CH 18

To the east of Arland is a mountain called Crest.

The altitude of the mountains was not so high, and in the old days, mountaineers often visited there.

But now no one tries to approach.

Even monsters avoid Crest Mountain.

The cause is … a dragon.

The king of the sky, who came out of nowhere, decided that the mountain was his root castle.

Regardless of humans or monsters, those approaching are mercilessly executed.

It had formed my own area.

“… That’s why.”

We asked Anju to explain about Mt. Crest, which was also a pilgrimage site.

No matter how harsh it is, the journey is not a big deal.

The problem is the mountain-based dragon that is hard to get past by.

It seems that this guy has dramatically increased the difficulty of the Crest Mountain pilgrimage.

“Is it a dragon ?… Isn’t that opponent too tough? It may be not possible for me after all.”

“Yeah … I think the dragon as an opponent is tough, even if the opponent is as insane as someone like Haru …”

“Eh?”

I am confused.

“What do you mean by ‘insane’?”

“Both your magical power and your self-evaluation is insane.” Alice replied with a twitching nose.

Mmm … I’m not entirely convinced.

But now it’s not something we must brood on.

We have already reached the foot of the mountain.

“There is a workaround. I can use sleep magic, so I’m going to put the dragon to sleep.”

“Wow, it’s amazing that Anju can use sleep magic.”

At first glance, it may seem like a useless magic.

However, it is a fairly powerful magic that puts the other party to sleep and makes them defenseless without any questions asked unlike its other alternatives.

Since it can be used for crimes, there are very limited opportunities to learn it from someone else.

“Oh no … I’m not a big deal compared to Haru-san. I think Haru-san is much more amazing.”

“That’s not the case. I can only use beginner tier magic, just the output is high. Anju is more amazing.”

“No, I am …”

“No, I’m …”

“What should I do … If both them are out of self recognition, thier talk won’t go any further than this.” Alice twisted her face/

“That is also the charm of the young lady.”

I felt like I was being told something rude again.

“Haru and Alice we ask you to escort us in case of emergency. When sleep magic does not work or if the dragon were to wake up … I would like to ask you to deal with other unexpected situations … ”

“Okay, leave it to us. In case of emergency, Haru will do his best.”

Alice nodded with a smug.

“Oy! I don’t want to leave it to me …”

“I think Haru’s magic can scare the dragon even if it is unable to defeat the dragon. In the meantime, we would evacuate Anju and finally, you’ll evacuate after her. Hmm … well, I’ll do something about it, you don’t have to worry. “

I remeber it well. Alice had once put her life on the line to help me evecuate. Was she planning something along those lines? If that’s the case I would certainly like to scold her.

“Um … I understand. For the time being, I’ll try as much as I can.”

I don’t know what I can do with the dragon, but …

For some reason, I accepted the request.

I want to do my best so that I can do it properly.

――――――――――

After that, we started climbing.

The mountain used to be visited by many climbers, so there is no sudden difference in elevation and it is relatively easy to walk.

I was able to climb up without getting tired.

“… If only it didn’t have a dragon.”

Anju whispered to herslef. It was strange, we were being wary of the dragon but shouldn’t there be other beasts as well?

“… Maybe he is hunting well and has cleared the monsters in the area. Even a dragon can’t live without eating.”

“… If so, we have to hurry now.”

“… If we encounter a dragon, then I will do my best to protect Anju.”

“… Huh”

She came to a halt sudeenly staring at me.

“… Anju?”

“… No, no. Nothing.”

Instead of saying what was wrong, she refused to meet my gaze.

“… Uh, why? I was very excited by Haru-san’s previous words … My face seemed to be burning hot.”

“… Anju? Are you okay?”

I walked up to her to check her temperature.

“… Ah, no. Please don’t get too close to me now …”

Oh no.

“… Eh. do I smell bad or something like that …?”

“… Well, that’s not the case! But for some reason, my heart … keeps beating loud.”

At that point I hadn’t realized, but it was like Anju and I had turned into sweets for the other two.

“… Is it okay not to stop?” Alice sighed.

“… I’m can’t let it stop, because the lady is so cute.”

Alice and Nine had a warm look at me.

Despite this, we arrived at the entrance to the tombs of the heroes.

A small cave was created by hollowing out a part of the mountain.

As we proceed through it, we saw a large stone door.

It seemed to be made quite sturdy, and it seemed unlikely that it can be moved unless someone was of the size of a giant.

“How can I open such a door …?”

“Huh, rest assured. If I, the saint, touch the door …”

When Anju touches the door, the engraved pattern shines.

The door opened with a heavy rattling noise.

“In this way, the seal is automatically released.”

“I see, it’s convenient.”

“Is this okay with us?”

“Yes. Once the seal is released, it will remain for one hour. However, please note that after that time, the seal will restart and we will be trapped.”

“I’m confident that if I’m trapped in a place like this, I’ll go crazy …”

“Before that, you would have to be starved to death …”

The pilgrimage of the saint seemed to be scary.

While holding such an impression, we went to the other side of the door.

The inside was surprisingly large.

A casket was placed in the center of a wide space vertically and horizontally.

That was probably the grave of the heroes.

“…”

Anju moved in front of the casket and silently kneeled.

She put your hands together and closed her eyes.

And she prayed in her current position.

The entire room shines a faint light in response to her prayers.

Countless particles of light float in the air.

From some of them got sucked into Anju’s body.

It was a very fantastic sight to behold…

I forgot about the passage of time and watched as she prayed.

“… Fu”

Shortly after, Anju stood up with a small sigh.

Is it about 10 minutes in time?

Even so, she looks very tired with beads of perspiration accumulating on her forehead.

“Thank you everyone. The prayer went on smoothly … oh.”

As soon as she said that she lost her strength in her legs.

“Hold On!” I cried

I hurriedly stepped forward and supported Anju, who was about to fall.

“Are you alright?”

“Ha … Yezzz!”

“What happened? Somehow your voice is really strange …”

Anju covered her lips with her fingers

“Yes, I don’t know … even myself. I mean, Haru-san’s face is so close to me that …”

“Um … but above all you look safe.”

Judging that it would be okay, I gently let go of Anju.

I can’t stay in close contact forever.

“…”

“What’s wrong, Alice?”

For some reason, Alice had a pinched look on her face that stared at me with a piercing gaze.

“Nothing..”

“Why do you have a face like that …??”

“It’s nothing. Nothing at all … Haru has never been so kind to me. He did something like that …”

She was murmuring something, but I don’t understand the meaning. It was gibberish and hidden under her breath.

whatever.

Now let’s rejoice that the pilgrimage has ended successfully.

“I’m sorry to trouble you. Let’s go.”

In Anju’s words, everyone was out of the room.

When she touches the door again, it closes with a loud noise.

In addition to the automatic type, it seems that there is also a function to close it when the saint touches it again.

“By the way, can I ask?”

“Yes, what !? If you have any questions to ask Haru-san, I will answer anything, I!”

For some reason, Anju, who was asked a question, came with tremendous momentum.

“You said that you can become a true saint when you make a pilgrimage, but what does that mean?”

“Um … pilgrimage has many meanings, but the easiest thing to understand is that you can learn new magic.”

“Ah, magic”

“Magic that can only be used by saints is a little special learning method … In this way, by visiting the graves of the heroes, you will be endowed with power.”

“So that’s it”

Is it magic for the saints … what exactly is it?

I’m interested as a wizard myself.

“Anyway, with this the request has been fulfilled …” I said but my voice was soon cut off.

“… Who are you?”

When we went outside, a thick voice came down from above.

Looking up …we saw the visage of a huge dragon.