This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 19 - Parched Land - Part 3

Obella, who immediately reached out to use his ability, was stopped by Anise and frowned.

He looked around slowly and lowered his hand that he had been extending.

Seeing Phel arrive next, clenching her fists, and Mummy Man rushing forward with eggs in his hands without looking around, Obella hurriedly grabbed them by the back of their necks.

“Why stop us! We’re late and need to help right away!”

“Phel, calm down first.”

“Calm down?! Obella, how can you stay so calm in this situation, especially when you like Moa? I didn’t expect you to be such a bad person!”

“Phel, please calm down. I’m saying this because we might end up being a hindrance.”

“What? What do you mean, Anise?”

Phel, who was resisting Obella’s stop, showed her confusion and frustration when Anise intervened.

Anise was more sensitive about Moa Ablon. She had been more worried before they arrived, so she had been sent ahead. Why was she now so calm, or rather, seemingly indifferent?

While Phel was puzzled by her seemingly detached attitude, Luke, who approached, resolved his confusion.

Luke had a resigned expression on his face as he looked ahead.

“…It seems like our help might not even be needed.”

“What? What are you talking about? We were all worried because the four of you who went ahead didn’t have combat-related abilities. Why are you so composed? We need to hurry and help, like we all agreed!”

“Calm down, Phel. Just take a look at the situation around you.”

Luke quietly pointed out the situation to Phel, who was shouting. Phel, still fuming, looked at what Luke was pointing to.

Following Luke’s hand, Phel’s gaze moved, and the same went for Mummy Man and the rest of the group.

Diswen’s eyes were filled with awe, Luke had a slightly horrified expression, Sidon’s face was blank with little emotion, and Khan had a look of astonishment, though each expressed it differently.

How much time had passed?

The team, who had been silently observing, eventually fell silent as they saw the situation around them conclude.

In an instant, many who had been moving were now immobilized or had lost the strength to move and were lying on the ground.

Among them stood a woman with silver bobbed hair.

Though she was not short, it was hard to believe that this frail-looking woman had taken on so many adult men. She emotionlessly wiped the blood stains on her cheek with the back of her hand.

Noticing the arrival of reinforcements, she flashed her usual relaxed smile, and Luke gave a hollow laugh.

“…I knew she was exceptional, but this is beyond ordinary.”

Sidon, hearing Luke’s comment, tilted his head with a blank expression. His curly, soft hair cascaded down as he did so.

With an innocent face, he asked.

“Was the person we were supposed to take down that woman? I’m not sure.”

There was no answer to Sidon’s question.

Most of the people present seemed to agree with Sidon’s assessment.

* * *

Liffree, looking down in disbelief, had his mouth open.

What on earth is that woman’s identity? Could it be that she’s using spatial manipulation to neutralize our people?

“Abilities on top of intelligence… Is she a monster…”

Liffree spoke with genuine concern. Beside him, a man with a vacant stare stood still.

His long, silver hair flowed down.

The man, unconsciously looking down, focused his gaze on a woman surrounded by people.

A woman with the same silver hair as him.

She wasn’t a strikingly glamorous beauty, but her quiet smile and dignified stance had a strangely captivating allure.

Where has he seen her before? He thought vaguely. Her face seemed both unfamiliar and oddly familiar.

Despite being aware that he was being controlled by Liffree, he did not resist. It didn’t even occur to him.

The memories of witnessing Ding’s death in his childhood had made recent memories somewhat hazy. Whether this was due to the side effects of his ability or the man standing beside him, he couldn’t tell.

“…Shall we eliminate any potential obstacles first? Those with spatial movement or amplification abilities.”

How annoying.

Terisier thought upon hearing Liffree’s mumbling.

He realized that, besides the woman with silver hair who kept catching his eye, there were also familiar faces among the group.

The blonde man with golden eyes seemed to be someone he had recently spent time with. The memory was faint, but it felt familiar. And the man with black hair and golden eyes standing next to him…

He clearly remembered him. He was the man who had been trapped alongside the man standing next to him in the past. He was the one who had been strangely irritating when mingling with Ding.

Although he had been somewhat friendly with him, it seemed he was here as well.

He appeared to be quite close with the silver-haired woman. The sight of him standing right next to her, smiling, made Terisier frown slightly. As before, he was someone who didn’t sit well with him.

“We can’t let our guard down. There are more of them than expected, and there are certainly some capable ones. We can’t afford to be complacent, especially since your ability is still unstable. It’s better to deal with them ahead of time.”

Terisier nodded in response to Liffree’s gaze.

Terisier’s ability was spatial manipulation.

While Liffree had control over nearby living beings, it was difficult to control movements in detail over a distance. However, other things could still be done.

The ground where they stood began to crack.

“What’s happening?!”

“Watch out!”

Before the surprised group could properly react, attacks began to rain down from above.

Huge rocks and razor-sharp stones poured down menacingly, prompting Phel to quickly activate her ability.

With Anise’s ability amplifying Phel’s, an opaque barrier was soon created, enveloping them all.

“Wow, really… No mercy at all. Luke! With your ability, can you take out that sneaky-looking guy from this distance?!”

“Phel! Luke is still a kid!”

Furious Phel, gritting her teeth, asked Luke, who had a useful long-range ability, while Anise looked sternly at Luke and shielded him. During this, Lazis glared at Luke with a serious expression, but no one paid much attention.

“Then Mummy Man! What about you?!”

“But… Terisier might get hurt…”

Mummy Man hesitated, worried that Terisier might be injured, so Phel pointed at Sidon.

“Sidon will figure it out! Besides, judging by the way he’s using his ability, it doesn’t look like our abilities alone will be enough to kill him easily!”

“…Actually, I don’t have the strength to throw eggs that far.”

Mummy Man said in a gloomy voice.

“Oh…”

Phel, realizing she hadn’t thought of that, apologized and patted Mummy Man’s shoulder.

“I inadvertently dampened your morale.”

“Looking at the situation, it seems that man is being controlled by Liffree and doesn’t even remember you properly. If that’s the case, it would be best to either make him unconscious or restrain him if possible.”

Zerdan’s gaze naturally shifted to Diswen, the one with mind-control abilities. Diswen was the most useful and safest option for neutralizing them effectively.

When Zerdan said this, everyone else’s gaze naturally shifted to Diswen.

She was flustered.

“No, even if you look at me like that…! Actually, before saying anything, I tried it on those two, but my ability didn’t work as if it was blocked by something. They might have some sort of defense ability. They probably know about my abilities as well.”

“Could it be that your ability doesn’t reach that far?”

Khan looked at her with suspicion, causing Diswen to frown. In truth, she had never used her ability on targets at such a distance, so she couldn’t confidently refute the suspicion.

Seeing Diswen’s expression, Obella warned Khan.

“I would appreciate it if you won’t cause trouble for our team.”

“I don’t see why I should listen to you.”

Khan responded with a wry smile, apparently annoyed by Obella’s words. It was understandable for him to be upset, given that someone younger than him was instructing him. However, with this many people, there needed to be some form of leadership.

Zerdan didn’t seem to care, but considering his personality, he likely wouldn’t follow someone else’s orders quietly. Khan would probably follow Zerdan’s lead but would resist Obella’s authority, and Obella would feel the same way about Khan.

The idea of working with former enemies was already somewhat uncomfortable, and if Zerdan were to lead, it would be even more challenging to follow him without suspicion.

It seemed that both Zerdan and Obella, who had been leaders, felt the same way.

As the two brothers stood facing each other in thought, Sidon raised his hand.

Although Sidon had been under Zerdan’s command, he also acted as a spy, and his indifferent nature meant he didn’t care much about who was in charge. However, seeing the difficulty others had, he voiced his opinion.

“I don’t mind whether it’s Zerdan or Obella, but I think it wouldn’t be a problem if that woman took charge.”

Sidon pointed to Moa Ablon, who had been observing her surroundings.

Ignoring the pointless argument and thinking about what to do, Sidon’s comment quickly shifted everyone’s gaze to her.

Zerdan was the first to smile and agree.

“I’m fine with it. Moa Ablon has excellent situational management skills.”

“…I don’t mind, as long as she’s not the leader of the hunter group.”

Khan, though somewhat hesitant, seemed to have a higher regard for Moa Ablon than before and agreed more readily than expected.

Naturally, Anise and Luke, who liked and followed Moa Ablon, were pleased. Lazis was okay with it if Anise was, and Phel, Diswen, and Mummy Man didn’t strongly oppose either.

Given the past situations and the help they had received from her so far, as well as seeing how effectively she utilized even minor abilities, the consensus was that having her as an ally would be reassuring.

“Is it alright?”

Surprisingly, Obella hesitated to agree easily. Or rather, it was more accurate to say he was worried.

The blonde man looked at Moa Ablon with concern, but he felt oddly pleased. She gently patted Obella’s head, and he remained still without pulling away.

Meanwhile, Phel muttered from the back, ‘Terisier’s pouring out attacks while the so-called leader’s just making a mess.’

Zerdan, observing from this side, found the situation curious but didn’t pay much attention, continuing to smile at Obella.

“Don’t worry. I’ve realized the value of my body and have no intention of getting hurt easily. And with such reliable teammates, what could I possibly worry about?”

No matter how good the opponent’s abilities were, it was Liffree who was controlling them. Since it wasn’t Terisier’s will, if they thoroughly disrupted Liffree’s plans or thoughts, that would be sufficient.

“Still, thank you for saying that. I had some ideas I wanted to try anyway.”

It was more of a battle of wits than of powers.

The most important part was figuring out how Liffree was controlling Terisier, but there were other areas worth exploring.

Moa Ablon smiled confidently.

Her instructions were brief and somewhat shocking.

Whether they would work or not was uncertain, but it was impressive to come up with such a plan in such a short time.

The priority was to determine the range of Terisier’s abilities and which abilities they could neutralize.