“Wait, how long have we been walking?”
Looking at the sky, which was already starting to turn yellow, Ichikawa stopped in his tracks.
“About three hours?”
Hearing Ichikawa's question, Lin Ling thought for a moment. Had the two of them set out around noon?
After all, if she woke up according to her biological clock, it would have been exactly noon, which was the perfect time to have a delicious lunch.
Speaking of lunch...
Wait, it seemed she had left without eating lunch!
Her eyes snapped wide open. Lin Ling rummaged through her spatial storage, pulling out a loaf of bread that she had stuffed in there at some point.
“...”
“Hey! What are you doing!”
Seeing the bread she had just taken out snatched away by Ichikawa, Lin Ling's face fell with displeasure.
“Hey, we are currently infiltrating! We're in infiltration mode!”
“But even so, we still have to eat, right?”
“I'm surprised you can actually eat right now.”
After he handed the bread back to Lin Ling, she immediately showed him what it meant to finish a loaf of bread in three bites.
Wiping her mouth, Lin Ling looked back at Ichikawa.
“Now, let's keep going.”
Having said that, Lin Ling started walking on her own toward the direction where the magic was flowing.
The two Heroes were currently lost—
“Are you sure this is really where that Baron Will is?”
When the two of them finally emerged from the maze-like paths, a dilapidated house stood before them.
Looking at the run-down house, Ichikawa's mouth twitched. Perhaps he had put far too much trust in this girl wearing the Saintess vestments.
“Hmm... I'm not sure,” Lin Ling pondered, rubbing her chin.
This didn't seem likely.
His son Zakum was so extravagant, and this estate was clearly worth a fortune. Yet, her magic perception couldn't possibly be wrong.
Lin Ling closed her eyes to sense the massive pool of magic in front of them and the faint magic coming from the luxurious mansion in the distance.
It was like comparing a puddle to a lake.
No matter how she looked at it, wouldn't the lake-like magic inside this dilapidated house belong to Baron Will?
After all, he was the guy Camillaya stationed at the border to defend against invasions, right?
Lin Ling was even starting to doubt herself. Had something really gone wrong with her magic perception?
“Stop overthinking it. We'll know once we take a look.”
Seeing Lin Ling deep in thought, Ichikawa was worried she might just fall asleep right there with her eyes closed.
He reached out to rouse the daydreaming Lin Ling, and the two of them walked toward the dilapidated house.
Knock, knock—
“Is someone here?”
Inside the house, the woman stood up. Constantly channeling life-sustaining magic for the maid on the bed had taken a heavy toll on her.
Glancing out the window, she saw it was only dusk. It was unlikely for the other maids to return at this hour, and the Baron and his two sons viewed this place as nothing more than a garbage dump, so they would absolutely never show up here.
The woman found it difficult to guess who could possibly be standing outside the door.
Turning her head to look at the maid still lying on the bed, she saw that once the girl lost the support of her life-sustaining magic, the wounds on her face began to rupture again. A faint scent of blood started to drift through the room once more.
Knock, knock—
Another few knocks came from outside, but the woman couldn't leave. The continuous reopening of the wounds would only bring the child more pain.
“Is there no one inside?”
Lin Ling knocked a few more times, but there was still no response.
“Are you sure the magic is really coming from inside?”
Ichikawa frowned. After knocking so many times, normally, even the most patient person would have snapped from Lin Ling's constantly shifting knocking rhythms.
At the very least, listening to her knock was making him want to punch her in the head. This girl was clearly just knocking for the fun of it now!
The cowlick on Lin Ling's head swayed back and forth in sync with her knocking.
Wait... what was that smell?
The knocking Lin Ling suddenly seemed to catch an unpleasant scent. Her hand froze mid-air, and she turned to look at Ichikawa behind her.
“There's a scent of blood inside.”
Lin Ling's expression grew serious as she looked at Ichikawa.
“You're not joking?”
“I wouldn't joke about something like this.”
“Step back.”
Seeing Lin Ling begin to slowly channel magic in her hand, Ichikawa drew the precious Hero's sacred sword from his waist.
Crash—
With a single slash, the old wooden door came crashing down.
“Who are you!”
Seeing the wooden door violently destroyed, the woman inside was forced to switch her two-handed spell to a single-handed one so she could free up a hand to cast a spell at the two intruders.
The moment they entered, neither Lin Ling nor Ichikawa paid any attention to the questioning woman.
Their eyes fell upon the maid lying on the bed and the woman who was currently supplying her with life-sustaining magic.
Ichikawa quickly sheathed his sword and cast a Holy Light spell directly at the maid.
“What are you doing!”
Not only had these two burst in, but they had also immediately cast a spell on the child on the bed. The woman's voice carried a hint of anger.
“This will ease her pain.”
“What you were doing just now was only prolonging her suffering.”
“...”
The woman turned her head to look at the maid. Indeed, the maid's brow was no longer furrowed in pain.
The magic she had gathered to use against Lin Ling and Ichikawa slowly dissipated.
Stepping away from the maid, leaving her to these two newcomers seemed like the better choice.
Judging by their actions, they clearly wanted to save the child.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have used such a costly Holy Light spell on an insignificant maid. As for what would happen next...
A faint hint of murderous intent flickered in the woman's eyes.
However, Ichikawa had no time to worry about the woman's expression. He looked at the maid, whose face was severely burned and covered in numerous deep cuts.
Ichikawa tried to recall the healing magic Lillian had used. A faint green glow appeared in his hand, but it quickly flickered out.
“Damn it.”
As if remembering something, he turned to Lin Ling beside him.
“Hey! Lin Ling, can you use healing magic?”
“If I could do that, I would have done it already.”
Healing using her own Health Points would only be a drop in the bucket, not to mention her Unique Skill prevented Ichikawa from learning it anyway.
“Hey, it looks like someone needs some help.”
A lazy voice drifted in from the shattered doorway.
Furni and Ivelia were standing at the door, watching the two of them struggle with their healing magic.
“Y-You are Her Majesty the Demon King?”
The moment the woman saw Ivelia, she immediately went to kneel on the floor.
However, she felt as if she were being held up by an invisible hand, completely unable to kneel.
“We can talk about whatever it is after we get back.”
Glancing at the woman in the maid outfit, Ivelia withdrew her gaze and looked back at Lin Ling.
“Leave this to us. You two still have unfinished business, don't you?”
“Mhm, go on, go on.”
Seeing Furni arrive, Ichikawa also stopped his repeated attempts at healing magic.
Pulling along Lin Ling, who was lost in thought, the two of them walked toward the other source of magic inside the luxurious manor.
The Demon King? Why did this maid know that Ivelia was the Demon King?
Forget it, now was not the time to think about this. She looked at Ichikawa, who was dragging her along.
She glanced back at the maid on the bed and Furni, who was currently casting a complex Holy Light spell that she couldn't comprehend.
Indeed, there was work to be done.
Rate on N.U.
