Naru crossed her arms, considering Haruto's question.
Haruto had no choice but to steady himself and wait for Naru to act. He had to be ready so that no matter what ridiculous things came out of her mouth when she next spoke, he'd be able to remain calm. In contrast to Haruto's attitude, which was like a soldier marching to his death, Naru's words were disarming, to say the least.
"Not anything, really."
"Wh-what? You're saying you have no purpose here?"
"Yes. The reason We came here in the first place was to test the mettle of one of our subordinates. Now that that's over, We don't really have anything active to do here."
After hearing Naru's reply, Haruto sunk into thought while trying to keep his emotions off his face. I don't think she's lying, but she's definitely not telling the whole truth either. If she were truly done here, she'd be gone already. If she's still around even after the hunting festival, then that means she has a reason for it. But I also don't think that reason puts her in opposition with this country.
"By the way, how long do you all plan to stay like that? You're all intimidating with those bodies, even just standing around. Hurry up and turn human again," Naru called out to those behind her.
The giants that had been standing there all disappeared at once. Instead, there was a pink-haired woman wearing black dress, a really exposed black haired woman, and a blond man in white hoodie. Haruto remembered all of them. Right, I'm sure of it… These were the strange people who were lining up with Wendy two days ago. That means Wendy is the subordinate Naru was talking about… No wonder she was so strong…
Haruto wasn't surprised by that realization. In fact, it felt like a mystery solved to him. She was neither a hero nor a Black Empress, but she still rivaled Plue and had the strange ability to erase mana itself.
Ah, I see now. Of course she's no regular person. If she's Lunaru Fenris's follower, everything makes sense. After all, she can raise other people's levels easily. I was tricked… Well, not actually, I guess.
For a split second, Haruto suspected that Wendy had deceived him, but he quickly put the kibosh on that idea. At the very least, Wendy herself was a pure, good girl. There was no doubt about that, and if that had been acting, then Haruto felt that his own ability to read people would be to blame. In the end, I'm just not that smart. I'll just have to rely on instinct and gut feeling here. Haruto decided to trust the girl that he'd met, talked to, and fought with. And because of that trust, another path just opened up for him.
"There's a girl named Wendy who was with us but decided to stay behind to fight the Grimm Destruction at the foot of the mountain. Is she with you?"
"Ah, so you were one of the top rankers in the hunting festival too. Penny…"
"Yes, he is telling the truth. I can detect Wendy's vital signals at the mountain."
After hearing about Wendy, Naru immediately called out to the maid next to her. The maid responded quickly, as if she'd been waiting this entire time. Her master hadn't even spoken any concrete orders, and she'd acted on them, confirming their comrade's safety. As for Haruto, he could only shiver, given the distance and the fact that that hadn't seemed to matter.
"S-so, uh… Honestly, I think making her fight alone like that was pretty pathetic… Yeah. But the real problem is that we all lean pretty heavily towards physical attacks, so there isn't much we could do even if we wanted to… It's pathetic, but the only option is to ask for help from someone who can."
"…"
"So, uh… Could you please fight with us?"
Okay, how will you answer?! With sweat slicking down his palms, Haruto waited for Naru's response.
His aim was to use Wendy as a bridge to build a relationship of cooperation, though 'use' sounded harsh. Well, I guess 'cooperation' would be too cheeky… The difference between us is too big. But if we can become friendly now, then that'll have a big effect on the future. That's what my gut says.
The chances of succeeding weren't low. If things were as Juvia had said, and Naru wasn't evil, then she should at least be magnanimous enough to do this and save one of her subordinates. On the other hand, if she were the kind of person to throw Wendy away, then Haruto would have to change the way he thought about her from the ground up. But in the end, her answer was just as Haruto had been hoping for.
"Hmm, very well."
"R-really?!"
"Yes. Wendy is one of ours more than she is yours. Even if you didn't ask, We would have helped her," Naru said with a soft smile, which Haruto returned.
Oh, what? She's way more reasonable than the stories I've heard. Maybe the legends just got out of hand, and she was never like that in the first place.
Right when Haruto started to relax, a wave of water approached, threatening to swallow Naru. apparently it had been making its way over while the two had been talking. Haruto, noticing the danger, tried to react and warn Naru, but he couldn't get the words out in time.
Naru acted even faster than that anyway, though. She grabbed the redhead girl who was right behind her and got out of the water's range. Then she immediately swung open-handed, like she was swatting away a fly. Surprisingly, her action scattered all the water, the wind pressure from her attack blowing the droplets in all directions.
She blew away water which is supposed to invalidate physical attacks?! That just completely ignored the laws of physics. Such overwhelming power meant that levels were a law unto itself.
Seeing such ridiculousness firsthand, Haruto's jaw hung open. I take it all back. Lunaru Fenris really is scary as hell.