Chapter 36

"Uh... Uh..."

Maho was in shock. She had always had some measure of confidence in the Hero party's strength, especially once they had successfully forced Dos, at the time still a lieutenant in the Demon Lord's army, to turn on his heel and run for the hills.

The ogre, on the other hand, had gained the upper hand with such ease she had no trouble convincing herself that no one could best him. She was now proven wrong and by none other than a small girl with fluffy green hair ornamented by a single flower, a girl that looked so much weaker than her but had nevertheless killed the creature with methods that were, to put it bluntly, atrocious.

Indeed, what transpired could not be called a battle. After all, at no point in time had Laladi been forced to hold out against the ogre's blows.

"W-What kind of girl is she...?"

Maho now felt utterly terrified of her. The sheer power required to crush an ogre without so much as breaking a sweat ought to have been reason enough for her, but far more terrifying in her eyes was the kind of mentality the girl must have had if she could take in the traumatizing sight of the ogre melting to death without batting an eye.

"Hieh...!"

The object of her fear slowly turned around. Maho inadvertently let out a small scream, forgetting that she was allied with the girl.

Laladi then slowly came her way on wobbling legs. The thought of herself suffering a fate equally cruel to the ogre's crossed Maho's mind.

The truth of the matter was that Laladi had already spent much time thinking of ways to kill her fellow guild members. She wasn't the type to persecute whenever the mood took her.

Laladi drew closer and closer while Maho could only shut her eyes as tightly as possible.

"Master! What did you think of Lala's fight?! Did it go alright? Are you gonna praise Lala?"

"...What?"

Maho had never even registered in Laladi's mind. The only thing that had was the master's handsome face.

Pushing Maho away from where she clung to the Master, Laladi embraced him and began practically grinding up against him. Her eyes sparkled, and an unspoken request for the Master's praise was used to appeal to his better nature.

"Ha-phew... If just killing an ogre gets Lala this much praise... She... She might just make them go extinct..."

Now the gleeful recipient of the Master's compliments and head-pats, the details of Laladi's new and devilish schemes could not be locked away. It was at that exact moment that every ogre in existence felt an irrational sense of trepidation.

Maho became dumbfounded as she looked on while Laladi rubbed her underdeveloped limbs against the Master's body with red-hot cheeks. Why had she been so scared of this girl again? She was the same old master-obsessed girl, wasn't she? Now that she saw how the girl twittered as the master humored her, she felt herself heave a sigh.

"Never mind, then. Who are you, anyway? Are you really his pupil?"

Her suspicious gaze locked on both the Master and Laladi. She had been doubtful before. The two of them just seemed to be much too battle-savvy for scholars, and now Laladi had defeated an ogre that had almost given the more battle-oriented party of heroes a taste of oblivion.

Were they really scholarly types in search of knowledge?

"Hmph. Well, if you add 'most beloved' to 'student,' then yes, you might be right."

"Sure, if you say so."

Exposed to the sight of Laladi puffing out her mostly non-existent chest and turning up her nose at her, Maho just offered a tight smile. Though her eyes were still pointed up to look at the Master, the half-formed smile implied that she was not too keen on conversation.

Maho had no clue who these people were, but in the end, she supposed it didn't really matter. Irritating as Laladi was, she had still saved her life, and whoever the Master was, it didn't change how he had saved her from herself. Then, while she was still lost in her own thoughts...

"Oh no, I know. I know exactly who they are!"

"Longmann?"

Though he had been knocked back from the front lines in no time at all thanks to the ogre's reliance on the element of surprise, Longmann was now back, emerging through a cluster of branches he had pulled apart. Mary, who had made sure to heal him beforehand, also made her return and went to heal Yuuto, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.

"He has a lot of nerve, talking like that when he didn't even accomplish anything."

"Stuff it! The ogre was just way stronger than I thought it'd be!"

Laladi moved her arms in a show of exasperation while she sneered at him, and Longman was both quick and harsh in his rebuttal. Maho was actually thinking along the same lines as her, but had chosen to keep her mouth shut. She only opened it when she caught on to just how strange what he had said really was.

"Wait, hold on. You're talking as if you already knew we'd be fighting an ogre."

"Yeah, you bet I did. I knew there'd be one around here."

Longmann did not seem to have any qualms about giving an honest answer to Maho's inquiries. With some anger and plenty of confusion, she spoke again.

"Are you brain-dead? If you knew, why didn't you tell us? Do you know how much we had to go through while you were out of commission?!"

Longmann hadn't experienced the total despair of having none of his attacks even nick the ogre. He couldn't have. Not when he had been so easily jettisoned from the fight. Maho, who unlike him was now well familiar with that sensation, was beyond angry.

"What?! Couldn't help it, could I? This was all a trap meant to get them to show their true nature!"

Longmann jabbed a finger for emphasis, pointing straight at the impassive Laladi and ever-smiling Master.

"W-Wait! What are you even talking about?!"

"Well, can't blame ya for not knowing. Didn't exactly tell you an' Yuuto about them, after all."

"Again, what's going on?!"

The heat of Maho's anger burned hotter the more incomprehensible his words became. No one could fault her for feeling anger at the know-all way Longmann spoke to her. Having never been overly partial to his disposition in the first place did not help matters.

Longmann addressed her with conceit.

"Well, if that's the case, why don't we hear it straight from the horse's mouth? Isn't that right, you two?! Or should I just call you 'members of the dark guild, Yelquchira'?!"

"D-Dark guild...?"

Once Longmann had delivered his exposition impelled by a sense of pre-emptive victory, Maho spun around to get a better look at the other two people present. She was met with the face of the Master, his smile fixed into place, and Laladi, who made no attempt to feign interest.