Volume 6, Chapter 49 – The Return

“Shizuku… san?”

After relentlessly attacking the Evil Treant as if possessed, Shizuku-san stood staring blankly at the remaining magic stone. I timidly called out to her.

Shizuku-san spun around to face me.

Her expression was grim, and she was radiating an intense bloodlust.

I was sitting on the ground after falling onto my backside, and Shizuku-san looked down at me. My reflection was clearly visible in her golden, slit-like pupils.

While continuing to glare at me with those golden eyes, Shizuku-san raised her Kirinagi.

“Fiene-sama!” “Onee-sama!”

She looked just like a ferocious beast.

But for some reason, I had a feeling Shizuku-san wouldn’t attack me.

So I stood up and began walking toward her.

“Shizuku-san… or rather, Black Fox-san? You need treatment right away, you know?”

Perhaps confused by my approach, Shizuku-san froze for a moment, still holding Kirinagi raised overhead.

As I drew closer, her eyes suddenly rolled back until only the whites were visible, and she toppled backward.

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“Shizuku-san!”

I rushed to her side in a panic and hurriedly checked her body.

Shizuku-san had lost a considerable amount of blood due to the wounds on her stomach and thigh.

She had probably passed out from blood loss.

However, unlike Chris-san, she didn’t seem to have many fractures.

I should be able to treat her quickly.

“Healing! Detoxify! Disease Treatment! And finally, Cleansing Magic!”

I treated Shizuku-san with my usual four-piece set, and then continued treating Chris-san.

“O-Onee-sama. Shizuku-san is…?”

“For now, she’s safe.”

“But it’s like she doesn’t know who we are.”

“True. Perhaps it wasn’t Shizuku-san, but the consciousness of the Black Fox that had come to the surface.”

“Then, what about Shizuku-san?”

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“I don’t know. But the Black Fox is also Shizuku-san.”

“Fiene-sama, what on earth does that mean…?”

This is probably something only I, having touched her soul, can understand.

But the other soul that had merged with Shizuku-san, which I felt in the Dragon God Cave, had certainly not disappeared.

Until now, Shizuku-san’s human side had been stronger, which was why she’d always been the Shizuku-san we knew.

But the fused Black Fox is Shizuku-san too.

“Shizuku-dono…”

Chris-san wore an indescribably complex expression.

I couldn’t possibly know what she was thinking, but I am certain that Chris-san accepts Shizuku-san and cares for her deeply.

“Chris-san, let’s go home. I’ve realized how naive I was. I’m sorry for putting you, Lu-chan, and Shizuku-san in danger.”

“Fiene-sama…”

“Onee-sama.”

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Amid the somber atmosphere, I carried Shizuku-san onto my back and started walking through the forest.

“Fiene-sama, I shall carry Shizuku-dono—”

“No, please let me do it. Besides, Chris-san, please protect us from the monsters that are surely still out there.”

“Yes.”

“Lu-chan, Mashiro-chan, can you handle the monsters too?”

“Yes!”

And so, we headed toward the town of Airoll.

After cutting our way through the monsters, we finally reached Airoll well after sunset.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Saint-sama! Saint-sama has returned!”

“Oh, thank the gods!”

“Open the gates! Open the gates!”

The moment we appeared before the west gate, the place erupted into chaos.

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Because we hadn’t returned even after dark, rumors had spread among the knights that we had fallen in battle, and it seemed morale had dropped significantly.

Well, we really did almost die, so calling it “fallen in battle” isn’t all that far off.

“Saint-sama! Thank goodness! Thank goodness you are safe!”

As we passed through the west gate and entered, Captain Lazare came galloping over from the garrison on horseback and practically threw himself to his knees before me.

“Captain Lazare, please stand up. We defeated a Great Ogre and an Evil Treant deep in the forest.”

“A Great Ogre and an Evil Treant, you say?”

“Yes. Also, I found something like an altar right next to where the Evil Treant was.”

“An altar?”

“Yes. Something about it bothers me, so I’d like you to investigate it. But as you can see, I’m a complete wreck right now, so please let me rest first.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

And once we finally reached our room in the garrison, we collapsed into an almost death-like sleep.