110. Barrier
When I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw Luna sleeping in my arms.
Surprisingly, we weren’t naked.
Most of the days I shared a bed with Luna, I was always asleep without even a single thread on.
I woke up gently so as not to wake her, who was soundly asleep, and got ready to go into the bathroom and wash up.
As expected, the departure was scheduled for an early morning today, just like yesterday.
I put on my clothes and put Luna on her feet.
“Luna. Let’s get up.”
As if Luna didn’t want to get up, she rolled herself up and pulled the blanket over her head.
“Ten minutes…”
She was cute when she whined, but I couldn’t be late.
Concerned about how to wake me up most efficiently, I decided to play a prank, prepared to get hit in the head.
“Uh! Seria! I’ll be right there~”
Of course, there was no Seria outside the door, but I staged it as if she was waiting for me in front of the door.
That was the moment.
“what!”
Luna kicked off the blanket and stood up.
Her gown, which had an untidy belt, did not fully cover Luna’s body.
Her fine skin was exposed here and there.
On the contrary, her clothes, which seemed to be scattered, felt a little more stimulating than taking them off completely.
“What is it. A warrior?”
Luna looked at me with half-closed eyes, probably not yet awake.
“Seria, you should still be in your room. Hurry up and wash up.”
I casually went behind her and pushed her into the bathroom.
“Huh? The conversation we just had…?”
Luna, in a drowsy state, didn’t seem to have a proper grasp of the situation yet.
“That wasn’t a conversation. He was talking in his sleep. Come on, let’s start by brushing your teeth, lady.”
I was the one who came out with the door closed to avoid further conversation.
Can I get over it even if I don’t get hit today?
Somehow, today was a lucky day.
Our party gathered at the front gate of the inn and boarded the carriage again.
How many mountains have you crossed?
It was us who had almost moved from end to end of the kingdom.
The end of the journey has already begun to appear.
“Im here!”
At the coachman’s words, we started to get out of the carriage.
The sight that caught my eyes as soon as I landed was shocking.
…really there are people still alive in there?
The entire village of Lumion was being polluted with thick magic.
It feels like I’ve turned into a small demon world.
It was a familiar sensation to me, but as soon as Seria saw it, she couldn’t stand the nausea.
Luna looked down at the village with a laughable expression.
Natasha and her spirits watched the situation from behind Seria, slightly sticking their heads out, as if they were frightened.
As we approached the entrance of the village, we could meet the Imperial Army soldiers who were setting up barracks in front of it.
“You’re here!”
A man who seemed to be the representative of the soldiers welcomed us.
“I’m Jamel of the Ibelis Imperial Army. Hero.”
Starting with him, about 10 soldiers standing behind him knelt.
“You don’t have to do this. Get up.”
Seria lifted them up with a tone that said excessive ostentation was unnecessary.
“I was waiting for the hero to come.”
“If it’s not a problem, please explain the situation in detail.”
Jamel nodded with a firm expression and began to explain.
The content of the story he told me was a little different from what I expected.
What I thought was the story of the villagers being persecuted due to the appearance of demons.
But the story he told me was a little more interesting, and I felt like I knew the contents.
It is said that the tragedy of Lumion Village began when a young man with silver hair appeared.
If the contents of the warning were correct, he thought that there was a high probability that the young man was Ashur.
The silver-haired young man said that he planted unknown stones all over the village.
Of course, the act of planting the stone itself did not cause any damage, but the villagers who were suspicious of it said that they asked Jamel to investigate.
The day Jamel received a report and began searching for him.
Lumion Village has lost its light.
It is said that the vicious black demonic energy boiled up all over the village grounds, and a red film began to form in the atmospheric layer.
Of course, the safety of the villagers was important, and Jamel said that he evacuated with as many villagers as possible on the spot.
However, it was still not enough to save everyone in a short time.
He said there were still about a hundred people left inside the village.
“So have you tried to go inside?”
Seria asked with a serious expression.
“…It would be quicker to show you rather than talk.”
Jamel gave a signal to one of the soldiers to pierce the dark red border with his sword.
The tip of the blade that touched the boundary lost its sharpness and melted away.
“As you can see, it’s like this…”
Certainly, it was a problem that could not be solved with the power of ordinary human soldiers.
Forcibly sending soldiers there was virtually no different from asking them to commit suicide for no reason.
But I had a clear understanding of this phenomenon.
I am a master of magic that even Amelia-sama acknowledged.
The magic circle that covered the entire village of Lumion was clearly visible to my eyes.
The stone that Ashur put in was probably a mana stone. It was clear that it was a very pure magic stone.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain such a huge magic circle for this amount of time.
“I see… You must have suffered a lot…”
Seria held Jamel’s hand tightly.
“Hero… The remaining personnel who have not left this place are all soldiers whose families remain inside.”
Now I could understand why they couldn’t leave this place even though they couldn’t do anything.
family… family…
It was a very sensitive issue for both me and Seria.
Both of us hated tinkering with our families.
“Please… my wife and daughter…”
Tears flowed from Jamel’s eyes.
He seemed to be quite old, but in front of his family, he seemed to have no pride or anything.
The same goes for the soldiers behind them.
“Hero…! My son is only 8 years old…!”
“My fiance is still in town…”
Feeling overwhelmed by the appearance of strong reinforcements, they grabbed Seria and began to complain.
After finishing their consolation, Seria called our party together again.
“Yuwol. Can you guess what this is?”
Seria asked, pointing at the barrier covering the village.
Since she knew that I was a demon, she seemed to think that if it were me, I would have valid information.
“This is a barrier made of magic circles. But it’s not human magic.”
It was because this magic circle was not made of ‘mana’, the source of human magic.
“This is a demonic magic circle made of ‘magical power’.”
Luna must have already fully grasped the situation.
“Sirius-san, do you know that? It’s amazing!”
Natasha opened her eyes and looked up at me.
Uh… because I’m a demon.
Of course, I couldn’t answer honestly.
“So. Is there a way to destroy this from the outside?”
In conclusion, it was impossible.
This was impossible even if I removed the ring and used magic.
The reason was that it was maintained by the ‘magic stone’.
The magic stone was a stone containing the power of demons.
However, there are at least 10 mana stones that can be detected right now.
It also seemed to consist only of guys with extremely high purity of magic.
Of course, it might be possible to cast a spell that blows the entire area away, but in that case, this mission was a failure.
“Um… that sounds like a difficult one.”
“Really? Then there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Seria drew her sword.
“I have to go in myself.”
“Wait. Don’t be so quick to judge.”
Of course, if Seria broke the barrier with force, it wouldn’t be difficult to enter the interior itself.
But, unless Ashur is an idiot, he must have a plan.
Judging by the provocation of the warriors’ party and the summoning to this place, it seems that we have prepared unexpected variables yet…
As of now, I have no idea what that number is.
What on earth are you trying to do by creating an environment that is comparable to the demon world? he is.
The number of mana stones invested and the cost were too much to say that it was purely to take hostages.
“…But you can’t come all the way here and suck your fingers. Yuwol-ah.”
Seria looked helplessly at the soldiers who were staring at us with desperate eyes.
“I understand how you feel, but…!”
“Let’s just go in.”
Luna, who hadn’t said anything, opened her mouth.
“The homeroom teacher said that what demons want is a hero anyway.”
Certainly, the homeroom teacher explained that before leaving.
“Then wouldn’t it be okay if I threw the hero?”
…Hey Luna. We should at least pretend to be warrior party hopefuls.
I shook my head at her tone, as if to throw Seria inside and save the villagers.
Seria’s expression wasn’t that good, but he didn’t particularly disagree with her opinion.
“If that’s what they want from me, that’s fine.”
Seria stood in front of the barrier.
“Yes. The warrior you’ve been waiting for is here.”
It was the moment Seria pulled out her sword.
The black barrier shimmering with muddy light swallowed Seria intact.
As if it had waited for her to come there, the barrier absorbed Seria and shut up.
“Looks good.”
…Luna laughed as if it was absurd.
no. We’ll have to go get it too. Are you ignorant of crossing the river?
I was already starting to get tired as I watched Natyasa screaming beside me.