One, two, three, four…
Nainiae confirmed that there were four names. She asked,
“You said you were preparing Six Parts. However, I only see four names here?”
Riley pointed at her.
“First, there is one here.”
Nainiae tilted her head to the side and wondered who the other one was.
“And?”
Riley avoided her gaze and thought about the rascal with red hair who must be bickering with Abyss in Ansyrium right about now.
“There is another… Anyway, what do you think?”
Riley thought that there was no need to tell her about Andal. Instead, he asked Nainiae about the four people whose names were written on the paper.
“I am not sure…”
There were people other than Andal or Nainiae. They were all the people who Riley had met two or three times at least.
“First…”
Nainiae looked at Nara’s name. She had guessed why they wanted to take Nara with them. Nainiae asked,
“The reason for taking commander Nara there is… As I thought, is it because of his eyes?”
Riley nodded.
“There is the eyes thing, but he is also skilled at spear techniques. He has a good sense as well. Once Abyss gives him powers, he will be dashing around just fine. Basing it purely on potential, he is the best among the four as well.”
It seemed that Nainiae agreed with Riley’s assessment. She nodded.
“He certainly is.”
Last summer, when they had run into Nara for the first time, they confirmed Nara’s skills. He was superb, more than enough for Nainiae to nod in agreement.
He was a basilisk. However…
Other than his eyes, his basic physical abilities were not so different from humans. Despite that and despite his age, Nara possessed such talent already. It was the evidence that Nara possessed superior potential.
“I think Ms. Iril is the only one who has as much potential as commander Nara at such a young age”
Iril was the adopted granddaughter of Inaril, who once had the Blessing of the Sword in this world. Iril was slightly ahead of Nara, but… Nara had the eyes of basilisk, which Iril did not have.
“I have no objections.”
Nainiae, someone who once had a duel against Nara, said she had no objections. She moved her gaze to the next name on the paper.
“The next one is…”
Nainiae crumpled her eyebrows.
“Ms. Sera?”
“That’s right. Initially, I was going to send someone else, but I just changed my mind.”
Riley was impressed by Sera’s sense of smell when he had run into her after just returning to the mansion. This was the reason why Riley chose Sera as the second person.
“Um…”
It seemed that she was more concerned about Sera than Nara. Nainiae was not able to speak right away. She held her chin and was silent for a long time. She then said,
“Is she going to be all right? I am a little worried.”
Compared to others on the list, Nainiae thought Sera was relatively weak. This was the reason.
“Why? I don’t think it is a bad idea.”
“Still…”
Sera possessed an extra-ordinary sense of smell and other senses. Even Nainiae acknowledged those things in Sera. However, if anyone asked if Sera’s dual blades was stronger than Nara’s spear…then Sera was not quite at that kind of caliber. This was why.
“Are you that worried about her?”
Having heard Riley’s question, Nainiae nodded carefully.
‘Well, the other world is quite dangerous.”
Nainiae was worried not just because of Sera’s skill in swordsmanship but because of the dangers in the other world that she would be going to as per Abyss’s proposal, in other words, the world of Riley’s past life.
“I am not sure if Ms. Sera would be able to handle that place…”
Nainiae muttered carefully. It seemed that she thought she really could not let this be. She shook her head and asked Riley,
“Young Master, about this person named Abyss… No, the Demon Lord… Is he really trustworthy?”
Nainiae thought about the great demon, who Riley had fought in the end of his past life. She muttered with a concerned look on her face.
“Still, this is the Demon Lord who fought against you in your past life. We need to consider the possibility of this being a trap, and…”
Nainiae mumbled with a voice full of worry. Riley had a carefree look on his face as if he was trying to say that it was going to be all right. Riley suddenly placed his hand above her head.
“You sure worry about all sorts of things.”
“…”
Nainiae looked like she was feeling wronged. She looked up at Riley.
“If you are worried about Sera, then don’t worry about her too much. I picked her because I have a plan. Did you think that I picked her without giving it serious thought?”
Riley added that Nainiae should skip her for now and asked her to check the third name. Nainiae figured that it could not be helped, so she turned her gaze back to the paper.
“Um?”
She checked the third name on the paper and frowned.
“You are going to take Ms. Priesia too?”
“Yes.”
Riley nodded and explained why he was taking the Priestess.
“She is still considered missing, so even if we snatch her up… No. Even if we kidnap her, I don’t think there would be any problem. Also, she has the most selfless personality…where she would volunteer to help if we just explain the situation. Moreover…”
Riley paused for a moment. He added that Priesia was needed to resolve the problem that Nainiae was concerned about earlier.
“As you said, I think there is a need to be certain of what that Abyss bastard is really thinking inside.”
Until just a moment ago, Riley and Abyss had sat on the lake-side and fished together. So, doing this to him could look petty. Still, it wasn’t bad to have other options prepared.
‘Considering that rascal’s personality, I think he would flex his shoulders and tell us to go on right ahead to check, but…’
Riley did have the conversation with Abyss face to face, while looking into the man’s eyes. Through the conversation, Riley had become certain that Abyss was also feeling exhausted much like himself and Abyss was thinking that ‘these runts dared to stab me in the back?’
“If anything happens, Priesia can heal the wounded with her holy power. Also, when it comes to having someone who specializes in healing, it would be hard to find anyone who is superior to her.”
Nainiae nodded and said,
“I see… That certainly is the case.”
Nainiae, who was friends with Priesia, carefully thought about this. It seemed that she came to the conclusion that it would be all right. She nodded once again and picked up a pen.
“Well then, first…”
A circle for the first name – Nara.
A triangle for the second name – Sera.
A circle for the third name – Priesia.
“Like this, I suppose?”
Riley looked at the two circles and a triangle that was added to the paper as he scratched his head. Nainiae checked the fourth name.
“Um? Young Master, the fourth name…”
“Ah, I’m sorry… I have not decided on the fourth name. I wanted to get your advice first.”
[TL: At the beginning of the chapter, the author definitely said Nainiae confirmed that there were four names. The author is being inconsistent.]
Riley took back the paper that Nainiae was holding. He placed the paper on the library desk and wrote two more names in the black space for the fourth name.
“Here.”
Ian.
Iril.
“… Um. This is tough.”
After seeing the names, it seemed that Nainiae was thinking hard about it. She furrowed her brows.
“There are similarities and differences, so…”
“That’s why I’m asking you.”
Ian and Iril… They were both similar in that they both had learned their swordsmanship from the same teacher, Inaril.
If they were to consider physical abilities alone, Iril was probably a little superior to Ian. However… If the experiences accumulated were to be factored in, then Ian, who was once called the mercenary hero, could not be ignored.
“This question is worth thinking very hard about.”
Nainiae brought out a separate piece of paper and wrote ‘Myself, Commander Nara, Ms. Sera, Ms. Priesia…’ Nainiae furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side.
“Young Master, may I know who is the remaining one?”
“The remaining one? Why?”
“How should I put this? A good combination… A good match… I want to check that.”
Out of the blue, Nainiae was talking as if she was going to do some fortune telling with tarot cards. Riley was a little frustrated. Thinking that it could not be helped, Riley revealed the name he had been keeping a secret.
“Andal.”
“…”
Her crumpled eyebrows suddenly relaxed.
“Pardon?”
It was as if she had heard it but was acting like she didn’t quite hear it. As if she was denying this, Nainiae’s face looked vacant in a way when she asked.
“It’s Andal. Andal decided to go too.”
“…”
“Andal, you, Nara, Sera, and Priesia… You can think that it is almost a sure thing that these five people will be going.”
Nainiae’s eyebrows started to wiggle.
“M… My teacher is… why…”
“What do you mean why?”
Riley avoided Nainiae’s gaze and said,
“It’s because he caught Abyss’ eyes.”
It seemed Abyss liked the ‘child of lizards’ who his eyes had met. Riley remembered Abyss saying that he must take Andal with him. As if he was trying to say that Nainiae didn’t need to mind it, Riley continued.
“The important one is the sixth person. We need to choose who the last one will be to go to the other world as a part of the Six Parts.”
Nainiae was still in shock. To wake her up, Riley flicked his finger and left a red mark on Nainiae’s forehead. Riley asked again,
“Is it Ian? Is it Iril?”
Actually, Riley was leaning towards Ian who had stuck by Riley like a gum throughout all these long years. Still, he was not able to come to a quick decision.
There was the incident in Romella Village where Ian had almost died. Also, recently, he was reunited with the teacher he had been waiting for a long time, so Riley thought Ian must be happy. Riley did not want to interfere with Ian’s happiness.
“I am not sure. I think…”
Andal.
Nainiae.
Nara.
Sera.
Priesia.
…Ian or Iril.
With five parts pretty much set, Nainiae was hesitant about choosing the very last person. It seemed that she had finally decided. She moved the pencil.
“I think this side is better.”
Nainiae moved the pencil and circled the sixth person’s name. Riley looked down on the paper and sighed.
“Ugh…”
Watching Riley sighing, Nainiae snickered and then added in a small voice,
“Young Master, you will be making the final decision.”
She was right.
Riley had to make the final decision.
“Give me the pencil for me for a moment.”
Nainiae handed the pencil to Riley and asked about what’s to come next.
“Well then, what are you going to do?”
With the pencil on the paper, Riley was scribbling something. Having heard Nainiae’s question, he had a question mark on his face and asked back,
“What?”
“From now on.”
“From now on?”
Nainiae figured that Riley had not thought about it that far yet. Nainiae put her hands behind her back and asked,
“About the idea of paying back Helena with the same Six Parts…I am not opposed to the idea, but the remaining five… No. How are you going to convince the remaining four?”
While talking, Nainiae thought about her teacher. It seemed that she figured that her teacher would definitely go, so she changed the number.
“Convince them? Ah…”
As Nainiae guessed, Riley vacantly opened his mouth and became stiff.
“Don’t you think the conversation will stretch out really long? I think this isn’t a matter of explaining just a thing or two? Starting with your past life, there is the story about Helena, and…”
Even if some things were omitted, Nainiae thought there were quite a lot of things to explain. She looked at Riley with a concerned face.
“You are not planning on just taking them to the other world, are you?”
Act first and then handle the rest afterwards…That was Riley’s plan. He fiddled with his hands as if he had just gotten poked by the heart of the matter.
“…”
The answer ‘no’ was not heard from Riley. Nainiae figured that her guess was correct once again. She sighed lightly.
“You will need to talk to Lady Iris and Count Stein before you go so they won’t worry. Once you head over to that world, you don’t know when you will be coming back, right?”
“No. You don’t need to worry about that part. From our frame of mind, we will be back in less than one minute.”
“Um? Is the time frame different there?”
“That’s right.”
Nainiae quickly figured out from hearing Riley’s explanation and asked. Riley nodded and summarized the explanation that he had heard from Abyss.
“If we are there for a long time, then we will have a problem, but…”
“By any chance, is it because of the physical age of the body?”
“Right. From this world’s time, we will come back before even a minute passes. However, our bodies are not, so…We should handle things quickly over there so we don’t end up aging before coming back.”
Riley added something on the paper and placed it inside his outer pocket. He then turned around.
“Let’s get going for now.”
“What are you going to do?”
Riley left the library and Nainiae followed suit behind him in quick steps. Half of her face was filled with worries and the other half was filled with doubts when she asked.
“First, we should start with the one who is closest to us.”
Having said he will start working, Riley looked back to see Nainiae who was following him.
“Where’s Sera?”