Chapter 408 – About Last Night…

Even Timi munched away at lunch.

「Yum, this does taste great. Shiggy, eat some.」

「ryaaa」

「The meat’s good too.」

「ryaamm ryammm」

Timi held Shiggy to her chest while the little dragon ate.

I was looking at Shiggy and asked the others without thinking,

「Do you all think that Shiggy looks more noble than yesterday?」

「…what do you mean by noble?」

「Just what I meant, Vi-Vi.」

「She looks the same as usual…」

Seems like Vi-Vi didn’t notice anything.

Maybe she’s just so young she wouldn’t notice.

「What do you mean?」

「What do you mean by noble?」

「I guess she looks noble…」

「Cruz, Yureena, Luka…look closely.」

So they all petted Shiggy and looked at her closely.

Shiggy just kept munching away at the meat she was eating.

Looking at her…she was cute…with dignity, I guess.

「She does look noble.」

「You think? I think she looks cute as usual.」

「Her weight hasn’t changed…so I don’t see much change.」

「…Cruz is the only one that sees her nobility, I guess that makes sense.」

「Eheh heh」

Cruz blushed, and Luka said,

「Cruz was just saying what she always says.」

「I wasn’t just saying it! She’s…like…BYAAAA…or something.」

「What does that mean?」

I looked over at Belda, who was staring at Shiggy eating a snack with both hands.

「Eheh heh.」

Belda was smiling at the dragon.

Seems that the beasts weren’t paying much attention to our nobility conversation, on the other hand.

All of them were just eating whatever they could find.

『Very good food!』「Moo Moo」『Good!』

They all seemed satisfied, though.

The kids were all happily eating too. It must taste even better since they helped.

「Yeah, it is good.」

I agreed, and Belda woke up from her zoning out and added,

「I’m happy that it fits your taste.」

She was blushing, probably because she thought Shiggy was so cute.

「It’s very good, Madam Agent.」

「I told you, please call me Belda. I don’t like formal names among friends.」

「Well, we do have to acknowledge your position.」

「You don’t need to in a place like this.」

「Even so…」

「Alra…Please, just call me Belda.」

It was a bit of a problem though.

She was a royal, and I also had trouble calling her by her first name as she was the appointed agent.

Timi looked at us both with a questioning gaze.

「Belda…your tone sounds different than usual…」

「I don’t think that’s the case…you think so Timi?」

「You don’t notice it? No…you definitely have a different tone when you talk to Alra…why is that?」

「I don’t think I do…but…」

Timi was right though…she had a bit more muddled way of talking, like she was holding back.

I mean, it could just be she was tired from yesterday.

After a while she’d be back to normal. Just ignore it for now I guess.

「Madam Agent, I was going to explain yesterday to you if I could while we ate…」

「Please, Alra, DO call me Belda.」

「…okay. Belda, let me explain then.」

「Sure.」

So, with Steff, Luka, and Cruz’ help I explained what happened yesterday.

Luka, Steff, Yureena, Vi-Vi-, Cruz and I all had different information.

Luka was fighting at the mine with the clay monsters, and then talked about joining me for the fight against the demon.

Steff told about her fight with the statues until I showed up in the town.

Yureena told about how she joined Vi-Vi in protecting the town.

And Yureena, because she helped those injured, was probably the most effective at keeping Elkay intact.

Then Cruz and I talked about our fight against the Lord of the Undead.

With all that information given, Belda had a good idea of what happened.

Timi didn’t fight with us, so she was very interested in everyone’s stories as well.

「Madam Belda, do you have any questions?」

「Alra, I said you don’t have to speak politely to me.」

「Well, I just…」

「Please.」

Then she bowed.

「Alra, I’m asking you myself. Please don’t trouble yourself by speaking to me politely.」

She was the vice- chief of the dragon knights and the agent of the crown.

I guess she had just gotten tired of everyone speaking to her politely.

「So, any questions, Belda?」

「Yes!」

She said with a happy smile and then asked,

「Do you think that attack at the mine was part of the Lord of the Undead’s plot as well?」

「It’s very possible. Possibly as a diversion.」

「Yeah, the only one in Elkay he knew that was powerful was Luka.」

「What do you mean?」

Belda looked confused, so I explained.

If he knew that Cruz and Yureena were in Elkay, the diversion at the mine wouldn’t be enough.

But Luka was the only one the Lord of the Undead knew about in Elkay that was strong enough to match him.

If Luka didn’t know of the threat, he could draw her to the mine and then complete his plan.

So by diverting her out of town, he thought the town was defenseless.

Or, at least, he thought so.

「I guess Elkay was saved because of his mistake.」

Belda whispered, and then Vi-Vi responded, after thinking a bit,

「In other words, the only enemies we faced were the Lord of the Undead and the demon, right?」

「I think so. We can confirm that all the monsters were controlled by them, after all.」

「The stone statues and clay monsters, and the beasts at the mine, right?」

「I believe so.」

Vi-Vi put down her fork and crossed her arms,

「Hmph.」

「Something you don’t understand?」

「It’s not that, there weren’t any zombies at the mine, right?」

Vi-Vi said, looking at Luka. Luka had some bread in her mouth, but nodded.

There were zombies in Elkay, but none at the mine.

「Maybe the Lord of the Undead was controlling the zombies, while the demon didn’t have control of any?」

「I think so too, but…」

Seems as though I didn’t answer Vi-Vi’s question.

「I know what you’re doubting. How and who were controlling all those monsters, right?」

「Right.」

「It might have been some kind of charm that was put over them. Something simpler than zombification.」

「You think so?」

「Yeah, so the control should also be weaker than control over a zombie.」

Luka explained what she meant by the difference.

With a zombie, you had control of them forever, but the charm might have been for just temporary control.

Vi-Vi might not have known about that.

There were strange ways to control others and make them do bad things that didn’t involve zombification.

「I see. I guess I just need to study more.」

Vi-Vi said, finally seeming to understand.