At this time, in the outer area of the Magical Beast Forest, the Red Wings team was gathered together, preparing to taste the old world cuisine: steaming hot... hot pot, and the person in charge of burning the hot pot was Konoe Eishun.
When Yoshino came to the camp with the ingredients, everyone ran over to worry about Yoshino's situation. She didn't tell them about Evangeline, but only said that she had encountered people from the Religious Order in the Magical Beast Forest, and that she had been delayed for a long time because of those people's entanglement. When everyone heard that Yoshino had encountered people from the Religious Order in the forest, their expressions couldn't help but become serious.
However, thinking about the magic power that had just erupted in the forest, they knew that the people there must have suffered a loss at Yoshino's hands. The fact that Yoshino was the legendary Ice Spirit who had been sleeping for thirty years was only known to them. Did those guys really think that Yoshino, who was a member of Red Wings, wouldn't have any fighting power? How naive! (Too sweet!)
After some daily banter, everyone began to prepare the hot pot. Although Yoshino only collected some vegetables in the forest, they also went to the Magical Beast Forest to kill magical beasts for meat while waiting for Yoshino. The magical beasts they killed seemed to be... lizards? I don't know if lizard meat is delicious, but I'm really looking forward to it.
"But how did we end up here? This isn't the path we were originally taking," Yoshino, wearing an apron with a rabbit pattern, asked with some confusion as she helped Konoe Eishun sort ingredients. They were supposed to go to the next city by circling around the desert, so how did they end up in the Monster Forest?
"It's a shortcut! I discovered this path. It's a shortcut to the next city, and we can save a lot of time by not having to go through the trouble of circling the desert," Nagi explained, rubbing his empty stomach and looking at the steaming soup. But if they hadn't taken this path and instead circled the forest, they would have already reached the next city.
"Hehe~ But because the leader got lost, it took us much longer than expected. If we had honestly circled the desert, we probably would have arrived at the next city by now," Al, who was sitting nearby organizing his luggage, said, turning to Nagi. Was this a complaint? Why did it feel like there was so much resentment in his seemingly polite words?
"Ah~ Ah~ That... Yoshino! Eishun! Are you two ready yet? I'm so hungry right now!" Nagi, breaking into a cold sweat under their gaze, his eyes darting around. It was indeed his fault. To avoid trouble, he had studied the map and found this'shortcut,' leading everyone down what he thought was a quicker route, only to get completely lost. But as the King of Thousand Curses, how could he admit his mistake? So he had to change the subject.
"Shut up! Someone who got everyone lost has no right to yell about being hungry! If you want to eat faster, then come help! Look how obedient Yoshino is! Not like you, who just freeloads!" Konoe Eishun, who was cutting meat, roared, a large '#' symbol appearing on his forehead after hearing Nagi's words. If he wasn't no match for Nagi, he would have already taken a knife and confronted him head-on!
'He changed the subject so easily? How helpless. But this time getting lost wasn't without its rewards; I was lucky enough to meet Kitty. She's just a bit too enthusiastic.' She reached out to touch her rosy lips, then licked them with her tongue. She wondered if it was an illusion, but she seemed to still feel Evangeline's scent lingering, and a beautiful smile involuntarily appeared on her face.
Just then, she suddenly felt someone watching her. Turning around, she saw Seguto looking at her. 'Why does it feel like Seguto has been watching me so much lately? Could it be... could I have done something wrong?' Yoshino looked suspiciously at Seguto, who always seemed to glance at her inadvertently. Had her contract with Evangeline been discovered?
"Th-that... Master Seguto, is something wrong? Why are you always looking at me?" Yoshino asked, feeling a bit unnatural under his gaze.
"Oh, nothing. Because those people from the church keep coming to find you, I tried to detect the energy within you. I found that besides your own abilities, there are two different powers in your body. It's a bit incredible that several different powers don't repel each other," Seguto said calmly, though a hint of confusion could be heard in his words. Actually, he hadn't said everything; he had discovered the shadow of a giant tree when he tried to probe deeper, and then he was repelled, unable to conduct further investigations. That was something even more mysterious.
"Oh? Two different powers?" Yoshino blinked. The two energies in her body should be the powers of Zadkiel and Astaroth, right? As for why they didn't repel each other, their relationship was already so good, why would they repel? Although they hadn't explicitly said anything, the atmosphere between them was already very good.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!