NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 9 – Dark WIngs
Marina wakes up hungover in the bed of the hostel we rented .
"My head . What happened yesterday?" (Marina)
"Honestly, it's better you don't know" (Medaka)
After taking the mercenary test we ended up having to act as babysitters for Marina during the night while we were walking around the bars in town. I feel that the roles of who is taking care of whom are being reversed here.
Anyway, Mio and I took the chance to talk to the mercenaries and merchants about how things are going around the city.
At first they were confused by two little girls trying to make conversation in a bar in the middle of the night but after we acted like little girls who admire mercenaries while saying things like "oji-san you are so nice!" they eventually softened and started telling their stories with pride.
Since we are on the border there are many goods being carried between the empire and the kingdom, either by air by things that look like floating ships or by land by chariots carrying cargo. Mio was sealed off for 100,000 years so the technology of this world evolved a lot while she was in the cave, so this kind of thing was a surprise to both of us.
Over time obviously thieves sprang up all over the place robbing the merchants and the people passing by, so mercenaries began to settle here being hired as escorts or hunting down known criminals who were settling in these parts.
While we were listening to their stories they told us more than once about the "dreaded Kent gang" and told us to be careful not to leave town at night because "fragile and beautiful children like us" would be easily kidnapped and sold into slavery, almost as if it were an urban legend. I involuntarily ended up laughing at those comments.
"So Medaka where do we go now?"(Marina)
"Isn't it obvious? Let's make money, first I just want to find out what the surroundings of the city are like and then we'll go back to Kent and the others to get started"(Medaka)
We left the inn and started our plans.
We went to a store and bought a pencil and some papers.
After that we went back to the guild and got a map of the outskirts of the city and the forest entrances from Lisa to guide us and several posters of wanted criminals, it was quite funny to see the faces of the mercenaries who saw us last night when we arrived at the guild.
"Have a good trip, I'll be waiting for you when you return" (Guard)
All our preparations ready we leave the city and say goodbye to the guard protecting the gate.
We continued walking until we reached a remote part of the forest where there was no longer any sign of civilization and we exterminated some monsters that were around here.
"So is Medaka-chan going to tell us what she's planning to do in the middle of the forest or not?~" (Marina)
Marina starts to smile, but her eyes are serious.
"Okay, okay, just stop it, it's scary" (Medaka)
"It's not good to speak your plans only half way, master" (Mio)
Mio also looking slightly irritated.
While being scolded by the two I open the inventory in my hand. A small black object the size of a coin appears exploding into thousands of particles that disperse into the air.
The small particles fly to my back, coming together and forming black wings.
When all the process is over Marina and Mio begin to have a smile on their faces as if the previous question had not even existed.
"How incredible! What kind of magic is this?! talk, talk, talk!" (Marina)
Marina starts hugging me while making weird sounds with her mouth as if she is excited.
"Okay just stop, are you some kind of magic maniac?" I pull away from Marina and she starts looking at me like I'm an abandoned dog.
(Master, are you going to tell her?) (Mio)
Mio whispers in my ear while I was adjusting the wings.
(No problem, I don't think they will mind) (Medaka)
"Then Marina I think I'd better explain what's going on" (Medaka)
Marina starts to return her normal smile as she approaches me.
I start explaining to her that I am an [Archangel] and how I found Mio in the middle of the forest in a cave. I omit the part about being an avatar from a game since it would be too much trouble to explain what that means.
"I see... Wow that was really unexpected" (Marina)
"You don't seem to be as surprised as I thought you would be" (Medaka)
"Well, it's not like a little girl controlling a bandit horde in just a few days is something normal" (Marina)
I end up giving a small laugh at her remark.
After having everything cleared up I move a little away from the two and start flapping my wings.
"[Fly]"
A few gusts of wind build up around me causing me to fly. My vision starts to distance itself from the forest the more I look down.
It is a little difficult to regulate but the more I try to balance myself, the more I can hold myself steady.
When I was still playing I could do a lot of maneuvers, but now I can hardly stand steady. Obviously my wings are not aerodynamic at all but I can fly like a bird, so it is better not to think about that kind of thing.
Finished with the "test drive" I go back to where Mio and Marina are so we can continue our plans.
"Master, that was amazing!" (Mio)
"You still don't seem to be used to that do you? But it was really good" (Marina)
We then continue to plan what we are going to do.
To make a long story short: I'm going to fly over the surroundings and try to find criminals who are installed around here, meanwhile I've asked Mio and Marina to rush back to Kent and tell them to get ready to assemble some battalions with the members who can fight as soon as I arrive. Then we will go about defeating each of the bandits in the surrounding area to get some money.
"Got it all figured out?" (Medaka)
""Yes!""
(Pov change)
"Someone, help me!"
that's useless, no one is coming.... I wonder when things started to go wrong. While having these futile thoughts I keep running from several men chasing me.
"Let's hurry, she can't run for long!" The man who appears to be the leader looks at me with a lewd expression on his face as he commands the horde of people chasing me.
I keep trying desperately to run, my arm is already broken and I have marks all over my body.
A cliff appears in front of me as if to mock my last attempt to escape.
"Shit, shit, why?!"
There's no way out, it's over.
Already giving up I kneel down and begin to pray while looking up at the sky waiting for my pursuers to arrive and use my body as a disposable toy or sell me as a slave to some brothel, I honestly don't care anymore.
It was a beautiful blue sky without a single cloud, but there was a single creature flying over the place, it was far away so I couldn't see what it was but it had black wings but the body was wrapped in white, it didn't look like a common bird but it wasn't big like a wyvern. The creature flew as if it was dancing in the air.
"Whatever it is, I hope it has a full life"
I pray to god wishing good luck to the creature.
"Oh, we finally found you!"
The men who were chasing me come to where I am, all looking at me with a smile on their faces.
The leader of the pursuers approaches me and places his gruff hand on my chin lifting my head and stares at me.
"Don't worry, we have explicit orders not to kill you"
After saying this he turns back to his cronies and puts his hand on the shoulder of one of them as he continues.
"But you didn't say anything about if we couldn't have some fun" The man says this while giving me a lopsided smile on his face.
"Why..." Seeing this I eventually can't take it and start crying.
The pursuers get close to me as they start grabbing various parts of my body not even listening to my wails. I close my eyes to try and endure what comes next.
1, 2, 3... several seconds pass by but nothing happens.
"Eh?" I open my eyes and everyone holding me is open-mouthed looking at something in the sky.
I follow their vision and my eyes start to widen.
"Demon Saint" The leader of the stalkers says this kneeling down as his face starts to turn white with fear.
For whatever reason he used that name, it fits well with what we are seeing now.
A small child in a white dress descending from the sky was what was catching everyone's attention.
Its face was angelic while it had black wings on its back that exuded an air of divinity. The child was holding some papers as she analyzed the faces of everyone present, some just looked confused but others whenever the girl looked it was as if they were looking at death itself.
The girl approaches the leader of the pursuers who already had his head down on the ground as she looks at a wanted poster with a serene expression.
"Let's see... They call you "the ripper", right? Stand up, if you keep your face down I can't see you"
"Y- Yes!"
The man stands up as fast as he can doing a military salute.
The girl begins to analyze the man's face.
"I remember you, you were at my lecture weren't you?"
When the "saint" says this the man's face collapses as if she has decreed his sentence.
"Yes..."
The girl's previously calm face begins to turn serious and sparks of mana appear from her body.
"Then why in the hell do you keep trying to kidnap people?"
When she says this my whole body starts shaking as if the lecture she is giving the man is for me.
The man can't answer in fear and his face grows increasingly pale until he eventually faints without answering the question.
"Frankly..." The little girl puts her hand to her head in disappointment and then looks at where I am making my body freeze in fear.
"And you there, how long are you going to keep holding this woman?"
The girl says this to the men holding me. They didn't seem to understand what was happening but seeing the reaction of their leader they let me go.
The girl then walks until she gets in front of me, each step she took my heart pulsed harder anxious about what is going to happen.
"Don't worry, okay?" She says this to me while looking at me with a playful smile that doesn't match at all with the heavy atmosphere that was in the place.
Seeing the "saint" so close I can't help but think how young she is, she would probably be old enough to be my daughter.
Still I end up collapsing and crying on the lap of this child I don't even know in the middle of everyone.
