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Chapter 26 – Joining the Investigation Team
“Anyway, I’ll have to rebuild it when you grow up. I’ll be glad that I wasn’t injured.”
“I see… that’s right. The adventurers were also saved. Ugh… I’ll fix it properly…”
As Clare said this, she collected the two dolls.
“Not only is it shaped like Clare-sama, but you said that there were various magical treatments on the clothes and inside… It seems like it will be difficult to fix.”
“That’s right… This is how one of the clothes will tear, and the other will be damaged, and there is also fake blood in the container inside the doll. After that, it will look like a fake magic. It would be troublesome if someone were to state that it was real because of the injuries or dirt during the battle.”
When Clare released the spell, Clare’s clothes also had the same damage as the doll’s. It’s probably hidden by thread for now.
As she explained this, Clare pulled the thread, and at the end of it was something entangled – a metal heart-like thing that had been pierced and shattered.
From inside, something like a regular octahedral gem rolled out. At first, it emitted a faint light, but it gradually calmed down and eventually lost its light.
“The grave keeper’s heart and its contents. This is the first time I’ve seen it.”
“We didn’t have the luxury of being careful not to break it. The grave keeper melted as well.”
“If we held back, and he fought back, it would be terrible. We can just take our time and investigate.”
Clare nodded and wrapped the damaged heart and stone in thread. She also collected the soil and leaves from the place where the grave keeper had soaked into the ground and was emitting white smoke, bottled them, and then wrapped the surrounding thread.
This was insurance in case it tried to revive. If there was any sign of trouble, we would be able to immediately detect and respond.
“Shall we head to the ruins? If we wait over there, the guild members will come.”
“Okay, I’ll lead the way.”
Clare and the others walked through the forest to the front of the ruins.
The ruins were unchanged. A black hole remained on the slope of the collapsed land.
However, the mysterious magic that Clare and the others felt at first disappeared when the black shadow woke up.
“I wonder if that was dormant magic?”
“Maybe.”
However, a weak magic can still be felt from the depths of the ruins.
There must be something there, but that doesn’t mean they should start investigating the interior. It’s better to wait until the guild arrives and Clare’s magic is restored before doing anything else.
It’s not that Clare and the others aren’t interested, but as long as they can confirm that there is no danger, that’s fine for now.
While Rona waits while putting up a protective barrier around the hole in the ruins, they hear voices and the sound of shaking bushes approaching.
“Almost there…!”
“Hurry up! He’s fighting alone!”
According to the information obtained by detection magic, there are 12 people coming. If they gathered them in a hurry after returning to the camp, that’s a sufficient number.
The adventurers they had helped earlier appeared through the trees.
“Hello.”
“Thank goodness…! They’re safe…!”
When Clare called out to them, the man at the front smiled in relief.
“Yes. That thing… we managed to defeat it. I can’t say for sure if the ruins are safe.”
“I see… I see. Good. I was wondering if I should join in, but I couldn’t catch up…”
“It’s pretty difficult without the skill of forest walking. Are the injured people okay?”
“Yes. They’re resting at the camp. You saved my life. Um.”
“It’s Clare.”
The other adventurers who had caught up also felt less tense after hearing the conversation.
“Lord Black Witch and her disciples…”
“I felt a strange magical reaction. I came to check it out.”
Rona shrugged.
The guild investigator who accompanied the adventurers introduced himself on behalf of the group. Clare and Selena also introduced themselves, and the guild investigator replied, “Thank you for your help,” and looked up at the slope.
“–Is that the ruins?”
“We need to investigate to see if there are any dangers.”
“…I’ll offer a reward, so please cooperate, witches. From the report, there was a dangerous magical creature – the grave keeper. The more fighting power and knowledge, the better.”
“I don’t mind.”
Rona turned her gaze to Clare and the others.
“I’ll be fine once my magical powers are restored.”
“I’d be happy if I could help.”
The girl doll hit her chest, and Selena smiled.
“Well then, that’s settled. I’ll decide on the reward before we go inside.”
“Okay.”
After setting up a barrier to prevent intrusion into the ruins and emergence from within, Clare and the others decided to move to the location where the research team was camping.
A powerful barrier to ward off monsters was set up in an area where monsters were relatively weak, and the research team set up their camp there.
“Oh. Is this something that Rona-sama made?”
Selena spoke up after seeing the barrier.
“I remember selling it to the guild at their request. Can you tell the difference, Selena?”
“Yes. It’s like… very neat and beautiful. The barriers you see elsewhere are distorted and fluctuating, so…”
“Hmm. That’s a way of distinguishing them that only you can do.”
“If each caster has their own quirks, then we can get information that we can’t get anywhere else.”
The three of them looked around the camp while talking like that. The fighting power of the remaining party is minimal, but this is probably because of the barrier charms provided by Rona.
When the returning adventurers explain the situation, Clare and the others are drawn to them.
At that moment, an adventurer approaches. He is one of the adventurers Clare had saved from the grave keeper earlier.
“Can I come for a moment? My companions want to thank you, but they’re still anemic and can’t move.”
“Okay. I’ll be off then.”
“I’ll go visit you too.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Thank you. We should have come to thank you together.”
“No, no, it’s no problem. Actually, it’s better to rest and not push yourself.”
The girl doll shook her head. From her memories of her previous life, she knew the frustration of not being able to move when there was something she had to do.
Clare and Selena are led to the tent where the adventurers are sleeping.
“The witch’s apprentices have come.”
“Oh, please don’t force yourself to get up. Some people have come to visit you.”
Clare says the moment she sees their faces.
“We’re fine. Jenna was the only one who was seriously wounded.”
The heavy warrior man sits up and looks into the back of the tent. There, lying there is Jenna, an adventurer whose back had been deeply slashed by the grave keeper. She still looks pale from the large amount of blood she lost, but she seems to have regained consciousness. Jenna seems to have tried to get up even after Clare told her to, but she rushes over, waving her hands in a panic, and chuckles weakly at the sight of the girl doll asking her to stay asleep.
Then she nods, relaxes her body, looks at Clare and says.
“Thank you. If you hadn’t been there, I probably would have died.”
“It wasn’t just Jenna. We were all in danger. Thank you.”
Clare nodded, took a deep breath, took off her hat, and nodded.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad everyone’s safe.”
She said it with her own mouth, not with ventriloquism. The girl doll nodded with her arms folded, and from Selena’s point of view, knowing the situation, she probably saw this as a puppeteer’s movement.
From what Selena had seen of Clare’s personality up to now, if she was talking about saving the adventurers’ lives and being saved by them, she might respond without ventriloquism. She had accompanied Clare to visit so that she could follow up if her behavior became awkward, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.
Clare put her hat back on and took a small sigh as if she had calmed down. Selena smiled at the sight of her older sister and disciple.
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