ODGD 45

Chapter 45

“….”

I stood there, dumbfounded, my mouth slightly open.

It was like a battle of light against light.

Meteo quickly shot upwards, as if flying onto the tree. The blade followed him instantly, as if it had grown a tail of its own.

Just before the weapon could catch up to him, he descended from the tree with barely any hesitation. “Falling” seemed too weak a word; it was more like he had executed a perfectly controlled drop, swift and steady.

‘At that speed, he could probably even outrun his own shadow…’

Is he even human?

Meteo pivoted the instant his feet touched the ground.

Before I could even follow with my eyes, he already had a sword in his hand. I couldn’t tell when he had drawn it.

The sword came down sharply.

Clang!

Thud thud thud.

The blade sank into the ground, creating shallow grooves in the soil before coming to a stop.

I couldn’t close my mouth.

Meteo calmly sheathed his sword and spoke.

“This relic… it’s just as I heard. It seems capable of tracking enemies you’ve sensed.”

“…Right. A weapon like that actually exists… Pingsoon must be insane. And maybe you’re a little crazy too.”

“….”

Meteo didn’t respond to me.

He walked a few steps toward where the weapon lay and picked up Pingsoon.

“Let’s practice together some more.”

“Okay.”

I took the dagger back in hand. Somehow, my attitude toward this shuriken felt slightly heavier than before.

I threw the blade with more serious focus. I struck tree trunks, cut branches, and experimented with having the weapon circle around Meteo before returning to me. If it wasn’t intercepted mid-flight, the blade would come back to its owner.

For a while, Meteo and I practiced and experimented with the relic in various ways.

Because it was imbued with my magical energy, it worked relatively easily. If it were a normal weapon, I would have needed a lot more time to get used to it.

It was like the difference between a regular bicycle and an electric bike.

“Wow, this really feels like an incredible weapon. No wonder it’s a relic of the Pluto family.”

“You earned it. You tried to save our mother, and even grandfather acknowledged that you did.”

Meteo and I finished our short training and began to leave the garden.

Come to think of it, I had unintentionally saved both the head and the daughter-in-law of the Pluto family. Saving two lives from one household, even by chance, wasn’t an easy thing.

That must be why Cardinal Ruben bestowed this precious relic upon me.

I brought up a thought that had just occurred to me.

“But Meteo, come to think of it, even if you disappeared, I think I’d still come looking for you.”

“….”

Meteo remained silent.

His quietness made the echo of my words linger.

When I previously said not to worry if something happened to me, I meant it sincerely. But even sincere words felt uneasy once spoken aloud.

I felt sorry.

Because, like Leardwin or Ruben, if Meteo were in danger, I would do whatever I could to fix it.

After a moment, Meteo finally responded.

“I won’t disappear.”

“Even if you’re in danger, I’ll definitely save you!”

I wasn’t sure who was saving whom, but whatever—it had to happen. If Meteo were harmed, the world would be in serious trouble.

After all, I had saved him during the tutorial.

Meteo let out a small laugh—not a mocking one, but one of incredulity.

“You’ll never get a chance to save me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m not someone who needs saving; I’m always the one who saves others.”

“Oh, I see.”

I wondered if that was really true.

In another world, I had died in his place when he was thirteen. But now, knowing possible futures, I hummed in response, almost playfully.

Meteo didn’t seem pleased with my reaction.

I decided to change the subject.

“Ahem. Anyway, thanks for everything—coming to find me and helping with today’s practice…”

“I didn’t do it because I wanted to.”

“Yeah, yeah. Still, I appreciate it.”

I smiled softly at the end of my words.

I felt a bit lighter.

We were back to having casual, trivial conversation again.

The late autumn night was comfortably cool. Our footsteps on the well-kept grass sounded quaintly pleasant.

Is this what peace feels like?

For some reason, this felt like the most fulfilling night since I arrived at the Pluto mansion.

We were just leaving the garden and nearing the house when…

“!”

I took a step forward without thinking and suddenly felt as if my eyes had gone blind.

Everything around me was dark.

Unfortunately, I had experienced this feeling twice before, so I knew what it meant.

Meteo probably knew it too.

The darkness quickly brightened.

But even the brightness was dim, so calling it bright was misleading.

I blinked and looked around.

First, my eyes caught a red moon and stars. Without a hint of doubt, this was the demon world.

…Am I going to face the demon realm again, just like that?

“…What? Another demon world?”

Meteo shouted, seemingly sharing my sentiment.

What kind of demon would it be this time?

To make matters worse, we weren’t wearing training gear, but casual clothes. Meteo wore a fancy frilled shirt like a prince with comfortable pants.

I wore a long, flowing indoor dress that reached my ankles with lace-trimmed shoes.

In short, neither of us was dressed for battle.

Sure, I had spare clothes in my inventory, but I couldn’t suddenly pull out something unfamiliar in front of Meteo.

I groaned in frustration.

“Ugh, I took a nice bath and washed my hair, and now it’s the demon world again.”

The servants even styled my hair beautifully! I was planning to have a refreshing sleep tonight!

Meteo looked at me incredulously.

“That’s not important right now. You just returned from the demon world with grandfather, and now another demon world…”

“Yeah. I guess I’m kind of popular with demons.”

“‘Kind of’ isn’t right—it’s almost suspiciously obvious.”

Suspicious?

I felt unfairly accused.

But I had a small pang of guilt and rolled my eyes.

For a moment, I wondered if it was really a coincidence that demons liked me, and not connected to my father becoming a demon lord.

…Right?

“If I survive this place, it’ll truly be a miracle.”

I muttered this to myself, and, unsurprisingly, the system notification popped up.

<Warning!>

‘Huh?’

My eyes widened at the familiar name.

Aldred?

The first demon I met in the demon world was the Aldred family princess. If this is their family cemetery, then…

I carefully followed Meteo as he started walking.

Even from afar, tombstones jutted out ominously.

The air was chilling and unpleasant. Charred, withered branches swayed like skeletal fingers.

As we moved further in, Meteo spoke.

“…This is a powerful demon aura. Are those graves for actual demons? That would explain it—these magic energies are intense. It seems concentrated here to protect this place.”

“Really?”

Meteo nodded twice.

Even compared to other dungeons, the magic here felt stronger.

Since this was a family cemetery, perhaps Meteo was right—it seemed to be fortified to protect the family.

“Who owns this place?”

I asked just then.

Ding!

<Warning!>

I had half expected it, and indeed, the Aldred princess I saw half a year ago appeared.

Unlike before, when she ranked 162, she had moved up one level.

That was because Count Izmir, who had ranked above her, had died.

“Hello! Long time no see. I missed you! But some unnecessary guy came along too?”