Chapter 150: Return
That night…
「Well then! To our victory… TOAST!!」
「「「TOAST!」」」
The victory party took place at the center of the village on Mina’s signal. The people celebrated the subjugation of Demon King Belphegor.
「OOO! So much delicious-looking meat!」
「Sweets too!」
「Which one we should eat fi~rst!」
Stella, Lily, and Faeri let out delighted cries upon seeing the various cuisines being carried into the assembly hall.
「Here you go, Uncle!」
「Ah, thanks, May-chan.」
On their side was May, who poured liquor on Cedric’s cup while grinning from ear to ear.
Cedric couldn’t hide his smile since his adorable niece was pouring the liquor for him. It seemed he had completely awakened his paternity after spending some time with his niece in this world.
「Funya~! But still, Aria-nyan and Tama-nyan are really awesome!」
「Yeah, I expected that we had a better chance of defeating Belphegor if they formed a contract with the spirits, but… I never expected the two of them to defeat her on their own.」
Vulcan and Ciel sang praises of Aria and Tama while enjoying the liquor.
「Fufufufu… They praised us, Tama?」
「Nya~~~n!」
Aria smiled as she brushed Tama’s head, and Tama cheerfully replied.
（Uhm, we managed to defeat Demon King Belphegor and kill the thunder spirit, Bolt, along with her. That should’ve taken care of the problem.）
Tama, who was being stowed in between Aria’s melons, came to the conclusion.
After the battle, Ciel had used the magic tool called Ark radar to search for the remnants of Bolt. However, she hadn’t found anything in the end.
It seemed Aria and Tama’s last attack had eradicated him along with Belphegor.
The survivors of the Elebor tribe had retreated after seeing Belphegor get done in.
From the looks on their faces, it seemed that they had lost their faith after losing the thunder spirit, Bolt, and the one they regarded as his saint, Belphegor.
Even if the Horo village’s villagers didn’t go after them, it was only a matter of time before their decline.
A tribe of another world could go extinct due to the influence of a demon king from their world.
Although Aria and co. worried about that, Mina, the Horo village’s head, told them not to worry about that.
Even without the Demon King’s appearance, the Elebor tribe would have eventually caused havoc knowing that the seal of thunder spirit, Bolt, had already been undone. That was why Mina said that they only felt gratitude for Aria and co., who had prevented that tragedy.
Now that there was no other problem, the only thing left for them was to fully enjoy the victory banquet.
The party continued until late at night…
◆
The next morning…
「Well, it’s time to return to our world.」
Ciel looked at everyone.
After making their preparations, Aria and co. walked until they arrived in front of the summon gate in the ruins at the outskirts of the village.
This summon gate could safely send them back to their home world without burdening their bodies like when they came to this world.
「Thank you very much for your help, Ciel-sama and everyone. We can’t show you enough gratitude…」
Mina accompanied Aria and co. until the summon gate to send them off.
「We want to express our gratitude to you too, Mina. Thank you very much for your willingness to fight alongside us.」
Ciel placed her hands on Mina’s shoulders.
Aria and co. nodded together, agreeing with Ciel.
「Well then, see you again the next time we come here, Mina.」
「Fufufu… when such a time comes, it only means that some event must have happened again.」
Mina smiled upon hearing Ciel’s parting remark.
Upon hearing Mina’s answer, Ciel moved to the summon gate with a wry smile.
Aria and co followed her.
「Start the summon gate.」
Mina then recited an incantation. By the time she finished her incantation, the pale blue light that was coming out from the summon gate became even brighter.
And then—
◆
「This place is…」
Aria muttered the moment she opened her eyes. She turned around and confirmed that everyone was there.
「Uhnya! It seems we’re back to our home world!」
Vulcan exclaimed.
The area around them was gloomy, and something resembling crystals was blooming in profusion.
They were back in the labyrinth where Belphegor was sealed off.
「That’s strange…」
Ciel muttered as the others celebrated their return to their home world.
「is something the matter, Ciel-sama?」
「The crystal… I can’t see the splinters of the crystal that sealed Belphegor anywhere.」
Ciel replied to Aria’s question.
Upon hearing that, everyone started to look around. They realized Ciel was right. The Belphegor of this era should’ve been sealed in the crystal pillar. That crystal had been smashed to pieces when she was released from her seal.
Now, they found out that the traces of those crystal splinters had vanished.
「Well, there’s nothing we can do no matter how much we think about it. Let’s go back.」
The party decided to put this matter aside and went toward the exit of the labyrinth.
◆
「U~hm! Nothing can beat the air of our home world!」
Aria stretched her arms as soon as they left the labyrinth. Tama, who walked by her side, did the same.
「Everyone, I guess this is the time for us to partway.」
May quietly spoke.
「Are you going to leave already, May-chan?」
Cedric asked with a lonely expression.
May nodded at him. She had come from the future to chase after the future Belphegor, who had also come to this era.
Since the problem with the future Belphegor was already taken care of, it was time for May to go back to the future, to her era.
「Uuh, are you sure?」
「May, I really enjoyed traveling with you.」
「Farewell is sa~d…」
Stella, Lily, and Faeri, who were especially close with May, spoke with lonely expressions.
May replied to them, 「Worry not! We’ll meet again!」
「Thank you very much, May. Future Belphegor might have made a mess of this world without your interference.」
「Back at you. Thank you for your cooperation too!」
Ciel and May shook hands with each other.
（Come to think of it, the two of them are the main reason we started this journey.）
Tama felt nostalgic as he saw both of them shaking each others’ hands.
May then approached Tama and brushed his head. 「Stay healthy, Tama-chan!」
Lastly, she had a handshake with Aria and Vulcan. After she finished saying goodbye to everyone, she started the preparation for transfer.
When she raised her staff in the air, her body became wrapped in white light.
「Everyone… bye-bye! And, Dear Uncle…」
May paused for a while.
Seeing that, Cedric looked at her and asked, 「Is something the matter?」
May prepared herself, then opened her small lips.
「Dear uncle, I LOVE YOU!」
Then―
The next moment, May’s figure got wrapped in a dazzling light and vanished.
「Cedric-sama?」
「You’re not planning on abandoning your responsibility, right?」
Aria and Vulcan said while grinning at Cedric. Cedric could only scratch his head as he wryly smiled at them.
「Come to think of it, Maiya-kun and Rin-chan did tell me that their first child is about to be born. It has been a while since the last time I met them. Shall I ask them to let me become the child’s godparent?」
◆
The next day――
「Again! Thank you very much for your help, everyone.」
Ciel saw off Aria and co., who were about to go back to Labyrinth city.
She paid an extremely large amount of reward to Aria and co. from her own assets for their help in resolving the matter about Belphegor.
However, Aria and co. refused that reward money.
The reason was that this commission wasn’t a formal adventurer’s commission, since the commissioner, May, came from the future… May couldn’t make an official commission via adventurer guild.
Moreover, they had gotten a big haul in this expedition such as the experience of traveling to another world, Ark, and gained a lot of unique materials that were not available in their home world. They could make a killing by selling all of those materials.
「Aria, Tama-chan, you have become really strong. With such power, I think you’re going to get involved in another big incident soon… But, don’t give up. I know that you two can surpass any difficulty.」
「Ciel-sama, thank you very much for your encouragement.」
「Nya~n(I shall protect master from any danger)!」
Aria and Tama vigorously replied to Ciel’s encouragement.
「Well then, everyone… let’s go!」
Aria faced everyone and said so. Her confident smile was even brighter than before.
The adventures of the elf girl and her cat knight, as well as her comrades, were far from over.
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