Arifureta After III Abyss Lord Arc Chapter 2 Saint Claudia
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It’s mostly exposition chapter.
I cannot consolidate the story well and became unable to endure, that jokes were also entered and it become more than 18,000 characters……
Please be careful not to strain your eyes.
Claudia smiled happily from the bottom of her heart that they were able to be reunited. The smile that didn’t contain the trace of anything hidden coupled with her gentle and kind looks was something so charming that might tightly grabbed the heart of ten thousand people.
Against such girl, Kousuke’s eyes snapped open so wide……
「Yo, you are perceiving me!?」
「Eh?」
Kousuke reflexively yelled.
At the same time, Bernard who was entering inside together was exposing his wariness while saying, 「To think she notice “Aby entering the room”……as expected, she isn’t just a normal person」.
Claudia-sama went 「Eh?」 one more time.
It seemed their reaction was different from what she imagined, so she opened her mouth with slightly troubled look.
「E, err, I think it’s only natural to notice if someone enter inside the room. Did I, say something strange?」
「Na, tural……you say!?」
「Aby……it seems Vatican is a really dangerous place huh. Now I keenly feel it for real.」
Aby’s legs staggered from the shocking words. Bernard supported him while trickling cold sweat. Even he who was a veteran security bureau staff who was also the leader of the force for field work couldn’t hide his shuddering expression.
It seemed that his opinion of Vatican was improving to a strange direction.
Claudia said 「I, I don’t understand……」 while she was starting to get teary eyed somewhat. Actually she was having imagination of a reunion that was more, emotional, or more like cool and stylish.
For example, Kousuke would anticipate Claudia’s entrance like it was only natural saying 「Good grief, aren’t you late?」, or perhaps 「Hou. To think that you can find me. You are quite something」 while grinning fearlessly……
Inside Claudia, her image of the human called Kousuke was that of a superhuman who was cool and stylish, with a composure that would never lose his calm while turning around in place for some reason.
She had been working hard thinking for many hours during her flight and car drive to this place for a stylish greeting in their reunion, and yet……
The superhuman-san was absurdly shaken just from a greeting! He wasn’t calm and composed at all! He wasn’t cool! Also he didn’t make any turn!
「Err, Claudia-sama? That’s why I was telling you, aren’t you glorifying your image of him too much?」
「It’s fine to like a moving tale, but it’s Claudia-sama’s bad habit to get too heated up and excessively glorified a story that is already good in the first place.」
「Uu」
The voice of a young man who seemed to have a headache and the voice of a girl that was mixed with sigh in it were resounding inside the room.
A youth with stylishly swept back blond hair――Wynn Keyman and, a girl with chestnut hair in braid――Anna Folk. It seemed the two of them came as Claudia’s accompaniment. They were standing in attention behind Claudia.
Kousuke came back to his senses with a ‘hah’ at their existence and for the time being,
「I’m reaaal~~ly-, glad that I saved someone like you!! You are exactly the very picture of a saint!」
He said that, and with a step that no one inside that room could even perceive, he took Claudia’s hand. Kousuke wrapped her hand with both his hands while his eyes became tearful from joy.
「Eh? Ah, that’s……. Certainly, I’m performing my role as a saint but……au, you are holding me so strongly like this again……」
Saint-sama became red faced when Kousuke grasped her hand. Her gaze was swimming around restlessly in embarrassment and bashfulness. It seemed she was recalling the sensation of the powerful arm when they were escaping from hell with her being held tightly inside his arms.
The saint who had no immunity of coming into contact with male could only let Kousuke did as he pleased with how happy he was that his existence was recognized as though it was only natural.
Of course, normally against such impolite man that tried to touch her needlessly, she would gently dodged them or turned them back with strength but……
For the time being, this time it was her two escorts who spontaneously moved.
「Tsu, can I ask you to get away from Claudia-sama-?」
「What’s with that step just now!? As I thought, you are strange! Also Claudia-sama too, you are acting strange somehow! What’s with that reaction that is like a maiden!?」
Perhaps because they caught a glimpse of Kousuke’s true strength, or perhaps because they recalled the dangerous involvement of the last time, or perhaps because of their fighting experience that was seeping into their body, their hands went toward their weapon. Wynn’s hand moved toward the handle of a small sword that jutted out from a cylinder case, while Anna’s hand moved toward the tonfa that was peeking out from the slit of her skirt.
Bernard immediately reacted to the two who were like that. With a gun in each hand, he aimed each muzzle to Wynn and Anna respectively.
An atmosphere of explosive situation instantly visited the place.
But, as for the two people in question,
「Yo, you are wrong! Anna! This is, I was just a bit startled-, maiden or anything, that’s a baseless thing to say! Geez」
「Bless you~, bless you~. In this world, there is still a person who will perceive me normally~. It’s precious~, it’s rare~. Saint-sama, bless you~」
One became even more like a maiden and fidgeted, & the other was entreated the saint repeatedly――in a sense, they were entering a world of only the two of them.
The eyes of Bernard who making a grim expression was slightly swimming around.
The eyes of Wynn and Anna who turned stiff with terrible nervousness were also normally swimming around.
The gaze of Bernard and Wynn & Anna crossed each other. 「Nn, nnn」 they made sound from their throat to each other and exchanged words 「Wha, what to do?」 with their gaze.
A beat. They let out a sigh together and lifted up all their hands to above.
And then, they turned their gaze to the fidgeting Claudia and the worshipping Kousuke, and they let out a deep sight one more time together. Somehow, their reaction were really understandable.
「Aby. I know you are happy, so return to your sanity right away.」
「Claudia-sama. Let’s make you a bit more immune after this various matters are settled. For now, please return to the usual Claudia-sama.」
「「Hah!?」」
Claudia and Kousuke returned to their senses. They both pretended to clear their throat and then sat down on the sofa facing each other without keeping up appearance at all.
Seeing that, Wynn and Anna moved to stand behind Claudia, while Bernard stood behind Kousuke.
「The, then, let’s restart from the beginning. My name is Claudia Barenberg. I’m serving as a saint in anti-demon organization “Omnibus” that is directly under the pope of Roma.」
Kousuke looked over his shoulder and exchanged gaze with Bernard. Bernard shook his head. It seemed he also didn’t know at all about that organization name.
In security bureau, Bernard was the leader at present while Chief Magdanese was away. His position was really high. For him to not know about that name meant that it was an organization that even the security bureau wasn’t aware of……
「I am, Kousuke. Endou Kousuke. A Japanese person, I’m not a staff of the security bureau but……」
「I am aware. ――You are one of the “returnees” aren’t you?」
「Aa~, yep. As I thought, you have grasped that much huh. For you to come here……did you trace the connection from the Berserk incident?」
「Yes, Kousuke-sama. We have also grasped about that incident to a certain degree, so we thought that perhaps we could rely on the security bureau. That pillar of light descending from the sky……it also confused us, so we investigated about it quite thoroughly.」
Kousuke smiled wryly while nodding 「As expected」. Claudia nodded back with a smile, and then her expression smoothly changed into a serious look.
「Kousuke-sama. First, let me express my thanks. For saving Aziz, and for leading me back to this world, thank you very much. If there is anything I can do to repay you, then I will do anything that you wish from me.」
Claudia suddenly sent a strong gaze that shook Kousuke. Her feeling of deep gratitude was really conveyed.
「And then, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I heard that my comrades attempted to capture you by force when we originally should be offering gratitude for you. I’m really, really sorry.」
Claudia looked back across her shoulder. Wynn and Anna went 「Uu」 and couldn’t say anything.
Although the place at that time was in chaos, and everyone there were seething with unprecedented anger, but to attack Kousuke right after he rescued Claudia, indeed, it seemed that it caused them to feel guilty now that they were calm.
The two looked at Kousuke with terrible awkwardness and then they quickly lowered their head together.
「My apologies-. Even though you even tried to establish a dialogue, we repaid back kindness with evil because of our excessive wariness!」
「I’m sorry! Also, thank you very much for saving Aziz and Claudia-sama! If it’s compensation, please be forgiving in exchange of the lives of I and Wynn-senpai!」
Kousuke was surprised by the sudden words of gratitude and apology. Claudia then said.
「The director too――the leader of our organization also said that he wished to make a formal apology. Unfortunately, the situation doesn’t allow me and the director to be away from Vatican at the same time, so he is unable to come here. We are greatly aware that it is impolite but……」
With a pained look, Claudia asked that if Kousuke would pardon the impoliteness of apologizing through phone, then the director was prepared to be called right away to express his apology. She looked so dispirited that her smile before this seemed like a lie.
To tell the truth, Kousuke was thinking if perhaps they were coming here as “pursuer”. He never imagined that they were here for apologize, that he was unconsciously taken aback.
Looking carefully, Wynn and Anna seemed terribly nervous. They were making cold sweat. Just now when Kousuke suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Claudia’s hand, their hand immediately reached toward their weapon because they were really worried that Kousuke’s rage had exploded and he was going to turn it toward Claudia.
‘We are apologetic, but just because of that adding harm to Claudia-sama is the only thing that we cannot allow’, it could be seen that they were at their wits’ end with such feeling. At the same time, the resolve that they wouldn’t loath to sacrifice themselves for that could also be seen.
It was unclear that they weren’t making a show of their strength because that was simply their personality or because they had heard about Kousuke’s strength. They were surely also keeping in mind that the returnees side had easily suppressed the attack just before this.
Perhaps rather than being Claudia’s guard, the two of them came here as representatives to receive Kousuke’s punishment. From the surprise that Claudia showed in respond to Anna’s words, it was a resolve that they kept quiet even to Claudia herself.
Seeing them like that, Kousuke pulled himself together and scratched his cheek with a troubled expression. And then he asked softly.
「Wynn-san, Anna-san. ……How many, people died?」
「……Mu?」
「Err?」
The words that Kousuke directed to Wynn and Anna. Both of them looked at each other’s face while keeping their head bowed before raising their gaze in question.
「That explosion, and then the attack from the cultists. Surely there were a lot of people that couldn’t be saved. Right after the explosion, Claudia-san screamed to confirm the safety of her comrades, and Wynn-san and Anna-san too, despite your heavy injury, Wynn-san immediately leaped out to help your comrades, and Anna-san also immediately rushed to call for help.」
Wynn and others were perplexed without understanding what Kousuke wanted to say. Kousuke continued without minding that.
「Aziz-kun, even though he looked like he was just a step before death’s door, the words that came out from his mouth were only 『Save Nee-san』. When I returned from hell, everyone in that place was harboring rage, not uneasiness or sense of danger. That director person too, he was maintaining calm appearance, but his clenched fist was shaking.」
That was why Kousuke was convinced.
「All of you, are surely comrades who are connected with strong bond. Isn’t that right?」
The expression of Claudia, Wynn, and also Anna slightly changed into pained smile from Kousuke’s words. Wynn quietly muttered 「……Yeah」, while Anna also leaked out a small voice 「……Yes」.
「I also have comrades. Important comrades who I entrusted my life to, who I won’t hesitate to offer my life for. When I imagined those guys getting harmed, yeah, even I have no confidence that I’ll be able to stay calm.」
That was why,
「There is no need for apology or anything――is what I want to say but, surely serious people like you all will be troubled by that, so I’ll accept the apology. But, it’s enough with that. This talk is over with this, I’ll let the bygone be bygone! That’s all! If you are feeling apologetic, then don’t bring this up again in the future! Okay?」
「Ye, yeah. No, right, if that is what you wish……understood. ……My gratitude.」
「O, okay. That’s, thank you very much.」
Wynn and Anna were slightly bewildered, even so, a beat later tension left their shoulders and they smiled.
Like that, Bernard was making a triumphant look for some reason after hearing Kousuke’s words while hitting Kousuke’s shoulder *bam bam* from behind. Claudia was also smiling cheerfully with slightly reddening cheeks during that.
「Kousuke-sama. Thank you very much.」
「Right, well, more importantly, can you stop calling me Kousuke-sama? You can just call me Kousuke normally.」
「No, I cannot call Kousuke-sama so casually. Please call me “Claire”.」
Even though she was smiling, Claudia-san was making a request with a strong gaze that was strangely pressuring. That excessively powerful gaze caused Kousuke to reflexively nodded 「Ah, yes」. A mere Kousuke who wasn’t being a lord was powerless in front of the saint’s love.
He cleared his throat once. Kousuke corrected his sitting posture and opened his mouth with a serious expression.
「Then, Claudia――」
「……」
「Aa~, err, Claire-san――」
「……」
「Claire and others aren’t coming here just for conveying your apology right?」
A smiling saint, powerful!
Saint’s cheerful smile! was an almighty language tool! It didn’t give the slightest attention to the conflicted expression of Wynn and Anna as though they didn’t exist. The expression of the saint-sama looked really satisfied when Kousuke called her Claire.
「Yes, Kousuke-sama. it had already become a situation that cannot be kept secret at all. There is something that I should inform to Kousuke-sama, and then to everyone of the returnees――we came here in order to tell about a danger to the world.」
「Danger to the world, eh.」
Kousuke ruminated with a wry smile. It wasn’t because he thought of it as a joke. They had just gotten attacked for real by demons from hell. There was no ground for doubt.
To say nothing of Claudia. Not just her title as saint, from what he had seen through the situation at Vatican, he could see that her position was really high.
It was clear from what she had said just now, that “I and the director cannot go away from Vatican at the same time”.
A woman in her position was intentionally leaving her headquarters to come here. It was natural that she had an important reason for it.
「Before I talk, please allow me to confirm first. The attack of demons and cultists before this. The gap between worlds was certainly shaken even though incompletely. In Vatican, director and others were carrying the ceremony to correct the fluctuation but……the world was corrected before they activated the technique. Was that caused by a measure that Kousuke-sama took?」
「No, it wasn’t me who tracked back the guy who was sending in demons and sent him flying. It was someone else who is far more absurd than me. I wonder, does your side know that us returnees in Japan along with the people related with us were all attacked simultaneously?」
「Tsu……I see……as I thought, all of you have that much power……」
Claudia asked while she was alredy half convinced, but hearing for real that the returnees launched a counterattack across worlds and drove the demons to retreat, Claudia and others with her gulped.
Claudia turned around with a determined expression. Wynn and Anna who received her gaze nodded with similar expression.
「Then, I will talk about everything by the order of the pope of Roma. Who are we. And then, about the unprecedented danger that is occurring right now.」
「I see. That’s really helpful. Actually, the first wife of the demon king told me to bring back enemy’s information because we are going to go raid their place. Actually, I was planning to infiltrate into Vatican again after this, so this saved me the trouble.」
「Eh?」
「Previously I tailed Aziz-kun and infiltrated inside using the secret passage from outside Vatican, but Aziz-kun was really sharp you see.」
「Eh?」
「The fully thrilling infiltration was really tiring. And this time that place is in high alert, so I was thinking that it feels like it will be a bit troublesome.」
「Eh?」
The facts spilled out without stopping with really light tone. Even though they were a secret organization, they got infiltrated with a level of recognition of just needing “some effort”, and then even while being aware that the situation now was a high alert state that was far more stricter, said infiltrator only thought of it as “troublesome”.