Momon slowly lowered Evileye to the ground.
"No— please, don't mind me. I understood your intentions."
Evileye bowed deeply to Momon.
"Thank you very much for all your help. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Evileye, of the adamantite ranked adventuring party Blue Rose."
"No need to be so formal, I am Momon, an adamantite-ranked adventurer like yourself. The magic caster here is my companion, Nabe. So what will you do after this? Are those two your companions? If you need someone to carry them for you, it shouldn't be a problem."
He pointed to Gagaran and Tia.
"I am deeply grateful for your offer, but there is no need. Our colleagues should be arriving soon. Perhaps they can cast the resurrection spell upon them here.
"Resurrection spells… you can use them?"
"Ah… ah, yes. Our team leader Lakyus can bring the dead back to life."
"Is that so? Then… if I may ask, from how far away can one cast a resurrection spell?"
"What do you mean?"
"That is to say, let’s say you wanted to resurrect these two. Assuming you cast your spell in the Empire, where would they resurrect? In the Empire, or where their bodies lie?"
Why? Why was he so interested in resurrection magic? Curiosity, perhaps. People who could use the 5th tier of divine magic were very rare, so it wasn’t unusual to be interested in this topic. Or perhaps someone important to him had died. In that case, Evileye’s reply would be cruel to him. She could only pray that was not the case.
“I’m not too clear on the details, but I heard Lakyus needs to be very close by in order to cast the resurrection spell. So, with regard to Momon-sama’s question, it would be impossible to cast the spell from the Empire.”
“Mmm. Then, another question; after resurrection, would the two of them be able to fight immediately?”
“It would be impossible,” Evileye replied.
The spell Lakyus cast was the 5th-tier magic ‘Raise Dead’. The raising would drain tremendous amounts of life force. Without exception, adventurers ranked iron and lower would be reduced to ash if it was cast on them. Adamantite ranked adventurers could be revived without a problem, but the resurrection would drain so much life energy from them that they would not be able to move, and recovering this life energy would take a long time.
If Jaldabaoth was right, not only were they still in danger, but they would also be deprived of a great amount of fighting strength.
…no, under these conditions, nobody can fight Jaldabaoth besides the great man in front of me. Resurrecting the two of them would do nothing to alter the circumstances. It would be wiser for them to focus on recovery after their revival.
“I see… I think I have the general idea now. If possible, I think I would like to meet Lady Lakyus. Would it be possible for me to wait here with you?”
"Wha! W-w-w-why do you want to see Lakyus?!"
Before she could recover her composure, Evileye’s words had already left her mouth. She didn't understand the reason why herself. In the instant she heard Momon saying that he wanted to see Lakyus, her heart was filled with resentment. It even shocked herself, and her outburst had alarmed Momon too.
Within her mask, her face began reddening with shame, and she was glad that the cloak covered up the tips of her ears which were also turning red.
"I… I was hoping to ask about revival magic, and also to meet with the leader of Blue Rose, who are fellow adventurers of the same rank as myself, and who are my seniors besides. That, and Jaldabaoth might be gone, but there's no guarantee he will not return. Is that so displeasing?"
"N-no, it's not like that… ah, I'm sorry I shouted at you."
The resentment in her chest vanished the moment she heard Jaldabaoth's name; she knew they had to be on guard against him.
Thinking carefully on what had already been said… I should have seen that coming. As for looking out for Jaldabaoth's return… That implies he wants to protect me? Fufu…
"Then, while we wait, do you mind if I ask about what happened before?"
"Before that, I need to take care of my comrades' bodies. I can't just leave them here. There's no problem with moving them, is there?"
Of course there was no problem. With that, Evileye went over to the bodies.
She'd thought they would have been burned beyond recognition, but it seemed that the devil's flames had only burned the soul rather than the flesh. The corpses were immaculate. After closing their eyes and crossing their arms over their chests, Evileye withdrew a ‘Shroud of Sleep’ from her pack, and began wrapping Tia up in it.
"What is this?"
"This is a magic item that stops the decay and rigor mortis of a body when wrapped around it. It's very useful for those who use resurrection spells."
While this was so, Momon noticed during Evileye's reply that she was struggling to wrap up Gagaran's bulky frame, so he decided to lend a hand by lifting up her body with his incredible arm strength. When the bodies were wrapped up, Evileye solemnly clasped her palms together, praying for the souls of the dead and for Lakyus to revive them.
"Thank you for your help."
"Think nothing of it. As I was asking earlier, could you tell me what exactly happened here?"
Evileye nodded, and began recounting the events that had come to pass. What she knew, what they'd planned to do, and the story of their encounter with the insect maid and the battle where Jaldabaoth had made his entrance.
As she spoke of how she had nearly finished off the insect maid, a change came over Momon and Nabe, who had been quietly listening to her story up until now.
"Then, did you kill her?"
His words were neutral, but the anger behind them was unmistakable.
Evileye was alarmed. Why would he be upset about killing Jaldabaoth’s maid? But she decided to finish telling the story.
"No, we didn't kill her. Jaldabaoth appeared before we could do that.”
"…Is that so? I see, I see."
The anger vanished, and Evileye wondered if he had even been angry in the first place. But, the silent Nabe's hard eyes were still filled with simmering wrath. It was difficult to tell if she disdained everyone in this way.
Momon coughed, and asked, "Then… if you hadn't tried to kill the insect maid, do you think Jaldabaoth would have attacked you?"
Evileye instantly realized why Momon had been angry. The insect maid had been neutral, and for all she knew, the two of them attacking her might have been the trigger for the current events.
It was only natural for adventurers to avoid unnecessary battles. If a group of high level adventurers didn't know this, it would disgrace the name of adamantite-ranked adventurers, and even Momon himself. That should be the reason why he was upset. Even so, Evileye couldn't fully agree with that line of reasoning.
"Jaldabaoth said that he would turn the capital into an inferno. A maid following someone like that couldn't possibly be a normal person. I believe the decision my colleagues made to fight her was the correct course of action."
That was the one thing she couldn't compromise on. That maid had been stronger than Gagaran and Tia. Knowing this, they had still fought on— there had to be a reason for that. She had to believe that her comrades had had a good reason for what they did.
The defensive Evileye and the silent Momon looked at each other, as though peering through her mask and his helmet. Although neither could see each other's face, Evileye was certain that she was staring into Momon's eyes.
In the end, Momon was the first to give in.
"Mmm. Ah. I see. You were right. I apologize."
He lowered his head to her. That shocked Evileye. Even though her belief in her comrades was firm, she still couldn't make her savior humble himself like that.