VEDR – Chapter 20

The Birthday Celebration of the Duke of Fritillaria 11

“Water Magic <Shu 2> Roaring Spear!!”

“Fire Magic <Shu 1> Flame Cannon!!”

Watching my brother and Lakash launch several attacks on the demons, I felt a sense of dread, wondering how much magical power they possessed.

The demons seemed to falter in the face of their continuous assaults and maintained a certain distance, refusing to come any closer.

When Celia saw this, she reckoned that now was the right time to run away, and bolted like a rabbit.

―――Not in the direction of the castle, but toward the forest where the trees have grown densely.

I immediately thought, What?　But this castle was where Celia was born and raised.

If she was going to flee to the forest side, I gathered she decided that there was a higher chance of escaping that way.

But somehow, when the demons spotted Celia running away, both of them threw off their opponents in battle and glided into the forest.

“Eh?”

Exposing your back in the middle of battle was an incredibly bad move.

So, there should be a reason for doing so, right?

In contrast to my surprise, Lakash blushed in frustration.

“Damn, I knew it was Celia…”

Muttering something under his breath, he easily abandoned the magic circle and followed them into the forest.

My brother kept up without a word.

I wondered for a moment if I should go and call for help, but then decided that there was no time for that and followed my brother.

I ran, and ran, and ran.

―――When I caught up with everyone, Celia was standing with her back to the lake.

Five meters facing Celia were the two demons.

And another five meters in front of the demons were my brother and Lakash.

As soon as I saw this scene, I heard a click in my head and felt as if something was stuck in my head.

My mind started to click and click, and I started to sort through the information I needed.

Then…I realized that although I was wired, my mind was very clear and completely detached.

―――The other day, I read a passage from a textbook I’ve been reading in my spare time on the ancient language of the kingdom. 

“The green serpent that appeared in the forest of black lilies will sleep forever in the red lake.”

At the time, I thought the sentence made no sense at all, but the translation started in my head.

…Ah. 

Suddenly, it dawned on me.

―――This was the only absolute “word of salvation” that could reverse fate.

However, the path to salvation was so hidden that no one could ever know about it, and no one could ever be aware of it…

I approached my brother quietly, keeping my footsteps quiet so as not to attract the attention of the demons.

I made as little noise as possible but moved as fast as I could.

And just when I positioned myself right behind my brother and Lakash, I had a clear view of Celia in the distance, cornered at the edge of the lake. The two demons in front of her were timing their attack.

Things were looking precarious, but…

With that in mind, I quickly looked up at the two people standing in front of me and scanned their expressions. Nevertheless, my brother had no expression and neither did Lakash.

Ku, these iron-faced bastards!

Since I had no clue of the status quo, I tried to judge the situation from their expressions, but from their blank faces, I couldn’t tell if there was a pinch or an opportunity.

No, I was sure we were on a pinch, but the degree of urgency was unclear.

In short, I didn’t know if these two have a way out of our predicament or not.

But when I thought that far ahead, I noticed that the shirts of the two men were sticking to their backs, so I changed my mind.

The two have such well-proportioned bodies. They must have been working out a lot, and there was no way they would sweat if they moved even a little.

They must be so tense that the back of their shirts stuck to them with sweat.

I couldn’t tell at all from their expressions.

That was to say we were in a tense situation. They were unable to find a way out of the situation and were searching for the next move.

If so, I thought to myself, they might be more receptive to my proposal. I whispered to them.

“I’m truly sorry to bother you while you’re in the middle of this tense process, but I’ve come up with a secret plan, and I was wondering if you could help me.”

“Huh?”

“Luciana?”

They must have been very focused on the demons.

They didn’t seem to notice that I was positioned behind them until I spoke to them. They looked at me in surprise.

It was quite unusual when the two of them were very sensitive to signs of movement, but I quickly whispered what I had to say.

“As you can see from here, some of the water in the lake is red, right? Drop the demons there. We don’t have much time, so I’ll spare you the explanation, but that red water has a terrible effect on the demons. So, Lakash-sama, please blow the demon away to the lake. Brother, please move the reddish muddy part of the lake so that it is as close to the bank as possible.”

“Come on, Luciana. What are you doing all of a sudden…”

I looked into my brother’s eyes at close range, not letting him finish what he was about to say.

“I thought about it, Brother. Why did I attend the birthday party of the Duke?”

When I repeated my brother’s line from earlier, imitating him, Brother Saffia’s eyes widened slightly.

“You’re awesome, Luciana. You still haven’t given up on him at this point, have you?”

I looked at my brother and nodded.

“I don’t know if it will work, but this is the only chance I have to make a difference to show a maiden in love with Lakash-sama and make him fall in love with me. As a kind-hearted brother, please create an opportunity for your sister’s love.”

Gradually, I began to understand how to move my brother.

Unless I made use of such a bizarre lines, my brother would not move easily.

My brother laughed as if he had just heard something interesting.

“Hahaha, interesting. I’ve been struggling to find a way to move forward, which is quite a shame for me. Okay, I’ll ride with you.”

And, as I had hoped, he agreed to help me.

But Lakash, who did not understand my teasing and took my words head-on, sounded dismayed.

“Miss Dianthus, you dared to say something like that in front of me? Please let me talk to you about how to be a lady.”

Although it was an oblique answer, the fact that he was talking about the future meant that he was willing to cooperate with my proposal.

Lakash (as I interpreted it) seemed to have run out of ideas and probably thought that the new plan of dropping the demon into the water might lead to a way out.

I was so grateful despite not having a clear path to success.

With that thought in mind, I clasped my hands tightly together.

―――This is our last chance.

Wait, Celia. We will definitely save you.

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