The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"……Tch."
Reinhardt, who was hiding in a safe house in Horizon, clicked his tongue as he watched the light enveloping the city.
His body felt heavy, and a wave of fatigue washed over him.
He had experienced this several times before.
The Zero-Type Prison had probably been activated.
Was it the demons?
Or someone else?
He had sensed that someone was planning to activate the Zero-Type Prison and had been making preparations to stop them, but…
"Am I too late?"
However, Reinhardt hadn't been thinking about the lives of the people.
To him, Horizon was just another ordinary city. He had no particular attachment to it.
In the first place…
He had no attachment to humans.
He had absolutely no intention of preventing the Zero-Type Prison's activation to save the people.
He had simply wanted to stop it because its activation would interfere with his own activities.
And besides…
There was something he wanted to ask whoever was using something like the Zero-Type Prison.
One of the most forbidden spells of all forbidden spells.
Where had they learned such a thing?
Where had they obtained it?
Regardless of whether they were human or not…
He couldn't just stand by and allow someone who casually used something capable of destroying the world to do as they pleased.
"Ugh… My body feels so heavy."
"It seems things have become rather troublesome."
"What are your orders, Master?"
Mitsuki was sprawled lazily across the sofa.
Arieile maintained her composed demeanor.
Meanwhile, Ophelia asked Reinhardt what he intended to do, her expression as emotionless as ever.
"Let's see…"
Reinhardt's objective was to speak with Mina.
He needed information about the former Hero party for a certain operation he would be carrying out soon.
However, that would be difficult now.
Having become caught up in such a troublesome situation, withdrawing from the area was also an option.
Even so…
"If we leave an idiot who casually activates something like the Zero-Type Prison alone, it might cause problems for us later…"
After thinking for a moment, he reached a conclusion.
"Ophelia, come with me. We're going to find the caster."
"And what will you do once we find them?"
"Kill them."
"Understood."
Despite being given such a dangerous answer, Ophelia showed no confusion.
Nor did she hesitate.
If her Master, Reinhardt, had made his decision, she had no intention of questioning it.
She would simply accept his orders without protest and carry them out.
"Hey, hey! What about us?"
"Are you going to leave us behind?"
Mitsuki and Arieile complained unhappily.
Behind them, Mona was… sleeping.
Apparently, indulging in a good nap took priority over everything else for her.
"You two take that idiot and evacuate the hideout. Don't leave behind any information."
"What a pain…"
"Don't say that. A graceful retreat is part of our job, too."
"Fiiine."
"And you… Get up already, you idiot!"
"Fugyaaah!?"
After receiving a punch from Arieile, Mona let out a scream and finally woke up.
――――――――――
"What on earth is this…?"
We descended the hill where our house stood and headed toward the center of the city.
An utterly bizarre sight unfolded before us.
Perhaps because the city was surrounded by light, the sky had turned red.
Countless monsters were roaming around as though they owned the place…
And that wasn't all. I could also make out several figures that appeared to be demons.
The adventurers and the Knights' Order had already mobilized, devoting their efforts to protecting and evacuating the townspeople.
However, the situation had unfolded so suddenly that they simply hadn't been able to keep up.
Screams could be heard from all directions, and flames were rising throughout the city.
"Mina! Was this the work of that demon named Verg!?"
"I-I don't know… I had absolutely no idea something like this would happen…"
Mina was visibly flustered.
It didn't look like an act. She seemed genuinely confused.
"Nokia-san, could you bring out that demon? There's something I want to ask him about this situation…"
"I'm afraid… I'm sorry. Somehow, he managed to escape without us noticing…"
"Huh?"
"This was my failure. I'm truly sorry…"
"No, please don't worry about it so much."
I couldn't imagine Nokia-san making such a careless mistake.
The seal must have been perfect, but…
Verg had probably found a way to escape that surpassed it.
…Or perhaps someone had helped him escape?
That possibility suddenly crossed my mind.
"Rain!"
Kanade's voice brought me back to my senses.
That's right. Now wasn't the time to get lost in thought.
We could investigate the cause later.
"Kanade, Tania, and I will exterminate the monsters and demons! Everyone else, focus on protecting the townspeople!"
"Understood!"
"As for you, Chiffon and the others…"
"We'll help you too, Rain-kun. If we're dealing with someone capable of causing a disaster like this, the three of you might not have enough fighting strength."
"You're right… Thanks. I'm counting on you."
"Of course. Leave it to us."
Chiffon gave me a confident, heroic smile.
"I shall help as well. Protecting the people is also one of the Church's duties."
"Thank you, Eris. As for Mina…"
"…Would you allow me to help as well?"
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