Defiled Hero Chapter 008

Defiled Hero

Water Fairy

Looking around Reyl Lake, you could see that the water became muddied. After it was purified, it was clear enough to see the bottom of the lake, though.

Going from the forest on the edge of the lake, we headed towards the fairy’s whereabouts.

It was supposed to be around this area...here!

Confirming that there were no traces of humans or monsters nearby, I took off my coat and unfastened my weapon, giving them to Astrea. I jumped into the lake and began swimming underwater. The water fairy should be in the deepest part of a cave in the water.

Continuing through the cave, I entered a space with air.

Rising from the water, I progressed through the cave until I reached a shrine.

『Allele-chan! Come out! The beautiful angel Astrea-chan has made her appearance!』 (Astrea)

This girl isn’t actually worried is she? After saying that, a small pale light came from the shrine.

『……Uuu, I-I can’t take it anymoreー』 (Allele)

『Allele-chan? Everything will be fine! Astrea-chan is here to revive you with my beautiful girl powers!』 (Astrea)

I thought so, she wasn’t worried huh.

『P-please save meeeー My power is being taken awayー』 (Allele)

『This is bad, Izayoi! At this rate Allele-chan will die!』 (Astrea)

(Is there a way to save her?) (Izayoi)

『It’s no good. Right now Astrea-chan doesn’t have the power to do so. We don’t have any way to stop her power from being drained.』 (Astrea)

『It’s no gooood, I can’t hold on anymoreee, save me nowww!』 (Allele)

(What do we do Astrea?) (Izayoi)

『What do we do... The way to save Allele-chan――Ah, I’ve got it! Doing what you did to Astrea-chan to Allele-chan, taking her into you, should work!』 (Astrea)

(Into me? There’s going to me more than one?) (Izayoi)

『There’s nothing else we can do. This is the only way to save her!』 (Astrea)

Going by this feeling, to do the same thing with another fairy......

(I understand. Allele will also be within me, I’ll be transferring her to where Astrea is.) (Izayoi)

『Allele-chan! Is it alright? Izayoi has a terrible personality and is a slave driver. He’ll use you roughly but will you be able to endure?』 (Astrea)

『I don’t know who that is but it’s fineー, hurry up and save meeeeー』 (Allele)

『Well then Izayoi! Touch the crystal on the shrine!』 (Astrea)

As Astrea said, I touched the pale light blue-glowing crystal on the shrine.

『Hyan! That was a bit strange of a feelingー』 (Allele)

『Now Izayoi! Aggressively rub it!』 (Astrea)

(Oi, I definitely don’t need to rub it, do I? Stop screwing with me and save her.) (Izayoi)

『I beg of youー. Don’t tease me, hurry up and put it inー』 (Allele)

(Allele. I don’t have any bad intentions towards you, but please shut up.) (Izayoi)

The crystal was enveloped in a white light. Allele emerged from it, and the small wavering ball of light entered my body.

『We did it! We did it! We did it Izayoi!』 (Astrea)

(I got it, no need to say it three times.) (Izayoi)

『Since she’s weakened, giving her Astrea-chan’s power over a few days should make her better. There’s no need to worry.』 (Astrea)

I didn’t get any sense of danger from this rescue play at all.

The water fairy Allele is safe now, but there are also the wind, earth, and fire fairies to deal with.

Whether or not the other fairies were honest, I’m doubtful from my memories.

The water fairy was rescued safely this time, but with the other fairies I’m not so sure.

(Astrea, were you able to contact the other fairies?) (Izayoi)

『Yeah, but the rest don’t seem be in a situation like Allele-chan where we had to immediately save her. It seems like the decrease of magic power in the continent is advancing from the outside in. Since Earth Fairy Rodia-chan’s powers come from the middle of the continent, I think she’ll be fine.』 (Astrea)

(You think, huh. Then the fairies in the nearby continent... do you know the fire and wind fairies’ situations?) (Izayoi)

『Wait a bit, kay? I’ll take a look through Allele-chan’s memory...... Ah, two months ago Fiere-chan said that she would come and save her!』 (Astrea)

(Fiere? The wind fairy, is it. If I’m not mistaken, she has the ability to move freely.) (Izayoi)

『There’s a problem! Fiere-chan has no sense of direction! I feel that Fiere-chan is definitely in danger!』 (Astrea)

(It was a pain searching back then as well. A lost child, huh...... How should go about finding her? Can you sense her power?) (Izayoi)

『I don’t feel anything! Did she use all of her power somewhere? Could she have gone somewhere far away? What should we do?!』 (Astrea)

(Unless there’s a trail we won’t be able to find her, right? To confirm the situation let’s head towards Earth Fairy Rodia’s place. The next continent over is far away, so we’ll need the flame fairy to wait a bit.) (Izayoi)

Laketown’s Inn.

Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling. Astrea was nursing the weakened water fairy Allele by giving her some power.

I’ll need to confirm the safety of the other three fairies. The earth fairy Rodia should be in the mountains to the north. It’ll take a week on carriage to get there.

Though it’ll take a week, there should be a city somewhere midway. The cause of the magic loss phenomenon should be there, the continent’s current king Zenesys.

If the cause of the weakened fairies and decline of magic could be stopped then things would be over quickly, but as expected it isn’t that simple to do is it? Certainly the cause of the decline in magic was due to Zenesys, but how would we stop it?

If I did not have Astrea’s divine protection, then the current me would likely lose against someone of Emperor class strength. Zenesys is the only person in the world who has reached Saint class strength. Fighting him is the same as having no chance.

I don’t have enough strength... huh.

Even if I were to lose the divine protection, in this world I have the strength to have never lost against a monster... The most dangerous things aren’t monsters, but humans.

There’s also the recovery of the sacred sword, and to save the fairies it’s been decided that I have to go the city I guess.

I stopped that line of thought, and closed my eyes.

Since Astrea was busy nursing Allele, I was able to easily fall asleep without any hindrance.

『We’ve got a problem Izayoi! Something dangerous is coming here really fast!』 (Astrea)

While I was in a shallow state of sleep, a loud voice had awoken me.

I thought I would be able to rest easy, but I’m about to get involved in something troublesome again......

(What kind of danger? How long until it reaches the town?) (Astrea)

Getting up from the bed, I put on the coat and slung the sword that was leaning on the wall over my shoulder. Clasping my belt, I opened the window and looked outside.

It was still night. Though there were small lights on the outskirts, there was an awfully bright light coming from the northern entrance. Straining my eyes I could see people carrying weapons. It was likely the local lord’s personal army and various adventurers noisily moving about.

......It seems to be something really serious.

『Anyways there’s something dangerous! It’s definitely stronger than an S rank monster! It might be as dangerous as the demon lord! It’ll be here in two minutes!』 (Astrea)

(Around the same level as the demon lord? There’s still something like that in this world?) (Izayoi)

If something that strong were to attack, the ten adventurers and private army members won’t be able to do a thing. If they were at the King class level, which equaled the strength of a hundred men, even if they were in perfect condition they wouldn’t be able to hold for even a few seconds. I’m not certain about the strength of the people, but they’ll absolutely be annihilated in an instant.

Opening the window, I jumped from the second story and headed towards the North gate.

『But there’s something even more dangerous Izayoi! The enemies have suddenly increased!』 (Astrea)

(Suddenly increased? Can you determine who they are?) (Izayoi)

『I tried but it’s impossible! Something stronger than Astrea-chan is interfering! There hasn’t been anyone capable of doing this!』 (Astrea)

Since they have the power of a demon lord, Astrea’s power has been nullified.

......A dark spirit.

As I thought that, it might have been better for them to evacuate.

Arriving at the northern gate, the ten people carrying weapons and the local lord Alfred were surprised. They haven’t decided what to do yet have they?

I pushed my way through the soldiers and made it to the local lord.

「I-Izayoi! What a disaster. The defending magician had noticed some sort of flying object coming towards the town and assembled a force to intercept it.」 (Alfred)

Though they seemed to be confused by the sudden attack, they didn’t seem to know what the attacker was.

Preparations to counterattack, is it.

「It’s impossible. The opponent is a Demon Lord ranked monster. Send your soldiers to shelter the nearby citizens.」 (Izayoi)

「Demon Lord rank!? Is that really true?」 (Alfred)

The soldiers became restless at my declaration.

「Yeah it’s true. There’s no more time. I’ll hold it off. In the meantime, evacuate the citizens.」 (Izayoi)

Carrying on, I headed towards the gate and was strongly grabbed from behind. Turning my head, in front of my eyes was an armored man who carried a severe expression.

「Oi, let me go――」 (Izayoi)

「―― You bastard, are you planning to die out there alone?!」 (Bernando)

This voice, this face, is this guy Bernando?

The guy yelling at me was Bernando. A long time ago, when the Redgrow Wyvern attacked this area, he was the private army leader who fought with me. At that time, when I was going to fight the Wyvern, he had yelled out to stop me.

「I heard everything from Alfred-sama. I heard you were a capable person introduced by Aaron-sama, but a youngster like you doesn’t have to put his life on the line to protect people he doesn’t have any relation with. Even more so if this is a Demon Lord rank enemy. It is our duty to protect the citizens. Go and leave.」 (Bernando)

Bernando’s serious look. He had a high amount of pride, and held lives with great caution. ......You haven’t changed, have you. I shook off the arm that was grabbing my collar, and gripped through the crevice in his armor in return.

「Don’t screw with me. Don’t be concerned about how I look. The people living in this town are beneath me. I, who have no relation to this place think only of my own life. I care about my life the most and don’t want to hear some speech about it.」 (Izayoi)

「But!」 (Bernando)

「Shut up.」 (Izayoi)

Bernando’s level of pride was troublesome. No matter how much you argue he will object.

In that case, I don’t have a choice but to be high handed.

The strength of my grip began to dent Bernando’s armor. Furthermore, I had increased my strength until I could pull Bernando, I stared at him with nerve and spoke in a very low voice.

「If you want to protect them, if you want to save them, hurry up and move......

I’m not changing my mind.」 (Izayoi)

I pushed Bernando away. He fell towards and was caught by his crowd of subordinates.

「In case there’s a misunderstanding, I’m not doing any of this for anyone at all.」 (Izayoi)

Turning my back, I continued to outside where my opponent was. Bernando raised his voice.

「Evacuate the citizens! Rinzel, Joel, and Andrew, come with me! We need to buy time for the evacuation!」 (Bernando)

「「「Understood!」」」 (Rinzel, Joel, Andrew)

The soldiers assembled at the gate began making their way inside the town.

「Apart from the people in charge of the streets, it’s impossible to do everything on your own. I’m coming with. You have a problem with that?」 (Bernando)

That’s the most you’ll concede? Well, that’s fine then.

「I’m an outsider who has no connection, you know that right? In that case, you don’t need me to agree with what you want to do.」 (Izayoi)

「That’s how it is, isn’t it. ――The residents of this town, I will protect them!」 (Bernando)

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