Devil Setra went to the dark basement to rest.
With a ‘fwwsshh’ of escaping air, Devil Setra’s neck separated from the rest of its body, revealing the scepter’s true form.
[Is she really unrelated?]
He recalled the silver-haired girl he had seen from the balcony before leaving Menace.
Reaching the Khan Oasis by land was impossible for ordinary people. As such, she wasn’t an ordinary human.
The silver haired girl accompanying the Exiled Warrior Leina was the spitting image of the songstress, Saria, whom Menace had once called “my cute silver crow”…
[Even if she denied it herself, the timing is too convenient. Is she an underling of the fellow who resurrected Milady?
From what I recall, they can not only revive the dead, but also knew the appearance of Anarista—she who has been our worst enemy—just for the sake of testing Milady’s strength.]
There was also the possibility they were trying to shake up the princess’ psyche.
“If that’s the case, I’ll have to get serious too.”
He whispered, going to sleep temporarily to refill his magical power.
***
“Fine, fine, one more song!”
Before he realized, he had gotten carried away.
Perhaps the residents were hungry for some entertainment too, since they made requests one after another.
It played into his ego as well, he had little choice but to sing as many songs as he was asked to. His experience traveling around the Continent with a troupe of entertainers had proven useful there.
“Then, the one about the Queen of the beautiful desert…”
The instant he was going to begin another song, a familiar face appeared behind the crowd.
“Leina!?”
Forgetting all about the song, he called out to her.
However, he got no reply.
[If I look closely, she’s like a mirror image of Leina, but her skin and hair color is different. She must be in disguise.]
“Not a bad disguise there, Leina!”
He greeted her casually, not minding her lack of reply.
“I am Leina, Guardian of Amara. I came to apprehend the intruders under Lady Menace’s orders.”
Her response had a rather cold tone, making it come off like an order.
“If you resist, I will not go easy on you.”
The woman turned the tip of her sword towards the two of them, the motion making the moonlight reflect off the serpent headdress she wore atop her forehead.
“Okaaay, we surrender, we surrender.”
Fio raised both his hands straight away.
[Leina’s looks are odd, but we don’t need to fight, and we don’t need to escape. If it comes down to it, I’ll make her snap out of it with the Sword of Unicorn.]
As far as Fio was concerned, the situation was pretty simple.
“Stop, Fio!”
Nowa cut in before he could be captured peacefully. She turned her staff towards Leina, and got into a battle position.
“...Why?”
[If we get caught here, we should be able to get right to the boss, Menace.]
With that thought in mind, Nowa’s actions were little more than a waste of time and effort.
“Look at her eyes, Fio.”
“Her eyes?”
“They feel lifeless. They’re almost like two cloudy glass spheres.”
He didn’t know about them looking like ‘cloudy glass spheres’—was that how she had put it?—, but they certainly didn’t look like they had any life in them.
“You can’t trust someone with those eyes. They mean the person isn’t in control of their own actions."
She spoke softly while staring down Leina, in a way, trying to convince herself.
“Whoever makes people look like this is a villain! Nowa has to fight to free her!”
As if she had been waiting for the girl’s speech to end, Leina jumped straight towards Nowa.
“Y-You’re attacking so suddenly…!”
Fio couldn’t avoid flinching. Normally, Leina would never have gone on the offensive without warning.
But there was something even stranger.
[How could you have forgotten your own beliefs?]
In stark contrast with the cowering boy, Nowa acted calmly: she saw through Leina's attack, pierced the ground with her long staff, and rotated her body like a contortionist, getting around Leina and ending up behind her.
“Fio, run away!”
“Run away? But…”
As he ran in a large circle behind Nowa, Fio watched Leina’s appearance, and he finally realized why he had felt her current look didn’t quite match his memories: her underwear was different than usual!
She had changed from her leather one, which served as some protection, to thin blue and white fabric. The stretched garment firmly wrapped around Leina’s forged buttocks, and didn’t slip out no matter how intense the motions.
“Ah, crap…”
He grimaced at the mild pain that came suddenly over him. The part he had confirmed had changed back in the oasis with Nowa—and was now too scared to try and look at—was reacting to Leina’s captivating movements!
At the same time, the sensations transmitted from the Sword assaulted his body: there was this warm pulse… and despite himself, Fio was almost enraptured by the comfort, as if soft skin was enveloping him.
“Fio!”
Nowa shouted at the stupefied boy to try and shake him out of his reverie.
Meanwhile, Leina turned around and swung her sword.
“Hyauh!”
Instantly, Nowa parried it with her staff. She was considering if disarming her foe could be an option… but wasn’t able to figure out how to pull it off.
“Nowa!!”
[This is no time to space out.]
He didn’t feel the usual refinement from Leina’s movements, though there was the possibility she was hesitating to attack - like always.
“I’m alright, Fio.”
The girl jumped back, dodging an attack from Leina that came at her feet.
“Maybe Miss Leina is cursed.”
She hypothesized, holding her staff by Fio. Apparently, she had also felt something strange about Leina’s movements.
“I’ve heard the Captain say that there exist black arts to control others as if they were dolls. I wish I could break the curse!"
When he heard the word ‘curse’, he looked to Leina. However, it seemed she didn’t have his sword with her.
“Tsk! If I had *that*, I’d be able to release any curse in one go, no matter how weird!”
“What’s *that*?”
“The Sword of the Unicorn. A magical sword that heals wounds and destroys evil.”
“If you get that, will Miss Leina return to her senses?”
“Yup, definitely!”
He puffed up with pride.
“Then, go look for it! I’ll keep Miss Leina occupied.”
Nowa stood up before Leina, covering the boy behind her.
“I didn’t want to fight you while you’re in such shape, but I don’t have a choice!”
As Nowa hardened her determination to fight, Fio began running away. Leina started running after him, but the girl jumped out:
“Your opponent is me, Miss Leina!”
Making good use of her staff, she nimbly danced in midair and descended before the warrior.
“Leina! Leina!”
All the residents started cheering for their so-called guardian of Amara.
“Uki-ki-kii!”
Perched on her shoulder, Lou protested.
“It’s okay, Lou.”
Her eyes never left the brainwashed warrior.
“I think these people might be cursed too…”
She whispered sadly, and grabbed her staff firmly.
“Even if there are enemies all around, as long as you’re with me, Lou, Nowa will be okay… it’ll be okay.”
She repeated it to persuade herself. It went without saying, but her anxiety was showing. After conversing with them, she wasn’t sure if trying to free them was right or not. However, she knew one thing: someone who took the free will away from others and forced them to fight was utterly evil.
***
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