Now that we had a new addition to our party, that is the 'Shield'
Saintess Shiva-san, we once again sorted out the present situation.
Needless to say, the biggest problem was Phinis-sama, but there
were also other matters of concern such as the saints she had
blackdollified (coined by Arca) and Elysium, so we were going to
solve them one by one.
"First of all, regarding Elysium, you say he was able to survive even
under such situation? I suppose I should say as expected of him,"
Shiva-san remarked, nodding.
"But he doesn't have Sacred Treasure anymore, right? And he must
have been cursed by Phinis-sama like Shiva-san…" Magmell said
with concern.
"Ha, ya don't have to worry 'bout 'im. I mean, he was able to handle
the other saints at the same time even in such a situation. Not to
mention, he even basically told us to find a way to stop the goddess
in his usual condescending tone. He'd definitely appear before us
out of the blue again." Ophir said.
Tirna nodded, "Mm, I think so too. That person is uselessly
tenacious, after all."
"Haha, that's kinda harsh. But I also think that wouldn't be the last
time we saw of him. As such, let's deal with the other problems first
until our next meeting."
Everyone nodded to my words.
Meanwhile, Arca asked Shiva-san, "So, got any clue where Phinissama and the saints might be?"
Shiva-san shook her head, "Unfortunately, I can't see anything about
Goddess Phinis. But I can see the figure of Goddess Fluga together
with Goddess Igniver, so it looks like she's been safely rescued."
"I see… Thank goodness…" I patted my chest in relief.
But Shiva-san then continued, "By the way, I can see the figure of
the 'Sword' Saintess by the side of the goddesses."
"Huh?"
W-why was Elma there!?
C-could she be the one who rescued Fluga-sama…?
No, there's no way that's the case…
As I made a complicated face while crossing my arms, Shiva-san
giggled like she found me funny and said, "Getting back on topic, the
blackdollified saints are moving on their own separate ways. If I have
to take a guess, I think they're heading to each of their respective
village."
"To each of their respective village… could it be that they're ordered
to attack their own villages!?"
"Yeah, that's right," Shiva-san nodded quietly to the shocked Zana,
"looks like Elysium has made Phinis to be really mad this time. The
eradication of demi-humans seems to have become her highest
priority."
"Kh, we have to stop them somehow… what are their races again?"
To my question, Magmell touched her lips with her index finger and
said, "Err, they should be minotaur, elf, dragonfolk, and werewolf."
"Fumu, since they're heading to their villages at the same time,
we've no time to leisurely visit the villages together. What should we
do?"
"In that case, I'll fly at super high speed in Vermillion Bird Form while
carrying only the minimum number of people. One of them will
definitely be Shiva-san as she can see their location, and the other
one will be someone with Holy Armament that can handle its Sacred
Treasure counterpart."
"So it'll be me, Shorty, Spear Ogre, and Princess, eh."
When Ophir said so, voices of protest flew over from the three
people whom she had called.
"Oi, who's 'Spear Ogre'? The only ogre here is you, isn't it?" Arca
exclaimed.
"I'm not Shorty. Despite how I look, I'm a perfectly fine adult lady,"
remarked Tirna.
"Well, it's a fact, so I don't particularly mind being called 'Princess'…"
said Zana.
"S-speaking of which, what would you call me and Shiva-san!?"
Magmell asked. Looked like the conversation had sparked a strange
curiosity in her.
"Ha? Ain't that obvious?" Ophir then pointed to each of the two,
saying, "'Big Masochist' and 'Shield Hag'."
""...""
After the two blinked, stunned, they started to silently equip their
armor. Ophir then hurriedly apologized, "T-that's just a joke!? Don't
take it so seriously!?"
I mean, 'Big Masochist' I get, but 'Shield Hag'…
◇ ◇
Anyways, the closest place from here was the werewolf village, so
we decided to head there first.
The werewolf—Shangarula was the 'Fist' Saint.
Which meant, the one who would be up against him was the 'Fist'
Saintess Tirna.
Having the other girls wait at the inn for the time being, I flew at high
speed toward the werewolf village carrying Tirna and Shiva-san in
my arms.
Werewolf was said to be a race of demi-human famous for its rough
temper—Shangarula being a prime example.
Whether they would cooperate with us remained to be seen…
No, even if they don't cooperate with us, we'll just stop Shangarula
by ourselves—that's it.
As I renewed my determination, something came into our view. It
was—
"Smoke is rising over there!" Tirna shouted.
"Kh, we didn't make it…?" I muttered.
—the sight a village with black smoke rising over it.
"No, it's too early to give up. Let's hurry," said Shiva-san.
"Yeah, got it!" nodding, I hurried to the village from where screams
could be heard from afar.