Chương 91: Finally, We Go!

POV: The Dark Lord, Milo Miles"... I guess I'll have to take a bath now," Lunessa said as she wiped her temple with her hand; the gooey stuff dripping off from her temple and hand like someone had just dumped a whole bottle of unused hair gel on her.

"Yeah, I think I'll take one too." I was about to walk towards the house, but then–"Milo," Lunessa called out. I turned back, and she looked…well, messy. Still, I tried not to look at her seemingly wet white shirt to avoid seeing things I wasn't supposed to see.

"I just want to say…thank you," she said with a smile.

"If not for you, I think me and Mel wouldn't be here." Right. I thought she must've had something to say by meeting me out here. I had been wondering why she would want to see the Dark Lord understanding his slime summon.

"Oh… yeah, it's fine. It's not like I managed to save everyone…" the failure to save Nyx resurfaced again. If it weren't for my selfishness to go back the slow way, this wouldn't have happened. I knew that blaming myself would not do any good, but I couldn't help it. At least, I had tried to keep it in me without whining out loud, and I swore I'd get Nyx back as soon as possible. Lunessa must have noticed me looking dejected. I didn't look at her face, but I just knew it.

Anyone would because despite me not knowing what kind of expression I was making, it definitely spelled regret and sad and miserable.

"We will get Nyx back. We're all here to help."

"Y–yeah, I know."

"Look at me, Milo." That was perhaps the first time she had told me that, so I instinctively looked at her. She had this serious, yet warm look. Her eyes briefly searched mine, and as if she understood everything, she returned to her usual smile and tilted her head to the sides lightly.

"Eve told me that it's been weighing on you, and I could see it." She then reached for my hand. Eve did something similar before too, which made me wonder if it's the customs of this world, or if it's just an Eve-Lunessa kind of thing. She placed my hand in between hers. It's gooey, but since mine was a bit gooey too, it didn't make it worse. I felt…warm, and it was likely amplified by the breeze of the evening.

"We're grateful for Nyx, too. Without her, you wouldn't have arrived here as fast, and once you're here, you did everything you could to save everyone." She squeezed my hand slightly.

"So stop blaming yourself all the time. It's okay to do so, but don't do it often. You and Eve were having a moment, and it's perfectly fine to want to indulge in those moments, especially since you knew nothing of Ywain's schemes." I knew that already, and I had been convincing myself too, but shit just happened. Still, hearing someone else, hearing Lunessa saying it out loud to me, it felt different. Like she reaffirmed that it was okay and it was not completely my fault.

"They won't hurt Nyx, at least, not yet. I'm sure she's firing insults to Ywain or the elves as we speak." She smiled again.

"Maybe when we got there tomorrow, they were already mentally devastated and we could accomplish everything we wanted to pretty quickly." That made me breathe out a laugh.

"So…again, stop blaming yourself. We're in this together. You saved everyone, and we will save Nyx together."

"Yeah, thanks. I think my mind's a lot clearer now," I said.

"Good." Lunessa let go of my hand, then as if realizing something, she stared at her own.

"Oh…umm, sorry for that. I forgot we're very slimy right now." I chuckled.

"Well, it didn't feel that bad."

"Are you hitting on me now?" She said, out of nowhere.

"Wha–no! What else was I supposed to say?"

"Huh, that's too bad. Did I lose my charm already in mere five years?" What did she want? Every answer would come out wrong if it's like this. Noticing my puzzled look, she laughed softly and patted me on the back.

"I'm kidding! You're really not good at this stuff huh."

"Well, I'm sure you already knew it from Eve."

"Mhm, she did tell me everything, after all. That's why, actually, I was a bit glad that you decided to take the long way. Eve seemed to be feeling a lot better now." … Did all the talk of me reassuring her really matter that much? Come to think of it, Eve had been the one who initiated it. She had asked to go to Astrea together, and she was the one who embraced me first during the trip.

Lunessa must have told her to do it, and the last time I talked with Lunessa before this had been after I talked with Nyx, when she asked me about remembering my past lives and stuff. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Wow, I played right into the older sister's hands. Not that I mind it, of course.

If anything, I should be grateful to her; Eve and I were too inexperienced for this sort of thing, so an occasional nudge in the right direction wouldn't be so bad.

"... Thank you too, I guess." She gave a knowing smile, leaned closer, and said, "You're welcome." Then she stepped back.

"Now, I really need to take a bath before all this…stuff dries out and makes me feel worse."

"Agreed." And so, we headed back to the house. It was morning, and we were about to head off. The three elves slept in Nyx's room, which kind of irked me, to be honest. Aside from letting the troublemakers stay, It reminded me of my fail– Okay, right, no more blaming myself, nor the others. It's not helping anyone. We had talked about the route previously. Based on Faylen's explanations, the route would be Aniaros Forest to Stelfolk Forest to Dunmagne Woodlands to Linmis Forest.

The entire journey would take around two days by horse. Luke was faster than a horse, but Astra had to go with us. Eve said she could cast speed enhancement spells on her, but repeated usage would put heavy strains on her, so best not to use it often. With this, a one to one and a half day trip should be able to get us to Silvanis. That would be if we all go at the same speed. I had proposed that maybe I could fly over with Faylen first. With flight, we should be able to get there in a day or even less.

Eve and the others would be with Luke. The moment I proposed the idea earlier today after breakfast, Lunessa asked, "What would you be able to do there? You'd be walking to the trap alone."

"But I'm the strongest one out of us all. Wouldn't going together meant we'd all be walking into a trap together? At least I could have a check first to see if it's indeed dangerous."

"A half day wouldn't make that big of a difference, Milo," Lunessa said.

"I know you want to get Nyx back as soon as possible, but as we talked about yesterday, Nyx should be safe for now. We don't know what kind of plan Ywain has, and we're just worried that you going there alone will just… make things worse." Yesterday, I tried mental-linking Nyx multiple times; before dinner, after dinner, after the slime stuff, yet none connected. Ywain must have used some jamming spells or something on her.

I knew she should be safe; there's no reason for Ywain to do anything bad to her while we're still here, but… I just couldn't help but feel this urgency. Eve tried to ask the three elves too, and they said they didn't know anything aside from Ywain telling them to capture us there. The Elder had approved of the plan since Ywain did slay Ladon, and with Lulu's backing as Luminaryn for the justification of getting us there, everything checked out.

As soon as Lunessa finished her part, Eve added, "Milo, if we're there together, even if it's a trap, I think we'll be able to get through it, somehow. What if Ywain had set up a holy barrier or some sort there? The odds are slim, but I wouldn't want to risk it. Not when we—" She stopped there and looked down at her lap, likely having trouble naming whatever we're having. We haven't named it yet, but it's there, and I believe after this Ywain arc is dealt with, we would be able to name it properly.

Hearing her saying that made me realize that it's not just about Ywain, and it's not just about Nyx, either. I looked at Eve, then at Lunessa beside her, who was still looking at me with a concerned look on her face. Even Mel, whose eyes were darting back and forth between me and the sisters. It's been a relatively short time, but this is something. The moment everyone moved in, each for their own reason, we have been intertwined with one another.

Lunessa and Mel might be concerned for Eve, and Eve might be concerned for me. We cannot simply disregard one side and insist on the other. This… was not something I was familiar with. I had been alone and somehow, that habit of not thinking things through still persisted. They were right. Charging in head on alone might pose higher risk, and if something bad happened to me, it'd be hard for all of them down the line. We can't afford to fail, not when I still have a date after all this.

"... You're right, sorry," I said. Hearing that, Eve looked up, and I could see her shoulders eased and she let out a quiet breath. Strangely enough, I could sense something in her got lighter. Maybe her eyes, maybe her overall expression, like a looming burden had just been lifted.

"We'll go together. Just… let me have a quick bathroom break first." Eve stifled a laugh, Lunessa tried doing the same but failed. Mel sighed exasperatedly, while Faylen said something along the lines of as expected of a human, they lack authority even to their bowel. Hey, I was nervous. I was sure I wasn't alone in this. The three elves were on top of Luke alongside me, Lunessa, and Faylen. Eve and Mel were astride Astra with speed enhancement spells. Naturally, Eve was the one at the reins.

I occasionally glance at Eve, and after the first few times, I noticed this was perhaps the first time I saw her riding a horse like this. She looked… focused; eyes sharp, steadily looking at the front, like a true Hero. At least until I shifted to the girl behind her, who was looking at me with a frown. Oh come on, Mel. It's been a while since the move and you still couldn't think of me as someone decent? There was this one time when I stole a glance at Eve again, only to find her doing the same.

This kind of stuff had happened before, especially during meals. Usually, we would avert our eyes in a split second, embarrassed. This time, however, I didn't do that. I could see Eve's eyebrows slightly raised because of it, before she relaxed her expression and gave me a soft smile. I turned my head immediately afterwards, facing Lunessa, who was on my left. She gave a knowing grin, like she had seen everything. Of course she would behave like this.

She must have been enjoying this like she's watching a corny romance flick. I looked behind me, the three elves were whispering stuff to one another, and I couldn't make sense of them. Faylen was beside them, but I noticed she had put quite a gap between her and the elves. She simply stared to her right, to the seemingly endless grasslands, as if looking towards the three elves would cost her something great. Eve had told me briefly about the possible situation between Faylen and the elves.

Seemed like Faylen was somewhat ostracized due to her being a falseborn, which was likely the term to call the child born from a human-elf couple. Unlike me, who had been avoiding people on purpose in my previous life, Faylen didn't have a choice in this. Come to think of it, some of us were alone in a certain sense. Maybe it's the mutual feeling of loneliness that— Before I could finish my thought, I was in the air. No warning, no transition. Upside down too, judging by where the sky had gone.

Lunessa was tumbling a few feet away, arms flailing for something to grab. The three elves were scattered above me. Faylen had already twisted midair into a crouch, seemingly startled but not panicking. Luke had shifted into her human girl form somewhere in the chaos, spinning helplessly with the rest of us. A giant lizard-like creature with stony skins was down there. Either we accidentally stepped on it or it crawled out underground, sending all of us flying.

I couldn't see Eve and Mel from this angle, but I was sure they'd be fine. Naturally, I didn't panic, because oddly enough, I thought I beat the beast no problem. Time to test out my new skills and show it the power of a level 9999 Dark Lord.