I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

175 – A Short Break (5)

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Every winter is like this, but this winter has been particularly cold and harsh.

Perhaps it is because the forest has so few humans to share body heat with, or perhaps it is because of the desolation conveyed by the fact that the human world has already become a mess.

Whatever the cause, it was clear that the wind, cutting through the trees lying sideways, was sharply slicing across my skin.

That cold midwinter forest wasn’t a very good place to camp.

If Sister Alice hadn’t been by my side, I might have caught a cold countless times already.

In that respect, this small ruin where we were camping at this very moment was a pretty good place.

People often judge the difference between sleeping in a shelter and sleeping on the streets by the presence or absence of a roof, but in my experience, what’s more important than a roof are the walls.

Even in these ruins, where the walls were crumbling, there was a big difference between what was there and what wasn’t there.

I sat around a campfire, warming the surroundings a little more comfortably thanks to the wind blocking the stone wall.

Sitting on the floor with my buttocks against the wall and my back against the wall, even though the sun hadn’t set yet, was a pretty happy rest for me right now.

Besides, there is Sylvia right next to me, quietly holding my hand.

But that doesn’t mean that this moment, right now, was all warm and cozy.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere was as cold and frigid as the bitter winter wind.

The source of the cold atmosphere was the demon boy sitting across the campfire.

“One thing that is certain is that there are no traces of combat.”

Sister Alice, who had been looking around, spoke firmly to the boy.

It was a dry tone that conveyed only obvious facts, far from providing warm comfort, but sometimes such tone can be of greater help.

Especially when you’re in a situation like now where you have no idea what’s going on.

“Yeah, at least if the Demon King or his subordinates came and messed things up, it wouldn’t be this fine.”

Sylvia also added a word.

“I know you’re worried, but I’m sure it’ll be okay, so just eat this and cheer up.”

I said, pointing to the boar leg cooking at the edge of the campfire.

The boy nodded silently, but he himself sat still in his seat without moving.

In fact, it wasn’t surprising that he was so listless.

He had already searched the area thoroughly for a couple of hours, but he had not found any trace of his fellow demons.

Firewood that was being chopped for use as firewood, large pots full of rotten food that was being boiled for meals,

Although there were many traces of the demons living here, not a single one of them was visible.

It was almost as if they had all just evaporated into thin air.

Sylvia hesitated for a moment and then slowly opened her mouth.

“Boy, you said you were gone for about a week.”

“… Yes. I was on my way back from trading with humans to obtain necessary supplies.”

“You leave this forest and come back in a week? Is that possible?”

“It was a distance that was barely possible if you knew the way.”

“What did you go out to find?”

“The bomb was meant to penetrate the walls of the castle where the Demon King resided. However, the human kingdom was already in shambles and there was no way to save anything.”

“I see.”

Sylvia nodded and continued.

“I couldn’t find any footprints that suggested anyone had moved.”

“… Ha, did they just rise into the sky as a group?”

“Well, that could be true, but I think it’s just that they moved a long time ago.”

“what?”

“Even if it’s a mud floor, it’s hard to see footprints on grass and dirt like this even after three days. We’re not falcons, and human eyesight has its limits, so it would be the same for demons.”

The boy asked in a growl.

“…What are you trying to say?”

“That means the demons left this place right after you left. They left food in the pot in such a hurry.”

“where?”

“Well, he ran away or…”

“We are not running away!”

The boy shouted, interrupting Sylvia’s words.

He was crouching as if he were going to leap out at any moment, like a wild animal threatening a person, but neither Sylvia, Alice, nor even I felt the slightest threat from him.

Sylvia continued speaking calmly.

“Or went to the Demon King.”

“…!”

The boy looked astonished, as if he had noticed something.

Sylvia looked down at the boy and said.

“I don’t know if you went to surrender or to fight, but there may have been some reason you had to move when you weren’t there.”

“… That, stupid…”

“I guess you have a guess?”

“… Tsk,”

The boy bit his lip so hard that it drew blood, then lowered his head, clutching his own horn as if tearing it off.

It seemed clear that there was something going on, but it didn’t seem like he would tell us, since we had only just met.

The uncomfortable atmosphere continued for a while.

I looked at him in silence, then slowly got up from my seat and headed toward the campfire.

Then he picked up a leg of well-cooked boar meat and held it out to the boy, saying:

“Eat this first. It’s good to have something in your stomach to get your energy up.”

“…I have no appetite.”

“Eat it anyway, it’ll burn if you leave it any longer.”

“Oh shit, I don’t need that, ah.”

I forced the meat into his mouth while he screamed.

The boy threw his head back in protest, but it wasn’t that difficult to subdue him, who was smaller than me.

I was always being subdued by Sylvia, but when I subdued her myself like this, I could clearly see that this way was faster and easier.

The boy looked at me with a bewildered expression, his mouth full of meat.

I looked down at the boy and said.

“I have no intention of asking you about your circumstances, and I have no interest in what you are thinking right now. But if you really want to find your comrades, then eat first, eat, and gain strength.”

“…”

“When I’m hungry, all I can think about is sad thoughts. I’m speaking from experience.”

The boy stared at me for a long time, then slowly began to chew the meat in his mouth, his lips pursed.

Maybe it was because I had put in a handful, but every time he moved his lips, oily juices flowed out.

I smiled and slowly sat back down where I was.

Sylvia looked at me like that and said, ‘Good job’ with just the shape of her lips.

Alice, who had been standing at a distance, slowly opened her mouth to speak, fearing that her divine power might harm him, a demon.

“By the way, where is the Demon King’s castle? The trees are all down, so the surrounding area is quite empty, but I still can’t see any buildings that look like a castle.”

“… That’s right, Sylvia. Is the castle where the Demon King is still far away?”

“Um… Sorry, I honestly don’t know. I only remember the direction, but it felt like it was almost time to get there…”

Then the boy, who had swallowed the meat that filled his mouth, slowly wiped his lips with his sleeve and spoke.

“It’s here.”

“what?”

“These ruins are the Demon King’s castle.”

＊

We had already arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

To be exact, we were making a bonfire in the remains of the walls surrounding the castle.

Sylvia looked around for a moment and then confirmed that what the boy said was true.

Only then did the vague structure of the castle that remained in her mind appear among the rubble.

It was a difficult thing to understand.

In the past, Sylvia and her colleagues did not destroy the castle, so why are only the ruins left now?

And there are remains of the walls, but why is there nothing where the castle should be?

I just didn’t understand a single thing.

After looking around for a while, Sylvia asked her older sister Alice.

“… Don’t you feel anything? You can track thick magic with that divine power.”

“This entire area is surrounded by thick magic. It would be difficult to tell the difference within it.”

“… Damn it, this wasn’t the time to look for the demons, the castle itself was gone, leaving only the walls behind.”

I looked back and forth between my sisters Sylvia and Alice and asked.

“Then… what about the Demon King?”

“Hide. Until your body recovers.”

Sister Alice said, clutching her chest.

“You ran away… You’re annoying me, you’re just wasting time with tricks…”

“No, he probably didn’t run away somewhere else. Then he must have just left the castle and fled. He probably used magic to hide himself in the castle.”

Sister Alice looked at me and asked.

“… Magic, can you track it?”

“No, I can’t feel it at all… It must be a pretty big magic to hide an entire castle, but I can’t feel any flow of magic around me…”

“Fuck,”

“In the first place, Sister Maria said that the Demon King’s magic could not be interpreted. Maybe it’s different from magic…”

I stopped talking for a moment and froze in place.

I felt like a thin thread was floating around in my confused mind, like a faint light was twinkling.

“…”

“Ash?”

“Wait a minute, Sylvia, don’t talk to me either,”

“…?”

“It’s different, it’s different, it’s different?”

Something seems to be looming.

It seems like it’s visible, but it seems like it’s not.

It feels like I’m barely able to remember the name of a friend I haven’t seen in a long time, letter by letter.

I frowned, trying not to miss what was coming to mind.

The Demon King’s magic.

A magical ability that defies common sense and hides an entire castle.

The Demon King’s magic is something that even Sister Maria, who said that no one, not even the Demon Clan, can understand.

I’m sure I’ve heard something similar before?

“The whole castle…”

Yeah, I’ve definitely heard of it.

Hide the entire surname.

The whole surname.

“In one night…”

They say the entire castle was built in one night.

Archmage Malis.

However, he was clearly not a wizard.

“It’s different from magic?”

“…”

The two people looked at me with their mouths tightly shut.

Even the sound of them swallowing their saliva was so distracting that it was loud.

Not only that, my five senses were so sensitive that even the sound of their blinking, their gaze, and their thoughts were irritating.

Using all my senses, I tried to grasp this little clue that had appeared in my head.

And finally,

I caught the thin, shiny silver thread.

I’m talking about that thread that’s as thin and shiny as a fox’s fur.

I opened my mouth quietly.

“… Pia.”

“Yeah, I found it.”

Pia, who had appeared without anyone noticing, pointed to the air with her finger.

As I moved my gaze to where the tip of the finger was pointing, I could see something like a transparent tent waving in the red sunset sky, very faintly but clearly.

Pia said.

“That’s right, it’s a spirit. Ash.”

“… ha ha ha.”

“The Demon King is a spirit sorcerer.”

.