After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Fortunately, after Alicia and Violet cleared the isolation zone last night, the pressure on the defense line was temporarily reduced.

So of course we have to take this opportunity to let the extremely tired soldiers take turns to rest.

This was also one of the orders Aize issued last night.

It’s just that how to implement it specifically is left to them to discuss.

Aize nodded and said:

"Let's not rush this for now, Captain Elena. According to the relevant records, there are a total of seventeen magic workshops of various sizes in the royal capital, right?"

Elena was stunned when she was suddenly asked this question.

Even if she was in charge of the security of the royal capital, she couldn't blurt out such a thing.

After thinking carefully for a while, he nodded:

"Yes, there are seventeen registered companies in total, including the Magicians' Association, the Church, the Chamber of Commerce, the military, and small civilian workshops!"

"Immediately organize a team to search these workshops and bring back all the research records and suspicious items!"

After that, he paused and added:

"Which workshops are the farthest and most dangerous? Tell me where they are and I'll go there myself. You guys take care of the rest."

Going deep into an infected area is a very dangerous thing.

Even though blood slaves cannot move around on the streets during the day, there is still a possibility of being attacked as soon as you get close to a building.

Not to mention that the search mission requires entering the workshop.

And the combination of Aize and Alicia... well, actually it's mainly Alicia. Blood slaves are given away for free no matter how many they come.

Of course, you have to take on some corresponding work.

This kind of behavior of leading the charge to the front line is obviously unacceptable to Elena, a guard.

Not to mention the previous example of his own princess going out of the city alone and almost losing her life in the wilderness.

She objected almost immediately:

"Lord Aize, this is too dangerous! Leave this kind of work to us, you should return to the palace!"

However, Aize shook his head.

"Manpower is tight and soldiers are tired. If a problem can be solved with two people, don't send three."

"But--"

"No buts, just follow the order."

After saying that, Aize smiled and shrugged again:

"Besides, don't underestimate me. Even if I'm at the bottom, I was a hero before. How could I be killed by a blood slave?"

Not to mention Alicia, the top bodyguard.

And when the word "command" was brought up, Elena, as a knight, could not say anything more.

He nodded hesitantly:

"I understand, but... please be careful. If anything happens, Heidi will be very upset."

“…Yes, I understand.”

Aize raised his eyebrows slightly, but ultimately didn't say much.

After taking the map marked by Elena, she and Alicia headed towards their destination.

Cross the safe zone, walk out of the gate that was temporarily built with various materials, and then stumble across the large area of ​​ruins created last night.

Soon, the two found themselves in a town that was an infected area.

Just like when I entered the city yesterday, due to the effects of the blood plague, the sunlight was unusually dim, giving people an extremely depressing feeling.

In addition, there was a mess everywhere, roars coming from time to time, and black shadows wriggling in the buildings on both sides of the street.

Even Aize couldn't help but get goosebumps all over his body.

He glanced at the pink-haired girl beside him.

From the moment she entered the infected area, Alicia was on high alert.

The saber was unsheathed and held in his hand.

Under the long skirt of the maid outfit, combat tentacles have already extended out and are constantly tumbling.

Always be ready to split any monster that approaches in half.

It just looks a bit bad.

After all, there are tentacles under the beautiful girl's skirt, and I always feel a little bit...

Forget it, just don’t mention it.

Ai Ze smiled and patted Alicia's shoulder gently:

"Relax, this is not a heavily infected area yet. It's not dangerous to walk on the street during the day."

"No! There's danger! I can feel enemies everywhere!"

The girl said so.

He widened his lifeless eyes, looked left and right, and kept scanning the buildings on both sides.

Like a radar.

The hand holding the saber tightened even more, and even the fair skin on the palm turned red.

The tentacles became more and more restless, churning and rolling, almost tearing the skirt apart.

Afraid that something might be harmful to Aize.

I don't know whether this is due to excessive tension or abnormal excitement.

"Speaking of which..."

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. Not only did she put down the knife, but even her tentacles calmed down.

"Aize, do you know there's a monster called the Devourer?"

"I know."

The Devourer is a monster that lives in the northern ice fields. It has an indescribable appearance and a huge mouth, a bit like a mixture of a lizard and a toad.

Because they live in extremely cold places with scarce food, the Devourer will use its tongue to swallow its prey alive into its stomach, bring it back to its lair, store it and eat it slowly, hence the name.

It's a pretty disgusting thing anyway.

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

Alicia was excited:

"It suddenly occurred to me that if I transformed into a Devourer, ate Aize first, and then spit him out when we got there, wouldn't Aize be 100% safe then?"

"……ha?"

Isn't that Marunouchi?

After the tentacles, he swallowed the pills. This kid is having a lot of fun.

But to be honest, although it would probably be very painful, staying in the belly of something that looks like a monster but is actually a beautiful girl, it seems... Never mind, it doesn't make me feel much better thinking about it.

No, why the hell should I subconsciously and seriously consider the feasibility of this proposal?

"Then I will transform now..."

"No transformation!"

Aize reacted and stopped the other person's behavior in a panic.

Only then can I avoid leaving a lifelong psychological shadow on myself.

Still frightened, Aize grabbed the other person's shoulders and shook him hard a few times.

"Didn't you say you wanted to learn human behavior? Then stop constantly imitating monster behavior! If you keep doing this, what's the difference?"

Alicia blinked when she was caught.

Although he was being scolded, his face showed no sign of unhappiness, and he even looked very happy:

"I see. Is Aize worried that I won't be able to learn about humans?"

"Uh, not..."

It's mainly for the sake of one's own sanity and dignity.

"But it doesn't matter. I've been thinking lately that if I can stay with Aize and Aize doesn't mind, it would be nice to be a monster instead of a human~"

The pink-haired girl said this seriously with a smile.

And Aize, as a matter of course, had an expression that said, "Who would understand what you're talking about?"

His facial features were distorted to the point of having a crooked mouth and uneven eyes.

In response to Aize's question, Alicia added:

"After all, these days, it seems that the monster part can help Aize more. If being a monster can better help Aize, I don't mind~"

"..."

These words really gave Aize a wake-up call.

In the past, Alicia was very concerned about her unknown true identity and confused identity.

He also has reservations about his ability to transform and is unwilling to show it in front of others.

But since she joined Aize's side, due to the situation, she has been transformed into various monsters, from fighting against the orc army to stopping the vampires from breaking out of the quarantine zone.

Considering her transformation, she has completely become something else on a biological level.

Will the complete physiological changes affect her thinking in reverse?

She should, otherwise she wouldn't be so obsessed with the anchor of her identity.

So what's going on now?

In the past, I wanted to behave more like a human.

Now, I feel like it’s okay to be a monster.

Is such a difference just because of the relationship with Aize?

do not know.

But no matter what, in order to eliminate the possibility of the former situation, it would be better to keep her in human form and maintain her current appearance.

"So it's settled then?"

Coming back to his senses from his thoughts, the girl in front of him nodded to herself, looking very happy.

"...Huh? What? What did you agree on?"

"As for the monster thing, since I'm willing to be Aize's monster, Aize doesn't have to worry about whether I'm human or not. Just let me become a Devourer to ensure my safety!!"

After saying that, before Aize could recover, Alicia's figure began to distort and blur.

"No, how did it become like this... Wait, change back quickly, quickly——"

But it was too late.

As the amorphous black shadow took shape again, a monster that looked like an elongated toad and was only three meters tall appeared before his eyes.

He opened his big mouth towards Aize.

……

……

……

Fortunately, I hid quickly.

After struggling for a while and spending some time, Alicia finally realized that the other party's resistance had nothing to do with whether it was a monster or not.

It returned to its original state.

And for the first time since he traveled through time, Aize was so grateful for the panel attributes bestowed by the Brave's Blessing.