My Childhood Friend the Demon Knight Hates Me - Episode 33: Forest of the Holy Bell

33 Forest of the Holy Bell

Translator:Lioness

Editor: Arya

　
After the slight bizarreness of my vision and the momentary feeling of floating, I found myself standing in a completely different space, similar to the Guiding Room, but with a different size and ceiling painting.

The space was similar to the one I was in earlier, but a little bit smaller. The picture of the bells at my feet were also somewhat different from the church in the royal capital. On the wall in the corner of the room, Reiss was standing with his body leaning against the wall, indicating that the transfer operation had been successful for both of them.

“You must be Suria-Barrett, the Spirit Princess of this year. My name is Mira, and I will be your guide. What do you know?”

Waiting for me was a female apostle, about the same height as Reiss, wearing a white robe and armband. She had gray eyes and short-cut hair of the same color. Her face and gestures were dignified and flawless. It was cool to see a woman who could do it.

Without pausing, Mira-san began to explain to me.

“I will be asking the Spirit Princess and the knight to move towards the Forest of the Holy Bell. The forest is located behind the church. I will be presumptuously guiding you to the entrance of the forest. After that, I’ll leave this child, who is a spirit, to guide you to the place where the Queen’s bell is.”

In the blink of an eye, a wolf with gray, almost white fur appeared beside Mira as the wind whipped up. It was a spirit of the wind, the same as Rick, who had a swirling wind around his tail.

“Fay, say hello.”

Mira urged her while stroking her head, Fay shook her tail with a sharp fang, saying “Thank you!” This one was light.

When Fay held the treasure sword in my hand, Mira quietly said, “Let’s go.”

••••

“Many spirits lived in the Forest of the Holy Bell. Everyone will welcome you. When the audience with the Queen is over and you return, head to the branch of the church. You don’t have to stop by. After the ritual is over, the fully-powered Queen would send you directly to the headquarters of the royal capital. I pray. — Well then, I’m here. ”

When we reached the entrance of the forest, Mira-san said all that without hesitation, which must have been a standard sentence, and sent us off into the forest.
　
She kept bowing in the direction we were going until she was out of sight, and I couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration at her flawless work.

“Please follow me then,” Fay said with a gulp while holding his sword in his mouth, and Reiss and I walked side by side through the forest.

The forest of the holy bell was a beautiful forest, the sun’s rays penetrated through the thick foliage of the trees, and the air was endlessly clean and clear. Pretty, unseen flowers bloomed and sang, and lush grass danced beneath our feet.

Just as Mira had said, as I walked forward, I caught glimpses of various spirits.

Earlier, I had caught a glimpse of an earth spirit in the form of a hedgehog with needles on its back that were made of branches, gazing at the hem of my white clothing. If the needles were branches, then maybe it was a twig mouse.
　
Then I spotted a deer with glowing antlers running through the trees. Maybe it was a spirit of light.

There were so many other spirits that I had never met before that I forgot my position and got a little excited.
　
Unfortunately, there was no one here to share this feeling, and I am silently stepping on the dry soil with my unfamiliar shoes.

Uur has betrayed me and had become friends with Fay (they seem to have compatible personalities), and was riding on his back, chatting amicably with other spirits. “The raspberry pie made by Suu was delicious.” “It’s good to hear that. Mira wasn’t a good cook,” he laughed.

It was nice, they looked like they were having fun there.

On the other hand, Reiss and I, walking next to each other, were just silent. The spirits were so close, but the humans were just utterly awkward. There was a definite wall between us that had yet to be broken down.

The chief apostle said that Reiss had wished something from the… spirit queen.
　
I’m not sure what kind of wish he had for being possessed as a demon.
　
He was going to meet the queen now, and I wondered if he was in a more restless state of mind than the calmness on the surface would suggest.

Thinking like that, I sneak a peek at Reiss’s neat face.

I was thinking of the unsociable Reiss of my childhood when he suddenly called out to me, “Hey.”
　
I was caught off guard, and I couldn’t help but bounce my shoulders excessively.

“Wha, What?”

“… My role as a guard knight is to take you, the spirit princess, back to the queen. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it or not. I’ll be resigned to another location, not the main church in the capital. When the audience is over, you will be sent to the main church first. Then receive your prize and return to your own territory. The rest will be taken care of by the people of the church.”

“What is another job?”

“It’s none of your business. …This is the last time you and I will be working together in this forest.”

Reiss looked straight ahead without even glancing at me.

I think it was a lie to say it was another job.
　
I’m sure he was saying this because he didn’t want me to be there when he fulfilled the promise he made with the Queen, so he was sending me home first so he could stay on his own.
　
If I hadn’t put one foot into his circumstances, I could only nod at the attitude of him pushing me away, and I would be easily deceived.

In a show of resistance, I didn’t reply, but gave a small glare to Reiss, who was holding his chest as if just out of habit.

“If we part here, … you and I will never see each other again.”

The cold voice of Reiss which he dropped with his emotionless face, echoed along the rubbing sound of the leaves.
　
It was a statement that rejected me, as if it was trying to sever our relationship.
　
If I didn’t know anything about him, I would have thought that he didn’t have a shred of ‘love’ or ‘bond’ that existed between us.

And I’m sure I had completely given up on the slight smouldering feelings I still had for my favourite childhood friend.

But … it was strange, wasn’t it, Reiss?
　
The beautiful face was expressionless, and there should be no dust in the colour of emotions.
　
I don’t know why, but when you said you were leaving me, —- I couldn’t help but think that you looked gloomy and lonely somehow.

“Reiss, I’m ….”

The next thing I knew, my mouth was left hanging open.
　
I didn’t know what I was going to say, although I knew I had to say something to him, but my lips were unconsciously trembling.

However, before I could formulate it into clear words, Uur said, “Suu!Suu!　Look, look!” He stopped speaking and looked at me hurriedly.
　
When I stopped thinking about my words and hurriedly looked into his direction, he flicked his watery tail and said, “That’s Joosama’s bell!” He pointed with his paw to the destination, which was vaguely visible in the direction we were going.