“On your shoulder…”
Ileya instinctively reached out to grab the crow.
This thing… she wasn’t even sure if it was on her side.
But it had already saved her several times… she really wanted to understand what it actually was!
“Hmm? On my shoulder…” Veil blinked, tilting her head to look at her shoulder.
There, at some unknown moment, a black feather about the length of an index finger had landed.
“Eh? When did this fall on me…”
The Goddess Young Lady murmured to herself, reaching out to brush the feather off her shoulder, but Ileya caught it with her hand.
Just now… it must have been the spatial passageway opened by the Key to the Land of the Dead that attracted something.
And she was definitely affected by those gazes and sounds. That crow-like… creature? It seemed to want to help her.
Just like last time.
But it obviously didn’t have the ability to scare off the owners of those gazes and sounds, so…
Ileya looked over at Veil.
“Why did you come over?”
“Ah? You… didn’t call me just now?”
The Goddess Young Lady blinked her large black eyes, speaking with a bit of confusion.
“Weren’t you the one who called me over from outside the door just now?”
Veil’s voice grew quieter, her body visibly trembling as she nervously glanced around.
You’re the Goddess of the Dead, right? Aren’t you…?
Ileya shook her head helplessly.
Sure enough… it must have been that crow who guided Veil here and scared away those gazes and sounds.
Makes sense, after all, this guy is still a deity… even if a bit useless now, the deterrent effect still exists.
Thinking this, Ileya, looking a bit pale, subconsciously leaned back.
She rested directly in Veil’s arms… feeling the girl’s fragrant scent, and that kind of softness that wasn’t really soft…
For some reason, Ileya felt a little tired.
Hoo~
The next second, the young lady suddenly felt her body grow light.
She turned her head in confusion, only to see Reliel with a blank expression.
And at this moment… she was being carried in the other’s arms like a princess.
Tread, tread, tread…
Without saying a word, Reliel strode forward, ignoring the somewhat puzzled Goddess Young Lady beside her, and carried the young lady straight into the guest room behind the herbal shop, placing her on the bed.
“Heh~ Should I think that you’re concerned about me?”
Ileya lay on the bed, smiling lightly as she turned to look at Reliel.
“…Mm.”
The girl seemed a little shy as she turned her head, but without any awkwardness, she nodded.
Pfft~ Ileya couldn’t help but laugh softly.
If you get to know her a little, this girl’s personality really is quite adorable.
“By the way, did you hear any strange sounds just now? Or feel like someone was watching you?”
Listening to the young lady’s question, Reliel thought for a moment.
She seemed to replay everything that had just happened in her mind… then shook her head.
“I heard the cawing of crows, nothing else.”
Eh? She heard the crow calls too?
But she didn’t sense those other gazes and sounds… is it because of the Seredon Family bloodline?
Are these crows really connected to the Seredon Family bloodline?
Ileya had suspected this before but had no reason to confirm it. Now… maybe it’s true?
Lost in thought, Ileya was interrupted by the guest room door opening again!
“Young lady!”
“Young lady…”
Outside, except for Holly who was still by her sister’s side, everyone had gathered in this small guest room.
“Mm, there was a little incident just now, but it’s fine now.”
Ileya sat up and looked at the group gathered around.
“Did any of you hear any strange sounds just now?”
Strange sounds?
Amisa shook her head, clearly hearing nothing.
But Arthur, standing beside her, frowned slightly…
“Just now, I think I heard something… and more importantly, I had that feeling again.”
I see… Ileya frowned in thought.
After this event, she was more certain that Arthur really had some connection to the Seredon Family bloodline.
He might even be a relative of her mother’s?
With this in mind, she held out the feather she had been clutching tightly toward Arthur.
“Do you feel anything about this?”
He didn’t even need to answer because his expression already said everything.
A breath escaped as his trembling hands looked like an ordinary person trying to touch a flame with bare skin.
It seemed like something terrible would happen the moment he touched that feather.
But… as it turned out, nothing happened.
Arthur just trembled as he took the feather, staring at it blankly for a long time.
Countless images flashed through his mind, but all were fragmented, some only blurry silhouettes…
It was as if he was being chased by countless people, many carrying torches… charging toward him.
Had he done something wrong?
Arthur didn’t know, but in those broken images, he seemed to be protecting something, picking up a weapon…
And fighting against those wielding torches.
The final image… was of towering flames and bloodied corpses scattered on the ground…
“Huff… huff huff huff…”
Arthur was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, as if he had truly gone through a life-or-death battle against countless enemies.
“Hey! Arthur! Snap out of it!” Amisa frowned, snatching the feather from his hand.
But… in the maid’s hand, the feather was just an ordinary feather.
It didn’t trigger any illusions or discomfort in Amisa at all.
“Uh? S-sorry… I just, um…”
After the feather was taken from him, Arthur’s mental state noticeably improved.
“I just saw some memories… many people attacking me with torches and weapons. I… killed a lot of people… it seemed like… to protect something.”
The more he spoke, the more his hands shook, his voice growing weaker.
“Are you resisting those memories?”
Ileya raised her eyebrows slightly, trying to ask in a gentle tone.
“Maybe… yeah. When I recall those things… when I watch those scenes… I feel like there are thousands of needles stabbing my heart… moving in and out with its beating…”
Arthur spoke, instinctively clutching his chest.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead onto the floor, forming puddles…
At this moment, Ileya fell into deep thought once more.
From what she had learned so far, whether Arthur was broadly a good person or a bad one, he was being hunted by some force.
The old Mercenary Guild Chairman said Arthur looked familiar… maybe there was some connection.
In any case, this memory’s ending was probably very bad; otherwise, Arthur wouldn’t instinctively feel pain and resist those memories.