Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Using my farsight magic, I could see lines of people and a chariot coming in our direction, raising clouds of dust from afar. It was probably the army of Arnak.

Most of them were dogfolk.

The birdman with the head of a falcon, who was flying high in the air, was gliding slowly to match the speed of the chariot.

「There’s a strange creature following the chariot.」

Reiji remarked. He was also straining his eyes beside me. It was just as he said, there was indeed a creature following the chariot. If I had to describe that creature, it looked like an alligator with a lion’s mane. Its limbs weren’t that of an alligator either, its fore feet were that of a lion, and its hind legs of a hippopotamus.

It seemed to be slow at a glance, but no one should let their appearance deceive them since they could keep pace with the chariots.

「The beast with an alligator head is an Ammit. Don’t worry, it won’t attack us.」

Totona, who stood behind us, gave us an explanation about the strange creature.

「Is it the Ammit species that are rumored to be beasts who eat sinners?」

Totona nodded to answer my question.

「That’s right, Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki. But you’re wrong about one thing. It isn’t “a rumor”, it’s the truth.」

The Ammit was a demon beast with the head of an alligator, a mane and upper- body of a lion, and a lower-body of a hippopotamus. The meaning of their name was 「Insatiable Devourer」.

I heard rumors about them greedily eating the souls of the one who were judged as sinners by trial. The souls of those being eaten would be completely destroyed, never able to reincarnate again.

「I see. Do you happen to know the one riding on that Ammit’s head, Totona-chan?」

Reiji spoke to Totona with an overly familiar manner.

「That’s Nelfriti, Gypseal’s princess and also Totona-chan’s friend.」

Ishtar replied instead of Totona.

「Gypseal’s princess? Is she Harsesh’s sister? And your daughter?」

「You’re mistaken, Black-Haired Sage, Chiyuki. Nel is Harsesh’s cousin. She isn’t Ishtar-sama’s daughter.」

Just as Totona replied to me…

「TOTONYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!! I’M GLAD YOU’RE SAFEEEEEEEEEEE!!」

I heard a loud voice.

The chariot was about to arrive in front of us. Then, the person who was on top of the Ammit appeared in full view as she rushed straight toward us.

The Ammit from up close was huge. Its size might even rival Gustave-kun, that man-eating Nile crocodile. [TL: Gustave is the male-man-eating Nile crocodile.]

She and the Ammit arrived and stopped right in front of us.

「TOTONYAN!!!」

The small shadow jumped from the Ammit’s back and dived right into Totona’s embrace. She was probably the one called Nelfriti. She looked like a girl around 14~15 years old with white hair and tanned skin. The thing that made her different from humans was a pair of cat ears poking out of her white hair, and a white cat tail coming out from her custom-made attire.

And though she had a pair of wings on her back, seeing that she was riding on the back of the Ammit, I guess flying with her own wings wasn’t her preference.

The girl was wearing white flowy overalls with golden ornaments all over her body.

Yup, her attire literally screamed “I’m a princess”.

「Long time no see, Totonyan! I missed you!!」

「Long time no see, Nel. I missed you too.」

Ooh, Totona’s flat voice had finally shown some emotion.

I got the feeling that I just witnessed a rare event.

「OOH! YOU EVEN BROUGHT A STRANGE CREATURE WITH YOU, TOTONYAN!!」

Nel looked at the chimera who stood away from Totona.

「This child’s name is Kroa. I hope it can get along with your Am.」

Totona gently brushed the chimera’s head called Kroa. Though the chimera was originally hostile toward Ammit who showed up out of nowhere, it finally stepped back after confirming that the other party wasn’t their enemy.

Nevertheless, Kroa was a girl’s name.

This chimera should be a male since it has a mane right?

「Understood. Amnyan, get along with Kroanyan.」

Nel brushed Ammit’s head.

「Princess, and Totona-sama too.」

The dogfolk with a jackal’s head, who was riding the chariot, had finally arrived and descended from it.

「Do forgive meow, Isdes.」

Nel then separated herself from Totona and apologized.

I once heard about the one called Isdes. Gypseal’s black hero of war with the head of a jackal.

Dogfolks aside, I heard that he was also being revered by the warriors from the other tribes in Gypseal too.

「Long time no see, Ishtar-sama, Totona-sama. Are you safe? I went out immediately after I received contact from Maat, my deepest apologies, seeing this situation, it seems I arrived far too late.」

Isdes bowed his head, apologizing to us.

「It doesn’t matter. The ship aside, all of us are safe and sound. And yes, long time no see Isdes. Nevertheless, I never expected that the snakes of Apophis themselves would appear, do you know what is happening here? Have they managed to destroy the pyramid barrier?」

「Guh!! About that!! I’m afraid that I can’t explain that matter in this kind of place…」

Isdes replied so as he sent a glance at us.

It seems to be an internal problem which he couldn’t tell her in our presence.

「Who are they, Ishtar-sama? Appearance wise, they look like people from Elios.」

「He’s Reiji, the Hero of Light. You’ve heard the rumors about him, right? And the one over there with the beautiful hair is his comrade, the Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki.」

Ishtar introduced Reiji and me to Isdes.

「WHAT?! This person is that infamous…」

Isdes showed a rather complicated look on his face.

Seeing that look, I could guess that it was by no means a pleasant rumor.

Well, that can’t be helped I guess. Reiji did send one of them, Harsesh, flying with a magic bullet.

Isdes might bare his fangs at Reiji if not for Ishtar’s presence.

And then, he looked at Totona.

「And then, Totona-dono. Who’s the person over there?」

Isdes looked at the person who stood behind Totona with a wary look on his face.

「Don’t worry, Isdes-dono. I used domination magic on this chimera. This child won’t go on a rampage.」

Totona patted the chimera’s head to show the other party that the chimera wasn’t dangerous.

「Ehm, my apologies, I’m not referring to the chimera. I mean the weird being who’s covered from head to toe by white cloth…」

Isdes looked at Medjed.

He was clearly suspicious of Medjed.

His reaction was natural.

Medjed’s appearance was really suspicious after all.

Ishtar thought that Medjed might be some sort of magical creature, but I who saw his WMD could loudly voice out that Medjed was by no means a magical creature.

「He’s Medjed. Definitely not a weird creature.」

「I OBJEEEEEEEEECT!!」

I objected while pointing my finger at Medjed.

At that moment, everyone’s line of sight gathered on me.

Oh cra*p!!

I retorted reflexively.

I mean, no matter how much Totona spoke for him, he was 120% a suspicious creature.

「What’s the matter, Chiyuki? I understand your feelings, but… You seem to be bothered by something.」

Reiji looked at me with a shocked look on his face.

「Uuuh…」

I snapped from my trance and cast my eyes down in shame.

I mean, the figure of the WMD from a while ago was still so vivid in my head.

That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to look straight at Medjed.

I mean, I do feel grateful to him for saving me, but it also made me wonder about his identity.

「My apologies, Totona-sama. Sage-sama also voiced her objection. Since that’s the case, may I check this creature? I just need to remove the white cloth.」

SFX

Isdes approached Medjed.