Chapter 142
Boom—!
The explosions continued.
When the first explosion rang out, he thought it might have just been an accidental incident.
But as the explosions continued and the impact became strong enough to shake the ground, he had a strong feeling that it was no accident.
“So you’re really saying you didn’t cause this?”
Even while running toward the source of the sound, Heros looked at Daphne, whom he was carrying in his arms, with eyes full of suspicion.
“Just what kind of person do you think I am? I am innocent.”
“Then that means the mansion is under attack.”
“Probably.”
“……But how?”
The place where the explosion occurred was the annex where Daphne had stayed for a long time.
Thanks to the great sage, Shiosen, the main building was also protected by a powerful magical barrier, but the annex had been protected by a barrier two or three times stronger than that from the very beginning. And yet that place was attacked?
‘Did the wraith come here personally?’
Heros bit the inside of his cheek and pushed himself to run even faster.
If the wraith had truly come here as he expected, then this was nothing short of an emergency. He himself could handle it, but the others—the children, the servants, and even the knights who had not prepared in time—could end up seriously injured.
“Hold on tight.”
Heros practically flew as he dashed toward the annex.
It wasn’t long before the annex, engulfed in thick smoke, came into view.
Damn it.
Grinding his teeth, Heros muttered a brief curse.
“Warrior.”
Daphne tugged hard on Heros’s collar.
For some reason, her voice sounded anxious and restless, making Heros inhale slightly.
No matter how much she had been through, she was still just a child. Maybe she was frightened.
Without realizing it, he looked at Daphne with concern.
But—
“C-Could you stop for a moment? I’m getting motion sickness.”
“……”
“Ugh… I-I think I’m going to throw up.”
“……”
Just where did this kid go wrong…?
Letting out a long sigh, Heros gradually came to a stop.
“Ugh, I’m dying here. Your ride quality is absolutely terrible. The worst.”
After planting her feet on the ground and patting her chest a few times, Daphne clicked her tongue and scolded Heros.
“Stop talking nonsense and hurry up.”
Heros spoke with visible impatience, but Daphne remained completely calm.
“Tch. Why are you so worried? Feel it carefully. It isn’t black magic.”
…What?
Only after seeing Daphne casually picking at her ear while speaking did Heros calm his somewhat agitated mind and slowly look around.
“You’re right. It isn’t the aura of black magic.”
“Exactly. It’s either just an accident, or some insignificant fools barged in.”
Daphne shrugged, and Heros let out a quiet chuckle.
“You’re better than me now.”
“You only realized that now?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
After exchanging a light conversation, they reached the annex at a slower pace than before.
Even so, they did not lower their guard, because if it wasn’t an accident, then someone might have invaded.
But—
“……What is that?”
Daphne frowned, narrowed her eyes, then repeatedly rubbed them hard with the back of her hand.
But no matter how many times she looked, what she saw did not change.
First of all, there was a huge crater in the ground.
As though it had been struck by magic.
And every tree around it had been knocked over.
Was that all?
The ground was littered with pieces of rubber that were all that remained of balloons.
Under a table split in half lay a smashed cake.
A gift box that had been blown away dangled from the branch of a fallen tree.
And on top of that,
[♥ Congrat— Happy Birth—day! ♥]
Even the banner had been torn apart.
Just what kind of mess is this…?
Daphne opened and closed her mouth speechlessly.
“Warrior. Am I really seeing this correctly?”
“……Haa.”
Pressing a hand against his forehead, Heros slowly raised his head.
He stared into the distant sky.
He said nothing aloud, but somehow it seemed as though he was lamenting his fate.
“Everyone…”
Grinding his teeth, Heros spoke.
“Come out. All of you.”
At those words, the people hiding began cautiously poking their heads out.
☆☆☆
So, the current situation requires a bit of explanation.
Rache, Vipera, and Arius decided to throw a party for Daphne’s upcoming birthday.
However, since preparing everything by themselves was difficult, they not only asked Anne and Anna for help, but also sought Shiosen’s assistance.
Thus, everyone gathered together and diligently began preparing Daphne’s birthday party in the garden of the annex.
“S-So, decorating it like this should be enough, right? Should we blow up more balloons?”
“I think the cake is good enough now…”
“Should we bring more chocolate and cookies?”
“Bring coffee. Lady Daphne drinks coffee.”
“Oh, right.”
As they prepared the party, smiles filled everyone’s faces.
Anne and Anna were happy because they were celebrating Daphne’s birthday together with so many people.
The children were happy because it finally felt as though they had become Daphne’s “real family.”
And as for Shiosen…
“She’ll be surprised if we do this, right? No, should we do even more? I want to surprise her so much that she faints.”
He simply wanted to surprise Daphne.
“Alright, everyone, gather around.”
Shiosen rubbed his palms together with a mischievous grin.
“First of all, Lady Daphne can’t know anything about this, right?”
His eyes sparkled as he looked at everyone.
“You want her to come here without knowing anything, and then we go, ‘Surprise!’ with the party, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Then we have to create a situation where Lady Daphne has no choice but to come here!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Let’s cause an explosion.”
“Yeah, yeah… What?”
“An explosion.”
“……Who let this guy join us?”
“No! At least let me finish what I’m saying!”
Though he was a dragon rather than a person, Shiosen hurriedly continued anyway.
“I mean just a tiny one, a weak explosion. Then wouldn’t Lady Daphne be startled and come running?”
The doubtful looks in the children’s eyes immediately softened.
“Oh… That’s not a bad idea.”
“Could work.”
“M-Maybe… it will?”
Seeing their reactions, Shiosen smiled brightly and lifted his chin.
“It’s not just okay—it’s an excellent idea. Let’s do it. Okay?”
“Well… alright. Let’s do it. Just a very small one.”
“Yes!”
Having received permission, Shiosen bounced up and down happily.
Naturally, he meant that he himself would cause the explosion.
So he made a slight adjustment to the barrier formula around the annex, causing a small explosion to occur.
But there was one problem.
Shiosen never actually said, “I’ll do it.”
“So we just need to set up the scroll, right?”
As a result, Rache placed an explosion magic scroll.
“Teiti! Over here! Set up the magic circle here!”
Arius called over Teiti and had the elf draw an explosion magic circle.
“H-Hey, i-if we sprinkle a l-little potion… that should work, r-right?”
Even Vipera used a potion to trigger an explosion.
And so—
Boom—!!
The current situation came to be after an enormous explosion.
“……”
Daphne slowly looked around the devastated garden.
“Every single one of you has lost your minds.”
At her muttering, the children, their hair completely singed black, let out awkward laughs while avoiding Daphne’s gaze, and Shiosen simply lowered his head completely.
“If one person went crazy, the rest should’ve stayed sane. Why is every single one of you crazy? What exactly is the problem? Why do only people like you keep gathering around me? Why?”
Holding her forehead, Daphne let out sigh after sigh.
“None of you are in your right minds… none of you…”
*Sigh…*
Letting out another deep sigh, Daphne turned to Heros.
“Still, Warrior, it’s a relief that you didn’t do anything. At least you’re sane. At least.”
But then,
Something about Heros’s expression seemed strange.
“……What? What’s wrong?”
Before Daphne could even finish her question—
Pop!
Something exploded right above her head.
Glittering flowers of every color gently drifted down through the air.
The fireworks that had just gone off had filled the sky with beautiful blossoms.
“Ahahaha! Your Excellency! Did you see that?! The fireworks I made! An explosion! They’re beautiful, aren’t they?! I did exactly as you instructed!”
After Pauline’s booming shout echoed through the air, Heros lowered his head.
“……Please let this one slide. This isn’t an explosion.”
Daphne looked around at all of them and smiled brightly.
Not a single one of them is sane. Not a single one.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
