430 Lisa's Laser Is Bigger



"It's… It's sister!! Sister run away! Quickly!!" Ashley cried, tears practically running down the sides of her face.

Oh? And they were even practically screaming for help not a moment ago… Yet they're asking me to run away now?

Maybe they think I can't handle the demons either and would rather have me run away than to complicate myself with their plight. At least that shows that they weren't selfish I guess?

But… Even I could see that they would not make it here before the demons caught up to them so we'll have to strike them down here.

"Lisa… Can I count on you for the one on the left?" I asked as they slowly got closer to us.

She seemed to understand what I wanted but looked around and frowned, "Umm… I know I said all that earlier but… Without a source of light I won't be able to do much damage to them… Much less take down one on my own…"

Oh right… I think there was a thing about Lumenmancy spells being dependent on a source of light for power especially in the higher proficiency tiers.

I summoned a [Spotlight] and let it float above my head, "Would this do?"

"Oh! That would work perfectly, Aster! You're truly a genius!"

I guess normally people wouldn't even think of this idea since you would need to chant to continue maintaining the light. But since I don't have that restriction, I could just do it like this while still being able to fight.

I then started to charge my [Laser] while Lisa started her chant, "All of Light, with my will I bend you. Converge, control and burn through my foes with your shining brilliance. The darkness shall retreat, the shadows shall be cast out and the light shall be the only one that shines true. [Radiance Of Might]!"

She fired her spell just a second earlier than mine, causing the light from my [Spotlight] to suddenly shift and shoot towards her targeted demon like a beam.

The light beam shot forward and engulfed the demon in a blinding flash, enveloping the entirety of the demon in its brilliance.

The demon I was targeting paused, obviously surprised that his partner was obliterated from existence from a single attack.

My [Laser] then shot forward at that moment, the beam much smaller than Lisa's but no less deadly as it vaporised the demon's head the moment it hit him.

The corpse fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground a short distance behind the two girls, causing them to stop in surprise.

I turned to Lisa, "Woah~ That was a really cool spell, Lisa! Why haven't you shown me that before?"

That was when I realised Lisa had a surprised look on her face like she did not expect what had happened.

"Lisa?" I called out to her.

She turned to me, "What… What was that, Aster? How did I manage to shoot out such a huge beam with just a small [Spotlight]?!"

"E… Eh? Umm… I dunno? Was that not normal?"

"No! I was expecting only a light beam the same size as your [Laser]! How did it… Ah… Of course~ Because it's Aster!"

What kind of answer is that? And why is Katsuki even nodding along like you're agreeing with her? All I did was summon a ball of light that Lisa could use to cast her spell, you know?!

Yet the two of them are over there nodding along saying "As expected of Aster/Mistress" like that explains everything…

I figured that it would be pointless to say that so I went towards the two girls who seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion by the side of the road.

"Mary? Ashley? Are you two ok?" I called out.

"Sister…" Ashley gasped, still in the midst of catching her breath. "Were you attacked too?"

I nodded, "I guess you were as well… Is everything alright?"

Mary started to sob, "Geoff… They killed Geoff…"

"Her bodyguard," Ashley explained when I was giving her a look. "We were going back home in a carriage together since we were neighbours… Those monsters suddenly appeared and attacked us… Geoff made us run while he tried to hold them off but he… He got burned up…"

Damn, that can't be a nice sight for them…

"Were there any other of those demons?"

Mary seemed surprised, "Those… Those monsters are demons?"

I nodded, "Did you think they were just normal monsters?"

Ashley looked at me with wide eyes, "Demons are… Real? I thought… I thought they only exist in stories to scare children…"

Well… I guess I can't blame them for thinking that way since it's not like there's a particular reason for you to think otherwise…

I shook my head, "Unfortunately they are real I'm afraid. And you were attacked by two of them."

Mary still looked a little sceptical, "But… But I heard they were supposed to be really strong! Like strong enough to even take on Royal Knights! Sister… Sister just beat two of them on your own!"

"That's not true, I had help!" I protested.

"You still beat them! Does that mean… Sister is stronger than the demons?"

I waved my hand quickly, "I'm just lucky. Anyway, are both of you alright?"

My question made them remember about their own harrowing escape from the demons and both of them shuddered.

"Why… Why did this happen? Why did they attack us?"

"We didn't even do anything… They killed our guards… So easily…"

"Umm… For the moment, I guess I can escort you home? Unfortunately our own carriage was attacked too so unless yours is intact, we'll need to walk."

Ashley sniffed, "Those… Those demons killed our horses too… Why would they even do that?"

"Umm… From what I heard, it was something to do with harvesting souls or something."

"But they didn't kill us… Even though we started running, they didn't use those fireballs on us… They just kept trying to catch us. If it wasn't because of Geoff… We would have been caught by them…"

Lisa scratched her cheek, "Hmm… So they're going around trying to capture nobles… How interesting… Maybe they're working for some anti-noble faction that's trying to capture all the nobles for some reason?"

I think that guess is a bit of a stretch but I suppose anything is possible right now.

I got up and patted myself, "Alright, don't worry! I'll escort both of you home!"

"Mistress, if you wish for these two to be escorted back, there is no need for you to do it personally. I can call one of the other maids to do it instead," Katsuki suggested.

The two girls turned to look at Katsuki, seemingly surprised to see her there since she had remained silent all this time that they did not even notice her.

I turned to her, "In that case, should I just go ahead and run around the city to find more demons to dispose of?"

"Mistress, if I may be so bold… That is not something that someone of your position should be doing. Please leave this to the Royal Knights."

"Hmm… But isn't it a duty of ours to defend the city in case of an attack? What's more I'm also a Mercenary as well so I should be rising up to the occasion, no?"

I could see Katsuki's lips thin as she was obviously not willing to let me dive into a potentially life threatening situation if she could help it.

"In that case… I think Mistress could escort the two ladies home while I tell the others to help deal with the demons."

"Awww~ Thank you, Katsuki~" I giggled, giving her another pat on the head which made her tail wag noticeably.

So cute~

Mary and Ashley seemed to understand what was going on and quickly bowed their heads, "Than… Thank you for your help, sister!"

I feel the need to mention that they were still wearing their masks to hide their identities at this point which I question the necessity of since I was going to find out where they live anyway. 

But since I was also wearing my mask anyway, I don't think I should bring that up either.

The fact that they did not bring up Katsuki's looks despite her being already known as 'Aster's maid' was quite surprising already, so I suspect my Inugami maid really did have a way to prevent herself from being recognised.

The two girls began leading the way back to their homes with Lisa and Katsuki following a step behind us. That would have been fine except… They were both holding my arms and… I'm pretty sure they were intentionally pushing my arms in between their chests.

"Hey… Mari… Ahem… Mary… I don't think you should stick so close to sister. It'll be hard to walk…"

"Is that so, Ash… Ashley? I think maybe you're the one that's making it hard to walk… You should be leading the way, right?"

"What are you talking about? Clearly you're the one that should be leading the way…"

Woah, woah… Really? All we did was have an orgy and then I saved your life once before you two start… Ok, I guess doing that could be more than enough for some people to start developing feelings but… We don't even know each other that well, you know?

Plus… You just came from a situation where you almost lost your life… Ah… Maybe they were trying to use this as a way to deal with their shock…

Mary tugged on my arm, "Sister! Please come to my house later! I'll properly thank you for saving my life!"

"No, no! Come to my place instead! My place is better!" Ashley protested.

Before I could wonder how to deal with this, Lisa suddenly pulled me back and kissed me right on the lips which also involved quite a bit of tongue.

I returned the kiss until she pulled back and smiled at them.

I was expecting her to tell them to back off but…

"If you want my sister, you'll have to invite me too~ We come as a pair, you know?"

…

Lisaaaaaaaa…