Volu 4 Chapter 21: Dragon-san and the Local People
As we were running towards the commotion, I could feel magic being used several tis, so the battle must have been fierce.
However, it shouldn’t be all that bad.
Judging by their magical wave patterns, the monsters we were about to encounter were on the sa level as the ones we already fought since coming here.
As such, they were coming and going quickly, but I could also feel other magical waves signatures mixed in with them as well.
I knew that the magic of Towa was quite strong, but how could I not notice it up until now?
And since we didn’t know just how large the actual battle was, we needed to hurry.
「I’m going on ahead.」
「Right.」
「Umu.」
Apparently thinking of the sa thing, Nectar and Senjiro both nodded their heads, and in the next mont I spread my wings and took to the sky.
Senjiro was the fastest one out of all of us when it was the ground we were talking about, but it was way faster for to get there through the sky, where there were no obstacles.
Heading towards the battle at full speed, I soon arrived at a small clearing in the middle of the forest.
There I could see a small group of people, surrounded by a horde of monsters of various sizes and magic levels.
Even though the people managed to form a circle so that they wouldn’t leave the monsters any openings, their sheer number was more than enough to overwhelm them.
If sothing like that happened in Ballow, it would be classified as crisis on the spot and a group of Hunters would be dispatched to deal with this threat, preferably of Fourth Rank.
Four or five people were not going to be enough to handle a situation like that.
But still.
「Uwah......」
I watch an amazing scene unfold right in front of my eyes.
Because one of the people turned out to be exceptionally skilled and strong.
He had black hair, looked to be around forty-years-old, and was wearing the traditional clothes of Towa, his body was quite slender and his sword was quite huge...... However, he was managing to slash the monsters into tiny pieces with that sword, using minimal movents of his body, to boot.
The blade of his sword was glowing slightly, so he may have added so sort of spell or special art to it.
Seeing one person be able to handle so many demons at once was a true sight to behold.
Now that I think about it, his clothes seed to be rather expensive-looking, but it may have been my imagination playing tricks on .
In any case, he kind of reminded of Senjiro. I was wondering if it would be alright for to approach them and offer so help, but then I saw soone approaching the injured people from the back with sothing that looked like a first-aid kit.
Putting the kit down, she approaches the injured people and starts chanting the spell right away.
「Prism Shield!」
Words spoken in the ancient language soon becos a sturdy magical shield that protects the injured from damage.
It also prevented the monsters from getting any closer.
However, I was surprised that the monsters didn’t even try to attack the shield.
Certainly, that ‘Prism Shield’ should be able to bounce so of the damage off, but it shouldn’t be strong enough to prevent the continuous onslaught of attacks.
Of course, because of the density of magic around here my perception was sowhat distorted, so it may very well be that even though the monsters seem to be the sa as the ones in Ballow, they are actually a lot stronger.
But was this the doing of the naturally dense magic, or was it sothing else?
If we were able to understand that, we may be able to counteract it in the future.
When I folded my wings and got back on the ground right in front of them, they all aid their weapons at , ever wary.
I could see that they were all beastn, with a pair of both human and animal ears.
No wonder they were wary of , since in their eyes it appears that I appeared in front of them completely out of nowhere.
「Do you need so help?」
The threat was yet to be gone, and so it was only natural that they would feel confused upon this sudden offer of mine.
I also forgot about sothing crucial: this was Towa here, and I spoke in the Western language!
I broke into a cold sweat and tried to say that again, but in that mont Nectar and Senjiro finally caught up to .
Senjiro started to brandish his black spear around, disposing of monster after monster.
Nectar was fighting as well, shooting the monsters with massive blades of wind.
Soon, they made a quick work out of them.
I was relieved to see that and I decided to surveil our surroundings in case more monsters were to appear, but suddenly Senjiro stopped moving, a stunned look on his face.
Senjiro’s battle style was mostly hit-and-run, where he was still on the move and would blow his opponents away with single strikes.
It was dangerous for him to stop even for a second, especially with lots of monsters still around.
Then he resud his stance and started attacking monsters again, and one of the people from Towa muttered in a quiet voice.
「Shinsou-dono......?」
Although the aning of the word ‘Shinsou’ was beyond my understanding, what I did understand was that they ant Senjiro by it.
Senjiro continued to fight, however it was the old man that was at the center of my attention.
When the old man cut down the last monster and it turned into a handful of ash, he let his sword rest on top of his shoulder and laughed while looking at Senjiro.
「This posture, so it is Senjiro! Glad to see you’ve finally decided to co ho!」
It was unexpected that he would call Senjiro by his na without hesitation, but what was even more surprising was the fact that Senjiro bent his knee before the old man on the spot.
「It’s been a while indeed, Emperor.」
Emperor, he said.
And although it surely needed so clarification, I understood that Senjiro and the old man were old acquaintances.
「No need to be so formal. I’m glad I can see you again.」
Said the old man –– Emperor-san –– while patting Senjiro on the back and laughing. Then he looked at us while sheathing his sword on his hip.
「You there, lassy, thanks for taking care of my vassal for .」
「No, we didn’t really do anything, and we weren’t even that much of a help.」
I was taken aback by the fact that he spoke to so suddenly, but still I managed to answer.
Emperor-san had his hair loosely cut, seed full of confidence and spoke in a rather humble voice.
He looked just like the cool and laid-back older brother type.
Unlike Ballow, which was more similar to the Middle Age Europe, the people and the atmosphere here were similar to the Japan of the Sengoku Period. And since the Emperor-san was giving off the sa kind of aura like Senjiro, I reflexively answered with a very friendly and laid-back manner.
However, the people behind him weren’t so nice.
「How rude! You there, girl! You are one of the Towa people, so act like one!」
They must have took for one of their own, since I erased the red bunches from my hair right before coming here.
I had also changed my eye color, but I had no actual idea what it was.
「Jurota, you are the only one who is being rude here. She may have black hair, but it is as clear as day that this girl is not one of our own.」
Hearing the words of the Emperor-san, the man called Jurota went silent, and then he started glaring at in an angry way.
Sohow, I had a really bad feeling about that vassal.
Now I was really wondering if I would be able to fit in here, but then Emperor-san looked at again.
「It’s not really that interesting of an introduction, but it’s better than none. Let welco you, travelers from the foreign land and comrades of Senjiro. I am the current emperor of this country of Towa.」
「Emperor......?」
Feeling another wave of cold sweat running down my neck and back, I sent a quick ssage to Senjiro, who for the ti being stood up and rejoined us.
“Senj-san, answer, now! The title of Emperor here is going to be what in Ballow terms!?”
“Umm, I think that the Emperor would be equal to king? I guess?”
“...... In other words, this guy here is the most powerful person in the entire country!?”
“I have no idea, but it is true that he is one of the most influential people in the whole of Towa.”
After Senjiro answered my question, all of my worries ca to be true! I felt so ashad of my own behavior towards that person that I wanted to shout out loud!
Why is it that we get to et the most important person in the whole country as soon as we arrive!?
And why is he being so friendly to us!?
I get the feeling that our arrival isn’t going to go unnoticed by Ten-san at this rate, but for now let’s try not to think about it so much.
I wonder, does this man knows about Senjiro’s soulmate......?
But even if my head was full of things I didn’t quite understand yet, for the ti being this person introduced himself to , so I needed to respond in kind.
「It’s a pleasure to et you, Emperor of Towa. My na is Lava. I may not be one of your kind, but I am a good friend of Senjiro-san.」
Saying that, I look at the Emperor and his subordinates.
Looks like there was no way around it, so I make my red bunches reappear on my hair. Seeing that, the Emperor opened his eyes, clearly astonished.
At the sa ti, his vassals clearly beco scared.
「Now this is surprising. You may be a deity from a foreign land, so how would you like for us to respect you properly?」
...... Are you seriously concerned about that?
Oh well, if there’s sothing good from this situation, is that the vassals were keeping their mouths shut for now, seemingly scared that they might accidentally say sothing rude to .
I’m not all that sure, but maybe they thought of as an unstable powder keg, ready to explode at any second?
If anything, such profiling was nothing more than downright rude.
「Umm, I understand that your position is very important, as it brings many people together. What kind of praise do I need? I don’t know, can we just speak normally? Or maybe be polite to one another?」
Ah, if we could speak just like I did with Isha-san, that would be nice.
As I said that, the Emperor looked as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and seeing.
「Senjiro, I didn’t realize that foreign gods were so talkative.」
「Lava-dono is special. On the other hand, the soulmate that I found is a demon, and she’s nothing like that.」
「Hmm? So, you’ve made a contract with her?」
Senjiro tries to explain it to the Emperor, and he finally seems to understand.
But I want to know what exactly did he tell him.
「So, Sen-san, could you possibly explain what is your relationship with this man?」
「It is sothing that we call being recognized as equals through the Gods’ judgent. By the way, they are my companions.」
Is it only , or is Senjiro much more relaxed when it cos to speaking in his native tongue?
I also think that is quite funny to be considered Senjiro’s companion. ...... Wait, a companion? Say whaaaa!?
I finally ca to realize that this Emperor person was greatly misunderstanding Senjiro’s circumstances at the current mont.
「I think that she’s cute and pretty woman. Hmm? What’s that? It’s not like that..... Oooh.」
It was surprising to that Senjiro was so close with the Emperor, but just when I wanted to properly explain our relationship, I was suddenly hugged from behind.
「It’s nice to et you, Emperor. My na is Nectar Figura, and I am this woman’s husband.」
Nectar introduced himself in a polite and gentle manner, but I didn’t fail to notice just a slight mix of venom in his words.
No, I’m sure that he didn’t an to sound so hostile. Maybe my ears were playing tricks on again.
Even so, it was pretty embarrassing to be hugged by Nectar like that and I wanted to escape him, but when the Emperor saw him, his expression brightened instantly.
「Ooh! I see, now I understand. Foreigners are accompanying Senjiro. Hoo, hoo, and won’t you look at that! Your eyes and hair are of different color! Just like the books said!」
He then looked as excited as a small child right before Christmas, which was pretty embarrassing to look at in its own right.
For now, it was actually a good thing that Nectar was being treated like a normal and ordinary person. Thanks to that we would hopefully not be treated like a walking freakshow.
「The way in which you handled your spear, it is sothing completely unheard of here...... I guess good things can happen as a result of studying abroad.」
「Emperor......」
The Emperor looked as though he was about to be swallowed into his own little world, but Senjiro’s silent words managed to pull him back to the real world.
Emperor gave Senjiro a strange look, but ultimately gave up.
「Ah, I’m not making fun of them or anything, just to let you know. But even though you’re not a Guardian anymore, I hope that you will never forget your ti with your Master and your brothers.」
「Such wasteful words.」
Now Senjiro was swayed back into the Emperor’s pace.
Watching their bickering, the only thing that cos to mind was an old married couple going at it.
「Good grief, what a stubborn person. Oh well, just let get along with your friends, okay?」
「He?」
However, judging by the look on their faces it was nothing more than joking around.
But his vassals were still as doubtful as they were in the beginning.
「Emperor, he brought foreigners with himself of who we don’t know a thing!」
「We do know them. They are Senjiro’s friends.」
「B-but, Shinsou left Towa once in the past. Being in the foreign lands for so long and coming back so suddenly, it’s suspicious no matter how you look at it!」
Again, there were so words that I didn’t know, but I completely agree with the ones that I was able to understand.
While I was thinking that, Senjiro’s eyes widen with surprise.
「Don’t tell , are we in the prohibited zone!?」
Seeing Senjiro’s distressed expression, Emperor hurried with an explanation.
「Yup, that’s right. What’s more, the Head Shrine Maiden also ca back so ti ago, so talk about a crazy coincidence with your return.」
While the Emperor explained, we send a ssage to Senjiro, demanding an explanation as well.
“Sen-san, prohibited zone?”
“It is a zone where magic is especially dense and the danger of monsters appearing inside of it is exceptionally high. Usually the Taisha dispatches so people to monitor it. And the people sent by the Taisha establish their branch offices in the vicinities of such zones.”
“In other words, it is a perfect place to be stranded to while drifting from a misguided Teleportation.”
Nectar makes a statent like that and Senjiro nods his head.
“While we’re at it, I never would have thought that Makoto would actually beco the Head Shrine Maiden.”
Senjiro then proceeded to explain that it was a very prestigious position, sort of like the Shrine Maiden presiding over every other Shrine Maiden. But it looks like for us it’s more of a cause for concern.
If the Emperor’s words were true, Makoto was already back at the Taisha.
I wonder just how much does he know?
While I was wondering about that, the Emperor spoke again.
「Fumu, from your expression I can say that you have so sort of business to take care of with the Taisha.」
「Our Emperor, please reconsider!」
Said one of his vassals, but the Emperor only shook his head in response.
「He ca back because of my comrades here. And in order to achieve their goals, they will need as much information as possible. You know Senjiro, he wouldn’t be a threat to his own people. So if there’s anything you would want to know, just ask away.」
Seeing as the Emperor’s will was adamant, his vassals were about ready to give up.
The Emperor only smiled at Senjiro’s bitter words.
「So, how it will be? My disciple?」
He smiled, and it was a smile full of confidence and attractiveness, as if nothing could possibly stop him.
Maybe that’s what people are calling charisma?
「Even if I left your country years ago, it’s good to visit your hotown once in a while. I was considering that. But......」
Since the reason for us being here was rather delicate, Senjiro couldn’t really say anything.
「What are you talking about? Listen, you are going to travel, right? And the Guardians are bound to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious. So the least I can do is to issue you a travelling permit.」
Ah, yes. Honestly, I knew about that.
In addition, Senjiro shook his grey tail, as if he was trying to say that there was nothing left to say here.
Perhaps he was ready to even give his life away when he knew that he would et his old acquaintances.
Honestly, this wasn’t much of a hocoming, but I understood that Senjiro was feeling relieved from the bottom of his heart.
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