Chapter 116 - Gathering (4)

Smartass and Fresia laughed at Nellin’s reaction.

“Ha ha ha! A reaction like that makes casting the spell worthwhile.”

“Hehe, it certainly does.”

“Hm?”

Nellin tilted her head as the two laughed. Listening closely, she realized that Fresia’s voice hadn’t become younger as well.

“What on earth did you do?”

“I used illusion magic. This way, even if someone happens to see me, no one will recognize me as a lich.”

“I-illusion magic? But...”

At Smartass’s words, Gracie doubted her own eyes in astonishment.

Changing appearances with illusion magic was certainly possible. But it was limited to concealing stationary objects, displaying prepared illusions to frighten people, or casting it on yourself to alter your appearance. Even then, opening and closing your mouth was about all the altered appearance could manage.

She had never seen illusion magic that tracked every change in expression like the spell Smartass was using now. And it worked flawlessly even when cast on another person at the same time!

“Ah, this is an illusion spell I modified myself, Gracie. Naturally, you wouldn’t know about it.”

“I-I see.”

‘Master Ventus really is incredible!’

“I’ll teach it to you when I have time.”

“Th-thank you!”

Gracie’s respect for her ancestor shot straight up.

“But Master Ventus, how did you deal with your aura of death? I can’t sense it at all.”

“I’m the one taking care of that, Paladin Paulen.”

Fresia explained her solution, an adaptation of the holy art she had cast on Smartass.

“So it can be used that way as well. It never occurred to me.”

“Hehe, this isn’t its intended purpose. Amelia, have you been well?”

“Y-yes, Saintess Fresia! With Lady Nellin and everyone else accompanying me, I was able to reunite with S-Squishy without any trouble!”

“Squishy... That’s the name Quivery chose for itself, isn’t it?”

“Yes. You know about it too, Saintess Fresia?”

“Ventus told me.”

“Oh, you said you could see Squishy, didn’t you? Were you watching then too?”

“Yes. I was watching when you reunited with Squishy.”

“Hmmm, were you? Oh, you’d better watch yourself from now on.”

“What do you mean?”

Nellin pointed at Amelia.

“She says she sometimes bathes with Squishy. No peeking then, all right?”

Smartass shook his head at Nellin’s sly, teasing grin.

“Honestly, Nellin. What do you take me for? Do you think I’m uncivilized enough to spy on something like that?”

In fact, whenever Jessi or Amelia was about to bathe with Squishy, Smartass temporarily closed the stream window.

“That’s right, Nellin. Ventus would never do such a thing.”

‘He never once peeked when Nellin and I washed during our travels. The same goes for Kachal and Aldor, of course.’

“True, Ventus is too much of a chicken for that.”

“Who are you calling a chicken?”

“Anyway, if you’ve dealt with your aura of death, doesn’t that mean you can walk around villages now? Why not join us while you’re at it? Let’s go teach that Brooks or Blues or whatever his name is a lesson.”

Smartass shook his head at Nellin’s suggestion.

“No, I’ll pass. If I joined you and someone discovered that Fresia was still alive, it would complicate matters in all sorts of ways. Besides, I’m currently researching a way to keep my aura of death from leaking out on my own, without relying on Fresia’s holy arts.”

Of course, that wasn’t his only reason.

‘The other viewers might discover who I am.’

Even if they did, it probably wouldn’t cause much of a stir. But there was no telling when or where some unexpected troll might turn up and cause a scene.

‘And Squishy Queen would meddle endlessly.’

Even when he had been with Squishy in the workshop, the Slime Queen had made her jealousy plain, protesting in chat that he ought to take better care of Squishy. If she discovered he was traveling alongside it, she would undoubtedly keep telling him to do this and that, making demands worthy of a nightmare complainant.

Blocking her would stop those comments and even prevent her from watching the stream, but Smartass didn’t want to go that far.

“Yeah? Well, join us whenever you feel like it, then.”

“I will.”

“Hehe, even if we can’t keep traveling together, we can meet again like this whenever we wish. Don’t be too disappointed, Nellin.”

“Who says I’m disappointed? Anyway, you seem even happier about not coming with us, Fresia. Do you like being beside Ventus that much? Hm? Happy to be with your beloved ho-o-oney?”

Nellin’s teasing shifted from Smartass to Fresia.

But...

“Yes. Every single day is a joy.”

It had not the slightest effect on Fresia, who was now honest about her love.

“Did you know, Nellin? Ventus built a house where I could live comfortably. It’s on a secluded hill overlooking the sea, and the view is simply beautiful.”

“Uh... Is that so?”

“Yes. And since I can conceal Ventus’s aura with my holy arts, we’ve been visiting one village after another lately, spending time alone together. It’s a shame he can’t share meals with me because he’s undead, but looking around the villages together is such fun. And surprisingly, the feel of the bones in his hand isn’t so bad either. Oh, and his reaction when I first held his hand...”

Instead, Fresia’s desire to share her happiness grew, and memories of her recent days with Smartass began pouring out in an unbroken torrent.

“Wow...”

“To think Saintess Fresia could be so...”

While Nellin listened to the lovey-dovey boasting she had unwittingly invited, Amelia and Gracie watched Fresia with their hearts fluttering a little.

Fresia usually wore a benevolent smile as warm as the sun. Now, though, her smile was that of a woman in love, steeped in happiness. With illusion magic giving her the appearance of her younger self, that smile was all the more powerful.

Simply seeing it made one wonder how happy someone had to be to smile that way. It was enough to make even someone uninterested in romance wonder what being in love was like.

“Will a day come when I smile like that too?”

Amelia murmured the words in a daze.

“E-even if there’s no hope for me, surely there is for you, Saintess?”

“What? M-me? Why?”

“Well...”

Gracie glanced at Paulen.

“Ah, Saintess Fresia. I am deeply moved. To see you so happy...”

Paulen was watching Fresia with tears of emotion streaming down his face. Seeing the woman he respected so deeply happy was something he welcomed both as a believer and as an individual.

So absorbed was he in the sight that he missed Gracie and Amelia’s conversation.

Realizing where Gracie’s glance was directed, Amelia hurriedly lowered her voice.

“P-Paulen and I aren’t like that!”

“Really? But for a bodyguard, he’s so...”

“That’s because he’s a Paladin assigned to protect me! Besides, Paulen is only interested in muscles. He has no interest in women at all.”

As far as Amelia could tell, Paulen regarded her as someone he needed to protect. Naturally, they had grown close over the years they had spent together, but he looked at her as family, not as a potential romantic partner. She was certain he treated her like a younger sister.

And to Amelia, Paulen was very much like an incorrigible older brother who loved muscles far too much.

‘Me and Paulen? That could never happen.’

Even after seeing Fresia’s smile, Amelia couldn’t begin to imagine herself and Paulen ending up together.

“What about you, Gracie? Isn’t there anyone like that in your life? Someone you’re close to at the Mage Tower...”

“Ha ha ha, Saintess. The Mage Tower is packed full of stuffy natural-magic mages. There isn’t a single sweet story like that for a magical-device mage like me.”

“... I-is that so? But you’re pretty too, Gracie. There might be a man who has feelings for you.”

“Thank you for the compliment, but mages at the Mage Tower generally prefer a pretty natural-magic mage to a pretty magical-device mage.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m going to become even more successful. Those bastards who looked down on me and mocked me—I’ll see their faces twist with humiliation. Heh, heh, hehehehe. I’ll make sure of it. I have my great ancestor, Master Ventus, by my side!”

Amelia broke into a cold sweat at Gracie’s sinister laughter. Evidently, she had a great deal of pent-up resentment.

“Uh... G-good luck.”

“Aaaaagh! Enough!”

Amelia and Gracie turned at Nellin’s voice.

“I get it, you two are ridiculously lovey-dovey! Stop talking about it! Ugh, how can this be even more endless than our old lady’s nagging?”

“Oh my, I’m sorry. I only meant to say a little, but I kept going without realizing it.”

“Hey, look at Ventus beside you. He’s so embarrassed he can’t even lift his head.”

Just as Nellin said, Smartass, whose illusion gave him his appearance from before his death, had his head bowed low.

Because he was terribly embarrassed!

Even Smartass couldn’t bear Fresia’s endlessly lovey-dovey boasting. He was glad she spoke so happily about their time together, but hearing her go on about it in front of Nellin filled him with an embarrassment unlike anything he had felt in his life.

“Yes, I know. Isn’t he adorable like this too?”

“Blech.”

But Fresia used even Smartass’s embarrassment as more fodder for her lovey-dovey boasting. Unable to take any more, Nellin gagged.

‘This won’t do. If I don’t change the subject quickly, she’ll start boasting again.’

“Hey, anyway. What happened with that? The part about becoming undead. Are you really going to turn into a pile of bones too?”

“I don’t mind, as long as I can be with Ventus. Besides, won’t it be fine if we use illusion magic like this? Ventus is nothing but bones, yet look how expressive he is.”

“Well, it is convincing. But are you sure it’s all right for you to become undead? Aren’t you going to face divine punishment or something?”

“Hehe, Nellin. I believe Lord Lutinus isn’t so narrow-minded. Rather, I believe he will bless us for finally finding love.”

“... If a god blesses you, won’t you pass straight on to the afterlife?”

“We’ll find out when the time comes.”

“Lady Nellin, instead of questioning them so much, why not congratulate them?”

Nellin turned to Paulen as he interjected.

“I’m not interrogating them. You’re a little worried too, aren’t you? We don’t know what might happen if a Saintess becomes undead.”

“I believe everything will turn out well. Master Ventus will protect Saintess Fresia.”

“Ahem. Of course, I’m preparing to ensure that not a single thing goes wrong. Oh, Gracie.”

“Yes?! Yes, Master Ventus!”

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to start teaching you magic in earnest until the business with the Mage Tower is settled. I’m busy researching a spell for Fresia at the moment.”

“U-understood! I’ll do my best to reveal the truth about you to the world as quickly as possible!”

“Thank you.”

Hearing Ventus’s words gave Gracie a new goal.

‘A magical device that lets people talk over long distances... I’ll make one, no matter what. So I can receive even a little more instruction from Master Ventus!’