Chapter 199: Return (7)


    "Shinto?!" Suddenly hearing the voice of the person in question behind him, Frey stumbled back in shock as she nearly tripped over. "...ack! When did you get here?!"


    "Um, just now...?" Shinto answered whilst shrugging. "Well, at most just recent to hear the conversation. But my reply remains the same. So I hope you don''t mix me with the other Shinto... Because... I''m not him."


    "Yeah! Master''s not whoever that imposter Shinto is!" Kon scorned. "Such an imposter doesn''t deserve to be discussed!"


    "Wait... Kon?!" Frey''s eyes glittered with joy. "You''re back!" In the next moment, as she was about to grab hold of him, Shinto swiftly moved towards the side as he prevented Kon from being taken away. "Ack... Master! Let me pet him! Please? I haven''t seen him for quite some time now!"


    "You can pet himter... But for now..." Shinto muttered out as his eyes turned to Ethaniel.


    "...Kon, you..." Ethaniel frowned at Kon''s words. However, with the current atmosphere as it is, he decided not to push further. "Bah... Whatever. Why are even discussing this? Is it even time for that?"


    "..." Shinto kept quiet at Ethaniel''s statement as he soon discretely nced over towards Hikari and Crowelin, who gave awkward looks back. In the next moment, he received whispers from both simultaneously.


    "Hey! Don''t look at me like that!" Crowelin seemingly felt like crying out. "I didn''t say anything about you, alright?! Frey just suddenly mentioned your name in corrtion to the top ranks while we were having the topic of general top ranks!"


    "...the situation is weird," Hikari whispered. "None of us are to me, but... I think you might''ve made the situation slightly worse with your arrival? You did save us back there but... What kind of lie was that?"


    "Cough... Technically speaking, I was saying the truth," Shinto replied. "The previous Shinto and I are different... So it''s not really a lie."


    In a way, for Shinto to say thisit was partially true. Shinto wasn''t him. The Shinto of the past was that of a swordsman whilst now he was that of a mage, specialized in support. Thus whatever he said right now wasn''t really a lie. But he could never deny that he was the ''Shinto'' of the past.


    "...not really a lie?" Hikari sighed. "Well... Even if it ''technically'' wasn''t, saying something like that on a topic such as this may seem rather... Suspicious, in a way? I didn''t say this earlier since I didn''t know much about the situation, but... You''re not going to be able to keep up with saying ''You''re not Shinto'' sooner enough."


    "...I know that. It''s just..." Shinto frowned. "I''ve no intentions on outright saying it, I guess. I''ll see what will happen in the future ad make adjustments. But that''s for me future me to handle. As of right now... I''ll deal with the problems right now."


    "A future with no failsafe to go over, huh?" she continued to discretely whisper. "You met us by coincidence, but... You don''t even have a defence for yourself besides saying something like that. Honestly... I''m quite surprised everyone''s swayed by your lie... Well... An especially terrible one at that."


    "...Hikari," Shinto was speechless. No matter what he was thinking at the moment, it was filled with conflicted thoughts. "...sigh. I''ve got nothing to say, really."


    "Shinto..." she solemnly bit her lips as she walked closer towards the group, in the next moment, she began speaking as if the whisper had never happened. "Ahem! Yeah, enough of that. Shinto, you said you went to get Rustly, right? What happened to that?"


    "..." Despite still in a conflicted mind, Shinto sighed as he spoke up. "Reru went and sent me back here whilst he went searching for him himself."


    "Ah, really?" Frey raised her brow. "Ugh... Why do I have a sinking feeling that they abandoned us, again?"


    "...who says we abandoned you?" A male''s voice protruded out from behind the back of Frey as she soon ended her sentence. "Way to have trust in us."


    "Huh? Eeek!!" Once again, shocked by the sudden appearance of someone who she had just spoken of them, Frey stumbled back in shock. "Reru?! Rustly!? Where the heck did you appear from?! Actually... Don''t answer that. You just arrived, didn''t you?"


    "Obviously? What, did you think we were spirits that appeared out of nowhere for the sake of appearing out of nowhere?" Reru seemed to be raising a brow. "What world do you live in? Slera''s don''t have such abilities."


    "Urk... Don''t ask, please," Frey pouted. "With all the speak of the devil moments I''ve experienced today... What''s next!? Raina will log in right now?" Without another word, a blue shing light shone down to the ground, quickly indicating that a yer was logging in. Soon after as the light faded away, Raina had arrived.


    "Phew... I''m back," Raina uttered out with a sigh of relief as she nced around the area, quickly noticing that all eyes were on her. "...uh, I-Is something the matter?" she tilted her head in question. "Did Ie backte? I know I overslept but... W-Why all the stares?"


    "Are you kidding me?!" Frey shouted out. "What''s next? A swarm of bats will appear once"


    "Shut it, Frey," Ethaniel scoffed. "I don''t want to fight. I just want to head back to that damn catbs."


    "Ahem... R-Right..." Frey muttered out. "We were supposed to go somewhere... Huh?"


    "Sigh, you guys," Shinto shook his head whilst turning towards Rustly. "Are we ready to head back now? You''ve scouted the area alright, right?"


    "...yeah," Rustly uttered with a slightly unmoved voice. "Madam Ru''s line of magic around the catbs has weakened slightly since she must''ve noticed that we''re lost. After all, it''s been days..." he shook his head as he leapt forward. "Just follow me and we''ll head back to the catbs in about an hour or so? Give or take."


    "You won''t get us lost, again... Right?" Ethaniel frowned.


    "No," he stated firmly. "Just follow me and don''t... Break my focus. Peace and quiet. That''s all I ask for. No fights, no nothing. Just... Keep your mouth shut."


    "R-Rustly...?" Shinto raised his brow at his sudden attitude. It was new for Shinto, as well as for the rest of the group.


    "What?" Rustly muttered. "I need my focus. Unless you want me to get us lost again."


    "Tch... Then let''s just hurry it up," Ethaniel gestured at the group as he and the rest soon followed after the small slime that was leading the way. "We''re going back."