakness:—”
“I have no weaknesses, you bastard!” Takuma interrupted Franz as he pulled out a scroll from his storage. “I am the hero in this story! I will bring all of us back to Earth! Dragon, dwarves, elves? I am the son of the Akanishi clan; I am made to reign over all—”
“—Weak, but too prideful and scared to admit he’s weak and scared of his father. Scared of his abusive father who slaps him when he ruins something. Kicks him out of rooms for failing to ‘be the best.’ Failed to enter the best school in Japan, instead of the ‘second fiddle.’”
“What?!” Takuma stopped fighting Kyouya the moment everything was said, snapping his head around, leaving an opening wide enough for the latter to land a right hook on the former’s face. “Bugahk!”
Franz saw this and continued. He knew he was in Takuma’s head now. “[Savior] is strong, but it isn’t because its owner is strong. It was luck. Luck, that the church decided to treat you any better than a blessed—the real heroes in this world. He has an overinflated ego, born from the fact he thinks he’s like his father. Wrong. We sons are not like our fathers. We are not their clones; only their tools for their continued success. Just like in this world. You are nothing but a tool for the church, Takuma.”
“Shut up! Grrahk!” Kyouya landed another hit.
Jeez …
Compared to the other students, this actually felt personal. Takuma’s weakness wasn’t related to his skill, it was emotional. That, somehow, made it feel terrible to listen to.
However, its effectiveness couldn’t be discounted. Franz’s tactic worked, worked so well it bought enough time for Tatsuya to finish hisr bout with Chifuya—he successfully hit her with his spear coated in Franz’s poison. With her unique skill nonfunctional, he quickly beat her before tackling Takuma alongside his best friend. With both of them on him with Franz giving his support, the fight quickly ended.
In fact, even on the Ankoran King’s side, the fight was over before it could even end. Lautrex and the king were still standing, but the Royce, Karlst, and Falamm were already down. Lautrex, against an opponent he could deal damage to, wasn’t that much of a disappointment. Then again, I didn’t know the Ankoran King’s level and actual power, so I couldn’t really tell.
Lautrex, though, did not surrender as everybody pointed their weapons at him. He held his sword up, face showing nothing but clear focus, and it didn’t look like he would stop. I stopped my recording for now and let the rest be handled by the people up here, and instead, went down the stairs.
I looked over at the students cowering in the corner. Some of them looked injured, probably caused by the dwarves, while others were just exhausted. They looked, honestly, like me and the students upstairs—dirty, stressed out, and stinky. They addressed Vifi’Yok as Valeria, and they were not pleased she was holding them down here.
“V-Valeria, what is going on?!” One of the girls questioned, turning furious when she saw me. “T-that’s the dragon! T-those scales! The bishops mentioned it could change into a human!”
“N-no, she’s here to end it!”
Panic and antagonism was clear in their eyes and action. My eyes weren’t focused on them, though, but at the fully bandaged person protected by a tall, brawler-looking boy—an Asian jock. His face was bruised up, even bleeding, but he didn’t shy away from glaring at me with his bleached hair. He looked a bit like a delinquent; more of one than Asaka, at least.
“Ryuji,” I probably correctly guessed, considering that was the person Franz was looking at the moment he charged into the basement. I threw my ID over to him. “Could you do Franz a favor and check my ID? I hid most of my skill and stats, but name, age, titles, and things I can afford to show are there.”
He raised an eyebrow, but still took this chance to put my ID onto the chain of his party bracelet. If I was an enemy, this was the best time to take a sneak peek on my profile, after all. Fortunately for me though, his eyes widened in surprise and he lowered his guard. He looked over to a green-haired boy.
“… Shiki, down. She’s the one Light wanted to find.”
“Well, it’s clear she was the dragon, so …” He paused before he nodded. “Right, right, it’s confirmed then? Ichiyo, let her through.”
While it was clear Ryuji and Shiki were on board with whatever Franz was planning, making it clear they were part of his party, the boy called Ichiyo was less inclined. His brown hair fluttered as he snapped his head around, looking outraged at what was suggested. He shouted, “W-what?!” but I didn’t let that stop me.
Vifi’Yok stood up and let me by. I walked closer to the bandaged girl, but three other girls and that Ichiyo girl tried to stop me, even unsheathing their weapons. Ryuji didn’t do anything aside from offering my ID back. I nodded and used my superior agility to outmaneuver them, bypassing them and grabbing my ID back.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but even a real Saintess couldn’t do it. She’s scarred for life, so you think you can forgive them for their attitude?” he asked, looking a bit timid now.
“Don’t worry about it,” I stated before taking a step forward.
At the same time, the student from behind tried to grab me, but Ryuji and that Shiki guy held them back just long enough for me to cast [Sanctuary] around me. I stopped all my songs except [The Heir of Hope], before pulling the bandages off the injured person’s body.
“Uuuh …” Yuuko in her ruined appearance groaned out loud. It was clear healing was performed to preserve her body, but I couldn’t help but stare at my “handiwork.”
The outer skin was completely gone, showing the consequences of third degree burns. In fact, some of the wounds were so deep, I could imagine it reached down into her muscles and even bones. Whoever this Saintess Fleindia was, she managed to keep this girl alive. She received the full brunt of my [Dreadflare Aura] without any real protection. Even Vifi’Yok looked like a carbonized corpse after I defeated her in Elyonda.
I couldn’t even make out a “face.” She didn’t have any outer features you would recognize on a face, like ears, nose, lips, or hair. Her new “features” looked like blisters or melted flesh, reddened in reaction to me taking off her bandages. She was making small moans, but I couldn’t tell if she was awake or not. The lack of real eyelids made it so her eyes were open.
“She’s going to kill Yuuko! GET OUT OF OUR WAY!”
“Ryuji! Shiki! Stop! Let us through—Urgrgh!”
Yuuko’s party members protested, one even slipped through the two boy’s hold and was starting to bang my light barrier with the sheath of her blade. I ignored them all and began my treatment. To fix what I caused.
Miraculous Grace.
My mind blanked out of all external stimuli, fully focused on the person on hand. I poured some of the pain numbing potion I got from Duchess Morgiana and Thyra when we did our surgery on Farron’s lungs. Once I was sure the potion worked, I sterilized my hands with soap and made sure my operating field was clean from any debris and laid down a white-piece of sheet and put Yuuko on it.
I first began separating any necrosis or melted skin, even carving out the scars to make sure her skin was clean. I had my parallel minds bring up my knowledge on surgery using the knowledge I learned from House Morgiana, the students, and my own experience of operating on the people in Elyonda to fix their issues. With a hand so steady real organ surgeons would be jealous of, I cleaned her body of her wounds.
Once I made room for her body to regrow, I activated [Miraculous Grace] here and there, while using [White Flames] to fix any wrong growth here or there. I fed her some dragorade and sugar water, keeping her body fueled since healing such a surgery usually caused strong fatigue, a lesson I learned after Farron’s surgery.
From her face down to her feet, I didn’t miss out on anything. Her rough, unappealing skin returned to being smooth and soft. I also corrected bones, muscles, fat, and even checked her organs to see if anything was wrong. It might look weird since I was examining her like some coroner, but no half-measure here.
After her surgery was done, I gave her one of my spare white robes, wrapping her with it before dispelling my light barrier. I held the unconscious Yuuko in a princess carry before bringing her over to six fish-eyed young men and women. I reached out to them.
“I am not sure I managed to correct her face. I only had the chance to look at you guys that one moment, so I mostly forgot your face features. Sorry.”
The boy named Ichiyo took her off me and pulled her closer to the students. All of them gasped before looking at me. Ryuji and Shiki were the only ones who nodded.
I nodded back and let out a small sigh of relief. Still, I had to talk to them. “I really, really didn’t mean to hurt any of you or Yuuko-san. I didn’t account for her [Magic Breaker] when I defended myself from the dragonslayers, and that caused me to accidentally burn her. I apologize for that, and I hope you can forgive me for defending myself from getting killed.”
I bowed deeply as was the custom for a Japanese person, but I didn’t go all out as I still felt like this wasn’t even my fault to begin with. At the end of the day, Tatsuya was right when he soothed me after I experienced the first wave of guilt over burning Yuuko—she got in front of me while I was defending myself from my contract killers.
Yet, the correct way to solve this issue wasn’t animosity, but forgive and forget. Saori’s student’s safety was still my top priority as I was doing this for my best friend. Even if the Empire and the demonkins lied to them, I honestly should condemn some of them—like the idiots above—but a momentary satisfaction to gloat or blame them would only ruin everything later on.
Instead, I pulled out my recorder from my storage and showed them the footage from before, showing everything up to when Franz told me to film. I showed them the entire fight, causing them to widen their eyes.
Once I was done, I showed them footage of the students already in my party—Haruka and the rest. Our happy moments, when we went out to eat with each other, talking while having a slumber party. I even showed them footage of us girls going into the hotspring, causing the three girls before me to gasp and shout “Don’t look!” to the boys! They then turned around to me, chastising me for showing “Tama-chan’s and the other’s bodies!” to the boys.
I couldn’t help but smile before putting the recorder back into my storage.
“I am not your enemy, no matter what the Empire or the church of Aurena might say. Tatsuya, Kyouya, Tamae, all of them; you are their classmates and they want you to be safe. If that is the case, then I will worry for you. You are all Saori Segawa’s former student; as her best friend, I don’t want to hurt any of you.” I reached my hand out before forming it into a fist. “You don’t have to trust me. You don’t need to believe me. But, do know my goal is to get all of you out of here alive.”
I pulled out the key to get out of this place, showing it to them. “There are only two keys. The rules state only two parties may escape, while the rest will die. I want you all to follow me upstairs. I want everybody to listen to what the other five parties want out of each other. Will you follow?”
“… We don’t have a choice, right?” Some of them turned over to Vifi’Yok, to which the latter shrugged.
They followed us up where we saw Franz, the boys, and the Ankoran King had wrapped the Takuma party and the knights in mana threads. I also noticed the wall was destroyed and Rajah was looking into the room, waving his tail. It seemed in my focus, I missed how Rajah broke through the door to slam the unconscious Royce a couple of times with his tail, putting him on the brink of death.
In any case, he wasn’t important, since Lautrex was still conscious. He was sitting down like a good student, despite looking like he would keel over at any moment now. His face was filled with bloody wounds and it looked like an arrow or two pierced his hands and feet. The elves’ contempt was clear to see.
“Y-Yuu-chan!?” Aiko was the first to notice, eying Yuuko’s unconscious body with a grimace. “H-how?”
Yuuko’s party members nudged their heads towards me, pointing at me being the healer. Since I already showed I could heal people, there really shouldn’t be any doubt, but Takuma really had to mumble, “Even a Saintess couldn’t heal her, how could this-this girl do the impossible?! I—Right, it’s her flames, of course, she could.”
Aiko kept staring at me, mouth agape as she didn’t do anything else. Did she really not believe I could do it, either? Or, what was her issue with me? Well, it didn’t matter, I had something more important to deal with.
“You want to use them now?” King Fugnarus offered me his key—the data chip the dungeon master left at the two temples of Chihiro we visited. I took it off him, but shook my head.
Instead, I stepped up, looking down at Tatsuya, Aiko, Lautrex, and the nine students from the basement. Apparently, the two boys all bruised up were also part of Franz’s party, and he was currently catching up with Ryuji and Shiki. After letting them speak a bit, I began by holding both keys up.
“The dungeon master has demanded of us to gather these two keys. I have my own plans for what we should do with them, but it is clear from the rules that only two parties may leave the floor, while the rest are probably doomed to die.”
Nobody said anything, while some gulped.
“However, before I say anything, I wish to hear every party leader’s opinion. If I were to give you these two keys right now, who would you want to give them to?”
The first to answer was, naturally, King Fugnarus. “Princess Hestia and I. No offense to you otherworlders and Folschreckians, but I have to look out for what benefits me the most. I came here to rescue her, and I will make sure she and the people who came with me make it out of here.”
The next was Lautrex. “Saint candidate Aiko. Whoever else doesn’t matter, even if it isn’t us. We knights live to serve the Goddess, only.”
The dwarven king did not care of Folschreck, nor did a representative of the Holy Emperor of Folschreck care about the dwarven king. That was the statement both sides gave.
I then turned to the students. All of them looked down on the floor, unwilling to answer. In fact, seeing each other having difficulty answering only made the other side more anxious, even eyeing the other as if they couldn’t believe “you wouldn’t choose me?!” Whoever answered first would probably have the other’s contempt.
As such, Ryuji took the fall. “Mine and Light’s, so, Hestia-san’s … party.”
“Ryuji!” The students from Yuuko’s party shouted out.
Seeing this, Takuma couldn’t help but jump onto the bandwagon. “See! I told you guys that bastard Light will probably show his ugly facade. The child of that demon lawyer! His attempts to make Folschreck ‘better’ in his image, and what exactly is that, huh? Always sneaking away to meet people, never telling us. Of course the bastard’s party would abandon us! The heroes!”
“R-right! We will choose Aiko-san’s and our party then! If you want to leave us to die, then so be it!” Ichijo shouted due to being cajoled by Takuma, supported by the rest of his party. However, for some reason, Takuma didn’t take it too well, looking irritated for some reason.
When Ichijo turned the question onto him on who he would choose, Takuma grinded his teeth as he looked over at Aiko—non-responsive and still staring at me like a broken puppet. Takuma let out a deep sigh, before his mood did a 180 and he began to smile brightly like some celebrity. “Of course. Whatever. Who else should we choose but you guys? Sir Laturex, thank you very much for your trust in us!”
“…” However, Lautrex could only stare at the obviously faking Takuma. A charismatic person could identify when another had their mask on.
Surprisingly, though, Ichijo didn’t believe Takuma either. Instead, he gulped and turned to me. “… I-I … Can we trust you to save us all? Bring us all out of here? If … If you really can then … please.”
“Ichijo? Are you serious?” Once again, Takuma’s eyes widened, staring at Yuuko’s party as if they had gone crazy.
With all the answers placed on the table, I nodded before casting [Warp Point: Exit] on the ground.
“Well, then all of you have to trust me then because I will get all of us out of this place. Nobody will die under my watch.” I closed my fist with one of the keys, while holding the other out, offering it to somebody. “Trust only works when it goes both ways. Can everybody put their trust and faith in me?”
