In the end, I didn't find any significant documents or anything else in the village chief's house.

''If nothing turned up, that means the village chief himself doesn't know what made him become a demon race, right?
''Yes. And from the feel of the slice, it didn't seem to be that much stronger than the first demon race.

Is there any connection to the change in spirits all at once?
That's right. Tomorrow, we'll examine the places where the battle took place and talk to the villagers. Well, we don't know everything, so if we don't get anything before noon, we'll head for Meratni.
That would be reasonable.
You're in charge of guarding him.
Master Luciel and Lionel, please rest.
'Yeah. Wake me up if you see anything out of place, even the smallest thing.
Okay.
　I activated the area barrier and then decided to take a nap in an empty room.
''Before I go to sleep, I'll ask the Pope to explore the discomfort, including the matter of the demon race in this village.

　After contacting the Pope with the demon ball, I didn't use the angel pillow, but laid down and meditated, ready to move at any time.
　All I could think about was how a human race could really become a demon race, and that was all that was going through my mind.


　My eyes naturally opened and I decided to get up.
''What is this uncomfortable feeling?''
　I left the room and found Lionel asleep.
''Well it's impossible for Lionel not to notice me.
　I activated my recovery on Lionel to explore the discomfort, but it had no effect.
'Dark spirits or demons I don't want to die.
　I moved into the living room, and a suspicious glow came from the room that carried Esther.
　Honestly, it's a pain in the ass.
　But once you've decided to believe in it, you have to make your own sense.
　With that in mind, I mustered myself up and opened the door to the room where Estia was sleeping.

''........Darkness wave? Are you absorbing it?
　Estia was asleep in her bed, absorbing and releasing a luminescent black mist, separate from the miasma, into her body.
'It's like breathing,'
　Deciding that it wouldn't be a good idea to take them by surprise with this, I used the hermit's key to call for Forenoir.
'Sorry, but please,'
　I cast a cleansing spell and then activated Area High Heel to see how Estia and Forenoire's strength recovered.

　This was the second time I had seen that shining figure of the white luminescent Forenoire, but this was the first time I saw it look like a Tenma.
　The luminescent light formed wings and I felt like I could see a golden circle underneath every foot.
　At that moment, the light was sucked into Estia.
　With that, Forenoire's luminescence stopped and she turned to go back to the hermit's stables.
'I don't know, but thank you.'
　I wasn't even sure if it would work, but I cast an extra heal and a purification spell before bringing it back.

　As I looked away from Forenoire, I turned to Estia and saw that the black waves had vanished and the dark spirit had awakened in consciousness.
'Thank you for calling my sister, Luciel. If it had stayed that way, the dark vibrations could have caused you to go insane.
'You're awake.... Do you understand your situation? I don't know if it was a reaction to the use of my powers, though, but the waves of darkness were coming in and out of me like I was breathing?
　If I hadn't noticed the Dark Spirit's outburst, I feel like it would have been terrible.

''I'm sorry. I've never used a wave of strength that strong in Estia's body before, so it's like I self-destructed this time.''
''Well be careful. More importantly, the demon tribe, did you notice that there were two more of them, not the one that was there at the time?
Oh, my God, there are others?
　I was a bit overreacting, but I decided there was no benefit to lying and continued the conversation.

''Ah. The village chief and one of the villagers transformed into a demon race. Forenoir didn't seem to notice it either, so I was curious.
''You didn't notice it, even your sister? If that's true, Luciel, you'll have to unite all the nations or have absolute power, or the empire will start moving.
'What? Tell me more clearly.
　With the sudden mention of the empire, I knew that the dark spirits were holding information we didn't know about, but they thrust their absurd demands at me.
　Normally, I should have known that it was impossible... but I decided to ask them one by one to avoid further confusion.

''It means that we don't have much time before the Empire launches a war!
"...how do you know that?
''........The Empire was originally researching the creation of brave men. Did you know that it has shifted to research into creating the power of the demon race?
That's new.
'It sounds good to say brave, but the point is I wanted a human weapon.
　I can't help it.
　You could fight about more than just war.
　What is won by force will bubble up and disappear again as time goes by.
　Then it's more constructive to research ways to become richer.
　Besides, there are demons and labyrinths to contend with........
''........Did that experiment succeed?''

'No, we couldn't create a brave man. As I said before, the result of that is this. If this gets reported... wait, you said you defeated them all?
''Ah. I heard that thanks to the successful activation of the Sanctuary Circle during the ritual, not only did it erase the evidence, but everything else...
　It would have been nice if any of them were still around.

''Well that would be a failure of the study, so there might be another few years of research? If that's the case, then that's the opportunity...
　The dark spirits look at us like they can see right through us.
What?
Luciel, gather all your blessings if you don't want to die.
''Well does that sound like you want me to hurry up and gather the spirit and dragon blessings?
That's right. Receive blessings from the fire spirit and the wind spirit and be at home with Furuna...
　The dark spirit that had been talking up to that point may have reached its limit, but it has gone to sleep.
''You're going to run out of power at a crucial point... why would I get involved one after another?
　I muttered as I looked at Estia and decided to leave the room quietly.

　When I opened the door, Lionel was waiting for me, but he looked pale.
'Are you okay?'
'Ha. He was a little fuzzy, but his behavior was unimpaired.
'That's not to say it's okay.... I'll go check on the two of you outside.
I'm coming with you.
　I decided to allow Lionel to accompany us, since he seemed to be strong-willed when I saw him force himself to stand up.


　When Lionel and I walked out of the village chief's house, we found them immediately, but their bodies were wobbly and they didn't look right.
"Just in case,
　I activated it with a recovery magic circle chant, and the two of them turned to me with their weapons.

　In front of me, Lionel was standing with a great sword of fire at the ready.
'Luciel-sama and Lionel-sama nya.
"...stuttered.
　We both sat down on our knees.

'What's going on?'
"A very strong wave of darkness flew from the village chief's house and my consciousness was muddled. I didn't even notice Luciel-sama and Lionel-sama approaching me.
'At first I thought they were the enemy because they used magic on me out of the blue, but then my consciousness started to come together and I was able to stop.'
　If the dark spirits get out of control, they could easily drive a village or a small town crazy.

　Even though I feel as if I'm being told that fact, I prioritize their bodies first.
''........The holy knights will arrive tomorrow, so until then, we'll stay in this village and search for them. You can go take a nap for once.
Ha!
　They went into the village chief's house.

　There, Lionel opened his mouth to peek at us.
''Have you learned anything?''
''Yeah. Apparently, if you can't deal with the demon tribe coming out, I've found out that the Empire might be on the move.

　I felt uncomfortable with Lionel's unusual vibe, so I decided to talk about my future plans.

''Ah. Even so, we're still overwhelmingly short of people, so I'll be adding more allies to our ranks.''
It's going to be busy.
Yeah. I'll have Lionel working for you, so make sure you're trained properly.
Ha!
　I don't know how Lionel feels, but seeing his expression softened from earlier, it gradually became bright enough for me to see the village.
　As Lionel and I were looking at the village, just before the sunrise, three people including Estia came out of the village chief's house.


'Estia, how are you feeling?'
'Yes, that's fine. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
　It's not a problem that it was Estia and not the Dark Spirit, but is it safe to continue on to Melatoni?
　I thought about that.
　When I got my mind back on track, I looked at Ketty and Kefin and they looked the same as usual, but I decided to ask them just in case and instruct them on what to do in the future.
'What about you two?'
Full recovery.
No problem.
All right. Now, after we eat, we'll search the house again, look for clues to what's disappeared here, and canvass the villagers.
""What?"


　There wasn't anything in particular that was found in the village chief's house after the meal.
　Nevertheless, the village chief and villagers who had been transformed into demons were often seen talking to people from the outside.
　As we were checking up there, the Holy Knights came to support us and we were to take over the scene and leave for Meratoni.

'It wasn't the War Maiden Holy Knights, Nya.
I'm sorry to hear that.
　Why are Ketty and Kefin so aggressive with me these days?
　As he was about to ask, Lionel looked at them with a serious face and opened his mouth.
'Ketty and Kefin, do you wish to marry your lords?'
　Even I dropped a stuttering bomb.

　The faces of the two people who had been grinning earlier froze at that abrupt statement.
''...What do you mean by that?''
'Master Luciel, will you allow the two of you to become a family?'
"...if we really feel that way about each other, of course I forgive you, but...
''With the demon tribe coming out this time, I don't believe that this time of peace will last forever.
''I understand how you feel Lionel, but if you free the slaves and marry them, you'll keep your squire?''
Of course.
I have a dream too, and I'm going with you.
　Lionel looked at the two of us inexplicably and then looked at me this time and let out a sigh.
'I need to let out a sigh over here. 'Instead of the two of you? And just because a demon appears does not mean that the danger is going to increase all at once, right? Lionel, for once, just think of a rematch with Master Brod.
Okay.
　Needless to say, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward after this until we reached Meratoni, due to the bombs that Lionel had dropped.