… … …


  「In that case we definitely won’t be able to stop him, surround him!」


  「NATURALLY! 」


  Arein and Lucci-i moved to surround Rio from both sides while exchanging information.

  （Their individual ability is high and yet they still choose to cooperate. Capturing them without killing is going to be troublesome.）


  On the other hand, Rio calmly analyzed their ability.

  And as expected, they owned ancient artifacts that were loaded with superior physical reinforcement magic and thus their movement was better than a knight around their level.

  And looking at their general combat speed, they were not inferior to Rio. But, that’s strictly speaking only in terms of general combat speed.

  And then, towards Arein-tachi who circled around Rio in order to confuse him――,

  （I don’t want to show my spirit arts in front of people as much as possible but, I guess it can’t be helped in this situation.）


  Rio looked at the other ambushers who were reduced to mere onlookers and heaved a sigh.

  ◇　◇　◇


  While Rio was engaged in combat against Arein-tachi.

  Christina-tachi were running on the highway. Though they were not running at their top speed and were already out of breath, they kept running without stopping their feet.

  「Haa, haaa…………..」


  Just a bit more and they’ll cross the national border and enter Galwark kingdom’s territory. That’s the same as them escaping from the searching range of Bertram kingdom’s army. So it wasn’t strange for them to feel impatient.

  And yet, Celia’s expression wasn’t that good. Rio was currently fighting against the bandits by himself―― She consumed by extreme grief and guilt when she thought about that.

  Though she doesn’t even have an inch of doubt in regards to Rio’s ability, the matter she was worrying about was an extremely guilty feeling caused by how she always ended up relying on him for everything.

  At that time――、


  （Celia.）


  「HYAAA! ? 」


  Celia let out a surprised cry when she heard a voice resembling Aisia’s in her head out of nowhere. A chill ran through her body as she kept running ahead.

  （Calm down. It’s me, Aisia.）


  Aisia’s voice resounded in her head again. Celia started looking around restlessly but she couldn’t find Asia’s figure.

  「A-Are you okay>　Celia-san? 」


  Kouta who was running next to her is asked that question with ragged breathing.

  「Ye, yes. I’m okay. It’s nothing, just keep running.」


  Celia shook her head while showing her best smile.

  （Have you calmed down? Now I’m speaking right in your head. Since you can also convey your words to me directly, try it out for now）


  Aisia’s voice resounded in Celia’s head again.

  （Dont surprise me like that ! Rather, what is this?）


  Celia shouted as loudly as possible, in her head.

  （I made a temporary path with Celia. I made it so that I can convey my thoughts to you.）


  Thus, Aisia explained in a nonchalant tone. Somehow Celia was too lazy to even retort to her.

  （V-Very convenient ability again I see. Where are you right now?）


  （Right beside you. Haruto entrusted the matter of protecting you to me.）


  （Ah, I see. So Haruto knew the ambush beforehand since you’re here right?）


  （………….. Something like that.）


  The one who tried to ambush them weren’t a mere bandits but, Aisia just agreed with her since she could not afford to explain the situation in detail.

  （……………. I wonder if Rio is okay?　In the end, we left him behind.）


  （Yeah. He’ll be fine.）


  （I see, thanks goodness.）


  Celia truly felt relieved when she heard Aisia’s reply.

  （That aside, maybe we’ll be in trouble too.）


  （…………….. What do you mean?）


  （An unpleasant presence has suddenly appeared ahead of you.) （Unpleasant presence?）


  Celia asked so with a curious tone when she suddenly heard of such an ominous news.

  (It feels like a demon but, even more sinister, as if there’s something wrong with it. It maybe the same as the one that appeared near Almond sometime ago.） （That’s…………..）


  （I’m talking about the man who used the demons to attack us during Haruto’s absence.)

  （But why now? Why aim for us at this time and at this place?）


  Celia’s expression turned grim as she recalled the previous incident……

  （…………….. I don’t know. But, it’ll be extremely dangerous if we were to suddenly meet him in our current situation. That’s why, I think I’ll go ahead.）


  Asia started thinking about what Celia had said but she casually changed the subject as nothing came to her mind……

  （………… I see, understood. Allow me ask a question, there are no demons near us right?）


  It would be troublesome if they were to be attacked by baited demons like the other day―― Thus Celia asked that question as she predicted that possibility……

  （ Probably not. It’s hard to search even with spirit arts since we’re passing through an uneven place but, I haven’t detected any places where a large amount of magic is present within a one kilometre radius. ）


  It seems that Aisia had also predicted that might happen and thus used detection type spirit arts beforehand.

  （O-One kilometre……….. That’s plenty enough. Thank you very much. But, to make you doing something as dangerous as that is……….）


  （Don’t worry, Celia. Because Haruto is left protecting you to me………. That aside, keep your guard up as there’s a few reactions of magical power in the area. I won’t be able to contact you once I leave this place.）


  （………… Understood. Be careful.）


  Celia agreed to her with a stiff face.

  With Rio and Aisia gone, the only ones who could protect Christina was just her and Vanessa.

  Kouta and Rui were still there but, they were nothing more than a pair of normal youths. They cannot be relied on―― So she thought,

  （Then, I’ll leave for a while.）


  After saying those words with her usual monotonous voice, Aisia went ahead of them in her spirit form.

  Despite Celia being unable to see her, Aisia was already flying through the air with ease.

  （What’s happening right now?　Do you guys know something……….. Rio, Aisia?）


  Thus such questions remained in Celia’s head.