Chapter 87
Chapter 87
I decided to make a fuss for him as he carefully examined me sitting on the floor, unable to even finish asking if I was really hurt.
“I’m hurt! My palm got scraped when I fell!”
It hurts so much.
Look, it’s even bleeding. *sniff*
Startled by my claims of pain, he examined my hand.
But noticing that the wound wasn’t serious and hearing the laughter in my voice, he looked up.
“You scared me.”
“I’m not hurt. How about you?”
“As you can see, I’m fine too.”
True to his words, although Cassis was generally dirty from whatever had gotten on him, he looked perfectly fine without a single injury.
“Is Seiren unhurt?”
“Yes, of course.”
Seiren said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Who would struggle with something like this?”
Of course, her gaze turned to Isiel, who was struggling alone in the back.
Though Isiel seemed to be using flashy and beautiful magic circles generously, unlike Seiren and Cassis who could eliminate enemies with a single strike, he appeared to be having quite a hard time.
“Hey! Don’t just watch, help me!”
“Isiel, you need to practice your magic.”
“…Everyone seems to have forgotten, but I’m combat support, not combat-oriented.”
Isiel grumbled and called for help to hurry over, and finally managed to return to his position with Cassis’s help.
Isiel appeared with a suddenly aged face and asked me.
“What about Lady Hellis?”
“Jane left wearing the hat you gave me before.”
“I see.”
Though we couldn’t know about the unidentified ‘demonic beast’ outside, we had at least moved one civilian to safety and gained Cassis, a capable fighter.
“It seems we’ve eliminated all the demonic beasts inside the mansion.”
“Already?”
“I eliminated them as I went around.”
As expected of Cassis.
The world’s hero.
I quickly asked about the whereabouts of others.
Once the visible demonic beasts disappeared, people started crawling out from their hiding places one by one, but they were far fewer than those who had been at the party originally.
“What about the people?”
“We saved everyone we could, and as far as I know, they gathered together and went outside.”
As he said this, he added that the knights stationed in the mansion had guided them well.
“…Then you don’t know anything about the situation outside?”
“No. But whatever it is, it must be better than here with ‘that thing.'”
Saying this, Cassis looked at the torn space floating in the air.
The torn space.
Just then, with a ‘ding’ sound, an update completion notice appeared.
[Oh my, is the connection better now?]
[Irina, answer~!]
The text isn’t broken anymore.
‘I can see clearly now.’
[We really struggled with all these errors…]
[You must have been so startled too, Irina.]
[We almost had the System restored, but suddenly errors spread throughout the entire System.]
So that’s what happened.
I thought about what the System had hinted at earlier about this being “similar to the Sian Terezia situation.”
If that’s the case, the reason they could contact me now without errors or broken text must be because all the nearby demonic beasts had been eliminated.
But that ‘torn space’ ahead and the impossibly large ‘demonic beast’ were still there.
[The situation on Irina’s side looks pretty serious.]
‘What exactly is that thing?’
[…A demonic beast.]
[The cause of destruction.]
I stared at the grotesque creature that seemed like it would suck you in just by looking at it.
[Fortunately, it’s still in an inactive state. That’s probably why the System is working normally.]
[These bugs keep coming no matter how many times we fix them.]
‘Then later when that demonic beast moves… will the System stop completely?’
[…]
[…]
‘…’
After a long silence, the System posted a message.
[Don’t worry too much, we have alternatives.]
[Yeah yeah, we do have alternatives.]
*sniff*, But couldn’t there still be problems?
If I’m in mortal danger and can’t access the System, I’ll be completely helpless.
No, even before that.
If the presence that’s been with me for years suddenly disappears…
[Oh dear, our poor Irina.]
[But now’s not the time to cry. There seems to be another demonic beast outside, and it’s much stronger.]
‘Will the System stop again if we go outside?’
“Everyone lower your voices and look over there.”
At Cassis’s words, I stopped my conversation with the System and moved.
Cassis was standing in front of a broken window, pointing outside.
Following his gaze, we saw a demonic beast matching Jane’s description.
“What is that?”
“I feel sick.”
“That’s… a demonic beast too, right?”
Though it had a human form, the skin covering its body wasn’t human.
It was full of blisters and seemed to be melting and crumpling.
And above all, it was voraciously swallowing a horse.
It was an incomprehensible scene, physically impossible.
The intermittent screams from outside probably meant that animals weren’t its only victims.
The four of us huddled together in front of the broken window, alternating between peeking outside and ducking down.
“Three in total. Humanoid forms with apparent intelligence.”
“The black smoke seems to be their means of attack. It seems to harden…”
“Right. When that smoke touches people, there’s a crunching sound like it’s eating them.”
Seiren looked like she was about to throw up.
The bones with flesh still attached on the ground appeared to be from the horse the demonic beast had been devouring.
“It’s hard to gauge their strength for sure.”
“If only we had one more person skilled in defense.”
Unfortunately, all three were proficient in offense.
Especially Cassis and Seiren were both extremely offense-oriented rather than defensive.
Only Cassis could manage defense during combat due to his exceptional abilities.
“Then shall you two attack? I’ll try defensive magic…”
I would only be a hindrance to them, not helpful.
From the start, in this vast mansion, there were others like me without abilities, but there were also many who used their abilities to protect those around them.
They all did their best, whether their powers were strong or weak.
Currently, those remaining in the mansion were busy treating the injured and staying vigilant for any remaining demonic beasts.
While they did that, Cassis, Isiel, and Seiren were discussing countermeasures.
“Excuse me, are any of you three injured?”
“…?”
“Ah, I am Count Verdi. Though modest, I have divine power and have been treating the injured.”
Cassis gently declined with a shake of his head.
“We’re fine. Thank you for your hard work.”
“No, if it weren’t for Your Highness stepping up, and for the Young Lord and Lady Lemiere, we would all be dead.”
Not just Count Verdi, but all those behind him looked on with respect and gratitude.
“Then please be careful. The blessing…”
Count Verdi spotted Seiren and respectfully stepped back.
“With Former Saint Candidate Seiren here, I shall take my leave.”
The title “Former Saint Candidate,” which had once been used to mock Seiren, now seemed to carry respect and trust.
“In the current situation, confrontation with the humanoid demonic beasts outside is unavoidable.”
“Even though it’s dangerous?”
“Yes. And outside…”
Cassis paused and looked at a corner outside the window.
“It’s Duke Hellis.”
Jane’s brother and the mansion’s owner, Duke Hellis, was approaching the demonic beast in a crouched position.
Beside the Duke were what appeared to be knights of House Hellis.
Everyone held their breath watching the scene.
Cassis quietly observed the situation, while Seiren slightly gritted her teeth.
And the moment Duke Hellis swung his sword at the demonic beast…
“I’ll provide support. You stay here.”
Cassis jumped out the window immediately.
I didn’t even have time to grab him.
A battle broke out instantly.
While before it had been one-sided slaughter by the demonic beasts, now with two skilled knights, it could finally be called a battle.
However, with too little information about the enemy’s weaknesses, it was extremely disadvantageous for our side.
Isiel roughly messed up his hair.
“If only we had something defensive.”
“What about artifacts?”
“Didn’t bring any.”
That’s when I suddenly remembered my pet that I’d been riding frequently lately.
‘Vroom-vroom!’
Right now, ‘vroom-vroom’ was probably having a happy time alone in Luwin’s beautiful backyard, running around, lying down, and resting peacefully.
I quickly pulled up ‘vroom-vroom’s’ skill window.
Skipping everything else, I checked only the immediately necessary stats.
[Attack Power: 5
Defense Power: 10
Movement Speed: 10]
‘If the defense power is ’10’, isn’t that max level?’
[Yes.]
‘How good is that?’
[It means it can defend against anything that doesn’t deplete vroom-vroom’s life force enough to unsummon it.]
Wonder how long it takes to deplete the life force.
I’m not sure, but it has to be better than our current situation.
I spoke to the serious-faced Isiel and Seiren.
“Our vroom-vroom is good at defense.”
“What? Let’s ride right now!”
The summoned vroom-vroom immediately understood the situation without explanation.
The three of us sat in a row in vroom-vroom’s front seat.
“Gasp, isn’t that the rumored ice cream carriage?”
“Oh my.”
“To think that carriage was a summon.”
We could hear people murmuring.
“Everyone hold tight! Did you fasten your seatbelts?”
“Yes!”
“Done!”
Vroom-vroom charged from the hall and flew through the glass window into the sky.
When the huge truck flew through the sky, those fighting below seemed to pause and look up.
I opened the window and shouted.
“Lord Cassis! Behind you!”
