Chapter 21: The Reaper’s Trembling(Side: Lovis)

Lovis loosened his grip from the shaft of his scythe.

Cold sweat started to appear on his forehead.

He heard fragmentary rumors about the Hero Pomera along the way to this city.

Her activity during the demon king riot had even surpassed 《Ares Hand》 who was hailed as the guardian deity of Manarak.

In addition, there’s rumor about her hunting numerous monsters, or summoning a giant dragon-shaped spirit, as for how much of that rumor was true was still a hot debate amongst the citizens of Manarak.

But, a rumor around her was quite disturbing.

The matter about her origin, about her coming from Aarburg.

But it was only hearsay, so he had no idea about the credibility of them.

If that was true, he suddenly discovered a terrifying fact.

Lovis had been around Aarburg until recently but he ended up not entering the city at all.

As for the reason, it is simply because he happened to stumble upon a monster along the way, yes the person he never wanted to meet again, Kanata Kanbara.

He only managed to get away since he apologized wholeheartedly while keeping the interest of the other party through bullshi*ting.

But, he knew that he would be a goner if he provoked Kanata’s displeasure again.

He knew from his brief exchange with Pomera that she had poor combat experience for someone with such a high level.

Someone who could single-handedly pull up the level of an adventurer to level 200 in one go should be at least at level 300 or higher.

But, that someone with level 300 wasn’t so easy to be found.

Suddenly, during his heightened concentration state, Lovis came to the possibility that Pomera’s teacher might be Kanata.

「I-If you want to kill me, do it at once.」

Pomera clenched her fists as she spoke to Lovis with a trembling voice.

「…」

Lovis was at a loss for words, he had no idea about what to say in this kind of situation.

His brain was working at full throttle, trying to find the best solution for this situation.

""

If Kanata was really in Manarak, he had to leave as fast as possible.

Otherwise, their little lives might be lost in his hands.

But, he had to find an excuse for this fight first.

「… What’s matter, Lovis-sama?」

Yozakura asked with a slightly impatient voice.

Lovis knew that even though she was willing to back down back then, there was still some dissatisfaction in her.

Damia’s situation was better.

But, Lovis had to use his glib tongue to persuade Yozakura who refused to understand.

Now he had to do something to avoid another misunderstanding from her.

No matter how much of a muscle brain Yozakura was, she wasn’t such an idiot to know that she would only die a dog death if she tried to bite back at Kanata after what he showed us back then.

He knew that she wouldn’t try to ambush Kanata either since it was literally useless.

But, if he suddenly escaped the moment he knew Kanata was nearby without any explanation to Yozakura, he could imagine that she would be nagging non-stop at him again.

Yozakura and Damia were the top brass of ≪Black Reaper≫ who adored Lovis’ raison d’etre.

Without it, his other subordinates would be suspicious of him too and guessed that something was amiss.

Since the matter with Kanata had already spread amongst his subordinates, he knew it would be impossible for him to persuade every single one of his subordinates to stay.

That is just how dangerous the internal situation of the 《Black Reaper》 after Kanata’s incident.

「Humph…」

Lovis shook his head as he let go off the blade of his scythe from Pomera’s neck.

「Hero Pomera… No, I should call you a lass for now instead. Lass… The current you is still lacking the experience. The current you won’t even be able to reach my feet. But…  It’s not that you’re that bad so I’ll give praise for your magic, the growth of your tactics during the battle, and most of all, your noble soul, it’ll take a while before you truly become a hero. When that time comes, when that time comes… I’ll come to hunt you again.」

Lovis grinned “ferociously” as he turned around.

「Let’s go, Damia, Yozakura. We’ve harvested enough for this occasion. We got no more reason to continue our participation in 《Blood Cup》’s boring festival.」

In that way, Lovis was walking toward the entrance of the adventurer guild building.

「I’m not interested in 《Red Authority Cane》. It will merely be a decorative toy for me who can’t even use it. That Bosgin seems to be up to no good too. But then, his becoming stronger means that we can start hunting him down. According to him, 《Ares Hand》 seems to be weaker than Pomera too.」

「What are you…?」

Pomera asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Lovis chewed his lips. Maybe because he had lost all excuses.

If he spoke too much, Yozakura might get the wrong idea again.

「Pomera, you have the same eyes as me. There might seemingly be a huge difference at glance but inside, we’re of the same kind. You showed me that you’re prone to dive into danger by yourself, moreover, you saw the struggle for life from a third-person perspective. You just happen to have a strong sense of justice but inside, you’re actually longing for a struggle for life.」

「No, I ju–」

「Kekeke, I shall wait for our next encounter. That moment will be your last chance to continue living. Till then, do your best to become stronger.」

Lovis spoke even faster than Pomera as if to prevent the latter from speaking any further.

Pomera frowned but she finally accepted it in silence.

From the very beginning, she had no reason to keep Lovis in check in this place.

Lovis swore in his heart that he would never show his face before this woman again, while secretly heaving a sigh of relief inside upon seeing her reaction.

The reason being if he was related to this Hero Pomera, the next time they met would be his last instead.

Honestly, the matter of Pomera resembling himself was just a load of bullshit.

But he still said that to convince Yozakura.

「Lovis-sama.」

Yozakura called out to him upon arriving at the entrance.

「What’s the matter?」

「What are you so afraid of?」

Yozakura frowned, she was clearly displeased by something.

「What are you talking about? You seem to be always doubting my decision nowadays. I also have my honour to keep. Don’t overstep your line, otherwise, I have no choice but to eliminate you.」

「Well, I don’t care about such things. It’s just that, I feel that something dangerous is here that you want to leave this city as fast as possible.」

Yozakura was looking at Damia as she spoke as if asking the latter’s opinion too.

Damia averted his gaze.

Lovis chewed his lips upon seeing that.

「To be exact, ever since THAT incident, I feel as if Lovis-sama is scared of something.」

「It’s just your imagination. Haa… Whatever. If you have something to add, I’ll hear that later.」

「As expected, even I can’t help but notice that you want to leave this city as soon as possible.」

「Oi, you’re being too persistent here, Yozakura.」

At the same time, a sinister aura enveloped their surroundings.

It wasn’t just Lovis, Yozakura, and Damia, but Pomera felt it too.

Though the sinister aura was completely different from Kanata, it didn’t change the fact that it was such a bizarre aura.

「Anyhow, let’s leave this pla—」

「《Gravibomb》！」

The second floor of the adventurer guild exploded right after that voice resounded.

Wood splinters rain down from above.

Lovis just stood dumbfoundedly as countless pieces of wood were raining down upon him.

He could see the azure sky from the hole opened in the ceiling.

A girl who wore a thick black overcoat was floating over there.

Long beautiful white hair was spilling from her overcoat. The newcomer was an otherworldly beauty with porcelain white skin.

Her whole being was covered in an ominous, and sinister aura.

A single glance at her was enough to confirm to everyone that she wasn’t a human.

After her heterochromatic eyes of crimson red and green were glaring at Pomera for a moment, she heaved a sigh.

「… Although it is just for a moment, I actually consider the option of letting her to die, I’ve fallen so much.」

No one knew the meaning behind the girl’s words to anyone aside from Pomera.

Because she knew that the girl in front of them was coming to save her.

Nevertheless, the crisis had passed.

「Malicious fellas like you guys exist in every era.」

The lich girl, Lunaire’s line of sight was locked on Lovis.