“Goho…goho…”

I can’t breathe.

My whole body hurts.

From my hazy vision, I could see the slime slowly approaching me.

It no longer showed any signs of waving its tentacles.

Since I wasn’t running around anymore, I guess all it had left to do was eat me.

(I wonder if being eaten…hurts. If it’s…painful)

I had to escape somehow, but my body wouldn’t move.

“I don’t want…to die.”

My sword…was gone.

The torch also flew all the way to the end of the hall when I got blown away.

I had to pick it up in order to escape.

“…No…way.”

As I glanced towards the torch, I witnessed an unbelievable scene.

A second slime had crawled in through the passage.

Something inside me snapped as the two slimes approached me.

“There’s no way…I can win…”

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“Someone…help me.”

I couldn’t see anything through the tears.

The last thing I remembered was Lain’s face.

“Help me, save me. LAIN–!”

BOOM!

I then heard the sound of thunder.

My tears drew back due to how surprised I was.

It wasn’t raining outside, so there’s no way lightning could strike.

Besides, this place was underground.

I shouldn’t be able to hear lightning in the first place.

“W-what?”

“Sorry. I had some trouble finding this place.”

“!!”

It was a highly familiar voice.

The one I wanted to hear the most right now.

I wiped away my tears.

A large hole had opened in the ceiling, from which the moon’s light shone brightly.

Moreover, there was a person standing between me and the slimes now.

It was Lain.

Lain had come to save me!

I unconsciously threw myself at him.

“Uwah, that’s a nasty injury. I’m really sorry. I should have been here sooner. [Heal].”

Lain gently accepts me in his arms.

Lain used [Heal] on me.

That warm magic healed not only my body’s, but my heart’s wound as well.

That’s what it felt like.

*Slurp*…

“! Lain! behind you!”

Relieved over the fact that Lain was here, I had completely forgotten about the slimes.

The two slimes swung their tentacles at Lain.

“Mm? Ah.”

However, the tentacles only made a soft sound as they fitted into Lain’s hand.

The tentacles that I could barely avoid, were of no significance to Lain.

“You’re kinda in the way. [Wind Blade].”

As Lain used his [Wind Blade] magic, the two slimes crumbled as if they had lost their support.

Inside their bodies which were now puddles, lay two cores that had been split in half.

***

“…So…glad.”

“Uwa! Aria? Oh, she’s just fainted.”

Right after defeating the slimes, Aria collapsed like a puppet who’s strings were cut.

I grab her while panicking.

Looking closely, her pulse was steady and her breathing was calm.

It seems that she’s only fainted.

“That was way too close.”

Right after Aria left, the man who named himself as the Margravine’s deacon came to visit us.

Serving as her representative, he gave us permission to enter the royal capital.

It seems that Sieg-san had pulled some strings.

According to him, Aria’s match should have been on the second day of the tournament, so we rushed here to make it in time.

Well, the horse-carriage was arranged by Margravine-sama, so I’m not sure if “rushed” is the right word.

We managed to make it in time just before the gates closed.

“I didn’t expect to receive a distress-signal as soon as we arrived though.”

I took out the receiver for the distress-signal from my pocket.

The magic tool was a palm-sized version of the jewel attached to Aria’s necklace.

It was a pair to the necklace.

Or more like a master-unit.

This was handed down for generations among anti-demon aristocrats, and once a child became strong enough, they were given this necklace and told to train alone.

I too received this necklace from my mother, and trained by myself.

Though in all likelihood, it’s for the sake of their own training.

You can’t train in the same place where your child would.

This necklace worked pretty well.

If the owner faces any danger, it sends a signal to the magic tool it is paired with, and can prevent a single fatal injury.

The signal can be picked by the base unit, and the location of the necklace can also be pin-pointed.

It’s a secret that it felt the same as a GPS phone for kids from my previous world.

“I’m really glad I gave this to Aria. If I hadn’t, it would have taken forever to find her.”

I located Aria as soon as I came to the capital, and immediately arrived above this hall.

At this point, the unit pointed straight down.

That’s how I realized she was underground, but didn’t know how to reach her.

While hesitating, I received a signal stating Aria had been fatally injured, so I was forced to break the ground and rush over.

“…I broke it grandly, but I wonder if it’s going to be fine?”

I felt a bit unsure seeing the large hole in the ceiling.