Chapter 49

“…Wha—”

“Eek! Nooooo!”

Kevin’s eyes bugged out in shock, while the miasma-weak Deborah turned pale and collapsed onto her backside.

The wings were green, adorned with ominous patterns and twice the size of a regular moth’s. They had antennae and thoraxes covered in thick, bristly cilia. And then, falling like snow, came a massive, fluttering downpour of scales.

The sight of them scattering miasma-tainted dust was unmistakable—it was a swarm of Demon Moths.

“Wh-why are there so many Demon Moths here…?!”

“It appears they truly were congregating in massive numbers at that nearby swamp,” Elma explained calmly.

Beside her, Deborah trembled violently, clutching at the hem of Elma’s dress.

“H-help me! In the past, just a tiny dusting of those scales made my entire body swell up and—and break out in hives…!”

Tears began to well in her eyes.

“Even if you aren’t Miasma-Weak, a dose of this magnitude would cause a normal person’s skin to fester and their lungs to rot… If you’re stung by their needles, you might die instantly…!”

The sheer terror and the loathsome appearance of the creatures made Irene shudder as well.

“Even if you say that, with this many of them, how are we supposed to dodge…?!”

The swarm of Demon Moths covered the sky like a thick cloud; there was no way to run.

“Cover your bodies with your clothes for now! Elma and I will handle the swarm. Elma, can you do it!?”

Lucas pulled Irene and Deborah close, draping his own coat over them before shouting a sharp question to Elma. She responded immediately.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

She stared up at the sky where the moths swirled and, for some reason, reached up to touch her throat—but then, she winced and looked back at a high-pitched scream behind her.

Kevin was in a state of pure panic, reacting to a single moth that had broken away from the swarm and was fluttering toward him as if to taunt him.

With his weak lungs and even more fragile spirit, Kevin’s entire body went rigid as he fell to the ground once more. His breathing was so ragged he seemed on the verge of hyperventilating, yet between gasps, he continued to hurl shrill insults.

“D-don’t come near me! You’re disgusting! Get away! Noooooooo!”

Perhaps the Demon Moths had a habit of reacting to high-pitched sounds, for his screaming only drew them in. Several more, then a dozen more, began to descend toward Kevin.

As the dull, grey-green swarm shifted its shape with a roar to descend upon the boy, Deborah let out a furious, scream-like shout.

“You… you idiot…!”

She kicked aside the coat Lucas had given her and stood up, despite her miasma-weakness.

“I told you to shut your mouth!”

Contrary to her harsh words, she threw herself over her brother’s body to shield him.

“Sister—”

“Be quiet! Hold your breath for a moment!”

Kevin stared in wide-eyed shock at his sister’s unexpected action. But then, past her shoulder, he saw the moths closing in just an arm’s length away. Instinctively, he hurled the ring he had been clutching.

“Stay back…!”

It was likely the first time he had ever acted to protect someone other than himself.

However, perhaps because the ring was rusted, or perhaps because the idea of silver warding off evil was nothing more than superstition, the Demon Moths didn’t even flinch. They nimbly swerved around the ring’s trajectory and prepared to strike the siblings.

With their swift movements, the scales began to flutter down. At this rate, the shifting dust—or perhaps the poisonous needles hidden in their cilia—would touch them both—!

Whoosh!

In that instant, a gale erupted.

Before Kevin could even register what was happening, the world suddenly grew bright. He squinted reflexively.

He only understood why a moment later.

The Demon Moths that had loomed over the sky like a dark cloud had been swept away from the air—scales and all—in one fell swoop.

“Eh…!?”

Kevin muttered in a daze. He couldn’t understand what had just happened, even though his eyes had been open the entire time.

Then, he felt a glint of light in the corner of his eye and whipped his head around.

There stood the petite maid, her thick glasses reflecting the sunlight. For some reason, she was holding two enormous cloth bags—one in each hand.

“…?”

Kevin’s brain, which had ground to a halt, began to turn with a painful creak.

Those giant bags she was holding. What were they?

They were swollen to an absurd size… and inside, something was thumping against the fabric from within, causing the bags to lurch and bulge… and he could hear a distinct, collective buzzing of wings—

“…!?”

“Lady Elma!! You captured the Demon Moths for us!?”

The moment Kevin realized what was inside the bags was the exact same moment a cautiously peeking Deborah cried out with joy.

Deborah shoved her brother aside and clasped her hands together, looking up at Elma with pure adoration.

“Oh! Oh! You have my eternal gratitude! Thank you! It’s incredible—to gather them all into bags without letting a single speck of scale-dust leak out! Truly, as expected of Lady Elmael…!”

“Your words are too kind. I am honored,” Elma replied, her expression remaining entirely unmoved despite being praised with every fiber of a high-ranking Margrave’s daughter’s being.

In a manner that could only be described as businesslike, she skillfully tied off the bags containing the Demon Moths.

“You’re amazing, Elma…! Thank you so much! But… where exactly did those bags come from just now?” Irene asked.

“Eh? From my bag, normally.”

“…I suppose asking ‘why were you carrying such huge bags?’ or ‘how did such massive bags fit inside that tiny cloth pouch?’ would be a foolish question at this point, wouldn’t it?”

“Eh? Is it not normal to carry large bags when going for a mountain hike?”

“…”

Irene, who had initially been shouting with excitement, chose to lapse into silence in the face of Elma’s usual brand of insanity.

Who on earth carries two bags sturdy enough to trap Demon Moths—and large enough to look like ten human sleeping bags sewn together—just in case?

Lucas also stared into the distance for a moment, but quickly switched his brain back to the task at hand, acknowledging that they had indeed been saved. He called out to Elma.

“My thanks, Elma. But let me do a bit of the work. I’ll burn the moths, bags and all, and then sprinkle holy water on the ashes. Hand them over; I’ll handle the rest.”

“Pardon?”

To Lucas’s surprise, Elma knit her brows at his responsible offer, looking genuinely perplexed.

“…You’re going to burn them? Even though we went through the trouble of catching them?”

“Wait… didn’t you catch them so we could exterminate them?”

“No, of course not. Isn’t it the Law of the Mountains that when you encounter a living creature, you first ask it to leave peacefully, and if it refuses, you capture it and gratefully consider how to utilize it? I was merely following that.”

“What world’s mountains are you talking about!?” Lucas shouted, nearly burying his face in his hands.

(She was talking about the mountains around the prison.)

Irene, too, turned pale at the mention of “utilizing” them.

“U-utilize…? You don’t mean you’re planning to turn those Demon Moths into a drink too, do you!?”

“Eh?” Elma pulled back her chin with a look of distaste. “Goodness, no. No one would drink a Demon Moth ‘ordinarily.’ I’m simply going to pair them up to breed silkworms and boil the cocoons to make silk.”

“The very idea of boiling Demon Moth larvae is already anything but normal!” Irene thought, deciding that this was the one friend she never wanted to hear the word “normal” from again.

Meanwhile, the rescued Kevin had been watching the exchange in a state of utter daze. Having been completely left behind by the conversation, he was snapped back to reality when Elma, clutching her bags, turned around and looked him straight in the eye.

“—And so, Master Kevin, Lady Deborah. May I borrow the mansion’s kitchen and a pot? Also, some lumber to build a shed for the breeding?”

“Ah… well, uh…”

He had regained his senses, but the words wouldn’t come.

Did this petite maid really take down that entire swarm of Demon Moths? Well, looking at the writhing bags in front of him, she clearly had, but was such a thing even possible? She didn’t seem to have any ill intent, but was she a monster after all? And what did she mean, “boil”? Was she bringing Demon Moths into his home? Using their pots? Ugh, he never wanted to use those pots again—

A torrent of thoughts swirled through his mind. Seeing him frozen and staring at Elma, Deborah leaned in and whispered:

“—Kevin. Get a hold of yourself. You realize Lady Elma saved us, don’t you? First, show her some gratitude. And then, apologize for your rude behavior.”

“Ah…”

Prompted by his sister, he finally began to move his stiff body.

In that moment, his hand instinctively went to his chest to feel for the ring that should have been hanging there—and his eyes suddenly flew wide.

“!”

It wasn’t there.

That’s right—he had thrown the silver ring at the Demon Moths earlier.

Kevin gasped, frantically parting the nearby bushes.

Not on the ground.

Not at the base of the trees.

Not behind the leaves, nor at anyone’s feet.

The ring had likely passed through the air where the moths had been swarming—and fallen right over the edge of the cliff. Beyond the precipice, where the terrifying waves crashed against the rocks.

“Ah… Mother’s ring…”

Kevin turned ashen, letting out a groan of pure despair.