Chapter 168: Former Comrade (1)

The last day of training.

After greeting Uno and Due, I went to the living room at the time set by Seiya. Well, Seiya was often ahead of the meeting time, but this time he wasn’t there first. I was the only one in the living room.

I wondered if I came too early…I looked down at the table while thinking about that, and then, I saw something ridiculous.

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『Please don’t look for me. Celseus. 』

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「That idiot ran awayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! 」

I had to inform Seiya about this. When I tried to leave the living room in a hurry, the door opened vigorously. Seiya stood at the entrance with no expression as usual.

「Seiya!! Celseus left a note behind and… 」

「No problem. I’ve already dealt with it. 」

「Eh? 」

Next to Seiya stood Celseus, who was bound by a straw mat! Seiya threw the bagworm-like Celseus into the living room!

「Ugh…! *sobs* 」

After rolling in the floor of the living room, Celseus woke up and began to cry. I approached the crying Celseus in a haste.

「Didn’t you run away!? 」

「I wrote a note…*sobs*…But, I was caught the moment I left the living room…!」

「Who…Whoa, such a speed in getting caught…! 」

Seiya gazed at Celseus with cold eyes.

「I wondered if Celseus would try to run away given his attitude during training and the behavior I’ve observed so far. Therefore, I kept monitoring his movements with an earth snake.」

「But, Celseus was wary of the earth snakes! He would’ve noticed them!」

「I don’t only use earth snakes to sneak beneath clothes. I’ve been watching Celseus through the earth snakes hidden in the ceiling and the floor. Basically, everywhere.」

When Seiya snapped his finger, from the ceiling of the living room, from the inside of the vase, from the corner of the room…a large number of earth snakes appeared from every single direction in the living room! Whoa, scary!

「Ugh, *sobs*, argh! 」

I felt a little sympathy for Celseus, who kept crying endlessly. However, Seiya pulled the miserable Celseus and took him to the front door. In the meantime, we passed by Uno and Due in the hallway.

「Mister Seiya. Are you going to the Twisted Exfolia now? 」

「Yeah. 」

「…Ugh! Wahh! 」

「Lord Seiya. Please be careful. 」

「Yeah. 」

「…Hyah! Wahh! 」

Seiya kept carrying the crying Celseus while he finished saying the farewells. I realized that those people were considerate in a way, but indifferent toward Celseus.

*rustling, rustling*

In the garden of Uno’s house, Enzo shook his hands up and down and looked around with unsettled eyes. Seiya spoke quickly before I asked him about Enzo.

「Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. 」

「Re…Really…? Didn’t you say that before? 」

We left Enzo behind, who didn’t look that well. Then, Seiya cut the straw mat wrapping Celseus with his sword. On this moment, he activated Stand Alone. Seiya made Celseus harden his body. And then, I was forced to cover the sad-looking Celseus with a gray hood.

「Hey, what is this for? 」

「We will stand out if a steel-colored man accompany us. With that hood, we reduce the exposure and avoid the public eye.」

While saying that, Seiya put Celseus inside the wheelbarrow and went away for a moment. The wheelbarrow with the hooded Celseus seemed much more suspicious to me…Ah, wait a moment, I’ll be the one to push the wheelbarrow, right!? Oh crap!!

While thinking about such a thing, Seiya brought Enzo with him. I noticed that Enzo wore a collar as if he were livestock.

「Wha…What the heck…! What are you doing now…? 」

「I put a collar on Enzo so that he doesn’t run around without my permission. I will connect him to the wheelbarrow so that he can be the lead. So keep a close eye on it.」

「Lead, you say…! 」

I gazed at the scene that developed before my eyes. One old man was crying inside the wheelbarrow, and the other old man acting like a dog who was in a state of unconsciousness.

…Wait a second, what’s up with this odd situation!?

Still, Seiya looked up at the sky from the Underworld and clenched his fist with a cool-looking face.

「Perfectly Ready. 」

「What!! Can’t you see that you are the only one ready to go!?」

I shouted while pointing at the old men.

「Argh…! I don’t want to go…Ugh, wahhh…!」

「Urhhh, shuhhhhh. 」

It felt like a hellish situation. However, Seiya looked as if he didn’t care about it.

「Don’t fret. Just open the portal to Galvano.」

「Are…Are we really going like this? Are we taking these two with us…for real?」

「Hurry up. 」

After a big sigh, I opened the portal to the Twisted Exfolia. Seiya activated the State Berserk to become the Crazy Warrior… Surprisingly, he headed toward the portal without a proper inspection first. How unexpected.

「Don’t you want to turn yourself transparent first?」

「I don’t need to be transparent to suppress Galvano.」

「Suppress, you say…! 」

Seiya kept preparing himself more carefully than ever before going every single time to the Twisted Exfolia. He kept going and coming back quickly after ascertain the situation over there. Upon gathering information, Seiya practiced intensively in the Underworld. I thought that he would want to inspect the Twisted Exfolia once again and return to the Underworld for more training. However, this time, I finally heard his reliable words, which meant we were going there for good.

Yes, yes! Seiya would probably finish his job quickly!

I looked at Seiya with excitement. Meanwhile, Seiya wore a tight brown cloak.

「Excuse me. 」

I was curious and gently lifted the cloak. Seiya was wearing the nostalgic earth-type Magic Warrior’s armor.

What? Did he not say that he would synthetize a body armor? Since it’s Seiya we’re talking about here, I thought that the cloak would be full of firearms…Perhaps, this cloak had something special that I did no notice?

「…Hey. What are you doing? 」

「Ah. No, nothing. 」

「I’m going first. You should push the wheelbarrow firmly and follow me.」

Seiya opened the portal’s doors without hesitation and proceeded dashingly.

「Wa…Wait for me, Seiya! Hmm, okay, good, let’s go!」

I pushed the wheelbarrow with Celseus along with Enzo connected as the lead, and I followed Seiya…Hmm, this was pretty tiring…Eh, for Christ’s sake, what on earth was I doing!?

When I calmed down to think carefully about it, I realized that Seiya was empty-handed, while I was the only one in charge of carrying the old men. I was so angry with Seiya, that I thought I would complain right after I got out of the portal.

「This…This is…! 」

I gasped at the sight that spread before my eyes. While we were staying in the Underworld, the time went slowly in the Twisted Exfolia. It should’ve been only a few hours since we departed from Galvano. It was still night, so that was the proof that only a few hours had passed by since then. However, the ground was lit by flashing streetlights, and many people were lying down in the vicinity.

「What is this devastation!? 」

I looked at a man who was lying in the ground nearby. At that moment, I freaked out when I realized that he had no head!

「Hyahh! He…He…He’s dead! Seiya! 」

I felt scared, and immediately, sought Seiya’s hand. However, Seiya looked forward with keen eyes. A man with a reddish brown hair stood in front of Seiya’s line of sight. This man wore everyday clothes, but when I looked closely at him, I noticed the attachment of a breastplate to protect the vital points.

…An enemy!? Don’t tell me that this guy killed everyone here!?

Unlike the battle-mode Seiya, this man put his hand on his waist as he looked around. And then, he spoke with a gentle voice towards us.

「This horrible scene is Wolf’s work. It seems that you guys were lucky. You managed to escape during the transformation. However, he felt humiliated by that and annihilated everyone here thereafter.」

「The…Then, does that mean that this happened right when we left…!?」

I felt heavy responsibility as I swallowed my saliva. Nonetheless, the man smiled gently.

「Do not worry. Wolf was the one who killed these people. Besides, the human life is the most important. I do not think it’s a bad thing to run away.」

「Is…Is that so. 」

「Well, all the people in this town have a death sentence from the very beginning. Of course. Myself included.」

He spoke sarcastically. Certainly, the Twisted Exfolia’s Galvano was a turbulent town inhabited by humans with a beast-like personality. Still, the man in front of me seemed somewhat decent.

「Excuse me. But, who are you…? 」

When I tried to walk up to him, Seiya came in between us.

「Don’t approach him carelessly. This guy is hiding his status. He is suspicious.」

「Hiding abilities is the common sense in this world. Besides, as I can see, you are hiding your status as well.」

The man laughed while outstretching his arms to show no hostility towards us.

「I am Colt. My job is Wind Controller.」

…Colt…!?

My body pulsated violently when I heard that name. During the saving quest of Geabrande, the Great Goddess Isister showed me the past with her crystal ball. I recalled seeing this man on those images back then.

No…No way!! This person was part of Seiya’s party during my previous life!!

The comrade who participated in the battle against the Demon King Artemaeus when Seiya had a reckless personality, and…when I was Princess Tiana…Yes, that comrade was the wizard named Colt…

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Colt.. nice to meet you.

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