39 – Glorious Vacation (1)
A girl diligently rubbing her palms at the training ground.
Leone Bonaparte.
However, at this moment, her face was filled with a rather unpleasant emotion.
“Uh…”
“Why are you like this?”
“No… It’s just that, it didn’t go as I thought…”
A vivid memory still remained in her mind at this moment.
Following Nelson’s advice, she had successfully annihilated the Britannian Imperial Army as she had planned. With that in mind, she attempted to do it again, but for some reason, it wasn’t going well this time.
The same sensation as back then still existed within her.
The feeling of releasing the dormant magic within her body and issuing commands through it.
However, whether it was due to the lack of the same urgency as before or for some other reason, Leone was experiencing difficulties in materializing the magic through this process.
Unlike when she swiftly killed multiple imperial soldiers in an instant, now she was only able to bring down the scarecrow in front of her.
Even though Gelert or Napoleon praised her for doing well, it seemed that Leone herself wasn’t satisfied.
“Ugh… If only this went well, I could have continued traveling with my master…”
The incident where she defeated the imperial soldiers in Calais was, for the time being, a secret only known to her.
Somehow, after Leone woke up, the atmosphere among the adults was serious, and
She couldn’t explain it because even she didn’t understand what had happened.
If she could demonstrate her magic in front of Geralt, the story would be different, but unfortunately the situation seemed to be like this, making it impossible.
Furthermore, because she had already interfered in the mission without permission, Napoleon was already angry with her, so as a young girl, she couldn’t find the right timing to tell the story and had no choice but to keep quiet about it.
Feeling such deep regret, Leone had no choice but to devote herself to training without a break.
For now, her priority was to focus on gaining complete control over her powers.
Having reached this conclusion, Leone released her magic once again and brushed her palm up and down.
As if effortlessly crushing a bug, she pictured herself tearing apart the scarecrow in front of her eyes…
*
It had been about a week since they returned from their mission in Cale.
The three Devil Hunter women from Unit 3, who had somewhat recovered from the exhaustion of their expedition, gathered together due to Ellie’s summons.
“W-what on earth is going on?”
“Well, isn’t it obvious? There must be another demon appearing somewhere. This damn Devil Hunter work never gives us a moment’s rest.”
Unit 3 was considered the strongest among the central Devil Hunters, but even considering that, the difficulty of their recent missions was unbelievably harsh.
Enemies at an unimaginably unbeatable level were constantly emerging, and recently, they almost suffered a dangerous situation from the Britannian Imperial Army, who were humans and not demons.
Thanks to Geralt’s training, they had become stronger, but they couldn’t even imagine what kind of dangerous situation they would find themselves in this time.
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Half jokingly and half seriously, there was even the thought that this time, there might be a request to truly eliminate La Place.
“…sigh…”
At that moment, Gabriel let out a heavy sigh abruptly.
Unlike her usual haughty demeanor, seeing her in this state without any energy, others began to feel a slight concern, thinking that she must have accumulated a lot of fatigue lately.
“Are you okay? If you’re really tired, I can suggest that you sit out this mission.”
Gerald asked with concern in his voice.
However, Gabriel slowly shook her head in response to this.
“No… I can’t do that no matter what. Regardless of the situation, I still have to do my job.”
Gabriel spoke with resignation and a strange determination.
It was at that moment when the Devil Hunters were feeling doubtful and uneasy about how difficult this mission would be.
“I’m sorry for making you wait. The mission this time is…?”
“Where did the demon appear?”
“…sigh…”
Janna asked with a light voice, and Nico’s voice could be felt full of tension.
On the other hand, Gabriel continued to sigh heavily.
And, looking at these three people.
Eli spoke in a quiet yet clear voice.
“No, this mission is not related to demon extermination.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“…”
Eli, unexpectedly, spoke.
Continuing in her place, Gelert, who was standing behind her, spoke in a solemn voice.
“Our task this time is not to fight demons. Our mission is to escort Ellie here to the Royal Capital.”
“Huh? Does that mean… we’re going to the Royal Capital?”
“Yeah, there’s an important meeting there, and Ellie was chosen to participate. Normally, one person like Napoléa would have been enough, but this time, they specifically called for us.”
“Oh…”
“Wow…”
At Gelert’s words, Janne and Nico expressed their excitement.
For these girls who had grown up in the countryside, the Royal Capital was always one of the places they wanted to visit.
Since becoming Devil Hunters affiliated with the Central, they had visited it a few times, but their longing for the Royal Capital had not diminished.
Fancy buildings that couldn’t be seen in the countryside.
And restaurants that served delicious meals that they couldn’t even imagine how they were made.
Apart from the mission, they were somewhat excited about the concept of tourism.
As Gelert watched them, he too put on a light smile.
“Well… it’s a escort mission, but it feels more like a vacation. Plus, Ellie and I have resolved the situation.”
Team 3, who had carried out many harsh missions, needed some rest, and Ellie accepted Gelert’s suggestion.
As part of that, she was entrusted with this escort mission, which could be considered a vacation of sorts.
In her heart, Gelert wanted to just give her a vacation, but due to the current situation being so dire, there was no choice but to handle it this way, expressing his apologies.
However, aside from this fact.
Gelert had a hidden sense of excitement about this assignment.
The promises made with Ellie in the past.
He knew that the request to spend time together was included in this journey.
“A date in the capital… I’m looking forward to it, huh?”
Captivated by the slightly different meaning he had from the others, Gelert’s spirits were high.
However,
Despite everyone having expectations for this journey, there was one person in particular…
Gabriel was still not showing a bright expression.
“I don’t want to go… really…”
*
The carriages raced towards the capital.
Usually, they all traveled together in one carriage when performing their missions, but this time they were divided into three carriages.
Because they had a large group,
Since security was important to his nature, it was to prepare for any emergencies.
Among the carriages that were divided like that.
Zane and Nico, and Leone, who was specially accompanied to broaden his horizons, were in a carriage that had been quite noisy since earlier.
“I won~!”
“Huh? Already?”
“hehehe… I came in last place again…”
Zane declared victory as she put down the last trump card.
While looking at her, Nico, who had a handful of cards in his hand, scowled and started shuffling the cards.
“Zane unni is so strong… How can you win every time like that?”
“hehehe. Well… the little lady will know all the details later, but in simple terms, it’s like a skill for surviving in this world, I suppose.”
“Oh… Is there such a thing? I want to learn that too later.”
“hehehe… It’s better to quit, Leone. If you learn something like that wrong, you might lose more than just your fingers.”
“hahahaha… What are you saying, Nico? As long as you don’t get caught, it’s not a problem at all. I even used this to rob a nobleman who used to be well-off… Heh heh.”
Zane receives the cards again, speaking like that.
At that moment,
As she placed the cards she was holding onto the chair being used as a substitute for a table, Leone cautiously asked in a soft voice.
“Um… By the way, may I ask something? Can I ask you something?”
“Huh? What is it?”
Zane felt curiosity from Leone’s slightly serious question.
Leone cautiously asked the question towards her.