I Finished Saving the World, But Then I Picked Up a Girl With Amnesia - Chapter 25

“What exactly is our dumb Hero up to now, I wonder?”

From the shadows of an alley, Sage Shana Granple watched the Hero and Red Hair-chan with irritation. Her normally composed face was scrunched with frustration, and the grinding of her teeth made her look far from the intelligent person she was supposed to be.

That said, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable for Shana to be in a foul mood. After exhausting herself combining teleportation magic circles, carriages, and ships to catch up, she finally found the Hero—who, instead of dealing with pressing matters, appeared to be having a carefree date by the sea. Expecting her to not be angry would be too much.

“Come on now. They worked hard to make it out of that empty wilderness. It’s only natural they’d want to have a little fun now that they’ve made it here. If it bothers you so much, why don’t you just go over there and join them?”

“But… but that would completely defeat the purpose! We rushed here to protect the Hero from those insufferable demons, and now imagine if I just casually joined in on the fun! That would make no sense!”

“True enough.”

The one agreeing and smiling next to her was none other than Knight Aria Linage Aiaras.

While following the Hero and Red Hair-chan as they strolled toward the shops, Aria somehow even found the time to browse the nearby stalls.

“Hey there, mister, do you have any juice?”

“Ah, sorry, miss. We sold out of the cold ones earlier, so what’s left hasn’t chilled yet. If you don’t mind, maybe you can check the next stall—”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’ll chill it myself. Just give me two, please. Oh, but if you could throw in a little discount, that’d make me really happy.”

“Chill it yourself? Uh, sure, whatever you say! Here, I’ll toss in one for the little miss here, too!”

“Thanks, mister.”

Negotiating the price with ease, Aria handed over the payment and received two juices. With a small “Yay,” she turned to Shana and held them out triumphantly.

“Shana, you want one too, right?”

“I could’ve just duplicated one with my ability instead of bargaining for two, you know?”

“You just don’t get it, do you, Sage-sama? See, this one’s orange juice, and this one’s apple juice. Your ability can only duplicate the same thing, right? So, which one do you want?”

“…I want the apple juice.”

“Knew it. I wanted the orange one anyway, so this worked out perfectly.”

As Shana took the juice, what should have been lukewarm was already ice-cold, thanks to Aria’s ability. The refreshing chill slid down Shana’s throat, and she exhaled softly, feeling a bit more relaxed.

“Doesn’t seem like Martial Artist-san is here with them.”

“She’s the type to do her own thing.”

“I’m not thrilled about it, but since this town is one of her operational bases, should we go meet Necromancer-san first? Not thrilled, but…”

“You didn’t need to say it twice; I get it. And yeah, I feel the same.”

With a wry smile, Aria sipped her orange juice through a straw as they trailed the Hero and Red Hair-chan’s figures disappearing into the crowd.

“Like you said earlier, our main goal is to protect the Hero. If that’s the case, we can’t afford to be picky about our methods.”

Her deep blue eyes, colder than ice, narrowed slightly.

Shana thought to herself, She can be terrifying with this kind of shift in tone, but I trust her completely. Without voicing her thoughts, she continued sipping at her juice.

However—

“By the way, you’re dressed awfully nicely today, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

Shana’s gaze drifted over Aria’s outfit, looking her up and down.

A wide-brimmed straw hat, a pure white and elegant round-collar dress, and light blue sandals that added a charming touch to her look. In contrast, Shana had simply swapped out her usual robe for a short-sleeved white hoodie to suit the weather.

“Hah… I see now…”

“W-What is it?”

“You’re adorable, Aria-san.”

“Wha—what are you talking about all of a sudden!?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just hope we can defeat those demons soon so you can reunite with the Hero, hmm?”

“T-That applies to you too, doesn’t it!?”

Her previously cold voice now cracked as she retorted.

“Of course.”

Still laughing teasingly, Shana glanced upward at the sky. Thanks to her heightened ability to detect magical energy, she could sense a dense presence.

“Her ship has entered the airspace above. Now that it’s here, I can use my teleportation circle to jump us straight to that insufferable Necromancer. Let’s get going.”