Chapter 350 - Discernment
"Seriously…"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Ah, no. There's a high chance they're acquaintances of mine, so if you could avoid any trouble."
"I see. I'll go too for a bit. Shou, if you think it's dangerous, return first."
Saying that, Vermilion-san slowly followed Geira-san and the others.
Hmm, it's hard to hear the voices clearly from here…
"I'm using Stealth. Lupi, hide here and watch out for anyone approaching."
Okay.
Lupi, who nodded in reply without making a sound, was clever.
Using Stealth, he hid, and while sharing Presence Detection with Lupi, he carefully approached the area where the voices were coming from. From here, he should be able to return to the door in an instant.
"Who's there!"
"Whoa, you scared me…"
That voice, it's Marie-nee (Mashiro) alright.
"We are the Scarlet Dragon Survey Team. We are searching for demons with Vermilion-sama."
With Geira-san at the front, the Dragonfolk-san walked calmly.
The passage led to a floor where several paths connected, and Bell-buchou and her group seemed to be there.
Vermilion-san stood firmly at the exit, arms crossed, exuding an aura of "stay away," which provided a sense of security.
I wonder what happened to Buchou and the others?
It felt like they were arguing, didn't it? Marie-nee's tone of voice was a bit off.
Since Marie-nee finding out would be seriously bad, he retreated a bit. She's the type with mysterious intuition, after all.
Around ten people within range of Presence Detection? No, a few more. Bell-buchou's and Leona-sama's party, plus Marie-nee's party, I suppose.
"Marie-san, please calm down."
"But, you know…"
Is that Season-san trying to appease her?
It's amazing that she can manage Marie-nee.
"Hmm, not today, but we have indeed seen strange players before. However, we have never been attacked by them."
Seth-chan is there too.
If he's there, then it's probably fine.
Listening to their conversation, it seemed there were strange players, as Bell-buchou and the others had mentioned before, who had interfered with Marie-nee's party during combat.
They had chased them and ended up here, or so the story went…
"Dragonfolk, have you not encountered such people?"
Polly (Iincho)'s voice also joined in.
"No, we haven't either."
Hearing that, they started speculating that the others might be hiding in different passages, but we came from the basement in the first place.
Geira-san, of course, didn't mention such a thing.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Is that Nat-san's voice?
Hmmm? Curious, he peeked through a gap and saw Nat and his party members, who had appeared from another path. But…
"That's probably a fake."
Almost simultaneously with him telling Vermilion-san that, Polly's arrow was fired at Nat, and Marie-nee attacked.
They must have realized it after all.
"Whoa! What are you doing!"
"The Nat I know isn't such a docile good boy!"
Saying that, Marie-nee delivered a merciless roundhouse kick…
How did they know?
"Their aura…"
There was absolutely no sense of casual familiarity that comes from a long association. It's also strange that he didn't call out their names, even though Polly, Marie-nee, and Seth were there.
"Damn it, how did you figure it out!?"
"The real one is much more handsome."
Said Polly. Good for you, Nat…
It seemed the other members besides Nat were also in disguise and reverted to their Lesser Demon forms.
"What should we do?"
"It should be fine."
Vermilion-san nodded at his whisper.
Geira-san and the others also didn't seem to intend to forcibly intervene and instead moved to prevent escape.
"There they are! Over here!"
Yep. I heard the real voice.
That's Nat-san, right?
He gave a small nod in reply.
Well, with this number, it's definitely a case of many against few…
...
..
.
Approximately 10 minutes later.
They seemed like pretty strong opponents, but being beaten by almost 20 people means it was over quickly.
The last one, the one disguised as Nat, was defeated and vanished into a black mist.
When demons are defeated, their very existence is called, or rather, eaten by the God of Twilight and Darkness, or so it was said…
[Baron-class Demon Dromady has been defeated through the cooperation of multiple alliances!]
I see. So it's treated as if everyone defeated him. This makes me feel like I'm being treated as a leech…
"Hmm. Is it alright that we defeated it?"
"If it didn't escape, there's no problem. We've already captured one."
Seth and Geira-san were discussing this, and Seth, as expected, was negotiating for information.
Vermilion-san, of course, didn't intervene, just watched with his arms crossed. Did he just enjoy watching the battle?
"Were you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine."
Nat said that, concerned about Polly, but recalling what happened earlier… Nat, you really need to try harder.
Marie-nee was peacefully chatting with Leona-sama, and Bell-buchou seemed to be comparing maps with Season-san.
"We plan to proceed further into the central area. Would the Dragonfolk also care to accompany us?"
"Hmm…"
Geira-san seemed troubled by Seth's proposal.
The more combat power, the better, and he must have noticed that Vermilion-san, who is standing like a guardian deity, is a Scarlet Dragon.
"What to do…"
Vermilion-san murmured to himself as if thinking aloud, but it feels like he's asking for my opinion. So,
"Let's retreat. It's almost time…"
He whispered quietly. Argenta-san said she was coming.
"Geira! We're pulling back for now!"
"Yes, sir!"
While Geira-san was excusing himself to Seth and the others…
"I'll lock the door and return first. Could you all return from upstairs?"
With this, even if they chase us, they shouldn't know I was here.
"I see, understood."
Since he agreed, Shou closed and locked the door.
Vermilion-san, can he get back from upstairs? I'll trust that he'll be fine since Geira-san is there.
Now, what time is it? He checked the camera while stroking Lupi.
It's almost 9:30.
"Thanks."
If I return, talk to Argenta-san, and then go back to the island, it'll be around just before 11.
Shou-kun. What happened to the number of defeated demons?
Mion's words reminded him. He opened the menu, and the number had changed to 11/?, so it seems there were others who defeated demons besides him and the people he knew.
When will I know the total number of the denominator?