It reminded me of a girl I met the other day in River End.
　Iris's characteristics matched the stories I heard from the villagers.

　Of course, you can't make a judgment that Iris = a demon based on that alone, but....

　I can't ignore the uncomfortable feeling I felt at that time.
　She's a normal girl on the outside, but........
　It's like a foreign entity inside, with sharp fangs hidden inside. Such a feeling.

　It's impossible to think of it as normal.
　What kind of coincidence is that?
　But even so, I couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities and....

Neeee....Rain?
What?
What's going on?　What's this look on your face?

　Kanade raised his eyebrows and tried to express a difficult face.

'Well...'
Have you thought of anything else?

　Cell asked me that.
　Sharp.
　He must have seen the change in me and came to that conclusion.

　Now what do we do?
　If you give out uncertain information, it can be confusing.
　However, if the information about Iris is important, leaving it out could lead to an irreversible situation.

''Well this is an unfounded story. Still, I'll tell you about it, just in case.

　After thinking about it, I decided to tell him about Iris.
　There was a chance I could confuse her, but...
　Still, I decided that now was not the time to put it out there.

''So.....

　I told them both about Iris.

'I see ... the girl you met at River End, right?
Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

　Cel nodded quietly, and Kanade, for some reason, gave him a zit eye.
　It's not like that, so don't look at me like that.
　Just in case we're talking about something serious now, right?

What do you think?

　I asked Cel.

'Well from what I've heard, it doesn't really mean anything. I just ran into a girl who matched my characteristics. It's just that the timing is too good to be special, and you're becoming aware of it.
I see...
Well that's what I would normally say.

　Cell cut off his words once there, with a thoughtful pause.
　Somewhat later, he opened his mouth again.

'It might be worth looking into,'
Do you believe me?
'I want any information I can get right now. We don't have many clues, so I'm willing to take the slightest chance of identifying the person, if I can. Besides...
And?
'If you say so, then I can believe you to a certain extent.
'Rain, how did you win Cell's trust so quickly?　

　So, why the glare?

I'm sure it's all right.

　Cel smiles slightly at Kanade, who for some reason seems to be in a bad mood.

'I didn't exactly trust his character, you know. It was just an easy trip, and I haven't really let myself get that far yet.
Meow?　Then why?
I've decided to trust in the power, not his character.

　This time, Cell smiled at us.

''With several of the strongest species at my side Rain's power is real. Since such Rain is wary, I am also wary. That's how it is.''
'Nyanka........hmmm. I'm glad that Rain is recognized, but I feel like we're communicating with each other somewhere, and I'm getting impatient...

　What is there to be impatient about?
　Kanade seems to be a bit strange these days.

'Phew.'

　Cel gave a small smile, as if he understood what Kanade was thinking.

'Don't worry. It's simply that I have faith in your power. It's not that I'm trying to mess with you.
Is it a cat or a cat?
That's all very clear, but I don't think you're getting the point across.
'I know...'
I don't know what I can do, but I'll support you.
'Wow ... thank you!　You're such a good person, Sel.

　I don't know, but a friendship had been formed.

For now ... what do we do after this?
'Well I'd like to go back to River End once I have something to say about Rain...'
You're not completely done asking questions, are you?

　I've been talking around to the survivors...
　Some people were just too traumatized and scared to listen properly.
　Perhaps such people might have important information.
　With that in mind, I'm not sure I should discontinue collecting information here.

''Let's split it up, shall we?　The group that continues to gather information here and the group that explores River End,
'Let's not do that.

　After a moment's thought, Cell shook his head.

'The enemy must have a hell of a lot of power. In my imagination, perhaps........''
The most powerful species...?
Yeah, that's right.

　They had come to that possibility after hearing from the survivors.

　Even though it was a remote village, it was not normally possible to destroy an entire one, even a remote village.
　I heard that some adventurers had stayed there, but it was as if they didn't stand a chance.

　I didn't actually see the village of Pagos, but....
　From what I've heard, it's like a massive natural disaster that has left a trail of disaster in its wake.

　One that can use such a bullshit power.
　There is a strong possibility that it is the strongest species.

If it is the strongest species, it's not a good idea to split up the party. I don't mean to say that we're not out to defeat them, but it's better to avoid danger.
Well if it's Iris who did it, it's going to be a bad idea to run into her.
'I'll inform the guild that the potential culprit girl is in River End, along with the information we got from this interview. I don't think that's a problem right now. Time is limited, and let's wait until after we finish investigating River End here.
Okay, let's go with that.
Well what does it all mean?

　Kanade was lightly rolling his eyes.
　It seems that the conversation he just had gave him wisdom fever.

　It wasn't that he was talking about anything too difficult...
　Should I make them learn a little more?

We'll keep digging for a while.
Meow!　What do I have to do?
'Well...'

　With the exception of a few, we were able to hear from the Pagos villagers about what was going on.
　The next course of action we should take is....

Oi!

　A familiar voice.
　When I turned around, I saw Axe's figure.
　He seems to be in a hurry and runs over to us.

'What's wrong?　Do you have a perimeter search?
Have you found something?
No, they didn't find anything.
Well then, why did you come back?
'Oh, no. I've got a few things going on, and I just thought I'd better tell you right away...

　Cell stared at him and Axe made a sloppy excuse.
　You're being a pain in the ass........

'A few things?　What's that?
'Uh ... it's faster to see it in person. Come on over here.
Oh ... hey?

　Axe pulled back from the cell.
　In that state, he looks at me.

'Here. Rain and Kanade, come quickly too.''
Where are you going?
'It's the entrance to the village. You two are C-rated, so you'll know it when you see it.

　What are we talking about?
　I wondered, but decided to do as Axe said for now.
　Together with Kanade, who also tilted his head in the same direction, I headed to the entrance of the village.

　Then, there they were........

'Leave it to me. If he shows up here like he did in Pagos, I'll get rid of him.
'Oh, you're a brave man!
How dependable you are.
'I was terrified that that demon would come after me, but now I feel safe.

　Surrounded by villagers to be revered it was Arios and his friends.