1075: Reunion with Satia

Fran stared at Flut, who was as silent as a corpse. However, she quickly realized what was going on around her.

About 70% of the villagers had escaped from the square, but there were still some old and injured people who didn’t manage to escape. They were also stunned at the events that just took place. I appraised them just to be sure, but all of them seemed like ordinary villagers.

Fran stood again, though the exhaustion was clearly visible on her face.

『Fran, you really okay? You can rest if you’re still tired. I’ll handle the villagers with my body double.』

「…I’m fine.」

『…Okay.』

「Nn.」

Fran went around breaking the restraints binding the villagers and healing their wounds with magic. Many villagers thanked her, but some were not entirely happy.

The villagers’ eyes turned unfriendly as soon as they saw the sleeping Flut. Well, that’s only natural. That said, none of them took action due to Fran’s presence.

Those that had remained in the square should be aware that Fran and Flut were acquainted with each other.

However, the villagers returning to the square after they learned the commotion had subsided didn’t know anything about the relations.h.i.+p. Some of them attempted to charge at Flut as soon as they noticed him, but Fran stood in their path.

「W-What are you doing?」

「…I captured him, so he’s mine. No one else lay a finger on him.」

「W-Why should――」

「Hey! Stop it! She’s the one who saved all of our lives!」

「That’s right! Someone pathetic enough to beg for his life isn’t in any position to hara.s.s this girl!」

Other villagers also helped us stop them. I bet some were just trying to return the favor, but the rest probably knew they couldn’t afford to offend Fran after seeing her abilities.

The biggest contributor turned out to be the mayor. His statement that they needed to decide on their next course of action silenced much of the commotion.

The fact that none of the villagers died seems to have helped a lot. Fran going around healing everyone was enough to prove that she was no enemy.

After confirming our rescue operation was finally over and the villages had settled down, I instructed Fran to call over the mayor and suggest that he evacuate the village.

This village was in an incredibly dangerous situation, having been targeted by both Raydoss and Phyllius. It must suck to hear right after getting freed, but they need to evacuate to a bigger town.

Like before, there were some who insisted on staying in the village, but in the end, all of them agreed to evacuate. Unlike the fis.h.i.+ng villages we stopped in on the way from Bulbora, this village actually came under attack. Everyone persuaded their hesitant family members to leave with pa.s.sionate arguments.

Fran stored all the food in the village’s stockpile, and we departed Metelmam the same day. Though the pace was very slow, the lack of monsters in the region made things manageable.

And so we continued like this for a few hours. About halfway down the mountain road, we sensed a presence watching us from a distance. We had ignored the presence for a while, but it kept following us.

『We should probably take care of that first.』

「Nn.」

Fran told everyone to take a short rest on the side of the road before covering them with walls of land magic. She left by herself, or rather, along with Flut, who she carried princess-style.

Since the villagers were still nearby, we should be able to tell if anything happens to them.

The owner of the presence made no attempt to run even after recognizing Fran’s approach. Instead, she landed right in front of us.

「I knew it, Satia…」

「Fran-san…」

The ident.i.ty of the observer was Satia.

She had a complicated expression on her face, like a tearful smile, but no hostility. I could only sense a powerful sadness coming from her.

「Are your wounds okay?」

「Yes, I can manage.」

It seems she still maintained Ronowe’s injuries, but they had mostly recovered by now. Fran and Satia smiled awkwardly at each other.

「Regarding Onii-sama…」

「…Take Flut back.」

「…Are you sure?」

「Nn.」

Fran handed Flut to Satia. I’d prefer to put him in the custody of the country or the guild, but Fran was uncomfortable with that… There’s no way all the villagers can keep quiet about the incident, so Kranzel will find out eventually. What are we gonna do then?

Satia took the unconscious Flut and tilted her head in confusion.

「Come forth, Life Demon.」

「…At your service.」

「Check on Onii-sama’s status.」

「As you wish.」

A demon looking like a chimpanzee with bat wings appeared from Satia’s shadow. It gave us a frightened stare for a moment, maybe the effect of my Demon Slayer?

The stare only lasted a moment though, before the demon placed his hand above Flut and began applying mana. A combination of healing and life magic. We noticed Flut’s condition improving slightly.

The demon seemingly examined Flut’s internal condition at the same time. It reported to Satia in the ragged voice of an old man.

「I can hardly sense Bune-sama’s power.」

「What does that mean…? He hasn’t disappeared yet, right?」

「Yes, though barely. He will disappear in the near future if left in this state.」

Our healing magic may have worked on Flut, but it seems to have not reached his demon Bune.

「I’m sorry… I failed to protect Flut.」

Fran explained what happened. Since I absorbed the demon slaying knife, it’s hard to say if she’ll actually believe it was the work of Raydoss’s agents.

「…I believe you. I saw the same knife just the other day.」

Like I suspected, Raydoss must have prepared them as a trump card against Phyllius. It seems the knives were used to murder two demon knights, once last month, and one the month before.

However, Satia said that Phyllius’s royal family had already recovered both of the knives. Is it really possible for there to be so many copies of a failed divine sword? Did Raydoss simply find the knives lying around somewhere, or did they have the ability to ma.s.s-produce them somehow?

「I’ve heard they were originally a magic sword belonging to our royal family.」

「Phyllius has a demon-slayer sword?」

「Yes. It’s said to be our failsafe in case the great demon sealed in our divine sword ever goes out of control. However, it was stolen from our treasury many years ago.」

So basically, the Demon-Lord Blade Diabolos has a counterpart sword containing the power to slay demons. Then Raydoss somehow stole that sword and a.n.a.lyzed it?

I can’t say anything about the details, but Raydoss clearly succeeded in imitating the sword’s power. I guess that’s possible if they have the know-how behind the pseudo-Fanatics swords and the original demon slayer blade?

Satia hugged Flut tightly and started to cry.

「During manifestation, the connection between the caster and their demon is incredibly strong. That must have been exactly the moment they were aiming for…」

In the summoned or possession state, the demon slayer effect will never be fatal to the summoner. Even if the demon is lost for good, the summoner can survive with minimal damage.

However, the two become one and the same during manifestation. The demon-slaying curse kills even the summoner.

「It is a miracle that Onii-sama survived. Fran-san, thank you so much.」

Satia expressed her grat.i.tude, but Fran still found it hard to accept. She was probably still regretful since she knew she could have done things better. That’s why she changed the subject to the magic stone.

「…I broke the magic stone in the village.」

「So it really was you who did it. When I noticed the curse stopped flowing, I was wondering if that might be the case.」

「Nn.」

Fran nodded, then Satia lowered her head again.

「Thank you so much.」

「…Why?」

「You have saved our country.」

「But I…! I tried to fight you two!」

「The only villains here are us and Raydoss. You have done nothing wrong, so don’t worry yourself.」

「…」

Satia was not lying. Despite her brother’s serious injury and almost getting killed, she still cared for Fran. Learning this only made Fran even harder on herself.

「Onii-sama will be sad too if he sees you like this.」

「…Sorry.」

「…We really are incredibly grateful to you. Even if it was to save our country, we almost ma.s.sacred innocent people. Thank you for stopping us.」

Actually, I think Flut and Satia were unconsciously holding back. If they really wanted to kill the villagers in cold blood, they had plenty of chances to do so, even with us trying to protect them.

The fact that they didn’t take those chances was because deep down in their hearts, they were hesitant about killing them. Perhaps making a show of the bandits first was their attempt to resolve themselves before going after the villagers.

「You’ve saved not only the villagers, but our citizens and Onii-sama as well. I a.s.sure you of this, so please don’t cry.」

「…Nn.」

The two young girls embraced each other, despite their feelings of guilt and tears forming in their eyes. The Life Demon and I simply watched over them in silence.