※Below was translated by Sephallia. Thank you very much.
“Take down Yunu…? Lily-sama and I?”
“Yes. There’s not a lot of time so I’ll keep the explanation short.”
Misha-san spread open a map as she spoke.
“The outskirts that are the current front line are here. And this is the checkpoint we’re at now.”
Pointing at the two locations on the map, Misha-san continued.
“Using the various information we’ve accumulated and the enemies’ movements, Yunu is presumed to be somewhere in this area.”
Misha-san pointed at Mt. Sassal. She stated that because Yunu would have to keep tabs on both of the battles, her options were limited.
“Going after the enemy commander is orthodox, but won’t she also have her own troops with her?”
“The possibility is high. That’s why we’ll be using this.”
With that, Misha-san retrieved something that looked like a pair of wings that had been folded.
“It’s a magic artifact that enables flight. Rodd-sama invented it.”
“That enables flight!? If we use this we’ll be able to fly!?”
“Yes. It takes some getting used to, but Alea-chan, Lily-sama, with your skills you two will have no trouble.”
It appeared that the magic artifact was equipped and used by draping it over one’s back. When I put mine on, I found it surprisingly light.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, I have no magical affinities…”
“Even without the affinity, so long as magic is supplied you’ll be able to use it. In other words, you just have to supply magic as fuel, try concentrating on your back.”
When I did as I was told, I felt a new sensation on my back.
“It looks like the path has already been established. Now, try and imagine yourself floating. The more complicated controls will be handled by the artifact itself.”
“Floating…”
Trying to imagine such a thing was rather difficult for me. While I struggled,
“Ah, ha, huh!? Lily’s really floating!?”
It seemed Lily-sama figured it out first. Looking in her direction, I saw her hovering slightly above the ground.
“Impressive, Lily-sama!”
“Alea-chan, it might be a little easier if you imagine yourself floating in water? Give it a try!”
Following Yuu-sama’s advice, I tried imagining that and felt the effects immediately.
“I see, so this is how it works.”
Having my feet off of the ground did make me feel uneasy, but it also felt very fresh and exciting.
“Now that you’re off the ground, you should be able to figure out how to move intuitively.”
“You can practice a bit around here first, but I’m sorry we don’t have a lot of time. You’ll have to figure the rest of it out as you go.”
“Understood.”
After that, we spent around ten minutes practicing flight. As Misha-san said, after we figured out how to float, moving around was not all that difficult.
“But hm, the fact that we’ll have to fly during combat makes me uneasy.”
“Lily agrees…”
From what I’d heard, Yunu possessed wings. I was sure she’d be familiar with mid-air combat.
“That may not be the case.”
“What do you mean by that?”
When I posed my concerns, Misha-san said,
“Well, it’s true that Yunu is able to fly. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s ever had to fight someone that also had the ability to fly.”
“… That’s true.”
Being able to fly and having to fight an opponent who could also fly were two different things.
“So I think she’ll be inexperienced as well. Of course, I’m sure she’ll have more experience with flight itself though.”
“Even if that’s the case, our only choice is to pull this off.”
“L-Let’s do our best!”
And so, all that was left was for us to go to Yunu’s location. But at that exact moment, we heard a commotion behind us.
“Kill me! If it’s come to this, just kill me!”
“Why don’t any of you understand!? Even if we continue to live, nothing good will come out of it!”
The heretical worshipers that Misha-san had previously knocked unconscious had been arrested and now that they were awake they were being taken away.
“How pitiful. I don’t mind if they’re wishing for the world’s end, but they shouldn’t involve others in that.”
Having seen their experiences through their memories, I did feel some sympathy. That being said, I still couldn’t agree with their nihilism.
“Lily… thinks she can understand how they feel, just a little.”
“Lily-sama?”
When I looked at Lily-sama, I saw a deep anguish within her eyes as she looked on at them.
“Backed into a corner, left with no options, struggling each and every day without anyone to help you… and then finally someone reaches out. Don’t you think it’s only natural that they’d take that hand?”
Rather than asking for an answer, it felt as though Lily-sama’s words sought affirmation. In all likelihood, Lily-sama had gone through something similar in the past.
“Even so, one always has to make a choice about whose hand they take. Selling your soul to the demons isn’t something that can be forgiven. That is resigning yourself to your weakness.”
Of course, they all had their own circumstances and that should be taken into account. However, it was wrong to lend one’s hand to destruction. I felt that there was no way to refute that fact.
“… Alea-chan, you truly are strong.”
But when Lily-sama said that with a lonely smile on her face, I had no idea what kind of response I could give.
“Sorry to interrupt, but as I mentioned before, we don’t have a lot of time. Since they have the numerical advantage, time is to their benefit not ours.”
“Ah, L-Lily’s sorry. Don’t worry, Lily’s ready to go.”
“I’m ready as well.”
To be honest, I actually wanted to continue the conversation for a bit longer, but it didn’t seem the situation would allow that.
“Do you have the map memorized? Since you can fly you can avoid most combat along the way.”
“We don’t know how strong Yunu really is. But she has the other monsters under her control so I doubt she’ll be weak. Be careful, ‘kay?”
“Of course, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“We’ll be on our way then.”
With that Lily-sama and I flew up into the skies, heading in the direction we were told Yunu would be in. It wasn’t long before Misha-san and Yuu-sama disappeared below us.
That's why―
“They’re gone.”
“Yup. So, what do you think, Misha? That was the second time you explained how that magical artifact works to her, right?”
“Yes. But―”
That’s why… neither of us were able to hear their conversation.
“… But ‘that Alea’ is real too, at least that’s what I think.”