Outside the hut, Zanoba was dead.
Leaning against the almost 3 meter tall metal mass, he was lying on his face.[1]
"No way...!"
I rushed towards him in a hurry, put my hand on his shoulder and shook it.
"Are you serious, hey, Zanoba...hey!"
Pulse――was beating.
Pupil――was moving.
Breath――was there.
Body temperature――was warm.
Looks like he was still alive...!
I was too hasty. He was not dead.
He was just sleeping.
"Haa...I was perplexed..."
Jesus, I almost cried.
Why was this guy sleeping in a place like this.
He should just sleep like royalty on a soft bed...He is already at an advanced age.[2]
While I was relieved, Orsted came out from inside the hut.
"You came, Rudeus."
"Ah, yes, I have arrived."
He moved his eyes and stared at Zanoba and me.
"Last night, Zanoba Shirone suddenly came and brought that along."
"That?"
"The armor that you used."
Ah, when taking a closer look, wasn't this wreck the magic armor.[3]
It couldn't be recognized with one glance, because it was divided into parts.
Come to think of it, when I gave back the report saying they should just leave it alone because it was broken, I also said that I would come back for it soon.
"So did you fight when you encountered each other?"
"Ah."
Surely Zanoba never imagined to run into Orsted in this place.
Maybe it would have been better to tell him about this yesterday...
Ah well, no external wounds can be seen, it seems Orsted went easy on him.
"In the end he could not take it because of the curse, so he said he will leave it to you and crawled over to there. You sure are highly cherished."
"Zanoba~!"
Without thinking, I rushed towards Zanoba and started using healing magic.
Because there wasn't an external injury, there was most likely no meaning in using it, but at the very least I wanted him to have a peaceful sleep.
Or rather, when he fell down here, did he land on his head.
Orsted has no mercy.
"Then, he will open his eyes again, right?"
"I put him to sleep with hypnosis magic that is passed down in the Nuka-tribe. He will wake up in a few hours."[4]
I see.
With hypnosis magic.
I wonder what kind of magic it is.
Could you freely manipulate your opponent with it.
For example, if I gave Sylphy the order [Roll up your skirt], would she do exactly as told.
No, even if hypnosis wasn't used, she would do so.
Then again, to make that order Sylphy has to first wear a skirt.
A miniskirt would be great.
A miniskirt like those fairies wear would surely suit Sylphy.
Though in this country they do not sell something like a miniskirt.
But well, if you could freely manipulate others, Orsted would use it more often.
It looks like the best it could do was to make others fall asleep.
"Let us go inside and continue yesterday's conversation."
Orsted immediately went inside after saying that.
After putting a jacket over Zanoba and creating a roof with magic, I went inside.
On the way back, I will bring him to Ginger's place.