“Haha, I'm just mistaken, surely, yes surely all the mana in this area will start rushing back. Ah, those wasteful humans, one likely must have used a rather inefficient spell. I just have to walk until I feel the mana.”
And so she began walking while forcing her body to try and absorb any mana in the area.
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The day had now taken an amber hue and the adventures had long since defeated the priest that could stop objects. But that didn't matter to the demon named Buer.
She could tell she had walked for several kilometres. She was surprised that in the amount of time that passed in her slumber and now, this area had been undisturbed by humanity. Given how different the landscape was from the last time she had seen it, she guessed, in the best case, a few hundred years had passed. She could, at minimum, tell a garden she kept as a hobby nearby the temple was nowhere to be seen and the hardiest thing she had in there could survive for one hundred and fifty years in the right conditions.
Her breathing was ragged and she decided the best course of action would be to rest against a nearby tree.
“An alder… I don't remember alders in this forest.”
This was minute compared to the reason she stopped. No matter how long she walked and how much effort she put into it, she managed to absorb only a pitiful amount of mana from the environment.
How was this possible? Even if someone had used all the mana in the area it'd take no more than a few minutes for more mana to take its place. Hell, even if all the mana on this hemisphere was used, natural mana disperses so quickly, that the other hemisphere’s mana would even out with this one in no more than an hour.
The only thing she could think happened was…
(“No… that's impossible. Even if the war raged that strongly, we hadn't even scratched the surface of it during our war!”)
She was shaking. The possibility of such a thing frightened her. If such a spell or ritual was used… maybe her lord was no longer in this world.
As she rocked back and forth trying to disprove the idea in her head, she heard a footstep approach and sluggishly turned around holding her head.
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Tina and Elizabeth returned home, with Tina quickly making her way inside and the trio of Elizabeth, Ruby and Agnes outside.
“Good job, Ruby.”
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“Oh come on, she didn't even try to run away. I'd say she's on the same level as a kitten. Though her mind's a bit dirtier.” Ruby added. She patted Agnes’s head like a child's.
“S-shut up.” Agnes said, slightly embarrassed. “Also what did you mean by runaway? I said I'd follow Tibaut home, besides I'm not sure I'd want to go back to my village.” She added.
“You seem to be mistaken about something,” Elizabeth said. “We know you're not a slave of Albus.”
“.... (Oh fuck. No, no, no, stay calm, Agnes. You can't leave your Prince alone in a den of villainy. Scratch that, if I'm not alive, I'm not even gonna have a chance of a happy ending with him.)”
Even as a perilous situation looked her down, she could only focus on her sweet prince. Besides it's not like she was implying-
“Based on your silence I take you were a member of the cult,” Elizabeth added.
She could feel her stomach form a pit. Oh no. No, not now. Not when she found someone she loved. Not when she escaped that life of misery their God wouldn't want. There was no way! She had to be bluffing.
Agnes began stuttering and trying to get a word out, but Ruby simply patted her shoulder and shook her head when Agnes turned to her.
“Tibaut told me the women given to the priest by Albus were either killed or turned into those pale women. But that's suspicious. Why would they keep you around? And as I was thinking this, I went to a cabin in the forest next to the dungeon. It was Kevin who informed me of this, so myself, Ruby and a few others went. Do you know what I found?” Elizabeth asked as she inched closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. She leaned into Agnes’s ear and whispered.
“I found an attendance sheet. Do you know whose name I found on that sheet?”
She began sweating and soon fell to her knees as she felt her breathing become difficult. She thought for a few moments and turned to trying to hang on to a thread of hope.
Before she could open her mouth, Elizabeth killed her optimism before it even had a chance to recover.
“If you're going to say some variation of “But it's a common name!” there happened to be a man in the cabin resting. Thankfully (He wasn't too difficult to heal) He wasn't in such a sorry state he couldn't answer questions. So I asked him one related to this Agnes person.”
(“Tibaut… I'm glad I met you.”) She thought as she looked at Elizabeth. Her eyes were glazed over and she had fully accepted her fate. If anything, it was a bit easier to swallow knowing she got to live like a heroine for a few days. She may not have received his love but was happy she could close out her life loving a real person she connected with and not a romance protagonist.
“I asked what she looked like. After some convincing, he told me she had blue hair, tired eyes and seemed a bit shy. We thanked him and… well you don't have to hear the rest. After all, you can tell what happened based on the man we brought back with us. It's amazing in hindsight how well you hid yourself when we removed his blinds.”
Tears ran down her face. She didn't even have the spirit to look Elizabeth in the face anymore. She clutched onto Tibaut’s shirt and exposed her neck. She prayed these two would at least kill her quickly.
(“A boyfriend and a new friend…. It was too good to be true…”)