Arika, Try to Make A Deal

As my mind caught up with how dangerous Rama is, suddenly he grabbed me in a hug on my back. I shrieked in both surprise and embarrassment as my heart beat fast, but then I noticed that something was strange. Rama suddenly smelled like something I recognized in my night in my past worlds as a career woman. Those lonely nights where I was so depressed that I spent my days in various bars with many choices of alcoholic drinks—

It can’t be…. That mana pill’s side effect would make elves turn heavily drunk immediately?!

“Ugh… that mana pill is really strong…” Rama buried his face further to my back. “I’m feeling dizzy and hot… Arikaaa, carry me….”

“How am I supposed to do that?!” Spontaneously, I retorted, “Let me go!”

“Pfft— Rama’s totally out of his mind, how cute—”

That’s where I noticed how Rana ended up laughing at us as she pointed at the clingy Rama. Way to make fun of the dire situation, twin sister of this drunkard! What are we going to do now if we get attacked— and as I just thought of that, a few elves in strange robes that definitely are part of the Temple come running over the storehouse!

“How did they even—”
“That kid with destruction magic is just that dangerous! I knew we should keep guarding him!”

I couldn’t care less about what those internet cult elves that are expected to come are yelling about our attempted escape.

“Rama, let me go! I can’t even stand on my own since my mana hasn't recovered!” I complained, as I tried to shake him off that he fell to his butt on the ground. Rama pouts at my word, as if he’s a child that got his toy taken away from him…. wait, does this mean I’m his precious little toy or something?! That sounds really wrong no matter how I put it into words!

“...Arika doesn’t want to play horsie with me… Arika doesn’t like me anymore….”

“Pfft, haha, I wish I had a camera with me!”

…Rana’s laughing hard at the situation too that she’s totally forgetting what we’re even here for. She’s not helping at all, in favor of having fun in this weird situation. Grandma, help me!

“Those girls– his foretold twin sister and….?”

“Idiot! That must’ve been the one we’re looking for, but in disguise!”

“We should inform the others, then—”

Boom. Suddenly, there's an explosion that separates the cultists from their wands, causing them to scream in fear, as Rama once again clings to me. I could hear Rana’s gasp, but that’s not important right now.

“Don’t disturb us.” Rama said in a rather cool, deeper voice than his usual as he clings to me as if protecting me. It would’ve made my— nope, just any girl’s— heart skip a beat if it wasn’t for the strange situation we’re in, since when I do observe his face from a close distance like this, he does have quite a handsome, youthful face.

….But that’s also not important right now! I shook my head in disapproval of myself, yet I also feel like letting him cling like this would be the best course of action, I am, indeed, the one who needed to be protected in this particular situation. There’s the minus factor of Rana laughing at us and making this the butt of her jokes all the time, but that’s probably fine.

As I could feel my weak legs and arms back upon the initial shock of being grabbed by Rama, I finally remembered what I needed to do. But when I did, I realized the bottle had rolled near the laughing Rana’s feet. Added the time limit that is the cultists reaching out for their wands that are thrown quite far by the explosion, I panicked.

“The mana pills!” I said out loud, as I turned to Rana and scolds her to snap out of it. “Rana, don’t just laugh! Help me fetch it! I can’t just reach it!”

“S–sorry, Lady Arika! Here!” Rana finally snaps out of her pits of laughter, as she immediately grabs the bottle and passes it to me— who was still hanging in the clingy, drunk Rama’s arms. Of course, Rama is the one who caught it.

“Arika needs mana…?” He asked me, rather childishly compared to his usual antics. I nodded fastly without any words as an answer. He’s definitely the type to regress back to childhood when he is completely drunk— I thought as suddenly, I could feel something soft hitting my lips as I heard Rana squealed like a fan-girl, confirming my suspicions on what’s going on.

Did Rama just—-?!?!

…At least my mana recovered from that drunk driven kiss, so before the cultists I saw getting back their wands tried to attack us, I materialized and weaved my own staff as I attempted another teleportation magic for the three of us while I thought of the evil that caused us in this situation.

~*~*~

“Gyaaa?!”

Just as me and Rana fell on top of Rama while we teleported to his place, as expected, the three of us found ourselves on top of the cultist elf with defensive magic as well as a horn shaped headband— Dellney. I don’t really want to care about her at the moment, but I hope she at least faints because of our weight.

I expected it to be the location of Rui so much that hearing a sound of meow relieved me, but it wasn’t that easy. When I looked up at the meowing sound, it was an orange cat that ended up licking my face gently.

“Huh? Dellney’s Cheshire…?”

I blinked confusedly, before I could feel my breathing turn heavy, not only my limbs. I feel like everything’s heavy and I want to throw up that I would’ve fainted at that moment, but Rana moved faster than she could, shoving another mana pill to my mouth as I could feel my mana and physical condition recovered, slowly but surely.

“Lady Arika, it’s very dangerous for anyone, even a Blessed One, to use consecutive teleportation magic with vague location information like that!” scolds Rana with worry reflected on her eyes as I could feel like my body acts as if normal again.

“Arikaa…. hear Rana out… okay?”

It seems like Rama’s still out of commission as he’s still drunk enough to childishly cling to me with teary eyes, though from experience alone I can say his magic is as powerful as ever. I’m not drunk at all, though, even after twice the forceful drinking of mana pills. So maybe that ‘drunk’ side effect is only for elves?

“O… Okay. You’d have to tell me the detailed risks of it later.” I gulped as a fear had struck me upon experiencing that pain. “Now—”

“....You guys have enough space to talk here, right? Get off me! You all are heavy!”

That was when Dellney spoke up with a yell, which caused all three of us to jump out of her laid down body. It turned out she didn’t faint at all, which made me click my tongue.

“Che. So we didn’t get her.” I said as the three of us decided to get off her back. Dellney sighed, as she stared sharply at me while crossing her arms.

“I heard you, Mage Hero. Really now, I know my first impression to the likes of you was really terrible, but I don’t think I deserved to be pancaked to death by three people thanks to your overpowered teleportation magic!”

Hearing those words only made me angrier than ever as I pointed to her, definitely with fiery anger reflected on my eyes. She thought she didn’t deserve it?! Even when she attacked Elder, hits her own Cheshire and tries to probably kill and sacrifice our Cheshire— Rama’s cute and cuddly Rui for exact?!

“Then, return Rui to us, you filthy cat– no, Cheshire abuser!”

Dellney shrugged her shoulders as she shook her head

“Just saying this, I didn’t take your Cheshire.”

“Then, tell us! Where is Rui?! And also, you were the one spreading information about us in that Comanet site! It’s just the same as letting us get caught!”

“That, I admit I did….” Dellney bit her lips, unable to deny the accusations as she gazed away from us.

“See?! Even you yourself admitted it!”

“Lady Arika, calm down! You’re still recovering!”

“Let me go, Rana! She will pay for this!”

I really wanted to slap her on the face right now, but Rana’s hands stopped me before I threw hands with her— as well as the drunk Rama clinging on me like a little koala hanging on a tree. My mana is still recovering too as Rana said despite the mana pills, as my legs feel really shaky and I feel like my breathing is ragged, so I couldn’t do anything with magic either.

“Yeah, I may be sharing information with other members, but that doesn’t mean I am the one who actually, physically, took Rama’s Cheshire!” Dellney tried to beg for her innocence again, and it frustrated me. Yet, I couldn’t do anything but hear her reasoning for now. “There’s too many people accessing that site per day, do you expect me to control every single one of them even when I’m an admin or moderator?”

“I know, but–”

Suddenly, I stopped to think. The reason why Dellney insisted on her innocence made sense to all of us, and she won’t budge. But the thing is, she might have some clues on Rui’s whereabouts, regardless of whether she’s responsible or not. That’s why, what I needed to do wasn’t to make her admit her wrongdoings, but to negotiate. My mind flashes back on that time Dellney threw that stone that throws us as far as Marconne.

“A chance! Take this and remember your purpose to make the Temple rich!”

The clue had been there all along, in her last words before she threw us that stone. I smirked, rather out of my usual character. I wonder if my Grandma would be proud of me— she probably won’t, since I’ll be using her inheritance in something akin to a deal with a devil, but there may be no other way we could find Rui.

“You guys had enough, right? Well, I do. Get out of my—”
“....How much do I need to pay?”

“Huh? W– what do you mean by that?”

Dellney gulped loudly as she panics, and that’s where I realized that I hit the mark.

“How much do I need to pay so that you will sell us that information of where they took Rui?”

….All I need is to make her submit and spill the remaining information she has.