VEDR – Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Birthday Celebration of the Duke of Fritillaria 9

The moment I thought I was going to be eaten by a demon, I immediately pushed Celia away.

I thought I had pushed Celia toward a safe place outside the door, but when I checked, she went in the completely wrong direction.

Oh, this was what’s wrong with me. I couldn’t seem to do anything right. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the approaching demon. Just as I was about to do so, a piece of the wall blew up with an explosion.

“Huh?”

I was so surprised that I turned my head and saw the sky on the other side of the blown wall.

“Eh? There’s a way out!”

I shouted, but I wasn’t the only one who was caught off guard. The demon that was about to eat me headfirst also slithered back as if it flinched.

In the midst of all this, a laid-back voice that was so out-of-place spoke.

“Oh, man, I’m screwed. I’ve completely misjudged the power. The ground is partially gouged, and the walls of the castle are blown away. But from the looks of it, a demon is besieging you, and you’re looking for a way out. This hole is definitely a way out, and I’d appreciate it if if you’d let me off the hook for destroying part of the castle.”

With these words, I saw a figure looking down from the first floor level at this room, the basement, through the hole in the wall.

The person’s blue and purple hair looked disgustingly familiar to me.

“Oh, brother!”

“Hey, Luciana, it’s time for us to go home. You’re not a child, so don’t make me come calling for you. But you seem too busy confronting a demon for that. All right, all right, if you want to spare your life, go through that gouged out dirt tunnel. You deserve to be covered in mud, don’t you think?…Mm, is there a lady there, too?”

My brother, who noticed Celia in the middle of his speech, slipped into the basement through the hole he had made, without any hesitation.

Then he took a gentleman’s bow in front of Celia, who was lying on the ground from my push.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, young lady. Please forgive my rudeness in addressing you without an introduction. My name is Saffia Dianthus. I know this is presumptuous of me, but it’s an emergency, so would you give me permission to pick you up?”

My brother stared at Celia with his hand on his chest, silently waiting for a response.

…No, no, no, Brother.

A demon was right in front of you, can’t you see it?!

That’s a very, very powerful demon!

I didn’t think this was the time to be a gentleman when lives are at stake.

However, my brother, whose priorities were poles apart from the average person’s, kept silent and waited for Celia’s response. She shook her head while huffing, “Ha…” (He interpreted the seeming gesture as an affirmation), he then smiled quietly and pointed his hands at the ground. 

“Magic Circle Reveal!”

With his command, a blue and purple magic circle unfolded at my brother’s feet.

To my surprise, the magic circle seemed to have a more complex procedure than that of Lakash.

Everyone knew that laying out a magic circle would increase the power of the magic you use, but the magnitude of the increase in power depended on the magic circle.

In general, magicians who used many techniques tended to be more effective.

My brother turned his hands towards each of the demons and launched his magic in a high-pitched voice.

“Water Magic <Shu 5> Vortex Shield!”

One large swirling shield appeared from the palm of each of my brother’s hands.

As my brother made a shaking motion, those shields moved towards the demons and stopped halfway around each demon.

“Come on, let’s hurry. Even if I strengthened it with a magic circle, it’s still useless for anything more than a stopgap.”

After speaking, he bowed gracefully and then lifted Celia up in a heap.

Then, he started climbing the exit at a very steep angle without any danger.

… Really, it’s emergencies like this that make me realize once again that my brother’s specs are very high. Aren’t they?

I wonder why this ability was not put to use in his everyday life.

I, on the other hand, managed to get out of the basement by crawling up with both hands and feet.

Even though it was only a short distance, I was covered in mud all over, not to mention my hands and feet.

Behind me, Lakash followed.

The place we escaped to was the back of the castle.

It was a dense forest of trees, different from the well-maintained forest on the front side of the castle.

I clutched the trunk of a tree and mumbled to myself.

“So, we’re out…”

But Lakash, who stood beside me, said something disturbing as he looked at our escape route.

“Yes, we are. But just because it’s no longer a locked room doesn’t make much difference to the situation.”

When I looked, I saw that the two single-headed green Siamese Serpents were about to crawl up the escape route.

The demons were soaking wet, but did not appear to be injured.

I hurriedly let go of the tree trunk and considered whether I should fight the demon or run away.

But my brother, whose senses were out of sync, mumbled lazily.

“Oh no, I knew it was just a matter of stalling.”

Then he chuckled and looked at me.

“We’re in trouble, Luciana.  I just wielded a magic circle, so I can’t draw a new one for a while. What’s more, because of the fancy magic I used to create an escape route from the basement, my magic power is almost depleted. What we have here is a man who can barely use magic, just a guy with a bit of a pretty face. Now, what do you want from such a handsome man?”

There was only one answer I could give to my brother, who opened his mouth to ask.

“Of course, the extermination of those demons!　I want you to exterminate those two demons.”

“Hey, Luciana, your answer is as expected. But if you are arrogant and selfish, the only men who will like you will be those with very biased tastes. You should make yourself a little more attractive to others…So, you’re up, Luciana.”

My brother brought his face closer to mine and lowered his tone slightly.

But it wasn’t so inaudible that Lakash and Celia beside him couldn’t hear it. Thus, it was pointless, and he was probably just trying to be productive.

“Remember, Luciana. Remember why you went to the trouble of attending the birthday party of the Duke of Fritillaria. Weren’t you trying to bring down Lakash-dono? And yet, so far, you haven’t made any positive impression on Lakash-dono. You know what they say, tough times bring opportunities. You have to play an active role here and save Lakash-dono from danger. I’m sure he will be like a maiden in love and will be pining over you. All right, all right, this kind-hearted brother will give you the chance.”

My brother uttered something selfishly to himself, then patted me on the back, and pushed me in front of the demon.

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