Pastel swung her sword at the swarm of bats flying toward her. The silvery blade swept through the bats.
Hahap-!
Hahap-!
She struck down the bad monsters in one go and struck a heroic pose. Sound effects came out of her mouth.
“Bee-choo~.”
Pastel, who could catch bloodsucking bats!
Elshire, who knew how to carry her bag, stared blankly from behind. The strap of her bag slipped off her shoulder.
“Ah! Elshire! You’ll drop it like that!”
“Ah, right.”
The silver-haired girl adjusted the bulging bags.
“Not a bad role distribution.”
Melissa, who was moving her quill over the parchment, smiled sweetly.
“Everyone has their responsibilities and duties. I draw the map, Pastel catches the monsters, and Bellamont carries the bags.”
As she said the last part, Melissa rubbed away the excess smile on her fingers.
“Yup!”
Pastel raised her arm high.
“I’m satisfied with this role distribution!”
She felt light on her shoulders and content in her heart; it was great!
“I wish it could always be like this!”
Elshire looked back and forth, dazed. She seemed to feel the strangeness of being treated differently from when she was born as a duchess.
Noticing Elshire’s gaze, Melissa added a comment, perhaps feeling a slight twinge of guilt.
“Originally, this passage doesn’t have much space. If someone using a spear goes in, it’ll get too cramped. So, Pastel assigned the bag to you, so please don’t feel too disappointed. It wasn’t like I randomly handed it over.”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Huh.
Was there such a deep meaning…?
Her pink eyes rolled.
Now that she thought about it, it might be true.
“Yeah! Right! That was my thought!”
Melissa recognizes thoughts of Pastel that Pastel herself didn’t even know she had!
She truly is my best friend!
Elshire asked.
“So then, if we find a wider space, we redistribute the bags?”
Pastel met her gaze, and after rolling her eyes for a moment, she suddenly bent down to press her ear to the ground. She pressed her finger to her lips.
“Everyone, shh.”
She focused her mind and tried to sense the presence in the ruins. Footsteps and the rumble of the ground were transmitted through the earth. The human form was transcended with refined hearing, allowing her to detect and identify a vast area.
“Yup! No one’s here! We can talk!”
Even after moving this far, there was no presence. The ruins must really be massive.
She stood up and brushed the dust off her hair.
“I think we need to accelerate. The ruins are wider than expected, so we need to assess where the main areas are and secure a campsite before nightfall.”
“Seems like it. Even in the area already cleared by the Knight Order, it’s so expansive that just walking takes considerable time.”
Melissa frowned.
“I think the reason the exploration of the ruins was stagnant was not only due to the cult’s interference but mainly because the ruins are just too vast. I’m not doubting your judgment, though.”
“No, I think so too. I probably undervalued the Knight Order a bit. I made an exaggerated evaluation out of personal feelings.”
Able to adjust from an incompetent Knight Order to one that’s merely incompetent.
As they exchanged opinions rapidly while moving, Elshire followed numbly behind.
“If we find a wider space, we do redistribute the bags, right…?”
“Let’s move quickly!”
Pastel cheerfully shouted.
“Right.”
With Melissa’s agreement, their pace picked up.
Pastel took the lead, catching bats and scouting for presences, while Melissa observed the gem torches to deduce the movement of the Knight Order, keeping busy.
“Something’s written here.”
Elshire, who had been staring blankly at the hallway with nothing to do, pointed at the dim wall. There were grotesque inscriptions in an unfamiliar language.
“Oh?”
An entirely new language.
“It’s a holy language.”
Melissa’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Holy language?”
“Yes, it is.”
Heh.
What’s that?
Melissa glanced back at Elshire, showing consideration for someone less knowledgeable than her.
“It’s an ancient language that was used in temples until the Old Testament era. After the blank period, during the New Testament era, a religious reform was made, and it was decided that such difficult holy language wouldn’t be used in temples anymore.”
“Even I know that much.”
“Just in case you didn’t, Bellamont.”
“An aristocrat would be foolish not to know.”
Dumb Pastel quietly remained.
In fact, she did know.
She just heard it moments ago.
“I’ll try to interpret it.”
Melissa looked closely at the holy language. After a while of deep thought, she turned back slightly embarrassed.
“I don’t know. Looking at it, since only one sentence is engraved without further explanation, it seems likely to be a commonly used idiom. Pastel, can you interpret it?”
Why are you asking me?
Pastel made a foolish face.
“You don’t know…?”
No matter how smart the top student was, she couldn’t study a language that’s too ancient to be of practical use anymore.
Huh.
The pride of the top genius in the grade…!
“Of course, I can do it!”
Pastel shouted out without thinking.
Then she tapped the demon sword.
Demon Lord! Demon Lord! Ancient Demon Lord!
Since it’s too outdated, please lend your wisdom as an ancestor to this new generation that hasn’t even learned it!
『Isn’t it quite eerie that a young Craft would have such rebellious thoughts?』
It’s not rebellion; I’m only picturing my usual Demon Lord!
Melissa wondered.
“What’s wrong? Is there too much?”
“No, no. I eat a lot. Just seems hot.”
“It is quite hot. Please blow on it.”
The blonde girl lifted her cup. Then she pouted her lips, showing how to do it.
“Like this….”
She puffed breath onto the soup.
“Hoo hoo~.”
Pastel mimicked her.
“Hoo hoo~.”
“Yes, just like that.”
Melissa smiled softly.
“This way, it won’t burn your mouth.”
Heh.
Did she learn that from Mother?
Melissa is something.
Pastel sprinkled a bit of gem powder and sampled her jerky soup. The warm sensation filled her body.
Oh?
It’s surprisingly good.
“Give me another cup!”
“I’ll give you more once you finish this one.”
“Okay!”
