Chapter 20.2

「Sure. So, what happened here?」

「…Barold’s handiwork, most likely.」

Elena assessed, looking over her unconscious servant. She had noticed that her servant was feeling an emotion not unlike animosity to Hiroshi and Haruna. Oria didn’t call Hiroshi a quack or anything, since Elena was showing actual improvement, but her pent up dissatisfaction for being left out of the treatment had been inflated to boiling hatred by Barold.

While Elena had noticed Oria’s increasing dissatisfaction, she could easily imagine her overprotective tendencies sabotaging her treatment if she had taken Oria with her to the workshop. She would have complained about the tight quarters, the untidiness, and the strangeness of the food served.

The biggest concern was that Oria would protest the medicine. This could have put Elena’s life in danger. Elena would have liked to give Oria the benefit of the doubt, but considering her attitude towards Hiroshi during his treatment session (even considering Barold’s influence) Elena couldn’t brush it off.

「She was even unhappy with you earning favors in the castle by giving out treats.」

「She really resented being excluded from your treatment, eh, Elena?」

「I tried reprimanding her many times, but…」

「Some grudges burn deeper than we realize. Even if she thought she was over it, it could rekindle at the drop of a hat. This sort of undermining is Barold’s only trick, anyway.」

Layotte agreed with Elena, not concealing his irritation.

「Now, Elena. Father has taken the rest of the crowd. Try to catch up to them.」

「I’m going.」

「…Nah, it’s too late now.」

Hiroshi mumbled, sensing the further shift in the air.

「…Is this an Isolation Barrier?」

「Close, but not quite, I reckon. We’re ’bout to be in an isolated dimension.」

Hiroshi answered Haruna, both with a frown across their face. An isolated dimension was easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.

「Will Father be all right?」

「They were goin’ fast ’nough to make it out, I think. They were already out of range by the time we were talkin’ ’bout underwear and whatnot.」

「But not you, Ellie. Worst case, you’ll be isolated.」

Elena nodded in response to Hiroshi and his apprentice. At the very least, she could carry her weight on the back end. Besides, she also had her trump card given by Hiroshi, just like Aearis.

「Just be ready for anything. This time, we might not be able to handle it on our own.」

The princesses acknowledged Haruna’s harsh assessment. She was assuming that Alfemina would at least protect Aearis, but since she had mentioned something about how taxing it could be, Haruna wasn’t sure if the goddess was able to protect Elena in addition to the Priestess Princess.

「It won’t be fun if this place is turned into a dungeon. The royal family as a trump card, as a last result. If it comes to that, I’m trusting you to get out of here with Elena and Aearis.」

「…Are ya the only one with that card in ya pocket, Lay?」

「The Crown Prince and King are the only ones who can use it. As long as the king lives, a prince is replaceable. We can’t afford to lose Father in our current political landscape.」

The Japanese members get a sense of what the trump card entails. While Layotte was serving his role as a crucial member of the royal family, they didn’t envy his position.

「Speaking of, can an Isolated Dimension be fixed?」

「In all the events, all we have to do is take down the boss and purify the affliction.」

Makoto answered Haruna. This was mostly as expected. No change of plans.

「…Something’s coming.」

Mio whispered. As the party jumped on guard, translucent beings floated into the room.

「Specters…」

「Hiro, can you gather them up in one spot?」

「I’ll give it a shot.」

Leaving Oria in front of the door to the Ritual Room for the time being, Tatsuya called to Hiroshi as he charged a purifying spell. In response, Hiroshi decided to roll the dice by activating Outclass.

「Common!!」

Hiroshi exerted a flood of pressure with a shout. Before they had a chance to be gathered up, the Specters were blown away.

「…They just up and disappeared. What happened?」

Hiroshi asked.

「Um. I’ve never seem Specters evaporate to Outclass…」

An awkward silence.

「…How could Specters withstand that much pressure without physical bodies?」

「That’s how it works, huh?」

「Yes. Both Julius and Ernest blow away specters of that caliber with a single Outclass, too.」

Hiroshi and Haruna accepted this explanation. Makoto, however, mumbled:

「If they’re Spectors, or any Spirits for that matter… Can’t Haruna just sing a song and take care of them all?」

「…Good point.」

「…Yeah. Come to think of it.」

Layotte and Hiroshi conceded. Since it could purify affliction, it would stand to reason that Haruna’s singing could also send the Undead souls to the afterlife. Still, the Japanese members were still haunted by the preconceptions of the in-game rules, and Haruna had never sung a song against Undead monsters. There were a few other players with the Singing Extra Skill, but for the most part (due to the performance of the Cursing Song) no one sang during combat, let alone against Undead monsters.

Spirits and Specters were not affected by normal physical attacks, and didn’t drop any items (unless they were a boss). They were not monsters that players were enthusiastic about hunting down. They only spawned in limited locations (none of which were inhabited by profitable items or monsters) and didn’t provide exceptional EXP.

Most players had squared off against one in-game, but for the most part, these monsters remained mostly unexplored in terms of researching effective skills against them. Of course, there was no guarantee that the effects of Outclass and Song of the Gods in this world were the same as they were in the game.

So, no one could really blame the Japanese party for their lack of knowledge in this department.

「Here’s the next wave.」

「Haru!」

「On it!」

On Mio’s cue, Haruna began putting her all into a song, projecting her voice towards these things that were oozing out of the ground, smelling of sulfur. However, she didn’t come up with an appropriate son on the fly. Instead, she sang the theme song of a cartoon about travelling the world and catching various creatures.

The rotting blobs, as expected, did seem to be of the Undead variety. As soon as Haruna’s singing echoed through the hall, they stopped in their tracks, and crumbled away. Upon complete purification, not a single spec of flesh was left of them.

Nonetheless, it was a bizarre scene to watch Undead creatures purified one after another to the theme song of the ubiquitous children’s cartoon.

「…What song was that?」

「A song for a children’s story back in our country. 」

「Like a fairytale?」

「Kinda, but nah, not really.」

Layotte seemed to accept Hiroshi’s answer, somehow. Despite the impending danger, the team in the Temple managed to maintain a lackadaisical outlook.