A few days later—
“Are you all ready?”
Watching Lin Ling constantly stuff things into a handbag inside the room, Ivelia stood behind her, handing over the scattered items.
“I'm... I'm almost done.”
With Miss Saintess throwing her weight onto it, the suitcase was finally packed to the brim.
“But, my dear Miss Saintess, have you forgotten your spatial storage magic?”
Although she didn't want to rain on the excited Lin Ling's parade, Ivelia watched Miss Saintess struggle to lift the suitcase after stuffing a mountain of miscellaneous items inside.
In the end, she decided to remind Miss Saintess of the skill she had completely forgotten.
Thud!
The suitcase dropped to the floor the moment she heard Ivelia's words.
Lin Ling stared at her hands in a tremble, then looked down at the suitcase on the floor, which had burst open, unable to withstand the pile of items crammed inside.
“So... is Miss Saintess really an idiot?”
When Lin Ling turned to look at Ivelia, tears were already welling in the corners of her eyes, and her face flushed with a look that said she was on the verge of crying.
Seeing her like this, Ivelia gently hugged the sweating Lin Ling.
“Of course not. My Miss Saintess only acts like this in front of me.”
Over the past month of intimacy, Ivelia had discovered that Lin Ling was like a small animal that had finally found its sanctuary, completely letting down her guard.
Though, along with her guard, Miss Saintess seemed to have also let go of a portion of her intelligence.
But this was proof of Miss Saintess's absolute trust in her.
Looking down at the blushing Miss Saintess in her arms, she reached out and gently poked Lin Ling's reddened cheek.
“My dear Miss Saintess, you should pack your luggage quickly.”
The luggage that had completely scattered from the suitcase was now being carried back to Lin Ling bit by bit by Ivelia's magic.
At the gate of the Demon King's Castle—
“Ahhh, why are those two so slow this time? I'm exhausted from waiting.”
Watching Lin Ling and Ivelia fail to show up after so long, Furni collapsed onto the ground, completely disregarding her image.
“Perhaps they have some urgent business to attend to, otherwise they wouldn't take this long... right?”
Kainster paced back and forth anxiously.
He had never expected that the Demon King herself would come to help him.
Although she was likely just worried about her soulmate, she was still a world-class powerhouse.
For people like him and his brother, who were completely unable to use magic, she possessed an overwhelmingly powerful presence.
“Hey, Prince, isn't Zona going back?”
Seeing only Kainster pacing around anxiously made the dragon dizzy just watching him. If she hadn't been forbidden from exposing her identity to royalty, Furni's tail would have been thrashing against the ground out of sheer impatience.
Hearing the query from the lazy former bishop on the ground, Kainster stopped his anxious pacing.
“Zona seems to have gotten very close to Mr. Phelan lately.”
“So I didn't tell her about our plan to return this time.”
While this was a bit of a selfish calculation on his part, at least those who were returning with him now possessed outstanding abilities. As for Zona, who was only a half-baked mage... she was better off staying behind.
Thinking of this, Kainster slipped his hand into his coat pocket. Feeling the emergency teleportation magic inside, he finally felt a bit more at ease.
If we can't pull this off, I can still use this to send everyone back...
Furni looked up, saw Kainster suddenly lost in thought, and scrambled up from the ground.
Whack!
A hand chop landed squarely on Kainster's head.
“What are you spacing out for, kid?”
“Just have faith in the great power of Bishop Furni.”
Furni puffed out her chest proudly, hands on her hips. Though her chest was completely flat, she somehow managed to look... completely unreliable.
“Is everyone here?”
Having teleported over, Ivelia set down Lin Ling, whom she was carrying bridal-style.
“Since everyone is here, let's go.”
Looking at this dragon who had puffed out her chest for God knows what reason...
Ivelia withdrew her slightly disgusted gaze.
Forget it. It wasn't the first time this dragon had acted up like this. Having known her for so long, Ivelia was well aware that she had these moments from time to time.
Set down on her feet, Lin Ling looked around the empty gate. Seeing only the four of them, she felt a strange sense of desolation.
“Wait, is it just the four of us?”
Lin Ling looked at the empty-handed duo, then at Ivelia who had reappeared behind her. Aside from them, there was no one else in sight.
Although Kainster wanted to answer her question,
in reality, did they really only have this handful of people?
“Of course not, because I have arrived!”
From the distant residential district, a figure with long yellow hair fluttering in the wind was walking toward them.
Accompanying him was a powerful stench of alcohol.
The alcohol fumes in the air were so thick they had practically materialized.
Thud.
When the yellow-haired man reached them, he collapsed right in front of them as if completely wasted.
Poke.
Lin Ling picked up a stick from the side and poked the yellow-haired man on the ground, her eyes drifting to his clothes.
These... looked like clothes from Earth, right?
And why on earth was there an anime girl on them?!
Lin Ling pointed her finger at the T-shirt on Ichikawa, which was printed with a cute anime girl.
“Who on earth... is this guy...?”
With an expression of utter disbelief, Lin Ling mechanically turned her head to look at the others behind her.
Seeing the Hero sprawled on the ground, the others who knew him quickly averted their eyes the moment Lin Ling's gaze swept over them.
Clatter.
Lin Ling threw the stick in her hand onto the ground, her face instantly twisting into an expression of sheer exasperation.
“Don't pretend you don't know him at a time like this, hey!”
“Cough, cough. Little Hero, at a time like this, pretending not to know him is actually the greatest sign of respect.”
Furni scratched her cheek, looking at the slightly enraged Lin Ling. Although she wanted to keep pretending they were strangers, doing so would only delay their journey.
“Hmm...”
Furni narrowed her eyes, looking at Ichikawa's hand outstretched on the ground.
“Oops~ I accidentally stepped on it.”
As soon as she spoke, a few scales suddenly appeared on Furni's face.
Meanwhile, Ichikawa felt a massive, crushing force press directly down on his outstretched hand.
“Ouch, that hurts!”
Truth be told, Furni's method was highly effective. Ichikawa sobered up instantly, looking up at the group surrounding him with tears in his eyes.
Rate on N.U.
