CH 276

“That time ………”

After Sophie and I finished our conversation, we started a normal reflection meeting. Although it was called a review meeting, the conversation was about our impressions during the period of training for the inter school battle.

“Zeros, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, what is it?”

As everyone was getting excited, Bequa spoke to me in a voice that no one could hear.

“Come here for a minute.”

“…Yeah.”

I don’t know, but I followed Bequa and left the practice field.

“What I want to talk to you about is Carina.”

“Carina?”

It seems Bequa wants to talk to me about Carina.

“Me and Urza really have business in the country. But Carina has no business in the country. She was lying to you at the time.”

“Oh, I see.”

I didn’t have a problem if that part was a lie. The most common reason for refusing is to make up a reason for something that’s difficult to say no to.

“The trouble there is that Carina really wants to go to the deep woods with you.”

“Eh?”

“I think she’s afraid to tell me because she’s afraid of me and Urza, and she’s afraid to go alone.”

I think he can see his sister well because he’s her older brother. Even with my mind-reading skills, I couldn’t tell that much.

“Of course, she may feel like she’s dragging you down like the rest of us, but she can pay you back later when she’s stronger.”

It’s true that Carina’s strength would be lower than Shana’s. So if she goes to the deep forest, she will have a hard time at first.

“My guess is that Carina has some kind of [eye] skill. I think it’s one of two things: either she hasn’t awoken it yet, or she has awoken it and doesn’t know how to use it. And Shana has some [eye] skills, too, right? I’m also hoping that she sees it and learns how to use it.”

It’s true that I have seen many people in this world, but I have never seen an odd eye except for Carina. It’s no wonder they say that some kind of power resides in her.

“And with Carina’s abilities, she should be able to make a contract with a seasonal beast by now.”

“Then she’d have to be in your country, right?”

“No, that’s not true. The way we make a contract is that the beast will come to see you when you have reached a certain level of competence. If you accept it, the contract is done. If you refuse, you have to wait for another beast to come to you.”

It seems that the beast comes to the person and makes a contract with them. They can refuse the contract, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that another beast will come again next time. So there are cases where people have been very selective and refused, only to find that the next time they come back, they couldn’t sign a contract with anyone.

“Come to think of it, why doesn’t Bequa just let the beast out?”

“Maybe it’s because I have a high affinity with the beast, or maybe it’s because I can take the same form as the beast, but instead I can’t let it out.”

I asked him what was bothering me as we talked. Bequa said that until he saw me and the heroes, he had thought that the beast wasn’t something that could be brought out. It seems that beastmen can’t fight with beasts as they are.

“She has always been avoided because of the eye thing, so she doesn’t assert herself very much in order to avoid it as much as possible. So she doesn’t say she wants to go with you. However, if Carina starts to assert herself and shows her beastification, I think she will turn into a beast. At that time, she will be much stronger than she is now. Of course, she won’t be as strong as I am.”

Bequa seems to expect that Carina will become stronger. I can’t imagine the frightened Carina becoming as strong as Bequa says she will be.

“Huh…seriously…Bequa is a sis-con. I didn’t notice that.”

“I don’t ever want you to say that to me!”

I don’t know what to expect, I’m surprised to know that Bequa is more of a siscon who loves his sister, which I thought was rare.

“I understand. I’ll talk to Sophie about whether I can bring her along.”

“Thanks.”

Then we returned to the practice field. After that, we had a leisurely talk about nothing in particular, and then we broke up.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m half for it and half against it.”

This is what Sophie said when I told her what Bequa had told me about Carina. I didn’t think there would be any agreement, so I was surprised when she said it was 50-50. I had been thinking about how I could convince Sophie, but it was all in vain.

“I would like to take her with me if she’s going to be truly transformed and become stronger. However, if she’s following us not because she wants to, but because someone told her to, then she’ll soon find herself at odds with the people around her.”

“………”

I was surprised again. I didn’t think Sophie was thinking that deeply.

“What’s with your face…did you really think I would take someone else just to have a night alone with my brother?”

“Yes, no, there’s no such thing, right?”

“Haa…”

Sophie let out a sigh when she saw me look away and stammer out a response.

“Eventually, you and I will fight against the demon tribe called Ryu and Im. Who will be the partner of these two fellow demons at that time? It’s not realistic for me and you to fight other demons at the same time. Also, I don’t want to make it that difficult for you. Therefore, I would like to leave the other demons to others. However, at this point in time we do not have anyone who is competent enough to be entrusted to us with enough peace of mind to concentrate on Ryu and Im. So this time, I want us to head for the deep forest together and become strong enough to be able to entrust the other demon tribe to others.”

“Oh, oh…”

I didn’t think Sophie was thinking that much…. I don’t how many times Sophie has surprised me just today….

“Carina wants to go with us to the deep forest on her own initiative, and this is the condition. If she can do this, we will take her with us. However, you must not tell Bequa about this condition either.”

“…I understand.”

I didn’t understand Sophie’s point and agreed to this condition. It was now up to Carina to come with us.

“Two days have passed since then…”

Two days had passed since they had agreed on the conditions, but Carina still didn’t say she wants to go. It would be a week from now before Bequa and the others would return to their country. She has to tell me by then.

Incidentally, the party in the school will not take place this year as it did last year. The reason is that some of the participants aren’t available due to the delay of the heroes. Furthermore, the reason is that they are busy judging the correctness or incorrectness of the saints’ statements.

“Zeros.”

“Hmm?”

I was about to go to bed when suddenly Yug, Zeal, Bros, and Darki came out.

“It’s been three days since we released the species. We released them without any incidents. So there is no reason for me to be here anymore.”

“Ah…”

That was it. The contract with Darki was until I freed the species. I had forgotten since the presence of the darki in my mind had become a natural thing.