"You've defeated me…"
As the Demon Lord Zoga collapsed, his voice was but a faint whisper amidst the splatter of his own blood
"It seems we've managed to save the world."
In contrast, the Hero wore a face filled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Congratulations."
"No need to be so formal. Oh, by the way, I should thank you, Kiska. Thanks to your guidance, I was able to defeat the Demon Lord."
"No, it's all thanks to the Hero's efforts. I haven't done anything."
The words I spoke were somewhat mechanical.
The Hero had defeated the Demon Lord.
That was a cause for celebration.
Yet, why? I couldn't shake the unease that had settled in the back of my throat.
After all, Agetha remained elusive, and I had never managed to meet her.
However, the fact remained that the primary source of world-ending catastrophe, the Demon Lord, had been defeated.
The world had been saved, and that was undeniable.
◆
After the hero defeated the Demon Lord, they were joined by the rest of their party one by one.
"Your Highness! I deeply apologize for not being by your side at such a crucial moment," said the first to arrive, the Holy Knight Canaria.
Then, a few hours later,
"Hey! Is this where you've been hiding? Finally found you!"
"Phew, we finally met! I thought I was going to die!"
"…"
The dwarf Gorgano, the elf Nyau, and a hooded man all arrived together.
Nyau seemed exhausted and unsteady on her feet. Apparently, they were initially scattered to different locations, but they managed to regroup while exploring the dungeon.
Once the news of defeating the Demon Lord was shared, everyone expressed astonishment and showered praise upon Hero Eligion.
"Alright, we're all here now," Hero Eligion declared.
To be honest, considering the complexity of the Katarov Dungeon, it was almost a miracle that they had managed to regroup like this.
"So, are we going to clear the dungeon now to get outside?" someone asked.
Hero Eligion replied, "No, I have a better plan."
With a thumbs-up, he continued.
"Hehe, you should be grateful to the genius mage Nyau!" Nyau proudly proclaimed.
"Annoying…"
"Waaah, this person said something mean about Nyau!?"
It seemed I had unconsciously blurted out some harsh words.
"Hey, don't cry over something like that!"
"Hahaha, don't you just feel amazed by the genius mage?"
Holy Knight Canaria scolded, and the dwarf Gorgano burst into hearty laughter. In contrast, Nyau was whimpering.
"Sorry about that, Kiska. It's a pain when she's in a bad mood, so an apology would be helpful," Hero Eligion whispered to me.
"In that case…"
I nodded and turned to Nyau to apologize.
"Um, I'm sorry."
"Next time, if someone makes fun of Nyau, I won't forgive them!"
"Well, I'll keep that in mind."
"I'll forgive you. Nyau is kind, after all!"
Despite her youthful appearance, her condescending tone irritated me, but I decided to endure it. It would be troublesome if her mood soured again.
"So, Nyau, what can you do?"
"Hehe, prepare to be amazed!"
With those words, she held up a staff as tall as herself.
"In the name of Nyau, I command. From chaos arises order. The absence of good and evil. A radiance beyond the earth. The world is not yet satisfied. The desire lies in the embryo. All things will eventually turn to dust. I command you. Transference magic, first step, return, Regreso."
In an instant, a large magic circle appeared centered around Nyau.
When we realized that it was a transference circle, we were already outside of the dungeon.
"Transference magic…"
I had heard of it before. In the world, there existed a kind of magic that allowed you to instantly move to a distant location. However, very few mages possessed the ability to accomplish this. Maybe this little girl Nyau was an even more incredible mage than I had imagined.
"Hehehe, how was that!? Do you now understand how amazing Nyau is?"
She stood next to me, puffing up her chest with a triumphant look on her face.
Well, it's hard to suppress the feeling of annoyance over the feeling of amazement. For now, should I pinch her cheek in retaliation?
"Nyaaaaaa! Why did you pinch Nyau's cheek?"
Nyau shrieked and tried to get the people around us to come to her aid, but nobody paid her any attention.
Annoyance seemed to outweigh amazement. In any case, I should keep an eye on her.
"Wow! The hero has defeated the Demon Lord!"
"Is that the Demon Lord's body?"
"Whoooa! It's the hero!"
As we emerged from the dungeon, we were quickly surrounded by the excited villagers. They noticed the Demon Lord's body lying next to us. Apparently, we had used the transference circle to bring the Demon Lord's body outside as well. It was only natural that if the Demon Lord's body were found like this, people would identify us as the hero party that had defeated the Demon Lord.
In this manner, we were warmly welcomed by the excited villagers.
◆
"Are you leaving already?"
Afterward, a celebration feast for defeating the Demon Lord began in the village. Amidst the revelry and drinking, I was preparing to set out on my journey. Suddenly, I was approached by Hero Eligion.
"Yes, there's something I must do."
"I see. I'm grateful to you. So if you ever run into trouble, don't hesitate to rely on me."
"No, I can't trouble Hero-sama with my problems."
I gently declined, as I couldn't rely on the prince of this country, especially being a farmer's son.
"I understand. I hope you succeed in what you must do."
Eligion's slightly sad expression was probably just my imagination. In any case, with those words, I left the village of Katarov.
I had only one goal in mind: to find Agetha.
◆ ◆ ◆