Just before going up on board, she tried to find Maggie and Meow by turning around and walking through the cabin on the lower floor once again, but she couldn’t even see their noses.
When she gave up looking for it and went outside, a deep sigh came out of her naturally. They crowded the deck with people without a break.
‘How am I going to find Cesare…’
The atmosphere of the deck couldn’t be described as positive, to put it nicely. The children in their arms were crying at the top of their voices, and the priests reassured the anxious people by going back and forth.
“A lot of people are passing by. If you don’t mind, can I ask you what’s going on?”
The man who was smoking silently answered Catherine’s question.
“Didn’t you hear the announcement?”
“Anyway, how did it happen?”
“We had a dream in which the day was repeated, and it turned out to be a number of illusions. They sent us all to the deck with news that terrorists were threatening Lilith. Damn it, I didn’t even take a vacation to do this—. There are Paladins and Imperial knights, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Is there really none?
Digging through the crowd, Catherine raised her head above the sky.
It was a magic circle of overwhelming size.
At first, it was only a line, but now it was gradually completing its shape. This means that it has yet to catch the leader of the current situation.
Everyone was treating that huge red magic circle as nothing. For this large number of people, they not only use a number of illusions, but they also use invisible magic.
“This level of the wizard is not common all over the world.”
Catherine’s face trembled at the sudden interruption of the voice.
“Besides, it’s quite bold. Isn’t it, Lady? To draw a magic circle on the celestial sphere against the Grand Duke. This person must be a pretty young sorceress, given that this person is so full of energy.”
“Excuse me.”
“This is it. I came to work and enjoy my vacation, but I’m unlucky enough to get involved in this kind of thing.”
“Excuse me, old man. Can you stop talking to me like you’re close to me?”
In response to the cold answer, the owner of the voice, Giovanne, grabbed one chest with a hurt look.
“What do you mean old man… I still have a bright future ahead of me… What do you mean old man…”
It is said that bad things happen over and over again, and dangerous people stick with each other when they are alone.
Catherine clicked her tongue and left. For a while, he pretended to cry, and Giovanne, who lifted the corners of his lips, followed her.
“Hey, Lady. Why do you keep being cold-hearted? There’s a conversation we haven’t finished yet. Come to think of it, what about Pompadou? Did you get along well?”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Are you really going to sign a contract with Madame? Well, that wouldn’t be bad either. Are you not interested in Busperfield? After all, I’m still a pretty great person.”
“If you say one more thing there, I’ll scream and call you a pervert.”
“Did you know that you are a Nephilim?”
Catherine stopped walking. So far, she has filtered out all the nonsense well on her own.
What she learned while hanging out with the ladies in society was to listen in one ear and let it go in one ear. In order to properly take care of her body, she had no choice but to filter the rumors she was pursuing.
Yeah, that’s how I was—.
“I’m confused. A face you know? Or is it a face you don’t know?”
Nephilim.
A mixed-race between devils and humans.
Even in the age of dying and living in magical skill, there is one creature who can never be used in aristocratic society.
“At first, I wasn’t sure. Old Nephilim like me easily recognizes their own kind… But Lady, you’re very ambiguous. I thought it was because of Gargoyle. Looking at it now, you’re definitely a Nephilim.”
‘That woman is a monster. There’s no feeling of love. This means that you, me, and this family are all just tools for her family play.’
“But it’s strange. You don’t have any talent for magic? I don’t think Nephilim would be like that.”
Invalidation of magic.
It was Nephilim’s unique ability. Other than Nephilim, only a few ordinary humans have this power.
“Anyway, it’s fine. Busperfield has a lot of Nephilim like the Lady. Whether it’s a confusion of identity or finding yourself—”
“This perverted human! Can’t you stop! Embarrassing!”
It was then. Catherine shouted in a loud voice, covering his mouth.
“…Huh?”
The attention of the surrounding people quickly turned to them. While touching his scattered hair, Giovanne made his face look awkward.
“I already have a man who promised the future! You shouldn’t say such shameful things like that you have a usable face or that you’ll do me a favor!”
“Wait, Lady? When did I—”
Taking advantage of Giovanne’s embarrassment, Catherine hid in the crowd. She definitely warned him. If he talks to her one more time, she’ll shout.
“Lady!”
But that tough man didn’t seem to give up. A voice calling for Catherine kept coming from beyond the back of her head.
“Lady! Oh, damn it. You’re just walking fast for no matter what… Look at me! It’s me! The escort knight whose you gave the money!”
In the last sentence, she stopped walking and moving forward.
The escort knight who she brought with money? Turning her back, the man with the familiar face grabbed her by the shoulder.
It was Damian.
“Ha, I had a hard time finding you. What do you do with your ears off? I must have called you twenty times without exaggerating.”
“…I’m sorry, I’m out of my mind. But how did you find me among all these people?”
“Because someone shouted strange things with a voice I’d heard a lot somewhere. I thought it was a Lady.”
It must have been that he hadn’t forgotten what she had done to Carlos.
“Thank you for recognizing me. Still, strange things kept sticking to me while I was alone.”
The odd ones here were Giovanne and Percyville.
“Huh? What about Meow?”
“We are parting away due to unavoidable circumstances. We need to find it.”
“Huh. Can you find that little cat in a place like this?”
But it’s a relief. Catherine sighed inwardly. In such a complicated situation, she was relieved in many ways to meet Damian again.
Although his personality was a little fool, he was the second most trustworthy person after Cesare when they were together. Although incompetence in front of magic is a disadvantage.
“Damian, you know what’s going on right?”
“I gave a passing colleague to beat him up and picked it up roughly.”
Why use violence? Damian grumbled at Catherine’s eyes that she couldn’t understand.
“I’m on leave, so I don’t have the right to know… Never mind, look at this. Because of that illusion magic, I drank beer and it became like this? It’s really uncomfortable.”
Damian raised one leg and pointed to his damp pants.
He mentioned earlier that somehow it smells like alcohol. It looked like he had fallen asleep holding a beer mug and spilled it all
“Hey, what is that?”
It was then.
Suddenly, two red magic circles appeared in the air. Suddenly, black flames exploded like firecrackers between the magic circles. What appeared in between—.
「Fufu… Our cute food.」
It was a devil in human form, covered with pitch-black scales.
“Kyaaa!”
「Can’t I just taste a little bit? I haven’t been able to chew the human soul in recent days.」
「Just about one or two.」
Three or four priests who ran out of the crowd blocked the devil. Eventually, a blue protective magic circle surrounding the people on the deck rose, forming a transparent layer on the hemisphere.
“Vicious demons… Won’t you stop right away? This is not the space for you to invade!”
Then the demons grabbed the ship and rolled around in the air.
「Ah, ahahahaha! Aww, it’s cute! Shall we see how far you can last?」
The devil once again swung its arm, which had turned into a long blade. Each time the devil smiled, a large scar was engraved on the transparent membrane.
It looked like it was going to be ripped apart any time soon.
It was then. Is the devil’s body, which was relaxed as if dancing, now bouncing back?
「…Huh?」
“Sir Percyville!”
She was wondering where he went.
Percyville’s face, moving out of the magic circle, was more than an expression of irritability and nervousness, to say the least. He looked up at the devil, with his head slanted, as if to come down and lay his neck on his own.
「Be careful, brother. That person isn’t an ordinary paladin…」
「Aha, you’re the famous Pope’s watchdog! Phew… But yeah, he’s still a human being!」
With a long, creepy laugh, the devil shot himself at Percyville. He was so fast that it was hard to follow—.
「This…!」
The ending also happened in the blink of an eye.
When she came to her senses, Percyville’s thin and long sword penetrated the devil’s heart. Percyville pushed his black body away with his feet.
“It’s like a hole.”
Tsk. She heard a small tongue kick.
“As expected, Sir Percyville!”
The priests ran to Percyville, lifting the protection wizard.
「How foolish. To think there’s no human to look down on…」
The devil who was watching the scene vanished into the air. He freely let go of the summons.
“Sir Percyville!”
Relieved, the people on the deck began to chant Percyville’s name. Damian, too, was a bit surprised by his action, which he had only heard of as a rumor.
“People like it. It’s cool to see as the same knight. Except for the fact that he’s crazy.”
Everyone applauded and cheered, but the atmosphere of relief was brief.
Tok, tok. Catherine stared quietly at the droplets that began to fall onto the deck. Is it supposed to rain in such a clear sky?
Whoosh!~
As if to announce that it was not an illusion, the rain suddenly began to pour from the sky. Families with children began to leave the deck one by one.
“Why is it raining in the dry sky?”
Damian stretched her arms into the air. The falling water collected in his hand to form a puddle. That’s also a red and thick puddle.
“Blood, blood, blood!”
The crying sound of the child grew louder. People who had hesitated in relief began to flock to the lifeboats again. Catherine lifted her wet arm and sniffed it. Not wine or tea, but blood.
“The fishy smell of the sea is bad.”
As Damian said, the smell of blood and the fishy smell of the sea mixed together to form the worst combination.
Whose blood is this?
She wasn’t afraid to trust Cesare. But the cruel and bizarre phenomenon that stimulates the nerves made her head numb.
Damian was protecting Catherine by wrapping his arms around her. Catherine rested her forehead slowly on his chest.
‘I’m out of breath.’
It was a breathtaking atmosphere. Feeling as if the air is compressed to the point of compression and clogging the air hole.
The air on the deck gradually calmed down.
Catherine got a hunch that these changes weren’t only to her. It felt ominous in some ways.