Reborn as the Hero's Daughter

Chapter 284: Conspicuous Appearance

Chapter 284: Conspicuous Appearance

For the time being, we managed to conclude the matter by handing the Devil summoners to the officials. After all, the turmoil this time happened completely unplanned from our side. Besides, we couldn’t separate from Michelle’s group for too long.

They were currently camping in a dangerous location, and guarding them were people who once targeted Cortina’s life.

The possibility of betrayal was minuscule due to Maxwell’s Geass, but we couldn’t completely scratch it out.

I didn’t think Mateus would become an enemy this late in the game, but I still wanted to return as quickly as I could.

Maxwell seemed to have sensed my impatience and looked at me while brushing his long beard. I currently looked like an adult woman, so it might have looked quite questionable from the outside perspective.

“Are Mateus and others on your mind?” “Yeah. At the very least, they were our enemies at one point. They don’t seem to be biting back at the moment, but…” “Looking at how he works in my mansion, I could say that his rebellious spirit has gone completely.” “Either way, Michelle and Finia are there. I can’t let go of my worry… Oh, and Cloud too.” “Hohoh, well well…”

Maxwell suddenly stopped speaking as if he decided to swallow the rest of the sentence. That irritated me a bit.

“What is it? If you wanna say something, say it.” “Well, I was just thinking that the unapproachable Reid I knew has mellowed down quite a bit.” “Hey, I used to worry about you guys too, you know?” “Your way of expressing it was too difficult to figure out.”

That was quite a rude thing for him to say, but even I wasn’t some insensitive rock. I worried about my comrades.

In fact, I ran frantically with a pale face at Cortina’s side when she was in danger, and I took part in Maxwell’s pranks even in this life.

Those who didn’t know me simply saw me as a hard-to-approach guy due to the mood around me.

“Well, those people might indeed pull something. I agree that we should return at once.” “Then bring out your Portal Gate already.” “Do not be so hasty. There are people around us.”

Maxwell was under disguise as well, but Portal Gate was the top-rank magic of the Interference system. There weren’t many people in the world who had mastered it to this degree. If luck wasn’t on our side, someone could figure out it was Maxwell just from that.

“Let’s go over there then.”

We were aware of every nook and cranny of this town. That was in preparation for the worst scare scenario where we had to flee and the Evil Dragon’s wrath was directed at this town.

In that situation, we would have to evacuate the citizens as fast as possible. Then we would either intercept the Dragon here, or lure it somewhere else.

Considering all that, we had carefully inspected all escape and evacuation routes.

We went towards the back alley as I pulled on Maxwell’s hand. But before we got there, two people showed up to block our way.

I suddenly became vigilant and thought they were a separate group of the Devil summoners, but Maxwell put a hand on my shoulder and I managed to hold back on instinctively throwing my threads at them.

“Hey there, old man. Nice woman you have there, ehh? Hicc!” “Hey, you’re gonna scare her if you talk like that. How about it, missy, come drink with us for a bit.”

Yeah, they were just bad drunks. Given their appearance, they weren’t even Adventurers. It felt like they just got too drunk after drinking on some good occasion. It would have escalated into a big incident if I ended up slashing at them.

“I’m sorry, but I have some business I have to take care of fast. Please move aside.” “Aww don’t be like that. What business could it be?”

He tried to touch my shoulder over-familiarly. But before I even had time to avoid it, his hand lost power and dangled down—followed by both men collapsing on the spot and raising snores.

“…They fell asleep?” “I cast the Sleep spell on them. It was easy to do it behind your back.” “You act fast as always. Actually, is that really alright? Throwing spells at normal people, I mean.” “It is not that serious a spell. They will wake up even with a simple shock. And it would be bothersome to try persuading them. This way, they just look like ordinary sleeping drunkards.” “Well, you have a point.”

Still… Taking this appearance sure invited indiscriminate attraction from the guys. Maybe I made myself a little too pretty. Besides, there was no guarantee that I would become like this in the future. There always was a big wall between ideals and reality.

“Hey, Maxwell. About my appearance…” “It suits you really well.” “No, I don’t mean that.” “Come now, I am opening the Portal Gate.” “O-Okay…”

Maxwell rattled his way into the back alley, making me miss the chance to address my conspicuous appearance.

Actually, I think he dodged it intentionally, didn’t he? Oh well, I wouldn’t take on this appearance that often. If I did it often, Elliot might come running at every opportunity. With all that considered, I suppose it was fine to stand out a bit. I should just consider it as a distractor.

After we returned with Maxwell’s Portal Gate, Mateus greeted us as if nothing had happened.

“Hey, welcome back, lady Nicole?” “Drop that, it feels disgusting. Did anything happen?” “All’s right with the world, or however it goes.” “Good then.” “How about on your side?” “Well…”

Mateus was already aware of our night operations. In that case, he would only get suspicious if we kept our mouths sealed.

Thus, I told him about the cave and the Half-Demon that was trying to summon a Devil there. Hearing that, Mateus sighed while scratching his head.

“Good grief, what a helpless bunch. They should know that how you’re treated depends on how you act.” “Oh, you’re saying something proper for once.” “Well, I was one such case too. You are like an insect when weak, but everyone starts fearing you when you grow stronger. I experienced it myself.” “Well, that’s what an Adventurer’s life is like.”

If it was an ability-based Adventurer, they could force their way through everything. It was a world where might made right.

If that guy had enough power as a Half-Demon to summon a Devil, they could’ve used his talent to improve his life instead.

“Well, everyone is different. How about you sleep already, missy, it’s quite late, you know?” “Yeah, I really should… Keep your hands to yourself, you hear?” “Like I’d do something so scary!?”

Mateus paled, probably remembering getting trashed by Lyell. Still, it sounded like I was unattractive, so it was a little hard to swallow…

Well, compared to Finia and Michelle, I was indeed plain looking.

“Ah, well.”

With that mutter, I pulled out a blanket, wrapped myself in it and spent the night like that.