Chapter: 288
“Uh? Oh, why is everyone like this… Yeah, I’m happy to see you too.”
As I stepped out of the defenses protecting the city, a loud wailing sound erupted from the nearby Fury Beasts on guard.
What can I say, they seem really happy to see me.
I’m not some idol dropping by for a surprise concert; what’s going on here?
Just as I was puzzled by the unexpected welcome from the beasts,
“Sheeeek!”
“Wait? Ari, you’re here too? I was wondering where you went.”
A cute cry echoed, and the small phoenix, Ari, flew over and lightly perched on my shoulder, nuzzling against me playfully.
While I was gently stroking Ari’s head, I accidentally caught sight of the beasts nearby.
Some were trembling as they looked at me, while others appeared relieved as if they had just come back to life.
Seeing such expressions on the beasts made me realize what had happened here just moments ago, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Ari, I was wondering what you were up to, turns out you were keeping the kids in line here?”
“Beeep?”
Ari looked at me with innocent eyes, tilting her head as if to say she didn’t know anything about that.
But I could tell my guess was correct because the surrounding beasts were looking at Ari with expressions like, “Look at that shameless one…”
And judging by their intense reactions, it seemed like this wasn’t the first time.
Sometimes Ari sat on my shoulder, but every now and then, like today, she would fly somewhere, and I suspect she was doing this around the city to keep the beasts in check.
I wondered why the beasts welcomed me so enthusiastically earlier—it was because I was their savior who could free them from being tormented by their superior.
Feeling a twinge of sympathy for the beasts, I flicked Ari’s nose, which was making a “Caught me!” kind of face.
“Take it easy. You don’t need to push them so hard; they’re doing their roles just fine.”
“Beeep……”
Ari reluctantly responded as if to say she got it.
The beasts then sent silent cheers my way, and I casually waved back, only to see Ari bow her head deeply.
Was she that shocked by what I said?
I couldn’t help but smile at Ari’s dejected look and gently patted her head while saying,
“But I appreciate it. I know why you did it; you just wanted to be praised by me more, right? But I already appreciate your help, so you don’t need to work so hard. Got it?”
“Beeep… Beeep!!!”
Fortunately, my words revitalized Ari, and she quickly bounced back, clinging to me with affection.
It turned out to take a while to calm her down after that display of affection.
After spending some time with the beasts, I focused on the original purpose of my visit.
The reason I came all the way to the outskirts of the city today was to find out where the Witch of Lust was located using the Holy Sword of Truth borrowed from Yoon Si-woo.
“Alright then, let’s give it a try.”
To find out where the Witch of Lust was, I needed something to engrave on the Holy Sword.
As I explained to Sylvia last time, this engraving could also be done through miasma.
This place I came to was the battlefield where the Witch of Lust led her vast army during her invasion, a site still shrouded in the miasma that had not been purified yet.
In this place, remnants of the miasma unleashed by Lust were surely lingering.
To find it, I drew the Holy Sword of Truth and started searching for the miasma around me.
However, contrary to my expectation of finding something quickly, I soon faced a serious problem.
“Hmmm… this is a bit tricky. It looks like it’s not just the miasma left by the Witch of Lust.”
An issue arose.
The ability of Lust was to brainwash and control living beings.
And due to this very ability, she had manipulated a variety of demonic beasts and brought them here, leading to a mix of different miasmas created as those beasts died, making my search increasingly difficult.
To discover where the Witch of Lust was, I needed a miasma that could specifically identify her, but in this state, it seemed like it would take some time.
As I was pondering this dilemma, I noticed Ari on my shoulder suddenly flapping her wings and beginning to circle in front of me.
Caught off guard, I looked at her in confusion as she seemed to say something to me.
“Beeep, Beeep!!”
“…Are you telling me to follow?”
“Beeep!”
As she confidently shouted something and flew off, I hesitantly decided to follow her.
After walking for a bit, I noticed a long mark on the ground in the direction Ari was heading.
A black streak stretched out, looking like a gigantic skid mark on the road.
Upon closer inspection, I realized what that mark was.
“Oh, could this be…?”
That black streak turned out to be the trace left by my last attack against the Witch of Lust.
Realizing this, I also understood why Ari had led me here.
That mark signified that if I followed it, I would find the spot where the Witch of Lust had been during our battle.
Sure enough, at that location, her miasma would still remain more strongly than anywhere else.
How did Ari think of this?
“You’re quite clever, aren’t you?”
“Beeep!”
Maybe she wasn’t clever but just knew where the other types of miasma were, but nonetheless, it was undoubtedly helpful, so I praised Ari as we walked along the trail.
When we reached the end of the mark, where the Witch of Lust had been hit by my attack, I drew the Holy Sword of Truth and plunged it into the gathered miasma around me, saying,
“Tell me. Where is the Witch of Lust?”
As I said that, the Holy Sword of Truth glimmered slightly, and simultaneously, information began to flow into my mind seamlessly.
It was a sensation that was hard to describe in words.
Like migratory birds flying long distances yet accurately finding their destinations.
Like salmon returning to the streams where they were born every year.
How it was possible, I didn’t know, but I naturally came to understand.
Where I needed to go to find my target, the Witch of Lust.
I turned to the distant west, the direction where the Witch of Lust was located, and muttered,
“…Tell her to wash her neck and wait. This time, I’ll come to find her.”
*
After obtaining information about the location of the Witch of Lust, the most crucial part of the hunting party, preparations proceeded swiftly.
“Alright, so it’s to the west, huh? Based on the map, about where do you think that is?”
“Probably… around here.”
“Hmmm… The western coast, where it is said the city of mermaids used to exist. That’s quite a distance… What are you going to do? This kind of distance would take a considerable amount of time for travel.”
The lair of the Witch of Lust was far west in relation to the city.
It was reportedly a place where mermaids once thrived before being slaughtered by the Witch of Lust.
The issue was that the distance was substantial, just looking at the map.
At first, I was almost irritated by the Witch of Lust being so far away, but luckily we had a way to overcome this distance.
“That’s fine. We can fly. We will probably get there dozens of times faster than if we go on foot.”
Indeed, flying was the answer.
Nothing beats flying for long-distance travel, it’s fast as well.
“Right… With Sylvia’s flying spell, we can move quickly.”
“I have my own flying spell as well, but Scarlet also has an excellent means of transportation.”
“A means of transportation?”
“That thing on your shoulder, it’s no ordinary pet! You’re not thinking of riding it, are you?”
“Oh, Ari… Can you give me a ride?”
“Beeep!”
“Oh… She says it’s fine for me to ride?”
“That’s a relief.”
At first, I only thought about Sylvia’s flying spell, but then I realized I also had my own private ride, Ari.
Our means of transportation was finalized with Sylvia’s flying spell and Ari.
Now that we decided to fly, the hunting party would inevitably be smaller than the existing plan.
Flying wouldn’t allow for a large-scale hunting party like walking would.
In that sense, there was one regret.
“Beeep, Beeep!”
“Uhm, Sylvia. It’s fine that Ari can carry me, but she needs to be ready for a different kind of ride.”
“Well, right. I didn’t think about that—sitting on a fireball wasn’t part of the plan. Sigh… So I guess I’ll have to carry everyone while flying.”
“Ahaha, sorry…”
It turned out that since Ari could only carry me, I had to take responsibility for that.
Unfortunately, neither I nor Ari had the ability to selectively burn things, so if someone else climbed onto my fiery ride, they would be burnt to a crisp.
Therefore, we ultimately decided to load a few Fury Beasts onto Ari’s back instead of people.
Additionally, there was a minor uproar among the beasts deciding who would be included in this arrangement.
It seemed everyone wanted to help me, with each one stepping up to volunteer, causing slight confusion, but when I said, “You all think carefully. If you join me, you’ll be riding on Ari’s back. Are you sure you can handle that later?” the number of volunteers shrank down to a single-digit numbers.
They probably feared what might come if they jumped in unprepared later on.
Perhaps later, Ari might jokingly say, “Hey, you guys? Isn’t life wonderful now? Even the junior folks get to ride on the shoulders of the seniors. Right?”
In that sense, those who volunteered were seasoned beasts, somewhat toughened by previous experiences.
It was for the best that the hunting party was assembled with the strongest members possible, so it wasn’t a bad thing.
“All that’s left is selecting the personnel and preparing the supplies. Diakonos, how is the supply preparation going?”
“Yes. Everyone in the Dolos family is giving it their all, and it’ll be done in no time.”
“You really don’t need to go that far…”
“Don’t mind us. We just want to resolve this long-standing grudge as quickly as possible.”
“…I understand. Got it.”
Thus, the hunting preparations were swiftly completed thanks to the cooperation of everyone, especially the enthusiastic support from the Dolos family.
Once we received word that the preparations were complete, we quickly decided to set out without dragging things out.
With the Witch of Gluttony potentially resurrecting at any moment, the most scarce resource we had was time.
Before we knew it, the day of departure had come.
“Everyone, come back safe!!”
“Don’t die, you idiots!!”
With the well-wishing shouts of the people, we began boarding our vehicles.
Five volunteered Fury Beasts and I hopped onto Ari’s back.
The carefully selected elite heroes of thirty, plus five members of the Dolos family including Diakonos, boarded the massive Great Star Cluster created by Sylvia.
The faces of those boarding the vehicle destined to hunt the Witch of Lust showed a solemn determination.
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel nervous myself, so to calm my racing heart, I quietly closed my eyes and muttered to myself.
It’s okay, we prepared perfectly, so we can handle this easily.
Having regained my mental composure, I opened my eyes again.
“Wait, wait…! Stop…! Florene wants to go too…! Please let her come along!”
And seeing the commotion caused by the pink-haired girl in front of me, a very famous saying from a certain witch came to mind.
“Kid, life doesn’t always go the way you want it.”
My inner peace drifted far away, replaced by a problem that arose before we even started.
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