ã€ŠDemon Girl ~Tale of a Lax Demon~ã€‹


 Volume 1 - CH 1

    I can see a scenery within the light.

    It¡¯s like¡­the time when I was a child, submerged under the pool and looking up toward the sky¡­I see a scenery with that kind of vague, yet nostalgic feeling.

    The scenery flows along and changes.

    Like an old film, the blurry scenes continued to be replaced, one by one.

    A man holding ¡ºmy¡» small hands¡­.A woman, holding ¡ºme¡» in her arms¡­.Boys and girls that were even a little bigger than ¡ºI¡».

    From the window of a bus, seeing large buildings and small stores drifting away.

    And from inside of a train, witnessing the never ending railroad and endless townscape.

    The scenes continued to change, and then there was a ¡ºme¡» that had grown bigger and was attending school with other children wearing the same uniform.

    Chatting with friends, exchanging texts late into the night¡­.Sitting together with siblings on the sofa, watching a borrowed movie. Our parents returning home, and everyone enjoying a meal together.

    This scenery full of happiness, abruptly began turning ¡ºwhite¡».

    White walls, white floor, and lying on top of the white bed under the same white colored sheets, what was reflected in ¡ºmy¡» eyes, was the pure white ceiling¡­.

    The shaking hands that I lifted up, were as thin as the withered branches of a tree.

    The scene continuously shifted, but that white world remained¡­.and amidst the broken and hoarse sound of someone crying¡­.¡ºMy¡» world slowly became dyed in black.

    ***

    Was I¡­seeing a dream?

    Somehow, the dream felt nostalgic¡­and distant.

    I wonder¡­where is this place?¡¡I can¡¯t see a thing, it¡¯s as if a dim¡­mist is hanging over me. It feels just like staring into the sun and being dazzled¡­oh, I should just open my eyes.

    And when I tried lifting my eyelids, the scene of my surroundings jumped into my field of vision much clearly than before.

    What I saw, wasn¡¯t a grass-covered plain, nor the interior of a room, but instead, there was nothing but an emptiness that spread everywhere; cracked earth as far as the eyes could see and a plain dark sky.

    Simply put, there was nothing but rough gray earth, not even a weed in sight. An empty world.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    The atmosphere would have been completed if a cold wind was to blow along dead, withered leaves at this moment. I wonder if that describes what Im feeling right now.

    Leaving that aside¡­I wonder, how am I seeing all of this¡­?

    I don¡¯t remember opening my eyes. When I concentrate, I¡¯m able to see in all directions at the same time. Of course, that includes myself¡­.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­£¡£¿¡¹

    I unintentionally let out a scream¡­or so I thought, but my voice wouldn¡¯t come out.

    After all¡­I have no mouth¡­.Not to mention a mouth, I didn¡¯t even have a body.

    R, right¡­I¡¯m a little calmer now.

    By the way, when I said I had no body, that was just a bit incorrect. As proof of that, even now the form of my body is responding to my flunctuating emotions; scattering and undulating.

    It¡¯s something like a gassy, misty, light brown-ish aggregation¡­which is the current me.

    Haha¡­makes me laugh. Although it¡¯s nothing funny.

    Is this a dream I wonder¡­¡­?

    It could be, that the world of light I¡¯d been seeing until just moments ago was the real world, and this was just a bad dream.

    But reality is cruel, and the sensations I felt through this mist-like body of mine was telling me that this was ¡ºreal¡».

    And then surprisingly, when I acknowledged this form to be my ¡ºself¡», I strangely came to accept it without any discomfort and calmed down.

    Could this be¡­that?

    Thinking of it using the knowledge gained from that world of light, it could be summed up as the mind affecting the body while at the same time, the state of the body influencing the mind¡­something like that?

    After all, the ups and downs of emotions don¡¯t show such a big change in the ¡ºbody¡»of the average human.

    I don¡¯t have a heart so I don¡¯t feel my heart pumping, and I don¡¯t feel suffocated from the lack of breath. With this body, I doubt if I would feel even pain or hunger.

    I have nothing to look forward to¡­.I have no eyes so I can¡¯t even cry!

    F, for the time being¡­I should, at the very least, hold on to my sense of self. It¡¯s a bit late in thinking this but, I wonder who I am?

    My name¡­can¡¯t remember it. Yes, I am nameless. I could simply pick a name from my past memories, but I have a certain feeling that it just wouldn¡¯t do.

    Incidentally, I also can¡¯t remember the names of family or friends. Even worse, I¡¯ve even forgotten their faces.

    Okay¡­moving on.

    I do have memories up to wearing a uniform, so I was probably a student. Considering the amount of my past memories, probably a high schooler.

    Although it¡¯s all from a dream.

    The gender is¡­a girl right¡­?¡¡I was wearing a skirt uniform in my memories, and personally it feels much more acceptable.

    Good good, my sense of ¡ºself¡»is gradually coming together¡­oh?¡¡The color of my body somewhat deepened? In addition, I feel like the density of the mist has become thicker.

    For the time being I can¡¯t feel anything gone wrong, so I¡¯ll continue to recall the memories in the dream to further secure my sense of self.

    And so, doing this and that took quite a while¡­or so I felt.

    I mean, the sun hasn¡¯t ever risen, and as expected I didn¡¯t get hungry, so there was no way for me to measure the time.

    It¡¯s good that my sense of self has become firmer due to recalling various things, but a new problem appeared.

    I have nothing to do.

    To be honest, feeling anxious, irritated and going mad from loneliness¡­such things seem likely to happen, but with my current body there are no signs of such things happening.

    When I recall the last moments from the memories of the dream, I wonder if I¡¯ve died and fallen into hell¡­.

    Although speaking comparatively, it¡¯s a hell completely without the agony.

    Of course, there is also that rumour that this is all a dream. And of course, the source of that wishful rumour is me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¿¡¹

    I noticed something. More specifically, something triggered my senses, which was like a combination of sight, smell and sound.

    That ¡°something¡± leaped with a pyon kind of feeling.

    When I surrendered myself to the sudden itchy tempting sensation that arose, I reflexively launched myself forward to extend the mist surrounding my body and slapped down on that something with a pechin(smack) sound.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    O, ohh¡­I¡¯m quite suprised at how I reacted like a cat that¡¯s discovered an insect, if I may say so myself.

    Leaving that aside¡­what is this¡­.I did catch a glimpse of it just before hitting it, and it did certainly look like an ¡ºinsect¡», but I don¡¯t know what it is. And when I struck that ¡ºinsect¡», it disappeared like mist.

    Upon disappearing¡­there was the scent of something like sweet honey.

    For some reason, that scent gave me a faint satisfaction, even though the current me had no sense of taste nor hunger.

    It was a somewhat nostalgic scent and flavor¡­.It was like the time I was a child in that dream world, sipping honey from a small flower¡­it had that kind of nostalgic feeling.

    Shiver¡­shiver¡­shiver¡­(shivering in excitement)

    My gaseous body trembled as if excited by something, and as if driven by that sensation, I began wandering about my surroundings.

    But really¡­how am I moving around?

    From the previous feeling of striking down that insect, I¡¯ve understood that I do have a certain degree of physical strength, but without needing to crawl, my body instead moves by floating towards the direction I want to go.

    To a certain extent, I can bring out the same burst of speed as the first time I moved. However, although I could move by barely skimming across the surface of the ground, I couldn¡¯t manage to fly¡­what a pity.

    And while moving about¡­.ah, found it.

    The second mushi-kun(insect) discovered.

    I¡¯m just a bit lonely, so I wonder if I could keep it as a pet¡­?

    But¡­..

    Pechin.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    When I neared it, once again my body flew forward and smacked it¡­really like a cat. My lack of self-control is rather shameful if I may say so myself.

    There¡¯s something irresistible about that sugary honey scent.

    In the first place, it was in the wrong for provoking my cat-like instincts, hopping up and down like that in front of me.

    Then I suddenly realized something. The first insect had a flowery honey-like scent, but the second one had¡­to give a description, it smelled a bit fruity.

    Shiver¡­shiver¡­shiver¡­(excited shivering)

    Should I keep on searching for a little longer¡­.

    From then on, my past time & daily routine came to consist of searching for these mushi-kuns(insects).

    I, it¡¯s not like I want a snack or anything, alright?

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¡¡¹

    Pechin, pechin(smack, smack)

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­£¡£¡¡¹

    Pechin, pechin pechin, pechin(smack, double smack, smack)

    Mmmm, delish(¥Ç¥ê¥·¥ã¥¹). Of course, when compared with the sweets I know from the dream world, this is in every way a very modest taste, but it serves as a good compliment to the cat-like hunting work involved.

    I think it¡¯s that; when you gather your own food, it feels much tastier, probably.

    And I¡¯ve noticed something else too. The larger insects are better tasting.

    I¡¯ll have you let me say this but, I don¡¯t have a hobby of directly eating insects. As of the present, rather than smacking them, just touching them is enough to make them disappear, and since they leave no dead remains, it doesn¡¯t leave an unpleasant feeling afterwards.

    I¡¯ve noticed this while on the move, but there were some of these things that were about the size of a mouse. When compared with the other ¡°insects¡±, it was much more cautious, and unless it approached me first, it was unexpectedly quick in escaping.

    This time for sure I¡¯ll make it my pet~~¡­but even though I tried putting some spirit into it, it vanished the moment I touched it.

    Appearance-wise, it was mostly identical to those black furballs that appear in a certain movie from the dream world, chased around by a pair of sisters that lived by the countryside in a remotely located house.(totoro)

    I really wanted it¡­a pet.

    Still, the flavor was good.I¡¯d say that it tasted similar to cherry or wild strawberry.

    As I passed away the days in that manner, a change appeared in my body.

    Eating too much snacks made me fat¡­is not what happened. Instead, it appeared that my body which was light brown colored was turning into a deeper shade resembling chocolate, but at the last moment it turned curry-like.

    ¡­Why, I wonder, did I use food as the standard for comparison.

    I prefer to think that the color has become a hair dyed brown.

    It might as well have turned into a milk tea color to look cuter, but life just doesn¡¯t go the way you want it to.

    When the color changed, at the same time, the density of my gaseous body further increased, becoming all syrupy.

    Oh, will I evolve into a slime?¡¡¡­Or so I thought, but I was wrong. My body didn¡¯t become sticky, but became like iron sand.

    But¡­have I evolved with this?¡¡It¡¯s harder to move now that my body is heavier.

    Ahh~~¡­I let a nezumi-chan(mouse) run away again.

    Is it possible that I really did get fatter¡­?¡¡Nee nee(hey hey), did I really get fatter¡­¡­?

    But while in the midst of being torn between the desire to diet and the seduction of snacks, for the first time, in a way, I came across another existence other than me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¡£¿¡¹

    Even I understood why my body twitched in shock.

    I didn¡¯t become aware of it until it had approached closeby. The moment I did, I felt that my iron sand body would break and collapse from the overwhelming, enormous sense of intimidation that washed over me.

    It was a huge black panther.

    If I was the size of the average cat, then that black panther was even larger than a horse.

    And¡­it was beautiful.

    It didn¡¯t give off the impression of being short and stout, which was common among wild cats, but instead appeared to be supple and slim.

    Fur that gave off a deep¡­dark, and beautiful lustre of a brilliant jet black.

    You would think that brilliant and black wouldn¡¯t go together, but I couldn¡¯t describe it any other way.

    A whip-like pair of tails, split into two parts, that were even longer than it¡¯s body.

    Silver claws and fangs. It was my first time in this world, seeing such a pair of silver eyes that also carried ¡ºpurpose¡».

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    It was scary. For the first time in this world, I felt fear¡­a danger to my life.

    But¡­even more than that, I was mesmerized. I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off of this black panther.

    Shiver¡­shiver¡­.(excited)

    I, I want to pet it.

    It would definitely feel all silky and good. There might even be a fluffy part somewhere.

    ¡º¡­¡­£¿¡»

    After a while, the indications of wanting to eat me faded away, and the black panther appeared to be curious as it tilted its head to the side.

    ¡º¡­¡­Why aren¡¯t you afraid?¡»

    ¡¸£¡£¿¡¹

    That was a ¡ºvoice¡». What I heard was the faint growl of a beast. But its growl resounded inside of me and turned into words.

    ¡¸¡­£¡¡­£¡£¿¡­£¡¡¹¡¡¡­£¡£¿¡¡¡­£¡¡¹

    I was surprised by the first intelligent voice I got to hear in this world. An unexpectedly good voice¡­.

    The black panther¡¯s tone was deep and masculine, a lovely voice that seemed to belong to an oji-sama(uncle/old man)¡­scratch that, a lovely voice belonging to a man in the first half of his thirties, on the brink of becoming an oji-sama.

    It¡¯s very much my type of voice. Before I noticed, I was shaking in excitement and made a sound¡­but it didn¡¯t become words.

    The black panther was surprisingly making a similar flustered expression to my panicking self.

    ¡ºCan you¡­understand words?¡»

    In response to its question, I tried to nod my head¡­but no matter what I tried I couldn¡¯t nod, so I hopped up and down where I stood. Thereupon,

    ¡º¡­¡­Oh?(¤Û¤©) so you¡¯re able to comprehend my words.¡»

    It approached me as it spoke, and when I instinctively tried moving back, it swiftly used its forefoot to pin me down.

    ¡º¡­¡­As I thought, you don¡¯t disappear. You must have a significant amount of will and intelligence.¡»

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­Eh? By any chance, is it that if you don¡¯t have any will or intelligence, you¡¯ll be eaten just by being touched?

    Aside from that, although I do have a will, but as for intelligence¡­.When I was in school, I scored magnificently average in my subjects.

    I was trembling like pudding while having such thoughts when the black panther said,

    ¡ºDon¡¯t be so afraid¡­no, are you angry?¡¡You¡¯re an interesting one.¡»

    And then it showed signs of laughing.

    No no, although I¡¯m not angry but how should I say, I just can¡¯t understand¡­.

    My confused thoughts might have gotten across, because the black panther then released me from its forefoot and brought its face close enough to peer at me.

    ¡ºRelax.I won¡¯t have any more thoughts of eating you¡­but leaving that aside.Why are you staying in that kind of body?¡»¡»

    ¡¸¡­£¿¡¹

    Why, you ask¡­.It¡¯s not like I look like this because I want to~.

    For a while, I attempted to communicate through iron sand fluid body language, when the black panther began showing signs of being astounded.

    To put it simply, it seems that individuals with a body like mine usually transform the body for easier movement.

    It seems that, normally, it¡¯s something known by ¡ºinstinct¡», and unless you alter your body like that, if you happen to run into strong individuals, you¡¯d be eaten without being able to fight nor run.

    Oh boy¡­.I¡¯m glad that the first strong individual with intelligence I met was this black panther¡­.

    And for that reason, I¡¯m being taught on how to transform my body from the black panther.

    ¡º¡­¡­Are you messing with me?¡»¡»

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¡£¿¡­£¡¡¹

    I got all teary eyed from the black panther¡¯s sudden threat. Although I got no tears.

    What kind of figure I would transform into. Of course I decided to take the form of a ¡ºhuman¡». I¡¯m used to it after all.

    Moreover after transforming, apparently, your body does show growth to a certain extent, but further changing your form becomes difficult, which was all the more so a reason I wanted to take a human shape¡­

    ¡ºTrying to take on such a from right from the beginning, is something a fool would do.¡»

    A human form right from the start is weak. It¡¯s only a given that if a human and beast were to be pitted against each other, in most cases the beast would win.

    That¡¯s why at the start, it¡¯s better to choose a beast form. Or perhaps, something with a gorilla-like image. Although the black panther doesn¡¯t have them, horns and jagged scales are apparently the norm.

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¿¡¹

    It¡¯s certainly much prettier and cooler to be like the black panther without scales and the like, however¡­.

    Perhaps catching on to my thoughts, the black panther broadly grinned.

    ¡ºOnly the weak put up those appearances. For me, these claws and fangs are enough.¡»

    Ohhh~~~~, how cool!

    Anyhow, although normally impossible, the only individuals capable of changing once more from the initial transformed state into a ¡ºhuman¡», are the ones with exceedingly great strength, and moreover, doing so is the equivalent of naming oneself to be the boss of that area¡­apparently.

    But¡­if that¡¯s the case, I wonder why the black panther doesn¡¯t turn into one itself?¡¡Although he appears to be considerably strong, I suppose it¡¯s that there¡¯s always someone above you¡­probably.

    Now that that¡¯s all out of the way, what should I do. I feel like it should be possible to go for a half-beast kind of look, but the closer the shape is to a human, the more my fighting strength would decline, and in the first place seeing as how I¡¯m already only the size of the average cat, I may turn out becoming the size of an infant.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I guess it should be a type of beast after all¡­.

    Taking my size into account, as expected, a ¡ºcat¡»?¡¡It¡¯s because somehow, being a matching pair with the black panther might be good.

    ¡ºHave you decided?¡¡Then get on with it. What¡¯s important is what you want. Project the image of how you want to fight.¡»

    ¡¸¡­¡­£¡¡¹

    Right after that I jumped up in acknowledgement, and began to focus on my image.

    What I¡¯m imagining is a pretty, slender and well proportioned cat. Fluffy long fur is good too, but personally I prefer fur that¡¯s shorter in length. That way, there¡¯s less worry of shedding too.

    Oops(¤ª¤Ã¤È), image image¡­.I want both beauty and cuteness. I like dogs as well, but if I had to say, I¡¯m a cat person.

    Although I like playing with wan-chans(doggies), their aura of playing all day every day gets tiring.

    Oops(¤ª¤Ã¤È), I¡¯ve gone and digressed again. Image image¡­.

    Nimbly dashing past and swiftly attacking with fang and claws is cool right.

    High agility¡­running as if soaring¡­mm?¡¡To fly¡­a bird is good too huh. A falcon might be lovely as well. But if I remember correctly, the fastest ones are called Peregrine falcons was it?¡¡But they¡¯re not that nimble nee(¤Í¤§). I feel like I¡¯m on to something. Agile and capable of evading enemy attacks¡­.

    No no no no, it¡¯s gotta be a cat, a cat!¡¡How did it turn into a bird!? Cat cat cat cat, I am a cat cat, a cute kitten¡­.

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­¡­¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡»(panther)

    I had turned into a cat.

    I had become a pretty and lovable cat with short fur, exactly as I imagined. I feel like praising myself.

    ¡º¡­¡­How should I explain¡­¡­¡»

    My voice, after finally becoming capable of speech, sounded indistinct.

    Although my current form was without a doubt, a cat, but I had turned into a ¡ºkitten¡» that looked like a snugly furball.

    The tiny pair of bat wings, sprouting from my back, were awfully pretty~(¤×¤ê¤Á©`).

    Perhaps as a result of transforming, my once curry colored body had turned into a pretty golden color, my rotund eyes were a bright ruby red, while my small claws and fangs, that had yet to grow, were like translucent bright red jewels.

    Using the sense of vision I¡¯ve had up till now(sight/hearing/smell combined), I was able to get a good look at myself.

    Frankly speaking, I¡¯m criminally cute. If it was the ¡ºme¡» from the dream world, I would probably have picked me up with no hesitation to hug me all day long.

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­Umm¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­So how do you intend to fight like this¡­¡­£¿¡»

    This is bad. The black panther sounds angry¡­.

    How did it turn out this way?¡¡No no, I know the cause of this. It¡¯s all because I¡¯m an idiot.

    Even an idiot like me can understand.This body isn¡¯t fit for fighting.

    ¡º¡­¡­Eh, ehe¡»(img)

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­¡­¡»

    The black panther¡¯s gaze was cold as I involuntarily put on a forced smile.

    It can¡¯t be helped that it¡¯s run out of patience with me, but if possible I would like to remain friends with this rare conversational partner¡­not to mention, it had a voice that was particularly my type.

    Other than that, I also want to pet it. It¡¯s a different matter with my own fur.

    I tried, with tottering steps, to approach the black panther on my short legs¡­only to flop over on the way.

    Suddenly remembering I had them, I flapped my bat wings, causing me to lightly rise into the air¡­then I fell to the ground flat on my face.

    ¡º¡º¡­¡­¡­¡»¡»

    The two people¡­no, two cats that fell into silence¡­Oh?(¤¢¤ì?)¡¡Were you supposed to count large animals by the head count?

    And while I sunk myself into such thoughts to escape from reality, the black panther let out a small sigh¡­how skillful, even though it doesn¡¯t breathe¡­anyhow, after sighing it came closer to chomp down on me with its fangs.

    ¡ºHiiyaa£¡£¿¡»(fearful scream)

    I, I¡¯ll be eaten!

    ¡º¡­Settle down.¡»

    When I became silent after being told so, the black panther held me in its mouth like a parent cat and began to walk.

    ¡º¡­¡­Erm¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­I told you before that I have no intention of eating you. To begin with, I wanted to have a conversation for the first time in a while. It¡¯s bothersome, but I¡¯ll keep you until I get tired of talking.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­Okay.¡»

    And so, although I had wanted a pet out of loneliness, it was in this way that I became the pet of the black panther.

 Volume 1 - CH 2

    The black panther and I began our cohabitation.

    Although I say that, my mentality is that of a girl. And since the black panther speaks in that wonderful masculine voice, doesn¡¯t this mean we¡¯re like a couple living together?¡¡Or so I thought, but I¡¯m his pet.

    Thinking that makes my heart beat a little faster.

    ¡º¡­¡­What are you thinking about£¿¡»

    ¡ºNo¡¢nothing really.¡»

    This dekaneko(big cat) has a surprisingly good intuition.

    ¡ºAh, right right, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask you about~.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­What is it£¿¡»

    Albeit in a suspicious tone, the black panther unexpectedly replied without reluctance.

    Although the area we were in was the black panther¡¯s territory, it wasn¡¯t his dwelling place. Since we didn¡¯t require neither sleep or meals, we had no need for a location that guaranteed safety.

    Nevertheless, although I did wish for a safe place, seeing as how my body is that of a kitten, the stronger demons that would normally attack me wouldn¡¯t draw near, fearing the black panther.

    ¡ºThis place we¡¯re at¡­where is it?¡»

    In response to my very much vague question, the black panther slightly narrowed his eyes¡­and replied after several seconds.

    ¡ºBy this place¡­you mean, rather than by my territory, where we are within this world?¡»

    ¡ºRight right, that¡¯s it¡»

    He¡¯s so smart~¡­..I¡¯m alone in my idiocy huh.

    ¡ºEven with such intelligence that allows you to converse, you don¡¯t understand¡­? ¡¡Didn¡¯t you learn words after being summoned?¡»

    ¡ºSu, summoned?¡¡No, I was born just recently¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºWhat¡­¡­¡»

    While I was nervous from the black panther¡¯s surprised growl, I decided to explain. Of course, it was to explain about the dream world, but ever since he mentioned the word ¡ºsummoned¡», I felt that it was better not to speak of the part where I was a human.

    ¡ºMemories of a dream¡­¡­what a strange thing.¡»

    ¡ºI know right~.¡»

    A huge black panther and golden kitten, seriously nodding at one another¡­surreal.

    Surprisingly, the black panther easily accepted my explanation. There is the fact that he is highly intelligent, but more than that it must be that the strong didn¡¯t fuss over such small things.

    ¡ºAnd so, it¡¯s about this world but¡­¡­¡»

    ¡ºThat¡¯s right¡­¡­this world has various names. The truth of the matter is that you can¡¯t truly understand unless you¡¯re one of those that have existed since the beginning of this world.¡»

    T, that kind of technical detail isn¡¯t what I wanted to hear¡­.

    ¡ºBut the humans use a mere few words to portray this kind of world. They call it the ¡¾spiritual realm¡¿.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Spiritual realm¡­£¿¡»

    The black panther explained in simplified terms to the silly me that couldn¡¯t understand.

    The ¡¾material realm¡¿ was where the beings with life existed, such as humans, animals and the like.

    And in this world, the ¡¾spiritual realm¡¿, was where those that were the exceptions¡­the beings that possessed no flesh and bones, existed.

    ¡ºTake a look above.¡»

    ¡ºAbove you say¡­¡»

    When I did as the black panther said and looked up at the sky, what I saw wasn¡¯t the sun and the blue sky that I knew from my memories, but the usual hazy, dark emptiness.

    ¡ºTry to perceive that somewhere far up there, ¡ºsomething¡» exists.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­Ah¡»

    Upon being told that something exists up in the sky, I tried searching for it¡­and in a place that was considerably high up, I saw shiny clouds that spread out far.

    ¡ºHave you become aware of it?¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­That is£¿¡»

    ¡ºThe spiritual realm doesn¡¯t consist of a single plane, but is divided into several. That is one of them¡­the border into the fairy realm.¡»

    I was surprised upon hearing that, but didn¡¯t feel particularly confused.

    Ever since learning about summonings, I had already grasped a feeling for this world¡­. This is that, isn¡¯t it. The domain of myths and fantasies. I vaguely remember reading such books, among the ones that my siblings brought to me in my hospital room.

    The black panther hadn¡¯t personally gone there before, but apparently even further above, there was also the ghost realm.

    ¡ºThen, is there a celestial realm£¿¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡»

    I wonder, is it that it doesn¡¯t exist, or that he just hasn¡¯t heard of it?¡¡But rather than that¡­¡­

    ¡º¡­¡­Nee(hey)¡­¡»

    ¡ºWhat is it£¿¡»

    ¡ºThis place¡­..no, how does the humans call us¡­?¡»

    I questioned the black panther, ignoring the bad premonition I foresaw.

    ¡ºLet¡¯s see¡­¡­if you mean how our existences are called as a whole then¡­the humans call us ¡¾demons¡¿.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­¡»

    A, as I thought¡­.I was hoping that at the very least, we would be some type of dark spirits, but the truth was a dimension apart huh~.¡­¡­

    £ª

    For a demon, the black panther unexpectedly had quite the calm personality. ¡­¡­Or so I thought, but he was really a demon after all.

    On one occasion, we were roaming far and wide in search of snacks.

    ¡ºDon¡¯t fall off.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Okay.¡»

    Today, I wasn¡¯t being held in the black panther¡¯s mouth, but was riding on top of his head like a blond wig.

    But even if I were to fall off, I mustn¡¯t cling on with my claws. If I did such a thing, I would get munched on.

    ¡ºThere it is.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Eh.¡»

    In the next moment, the black panther was racing across the ground at an unthinkably fast speed towards a tiny gray colored monkey and in a flash, snapped it up into his jaws.

    In the place of flesh and blood, the bittersweet scent of apple wafted in the air.

    ¡ºIs it tasty£¿¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­It, it¡¯s delicious.¡»

    Certainly it was delicious but¡­I thought I recognized something of a will from the mini monkey. I mean, the fear-filled eyes of the monkey had met my gaze, right before the moment it was bitten to death.

    Even after that, the black panther continued to slaughter. Truly, it was delicious.

    But you know~¡­¡­this place we¡¯re in¡­is something like the demon realm, and seeing as we¡¯re one of the demons that exist here, doesn¡¯t this count as cannibalism?

    ¡ºNee(hey)¡¢black panther-san.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Black panther¡­£¿¡¡What¡¯s with that.¡»

    He glared at me.

    ¡ºUs demons have no names. Demons naming each other may end up causing us to deny our own existence.¡»

    The inhabitants of the spiritual realm had no names.

    It¡¯s because, according to the black panther, if you were to be given a name that caused you to go into self-denial, your existence would weaken.

    However, if granted a name from the material realm, it would further strengthen your existence, apparently.

    ¡º¡­S, so you have no name?¡»

    ¡ºI do have a species name. Like how you would call humans or wolves. The other beings call me a ¡¾dark beast¡¿.¡»

    Dark beast¡­. From what he said, I felt like it was more of a name that defined a type name rather than a species. Then I thought, isn¡¯t it inconvenient since there¡¯s no way of differentiating between other dark beasts? But he said that there was no problem since he was the only existing dark beast.

    Incidentally, the mini monkey he had killed was just an ordinary ¡ºdemon¡»(without a name)¡­broadly speaking anyway.

    ¡ºWell then dark beast-san, what about me?¡»

    ¡ºThe ¡°-san¡± is unnecessary in my name. Also, it¡¯s troublesome so you might as well speak casually.¡»

    ¡ºI, I got it. ¡­¡­and so, what about me£¿¡»(she switches from polite speech to casual)

    ¡ºA species name huh? ¡­¡­Well, it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen something like you¡­¡»

    It appears that beings like the dark beast and I are rare. Even at the time I transformed, he was expecting me to turn out as one of the monkey ¡ºdemon subspecies¡». How cruel.

    According to him, the other intelligent beings calling him dark beast was something that had naturally happened during the long passage of time.

    ¡ºIf it¡¯s you, then seeing as how you¡¯re similar to my species, let¡¯s go with ¡¾golden beast¡¿¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Th, thank you.¡»

    Golden beast huh~¡­¡­That¡¯s pretty half-assed, oi. But I couldn¡¯t say it out loud. I couldn¡¯t say it after seeing how triumphant he looked.

    £ª

    I¡¯ve become used to the lifestyle of a demon.

    When facing up against a kitten like me, as expected, even the mini monkeys that were usually so full of fright displayed hostility, although they were surprisingly easy to defeat. I¡¯ve even gotten used to the terrified expressions they show before their moment of death. I¡¯m sure that demons don¡¯t have the heart to mind such things.

    The reason they¡¯re aggressive towards me must be because my kitten form has no dignity. Yup, it can¡¯t be helped.

    I got to talk about various things with the dark beast as well.

    It¡¯s been on my mind since the first mini monkey we saw, but regardless of whether the beings we run into have more or less, a portion of will and intelligence, the dark beast would always mercilessly kill them all.

    Somehow I ended up asking him about it, and he replied that he disliked them because the large majority of those beings were either ¡ºstupid¡», ¡ºfrightened¡» or ¡ºhaughty fools¡» that didn¡¯t make for good conversations.

    That was why it had been such a long time for him to find someone like me who could converse normally, and counting up till the present, it seems he had known of only five beings that he had enjoyable talks with.

    ¡ºIs it fun talking with me¡­?¡»

    ¡ºIt is. Your talk of the dream world is interesting.¡»

    I also find talking with him to be fun. He has a lovely voice after all.

    Once in a while there are times when we don¡¯t talk as well.

    It must be because, as fellow beasts of the cat family, our preference for playing and frolicking about closely resembles each other.

    ¡ºFunya¡»(cat sound)

    He was mofumofuing around the top of my belly with the tip of his nose.

    It tickles.

    I thought that if he went as far as licking then I would claw him good, but I wouldn¡¯t lash out if it was just to the degree of nudging with his nose, rolling me over like a ball of fur and sniffing me.

    After all, he let¡¯s me mofumofu as well.

    His fur is naturally silky, but the area around his chest was especially plushy. I have the privilege of plunging myself in there to the point of being buried and enjoying a full body mofumofu.

    It smells good in there as well.

    There¡¯s a slight¡­very slight sweet scent, like the sense of intoxication you get from sipping alcohol.

    I wonder, did my stomach give off a similar feel?

    And it was in that manner that we passed away a considerable amount of time.

    It might have been just a few days, or perhaps even several years. There was nothing to measure the time with, and to begin with, the very concept of time in the spiritual realm was vague.

    But to a certain extent, I felt the passage of time through my body.

    My body had grown from the size of a kitten to the size of a slender adult cat, and although I was still the size of a regular cat, I could run at the same speed as the huge dark beast.

    Although I could only just barely bring out the same speed by using my bat wings.

    My strength had increased by quite a fair amount as well. ¡­¡­A passerby monkey-san that was bigger than I was took a look at me, only to become stiff in the face and slowly backed away with inching steps.

    Ahh¡­¡­please don¡¯t make that face. It makes me feel all excited and wanting to chase you down.

    But when I gambol around with the dark beast, I¡¯m always the one to get blown away and end up surrendering my belly for him to mofumofu.

    Muu(¤à¤¥)¡­¡­next time for sure I won¡¯t lose.

    ¡ºNee(hey), what¡¯s that?¡»

    I was being mofumofu¡¯ed by him since I lost in our previous contest, until I lost patience and bit his nose, and he was now letting me mofumofu him as an apology for being obnoxious.

    It was when I was mofumofuing on his chest when I noticed something.

    ¡ºWhat is it, you say¡­it¡¯s a summon circle. Didn¡¯t I teach you?¡»

    He replied while also looking at the summon circle.

    He was in a good mood until just moments ago, but he abruptly fell into ill humour. Is it that bothersome to repeat something you¡¯ve explained before, I wonder.

    ¡ºNot that~. Why is that tiny demon that was nearby suddenly being pulled away?¡»

    Summoning magic circles. I¡¯ve heard about them from the dark beast.

    In short, it¡¯s a gate that¡¯s made through the use of summoning magic from the material realm, and if a demon from this side of the realm steps onto it, it would be summoned to the other side¡­or so it goes.

    By the way, I¡¯ve never entered one before so I don¡¯t know. The first time I heard of it, I was happy in thinking that I could go to that world of light, but I couldn¡¯t enter.

    Just pushing through the tip of my feet was the farthest I could go in, and when I tried scratching around, I heard something like a shriek after which the summoning magic circle immediately disappeared.

    Apparently in the past¡­when the dark beast was much smaller than he was now, he had been over to the other side several times, but it was impossible for him now.

    Magic¡­¡­it¡¯s something I would have liked to see huh~.

    ¡ºWhy you ask¡­it¡¯s because those of weak will are forcefully summoned away like that. When that happens, you don¡¯t even get a contract and get forced to work for nothing.¡»

    Upon responding to a summoning from the material realm, the demon forms a contract with the summoner. Through the contract, the demon would receive souls, sacrificial offerings and whatnot, but from what I heard it seems like summoners are usually quite miserly.

    Even though a good sacrifice would allow a demon to manifest without restrictions and better display its power.

    By the way, we can¡¯t speak on the other side¡­and in the case that a weak willed demon that doesn¡¯t know words is summoned over, it would only end up with an incomplete contract and wouldn¡¯t even fulfill the work properly.

    ¡ºSo you get dragged away if you have a weak will¡­? I should be careful too.¡»

    I don¡¯t mean to boast, but I have a weak will. I mean, I couldn¡¯t even win against the temptation of snacks.

    ¡ºIf it¡¯s you¡­well, you should be fine.¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­Why?¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s because you¡¯re a little¡­lax.¡»

    ¡ºMuu(pout)¡­¡»

    Certainly, I know that I¡¯m a bit mentally slow, but you don¡¯t have to put it that way do you?

    Slightly miffed, I smacked his face with my paws which caused him to laugh amusedly.

    So my cat punch doesn¡¯t hurt huh¡­muu.

    When I put on a dissatisfied face, he suddenly stopped laughing and pushed me aside as he stood up and bared his fangs.

    ¡ºWha!? O, ouch ouch.¡»

    It was the first time being bitten this hard by him. The sensation of his fangs sinking into my back made me shudder from fear, like the first time I had met him.

    The body of a demon felt almost no pain. Yet this pain told me of the stormy state of mind he was in.

    ¡ºThere¡¯s no need for you to go over to that side. ¡­¡­Stay in this place.¡»

    He spoke in a rough and¡­scary voice, like the first time we had met.

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­Okay(¤¦¤ó).¡»

    All I could do was to give a small nod in fright.

    £ª

    He really is a demon after all.

    No matter how much I¡¯m favored as a pet, I¡¯d simply be eaten after affection runs dry.

    Before I knew it I had been thinking of us as equals, but I was sad after realizing that I was no more than a pet to him.

    I want to mofumofu but I¡¯ll restrain myself~. ¡­¡­Sniffle.

    Ever since the previous incident he had become increasingly persistent in mofumofuing me. If I let it be, then he would continue for god knows how long, so I lightly smacked him with my paws, to which he responds by lightly biting and even licking, which I disliked.

    Muu, doing whatever he likes.

    One day, he had went off somewhere.

    Seeing as how we¡¯ve been together ever since we met, it sure is a rare occurrence. I was pushing and rolling over a small demon into the summoning circle in front of me, when the dark beast returned out of nowhere.

    ¡º¡­Ah, where did you¡­¡­what¡¯s this?¡»

    ¡ºIt¡¯s your¡­¡­pet.¡»

    My¡­¡­pet?¡¡Why bring such a thing?¡¡Is it so I can use it to vent out my mofumofu urges?

    Several small demons that still had indeterminate forms were placed before me.

    Four in total. Each and every one of them only had a slightly changed coloring, as well as some amount of will and intelligence. They were all afraid of both me and the dark beast.

    They¡¯re kind of¡­cute. And also seems tasty¡­sniff sniff.

    Reacting to my faint thoughts, the demons began to tremble insanely. I spoke in a gentle voice.

    ¡ºIt, It¡¯s okay~. I won¡¯t eat you or anything~. Nothing to be scared of~.¡»

    I¡¯m not convincing at all, if I may say so myself.

    Alright, in that case I should go with that tactic. I place all of the demons onto my back using my mouth, and spreading my bat wings widely, I leaped into the dark sky.

    At this point, the matter about the summoning circles and my yearning for the world on the other side didn¡¯t matter one bit in my mind.

    The dark beast was making a face with mixed feelings as he watched me dance in the sky, full of enthusiasm for the first time in a while.

    ¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤Ú¤Á¤ó¤Ã¡£(repeated smack sounds)

    The demons on my back were hopping up and down with joy as they indulged in the fruity scent that was the result of my rampage of smashing up monkey demons.

    Cute.

    They appeared to be no longer frightened of me, which was a relief. I slightly lowered my pace, and while gliding above the surface of the ground, I one-sidedly talked to the demons.

    I spoke in a way similar to the people I had seen in my dream. The day-care worker, the teacher at school, and my own elder sister.

    I wonder if it¡¯s safe to speak like this to the demons?¡¡A sudden thought came to me. What I would do if this made them deny their existence, causing them to disappear?

    ¡­¡­Oh well. I¡¯m a demon too after all.

    I gave up thinking too deeply into it. I mean, given the opportunity, wouldn¡¯t it be fun if they became intelligent enough to converse with? ¡­Right?

    After a while, maybe as a result of my education, the little demons have become smarter¡­¡­or so I feel.

    They¡¯ve become a little bigger, and even took the initiative to find their own snacks. They might be at that age ready to transform.

    ¡ºHow about giving them a species name¡­?¡»

    ¡ºA species name¡­? Why?¡»

    When not looking after the demons, most of the my time was spent being mofumofu¡¯ed by the dark beast.

    Thanks to that I was always busy.

    ¡ºIf you create a clear enough image, they may gain be able to gain a similar form, rather than that of a monkey.¡»

    ¡ºOh(¤Ø¤§)¡­in that case, why didn¡¯t you do the sa-¡­ow ow ow.¡»

    When I let out a light complaint, he abruptly bit down on me. I told him it hurt, after which he started licking me. ¡­¡­Looks like I haven¡¯t taught him enough manners yet. Argh¡­do as you like.

    ¡º¡­¡­Hmph.¡»

    ¡ºMuu¡­which species would be good?¡»

    ¡ºDon¡¯t you possess those strange memories? Why not start thinking from there?¡»

    ¡º¡­Muu(pout).¡»

    I sulkily turn my face away after hearing his slightly dismissive tone. It¡¯s like we¡¯re both children.

    But let¡¯s try thinking about it seriously. It wasn¡¯t a bad suggestion.

    What would be good¡­. Since it¡¯s come to this, how about picking something religious?¡¡No no, they¡¯re all things to do with gods and my imagination doesn¡¯t go that far.

    Then how about the monsters that appear in myths?

    Not an ordinary monster, but something along the lines of a demonic or ghostly type. Perhaps even a divine beast would do.

    I was muttering by myself in the middle of thinking when the four demons began jumping up and down. Perhaps they thought I was anxious.

    Their dispositions slightly differed from one another. It was just a hunch, but I felt like they each had their own genders.

    ¡º¡­¡­Let¡¯s see~. This one and this one, their colors somewhat resemble each other so I could make them be siblings¡­.¡»

    And so while murmuring such things, I continued to customize the four demons in my mind, down to the last details.

    ¡­¡­But I wonder if this is okay?¡¡By all rights, these little ones should have had their own ideals, an image of what they want to become. ¡­¡­But they were simply happy and accepting of the species name and setting I had in mind for them.

    Feeling somewhat uneasy, I asked the dark beast about their reactions, to which he responded that it wasn¡¯t anything strange.

    Demons that were at the pre-transformation stage, unless summoned into the material realm, would find it difficult to attain an image, which was why in most cases they would end up with monkey-like forms, incapable of even creating a distinction between genders.

    ¡º¡­¡­Why is it always monkeys?¡»

    ¡ºThe image of demons that the greater part of humans hold in their minds, somehow managed to influence the spiritual realm.¡»

    Like I said, why is it always monkeys¡­.

    Fire spirits and earth spirits becoming lizards and wolves, water spirits and wind spirits, turning into maidens, wasn¡¯t all of this a result of the so called human idea of romance?

    ¡­¡­So in other words, demons=ugly=monkey¡­this must be their train of thought. Dangerous, dangerous.

    Seeing as how everyday I call the four demons ¡°cute, so cute¡±, I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ll grow up to be cute.

    ¡º¡­¡­What¡¯s the meaning of this¡­?¡»

    ¡º¡­¡­¡­How do I explain¡­¡»

    Such deja vu. The only difference this time was that instead of sounding angry, the dark beast was simply utterly amazed.

    ¡º¡º¡º¡ºGoshujintama~(master).¡»¡»¡»¡»

    Albeit with a slight lisp, the four demons gave off proper greetings. Super cute.

    But the problem was that¡­they¡¯re too cute huh~.

    Two of them had perfectly round bodies like steamed buns. They were gazing towards me with sparkles in their purple colored and round eyes. The only demonic part about them was the pair of black sheep horns on their heads.

    Depending on perspective, you could even see those horns as twin tails. Adorable.

    One of them was a monkey-san¡­however, its pure white hair looked buoyantly fluffy, giving it a very lovable appearance. Its face closely resembled a pierrot, or so I had thought, but upon taking a closer look I saw that it was its actual face.

    The last one was a snake. But instead of scales, it had extremely soft skin. I specifically chose this one to have matching colors with me; a light golden body and red eyes.

    I¡¯m sorry¡­. I¡¯ve completely made them into my pets.

    I¡¯ve¡­known for a while now.

    The dark beast¡­he must have brought back the little ones for me so that I wouldn¡¯t go to the other realm. Chaining and collaring me in the form of ¡ºlingering attachment¡».

    Even now, my heart grew calmer when I looked at the four demons chasing after insect demons.

    But¡­did you know?¡¡Demons by nature shouldn¡¯t have these kind of emotions.

    As my mind became tranquil, I think of the world of light from that dream.

    The memories of that world that I had recalled in order to create an image for the four little ones, had awakened a strong yearning for that world.

    I want to go back. ¡­¡­I was feeling something close to homesickness.

    But still, I couldn¡¯t go there. Because I didn¡¯t know if the same world from my dream existed or not.

    But still¡­even so, if it was the very same world of light¡­.

    Bachin!(¥Ð¥Á¥ó¥Ã£¡)

    It was the loud sound of something bursting open.

    The dark beast and four demons became wary, unsure of what happened.

    But I knew. No¡­I understood the instant it happened. My emotions had called on that summoning magic circle, so deeply imprinted in my memory.

    Originally, opening a summoning gate should have been impossible to do from this side of the realm. It wasn¡¯t a question of ability, but a law of this world which made it impossible.

    It could only appear as a natural phenomenon. Otherwise, even if it did appear by coincidence, it would have been a gate opened from the material realm. There should have been no way to open one from the spiritual realm.

    One of the primary factors for this exceptional occurrence was that I had the ¡ºmemories of a human¡». And the other was that¡­when I had unconsciously invoked the summoning circle, at the same time there was an interference from the material realm.

    I had never before seen the like of this huge summoning circle that had appeared. The size of it completely enveloped my body.

    ¡ºOi!¡»

    Noticing the summoning circle, the dark beast rushed towards me¡­but regardless of his powerful strength, he was rejected by the summoning circle and blasted away flying.

    It was only natural that would happen¡­.It was because this summoning circle was for me¡­for the sake of going to the other side, it was born for me alone.

    The summoning magic circle was overflowing with the nostalgic light from my dream. Basking in that light, my body disappeared into that summoning circle.

    I felt that my consciousness was¡­freezing. As I turned my eyes towards the demon realm I grew up in for the last time, I saw the dark beast gazing intensely towards me with anguish in his face.

    ¡ºGolden beast¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª!¡»

    His cry resounded deeply. ¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry. I ended up making you mad.

    £ª£ª£ª

    When I came to my senses¡­I was surrounded by light.

    Where could this be?¡¡The world of light¡­was I able to reach the material realm?

    My eyes¡­I couldn¡¯t see very well. I couldn¡¯t hear well either. Even my body wouldn¡¯t move as I wanted it to.

    Was the summoning a failure¡­?¡¡If that was the case¡­. I felt paralyzed by the fear I hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. ¡­¡­At that moment,

    My body received a shock, as if slapped awake by something.

    I sucked in a breath in my frightened state. ¡­¡­Eh!? I¡¯m¡­breathing?

    I heard the crying sound of a small animal. For a while, I didn¡¯t notice that those cries originated from my own mouth.

    Other sounds could be heard. ¡­¡­Someone was speaking.

    The moment I realized that these sounds were ¡ºwords¡», the words that were incomprehensible in the beginning, unraveled into comprehensible words that resounded in my ears.

    ¡¸¡­¡­My beloved child. My¡­¡­Yurushia¡­¡¹

    I felt my mind quake, as if struck by lightning. Born in the demon realm without a name. After coming into the material realm, I was granted my first name, and I understood at that moment, that my existence had been firmly established.

    I, a demon¡­was born as a ¡ºhuman¡» baby.

 Volume 1 - CH 3

    This is bad¡­.Lately, that was all I had been saying to myself.

    Not out loud of course. I couldn¡¯t make any words in the first place. I gave a go at using my voice, however,

    ¡¸¡­Uh~, ah~¡¹

    That was how I sounded like. It was nothing to be confused about though. Right now I was a ¡ºhuman¡» baby that still hadn¡¯t grown any tooth, and couldn¡¯t even coordinate my tongue and mouth properly.

    ¡¸My! How adorable. Yuru-sama, what ever is the matter?¡¹

    Upon hearing me making a sound, a nee-san wearing a maid uniform came over and cooed over me with a remarkably tender expression.

    Well, babies were cute after all¡­. But you know, even if you ask a baby such questions, there¡¯s no way it could answer.

    Still, ¡ºYuru-sama¡»¡­.I was aware that the nickname ¡ºYuru¡» came from my name Yurushia, but as a demon, I couldn¡¯t help but feel more of a connection to my established ¡ºname¡».

    Well, that was fine. It wasn¡¯t good, but I would endure.

    But the nickname Yuru reminded me of something. It made me think of a ¡ºYurukyara¡» that gave off a loose impression.

    Now then¡­.2 months had passed since the time I was born, and I¡¯ve noticed some various things.

    It appears that I, Yurushia, was born to a rather splendid household.

    The ceiling of my room that I saw every day was adorned with ornaments, and the several maids in waiting were all beauties.

    Being addressed as ¡ºYuru-sama¡» by one of those beautiful nee-sans, made it clear that I was an ojou-sama.(girl of high standing)

    ¡­¡­Hm?¡¡I was a girl right?¡¡Becoming a little anxious, I rubbed my legs together. I didn¡¯t feel anything like that ¡°thing¡±, which was a little relieving.

    At first there was the question of whether I could properly act like a baby¡­but my mind was influenced by my infant body. When I wasn¡¯t focused, I would cry involuntarily and spontaneously cause leakages.

    There was also the issue of language. It most likely wasn¡¯t english. How exactly was I able to understand this language I hadn¡¯t heard of before? It may possibly be the ability of a demon.

    Thinking back carefully, in the beginning the dark beast¡¯s words had sounded like the growling of a regular animal too.

    But I wanted to learn it if possible.

    Being able to hear, but not read and write was a pain.

    There was also the matter of food. My current staple food was breast milk.

    It wasn¡¯t very tasty¡­..Although okaa-san(mother) and two other people who seemed to be wet nurses let me drink their milk, I didn¡¯t have much of an appetite.

    But if I drank too little then okaa-san would worry, so I forced myself to drink. ¡­..It¡¯s tough.

    Now then, this was the biggest question.

    Am I, a human? Or was I a demon¡­?

    The number of humans that I got to see in person amounted to five. Okaa-san, the wet nurse Trufi, and lastly, the three maids who took care of me, Vio, Fer and Min. ¡­..Mm?¡¡I felt like I¡¯d heard of those three names before¡­.(Biofermin)

    It was likely that I mixed up their real names and nicknames, but in my present condition there was no way of confirming it.

    There probably other people such as the chef, but I¡¯ve yet to see someone among the people of this home that seemed capable of using summoning magic.

    In the first place, did magic exist in this world? Well as a matter of fact it did.

    Whenever Vio-san turned the light on in the room, she would use what appeared to be magic.

    It wasn¡¯t something surprising, seeing as how I came here by summoning magic, but I felt a bit down when I realized that this wasn¡¯t the world from my dream.

    They treated me as they would normally treat a baby even though I was a demon, so it was unlikely that these people were the ones who summoned me.

    That being the case, it could only have been a natural phenomenon. Or perhaps the accidental result of a failed summoning from elsewhere.

    But that wasn¡¯t much to be concerned about. The problem was that I had ¡¾manifested¡¿ into the material realm.

    Yes. ¡­..It was about ¡ºwho¡» it was, that was sacrificed for my manifestation.

    All of a sudden I broke out in a cold sweat.

    The most likely answer to that question, was that this body of mine¡­was manifested through the sacrifice of a baby.

    The purity of a newborn¡¯s soul and body. Judging from the prosperity of this household, most likely the lineage of a ¡ºnoble¡». It was more than enough qualities for a demon offering.

    This was bad, so bad¡­.

    It was appalling to think that I might have taken away and replaced the child of such a loving okaa-san.

    What should I do¡­.

    But when I was drowning in my worries, my dilemma was solved of its own accord.

    One day, when okaa-san and Trufi-san saw that I was doing my best in drinking breast milk, they breathed a sigh of relief before entering into a keen conversation.

    ¡¸¡­..Yuru-sama is doing so well¡­it¡¯s such a relief, Ria-sama¡­.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­.. When this child was stillborn¡­I was in despair, but to think she would suddenly come back to life¡­. I must thank Vio for that.¡¹

    ¡¸Vio repeatedly used healing magic for hours on end¡­.. She was on the verge of giving up, still¡­.. The other children were also delighted.¡¹

    In other words, the baby had died at the time of birth. At that point Vio-san, who was capable of magic, continually used healing magic on the dead baby.

    The fact that she had repeatedly used magic in that manner must mean that the baby didn¡¯t revive. It would have been a different story if she was a user of ressurection magic, but it would have been strange for such a person to be a maid.

    Therefore, going by the current situation, it was most likely that the baby¡¯s body alone was used as the sacrifice for my manifestation.

    It might have been slightly lacking as a sacrifice, but I suppose as a demon, I only amounted to that much.

    There was also the factor of me forcefully opening the summoning gate as well.

    That I was a demon that sacrificed a baby to manifest¡­wasn¡¯t something I was entirely sure about.

    For a demon, my ¡ºpower¡» was much too meager.

    Of course, I did possess the ability to decipher languages and didn¡¯t hunger easily, but apart from that I was truly just a ¡ºhuman¡» baby. I couldn¡¯t even crawl yet.

    For the time being, I suppose I¡¯ll wait out the situation while gathering information¡­.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Although I wanted to gather information, I had mostly made no progress on that.

    The reason for that being, that I was never taken outside of the house.

    A year had lapsed, and the clumsy me had finally became capable of walking on all fours. I couldn¡¯t hope to go outside on my own, but I hadn¡¯t expected not even being taken along for shopping.

    Was that how it normally was in this world?

    Nevertheless, there was something that I had come to understand to a certain degree.

    My place of residence was said to be a mansion, but it was a smaller place compared to the other mansions I could see outside the windows. Our place must be the villa of a noble, or the house of a wealthy merchant. That was why, even now I wasn¡¯t sure of my social status.

    Okaa-san¡¯s name was Riastea. Ria was her nickname.

    I have yet to meet otoo-san(father). From what I¡¯ve put together from the conversations I¡¯ve heard, he had apparently come to visit me only once, around the time when I was just born and wasn¡¯t able to see well. I¡¯m sure he was busy with work.

    In our residence, there was a chef oji-san(uncle), and a slightly younger oji-san who worked as both gardener and guard. I still didn¡¯t know their names.

    I should probably mention this also. It was something I had suspected since the first time I saw magic being used for illuminating rooms, but there was no electricity. I guessed the cultural level here was around the Middle Ages of Europe.

    And the meals weren¡¯t tasty.

    It was quite problematic.

    I knew the reason for it though. It wasn¡¯t the fault of the cook, but instead my sense of taste.

    I did find a way around it, but it wasn¡¯t a solution to the cooking. Whenever I would receive milk from okaa-san, I would cling to her chest, and from her I could smell a fragrance that just a little sweet. Of course, okaa-san¡¯s smell was a good smell, but it was different from that.

    It was the same light intoxication I felt from when mofumofuing ¡¾him¡¿. I could feel that same intoxication from okaa-san and Trufi-san, and by taking in that sweetness at the same time as drinking milk, it became tasty.

    What exactly was that smell I wonder¡­?¡¡I must find out eventually.

    One day, a few days before I was to turn into a 1 year old, I was made to wear pretty clothing for babies.

    It wasn¡¯t a kimono or anything, and the clothes I usually wore were also good looking, but I presumed that it was clothing for going outside.

    That¡¯s right. Today, I would be going outside of home for the first time.

    Th, this was bad.

    It was seriously bad.

    My mood that was full of cheer at the thought of going out with okaa-san, deflated like a balloon.

    Inside of the carriage that was heading out, was me and okaa-san, Fer-san and Min-san.

    Well, to summarize the information I gathered while being pampered by the women for several tens of minutes, an unthinkable fact came to light.

    I was in a strongly religious country called the ¡ºHoly Kingdom¡».

    Almost all the priests of this country were capable of using the so-called ¡ºpure¡» magic that was holy magic.

    In this country there was a custom, where infants would receive ¡ºblessings¡» at a church through the use of holy water, but of course it wasn¡¯t something enforced by the law. It even costed money after all.

    But for some reason this time, there was an official notice dictating that while the government would cover the costs, all children born within this year must receive the blessings

    From all over the country¡­including those from the outskirts of towns, villages and the slums, even the children of immigrants and traveling entertainers would be thoroughly investigated. In other words, it was now something compulsory.

    This was bad wasn¡¯t it. This was what you¡¯d call bad, right? Holy water and blessings, wouldn¡¯t a weak demon perish from those things?

    I¡¯m a baby you know. Terribly frail okay?

    Upon seeing me trembling in fear, the three women assumed that it was the fault of the carriage and that it was my first time outside, so they comforted me in various ways, even telling me that horses weren¡¯t scary, but I didn¡¯t feel any better. It would have been stranger if I did.

    Why of all times, did they have to do such a thing now¡­..

    ¡­¡­We¡¯ve arrived at the church.

    The building didn¡¯t appear so different from the one in my dream. If I had to point out something though, it was that the cross symbol at the top part of the church looked more like a plus sign.(cross, plus)

    Min-san told me that the goddess-sama of good harvest is worshipped here, but I¡¯m a baby that can¡¯t understand you know? If I could, that would be strange you know?

    Inside of the church, there were several women that were all embracing infants like me.

    Standing In front of a statue of the goddess was an ojii-chan(old geezer) wearing blue clothes, and it seemed that he would be the one carrying out the blessings.

    I was scared. But there was no escape.

    My turn came, and okaa-san walked before the ojii-chan while holding me in her arms.

    ¡¸Archbishop-sama. It has been a long time since meeting you again.¡¹

    Okaa-san bowed to the ojii-chan. So this person¡­was the archbishop-sama.

    ¡¸Well if it isn¡¯t Riastea-sama. It has been a long time indeed. My apologies for troubling you to come in person.¡¹

    It seemed like they were acquainted from how the ojii-chan kindly laughed and greeted okaa-san.

    ¡¸And so¡­this child must be¡­.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. She is my child¡­Yurushia.¡¹

    My cheeks slightly stiffened in response to the strong gaze the ojii-chan gave me, as if he was making sure of something.

    ¡¸¡­..Well then, let us begin.¡¹

    Around ten minutes had passed¡­and in the end, nothing happened.

    At the moment when holy water was poured over my head, I couldn¡¯t help but feel like crying, but it didn¡¯t burn nor did I turn into a beast. To my relief, I received the holy magic ¡ºblessing¡» without any problems.

    When it was finished, the ojii-chan gently patted my head, which made me smile extremely happily.

    Though, seeing as how I was fine with holy magic that was supposed to repel demons, I had to reconsider the first hypothesis I had made about myself.

    Although I was under the impression that I was a demon that successfully manifested, but it might be that I wasn¡¯t a ¡ºhuman-like demon¡», but instead, a ¡ºdemon-like human¡».

    As for this, whether I had been reborn as a human or not¡­was hard to say, but I thought that the situation was exceedingly close to it.

    It was an accident I say, an accident. An act of god.

    And so after we left the church, we went shopping before heading back home.

    During the shopping, the three women would take turns in carrying me in their arms, but when I took a closer look around my surroundings, I saw that the wealthy looking people would use something that looked like a baby stroller for their children.

    I wonder why we didn¡¯t have one?¡¡Even though a 1 year old must have been fairly heavy.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The Holy Kingdom Tariteld

    It was one of the major powers of this world with a total population of several millions, If you were to include the 5 outer town areas outside of the capital Tarias.

    One of those outer towns, in an area to the west of the capital that was governed by duke Coel, named Tuul.

    Most of the nobles that lived within the territory of Tuul were retainers to duke Coel, whom all dedicated the same amount of loyalty to him, as they did to His Majesty the King.

    And within that area, 60% of the citizens were religious. For archbishop Molt, the chief officer in charge of Tuul¡¯s territory, as well as the state church of the deity of good harvest, the goddess Costol, every morning was a busy one.

    He did not change his lifestyle, even though he had already passed the age of 60. He rose together with the morning sun, and offered a prayer to the goddess. Afterwards he would head to his personal farmland in the back of the church, and only once he finished looking after the land would he take breakfast.

    Giving instructions to his followers while drinking tea after his meal and finally finishing the first part of his day, Molt solemnly stood up from his chair as he rubbed his shoulders with a tired face he wouldn¡¯t display in front of the church devootees.

    This year was an extremely busy one.And it was all due to the influence of that one event.

    The large-scale demon summoning incident that happened within the outskirts of Tuul territory, caused by a demon worshipping organization.

    Including the twelve summoners, even the names of several nobles were found to be among the dozens of that organization¡¯s members, and while nearly all of them were wiped out or arrested, there were also dozens of casualties from the knight order as well as regular soldiers.

    What was found to be drawn in a garden that was in the possession of a certain noble, was a gigantic summoning magic circle that could cleanly fit onto the grounds of a small mansion.

    Aiming for the moment when the summoning would already be taking place so as to capture all of the culprits, an armed force, including the reinforcements from the imperial capital, comprising of forty five knights, two hundred soldiers, and thirty holy magic wielding Costol priests commenced an assault against that organization, only to encounter demons that were lying in ambush.

    Demons. Those that were on the opposite side of the material world, in one of the planes of the spiritual world. The inhabitants of the demon realm.

    Their figures covered all over in dark grimy fur, they walked on two legs as they trampled on the soldiers with speed and strength that exceeded that of beasts.

    They possessed strange large bodies, their gray eyes contained hatred towards all living things, and their yellow fanged mouths were twisted as if finding delight in the humans¡¯ fear.

    There were ten of these lesser demons. Not only that, there were also three greater demons that were even larger than the lesser demons, and they wielded spears and axes formed out of the combination of black horns and bones.

    There was a distinct difference between lesser and greater demons, other than their physique or weapons.

    That difference lied in their intelligence, and magic.

    Every action taken by spirits and demons, the inhabitants of the spiritual world, was accompanied by magical power. In the case of a lesser demon, a simple punch from the demon would crush the internal organs of a human, and a normal weapon wouldn¡¯t be able to wound the demon¡¯s magic infused body.

    But greater demons were capable of shooting out fireballs or ice arrows like rain with but a single scream, without even needing to chant the magic spell.

    There were many factors that attributed victory to the kingdom¡¯s soldiers. One was due to the many anti-demon magic weapons that they carried.

    Another was that they had a great number of anti-demon specialist priests among their ranks.

    And finally, it was because the person they had invited from the magical academy, to act as an advisor against summoning magic, was able to use powerful spirit magic.

    ¡ºSpirits¡» and ¡ºdemons¡», beings that were inhabitants of the same spiritual world, were considered to be of equal rank.

    However, while lesser demons had limited intelligence, spirits still possessed high intelligence even if they were of a lower class.

    Although physically strong, the demons could only manage temporary manifestations due to incomplete sacrificial offerings, and unable to resist against magic, they were destroyed by the summoned spirits.

    But that wasn¡¯t the end of it.

    The demons were summoned beforehand to act as guards, sacrificial pawns buying time so that their ¡ºhearts desire¡» could be summoned from the gigantic summoning circle.

    Spirits that were summoned into the material world manifest in the form of one of the four elements in the material world: fire, wind, water or earth. Hence, their powers were stable, and are stronger than unstable demons. However, if a demon that possessed an even higher intelligence than a greater demon appeared¡­ If that being was to gain a vessel and manifest, it would become an existence on the same level as a spirit king.

    The lesser demons had all been destroyed. The soldiers and knights who were covered all over in wounds were bringing down the final greater demon that was guarding the demon worshippers.

    But the moment the heart of the last remaining summoner was pierced through by a knight¡¯s sword, from behind of the collapsing summoner¡¯s corpse, ¡ºsomething¡» had appeared from the gigantic summoning magic circle.

    It was¡­a small golden cat, overflowing with beauty.

    Charming¡­is what they had thought. So lovely¡­everyone on the scene was captivated by that beauty, so sublime.

    Was it truly a demon¡­..? Was it not instead a divine messenger that was mistakenly summoned from heaven?

    However, that expection was betrayed by a few spoken words.

    ¡º¡­..Golden¡­beast¡­.¡»

    When the last remaining greater demon uttered those words as it vanished, they knew that the golden beast was one of those existences among demons¡­a superior demon.

    If this beast was to run amock, what would become of our country? All of them were holding that thought in their chest and not making a single move, when the summoning circle that had lost its summoner in the middle of the summoning, lost its light.

    At the same time the summoning was cancelled, the demon called the golden beast turned into a golden light and disappeared into the sky.

    Disappeared into the sky. That was the problem.

    A demon that had its summoning interrupted would disappear into the summoning circle and return to the demon realm. That being the case, where could this demon have disappeared to?

    Together, the Holy Kingdom and the church began a search for the demon called ¡ºgolden beast¡».

    There was also the possibility that it had returned to the demon realm. Another likelihood was that its existence was erased. However, if that demon was a superior individual, and if it somehow gained a vessel, then the possibility of it becoming a terrible threat was highly probable.

    They searched spiritual locations¡­or in other words, environments with high magical power, but it was to no avail. As a last resort, the church decided to gather every child that was born within a year since the occurence of that incident. If this endeavor were to fail and the demon was not uncovered, then the demon would be assumed to have perished.

    During these several months, Molt had blessed over a hundred infants.

    Of course, there were more infants than that in the territory of Tuul, but the ones that he granted blessings to were the children that were proved, through a government investigation of utmost secrecy, to possess ¡ºmagical power¡», as well as the possibility of becoming the vessel of a demon.

    If it was just creating holy water through holy magic, then other priests would have been fine. However, there weren¡¯t many that could use the holy magic blessing, and those that could were in other lands performing their own screening operations, so that was why Molt had no choice but to bless the children himself.

    And those that he was responsible for blessing, were the children with the highest possibility of being demons.

    It was only natural that Molt was exhausted, as he couldn¡¯t afford to lose focus, blessing one child after another.

    ¡¸Is today the last¡­?£¿¡¹

    When Molt muttered those words, the middle-aged priest walking by his side affirmatively replied.

    ¡¸Yes. Although there are still a large number of children remaining, today is the last of the children with high magical power that requires Molt-sama¡¯s assistance.¡¹

    ¡¸Umu(¤¦¤à).¡¹(affirmative sound)

    Even though it was just a confirmation, Molt was satisfied by the expected response.

    As a clergyman and as the archbishop, it wasn¡¯t something he was praised for but nonetheless, he thought it would be alright for tonight at least, to drink some alcohol along with the produce from his vegetable garden as appetizers.

    With that goal in mind, he was performing the blessings in high spirits when the final person appeared.

    It was the daughter of a viscount he was acquainted with. The woman was someone he had known from the time she was a child, and though he was unmarried, he thought of her as his own blood-related daughter.

    The lovely young lady from back then had become an adult, and was now even more beautiful.

    He was apologetic towards the viscount in thinking this, but as far as he was concerned, her daughter was his grandchild too.

    Yurushia. The child was lovely like an angel, so dazzling that Molt squinted his eyes.

    £¨¡­..What¡¯s this?£©

    The child appeared to be frightened by something.

    Certainly, most children that came into contact with an adult they were meeting for the first time and having water poured over their heads would feel frightened.

    But in those cases, most of the time the children would cry and shout, but until now, none of them had been as scared as this girl.

    For a moment, he stared at her with suspicion. But when he saw Yurushia about to cry the moment he poured the holy water over her head and afterwards being comforted by a panicking Riastea, he dismissed his previous suspicion as overthinking it.

    He put his all into blessing Yurushia, and when finally, he gave the puzzled looking girl a gentle pat on the head while grinning widely, Yurushia showed Molt a most brilliant and angelic smile.

    Molt thought to himself.

    If a child capable of such a smile was a demon, this world would be overflowing with demons, and would have been destroyed long ago.

    Molt firmly believed that today, the shadow of the demon hanging over the territory of Tuul was now gone.

 Volume 1 - CH 4

    ¡¸¡­¡­This is, not good.¡¹

    There was no one around¡­.. I was largely conscious of the small sound of a sweet voice that could be heard from one of the relatively smaller rooms within the mansion.

    In that room, there was a faint odor of paint remaining. And along with a big, brand-new canopy bed, there was a tiny little dresser that could be used for children playing house.

    At first glance, there was no one in here, but that was wrong.

    Although glass, in this world, was a precious material, this room was furnished with a full-length mirror so large as to make you wonder at its price.

    And standing small and quiet in front of it was a little golden child.

    That¡¯s right. It was me.

    I was now 2 years old, and I was dumbfounded upon getting a proper look at my own appearance for the first time.

    My okaa-san¡­no, my okaa-sama was a very beautiful person.

    Her silky blonde hair was soft to the touch, and whenever okaa-sama would carry me in her arms, I would bury my face in her hair.

    On my first birthday, I met otoo-sama for the first time. I wondered if he was busy with work. He seemed to be sorry about not being able to come home too often.

    Otoo-sama was also a great looking person. I¡¯d say he was in his mid twenties or so?¡¡He exuded an attractive aura, with his considerably handsome looks and reddish blonde hair.

    Being the daughter of these two people made me look forward to how I would look like in the future.

    Although a prince-sama would be hoping for too much, but at the least I would have good enough looks to have an heir to a reasonably good household fall for me. And while having such lower middle-class thoughts, I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart, that my future would be without hardships.

    And so back then, when I was still a baby, seeing myself reflected in the dresser mirror while being carried by okaa-sama, I had thought to myself that there wouldn¡¯t be a problem since I was a baby this cute.

    ¡­¡­Or, so I had thought.

    ¡¸¡­¡­This, isn¡¯t happening.¡¹

    No no, it wasn¡¯t as if my appearance was bad or anything. In a way, it was as I had anticipated.

    But it was a future expectation years away. It would have been fine if I had started to blossom at around age 10, and until then remained as a wee little sweet child¡­.

    When I tilted my head, my gold colored hair that was without any curls, smoothly moved as if flowing.

    Wasn¡¯t this¡­¡­exactly the color of my former body¡­the color of my fur¡­?¡¡This wasn¡¯t blonde hair at all. It was more like gold threads.

    My skin was like a normal white person¡¯s, but I couldn¡¯t see the pores of the skin. What was up with this¡­.

    As for my looks, I inherited all the good parts from my parents. My small cherry blossom lips and golden long eyelashes were very pretty and lovely to see.

    If that was all it was then, overlooking the fact that my looks were rather showy, I would have felt glad for being born well¡­and that would have been the end of it, but the problem began here.

    On my body¡­there were none of the tell-tale aging signs of a regular living person.

    Veins, skeletal frame, muscles. Without exception, some form of ¡ºflaw¡» in the appearance would accompany the growth of all living things in the world as a result of lifestyle habits, fatigue and sleep conditions, etc.

    That alone would still have been acceptable. Being appreciated and complimented with the saying ¡ºyou¡¯re just like a doll¡», would simply have had a more literal meaning to it.

    But I wasn¡¯t a doll. To be frank, I didn¡¯t like this kind of doll.

    My gaze was too strong.

    The color of my eyes was a pinkish light gold that resembled both otoo-sama and okaa-sama.

    My eyes that should have been of a gentle hue, pointlessly emanated a strange intensity, or should I say, an odd light. As proof, it was bad to the extent that when I fixedly stared at a maid-san that should have been familiar with me, she would flinch.

    This wasn¡¯t right. A scary 2 year old like this didn¡¯t exist.

    What happened to my body during the past year?¡¡Was it the hair after all?¡¡Was it the fault of this demon¡¯s hair?¡¡Shaving my head bald or something may have been a solution, but that would have been putting the cart before the horse. Because I wanted to make a living in this world as a human girl.

    I thought that maybe the humans of this world wouldn¡¯t notice anything wrong with my appearance.

    But I knew. Having ¡ºknowledge¡» from the world of my dream, I could understand.

    And that made me shudder.

    ¡¸¡­¡­This isn¡¯t the appearance of a human being.¡¹

    Within the first room of my own that was given to me after turning 2 years old¡­I couldn¡¯t do anything but blankly mutter those words to myself.

    £ª

    From that day onwards, my goal became ¡ºto live like a human would¡».

    Coming from a normal person, it would have meant to become a proper and praiseworthy human being¡­or so I supposed, but the goal I spoke of was in the literal sense.

    Since my outward appearance was out of place among human beings, to deceive the other humans, I would behave in a way so that at the very least, I would be considered a normal human being on the inside. It¡¯s the rational lifestyle of a feeble demon lost amidst humans.

    Thinking back carefully, I seem to remember that otoo-sama appeared to be shocked when he saw me being dressed up on my 2nd birthday. So he was scared back then¡­.

    I felt bad for otoo-sama, but there was no other way than to have him get used to it. I would try snuggling up to him like a cat the next time we meet. It¡¯s my area of expertise after all.

    Now then, it was the month after I turned 2. On the first day of the month, it was decided that the three of us, otoo-sama, Vio and I, would be having an outing.

    And once again, at the end of spending long moments being treated like a dress-up doll, I was made to don an extremely stylish attire.

    It was a gothic dress made out of a deep blue satin fabric with excessive amounts of lace.

    ¡­¡­This wasn¡¯t children¡¯s clothing. It was like it was designed for adults to wear. A dress meant for adults that was tailored to doll-size.

    Just saying, wasn¡¯t this more expensive than an adult¡¯s dress?¡¡I won¡¯t be able to wear it by next year you know?

    Good grief¡­while I may be 2 years old, our household¡¯s sense of economy was a cause for worry.

    ¡¸Yuru, what¡¯s wrong? Do you feel unwell?¡¹

    Okaa-sama enquired in a concerned voice as I was brooding inside of the carriage we were in.

    ¡¸U, uun(Y, yeah).¡¹

    I ended up causing okaa-sama to worry. But that made me happy.

    When I smiled with those feelings in mind, I was tightly hugged close by okaa-sama.

    I¡¯ll put the matters of economy on hold for now.

    Leaving that aside, I was very much looking forward to today¡¯s outing.

    ¡¸Okaa-sama, are we there yet~?¡¹

    ¡¸Just a little further, Yuru. Once we get there, will you properly behave?¡¹

    ¡¸I will~.¡¹

    It may have seemed like I was conversing rather normally for a 2 year old, but in actuality, if I tuned down the language correction ability of a demon, I would sound like this.

    ¡ºOkaasaa, arew there yeet?¡»(orz)

    ¡ºI weel~.¡»(orz)

    A 2 year old¡¯s lisping was adorable. And sly.

    At any rate, okaa-sama. Even though you told me to behave well, if I was to try moving on my own, someone would immediately snap me up into their embrace, so I wouldn¡¯t even be able to run about you know?

    Even now I was being held by okaa-sama after all.

    I could understand how they would become overprotective, seeing as how I came back to life after being stillborn, but this was too much. If it was a normal child, she would end up becoming unable to normally walk you know?

    Even at home, the most I did was to transport food into my mouth with a spoon. Furthermore, since my sense of taste was weird, if I were to be negligent with my food intake, they would snatch away my spoon to feed me.

    And as for the purpose of today¡¯s outing, it was because a ¡ºchildrens magical power examination¡» was being held at the magic academy branch of this town, for children 2 years old and above who wished to undertake magic education.

    Magical examination¡­magic. That¡¯s right. Today¡¯s purpose was to examine my aptitude for magic.

    Fantasy is all about the magic, right??

    It wasn¡¯t everyday that you¡¯d be born as a demon, but the sole acquaintance I had back then was a muscle-brain by nature, not to mention violent, who ate up all the demons that likely had intelligence, so I had all but given up on any opportunities to learn magic.

    Upon arriving at the magic academy, this time it was Vio-san who held me in her arms when we got off the carriage.

    ¡¸Vio-san, I can walk you know?¡¹

    By the way, the words I spoke just now really sounded like this,

    ¡ºBiosa, I, can wal¡­k?¡»(orz)

    Well that doesn¡¯t matter, but the Vio-san who could perfectly understand this kind of baby talk sweetly smiled at me.

    ¡¸No, Yuru-ojousama. I must beg your pardon, for it is too dangerous outside. Also, please feel free to call the likes of me without honorifics.¡¹

    You¡¯re amazing Vio-san. As expected of the eldest of the three maid girls. She was only 19 years old, tall, black-haired and a beauty too.

    Passing through the main entrance, we saw a wide courtyard.

    I thought that a day like today would have been a holiday, but there were a fair number of students that were in their teens. Girls and boys talking intimately to one another as they walked side-by-side. Must be nice~¡­.

    If possible, I would like to enter this academy, and not just for the magic.

    Apparently, otoo-sama, okaa-sama and Vio were all students of this magic academy.

    From what I heard from the nostalgic talk between okaa-sama and Vio, it seemed that there were two kinds of schools in this country.

    The first kind was the school for children without magical power.

    There you could receive a normal general education, so to speak, on subjects such as literature, arithmetic, history, morals and etiquette, and if you wished so, you could also learn fencing after school.

    That was the entirety of a 6 year education starting from the age of 7. Even though 20 year olds were considered to be adults in this world, wasn¡¯t the educational period too short?

    The second kind was the magic academy, but here you would be taught lessons on magic on top of the general education you would receive at the normal school.

    They must cram students¡¯ heads full of lessons¡­or so I thought, but it turned out their educational period lasted 10 years. Moreover, they even had uniforms and a guaranteed social status as a student.

    There¡¯s quite the difference huh~. But after listening carefully, it seemed that the children with high magical powers were more numerous among the nobles, so it must be something that couldn¡¯t be helped.

    For that reason, I wanted to enter this magic academy.

    There were classes for nobles at the normal school as well, but I want to experience a normal bittersweet love~.

    Nobles would make their debut into high society at the age of 13, but it was kind of like a marriage interview, which sounded wearisome.

    I didn¡¯t want to experience a grade schooler¡¯s love, but at the least, a middle schooler¡¯s love.

    It was an impure motive, but if I had no talent for magic anyway, I would automatically be sent to the normal school.

    I¡¯ll try my best for the magic examination!

    There were quite the number of people in the examination hall when we entered. At a glance, I saw that there were around ten children around my age.

    When we approached the reception desk, the receptionist onee-san seemed to jump with surprise when she turned to look at us.

    To look so surprised upon seeing someone¡¯s face, how rude¡­.When I intently glared at her, the onee-san appeared to be flustered as she began giving an explanation to okaa-sama.

    Not bothered by what happened, okaa-sama and Vio were calmly nodding as they listened. Impressive indeed.

    ¡­¡­Uh-oh, that was bad. I had to behave like a human would.

    The magical power examination seemed to involve some manual work aspects.

    You didn¡¯t get to place your hand on a crystal ball and they didn¡¯t tell you anything like, ¡°your aptitude for magic goes like this¡±. Instead, at every examination booth there was a spell charged wand, which would shoot out a teensy bit of magic upon being waved, and it counted as a pass if the magic activated. If it didn¡¯t activate, it was a fail. Absolutely simple.

    But would a 2 year old even know how to channel magical power¡­?

    Sneaking a peek to one side, I saw that one child was releasing a flame like a lighter. I wondered if that degree of magic meant that the child had overflowing amounts of magical power.

    There were other booths marked with water and wind-like signs too, so it might be that a person¡¯s aptitude wasn¡¯t limited to one type of magic.

    First of all, I was to begin with trying normal magic. It was normally activated through magical power and spells.

    Although it was called normal, it was a versatile kind of magic.

    It seemed that there were various types, but for the time being there would be no problems choosing among earth, water, fire and wind elements.

    ¡¸¡­Th, then ojou-sama, please try using this one.¡¹

    Another one afraid of me¡­.Please don¡¯t be scared of a 2 year old.

    Pulling myself together, I took the wand that was passed to me¡­this was a pencil right¡­and I waved it.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­£¿¡¹

    ¡¸It appears that ojou-sama doesn¡¯t have an affinity for fire¡­. I am so sorry.¡¹

    Why apologize?¡¡Was it because I looked like a noble?¡¡Come to think of it, what was the status of our household again¡­?

    Recovering my thoughts, I went to try the other booths.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yuru-oujousama, there is still spirit magic remaining.¡¹

    Her thoughtfulness was painful.

    Vio spoke to comfort the me who successively failed at the water, wind and earth booths.

    But I wonder why the magic wouldn¡¯t activate¡­?¡¡When the oji-san in charge of the examination saw that the wands would start shining just from my touch, he had told me that my magical power was high. Was it that I simply had no affinity whatsoever..?

    There were 6 booths remaining to be tried.

    4 kinds of spirit magic and¡­eh?¡¡There was supposed to be light and dark spirits in fantasies. I wonder if there was none in this world?

    And the others were¡­.

    When I turned to look at the last remaining 2 booths, Vio spoke in a voice only okaa-sama and I could hear.

    ¡¸Ria-sama. Lately¡­there has been a bad reputation of summoning magic going around.¡¹

    ¡¸Even though it isn¡¯t that dangerous, apart from demon summonings¡­.¡¹

    Demon summonings¡­huh. Certainly it brought a bad image to mind.

    Upon further listening, I learnt that summoning magic was capitalized on the research of magic circles, and nobles would study it mainly to take part in the research. It seemed interesting.

    ¡¸Okaa-sama, what about that one~?¡¹

    ¡¸That one is for holy magic. It¡¯s used for things like healing people.¡¹

    ¡¸Ria-sama. Becoming a user of holy magic, there is the risk of being taken in by the church¡­.¡¹

    I wondered if she had some sort of bad experience with the church in the past¡­.

    When Vio, who could use healing magic, said those words with knitted brows, okaa-sama showed a troubled and bitter smile.

    Okaa-sama was acquainted with the ojii-chan from the church after all. It was quite the troublesome matter.

    And apparently, holy magic wasn¡¯t something that only the church and its members could use.

    ¡¸For now, let us try out everything. I think that it isn¡¯t right for us to limit the possibilities for Yuru.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I understand.¡¹

    I had a feeling she was in a bleak mood, so I gently patted Vio on the head, which seemed to make her feel a little better.

    The next booth was for spirit magic. I had a bit of expectation for this one. Because demons and spirits were both inhabitants of the same spiritual world, I thought of them as an existence similar to myself.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Those wind spirit midgets. They ran away looking frightened the moment they saw my face.

    Even the examiner onii-chan was in blank amazement from seeing the lesser wind spirits fleeing as fast as they could, just like the wind, and not allowing even a moments time to call out to them.

    The water spirit made me cry inside.

    When I drew near the tiny water spirit that was in the form of a woman, she covered her face and cowered, so much that no matter what the spirit user ordered, she wouldn¡¯t move an inch.

    But I knew why. It looked like the spirit user couldn¡¯t understand the words of spirits, but I could hear it. She was continuously muttering¡­

    ¡ºI¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry¡­¡»

    Catching on to the current situation, the earth spirit returned into the ground without a word, and didn¡¯t respond to the summons for a second time.

    The fire spirit was a little better. But it was no good. When I asked the fire spirit who was fixedly glaring at me,

    ¡¸You¡¯re not going to disappear¡­?¡¹

    The instant I spoke, it vanished with a puff.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­It appears that ojou-sama does not have an aptitude for spirit magic so¡­.¡¹

    Well~, next up was summoning magic.

    Mm?¡¡It¡¯s not like I¡¯m feeling down in particular. It¡¯s true I tell you!

    ¡¸Please try touching the magic circle here.¡¹

    A straight-backed ojii-san with the air of a professor instructed me.

    The ojii-san had embarked on a lengthy explanation, as if conducting a lecture, however¡­what was this person doing to a 2 year old really¡­.

    To summarize, this general purpose summoning circle was a very casual product, from which you couldn¡¯t call out anything big. It would casually connect to some realm, and casually summon an insect demon, or if your magical power was high, an adequately small animal demon would appear.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Un(okay).¡¹

    I casually nodded and touched the summoning circle.

    ¡­¡­¡­¤´¤¥¤ª¤©¤ª¤ª¤ª¤ª¤ª¤ª¤ª(roaring sound)¡­¡­¡­¡­

    From somewhere far away¡­I heard a voice I had memories of¡­as if it was crying out from the deep depths of the earth.

    When I unintentionally, or should I say unconsciously, slapped my hand onto the summoning magic circle, the light given off by my magical power disappeared.

    Having accidentally heard that voice too, the professor ojii-san inspected the magic circle with a blue face, and though he was puzzled about my previous actions, he turned around to face the three of us.

    ¡¸My apologies. It seems that the summoning circle was broken. However, although it¡¯s uncertain for the ojousama, I believe that she has an aptitude for summoning magic.¡¹

    That was dangerous¡­a close call. There was no doubt about it. That voice¡­he was mad alright.

    At any rate, I finally received a pass¡­although just barely.

    But later on I came to know, that anyone with magical power was able to use summoning magic circles¡­.

    After giving our thanks to the professor and standing up, we headed to the final booth for holy magic.

    Feeling delighted that her daughter would be attending the same academy as she did, okaa-sama held me in her arms on the way to the booth.

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t it great~, Yuru.¡¹

    ¡¸Un.¡¹

    In contrast to the joyfully smiling pair of mother and daughter, the facial expression of Vio wasn¡¯t too good.

    ¡­¡­It couldn¡¯t be helped. When I stretched out my hand toward her with a curious look on my face, acting like a child that didn¡¯t understand a thing, Vio finally took my hand with a laugh.

    Did she hate the church that much?

    Now then, the last booth was for holy magic, but I was fine with not taking the examination if Vio disliked it that much. To be frank, I didn¡¯t mind it since I¡¯d already earned the qualification to enter the magic academy.

    But on the contrary, Vio encouraged me to take the examination, influenced by the talks of my future possibilities and the like.

    And so¡­.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    A fish-san was flopping about on top of a chopping board.

    Even now, the light being given off from the wand I was holding prevented the fish from dying.

    ¡¸It appears that ojousama has a strong aptitude for holy magic.¡¹

    Are you serious, I¡¯m a demon you know?

    In the booth, there was a fish on the verge of death. Placed on top of a chopping board and unable to breathe, the fish only desired for its suffering to quickly end¡­or so I imagined.

    At that moment, a strong light had shot out of the wand held in my hand, which prolonged the suffering of the fish.

    Quite cruel if I may say so myself.

    As I thought¡­I¡¯m a demon after all.

 Volume 1 - CH 5

    ¡¸¡­¡­Do you remember me?¡¹

    Otoo-sama asked as he looked anxiously at me.

    Of course I remember.

    As long as you are my otoo-sama, I¡¯d never forget such a good-looking person.

    His face was clearly revealing his thoughts¡­that since he couldn¡¯t come see his young daughter no more than once or twice a year, it would only be natural for her to have forgotten him.

    Ever since the matter of holy magic had passed, I, who had strongly recognized the ¡¾demon¡¿ within me, was ever more firmly determined than before to conduct myself to behave like a human, so I was going try my best as a daughter as well.

    ¡¸¡­Otoo-sama?¡¹

    When I called out and walked towards him with toddling steps, otoo-sama showed a look of being surprised.

    ¡¸Ohh¡­Yurushia. So you would call me father¡­.¡¹

    Eh?¡¡Come to think of it, was this the first time I called him ¡ºotoo-sama¡» in person?

    Still¡­otoo-sama, aren¡¯t you a bit too afraid I wonder?¡¡I know how inhuman I look, but if you fear me to that extent, to be honest I feel down.

    But I mustn¡¯t lose heart because of this.

    As a frail demon hiding among humans, the best idea was to be protected by wonderful people like otoo-sama. It wasn¡¯t because the elegant oji-sama type happened to be my favorite or anything like that.

    First of all, I had to get him used to me.

    Today was my 3rd birthday.

    As for presents, I received a comb made of silver from okaa-sama. I was a little frightened by silver items, holy magic and the like, but no problems occurred. In retrospect, hadn¡¯t I used a silver spoon all this time just fine?

    From the three maid girls I received a book called ¡ºA Document on Magic Usable from Age 3¡»¡­even though books were expensive in this world¡­.

    From Trufi-san, who had completed her work as a wet-nurse and returned home, I received a small painting to decorate in my room. It was very lovely.

    From otoo-sama, I received a huge bear plushy, a regular sized rabbit plushy, a bouquet of roses, and a ton of candies bought from a famous store in the royal capital.

    When I tried eating the sweets¡­there wasn¡¯t enough flavor as expected. It wasn¡¯t any less in terms of quality when compared with the sweets from the dream world, but it was somehow unsatisfying.

    But I had to persevere and eat it all¡­or else everyone will be sad.

    My birthday party had ended. Otoo-sama would always leave again when night came, but this time I tried to playfully keep him from going away.

    I toddled my way to otoo-sama, who had always been hesitant of even being touched by me, and tugged on his leg that was on the sofa.

    ¡¸¡­¡­What wrong? Yurushia.¡¹

    When our eyes met, otoo-sama visibly lost his composure. ¡­¡­So it was no good unless I acted more boldly.

    ¡¸Otoo-sama, hug~¡¹

    ¡¸Oh, ohh.¡¹

    Otoo-sama was wide-eyed, responding in a voice that was hard to tell whether it was a reply or a groan. He then perched me on top of his lap with strong arms.

    I was kind of excited. Not as a daughter, but as a maiden.

    ¡¸¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹¡¹

    Somehow it became silent.

    I was simply emotionally moved from having a lap seat and resting my back against the chest of a man, but otoo-sama seemed to be at a loss as to how to deal with his alien 3 year old daughter.

    And from that moment I carried out my plan.

    Yes.

    I am a cat.

    I will become a cat.

    This is definitely not me giving in to my instincts.

    I nuzzled against otoo-sama¡¯s chest with my nose.

    Otoo-sama seemed to tremble slightly, but I didn¡¯t mind it.When I nuzzled against him even more, otoo-sama timidly patted my head.

    With the intended message of, ¡°otoo-sama, please pat me more diligently¡±, I rubbed my head against his large hands.

    ¡­¡­Oh?¡¡Something smells good. Smelling the same sweet scent that okaa-sama gave off caused me to further increase my rate of nuzzling.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Were you lonely?¡¹

    Otoo-sama asked me in a gentle voice.

    Eh?¡¡Was I?¡¡Looking up at otoo-sama with a slightly pondering look, I saw that he was now directly meeting my gaze with a sorrowful expression on his face.

    ¡­¡­Ho, how should I reply?¡¡I felt a little flustered.Maybe it was the fault of the smell, but my cheeks were hot¡­.

    Unable to come up with a response and becoming embarassed in the midst of staring at one another, I escaped into that intoxicating smell by burying my face into otoo-sama¡¯s chest.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Muu.¡¹

    ¡¸You sure like to be pampered¡­I¡¯ll dote on you as much as you want then.¡¹

    Otoo-sama¡¯s voice became cheery as he gently brushed my hair with his large hands and tickled around my ears and neck. Otoo-sama seemed to be having fun as he swiftly caught me when I twisted my body away from his tickling hands.

    What could it be¡­this feeling. I was feeling a similar sensation to when I had mofumofu¡¯ed with ¡¾him¡¿¡­.By any chance, was I being tamed¡­?

    ¡¸Niaa.¡¹

    Letting out a sound that even I couldn¡¯t explain, I escaped otoo-sama¡¯s hands to take refuge in his chest.

    ¡¸Hahaha. Yurushia is just like a kitten.¡¹

    Feeling my face becoming even hotter from being whispered to in my ears, I resolutely stuck my face onto otoo-sama¡¯s chest to find solace in that heady scent.

    £ª£ª£ª

    There was a man named Folt.

    He excelled in the sword, and possessed an exceptional mind. His future was full of great expectations, but he didn¡¯t think to use his abilities to their fullest.

    He had an elder sister and elder brother. The relationship between the three siblings was quite good.

    The elder sister was a willful woman, but kind to those below her, and beloved by everyone around her. She was the pride of her brothers, and even after she married into a family far away, her teachings strongly remained within the hearts of her two brothers.

    The elder brother was a man of valor, and his personality was one that was farthest away from being described as delicate. His swordsmanship easily surpassed that of his younger brother Folt, and his bravery won him many admirers.

    Folt greatly respected his elder sister and elder brother. The elder sister and brother pair also loved their clever and honest younger brother, and were proud of him.

    But his cleverness and capability brought him misfortune.

    The siblings¡¯ household was a powerful one. And only one man could succeed the house.

    Folt believed in his heart that only his elder brother, who was held in high esteem by many, could be worthy of becoming the successor to their house, and that his duty was to become his brother¡¯s strength. So, seeking higher knowledge, he devoted himself to studying without rest.

    But as time passed, there were some who voiced their thoughts of Folt being the suitable candidate for head of house.

    Folt denied them all. But when he realized that those voices wouldn¡¯t stop, Folt didn¡¯t hesitate to seek audience with his father, deciding to abandon his family name.

    But the one who stopped him, was none other than Folt¡¯s elder brother himself.

    The elder brother was aware of the great efforts Folt had made, and dearly valued his strength, because he recognized Folt¡¯s character better than anyone else.

    The elder brother didn¡¯t mind conceding the position of next in line to the head of house, so long as Folt wished for it. He knew that Folt had the abilities for the position, but he also knew that Folt didn¡¯t desire it.

    He wished for Folt to be free. But even so, he wanted Folt to display his abilities by his side, and devised a scheme that went against the wishes of his younger brother, knowing full well that he would be resented.

    It couldn¡¯t truly be called a scheme, because in a way, the elder brother was only fulfilling familial duty.

    The plan was to marry his younger brother into a relative¡¯s household which only had a daughter. There would be no problems for the time being, but once his clever younger brother married, and if that household was to grow in influence, that would be sure to bring troubles in the future.

    But the attitude of the relative¡¯s daughter wasn¡¯t good, and he had a bitter experience in putting the two together to marry.

    The elder brother knew that his younger brother had someone he was mutually in love with. The person he loved was the daughter of a wet nurse, and also his foster sister. She was an extremely kind and beautiful girl.

    However, as a foster child, she didn¡¯t have a high enough social standing. Their family would be even more opposed to their marriage than the idea of marrying his younger brother to his relatives.

    That was why the elder brother even resorted to forceful methods in bringing his younger brother closer to the house of his relatives.

    Even though he knew this would bring sorrow to his younger brother and foster sister, he did so nevertheless.

    Several years passed, and two daughters were born to Folt.

    Both of them resembled their mother and were of such poor character, that the elder brother had even once asked Folt if these two were really his children. At the very least, it was a relief that they weren¡¯t sons.

    Folt couldn¡¯t bring himself to confront his willful wife that was 2 years his senior about their children, while on the other hand, his two daughters favored their mother more than their father.

    Folt had a sudden thought. Did I truly love my wife and daughters?¡¡Taking after their beautiful mother, the two daughters were also lovely. Others expressed their envy of him, but Folt couldn¡¯t understand why. He didn¡¯t feel that he was loved by his wife and daughters.

    Folt knew that all his elder brother had done was for his sake.

    He was truly happy to be able to work for his elder brother.

    But contrary to those feelings, Folt¡¯s worries only continued to pile on, and his exhaustion only worsened as the days passed.

    Seeing him in such a state, his elder brother told him of a place where he would be able to ease his spirit.

    He headed towards that place, half in doubt, and there he found waiting for him, the woman that was his foster sister, who had never stopped loving Folt.

    The two deeply felt the mutual love they had for each other, and in time, the heavens bestowed an angel between the two of them.

    Their beloved daughter, who had come back to life from stillbirth, grew to be an unbelievably healthy child.

    She was so pure and lovely that he hesitated to even touch her.

    Was it alright for me to even go near her?¡¡I have another wife, other children. Am I worthy of being her father?

    It was the 2nd birthday of his daughter. Folt was shaken by the sight of his daughter.

    His daughter was still only an adorable child just a year ago. Yet at the tender age of 2 she had become almost frightfully lovely.

    Was she really human¡­?¡¡Was she really no angel?

    Startled by his own thoughts, Folt was more hesitant than ever in making contact with his daughter.

    But even so, when he closed his eyes, the figures of the woman and daughter he loved would come to mind.

    When he thought to himself, what if this fear of mine caused my daughter to look at me with the cold eyes of my other wife and children?, he was overcome with anxiety that threatened to burst his chest.

    On the day of his daughter¡¯s 3rd birthday. Once again, he was harboring doubts and fears in his heart when his daughter called out to Folt, called him father. He had considered the possibility of being forgotten¡­it couldn¡¯t have been helped.

    Nevertheless, the time they spent apart was too long, and he didn¡¯t know how to face his daughter.

    But all of a sudden, his daughter made the first move of demanding a hug, and that sight of her caused Folt to realize just how foolish he had been.

    His daughter had been lonely. The moment he realized that she had been feeling sad for not being able to see him, all the love he had been repressing in his heart spilled out for his beloved daughter.

    Why did I keep my distance from her, just because her beauty was disconnected from the norm?

    Just because I didn¡¯t deserve to love her, how could I have caused my innocent and precious daughter to be lonely¡­

    I¡¯ll love the both of them.

    With my life.

    Even if the world was to become my enemy.

    I¡¯ll never marry away my daughter.

    £ª£ª£ª

    There was a young maiden named Serina.

    She had turned 20 years old this year, and felt a little embarrassed of being called a young maiden, but because of her baby-face, every elderly folk that knew her called her a maiden, and she had given up on correcting them.

    She worked as a receptionist at the main campus of the magic academy within the royal capital.

    She was a magician that had graduated from the magic academy a few years back. Her specialty was summoning magic, and the demon summoning incident had occurred at the time of her graduation. As a result, she had some difficulties in finding employment due to the bad reputation of summoners.

    Moreover, Serina was of commoner origins without any connections. But the head professor of the magic academy thought it was a pity, knowing how precise her skill in drawing magic circles were, so he recommended her for office work. But for some reason, she was assigned to a receptionist post.

    Nevertheless, Serina had no complaints towards her work.

    She liked to research by nature so she would help out the professor with his research whenever she had free time, and she was also quite the expert receptionist, making her popular with visitors. Even her personality was good, and there were rumors of secret marriage proposals going around.

    But regardless of the talks of marriage, she wanted to continue working for a while longer. Serina was fond of children, and held much good-will toward the children that attended the magic academy. She was extremely happy in being able to see adorable babies once every month when they carried out magical power examinations.

    Cuteness was justice and power.

    That was a phrase she had heard by coincidence, when during one of her experiments, those words had echoed out from a magic circle. Serina understood those words with her soul, in spite of the language being foreign to her, and she accepted those words as the Word of God.

    Although that was a trivial story¡­.

    One day. When Serina, due to a lack of manpower, had to head to a branch of the magic academy on the magic examination day to help out as a receptionist, two women had appeared before her.

    One of them was a very beautiful woman with luxuriant blonde hair. The other woman wore a maid uniform and appeared to be an attendant of the former. The maid was also good-looking, but more than that, Serina¡¯s attention was focused on the child being held by the maid.

    The little girl was wearing a dress that appeared to be meant for dolls, perhaps designed by an enthusiastic noble as a hobby. She observed the girl from the side, looking at that golden hair that was much too pretty and wondered if the maid was actually carrying a doll instead.

    Once in a while, out of those who came for the examination, there would be some parents that treated their children like pets, acting as if they were angels and dressing them up gaudily, and this made Serina¡¯s mood turn weary.

    But the moment that little girl turned her face towards Serina, she felt as if her heart had stopped.

    A doll¡­¡­?¡¡That couldn¡¯t be. There was no way a doll could be this lovely.

    Having this girl wear normal clothing for children, was equal to blasphemy against God.

    Within the eyes of this little girl who continued to stare at her, Serina saw God¡­or so she felt.

    Later on she found out that the little girl was compatible with summoning and holy magic. If the girl was a noble then one day, in several years or so, she would be entering the main school instead of the branch school.

    Unable to hold back her anticipation, Serina looked up the name of the little girl, and fiercely clenching her fist, she speculated to herself that entering a summoning magic related position may allow her to be acquainted with that girl.

    Clack¡­¡­

    Serina was slightly startled as she turned around toward the abrupt sound of footsteps.

    Lately, Serina had been spending too much time in recalling the figure of that little girl in her memory, causing her to fall behind on work, and so every few days she would work overtime to finish the piled up workload.

    When she noticed, night had already fallen and the only form of illumination was the magic light on her desk while there were no other staff members around.

    Of course, there were a few professors staying behind, but they were all people devoted to their research and they would almost never come over to the office work area.

    So the most likely person remaining was the security guard. But as I was bracing myself to be scolded and told to go home, what appeared instead was a woman wearing a simple yet well-tailored deep red dress.

    ¡¸Vi, vice director, -sama?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­Oh my. I see there was still someone remaining.¡¹

    The woman called the vice director calmly smiled at Serina¡­but something in her smile gave off the feeling of a bird of prey.

    Although she was the vice director, she was still relatively young. Her age was around 30¡­¡­

    She had luxurious red hair that gave off a deep passionate impression, and her lips glimmered with a rosy red color. Her blue eyes shone with a powerful light made you want to avert your gaze. Her simple dress that displayed her alluring arms and legs to their fullest, appeared to have been created just for her, and while the features of her face was a little harsh, even that seemed to only further add to her beauty.

    But for all that, her looks didn¡¯t appeal to Serina.

    ¡¸Thank you for your hard work. ¡­..That¡¯s right, would you mind if I asked for a favor?¡¹

    ¡¸Ye, yes, what might it be-¡¹

    Although it was this late, Serina had no intentions of refusing the vice director. But she felt doubtful in her mind. While there were two vice directors of the magic academy, her post was granted as an honorary position, and she would show up at the academy a few times a year at most. Serina couldn¡¯t understand why she would be here alone and at such a late time.

    ¡¸I¡¯d like to see the list of names for the successful applicants during the magical power examinations in the past few years¡­just 3 years worth of examination results will do fine.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­Ye, yes.¡¹

    Why would she ask for such a thing¡­?¡¡She puzzled it over in her mind, but didn¡¯t have the courage to ask in person. But perhaps her face had shown her confusion for a moment, because the vice director spoke as if to answer her question,

    ¡¸I just wanted to know just how many children of the nobles there were that might work for the country in the future, that¡¯s all.¡¹

    After speaking, the vice director unexpectedly smiled and warmly laughed.

    ¡¸I, I¡¯ll bring it right away.¡¹

    Fully convinced by the vice director¡¯s speech that seemed to be prepared in advance, Serina swiftly took out a book with the list of names she had always been secretly looking at.

    ¡¸Thank you. Please wait a moment.¡¹

    Flipping page after page¡­she appeared to be searching for something instead of reading through. After pausing for a moment on a certain page, she immediately closed the book and returned it to Serina.

    ¡¸That was enough. And I have to say, it isn¡¯t good for a girl to be alone here at this time. If you have work due, make sure to do it early in the morning.¡¹

    ¡¸Ye, yes.¡¹

    Serina reacted to her sensible warning by standing up straight and replying yes, after which the vice director walked away, disappearing along the corridor, with the magic light from the small wand she held swaying against the darkness.

    Serina remained frozen in that pose of standing to attention, until the footsteps of the vice director were completely gone. Afterwards, she collapsed back onto her chair.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Let¡¯s go home.¡¹

    £ª

    Honorary vice director of the magic academy. Her name was Albertine.

    Normally, a person of her status would be accompanied by attendants, but they had been made to wait outside of the academy in an inconspicuous spot.

    She couldn¡¯t afford to stand out by bringing along a large number of people. And she didn¡¯t trust anyone apart from a select few.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­Zumana.¡¹

    She softly called out, and a thin man in his early twenties appeared out of the darkness, smoothly bowing towards her.

    ¡¸The children?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes. Although the ojousama-gata missed oku-sama and danna-sama, they fell asleep a while ago.¡¹(-gata=plural form, oku-sama=wife, danna-sama=hubby)

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡¹

    Not long after murmuring those words, Albertine whispered to herself in a barely audible voice.

    ¡¸So he isn¡¯t there¡­¡¹

    Albertine herself didn¡¯t seem to realize she had let out such a whisper, but Zumana had heard it, and couldn¡¯t help but to cast down his gaze when he sensed the uncontrollable emotions in her voice.

    ¡¸Follow me.¡¹

    ¡¸Yes.¡¹

    Albertine didn¡¯t look back as she started walking, and Zumana gave a silent bow towards her back before following behind.

    The two continued to walk along the corridors within the academy, illuminating the way with a small magic light. After navigating through numerous paths, which would cause an unfamiliar person to lose their way, they finally reached a place where there was a single door, which was letting out a dim light from the gap underneath.

    ¡¸Gasparl-sama, are you in there?¡¹

    Albertine didn¡¯t knock, but called out in a voice that wasn¡¯t loud nor small, and several seconds later the door opened, revealing an elderly gentleman.

    ¡¸Well if it isn¡¯t Albertine-sama, welcome.¡¹

    Professor Gasparl had a warm smile on his face as he greeted the late visiting Albertine, who had once been his star pupil and was now his superior.

    ¡¸Is this another new experiment of yours, Gasparl-sama¡­?¡¹

    The interior of the room hadn¡¯t changed a bit from the time she was a pupil, but upon seeing a magic circle she had never seen before, she smiled helplessly as she recalled the nickname of the professor: the mad researcher.

    ¡¸Hahaha. You see, I came across a child with strong magic and a talent for summoning magic. Before that child enters the academy, I wanted to fix up some things that weren¡¯t working due to insufficient magical power.¡¹

    ¡¸I¡­see.¡¹

    Albertine slowly narrowed her eyes, thinking back to the list of names she had read prior to this visit.

    ¡¸It¡¯s a messy place here, but how about a cup of tea?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­I¡¯m fine, thank you. Rather than that, how is the research going on with the magic circle from before?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s almost finished, however¡­with the way it is now, its compelling force is rather low, so it will take a while longer.¡¹(compelling force=demon restricting power)

    Calling out a specific demons, and specific spirits. A magic circle that didn¡¯t randomly summon by type, but instead summoned strong individuals in accordance with the image of the summoner.

    Gasparl had thought it would make for an interesting experiment. Even if two fire spirits were to be summoned, there would be differences in individual strength according to the time they have spent in existence.

    It was known that if a user of spirit magic earned the favor of a spirit, and if the user summoned that spirit, then it would not only grow in intelligence, but in power also. However, it wasn¡¯t possible to earn the favor of powerful spirits except for those spirit magicians of exceptional caliber. But if a summoning magic circle could be used to make forced summons, even a lesser magician would be able to gain an above-average power.

    However, Gasparl wondered.

    ¡¸What would you use such a thing for¡­?¡¹

    The mood silently changed as Gasparl shot a piercing gaze towards Albertine.

    ¡¸It¡¯s because I also like to research. Moreover, ever since that incident, there has been harsh criticism against summoners, so if I could somehow help danna-sama using summoning magic¡­¡¹

    The public impression of summoning magic would change as well.

    ¡¸So that¡¯s how it is¡­¡­as one would expect of Albertine-sama. Well then, take this.¡¹

    Gasparl smiled, and handed over the experimental prototype magic circle he had readily prepared.

    Albertine breathed a little easier, having successfully obtained the item which was the purpose for today.

    ¡¸Gasparl-sama, thank you very much. I¡¯ll return this favor in time¡­¡¹

 Volume 1 - CH 6

    Human beings and other creatures of this world live serious lives.

    Half a year has passed since my 3-year-old Birthday.

    As expected, I¡¯m a 3-year-old. It¡¯s different from a 2-year-old. Understand that in this half a year many, many things have changed; or so I feel these days.

    The first change was from my Father.

    His visits of this mansion, which were once 1-2 times per Year, have now increased to 1-2 times per Month.

    What happened, Father? Did you get fired? (1)

    No, no. If it¡¯s my wonderful father, customers would come by the dozens. As his daughter, I can guarantee it.

    Then, there¡¯s that¡­¡­ I don¡¯t care for sweets, so there¡¯s no need to bring them every time. Eating them makes me restless. Even if you serve them by hand with teary eyes, I¡¯ll refuse.

    Well, although when I say that, his face becomes very lonely¡­¡­

    Ahh, I can¡¯t resist the temptation of Father¡¯s lap. I love sitting on his knee a lot. Recently, he along with my Mother have started patting me.

    ¡­¡­ You guys, aren¡¯t you pampering me a bit too much?

    £ª

    Min came to read me a book. I really like stories.

    Of course, I¡¯ve also read before, you know? The book Min¡¯s brought is a picture book; it¡¯s essentially a biography of this land, the surrounding areas, and other such things.

    ¡¸Deep within the forest, a Fairy tribe known as the Shiodaifuku dwells.¡¹ (2)

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸Deep within the forest, the Fairy tribe Shiodaifuku lives.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, I see.¡¹

    I carelessly interrupted Min, causing her to energetically repeat what she said. ¡ºSalt Daifuku¡» is¡­¡­ What is it? I think I sort of recall some sort of strange creature.

    As a Demon¡­ Or more, as an inhabitant of the Spirit World, even if I don¡¯t understand the language, I can feel the intentions contained within the words.

    I¡ºheard¡»the proper noun through the sound it makes. For example, a word that means Apple, when heard, will translate to Apple. When I say Apple, it¡¯s translated in a language above the common¡¾Spirit Language¡¿: the ¡¾Holy Spirit Language¡¿, so it¡¯s translated and understood of its own accord.

    Though speaking is incredibly convenient, letters are a bit troublesome.

    I can read without a problem. The writing is converted into characters of a known language, and sorted properly; even if it¡¯s just a glance, so long as I¡¯ve read the word once before I can read fluently.

    But that won¡¯t do. I can¡¯t write. Not understanding the grammar of the language I¡¯m writing is fatal.

    I have to remember each and every character written while watching the characters reform converted while writing. It¡¯s really troublesome.

    And so, I¡¯ve begun to think that it would be better to tone down the ability of ¡ºLanguage Conversion¡» and started studying.

    I lower ¡ºLanguage Conversion¡» and slowly mutter ¡ºSalt Daifuku¡».

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Elf.¡¹

    Seriously?

    From the story, my knowledge of the Elves wasn¡¯t changed much, but the common sense of this world is quite tricky.

    Incidentally, Dwarves are also present.

    Their natural pronunciation is better than Salt Daifuku: ¡ºMochipurun¡» (3).

    ¡­¡­ Hm? It doesn¡¯t really matter, but their height seems to be ~2 meters.

    Both races seem to live in seclusion, so finding any in this country is quite improbable. Even so, I still wish to see them. Because the moment I meet them, I¡¯ll likely burst into laughter.

    Now, I should teach you of this Country.

    The Holy Kingdom Taritelde. (?) The Imperial Capital has many surrounding cities; it seems that millions of people live there. Whether many things are shared between the cities or not, I do not know.

    To the west is the Touru territory. (?) Hundreds of thousands of people live there.

    It seems that it¡¯s common for people to live their entire lifetime without taking even one step out of the territory.

    Many Countries are similar in that respect, however, as it can take 2-3 weeks to travel long distances by carriage. I¡¯d prefer not experiencing such a thing if possible.

    ¡¸There¡¯s a ¡¾Demon King¡¿ in the far-off country of Yul, too©`¡¹

    ¡¸D-Demon King?¡¹

    ¡­¡­ As expected of a fantasy! (?)

    Far away, it seems that a ¡¾Demon¡¿ country exists, and there are numerous countries with Demons living among them.

    But don¡¯t Demons live in the Spirit World? Although, I seem to be living on ordinary land.

    I¡¯m different from common Humans in appearance, so this information is making me a bit restless. I need to calm down a little.

    In the end, my fears were dispersed upon learning that the last attack on Humanity was several hundreds of years ago. Hey, Min, stroke my head. There¡¯s no guarantee that another war won¡¯t happen? Don¡¯t raise such a flag.

    £ª

    ¡¸Yuru seems quite fond of fish.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Yes.¡¹

    As a matter of fact, I don¡¯t particularly like them.

    Our Mansion is situated in the middle of a slightly elevated hill, and there¡¯s a brook just outside of one of the walls.

    Because of this, Franz the gardener usually goes fishing together with some guards.

    ¡­¡­ What about the work?

    I¡¯m being held completely by Fer when we came to see it, but how old will I need to be for her to stop carrying me around¡­?

    Won¡¯t doing this result in bigger arm muscles? Will you be able to get married with such arms?

    As an aside, will the fish that¡¯re caught today be used for dinner tonight? Their taste is a bit plain.

    Why can I feel that way without being a fish enthusiast? ¡¾He¡¿ had used magic to catch fish before, that¡¯s how.

    To be frank, I feel a strange temptation after pulling dying fish out of the water. It¡¯s similar to the feeling I would get by chasing Mice and Insects inside the Spirit World.

    But following my instincts and attacking a Fish-san with my bare hands would result in me being taken to the Hospital under the suspicion that something¡¯s wrong with my head, without a doubt.

    At the same time, the main reason I don¡¯t do it is because I don¡¯t want to get my hands dirty¡­ How selfish of me.

    It¡¯s also slightly frightening that I¡¯d be able to do so and promptly use ¡ºRecovery Magic¡» on the Fish.

    It shouldn¡¯t be used for such a cruel reason. (?)

    Timidly, I peek into the creel and see several River Fish-sans twitching within. (?)

    Anyway, the trouble I¡¯m faced with is that I find these half-dead looking Fish-sans more delicious than cooked ones. (?)

    Hm? Is it natural to like Fish-sans in this state?

    Waa©` I really am childlike, aren¡¯t I¡­¡­¡­?

    Mhh?¡­¡­ I really can¡¯t understand my sense of taste.

    £ª

    Vio teaches me about Magic.

    Even though I know that I can¡¯t use Magic types other than Summoning Magic and Holy Magic, I still need to understand other types of Magic after all.

    Also, I don¡¯t understand whether my Magic power is that of a 3-year-old Human or that of a Demon currently, so if I don¡¯t learn about it early, I could end up revealing my true identity.

    ¡¸This Magic is a common spell of the Water attribute.¡¹

    So Vio said with a serious face while a dense ball of water floats above her palm.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Common?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s an extremely common Water Spell.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    How vague.

    What¡¯s common¡­¡­? Is it just common in general? Or maybe it¡¯s the principles the magic is invocated with? Or maybe it¡¯s the incantation?

    ¡¸It can be used by chanting its age-old incantation.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ So that¡¯s how it is.¡¹

    Really vague¡­¡­ What¡¯s the Magic Academy teaching?

    ¡¸¡­ Who invented the Spell?¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard that it was the Elves, but¡­¡¹

    Is that so? Good job, Elves.

    The incantation is conveyed without thinking about it, so it can be used at any time¡­¡­ What foolishness.

    It¡¯s stupid, and just barely tolerable to think that the incantation is chanted using a ¡ºCommon Language¡». I don¡¯t know what language it¡¯s spoken in, probably Elvish, but it¡¯s making use of the ¡¾Spirit Language¡¿ in order to summarize the words.

    But that¡¯s even more foolish, because the people who¡¯re using it won¡¯t understand what they¡¯re chanting!

    Instead, it¡¯s simply memorized!

    But I¡¯m a Demon, so I can understand it. Even if I didn¡¯t want to understand it, I would.

    I heard the Chant used by Vio earlier; this is what it sounded like:

    ¡ºWater, which governs all of creation, kiss mine hand.¡»

    It¡¯s compressed. It¡¯s commonly spread. And for some reason, it works.

    This common magic is really, really vague.

    ¡¸What about Spirit Magic?¡¹

    ¡¸It calls them.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eh?¡¹

    ¡¸You can use it to call upon a Spirit.¡¹

    What would happen if there were no Spirits nearby¡­?

    ¡¸Well, Wind Spirits are present when the wind blows, and Water Spirits are always hidden somewhere within the water.¡¹

    So you call out, and they find you. ¡­¡­ What is this, Demonic hide-and-seek?

    I haven¡¯t seen Spirit Magic used anywhere but the Magic Academy, but¡­¡­

    In my puzzlement, Vio slightly tilts her head.

    ¡¸Come to think of it, the area around the Mansion didn¡¯t have any signs of Spirits at all.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    They must have ran away from me.

    The fact that when I sit beside a Fireplace the fire becomes smaller is proof of that.

    So, in short, for Spirit Magic, if a Human can call an appropriate Spirit properly, the Magic works. So, if I can manage to find a Spirit that doesn¡¯t hide from me, it¡¯ll be fine.

    I¡¯d like it if a Spirit went out of its way to find me, but¡­¡­ Well¡­¡­

    Frankly, the number of Spirits which would do so is lacking¡­¡­

    Is this really what you¡¯d call magic¡­¡­?

    ¡¸It is said that Summoning Magic makes use of shapes in a similar way words are used for Spirits.¡¹

    That¡¯s surprisingly decent.

    ¡¸And so?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ And so what, Yuru-ojousama?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­Ha?¡¹

    That¡¯s all?!

    ¡¸Well, Summoning Magic itself is still being researched, and it only became possible to summon Spirits with it recently¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸What about in the past¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸The moment they were called, they disappeared.¡¹ (1?)

    Is this even usable?

    But if Summoning is based off of Spirit Magic¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t practitioners be unaccustomed to granting the summoned creature¡¯s request?

    Ah, I see. That¡¯s why Demon Summoning is mainstream.

    Since Demons can simply make a Contract if there isn¡¯t a ¡ºSouvenir¡» of some sort.

    And so, summoning Animals using the same method one would use with Spirits and Demons would be difficult. I can understand the reasoning somehow. Their bodies would essentially be a mass of Magical Power, and so they wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the physical realm properly. (11)

    My impression is that Magic Formations, when written neatly, are quite stable. If it was messy, then it would feel similar to being caught on a hangnail.

    The size of the formation itself likely changes the required amount of Magical Power.

    Because I passed through by force, I ended up in this state.

    ¡¸Last is Holy Magic¡­¡­¡¹

    I have Vio teach me a simple incantation.

    Though this is similar to other Magic, I feel that it¡¯s a bit different. It¡¯s extremely simple. The Spell that Vio used, when translated, ended up as ¡ºShine, Light¡»(12)

    Similar to a ball, a Magic Light was formed when I tried it. In the case of common lights made via Magic, the use of Fire Magic for me is impossible.

    ¡¸Oh, it¡¯s splendid Yuru-ojousama.¡¹

    ¡¸Ah, thank you.¡¹

    This, so long my eyes became accustomed to the area, wouldn¡¯t this Spell not be needed? (13)

    While thinking so, Vio explained further.

    ¡¸For Holy Magic, it becomes customizable depending on one¡¯s mental image.¡¹

    Like that, there seems to be more than one use for each Spell.

    After kneading the Magic, I increase the power. Once I become accustomed to the sense of emitting light, the light becomes stronger. When using an image of God, it becomes¡ºHeal¡». It becomes ¡ºSacred Light¡» through the image of destroying Evil. (1?)

    But I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any real relationship to God. (1?)

    In short, simply because the all-purpose Energy was in the ¡ºLight¡» state, the image of God appears.

    But as a weak Spirit, my intent might just be weak as well¡­¡­

    £ª

    Now let¡¯s talk about the Animals of this world.

    There¡¯re horses. Well, there¡¯re carriages, so that should be obvious¡­¡­

    Its figure is almost exactly the same as those in my memories, but they¡¯re a little silly.

    They run over to their masters like dogs to be fawned over. Because they¡¯re big, it¡¯s a little scary.

    ¡¸Look, Yurushia, this is Ouma-san¡¹

    ¡¸Ouma©`¡¹

    Currently, I¡¯m being held by Father, who¡¯s showing off his favorite horse.

    It seems from the perspective of others, it was pitiful for me to not being outdoors more often. Because of this, my Mother made a request.

    Father, Mother, and three other people were to come with me outside. I was delighted, but¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem that Mother can come. *sniffle*

    Instead, today¡¯s turn to cuddle became entirely Father¡¯s, although Vio came as well.

    ¡­¡­ Hey, won¡¯t I become poor at walking if this keeps happening¡­? The chain of pampering just doesn¡¯t stop.

    So, today we would be riding to the outskirts of town on horseback.

    Was a place closer by no good? I don¡¯t have a problem because I can purr on my father, but for his subordinates, we¡¯ve been moving without a carriage for about an hour.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Sig is quiet.¡¹

    Although it seems to love Father and rushed quickly over to him, it became completely stiff when it looked at me.

    Sig-kun. Why are you averting your eyes?

    To Father¡¯s subordinates, he¡¯s an affable horse, but the moment he saw me, he started madly rubbing his head against me, and even yelled at the subordinates who approached. Just the other day he looked up at me with glittering eyes while showing me his stomach.

    Understanding this creature is impossible for me¡­¡­

    Although I wondered whether I could talk with him using my ability, it wasn¡¯t able to converse because its language was unintelligible.

    Anyways, I¡¯m riding that Sig-kun with my Father.

    Slowly, slowly and carefully¡­¡­ How amazing, Sig-kun. With this movement, a horse walking on thin ice would be possible, you know¡­¡­

    If possible, I want you to run with a *clip-clop*. Even though I have my cool Father riding among white horses, this speed¡¯s a bit disappointing¡­

    Father riding on a running white horse would be really cool, I think.

    Using my scarce knowledge, I try to imagine Father riding a white horse, wearing a kimono and riding across the beach¡­ But all that comes to mind are rambunctious kids. (1?) Why?

    After passing time by having fun with Father, we take a carriage back to the house.

    I¡¯m on the knee of my father for the journey. Incidentally, my feet haven¡¯t touched the ground since we¡¯ve left the house.

    On the middle of the way back, the carriage is stopped suddenly. I wonder if it¡¯s a traffic accident?

    Immediately, the door of the carriage is opened and one of the subordinates whispers something into Father¡¯s ear. Even with the ears of a Demon, I still don¡¯t understand the contents.

    Regretfully, I¡¯m lowered from my father¡¯s knee¡­¡­ And handed promptly to Vio before heading outside of the carriage.

    Just what¡¯s happening outside? ¡­¡­ I¡¯m concerned.

    ¡¸Y-Yuru-ojousama?¡¹

    Vio is acting unusually flustered. How come?

    For the most part, I who is quiet just like a doll, don¡¯t ask anything selfish, but even so I reach towards the window of the horse-drawn carriage.

    ¡¸I want to look outside©`¡¹

    ¡¸O-ojou-sama, the Master will return soon¡­¡¹

    Vio seems to have thought that I felt lonely from being apart from Father¡­¡­ Perhaps another push?

    ¡¸¡­¡­Muu.¡¹

    ¡¸It can¡¯t be helped, perhaps just a little?¡¹

    After puffing out my cheeks and staring fixatedly, she flinched and easily gave permission.

    Is she afraid of me after all?

    When I look out of the glass window, I see father talk about something to a woman with bright red hair as she descends from a different carriage.

    She¡¯s beautiful. But Mother is more beautiful.

    The beauty seems to be in a bad mood about something¡­¡­ And Father seems to be lacking his usual vigor. Could our carriage have accidentally collided with theirs? Do they have insurance? (1?)

    But that person¡­¡­ They seem to be acting quite bossy towards Father¡­¡­

    While I stared with a slightly displeased feeling, the beauty suddenly looks my way, and the moment our eyes met her eyes visibly widened.

    It seems I surprised her¡­¡­ There were a complex variety of emotions that I felt when our eyes were intertwined, and after saying something to Father she returned to her carriage immediately.

    What on earth was up with that¡­¡­?

    £ª

    Little by little, I¡¯ve practiced Magic.

    I¡¯m a three-year-old child, after all. I can¡¯t carry out any exercises that require movement, anyways. To a regular child, such a life would be unbearable, but I¡¯m a daughter who¡¯s been tenderly pampered and overprotected.

    Now, the danger of being kidnapped is higher than that of being found out as a Demon.

    And my kind parents, who dote on me despite my scary inhuman appearance, would have to pay off the ransom.

    And so, because my physical strength in that situation is hopeless, I¡¯ll fight using magic.

    Fortunately, either because of my identity as a Demon or heredity from my parents, my Magical Power seems to be quite large; depending on the method, I might be able to escape if such a situation comes to pass.

    I¡¯ll become stro©`ng.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Now then.¡¹

    Secretly, I sneak out of bed.

    I was given my own room at the age of two, and when I became three I began sleeping alone.

    I feel that it¡¯s a little early for a three-year-old, but I suppose that¡¯s just the way it is in this world. If it were a regular child, they might wake up in the middle of the night without their parents and *Wa©`Wa©`* cry out. (1?)

    But I don¡¯t cry. I don¡¯t cry in the middle of the night and rush over to Mother¡¯s room. Even if there¡¯re signs of Mother and other Maids hanging around in front of the room at midnight, I don¡¯t pay it any heed.

    Weren¡¯t you the guys who told me to go bed alone?

    Back to the original topic; I woke up in the middle of the night and quietly walked out of my room.

    The goal is, of course, to practice magic. It seems that there¡¯re many children that can learn Holy Magic, but it¡¯s difficult for a child, as I can practice and still do badly. They seem to escape using it through other, easier Magics.

    Many children who do so then lose the ability to use Holy Magic.

    My hypothesis is that the source of Holy Magic is an apparition of light, and it doesn¡¯t wish to lend its power to children who hate it. But really, what did it expect?

    Since it doesn¡¯t fear a Demon like me, it must be a pretty laid back Spirit. But that¡¯s only a hypothesis.

    In any case, my parents would become uneasy about me losing my affinity to Holy Magic and being skilled in only Summoning Magic, which most have a bad impression of.

    And so, Vio, please teach me more Holy Magic. So far, all I¡¯m practicing is the method to increase the amount of light being emitted.

    But I¡¯m troubled that that¡¯s the case, because the danger I¡¯m preparing for occurs while I¡¯m young.

    ¡¸¡­¡­Muu.¡¹

    I feel a slight sign of Vio and make a small groan.

    I suppose Vio¡¯s on duty today?

    Whenever I get up to use the restroom, someone comes immediately.

    But only my body is that of a child, on the inside I¡¯m a Demon. I could easily disappear into the darkness to deceive everyone¡¯s eyes.

    ¡¸Yuru-sama, are you going to use the washroom?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yes.¡¹

    ¡­¡­ Right. I knew this would happen from the start.

    I, who failed to escape, gave up on my secret training and simply did image training in bed.

    Huh? Isn¡¯t this also practicing?

    For practicing Summoning Magic, it¡¯s more ¡ºStudying¡» than practicing.

    I simply copy down the simplest Summoning Magic formation written on the ¡ºSpellbook for 3-year-olds¡». The writing tool: a Crayon.

    ¡¸As one would expect from Yuru-ojousama, you¡¯re quite skilled.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I-Is that so?¡¹

    If it was written so well, would it really necessary to quickly substitute the paper before Magic Power is distributed?

    Actually, in the first place, why do I have to use crayons? They¡¯re thicker than my fingers, so how would I even be able to write delicate formations?

    ¡¸Because they¡¯re sharp, feather pens are no good.¡¹

    It seems sharp¡­¡­ But it¡¯s not as sharp as a fork, you know? ¡­¡­ Is that it? Is that the reason why I¡¯m not allowed to eat with anything other than spoons¡­?

    While being dazed at my sudden realization, Vio takes my hand and creates two beautiful circles.

    ¡¸First, Ojousama should practice making a clean circle.¡¹

    I¡¯m not even at the level of being able to write characters?

    Well, it can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s inevitable that I can¡¯t draw a proper circle at 3 years old.

    ¡­¡­ *Sniffle*

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well then¡­¡¹

    I¡¯m having my second practice secretly at night.

    Because the movements of this body is awkward and disables me from drawing magic formations well, I¡¯ll just have to examine the magic power using the knowledge and power of a Demon.

    I remember the shape of a magic formation in my head, and create it using magic power.

    This practice was partially influenced by the knowledge of what I saw in the world I saw within a dream. Within the dream I remember reading a book about a Which who, using nothing to create the formation, *battabatta* ©` defeated her enemies.

    Alright, I can do this.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Umm¡­¡¹

    It doesn¡¯t turn out very well.

    The formation is warped for some reason when I make it. When I try to repair it it grows, and all of the characters disappear. Inside of the circle, a figure of Fish-san appeared, which took my attention away from the circle, too¡­¡­

    ¡¸Should I make it big¡­?¡¹

    On a whim, I opened the window quietly. Even when the cool wind flows into the room, there¡¯s no sign that any Maids will come rushing in.

    ¡¸Mumun©`!¡¹

    I fire myself up and draw a magic formation outside of the window. Its color is as dim as possible, and I create it large as to allow it to become warped to some extent. I think it was correct choice to create it outside, as it wouldn¡¯t fit in the room.

    Probably because I was too fired up, the summoning formation spreads as far as the sky over the city; but it¡¯s impossible to see under the cover of the night sky.

    The formation won¡¯t activate so long as I don¡¯t input any magic power, but I can manipulate it without a problem because it¡¯s created entirely out of magic.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I wonder what this would summon?¡¹

    If I¡¯m not mistaken, an insect was summoned with this formation originally¡­¡­

    At that time, I noticed. Small black things had begun to spring out from the summoning formation, and began to fall onto the corner of the city.

    As for the identity of the creatures¡­¡­ After seeing their glossy black, rustling appearances, I close the window and sneak into bed while covering my head with a blanket.

    Yes. I didn¡¯t see anything. I know nothing.

    £ª

    On a certain night, large quantities of unidentified ¡ºShining Black Insects¡» appeared, plunging local residents into confusion.

    The extermination wasn¡¯t solely done by the residents; soldiers, militia, and even lecturers from the Institute of Magic worked together to carefully search and eradicate the creatures. One week later, the extermination finally concluded.

    An individual from the Institute of Magic wanted to keep one of the apparitions for research, but it was demanded that the supposed-spirits would be completely eradicated, so not even one egg remained in the end.

    Some of the lower-grade Fire Spirit specialists were called for the extermination, and as if they were threatened by someone (1?), they worked desperately despite seeming frightened.

    And, watching over the situation from behind a window, a little girl mutters with a slightly pensive expression:

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡¹seriously from a distance.

 Volume 1 - CH 7

    Several months have passed since that disgusting unidentified-insect case, and I¡¯ll become 4 years old in ~2-3 months.

    During the time of the incident, I was kind of depressed, because I had made so many people worried¡­ But now I¡¯m fine. My body and heart have become considerably grown up.

    For now, the use of Summoning Magic is sealed. I¡¯ll study solely Magic Formations.

    Also because of the incident, Father became very busy and didn¡¯t visit for about 2 months. When Father suddenly returned, just as I was about to sate my cat-like desires, he abruptly invited me to a tea party.

    A tea party? Why? Up until now I¡¯ve only conversed with about 10 people ¡ª I¡¯m a pure-bred shut-in.

    ¡¸There¡¯re many children around the same age as Yurushia who¡¯ll be going to the tea party.¡¹

    In other words, because the fact that I¡¯ve only ever met adults is worrying, this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce some friend candidates¡­¡­ But how exactly do I play with children?

    If only for the sake of keeping Father from losing face, I decided to attend.

    For that reason, I¡¯m now being jolted around in a carriage.

    Of course, my seat is on the knee of my Father. Father, please do your best. I¡¯ll probably continue sitting on your knee until I¡¯m about 15 years old, after all.

    Oh, aside from that half-serious joke, the tea party will be taking place in the Imperial Capital 3 days from now. It¡¯ll take 2 days for us to arrive by carriage.

    ¡­¡­ Why is the schedule so clogged up? What would have happened if I didn¡¯t get on the carriage immediately?

    Mother isn¡¯t coming either¡­¡­ Even though I wanted to see the Capital together as a family¡­¡­

    For the time being Vio and Fer have arrived instead.

    As for the luggage, it was kept to a minimum. I wondered whether what I was wearing would be acceptable, but it seems that everything is prepared at the designation. Don¡¯t only the wealthy do that sort of stuff?

    Father, just what exactly is your work? Nobody¡¯s ever brought up the subject, so to a 3-year-old, wouldn¡¯t it be natural to be suspicious? I wonder if he¡¯ll reveal it when I become 4?

    Anyways, even if I had said that it¡¯d take 2 days to arrive at the Imperial Capital, because we¡¯re not moving along a forest, we aren¡¯t camping out. That would be natural. Sleeping outdoors wouldn¡¯t suit Father, after all.

    Taking a road through the fields, we arrive at a town just before evening breaks. Didn¡¯t we leave the house at noon? Was it really possible to arrived in the middle of the night simply due to perseverance?

    And I¡¯ll only be coming back about a week from now¡­¡­ I¡¯ve never been separated from Mother for more than half a day, so I¡¯m a little anxious.

    But I¡¯m enjoying myself a little, too. Today I get to sleep together with Father, after all. Ufufu~

    £ª

    Because we¡¯ve been passing through solely residential areas, I arrived uneventfully without being stalled by Bandits or the like.

    Although, I don¡¯t think there would have been a problem if we did meet any. There¡¯re more than 10 Guards acting as our escort, as well as a Butler Ojii-chan (1), who¡¯s been added as a new pampering personnel.

    To everyone who earnestly protected a child like me, I gave my sincerest thanks. Ojii-chan started crying when I did so, though. Why? Is he perhaps emotionally unstable? I¡¯ll pat him on the shoulder later.

    Now then, it¡¯s time for the tea party.

    Apparently this is the common setup, with chairs and tables being set up within the huge garden in front of a mansion, an Orchestra playing in the background, a ridiculous amount of sweets, and the tea being prepared by Maids¡­¡­ There¡¯re only about 6 children attending.

    Erm¡­ Are these perhaps nobles? Is this what it¡¯s like to live as a Noble-sama? Really, Father, what¡¯s your job? Could it be that the Child of Father¡¯s company President is present?

    But as expected, none of the children would be from the company. They would be the sons and daughters of frequent customers instead. Otherwise, Father wouldn¡¯t have needed to take me out on such a tight schedule.

    But this¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t this dangerous? My actions could affect the success of my Father.

    ¡¸¡­ F-Father?¡¹

    ¡¸It¡¯s alright, you can run along. Social position is irrelevant to this tea party.¡¹

    Even if you say that¡­¡­ If your child isn¡¯t sophisticated and acts freely, the President could treat it as a serious issue.

    And so, I¡¯ll brilliantly take the part of a maiden who¡¯s been brought up with tender care.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Umm¡­¡¹

    What should I do, exactly? Nobody¡¯s approaching me.

    Looking at the other children, there¡¯re 2 Boys and 4 Girls. They aren¡¯t the same age, but they all seem to be older than me.

    Because the boys were speaking to one another, I approach the girls. As soon as they notice me, however, they freeze with their mouths hanging open.

    Ah¡­¡­ I¡¯m being feared again¡­¡­

    Not only to Spirits and Sig-kun, even those around my age are afraid¡­¡­ Even I would be startled if I saw an elaborate doll during the middle of the night.

    Is it even possible to exchange greetings with things already flowing so terribly?

    But it could be seen as rude if I come here and simply remain silent¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    As to not be scary, at the last moment I gave a smile as fiercelessly as possible, pick up the hem of my bright green dress, and bow quietly. I then moved towards a slightly remote table.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuu¡­¡¹

    So as to not let myself be heard, I breathe out a small breath.

    I was extremely tense, so when I finally took a short breath the sound of the surroundings finally returned.

    A Maid immediately comes and serves me tea and sweets. But, rather than being served, it¡¯s more like it¡¯s being piled in front of me into a mountain.

    ¡¸T-Thank you¡­¡¹

    ¡¸N-No, it¡¯s fine!¡¹

    Has my nervousness spread? I¡¯m sorry. I wonder if it¡¯s possible to return these sweets¡­ Eh? It¡¯s not? Perhaps if I hand it off to Fer she¡¯d be able to finish it off?

    The tea seems to be high-quality, and there isn¡¯t a difference in temperatures at all. That must have been difficult.

    When I look over at the children for an instant, I see that everyone¡¯s eyes are fixed on me¡­¡­ Ku, what a heavy atmosphere¡­¡­ All of the conversations have stopped, too.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ U-Um¡­¡¹

    A pretty voice is heard. Oh? As I though such a thing, I turned towards the voice and found a lovely little girl staring back at me.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Yes?¡¹

    Thinking that she¡¯s spoken to me, I reply slowly as to not seem intimidating.

    Uwaa©`¡­¡­ This child is really tense. She seems like the type of adorable child that would be afraid of talking to people.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Um, it it¡¯s alright, would you like to pick flowers with me over there¡­?¡¹

    Pick flowers¡­? It¡¯s not some code for going to the toilet, but rather an earnest request to pick flowers. She¡¯s quite a gentle child, huh¡­ I was unable to remain indifferent to her invitation, and responded.

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Alright.¡¹

    The child, which was relieved by my reply, laughed. Cute? With soft, fluffy blond hair like Mother¡¯s, she has blue eyes like a doll ¡ª but in a different sense than my own.

    When I tumbled slightly from getting off the chair, she panicked and quickly supported me.

    ¡¸Thank you.¡¹

    ¡¸U-Unn.¡¹

    Shaking her head with a *bunbun*, the girl starts walking while holding my hand. She seems like an older sister who¡¯s taking care of a small child. Cute.

    Actually, I wonder whether she noticed that I was feeble? But even if that¡¯s the case, you don¡¯t have to hug my arm¡­¡­ I beg of you.

    ¡¸I¡¯m She¡­¡­ My name is Shelly. (2) M-may I ask for your name as well¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­? I¡¯m Yurushia.¡¹

    Why honorific language? I wonder if she¡¯s the daughter of an extremely good home or something? Even though it¡¯s just a conversation between children, elders shouldn¡¯t use honorific language to those younger than themselves, so please stop.

    Incidentally, in a Noble¡¯s way of thinking, shouldn¡¯t I present my family name? Even if I think deeply, I can¡¯t remember my full name, though. Well, I suppose it wouldn¡¯t really be needed in a tea party without status restrictions, huh?

    The flower garden was quite close to the table.

    It¡¯s rare for a flower garden to be covered with weeds like the Alpine flowers. But as for me, I prefer these. There¡¯re also Roses, but they¡¯re being firmly guarded by the Maids.

    ¡¸Yurushia-sama, let¡¯s make a corolla. (3)¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Y-Yurushia is fine, you know? Shelly-sama,¡¹

    ¡¸I understand, Yurushia-sama, then please just call me Shelly as well.¡¹

    This child didn¡¯t understand at all¡­¡­

    Anything I say will be futile in this situation. Excluding Mother and Father, only strange people interact with me, so in a way I¡¯ve become accustomed to such behaviors.

    But in this case, instead of being a seriously strange person, it¡¯s strange because she¡¯s serious. (?)

    ¡¸¡­ Alright, Shelly then. Is this flower fine?¡¹

    ¡¸It is so, Yurushia-sama. Pluck the flowers like this¡­¡¹

    Un. I understand already. I give up. Even though this was supposed to be my first time with a friend, the stress accumulated from the surrounding nobles must be high. Because of that, I can¡¯t complain about the cute child in front of me.

    ¡­¡­ Is that really alright?

    I make a Chaplet while being taught how by Shelly. Every time I did it clumsily, Shelly took my hand and made modifications.

    Shelly is very friendly.

    Grasping my hand, she shows a soft, warm smile.

    And then a small *zaku* resounds. Looking up at the sound of grass being stepped on, we find the two boys walking towards us.

    ¡¸Are they your friends, Shelly¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸N-no¡­ That is¡­¡¹

    Certainly that wouldn¡¯t be the case. Even if Shelly looked a little bit older than me, the boys seemed to be about 6 or 7 years old.

    Shelly is tense¡­? Are they distinguished children? Or perhaps they¡¯re simply scary? Or maybe they¡¯re idiots. Either way, they¡¯re terrible for making the cute Shelly frightened.

    Thinking so, I intimidate them¡­ By glaring. The boy who was walking in front momentarily stopped¡­ But continued walking as if nothing happened.

    Hoho, you¡¯ve done well to withstand my eyes. You have my praise. I place the first tattered corolla that I made atop my head while thinking so.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are you Yurushia?¡¹

    The red-blonde boy asks so in a pompous manner. This brat¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That is so, but¨C¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ve heard of you¡­¡­ From Uncle, that is.¡¹

    Uncle? Who¡¯s that?

    ¡¸Uncle¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Oi, look this way properly!¡¹

    ¡¸Ah¨C¡¹

    All of a sudden, my arm was caught and the face of the boy was close when I looked up.

    Bi?sh¨­?nen (?)

    ¡­ But he¡¯s no good. A guy who can¡¯t treat a girl kindly is no good. It¡¯s no use if it¡¯s just some brat. It has to be a calm, good-looking uncle.

    When I glare at the boy, he shrinks up for an instant, but then glares back immediately. But since I¡¯m being glared at by a child, I¡¯m not afra©`id. Ah, that¡¯s right.

    I plop the crown of flowers onto the boy¡¯s head.

    ¡¸You can have it.¡¹

    Wouldn¡¯t that tattered crown be most suitable on head of the king of the mountain?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes?¡¹

    To the boy who seems to want to say something, I incline my head as if to say ¡ºI don¡¯t understand¡».

    Retaining his pride as a boy, he doesn¡¯t start a fight with a little girl, releases my hand, and turns away.

    ¡¸Hey, let¡¯s go.¡¹

    ¡¸Y-Yes.¡¹

    The other boy looks to him and I, and answers with a strange look. Just like an Yakuza boss and his henchman. (?)

    With the corolla still on his head, the boy takes a few steps away, then stops abruptly.

    ¡¸I¡¯m Rick. It¡¯ll be my Birthday the day after tomorrow. You¡¯ll be coming, Yurushia.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Eh? Wha ¨C¡¹

    After declaring so one-sidedly, Rick leaves in a hurry. (?)

    ¡­¡­ Ehh¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«£¿

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Y-Yurushia-sama¡­¡­?¡¹

    What was that child talking about? I¡¯ll be returning home the morning of the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow¡¯s the day that I can happily see the Imperial Capital with my Father, alongside choosing souvenirs. I intend to go home cheerfully after that.

    ¡¸Yurushia-sama~¡­¡­¡¹

    So, a Birthday? The day after the tomorrow? Impossible. There¡¯s now way I¡¯d be able to delay my reunion with my Mother for even a day longer than scheduled. In the first place, who was that child, to act with such authority?

    ¡¸Yurushia-sama!¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­? Oh, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, it is alright. But¡­¡­ Are you alright?¡¹

    ¡¸Thank you¡­¡­ Shelly is quite gentle¡­¡¹

    ¡¸T-Thank you very much¡­¡¹

    This child is really healing. I¡¯m glad to have met her.

    ¡¸Shelly¡­ That child, who was he?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh? ¡­¡­ Well¡­ That is¡­¡¹

    Do you know, or¡­? She¡¯s entered the state of fumbling for the right word, so he must be the child of a family with a scary occupation¡­¡­

    But why would such a child know my name¡­¡­? And who¡¯s that Uncle he mentioned? I don¡¯t understand. I¡¯ll have to pray that Father isn¡¯t involved with such people.

    Either way, that brat is unforgivable.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Daughter of Earl Oraleine: Shellynn la Oraleine (?)

    It was the 16th day of Natsunaka (?) when she, who had become five years old just one month prior, was called to her Father¡¯s study and told something strange.

    ¡ºThe first party that Shelly (1?) will attend has been decided. It will take place in four days, in the garden of Kyle Palace. Other children will be attending, so approach them.¡»

    When a noble lady turns 5, they can pay a congratulatory visit to a noble tea party; Shelly¡¯s first tea party was already decided to be held by the sister of the Earl, Viscountess Bray.

    Shelly understood that as a young girl, she couldn¡¯t refuse the invitation¡­ But it was quite sudden given the fact it was to take place in only four days.

    Perhaps only one or two people¡­¡­ That would be the number of participants given priority, most likely. Anyone else would only be arranged in case of a numerical crisis.

    Her Mother would have to hurriedly order a new dress, but Shelly was anxious to voice that fact to her Father.

    ¡ºSorry, Shelly. It isn¡¯t a tea party to be fearful of. Only children will be attending, and social positions along with family names don¡¯t matter. You should enjoy yourself.¡»

    There will be no relationship to status¡­¡­ In other words, someone who¡¯s attending wishes to hide their position.

    And, since only children will be attending, Shelly who had just become 5 would likely be the youngest. She knew nothing of who was participating, and had no idea what to talk about either.

    The Earl, which had already arrived to the above conclusions, matches his eyes with his daughter and speaks with a wry smile.

    ¡ºTo tell you the truth, this was requested by a friend of mine. His daughter will also be asked to participate without much notice. The child hasn¡¯t gone outside too much due to poor health, and is younger than Shelly.¡»

    Not even four rears old yet, such a girl will be participating.

    For the sake of comfort and protection, Shelly was asked to participate.

    On the day of the tea party, Shelly met an angel.

    An angel with sparkling golden hair and beauty that makes one think that they aren¡¯t human.

    She had an appearance that would cause one to avert their eyes and lose their breath, and elegantly bowed to others before reaching a table which no one was sitting at. When she let out a small breath, everyone around was finally capable of breathing in once again. As they remembered their work, the Maids began to move about in a hurry.

    The other young ladies sighed towards her figure which was akin to an Angel, but Shelly noticed her distressed ¡ª or perhaps lonely ¡ª appearance as she stared at the sweets in front of her without raising her hand.

    Perhaps, she was the daughter of Father¡¯s friend. Who was it that determined Shelly fit to defend such a child?

    When she spoke, she seemed wise enough to make one think that she wasn¡¯t young at all, and even she had the cold impression of a doll, she was a good child who properly thanked her waitress.

    Her name was Yurushia. Shelly came to like her immediately. (11)

    It was as if she was charmed by a Demon¡­¡­

    When they were playing together, two boys approached.

    He didn¡¯t know Shelly, but Shelly knew of him. He was a boy who was known to be selfish and rude.

    Even though Shelly could do nothing but be frightened, Yurushia didn¡¯t show any distress, and stared at him with her gentle golden eyes. She then easily dismissed him by giving him a small corolla.

    Shelly was impressed at the figure of the girl, but at the same time she was jealous of the two boys who had locked eyes with her.

    Determined, she resolved herself to ask her father to attend the boy¡¯s Birthday party.

    She would repel any insects that would try to approach Yurushia. (12)

    Author¡¯s Note: And so, the story will be put into motion.

    (1) I¡¯d change this to ¡°Grandfather¡± or just revise to ¡°Old Butler¡±, but I kept it as-is because she uses ¡°chan¡± ¡ª which means she feels that their relationship is always close enough to do so out of endearment, and that possibly contributes to how the Butler reacts in the lines below.  ”¤Á¤ã¤ó

    (2) It would be ¡°Shelley¡± which means ¡°From the meadow on the ledge¡± or ¡°clearing on a bank¡±, but I¡¯m using Shelly, since the difference of one ¡®e¡¯ is essentially nonexistent. If you prefer Shelley, let me know. ¥·¥§¥ê©`

    (3) It¡¯s »¨¹Ú, but Shelly¡¯s essentially suggesting to make a crown of flowers ¡ª otherwise known as a chaplet.

    (?) Weird line is weird. ÕæÃæÄ¿¤Ë¿¼¤¨¤Æ‰ä¤ÊÈË¤Ç¤Ï¤Ê¤¯¡¢ÕæÃæÄ¿¤Ë¤·¤Æ¤¤¤ë¤Î¤Ë‰ä¤ÊÈË¤À¡£

    (?) Essentially, a handsome guy. But you already knew that¡­ Right?

    (?) Yakuza is like the Japanese mafia¡­ If you didn¡¯t already know. The ¡°Yakuza boss¡± is actually called the ¡°Oyabun¡± ¡ª which is what brat-kun is called by Yuru in the raws.

    (?) Tsun-game 2 stronk

    (?) Oraleine = ¥ª¥ë¥¢¥ì¥ó (pronounced Aura-lay-nh), Shellynn = ¥·¥§¥ë¥ê¥ó¥É (pronounced Shell-Lih-nh).

    Shellynn should just be one word, as there¡¯re middle dots seperating the different pieces of her title (¥·¥§¥ë¥ê¥ó¥É?¥é?¥ª¥ë¥¢¥ì¥ó); if anyone has any better suggestions, don¡¯t feel reserved to let them be known.

    (?) ÏÄÖÐ¤ÎÔÂ ¡ª essentially, the last two characters are ¡°month of¡±, so the important bit is ÏÄÖÐ. ÏÄÖÐ means ¡°height of summer¡± or otherwise ¡°midsummer¡±. Because the name of the months hasn¡¯t been stated before, I¡¯ll just use an onomatopoeia for now unless someone has a better suggestion.

    (1?) Normally I¡¯d give her name as her apparently-real ¡°Shellynn¡± name, but in the raws it¡¯s spelt exactly as ¡°Shelly¡± has been spelt thus far (¥·¥§¥ê©`, not ¥·¥§¥ë¥ê¥ó), so there it is.

    (11) ¡°came to like her¡± could also be ¡°fell in love with¡±¡­ Which would make a certain suspicion at the end from me clear, but because it¡¯s an either/or situation, I¡¯m unsure. ¥·¥§¥ê©`¤Ï±ËÅ®¤ò¤¹¤°¤ËºÃ¤­¤Ë¤Ê¤Ã¤¿¡£

    (12) She really does call them insects ¡ª or rather, ¡°bad bugs¡±. Also, rather than ¡°repel¡± it should be ¡°remove¡± or ¡°eliminate¡­ I made it ¡°repel¡± because I¡¯m not sure whether Shelly is simply protective, or actually full on Yandere. ¡¡¥æ©`¥ë¥·¥¢¤Ë½ü¼Ä¤ë™¤¤³æ¤Ï¤¹¤Ù¤ÆÅÅ³ý¤·¤è¤¦¤È›QÒâ¤·¤Æ¡£

    Other TL Notes:

    Just a side note, but if someone with knowledge of the Japanese Language could tell me the difference between ¡°¥¬¥­¥ó¥Á¥ç¡± and ¡°¥¬¥­¤ó¤Á¤ç¡±, I¡¯d greatly appreciate it.

    Rick is constantly being referred to as ¡°¥¬¥­¤ó¤Á¤ç¡± which I¡¯ve found to be ¡°brat¡±, but because the Machines I¡¯m using were having trouble with it, I did auxiliary research ¡ª leading me to discover ¥¬¥­¥ó¥Á¥ç.

    So, are they different? If so, how?

    I¡¯ve also changed Ä§ÐgÑ§Ôº, which is ¡°Magic Academy¡± or ¡°Institute of Magic¡± to mean BOTH of the before-mentioned translations depending on the context. Its real name will be the Institute of Magic (because it sounds formal), but it¡¯ll mainly be referred to as the Magic Academy (most notably by Yuru) ¡ª an informal name, if you will.

    As for the amount of things this decision changed: there were none. Yep. The only times I used ¡°Institute of Magic¡± were in the last bit of the previous chapter, so there¡¯s literally no change at all~

 Volume 1 - CH 8

    After the tea party, I¡¯m talking about today¡¯s events while sitting on Father¡¯s knee. We¡¯re currently on a carriage heading towards one of Father¡¯s private residences.

    ¡¸¡­ Rick?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Do you know that child¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡­ He¡¯s the son of one of my acquaintances.¡¹

    Muu¡­¡­ Is your work related to children, Father? But then why was I sent away clumsily in the past? Was he perhaps being bullied by the children with jeers of ¡ºFuhaha, what a bumpkin!¡» and the like? (1)

    ¡¸Isn¡¯t going¡­ No good?¡¹

    ¡¸I wonder¡­¡­¡¹

    Ah, no good. If Father says to go, even if I hate it, I can¡¯t bring myself to say no. His reaction, however, is one that makes me feel as though he¡¯s troubled about my opinion.

    ¡¸If Yurushia doesn¡¯t want to go, then ¨C¡¹

    ¡¸I¡¯ll go.¡¹

    ¡¸Eh?!¡¹

    Even though I, with great pains, made up my mind¡­ Why is Father so surprised?

    ¡¸D-Does Yurushia¡­ Like Rick¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eh?¡¹

    Why¡­? The flow of the conversation has become strange.

    ¡¸Is that so¡­¡­ Rick has¡­¡¹

    F-Father¡­? Why is there an evil smile plastered on your mouth? Vio too? Why is Father¡¯s hand on his sword?

    I don¡¯t understand the situation, but are you planning on using it against someone? Please don¡¯t. Although, coming from a Demon, telling him not to cut someone down isn¡¯t very convincing.

    Rather than Father, I¡¯ll do it myself if it means keeping the blood off his hands. Umu. I would.

    I¡¯d even lift the ban on the certain-death G-rank Summoning.

    Well, setting that aside, Father¡¯s mood has become quite bad. But I still have a card up my sleeve. Throughout all of history, Fathers have always been weak to flattery from their young daughters.

    ¡¸I wish to marry Father, though?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ I-Is that so?¡¹

    S-So easily¡­¡­ I¡¯ll become uneasy if your mood can be reversed so easily, Father.

    When it¡¯s time for me to be married, things might get a bit difficult¡­¡­ Your appearance alone scared me, after all.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡¸He¡¯s not¡­¡­ Returning home, huh.¡¹

    While looking outside her mansion¡¯s window towards the dark sky, Albertine let out a small voice only audible to herself. She took care in confirming, as if to let the truth sink in¡­¡­

    About a year ago, the times her husband hadn¡¯t returned home increased. The official story was that he was out inspecting their territory, but in reality her husband was a key figure in the country, and spent most of his time in the Imperial Capital.

    Naturally, his wife Albertine and two daughters lived there as well; his daughters were born there, too. There were very few people who actually took up residence in their territory¡¯s Manor. Albertine¡¯s children recognized their secondary residence in the Imperial Capital as ¡ºHome¡».

    Indeed, the Imperial Capital was pleasant to live in. Compared to their Manor in the territory, the Capital is gorgeous, and it was easy to know the latest trends, and get one¡¯s hands on any news.

    It was a society where a ball is held somewhere almost every evening, and invitations to tea parties are common during the day. Beautiful women of high status and wealth often invited Albertine to compete in their social events, and showered her in praise.

    But to Albertine, they were her enemies.

    It wasn¡¯t to the point that she¡¯d pick a fight with them, but she ignored Young Nobles as if they didn¡¯t even exist, and did the same to Old Nobles who held power but found her husband pitiful.

    Albertine was aware.

    She was aware of what she ¡ºwanted¡». Just as they wanted honor, wealth, and praise¡­ She wanted her Husband.

    But her Husband hadn¡¯t returned.

    She had pulled him from the woman he loved.

    ¡¸A wife¡­¡¹

    Albertine turned to face Zumana, who was dressed in butler clothing and staring dubiously at her face.

    It seemed that he was called several times, but wasn¡¯t noticed until he approached.

    ¡¸I apologize. I was¡­ A bit preoccupied.¡¹

    ¡¸Are you tired¡­? Shall I bring you a warm drink?¡¹

    ¡¸Then perhaps¡­¡¹

    She was about to say wine¡­ But she reconsidered. There was no Ball being held that night, so it would be best to refrain.

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­ May I have some tea?¡¹

    ¡¸Certainly.¡¹

    Zumana began to roast her favorite Rose Tea from the wagon that was already prepared.

    Not only the taste, but the smell was also sweet, thought Albertine.

    And yet her husband wouldn¡¯t return home. ¡­¡­ Even though she was away from home herself due to attend soir¨¦es frequently. (2) While thinking so, Albertine leaked a smile which held a hint of self-mockery.

    ¡¸Is it not to your liking?¡¹

    ¡¸Not at all; it is delicious¡­¡­ Have the children already gone to sleep?¡¹

    ¡¸Yes.¡¹

    Zumana lightly responded to the topic diversion.

    A long time ago the Industry of Magic had discovered Zumana soon after he enrolled. He was a commoner, but had a high amount of talent ¡ª he was a prot¨¦g¨¦ of sorts.

    Initially, they had only found his magic talent, but it was later discovered that he wan skillful with hands, which would be useful for a Butler or a Spy.

    Albertine, who had helped pay the tuition fees of those in poverty, had gained Zumana¡¯s fealty for life¡­ And has tended to her ever since.

    All without knowing that his poverty was, in the first place, her fault¡­¡­

    ¡¸The young ladies took a bath after having dinner for two, afterwards ¨C¡¹

    ¡¸Alright. It¡¯s the same as always, then¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes.¡¹

    The two daughters have conversations every day with their mother, but they do not love their father. If the situation called for it, they would be able to boast of their father¡¯s good looks to some extent.

    But that was only natural¡­ Or so thought Albertine.

    To he whose house and power was snatched away forcibly, even if she was able to become his husband and bare his children, Albertine would never be able to gain his heart.

    He would still be affectionate to his daughters, and he would try his best to love his wife, but his attitude made it seem as though he was always a step away. Irritated with the cold attitude of her husband, Albertine would sometimes shower him with cruel words¡­ To which he would always reply with a lonesome smile, and nothing else.

    Naturally, in must have been hard for the children who grew up watching such parents.

    Albertine, who could not win her husband¡¯s love, doted on her daughters ¡ª or more accurately, she spoilt them. They became selfish and greedy as a result. In the end, it could be said that they were raised off of Albertine, and gained a resemblance to something akin to her alter ego.

    For how long was the Father¡¯s heart tormented by the words of his daughter?

    Therefore, the husband devoting himself to ¡ºA Beloved Woman¡» and ¡ºAn Ideal Daughter¡» would be natural.

    But for some reason¡­¡­ She could not permit it.

    ¡¸Zumana. The preparations¡­¡­ Are they finished?

    ¡¸Yes, madam. They were completed without a hitch.¡¹

    ¡¸Then¡­¡­ In that case¡­¡¹

    Albertine stood up from her seat, and beckoned Zumana.

    It was natural for her husband to be unable to love his daughters if they did not love him to begin with.

    That being said, Albertine didn¡¯t know if he was truly the father of his daughters, as they could have belonged to the man in front of her. (3)

    £ª£ª£ª

    Two days later, the brat¨C¡­¡­ Er¡­ Rick(?)¡¯s birthday party has begun.

    It seems that the party was originally scheduled to take place somewhere amazing, but suddenly, they decided to borrow the house of a different Noble near the suburbs for the occasion.

    Whenever I ask ¡ºWhy?¡» to Father, he avoids the question by laughing, so I tried asking Vio. She responded with a subtle smile and gave the reason:¡ºBecause of Yuru-ojousama.¡»

    But why¡­?

    Today I¡¯m clothed in a soft white dress.

    Father had been invited to a different location, which seemed quite important. Vio and Fer were made to wait in a waiting room, so although it was a long time since I used my feet, I was escorted by a young knight on foot.

    I really can walk, you know¡­¡­

    The moment I arrive at the venue, some members of the orchestra make ¡ºGigoo¡» or ¡ºGigii¡» sounds with their instruments. The other children also remain at a distance.

    In other words, there¡¯re no particular problems.

    That¡¯s right. There were no problems with the venue.

    The problems which occurred with the orchestra is completely unrelated.

    ¡¸Yurushia-sama!¡¹

    ¡¸Shelly.¡¹

    I¡¯m genuinely relieved. I¡¯m really, really glad that I¡¯ll also have a friend to talk to. I¡¯m embraced with all her might, so I almost fall over from our meeting.

    ¡¸I¡¯m glad to see you once again, Yurushia-sama. You look wonderful in that white dress; it brings the image of a Lily Fairy to mind. But, of course, a white rose also comes to mind, and with its texture, it seems as though it was made of the feathers of an angel. Ahh, and your beautiful golden hair would be such an Angle¡¯s lovely halo. With its charm, surely other angels would be jealous. To be able to meet Yurushia with such a charming appearance, I feel quite dizzy¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡¯s likely from a lack of oxygen.

    I suppose this is a Noble-sama¡¯s technique to give lavish praise, all while it¡¯s nothing but lip service¡­¡­ Amazing, Shelly. Even though you¡¯re still young.

    ¡¸She-Shelly as well, you look like a princess.¡¹

    ¡¸Ahhh¡­ For Yurushia to say such a thing¡­¡­¡¹

    She finally seems to have calmed down. Excellent¡­¡­ Shelly, who is wearing a pale pink dress, is pretty like a Princess from a picture book.

    Because of Shelly¡¯s slightly eccentric behavior, attention was gathered¡­ But no one is approaching us. With the exception of¡­¡­

    ¡¸Oi, Yurushia.¡¹

    I¡¯m found by the brat which was having a pleasant conversation with a cute young boy, and he proceeds to walk over here.

    ¡¸If you ended up coming, then quickly ¨C¡¹

    ¡¸Rick-sama, happy birthday. Thank you for your invitation.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ M-Mhm.¡¹

    I interrupt his words and bow as beautifully as possible before he ends up picking a fight. Because of the knowledge I gained from the dream, I can do at least this much. I said what I did because complaints should be barred after doing so.

    ¡¸Also, this is¨C¡­¡¹

    ¡¸R-Rick-sama, I am currently talking to Yurushia-sama. Come, Yurushia-sama, there¡¯s some fruit juice over there if you¡¯d like.¡¹

    ¡¸O-oi, what did you say? You¡¯re Shellynn, right? Don¡¯t just selfishly lead Yurushia around.¡¹

    With my hands being grasped by two sides, a quarrel began right in front of me. Or, would this really be a quarrel? Their voices aren¡¯t loud yet, and their words aren¡¯t thorny by any means.

    Shelly may have thought that I was frightened, or perhaps she simply hates Rick¡­¡­

    Ah, I want to go home already, but I can¡¯t.

    Both of my hands are getting a little sore. I should have these two let go pretty soon. Perhaps I should complain about the pain? But if I do that, would Shelly worry about it¡­¡­?

    ¡¸An argument¡­ No good¡­?¡¹

    I¡¯ll appeal to the consciences of these children. I¡¯ll give off the feeling of ¡ºOlder Brother, Older Sister, why are you fighting?¡» rather than a more adult-type persuasion.

    ¡¸Mu¨C¡­¡¹

    ¡¸That is¡­¡¹

    While the two hesitate for what to say, their grip loosens slightly. But they don¡¯t let go.

    Shelly seems to be holding my hand because she¡¯s working hard as the¡ºOlder Sister¡»of a smaller child, but why isn¡¯t Rick letting go? Perhaps he just doesn¡¯t want to lose¡­?

    That aside, the gazes are kind of painful¡­¡­ I, who is put between the guest of honor and a pretty girl, can feel all of the eyes in the surroundings concentrating on me.

    ¡¸My¡­ Rick, Shelly, this is no good right? Be gentle to the child.¡¹

    From behind, I¡¯m picked up suddenly and held by a beautiful woman with red hair.

    Although she brings to mind the person who I saw in the carriage, she was someone else. If that person¡¯s hair resembled the color of a red rose, then this person¡¯s would be described as a glaring orange fire.

    She gives off a different impression as well. Much like a fire, she¡¯s warm. (?)

    ¡¸Mother¡­?¡¹

    This is Rick¡¯s mother, then? How was Rick born from such a nice person¡­¡­? It¡¯s a mystery.

    ¡¸O-Outa¡­¡¹ (?)

    ¡¸Yes, there.¡¹

    Rick¡¯s mother closes the lips of a surprised Shelly, then, she looks down at me with a splendid smile.

    ¡¸Ahh, we meet at last. Yurushia¡­¡­ Ria¡¯s child, right?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Do you know Mother?¡¹

    ¡¸I do. I¡¯m Elea, one of Ria¡¯s friends.¡¹

    Mother¡­¡­ You have a friend?

    I¡¯m released by Rick and Shelly, and then captured by Elea while having such a cruel thought.

    Captured¡­¡­ That¡¯s right. I was definitely caught.

    ¡¸U¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«¡«n, as expected, girls are great¡«¡«¡¹

    My cuddling personnel increased by one person.

    Elea had walked over to a large sofa, and sat me down on her knee. She then proceeded to stroke and fiddle with Shelly¡¯s hair with one hand, as she had sat beside us. ¡­¡­ What kind of night club is this?

    On the opposite side, Rick sits down with an dissatisfied¡ºFuhn¡».

    Erm¡­ Elea-sama? Girls are good and all, but your son is sitting right next to you, you know?

    ¡¸Rick is cute now, but in 10 years he¡¯ll become a rough man similar to his father.¡¹

    There¡¯s no mercy for her 7-year-old son.

    ¡¸That¡¯s fine, because resembling Father means becoming powerful.¡¹

    Ohh, Rick-chan (?), you¡¯re unexpectedly resilient.

    ¡¸Rick will become strong, huh¡­ Hey, Yurushia, do you like strong boys?¡¹

    ¡¸Eh¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Ha?¡¹

    ¡¸Ah?¡¹

    Not just my voice, Rick and Shelly leak out sounds as well. I don¡¯t understand the reason for the question very well.

    Could there be some hidden meaning in Elea-sama¡¯s words as expected? It¡¯s definitely like that, right? Then, if I answer incorrectly here, this situation will become entirely different, won¡¯t it?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡¹

    ¡¸I see. You don¡¯t know yet, huh¡­ Perhaps we should talk about it again with Ria when you become four.¡¹

    Please don¡¯t. Wouldn¡¯t that just be a little over two months? Let¡¯s change the topic.

    ¡¸I¡¯ll think about it later. But isn¡¯t that a question for a woman, rather than a child?¡¹

    ¡¸It is, but just like boys, it¡¯s best to have a preference for who you¡¯d like to be your husband.¡¹

    Ah. Only an unskillful Noble would go on without an heir.

    Because I¡¯m a child, Elea talks slowly to make it easier to understand.

    ¡¸So: Yurushia, Shelly. Be sure to consult someone about it, alright? Your mothers, for example.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Un.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yes.¡¹

    So I should ask for support¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think too deeply about the meanings of her words.

    ¡¸That¡¯s right, Yurushia, what does Ria call you?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Err, Yuru ¨C¡­¡¹

    No, wait a second. Isn¡¯t this the perfect chance to change my ¡ºMascot¡»-like nickname that I¡¯ve been worried about for some time now?

    Before, I was a baby, so I couldn¡¯t decide for myself. But now I can. So¡­¡­ Because my name is Yurushia, something like ¡ºRushia¡» or ¡ºShia¡» would be fine.

    ¡¸Rushi¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yuru, you say. Is it alright if I call you Yuru as well, then¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­ Yes.¡¹

    ¡­¡­ My correction was too slow.

    £ª£ª£ª

    A suitable place for the Birthday of a certain son.

    Viscount Peron, who was said to have established relationships with high-ranking Nobles and was such a noble himself, was approached with such a request.

    The Villa that Viscount Peron prepared was a personal reward given by the first in line to be King; while it was a bit much as a gift, it was a great honor nonetheless.

    It was near the Capital, but it wasn¡¯t close to the Imperial Castle. It was large, making it quiet ¡ª almost to the point of being unsuitable to live in. Its taxes weren¡¯t anything to scoff at, either.

    It couldn¡¯t be sold because it was given as a reward, so the land was lent out to Viscount Peron¡¯s father and grandfather, as well as other nobles in order to cover the tax.

    However, talk between Nobles are carried through stewards every day, and they had begun doubting the appreciation of the Viscount¡¯s gift, and pondered over how he was using all the money he was gaining through it.

    And so, when there was a sudden modification in the venue the party would be held at, this villa was decided.

    The day before the party many cooks and maids arrived, alongside a large quantity of supplies. Escorting them were not only Knights and Guards, even people with the gowns of Wizards were present, making one wonder if the son of a Noble wielding considerable power was to arrive.

    And on the day of the party¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ I¡¯m hungry.¡¹

    Such a voice leaks out of a young soldier, but his coworkers don¡¯t blame him.

    ¡¸The stuff those young kids are eating looks quite delicious¡­¡¹

    The soldiers, who had been scraped up and positioned without much warning, had only eaten a quick breakfast and weren¡¯t permitted to rest until the party concluded. The soldiers could only afford to make bitter smiles as they listened to the wretched music at a distance.

    In the case of soldiers being stationed to guard such a large party, they¡¯re treated to any leftover ingredients and dishes once the party ends. In the case of a party held for a child, high-quality sweets are often plentiful by the end, as the children can¡¯t eat much.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Are the maids aiming for the sweets?¡¹

    ¡¸That¡¯s right. Because a big shot¡¯s involved this time, the guys at the back gate said that an outrageous amount of Cake has been prepared.¡¹

    It was only a rumor, but the party was suposedly supposed to take place at night originally, so it would seem that the casual children¡¯s party was the only thing planned in a hurry. (?)

    ¡¸Oi, you guys, pay proper attention.¡¹

    ¡¸¡¸¡­ R-Right.¡¹¡¹

    The soldiers hurriedly straighten their posture after hearing a sudden voice.

    The owner of the voice was a young knight with strange black hair. Because the guards were gathered in such a hurry, they were relocated from various places. As a result, most don¡¯t recognize each others¡¯ faces.

    The knight gives a wry smile to the soldiers before taking out a small amount of meat and wine from a basket he was carrying.

    ¡¸It¡¯s only a little, but it¡¯s for the sake of the celebration. I could only gather this much, though¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸T-This is for us? Thank you very much.¡¹

    The knight shows a bright smile, and lightly waves his hand to the two guards who have similar expressions.

    And with that, the plan had begun quietly.

    The black-haired knight walks down an empty corridor. Behind him:

    ¡¸What are you doing here?¡¹

    A middle-aged Knight calls out while on patrol with two subordinate Knights. Slowly, the knight with the black hair turns to them.

    ¡¸Just patrolling the area.¡¹

    ¡¸You were¡­? Excuse my impoliteness, but I¡¯d like to know your full name.¡¹

    ¡¸Hm. I am¡­¡¹

    The black-haired knight pulls out his sword and beheads the middle-aged knight in an instant.

    ¡¸My name is Zumana. Now, I must be on my way.¡¹

    After saying so, Zumana cuts the neck of one of the remaining knights before they could understand what happened. The movement was as casual as a handshake.

    ¡¸¡­ Hii!¡¹

    The final knight flinches and takes some distance from the knight with blood now spewing out of his neck, he then readies his sword. By the time he did so, however, Zumana had already finished his chant, and pointed the tip of his sword towards the knight.

    ¡¸Lightning Spear¡¹

    *Bachi*¡­ With the sound of something popping, a bolt of lightning is loosed through the knight¡¯s metal armor, turning the last knight into a corpse without a word.

    ¡¸Well¡­ Shall we begin?¡¹

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Uugh¡­¡¹

    I cover my mouth and hold down a sudden nauseous feeling.

    ¡¸Yuru¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸Yuru-sama?!¡¹

    Elea-sama calls out quietly, followed by Shelly.

    What is this¡­? This feeling that¡¯s welling up from my stomach and making my body boil?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Do you feel ill?¡¹

    Because even Rick looks worried, I must look quite strange.

    Suddenly, Elea-sama looks up and mutters, as if the words were leaking out.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ The smell of blood¡­?¡¹

    Indeed, it¡¯s the smell of blood.¡ºAgony¡»and¡ºDespair¡»drift within the¡ºAroma¡»of the blood, throwing my emotions into turmoil.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Eleanor-sama.¡¹

    Before I knew it, Elea had whispered something into the ear of a Butler. I faintly heard what she said, but I didn¡¯t hear all of it as expected:

    ¡¸¡­ The soldiers¡­ ¡­ Poison¡­?¡¹

    *BAAN!*

    The door was forcefully slammed open, and a knight alongside several other men, all covering their faces, enter the room with their weapons held at the ready.

    Even a young lower-class noble like me could understand what was going on.

    ¡¸The area around the mansion has already been seized. The children will be coming with us.¡¹

    Such were the words of a terrorist.

    Yeah, this¡­¡­ This is definitely terrorism. As for their objective, it might be kidnapping for ransom¡­ From a black-haired knight, I definitely felt an intent like that.

    ¡¸What did you say?¡¹

    Elea-sama builds up magic terribly quickly. It was the Fire Magic: Flame Orb judging by appearance¡­¡­ But Elea-sama wasn¡¯t able to release it.

    ¡¸Using Magic here¡­ Wouldn¡¯t that hit the children?¡¹

    So said a masked knight, who held the arm of a frightened boy.

    ¡¸¡­ Ku¡­¡¹

    In vexation, Elea stands still¡­ But she doesn¡¯t dispel the Fire Magic.

    The way things are going, this doesn¡¯t look good.

    Elea is at a stalemate against the terrorists who¡¯re holding hostages, and Shelly, Rick, and the other children have all become rigid and blue-faced. If someone panics, it¡¯s possible that they¡¯ll be hurt by the terrorists as an example.

    At worst, they could even be killed.

    The children¡¯s minds are at the breaking point, and the only thing keeping them from crossing over into complete panic is Elea¡¯s presence it seems. And so, if Elea dispels her magic, the children will most likely breach that breaking point. The Butlers and Maids understand all of the above, so they don¡¯t make a move.

    Even with just a glance¡­¡­ I can understand that it¡¯s only a matter of time before panic breaks loose.

    I could try to make a plan, but it would be ineffective because of their supposed purpose; that is, to abduct children.

    As a 4-year-old, it should be impossible to stop them. I could make full use of my powers as a Demon¡­ But even if the only demerit is being viewed as a Demon, I don¡¯t want to reveal my true nature¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.

    So, their purpose will be accomplished¡­ But the real questions are: how many will be taken, and who will be taken?

    The first to be taken will probably be Rick. He¡¯s the most important child at the party, and I can¡¯t help but think that the large number of guards were provided for him.

    And so, the best plan is to surrender Rick and leave. Yep. It¡¯s that simple.

    However, because this is such a large-scale event, after they¡¯ve taken him they might just kidnap as many children as possible. The number of children rivals the number of terrorists, so taking too many hostages would interfere with the escape however.

    Therefore, at most, they¡¯ll take about five people total.

    It can be assumed that even if as few as 3-4 people are taken they will have achieved their purpose, so the problem doesn¡¯t lie with those that are taken, but rather those left behind.

    To the terrorists, there isn¡¯t much point in keeping them alive ¡ª especially in the case of adults.

    It¡¯s risky to stay, and it¡¯s equally risky to remain. How troublesome.

    Other lives are relatively trivial, but Elea-sama is a friend of Mother, so it would be unpleasant for her to die ¡ª even if it would result in a good scent. And as a worst case scenario, I¡¯d like the cute Shelly to live even if she¡¯s the only one among us to do so.

    To me who is a Demon with a strange Human mind, I decide to take an unexpected action.

    There¡¯s no helping it¡­¡­ Although it¡¯s out of character, I¡¯ll go on ¡ºThe Stage¡».

    ¡¸¡­ Elea-sama, lower your hand.¡¹

    As quietly as possible, I reach up and touch Elea-sama¡¯s hand¡­¡­ And speak clearly.

    ¡¸Y-Yuru¡­?¡¹

    Slowly, I silently slip off of the couch¡­¡­ And with a dignified expression, I move towards the terrorists.

    No one had moved at first, but suddenly the smallest girl changed that. The terrorists turn their eyes towards me in alarm.

    ¡¸Please release the people here.¡¹

    By turning off my emotions as much as possible and staring with calm, quiet eyes, I make maximum use of my inhuman appearance, causing those who were about to say something shrink up.

    Fufu, there¡¯re times when my scary appearance comes in handy after all.

    Still, I have to finish it quickly before they recover. To start with, this isn¡¯t some ¡ºCoercion¡» ability that would force them to release everyone unconditionally.

    ¡¸Instead, take me.¡¹

    I hear someone say something from behind, but it¡¯s practically inaudible, so I don¡¯t worry about it.

    The eyes of the terrorists swim. Only the leader can make the decision.

    I smile at the masked knight with black hair as gently as possible. I then start walking before their sanity returns. Don¡¯t provoke him¡­¡­ Slowly¡­

    If I can walk past them to the door without any of them touching me, I¡¯ll have completed more than half of my objective.

    If I can make it to the hallway, they¡¯ll have no choice but to capture me¡­ Supposedly. So, my gamble is for them to grieve over the sight of my appearance until then. I¡¯m unsure if it will be a success even now.

    If it does work, then so long as I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s taken, I can unseal the sure-death Rank G avalanche (?) ¡ª albeit reluctantly.

    Slowly, I walk past the side of the leader, who has a mysterious expression on his face. Just a bit more¡­¡­ Just a little more¡­

    ¡¸Not just Yuru, take me as well!¡¹

    Eh¡­¡­? Elea-sama?

    ¡¸I¡¯ll also go with Yuru-sama!¡¹

    Shelly too!

    ¡¸M-Me as well!¡¹

    Rick¡­¡­ No, you can do whatever you want.

    Aa~a¡­¡­ Jeez¡­¡­ Why did it turn out like this¡­¡­?

 Volume 1 - CH 9

    Ensig:

    Just a comment here¡­ I hadn¡¯t noticed before because I¡¯m using the Translation Assistant Tool, but the Author actually writes Katakana (I THINK that¡¯s Katakana¡­ But eh) over certain stuff ¡ª probably to clarify the meaning.

    In TL Assistant, it plops the Katakana overhead into the line I¡¯m translating, so it ends up repeating stuff¡­ For example, the chant for the Light Spell Yuru uses this chapter AND C6 is: ¹âÔÚ¤ì with ¤Ò¤«¤ê¤¢ over ¡°¹âÔÚ¡± and ¤ì all alone. In TL Assistant, that becomes ¡°¹âÔÚ¤Ò¤«¤ê¤¢¤ì¡±.

    As for the real translation of that, it¡¯s ¡°Light¡±. Yep. One word. That explains why I thought there was a repeat in the chant.

    The stuff on top is supposedly the ¡°Readings¡± made by the author, as pointed out by Estelion in my forum post. I didn¡¯t know what they meant by ¡°readings¡± ¡¯till now¡­ But now it¡¯s clear.

    From now on, I¡¯ll make sure to pay attention to the readings in the chapter ¡ª I¡¯ll be using the Katakana overhead as the translation in order to be as accurate as possible. Respective changes have been made to the previous chapters as well (which consists only of the ¡°Light¡± example from before).

    ¡ù ¡ù ¡ù

    Author¡¯s Note:

    Once again, the theme of this work is ¡ºLove¡». It¡¯s the truth.

    There¡¯re cruel depictions again this chapter. Human readers, please take notice.[1].

    In the end, four people were taken. We children were put into a basement of sorts, but Elea was taken elsewhere. In other words, there weren¡¯t any particular problems.

    In the large basement there¡¯re dozens of¡­ Commoners?

    ¡­ Well, anyways, since other children were captured my plan was already done for.

    But I¡¯m calm. My heart is already satisfied.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Yuru-sama¡­¡¹

    Shelly¡¯s grasping onto my dress out of anxiety. ¡­¡­ Why are you over here?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Fuun.¡¹

    Even though he¡¯s acting tough, Rick¡¯s legs are shaking like a newborn fawn.Fufufu. Rick, you¡­ Why¡¯re you sticking so closely to young ladies who¡¯re only 7 and 4 years old?

    It¡¯s times like these that I remember that I¡¯m a Demon.

    The soul of a Demon, and the spirit of a Human[2]. The spirit and heart are roughly the same, but there¡¯s a slight difference. Because the ¡ºMe¡» from that world of dreams passed on their memories, I¡¯ve come to the understanding that their spiritual strength was high. Of course, thinking about it like that only makes me think that this situation is all the more frightening. Demons are to live in the Spirit World. Living here, my Spirit is being worn down constantly, and for my Demon soul to grow properly I require the souls of others.

    And now, before my eyes, are a number of injured children.

    Not given enough food, the children don¡¯t even have the power to cry. Their eyes are vacant and without hope, perhaps due to assault. Without treatment, these children will most likely die.

    In front of these children, I feel neither ¡ºAnger¡» nor ¡ºPity¡». I¡­¡­ Instead, I have a profound ¡ºAffection¡» towards the children.

    ¡­¡­ Hey, isn¡¯t that funny?

    I¡¯m not feeling compassionate, despite it sounding that way. Facing the suffering and wounded children, I find beauty and satisfaction¡­ Just what kind of pervert¡­?

    ¡­¡­ Eh?

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That child¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Yuru-sama¡­¡­?¡¹

    My eyes are drawn to a child who lays unmoving amongst several children.

    ¡¸That child¡­¡­ Wishes to die¡­¡¹

    Just as those words leave my mouth, my feet begin to walk. Probably because I forgot to give my usual smile, the wounded children clear my path out of¡ºFear¡».

    When I approach, the children separate from the child out of fright. To the¡ºChild who wishes to die¡» I quietly approach and bend down on one knee.

    ¡¸You¡­¡­ Is it hard to live?¡¹

    There are signs of breath being held all around with my words.

    The child looks at me¡­¡­ And leaks out words which becomes nothing but a hoarse *HyuuHyuu*. But their vacant eyes say:¡ºI want and end to this suffering¡­¡­ I wish to be at peace¡­¡»

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That¡¯s no good.¡¹

    Touching the child¡¯s cheek softly, I let out those cold words. At the same time, they flow into me¡­¡­

    The child¡¯s ¡ºPain¡» and ¡ºDespair¡» satisfies my heart.

    Aah¡­¡­ Human beings are such lovely creatures.

    Such a small child¡­ For such a small body and spirit to have such ¡ºSweet Nectar¡».

    ¡¸Even if it¡¯s painful, you must live¡­¡­ That is the fate of humanity.¡¹

    They must live their short lives as best they can. They will suffer and grieve¡­ But they must still live.

    Wishing to die so easily¡­¡­ As a¡ºDemon¡»I will not permit it.

    ¡¸¡­¡ºLight¡»¡­¡¹

    A dazzling light is emitted with me at the center, and wraps gently around the child. My¡ºFeelings¡»become the power of the spell, and healing magic is sent out.

    At that time¡­ I noticed.

    For the first time, I realized why I could only use Magic directly, and couldn¡¯t use ordinary magic.  It should have been obvious¡­¡­ It¡¯s because the usage of Magic between Demons and Humans is different.

    If I was¡ºThere¡»I would be fine.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Life is a blessing to all!¡¹

    Now, let my curse be born.  A curse warped into a blessing. May your life be filled with pain¡­¡­

    With that, I have the feeling that my other spirit was released at last. With my¡ºSpirit¡»unleashed, the entire basement was filled with light. This is the magic of a Demon, embodying the Spirit of Light which lacks a will and taking the form of an infinite host of¡ºAngels¡».

    When the light embodying the form of feathers heals all the children the remnants of light vanish, much like white snow melting away¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    I really did it¡­¡­ I went too far. ¡­¡­ I need to reflect on my behavior.

    A heavy silence descends upon the room. When I peeped to the side, I found that all of the children¡¯s eyes were excellently concentrated. They¡¯re either stupefied, dumbfounded, or both.

    W-Well. What to do¡­?

    While I¡¯m thinking about that, the child who was half-dead¡­ Now a pretty boy, stares at me with red cheeks and kneels in place quietly.

    ¡¸¡­ Thank you¡­¡­ Saint-sama¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Eh?

    The voices of other children reach my ears, and many of them begin to kneel one after another. They then bring their hands together and start praying to me.

    ¡­¡­¡­ Ehhhhhhhhhh?¡¡Me, a Saint-sama¡­¡­ But¡­¡­ I¡¯m a Demon?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡¸Albertine¡­¡­ It was you¡­¡¹

    A couple of walls further away, there was a large room with only unrefined pillars as it d¨¦cor. This was where Eleanor found herself confronted by Albertine.

    ¡¸That¡¯s correct. Eleanor-sama, it¡¯s been a long time¡­ Even though it¡¯s not to the extent that it bears mention.¡¹

    The two had been classmates in the Industry of Magic, neither of which had friends. They were famous as the¡ºTwo Beautiful Flowers of the Academy¡», so their faces and names were well known.

    However, when the two met again their positions were different.

    Albertine tried all she could to obtain what she wanted, but couldn¡¯t succeed.

    Eleanor demanded nothing, but obtained everything she wished.

    She wanted it all. [3]

    A position worthy of honor and praise¡­¡­ And the heart of the man she loved.

    ¡¸Albertine¡­ Why have you done such a thing¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ You wouldn¡¯t be able to understand.¡¹

    Albertine lowered her eyes after letting out such words¡­¡­ But she then adjusted her sight, and returned to her original gaze of brilliant arrogance.

    ¡¸Well¡­¡­ I¡¯ll teach you a little. I¡¯ll be taking everything away from you. But of course, I don¡¯t need anything sullied with your hands. After taking everything I desire, I¡¯ll pass the rest of the stage to your husband.¡¹

    Noticing what she meant, Eleanor¡¯s eyes opened wide.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ My God¡­ You know that it¡¯s your fault from the beginning, don¡¯t you?!¡¹

    ¡¸Certainly not¡­¡­ Because he won¡¯t look at me if I don¡¯t do such a thing, I must¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ You¡­¡¹

    Eleanor remained stunned while Albertine gave a command to one of her subordinates. She then started moving to another room.

    ¡¸Wait, Albertine!¡¹

    Listening to her voice as she moves away, Albertine¡¯s heart was healed ever so slightly.

    However¡­¡­ It still wasn¡¯t enough.

    ¡¸Marquis Brunnow, how are the preparations¡­?¡¹

    Moving back to the depths of the basement, Albertine called out to a nobleman who worked as a scholar and knight; a noble with delicate features whose age was in his mid-30¡¯s.

    ¡¸Your appearance is beautiful as always, Albertine-sama. And, of course, the preparations have been finished.¡¹

    After saying such, Marquis Brunnow kissed the back of Albertine¡¯s hand gently.

    It would be hard to tell based off of his appearance, but Marquis Brunnow was a General of the Kingdom¡¯s military ¡ª one of the best, who personally taken command when a war started with a neighboring country.

    ¡¸And as for its finished condition?¡¹

    ¡¸Right this way.¡¹

    Marquis Brunnow took Albertine¡¯s hand, and when she shifted her gaze she saw a large Summoning Magic formation capable of dwarfing an entire mansion.

    Looking there, Albertine knew.

    ¡¸As you know, its size is approximately equal to the case four years ago. With the formation provided by Albertine-sama, we can summon a Greater Demon. Consecutive summoning will be possible so long as the number of bodies provided are adequate.¡¹

    Moreover, it would work so long as Magic Power was fueled by the practitioner¡­¡­ In other words, a strong individual could be drawn out if a large amount of Magic Power was forced through. ¡­¡­ It was a great improvement compared to the previous formation.

    ¡¸Then, how will we find an individual superior to the Demon¡­?¡¹

    The Marquis made a sad, difficult face in response to Albertine¡¯s question.

    In terms of war potential, several hundred Greater Demons were equivalent to tens of thousands of soldiers. However, even in the neighboring countries individuals capable of summoning Greater Demons were scarce ¡ª they¡¯d need to be individuals capable of calling upon Intermediate Spirits at minimum. Furthermore, even then profitable results weren¡¯t guaranteed.

    From the start this experiment was put in place to summon an individual higher than a Greater Demon. Thus, they had intentionally prepared 50 children as sacrifices, even if it would only summon one creature.

    A¡¾Greater Spirit¡¿equal in power to a natural disaster, a Demon at the top of its species¡­¡­ An¡¾Archdemon¡¿.

    When such a being manifests in the world, it was said to appear with a human figure in old nobles¡¯ clothing, cloaked in a sinister atmosphere.

    ¡¸It¡¯s displeasing¡­¡­ But if we can call upon that¡­¡­¡¹

    ¡¸Yes¡­¡­ I can remember it all too well.¡¹

    The Demon Summoning case that had taken place four years ago. At that time, Marquis Brunnow was a commanding Officer for their subjugation. Albertine had also participated as an observer of the Institute of Magic.

    These two people witnessed the presence of that.

    Possessing a beauty like that of a messenger of the Gods, it was a lovely golden Cat¡­¡­

    With golden bat-like wings on its back, it was a special high ranking Demon¡­ The ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿¡­¡­

    Only a very small number of people had noticed that hidden within its small body, a terrifying amount of Magic Power was stored¡­¡­ It was a beautiful golden Demon which couldn¡¯t even be compared to the likes of Greater Demons.

    It was announced by the Church that it no longer existed on this world, but these two people were fascinated by its beauty; so much so that they still strongly hope that it could materialize once again.

    They were charmed by the Demon, and gained faith¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ For the time being, shall we attempt to test it and summon a Greater Demon, then adjust it over a year to call upon that individual¡­? If it¡¯s that, then a number of sacrifices will be required.¡¹

    ¡¸That is so, isn¡¯t it¡­¡­¡¹

    Albertine thought for a moment.

    The reason she had detained Eleanor was because she didn¡¯t wish to let her, who can use Magic, disturb the last stage of the experiment. Her son¡­ Luderick. She wanted to sacrifice him in front of her if possible.

    ¡¸One child¡­¡­ There¡¯s only one child with a potent amount of Magic Power running in their¡ºblood¡». I wonder if that child could complete the sacrifice alone¡­¡¹

    £ª

    ¡¸That girl¡­¡­ Is it?¡¹

    Zumana asked Albertine again unintentionally after he heard that she intended for the child to be the first to be sacrificed for a Trial Experiment.

    ¡¸I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¹

    ¡¸No, it is alright. But it is certainly earlier than expected¡­¡¹

    Across the room where the children were confined, Albertine gave a composed nod.

    The original plan was to have Luderick possessed by a lower ranked Demon. At best, the Demon would be able to mimic Luderick as much as possible, as to crush the spirit of Albertine¡¯s opponent. And so, it wasn¡¯t at all necessary to conduct a trial using that girl with the same¡ºBlood¡»as a sacrifice.

    ¡¸I want to know how strong a Demon will be summoned using an individual with strong ¡ºBlood¡»¡­¡­ That is all.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Yes.¡¹

    But that¡¯s probably not the only reason¡­¡­ Or so thought Zumana.

    After her conversation with Eleanor, Albertine was lacking peace of mind.

    To the child of the woman loved by her husband, a child whose Father would throw everything away for his daughter. To the child who was loved by everyone around them, Zumana understood that Albertine would harbor complicated feelings.

    The presence of such a child disturbed Albertine¡¯s peace of mind, and caused her to fear them subconsciously¡­¡­

    That little girl was mysterious, even to Zumana.

    In front of thieves announcing their objective of kidnapping, she had remained unfrightened despite being so young. Then, in a dignified manner, she had demanded¡­¡­ No, she had negotiated.

    Zumana had though that her¡ºBlood¡»must have been strong when he witnessed such a thing. Even with children like Luderick around, Zumana had still thought that her¡ºBlood¡»was particularly strong.

    Furthermore¡­¡­ She had been so beautiful it was intimidating. It was to the extent that it was hard to imagine she was even human. Despite their aim, some of the Knights who assisted in the raid had knelt out of fascination.

    For Zumana, however, it didn¡¯t matter.

    Albertine is the master of Zumana, and so her word is absolute. Zumana loved Albertine, and Albertine alone¡­¡­ Not only her beauty, but her pride and and strength as well¡­¡­ She occasionally shows a lonely expression¡­¡­ He loved her weakness as well.

    Even after he knew that Albertine was the one who caused the decline of his household¡­¡­

    £ª

    ¡¸¡­¡­ This is¡­?¡¹

    Albertine¡¯s eyes are opened wide when she approaches the room confining the children.

    It was a strange sight.

    Dazzling light leaked from the gap in the closed door. The light became¡ºFeathers¡»as it danced towards the floor, only to vanish once it reached the ground.

    ¡¸How is this¡­¡­¡¹

    That¡ºLight¡»was recognized by Albertine.

    It was Holy Magic. It was the Holy Light Magic showed only once by the Pope in the Imperial Capital.

    It was a¡ºBlessing¡»that Priests used to grant healing, divine protection, and ward off evil.

    The Pope had showed the spell¡ºGroup Blessing¡», which grants the spell¡¯s effects for multiple people. As for the number of people who could use such a spell, there would only be ten-odd people on the continent.

    ¡¸Zumana, the key!¡¹

    Impatiently unlocking the door, Albertine entered the room and witnessed not the scene of hurt and frightened children; children who had abandoned all hope. Instead, she sees the figure of a¡ºSaint¡»in the form of a little girl granting healing to the children, and prayed to in return.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Ahh~ what a surprise.

    Of course I would be surprised when a beautiful woman with red hair breaks into the room all of a sudden. She had an amazingly scary face as she caught my arm and attempted to rush out of the room, but¡­ Not only Shelly and Rick, all of the children insisted on accompanying me. Really terrifying.

    Geez¡­¡­ Even though I went out of my way and healed them so that they¡¯d be hurt again.

    When I soothed them and managed to get out of the room I heard sobbing and sorrowful cries coming from the room. What should be done about this situation¡­?

    I was labeled as¡ºSaint-sama¡»by the children¡­¡­ It¡¯s very embarrassing.

    ¡¸Hurry up and walk.¡¹

    ¡¸Ye©`s.¡¹

    Painful, painful! My arm was grasped tightly when I answered in a non-serious manner. That¡¯s right. A normal child should be frightened in this situation, wouldn¡¯t they?

    While imitating Shelly¡¯s frightened attitude, I follow behind the beautiful woman. From the onii-san who¡¯s also walking with us, I can continuously feel a dubious gaze.

    I should really behave more like a human from now on¡­

    After a short walk down a corridor, we reach a room that¡¯s even larger than the last one.

    What¡¯s with the construction techniques in this world? Tattered columns scattered around like this makes me think that the ceiling will simply collapse in the near future¡­

    ¡¸You¡­¡­ Are you Riasteia¡¯s[4] child¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Un.¡¹

    Is this person a friend of Mother¡¯s too? U~mm¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s slightly different I think. When she said Mother¡¯s name, I saw a great deal of feelings swirling about. She¡¯s calmed down from a while ago, but she¡¯s still irritated.

    All of a sudden, the beautiful woman crouches before me and stares into my eyes with a forced¡ºSmile¡»directed at me. It¡¯s scary.

    ¡¸You¡­¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Yuurushia[5].¡¹

    ¡¸I see¡­¡­ Can you use Holy Magic¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­ Un.¡¹

    ¡¸Where did you learn that magic from a while ago¡­?¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­?¡¹

    The Magic from a while ago¡­? It¡¯s just the Holy Magic Vio taught me, so it¡¯s not all that special. Was using that Magic in such a showy way uncommon¡­?

    When I incline my head with a¡ºI¡¯m a child, I don¡¯t understand¡»look, the beautiful woman sighs.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll teach you what¡¯s going to happen to you in a little while, Yurushia[6]¡­ ¡¹

    ¡¸Un¡­¡¹

    ¡¸I had intended to have you possessed by a Demon, but if you can use Holy Magic¡­ I¡¯m considering doing an experiment.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Un?¡¹

    ¡¸First, shall we cut off your arm with a knife? After that, I¡¯ll have you cure yourself, alright?¡¹

    ¡­¡­ Eh?

    ¡¸After that we¡¯ll try the feet. If you don¡¯t heal quickly, you¡¯ll bleed out, so do your best. Afterwards, should we see how many needles can be stuck into you¡­? Even if it¡¯s cured, because the needles will be embedded, it¡¯ll remain painful I think.¡¹

    Err¡­¡­

    ¡¸If you run out of Magic, letting you be possessed by a Lower Demon would be fine, right? You won¡¯t be able to resist as your hands and feet become warped and hair and scales grow out.¡¹

    While the beautiful woman says such unpleasant things, her heart seems to go into a strange direction as she gently touches my cheek with a flushed face. All the while she has a lonesome gaze.

    ¡¸Your eyes¡­ How beautiful. They look just like your Father¡¯s¡­¡­ I fell in love¡­ With those eyes. When I was a child¡­¡­ I fell in love the first time we met.

    ¡­¡­ I loved him¡­ I still do, but¡­ I¡¯ve only said unpleasant things.

    I thought¡­¡­ I thought that if I waited, he would eventually be mine. That would have been the best for both our families¡­¡­ But next to that man¡­¡­ There was always your Mother¡­¡­¡­¡¹

    Her white fingers grasp my neck gently.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ That woman¡­ I hated her. I didn¡¯t even want to look at her.

    ¡­¡­ At the Institute¡­ I had witnessed all of her faults¡­¡­ He was mine, until his elder brother got in the way¡­ We had cooperated at first¡­¡­ But so long as there¡¯re obstructions, that man¡¯s heart won¡¯t be mine¡­¡­ So you¡­ If youdisappear¡­¡­¡¹

    This seems like the story of¡ºA Girl who can¡¯t be honest with the one she loves¡»¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t think she wanted to tell me this story, either. Most likely, she¡¯s only telling me because I¡¯m the child of a woman she hates ¡ª furthermore, one she plans to kill¡­¡­ But I want to speak.

    Was there anyone of the same sex that this person could consult¡­? If they just had someone to listen to¡­¡­ Then maybe she could be a bit more honest¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­?¡¹

    While she tightens her grip around my neck¡­¡­ I touch her trembling hands and smile calmly.

    I see her eyes shake for a moment, and even though she hadn¡¯t seemed to notice them, I wiped the tears rolling down her face with my fingers.

    ¡¸¡­¡­ What¡­ Are¡­¡­¡¹

    Confusion floats within her eyes as she and I gaze at one another. Her harsh glance withers away little by as I clean off the tears from her cheeks¡­¡­ Finally, I gently wrap my hands around her.

    The Hearts of Humanity are¡­¡­ Fragile¡­ Sorrowful¡­¡­ And Beautiful.

    For such deep affection to turn into pain and hatred¡­ I hold her in my arms gently, gently.

    Those feelings¡­ They¡¯re lovely¡­¡­

    These feelings¡­¡­ Drive me mad.

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Bad person.¡¹

    ¡¸¡­¡­¡­ Eh¡­?¡¹

    This Demon is starved for love.

    And so¡­¡­ She¡¯s a bad person¡­¡­¡­ For hiding such sweet nectar¡­¡­

    ¡¸¡­¡­ Thank you for the meal.¡¹

    *Gokin*¡­¡­

    To her neck, I kindly¡­ Gently broke it.

 Volume 1 - CH 10

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    Volume 1, Chapter 10: The Demon¡¯s Blessing

    ¡°Albertine-samaaaaaa!¡±

    Zumana couldn¡¯t believe what was happening.

    His intense feelings for Albertine hit him as the sacrifice, a child, with a smile filled with compassion¡­

    Snapped his beloved¡¯s neck.

    Zumana¡¯s thoughts went blank, then he was quickly filled with anger and hatred, but, the moment he reached to take out his sword, he sensed an ominous [Feeling].

    The little girl¡¯s adorable eyes¡­ the white parts were eroding.

    A ruby-like glow appeared around her pale gold pupils.

    Behind her cherry-colored lips, a beautiful ruby red fang showed.

    From the adorable little girl spilled a violent aura of [Intimidation] and [Presence]. The little girl pierced the throat of the still warm Albertine with her fangs. Zumana was frozen still.

    Blood shot out from her throat¡­

    As if she expected it, Albertine¡¯s blood flowed into the little girl¡¯s mouth without spilling a drop.

    ¡°¡­ A vampire¡­?¡±

    A legendary evil monster.

    In the past, a country was filled with vampires and fell to ruin.  Recently, just a single vampire had appeared in a neighboring country, causing a massive amount of people to flee.

    This thing in front of him, it was such an evil existence¡­?

    Perhaps because she heard the Zumana¡¯s voice, the little girl, let go of the throat to breathe, murmuring curiously while looking in his eyes:

    ¡°¡­ A vampire¡­?¡±

    The little girl said in a different tone, before patting her belly and *kepu* giving a cute burp.

    Zumana shivered at the sight.

    Killing people, drinking blood as a [Meal] ¡­

    In her eyes which looked at Zumana, he was not reflected as an [Enemy], not even as a [Human]. He was only seen as food, he realized.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Clenching his teeth to not moan aloud, Zumana began running from the [Monster].

    To avenge the enemy of the one he loved, risking his life for a sure kill, He called for reinforcements.

    ¡°Marquis Brunnow-sama, have the summoners start the ritual!¡±

    Marquis Brunnow came rushing in at the sudden call.

    However, he wasn¡¯t a man to fall into a confused panic. He had also felt the presence of a [Monster].

    ¡°Zumana-kun, what is it? This pressure is no joke.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably¡­ a vampire. It¡¯s pretty strong, too¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­ happened to Albertine-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Albertine-sama was¡­¡±

    Brunnow understood Zumana¡¯s indescribably agonized face. He clenched his fist unconsciously.

    Brunnow would honor her nobility and will, a beautiful rose had been broken, his hatred solidified in his heart.

    ¡°¡­Can we win even if we use a demon¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Perhaps¡±

    ¡°¡­All right. Knights and soldiers! Keep your distance from the vampire! Zumana-kun, remember it be controlled only with a sacrifice¡±

    ¡°It has¡­ intelligence¡±

    Seeing Zumana had a decisive look on his face; Marquis Brunnow also made his resolve.

    ¡°He¡­ here it comes!¡±

    The voices of the soldiers echoed in the basement.

    The voices sounded confused. The target, even with that monstrous aura, was an adorable little girl, which caused them pause.

    If they hadn¡¯t heard it was a vampire, they¡¯d even hesitate to pull out a weapon.

    ¡°Go! Don¡¯t let it get too close!¡±

    The commanding knight yelled. The soldiers ran, wielding their swords and spears.

    They could not hesitate at its adorable appearance.

    ¡®It can¡¯t be person, it has those crimson eyes and fangs¡­ her face must be an illusion¡¯ to follow their orders, they stopped their thoughts.

    With a thin smile, the little girl punched a sharp spear and pushed her finger forward, causing the soldier to be slammed into a pillar in a bloody mess of meat.

    A knight, had his blade stopped by its fingertips, and, with a pat on his shoulder, had the left side of his body crushed.

    Like a little toddler conducting an orchestra, the little girl waved her hands around, for every swing, bodies were torn, threaded, or crushed entirely¡­ As if played with by the hands and feet of an invisible giant, soldiers and knights continue to be killed.

    Flowers of blood sprouted and bloomed on the ceiling, the floor became a sea of blood.

    However, those that were quickly killed, those were the lucky ones.

    ¡°¡­¡­O¡­Oh¡­¡±

    With a snap, the flame spear the commander was saving as a trump card was repelled, a magic barrier forming with just her raised hand. The knight commander collapsed out of despair and fear.

    Seeing the commander¡¯s face wet with tears, crying for her life, the beautiful monster put on a gentle smile as it sipped the blood of the woman while she still lived.

    ¡°¡­U¡­Aaaaaaaahhh?!¡±

    The two remaining knights forgot their pride, dropped their weapons and ran.

    ¡°Hiiiii!¡±

    The two knights who fled from the summoning team fell, their necks slashed in an instant by Zumana.

    ¡°Zumana-kun, you¡­¡±

    ¡°Marquis-sama, we have to sacrifice soon¡±. ¡°Hurry¡­¡±

    The casters reacted to his voice.

    ¡®If we try to escape, we will be killed¡¯¡­ the thought caused the summoning team to desperately pour magic into the ritual.

    And then,

    For a split second¡­ it felt like the light from the lamps was overtaken by darkness.

    Out of the summoning formation, figures spring out, three Greater Demons.

    One of them felt more otherworldly and undoubtedly evil.

    That demon was slightly larger than the other two Greater Demons; it had a shape closer to that of a human than the monkey-type.

    It wore armor made of bones and bodies, on its back were the black wings of a bird of prey.

    While still being a Greater Demon, it appeared to clearly be an existence beyond.

    ¡°Demons, take these sacrifi¡­ Gu~o!¡±

    Before the summoning leader could finish speaking, the summoners were instantly massacred; further, the demons ate the knight corpses, a fee for their manifestation.

    ¡°Monsters¡­ the summoned demons just arbitrarily¡­¡±

    Marquis Brunnow stuttered out in shock. While he was a great mage in his own right, he had only barely escaped the demon¡¯s claw due to its starting distance from him.

    The demon noticed that the Marquis dodged, looked with intelligent eyes towards him, and said in a low voice:

    ¡°[The bodies have been taken, but they were not enough. I wonder if you¡¯ll be able to form a contract¡­]¡±

    The demon said with a juvenile grin on its face.

    Marquis Brunnow understood what it meant and knew his folly.

    Demon summoning¡­ not to mention Greater Demon summoning, generally has been considered taboo.

    Summoning lesser demons was one of the most useful magics for a mage to know for travel with small groups because it was simple. They were even easier to call on than spirits.

    Why is it then, that summoning them is taboo¡­?

    It¡¯s not too hard a question: in the past, a Greater Demon that had been summoned rampaged without the caster being able to control them, it destroyed the castle, and the town had such a large number of victims that it is used as an example for the law.

    For this reason, why had Marquis Brunnow prepared only this amount of sacrifices?

    He was sure the Greater Demon would be satisfied, regardless of its price it named. He believed that he had more than enough, for stronger demons which asked for more sacrifices.

    He was wrong about the demon¡¯s power.

    He had mistaken his own talent.

    He had messed up. As a result, he would not only lose his life: he¡¯d unleashed the demon.

    ¡°If you need a sacrifice, take me!¡±

    Looking at the source of the voice, Marquis Brunnow sees Zumana standing there, a face full of conviction.

    ¡°Take me dark one, and accept my command! If you need more sacrifices, there are about 50 children in other rooms. With this, as our contract, serve Marquis Brunnow-sama¡±

    ¡°[¡­tsk]¡±

    The demon clicked his tongue and looked at Zumana.

    When acting without permission, a summoned creature could still be dealt with. To quickly negotiate with the demon and form a [Contract], Zumana made the right choice.

    ¡°[So¡­ my instructions¡­?]¡±

    ¡°Defeat our enemy¡±

    ¡°[¡­ Understood]¡±

    The next moment, the demon had torn off Zumana¡¯s head and eaten it, the contract with him sealed.

    Unceremoniously, Zumana¡¯s soul had been eaten by the devil and extinguished.

    ¡°[¡­ The enemy¡­]¡±

    As if waiting for the contract to be completed, unfelt until now in the basement, a dauntlessly vast magical energy spread.

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    *Clap Clap Clap*¡­¡­ by the exit, applause could be heard, the demon saw a cute little girl within.

    £ª£ª£ª

    I, I¡¯m sorry¡­. I¡¯ve done it now.

    I couldn¡¯t endure so much of that love. That much put me on the brink¡­

    What I did, I remember properly.

    It was so [Delicious] that I couldn¡¯t stop myself, then, before I knew it, all the creatures I could see were mashed and twisted.

    Beauty-san, I¡¯m sorry. It was really delicious.

    Love, and anger, and hatred, and sadness¡­ aged into [Desire]. So far, it was the most delicious thing I¡¯ve ever tasted.

    It wasn¡¯t that I wanted the [Blood] or [Meat] of the human. Dissolved in a human¡¯s body was the sweet [Karma], the scrumptious [Soul]

    Although demons are said to prefer innocent souls¡­ that taste is for lesser demons.  A [soul] with profound [Karma] is¡­ enchanting, with a rich aroma around it.

    As for why I drank all the blood¡­ I got a bit riled up.

    I need to calm down¡­

    But, I surprised myself.

    I didn¡¯t expect not to feel anything¡­ despite killing people.

    Having a [Human Heart] was my goal. But once again I noticed.

    I can¡¯t distinguish between the [Value] of mortal lives¡­ I just can¡¯t understand the difference.

    Do I like them or not?

    How good they taste is all the difference I can tell.

    ¡°¡­Looks like I¡¯m really a demon¡­¡±

    It¡¯s too late now, though.

    ¡°Well, then¡­ what are you people getting up to?¡±

    I was watching when I ate the souls of those pitiful knights, so I know a little¡­

    The runaway-knight-sans have been slashed. I should talk to the bro or geezer, but if I just went over there, [Read the air] or something would likely be said to me.

    In the other room is some really big magic¡­ I wonder if it¡¯s summoning magic. The mages are pouring in [Un-typed] magic.

    Oh, looks like something was summoned.

    The large summoning summoned three¡­ wait are those demons?

    That¡¯s quite a big demon, though. Were there any demons like that in the Demon World? Well, the Demon World is vast, so there are demon types I don¡¯t recognize¡­ huh?

    That child in the middle¡­ doesn¡¯t it look familiar?

    ¡­ I can¡¯t remember. In the other room, before I knew it, negotiations had begun.

    I see. The negotiation technique of a demon: I¡¯ll study it well. But¡­ making yourself a sacrifice, huh. Amazing isn¡¯t he¡­ that person. I shouldn¡¯t have gotten the souls of the knights from before without making a contract.

    Oh well, pardon me.

    Wonder if they¡¯ll be done talking soon?

    While I was applauding the [Intimidation], at last I think I remembered who it was.

    ¡°¡­You are¡­¡±

    The demon growls at me. Huh? Do we know each other?

    ¡°D-demon! Kill that vampire!¡±

    ¡­I was called that again.

    What is this vampire thing¡­ I¡¯ll have someone teach me more when I get back to the Demon World.

    ¡°[Gu~oga~aaaaaaaaaaaaa]¡±

    The two smaller demons came towards me.

    Well, of course when compared to me those two are suuuper large.

    Since they¡¯re coming so slowly, I have some leeway.

    Although I also have the power of a demon, I don¡¯t know how much of my power can be accessed.

    Pouring demonic magic into my fingertips, I to manifest the [Crimson Claws] of my original body.

    *Poof*¡­

    ¡°¡­Eeeh?¡±

    They disappeared before my claw dissected them¡­? Black haze from the two smaller demons drifts into me, it tastes like¡­ [Mini Monkey]? My snack food.

    Wait just a second¡­

    That [Mini Monkey] is summoned into the material world and it becomes this? So that one over there is that child¡­

    ¡°Pardon me¡­ did you, by chance, run away from me, rather large Monkey-san?¡±

    Oh, looks like I was right. Monkey-san is making a frightened face.

    ¡°[¡­Guh¡ª]¡±

    ¡°¡­Wha¡­¡±

    The human geezer that was next to it, with a look of disbelief, looks between me and Monkey-san.

    Ah, sorry¡­ Monkey-san¡­ I crushed your pride after such great pains were taken to summon you.

    ¡°[Guga~a~aaaaaaa!]¡±

    Roaring suddenly, Monkey-san creates dozens of [Fire Balls]

    ¡°¡­Eeh?¡±

    He shoots out the balls of fire, but naturally, my hand raises and the flames are stopped by a magic barrier. Monkey-san, what are you doing?

    Wait, that¡¯s a bit much. Looking so confused after the shot failed, hey¡­ Stop¡­

    ¡°[Cut it out!]¡±

    My [Voice] becomes the physical magic [Yell], Monkey-san is blown to the other side of the room, it sunk into a wall.

    Really¡­

    ¡°What do you think will happen if I get this dress that father gave me dirty?¡±

    Neither the geezer nor Monkey-san understands my complaint. Why is that?

    And then,

    ¡°You there¡­ why did you use magic like a human would?¡±

    I really don¡¯t get it.

    A demon is made out of [Magic], every action they make is charged with magical power and turns into [Magic].

    Holding up your hand makes a magic barrier, a shove forward from the hand becomes a magic shock wave, a demon really doesn¡¯t need to rely on fire and wind like a human.

    ¡°Why are you using [Pure] demon magic power on the [Degraded] magic of humans until this point?¡±

    It¡¯s like a fighting master fighting with a squeaky hammer¡­ strange comparison, sorry.

    ¡®So you can¡¯t bring out enough [Pure Magic]?¡¯¡­ Looking into its eyes, I can see it think I¡¯m looking down on it. He¡¯s physically looking down on me, though.

    ¡°¡­W, why¡­ a¡­vampire¡­¡±

    The geezer still doesn¡¯t understand, I give him a cold gaze, and put on a smile.

    ¡°[Because¡­ I¡¯m a demon, you know?]¡±

    *Whoosh*

    Pushing aside my golden hair, five-meter long bat wings of the same color spread behind me.

    I flap the huge, slender wings and slowly float into the air, from above, putting on a cold voice I say to the geezer and the monkey getting back up to attack me:

    ¡°¡­You¡¯re getting on my nerves.¡±

    With a swing of a single wing, the monkey, without even a scream, is erased from this world: eaten by me.

    Even I didn¡¯t think I could sound so cold. Even though I¡¯m just three-year-old¡­

    Well then¡­ now for the rest.

    ¡°¡­A¡­ah¡­aaaaaaaaah!¡±

    I can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s saying; the geezer is kneeling and looking up at me.

    ¡­Hmm? There¡¯s something strange about this person¡­? I can feel that he¡¯s afraid of me, but geezer isn¡¯t feeling [Despair].

    What is it? This feeling.

    It¡¯s like that [Intoxicated Feeling] I felt from the children I healed before, with a [Rough] fragrance.

    But¡­ Now I¡¯m a bit curious about it.

    ¡°Come.¡±

    What I say that with a calm expression, he crawls closer to me with a strange expression. How gross. Scary.

    ¡­Is he a masochist, I wonder?

    Well, curiosity never killed any cats.

    ¡°¡­Thank you for the meal¡±

    Author notes: Sorry to those who are offended, next is the final story of the first volume.

    Translator notes: Yum yum yum. Delicious.

    More twists and turns to come next week.

 Volume 1 - CH 11

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    Volume 1, Chapter 11: I¡¯ve Become a Four-Year-Old

    After my snack, feeling a bit drunk, I followed Eleanor-sama¡¯s scent to join up with her.

    ¡°¡­ Over there, they¡¯ve been doing something scary¡±

    *beso beso* While crying, I hugged Eleanor-sama, Eleanor-sama let me purr on her lap,

    ¡°You know, we left lots of markers when we came here. Soon my husband and Folt-sama will be here to save us, let¡¯s wait together.¡±

    She said to me.

    I must seem super sly for a three-year-old. Actually I¡¯m not acting¡­ I was just crying from being drunk.

    I¡¯m a bit [Inebriated] from having too much to drink while I was in cat form, my bad¡­

    And then, in less than half a day, Father came to help along with hundreds of knights.

    Kyaa, so cool. Where is Eleanor-sama¡¯s husband? Dunno. Is Father a soldier? At last, the handsome Father I wanted to see has secured me. My breathing was constricted from being Squeeeezed by his hug; I completely missed what he said.

    Once I calmed down, I gave thanks in my heart to the huge amount of people for saving me, sorry for making you worried.

    Incidentally, when I woke up the next day¡­ I had a hangover. No more food in the near future.

    £ª£ª£ª

    In the surroundings of the Royal Capital an incident occurred: a mass kidnapping of children, high treason, and, worst of all, another demon summoning incident, with every suspect killed by the summoned demon.

    Out of the kidnapped children, the locals and travelers that had been taken recently were identified and investigated, so most of them have been safely returned.

    The ringleader, Marquis Brunnow was confirmed dead, after which his family fell into ruin. Several other noble families also disappeared from the Holy Kingdom.

    A witnessed collaborator in the demon summoning, The Duchess of Koeru, Albertine, had also been confirmed dead. While not the head of the family, high treason was not a light crime. Inside information about the Duke, a leading figure of the nation, was withheld, but the Koeru Dukedom is considered de facto crushed.

    At the same time, the second prince who had left the royal family, releasing his right to the throne, did not return to the Koeru ducal house. Instead he formed a new house. One which held the same name as the royal family: [Verusenia].

    Together with his new wife¡­ along with the still young [Princess].

    £ª£ª£ª

    Two months from that incident, I finally became four years old.

    Four years in this body¡­ after all this time, my current life is comfortable. My demonic thoughts are back to some extent, but strangely my human part, my [Human Heart] is stronger.

    On my birthday, I got lots of presents from everyone. Rick had a luxurious birthday, but my party just had my whole family: that style made me happier.

    Shelly also came from the Royal Capital. The flower and herb seed set she gave made me happy. She had a matching set, too.

    Rick also stopped by, for some reason.

    Staring at my face, stroking my hair ¡°¡­crap¡­¡± I say on my way back¡­ Something in that child feels similar to [That Man].

    Furthermore, from him I got a necklace with a blue stone. And, most likely¡­ Bonbons.

    From Father, I got a single-horse carriage like a lily flower, and a very nice tea set.

    But¡­ it was sent.

    Father didn¡¯t come.

    ¡­*Gusun*.

    After that, half a year has passed, it¡¯s now spring.

    I¡¯ve been exchanging letters with Shelly, but suddenly a letter from Rick comes. This guy just does whatever¡­ perhaps, does he thinks we are friends?

    Anyways¡­ in all that time, Father didn¡¯t come home.

    I wonder if his job is keeping him busy. Did he get sick of my relying on him so much¡­?

    As I thought that, Mother invited me and everyone to go see Father at the Royal Capital. Yay!

    £ª£ª£ª

    I¡¯m at the royal castle.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Eeh?¡±

    Royal castle¡­ The castle where His Majesty the King lives.

    Yup, something¡¯s off, I thought. Coming into the Royal Capital from our house, we rode in a large six-horse-drawn carriage, rather than the single horse drawn carriage we always use. Including our escorting knights, there were around 20 people.

    The old butler was also there.

    For some reason he seemed extremely happy. I had tried to find out his name, but all he ever wanted to be called was [Grandpa]. Grandpa¡¯s name¡­ eh, whatever. I¡¯ll find out eventually.

    The Knight-sans who saw me looked nervous. Yup, my appearance is scary.

    I won¡¯t eat you, don¡¯t be scared, alright?

    Thinking about that time¡­ I wonder if those children are doing ok.

    And then¡­

    Finally, I¡¯m able to meet Father.

    He¡¯s as handsome as ever. Making a patter patter while running, I went to him, ¡°So High, Sca~ry¡±, I said as he swung me round and round, He then hugged me suuuuper tight.

    Father must have been as lonely as me. Thank goodness.

    Right after we met up, Father and Mother and I went out into town. I was looking forward to sightseeing in the Royal Capital with them¡­ hmm? A clothing store?

    We entered a huge, ultra-luxury clothing store. Waiting for us were about ten assistants, who took us away. They already had a dress perfectly tailored for me somehow; it looked like a dress a luxurious princess would wear. Moreover, a large amount of money was given as if it were nothing much¡­

    Still stunned by the extravagance, when I came out of the store, there were a dozen female knights that weren¡¯t there before¡­? They were assigned to defend the carriage until we arrived at the castle.

    Why are they here?

    The castle had an atmosphere like a cathedral; all of the windows were stained glass. The entrance hall alone had me open-mouthed, speechless.

    Look at that height, a two-story house would easily fit below this ceiling, ¡®how do they clean it¡¯ was the only thought that entered my head.

    While Father hugged me, he talked about how the stained glass on the right side tells the story of the Holy Kingdom¡¯s founding, the left side is of the achievements of the royal family.

    My apologies, Father. I¡¯m not paying attention.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to the garden, Yurushia, is there anywhere you want to see in the castle?¡±

    ¡°U-Uhm¡­¡±

    Before that, tell me what¡¯s in the castle, am I stupid for not knowing?

    Turning his head to smile at me, Father said to pick something that caught my eye while he walked with mother.

    Nothing has caught my eye¡­ isn¡¯t the problem.

    But as a four-year-old, saying ¡°I want to go to the torture room¡± with an innocent smile¡­can¡¯t happen.

    Anyways, the castle garden¡­ is it generally open to tourists for no reason?

    Being called to the castle, wearing this doll-like dress, are we meet with powerful people? I wonder¡­

    Does he have an audience with the king?

    The garden was inside of a large wall, on the other side of a big gate.

    ¡°This¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you notice?¡±

    Yes, I noticed. This large garden was the one we were in for the tea party¡­Huh? Did you use a part of the castle for a tea party?

    Maybe one of those brats was a big deal¡­?

    I thought we were at Rick-chan¡¯s house.

    In a white roofed gazebo, at a large table, I noticed Eleanor-sama waving to us.

    Among the others¡­ Rick and an older boy, an old guy I don¡¯t know, and a couple in their mid-fifties.

    All of whom look at Father then at Mother¡­ I quiiiietly peek.

    Father kneels down in front of the old guy¡­ how rare.

    ¡°Father¡­ I have brought Riasteia and Yurushia.¡±

    ¡­Father? He¡¯s, my Grandfather? ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­Eeh?

    ¡°I see¡­ this is the child.¡±

    ¡°¡­Grandpa?¡±

    When I muttered that, Grandfather put on a big smile and lifted me up with strong arms.

    ¡°Yes, that is so. *We* are your grandfather. Hahaha¡±

    Laughter spreads, the beautiful old lady, (my Grandmother?), also earnestly stroked my cheek and hair while smiling widely.

    ¡­ These people are amazing, aren¡¯t they. They aren¡¯t scared of me.

    ¡°Now that everyone¡¯s here, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Grandfather quickly walks the way we came while still hugging me. I understand¡­ you¡¯re the new hug person.

    ¡­Wait, where are we going?

    Father and Eleanor-sama followed, after which a huge number of respectably dressed people and knights marched along the majestic corridor beside us.

    The knights and butlers open a luxurious door¡­

    ¡°¡­Fua?¡±

    In that huge hall, thousands of people¡­ more castle servants, nobles, and knights, aligned side by side, greeted us.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting, *We* introduce this child to you. She is Folt¡¯s child, the Duke of Verusenia¡¯s daughter, and my grandchild. Her name is¡­¡±

    Yurushia of Verusenia. For the first time, I know my full name.

    While I internalize it, I¡¯m stunned; all of the eyes of the place were looking at me.

    ¡°This child¡­ is your [Princess]!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­..Eeh?

    At that moment a murmur rises, followed by a cheer, followed by a roar from the knights.

    EEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!??

    £ª£ª£ª

    I am the granddaughter of His Majesty, holding the same family name as the royal family, a duke¡¯s daughter: Yurushia of Verusenia.

    They didn¡¯t tell me the little details during the talk, since I¡¯m a child.

    My standing is that of a Duke¡¯s third daughter from a second wife¡­ it seems.

    Mother was his secret lover, which was why he didn¡¯t stay too much, but the first wife is now no longer a problem¡­ wait a second.

    Grandfather said [Princess], shouldn¡¯t it be different because I¡¯m a duke¡¯s daughter? Is it¡­ because there¡¯s still only one boy in the royal family, they must have accepted it as natural.

    Really, this world is haphazard¡­ Even if calling it that is a little strong, I shouldn¡¯t let myself be taken off-guard about the common sense of this world. Live Humbly.

    Those knights, they seem to have been longing for the presence of a [Princess] to protect and be devoted to¡­ a man¡¯s romance, huh.

    But¡­ hmm?

    Don¡¯t I have two older sisters¡­?

    ¡°Eh, whatever¡­¡±

    Are you joking? Since I am¡­ well, I¡¯m a demon.

    We left that mansion which we lived in for so long, together with Mother and the maids, to the Tule territory¡¯s main ducal residence.

    The mansion was many times larger than the other one; my room was much bigger as well. I begin to think while staring at the calm late night streets from the window.

    I¡¯m a demon.

    My [Human Heart] is still there, in my mind, making ripples of anxiety.

    But someday, I might trouble Father and Mother.

    Aside from those two, it really doesn¡¯t matter¡­ or so I thought, but over the course of living as a human, the number of people you care about grows little by little.

    I will live as a [Human].

    I will be a valuable [Human Being] and will have their love.

    I will live as a [Demon]

    The precious¡­ and foolish humans, when they¡¯re struggling in their sorrow, I¡¯ll love them back.

    [Demon Me] is hungry for love.

    As a [Human]¡­ I will save the people for their love. As a [Demon], I will devour their tasty souls.

    From what I can tell through the window, even during this silent night, people are indeed still alive. I can hear it¡­ their breathing.

    Being afraid of things like the dark, those lovable feelings¡­

    You all should instead¡­ devote your [Love] to me.

    ¡°¡­I the [Demonic Princess] will lovingly take your souls¡­¡±

    Translator Note:

    This marks the end of Volume 1 and the start of a truly fascinating story. Next chapter, we¡¯ll be going on a trip.

 Volume 2 - CH 0

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    Volume 2, Chapter 0: Whose Dream is This?

    ¡°Hmm¡­?¡±

    I notice that I¡¯m in a strange place.

    The white stone of the building was decorated with precise workmanship.

    Things like a wood carving of a dragon and lion, painted in primary colors have been lined up like in a shop.

    Various uncut shiny rocks have been piled carelessly, this place looks like some sort of art house exhibit.

    The material of the castle I¡¯m in looks smooth, like glass.

    I see a horse-drawn carriage, humble, but made of gold.

    An elaborate chariot made of iron and rock.

    From the ceiling, a tapestry hung, woven out of golden thread.

    All alone, a pure, glossy white sphere thing sat. I don¡¯t know how I would use that vehicle.

    There are some obviously ancient things here, but also technology I¡¯m unable to comprehend.

    In a nutshell, the timeline, places, and even laws of physics seem to be different for these random things that have been gathered and spread out along the streets in front of me.

    Also a¡­

    ¡°Department store?¡±

    It was made of concrete, tiles, and glass, on top were colorful signs both in [English] and [Japanese]

    Have I been summoned again, no, was I reborn into this strange world?

    ¡°¡­No¡±

    My hands still look small and thin. Touching my hair with my fingertips, it¡¯s disgustingly glossy and golden¡­ the hair of a demon, as usual.

    I can tell I¡¯m still wearing what I wore to bed, feeling the silky material of the sleepwear on my body.

    It seems to be night time, as there¡¯s a little moonlight shining from the sky. All the lights in the building in front of me are lit, but there are completely no signs of living creatures.

    To think there¡¯s such a random, stupid world.

    ¡°Yup, you guessed it, this is a dream.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a voice behind me. Surprised, I looked behind me slowly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ You certainly look surprised¡±

    The person, who looked like a man in his mid-twenties, narrowed his eyes happily at my answer.

    He wore a black tailcoat; it was Jet-black¡­ with no shine, not even a shadow. In the unfamiliar man¡¯s hair, a mix of pale indigo shines in the light. Looking at me with soft scarlet eyes, he snaps his fingers in an elaborate way.

    ¡°For the time being, would you like some tea?¡±

    Without any light from the sky, the place we went was illuminated by spotlights, there were tables and chairs made of glass, a mannequin in a maid uniform and a human-sized stuffed toy rabbit were awkwardly brewing the tea.

    ¡°¡­Thanks for the meal¡±

    He muttered when I sat face-to-face with him at the table¡­ Ah, I understand now, it really must be a dream

    However, it¡¯s amazing how handsome he is, sex appeal and charm are pouring off of him.

    ¡°Seriously, my heart won¡¯t last¡­¡±

    I mumbled out quietly.

    He heard it, though, and started laughing.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. In a certain sense, we¡¯re brother and sister.¡±

    ¡°Siblings¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a demon just like you¡­ Yurushia¡±

    Ah, I see¡­ Yurushia. The demon knows my name. I can¡¯t really concentrate in this place, so I didn¡¯t hear what else he said.

    Is it from my memories¡­?

    ¡°Can you¡­ tell me your name?¡±

    ¡°Well, I have a large variety of nicknames, since my first name is too long¡­¡±

    He makes a thinking pose for a bit,

    ¡°Please call me Mefi for the time being¡±

    ¡°Mefi¡­¡±

    A girl-like name. It¡¯s probably a nickname, I think. After Mefi has a sip of a crimson tea I don¡¯t recognize, he finally cuts to the chase.

    ¡°Tonight, I have come to have a conversation with Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°With me¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re a very interesting thing to me. With all my traveling between worlds, you can¡¯t possibly appreciate the [Luck] you have for me to meet with you.¡±

    ¡°What is this world¡­?¡±

    ¡°As far as I can tell, this world is, as I said, a dream world made in a single night.¡±

    ¡°Then, is this dream made by me? Or by you?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. I¡¯ve been traveling for so long I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell the difference.¡±

    A long journey, huh. I wonder if he gets lonely during the incredibly long travels.

    Finding me by chance, coincidentally speaking with me¡­

    ¡°Yurushia. Your very existence is facinating. To create something like you, a lot of luck and time were necessary.¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. There¡¯s no way this could be anything other than an impressive cheat.¡±

    Mefi said with narrowed eyes as he laughed.

    ¡°¡­Cheat¡­ hey.¡±

    I say without thinking. I guess I¡¯m the product of chance, then.

    More and more, his speech made my cat head tired.

    ¡°One piece of advice¡­ a word? Make sure not to drown in your power. Don¡¯t get overconfident¡­¡±

    Why is he saying such a scary thing? I haven¡¯t beaten nearly enough demons that I¡¯d overestimate myself.

    ¡°I hope that when I see you again, you¡¯re still [You].¡±

    ¡°¡­Y, yup¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand why he said that, but nodded my head anyways. Staying me was my intention from the start.

    He stood up from the table, and, approaching slowly, he rested his hand on my forehead.

    ¡°Soon, it will be time to say farewell. Thank you for your company, Yurushia.¡±

    He said¡­

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Mefi gently kissed my forehead, and slowly moved back.

    Wh, What was that so suddenly¡­

    ¡°I do not know when we will meet again¡­ Yurushia.¡±

    As Mefi slowly takes a graceful, noble-like bow, on his back, three pairs of bat-like wings, the same pale indigo color as his hair, spread out, dancing before the moon of the night sky.

    ¡°¡­ In my thousands of years, I¡¯ve never come upon a girl of the same [Species] as me¡­¡±

    £ª

    ¡°¡­ What was that?¡±

    As I wake up in the soft morning sun, those words spilled out of my mouth

    I¡¯m in my new, unfamiliar room; I¡¯m still not accustomed to such a large bed.

    After I check that my appearance is still the same, I give out a breath of relief.

    For some reason, that dream felt important.

    I remember a little, but the [Shocking] part almost were overwrote the important parts in my head.

    I can still [Feel] his remains when I touch that spot. I murmured.

    ¡°Pedophile.¡±

    As usual, a peaceful day begins for this demon.

    TL Notes:

    And so, we have our demon¡¯s second harem member. Hooray! (No guarantees, of course)

    More fluffy to come this monday

 Volume 2 - CH 1

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    Volume 2, Chapter 1: I¡¯ve Become a Princess, Part 1

    Well now. It¡¯s a brand new day.

    It¡¯s been nearly a year since that second demon summoning incident, and I will be five years old in three months.

    Having a good snack, meeting my grandfather who turned out to be a king, this year has had a lot happening. Quite a bit of tension. To top it off, staring out my window at the city and muttering ¡°Give me your love¡±¡­

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

    ¡­ Pardon me.

    Just going to squirm in my bed a little.

    £ª

    Well now. It¡¯s a brand new day.

    It¡¯s been nearly a year since that second demon summoning incident, and I will be five years old in three months.

    ¡­ Hmm? You think something¡¯s wrong? Ignore it.

    Anyways, my life has dramatically changed.

    Although, since I¡¯ve been overly pampered from the start, not much has changed, but, it has been increased further.

    ¡­ Today is one of those days.

    ¡°For Princess Yuru, the head chef has baked a lot of treats that are trending wildly in the Royal Capital.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡±

    A little human food won¡¯t kill me.

    A voice came my way, the head maid¡­ when father moved into the castle, the people that started caring for me grew by a lot. Ever since he became a Duke, maids have been coming by the dozens.

    That old butler guy, ¡°Just Grandpa¡±-san¡¯s wife, forces me to call her ¡°Nanna¡±¡­Why are you two so insistent on this?

    Nanna and I walk slowly while holding hands.

    I¡¯m almost five years old, it¡¯s about time I graduated from being carried around.

    However, my other hand is being held by another maid, holding me on both sides.

    For some reason, I remembered a black and white photo of a monkey being held up on either side.

    Being pulled by two people can barely be called walking. Or rather, my feet are floating.

    I don¡¯t want it to be like this, but when I complain I get carried around instead, no objection.

    I¡­ I am a princess, right?

    As an aside, when Mother carried me down the hallways, I saw Vio through an open door with all the younger maids, doing intensive-training-like push-ups.

    What are you training for¡­?

    All of you guys¡¯ love is heavy.

    Our home¡­ let¡¯s just say that the household of Verusenia is in a very good financial state.

    This country, the Holy Kingdom Taterudo is a rich land, maybe because people are religious, they work hard and pay their taxes.

    Seems there¡¯s no corruption in the religion in this nation¡­

    Well, cutting to the chase, Father¡¯s Touru territory pays a lot of taxes.

    The money isn¡¯t all the Duke¡¯s, of course.

    A portion is taken, and we stay profitable through the foreign trading that the Duke, Father, does on his own.

    The Touru territory is in the west of the kingdom. Further to the west is the Shiguresu country, where about 30% of the land is farmland: it¡¯s an agricultural superpower.

    Shiguresu, as a mostly agricultural nation, worships the same goddess as us, the Goddess of Good Harvest, Kostoru. The queen there is my father¡¯s older sister, in other words, my aunt.

    Well of course he¡¯s profitable; who could he trust more as a trading partner.

    All the same, I heard from the old butler that when the retired minister was in charge, there was an even greater amount of profit made.

    Anyways, our house is quite rich, even among aristocrats.

    Since both Mother and Father have no extravagant hobbies, they focused all their money on me.

    Of the butlers and maids that showed up when Father came here, who pamper me so intently, some had even left their previous employers who they¡¯d worked with for a long time, Vio has been fiercely training the new maids.

    It¡¯s quite scary, you know.

    I have lots of dresses and extravagant meals; I¡¯m just not used to this degree of luxury.

    I can¡¯t say ¡°I don¡¯t need it¡± properly.

    Why, you ask, would what¡¯s happened deviate from the new norm?

    For one thing, whenever I go out, I¡¯m escorted by Knights. Well, it¡¯s normal to be escorted by normal knights, but this time, a dozen female knights followed us¡­do they like crossdressing? You guys, guarding us that fiercely isn¡¯t necessary.

    Female knights¡­ sounds good, doesn¡¯t it.

    However, we were at the back of that knight formation for a reason this time.

    ¡°Look, Yurushia. We can see the castle from here¡±

    ¡°I shee¡±

    Without thinking, I accidentally lapsed into baby talk. But it doesn¡¯t matter, right now, I¡¯m riding on a horse together with His Majesty. In other words, with my Grandfather.

    Although his looks aren¡¯t bad, grandfather is anything but delicate. He¡¯s giving me love.

    Grandfather and Uncle are all the same: [Wild]. They have no delicacy.

    Thank god that Father resembles Grandmother.

    Today I¡¯m taking a long ride with Grandfather.

    That¡¯s right; I¡¯m in the Royal Capital. The knights who escorted us to the Royal Capital did so under the King¡¯s instruction.

    I stay for three days and it takes one week to and from the capital. We are commanded to visit the castle once a month.

    Troublesome.

    Grandfather gives me lots of love.

    I have a terrifying look for a child¡­ I thought. But it seems that since my uncle only had sons, Grandfather is full of love to give me. It seems like he¡¯s been waiting for a granddaughter. His love is intoxicating.

    Uhmm¡­ what about my two older sisters?

    ¡°Yurushia. Today, we¡¯re hunting a bird called pheasant in that forest.¡±

    ¡°Birdy¡±

    I appropriately chimed, looking for where a bird would be. I¡¯d never experienced hunting in the world of that dream, so I¡¯m curious.

    ¡­ Oya? There¡¯s a sign of a [Beast] in the forest.

    Of course, since we¡¯re so close to the Royal Capital, there shouldn¡¯t be many beasts. In Demon terms, [Beast], as a group, refers to things like ghouls, which eat people.

    ¡­ In other words, things like me.

    Well, at least the sign isn¡¯t that strong. It¡¯s at most the type that would [Kill for food] rather than being of the level where it would [kill for its own sake], it¡¯s reassuring.  Though, even if I know how to use my demonic power to a certain extent, I can¡¯t get conceited. Although that was told to me, I also don¡¯t know what the magnitude of the forces of the country is.

    Whatever, I wouldn¡¯t be hostile, would I? I [Love] ¡°Humans,¡± after all.

    But¡­ for [Me], there¡¯s no need to worry for this level of presence¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    I noticed something, directly in my line of sight past the sign.

    But, after seeing that I saw it, it flinched and disappeared.

    ¡°¡­ What is it? Yurushia¡±

    ¡°Uh, uhm, a squirrel.¡±

    When Grandfather asked, I pointed to where I had seen the [Squirrels] that were solidified in the previous aftermath.

    You don¡¯t have to stiffen just because you¡¯re being looked at¡­

    ¡°Oh, how cute. Do you want it?¡±

    ¡°E-eh, isn¡¯t a bit sad to catch¡­¡±

    It was scared off.

    ¡°Yurushia is so gentle, huh.¡±

    A laid back voice came from beside us.

    Looking that way, I see a pink-honey-blond boy, looking at me with a warm, fuzzy face.

    He is Rick¡¯s brother. The tentative first born of the crown prince. Timothy-kun, age 13. My cousin.

    In addition to his strawberry-honey-hair, his appearance as a whole is a mess of [Sweet]. Besides taking after Elea-sama and looking exactly like a model [Prince], Timothy-kun is filled with fluffy and sweetness inside. Rick, on the other hand, will never be called [-Sama] in my heart.

    Just [That Guy] is fine. [Brat] is also good enough for Rick.

    This time, Timothy-kun is here to provide the companionship of a cousin.

    Father and Uncle and Elea-sama, even Grandpa are always playing around like it¡¯s their job.

    By the way, I thought Rick had started school. Good for Timothy-kun, I thought. On the other hand, it¡¯s too bad that the new students will be stuck with Rick. But, Rick hasn¡¯t gone to school yet.

    I was mistaken. To enroll in the Magic School, rather than the child being seven years old in that year, they need to be seven by the time of enrollment¡­ in other words, they are admitted when they would have started the second grade of elementary school (TL: On earth). The children graduate from the Magic Academy when they¡¯re 17.

    ¡°I¡¯m not gentle¡­¡±

    ¡°To think of Squirrel-san¡¯s wellbeing, Yurushia is kind at heart.¡±

    Says Timothy-kun with a sweet smile, as he strokes my hair.

    He speaks a lot like Elea as well. Such unreliable men in the royal family, only the 10-year-old brother doesn¡¯t act like a spoiled child. He¡¯s not scared of me either.

    ¡°¡­ Haha¡±

    That made me a little happy. While I was smiling in satisfaction while my hair was being stroked, Grandfather came over and stroked my head *GashiGashi*. It¡¯s a little painful.

    ¡°Yurushia. Watch that bird!¡±

    Your voice is too big, Grandfather.

    Handing me to the female knight who was ahead to the side, Grandfather pulls back the string of a superb looking bow, and in one hit, the pink bird¡­ a pheasant?¡­ was shot down.

    Oooooh¡­ Behind the knights¡­ Grandfather and Timothy-kun¡¯s escort of 32 people and my escort of 15 knights Ooh and Aah.

    But to me, I kept having a hallucination of someone saying [Naisu Shotto!](TL: Sound it out)

    ¡°How was it.¡±

    ¡°Grandfather, ama~azing!¡±

    Yup, I should praise or else. If I don¡¯t praise while you are making such a face.

    In things like this, Grandfather is very similar to Rick. I feel like Uncle is similar to Grandfather, too.

    Also, they¡¯re similar to [Him].

    It seems as though I¡¯m weak against this type.

 Volume 2 - CH 2

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    Volume 2, Chapter 2: I¡¯ve Become a Princess, Part 2

    Author¡¯s Note: Will there be [Romance] soon? Or [Heartwarming] Scenes? Take what you will.

    ¡°Tea Party?¡±

    Grandmother brings over a freshly boiled kettle.

    I¡¯m currently with my Grandmother, the queen, my Aunt Elea-sama, and, incidentally, Rick, having tea in the garden.

    ¡°Yes, a Tea Party. Yuru will be five years old soon, no?

    Elea-sama said in her usual relaxing voice. Wondrous.

    This garden was originally a place for the royal family to take their tea, it seems that being invited at all is considered a great honor. It¡¯s Grandmother¡¯s hobby to take care of the flower garden here.

    Right now, I¡¯m sitting on Grandmother¡¯s knee.

    ¡°Then, may I attend your tea party, Yuru?¡±

    Grandmother says while stroking my cheek and hair *SurSuri*. Grandmother is like a little girl. And I¡¯m her stuffed animal, it seems.

    Tea party¡­ Aren¡¯t we drinking tea right now? Also¡­

    ¡°The tea party, from before, didn¡¯t you come here?¡±

    Oh, I thought Rick didn¡¯t remember me. Good job. I¡¯ll have to *PuniPuni* his cheeks, later.

    ¡°Rick you dummy, don¡¯t you know how special the [First Tea Party] is?¡±

    Elea-sama is relentless to her son.

    A Tea Party at the age of five is the first time a noble girl is considered a [Lady].

    Although situations exist where both mother and child will participate, acting as a chaperone, with the exception of close family members¡¯ events, the children basically participate alone, building friendly relations with other families and sharing information

    Well anyways, that¡¯s what it¡¯s supposed to be.

    Though, to teach the five year olds how to manage, they are usually brought to relatives¡¯ tea parties until they¡¯re more tempered.

    ¡°So, I think it would be good if Yuru and I join Mother-in-law¡¯s Tea Party¡­ Ria, is that alright with you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, as long as you say so.¡±

    To Elea-sama¡¯s words, Mother smiled happily.

    Mother is so polite when speaking with Elea. Rather than talking like they¡¯re relatives, since Mother was Elea¡¯s junior back at the Magic Academy, they call each other so.

    It¡¯s different from the way that the housekeeper speaks of the Goddess-sama..

    Speaking of¡­ I still haven¡¯t met my own elder sisters¡­ Why is that?

    The Tea Party has a [Women¡¯s Meeting] kind of feeling.

    It seems that the reason Father brought me to that first Tea Party was to have me meet Rick.

    Then¡­ this time, Rick¡­ why is he coming again?

    ¡°¡­ What is it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, nothing, Rick-sama¡±

    Rick¡¯s rotten mood was multiplied when he notices my glare.

    Oh well, even if it¡¯s only with relatives, thinking of intermingling with just ladies makes me feel uncomfortable.

    Give me some pity; it¡¯s just an offhand thought.

    I¡¯m sure that since I¡¯ll just be talking to the other children, it will be fine, I¡¯m over thinking. Hehehe.

    I just hope nobody says ¡°read the atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Yu~ra, why are you using ¡°-sama¡± with Rick? Rick is something like your brother.¡±

    Said Grandmother.

    ¡°B-bu~t¡±

    Calling that brat ¡°Brother,¡± what shameful play are you pushing on me?

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯ll also call Yurushia without an honorific.¡±

    Yup, Rick¡¯s definitely embarrassed. This is the first time we both feel this way.

    But, using no honorifics would be a bit too much¡­

    For the time being, since Rick is a prince, and I¡¯m a duke¡¯s daughter, using ¡°-sama¡± gives the sense of a [Wall] between us.

    ¡°Well then, Queen, why not have her call him ¡°Roderick Oniisama¡± outside and without a ¡°-sama¡± while in this place?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite adorable. Let¡¯s do that. Also, Ria, you should call me ¡®Mother-in-Law.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Mother-in-Law.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    While my guard was down, the nonchalant duo decided on nicknames.

    Do I¡­ have any veto option in this¡­? I glance over at Rick, Rick seems to be trying to hide.

    ¡­ It can¡¯t be helped. Even though things might appear this way, I am the best demon at reading the atmosphere, y¡¯know! This much shouldn¡¯t be enough to make me lose my facade¡­ crud.

    ¡°¡­R-Rick¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Y-yeah.¡±

    Rick suddenly looks shy. If you look like that, I¡¯ll get nervous.

    Over there, *KusuKusu*, a bunch of chuckles could be heard.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Looking over there, the owner of the voice was grinning while looking between me and Rick.

    As I thought¡­ Elea-sama.

    The first tea party being planned by Grandfather and Uncle of ¡°Children meeting their Relatives¡± is being taken over by a secret plan.

    It seems like Elea-sama has another purpose for this.

    Elea-sama is trying to make her cute [Little Sister]¡¯s daughter into her daughter-in-law.

    This situation, I don¡¯t think it could be be serious.

    For that manner, Rick and I can¡¯t possibly be [Engaged], right?

    If all goes to plan, Timothy-kun will be the first to succeed the throne.

    If that was the case, as the second born of the crown prince, Rick would form a new house in a new territory, or will be brought into a ducal family by marrying into a house, he may be put with me, since our unborn child would have [Pure Blood].

    Uncle has [Military Skill], Father has [Wisdom], since both of them have the [Pure] blood of royalty, they should have children with the non-royal family.

    Quite a problem. Quite a big problem.

    Since I can¡¯t do it.

    I suppose there is a possibility that I will be married to Timothy-kun, but his age is so far from mine¡­ when Timothy-kun is of a marriageable age, I¡¯ll only be 10 years old or so.

    He also has that little brother, who he¡¯s [Good Friends] with, so I¡¯ll withhold.

    Actually, there is another possibility.

    Either of my two elder sisters could marry Timothy-kun, since the [Purity] of their blood should be the same. I see, I don¡¯t need to marry Rick either, since there are two people anyway.

    I try to imply as much while talking to Elea-sama.

    ¡°Ahaha, Yuru is so young, but you made such a funny joke¡±

    She said with a serious face.

    What the heck did you do, as of yet unseen sisters¡­?

    The same kind of thing was said by our knight escort before.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, our one and only [Princess], we welcome you¡±¡­ or something.

    What did he mean¡­?

    App¡¯s Comments:

    Golly, isn¡¯t medieval blood politics a strange thing to think of in today¡¯s world of anti-inbreeding. More slice of life to come.

    Random countdown to something: 30 [Feel free to guess what.]

    Piroto¡¯s Comments:

    The ambiguity of the author¡¯s writing is giving me a headache. Also, isn¡¯t Yuru the cutest! Oh Yuru, what you don¡¯t know about politics¡­ can¡¯t kill you I guess¡­

 Volume 2 - CH 3

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    Volume 2, Chapter 3: I am now Five Years Old: Part I

    ¡°Yurushia¡¯s fifth birthday party will be held in the castle.¡±

    ¡­What? What are you saying, Grandfather.

    One week before I turn five, His Majesty suddenly said that and Father agreed.

    At least, that¡¯s what I heard..

    As the grandchild of His Majesty, it seems that everyone in the territory have been invited for the announcement of my official ¡°Debut¡± as a Duke¡¯s daughter.

    Personally, a party outside of the Touru territory makes me nervous.

    To me, who had the mind of a peasant, even having 20 people was a big party,, but I heard a [Rumor] that more than 100 aristocrats and big merchants had requested to attend.

    I heard another [Rumor] as well, about me being a [Saint] [Princess]. Rumors like that make me blush in embarrassment.

    I remembered those children whom I healed¡­ They were all saying things like ¡°Saint-sama, Saint-sama.¡± with sparkling eyes. I also heard a rumor, said in whispers, about the church making it official.

    Being given such a title by the church, is that normal? I hate it. Because of those hypocrites, I¡¯ll be targeted by things like assassins or fanatics¡­

    Oh well, I am a Demon, after all.

    Consequently, I¡¯ll have to put up with my debut in the Touru territory. Meanwhile, more and more people have been seeking permission to attend the announcement in the royal castle. Church officials will also be coming.

    Father¡­ your daughter believes in your ability to convince Grandfather.

    £ª

    Yup, it was useless.

    You¡¯re entirely hopeless, Father¡­ I can¡¯t say more. Taking Grandmother and Elea-sama on as enemies, you lasted for an hour¡­ Isn¡¯t that too weak?

    ¡°But¡­ Isn¡¯t this good¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong¡­? Princess Yuru.¡±

    One of Vio¡¯s maids leaked absentmindedly after hearing.

    The party is in four days. Since it¡¯s not good to arrive at the last minute, we arrived in the Royal Capital with time to spare, and are supposed to stay in the castle until the party.

    As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve never been to our secondary house in the royal capital.

    Staying in the royal capital, rather than in Father¡¯s private residence or the castle, in the second residence were my [Sisters], I thought for sure this time I would be able to meet them.

    Is this on purpose¡­? Impossible.

    ¡°Having my debut as the duke¡¯s daughter in Grandfather¡¯s castle¡­ I surrender.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much for your consent.¡±

    Don¡¯t thank me.

    ¡°But what makes me so [Special]? What about the girls of other  ducal houses there?¡±

    Surrounding the Royal Capital were five cities, positioned evenly around it, ruled by five dukes.

    Recently one was lost and another gained.

    ¡°We have thin blood ties with the other ducal families. Outside of the Verusenia house, the deepest blooded house, the previous king¡¯s brother¡¯s son-in-law is in the Capel Family, there was also someone who married into the royal family through our former queen, but he passed away¡±

    ¡°¡­ So in the end it¡¯s because I¡¯m his [Grandchild]?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and Princess Yuru has been recognized as the [Princess] by His Majesty, filling the necessary existence of [Princess] in our country.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Eeh?¡±

    In short, in diplomacy, when other countries have royal weddings and celebrations, we send a delegation to their country, if it¡¯s a lesser country, we send embassy nobles, but if the country is larger, at least one person from the [Royal Family] will attend.

    But, if the country is in a state of competition with us, we would hesitate to send a royal born [Boy].

    Therefore, in the Holy Kingdom, there¡¯s always been a [Young Princess] that is sent as an envoy.

    Sending a young person makes people happier than if you send some geezer, it seems.

    ¡°You force the [Princess] to go¡­?¡±

    That sounds absurd, Grandfather.

    Isn¡¯t there a danger to me? While I was thinking, Vio made a serious face, smiling a little bit while shaking her head.

    ¡°It¡¯s only the public stance. Up to this point, your father¡­ the Verusenia Duke, has been attending to other countries instead.¡±

    Father, you were a diplomat. Seems I imagined right. But, public stance?

    ¡°When His Majesty summons you to the castle, it gives him a reason to give his [Favorite] Granddaughter an excessive guard.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Grandfather.¡±

    Grandpa you dummy.

    Having me authorized as a [Princess] purely since you want to pamper my openly, didn¡¯t someone oppose you?

    ¡°Then what happens to my [Older Sisters]¡­?¡±

    Aren¡¯t my sisters Grandfathers granddaughters as well¡­? When I incline my neck to look, Vio¡¯s cheeks shook as she let out a sigh.

    ¡°Those people¡­ Athena and Ophelia, they¡­ it¡¯s very, in regards to their behavior¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    What have you done, Elder Sisters.

    I sensed an attitude like Elea-sama¡¯s. When you say it like that, I become more and more interested in my Sisters. As a demon.

    I¡¯ve found out Grandfather and Elea-sama¡¯s intentions.

    Still, though, I don¡¯t know why it makes such a difference that even the female knights would call me their ¡°One and only Princess.¡±

    So I asked a female knight.

    ¡°Umm¡­ excuse me female knight-san¡±

    ¡°P-Princess!¡±

    I¡¯ve seen the female knight that I¡¯m talking to training in the garden of the royal castle, she throws her wooden sword out of her hand while correcting her posture.

    The person next to her was hit, and crouched down with a nosebleed.

    ¡°I-If you will, please call me Sarah.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Sarah.¡±

    At any rate, the [-san] when attached makes things messy with my speech, so let¡¯s discard it off the bat.

    ¡°Feru, lower.¡±

    ¡°Eeh~~¡­¡±

    How unpleasant. That child, out of all the maids, loved hugging me the most. For the time being, please let me down from your upper arms.

    As I planted my feet firmly on the ground, the three of them including the maid knelt.

    ¡­eh?¡­ What is this incredibly comfortable but strange feeling?

    ¡°¡­ Umm, Sarah?¡±

    ¡°Yes, oh one and only Princess?¡±

    Her eyes are sparkling¡­ I wonder if she¡¯s still in her teens? Sarah had brown eyes and hair, but her cute childish freckles remained.

    ¡°Why did you decide to become my escort knight?¡±

    For the time being, let¡¯s do small talk

    ¡°Yes, Princess. Two years ago, while I was training in the knight hall, I saw a notification that said ¡°Who will dedicate their sword to the Princess? Female Knights wanted!¡± so we applied.¡±

    They were looking for¡­ what?¡­ Who would reply to reply to such a suspicious ad? It seems to not be a joke, though, since the nosebleed knight is also nodding.

    But really, Grandfather was planning since that long ago¡­

    ¡°So anyways¡­ why do you only call me ¡°Princess¡±¡­??¡±

    ¡°B-because, Princess is [The Princess]¡±

    ¡°Before, you said [Only], what did you mean by that¡­?¡±

    Why did you say it in that way?

    When I ask her, Sarah places her right hand on her chest and raises her left hand towards the heavens, posing and talking like a stage actor.

    ¡°Oh, Princess, Princess Yurushia. Your golden hair, your silky skin, and your golden irises have captured my heart. The moment I first but glanced at your adorable appearance, forgive my shameful tongue, to escort this Princess was such a great joy, I bragged like crazy to my brothers in escorting my local lord to the point of causing a fist fight¡­¡±

    ¡°Sarah-san, please stop.¡±

    Hitting Sarah¡¯s forehead *Pechi*, she shyly looked at me while blushing.

    Eh¡­ Seriously?

    That¡¯s not my hobby, you know. Ah, whatever, it leaked out, and she wasn¡¯t scared, was she?

    It¡¯s like the suspension bridge effect, love at first sight.

    ¡°I¡¯m not the [One and Only Princess], you know, I have two older sisters, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Eh?¡±

    She really didn¡¯t know?

    ¡°Th-though of course I know, I heard those two¡­ they¡­ I haven¡¯t heard many good rumors about them.¡±

    ¡°¡­For example?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Don¡¯t look away; hang in there, Sarah-chan.

    ¡°I-I mean, the [Princess] is this holy kingdom¡¯s [Face]. If it¡¯s Princess Yurushia, we can boast to the knights of other countries.¡±

    The topic was averted.

    But, they have [Pride] in me? The best I can do is be [Intimidating].

    ¡°[Face] of the country¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, with your appearance, like that of an angel; you are the Holy Kingdom¡¯s [Princess Saint]. Princess is more than just a [Princess].¡±

    ¡°Saint¡­¡±

    Whether or not I¡¯m a [Saint]¡­ It¡¯s really embarrassing.

    Those knights have spread the [Rumor] they heard¡­ It¡¯s probably rippled out in every direction¡­ how bothersome.

    Half getting up off the ground, I use Holy magic on the nosebleed knight who was still crouching. These two people have truly dedicated their swords to me.

    Yup, it¡¯s impossible, huh¡­

    Since I¡¯m a Demon, after all.

 Volume 2 - CH 4

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    Volume 2, Chapter 4: I am now Five Years Old: Part II

    That night, in the Holy Kingdom Tatarudo¡¯s capital city, His Majesty, the King¡¯s doted upon granddaughter, Duke Verusenia¡¯s daughter, Yurushia la Verusenia, was about to celebrate her fifth birthday.

    Known as an [Debut], the amount of people attending was said to be well in excess of 1200 people.

    It was unusual for the birthday party of a duke¡¯s daughter to be held in the royal castle, but even more unusual was how many attendees signed up to participate on their own. Everyone was trying to see the [Princess] from the [Rumor].

    Since the situation was as such, the amount of people who were there genuinely to celebrate Yurushia¡¯s birthday were few.

    After all, the rumor had evolved into [The captivating beautiful golden princess of the royal family]. [The saint who healed countless wounded children in mind and body]. [The one who used the most sacred heavenly magic of angels]¡­ they wanted to ascertain the reality of the [Rumors], as it was outrageous that a five year old would be able to do all of that.

    She is being visited by not only the state religion of Kostoru, but be various other denominations as well.

    The rumored title of [Saint]. Each sect of the head temple has come to confirm this, and should she be a pretender, she will face condemnation from their sect, no matter how well advertised.

    For that matter, even if the [Rumor] proved not to be true, to gain the favor of the royal family¡¯s favorite, or propose deals with the wealthy Duke Verusenia, there was no loss in coming.

    But those thoughts were soon laid to rest.

    Appearing in the entrance as the music changed, the two princes escorted someone who seemed to be the [Princess]. The faces of the guests froze upon seeing her.

    It may have been a primal [Fear].

    She was a cold beauty that looked as though the gods themselves had made a doll

    Her hair, like golden thread, seemed to shine with a faint light by itself.

    Silky smooth skin with a lustrously fair complexion that resembled porcelain.

    If she was a human, we aren¡¯t worthy to call ourselves [Human], they all thought.

    Such a presence that caused such fear, like a curse, was lifted as she gave a small smile.

    ¡®Thank God¡­ She is a [Human]¡­ We¡¯re humans as well.¡¯

    There were some who shed tears of relief.

    Everyone knew that this girl was the [Princess] of this Holy Kingdom.

    All but one person, who was feeling deeply suspicious¡­

    £ª

    That was dangerous¡­ I overdid the [Intimidation] in that opening.

    It seemed¡­ before entering the venue, I caught the [Scent] of negative [Emotions] drifting all around.

    A weak demon like me, there¡¯s no way that I was scared and brought out my [Intimidation], right?

    But as expected, everyone looks so scared, so I tried to be deceptive and put on a fake smile in a hurry. Yup.

    ¡°¡­ Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Eh?¡±

    ¡°Are you scared¡­? Your hands are trembling.¡±

    Rick is looking at me with an anxious look in his eyes.

    I¡­ I¡¯ve been holding Rick¡¯s hand this whole time. Rick was silent while holding my hand up till now. My palm is drenched with sweat¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Rick¡­ I know it probably feels gross.

    ¡°I was nervous too, the first time I was in front of a lot of people. Yurushia, there¡¯s no need to keep making a scared face.¡±

    Timothy-kun gives me a fluffy smile, while stroking my head.

    As expected of my provisional Older Brother, he gives a bit of peace of mind.

    ¡°Thank you¡­ both of you.¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmph¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very welcome.¡±

    I¡¯m impressed; I was properly received, though as I thought, Rick¡¯s a brat. And so, me and Timothy-kun walked with each other while he wore his fluffy smile.

    ¡°Yurushia, let¡¯s go. The guest of honor should be on stage, even if you don¡¯t like it.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Hold U-¡±

    Rick, while still gripping my hand, started down the stairs with a *Zun*.

    S-stop, you¡¯re walking too fast.

    My legs are weak, I¡¯m fragile. I¡¯ll fall. I¡¯ll fall, you know? Slow down you brat.

    ¡°Brother Roderick.¡±

    While in a hurry, when Rick is called [Brother] by me, he stopped his legs and made a surprised face. I couldn¡¯t tell from it whether he was happy or sad.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fall, so¡­ walk slowly.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I understand.¡±

    Finally, Rick the Brat seems to have understood me, and escorts me slowly so that I don¡¯t fall down. Phew, what a relief.

    I hesitated to call Rick [Brother] before, but maybe it felt normal to use it when I was panicking, so¡­ I guess it worked out¡­?

    He¡¯s sensitive, after all¡­ I wonder how Rick¡¯s doing. He seems awfully adult now.

    ¡°¡­ Was me calling you Brother¡­ strange?¡±

    I say in a small voice. Rick shakes his head a little bit.

    ¡°So~o¡­ not strange, then. But, wouldn¡¯t it be better to drop the honorific normally¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yup.¡±

    And so, the two of us fell silent. Yup¡­ Rick is amusing.

    ¡°Hey, Yuru-sama!¡±

    *Don*, a small shadow rushes through the entrance before the guard has time to herald them.

    ¡°Shelly!¡±

    ¡°Yes, long time no see.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ It¡¯s been a whole two days.¡±

    I met with Shelly when I visited the City Government. Is she having amnesia¡­?

    Shelly¡¯s still young, huh.

    Thanks to Shelly acting so erratically, the strange mood in the air went flying. With that as well, the aristocrats started greeting me, for better or for worse.

    ¡°Father¡­ how many people did you invite¡­?¡±

    More than fifty noblemen have come to greet me now¡­ too many.

    Since greeting everyone would be impossible, I focused on friends of Father and Grandfather, but it still took close to two hours.

    All the couples are taking too long.

    Isn¡¯t it rude to line up one by one with such rigor?

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Let me and your father receive the guests for a while. Take a break.¡±

    ¡°Thaa~nks¡±

    Leaving Father to apologize, Mother brings me to the [Cage].

    Well, it¡¯s not a cage, since there is a plush sofa and a low table, and we¡¯re surrounded by knights and maids, so anyone who approaches would need some real guts.

    It just feels like being an animal at the zoo in plain view, so I call it such.

    On the other side of the [Cage], Grandfather and Uncle are clamoring like middle aged men while drinking sake. That place is dangerous.

    Huh¡­? You aren¡¯t helping Father?

    Right now, I¡¯m in the [Cage] with Shelly, surrounded by my escort knights that seem adamant that it remain a [male-prohibited] safe zone for me.

    ¡°Yuru¡­ I need to go return and help Folt-Sama, okay?¡±

    ¡° ¡­Yes, Mother.¡±

    Ah, the healing fluffiness of Mother has left. She¡¯s worried about you after all. Grandfather, you¡¯re unforgivable.

    Shelly was greeted by Sarah-chan who began escorting her the moment she entered the [Cage].

    ¡°Yuru-sama, he~re you are.¡±

    Seeing Shelly so full of fluffiness, and running low on fluffy, I sat down on the couch with her.

    ¡°The line of people is growing, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°Faces¡­ I can¡¯t remember them all.¡±

    Father, on the other hand, is able to remember all of the people, thought it would be bad if he couldn¡¯t. It¡¯s impossible for me to distinguish between the pig slop, though.

    Vio had us brewed a cup of tea ¡­but I can¡¯t taste it, after all, I finally feel comfortable around humans.

    ¡°Yuru-sama~a, what will you be doing for your first tea party?¡±

    Based on how she¡¯s asking, I get the feeling she¡¯s expecting something.

    ¡°It¡¯s Grandmother¡¯s tea party¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s fine. After all, it¡¯s the [Golden Princess]¡¯s party.

    What¡¯s that?

    ¡°G-Gold?¡±

    ¡°Yuru-sama¡­? Have you not heard?¡±

    Since I have golden irises and hair, it seems I¡¯m being called the golden princess.

    How appropriate¡­ though apparently there is a person who was named [Silver Princess] earlier, so I seem to be called so after them.

    That person, I feel sorry for her being called such a shameful name¡­

    ¡°A beautiful girl with silver hair. Yuru doesn¡¯t lose to her at all.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ who is she?¡±

    Hearing me, Shelly tilts her neck, and Vio tells us gently.

    ¡°The Lord Earl Barus Oberu-sama, since you were young, he hasn¡¯t come to the Royal Capital. His daughter Milaine-sama is 14 years old, and started moving around in social circles from last year. She is rumored to be an amazing beauty.¡±

    The ¡°Princess¡± with silvery white hair.

    ¡°That Milaine-sama, is she here today?¡±

    ¡°No, due to her weak body, it seems she¡¯s been made to recuperate in her territory recently. Since she¡¯s not able to to attend school, we¡¯ve heard that she¡¯s tutored at home.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, Yuru-sama. Once Milaine-sama has an improvement in her body and visits the Royal Capital, she will likely hold a tea party again.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    What a strange story, the maids and female knights told us it in detail, even speaking at the same time from excitement.

    Because of there were only women around me, there was a high degree of attention that was directed towards us, keeping everyone away, or maybe something else.

    But I¡¯m the guest of honor.

    But a noble girl playing about like this, that can¡¯t look good, can it? Oy Oy, you¡¯re not afraid, are you? I¡¯m a gourmet, can¡¯t I cherry pick a little?

    I wonder if I¡¯m scary after all. I¡¯m scared, but the ¡°title¡± makes me even more scared.

    And so¡­

    At last, those two have finally come.

    The main event was about to start. Fufufu.

    App¡¯s comments:

    I got to use the word ¡°herald¡± today outside of a religious context. That makes me happy for some reason.

    Also, I did the happy dance while translating this chapter because I really love the third person bits and there hadn¡¯t been one in a while.

    Oh, 28

 Volume 2 - CH 5

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    Volume 2, Chapter 5: I am now Five Years Old: Part III

    *Splash*

    ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so sorry, did I get you dirty?¡±

    It suddenly started. Two girls had stepped towards the guest of honor, Yurushia, the [Princess] who was so beautiful it inspired fear, through the encasement of female knights protecting her.

    One of them threw the fruit wine in their hand on Yurushia.

    Her using fruit wine which was an especially bright shade of red, rather than paler fruit water made her malice clear.

    Yurushia was covered from her beautiful gold hair to her elegantly tailored white dress, in mottled red.

    ¡°Ahaha, that¡¯s too much, Older Sister. This child, she looks like a pig in a slaughterhouse.¡±

    ¡°Ara, you can¡¯t say such a thing. Even I, without skills, could have avoided what this retard couldn¡¯t, am I right?¡±

    Their loud voices rang throughout the hall. What a high handed attitude.

    It was so much, that the maids and female knights were so stunned began to move again.

    ¡°You, are you acting against I, Athena, Duke Verusenia ¡¯s first-born daughter?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you know, going against Sister and I is useless.¡±

    Hearing their words, the maids and knights endured and stopped their movements.

    ¡°Fu~un¡­ the new maids are of such bad upbringing. You, Yurushia or something, are you our new head maidservant?

    The atmosphere froze at their statement. Bodies shook in anger, and the girl next to Yurushia was so scared that she could not move.

    The Duke Verusenia¡­ his two remaining daughters from the old blood of the Koeru dukedom.

    The first daughter was Athena. The second was Ophelia.

    They were still 10 and 9 years old, with a bewitching beauty under their arrogance. They wore a crimson dress with their red hair, which was a style reminiscent of their mother.

    But¡­ That was just too horrible.

    While being watched by the royal family or the Duke. Being called a vassal of the family, referring to their new sister as a maid head. Poor child.

    Not to speak of the Duke¡¯s family, the royal family or other dukes, the tight ties between the Duke and the royal family, who could think their abusive language could be used in this place.

    There were rumors of events in the Academy and Royal Capital, known by nobles.

    Ruining merchants. Making students attempt suicide. Killing animals for fun. Even rumored to have connections with black market dealers.

    Could that really describe a 10 year old girl?

    There was an early rumor that she was betrothed to the first grandson of the king, but it was cancelled immediately, that fact spread by the girls themselves afterwards.

    Complexions like evil roses against a dainty little lily flower.

    The antagonism between the contrasting sisters was not stopped by the Duke¡¯s glare of righteous indignation or those of the nobles and knights.

    This evil may be unstoppable¡­ The moment everyone was averting their eyes, downcast, the air in the place had been transformed.

    Their souls were trembling, such an oppressive intimidating pressure that one would want to kneel on the spot.

    Those who looked for its source saw a girl¡­ Yurushia¡¯s dainty smile was burned into their souls.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­W-w-what!¡±

    Sister Ophelia, who was frightened, threw a fruit wine towards me and Shelly.

    I reached out and caught the glass before it hit her, the wine splashing out, as I began casting a [Spell]

    ¡°¡­[Let There Be Light]¡­¡±

    A weak, pale gentle light spread out.

    When the light disappeared, the bright red fruit wine had been changed into plain water, my pretty dress was no longer stained.

    The high tier sacred magic to cure poison, [Purification]¡­

    It can not only cure poisons and curses, even dirt gets erased, however, if one isn¡¯t careful, colored clothing will be bleached white.

    Wiping off the crystal clear water with a handkerchief, I aimed a gentle smile to my Older Sister.

    ¡°What now¡­?¡±

    What¡¯s your next plan? Sister. Ufufufu.

    ¡°You¡­ ¡­ What are¡­¡±

    Sister Athena is scared¡­ that¡¯s strange.

    I¡¯m not letting out very much [Intimidation].

    Cute little Shelly was scared, while I managed to fool the cute child, I lost my self-control.

    Dangerous, Dangerous, I need to try to behave [Like a Real Human].

    While I was thinking that, I kept showing my smile and tilted my neck.

    ¡°Y-you, I-I refuse to recognize you as our sister!¡±

    ¡°¡­Older Sister.¡±

    Oh? Unexpectedly, they backed down easily.

    Sister Athena stomped off rapidly, Ophelia following in a hurry.

    Oh¡­ I wanted more [Exchanges] with them.

    ¡°Princess Yuru!¡±

    ¡°Princess!¡±

    ¡°Yuru-sama!¡±

    Vio and Sarah-chan both ran up to me and began to kneel.

    ¡°M-my most humble apologies!¡±

    ¡°We¡­ we truly¡­¡±

    Ah, whatever, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Yuru sama~¡±

    I stroke the fluffy hair of Shelly, who came clinging onto my arm, I bow to the people kneeling.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, everyone. The mood was ruined because of me¡­¡±

    Yup¡­ I¡¯m honestly sorry. I¡¯m curious of what my Older Sister who was left to her own devices will do.

    ¡°S-such a thing, I am prepared to take the punishment¡­¡±

    ¡°I thought so, I must be the Princesses shield and sword.¡±

    ¡°But really, Yurushia-sama, she¡¯s so gentle.¡±

    ¡°Was that sacred magic there!?¡±

    ¡°I-I definitely won¡¯t boast to my brothers about this¡­¡±

    Please stop it, Sarah-chan.

    ¡°However. Princess~. You should ask for more discipline¡­¡±

    A servant of the Duke really shouldn¡¯t say such a thing, in response to the maid¡¯s remark, the other kids made small nods.

    The adults must see me as a reckless five year old girl¡­

    ¡°Hehe¡­ It¡¯s nothing if only that degree. After all¡­¡±

    After all¡­ after hearing about how my sisters¡¯ rumors, I had a lot of confidence.

    This would absolutely become a [Positive Encounter].

    Fufufu. Just as planned¡­ no, it was even better, thanks to you, Sister. Seriously¡­

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t she pretty¡­?¡±

    When I happily muttered such, everyone from all around us showed signs of awe.

    How cute¡­ and¡­ Delicious.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The reactions of the nobles who attended the birthday party of Yurushia were divided into three camps.

    First, there were rumors that those two sisters weren¡¯t the real daughters of the Duke, after hearing the vocal feud between them.

    Those shady sisters, dismissed with just a smile and some sacred magic, the outage of the sisters, those who knew about their mischief, learned the depth of Yurushia¡¯s kindness.

    Second, to the majority of the aristocracy, the Royal Kingdom¡¯s [Face], [Princess] Yurushia was lauded as a [Saint] and they sent messages saying as much back to their families and territory.

    Finally, part of the nobility, after having seen Yurushia¡¯s [Charm]¡­ chose to be wary of Duke Verusenia.

    And so, in haste, the nobles returned to their key positions in the country. The current king was set to retire within ten years, ceding the throne to the first prince tentatively. It may be a while, but in the meantime, the inheritance problem between Timothy and Roderick was center stage.

    The mainstream faction pushing Timothy to the throne, as was according to the right of lineage, but another faction wished for Roderick to be king, believing Timothy to be too weak.

    Both had reasons which lined up, but a single issue would decide.

    The thick royal blood, the beautiful face, the saint of power and mercy for whom praise flowed, the Golden Princess.

    After a few years¡­, there would definitely be a fight over her.

    Even now a little¡­ They had to prepare so that the other factions would not get the jump on them.

    The prince who marries Yurushia¡­ will be chosen as the king of the next generation.

    App Comments:

    I used the ¡°R¡± word here, not because I would ever endorse such a thing, but because it was the most fitting term, please forgive me, members of the community.

    Also, I took a look at Novelupdates while looking for a new series to read, and it seems that Yuru is in the top 100, so hooray for fluffy-demon-incarnation!

    And, of course as is tradition: 27.

    Piroton Comments:

    This was a long week for me. Getting deployed outside of my usual workplace really didn¡¯t help affairs in translating. Nonetheless, this was deeply fun to read, and ufufufu it¡¯s glorious to behold.

    I¡¯ve not been keeping track of the results (I leave that to App) but I¡¯m glad to see you all enjoying it. (Note from App: I just told ¡¯em, he freaked, thanks for the support!)

 Volume 2 - CH 6.1

    After that birthday party I didn¡¯t want, a few months have passed since that birthday party that I didn¡¯t want to have.

    Seriously, come on¡­ next time, I will absolutely decline.

    Oh well. At least encountering those lovely sisters of mine was good, ufufu.

    But as I thought¡­ such a rash act in front of the royal family, Elea-sama is in an especially large rage. Anyways, it seems that before I enroll in the magical academy, I¡¯ll be going to a boarding school in other countries for a while.

    Well, what can I do? It looks better if I¡¯m more mature about this, so let¡¯s wait this out and have fun.

    I hope I come back while still in school, if possible. It seems the nobles are saying I¡¯m a very valuable thing.

    I apologize to father, who had on a pained face. What a complicated love between us. I¡¯ll have to be careful¡­

    I did, however, leave my sisters a nasty [Souvenir].

    £ª

    ¡°Yurushia, can you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Honored Father.¡±

    I called out, as I ran over with a *To te to te*, I planted myself on Father¡¯s lap like a kitten while he talked to me.

    ¡°Do you know what we export from the Verusenia Dukedom to the country Sister married into?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ distilled spirits and¡­ iron products.¡±

    For our exports, we import the crops and fruit that have been produced in Shiguresu.

    Things like fresh vegetables; they aren¡¯t frozen with magic since that would be unreasonably costly.

    We import fruit wine from Shiguresu, and send back what we distill from it. We send out our brand of sake.

    ¡°So, when you turn six, I want you to help with inspection of the production site.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Inspection?¡±

    Work, is it. Finally, I can depart from being a purebred good-for-nothing.

    ¡­Eh? Did he say six-years-old?

    Listening to the full story, while it seems that the Touru territory finances the export products, it¡¯s actually made in the outskirts of the city and the surrounding villages.

    In addition to his visiting work, and his job in the Royal Capital, he needs to go to other countries for diplomatic reasons; he can¡¯t really go anywhere freely.

    Is that the reason why he didn¡¯t visit me that often¡­?

    Eh, oh well, it can¡¯t be helped, I¡¯m sure he had a good reason.

    Besides, why do I have to go, it seems that you just want me to come with you.

    Eh¡­? From the perspective of a demon?

    It seems that they want the famous [Saint] [Princess] to come.

    I understand now, is it like a singer? Uh¡­? An idol tour, isn¡¯t it? Is that what you want?

    ¡°I think I heard that people often get terrible injuries in the mines and ironworks out there. Yurushia, would you be willing to heal even a few people? I think their morale would be uplifted by a magnitude if Yurushia went out to meet them.¡±

    Condolences from an idol are better, huh¡­

    Shouldn¡¯t there be a priest or church in such a place? I figure an ordinary Priest-san could use my stupid holy magic.

    When horrible burns or an accidental cave-in occurs, the surviving workers will no longer be able to be employed, even if they survive. Therefore, they want me, the one called a saint, to heal their injuries and hearts¡­

    I understand¡­

    But I¡­ haven¡¯t received the saint certification from any denominations, have I?

    ¡°Since Yurushia is still little, your certification of sainthood is still pending, understand? So, your title of saint is specific to this kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    I¡­ I don¡¯t need such an embarrassing title¡­

    Being called a saint in the streets, it seems that the ostensible reason why this was so while I was still not being certified from any sect was because they can¡¯t measure my abilities this young.

    The behind the scenes reason is that this kingdom is the [Holy Kingdom].

    Just like how generic and brand-name products are not of the same value, being recognized as the [Holy Kingdom¡¯s Saint] carries a special meaning.

    A few hundred years ago, nearly every sect was flooding with saints, the king of that time sent all of the saints on a punitive expedition against an [Arch-Demon], and they say that not a single person came back, what a stupid story.

    I figure more than half fled, when I think about it.

    Because of such a stupid legend, saints are rarely certified in the holy kingdom, and those that are, are quite intense. It¡¯s terrible.

    ¡°For the same reason, there¡¯s another title that¡¯s equally difficult to earn. Yurushia, do you know?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ a Demon Lord?¡± (TL Note: This be different than demon folk, from the spiritual plane¡­ I think¡­ they use different terminology at least¡­)

    ¡°¡­Indeed in the Holy Kingdom, we have never produced a Demon Lord¡­¡±

    Wrong, very wrong!

    Those also flooded in at one point, but since they had mobilized all of their saints, what did they do?

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it nice to be able to stand next to a [Saint-sama]??

    Father, I don¡¯t think that response is appropriate. .

    ¡°For that reason, after just a bit longer Yurushia will have a dedicated escort of servants. All of which would have similar ages to you.¡±

    Is this an Idol group¡­?

    I can understand. Vio was originally the exclusive maid of Mother, Sarah-chan is normally serving as the knight of a Duke, and only acts as an escort knight when I go out.

    So, I think that when I go to school, it¡¯ll be good to have a child close to my age as a [Close Aide].

    Still¡­ I heard this from Vio and the others but these kids that will be serving me are the children of the noble families that were crushed as a result of the Second Demon Summoning Incident. Not only that, they would have ended up like their older siblings but because they were studying abroad at the time they were unofficially spared and now had nowhere to go.

    Father¡­ you¡¯re too good-natured.

    But, the children aren¡¯t responsible for the sin. There are no sins, but¡­ what is this feeling pressing down on me¡­?

    £ª

    (App¡¯s translation prefix: Every sentence said by the new character, Min ends with ~desu. I will be relying on all of you to add it in your heads when you read her, because no.)

    (Piroton: Wait, you mean we can just tell readers to add details? Quick, everyone imagine me as a cute gi- *knocked out*)

    Forgetting that trifling story, let¡¯s move on.

    I was worried all day today, since I intend to have Min, the bookworm maid, teach me all about monsters in this world.

    For the regional tour¡­ err, for the inspection visit, such knowledge would be required.

    Other than vampires, what else are present in the world?

    Min showed me a book called [The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to Monsters] from the collection of books she has. Something seems off, though¡­

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°This is a rabbit. It¡¯s weak but its meat is delicious.¡±

    ¡°A-and this is?¡±

    ¡°This is a wolf; it readily approaches travelers and accepts any food given.¡±

    Wait, what happened to the wildness¡­?

    ¡°¡­and this?¡±

    ¡°This is a wild boar. It¡¯s a little strong, but the meat is very tasty.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Is the ¡°helpful¡± meant in that fashion? I suppose on a long journey it would be helpful.

    ¡°Ah, do you know anything about dangerous monsters?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t make a surprised face, though I certainly would have.

    Min then brought out a book titled [Bestiary of Perilous Monsters], and began to explain it to me.

    Thank goodness¡­ It¡¯s not some ordinary book.

    ¡°This is a tiger, which is rarely seen, it moves very quickly, and is very dangerous to horses.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡±

    If such a thing came out of the woods, I¡¯d be scared.

    ¡°This is a rhinoceros. If it looks a traveler in the eyes, it will charge them with its horn.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see¡±

    ¡°This is a hippopotamus. If it sees a traveler it will slam its body into them.¡±

    ¡°¡­Wow.¡±

    ¡°This is an elephant. If it sees a traveler, it will rush over them with a stampede.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What do you mean¡­?

    These monsters are strangely familiar¡­

    Actually, hold on a second. If it sees a traveler? Are hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses commonly found on something like a mountain road? Are the roads that scary? Are you trying to scare the hell out of this poor demon?

    Ah¡­ though I said that, this isn¡¯t what I wanted to know.

    What about ¡°Monsters¡±, you know?

    There are things like a Demon Lord in this world, if I see the Demon Lord riding a hippopotamus in place of a dragon, I¡¯ll definitely laugh and point.

 Volume 2 - CH 6.2

    Previous | Project Page | Next

    Volume 2, Chapter 6, Part 2: I¡¯ve Become a Master (Second Half)

    While studying such things, a few months passed by.

    I¡¯m growing quickly. What will I look like at the end?

    My entourage candidates have come at last.

    I¡¯m expected to carefully select them¡­?

    ¡°Yurushia, these are the children.¡±

    Father brings in four children, they look at me for a moment like fools, I must have scared them.

    ¡°I am the second son of the former Baron Ruth, Noah. Please have me as your apprentice butler, Yurushia-sama¡±

    Noah-kun, age eight. Dark brown hair¡­ a brunette? Speaking politely, his piercing grey pupils seem strange.

    ¡°I am the twin sister of Noah, Ninette. Umm¡­ may I be your apprentice escort?¡±

    Ninette-chan, age eight. I get the feeling I shouldn¡¯t separate them, is she trying out to be an apprentice female knight?

    ¡°I am the eldest daughter of the former Viscount Seruda, Christina. Maid apprentice.¡±

    Christina-chan, age six. Born the same year as me. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen blond ringlets in a long time.

    ¡°I am the Former Baron Rohan¡¯s third daughter, Fontaine. The same as Chris-chan, maid apprentice.¡±

    Fontaine-chan, age five. Silver haired and blue eyed, she gives off the impression of a spoiled child.

    Besides Noah and Ninette, the three of us, me, Christina and Fontaine are the same age.

    These kids are all [Former] aristocrats since they were from the noble houses that were crushed after the second demon summoning incident.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Yurushia. Greetings to everyone.¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes¡±¡± ¡°¡­Yeah¡± ¡°I¡¯m in your care.¡±

    These four are the candidates for my entourage, huh¡­ I hope I can get along with them.

    £ª

    The four new people came out. These kids aren¡¯t so bad. They work. They don¡¯t harbour malice towards me or the household. No naughty children. But, they¡¯re slightly¡­

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, the etiquette teacher is scheduled to come in the morning today.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Noah-kun, is that all? Why are you staring?. Is there nothing else to do?.

    *Gashan*!

    ¡°Oh Princess, my greatest apologies. I do say.¡± (TL note: their tone is full formal, like British butler crossed with samurai level of formal.)

    Clumsy Ninette-chan pushed over a vase. It must be because it¡¯s hard to move around while wearing a large wooden sword on your waist.

    ¡°Y-yes, I understand¡­¡±

    By the way, I have no special skills. That includes my attentiveness; I just don¡¯t have enough for these children¡­ These are going to be my escort? Seriously?

    ¡°Ninette, please tidy it up quickly.¡±

    Don¡¯t do others¡¯ share of work, Noah-kun. That¡¯s no good, right?

    ¡°Y~es, I¡¯ll call the maids at once~.¡±

    ¡°Pardon my sister, oh young Princess. It is acceptable, though. If the duke loses a vase or two, it does not matter.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Eh? What is he saying, this child?

    ¡°I see, as expected of a Duke, huh. I am glad to be serving the Princess.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s all good. Setting that aside for now¡­ the two of you.¡±

    Those five year olds, I assume it¡¯s their first time.

    ¡°Chris, I want tea.¡±

    I don¡¯t like the taste, but it should wet my thirst.

    ¡°Princess, my name is Christina. What flavor of tea would you like.¡±

    ¡°A suitable herbal tea¡­¡±

    She doesn¡¯t like being nicknamed¡­? This child, is working properly in spite of her age¡­ it¡¯s too outstanding, you know? Delicate¡­ or not?

    ¡°Speaking of which, where is Fontaine?¡±

    ¡°I do not know. I will prepare an appropriate herbal tea.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yup.¡±

    ¡®I won¡¯t be bad?¡¯ You¡¯re quite the pure person. It seems.

    I don¡¯t see the other five-year-old housemaid during the day.

    ¡°Fell, have you seen Fontaine?¡±

    ¡°That child dug a hole in the morning by the flower beds¡­ was this not at Yuru-sama¡¯s instruction?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Yurushia-sama, I had some sweets in the kitchen just a bit ago¡­¡±

    ¡°I saw her walking somewhere with a blanket.¡±

    ¡°That child always ate at the beginning of lunch time, I wonder why?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ I had Yuru-sama¡¯s crayons and picture book, but it¡¯s been used.¡±

    The housekeepers were watching¡­ what are you doing, Fontaine-chan. It¡¯s like she¡¯s playing around in the house of relatives. Very ¡°My Pace¡±¡­

    Still, out of the four of them, Fontaine is the best.

    Only that child was able to establish a conversation with me. They can¡¯t work if we can¡¯t talk.

    I¡¯m sure that the others will be able to find a good place also.

    Those kids, when they¡¯re adults, will be able to be respectable members of an entourage.

    ¡­ My limits, I wonder where they are¡­?

    And so, I will soon be six years old.

    To help father, I will be visiting the region as The Duke¡¯s daughter.

    ¡­ and we brought those kids with us.

    £ª£ª£ª

    On a certain day, the eldest daughter of the Viscount Varun, Seri, received an invitation in the mail.

    ¡°T-this,¡±

    Seri let out a surprised voice as she clasped the letter in her hands.

    She was a provincial noble who was a fifth grader at the magic academy all the way at the royal capital, her family did not have a second house in the capital, so she was living in the dormitory of the academy.

    Children of wealthy noble homes or successful merchants would be able to go to tea parties on a daily basis, she was hardly ever invited, Seri could be said to only have friends of circumstance, so she would only ever have tea in her dorm room.

    The topics that are raised every day like rumors in the academy or cool boy talk. Tamani-senpai¡¯s older sister invited me to what I yearned to see, a [Tea Party].

    What Seri was longing for especially was a [Moonlit Tea Party] which would only be done at night.

    It begins with a sudden [Invitation].

    The invitation which came to girls without many acquaintances, were said to be receiving the special favor of Earl Oberu¡¯s daughter, the girls who came to the [Moonlit Tea Party] would talk of the splendor of it to other girls with a dreamy look on their faces.

    Accompanied by a young and beautiful butler in a garden blooming with roses, marvelously delicious teas and sweets are served.

    The lord of the tea party was the [Silver Princess], Milaine, who had an enchanting beauty.

    There was an unspoken pact around the [Moonlit Tea Party].

    The invitation must never be seen by the eyes of anyone but the invitee.

    If invited, one should never speak of it to anyone else about it.

    When the carriage for that glorious evening arrived, you could not be found with anyone else.

    If you broke any of the promises even once, not only would the carriage not arrive, but a second invitation would never arrive at your door.

    ¡°I-it came¡­¡±

    Seri hugged the invitation that she found under the door of her room, frightened as if holding a large amount of money, and hid the letter beneath her undergarments in a hurry.

    ¡°¡­ U~¡­ I want to tell someone~¡­¡±

    Without the courage to speak, even ignoring her stomach in the bed, going without food, even though her friends came to invite her to dinner, she lied about being unwell, to avoid leaving her room.

    And so, that night.

    ¡°¡­Uwaa.¡±

    Riding a lovely horse-drawn carriage, just like how she dreamed of as a child, Seri came into a strange garden.

    The surroundings were filled with white roses, and elegant music tickled her ears.

    In white chairs at white tables, girls who were guests like Seri were being served by a beautiful young servant who had a facial expression capable of causing them to melt away.

    A gentle looking girl wearing a black and purple dress finished her conversation and came over to Seri.

    ¡°It was kind of you to come, Seri-sama¡±

    ¡°Th¡­ thanks.¡±

    Silver hair that shone like the moon. The sheer whiteness of her skin stood out.

    A breathtaking beauty that would stop someone in their tracks to admire¡­

    Staring at those bewitching purple pupils, the expression of Seri, just like the other girls, melted like sushi-grade tuna.

    The girls wake up in bed the next morning, and to prove that it wasn¡¯t all just a dream. On their chests, they had the [Vase of the White Rose] as proof that they had participated in the tea party, to tell their friends and families that they had participated in the [Moonlit Tea Party], so they could dream of the splendor themselves.

    All of them, except one who didn¡¯t return¡­. Goodbye Seri.

    App¡¯s Comments: Well, call my interest piqued.

    Also, cheers to the couple people that post on the reddit. It¡¯s a little group there, but it always endearing to see you folks care.

    ¡­ 26, since the chapter is now entirely done. (Bows) _/£Ü¡ð_

    Piroton¡¯s Comments: *ronpaul.gif* IT¡¯S HAPPENING, IT¡¯S HAPPPENING~!

    And so, enter left; a new actor arrives on the stage¡­

 Volume 2 - CH 7.1

    Volume 2, Chapter 7: A Six-Year-Old¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 1

    I recently turned six-years-old.

    I no longer ride in the laps of men other than Father. Ah¡­ Grandfather is watching.

    My sixth birthday was not especially unusual.

    Held at the castle, Grandfather was sobbing in front of Elea-sama and Grandmother, how embarrassing.

    During my debut in the Touru territory, a foolish noble tried to have me engaged to his idiot son, Otsu-san, Vio and Sarah-chan enclosed me and had an aura of [Intimidation] about them.

    Timothy-kun was walking in step beside me.

    Holding a bouquet of lilies under his arm, he watched Rick who was struggling with it with a lukewarm look.

    Shelly was super soft and fluffy.

    Sadly, my Elder Sisters never came back, it seems they were scared of me like I was a ghost that rattled their window in the middle of the night.

    Honestly, it was a happy birthday party with no problems.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Yuru¡­ is it seriously okay if me and Vio don¡¯t come¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll do my best, Mother.¡±

    Worrying until just before leaving, our departure is seen off by Mother and Granny.

    ¡°Bree-chan, at your leisure.¡±

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go, Princess-sama.¡±

    I was heading towards the inspection of the local provinces, as I promised Father I would.

    Of course, I wasn¡¯t alone, since Sarah-chan nominated another 15 escort knights to act as my guards.

    Bree-chan, or Bridget, was my escort knight captain, who dedicated her sword along with Sarah-chan in the castle; it¡¯s the nosebleed knight from back then.

    Sarah-chan was assuming the [Female] role; Bree-chan was the [Male]. Sometimes, they¡¯d suddenly break out into dance. Scary.

    Mother is worried since I¡¯ll be out of Vio and Auntie¡¯s reach, so I had to take care. Nothing can be done about it. Not unless they abandon Mother.

    So this is it, my role as the [Duke¡¯s Daughter] at last, my [Subordinates], I¡¯ll need to make sure to use them properly.

    To say in another way, these four apprentice servants are my companions this time.

    Why is a demon like me feeling stomach pains¡­?

    ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    There is no conversation.

    In a large carriage, together with the other four, there¡¯s no conversation since I didn¡¯t speak up first.

    ¡°Look at the forest.¡±

    Fontaine who can¡¯t read the mood is looking out the window, while the others have no reaction, Christina is reading a book, Noah is fiddling around with a pocket watch, and Ninette is grinning at her sword.

    Everyone is so free¡­

    But, as a member of middle management, it¡¯s not good for this to continue.

    The guard in training Ninette¡­¡­ might be the easiest to talk to.

    ¡°Ninette, is this sword your favorite?¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Eh? Ah, ye-s. This sword is from the amazing weapons shop all the way in the Royal Capital, and even then I could only acquire it when I placed an order in the name of the duke.¡±

    ¡­ Hmm? Father allowed that?

    Looking with my [Eyes], I can tell that the sword is tinged with magic¡­

    ¡°That is¡­¡±

    When I begin to speak, Noah the butler apprentice begins to speak over me, covering my voice.

    ¡°Princess, the sword of Ninette is an object purely for the protection of your highness. For this reason, considering it was necessary, I placed the order in your name, Yurushia-sama.¡±

    ¡°Princess, thank you vewy much.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡±

    Ah, these guys are hopeless.

    Such a sword is something that only the Holy Kingdom¡¯s knight captains and above would have, you know?? It costs more than ten of year of your salaries, you know?

    It can¡¯t be, Noah. That silver pocket watch you have¡­ did that come from me, as well? Did you need it? The money for the watch was used yesterday?

    Setting aside the brother-and-sister pair, I looked to the two apprentice maids who were doing their own things.

    ¡°Chris¡­ what are you reading?¡±

    ¡°My name is Christina, and I borrowed a book from the library.¡±

    Damn¡­ still won¡¯t accept her nickname¡­ but, that book.

    ¡°That book, isn¡¯t it Father¡¯s¡­?¡±

    ¡°I do not know.¡±

    Isn¡¯t that book usually locked away on its own shelf? .

    ¡°Fontaine, are you having fun¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes? It¡¯s fun. Princess-sama should join me in looking.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Seriously, this child is barely able to hold a full conversation. Perhaps if she gets used to her friends, she¡¯ll open up¡­ Ar¨¦~?

    ¡°You¡­ those shoes.¡±

    ¡°Oh, these? I kept falling in the mansion, these are beautiful.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡±

    Well of course they¡¯re pretty. Those are my shoes from the party.

    I see¡­ you kids were that type¡­ I understand now.

    I walked through the moving carriage, and open the doors.

    ¡°Sarah-chan, I want to ride on your horse.¡±

    Middle management was impossible for me.

    £ª

    Those guys, I will absolutely not bring them on my next trip. I will go vigorously on my own.

    ¡° ¡­ [Let there be Light] ¡­ ¡±

    Such stress keeps building up, I activate the magic [Regeneration], the miner¡¯s lost leg is growing back with a burst of shining light¡­

    ¡­¡­ Please, no more, it¡¯s gross.

    Aaaaaaah~, shouts are coming from the people gathered in front of the noble house.

    But, I couldn¡¯t care less about such things.

    I¡¯ve already grown back his leg, even his leg hair has come back, so it can¡¯t be helped that it attracts attention.

    ¡°It can cure baldness¡­?¡±

    A faint voice leaked out, a few men¡¯s shoulders were slightly trembling.

    ¡°Th-th-th-th-thank you very much, Saint-sama~!¡±

    Miner uncle, were you scared? I only blanked out for a moment because of stress, you know?

    Why is Sarah-chan not with us? You¡¯re my escort, so please stay by my side.

    ¡°Yu-yurushia-sama, thank you very much.¡±

    The old lord says while coming closer little by little. This person seems to be a vassal of Father, less of a noble and more of a feudal lord.

    ¡°No, no. I¡¯m glad to be of help.¡±

    As I put on an awkward smile, I heard sighs of relief from here and there¡­ I¡¯m really sorry.

    ¡°Do you have anyone else who is injured¡­?¡±

    ¡°This was the last of the serious injuries. For the less injured, the local priest took care of them.¡±

    Hmm¡­ to relieve stress, I was going to use [Blessed Feast], I thought. Oh well.

    Now that I¡¯m done, I feel like watching the [Humans]

    The angels of light flew down and danced in the city¡­

    ¡°Please make yourself at home in my house today. Folt-sama mentioned that I should tell you this.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. So, may I have a look around the city¡­?¡±

    ¡°Of course Yurushia-sama, I¡¯ll get a guide right away.¡±

    I will diligently relieve my stress.

    ¡°Bree-chan.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess-sama!¡±

    Bridget comes running up to me at my call.

    Just so you know, I call her ¡°Bree-chan¡± because it¡¯s same way I call her companion Sarah-chan, definitely not because it¡¯s easy to remember that [Sara(Dish)] goes with [Donburi(Bowl)] (in JP).

    Anyways, Bree-chan became sulky if I only called sarah-chan such.

    I tell them my request.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s no good, Princess-sama, it¡¯s too dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I really ca~n¡¯t?¡±

    Since I was declined, I look up at them in a childish way, trying to look cute while [Begging] with my head tilted up.

    ¡°Princess-sa- a, fua-¡±

    Bree-chan suddenly crouches while holding her face.

    A six-year-old child is begging forcefully. Bree-chan has weak nose membranes.

    Just because of my pleading you can¡¯t put out your nosebleed¡­? Maybe she¡¯s just very hot-blooded.

    My request was simple and clear, I only want to walk around town without a companion. Since, if I go out at all, those four people come out. My nerves can¡¯t take the full force any more.

    Applying [Healing] to Bree-chan over and over, I think that it would be fine to go out with only one person escorting me.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided.¡±

    The winner: Bridget-chan.

    It¡¯s a completely fair decision, though to go so far for me is a bit¡­ After selecting from the knights who volunteered, they were chosen one after another; eventually culminating in the fist-fight between Sarah and Bridget that was resolved, and Bridget arrived.

    ¡­ Though, thinking about it. Did you hit each-other more just so I would use [Healing] on you?

    ¡° ¡­ W-what is this, Yurushia-sama.¡±

    The lord-uncle was looking wide-eyed at the injured female knights with disheveled clothes.

    A boy who looked like a page was next to him¡­ Ah, he was speaking about getting a guide before.

    ¡°S-saint-sama.¡±

    That child¡­ a boy who was a little taller than me, called me so with a bright red face.

    Also with the ¡®Saint-sama¡¯¡­ The rumor has even reached a child like that, huh.

    ¡° ¡­ You¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you remember? This child was one of the children kidnapped with you during that [Incident].¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Yes, I remember now. That child.

    During the second demon summoning incident, he was the dying child whose eyes said he [Wanted to Die].

    ¡°F-for that time¡­ Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    His skinny cheeks had filled out, and his clothes have become better, and he looks happy..

    That¡¯s a relief¡­ At that time, he had such a nice [Look] in his eyes.

    Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Since I couldn¡¯t allow [That].

    From his story, he was originally a child of refugees, but after his parents could not be found, Father entrusted him to the custody of a vassal who could afford him.

    As expected, Father is wonderful.

    ¡°I am Noel. I¡¯ve always¡­ wanted to meet you, Saint-sama¡­¡±

    Oh my, how cute. He¡¯s fidgeting all around.

    ¡°This child will do fine, he has the potential to be a mage, and he has a variety of good futures ahead of him.¡±

    Uncle, you¡¯re in the way. Noel has brown mussed hair, and his beautiful tea-green colored pupils were avoiding my stare.

    ¡°Saint-sama, today I will guide you through the city.¡±

    ¡°Yup, thanks.¡±

    Recently, I¡¯ve become better at human interactions between children, due to all the healing.

    Noel is obedient and cute, causing me to show a smile involuntarily. But, will he be calling me ¡°Saint-sama¡± all day? That would be super embarrassing.

    Author Notes:

    A reunion. Noel-kun is separated from the mob.

    App Comments:

    We now have the introduction of a new knight. She¡¯s probably my favorite human so far, due to x.

    Also, I haven¡¯t read far enough to call it a spoiler, which means I can muse aloud: It¡¯s interesting that, of the four of Yuru¡¯s fiendish little servants, two of them are twins¡­ That sounds¡­ familiar, somehow¡­

    Third, there aren¡¯t many of us uncles in the community, but let¡¯s pour out a drink for our shiny headed comrades who have finally found hope.

    Finally, the next chapter is a very long one, we have it done and ready, but we¡¯re curious of whether you, the audience, would prefer the entire thing on Wednesday, or for it to be split (it splits nicely at the POV switch) and released on Monday and Friday. Let us know in the comments below.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. 25

 Volume 2 - CH 8

    Volume 2, Chapter 8: A Six-Year-Old¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 2

    Author¡¯s note: The third person part is longer than I thought.

    I went out into the town with Noel and Bree-chan.

    I asked Sarah-chan to watch over those four. Why? It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried, you know? About the Ducal assets.

    ¡°This¡­ do I look weird?¡±

    Since my normal appearance makes people think of that shameful rumor, I¡¯m only wearing a dress at the level of a merchant¡¯s daughter going into town.

    It¡¯s a flawless disguise once I put on this cap¡­ My powers of perception scare me sometimes.

    ¡°It matches very well, Prin-, Young Lady.¡±

    Bree-chan¡­ you almost called me [Princess-sama], didn¡¯t you.

    ¡°¡­ Cute¡­ Saint-sama¡±

    You¡¯re the cute one, Noel-kun.

    The destructive power of a cute boy squirming in embarrassment is inconceivable.

    ¡°Noel¡­ Don¡¯t call me Saint-sama. Just use my name, okay?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ to call you by only your name is ¡­¡±

    How rigid¡­ Do you want to call me Saint-sama that much? Well, it might be a longing for his savior, his¡­ [Saint-sama].

    I can feel the itch of his willingness to worship me, though it makes me feel lonely that he can only see [Me] as a [Saint].

    Since I have so few acquaintances, I wanted to become friends with him.

    Hmm? Could it be that he doesn¡¯t know my name or something? ~Uwaa~, am I being overly self-conscious?

    ¡°Umm¡­ Call me Yurushia. No need to use an honorific.¡±

    ¡°Such a thing, it¡¯s impossible. To call Saint-sama without an honorific¡­¡±

    Noel¡­ how stubborn.  Rather, should I command him? No, that¡¯d be unpleasant like ordering a servant around.

    ¡°Exactly, at least call her Princess Yuru-sama.¡±

    Bree-chan¡­

    ¡°Bridget.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°If you call me ¡°Princess¡± one more time, you will have to move 20 steps away from me and stay there.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes¡­.¡±

    Will she even listen to that order? I don¡¯t know why, but this child seems to be pleased when I coldly order her around¡­ Sarah-chan.

    But, since Bree-chan can¡¯t stop calling me [Princess Yuru], it may be impossible for Noel to just call me [Yuru]¡­ Another nickname, huh.

    ¡°Hey, Noel.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes.¡±

    I pull the hem of my dress in a theatrical gesture.

    ¡°Today, I am the local girl [Lucia]. Since Noel is the friend of [This Girl], it¡¯s strange for you to call me in such a reserved way.¡± (App note: Yurushia-> Rushia-> Engrish it up into Lucia)

    Right? ¡­  I made sure to put on a gentle smile.

    Are the instructions too little? Or is it the setting? Did I apply too much pressure?

    ¡° ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡± ¡±

    The two of us stared pointedly at each other in silence¡­ ¡­

    ¡°¡­ Lucia¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±

    I¡¯ve done it, I¡¯ve finally done it. Calling me without [Yuru] is just one step away from a cute nickname.

    ¡°So then, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ¡­ Lucia.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Princess-sama!!¡±

    Bree-chan will be following me and Noel from a distance of twenty steps.

    ¡°Lucia¡­ Is there anything you would like to see?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ what would you recommend?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this is a small town with little to be proud of¡­ ah, that¡¯s right. Would you like our town¡¯s special fried sweet potatoes? They¡¯re sweet and delicious.¡±

    Oh¡­ something like that, doesn¡¯t it feel like a date? We¡¯re only ages six and eight, though.

    But food¡­ how tiresome.

    ¡°M-my apologies, Lucia doesn¡¯t want potatoes¡­¡±

    Oh crud, did I let it show on my face?

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll eat sweet potatoes, I love~ them.¡±

    ¡°Really? Then, I¡¯ll buy you one.¡±

    With a terribly happy smile, Noel goes running to the stand. Ah¡­ you don¡¯t need to buy that much. Isn¡¯t it enough to just share one between two people?

    My last resort, after I ate a mouthful, I said ¡°I¡¯m so full I can¡¯t eat another bite, can Noel eat the rest?¡± Once he heard that, he ate the rest of it up.

    Yeah¡­ this little boy is unexpectedly honest.

    ¡°L-lucia, there¡¯s a candy story over there¡­ should we¡­¡±

    Noel, are you still not full?

    ¡°I appreciate it, but¡­ I can¡¯t eat that much, you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Lucia¡­ just¡­ one bite?¡±

    ¡° ¡­?¡±

    I thought he would hate sharing with me, after all, kids love sweets.

    But it¡¯s difficult for me.

    ¡°Ah, yeah, Noel, you can use magic, right? What magic can you use?¡±

    I forcibly changed the subject to something that¡¯s completely unrelated to the town tour.

    ¡°Magic, huh¡­?¡±

    Noel put on a serious face, but still talked happily to me.

    ¡°The result of the examination was that I was shown to be gifted in fire, wind, water, and earth spirit magic, at the basic level.¡±

    ¡°¡­ All of them?¡±

    ¡°Oh, and¡­ [Light] ¡­¡±

    When Noel casted his spell, a little light like a feather appeared and disappeared.

    ¡°¡­ Amazing.¡±

    Having all the attributes!? Lord-uncle, the child you picked up isn¡¯t just excellent.

    When he heard my mumble, Noel shook his head a bit.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have an aptitude in Holy magic. But this power¡­¡±

    Noel gently¡­ picked up my hands as if they were fragile.

    ¡°Lucia¡­ you gave me this [Power]¡±

    He said while staring at me with dazzling eyes and wearing a soft smile.

    Ah, he misunderstood. Since I¡¯m a Demon.

    It was probably something that happened while he witnessed me doing magic as the [Saint]. His strong yearning for strength and that desire for [Light], probably won over the favor of the weak-willed [Spirit of Light] and gave him results.

    But I can¡¯t say for sure.

    I couldn¡¯t say a thing against the cute smile of Noel who was in full [Believe in Saint-sama] mode.

    ¡°¡­Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Lucia¡­?¡±

    Noel calls me out at the faint change in my expression.

    ¡°Just a little¡­ unusual presence.¡±

    ¡°A presence?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to say to Noel, who noticed my state.

    I felt a presence just like this in the forest by the Royal Capital, the presence of a [Beast]

    Why is it in the middle of this town?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±

    ¡°I may be imagining it, but¡­ I¡¯m a little tired.¡±

    We only walked for a little bit in the town square and ate potatoes, though¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lucia¡­ I didn¡¯t notice¡­ do you want to go back?¡±

    ¡° ¡­ No, Noel. Over there.¡±

    Over in the shadow of a building, I point to an empty bench.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go over to that bench. Also, tell Bridget to bring me a cold drink¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lucia.¡±

    He could tell that I was in the [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mode, rather than the [Lucia] mode, so Noel obeyed his instructions like a servant.

    It drew closer¡­ little by little.

    Its aim seems to be us, maybe because we are children? The [Beast¡¯s] presence comes towards me, since I¡¯m [Alone], quietly¡­ steadily closing in.

    Ye~s¡­ Come.

    You pest, you¡¯re trespassing in my feeding grounds.

    £ª

    ¡°Princess-sama!¡±

    The sharp sound of Bridget¡¯s voice resounds through the square, and there was a scream as someone tried to kidnap a lone girl.

    ¡°Lucia!?¡±

    Noel had just left Yurushia to convey her needs to Bridget, who was 20 steps away, and both the boy and girl watched aghast as Yurushia was taken away.

    ¡°Noel-kun, fetch the lord,¡±

    ¡°Bridget-sama, please bring me along with you, I can use basic magic!¡±

    Bridget, who was already running forward, instinctively looked back to the sound of the voice, the look in her eyes changing.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Things such as involving children like Noel, it wasn¡¯t praiseworthy as an adult or as a knight.

    If there was trouble, his life would be in danger. He might be taken hostage. But Bridget, even with all that in mind, was completely determined to save Yurushia, even at the expense of Noel.

    Noel agreed. He wanted to save Yurushia¡¯s life even if it would cost him his own. Similarly, Bridget was resolute in saving Yurushia even if she had to give up her own life.

    These two people began to run together, their understanding clear the moment they looked in each other¡¯s eyes.

    It¡¯s enough if the other can save Lucia, so even if I fall, it would be fine¡­ So.

    ¡°Over there.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The kidnapper was dressed like a normal commoner. Was this person sent by some aristocrat? Or he could be an agent from another country, or maybe even a religious sect.

    Although no one could be directly identified as the culprit¡­as someone who was born of royal lineage, the daughter of a duke, and having strong holy magic, her very existence meant that she would have many enemies.

    Now then, what about this man and woman duo? They seemed to be especially trained at being unseen, given that the kidnappers hadn¡¯t even uttered a word, and were maintaining a distance where they couldn¡¯t be identified.

    Still, for all that could be said about their competence, they were still unable to silence their own footsteps, and given that signs of pursuit could still be seen, it was quite impossible for them to escape. Unfortunately, the pursuers couldn¡¯t catch up either, and with the way things were going, Noel, the child, had already run out of physical stamina next to Bridget.

    Just as Bridget and Noel¡¯s exhaustion began to build up¡­¡­

    *Zun*!!

    A huge shockwave resonated through their insides, and the two people tripped involuntarily *Tatara Tatara*.

    What happened? Still confused in their clumsiness, Bridget and Noel looked around the bend of the alleyway and saw someone.

    ¡°Oh, Bree-chan, Noel.¡±

    That voice that was as carefree as someone greeting their friend on a stroll stunned the two people who were called.

    ¡°Princess-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Lucia!¡±

    The kidnapper appeared to just be a [Man], standing there at a loss, and Yurushia didn¡¯t look towards the kidnapper as she walked over towards the two, stretching out a hand with a happy smile in greeting.

    Bridget quickly moved forward to protect Yurushia, pointing her sword at the [Man].

    ¡°¡­N-noel?¡±

    Yurushia stared in surprised and amazement as she was strongly hugged all of a sudden by the boy.

    ¡°Lucia¡­ Thank god¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ Princess, are you hurt?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Bree-chan, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Yurushia spoke unusually quickly and impatiently.

    ¡°It¡¯s inexcusable. I have failed in my duty. Punish me according to your whims later on. Shouldn¡¯t there have been one more enemy, did you see them, Princess-sama?¡±

    Wanting to rejoice in her safety, but first needing to solve the problem at hand, Bridget pointed her sword at the [Man].

    ¡°Oh¡­ yeah, I sent it away with holy magic. It¡¯s fine since that [Person] wasn¡¯t a person~.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I see¡­¡±

    Despite her yearning for the charming Princess, her love for her beauty, and her dedication of all her might and her sword to serve her young master, her master¡¯s carefree manner and relaxed (TL:Yuru-i) atmosphere made it difficult to remain tense.

    But as usual,she was saved by the gentle (TL:Yuru-sa) Yurushia.

    If she wasn¡¯t so kind, one would fear getting close to her with her cold beauty.

    ¡­ Gu~uru~u¡­

    As Yurushia said, the thing wasn¡¯t a [Person]. The [Man¡¯s] eyes became bloodshot as he leaked out a growl, and his hideous nails grew out with an awful creak. *Gichigichi*

    ¡°Ha~a!¡±

    Without a hint of hesitation, Bridget, held out her sword calmly, and, standing next to her, swung down, *Gakin*, the sword and the nails struck each other, producing sparks, the two taking a step back and taking up fighting stances.

    ¡°Lucia¡­ stand back.¡±

    At the sound, Noel finally released Yurushia from his hug, chanting [Basic Wind Magic] and holding a small dagger.

    ¡°I will protect Lucia.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Yurushia gave a soft reply, seeing that Noel was faintly trembling, breathing unevenly, she put one hand on his back and pulled him back.

    ¡° ¡­ [Let There Be Light] ¡­ ¡±

    ¡° ¡° ¡­! ¡± ¡±

    Seeing Yurushia use holy magic, Bridget and Noel who received her blessing were startled.

    Only by receiving it could it be fully appreciated, the Evil-repelling [Blessing] . The defense strengthening [Fortify]. The magical shield [Barrier]. The blessing of arms with holy power [Holy Sword]. A reduction of fatigue, and a constant regeneration, [Rejuvenation]¡­

    In addition, there were many other [Advanced Support Magic] spells cast that exceeded the knowledge of the two people, what surprised them was the amount of power in the magic, the [Saint¡¯s] true strength, was triggered with only [One Aria], so much protection in one spell¡­ they were amazed.

    This is almost as if¡­

    Just before each decisive battle with the Demon Lord, the [Saint] would give blessings to the [Hero], just like this¡­

    ¡° ¡­ Aaah, Ah, AaaaaAAAaaAah!¡±

    The [Man] called out something like [Words] like a beast, but they couldn¡¯t be understood.

    ¡° ¡­What¡­?¡±

    Bridget had a feeling and took a few steps back.

    All of a sudden¡­ a dark sensation filled the dim alley, from the shadows, an inky blackness oozed out of the corners.

    ¡° ¡­ Lesser Demon¡­?¡±

    Bridget murmured as she pulled herself together, she realized that the Lesser Demon was closer to the children than she was, kicking herself towards it.

    ¡°Gu~oa!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a nuisance!¡±

    The [Man] who got in her way received the power of Bridget¡¯s [Holy Sword], blasting the horrible nails and even the whole arm off.

    However¡­ the unimaginable occurred.

    Naturally, the Lesser Demon who had thrashed around violently at the children had an expression of fear, not being able to even let out a growl.

    What¡¯s happening? A Lesser Demon that could cause fear in all life of this world, what is it scared of?

    ¡°Hiya!¡±

    A small shadow spiritedly spoke and jumped forward at the chance.

    *Zaku*¡­ Noel¡¯s dagger rips through the hide of the Lesser Demon. But, even a weapon that had received the magic of [Holy Sword] couldn¡¯t defeat a Demon when held by a child.

    ¡°¡­. Gugaaaaa!¡±

    The injured Lesser Demon roared angrily and raised its fists overhead.

    ¡°Noel¡­¡±

    Noel heard the voice of the girl who had given him the vast blessing of [Light] and chanted the [Words] that gushed forth from the depths of his soul.

    ¡° ¡­ [¦Ì¦Ô¦Á] ¡­ ¡±

    It was the [Sound] that meant [Light] in the spirit language¡­ The moment the light that extended from Noel¡¯s dagger hit the Lesser Demon, the Demon was dissected in a single blow and its life was extinguished.

    While Noel was stunned by what had happened, Bridget finished defeating the [Man] and spoke out.

    ¡°Noel-kun¡­ what was that light?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know¡­ it was the spur of the moment.¡±

    The enemy was defeated. The rescue was completed. But the enemy¡¯s identity or the Demon¡¯s actions, or Noah¡¯s light, there were too many things that they didn¡¯t understand.

    But that¡­

    ¡°Both of you, thank you for your help.¡±

    Their doubts and worries were blown away by her [Big Smile]. The two people¡¯s minds became blank for a moment.

    ¡°Well, shall we return to the tour of the town?¡±

    ¡° ¡­Eh?! Lucia.¡±

    ¡°Princess-sama!? Let¡¯s just be safe.¡±

    As Yurushia caused panic in the two people, with a quiet ¡°Shh,¡± she placed her index finger on her lips.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep today a secret between the three of us, okay? You don¡¯t want father to get angry at us¡­ right?¡±

    £ª

    And thus, after the trouble of the ¡°Little Princess-sama¡¯s first field trip,¡± they were on their way back the next day.

    Noel remembered.

    Living in pain and despair, hoping for [Death], her speaking harsh words while looking at his eyes with compassion, a beautiful, little, saint-sama¡­

    The whole of him had been touched by her presence. Noel had harbored feelings similar to worship for her.

    After more than two years, when he finally met her again, she had become even more beautiful, an unapproachable [Saint-sama]. Noel was reminded that she was just a lone [Girl].

    Rather than being referred to as [Saint], she took joy in being called like a normal girl, a girl who would stuff her cheeks with the food of the common people with a mystified expression.

    In the eyes of such a beautiful, dazzling girl was a girl of carefree character with slightly sleepy eyes, who had a leisurely way of talking. Thinking of it, his cheeks slackened.

    When she was kidnapped, everything went black with the fear that he might lose her.

    When she was found, and he embraced her once again, he noticed his feelings.

    Her¡­ I want to protect [Lucia]. At any cost¡­

    That [Light] was given for the sake of her, Noel thought.

    ¡®I will get stronger.¡¯ ¡®I will protect her.¡¯ ¡®I will not let her be snatched away again.¡¯

    That day¡­ the boy took the first step.

    In order to stand beside the one and only [Saintess]

    He will be called soon¡­ as the [Hero] of the Holy Kingdom.

    App¡¯s Notes: As Piroton says below, this was a difficult chapter to work on, very very japanese. Also, still love Bree-chan, it¡¯s hard for me to get a laugh while reading and translating.

    Second: I made two little edits to previous chapters, if you find them, you¡¯ll have a hint as to where this arc is going.

 Volume 2 - CH 9

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    Volume 2, Chapter 9: Heading out For Tea, Part 1

    After I lured over those [Beasts] as my stress release toys and finished playing with them, Bree-chan and Noel came running quite fast.

    But, since I¡¯ve approximately figured out that [Beast¡¯s] identity, I guess it was good timing.

    It also served as a final [Experiment], the Noah seems to have been stimulated by that blessing of [Light], awakening an [Intermediate Spirit of Light] which lent a hand to him.

    Although it was a little dangerous, but I was able to gather a little bit of proof for my theory.

    The source of spirit magic seems to be little willing [Spirits of Light], in most cases, there are willing [Lesser Spirits of Light], but it seems that [Intermediate Spirits of Light] sleep soundly.

    Does that personality fit me? I suppose that it will lend power even to a Demon like me, I wonder if there are any light elemental [Greater Spirits]? First I should confirm that there are [Greater] spirits for the other elements.

    Noel-kun was suddenly awakened to strong holy power, will he be alright? There won¡¯t be things like side-effects, right¡­?

    After that happened, his face became red like he had a fever.

    But, something so strong, will it be alright to not call for help? That final pronunciation of the [Spirit Language], I wonder where it came from?

    Oh well, I¡¯ll have to be wary of being subjugated by Noah.

    Well then, after that visit, six months have passed.

    Since there were so many things to do, we only could visit one place every two months or so.

    I¡¯m going to enter the magic academy when I become seven, so until then it¡¯s all going to be touring around the territories?

    Enrollment begins the first month of the year, not even three months into me being seven years old, since I was born under the [Autumn Moon].

    I was seriously busy, you know? With [Various Things].

    ¡° ¡­ What¡¯s this?¡±

    As I turned off my [Fortifications] on the door and entered my room, a sealed letter fell to my feet.

    ¡­ Mumu, the scent of rose? I may be biased, but a letter like this is never from anyone decent.

    But, I opened it anyway. I¡¯m worried about the motives of this desperate pervert who sent the letter, given that my room has many [Greater Defense Magics] cast on it, which can¡¯t even be broken by a Lesser Demon.

    By the way, my door is [Fortified] to ensure that those four people can¡¯t get into my room without permission.

    And the contents are¡­ an invitation? To a Tea Party, huh¡­

    I walked out of my room and down the hall, handing the [Invitation] to the child I saw.

    ¡°Christina, this, should we send it back to the Oberu house¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Eh¡­?¡±

    When Christina saw the invitation, the mythic [Rumored] invitation, her face solidified, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.

    Yeah, that¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen Christina with that kind of face.

    ¡°So anyways, let¡¯s make sure to send it back.¡±

    During these several months, I haven¡¯t talked to these four servant candidates.

    I stopped them from coming with me for the tour. I had no problems since Bree-chan and Sarah-chan were with me.

    I also stopped all the purchase orders made in my name, changed the keys to the dress room and library, and pushed off their management to a high ranking butler and maid.

    My [Name] has many uses, especially if I choose to use it personally.

    Since I¡¯m a very good child, I hadn¡¯t indulged myself much so far, but this is going too far.

    But, since I¡¯m being spoiled so much, I hope that I don¡¯t get sucked into a [Dream World]. I wouldn¡¯t want to end up like my Elder Sisters, would I¡­? Dreadful Nobles.

    Oops, I let myself get sidetracked.

    I haven¡¯t had conversations with those children since it exhausted me to speak with them.

    Although those four kids are in my care, it¡¯s become troublesome in all sorts of ways to ask them to do things for me.

    Therefore, I get up without help in the morning, wash my own face, change clothes by myself, eat the absolute minimum since I don¡¯t feel hunger, take my baths using the water without permission, I stopped eating tea and cake, since they¡¯re troublesome, I wear some clothes a few days in a row, so as to not ask for laundry, and I pour through my favorite books alone in the reading room until midnight. I live a perfectly comfortable life, until Granny finds me and carries me off to be taken care of by Vio.

    Mother and Granny were crying.

    What about this is so terrible¡­?

    £ª£ª£ª

    In the meantime¡­ you know the [Various] things that have kept me so busy?

    I have a lot of [Backdoor Saint] work to do.

    Well, I have a list of work to do, I don¡¯t really want a reward, and all the participants kept it a secret, but a stream of rumors was flowing through the royal capital. I was set up as the center of a newly-founded [Association] by nobles.

    The camaraderie of the meetings¡¯ participants was very strong, so being betrayed would be impossible. A large amount of money and goods were given to me to earn my favor.

    The name of the association was: ¡°The Saint Association: Turning Shining Light to Darkness.¡±

    What the heck is with that title?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama. Today, I would like to introduce a friend of mine, the Duke Kapell¡¯s brother, Zest.¡±

    ¡°H-Hi¡­¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-jo, I am pleased to finally meet you. I can only be grateful that an unworthy person like me can meet you¡­¡±

    Yeah¡­ that¡¯s darn right. Duke Kapell is from a house we don¡¯t get along with.

    He is still young, in his late thirties. After asking for my blessing in this [meeting], he¡¯s hugging and crying into the shoulder of his friend, Viscount Rubon.

    It¡¯s depressing¡­

    ¡°S-so, Zest-sama, is it okay for you to be here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ¡­ I left the Kapell family to become a noble merchant, my loyalty is no longer to my brother, even now, I am dedicated to His Majesty. I ask Princess to forgive me for the actions of my brother¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, I understand.¡±

    I won¡¯t say such a dangerous thing. I stared at him, half-amazed, and stopped forcing my smile.

    ¡°Then¡­ Zest-sama, may [Darkness] cover your shine.¡±

    ¡°Ooooh!¡±

    Even their despair puts me in a good mood.

    ¡° ¡­ [Let There be Light] ¡­ ¡±

    Holy Magic needs to have a clear image, and a pure magic to realize it.

    As a [Demon] with [Human Knowledge of Another World of Light], I was able to bring it out to a high level.

    It¡¯s difficult even for me. Other priests have found it impossible.

    Holding the image of [Regeneration]. Carefully alternating between [Purification] and [Growth] at the same time.

    It can¡¯t be too strong or too weak. I need to have minute knowledge for the image.

    In response to my holy magic, his skin was gently concealed with a faint seaweed-like substance and his shining scalp was lost.

    ¡°Ooooh!¡±

    ¡°She did it¡­ she did it, Zest!¡±

    Zest-san and Viscount Rubon hugged each other, tears of joy in their eyes.

    How annoying¡­

    ¡°Umm, from now on, you should abstain from fried foods. Please center your diet around vegetables, fish, and beans. Make sure to massage the scalp. It¡¯s good to tap it gently with a soft brush~.¡±

    Oops, I unintentionally gave him instructions like an infomercial.

    ¡°Thank you, Yurushia-jo, no, Princess Yurushia! From now on, I¡¯ll be accommodating the Touru territory with my company¡¯s goods.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­? At that time, I¡¯ll be counting on you.¡±

    I respond to Zest¡¯s comment in full [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mode.

    ¡°This comfortable feeling will have my wife and daughters stop calling me ¡°Grandpa-chan¡± once more. Thank you very much.¡±

    By the way, the money I receive is [Hush Money]

    In this way, the [Shine] has been lost from this country.

    The faction of men who worship me has quietly spread behind the kingdom¡¯s back.

    ¡­ The hell¡¯s with that.

    £ª£ª£ª

    My monthly trips to the Royal Castle continue.

    The inspections could have been faster without this¡­ I shouldn¡¯t say that aloud. I like to meet with Grandmother and Elea-sama, and today we¡¯re having a tea party along with Shelly.

    ¡°Shellynn-sama, there¡¯s no need to be scared¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Shelly and I are walking down the corridors of the Royal Castle, Bree-chan and Sarah-chan on either side, your nervousness is obvious from your voice, Shelly.

    ¡­ Why is it that when I¡¯m with other children, they act like knights?

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, Shelly. Grandmother and Elea-sama aren¡¯t all that scary, you know?¡±

    So as to not scare the cute Shelly, I used a gentle voice.

    Well, this will be the first time only one person has been invited to a tea party in the Royal Castle, I¡¯m with her, but it can¡¯t be helped, since she¡¯s a seven-year-old being invited by the queen and crown princess, right?

    ¡° ¡­ Eh?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Eh!?!¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Eh?¡±

    By the way, that last one was me. By the way guys, what¡¯s there to be surprised about? There must be a reason somewhere, right? It can¡¯t be¡­ are they trying to say they¡¯re frightened of me¡­?

    ¡°B-because Princess-sama¡­ when we¡¯re in the Royal Castle, you sometimes put this blank expression on¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­And?¡±

    Shelly and Bree-chan nodded at Sarah-chan¡¯s remark. Well, Ah¡¯ll be damned. (TL: Random dialect here, because who knows why)

    Actually, I¡¯m a little self-conscious about that.

    Since my fifth birthday party, there have been more and more people visiting the Royal Castle.

    Most people would smile and greet me, saying ¡°good to see you¡± and head off, but sometimes they¡¯d talk for 30 minutes or like an hour, yapping about Timothy-kun or Rick.

    Yeah, such information is unneeded.

    I¡¯ll lightly smile and put out my [Intimidation] until they go away.

    ¡° ¡­ Ah.¡±

    Shelly and Sarah-chan show strange faces at Bree-chan¡¯s murmurs.

    From the other side, some sort of minister¡­ umm¡­ a noble. This detestable man had the tenacity to greet me for more than an hour the first time.

    ¡° ¡­¡±

    ¡°Good day.¡±

    Perfectly concealed facial expressions, no emotion in the voice, aren¡¯t I just one-sidedly giving way?

    Being treated like this is much better. Some people show hostility from first sight.

    ¡®It¡¯s the Prince¡¯s daughter that he made with the royal maid,¡¯ they¡¯d say.

    Yeah, I can understand that. Since Uncle-sama and Elea-sama have been monogamous, there have been no concubine children.

    As the Duke¡¯s daughter and [Princess], my face is quite different.

    But, my hands are filled with [Love] for [Humans]

    Indeed, they¡¯re not as appetizing as the beautiful woman with red hair.

    To that person who called me a bastard, I summoned large amounts of cats-sized bugs into his mansion.

    I¡¯ve become quite good at drawing magic summoning formations, if I do say so myself.

    Fufufu, it¡¯s a bad idea to make an enemy of a Demon.

    Next to the usual palace flower garden, Shelly and I continued through the door.

    ¡°Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Rick¡­?¡±

    Hmm? What happened to ¡°Rockerick-niisama,¡± you ask? Whatever, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just Rick.

    When he saw me, he grabbed my arm rudely and started walking *Zukazuka*

    ¡°Mu~u¡­ why do you people always grab the arm?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ need to go somewhere immediately.¡±

    What the heck is this, you shitty brat..

    ¡°Because, ¡®Roderick-niisama¡¯ is being too rough.¡±

    I put on a tough attitude, and after glancing at the arm he was gripping, I tore my arm from Rick with a groan as he relaxed the power in his hand¡­ why aren¡¯t you letting go?

    ¡°But, Yurushia is wrong.¡±

    ¡°¡­ What~?¡±

    When I look at him, Rick diverts his eyes, as if somehow troubled, and speaks in a muttering tone.

    ¡°You, you didn¡¯t come before¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve met with Grandfather and Grandmother every time, though?¡±

    ¡°Not that¡­ you, you went off for local inspections to help Uncle? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s dangerous¡­?

    ¡° ¡­? You¡¯re surprisingly informed. Yeah, well, it¡¯s not that dangerous.¡±

    It¡¯s no problem to a Demon. Let go of my hand.

    ¡°I wonder¡­ recently, strange things have been happening. Just recently, a massive outbreak of cat-sized bugs appeared in the mansion of a noble¡­¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Tee-hee~¡±

    ¡°Apparently someone went missing as well. She was a noble child¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­? I wonder if Shelly is alright¡­¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Oi.¡±

    *Don* ¡­ My carefree thoughts were pushed out as I was pinned against a wall with my arm in his grip¡­ If rumors of this got out¡­ no, it can¡¯t be, since Rick will be 10 in a few months, his larger body is a bit scary¡­

    ¡° ¡­ Rick?¡±

    ¡°I worry about you, you¡¯re the [Princess] of this country, my mother worries about your well-being.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Yes¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not good to get angry¡­ But really. The family seemed to be grieving around me.

    ¡°You have me¡­ that, I¡¯m there for you¡­ like a sister would be.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Putting myself into the family¡­ how tsundere.

    App¡¯s Notes: Yay misdirection! Misdirection be praised! Love that setup for a joke so much¡­ Yup¡­

    23, more for tradition than anything at this point.

    Piro¡¯s Notes: This chapter made my computer and my data weep. My mobile phone bill is crying. Apologise, you mean bastards.

    Also, hilariously good sense of the author. It gets even better soon¡­

 Volume 2 - CH 10

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    Volume 2, Chapter 10: Heading out For Tea, Part 2

    Since we were late to the tea party, the cute Shelly had a teary face. Apologize, Rick.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I am the second daughter of Marquis Manchi, Beatrice, um, I hope to get along with you.¡±

    Beatrice-chan, age eight. A girl with beautiful black hair and azure eyes. Though her ladylike elements ended there¡­

    ¡°Yeah, good to meet you, Betty-sama.¡±

    ¡°Did you shorten my name? I¡¯m older than you, you know¡­ then may I call you Yuru-sama?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright with me, Betty.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Yup, as I though, she¡¯s a cute if airheaded child. We¡¯re becoming fast friends.

    ¡°Wow¡­ Yuru has a flower in each hand.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Yup.¡±

    Shelly is similar to Betty in that it¡¯s also her first tea party here; I¡¯m currently hamstrung between the embraces of the two people. I¡¯m so firmly stuck that I can¡¯t even drink my tea, which amused Grandmother and Elea-sama as I tried to bring tea or sweets to my mouth.

    What kind of harem is this?

    ¡°Hey you three, have you been to any other tea parties?¡±

    Elea-sama asked in a carefree tone. My loose speaking manner is definitely from the influence of the presence of Mother and Elea-sama.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been to Aunt-sama¡¯s tea party, yup!¡±

    You¡¯re hopelessly lively, Betty.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ve gone with Aunt-sama, to Yuru-sama¡¯s mother¡¯s tea party.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, mm, yeah, I was invited to Shelly¡¯s mother¡¯s tea party.¡±

    Although the first tea party was compulsory, participation in others was a matter of choice.

    ¡°After that, Shelly and I had tea together.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, together with Yuru-sama.¡±

    ¡°!? Yuru, Shelly, how sneaky! Invite me, invite me!¡±

    ¡°Yup, alright.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯ll be in your care, Betty-sama.¡±

    Hopelessly lively indeed¡­ Betty.

    ¡°So, anyways¡­  do you know about the [Moonlit Tea Party]?¡±

    While Shelly inclined her neck in confusion, Betty who was a second year at the academy, thought of it.

    ¡°That thing, My Elder sister¡¯s friend spoke about it, it¡¯s a secret tea party that can¡¯t be talked about until after it¡¯s done.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, that thing. Do you know of anyone who has been to it and come back?¡±

    ¡°A friend of a friend of mine has participated, it seems to have been wonderful, so I heard.¡±

    When she mentioned the story from her sister, Betty had a dreamy expression filled with yearning on her face.

    Elea-sama knitted her eyebrows ever-so-slightly.

    ¡°If you ask me, I¡¯d rather have none of you three participate¡­¡±

    ¡° ! ? ¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I didn¡¯t think anything of it since Shelly and I had no longing to go, but Betty, who desired deeply to join in, looked aghast.

    ¡°Why is it bad, Eleanor-sama.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that it¡¯s necessarily bad or anything¡­ But you can¡¯t even tell if the letter of invitation is really from the Oberu household. Has anyone ever actually seen the guests with the invitation? Since the invitations don¡¯t remain after you participate, what happens can¡¯t be verified at all.¡±

    That¡¯s certainly true. Even if there are no problems with the [Moonlight Tea Party], some perverse copycat trickster might use it to kidnap people.

    ¡°¡­ Have there been any people missing recently?¡±

    When I remember the remarks of Rick, Elea-sama shows a surprised face, and patted my head with a complacent smile.

    It certainly seems shady¡­

    ¡°I understand, Elea-sama. Allow me to give you something good.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    I struggle to bring out my arm that was squashed, and take something out of my pocket.

    ¡°Just an invitation to the [Moonlit Tea Party].¡±

    At my words, everyone¡¯s eyes went wide. Well, Shelly is still eating cake.

    ¡°Is that ¡­ real?¡±

    ¡°Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing, Yuru, it can¡¯t be shown to anyone else!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much¡­ this one is the third one to arrive since this morning.¡±

    ¡°THE THIRD!?¡±

    When it was one per day, I sent them back. After a week, two a day started coming. Those went into the trash without me reading them. Now it¡¯s already been three since this morning.

    ¡°¡­ As expected of Yuru. Will you be participating?¡±

    I don¡¯t know what Elea-sama expected, she seems amazed.

    ¡°Of course not. If I didn¡¯t give this to Elea-sama, it would have been burned.¡±

    ¡°B-burned!?¡±

    It¡¯s fine if you stop being so surprised, Betty. Also, Shelly, even if you understand and are not interested, please stop with your fourth slice of cake.

    ¡°Ahaha, Yuru is so interesting. May I have this? I¡¯d like to have a look.¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    As I tried to shuffle forward in my dress, my awkward position finally kicked in and the letter fell off the table, Betty jumped at it like a puppy.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama, about those kids¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ let¡¯s talk.¡±

    Even though she said so in a calm tone, Vio had a serious face and her forehead was twitching, I urged her to go ahead.

    It¡¯s been more than half a year since I¡¯ve talked with the four children.

    I don¡¯t take them with me. I don¡¯t want them to take care of me. But, their salary keeps being paid and they¡¯re shopping using my name, the cases of entering the mansion¡¯s important facilities are also not down, it¡¯s the same thing as a parasite.

    ¡°Those four people don¡¯t do anything. Really, they do nothing. In the present situation, they should be impatient to improve, seeking work on their own, or at least have resigned from serving the duke and returned home or something¡­¡±

    ¡°Wh-what did they do?¡±

    ¡°Every day¡­ every single day, they laze about and haven¡¯t done any work in the mansion for months. Not just that,¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more?¡±

    Vio keeps going on, it won¡¯t ever end.

    ¡°To others, people who do not work, do not eat, but these are the personal servants of Princess Yuru-sama. Giving meals is part of my authority, but they¡¯ve gone over my head and tried to negotiate with the dinner staff within the first year. And as soon as they were told it¡¯s unacceptable, they started going out to eat daily.

    ¡°¡­Oh¡­ Oh.¡±

    They¡¯re amazing. Since they¡¯re paid so well, they¡¯re eating out all the time, but I didn¡¯t stop them¡­

    ¡°Every day¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, every day. And at a high class restaurant at that¡­ Princess Yuru-sama, have you seen this?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    Vio brought out a box with several things in it. A one-handed sword that was tinged with magic which looked familiar. A pocket watch made of gold and silver. Several of Father¡¯s treasured books from the library. Several of my accessories from the parties¡­

    ¡°These are¡­¡±

    ¡°These were found by a contact of mine, this is what we managed to repurchase after those four people sold them off.¡±

    They¡¯ve really done it, these guys.

    The twins are for sure guilty. The book was what Christina was reading. But, Fontaine is not fully confirmed as guilty.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama¡­ this is something I found in the depths of the storeroom Fontaine has been using as her playground¡­¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ What¡­?¡±

    Looking at the unusually pained expression that Vio has, I timidly peered into the offered box.

    ¡° ¡­!¡±

    My shoes were torn to tatters. My dress was muddy and frayed. The picture book was torn from reading, and ruined with crayon to the extent where no words could be read.

    It wasn¡¯t done in hatred. All of them were destroyed through play.

    And¡­

    The silver comb that I received as a third birthday present from Mother had missing and bent teeth¡­

    The stuffed animal I received from Father on the same day, that I hugged to sleep every night, had been torn and thrown in the back of the shed, the rabbit ears torn and its limbs mangled¡­

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡±

    I lifted them with trembling hands, embracing them tightly to my chest.

    ¡°¡­ why¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t understand. I can¡¯t understand. As I muttered, tears began to overflow from my eyes, spilling onto the broken stuffed animal.

    Why am I crying¡­ even though I¡¯m a Demon¡­

    ¡° ¡­¡±

    The moment my tears showed, Vio¡¯s cup of water bubbled and overflowed due to her magic.

    ¡°Wait¡­ Please wait a moment, Yuru-sama¡­ I¡¯ll settle them soon.¡±

    ¡°Hiii!?¡±

    Even though she had a calm face, Vio¡¯s eyes look like they¡¯re about to leave her head, I hurriedly grabbed the maid to hold her back.

    ¡°D-don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Why, may I ask? They have¡­¡±

    ¡°Vio should not do that.¡±

    Hearing my voice that wasn¡¯t childlike, Vio stopped and pat my head and hugged me until the tears stopped.

    ¡°I am Ria-sama¡¯s junior¡­ she helped me so much.¡±

    Vio was talking in short bursts while hugging me.

    ¡°Though I was a commoner, she cherished me, when my parents¡¯ store was about to fall, rather than rely on another house, I had to work as a salesgirl despite never having done it before. Ria-sama tutored me as I began to fall behind on my studies as I was helping out at home.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡±

    ¡°When I graduated, Ria-sama was already pregnant with Princess Yuru-sama, and I became a maid in order to return the favor to Ria-sama. Ria-sama is my treasure. And Princess Yuru-sama is also my treasure; no¡­ the treasure of everyone who lived in Ria-sama¡¯s¡­ that house. Me and¡­ Fer and Min as well, we loved you as her daughter and as a sister. The Master brought us out, and now this is the house we love with Yuru-sama. Please never forget that¡­¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Yeah.¡±

    Okay¡­ All done crying.

    Now that my heart is full of [Human Feelings], it¡¯s time for my daring personality swap.

    From the human mindset, I switch to the [Demon Me].

    I¡¯m a half-baked Demon¡­ and a half-baked Human.

    That¡¯s why I am both a [Demon] and an [Princess], and that¡¯s my [True Self].

    ¡°Vio.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    When I rose and called her name, Vio knelt down not to [Ria¡¯s Daughter] nor the [Duke¡¯s Daughter], but the individual [Yurushia] for the first time.

    ¡°Is there anything else you know regarding those people and the things they perpetrated?¡±

    ¡°No, I did the investigation alone. Please forgive me as I had limited time.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Then, keep this matter an absolute secret.¡±

    ¡°However¡­ other people know of the debauchery of these people, and the amount of money spent redeeming the items they sold was more than could be reasonably concealed.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s money, I have some private assets with the Firm in the Royal Capital. Since there is a branch in the city, use my name, and work freely.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Understood.¡±

    ¡°Now, you can leave it to me. It¡¯s Spartan, but it¡¯s worth less than your heart, you can¡¯t come back here anymore. Tell all the others so.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Understood.¡±

    ¡°So as to not worry Mother, go to her quietly.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir, Yurushia-sama.¡±

    Since a six-year-old said such things, I thought the mood would be ruined, but Vio obediently listened to me.

    Now if only your overprotectiveness would slightly subside.

    Now then, what should I do to them? In fact, I¡¯d already decided a little while ago.

    Out of my bed, I take out a small box that I wasn¡¯t sure what to do with.

    Though it was a jewelry box and had some jewels in it, there was a concealed letter within it.

    ¡°I wonder if this will help.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Fu¡­fufufu, I¡¯ve finally done it.¡±

    The girl stared at the jewelry box in front of her eyes, unable to suppress her joy.

    Inside was one copy of an invitation. It was the event the noble girls of the Holy Kingdom longed for, and invitation to the [Moonlight Tea Party], it had finally reached her.

    With glossy silver hair like moonlight, skin so white that it looked like it shunned the light of day, purple eyes that resembled jewels in the night sky.

    Around fifteen years old, the girl had a voluptuous smile and was blessed with frighteningly good looks, almost to the point of being inhuman.

    Silver Princess¡­ or so she was called by those who knew her.

    Four things like letters were on a plate the size of a jewelry box, they were surrounded by ash.

    The [Lilac Invitation] is sent to the girls together with a [Light Blue Invitation], when one is touched by the eyes of a non-sender, the magic would quietly burn the other.

    Until four were sent each day, they became ash on the day of delivery.

    Surprised at the sight, Millaine ground her teeth.

    Originally, only one letter of invitation was sent. The reason why people who do not follow the pledge are not invited to the [Moonlit Tea Party] was that it would be dangerous.

    Carefully¡­

    These redundant measures are necessary; it was the minimum precaution so as to not make a blunder.

    But¡­ that [Girl] is a different case.

    Connected to the blood of the Royal Family, the [Princess of the Holy Kingdom], with virtue high enough to be referred to as a [Saint], and hearing rumors of the [Beautiful Golden Princess], she seemed like a special presence.

    With all of her effort resulting in the party becoming highly sought, Millaine did not think a girl who would refuse the invitation to the [Moonlit Tea Party] existed.

    Half of the time, she was obstinate, sending her back the invitation, but finally with the help of Count Oberu and the Countess, a small box was sent.

    It was filled with large jewelry that was usually not given to children.

    If she was uncomfortable coming alone, she could bring 4~5 attendants along with her.

    Count Oberu told her to give up if this was not accepted.

    The Countess had said there would be no problem by just increasing their people slowly over time.

    They¡¯re a cautious group.

    This was the wisdom of people who had lived for a long time. But, the factions¡¯ [Forces] were [Equal].

    Who are they? Those that knew the old days of Earl Oberu who was holed up for many years would look at the person and say.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°But, this bet is my win.¡±

    Millaine laughed fearlessly.

    The invitation that was in the small box, not only was it shown to be open, but still only [One Person] had seen it, it seemed that the Golden Princess had finally decided to accept the invitation of the Silver Princess.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to tomorrow night¡­¡±

    If they could have the Holy [Princess] that had the royal blood follow them, then the [Force] of Millaine would surpass the other two, and they could destroy the [Armed Nation Taterudo]. They may even destroy the next country.

    Quietly¡­ quietly, the Holy Kingdom was approaching a disaster.

    App¡¯s Notes: My eyes watered a bit while translating this¡­ just¡­ wow.

    All in favor of full demon mode say aye!

    22

    Piroton¡¯s Notes: My brain melted a little doing this. There were so many incomprehensible sentences¡­ and it didn¡¯t help that I was crying a little halfway through.

    On the other hand, ALL HANDS FULL STEAM FOR AMAZING YURU MODE!

 Volume 2 - CH 11

    Volume 2, Chapter 11: Children of the Night, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­What can we do for you?¡±

    It was late at night, and cold. I called the four children to the garden near the back gate.

    I¡¯m alone without anyone nearby. A feeling of contempt is coming from the four. These guys¡­

    ¡°I am going to a [Tea Party]. You guys will be coming with me.¡±

    When I say so, they all showed similar reactions.

    Noah is quizzically staring at me. Ninette looks like she finds it bothersome, stifling a yawn. Fontaine is happily crushing ants beneath her feet on the stone. Christina¡¯s expressionless eyes opened a little at my mention of a [Tea Party]

    I give a thin smile to Christina, the apprentice maid.

    ¡°Yeah, Christina. After this, we¡¯ll be headed to the [Moonlit Tea Party]¡±

    ¡° ¡­ Ho-, ¡­ How absurd, you don¡¯t have an invitation. Besides, if you tell someone else¡­¡±

    ¡°Millaine-sama compromised with me and said that bringing four people as attendants would be alright.¡±

    As I said so, and showed the letter of invitation, Christy snatched it away to read, and then turned to me with an even bigger look of disbelief on her face.

    ¡°We¡­ are currently busy.¡±

    Noah, the butler apprentice seems intrigued, but is being obstinate, while Ninette nodded along to her twin brother despite not understanding at all.

    How could you be busy?

    ¡°Ninette. If you¡¯ll be my guard, I¡¯ll give you this sword.¡±

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    I passed Ninette the sword she sold away, and her eyes sparkled as she stared at it in wonder.

    ¡°Oy, Ninette.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Noah, this here is for you.¡±

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­¡±

    When I handed over a gold pocket watch, Noah made a face like he had just bitten into a particularly bitter bug.

    Well, that makes sense. Ninette didn¡¯t realize, but all of this was evidence of their [Embezzlement]. Therefore, he is being cautious of me, who easily returned it to him. So I, the [Sucker Child], was being calculatedly seen as a ticket to an effortless future.

    Although an honest apology would do¡­

    ¡°Would you like something as well, Fontaine?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? No need. Will there be candy?¡±

    ¡°Tea and delicious sweets as well, if the rumors are true. Please eat plenty.¡±

    ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll go.¡±

    Hmm, at least Fontaine understands.

    ¡°Thank you for coming.¡±

    Vio had guided the back gate guards away as two Oberu family carriages came in. How clever of them, not using a large carriage, the [Origin] is much harder to find when tight corners can be cut.

    ¡°All of you. Get into the carriage.¡±

    I must say, the butler¡¯s hand which is helping me up smelled quite like a [Beast] as I got into one of the carriages.

    Those children. I wonder what their faces look like now.

    Nervousness? Delight? It doesn¡¯t really matter. They boarded the back carriage, to keep face for Father.

    Enjoy tonight¡¯s trip.

    Could this be you all¡¯s final chance¡­?

    The carriages we boarded were shaking. It was completely isolated from the outside, but I felt like we were moving several times the speed of a normal carriage.

    I wonder if this can be commercialized¡­ It¡¯s probably impossible. The thing that is taking us to our destination without so much as turning is certainly not of [Human] make.

    The carriage arrived without incident.

    ¡°Welcome, we thank everyone for coming.¡±

    Doll-like beautiful butlers and maids were lined up on either side of the center aisle, on which a beautiful lady wearing a deep purple dress having the smell of a [Beast] greeted me.

    ¡°I am Millaine, Count Oberu¡¯s eldest daughter.¡±

    She had an enchanting smile that gently melted the hearts of people that saw it.

    The four people behind me were also staring into those jewel-like purple eyes, that they¡¯d forget themselves for a while can¡¯t be helped.

    Now then¡­ were you bewitched the moment you met her?

    £ª

    How strange¡­ Millaine thought as she saw today¡¯s guests.

    Yurushia, who was called the golden princess, was even more beautiful than the rumors stated despite her age. The moment her figure appeared from the carriage, even the butlers and maids who were used to Millaine were shaken.

    Even Millaine forgot to scold the servants, so breathtaking was her beauty.

    Millaine was frustrated as soon as she became aware that she was [Charmed] by the entrance. Yurushia had not moved, and Millaine had recovered before her attendants.

    {¡­ As expected of one called a [Saint]. I may need to use stronger magic than usual¡­} (TL: These are thoughts, btw)

    Millaine¡¯s expression fell.

    Impossible. In both looks and charm, the [Human Being] Yurushia was not inferior to Millaine.

    ¡°I am Yurushia, third daughter of Duke Verusenia.¡±

    Holding the hem of her dress, a dark blue dress with white frills that seemed to be made for [Dolls], slightly bending her waist, her graceful bow was the very definition of [Princess], the count and countess who had just arrived were also charmed by the greeting.

    The voice that echoed in the silence frustrated Millaine and her comrades.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, what about the other participants¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, it was such an effort to bring you here, Yurushia-sama, that no others could be invited today.¡±

    With the finest feast in front of them, those useless snacks would only be obstacles. In that sense, the servants that she brought would not even serve as an appetizer, until now, they had never eaten children who hadn¡¯t tasted bad, so they had usually sent them back, but perhaps as thanks for their service, these children could be granted to the butlers and maids.

    Yurushia, who holds the highest protection out of the royal family, even though she could have brought out her knight escort, she only brought such thinly flavored children with her.

    Although she was likely smarter than her age showed, ultimately, she was still a child.

    As proof, the four children that called Yurushia master were off receiving the hospitality of the beautiful servants, smiling as though they were about to melt away.

    Millaine felt her heart leave its cage at this.

    Of course. There was no human being that could meet [Their] eyes and bodies that could still go on normally. The three of them were among the [Noble Grade], and their status was far higher than anyone else here.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Suddenly, they felt sweat begin to appear on their back¡­ Looking around, they saw Yurushia quietly staring at Millaine with a [Doll-like] smile.

    ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t need to worry about the children. But you know¡­ Millaine-sama, why were you so concerned about having me come here¡­?¡±

    ¡° ¡­ That is¡­ our apologies.¡±

    The graceful smile of Yurushia surprised Millaine so much that she had already instinctively apologized.

    Until now they had scoffed at the attitude of the [Pretend Nobles], and had never bowed their head to anyone else.

    Why was it¡­? To the entertainers and guests, the [Words] of Yurushia placed herself [Lower] than Millaine.

    Unforgivable. Her¡­ Me.

    { ¡­ Such an Inferior Human¡­}

    Though, something was strange.

    What was this sense of discomfort? What was this strange feeling?

    Like leaving something unbuttoned, only to notice at the end of the day¡­

    Or like wearing only one shoe, but not noticing¡­

    Where was that feeling coming from?

    Was it coming from her? After sending the letter of invitation to her? Or maybe¡­ because she came from this country?

    That¡¯s absurd¡­ Impossible.

    Before Millaine came to this country, she already had a plan.

    This Holy Kingdom was a place where [Saints] and [Heroes] were born; the [Holy] power even reached into the dirt. Because of this, the public had strong faith, and it was said to be difficult for [Beasts] or [Dark Creatures] to live here.

    That was why she came.

    In the center of the Holy Kingdom, nobody would think that the [Nobles] would actually be infiltrated by a terrible [Monster].

    Carefully¡­ slowly, from behind the Holy Kingdom¡¯s back, she would slake her thirst for blood.

    ¡° ¡­ ¡­ ¡±

    When Millaine came out of her thoughts of the past, Yurushia was sitting across from her at the table, her back resting in the chair, filing her nails with something like a stone with an uninterested look.

    The red tea in front of her had already gone cold.

    ¡°You guys, replace Yurushia-sama¡¯s tea.¡±

    Millaine hurriedly ordered the servants, but a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

    Why would the servant make the mistake of leaving someone¡¯s tea long enough for it to cool? She immediately realized why.

    Those good looking butlers and maids who had captivated hundreds of daughters were captivated by the cold beauty of the young Yurushia. They had stopped working, freezing to stare at her.

    {How awkward¡­}

    So many people were unable to fight against her [Charm], looking with bloodshot eyes, their drool falling, their appearance as [Human Beings] had become impossible to maintain.

    If those lesser servants went crazy, they may not be satisfied with only those four other children.

    The atmosphere that had begun, the Count and his wife began to move, but the atmosphere was stopped.

    ¡°Changing the tea is unnecessary.¡±

    The [Princess]¡¯s voice was dignified and cool.

    Yurushia let out a deep sigh, and while looking away from Millaine murmured while still polishing her nails.

    ¡°Ever since I boarded the carriage, I¡¯ve been neglected and left alone. If I am still being neglected now, why did I even come in the first place?¡±

    ¡° ¡­ G-greatest apologies.¡±

    Millaine lowered her head to Yurushia while grinding her teeth and fangs.

    She was rapidly reaching her limit. It would have been best if the [Top-grade] prey called Yurushia had been completely [Charmed] and she thought that whether it was done in small stages or all at once would have been enjoyable either way, but, with the atmosphere she had caused with her tricks, a person like the transcendent Millaine could no longer allow herself to lower her head.

    {Good enough¡­ now, it¡¯s time to eat}

    With her head still down, her fangs grew out of her lips, Millaine saw, out of the corner of her beautiful, Oni-like eyes, that something small rolled by.

    ¡°I¡¯m returning you this claw sharpener. It¡¯s too small.¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    A large piece of ruby, about the size of an adult¡¯s fingertips.

    It was one of the gems concealed in the small box sent to Yurushia, a jewel of enough value that it could buy an aristocrat¡¯s mansion, but it was so casually tossed onto the ground.

    This caused Millaine such anger that she even felt dizziness, but Yurushia with her clear voice multiplied it further.

    ¡°Hey¡­ did you know that a few years ago, a neighboring country, Taterudo, had some turmoil involving vampires?¡±

    Those words, not only Millaine, even the faces of the Count and his wife hardened.

    ¡° ¡­ Yurushia-sama, what are you talking about?¡±

    At the impersonal cold voice of Millaine, the four children who were in a dreamy state shook as if waking from a dream.

    The butlers and maids stared at her without expression, only Yurushia, at the center of all of the glares, continued to speak without breaking a smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a monologue. There was supposedly a strong vampire, but I heard that it was quickly subdued. To be defeated by mere humans, vampires are no big deal, after all.¡±

    During the monologue, the facial expressions of the Count and wife distorted¡­ they quietly trembled as their thirst for blood rose.

    The thirst for blood coming from Millaine was especially impressive.

    The anger turned into hatred, the overflowing malice caused the surrounding luscious lawn to decay in an instant.

    ¡°What¡­ are you trying to say?¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s complexion did not change with the killing intent, throwing a letter from her pocket onto the lawn, the [Invitation].

    ¡°The fragrance of a rose, it can¡¯t disguise the stench of a [Beast].¡±

    At that time, the beautiful maids¡¯ and butlers¡¯ faces distorted into those of beasts, letting out sound as their intimidating fangs were born at Yurushia.

    ¡°Hiieeee!¡±

    The four children, finally knowing the reality around them, hugged each other, trembling while shedding tears.

    They were only able to keep their sanity at this feast of nightmares because their [Master] Yurushia was not scared¡­ but that was it.

    Wearing a calm smile, their master was a saint, they hoped she would earn enough time for them to escape on their own.

    ¡°You noticed from the start¡­? The title of [Saint], I¡¯m glad that it wasn¡¯t a sham bought with noble gold¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm? That title was something that was given without my permission. That title is so embarrassing. I just wanted a peaceful life¡­¡±

    Yurushia ignored the facial expressions of the children let out a sigh.

    ¡°Then, little miss. This will be nice and [Easy] if you just give me your blood¡­¡±

    The old vampire calmly offered a compromise¡­ Count Oberu¡¯s smile reached his ears as he laughed.

    ¡°Saint-sama seems to have a lot of leeway. The three of us have the advantage in experience, hundreds of vampires, and the three thousand [Runts] that make escape impossible¡­¡±

    The Countess gracefully licked her bright red lips with a long, lizard-like tongue.

    That Yurushia, even if they had the rumored power of a legendary class of [Saint], would be hard-pressed to survive taking on this number.

    Millaine knew the ability of her two [Companions] well.

    The wife and Millaine are two hundred years old. The Count is an ancient vampire that has been alive for five hundred years. Mere human beings could not hope to defeat such things alone.

    Millaine knew that it would be possible for the other two to run away if just one of them remained to fight.

    Hence Millaine had a feeling of anger in her heart towards the Count and his wife, who had escaped the country at the very start.

    ¡°Well then, catch me if you can.¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s words sounded like that of a child having fun as she clapped her hands down, the wife, who noticed that she answered as if she would [Escape], was at a loss for words.

    With such a strange atmosphere, Yurushia pointed her friendly smile towards her servants.

    ¡°You guys, good luck. I¡¯ll forgive you if you successfully escape from these people.¡±

    Her bright voice multiplied the effect of her heartless words, Yurushia spread out her little arms to stretch.

    ¡° ¡­ [Let There Be Light] ¡­ ¡±

    Without any fear or tension, nobody could react to her all-too-natural action.

    As the vampires noticed that Yurushia had casted Holy magic and went on guard, they saw an unbelievable thing.

    A light that was neither dazzling or white, but was darker than mere darkness, a [Black Light] that spread as if ink had been dumped on the world, even the vampires could not have foreseen this newly dyed night.

    In the confusion, everyone heard the echo of the merry voice of Yurushia.

    ¡°[Now. I¡¯ll be the seeker, fufufu.]¡±

    App¡¯s Notes: The Bracket speech is back, boys and girls. We¡¯re in business.

    Also, if you¡¯re ever commenting on older chapters and want to make sure I notice them, make up some random email address, so that I have to approve the comment, those show up with a big red notation, so I see them every time.

    21

    Piroton¡¯s Notes: someone please send help I¡¯m stuck in a place with no internet and no life and many things to do I¡¯m dying~

    Besides that, I¡¯m really looking forward to the next few chapters. It¡¯s gonna be fun, fun, fun. If I can manage it I¡¯ll try to put out more edits faster so that I can shift pressure back on App again, ufufufufu.

 Volume 2 - CH 12

    All around her was [Darkness]. She couldn¡¯t see anything: Fontaine clasped her small hands together after managing to escape from that terrible place.

    ¡° ¡­ C-Chris¡­-chan?¡±

    Though she thought that Christina was pulling her hands and so called out, nobody responded.

    There was a dark forest from which even the sounds of insects chirping couldn¡¯t be heard.

    A little ways away from her, she could see the house where the monsters lived, but right now there was no one but her. Fontaine looked around uneasily.

    ¡° ¡­¡­ ¡±

    Fontaine couldn¡¯t help but want to help herself, she didn¡¯t understand at all why that person had left her all alone, and felt despair.

    Why would anyone leave a child like her alone in a place like this? The monsters called Vampires were scary. But, this dark forest was scary too.

    She hated being scared, and wanted to run away. Yurushia had said to run away as well. Saying she¡¯d forgive us if we escaped.

    But¡­

    ¡° ¡­Why did you ¡®let¡¯ us run away?¡±

    Fontaine did not understand.

    Fontaine was born a noble, but did not feel any aristocratic [Pride]. She would not even mind living as a commoner.

    As far as she was concerned, it made no difference.

    To Fontaine, all of the things in the world belonged to her.

    She didn¡¯t understand the [Boundaries] between herself and others. She didn¡¯t mind if her own things were taken away, but also didn¡¯t mind taking away from other people.

    The important things of others, she didn¡¯t understand how important they were to that person. She would even take the lives of small animals in her play.

    But even Fontaine understood that if she didn¡¯t eat, she would starve to death. Dying was scary.

    As a child, of course it was natural for her to be protected, but the parents who should have protected her were already dead. After that, the protection from the Duke person was weakened, and then the people after that who should have protected her, the twins and Christina, were so frightened and she never ever considered that she would ever have to protect herself.

    So, moving along the sequence of protectors:

    ¡°Mistress protects me!¡±

    Not only did she face that horrible monster without fear, the Princess even had a smile on her face. Since she was her [Master], it was natural to be protected by her.

    Having reached that conclusion, rather than flee to the forest, Fontaine walked towards the place where hopefully Yurushia and the vampire still were.

    The fear faded away before she knew it. Thinking about it, because Fontaine¡¯s concept of the boundaries between individuals was very thin, she believed so.

    {Because my life is important to everyone, I don¡¯t need to fear for it.}

    Since Fontaine saw her life as most precious, she didn¡¯t doubt for a moment that it was important to everyone else.

    She boldly returned to the gate of the mansion. No vampires found her on the way back.

    As she took a cake from the wagon on the way and walked to the garden while munching, she noticed someone behind them.

    ¡° ¡­?¡±

    A small breath was approaching. Not a person, a [Thing], Fontaine held her breath as it appeared from the cold darkness.

    A black dog emanating frost; a vampire familiar, Death Hound.

    ¡°Hiiiaa!?¡±

    Her face distorting in fear, Fontaine instantly broke into a run.

    Two¡­ no, three¡­ four more dogs appeared from the darkness and had begun to harass their weak prey like a pack of wolves.

    ¡°W-why!?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t understand why she was being attacked. She couldn¡¯t understand why nobody was helping her. Weighed down with despair and fear, Fontaine moved towards the girl that was her master, crying in the darkness.

    ¡°S-save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    There was no response, only the sound of tearing and a muffled scream as the sound of ripping spread through the night.

    £ª

    ¡°It¡¯s not real¡­ It¡¯s not real¡­ It¡¯s not real¡­¡±

    Ninette was squatting in the shadow of the wall close to the main gate of the mansion, her teeth chattering while she held her sword.

    Tightly clutching her sword hilt as her knuckles turned white, Ninette continued to mumble curses quietly.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡±

    Not only did that monster exist, but that monster took the shape of a noble and she had been forced to participate in that sort of tea party and the Princess had to provoked the monster and the Princess looked like she was having fun and because of that her own life was in danger and all of it was unbelievable.

    ¡°I hate this.¡±

    {I don¡¯t wanna die. I wanna go back to my [Easy] life.}

    Ninette hated troublesome things. Her twin brother was willing to be subservient to others for his own comfort, but Ninette felt doing so was too much work for her.

    To have the fine eye of consideration to be a maid was too troublesome.

    To train in the sword to become a knight was too troublesome.

    To go along with her elder brother¡¯s plans was too troublesome.

    To humble herself in front of other people was too troublesome.

    To work was too troublesome.

    She just wanted to live an effortless life.

    If one was strong with a sword, they were recognized by only that, those escort knights would clean up any enemies who attack the duke¡¯s daughter and settled everything. If she became captain of the knights when she grew up, she could just leave all the guarding to her subordinates and live easily.

    In that sense, Ninette was [Better] relative to the others.

    She had already made plans for her own future, somewhat.

    That was why, facing the thought of dying in a place like this, Ninette couldn¡¯t take it.

    ¡°Princess¡¯¡­ fault.¡±

    Using the sword as bait, Ninette was fished into a dangerous place.

    She wanted to swiftly run away.

    Even though that Princess had said to do so, Ninette could not run. She had depended on her parents then her brother until now, after abandoning all her thoughts for the sake of living an [Easy] life, she did not know how to put in the effort to [Escape] alone.

    ¡°Heee!¡­¡±

    Quiet footsteps could be heard from the back of the dark forest.

    They were small footsteps which she had not heard until then, Ninette was able to hear the flood of footsteps like ripples, and monsters with the figures of people filled the area and were quickly approaching.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Her mouth was so dry that it was hard to breathe.

    Thousands or more [Monsters] wearing the clothes of commoners¡­ Some of them smiled with bestial smiles as they noticed where Ninette was hiding.

    Although in her hands was a sword imbued with tremendous magic, she was just a child, and Ninette, who had only ever wielded the sword in play, couldn¡¯t imagine herself defeating even one monster.

    Ninette understood.

    She would die. The monsters would push her down and tear her apart and eat her intestines while she was still alive.

    ¡°¡­ Damn it all¡­¡±

    Crying her final tears, she cursed her parents, cursed her brother, cursed her comrades, cursed herself for involving herself with Yurushia, and with trembling hands, brought the point of the sword to her throat.

    At that time¡­ Ninette took the only [Easy] option.

    £ª

    A huge chapel. This place which stood in the grounds of Count Oberu¡¯s estate, singularly out of place for a place where monsters lived, was decorated brightly and looked incorruptible.

    ¡° ¡­¡­ ¡±

    [Someone] had brought Christina from a corner of the garden, where she had been hiding from the butlers in the shadow of the trees.

    She hadn¡¯t been treated roughly yet. Expressionless maids and butlers surrounded the altar of the chapel indifferently, staring silently at her, and Christina felt like she was about to go mad from fear.

    *Ki~i¡­*

    The opening of the chapel door broke the silence with its faint sound.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    As she saw the appearance of the person, Christina¡¯s eyes grew wide with despair.

    The unusually beautiful Countess, followed by several servants, was carrying Noah, whose vacant eyes were filled with fear, like a doll.

    What had happened to Noah¡­? Perhaps he was caught in his hiding place just like her.

    The expensive butler¡¯s clothing prepared by the ducal household had been torn in many places. From where she was, she could see a plethora of [Tooth] marks on the boy¡¯s white skin.

    Looking at his face, his blood was probably sucked out for [Fun] rather than for mere hunger.

    Looking at his face caused Christina to twitch in fear as the Countess pierced Noah¡¯s cheek shallowly with her fang, licking the fresh blood overflowing from his cheek with her bright red tongue.

    Christina looked with pity as Noah trembled every time the Countess licked her blood.

    However, when the vacant eyes of Noah met Christina¡¯s, a small amount of life came into his eyes, and the boy put on a disgusting smile.

    ¡° ¡­ Her blood, if you please, is definitely more delicious than mine.¡±

    The words that sold out not only his companion, but his human dignity, shocked Christina, and the Countess put on a joyous smile.

    ¡°Hohoho, even though I was surprised by that Saint-dono, you fellows really adorable.¡±

    The interest of the Countess moved away from Noah momentarily to the girl he had betrayed, Christina.

    ¡°T-that¡¯s right, please make me your comrade, Ma¡¯am! I want to take the blood of that girl who swindled others with the name of a Saint, Gugyaaaaaa!?¡±

    Breaking off Noah¡¯s words mid-sentence, the Countess chomped down on his shoulder, slowly chewing the bone, instead of sucking his blood.

    ¡°I hate stupid children, you know?

    Noah was paralyzed with the pain and fear, while the Countess had a smile like a beast on her face.

    ¡°That person¡­¡±

    The Countess¡¯ eyes turned towards Christina¡¯s mutter.

    Christina was trembling. Her tears and trembling was not fear, but anger at Yurushia.

    ¡°Because of that person, this happened. Just a mere concubine¡¯s child. Athena-sama and Ophelia-sama were sent far away: all because of that bastard child!¡±

    Christina¡¯s mother was good acquaintances with the Duke¡¯s late first wife. Her mother worshipped Albertine, her daughter Christina was thought of as a [Tribute] to Albertine.

    Even though there wasn¡¯t a single good rumor about Athena-sama¡¯s generosity, Christina craved the beauty and dignity of a high noble and waited excitedly for a day to serve them.

    It all fell apart with the death of Albertine. She ended up serving Yurushia, who had seized all of the benefits Athena-sama was supposed to receive.

    In the beginning, Christina did not hate Yurushia, who she had not met.

    But, after seeing that Yurushia was so unconditionally beloved by the Duke, her mother, and everyone else in the household, when she compared Yurushia to herself, whose bright hopes, warm home, and noble position had all been lost, only hatred remained.

    ¡°That person¡­ Kill them.¡±

    Having lost her sanity to fear, she made her bitter confession of tears, and the Countess tossed Noah aside. A delighted smile coming to her face, she softly spoke to Christina.

    ¡°A~ah¡­ at last, you¡¯ve become delicious¡­¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 13

    Volume 2, Chapter 13: Children of the Night, Part 3

    Hey, Yurushia here. I¡¯m a little troubled at the moment.

    ¡°What should I do, I wonder¡­?¡±

    I sipped the cold and bitter tea while surrounded by the considerably narrowed [Blackness].

    That¡¯s right. I haven¡¯t moved an inch from that place.

    Well, actually I moved a little bit, to release those kids, I wonder if they¡¯ve managed to escape?

    Being in this [Blackness], I can¡¯t tell what¡¯s happening outside.

    All the same, my hypothesis was able to be validated, a little. The light from the [Light Spirits] isn¡¯t limited to only being [White]. Maybe to someone they recognize, [Light Spirits] can also be [Dark Spirits].

    If that theory is right, holy magic should be able to use [Fear] just like [Dark] magic by the use of spirits.

    Well, that¡¯s all good, what should I do now? I couldn¡¯t believe the Vampire-chans went off looking for me like fools.

    All of you, you¡¯re surprisingly serious about this.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­ Should I just proceed?¡±

    I¡¯m a bit worried about those kids¡¯ situation.

    I think that if they seriously run, they can succeed in escaping, but it¡¯s not my responsibility, you know?

    You know, because I¡¯m a demon.

    ¡°¡­Gugyo~¡±

    In the mansion¡¯s hallway, I reflexively crushed together a maid vampire and a bowl with a clap.

    I got a little startled.

    Thanks to the fact that vampires turned into ash when they died, I thankfully didn¡¯t get dirtied with blood. Well, if it gets dirty, I can just use [Purification] and get clean again, but I¡¯m glad that my dark blue dress won¡¯t get dirty in the first place since it might get [Bleached]

    ¡°¡­ But, whatever.¡±

    Seriously, this mansion is huge¡­

    How long and how much did that Count fill his pockets before moving here, this mansion is bizarrely big for a noble governing the countryside.

    Or rather, I wonder if land is cheap in this territory¡­?

    In the large mansion, there was a floor under the huge chapel. Rather than to a basement, the stairs I found a little while ago led to a wide cave.

    Since there were about a thousand [Runts] in there, I only looked briefly, before returning.

    The thing that attacked during the inspection must have been one of those things called [Runts]. Though they could move through sunlight, I don¡¯t feel like they¡¯re as powerful as a vampire.

    It¡¯s a blessing that Noel and Bree-chan haven¡¯t figured out what their true identity was, either.

    Really, those vampires are way too bad at hiding their [Presence] and [Smell]. From the moment they become a vampire, they saw themselves as [Strong], they indulged in their ability too much.

    Learn a bit from the example of this weak demon and live modestly.

    But really, there are too many vampires here¡­ dozens of strong servants out in the field, and thousands of them are in here as well, how bothersome.

    I¡¯m an incompetent Demon with nothing but a ridiculous amount of magic power, after all.

    Since even dozens of bodies can only summon a lesser demon if they¡¯re good, I can be at ease, to some extent, but since my summoning is almost fully self-taught, there is no compelling force, so the lesser demons are frightened and don¡¯t come out.

    ¡°¡­ A dead end¡­ or not, there¡¯s a room.¡±

    I walked through the pointlessly large mansion when I sensed a [Scent] on the stone walls and floor.

    A dark-red chain is hanging from the wall, I can see some odd tools, it this a torture room¡­? What a naughty hobby¡­ Where¡¯s the fun in tormenting weak human beings, right?

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this¡­? Is that you, Miss Yurushia?¡±

    I heard that voice from the only exit in the torture room.

    ¡­ At long last, the prey¡¯s been caught.

    ¡°Good evening, Countess¡­ Umm, sorry, I forgot your name.¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s fine. That name of a Countess isn¡¯t my real name.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    I look at what the Countess brought with her.

    ¡°That¡­ where did you pick that up?¡±

    The Countess was dragging Noah on the floor by his neck with one hand, holding Christina in the other, Christina had multiple fang piercings in her throat, and her overflowing blood was being sipped.

    The Countess licked up the blood with her long tongue, the laughed in ridicule.

    ¡°I picked them up. Although I thought that I would have to settle with bad-tasting children, this girl has a reasonably good taste.¡±

    The Countess intentionally tried to provoke me.

    Given the fact that the attendants that I had brought along with me were being toyed with, I should have been getting angry and losing my calm.

    But those words that she said to me¡­

    ¡°Yeah¡­ I completely agree.¡±

    The Countess¡¯ face flinched at my unceremonious reply.

    Her face regained its [Composure] after a brief moment.

    ¡°As expected of a [Saint-sama]¡­ you¡¯re remarkably composed, unflappable even¡­¡±

    The wife seemed to have misunderstood me.

    She is just like Millaine, doubting me. However, due to the arrogance of the [Strong], instead of trying to make me surrender by force, she was trying to force my heart into despair with words.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­ Humans are strange, you know? Hidden in the blood of humans with strong emotions is something sweet¡­ Your blood, the blood of a saint, I wonder how sweet it will be¡­?¡±

    Now I get it¡­

    The vampire doesn¡¯t know. That the [Sweet] taste is the [Karma] in the soul of a human.

    Christina¡­ to think you had such strong [Feelings].

    As I stared at Christina being silently, cruelly feasted upon, the Countess, in her good mood, threw Christina and Noah to my feet like garbage.

    ¡°Since their taste has become thinner, I¡¯ll return them¡­ you guys.¡±

    At the voice of the wife, the maids in the back threw out two small things held in the same manner.

    Ninette¡­ Fontaine¡­ I see¡­ none of the four were able to escape.

    ¡°Haha, are these children still alive? Do you want to know, Saint-sama? How about you use that holy magic you¡¯re so good at to heal them?

    The Countess said with a sneer, as if she thought I was silent out of fear.

    Then I realize.

    These four children, they¡¯re faintly breathing. But saving these children with holy magic is something that can¡¯t be done.

    Even if the flesh of these kids is healed¡­ there¡¯s practically no [Soul] left in them.

    The vampires unconsciously change the souls dissolved in human blood into their power. Why would they want it? You could guess when you looked at these kids.

    As each [Soul] had been mostly sucked out, the thinned-out soul would seek something to fill it and was [Altered], causing the body and even mind to transform.

    The victim of a vampire is a vampire, not because of a curse or the transmission of a disease, but because the soul is altered.

    So vampires, seeking their lost [Soul], would seek out the [Blood] of human beings which had their souls dissolved in.

    As living things died, their [Souls] would rapidly disperse into the [World]

    After being dispersed into the world, the [Soul] does not have a destination, even if the body was healed, the [Soul] would not come back. That¡¯s why [Holy Magic] doesn¡¯t contain any spells like [Resurrection].

    If I leave these children alone as they are now, As soon as they stop breathing, they will become vampires.

    The children really can¡¯t be saved¡­

    But¡­ that¡¯s why I asked them. Not as a human, but as a [Demon]

    ¡°Do you guys¡­ want to live¡­?

    Said plainly with simple words. My whispered [Demonic] question reached into the core of their beings.

    At those [Words], the vacant pupils of the four children moved slightly¡­ I treated it as [Acceptance], the [Contract] for their [Souls] signed.

    ¡°¡­ ¡°Let There Be Light¡± ¡­¡±

    As I cast the holy magic, the Countess¡¯ smile deepened. She knew that these children could not be saved with holy magic.

    But I was saving these kids not with the children¡¯s¡¯ [Souls] or [Feelings].

    Cautiously¡­ I deployed multiple spells at the same time.

    The vampires did not disturb this [Holy] looking [Magic] ritual.

    ¡°¡­ In accordance with the contract, I bind these [Souls] as tribute, show yourselves¡­¡±

    What I used was a composite multilayer summoning formation. The small magic formation had layer after layer of superimposed summoning formations, I could only draw it using pure magic, it was a far stronger formation than that incident.

    There was no compulsion in my call. But¡­ there are some things that only I can call. Now¡­ come on out~

    ¡°By the order of the Golden Beast (Me), the Demonic Princess¡­ come, Demons!¡±

    *Doriori¡­*

    At once, darkness like mud changed the color of the cloudy lights in the stone room.

    The vampires couldn¡¯t believe their eyes as the [White] light in the room was eroded as the [Blackness] spread on the floor like coal tar, swallowing the four children like a bottomless swamp into its depths.

    Even as the vampires were overwhelmed by what happened, I recognized the four Demons who crashed through my summoning formation and appeared.

    Each demon hovered over their choice among [Them], taking the fragments of their souls slowly and quietly¡­ The four children stood up from the bottomless pit of darkness.

    Still¡­ it was strange to see them clearly looking the same as the living children, even though they were obviously of an entirely different quality.

    The expensive suits paid for by the Duke looked like they had weathered the wind and rain for hundreds of years¡­ the children wearing it gave off an ominous feel as they turned their madness filled dark eyed towards the vulnerable people in the room.

    ¡°Hee!¡±

    Leaking a scream, the Countess backed up, and without hesitation fled toward the back of the room, while the confused vampire maids attacked the Demons in their beast forms.

    *Zan¡­*

    Suddenly Ninette whipped out her sword from her waist, piercing everyone with one stab.

    The sword grew and swelled like a tree root.

    ¡°[¡­Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!]¡±

    The stones of the torture room cracked with the loud laughter of Ninette, and all of the maid vampires that were pierced by the sword instantly dried up, disappearing into dust.

    Devouring the soul and obtaining a vessel, it [Manifested] as a Demon with the form of a human¡­

    ¡° ¡­ ¡±

    I guess that¡¯s what I ended up doing.  What should I do¡­?

    The four children, without a sound, lined up in front of me, kneeling in unison.

    ¡°[¡­ Our Lady¡­ After so long¡­]¡±

    Noah says on the group¡¯s behalf with a warped voice.

    As I thought¡­

    ¡°It, it¡¯s been a long time¡­ have you all been well¡­?¡±

    The ones I had raised in the Demon World with those [Settings], it was the four Demon Children.

    ¡­ That¡¯s a [No], then.

    Bluntly speaking, they look terrible. Their complexion is dark, and things like insects are wriggling in their blood vessels under their skin.

    A dangerous presence. The [Stench of Death] was leaking from them and drifting across the stone floor.

    If I brought them back to human society as they are now, chaos would ensue.

    Besides, it bothers me.

    I used the remaining [Souls] of those kids as the catalyst, their [Souls] were sacrificed at the same time and allowed to [Fuse] with the demons¡­ But I wonder if any parts of the kids are still left?

    ¡°¡­ Christina, is your [Human] soul still there?¡±

    Whether the essence was [Demon] or [Human].

    I tried listening to Demon Christina, but her reaction was dull. Then, the demon answered me with a strange look.

    ¡°[¡­ Greatest apologies. Is that the name that this one will be called?]¡±

    ¡­ Eh?

    ¡°Do you mean¡­ there¡¯s none left?¡±

    ¡°[No, the [Soul] of the human I [Chose] has certainly fused with me. However¡­]¡±

    ¡°However¡­?¡±

    ¡°[A large portion of her soul was steeped in [Hatred] for you, My Lady¡­]¡±

    The Demon Christina¡¯s face¡­ her face was distorted by the Demon¡¯s quiet smile.

    ¡°[That portion, I [Devoured] it all and put an end to it.]¡±

    The other three nodded smugly at those words. Really, you all¡­

    Well, as long as there is even a little of [That Child] left, the [Contract] was fulfilled.

    Although it feels like fraud¡­

    ¡°[Also, Milady. We Demons do not have a [Name]. Being called by the name of the vessel is¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ah¡­ I see.¡±

    I forgot. When I called them the kids¡¯ names by accident, were they weakened as demons¡­?

    At least I won¡¯t have trouble calling them. They¡¯re Demons just like me, to [Name] these children would be¡­ Wait a second.

    ¡°¡­ You guys.¡±

    ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° [ [ [ [Yes!] ] ] ] ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    ¡°My name is [Yurushia], remember it. Also, I, the [Demon Princess], will be  bestowing [Names] to you guys.¡±

    Right now, I have the attributes of a [Human], [I] might be able to use the [Naming] to change the [Settings] of these children.

    I don¡¯t know whether I will succeed. And yet, these Demon Children were hanging on to my every word with no doubt in their eyes.

    I turned to the Demon fused with Noah.

    ¡°Your name is [Noa].¡±

    To the Demon fused with Ninette.

    ¡°You are [Nia]¡±

    To the Demon fused with Christina.

    ¡°You are [Tina]¡±

    Finally, to the Demon fused with Fontaine.

    ¡°Your name is [Fanny]¡±

    Yup, a [Nickname] based on their original names is better anyways.

    ¡°[¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­]¡±

    The named demons were kneeling in silence¡­ when they rose, their appearance had changed.

    It¡¯s good it was a success¡­ but.

    Their ominous auras had been contained by the [Naming], but just like me, the [Human Flaws] in their looks had disappeared from their original cute figures, and they had the cold beauty as if a [Doll] had been combined with a [Human Being].

    ¡­ Didn¡¯t they change too much?

    To become so [Tranquil] just from being granted a [Name].

    Furthermore, have I done it¡­?

    Oh well, it¡¯ll be fine.

    ¡°You guys, now that you¡¯ve arrived, please clean up.¡±

    ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°Yes!¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    I start walking with the four. That was a little unexpected, now, let¡¯s get started.

    Time to clean up those Vampires (Trash) which built a nest in my feeding grounds¡­

 Volume 2 - CH 14

    Volume 2, Chapter 14: Demon¡¯s Feast, Part 1

    ¡°Oh, by the way¡­¡±

    I asked something I remembered, while walking through the hallway.

    ¡°How did [He] treat you?¡±

    At my question, the demons walking behind me winced.

    ¡­ Eh? Hold on. What¡¯s with that reaction?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Nobody said anything. As the [Girls] looked around delicately, the only [Boy] representative, Noa, spoke on their behalf. He has a pained look on his face.

    ¡°¡­ After Lor-¡­Yurushia-sama went to this side, everything got rough, anything even nearby was destroyed, we only barely escaped¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ I-I see.¡±

    After losing his pet, he freely ran amok¡­ N-not my fault¡­¡±

    ¡°Such a thing doesn¡¯t matter, Yurushia-sama.¡±

    Saying such a tragic incident in the demon world [Doesn¡¯t Matter], it seems my carefree tone was transferred to you all.

    Looking in her eyes closely, it really seem like a fused [Ninette].

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Umm, take a look at this.¡±

    [Ninette]shows me her magic sword¡­ what¡¯s this, instead of its previous shine, the sword has become worn out and rusted.

    ¡°Why did it become like this¡­¡±

    ¡°I was using it normally.¡±

    I pick up the corroded sword grip and bring it to eye level, examining it closely with my fingers.

    ¡­ *Pokin*

    ¡° ¡°¡­Ah ¡± ¡±

    It broke off. I didn¡¯t think I pushed too hard.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right. No problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    Noa broke into the conversation with words I¡¯ve heard before from somewhere. As I picked up the sword tip, I thought that I was sure that most of the children¡¯s selves were lost in the fusion, but it seems like something strange was left¡­ But.

    ¡°Nia, bring out the [Soul] you absorbed a while ago.¡±

    ¡°Yes~, brother.¡±

    That reminds me, Noa and Nia originally had the [Setting] of brother and sister. After a brief nod, Nia sends something like white mist towards Noa. It seems to be what Nia [Absorbed] a little while ago from the formation.

    Noa, who received it, slid his finger across the broken sword¡­

    ¡°I repaired it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Fast. Rather, I don¡¯t know what you did there.

    Not just that, the formerly silver sparkly [Magic Sword] has become pitch black and is sending out a resentful moan like ¡°¡­OOooh¡­ Oooh¡­,¡± it¡¯s become an Evil [Magic Sword].

    Unlike that [Noah], this one isn¡¯t a waste.

    With my configuration of them being brother and sister, Nia¡¯s [Release] and Noa¡¯s [Absorption] had no issues.

    ¡°As expected of Brother.¡±

    Nia received the sword, slashing her new [Magic Sword (Toy)] around. Wherever the sword hit the walls, they rotted away and changed to debris.

    Please stop, that¡¯s dangerous.

    ¡°Noa, your clothes are not fit to be worn before Yurushia-sama.¡±

    After seeing Noa¡¯s state, Tina directed a cold glare at him. The Countess had torn his clothes to rags.

    ¡°Shall I fix them, Tina?¡±

    ¡°Yes, naturally.¡±

    Tina quickly nodded her head full of brilliant blonde hair, Noa¡¯s butler clothing showed signs of repair in the space of the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Ahaha, look look, Yurushia-sama, it¡¯s all black.¡±

    Laughing happily, Fannie hugged me from behind and pointed at the like-new butler suit which had become black.

    My impression of this child¡¯s fusion with [Fontaine] is that she doesn¡¯t appear to be much different.

    But that¡¯s wrong.

    Besides having completely different appearances from the original four, they also don¡¯t use a spoiled attitude when addressing [Me].

    They worship my present figure as the master to their servant, even though I asked for a relationship of mutual trust. I wanted to make an effort to build a [Relationship] with them.

    Where did I go wrong¡­

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia-sama. Is there a strange [Smell] all over?¡±

    The pleased Fannie¡¯s nose suddenly twitched.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Fannie. Do you know how where it¡¯s coming from?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ It¡¯s all over here and there in the mansion, it¡¯s also strong underground.¡±

    Checking my senses, that seems correct.

    That group of three vampires ran off, Millaine ran towards the cave.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, when we get [Outside], please leave it to me.¡±

    As if reading my thoughts, Tina asked while kneeling in front of me.

    This child is calm just like the original [Christina], how competent. But there¡¯s a little difference.

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m fine on my own.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Yurushia-sama. But for this lowly trash, you should not bother lifting your hand, I alone will be sufficient.¡±

    Tina grew closer with every word she said, getting close to my face with feverish eyes.

    ¡°I-I see¡­?¡±

    I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯d rather not touch lips with the original or this child, that¡¯s not how I wanted [This Relationship] to be.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go then, Tina.¡±

    At the very last minute, Tina¡¯s neck stopped moving forward, Nia stopped thrusting her sword about with a smile, her eyes laughing.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Tch.¡±

    Tina, please don¡¯t click your tongue like that.

    ¡°F-for the time being Tina and¡­ Fannie will go together?¡±

    ¡°Yeees.¡±

    With a childlike smile, Fannie nestled her cheeks against mine from behind and nodded obediently.

    In her shadow, Tina was mumbling ¡°¡­That¡¯s what I just¡­¡±  I heard, but let¡¯s forget those mutters.

    Why did these children become like this¡­?

    £ª

    ¡°What were those things¡­¡±

    The Countess was running away, rushing through the corridors full force, discarding her ladylike elegance. She did not know what had happened to her[Servants], to think that they had all been brought down by that [Saint].

    {¡­ Impossible}

    The mere despicable [Human] Yurushia¡­ the [Saint] that everyone praised, nobody would even think she would summon [Demons].

    Not just Demons, they were clearly something more.

    Maintaining the appearance of a human was an ominous sign. At the presence of [Knowledge] she saw as she met their dark eyes, the Countess immediately fled.

    As a precaution, she casted a mental curse on the Maid Vampires. Though the [Confusion] allowed her to escape, as she heard the soul scraping [Laughter] immediately after, the Countess was convinced of the [Demons¡¯] identity.

    The top ranked Demons capable of causing a catastrophe, [Grand Spirits]. [Arch-Demons]

    {Four of them¡­!? What kind of joke is that?}

    If she had paid the cost and they [Manifested], there would be no escape.

    Whenever an Arch-Demon had appeared in the past, it would either be defeated with an entire nation¡¯s army or be brought down by those breakers of common sense called heroes. Sometimes the people would have to wait and survive until they naturally dispersed, if they were not fully manifested.

    To call an Arch-Demon, who is that [Saint]¡­?

    {Well¡­ even if that happened, nothing can be done just by thinking about it.}

    A single human summoning and contracting with four Arch-Demons would never be able to meet the [Sacrifice] requests of the four beings.

    Having discovered that by now, that girl should have been eaten as a sacrifice to the Arch-Demons.

    They should withdraw as soon as possible.

    The Count and Millaine had sent their subordinates on their [Prey Hunt], and were at the altar in the cave.

    If she combined her forces with them, they may be able to oppose an Arch-Demon, that was why she did not fight, so that there would be a chance of conveying the crisis to them and quickly gather together their [Allies].

    Having abandoned her real name once, she did not have any hesitation at abandoning her compatriots.

    {Still, I need to recover a little bit.}

    Even if she wanted to leave the country, she would need some [Servants] who could move through sunlight.

    In the chapel, dozens of her proteges, the maid vampires, were waiting.

    After she picked them up, she would leave the country right away.

    Count Oberu and Millaine would certainly be able to earn her some time to escape.

    (*POV Change*)

    Tina went to the chapel alone.

    She wondered to herself. Golden Beast¡­ er, Yurushia, had given her, a [Raw] and fragile demon, the [Power(Knowledge)] to let her [Transform].

    While she wasn¡¯t dissatisfied with it, and she held strong faith and worship for her master, she could not help but think of her as an oddball. What Yurushia had given had made Tina stronger, but brought changes of its own. The frayed [Soul] of the weak human being she had fused with had, after she had eaten the blasphemous [Hatred] towards Master, allowed strange [Feelings] for Yurushia to sprout.

    {¡­ The adorable Yurushia-sama. I love her so much I just want to eat her¡­¡±

    If you catch her meaning. ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã)

    (TL note: The above sentence was the author not us, no comment on the face. We do believe it improves accuracy of the translation.)

    As Tina arrived alone at the chapel, while worrying endlessly, a new feeling appeared in the corner of her mind.

    The treatment by the Countess was still in her fused soul, the [Hatred] coming from it, Tina faintly grimaced.

    It wasn¡¯t uncomfortable, though. Since they were definitely her real feelings.

    Tina opened the door of the chapel slowly. She wanted to smash it in, but her great lord may have use of it.

    (*POV Change*)

    Pulling together her maids, the Countess, who was hastening to escape from this land, was surprised to see a small shadow emerge from the slowly opening door.

    The figure was a young maid, a little girl with curling blonde hair with azure blue eyes.

    She had previously sipped her blood to torment her, although that fearful appearance didn¡¯t fit this demon, it was that little girl for sure. Something was off about her appearance, though.

    Even an ordinary person could see¡­

    Although her appearance was much more beautiful than before, the Countess felt a chill while looking at the expression on the face of this cool-headed doll.

    ¡°[Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]¡±

    Without noticing it, all of the [Runts] ran towards their young prey.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The [Girl] placed her hands together in front of her waist and pushed them forward gently without the slightest inelegance, a cold beauty¡­ Quietly, [Crimson Pupils] appeared in her eyes.

    *Kishi¡­*

    With a creaking sound, the hundreds of runts who were attacking the [Girl] froze in their movements like statues.

    Their color lost, dozens of the runs who were about to attack from the ceiling fell to the floor and broke as though they were made of stone.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The Countess was at a loss of words at the sight.

    The large intimidating aura of the Arch-Demon was completely gone, she felt a large gap in power between them.

    ¡°¡­ Why, what irresponsible things¡­ that brat summoned¡­¡±

    As the Countess leaked her thoughts, a silent [Anger] spread through the chapel, golden whips not unlike [Sculptures], seemed to come alive, wanting to tear everything to pieces, spreading their dark red blood along the walls and floor of the chapel.

    ¡°You lowly bush mosquitoes¡­ our mother and creator, you would use your words to disparage the sun of the demon world¡­ know your place.¡±

    The voice sounded like a curse from the underworld, the [Girl] seemed aware of the Countess for the first time, her face distorting into a smile.

    ¡°Nice to meet you Countess. I¡¯m pleased to see you.¡±

    As she said that, she bowed her waist gracefully like a noble.

    ¡°My master created me as a [Medusa], she named me [Tina]. Anyways, goodbye.¡±

    Saying such without emotion, Tina¡¯s golden curled hair swelled and tightened as if it had a will, and turned into countless Golden snakes.

    There was no fight.

    There were several hundred runts and vampires in the room, but they were not allowed to resist or escape. Whenever anyone met the golden serpent¡¯s eyes around the quiet Tina they were petrified, their souls scattered.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The countess was also petrified from the waist down, starting at the [Demon] with an expression of despair¡­ the Demon began work on the enemy chosen by her master with a joyful expression.

    £ª

    A catastrophe had happened in the dark forest.

    It started all of a sudden¡­ a lone white haired girl appeared in front of the thousand or so [Runts].

    ¡°You know, I had Yurushia-sama name me.¡±

    That [Girl] was laughing joyfully. Looking at the innocent and defenseless girl, the runts wore bashful smiles.

    The runts reached out to try to catch the [Girl], but their hands passed through the image, only grasping a [Girl] shaped haze. The runts became confused.

    No one had caught her. They could not even touch her.

    To the runts who were absorbed in their orders, it did not seem strange that the [Girl] was floating in the air among the trees.

    The [Girl]¡¯s white face¡­ hardened into a mask. A [Harlequin] appearing on her face, the mask formed into a laughing smile, as if it had no cares in the world.

    ¡°Ready to start?¡±

    The Harlequin girl dismantled the thousand the live runts¡¯ bodies in a moment.

    She stripped the flesh from the bone, then dragged out the internal organs, taking out the nerves one by one. While their brains were in hideous pain, their mouths screaming in fear, but their bodies couldn¡¯t move an inch.

    ¡°Ready to start?¡±

    Their bodies quickly returned to their original form at the voice of the Harlequin girl, their minds going mad out of pain and fear.

    All of this [Work] is happening simultaneously, every one receiving it at the same time, further increasing their mad terror.

    ¡°Ready to Start?¡±

    Again¡­ and again, the nightmare repeated, the runts going [Mad], unable to [Die].

    ¡°I am [Fannie]¡­ [Nightmare Fannie]¡­  though I don¡¯t think you people can understand anymore.¡±

    After the [Nightmare] repeated several tens of thousands of times, all of the runts were alive, their [Hearts] broken, standing like lumps of meat in the indistinguishable forest clearing.

    ¡°Well then¡­ job complete.¡±

    Fannie said, then started to harvest the loosened [Souls] which were about to disappear.

    She did not like work, but work for Yurushia was another matter.

    In that lonely, scary, dark, cold Demon World, Master Yurushia served as the lone presence of warmth, the Sun.

    To her weak self, who only knew of feeding, the excitement she felt the first time she felt that warmth could not be forgotten.

    After fusing with that person¡¯s [Soul], Fannie was thinking differently about her feelings than in that world.

    But that¡¯s natural¡­

    ¡°After all, this [World] is here for Yurushia-sama, you know.¡±

 Volume 2 - CH 15

    Volume 2, Chapter 15: Demon¡¯s Feast, Part 2

    ¡°Oh¡­ is this the end of our game of tag? Or did you already resign yourself to death.¡±

    As we entered the cave, Millaine called out to us in a condescending tone, surrounded with handsome butlers.

    Good, it¡¯s great that she¡¯s so confident. Count Oberu, who stood next to her, is staring curiously at Noa and Nia, whose atmosphere had changed.

    I figured that Millaine hadn¡¯t ordered her subordinates to attack as a deliberate show of her own confidence, but the Count is not doing so due to caution.

    As expected of the wisdom of elders¡­ or is it? Does age even matter to a vampire?

    ¡°I got tired of it, and I need to go home soon, so goodbye.¡±

    While I got into my [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mode and smiled, Millaine¡¯s [Noble Mask] cracked a little as her mood worsened immediately. I spoke candidly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­Although, there seems to be less of you than when I first arrived earlier? Did some of you become food to someone on their way here?¡±

    ¡°I attacked them. They died.¡±

    Nia returned without incident after her slaughter.

    Seriously, it¡¯s great to be able to relax.

    ¡°Well, the other two are keeping the Countess company at her other party outside. She seemed rather bothered, being left alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­ So, Yurushia-sama, you still think you¡¯ll get home alive¡­?¡±

    Millaine said, her voice drawing the thousands of runts forward, causing them to show their fangs in an attempt at intimidation.

    No need to be impatient. What should we do¡­?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, may I please have your permission to exterminate the pests?¡±

    As the vampires¡¯ thirst for blood swelled, Noa walked forward, asking me for permission in a calm tone.

    ¡°Yurushia-sa-ma~, it¡¯s fine, right?¡±

    Nia seems motivated¡­ isn¡¯t she? She¡¯s waving her sword around in a lackadaisical manner looking bored. I guess she¡¯s motivated in her own way.

    ¡°¡­Will you be alright?¡±

    Millaine and the Count seem decently strong, and I¡¯d really hate it if these children were hurt.

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay. Just don¡¯t try too hard and get hurt.¡±

    Oh well, worst case scenario, I can fly them away¡­ I thought comfortably.

    ¡°Nia, [Release].¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡­¡­Eh?

    All of a sudden, an evil presence surged from Noa and Nia. Dozens of runts were instantly killed and turned to ash..

    The atmosphere around the two changed. Their presence changed. The biggest change of the two was that a pair of sinister black horns emerged from the sides of their heads, curling around like a goat¡¯s.

    Ooooh¡­ how demonic.

    ¡°Ahahaha!¡±

    At the sudden change, the vampires were stunned, and even I was caught by surprise. Nia holds up her sword in front of her, and cut dozens of the runts in half with a single swing, [Absorbing] their life forces and souls.

    The [Power] flowed from Nia to Noa. Noa roared out with a dragon-like breath, reducing hundreds of runts to ash as he [Released] the power.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh¡­¡±

    How terrifying these children are.

    Even for something with the [Setting] of a Greater Spirit of the Demon Realm, this is too much.

    Noa¡¯s setting is an [Incubus]; he is able to [Release].

    Nia¡¯s setting is a [Succubus]; she has the capacity to [Absorb].

    Of course with their age, the 18+ setting is prohibited, but even so, their fighting power is very high¡­

    The two outside, were they also this deadly?

    ¡°Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!¡±

    (TL: Elongate this yourself, as¡°You¡± is impossible to do that to in writing: Omae-waaaaaaaaaaaa!)

    Millaine has finally broken, plunging towards me while shouting incomprehensible things.

    Things like ¡°You what?¡± or ¡°Get out, you¡± I don¡¯t get it.

    I dodge Millaine¡¯s attack with her sharp claws, Noa noticed and was about to come back, but I held out my hand to tell him to stop.

    ¡°Millaine. Will you keep the weak me company?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mess around with meeeeeeeeee!¡±

    This child, how touchy¡­¡­

    £ª

    At first, Millaine thought that this would just be some entertaining prey-hunting¡­

    When the girl had the boldness to provoke her while knowing her true nature, she used some sort of [Blackout] spell, one which even the Count, in his 500 years of life, hadn¡¯t seen. While these were surprising, she was still just a human. Even if she was referred to as a [Saint] there should have been a limit.

    The first surprise was the transformation of two of her servants.

    They should have just been human children, but after transforming, they destroyed hundreds of runts with magic power, things like that were impossible.

    Those [Demons]¡­ A high-level demon like that needed a higher cost to [Manifest].

    Even with natural talent, doing that would take perhaps hundreds of years¡­ no, it would take thousands of years of study.

    When did they appear¡­? When did they possess those human children? Where did the Countess go? Could it be that the other two [Inhuman] children were giving her trouble?

    Could she have used her position as [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom to do a demon summoning at a gigantic scale¡­? No, the Holy Kingdom wouldn¡¯t allow such a thing.

    She thought about whether there was an evil tool passed down in the duke¡¯s family which could control [Demons], the tool would have to be [Legendary Class] to manipulate these many, and even if it existed it should have been securely sealed away.

    {¡­ I should withdraw.}

    The Count and Millaine. The Countess would run from those other two later.

    But, the abilities of those two were unknown; they didn¡¯t know what would happen.

    That was when the Count thought to himself.

    ¡®To be accompanied by such a Demon, that Saint¡­ just who is Yurushia?¡¯

    A simple human girl would not be able to continuously dodge Millaine¡¯s attacks.

    200 years is a long life for a Greater Vampire. No matter how many dozens of average knights, she could split their shields with her bare hands, snap their swords, and bring forth enough force to instantly crush their armor.

    {¡­ Unless! Is she a [Hero]?}

    The Count discarded that stupid idea and shook his head.

    Once every several hundred years, the Hero would appear in the Holy Kingdom to drive out the evil forces of the country, surely the Hero wouldn¡¯t walk alongside Demons.

    The same was true of a [Saint]¡­ but what if she wasn¡¯t a [Saint]?

    On the contrary¡­

    ¡°¡­ It can¡¯t be.¡±

    Sweat flowed profusely from the Count¡¯s forehead.

    What if the girl wasn¡¯t [Human], but another high-ranking [Demon] that was being accompanied by more Demons¡­?

    But, what kind of [Existence] could possibly have so much power to control an Arch Demon?

    The Count watched Millaine attack the little girl, and noticed.

    Millaine¡¯s butlers and maids, why weren¡¯t they helping her? No, they were going to help, but each time they moved to strike, they held back, entranced by the beauty of Yurushia, and stopping in their tracks.

    The Count thought that it was [Charm].

    But, that was wrong, he immediately changed his thoughts.

    It¡¯s said that a demon [Charms] a human, but in fact, demon¡¯s don¡¯t have any power to [Charm].

    What had [Charmed] the vampires was not the performance; it was a kind of magic a long lived vampire would spend their nearly endless life creating.

    It was triggered by [Line of Sight], and used without casting a spell.

    Moreover, the effect was weak; it could not overturn antagonistic feelings.

    ¡°¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­ such a ridiculous power¡­¡±

    In the five hundred years of the Count¡¯s life, he had talked about high-ranking demons with human sages.

    Legend had it, that of all the demons in the past, there was only a single [Demon] that could [Charm] others.

    It had Beauty far surpassing that of a [Human].

    After living for thousands of years, and by clutching the souls of countless people, it understood the [Human Mind].

    Having a cold sort of beauty which turned people away, wrapped in a soft caring understanding of the [Human Mind], it [Charmed] all the beings around it, purely in its existence¡­

    This [Demon] had knowledge called [Knowledge of Another World] obtained over a long time, communicating with Wise Men on a whim, bringing chaos to the people of the world.

    That existence¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­[The Devil]¡­¡­¡±

    If that was the case, this thing was from an entirely different [League] than vampires. They would not be able to flee even if he and Millaine combined their power.

    At the time the Count thought this, he began to run from Millaine¡¯s battle.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    The [Girl Demon] suddenly moved her sword towards him, and as soon as the black sword swung down, the thoughts of the Count were enveloped in darkness.

    £ª

    ¡°You bastaaaaaaard!¡±

    At the sight of Nia killing the Count with a single sword strike, Millaine yelled out in rage.

    ¡­¡­What¡¯s this?

    ¡°Millaine-chan, are you angry?¡±

    ¡°OBVIOUSLY!¡±

    Oh my, what¡¯s this?

    Let¡¯s have the good Miss settle down a little.

    ¡°It really is narrow here¡­ since I¡¯m just a little stronger, won¡¯t all of you die?¡±

    At my sudden voice, Noa and Nia who had finished their annihilation looked back with frightened faces. I grabbed Millaine by her attacking arm and collected demonic magic power in my fist, my consciousness spinning the words in the [Holy Spirit Language].

    ¡°¡­ [Tsuranuke]¡­ tsu!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Tsu?¡±

    Using the energy, I grab Millaine¡¯s arm and fly up, flinging a fist against the bedrock roof of the cave.

    *Bubon*

    Pure demonic magic power used to speak the holy spirit language, the effects of the magic punched right through the rock ceiling, making a strangely comedic sound.

    Oh well, the only goofy thing was the sound, the caves have been partially destroyed, and while it was good that I used some energy to leap off the ground, Millaine has fallen into a terrible state since I grabbed her arm, screaming all the while.

    ¡­ Crud. I was too reckless with my movements, there¡¯s not much magic power left.

    ¡°*Cough*, *Cough*¡±

    Millaine, who came out with me into the sky grew out her own bat wings, flying in the sky while coughing from the dust.

    But, she survived, huh¡­ Excellent, excellent.

    Her dress is in tatters¡­ how erotic¡­ Looking around, her eyes widened as she saw me.

    I had my own wings too, my golden bat wings expanded for flight.

    By the way, my dress wasn¡¯t torn up. Obviously. I would never do such a thing as let the dress Father bought me get ruined.

    ¡°You¡­ what¡¯s with that appearance¡­?¡±

    Millaine quickly stopped her voice and looks at me vigilantly.

    She¡¯s finally cautious of me.

    I concentrate my magic power and laughed lightly as my eyes turned deep crimson and my fangs emerged.

    ¡°Well, I am a demon, after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Demon¡­?¡±

    After explaining, Millaine seemed to calm down, rather than be surprised again.

    Certainly the existence of a human child who could earnestly avoid Millaine¡¯s attacks as a vampire would destroy her self-confidence.

    ¡°Hey~, Millaine.¡±

    ¡°What is it¡­?¡±

    With a powerful [Demon] in front of her, Millaine took up a listening posture. Now I¡¯m unsatisfied.

    ¡°Please be my subordinate.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­ Haaaah?¡±

    Millaine¡¯s cautious face suddenly became messed up.

    I wouldn¡¯t have said such a thing if there was no chance.

    ¡°What kind of idiot¡­ do you think I am¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­? Just being friends would be all right.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Wh-what¡­¡±

    As I give my demand plainly, Millaine has a confused face, her mouth hanging open.

    A breath goes by.

    ¡°Else, die¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    After that, I give her an exciting deal. Since I¡¯m a demon.

    Millaine looks at my demonic appearance, then the large hole in the ground. After a moment of silence, heaving a large sigh, she speaks.

    ¡°¡­ Got it. I will¡­ be your friend.¡±

    Yes! There¡¯s a good place to land around here.

    Actually, I was dangerously close to running out of magic power. I might have lost if I seriously fought with Millaine¡­ It¡¯s my own stupid fault.

    ¡°You¡¯re not angry anymore?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not angry¡­ I thought a lowly human was making a fool out of me and that I had been betrayed by the Count and that lot so quickly¡­¡±

    Millaine sighs as if she¡¯s given up something.

    As I thought¡­

    When Nia destroyed the Count, her anger was less than from my fooling with her. I figured as much, somehow.

    ¡°For the time being, please take care of me, Millaine.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, good luck to you Yurushia-sama.¡±

    Thus, the vampire threat closing in on the Holy Kingdom was resolved, with nobody being the wiser.

    But I am sorry, Millaine¡­

    Your life, I¡¯ll only be using it as [Education] for my servants, though I won¡¯t tell.

 Volume 2 - CH 16

    Volume 2, Chapter 16: I Turned Seven Years Old¡­ And Then

    It¡¯s been quite difficult ever since that [Moonlit Tea Party].

    When I was about to run out of magic in the air, Fannie saw me floating around up there and went up to get me safely to the ground.

    It would have been seriously uncool asking Millaine to help me down¡­

    At the same time, it seems a localized earthquake shook the area. The locals who woke up in the middle of the night made a lot of noise and started praying to the goddess and some fights started, until some of Millaine¡¯s maids who survived the rock collapse began a banquet to appease the residents.

    You guys, you sure take this seriously¡­

    ¡­ Eh? M-maybe it wasn¡¯t my fault¡­

    The main problem was getting home.

    When we came here I thought it was fast because the horse-drawn carriage was drawn by a vampire horse. But because taking care of the commotion from the earthquake took until dawn, returning by that method became impossible.

    However, since Tina and Fannie could recover their magic from taking in souls, I was able to fly back at full speed by grabbing on to those four.

    Vampire souls aren¡¯t tasty.

    By the way, that day, in a number of towns and villages, there was apparently a sighting of an unidentified shiny gold object flying through the air.

    That was how we arrived back at the Verusenia estate before breakfast.

    However, as I secretly returned to my room, Vio was waiting for me. Although I had told her that I¡¯d be going out, she didn¡¯t think that I meant I would come home only in the morning so she was very angry with us all.

    ¡­ Even though I¡¯m a demon.

    ¡°Princess Yuru¡­¡±

    ¡°Yup¡­¡±

    My retinue (demons) stood at attention with a *Bishii* sound, they kneeled before me in perfect order.

    Their faces were unconventional, instead of being relaxed, they were showing a tense expression full of complicated feelings. Even Fannie and Nia were maintaining a sense of tension, which was showing in the calm atmosphere.

    I don¡¯t want kids like these.

    ¡°¡­ The heck, Yuru, what kind of [Ritual] did you carry out to make this happen¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s a secret¡­¡±

    It¡¯s a maiden¡¯s secret.

    Those children have been relatively quiet. Is it because they¡¯re mostly demon? I had thought that because they would inherit the memories of the souls, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem with them working.

    Far from having no mistakes, they were too [Perfect].

    Especially Noa and Tina, even Granny has admired the amount of work they¡¯ve done. They may soon be taken in as [Apprentices].

    Why can¡¯t I do that¡­

    And so, I turned seven years old.

    My birthday party was split into two chunks¡­ Why?

    The first was held two days before my birthday in the royal castle, and the very next morning we were forced to depart on a super tight schedule to make it to the party in the Touru territory which was held on the day itself.

    It can¡¯t be helped that Shelly and Betty were both rolled into the forced-march schedule since I invited them to both.

    Both Timothy-kun and Rick came to the party at the castle, and had raised the [Quality] of the tributes from last year. These Bon-bon-brats¡­ (TL: bon-bon is a Japanese term for rich young gentlemen.)

    I invited Millaine to the party at the Touru territory, since it was at night.

    She didn¡¯t come to the royal castle event¡­ or rather, she had hardly participated in any parties, since Millaine herself was ever only doing her own tea party in recent years. The participation of the [Silver Princess] has caused quite a fine commotion.

    As planned, after she arrived and greeted me, the number of greetings that I had to deal with decreased.

    Thank you Millaine. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

    With this, even if she wasn¡¯t already a [Friend], I might have wanted her anyway.

    £ª

    ¡°Yurushia, it has been decided that you will be giving the first-year representative¡¯s greeting to the magic academy.¡±

    ¡­ Haaah? What kind of stupid thing did you just say, Grandfather-sama?

    As soon as my age changed and I was qualified to enter the magic academy, The King said as such.

    Normally, there is no greeting from the first-year representative during the entrance ceremony of the magic academy. That is how it was supposed to be.

    I seem to remember hearing that a long time ago, the adults abolished it since it was far too difficult for a seven-year-old noble to give such a speech. It had caused many of them to have trauma¡­ What kind of greeting was that?

    The voice of authority from Grandfather had revived the practice.

    Grandfather, you stupid old man¡­ It¡¯s nothing but a giant annoyance.

    ¡°During the great earthquake in Count Oberu¡¯s territory, didn¡¯t Yurushia play an active role in resolving it? The school principal was on board as well, and even suggested that you use holy magic from the dais.¡±

    ¡°¡­Uu.¡±

    After all that commotion from the earthquake, I, who felt more or less responsible, helped to treat the injured.

    There seem to have been children that were caught up in the second demon summoning case that came out to where I was.

    I denied it at first.

    But then, Millaine took over the Count¡¯s post after his [Accidental Death] in the earthquake, there was no body, so there were some problems with the accidental death claim. I was made to testify that I was with her at the time.

    Elea-sama got really angry at me after that.

    There were all sorts of rumors of how the headmaster wanted [Me] to give the speech no matter what.

    When my name was used during Millaine¡¯s succession, even Grandfather-sama was bothered.

    ¡­Well, it can¡¯t be helped. I hate it.

    Today is the Magic Academy entrance ceremony.

    Rather than having a campus in the Touru territory, all of the precious children of the aristocracy go to the academy in the royal capital.

    I¡¯m no exception. Mother and Granny and our escort knights all went to our second house in the royal capital before the new year began.

    What about my Sisters¡­? Last year, they began studying with my Aunt-sama in our neighboring country.

    ¡°The First-year representative, Yurushia-la-Verusenia will now give her greetings.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The tension is pretty low.

    Walking up to the stage with my heart in a pitter-patter, I reached the podium where Mother and Father is watching me while Shelly and Betty, who were in the same uniform, gave me a small wave from their seats.

    Those two, their uniforms are so cute¡­

    We all wear the same uniform, so why is it that I¡¯m the only one where my classmates keep their distance¡­

    I¡¯m omitting the contents of my greeting. People I barely knew were watching it with pleased eyes.

    Such looks from just acquaintances¡­

    Most of the people who saw me for the first time had looks of surprise on their face, and didn¡¯t seem to hear my speech. Listen properly. No, wait, it¡¯s alright even if you don¡¯t listen.

    I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to get along in this school.

    But you know¡­ I¡¯ve decided to live in this country as both a [Human] and a [Demon].

    In the light as the [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom.

    From the darkness, receiving some support from the old men in the aristocracy.

    From the darkness in the darkness¡­ from the darkest places, I will protect what is important to me as the [Demon Princess].

    These students at my school, these developing youths, these [Human Children] are very, very important.

    I¡¯ll save you¡­ even though I¡¯m a Demon.

    All of you who are dear to me¡­

    ¡°[Blessings to Everyone]¡­!¡±

    At my [Words], the entrance hall was filled with a huge light, and in the hall, countless [Angels of Light] danced, the [Intermediate Spirits of Light] gathered, and an enormous [Archangel of Light] manifested, blessing everyone present¡­¡­ screams of confusion erupted from the audience.

    After the sudden, violent outburst, naturally, the entrance ceremony was stopped there. The first-year greeting was again abolished from the Magic Academy starting that next year.

    I¡¯ve done it again¡­

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Cheers to the end of a great volume, be prepared for what we¡¯ve all been waiting for: School!

    Also, a translation change: the previous mentions of the Demon Lord (maou) will be changed to Daemon Lord. The race he¡¯s the king of is the fourth way of saying demon/monster in japanese, so we¡¯re reaching far into my D&D knowledge for another suitable evil outsider name. Any mentions of the native (born in this world) ¡°demons¡± will be changed to daemon.

    I always wonder whether people read my hidden text¡­

    Sixteen¡­

    Piroton¡¯s Notes:

    A good ending. And more to come. Pity I don¡¯t translate fast enough because of work reasons. Also, dear Yuru seems to have found herself again. All good.

 Volume 3 - CH 0

    The country was falling apart. The earth as well. The sky as well. Even people¡¯s hearts¡­

    This barren land was unfit for human habitation; because of that, the rulers of each country declared it [Forbidden Territory], sending a large amount of [Human Personnel] under the guise of [Pioneering].

    Criminals and people who were arrested under the [Pretext] of minor crimes were sent there, but the ones who were sent most were those with mixed blood between different races.

    People with deformities. People with the appearance of a beast or who had scaly skin. People with horns coming from their forehead or with reptilian eyes.

    Even though they inherited features from their [Non-human] ancestry, at least one of their parents was human. Most of them had a human¡¯s feelings.

    Regardless, the humans who were disgusted by them gathered them up and drove them into the remote area.

    In order to live in this barren land, they killed, stole from, and violated their [Comrades]. As their mixed bloods mixed ever more, they became a new race.

    Black skin, black hair, silver eyes¡­ they came to be known as the [Daemons]

    They, who had inherited the blood of the non-human races, had stronger magical power than humans. Living in the barren wastelands as they were, they had forgotten how to empathize with others, doing nothing but quarrel with each other. The blood which fell from their battles polluted the land with resentment to the point that the rising negativity even reached the sky, blocking out the sun, devastating the earth further.

    Looking out at that country from an aging castle, a man gave out a slight sigh.

    {This country has reached its limit¡­¡­}

    The strong oppressed the weak, and the weak took it as natural and accepted being oppressed.

    The strong people also took it for granted, and believed that the country would become stronger if the weak people were gone.

    The way thing were going, within a few hundred years, the daemon race would weaken and fall into ruin.

    The man diverted his eyes from the stormy town and walked through the corridors of the royal castle.

    {¡­ A strong power is needed.}

    It would be impossible to change the mindsets of the Daemon race. It was impossible to teach the daemons, who only knew of robbing, to think of not robbing others as normal.

    There was no choice but brute force.

    There would have to be a mighty [Power] to force both the strong and weak people to obey.

    At the underground altar the man went to, there was a huge summoning formation in place.

    The size alone was several times the size used in the demon summoning case, and hundreds of daemons had been dedicating their magic power to it for a decade.

    {But, it¡¯s still not enough¡­}

    If it were only normal summoning, several years of magic would have been enough.

    Of the [Greater Demons] that had appeared a long time ago, it was said that there were three of the [Master Class]¡­

    If one were to be summoned, no amount of preparations would give one peace of mind.

    If even a tiny mistake was made, it would spell the day of extinction for the Daemons.

    ¡°Is the progress going smoothly?¡±

    When the man spoke to the daemons working to pour magical power into the summoning formation, the large warlord looking daemon who was overseeing the operation kneeled in front of the man.

    ¡°Currently, we¡¯re at about 80% of the maximum prescribed amount¡­ If we were to call even an Archdemon class with the current magic amount accumulated, we could call four or five of them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    He understood what the warlord wanted to say.

    Rather than relying on the presence of some legendary class that was unknown, it would be easier to handle an Archdemon who could do huge damage to a human nation just by being unleashed.

    He was able to do this delicate work because of his high intelligence, but as a warrior he would be able to match blades with the [Hero] who would come if they released an Archdemon.

    However, it would be useless.

    Destroying and stealing from humans would only postpone the problem of them only knowing how to deprive others.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The man was tired.

    He had thrown away the notion that the daemons would be able to stay calm if they took the territory of the humans, for they would surely fight each other to become rich.

    The man had given up hope for the daemons alone.

    ¡°Keep working. No change in the plan.¡±

    When the man sharply spoke those words, he poured out his magic power, said to be the most powerful amongst the Daemons, into the summoning formation.

    This desperate behavior caused the warlords, who had watched over him since childhood, to look down upon him with lonesome eyes, as they renewed their determination to follow him.

    ¡°Even if it takes my life¡­ Daemon Lord¡±

    The daemons have no god. The strongest existence among the daemons, the [Daemon Lord] is their god, and there was no stronger person.

    Still, the warlord dared to pray.

    He prayed from the bottom of his heart to the [Demon] that would grant his wish.

    Before he knew it, his heart gradually calmed down¡­

    £ª

    At that time, a certain [Demon] was pouring a stupidly huge amount of magical power into the general-purpose summoning circle in the academy, and somehow broke it, managing to summon a massive amount of [Seaweed] at the same time. Since then, she has been racking her brains daily over how to make use of the seaweed, even as she dried it with her attendants.

 Volume 3 - CH 1

    Volume 3, Chapter 1: I became a first-year, part 1

    A half-waning moon floated in the bowl of the starry night sky.

    That night in the garden, surrounded by roses, a small wax candle was lit up upon a table. The person sitting next to it wore an indescribable expression.

    The rest of the people there didn¡¯t seem to mind such a trivial thing.

    The sounds of someone lazily pouring tea, the sounds of the teacups filling up, and the sounds of breathing were all that could be heard¡­ it was a quiet and enjoyable tea party for everyone.

    Well¡­ everyone other than me.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, would you please stop clinking the cups.¡±

    The silver-haired beauty, Millaine, suddenly cried out and stood up from her seat.

    ¡°But it¡¯s dark.¡±

    My eyesight in darkness isn¡¯t much different than a normal human being.

    Although my eyes don¡¯t get tired and my vision doesn¡¯t worsen and I can see magic and read faraway characters, something like night vision isn¡¯t part of my Demonic powers.

    I¡¯ve been worried about dry eyes, recently.

    *Clack*. I put my cup down, but since it was dark, I accidentally knocked a plate flying, the maid demon, Tina, caught it immediately, returning it to its position under the cup as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°How unrefined¡­ Are you even an Aristocrat?! Are you even a Demon!?¡±

    ¡°Ehhhh¡­ even if such a dreamy girl tells me that¡­ ¡±

    It seems that Millaine is holding on to an idealized belief about how nobles should behave.

    What a serious child.

    I¡¯m a bit worried that the girl was drunk on the idea that Demons would say things like ¡®In the world of Darkness¡¯¡­ Seriously.

    All of a sudden, I felt like saying [My right eye is throbbing] (read: Chuunibyou reference)

    Since that night, Millaine and I have been holding regular [Moonlit Tea Parties].

    There were no human participants. That is, this was a tea party for the [Non-Humans] that lived in the Holy Kingdom.

    By the way, even with their reduced numbers, Millaine had her maids in attendance. I also brought my attendants along. Those children devoted themselves earnestly as my attendants, melting away into the darkness, so it¡¯s hard to tell if they¡¯re actually here.

    ¡°You seem grumpy. You should eat more minerals. Would you like some wakame seaweed?¡±

    ¡°No thank you.¡±

    Yeah, I really don¡¯t want it either. I just really needed to get rid of the stuff since there is so much of it.

    Even though I¡¯m distributing it to the [Society for Turning Brightness to Darkness]¡¯s members for free, the positive responses were few. It smelled strange to them.

    ¡°That seaweed? Yurushia-sama sent one wagon¡¯s worth of the dried stuff, but I suffered when my stomach swelled after the meal, not to mention it tasting horrible¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Did you actually eat it? Despite being a vampire?

    My four attendants behind me also look surprised¡­ Hey, Fannie? Your face became a Harlequin mask, it¡¯s not good to laugh at that, you know¡­?

    What a low amount of common sense, for a demon.

    Really, Millaine-chan is quite dangerous. That child is too straightforward and adorable.

    ¡°Besides, no matter how good the tea is¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ that is true.¡±

    With my words, Millaine sat down angrily.

    She understood, after all. Both demons and vampires don¡¯t feel that human food is tasty.

    Vampires like Millaine haven¡¯t even noticed why.

    ¡°By the way, Millaine ¡­ I¡¯d like you to try this.¡±

    ¡°Wha-, what¡­ ¡±

    Because of her terrible experience with the dried seaweed, Millaine drew away a little. Don¡¯t give me those eyes¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t think that you would eat them.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t a need to be so on guard¡­ Noa.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    As I called his name, the butler demon Noa bowed gently, and placed a newly-prepared cup of tea in front of Millaine.

    ¡°¡­This, is this just normal tea?¡±

    Millaine is correct, but there¡¯s more to it than that.

    Noa took out something that looked like white haze, and, squeezing it like a fruit, several drops of something dripped into the tea.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, please try it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Millaine narrowed her eyebrows in suspicion.

    Well, go on, go on. Although it was obviously suspicious, as she understood how [Strong] Noa was, she knew it wasn¡¯t possible to refuse his suggestion. She accepted with a [Smile] and a ¡°-Sama.¡±

    Millaine timidly, put the cup to her mouth¡­¡­

    ¡° ¡­¡­ !?!?¡±

    The [Flavor] made her eyes open wide, and I could see my reflection in those beautiful purple eyes.

    ¡°How do you like it, Millaine? The taste of a high quality [Soul]¡­¡­¡±

    Finally, with the help of my four followers, I am at last able to improve my [Eating habits].

    To get rid of the likes and dislikes in the souls, we used the wisdom of ancient cooks and chose to mix them up.

    Thanks to his [Unleashing] ability, Noa has made great contributions to producing this exquisite taste.

    ¡°Soul¡­? This? Really¡­¡±

    She might have remembered the taste. Millaine was surprised at the [Soul-tasting tea], quickly gulping it down, setting aside her noble behavior.

    ¡°¡­ Do you have any more?¡±

    Millaine seems to have liked it quite a lot.

    But¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Millaine. At the moment, I can¡¯t easily give away a soul with [Karma] as deep as this [Traitorous 40-year-old Priest].¡±

    In his youth, this pitiful man had no money to hire a healer to save his younger sister, who died from illness. As a result of his deep affection for her, he resented the church, and tried to drag innocent believers into his multiple-decade revenge plot on the church¡­

    ¡°When Fannie was taking a night stroll, she came across this present and took a slice of it.¡±

    ¡°Ehehehe¡±

    When I patted her on the head and praised her, Fannie looked innocently happy.

    Besides the Harlequin mask¡­

    ¡°Is that so ¡­¡±

    As Millaine gave a dejected expression, I jumped into the main topic for the night.

    ¡°Um, as I was saying, you should come take a stroll with me tonight, Millaine.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    A purpose of tonight¡¯s tea party was to try to teach the vampires the taste of [Souls] and also to [Feed the Animals].

    The other purpose was to have Millaine and her [Underlings] manage some of the [Underground Community] in the Holy Kingdom.

    I smiled sweetly at her with a Demonic smile, and grasped her hands as I unfurled my wings.

    ¡°After this, we¡¯ll teach you how to differentiate between the deliciousness of [Souls].¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    Although we moved to the Royal capital for the sake of going to school, there¡¯s been practically no change to our lives.

    I get to have Shelly¡¯s fluffy sweetness during reading lessons and I was forced to have etiquette lessons with Betty. It seems my opportunities to play with them have increased.

    And now we come to the problem, which is the talk going around the Magic Academy.

    I expected there to be [Issues] from my performance during the opening ceremony, but underestimated them.

    I¡¯d enter the school, at first being drawn in and having my perspectives broadened, I¡¯d become friends with my classmates, even if there were only a few, we would help each other in our studies, exchange side dishes from our boxed lunches, stray off into a forbidden flower garden where only upperclassmen could enter, spy on our elders, be helped by an attractive school council president after being persistently bullied¡­

    I used to have those sorts of delusions daily.

    Let me show you the reality.

    *Zawa*¡­

    Even though there are a lot of aristocrats at the school in the Royal Capital, they¡¯re still children. Rather, due to the self-indulgent upbringing of many of these noble children, the unthinkably luxurious cafeteria in the school campus was very noisy. Suddenly, a commotion happened, and hundreds of people fell so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

    But¡­ I just showed up.

    *Katsun*¡­

    ¡° ¡­ Tch¡±

    In the middle of that silence, a commoner girl a little in front of me dropped her spoon, unable to take the tension, and it rolled in front of my feet.

    The nearby girl and the students around her instantly turned pale.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In that frozen atmosphere, Nia, who wore a weak smile, and Tina, who was perfectly expressionless, went out quietly ahead of me and gave the girl a quiet look.

    The girl¡¯s face passed through blue and went ghastly pale, trembling while visibly.

    Upon seeing it, Nia leaked out a dangerous presence, and in the silence where one could hear a pin drop, Tina murmured ¡°¡­Termite¡­¡± under her breath.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, not good. This no-good servant.

    Why did they become like this? Yep, it¡¯s my fault.

    Although all students are supposed to be treated as equal, regardless of whether they are nobles or commoners, a girl who was cherished by the Royal Family, with the wealth and power of a Ducal house, who was the [Princess], the [Face] of diplomatic relations for the Holy Kingdom, who displayed the power of a [Saint], and was treated by church officials like a tumor; if I was a normal girl, I¡¯d never approach them either.

    Now, what attitude should I be taking here¡­?

    Option one. Riding on the flow of the mood, I ignore the girl and move on.

    Actually, this would be the least harmful thing to do. The [Evil Ojou-sama] route is a straight ahead.

    Option two. I pick up the spoon and hand it to her.

    Although it sounds good, to put it bluntly it¡¯s just self-satisfaction. If I get careless both she and [I] will be judged by the surrounding people.

    Option three. Leave no witnesses. Although this would be the easiest to do, it¡¯s a poor choice overall.

    The result: The first option¡­ Well, whatever. Properly thinking about it, things shouldn¡¯t change too much.

    It¡¯s necessary for me to behave [Like a Human] for the sake of my peaceful life. After all, an inconspicuous life is for the best, really.

    That being the case, when I tried to pass right by in my [Prickly (TL: Tsun)] Duke Daughter mode, I felt the release of a little Demonic magic from Nia, who was eagerly playing the role of a rough-mannered guard.

    ¡°Tei!¡±

    I instinctively did a hand-chop to the back of Nia¡¯s head, and she hits the floor.

    Again, the dining hall became painfully quiet.

    I¡¯ve done it again.

    A large shock wave moved through the air from the swing, if I acknowledged it, it¡¯d be my loss.

    Still, Nia is sturdy. Despite me having loaded enough magical power to shatter the thin bedrock, Nia lightened the blow considerably with [Absorption]. She looked up at me and sulked while rubbing the back of her neck.

    ¡°Sorry for the commotion.¡±

    Saying that before anyone else could play the straight man and correct me, I hurried to the back of the dining hall.

    My daily school life went on like that.

    Let¡¯s pray to not enter a suspicious [Route].

 Volume 3 - CH 2

    Volume 3, Chapter 2: I Became a First-Year Student, Part 2

    Yurushia was in the Magic Academy¡­ to be more specific, in the luxury suites for elite students at the Magic Academy¡¯s Royal Capital campus, the salons.

    To say nothing of normal students, even teachers can¡¯t enter the salons without permission. Only those directly connected to the Royal Family can enter, along with other royals and those from upper-class noble families. Although Betty, who¡¯s from a Marquis¡¯ family, is allowed to use it, Shelly, who is from the house of Earl Oraleine, only just barely made the cut. It¡¯s that kind of up-tight place.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, say ¡®Ah-n.¡¯¡±

    ¡°A-Ah-n¡­¡±

    Because I was unable to use the normal cafeteria due to certain circumstances, I had my food delivered to the salon and have been having my meals there.

    A side note, it¡¯s actually completely okay for my four attendants (Demons) and I if we don¡¯t eat, but Shelly and Betty were worried about me and came over to eat with me.

    Right now, I¡¯m currently having a meal with Shelly.

    If you want to know why¡­ I don¡¯t know. You should tell me.

    ¡°Yu-Yuru is amazing. Everyone knows how gentle of a child you are, Yuru.¡±

    Gentle child¡­? What did you see of me to make you think that?

    While Betty was saying that kind of thing and I was [Aah~]ing, the goth looking young lady with black hair and a tidy look grabbed the husk of a lobster-like shellfish and pointed it at my mouth¡­ What should I do?

    But, I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t having fun. Having lunch with the three of us in identical uniforms was a scenario I had long yearned for in the dream world.

    The uniforms aren¡¯t too different, either. It has a big ribbon tie and an indigo blue two-piece with a skirt, my first time wearing one, and short enough that my calves could be seen.

    While Shelly was her usual self, Betty was fidgety and couldn¡¯t calm down. If someone asked me why, I¡¯d say that it would be because there was someone watching the three of us with an amused look.

    ¡°You all seem to be good friends, yeah?¡±

    Timothy-kun, 17 years old. The first imperial grandchild of the Holy Kingdom Taterudo. Or as he is commonly referred to as:  [Prince-sama] .

    As ever, there was a giant fluffy aura around him.

    Even though he¡¯s such a disappointing prince he¡¯s a pretty boy with rosy cheeks like Elea-sama¡¯s¡­ no, wait, he¡¯s older, so because his appearance could be said to be that of a pretty young man (TL: Bishounen), it¡¯s a feast for the eyes.

    ¡°Ti- Timothy-sama, here, would you like to have tea too?¡±

    I know how you feel, but calm down, Betty.

    Members of the Royal Family would normally get engaged at the age of 15 and then marry at around 20 years old. And yet, despite Timothy-kun being 17 years old, he doesn¡¯t have an engagement yet, and there haven¡¯t been any rumors going about, either.

    Well thanks to that, all the older girls were in a tizzy. He¡¯s filled with fluffiness, though.

    While it¡¯s all well and good to desire the Prince-sama, there were all sorts of fairy tales spoken of by the commoner girls that the Prince would fall in love with at first sight and they would eventually become Queen, though, given the minimum standing that a family must have to use this salon, where Betty who is 10 this year is just barely within the range of being a contender, it can¡¯t be helped that she would be considering it.

    Even though he¡¯s only filled with fluffiness.

    ¡°Mm-hmm. Am I welcome?¡±

    Without a single change to his comfortable tone, Timothy-kun came over to our table.

    Other than that rule for using the salon, in the past, there was a noble who brought scores of maids along with them in the past to attend a tea party. Since then, the salon has been barred to attendants, and it has been arranged that students will brew their own tea. For me, who is naturally clumsy, it has been decided that Shelly will help me brew the tea instead.

    ¡°Thank you, it¡¯s delicious.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s thanks to Yuru-sama that I have this opportunity.¡±

    Hey, hey, Shelly¡­ Even as a joke, there¡¯s a prince of the country here, stop making such neglectful remarks happily.

    By the way, Betty can¡¯t brew her own tea for the same reason as me.

    ¡°Ahaha, that¡¯s why we love you, Yurushia.¡±

    I don¡¯t mind Timothy-kun, either. I worried about the future of this country for a moment, perhaps he¡¯s grown up?

    ¡°Umm¡­ Timothy-onii-sama, pardon me, come and join in¡­¡±

    I ran my mouth off without thinking and changed the topic.

    After all, that ¡°Kyahaha¡± and ¡°Ufufu¡± atmosphere is something that he doesn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Yurushia is like a younger sister to me, but it¡¯s quite strange. When I went to the dining room, it seemed that everyone was less tense?¡±

    ¡° ¡°¡­tch¡± ¡±

    At Timothy-kun¡¯s remark, Shelly and Betty put on delicate smiles and stared at me.

    ¡­ I seem to be feared.

    Given such a thing, no matter which child he keeps company, Timothy¡¯s better be searching for a queen candidate quickly¡­ while I thought of such rude things with a smile, Timothy-kun replied to me.

    ¡°Anyways. The people in the castle have been telling stories about Yurushia. Isn¡¯t that strange?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Timothy-nii-sama, it is strange.¡±

    I said that while meeting his fluffy smile with a smile of my own.

    I don¡¯t know why, but it seems he was told to come here.

    Shelly¡¯s eyebrow jumped up with a *pikun* instantly. From outside the salon, Tina¡¯s anger leaked out slightly, but I didn¡¯t worry as it wasn¡¯t the first time they¡¯d had such eccentric behaviors.

    Those people in the castle, even if I said that I would introduce those girls to Timothy-kun because they wanted to, although he would become scared of me, the healing effect from him would still be enough.

    With Timothy-kun having such feelings, the fluffy smile ended as we looked at one another.

    But the real problem is his younger brother, fourth grade brat Rick.

    £ª

    My four samurai aren¡¯t always around me.

    The children who didn¡¯t pass the magic power test, when I was in classes they were to accompany me at all times instead of attending their ordinary schools. What a lack of human rights.

    Somehow, for some reason, since they awakened their talent for magic, my parents, who were so proud that I, their daughter, actually worried about them, sent all four of them to magic school with me. Or rather, they forced them to go to magic school.

    Although Tina and Fannie were in the same grade, my followers were unable to use Holy Magic, so I was alone for those practical lessons.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Today I was sitting in the center of the classroom on a bench that could clearly seat four more. Perhaps it¡¯s easier to imagine if I say that the classroom is shaped like an amphitheater, with stairs leading to the back.

    I¡¯m not lonely.

    As I sat down in my seat, my classmates all turned to glance at me one by one after the teacher finished describing the syllabus, all trying to sneak a peep at my face in some way or another.

    Well, the Holy Magic class isn¡¯t that important to me in the first place.

    My Holy Magic is almost unique, I just imagined things from reading books in the dream world, and used outrageous magic power with that image to cast it.

    If it was a normal mage in this world who tried to cast my special spells, like my [Layered Barriers] or [Combat Strengthening], it would be absolutely necessary for them to be able to cast multiple spells in one go and maintain the images at the same time.

    The Holy Magic teacher began to cry. Just how much hardship has this old man gone through¡­?

    Even if I told him¡­¡­

    You can¡¯t use it if you don¡¯t have a demon¡¯s magical power, please forgive me.

    Although we seem to have wandered away from the story rather grandly, there are times when I am alone, but on this day someone came by chance.

    ¡°Yurushia.¡±

    *Zawa*¡­¡­ From the classroom, the usual stir occurred again.

    ¡°¡­¡­Roderick-nii-sama¡±

    As I called out the semi-official name for him, the girls of the class were all going ¡°Kyaa-kyaa¡±. ¡­¡­Why is that?

    Rick-chan, the 11-year-old fourth grader, seems to be very popular among the girls who like those [Ore-sama]-type (TL: self-important) guys.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Pff¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What, are you laughing at me?¡±

    Did you hear that? Did you hear it? But, because I am [Gentle], I didn¡¯t join in his pace, breaking everyone¡¯s dream states.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, is something the matter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I mixed in a little of my [Tsun] mode and inclined my neck. Rick flinched a little, then uttered a small sigh.

    ¡°You¡­ Are you safe?¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡­ Is there something wrong with your head? That¡¯s something impolite you¡¯re saying there, you brat.

    ¡°For nii-sama to worry about me this much, how foolish.¡±

    When I turned away from him with my real [Tsun] mode on, Rick forcibly grabbed my arm and turned be back around without flinching away.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I did not say such a thing.¡±

    He said, as he stared into my eyes scarily.

    ¡°¡­Also, to grip my arm so suddenly¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because¡­¡­ Yurushia is such an idiot!¡±

    What the heck.

    He¡¯s not making any sense. As he¡¯s gotten older, he¡¯s gotten pushier. Although we are basically [Prince] and [Princess], do you not know what situation you¡¯re in right now?

    Actually right now, all over the class, I can feel everyone¡¯s gazes¡­ And now I¡¯m another step away from getting along with the rest of the class.

    ¡°¡­Come with me.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±

    Did Rick also feel the weight of their stares? I was forcibly pulled out of the class by his arm.

    Really, this child is way too aggressive. Although I agreed with him on wanting to leave that place immediately, he should apologize for using so much strength. Since Rick has gotten a lot bigger over these few years, the height difference is really big when he stands up, it¡¯s a little bit scary.

    From the classroom I can hear various voices going ¡°Kyaa-kyaa¡± and ¡°Ooh¡±, it feels like I¡¯ll lose if I pay them any attention¡­ I¡¯ve really gotten used to this recently.

    ¡°Rick¡­¡­ my hand hurts¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ye¡­ Yeah.¡±

    We exited out to the corridor, and when I changed my way of speaking once we were out of the public eye, at least Rick let go of my hand. The part that he gripped is a little hot¡­ Because the [Human] part of me has a weak constitution owing to being pampered, I have no pain tolerance, and tears accidentally came into my eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­As I thought, was it too hard?¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    Rick muttered with a serious expression at my teary face.

    What did you say, you child?

    ¡°You¡­ Ever since you enrolled in school, you¡¯ve been alone a lot¡­¡±

    ¡°Aah¡±

    By any chance, are you talking about me being feared after the recent matter that happened in the dining room?

    ¡°¡­ Rick, were you worried about me because of that?¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡±

    ¡­ I was scolded.

    Well, I was being scolded for worrying someone with what I¡¯ve done, I¡¯m seriously weak to people who are actually angry¡­ But when threatened with malice, my mind goes the other way.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡±

    I turned away and muttered softly, it¡¯s unpleasant being glared at.

    To tell the truth, I¡¯m not actually all that worried, but when thinking about a child that¡¯s not even eight years old, it¡¯s hard not to get worried when they¡¯re being avoided by everyone around them.

    While I was thinking such things with my head turned away, my shoulder was gently gripped this time. Hey¡­ is your default action to grip me?

    ¡°I will come to see you again. ¡­got it?¡± (TL: He uses Ore-sama here, which is a very pompous term to address himself.)

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­ Come again? What? ¡­Eh? What do you mean by that?

    Does the statement that you made before that you ¡°worry for me like a younger sister¡± still hold?

    I was stunned as Rick suddenly lightly wiped my teary eyes with his fingers before returning me to my class.

    Rick is seriously very overbearing. Well, being [Overbearing] and [Selfish] , is something that I¡¯m well accustomed to thanks to [Him]¡­¡­

    Wait, did someone instruct both Rick and Timothy-kun to do this?

    But Rick¡­ You narrowly escaped death just now.

    That whole time, whenever Rick touched me, I would feel an intense bloodlust leak out from Tina who was on stand-by, it scared even me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuuu¡±

    I felt depressed when I thought of how I¡¯d need to go back to retrieve my textbook from the practical class. It¡¯s a giant pain.

    Still, Rick has been really weird recently. Although he¡¯s been a weird fellow from the start, despite my cold attitude towards him, he seems to be strangely overprotective and concerned.

    It¡¯s almost like he¡¯s a boy in love messing with his crush¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­Eh? What¡­?

    LINE HERE

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Note: What¡¯s this~?

 Volume 3 - CH 3

    olume 3, Chapter 3: I Turned Eight Years Old, Part 1

    I finally turned eight years old.

    Has anything changed? Well I might just be imagining it, but the difference in feeling between being a [Little Girl] and a [Young Lady] is very important.

    Though I¡¯m growing normally, I wonder how my body¡¯s doing.

    Well¡­ although I had the customary birthday party, I spent it in the royal capital. It wasn¡¯t split into multiple events and was neatly resolved in one place¡­ very normally.

    I didn¡¯t want to have it in the castle, but thinking about it, given the [Rumors] that have been going around about the Duke¡¯s daughter and all that, it would have been impossible to accommodate all the guests just in the Ducal Villa that we had in the capital.

    Anyways, the Archbishop of the main religion in this country made an unusual display of coming in with his entourage of priests in tow.

    Are you trying to win me over or do you want to maintain your distance, what do you want me to do?

    Since I was thinking those types of thoughts, I decided that it was best to end the party in the castle early.

    After all, with that guy, I don¡¯t know how to present myself as I talk to him¡­

    A few days later, I used my authority as the [Princess] and left the royal capital.

    Before you say anything, I wasn¡¯t playing hooky.

    Father is often invited to many other countries on his diplomatic missions, but this time, the schedules clashed. Moreover, it was a wedding and a funeral.

    So, even though Father was worried about me, I felt like I needed to play my role as the [Princess] and volunteered to go.

    I-I¡¯m not running off, okay?

    Naturally, since I¡¯m the [Princess] who is the diplomatic face of the Holy Kingdom, the school waived my absence. They¡¯re treating it like I¡¯m away for a holiday break.

    What about the school arc? Haven¡¯t you already had enough of that?

    Anyways, since His Majesty the King bestowed the title of [Princess] purely so that he could spoil his grandchild as a Grandfather, he and Father both opposed it.

    Still, I made my cute grand-daughter¡¯s sweetness appeal to Grandfather-sama. Also, according to Grandmother and Elea-sama¡¯s advice, if I sat on Father¡¯s lap and earnestly [Persuaded] him, he would do what I said.

    Now that Father has finally yielded, I¡¯m travelling to the neighboring country Shiguresu where Aunt-sama lives to attend the wedding of my younger cousin.

    ¡°Princess-sama! The mercenary company is approaching!¡±

    On the day we departed, Sara-chan, who has become the vice-captain of my escort knight corps, reported to me.

    Before I knew it, Sara-chan had become the vice-captain¡­ by winning a fist-fight.

    Don¡¯t pick that role with a process like that¡­

    Why is it that the only female knight corps in the whole Kingdom is so hot-blooded¡­?

    Mercenaries, the so-called [Jack-of-all-trades] of roughness.

    I must regretfully say, there is no such profession as [Adventurer] in this world.

    When a monster appears in a village, the feudal lord will usually send out their soldiers, and a convenient thing like a dungeon doesn¡¯t exist¡­ what a dream-crusher.

    Instead of adventurers, we have [Mercenary Companies], who are people who undertake nobles¡¯ requests or guard travelling merchants.

    There were a few mercenary companies in the capital, and as one of the conditions for going to Shiguresu, Father insisted that I should be accompanied by one of the mercenary companies that he trusts.

    In the end, the guards accompanying me to the wedding are as follows: Female escort knights: 15 members. Kingdom soldiers: 20 members. Cooks and Caretakers: 8 members. Mercenaries: 18 members. And with the inclusion of my 4 attendants, the total rounds off to 65 people.

    ¡­ that¡¯s a lot, you know.

    No, even as a representative of the country, isn¡¯t that too many?

    Among the caretakers, Vio is accompanying us at Mother¡¯s request.

    An impeccable choice. No matter how capable, Noa and Tina are still children.

    As for Bree-chan and Sara-chan, for the sake of [Showing off] to the Shiguresu knights, they¡¯ve been practicing their flashiest drills¡­¡­

    Yup. I can see why Father and Mother would be worried.

    Well, whatever. For now, let¡¯s just greet the representatives from the mercenary company who will be with us.

    To tell the truth, I¡¯m looking forward to what kind of dandy uncle would I meet.

    It¡¯s a Bear¡­ (TL: There¡¯s a pun here, his name basically means bear-man and he looks like a bear)

    ¡°Princess-san, we¡¯ve arrived. Please leave it to us to get you there safely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care, Bear-san.¡±

    I gave away my thoughts when I replied too quickly, but the mercenary troop leader, contrary to what I thought would happen, seemed rather pleased that I had addressed him as plainly as [Bear-san].

    It seems that god hasn¡¯t abandoned me.

    I¡¯m a Demon who prayed to god, and at last salvation has come.

    ¡°Lucy!¡± (Note: A kindly reminder from last volume: Yurushia -> Rushia -> Lucia -> Lucy)

    ¡°Noel?¡±

    That¡¯s right. The one who bravely defended me, my lovely and cute Noel-kun.

    We meet again after two years. Noel-kun, who has turned ten years old, seems to have gotten taller, though it doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s gotten manlier.

    ¡°Finally¡­ I was able to meet you again.¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­ yeah¡±

    Noel ran up to me like a puppy, and cupped my hands in his with a lovely smile on his face.

    Wha-what? This skinship is intense¡­

    ¡°Hey, Noel!¡±

    *Gochin*, a fist landed squarely painfully on Noel¡¯s head, looking rather painful.

    ¡°~~~¡±

    ¡°Suddenly grabbing the Princess-san¡¯s hands, what¡¯s wrong with you!?¡±

    Bear-san has gotten angry.

    In this case, Bear-san was correct, but the instant that he brought down his fist again, I had already unwittingly thrust out my hand in response.

    ¡°Tei!¡±

    ¡°DuooooOOOOOOOOOH!?¡±

    ¡°Hee!¡±

    After my forehead poke, Bear-san and Tina both clasped their foreheads and squatted down.

    Since Noel was holding my hands, Tina approached with a strange look on her face, so I gave her a forehead poke too.

    By the way, the difference in magical power put into the forehead poke between Tina and Bear-san was about 500 times in magnitude.

    How dangerous, how dangerous, it would have been a huge disaster if I¡¯d made a mistake between my right and left hands.

    ¡°Bear-san, Noel is a friend of mine, can you forgive him?¡±

    Even though I asked so modestly, Bear-san and Tina both didn¡¯t move from their crouching positions, and Bree-chan and Sara-chan were grasping each other¡¯s hands in fear, it seems nobody listened to me

    ¡°Wow, as expected of Saint-sama! I haven¡¯t received a good strike like that in ten years!¡±

    Bear-san, who resurrected unexpectedly early, let out a hearty laugh.

    Viva la Saint-sama. Thanks to that common-sense defying phrase: ¡®As expected of Saint-sama,¡¯ it was ignored.

    ¡°But, Noel, even as a friend of the [Princess] that¡¯s no good. I apologize; this fellow is still a newbie.¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m sorry, Lucy¡­sama.¡±

    He got scolded¡­ that look on Noel is cute.

    It was an unexpected surprise, but as this mercenary troop captain, Ba-Bar¡­na¡­bas¡­¡­¡­ as Bear-san said, Noel was a newbie that joined one year ago and they had high expectations of him.

    Well, that¡¯s natural given Noel¡¯s absurd talent.

    ¡°By the way, Noel, why did you join a mercenary company¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well¡­ I wanted¡­ to become strong.¡±

    Noel said while stealing glances at me.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter¡­? As a boy, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s shameful for you to want [Strength], do you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ no.¡±

    As Noel was fidgeting shyly like a small animal, Bear-san gave a broad grin and violently pat him on the back.

    ¡°Men ought to be like that. Make sure to support Princess-san.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got it. Do your best, Noel.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Noel answered my encouragement with a smile, his cheeks flushing bright red.

    Yep, Noel is cute. ¡­¡­¡­ I wonder if I can get him to work for me instead.

    £ª

    Thus, our journey began.

    Travelling to the neighboring country Shiguresu usually took about two weeks. But so as to not have me endure sleeping outside, the journey took three weeks as we went to the various inns on the way there.

    Although I thought that it would be a smooth and peaceful journey, around the tenth day of our travels, our travelling party finally encountered a [Monster].

    *Guboh*

    ¡°It¡¯s a [Hippo], be careful!¡±

    Said Bear-san, as he took the mercenary troops out ahead of us while the escort knights formed a protective line around me.

    Even though Noel didn¡¯t head out to the front lines, Bear-san had him use his support magic on the swords of the middle line of guards.

    Vio had been teaching Noel holy magic and household magic during the journey.

    Incidentally, I couldn¡¯t teach him. My explanations were overly vague, and he couldn¡¯t understand it at all¡­ *sniffle*

    The yellow hippopotamus was reasonably strong, but somehow or another they managed to repel it.

    Still¡­ it really was a hippo. I really didn¡¯t think one would attack a traveler.

    ¡°I wonder if it was driven out by the elves of the forest¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    According to Bear-san, there¡¯s a village of Elves in the nearby forest, and it seems they¡¯ve been cutting down large parts of the forest for agricultural land.

    We technically rule their land. Are you okay with that, people of the forest? Cut it out, you Salt Daifukus. (TL: See early chapters for reference)

    They¡¯re so different from the elves of my imagination¡­

    Well, after another three weeks we safely arrived in Shiguresu.

    It¡¯s my first time in a foreign country. I wonder what kind of country Shiguresu is?

    By the end, I wasn¡¯t able to talk much with Noel¡­

 Volume 3 - CH 4

    The agricultural country, Shiguresu. Population: two million people, largely spread out in villages. In short, it¡¯s a country made mostly of fields. As expected, the city centers were beautiful towns.

    Although we got to Shiguresu early, by the time we got to town it was already too late to have a little walk on my own.

    ¡°Princess-sama, this baked potato is delicious¡±

    ¡°No, no, this sorghum is so sweet¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s freshly-harvested raw white asparagus here¡­¡±

    ¡­You guys are fully enjoying this as a vacation, huh. In the middle of the village road we travelled, there were open-air stalls strewn all over the place, and my escort knights jumped at the chance to go shopping.

    Everyone in the mercenary troop was left dumbfounded at the entirely carefree female knights¡¯ actions.

    No, no, please forgive them.

    Well, ever since I enrolled at the Royal Capital¡¯s Magic Academy, they haven¡¯t had much time outside. Since we¡¯re having this long trip after so long, they naturally felt like carousing.

    Although my aim was to be a laid-back boss, I wonder if I pampered them way too much.

    ¡°Vio. Make sure that they all submit a detailed report on what they¡¯re eating right now.¡±

    I instructed Vio, who was the only one riding in the same carriage as me outside of my four attendants. Vio nodded with a serious face, and I laughed a little.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama you¡¯re very gentle, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°But I gave them more work to do¡­?¡±

    Mu~¡­ it¡¯s very sweet, huh. While there¡¯s nothing I can think of to export to Shiguresu, if there¡¯s something that¡¯s cheap and delicious, we should definitely import it.

    Before being a Princess or a Saint, I¡¯m the daughter of Duke Verusenia.

    £ª

    ¡°Presenting herself to Her Royal Younger Brother, Oslo, for his Wedding, on behalf of Taterudo, Yurushia-la-Verusenia sends her congratulations.¡±

    The wedding ceremony between His Royal Highness Oslo and the lady of Marquis Etia¡¯s household was held three days after our arrival at the capital of Shiguresu.

    Although it wasn¡¯t especially showy, it was held in the Royal Castle, the largest in Shiguresu. The various royal families were announced in front of the rest of the attending parties. After that, there were three more rounds of greetings in total for those present for the wedding reception.

    Three rounds of greetings; with all three rounds between the same people¡­ it¡¯s quite severe.

    After all, as the representative of the Holy Kingdom of Taterudo, it was necessary for me to express our congratulations to a lot of different people.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, great work, it went splendidly.¡±

    As I finished the greetings and was about to go back to the venue, the Queen-sama came up to thank me and tightly hugged me.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Q-¡­Queen-sama.¡±

    ¡°Ufufu, it¡¯s fine to just call me ¡®Aunt-sama¡¯.¡±

    A great beauty with luxurious blonde hair, this is my aunt, Camille-sama, who married into the royal family of Shiguresu.

    And now, I¡¯m buried in her chest.

    ¡°Um¡­ I will call you that outside of formal occasions, then.¡±

    ¡°Really, Yuru-chan, you¡¯re so responsible¡­ as expected of Folt¡¯s daughter, you even look like him.¡±

    When she said that I resembled Father, I instinctively gave a complacent smile.

    Speaking of Father¡­ I wanted to hear about something from Aunt-sama.

    ¡°Aunt-sama¡­¡­¡­ where are my elder sisters?¡±

    When I asked, a somewhat un-queenly smile spread across Aunt Camille-sama¡¯s face as she contemplated it.

    My elder sisters both went to boarding schools in this place, Shiguresu.

    I was really looking forward to meeting those wonderful elder sisters again, I was wondering what they¡¯d try this time¡­

    Although Aunt-sama¡¯s face looked like she didn¡¯t want to think about it, she told the story to me, since I¡¯m the [Little Sister].

    ¡°Although Folt requested that they study abroad, those two barely attend their classes, recently they¡¯ve been with the Hero-sama all the time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Although my elder sisters seem to be doing well, some strange words came out.

    ¡°¡­Hero-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Did Yuru not know¡­? It¡¯s been all the talk of the country lately.¡±

    Hero. A man of courage. Standing at the forefront of humanity, a person that gives others hope.

    I wasn¡¯t aware, but recently there have been kidnappings in this country by [Daemons], and a small party broke through and cleared their camp, rescuing all the children. ¡­¡­ how typical.

    Huh¡­ so there¡¯s a person like that.

    When I helped the children back then, and I got called [Saint] without asking, I wonder if it¡¯s that same sort of situation.

    While I was thinking simple thoughts, Aunt Camille-sama seemed to be worrying about my carefree self.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, be careful if you¡¯re staying in the hall. Since you¡¯re a beautiful little girl, there might be some bad people that might come after you.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡±

    Just like everyone else who¡¯s related to me, she¡¯s excessively overvalued my appearance.

    ¡°Would you allow my sons to escort you? And, if Yuru-chan agrees, can the three of us can take you home?¡±

    ¡°No, well, err¡­¡±

    That¡¯s right. Aunt-sama¡¯s children were all boys.

    Normally, a male child in a royal family would be good. ¡­¡­ For the first boy, that is that, and this is this. Once more boys keep coming, words like ¡°A Princess would be nice¡± start to spring out of thin air.

    Now that I¡¯m eight years old, talk of marriage proposals have started coming from all over.

    My standing, although I have royal blood, is that of a daughter of a duke, the social threshold for marrying was lower, and yet, with my recognition as the Holy Kingdom¡¯s [Princess], everyone sees me as a [Princess-sama], so at the moment, it feels like I¡¯m a popular item at a shop that¡¯s about to run out of stock.

    The reason that I enrolled at the magic academy was because I wanted to experience love¡­ But, because of [That Guy], I can¡¯t find a target, which is a problem.

    I definitely don¡¯t want to be looked at with those sorts of eyes¡­

    But, if it turns out that ¡®m misunderstanding, I¡¯d be terribly embarrassed.

    In any case here, without Father-sama or Mother-sama around, it¡¯s impossible for this eight-year-old daughter to be [Sold] away.

    ¡°Aunt-sama, my escort, umm¡­ he is here. Noel~!¡±

    To be honest, my guard in this party is only supposed to be Sara-chan and Bree-chan. As the famous mercenary company Ba-, Bruna¡­¡­¡­ Bear-san¡¯s only available [friend] whose age was close to that of mine, Noel-kun came along too.

    Noel-kun who was wearing gorgeous clothes that were rented from a town in Shiguresu, he¡¯s so shy, it¡¯s seriously cute.

    Seeing Noel like that, it was so cute that I was satisfied just looking at him. Aunt-sama let out a giggle, and whispered gently in my ear.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, when you leave this country, be careful of the hero of the Kostoru religion¡¯s Hero.¡±

    £ª

    The worship of the Harvest Goddess Kostoru was the most popular religion, and was recognised as the official religions of both Taterudo and Shiguresu.

    What does she mean to [Be Careful] of the Kostoru religion?

    And Aunt Camille-sama said to be careful of the [Hero].

    In the stories, isn¡¯t the Hero is usually a [Good person]¡­?

    ¡°¡­Lu-Lucy¡­?¡±

    Because I was brooding for a while, my escort, Noel, seemed anxious.

    ¡°Ah, sorry about that.¡±

    While I was lost in my thoughts, I moved my hand onto Noel¡¯s arm, and his face stiffened.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing¡­¡­¡±

    How strange, Noel¡­he¡¯s been acting strangely ever since we reunited. Because of that, we weren¡¯t able to speak much during the journey, I wonder if we can have a relaxed conversation today.

    As we walked, everyone¡¯s gazes turned to focus on us. Since the people of this country aren¡¯t used to [Me], it¡¯s good that I didn¡¯t have to talk too much, but still, it was terrible to be stared at like that.

    ¡°Noel, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh, for what?¡±

    ¡°Since I¡¯m so conspicuous, aren¡¯t you uncomfortable while you¡¯re with me?¡±

    When I said that, Noel shook his head with a little bit of astonishment.

    ¡°Lu-, Lucy stands out, so it can¡¯t be helped. Because you¡¯re a Princess-sama and the Holy Saint.¡±

    Both of those titles were just given by other people without my permission¡­

    The church people, although they tried to win me over, never gave their [Certification of Sainthood] to me. What do they want, exactly?

    As I pondered this with a tenuous smile, Noel blushed and spoke softly.

    ¡°Besides¡­ Lucy is¡­ beautiful¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Uwaaah¡­¡­ I¡¯m feeling really embarrassed.

    Wherever I went, I was feared, so it was always a choice between being surrounded or leaving, this is the first time I¡¯ve ever heard such words from a boy¡­

    My face¡­¡­ I wonder if my face is red too.

    Since I¡¯m Noel-kun¡¯s [Esteemed Holy Saint], his evaluation of me is abnormally high. I wish that I could see how I look in Noel¡¯s eyes¡­

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, are you okay?¡±

    To Noel and I, who were standing there in embarrassed silence, someone I didn¡¯t know called out.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    The voice¡¯s owner was a well-dressed uncle wearing the holy symbol of the harvest goddess.

    ¡­ the Kostoru religion, huh.

    ¡°I am the high priest Calisto, of the Kostoru church in Shiguresu¡¯s capital. I wanted to speak to you, to give Yurushia-sama a message¡­¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Calisto-sama, I am Yurushia-la-Verusenia.¡±

    I instantly switched to my [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mode.

    But, high priest, huh¡­ I completely don¡¯t know what level of position that is. The thin 50 year old uncle that doesn¡¯t seem to be doing so well.

    ¡°Today I¡¯d like to introduce someone to Yurushia-sama¡­¡­ would that be fine by you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, it¡¯s not an issue.¡±

    Somehow or another the flow of the conversation went in that direction. As Aunt Camille-sama¡¯s advice crossed my mind, Calisto-san sent his gaze behind him, and several men and women came over.

    ¡°As you may know, this is the [Hero], Alfonso.¡±

    It arrived¡­¡­ the Hero-sama.

 Volume 3 - CH 5

    Volume 3, Chapter 5: I Turned Eight Years Old, Part 3

    The Hero had dark hair and eyes, he was a man of medium build that looked like he was in his early twenties.

    That¡¯s the [Hero-sama], huh¡­¡­

    Although he¡¯s a bit charming right now, it¡¯s too bad¡­ You should come back again in ten years, youngster.

    You either fancy adult men, or fancy school boys. There is no middle ground.

    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°What a pleasure meeting you, oh beautiful princess. I am named Alfio, and while I am very boastfully called a hero by other people, Princess-sama, I would prefer for you to call me Al.¡±

    This is the Hero? Alfio knelt in front of me, and was about to kiss my hand¡­ right before that happened, Noel cut in and stopped him.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A threatening atmosphere almost engulfed us immediately, as Alfio stood up instantly, and looked down upon Noel from above with a bright smile on his face.

    ¡°Princess-sama seems to have an excellent knight.¡±

    Although he had a bright smile on his face, after hearing Aunt-sama¡¯s words, it clearly seemed somewhat off.

    For now, even as I gave Noel a thumbs-up in my heart, I should return his greeting as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°I- I am, Yu-Yurushia-la-Verusenia¡­¡±

    C-Crap, my cheeks cramped up.

    Apparently, after Noel¡¯s act of courage, I couldn¡¯t bring forth the mental strength for that situation.

    Hero Alfio looked puzzled at the state I was in, but I was able to convince him to ignore it by smiling right away.

    ¡°Hahaha, Yurushia-sama. Although I¡¯m called a hero, but you need not be so nervous. I merely wanted to introduce you to my party.¡±

    Wrong. That¡¯s completely different.

    ¡°First off, the person taking the role of healer, Antique.¡±

    *Buho*

    At that point, I hit the limits of my self-control, and couldn¡¯t help but leak a chuckle.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-what is it¡­¡±

    As I was there trembling and holding my stomach, she ¡­ the Elf Antique-san, frowned and muttered.

    ¡°Deepest apologies¡­ I¡¯m Yurushia-la-Verusenia¡­¡±

    I never would I have thought that I would experience the surprise of an Elf at this occasion.

    Although I greeted her with my cheeks still cramping, Antei-Kowa-san seemed to be making light of me as a child, and introduced herself arrogantly.

    ¡°Apology accepted¡­ I am Antique. If you would call Alfio ¡®Al,¡¯ then you should call me ¡®Anko.¡¯¡±  (TL: There¡¯s a joke here: red bean paste (anko) is commonly found as filling for small glutinous rice cake (daifuku) and shiodaifuku is this world¡¯s word for elf)

    *Buha*

    Once again, I couldn¡¯t hold my breath in. This Shiodaifuku (Elf)¡­ how terrible to name her that.

    While I was still mysteriously suffering from the cramp, Anko-san¡¯s face became stiff, and she forced a smile at me with a condescending attitude.

    ¡°Should I heal you? Although I may look like this, in the north, I¡¯m called the [Saint of the Elves], you know. Isn¡¯t it terrible to be called a [Saint] when you¡¯re so young? It¡¯s tough to be alone as a saint, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    For this elf girl to not only have long ears, just like I imagined, but to be a beautiful woman with slender curves, this is no good¡­¡­ I started laughing the moment I saw her face.

    ¡°Yurushia, stop that at once!¡±

    From behind Anko-san came a voice scolding me, as I kept laughing. It can¡¯t be helped that they¡¯d get angry.

    But, this turn of events is really good.

    ¡°Elder sister-sama, I wanted to meet you again.¡±

    As soon as my view shifted away from Anko-san, my laughter finally abated. My Elder Sister-sama seemed to be surprised to see me, and had a smile on her face.

    She finally arrived, my half-sister, Athena-sama, and hidden behind her, staring pointedly at me, was Ophelia-sama.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡¯s sisters have also become my companions.¡±

    Under Hero Alfio¡¯s guidance, my Elder Sister-samas seem to be part of Hero-sama¡¯s entourage as their resident [Mages].

    Aaah, I finally managed to meet them again. My delightful Elder-sister-samas.

    Especially Sister Athena-sama, who is clearly [Ripening] quite well, I plan to greatly enjoy the harvest.

    ¡°Hah, an idiot child like you, after hearing Alf-sama¡¯s words, still think of being allowed to display such disregard towards Anko-sama!?¡±

    Because I was smiling too much, it seems that Sister Athena-sama has been drawn in, somehow.

    ¡­Please don¡¯t speak again, Anko. I¡¯ll start laughing again.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, towards the Hero Alfio-sama¡¯s companions, you dare¡­¡±

    At Sister Ophelia-sama, who began to spout things like some petty toady, I gave her a silent look and applied some light [Intimidation], she immediately quieted down.

    ¡°As Father¡¯s daughter, you¡¯re quite shameless, Elder Sister-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡±

    Sister Athena-sama came forward, sheltering Ophelia-oneesama behind her.

    The grand sister showdown¡­¡­ didn¡¯t happen. Even though Athena-oneesama glared at me, I only smiled normally at her.

    But¡­ I seem to have gained a little understanding of Athena-oneesama.

    Even as I smiled at them, in my eyes they couldn¡¯t even be seen as [Human] ¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Elder Sister-samas. I¡¯m just so happy to be able to play with you again.¡±

    It¡¯s not good to be picking fruit before it ripens, I broke off the conversation gently with a full-faced smile, and Athena-oneesama gritted her teeth together with a *giri*.

    ¡°I¡¯ll remember this¡­¡­¡±

    Taking in my meek, [Sarcastic] obeisance, Elder-sister-sama left behind a sharp and tasty parting shot, before walking away once again.

    Of course I won¡¯t let you forget. Although I only did it just a little, I wonder if I messed with her too much¡­

    Hero-sama and Anko-san both followed behind my Elder-sister-samas and left, while Callisto-san blanked out in surprise at what happened, and, after giving me a panicked bow, turned away to follow them, saying.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, the year after the next I will¡­¡­ no, next year, the bishops of the Kostoru religion will be finalising our decision. On that occasion, I will come again to greet you without fail¡­¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    The Hero of Shiguresu, Alfio Pet. 22 years old, has an unspeakable secret.

    Born the second son to a large orchard owner in the north of Shiguresu, although he was not a noble, his family was plenty affluent.

    His first change came when he was two years old.

    During the magic inspection, although he had no affinity for spiritual magic, he was compatible with all of the normal magical elements like wind, water, earth and fire. Alfio¡¯s surprised parents gave him a specialised education, and he grew up being praised by everyone.

    The second major change in his life came when he was four years old.

    His parents and siblings all had dark red hair and tea-coloured eyes, while he was the only one who had black hair and eyes. Although nobody in his family seemed to make much of it, Alfio still felt alien to his family, and, gradually, his thoughts changed until he finally thought of himself as [A Chosen One].

    Then¡­ at seven years of age, when he fell asleep from a high fever, he suddenly recalled memories of a [Previous Life].

    His name in his previous life, his face, and even his family he couldn¡¯t remember.

    In Alfio¡¯s previous life Magic didn¡¯t exist, it was a world that overflowed with scientific knowledge. By recalling that otherworldly [Knowledge], he remembered that his previous self died of alcohol poisoning while still in university, and he became convinced that he had been reincarnated into this world.

    After that, Alfio began to train in magic and swordplay as if he was a whole other person.

    With the knowledge that he had gained in his previous life, he created new magics and trained himself in magic with an unnatural fervor. By processing the fruits that his family produced with the technology of his previous life, he greatly expanded his family¡¯s business.

    After defeating a monster that attacked a village near his family¡¯s orchards and repelling the mass of elephants that had attacked the Elven lands after they cleared the forest for development together with a beautiful Elf lady, Alfio had been hailed as the [Hero] of Shiguresu before he knew it.

    Alfio tenderly smiled at the elf girl and the daughter of a knight, who was both a warrior and his childhood friend as he thought how he could show her his favor.

    {¡­ Finally, it¡¯s just the two of us.}

    Although cases of polygamy were few in the neighbouring Holy Kingdom, in Shiguresu it wasn¡¯t unusual.

    In his previous life he longed for a beautiful Elf.

    And a childhood friend that was the daughter of a knight.

    It wasn¡¯t enough. If he had been reborn to such a world, he seriously felt that at the very least he wanted to have six brides.

    Why six people specifically? It was to have one to enjoy on each day, and on the last day enjoy all of them together.

    One day, the high priest that sponsored Alfio invited him to attend His Highness the Second Prince¡¯s wedding.

    Although his strange personality made him keep his distance from the royal family no matter how famous he became, the moment he heard from the noble girls that he had made his [Bride (Harem)] candidates a few months ago, that their beautiful [Younger Sister] would be attending, he immediately decided to attend.

    The day of the wedding. Although he was a little disappointed upon hearing that that [Younger Sister] was only eight years old, he reconsidered and thought that it would be [Acceptable], and attended the wedding reception anyway. He was stunned by the beauty of the girl that he met.

    Faintly shimmering hair that seemed like it was made of gold thread.

    Smooth white skin that resembled top-quality porcelain.

    Features that were so beautiful that they were faultless, and even in his previous life, where he was used to seeing 2D girls and CGs, she was so beautiful that he felt that it couldn¡¯t possibly have been natural, a girl that he couldn¡¯t help but perceive as absolutely perfect.

    {I must obtain this beautiful girl}

    So Alfio swore to himself, as he accepted his mission from the high priest to attack the kidnappers and save the children.

    Something strange, she had struggled to contain her laughter when she first met the existence of the Salt Daifuku (Elf), it gave him a strange sense of intimacy with the girl.

 Volume 3 - CH 6

    Volume 3, Chapter 6: The Magnificent Daily Life of Demons, Part 1

    It¡¯s been several months since my [Princess] business in Shiguresu ended and we returned to Tariterudo.

    Daytime life hasn¡¯t really changed much. Going to school in a carriage, I walk with my four attendants while being stared at by the rest of the students who would surround  us.

    ¡­¡­Wait what? Thinking about those [Stories] that I¡¯d heard about my Elder Sister-samas, don¡¯t I also give off the feeling of a [Villainous Young Lady] right now?

    I sometimes meet with Rick during the evening. Since whenever he comes to the classroom, everything fall apart, I¡¯ve been avoiding him.

    With an attitude like that, it¡¯s almost a copy of [His] character¡­¡­¡­

    The point is, that attitude is clearly a no-go. Put bluntly, the reason why I¡¯m having a headache is because these days, Timothy-kun keeps coming over to see me to ¡°Fuss over his cousin as a gentle Prince-sama¡± to make up for Rick, but since he comes over so frequently, [Dubious Rumours] began to arise. It¡¯s scaring me.

    Well, while I¡¯ve been making idle complaints about having this kind of school life, I haven¡¯t been too busy.

    Participating in other nobles¡¯ tea parties, studying magic, answering and writing letters to Noel, shopping with Shelly, Betty, and my own escort knights in a group, although we trouble the shops. I¡¯ve been really busy as the [Duke¡¯s Daughter Yurushia], but I there were times where I was really worried both as a human and demon as the [Demon Princess].

    My attendants (Demons), have you all been diligently working?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­ Here¡¯s the report.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. Would you like a candy?¡±

    At the sight of an eight year old little lady presenting [Black Candy], the vampire butler had a strained smile upon his face¡­ but he still gladly received it, and disappeared into the darkness of the town.

    Left behind was a small girl with pure white hair, dressed in a maid¡¯s uniform.

    Late at night with all the devout residents having already gone to bed¡­ in an incongruously dark alley, Fannie was seeing off a vampire with a bright smile as she took from her pocket a piece of [Black Candy] that she threw into her mouth appetizingly.

    Of course, anything that demons or vampires which found human food unpalatable, found delicious couldn¡¯t be a good thing. It would be better if you didn¡¯t think about the [Raw Materials].

    Under her master, Yurushia¡¯s, orders, Fannie was investigating the Kostoru church.

    Due to Fannie¡¯s childlike disposition, Yurushia had Millaine cooperate with her, and asked the vampires to investigate the rumours in the populace.

    Although she¡¯s called childish, at her level, it didn¡¯t really hinder her carrying out her task.

    Fannie would receive the intelligence reports from the vampires, and from there would extract the essential points of it. Besides investigating the church in the capital, she would also go to Shiguresu and investigate the high priest there, Callisto.

    Fannie¡¯s [Power] as a Demon was the lowest among the four Arch Demons.

    But it¡¯s not the [Case] that her overall ability is lower, but rather that her powers aren¡¯t really suited for direct combat.

    Fannie¡¯s [Power] can be used to perform  [Spatial Teleportation] by using human souls as markers.

    Other demons could also use teleportation, but only Fannie could use long-ranged teleportation without cost, an ability that was most suited for espionage.

    Yurushia, was even more unusual as a demon, since she has no ability, but an enormous amount of magical power¡­

    ¡°Is something wrong¡­?¡±

    In the church of the Royal Capital, nothing was out of the ordinary. Although a little bit of embezzlement and dishonesty were found, the kinds of intel that the master was looking for didn¡¯t exist. Fannie didn¡¯t know if Millaine had received any other instructions to deal with the matter from her master.

    However, the one thing that worried her master was high priest Callisto of Shiguresu¡¯s church. Although on the surface there weren¡¯t any problems, the aforementioned [Hero¡¯s Party] was being dispatched on unusual tasks.

    The contents of the requests were all proper, and the Heroes also diligently performed their contents.

    However, for someone like Fannie, who [Sensed] things through people¡¯s [Nightmares], she thought that what she saw was very unnatural.

    ¡°Why, are so few people being helped?¡±

    The Heroes received the request to find a few children and rescued them.

    But, on the day the request was received, she would always find a large number of other people caught somewhere else.

    ¡°N~~¡­¡±

    As much as she thought about it, she couldn¡¯t understand. Therefore, Fannie decided to go to the scene herself to satisfy her curiosity.

    In that place, there was one child and three adults. Fannie chose the most appropriate out of several locations she knew of.

    If she were forced to say why she chose this place, it would be that it looked [The Most Delicious].

    While she peeked into the small hut that looked like a restroom or an old storeroom on a farm, she heard

    ¡°Shut up, brat!¡±

    Someone yelled as a large man kicked the small child. It seems the man wasn¡¯t kicking the child with full force, since the little girl who was smaller than Fannie was doubled over in pain, rolled up in fear and crying.

    ¡°Fu~hnn¡­¡±

    Fannie let out an emotionless humph. As a demon, she didn¡¯t have the heart to feel pity for humans, the feelings that flowed from that little girl and the adults weren¡¯t what Fannie preferred, so she wasn¡¯t particularly interested.

    ¡°¡­Who¡¯s there?¡±

    The big man, who noticed Fannie¡¯s faint voice, instantly went on alert, drawing his thick-bladed cutlass and turning towards the door.

    As an ex-mercenary with battle experience in forests and remote regions, he was well-prepared.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hyuu¡­¡±

    As he walked out, he met the gaze of [Something]. He sucked in a breath to scream, but the flame of his life was instantly extinguished by the tens of thousands of [Nightmares].

    ¡°Good evening©`¡±

    When the victims saw a young girl dressed in maid clothing coming back in instead of the kidnapper that had gone out, the men and women looked at the girl in both fear and confusion.

    Strangely, the girl looked around the hut then approached the crying little girl, patting her head gently.

    Fannie didn¡¯t say anything, instead she kept stroking the hair of the little girl, who turned her tear covered face upwards with a look of fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­Woo¡¯re yuu?¡± (TL: who¡¯re you, slurred for little kid crying)

    Fannie smiled brightly at the little girl who lisped out the words.

    ¡°Would you like a candy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Wanna eat.¡±

    Fannie took out a [Black Candy] from her pocket and presented it to the little girl, but she didn¡¯t move. Fannie could see her own reflection in those cloudy eyes.

    ¡°Are you blind?¡±

    ¡°Yeahh¡­¡±

    ¡°Well then, open your mouth.¡±

    When the little blind girl obediently opened her mouth, Fannie put the candy into her mouth and tore apart the rope that bound her body easily with the tip of her finger.

    ¡°¡­Thank you, Onee-chan¡­¡­ but does this candy tastes strange?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it delicious?¡±

    ¡°Umm, well¡­¡­ it¡¯s delicious, but strange.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I see.¡±

    Fannie laughed delightedly at the little girl¡¯s honest impressions.

    Just don¡¯t think about the raw ingredients of that candy.

    At the carefree scene between little girls, the man and woman who had been kidnapped let down their guard, but suddenly, a commotion broke out.

    ¡°Oi, Missy, before that man comes back, cut the ropes binding us.¡±

    ¡°Leave that brat alone, cut the ropes binding me, hurry!¡±

    Fannie turned around with an annoyed look towards those men and women.

    ¡°Are you not this child¡¯s parents¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t know that brat at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, so missy, hurry up and cut these ropes¡±

    ¡°Fuh~n¡­¡±

    At that answer, Fannie instantly lost her interest and began stroking the little girl¡¯s hair again.

    ¡°Oii?¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As the little girl was getting scared from the adults¡¯ voices, Fannie¡¯s smile began to twist.

    ¡°¡­¡­Annoying¡±

    Fannie stood up and walked towards the men and women, finally answering their calls for help, the man couldn¡¯t conceal his irritation even though he looked glad.

    ¡°Now, hurr-¡­¡­ byu¡±

    As he started to say something again, Fannie struck the man¡¯s head, instantly crushing it.

    The blood and flesh splattered onto the face of the woman next to him, dying her red.

    ¡°Hiie¡±

    Just before she could release a scream, Fannie tore her head off at the neck, after a second of soundless screaming, the light faded from the woman¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°¡­Onee-chan, what¡¯s happened? What happened to the other people?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­ they fell asleep?¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ what a strange smell.¡±

    ¡°That is the smell of [Death]¡±

    As Fannie had a self-satisfied face that said [Hey, I Said Something Cool] while the smell of blood hung in the air, the blind little girl inclined her neck, and muttered, ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Fannie didn¡¯t especially mean to help this girl. Just like finding a feral cat in the neighbourhood, she merely wanted to pat that hair since it looked like it was really soft.

    Had it not been a human child, but a kitten, Fannie would have done the same thing.

    So, now that the uselessly annoying human beings were gone, Fannie once again began to stroke the hair of the little girl.

    ¡°Put your hands up!¡±

    As the voice came from the entrance to the hut, so too did multiple fireball magics, but Fannie put on her Clown Mask and stopped the attacks.

    ¡°Release that child, Daemon!¡±

    The black haired man shouted and pointed his sword at Fannie, along with an Elf that came after, and a girl who looked like a swordswoman, stared at her with both anger and caution.

    {That¡¯s definitely the hero¡­ right? But what in the world is a Daemon?}

    Few people could tell at first glance that Fannie, with the mask and form of a human child, was actually an Arch Demon.

    The hero savagely slashed at Fannie that was inclining her neck in puzzlement from the misunderstanding.

    ¡°Die, Daemon!¡±

    Swinging his sword so quickly that the little girl near him couldn¡¯t even see, Fannie dodged it simply, before it continued and destroyed the wall of the hut, leaving a hole to the outside.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    To suddenly be shouted at and then violently attacked, Fannie couldn¡¯t wrap her head around why.

    As the little girl began to cry again, the swordswoman hugged her close, soothing her repeatedly, saying ¡®It¡¯s alright, you¡¯re safe now¡¯. For Fannie, however, it felt like her beloved [Kitten] had been stolen from her.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Human scum.¡±

    Although she wanted to exterminate them all due to her feelings, according to her master, Yurushia¡¯s, instructions, she was told to avoid getting into a serious fight.

    Besides, Yurushia was concerned about the [Hero¡¯s] combat ability.

    Although Fannie didn¡¯t think that her opponent would be a serious problem, since this was the word of her creator and mother Yurushia, she thought that Yurushia must surely have some significant reason.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Lie-t]¡± (TL: this is Yurushia¡¯s ¡°Let there be light, but with forced pronunciation.¡±)

    The Elf girl, used Holy magic without speaking the incantation properly, casting defensive divine protection magic upon her companions.

    Fannie was preoccupied with comparing this ungraceful use of magic to her master¡¯s own, while the hero, who had been magically-enhanced, swung his sword with a speed that exceeded that of human beings. The moment Fannie dodged it, the swordswoman who left the little girl behind showed up on her flank.

    ¡°Got you now!¡±

    At the sudden lunge of the saber, Fannie pinched the blade with the tips of her fingers, and with a *pakin* snapped the blade.

    {Heeh¡­ are they cooperating?}

    While Fannie leisurely entertained these thoughts, from behind,

    ¡°¡±Fireball!¡±¡±

    Two overlapping voices were heard and two fireballs came flying.

    It was troublesome, and she thought about blowing away those magic power users with all her strength,

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Fannie unexpectedly stopped and received the fireballs squarely.

    ¡°I did it!¡±

    ¡°Well done, Athena, Ophelia.¡±

    ¡°Hold, don¡¯t let your guard down.¡±

    The two girls rejoiced at being praised while the Elf girl admonished them.

    ¡°It broke my sword easily¡­¡­ Is this guy at the level of a Daemon King¡¯s aide?¡±

    The swordswoman girl borrowed a spare sword from the elf, and readied herself, cold sweat running down her back as Fannie was engulfed within the fireball.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Everyone held their breath as it became clear that from all that flame and smoke, only Fannie¡¯s maid clothing had been burned.

    But Fannie, not so much.

    First, was the redheaded girls that had released the fireballs, the two of them ¡­¡­¡­

    Master Yurushia has talked about those humans, saying: ¡°If you touch my prey, you¡¯ll be punished.¡± Fannie knew that she might be scolded if they were damaged.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going home.¡±

    Punishment was scary.

    Since she didn¡¯t originally plan to fight, after giving the little girl a reluctant look, she rapidly left that place.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Did she escape¡­?¡±

    The heroes, after that strong [Daemon] retreated, finally let out the breath they didn¡¯t know they¡¯d been holding and sat down.

    ¡°¡­¡­She was strong. ¡­¡­even though she looked like a child.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because she¡¯s a Daemon. There are tribes of them that¡¯re small-sized.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the child.¡±

    Rushing over to the child that the swordswoman had left alone, the little girl that was constantly crying and calling out for [Onee-chan]. Once the heroes¡¯ party discovered the corpse of the woman in the hut, it seemed that she was an awfully kind child, mourning for the woman¡¯s death.

    As the sun rose, the hero made a vow.

    ¡°That Daemon, the next time we meet, I will definitely exact revenge for this child¡¯s [Onee-chan].¡±

    Later, when the blind girl was returned to her parents¡¯ home, a little light returned to her eyes. To her parents, who wondered about it, she said: ¡°I received a mysterious candy from the gentle onee-chan.¡± Although, that is a story for another time.

 Volume 3 - CH 7

    Volume 3, Chapter 7: The Magnificent Daily Life of Demons, Part 2

    Yurushia¡¯s attendants were students too, and so they also had to go to class, and so couldn¡¯t always be at her side.

    This was especially for the case of the twins, who were in a different grade level. This often separated them from their master, outside of the regular meeting and reporting appointments.

    Two girls were seated at an outdoor table of the Magical Academy¡¯s cafeteria.

    One was a transfer fourth year student, a brunette with long hair and silver eyes¡­ Nia.

    The other was a new first year student with blonde curly hair and green eyes¡­ Tina.

    They were servants of the Duchess of Verusenia who had been causing such a [Commotion] this year.  Although they tended to be overlooked, since they were at the side of such an unapproachably beautiful Lady, they, along with Fannie, were widely recognized as beautiful as well.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Nia. What can we do¡­¡±

    Tina let out a complaint in a voice like a tired office lady. Nia gave her a gentle look while sweating from the summer rays.

    To be honest, Tina had been complaining like this for a long time. Since she couldn¡¯t say ¡®I don¡¯t know, something¡¯ like she wanted to, Nia eventually said

    ¡°Hmm¡­ why not let loose?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Tina suddenly leaned forward and Nia nearly pulled out her sword on instinct, before remembering that she was in uniform, holding onto Tina with one hand.

    *Pon* The small sound of leaves dancing in the wind filled the air. A student in air spirit magic might think that a spirit was moving past, but they certainly wouldn¡¯t think that it would be the result of a conflict between the magic auras of two upper class demons.

    ¡°There, there. Yurushia-sama is a cat-type, she¡¯ll slap you if you move so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that the case?¡±

    Tina puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

    Tina¡¯s problem was that even with the overflowing [Love] for her lord, she felt like it was leaking to someone else.

    ¡°That¡¯s about right.¡±

    Nia nodded at Tina¡¯s muttering.

    Nia knew, however, that this wasn¡¯t correct. Her love overflowing wasn¡¯t a problem unless somehow she was leaking love, but she had long ago given up trying to argue that point.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How had things come to this? They¡¯d known her since they were powerless demons; this place was just so much stranger than the [Demon World].

    Nia had merged with the human soul who called herself [Ninette] and had inherited her memories and [Emotions].

    Disrespectful feelings against their lord existed in them. Even though Nia had eaten the emotions of hatred, some of them were closer to [Love of Herself], which fit with Nia¡¯s originally relaxed personality.

    Regardless of the content of their conversation, since they were two famous girls in the academy talking with such terse expressions, it couldn¡¯t help but attract attention.

    Although they¡¯re usually avoided due to their actions, because their cold attitudes were seen as being because of their loyalty and due to their pleasant attitude given to their Lord, those two had garnered popularity in the school, regardless of gender.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tina, who was sipping her tasteless tea, slightly moved her eyebrows.

    She felt the [Thoughts] in the eyes on them and looked curiously at Nia.

    ¡°Ready to go again?¡±

    Nia said in a relaxed tone, still narrowing her eyes a little.

    Tina and Nia left their tea without a word, walking side by side after standing up.

    Fannie had an excellent ability, but her personality was childish.

    Noa was talented at everything, but after fusing with that human soul, he began planning happy events for Yurushia.

    In that respect, these two were serious not only in work, but serious in life. When it came to actions to be taken in human society, they trusted each other the most.

    In the school, there were not just teachers and students.

    There were also many guards due to the many nobles, some of the nobles bring followers like Tina as well.

    Besides them, there were a considerable amount of external presences in the school, such as suppliers of food and supplies, or merchants who came to speak with the teachers.

    The two girls slowly walked through the academy until they entered an old classroom which the school wasn¡¯t using. Tina frowned and tensed her mouth.

    ¡°¡­ Quite a lot of dust.¡±

    Footprints were left behind as the two girls walked in. The classroom was covered in dust.

    ¡°Umm, that¡¯s probably not good. No need to worry, though.¡±

    Nia said in a calm voice as the two began waiting in the classroom without desks or chairs until finally, the person they were waiting for arrived.

    ¡°Umm¡­ are you Ninette-sama and Christina-sama?¡±

    The person in question was not a student. He was dressed as a commoner and looked to be around thirty years old.

    Although he was dressed that way, his attitude was nothing like that of a commoner. The follower of a noble, he seemed to be a spy.

    The two girls¡­ or rather, the four attendants, came into contact with various humans every day.

    People wanted to become acquaintances or friends.

    Students would confess their feelings.

    A noble would invite them to attend them instead, having seen them work.

    Some wanted connections to the young duchess of Verusenia, but could not arrange a meeting in person.

    So on and so forth¡­

    ¡°I am Ileo, of the holy church, pleased to meet you. I¡¯m honored to speak with the attendants of your master, please allow me to tell you my situation¡­¡±

    The man who used the name Ileo said he was a messenger from the church.

    These incidents were not uncommon. Since Yurushia was still young, there were very few opportunities to speak with her at official parties. Since the requests filtered through her father, Duke Verusenia, only so many requests made it to Yurushia, leading to non-standard message giving.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tina did not return Ileo¡¯s greeting, she just glared at the insect in front of her in silence.

    ¡°W-wow, this place is dusty¡­ hehehe¡­¡±

    Ileo was having trouble breathing under the child¡¯s gaze and aimed a smile at Nia, hoping to get help. Nia had not been paying attention to him from the start, as she had begun to clean her nails.

    Ileo¡¯s smile shrunk, as he began to righteously speak.

    ¡°As expected of those who are at the side of Saint-sama. I am definitely not a suspicious person. In fact, I¡¯m part of the faction that supports a new interpretation of Kostoruism and we wish to recognize Yurushia as a [Saint] as we launch our new [Church].¡±

    In short, he wanted to establish a new [Sect], and wants Yurushia to become their official [Saint]¡­ is what he¡¯s trying to say.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re a messenger from the church?¡±

    Nia, who was polishing her nails, caught his expression.

    First of all, to call himself a [Messenger of the Church] was wrong from the beginning, since they support a different doctrine.

    ¡°No, no, we are current members of the church at the moment, so there¡¯s no problem.¡±

    Ileo said fearlessly.

    Him not being a real representative was a huge problem, she guessed he had been going to try to bluff and smile through this since Nia and her were children.

    ¡°What kind of interpretation do you follow?¡±

    Ileo nodded happily as Tina broke the silence.

    ¡°We can hear the voices. The spirits of the world speak of an unspeakably evil demon, and the Goddess cannot show us where it is. Therefore, we will collect people with magical power like you and, with the help of the saint; we hope to be able to bring forth [God].¡±

    ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    At Ileo¡¯s confident words, Tina and Nia¡¯s faces twisted into disgust.

    Both of them knew¡­ as demons who lived in the Demon World, no one had ever encountered [God].

    Still, while they did not care about such an absurd delusion, they could not forgive him.

    ¡°You say that you are collecting people with magical power. Are you [Summoning] it?¡±

    ¡°It may be impossible to believe, but with the friendship of a certain powerful country, an Archbishop was able to get us help.¡±

    How could there be a [Great Country] that would lend their aid to such trash?

    Ileo was speaking with a confident expression, ecstatic as if flying through the air.

    In contrast, the two girls looked cold, their faces tightened up into fake smile at the man who was speaking to them as if they were children.

    ¡°Originally, I was planning on speaking with you when Yurushia turned 10 years old, Yurushia-sama¡¯s power and name have traveled far, and various countries and religions are all wanting for her to become their [Saint-sama]¡­  For us, until Yurushia is ready I ask that you not take the invitations of other religions.¡±

    For the various religions, the conference to decide on Yurushia¡¯s sainthood has come.

    Since nobody had talked directly to Yurushia, she didn¡¯t know, but the country and royal family were very involved in the result of the title of [Saint] of the Holy Kingdom, but were unable to claim it due to the intentions of the religion.

    The royal family decided that the saint title should come when Yurushia reached 10 years old.

    Until then, it wasn¡¯t possible to come to the table to almost certainly certify Yurushia as a saint by the Kostoru state religion.

    Nobody wanted to miss a huge [Advertisement Opportunity] like Yurushia. In a place unfamiliar to the little girl, a quiet publicity fight was spreading between sects.

    It is a violation of the rules to directly give an invitation for [Certification as a Saint] to Yurushia.

    Because of that, many [Doubtful] religions that were unable to solicit in a decent way would come to these dusty places to try to persuade her four attendants.

    ¡°By the way, you mentioned an interesting thing.¡±

    This is not the first time that either Tina or Nia have been invited by dubious religions. There have been many cases of the non-proper sects doing [Various Things] behind the Holy Kingdom¡¯s back. Those people have been becoming [Food] for the demons and vampires.

    ¡°Wh-what is it?¡±

    Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed, Ileo stepped back as he took a shallow breath, looking at the [Child] in front of him.

    {¡­ This girl¡­ she isn¡¯t normal}

    Ileo was onset by anxiety that had never come to his true identity; he immediately began speaking to try to leave that place.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, but I must-¡±

    ¡°The power of our lord, you wish to use it?¡±

    She interrupted Ileo with a quiet anger in her voice; Ileo felt a pain as he turned his head towards the little girl who was only as old as his daughter.

    ¡°S-such a thing¡­ excuse me, it seems I¡¯ve been too hasty. I must say-¡±

    Ileo began to speak more quickly, lowering his head to the girls and as he began to leave¡­ he felt a strange presence.

    ¡°Are you going home¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ah-¡±

    The voice came from Nia, who had been in front of him just the moment before, but the voice came from behind. There was a black sword held against his neck.

    Ileo recognized the presence the sword was putting out, greasy sweat dripping from his brow.

    The crisis was felt by the man facing an insurmountable foe, his very soul instinctively afraid.

    ¡°Another interesting thing you were saying¡­ summoning God¡­¡±

    The girl who was too beautiful to be human began to float, wearing an [Inhuman] smile.

    Ileo¡¯s teach began to chatter.

    ¡°Ileo-sama¡­ Allow me to give you an [Invitation]. If you will, Nia.¡±

    When Tia called Nia with her distorted smile, Nia raised her black demonic sword with a smile of her own.

    ¡°Open¡­ [Lost Eden] ¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, the old dust covered classroom was replaced by inky darkness.

    It was not shadow, though. Ileo could see Tina and Nia with his eyes. The classroom was not surrounded by darkness. Rather, it was completely changed to another place.

    Using Nia¡¯s absorption and Noa¡¯s release, a new world was created in this space.

    ¡°Welcome to our [Lost Eden]¡±

    From the darkness, a boy in butler clothes called out from behind an ebony desk with a kind smile.

    Ileo also knew him.

    This butler boy was responsible for scheduling for the Duke¡¯s daughter¡­ Noa.

    ¡°¡­ Ah¡­ ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you unable to speak? People with weak souls can¡¯t stand the magic here in [Lost Eden]¡±

    Noa, who had just finished tidying up a series of documents, took off a set of silver rimmed glasses and walked forward.

    Noa was a demon, but usually acted much like a human 11 year old, his appearance wearing glasses was rare. It would have made waves with the ladies at school if they ever found out.

    ¡°Good day, Noa. As busy as ever, I see.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you think so, Tina?¡±

    Noah let out a light sigh and dropped his eyebrows.

    Tina was biased towards ability, her strengths best suited for battlefields and she only cared about Yurushia¡¯s personal belongings. Nia, his sister, was biased towards waste, and while motivated, didn¡¯t have a skill that translated to work.

    Fannie was fine and intelligent, but once she went out, she didn¡¯t come back easily.

    That was why Noa was left doing all of the work. The least they could do is put their feelings towards their efforts.

    ¡°So¡­ who is that person?¡±

    ¡°Apparently this is related to the things that Yurushia-sama has had Fannie and Milaine investigating, I found something interesting so I brought it to you.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing Ileo having thoughts of his likely death, Noa began to laugh.

    *Pachin* When a bell sound came from Noa¡¯s raised finger, the world which had been inky [Black] changed into a huge black hall.

    In the back of the hall was a jet black altar of worship to [God].

    Kneeling by its side was a new species of [Greater Demon] created out of the vampires [Provided] by Millaine using Noa¡¯s [Control] of his [Release].

    It took hundreds of bodies.

    Even with its raw power alone, it was a fighting force comparable to a small country.

    ¡°Now, tell me everything you know and I will give you the honor of dedicating your soul to the [God] Yurushia.¡±

    As Noa whispered, the two girls and boy grew goat-like horns of jet black, the golden hair turned into snakes, and their forms changed into demons.

    Demons were taking up residence in [Lost Eden]. The newly born Demon Realm began to quietly spread beneath the Holy Kingdom.

    £ª

    ¡°Hey Fannie. Where did those three go?¡±

    ¡°Umm, they¡¯re making a secret base. Yurushia-sama, can I have some candy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead, go ahead. Having a secret base seems a bit childish, though.¡±

    To Yurushia who did not know anything, today was embarrassingly peaceful.

 Volume 3 - CH 8

    Volume 3, Chapter 8: I Became a Second-Grader, Part 1

    The year changed, and the seasons rolled around, I have become a second-grader at the magic academy, and will be nine years old in a few months.

    I¡¯m in the same grade as a certain magic-cannon using girl. (Read: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.) I can¡¯t be called a little girl any longer.

    ¡­¡­ Should I make a [Transformation] for myself too?

    But, if I transformed into a so called magical girl, I¡¯d be troubled about what to do about my [Second Transformation].

    Well, although I¡¯m attracted to the idea, putting that aside for the time being, my life as a second year student hasn¡¯t particularly changed much.

    I go out to play with Shelly and Betty, having tea parties with them as always.

    If I were to talk about things that were a little unusual, it would be that my classmates seem to finally have gotten used to me, and have finally reached the point where we exchange greetings.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯ve suffered for almost two years for this.

    Although I speak regularly with my attendants, and receive letters from them, it feels quite different for some reason.

    Even if I ask Shelly to explain:

    ¡°Yuru-sama is so pretty that it¡¯s a crime¡±

    Is the kind of incomprehensible thing that is repeated over and over, I still don¡¯t understand the truth of it.

    Anyways, besides all that, the [Shitty brat Rick-chan] incidents seem to have settled down for the time being, as least on the surface.

    Although I¡¯ve been conscientious about it, since there was no special confession event my attitude hasn¡¯t changed, it might have just been my misunderstanding, after all.

    ¡­ That rascal¡­ playing with a maiden¡¯s feelings, how unforgivable.

    But thank goodness that he didn¡¯t ask me¡­ If I had gotten careless, there may have been a [Sore Baby] who would have misunderstand again. How dangerous, how dangerous.

    Although I still feel a little depressed¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia¡±

    As I dragging Tina to the salon with me to skip lessons, I was stopped by someone calling me without honorifics.

    There was only one [Person] who would do those kinds of things in this school.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rick.¡±

    Although Rick was basically a [Self-Important Bastard], who normally leaves his servants behind and rudely barges into things, these days, he¡¯s been rather different.

    Looking like valiant warriors pulling a [Train] of chasing monsters, Rick was swarmed with waves and waves of girls.

    Oh, it increased again.

    ¡­¡­It seems. I¡¯m not angry at things like that.

    I¡¯m just a little resentful that even though he¡¯s still a brat, when he turned 12 years old and became a [Young Man], his height rapidly shot up to 170 cm, and now he¡¯s fully one head taller than I am.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yurushi¡­¡±

    When Rick approached me, my face cramped momentarily and his feet stopped.

    The girls who were following him around finally caught up to him. They were out of breath, but hearing Rick call out, they froze.

    ¡°¡­Roderick-nii-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­O, oh¡±

    Everyone, what are you so afraid of? Although I know that I¡¯m a dreaded person, the girls were all staring with their mouths open. Staring at their faces that were red like they were ill, I quivered softly at how strange they looked.

    ¡°¡­¡­How may I help you all?¡±

    When I called out to the girls and turned my eyes towards them, it seems they were freed of their paralysis, and they all pulled back like the tide.

    ¡­¡­Eh? Was I that intimidating?

    ¡°Y-you, come here for a minute¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    Rick grabbed my arm with a grim face, and began walking quickly, leaving the girls behind.

    ¡°¡­Again, with grabbing my arm¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up¡±

    What is it, already¡­¡­ Tina, who usually makes a fuss about such things is being awfully quiet¡­¡­ or so I thought, but Tina¡¯s face was cramped and she followed right behind us.

    In the salon which only upper-class nobles could use, after confirming that there wasn¡¯t anyone else around, Rick looked into my eyes.

    ¡°Yurushia¡­ you, why are you becoming more expressionless¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Expressionless? Although Rick was used to [Me] and my face; because everyone else wasn¡¯t, were they afraid¡­? Hmm¡­¡­

    Although I don¡¯t understand it well, I realised that I was acting [Inhuman], and so I rubbed my cheeks with a *munimuni* and took a deep breath and Rick gave a sigh of relief.

    It is alright already? Looking at Tina, she was nodding her head *kokukoku* in relief too.

    ¡°¡­¡­At last, you returned to normal Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°¡­What kind of face does the ¡®usual me¡¯ have?¡±

    ¡°Aahh~ ¡­ A sleepy face¡­?¡±

    What the heck. Why is that a question?

    ¡°Have you been in a bad mood¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t understand¡±

    I wonder what¡¯s really the matter? Even I myself don¡¯t know.

    I see. That rather annoying but cute kid Rick became slightly cool, and he just became the kind of samurai kid that seduced girls. Yes.

    ¡°It¡¯s because Rick has become a bad child.¡±

    ¡°What the heck!?¡±

    Muuu¡­ are you trying to feign ignorance?

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you been walking around with a huge amount of girls?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know them! They appeared all by themselves. Ah~¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Although Rick got indignant, as I tilted my head to the side, his lips tightened up. I feel bad.

    ¡°By the way, Rick¡­¡­ Can you release my arm soon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick finally seems to have noticed that he¡¯s been holding my arm this whole time.

    Gripping it with all his strength¡­¡­¡­ This, might become a bruise. This guy is really overbearing, seriously.

    ¡°No, I have business with you.  Come with me for a while.¡±

    ¡°Eh, what?¡±

    Rick went directly into the nearby salon, and in the end, he still didn¡¯t release my arm until we got inside.

    Eh, could it be? Does he have some kind of restraint hobby¡­¡­?

    £ª

    In the salon, the sound of a piano being played quietly could be heard.

    It was a relaxed melody that made me want to sleep, a tune that I liked.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    For some reason, I¡¯m alone with Rick, listening to him play the piano. ¡­¡­why.

    The tea that I drank while sitting in the chair, was not brewed by me, but rather by him. I¡¯m strangely annoyed that he¡¯s so skilled at that.

    Is it detestable? Is it detestable that I have this clumsy skill? I sulked.

    Although since Tina, who was stuck outside the salon, is leaking out an intense bloodthirst, I wonder if it¡¯s alright¡­

    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t fall asleep, Yurushia.¡±

    The music stopped suddenly, and Rick said something rude.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m not sleeping.¡±

    I was only slightly sleepy, you know.

    Assured that I wasn¡¯t sleeping, Rick smiled and parted from the piano, walking to me.

    ¡°Have you calmed down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ahh~¡­ I see. As I thought, when my mood is bad I have a scary face.

    Although now I¡¯m as calm as I am normally, my spirits don¡¯t raise and lower as intensely as a human in the first place. Probably.

    ¡°¡­Ah, oh well. Leaving that aside, Yurushia. Did you know that there¡¯s a new cathedral of the Kostoru religion in the Colto territory?¡±

    Rick sat down lightly next to me with a sigh and finally got to the main subject.

    ¡°Cathedral¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. For this fifth cathedral in Tariterudo, the lord of the territory put up half of the construction budget.¡±

    Did the country properly budget¡­¡­ Is that actually okay? Is it because it¡¯s the state religion? We don¡¯t enforce the separation of church and state, after all.

    ¡°What happened¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing¡¯s happened as of yet. ¡­¡­But either tomorrow or the next day, Honoured Uncle¡­ Duke Verusenia thought of declaring Yurushia the Saint of the new generation and the [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom together with the new Archbishop and the lord over there, and he wants you to come.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    What a way to ask¡­¡­ how rough.

    ¡°So I go over, and then¡­¡­ what am I supposed to do?¡±

    ¡°Weeeelll¡­¡­¡­ It seems likely that they want the residents of the territory to see your Holy Magic, for you to heal the seriously injured and sick and to preach to and recruit people for a long time¡­¡­It¡¯s quite unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°Muuu¡­¡±

    How detestable¡­ and stupid. But,

    ¡°It¡¯s not for forever, is it? How long?¡±

    ¡°Although the other side hoped for a year, it¡¯s up to Yurushia¡¯s convenience. It¡¯s generally be around several weeks.¡±

    I¡¯ll of course I¡¯d reject if it¡¯s a year, but what about several weeks?

    I was a little interested in what he said, but then I saw Rick¡¯s face.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡­ why are you telling me about this now, Rick?¡±

    If that was the only thing, there¡¯d be no need for Rick to bring me into the salon alone to talk. So what were the other reasons? As I gazed at him inquisitively, Rick looked strange.

    ¡°Uh, um, well ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because you¡¯re the daughter of a duke? More or less.¡±

    ¡°Wha-, what¡±

    ¡°The Colto territory¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s the territory of Duke Kaperu.¡±

    ¡°A¡­Aah~¡±

    The one with terrible relations with House Verusenia, House Kaperu.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick¡¯s face became even more strange. ¡­I wonder if it¡¯s a face of resignation.

    ¡°Anyway. It seems that Honoured Uncle doesn¡¯t want you to go to such a place. However, as the matter concerns the nation, and it¡¯s a formal request for the [Princess], so you can¡¯t ignore them if they say that they want Yurushia to go.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah¡±

    It¡¯s suspicious that Duke Kaperu is calling for me specifically. But I can¡¯t refuse as I am the [Princess] and receive treatment like that of a member of the royal family. As part of the royal family, I can¡¯t just refuse them with the excuse that [It¡¯s Suspicious].

    Well, that is entirely the fault of Grandfather-sama.

    Moreover, if I heard correctly, the schedule matches when Father is going overseas on business exactly.

    Wow¡­¡­ how blatant. I¡¯m getting a little excited now.

    And the new [Archbishop] too ¡­¡­

    ¡°Therefore, when Yurushia goes, I will as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Why is that.

    ¡°Uh, ehrm¡­¡­ I¡¯ll probably be fine?¡±

    ¡°I know that Yurushia has more than enough [Power] to be called a Saint. But I think the danger is not towards your [Life] but rather your [Reputation] and your [Spirit]. If I go along with you, they will not be able to play their hand easily.¡±

    As a matter of fact, even if it is Duke Kaperu, I don¡¯t think that he would be so foolish as to aim for my life when I am so beloved by Grandfather-sama, His Majesty the King.

    Therefore, as Rick said, it¡¯s quite likely that he¡¯s aiming at the [Reputation] and the [Honour] of House Verusenia, and intends to torment my [Heart].

    Although, that is my favourite dish to serve¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick went silent, and just stared at me with serious eyes.

    If he said that I was in danger, then wouldn¡¯t Rick who would be protecting me be in danger too?

    ¡­¡­ Because you look at me with such eyes, various girls have already started to misunderstand our relationship.

    It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­¡­

    Rick¡­¡­ I will protect you.

 Volume 3 - CH 9

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I became a Second-grader, Part 2

    Yurushia¡¯s classmates at the magic academy lived lives that wore down their nerves almost every day.

    It started with the first years¡¯ entrance ceremony.

    Already being called a [Saint] before entering school, the granddaughter of the King and also the daughter of a duke, she was the [Princess] that was the face of the kingdom.

    Just hearing about such a god-like person would make them dizzy already, and the commoner students admired her regardless of their fear, while the nobles¡¯ children were all harshly warned not to make a blunder in front of her, and so everyone was nervous about learning alongside her.

    Even the non-religious children adored her.

    A child the same age as them who had a level of [Magic Power] that could make adults moan in admiration, that had [Beauty] that even adults were in awe of, it was an almost fairy-tale like story.

    The day of the magic academy entrance ceremony.

    Chaperoned by her parents, the Duke Verusenia and his wife, walking along like a [Princess], surrounded by her attendants and female escort knights, not only the new students but even the enrolled students were all captivated from that moment.

    She was the very picture of a beautiful [Princess] from fairy tales that everyone had known as children.

    Some whispered [Angel-sama], forgot to breathe in, and fainted on their feet.

    Those who hadn¡¯t built up any resistance towards her was frozen for a little after she passed by. Finally, the teachers came out of their trance and started to induct the new students.

    During the freshman representative¡¯s opening address, everyone let out a sigh of relief when they saw that Yurushia was having difficulty in making the opening address from the embarrassment.

    To see that that perfect [Princess] was also [Human], just like everyone else, made them all thank the gods inside their hearts.

    But, it seems that [God] loved her especially.

    Because the instant that she turned her compassionate eyes towards the students, an unthinkable amount of [Angels of Light] and [Archangels of light] manifested, and for the many people that were experiencing ¡¾Greater Divine Protection¡¿ for the first time, some of them became feverish while many others were traumatised.

    The Princess is scary.

    Although there were many different class groups, since students went to different classes to take their lessons the division between classes didn¡¯t mean anything except for who the home room teacher would be for that group.

    But since the lower grades have mostly general level lessons in their curriculum for every class, Yurushia¡¯s classmates inevitably spent a lot of time with her.

    Those classmates were able to get used to Yurushia¡¯s beauty relatively quickly.

    Yurushia had the cold beauty of a doll, but on the inside, she was considerably [Gentle], so it was possible for them to keep calm as long as they didn¡¯t look straight at her.

    After that, her [Form of Address] was the next hindrance.

    There was no way that a commoner could simply call out to the daughter of a Ducal house, and though the noble daughters and sons tried their best to speak to her, but the two servants who were in the same class would keep a watchful eye over them.

    Anyone who tried to get close to Yurushia were glared at by the two girls like they were insects and were silently [Intimidated] away.

    Although a few super M people blushed under their gazes, those types were rare, so the majority of the class was unable to even talk to her.

    There were still some times where Yurushia would come to class alone.

    As the classmates, who had gotten used to Yurushia were calling her [Princess-sama] behind her back, and exchanged looks with one another, [He] appeared.

    Yurushia¡¯s cousin, the Second Prince Roderick, came to visit her often.

    When that happened, it became hard to talk to her in a different sense.

    Although Yurushia calls him [Elder Brother], the two of them weren¡¯t brother and sister.

    Seeing the good looking [Prince-sama] and [Princess-sama] together was exactly like witnessing a scene out of a fairytale, the female students all writhed about going *kyaa kyaa* in delight.

    Their delusions had progressed to the point that the boy that the girl called [Brother], didn¡¯t treat her as a [Sister] but rather as a [Woman].

    Although they wanted to speak, they couldn¡¯t, as they were overwhelmed by Yurushia¡¯s sheer [Presence] in the classroom. Since they couldn¡¯t invest themselves into their lessons, to keep up their grades and stay the classmates of the [Princess-sama], they cut into their sleeping times to study.

    More challenges awaited those classmates.

    At first they were delighted. After the trauma that was planted in them at the entrance ceremony unintentionally and automatically, the [Fear] of Yurushia had gradually relaxed.

    Like the people around her, she too was pleased that they had finally reached that stage, but realised that it was a mistake.

    Although it was a story that only she knew, but she recalled the time when she was only two years old.

    That she would be [A beautiful flower at 10 years old]¡­¡­¡­

    The root of others¡¯ [Fear] of Yurushia was the sheer [Presence] that came from her huge Demon¡¯s magical power, rather than from her status or title.

    That [Fear] came from Disparity.

    Overwhelming beauty and force of presence packed in her intense gaze, all stuffed into an adorable infant, it was way too unnatural.

    To put it in an extreme way, it would be like an infant showing off an adult style kitchen knife to cook in the park.

    As she approached nine years old, she had grown taller, and her body had also taken on a soft roundness, transforming from a child into a [Young Lady]. The unnaturalness started to fade, and in place of  the [Fearsome] appearance was a dazzling [Beauty].

    It wasn¡¯t her friends or family that felt the [Change] in Yurushia first, but rather her classmates.

    They wanted to speak to her, but couldn¡¯t¡­¡­¡­ The reason was different from before, though.

    Thanks to the easing of the fear, they could exchange greetings with her, but they couldn¡¯t continue on from there.

    They would return her greetings, but their faces would flush when they saw her smile and their heartbeats would quicken and that would spell the end of the conversation.

    She could never figure out how her classmates were thinking.

    Before they could get used to it, they had already been [Fascinated] by her very existence.

    She would be nine years old soon.

    More beautiful than the year before, and would be more beautiful the next.

    There were eight years until she graduated from the academy. Her classmates would all spend their days in these hard, painful, and yet [Sweet] days.

    So they thought.

    By that time¡­ they hoped that they could be friends with the [Princess-sama].

 Volume 3 - CH 10

    Volume 3, Chapter 10: I turned Nine years old, Part 1

    I turned nine years old the other day.

    This time round, the birthday party was rather light. The reason being that I wasn¡¯t in a very good condition.

    When I say light, what I mean is that while the scale of the party was still the same, the amount of time that I had to show myself decreased. Honestly speaking, I was saved by the fact that I was unwell.

    Recently, the number of people who are afraid of me seems to have decreased. Although I¡¯m glad about that, the people that came to greet me wouldn¡¯t go home without a fight. Their eyes were scary.

    ¡°Owowowowowow¡­¡­¡±

    In the stale-smelling house in the royal capital, when I stood up from the chair with a [Heave-ho], Vio and the housemaid gang looked at me in disappointment.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ it hurts.¡±

    Since I¡¯ve been pampered for my entire childhood, I have no pain tolerance whatsoever.

    When I soaked into the bathtub, I would groan with a [U~i~].

    Right now, my leg is hurt. It fell asleep in the middle of the night. Also, it hurts in the parts I can¡¯t mention. ¡­¡­ They¡¯ve started to grow, recently.

    Well, they¡¯ve been lighter since a few months ago, but still, these growing pains¡­

    Don¡¯t those usually only happen in middle school? I¡¯ve grown about 5 centimetres in half a year alone, rounding my height to approximately 150 cm, which is about as tall as Betty, who¡¯s two grades older.

    Although, Rick also shot up suddenly before his time,  maybe it¡¯s something in the constitution of the royal bloodline? While I yearn to be a tall girl, growing bigger than Father-sama would be unpleasant¡­

    Because of that, my appearance has changed a bit.

    Talking about the changes, my infant¡¯s figure and pudgy stomach seem to have receded somewhat, and here and there I¡¯ve rounded out and filled out, according to Vio and the housemaids¡¯ words, it¡¯s a complete shift in image.

    Mother and Grandma have also stopped dressing me in children¡¯s clothes and have begun to order dresses with adult designs¡­ If they make it now won¡¯t my size have changed by the time they finish?

    In addition, Tina¡¯s been giving me a carnivorous look every now and then. It¡¯s scary.

    ¡°Too early.¡±

    Today, I¡¯m going on an inspection of the Touru territory together with Father. but my legs still hurt, so I¡¯ve been hugging him while riding the carriage. After getting onto Father-sama¡¯s knee after a long while, he said this to me:

    ¡°Is something the matter¡­?¡±

    Because I¡¯ve gotten bigger and it¡¯s gotten hard to hold me, when I wrapped my arms around Father-sama¡¯s neck he gave me a worried expression.

    Whenever I ride on his lap, our lines of sight are almost the same, so I was happy that I could look at his face so closely.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I think it¡¯s still a bit too early for Yurushia to be wearing that dress.,¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Really?¡±

    The dress I¡¯m wearing today was the first adult style dress that I received from Mother.

    Unlike the dresses from the parties, it isn¡¯t stuffy. It¡¯s a rose-coloured dress that comes up to my calves, with a chic blouse and a fluffily cute skirt. It¡¯s a favorite of mine¡­¡­

    Father-sama quickly lowered his gaze from mine.

    ¡°Your neck is showing¡­¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    That¡¯s true.

    It¡¯s silly that I hadn¡¯t noticed until now.

    Although I thought that the dress I¡¯d been wearing up until now was for all children¡¯s use, but apparently, it was actually a habit for a [Saint]. (TLN: habit as in ¡°nun¡¯s habit¡±)

    After all, the sleeves went all the way to my wrists, and everything below my chin was covered. It was a dress that only exposed the hands and face.

    The sleeves are the same as before, but this dress exposes the base of my neck. For the first time, a little bit of my collarbone can be seen. The collarbone is the foundation of eroticism.

    ¡°Father¡­¡­ isn¡¯t that too overprotective? Shelly¡¯s arms are fully showing.¡±

    ¡°No, no, Yurushia is still only nine years old.¡±

    But only my collarbone can be seen¡­Betty came to this year¡¯s birthday party with a shoulderless dress that exposed her shoulders entirely, to say nothing of her collarbone.

    Yes, that was sexy but cute.

    Still, Father is still as dashingly handsome as ever.

    Now in his mid-thirties, his sex appeal is more polished than ever, I can say that after ten years it¡¯s definitely an outstanding talent.

    But please take care of your hair. I still have a mountain of dried seaweed.

    Incidentally, about the massive amount of seaweed that I pushed onto Millaine, she seems to have sold it in the form of seaweed bread and it¡¯s become a special product of that city¡­¡­ despite it being in the mountains.

    I¡¯ll have to get the vampires to teach me how to make the seaweed bread¡­¡­ I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. Nothing.

    Millaine¡¯s earnestness makes this Demon¡¯s conscience hurt¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡±

    Father-sama pulled me back from my dreamy thoughts about the seaweed bread with a serious voice.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter¡­?¡±

    Although I thought I knew what he was going to talk about, since I¡¯m a nine-year-old girl  I tilted my head with a quizzical look.

    Father-sama patiently stared into my eyes, then he gave a small sigh and began to speak.

    ¡°This year, in two months¡­ Well, next year, Yurushia will become a third year student.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    ¡°Although you¡¯ve been quite a small child all this time, you¡¯re completely a lady now¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡±

    Even though I¡¯m going to be an adult, I like to be spoiled, but then Father suddenly said something that sounded like I was about to be married away¡­¡­

    As a noble child, am I supposed to be happy to be treated like an adult? In this country¡­ or rather in this world, people are so serious.

    Why then, are there so many hopeless people around me¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself to go to the Colts Territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, the expected topic.

    Since the word came, Father-sama has been negotiating directly with Grandfather¡­ although for various reasons Grandfather and Uncle privately wanted to refuse, since it was an official request from Duke Kaperu and the Kostoru religion, refusing would show that the Royal Family was over favoring Duke Verusenia.

    In short, it¡¯s because Grandfather-sama recognised me as a [Princess] for the sake of being able to pamper me¡­¡­

    The duration of the post in the Kostoru cathedral in the Colts territory is one month.

    Coincidentally in the same period, there was a request from the [Military Branch of Taterudo] that had close ties with Duke Kapell for Father-sama to attend a ceremony.

    It¡¯s so obvious, it¡¯s surprising.

    In this situation, if I said that I didn¡¯t want to go, then it would mean that Father-sama would have to take responsibility for it.

    If such a thing happened then he would likely lose his job as the Foreign Minister and the trade operations of the Verusenia house might have restrictions put into place.

    Above all that, it would probably reach the point that the people affiliated with Duke Kaperu would persistently backbite Father-sama at the parties or dances.

    Even if he had to endure all that, Father-sama still wanted to protect me.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Father. I¡¯m strong, you know.¡±

    I let out a light laugh and smiled without worry.

    To be honest, if Father had to suffer like that, I would crush the Kaperu house. Extremely violently.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia. I¡¯m worried for you.¡±

    ¡°Father¡­¡±

    I put my tiny hand on his big one on my cheek.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Duke Kaperu will be so stupid as to directly attack me. Besides, Rick is coming along.¡±

    Although I personally felt dicey over it, I used Rick¡¯s name to soothe Father.

    Although I preferred it if an [Adult with Status] came along as my breakwater, the other ducal houses just looked on, trying to avoid being rolled into the quarrel, and since I liked Uncle-sama and Elea-sama, it could be said that Rick has just enough.

    But Father-sama, far from being relieved when Rick¡¯s name came out, grimaced.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ Does Rick really understand and get along with you so well¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Wha-why do you look like that¡­?

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s wrong, Father-sama?¡±

    ¡°Rick is a good boy, and I can understand how he would be so engrossed with Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Fa~ther~¡±

    Why are your words going in that strange direction?

    ¡°Yurushia, I worry for you. Your beauty gathers various men around you like starving carnivores. Even now, the proposals from within the country and other countries haven¡¯t slowed down¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeeh!?¡±

    This is the first time I¡¯ve heard that, Father.

    Wait a minute. Weren¡¯t we talking about being afraid for me because I might be getting tormented by Duke Kaperu or that there might be dangers to my life?

    Although I knew about the marriage proposals that had been coming from within, this is the first time that I¡¯ve heard that marriage proposals have been coming from outside the country, too. Has Father been smothering those?

    ¡°Although Duke Kaperu himself doesn¡¯t have a very good character, I¡¯ve heard that his sons are rather upright and that they were handsome. They might also forget themselves in Yurushia¡¯s beauty and try to seek your hand in marriage. It seems that many other noble houses will try to introduce their sons, too. That being said, it doesn¡¯t mean that Rick going is good. Timothy hasn¡¯t decided on his fiancee, and there have been rumours that he is waiting for Yurushia to come of age, and I worry about that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eeehh~¡­¡±

    What in the world. Were you this sort of extreme doting parent?

    Although I didn¡¯t want to let myself get married easily, it seems that if I just leave it be I will never be married.

    Is my body safe¡­? While I was thinking of how all those people were turning their scornful eyes towards me with such feelings, Father, who noticed that my feelings were running out of control coughed lightly with a *kohon*.

    ¡°I have entrusted Yurushia¡¯s safety to captain Barnabas whom you know. Although he was a baronet, thanks to his distinguished services I awarded him the title of viscount.I think that him holding my letter of authority should also serve for him to be a sort of barrier.¡±

    ¡°Re-really¡­?¡±

    Ba, Baru¡­? Who was that again? Well, I guess I¡¯ll remember when we meet.

    But, to award a viscount title just for the sake of protecting me¡­ I¡¯mconvinced. Although I thought he wasn¡¯t the same as them, after this sort of scene, it¡¯s clear that him and Grandfather are parent and child.

    While I was thinking of such things earnestly, Father-sama put cotton on my forehead.

    ¡°I also know that Yurushia is a stronger child than you look. Both Riastea and I believe that you will come back safely,¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Father.¡±

    Believe¡­ You believe in me.

    Although I think that my parents impression of [Strong Child] and mine were significantly different, I will crush anybody that dares to show malice to me. ¡­¡­ Violently.

    Two months later, as I advanced into being a third-grader, I left for the Colts Territory.

    There, I would [Reunite] with a certain someone.

 Volume 3 - CH 11

    olume 3, Chapter 9: I turned Nine Years Old , Part 2

    There was a clatter.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    How did this happen?

    I am currently in a carriage headed towards the Colts territory.

    As I headed towards the Colts territory at the request of Duke Kaperu and the Archbishop, I was surrounded by my attendants and guards.

    As always, I was with Bree-chan¡¯s 15 female knight corps members, my four attendants, 10 house maids that Mother-sama arranged, including Vio, 8 of Rick¡¯s royal maids, 18 of the elite royal guards that, including the Holy Knights, numbered 18, three civil officials, and finally, 20 mercenaries from the company Father-sama arranged for. Because Rickif part of the royal family, there¡¯s this size of a retinue even for moving inside of the country.

    And that Ba- Bar¡­¡­ something or another, was actually Bear-san.

    It was Bear-san that Father-sama had forced the rank of [Viscount] upon unreasonably with his status, but while putting on a troubled face that said ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡±, Bear-san cheerfully took up being my guard.

    At some point, it seems that Bear-san, who is single, adopted Noel-kun as his son.

    How nice of Bear-san. I wonder if I can talk carefreely with Noel now? When I gave him the wakame seaweed as a reward, I suffered from the gurgling noises they made through the night after drinking.

    And thus the tragedy repeats itself¡­¡­

    Normally, while travelling in a carriage that held ten people, I would be riding with my attendants, but because this time round there¡¯s an issue with my [Dignity], the attendants were placed in other carriages while only Vio sat anxiously across from me.

    I¡¯m jealous of them.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    The silence is heavy¡­¡­¡­

    There were two boys sitting next to me. Rick on my right. Noel on my left.

    The two of them were silent, with Rick gripping my right arm, and Noel holding my left hand.

    How did this happen¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I sent a look to appeal to Vio, but for some reason Vio was troubled and turned eyes that were filled with encouragement towards me, nodding many times as if saying [I know].

    That¡¯s not it¡­ That¡¯s really not it. Really, save me from this situation by any means.

    Things were normal until Bear-san who¡¯s now a Viscount introduced Noel to Rick.

    Because Rick was 12 years old and Noel was 11 years old, they could be friends¡­ or so I thought.

    Now then, the flashback scene.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Your Highness Roderick. I¡¯m Noel.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I know of Barnabas¡¯ great fame. I was told that the Viscount¡¯s son had excellent sword skills that surpassed that of a Holy Knight, are you really strong, Noel?¡±

    ¡°It is because I am undergoing training¡­¡­ In a mercenary company, we are trained in the heat of battle.¡±

    ¡°I see. Since our ages are close, during this journey, would you mind having a spar with me? I hope you will consider enlightening me in the sword¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that true? I¡¯ve heard that Your Highness Roderick¡¯s sword technique is as good as that of a knight¡¯s, so I thought I should be the one to ask.¡±

    Then the two of them laughed and shook hands.

    Things like the friendship between young boys is healing. Although Bree-chan was holding her nose and crouching down, did something happen to her?

    And the maids were chittering noisily like cicadas.

    When I peeked my face out to take a look, for some reason the atmosphere had changed.

    ¡°¡­Lucy!¡±

    Noel who leaped out like a faithful dog rapidly grabbed onto my hands.

    Since Bear-san got angry before, is it okay to do that now? I wonder if Noel also became a noble, so it¡¯s okay?

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Noel¡­¡­ You¡¯ve gotten bigger.¡±

    ¡°Lucy¡­ You¡¯ve become more beautiful.¡±

    Saying such a thing so lightly again¡­¡­ Noel has also grown to about 160cm tall, and since he was good-looking and cute, the maids made a commotion again.

    Unlike what I remembered from the Dream World, boys here praise me without hesitation.

    ¡°Yurushia!¡±

    Rick who had been dazed for a moment remembered himself and rudely cut in again, grabbing my arm as usual.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where!? Wait, Roderick-onii-sama, it hurts¡±

    When Rick tried to walk out while holding my arm as usual, I got pulled to the other side.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ Lucy is in pain.¡±

    Noel clasped my left hand firmly, staring at Rick while speaking in a low voice.

    ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    The two of them stared at each other in silence.

    Even though it had been harmonious so far, why did it become this way? ¡­ Why, eh, I¡¯m not going to play dumb anymore.

    Even though they¡¯re being misled by their feelings of love, Rick is thinking of me as his [Younger Sister] while Noel is longing for me as the [Saint-sama].

    As a girl, it feels a little bit disappointing, but favor is favor. It seems that both of them are strongly possessive, though.

    The one who truly loved me should let me go¡­¡­ although that sort of story exists, if I said it here I would surely be given disappointed looks.

    The ones that were happiest were the maids and the female knights. Under Bree-chan¡¯s feet, there was a dark red puddle, while Sara-chan was repeatedly chopping at the back of Bree-chan¡¯s head, was she possessed or something?

    Flashback end¡­

    Afterwards Bear-san, taking us into consideration, put us three on the same carriage,but that¡¯s no good. Please don¡¯t take their needs into consideration, please pay attention to mine instead.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    It¡¯s hopeless, I can¡¯t say anything. I can¡¯t say ¡°Let go of my hand.¡± Well, I understand that both of them are worried for me, which is why they¡¯re gripping my hands¡­¡­

    But¡­ what are you two worried about?Both of you are acting like children.

    Four days have passed on the carriage from the Royal Capital to the Colts territory¡­¡­

    It seems like the atmosphere inside the carriage would be like this until we arrived. At night, the two of them had had their sparring bouts with each other, as promised, but the scene seemed like they were strangely fired up in their practice together.

    I didn¡¯t know for sure, since I was sleeping.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Everyone around me had complained about my going to the Colts territory so much that my stomach hurt, but actually arriving was a joy.

    The joy from being released from that room was so terrific that even I even happily talked for 30 minutes with Duke Kaperu, who came to sarcastically receive us while wearing a bright smile, I¡¯m sure you can understand.

    I decided to attend the evening party on the same day that I arrived.

    It¡¯s ostensibly a welcoming party. Because we children had just had a several-day journey to reach this place, normally we would be resting today with the knights and civil officials, but since I was willing to accept the invitation, Duke Kaperu was even more astonished.

    Please forgive this weak Demon for being unable to withstand that strained atmosphere.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    When I attended the evening ball, many people came to give their greetings, but stuck as I was between Rick who was in an ill mood and Noel who was emitting a bloodthirst, most of them backed away in a hurry.

    Even though they¡¯re not holding my hands, the situation didn¡¯t change¡­¡­ Ah,

    ¡°Duke Kaperu.¡±

    As I spotted Duke Kaperu, who was pretending not to notice me, I pushed through the gap between the two boys and approached Duke Kaperu with a wide smile on my face.

    ¡°Th-there you are, Miss Yurushia, are you enjoying yourself¡­?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for holding such a grand evening ball for a child like me.¡±

    At my polite words, Duke Kaperu¡¯s face cramped slightly. Rude.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. It must have been difficult for Duke Verusenia to send his only daughter here, Miss Yurushia..¡±

    ¡°Well, understandably so. Since it was the King¡¯s order, I can¡¯t really ignore it, please don¡¯t feel down, Duke Kaperu.¡±

    ¡°¡­I-Is that so, how terrible¡­¡­ Then, Miss Yurushia, your [Princess] title must weigh heavily on you¡­¡±

    ¡°I was only four years old when it was decided, but most of the knights approved it, so before I knew anything else, it it had been decided. Did the other ducal houses¡¯ daughters not protest it?¡±

    ¡°That is ¡­¡­ a blood issue¡­ Th-that¡¯s right, doesn¡¯t the [Saint] title weigh heavily on you? I heard that when Miss Yurushia was kidnapped along with many children.¡±

    ¡°Roderick-onii-sama and Noel were among the children who had been kidnapped. If you would like to hear to story, shall I call them over?¡±

    ¡°N-no, that¡¯s alright. So then¡­ are you really capable of using Holy Magic at the level of a [Saint] like they say you can? Naturally, you¡¯re able to use ¡¾Blessing¡¿¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, would you like to see? I¡¯ll do it, okay? I¡¯ll be using the higher-grade ¡¾Feast of Blessings¡¿. Although I think that an ¡¾Archangel of Light¡¿ might appear, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s be as much [Damage] as last time.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? No, please stop, ¡­ ex, excuse me, I just remembered I have something urgent to deal with.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    For some reason, Duke Kaperu seemed to rapidly distance himself from me after that cute exchange with his cheeky words.

    I didn¡¯t think much, and just returned all of it to the sender¡­¡­ It¡¯s a failure. I wanted to reply more to his muddled sarcasm and to investigate how much his [Soul] had matured for harvesting¡­¡­

    Because I was mentally exhausted, I wanted to ¡®use¡¯ Duke Kaperu to refresh myself.

    After that, since I made those two worry with my disappearance, I was tightly surrounded once again.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    I cast Holy Magic on the obviously-heavily-injured child that had been carried into the cathedral.

    But to be injured so badly that the child¡¯s body is wrapped entirely with bandages¡­ That¡¯s not it. It might be because of some terrible disease, or possibly a [Curse] from being careless.

    After all, [Curses] exist in this world.

    Although most cases involved ¡¾Demons¡¿, it was also possible to be cursed with normal magic. Most of them come from [Traps]. Treasure chests, tools, and other items that would trigger traps if anyone but the maker used it. They¡¯re particularly troublesome, since they can activate even after the maker has died.

    As for this child, I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s disease or a curse, but ¡¾Healing¡¿ didn¡¯t seem to have any effect, so I used my original magic.

    The image I used, was an item that I¡¯d never used before in my games, the ¡¾Last Elixir¡¿.

    Because it wasn¡¯t an item that would be depleted after use, it¡¯s something that could be used on a poor commoner could use, but with an effect that powerful.

    And in the blink of an eye, the child¡¯s injury scars faded, and not even a single sign of disease remained.

    Because I didn¡¯t want it to spread, I also spread the spell to the mother and the surrounding priests. Since this world¡¯s cosmetic surgery is terrible, I¡¯ll restore that, too.

    ¡°Thank you very much, oh Saint!¡±

    ¡°Nee-chan, thank you~¡±

    No need, no need, you¡¯re welcome. Although the small boy doesn¡¯t seem to understand it very well, the mother is so happy that she¡¯s shedding tears of joy.

    ¡°¡­Ah, about the offering¡­¡±

    Ah, right, there was that.

    While wiping away her tears, the mother cowered a little, probably thinking that she needed to pay a large tithe.

    Even if it is called a place of worship, what we¡¯re doing is the same as a hospital, so even though it¡¯s called an offering the value is fixed.

    If it was a fracture, the going rate is around 30% of their monthly salary, but when it comes to the Holy magic that I used, it¡¯s about the same level as the cost of several months¡¯ worth of hospitalisation in an intensive care unit that I remembered from the dream world, so I could only speculate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it to the will of God¡­¡±

    After saying that, one of the middle-aged priests brought over a paper that looked like an invoice.

    Glancing at it, the amount written could buy me many sets of dresses.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    ¡°DoaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    After quickly poking his forehead in a tsukkomi (read: straight-man comedy act, classic japanese comedy), and sending the middle-aged priest flying several meters, I smiled at the mother and child.

    ¡°I am still in training. You don¡¯t need to tithe.¡±

    ¡°B, bb-b-b-b-b-but¡±

    Crap, they got scared. ¡­¡­ that¡¯s okay, though, it¡¯s normal.

    ¡°Although this is a church, the magic that I used is a magic of my own making that I created during my training, so to make an offering now would be an insult to God¡¯s will.¡±

    Right? ¡­ After I looked around with an [Intimidating] glare at the surrounding church officials, all of them averted their gazes wonderfully. ¡­ Wait, please don¡¯t avert your gaze too, mother-san.

    ¡°Okaa-san, cake ¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait a moment, please stay quiet for a bit.¡±

    Is the child hungry? They¡¯re looking for sweets in the mother¡¯s bag. That child, doing as they pleased ¡­ the child handed me the sweets that they found.

    ¡°Onee-chan, here~¡±

    ¡°Oh my, can I have it?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, I will receive your wonderful [Offering].¡±

    Not to mention, the money can be withdrawn from Duke Kaperu {who has plenty of it}.

    As the priests looked at me with fear in their eyes, the mother took her child, who was waving and smiling happily at me, and went home.

    Something from this might find its way to Duke Kaperu, but honestly I¡¯ve got no issue with that, especially since I wanted him to get agitated and come after me.

    Also¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The sweet that was given to me¡­¡­ It¡¯s unusual ¡­ and I¡¯m not making a bad joke here.

    I don¡¯t know why, but it seems that that child¡¯s [Feelings]¡­? Hmm, there seems to be something that feels like a bit of a [Soul] inside of it.

    Perhaps it¡¯s not a tithe to the church, but rather an [Offering] to me?

 Volume 3 - CH 12

    Volume 3, Chapter 12: I turned 9 years old, Part 3

    ¡°¡­Yu-Yurushia-sama¡±

    Although I was disturbed from my good mood, since my mood had been so good, I greeted the owner of the voice with a smile anyways.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Archbishop Callisto, how may I help you?¡±

    How did he, who was previously the Archbishop of the church in the neighbouring country Shiguresu, become the archbishop here¡­ well, I wasn¡¯t surprised. He said he¡¯d be coming to Taterudo, so I wasn¡¯t surprised when I heard that Archbishop was calling for me.

    ¡°That thing before, about your changing the offering¡­ well¡­¡±

    As I steadily smiled at him, he stopped talking.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    How weak. I¡¯m worried that this Archbishop won¡¯t be able to make a living like this.

    And, Callisto¡­¡­ although he was trembling with fear, when he met my eyes, he blushed a bit. I felt disgusted for a moment.

    Ever since I started growing, my [Intimidation] hasn¡¯t been very stable¡­

    ¡°So, that Holy magic that you used just now, how much magical power does it use?¡±

    ¡°Magical power¡­?¡±

    How much? Maybe if the magic power expenditure is huge, there was supposed to be an equal tithe?

    ¡°Hmm, well¡­ It¡¯s about three times the cost of a ¡¾Feast of Blessings¡¿.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Callisto¡¯s eyes went wide and he stared at me. Well, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s the kind of magic that only the pope should be able to use.

    ¡°That¡­ that much magical power¡­¡­¡±

    As Callisto squeezed out the words, he lowered his head as if deciding something.

    ¡°There is a ceremony asking for Yurushia-sama.¡±

    ¡°What is that, I wonder¡­?¡±

    ¡°We would like for you to use your great magical power in the service of God. We will do my very best to repay you. We will try our best to accommodate you, so please.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s too suspicious¡­¡­

    ¡°It is to be done in the old castle owned by Duke Kapell in the suburbs, and as for the guards, I have left the  [Hero]in charge of security, so it¡¯s safe.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    Although it¡¯s a failure of a presentation, I¡¯m interested.

    Besides, if they could arbitrarily conduct such a dubious ceremony in a place where I couldn¡¯t see, then I¡¯d be worried anyways.

    I¡¯ve understood from our investigations that the Daemons might be involved.

    But I don¡¯t know if Callisto and the [Hero] have any relation to the Daemons¡­¡­

    ¡°Very well. I will help you.¡±

    ¡°Ooohhh, thank you so much Yurushia-sama. I will guide you.¡±

    If possible, I¡¯d like to crush it on the spot.

    Besides, since my sister-samas are in the hero¡¯s party, let¡¯s check on how much they¡¯ve matured in this long absence.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡­ do you really believe that Archbishop Callisto¡¯s words?¡±

    ¡°I have never heard of Callisto. If he was capable enough to have become an archbishop, it¡¯s nearly impossible for me not to have heard of him.¡±

    Even though I didn¡¯t want to talk about it at all, after hearing that I had been given a request by Callisto, Rick and Noel said those sorts of things.

    ¡°As a citizen of the Holy Kingdom, should you really be doubting an archbishop of the state religion?¡±

    Although I know what¡¯s behind him, I glossed over it because I would be troubled if they opposed me now.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama, I am also against it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Vio¡±

    While walking from the cathedral to the carriage, I stopped when Vio spoke up.

    Because we can¡¯t bring all the members of the guardian knights into the town, today the guards are about half-strength.

    Still, of the knights that Rick brought, three of them came from the [Holy Knights] that were the primary force of the Holy Kingdom, and I also only took the elite of my guardian knights like Bree-chan and Sara-chan.

    Although we brought various people from the mercenary company like Noel and Bear-san, Vio still seems to be uneasy about our war potential¡­¡­

    ¡°Rick, Noel, could you all go to the carriage first?¡±

    ¡°I want to know what¡¯s going on first before I move,¡±

    ¡°Understood. Let¡¯s go then, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Oi, Noel.¡±

    Noel who heard something in my voice dragged the reluctant Rick away.

    ¡­¡­ they¡¯re unexpectedly chummy.

    There was still Bree-chan and gang, but my attendants read the mood and soon everyone else had left.

    ¡°Vio¡­ now that you mention it, you used to hate the church, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Your memory¡¯s unexpectedly good. It was when you were two, I think.¡±

    ¡°It was Vio¡¯s family¡­¡±

    At my words, Vio was surprised, but smiled gently at me.

    ¡°What happened¡­ may I ask?¡±

    ¡°Will you reconsider if I tell you my story¡­?¡±

    Vio was a little anxious¡­ so I looked her straight in the eyes and answered honestly.

    ¡°U~n, if I don¡¯t know I can¡¯t understand.¡±

    When I said such, Vio smiled a little bitterly and let out a light chuckle.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama. I think I¡¯ve talked to Ria-sama about this in the past, do you remember?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remember.¡±

    Vio was Mother¡¯s junior in school, and when when her family was in decline and she fell behind on her studies, Mother helped her.

    ¡°Just like Yuru-sama, I was able to use Holy Magic at a young age. Besides my capacity for water and wind magic, because my magical power was high, I caught the attention of the church and they attempted to woo me many a time.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    I can understand that a little.

    ¡°At the time, I was being constantly solicited by a priest but after I refused him because I was helping out my family¡¯s business, nasty rumors began to circulate¡­¡­ I was too young at the time, so I can¡¯t tell you any concrete details of what happened but Ria-sama, who was close to Archbishop Molt, helped get that priest excommunicated. After that, the malicious rumors died off.¡±

    ¡°What happened to that priest¡­?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, there was an effort to protect church members, so I heard that he had been handed over to the neighbouring country, Shiguresu, without being deprived of his priesthood.¡±

    That makes it nearly impossible for me to believe in the church¡­¡­

    ¡°His name¡­ do you know it?¡±

    Although my voice sounded slightly disgusted, Vio hesitated a little bit before she lost to my gaze and said the name.

    ¡°Although my memory might be a bit faulty, but I¡¯m sure¡­¡­¡­ it was Cristor¡± (TL: Callistoru in engrish)

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    It seems that my mouth has spontaneously curled into a smile.

    It¡¯s probably¡­ not the kind of smile a decent [Human Being] would make. Vio¡¯s face somewhat scrunched a little.

    ¡°Well then, shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Did you think I would back down after hearing such a tale¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Although I won¡¯t say it¡¯s malicious, I prioritized my own thoughts like a selfish egoistic bad child, and personally, it¡¯d be Demon-like to ignore it and give up.

    Vio gave up and sighed visibly, waiting for my orders.

    ¡°Vio. I will investigate this nest of parasites leeching our Holy Kingdom. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yes.¡±

    Vio has known me ever since I was born. She is my family.

    Let¡¯s get rid of this stone in her heart.

    When this is over¡­¡­ well, we¡¯ll gradually find her a husband.

    £ª£ª£ª

    A few hours passed as I was bumped about on the carriage. Following the lead of Callisto¡¯s carriage, we arrived at the ancient castle owned by Duke Kapell.

    On the carriage, I got sandwiched between Rick and Noel again, both my hands were held but the expressions on the two¡¯s faces were super serious to the point that I was starting to seriously get worried, enough that I was letting off a bit of [Intimidation] without meaning to.

    ¡­¡­Are they worried that I¡¯m in danger?

    Surrounding the old castle were beautiful forests and lakes, but the castle itself was full of weeds and poorly maintained, in a state of ruin.

    ¡°Now, Yurushia-sama, come this way!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Got it¡±

    Callisto who was awfully lively, led us on with a few priests in tow.

    Rick walked next to me, while Noel walked several steps behind me, directing the mercenaries into formation.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It seems like everyone¡¯s being very serious¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia-sama.¡±

    As I was being guided into the banquet hall of the old castle, someone called out my name.

    Can I even call it a banquet hall at this point? Where previously one would hold ballroom parties, there are now various types of magic formations positioned about the room.

    Slipping through the not-insignificant amount of priests and officials, a young man ran up to us with short steps and called out to us.

    ¡°Aah, my beautiful Princess, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s true, Alfio-sama.¡±

    He came out, the Hero {lol} Alfio-kun.

    ¡°Oooohhh, you¡¯ve become even more beautiful in the past year. Please give this Al the honor of kissing your hand¡­¡±

    Are you dangerously ill? With a face that was incomparably redder than last time and his rough breathing, Alfio tried to take my hand, but Rick and Noel interrupted him immediately.

    ¡°I am Roderick of Taterudo. Dear sir, did you forget your manners?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As expected of the name of the grandson of Taterudo¡¯s King, Alfio immediately withdrew with a slightly crooked face, and bowed to Rick.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry. But I am neither a noble, nor a citizen of this country¡­¡±

    Wow¡­ that attitude is disgusting. He¡¯s probably really confident in his strength. However, as one would expect of this kind of disrespect, one of the Holy Knights put a hand onto his sword, Rick stopped him with a raised hand, though.

    ¡°And your name is?¡±

    ¡°¡­I am called the Hero of Shiguresu, Alfio.¡±

    ¡°I see. I haven¡¯t heard anything of you from my aunt, who is part of the Shiguresu royalty, but, nevermind that. You may return to your duties.¡±

    ¡°tsch. ¡­¡­¡­ well then, excuse me.¡±

    As Alfio went back on the road he came with a black face, the rest of the hero party rejoined him with worried faces.

    Among them were my elder sister-samas, and Athena was glaring daggers at me with a horrible look, but when I waved at her with a full-faced smile, she averted her gaze with a start.

    What a fantastic reaction, elder sister-sama.

    Regardless of what other people called him, unless he was a [Hero] that had been approved by the state, he was the same as an arrogant self-proclaimed ¡®hero¡¯ of a foreign country. I¡¯m in the same situation, though.

    As Alfio disappeared, Rick turned around and exchanged a look with Noel for an instant, then the two of them instantly went back to sandwiching me.

    What was that¡­¡­ that exchange just then?

    Although the atmosphere had been strained just a while ago, they seem to have come to an understanding. I don¡¯t understand the relationships of boys.

    ¡°Yurushia. I say, you shouldn¡¯t let such a suspicious character get close to you so easily.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, sorry. But isn¡¯t it unusual to hear you say these kinds of things, Rick? You¡¯re totally a ¡°Prince-sama¡±, after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Was that what you thought of me?¡±

    While making an astounded face, Rick flushed a little and tapped my head softly.

    Although it didn¡¯t hurt, when I puffed up my cheeks and rubbed my head with a little indignation, Noel lightly stroked my head, only to retract his hand in panic when I turned to look at him, his cheeks flushing red.

    Rick and Noel were really cute¡­¡­

    I¡¯m getting worried that Bree-chan will be possessed by the [Degenerate God] again, though.

    Proceeding into the banquet hall, Duke Kapell was talking to some researcher-like people.

    As expected, he couldn¡¯t ignore the amount of people coming in, and while he averted his gaze from mine when our eyes met, he couldn¡¯t ignore Rick, and came over from the other side.

    ¡°Oh my oh my, it¡¯s Roderick-sama. I apologise for not receiving you.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Incidentally, what is this facility?¡±

    As Rick probed him with a slightly interrogative tone, Duke Kapell grinned from ear to ear.

    ¡°Well, this is a temple for summoning the [Retainers] of Goddess Kostoru.¡±

    ¡°A temple¡­¡­? You mean to say that you intend to summon a god?¡±

    ¡°That is the end goal. First, if we can summon the kin of a god to let the world know that God truly exists in this world, then Taterudo will become a true Holy Kingdom, a magnificent country with a true God.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    That is, if God actually exists¡­¡­¡­ By the way, it feels like I¡¯m being ignored, is it just me?

    ¡°Duke Kapell¡­?¡±

    When I spoke, Duke Kapell¡¯s shoulders gave a start.

    ¡­¡­ Why is he so skittish?

    ¡°Yu-Princess Yurushia, I heard from Callisto that you could help us with your wonderful magical power¡­¡±

    ¡°You did not hear incorrectly. Incidentally, I am learning summoning magic at the magic academy, so I¡¯d like it very much if I could see that summoning formation by all means.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ that, it¡¯s not ready yet, so¡­ to begin with, how about a meal first? I will have it prepared by then.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I know that it takes time to draw up the summoning formation, so to prepare it in the time it would take for a meal, I wonder what the teachers at the academy would say?

    But since Duke Kapell looks like he¡¯s having a [Conniption Fit] right now, I guess I¡¯ll accept it.

    ¡°Well then, I will be imposing on your kindness.¡±

    ¡°Really. Then¡­¡­ the dining hall here isn¡¯t very big, so how about we have just the young people alone, along with Princess Yurushia¡¯s attendants? I will be entertaining everyone else in a separate room.

    The young people¡­? It¡¯s just Rick, Noel and I. Well, that and my 4 attendants. To not have Bear-san, who¡¯s a Viscount, with us, Duke Kapell sure is bold.

    Although Rick and Noel both had their suspicions about it, since we had no reason to refuse, I accepted it with a sullen face.

    Sorry¡­¡­ the two of you.

    What is Duke Kapell plotting, that he¡¯s in such a good mood despite his sweating?

    Was he getting impatient, or was everything going according to plan¡­¡­¡­

    I wonder what he¡¯ll show me from here on in?

 Volume 3 - CH 13

    Volume 3, Chapter 13: Unleashed, Part 1

    ¡°Now, please, come take a seat.¡±

    The dining hall that we were led to was way too strange.

    In the middle of the wider corner of the castle, there were luxurious large tables and chairs that looked like they were brought from somewhere, while carpets were laid out as if trying to hide something on the floor.

    ¡­¡­Were you guys unable to keep up the appearances a little more?

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you say this dining room is a little big?¡±

    ¡°Well, no¡­ because of the constraints, this was prepared in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I think if I tease him any more, Duke Kapell¡¯s self-respect will tear itself to rags.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them were glaring at me from both sides silently. ¡­ it seems that one side was unable to calm down, given that my elder sister-samas who were also Duke Verusenia¡¯s daughters were here.

    Well, although I¡¯m a self-indulgent person, since I¡¯m the younger sister, surely it¡¯s alright to call out to my elder sisters.

    ¡°Elder Sister Athena, if you keep wrinkling your brows like that, your cute face will be ruined.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia. What kind of joke are you trying to make by calling me [Sister]¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only a formality, so don¡¯t mind it. Oh yeah, I heard you became part of the hero¡¯s party¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Al-sama is strong and his knowledge is splendid. It¡¯s far removed from someone who¡¯s the [Princess] of a country where old-fashioned traditions are in charge.¡±

    ¡°Ara, ara, ufufu. That is good. Because it would be troublesome for the family which Elder Sister marries into to look after her, it would be great if he could look after you properly and train you.¡±

    My words cause Elder Sister¡¯s face to change colour.

    The Hero that Elder Sister was after tried to kiss my hand twice and was interrupted both times.

    ¡°¡­Even if it¡¯s you, I won¡¯t allow you to besmirch Al-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ooh, scary.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hold in my joy, and when I involuntarily broke out into a full laughter at them, my Elder Sister-sama physically took a step back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡±

    Rick tapped my shoulder with a *pon* and looked at me with a shocked face.

    Glancing back, I could see that Noel also had a troubled and bitter smile. I wonder if my enjoyment went just a little over the limit?

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Athena.¡±

    ¡°¡­Roderick-sama¡±

    The two of them exchanged greetings and then settled back into silence with strained faces.

    Was Rick the person that Elder Sister Athena used to be betrothed to? Well, for now I¡¯ll leave Athena-onee-sama to Rick for a bit.

    ¡°Ophelia-onee-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hee!¡±

    What is with that reply¡­¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t said much so far, so why are you so afraid?

    ¡°¡­Y-Yu-Yurushia¡­¡­ I have nothing to say to you.¡±

    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t say such a thing. Won¡¯t you listen to your cute little sister¡¯s request?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-what?¡±

    If you keep making such a frightened face, my Demon blood will be roused and I¡¯ll need to hold it back¡­¡­

    ¡°What was it between the two of you?¡±

    As I dragged her closer and whispered that to her, Ophelia-onee-sama gave a small nod with teary eyes.

    ¡°W-we¡­¡­¡­ played together with Roderick-sama when we were little kids¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    A childhood friend, huh¡­? So for your engagement to be annulled, what exactly did you do, Onee-samas¡­¡­

    Thing is, Ophelia-onee-sama seems like she¡¯s regressing into an infant.

    ¡°W-well, let¡¯s eat!¡±

    Duke Kapell, who couldn¡¯t bear the atmosphere, said so loudly.

    That¡¯s right. It¡¯s time for the main dish.

    What a scene¡­¡­

    Duke Kapell was talking to himself in a nervous sweat, Rick was there silently eating while Noel, who wasn¡¯t used to this atmosphere, was warily surveying his surroundings with a nervous face. Athena-onee-sama was ignoring everyone else as if they weren¡¯t there, while Ophelia-onee-sama just sat, unable to even speak with a cramped face, and my attendants and I were eating without even hiding the displeased expressions on our faces.

    Incidentally, despite saying that it¡¯s only for young people¡­ are Duke Kapell, Callisto and that unknown old guy just waiting for a tsukkomi for being present?

    ¡°Who is that person?¡±

    Ah, Rick seems to have gotten to the tsukkomi first.

    ¡°How rude of me¡­ This is Kord-dono that I¡¯ve invited from Terutedo for guidance in summoning magic.¡±

    At Duke Kapell¡¯s introductions, the man built like a rock rose smoothly and nodded.

    ¡°I am Kord. I have heard of your name. Because I¡¯m a boorish person who only engages in research, I hope you¡¯ll forgive my rudeness¡­¡±

    He says he¡¯s a researcher, but he looks more like a warrior¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Do all the men of Terutedo forge their bodies like Kord-sama?¡±

    When I let out my side comment, Kord lost his breath for a moment, and then answered without looking at me.

    ¡°¡­In a warrior country, if one is not strong, one will be treated with contempt.¡±

    The common names for the nations, or should I say, their nicknames, like [Holy Kingdom], [Agricultural Country], or [Warrior Country], weren¡¯t officially their names, but rather labels so that others could understand what they did.

    For example, this country¡¯s [Holy Kingdom] title is commonly used in diplomacy because its official name is rather hard on the ears, while Shiguresu¡¯s [Agricultural Country] was rude to use in official settings.

    Despite being called a [Warrior Country] Terutedo isn¡¯t actually fond of war, but they¡¯re a people that loves to train their bodies and collect weapons, and are mostly harmless except towards those who were [Clear Enemies] like the Daemons and Demons, a self-proclaimed [Warrior Country].

    For better or for worse, the people of Terutedo are lovable [Muscle Heads].

    ¡°So Kord-sama is a rare type in Terutedo¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ you could say that¡±

    There are serious researchers in the muscle-brained country called Terutedo, but those people were mostly those with weak bodies or who were women.

    Those people are mostly doing their very best to make [The Strongest Weapon Imaginable], so besides Kord, while they all trained in fighting with weapons, there are almost no people studying summoning magic.

    ¡°Oh, right, Kord-dono gave me a rare fruit liquor from Terutedo. Let¡¯s serve it immediately.¡±

    Somehow sensing the delicate air between Kord and I, Duke Kapell panicked and ordered the serving of the wine.

    Quickly, as if they had had it already prepared in the next room, a slightly cold and orange fruit liquor was poured into all the glasses.

    Although the official age for drinking alcohol was 15 years old, generally people would gradually start to develop a taste for it from the age of 10. From the age of 15 it becomes alright to sit in a bar and drink as much as you want.

    Although Betty did recommend that I drink, I never thought that it could be delicious since I couldn¡¯t get drunk.

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Lucia¡­ what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Well, It was just a little delicious¡­¡±

    It really was a little delicious. Although originally it was supposed to be a famous and precious sake, but as Rick, Noel and I were drinking it deliciously and having a conversation¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­This¡­¡±

    If I looked closely, I could see a [Cloudiness] in the clear orange liquid that was invisible to [Human Beings].

    This is, magical power¡­¡­

    *Gatta¡­¡­a*

    Rick and Noel¡­ and my Older Sister-samas all lost consciousness abruptly and collapsed.

    ¡°¡­Poison?¡±

    I failed. No, I was careless. Poison doesn¡¯t work on Demons, so I didn¡¯t even try to guard against it.

    ¡°[Let there be¡­¡±

    AsI tried to cast the Holy Magic¡¾Detoxification¡¿, I was assailed by a sudden weakness, and slid down when I tried to stand up from the chair I was on.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°MASTER!¡±

    My attendants came rushing over at the state of affairs¡­ Did the poison not work on those children?

    ¡°As expected of the one called a [Saint], Princess Yurushia. You¡¯re still conscious¡­¡­¡±

    Said Duke Kapell, with a voice that seemed like it was going to burst into laughter at any moment.

    ¡°What about these brats? Did they not drink the wine?¡±

    Kord said crudely, standing next to Duke Kapell.

    My consciousness seems to be breaking off¡­¡­ But that was foolish. My attendants¡¯ anger was boiling over, and they were about to go berserk. If my attendants went into a rampage in this situation, Rick and Noel will die.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Let there be Light]!¡±

    I mustered my will and shouted out the Holy magic¡¯s incantation.

    Even if the poison¡¯s effect causes me to be unable to control my raging magical power well, it should have at least neutralised the poison in Rick a little.

    ¡°¡­You all, carry Rick outside of the castle¡­¡­ and then Vio¡­¡±

    ¡°B-, but Yurushia-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°Hurry up and do it!¡±

    Under the light of the Holy Magic, my attendants reluctantly followed my instructions to them, and teleported out with Rick.

    Although it normally isn¡¯t an issue for me to teleport with them as well, if I teleport out with my magical power in this state, I don¡¯t know what kind of accident might happen.

    As the dazzling light faded, I could see that Duke Kapell had a panicked expression on his face, while Kord wielded a huge sword, grimacing as he looked down on me.

    ¡°Despite being in that state, to think that you could still cast magic¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened, where is Roderick!? Did those servants evacuate him!?¡±

    Bellowed Duke Kapell at his men, but the guards in front of the door could only shake their heads, their faces blue.

    ¡°Kapell, those brats are inconsequential. With just the little lady alone, we should be able to get enough magical power.¡±

    ¡°B-,but¡­ With the witnesses alive¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut the waffling and resolve yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I understand.¡±

    ¡°Du-Duke Kapell-sama¡­¡­ what is the meaning of this¡­¡±

    Callisto, who had been dazed until then drew close at that point, sweating profusely, while Duke Kapell, on the contrary, turned to Callisto with an arrogant look.

    ¡°Watch quietly as our ¡¾God¡¿ is summoned.¡±

    ¡°S-so, is that how it is¡­¡±

    Staring with contemptuous eyes, Kord came to me, who hadn¡¯t lost consciousness yet and kneeled.

    ¡°Rejoice. Your magic will realise the grand wish of our [King].¡±

    Kord¡¯s face radiated a sense of accomplishment¡­ and then as thinking of what would come next, joy.

    It seems that the poison was effective on the part of me that was [Human]¡­ Normal poison wouldn¡¯t work, so what kind of creature could produce this kind of poison¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Daemons.¡±

    As I lost control over my mouth, the smile on Kord¡¯s face disappeared as I leaked out the last word.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. It will be dangerous if you¡¯re left alive.¡±

    As I muttered, Kord started up the magic formation under the carpet and began to cast at the same time.

    So as I expected, it was a Daemon, huh¡­¡­ It was too suspicious in various ways.

    ¡°[Magic Power Transfer]¡­!¡±

    As Kord¡¯s incantation completed, my rampaging magical power was absorbed by the formation.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ is this amount of magical power¡­ Is this girl even human¡­¡±

    Nope, I¡¯m a Demon¡­¡­ But this might be bad. My rampaging magical power has disappeared and the strain on my body has eased, but my consciousness is still cut off.

    Without my magic power and my consciousness, it¡¯s impossible to resist¡­¡­

    So sleepy¡­¡­ can¡¯t ¡­ I shou¡­¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­eh,

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    £ª

    Kord who was the Daemon King¡¯s confidant and general had received a secret mission from the Daemon King, and so had been collecting magical power from the various human nations.

    As a warrior that battled humans on the front lines, he wanted to cross swords with the [Hero] that would appear.

    But he respected and loved the Daemon King and he knew that there would be no future for Daemons even if they won over the humans. While Kord didn¡¯t understand the theory,  he knew they were attempting to call out something ¡¾Massive¡¿.

    The three types of Demons of the ¡¾Ruling Class (Master Class)¡¿ that would appear after a long time of being a ¡¾Greater Demon (Arch Demon)¡¿.

    ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿

    ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿

    ¡¾The Devil¡¿

    If it was let out not under control, the Daemon Race would perish. But without that much power, it would be impossible to force the Daemon race to obey and manage them.

    As for the Daemon King, if a single one of the human nations knew of their [Plan] to summon one of those three ¡¾Pillars¡¿, all of the nations would band together to thoroughly destroy the Daemon race.

    Things had to be done carefully.

    Kord wanted to fight, but of those whom Daemon King trusted, only he was able to work in human society without being uncovered.

    And, despite encountering the man that human society called the [Hero], he could only feel power from him that equaled a Daemon ¡¾Dark Knight¡¿, so he became disillusioned with human beings.

    Agitating the priests and fanatics of the church, and collecting their magic power with sweet words, sending the magic power to the Daemons¡¯ territory.

    Forced to make round-trips between the Daemons¡¯ territory and human society, Kord who was tired and frustrated plotted to make use of the [Saint] after hearing Duke Kapell talk about her.

    There was a legend among the Daemons of an existence that led the [Hero] to victory with its mighty magic power and merciful heart.

    As long as the Saint was next to him, the hero would be nigh-invulnerable.

    The girl was still young, but if she was the [Genuine Article], then not only would there be enough magic power, but there might be the benefit of removing this troubling existence called a [Saint].

    He did not think that the Saint would be such a beautiful girl.

    With that youth, that beauty, and after witnessing her continue to use magic after drinking the medicine that was created to deprive the Hero of his strength, Kord was well and truly convinced that she was the [Genuine Article].

    Kord had thought of offering her up to the Daemon king, but judged that she would be a danger to them since she managed to see through Kord as a Daemon.

    After absorbing her enormous magical power, she fell unconscious and lay there on the cold floor.

    Kord who stepped forward to end her life without increasing her suffering was suddenly beset by an unspeakable chill.

    The beautiful golden hair of the fallen girl swelled, ¡­¡­ and *fuuuhn*, the girl disappeared, leaving only her dress.

    What happened? Where is the girl¡­?

    ¡°GUAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?¡±

    A small golden lump jumped out of the shadow of the dress and bit deeply into Kord¡¯s side.

    Reflexively falling to one knee, Kord saw something even as his face warped in pain, it was a small [Golden Cat].

    It wasn¡¯t just a cat. It couldn¡¯t be just a cat.

    With fiendish red eyes that were devoid of reason. Crimson fangs and nails that dripped blood.

    It was throwing out a violent, ominous presence. A human servant who wandered closer by accident was instantly decomposed from coming into contact with that miasma, rotting until his putrid flesh collapsed onto the ground.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­¡­?¡±

    That day¡­¡­ the restraints of the ¡¾Human Heart¡¿ and ¡¾Human Body¡¿ were released,

    And the upper-class Demon ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, was unleashed upon the Holy Kingdom.

    LINE HERE

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Because I¡¯ve received a number of questions, I¡¯ll supplement it a bit.

    There are many other religions in this world other than the Kostoru religion, such as the god of fire, the god of trade, and the god of knowledge, but I¡¯ve divided them into [Sects].

    Most of the religions were treated the same, which includes the hundreds of emerging religions.

    Magic and sorcery differ in that [Magic] is mostly intuition, whilst the stuff that¡¯s studied and researched is called [Sorcery], but the boundary is ambiguous and mostly it¡¯s the professors in the schools that care about the divide.

    Normal people also can¡¯t tell the difference between magic and sorcery. The students of the academy also call it only by feeling.

    To be exact, summoning is [Sorcery], but other subjects are called [Magic] so it¡¯s also named accordingly.

    Sorry about the carefree world setting. I too sometimes get overwhelmed, so forgive me.

 Volume 3 - CH 14

    Volume 3, Chapter 14: Unleashed, Part 2

    Author Note: Lots of gore again. Entirely in third person.

    Kord was confused.

    It¡¯s understandable. His Daemon King had spent several years¡­¡­ if you included the preparation period, Niarly 20 years had been spent on trying to summon this thing, and here it was right in front of him.

    ¡°It can not be¡­¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be that a¡¾Demon Beast¡¿was in front of him. The documents that spoke of its existence was thousands of years old.

    Who could believe that one would encounter such a legendary existence this easily even if they asked for it?

    [ShaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    However, Kord¡¯s dream was shattered as the small golden cat let out a cry, and the entire castle shook, cracks appearing in the thick walls and stone floors. In the midst of the enormous swirling magic power and miasma, the shadow of the cracks materialized and began to flow and spread, and he could feel a sheer amount of corruption that exceeded that of an ¡¾Arch Demon¡¿.

    It looked like a thin, short-haired golden cat.

    Along its small back, wings that were the same colour as its golden fur that were disproportionately larger than the body by a few tens of centimeters spread out. then, flapping a single time with its huge wings that exceeded 5 metres, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ slowly floated into the air.

    What was this Demon going to do¡­?

    The ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ let out a low growl as it faced a certain direction, and Kord, noticing that the direction was the [Daemons¡¯ territory], turned pale, even as he bled from his face and side.

    ¡°¡­Oh, Ohhhhh, so this is a Demon Beast!¡±

    Calling out in joy, Duke Kapell forgot himself as he Niared the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿. He hadn¡¯t noticed what happened, and he hadn¡¯t even noticed that it had been Yurushia.

    ¡°Now, Demon Beast, kill the weak Royal family, and all the other obstructive Ducal houses! Obey me, and I will sacrifice thousands to-,¡±

    The foolish Duke Kapell believed Kord¡¯s lies and was convinced that the summoned Demon would obey him.

    His grandfather was the youngest brother of the king, so he believed that he had only been unlucky, thinking that if he could become king he would be able to subjugate all the surrounding countries including Shiguresu and Terutedo and lead them into being a true Holy Kingdom.

    Duke Kapell had tried several strategies, and was related to both Demon summoning incidents: supplying money and information to the one thought to be the mastermind, Marquis BruNiau.

    Since his plan that had taken him such a long time at last to reached its final stage, Duke Kapell lost his calm and became talkative, and in the middle of his words, and carelessly stepped into the blanket of [Darkness] that spread across the floor.

    *splat*¡­

    ¡°¡­GyyaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHH, aAAaaAAa, Aa¡­¡­¡±

    Duke Kapell turned into a skeleton as thousands of years seemed to pass in an instant, the man who had been secretly maneuvering behind the back of the Holy Kingdom crumbled away like a pile of dust in the wind, closing the curtains upon his life.

    His soul was inhaled by the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ with great relish, who chewed it for a bit before swallowing.

    Whether [She] was in the form of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ or not, she was still a gourmand, and there was a hint of pleasure as she pulled out all the weak-willed humans¡¯ [Souls]. All the subordinates who knew of Duke Kapell¡¯s plans simply ceased to live without a single outward injury.

    For an upper-class Demon that¡¯s beyond the realm of mere Greater Demons (Arch Demons), there wasn¡¯t even a need for her to even lift a finger to take a human¡¯s [Soul], just like a believer would dedicate [Offerings] to their gods, so did the weak-minded humans offer up their souls.

    Their dead faces showed not joy, but an [Anguish] that caused one to wonder just how much pain they went through.

    No one would ever think of wanting to die like this.

    The only one who survived was Kord, who believed not in God but the Daemon King, and Callisto, who was able to use a little Holy Magic.

    ¡°Th-that¡­ I¡­ God¡­¡­why¡­¡±

    Frozen in fear from seeing that unbelievable thing, Callisto shook his head like a small child while crying.

    Callisto had believed that everything would be perfect if God descended.

    If God descended, this world would find peace, so he had no qualms about destroying the little peace of the people who lived happily now.

    He believed with all his heart that if the Holy Kingdom threw away all of it¡¯s military for a God, even the Daemons would relent.

    Not realizing that he had merely replaced [Military] with [God] to protect the people, he couldn¡¯t understand the reason for his exile from the Holy Kingdom, and didn¡¯t realize the contradiction of harming others¡¯ happiness for peace.

    Finally given the means to make his ideal a reality by Duke Kapell, on the verge of seeing his dream a reality, Callisto preached an incredible dream.

    Before him, with the beauty and power of God, was a Demon¡­¡­

    Unable to accept reality, Callisto¡¯s spirit gave way to the fear from the miasma, foaming at the mouth with bloodshot eyes wearing a thin smile.

    As a matter of fact, this loss saved Callisto¡¯s life.

    Callisto¡¯s soul that had suffered a mental collapse and had no more value and so became of no interest to the gourmand¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    But with all of the living humans gone and only the grating rasp of a mentally deranged human, a hint of annihilation was shortly aimed towards him, but then,

    ¡°GaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    Kord¡¯s greatsword slashed down, releasing a shockwave toward the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    It wasn¡¯t that Kord was going to help Callisto. Rather, that his warrior instincts told him that if he didn¡¯t use his greatest attack during this small gap in its defense, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to scratch this Demon Beast.

    As the impact crushed the stone wall, and enormous rubble fell, Kord felt a little chill and dodged, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ tore off his right arm, and broke apart his greatsword.

    ¡°GowaaaaaaaAAAAAA¡±

    Kord released his [Human] illusion, and reverted to the figure of a [Daemon] with grey skin. Along with that, he released magic power to heal his injuries, also raising his offensive and defensive power, but that ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ tore through it like thin paper.

    Daemons couldn¡¯t use Holy Magic, but they could use Water Magic to close wounds and improve healing. In the first place, Daemons had way more physical strength than a human, but every strike from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ on his flanks and his arms left a curse-like miasma coiling about them, which degraded his body from the inside.

    ¡°¡­¡­Monster¡­¡±

    ¡°Master!?¡±

    As the attendants who sensed that enormous presence returned, they were surprised by Yurushia returning to the form they dearly missed¡­¡­ the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    ¡°Tina!¡±

    [ShaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    As Nia raised her voice, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ struck the exact same moment with terrifying speed and bit off Tina¡¯s arm clean off her shoulder.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*kuu*¡±

    Instantly Noa used ¡¾Unleash¡¿ and stopped Tina from collapsing using his magic power, but Tina who had turned pale refused to believe her eyes about her [Master]¡¯s body.

    ¡°Can you still move? Tina?¡±

    ¡°¡­Ye, Yes, but leaving that aside, our Master¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be back!¡±

    Fannie¡¯s voice brought everyone to attention. Having a taste of a lower-rank Demon, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿brimmed with a brutal presence, and, spreading its golden wings, it attacked them again.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    Nia immediately took the blow with her Cursed Blade, but was unable to fully ¡¾Absorb¡¿ the power of the blow and was blown off into the wall, falling to her knees.

    ¡°*cough*¡­¡­so strong¡±

    ¡°You brats!¡±

    Kord called out to the attendants who were somehow able to battle that [Monster].

    ¡°Help me! I am General Kord of the Daemon King¡¯s army. If you leave this monster be, the human nations will be finished!¡±

    The only thing in Kord¡¯s mind, was the Daemon King¡¯s territory and the Daemon King himself.

    Why the [Saint¡¯s] disappearance would cause the [Demon Beast] to appear was beyond his understanding, but when the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ turned its head toward the direction of the Daemons¡¯ territory, Kord knew that it was seeking out the magic power that he had transferred.

    {I won¡¯t let you get to the Daemon King-sama¡­!}

    He prided himself as being one of the top five of the Daemon King¡¯s subordinates, but he was being trampled to his wits¡¯ end by this little Demon.

    Kord had already resolved to die, for the sake of the Daemon King he chose to throw away his pride and work together with the [Humans].

    ¡°¡­¡­ Monster¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    As Kord turned to the sudden voice coming from behind him, he saw a boy wearing an enraged expression staring at him.

    Noa didn¡¯t even give him the time to raise his voice, and used the greatest force of¡¾Unleash¡¿to instantly pulverise his body and soul.

    ¡°¡­Low-life.¡±

    As Noa spit out the words, half the castle collapsed under the force of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ and his ¡¾Unleashing¡¿.

    *Gagin*

    ¡°¡­kuhh¡±

    Meanwhile, Nia who held the power of ¡¾Absorption¡¿ was barely taking the attacks of the¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    The attendants couldn¡¯t strike Yurushia.

    However, since Tina and Fannie couldn¡¯t even take a single blow from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, and Nia suffered increasing damage with every single blow that she ¡¾Absorbed¡¿, as it stood, they would be overwhelmed.

    ¡°Fannie, supplement Nia¡¯s magic power! Tina! We will stop Yurushia-sama, so attack with full force.¡±

    Tina¡¯s eyes went wide at Noa¡¯s instructions.

    ¡°Wha-what are you saying!? To attack our Master¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­A half-baked attack won¡¯t do any damage. In order to wake up Yurushia-sama who is the fastest in the Demon World, the instant that Nia takes the blow we counterattack with full force. Even she should stop moving then. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Tina gritted her teeth as her left shoulder regenerated, her curly golden hair turning into countless snakes.

    The other three also shed their human forms and raised their magic power to their maximum.

    For these four Demons, neither the affairs of this country, nor the affairs of the world mattered to them.

    If Yurushia wished it, they would be happy to turn the whole world into their enemies and reap the souls of all the living beings.

    As a result, even if they had to perish, they felt a joy rather than fear at the thought of dying for their [Master].

    However, the current ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ was different.

    It was different from their Master [Yurushia] who was like a mother to them, the only source of warmth in the Demon World like the sun.

    Their true Master ¡­¡­ [Yurushia] had to be recovered. Even if they had to perish.

    ¡°I¡¯m starting©`!¡±

    The Harlequin-masked Fannie focused a mental assault on the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿to divert its attack even a little.

    When it came, Nia jumped into the line of fire and took the blow, whilst Tina¡¯s snakes coiled around the body of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, tying it up until it couldn¡¯t be seen.

    ¡°Now¡±

    ¡°¡¾Unleash¡¿!¡±

    Nia took the power absorbed from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿¡¯s assault, and channeled it straight into Noa¡¯s attack as magic power.

    The full manifestation of the four ¡¾Greater Demons¡¿ and their special characteristics in a combination attack.

    [KiyshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!]

    As the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ cried out in pain, half the snakes crushing it solidified and stopped moving. ¡­But¡­

    A huge amount of magic power was released explosively from within, tossing off the golden snakes, smashing Nia¡¯s cursed sword, and tearing up the four Demons.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The Demons fell to the ground and looked up silently as the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ calmly fluttered into the air as if nothing had happened.

    They knew better than anyone that Yurushia was [Superior] to them. But, because her everyday self didn¡¯t feel threatened, her usual magical power was only somewhat larger than theirs, split from the Demon Beast form, giving her human self an unexpectedly large [Magic Power].

    Would everything end without them being able to recover [Yurushia]¡­¡­¡­ Just as the Demons were thinking that¡­

    *plop*¡­¡­

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­eh?¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    The golden cat suddenly fell, and a naked [Yurushia] rolled on the ground.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Daemon King Hebrad was born as a Daemon more than 30 years ago.

    His father was the previous Daemon King, and his mother was killed by the other wives after giving birth to him.

    In addition, Hebrad had a secret he couldn¡¯t tell anyone,  he had memories of a previous life as a human.

    If this was to be known, he would be killed by the Daemons that hated humans. Even so, he never considered himself an ally of the humans.

    In his past life, he had been a corporate slave to a black company, had been exploited by everyone around him, and had lived being held in contempt.

    His parents had died while he was still in school and his uncle¡¯s family cheated him of the insurance money, so he despaired and hated human beings despite being one. One night he spit blood into his futon, dying without ever being cared for.

    He thought that he had been given a chance at last to avenge himself on human beings by being reborn as a Daemon.

    His hatred was seen as strange among the Daemons and the previous Daemon King, who had no affections for his own children, made use of that hatred, so Hebrad was given a harsh and elite education.

    But as Hebrad gained the knowledge necessary to command the Daemon Army, his despairing thoughts began to change.

    Daemonkind had already reached the limit.

    Humans were hated, and the Daemons were descended from persecuted humans.

    Despite his attempts at reform using the knowledge from his previous life, the Daemons only knew how to take from others, to deceive others, and to pull others who aspired to rise in society down, so the reforms were all in vain.

    After that, he changed.

    At the age of ten, he killed the previous Daemon King, united the foolish Daemons, and realised that a strong power was necessary to get his revenge on human beings.

    And now, it¡¯s 20 years later.

    The plan began, the summoning formation had collected magic power for over ten years.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ this is¡­¡±

    The magic power sent from General Kord was approximately 80% of all the magic power collected thus far, all put together, Hebrad had exceeded the amount of magical power that he needed for the summoning.

    ¡°What happened¡­¡±

    It was clearly an abnormal situation. The amount was abnormal, on top of that, he had never seen such pure magic power with such a golden colour before.

    Although Hebrad rejoiced over Kord¡¯s results, he worried for the man.

    ¡°¡­¡­Naa¡±

    The abnormal things didn¡¯t end there.

    To summon the upper-class demon, a variety of constraints were applied, and not only magic power, but a large amount of sacrifices were prepared as [Offerings] and it was necessary to repeatedly check through each preparation step.

    The huge summoning magic formation filled with magic power suddenly started shining.

    ¡°Who started it up!? Stop it now, even if you have to break a part of the summoning circle!¡±

    At Hebrad¡¯s shout, the technicians started to panic and moved even as the Dark Knights moved to prepare their weapons.

    Such a thing was impossible.

    In response to the golden magic power that was being poured in, [Something] was forcing its way through to manifest from the Demon World.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hebrad began to cast magic without even bothering to hide his frustration and impatience.

    Using his otherworldly knowledge, he forcefully attempted to contaminate the area being used for the trial, unleashing a magic that would diminish his lifespan.

    ¡± [Nuclear Destruction]! ¡±

    Even if the plan had to be restarted because the summoning formation was destroyed, it would be better than letting whatever that [Thing] was inside out without the restraints.

    As the bright light engulfed several of the mages, during the instant he tried to destroy the magic formation¡­¡­ It manifested.

    [GaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    The angry roar shook the entire Daemon territory.

    Countering the nuclear strike magic with only a roar, it was an inky black leopard that was well over 10 metres to a side¡­ darker than darkness itself.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡­¡­ can¡¯t¡­¡­ be¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad numbly muttered as he collapsed with an expression of pure despair.

    He knew what that [Demon] was.

    An ancient Demon recorded in ancient texts that had only been seen once in the distant past, and had laid waste to several countries.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿¡­ ¡±

    The Daemons would perish today¡­¡­

    In front of Hebrad who was having such thoughts, ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿ crushed all the mages and Dark Knights with a single roar, and then suddenly raised its head as if it had noticed [Something].

    [¡­¡­Guruu¡­]

    In an instant, the ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿ broke through the bedrock ceiling of the underground altar and leaped out, flying away without devouring their souls.

    And thus the plan that the Daemon King had taken several decades to execute vanished, and the Daemons escaped their extinction.

 Volume 3 - CH 15

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    Volume 3, Chapter 15: Dark Beast

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    After being momentarily dumbfounded, but the attendants came to their senses, dragging their wounded bodies over to Yurushia¡¯s fallen form.

    However,

    ¡°Wait, has she really returned¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Noa¡¯s spoke, Nia, who had repeatedly taken on attacks, quickly stopped her movement.

    In her hand was the sword that had been shattered by ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ leaving only the handle, and Nia wasn¡¯t sure how many more serious attacks she could take.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s fine.¡±

    While regenerating her left arm and restoring her maid outfit from her hair, Tina calmly smiled at the twin Demons.

    ¡°And why is that¡­?¡±

    Noa wanted to rush up to Yurushia immediately. However, at the same time, since he had taken up the role of administering the servants from her, their Mistress, he was responsible for organising everyone so that they could get their Mistress back.

    At Noa¡¯s question, Tina puffed up her chest with a *fufun*.

    ¡°Regarding Yurushia-sama, everything from her preferred food to her health and even the growth of her chest measurements have been perfectly grasped with these eyes and this nose¡­ I would understand more if I could lick her, but even without I am sure that she has completely returned.¡±

    As Tina said this in a matter-of-fact manner with a self-satisfied look, Noa and Nia¡¯s wore delicate expressions.

    Even though they were Demons, they drew back slightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­is that so.¡±

    First of all, he didn¡¯t need to understand that. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem if it¡¯s the pervert¡¯s (Tina¡¯s) words.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, is merely sleeping.¡±

    When the three looked back towards the voice, Fannie was already kneeling down next to Yurushia with without her guard up, smiling in satisfaction while listening to her making sleeping noises.

    The ancient castle on the shores of the lake had mostly collapsed, and the light from the sun poured through the holes.

    ¡°Tina. Can you make Yurushia-sama some clothing?¡±

    Although she was sleeping, it just wouldn¡¯t do to leave their Mistress naked outdoors. The dress that Yurushia had been wearing was buried under the rubble, so even if they could find it, it wouldn¡¯t do to put it on.

    ¡°Well, of course I can do it.¡±

    As Nia covered Yurushia with her cloak, Tina, who was looking at Yurushia¡¯s bare skin and feet with desire, replied to Noa a little too fast.

    ¡°Ah~, I can help~¡±

    ¡°¡­Well then, please do so then Fannie.¡±

    Tina and Fannie knelt down next to their sleeping Mistress, and poured magic power into their hair, stitching Yurushia¡¯s new dress onto her.

    Noa, as a [Male-type], wasn¡¯t allowed to go near their Mistress while her skin was still exposed. As Nia, who wasn¡¯t allowed to help make the dress because of her clumsiness, watched on enviously, she suddenly raised a question.

    ¡°Why is the dress black even though Tina¡¯s hair is golden?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    She had the thought that she was [Black-hearted], but was kind enough not to mention it outloud.

    ¡°How strange.¡±

    As Fannie muttered so, a part of her hair was made into beautiful silver threads, and a few minutes passed while it decorated the black dress, after which the dress was finished.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­Muu¡±

    When I woke up, all I saw was the sprawling blue sky and the happy faces of my attendants.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°Mistress, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I, why was I asleep¡­?¡±

    The attendants told me about the events that happened after I lost consciousness.

    I didn¡¯t think that the poison would work so well on my human half, but there was no way that I should have returned to my Demon form (cat) just because of that¡­

    I think I was able to revert back because I poured out all the magic of my human half to save everyone from the poison, so that¡¯s why I transformed completely into a Demon.

    ¡°By the way, what happened to the rest of the humans?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Roderick-sama, Noel-sama, and your sisters are all sleeping by the lake away from the castle. Vio and the maids, along with your knight-samas were all drugged and sleeping but we woke them after moving everyone there. Ater explaining the circumstances, we requested for Vio to help detoxify the Highnessess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Ah? What about the Hero?¡±

    I had completely forgotten, but since I suddenly remembered, I asked.

    ¡°Just in case, we moved them along with the rest¡­¡­ Is that bad?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ ah, well.¡±

    As Nia reported what happened while I was out, as I answered properly, I looked over at the destroyed castle.

    Maybe those people died just for getting involved. I don¡¯t feel sad about it, though.

    I wonder if Vio is worried¡­ I don¡¯t know the details of what happened, so I shouldn¡¯t stay around here now, since the rest of them are working so hard.

    Before I knew it, my clothes had changed to a black and silver dress. They¡¯re so comfortable that it¡¯s scary.

    ¡°Still, even though I ate Duke Kapell¡¯s soul, I don¡¯t remember its taste¡­¡±

    What a waste. It was in a great state, matured and ripe.

    As I muttered, Noa grinned with a Demonic smile.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem. When Nia took Yurushia-sama¡¯s attack, although it didn¡¯t take in everything, a part of the magic power and the soul was recovered. I will be using Duke Kapell¡¯s soul for tonight¡¯s dinner.¡±

    ¡°Ohh~¡±

    As expected of Noa. Such meticulous work. But¡­¡­

    ¡°Nia, let me see your sword.¡±

    ¡°¡­ulp¡±

    Since they said that Nia had stopped it, she probably took the attack from the Demon (cat) with her sword. Did she think that I would get mad at her because the sword got broken? ¡­¡­ Even though I¡¯m such a gentle Master.

    ¡°Noa. Please repair the sword with my magic power and Kapell¡¯s soul.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that really alright?¡±

    ¡°Yep¡±

    Even I have things that I consider more important than my own appetite.

    ¡°It is repaired.¡±

    ¡°So fast.¡±

    He¡¯s fast as always. I didn¡¯t manage to see him repair it this time either.

    Although, the Demon¡¯s sword now¡­¡­ what the heck¡¯s this? Even though the sword was previously pitch-black, now it¡¯s shiny gold and leaves sparkly gold particles behind with every swing.

    ¡­¡­ How flashy.

    ¡°Nia¡­¡­ here you are¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­ thank you, thank you! Yurushia-sama~¡±

    I think that it¡¯s too flashy, but Nia seemed very pleased.

    Nia held the sword in front of her and gave a test swing towards the rubble of the castle,

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­haa?

    As Nia continued to swing the Demon Blade,

    ¡°[Nya]¡± ¡°[Nya]¡± ¡°[Nya]¡±

    With every swing a [Sound Effect] was made, as the stone rubble split like pudding.

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    Why did it turn out like this¡­?

    Is it my fault? Is it because of my magic power? Also, am I imagining it, but is that my [Voice]?

    ¡°A~ma~zing, Yurushia-sama, this, this is amazingly wonderful~¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono, hold on¡±

    I put a stop to Nia¡¯s happy fantasizing.

    ¡°I will try to fix it, so hand it back to me for a bit. ¡­¡¯kay?¡±

    ¡°Eehh~~¡­¡±

    Nia hugged her Demon Blade and refused, shaking her head with tears in her eyes. ¡­Ku. Is she pleased to be disobeying me¡­¡­?

    After that, I made a new Demon sword by using a sword I found in the castle and infusing it with my magic power along with Holy Magic to form an ordinary [Golden Demon Blade], but Nia never exchanged the original for it¡­¡­ My sense of shame is being put to the test.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡­ something¡¯s coming.¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    Fannie gave a sketchy warning with a laid-back tone.

    I understood that her words were a [Warning] because as she said it, her face changed into her Harlequin mask.

    Fannie¡¯s perception is the best among us. Incidentally, mine is almost nonexistent¡­ Since she didn¡¯t delay at all in assuming a battle form, the other attendants instantly transformed back into the Demon forms.

    Incubus. Succubus. Gorgon. Nightmare.

    Those were the horrifically chuunibyou [Settings] that I had made, but was quite the spectacle when they were lined up seriously like this.

    But¡­ these children, why were their bodies also growing like mine? I wonder if they were in sync with me.

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    I finally felt [Something]. ¡­¡­No, it¡¯s clearly not just [Something]. Violent and rough, it¡¯s the presence of a [Big Shot]¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°[GuaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    A tempest blew, and the lake waters roiled as the roar of a huge beast echoed.

    ¡°[I¡¯ve finally found you! Golden beast!!!!]¡±

    As expected, it was ¡¾Him¡¿¡­¡­¡­ My benefactor from the demon world and owner.

    Demon Beast¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿.

    ¡°H-hiya~ Long time no see~¡±

    As always, ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t have a single shred of shame, while I spoke in a light tone, waving my hands in a cold sweat.

    When I looked, the attendants that were supposed to be next to me were already a few steps behind me. ¡­You guys¡­ I¡¯ll remember this later.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡¾Golden Beast¡¿¡­? Why are you in the form of a human¡­?]¡±

    When ¡¾He¡¿just so much as glanced at me, ¡¾He¡¿ let out an overwhelmingly powerful [Intimidation].

    ¡°¡­¡­ Please stop calling me by my species name. I am ¡®Yurushia.¡¯¡±

    I countered ¡¾His¡¿ intimidation with an [Intimidation] of my own while smiling.

    ¡°[What¡­¡­ you are a Demon, so why would you have a [Name] like a human being¡­]¡±

    There¡¯s no point being surprised. Although I didn¡¯t understand it at first, giving a [Name] to a powerful Demon imposes a [Burden] to their very [Existence].

    In order to endure it, a strong magic power was necessary, Mother-sama was only fine after naming me because she was a mage and also because I was about as strong as a baby at the time.

    ¡°[¡­¡­For the time being, that¡¯s fine.]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ suddenly said in a gentle voice as ¡¾He¡¿descended in front of me.

    *kapu*

    ¡°Hey-¡±

    and just as suddenly, ¡¾He¡¿ bit my shoulder. ¡­¡­ it hurt a little but not as much as I thought it would.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯d missed this gentle play-biting that ¡¾He¡¿did, and I also reached out my hands to ¡¾Him¡¿ and threaded my hands into his chest and *mofumofu*¡¯d. ¡­¡­ I wanted to *mofu* him with my face, but I endured it.

    As I closed my eyes slightly in bliss, ¡¾He¡¿licked my neck with his rough tongue.

    ¡°Oy, don¡¯t get carried away~¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    How nostalgic¡­¡­ When I was in the Demon Realm, we often did this together.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Why did you leave the Demon Realm?]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ growled out as his presence strengthened.

    ¡°¡­I wanted to see the world of light.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to deceive him, so I honestly answered, but ¡¾He¡¿ bit down on my shoulder with a little more force.

    ¡°[Is it because you wanted to have the appearance of a human¡­?]¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ that¡¯s just the result of coincidence, but I do like it now¡­¡­ uhm¡­ How did you get into this physical world¡­?¡±

    I changed the topic because ¡¾He¡¿ kept biting me with more and more force and it started getting painful.

    ¡°[I felt your magic power¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait¡­ that hurts!¡±

    Although I was shielding myself with magic power, ¡¾His¡¿ huge fangs slowly bit into me.

    ¡°¡­L-let me go¡­¡±

    ¡°[It¡¯s useless. You will return to the Demon Realm. ¡­I will destroy this human body.]¡±

    ¡­Eh? ¡¾He¡¿ said something unexpected as his teeth bit further into me.

    ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ serious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­[Let there be Light]!¡±

    I released my magic power, and struck ¡¾Him¡¿ on the face with my strongest [Holy Light].

    ¡°[Guooo¡­¡­ the Holy Light¡­ Are you, going to resist me¡­?]¡±

    As ¡¾He¡¿ growled out while narrowing his eyes against the radiance, I let out my [Intimidation].

    The Demon [Intimidation], the [Presence] that I¡¯m releasing my Demon half¡¯s magic power. For an ordinary creature of this world, it seems that they would be destroyed just by receiving ¡¾His¡¿ [Intimidation], but for the current [Me], it¡¯s not too difficult to stand.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t indulge your selfishness to that extent.¡±

    I spread out my bat wings and took some distance from ¡¾Him¡¿. Although I will return to the Demon World someday, today is not that day.

    Although I told ¡¾Him¡¿ that ¡¾He¡¿ was being [Selfish], my desire to live in the human world is my own selfishness.

    What a reason for [Demons] to fight one another¡­¡­

    Therefore, I am going at it [Seriously]. So that ¡¾He¡¿will understand my [Feelings].

    ¡°[Piercing Light]¡±

    Combining Holy Magic and Demon magic through the Spirit Language, an enormous [Spear of Light] was created.

    ¡°[Sparkling Sacred Spear]!¡±

    As I uttered the last word, the spear of light morphed into a [Golden Spear]and threw itself towards ¡¾Him¡¿.

    The golden spear tore through the sky,

    ¡°[GuaaaaaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    In the instant ¡¾He¡¿ roared, a huge dark tornado was born, as it clashed with the golden spear it annihilated the remains of the ruined castle.

    [Impossible¡­¡­ The power of a ¡¾Devil¡¿!?]

    Some words I don¡¯t recognize came out¡­¡¾Devil¡¿? I just combined the suitable Demon¡¯s magic with the knowledge from the world of light, it¡¯s nothing special.

    As ¡¾He¡¿ dashed up towards me like lightning, I put my entire magic power into my body.

    ¡°[Demon Beast (cat)] mode¡±

    As I [Manifested] my entire Demon form, I turned into the Demon Beast (cat) and avoided ¡¾His¡¿ fierce attack.

    ¡°[You could return to that form¡­¡­]¡±

    I thought about removing the black and silver dress that I had been wearing, but it turned into a ribbon of the same colour around my cat neck.

    I had been scared of fully transforming up until now. However, if I could transform back from human properly, the Demon Beast (cat) mode really was useful for fighting physical battles.

    ¡°[If you already have your Demon Beast (form), then stop being unreasonable and come back with me!]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Flying away from the ruined castle, ¡¾He¡¿ and I engaged in a high-speed aerial battle. Well, because there¡¯s a difference in size, it¡¯s practically a one-sided chase¡­

    In the Demon World, ¡¾His¡¿ speed was equal to mine, but in the air, I could freely move with my wings.

    ¡°[ShaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    ¡°[GuaoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    Roaring at each other, the golden storm met the black tempest and rose upwards.

    From a third party¡¯s perspective, it looked like a good match. Still, as expected, his power was ridiculously high if ¡¾He¡¿ hit directly.

    A part of the forest was destroyed due to ¡¾His¡¿  attacks and was turned into a corrupted sea. It¡¯ll be a pain if I don¡¯t ¡¾Purify¡¿ it later¡­

    Still, ¡¾He¡¿ isn¡¯t being fully serious yet. ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ unconsciously suppressing his power so that ¡¾He¡¿ won¡¯t destroy me.

    I will make use of him spoiling me¡­¡­

    ¡°[Piercing Light]¡±

    I returned to [Human] mode in the sky, and drew back a bow and arrow made of light.

    ¡°[Radiant Bow]!¡±

    It¡¯s easier to use magic in my human mode. Or perhaps I should say, I can¡¯t use Holy Magic well in my Demon Beast (cat) mode.

    I struck [Him] with over a hundred [Golden Arrows] from all directions.

    ¡°[GuaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    ¡¾His¡¿ roar called out [Black Lightning] that intercepted the arrows.

    Each arrow was only one hundredth of the power of the golden spear, but it seems that ¡¾He¡¿ didn¡¯t  intend to receive a Devil¡¯s power directly.

    Because of that, his consciousness was too spread out.

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    With that off-color slashing sound, Nia slashed at ¡¾His¡¿ back with full power.

    [Gu¡­¡­ you¡­]

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    The moment Nia took ¡¾His¡¿ attention, Tina¡¯s voice came from behind him, and she entangled ¡¾Him¡¿ with countless golden snakes.

    ¡°[You dare defy me! This level of binding¡­]¡±

    It¡¯s certainly true that Tina could only hold ¡¾Him¡¿ for a short while. But it¡¯s enough. In the small time that Nia and Tina earned, I took in the power that Noa [Unleashed], and cast my magic.

    ¡°[Shining Sacred Spear]!¡±

    Over the full-powered [Golden Spear] that I shot out, Fannie generated hundreds of illusions of spears that all shot towards ¡¾Him¡¿.

    ¡°[GuaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    Unable to discern the illusions, ¡¾He¡¿ received a direct hit and fell to the ground.

    ¡­¡­ Did I overdo it? Although I thought that, ¡¾He¡¿ had fallen onto the castle ruins right side up, and although ¡¾He¡¿ had taken damage, ¡¾He¡¿ was still glaring at me.

    We descended next to ¡¾Him¡¿, and I confronted ¡¾Him¡¿ in my human form.

    ¡°¡­ You, it seems that you didn¡¯t ¡¾Manifest¡¿ fully¡­¡­¡±

    [¡­¡­]

    Because ¡¾He¡¿ had forced himself through the summoning formation and into the Demon World forcibly without either sacrifices or a vessel, ¡¾He¡¿ had not managed to fully ¡¾Manifest¡¿ into the material world.

    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry¡­¡­ In your current state of ¡¾Manifestation¡¿ you would be hard pressed to beat those of us who have [Names].¡±

    That being said, as expected, ¡¾His¡¿ power is outstanding.

    I would like him to return peacefully, but rather contrarily, because ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t have a body here, a Demon that¡¯s essentially a spirit-like lifeform won¡¯t return unless his spirit is broken.

    If we (the pets) beat him and ¡¾He¡¿ still didn¡¯t lose his spirit, then what would we do, I wonder¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia!¡±

    ¡°Lucy!¡±

    And at that time, I suddenly heard voices calling for me from far away.

    Oh, my~¡­¡­ They¡¯ve come back at a terrible time.

 Volume 3 - CH 16

    Volume 3, Chapter 16: I Turned 10 Years Old ¡­¡­ And So On, Part 1

    Rick and Noel were at the front of the people who were running towards us¡­¡­ Or not, it was three Holy Knights.

    Those who piled up training in a temple and were practically heavy tanks that practiced defensive Holy Magic.

    Due to that, they knew of Demonic Magic, and upon seeing ¡¾His¡¿ body, they subconsciously stopped walking, while Rick and Noel rushed forward.

    ¡°Yurushia, are you alright!?¡±

    ¡°Lucy, come down!¡±

    Rick (once again) grabbed my arm and pulled me away, while Noel held out his sword, covering me.

    ¡°¡­¡­What is that thing ¡­¡±

    Rick let out a hoarse whisper, as Noel¡¯s face turned pale and started sweating profusely.

    We (the attendants and I) had shaved down a lot of it, but ¡¾His¡¿ sheer existence¡­ that presence was incomparably brutal if matched against the creatures of this world.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    He stared as us-¡­¡­ No, ¡¾He¡¿ was only gazing intently at [Me].

    I wonder what ¡¾He¡¿ is thinking now¡­¡­ Although if I were to be frank, I was a little happy that he was thinking of of bringing me home after [Breaking] my body, but I just can¡¯t respond to his one-sided selfishness.

    ¡°Roderick-sama, Yurushia-sama, please come down¡±

    A little later, the Knights reached us. 3 Holy Knights and 8 Royal Knights. Along with 7 of my escort knights, including Bri-chan and Sara-chan. As expected, Vio is also close by.

    One of the Holy Knights¡­ a silver-grey-haired uncle, turned his shield towards ¡¾Him¡¿ with a nervous look.

    ¡°¡­That, is a considerably high-ranking Demon. I think it is a Demon Beast¡­¡­ Did Yurushia-sama suppress it with her power?¡±

    ¡°Ye-, yeah¡­¡­ Well, I-¡±

    Now¡­¡­ what to do? No matter how weakened a lion is, it can¡¯t be beaten by rabbits. Since their existences are of a whole different [Class],  it can¡¯t be helped that the Human Knights can¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°This is where us knights will take over. Please, evacuate¡­¡±

    Another one of the Holy Knights gave us a stoic smile. Even Bri-chan¡¯s face had greatly stiffened, but it looked as if she wasn¡¯t about to back down.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    I could see the signs of¡¾Him¡¿ getting annoyed at the humans that were moving to [Protect] me and noticed his magic power gradually rising.

    To tell the truth, neither I nor ¡¾He¡¿ has much magic power left.

    In order to try to force me to return, ¡¾He¡¿ would try to replenish his magic power by devouring the souls of these humans who were in his way.

    If it wasn¡¯t a soul that was tormented and then made to deepen, even if it was taken, it would not be able to help ¡¾Him¡¿ recover.

    ¡­¡­ It seems that ¡¾He¡¿ wouldn¡¯t give up on me until his heart broke.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ It¡¯s bad to get everyone involved, but I have to break ¡¾Him¡¿ here.

    ¡°¡­[Light of Protection]¡±

    Suddenly, hearing me recite a spell that they¡¯d never heard of, Rick and Noel turned towards me in surprise.

    ¡°[Radiant Shield]¡­!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡°!?¡± ¡± ¡±

    The bodies of all the humans were enveloped in a [Golden Light], and the Holy Magic-using Holy Knights¡¯ eyes widened at the [Greatest Protective Power]of the most ridiculous magic they had ever experienced.

    Then,

    ¡°[GuooooGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    Seeing me protect the [Humans], ¡¾He¡¿ let off an angry roar.

    The sheer overwhelming power of his evil roar was enough to instantly kill a human being as soon as they heard it, but with the added protection of my [Radiant Shield],  I prevented it and further increased the power of the humans.

    ¡°Everyone, show your pride as Knights of the Holy Kingdom!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡± ¡±

    As Rick raised his voice in encouragement, the Knights who had had stoic expressions righted themselves and regained their fighting spirits, raising their swords.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ah,¡±

    I did it again¡­¡­

    I had added the function of ¡¾Raising Fighting Spirits¡¿ to the ¡¾Radiant Shield¡¿ to help counter the pressure of the Demon roar, but it seems that it was too effective¡­¡­

    ¡°We shall support them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes¡­¡­ please.¡±

    As my attendants who read the mood said before I could ask, since they asked me, I gave my assent to Fannie.

    ¡°[GuaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    Raising a roar, ¡¾He¡¿ dashed across the ground, but he¡¯s lost the speed he previously had. Still, even that was enough to lay waste to the human Knights.

    ¡°I will receive~ it¡±

    Speaking with a relaxed voice, Nia rushed out ahead of the Holy Knights, and stopped ¡¾His¡¿ attack with the Golden Blade (Nyanko Blade).

    The attendants¡¯ magic powers were starting to run out, but if Nia used ¡¾Absorption¡¿, she could still take ¡¾His¡¿ attack.

    ¡± ¡± ¡°OOOOOOOOOOH¡± ¡± ¡±

    The Knights expressed their astonishment as they witnessed a 12 year old lady knight receive the attack of that Demon Beast.

    Since it couldn¡¯t be helped so that the collateral damage would be completely nullified, it was  too conspicuous if they thought too much about it, so had to make a decision quick.

    ¡°Noel~, get back here!¡±

    ¡°Lucy?¡±

    When I caught him trying to get on the front line, Noel returned obediently even though he had a doubtful look.

    ¡°Lucy, what¡¯s wrong¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, well, just wait a moment. ¡­Fannie.¡±

    As I called Fannie, she reverently presented the golden Demon blade that I had made as a spare.

    ¡°In the name of Yurushia-la-Verusenia, I bestow upon you this [Holy sword]. Receive it, Noel.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Noel who had been taken aback for a moment knelt down, and received the [Holy Sword] (temp) like a Knight.

    For some reason Rick, who was next to him, looked sullen, but I don¡¯t care.

    The Knights were fighting surprisingly well.

    With the additional protection of my ¡¾Radiant Shield¡¿, Nia receiving ¡¾His¡¿ attacks, and Noa and Tina assisting them with ¡®normal¡¯ magic power, the result is obvious, even if I say so myself.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, shall I go as well?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. That said, I¡¯m thirsty, so please serve up some tea. Ah, go heavy on the souls.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    Since Rick¡¯s already gone to give instructions to the knights, I just changed to watching mode, and waited, fully prepared.

    As the Holy Knights fought, they healed their companions with the Holy Magic ¡¾Cure¡¿, and my attendants were assisting them by shaving off ¡¾His¡¿ magic power. I instantly healed those who were seriously injured as the timing I was waiting for drew near, and finally the moment came.

    ¡°¡­¡¾¦Ì¦Ô¦Á¡¿¡­¡±

    Speaking the [Spirit of Light¡¯s Language] as he had done previously, the power of light condensed within the Golden Demon Blade in Noel¡¯s hands, and he swung down at ¡¾Him¡¿ as ¡¾He¡¿exposed a slight gap.

    ¡°[Splitting Light, Holy Sword]¡­¡±

    Aiming for that exact moment, I reinforced the ¡¾Shining Sacred Sword¡¿magic on Noel¡¯s Golden Blade.

    Although the spell ¡¾Holy Sword¡¿exists in Holy Magic, my magic is of the highest caliber, and the power of it was a complete order of magnitude greater.

    ¡°Perish, Demon!¡±

    ¡°[GuoooooooooooOOOOOOO!]¡±

    When Noel swung down the sword, it emitted a bright light and turned into a huge golden sword, forcing ¡¾Him¡¿ to fall back dozens of meters.

    ¡­¡­ To not have taken much damage even from that attack, he¡¯s really really far out of their league.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Guu¡­]¡±

    Nonetheless, its power exceeded his expectations, and for the first time in the fight, ¡¾He¡¿ became wary of a human, setting Noel who was wielding the golden demon blade firmly in his sights.

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡­ not enough¡­¡±

    ¡°Noel¡¯s attack seemed effective, so are you going to do it again?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    As Rick spoke to Noel, he took up a position beside him, readying his sword.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I finished drinking my tea, I approached them quietly, putting myself one step in front of them so as to protect them, and showed a [Sly] expression that nobody but ¡¾Him¡¿ noticed.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Gugu¡­]¡±

    When I heard the sound of ¡¾His¡¿teeth grinding together, I finally noticed how unfavourable my position was and leapt up into the sky, as he stared at me from a distance.

    I could feel the anger, but I can¡¯t feel ¡¾His¡¿ will to fight anymore.

    He¡¯d been defeated once by me (pet), albeit while I was being protected by my attendants, and after which he couldn¡¯t defeat even a single human being, as I acted like a [Human] and lived amongst them, finally causing ¡¾Him¡¿ to break down.

    It was bothersome in various ways¡­¡­

    I wish I could just return to the Demon World happily as it is¡­¡­¡­

    Staring at ¡¾Him¡¿ with that thought, as I turned away from ¡¾Him¡¿, he finally called me by my ¡¾Name¡¿ and not just¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    ¡°[YurushiaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I will definitely bring you back to the Demon World the next tiiiiime!]¡±

    ¡­¡­ Has he not been broken completely yet?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The next round is the final story of book 3.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Hah, bet you didn¡¯t see that coming¡­ nobody got possessed! (I promise¡­ <_<)

    Also, dat name drop tho

    Piroton¡¯s Notes:

    I have become dead, destroyed by cute.

    When is this sore throat going to go away ; _ ; Kind of anticlimactic, isn¡¯t it, that showdown. Ah well. Things get more interesting.

 Volume 3 - CH 17

    ¡°¡­¡­What in the world was that monster¡­¡±

    Said the so-called Hero Alfio in a cracking voice.

    Nobody blamed him for being [Timid]. Antique the Elf and the swordswoman Cheria both had had pale faces as they watched the battle with the [Demon Beast].

    Alfio had his meals early after the indignant exchange between him and His Highness Roderick. While thinking about what means he would use to get close to the beautiful maids and female knights, he was struck with a sudden torpor and lost consciousness.

    The [Hero] was blissfully unaware that their magic power had been forcefully stolen. and indeed when Alfio woke up in the forest by the lakeside, Roderick and his escorts were preparing to head to the place where the castle previously stood.

    {The ancient castle has disappeared¡­¡­?}

    Although to be precise it wasn¡¯t gone, rather, about half remained, but it was clearly no longer the castle from Alfio¡¯s memory. Not to mention, in the sky above, there was a [Golden Storm] fighting a [Black Tempest] and the beautiful forest around the castle had been painted an inky black.

    The situation was clearly not good.

    Looking at that place which gave off a malicious presence from even where they were, Alfio thought that he would be crazy to even go, but because of Antique, Cheria, and Athena, who didn¡¯t for a moment doubt that he was a true Hero, he reluctantly decided to head to the old castle.

    Even if his disposition made him be ignored by the Royal Family of Shiguresu, Alfio wasn¡¯t an incapable fellow.

    Other than reverse engineering the body reinforcement magic that Daemons and Demons naturally used, he had the [Quick Casting Magic] of the high speed and protective types, a wonderful talent for magic.

    Applying the high speed magic to his companions, Alfio was able to reach the location before Roderick by taking a back route.

    Alfio¡¯s party saw a terrible sight there.

    A [Demon Beast] that one could tell at a glance was on the level of a [Natural Disaster], and of all things, that beautiful princess¡­ Yurushia was battling that terrifying [Demon Beast] with her attendants.

    Because he put his priority on keeping a safe distance, he couldn¡¯t make out the details, but Yurushia was flying in the air on golden wings, throwing a golden spear made of magic, and throwing the [Demon Beast] to the ground.

    But that wasn¡¯t the problem.

    Certainly, the magic that Yurushia used, gave off a mighty feeling of [Holiness], and Antique, who was also named a [Saint], was shocked in the sheer difference in power, though that wasn¡¯t the problem.

    The problem was the attendants of that [Saint].

    Fighting with that Saint were figures that looked [Irregular]from a distance, and of them, one of them was the [Daemon] that Alfio¡¯s party had fought before.

    ¡°Wh-, what the heck does this mean!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t know, but is the princess cavorting with the Daemons?¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t be stupid, Anti, that child is the [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom and Athena¡¯s younger sister! Surely, she must have been deceived by the Daemons.¡±

    Alfio was in a state of confusion. Athena, who had remained silent thus far, began to laugh.

    ¡°Fufu¡­ As expected, that child¡­ Yurushia truly is a wicked existence.¡±

    ¡°Si-Sister-sama¡­?¡±

    Ophelia broke into a cold sweat at the sight of her sister smiling arrogantly.

    ¡°No, well¡­ isn¡¯t she our sister, more or less¡­¡±

    ¡°Ophelia!¡±

    ¡°W-wait, Athy. Such a beautiful girl¡­ No, that child is fighting against that monster.¡±

    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s strange. It¡¯s impossible for Yurushia to have the ability to take on such a [Monster]. The proof is the fact that she¡¯s bragging.¡±

    As Alfio looked in the direction that Athena was pointing to when she answered him, Roderick arrived.

    ¡°Roderick-sama has just arrived with perfect timing. As I expected, that girl collaborated with the Daemon King and summoned that monster to try to deceive Roderick-sama!¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t understand the theory, he couldn¡¯t come up with an immediate rebuttal since that¡¯s what Yurushia¡¯s own elder sister said, but Alfio was convinced that there was something that Athena was keeping from them.

    Although to Alfio, all measures of social class held no measure to [Pretty girls], it was easier to capture a disgraced princess than a proper one as he remembered on the [Thin Books] that he had read in his previous life. (TLN: he¡¯s talking about H doujins.)

    ¡°O-okay¡­¡­¡­ We should withdraw for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Why!? We should reveal Yurushia¡¯s evil plot to His Highness,¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. If His Highness doesn¡¯t actually believe your story, wouldn¡¯t you be going against everyone over there? Let¡¯s aim for her when she¡¯s alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. Roderick-sama might have been brainwashed.¡±

    Alfio¡¯s persuasive words brought Athena to understand that possibility and she nodded, gritting her teeth.

    By no means would he say that he was afraid of the Demon Beast, as Alfio held his chest in relief.

    ¡°But where will we be withdrawing to?¡±

    ¡°First of all, let¡¯s get out of this country¡­¡±

    Alfio smiled superficially to Cheria who seemed uneasy while hugging her shoulder.

    Up until now, he¡¯d done as Callisto requested and saved up a small amount of money.

    Alfio¡¯s wish wasn¡¯t to become a king or save the world, but to live happily forever after with his [Brides].

    To fight for the sake of getting a bride was alright, but other than that, he didn¡¯t intend to risk his life. So he was thinking of spending time at his parents¡¯ in Shiguresu until the commotion died down.

    ¡°I see! Then, we will prepare to go to the Daemons¡¯ territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Antique¡¯s determined words made Alfio leak out a voice reflexively.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Ally. While whittling down the strength of the Daemons, we can gather evidence that that child is connected to the Daemons and get training at the same time!¡±

    ¡°As expected of Al-sama! To have thought through this so deeply, we sisters have renewed our respect for you again.¡±

    ¡°Al-sama, how wonderful¡­ when will we depart?¡±

    Cheria, Athena and Ophelia, all nodded in tandem with Antique¡¯s words, staring at Alfio with dreamy eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ L-let¡¯s set off!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    He could no longer escape. Alfio was asking himself how it came to this, but for the sake of appearances in front of the girls, he decided to head to the Daemon Territory.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Among them, Athena smiled at the thought of finally causing Yurushia to have a tearful face¡­ she was hit by a slight sense that she was making a major [mistake], but forcibly pushed it to the bottom of her heart.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    As ¡¾He¡¿ left after throwing down this enormous parting shot, everyone present was staring at me in a tense silence instead of delighting in their victory.

    What do I do¡­

    That guy¡­ when he says things like that, it makes it sound as if I¡¯m acquainted with Demons.

    Although it can¡¯t be helped because it¡¯s true, when I looked pointedly at my attendants for help with deceiving them, they were all pretending to not know me like they were a hundred metres away.

    ¡­¡­¡­ You guys, I¡¯ll seriously remember this.

    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be, Duke Kapell had summoned forth such a frightening Demon¡­ ¡±

    I intend to pass the buck with a sorrowful look.

    It¡¯s not a problem because it¡¯s mostly fact¡­¡­ The other half is my fault, though.

    ¡°¡­¡­What did Duke Kapell do?¡±

    It worried them, too. Rick rode in on my story.

    ¡°The Demon appeared¡­¡­ as before I could counteract the poison that had been given to us, all of the people were sacrificed¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Although, it would have been good if we could have caught the perpetrator¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Still, given that situation¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t think that anything that had gotten embroiled in the battle between ¡¾Him¡¿ and I would still be alive. In order to change the flow of the conversation, I really need to find some evidence that Duke Kapell is to blame.

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡±

    Turning around to face the voice, I saw Noa walking up to us, holding a ragged human who was laughing a little.

    ¡°This person is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Archbishop Callisto. Fortunately, he was thrown off by the blast of wind, and I found him lying around in the forest.¡±

    So my attendants were looking for witnesses¡­

    But with a witness, and no other evidence, could he have managed to see it when I turned into a Demon? As I mulled over that thought, Fannie, who was good with mental manipulation secretly signed ¡®Okay¡¯ to me with her hands, and I felt relieved.

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it was!¡±

    Suddenly, Noel yelled out loudly.

    Oh this is bad¡­¡­ While holding himself like he couldn¡¯t be deceived, Rick placed his hand on Noel¡¯s shoulder and spoke to him.

    ¡°Noel¡­ You understand that the person who is taking this the hardest is Yurushia¡­¡±

    ¡°That is¡­¡­ I see, Lucy is quite pitiful¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­eh?

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Princess-sama is being targeted by such a terrifying Demon Beast.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it was afraid of Yurushia-sama¡¯s power¡­ Such a Demonic aura must have wanted Yurushia-sama as a [Sacrifice].¡±

    Springing off Noel¡¯s words, the guardian knights and Holy Knights all comforted me.

    In short, they seemed to think that what ¡¾He¡¿ said was him asking for me to sacrifice myself to him as a Saint, and they thought that I was nervous and afraid.

    Their trust in me is so high that my Demon heart feels a little pained.

    After everything settled down, and it seems that the battle was over, Vio and the girls were escorted to us by Bear-san and the mercenary company.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama, are you alright!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry! I was unable to serve you when I was needed the most¡­¡±

    Bear-san, who looks to be an alcoholic, seems to have drunk wine with a lot of sleeping medicine in it, so it took time for Vio to detoxify his system.

    Since we couldn¡¯t stay here, we returned to the town before it got dark.

    ¡°By the way, Princess Yuru-sama. ¡­ Why have your clothes and shoes suddenly changed¡­?¡±

    While everyone was preparing to leave, Vio¡¯s eyes flashed at the sight of the black and silver dress that she was seeing for the first time.

    ¡°Although it definitely looks like an upper-class good¡­¡±

    ¡°I was also concerned about that. Weren¡¯t you wearing a different dress when you went for the meal?¡±

    Uu¡­ They¡¯re sharp. Rick, who heard it, commented and questioned me from the side, while Noel, who finally saw it, gave me a strange look.

    ¡°Lucia¡¯s dress¡­¡­ could it be a magical item?¡±

    Magical items exist in the world.

    Although it¡¯s common in Fantasy, there aren¡¯t ¡°Enchantments¡± that have sustained magical effects applied on them, but rather [Magic Tools] which have magic formations carved on them that activate when magic power is poured into them.

    Certainly there are people who make their living off of researching magic formations, but a complex magic like the one used for my dress has never been seen before.

    Although there are magic swords, those were usually magic formations carved into the blade, creating a rechargeable type of magic item that would store magic power.

    To tell the truth about this dress, it has ¡¾Magic Barrier¡¿, ¡¾Automatic Regeneration¡¿, and ¡¾Shapeshift¡¿magic applied on it, because it¡¯s an artifact-class dress made by multiple Greater Demons (Archdemons) ¡­¡­ Now, whatever should I do¡­? When I turned my gaze towards my attendants this time, Tina came out in front of me.

    ¡°Excuse me for my rudeness. This dress was made for Yurushia-sama with magic, a cloth with magic woven into it meant for the exclusive use of the [Saint].¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­ was there such a thing? Which laboratory made it? Can they make other things?¡±

    As Rick asked questions, impressed, Tina straight-up answered him with absolute nonsense while wearing a straight face.

    ¡°The four of us were the ones who made this, but Yurushia-sama¡¯s Holy magic was indispensable for weaving the magic formations into the cloth, and since it¡¯s still in the research stage, it takes an immense amount of magic power. The best we could do is to make this one piece. To make multiple copies of this in a short period would put an immense burden on Yurushia-sama, and it¡¯s possible that it could hurt her health¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I understand¡­ what a pity.¡±

    ¡°Then, were those [Holy Swords] also made by Lucy? They both look vibrant, though, why is the dress black¡­? ¡±

    As Noel casually spoke, Tina¡¯s speech froze for a moment.

    Noel¡¯s asking why the equipment that¡¯s made for a saint can be any colour that is [Black]? Well, at least that¡¯s what I think he wanted to say. Yes, I think that too.

    Even Tina hasn¡¯t seemed to have thought of an appropriate reply, but for some reason Tina put on an evil smile on her face and puffed her (nonexistent) chest out.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡¯s white skin and golden hair that greatly accentuates [Black]. Of course, her undergarments are also black and made of the same material.¡±

    At that one line, Rick and Noel¡¯s faces reddened and they turned away from me. My own face flushed too and I slammed Tina¡¯s head forcefully into the ground.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Several months have passed since that incident.

    The attendant that unveiled the colour of the underwear being worn by her mistress in front of a man was being reprimanded by her mistress all night on the bed¡­¡­¡­ eh? You wanted to be there?

    When we returned to the royal capital, the leader that had already contacted the royal castle was hurriedly going about putting things in order.

    Callisto, who I healed a little, confessed fluently and as a result the house of Duke Kapell was ruined¡­¡­ or so it would have been. As expected, to crush two ducal houses in only a few years, since they thought that it would make the country look weak and become the target for mockery, Zest-san, the younger brother of the family that had Grandfather-sama¡¯s trust, became the new Duke Kapell.

    It¡¯s a member of the [Society for Turning Light into Darkness], a representative of the Carpe Merchant Guild in the royal capital, and the manager of my secret funds.

    ¡­¡­ Somehow when I explain it the image becomes worse.

    There¡¯s another problem too, which regards me.

    The [Demon Beast] that had blown an entire castle away had been repulsed once, but because the [Demon Beast] had tried to persuade me to become a [Sacrifice] to him, every ducal territory around the Royal Capital decided to implement a harsh surveillance system against foreign enemies.

    Although it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for me if I moved to a mansion in a remote area, since nobody cared about my opinion it couldn¡¯t be helped, so I had to work.

    I went around the five ducal territories, setting up huge ¡¾Holy Barriers¡¿, and casting ¡¾Feasts of Blessings¡¿ to soothe the anxieties of the people¡­¡­ when I said that I¡¯ve been doing so for half a year and not even once did a single ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ show up, I was able to regain my peaceful days.

    I am now taking classes in school normally again.

    Speaking of what¡¯s changed, Bree-chan and the escort knights were lined up outside in the hallway, waiting for me.

    ¡­¡­ and the distance between my classmates and I got widened again. Well, it¡¯s too late¡­¡­

    That reminded me of a strange rumour.

    [The ¡¾Princess¡¿ of the Holy Kingdom, violently struggled against becoming the ¡¾Bride¡¿ of the Demon Beast]¡­¡­

    Although it was a rumour, it was surprisingly closer to the truth than the official report.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Several more months have passed since then, and I will be 10 years old soon.

    My height is still growing, but my joints don¡¯t hurt as much as before. My current size is¡­ about half a head smaller than that of an average child of the same age?

    More importantly, I¡¯m more concerned with my body weight than with my height now¡­¡­

    Although on the surface I could say that it¡¯s become peaceful, in reality the problem hasn¡¯t been solved.

    I wonder what ¡¾He¡¿ is doing right now?

    Since I had that sort of feeling, I wonder if there will be a birthday party this year? ¡­¡­Thinking about it, having one seems to be normal.

    But things are different now. They seem to want to do some sort of ceremony in the Kostoru cathedral of the Kingdom before the party.

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡±

    It¡¯s the day of my birthday. I am wearing that black dress that I said was a specialised equipment for a Saint, but since it was too black and I had felt like it had an overwhelming feeling, I wore a luxurious, pure white surcoat over it. While waiting in a room in the cathedral, I suddenly heard the voice of my cute puppy after a long time.

    ¡°Noel~¡±

    When I waved my hand lightly at him, Noel crawled over like a puppy and grasped my hand. ¡­¡­Just like that Rick, you touch a girl way too familiarly.

    ¡°Noel, you look great.¡±

    ¡°¡­Uhn, it¡¯s flashy¡­¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡±

    It seems that Noel hasn¡¯t changed either, since he¡¯s grown as well, the height difference hasn¡¯t changed. What he¡¯s wearing this time is a beautifully polished silver shoulder pauldron, breastplate, and gauntlets along with other small armour pieces. The other parts of the armour are made of leather, so I wonder if it¡¯s supposed to be heavy or light armour?

    On top of all that he was wearing a navy blue surcoat that greatly resembled mine, and hanging on his waist was the Golden Magic Blade I¡¯d given him.

    All this luxurious-looking equipment made Noel feel uneasy.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You look seriously cool, Noel.¡±

    ¡°Th-thanks¡­ Lucy.¡±

    Noel¡¯s bashful smile is really cute.

    ¡°How about me, then?¡±

    ¡°Eh? ¡­ Rick?¡±

    Throwing open the door, Rick walked in¡­¡­ eh?

    ¡°That appearance¡­¡±

    Rick¡¯s appearance was as luxurious as Noel¡¯s, but since his had more metal armor plates than Noel, it had a more ¡®knight-ish¡¯ feeling.

    ¡°Tall¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s that?¡±

    At my answer, Rick poked my forehead with an amused face, and after seeing Noel holding my left hand, he took my right hand and began to pull me along with him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°But, where!?¡±

    While I was wondering if I would be getting dragged along again, Noel walked next to me holding my left hand, and I was pulled together by the two of them through the corridor.

    ¡­¡­eh? you¡¯re going to show the public this scene?

    ¡°Roderick-la-von-Verusenia. Thou, for your great achievements and protection of the people from the evil Demon Beast, I confer upon you the title of [Paladin].¡±

    ¡°Yes sir¡±

    In the Kostoru church, the words of Pope Theophilus echoed throughout the cathedral and a roar of approval rose from the upper nobles and their knights.

    ¡°Noel Barnabas. Thou, for the achievement of driving off the evil Demon Beast, I confer upon you the title of the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom].¡±

    ¡°Hai¡±

    As that was said¡­¡­ there was an especially loud roar from the knights in particular.

    ¡°Yurushia-la-Verusenia. Thou, for protecting our warriors from the evil Demon Beast, and for your achievements in easing the people¡¯s anxiety, I confer upon you the title [Saint of the Holy Kingdom].¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    At that moment, there was a resoundingly loud cheer, and the Paladin-sama and Hero-sama next to me pulled up the listless me.

    But, I¡¯m a Demon¡­¡­¡­

    Things like, the threat of the Demon Beast, the unease of the citizens, and the distrust of the nobility, and sweeping away other things, a [Title] was conferred upon us, who repelled the Demon Beast, and it seems that this will spread far and wide both in and out of the country.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick and Noel were waving to the audience with slightly nervous expressions, while I wasn¡¯t able to wave my hand at all, since the two of them were restraining my arms on both sides. For the time being all I could do was smile as hard as I could.

    I¡¯ll say it again.

    I¡­¡­ am a Demon, you know?

    A few days later¡­¡­ in the name of the [Daemon King Hebrad], a declaration of war from the Daemons¡¯ territory was issued to the human nations.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you very much for reading.

    This concludes [Book 3: The Beast¡¯s Bride].

 Volume 3 - CH 18

    Volume 3, Chapter 18: Setting: ¡ºYurushia¡¯s Secret¡» , Bonus Chapter

    The Secret of Yurushia-chan (At the end of the third book)

    Name: Demon name Yurushia

    Human Name: Yurushia-La-Verusenia

    Species: Demon Beast ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿

    Age: Human Age 10

    Mental Age: Teenager

    Human mode appearance:

    Height 152 cm Weight  ????

    Fair skin. Hair is shiny and golden, rather than blonde, and is straight, extending to below the chest level. Past a certain point, the hair ends curl upwards and become rounded.

    Her eyes are pinkish with a slight tinge of gold, and with slightly droopy eyes.

    Of the things that make up a living being: blood vessels, skeletal structure, muscles, living habits, fatigue, health condition, temperature, humidity, all do not show on her, a living being without ¡¾Flaws¡¿.

    She has few pores and sweat glands, causing her to be lacking a human air.

    Demon Beast (cat) mode appearance:

    Length: approximately 60 cm. A Golden cat that resembles a Russian Blue.

    Coming out of her golden fur is a pair of golden bat wings, a single wing being more than 5 metres long.

    Ruby eyed, with crimson red crystalline fangs and teeth.

    Status (parenthesis denote ability values when using demonic power).

    Supplement: the average human being has around 10. A Hero is around 100 ~ 300.

    Endurance : 5 (3600)

    Physical Strength : 3 (312)

    Defense : 2 (265)

    Speed : 7 ( 24000)

    Magic : 80000 (530,000)

    Skills:

    Note: Level 1 is a beginner, level 5 a master, and level 10 is god-tier.

    Awkward ¡¾Level 3¡¿ (Carried over from Previous Life)

    Laid Back ¡¾Level 5¡¿ (Carried over from Previous life)

    Intimidate ¡¾Level 7¡¿

    Holy Magic ¡¾Level 8¡¿

    Summoning Magic ¡¾Level 6¡¿

    Spiritual Magic ¡¾Level 5¡¿

    Nobility ¡¾Level 3¡¿

    Mental Resistance ¡¾Mental Attacks Nullified¡¿

    Abnormal Status Resistance ¡¾Level 6¡¿ (Only in Demon Form)

    Love Resistance ¡¾Level 2¡¿ (Junior High school student average) (Carried over from past life)

    Villainous Lady ¡¾Level 1¡¿

    Automatic Effect ¡¾Level 1¡¿

    Remarks:

    ¡¾Laid Back¡¿

    When in the conscious range of the person with the skill, atmosphere becomes ¡ºlaid-back¡».

    ¡¾Automatic Effect (passive skill)¡¿

    The appearance of the golden fur always seems fluffy and shiny. ¡¾Stealth ¨C 1¡¿

    Titles:

    ¡¾Demon God (The Devil)¡¿ ¡¾Creator of Demons¡¿ ¡¾Holy Mother of the Demon World¡¿ ¡¾Gourmand¡¿ ¡¾Otherworld Transmigrator¡¿

    ¡¾Daughter of a Ducal House¡¿ ¡¾Princess of the Holy Kingdom¡¿ ¡¾Saint of the Holy Kingdom¡¿ (NEW)

    Remarks:

    The title of ¡¾Demon Beast (small)¡¿ acquired in the Demon World, has been combined with ¡¾Demon God (The Devil)¡¿ through the acquisition of a human body.

    The title of ¡¾Saint of the People¡¿ has been integrated into ¡¾Saint of the Holy Kingdom¡¿.

    Evaluation:

    Although the elaborate ¡¾Human form¡¿is cold like a doll, causing humans to feel an instinctive ¡¾Fear¡¿, thanks to the human-ness granted by her plebeian thinking, its effect has been neutralised subtly.

    Because in the¡¾World¡¿ of her mind she¡¯s automatically rebutting other people, she seems taciturn, so to people around her she looks like a ¡¾Sheltered Princess¡¿.

    The longer one associates with Yurushia the higher the level of ¡¾Mental Resistance¡¿will rise.

 Volume 4 - Prologue

    Volume 4, Chapter Prologue: Lurking in Dark Places

    A declaration of war was made by the Daemons towards the human nations.

    As a result, the human nations, especially the commoners, felt an unfamiliar anxiety and shock. However, the Daemon Kingdom¡¯s residents who received this announcement from the Daemon King were even more surprised and confused.

    The Daemon territory was named such for the sake of differentiating it from the human nations. Although there was the [Daemon King], a symbolic existence that all respected, the land was actually divided into three portions, each one its own independent [State].

    The Daemons and demi-humans that resembled humans lived in [Gistez], which was under the direct jurisdiction of Daemon King Hebrad.

    The Beastmen and those who resembled beasts, lived under the Beast King Gallus¡¯ [Vosto]

    As for the Demon-like demi-humans and the intelligent monsters, they lived in [Herteldeath] under the Dark Princess Killian.

    The three nations of the Daemon territory could hardly be called monolithic. Even though they nominally paid respects to the Daemon King, each of them looked down on the other two and have been squabbling with each other for hundreds of years.

    The only reason why the three countries hadn¡¯t completely destroyed themselves in infighting yet was the existence of the Daemon King and their shared hatred of humans.

    However, despite having a common enemy they continued to have skirmishes amongst themselves, and, while that was part of the nature of the Daemons, there were also some that were afraid of a full-scale war with the humans.

    In the 2,000 year history of Daemonkind, there had been several invasions of the human nations performed in the name of the Daemon King, but they all ended in failure. After each time, the Daemonkind would end up going into a recession.

    The reason why Daemons had staved off destruction up until now was because of the humans, even though they could exterminate the Daemons and claim their territory, the territory itself wasn¡¯t desirable.

    But with things as they were now, with an invasion of not one single country, but declaring war on every human nation on the continent, the humans might actually unite and try to destroy the Daemons.

    For the selfish Daemons, although they would normally rebel against the Daemon King at the drop of a hat, right now the Daemon territories were in a state of great confusion.

    One of the highest pillars on the totem pole of Demonkind¡­ the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿.

    Manifesting after devouring the magic power accumulated over decades, it flew away at once from the Daemon King¡¯s territory, the Demon Beast returned again, coercing those who lived in the Daemon territory to help him gather [Magic Power].

    While the Daemon King was looking for sacrifices to offer it, he thought that it would be necessary to devote thousands of people and Daemons, but the Demon Beast¡¯s ¡¾Manifestation¡¿ didn¡¯t need a vessel, it only wanted enough Magic Power from the Daemon King to remain.

    In the upper floors of the Daemon King¡¯s castle, several of the local lords and tribe chieftains were gathered in various conference rooms. In one of them that was spectacularly decorated and equipped with superior soundproofing and magic defences, the King and his aides were gathered together, staring at each other with bitter expressions.

    ¡°¡­Daemon King-sama, what is the meaning of this¡­?¡±

    A bewitching¡­ yet young voice reminiscent of a pretty maiden, calmly¡­ asked¡­ Daemon King Hebrad, in a poisonous tone.

    The Dark Princess Killian. She looked like a beautiful black-haired lady, but her lower body was that of a snake, long and scaled, and her tail was touching the back of the room 10 metres away.

    ¡°What are you going to do about that ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿! And on top of that, declaring war on all of the human nations, does Your Majesty have any stratagems to secure victory?! ¡±

    A lion beastman that exceeded 3 metres in height¡­ Beast King Gallus slammed his thick arm on the obsidian table as he called out in anger.

    At that state of affairs, a dark-skinned Daemon in the prime of his life grabbed his sword, and released both magic power and a bloodthirsty aura toward the two.

    ¡°You are being rude to Daemon King-sama!¡±

    Taking in that bloodlust, Gallus laughed as he bared his fangs as his fighting spirit surged from all over his body, while Killian was¡­ she narrowed her eyes and the atmosphere chilled.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s leave it at that.¡±

    It settled down¡­ but the slightly tired voice of the Daemon King Hebrad caused the presence of all three of them to be slightly shaken.

    ¡°B-But¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Darnell, you must have restraint.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    One of the Daemon King¡¯s aides, Demon General Darnell, who was in charge of the domestic affairs of Gistez, backed down at Hebrad¡¯s words while staring at the two of them.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tch.¡±

    Killian¡¯s lips edged slightly upwards with interest, while Gallus clicked his tongue as if someone had rained on his parade.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Another man was staring at them¡­ A Daemon usually had a slightly longer lifespan than a human, but he was so old that nobody else even remembered how old he was. He refrained from the quarrel, smiling slightly.

    Daemon Mage Geas. Including this old man, who could be called the head magician of the Daemon King¡¯s Army, these five people were the heavyweights that held in their hands the power to make decisions over the Daemon King¡¯s Territory, and all of them were participating in this meeting.

    Besides, even if more people were to be called to this meeting, the heads of each region would only be looking out for their own interests, and nothing would be achieved.

    Hebrad let out a sigh, seeing that the Daemons had fallen to this state, and began to speak without a care about his prestige.

    ¡°Although I can understand what you¡¯re saying, leave the matter about the Demon Beast to me. I also do not know what it is thinking, but it desires magic power right now. We will try to make the most of the current situation.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Do you intend to fight the humans with that Demon Beast¡­?¡±

    As Killian said as much with an unreadable expression, Hebrad shook his head slowly.

    ¡°It is to let the humans know of its existence, and use it as a precaution. If you don¡¯t know when the Demon Beast might attack, you cannot move your armies easily.¡±

    Furthermore, it would be difficult to send relief forces from other countries due to the fact that the Daemon King had declared war on all of the human nations.

    ¡°So while the humans are taking these precautions, will we be crushing them one at a time? Is it finally that wonderful time?¡±

    Gallus¡¯ face was in a grimace, but it seemed that for the time being, he would listen to what the Daemon King had to say.

    ¡°I have decided that for this war, the first strike of the Daemon King army must take down a human nation.¡±

    ¡°Haah?!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s words took Gallus and Killian by surprise, and even Darnell, who¡¯d heard it beforehand, began to sweat profusely from his forehead.

    The Daemon King¡¯s army was comprised of everyone who lived in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Not to mention the various occupations, excluding the infants and bedridden, the soldiers of the Daemon King army would exceed 70% of the population of the Daemon King territory.

    For those who knew even a little about human wars, that kind of strategy was insane.

    However, Beast King Gallus smiled with delight at the Daemon King¡¯s words.

    ¡°Kill them¡­ is it alright we pillage and eat them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Take everything from them. Bind the war slaves with fear, and use them as the vanguard against other human nations. You may kill the rest and eat them.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oooooooh¡±

    How simple¡­¡­ Unlike Gallus, who was strongly affected by bestial instinct to be able to kill humans and to be able to commit as many atrocities as he liked, Killian gave Hebrad a cold glance before bowing her head down gracefully.

    ¡°Since it has been decided, I will be releasing all of my soldiers. ¡­doing things as we like is fine, right¡­? ¡±

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Hebrad nodded to Killian¡¯s loaded words with nary a change in his expression.

    ¡°Then, I shall be heading back to my country¡­¡­ Our next meeting shall be on the battlefield, Daemon King-sama¡­¡±

    Leaving those words behind, Black Princess Killian calmly left the conference room. It might be that in the confusion caused during the war, she would make her own moves to secure an advantage.

    Killian believed that the strength of the Daemon Race came from their [Monstrous] blood. She would continue to take aim at Hebrad¡¯s life when the opportunity arose.

    In order to make herself the Daemon King¡­¡­¡­

    The Daemon King could only see her off with a sad look from behind.

    No matter how shrewd and clever she was, she didn¡¯t understand the state of the Daemon Race after all.

    The resource-poor Daemon territory, didn¡¯t even have enough stores to spearhead an attack.

    Just to move even a portion of the Daemon King¡¯s army would necessitate taking a large portion of the food of the Daemon territory, and if that happened, those who were left behind would have to scramble for what was left.

    For this reason, Hebrad decided to take everything with them, and abandon those who could not fight.

    If they raided a human country, killed everyone, and took the rest, then there wouldn¡¯t be a need to bring food for those he ruled.

    It was a foolish all-or-nothing strategy that was practically a suicide attack, but because the Daemon Race was a belligerent one that thrived on raiding it was enacted.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s heart was heavy, if he said so himself.

    Unlike all the previous wars up to this point, the Daemon race might be entirely wiped out if they lost. If their stamina dropped, if their march started to slow, the human side would be fully prepared.

    For this strategy, it could be said that the key to victory would be in getting the Daemons stupidly intoxicated in raiding.

    The two foolish Daemon Lords left the meeting room and returned to their countries to prepare for war.

    There wasn¡¯t a true ¡®strategy¡¯ per se, but once the target and the movements to the target of the Daemon King¡¯s army were decided, there was little else to be said.

    Even Daemon General Darnell, who was from the intellectuals of the Daemon Army, was no exception. He left, following Gallus and Killian¡¯s exits, and was now gathering the generals.

    ¡°Even Darnell, is also like that, huh¡­ when will it be that I will give up on the Daemon race?¡±

    Daemon Mage Geas, who was left in the conference room, finally voiced out his impressions for the first time towards Hebrad, who was there alone with him.

    ¡°¡­¡­It takes time for them to understand. They have never received an education on these matters.¡±

    ¡°There is very little of that time left.¡±

    As Hebrad spoke with a bitter tone, Geas¡¯ voice was almost mocking.

    Although Hebrad didn¡¯t have much knowledge in that direction, he¡¯d introduced some [Modernised] tactics to the Daemon King¡¯s army with Geas¡¯ help.

    However, since it was based around the endurance and rationality of [Humans], the Daemons who lacked both weren¡¯t able to execute it.

    ¡°Hebrad, don¡¯t strain yourself. Well¡­ I suppose I shall return too. Don¡¯t worry, I will give you my full cooperation in this strategy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Why, why are you going so far to cooperate with me?¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s voice gave Geas, who was holding onto the doorframe, pause, and he turned around.

    Geas wasn¡¯t one of Hebrad¡¯s subordinates in the beginning.

    While Hebrad was working on reforming the Daemon King¡¯s territory with methods that were unusual to their world, Geas suddenly appeared and talked to him with nostalgic words.

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s someone with the same [Hometown].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Only Hebrad and Geas realised that there was going to be no future for the Daemon territory.

    Even if they did nothing, once the Demon Beast finished absorbing the magic that it demanded, only a future in which the Daemons would be eaten by the Demon Beast and utterly destroyed remained.

    Thinking of silver linings, Hebrad thought that the only chance was now, since all the Daemons were gathered now by their fear of the Demon Beast.

    If they delayed the gathering of magic power, while mostly absorbing the war potential of the human nations, and didn¡¯t destroy the Demon Beast with all that, then the Daemons would not survive.

    How did this happen¡­¡­ what went wrong?

    Hebrad couldn¡¯t help but to pray to the God of his fate, the Demon God, wishing for it to please light the path of survival for the Daemon Race.

    £ª£ª£ª

    At that moment, a certain ¡¾Demon God¡¿, was performing a summoning experiment at the cave in the basement of Count Orbel¡¯s house, trying to dispose of the large quantity of ¡¾Octopi¡¿ (Devilfish) that had been summoned. Together with many vampires and Demons, they were trying to make dried octopus and cuttlefish.

    It¡¯s a seafood festival.

    Classification Supplements:

    ¡¾Demon¡¿ Resident of the Spirit World. Loves humans. Likes souls that are syrupy and full of flavour.

    ¡¾Spirit¡¿ Resident of the Spirit World. Loves humans. Likes the lightly-flavoured magic power that leaks from souls.

    ¡¾Human¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Delicious. Lifespan of 70~80 years.

    ¡¾Elf¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Their way of life is full of variety. Lifespan of approximately 500 years.

    ¡¾Demi-human¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Dwarves and Beastmen, etc. Lifespan of 50~120 years.

    ¡¾Daemon¡¿ Resident of the physical world. A mixed-blood group with both human and demi-human and monster blood. Incredibly hot-blooded. Lifespan of about 120 years.

    ¡¾Monsters¡¿ Residents of the physical world. Magical mutants. Vampires are under this, too.

    ¡¾Animals¡¿ Delicious. Somehow tend to attack travellers.

 Volume 4 - CH 1

    Volume 4, Chapter 1: I became a 4th Grader, Part 1

    A year has passed and I¡¯m a 4th grader, now.

    Of course, I hardly ever go to school¡­ so having a school arc was completely impossible, after all.

    There was a declaration of war from the Daemon King, but the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo is still too peaceful.

    Since Tariterudo is far from the Daemon territory and a ¡¾Holy Boundary¡¿ was stretched across the whole country in preparation for the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿from the start, the magic that the Daemons¡¯ riders use can¡¯t break through it.

    Though I had a hard time making sure that my attendants weren¡¯t affected¡­¡­¡­

    Also, given that the brand-name products of this country like the[Hero of the Holy Kingdom], the [Holy Paladin], and the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom], the public is naturally at ease.

    I was having doubts about Rick¡¯s fighting strength¡­¡­ but when I thought about it, once he¡¯d been given that [Title], it seems that the ¡¾Spirit of Light¡¿ have sort-of stayed, and the skills of the two have been going up. It¡¯s different from the self-proclaimed hero.

    Although that Vampire beauty Millaine-chan did mention once that the Holy Kingdom was the ¡°Land from which the Holy Ones were born,¡± was this it?

    ¡­ The blessing didn¡¯t come to me, though. Spirits-of-light, won¡¯t you speak just a little? Eh, you¡¯re sleepy? Is that so¡­

    Although there were [Intelligence Reports] that came from who-knows-where that said that the Daemon King¡¯s army was using the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, even then it was still relatively calm.

    After all, since I had repelled the Demon Beast, ¡¾He¡¿ had openly declared that I would be his first target, so the ambassadors from the other countries were unexpectedly sympathetic to me. Internally, though, they were just relieved that their countries were safe.

    Still, being the ambassador of a small country that didn¡¯t have much military strength, we couldn¡¯t entirely stamp out the feeling of unease, so it seems like I¡¯m going to have to go on a Saint (Idol) tour once again in the meantime.

    ¡­¡­ Is it okay if I don¡¯t sing?

    What I meant earlier by too peaceful, is that tonight there¡¯s a [Party for the Heroes of the Holy Kingdom], and I¡¯m attending this ball.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, you came.¡±

    The ball was organised by the merchant guild in the capital. When Zest-san who became the new Duke Kapell called out to Millaine, who I had forced to attend, a large amount of people congregated around her¡­ made entirely of males, who trembled as she met their gaze.

    ¡­What the heck¡¯s with those reactions?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I am feeling a little warm, so let¡¯s go outside to the terrace.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh, Millaine-sama?¡±

    Millaine, who gave the man an elegant smile, left the men surrounding her, and took my hand, heading to the terrace.

    Because you¡¯re feeling warm, huh¡­¡­ Although there isn¡¯t much in the way of temperature differences here between the seasons, is it winter now?

    ¡°Millaine¡­¡­ please don¡¯t use me as your pest repellent.¡±

    When I took off my [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mask out on the terrace, Millaine also reverted from her [Countess Successor] mode and sighed heavily.

    ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t help it if a [Soul] that¡¯s that thin approaches me.¡±

    Millaine is 18. As the beautiful maiden called the [Silver Princess], she was already remarkably popular. Now that she was tentatively the head of the Count¡¯s house, a large number of marriage proposals from the second and third sons of other aristocrats aiming to become the son-in-law of the house came fluttering in.

    Millaine used to lavish smiles upon everyone regardless of gender previously, but after I taught her how to distinguish what kind of person would have tasty blood, she¡¯s totally become an [Gourmet].

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me, I have the prototype, Millaine, would you like to try it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please.¡±

    When I brought out the octopus tentacles that I¡¯ve secretly brought, Millaine received it with a sullen face.

    ¡°¡­¡­These things that come from the basement of my home¡­¡­ they¡¯re annoyingly good. ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not merely good. It¡¯s delicious, no?¡±

    ¡°But, my hands still stink of the ocean after handling these¡­¡­¡±

    Only the two of them were on the terrace at this party¡­¡­ seeing the [Golden Princess] and the [Silver Princess] talking, many eyes watched them intently.

    In the midst of this, the dried octopus that was seasoned with souls for the consumption of the Demons that lived in the Holy Kingdom was being concealed by the Demon and Vampire aristocrat with a fan. ¡­¡­ Yup, nothing to say about that.

    A portion of the ¡¾Octopi¡¿ were being sold by the Carpe company, but it wasn¡¯t popular with human beings¡­ even though it¡¯s so delicious.

    ¡°When you look for a groom, will you be searching for a noble with a rich soul, to be able to make him a vampire?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m not that desperate in terms of age yet.¡±

    For a noble lady, it was best if they married by the age of 20.

    ¡°Come to think of it, when does a vampire reach adulthood¡­? I mean, aren¡¯t you actually dressing younger than you are? Millaine, aren¡¯t you actually over 200 years old?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yurushia-sama, please don¡¯t make people sound like they¡¯re grannies. There¡¯s no reason that Vampires should age, you know? I haven¡¯t changed a bit since I became a vampire in my late teens.¡±

    ¡°Really? I thought that you grew a little since we first met¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I tampered with my own bones and muscles, not because I was forcibly changed. Well, it¡¯s best to be between one¡¯s teens and twenties¡­Are Demons different?¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m growing naturally, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s¡­ not entirely normal.¡±

    When I replied readily, Millaine had an amazed face as she muttered under her breath ¡®Yurushia-sama is really irresponsible¡­¡¯ Hey, that¡¯s rude in various ways.

    I think that my core is that of a [Demon], but since I have a human¡¯s mind and body as well, I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s been affected.

    I¡¯m growing normally, but I wonder if I¡¯ll grow old? If so, there won¡¯t be a problem for me to live as a human being, but that hope is slim at best¡­

    Perhaps, if my body is just trying to remain in its [Optimal] state, I may not even have a fixed lifespan.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, Millaine, what do you think of those two?¡±

    In my line of sight, were two boys that were surrounded by noble ladies and young knights in this extravagant hall.

    Rick and Noel. Aged 13 and 12. They¡¯re on the cusp of growing into adults.

    While I came to this ball being escorted by the two of them, since so many people wanted to talk to the Holy Paladin and Hero, we¡¯ve been separated.

    Even then, only the religion-related people are talking to me¡­

    ¡°Well~¡­ 50 points?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? What¡¯s with the scoring system? Rather, why that amount of points?¡±

    If she says it¡¯s because of their looks, I¡¯m going to fill Millaine¡¯s house with seaweed.

    ¡°Although they seem to have tasty souls, it¡¯s a pity that their combat power seems to be low, since they¡¯re young.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡±

    It was a surprisingly serious assessment. I was surprised.

    I hadn¡¯t meant to hear her evaluation of their fighting power¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s a mistake to ask a [Non-human] for their assessment of a human.

    I have few people I call friends.

    For human friends I guess it¡¯s Shelly and Betty, then Noel and Rick.

    The two girls seem to accept [Me] as I am more or less, but what about Rick and Noel?

    Especially Noel, who is now the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom]-sama, what will he do if he ever discovers that I¡¯m not human?

    ¡­Even if I¡¯m worrying about it now, it can¡¯t be helped.

    Now, what I have to worry more about is ¡¾Him¡¿.

    Even with ¡¾His¡¿ disposition, I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll be having a rematch with him before he ¡¾Manifests¡¿ a body.

    I¡¯m sure ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ saving up power now.

    And by the time we have a rematch, I have to decide ¡°Where we stand.¡±

    Until then¡­¡­

    ¡°Millaine, are you going out to play soon?¡±

    As I asked her with a Demon¡¯s smile on my face, Millaine had an astonished face and her eyes brightened.

    ¡°¡­¡­That is, the Daemon King¡¯s army?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re tired of the underworld of the Holy Kingdom, no? It¡¯s too peaceful for a state at war. Perhaps the backers of the underworld are with the Daemon King¡¯s army, so why don¡¯t you go and play with them?¡±

    As I said so, Millaine smiled wryly and leaked out a small sigh.

    ¡°Finally, I¡¯m not working behind the scenes.¡±

    ¡°Go out to play, go play. Seriously, I don¡¯t really understand that Daemon King. To give such a grand declaration of war like it was nothing, I don¡¯t get it at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Ah~¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmm?¡±

    Millaine suddenly leaked a voice of understanding, even as she stared into the distance.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s that? Did you figure something out?

    Anyways, it¡¯s really peaceful¡­¡­

    I had asked my attendants to go and [Keep an Eye] on the Daemon army¡­ you guys, you¡¯re clearly doing something on your own, aren¡¯t you¡­?

 Volume 4 - CH 2

    Half a year has passed since the Daemon King declared war on all of the human nations.

    In the three human nations that bordered the ¡ºForest of Monsters¡» which was close to the Daemon¡¯s territory, forts had been constructed in various places and mercenaries had been contracted in preparation of the invasion of the Daemon King¡¯s army. In the last six months, there had only been minor skirmishes with the Daemon army¡¯s scouts and beastmen bandits, along with small groups of monsters.

    So, where had the Daemon King¡¯s army gone?

    What had they been doing up until now, and what were they doing now¡­¡­

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    A beastman, wearing a slightly stained armour, stabbed poorly-clothed other beastman with a spear.

    Even though they were both Beastmen, while the one who had been killed looked like a human, the one who was wearing the armour looked like a wolf with a reptile¡¯s eyes. After being splattered with blood, it licked its own face with a snakelike tongue and a distorted smile.

    The Daemons¡­ a mixed-blood group of abandoned humans and demi-humans and monsters.

    The agonising screams of death were the only thing that could be heard.

    They who were armed with rusty swords and spears, wearing thin and dirty armour, had struck a small village, killing and looting its fleeing inhabitants with extreme cruelty.

    The ¡ºForest of Monsters¡» that separated the Daemon territory from the human nations was a dangerous place where monsters rampaged, but there were also a few villages within it.

    There were people who separated themselves, being unable to accept the way of the Daemons. There were humans who had chosen to share their lives with the beastmen and Daemons. There were slaves and stragglers who¡¯d run away from human society.

    These people had gradually congregated, seeking escape from both humans and Daemons, and had built a village in this dangerous forest, and although they feared the Daemons, they were able to eke out a bare-bones life.

    That is, until today¡­¡­

    ¡°M-mother¡±

    A five year old cat-eared young girl was crying, her face distorted as she shook the still body of a bloodstained human woman.

    ¡°Tch, she died so easily, it¡¯s going to be a pain in the rear to transport.¡±

    As the lizard beastman spit out his complaint, he ripped off a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth, sloppily chewing.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll eat the innards first¡­ Oi, brat! I¡¯ll take you back as my fresh food, so just be docile until I eat you.¡±

    ¡°Heee¡­¡±

    The Daemons who had thick monster blood would even stoop to eating humans or other beastmen.

    The soldiers of the Daemon army attacked all the settlements, pillaging all the food from the villages, killing everyone but the young women and children, as they were tasked with bringing back playthings for food and ¡®comfort¡¯.

    However, this was a mission in name only. Even if they were left to their own devices, the Daemons would have done the same by instinct.

    There is not a single one with the heart of a ¡ºPerson¡».

    For the Daemons, anyone weaker than they were were existences to take from, and they wouldn¡¯t come to a mutual understanding even if they talked, only ever seeing the weak as livestock.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm?¡±

    A lizard beastman realised that the area was strangely quiet.

    Wiping the bloodstains from his mouth, he could only hear the muffled crying of the little girl.  Even if he strained his ears, he could hear nothing else at all.

    There were ten-odd of them who had raided this place. There were only about 50 people in the village, so it should have been easy to annihilate, so it was unnatural that he couldn¡¯t hear any of the women or children making tormented noises or screaming.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­? Brat, you¡¯re coming with me!¡±

    ¡°¡­N-Nooooo¡±

    ¡°Shutup!¡±

    The little cat-eared girl was struck and went silent, and the lizardman left the roughshod cabin with his spear.

    ¡°Wha¡­¡±

    As the lizard beastman walked out to look, he saw all of the villagers that they had killed¡­¡­ and all of his comrades with their swords and spears at the ready¡­  had become stone statues.

    ¡°What the¡­ this¡­¡±

    The lizardman couldn¡¯t recognise that those stone statues were his companions.

    Why were there stone statues that looked like his companions? Where did the people that he had personally put into place go?

    Maybe they¡¯d found prey and had intentionally left him out of it, and he felt indignant that he had been made a fool of and that they¡¯d run off without telling him.

    As a lizardman, who was of limited intelligence, he didn¡¯t understand that this situation was due to an ¡ºEnemy¡».

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The lizardman noticed a petite person walking about the centre of the village.

    Looking completely out of place, it was a human girl dressed up in a white apron over a black dress of excellent make.

    More than her unperturbed expression, even in the face of this miserable scene, she was walking about as if she were on nothing more than a calm stroll while on her errands, which was even more strange.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hehe¡­¡±

    Looking at the pretty girl, with her beautiful blond hair and soft, not-yet-adult flesh, the lizardman smiled vulgarly. ¡­But,

    ¡°¡­He-Hey, girlie.¡±

    Rushing towards the girl who looked like she was walking slowly past his eyes, the lizardman hurriedly lowered his spear and called out to her to stop.

    ¡°Oi!?¡±

    But that girl didn¡¯t stop walking at all, as if she hadn¡¯t heard a voice. The lizardman¡¯s face twisted with anger, and he rushed towards her, stabbing his spear.

    *buchii*¡­

    There was the sound of fibres being torn¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Excuse me. May I help you¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­e¡­¡­a¡±

    Snatching away the lizardman¡¯s spear in an instant, tearing off both of his arms and throwing them both away like garbage, the girl turned to look at the lizardman for the first time.

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­GyaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    His brain finally catching up to reality, the lizardman fell to his knees even as he screamed out in fear and pain.

    The girl looked down coldly at him.

    ¡°If you have no business with me, then I do. ¡­¡­oh?¡±

    Even as the lizardman¡¯s piteous screams went on like the BGM, the blond-haired girl looked at the terrified catgirl who was staring at her with fear in her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As the girl stared quietly, from under the feet of the cat-eared girl, something was giving off a vague steam.

    As the girl continued to stare at the child who made an accident, she spoke

    ¡°¡­Please be quiet.¡±

    She casually stuck her hands into the chest cavity of the screaming beastman, and pulled out his heart without making a single sound.

    ¡­*gehi*

    Without even glancing at the lizardman who had grown quiet with a strange sound, the girl offered that blood-covered heart to the cat-eared child with an expressionless face.

    ¡°Want to eat it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    The little girl paled and shook her head vigorously.

    ¡°Is that so¡­ Then¡­ will you be eating this?¡±

    The young lady faintly knitted her eyebrows, and then swallowed the bloody lump of meat in a single mouthful, taking out the dried seafood from her pockets and presenting it to the little girl.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As expected the little girl didn¡¯t refuse, as she received it in shock. The young lady patted the little girl¡¯s cat ears, and the edges of her lips went up slightly, then vanished into the forest outside the village.

    She loved cats.

    By sheer luck, there were villages on the way to her destination, and she couldn¡¯t resist the charm of the ¡ºCat Eared Ones¡» while she removed the obstacles in her way. Tina had stroked them instinctively when she fed the little girl, so she continued towards her original destination with a satisfied face.

    ¡°¡­¡­Cats don¡¯t like hearts.¡±

    She wrote in her love diary about her most beloved master.

 Volume 4 - CH 3

    Volume 4, Chapter 3: I became a Fourth-Grader, Part 3

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡­?¡±

    In a giant tent in the Forest of Monsters, Black Princess Killian was biting her black claws in frustration.

    Half a year ago, the whole of the Daemon King¡¯s army began to prepare after the Daemon King had made his proclamation.

    Some of them objected to the reckless strategy, but most of them couldn¡¯t bear the terror of the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, and gladly prepared to flee the Daemon territory.

    Even though the Daemon King¡¯s army was called an ¡®army,¡¯ it was more like a group of rampaging monsters in reality.

    As expected, the main forces of the three states grouped up and moved out together, deployed early in the New Year, three months after the declaration of war. As for the others, the local lords and various tribal chieftains of the various regions took their hundreds and thousands of men and headed towards the human nations on their own.

    A month after passing through the [Forest of Monsters], they thought that the scout troops would have come into contact with the humans¡­¡­¡­ but there had still been no results.

    Even the battle reports never came, and none of the scout units¡¯ locations were known. While a few traces of battle and dozens of dead bodies were found, about 200,000 troopers had simply just disappeared.

    The Daemons prided themselves upon their strength; hence they didn¡¯t pay serious attention to it. At most, it merely resulted in laughter that they didn¡¯t get to have any of the prey at all.

    The Daemon Lord that was the most familiar with the Forest of Monsters, Black Princess Killian, promptly advanced the main force, built up a base and started an invasion¡­ But, there weren¡¯t any battle reports from any of their units, and the Forest of Monsters was strangely quiet, as if frightened by something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Could I be, has the Hero has come?¡±

    The one passed down through the Daemons¡¯ legends, the natural enemy of Daemon kind. A human butcher.

    However, only those who had received the [Blessings of the Light] were true heroes, and that type of hero, unless an [Evil] powerful enough to destroy nations came, would not appear  in human society, it simply couldn¡¯t appear.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What¡¯s happening?¡±

    As Killian lost her patience, her black snakelike lower half uncoiled, smashing one of the furnishings brought from the Daemon territory to smithereens, and the terrified maids drew back.

    ¡°I will be heading out personally¡­¡­ tell everyone!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    Black Princess Killian¡¯s forces were composed of: 270,000 Daemons who had thick monster blood, 320,000 Intelligent Magic Beasts, and with a 150,000-strong Beast-rider cavalry, it was an army totaling 740,000.

    From them, 250,000 of the more fleet-footed ones would advance together under the command of the Black Princess.

    Without using the forest roads, in the face of the undulating terrain of the forest, they seemed like a tsunami rushing forth swallowing up the forest.

    Normally, Killian would never have taken such rash actions.

    Her usual style of combat would be to set up a trap and wait for prey to fall into it while she drank her time away.

    But another, more serious, problem was approaching than merely not knowing the identity of their enemy.

    It¡¯s been several months since they started invading from the Daemon territory¡­ The food that they¡¯d brought was starting to run out, so were the lower-class monsters and animals that they¡¯d hunted. If the situation stagnated any further, the Daemons might start cannibalizing each other.

    ¡°Everyone charge! Charge until you¡¯ve either reached a human dwelling or I allow you.¡±

    Before anyone knew it, Black Princess Killian was riding at the front of the army, carried by a beast chariot pulled by four huge snakes.

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    Feeling a chilling sense of dread, the four serpents stopped moving.

    Although they only felt it for a moment, and while most of the soldiers didn¡¯t understand what they¡¯d felt, the intelligent monsters and the feral magic beasts of the cavalry felt something of the presence¡¯s true nature by instinct, and the whole troop stopped moving spontaneously.

    The riders urged their mounts, but the mounts and beasts didn¡¯t move.

    Within, Black Princess Killian realized that it was an aura of [Killing Intent] with an extreme range, and she glared into the depths of the dark forest as cold sweat ran down her back.

    ¡°Who are you¡­? Show yourself before thou!!¡±

    Due to her pride as a Daemon Lord, Killian raised her voice, and thrust out her own [Calming Intent] towards the depths of the forest.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When she felt the [Killing Intent] only subside slightly and her subordinates continued to stay silent, Killian began to bare her teeth and radiate bloodlust.

    Up until now, nobody had been able to ward off her Killing Intent and still produce this level of Killing Intent other than the [Daemon King].

    Who lay beyond? She didn¡¯t think that someone else of Daemon King Hebrad¡¯s level existed, although she strengthened her caution given that it might be a [Hero] or [Saint]-level existence.

    As the killing intent of the Black Princess dispersed, a few of the mount beasts foamed at the mouth and began to collapse¡­ a small humanoid emerged as if cut out from the depths of the forest.

    It was a beautiful young lady with curly, gently-fluttering golden hair.

    Dressed in the high quality clothes of a human aristocrat¡¯s maid, she walked quietly with her hands in front of her, and seemed like either a noble or a lady-in-waiting of the royal family.

    Although she looked horribly out of place, her iron expression and icy eyes told them that the girl wasn¡¯t just a simple human.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    Pulling back her bloodlust, Killian¡¯s voice was held up with the dignity of a ruler, and the girl picked up the hem of her skirts without hesitation, and lowered her waist in a curtsey.

    ¡°I, am one of the attendants of the noble [Princess], ¡¾Gorgon¡¿ Tina.¡±

    At those irreverent words, a surge of anger and bloodlust came from Killian¡¯s admirers.

    To remain unfazed even in front of an army of over several hundred thousand, and on the contrary, declaring that she served someone who was a greater[ Princess] in front of the [Black Princess], everyone was shocked and some even doubted whether she was sane.

    ¡°¡­Gorgon¡­? I¡¯ve never heard of such a word¡­ is that your official position?¡±

    Hearing such a strange word for the first time, Killian continued to try collecting information the enemy that they couldn¡¯t afford to relax their guards against, and continued the conversation without foolishly exerting her killing intent.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the name of my race.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hohooh, so does that mean that you¡¯re not [Human]¡­?¡±

    Tina didn¡¯t answer Killian¡¯s question, but merely returned an elegant smile. At that creepy smile that lacked any sense of kindness, Killian felt the atmosphere was like swallowing a lump of lead.

    The sheer pressure of her appearance, a creepily beautiful young woman that looked exactly like a real human being was unnerving.

    Although there were Daemons that looked like humans too, this felt like a completely different existence from them.

    There was also the matter of that [Killing Intent] just now. Could such a small girl release such an overwhelming Killing Intent¡­? That there was a large crowd behind the girl, and hearing that there was the [Princess] there, she was convinced that the rest of them had been intimidated by that horde behind the girl.

    But¡­ that wasn¡¯t it.

    If there was an army sizable enough to make one feel such a level of Killing Intent, there was no way that they wouldn¡¯t have perceived their existence.

    If¡­ If this girl wasn¡¯t just an envoy of the battle ahead, but really had come here alone¡­

    What kind of [Monster] was she to produce this level of Killing Intent¡­?

    It¡¯s impossible. Thinking about it, Killian lost the mood to continue the conversation with that insolent young girl, and looked down at her as she uttered just one word.

    ¡°¡­¡­Kill.¡±

    As she spoke, several soldiers behind Killian leapt out soundlessly.

    A wolf man, a girl with wings for arms, a one-eyed giant, and a horned man with scaled skin:

    They who were called monsters, unlike the beast-men, attacked the girl who had made a fool of their Lord together.

    *Gagon¡­*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!¡±

    Killian was thrown into a state of shock, and gasped in spite of herself.

    The four fiercest of her bodyguard that had served her for many years, had become [Stone Statues] in an instant and fell to the earth while maintaining their momentum, rolling away.

    [Petrification] was rare, but it wasn¡¯t her first time seeing it.

    Apart from the portion of Daemons that would have their flesh and magical power slowly harden because of [Disease], the cases of [Petrification] were all because of magic crystallizing the impurities within the body, or cases where they were trapped within a stone-like material and then hardened.

    However, it was impossible to do any of them in an instant, and it was mostly commonly seen as a trap or a form of torture in places where one was trapped and unable to run away, it was a magic that didn¡¯t kill.

    But¡­

    There wasn¡¯t a single sign of [Life] from the four bodyguards. They had been killed in an instant.

    ¡°¡­Kill her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±

    Killian shouted out with all her strength.

    In order to release the petrification, they either had to perform rituals of Holy Magic or kill the caster.

    It also had to be done within a few hours to preserve the lives of the victims, and although they were already dead, Killian still couldn¡¯t help but shout it.

    If it had been Hebrad or Geas, they might have been able to respond a little more calmly, but for the trap-loving, always-victorious Killian, this was too much to bear.

    An unknown magic¡­ an unknown existence¡­ Not knowing was more terrifying than anything.

    ¡°Well then, I shall begin the extermination.¡±

    An indifferent voice came from beside her.

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Killian instantly leapt back and shook her giant snake tail. The blow that would have sent an elephant flying, was stopped by Tina¡¯s tiny hands, and half of it was cut off.

    ¡°GyaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    As the Black Princess screamed, the dumbfounded soldiers struck Tina all together.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Tina gazed at the 5 metre long snake tail, and then threw it behind her into the depths of the forest, tearing into the hundreds of Daemons around her with the golden snakes.

    As they choked on their own blood in their death throes, the curly golden hair turned into countless snakes, and as Tina put on a devilish smile, the soldiers¡¯ faces cramped in fear.

    Wherein Tina was looking for the Black Princess whose tail had been torn to pieces¡­¡­

    ¡°AhahahahAHahAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±

    As the ground shook with the echoing of her laughter, she approached Killian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t come closer, stay back! HiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII¡­¡±

    Although the soldiers were all trying to protect Killian, they were too close to Killian to use magic. If they approached they would be torn up by golden snakes, while if they retreated they would be petrified by that red gaze, and with the angry screaming, the scared fleeing, and the crying and confusion all mixed together, the battlefield became chaotic.

    The ¡¾Arch Demon¡¿¡¾Gorgon¡¿ created by the golden ¡¾Devil¡¿.

    Tina was inferior to Noa in attacking power, worse than Nia at defending, and worse than Fannie in mental attacks and strange powers.

    However, her overall combat ability outstripped the other three, especially when battling in the physical world. Even among all of the Arch Demons that existed in the Demon World, she was unrivalled.

    But, even for Tina, hundreds of thousands of troops was too much.

    She deliberately provoked the enemy, didn¡¯t kill the enemy general, and harassed them while throwing them into chaos, if they had been allowed the time to recover their wits, their numbers would have been a threat.

    ¡°This is so much fun, but no¡­¡±

    If she delayed any further, she would be late for her master¡¯s dinner.

    Tina took out a small golden key from her pockets and thrust it into the air.

    ¡°Open¡­¡­ ¡¾Paradise Lost (Lost Eden)¡¿¡±

    In that instant¡­¡­ the battlefield was enveloped in ¡¾Blackness¡¿.

    It wasn¡¯t night. It wasn¡¯t darkness. The sunlit [Forest of Monsters], was simply replaced with an empty space devoid of anything but blackness¡­¡­

    As it happened, the 250,000 soldiers were all filled with a fear of something next to them.

    The new race of Greater Demon that had manifested with vampires as its vessels¡­ all 500 of them were there.

    A special type of Demon that had a body which resembled a human¡¯s, they was clad in warped armor and were armed with black, visibly cursed, swords.

    The Greater Demon all gave a cry of delight at the large amount of [Food] that had been given to them by their lords.

    ¡°At least, it¡¯s protein this time. I don¡¯t want seaweed anymore¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    Tonight¡¯s dinner¡­ as I was enjoying the [Grilled] food that Tina had gathered, I turned to ask Fannie who was waiting on me.

    ¡°This is quite delicious ¡­ what is this meat?¡±

    ¡°Snake. Because its grease is delicious, I was told to hunt it©`¡±

    ¡°Fuu~, snake really is delicious, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    I can¡¯t help but wonder, when is the Daemon King¡¯s army going to get here¡­?

    I should probably go out on my Saint (Idol) tour soon.

 Volume 4 - CH 4

    Volume 4, Chapter 4: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Daily Life, Part 1

    As I¡¯ll be turning 11 soon, I decided to visit the countries close to the Daemon territory as a Saint.

    Actually, I was going to fly~ over there with my servants, so that I could spend several months enjoying myself before teleporting back. I had made plans for a trip with us alone, but I seem to have been found out before I knew it¡­

    ¡°Noel¡­?¡±

    Noel comes over to my house often. The threshold for entry had become slightly lower since he¡¯s become a noble too, but now when he walks through the door he¡¯s not the son of a Viscount, but the [Hero].

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy¡­¡±

    Noel didn¡¯t run up to me like a puppy like he normally did, but rather walked up to me with a slightly lonely expression.

    By the way, nobody told me that he was coming. If there is a visitor, you guys should inform me¡­ in the shadow of a nearby pillar, I saw the maids and the attendants giving me covert thumbs-up¡­ What are you guys doing?

    ¡°Noel, what¡¯s the matter? Ba¡­ Bar¡­¡­ where¡¯s Bear-san?¡± (Piro Note: she keeps forgetting Barnabas, lol)

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not having training today, so the group¡­ Father didn¡¯t come along. Putting that aside¡­¡±

    Bear-san and Noel often came to practice with the knights and to practice coordinating with me, but now Noel¡¯s come alone. He walked up next to me, and gently held my hand.

    ¡­ Ah, as expected he¡¯s holding my hand. It¡¯s alright because I¡¯m still a child, but will I still be able to be married if Noel turns 15 and becomes not ¡®safe¡¯?

    As a 13 year old, Noel was 10-odd centimeters taller than I was; he knelt in front of me all of a sudden.

    ¡°N-Noel, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡­ Will you rely on me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As he looked straight into my eyes, I felt a little itch in my heart.

    ¡°Why are you trying to go alone to a place near the Daemon Territory¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ err¡­¡±

    Where did it leak from¡­? It¡¯s probably one of those maids-in-waiting.

    That aside, what do I do? I thought about deceiving him, but his face wasn¡¯t his usual puppy face, and I was off put by his grown-up expression.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I the same as you, Lucy? People who are in trouble¡­ I want to help the people who are suffering.¡±

    ¡­¡­Eh? But I just want to go sightseeing? ¡­¡­I can¡¯t say that now.

    ¡°¡­Umm, Noel,¡±

    ¡°I understand your feelings. Therefore, I will go whenever and wherever Lucy goes.¡±

    ¡°U-umm¡­¡±

    Oh crap, I¡¯ve lost the chance to speak. Noel interrupted my words, calmly¡­¡­ and while smiling gently with determined eyes, he touched his lips to my hand.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ am [Hero] that will always stand beside the gentle hearted [Saint]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°~~~¡­¡±

    Dangerous¡­¡­ Even though Noel himself is turning bright red ¡­¡­ Still, since I don¡¯t have any resistance, don¡¯t hit me with such a big surprise attack¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ Behind us, the maid-sans, were all being annoying with their *kyaa~ kyaa~*.

    ¡°Yurushia¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­Roderick-onii-sama, did you finish your greetings?¡±

    At a social gathering that was held every few days¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s just an evening ball, but Rick was surrounded by foreign aristocrats and their daughters until he came over to me, who was surrounded by greasy ministers.

    ¡­¡­ For some reason I feel that there¡¯s an unreasonable [Difference].

    ¡°It¡¯s over. Don¡¯t talk about it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    As soon as he got to me he already had his pouty face and sullen voice¡­ That¡¯s probably why all those ministers all took their leave while sweating profusely.

    It¡¯s not my fault to have parted from them after Rick arrived, right¡­?

    ¡°Come over here¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Rick stretched out his hand for a moment, and stopped halfway¡­ ooh, I thought that he would grab my arm again but he¡¯s finally growing up.

    We walked out to the garden. Because we¡¯re so conspicuous, we can¡¯t be hidden from view by simply going to the terrace, so to speak without being disturbed we took a stroll in the garden at night.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Rick?¡±

    As Rick walked silently without a word, I changed my term of address and called out to him.

    What happened? Rick wore a different look than usual while he craned his neck a little to the side, and then quietly spoke.

    ¡°¡­I am weak¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    But you¡¯re not as weak as you were before¡­?

    ¡°Although I was given the title of [Holy Paladin] for participating, Noel and I ¡­¡­ are just not an equal match for Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The [Holy Paladin] was a precious treasure of the Holy Kingdom and different from the Holy Knights, rather, it was a title that was rather similar to being a [Hero].

    The hero with the protection of the light was the hope of the people.

    While the Hero was the guiding light that lit the way for the people, the Holy Crusader wielded the power of the light to avenge the people¡¯s suffering upon their enemies.

    In other words, it means that the Holy Crusader must be stronger than the Hero as an individual¡­¡­

    ¡°I have to become strong as the [Holy Paladin]. If you head to the Daemon territory, I will too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Rick¡±

    Rick is also following Noel¡­¡­

    ¡°Although I thought that I could defend Yurushia, but every time you¡¯ve protected me¡­¡±

    He¡¯s aware of it himself¡­¡­¡­ I¡¯m unable to refuse Rick whenever he displays his straightforward [Masculinity].

    Well, in any case, if Noel is coming, I can¡¯t refuse Rick either.

    To me, since Rick was a young kid when I first met him, I¡¯ve always taken him lightly.

    As I reminisced about the old days, the moment that the eyes of our chaperones were obstructed by the shade of a tree, Rick grabbed my arm and pulled me in.

    ¡°I cannot lose to Noel.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯scloseit¡¯sclose your face is too close! We¡¯re almost stuck together!

    Did Rick realize it too? His eyes went wide momentarily and drew apart, returning to holding my hand with only one hand and walking again.

    What¡¯s going on, hmmmph? ¡­¡­ You¡¯re not meeting my eyes.

    Anyways, various things happened, but it seems that the [Holy Kingdom Hero¡¯s Party] can¡¯t help but head out together.

    But still, we¡¯re being accompanied by a team of escort knights again¡­¡­ Our Hero¡¯s Party is basically being accompanied by chaperones.

    ¡°¡­¡­eee~tto, are you all coming with us too?¡±

    Since my departure has become public knowledge, naturally my guardian knights from the Ducal household, along with Vio, Fell and Min were going to be accompanying me as my caretakers.

    ¡°Naturally. Ria-sama specially instructed us to take care of Princess Yuru-sama.¡±

    As Vio replied for them all, Fell and Min both smiled and nodded behind her.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we just sightseeing?¡±

    I¡¯m mostly focused on the sightseeing.

    ¡°Of-of course we understand. I haven¡¯t hugged Yuru-sama lately, but I can¡¯t force it even if I¡¯m lonely.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, about those local guide books that Yuru-sama told us to order, I¡¯ve made special arrangements.¡±

    Oi¡­¡­¡­

    Well, the maids that have been taking care of me since I was young¡­ even now that they¡¯re my ladies-in-waiting, these three girls still worried about me from the bottom of their hearts.

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that right? This doesn¡¯t have a vacation-y mood?

    Aren¡¯t all three of them newlyweds¡­¡­ is it alright to leave their husbands alone¡­¡­¡­?

    These three girls¡­ Now that half of their twenties have gone by, if I was asked to introduce them marriage partners, I would have decided readily on anyone that was convenient.

    Vio was with a single bachelor steward who was in his 30s, Fell with a young knight under the Duke, and Min with the sous chef of the house.

    Did you all ever date anyone else before? I think that the three of them just chose partners that would allow them to continue prioritizing their current work¡­¡­ I¡¯m okay with that, though.

    Well, I interviewed them too, and I was relieved since they¡¯re all good people.

    Since I had a serious personal interview and put them under [Killing Intent] for an hour or so until they started to cry, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll cheat even if they¡¯re about to die.

    Because of that, it seems that the husbands have all said that [If you are by Yurushia-sama¡¯s side, I¡¯ll be relieved] and I¡¯ve acquired a strange trust.

    I am but a weak noble lady¡­¡­

    If this trend continues in the following years, I wonder if I¡¯ll have to be the one finding husbands for the 15 girls of the escort knights as well. To be blunt, it¡¯s a pain in the rear.

    Those girls, when they saw that the [Holy Saint-sama(me)] give the blessings at Vio, Fell and Min¡¯s weddings at the behest of the priest, they¡¯ve all been brimming with eagerness to receive my favor.

    Oh, come to think of it, they aren¡¯t my [Escort Knights] any longer.

    It seems that they became the [Saint Guard Squadron] when I became the [Holy Saint].

    They ranked up. Their equipment was completely changed too, and it can¡¯t be helped that I had to turn to Zest of the Carpe Merchant Association and ordered 15 magic swords for them.

    It was a huge expense. My private slush fund was halved.

    Regarding my own marriage¡­¡­ For me, since my sister-samas¡¯ returns are a delicate matter, will I have to take a groom into the family?

    Aunt-sama of the Shiguresu Royal Family¡¯s fierce promotion of her son is scary.

    When I brought up the topic with Mother-sama discreetly, it seems that seven marriage proposals have come from the royal families of the surrounding countries.

    Including a newly-born third prince¡­¡­ what are you all thinking?

    ¡­¡­¡­ Is that my bridegroom?

    ¡­Ah, I got off track; this was supposed to be a story about my Saint (idol) tour.

    Since someone might ask [Saint-sama, sing us a song], I can¡¯t avoid singing practice¡­¡­ It¡¯s just in case? I don¡¯t really actually want to sing, promise¡­

    The estimated journey will take several months, and it absolutely wasn¡¯t purposely scheduled to be on my birthday.

    So, Grandfather-sama, please stop throwing a tantrum. Please don¡¯t try to inspect the border? ¡­¡­ Since I¡¯m going to break through it with my ability.

 Volume 4 - CH 5

    Volume 4, Chapter 5: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Daily Life, Part 2

    We left the Holy Kingdom headed towards the [Warrior Nation Taterudo] in the north. I wanted to head there directly, but in order to do that we needed to cross two countries to our destination.

    Since we¡¯re more or less a party made up of the Royal Family and the Hero-sama, we can¡¯t just pass through without stopping, and so we¡¯ve been forced to stay an additional week or so for parties and parades.

    Taterudo gave us an opportunity to go and visit their weapons workshops, I guess that¡¯s par for the course for the Warrior Nation. Isn¡¯t a new-model magic sword supposed to be a state secret?

    Eh¡­? I can buy branded magic swords here cheaply¡­¡­¡­?

    While suffering damage to my wallet and heart, I arrived at one of the three countries near the Daemon Territory, [Kolkopo].

    Although the country¡¯s name is pretty cute, it seems that they¡¯re in quite a troubled state as a small country.

    The royal family of this place had a pretty little boy who¡¯s turning 10 years old this year.

    ¡°I a-am Ko-kokokokokoko-ko-Kolpo, Yu-Yuru-ru-Yuyuyuyu-Yurushia-sama, it-it-it-it¡¯s nice to me-mehehehehehe meet you!¡±

    ¡­¡­ Hah? It¡¯s funny to meet me? Kolpo, who had suddenly said something ridiculous, turned bright red and was carried away to the medical quarters.

    I¡¯m used to being feared by older uncles, but being feared by a cute young boy, I was overwhelmed for a moment.

    Oh, come to think of it, this child¡¯s name was on the list of children who were proposing to me. I wonder if the marriage proposal¡¯s been called off. Well, it¡¯ll work out.

    It was a light evening party with everyone who was involved with the war. After it ended, we stayed at the castle and I decided to go down to a small town by the front lines the following morning.

    *Zupah!* Making such an onomatopoeic yell, Rick sliced through a monster.

    ¡°Noel, there¡¯s one there!¡±

    ¡°Roger, [Wind that rules all, blow violently like a blade]¡­Wind Blade!¡±

    Noel¡¯s wind magic cut the giant raccoon Daemon in half, and Rick rushed over to deal the finishing blow with the Golden Magic Sword (No. 3).

    Yup, I made Rick¡¯s sword!

    It was made with the soul of the [Daemon Race Female Black Knight]

    ¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t get that snack. *sniffle*

    As one would expect of Taterudo that¡¯s close to the Daemon King territory, it¡¯s not rare to see [Monsters] spring up. Well, they¡¯re weaker than a Hippo or Rhinoceros.

    But even so, normal magic is still being used as needed.

    By the way, that last word seems to be shouted. Invoking spells in the simple [Spirit Language] seems to be easier to activate if you pair the image with the words.

    [¡­¡­Splendid!]

    When the battle ended, applause and cheering came from our [Guardians] behind us.

    This time around the Guardians were 12 Holy Knights, 24 Royal Palace Guards, 15 Saint Guardian Knights, 80 Soldiers of the Royal Capital, 6 Royal Magicians, and 30 people from Bear-san¡¯s mercenary group.

    ¡­¡­ Are we intending to start a war? When we got to Kolkopo, the border guards¡¯ faces were cramped.

    From where the guardians were sitting, calls of [Your Highness] and [Steady, Boy!] were heard, and Rick and Noel¡¯s faces went red.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s up with that?

    As we went along, we were only allowed to fight the monsters and the younglings that showed up.

    It¡¯s training¡­¡­ but it feels shameful.

    The Holy Kingdom¡¯s Hero party was a 4-man composition comprising Noel, Rick, me, and Nia, who had been praised by the Holy Knights in the fight against ¡¾Him¡¿.

    Nia stood out in the end. But well, she¡¯s mainly my guard.

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Rick and Noel, who were deeply embarrassed, came back to me with delicate expressions.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you two, would you like some tea?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No thanks.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What are you doing?¡±

    Apparently the two of them want to say something to me.

    However, after I apply the Holy Magic of Protection, there¡¯s almost nothing for me to do, so I¡¯ve just been drinking tea at the table Noa prepared for me.

    ¡°But the tea sweets are pretty and delicious, you know?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean¡­¡­ Haa¡­¡±

    Rick, who tried to say something sighed lightly and Noel soothed him with a strained smile.

    They¡¯re at a delicate age. Rick is 14 years old, so maybe it¡¯s something like [My demon sword seeks blood]?

    As we were doing that, we slowly arrived at the town on the front lines that evening.

    It¡¯s a distance that we could have travelled and arrived at by the early afternoon if we had gone directly with the knights leading the front, but I promised not to complain.

    Now then, here is the main event, ma¡¯am.

    There¡¯s no single place that could accommodate such a large number in a small town like this, so Rick and the Holy Knights were put up in the local lord¡¯s mansion. Noel and the rest of the mercenary group were preparing to camp with the soldiers. My close guardian knights and the children reserved a large inn room to spend the night.

    Finally, we separated.

    ¡°Princess-sama, Vio and me are done with the inn arrangements~¡±

    Deputy Captain Sara-chan came to report to me. Because they were dazzled by the new equipment, the snot-nosed children (little brats) were all running around her.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, please also tell Bree-chan to take a break. Please don¡¯t drink too much, okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I understand, Princess-sama.¡±

    ¡°Honestly¡­?¡±

    Well, since we¡¯ve come to such a dangerous place, I won¡¯t scold her much.  But for the sake of warning her, I pulled Sara-chan¡¯s cheeks softly since her expression was still fidgety after giving her report, but she flushed red and thanked me with ¡®Thank you very much.¡¯

    I don¡¯t understand exactly what she¡¯s thinking.

    ¡°Tina, Fannie, prepare me some [Traveler]-like clothing.¡±

    And this, I changed my clothes and escaped out the window of the third floor.

    I was dressed like a normal traveler, but since I couldn¡¯t do anything about my shiny hair I gave up and did it up in a ponytail.

    By the way, the [Black and Silver Saint¡¯s Dress], has been transformed into a choker around my neck.

    When I tried to take it off, it transformed into that¡­¡­ This is cursed equipment, isn¡¯t it¡­!

    There are a large number of mercenary groups in this town at the moment.

    There were those employed by the country, those who were hired by other countries to collect information, and there were those who were here to gain military accolades when battles happened, there were even some who just hunted monsters for materials.

    All these people were gathered here in mercenary groups, so the city was full of life, even though it is at war¡­ the security¡¯s getting worse, though.

    Because there¡¯re so many muscle-brained rascals around, many of the bars in this town are completely filled up¡­ or more precisely, because there weren¡¯t enough for them, the public halls and communal spaces have been opened, and the merchants came down to sell food and alcohol , so it was almost like a simple food court.

    It¡¯s a place where information tends to gather. It¡¯s also a place where materials that I haven¡¯t seen before are sold.

    It¡¯s also a place where the spies from other countries and the Daemon King were mixed.

    Ufufufu, isn¡¯t it a fun place?

    The bar is for 15 year olds and above, but my height is between a 12 and 13 year old, and Noa and Nia are 14 years old so it won¡¯t be so obvious.

    Giii~¡­ *Gatan*¡­

    As I opened the door and walked in, some mercenaries that saw me fell off their chair, and the sound of a glass of ale dropping to the floor was heard.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s an intense reaction. Although if you think about it properly, it¡¯s normal?

    For the time being, I suppressed my [Presence] and proceeded inside without stopping to take notice of anything. Only Noa and Nia were accompanying me; Tina and Fannie were left back in the room.

    If anything happened at the lodgings, there wouldn¡¯t be any problems, as Fannie would come pick us up while Tina dealt with the problem. Also, it¡¯s just my luck that I left the two troublemakers behind.

    The building was larger than it looked from the outside. Although I was able to conceal the signs well, it seems that I astonished several people near the entrance with my appearance.

    ¡°Little Miss, hold up.¡±

    Someone stopped me on my way to a vacant table.

    Is this that thing? The ¡°This isn¡¯t a place for kids¡± moment, and the signal for the start of a legitimate [Bloodbath]!?

    While I was thinking that way as I turned around and gave him my best smile, the older guy who¡¯d called out to me turned red and froze in place.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter? Hey.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­N-no, sorry Miss, ¡­¡­ it¡¯s just that-¡­¡­ please forget it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so.¡±

    As I uttered my disappointment, a younger older guy who was at the same table as that other guy suddenly spilled his ale through his nose while looking at me.

    The older lady at the next seat also stared at me with her mouth wide open as she accidentally poked her forkful of chicken into her nose instead of her mouth. ¡­¡­ Is that a custom in this neighborhood?

    ¡°Gallus, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­ah, boss¡­¡±

    Looking back at the older guy who first called out to me, there was the form of a good looking young man in his late twenties.

    When the youth who called out ¡®boss¡¯ saw me, he had his breath taken away a little, and I gave him a *proper* refreshing smile.

    The [Properness] is important. I don¡¯t give these to the young greenhorn upstarts.

    ¡°Excuse me, Miss. I am Elmer, the head of the [Hawk¡¯s Eye Mercenary Group]. Did my members do anything rude to you¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, although they seemed to have some business with me¡­¡­¡±

    When I responded in my [Prim and proper Young Lady]-mode, he glanced at Gallus and sighed a little.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Also Gallus isn¡¯t a bad fellow, but he must surely have been thinking that it¡¯s dangerous for an adorable lady like yourself to come to a place like this¡­¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was¡­ I appreciate your advice, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So young and yet you¡¯re so proper. Are you here for [A Meal]?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ and I am also here for some [Shopping].¡±

    Playing back and translating the current conversation,

    [¡°There¡¯s no way you came to such a place just to eat, is there?¡±] [¡°Of course not, I¡¯m here to buy and sell information.¡±]

    That¡¯s what it was.

    ¡°Well, then, why don¡¯t you have a meal at my table as an apology? I¡¯m also a merchant, so I think I can advise you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Forgive my late greeting, my name is Lucia. I will accept your generosity.¡±

    Elmer¡¯s [Hawk¡¯s Eye Mercenary Group]-which is not a very apt name- seems to be a major mercenary group on the scale of 100 people.

    With a friendly demeanor, his group members spread out the table as he called out, and he took us to our seats on the second floor, which was lightly partitioned and looked over the first floor.

    ¡°Does Miss Lucia drink alcohol? If tea is alright with you, there is some good eastern tea, how about that?¡±

    It¡¯s different from the tea from the Dream World, but a mercenary that was this considerate was unusual.

    ¡°I like both. I am sure that whatever Mister Elmer chooses will be the best.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s quite a heavy responsibility. In that case I will have them serve this sweet regional fruit wine that was stocked just the other day. It tastes better when chilled. Will the two of you be alright with that?¡±

    He interacted with Noa and Nia properly too. Is this a success?

    ¡°As the war continues, it would be difficult to continue shipping special products¡­¡­ I hope the war will end soon.¡±

    ¡°I agree¡­¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be a problem if the [Hero] could hurry up and defeat the Daemon King. Oh yes, Miss Lucia. Did you know that there¡¯s been talk of the [Hero] recently in this region?¡±

    Well¡­¡­ talk of  ~which~ Hero?

 Volume 4 - CH 6

    Volume 4, Chapter 6: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Everyday Life, Part 3

    ¡°A few months ago, a party of people claiming to be the Heroes of Shiguresu came in, and after staying for a month, they travelled into the Daemon Territory.¡±

    Rumors of my elder sisters.

    From Elmer¡¯s words, it seems like the residents and mercenaries here all gave skeptical looks towards this sudden party of [Heroes].

    When such a huge event happens, many self-proclaimed Heroes appear among the young people of the countryside, and for the towns near the Daemon King territory, it almost seems like a travelling bard.

    But, well, even if one didn¡¯t have the recognition of the Shiguresu Royal Family, it was entirely possible to call yourself the [Hero of Shiguresu]. It¡¯s the [Freedom] of the thick-skinned.

    ¡°When they first came, they went hunting in the [Forest of Monsters] and brought back materials. But after they created problems for the mercenary soldiers who cooperated with the hunters for the materials, and the mercenary groups complained. I heard that they¡¯d given the group a word of warning.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I understand how you feel.¡±

    Those people are the types who cause problems for others easily.

    They¡¯re people who¡¯ve read too many fantasy novels. You¡¯re free to hunt monsters, but if you hunted around this town, you needed to receive a request from the local lord, and needed to get along well with the local hunters who paid their tax dues to the country¡­¡­

    ¡°So, what happened to that self-proclaimed Hero?¡±

    ¡°To tell the truth, that Hero, shouted out that the dish called [Tempura] was invented by Shiguresu, and seriously injured eight mercenaries while laughing, especially that magician girl who did a pretty terrible thing with her fire magic. I heard that they¡¯d been chased off by the military police and headed towards the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Again, what did you do this time, elder sister¡­¡­¡­

    Cruel things with fire magic¡­ it would be awkward if I don¡¯t cast ¡¾Recovery¡¿ on those still in the hospital.

    But, to think, [Tempura] is in this world, huh¡­¡­ I thought that they were things like fritters, but there¡¯s just something magical about it having the same name.

    Tempura¡­¡­ why did you shout out the name of the dish?

    While I thought about that, Elmer poured the fruit wine into my glass personally, with an implicating smile appeared on his face.

    ¡°Those criminals¡­ the magician girl said something interesting.¡±

    ¡°Well, what was it?¡±

    Finally, Elmer-san stopped talking about that Hero. He said the magic-user, so that¡¯s definitely my elder sisters.

    ¡°The rumor that Princess Yurushia of Taterudo, was an evil being that had sold her soul to the Daemons.¡±

    ¡°Heeehhh¡­¡­¡±

    Did she notice anything¡­? I hope that it¡¯s just slander, but if she noticed, then it¡¯s about time for me to [Harvest] her.

    ¡°Did you know that, Lucia-san?¡±

    ¡°Know what?¡±

    ¡°Princess Yurushia seems to be beautiful princess with golden hair, called the Golden Princess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    At those words, the aristocrat¡¯s smile that I had stuck to my face, deepened in pleasure.

    This person noticed¡­¡­ I wonder how many people behind the scenes here know.

    The facial expressions dropped from Noa and Nia, and at the same time, the [Presence] and [Killing Intent] that I had been suppressing began to run off me like a lava wave.

    My Killing Intent has neither hostility nor malice. It¡¯s a Demon¡¯s [Intent] that planted pure [Terror] into the people in the building.

    ¡°W-wait a moment, Yu-¡­¡­ rushia-sama¡­¡±

    Elmer-san immediately threw on his nobleman¡¯s smile and stood up, kneeling before me at my seat.

    ¡°What are you going to do¡­?¡±

    ¡°Please forgive me. I am not your adversary. I only meant to convey to you that a hostile fool was lurking about¡­¡­ and I, felt a little bit mischievous.¡±

    As he paled, Elmer-san looked at me seriously.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, it¡¯ll be alright.¡±

    If he had been a few seconds slower with his apology, Noa and Nia might have already begun the slaughter.

    If it was Tina, she¡¯d be filling the blood oceans by now, and if it was Fannie, the soul collection might have already ended.

    As I retracted my Killing Intent, Elmer-san breathed out in relief while wiping away his sweat.

    ¡°Still¡­ as expected of the legendary [Saint of the Holy Kingdom]. I¡¯d heard rumors, but that was¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, as expected it was resolved simply with [As expected of the Holy Saint-sama].

    It¡¯s strange¡­¡­ the only one who had realized it was my elder sister-sama.

    ¡°Elmer-san, please, stand. It¡¯s strange if you keep kneeling to a simple traveler.¡±

    The other people who didn¡¯t know the circumstances were all tilting their heads in puzzlement, drinking to warm themselves back up, or making an uproar.

    It¡¯s not like letting out my Killing Intent is my favorite pastime ¡­¡­ It¡¯s true, you know? The rats that had run off in terror had all been caught by Noa by now.

    Well, it was actually the attendants that had thought of the whole thing.

    Now that we¡¯d smoked them all out I changed my thoughts back to normal, I didn¡¯t want my true nature to be exposed.

    ¡°No, I have been impolite. From here on, my mercenary group shall become your eyes and hands and feet. I, without fail, shall pledge my loyalty to the beautiful Princess.¡±

    As Elmer-san said that, he touched his lips to the back of my hand.

    Another worshipper has appeared¡­¡­

    I wonder if this delicious fruit wine is also an [Offering].

    But this Elmer-san, although I like him quite a bit, my heart didn¡¯t start thumping like when Noel kissed my hand.

    Even if I looked at him closely, he didn¡¯t make me afraid of his gaze as much as Rick did.

    ¡­¡­Why was that?

    After becoming a Demon, human beings feel just like other animals.

    I love Father-sama and Mother-sama who gave my soul a name, and I worried about getting along with other human beings, but I thought this was because of the [Me] that was in the Dream World.

    I left the simple tavern to Noa and Nia, and strolled out into the city alone at night.

    My footsteps naturally became faster.

    I was going somewhere without permission.

    ¡°¡­¡­I want to see you¡­¡±

    The moment I entered a deserted back alley¡­¡­ I took off my traveler¡¯s clothes, and flew off into the night sky of the city as the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    £ª

    Nyaa¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­Eh, a cat?¡±

    Noel, who was swinging his sword alone in the field, stopped as the cat appeared suddenly.

    A very beautiful, golden-haired cat.

    Reminding him of the girl that had a similar color, Noel smiled involuntarily.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ come here.¡±

    Sheathing his sword and squatting down, although the golden cat seemed to hesitate at Noel¡¯s outstretched hand, it approached.

    ¡°Uwaa¡­ how cute.¡±

    Instinctively remarking out loudly at the elegance of the cat, the cat¡¯s eyes suddenly widened and it backed off a step.

    ¡°S-sorry, did I scare you¡­? I wonder what I did¡­¡­¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t intend to feed it, when he took out the dried seafood as a substitute for snacks, that cat licked the finger of the right hand that he¡¯d presented to it.

    ¡°¡­¡­How friendly. Are you someone¡¯s pet? There¡¯s a ribbon on you.¡±

    The golden cat put both of its front legs on Noel¡¯s knee and gazed at the boy with bright red eyes.

    ¡°Where is your owner? Did you get lost?¡±

    While he gently stroked its chin, the cat narrowed its eyes in comfort, and at that state Noel stretched out his arms timidly, and softy lifted the cat up.

    ¡°Where are you from¡­ you look familiar.¡±

    As he closed his eyes, he thought of that beautiful golden-haired girl.

    One that he¡¯d admired since his childhood, and was aware that she was an important person, a girl that he wanted to stand by.

    Although she crawled into people hearts as soon as she arrived, if one reached out to her, she would escape and get away from them like a cat.

    He wanted her to be happier than anyone else. ¡­¡­ But he didn¡¯t want to hand her to anyone.

    Did his feelings reach her¡­? He wondered if she would realize them someday.

    When the cat licked the cheeks of the boy who seemed a little lonely, Noel smiled with joy and rubbed his cheeks on the cat.

    ¡°You¡¯re kind¡­ If you don¡¯t know how to get home, will you sleep in my bed?¡±

    Thinking that the cat wouldn¡¯t understand him, when he touched his nose to the cat¡¯s, the cat was suddenly surprised and slipped through Noel¡¯s hands, and took several steps back.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    While suffering more damage than he¡¯d thought as the warmth was lost from his hands and the feeling of loss set in, Noel smiled at the cat.

    ¡°Do you have a place to go home to¡­?¡±

    The golden cat quietly looked at Noel who said this to it¡­¡­

    And with a *nyaa*, it disappeared into the darkness.

    Nyaa¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Roderick, who was reading a book by the light of the fireplace in the guest room of the local lord¡¯s residence, noticed a cat coming in from an opened window.

    He gazed at the cat silently, but given that his eyes went a little bit wide, he might have been somewhat surprised, too.

    It was a beautiful cat with a coat that reminded him of someone.

    The moment that he met eyes with the cat, he wondered if that girl had appeared in front of him.

    Remembering that wild, unnatural girl, Roderick¡¯s mouth molded into a faint smile, and then silently tapped his knees with a *tap-tap*.

    ¡°Come over here.¡±

    From that silent, commanding appeal, the cat pulled back for an instant, then descended from the window, putting its front legs on his knees.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    *Pon-Pon*¡­ it also tapped on Roderick¡¯s knees.

    The golden cat leaked out a sigh like a human, got on his knees obediently, rolled over, and lay down.

    He was speechless. He didn¡¯t pamper it, either.

    For some reason, in front of that slowly-weakening fire of the fireplace, a boy and a cat curled up together in gentle warmth.

    It seemed, at least, that he could only be gentle when someone was by his side.

    In the beginning, he had only gone to see a younger child that had become his relative.

    He didn¡¯t have any interest in her, thinking that she would turn a curious eye to him like children of the same age, or be frightened.

    He ended up meeting a beautiful girl that looked like a doll that first time, who wasn¡¯t frightened by Roderick, who touched him like he was any other child, and covered him with a clumsy flower garland.

    Her appearance was cold like a [Doll], but on the inside was an outrageous girl.

    For the first time outside of his family, he spoke with someone as an equal. Only that young girl stood next to him meeting his gaze.

    That flower garland from his memory was still hanging up as a decoration in Roderick¡¯s room.

    Roderick gently stroked the back of the cat that curled into a ball on his knees.

    Was this awfully docile cat being kept by someone in this house? While his hands stroked her back, the cat twisted its body in ticklishness, and looked up at Roderick with red eyes like rubies.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything. The cat didn¡¯t purr.

    When he put his finger close to the nose of the cat that watched him quietly, the golden cat play-bit down on his fingertip a little strongly, and leaped off of Roderick¡¯s knee.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡±

    At Roderick that leaked out a voice for the first time, the cat, gave a *nyaa*¡­ and leaped out of the open window.

    Roderick, who had stiffened with his hands outstretched, looked at his hands that still held the warmth of the cat, and sensing a certain meaning, gave a big sigh.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wanted to get to know you¡­¡­¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 7

    Volume 4, Chapter 7:  I turned 11 years old, Part 1

    Deep in the basement of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle ¡­¡­ ¡¾He¡¿ was having a light dream.

    He wasn¡¯t asleep. ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t know what sleep is.

    Lying on top of the massive magic formation that had already lost its light, he closed his eyes and tried to recover the magic power that he¡¯d lost.

    A small distance away, several hundred of the people called [Daemons], were pouring their magic power into ¡¾Him¡¿ with faces that looked like they were about to die.

    If they were killed, and their souls devoured, he knew that he could gain some magic power.

    But ¡¾He¡¿ didn¡¯t do so.

    From his thousands of years of experience, he knew that mere diluted souls wouldn¡¯t help recover much.

    It was worthless unless it was a soul that was filled with fear which fell into madness and depravity.

    It was better that he bound them with fear and had them supply him with magic power.

    Also, if he killed every living creature within his sight, he might be able to ¡¾Manifest¡¿ in this world with their bodies and souls.

    But ¡¾He¡¿ did not.

    Although he had been defeated once, ¡¾His¡¿ pride did not allow him to go seriously against her.

    There was anger. ¡­¡­ But there was no resentment.

    Even the anger almost faded when he kept his eyes closed like that.

    He recalled the ¡¾Girl¡¿.

    Every day that ¡¾She¡¿ spent in the Demon World¡­¡­

    At first she was tiny, and with her knowledge she was clearly a foolish existence.

    Because he thought that her existence was interesting, he decided to keep her until he got bored, but ¡¾She¡¿ was different from anyone else ¡¾He¡¿ had met thus far.

    Quite like a human being¡­¡­ While ¡¾He¡¿ had more knowledge and intelligence than humans, he¡¯d only done and said foolish things.

    That weak existence wasn¡¯t afraid of ¡¾Him¡¿, and buried its face in his fur, and it was very strong, its power easily rising to match his with only a little help.

    Before he knew it, it had become normal for ¡¾Her¡¿ to stay be his side. It was like the thousands of years of loneliness was a lie, and it reached the point where he preferred ¡¾Her¡¿ gentle, laid-back atmosphere.

    He knew that ¡¾She¡¿ loved the material world.

    Thinking that ¡¾She¡¿ would someday forsake the Demon world to go to that place, ¡¾He¡¿, for the first time in his existence, was embarrassed about the [Feelings] that he couldn¡¯t identify.

    So he bound her. In order to keep ¡¾Her¡¿ from going away. He bound her with fear, bound her with power, gave her a toy (pet), and bound her with feelings.

    But ¡¾She¡¿ still went away¡­¡­ To the human world.

    Angry, ¡¾He¡¿ rampaged across the Demon World.

    Just with a roar, he would send weaker demons scrambling to hide, and with several ¡¾Arch Demons¡¿, ¡¾He¡¿ challenged one of the pillars, a ¡¾Demon Duke¡¿, killing and eating him. Even the six remaining pillar ¡¾Demon Dukes (Demon Lords)¡¿ all avoided fighting with ¡¾Him¡¿, and nobody dared to stay around ¡¾Him¡¿.

    There was no resentment.

    Only a burning anger that continued to burn ¡¾Him¡¿ from the inside.

    What kind of anger was this¡­? Just [Who] was it directed at?

    Before he even knew or realized why he had become angry, he felt a mighty magic power that distorted the dimensions.

    Actually, the space was really being distorted. Feeling a nostalgic [Magic Power] leaking from that, ¡¾He¡¿ used his own magical power to wrench open the dimension, and ¡¾He¡¿ headed towards the material world¡­¡­ only to be rejected by ¡¾Her¡¿.

    He didn¡¯t give up.

    If she wouldn¡¯t return to him, he would kill and eat her himself just to reclaim her.

    And then¡­ ¡¾He¡¿ woke from his dream.

    It was slightly sweet¡­¡­ that drunken feeling of that nostalgic magic power¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    There was no day or night in the Daemon King¡¯s Territory. Although it¡¯s merely a metaphor, the Daemon King¡¯s Territory was in fact thick with clouds due to the miasma and malice caused by the rotting meat of those who had been cruelly killed, the sun didn¡¯t shine even at midday.

    There were many nocturnal Daemons among those with strong monster blood, it was possible to move in the night or the day, so naturally whether it was daytime or night time didn¡¯t matter.

    In the country of the Daemon King¡­ Gistez, everyone who could fight had already headed out in the [Daemon King¡¯s Army], and all those that remained, were the [Weak] that couldn¡¯t fight.

    The sick, the young, the elderly, and the disabled all had their food taken away by the rest, and were given no choice but to die.

    But the Daemons didn¡¯t give up.

    They refused to accept their fate and die docilely, and the weak aimed for the even weaker, struggling desperately and taking everything to survive.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    Those that were afraid, held their breath and hid.

    In a devastated, filth-covered city, a single [Human] [Girl] was lightly strolling.

    She wore a well-tailored dress of black and silver, and had smooth, white skin, and golden hair that let out a faint glow.

    With a beauty that could charm anyone, even the Daemons who didn¡¯t believe in gods thought that she was an angel.

    Although the strong had disappeared, if a human girl walked around this horrible Daemon city, she would have been reaped and ended before she even took a few steps.

    However, nobody stopped the girl. No one even made eye contact.

    It had been a few hours since this girl showed up in the town.

    And the Daemons thought of the horrible brutalities that that girl had committed in that short time.

    [The Black Demon is here!]

    The girl didn¡¯t show a single change in expression when she saw this ruined town.

    She just loosened her cheeks with nostalgia, and walked lightly through the city.

    ¡°O, Oi, Human! Hand over the food!¡±

    The children were not as sensitive to danger as the adults.

    They misled themselves into thinking that that [Fear] that they felt instinctively was because of them seeing a human for the first time.

    Still, they were young children.

    Approximately 5 to 8 years old, the young Daemons looked no different from a human.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The girl stopped her feet, and turned her pale gold eyes to face the five children who called out to her.

    ¡°Y¡­ You heard me! Hand over the food!¡±

    While feeling the pressure from that glance, the oldest boy held out a rusty knife, and shouted his demands to the girl again¡­¡­

    [¡­¡­,]

    As the girl smiled like a Demon, the children screamed out noiselessly.

    The adult Daemons who were observing while hiding behind cover, gave the children a look of pity.

    But, it was hopeless. They couldn¡¯t do a thing.

    And so¡­¡­

    The girl threw the [Black Thing] that she held in her hand against the Daemon youth¡¯s face at a terrifying speed.

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    The children didn¡¯t understand what had happened.

    The girl that their boss had caught, had thrust some black thing into his mouth.

    ¡°¡­S-stop, *moga*¡±

    The puzzled, terrified-looking boy was violently pinned down, as the girl tore out more dried seafood with a grinding sound and thrust it into the boy¡¯s mouth.

    Even as he cried out or shouted, she did not stop.

    It might perhaps be called kindness that dried seaweed was thrust in alternately with the seafood.

    As the youth¡¯s stomach began to swell out after a few minutes as the seafood products were thrust into him, he was crying and curling up like a maiden who¡¯d been defiled.

    However, the horror wasn¡¯t over.

    As the time passed, the dried food in his stomach began to swell, and then the true fear began.

    The girl nodded with a satisfied face, and then turned to face the remaining frightened children with a smile.

    Their horror was not yet over¡­¡­

    Several minutes later¡­¡­ After the satisfied girl left, the Daemon adults rushed over to rescue the children whose stomachs had were swollen and filled to the point of bursting, buried under all the dried, [Black] seafood.

    Forcing others to eat, it was as if that evil girl was a Demon like the shape of the dried goods she forced them to eat.

    As the girl walked off towards the [Daemon King¡¯s Castle], they murmured with horrified faces, even as they collected the remaining seafood products.

    ¡°¡­¡­The Black (food that she forced others to eat) Demon¡­¡±¡­¡­ and so on.

 Volume 4 - CH 8

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    Volume 4, Chapter 8: I turned 11 years old, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you mean?¡±

    The old Daemon mage- Royal Magician Geas- murmured with a hoarse voice, staring at the Forest of Demons While floating in the air with air magic.

    Several months have passed since the [Black Princess Killian]¡¯s army, which had proceeded ahead of the main troops, had disappeared.

    Before them, there was an issue with the various chieftains and their troops going missing. Since the Daemons couldn¡¯t command them because of their wills, they changed their course halfway and went on to attack the human towns, but encountered the human armies along the way and got annihilated, so that had been predicted somewhat.

    When they lost contact with Killian, Geas thought that since it was that cunning woman who plotted against the Daemon King and tried to propagate the mood of rebellion, she would have hit another human nation by herself.

    Black Princess Killian¡¯s army numbered around 700,000.

    With their forced-march advance, even those wild ones would have surely headed out for a sortie, but with so many troops there would definitely still be traces of their passage in the forest. Geas sent a few subordinates down Killian¡¯s trail, secretly intending to come in contact with her.

    However, the signs abruptly disappeared, and there weren¡¯t any signs of damage to the human nations either, so said the report by his subordinates that participated in the search.

    After Geas thoroughly searched the place he was led to, he finally found traces of battle in the forest near where the tracks disappeared.

    He hadn¡¯t noticed since they were too unnatural.

    He might not even have noticed at all had he not found [Stone Statues] scattered around in that place.

    For a battle involving 250,000 troops, the traces of battle were far too localized, as if a small force had trampled them one-sidedly. But that couldn¡¯t be.

    The most unnatural thing of all, was that there was no trace of the bodies anywhere.

    Were Killian¡¯s Daemons all turned into food for the monsters? But then, he didn¡¯t know why Killian¡¯s forces had disappeared.

    To begin with, he couldn¡¯t imagine a force of 250,000 losing.

    In comparison, even if the hero and the saint were together, it would have been impossible to defeat a combined force of 250,000 Daemons and magic beasts.

    ¡°¡­¡­Damn, it was a precious chance,¡±

    Geas slipped into the words of his previous life, unlike the elderly manner he¡¯d always adopted.

    For decades¡­¡­ no, ever since he had been born into this world over a hundred years ago, he had looked forward to that opportunity, and it was supposed to have come into his hands.

    Although he was hindered by the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ that appeared at its own convenience, he still held on to his last hope, but even after he had planned for the entirety of the Daemon King¡¯s Army to take the field¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­muu¡±

    Geas noticed someone flying towards him.

    Even in the Daemon King¡¯s Army, only the Daemons who had devil bird blood could fly, so the person who was approaching Geas and using ¡¾Concealment¡¿, that would have learned the ¡¾Flying Magic¡¿ created by Geas, could only be his disciple.

    ¡°¡­Did you find anything?¡±

    What appeared was a dark-skinned Daemon youth.

    His magic power was comparatively bigger than that of the other disciples, but because he¡¯d been flying daily, the youth¡¯s glossy skin seemed to have lost its color.

    ¡°Geas-sama¡­¡­, in the woods to the west¡­ armed humans¡­ I found some¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Really?¡±

    Maybe it was his exhaustion, but the youth reported as if he was out of breath and Geas didn¡¯t thank the youth, instead pausing slightly as he gave a curt reply.

    ¡°The forest in the west¡­? You should go and rest¡­¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I am fine¡±

    Geas stared at the youth who tried to get behind him as the youth shook his head at his master¡¯s orders¡­

    ¡°When I told you to [Rest]¡­ [Blazing Arrow]¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Geas released the fire magic with a single chant, and the Daemon youth caught the blow that would normally have downed him in a single hit, as his face distorted into that of a beast.

    ¡°As expected, you have been possessed!¡±

    As Geas shouted out while flying downwards, the burning Daemon youth pursued at a terrifying speed, despite him being on fire.

    ¡°You even forgot the magic that I taught! [Magic power that governs all creation, devour mine enemy!]¡±

    Geas invoked the magic, and the [Jaws] that were born of magic power kept the Daemon youth at bay for a moment as it bit at him.

    What had happened to the Daemon youth¡­?

    Without even the time to think about it, Geas saw a shadow with bat wings over where the Daemon youth disappeared.

    He probably didn¡¯t see it truly and only saw the appearance on the surface.

    A beautiful girl with bat wings, floating in the sky.

    ¡°¡­Who are you?¡±

    At Geas¡¯ question, the silver-haired girl wearing a purple dress smiled bewitchingly and replied in a melodious voice.

    ¡°I came to play.¡±

    ¡°¡­Wha¡±

    In the next moment, Geas had already been cut down from behind.

    If the blow had pierced the defensive magic, he would have received a fatal injury in that instant he failed to dodge.

    When had she gotten behind him? ¡­¡­ No, since when did he think that that girl was in front of him?

    Geas looked at the girl who was licking the blood off her long, black claw.

    ¡°Vampire?!¡±

    A legendary monster that weren¡¯t accepted in the Daemon King¡¯s Army¡­¡­ ¡¾Vampire¡¿.

    The vampires that thirsted for blood, and would treat their comrades as [Food] were unacceptable existences even in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Besides, that overwhelming feeling¡­ that ominous presence¡­ that beauty¡­¡­ Considering the power that she showed just now, she was clearly a [Greater Vampire] that was past a certain age.

    Geas feared that all of his disciples had already had their blood sucked dry.

    There were still several hours before the morning would come and the power of a vampire would wane.

    ¡°¡­¡­tch¡±

    Geas clicked his tongue and resolved himself.

    Why, though, in this sort of place, had a [Greater Vampire] that had the power to suppress even the Daemon King appeared? Was the disappearance of the Daemon King¡¯s Army because she ate them all?

    But no, no matter how ancient the vampire, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible to fight Killian without injury.

    As an existence that could truly be called the [King of Monsters], it was unthinkable that she would join forces with the humans.

    What was he missing¡­?

    Had he been laboring under a serious [Misunderstanding]?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Nevertheless Geas wasn¡¯t going to die in such a place. Even if he had to release all of the magic power that he¡¯d hoarded away for the fulfilment of his desire, he would survive.

    £ª

    Millaine, who used the [Paid Leave] she had received, had come for a [Vacation] near the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Freed from her friend and employer¡¯s (Demon¡¯s) unreasonable everyday demands, finally being able to stretch her (literal) wings after a long time, the number of Daemons that she and her subordinates had eaten reached into the tens of thousands.

    In addition to choosing those who looked like they would be good at their [Business] into their fold, she also took those that looked and tasted good as souvenirs for her friend, and enjoyed herself at her leisure.

    ¡°Certainly, that child did come in this direction, didn¡¯t she? I wonder if she secretly went in¡­¡±

    The originally overly-serious character of the vampire, in spite of all the clawing and turning around, was still thinking about such a thing.

    While all the vampire maids were going [How pitiful¡­] about their master, and secretly wiping away their tears with a handkerchief, well, it doesn¡¯t matter, but there was the appearance of a new Daemon youth as a butler apprentice, and Millaine who was his teacher was also the leader of the Daemons, and only a small number of subordinates had come here to report.

    ¡°fu~hn¡­¡±

    Previously, she wasn¡¯t interested in old people, but according to her friend it¡¯s the old people who constantly think of their issues that have a [Deep and Matured Taste], it seems.

    Millaine spread her black bat wings, and flew up into the starry sky.

    Because it was only a few hours to dawn, there was danger, but considering that perhaps the followers of her friend might be hunting, she couldn¡¯t stay still.

    Flying into the sky at a speed that left her maids and butlers behind, the Daemons that she met along the way weren¡¯t turned into vampires, but they weren¡¯t [Good-for-nothing], and rather were helpful in searching for that old man.

    The blood of the old man on her claws was a little tart, but had deep flavor.

    If she [Played] with him a little more it might become even more tasty, but the old man suddenly released a strong wave of magic power, and for the first time, began to chant a spell.

    ¡°¡­O-oh? It might be a bit dangerous¡­¡­?¡±

    That magic power ¡­ that killing intent¡­¡­ although she didn¡¯t understand what he was chanting, Millaine could tell that it was a powerful spell, to the extent that it might threaten her existence.

    Running was not a good plan. Because she didn¡¯t know its range, she might be defenseless if she turned her back and ran.

    To begin with, vampires had such high offensive strength and recovery ability that they seemed invulnerable, but their defensive abilities weren¡¯t a big deal.

    ¡°[Nuclear Meltdown]¡­!¡±

    The trump card [Super Magic] that only the Daemon King and Geas could use expanded with a speed and range that far exceeded the estimate of Millaine, who¡¯d taken a stance to dodge.

    ¡°Crap!¡±

    Millaine, who immediately realized its power, gave up dodging it and wrapped her body with magic-infused feathers, preparing to take the hit.

    Feeling an unimaginably huge heat and light rush at her as Millaine shut her eyes tightly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡¾Nya~¡¿¡±

    ¡°Millaine-sama, I have something I¡¯d like to ask you~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hah?¡±

    When Millaine opened her eyes at that carefree and out-of-place voice, the heat and light had disappeared as if they had never been there at all, and she saw the figure of Nia wielding a golden magic sword (Nyan Blade) that crackled with electricity.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, are you listening~?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ ah¡­, I heard you.¡±

    Although she recognized Nia¡¯s appearance, but Millaine looked at Nia again.

    She¡¯d heard that the girl had the ability of ¡¾Absorption¡¿, but was all that magic really absorbed¡­¡­?

    At Millaine who was stunned at seeing the power of an Arch demon again, Nia furrowed her eyebrows with a troubled face.

    ¡°Hey~¡­ Millaine-sama?¡±

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°That  grandpa from just now, he seems to have escaped.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­EHh!?¡±

    After pausing for a second, Millaine, who finally understood what was being said, turned to look, but the figure of that old man was already gone.

    ¡°Nia, where did that old man go!?¡±

    ¡°Unn, well¡­ that way.¡±

    As Nia pointed towards the north, Millaine tracked the finger with her eyes, and looked up to stare into the distance.

    ¡°The Daemon King¡¯s Territory¡­¡­¡±

    Even Millaine, who was called a [Greater Vampire], didn¡¯t have the temper to chase him all the way into the Daemon¡¯s main camp¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, Nia¡­¡­ Will you help me search for that person from just now¡­?¡±

    As Millaine tried asking with upturned eyes, Nia clapped her hands as if she¡¯d hit upon something.

    ¡°Right, right, Millaine-sama, Yurushia-sama didn¡¯t come back last night, and seems to have gone somewhere, might you know where she¡¯s gone?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­HaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 9

    Volume 4, Chapter 9: I turned 11 years old, Part 3

    ¡°Yurushia-sama has gone missing!¡±

    When morning came, the maid who came to take care of Yurushia reported such to Vio, who was in charge.

    ¡°Where is the Princess!?¡±

    ¡°Where are the Saint-sama¡¯s attendants?¡±

    ¡°We have not seen them¡±

    As they searched for the [Saint] and the [Princess] who had suddenly disappeared, all of the staff went into a panic and couldn¡¯t conceal their unease.

    Today was Yurushia¡¯s 11th birthday, and the faces of the maids, who had used the kitchen of the inn to bake a cake, sunk in worry.

    Although she acted like an adult, she was only 11: the youngest in the whole group.

    However, nobody thought that she had run away.

    It was Yurushia¡¯s desire to come here in the first place, and even as they were fighting monsters along the journey, she was the calmest.

    In contrast, the knights and soldiers realized how they needed the [greatness of her being] that came from the [Saint].

    Healing all their injuries in an instant, and since most of the monsters couldn¡¯t break through her [Protection], they felt like they were standing naked in the battlefield without the [Saint-sama].

    ¡°Everyone, calm down¡±

    Roderick¡­ the [Grandchild of the King] and the [Holy Paladin], calmed everyone down with his rebuke.

    ¡°Yurushia¡¯s most likely destination¡­ is probably the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    At those words, heartbroken noises leaked out of the knights and maids.

    A little girl that was not yet 11, who wished for the peace of the world, had understood, and chosen to confront the Daemon King alone as the Holy Saint for the sake of those that were grieving.

    ¡°Noel and I will head for the Daemon King¡¯s territory. I will not ask you all to follow us. You will not be punished even if you do not come along, so do not worry. Let¡¯s go, Noel!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness¡±

    He made eye contact with Noel who was by his side, and they nodded to each other.

    As for Noel and Rick, they knew that Yurushia was concerned about the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿.

    There was a terrifying ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ that was aiming for her¡­¡­

    The two of them thought that she went by herself since she might have harmed the two of them who were close to her if they had gone together.

    Also¡­¡­ those strange events last night. Perhaps it was that the [Cat] came to tell them about the girl¡¯s pure heart before she left.

    The next day, Rick and Noel finished their preparations and departed for the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    The knights and soldiers that followed them of their own volition, joined midway by several hundred mercenaries including the [Hawkeye Mercenary Company], came to number around the scale of about 500 people.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Nnn~~~¡­¡±

    Walking as I was in a town of the Daemons, I was fully enjoying my first time by myself in a long while.

    How long had it been since I had walked outside by myself? ¡­¡­ Uhhh, ehh?

    Even if I read through all of my memories as Yurushia, I couldn¡¯t find a single time where I had been alone other than inside of the mansion¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Ever since I met ¡¾Him¡¿¡±

    How long have I been pampered?!

    When I entered the town in the Daemon King¡¯s territory, I didn¡¯t want to stand out so I walked, but there wasn¡¯t anything particularly interesting.

    Most of the stores weren¡¯t open. The only ones that were had been looted.

    The town was completely dead¡­¡­ I suppressed my presence, although it brought about a vulnerable atmosphere, however, after the first few attacked there haven¡¯t been any more of them.

    Everyone was thin and emancipated, so I had instinctively fed them with the dried octopus and squid, but I wonder if they liked it?

    I thought about the balance of nutrients properly, so I let them eat the seaweed together too.

    ¡­¡­ This dress can really store a whole lot of dried food.

    I think, this might be the only piece of equipment in the world that is cursed with seafood products¡­

    While I was thinking such things, I arrived at the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    ¡­¡­ This is the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, huh? It¡¯s got an old and eerie atmosphere, but I didn¡¯t feel a single bit of presence.

    I wonder if Daemon King-san is out¡­?

    It seems a bit insecure to not even have a guard. I wonder if that self-styled Hero person is opening treasure boxes and stuff without permission somewhere.

    ¡­¡­ah, there¡¯s someone.

    A big person stood alone at the gate of the Daemon King¡¯s castle.

    Big¡­¡­ I wonder, he must be close to 3 meters tall. He¡¯s a muscly strongman.

    ¡°Uho, uho, uho, (Welcome, foolish human. As long as I live, then it is impossible for this gate to open)¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ha?

    Oh no¡­¡­ I wonder if the automatic translation function of the ¡¾Spirit Language¡¿ has gone wrong somewhere¡­¡­

    ¡°Uhoho, Uho! (Why are you silent? I see you¡¯re a thin human girl¡­¡­Hey, why does everyone ignore Francois, the Iron Princess of the dwarves)¡±

    ¡°Dwarf!?¡±

    Finally, they appeared¡­¡­

    Furthermore, it¡¯s everyone¡¯s long awaited [Princess-sama], yo!

    ¡°Uhoo, uhouhouhoho (Is this your first time seeing a dwarf? But, you understand the dwarf language, I will praise you, human.¡±

    Amazing, Mochipurun. (remember that old, old chapter with ridiculous names?) Even though that Salt Daifuku (read: Elf) looked so decent¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Uhoho©`, Uhoohooho (Then, I will reintroduce myself again in light of that. I am the iron Princess Francois. I am the woman that will be Daemon King Hebrad-sama¡¯s wife.)¡±

    ¡°o-Ooh¡­¡±

    Still, looking at this Daemon King¡­¡­ his strike zone is infinite.

    ¡°S-sorry, I didn¡¯t think that there would be a Dwarf in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    When I said so, Francois¡¯ boulder-like face turned a little downcast and lonely.

    ¡°Uho¡­ uho, uho (I see¡­¡­ Seven years ago, when I was four years old, since my sisters were jealous of my beauty, they exiled me to this place)¡±

    ¡°The same age¡­¡­!¡±

    This child is only 11 years old¡­¡­¡­!?!

    ¡°Uhoo? Uhoho, Uho©`o (Well, is that so? Is your growth stunted? If you don¡¯t put on some meat, you won¡¯t be attractive to men, hohoho)¡±

    But an ordinary Dwarf is about 2 meters tall, I hear¡­¡­

    ¡°Pardon the late introduction, I am Yurushia. ¡­and, uh, why is a queen-candidate like Francois in such a place?¡±

    ¡°Uuho©`uhouhouhoo (Hebrad-sama went forth in order to destroy the humans. In his absence he left guarding Daemon King¡¯s castle to me. ¡­¡­ Because I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll get injured¡­)¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Is that so.¡±

    What a troublesome rose¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not it.

    This girl has a very beautiful maiden¡¯s heart! Daemon King-san, should also understand.

    I gently touch Francois¡¯ basketball-sized fist.

    ¡°Francois¡­¡­ because you¡¯re a lovely child, the Daemon King-sama didn¡¯t want to do anything that might have hurt you¡­¡±

    ¡°uho¡­ (Yurushia¡­)¡±

    Thud¡­

    The girl who probably weighed 300 kilograms knelt down, and put her eyes at my height.

    ¡°Uhoo, uhoho, uho¡­ (Thank you¡­ that¡­ Will you be my friend¡­? I don¡¯t have¡­ any friends of the same age)¡±

    ¡°Yes, I wish for that too. Nice to meet you, Fran.¡±

    ¡°Uho©`, uho, uho (Nice to meet you, Yuru¡­¡­ Hey¡­ Yuru¡¯s dress, is very wonderful¡­) ¡±

    When Francois saw my dress, she wiggled bashfully, and fumbled with her hair.

    ¡­¡­ that¡­ it was curly hair. I had thought that it was a helmet made of black iron.

    ¡°Do you like this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uhoo, uhouho, uhoho (Yes¡­ but it¡¯s impossible. If I tried to wear it, it would surely tear immediately¡­)¡±

    ¡°This was made by my attendants. It¡¯s really durable, so I¡¯ll ask them to make one for you, Fran.¡±

    ¡°Uho©`o, uhouhoho, uhoo! (Really!? I, I¡¯m sorry, that was immodest of me. But, I¡¯m very glad. If it¡¯s Yuru, I¡¯ll let you into the Daemon King¡¯s castle. Because, you¡¯re a friend, and that¡¯s special!)¡±

    ¡°Waa, thank you, Fran¡±

    And in this way, I was able to enter the Daemon King¡¯s castle without issue.

    Because there isn¡¯t much food left in the castle to speak of, I gave a lot of dried goods to Francois for food in passing, in order for her to feed the elephants that she kept in the castle garden, and she ran off like a storm.

    ¡­¡­ With this, she¡¯ll be in no danger.

    And then¡­¡­¡­ I walked alone into the Daemon King¡¯s castle.

    It transmitted¡­¡­ my warmth.

    Just as I felt it, ¡¾He¡¿ has certainly noticed.

    A slightly sweet and nostalgic feeling that tickled the nose¡­¡­

    With each step that I took down the stair into the basement, the ¡¾Smell¡¿ became stronger.

    The other side¡­¡­ of this door.

    ¡°¡­¡­ At last,¡±

    The two of us met.

 Volume 4 - CH 10

    Volume 4, Chapter 10:  The Demon Verse, Part 1

    Before my eyes are large metal doors.

    It¡¯s like the gate before the last boss in a game: a double-door with many reliefs carved into it.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    Maybe it was sealed with magic, but when I flicked my fingers, I heard a static-electricity-like snap, and the door slowly collapsed towards the other side.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The space ahead stretched out into an enormous underground space.

    To both the left and right were carved stairs that led downwards¡­¡­ Several hundred meters down that stairway, an enormously large magic formation could be seen.

    And on top of that magic formation¡­¡­¡­

    *katsun*¡­*katsun*¡­ the sound of my black low-heeled shoes echoed on the carved-rock stairway.

    Don¡¯t panic¡­ I walked slowly. There is no need to panic. There is nobody who could interfere with us now in this place.

    As I went down the stairs, the magic formation came into my line of sight.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    On top of the magic formation, the night-like ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿raised his body and stared at me in silence.

    *katsun*¡­¡­

    I descended down the last step of the stairway, and then gently ¡¾Smiled¡¿ at him.

    ¡°Has your body recovered¡­?¡±

    As my voice echoed in that lifeless space, ¡¾His¡¿ silver eyes narrowed a little.

    ¡°[¡­¡­The physical body matters not to a Demon. Did you forget even such a thing¡­?]¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­¡±

    I stepped forward again, and stepped into the magic formation.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s been a long time, I forgot.¡±

    When I smiled at him sweetly, ¡¾He¡¿ bore his teeth slightly.

    Are you smiling? Or are you angry¡­¡­ probably both. If I understand ¡¾His¡¿expressions correctly, it¡¯s about me?

    Around him are some clothes that look like they¡¯re from Daemons, scattered about as if the people wearing them had just disappeared.

    They were eaten¡­¡­ I noticed as I approached that all the souls of everyone that were in this underground space were eaten.

    Even though Daemon¡¯s souls weren¡¯t very nice to eat at all¡­¡­

    As expected ¡­¡­ we¡¯re serious.

    ¡°[I will make you mine.]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ flatly spoke out about his [Wish].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yes¡±

    I don¡¯t reject ¡¾His¡¿ wish. I don¡¯t reject the Demon¡¯s wish.

    When I heard his desire expressed so directly, my chest felt warm.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do as I like¡±

    I looked directly into ¡¾His¡¿ eyes, and spoke of my own [wish].

    ¡¾His¡¿ wish is to make me his and to take me back to the Demon World.

    [My] wish is to live freely in the human world.

    Both are equally selfish wishes, and neither of us want to find a compromise.

    Why¡­?

    ¡°The whims of my fellow Demon¡­ that¡¯s certainly something I don¡¯t get¡­¡­¡±

    The whites of my eyes slowly corroded to [Black], and my pupils were dyed crimson like the color of blood.

    Crimson fangs and claws pushed out, and a set of golden bat wings spread out from behind me.

    Along with that, my low heels responded by turning into sharp stilettos, and my knee-length dress stretched downwards to cover my feet in order to raise my defensive power.

    ¡°[Even if I have to kill and eat you, I will make you return¡­¡­¡­ Yurushia¡­]¡±

    As I turned into a human-shaped Demon, the ¡¾Words¡¿ that ¡¾He¡¿ spoke in the spirit language became a pressure that assaulted me. I took it on directly from the front.

    ¡°If you win: tear me up, tear my head off, and make me return with you to the Demon World. But¡­ if I win, then you must accept my love¡±

    Starting from that word, [Magic] and [Miasma] began to gush out and spill from the two of us, and at the same time the huge underground space shook and was corrupted into the ¡¾Demon World¡¿.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s begin.¡±

    The foolish struggle of obstinacy between demon companions.

    At that time¡­ the expression on my face was for the first time, I think, the most devilishly bright smile I had ever had.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°u-ho!? (Wh-what was that!?)¡±

    The [Earthquake]¡¯s shockwave spread out, with the Daemon King¡¯s Castle as its epicenter, and stirred up the entirety of the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Just a few seconds¡­¡­ she thought it couldn¡¯t be an earthquake. The shock that felt like being struck, which passed her and all of the living creatures in the Daemon King¡¯s territory caused them to shiver in revulsion.

    If they were humans, perhaps they might have locked themselves indoors and hoped for rescue from [God]. However, the Daemons who were forsaken by the gods went out and instinctively turned to face the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Iron Princess Francois too, holding hands with her beloved war elephants in the garden of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle felt fear of that repulsive presence, but thinking of that [Weak] girl that had become her new friend, she hesitated to run away.

    Francois¡­ rather all of the Daemons who lived around the Daemon King Castle, they saw terrifying things.

    The ground broke apart with a thunderous roar, and the upper portion of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle was blown away. As a hole was drilled into the [Clouds of Malice] that the sun never shined through, two pillars, one [Jet Black] the other [Gold], pierced the sky.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­This is¡­¡±

    Daemon King Hebrad raised his head to look toward the repulsive presence he felt in the distance.

    Hebrad had been stalled within this Forest of Demons for several months

    Black Princess Killian had gone missing. The force that went to search for them didn¡¯t return, either, and from Geas, who had returned from that [Greater Vampire], he heard that there might be [enemies] that were beyond even that, so it became impossible to move the army around carelessly.

    However, if they stagnated any further the morale of the army would be lost.

    Unless they promptly invaded the Human nations and prepared an army that could take down that unchained ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, it would evolve into a crisis for the world itself, not just of the Daemons.

    Hebrad mocked his own stupidity that he, who was trying to avenge himself on humans, was trying to save the world.

    Where did he go wrong¡­¡­¡­?

    Was it in claiming the humans¡¯ magic power? Was it his summoning scheme? He had a relatively decent understanding of the pillar called the ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿, so why was he unable to summon it?

    Did the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ substitute for the ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿ and force its way into materializing?

    Was there something suspicious that he had overlooked¡­¡­?

    Hebrad, who was feeling anxious, suddenly felt a repulsive presence in the far distance.

    ¡°¡­Shit.¡±

    Hebrad spat a little as he began the incantation of the ¡¾Flying¡¿ spell.

    He felt it from the center of the Daemon King¡¯s territory. Perhaps the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ had awoken and begun to move.

    By Hebrad¡¯s estimates, it should still have been six months away¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Where are you going, Hebrad!¡±

    Throwing away the mask of being a subordinate, Geas called out Hebrad by his first name in panic.

    ¡°Geas, did you not feel that!?¡±

    ¡°I know that! But, what are you saying by returning to that land that you abandoned!¡±

    The Daemon King, for the sake of keeping the Daemon race alive, had abandoned the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    But¡­ Hebrad had still left a single hope in that place.

    He had reformed the territory. Most of the reforms had failed, but they had taken root in some of the villages, and the productivity had been increased.

    And¡­¡­ there was that Dwarf girl that he had picked up several years ago: a girl who was a born hero that had hence been ostracized and banished. If that girl ever got the chance to wield power, she probably would have walked a different path in life.

    Hebrad had imparted to her some of his [Knowledge]. If the Daemon King¡¯s army were defeated by the humans and entirely annihilated, he had hoped that she would escape and lead the remaining Daemons.

    ¡°The land is beyond saving; give it up¡­ besides, even if the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ rampaged, and ate the people of that land, he would not get souls. I couldn¡¯t do it in the Daemon King¡¯s Castle because he would notice, but I went all around the Daemon territory to apply that special magic.¡±

    Geas who was usually of few words, grinned broadly with a creepy smile.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad who was of the [Same Background] as Geas, knew the purpose for his actions. Still, Hebrad believed that even if Geas knew of his intentions, he would cooperate, but Hebrad finally noticed that even if Geas cooperated with him, he didn¡¯t consider the Daemons at all.

    ¡°¡­I am going¡±

    ¡°Hebrad!¡±

    Floating up into the sky instantly, Geas could only call out towards Hebrad¡¯s back as he flew towards the Daemon territory.

    Geas could also use ¡¾Flight¡¿, but he couldn¡¯t possibly catch up with the Daemon King, who had the greatest amount of magic power.

    And if the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ had awakened, returning to the Daemon territory was suicide.

    For he who was of the same background, even Geas had occasionally thought of him as a son, but Geas had thoughts of killing those feelings.

    ¡°I will make use of the Daemon King¡¯s army I have received¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    The daylight filled up the blue skies. A black cloud spread like the sea below.

    I broke through the bedrock, and confronted ¡¾Him¡¿ as I sprang up above the clouds.

    ¡°[Radiant Bow]!¡±

    ¡°[GuaooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    The hundreds of golden arrows were intercepted by black lightning.

    While it struck down all the golden arrows, the black thunder raged and began to shave off the protection of my [Radiant Shield].

    But for me, it didn¡¯t mean that I was doing nothing.

    ¡°¡­[Come, darkness, where there was light]¡­¡±

    I imagined a [Door of Darkness]¡­ on the other side.

    ¡°[Open, Black Gate]¡±

    At my ¡¾words¡¿, a door to empty space opened. The air, the light, the darkness, the nothingness, and the black lightning was sucked into it as the ¡¾Black Gate¡¿ crumbled into nothingness.

    Honestly speaking, that magic is dangerous.

    I think it¡¯s part of the Spirit World, but if I kept forcing the spaces together, the whole country might have disappeared¡­¡­ but my magic power would run out first.

    I had to go to the extent of using such a magic because of the difference in power between ¡¾Him¡¿ and I.

    I had prepared several trump cards.

    That ¡¾Black Magic¡¿ I¡¯d just used was one of them, but the biggest trump card could only be used once. Moreover, if I misjudged the timing, I would be in quite the pickle.

    I had barely expected it, but it was more tiresome than I thought.

    ¡°[GooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ roared towards the sky, and summoned a black storm.

    In this place where violent winds and lighting storms raged all the time, a middle-tier demon wouldn¡¯t even be able to exist.

    Although I took only a little damage, it was starting to accumulate.

    ¡­¡­ It seems he seriously doesn¡¯t intend to let me escape.

    The reason why I wanted to settle things with ¡¾Him¡¿ via [battle] rather than words wasn¡¯t because I thought I could beat ¡¾Him¡¿.

    But, rather, even if there was a difference in power, I wanted him to think of me as an [equal]¡­

    Otherwise, my ¡¾words¡¿ would never reach ¡¾Him¡¿.

    As a result I had to use my final [Trump Card]¡­¡­

    To use my words.

    ¡°[Light, flap your wings]¡­ [Shining Wings]!¡±

    To compete with ¡¾Him¡¿, I could only use speed.

    Light gathered on my bat wings, and turned into golden feathers like the wings of an angel.

    I didn¡¯t choose to make the angel feathers on a whim.

    ¡­¡­ It is completely not a whim and preference that they were angel feathers.

    ¡°[What!?]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ cried out. It seems to him that I disappeared.

    These wings weren¡¯t for flapping. Using the knowledge I got from the dream world, I pushed out magic power from the feathers, and increased my speed temporarily.

    Even I myself couldn¡¯t react fast enough for my speed, and I was hit by lightning, but I didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°[GuaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    At the moment ¡¾He¡¿ released a wide-ranging black tornado,

    ¡°[Let there be Black Light]!¡±

    I shot out a ray of ¡¾Black Light¡¿ in reaction to his roar, and blocked out ¡¾His¡¿ hearing and sight.

    And in that same instant, I spread out my golden wings, and rushed towards ¡¾Him¡¿ beyond the limit of my speed.

    In order to use¡­ my final [Trump card].

 Volume 4 - CH 11

    Volume 4, Chapter 11: The Demon Verse, Part 2

    Within the [Blackness] which nobody could see through, I spread my golden wings and broke through the black storm.

    To ¡¾His¡¿ original position¡­¡­

    To convey my feelings.

    ¡°[¡­!]¡±

    As I broke through the black light and storm, ¡¾He¡¿ bared his fangs at me.

    ¡¾He¡¿ was still wary of my power as a ¡¾Devil¡¿ .

    ¡¾He¡¿ was better than I was at close-quarters, but he chose to fight at long range, and I think that I approached him as a ¡¾Devil¡¿ in [Human Form] since I was confused and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    I also wanted it. Not because people thought that the ¡¾Devils¡¿ were specialized in magic combat, but because I wanted to show him that I could stand up to ¡¾Him¡¿ with my own power.

    Besides, I had other reasons for keeping my [Demon Beast (Cat)] mode in reserve.

    ¡°[!?]¡±

    The instant ¡¾He¡¿ bared his fangs, I transformed into a cat.

    I¡¯m sorry¡­ Showing ¡¾Him¡¿ that nostalgic figure of all the times we spent in the Demon World, his born fangs shook and hesitated for an instant.

    And in that instant that I leapt into ¡¾His¡¿ reach, I turned back into my [Human Form], and softly wrapped his nose with both of my hands.

    I took a breath. And stared straight into ¡¾His¡¿ eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­I am yours¡­ ¡¾Rinne¡¿¡±

    I recalled the time we met¡­¡­

    Commanding (Ri-ri) and Black (kuro)¡­¡­ That is the name that I gave ¡¾Him¡¿.

    ¡°[!]¡±

    As the shock of a name hit ¡¾Him¡¿¡­¡­ Rinne stiffened.

    The only one that could have ¡¾Named¡¿ him, was I, who was a [Human] with the magic power of a [Demon].

    Naming a Demon was to mutually carve that name on each other¡¯s soul. A sharp, intense pain wracked my body as I ¡¾Named¡¿ Rinne.

    But even then, it didn¡¯t mean that I fainted.

    This, was the only opportunity that I would get to say it.

    If I had an [Eternity] of time, I would give it all to Rinne.

    ¡­¡­Therefore,

    ¡°¡­Rinne¡­ become mine¡±

    At that moment, the black tempest and light faded away.

    Slowly¡­¡­ thousands of meters in the air, our power ran out, and we began to fall.

    ¡°[¡­¡­You¡¯re ¡­ really an outrageous one. ¡­¡­Yurushia]¡±

    Rinne, who went stiff longer than I expected, seemed to be astonished¡­¡­ he leaked out a gentle voice. It¡¯s a little bit ticklish to call out your name.

    ¡°~~¡­¡­¡­Sorry¡±

    Going with the flow, it feels like I said some ridiculous things.

    Again, my face felt awfully hot¡­¡­

    ¡°[It was absurd¡­¡­¡­ Why, did you return to a human form? If you had stayed in your Demon form, you would not have received such a huge shock¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    Even now, my body hurt a lot. But¡­¡­

    ¡°I wanted Rinne to know¡­¡­¡­ I have the heart and the mind of a [Human]. I wanted you to know that both of them are ¡®me¡¯.¡±

    Both of them were the real me. I can¡¯t choose between either.

    ¡­¡­ Because, well, I¡¯ve gotten accustomed to the body of a human, and it¡¯s somewhat convenient.

    Rinne looked at me as I thought about such things, and gave a light sigh.

    ¡°[That is true. ¡­¡­¡­You are a ¡¾Devil¡¿¡­ the Demon with the most freedom.]¡±

    A Demon that was bound by no-one, Rinne said. ¡­¡­ But even then it¡¯s alright to be fettered once in a while, you know? I felt puzzled as things suddenly improved.

    I didn¡¯t say anything as I might have gotten carried away.

    But, what exactly was a ¡¾Devil¡¿¡­¡­¡­? I sort of feel what it means, but¡­¡­ it doesn¡¯t fit well.

    ¡°[¡­I am yours¡­¡­ Yurushia.]¡±

    It was a [Vow] that was engraved in the soul just like the ¡¾Naming¡¿.

    ¡°As I am yours as well¡­¡­ Rinne.¡±

    Those words were engraved on my soul.

    The sky became bright. The thick clouds cleared.

    The clouds that were formed of miasma and resentment, were ripped apart in fear of us, and were absorbed entirely by us, disappearing.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The Daemon King¡¯s Base¡­¡­ the people who had been left in [Gistez] that was directly under the control of the Daemon King, all stared up at the sky.

    The black storm disappeared, and the clouds that were dyed black returned to their original colors, the warm sunlight falling like a pillar of light from the hole in the clouds that had opened up in the sky above the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Daemons all witnessed it.

    In that light, the figure of an ¡¾Angel¡¿ with golden wings was descending, accompanied by that huge black beast.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The Daemons all stared in blank amazement at the ¡¾Angel¡¿.

    When she descended below the clouds, the clouds that that blocked out the sun for thousands of years disappeared, as if they had been purified.

    For the first time they saw the blue sky that stretched on forever.

    A warm sunshine that brought with it endless blessings.

    The Daemons that had been cast away to a forsaken land by humans, and who had cursed the [Gods] who didn¡¯t save them even as they prayed, lived.

    Humans had also, in the name of the [Gods], turned a violent hand towards the Daemons, painting them as [Evil].

    For the Daemons, the Gods were an [Enemy].

    The gods didn¡¯t exist. The Daemons who believed so, witnessed an ¡¾Angel¡¿ on this day.

    An old Daemon was silently shedding tears.

    A Daemon child despite not being taught to by anyone, was kneeling reverently at the sky.

    For the Daemons, on this day¡­¡­ to who had given up their hope, the [God of the Daemons] descended.

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°[The Daemon God?]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

 Volume 4 - CH 12

    Volume 4, Chapter 12: Becoming an Idol, Part 1

    ¡°¡­Wh-what, is that shaking now¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio, feeling the slight tremors, raised his head.

    They were in the treasure vault of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle. The [Hero], that [Self-proclaimed Man of Valor] that had come this far had been defeated in battle, and was in the place where the Daemons kept weapons that couldn¡¯t be used.

    So, it might have been more accurate to say that it was a [Storeroom] rather than the treasure vault.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Al. I wonder if we can use these weapons that the Daemons possess¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Staring at the gorgeous magic sword that had been adorned with a holy symbol, Swordswoman Cheria murmured to the Hero Alfio as he searched through the treasure box.

    Alfio, who wasn¡¯t expecting such a thing let out an undignified sound, but glossed over it fluently¡­¡­ putting on a somewhat stiff smile spread across his face.

    ¡°It-it¡¯s only natural that the Hero picks up new equipment in the hideout of the Daemon King. This is for the sake of the world.¡±

    The hero of Shiguresu, Alfio, and his companions, who had been, just like the [Template], preemptively attacked by the mercenaries of Kolkopo before they turned the tables on them, had been protested about by the cowardly feudal lord, and had been chased by the military police all the way as they headed to the Daemon King¡¯s territory to defeat the Daemon King.

    They didn¡¯t run into too much trouble on the way to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    They had considered that they would encounter the Daemon King¡¯s Army, but such a thing never happened.

    Even in the Daemon villages, as long as he showed a little bit of [Strength] without subjugating them, he was able to receive food, and even the rare encounters with the Daemon King¡¯s Army were of small units that had food and were easily defeated.

    The trouble was the fact that the female brigade had been complaining about not having a place to stay in, because Alfio rejected every Daemon village.

    Even as they proceeded towards the Daemon King¡¯s Capital, they did not encounter strong Daemons. On the contrary, those Daemons that they met along the way to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle were weak, and it hurt his heart to knock down the old man that was barely standing, even as Alfio cut down the Daemons that wielded weapons without mercy.

    That¡¯s why when they were surprised when they, who had arrived at the Daemon King¡¯s Castle without fighting a single strong Daemon, had suffered a crushing defeat under the large warrior that guarded the gates.

    Judging that soldier as an [Event Boss], Alfio ran for dear life, and leading his companions in a so called [Dirty Trick], they vaulted the wall and entered from the back door.

    If they defeated the event boss, you would definitely get strong equipment. So he figured that if he got his hands on that equipment first with [Exploits], he would be able to defeat that warrior easily.

    For Alfio, who had the memory of a previous world, and who read so many novels about transmigration, it was important and only-too-natural that he use any means to deprive the enemy of their abilities and take their equipment.

    Even when he himself had provoked them, Alfio declared justice upon his opponents the moment they called him names and pulled out their weapons, as robbing them of their equipment and money should have been permitted.

    ¡°S-See, Cheria. Is this not a good weapon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yep¡±

    Cheria received the longsword that Alfio held out to her, and nodded awkwardly.

    Although she was watching Alfio robbing the items of unrelated parties under some unknown pretext, she had convinced herself that the opponent was a bad person.

    As a childhood friend, Cheria had longed for Alfio, who was knowledgeable in various things ever since she was a child, and tried to tell herself that he was right.

    However, as the daughter of a knight, Cheria innately resisted the idea of robbing and thieving even for the sake of triumphing over an enemy.

    Of all the equipment that they were trying to steal, most of them weren¡¯t necessary. The majority of them were just very well-decorated and would sell for a high price. Practical items almost didn¡¯t exist.

    Furthermore, Cheria began to feel something like a sense of anxiety and discomfort while watching Alfio, who was gathering all these items gleefully.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Her best friend, the Elf Anteikowa, and the noble sisters couldn¡¯t do anything like [Stealing] the items of others, so they kept a lookout at the entrance of the treasure room, the three of them constantly talking, occasionally casting a cold gaze at the two.

    ¡°Cheria, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nothing.¡±

    Alfio raised his voice as Cheria breathed a sigh. It¡¯s good that he noticed these fine details, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Alright, now then, let¡¯s get out of this castle quickly and leave this town.¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Was he not imitating a thief to defeat a mighty enemy? The moment Cheria tried to open her mouth to say so,

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    They felt an ominous, mighty, and terrible [Presence] coming from underground.

    It was a power so huge that it would be absurd to measure, a mighty presence filled with an overwhelming killing intent¡­¡­ Anteikowa that felt the [Wickedness] in particular and turned blue in the face, while Athena and Ophelia ran towards each other.

    ¡°¡­Wha-what¡¯s happening¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Th-the Daemon King¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While Athena soothed Ophelia, who had been frightened, Athena realized that that [Presence] wasn¡¯t something that they had felt for the first time, but hesitated to speak.

    It wasn¡¯t possible¡­¡­

    Athena pushed this feeling that caught on the corner of her mind, which would have been the answer to that [Uncomfortable Feeling] that she had felt all along, in fear of the [Truth], directly into the deepest corners of her heart.

    ¡°¡­¡­Al-sama, everyone, I think it would be best if we retreated now¡­¡±

    ¡°Ye-yeah, that¡¯s right! Let¡¯s retreat¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right¡­Let¡¯s retreat like Atty says. Even if it is not the Daemon King, I can feel the evil of a thousand Demons.¡±

    And so, just like that, the Shiguresu Hero¡¯s party decided to withdraw from the Daemon King¡¯s castle without even engaging in an honest battle.

    Whether this was lucky, or unlucky for the world, cannot be known.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­What is¡­¡­ this¡­¡±

    Daemon King Hebrad drank in the sight of the intimately-familiar [Daemon King Territory], and murmured in blank surprise.

    The Kingdom that he had seen since birth, the Daemon King territory that had been covered in black clouds regardless of day or night, was exposed to the dazzling sun under the blue sky.

    He stood there in mute amazement for a couple of minutes, but when he saw the half-destroyed Daemon King Castle, and the Daemon tribes that were gathered there in worship, Hebrad flew over to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    ¡°Uho!¡±

    ¡°Francois¡­!¡±

    Hebrad descended into the garden of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, and as the Dwarf girl sprinted over with a thundering [dodododododododododododododo], Hebrad cast [Impact Absorption], [Physical Defense], [Physical Barrier], [Inertial Dampening], and [Body Strengthening] magics, so he was able to catch the Dwarf girl even as he was pushed back only 5 meters, tearing up the ground below him.

    ¡°You¡¯re alright, Francois¡±

    ¡°Uho¡­ uho, uhouho~¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­? I¡¯m sorry, I made you worry.¡±

    ¡°Uho, uho, uhoho, uhoo¡±

    ¡°What¡­!? Such a thing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uho, uho, uho~¡±

    As Francois described the circumstances, she twisted herself with a *mojimoji* as if a little shy.

    ¡°A human girl¡­? Is that so, I see.¡±

    ¡°Uhoo! Uhouho¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. There might be danger in the castle. Francois, leave the castle and take a look at the circumstance of the people¡±

    ¡°Uho~o, uhoo¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say such things. ¡­I know your feelings, but please understand.¡±

    ¡°Uho¡­¡±

    Francois had just a little bit of sadness on her face, but she nodded her giant, boulder-like head to Hebrad¡¯s words, and, shouldering her beloved elephant that was frightened by all the events, she walked gracefully toward the gates of the castle.

    Hebrad sent her off while gazing at her big back, filled with adoration as she walked off.

    According to Francois, pillars of [Gold] and [Jet Black] destroyed the Daemon King¡¯s Castle as they ascended into the air, and after they scattered the [Clouds of Malice], the [Demon Beast] was followed behind [Golden Angel] as it descended into the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Dwarf language was hard to fully understand for anyone that wasn¡¯t a Dwarf.

    She didn¡¯t know their name, but Francois spoke about a female friend that she had made for the first time, and was very worried about her.

    Francois was pure of heart, and although he was happy that she finally had a friend of the same age, even if it was a human being, Hebrad also felt the loneliness of a father with a daughter of that age.

    And so, Hebrad had sent Francois, who was a mighty warrior, outside of the castle, as judging by the state of the castle, it was highly unlikely that a human girl would be able to survive where the [Demon Beast] was involved.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­¡­¡±

    For Francois, that human girl was a very important existence.

    Those words that she left behind ¡­¡­

    ¡°[Uhoo]¡±

    Everything had been put into that single word.

    Hebrad pulled himself together with a heavy heart and headed into the castle.

    Expecting that the [Demon Beast] would have started to move¡­¡­ and that unknown [Golden Angel]¡­¡­ their presences were¡­¡­ no, he had to make sure of what they [Intended] for the whole Daemon race.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It gradually becomes relaxed again from here on in.

    Francois¡¯ words were full of love.

    The protagonist will return next time.

    We are still awaiting your straight-man corrections.

    Thank you for all the corrections and critiques.

 Volume 4 - CH 13

    Volume 4, Chapter 13: Becoming an Idol, Part 2

    I returned to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle since I had something to do.

    You might say that I made a dangerous bet in fighting against Rinne for the sake of doing this.

    It was just that [Important].

    I had both the strong [Will] and the [Duty] to do so.

    ¡°[Mofu~]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­Oi]¡±

    I could hear Rinne¡¯s voice, but I didn¡¯t care.

    I¡¯m busy mofumofuing Rinne¡¯s fur for the first time in 11 years.

    Rinne was complaining, but he rolled over so it was easy to mofu properly. Fufu, this naughty tsundere!

    I was also properly in my cat mode.

    It was pleasant mofuing with human skin, but it was hard to give up the feeling of burying myself into Rinne¡¯s fur.

    Because it¡¯s Demon fur it¡¯s always silky and doesn¡¯t dirty, and even if I rolled myself in it I wouldn¡¯t get entangled, and being as smooth as it is fluffy, the stomach part is soft, when I was wrapped in it there was a complete feeling of relief and healing.

    Furthermore, there¡¯s a nice scent too, I say.

    It¡¯s the rich aroma and intoxicating sweet smell of a fruit wine that¡¯d been left to ferment for many years. I felt it even more clearly than when I was in the Demon world because our souls were connected.

    This is it, this is. This mofumofu, this fragrance, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    [Hey, cut it out.]

    ¡°[eh]¡±

    As I was in the midst of swimming about in Rinne¡¯s fur and *goronyan*ing,  I was suddenly pushed into the air.

    ¡°[What? What?]¡±

    When the huge figure of that idiot Rinne suddenly disappeared, I quickly returned to sobriety, became flustered and searched for Rinne.

    ¡°[I¡¯m Here, Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­eh? Rinne-]¡±

    Turning back towards the source of the voice, there was a normal-sized black cat that was slightly larger than me, standing there with a look of triumph on its face.

    ¡°[O, OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Rinneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]¡±

    ¡°[oWAa]¡±

    Seeing Rinne in [Black Cat] mode suddenly, my sense of reason broke.

    Cute cute cute cute cute Rinne is so cute! Oh my god what a thing!

    I remember that I loved [Kitty cats] from that memory of the dream world, but it was different being one myself compared to seeing one before my eyes.

    Whenever the cats of this world were in front of me, they would howl like [Shaaaa] or [Migya] and run away, and not let me hold them as much as I wanted! That¡¯s why!

    [So anyways¡­ let¡¯s stop now~]

    *kapu* (TL: Bite)

    I¡¯m reflecting¡­¡­¡­¡­

    Although it seems like I¡¯ve broken completely, I¡¯m fine.

    Oh my, the charm of mofumofu kitty is terrifying. For me, a Demon who was famous for keeping her calm, to forget myself¡­¡­

    Truly he is the strongest in the Demon world¡­¡­ terrifying.

    Thanks to Rinne¡¯s [Kapu] I was able to stop myself. Rinne¡¯s fangs hurt, even if they¡¯ve become tiny. But I was licked immediately.

    Whether you call it following the flow, or my apology after punishment, this time I was being mofumofu¡¯d by Rinne. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s tickly.

    We were in the half-broken Daemon King¡¯s Castle. Since we had blown away the upper half, the sunlight was warm and I felt like a cat.

    ¡°[Come to think of it, when did Rinne get the ability to turn into a [Black cat]?]¡±

    ¡°[Not until today¡­]¡±

    As Rinne murmured as if amazed, he stopped mofuing and stretched out across the floor just like a real cat.

    ¡°[Probably¡­ after I received a name from you. The magic power and my body stabilized quite considerably.]¡±

    I don¡¯t feel a violent presence spreading from the current Rinne, unlike the time when we had just met while I was in the Demon World.

    It¡¯s calm¡­ is it alright for me to say it? The anger and impatience have disappeared, and unlike the first time we met¡­¡­ there¡¯s a more mature atmosphere in the air.

    When I listened calmly like this, I loved Rinne¡¯s mature voice after all.

    For a while he was being too restrictive and I [Ran away from home], and I also rebelled against the brutal Rinne, but after all that he¡¯s calmed down.

    Although it¡¯s calm¡­¡­

    ¡°[Hey¡­¡­ won¡¯t you [Manifest]¡­?]¡±

    As I asked him while rolling and lying there on the warm bed that was the floor, Rinne made a little delicate face.

    ¡­¡­even though he¡¯s a cat, he¡¯s dextrous.

    ¡°[Thanks to the fact I was [named], my presence has also grown. I don¡¯t know how many sacrifices it would take for me to obtain a vessel. and also¡­¡­]¡±

    Rinne was a [Demon Beast] with a brutality that was entirely different from the elegant taste of the [Greatest Demons].

    ¡°[It¡¯s greedy to ignore the nature of [Demons] to kill.]¡±

    [Demons] were fundamentally different from [Gods].

    I don¡¯t know if the thing called God really exists, and since believing in them did nothing, and disasters and unhappiness were called the scourge of god, they only sought the [Innocent Hearts] of Man.

    On the contrary, the Demons ¡­ while the low-ranking demons were all stupid¡­ all the Greater Demons knew about the [Value] of humans, and to increase the value of the [Forbidden Knowledge] that they dispensed, they cultivated them.

    Put simply, both of them were sweatshop companies, but the Demon enterprise was the one that would [Feed] its employees. If you counted the seafood that I gave, I would likely have been superior even amongst Demons.

    Anyway, Rinne, who didn¡¯t manifest, would not be able to stay long in this world.

    ¡°[So what will you do now? Although I said as much, I won¡¯t be going back to the Demon World for another few hundred years.]¡±

    I¡¯m not being selfish, but this is one line I refuse to cross.

    I laid bare my stubbornness, and bared my fangs in a bitter smile.

    ¡°[If you¡¯re returning in several hundred years, it¡¯s not actually very long¡­ but I will probably only be able to maintain the name for about a year. What do you think?]¡±

    ¡°[I see¡­¡­]¡±

    It looks like we won¡¯t be able to manage it somehow, huh¡­¡­

    For the time being, since everything else is troublesome and the mood has become calm, let¡¯s worry about the small things later.

    Rinne felt the same too, and I suddenly felt someone¡¯s eyes on me while the two of us were splayed out on the sunny floor.

    ¡­¡­ My embarrassing moment was just peeped at by someone else!!?

    £ª

    Hebrad was perplexed.

    When he entered the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, he was chasing after the presence of the [Demon Beast], but the presence that he felt was that the anger from when it had first appeared had faded, replaced by a calm of an even greater intensity.

    ¡°What¡­ on earth¡±

    And as for this thing that he felt cuddled close to it, just who was this [Presence]?

    From Francois¡¯ witness account, he thought that it was some [Golden Angel] that was worshipped by the abandoned Daemons, and even though that presence didn¡¯t have any feelings of violence or vulgarity, it was ominous and terrifying: completely something that was [Malicious].

    Hebrad didn¡¯t know whether it was a Demon, but perhaps, it was an [Evil] existence on the same level as that of the [Demon Beast].

    ¡°Angel? or Demon¡­¡­?¡±

    Either way, if he made a mistake in his interactions here, the Daemon King¡¯s territory would perish.

    For the whole of the Daemons that had once forsaken the Daemon King territory. Hebrad laughed at himself as a failure of the Daemon King that that was still unable to let go even at the very end.

    Although he had given his whole life until now for the sake of his vengeance on the [Human society] that had betrayed him, at the end it seemed that he was unable to discard the naivety of his [Humanity].

    Was it a mistake to attempt to implement reform as a tool of vengeance, to have gotten attached because he¡¯d gotten involved more than was necessary¡­¡­?

    In that case, he would play out his role as the [Daemon King] that was king of all the Daemons, and die for the sake of the Daemons.

    With this determination, Hebrad headed towards his [Grave].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing two [Cats] there basking and relaxing in the sun, he could not close his mouth that had sprung open.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Two¡­ [Demon Beasts]¡­?¡±

    But it looked and felt like a cat¡­¡­ Even so, that ominous and fiendish [presence] threw Hebrad¡¯s head for a spin.

    For there to be two of the legendary existence called the [Demon Beast], was this some sort of joke?

    While Hebrad was stunned out of his common sense, the golden cat seemed to have started out of panic, and begun to move, and the previously gentle air was filled with the incredible intimidation of a [Demon].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s the mofumofu time. The protagonist seems to have broken.

    No need to read this¡­

    More story templates that aren¡¯t deeply related to the story.

    [Is it wrong to aim for the hero for the sake of the princess?]

    [The Handmaiden¡¯s Blank Mind: Should I get closer to the Mistress¡­?]

    I love story templates.

    Although it gets twisted if the story drags, because I¡¯m in the middle of writing a short story from a template that I can¡¯t get out of my head, I¡¯m thinking of adding it later.

    I also wanted to talk about the Mochipurun and the sisters.

    App¡¯s Notes: Mofumofu¡­ been waiting for more than a year for this to finally happen¡­

    Only one month until the one year anniversary of us picking this up from the depths! (That¡¯s a lot of chapters, looking back¡­)

 Volume 4 - CH 14

    Volume 4, Chapter 14: Becoming an Idol, Part 3

    I wonder what I said¡­¡­ The person who appeared in front of us was a silver-haired, black-skinned, slightly sullen and cool-looking older man.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    I felt like Rinne wanted to say something, and since it was good to give one¡¯s beloved some space, I gave him some elbowroom. ¡­¡­ Wait, that¡¯s not it.

    Yeah, yeah, this person was that Daemon who [Peeked] at us.

    I had been seen while I forgot myself and was *kyahaha* and *ufufu*-ing and mofuing with all my might. It seems I was embarrassed and instinctively let out my [Presence], but because it wasn¡¯t a misrepresentation, it was safe. I judged that I could win the court case.

    ¡°[¡­¡­King of the Daemons?]¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­ eh?

    Rinne got up, and in his enormous [Dark Beast] form, he murmured towards that older uncle in a low voice.

    King of the Daemons¡­? Daemon King? Francois¡¯ husband (candidate)¡­?

    That uncle¡­ er, rather, the Daemon King-san, who seemed to have overcome his stiffness at Rinne¡¯s voice, kneeled down in a hurry.

    ¡°¡­¡­I am the King of the Daemons, Hebrad¡±

    The Daemon King-san¡¯s waist was bent really low¡­¡­ Are you a salaryman, as well?

    Even though he seemed to have an absurdly delicious soul, I shouldn¡¯t sample it¡­¡­

    Is that¡­? The Daemon King-san looked up at me motionlessly.

    That¡¯s no good Daemon King-san, you have a wife (to be) you know? I can¡¯t betray my friends¡­¡­eh? Is that wrong?

    ¡°You, in the past, I heard of the [Golden Beast] that was the talk of the humans. Art thou the same one, who has scattered the clouds of the Daemon King territory, and gave the land this blessing?¡±

    I¡¯m being looked at with entreating eyes¡­¡­ Before, when I was in my Demon body, although there was fear, but I wasn¡¯t being shown behavior like I was detested.

    When I glimpsed at Rinne, who already lost interest, I figured that it didn¡¯t matter and yawned a little.

    This cat-haired guy¡­¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t quite understand, but I, as a Demon, can¡¯t not greet my friend¡¯s husband (provisional).

    ¡°[I am greatly honored by your politeness, Lord Daemon King¡­¡­]¡±

    Wh-what¡¯s this feeling?

    It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever talked to another race as a Demon, and I don¡¯t understand the feeling.

    But it seemed that I¡¯ve been recognized as an [Intelligent] Demon properly, and Daemon King-san openly made a relieved face.

    ¡°I would like to request something of the two of you. The Daemon tribes are on the edge of a crisis. As a result, we have presently sortied the entire Daemon King¡¯s army, so by all means I would like to borrow your power.¡±

    ¡°[Why?]¡±

    When I automatically replied, the Daemon King-san stiffened again. He¡¯s mentally weak.

    Am I not at an advantage?

    ¡°Well, that is¡­¡±

    Daemon King-san faltered in his words, and then resolved himself again, and began to speak slowly.

    ¡°I¡­ because I hated humankind, I lived in order to bring ruin to human beings. I won¡¯t lie about my desire to save Daemonkind. ¡­¡­but, I still cannot forgive humans¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    While speaking, he remembered his resentment for humankind, and Daemon King-san¡¯s muddy hatred leaked out with his magic power. ¡­¡­ it looks delicious.

    That sort of reason, I can certainly agree with.

    If I could just get this [Soul], if the contract was for one or two countries, it¡¯d be alright to do it, it seemed.

    ¡°[No]¡±

    ¡°¡­W-¡­¡­ Why? If my soul is not enough, then I will dedicate all of the souls of the human beings that the Daemon King¡¯s Army will kill from here on in! Then¡­¡±

    He wanted to destroy humans. He wanted to save the Daemons. For that purpose, he would offer up the Daemon King¡¯s soul and the humans¡¯ souls to the Demon.

    Both of the contracts don¡¯t make me lose much, but regardless of the Demons around here, [I] cannot accept it.

    ¡°[It¡¯s no good. The humans¡¯ [souls], were already [My] things to begin with.]¡±

    This [world], was my feeding ground where I can get whatever I wanted just by reaching my claws out for it.

    In other words, it was an environment with a remote control, sweets, and a refrigerator beside my Kotatsu for all eternity. ¡­¡­¡­I wonder why, but I had a sudden feeling of depravity.

    Although I¡¯m now doing some deliberate [cultivation] for some of them, I just can¡¯t stand stopping now for the sake of getting a bunch of cheap souls in large quantities.

    ¡­¡­My thoughts seemed to have turned rather Demonic.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Haha, is that so, is that so?¡±

    Daemon King-san who had been overcome with blank amazement at my words began to laugh.

    Would he give in to his despair and attack me? I thought that would happen, but unexpectedly, Daemon King-san had a relieved face.

    ¡°If you are as much of a [Demon] as you claim, the humans will perish soon. ¡­¡­fufu, that¡¯s right, humans and Daemons are both [Livestock]¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­Y-yeag]¡±

    I don¡¯t intend to do so, but¡­¡­ well, Daemon King-san is convinced, so, ah, whatever.

    Daemon King-san once again kneeled in front of me and prostrated himself deeply.

    ¡°¡­¡­I have no regrets. I offer my soul.¡±

    Arara¡­¡­ did that just happen?

    Rinne threw a fleeting glance at me at those words, but I hit him with my tail and held him down.

    Although I want to eat it very much.

    ¡°[Daemon King, make the [Person (female)] around you happy. That is your obligation.]¡±

    To eat Francois¡¯ husband (nearly confirmed), would be a poor thing to do.

    When I said those words, Daemon King-san had a very surprised face, and lowered his head again.

    ¡°After all¡­¡­ all the surrounding Daemon tribes were worshipping you, and I could feel the depth of your benevolence¡­ You don¡¯t seem to be a [Demon Beast]¡­¡­ it¡¯s as though you¡¯re the [God of the Daemons]¡±

    ¡°[Well, I suppose¡­¡­]¡±

    Oh dear¡­¡­ In addition to having an embarrassing nickname, now there¡¯s equally embarrassing feelings.

    My heart hurts whenever Rinne gives me that look that says [What are you doing, you¡­]

    ¡°[Well then, will you stop the invasion of the Daemon King¡¯s Army?]¡±

    I tried to change the topic for now.

    It¡¯ll become a problem if the city where Rick and Noel were became a battlefield. ¡­¡­ah, it came out without me saying anything, is that alright? Well, even if I¡¯m not there, it¡¯ll be alright.

    ¡°¡­¡­It can¡¯t be done. Your benevolence gave us the blessings of the sun, but the land around here was barren from the start, and these several thousand years where the Daemon elements have lived, the crops have never grown properly.  Now, unless we invade, the Daemon tribe will only die of hunger¡­¡±

    They were cornered more than I thought.

    Will plants not grow where the Daemons dwell¡­ That [cloud] that had collected the grudges and the miasma tasted like [Cotton Candy], and the Daemon element in the earth¡­¡­

    Hmm? ¡­¡­Wait a minute.

    ¡°[That¡¯s no problem. Leave it all to me]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh! Goddess¡±

    And so, it was stopped¡­¡­

    I moved a little, and approached the thick wall that hadn¡¯t broken when I hit it. Fufufu, today I¡¯ll get to show the results of my research.

    ¡°[Summoning Magic Formation!]¡±

    Pouring my magic power into the [Spirit Language], I drew out an enormous magic circle on the huge wall.

    ¡°Thi-this is !¡±

    Mori¡­morimori¡­morimorimorimorimori¡­

    A black shadow emerged from the summoning circle¡­¡­ that¡¯s right, it¡¯s an [Infinitely Unlimited Seaweed Summoning Circle].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    At this magnificent sight, Daemon King-sama and Rinne were both so impressed that they went silent.

    ¡°[This magic formation, can not only summon seaweed from this continent, but from all of the seas of the world indefinitely. With this, the food problem is solved]¡±

    ¡°¡­Wa-wait a minute, can it be turned off?!¡±

    As I boasted of my research results, Daemon King-san raised the question. Being eager to learn is a wonderful thing. If the magic power is cut off to that, and the food is gone, there might be insecurity again.

    I dragged Millaine into my studies for this. The [Unlimited Wakame Seaweed] is a revolutionary magic circle that boasts performance that is six times higher in comparison to regular magic circles, with a magic power use of less than half that of a conventional one.

    Being given such a wonderful thing, he would surely think that he was special, and he would feel just like the favored grandson of a grandfather and be happy.

    I nodded slowly to reassure him.

    ¡°[Worry not. There are no problems whatsoever. This magic circle draws on the Daemon elements present in the soil to power itself, so it won¡¯t stop easily.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Daemon King-san, who was now standing before a pile of seaweed that was so large that it could not even fit it on a 10-ton truck, sat down as if he was exhausted.

    I wonder if he was that relieved.

    ¡°[Oh, right, right, because the formation will continue for thousands of years with the Daemon element in this area, if you don¡¯t do your best in eating it, it¡¯ll bury the Daemon King territory, so please be careful. ]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Daemon King-san jolted vigorously at my words, and smiling a little with a ¡°Haha¡± he placed both his hands and knees on the floor loosely.

    After doing good things, the Demon becomes comfortable.

    Daemon King-san was muttering something or another, but Rinne gently tapped the Daemon King-san with his giant paws affectionately.

    ¡°¡­¡­She¡¯s a Demon after all¡­¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    For a few days after that, we stayed at Daemon King-san¡¯s house.

    I was in my [Demon Beast (cat)] mode when I came into contact with Daemon King-san, but I properly reported to Francois in my [Human] mode.

    Well, today at Daemon King-san¡¯s request I¡¯m going to show myself to the Daemons.

    The people¡¯s belief in god seems to be something like the desire for an [Idol].

    Finally, my debut!

    ¡°[Well then¡­¡­ what should I sing?]¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t sing.¡±

    ¡°[¡­You don¡¯t need to be reserved, you know?]¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not being reserved¡±

    ¡°[You don¡¯t need to fuss about the problem of having a backup dancer while I sing?]¡±

    ¡°Please do not sing. Please do not dance¡±

    What¡¯s this¡­¡­? Daemon King-san¡¯s attitude towards me seems a little [Sloppy].

    For the sake of everyone¡¯s peace of mind, I wanted to be in human mode. I thought that it would be good if my dress was a miniskirt.

    It¡¯s for everyone¡¯s sake¡­ It¡¯s not that I want to sing¡­ It¡¯s true~.

    Even though so many people are gathered here¡­¡­ *kusun*

    When I spread my wings in my [Demon Beast (cat)] mode and made my appearance, all of the Daemons kneeled down on the spot and began to worship me.

    ¡­¡­ wait, what? Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be cheering?

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°[¡­eh?]¡±

    Turning around to face a familar voice that I suddenly heard, Demon butler Noa and Demon maid Fannie teleported in out of thin air.

    ¡°¡­¡­We were looking for you¡±

    ¡°[Ah~, sorry, there was the matter of [Him], [Rinne].]¡±

    ¡°eh?¡±

    ¡°ah¡­¡±

    Noa and Fannie hurriedly kneeled down before Rinne who was beside me in his black cat mode.

    ¡°Ri-Rinne-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°[At ease. Why were you in such a hurry¡­?]¡±

    Waving his two tails calmly when Noa lapsed into silence after greeting us, Rinne prompted him on.

    ¡°Yes. Actually, the Daemon King army has gathered together and begun to advance, and we were led by Roderick-sama and Noel-sama out to search for Mistress, and after meeting with the mercenary group and knights numbering 500, they started to fight.¡±

    ¡°[eh¡­¡­]¡±

    Isn¡¯t that terribly dangerous? The Daemon King¡¯s army was still well in excess of a million strong.

    Daemon King-san¡¯s black face also turned blue¡­¡­ how deft.

    ¡°Foolish¡­ did they not receive the message. Who was it¡­¡­Geas?¡±

    He murmured. There wasn¡¯t a need to fight anymore.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright?¡±

    ¡°[How is it alright?]¡±

    When I yelled my tsukkomi in without thinking at Noa¡¯s mutter, Fannie continued from the side.

    ¡°Uhm, well, Tina-chan and Nia-chan have gradually become unable to endure it and seemed to have started rampaging, so I came to pick you up©`¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­eEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?]¡±

    How many of them will survive¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The 4th book is entering its climax.

    One of the common story templates,

    [I avenged myself against the world -reforms of the poor Daemon Lord-] has ended.

    The original story was that Rinne was supposed to be knocked down in an outburst of anger, and the [Demon Duke] was going to be summoned by the Daemons, and they had to cooperate with the humans in order to defeat it, it was a story about the proper way to rule the world¡­¡­

    The Daemon King, do you think he¡¯s happy?

    * The template story assumes that Yuru is born a human being.

 Volume 4 - CH 15

    Volume 4, Chapter 15: On the Battlefield, Part 1

    A man was knocked into hell from the pinnacle of happiness.

    He didn¡¯t even know the meaning of misfortune when he was a child.

    Born the only child of two parents, with no poverty in sight for his dual-income family, the man had no doubt in thinking that his was an extremely normal household.

    He noticed when his parents did not come for the school¡¯s athletics meet. Did the whole family only eat together about once a week? They weren¡¯t able to have a family conversation, not even once, even as the days went by.

    He alone was the only person who thought of it as a family, but for the rest of them who lived in that house, they were just not interested in family life. They were just cohabiting.

    If he had noticed it, perhaps he would have realized that he was unhappy.

    However, the man himself didn¡¯t think that he was unhappy. He knew that there were unhappier things in the world, and, above all, there was a girl, a childhood friend, who worried about him.

    Almost every day, ever since they were young, she would bring him lunch. He was the first person that she treated to her mother¡¯s cooking at her house.

    It could be said that the man was raised by the girl¡¯s family.

    A father and a gentle mother that were kind-hearted, a bratty older brother that thought of him as his younger brother, playing together in elementary school, becoming conscious of her in middle school, and becoming lovers in high school. Although he slightly ran wild in various ways, out of consideration for the girl¡¯s family, he kept a pure relationship.

    And¡­¡­ when they lived together after they graduated from university, while thinking of paying for their marriage with his own money, he went to the government office to register their official marriage and have her entered into his family register¡­ but fell into a manhole along the way.

    When he came to, he was in a dark, shabby room.

    Actually, he¡¯d noticed that the room was shabby months before he managed to get his eyes to look straight¡­ the man had become a baby.

    He quickly realized that the world was not a good one.

    A dark sky that never changed, regardless of day or night, people who had horns or scaled skin seemed to be very normally taking care of him.

    But he couldn¡¯t be bothered to care about such things.

    Where was this? He didn¡¯t care how or why he became a baby.

    He had finally had his wish come true, with her¡­ with the childhood friend that was his wife. They were supposed to be having their first night together, and he couldn¡¯t understand why he had to be in this place.

    He felt frustrated every day. Because he wanted to return to his wife so much, he cried like a baby, but since he was a baby, nobody knew.

    One day, a turning point in his life came.

    He was taken along while huddled together with his parents into a dim basement where adults with beast and monster features were gathered.

    He saw a black altar. Noticing the drifting odor of rotting blood, his face paled.

    When he looked at his parents with a questioning look regarding that [Demonic] altar, he finally noticed that his parents¡¯ eyes had the same look that the parents of his previous life had, as if they were looking at some [Other] creature.

    He had neither the horns nor scales of his parents.

    He understood that he had been dragged here as a [Sacrifice] for a demon.

    The ceremony began. He couldn¡¯t do anything to resist with that baby¡¯s body of his.

    Why did things turn out this way¡­¡­?

    He wanted to return to my wife. It was nothing new. He wanted to go back to my loving wife and escape from this hell¡­¡­

    The magic circle shone around him, and in the instant that the man who he thought of as his father swung down the rusty dagger¡­¡­

    [¡­Surely, just these sacrifices and offerings to try and summon me¡­ it seems I¡¯m being taken lightly.]

    The dagger that was swung down stopped right in front of his eyes as if time had stopped.

    All of a sudden, everything that he could see around him had frozen in place, and it seemed that time really had stopped.

    In the frozen world in which only he could move, that [Voice] spoke only to him.

    [Among these, the one with the strongest soul turns out to be a baby¡­ But even if I took your soul, I could hardly interact with the world¡­ So, I will make a contract to you. Name your wish. And in return, what will you give to me?]

    He didn¡¯t hesitate, and wished instantly to return to his wife. He didn¡¯t need anything else. He swore to offer all of himself.

    [Then I will take your soul after you die. However, that is not enough for me to let you cross worlds. What will you give? The answers are before you.]

    At those words, he instantly shut his mouth¡­¡­ and answered what the Demon desired to hear.

    £ª£ª£ª

    By the order of Geas, the Court Mage, whom Daemon King Hebrad had charged with the right to command, the Daemon King¡¯s Army, who had been spread out in their various units, had been assembled, and the invasion had begun.

    Total number: 400,000.

    Since there was a lack of food and some of the Daemons were slow-footed, there should have been some variation in the time they took to arrive, but, still, wasn¡¯t this was far too few?

    The Daemon King¡¯s Army had left the Daemon King¡¯s territory with a troop well in excess of 2 million. Where did the vast majority of them disappear to¡­¡­?

    ¡°Hurry up! As Beast King Gallus¡¯ subordinates, it is shameful to be late to battle!¡±

    The Beast King¡¯s second-in-command, the White Monkey General Gretel, directed 100,000 soldiers as he ran through the Forest of Monsters.

    Gretel¡¯s head was full of impatience and irritation. Thus far, he had subdivided the army to move, but unexpectedly some of them did not return and their numbers had been decreased in vain.

    Something was lurking in the forest¡­

    Using their bestial instincts, they sensed someone in the shadows, and the movements of the Beast King¡¯s army became sluggish.

    Relying solely on their animalistic night vision, they were able to run through the woods at night, but it seems that their fellows that were beside them had run into [Something] unfamiliar.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hieee,¡±

    Someone¡¯s muffled screaming was heard, and then a couple of the Beastmen Daemons burst into tiny pieces.

    ¡°Wh, what!?¡±

    ¡°An enemy!¡±

    They could faintly discern a distorted figure in the darkness of night.

    When someone cast a magical light quickly to try to illuminate things, there was the figure of a [Demon], wearing tattered clothes, laughing while holding up the face of a beast and slurping on fresh blood.

    ¡°Hiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    The brave soldiers of the Beast King¡¯s Army screamed out at the presence of the [Demon] that evoked the fundamental [Terror] of living beings.

    Not restricted to one place, the screams of terror arose throughout the entire army, and the massacre began.

    ¡°Steel your hearts! The Demons will take advantage of your fear!¡±

    Gretel scolded his men even though he was confused as well.

    Why had these Demons appeared here? Furthermore, they weren¡¯t simply Demons. [Greater Demons] that had manifested within a vessel¡­ and there was a presence that felt even stronger than those.

    In front of Gretel, a huge and stout Demon appeared.

    ¡°¡­¡­Gollow¡­?¡±

    The Demon¡¯s face and body shape greatly resembled the 3rd Army¡¯s Pig Beast General, Gollow.

    ¡°Did you make Gollow¡­ your vessel¡­ aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    With the righteous fury for his friend whose soul had been devoured, Gretel slammed his huge battle axe against the Demon.

    [¡­Buhahahaha]

    The Demon picked up and crushed the battle axe as it roared and grabbed into Gretel¡¯s chest, eating the heart while it was still beating, savoring the desperation and hatred that it was full of.

    *[Nya]*

    In that instant, with that slashing sound, the Demon and Gretel were sent flying in little pieces.

    A golden blade cut through the night, and a single girl emerged from the darkness.

    ¡°Hey~, that¡¯s no good, you know? I thought I told you that you could only have one soul (snack) a day?¡±

    Her voice was not particularly loud, with the tone of an older sister in high school scolding her younger brother, but all of the Greater Demons in the area straightened their backs as their faces stiffened.

    The Demon who had been scolded with that carefree voice, seemed to have had his existence blown away with a single blow, but Nia herself seemed to not care at all.

    The number of Daemons that Millaine had turned into Vampires and transferred over to Nia were in the thousands. They had also used a large amount of souls, and had raised the number of the [Newtype Greater Demon] by the thousands.

    Nia just did not have the patience to educate all of these new Demons.

    Along with Tina, they had split the 1500 Demons between the two of them, and came here for practical training and soul collection.

    ¡°Al~right, Everyone~, stop moving~ The bad children¡¯s meals, will be that thing, okay?¡±

    Nia¡¯s voice sent the Demons scrambling in panic.

    All the Demonic pleasure and smiling disappeared from their faces, and 749 Greater Demons tried their best to slaughter them all.

    This time around, the boxed lunch for Nia¡¯s cohort of Demons was 15 kilograms of dried seaweed and one octopus. The snack was one soul.

    The Demons spoke together.

    ¡°[To be frank we¡¯re getting tired of eating seaweed¡­ But unlike Tina-sama¡¯s cohort, we don¡¯t have any octopus. Compared to that, we¡¯re better off, but I prefer Fannie-sama after all. She will give us [Black Candy] if we do our best. She rarely takes anyone out with her, but if anyone is taken along they¡¯re the envy of everyone else. Besides¡­¡­ that thing is dangerous¡­¡­]¡±

    It seems that [the naughty children¡¯s meals] Nia spoke of was a terrifying existence.

    The moment their Master Yurushia had her face cramp up from the gem from that [Seal], the Lesser Demons whose egos were weak had multiplied and prospered, squealing with a ¡°[Kisha, Kisha~]¡± and had had their mouths ¡®willingly¡¯ stuffed with that dreamlike [Seaweed].

    Thanks to Noa using it properly, the Demons had stopped complaining about their meals.

    And thus in that way (?) the Daemon King¡¯s Army had their numbers quietly reduced in fear and deep darkness.

 Volume 4 - CH 16

    Previous | Project Page | Next

    Volume 4, Chapter 16: On the Battlefield, Part 2

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    Anteikowa¡¯s Holy Magic was applied on Alfio¡¯s [Holy Blade].

    ¡°Alright, Rock Cutter!¡±

    Using the [Sword Skills] that he had acquired from an old man living in Shiguresu¡¯s forest in exchange for 50 Chinese cabbages, Alfio slew the two horned giants.

    ¡°Al, here too!¡±

    ¡°Roger¡±

    The commanding officer of the Daemon King¡¯s army had crossed swords with Cheria, and was chasing her down with about 10 Daemon soldiers.

    ¡°Lightning Spear!¡±

    Ophelia¡¯s lightning struck at the bodies of the Daemon soldiers, sapping their muscles of strength,

    ¡°Fireball!¡±

    Meanwhile, Athena¡¯s fireballs burned up the Daemon soldiers who were immobilized.

    ¡°Yaa!¡±

    Cheria¡¯s saber pierced deeply into the heart as she took the life of the commander who was distracted by the spectacle.

    ¡°We did it, guys!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡±

    ¡°¡­mhmm¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Their reactions were lacking as a reward for Alfio, who was working hard with a refreshed expression. Recently, even when he called out to Athena, there were times where she wouldn¡¯t reply.

    Whether in battle or while adventuring, she had relied on Alfio previously.

    However, she would suddenly become cold when their bodies came into contact.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±{Was it something I said!?}

    It felt like his destiny had been twisted at some point.

    Did it turn strange somewhere¡­¡­?

    Anteikowa admittedly turned pale from shock when they were being pursued by the guards in Kolkopo.

    Cheria¡¯s attitude became strange when they were searching for items in the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    Athena and Cheria¡¯s eyes went wide when he told them that they were going to escape from the Daemon King¡¯s Castle and were going to withdraw from the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Wasn¡¯t it natural to punish those bastards who quarreled with you?

    Wasn¡¯t it natural to steal the things of one¡¯s enemies?

    Wasn¡¯t it the basics of an adventurer to escape from an enemy that one couldn¡¯t beat?

    Isn¡¯t that what all the protagonists in the stories do?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Originally, he should have only come after he had gotten stronger. He was supposed to have been able to train on the way towards the Daemon King¡¯s Territory. If he was strong, most of these things could have been forgiven.

    And he should never have fought against the main force of the Daemon King army without gaining strength like this.

    On their way back towards the human territory, Alfio got embroiled into the war.

    In order for him to regain his position among his comrades, Alfio had to intervene in this battle.

    ¡°Al!¡±

    When he heard Anteikowa¡¯s voice and turned back to look, he saw tens of giants that were larger than the one that he had defeated.

    ¡°¡­R-ru¡­¡±

    Let¡¯s escape. Alfio wanted to say it, but he couldn¡¯t speak the words through Athena¡¯s silent stare.

    Athena pressed Alfio to show off his power as a [Hero], so in a way, that meant that she still had expectations of him, but Alfio felt like he was already going to cry.

    About 10,000 of the Daemon King¡¯s Army was here.

    Because there were only about 1300 humans facing them, rather than simply roughly crushing them with numbers, they deployed an elite force, 1,000-strong, to devastate them.

    Alfio, whose aim was to build a harem for himself in peace, was not ready to die.

    Nevertheless, he had raised his sword stubbornly at this time, and the rightmost giant had suddenly been blown away.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    What appeared, was the figure of a [Warrior] clad in a navy blue surcoat on top of his silver armor.

    ¡°GaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    The giants became aware of the warrior, and turned their spears towards him.

    A giant that stood over 5 meters swung with his club, but the warrior deflected it with the shield in his left hand, and slashed at the knees of the giant with a golden Magic Sword in his right.

    The warrior who wasn¡¯t afraid of the giants approached, slashed, and with movements that were faithful to the basics like a knight, he swept past them with his shield and kept swinging.

    ¡°Fuhn!¡±

    With a single overhead swing with both of his arms, he sliced the last giant apart, club and all.

    ¡°¡­Roderick-sama¡­?¡±

    From someone leaked out that line¡­¡­ Behind Roderick¡¯s line of sight, the appearance of close to one hundred Daemons nearly caused the Shiguresu Hero Party to scream out loud.

    ¡°[¦Ì¦Ô¦Á]!¡±

    The genuine [Spirit Language] that was not simplified by the elves echoed across the battlefield.

    The golden sword raised by the youth let off a light, and he sent the majority of the Daemons flying with a single blow.

    ¡°Noel?¡±

    Roderick called out to the youth, and he returned a fearless smile with that lovely girl-like face.

    The soldiers that were holding themselves behind him all raised a cheer of [Hero!] in celebration.

    Noel and Roderick. The [Hero of the Saint Kingdom], and the [Crusader], had brought out 500 men to follow the girl who was their [Saint].

    They were made up of Holy Knights and Knights, along with strong mercenaries, but if they had actually encountered the Daemon King¡¯s Army, they would have been defeated by the difference in numbers.

    Reality, however had proven different.

    The legendary [Hero], the [Crusader], and the [Saint], who were blessed by the spirit of light, had arrived in the Daemon King¡¯s territory with only the three of them, and had enough power to take the head of the Daemon King.

    But the [Power of Light] that had been suppressed for some reason, bloomed rapidly now that it was temporarily away from the [Irregular], and they fought even with the 10,000 Daemon soldiers.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± {How¡­}

    Alfio was shocked by the difference in the [Class] of hero.

    Until now, he had been making efforts along the template, and while he had become strong enough to be called a Hero in Shiguresu¡­¡­

    {Am I¡­¡­ not the main character¡­¡­?}

    He looked at the [Hero] in the distance, who had a strong power, was praised by the knights, had royal friends, and with extraordinarily beautiful girls in his group.

    Alfio¡¯s companions, also looked at them with dazzling eyes¡­¡­ like the eyes that that they had previously made towards Alfio.

    ¡°Oy¡­¡±

    Alfio returned to reality with that call out.

    Roderick noticed Alfio, and saw him calmly walking towards him silently.

    ¡°¡­Hey, Your Highness, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re so close that we can address each other so intimately? For lending you our power, some gratitude is in order.¡±

    His pride refusing to admit defeat, Alfio replied to Roderick.

    But, Roderick merely glanced at him.

    ¡°¡­Ah, my thanks then.¡±

    He just walked past Alfio, and stood in front of Athena and Ophelia.

    ¡°You guys, how long are you going to continue living like that¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Roderick-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­¡±

    Although Ophelia could do it, Athena couldn¡¯t take the eyes of the boy who had been her fianc¨¦ since a young age and averted her eyes.

    As everyone was rendered mute by the delicate atmosphere, only one person called out, his voice full of anger.

    ¡°What are y-you doing with my companions!¡±

    At that, even Anteikowa and Cheria knit their eyebrows, and tried to grasp onto Alfio who tried to drive away Roderick with his arm.

    ¡°I was just speaking to my cousin¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about your relationship!¡±

    Although Roderick nearly sighed at Alfio while he kept his silence, he raised his head towards the sound that he heard from afar.

    ¡°Let¡¯s cut the talk. It seems that the Daemon King¡¯s army is getting impatient.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    When he heard that there were [Heroes] among their opponents, Beast King Gallus jumped into battle leading his Beast King Army.

    ¡°Gahahahahahaha! Where are you! Heroooooooooooooo!¡±

    If one was willing, it was quite easy to be patient with Gallus.

    Although he didn¡¯t feel like listening to Geas¡¯ orders in the beginning, he was wary of the terrifying [Unknown] that was striking at the Daemon King¡¯s Army and accepted the commands that Geas gave him.

    However, it was different if there was a [Hero].

    As a warrior and the Beast King of the Daemons, fighting the Hero was an honor, and it was his earnest wish to defeat him with nobody getting in the way.

    The number of humans were small. Due to Gallus moving in, dozens of mercenaries died, and from among them¡­ a lance made of [Light] scattered the Daemon King Army that was within the forest.

    ¡°[¦Ì¦Ô¦Á]!¡±

    A slash of light slaughtered hundreds of Daemons and a single boy stood there in front of Gallus.

    ¡°Ooooooooh¡­¡­ Hero!¡±

    Instead of answering him, Noel crossed his golden magic sword with Gallus¡¯ in an instant.

    *Gokinchi¡­! * The grey greatsword and the golden sword violently collided, and even shockwaves boomed out.

    ¡°Where is Lucy!¡±

    ¡°What in the world are you saying! Don¡¯t get distracted, Hero!¡±

    Gallus¡¯ face broke into a smile as the power of the Hero was greater than he had thought.

    However, it was unfortunate that the suppressed power was released because he was thinking of the girl and not because he saw Gallus as a [Worthy Enemy].

    ¡°¡­Then, you¡¯re just in the way¡±

    The performance level of the weapons they had was too different.

    Chipping with the first blow, at the second the blade cracked, and at the third it cut through the sword and carved through his body. In an unbelievable sight, Gallus collapsed in battle.

    Noel glanced at him emotionlessly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy¡±

    He sorrowfully muttered as he turned his sword towards the Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    The natural enemy of the Daemons. The butchers of the human race.

    For the sake of a young girl, a terrifying little Asura was unleashed on the battlefield.

 Volume 4 - CH 17

    Volume 4, Chapter 17: On the Battlefield, Part 3

    Geas was getting impatient.

    He had attacked the human kingdoms with all of the Daemon King¡¯s Army and collected a large amount of souls, but someone had disturbed the operation, and now the Daemon King¡¯s Army itself was in a semi-destroyed state.

    Before this, Geas had intended to release the Demon whom Daemon King Hebrad had summoned without establishing a contract, to let it kill both humans and Daemons.

    For that purpose, Geas had spent several decades planning and placing secret [Soul Collection] devices around the Daemon King¡¯s and the humans¡¯ territory, waiting for that exact time.

    Geas¡¯ plan required far too many [Souls].

    What was the purpose of that greater Vampire and those unknown enemies that disturbed him? What had caused his plans to collapse entirely before fruition?

    The human army that they encountered in their advance had high value [Souls], mostly from their knights and others, and group of ten thousand soldiers that he had sent to collect their souls efficiently were being destroyed for some reason.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit¡±

    muttered Geas under his breath as he looked towards the corner of his eye.

    There seemed to be counters that only he could see.

    The remaining number was [001].

    When Geas poured 100 of the [Souls] that he had accumulated into the counter, the three digit number changed to [002].

    A counter that would only increase by [1] despite pouring one hundred souls into it;

    Considering how many souls he had on hand, he couldn¡¯t spend them wantonly.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    Something was shining in the middle of the battlefield, and it gradually grew in intensity as he watched that [Something] slowly push through the center of the nearly 400,000-strong Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    That light¡­¡­ was a wave of holy power.

    ¡°¡­¡­A Hero¡­!¡±

    An apostle of light that lingered in the legends of the Daemons; the natural enemy of Daemonkind; it would be a disaster if that light was really a Hero.

    That [Demon] had said the value of a soul for the Demons was determined by ¡®how much emotion¡¯ there was in each one¡­

    Love, Hate, Sorrow, Anger, Fear, Desire, Regret, Jealousy, Happiness, Despair¡­¡­ although the souls¡¯ tastes were differently tasty to the Demonic palate, the [Sacred Light] of the Hero would surely cleanse it all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is this the limit?¡±

    Geas muttered bitterly as he steeled himself.

    ¡°¡­Geas-sama?¡±

    The confused voices of his disciples came as they approached Geas slowly with [Flight].

    ¡°¡­¡­Sorry. But to cut things short, leave this place quickly.¡±

    ¡°What happened!?¡±

    Geas did not reply to his panicking disciples, and as he began to chant [Magic], his disciples backed away, faces full of doubt over the sanity of their master.

    ¡°[Dragon Crusher]¡­!¡±

    With the second highest magic power after the Daemon King, Magic General Geas released the extermination magic with his full power.

    An enormous amount of heat and light bloomed as a dragon of light approached from behind the Daemon King¡¯s Army. The soldiers were left dumbstruck as they were enveloped by the light that was cast by their ally soundlessly.

    High-temperature winds savaged the survivors. After that, screams and shrieks of pain burst out, as nearly half of the Daemons were killed in that single stroke.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Geas gathered the tens of thousands of souls which were full of fear and grudges.

    However, it wasn¡¯t enough. Geas didn¡¯t have enough power for another [Dragon Crusher], and as he was trying to aim wide-area magics at the survivors, a pillar of light extended towards the sky.

    ¡°¡­¡­He managed to survive?¡±

    £ª

    ¡°Such a thing¡­¡­¡±

    As far as the eye could see there was just the earth that had been burned black and Daemons who were unmoving.

    ¡°¡­¡­upu¡±

    Forcibly enduring the urge to vomit, Noel shook his shoulders, breathing roughly as he sank to his knees.

    Noel would have followed those Daemons in their fate, had he not put up a [Composite Barrier] which combined spirit, water, and wind magic.

    Although he had charged in alone, he had managed to survive thanks to the fact he hadn¡¯t been in the epicenter of the blast.

    Noel¡¯s magic power had nearly been exhausted just blocking that single strike.

    But even so, when he glanced at the old Daemon mage who did it, the mage glared at Noel, and began to cast another magic.

    ¡°Noel!¡±

    A voice called him from behind.

    ¡°¡­¡­Your Highness, don¡¯t approach!¡±

    Roderick approached Noel with a dozen Holy Knights in tow.

    Turning back, Noel gulped instinctively. The Daemons who were unable to die were there, struggling in misery.

    The mercenaries, who were all worried for Noel and had desperately rushed forward, came into view, and Noel strained himself, readying his sword as Roderick arrived.

    ¡°Noel, what is this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The enemy mage¡­ all his allies¡­¡­ everyone quickly¡­¡±

    ¡°That mage¡­¡±

    Feeling the might of the magic power of the mage that had begun to chant, Roderick grit his teeth.

    Although there were many humans still alive, they could only be said to be barely alive and if they had to run they would all die.

    Noel didn¡¯t know if he could block it this time, and he didn¡¯t know if Roderick and the Holy Knights would be able to survive it.

    The mage had finished casting¡­¡­

    An enormous [Fire Giant] that resembled the Daemons appeared, and breathed out fire.

    ¡°¡­¡­A Fire¡­[Greater Spirit]¡­?¡±

    A summoning magic that called on a contracted, disaster-causing, [Greater Spirit], which summoned that power temporarily even without a formation.

    One of the Holy Knights whispered its name, and that fact caused everyone on the spot to prepare for [Death].

    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t it a little too early to die?¡±

    Golden feathers fell from the heavens.

    An elegant dress of black that was darker than the night and silver that shone like the moon.

    A pair of beautiful golden wings spread out as the golden angel fluttered and descended onto the cruel battlefield.

    £ª

    Spreading the angel wings from my [Shining Holy Wings] spell as I floated down, everyone raised their heads to watch me¡­ and that Fire [Uncle] was swallowing the fire it had spit out with a stiff face.

    Did all [Greater Spirits (Uncles)] react like that¡­

    ¡°Well, everyone. I see you¡¯re not dead yet.¡±

    As I descended, I lightly clapped my hands, and walked between those that were dead and dying.

    ¡°¡­[Let the light of healing shine down upon you]¡­¡±

    The [Devil magic], which combined both spirit magic and holy magic, was scatted with a flutter of my golden wings and healed [All] of the living things that were on the battlefield.

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    Everyone who woke up looked at me with stunned faces.

    Meanwhile, I smiled gently at the [Greater Spirit (Uncle)], who promptly returned without a sound to the spirit world.

    A~ah, maybe it won¡¯t come out again.

    ¡­¡­ Well, now,

    Who¡¯s the [Idiot-san] who laid a hand on my [Prey]¡­?

 Volume 4 - CH 18

    Volume 4, Chapter 18: The Demon Princess, Part 1

    I walked across the battlefield, leaving angel feathers in my wake.

    It seems that most of the humans survived, but only about half of the Daemons could be saved.

    Everyone was looking at me stupidly. It seems that even the Daemons could make dumbfounded faces, their spirits having gone beyond their limits.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Among them, Rick¡¯s face twisted into a look of anger and happiness. ¡­¡­ when you have such a face, you really resemble Grandfather-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy!¡±

    In that silence where even the sound of the breeze was audible, Noel spoke out.

    When he moved to rush towards me, several of the blank-faced Daemons reacted and drew their weapons.

    ¡­¡­¡­suu.

    At that time, something black dropped onto my shoulder directly from above.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    A silent pressure¡­¡­ Rinne¡¯s [Black Cat] mode froze the battlefield with a light release of his [Killing Intent] ¡­¡­ hey, what¡¯re you doing?

    If you got exposed as a [Demon], I would get suspected by association.

    Gradually, the humans and Daemons began to clamor, and unrest spread among them.

    [¡­I-is that a tiny Demon Beast-sama?] [By any chance, did that lass tame it?] [Saint-sama, amazing~!] [Wait, what? She made Demon Beast-sama her familiar¡­?] [Princess Yurushia, why do you have wings?!] [¡­¡­eh~¡­ that girl is such a monster¡­] [As ex~pect~ed, Princess-sama! (laugh)] [Yurushia-sama¡­¡­ please step on my face!] [A-angel-sama¡­?] [I don¡¯t think you can make a Demon Beast a familiar¡­] [¡­¡­Did she help us¡­?] [That girl, she¡¯s really scary for some reason¡­¡­] [Yuru-sama¡¯s wings (laugh)] [Such a beautiful face¡­¡­ dang] [Saint-sama, scary~]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Uhhhmmm¡­¡­ I feel like some terrible things were being said.

    For the time being, Bree-chan and Sara-chan, definitely need to be punished later.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who¡­¡­ are you!?¡±

    Is that magic? An old man that was floating in the sky yelled with a voice that could pop a vein.

    [¡­ {It¡¯s the Daemon Mage}]

    ¡°{Well, I wonder if this was caused by him.}¡±

    I was talking to Rinne in such a way that only we could hear each other.

    This place was strange. Even though so many people had died, their souls didn¡¯t appear.

    [Someone] had collected the [Souls] on this battlefield¡­¡­ My demons were horrible bastards.

    But the criminal wasn¡¯t any of the children.

    ¡°Was it you who did this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The old man refused to answer me even as he stared at me. I wonder just how much he was aware of it.

    ¡°The war is over. I have reached an understanding with Daemon King-san after some [Persuasion].¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Not only the old man, but the Daemons and the humans all raised their voices.

    Even if they didn¡¯t believe it normally, but with me, who had put my [Ridiculousness] out on full throttle, I think that it should be accepted¡­¡­ Even if I didn¡¯t intend for it.

    Now then, what will this person do?

    I used my wings to rise up to the same height as the old man, and I carefully directed and released my Demonic [Presence].

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    The old man¡¯s eyes went wide, and he began to sweat profusely even as his face was full of dread. Fear¡­ suffering¡­ despair¡­¡­ his [Soul] was just filled to the brim.

    Ah¡­¡­ oh my¡­¡­ It looked delicious.

    ¡°¡­¡­aA¡­aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!¡±

    When I smiled involuntarily, the old man went mad and cried out.

    ¡°Demon! Demon Highness! By the [Contract], open the gates of time and space!¡±

    ¡­huh? Did he contract with a Demon somewhere? So he was gathering the souls.

    [Yurushia, be careful¡­¡­ I sense the presence of a high-ranking Demon.]

    ¡°¡­¡­looks like it.¡±

    The color of the sky transformed unnaturally, and the humans and Daemons began to clamor.

    ¡°¡­Ah, that, you¡¯ll die if you don¡¯t leave.¡±

    I felt something strange in the ground, and when I called out to them, the Daemons and humans scattered like baby spiders from that place.

    ¡­¡­ by chance, did they think that I would kill them?

    [The bottom of the earth opened¡­]

    As Rinne¡¯s words flowed into my ear, a [Black Whirlpool] appeared on the ground as if it had been waiting, and began to swallow those who ran away.

    ¡°[Let there be light!]¡±

    Instantly, I spread out the holy magic [Sanctuary], and sealed the whirlpool that was still drawing things in.

    But, in that momentary gap that I showed, that old man had jumped into the whirlpool.

    ¡­¡­ He escaped.

    Ah, oh no, I wonder if I had messed this up one way or another? The [Sanctuary] stopped the suction, but the black whirlpool began to spread through little by little.

    Is this bad? I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be so terrible a thing as to swallow the world,

    [If you don¡¯t close it soon, all the living beings here will be wiped out.]

    ¡°Rinne¡­¡­ can you do something?¡±

    [I am specialized in [Breaking]. You are far better than I am at that, being a [Devil].]

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡­¡±

    I can use the power of a Devil, but truth be told I¡¯m not particularly skillful at fine control.

    I¡¯m daintily rough. ¡­¡­If anyone else said that, though, I would hit them.

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Uwaa¡±

    Looking back at the abrupt speech, the four attendants were standing there along with Noa.

    Everyone had a desperate look trying to deal with the situation, but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t tense. Good grief, whose fault was this.

    ¡°Then, what will you all do?¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us. Open¡­ [Lost Paradise]¡±

    ¡°¡­hah?¡±

    As the black space immediately expanded, and wrapped around the [Black whirlpool], the black space disappeared like it had been swallowed¡­¡­ what is that? It¡¯s the first time I saw it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a failure.¡±

    ¡°How fast!¡±

    If one looked closely, some of the wisps of the whirlpool were still there, and it sparked on contact with the [Sanctuary].

    Noa was working fast, but I don¡¯t know anything but the basics, so I gave up.

    ¡°Maintain the status quo¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­that would be good, maintain it for several hours.¡±

    Opening the golden magic-engraved pocket watch that I had given him, he spoke matter-of-factly.

    ¡°Is it hard to break it up from inside©`?¡±

    When Nia said so, Tina and Fannie smiled Demonic smiles. Well¡­ there¡¯s no choice but to do so in the end?

    The size of the whirlpool is about 2 meters. When we descended onto the ground, the two boys came rushing towards us.

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡±

    ¡°Oi, this is dangerous¡­¡±

    Noel and Rick tried to follow us, and the two of them were playing at something.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see¡±

    This is probably a pocket dimension made by an unknown Demon.

    People who had a holy [Air] or a strong aura of [Malice] couldn¡¯t enter it.

    ¡°Rick, Noel, [We] can¡¯t enter this. Don¡¯t worry. It will turn back to normal.¡±

    ¡°Such a thing¡­¡­ only Lucy¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to worry since it¡¯s you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­ Hey.

    ¡°Well, in that case, I¡¯m off¡±

    We went into the vortex with the cheeriest voice that I could muster, as we were sent off by the people who were looking on worriedly.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯m not letting such a delicious soul escape so easily.

    However, I didn¡¯t notice.

    There was someone with a strong will and deep [Malice] that was staring at our backs¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    [Here are the souls of the people who were here¡­ if it is not enough, I will gather as much as needed.]

    That was the price he¡­¡­ the price of the [Contract] between Geas and the Demon.

    Geas had named himself as such so that he would never forget his status and oath.

    Geas, who had obtained knowledge and secret arts from the Demons, had used magic against the adults as a baby child, and killed a person for the first time.

    Then Geas had lived through summoning Lesser Demons in order to promote himself.

    The number [999] had appeared in his peripheral vision after he had contracted with the Demon, but three years had passed before he even noticed it.

    The amount of souls that that Demon wanted in order to break through the walls between dimensions was huge.

    Still, knowing of the existence of high-quality souls, he steadily gathered them, and became able to collect them well.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is the number decreasing?¡±

    He noticed that the number that hadn¡¯t changed thus far was decreasing like a counter.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Please answer me, Lord Heraness.¡±

    The named Demon that called itself Heraness declared.

    [When that number reaches [0], your wife will cease to be your [Wife].]

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh¡­at?¡±

    Heraness showed images of the [Other World] inside Geas¡¯ brain.

    There, his wife, his childhood friend, was being handed a ring from an unknown man, and was laughing with an embarrassed face.

    His wife was a little older than when he knew her. It seemed that since then¡­ a few years had passed since he had disappeared.

    [The number decreases by one a day. This image is a picture of the [Future]. When that number disappears, your wife will give up, and become the property of another man.]

    Geas sank to his knees in disbelief.

    The counter numbered [627]¡­¡­ so if the words of the Demon were to be believed, in less than two years, that image would become [Reality].

    ¡°¡­¡­T-, two years¡­?¡±

    The amount of souls that he had collected in these three years, was only about 20% of the amount. Regardless of how efficiently he collected them, he would not be able to fulfil more than half in less than two years.

    To the terrified Geas, the Demon whispered.

    [Then, put in that [Number] of souls. In compensation for that number, the counter will increase.]

    Increase the number on the counter with souls, and delay the time.

    Since that day, Geas¡¯ hardships began, and a century had passed.

    £ª

    [What¡¯s wrong, Geas. You¡¯ve only gathered about 70% of the souls.]

    The Space-Time Gate¡­¡­ the so-called subspace. In its deep dark innards, the man sitting on the throne whispered.

    A slender, slim body. Bright red lips on a beautiful face of pure white. Combing his fingers through his long, rust-colored hair, his golden snake-like eyes reflected Geas¡¯ image with a tinge of amusement.

    ¡°Heraness¡­¡­ I¡¯ve reached the limit. I don¡¯t have any more time¡­¡±

    While shedding tears from his old, weathered body, Geas fell onto his knees.

    [If you use half the souls now, won¡¯t you be able to extend the deadline for another few years?]

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible now. My body doesn¡¯t have many years left in it¡­¡­¡±

    [Would you rather give up? Wow, the heart of a human sure is fickle. Even if she became the property of another man, and had a child and became happy, you only need to steal it. Isn¡¯t it easy¡­? Fufufu]

    ¡°¡­¡­Su-such a thing¡±

    Heraness knew that Geas was already at his limit.

    That was why he thought that it was time to destroy that heart and harvest that soul full of despair.

    [Well, to deprive, to kill, you¡¯ve done all these just to gather souls? You should be able to do it easily. ¡­Fufuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]

 Volume 4 - CH 19

    Volume 4, Chapter 19: The Demon Princess, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Al. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to come?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio couldn¡¯t reply to Anteikowa the Elf¡¯s, words.

    It was the first time he''d gone to war. The threatening power of the real Hero. A raging, large-scale magic. Even the Daemons were afraid of the genuine Saint, who had healed tens of thousands of the injured in a flash.

    The girl that he had thought was collaborating with the Daemons had brokered peace with the Daemons, and in addition, she rushed in to a horrible place where even he could not enter as a Hero.

    It was like a black vortex that continued into hell.

    Since he had memories of his previous life, he thought that it would be impossible to head into such a place, where common sense didn¡¯t exist.

    Anteikowa, who had been called a [Saint] as well, was having issues when compared with a true Saint, and Alfio who was also trying to show his power as a [Hero].

    But she didn¡¯t recognize that she wasn¡¯t the [Real Thing], or that the Hero that she had chosen was a [Fake].

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ In that case, I will be walking my own path from here on in.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­ Anko¡­?¡±

    Anteikowa pulled her hand out of Alfio¡¯s outstretched hand, and then began to collect her things.

    ¡°Well, err¡­¡­ Al, I will also be going back to my home.¡±

    ¡°Ch-Cheria¡­?¡±

    Looking somewhat sorry, the swordswoman Cheria began to pack her equipment beside Anteikowa.

    ¡°Al is a hero¡­ I would be happy if I could help. But, I am about to get married, and my parents are starting to getting annoyed¡±

    In other words, if he wasn¡¯t a hero, then they wouldn¡¯t want to spend time with him normally.

    ¡°Bye then, Al. It was fun up until now. I will go home escorted by Anko.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your help. Let¡¯s go, Cheria.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­O-oi¡­¡±

    Even as he spoke in an inaudible, husky voice that couldn¡¯t be heard, the two of them turned around, and broke away from Alfio.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio crumbled as if he had been knocked over, as his lovers experienced a change of heart even after they¡¯d travelled together for years.

    Alfio didn¡¯t know what had gone wrong. Was it because he didn¡¯t have the [Courage] to fight like a hero? It was really impossible to avoid that much danger.

    Someone gently approached Alfio who was stuck there without an answer.

    ¡°¡­¡­E-err¡­ Al-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Ophe~¡­?¡±

    Alfio faltered as he looked at the only girl that remained.

    When he thought about it, Alfio had no memory of interacting or conversing much with Ophelia.

    He saw her only as the [Younger sister of the beautiful noble sister siblings], and since she was 13 at the time, he was more fascinated with the beauty and nobility of Athena, but had invited her anyway, being unable to lay his hands on the two of them, since they were very young.

    A younger sister who couldn¡¯t do anything without her older sister; a girl that liked the things her sister liked, and turned herself away from the things her sister didn¡¯t.

    Only such a little girl¡­ called out to Alfio by herself.

    Athena had recently been cold towards Alfio. Be that as it was, Alfio didn¡¯t know why Ophelia was calling out to him.

    ¡°A-Al-sama, please cheer up¡­ those two¡­ they¡­ if you do your best, they will come back.¡±

    Speaking for herself for the first time, Ophelia¡¯s words raised Alfio''s spirits.

    ¡°Ophe~¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio felt like he had finally seen what the inside of this girl was like.

    Clumsy, weak, foolish, a simpleton, an idiot¡­ and yet really gentle.

    ¡°¡­¡­A, Al-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Opheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    As Alfio tried to hug Ophelia with a teary face that was overflowing with emotion, Ophelia screamed and fell backwards on her butt.

    ¡°I, I was a fooooooool¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine if only Ophe remained. Let¡¯s go home and start a farm. Let¡¯s work hard to do food processing. I won¡¯t let you be poor; I will never cheat on you, so please marry meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee¡±

    ¡°eh? ah, Yes¡­  EeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH??¡±

    Ophelia replied despite being in a huge fluster. She was surprised by Alfio and his actions, and held on to his crying face that was like a child¡¯s, quietly stroking it.

    Alfio had finally gained the [Courage] to live as a true person after experiencing two lives.

    Ophelia also finally remembered that he was to be 15 this year, the age of marriage.

    What would her sister say if she saw this situation?

    And if those two who went elsewhere were to know that the two of them were going to get married¡­¡­

    {¡­¡­¡­ah.}

    Ophelia, who was always following at the back in the Shiguresu Hero party remembered well the contents of the [Wanted Poster] she noticed as they left the last city.

    {Strangely, there were a lot of features of Alfio listed¡­ Since there¡¯re few Elves here, they would stand out, but will be okay to go to the town?}

    £ª£ª£ª

    "[FuhahahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]"

    ¡°Ahahahahahahaahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah¡±

    "[Haa!?]"

    Heraness jumped back with a startled face as he noticed a golden-haired girl that was laughing in the same way next to him.

    "[You!]"

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been rude. I am Yurushia. I¡¯m pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±

    With not even a shred of tension, plucking at the hem of her black and silver dress was a [Devil] that was gracefully greeting him, and Heraness¡¯ face warped.

    And at his other shoulder¡­

    "[Yurushia, that is one of the Demon World¡¯s Seven Pillars, the [Demon Lords]¡­ well, now it¡¯s 6 pillars. That¡¯s one of them.]"

    The violent [Demon Beast] that had killed and eaten one of the pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lords], was sitting there as a black cat.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s considerably strong, Rinne?¡±

    "[It¡¯s weaker than I am. Or rather, it¡¯s the weakest among the [Demon Lords]. It¡¯s just a little bit stronger than Yurushia.]"

    ¡°Fuuhn~¡±

    "[¡­¡­¡­¡­]"

    He was irritated by that attitude that lacked in nervousness, and it seemed both of them were Demons that were [Named] just like Heraness, the first in thousands of years, with uncertain abilities, and usually the [Demon Lords] paid attention to the new [Devils].

    Moreover, they were even able to [Manifest] here fully due to his negligence, something that even he couldn¡¯t do.

    "[Welcome, Yurushia, and Rinne. Welcome to my, Heraness¡¯, base¡­ or perhaps I should say it was good of you to have come. This is a pocket dimension that I made for the sake of connecting to the material world. If you were an ordinary Demon¡­¡­ no, because you are Demons, you shouldn''t have been able to make it here easily.]"

    Because of that he was careless.

    Heraness knew that there was an unknown [Demon] that was near Geas that could be called an [Irregularity], but he didn¡¯t think that it would get involved.

    An unknown [Demon]¡­¡­ How could such a ridiculous existence be born?

    ¡°Is that so? I was able to come normally¡­¡±

    "[It¡¯s only just because of [Yurushia]. If I wasn¡¯t on your shoulder, I wouldn¡¯t know if even I would be able to reach it properly. In fact, the four of them haven¡¯t arrived yet, right?]"

    ¡°Ah~¡­ that¡¯s true.¡±

    The three kinds of Demons that stood at the top of the Demon World, a [Demon Lord], a [Demon Beast], and a [Devil] were together in a narrow space that was not even a tenth of the world, that should never have happened.

    Moreover, this [Relaxed] atmosphere should be impossible.

    Even though there are three pillar Demons, even though the magic power and miasma swirled, and even as the space began to decay, it would not be strange to say that this would become a second Demon World where lesser Demons would spawn infinitely.

    ¡°By the way¡­¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s atmosphere changed, and there was a slimy, coal-tar-like presence.

    ¡°Hirai-san, won¡¯t you give me this?¡±

    "[Who, is that¡­]"

    Heraness was puzzled by the feeling of wanting to make multiple questions at the same time, but forcibly returned it to the main line of questioning forcibly.

    "[Is this¡­¡­? You knew that there was a [Contract] with me, cousins?]"

    There was Geas surrounded by the three Greater Demon Pillars, on the verge of death and madness. Heraness¡¯ appearance cheered upon seeing a decent reaction.

    The contracts of Demons were [Absolute]. If one broke it of their own will, it would cause [self-denial], and their very existence would be compromised.

    Trying to nullify it was to be declare complete hostilities to that Demon, and indeed, it was as if they were proclaiming their [Enmity] towards [Demon Lord] Heraness.

    And yet¡­¡­

    ¡°Did you say something? Monkey-san¡±

    A beautiful Demon girl that had a smile like a flower.

    With that one line, Heraness¡¯ face distorted into that of a Demonic monkey, and the [Demon Beast] that was on the shoulder of the [Devil] breathed a quiet sigh.

    In that instant, Heraness and Yurushia¡¯s hands stretched towards Geas at the same time, and as their hands clashed, discernible sparks scattered, and Heraness grasped Geas with one hand and fled to the rear.

    The right sleeve of the Yurushia¡¯s dress was broken, and Heraness bled black from where he had been struck across the left cheek, even as he laughed.

    "[¡­Fast. But, it¡¯s my win here.]"

    Even as he spoke Heraness flew backwards and disappeared into a big door that was formed from the shadows.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­He got away.¡±

    "[The opponent is a several-thousand-year-old [Demon Lord], after all. An [Arch demon] would have been annihilated with that amount.]"

    ¡°Am I not old enough?¡±

    While looking at my dress that was happily sucking up my magic power to regenerate itself, I appropriately responded to Rinne¡¯s sermon.

    But it was strong indeed. Before I fought against Rinne I would have been afraid.

    "[¡­Are you planning on pursuing?]"

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    "[Stop that. The space is especially strange on the other side. I thought of it looking at this subspace, that Heraness might be doing research to connect dimensions. It is said that it¡¯s not easy for a [Devil] to return after travelling through many dimensions.]"

    ¡°Un~¡­¡­¡±

    But, there weren¡¯t many souls like that of that grandpa¡¯s. It looked like karasumi and seemed delicious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­Master!¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    She heard voices of the followers who had finally caught up.

    If even those children took this much time, it must really be a scary space. Anyway, they were all assembled. Nn¡­? 5 people?

    ¡°There¡¯s one person extra¡­?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me. It was picked up along the way.¡±

    Tina dropped the person she was carrying in front of me appropriately. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s sloppy.

    ¡°Araara, well, well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect to see this person in such a place.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Athena-onee-sama. How are you?¡±

    I gave her a happy, sweet smile, while she stared at me with her teeth out.

    ¡°Ara, that¡¯s no good.¡±

    ¡°Annoying. You, after all, had connections to the Daemons! I know that that Demon Beast was also one of your [Familiars] originally!¡±

    ¡°Hohoo.¡±

    Those are some interesting things being said.

    Fannie burst out with a [Fuu] while looking at Rinne, but well, such things don¡¯t matter.

    ¡°To say these kinds of things expressly, in this dangerous place¡­¡­ is it love?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!¡±

    Crap, this is too fun. After all, it¡¯s great fun to [play around] with onee-sama.

    ¡°Fannie, take Onee-sama outside. I¡¯ll return after relaxing and enjoying myself.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°What are you saying!? I just told you not to joke around. I will reveal all of your evil deeds, to Father-sama,¡±

    ¡°What would Yurushia-sama like to do?¡±

    As if onee-sama wasn¡¯t even there, Noa was confirming the future schedule. From Noa¡¯s view, it seems onee-sama was as good as absent from the schedule. ¡­don¡¯t tremble, me.

    ¡°I-I well,¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, now that you mention it, this place does seem to be pretty badly distorted.¡±

    ¡°Wai-¡±

    ¡°Is it okay to withdraw? In the meantime, I¡¯ll send you all several thousands of subordinates for examination.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­ subordinates? thousands!? What is that!?¡±

    ¡°Listen.¡±

    You¡¯re being annoying, onee-sama.

    ¡°EEi!¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    With no sense of caution to a surprise attack at all, I dropped Rinne from my shoulder, and went through the big door that was open with onee-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuhn¡±

    She came along¡­¡­ Athena onee-sama.

    "[Yurushia!]"

    ¡°Master, are you alright?¡±

    I could hear everyone¡¯s voice from the other side of the door. I couldn¡¯t see the other side, but it looked like it wasn¡¯t completely disconnected.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t come over this way.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine it¡¯s fine¡±

    I tried to reach out to the door for now.

    ¡°Fu~n¡±

    ¡°How is it~?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be difficult to return through this door¡­¡­ I¡¯ll look for another¡­ Now, then¡±

    I turned my eyes towards onee-sama who was still staring at me.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the two of us¡­¡­ onee-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-, what?¡±

    As I gradually leaked out my [Presence], onee-sama¡¯s complexion began to turn white.

    ¡°Fufuu. You said something interesting earlier? ¡­about Father-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s unrelated.¡±

    This reaction¡­¡­perhaps.

    ¡°Unless, when I was born, I had monopolized all of Father-sama¡¯s affection¡­¡­ is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re honestly being very disobedient.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    To let things get into such a state¡­¡­ she¡¯s guilty of letting things go too far.

    ¡°How old were you when you became twisted?¡±

    ¡°Shut up shut up! I know that you¡¯re a bad person who¡¯s collaborated with the Daemons! Because my blood was pure, you specially caused my engagement annulment, and why with Roderick-sama,¡±

    ¡°Hohoo.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that onee-sama was also aware of the fact. It would be bad if the blood became too thick¡­¡­

    ¡°Really¡­ you¡¯re so twisted.¡±

    ¡°SHUUT UUP!¡±

    Athena-onee-sama, how cute¡­¡­

    However. Although it was nice to have a Tsundere, it¡¯s a huge amount of trouble for everyone else, you know?

    Besides that¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena onee-sama seems to have misunderstood¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiie¡±

    When I released the presence of a Demon, the whites of my eyes were corroded with [Black], and my pupils were stained a bloodlike crimson.

    ¡°¡­ah, ¡­Aa¡±

    At my onee-sama who was speechless, I smiled quietly at her, showing her my red crystalline fangs.

    ¡°As you can see, I am¡­ a [Demon] after all.¡±

    I thrust myself at my sister¡¯s throat, while she was frozen with fear.

    ¡°Aaaa, ¡­a, Ah.¡±

    Sweet¡­ Sweet! What a sweet soul! It was even better than that beauty¡¯s¡­ better than most.

    I wanted to slurp it all up at once. ¡­But, aaaah, it was wasteful.

    But¡­

    ¡°Puhaaa¡±

    A small amount of blood. While halfway through taking the soul, I took my mouth off of my sister¡¯s throat.

    As expected, it was best to slurp it up while it was alive.

    Sitting down my mute, hollow-eyed sister, I spoke to her kindly.

    ¡°Athena onee-sama. With half of your soul, I took most of your memory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe it will be difficult before you can live a decent life from now on, but please do your best to live. I suppose that if your soul is able to revive, I will get the other half as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If I left about half her soul, she shouldn¡¯t become a vampire. It¡¯s an experiment, and if it succeeds, I can increase the number of people.

    ¡°Tina, Fannie, can you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send onee-sama over there after this. I think I might be able to send her since her soul is diminished, but please deliver her to Father-sama. She¡¯s lost her memory.¡±

    Well, then, now that I¡¯ve tasted the soul of onee-sama. I¡¯d really like to harvest another, you know?

    Author''s Notes:

    She has a Demonic expression. It¡¯s the sisters¡¯ turn.

    I cut it here because it was too long.

    The Hero¡¯s [Fourth Heroine¡¯s End], the older sister¡¯s [half bad end].

    Two chapters remain. They¡¯re scheduled for Friday night and Saturday.

    Thank you for keeping with me.

    App''s Notes:

    Fake Hero gets his happy ending! I wasn''t on board until this chapter, but I kinda dig the out of nowhere pairing.

    Big fan of the loose thread cutting this chapter.

    Piroton''s Notes:

    My god, I accidentally did Chapter 20 before I realized something was missing. Also, this is one heck of a massive chapter. Consider it a nice change of pace, I guess. It''s nice to read a whole big chunk of Yuru, no?

    Also, I''m drowwwwning in workkkkkk. Don''t worry, though. I like Yuru too much to give her up. And no, unlike the author, I can''t release double chapters, that''d kill me.

 Volume 4 - CH 20

    Volume 4, Chapter 20: The Demon Princess, Part 3

    ¡°[Well, Geas¡­¡­ You can stop holding it in. It¡¯s okay to speak your desires. With this special soul, I will send you to the time when that girl was happy.]¡±

    Deep within the plane¡­ In the [Laboratory] that created [Doors] to various dimensions, the Demon Heraness whispered into the ears of Geas.

    A strong soul that could cross over to another world wasn¡¯t too rarely seen, but after maturing the soul for over a hundred years, it was about time to harvest it.

    Deliberately, the last stroke¡­¡­ The Demon broke Geas¡¯ heart to injure his soul.

    ¡°[Take the girl. It¡¯s easy with your power. Even if she has become the thing of another man, even if they have already made a child, you should just kill it and take it all.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Such a thing¡­ she¡±

    ¡°[Isn¡¯t it fine¡­? Aren¡¯t you the only one able to bring happiness to her? Is it okay for her to be happy with someone other than you? Is it acceptable that you have been deprived of your rightful place?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Aaah¡­¡±

    The Cruel [Demon¡¯s whisper] tore at his heart, and Geas covered his face with his hands as he shed tears.

    At this sight, an expression of joy floated on the Demon¡¯s face,

    ¡°[Why are you troubled? You should just do whatever you like. Take back what was taken from you]¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do¡­ such a thing¡±

    ¡°[Then, let me show you their current situation. This is reality.]¡±

    In the darkness of the plane, the scenery of another world was shown to Geas.

    ¡°[Look¡­Right now, that unknown man is taking out the ring. Look closely at the face of the woman that was your wife.]¡±

    ¡°Have all her feelings for me already been lost?¡±

    ¡°[You are already past tense to her now. Are you alright with that¡­? Did you really believe that she would keep waiting for you?]¡±

    ¡°A woman¡¯s heart is as fickle as an autumn sky¡­ didn¡¯t you know that?¡±

    ¡°[Yes, yes¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­Whaat!?]¡±

    In that moment, he realized that there was a golden-haired girl that was torturing Geas together with him, Heraness flew off in a hurry and took his distance.

    ¡°[Y-you, how did you get here!?]¡±

    ¡°Ara, I¡¯m here to obstruct you, Hera¡­ he¡­ Hyacinth-san¡±

    ¡°[Who the heck is that!]¡±

    Heraness¡¯ angry roar shook the entire plane, and Yurushia who was bad at remembering names of people made a slightly embarrassed expression as the ends of her eyebrows drooped, and she hid her mouth with a black fan.

    ¡°A monkey did it. By the way, your breath smells¡­¡­ I can smell it even from here. Do you have an upset stomach?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­You bitch]¡±

    If his stomach was really upset, Heraness really wanted to say that it was her fault, but somehow, he got the feeling that that would be falling into the pace of this strange Demon.

    His intuition was proven right as a strange atmosphere was born the moment that he noticed her [Presence] that made him dizzy.

    First of all: how did she even get here?

    Other than Heraness, only people who had [Committed a Sin] or were those who [Had Malicious Intent] could pass through that gate, and if other Demons and spirits tried to pass through, they would take considerable amounts of time and magic power.

    Even if it was a limit-exceeding [Devil], it was no exception.

    Then¡­¡­ who was this [Demon] that was in front of him¡­¡­?

    ¡°[¡­¡­Coming to a place like this alone¡­ Young [Devil], aren¡¯t you too overconfident in your own power?]¡±

    He would search for it later.

    Just now Heraness had retreated due to the presence of Rinne, the [Demon Beast].

    It was rare for conflicts to happen between the high-ranking Demons in the Demon World, and even if they destroyed their opponent, since others would know that their powers were weak afterwards, they would come to destroy them.

    The only exception that Heraness had never ever thought of fighting was the [Dark Beast] that struck out with his fangs without fear of death.

    But that [Demon Beast], would take several months to reach this place.

    ¡°What can I do with me alone¡­?¡±

    ¡°[That¡¯s what I said, Yurushia.]¡±

    Gradually¡­ as the two peak Demons began to leak out their [Presence], Geas¡¯ body began to spasm as his soul withered.

    ¡°Oops¡­ Please wait. If you do, I¡¯ll show you something good.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­Are you hesitant now?]¡±

    ¡°Well, well, if you want to [Finish] that human soul, there are also a few methods.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    The Demon watched and waited as Yurushia talked to Geas with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Geas-san? I¡¯ve been doing my best for a long time. ¡­¡­It¡¯s been more than 50 years.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    50 years. Feeling something strange about those words, Geas raised his head.

    Geas had been collecting souls for over 100 years. What in the world was this little girl saying?

    ¡°That spectacle¡­¡­ I know of it a little. However, I¡¯d have thought it a dream¡­¡­ That scene is at least 40 to 50 years in the past, from what I know.¡±

    ¡°eh¡­ wh-¡­¡­what?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s strange. You didn¡¯t think much about what you were [Seeing]. Perhaps, you were misled about the flow of time?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-¡±

    The sight that Geas had been shown at the age of 3 had been [Current] events then.

    Heraness had lied to Geas with words of the [Future], and adjusted Geas¡¯ perception of time so that she would be at the cusp of happiness with another man when Geas reached his limit.

    ¡°To think that thanks to your perseverance, it would take 50 years.¡±

    When Yurushia glanced his way, Heraness¡¯ face abruptly grimaced.

    Heraness¡¯ original plan had been around 30 years. He had probably meant to break Geas¡¯ heart by showing him his [Wife] surrounded by her husband and a child when he was an [Old Man] at the age of 60.

    But Geas had held out for 50 years¡­¡­ and had held out for 100 years.

    ¡°Even for Demons, to foresee the future and to control time is impossible, you know? The first thing you were shown was real¡­ How many years have passed since then?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­a¡­AAA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!¡±

    Geas crumbled down crying when he heard the [Truth]¡­¡­ and the reality of the situation.

    He didn¡¯t know whether he would live more than 50 years from the time when he was 22.

    The soul of Geas was dyed in despair¡­¡­

    To break the hearts of those who had been deceived, there was nothing better to say than the [Truth].

    And¡­ to Geas who was in this state, Yurushia handed him a small box with a smile.

    ¡°Geas-san, please make your wish. Make a [Contract] with me.¡±

    ¡°[You bitch! What are you saying?!]¡±

    Heraness pressed angrily to Yurushia, who was trying to snatch his prey from the side. ¡­ But

    ¡°[Wh-this is¡­, why!?]¡±

    At the instant he approached the two, Heraness noticed that time seemed to slip, and that he was seeing double.

    ¡°[YurushiaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!]¡±

    A [Devil] who understood the hearts of men, and collected souls with sweet words.

    There was a remarkable difference between souls that were collected by killing and those obtained by a [Contract].

    For that reason, Yurushia had set a trap.

    By including the [Spirit Language] in the conversation,

    ¡°[The flow of time was tampered with.]¡±

    ¡°[That Demon cannot foresee the future nor can he control the time of the world.]¡±

    And, with those words, she had delayed the [Observed] time of Heraness by several dozen seconds with that [Demonic Magic].

    And in the meantime, she brought everything to an end.

    ¡°¡­¡­Please¡­ kill me.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you for your contract©`¡±

    *bon¡­.*

    ¡°[AAAAAAAAAAAAAA]¡±

    In front of Heraness¡¯ eyes, Yurushia shattered Geas¡¯ body in an instant, and made it disappear.

    ¡°fufu¡­¡±

    In Yurushia¡¯s hands was Geas¡¯ soul, which had been stained black with deep despair.

    In Heraness¡¯ eyes, he could clearly see that all the sins, all the despair within that soul had been chained by the [Contract], and bound to Yurushia.

    ¡°[¡­¡­You did it. Yurushia¡­]¡±

    ¡°The moment when you were unable to fulfil Geas¡¯ wish, the contract between you two was gone. Well¡­ even I didn¡¯t think that I would be able to do this much. I was quite desperate.¡±

    Yurushia gently took a breath and gestured as if she was wiping away her sweat as she did the unreasonable.

    In the first place, why was she, a newly born [Devil], able to so naturally swindle a [Demon Lord]?

    While saying that Demons couldn¡¯t manipulate the time of the world, how was she an existence that could cheat time locally?

    ¡°Ever since I was called a Devil, I¡¯ve been getting strange knowledge about how to use my power¡­¡­ Is this normal?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    It was certainly true that as a Demon¡¯s [Class] went up, they would acquire new [powers].

    But the [Devil] in front of him was just too irregular.

    In any case.

    ¡°[¡­¡­To obtain that soul, I must destroy you]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    Yurushia spoke lightly as she threw out the soul of Geas that she had worked hard for all too easily.

    ¡°[Wha¡­ Oi!]¡±

    Geas¡¯ soul fell through the door of [Space-time] that was being used in an experiment, and disappeared to a place where the Demons couldn¡¯t reach.

    ¡°[Why would you do that?!]¡±

    Even as Heraness¡¯ anger filled the plane, Yurushia¡¯s relaxed smile didn¡¯t change.

    Heraness didn¡¯t understand what this [Devil] was trying to do.

    This [Devil] was just too [Different]¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°[Has there ever been a [Devil] like you¡­¡­ However, you¡¯re not a [Demon Beast]. You can¡¯t even be a [Demon Lord]. Just [What] are you¡­!?]¡±

    As the [Hostility] and [Bloodthirst] overflowed from the two high-ranking demon pillars, the plane cracked, and the dimension screamed.

    Yurushia tilted her head slightly, as she smiled lightly at Heraness, and her cherry-colored lips spilled the words into the darkness.

    ¡°¡­[Demon Princess]¡­¡±

    That sweet smile, turned into the gruesome [Demon]¡®s smile.

    The two high-ranking pillars then began to fight wordlessly, their impacts shocking and destroying the plane, for several months without end.

 Volume 4 - CH 21

    Volume 4, Chapter 21: And so, a Legend was born¡­

    A man was born in a small town in Japan.

    When he was born, he wondered why he felt like some kind of [Compulsory Gift], and he marveled at the foreign [Brands] that he didn¡¯t know, but other than that, he grew up ordinary and normal.

    From a young age, he was a child that was more sensitive towards familial love over others.

    Ever since he was a child, he had been searching for [Someone].

    He wished to return somewhere¡­ Without any knowledge of [Where] that place was, he graduated from college, and when he¡¯d gotten a job and started to live alone, he met [Her].

    She was a lady who seemed to have lost her husband right before she was about to be married.

    She lived in the apartment where she was to live with her [Husband] without returning to her parents, and lived while thinking of her husband that had suddenly gone missing.

    The man fell in love with her. Although the woman wasn¡¯t extraordinarily beautiful, her tears stopped the moment he saw her, and before he had noticed, he was calling out to her.

    Naturally, he had been rejected by her at first.

    However, the man was still not willing to give up. This was the one that he¡¯d been looking for ever since he¡¯d been born, and he thought that he¡¯d finally found it.

    Three years passed, and he gradually healed her sorrow, and she seemed to miss the [Presence] of a man, and so the ice in her heart gradually melted.

    Ever since he was young, he was being driven by this [Black Chain] on his mind.

    In his pocket was an engagement ring that he¡¯d poured three months¡¯ salary into.

    As he grasped it and gathered himself, he could hear a cat¡¯s [Nyaa] as if it was encouraging him.

    £ª£ª£ª

    A few months later, the [Black Vortex] disappeared after the girl called the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom] had gone in.

    Nobody knew what had happened, and the girl never returned from that place.

    The people prayed to the gods that the girl would return, even though rumors went that the [Saint] had sealed the evil at the expense of her own body.

    There couldn¡¯t be a settlement between the Daemons and humans.

    The survivors of the Daemon King¡¯s army had been touched by the mercy of the [Saint], and went back to the Daemon King¡¯s territory without fighting any further, and after that, under the name of the Daemon King Hebrad, a non-aggression pact was made with the human nations.

    The human nations were scared of the Forest of Monsters, and had never thought of robbing the Daemon Kingdom of its wastelands by force, and accepted the non-aggression pact, and the way to the Daemon Kingdom was sealed.

    Later, according to the tales that travelled out, the Daemon King had apparently become devoted to the creation of strange seaweed dishes, and married a beautiful Dwarf princess.

    ¡°¡­¡­Uho¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That girl will come again.¡±

    ¡°Uho~¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s good. When that girl comes, let me know.¡±

    The humans were saddened by the fact that the Saint didn¡¯t return, but those who knew the girl didn¡¯t despair or become lost hope.

    After the girl had rushed into the black vortex, her attendants had returned once, and brought back a single message along with a girl who¡¯d lost her memory.

    [I went somewhere that¡¯s a little troublesome, so I¡¯ll be coming back home in about 1~2 years. Father, Mother, I¡¯m sorry to make you worry, but I¡¯ll leave Sister-sama in your care.]

    With that polite sentence that was unmistakably like her, all of the people present had delicate expressions on their faces.

    But it was thanks to her [Virtue] that the heavy atmosphere lightened with that.

    The companions of the girl with amnesia that¡¯d been rescued were already gone, and the elf and the female swordsman seemed to have been arrested by the guards in the city of Kolkopo, so she was sent home to Tariterudo where she¡¯d been born.

    And, the girl with amnesia¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena-chan, call me mother.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ye¡­s¡­¡±

    Athena lived in a separate residence from Duke Verusenia¡¯s official one, under the protection of Duke Folt and Duchess Riastea.

    A girl who¡¯d lost most of her emotions along with her memory.

    A girl who could do the bare minimum, and had become like a child.

    Riastea felt pity for her, and took care of her as if she was her own, but the situation barely improved after six months.

    It wasn¡¯t uncommon for her to become dazed throughout the day, and the maids who had been harmed by her had initially hated her, but now, they took the initiative to talk to her.

    Athena also began to learn to talk little by little, but her emotions barely returned.

    Only one¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena-sama, there¡¯s a visitor for you¡±

    The boy called the [Holy Warrior] of the Holy Kingdom came to see her at times.

    The boy regretted being unable to convince Athena who was both his relative and a childhood friend, and came around to see her once every few days.

    A girl who fell in love with the same prince as her mother and couldn¡¯t be honest about her feelings, would only occasionally smile then.

    The friends of the girl felt lonely rather than sad.

    They believed that she was safe, but lived in loneliness and resentment for not being able to meet her.

    ¡°I wonder when Yu-Yuru will come back¡±

    ¡°Why, are you worried?¡±

    Timothy, who was in the [Kyle Imperial Palace Garden], replied relaxedly while holding the indignant Beatrice by the shoulder.

    What was the reason for this? At first Betty didn¡¯t really understand, and it seems that he liked her during the time when they were a couple in school, and she was the [Prime Candidate for the Fianc¨¦ of the First Prince]¡­¡­ that is, Timothy¡¯s wife.

    While it remained to be seen was whether this [disappointingly neat and trim black haired maiden] would be the future Queen, but unexpectedly it seemed that she got along very well with the light and fluffy Timothy. ¡­¡­ She was still anxious.

    The Hero of the Holy Kingdom gained the title of [Count] at the tender age of 13 as a result of successfully repelling the Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    Although various calculations and intentions were hidden behind this, Noel, who had never attended magic school despite having an aptitude for magic, was sent to the magic school in the capital for the sake of improving his connections and refinement as a noble against his will.

    For him, though, there was unexpectedly an [Enemy] waiting for him there.

    ¡°Noel-sama, where are you going! Are you going to search for Yuru-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Shelly-san, please don¡¯t follow me.¡±

    Noel had gone out of the school many times during the break in search of the girl who was the Saint.

    But, no matter how much of a [Hero] he was, he couldn¡¯t go looking on the other side of the dimension, and as a consequence he was frustrated with the distance of the school.

    Originally, he had been surrounded by the female students, but now there were no girls who chose to speak to him, instead surrounding him at a distance.

    However, Shelly, who had heard that Noel was going to search for the girl, had followed him about every time, and kept saying that she had come to follow Noel exploring.

    ¡°I am not going anywhere today. And aren¡¯t the places I go to dangerous? A girl like Shelly-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! I¡¯ve learned to use weapons from Yuru-sama¡¯s guardian knights, so, take a look. ¡­Eii¡±

    Shelly picked up a tree branch and swung it at a speed that wouldn¡¯t even have killed an insect.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Haa~¡±

    If he took her along, he would surely have to protect both himself and her, Noel sighed.

    He knew of Shelly¡¯s thoughts and her efforts too. Every time he noticed it, he realized that he couldn¡¯t refuse her, and he sighed heavily.

    Everyone who knew of that [Saint] girl¡­¡­ He believed that Yurushia would be safe, but he was anxious to have her come back soon.

    That girl wished for the happiness of people, and used her mercy to stop the war with the Daemons, and the depth of her love caused even the evil monsters to repent.

    People praised her as the [Legendary Saint], and started to tell tales of her to their children as bedtime stories.

    What was Yurushia doing now¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    While absorbing the resentment left behind when a high-ranking Demon disappeared that tasted like [butter pancakes covered in vanilla ice-cream and honey], I took a rest at last.

    ¡°¡­¡­Aah~ that was tough.¡±

    Just how many days did it take¡­?

    After that last [Meal], I was now completely out of magic power. Although a demon doesn¡¯t need to eat or sleep, since it¡¯s an [Indulgence], I got annoyed if I couldn¡¯t have it.

    Ah, uhm, err¡­¡­ he was stronger than I was.

    When his emotions swayed, his more demonic character came through, and although I had to fight unexpectedly, I thought that I had a good chance to win.

    Well, victory ended up being through a difference in stamina.

    ¡°Fuu~¡­¡±

    I sat on the shattered fragments of the floor that remained, and ate the octopus that was seasoned with souls. Thanks to this, I was able to replenish my magic power in the end.

    Nonono, it would be nice if I didn¡¯t have any [equipment that was cursed with marine products (dresses)].

    I felt an octopus¡¯ tentacles while I was fighting, but I was being looked at with horrified eyes¡­¡­

    Strong monkey-san, I¡¯ll never forget your name. ¡­¡­Rinne.

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s the matter¡±

    I wanted to sigh at this plane that spread out as far as I could see.

    At first, there was still a passage and a room, but now there¡¯s almost no floor nor ceiling¡­¡­in short, the way from which I came has completely collapsed.

    Yes, I know I was using my magic absurdly as I rampaged, but for the dimensions to be broken and distorted like this¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    For now, I will wait patiently.

    My magic power has hardly fully returned, and I¡¯ve been waiting for something too.

    I¡¯d made a [Landmark] for myself to return from this broken plane, and it¡¯s my aim.

    Beyond that, my soul is connected to [Rinne]. I think I¡¯ll be able to return someday if I followed it¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ swoosh

    ¡°[I finally caught up with you, Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rinne, in his black cat mode, suddenly descended onto my shoulder, but why do you have that [I¡¯ve come now so it¡¯s alright] expression on your face, you muscle-brain.

    Well, I guess I¡¯ll just mofumofu as much as I can.

    I¡¯m in the mood now.

    ¡°[¡­¡­I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d lose, but I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d win.]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    ¡°Yeah, but there were various factors. For one, there was someone who taught me to fight during the battle.¡±

    ¡°[In a place like this? ¡­¡­who was that?]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    ¡°¡­¡­Someone who called himself [Onii-chan]¡­¡±

    ¡°[What¡¯s with that¡­¡­?]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    Ever since I became a Devil, a number of things that I previously didn¡¯t know have appeared.

    How to distinguish souls. How to use the spirit language. And the Devil magic combined with the Holy magic¡­¡­

    He taught me all of those. Or rather, I don¡¯t know anyone who could do such a thing other than that person.

    That youth that had proclaimed that he and I were [Siblings] in an unknown dream.

    A true [Devil] that had travelled the dimensions for thousands of years¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to figure out how to go back¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[I¡¯ll say this first, it¡¯s impossible to rely on the four of them. You see, they too have been chasing the presence of Yurushia.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Those children¡­ Well, it¡¯s okay. I still have my last resort.¡±

    I¡¯ll keep waiting.

    In this laboratory connected to various dimensions. This broken plane, linked to [That Place].

    ¡°¡­¡­come¡±

    A click¡­ and it was finally connected with that small sound.

    I thought that it was a [Dream] all this time. But now I realized that it was a [Reality].

    ¡°[¡­¡­This is]¡±

    A crack ran through the space, and beyond it, high-rise buildings¡­ trains¡­ a myriad of automobiles¡­ an endless cityscape¡­¡­ it was the [World of Light] that I¡¯d seen in my [Dream].

    This was why I released the [Soul] that wanted to return to that place. To discover that [World].

    There were many people. A countless number of them¡­¡­

    There were so many wonderful [Souls] that were so tainted with rot that was more than I could eat.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Rinne. I¡¯ll replenish my souls over there and then return home to where Father and Mother and everyone else is.¡±

    A nostalgic world that was full of light. But it¡¯s not my hometown any longer. I¡¯ll just stop by a bit to get what I need to return.

    But what floated up onto my face, was an unbearably delighted smile¡­¡­

    ¡°Fufufu, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you in person for the first time, nostalgic-world-san Now, please excuse this [Demon] coming in.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you for reading. The first part of the [Demon Princess] ends like this.

    Thank you so much to everyone who¡¯s read and supported this.

    I was a bit lost on whether I should have extended it, but I just let it proceed according to the plot.

    It¡¯s quite a strange short tale.

    The second part, [Demon Princess II ~The fluffy Devil¡¯s travels~ [Remake]]

    will be starting soon

    I await both your comments and criticisms.

 Volume 5 - CH 1

    Volume 5, Chapter 1: I became Yuzu, Part 1

    ¡°Your memory must be muddled¡­¡­? Yuzu, do you not remember us?¡±

    ¡°Kotone, you¡¯re being too loud. You¡¯re going to upset the poor girl.¡±

    ¡°Well, Yuzu remembers some things, but it seems like she¡¯s forgotten things too. When she reads picture books or watches movies that we watched together, she might have all of these memories mixed up because of the heat, and can¡¯t distinguish reality from fiction.¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡­ is it not curable?¡±

    ¡°The doctor said that it should settle over time¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yuzu¡¯s body is rather delicate, so don¡¯t try to forcibly remind her. You might make her even more damaged and cause her to run a fever again.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand, Father.¡±

    ¡­¡­ I heard that conversation coming from the living room.

    Father, Mother, and my elder brother and sister were talking.

    ¡­ If you don¡¯t want me to hear, you guys should really lower your voices¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuu¡­¡±

    I was thinking of heading from the top of the stairs to the bottom, the living room, but when I heard my family¡¯s voices, I sighed and turned back towards my room where I had been sleeping up until a while ago.

    The room was far away and quiet. Although it was only two stories, I think that it is quite a big house, having six rooms on the second floor¡­ what is this house?

    Still, I felt like it was far away as I was tiny.

    I was a little girl whose height only reached the doorknob, a 5-year-old girl¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuzu,¡± apparently.

    Was my memory cloudy¡­¡­? I certainly didn¡¯t know what my name was until it was said, but it felt like the mixed memories were really real as well¡­ did I ever see a movie like that?

    Still, I certainly remembered more things whenever I looked at the inside of the house or met with the family. But, not all of it. There were a lot of things that I didn¡¯t remember despite being shown a picture.

    I wonder if I could live a decent life like this.

    Yesterday, after I cried in that room, I didn¡¯t remember that that girl was my ¡°Onee-chan¡± and I was attended to by my Father and Mother who had come back from their work in a panic, before being taken to the university hospital.

    So when the doctor said that my memory was going to be this way, I was like ¡®mmhmm I see¡¯ but my parents were rather dismayed.

    Well, I¡¯m still about 5 years old, so if I live normally in the future, all the memories that I¡¯ve jumbled up will become filled with new memories¡­¡­ if I am an ordinary 5 year old.

    Even though I said this myself, but I don¡¯t think that this was naive because of the strange memories.

    In the fragmented, cloudy, memories, a black-haired me was wearing a uniform and attending junior high, and then I was golden-haired and in a European-style castle.

    Because of that I could act like an adult and keep myself quiet, and while wondering if something was wrong, I was forced to go straight to bed.

    Because of that, I am very busy now. But until I settled down for them, both the picture books and the TV of the room were sealed from me.

    And so, since I couldn¡¯t sleep since I was feverish, I went downstairs and heard my family talking about that.

    Well, it¡¯s nice to return to my room, but there¡¯s really nothing to do. I¡¯m not allowed to sleep on the adults¡¯ bed.

    For the time being, I decided to take a look at myself in the full-length mirror that was in my room. I don¡¯t remember my face that well, either.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, so that¡¯s my face.¡±

    When I looked at myself in the mirror, there was a black-haired girl in a thin pink negligee.

    I don¡¯t remember, but I thought to myself that I looked pretty¡­ If one looked at themselves in the mirror and felt uncomfortable, they¡¯d only feel anxiety about life in the future, after all.

    I wasn¡¯t very worried, because my onee-chan was cute too, but my face was actually quite good for a young child¡­ it¡¯s just a bit¡­ unnatural.

    And there¡¯s that too¡­ As a rich person, it seems that being a beautiful wife and mother and a groom have been arranged for.

    But my eyes are droopy¡­ Onee-chan resembled mother and looked ordinary, but I looked like a dead grandma with slightly droopy eyes.

    When I looked at myself I looked sleepy. Indeed, if anyone saw me, they¡¯d definitely say I should go to bed as soon as possible.

    Well, it¡¯s alright. Because my hair was shiny black and glossy, I looked like an adorable little lady.

    ¡°Ah ah ah, Yuzu, it¡¯s no good if you don¡¯t go to bed.¡±

    While I was thinking about that, my onee-chan came into my room saw me in front of the mirror and called out loudly to me.

    ¡°Kotone¡­¡­ Onee-chan?¡±

    As I spoke out her name with almost no confidence, Kotone-onee-chan looked lonely for a moment¡­ but then immediately smiled and lifted me up. It was unexpectedly powerful.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Kotone-onee-chan~. Let¡¯s go to bed, Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But, I¡¯m not sleepy.¡±

    ¡°Oh well¡­¡­ but only one picture book, okay.¡±

    Togaki Kotone. My older sister. A third year student attending junior high. 14 years old. She¡¯s got quite the age gap with me.

    As you can plainly tell, onee-chan is very kind to me. It seems that it was caused by her lonely childhood, because both father and mother have been busy with their jobs and couldn¡¯t be home much.

    There were domestic helpers, but because they weren¡¯t live-in helpers they returned home in the evenings.

    Because she was often with her elder brother who was two years older than her alone in this large house, the two of them were very pleased that the number of family members had increased, and a sister with a great age gap, regardless of day or night I was beloved. ¡­¡­ so it seemed.

    I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know for sure because my memory is hazy. Still it is pretty easy to imagine from the current state of affairs.

    ¡°Yuzu, I brought you pudding.¡±

    When Kotone onee-chan put away the picture book, another person came into the room to pacify me with pudding.

    Togaki Ohba. My onii-chan. A second-year in a private high school. 16 years old.

    Errr¡­¡­ why didn¡¯t you knock? This is a girl¡¯s room, onii-chan.

    A five-year-old child really has no privacy.

    ¡°Aah, onii-chan, I was going to bring that over later to Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright for anyone to do it. Didn¡¯t Kotone buy it?¡±

    ¡°So give me half, and give Yuzu half to eat.¡±

    It was decided that I would eat it before I knew it.

    Pudding¡­¡­ I felt like it had been a long time. Of course, there is no child that hates pudding, so I was very pleased to get it.

    Now that I mention it, when I got up, I was given an un-tasty sports drink and tasteless rice gruel but my hunger hasn¡¯t abated at all. I didn¡¯t notice it, but am I really ill?

    ¡°Here, Yuzu, say ah~¡±

    ¡°¡­a, Ah~n¡±

    I was a little embarrassed. It¡¯s because I don¡¯t have the mental age of a five year old or as a younger sister, so even if it¡¯s onii-chan, it¡¯s embarrassing to have a boy that age take care of me.

    But I¡¯ll take it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it delicious?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-yes.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Oh no. What¡¯s this¡­ I can¡¯t taste it?

    I thought that my sense of taste had become strange because of my fever, but my fever is already fading, and I can taste the eggs, milk, and sugar properly.

    I wonder what I should say¡­¡­¡­ From the pudding, I could feel the ¡°richness¡± and ¡°umami¡± of the egg and the milk. Perhaps the porridge that the helper made was also supposed to be delicious¡­¡­ Maybe I did something bad by not finishing it and leaving it.

    ¡°Would you like to eat ice cream next?¡±

    ¡°If you eat only cold things you¡¯ll ruin your stomach. Onee-chan will make you a hotcake.¡±

    ¡°No! It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m sleepy now that I ate.¡±

    I shook my head at onee-chan¡¯s cheerful proposal. I¡¯m sorry, but any more of this ascetic behavior is impossible for me.

    Maybe ice-cream would be a soft sugared ice, but hotcake sounds like it¡¯ll be nothing but the taste of burnt flour.

    It seems¡­ I am strange.

    I know things and understand things that I shouldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t get hungry. I can¡¯t taste food.

    As I laid down on the fancy bed to rest, Kotone onee-chan laid with me until I fell asleep, but she smelled like a very sweet fruit¡­¡­

    I felt for some reason like she was very ¡®delicious¡¯¡­¡­¡­

 Volume 5 - CH 2

    Volume 5, Chapter 2: I became Yuzu, Part 2

    It¡¯s been a week since I got permission to go out. Up until then, I hadn¡¯t taken a step from home and haven¡¯t even gone to kindergarten.

    That¡¯s right. I am a ¡°Kindergartener¡± now.

    ¡­¡­ what kind of face should I make if I want to go to kindergarten?

    Because I was still sick, I heard that I would be accompanied by Kotone-onee-chan when I went out. In other words: I can¡¯t be allowed out alone. Onii-chan wanted to come along, but his schedule and onee-chan¡¯s didn¡¯t match, and it had been arranged to match her schedule.

    It seems that I¡¯ll be escorted by the chauffeur instead.

    ¡­¡­eh? This is such a big household that we have a chauffeur?

    Well, I heard that Father ran a food processing company with around 500 employees, and Mother was a director of accounts in a foreign company that did cosmetics.

    How did the two of them even meet¡­?

    Our family wasn¡¯t one of those conglomerate households, nor were we among the rich, but since onee-chan and onii-chan were going to prestigious schools, I think that it was a necessity to commute by car.

    I¡¯m afraid of stepping into high society. I didn¡¯t realize it since I usually ate convenience store pudding and natto at home.

    ¡­¡­By the way, did you know? Natto without its flavor is just rotten beans.

    Anyway, since I seem to have gone off on a tangent, I¡¯m going out for my rehabilitation.

    If I was a genuine high-class lady, I think I¡¯d be wearing custom-made clothes when I head out into the neighborhood, no? Still, although I¡¯m wearing ordinary clothes I still feel unwilling to buy new items at the department store each time my size changes, since I¡¯m a child.

    ¡­¡­My way of thinking is surprisingly plebian.

    Anyway, Kotone-onee-chan¡­ sorry, that¡¯s too troublesome to say¡­ ¡°Kotone-chan¡± and I headed to a municipal park that was about 30 minutes away by car. Oh, but of course I¡¯ll usually call her ¡°Kotone onee-chan,¡± though.

    As for why we were going to a remote metropolitan park, it was because they thought that it would be less dangerous in a more populated park than in a small park that was nearby.

    Outside the window, the scenery of the city flowed by¡­¡­ But since we didn¡¯t talk at all about my memories, we arrived at the park just like that. Dropping Kotone-onee-chan and I off at the entrance, the driver went to park the car.

    Although it¡¯s a large park, I don¡¯t see anyone sunbathing on the grass like in a foreign country. Instead, there¡¯s housewives jogging normally and people who were walking their dogs, and there¡¯re also signs for hot dog stands and shops selling soft-serves.

    ¡°Yuzu, don¡¯t walk off on your own, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    I was afraid that my legs would atrophy because I hadn¡¯t gone about in a week, but as I ran around a little, I was relieved that I could run normally.

    It seems that it¡¯s dangerous if I wander out of sight of Kotone-chan, and there¡¯s a little freedom.

    ¡°I should have brought some toys to play with Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°What kind of toys?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm~¡­¡­ Frisbee¡­?¡±

    Please stop. I can¡¯t retrieve it.

    Somehow my strides were different from how I thought they should be and I fell down rolling, but since it was in the grass it didn¡¯t hurt. While I fell a few times, I got used to running quite a bit.

    But I have no physical strength. Come to think of it, I think I was told that my body wasn¡¯t very strong, and that I would run out of breath when I ran about 100 meters.

    This must be what they meant by having no physical strength. With myself in such a condition, there¡¯s no way I can go with other children in kindergarten. While I was thinking while running, it seems I¡¯ve gotten a distance away from Kotone-chan.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    A small noise leaked out from my mouth.

    In front of me, there was an older man with no defense on his scalp that was pulling along a very big dog that had short fur. If it was a medium-sized dog it¡¯s all well and good for it to be seen in the park, but I think that to bring such a large dog into a park where there¡¯s a small infant is a breach of etiquette.

    In short, the problem is that I just jumped out in front of this huge dog that looked like a hunting dog.

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    I heard Kotone¡¯s voice coming from the distance.

    But the dog owner didn¡¯t even notice my existence even with that yell.

    Although this is just my perspective, I had the impression that people that were larger in height and width were oblivious to their surroundings so that they didn¡¯t have to look around too much.

    This man was exactly that type. Even though he knew that the dog that he owned could easily kill an infant with a bite, he thought that his dog was different, and even if it wasn¡¯t, he believed that others would avoid him and be wary.

    ¡­¡­ in this case, it¡¯s my fault for being careless.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Guruu¡­]¡±

    The big dog saw me. I, too, looked at the dog.

    It¡¯s a big, black dog¡­ but, I¡¯m not too scared.

    In spite of myself, I stretched out my hands to pat the dog, and smiled gently. Hey¡­ it¡¯s not scary?

    ¡°[Kyaaaaaain!!!!]¡±

    ¡°Betty-chan!?¡±

    Suddenly, the doggy raised up a sorrowful cry and tried to drag away the confused pet owner, and disappeared out of sight quickly.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    After watching that scene, when Kotone-chan came running to me, she had an equally stunned expression, like myself who was still holding out my hand.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s the meaning of this!?

    ¡°¡­¡­I think we should go home for now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Kotone-chan had a somewhat tired expression on her face as she said so, and I nodded honestly as I felt that the mood had been ruined.

    Was I scared? I don¡¯t know. It doesn¡¯t make sense.

    Although it¡¯s a little earlier than scheduled, but I decided to go home, and the driver brought the car up from the parking lot to the park entrance.

    ¡°Would you like to get some juice from the shop?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­just water.¡±

    ¡°Eh~¡­¡­ My throat got thirsty in the car, so let¡¯s go get some.¡±

    Apparently, Kotone-chan wants to get a drink. I¡¯ll pass, sorry. Juice that isn¡¯t tasty is harder to drink than plain sugar water.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡­ heard a voice.¡±

    ¡°A voice¡­¡­?¡±

    At my words, Kotone-chan craned her neck at me with a strange expression. Was it my imagination¡­¡­? No, it¡¯s not, I heard it again. Something breaking in the distance¡­¡­ and someone screaming.

    It¡¯s getting closer¡­¡­ little by little.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything¡­¡­ Ah, the car¡¯s here. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m going to get some drinks.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kotone-onee-chan¡±

    *bakibakibaki!!!*

    The instant that I called out to her, there came a big truck crashing into the park, breaking through the fence and the shrubbery behind the shop.

    ¡°Hee~!¡±

    Kotone-chan froze at the suddenness of the event.

    I heard a scream in the vicinity. The truck didn¡¯t slow down and continued to plow straight ahead.

    ¡°Onee-chan¡±

    ¡°Yuzu, come here now!¡±

    I was running to Kotone-chan¡¯s side.

    ¡­¡­ I saw it. The world around me swam slowly, and the truck driver¡¯s eyes met mine.

    He was smiling while blowing bubbles from his mouth, Eyes that were erratic and bloodshot¡­¡­

    He had obviously gone insane.

    And clearly¡­ he was looking at me, and aiming for ¡°me¡±¡­¡­?

    Kotone-chan clung onto me as I stopped my feet.

    Feeling myself trembling, as if bubbling up from the bottom of my heart, some kind of [Emotion] filled me.

    ¡°[¡­¡­What are you doing with to onee-chan¡­¡­]¡±

    Looking over the shoulder of Kotone-chan who was hugging me, the face of the driver who ought to have gone insane cramped in fear, the birds and pigeons in the park few away in fear for some reason.

    As the truck approached ever closer, I put out my hand in front of me, gently¡­

    And with one hand, I caught the truck.

    Gigagagan!!!

    Like a small car colliding with a train, like a motorbike smashing into a concrete-reinforced bollard, it jumped up and over us contrary to its inertia, and rolled across the beautiful lawn, scraping it.

    Screams and shouts of anger came from around us. In the midst of the confusion, I pulled Kotone-chan, who was still in a blank daze up, and quickly left the park before we got caught.

    What¡­ am I?

 Volume 5 - CH 3

    Volume 5, Chapter 3: I became a kindergartener, Part 1

    Because of the strange incident that had happened at the park where I was, my prohibition on going out was extended another two weeks. Incidentally, there haven¡¯t been rumors about me either. Even if there were witnesses, nobody would believe such a thing had happened.

    It seems that the apparent reason why the prohibition got extended was because I had gotten a shock from the scene of the accident.

    Well, to be honest, I¡¯ve been crestfallen for a while.

    After all¡­¡­ how was I able to do such a thing¡­¡­?

    I don¡¯t understand myself. For I that, until now, couldn¡¯t even bend a spoon, I didn¡¯t know at all that I could do such a thing.

    Still, in that instant where I felt anger against that [Existence]that had frightened Kotone-chan, I don¡¯t know why, but I suddenly felt like ¡°I could do it¡±.

    ¡­¡­ well, there¡¯s no point in worrying about what I don¡¯t understand. It seems that I chafe at difficulty.

    Anyways, beyond all of that, I¡¯m going back to kindergarten starting today.

    ¡­¡­ is it alright for me?

    ¡°You grew so well, Yuzu, you¡¯re so cute.¡±

    The kindergarten uniform made me look about three times cuter than I thought.

    It looks amazingly expensive.

    As for why the uniform is such, it seems that it¡¯s because of Kotone-chan and onii-chan, who are in Takamine Academy, which is affiliated to the kindergarten.

    ¡­¡­ how much does it cost for these clothes that will only be worn for a couple of years??

    Well, the tuition fees are high, but children from ordinary families are also enrolled. It might be that an ordinary family would get the uniforms through net auctions or maybe they wear hand-me-downs.

    So¡­ I think my family is somewhere in the upper-middle class?

    For the time being, I¡¯m quietly attending kindergarten. There are also children of families who have relationships with Father¡¯s company, so although I¡¯m not normal I¡¯m not going to feign friendliness.

    My appearance reminds me of one of those high-class daughters if I was older.

    ¡­¡­ However, there¡¯s still some problems.

    I feel like my appearance changed subtly since I woke up.

    Although my aged, droopy-eyed expression hasn¡¯t changed, it feels like a subtle ¡°distortion¡± has disappeared.

    Even when I wake up in the morning, my eyelids aren¡¯t puffy. My face is also less puffy.

    I had good skin since I was a child, but it was now strangely glossy, and my sunburns faded back into my original skin color, but the skin looked whiter even while my complexion got better.

    And it seems improbable, but I think my features are now perfectly symmetrical¡­¡­

    It feels like an elaborate [Human-shaped Bisque doll] rather than a human¡­¡­ I do.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa~¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yuzu, you¡¯re seriously cute today.¡±

    Ooba Onii-chan hugged me and took me to the car.

    Kotone-chan also wanted to hold me, but because of the size difference it seems that my uniform would crease if she did and become disorderly. For some reason the words ¡°hugging personnel¡± came to mind.

    Even then, my hair was tied by Kotone-chan. The hair that reached my collars was tied into a small pair of twintails with red ribbons.

    Uwaa¡­¡­ It¡¯s cute if I looked at it objectively, but at the same time it¡¯s embarrassing.

    A real twin tail, is this a certain consumer-electronics street (read: Akihabara), or am I in some Catholic school that¡¯s being watched over by a goddess?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because I think about these things that I¡¯mtold my memory has become hazy.

    The car came to pick us up and send me to kindergarten, which started early, then to the middle and high school sections which were next door.

    I can¡¯t even recall the faces of my kindergarten classmates, and I worried if this was okay, but it seems that that matter had been made known well in advance.

    Besides, if I saw their face, I might remember. So said the goddess-sama¡­¡­ hmm, for some reason it feels like I don¡¯t have the protection of the ¡°gods¡±.

    ¡°Yuzu, if you get into trouble you can ask the teacher to call for me, okay?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s better to call for me, if any boy decides to bully you, onii-chan will take care of them, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going.¡±

    I got out of the car in front of the kindergarten, and was accompanied by the teacher who came to pick me up as I entered the compound. Sorry, teacher, but I don¡¯t remember.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­In short, because Yuzu has just recovered from an illness, please treat her kindly, everyone.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes~¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What do I do? The teacher seems to have omitted the fact that I don¡¯t remember things. It can¡¯t be helped. I just don¡¯t understand the difficulties of a kindergartener.

    I was surrounded with some distance. I managed to remember some faces somewhat, but it just doesn¡¯t come to me. A barrier was put up separating us automatically.

    It might be because of the change in my appearance¡­ The Yuzu that they knew seemed somewhat different, and they might be scared of me who seemed to resemble a doll.

    I¡¯m in trouble now. ¡°I¡± was remarkably carefree about my change.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ are you alright?¡±

    There was a tough guy speaking to me.

    I was a little bit surprised and turned to look, there was this tiny little cutey looking at me with a worried expression.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, erm¡­¡­¡±

    For some reason I felt like I played with this boy. But his name eluded me.

    That boy game me a harmless smile.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright, I heard from my father. My name is Prince Handsome, remember?¡±

    ¡°Han¡­¡­ oh, I remember.¡±

    In an instant, my whole back was covered in a cold sweat, and I felt like my consciousness was about to fly off.

    Come to think of it, I remember hearing from Father yesterday that there was a boy with such a name. I thought at that time that he was joking with me¡­¡­

    When I hear it from the person himself, the destructive power of it is outrageous. What were this child¡¯s parents thinking when they gave him this name? Recently, I heard that such fancy and sparkling names were popular, but for them to evolve this far¡­¡­¡­ Were they unable to cancel the evolution?

    Oh crap, my face is making various expressions.

    But if I scrunch my nose in I lose. He¡¯s the scion of a famous meat processing company¡¯s president and a major client of father¡¯s company.

    The capital of his company and the number of employees were at national levels, with completely different orders of magnitude.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad¡­ I, had been worried.¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡­¡±

    He had a pleasant plump smile on his face. Apparently, he has no doubts whatsoever about his own name¡­¡­ the industry¡¯s power is indeed deep.

    While I spoke with him, memories of him gradually came to light. He was quite the carefree character, but because of his body shape, he was getting teased by the stronger boys in the class.

    He was also biased towards our friendship, and played mostly only with children whose houses were like mine.

    It¡¯s more than I deserve¡­¡­ As the scion of a large enterprise, with a good personality and looks¡­¡­ he was cute like a stuffed toy, but had few friends whom he approved of.

    Was he easy to remember because he¡¯d had a big impact on me¡­¡­?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, shall we play over there?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ but, are you alright with me?¡±

    When you¡¯re with me, aren¡¯t you scaring off the other children? I thought so, but he blushed a little and shook his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s because Yuzu-chan is gentle that I get teased. ¡­¡­erm, but¡­ *you¡¯re cute*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! Would you like some snacks?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even though it¡¯d only been one hour since kindergarten began, he¡¯s already taken out a majestic ¡°snack¡± for me.

    So I thought while receiving a round ham.

    ¡­¡­ Please let me stay thin.

 Volume 5 - CH 4

    Volume 5, Chapter 4: I became a kindergartener, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan, what¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Zo-san¡±

    For the [Tsubaki group] in my kindergarten, it was time to play with clay.

    Although we all started to clumsily play with the clay when the teacher whose name I still cannot remember said [Let¡¯s make our favorite animal today], I was thinking of a strange looking thing which felt a little off, and, as a result, I ended up trying really hard.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ What¡¯s this?¡±

    In front of me were several avant-garde-ish objects which each asserted a strange uniqueness.

    Handsome-kun said as much without meaning harm. ¡­¡­urgk, even if I say his name in my thoughts it makes me receive damage.

    Since he¡¯s such a carefree child, I was working on this with light thoughts, however; as a result, the child sitting opposite me began to cry before I¡¯d even spent five minutes making my things.

    ¡­¡­¡­ is it that bad?

    I certainly didn¡¯t feel like I had dexterous fingers, but to think that I was that bad with handicrafts¡­

    ¡°Haah¡­ oh my¡­ Wha-what did you make?¡±

    ¡°This? It¡¯s a Japanese shorthorn.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­unn??¡±

    Indeed¡­¡­ it¡¯s the cow that produces my favorite meat. As expected of the scion of a famous meat processing company.

    ¡­¡­ the darkness of the food industry runs deep.

    It¡¯s recess, now.

    All boys ran into the garden. Half the girls also went outside, while the other half went to the corner to play where the building blocks and picture books were.

    As Handsome-kun took out a frankfurter from his cooler box, I grasped his hands to stop him.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Han, Hyamu-kun, do you want to go outside to play?¡±

    I bit myself on his name. But I kept at it.

    ¡°Well~ umm, what about my food¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go now¡­okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, I¡¯ll play with Yuzu-chan.¡±

    I tightly grasped his hands to stop him from grabbing more meat, and he took them with a smile.

    Please go on a diet. I¡¯ll have him lose weight to make sure that he can make friends properly and not be teased.

    What to do with my friend? Well~¡­¡­ what other girls in kindergarten play?

    In the end, I spent the recess taking a walk while holding his hand. Handsome-kun didn¡¯t have much physical strength, but I don¡¯t have any strength either now.

    Why were the teachers looking at us strangely with such warm eyes¡­

    The next period is English. Engurishu¡­ as expected of the kindergarten affiliated to Takamine School; a gifted education even from early childhood.

    However, it¡¯s still the English education of kindergarten, after all. Anyway, were they going to line up the blocks on which ABC is written? Or so I thought. An English picture book was placed in front of me.

    ¡­¡­ eh? Can you all read this? I looked around, and understood two things.

    An ordinary child from a normal family was playing with the child next to him without opening the book at all. Even if the teachers saw it, they didn¡¯t scold them. They¡¯re being completely ignored.

    Aah¡­¡­ I understand now, we¡¯re being sorted. If we were left as we were now, then our education will likely change as we get separated into classes when we advanced to elementary school.

    Some of the children were actually opening the English book and reading normally.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, this is interesting.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes¡±

    What should I do? Did I read these books normally before I lost my memory, or did I give up and just play instead?

    Since it couldn¡¯t be helped even if I worried about it, I tried opening the recommended picture book Handsome-kun handed to me.

    Yeah, it¡¯s written horizontally¡­¡­ But, what?

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    I can read it¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know how, but I can read it.

    I understand English if it was individual words, but I don¡¯t know them when they¡¯re strung into sentences.

    However, when I stared at them, I could ¡°see¡± the meanings of the words and the flow of the sentence that would be expressed in a form that I understood.

    To put that into words, English came easily from my mouth.

    ¡°You, you¡¯re good at English, huh.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Handsome-kun who was saying that.

    Turning to look at the voice that came from behind me, there was a pretty boy with hair the color of tea there smiling with his blue-black eyes.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Kouki-kun¡±

    ¡°Yaa, Handsome.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    My cheeks were tightening at hearing someone else call Handsome by his name so casually. ¡­¡­ it¡¯s pretty hard to get used to. Maybe my is soul rejecting it.

    Anyway, he¡¯s another  friend of Handsome-kun and he¡¯s quite the good-looking boy.

    Several girls that were holding picture books came along behind Kouki-kun¡­¡­ you¡¯re being shadowed. Heh, he¡¯s not very manly, but it seems like he¡¯s a [Prince-sama]-like existence.

    ¡°You must be Togaki-san¡¯s daughter¡­¡­ are you not?¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ yes.¡±

    It seems that he knew things about me too. It seems like they aren¡¯t exactly friends, but maybe they knew each other through their fathers¡¯ work?

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuuuh~¡±

    Kouki-kun looked at my face with a strange expression¡­ he moved closer and closer. Hey, pretty boy¡­¡­ the girls behind you are getting noisy.

    ¡°Your impression has changed quite a bit¡­¡­ I remember being ahead in English in the past¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun came over while looking at the children playing in English,

    It seems that I was previously part of that group. I assume that it¡¯s a good thing that he said that [My impression has changed]? Is it about my appearance?

    I was aware that it wasn¡¯t normal, but it¡¯s not like some strange ¡®power¡¯, is it?

    ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    I smiled unintentionally at them. ¡­¡­ Is this a five-year-old? Amazing. I can¡¯t tell anything about people.

    ¡°¡­¡­Kouki-kun, Yuzu-chan¡±

    Handsome-kun¡¯s voice got louder as he held my hand tightly. It didn¡¯t surprise me, but rather Kouki-kun.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Handsome, your voice is really loud. Yeah, that¡¯s better ¡±

    Kouki-kun smiled as he looked between Handsome and I.

    ¡°Well, Yuzu-chan? Handsome seems to be on very good terms with you.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ yes, Han¡­ tch¡­¡­ Sam-kun is a friend¡­¡­¡±

    I bit myself again. I can¡¯t say his name with a straight face, because it feels really¡­¡­ ¡®strange¡¯.

    ¡°Ah¡­ So you call him Sam. That¡¯s pretty good. Can I call you that too?¡±

    ¡°Aah, yes, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Sam!? What an American nickname!?

    I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s because Handsome isn¡¯t particularly attached to his name or that he gave up, but he is purely Japanese, so calling him Sam is pretty tough.

    ¡°No, that isn¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± ¡±

    Due to my unintentional interruption, the two of them who were smiling at each other turned to look at me strangely.

    I stopped in spite of myself, but what should I do now!? Is Sam preferable to Handsome? No, well¡­¡­¡­ think, me.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ find ¡°Ouji¡± easier to call you by¡­¡­ I think.¡±

    On the spur of the moment, that nickname leaked out of my mouth.

    It¡¯d be painful if he didn¡¯t have a prince-like face, but fortunately for him he had a very cute one. Ah, my mental endurance.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ I thought it was easier to call him Sam.¡±

    Kouki-kun made a disappointed face.

    I guess for Kouki-kun, who¡¯s half-foreign and would associate plenty with foreigners, it¡¯s alright, but for a purely Japanese person it¡¯s hard.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind either way¡­¡­ but it¡¯s better if Yuzu-chan decides.¡±

    In the end, the person himself decided it with a single line.

    ¡­¡­ he was okay with this. It¡¯s good that the person himself was okay with it.

    Later, though, when I thought about it, I used to call Kouki-kun [Prince-sama] for his princely looks, my stomach became somewhat sore.

    In this fashion, I transferred myself away from the ¡°commoner¡¯s group¡± that I used to belong to, to the group where Kouki-kun and the rest belonged to with Ouji-kun, as a set.

    My peaceful life seems to be fading¡­¡­

    I wonder if I would cause my father problems if my strange ¡®power¡¯ got exposed to this group.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The meat processing company [Niku¡¯s Ham] had its own dedicated ranches and factories nationwide, and employed about 8000 employees and had sales exceeding 200 billion yen a year.

    At Niku¡¯s Ham, they didn¡¯t process everything in-house, but they had ties with small and medium enterprises and factories to develop new products and expand their sales channels from their earlier days.

    Although they were affiliated with hundreds of companies, the companies that they kept close were just a handful that had had relationships since the previous generation.

    So, because that sort of company tended to get involved in new products that were especially important, even if it was a small company, it was necessary for them to have a proper relationship.

    The first-born son of the Niku family was Handsome. His name was given to him by his parents who were overly tense about their first child since they were old.

    The entire family had ¡®full¡¯ figures, and in a sense it was the occupational hazard of eating too much meat, but since they were older, nobody could stop them. In a way, it could be called the darkness of the meat industry.

    However, the person himself didn¡¯t mind the name at all due to his own personality.

    My mother¡¯s friend had a child called ¡± Excalibur¡±-kun, so perhaps maybe he was biased.

    By the way, his sister was originally called Venus, but when she was being delivered and they told the government office staff, they had to be persuaded that they were still sane. In the end, she was delivered as ¡°Minako¡± and like that, further problems were averted.

    Handsome got his gentle and docile character from his equally gentle and docile surroundings.

    Because of his physique, he was made fun of by children of the same age, and although they thought that he was gentle due to his size, the root cause was his stress.

    The Niku family members do not have a very long lifespan.

    It was really just the simple fact that they were overweight due to overeating meat, but Handsome thought that it was the ¡°curse¡± from the animals that became the meat and imagined it as such, causing him to stress and making him overeat more.

    And thus, Beautiful Prince had few friends. Because he got stressed over being teased, in the end he ended up only associating with those who were connected to his family, like Kouki¡¯s Kuon family.

    Among them there was Yuzu, the daughter of director Togaki, who had partnered with them long ago. Yuzu had an easygoing character, and when he was by her side, Handsome felt his heart calm down.

    However, she gradually drifted away from Prince.

    Yuzu, who had been living the life and having the education of an ordinary household despite being in an upper-class family, couldn¡¯t keep up with the education of the Takamine school and began to play with only the children of ordinary families.

    One day, he¡¯d heard from his father that Yuzu had had a high fever and that her memories were muddled.

    Handsome¡¯s father and Yuzu¡¯s father were schoolboy friends, and when Handsome was born, it was as if it was Yuzu¡¯s father¡¯s joy too.

    Her memory is messed up¡­¡­ He didn¡¯t know how bad it was, or if she would keep a greater distance from him.

    A few days later, when Yuzu returned to the kindergarten, she was definitely the Yuzu he knew, but her atmosphere had changed somewhat.

    When Beautiful Prince saw Yuzu, he felt his heart beating as if he had been enchanted by a fairy-tale wizard.

    As he looked around, most of the children were blushing and couldn¡¯t make themselves get close to her, so Handsome greeted Yuzu.

    Yuzu seemed to have changed a little, but it was the Yuzu that Beautiful Prince knew, and she had a soothing and carefree atmosphere about her.

    The Yuzu who had previously distanced herself from him took his hands now, and taught him the splendor of the outside world that he had never noticed before.

    As it was¡­¡­ if she was beside him, then he wouldn¡¯t be scared of anything anymore.

    ¡°I wish that tomorrow morning would come quickly. I want Yuzu-chan to play with me again.¡±

    Seeing that their son¡¯s appearance had improved and become better recently, his sizable parents were pleased, and the two of them faced each other, nodding slowly as they smiled.

 Volume 5 - CH 5

    Volume 5, Chapter 5: Summer Vacation, Part 1

    When was the first time that the [Existence] had appeared?

    It was during the Westernization movement during the Meiji Restoration. As the Japanese culture and entertainment changed rapidly and the Japanese people¡¯s consciousness changed, it was born into this world.

    As first, it was small and powerless.

    However, that changed in the 1950s. When Japan¡¯s economy began to rapidly evolve after the recovery of the post-war period, the [Existence] began to gain [Power] as well.

    As its power grew, people began to notice it.

    Although it might have been a coincidence that he found it, one of the people who noticed it talked to a politician about it, and the politician, who was rushing to raise the status of Japan, heard that it was in the big cave in underground Tokyo, and found the [Existence].

    For those who had a true wish, it had great [Power] to give.

    The old military scientists and the exorcists who located it were asked to investigate it.

    There was a wish. But it didn¡¯t wake up. Its discovery was reported to powerful conglomerates and politicians, and they investigated the use of that [Power].

    A few years later, in cooperation with the religious groups that had protected the country for a long time, they were able to prove that some little girls were compatible with it in both existence and will, and by installing the girls as [Shrine Maidens], it would be possible to utilize the power.

    And so, Japan began to grow.

    They did not know whether it was due to the power of this [Existence]. However, by raising their national strength and attracting attention from other countries, the foundation of Tokyo became the center of the new culture, and the [Existence] felt its power grow even further.

    And now in modern times¡­¡­ it awoke¡­

    In fear of a single [Young Girl] that had come from a different world, far away¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    It¡¯s summer now. It came so abruptly. It was around spring that ¡°I¡± became me now, so in the autumn I¡¯ll be six years old.

    I received an invitation to go to their Switzerland ranch from Ouji-kun, but I¡¯m had to decline. Our household is not the type to go to Switzerland during the summer break.

    Still, it¡¯s really a good thing that he ended up not being Sam ¡®hah!.¡¯ If it¡¯s Ouji-kun, it doesn¡¯t shave my mental endurance as much.

    The full name makes my soul hurt, while just Sam makes my heart cold¡­ It¡¯s not a pun.

    (TL note: ¡®cold¡¯ is read ¡®samui¡¯, while ¡®sam¡¯ is read ¡®samu¡¯, hence the pun.)

    I kept pulling Ouji-kun around by the hand, so he got a little skinnier.

    It¡¯s also in big part because he¡¯s been refraining from those amazing ¡°snacks¡±. If I hadn¡¯t stopped him from taking them every time, he would have been taking in well over 2000 Calories every single day just being in kindergarten.

    It was unexpectedly easy to stop him. When I felt uncomfortable with it, I would take his hand, and then he would conveniently forget to eat it with a smile.

    I wonder if he thought of me as a friend.

    The goal for the future is to make him thin enough so that it wouldn¡¯t be awkward to call him [Ouji-kun]. (TL Reminder: Prince)

    As expected, after three months my muddled memory has settled down a lot.

    There were a lot of memories that I still couldn¡¯t remember, but I think that that¡¯s because the memories of these three months have overwritten it.

    Well, nevertheless, I¡¯m still not very child-like¡­¡­

    Ahh, come to mention it, my ban on going outside got extended further.

    No, of course it¡¯s okay for me to go to kindergarten, but it wasn¡¯t okay for me to take up piano lessons. It surprised me to discover that I could actually play the piano.

    It was as if I had been doing it for years¡­¡­ or should I say that I had a fragmented memory within me that remembered myself playing it normally in a castle.

    However, the position of the keys and such were slightly different¡­¡­ Why was that?

    Ah, so, the reason why I¡¯ve been prohibited from going out again is because I¡¯ve had two traffic accidents in three months, and encountered a street slasher once.

    ¡­What¡¯re the odds of that? Since we were able to avoid most of it in advance, it¡¯s great, but all of them involved someone who had lost their sanity.

    Erm, just like that truck driver.

    ¡­¡­¡­ I think I¡¯m being targeted¡­

    By ¡®someone¡¯¡­ somewhere.

    For that reason, even I judged that it was better for me not to go out to places where there were a lot of people.

    In the end it¡¯s just being careful, but it¡¯s quite fine.

    Due to that, I have no free time at all. Since I only played with either Kouki-kun or Niku-kun, and both of them had lessons on their own, I couldn¡¯t play with them every day.

    I have no girlfriends whatsoever. The girls in that group refuse to talk to me, the only one who can speak normally to Kouki-kun. Even as kids, women are scary.

    Mentally, it¡¯s easier to play with people around Kotone-chan¡¯s age, and mentally I¡¯m comfortable with that age, but I feel like a cat. A cat toddler.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    While putting away the picture book in my room and looking out the window idly by chance, I saw something red on the hill behind the house.

    I wonder what that is¡­¡­ or should I say, what is that? I feel like I have some idea.

    A memory of ¡°mine¡± came forth, that wasn¡¯t the memory of my five-year-old self, but rather from that fragmented jumble.

    It might be the tori gates of a shrine. I certainly remember worshipping at it; I think it was something like a Kitsune-sama or an earth spirit.

    I didn¡¯t think about it at all, even for a moment¡­¡­ I want to go there and play.

    Isn¡¯t a place like a quiet shrine where the light of sunbeams leaks through the leaves just attractive?

    And for that reason,

    ¡°Ooba-onii-chan, can we go to the shrine behind our house.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, let¡¯s go, there are cicadas. Your Onii-chan is really good at catching them.¡±

    As I asked my older brother who¡¯d just gotten home, I got a favorable reply immediately.

    I¡¯ve been saved, since onii-chan doesn¡¯t seem to wonder why I would like to go to a shrine or why I even know that that shrine exists.

    Also, I don¡¯t need cicadas.

    I got permission to go to the shrine with Ooba-onii-chan. Yahooo~!

    Incidentally, onii-chan is wearing a straw hat and a towel around his neck. Why are you so serious about catching the cicadas¡­¡­?

    I was also wearing a white wide-brimmed hat and had an insect net, but I don¡¯t want to catch cicadas. As we got off the road and drew near, he suddenly began to skip and jump while singing. It¡¯s pretty traumatic.

    ¡°Yuzu, the stone steps are steep, are you alright? Do you need onii-chan to carry you on his back?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll climb it myself.¡±

    I think it¡¯s about 50 steps, but it¡¯s hard for a kid. Also, if I fell, I¡¯d die.

    ¡°Mmm¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    The moment I tried to climb, I felt something like static electricity.

    What was that? The rope wrapped around the huge tree broke, but that¡¯s got nothing to do with me, right?

    Well, it¡¯s better to not give mind to that. I¡¯m just an ordinary person, after all.

    Still, these stone steps are pretty tough.

    Even though it¡¯s like a normal staircase, with its staggered height and tread, kids like me with narrow strides would tire themselves out much more than usual.

    But once I overcome it, I can relax in a quiet environment.

    ¡°Miii~n, Min-min¡± ¡°Gyahahaha¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go over there!¡± ¡°Miii~n, Miii~n¡± ¡°Something came down!¡± ¡°Is that a rhinoceros beetle?¡± ¡°Mii~n, minmin, Miii~n¡± ¡°eeh~n¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Arriving at the shrine was nice, but it wasn¡¯t that quiet.

    The students from the nearby elementary school were catching cicadas frenziedly. ¡­¡­Did all boys feel like that¡­¡­? And there were a lot of people who came to visit the shrine as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s different from what I expected.¡±

    I wanted to kill time in something like a quiet forest shrine, but I think this place is noisier than normal.

    Because I got tired climbing the stone steps, after washing my hands ceremonially and making my visit, I sat down in the shrine grounds and stared at the sky idly.

    I could hear the noisy sounds of children¡­¡­ The sound of loud cicadas. ¡­¡­Have they been exterminated?

    Baaan~ Baaaaaaan~

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    When I turned my head to the source of the sound of hands being clapped in prayer, a grandma I didn¡¯t know was offering a pack of Mitarashi Dango in front of me and worshipping.

    ¡°¡­¡­erm, wai-¡­¡±

    As soon as I called out to her, the grandma headed off elsewhere. There were also some Daifuku and rice crackers when I looked closely, along with a 5-yen coin on top of it all.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Why didn¡¯t she say anything to me? Who are you looking to tie the knot with, obaa-chan?

    It might be better for me to go home before another insanity encounter happens¡­¡­

    ¡°Heey, Onii-chan¡­¡±

    When I turned around, Ooba-onii-chan was there giving the elementary school students a lecture on cicadas¡­¡­

    I wonder if there¡¯s any way to kill time¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ah¡±

    There was a black cat behind the stone steps leading to the shrine that looked very unconcerned.

    A really dark cat that had no other colors mixed in its fur¡­¡­

    And its silver eyes looked straight at me¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu!¡±

    Before I noticed, I had been hugged by my onii-chan, and brought down the stone steps.

    ¡°What are you doing, Yuzu, you could have fallen!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­aa, ¡­ uhnn, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you feeling unwell? Let¡¯s go home. I¡¯ll bring you out here again when you want to come back¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes¡±

    Onii-chan gently stroked my head, and stopped scolding me as I lost my vigor.

    ¡­¡­I , what was I doing?

 Volume 5 - CH 6

    Volume 5, Chapter 6: Summer Vacation, Part 2

    I¡¯ve been quite free during summer vacation, but recently my relationship with Kotone-chan has deteriorated.

    Kotone-chan is in her third year in junior high.  Because the entrance examinations are imminent, she¡¯s been going to the library to do summer revision. Come to think of it, since it¡¯s an affiliated school, there isn¡¯t actually an examination.

    Kotone-chan, won¡¯t you spare some time for your little sister? Where are you going?

    Both father and mother were busy as usual, and when I thought of going to the O-bon festival, it seems that grandfather lost grandmother only a year ago, and he didn¡¯t want the noisiness of a gathering around him.

    ¡°Because of that, Onii-chan, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where did that come from?¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped since only Ooba-onii-chan was free. It¡¯ll be a terrible thing if Kotone-chan had been caught by some bad guy, so we have to investigate.

    It is definitely not because I have nothing to do with my free time.

    ¡°Oh, Ooh, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Ooba-onii-chan understood his younger sister¡¯s thoughts at once.

    Kotone-chan, I¡¯m worried about you¡­¡­ It would be good if she could make new normal friends, but because I have deep love for Kotone-chan, I¡¯m worried that she might be picked up by some middle-aged man old enough to have children.

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s unexpectedly harsh.¡±

    Oops, it seems my voice leaked out. Onii-chan¡¯s face was a little bit cramped.

    The next day, Ooba-onii-chan came back at a dash after his summer revision course¡­ even though he was picked up by the car to come home, so, in addition, the driver got dragged into it as we went forth in pursuit of Kotone-chan.

    According to the driver¡¯s testimony, she had gone out to shop with some friends, and it seems that she¡¯s been visiting a shopping district some distance away.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting a bit nervous about this¡­¡±

    There isn¡¯t some powerful enemy, right?

    That aside, onii-chan, don¡¯t you usually call yourself differently? (TL note: he uses ¡®ore¡¯, which is a more masculine tone, instead of ¡®boku¡¯, the more polite one, that he usually uses.) It seems that Ooba-onii-chan wants to puff himself up in front of his cute little sister.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Kotone.¡±

    ¡°Ehh, where?¡±

    ¡°There, behind that bookstore.¡±

    Looking out the window from inside the car, I saw the Takamine school uniform that I recognized in that distant place.

    It¡¯s certainly Kotone-chan. But she¡¯s alone. What¡¯s that? She came here to buy a book normally? But it¡¯s a big shopping district, and buying stuff here feels a bit lonely. If she just went to the station she¡¯d be able to buy books from the many big bookstores nearby.

    As the driver drove slowly behind her, we got honked at by a car behind us on our way, and Kotone-chan eventually entered one particular ramen shop.

    ¡°¡­¡­is she hungry?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s eating!?¡±

    Come to think of it, Kotone-chan has been strangely glossy recently, is it because of oily food? I felt so.

    ¡°Nonono, wait, Yuzu. I heard recently that there¡¯s been rumors going around that our family¡¯s company is going into the noodle business.¡±

    ¡°ehhh~¡­ Well, why is only Kotone-onee-chan having ramen?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Saying that Kotone-chan is helping father while keeping it a secret¡­ is a bit far-fetched. There¡¯s no point in keeping it secret from onii-chan and I.

    I can¡¯t help but think that way in the car, so we decided to head into that ramen place. Sneaking in from the outside¡­¡­ is it impossible?

    ¡°Then I will take a look at the shop from behind the store.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, but even if we don¡¯t,¡±

    Not long after I quietly stepped forth, I got halted. This isn¡¯t a game, okay? Aren¡¯t you concerned about Kotone-chan? Say so, Onii-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­why?¡±

    A five year old girl was left alone in front of the ramen shop in the shopping district. It¡¯s dangerous.

    But I¡¯m not alone. A little girl holding a rubber ball was staring at me while peeking out at me from the side street beside the shop.

    Even if I say that she¡¯s little, but she¡¯s about the same as me. A cute girl with hair like a kokeshi doll, and when I saw her and smiled, and she started in place, frozen as I approached her.

    ¡°Hey¡­ are you a Princess?¡±

    It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard that. ¡­¡­wait, is it the first time? And it seems that for the time being she¡¯s not scared of my doll-like appearance.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s different. You¡¯re cute too¡­¡­¡±

    She looked like a kokeshi doll. I suddenly noticed it as I continued¡­ I felt that this child was somewhat similar to Kotone-chan and I.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Nothing~. I¡¯m called Yuzu. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m, Misa.¡±

    I played with this pretty kokeshi doll called Misa until onii-chan returned. Since we were both awkward, we didn¡¯t end up playing with the rubber ball.

    Err¡­¡­ How do you write circles on the road and play? As I picked up a pebble and drew a circle on the path, Misa also began to draw and write and play.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Errrmh¡­¡­ ramen.¡±

    ¡°Do you like ramen?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and when I grow up I¡¯ll run a ramen shop!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Perhaps this one,¡±

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    When I raised my head to look at the sudden interruption, I saw Kotone-chan who had a slightly angry expression on her face. Behind her was Ooba-onii-chan who was drooping his head like a chastised child, and a tall man.

    It¡¯s an approximately 30-year old uncle, I guess? A little bit of a dandy uncle would be better, but maybe this person is with Kotone-chan?

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re done with your work?¡±

    Misa walked over with a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at the uncle. This person is¡­

    ¡°Misa¡¯s ¡®Father¡¯!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still only 20!¡±

    Haha, it was only a joke.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­I see¡±

    I listened to their story. It seems that he was one of the wait staff in the ramen shop, who is blood-related with Misa, but he¡¯s not her father, but, rather, her older brother¡­ They do look alike.

    ¡°Hey, Yuzu, did you come here with onii-chan¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ But why are you in this ramen shop?¡±

    Since we were standing outside, we moved into the store to continue speaking, since the store was pretty vacant past lunchtime.

    By the way, Ooba-onii-chan was seated on the floor because he¡¯d bothered the store by going round the back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, erm¡­yeah¡­ You know, Yuzu. Misa-chan and he are our cousins. That¡¯s why I came to see how they were doing¡­okay?¡±

    Kotone-chan¡¯s cheeks were a little flushed while she glanced at him.

    ¡­¡­Fuu~hn?  I was still a toddler, so my words were still lispy, but putting it all together, it seems that their parents passed away early. Since their parents used to work with my father, they couldn¡¯t rely on their relatives. When their parents got into trouble, he distanced themselves from them.

    He seems to be living with young Misa alone while working at this ramen shop.

    ¡­¡­ Praise me for deciphering it this far.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I love ramen.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Onii-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very thick, and everyone is eating my ¡°ramen¡±, but, I don¡¯t ask children to pay.¡±

    A true Tokyoite!?

    ehh? Why is Kotone-chan looking at him with enraptured eyes¡­¡­? I am still a child, so I can¡¯t understand.

    Besides, isn¡¯t it good just to eat it at your own convenience? Looking at the person who seems to be the shop owner, the tottering grandpa nodded with a gentle smile.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a meal¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not being dumb, right!?

    ¡°Hey, here¡¯s your ramen.¡±

    While observing the grandpa in front of us the ¡®ramen¡¯ was served.

    It seems that the ramen he makes is ¡®ramen¡¯. It¡¯s a very subtle difference. Somehow I can understand it with my soul, but I can¡¯t put it into words.

    In front of Misa and I was ramen and a small donburi for children. About two servings per person.

    It¡¯s especially precious, so Misa and I sat side-by-side and ate at the counter.

    Foreigners who come to Japan misunderstand, but eating Japanese noodles with slurping is neither well-mannered nor a custom. A dish that a chef cooks with spirit will go stale without the ¡®spirit¡¯ of the eater that it gets.

    But my infant tongue is picky so I can¡¯t eat it all at once. ¡­¡­What do I do?

    Somehow when I looked at Kotone-chan, she had a different bowl from ours, and ours was full of toppings like naruto fish cake, and seaweed.

    They¡¯ve thought properly about the nutritional value for children too¡­ such a nice person.

    While watching the seaweed that was moving under the convection current in the hot soup, suddenly the seaweed raised its ¡°body¡± and one hand.

    [Yoo, I, am not a bad wakame]¡­¡­ or something like [Leave this to me eat up]?

    After a while of the wakame seaweed wiggling, it sank into the ramen soup like it was drowning, and the auditory hallucinations of its last moments were left in my ear.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Beside me, Misa was opening her mouth with a *pokan* expression while alternately looking at the donburi in front of her and me. ¡­¡­ Unfortunately, it doesn¡¯t seem to be a hallucination.

    And as I tried eating the cooled ramen¡­ ooooh? There was a ¡°taste¡±!

    ¡°Dad, this is delicious!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father!¡±

    ¡­¡­ But you haven¡¯t told me your name.

    I don¡¯t understand why, but it seems that I can still taste delicious things. In fact, the sweets that were given to me at the shrine had its proper taste.

    The strange ¡°power¡± hasn¡¯t appeared since I was at the park, so I guess it seems that I¡¯m an abnormal person.

 Volume 5 - CH 7

    Volume 5, Chapter 7: I became an elementary schooler, Part 1

    The days passed by quickly and I suddenly found myself an elementary school student.

    I also had my sixth birthday along the way, but it wasn¡¯t anything particularly interesting.

    Every year Father would buy me a stuffed bear from a famous brand, Mother bought me several picture books from overseas, and Kotone-chan and Ooba-onii-chan got me pretty hair decorations and sweets.

    Also, from Ouji-kun for my birthday, I got a pig of the American Duroc variety.

    The Duroc is a very fine pig with lots of marbling in its flesh.

    ¡°[Buuhi?]¡±

    Its round eyes were also unbelievably cute.

    ¡°Father, please send it to a meat processing plant.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu.¡±

    Even if he looks at me with that sort of eyes, there¡¯s no reason for me to keep a pig which is over 300 kilos as a pet.

    There were no problems with the elementary school entrance ceremony¡­ huh? I wonder why that came to mind. I felt like there were problems with my entrance ceremony in the past¡­ but maybe I¡¯m just dreaming it.

    Kotone-chan also entered high school safely, and Ooba-onii-chan entered senior year in high school. This time around, it¡¯s onii-chan who¡¯s the one that¡¯s got a major exam. He¡¯s taking an external exam.

    So it¡¯s Kotone-chan and Misa¡¯s dad¡­¡­ is that wrong? It¡¯s her onii-chan, well, that¡¯s inconsequential. Her dad is quite a good person.

    Since it was a junior high school student who had first told him that they were relatives, the dad didn¡¯t really trust her, but Misa took to Kotone-chan, and as Kotone-chan became a high-school student, she became very beautiful.

    ¡­¡­Is she into good-for-nothing men?

    They divided us into classes in elementary school, but I was placed in the same class as Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun.

    ¡­ Was this really a division of classes?

    Still, thinking about it properly, this classification was pretty natural.

    Because Takamine School has a middle school and high school section, there seem to be many parents who think that paying a high tuition fee for elementary school is better than paying for cram schools and private tutors, and from kindergarten and elementary school, good children from good families commuted to the school, for the sake of their parents who wanted the brand of [Takamine].

    That¡¯s why there are only 4 classes per grade in the elementary school that¡¯s attached to Takamine.

    And since there was only one class of children who were better educated than the average, they would be with each other for all six years as long as they didn¡¯t cause any problems.

    ¡­¡­ I guess it must have failed.

    If I had my original abilities, wouldn¡¯t I have been in the remaining three classes?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I feel like I¡¯ve made a mistake in my life choices.¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you say some very difficult things.¡±

    It was Ouji-kun (provisional) who was talking to me.

    As a result of my hard work over the past year, Ouji-kun¡¯s size has been reduced by about 20%. Thanks to that, Ouji-kun is now a [somewhat chubby but still cute little boy].

    I even saw some of the girls in the class talking to Ouji-kun, but Ouji-kun still comes to me for some reason.

    Because bringing ice boxes was prohibited when we entered elementary school, I wonder if I wouldn¡¯t have to stay by his side¡­¡­ thinking about it, because I buy things from shops and vending machines every time I stop, we ended up spending time together a lot after all.

    During that time, it seems that he I¡¯ve best friends with Ouji-kun, and the head contestant for [Oji-sama], Kouki-kun.

    At the same time, Kouki-kun seems to be rather bad at conversation with the young girls in class, as his intelligence is already well past elementary school. As a result, the very un-elementary schooler-like conversations he had with me increased, and the girls in the class got jealous, so I have no girlfriends.

    ¡°Life is cruel.¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you say some very difficult things¡­¡­¡±

    But the gods have not yet forsaken me¡­ Every time I speak about gods, it feels like there¡¯s a tiny earthquake, but if I spent time thinking about it, I¡¯d lose.

    ¡°Yuzu-san. ¡­¡­There¡¯s something I want to speak to you about.¡±

    There was a girl speaking to me.

    Is it this pattern again? And why is this child staring at me? It¡¯s pretty impressive, since she¡¯s such a beautiful girl.

    ¡­¡­Ehh? Do you hate me after all, God?

    Still, Kouki-kun was beautiful like that, but as a first-grader in elementary school I felt that words like ¡®cute¡¯ were more appropriate than the word ¡°beautiful¡± for an impression. Indeed, the bloodlines of high society are amazing.

    ¡°Could I hear your reply?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah, it¡¯s okay.¡±

    By the way, I¡¯m in the girls¡¯ toilet. Not even Ouji-kun could stick with me this far. As this girl called out, I was surrounded by several girls¡­ or that¡¯s what I thought would happen, but this girl was alone.

    ¡°Is it not okay to speak here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit¡­ in a place like this¡­¡­¡±

    Well, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s a pretty restroom, but I don¡¯t know if anyone will come.

    That girl and I¡­¡­ Shijiyuuin Kako-san will meet in the rearing shed nearby after school.

    By the way, it¡¯s not read Hanako, but Kako-chan. (Note: these two are written the same in Japanese.) It¡¯s misleading.

    I was wondering what the rearing shed was, and Kako was one of the keepers. ¡­¡­ something unexpected?

    For now, I have a children¡¯s use mobile phone, so I let the driver-san know. I don¡¯t know what she wants to say, but I only have Misa as a girlfriend around my age, so even in such a situation, I¡¯m rather excited.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I arrived at the rearing shed, which was a concrete building with cages like in a zoo.

    I guess it¡¯s because this is a rich school that they can spend money on such a place.

    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. What I was concerned about was the ¡°brazier¡± which was located just a little way away from the rabbits and the cages containing pheasants and chickens.

    Yeah¡­¡­ Someone clearly forgot to put it back in storage after using and left it here. That¡¯s must be it.

    ¡°Ah, Yuzu-san, you¡¯ve come.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kako-san?¡±

    Since she called me by name, I called her by name as well, but she had a slightly surprised look on her face that told me that she wasn¡¯t used to being called that by her friends.

    Did I come too soon?

    For a moment, I gave her space, since she was carrying a bucket full of bait while wearing a jersey. A diligent one, her.

    ¡°Are you feeding them? Should I wait?¡±

    ¡°Would you mind waiting a little?¡±

    After looking at her troubled face, Kako broke off after that one line and began feeding the rabbits.

    I was free while waiting, so I helped out with the bait, and the rabbits and chickens ate greedily.

    ¡°The students of this school don¡¯t take animals seriously¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    At one point, as part of the school¡¯s cultivation of our aesthetic sensibility, they had the students take care of animals. The students of this school, because there were many boys and girls with great egos, even if they kept pets, would only pet them, and it seems that they wouldn¡¯t even feed them properly.

    ¡°In addition, recently, there have been cases where animals disappear¡­¡­ about one every few weeks.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    For some reason I glanced towards that charcoal brazier. ¡­¡­It can¡¯t be.

    This school is scary.

    ¡°Thank you for your help. ¡­¡­now, as to what I wanted to say¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What kind of relationship do you have with Kuon Kouki-san?¡±

    Kako¡¯s eyes, which had been calm until then, were suddenly glaring at me.

    Come to think of it, Kouki-kun was the son of the Kuon family. This place spawned a great number of politicians, and I wonder if we know it. My father told me too I shouldn¡¯t be rude to Kouki-kun.

    His grandfather had been a member of the Diet, but resigned after it emerged in a weekly magazine that he had been given bribes a few years ago.

    For that reason, she seems to be in a bad mood now, so it seems better to not get involved.

    Still, he¡¯s a person of some status, so I can¡¯t ignore it.

    Surely the Shijiyuuin family, should be of approximately the same pedigree as the Kuon family. This flow is possibly¡­

    ¡°Kako-san, are you engaged to Kouki-kun¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    When I asked if there was such an ¡°engagement,¡± Kako¡¯s face turned red as if it had been boiled in a flash.

    Did I hit the mark? Moreover, it seems to be more than just that the house decided, but also that she herself was in love with him.

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean! I don¡¯t look at him that way¡±

    Looking at her with warm eyes, Kako¡¯s face became redder and redder and she hid her face with her hands.

    Whoops, I accidentally let my expression out. I¡¯m quite the middle-aged man, if I do say so myself.

    ¡°I only know Kouki-kun from kindergarten. Hmm¡­ because he¡¯s Handsome-kun¡¯s friend and so am I, we¡¯ve had many chances to talk.¡±

    In short, it seems that Kako became jealous because her fianc¨¦e is talking to girls other than herself.

    ¡°¡­¡­But, he doesn¡¯t talk to other girls, only Yuzu-san.¡±

    ¡°It seems like he doesn¡¯t talk to the others because they¡¯re too immature. I, personally, am not a very childlike person either. But, if Kako-san can speak so properly, won¡¯t Kouki-kun talk to you normally as well?¡±

    ¡°Bu-but, the saying goes that a woman should walk three steps behind a man, I, as a lady, have always stayed 30 steps behind Kouki-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This girl, she seems so intelligent, but she¡¯s such an idiot!

    £ª

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    After that, I asked Kako to be my friend, and explained how to interact with Kouki-kun to her.  It was rough trying to explain how to get along with him, and when I looked up, the sky had turned red.

    ¡­¡­ my mind had gotten fatigued after so long. But it was good that she understood.

    ¡°¡­¡­ then I¡¯ll accompany you to the school gate.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Yuzu-san, is it alright if I continue to consult with you in the future?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Oh? Isn¡¯t this the sign that we¡¯re friends now? With this, Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun should no longer be waiting for me outside of the girls¡¯ toilet.

    ¡°In the first place, Yuzu-san was good friends with Nikuno-kun, so you¡¯d never look at other men.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Unless¡­ are we being looked upon that way¡­¡­?

    I walked with Kako to the school gate, holding some feelings that I didn¡¯t understand. To be emotionally attached to Ouji-kun¡­ I hadn¡¯t calculated that there would be such a rumor.

    As I was internally about 20 years old, I felt as if I was pampering and fawning over him like a dandy uncle¡­¡­

    Because of the time, there were no other students on our way from the rearing shed to the school gate.

    Although it feels a little dangerous, both Kako and I are calling up our cars to the school gate so we won¡¯t be in any danger.

    ¡­¡­ For some reason, I feel like I¡¯m raising a flag for myself.

    ¡°[UHYAHYAHYAHYAHAHYAHYAHYAH!]¡±

    ¡°Look out! Here it comes!¡±

    A rapid reaction, kami-sama!

    That strange sound that came from a little distance away from us was a young man that was wearing the pants of what looked like what high schoolers wore nowadays.

    Oh, my eyes got drawn to it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ wh-what is it?¡±

    It was the first time Kako had seen such a person, and she was scared stiff.

    While whirling about an iron pipe, he was saying various things like [This school], or [This me], etc.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s a Takamine dropout, isn¡¯t it¡±

    *tremble*¡­¡­ He turned his bloodshot eyes towards me as I casually leaked out those words.

    ¡°I¡¯m NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT!¡±

    What a bother.

    If you came here for such a reason, please go to the high school division, and not the elementary school one.

    Ah, but that¡¯s no good. Kotone-chan and Ooba-onii-chan are there.

    The high school student approached us while brandishing the iron pipe.

    He¡¯s faster than I thought. As his muscles screamed, the blood vessels on his face popped out.

    Nevertheless¡­ I wasn¡¯t afraid.

    The [Power] that I hadn¡¯t felt since the park a year ago came from my deep¡­¡­ ¡°dark¡± part.

    Protecting the terrified Kako behind me, I gazed into his eyes.

    ¡°Heeeee¡­!?¡±

    The movement of the high school student stopped for a moment. In that time,

    ¡°Urrryaaaaaaa!!!¡±

    Someone called out at the same time and struck the back of the high school student.

    When I looked in the direction of the striker, there was a male senior who had thrown it, a used brazier which I remembered.

    When the high school student collapsed, the teachers and security who finally noticed the noise rushed in and detained the high schooler.

    ¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t get my turn.

    Protected by the teacher, we waited on the sofa in the school infirmary until our drivers came to pick us up. Kako, who was still in shock and fright, held my hands tightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Thank you¡­¡­ for protecting me. U-uhm, may I call you Yuzu-sama¡­¡­?¡±

    With her flushed cheeks¡­¡­ and wet eyes, Kako thanked me as she looked directly at me¡­¡­

    Ehh? Did I accidentally raise a strange flag?

 Volume 5 - CH 8

    Volume 5, Chapter 8: I became an Elementary Schooler, Part 2

    There was a bit of a commotion after I entered elementary school, but now that the seasons have changed and we¡¯re wearing different uniforms.

    I often play outside with Misa, who goes to a public elementary school, but at school I stay more with Kako, and a Kako who got more opportunities to speak with Kouki-kun was a happy Kako.

    Still, this child, who talks to me often regarding Kouki-kun, is a bit of a problem, I think.

    Speaking of problems, there¡¯s several.

    One thing is Misa. It¡¯s that ¡°Dad¡± thing.

    It¡¯s not because of the relationship with Kotone-chan. The thing about Kotone going over to the dad¡¯s place, it seems like Father doesn¡¯t make much comment, but the problem is that at the shopping street where the ramen shop where the dad works is, it seems that the number of the shops rolling up their shutters has increased.

    The dad doesn¡¯t say anything to Misa or me, but when I was playing with Misa, I overheard the name of ¡°Kuon¡±.

    ¡­¡­Just to make sure, he did resign from the Diet under the allegations of taking bribes, right? Kouki-kun¡¯s grandfather.

    There¡¯s nothing we can do as children, but it¡¯s a little lonely that we haven¡¯t seen many children other than ourselves in the shopping area.

    The other problem isn¡¯t really a problem, but the atmosphere of the class has changed quite a bit.

    As a result of that ¡°ruffian¡± entering the school, the deficiencies in the school¡¯s security were exposed and the gate was permanently closed, and the security guards patrolled about outside the fence.

    Why is that a problem? Although you might think it wouldn¡¯t be, it was a really big deal since they thought that it was me who had repelled that ¡°ruffian¡±.

    How could a first-grade elementary schooler do such a thing¡­¡­?

    Virtually all of the upper-graders didn¡¯t believe it, but the first-and-second-graders thought ¡®No way!¡¯, and stopped approaching me.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. If I think about it, it¡¯s just keeping the status quo.

    It seems that people will continue to be scared by me.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, at that time, Yuzu-sama caught me when I was scared of that evil ruffian¡­¡±

    It¡¯s because of you, Kako.

    Also, I began to feel stares from one of the boys in the class.

    That child is also a celebrity in a way. He was the child of a normal family, but his grades were excellent and he was in our class. Not to underestimate an elementary schooler¡¯s grades, but he¡¯d mastered English, German, and Chinese, and even in sixth-graders¡¯ tests, he scored nearly full marks.

    As a consequence he¡¯s been cut off from the rest of the class, but he doesn¡¯t seem to mind.

    ¡­¡­ how adult-like.

    His name was Shijima Yuuki-kun. He first looked at me after I got a lot of attention thanks to that incident, but when I first felt his gaze, I was really surprised.

    It¡¯s the dawn of my popular life! ¡­¡­Totally not.

    That look wasn¡¯t that of a boy looking at a girl. He was looking at me with a certain amount of vigilance.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s become rather troublesome around here.

    £ª

    Today, I headed towards the animal house as usual.

    It¡¯s not that I¡¯m one of the keepers, but from all the times I went to the animal house because I was accompanying Kako, I got attached to the animals. And while Kako was busy with her training, I would feed them.

    Since then, there haven¡¯t been any more of those mysterious disappearances of the animals. ¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be because of that brazier being broken from that time¡­¡­?

    It¡¯s scary when I think about it.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    As I walked down my usual path, I heard a short shout from the back of the pet house.

    The students who were assigned to raise things in this school were still as unserious as ever, and were hardly ever seen.

    So who would be there¡­¡­ when I peeked behind the shed, there was a boy who was taking a stance like in Kenpo.

    ¡­¡­ Who¡¯s that?

    He slowly released his stance and thrust his hand forward.

    ¡°Hah¡­!¡±

    He raised his voice spiritedly, and the empty can about a meter in front of him rattled.

    ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±

    The boy spun around and took a pose as I unexpectedly spoke out.

    ¡­¡­ Who is it? Well, because it¡¯s a school, anyone involved would be from the school.

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­you,¡±

    Seeing me walking out unconcernedly and very normally, his eyes widened a little.

    It was an upperclassman boy who had a somewhat wild feeling about him. The good uniforms that were painstakingly tailored had been lightly crumpled and wrinkled by him. It feels like I¡¯ve seen him somewhere.

    ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re from that time when you  beat up that strange high school student.¡±

    ¡°Aah~¡±

    Finally, I remembered. At that time, he was the boy who threw the brazier.

    Because I wanted to thank him at least once, I searched for him with both Kako and my parents, but as soon as he left, I couldn¡¯t recognize him.

    ¡°Yo, did you get hurt at that time?¡±

    ¡°No. Thank you for that.¡±

    He¡¯s unexpectedly candid¡­¡­ or rather, he has the feel of an ordinary boy. The boys in my class are stranger.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s natural for me to protect women as an ally of justice.¡±

    I properly thanked him, and he said such a thing while looking shy.

    ¡°Uwaah, amazing~.¡±

    While being praised I didn¡¯t forget myself.

    ¡°I am Kaijima Onzada, a fourth year. Which year are you in?¡±

    ¡°I am Toukaki Yuzu, a first year.¡±

    For now, a self-introduction is important.

    ¡°So what was the ¡®Ally of Justice¡¯ Onzada-san doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I feel like something¡¯s being implied by your words. Also, since I am three years your senior, you should call me ¡®Onzada-senpai.¡¯¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not you, it¡¯s Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yuzu. Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°So Onzada-kun, what was *that* that you threw out?¡±

    ¡°You, did you see it?¡±

    I didn¡¯t notice that I changed the subject, but Onzada-kun raised a pitiful voice.

    ¡°Something¡± had flown out of his hand. It was a disease that troubled 14 year olds, and he was throwing pebbles and nails.

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ ehm, that¡¯s right, I threw a shuriken.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ then where is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Don¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Onzada-kun looked around and brought his face close to my ear.

    ¡°That was because I threw it with ¡°ki¡±.¡±

    The answer fell far into the ¡°disease¡± category, it would normally seem like it was too late for him, but I was satisfied with the answer.

    At that time, something that was accumulating in Onzada-kun¡¯s body was shot out through the palm of his hand, and it ¡®shot out¡¯ something. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the ¡®ki¡¯ that Onzada-kun is talking about, but the answer seems to be most appropriate.

    If I hadn¡¯t seen it, I might have thought that it was a shuriken.

    ¡°Is that something like¡­¡­ a fighting game?¡±

    I only have knowledge of that degree.

    ¡°It¡¯s something like that¡­¡­ but the real thing is much more amazing. You can attack things like ghosts, too.¡±

    ¡°Ghosts¡­¡­ Onzada-kun can do those kinds of things, huh. Amazing.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, it¡¯s because I was born in a temple.¡±

    ¡°Oh~~~¡±

    Onzada-kun was a temple child. Indeed, I thought that his name was strange. To enter Takamine school, is he the child of some great shrine keepers?

    And although I thought that it was impressive, did all ordinary monks have ¡®ki¡¯ or fly?

    If all of the people in the world could do such things, then wouldn¡¯t there be more people applying to work in the shrines?

    I don¡¯t know the circumstances of the shrines, but I don¡¯t care, either.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I want to try too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    At my sudden words, Onzada-kun had a half-astonished-half-uncertain expression on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that the little childlike Yuzu can do it. It took a while before I could even rattle the can. It¡¯s not child¡¯s play, you know.¡±

    Since when were you an adult, Onzada-kun¡­

    ¡°Give me a chance. Teach me, Onzada-kun. I¡¯ll do it seriously.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well~¡±

    Onzada-kun began to have doubts for a moment.

    I was being serious. I wished that I could control my weird [Power] to some extent.

    One more push.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I can keep it a secret from everyone.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be struck by your parents if you leak it out, so don¡¯t say it! It¡¯s said at the temple that if you practice too early, you¡¯ll be unable to do it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I-I see.¡±

    Onzada-kun seems to have chattered out his weakness to me. It¡¯s a spontaneous kind of digging one¡¯s own grave. What is it again¡­¡­ it seems like he¡¯s the ¡°gets-carried-away-easily¡± kind of person.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯ll be a secret between the two of us.¡±

    ¡°Tha-that¡¯s right.¡±

    With one last push tipping him over, Onzada-kun suddenly became nervous and averted his gaze. What is it?

    I managed to persuade him with that feeling, and began to learn the technique of the ¡°temple¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, so, you suck up the spirit of nature from your soles, and store it under your belly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Imagine circulating the gathered spiritual power inside your body¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure.

    I don¡¯t need to collect it from the outside, since there¡¯s that [Power] inside my body, so I can just use that.

    Perhaps the quality of the power¡¯s different? Is it not ¡®ki¡¯ spiritual energy? If I did it with mental power, I got the feeling that it¡¯d be [Destroyed]¡­¡­

    *Gishiiiii¡­¡­¡­*

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    When I tried to stick out my hand to release the [Power], there was a sound like rushing air.

    ¡­¡­ what was that sound? I wonder if I did something again¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­B-Because it¡¯s tiring if we do a lot all of a sudden, I think it¡¯s better to stop here.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s right. I should go home soon.¡±

    It concluded like that.

    Onzada-kun said he would teach me from now on whenever we meet.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll eat something then go home¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Something¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun, took out the contents of his sports bag that he¡¯d brought with him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I saw it, I quietly took my distance from Onzada-kun, and drop-kicked Onzada-kun who had taken out the ¡°brazier¡±.

    ¡°You¡¯re the criminal!¡±

    And when I went home¡­ It¡¯s certainly not my fault that all of the 90 year old zelkova trees in the school yard have suddenly withered and have their leaves fall¡­¡­

 Volume 5 - CH 9

    Volume 5, Chapter 9: I became an Elementary Schooler, Part 3

    I have only a few friends, but I¡¯m alright.

    In my class, I have Prince-kun, Kako and Kouki-kun, so I don¡¯t feel particularly alienated. For my lunch breaks, I¡¯ve been taking walks with Prince-kun in the schoolyard for the sake of his diet and my physical fitness.

    Well, I didn¡¯t really want to move, but because Prince-kun didn¡¯t want me to remain still, he took my hand and pulled me along forcibly.

    ¡­¡­There¡¯ve been strange rumors because of that, but I can¡¯t stop them at this late hour.

    I¡¯m being instructed by Onzada-kun on a regular basis, but I still can¡¯t understand ¡®ki¡¯.

    As per usual, after stripping and withering 3 more trees in the schoolyard with my [Power] I¡¯ve been restraining myself.

    I might be in a different grade from Onzada-kun, but he might be the friend I¡¯m the most relaxed with at the moment. This person, regardless of whether he¡¯s genuinely good-natured or just pretending, is easy to speak to.

    Of course, I tried to convince him properly about that brazier.

    ¡°When you train in the mountains, do you always catch rabbits?¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s hygienic because it¡¯s an expensive school, but you have to be careful because it¡¯s not meant for food use, you know?¡±

    As the daughter of a food processing company, I can¡¯t let something like that slide.

    Well, erm¡­¡­ were there other reasons?

    ¡°Then, that girl stopped it with just a kick. And so¡­¡­ you know¡­¡­ you, you look weak, so I¡¯ll protect you.¡±

    ¡°ehh¡­¡­ uh, thanks?¡±

    It seems that our friendship has grown thanks to this exchange of blows by the river¡­¡­?

    Carrying on like that, it turned to autumn, and I turned seven years old.

    This year, another wonderful ¡®present¡¯ came from Ouji-kun. What a cute Texel lamb this year.

    [Baa]

    And then, nobody saw the lamb ever again. It¡¯s a light mystery.

    Incidentally, although it doesn¡¯t matter, it seems that the meat of the Texel lamb is the finest and has little fat, so it¡¯s great for diets.

    Ouji-kun has become much thinner, but he¡¯s still a little chubby compared to other children. Even then, when he gets called [Prince] by Kouki-kun, it gives me less mental damage.

    Today, Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun were playing something like soccer in the school yard.

    Kako was heroically holding onto a sports towel nearby, but I¡¯m the kind that gets dizzy if I stay too long under the sun, so I went into the shade.

    ¡°Hey, you there, come over for a moment.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    The wall that surrounded the academy is about 4 meters tall, and is electrified at the top. Still, it¡¯s not entirely fully enclosed, and the design was such that every few meters, there would be a small portrait-sized latticed window.

    When I looked through the nearby window, there was a pretty girl the same age as I was clinging onto the lattice.

    ¡°Hey~, you~, come over here for a bit.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Who is this girl¡­¡­? She¡¯s cute but her tongue¡¯s sharp. Her face was that of an ordinary Japanese person, but the color of her hair was weak and her eyes were brownish.

    ¡°¡­¡­You, what¡¯s your school? You¡¯re not from Takamine, are you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that, I¡¯m the [Heroine] of this world!¡±

    My question was answered while she puffed up her chest with pride, even while clinging to the lattice.

    ¡°Heroine¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t expect a mob character like you to understand, but everything that I do takes precedence. Such a thing is good. Hey, would you happen to know Kuon Kouki? He¡¯s supposed to be in this school.¡±

    ¡°Kouki-kun?¡±

    A friend of Kouki-kun¡¯s? No, no, I can¡¯t imagine him that way¡­¡­ he¡¯s a pleasant person and a friend. But I casually turned my eyes towards Kouki-kun, and she seemed to have found Kouki-kun after that.

    ¡°Aahh! It¡¯s really Kuon Kouki-kun! He¡¯s really as cool as I imagined. But he¡¯s still young. I¡¯ll, be collecting still images¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ehh¡±

    Oh crap, it¡¯s a stalker? And what on earth¡­¡­ I heard something strange about that pronunciation of that long ¡°kuon¡±.

    ¡°Who¡­¡­ are you?¡±

    ¡°What, begone! I am Sakurazaki Matsuri. The suburban genki-girl.¡±

    With a pose that seemed as if she expected a *sparkle* was about to happen, Matsuri closed one eye and stuck out her tongue. ¡­¡­Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

    ¡°Anyway, who¡¯s that near Kouki-kun? Might it be Handsome-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    ¡°After all it¡¯s so, but why is he so thin? Although he¡¯s still fat, but has the event already started¡­¡­? No, he might still get fat again¡­¡­¡±

    Matsuri began to grumble something or another.

    But how rude those words were¡­¡­ Prince-kun has also lost his habit of snacking, so I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll become fat.

    After that, Matsuri named several people, but I either didn¡¯t know them or their names were subtly different, so I couldn¡¯t answer. I have no intention of speaking out about others¡¯ personal information.

    And I nodded gently at her tales while I quietly pushed the button on the wall.

    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t be of use. Well, you¡¯ve been useful thus far, so if I enter Takamine, I¡¯ll take you into my group.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that person, wait, it¡¯s Kako, what¡¯s that villainous woman doing¡­¡±

    *pon*

    ¡°Missy, what are you doing over there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh¡±

    Inside the fence of the school, every several dozen meters, there was a direct communication line to the guards, a [Report Button] had been installed. It was just nice that it was close by.

    Just 2 minutes after pressing the button, a security guard was tapping Matsuri lightly on the shoulder.

    ¡°I am the heroine of this world¡± then,

    ¡°When I¡¯m done with my plan, I¡¯ll bury you¡± then,

    ¡°Hey, say something to these guys, what are you doing!¡± then

    She cried out a lot and was taken elsewhere.

    By the way, it was famous amongst some people that the security guards of Takamine were unforgiving to even minors who trespassed, thanks to the example of high school girls.

    Oh my~, I got to see something I don¡¯t usually get to see often.

    By the way, I shot everything that happened properly on my mobile phone.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Matsuri was born as an only daughter to an ordinary house in the suburbs.

    Although her father was occasionally absent at times when she was growing up and her mother worked in the nightlife business, she never had to live in need. Because her neighbors were friendly people, she grew up without ever feeling like she was lonely.

    Her steady mother dedicated herself to raising Matsuri alone as a single mother.

    Matsuri had the talent to charm and attract men unwittingly, and growing up with her bright and cheerful personality in the suburbs, she was beloved by everyone.

    With this kind of upbringing, she would have grown into a ¡®little devil¡¯ that attracted men unconsciously and innocently.

    However, when her mother remarried with the president of a start-up company, a certain event caused her life to flow in a different direction.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡­¡­ am Sakurazaki Matsuri.¡±

    It was a little different from the spelling of the Sakurazaki that was the surname of her new father, but she noticed that her appearance in the mirror looked like the heroine of the Otome game [Layered Love Mille-feuille ~ Ikemen Paradise~] that she had played many times.

    And at that moment she whispered those words, a huge volume of memories rushed back into her, and her little brain couldn¡¯t tolerate the load, and when she woke up from her sleep a couple of days later, she was the Matsuri of now.

    Matsuri recalled the memories of her previous life. The details were ambiguous, but she was now fully combined with the Matsuri of her previous life.

    The Matsuri of her past-life was the student of a school that would enroll any student just because they were lacking in student numbers, and played this game through the night for four days and lost her life because she fell asleep while eating steamed buns.

    However, Matsuri delighted that she was born again into this world rather than being in her previous life.

    Although she had heard of reincarnation in the world of games, she realized that this was the world of the Otome game [Layered Love Mille-feuille ~ Ikemen Paradise~].

    The story of the game started from the Middle school of Takamine School where the sons of the upper class gathered and their graduation six years from then was the stage.

    Here, Matsuri, as the healthy daughter of the suburbs, was going to grow her ¡®love¡¯ with the capture targets.

    There were 5 capture targets.

    Kuon Kouki.

    The grandson of the Kuon family that was both a lawmaker and a celebrity, suffered from his grandfather¡¯s involvement in bribing, and when one encountered an event where he went out in the middle of the night with a popularity rating of over 50%, one would hear of his troubles, and would change from friends to the path to lovers.

    Nikuno Handsome.

    The scion of a well-known meat processing company, he was convinced that he was cursed by the animals which became meat and wouldn¡¯t live long, and was stressed and became fat from overeating.

    He was troubled by having to slim down when the engagement event happened, and the flag was established by solving his troubles.

    Besides this, there was the black-hearted glasses-wearing friend of Kouki in the student council, for which events wouldn¡¯t be generated unless their compatibility was 80% or more.

    A boy born in a temple that used his mysterious power to solve the problem of Handsome Prince, and his love level wouldn¡¯t rise unless Handsome Prince¡¯s event progression went past 70%.

    A young teacher, who was distressed over his name being ¡°The electric beast of a certain game¡±, solved the problem of Handsome Prince who was also a fellow sufferer, and the compatibility would become negative if one didn¡¯t take part in his intervention.

    Evidently, this game was a multiple simultaneous strategy simulation, and the final goal was to make a [Ikemen Paradise Harem] like the title suggested.

    In order to avoid the criticisms that such a thing was impossible in reality, the final happy end was a rare relationship without marital relationships which could be called a ¡°carnal paradise¡±, which even included R-rated content. The game was a phantom game that was discontinued 3 months after release.

    From her previous experience playing this game for more than 2000 hours without studying, she knew what was essential for the initial capture of Kouki and Handsome Prince.

    Finding out at last about the Takamine School that was slightly different in setting and name from the game, Matsuri wondered if there were other differences since the game became a reality, and unable to wait until she entered secondary school, she forced her new father to move her to the primary school.

    As for this world, it was [Reality] and not the [Game World].

    It was only a story that a game scenario writer managed to write by chance by seeing what happened in reality in a kind of ¡°prophetic dream¡±.

    Still, by following the content of the game, Matsuri¡¯s hope could come true to a certain extent.

    Only, there was this one person¡­¡­ there was a [Girl] that hadn¡¯t appeared before in this world.

    LINE HERE

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Come to think of it, if this was to be placed within a sub-genre, what would it be? Urban low-fantasy? Or thinking about the 3rd book, high fantasy?

    Temple Story

    [Layered Love Story ~Ikemen Paradise~] added.

    Next time, the story begins to move. ¡­¡­ Finally.

 Volume 5 - CH 10

    Volume 5, Chapter 10: I Got Involved in all Sorts of Trouble, Part 1

    ¡°Time sealing technique¡­¡­? What¡¯s that?¡±

    Onzada¡¯s father and elder brothers came home less often nowadays.

    Onzada, who was the fourth male amongst five brothers, knew that his parents¡¯ families were a bit different from those of the general [Shrines].

    Priests in ordinary temples did not learn how to fight and train their bodies. They did not go out to purge evil spirits.

    His own father destroyed evil spirits that normal people couldn¡¯t even touch that possessed other people by filling up his body with ¡°Ki¡± which was a mixture of the body¡¯s own energy and the power drawn from the outside air.

    Onzada, as a child who knew of it, admired it as an ¡°ally of justice¡±, and devoted himself to practicing ¡°Ki¡± to the point of exclusion.

    Onzada, as he was now, has power approaching either his eldest brother or close to that of his second brother, who was without peer. When his eldest brother came home, he asked to be taken along for a demon extermination.

    Of course, he was refused. Still, Onzada that clung on to him, causing his elder brother to be greatly embarrassed and inadvertently spilled out one of his secrets.

    That was: the [Time-sealing technique].

    ¡°Onzada, do you know of the [Mountain]?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ It¡¯s where father and brother go to help out, no?¡±

    ¡°Several years ago, there was a [Shrine Maiden] who reported from the [Mountain] of a prophetic vision. It seems that there will be a tremendous [Evil] that will appear in the world about 19~20 years from now. At that time, we, cannot do anything but send it to the past.¡±

    ¡°Hah? I don¡¯t understand, Aniki.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand it well myself, but it seems that there¡¯s a technique that uses the ¡°zero¡± and the ¡°twelve¡± figures, and seems to be called the [Hourglass Technique.]¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand at all.¡±

    ¡°What I do know is that we¡¯ll be able to defeat that [Evil] several years before it commences its assault, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Beat it before it comes¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°If we can successfully defeat it, then the world will be peaceful in 20 years. Now, though, the [Evil] has caused the evil spirits to increase in number. Leave all these evil spirits in these few years to Father and I.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­But¡±

    ¡°Onzada should continue to train for the future. It will be your responsibility to seal that [Evil] that will come back 20 years into the past. If you don¡¯t, I won¡¯t be able to protect my future wife.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know¡­¡­but, I understand.¡±

    The story was too difficult for him to understand, but the fact of the matter was that within a few years, there would be considerable danger. Based on that, knowing that he had been entrusted with the ¡°future¡±, he obediently nodded.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Protecting the future¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t the teasing of his brother, but that singular girl that floated up in the back of Onzada¡¯s mind, and he hurriedly shook that image from his head in a fluster.

    £ª£ª£ª

    I¡¯ve move into the second grade in elementary school.

    There have been no changes¡­¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say, but it¡¯s changing bit by bit.

    Ouji-kun has become extremely thin. While he was cute when he was like a plush toy up until a while ago, when he lost weight, his appearance became much better¡­¡­

    I often see the girls in the class call him [Prince-kun] and talk to him.

    However, whenever I tried to join the conversation, the girls would all disappear at once. Are they still not accustomed to my appearance, or are they taking into consideration my needs¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t want to know about the subtle feelings that I don¡¯t really know much about.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, there was a party at our company, but Yuzu-chan didn¡¯t come? Uncle Tagaki and even Shijiyuuin-san¡¯s father came.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ It¡¯s kind of a little bit too high society for me¡­¡­¡±

    Where even people like the president of a company and a real Princess-sama like Kako went? My father would be troubled if a ¡°fake Princess-sama¡± like myself went.

    Besides, at a party, if I was to get along well with the party¡¯s organizer¡¯s child, even if I was being watched with strange looks, strange rumors wouldn¡¯t spring up.

    Even though it was such a wonderful party, Kouki-kun and his father didn¡¯t attend.

    I heard that the relationship between Kouki-kun¡¯s parents and his grandparents weren¡¯t good because of the matter of ¡°land speculation¡±.

    When I say ¡°rumors¡±, it was something I heard from the ¡°Spirit of the Wakame Seaweed¡± using hand gestures in the ramen at the ramen shop where the Dad was working.

    ¡­¡­ I wonder if I¡¯m just tired.

    By the way, only Misa and I could see the ¡°Spirit of the Wakame¡±. It¡¯s surely because both of us have pure and innocent hearts.

    £ª

    ¡°Are you a child from this shopping district?¡±

    While Misa and I were playing in the alleyway beside the ramen shop, an elegant man in his mid-twenties talked to me.

    I could tell that his suit was fine at a glance. Behind him was someone in a black suit with a bulge in it that made Misa a little bit frightened.

    ¡°¡­¡­ and you are?¡±

    I was a little wary, but I asked him in a childlike way.

    Still, noticing that I was trying to protect Misa, the man took an exaggerated step forwards, turning a sweet smile at us.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a suspicious person. I spoke to you out of curiosity because there aren¡¯t many children despite being such a wonderful shopping street.¡±

    ¡°Fuuhn~¡­¡­¡±

    He was saying plausible things, but he ultimately didn¡¯t answer my question. His face was smiling, but to me that smile looked like that of a ¡°snake¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­Misa, go back to dad-chan¡¯s place.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    I held off the conversation as I took Misa¡¯s hand and went to the back of the shop.

    Just when I thought that he would follow us, the man just gently shrugged and went back to the shopping district. ¡­¡­ Behind him, there were some more evil-looking men in black suits, but when the man looked lightly at them, they scattered into the shopping district.

    I wonder what¡­¡­ what was this feeling.

    After talking to the man who was just here before, I felt something light up in my heart. What is this small, fluctuating ¡°feeling¡±¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­I won¡¯t let anyone say that about our ramen!¡±

    We got in from the back and heard dad-chan shouting loudly.

    ¡°¡­¡­O-onii-chan?¡±

    ¡°Misa, please stay here.¡±

    Leaving the anxious Misa behind me, I looked at the situation happening in the store.

    Kotone-chan seems to not have come in yet, but in the shop there seems to be some ill-bred customer and dad-chan who were glaring at one another and in their own world. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant atmosphere.

    The other customers sneakily payed up and leave the store. The grandpa who owned the shop was cutting green onions in the kitchen as if he couldn¡¯t heard them.

    ¡­¡­ Actually, it¡¯s quite likely that he couldn¡¯t hear them.

    And, sure enough, that customer was one of those evil-looking men near the man we had talked to earlier.

    ¡°What is this ramen? It seems I made a mistake, and should have eaten instant ramen, which would have been better.¡±

    ¡°What was that? Could you say that again? ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fraud to take my money like this. Ramen is supposed to be fully stewed with pork and chicken, and at the moment when it¡¯s at its best, it is supposed to be a clear and refreshing soup, and not skimped on time or material or effort like this.¡±

    This hoodlum, he¡¯s actually a great lover of ramen, isn¡¯t he?

    ¡°And you call these noodles? Is this used paper? I thought it was a rubber band.¡±

    ¡°You little¡­ You can¡¯t even use the chopsticks properly, so what are you going on about¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to eat it. Aah, but if it were in some remote region, I might still be able to tolerate it. Your store should just go out of business quickly!¡±

    ¡°This bastard¡­¡­¡±

    Oops, that¡¯s a no no. That man absolutely refused to make a move, but was waiting for dad-chan to hit him.

    I¡¯m also¡­¡­ feeling like my heart is throbbing.

    ¡°Ooh, a brat!¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, get back.¡±

    As I entered the store, both the hoodlum and dad-chan spoke.

    Dad-chan put his knife down first. If he were to leave the kitchen as it was now, it would be a breach of the firearms and swords laws.

    ¡°Why did you decide to eat ramen?¡±

    ¡°Yu-Yuzu-chan?¡±

    Replying with a cheerful look full of smiles, Dad-chan had a confused expression on his face.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s been a while since I felt like this. I directed my look at the hoodlum. He¡¯s got a violent presence. And he¡¯s radiating malicious intent¡­¡­

    Was my heart thumping? Maybe it¡¯s because I met that man just before, but¡­¡­?

    For some reason¡­¡­ it seems¡­¡­ really tasty.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­tsuuu¡±

    As I gazed at him, the thug¡¯s body stiffened and he shut up.

    I wonder what he saw¡­¡­ I won¡¯t do anything, you know? I¡¯m just a harmless, helpless child?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s okay. After seeing such a superb man, you are unsatisfactory.

    ¡°Sit down, uncle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The hoodlum¡¯s eyes began to swim as the child smiled cutely at him.

    Perhaps the uncle is only looking at my eyes. Dad-chan seemed to notice something between the hoodlum and me, and seemed to notice the unusual state of events despite being confused.

    ¡°¡­¡­Sit down.¡±

    When I whispered please in a low voice, the hoodlum sat down slowly next to myself, as I sat down at the counter.

    ¡°Grandpa-chan, dad-chan, Ramen for two. Please put plenty of seaweed.¡±

    ¡°O-, oh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Aiyooo¡±

    Instead of Dad-chan who seemingly hasn¡¯t kept pace with reality, it was grandpa shop owner who started to make ramen briskly. ¡­¡­He heard me.

    ¡°Right, there we go.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, the ramen noodles were layered onto the wakame, and placed in front of us.

    ¡°Eat. Is it delicious?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eat.¡±

    At the end, when I was muttering softly, the hoodlum hurried, and began to eat ramen greedily. Oh no, how shameless.

    ¡°¡­¡­Goho, guho¡±

    Yeah, dad-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious, but grandpa-chan¡¯s ramen is also delicious.

    When I glanced to my side at him, it seems that he¡¯d been possessed by the ¡°spirit of the wakame¡± in his bowl and not mine, and it seems to be invading his stomach vigorously along with the noodles.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Uwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

    The hoodlum¡¯s face was starting to turn ¡°green¡±.

    What¡­¡­? Why did it become like this? I felt like it just happened on impulse.

    Surely, it¡¯s because of him. ¡­¡­ Sorry? If you want to resent, resent your boss.

    The green-colored hoodlum, put down a large bill while shaking unsteadily like a ¡°fish taking its first bipedal steps on land¡± and went off.

    It¡¯s a little bit too much, but it also includes the service charge (being next to a beautiful little girl).

    If I stayed here, would I meet that wonderful person again?

 Volume 5 - CH 11

    Volume 5, Chapter 11: I Got Involved in all Sorts of Trouble, Part 2

    ¡°No, Yuzu-chan, you don¡¯t have to come every day you know!?¡±

    From that day earlier onwards, I¡¯ve been waiting for that delicious¡­¡­ *cough*, for that wonderful person to come to dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop, because I couldn¡¯t go meet in the places where hoodlums gathered.

    I think dad-chan thinks that I¡¯m apologetic and that¡¯s the reason I come every day.

    Should I extend my net to the other shops too¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu, you, what did you do?¡±

    That¡¯s rude, Kotone-chan.

    ¡°I am waiting for that lovely man to come.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ Yuzu likes older men. It¡¯s honestly a bad hobby.¡±

    I don¡¯t want to be told that by Kotone¡­¡­¡­

    Since I was here so often, I began to assist the shop along with Misa, and the number of customers seems to have increased.

    ¡°I will help my onii-chan and make this ramen shop a splendid one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s amazing, you can do it Misa.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Yuzu-chan.¡±

    Misa is the same age as me, but I felt like she was cute and young like if she was my little sister.

    As I was kneading the cheeks of the cute Misa, Kotone, who heard Misa¡¯s declaration came in.

    ¡°Before that, is this shop going to stay in business forever? I hope that it can continue until he can run it alone¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? Why? There¡¯re a lot of customers.¡±

    The harassment from the hoodlums had also been decreasing.

    As soon as the hoodlums who were harassing the other shops came around to this place, I entertained them, and they all became honest. Before I knew it, the harassment to the entire shopping district was reduced.

    It¡¯s a lucky break? Or maybe something a little different.

    ¡°Hey, the shopkeeper is getting pretty old, no? He said that he would return to the countryside and retire once he couldn¡¯t make soup. He has good skills too, but it¡¯s important for the customers to trust the shopkeeper¡¯s taste.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Ojii-chan¡¯s ramen has a kind taste to it, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I too, like grandpa-chan¡¯s ramen.¡±

    It¡¯s not going to turn out well. Trust in the product¡­¡­ or perhaps I should say it differs from ¡°selling¡±.

    Will it sell if people¡¯s complexions turn green?

    £ª

    One day, the chauffeur didn¡¯t come to pick me up due to mother¡¯s circumstances.

    Although I called a taxi and it was okay, only Ooba-onii-chan had returned when I got home, and onii-chan had to eat ramen with me while we waited together.

    Both Father and Mother seemed to know about dad-chan and Misa. I knew, but I couldn¡¯t do much more to lend a hand and say that we won¡¯t stop involving ourselves, it¡¯s a subtle position.

    The adults were not being honest.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to buy some juice~¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go too far~¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    It¡¯s not a matter of me wanting to drink juice particularly, but recently, it¡¯s been getting hotter, so dealing with the roaring fire in a ramen shop is tough.

    I have become much stronger, but from the point of view of others I¡¯m still considered weak.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ how refreshing¡±

    It¡¯s comfortable at night. As always, I¡¯m not very sleepy. I might be turning nocturnal.

    I don¡¯t feel afraid of the night like a normal child, and since I haven¡¯t had any more run-ins with random attackers as well in this half-year, it¡¯s been a relief.

    Something came unexpectedly on such a night¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While I was chilling my forehead with the cold tea that I¡¯d bought from a vending machine, I saw a black ¡®cat¡¯ in the side alley in the shopping area.

    A jet-black cat with silver eyes like the one I saw at the shrine¡­¡­ From the depths of my heart, ¡®something¡¯ came out, and I felt like there was something itching in me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who¡­¡­ are you¡­¡­?¡±

    When the words fell from my lips, the black cat¡¯s silhouette¡­¡­ was getting further away.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    I started chasing after it once I noticed. My legs aren¡¯t fast. But I will follow [Him].

    ¡­¡­[Him]?¡­¡­

    ¡°Kyaa¡±

    ¡°Uwahh¡±

    I suddenly bumped into someone. The other party was also tiny, but I was weak so I fell over and landed on my bottom.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡±

    The black cat¡­¡­ was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kouki-kun?¡±

    The person I bumped into was Kouki-kun. ¡­¡­ At the corner of the road?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would it be better if I was holding bread in my mouth?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Kouki-kun reached out his hand to me to support me up, even though he didn¡¯t understand what I was saying.

    ¡°Sorry, Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ but, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kouki-kun. I was at a shop with which I was acquainted¡­ and then¡­ I went for a walk.¡±

    ¡°I too¡­ went for a walk.¡±

    This lie, I¡¯ll endure it. It¡¯s a somewhat strange atmosphere¡­¡­ Ah, come to think of it, he had a poor relationship with his grandfather over that land speculation ruckus, no?

    ¡°¡­¡­Then, goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?¡±

    Kouki-kun raised his voice in shock as I tried to escape quickly¡­¡­ such a toublesome fellow.

    ¡°With this flow, isn¡¯t it like listening to a story?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s troublesome.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s way too honest! You¡¯re kinder and more friendly in school.¡±

    ¡°A troublesome man, you are.¡±

    ¡°How mean.¡±

    He seems more like a little ¡®cat¡¯ than ¡®the scion of a distinguished family¡¯¡­¡­ I remembered that I¡¯d lost sight of the black cat because of this.

    ¡°Understood. Speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan sure moves at her own pace. Is this your ¡®core¡¯?¡±

    That¡¯s right. I am a narrow-minded person.

    ¡°You can think of this however you please. While Ouji-kun is someone who¡¯s easy to be with, Yuzu-chan is the only friend I have with which I can discuss difficult things.¡±

    Well, that might be true. Because we¡¯re surrounded by ordinary elementary school students.

    ¡°What about Yonjiuman Yuuki-kun? That person seems to understand, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That guy is even more insistent on doing things at his own pace than you. Certainly, he feels like he doesn¡¯t have time for other people.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ and I¡¯m free?¡±

    ¡°Well, well, I don¡¯t mean that. But you seem to be soft-hearted, and there¡¯s also the fact that you don¡¯t deeply involve yourself even if you do know the story, Also¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun scratched the end of his nose with his fingers as if he was feeling a little shy.

    ¡°Kako trusts Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ I was wondering if she hated me because she kept a distance from me, but¡­¡­ Yuzu-chan told Kako something, did you not?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well¡±

    Hoho¡­¡­ the misunderstanding has been unraveled, and the distance with his fianc¨¦ has shrunk all at once?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ please stop grinning like that, you look like my mother.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s all good.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    My good friend Ouji-kun was becoming a handsome young man, and it was unfortunate that he was getting clung onto by the onee-samas in the upper years like a god of rot.

    Kouki-kun¡¯s story was, as expected, about his grandfather.

    As expected, he didn¡¯t talk about the land speculation, but it seems like they were gathering a ridiculous amount of money for a return to politics.

    Kouki-kun¡¯s father was his grandfather¡¯s secretary and wanted to oppose the idea but he had found a bride in Germany when he¡¯d gone overseas to study, and ignored the marriage that he had been forced into by the grandfather. Because of that, it seems like his father wasn¡¯t in a position to speak out against his grandfather.

    ¡°Kouki-kun hates his grandfather?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate him, but I don¡¯t like him either. As a politician I think he¡¯s amazingly upfront, but I don¡¯t have any good memories of conversations with him, and he treated my mother quite badly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuhn~¡±

    ¡°Generally, the problem with my grandfather is having done things with the secretaries and the butlers for a long time, it¡¯s the  problem of Kidou¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kidou¡­san?¡±

    ¡°According to what Father says, it was a person that was willing to do anything for my grandfather, and it would have been good if that had been the only person, but when his son started to help out at work, he began doing unmentionably cruel things¡­¡­¡±

    Kidou-san¡­¡­ and his son? These two people are the problem.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    ¡°Did you hear that voice?¡±

    From the other side of the road, came the sound of multiple men¡¯s voices.

    ¡°They came to look for me¡­¡­ Sorry, Yuzu-chan, but thanks for listening. I was able to be happy for a while.¡±

    ¡°Just listening to the conversation? I can¡¯t do anything you know.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s fine, then, I¡¯ll see you in school.¡±

    ¡°See you again.¡±

    Kouki-kun disappeared into the dark residential district after shaking my hands lightly¡­¡­ Although he¡¯s a distinguished son of a high-ranking family, it¡¯s still dangerous. I can¡¯t say anything about other people, though.

    Maybe, a little bit of the problem that¡¯s plaguing this shopping district can be seen?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Kidou, how¡¯s it going with that shopping district?¡±

    In a luxurious office, an old man directed a sharp look at a young one.

    There were three people in this room. An old man wearing traditional dress was sitting on the sofa, and a man in his prime stood near him, while the young man stood by the door which was further away.

    ¡°The eviction rate has exceeded 30%. Although it is taking a while¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That time is a problem. How much time do you think remains until the next election? And 30%? That hasn¡¯t even increased by 5% over the last month!¡±

    ¡°But, sir. There are only a few shopkeepers who own their shops remaining. If we clear them off, the other stores will accept being cleared out.¡±

    The man in his prime~ Kidou, had served this master since his father¡¯s generation.

    He was a rather arrogant and ambitious man as a politician, and it wasn¡¯t just for money that he was doing land speculation; he understood that it was necessary for the development of the region, and felt an impatient hatred for the shopkeepers who were reluctant to leave.

    ¡°Shops like that should just be pushed onto the tracks with those usual guys.¡±

    ¡°Sir, we can¡¯t do that. In the current situation where the media is still paying attention, if an incident related to the speculation occurs, then they will suspect that it is linked to you, sir.¡±

    ¡°That is no way to speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­with all due respect.¡±

    It was the young man who had kept silent up until then.

    ¡°Control yourself, Kyoji, you¡¯re just a youngster.¡±

    ¡°No, let¡¯s hear your opinion.¡±

    The old man stopped Kidou and turned to look at Kidou¡¯s son, Kyoji.

    ¡°The shopping district, has begun to regain its vibrancy recently. The people who¡¯ve gotten involved with it have become strange and the development is delayed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What is there?¡±

    ¡°We have not been able to investigate, so it¡¯s currently still unknown. Although it¡¯s just a shopping district, if the uneasiness has disappeared and the vibrancy has returned, then all we need to is to add more uneasiness.¡±

    ¡°However, won¡¯t we have to worry that this case involving a gang will be linked to us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it would be best if incidents that have nothing to do with land speculation were to happen. ¡­¡­for example,¡±

    Catching the sharp gaze of the old man directly, Kyoji laughed faintly.

    ¡°The children in the shopping distrct going missing¡­¡­ how does that sound that?¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 12

    Volume 5, Chapter 12: What I Wanted to Say, Part 1

    Early in the autumn, I turned eight years old.

    Recently, I¡¯ve been a little busy after school. There was that practice, but mostly it was because I ate ramen in the shopping district and played with Misa. Also, when I explored the shopping district, I feel like the hoodlums were somewhat nervous recently. It¡¯s strange.

    I also heard Kouki-kun¡¯s story by chance, but I get the feeling that it¡¯s not going in a good direction.

    Next is taking care of the animals in the breeding shed with Kako. Ouji-kun also helped.

    Ouji-kun has completely stopped eating snacks, and has become quite slim. And hence, I heard that Ouji-kun¡¯s parents wanted to see me.

    ¡­¡­ Those parents who gave him that name? I was scared of that meeting, so I put it on hold. The excuse was that my body was still frail.

    Was I really that weak?

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Because it was cold out, I caught a cough while I was outside.

    ¡°¡­¡­oi, are you alright?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who had begun to train seriously, stopped his ki-training and approached me.

    The final reason why I was busy was because I was learning how to use ki with Onzada-kun. Even though I was taught for a year, I still can¡¯t do anything, so I often just observe Onzada-kun while taking a break.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a little cough?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been getting colder recently¡­ Since Yuzu¡¯s body is weak, you shouldn¡¯t make too much tea. See, your hands are becoming cold again.¡±

    Ah, that¡¯s just because I don¡¯t have much muscle, and it¡¯s cold out.

    Onzada-kun was doing martial arts up until just now, so his hands when they held mine were still warm.

    ¡°Is Onzada-kun feeling warm? Your face is red.¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been moving around too much. Yours would be too, you know.¡±

    When I let go of his hand, Onzada-kun threw over his jacket. And of course, I couldn¡¯t catch it with my hands, and ended up catching it with my face.

    ¡°*bleh*, it¡¯s quite sweaty.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, have some patience with me.¡±

    Still, I borrowed Onzada-kun¡¯s coat and put it over my shoulders. This time, I¡¯ll value the contribution.

    In this way, Onzada-kun began to train seriously beginning in summer, and I also felt his kindness. Even though I couldn¡¯t master ¡®ki¡¯ after a long time, I was amazed but didn¡¯t disturb him. I didn¡¯t say that I wouldn¡¯t come, after all.

    Onzada-kun was a fifth-grader. As an 11 year old male, I understood that he was becoming a ¡®man¡¯ rather than a boy, but isn¡¯t that too quick?

    ¡°¡­¡­What happened?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    Onzada-kun who was kneeling calmly turned to face my voice.

    ¡°What is¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nnn~¡­¡­ What is it? Did you get into a fight?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Something like that.¡±

    When Onzada-kun returned to my side, he placed his hand on my head with a pop. He¡¯s gotten taller.

    ¡°I will protect Yuzu¡¯s future with my life. So be at ease.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Of course I knew that he didn¡¯t mean it that way, but this is kinda¡­¡­

    My face was red.

    Also¡­¡­ I think I heard the sound of a small ¡®chain¡¯ somewhere.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Onzada was feeling impatient.

    Although it could be said that he was motivated, he, who had only practiced skills that looked cool as a child, made his parents very pleased that Onzada who had lacked ¡®mental fortitude¡¯ had begun to practice seriously, and his eldest brother who occasionally returned home regretted that he had spoken of the circumstances of the ¡®other side¡¯.

    ¡°Onzada, don¡¯t overdo it. We still have nearly 20 years.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Brother. It¡¯s not unreasonable.¡±

    There have been groups in Japan that have defended the nation since time immemorial.

    Destroying evil spirits and monsters that were the enemies of the world, readjusting the flow of the ¡®ki¡¯ of the land, they had protected Japan from ¡®foreign enemies¡¯ for more than a thousand years.

    Buddhist priests. Exorcists. Spiritualists. Of the ones who had handed down techniques for exorcising the foreign demons since long ago, the largest religious organization in the country¡­¡­ had no clear name, but was commonly called the [Oyama].

    Approximately 30% of the shrines and temples in the whole country were connected to the [Oyama], and of them, a tenth of them were families that directly exterminated evil spirits, and Onzada¡¯s family was one of them.

    And when that [Powerful existence] was found under Tokyo, they used that power to more efficiently get rid of the evil spirits.

    That existence was very sensitive to the things that could bring it harm.

    Just like a little child¡­¡­

    Onzada¡¯s elder brother also came to teach Onzada about that matter.

    Because he wanted to know what kind of [Enemy] he was going to have to confront, and felt that sense of crisis, Onzada took even bolder actions.

    ¡°Good, this is fine.¡±

    Changing into clothes that were easy-to-move in, they left their home at midnight.

    Although Onzada was delighted about his progress with his serious training, as ever, he wasn¡¯t making an excited face about his ¡®ki¡¯ training.

    After all, it was difficult for a child to handle and easy for them to injure themselves, he honestly felt that one would be in danger of neglecting one¡¯s studies if they seriously delved into it.

    It was a hard truth, however, that to become a true priest of the [Oyama], one needed a certain level of education. The fourth son of Onzada¡¯s family went to a good university and his parents were thinking of letting him get a regular job.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine, for I know I am on the side of justice!¡±

    Onzada said something that he would never be able to say in front of his parents absentmindedly.

    He didn¡¯t want to protect many people, just those few precious people.

    For that reason, Onzada was planning on making a ¡®prayer shop¡¯ which would leave him relatively free.

    ¡°¡±Onzada¡¯s House of Worship¡± ¡­¡­or something like that.¡±

    Even if he had grown, he was still a child like that.

    Well, the reason why Onzada had gone out of his family home in the middle of the night was for the sake of training his battle skills.

    Onzada realized himself that his ¡®ki¡¯ level was close to that of his older brother. The reason for that rapid growth was that ¡®pseudo-ki¡¯ that that female junior was using.

    If anyone saw it, they would think of it as a failure, even she herself thought of it as a failure, but Onzada realized that it was close to psychic powers. To the degree that Onzada felt that there was ¡®power¡¯ in his vicinity.

    Despite her cheek, it was easier to talk to that junior and it seemed that her mental strength was great, although she herself was weak. At first, he had only taught her ¡®ki¡¯ because he had let his guard down from her beauty, but now Onzada liked her as a person.

    When his father and brothers used ¡®ki¡¯, they forged their hearts with training, keeping their hearts still with willpower, and controlled their ki. That was because it was a stable way of doing so and would cause fewer accidents.

    However, how that girl used her ¡®power¡¯ was the complete opposite.

    Rather than letting it run wild with her immature feelings, she let it run wild in a stable manner with her high mental strength. Even though it sounded unreasonable just saying it, it fit her perfectly on the first try.

    Onzada listened to his brothers¡¯ words, but felt that this power method suited him.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder where it is.¡±

    Onzada calmed his wandering mind and searched for that presence. Looking for the spirits of the land or a wandering ghost. They didn¡¯t have the presence of a living being, but there were times where he could feel the flow of a gaze and their emotion.

    While it would be especially strong if it were an evil spirit or a vengeful ghost, they were rare, so encountering one shouldn¡¯t be common.

    ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡­¡±

    Although spirits weren¡¯t visible to the normal eye, they were able to be seen by a person with strong ¡®ki¡¯. And by recognizing that it was ¡®present¡¯, it became clearer.

    It was at the corner of the park. He didn¡¯t know if the spirit had been in an accident or had committed suicide. It was a vague outline of a middle-aged male, but as it turned its dark eyes towards Onzada he recognized it as the spirit.

    ¡°¡­¡­uuuh¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d seen a spirit, but it was his first time confronting one, and hence Onzada felt a bit of cold feet.

    ¡°¡­¡­You, did you want to say something?¡±

    Until now, Onzada who felt that he had only seen spirits as something to ¡®destroy,¡¯ spoke to it.

    Neither his father nor brother felt anything, they just got the exorcism done. What Onzada felt, although it might just have been his gullibility and childish sentiment, caused him to hesitate in doing so.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    The gaze of the ghost tethered to the earth shifted slightly. Following the gaze, he found the flowers that someone had offered it withering, and a small sake bottle was visible.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it okay if I open it?¡±

    Even though he asked, the spirit didn¡¯t answer. Onzada opened the cap of the bottle of sake, and splashed it on the stone that the flower rested on.

    ¡°Is that okay?¡±

    After being asked again, the spirit looked at Onzada.

    ¡°Can you even talk? ¡­¡­¡­*cough*¡±

    Onzada made an unpleasant face and coughed unexpectedly when he licked a bit of the liquor. Seeing that the expression of the bound spirit seemed gentler than before, Onzada took a closer look.

    ¡°Is that enough?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Onzada scattered the spirit with the ¡®ki¡¯ in his palm. There was no resistance¡­¡­ at all.

    Onzada didn¡¯t feel any sense of euphoria at his first exorcism, and his mouth twisted with the taste of the remaining sake.

    ¡°Haah¡­¡­ how bitter.¡±

    £ª

    On that night, Onzada exorcised another bound spirit.

    It was the spirit of an infant with an indeterminate shape, that spoke about a fairy tale that was somewhat familiar, and then faded away even without being struck by ki.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Remembering the taste of the sake that he had licked a while ago, Onzada felt like drinking. He grimaced, since he was unable to do so as he was a grade-schooler.

    Onzada was shocked by the realization of the truth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This was¡­ not a practice battle at all, was it?¡±

    He was slow to notice it.

    ¡°¡­¡­geh.¡±

    And as he walked along looking for a strong presence, he saw something strange in the corner of a scrap bin.

    Simply put, it was the form of a ghost of a glitzy woman. Strangely enough the outline was very clear and so was the malice.

    Remembering his brothers¡¯ words: that the number and malice of the evil spirits were increasing because of the [Evil], Onzada¡¯s face turned green.

    It was the kind of evil spirit that made him want to call out for his brother, but Onzada hesitated. It wasn¡¯t that he was overestimating his own power, but that the evil spirit had collected other floating spirits and was eating them.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit.¡±

    Because they were already dead, there was nothing he could do.

    While thinking so, Onzada rushed out towards that evil spirit.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    Screaming that, Onzada infused his fist with the ki of his ¡®anger¡¯ and drove it into the back of the spirit.

    ¡°[KishaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    At the evil spirit¡¯s ¡®scream¡¯, the scrap bin around it cracked and shook, bursting open.

    ¡°Are you serious¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    It was a fairly powerful evil spirit. If this was just the influence of that [Evil], then just how much power would that evil have?

    ¡°Uwah!¡±

    Onzada managed to dodge the evil spirit¡¯s swipe, but the back of his hand that had touched it slightly was bruised.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is this a spiritual attack?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help it. To say nothing of exorcism, with Onzada¡¯s power, even escape was difficult.

    ¡°¡­[Holy]¡­¡±

    At this point, the evil spirit was wrapped in a pillar of light by that voice.

    ¡°[GyaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?]¡±

    The evil spirit screamed in agony.

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    A few meters behind the evil spirit, there was a black, diminutive shadow.

    It was wielding a sword as large as it was, and, with a speed that even Onzada couldn¡¯t follow, it slashed the evil spirit vertically down from the head.

    ¡°[¡­¡­o¡­¡­ ah¡­¡­]¡±

    To easily destroy that kind of evil spirit, he wondered if that sword was some sort of divine instrument.

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-you¡­¡±

    That person who was wearing black clothing and whose face was covered in a black mask was even younger than Onzada, who was only in the fifth grade himself, and looked like a very young elementary schooler given their height.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And after glancing at Onzada who was dumbfounded, that black-masked person suddenly began to slash the floating spirits that were drifting around with the sword.

    Every time it slashed, Onzada saw that something like light was being absorbed by the black covering, and he instinctively kicked them.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Onzada¡¯s ki-loaded kick was caught by that large sword and spat an unusual spark.

    Even knowing that that black-masked person was his savior, Onzada couldn¡¯t overlook them.

    ¡°You, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    The black-masked person looked at Onzada oddly, and then nonchalantly swung the sword at him.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two of them faced each other dead on.

    At that moment,

    *Jajan, jajajajan*

    The theme song of a certain old man played, and the two of them unexpectedly lost the tension.

    ¡°Wai-wait a moment¡±

    After clarifying, Onzada took out his mobile phone with a red face, and his face changed at the email with no title and no content.

    Onzada felt the anxiety that bound his heart as he looked at the mail.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Story Template:

    [Onzada¡¯s House of Worship [Adolescence Arc]] added.

    Next time, the malicious shadow that approaches Yuzu.

    ¡­¡­ Should we be worrying about the protagonist?

 Volume 5 - CH 13

    Volume 5, Chapter 13: What I Wanted to Say, Part 2

    ¡°What¡¯s making all that noise?¡±

    I came to the shopping district ramen shop again today.

    If you¡¯re eating ramen all the time like this, you would get fat, so Kotone-chan, who noticed that number on the scale for her was terrifying, decided that today she would be swimming at the gym instead of coming.

    ¡°Erm, well, it seems that there¡¯s some roadwork?¡±

    To my mutter, Misa, who was doing homework with me, raised her head to tell me.

    ¡°Is there a lot in the works this time?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    When I looked outside from the window of the restroom instead of the inside of the store, I could hear some sounds but I couldn¡¯t see where they were coming from.

    ¡°Just how many places are they working¡­¡­?¡±

    The roadwork itself weren¡¯t unusual, but was it being done all over the shopping area?

    Since it¡¯s a school holiday tomorrow, it¡¯s not a problem even if Kotone-chan comes to pick me up, but I wonder if the car can even enter?

    Well, it can¡¯t be helped; I guess I¡¯ll have to stay at the shop.

    Now that I think on it, the backroom and the second floor of this ramen shop is grandpa shopkeeper¡¯s house, and Misa and Dad-chan are lodging on the second floor.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you should stay over~.¡±

    ¡°What should I do?¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s sleep together in the futon.

    We¡¯re sharing a bed. Yeah, that¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it¡­ When I started to drift off into my own thoughts, Dad-chan came from the shop to the restroom with his cellphone.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, there was a phone call from Ooba-kun, but since there were so many roads that were blocked due to construction work today, he might be late, so please make your way back by taxi before it¡¯s too late.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°And Yuzu-chan, did your phone¡¯s battery run out? I heard that Ooba-kun couldn¡¯t reach you.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­?¡±

    I took out my mobile phone from my bag, and indeed, it really was off.

    When I pressed and held down the power button, it turned on, but after a couple of seconds, I saw the picture of an empty battery on the screen.

    ¡°A dead battery, huh¡­¡­¡±

    You can use our shop¡¯s phone, so stay in contact. Would you like to call a taxi?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you¡¯re not going to stay over¡­¡­?¡±

    Misa looked sad when she heard.

    ¡°¡­¡­Dad-chan, is it no good for me to stay?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. And I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father! Recently Misa has been imitating you and calling me [Dad-chan], so the rest of the people in the shopping district are also starting to call me [Dad] these days!¡±

    ¡°It was an accident¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It obviously wasn¡¯t an accident!?¡±

    As expected, the straight riposte from Dad-chan is strong.

    After that, I called Ooba-onii-chan and then asked Dad-chan to call me a taxi.

    Ah, I wish I¡¯d charged my mobile phone before the taxi had come¡­¡­ I managed to charge it for one minute just before the taxi arrived.

    It was around nine when I boarded the taxi and the ramen shop was closed.

    It was quite late. It took me well over an hour to get a cab. At this rate, it might really be better to just stay over.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Miss. Because there was so much construction work ongoing, there were only a few roads that I could use.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Because the young driver with a well-built physique was talking to me, I answered properly, and went with the flow.

    If I can¡¯t even handle small talk, I don¡¯t think I can ever become a full member of society. I am an elementary school student.

    ¡°Miss¡¯s uniform, are you from the Takamine school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You know of it?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the best school in this area. With that kind of school tuition, I think it¡¯s impossible for my children to attend.¡±

    ¡°There aren¡¯t many of them, but there are children from ordinary families, you know?¡±

    ¡°Haha, those children are clearly treasured by their parents. If I had a cute little girl like you, dad would have liked her to go to Takamine, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Dad?¡±

    Does Dad know Driver-san? No, it¡¯s not a taxi company that¡¯s often around here? Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t seen any such company, either.

    Anyway, this driver, seems rather talkative¡­¡­

    ¡°When I got on the taxi, didn¡¯t your dad come to see you off? What a pleasant parent-child relationship.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Did he think that Dad-chan and I were parent and child? ¡­¡­ It¡¯s strange putting it into words.

    People who come by the shopping district often would know that I call him [Dad-chan], but when did this driver hear of it?

    Even though he was from the taxi company that was used by the shop, he didn¡¯t seem acquainted with dad-chan.

    And even though he¡¯s a taxi driver, he doesn¡¯t seem to know where I¡¯m going¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The conversation got interrupted as I stayed silent.

    The driver seemed to be trying to get ¡°something¡± out of me. No¡­¡­ It seems that he wanted ¡°confirmation¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Mr. driver, isn¡¯t this the wrong way?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ My apologies, but there are many roads that aren¡¯t accessible thanks to the road construction.¡±

    This might be bad¡­¡­ I¡¯m not one to panic in such a situation, generally, but it¡¯s quite the distance between being afraid of the danger and being at ease.

    That strange [power] doesn¡¯t always come out according to the situation. Since it comes out only when I tried to protect someone, I still don¡¯t know for sure if I¡¯m in danger.

    Besides, this construction work itself is also suspicious.

    ¡°I wish to get off here. Please stop the car.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I can¡¯t do that. It¡¯s only a little more until we get onto the highway.¡±

    ¡°The highway?¡±

    Although it could take up to 20 minutes by car to get to the ramen shop from the Toukaki estate, there¡¯s no need at all to use the expressway.

    Ah, this is bad. Even if it wasn¡¯t a kidnapper or some devious criminal, there¡¯s no doubt at all that this is one of those corrupt taxis.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t stop¡­¡­ I¡¯ll get violent?¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ why not try?¡±

    The driver dropped his veneer of goodness, and his voice dripped with condescension. It¡¯s a guilty confession.

    ¡°¡­¡­Then, I won¡¯t hesitate. *pusu*¡±

    Without a single ounce of restraint, I stabbed a sharp pencil into the base of the driver¡¯s skull.

    ¡°GyaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    He howled. But, because I was weak, it only stabbed in about a centimeter. I pulled out the tip of the pencil, and rolled myself under the seat.

    *gagon*!

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    The fake driver made a sound like he was spitting out air, and the car came to a sudden stop. Thinking about it properly, it would¡¯ve been dangerous if he¡¯d collided with an oncoming car. But it¡¯s too late by far now.

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡­ you cheeky brat¡±

    ¡°Oh my, you survived?¡±

    While he bled profusely from his forehead and neck, he stretched out his hand to grab me, but I gave an elegant smile, and left the car from the back seat.

    Bag: ok, wallet: ok, uniform: a little wrinkled, and the mobile phone was charged to 3% or less. I¡¯m all set.

    ¡°But¡­ where is this place¡­¡­?¡±

    Apparently, it seems to be a street lined with office buildings. There seems to be a lot of places without power because of the hour of the day.

    Let¡¯s search for a police box for the time being. Even though I can¡¯t see it, I think there¡¯s a convenience store somewhere.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Why¡­¡±

    That [Black Cat] was in the alley of the office town¡­¡­

    Those silver eyes stared straight at me. Did you want to say something¡­¡­? What did you want to tell me? What on earth are you¡­¡­

    ¡°Ah, wait!¡±

    As I approached it, it ran away. Even as I stopped, it ran further away. ¡­¡­ But, you were the one to appear before me.

    ¡°Something¡± was scratching with its claws in the depths of my heart and mind.

    It urged me to follow [Him] as he ran away.

    I¡¯m out of breath. It¡¯s natural, since I have no stamina. But I could still move more? And I was faster? And¡­ stronger?

    The fractured memories that my daily life had painted over, slowly regained their color.

    You¡­¡­ what did you want of me?

    ¡°You brat, I¡¯ve found you!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Where¡­¡­ was I? I was in something that looked like a vacant lot when I recovered my consciousness, and from behind me, while holding the back of his neck with a cloth that was dyed with spots of red, was the fake driver, looking at me angrily.

    ¡°¡­¡­oh my, you seem energetic.¡±

    ¡°Stop playing the fool.¡±

    Beside the fake driver, there were also some other ill-bred ruffians.

    At my words, the fake driver clenched his fists and came at me. Will it hit?

    ¡°Cease your actions, Shimabara.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tch¡±

    A calm voice came from behind him, and the fake driver Shimabara stiffened, and stopped.

    Two black-suited men came from the right of the car. A slender man walked in the middle of them.

    Surely, meeting like this in this place¡­¡­

    ¡°Long time no see, Miss.¡±

    Said the man calmly, with a snake-like smile. The very man who I met in that shopping district.

    ¡­ To lead me to such a place, you, what did you want from me.

 Volume 5 - CH 14

    Volume 5, Chapter 14: What I Wanted to Say, Part 3

    ¡°It seems that nowadays, elementary schoolers also have stuff like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­society nowadays is dangerous?¡±

    I was struck with an idea, and tried to do something I hadn¡¯t with the battery-powered cellphone inside of my pocket.

    Even if the battery was running out, it would still startup for a few seconds. I tried to touch the screen while it was in my pocket, and if I was lucky it would redial someone.

    However, my unnatural movements were discovered, and my mobile phone was taken.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ The battery seems to be out. Oi.¡±

    One of the black-suited men handed my cellphone to that man I met in the shopping district.

    ¡°After charging it and checking the contents, leave it at the riverside there. It¡¯s likely that they¡¯ll track the GPS function. Also, watch out for fingerprints.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°You, what are you doing¡­¡­?¡±

    As I asked him with a somewhat unpleasant premonition, he had a thin smile on his face and bowed as if he was facing a noble.

    ¡°Please, call me Kyoji. Oh yeah, you were carrying that phone. But it¡¯s so common for children to go missing in the river¡±

    So said Kyoji as he cut himself off in the middle of his explanation.

    Was it because it was troublesome? Did he think that children wouldn¡¯t understand? Maybe it was both.

    But surely it was something like this.

    If they mistook that I had drowned in the river, the police would take their time to search it. But since I wasn¡¯t going to be in the river, the investigation would be derailed.

    And finally, he was going to make me a ¡°drowned body¡±.

    ¡­¡­ again.

    From the depths of my heart, ¡°something¡± like a fragment of a memory emerged. It gradually connected the dots little by little and filled with color.

    There was something like this before¡­¡­? I was kidnapped¡­¡­ what did I do? I remember little boys and girls¡­¡­ eh?

    As it was, I was taken onto their car and taken somewhere.

    By the feel of it, it was about an hour. I thought that we were going quite fast because we got on a highway along the way, but we got off and on several times, and ended up in a narrow street as if we were waiting for someone.

    As I glimpsed behind me, the fake taxi driver who was sitting in the rear passenger¡¯s seat stared at me with eyes filled with hatred, and I waved at him lightly while smiling.

    ¡°You¡¯re rather composed.¡±

    Kyoji looked at me with eyes of amazement.

    ¡°Is it uncute?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re definitely composed¡­¡­¡±

    While that was happening, we entered a region with many trees, and reached a building.

    ¡°¡­¡­A school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. It was a school that went out of business five years ago due to the decrease in enrolment. They had thought that the countermeasures against the declining birthrate would be effective and the number of children would increase, but the results are as you see.¡±

    ¡°Even though countermeasures and subsidies are alright¡­ with no hope for the future, the number of children won¡¯t increase, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ are you really an elementary schooler?¡±

    I was taken out of the car and was having a conversation while we walked, but Kyoji stopped for a moment and stared at my face.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a second-grader in elementary school. In other words, I have nothing to do at all with that shopping district.¡±

    It was meaningless to keep it hidden now that we were here. I didn¡¯t mean to capitalize on it anyway.

    ¡°As expected, you are smart, Yuzu-san¡±

    Kyoji called my name despite me not having introduced myself.

    ¡°When did you notice that we were aiming for the shopping district?¡±

    ¡°That aside¡­¡­ I also thought that it would be good to show my hand. But¡­¡­ are you ok with me?¡±

    ¡°At first I thought that you were the child from that shop¡­¡­ but it was good either way. Because Yuzu-san is famous in the shopping district.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Life sure is full of parts where things don¡¯t go one¡¯s way.¡±

    ¡°Truly, you are unlike any child. If you were an adult, I might well fall in love with you. It is a pity that I will not see you again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ it is.¡±

    Really¡­¡­ why am I not afraid?

    I knew that it might be possible that I wouldn¡¯t be able to see my family any more, but in one corner of my head, I got this sense that it wasn¡¯t entirely certain that if I was killed, my life would disappear. ¡­¡­ or so I thought of myself.

    Whatever kind of elementary school student I am.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the principal¡¯s office on the second floor of the office building.¡±

    ¡°It is because there¡¯s a reception area?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The leader wanted to know the progress, so we came to this place. Will you make trouble if we meet?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ I wonder if you¡¯re having trouble with your subordinates?¡±

    ¡°Really, I¡¯m just a worrier.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any electricity except for some emergency lamps in the corner of the hallway where we passed by. When I entered the principal¡¯s office, there was an older man that looked very much like Kyoji, and next to him was a powerful-looking grandpa in a kimono.

    There were several other black-clothed guys in this room. By the time I¡¯d gotten into the principal¡¯s office and the school building, I¡¯d seen dozens of these black-suited, ill-bred men.

    ¡°Kidou, is this child related to the shopping district?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She is related to one of the people living in the shopping district. Because her face is well known, it should be enough to fuel the anxiety.¡±

    ¡°Might you be Kouki-kun¡¯s grandfather?¡±

    As I said my thoughts, the grandfather¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and he looked straight at my face.

    ¡°¡­¡­that uniform, is it Takamine¡¯s? I see, did you hear about me from Kouki? Loose-lipped fellow. It would have been good if he had just married who I chose for him. It¡¯s horrible to think of that child as my grandson.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Seriously¡­¡­ talking about doing whatever you like.

    ¡°I am looking for someone to carry on my post. Let¡¯s carry on with the plan after I return to the world of politics.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Make sure you get a good partner that will bear me decent grandchildren.¡±

    ¡°Is Sir going to make one himself?¡±

    Said Kyoji from the side, interrupting the conversation between the grandfather and Kidou.

    ¡°Hey, Kyoji!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Myself? That is also agreeable, but it would be a scandal if I had a child at this age. Even if I raised him as a grandchild, a girl from a well-educated and well-groomed family would not accept being relegated to just having such a child. Besides, I do not have the time to wait until he becomes an adult.¡±

    ¡°Several years from now¡­¡­ Thinking about it, it should be someone of a good family, and with intelligence. Hey¡­ here, is someone who has seen through the plan that Sir is behind the entirety of everything¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hohooh.¡±

    Suddenly, everyone¡¯s eyes were staring at me.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be able to have children in about 5~6 years. She¡¯s pretty and has a good head. Furthermore, she¡¯s a missing person too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I could feel their ¡°malice¡± bubbling up like hot coal tar¡­¡­

    From within me, something brushed aside my warm everyday life, and a dark lump slowly appeared, smiling faintly.

    A person who doesn¡¯t think of others as people, a rotten heart. Aah¡­¡­ why¡­¡­

    It just looks so delicious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji felt something, and then started back when he looked at me.

    With his eyes following me quietly, perched on top of the large tree outside of the window of the principal¡¯s office, was that [Black Cat].

    ¡­¡­ I see. [He], wanted to tell me this¡­¡­

    I¡­¡­ am a [Demon].

    ¡°¡­¡­aHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

 Volume 5 - CH 17

    Volume 5, Chapter 17: The End of the Incident

    The black-masked person took out an incomprehensibly huge sword from nowhere and came towards me.

    How dexterous. ¡­¡­ I wonder if they hid that sword in their pants.

    When I released the seal for the sake of letting Kyoji get onto the rooftop, it seems a suspicious person managed to enter in the small amount of time.

    ¡­¡­ now that I mention it, they have a certain unique aura and ¡°presence¡±.

    ¡°What are you doing here, Shijima Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I called the name, both Yuuki-kun¡¯s presence and the other person shook.

    ¡°¡­¡­How did you know?¡±

    ¡°eh,¡­¡­ aren¡¯t we in the same class?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­is-is that so?¡±

    A lie. As expected of someone who¡¯s never talked to classmates, I only had a vague recollection of his face.

    But now, with the awareness of a Demon, I could see that his soul wasn¡¯t ¡°ordinary¡±. I just didn¡¯t know what it meant until just now.

    When I returned to human form, he was still wary, but Yuuki-kun¡¯s tension lessened considerably, and he jumped off the water tower, coming closer without pointing the sword at me.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ who exactly are you?¡±

    ¡°Answer my question first. Are you a ¡°reincarnator¡±?¡±

    Reincarnator¡­¡­¡­ Those who died but whose soul did not return to their [World], and those who were born again while leaving their bodies behind.

    But his question didn¡¯t mean that. He was asking if I remembered my previous life. In that sense, I am what Yuuki-kun calls a ¡°reincarnator¡±.

    ¡°My memory is hazy. I have knowledge of things that ¡°I¡± do not remember.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ Reincarnation makes the memory vague. I¡¯ll believe your words for now.¡±

    For now¡­¡­ huh. He won¡¯t set aside his weapons even though he lowered them. Well, I, too, am wary of him, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    Besides¡­¡­ this particular ¡°presence¡±, is a little familiar.

    This was a person with the [Power] to hurt ¡°me¡±.

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re a reincarnator yourself¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, that¡¯s right. There are various circumstances. Are you¡­¡­ a different world¡¯s ¡®magician¡¯? Moreover, one that seems to have forsaken humanity¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun was watching everything happening up until now. I didn¡¯t know where he was watching it from, but it seems that he saw it all and thought I was some sort of mad mage.

    ¡°¡­¡­And so? Would you have let such a dangerous knave go?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oi, don¡¯t release your [Magic Power] so easily. There is only a little magic in this world. I don¡¯t know where you are from, but understand that this world is ¡®distorted.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuuuhn.¡±

    I see, so the power inside of me was [Magic Power].

    ¡°Hey, about this world being distorted¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain more later. There are plenty of things I want to know too, but if you don¡¯t leave quickly, there¡¯ll be trouble later.¡±

    ¡°Oh well¡­¡­ Let¡¯s talk in school next time. After that¡­¡­¡±

    As he trailed off, Yuuki-kun stilled his feet, and cast his eyes towards me again.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun. I have a name, it¡¯s ¡°Yuzu,¡± use it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Understood.¡±

    And with that short line, Shijima Yuuki-kun leapt off the rooftop and faded into the dark of the night.

    Will we be making a mutually profitable relationship? Well, as long as it benefits each other, we can depend on each other even though we don¡¯t trust each other.

    I told the dead zombies to carry grandpa Kuon to the entrance, and then when they were done, I told them to all die, and jumped off the roof, away from this terrible scene. ¡­¡­ I wonder if this event will be wrapped in mystery.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­¡­!¡±

    Moving a few kilometers from the school compound, I heard a voice calling my name.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Onzada-kun?¡±

    When I turned around, I saw Onzada-kun running towards me with an exhausted gait.

    I turned towards him, and Onzada-kun, who ran up with his hands on his knees, completely out of breath, had a look of sullen relief on his face.

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡­ Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, didn¡¯t Yuzu sent a strange e-mail without anything written?!¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Aah~¡±

    At that time, when I was just feeling for my phone, did I send off an e-mail to Onzada-kun?

    ¡­¡­Oh? But then how did Onzada-kun figure out where I was?

    ¡°Really, Yuzu, you¡¯re really on your own pace¡­¡­ I was worried.¡±

    When Onzada-kun¡¯s eyes turned gentle, and patted my head, I leaned hard against his chest.

    ¡°Ow.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Something like this, I somehow feel like this has happened before. ¡­¡­ But.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, you stink!¡±

    ¡°How mean! I ran dozens of kilometers here, but I worried so much after getting that strange e-mail that I endured it.¡±

    Onzada-kun laughed mischievously, and then rubbed his sweaty chest into my face. I¡¯ll remember this later.

    ¡°Yuzu, did your phone run out of power? I couldn¡¯t call you.¡±

    said Onzada-kun, finally releasing me after a while.

    ¡°Ah, now that I think about it, it got taken by my kidnappers.¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you serious about the kidnapping!?¡±

    ¡°Un, yeah. Well, it¡¯s okay anyway, since I got away. Isn¡¯t the conclusion alright?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu sure is relaxed about this¡­¡­ I¡¯ll lend you my phone later, so please contact your house. Your parents are going to be incredibly worried.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uuu.¡±

    As I ducked away thinking of my family¡¯s faces, Onzada-kun patted my head with a *ponpon*.

    ¡°From now on, if you are in danger, call me right away, okay? I¡¯m going to get stronger from now on¡­¡­ to protect Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uun.¡±

    Something was set alight inside of me as I heard Onzada-kun¡¯s words¡­¡­¡­ I watched as a thin, translucent chain stretched out of my hand, and connected to the heart of Onzada-kun.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s this.

    £ª£ª£ª

    When I returned home, I was scolded while crying tears of worry.

    As they told me later that it seems that my situation was just one step away from them contacting the police and turning this accident into an incident.

    For some reason Ouji-kun¡¯s Niku family was contacted, and they were pressured to pressure the central government to move. ¡­¡­ why did the Niku family help?

    Also, the Kuon family didn¡¯t appear at all through this incident. On the contrary, they even concluded that there had been no mass murder at all inside of that abandoned school.

    ¡­¡­ did the ¡°country¡± change things behind the scenes?

    After that, I was grounded at home for more than a month. Although I wasn¡¯t grounded from school, I mostly I went to the hospital for physical examinations and the psychiatric department. It was natural because a child had been kidnapped, but of course I felt nothing.

    Doing all that took about a month?

    And as the month passed like that, several more months passed while I got frustrated organizing my memories until, one day,

    ¡°Yuzu, I¡¯d like to have a word with you, so come to Father¡¯s study, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­hmm? Yes~.¡±

    I replied at once, and then followed Mother to Father¡¯s study.

    What did they want to talk about? Was it about the kidnapping? But since Grandpa Kuon was admitted into the hospital and was insensate, I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d make any progress.

    ¡­¡­ Was my identity revealed? Nah, I don¡¯t think that was it.

    ¡°Father, what did you want to talk to me about?¡±

    ¡°Ohh, you¡¯re here. Yuzu, come sit.¡±

    My father was in the office, and my mother sat down with me on the sofa.

    ¡°A formal apology has come from the new head of the Kuon family. Yuzu doesn¡¯t need to know the details of it. I don¡¯t want you to tell Kouki-kun about this, so I¡¯d like you to not worry about the subject. Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    I have no issues since I don¡¯t want to cause Kouki-kun to be awkward around me.

    ¡°And¡­¡­ regarding that ramen shop in the shopping district¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, it¡¯s not a bad thing. The two of them have been officially adopted by the shopkeeper, Mr. Iino, and they will take over his shop. After he hands over the shop, he intends to retire to the countryside.¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.¡±

    Will dad-chan become the new shopkeeper? It¡¯s good that Misa and dad-chan will be happy, but will the shop be alright?

    ¡°Ah~¡­¡­ We were also a little immature. It was good that you children were kind enough to be worried about them, but it ended up that you were kidnapped because the adults were hesitant. So, we are providing them the new line of noodles from the Toukaki company, and we decided to give them a leg up with their new business with the new bamboo shoots products along with Nikuno Ham.¡±

    ¡°Ooohh~¡­¡­¡±

    So there was such a thing. I knew that new products were being developed at Nikuno Ham, but would they normally be ¡°sold¡± to new stores?

    Well, that certainly was a good piece of news.

    ¡°That¡¯s all. ¡­¡­Ah~, that¡¯s right, Yuzu. Onzada-kun, who came to try to protect you is quite the decent young man. Are the two of you getting along well?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Yes, we talk often at school?¡±

    ¡°Muu, is that so? Well¡­¡­ Although this isn¡¯t decided yet, I should respect Yuzu¡¯s opinion for once¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Father?¡±

    Why would you say something like that? When I turned my gaze at my mother while thinking so, she breathed a sigh at my dad and told me.

    ¡°From the head of the Niku family has come to talk about wanting an ¡®engagement¡¯ of Yuzu with Ouji-kun, so what do you think¡­¡­?¡±

 Volume 6 - Prologue

    Volume 6, Chapter 0: Character Introduction [Current Volume Version.]

    Introducing the characters that have appeared to date in the [Current Volume].

    For the starting point of the next volume:

    ¨C Toukaki Yuzu, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader.

    The main character of this book. She woke up with various fragmented memories and remembered that she wasn¡¯t a human, but a [Demon].

    Because she was playing the straight man to the world at first, she seemed like a reserved, quiet young lady, but her inner self was always klutzy and rough.

    She wasn¡¯t a human with the power of a demon, but a genuine demon who had gained the knowledge and sensitivity of a female high schooler, who respected human values while keeping a Demonic thought pattern.

    ¨C Kaijima Onzada, Takamine Elementary School 6th Grader (general class)

    The fourth son amongst five who were born in the temple, Onzada¡¯s family were exorcists of the religious organization called [Oyama], and became friends with Yuzu recently, whom he went to school with and practiced with at the school.

    His personality was straightforward, but occasionally he would dig his own grave with his carelessness.

    At the present he is seeking to improve rapidly for the sake of protecting little Yuzu.

    ¨C Shijima Yuuki, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    A talented person who had excelled in the sixth-grade tests when he was in the first grade, he believes that he is a ¡°reincarnator¡± from a different world with memories of his past life.

    Because he only remembered being an adult, he wasn¡¯t familiar with the classes children took.

    He has a high physical ability, wielding a large iron sword as tall as he is, with considerable ability.

    According to Yuzu, he¡¯s an existence that could harm Yuzu in Demon form.

    Other Takamine School Students:

    ¨C Nikuno Handsome, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The scion of the famous meat manufacturer, Nikuno Ham, he had grown fat because of binge eating, but after being brought by Yuzu to discover the world, she and her friends started calling him [Prince].

    Yuzu was a childhood friend of his, and their parents were mutual friends. His parents, who had discovered that Yuzu was the reason that he slimmed down and changed his outlook for the better, wanted Yuzu to be engaged with him.

    ¨C Kuon Kouki, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The scion of the Kuon Family, who were local celebrities. His mother was a Japanese-German mix. With a spirit that was much more mature than his age, he was interested in Yuzu who also seemed to not act like a child.

    He had been worried about his grandfather, who aimed to return to the world of politics, being involved in land speculation, but his grandfather has become bedridden, so that problem was resolved.

    ¨C Shijiyuuin Kako, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The daughter of the Shijiyuuin family, who was of the same standing as the Kuon family, she was the betrothed of Kouki.

    Although she had received an education as befitting a genuine lady, she has a [Foolish] side to her. Because of that, she had misunderstood Yuzu at first, but now they were good friends.

    She was also getting along much better with Kouki, her fianc¨¦, than before.

    Family Members

    ¨C Toukaki Kotone, Takamine High school 3rd Year

    Yuzu¡¯s older sister. She was overprotective of the weak Yuzu, who was much younger than her, who she loved, but at some point, although they were sisters with a large age gap, their relationship changed and they became like friends.

    Her type of man is a mystery.

    ¨C Toukaki Ooba, Takamine University, Economics Department 2nd Year

    Yuzu¡¯s elder brother. He too was overprotective of weak little Yuzu who was much younger than he was, but now they¡¯ve settled into a boke-tsukkomi routine (TL Note: This is a kind of straight-man-funny-man comedy). Recently, he feels kind of happy being often chastised by his little sister.

    ¨C Iino Misa, Public Elementary School 3rd Grader

    Yuzu¡¯s cousin and friend. She lost her parents in an accident and rented a room with her elder brother in the ramen shop where he worked, but this spring, she was officially adopted by the shopkeeper Mr. Iino.

    Both her appearance and personality are younger than her age, and Yuzu loves her like a younger cousin and sister despite being the same age.

    Her future dream is to be a Ramen shop owner.

    ¨C Dad-chan

    He was Misa¡¯s older brother, but because he looked older, he seemed to look like Misa¡¯s father to Yuzu, who gave him that nickname, which stuck. He¡¯s an obscure character where his real name will never get called despite being a main character.

    In the shopping district, it seems he¡¯s being regarded as the father of both Yuzu and Misa.

    He is the next generation ramen shop owner, with a suspicious Tokyoite accent.

    Others

    ¨C Sakurazaki Matsuri, Public Elementary School 3rd Grader

    She was a cheerful downtown girl with a very cute face.

    She believed that this world was the world of an [Otome Game], and was a ¡°reincarnator¡± whose previous life was that of a high school girl.

    For this reason, she acted as if other people weren¡¯t ¡°people¡±, and her personality got distorted considerably thereafter.

    Usually Matsuri didn¡¯t act like the [Energetic Town Girl], but as a result of her naturally high energy, her behavior became considerably ¡°excessive¡±.

    ¨C [Black Cat]

    Something that appeared before Yuzu that she couldn¡¯t catch or touch, it guided Yuzu whose memories were cloudy, and let her awaken as a [Demon].

    I wonder what that cat¡¯s real identity is¡­

 Volume 6 - CH 1

    Volume 6, Chapter 1: I became a 3rd Grader, Part 1

    Recently, I, Yuzu, the evil, soul-devouring Demon hidden in the Kanto district, was beginning to struggle with math classes.

    I¡¯ve safely become a 3rd Grader.

    Ah¡­¡­ oh, I¡¯m sorry. Why was I having trouble with 3rd grade Math?

    Even though I said this before, since I remembered various things I¡¯m still organizing my memories, after all that¡­ I originally thought I was a ¡®reincarnator¡¯.

    Still, I couldn¡¯t remember much about my true ¡®identity¡¯. Still, there were ¡®memories¡¯ that I couldn¡¯t explain if I wasn¡¯t a reincarnator.

    I¡­ Yuzu, had memories of having lived 15 years, around when [Yuzu] was born.

    And I had died of illness when I was 15.

    Since most of the memories were muddy, even though I had memories of the future, I couldn¡¯t predict the future, and, in fact, it¡¯s already changed quite a lot, so the parts I remembered were useless too.

    When I went to elementary school, I should never have been in the same class as either Ouji-kun or Kouki-kun. And, as for the grade-schooler, Ouji-kun, I felt like he was supposed to gain weight¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ Did I do something?

    And anyways, how did the talk of an ¡®engagement¡¯ with Ouji-kun happen¡­¡­ It¡¯s troublesome.

    By the way, why had I been turned back into five-year-old Yuzu?

    I wonder if I¡¯m a ¡®rewinder¡¯ instead of a reincarnator¡­ Anyways, the reason that I thought that I was a reincarnator was because I had fragments of memory that I had spent as a [Demon].

    Perhaps, after I had died at the age of 15, I had reincarnated as a [Demon].

    Even with my fragmented memories, I didn¡¯t think that reincarnation was so easy, but I wondered if my previous life hated dying that much. In other words, was it a reincarnation by sheer fighting spirit?

    Why did I become a demon¡­¡­?

    Personality? Is it because of my personality?

    Oh, I sidetracked. Well, err¡­ In short, for some reason, Demon-me is living in the body of my previous life before I died¡­ish?

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯re you doing, Yuzu?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who was watching me deep in thought while he was wiping off his sweat, spoke up.

    I didn¡¯t like the smell of sweat, but the sweat of a hard-working man was pretty to look at. I understood the feelings of those girls who wiped off the sweat of others in those girls¡¯ comics for about 2 milliseconds.

    Onzada-kun was a sixth grader who seems to have been given the okay from his parents to train officially, but, as per usual, we were practicing behind the animal shed.

    He¡¯s grown a lot too, and now there¡¯s a considerable height difference. He¡¯s already totally like a full-grown man¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Hnn?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Before I noticed, I had suddenly touched Onzada-kun¡¯s face. Only one thing to do.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    ¡°Owwoww¡±

    I grasped a single hair and pulled it out.

    ¡°Yuzuu, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Ah, did a strand of beard hair grow out?¡±

    ¡°What!? My beard finally grew? Don¡¯t pull it out!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­While I understand that you¡¯re happy that it grew, please shave.¡±

    ¡°For a man to have stubble, isn¡¯t that wild and cool? Women like Yuzu wouldn¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    But the current Onzada-kun is so smooth.

    ¡°Stop moving, you. Are you really a lady? Well, to me, I find that more comfortable. So, strange miss Yuzu, what was it you were groaning about?¡±

    ¡°eh, well~¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to deny being a strange lady¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem¡­Well, a little while ago¡­ I was thinking about my ¡®engagement.''¡±

    ¡°*cough*, E-Engagement?¡±

    Onzada-kun sputtered out his water and started coughing. That was a good reaction. Ah? Was this the first time I¡¯d mentioned it?

    ¡°¡­¡­What so you mean by engagement?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a relationship between our families¡±

    Although talk of engagement had come from Ouji-kun¡¯s Nikuno Family, right now that was still ¡®pending¡¯.

    Hey, we¡¯re still elementary school students¡­¡­ Wait, Kouki-kun and Kako were also still elementary school students. However, I¡¯d be troubled if I was joined to such an old family. My family¡¯s business was doing well, but it still felt like an ordinary household.

    So, when we became junior high students, it becomes possible for us to have both ¡®personal¡¯ as well as ¡®familial¡¯ relationships, and get officially engaged.

    So right now, my position is as Ouji-kun¡¯s fianc¨¦e (provisional).

    However, while our feelings are there on the ¡®personal¡¯ level, the ¡®family¡¯ part is most definitely a hindrance. In other words, the connections with the Nikuno Family,

    ¡®[I want to continue to have business relations with Nikuno Ham, you know?]¡¯

    That¡¯s what I was told. On my shoulders rested the lives of 500 company employees and their families in the Toukaki company.

    Well, Ouji-kun recently has gained more friends, and I think that he¡¯ll be fine because he seems to have become popular.

    I wonder if Nikuno-san¡¯s family really just wanted to know the secret to the dieting process that much¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s why, it seems like the decision was ¡®postponed¡¯ until junior high.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t it unpleasant?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡­ If I said that I seriously disliked him, I don¡¯t think the other party or Father would force me, but I would be the [Eccentric Mistress] who only thought of her own [Wishes], and it would be dreadful.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But that¡¯s not it.¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    ¡°For Yuzu who¡¯s easy to talk to, as a woman who can diffuse tension just by being around, people would love to have you be with them¡­¡­¡±

    What¡¯s this, are you praising me? Are you looking for a fight? Am I some loose person?

    ¡°Uhmm¡­¡­ Are you worried about me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. I said that I would protect you forever. You are weak, so if you stood behind me, I would be relieved.¡±

    Forever¡­ huh. I don¡¯t think I will die at the age of 15 this time because I became a Demon, but how long will I live? Do I even have a life expectancy?

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ Onzada-kun, do your best.¡±

    As I said that, Onzada-kun, who looked somewhat cranky up until a now, smiled happily and laughed.

    ¡°Hehe. I¡¯ll be alright sticking by Yuzu even if you get into terrible trouble. I will bet my life.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡±

    A thin chain floated out of my hand.

    Even though it was much thinner than normal¡­ This careless person. It seems he¡¯s not used to being praised, and got carried away as soon as I praised him.

    ¡­¡­ This chain is a Demon¡¯s [Contract], right?

    Somehow, I don¡¯t have a single ounce of hesitation.

    If I let this get carried away any further, it seems like the [Contract] would become disadvantageous to myself.

    It can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll have to forcibly change the [Contract].

    ¡°Well, I will also help Onzada-kun. If you help me, I¡¯ll give you something nice.¡±

    ¡°Something nice¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned red. Hey, what are you imagining!?

    For the contract as it was right now, it would be bad for Onzada-kun if he didn¡¯t protect me perfectly. So by creating this situation where I can get out of it, I will be able to eliminate the dangers to me and to Onzada-kun. Furthermore, I should be able to fine-tune the contract¡¯s compensation.

    Fufun~ This is the wisdom of a Demon who has obtained the intellect of a modern person.

    ¡°Eh, you don¡¯t need to do anything for me. I swear on my immortal soul.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah,¡±

    This fellow¡­¡­¡­ The chain was dyed black in an instant. Because the word [Soul] was put into it, the contract was completely fixed.

    What do I do¡­¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯ll manage somehow.

    And another thing I noticed. There wasn¡¯t just one chain¡­¡­ If I don¡¯t check it, I can¡¯t rest easy.

    ¡°But, something good, huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Although I said that, some things are impossible, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yup~¡­¡­ if it¡¯s Yuzu, anything is fine.¡±

    ¡°Appropriate¡­¡­hah?¡±

    When I picked up the PET bottle of water that Onzada-kun spilt, I smelled something strange.

    ¡°Ah, that, huh. Drinking that became a habit when I was doing exorcisms, but I got annoyed when I had to buy it with my own pocket money.¡±

    ¡°Fuuh~n?¡±

    When I gently placed the PET bottle on the ground, I smiled and beckoned Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Nn? What¡±

    I softly wrapped Onzada-kun¡¯s cheeks with both of my hands as he approached, gently staring into his eyes and keeping him quiet.

    ¡°¡­¡­O, oi¡­¡­ Yuzu?¡±

    Really, this person¡­¡­

    I twisted the cheeks of Onzada-kun, whose common sense was misaligned to the limit.

    ¡°Owwwwwowowowowwowow!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, you idiot!¡±

    The contents are of course OOOO. (TL: Insert clear alcohol of your choice, as the author couldn¡¯t choose)

    £ª£ª£ª

    Onzada-kun really causes me anxiety. I kept him seated down on the ground and explained it properly. That his judgement was dulled. That it wasn¡¯t good during exercise, and since there was the possibility that he might have broken the building. I explained to him that he should keep it to the level of a single drink after work, and Onzada-kun whose cheeks were swollen nodded obediently.

    Because Onzada-kun had really only ever been training, his common sense was weak.

    ¡®[¡­¡­Sa¡­¡­ve¡­¡­me¡­¡­]¡¯

    Several months after I awoke as a Demon, I became able to hear a [Voice].

    The voice of a child crying out for help¡­¡­ Whose voice was that? Where did it come from? I didn¡¯t get any answers even when I yelled out towards the night sky.

    It¡¯s a little¡­¡­ annoying.

    And ever since I heard that [Voice], the number of crazy assailants increased.

    Once I saw their eyes I understood. They weren¡¯t in control. They were insane¡­¡­ they were being manipulated.

    These peoples¡¯ heart¡¯s desires were taken advantage of. Their intentions were being controlled.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s it.

    ¡°Aniki, I¡¯m still preparing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, don¡¯t take your time, okay.¡±

    ¡°Fuuuu, the shop is closing soon, Aniki.¡±

    On a certain moonlit night, a pair of strange people were trying to harass a store at the corner of the shopping district.

    These people were not related to the Kuon. They seemed to be related to the stakeholders of another property developer who was taking advantage of the muddy waters that the Kuon family had dredged up by their hand. The scale was much smaller, though.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll quickly set the fire, did you bring a lighter?¡±

    ¡°Yes Big Brother, I¡¯ll prepare it quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, this.¡±

    ¡°Ohoh, how sensible~¡±

    ¡°Big Bro, there¡¯s only the matches from the pub.¡±

    ¡°Ohoh, you idiot, give me the lighter¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them, stared at the disposable lighter in the Aniki¡¯s hand, and turned their heads to the one who was standing next to them slowly.

    ¡°Oy, what is with this brat?!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Aniki¡±

    ¡°Oy, because you¡¯ve seen us, don¡¯t think you can get back safely, now, brat!¡±

    ¡°Aniki is seriously showing off now, awesome.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Uhn, they were surely being manipulated. Surely such people can¡¯t be sane.

    They were interesting people, but for the time being, I dumped them into the space between dimensions. I firmly believe that they would be able to maintain their energetic selves even in a different dimension.

    Well, why were the desires of these people to attack these properties being used? After all, I¡¯m not supposed to be here today.

    After that was over, while walking about the shopping district at midnight, a ¡®presence¡¯ I knew appeared.

    ¡°Good evening. You¡¯re right on time, Yuuki-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What were you just doing? ¡­¡­ Yuzu¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 2

    Volume 6, Chapter 2: I became a 3rd Grader, Part 2

    Shijima Yuuki-kun, who had come for the meeting right on time, unmasked and turned his face away in embarrassment when he noticed that his actions had been seen.

    Although I was waiting for Yuuki-kun in the middle of the night, this wasn¡¯t some secret rendezvous, and if anything, our feelings could not be further from that.

    If I were to describe our relationship, it was like meeting someone again when I¡¯d just come back from Tokyo to the countryside, and even then, more like one of my classmates from back there who had a bad relationship with me.

    All we really wanted was information on each other¡¯s ¡®place of origin¡¯.

    And then¡­ just a little bit of the ¡®nostalgia¡¯ that you get from fellowship¡­ I wonder.

    ¡°Well then, shall we move on?¡±

    ¡°oi¡­¡­ do you know what you were doing just now¡­? Moderate your strange experiments.¡±

    ¡°Did it bother you?¡±

    ¡°To the the inhabitants of this world¡­¡­? Well, whether they live or die, or if you kill them, it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±

    How barbaric. It seems that there were various things had happened when he was being reincarnated.

    Even if I was doing something, I thought of all the experiments done by the mages who had quit on their humanity but never felt bothered by it.

    Anyway, we started moving off while the feeling was like that.

    It¡¯s so amazingly easy since we don¡¯t need to use vehicles like regular people. Well, for two elementary schoolers to get into a car at midnight would stand out.

    Yuuki-kun, with his high physical abilities, jumped from rooftop to rooftop, not worrying at all about me behind him. And I followed without saying a thing.

    I¡¯ve gotten quite used to using [Magic Power] to move my body¡­ Because of that, I feel like the inside of my thighs are getting squishy, what do I do¡­¡­

    ¡°Will this area work?¡±

    ¡°It should.¡±

    We arrived at a big disused factory in the middle of the industrial district, and dropped down.

    It was for the sake of an information exchange that Yuuki-kun and I met at night. If it was just normal information, we could have done it in school, but Yuuki-kun didn¡¯t want to speak about his past life much, and what I wanted to know was about the [Sorcery] of his world. And what Yuuki-kun wanted to know about me was the [Magic] of opening dimensional walls.

    So I couldn¡¯t practice where there were people, and had to change locations every time.

    ¡°¡­[Fire at the root of all things, gather in my hands, become arrows and defeat mine enemies]¡­¡­ Flare Arrow¡±

    *fwooosh* and from Yuuki-kun¡¯s hands, arrows of flame about 30 centimeters long flew out, scorching the concrete walls.

    ¡°Oohhh~~¡±

    ¡°Basically you memorize the incantation, keep a clear image of [Fire] and [Arrows], and [Shoot] in your head, and it¡¯ll activate. Of course, there is no [Magic Power] in this world, so it won¡¯t work for humans.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­incantation?¡±

    ¡°The thing that I was chanting a while ago.¡±

    ¡°Aah, I see. I thought that it sounded weird¡­¡­ but it seems that it was translated.¡±

    ¡°Translated¡­¡­? You, have the [Translation] skill?¡±

    ¡°Skill¡­? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ In the world that Yuzu lived in, was it the same as this world, without [Skills]? ¡­¡­ No, is there no concept of this? I also lost my usual skills, and even the [Secret Arts] could not be used¡­ that¡¯s the difference? But then that means that the translation of the cantrip in the first place¡­¡±

    ¡°Oi~, come back~. Aren¡¯t you¡­¡­ just using [Words]? Although they weren¡¯t words used by ¡®people¡¯, I knew them, so they just automatically translated.¡±

    ¡°No way, you know the language of the greater spirits¡­¡­? Although I have heard rumors, aren¡¯t they completely unpronounceable to humans? But then, the spell¡­ shouldn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°If you were using the language of the greater spirits, just by putting magic power into your [Words], you would be able to cast real [magic]. What I use is merely the ¡®knock-off¡¯ that was made to allow humans to use it¡­ Thinking about how long it took me before I understood the meaning of the spell¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun had an exceptionally sulky expression for his age. Apparently, it seems like he was quite the serious fellow in his past life.

    That being said, I was doing it unconsciously, but I used magic with the [Spirit Language] even in that school.

    I imitated what Yuuki-kun was doing and pointed my hands at the wall.

    ¡°¡­[Flames come out]¡­¡±

    ¡­*pusuuu*

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Eeh~¡­¡­ why did it turn out like that?

    ¡°Yuzu¡¯s magic power is strong. It¡¯s to the point that it¡¯s superhuman, and that might have influenced it. I felt magic power even the first time I met Yuzu, so I was cautious. I couldn¡¯t see you status¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sta-tus? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun who I thought of as quiet normally grimaced. But in our current state of cooperation, because it seemed like he was an ¡®accomplice¡¯, it seems he gave up, and gave me a detailed explanation as to what was wrong.

    ¡°Ah, it feels like a game.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, it feels like that. When I translated it into the words of this world, it was most casual¡­¡­ even my [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].¡±

    ¡°Fuuuhn.¡±

    ¡­¡­ As expected, he¡¯s a [Hero] type.

    As I understood that, I knew that Yuuki-kun was the natural enemy to [Demon me]

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°No, just thinking about how Yuuki-kun plays games¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It-it can¡¯t be helped. My parents bought it. It would be very odd if I didn¡¯t play.¡±

    Yuuki-kun, who had been taken in by my words, turned red and made an excuse. My parents now are the good people. My family has not lost.

    *pon*

    ¡°Don¡¯t tap my shoulder while having that strange agreeable smile.¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tsch. Yuzu, show me your status. I couldn¡¯t see it in school because I didn¡¯t have the time. In the meantime, you have to stay still, so it¡¯s a little unnatural?¡±

    ¡°Uwaa, I want to see it too. But¡­ how do you see it? Can I use it too?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I can use it but the time spent depends on the magic power being consumed, it is about 5 minutes at maximum magic power. If I cut down on the power, it might take 30 minutes, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Then in 5 minutes, please.¡±

    ¡°Please hold still. We are normal humans, after all.¡±

    ¡°Normal, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Hero-sama is not a normal human being, is he?

    Before that, I¡¯ll briefly explain. I was told the average values of a normal person.

    Physical Endurance: 100. Mental Endurance: 60

    Strength: 12

    Defense: 10

    Dexterity: 10

    Intelligence: 7

    Magic Power: 8

    It seems that this is the status of the general adult male¡­¡­

    ¡°How much is Physical Endurance 1? What is it based on? What about the mental endurance of an insect?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Please don¡¯t ask such difficult questions.¡±

    It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried. This is not a game world.

    According to Yuuki-kun¡¯s explanation, a great magician in the past decided on it after talking to a [Greater Spirit], and the numeric values were approximate, the smaller decimals were ¡¯rounded up¡¯.

    So even mosquitos and cicadas who had [Physical Endurance 1] would die by being stepped on normally, but if small animals had the same [Physical Endurance 1], they would not die from being stepped on.

    In short, the [Physical Endurance 1] was ¡¯rounded up¡¯ so in fact it might only have been 0.1.

    Even if there was a person with [Physical Endurance 1], they wouldn¡¯t die by being stepped on. Because the body itself had a durability and defense value thanks to its size, if one didn¡¯t kick, or only hit it lightly, the physical endurance wouldn¡¯t decrease. ¡­¡­Such a stupid living thing is impossible, though.

    Well, for the time being, enough about [Skills] and magic, let¡¯s try to eavesdrop on the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] that he doesn¡¯t want to talk about.

    ¡°Then, be still.¡±

    ¡°Five minutes long, huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Please spare a thought for the hardship I have to go through. Besides, I would think it¡¯s natural to take time to read what a soul contains. Because the information will be on the floor for a few seconds, don¡¯t miss it. ¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Yuuki-kun was surprisingly kind. Although you could think of it as being good-natured, but I guess it¡¯s because he¡¯s well-bred.

    And I felt magic power coming from Yuuki-kun¡­ a few minutes later¡­

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Yuuki-kun!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun¡¯s expression suddenly paled, and sweat dripped from his face onto the ground.

    What¡¯s going on?

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    When I tried to rush over, I noticed the letters floating under my feet. I didn¡¯t need to see them now. ¡­¡­ While I thought so when looking at them, the strange letters jumped into the light.

    Name: ¦Å¦Ñ¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê Age: 8 Race: ¦Î¦É¦Á¦Â¦Ï¦Ë Gender: Female

    Physical Endurance: 57 Mental Endurance: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ¡­¡­

    Strength: 5

    Defense: 4

    Dexterity: 7

    Intelligence: 2

    Magic Power: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ¡­¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ why is my [Intelligence] so low!?

    £ª£ª£ª

    Shijima Yuuki was born to an ordinary household nine years ago.

    His family comprised his sister, and their parents in a four-member family, and if the child currently in his mother¡¯s stomach was born, it would become five. His older sister, who was three years his senior, believed that his younger sibling would be born a girl, and played sword-fighting games and had silly disputes with his father, all while the mother smiled and stared at them.

    In this happy family, only Yuuki was different.

    While he was always close to normal, he would always pull away from it just a little. It seemed that he was afraid to involve himself more than was necessary.

    The Hero of Wind, Fortellis. That was Yuuki¡¯s [Name] in his past life.

    When he was born as a baby that couldn¡¯t hear or see well, anger and hatred was born in his heart.

    Yuuki¡­no, Fortellis had been betrayed. By those who protected, his friends and comrades in arms, the other ¡®heroes¡¯.

    In the world that Yuuki was in, [Tess], the [Forces of Light] were the humans, the elves, and the dwarves, while the [Dark Forces] were the dark elves, the beastmen, and the intelligent monsters, and they had been fighting each other for thousands of years.

    The [Darkness], who were good at robbing others, were the stronger, while the [Forces of Light] were the weaker in the war. Requesting for the [Hero] to stand at the frontlines, genius magicians and priests spent a long time completing the [Secret Arts] for the hero.

    Also known as the [Hero System].

    Originally, [Heroes] were born from the spirits of light giving their divine protection to a fitting person when humanity experienced a crisis. However, the conflict between the races wasn¡¯t being regarded as a ¡®crisis for humanity¡¯ for the spirit of light, and no hero was born.

    Then, using the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art], they forcibly gave the candidate the light attribute, and produced an artificial half-hero, and some of them virtually had the divine blessings of the spirits of light.

    But, it seems that it was too difficult for them to use a lot of magic powers, and rather than talent, it needed their [Souls] to be strong.

    Although a small number of them could handle it, one or two in a hundred years was too helpless, and the magicians consumed a huge amount of magic power and cast a large-scale magic, to summon heroes from [Another World].

    The souls that could cross dimensions were often strong, and although not everyone called had strong powers, they were able to overcome their weaknesses.

    The four heroes who had survived at that time, with the inscriptions of the four great elements, married the princesses of the four greatest powers on the continent, and each became a king.

    Since then, for over a thousand years, the conflicts between the light and darkness hadn¡¯t ended, and thousands of people continued to be summoned from other worlds.

    It wasn¡¯t officially decided that there would only be 4 heroes, but in any single age, there were never more than 4 heroes. It was because the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] was difficult, and required immensely strong souls.

    In the era that Yuuki lived in, the heroes that were summoned were only three, and all of them were still young boys, while the King of the Hako Kingdom, who could not summon a hero, appointed the son of the Knight Commander, the most talented knight, Fortellis, as a substitute until a hero could be summoned.

    Fortellis wasn¡¯t the equal of the heroes summoned from another world, but from his inborn seriousness, he grasped the [Ancient Secret Art] that the other heroes could not, and with the powers of healing and magical barriers, he was able to show his power on the battlefield.

    Then, when compared to the heroes summoned from another world who had suddenly experienced being worshipped and grown arrogant, people began to pin their hopes on the hero that was from their own world.

    And then, as Fortellis¡¯ name spread far and wide, when he set off with only a few elites and his followers on a mission to assassinate the dark elves¡¯ king, Fortellis, the Hero of Wind¡­¡­ was murdered by the heroes from another world.

    It was a betrayal by the fellows whom he called his comrades. A cowardly trap that had been laid by his followers, who had been blinded by gold and fame.

    In his suffering, pain and despair, he was swallowed up by the darkness, and when he came to, he had become a baby, reborn into the world of the heroes who had betrayed him.

    He did not feel like fighting for his world any more. This world, the world where the other heroes had come from, became the subject of his hatred.

    Among all this, only the girl called ¡®Yuzu¡¯, who had come from another world that was not his own or this one, could let him put his guard down slightly.

    He had first seen her when he¡¯d entered elementary school.

    It wasn¡¯t just because he had felt the magic power that this world had nearly none of from her, she was as beautiful as a demon deceiver, Yuuki was wary of Yuzu.

    But, even though he guessed that Yuzu was some inhuman sorcerer, whose character was innocent and not cruel, she was a ¡®fairy¡¯-like girl who did not understand the difference in the value of life of humans and animals.

    Yuuki, who tried to appraise her power, got dizzy from the sheer amount of information that was distorted, and her magic power, which could not even be determined by the upper limits of the appraisal, was proof that her magic power was much greater than his, and he smiled quietly.

    Yuuki quietly sharpened his fangs as he thought of using Yuzu.

    Someday, he would return to his original world, and take his revenge on those heroes¡­¡­

 Volume 6 - CH 3

    Volume 6, Chapter 3: Turned into a mob character, Part 1

    On a quiet piece of land in Kamakura, an old man lived away from his family.

    The house wasn¡¯t as big as the ones surrounding it, but for a single person, it was extensive, and could even be called a mansion.

    Originally, this house was prepared for the sake of spending the rest of his live together with his wife after he relinquished his company to his son.

    But his wife had left him and the world a few years ago and risen to heaven.

    Written on the nameplate of the house was [Toukaki].

    When he was younger, he¡¯d started his business together with his wife, and by luck, they had gotten acquainted with the heir to a large corporation, and the company grew immensely in one generation. But that was also because his wife was beside him and supporting him.

    He¡¯d met his wife around the age of 20. And the moment he saw her for the first time, he knew that she was ¡®the one¡¯.

    At that time, she had just lost her fianc¨¦, and after healing her heart for three years, he was able to marry her.

    He¡¯d founded his company, and had children, and it was a smooth life, though busy. Hence, he¡¯d always wanted to live with his wife together quietly when they grew older.

    But after giving up the company, and beginning to live in the world of their own, he¡¯d lost his wife to illness.

    Unable to fill up the sense of loss, he lived alone in this house that he¡¯d set aside to live with his wife, away from his children and grandchildren.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He gazed at the garden idly.

    Every day, the housekeeper would come by to prepare the meals, but he despised interacting with people, and never ever had a conversation.

    ¡®(¡­¡­ who was the last person I talked to?)¡¯

    To him, though, that wasn¡¯t a big problem. He didn¡¯t want to disturb the memories of his wife in his mind, and forget the time when he was happy.

    However, he recently found something strange in his memory.

    He had met his wife when he had become an adult. But, when he plumbed his memories, he would remember the look of his wife as a child.

    The eyes of his wife when they were young, staring at him¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    When he had noticed, there were a pair of ¡®eyes¡¯ that were the same as his wife¡¯s staring at him from the garden.

    Eyes that closely resembled his wife¡¯s¡­¡­ but it wasn¡¯t the phantom of his wife as a child. And, dredging up his memories, he remembered his granddaughter, who greatly resembled his wife.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­ is it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Grandfather¡­¡±

    Yuzu said, as she smiled.

    After not meeting his granddaughter for many years, she had grown much larger than she had been previously. Why was Yuzu here?

    Yuzu smiled, and held out one hand towards him.

    She grabbed a little black chain that shone in her hand, a chain was linked to his chest.

    ¡°¡­¡­aah¡­¡­¡±

    In that instant, he remembered.

    What had happened before he¡¯d met his wife¡­ what had happened in his past life. And of his life before that.

    And when he saw the light in Yuzu¡¯s eyes, in the same light, the shape of a beautiful [Golden Demon] appeared before him.

    ¡°You remember everything¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, I remembered the reason why I am here¡±

    With a gentle smile, he bowed deeply towards his granddaughter.

    ¡°Thank you¡­ Yuzu. Grandfather was able to be happy.¡±

    When he raised his head, his granddaughter was nowhere to be seen.

    £ª£ª£ª

    No way, another one of the chains was connected to my grandfather¡­¡­

    I wonder what ¡®I¡¯ did before my memories was messed up¡­? But the new one seems like a long term contract¡­ Un~.

    Well, whatever. I noticed something recently.

    What was with me taking math for sixth-graders?

    Even though I thought it was strange, but the ordinary classes learned mathematics for third-graders. The curriculum is different only in this class with Kouki-kun and Kako.

    Apparently there was one class in the entire grade, a class for special children, which has been adjusted to be of the same difficulty as a special class for those who were trying to skip grades.

    Right now, it¡¯s a lesson of a junior high standard, but thanks to having a tutor, I managed to still get into the fourth grade safely.

    I am already quite a woman. A young lady, if you will. I refuse to be called a little girl. I¡¯ve started to swell a little.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, would you like to study with me?¡±

    It was Ouji-kun that spoke to me.

    He had already become completely slim, and even if you looked at it from any angle, he was already getting flocked by the all the Onee-samas who were in love with him.

    Amazing. It was no longer stomach-pain-inducing like when the prince-like Kouki-kun called Ouji-kun [Prince] that time. I really am a Demon.

    ¡°Really? I would be happy if Ouji-kun would help me, but where¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Would you like to come over? My parents aren¡¯t home on the weekdays.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Of course, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m nervous that his parents won¡¯t be there. I was just thinking about what he said, but since he spoke all of a sudden like I was his junior high or high school girlfriend, my voice leaked out unconsciously.

    ¡°D-did I say something wrong? My younger sister Minako-chan wanted to meet Yuzu-chan, so¡­¡±

    Ouji-kun also noticed what he¡¯d accidentally said, and flushed red as he shook his head hurriedly.

    Minako-chan, is that one who was originally going to be Venus-chan? Ouji-kun showed her to me on his cellphone, and she was saved from the fate of a storyboard (of doujinshi and manga). She was a cute child, like she belongs at a ball.

    Well, since she¡¯ll be a first year in Takamine Elementary School this year, I¡¯ll be able to meet her anytime.

    ¡°Ouji and Yuzu-chan are fianc¨¦es.  Isn¡¯t it alright for the two of you to be in the same room?¡±

    From the side, Kouki-kun cut in.

    ¡°Kouki-kun, you do know our engagement hasn¡¯t been made official, right?¡±

    Although, the two of us didn¡¯t have a problem about it becoming official¡­ But¡­ is it alright as an elementary schooler? Minako-chan is also there.

    ¡°Oh, was that so? But, I don¡¯t care about that. After all, Kako comes over to my house often and we study together.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes.¡±

    Standing next to Kouki-kun, Kako¡¯s cheeks turned red, and she bashfully touched her fingers together¡­ Are you really doing normal studying?

    Right now, we are in the school cafeteria having tea. Since the opening ceremony is tomorrow, I don¡¯t see any other students, so I can relax.

    So, why are the four of us at school today? I came to help Kako feed the animals, and Ouji and Kouki-kun came to be our bodyguards.

    Can the two elementary school boys really be escorting us? Unquestionably. Just by having the three of them together, some private security guards came to the school.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yuzu-sama. Let¡¯s borrow one of the conference rooms after school to study together.¡±

    ¡°Erhm¡­¡­ can we borrow it?¡±

    There was a conference room for professionals and others for the schools¡¯ use, such as meeting with external vendors, but I¡¯d never heard that students could borrow it.

    ¡°Aah, there¡¯s a conference room that¡¯s been contracted for a year to the Kuon family and the Shijiyuuin family. Although it¡¯s small, but I think it¡¯s enough for four people, is Ouji alright with it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If Yuzu-chan is willing, I can go anywhere.¡±

    Before I knew it, I¡¯d decided to study in this group of four¡­ No, is that it? Given my grades, it seems like I¡¯ll be the one teaching the other three. But¡­ actually, why are you guys able to just borrow school facilities? Indeed, the daughter of the upper crust of society doesn¡¯t hesitate.

    ¡­¡­ But, to study at the level of a middle schooler? What was I doing before I fell sick?

    However¡­¡­

    ¡°What is it, Yuzu-chan?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    I wonder if Ouji-kun accepted the engagement as something normal? I looked at him with a smile now, but since his attitude didn¡¯t change from kindergarten at all, it¡¯s become even more difficult to understand his feelings now.

    Even though you¡¯re so popular amongst girls, why did you still pick me? Even if I do say so myself, I be anything but the bottom of the relationship charts amongst those in our year.

    ¡°Ah, did you hear? It seems like there¡¯s going to be a transfer student to our year this term.¡±

    Kako¡¯s cute hands clapped together as she brought up the topic.

    With her adult beauty and her cute behaviors, she gives off that gap moe feel. I¡¯d have to wear glasses and a suit when I get to middle school to do the same thing.

    ¡°Transfer student? In the elementary division of Takamine? That¡¯s rare.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think it¡¯s more bothersome than just entering the special class in middle school.¡±

    My words supplemented Ouji-kun.

    If you wanted to enter the middle school, you only needed to complete the special course. If you wanted to put the [Takamine] brand on your resume it didn¡¯t make much sense if you hadn¡¯t already gone through the six years from the start.

    So if you were to transfer in halfway, it wouldn¡¯t be for some strange reason. On top of that, they would need to have considerable academic ability, along with good connections and a sizable donation.

    I didn¡¯t care about it at this time. Because, it wasn¡¯t that unusual¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t think that someone strange would appear.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Ahh, you there, could you come over for a moment?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­,¡±

    After taking a note to the staffroom after school, as I took a shortcut through the school and passed by the school building, I almost did a double-take when a pig-tailed person called out to me.

    Wrong. What I was calling out wasn¡¯t the ¡®hairstyle¡¯, but rather the ¡®body¡¯.

    A big ribbon that could be used for a fan that somewhat reminded me of a desperate rookie performer at the bottom. Oh, perhaps¡­¡­

    ¡°Are you waiting for a tsukkomi¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Haa? What are you saying, you. Come over here quickly.¡±

    It seems that without hearing what I said, she began to walk over rudely.

    No, no, no, I didn¡¯t expect to actually see a twin-tail tied with a huge ribbon in the fourth grade of elementary school. Is this the main character of some girls¡¯ manga?

    And so I waved her off, picked up my bags from the classroom, and studied with Ouji-kun and the rest of them, then went home.

    That was the second encounter with her, the self-proclaimed heroine, Matsuri Okazaki.

    ¡°Hey, you, where are you going!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The next day, I was caught again by Matsuri.

    Since Onzada-kun had advanced to the middle school section, my range of actions after school had narrowed. The middle and high school are next to each other, but they¡¯re bit far from the elementary school.

    Ah, that¡¯s right.

    ¡°Why are you fiddling with the phone while I¡¯m talking to you?¡±

    ¡°Friend¡¯s email.¡±

    ¡°Haa? A mob character has friends? But I don¡¯t care about that, come over here. I have some questions for you.¡±

    Matsuri started to walk again without waiting for my answer again as I replied to her.

    Ah, I responded to Onzada-kun¡¯s email¡­ Is there a sashimi set meal in the school meals?  You don¡¯t have such a thing in your school meals? Nn? It¡¯s not normal?

    Please eat deep-fried food like a normal male middle-schooler. I replied and I went home as per usual.

    Ah, let¡¯s go to dad-chan¡¯s for ramen. Will Onzada-kun come?

 Volume 6 - CH 4

    Volume 6, Chapter 4: Turned into a mob character, Part 2

    ¡°You, why aren¡¯t you following me diligently. If I¡¯m walking alone while talking I look like a fool.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Two days later, I encountered Matsuri again.

    How strange¡­¡­ I changed my route home, so how did I still meet you?

    ¡°Anyway, just come over here.¡±

    ¡°Ehhh~¡­¡­¡±

    Was Matsuri capable of learning? She grabbed my hand this time and started walking. After walking for a while, I was brought to the back of the PE equipment room where people didn¡¯t come at all.

    ¡°This place will do. Really, it was all because you¡¯re such a dullard. Don¡¯t get lost this time.¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    I didn¡¯t get lost.

    ¡°How is it? Are you Surprised? I made it into Takamine.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ yes.¡±

    I was really surprised. It might just be me, but shouldn¡¯t you have said that line when I met you on the first day of the year? Anyway, I already knew that Matsuri was the transfer student even before I met her.

    ¡°I was going to enter in junior high, it¡¯s true, but I felt like the events were progressing too quickly, so I got Dad to get me in.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­events?¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s alright. Because you¡¯re a mob character, it¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t understand anything, you know? Upupupu, it¡¯s sad to be a mob character.¡±

    ¡°Mob?¡±

    ¡°Fufu. To be able to speak like this to a mob character, it¡¯s certainly a really good simulation. I don¡¯t discriminate, even against mob characters. I will add you to my group.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, you¡¯ll be an easy mark for a spy. It¡¯s quite annoying. Certainly, the timing is different, but I should end up in the same class as Kouki-kun due to the heroine correction.¡±

    Matsuri who spouted all those interesting things¡­ didn¡¯t end up entering our class.

    It was possible to transfer in from outside with appropriate connections and donations, but our class was fixed for the year, and it was impossible to join the class unless one was an amazingly talented person like Yuuki-kun.

    In short, Matsuri¡¯s academic ability was insufficient, and ended up in the regular class.

    And also, there was a rumour being spread.

    After all, I¡¯d made a video before©` someone making a racket after climbing over the outer wall of Takamine school, and after I showed that to Kouki-kun who¡¯d burst out laughing, it seems that some other people in other classes had seen it.

    Then, on the first day of the transfer,

    [I am Sakurazaki Matsuri from the suburbs. Please take care of me.]

    With a self-introduction that could have been accompanied by a ~yaruuun~ noise, people who¡¯d watched that little animation were straining their abdominal muscles. Matsuri was truly a sinful child.

    ¡°Mob character, tell me. You know Kouki-kun and Handsome-kun, don¡¯t you? Why is Kouki-kun by Kako¡¯s side?¡±

    Hearing Prince-kun¡¯s full name for the first time in a long while, my body twitched and trembled. Is this becoming a trauma at the level of the soul¡­¡­?

    ¡°Umm? Aren¡¯t the two of them fianc¨¦es? Isn¡¯t it alright, for a beautiful couple?¡±

    ¡°Haaa? Mob child, what kind of joke are you trying to make? There is no way that that villainous daughter is a beauty. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Kako might be easily misunderstood. To me, though, the inside of Matsuri¡¯s head is in a completely different dimension.

    What the world is a Mob? Is it a technical term? I guess she heard that Kako was a villainous daughter.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Besides, Kako had drawn herself away from Kouki-kun, so shouldn¡¯t their relationship not be that great?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you familiar with Kako?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s well-known.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, is that so?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and now, Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°Why is he so thin? He¡¯s supposed to be getting slimmer in the second year of junior high. Was it because I remembered the events, that they came early? But, I think it was a lucky turn. I didn¡¯t expect him to be so cute since his elementary school days.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Such improper talk¡­¡­ Although I agree that he¡¯s cute. ¡­¡­ah, Onzada-kun sent me an email.

    ¡°If I can successfully solve the problem here, I can bring the events up ahead of time. Ah, but he¡¯s not a junior high school student now, so I can¡¯t get rid of the vengeful spirits. Well, although it started early, there¡¯s no common ground, so I can¡¯t advance. Hey, mob character, do you know of [Onsa-kun] who¡¯s three years older than you? He¡¯s a boy with a wild feeling.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know him.¡±

    Eeh~¡­¡­ Onzada-kun, do you also want to go to Dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop? Didn¡¯t we have it just two days ago? Did you like it a lot?¡­¡­ and, send.

    ¡°What, you¡¯re no use at all. Well. He should be the son of a priest in a temple¡±

    ¡°Hey hey¡±

    ¡°More than that, about Kako. Her behaviour is different up until now¡­¡­ perhaps. Yeah, that¡¯s surely right. She also has ¡®memories¡¯. Because this story is a staple.¡±

    ¡°Hoho¡±

    I¡¯v gotten lots of emails from Onzada-kun this year. Because he was in junior high, when he wanted to eat it he went alone, but when he was with me there were a lot more service.

    ¡­¡­ Ah, I did it again. That¡¯s why I said that it would only be okay when I turned 20.

    ¡°There seems to be a need for me to teach you a little¡­¡­ Mob character, can you prepare a dead animal?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­N? Kagoshima Wagyu sirloin is good?¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly thinking of putting such high class meat in the shoebox!?¡±

    ¡°I got it as a Christmas gift, but I can¡¯t eat it yet.¡±

    ¡°Nobody ever gives such stupid presents!?¡±

    ¡­¡­ But I have it.

    Most of it ended up being processed and eaten with my family or distributed to the employees, but it seems that I made a mistake thinking about consuming only the filets and sirloin because it was a gift.

    There¡¯s still a lot of it in our company¡¯s freezer.

    ¡°Ah, oh well. You should go and spy on and grasp Kako¡¯s weaknesses. I have something else to do for now. Fufu, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t quite get it, but there was something about Kako¡­¡­?

    Having said everything that she wanted to say, Matsuri skipped away as if flying, and left.

    ¡°What was that¡­¡­¡±

    It has nothing to do with me, please leave  me out of your gossip¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­That girl, what does she want with me?¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Fufufu, watch me, Kako.¡±

    Matsuri grinned while looking at the white plastic bag that I¡¯d brought.

    Inside of it was the dead bodies of some mice I¡¯d bought at the pet shop yesterday. But it wasn¡¯t for harassing Kako by putting it in her shoebox.

    After all, in Takamine, the personal lockers for shoes and luggage couldn¡¯t be opened without a keycard.

    Then, what use was there for the rats?

    Matsuri seemed to have [No clue] apart from what they were usually used for, but it seems she¡¯s not stupid.

    Takamine wouldn¡¯t allow a student without the academic ability to transfer regardless of how large the donation was in the first place, so Matsuri had to have more than just these hobbies.

    Matsuri was contemplating the current situation.

    In the memories of her past life, when someone was reincarnated as the main character of the game, she knew that there was a possibility that they weren¡¯t the only [Reincarnator].

    Although she thought that events were advancing quickly because her memory had returned, but given that Matsuri hadn¡¯t involved herself yet, it seemed natural to think that there were other [Reincarnator] involved.

    Who benefitted in this situation? Matsuri who thought that only Kako benefited, and believed her to be the [Reincarnator].

    Perhaps, in order to force the heroine to act to generate an event, Kako would [make up] being bullied.

    Kako would try to use it to cause the heroine Matsuri to fall into a trap.

    Because Matsuri was the legitimate heroine, she thought that it was her right to attain the harem end which was the ¡®selling point¡¯ of the game.

    Those who disturbed this would not be forgiven.

    Kako in the game was jealous of Matsuri, who was making friends with Kouki, and would make sarcastic remarks about her out of jealousy, and repeatedly harassed her. Although she denied it even when there was a conviction event, Kouki believed in the heroine Matsuri, and dissolved his engagement with Kako who refused to admit to her crimes.

    If Kako was a reincarnator, then in order for her to be framed for a crime that she couldn¡¯t avoid she would desperately need to get the alibi of a friend.

    Perhaps, since she was recently secluding herself somewhere after school, it wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Then, what should she do¡­¡­?

    ¡°If I can¡¯t think of anything, I just have to start some trouble.¡±

    Everyone was free to enter and leave the locker rooms according to their class and gender, but since some people would change clothes inside, there were no surveillance cameras.

    Matsuri entered the locker room while grinning, and threw out everything in her locker, trampling the still-warm corpses underfoot.

    Her new textbooks, shoes, etc, were all covered in blood. There were many things that she hadn¡¯t used yet, but she would be able to buy new ones again as soon as she asked for them from her father.

    And as her brand new packages got soiled, Matsuri¡¯s position as the ¡®victim¡¯ should be set in stone.

    Matsuri intended to let the suspicion for this be gradually guided onto Kako.

    There was no need for other evidence. On the contrary, there was no evidence, so if Matsuri put on a show, she wouldn¡¯t get there. Matsuri herself also didn¡¯t intend to make a fuss about Kako being a criminal.

    The only people who could open the lockers other than herself was a teacher or someone like Kako who was able to influence teachers in the game.

    A clever person¡­¡­ for example, Kouki, would be able to conclude the ¡®answer¡¯ for himself, and it was enough that he started to distrust Kako for having her own way.

    ¡°The rest of it¡­¡­¡±

    In the setting of the game, it was said that Kako liked a certain character, so she would drop a pen with that mascot character to seal the impression.

    ¡°If I repeat this a few times, Kouki would have accumulated enough distrust in Kako and begun to have interest in me, and his favor level should increase. It¡¯ll be good for him and me~¡±

    If the nuisance didn¡¯t exist anymore, then the event with Handsome would be able to proceed.

    If the two of them, Kouki and Handsome, were simultaneously captured, the capture of other characters would be possible, and the [18-Restricted] events need not begin in high school but rather from middle school.

    Imagining a sweet erotic event with Kouki, she couldn¡¯t suppress a smile, and Matsuri left the locker room with her face hidden in her hands.

    Although this is unrelated, do you know of the story where the land gets ¡®purified¡¯ right after a demon passes by?

    This is because when the demon is nearby, carcasses of those who were murdered would decay into nothing, and instead of generating disasters from the miasma, a hungry demon would eat up all of the miasma.

    But that was only the case for Lesser Demons and Greater Demons.

    If there was a higher-ranking demon there, what would happen¡­¡­?

    That day, Yuzu happened to pass by.

    There was no particular meaning in that, just that she was a little hungry and entered the shop. Even if she ate human foods, the Demon wouldn¡¯t be satisfied, but it was better than nothing.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    As Yuzu passed by, the dead mice decayed to the bone in a matter of seconds, and ¡®miasma¡¯ began to leak out of the locker that was now only slightly soiled.

    And that miasma, was instantly absorbed into Yuzu, whose belly was empty at the time.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuzu who unintentionally picked it up felt sorry for the owner, and went home with a sour face.

    Early the next morning, Yuzu came to the locker rooms with an item for her apology, and put her hands on the locker, gently murmuring.

    ¡°¡­[Open]¡­¡±

    And as the students started school, a disturbance began with a smell.

    However, it wouldn¡¯t be right to call it a terrible smell.

    While Matsuri was hiding her grin behind a look of fright, she and the teachers were gathered in front of the locker, and the teachers were talking to one another.

    ¡°Sakurasa-san, can I open your locker?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    And, upon seeing the thing that was in the locker, everyone was stunned.

    There, a T-bone steak that was still steaming hot was scattering a wonderfully fragrant smell on an iron skillet.

    ¡°¡­¡­Sakurasa-san, it¡¯s not okay to put such things in your locker.¡±

    ¡°Wh-th¡­ harassment!¡±

    ¡°Why would anyone harass anyone else by putting a steak in a locker!¡±

    The boys had their appetites stimulated by the smell of the steak and the girls were disgusted at having the smell of grilled meat on their clothes, but they both nodded at the teachers¡¯ words.

    ¡°Now, come to the staff room.¡±

    ¡°Noooooooooooooooooo, I¡¯m the viiiiiiiiictiiiiiiiiiiiiim¡±

    ¡°Your locker can only be opened by either you or a teacher, so come quickly!¡±

    And so, just like that, transfer student Matsuri Sakurasa received a strict reprimand within her first week, and her parents called while her teachers monitored her during the semester.

    Also, due to the requests of some of the students, a yakiniku set meal was added to the cafeteria the following week.

 Volume 6 - CH 5

    Volume 6, Chapter 5: The Lovely Daily Life of an Elementary School Girl, Part 1

    Me and Onzada-kun had tired ourselves out, so we decided to get ramen together.

    Ramen is high in calories, after all¡­ and since I became [Me], my body won¡¯t grow any direction than up, however, even Demons shouldn¡¯t be reckless. Since I started to use magical power recently, I¡¯ve been getting tired more easily.

    Oh, Dad-chan gave me the default when I asked for ramen. It seems like there is a delicate line not to cross when ordering, normally that wouldn¡¯t happen by just ordering ¡®ramen¡¯ casually like that.

    Dad-chan¡¯s ramen carries a rich, rustic flavor, and the broth shines golden all the way to the bottom. I also enjoy the noodles our company makes for here. Recently, the chicken used for the stock has come from the higher ranked items from Nikuno Ham, so I¡¯ll order this soup for life. Well, the bowl is also child-sized still.

    ¡°What are you talking about, Yuzu. I like the soup, but the roasted pork ramen is unbeatable.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s just a bit oily for me.¡±

    Dad-chan¡¯s pork cutlets are prepared a bit differently than usual. It seems he didn¡¯t like the cutlets from Nikuno Ham, so he talked with people in product development and made a fattier option.

    It¡¯s actually close to simmered pork. When it¡¯s heated with soup, the fat seems to drip off and add more richness, Onzada-kun liked to ask for a lot of noodles along with the special sauce and rice.

    ¡­Hmm? Did he say something?

    ¡°Onzada-kun, did you just say we should come again?¡±

    ¡°Because dinner is always so late, I always feel really hungry by this time.¡±

    ¡­Oh well. If I gain weight I¡¯ll force him on a diet too.

    Today we came to the shopping district by foot rather than driving.

    To explain, Onzada-kun hates the feeling of the chairs in my car, saying ¡°I can¡¯t feel calm,¡± so he refused to ride and we came this way instead.

    I¡¯m also a fourth grader now, and my parents aren¡¯t as worried since I haven¡¯t been attacked or kidnapped lately.

    Also, Koto-chan has seen to it that Onzada-kun protects me; she seems to like it and approved me to go out as long as I¡¯m with him.

    For some reason, Koto-chan would have a strangely warm smile on her face whenever I talked about Onzada-kun¡­ She truly is mysterious, having such an interest in a male junior high student.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Recently, for some reason everything has been quiet around here. For example, whenever people see a male junior high schooler and a female elementary schooler wearing the Takamine school uniform walking side by side, it¡¯s really conspicuous. I don¡¯t know how we look from the outside, but since he and I don¡¯t look alike we probably don¡¯t look like brother and sister.

    During our walk, two laughing male high schoolers saw us and approached while swaying slightly to and fro.

    ¡­ Why are they shaking? Are they possessed?

    Even if they pick a fight, Onzada-kun¡¯s ready to protect me, which I thought would drive them away, but as they approached they became stranger and their eyes changed color.

    Intimidating them didn¡¯t work, they had a strange [Presence].

    ¡­Ah, they¡¯re really single minded.

    ¡°What is with them¡­?¡±

    Even though Onzada-kun was anxious, he naturally took a half-step in front of me.

    ¡°Sorry, Onzada-kun, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    I took Onzada-kun¡¯s arm and moved forward calmly. Everything will be alright.

    We passed to their side where their eyes were unfocused, but the next moment they raised their fists to attack from behind¡­ I turned around and they froze as they looked at my crimson eyes.

    At the sign that showed me as a [Demon], the annoying [Presence] that had possessed them dissipated.

    At the same time, something like ¡°experience points¡± came out of their soul and were scattered and reformed into something that looked like a child, which looked at us peacefully.

    I don¡¯t know whether or not to hit the child, but I don¡¯t really care so I just want to move on.

    Because this all happened before a real fight started, nothing is reacting around us.

    ¡­ Really, what¡¯s with all this?

    £ª

    ¡°Dad-chan, I¡¯m here for ramen~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve said this before, Yuzu-chan, you know that I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Yuzu-chan¡±

    ¡°Misa¡±

    Misa was helping a little around the shop so she came over and gave me a hug.

    Misa¡¯s gotten quite strong recently from helping in the shop, but I think I¡¯d still win if I used the powers form being a demon.

    The shop seems to be trending recently, so even though it¡¯s early I can see some customers. Since I¡¯m one of the more often seen children wandering around, me and Misa got smiles from the storeowners.

    Last year, Dad-chan was adopted by Ino-san, the ramen store owner, and officially handed over the store this spring, so Dad-chan became the shopkeeper here.

    Also, since Ino-san was quite the grandpa, he¡¯s retiring out to the country and doing ¡°Matagi.¡±

    ¡­ What is Matagi¡­?

    ¡°I see you brought Onzada-kun today, what will he be having?¡±

    ¡°Ah, the usual, please.¡±

    ¡°Got it, pork noodles and pork mesh, coming up.¡±

    As expected from Dad-chan. I wonder what else I should eat¡­ For someone like me who doesn¡¯t taste food properly, Dad-chan¡¯s ramen that he puts his soul into is really a treat.

    ¡°Order up, Seaweed ramen for Yuzu-chan.¡±

    The ramen was put in front of me before I ordered.

    ¡°¡­Dad-chan, I haven¡¯t ordered, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, since Yuzu-chan came during the day, the shopping center has doing well enough that I couldn¡¯t possibly take money from Misa¡¯s friends.¡±

    No, not that, When did he decide I wanted seaweed ramen? I guess you only get to decide what you¡¯re eating when you pay. Well, I¡¯ll eat it.

    Looking to my side, Onzada-kun was slurping down his ramen with a rich bowl of rice. Do I have meat like that?

    ¡°This is why I said that whenever Yuzu comes, the service is really good.¡±

    Onzada-kun noticed my look and said as such with a straight face.

    Well, even though there are other customers, surely we didn¡¯t get all the service, right? Thinking of that, I saw Misa just now taking orders from the other customers.

    Impossible¡­ is this why everyone scowls at us when we come in?

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, it looks like I have a message on my phone.¡±

    While eating my ramen, the seaweed told me that a message was coming to my cell phone before it sunk into the broth and drowned. Hot ramen is really not an environment you can live in.

    First, before checking my messages I finished up my noodles before they got stretched. It seems that a few e-mails came from this morning.

    I had completely forgotten to check it fully¡­ When I looked at the sender, it was all from Yuki-kun.

    ¡­ Ah, I forgot that yesterday night was the information exchange.

    I see, so that was the reason Yuki-kun was staring at me this morning.

    Yuki-san is so serious, he might have been waiting all the way until morning.

    For the time being, I typed [Ramen Time] and sent it with a picture of my ramen before I drank up the rest of my soup.

    Humu, it seemed somewhat cold.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After I finished the soup, I felt a ¡®Killing Intent¡¯ like a frosty blizzard.

    Since the other guests were still calm, I knew that the murderous feeling was only directed at me. It was to the extent that Onzada-kun only barely looked around out of curiosity.

    Due to its strength and control, it seems like this enemy is quite powerful. Such a thing, it¡¯s the level where I have to protect everyone.

    *Gara~*

    ¡°Dad-chan, get this kid some ramen.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Dad-chan all the time¡­ who is that kid?¡±

    Misa ran over and took the hand of the boy who entered the shop.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m here¡­¡±

    ¡°You were outside the shop? My Ni-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The boy gripped something and mumbled something, I could see his killing intent rising, as he stared at me again.

    ¡°Yuki-kun, you really should eat this because it¡¯s delicious, right?

    £ª

    After that, Yuki-kun went home bringing two noodle dishes with him while glaring at me.

    Apparently he wasn¡¯t interested in the food from this world, but was touched by the taste of ramen he tried here.

    ¡°Is he your friend, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a classmate.¡±

    Since Koto-chan was a first year university student now, she came to pick me up. Whether she came just to pick me up or to see Dad-chan, I¡¯m not quite sure.

    Koto has become quite beautiful since becoming a college student. Dad-chan also clearly felt like she¡¯d grown up, so every time Koto-chan comes, he seems a little softer. Spring may have passed, but ¡®Spring¡¯ is on its way.

    Ah, I got a hateful email from Yuki-kun¡­ He might seriously fight me if I miss tonight again¡­. I feel sort of tired now.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­ do you know him well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah? What about Yuki-kun?¡±

    It¡¯s been quiet since Yuki-kun came, so Onzada-kun spoke to me while raising an eyebrow.

    ¡°I see¡­ I feel like that wasn¡¯t the first time I met them.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that so?¡±

    I wonder what Yuki-kun did.

    ¡°Anyways Yuzu, please be careful. I can¡¯t protect you all the time.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun? What happened¡­?

    ¡°Yuzu¡­? Your face is becoming red.¡±

    Koto-chan, who was watching my and Onzada-kun¡¯s conversation suddenly looked serious and put a hand on my forehead.

    ¡°¡­There might be a slight fever.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? I can¡¯t tell.¡±

    I feel a little heavy.

    This body is still so weak¡­ It seems like even Demons can catch a cold. Tonight has become troublesome for real.

 Volume 6 - CH 6

    Previous | Project Page | Next

    Volume 6, Chapter 6: The Lovely Daily Life of an Elementary Schooler, Part 2

    Born in the underground tunnels of Tokyo, was a [Presence] that embodied the [Ambition] of [Power].

    Politicians of the country who had discovered the [Presence] had, with the help of the religious organisation [Oyama], built a shrine to surround it in the underground tunnels, and through the [Miko], channeled that [Power] for many years for their use. That [Presence] that had been sleeping all this time, suddenly awoke a few years ago.

    That thing was like a fearful child.

    It didn¡¯t know what there was to fear, but even though it was said to have awakened, it still couldn¡¯t communicate with anyone but the [Shrine Maiden], and the shrine maiden had been gnawed at by bearing the burden of the spirit.

    ¡°The third Shrine Maiden has collapsed.¡±

    In a room reminiscent of the European-style buildings of the Taisho period (1912-1926), an old man dressed in a haori-hakama in subdued hues spoke in a tired voice to another old man wearing a tailored suit.

    ¡°¡­¡­Again. Only four years have passed since it awoke.¡±

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡­ even if you say it can talk, the other party isn¡¯t a ¡®human¡¯. Children who can accept the massive amounts of information that aren¡¯t even words aren¡¯t common.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡¯s the status of that shrine maiden?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s alive. But, given that she¡¯s mentally unstable now, she¡¯s unusable.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡±

    Three of the five shrine maidens had collapsed, with only two of them remaining.

    When the second person collapsed, they¡¯d confirmed that there was an orphan with the qualities to be a shrine maiden, but amongst the children of the branch families, there wasn¡¯t anyone suitable left.

    The five shrine maidens were all between 5 and 13, and the ones that remained were 13 and 11 years old. Because of their age, the two of them were mentally stronger, and were able to tolerate it.

    But, the moment they became adults, they would lose their aptitude of being a [Shrine Maiden].

    That [Existence] only accepted children, and rejected those that had become adults.

    ¡°Why did you wake up¡­¡­No, what was so terrifying that you woke up?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Perhaps, it would be the [Evil] that will appear in the country after ten years. And we, in the future, would borrow the power of that [Existence], and use it to seal the [Evil] like we did in the past.¡±

    ¡°Why are you still so afraid if you¡¯ve sealed it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The future time it would be released is ¡®now¡¯. It¡¯s frightened because of it.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ is that not dangerous?¡±

    ¡°Be assured. The technique [Twelve Period Hourglass] isn¡¯t something so weak. We will risk our lives to protect this country.¡±

    The two old men, who headed the political and religious institutions of the country, quietly nodded with the determination to fight.

    To protect the future of the people living in the country.

    * * *

    ¡°Good evening, Yuuki-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It seems that you¡¯ve come today.¡±

    Apparently, he¡¯s in an unusual humor.

    I made the excuse that I had a cold, I was pretending to have shut myself in my room, and took a leisurely journey to Yuuki-kun¡¯s meeting point.

    My power as a Demon was usable, but since my body was that of a weak ¡®human¡¯, me using too much Demonic magic power might be the reason I¡¯m not feeling so well. ¡­¡­ Maybe. In a word, it¡¯s like muscle pain¡­¡­?

    But since I¡¯m actually quite tired, let¡¯s end this quickly.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nn, what¡¯s that?¡±

    Looking at the fancy wrapped present I handed him, Yuuki-kun made a strange face.

    ¡°I guess it was about time? That your younger brother or sister has been born? I don¡¯t know which one it is, but since it¡¯s a baby I think a stuffed toy is appropriate, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ Aah.¡±

    ¡°Has it not been born yet?¡±

    Oh dear, it seems I¡¯ve made a false start. Is it okay that he accepts this now?

    ¡°No, she¡¯s been born¡­¡­ it¡¯s a sister. ¡­¡­ Subaru.¡±

    ¡°Congratulations~¡±

    What, were you just being embarrassed?

    But actually, it¡¯s a complex feeling¡­¡­ Yuuki-kun wanted to learn the magic of opening a dimensional door from me so that he could return to the world of his previous life.

    I didn¡¯t hear his circumstances, but I could feel the ¡®anger¡¯ and ¡®hatred¡¯ at the heart of his words. There was something very forlorn¡­¡­ maybe, he had been murdered.

    He wanted to get back to his world and exact his revenge. ¡­¡­ I think that¡¯s the case, but since he was taking his time to gain power and grow, he had a number of ¡®lingering affections¡¯ for this world and his heart began to shake.

    They¡¯re quite terrible, humans.

    ¡°Ah, sorry¡­¡­ Thanks. Yuzu, please do continue teaching me.¡±

    ¡°Yes yes.¡±

    They sure aren¡¯t upfront about their feelings¡­¡­ humans.

    ¡°As I mentioned before, this is an application of [Summoning Magic]. If you want to open a door that leads to a different world, you will need to know its coordinates, and have the enormous magic power needed to summon creatures from that other world.¡±

    ¡°I know that. Even in my world, [Summoning from Another World] was a national project¡­¡­ But, it seems that in Yuzu¡¯s world, magic formations had been developed considerably.¡±

    Yuuki-kun muttered as he struggled to practice the [Three-dimensional stacked magic formation] that could effectively produce a summoning gate within a small area.

    In Yuuki-kun¡¯s homeworld¡­¡­  In [Tess], it seems that it was common for them to draw on paper or carve them onto the floor.

    Well, that¡¯s the normal way. Normally one wouldn¡¯t think of drawing magic power directly on the air.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Did you remember something, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°No. Not at all.¡±

    I don¡¯t see that ¡®black cat¡¯ around too often these days¡­¡­

    Yuuki-kun seems to be paying a lot of attention to me, and worries about me every now and then. Especially when his heart wavers.

    ¡°Does Yuuki-kun hate this world?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ahh, I despise it. It was because of humanity¡¯s arrogance that our magic power is this low. Because of them, the spirits sleep, and I was born as a helpless human being.¡±

    So there are no other Demons¡­¡­

    In Yuuki-kun¡¯s tale, it seems like spirits exist to manage souls. Due to the spirits being asleep, it turned out souls that didn¡¯t have enough experience points to be human and should have been born animals were born human.

    And because there were no Demons, there were no existences to eat sinful humans. That¡¯s why there was a vicious cycle that would cause humans to keep increasing in number.

    ¡°But even then there are good people, you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡­ the transmigration of souls is absurd. Good and bad people are born properly. On the contrary, souls with egos that were too strong would be flicked to another world.¡±

    ¡°Well, then, it¡¯s a good thing that people like Dad-chan and Misa are here then. The ramen was good, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I smiled sweetly at that, Yuuki-kun stopped practicing the layered magic formation, and made a face like he¡¯d bit on a particularly bitter bug.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s about time for me to show the results of my practice. Because Yuzu neglected her meeting yesterday, I absolutely have to return the favor.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­hehh¡±

    Yuuki-kun, who had gradually begun to release his magic power, had a slight smile on his mouth.

    The results of his practice¡­¡­ huh.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would it be better if I were to show it?¡±

    I also released magic powers up to the point that it didn¡¯t burden my body.

    Previously, since there was little magic power in this world, I felt like saying that I could do it easily, but since Yuuki-kun invited me to watch, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°You won¡¯t die, right?¡±

    ¡°I said that.¡±

    Yuuki-kun opened a hole in space in his hand and from the space within took out his sword. ¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t inside his pants.

    ¡°Teach me that too.¡±

    ¡°When I win.¡±

    Is that a promise?

    ¡°¡­[Become ashes]¡­¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    When Yuuki-kun instantly avoided it like flying, the scrap metal behind him immediately burnt to ashes.

    As expected, it¡¯s probably better to use [Spirit Language], huh. When I ordered things, it was difficult to remember what it should have acted on, but if I only used the ¡®result¡¯ and imagined it and put magic power into my words, the effects would appear.

    It seems that it¡¯s okay to make some noise in this abandoned factory.

    ¡°I felt killing intent!?¡±

    ¡°Eh~¡­¡­ you avoided it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You knave, you mad archmage.¡±

    Yuuki-kun drew a small magic formation in the air, and I smashed it with a big sword enveloped in the light of the [Holy Attribute].

    ¡°Wow.¡±

    ¡°Sword of Brilliance!¡±

    The sacred light that stretched a few meters out from the sword swung down, and collided with my magic barriers, getting annihilated while releasing violent sparks.

    ¡°Suddenly serious?¡±

    ¡°I guess it works well against evil sorcerers?¡±

    I was a Demon, so it was getting to be too much and I was taking damage.

    ¡°Sword of Brilliance¡­¡­ how Chuunibyou.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    And so, the serious training where the partner wasn¡¯t to die started.

    Why did it happen? Well, it¡¯s alright. I don¡¯t really worry about it, since I didn¡¯t really seriously go at it.

    After about an hour, as I thought that we were making too much commotion, Yuuki-kun suddenly dropped his sword.

    ¡°Wait, Yuzu. Someone¡¯s approaching.¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­¡±

    It seems that we¡¯ve made too much of an uproar and someone came to check. I didn¡¯t understand it well, but it seems that Yuuki-kun detected their ¡®presence¡¯ somewhere. ¡­¡­ how convenient.

    ¡°Shall we withdraw then?¡±

    ¡°Yep ¡­¡­ hold on a minute, it¡¯s fast.¡±

    Is that not a normal human? Stopping our retreat for a moment, we waited, and the person vaulted over the wall of the disused factory and appeared immediately.

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ Onzada-kun?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu !?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who appeared while sweating and breathing heavily, had a surprised look on his face as he saw me, and grimaced when he saw Yuuki-kun next to me.

    ¡°Why is Onzada-kun here?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my line! What are you doing when your body is so weak? ¡­¡­ Good grief, I was doing exorcisms and came here since there was a commotion.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    That [Contract Chain] connecting Onzada-kun to my hand was shining black. Ah~¡­ I see, the fighting was getting pretty serious, so he was called over to [Protect Me].

    ¡°Also, Yuzu, why are you with him? And that sword¡­¡­ you, you¡¯re the black-mask from that time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun did not answer, and only slowly tried to grip his sword. It¡¯s scary as is¡­¡­ come to mention it, a black mask? He might seriously have Chuunibyou.

    ¡°Ah, Yuuki-kun was teaching me magic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun both looked at me with stunned looks.

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face had an expression like ¡®what are you saying¡¯¡­¡­ while Yuuki-kun had a look that was questioning me for lying to him and was thinking over why I was trying to deceive him.

    Because¡­¡­ it¡¯s troublesome.

    ¡°S-so, that was¡­¡­?¡±

    As a consequence of our persuasions and explanations, Onzada-kun was convinced in the end.

    The explanation was that I had decided to learn magic from Yuuki-kun who was born with a mysterious power, in order to eliminate the weakness of my body, and I lied about my previous life.

    He finally believed us when we showed him magic.

    ¡°I understand the reason now. So, teach me magic as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    Yuuki-kun had a shocked voice at Onzada-kun who had suddenly spouted this thing.

    ¡°Why do I have to teach you?¡±

    ¡°Because you don¡¯t want anyone else to know what you¡¯re doing in the middle of the night? I promised to protect Yuzu. Are you going to protect Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Well¡­ Yuuki-kun unexpectedly diverted his eyes away from Onzada-kun¡¯s serious gaze.

    ¡°It is necessary for me to become stronger to protect Yuzu. If you teach me, I will also teach you to use ¡®Ki¡¯,¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Alright.¡±

    Yuuki-kun also seems to be interested in Onzada-kun¡¯s methods. Onzada-kun smiled when he heard the answer.

    ¡°Thanks. But, I won¡¯t forgive you for killing off the wandering spirits. Why did you do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°If I defeat it, I could absorb some of its power¡­¡­ It¡¯s nice, I guess, to have such things.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that. Game experience points! That spirit-severing sword, teach me that.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do it.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, ya stingy?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not stingy.¡±

    To absorb the power of the opponents you defeat¡­¡­ Is that the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art]?

    I¡¯ll find out eventually.

    Somehow, though, I was left alone and the two of them seem to get along. That¡¯s good¡­¡­ I guess.

    ¡­¡­ Ah, Rotten God, please go home, there¡¯s nothing for you.

 Volume 6 - CH 7

    Volume 6, Chapter 7: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­ Junikoko Hourglass?¡±  (TLN: Junikoko: 12, 2 hour periods, related to the zodiac)

    Onzada heard those words after he had been summoned by his brothers.

    Even though he was still young, since he¡¯d trained seriously ever since he had been an elementary schooler, his abilities had nearly reached that of his older brothers¡¯, and was considered to be an adult, and so he would be taught the secrets accordingly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Originally, you should have heard this from Honored Father, but I told you a while ago. So, because of that I was told to take responsibility for this. This will be quite a serious talk, so are you ready for it?¡±

    ¡°O-oh¡­ yes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

    His older brother smiled gently upon seeing Onzada become nervous in the midst of his reply. Bracing himself at once, he quietly spoke of it all in the main hall that was only lit by candlelight.

    ¡°Onzada, I¡¯ve told you about the great [Evil] that will appear ten years from now.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°To be precise, there was a prophecy about the spring 17 years from now. And at that time, we had already successfully deployed the technique we used. Its name was the [Junikoko Hourglass].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What kind of technique it is to have such a name?¡±

    ¡°The true meaning of the technique is not yet known to us as well. However, there was once a large-scale operation that made use of hundreds of practitioners, even us, to seal off that [Evil] over the course of half a year.¡±

    ¡°Half a year!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, half a year. In that time, the monks and practitioners who were affiliated with [Oyama], exerted their powers continually day and night, taking shifts, and even when they were taking breaks off shift they would serve as guards to protect the ritual, it was quite a bit of hard work.¡±

    ¡°What happened¡­ to that evil that was sent into the past?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know. Sent into the past¡­¡­ I think that the evil is present ¡®now¡¯, but father and the other monks have not yet been able to ascertain if it is asleep or not. It should have been considerably weakened¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it not possible to find and defeat it?¡±

    ¡°It seems that if we defeat it, the burden on the future would be lessened. But it¡¯s more important that we not wake it over defeating it. If we can wake up that evil in its weakened state on purpose, then we can kill it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If they did not awaken that [Evil], it seems like they would be able to completely seal it or destroy it in the past.

    His older brother didn¡¯t know anything more, and stopped speaking then.

    But something stuck in Onzada¡¯s heart.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Why is that evil presence just called ¡®evil¡¯?¡±

    In his brother¡¯s words, it was that there was a prophesy that it would bring darkness to the hearts of the people of this world, and return the way to its chaotic state as it was in ancient times.

    But, to say that [We must destroy it for it is Evil]¡­¡­ Onzada felt a little discomfort.

    The evil being had yet to do a single thing.

    Then, Onzada thought to himself, why couldn¡¯t they just do the same things as they did to castaway or lingering spirits to this, but insist on destroying it?

    ¡°That is¡­¡­¡±

    He was learning magic from that young boy Yuuki whom he¡¯d recently gotten to know alongside Yuzu.

    Although the magic had seemed fake to him at first, somehow, he managed to understand the concept of [Magic Power]. The two of them said that magic was an ancient [Power]  of this world.

    Because magic power had disappeared from this world, science developed and humans were able to expand their influence.

    Then¡­ is this ancient magic power, an evil to the world¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, I don¡¯t know either.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­. Are you going to the party that¡¯s coming up soon?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ where is it?¡±

    One day, when I¡¯d been called to father¡¯s study, he suddenly told me this.

    What kind of party was that? The anniversary of our company was still a ways away, so what¡¯s the occasion?

    ¡°Where, hmm¡­¡­ it¡¯s the 70th anniversary party of Nikuno Ham. Didn¡¯t I tell you, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    I shook my head a lot at Father¡¯s words.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I thought that you¡¯d surely have heard it from Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°He¡¯s very fit, and turned out quite a bright boy. Even though his father the director of Nikuno Ham used to say that his son had a strange fear of ghosts and was worried all the time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Aah, there was certainly that feeling before.

    It was some sort of evil spirit or something, and if he still felt that way now I was going to introduce him to Onzada-kun¡¯s services. I¡¯ll e-mail him later.

    ¡°Yuzu also had something of a physical condition that last time, but now that you¡¯ve stabilized for quite a bit, will you be attending?¡±

    No, it¡¯s not decreased or stabilized at all. But it¡¯s been peacefully resolved.

    ¡°But since I¡¯ve never gone out of his household, what if I don¡¯t know how to perform formal greetings?¡±

    ¡°Since Father will be going with you, just greet the people how I greet and it¡¯ll be fine. Yuzu¡¯s also become a fifth grader, and sometimes people have asked me ¡®Oh, where¡¯s your youngest daughter?¡¯ If you¡¯re not feeling well then it¡¯s okay, but otherwise I¡¯d be quite happy if you would come.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­.¡±

    As expected, it¡¯s impossible to play hooky for this. It seems like I¡¯m going to be drawn into the trouble¡­¡­

    Also, like father said, I¡¯ve just entered the fifth grade in elementary school.

    This body of mine has grown quite a bit, no? As to how much larger I¡¯ve gotten, well, Ooba-onii-chan tried to hug and lift me for the first time in a while, and started to strain his back.

    ¡­¡­ How rude. I am very light. However much I eat ramen, my stomach hardly changes, and I hardly eat any other meals. Comparing it to Kotone-chan who has to swim laps to lose weight thanks to overeating ramen¡­¡­ that¡­¡­ in an instant, I felt a chill.

    Oh yeah, there were things like that too, now that we¡¯re talking about ramen.

    *

    One day, when I entered Dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop, I had a slight feeling that something was very wrong.

    To express it clearly, I thought that it was like the heavy soul of that corrupt business family that I ate, and not anything like the sweet taste of a wicked lady, that¡¯s the kind of feeling.

    ¡°W-Welcome¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    My eyes wandered towards the kitchen as I gazed upon him silently.

    ¡°You should greet customers more energetically.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Welcome!¡±

    At he who spoke out with a more or less desperate voice, I could only gaze at him scornfully.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What are you doing? Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    In the kitchen, Yuuki-kun was washing the dishes while wearing a loose cook¡¯s uniform.

    While I was standing at the entrance, Misa noticed me and came closer.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, welcome¡±

    ¡°Hey, Misa¡­¡­ what¡¯s that.¡±

    ¡°Ah, this. Yuuki-kun loves ramen, so he brought me souvenirs from all over the country, it¡¯s amazing.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    *chira*¡­¡­

    ¡°So after talking to my onii-chan properly, he decided to help out with the shop.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    *chira*¡­¡­

    ¡°I-I, it¡¯s because Misa said that I¡¯d never eaten the ramen of the province¡±

    As my twinkling eyes looked at him, Yuuki-kun began to confess.

    I see¡­¡­ It¡¯s [Misa], huh. It¡¯s a good thing you get along well with her. Given that Dad-chan didn¡¯t say anything, does he approve of this too?

    Then I¡¯ll be the one instead.

    ¡°My daughter is not easy, young¡¯un.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about suddenly?!¡±

    *

    ¡­¡­ Well, that was that.

    Hmm, isn¡¯t it nice that you¡¯re having some lingering affection? Well, it can¡¯t be helped since Misa is so cute. As per usual, she¡¯s like a ¡®kokeshi doll¡¯.

    As to why he might be attracted to an elementary school girl, despite having the memory of his past life, it was because his feelings were considerably influenced by his actual age.

    ¡°Does this mean that Yuzu will not be attending?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah, yes¡±

    Oops. I didn¡¯t hear anything that was being said in between. ¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s alright. It just means that people will say that I couldn¡¯t attend the party because I was sick.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it. Both Ooba and Kotone will be attending.¡±

    ¡°Ooba-onii-chan is going to be the heir, right?¡±

    ¡°At first, he¡¯ll be going to Nikuno Ham to intern and learn, as one of the rank and file.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. If you let him start off as a company manager, he¡¯d become a failure, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuzu sure is strict with Ooba.¡±

    ¡°The employees of the future are important too. In the case of Kotone-onee-chan, there¡¯s going to be a lot of suitors?¡±

    ¡°Ooh, Kotone surely will, for how pretty she is! She¡¯ll be nearly 20, but she still hasn¡¯t brought home her boyfriend¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about the youngsters.¡±

    ¡°Did Yuzu pick all these up from Father saying them!?¡± (read: the speaker¡¯s father, i.e. grandpa)

    What, did Father say those too? Anyway, because Kotone-chan¡¯s significant other is Dad-chan, he can¡¯t be brought home to the family easily.

    And so, I ended up agreeing to attend Nikuno Ham¡¯s party.

    Nn~¡­¡­ I wish I wouldn¡¯t run into any problems.

 Volume 6 - CH 8

    Volume 6, Chapter 8: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 2

    ¡°How cute, Yuzu. It suits you well.¡±

    As I was attending a party for the first time, Kotone-chan coordinated with me most enthusiastically.

    Wearing dark colors so as to not be gaudy, it was a knee-length one-piece that had fluffy hems, with an American-style sleeve that exposed both shoulders while covering the nape, with many beige-colored areas. The back was also slightly visible.

    Since I¡¯m an elementary schooler, I thought that a more childish dress would have been better, but it seems that the mood isn¡¯t one for a child.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, is it good?¡±

    ¡°O-of course.¡±

    Ah, a stammer.

    Even so, I was surprised that I didn¡¯t feel much resistance towards baring my shoulders, and felt a sense of incompatibility about the knee-length. I got a feeling that the hem was longer than was supposed to be on the dress, but why is that?

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s Yuzu¡¯s first time wearing a proper dress, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct?¡±

    ¡°You seem strangely accustomed to it? Or perhaps I should say, you wear a dress like it¡¯s a normal piece of clothing for you.¡±

    ¡°U~n?¡±

    Aah, now that I mention it, I wonder if I was able to wear this dress normally because of those fragmented memories of that castle.

    And now, today is the 70th anniversary of Nikuno Ham.

    It¡¯s a big party where affiliate companies like ours, celebrities and local politicians are all attending.

    For the children like us, to put it bluntly, the reason for these is for us scions to meet face-to-face and make our choices of marriage partners. I¡¯m worried for Kotone-chan.

    I went out early with my family and had my make-up lightly done by my usual hair stylist, and having done up my hair in a half-up, I affixed a flower hair ornament carved out of a seashell that I¡¯d gotten from my mother.

    Is it necessary for a grade-schooler to have makeup? After all, the skin of a Demon doesn¡¯t even have visible pores, much less acne. The makeup artist only put on foundation and blush, and seemed to be at a loss.

    The venue seems to be a combination of three banquet halls that can hold 500 people total in a luxury hotel.

    With that many people coming, I think that the possibility of me meeting with Kouki-kun and Kako, who are supposed to be attending is quite low.

    I told them to meet me after they were done with their greetings via email, but I guess that the two of them have an incomparable number of greetings compared to me¡­¡­

    We came as a family, but once we were done with the greeting, mother broke away from us.

    It seems that she got captured by the other wives of the company directors, and couldn¡¯t leave, and since she seemed like she wouldn¡¯t be done soon, we left. That is the Hell of this world.

    Next, Ooba-onii-chan got captured by two executives from Nikuno Ham. Because it¡¯s someone that would be looking after him in his department when he takes the job, it seems that his conversation wouldn¡¯t end any time soon.

    And then¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yuzu, there¡¯s a cake smorgasbord over at the other side. I¡¯ll go get something.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kotone-onee-chan¡±

    Her back walking away¡­¡­ that was the last I saw of Kotone this day. Also, her enthusiasm for swimming will definitely intensify tomorrow.

    ¡°F-father is on the other side.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, President Toukaki. There¡¯s a matter that I would like to discuss with the Nikuno Company, I would like to ask of you¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    As father was called out by the secretary of the president of Nikuno Ham and walked off, I felt that it was going to be bothersome, so I took a break out on the sofa out in the hallway.

    As I emailed Kako, I noticed something approaching.

    ¡°Ah, Mob-character, you were here.¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    There, a cute girl wearing a pink princess dress with a twin tail set in drills pointed at me with an imposing stance.

    ¡­¡­ Oh, ah, it¡¯s Matsuri. As always, the only thing cute about her is her face. Her dress taste is on the level of a Showa-era idol.

    ¡°For once, you look like a lady. Pupu, what is with that lowborn dress? Well, you¡¯re a mob character after all, so it¡¯s normal to be shoddy.¡±

    ¡°Why are you here, Matsuri?¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you stupid? There is no party where the heroine¡¯s ¡®event¡¯ doesn¡¯t happen. Papa was invited, so I came as his daughter. Papa is fortunate to have such a lovely girl as me.¡±

    ¡°Heeeh¡±

    Is Kako going to take much longer? I received an email from Kako, replying that she was done.

    ¡°But papa didn¡¯t want to take me along at first. As expected of a mob character parent.¡±

    ¡°Fuu~hn.¡±

    ¡°So I kept bothering my dad. Mob character, if you¡¯re supposed to be part of my entourage, you should have some great ideas for harassment, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, aah, I think it¡¯ll be good to go get your hands on some chicken bones.¡±

    ¡°Why would you try to harass people with chicken bones!? Really, you¡¯re useless.¡±

    Ah, was it wrong? Which reminds me, since Dad-chan had been done a good turn by them, perhaps I should go and make my greetings to the President of Nikuno Ham.

    Should I mail Ouji-kun too?

    ¡°Mob character, Kouki-kun is supposed to have come here, did you see him?¡±

    ¡°Nn~? I haven¡¯t seen him.¡±

    ¡°Previously, I had bumped into Kouki-kun at the corner outside the school, but no event occurred. I wonder if it has to be at night, after all. I knew from Papa that the grandfather of the Kuon family had retired, but wasn¡¯t he a bad guy? Even though the event hadn¡¯t occurred, such a thing happened. I don¡¯t understand it at all, even if though I¡¯m talking to a Mob character~¡±

    ¡°Hoho.¡±

    ¡°Is Kako doing something after all¡­ Damn it, it makes me angry. She really doesn¡¯t reveal her true colors easily, that girl. Hey, you, have you figured out any of Kako¡¯s weaknesses?¡±

    ¡°Recently, it seems that she hasn¡¯t been able to speak to Kouki-kun.¡±

    ¡°Heeh! It¡¯s clearly to be expected! How satisfying.¡±

    Yep yep, it was their puppy love up until now, but it seems that she¡¯s finally realized her romantic feelings now that we¡¯re heading into adolescence, and she went into that cute state, and went into a tizzy when the two of them were alone.

    ¡­ I didn¡¯t make a mistake, right?  It¡¯s not a pretense, right?

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I thought that Kako being here would bring me good. Mob-character, seize the opportunity and mix this into Kako¡¯s drink.¡±

    ¡°Nn? What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, it¡¯s gonna be good. There is no need for a mob character to know. Pupupu.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Because it¡¯s a pain in the rear for now, I¡¯m going to leave it in the drink that Matsuri brought. Since it¡¯s a good thing, there¡¯ll be no problems.

    ¡°And hey, mob character, about Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°Did you know about a woman who¡¯s been involved with the Nikuno family? Apparently there¡¯s someone aiming at the seat of being his fianc¨¦.¡±

    ¡°I know no such thing.¡±

    Ouji-kun sure is popular lately¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be strange even if there was such a person.

    ¡°It was, err¡­¡­ Kabosu or Zabon or something, some citrus-related name. (TL note: Yuzu is a citrus fruit.) I think even a dullard like you would be able to investigate if you know this much.¡±

    What, is that person some freezer accessory¡­¡­

    It seems that in our school, there¡¯s another child who¡¯s named after citrus fruit other than myself.

    ¡°The event for Handsome-kun haven¡¯t started either. It seems that in the end, nothing starts if I do not acquire Toshikuni-kun. It¡¯s really annoying. Go search for Toshikuni-kun quickly, mob character, and remove yourself from my surroundings. When a mob character doesn¡¯t remain involved with me, their lives will end, hahaha, ukyuu.¡±

    After saying all these funny things without consideration, Matsuri disappeared somewhere else into the hall.

    Just what do you want me to do¡­¡­?  Do you really think that I am not human but some character in a story instead?

    Haha, surely, there¡¯s no idiot that dumb, right?

    ¡°¡­¡­Ara?¡±

    While I was playing with my phone on the sofa as I was, two e-mails had come in. One of them was from Father, and the other was from Ouji-kun.

    Both of the mails had roughly the same content, and it seems that both his parents and mine wanted me to go over, and it seems that Ouji-kun was going to come pick me up.

    ¡­¡­ This is about Prince-kun¡¯s engagement.

 Volume 6 - CH 9

    Volume 6, Chapter 9: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 3

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, so cute!¡±

    After waiting a while, a boy emerged from the crowd, gleefully calling out my name as he found me, a relieved expression on his face.

    ¡°Ah, Ouji-kun, sorry for making you come and fetch me.¡±

    ¡°No, it was good to see Yuzu-chan. Ah, uhm¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Your dress suits you¡­ I was surprised by how beautiful it is.¡±

    ¡°T-thank you¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun was like that too, but really, Ouji-kun could say things like that so lightly.

    No, it wasn¡¯t lightly said at all¡­¡­ I was embarrassed, and it seemed that Ouji-kun was incredibly embarrassed at his own words too.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    As he put out his hand in the same way that he did back in kindergarten, I took his hand like normal.

    Come to think of it, we¡¯d stopped holding each other¡¯s hands since the second grade in elementary school. Why did that happen¡­¡­ was it that as he slimmed down, he didn¡¯t feel the need to hold my hand?

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡±

    Is that¡­¡­ did you mature as a man? I thought that I could see the shadowy profile of Ouji-kun as an adult.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Yuzu-chan, I will be changing my name officially.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ehh?! Really?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan has always called me Ouji, no? Recently, my family has started calling me that too, and since I¡¯m called that even in school, the court accepted that it was in common use.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good! ¡­¡­ Should I be saying that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, thank you.¡±

    Somehow, I subtly feel that being called ¡®prince¡¯ is not really okay, though, it seems that it¡¯s a load on his shoulders. With this, I¡¯m going to have more trauma and stomach pain, too.

    After that, we walked in silence.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan, thank you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nnn?¡±

    On our way toward Ouji-kun¡¯s parents, Ouji-kun suddenly murmured such in a mostly-empty corridor. Is this some continuation of what he was saying previously?

    ¡°Hey, you remember Onzada-san who I introduced to you who¡¯s in middle school?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahh, Onzada-kun. Was that person helpful to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he taught me a lot. I was also able to be at ease¡­¡­ thanks to Onzada-san, or I would have been worried about Yuzu-chan.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡­ Onzada-kun pledged that he would protect me from quite a while back, though.¡±

    Thanks to that¡­ I seem to have made a very weird contract¡­.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan seems to be quite close to Onzada-san.¡±

    ¡°I wonder about that, though? It¡¯s certainly true that it¡¯s easy to talk to him.¡±

    ¡°I spoke with Onzada-san and received a bit of a shock. ¡­¡­That¡¯s *different*, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡±

    Ouji-kun stopped at the corner of the corridor where there was no one and looked me in the eyes.

    ¡°I like you, Yuzu-chan.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°But, as a childhood friend that I¡¯ve known forever, I also feel like you¡¯re family. I was so happy to hear of the engagement. I thought that I could stay with Yuzu, my favorite, forever.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ But I don¡¯t dislike it, you know?¡±

    ¡°I know. Yuzu-chan thought of me as family too, no? But I feel that Yuzu-chan would be better if she could stay with someone who needed her.¡±

    ¡°Ouji-kun, am I no longer necessary?¡±

    ¡°I need you, but it¡¯s not just me, but other people *need* Yuzu-chan too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°From what I heard from my father, I think he wants to introduce you to everyone as my fianc¨¦e today. I¡¯ll go speak to father about this, and is it alright for us to associate until we reach middle school?¡±

    ¡°To associate with you¡­¡­ an engagement?¡±

    ¡°Yes, so. Although I thought that I was incompatible, I wanted to prevent some strange person from coming onto Yuzu with the rumors of the engagement for a while. Of course, I wished for Yuzu-chan to fall in love with me during that time¡­¡­ there was that desire too.¡±

    As he spoke, Ouji-kun laughed ruefully. ¡­¡­ And I don¡¯t know what kind of face I should be making.

    Ouji-kun¡­¡­ he was seriously watching out for me, wasn¡¯t he?

    ¡°Well then¡­¡­ Should I become a pest repellent for Ouji-kun?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But even if you weren¡¯t here to repel pests, I won¡¯t let myself be caught up with that funny transfer student, so feel relieved.¡±

    ¡°Yup. I will quit being your friend if that happens.¡±

    ¡°It seems that Kouki-kun is being aimed for more than I am, though. Shijiyuuin-san is also in for it.¡±

    ¡°Certainly¡­¡­¡±

    I replied to Ouji-kun and we exchanged gentle smiles.

    This¡­¡­ is it okay for me to be shaking¡­¡­? Well, it can¡¯t be helped. I think that I only ever saw Ouji-kun as a younger brother.

    If I were older, my feelings might change, but then it would be rude to Ouji-kun.

    But¡­¡­ for Ouji-kun to be this determined, what kind of conversation did he have with Onzada-kun?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°My body itches¡­¡­ what is this, this ain¡¯t a rash. Good grief, is it because of this cheesy dress after all? Well, papa¡¯s only good for his money, but even so, if I want to have a dress custom made, that¡¯s a no. Really, I can¡¯t even make use of him. ¡±

    Matsuri prowled the venue alone, looking for Kouki and Handsome.

    If it was in the original timeline, this event shouldn¡¯t have happened while they were in elementary school, but Matsuri had talked to Kouki and Handsome many times, trying to raise her favor points with them.

    Kako still hadn¡¯t done anything to Matsuri, so she wasn¡¯t able to raise the conviction event, but Matsuri was hoping internally that the engagement event with Handsome would happen.

    ¡°Kako you knave, I managed to avoid all of your pitiful traps, so why didn¡¯t it advance? That steak was surely Kako¡¯s work¡­¡­ The teachers must surely have noticed.¡±

    Matsuri had surrounded herself with mob character girls who were timid for the past few years, and hence obtained some influence in her year.

    Even though she flirted with the male teachers, it was only to the extent of getting noticed by them, and she was sure that this was due to Kako.

    ¡°Given that I¡¯m so cute, there¡¯s no way in the world that there could be a man that wouldn¡¯t fall in love with me¡­¡­¡±

    Matsuri chewed her nails as she thought of the event progression that wasn¡¯t going well.

    *don*

    ¡°Ouch! What the heck?¡±

    It seems that Matsuri had accidentally bumped into someone else while thinking.

    Even though there was no sense of pain at all, looking down instinctively and stepping back, she saw a ball-likegirl that had fallen on her butt, looking up at Matsuri.

    Was she in the junior classes? The girl stood up, and beating the dust off of her dress with a *pon pon*, she bowed her head to Matsuri.

    ¡°Onee-chan, I¡¯m sorry for bumping into you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It was Matsuri who had bumped into her, but just from the things that she wore, Matsuri could tell that she had been brought up well.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, you.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Matsuri, who was in a poor mood after seeing a girl wearing a first-class tailored dress that was nicer than her own, pinched her cheeks.

    ¡°Owwie¡±

    ¡°Ara? Oh, so your cheeks hurt if I pinch them.¡±

    ¡°Owwwww it huuuuurts¡­¡­¡±

    When the girl raised her voice and began to weep, Matsuri clicked her tongue lightly at all of the bystanders¡¯ gazes. ¡°Ara, she fell down and hurt herself¡­¡­¡±

    So she said, glancing at the boys nearby coquettishly, before instantly fleeing the scene.

    ¡°Wh-what, to that extent. I want to cry for the events that aren¡¯t advancing.¡±

    Still, it would have been terrible had either Kouki or Handsome seen it.

    Matsuri moved about the place, and when she peeped quietly from the shadow of the table where the dishes were placed, her eyes went wide at the people there.

    ¡°Kouki-kun¡­¡­ and Kako.¡±

    The two of them looked like the perfect couple with their formal wear on. They didn¡¯t look at all like grade schoolers.

    The two of them comforted that little girl, with Kako on her knees gently stroking the hair of the girl with a gentle face, even as the girl cried, and with Kouki calmly fussing about Kako.

    The voices of the surrounding adults reached Matsuri¡¯s dumbfounded ears.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s the young scion of the Kuon house. And that pretty young lady next to him is¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the daughter of the Shijiyuuin house. They grow up so fast.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fianc¨¦es, no.¡±

    ¡°Well, for such a beautiful couple, they¡¯re certainly like eye candy.¡±

    ¡°A distinguished young man, and an honorable maiden in love.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not just beautiful, but also kind to the children.¡±

    ¡°After the retirement of Lord Kuon, the current household head has been hard at work restoring the family¡¯s power, but it seems that the house is in safe hands.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While she listened to the adults¡¯ gossip, Matsuri ground her molars together at the appearance of the two of them in good spirits.

    What was going on? How did this happen? How did the relationship between the two of them develop this far?

    ¡°¡­¡­I am¡­¡­ the heroine of this world¡­¡­ but then¡±

    It felt like she had her feelings played by some monster that she couldn¡¯t touch.

    ¡°No¡­¡­ Still, there¡¯s the event in junior high school¡­¡­ there¡¯s still Handsome-kun.¡±

    At that time¡­¡­

    Matsuri heard a noise from the corner of the hall even as she walked while muttering her grievances under her breath.

    ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it seems that the scion of Nikuno has his fianc¨¦e standing with him.¡±

    ¡°I saw her. It was a pretty child.¡±

    ¡°Did she reveal herself for the 70th anniversary? It gives a sense of security for the next generation.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Matsuri panicked at the rumors that she heard and turned to look at the commotion.

    ¡°Wh-why¡­¡­?¡±

    The fianc¨¦e event should still have been far away. Even if the event came early, Matsuri was supposed to be chosen as the fianc¨¦e, and such a thing couldn¡¯t be happening.

    As Matsuri looked towards the center of the commotion from the gaps between the adults, she saw that between the presidents and his wife and Handsome, there was a girl holding his hand.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mob-girl¡­¡±

    That girl, who Matsuri had watched when she came to Takamine School, was a child who had an adult-like appearance, who looked very beautiful despite being a dullard, and because she didn¡¯t ever act against Matsuri, she had been one of the mob characters that Matsuri intended to use as her crony to capture her targets.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s that girl¡¯s name!?¡±

    Matsuri asked as she clung onto a man next to her.

    The man, thinking that she was the daughter of someone involved, grimaced at Matsuri¡¯s attitude, but answered her.

    ¡°She¡­¡­ is the daughter of Director Toukaki, Yuzu, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­!¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t appear in the game, Matsuri remembered that in the setting materials for ¡°Nikuno Handsome¡±, that was the name of his first love.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yu¡­¡­zu¡­¡­¡±

    Was Yuzu lying to Matsuri all this while¡­?

    But from her foolish attitude with regard to Matsuri, it seemed more likely that Kako was behind it instead of her, and she thought that Kako had gotten them together to get in Matsuri¡¯s way.

    However, she wasn¡¯t intending to forgive Yuzu either.

    ¡°¡­¡­I won¡¯t forgive you. Both of you.¡±

    Matsuri ran out of the hotel venue and walked through the city at night.

    In her chest, she embraced the boiling anger and hatred that was like a smelter furnace burning within her¡­¡­

    Even if she had the memories of her previous life, it was no good for a fifth-grade girl, who was powerless, to walk alone.

    Towards the pretty-looking Matsuri, a malicious adult crept closer.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! Ahahahahaha!¡±

    Matsuri who recalled a certain sentence in the setting laughed out suddenly.

    The biggest reason for Handsome to believe that he was cursed was because his childhood first love had fallen sick when he had entered junior high.

    ¡°Yes, Yuzu should get sick as soon as possible, in fact, even sooner! Heeheehehe¡±

    ¡°O, oi, ojou-chan¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Matsuri, who had been interrupted, hit the neck of the man who had been behind her, and he crumpled down, staggering to the floor as he stopped moving.

    Why could Matsuri do such a thing?

    The bones of the fingers that Matsuri had used to hit him were also broken, but Matsuri kept laughing without minding it¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, Yuzu.¡±

    Her eyes were stained with desire and madness, as if possessed by the same thing as the attackers who had tried to attack Yuzu.

 Volume 6 - CH 10

    Volume 6, Chapter 10: The Malicious Presence, Part 1

    The 70th anniversary party of Nikuno Ham¡¯s founding ended without incident.

    Talks of my engagement with Ouji-kun and I ended up on hold, and it seems that the deferment continued. It seems that Ouji-kun had managed to persuade them to consider our feelings first.

    That cute, ball-like Minako-chan still called me ¡®Onee-sama¡¯.

    ¡°Ermm, Yuzu-onee-sama.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Minako-chan?¡±

    ¡°I want to become slim too, just like Onii-chan.¡±

    I smiled gently at Minako-chan, who was being so sweet, and stroked her head, even as she was hesitantly nibbling on a piece of cheese.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat while walking.¡±

    That¡¯s right, come to think of it, according to Kouki-kun and Kako, there was an insolent person who had made Minako-chan cry at the party.

    Considering the eyewitness reports of the people who were around Minako-chan at the time, it seems that it was some upper-grade elementary school girl wearing a pink ¡®frilly-frilly¡¯ princess dress who had drill-like twin tails. It seemed like she was a pretty girl but had horrible behavior.

    ¡­¡­ Wait? It seems like someone matches that description.

    That name is¡­¡­ And the following week, I did not see that child at all at school. Oh yeah, it was Matsuri. Of course, now I remember.

    Even though she were so full of herself, I wonder why she¡¯s taking a break from school? Well, the mood felt like she was up to something, but for now it¡¯s peaceful.

    Although she looked tasty at first, thinking about it, she¡¯s thin and I don¡¯t really feel like it, so I wasn¡¯t really interested¡­¡­ I don¡¯t remember the conversations either.

    And so the heroine-sama disappeared, and my peaceful days began¡­ but they didn¡¯t come.

    First of all, there were strange people who would wander about in the vicinity of the school, and about once or twice a month, the police and the security guards would have to take action.

    For those who had been possessed by ¡®something¡¯, it was too suspicious that they had wandered aimlessly around the elementary school vicinity without causing a ruckus.

    It got to the point that we started seeing clean-shaven men all around us. Their clothes were normal, but their body builds and eyes were markedly harder than a normal person.

    And also, my body condition got worse and it seems to have become serious.

    I thought that it was because a human body couldn¡¯t bear the magic power of a demon, but apparently it¡¯s not only that.

    I¡¯ve been feeling a slight fever lately, and my body also feels heavy. Because I¡¯ve been hiding it, it seems that the people surrounding me have only been able to tell that I have a weak constitution¡­¡­

    Is this¡­¡­ I wonder. Hadn¡¯t I originally taken ill when I¡¯d reached middle school?

    ¡°¡­¡­this is bad.¡±

    I don¡¯t know why it had onset prematurely, but I got the feeling that once it did, I couldn¡¯t be saved.

    It¡¯s a disease that needs a transplant, and even if one was arranged for, the survival rate was 50%. And at that time, I had had no relatives who could donate to me.

    But for me of the now, there is a way to get better.

    If I could regain all my memories and return to being a full [Demon], it wouldn¡¯t matter if I was ill with a human disease.

    But doing that means that I would have to resign from being the human ¡®Yuzu¡¯, which means that I might have to separate from my family¡­¡­ that was what it meant.

    Well, that being said, it could just be a cold, so I¡¯m not saying anything.

    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s no good if I don¡¯t regain my memories, huh.¡±

    And with these lingering suspicions that I would likely get into more troublesome things, I entered the sixth grade.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Onii-sama, what is the meaning of this!¡±

    On the day that the new semester rolled around and Onzada became a third-year middle schooler, he was called to the main hall by his elder brother for the first time in a while.

    Onzada also knew that his father and elder brother had been busy since the situation changed last year. He knew that it was related to that [Evil], but Onzada was troubled by the one-sidedness of the view that that existence was ¡®evil¡¯.

    A shocking fact had been delivered by his elder brother.

    ¡°From the girl that had become a new shrine maiden, it seems that a [Prophesy] had been issued, that the [Evil]was in the elementary school section of Takamine School.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s just what that person is saying!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Prophesy said that it was Shijiyuuin Kako and Toukaki Yuzu. The two of them were said to be especially suspicious, and now, in order to enhance the effect of the [Twelve Period Hourglass] in wiping out the evil, we are solidifying the town with a barrier.¡±

    ¡°I know the both of them, and they can¡¯t be it.¡±

    ¡°Onzada, that thing must not exist in this world. If it were to be released in its perfect state, the entirety of human history would be overwhelmed and overturned.¡±

    ¡°But, what if it was a mistake¡­¡­¡±

    The boosted barrier technique was being centered upon the two girls.

    The [Evil] presence would be the only thing affected by the barrier if it had been applied normally, but if the city was bound by a barrier, there would be considerable adverse effects on the two of them.

    ¡°To save the country¡­¡­ no, to save this world. It can¡¯t be helped that a few must be sacrificed, and you too are a member of this Demon Exorcising House!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada was stunned at the words of his brother ¨C no, the words of an exorcist who defended the country.

    ¡°This duty was also given to us as the monks of this area. If they make any suspicious movements, report it.¡±

    As he said that, Onzada¡¯s brother turned his back to him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada, who had been left alone in the main hall, gripped his fist so tightly that his nails bit into his palm, and spoke out under his breath.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ I will do it.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    Sakurazaki Matsuri came back at the start of the new school term.

    Although she had gone missing temporarily, when she returned, she had a confident look on her face, and several other newly-transferred students were following her.

    ¡°How unusual, to have multiple transfer students join us in the final year.¡±

    ¡°Aah, that¡¯s right. I was curious, so I investigated a bit, but I don¡¯t understand why at all.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Kouki-kun. But, does the Kuon family not know either?¡±

    ¡°Their backgrounds were investigated. They¡¯re the scions of fairly large temples. However, given that they come from as far as Kyushu and Hokkaido, I don¡¯t know why they all transferred in at the same time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Maybe, it¡¯s about that person?¡±

    ¡°Aah, suddenly speaking to Ouji and I, that strange woman was chattering on about some unknown private circumstances for a long time. Ouji should be careful.¡±

    ¡°I think Kouki-kun is rather more entangled than I am, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s troublesome.¡±

    ¡°There are more people following her about now in school, so I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°You should avoid being alone with her as much as possible.¡±

    Kouki-kun and Ouji-kun were having their conversation inside a conference room that they¡¯d borrowed from the school.

    It¡¯s been a few months since the first semester of sixth grade started, but Matsuri has not contacted me. I¡¯m starting to get worried¡­¡­

    We had gathered inside this room for the sake of studying, but recently, the two of them have coming here to exchange information about the goings-on within the school.

    Well, I¡¯ll lose if I pay it any attention, given that I need to study.

    So, while the boys had their conversation, Kako and I studied, listening quietly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­*cough*¡±

    ¡°Kako, are you alright¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just a cough. Yuzu-sama, your complexion is unwell as well¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been like this since I was young, so I wonder if I got used to it?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two boys turned to look at us with worried faces at this.

    My physical condition got worse, and then after a short time, Kako¡¯s physical condition started to get worse.

    Her symptoms were similar to mine. In my case, I have the power of a Demon and could move even if I was somewhat sick, but Kako was just a regular human being whose physical strength seemed to have waned quickly, and, recently, the amount of time that she¡¯d spent motionless at her desk during breaks had increased.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry, but please excuse me.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go alone.¡±

    When Kouki-kun stood up at Kako¡¯s words, Kako waved her hands in a panic.

    ¡°A, erm, ¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to the restroom.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ sorry.¡±

    ¡°Shall I go with you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. With Yuzu-sama in such a bad state, I can¡¯t possibly let you go with me. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­okay.¡±

    At that, if I were to forcibly follow her, Kako would worry about me, so I couldn¡¯t say anything.

    There is only a toilet for visitors on this floor, and the toilets for students was only accessible one flight of stairs down.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s a bit far.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go too after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yuzu-chan, please take care of Kako.¡±

    Although it had only been 2~3 minutes since Kako had walked out, Kouki-kun bowed to me when I went out of worry.

    It seems to be the case that Kouki-kun and Ouji-kun were concerned about the state of the school recently.

    Even as I walk down the corridor like this, there are times when I feel disgusting gazes being aimed at me. Everyone else noticed it too, and it bothered them.

    Me? I don¡¯t really care because I ¡®love¡¯ [Humans].

    ¡­¡­ To be honest, I don¡¯t care because others¡¯ malice is [delicious] to me. It would be different if they got involved with Kako and the rest, though.

    But, I feel a thin ¡®presence¡¯ within the school¡­¡­ it¡¯s that usual malicious-possession fellow again?

    For even I, who was bad at noticing such things, to notice it, why didn¡¯t Yuuki-kun, who was very sharp, say anything? I haven¡¯t really met him since the semester started, though.

    And for Misa to become worried since he hadn¡¯t gone to the ramen shop recently, just what is he doing?

    ¡°[¡­¡­ Please step aside.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kako?¡±

    I could hear Kako¡¯s voice from the stair landing.

    While heading there in a hurry, Matsuri was there with several young boys in tow, surrounding Kako¡­¡­ were they the transfer students?

    ¡°Oh my, Kako. What¡¯s wrong? You seem to be in a poor condition.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I don¡¯t recall having introduced myself to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s troubling¡­¡­ the villainous miss trying to be the heroine.¡±

    ¡°Villainous¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, since you are not long for this world, just leave Kouki-kun to me. Even though you were also a reincarnator, it seems that your plans haven¡¯t gone well, my condolences!¡±

    ¡°Reincarnator¡­¡­? What are you saying?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to act innocent.¡±

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    When I called out to them in a poor mood, all of them there turned around to face me at once.

    I wouldn¡¯t normally have any problems, but since my humanity would disappear the moment I took a cold attitude, those interesting little rubbernecks all got out of the way as I drew near.

    ¡­¡­ These people too, although light, have been affected by that ¡®presence¡¯.

    ¡°Yuzu-sama!¡±

    ¡°Kako, come over here.¡±

    Kako rushed over to me as I spoke. ¡­¡­ Why are your cheeks dyed with joy.

    ¡°¡­¡­ As expected, you were Yuzu¡­¡­ Mob-Girl.¡±

    Matsuri seemed to glare at me as she spat out her words through gritted teeth.

    ¡°Ah, sorry. I couldn¡¯t just give my name to any such suspicious person.¡±

    ¡°Suspicious person, eh. It seems that you got carried away just because I treated you well for a mob character.¡±

    ¡°How unrefined your words are.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! This world of mine,¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kako, please come over here first. I¡¯ll talk to you in a bit.¡±

    ¡°Listen to what I¡¯m saying!¡±

    As per usual, a noisy child¡­¡­¡­

    Although Kako hesitated a little over my words but reminded of the time when I had been attacked for the first time and I¡¯d spoken like that, she nodded deeply and returned to the meeting room.

    Is she calling for the boys? It would be troublesome if the two of them were to be affected by Matsuri.

    ¡°Wait, you! Stop that at once!¡±

    ¡°But I haven¡¯t done anything?¡±

    ¡°I am the heroine of this world! You, come here!¡±

    The pretty transfer student boys who were around Matsuri approached her and kneeled in front of her.

    They, too, were possessed¡­¡­ Just how did you gather this lot. Well, even though it¡¯s Matsuri herself who seems to be possessed by the most dangerous thing.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ look! This is my charm. That¡¯s what the mysterious [voice] told me. If I used my charms the world would move my way. I became a [Shrine Maiden] of this country, and am waited upon by the important people of this country, I am different from Kako and a mob character like you, Ahahahahahahaha, look¡±

    Wow, that was extremely fluent. She wasn¡¯t just possessed by that strange thing, but rather, she was the shrine maiden of that ¡®presence¡¯? Is that why she¡¯s receiving its power?

    ¡°So what¡­¡­?¡±

    When I spoke out with a cold voice, Matsuri who was laughing idiotically, and all the children around her all had cramped faces. I¡¯m, starting to feel a little angry. I don¡¯t mind people turning their malicious intent towards me, but to turn it towards Kako¡­¡­

    ¡°What do you want with me?¡±

    As I walked forwards, gradually letting the Demonic aura leak out, Matsuri backed off, startled.

    ¡°W-well, you say such things now, guys, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Matsuri said so quickly as she took the pretty boys away.

    ¡­¡­ Still, it¡¯s too thin. It needs time to mature.

    As Matsuri left, the bystanders also scattered, and there were only a few girls left.

    When I tried to leave the stairway landing and return to the meeting room,

    *DON*

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    Someone pushed me from behind, sending me down the stairs.

    When I turned my eyes to glance at who it was on the way down, they were two girls that I didn¡¯t know, who were grinning while watching me.

    Ah, were they also reincarnators? I didn¡¯t notice since they didn¡¯t have any sign of being possessed by that ¡®presence¡¯.

    ¡­¡­ that is to say, these actions were the ¡®cause¡® of that child.

    In that case¡­¡­

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll stop going easy now.¡±

    It¡¯s been around 0.2 seconds since I was pushed in the back. My eyes turned crimson red like blood as I used my physical capacity as a Demon.

    Catching their hands on the way down, the two of them had their faces change from smiles to ¡®fear¡¯, as I threw them, using my full force  for the first time in a while.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two girls disappeared from my view in an instant and vanished from this world, not even leaving behind a scream as they pulverized the window.

    ¡°Ah, crap.¡±

    I¡¯ve made a small mistake. The smoky smell of burned cloth was coming from my uniform as my sleeves failed to endure the friction from the air.

    Will I have to use my replacement uniform in the locker? But if I did so and went down the stairs, I might be spotted by a ¡®witness¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°ah¡­¡­ Onzada-kun¡­¡±

    For some reason, Onzada-kun who was supposed to be in middle school was staring at me from under the stairway at the elementary school.

 Volume 6 - CH 11

    Volume 6, Chapter 11: The Malicious Presence, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Come with me.¡±

    Said Onzada-kun as he walked ahead of me, and I followed him out of Takamine.

    I contacted Kako via email to take care of my bags, and, walking out with my coat while hiding the burned cuff, I felt cold for a moment.

    ¡°¡­¡­*cough*, *cough*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Put this on.¡±

    Said Onzada-kun as he threw me the blazer he was wearing.

    ¡°*Bufu*¡±

    And of course, I didn¡¯t manage to catch it and caught it with my face instead¡­¡­ so embarrassing.

    Just how long have we been walking¡­¡­ About 30 minutes? In the meantime, I wasn¡¯t getting bored because both Ouji-kun and Kako were sending me mail, while Onzada-kun didn¡¯t say anything more than in the beginning. Onzada-kun was also sending e-mails.

    We arrived at a shrine that I didn¡¯t recognize.

    Although it was old, there were people around, so we couldn¡¯t have a secret conversation.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­ Are you the [Evil] presence¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun turned back to face me after coming all this way to where he lived. But¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that¡¯s a bit too abstract of a question for me to answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I told him so with my normal tone of voice, Onzada-kun scratched his head and stared at me a little.

    ¡°You, are you the [Evil] existence that has come to destroy humanity?¡±

    Ah, I see, so you thought so because you¡¯d seen me.

    Hmm¡­¡­? That¡¯s right, they said that Matsuri was surrounded by the scions of famous temples. Well, maybe Onzada-kun was told something strange.

    ¡°What are you!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m a Demon.¡±

    ¡°*choke*¡±

    When I disclosed it, Onzada-kun choked.

    ¡°D-Demon?¡±

    ¡°When I thought of telling you, I was thinking of making the really bad joke of [Ah, Bear], but I realized that Onzada-kun would take it seriously, so I said it properly¡­¡± (TLN: Ah, Bear => A, Kuma => Akuma => Demon)

    ¡°I understand what you said, I¡¯m not an idiot!¡±

    Anyway, it was getting difficult to keep deceiving people, and either way I¡¯m going to be in a bad state if I don¡¯t get my memories and power as a Demon back soon.

    ¡°A Demon¡­¡­ there¡¯s no way that exists!¡±

    I¡¯m kind of glad to hear such a normal response.

    ¡°Neither Onzada-kun¡¯s ki, nor Yuuki-kun¡¯s magic is considered normal, right? But Onzada-kun knows that it exists.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­¡­ That means, you¡¯re not ¡°Yuzu¡±¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I am absolutely the real Yuzu. But rather, I¡¯m the second incarnation of ¡°Yuzu¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Second incarnation¡­¡­?¡±

    It seems that Onzada-kun doesn¡¯t really understand what my brief explanation was.

    ¡°I have the memories of ¡°Yuzu¡± up to around 15 years old¡­¡­¡­ Would you believe me if I said that? That I had died at that time because of my illness¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I think that I was born again as a [Demon], but I don¡¯t remember it well¡­¡­ When I realized it, I had already become ¡°Yuzu¡± again, and so I began to live normally.¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait a minute, if you¡¯re being Yuzu for the second time¡­¡­ Uh, aren¡¯t you a Demon now?¡±

    I slowly shook my head at Onzada-kun¡¯s misunderstanding.

    ¡°No, I only regained the power of the [Demon] after that kidnapping incident. It¡¯s still not complete. Because the memories of me being a Demon are still murky, it seems that my body protests at containing the power of a Demon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ what do you mean?¡±

    Looking at the eyes of Onzada-kun staring back at me, I told him the truth.

    ¡°I think I will die again. ¡­¡­Without even reaching the age of 15.¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°I, have actually been in poor health this whole time¡­¡­? I thought that the disease had onset early, and originally I thought that I would not have gotten truly ill until I hit the age of 12, but recently, it¡¯s been getting worse faster.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ St-stop joking! Aren¡¯t you alright!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only because I¡¯ve been forcibly moving myself with Demonic power¡­¡­ Onzada-kun, are you worried for me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am, you fool!¡±

    I got scolded. But, to get so angry, Onzada-kun is still clearly my ¡®friend¡¯¡­¡­ But anyway, given the situation.

    ¡°Well then, a second time, a return to the past¡­¡­ To be sealed in the past¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, Onzada-kun. I heard something amazing there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Nn? ¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s the [Prophesy] about the appearance of the [Evil] ten years from now, and with the 12 Period Hourglass, the past evil¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Onzada, that¡¯s it!¡±

    When I suddenly spoke up, I realized that I had been surrounded.

    There was about 10~20 of them. To not notice that there were so many, it seems that I¡¯ve haven¡¯t been very sharp. ¡­¡­ Well, Onzada-kun didn¡¯t notice either, though.

    I was done in¡­¡­ When I looked around carefully, there were no ¡®normal people¡¯. This was clear to me given that there were only people with good physiques.

    ¡°B-brother!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You really do love to push your luck. You were moved by your emotion easily. Come over here now!¡±

    ¡°Why are all of you here!¡±

    ¡°You and that girl were under watch. I thought that when you encountered her true colors you would understand, but you talked too much.¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun was despondent at realizing that he had been used by his elder brother. Still, I guess that there was still some familial affection?

    ¡°¡­¡­ What are you going to do with me?¡±

    Were these people going to do ¡®something¡¯ to me? ¡­¡­ But what was in the past was sealed in the past by the future? If that¡¯s the case, I wonder if the people now have been changed some way or another?

    As I cut in, Onzada-kun¡¯s brother turned a vigilant eye towards me.

    ¡°¡­¡­ You are the [Evil] presence? Incomplete and not yet fully awoken. Our role is to¡­ before you fully awaken¡­¡±

    ¡°Kill her!¡±

    That voice that cut in, where have I heard it before¡­¡­

    ¡°Miko-sama!? It¡¯s dangerous, why did you come here.¡±

    ¡°I came to see where Yuzu would die! Since you all forced me to become the Miko by all means, and I don¡¯t know what kind of bear she is, so just listen to what I say!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ooh¡­¡­ it¡¯s that idiot. There¡¯s an idiot.

    Matsuri, that was dragging around an entourage of pretty boys¡­¡­ is also a shrine maiden? I don¡¯t really know, but that [Existence] that kept bothering me, seemed to be recognized as something that wasn¡¯t just some wild monster.

    But at least, I managed to get some positive confirmation. If I managed to awaken completely, I would be able to break the seal.

    While Matsuri was squawking noisily, and I was contemplating that existence, it seems that Onzada-kun managed to recover his spirits and whispered to me:

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­ You¡¯re not doing any evil with the Demon power, right? ¡­¡­Don¡¯t look away.¡±

    Because his expression was so serious, I instinctively ¡®averted my gaze¡¯.

    Jokes aside, I too whispered back to him.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ aren¡¯t Demons normally a part of this world?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Like how wolves hunt livestock, or like how small animals feed on grains. You understand?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­So in short, you are the Yuzu I know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­That¡¯s right.¡±

    I don¡¯t know. It seems typical of Onzada-kun, though.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Are you going to die?¡±

    ¡°As it is, yes. But if my memories were to return¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, I will protect Yuzu until then. ¡­¡­ I promised.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Thank you.¡±

    This person sure speaks lightly. ¡°Besides, help should come soon. I managed to persuade them to come using Yuzu¡¯s name.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Help?¡±

    ¡°Listen up, okay, just kill Yuzu quickly!¡±

    Matsuri¡¯s voice sounded out again as we were talking.

    Onzada-kun¡¯s older brother and his colleagues, while looking saddened, set up their staves, and began to channel their ¡®ki¡¯ as per usual.

    Every one of them seems to be stronger than Onzada-kun. I think that I might be able to win if I went at my full power, but with my physical condition at the moment, I don¡¯t think I can keep Onzada-kun alive while sustaining my full power.

    But then,

    [Windstorm!]

    *Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh*

    Suddenly, a voice cried out, and a wind storm blew into the quiet shrine from the forest.

    ¡°Who,¡±

    ¡°GyaaaAAAAAA¡±

    ¡°What,¡±

    ¡°Uoooo¡±

    It¡¯s not just a gust of wind. It was a magical wind that was filled to the brim with magic power. There were those who had been torn apart by what seemed like invisible blades, and those of them who were hiding in the shadow of the trees were blown away into the air.

    ¡°¡­[Protect]¡­!¡±

    I defended Onzada-kun and myself by constructing a [Magic Barrier] with the spirit language.

    Being able to do such things, there was only one person.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ that¡¯s reckless.¡±

    He was the only person that could have been called by Onzada-kun for reinforcement, among the people I knew.

    What were you doing to make Misa this worried, you¡­¡­ But this magic, since it couldn¡¯t be resisted without magic power, have some people died?

    ¡°¡­¡­Since my brothers are demon exorcists who live on the battlefield, they should be fine, but what¡¯s the meaning of involving Yuzu?¡±

    Ah, was it not alright?

    Onzada-kun looked anxious, though I thought that it was clear.

    ¡°Oooi! You, attack this way!¡±

    As Onzada-kun shouted out, a boy wearing a black mask appeared with a very distinctive ¡®presence¡¯ from the shadow of a tree.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, retreat.¡±

    ¡°Nn? What¡¯s wrong? He¡¯s¡­¡±

    At that time, Yuuki-kun unexpectedly released a tremendous magic power and a rippling killing intent.

    ¡°¡­¡­UoOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    It was a shout that sounded like he had unleashed something he was suppressing.

    It was after all¡­¡­ that ¡®presence¡¯¡­¡­

    The people who had been attacking me for a long time had all had ¡®desires¡¯ and ¡®malice¡¯ within their hearts, and so they had been possessed.

    Desire and malice were used simply because they were the strongest and simplest feelings that people had, but some people had some pretty strong [Negative] emotions.

    Those feelings, like ¡®rage¡¯, or ¡®hatred¡¯¡­¡­

    There¡¯s a tremendous energy in sustaining such emotions. Of all the people in the area, the only one a ¡®rage¡¯ that was this strong ¡­¡­ was him.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ were your feelings used?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 12

    Volume 6, Chapter 12: Awakening, Part 1

    Even though Shijima Yuuki was a sixth grader, he continued to help out with the ramen shop in the shopping district.

    Takamine School was well known as a school for children of good families, but with the number of them decreasing, there was a renewed focus upon academics, and the secondary school side had also reoriented themselves into a preparatory school.

    Yuuki was receiving the treatment of a special student with excellent results at his prep school, and although the number of other students would swell when they advanced to middle school, they would still have to maintain their top grades. Yuuki, with the memory and intelligence of his previous life, studied earnestly, due to his serious character, and didn¡¯t feel anything special about Takamine School.

    Rather, he was happier helping out in the ramen shop.

    Up until now, Yuuki had wanted to return to his own world sooner or later, to have his revenge on the ¡°heroes from another world¡± who had ambushed him in his previous life, and had tried to avoid being involved in this world as much as possible.

    However, Yuuki was unexpectedly able to make a friend.

    Another reincarnator like Yuuki, a human who had already quit being human, the magician of another world¡­¡­ Yuzu.

    Yuzu¡¯s friend, who was a practitioner of ¡®Ki¡¯ that Yuuki wasn¡¯t familiar with, Onzada.

    And the one who grabbed onto Yuuki¡¯s hand and showed him a new world¡­¡­ Misa.

    Earth, the home world of the heroes who had killed him, was the object of hatred for Yuuki, but Misa taught him that there were wonderful things in this world too.

    He wanted to get to know this world with her¡­¡­ he began to think that way before he knew it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Fuu¡±

    Yuuki was on his way home after having just finished helping out in the ramen shop on a sunny day.

    Before he knew it, he had begun to think of Misa¡¯s older brother, the shopkeeper, as his teacher, but he didn¡¯t feel like such a relationship was bad either.

    However, Yuuki had something on his mind, and sighed in spite of himself.

    A certain ¡®presence¡¯ that he had felt since a long time ago increased in strength with each passing day, and now it covered the entirety of Tokyo thinly, and that ¡®presence¡¯ stimulated the anger and hatred within Yuuki.

    Within he could hear it crying out ¡°[Help me¡­¡­]¡± As a former hero, he was worried, but feeling the ¡®distortion¡¯ of that voice, Yuuki was wary of it.

    Someone stepped out and blocked Yuuki¡¯s path even as he walked down the road having these thoughts.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Fuuhn, is this guy a hidden character?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki was caught off guard by the girl who had suddenly begun to say things that he didn¡¯t understand at all.

    ¡°You, I don¡¯t know whether you¡¯re a bug or something, but won¡¯t you come over to my side? Thanks to this, I¡¯ve been stuck with something unpleasant, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    From the girl, who was the same age as Yuuki, he could feel that ¡®presence¡¯ strongly overflowing.

    Though usually people like this would lose their mind, this girl wasn¡¯t quite normal in the head, so she still seemed to keep her sense of self.

    ¡°Fufufu, I am Matsuri. The true protagonist of this world. Be grateful that I am speaking to you, minor character.¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­*twitch*

    Yuuki suddenly felt a strong dizziness assail him, and fell to his knees on the spot. He had been wary, but he wondered if he had been struck during that gap thanks to her idiotic behavior.

    ¡°Waa, it¡¯s just as that [God] said! He completely surrendered to my ¡®charm¡¯ at once!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You bastard¡­¡­ who are you?¡±

    The ¡®presence¡¯ that was overflowing from Matsuri strongly fanned Yuuki¡¯s anger and hatred, muddying his consciousness. It seemed that Matsuri had come this far after being tempted by that [Existence].

    ¡°Fufufu, I can¡¯t go back now. You, your face isn¡¯t so bad, even as someone in my periphery¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Flash!¡±

    ¡°Giyaa!?¡±

    A flash of light that tore up the night burned Matsuri¡¯s retinas.

    Yuuki, who managed to cast the spell at the last minute, was able to escape¡­¡­ Although he had avoided becoming Matsuri¡¯s puppet, his spirit had been contaminated with each passing day, and his hatred was distorted.

    And now¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­UOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡±

    Yuuki-kun shouted as if he was shaking off his reason.

    Taking out his huge sword from within his subspace, he started to cast as he stared at me.

    ¡°O-oi, what are you doing!¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun.¡±

    I grabbed onto Onzada-kun¡¯s neck and flung him away.

    ¡°DowaaaaAAH!?¡±

    ¡°[Protect!]¡±

    ¡°Lightning!¡±

    At the same time I put up my magical shields, Yuuki-kun¡¯s lightning struck and sparked off of it.

    The lightning strikes were of the wind attribute¡­¡­ Come to think of it, he was a hero who used the element of wind.

    Was his possession incomplete? He regarded me as an ¡®enemy¡¯, but hasn¡¯t fully lost his mind, so it¡¯s quite a troublesome situation.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ are you serious about this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Destroy¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In an instant, he swung the sword that was the same size as his body to the side, and I deflected it off of my fists narrowly by cladding them in magic power.

    Is it not just body-strengthening magic, but also ¡®Ki¡¯ being infused into his movements? It was pretty fast, so I wasn¡¯t able to break the sword.

    Yuuki-kun had been training his power since the very moment he had been born. Not only that, he had also been absorbing the power of his enemies through the power of his [Hero¡¯s secret arts]and raising his physical [levels], plus he had the knowledge of ¡®Ki¡¯ from Onzada-kun and my own knowledge as well.

    ¡­¡­ This cheating bastard. Are you a protagonist somewhere?

    ¡°[Burn away.]¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    As Yuuki-kun leapt out in response to my magic power, the trees around him burned to nothing in an instant.

    ¡°You, you¡¯re a demon!¡±

    I heard Onzada-kun protesting from where I¡¯d tossed him earlier, but what had he expected from a Demon and a former hero who was driven mad by thoughts of revenge¡­¡­

    To offer love no matter how hostile your opponent was something only found in children¡¯s fairy tales, you know?

    Nonetheless, given that he dodged that blow, I don¡¯t think I will be able to defeat him easily with magic. Although I had the physical strength of a demon, it¡¯s impossible for me to engage in hand-to-hand combat with him.

    ¡°¡­[Summon]¡­¡±

    A small magic circle formed within my hand, and black things fell out of it with a pitter-patter.

    ¡­¡­ Is that more seafood? But as the seaweed grew at a strange rate, it turned into a humanoid figure and stood up. ¡­¡­ eeww, gross.

    [Ubo~]

    ¡°Lightning Sword!¡±

    Against the seaweed possessed by a lesser Demon, Yuuki-kun built up a small magic formation and tore through it with his extreme ¡®Chuunibyou sword¡¯, and absorbed its power.

    Ah, it¡¯s no good. Still, I unleashed the [Spirit Magic] I¡¯d prepared in the meantime.

    ¡°[Open Dimensional Gate]¡±

    A door that by my reckoning was about twice as large as it was normally opened up at Yuuki-kun¡¯s feet, and the dimensional rift tried to swallow Yuuki-kun together with the surrounding air and the tree leaves.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be great if you returned to your home world?¡±

    Although there was no air or water on the journey there.

    ¡°UoooooooOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    As I spoke of it lightly, Yuuki-kun placed a similar summoning magic circle on his sword and hit the dimensional door. Eh¡­¡­ Did you just repair the dimensional rift?

    You seriously practiced what I taught¡­¡­ what a diligent pupil.

    ¡°Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Uwaa¡±

    *BZZT*

    I deflected the shot again with my bare hands as I set up a defensive barrier with magic power. Thanks to that, my blouse sleeve got burnt.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡±

    I used my physical strength as a Demon and grabbed the slender trees in my vicinity, pulling them out and throwing them at him.

    ¡°Tei!¡±

    ¡°HAaaAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    Yuuki-kun slashed down at the trees that were flying at him with a thunderous roar and dragging clods of earth behind them, as he sliced down cleanly, splitting the trunk in two.

    Naturally, I expected him to do as much.

    ¡°How about this?¡±

    In the middle of the fight, a single ¡®phrase¡¯ came to mind.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    As a dazzling light was emitted from my whole body, a bright light emerged from the whole forest surrounding the shrine, and something like an ¡®angel of light¡¯ appeared.

    Ah? Why did it turn out like this?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun tried to slash at me with his sword, but it bounced off the angel.

    I didn¡¯t feel any backlash. Maybe, it was the same attribute as Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ the power of a spirit of light?

    However, even though it doesn¡¯t let attacks through, it doesn¡¯t attack. Still, it should earn me enough time.

    ¡°¡­ [Penetrating light¡­¡­ form a Sparkling Sacred Spear]¡­!¡±

    With the ¡®words¡¯ emerging in my mind in the [Spirit Language], I poured magic power into it.

    ¡°¡­¡­uh¡­¡±

    This, uses quite a bit of my magic power. It¡¯s not to the point that it exhausts my magic power, but ¡®Yuzu¡¯s¡¯ body was screaming out under the strain of channeling the magic.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    I threw the golden spear that looked to be about 5 meters long towards Yuuki-kun.

    ¡°OOOOO!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun threw his thunder-coated sword at the Sparkling Sacred Spear, leaping away from the impact. ¡­¡­ He¡¯s got a good intuition.

    The Sacred Spear instantly destroyed the sword, and deflected a little away, it hit the ground, exploding its surroundings in a burst of light.

    Ah, it had the holy attribute¡­¡­ It¡¯s not very effective against Yuuki-kun, but that¡¯s kind of meaningless if the ground itself is left glowing red. If someone kept staying in the sun, they¡¯d die eventually.

    Yuuki-kun, who had been blown away by the blast and was rolling away, turned about sharply, and ran towards me with a new sword, even with his worn-out body.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    I can¡¯t move? My body has lost its strength and I can¡¯t move.

    Oh crap, I pushed my human body far too much. I hurriedly channeled my magic power into my body and tried to move myself forcefully,

    * cough*

    I suddenly coughed, and my body stiffened, stuck.

    ¡°UOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    His straight sword thrust out towards my heart. But¡­¡­

    *Gashi*!

    In front of my belly, the sword was kicked away, and grazing across a few centimeters of my face, it pierced the ground.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡±

    I heard someone speak out, and then I was hauled away from Yuuki-kun by the waist.

    ¡°Sorry, now I can finally make my move. Leave it to me. I will protect you, Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡±

    It was Onzada-kun, who both Yuuki and I had thought to be out of commission, who had saved me.

 Volume 6 - CH 13

    Volume 6, Chapter 13: Awakening, Part 2

    ¡°Bastard! Stop it, that¡¯s enough! To raise a sword towards a girl.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Onzada-kun cried out at the indecent state we were in, Yuuki-kun began to hold up his sword in preparation for another strike.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I¡¯m fi-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t move, Yuzu!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I got scolded¡­¡­ But I guess it¡¯s okay after all.

    ¡°Haaaaa!¡±

    The next moment, Yuuki-kun had moved in the blink of an eye, sticking his sword though Onzada-kun.

    He¡¯d taken damage from my Radiant Spear, and his movements had slowed, but it seems that it¡¯s still beyond the realm of normal humans.

    ¡°Ku-¡±

    Onzada-kun groaned with pain¡­¡­ But still, he¡¯d managed to deflect the sword by hitting its side with a fistful of ¡®Ki¡¯, He was able to handle it despite being at that speed?

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    Onzada-kun threw out his punch in that momentary gap. A large sword has an equally large backswing, and Yuuki-kun met the fist with one of his own, and in front of me, I saw their ¡®Ki¡¯ collide, sparking.

    Without a doubt, Yuuki-kun¡¯s physical prowess is not ordinary. With his body that had been trained with the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], he was able to handle an enormous iron sword weighing a few dozen kilograms with a single hand. It was a perfect system for letting him take on Onzada-kun¡¯s attack with one hand as well.

    Yuuki-kun was clearly a few steps higher in both speed and power. Besides, he had his battle experience and skills as a [Hero] that he¡¯d gained in his previous life that had been forged over ten years.

    There was no chance at all for Onzada-kun ¨C it was like comparing an adult and a child.

    And yet¡­¡­

    ¡°[Root of All Things¡­]¡±

    ¡°Too slow!¡±

    As he began to chant in that moment, Onzada-kun kicked him as if he had anticipated it, and interrupted the casting.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Yuuki-kun instantly swept his sword sideways with one hand, but Onzada-kun was no longer there, instead kicking him in the back, but Yuuki-kun took it on the handle of his sword.

    ¡­¡­ Was Onzada-kun predicting his attacks?

    ¡°Flash!¡±

    Still, he¡¯s a former hero. He swapped over to a magic with a short aria instantly.

    A dizzying light¡­¡­? It seems that it¡¯d be over if he got blinded, but Onzada-kun seemed to have read even that.

    Onzada-kun leapt in under cover of the light.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    ¡°Kuh¡±

    As he was kicked in the back, Yuuki-kun whirled around, taking out his enormous sword as a shield even as he lost himself for a moment.

    ¡­¡­ Amazing, Onzada-kun, you can seriously fight! Only barely, though.

    ¡°I know how to fight you. Besides, I too can read the ¡®signs¡¯ that of the techniques that you taught. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun had learned magic from Yuuki-kun, but he wasn¡¯t able to use it because he didn¡¯t have magical power.

    It seems that he taught Onzada-kun something instead, was it the way to read the signs that someone was going to use a spell?

    Maybe, because Onzada-kun takes even the feelings of ghosts into consideration, he was able to predict what actions his opponent was going to take according to their feelings¡­¡­ seriously?

    And once again, for Onzada-kun, battle began.

    Predicting Yuuki-kun¡¯s attack, he ducked and hid, waiting for a gap to appear for him to strike at.

    But Onzada-kun wasn¡¯t able to keep his composure. To begin with, there was a massive difference in their attack powers, and even if he had taken a small slash or a bit of magic, it would have been likely fatal.

    There was only instant death if his concentration flagged. But before Onzada-kun¡¯s concentration flagged, Yuuki-kun lost his nerve and got serious.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Flame¡±

    ¡°Muu¡±

    As Yuuki-kun crushed the little magic circle he made onto his sword, it burst into flame.

    That looks bad¡­¡­ Since it was a magical flame, it doesn¡¯t transfer heat by radiation, but if he took Onzada-kun¡¯s attack on the flaming blade, Onzada-kun¡¯s body would burn.

    But, just a little¡­¡­

    I could gradually feel my breath coming back to me, and the strength return to my legs.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    When I forcibly stood up, Onzada-kun looked like he wanted to speak, but said nothing at all, even as Yuuki-kun turned his wary eyes to look at me.

    Onzada-kun could use ¡®Ki¡¯, but he was an ordinary human, unlike us. And I knew the limits of a ¡®human¡¯ well.

    Although it was quite a good match to watch, why I ended up joining the battle in the end is because Yuuki-kun had taken some damage from me previously, and it was different for us, who were of a class able to oppose an army alone.

    Yuuki-kun was also human, but he¡¯d taken a step into the realm of ¡®monsters¡¯,

    Still¡­¡­ I was unable to use a lot of magic power, but I think that if I just use ¡®Light¡¯, I could strengthen Onzada-kun.

    Comparing magic, humans can¡¯t compare with me, a Demon. Once Yuuki-kun ran out of magic power, or my bodily condition recovered¡­¡­ we would win.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go, Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Don¡¯t push it.¡±

    ¡°Of course. ¡­¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    ¡°Owaah!?¡±

    My magic enveloped Onzada-kun¡¯s body in light.

    Maybe it would improve his physical strength and defense? I don¡¯t know why I could use my Demonic power like this, but it¡¯s convenient and I have no complaints.

    ¡­¡­ Something about this ¡°magic¡± stimulates my memories.

    I wonder what it is¡­¡­ It seems that I used it all the time. With this power of mine¡­¡­ I was fighting?

    ¡­¡­ Vampires¡­? Stupid humans¡­? Something¡­¡­ a pitch black¡­¡­ beast¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    As I was swept up in my own thoughts, Onzada-kun cried out to me.

    But Yuuki-kun hadn¡¯t moved. Then what¡­¡­ I casually looked around. Nearby¡­¡­ there was a small shadow that ran up to me from a few meters away.

    ¡°Yuzuuuuu! You should disappear!!!!¡±

    ¡°Matsuri!?¡±

    Between the pressure from Yuuki-kun and my magic, how was Matsuri alright? How did I not notice her until she got this close?

    I could feel that ¡®presence¡¯ from Matsuri quite strongly now.

    I see¡­¡­ is that ¡®presence¡¯, that thing which is so afraid of ¡®me¡¯? It went and gave an unreasonable and distorted [Power] to the human Matsuri.

    But¡­ why was it so afraid of me¡­¡­?

    Demons were the natural enemy of human beings, but ¡®me¡¯, do I have the kind of [Power] that a [Being] that is worshipped by human beings through shrine maidens needs to be afraid of me?

    And the only way to fight against it¡­¡­ power.

    That¡¯s right¡­¡­ I fought against that ¡®pitch-black beast¡¯.

    Matsuri was slowly approaching me. My thoughts were accelerated, so I could see her approaching as if in slow motion, but my body can only move at the same rate as a normal person.

    I could see Onzada-kun trying to rush towards me, shouting something.

    I wonder if that small knife in Matsuri¡¯s hands could kill me¡­¡­?

    In that slow-moving world, I watched as the sharp edge buried itself into my stomach little by little, Matsuri¡¯s smile filled with madness in front of me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    However, I¡¯m not looking at Matsuri.

    Behind her, I saw that [Black Cat] appear.

    Those silver eyes that stared at me¡­¡­ I see¡­¡­ that¡¯s how it is.

    That was¡­ [Dark Beast]¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Have I kept you waiting¡­¡­ Rinne¡­¡­¡±

    *GIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGI¡­¡­¡­¡­!!!*

    The air¡­¡­ no, the world, squirmed and shook.

    An enormous magic power, several times that of the total that I¡¯d used up until now, was unleashed from my whole body.

    The color drained from the world, cracking and collapsing around me, as it all fell off.

    As the ¡®presence¡¯ was blown away, Yuuki-kun was left dumbstruck and dropped the sword out of his hand¡­¡­

    As I ran out, Onzada-kun¡¯s crying face cracked away with the world¡­¡­

    **KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN¡­**

    Along with the sound of a tuning fork, the colorless world disappeared and faded away, and I saw a clear blue sky.

    I saw a woman¡¯s hands, which were outstretched towards the sky, wrapped in a dress of black and silver lace that flowed with the breeze, her hair like golden thread waved in the wind.

    Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ it¡¯s me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Yurushia ¡­¡­¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 14

    Volume 6, Chapter 14: The Devil War, Part 1

    That¡¯s right! I¡¯m Yurushia!

    With those memories back, I have all of my power now. Looking now, I can see my golden hair and pale, porcelain hands after a long absence¡­ It really is a completely different body from ¡®Yuzu,¡¯ who was just human.

    Both bodies were ¡®Me,¡¯ but while being in Yuzu was familiar for my mind, this body of Yurushia is completely optimized for handling my demonic powers.

    I thought that this form came from a demon possessing a dead baby, but this body had the same features as ¡®Yuzu.¡¯

    What do I mean by that?

    Not to say that it isn¡¯t still creepy, it¡¯s just that this body has attributes from this [Incarnation].

    Eh, it¡¯s fine anyways.

    ¡°Where¡­ is this?¡±

    Around me is something like a field of lightning, shining lights suspended in the air.

    I can move my arms and legs normally, and can see the daytime sky above, but my other surroundings are blocked by the lights and I can¡¯t see past them.

    ¡°Hn?¡±

    Just then, I saw a black dot falling from the sky right above me.

    ¡°[Yurushia!]¡±

    ¡°Rinne!¡±

    The same [Black Cat] that I had seen as Yuzu landed on my shoulder.

    Honestly¡­ after such a long time apart.

    ¡°Rinne¡­ Sorry. It was hard for me to remember.¡±

    ¡°[No, it¡¯s okay.]¡±

    Now that I look closer, the amount of magical power that Rinne feels like he has is much smaller.

    ¡°Did you get weaker¡­?¡±

    ¡°[¡­ I used the seal that Yurushia made to interfere with [The Past]. I could barely even take my ability to speak with me like this¡­]¡±

    ¡®¡­ Thank you.¡±

    As I touched Rinne¡¯s face, he gave my face a gentle lick.

    ¡°¡­ What was that? You¡¯re really not a dream?¡±

    ¡°[This is unmistakably [The Past]. The history of the world has changed accordingly.]¡±

    ¡­ if that¡¯s the case I died not because of sickness at 15, but of being stabbed and dying before I even reached 12.

    When I thought that, I got a bit mad.

    That woman¡­ If that ¡°Matsuri¡± is still in this world, she¡¯d better be ready.

    ¡°So, when is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been¡­ six months since we¡¯ve came to this dimension.¡±

    ¡°Half a year¡­¡±

    It was quite a long time to be sealed.

    That reminds me, it feels like my arms and legs have grown.

    I see¡­ without knowing it, I turned 12 years old.

    This past year, half was spent fighting [Demon Road]¡¯s Hi¡­ Hira¡­ what was it, something like Nurarihyon over and over, the other half I spent in a seal.

    So anyways, I¡¯m 12 years old now¡­

    ¡°¡­ I see¡±

    Back then, Onzada said the technique was called something with ¡°12¡± and ¡°Hourglass¡± in it.

    Maybe the original technique was meant to keep a presence away from being a baby up through being 12 years old.

    Since Yusushia was close to 12 years old, was the original ceremony cheated?

    If that¡¯s correct, I would have been completely destroyed when Yuzu, or rather Yurushia now, reached age 12, but since I traveled to the past, it couldn¡¯t crush my life and tried to re-start at age 6.

    Due to the ambiguity from the memories of ¡°Me¡± remaining, as well as the interference from Rinne¡¯s sacrifice, I was able to regain my [Demonic] power.

    That irritated the [Presence]. So, using a person like Matsuri, who interfered with the completion of the technique, a fight happened that allowed me to awaken before I was twelve years old.

    ¡­ something like that?

    ¡°Rinne, I¡¯ll be escaping form this ¡®cage¡¯ for now¡±

    ¡°[¡­ And then?]¡±

    Since Rinne seemed to understand my plan, based on his tone, I gave a little smile.

    ¡°An Extermination.¡±

    This is the first time I¡¯ve been made into such a fool¡­

    ¡°¡­[Shine the Light of Terror]¡­¡±

    The cage of light isn¡¯t holy attribute, but it had the effect of sealing a ¡®Demon.¡¯ So, my anti-demon weapon [Sacred Series] won¡¯t work.

    So I was making a new type of magic from the spiritual world, something I¡¯ll need to defeat other hostile non-demons.

    ¡°¡­[Pierce!¡­ Spear of Night]¡­!¡±

    A jet-black spear more than 5 meters long appeared, and I scraped the cage of light with it.

    *Pakyiiiiiiiiin*

    The struck light cage made a sound like glass breaking.

    ¡­ Is this a temple? No, a Shrine? It¡¯s surrounded by forests, but since I can see skyscrapers in the distance, it shouldn¡¯t be far from Tokyo.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Looking around, hundreds of priests were surrounding me within a dozen meters.

    Their eyes were filled with awe and fear as they looked at me. So, as I looked away from them, I took in my unreal features and made a face.

    Among the men, one wearing only casual clothes and a leather jacket with another person were being held back by the surrounding people.

    That person¡­ where¡¯s he going.

    ¡°¡­Yuzu!¡±

    The voice is different, but something sounds nostalgic about how he said that word.

    *Shara*¡­ the thin black chain appeared that stretched from my hand straight to that person.

    No way¡­

    ¡°Onzada-kun!?¡±

    When I yelled out, the men finally seemed to get back their bearings after the shock.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡±

    ¡°The dark one has been let out¡­¡±

    ¡°This guy got in the way¡­¡±

    ¡°Be calm, I will restart the ritual ceremony.¡±

    ¡°¡­ For world peace.¡±

    ¡°Work together.¡±

    ¡°Gyaaa¡±

    ¡°Guuaaaaaa!¡±

    ¡°Who is that!?¡±

    Something was coming from behind them.

    A dust cloud like from a small tornado was blowing, the priests and monks being blown away while screaming.

    Past that, there was a black mask wearing figure holding a huge sword¡­ That¡¯s Yuuki!?

    Oops, I entered audience mode without thinking.

    I descended to the ground and called to where Onzada-kun was detained.

    ¡°Put up a holy based defense!¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°Hold on!¡±

    ¡°[Penetrating light¡­ Radiant Spear]¡­¡±

    Yuuki came over in a hurry and flow to Onzada-kun¡¯s side, putting up a holy magic barrier up, at the same time, my [Unholy Spear] blew away all the priests.

    ¡­ well, some were blown away then rolled back towards me, though.

    Still, I don¡¯t think it will be over with just this¡­

    ¡°[Everlasting Light¡­ Celestial Bow]¡­¡±

    Hundreds of golden arrows shot from the shining bow and struck the priests.

    Those who ran, those who tried to fight, those who were stunned in place, everything was blown away by the carpet bombing of my attack.

    If they¡¯re lucky, they¡¯ll still be alive.

    It¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve fought an enemy so one-sidedly.

    After the annihilation of light, two stunned people came closer.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    When we stepped forward, we looked at eachother with mixed expressions. Then, Onzada-kun opened his mouth first.

    ¡°¡­Is it¡­ really you, Yuzu?¡±

    Yes, though now my name is Yurushia¡­ Onzada-kun sure has gotten old.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not old!¡±

    Onzada¡¯s appearance has changed a lot.

    He was older, about 30 years old. Well, if you were a modern person at age 30, you¡¯d still look young, but it still has a little of the old person scent coming from you.

    ¡°Should I shave my beard?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­ this feeling, it really is Yuzu.¡±

    When he came claser to me, Onzada-kun dropped to his knees like he¡¯d lost all his strength.

    ¡°¡­ thank¡­ god¡­ I didn¡¯t believe you were dead¡­ if the deal had gotten you, I¡­¡±

    I¡¯ve been looking into how to save you forever, I was lucking to get in the way just before the final stage of the ritual.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yuuki-kun¡±

    Yuuki lowered his mask and showed a slim face.

    Is he also in the latter half of his twenties? Maybe because I looked at Onzada first, the impression was less.

    I was able to remember everything because they helped me.

    ¡°Thank god¡­? Here, let me help you up.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re a bit more of a terrifying ¡°Demon¡± than I thought, but I don¡¯t mind the way you took care of all the priests. Besides¡­ now I can return what I owe.

    ¡°¡­What a serious look.¡±

    As normal, his gaze is hard¡­ wait, is it becoming warmer?¡±

    ¡°I can not forgive that [Presence].¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s right.¡±

    The Presence sensed my return and trapped all of the people in the country within its seal.

    Even though it¡¯s powerful, it feels young in how it does things, and it feels like it is being used by the shrine maidens, rather than being worshiped.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­ or Yurushia now, let me give you the memories I¡¯ve recorded. It should help you understand what I found out about the Presence.¡±

    ¡°¡­Do it¡±

    Yuuki-kun casted a layered spell wrapped around me.

    When I let the magic power pass through me, the events up to now flowed into my head.

    ¡­ Something is coming. It was like a scattered scene without sound, but I was able to understand it.

    Koto-chan got married to Dad-chan¡­

    Yuuki-kun and Misa also married? I didn¡¯t get my chance at the shovel speech¡­¡±

    It seems like Yuuki-kun is the second in command of Dad-chan¡¯s shop.

    Ooba-nii-san has become the president of my family¡¯s company.

    Dad and Mom are still fine¡­

    Kouki and Kako have gotten together too, and there are already babies.

    Ouji-kun¡­ thank goodness. He has a normal, full-bodied wife as well.

    Onzada-kun was not a monk at his family¡¯s temple, but at a shrine. I wonder if it was because he didn¡¯t like what his older brothers did.

    It seems like Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun were studying together.

    And¡­

    Matsuri seems to be in the middle of a circle of shrine maidens now.

    Although she was able to have me killed, she wasn¡¯t able to control it? Maybe there was a wavelength of thought in young people.

    So¡­ maybe that¡¯s where the [Presence] gets its power.

    ¡°Is this the truth¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t be awake yet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s too soon.¡±

    In a distorted world with little magic, it went inot hibernation, but the directions the departing ¡°Souls¡± takes went wrong.

    It was supposed to be born in the future, but it still responded to it.

    Human ¡°Desire¡± dug it out.

    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±

    I raised my golden bat wings to the sky.

    ¡°Wings! Where are you going, Yuzu?¡±

    I heard Onzada-kun¡¯s voice, but ignored it, there was something I needed to confirm.

    While flying high into the air, there were huge cities all over the place.

    I recognized the [Presence]¡­ when I looked through my eyes, I saw a huge thing overlapping with the town.

    The center of culture, the city that doesn¡¯t sleep. A huge city recognized all over the world.

    Desire¡­ Longing¡­ Emptyness¡­ those feelings gathered, human selfishness created this [Presence] in this world.

    A true [God] born only in this world, from a new, human ideal¡­

    ¡°¡­ [True God ¨C Tokyo]¡­¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 15

    Volume 6, Chapter 15: The Demon-God War, Part 2

    ¡°[¡­ he¡­l¡­p]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­H¡­el¡­p]¡±

    ¡°[¡­H¡­e¡­lp¡­¡­]¡±

    Suddenly, I heard [sounds] in my head.

    I don¡¯t understand what the extent of that power is. I can¡¯t see the whole picture¡­¡­ Even for me, being a [Devil], even though I had power beyond both Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun together, I could see that giant light rising into the sky¡­¡­ it¡¯s not unlike looking at a [Pillar].

    An aggregation of human desires and dreams.

    A whirlwind of ¡®prayers¡¯ filled with desires, a God that was created only for ¡®humans¡¯.

    The ultimate ideal of humans¡­¡­ a true God.

    The true god¡­¡­ [Tokyo]¡­¡­¡­

    Zuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzu¡­¡­¡­

    A quiet earthquake shook the entire city of Tokyo.

    Was it scared? Was it angry? All I could say with certainty was that this [Full God ¨C Tokyo] regarded me as an enemy.

    That [Power], seething strongly like magma, boiled over and rose like steam from the city of Tokyo¡­¡­ and it started to create something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oni¡­?¡±

    Judging by their appearance, they were translucent Oni larger than a human being. With all that collected desire, were they collecting and strengthening the evil spirits? From that Oni, I could feel a similar power to that of a Lesser Demon.

    There were tens of thousands of them¡­¡­ They weren¡¯t my match one-on-one, but with this many of them, I would waste time and power.

    ¡°[Yurushia, I will attack from underneath with that Onzada guy]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As Rinne told me to keep an eye on it, the black dots below me moved restlessly.

    ¡°[We should quickly move before that Devil gets here.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Oh well.¡±

    At times like this, if it had been the normal Rinne, he would have plunged in and bitten both of them. For him to be staying on my shoulder not doing so¡­ just how weak has he gotten¡­¡­?

    For now, I folded in my wings, and dived downwards.

    I couldn¡¯t see Yuuki-kun, did he think I had disappeared? Or was he attacked by those priest people who¡¯d returned? ¡­¡­ Was Onzada-kun turned traitor by them?

    ¡°¡­ [Blow Away] ¡­¡±

    My Holy Spirit magic blew away all the priests who looked like Onzada-kun. ¡­¡­Of course, I put Onzada-kun in the center of the explosion?

    As I descended, I found Onzada-kun and called out to him.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so ridiculous, Yuuzu!¡±

    Onzada-kun was fine even though he had been covered in soil.

    ¡°What about Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°He went somewhere else. Perhaps his family? You¡¯re spouting nonsensical things again.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    I don¡¯t mean to stay quiet about this, but I feel like hearing Yuuki-kun¡¯s impression of me, but I stopped because no matter how I put it sounded bad.

    ¡°That guy¡¯s acting like a newlywed¡­¡­ it gives me stress.¡±

    As Onzada-kun talked, he took a sip from his bottle as he sat down on a rock.

    ¡°is that sake again?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get along well with the Buddhist monks. After working all night, I would look forward to eating ramen and having drinks at Yuuki¡¯s shop while on my way home.¡±

    ¡°The work in a temple¡­¡­ is that the sake from the blessing?¡±

    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s as you expected.¡±

    ¡°How does that make it any different?¡±

    I wonder¡­¡­ I feel like a totally useless adult.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuzu, could you do something about that?¡±

    Onzada-kun spoke out a little seriously, gesturing towards that flock of Onis, the [True God Tokyo] ¡­¡­ Still, in any case, it¡¯s already been decided. Because my aim is to take care of them too.

    ¡°That one that looks like a [Oni], is probably what [Oyama] uses as a proxy. Those guys, while they stayed in the temple, they were placing magics upon Yuzu, all in preparation for a fight.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Are you using the power of that [Existence]?¡±

    ¡°Aah, that¡¯s right. It seems that they draw power through the shrine maidens.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ That is to say: that girl, is also nearby?¡±

    Smiling as I asked him, Onzada-kun nodded slowly as he swallowed his spit.

    ¡°Yes. She should be in one of the nearby temples.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Got it.¡±

    I nodded and looked about quietly for the flock of Oni.

    They¡¯re getting closer. This place is no longer safe. If that was a summoning, then maybe it was coming here to save the monks who¡¯ve fallen here.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, you should leave here. If at all possible, leave Tokyo¡­¡±

    ¡°[Yurushia, I¡¯m staying with this guy.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Rinne?¡±

    Rinne suddenly said such a thing, and Onzada-kun suddenly started, surprised by the black cat talking.

    ¡°[Now, it¡¯s only that hindrance left. Because of that I¡¯ve recovered a little¡­¡­ due to Onzada, amongst other things. Let me guide you to a place where the miasma is stronger]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I-I understand.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what happened, but I guess I¡¯ve leave Onzada-kun to Rinne?

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m off.¡±

    [Don¡¯t relax your guard.]

    ¡°Be careful!¡±

    I spread out my bat wings and flew into the sky. At the same time, a group of the Oni approached and attacked.

    ¡°[The Darkness that the Light fears¡­¡­ come forth, Spear of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    Towards the Oni that were blocking my way like a wall, I pierced them all and cleared a path with the [Spear of Darkness]

    [GigyaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    The Oni let out raw screams. Maybe, that¡¯s the screams of the people who were manipulating the projections?

    As the Oni were extinguished, it seems like the damage also transferred over.

    I flew in the direction of the city of Tokyo and cast magic while surrounded by the Oni.

    ¡°[The Darkness that fears the light¡­¡­ Pierce, Bow of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    I released hundreds of arrows from the Oni-less sky over the city of Tokyo.

    All of them aimed at the [True God, Tokyo] ¡­¡­ It overlapped with the streets of Tokyo, so if I chose to shoot it, it would be easier to hit.

    ZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUUZZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZU¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    Feeling the pain, or was it fear? [True God, Tokyo] trembled, and the city of Tokyo shook like under an earthquake, the windowpanes cracked.

    I could hear screaming from the city¡­¡­

    Anxiously looking up into the sky were a few people who saw the [Oni] and had their faces cramp up in fear.

    They could see the [Oni]¡­¡­ But, I wasn¡¯t going to be prudent. I didn¡¯t have that in the first place.

    There were too many people in this world, and because they destroyed the natural environment and clustered up there¡¯s no magic power around, and all the spirits and Demons are gone.

    Because of that, the balance of circle of reincarnation has collapsed, and the world is beginning to collapse.

    ¡®Humanity¡¯, who has lost its natural enemy, needs to ¡®fear¡¯.

    It was necessary to respect that which could not be seen with fear, and necessary to restore the spirits.

    Therefore¡­¡­ ¡®I¡¯ had been summoned to this ¡®world¡¯.

    To deliver the blessings of a Demon to this world that was beginning to decline¡­¡­

    Well, cover story aside.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness] ¡­!¡±

    At the center of Tokyo¡­¡­ no, at the heart of the [True God Tokyo], I threw a spear of darkness with all my might.

    The spear roared as it flew, destroying hundreds of Oni as it flew towards Tokyo.

    [¡­HELP¡­!!!]

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    An enormous quake shook Tokyo, blocking off my [Spear of Darkness], as the tsunami-like shockwave emanated from [True God Tokyo].

    ¡°[Brilliant Shield]!¡±

    I blocked that off quickly, but my consciousness grew hazy for a moment from the sheer force of that impact.

    ¡­¡­ As expected of a god.

    Following that gap where I lost my posture for an instant, the group of Oni attacked again.

    Right now, even a [God] would have barely been an opponent for [True God Tokyo], and moreover, I couldn¡¯t keep up with the countless opponents.

    ¡°[Dark winter that falls from the sky] ¡­¡­¡±

    Although I¡¯m not good at it, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m unable to do ranged attacks, you know? And, the range of this magic¡­¡­ is the entirety of the city of Tokyo.

    ¡°¡­ [Rain of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    As I cast my spirit magic, the entirety of the blue sky was covered with dark clouds.

    And falling with the black rain that came from the clouds was a massive magic that struck at the spirits.

    ¡°Hey, if you don¡¯t block it, the humans will be harmed, you know?¡±

    Somehow, that sounds like a line a supervillain would use.

    They might not have heard my voice, but tens of thousands of the Oni gathered to try and prevent the Rain of Darkness.

    It won¡¯t cause them a lot of damage, but their movements are sealed¡­¡­ right?

    Those Oni are not the [True God Tokyo], and it seems that the monks have the power to decide their own actions.

    ZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZZUUZUZUZUZUZUZUZU¡­¡­¡­

    The streets of Tokyo are rumbling again.

    What is it this time? Were you getting impatient at the Oni who weren¡¯t moving as you expected? From the land of Tokyo, an immense [Power] erupted, and created something massive.

    ¡°¡­¡­ A Dragon¡­? No, a snake?¡±

    Simply put, it¡¯s just a snake-like shape, almost as if a child was trying to draw it with a pen and scribbled it out sloppily.

    However, I still feel a strong power.

    Around 10 of those things came out. Among them, there was a particularly large eight-necked snake that had the overpowering feeling of an Arch Demon.

    Finally, you¡¯re getting serious, forming your own [Underlings].

    Then.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I too, have to call out to my own underlings¡±

    Whether they¡¯d come or not was a gamble. But the odds are in my favor.

    ¡°¡­¡­ [Demon Summoning] ¡­¡­¡±

    As I cast my summoning magic, a huge [layered magic formation] formed in the air.

    I don¡¯t know why, but I don¡¯t have any compulsion in my summoning magic, and I can only summon things that voluntarily cooperate. ¡­¡­ such as marine products.

    But when I came here, Rinne told me that they would follow me. Even if I didn¡¯t know where the Holy Kingdom was, if they were trying to follow me and came close¡­¡­

    ¡°Come on now¡­¡­ my cute little attendants¡­¡­¡±

    The dark cloud that remained in the sky got even darker, enough to turn the day into night.

    In opposition to the god¡¯s underlings, four pillars of light faded as they pierced through the sky, thunder roaring as four humanoid figures appeared.

    [[[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]]

    The demons that came into this world¡­¡­ four terrifying arch demons that rivaled the power of a greater spirit that could cause a natural disaster.

    KIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIII!!!!

    Like several thousand people running their nails down blackboards at the same time, the laughter of the rejoicing demons echoed throughout Tokyo, shattering the glass windows of Tokyo skyscrapers.

    I could hear humans screaming from the ground. While the demons laughed and rejoiced at that.

    You guys, you¡¯re getting too ahead of yourself with happiness.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    Ripping up the Oni that blocked their way, my four follower Demons flew to my four sides.

    The first two to come were the girls with blonde and silver hair in maid dresses. As Fannie instantly jumped for my chest and Tina followed, I grabbed onto her face out of habit.

    ¡°W- Wryy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, sorry, I¡¯m glad to see you again.¡±

    As I grabbed onto Tina¡¯s cheeks with a *punipuni* and humored her, the brother and sister duo approached me after annihilating the surrounding Oni.

    ¡°It has been too long. Master.¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, we¡¯ve arrived~¡±

    ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s been too long¡­¡­ you¡¯ve worked hard. Are you all aware of what¡¯s happening?¡±

    As I asked them somewhat unreasonably, Nea the Escort Knight, and Tina the maid who didn¡¯t understand at all confidently nodded, while Fannie busied herself fawning on me and wasn¡¯t listening in the first place. Among them, Noa the butler was grinning.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. We are your arms and your legs. Your sword and shield. Please give us our orders.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ah, well.¡±

    I grinned broadly gave them their orders.

    ¡°Destroy these knaves who are obstructing me.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±¡±Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Well, the preparations are complete¡­¡­ but, to leave the four of them, who are Arch Demons, is it alright to let them be?

    As they scattered despite my worries, I took out something like a ¡®key¡¯ from my pocket and slotted it into the sky.

    ¡°[Open¡­¡­ [Lost Eden] ¡­]¡±

    Suddenly, from the remaining clouds that were dyed black¡­¡­ a [Door] opened.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Uwaah.¡±

    What is this¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t hear about this.

    Thousands of [Greater Demon]-like evil beings appeared from there and descended upon the city of Tokyo just like black snow.

    ¡°Noa!?¡±

    ¡°There are no problems. All of them are a part of Yurushia-sama¡¯s army.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    Well, whatever¡­¡­ But now, we no longer have an issue with numbers.

    Well then, I¡¯ll give them their orders. It¡¯s a bit exciting.

    ¡°Greater Demons!¡±

    [OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡­¡­¡­]

    As I called out to them, thousands of them looked up to me and cheered.

    ¡°Rout the Oni. Broil the puppet masters.¡±

    [OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡­¡­!]

    And so, the battle between the God¡¯s underlings, and the Demon army began.

    There were some differences in number, but their strengths were nearly equal.

    In the town that was covered in darkness as if deep at night, the [Demons] and [Oni] clashed with one another.

    For the people who were living in the Tokyo area, they looked uneasily at the dark sky, and among them, some of those who could ¡®see¡¯ knelt on the spot with an expression of despair as if the Apocalypse had come.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Clairvoyance]¡­¡­¡±

    As I chanted my spirit magic to use it to peer and check on the [True God Tokyo], I finally found what I wanted from the temple that was under attack by the Demons.

    Wearing a lascivious kimono like a poor villain in some horribly-remembered period play, a woman who had twenty-something pretty boys serving her wandering around, came out in a panic with a fearful expression.

    ¡°I found you¡­¡­ Matsuri¡­¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 16.1

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 3, Part 1

    While I had managed to find her, the actual attacks from [True God Tokyo] were both sporadic and irritating.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness]¡­!¡±

    ¡°[He¡­lp¡­me!]¡±

    As my power collided with that of [True God Tokyo] and disappeared, its shockwave rocked the city of Tokyo.

    For some reason, I feel like [True God Tokyo] is doing more damage to the city than I am.

    Still, even though I was being pushed back earlier, this time I was able to cancel it out¡­¡­ Maybe, its [Power]decreases with each human in Tokyo that feels powerless?

    That is to say, if I annihilated every inhabitant of Tokyo, I might be able to easily disable the [True God Tokyo], but I¡¯m not interested in that.

    Ah, Matsuri is about to make her escape. It can¡¯t be helped, I have to just give her an offhand blow. She shouldn¡¯t die that easily right?

    ¡°[The light that shines through¡­¡­ Sacred Bow]!¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°What¡¯s going on ¡ª Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    As Matsuri ran out of one of the temples in Tokyo, a number of light arrows flew down from the sky, blowing away the temple building.

    ¡°Matsuri-sama!¡±

    ¡°*cough* Ahhh, what is it!?¡±

    ¡°Quickly, this way¡±

    The [Shrine Maidens], who the [True God Tokyo] could communicate to, were limited to young girls with special souls.

    The reason why it was limited to girls was because they were said to have a childlike character that was similar to that of [True God Tokyo], and gave it a sense of familiarity, and the only reason why they were limited to children was that [True God Tokyo] was afraid of adults and so refused.

    Matsuri, despite being grown-up, was able to hear the voice of [True God Tokyo] for some reason.

    Was it because Matsuri¡¯s spirit was young¡­¡­ or rather, that it went beyond childish, and Matsuri who never matured specialized in only using nefarious methods, taking up a position to manage the younger shrine maidens, she twisted the words from [True God Tokyo] for her own convenience and told them to the monks, all for the sake of satisfying her own desires.

    ¡°The building suddenly collapsed and people were blown away! What exactly is going on?!¡±

    As Matsuri threw a temper tantrum at the teenager who had been chosen for his appearance alone, he looked up anxiously toward the dark sky.

    ¡°I-I can¡¯t tell! It¡¯s probably because the seal on that [Evil] was released, but let¡¯s hurry over to the other shrine maidens as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ U-understood¡±

    In fact, Matsuri could not see the spectacle in the sky.

    Matsuri, who could only hear the voice and had neither special power nor ability, who had lived until now with just her beauty and her scheming, she had not trained any of its power even though the remains of the power had accumulated in her soul.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ [The Evil Presence] ¡­ is called, uhh¡­¡­ Yuzu, isn¡¯t it? What happened with her? Wasn¡¯t she defeated a long time ago, how in the world did she revive!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how¡­¡­¡­ They probably failed.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying I was wrong!¡±

    ¡°N-no¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Really, why is the world always trying to disrupt me!¡±

    In the end, Matsuri was unable to start the ¡®events¡¯ for either Kouki nor Handsome Prince.

    She thought that Yuzu had done something, but even killing Yuzu didn¡¯t solve it, since even after destroying the evidence, it seems that what Matsuri had done had been told to them, and as a result she could only be hated.

    ¡°Someday, I will make you kneel¡­¡­ Aah, that¡¯s right! You! Prepare the car quickly and bring some of the monks along with it.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡±

    Watching the young monk who ran away in a hurry, Matsuri threw off the thin kimono that had become dirtied in the bombing, and an unpleasant smile floated onto her face.

    ¡°¡­¡­ If Yuzu is going to get in my way again, I have an idea¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°[Please wait, Onzada. I feel a lingering miasma over there.]¡±

    ¡°Lord Rinne? The temple that way though, you know?¡±

    Onzada, who was travelling in a light truck with a black cat on his shoulder, quietly responded to Rinne¡¯s words. Although he didn¡¯t know how it understood what Onzada was saying, but he was really quick to pick up and accept the existence of the weird.

    ¡°[If it¡¯s a temple then there aren¡¯t any corpses. Because it¡¯s a temple, everything should be kept clean and bounded.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Certainly. But Lord, there are those guys inside of the temple?¡±

    ¡°[If their powers are lessened, even with the number of humans, it won¡¯t be a problem. Drive through!]¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ This minitruck is still on its loan payments!¡±

    While saying that, Onzada stepped on the accelerator and rammed into the temple from the front.

    ¡°W-who are you!?¡±

    ¡°You bastard! You¡¯re the younger brother of Emishima!¡±

    There were several monks in plain clothes, not in their robes. However, from what they said, it was very likely that they were monks from [Oyama].

    And as if proving it, the monks began to manipulate their ¡®ki¡¯.

    ¡°There¡¯s no use discussing!¡±

    ¡°[I said that it wasn¡¯t going to be a problem.]¡±

    *CRASH*

    Rinne broke through the front glass of the light truck easily, and Onzada, who still had loan payments left on the truck, turned blue.

    ¡°[GraAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]¡±

    As the monks were left confused over the carnivorous roar coming from the small black cat, Rinne cut them down where they stood.

    ¡°[Onzada, I¡¯m going to eat all of this miasma¡­¡­ what are you doing?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    As Onzada looked at the light truck that had suddenly become riddled with holes, he sat on the ground and immediately took a sip of the holy wine, his eyes staring into the distance as he muttered to himself.

    ¡°[Are you still alive back there? Did you hear me?]¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Most of the monks had already died despite their light injuries.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This¡­ is a Demon?¡±

    As Onzada saw the state of affairs, he swallowed hard. Perhaps their souls had been devoured.

    However, Yuzu had told him: ¡®Demon are a part of this world too.¡¯

    Onzada had thought that she had been saying ¡®abandon your narrow perspective.¡¯ Thinking of herbivorous animals that were hunted in the food chain, he had been denying to himself that humans ate animals and plants.

    Those who could say that, were only those who had never touched anything but milk and fruits since birth.

    Even liquor and fermented foods, you would be killing the bacteria in your mouth.

    Onzada was by no means arrogant enough to try to compel others to do so.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ uU¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you out of breath? Our luck is turning, but we only wear those clothes in an emergency, where are you going? Are you escaping?¡±

    ¡°Are you an idiot! We are different from you. We are following Matsuri-sama¡¯s instructions¡­¡±

    Although the monk who was in plainclothes succumbed to temptation and answered, he regained his calm and threw that out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oi, what the hell did that girl spew!¡±

    As Onzada heard Matsuri being mentioned, he picked up the monk by the nape with a serious expression on his face.

    ¡°¡­u¡­¡­ It¡¯s already too late¡­¡­ that¡¯s what Matsuri-sama said¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Say it.¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Onzada shot out the ¡®ki¡¯ that he had gathered in a moment into the internal organs of the monk, hurting them.

    ¡°If all of your organs get crushed, I¡¯ll just ask someone else. ¡­¡­ Now, speak quickly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    After that, after one of them had collapsed from having his organs crushed, the other surviving monks talked, and Matsuri¡¯s plans became known.

    ¡°This is just like a joke¡­¡­ Lord, come back! We need to move right now.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Kyaa, ¡­¡­ another earthquake?¡±

    ¡°¡±kyaa¡±, you say¡­¡­ you sure have some guts.¡±

    ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t say anything!¡±

    With a man who has hardly aged at all since he was young, and a woman who could only be said to be in her thirties, a comedy sketch started up again, as another girl in her twenties turned around, calling out to them.

    ¡°Kotone-nee-chan, Dad-chan, cut it out. This is a hospital room.¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry, Misa-chan.¡±

    ¡°Hey, stop calling me Dad-chan, Misa.¡±

    ¡°Dad-chan, Dad-chan¡±

    A little girl ran around the legs of the trio as she said such things.

    ¡°Look, now even Karin is calling me Dad-chan. I wanted to be called ¡®Papa¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fufu¡­¡­¡±

    At this scene, an old man lying in a single room smiled gently.

    ¡°Ah, Grandfather, were you awake?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Aah, it seems like you¡¯ve grown a little more¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about¡­¡­? Dad and the rest are coming soon, then we can talk again.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡±

    Kotone¡¯s grandfather from the Toukaki side was on the cusp of death. He hadn¡¯t contracted anything. His internal organs were weakening, and his life span was almost at an end.

    Long ago, thanks to his granddaughter Yuzu, he was able to face his family again.

    At some point, Yuzu had passed away after being stabbed by a phantom killer, but the grandfather still occasionally saw a chain extending from his breast and knew that she had not disappeared completely.

    He didn¡¯t fear death.

    Because he knew that when he died, his soul would return to his granddaughter¡¯s side.

    *konkon*¡­¡­ the door was being knocked on.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    When Misa stood and opened the door, there were several doctor-like people wearing white coats, and a few well-built male nurses. And¡­¡­ there was a nurse with awfully thick make-up.

    ¡°How is he doing?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ He woke up earlier.¡±

    She did not know what this doctor, who wasn¡¯t the doctor in charge, had come to do, but as Misa turned back to look at old man Toukaki, the doctors and nurses swooped into the sickroom.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°Annoying¡­¡­ You guys! Silence them!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Yes¡±¡±¡±

    As Kotone voiced her dissent, that nurse gave her orders, and the male nurses tried to detain them all.

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t keep quiet, do you know what will happen to that child~?¡±

    ¡°What are you trying to say¡­¡­?¡±

    Matsuri, who had only seen nurse cosplay, looked down upon those who had been restrained and began to cackle.

    ¡°You all will become hostages for me to use against Yuzu. Isn¡¯t that a perfect role for a mob character?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­ wait, what are you even saying!? That child is already-¡±

    ¡°Yes yes, she¡¯s dead yadda yadda, I¡¯m sure of it because I was the one who stabbed her, but I won¡¯t find out what happened even if speak to a mob character anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ The criminal was never caught¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    Old man Toukaki, because he was about to die, had been moved to another ward, and there were few people in this ward.

    Although the nurses would come if the call button was pressed, but it had been cut when the fake doctors came.

    ¡°This brat¡­¡­ I¡¯ve seen you before¡±

    ¡°Hii¡±

    As Matsuri looked at her face, Kotone¡¯s daughter Karin let out a frightened wail.

    ¡°Stop it! Don¡¯t touch Karin!¡±

    ¡°Huuuh¡­¡­ so she¡¯s called Karin.¡±

    Karin looked very similar to Kotone¡¯s grandmother with her eyes, probably because of her atavism. That is to say, both she and Yuzu had similar eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ that face makes me angry.¡±

    Matsuri muttered as she reached out for Karin, and then.

    ¡°[To go that far, huh.]¡±

    *GASHAN*! (glass shattering SFX)

    Breaking through the glass window of the hospital ward, a black-masked person wielding a great sword rushed in.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Misa who realized who that was leaked her voice for a moment, but hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand at Yuuki¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Who is that!?¡±

    ¡°Matsuri-sama! That is the black-masked person who has been obstructing us for years.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Yuuki had come so far to protect Misa, and it seems that he was able to arrive at a good pace, although he was still quite a distance away from Matsuri.

    He was thinking of cutting them down, but since the young Karin was watching, he put away his sword, and Yuuki fought the monks with his bare hands.

    ¡°As expected, you can¡¯t use that large sword in such a confined space!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    However, their physical capacities were too different.

    He may be the young shopkeeper of a ramen shop now, but Yuuki had been the ultimate weapon of the human nation.

    A [Hero].

 Volume 6 - CH 16.2

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 3, Part 2

    ¡°[Bow of Darkness]¡­!¡±

    A jet black arrow that split into several hundred were loosed towards [True God Tokyo], and it emanated shockwaves like a huge tsunami, offsetting the attack.

    The battle between [True God Tokyo] and I was in a stalemate.

    It was almost my equal, even though I was a [Devil] who was near the top of the ranking of the Demon species¡­¡­ No, considering that I am still young and not at full power, it¡¯s my disadvantage.

    I think that if Rinne regained his power, we would win, but it would take thousands of souls for Rinne to recover his power as a [Beast]¡­¡­

    Also, unlike myself, who could only replenish my magic power with dried octopus, the [God] had infinite power reserves as long as it had ¡®believers¡¯.

    The believers were the residents of Tokyo who dedicate themselves to their desires. ¡­¡­ In enough time, it seems it will get to a point where I will lose unless I massacre them all.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    I heard a worried voice from my attendants.

    There were the four of them facing ten enemies of nearly the same power level as them, so it would be bad for me to ask for help.

    Muu¡­¡­ that Matsuri person was in such a place.

    Kotone-chan¡­¡­? Misa? Is that little child my niece?

    ¡°[Sacred Wings]¡­!¡±

    I added golden feathers to my bat wings and changed to a high-speed mode.

    ¡°¡­Kuu¡±

    At that instant, shock waves wracked me. Crap, I want to fly, but now but I can¡¯t move.

    I have to leave it to Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ It seems like Rinne and Onzada-kun were also headed for them, will they make it in time?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I thought a little bit and took out a single feather from my Sacred Wings. ¡­¡­ Maybe, this could do the trick?

    ¡°Even buying a moment would be good, please¡­¡­ [Alias]¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Guwa¡±

    With a shining strike from Yuuki, one of the fake nurses was sent flying through the door.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    When one of the fake doctors struck out a fist full of ¡®ki¡¯, Yuuki not only received that fistful of ¡®ki¡¯ with a single hand, but also crushed the bones with his fist.

    ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡±

    Due to the overwhelming difference in combat ability, the remaining fake nurses retreated with frightened faces.

    Seeing that, Yuuki stepped forward in a dash, but

    ¡°STOP!¡±

    Matsuri had unexpectedly took up a fruit knife and pointed it at Karin¡¯s throat before he¡¯d known it.

    ¡°Karin¡±

    ¡°Hiieeeneenen, Mother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Annoying brat, I¡¯ll cut your face.¡±

    Matsuri grinned while she looked at the fake nurses. The monks who were looked at, despite having reservations about taking a child hostage, took up their staves to hold off Yuuki.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Don¡¯t hate me for this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°DowaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    At that time, someone was thrown through the now broken window.

    ¡°Wh-what is it this time?¡±

    Stunned by the sudden appearance of a man who rolled across the floor and slid out onto the broken door in the hallway, Matsuri momentarily dropped her knife away from Karin¡¯s throat, but this time, a jet-black mass jumped in through the window, biting Karin¡¯s collar and pulling her away.

    ¡°A Cat!?¡±

    ¡°KYAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    ¡°Guwaah¡±

    When she heard a scream, she looked back only to see Yuuki beating down the last of the monks to the floor.

    ¡°Karin¡±

    ¡°Moooom!¡±

    Karin ran to Kotone. While looking at them, Matsuri looked up and rushed at Kotone and Karin with the fruit knife.

    ¡°Why! Why can¡¯t you all just do what I want! I don¡¯t understand!¡±

    Indeed, in this situation, they didn¡¯t expect someone to have such reckless behavior.

    It was an instant of carelessness¡­¡­ Matsuri¡¯s malicious blade approached the two¡­ and as the fruit knife pierced deeply all the way forward, Yuuki wailed.

    ¡°Onzada!?¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­¡­¡±

    The one among them who had failed to protect a ¡®girl¡¯ in the past from a blade, protected that girl¡¯s family at the expense of his own body.

    ¡°You¡¯re a nuisanceeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    Seeing Onzada, who had cut in, Matsuri was foaming from the mouth, and she tried to push the knife in further.

    In the current situation, her push only lengthened Onzada¡¯s wounds. Even just twisting the stabbed knife would be fatal.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    There was now a person who was grasping onto Matsuri¡¯s knife hand.

    With blonde hair like golden threads¡­¡­ and a cold beauty like a perfect doll.

    A girl who looked down upon Matsuri coldly with her golden eyes uttered a single word as she placed her hand on Matsuri¡¯s face.

    ¡°[Burn]¡±

    ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    As she screamed like a beast at a slaughterhouse, Matsuri staggered backwards while holding her burning face, and fell out of the broken, third-floor window.

    The golden girl in a black and silver dress smiled softly at Kotone and her husband, Misa, and Karin, and then disappeared as it melted into motes of light.

    Yurushia¡¯s holy spirit magic had created for a [Virtual Alias] for a few minutes.

    As Misa looked at the ¡®face¡¯ of the girl that disappeared, her eyes went wide, and Kotone¡¯s voice leaked out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­-ko¡­?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 17

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 4

    The glass on the building cracked from the shockwave, rather than the tremors, fell from the buildings.

    People looked up into the sky uneasily as the earthquake settled down, dark clouds spiraling overhead, they seemed to be stunned into silence at the battle between tens of thousands of Oni and Demons.

    How could they escape? Where was there that was safe to escape to?

    No matter where they fled to in Tokyo, if they looked up towards the sky there were ¡®monsters¡¯.

    A few courageous people took videos on their phones and put them up onto the net, though many of them seemed like dumb videos that only showed the clouds and nothing else, for those that could see ¨C about one in a thousand ¨C the eyes of people all across the world were focused upon [Tokyo].

    People with strong souls¡­ Mostly, it was the celebrities with talent, and decent politicians.

    The battle between the [Greater Demons] and the [Oni] was turning into one of annihilation.

    It was not a one-sided massacre. It was not a war where one could surrender and be captured by the other, and they could only smash at the sanctity of each others¡¯ souls for so long as they lived.

    The Oni were greater in number, but the Demons were of better quality. In a fight where souls couldn¡¯t be obtained from the winners, the Demons were gradually being beaten back, but that changed in the middle of the battle.

    [Fushururururu¡­¡­]

    ¡°Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhh, they¡¯re coming ahhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Some of the Demons had found a temple with the monks who were manipulating the Oni, and attacked them, drinking of the Monks¡¯ blood, stealing their souls.

    Each had a superhuman physique that exceeded 2 meters, and black bristles like a monkey that covered their whole body. Against the Demons who had come to eat them with muddy yellow eyes and fangs, the monks who had only ever fought evil spirits could only run.

    The Demons, too, had to collect the souls on-site.

    After all, today¡¯s daily allowance was two souls and 4 kilograms of dry seaweed per person.

    Although it was little for a daily allowance, if they were able to distinguish themselves, then they would be able to get the right to shake hands with the Devil Idol that they had never been allowed to directly see before.

    That was why the Demons were looking for souls. To increase their daily allowance, and to gain the right to a handshake.

    Above the clouds, the four [Arch Demons] and the ten underlings of the god was unfolding.

    Only the great eight-headed snake had as much power as the Arch Demon, but the other snakes had less power than the attendants.

    However, the underlings who gained power directly from [True God Tokyo] were able regrow themselves in an instant when they lost bits.

    ¡°¡­¡­What a pain in the rear.¡±

    Tina, who had the highest combat power among the attendants, had released her full power as a [Demon Gorgon]and was fighting with four of the underlings at the same time.

    The remaining five were being suppressed by the twins Noa and Nea, the [Incubus] and [Succubus], but they weren¡¯t able to defeat them soundly.

    As for the last one¡­¡­ Fannie was fighting alone against the eight-headed hydra and didn¡¯t seem to be able to attack head on despite nimbly evading all of its attacks.

    Given that it was the strongest enemy, it was great that Fannie, who wasn¡¯t good at physical attacks, was able to pin it down.

    ¡°Fannie, are you still not done?¡±

    As Noa called out, Fannie had just dodged, and blew away one of the eight heads with one of the clown masks spawned from her [Nightmare].

    ¡°Ehh? Is playtime already over?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not playing¡ª.¡±

    As Nea who had grown out jet-black goat¡¯s horns replied her without any urgency, Fannie¡¯s mask twisted, and she gave a bright smile.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll send you the analysis¡±

    ¡°I await it¡ª¡±

    Fannie examined the ¡®graffiti¡¯-like structure of this enemy for the first time,

    although the analysis had already been done thirty minutes ago.

    ¡°Here, take it¡ª.¡±

    Holding the golden magic sword that he¡¯d gotten from the mistress, Nea charged in alone into the middle of the enemies.

    Stopping a number of attacks from several of the bodies with [Absorption] and the sword, she passed the power to her older brother, Noa.

    [¡­¡­Decay¡­¡­]

    As he uttered in the spirit language, the breath that Noa released from his mouth exterminated a number of the underlings, cutting a line through the clouds.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Crap, Onzada-kun got stabbed.

    My clone separating went alright and managed to repel Matsuri, but the magic power that I put in the feather I sent has run out.

    I wanted to send it again, but it took quite a bit of magic power, so if I use it now, I¡¯ll have trouble dealing with [True God Tokyo].

    Ah, that¡¯s right, I still had the [Contract] on, so if I helped Onzada-kun, his soul would be completely bound.

    Yuuki-kun could also use recovery magic, and since it¡¯s a hospital he¡¯d be saved¡­¡­ right?

    ¡°[HELP ME¡­¡­!!!]¡±

    ¡°Kuu.¡±

    *ZUN*¡­¡­ Once again, it attacked me with a shockwave.

    My children are doing their best, so I shouldn¡¯t be distracting them.

    The battle situation is still even. My four Demon attendants had reduced the numbers of the ten underlings, but the battle continued. The Greater Demons were doing their best, but their numbers had decreased considerably¡­¡­

    Well, even if they were defeated, unless they were completely destroyed, they would just resurrect in the Demon World.

    But thanks to the fact that the children bought some time, the core of [True God Tokyo] came into sight.

    Deep underground in Tokyo¡­¡­ Was it found while sleeping in such a place?

    Well, I¡¯d like to mount an attack now, but I¡¯m a little worried about my remaining magic power thanks to the skirmishes with [True God Tokyo].

    Should I have Noa and Nea replenish me? ¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s not good to break the balance of their battle there.

    If I poured all of my remaining magic power into the [Spear of Darkness], would it be able to break through all of the barriers of [True God Tokyo], and penetrate the ground to hit the main body¡­¡­¡­?

    If I could at least break the barrier then¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    Something reacted to the words in my heart¡­¡­ What is¡­

    £ª

    After the incident occurred at the hospital, several of the fake doctors were being detained by the police.

    The black masked person who seemed to know the details of the incident and the man who had been stabbed by the fake doctor had disappeared without a trace and the patient in the ward where the incident occurred was moved to another room with the family.

    However, the old man who wasn¡¯t able to get up from his bed, even during the incident, had his already-short life expectancy run out even further, and his life was exhausted.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It seems that I¡¯m being called¡­¡­¡±

    Old man Toukaki put his hand on his chest and gently smiled.

    When he said that he was being [Called], the rest of the family thought that he was [Nearing death] and gathered around the old man.

    ¡°Grandfather, we¡¯re here for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, please come and eat ramen with me again. Come here, Karin.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    At the grandchild who came to his side, old man Toukaki stared at the gaze that resembled his deceased wife and granddaughter, and gently stretched out his hand to stroke the head of Karin.

    ¡°¡­¡­Was it¡­¡­ scary¡­¡­ for you?¡±

    ¡°No, it was alright. A golden girl helped me and that uncle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that so¡±

    Old man Toukaki, recalled that beautiful golden [Demon] and smiled quietly, looking up at the ceiling from the bed as he gently closed his eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going to sleep¡­¡­¡±

    And old man Toukaki muttered his last words, closing the curtains on his life quietly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Now,¡­¡­ I¡¯m off to join you¡­¡­¡±

    £ª

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    One of the chains stretching out from my hand from the [Chains of Obligation] was broken, and suddenly, it was entwined with a black sphere that appeared from that space. ¡°Grandpa¡¯s¡­¡­ no¡­ Geas¡¯ soul?¡±

    Regardless of how it was when I was Yuzu, now that I¡¯ve returned to being Yurushia, I feel like there¡¯s something wrong about saying [Grandfather] somehow.

    With thousands, no, tens of thousands of Demons dedicating their lives to him, a contract with a [Demon Lord], one who had his soul robbed by a contract with me, a [Devil], he was shining black with misfortune and sin.

    It truly was a strange destiny¡­¡­

    Dying in this world, transmigrating into another one, being cheated by Demons, he had been thrown outwards by me so that I could find this world, and I feel like fate was very strange, reincarnating again and having him becoming Yuzu¡¯s grandfather.

    With so many souls, he was worth well in excess of several thousand normal souls.

    If I ate this, I¡¯ll not only be able to fully recover my magic power, but my own power would even increase, but using it that way is too wasteful.

    ¡°You sure are useful¡­¡­ Geas.¡±

    As I spoke, the soul of Geas shone brighter for a moment as if answering me.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Demonic Reincarnation]¡­¡­¡±

    Ignoring the minor price, I forcibly reincarnated Geas¡¯ soul into a [Demon]. As expected of a soul so steeped in sin, it¡¯s easy to Demonize.

    In the twinkling of an eye, the soul reincarnated, and now trembling in my hand was a black-slime like Demon larva.

    My attendants and I, forcibly stuffed information into the Demonic larva, remodeling it.

    This considerably accelerated growth, and I think Geas¡¯ soul should be able to take it. Furthermore, I fed half of my remaining magic into it, and forcibly evolved him, giving him an image to mold his existence to.

    ¡°Destroy my enemies, Demon Beast [Behemoth]¡­¡­!¡±

    [GuGAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!]

    As my servants tore up the dark clouds, it roared and took off.

    It appeared, a huge beast that filled the sky. A monster with bull-horns that looked like a black bear: the [Behemoth].

    ¡°[OH GOD! HELP ME¡­!!!!!]

    *[GroOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]*

    The shockwaves burst forth from both [True God Tokyo] and [Demon Beast Behemoth]at the same time, and as the earthquake shook Kanto, the barrier protecting [True God Tokyo] and Tokyo itself was blown away.

    ¡°[The Darkness that the light fears]¡­¡­¡±

    I started chanting the incantation for [Spear of Darkness] with the last of my magic power. By my calculations, it will pierce through the center of [True God Tokyo] that¡¯s deep underground beneath the rock.

    ¡°¡­¡­EEEHHHH?!¡±

    For some reason, in a straight line between me and [True God Tokyo], Matsuri was laughing madly with her face half-burned off.

    How in the world did she get there?! Didn¡¯t she fall out the window of the hospital!?

    ¡­¡­ Was there residual power in Matsuri that had brought her to [True God Tokyo]?

    She sure uses it easily¡­¡­ It¡¯s a nuisance to shave off her soul, and it seems like she¡¯s got some sort of magical barrier. ¡­¡­Then in that case her soul should have been annihilated.

    Even when Demons ate souls, only their ¡®experience values¡¯ were absorbed, the rest of the soul was returned to the world, but it seems that hers has completely vanished.

    It¡¯s not for me to worry, but it¡¯s a pain.

    ¡°[Yurushia!]¡±

    ¡°Rinne ?¡±

    Rinne landed onto my shoulder, having recovered somewhat.

    ¡°¡­¡­It looks like it¡¯s still not complete?¡±

    ¡°[Nonetheless, I¡¯ve recovered enough that I can return a blow to that thing. But first.]¡±

    ¡°N?!¡±

    Rinne who was sitting on my shoulder, suddenly poured magic power into me by feeding me¡­ mouth-to-mouth.

    ¡°[I guess you want to settle things by your own hands?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Well, thanks.¡±

    Touching my lips lightly with my fingertips, I completed the chant of the spell with the magic power I¡¯d received.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness]¡­¡­!¡±

    GoooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO¡­¡­

    The jet-black spear flew with a roar, piercing the still-shrilly-cackling Matsuri through her barrier and continuing through the rest of the asphalt and bedrock to smash into [True God Tokyo].

    [GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAAAAAaaAAAaAAAA, HELP ME!]

    In an instant¡­¡­ the city of Tokyo appeared to fade out slightly.

    [¡­¡­ He¡­lp¡­¡­ H¡­elp¡­me¡­ ¡­He¡­l¡­p¡­¡­]

    The sound of [True God Tokyo]¡®s thoughts grew gradually softer, and the figure that was overlapping Tokyo city also sunk into the ground as if melting.

    That voice, it was crying out for help¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­From the very beginning, it was actually begging for its life from ¡®me¡¯¡­¡±

    As long as there was human desire from the people living within the city of Tokyo, [True God Tokyo] couldn¡¯t be destroyed.

    However, you can sleep now. Only for another, about, 5.6 billion years?

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    But I realized that I¡¯d done something bad.

    When [True God Tokyo] and [Demon Beast Behemoth] collided, a huge dimensional rift was created in the Tokyo skyline.

    And worst of all, because Behemoth had exhausted its power, it had begun to shrink, and even for those who could see, only I could be seen in the sky, with my angel-like wings.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Most of them were looking up at me, who was looking at them on the ground.

    Well, isn¡¯t that just great¡­¡­ It¡¯s difficult to open another rift if I repair this dimensional rift, and I also have things I want to do.

    ¡°[Listen well, human beings!]¡±

    By exerting the Spirit Language in the air, I transmitted my message to the whole world. It¡¯s impossible for every single person to hear it since I don¡¯t have enough magic power, but they should hear it if their souls are strong enough.

    ¡°[I will be returning where I came¡­¡­ but, I will come back one day. One hundred years from now¡­¡­ or one thousand years from now¡­ the Demons will surely return to this world, and we will devour all of you, along with your gods.]¡±

    As I widened my golden wings and covered the dimensional tears, I went inside, camouflaging it to look like the sky.

    The humans have surely seen and heard it. Those whose souls were strong¡­¡­ the decent politicians and the top leaders of each country should surely have heard it.

    The people in this world would know. That humankind had an unknown ¡®natural enemy¡¯. That there were ¡®predators¡¯ hiding in the dark that were aiming at them.

    The hearts of those who knew fear would create darkness in this world, and with that, they would create a source of magic power.

    This, this was my parting gift to this world, the claw-mark of a Demon¡­¡­

    A Demon¡¯s blessing.

    ¡°[For whatever little time, enjoy your peace. Next time, I will return with an even greater Demon army¡­¡­]¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 18

    Volume 6, Chapter 18: Onwards

    One day, a major earthquake shook a portion of the world.

    Some videos on the various video-hosting sites only had the images of dark clouds, but those with strong souls saw [Demons] in the images.

    Because there were those that could see and those that couldn¡¯t, this didn¡¯t seem like some typical fake video. It seemed like the ¡°monsters¡± from fairy tales or legends were overwhelming and filling up the sky.

    In it was a huge monster the size of a mountain blowing away the clouds, then a beautiful [Voice] could be heard after that. Needless to say, the world¡¯s religions and governments were rather confused.

    That young girl¡¯s voice that claimed to lead the army of [Demons], had declared that she would return to this world one day and eat all the gods and the humans, and those with stronger souls felt a terrible fear.

    Still, the humans had hope yet.

    That there was an [Existence] that had fought against the Demons and repelled them.

    Although the people at the centers of power smelled a threat, they only comprised about 0.01% of the global population, and most of the other people didn¡¯t feel threatened.

    The Demon¡¯s ¡®words¡¯ had planted darkness in the world, but it was still only slight.

    Still, the Demons had planted something within the hearts of people. After all, everyone, and not merely some people could see proof.

    There was the image of an [Angel] floating in the blue skies above.

    Could it really be called an angel? A girl wearing a dress that was black as the night, with shimmering golden hair and golden wings.

    Most of the images weren¡¯t understood, but that figure, who was only clearly shown in a single frame a cameraman had captured, had taken the world by storm, creating a global fan club for her sheer beauty.

    Surely, she had to be the [Archangel] that had repelled the Demons.

    And so, in this way the [World] learned that there were powerful beings that were not human.

    Even if it was impossible right now, with darkness returning to this world the spirits would also return.

    However¡­¡­ It was neither fear of Demons nor her words that had done it, but rather, the single picture of a pretty angel.

    £ª£ª£ª

    My attendants also followed me into the dimensional cracks and knelt before me.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, Rinne-sama, will it be alright?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? But you guys were in the sky too. Where were all of you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Because there was the possibility that we would be seen by the humans, we landed quickly and blended into the crowd.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Eehh~¡­¡­ Then¡­ was I the only one who foolishly exposed myself to the humans¡­¡­? I wanted to be hidden too if you all were hiding.

    When I looked into that other dimension again, it already looked slightly different from the one that I knew.

    Was it because the space where [True God Tokyo] resided had been had unraveled? But Japanese bicycles, flowerpots, signboards, etc., drifted about like satellites in orbit.

    There were also slightly disturbing things like skeletons inside minicars, but it can¡¯t be helped, even if did care about them.

    Most of all, there was ¡®air¡¯ here that shouldn¡¯t have existed in the other dimension.

    It was about as thin as when climbing a mountain, and we were fine because we didn¡¯t need to breathe, but being exposed to vacuum suddenly was bad for the body¡­¡­ No, if this much air was sucked in, the earth¡¯s atmosphere might have been drained considerably.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Perhaps, this is the effect of [Otherworld Summoning].¡±

    ¡°Yuuki-kun?¡±

    For some reason Yuuki-kun was here. He would be fine for now since there was air, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to return to earth now, you know? Well, that¡¯s alright too.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Why did you bring him?¡±

    ¡°It was Onzada¡¯s wish.¡±

    On Yuuki-kun¡¯s back was Onzada-kun, whose stomach had been wrapped round and round with saran wrap, his face anemic from shock.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuu, is it over¡­¡­Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ it¡¯s over. Why did you come here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­How harsh. To the last¡­ I wanted to see with my own eyes, Rinne¡¯s master¡­¡­ I asked him to bring me here¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[Yes. It was a warrior¡¯s wish. I brought him to a place where he could see the fight.]¡±

    As I glanced at my shoulder, Rinne told me that very naturally.

    ¡­¡­ Eh, what is this, am I the strange one? He¡¯s going to die, so he needs to be treated by the adults at the hospital. Then, since the battle was over, Yuuki-kun was brought here too?

    I don¡¯t understand the minds of men at all¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ what about your recovery magic?¡±

    ¡°Recovery magic is a magic that raises the physical strength and forcibly stimulates the natural healing response. It doesn¡¯t work on wounds that can¡¯t be cured naturally. ¡­¡­ My recovery magic won¡¯t help. We need healing magic.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that terrible¡­¡­?¡±

    Perhaps, Onzada-kun is not long for this world. Feeling the depth of Onzada-kun¡¯s injuries, he¡¯d probably chosen to come to me for his last moments.

    My healing magic could cure him, but Onzada-kun had lost too much blood and his soul had been diminished, so he would likely become a vampire, and if I helped him Onzada-kun¡¯s soul would become mine by [Contract], so when his life was over I would get his soul.

    Matsuri really screwed the pooch at the end¡­¡­ But if the price of saving his soul was to blow away hers, I didn¡¯t feel the need to be merciful.

    Well, in that state, it would probably be better for her to reincarnate as a mitochondria.

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia-sama, what are you going to do~?¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    Nea who couldn¡¯t read the mood at all even though we were having serious conversations asked me as she held the exhausted Geas to her chest.

    ¡°This is Benjamin.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s Behemoth.¡±

    I guess it¡¯s somewhat suitable.

    ¡°This is  Behemoth, but it seems that he¡¯s degenerated to the level of a Greater Demon as a sort of reaction to the explosive growth?¡±

    ¡°Yeah~¡­¡­¡±

    Geas, who had released all of the magic power he had and shrunk down, now looked like a teddy bear.

    Taking a spare soul from Nea and splitting it up, he looked a baby, as he gnawed boisterously on the soul with his short hands and feet.

    Ara? He¡¯s surprisingly cute. ¡­¡­ Even though on the inside was a grandpa. ¡­¡­ Perhaps.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to have any resistance against eating souls¡­¡­?¡±

    As I muttered so, the Teddy Bear (Geas) tilted its head slightly, its round eyes the color of obsidian.

    ¡°[Gau?]¡±

    ¡°As expected¡­¡­ it has no memories?¡±

    As I looked into its bear face with surprise, Rinne told me the answer.

    ¡°[Yurushia, you maintaining the memories of when you were human is a rarity. They usually have a certain amount of personality from their past lives, but Geas¡¯ state is normal. He might possibly be able to remember bit by bit.]¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    Was he reincarnated like a normal Demon? That must mean that I¡¯m a pretty rare species¡­¡­ When we¡¯d first met, Rinne must have been interested.

    My own memory was hazy to me, but it seems that for Geas it¡¯s even more vague, and he doesn¡¯t even remember being human.

    That means that Demons adapt easily, and don¡¯t all have bad backstories.

    Either way, Geas right now is just a teddy bear that¡¯s a little strong. ¡­¡­ But the eyes that were looking at me were kind. Maybe it¡¯s because it¡¯s Yuzu¡¯s grandfather.

    Putting that aside, back to Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Hey, Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°Put simply¡­¡­ You¡¯re going to die.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Haha, I guess that¡¯s so.¡±

    He was laughing. What¡­¡­ I guess this is the feeling of regret over this state of affairs? However, I had to give him the choice, as a Demon.

    Now choose¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Did you know that you were saving a [Demon]?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t regret saving a Demon¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    Onzada-kun spoke without hesitation in a quiet voice.

    ¡°Then I will give Onzada-kun your options. Would you like to die beautifully as a [Human Being]? Or would you rather live a greedy, dirty life as a [Demon]¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned serious as he quieted down.

    This was a proposal for a new [Contract]. Because Onzada-kun had helped me, I could extend the terms of the contract with far better conditions than before. I can even throw in free detergent for three months! (TL note: a stereotypical renting perk in Japan)

    If he died as he was as a [Human], then the contract upon his soul would be lifted and he would die peacefully.

    But on the earth, where souls were saturated, it would be difficult for him to reincarnate, and he would melt away into the world and be reborn anew with a different personality.

    If he reincarnated as a Demon, then his soul would be bound to me forever. His memories of being human would also disappear.

    However, Onzada-kun¡¯s ¡®personality¡¯ would remain.

    Which would be better¡­¡­? Onzada-kun must decide for himself.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuzu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡­¡­ do you have a lot of enemies¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well. I am a Demon, so my enemies are naturally plentiful.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    I waited for Onzada-kun¡¯s words as he mulled it over.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ well, when I was a kid¡­¡­ I wanted to be an ally of justice¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­I know.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to defeat things like¡­¡­ Evil spirits¡­¡­ But it turns out that the bad guys aren¡¯t so bad, either¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ That¡¯s rather philosophical.¡±

    ¡°Can even Demons¡­¡­ still become an ally of justice¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to say anything, but I just had to say this.

    ¡°Demons are free.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see¡±

    Onzada-kun closed his eyes¡­¡­ and then quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°It was¡­¡­ a promise from when I was a child. As an ally of justice¡­¡­ I will protect you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    And so, the ¡®re-contract¡¯ was complete.

    As he said that ¡°I will protect you¡±, a new [Contract] was formed.

    Yuuki-kun, who was watching, didn¡¯t say anything even though he looked like he wanted to.

    ¡°[Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    Rinne who was watching from my shoulder spoke out quietly.

    ¡°[Onzada¡¯s soul is already at the limit. Unlike Geas, who was strong from the beginning, in any other dimension like the Demon World, the soul would likely scatter even if he became a Demon unless you prepared a vessel.]¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­Eh?¡±¡±

    Both and I and Onzada-kun¡¯s faces scrunched up.

    Wa-wait, the nice atmosphere was ruined. A vessel? How in the world would I get such a thing in this different dimension!?

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, err, how about this?¡±

    Drifting about in the vicinity, I saw one of the Kero-chan dolls from the drugstore, as Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned blue, and shook his head. Eei, it¡¯s totally not my selfish desire or anything.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, will you use this?¡±

    ¡°Eh, what?¡±

    Fannie who was holding open the tear in the dimensions came, rustling around in her skirt as she looked for something.

    Onzada-san¡¯s gaze was attracted to Fannie, the cute maid who was turning over her skirts, and so she hit his face with a *bachin*. ¡­¡­ Fannie, your garter stockings¡­

    ¡°Onzada died!?¡±

    ¡°Died?¡±

    As Yuuki-kun¡¯s panicked voice rang out, I answered quickly. Males¡­¡­

    ¡°It was, ah, here it is.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    It was my rabbit stuffed toy, which Fannie, as Fontaine, had previously destroyed, that had been meticulously restored by her with her hair and magic power.

    She still kept it¡­¡­

    That rabbit stuffed toy that I¡¯d gotten from my father on my third birthday was a cartoonish looking one, with a round head and teardrop-shaped body with cylindrical limbs, a lovely disproportionate rabbit.

    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s start.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, wai-¡±

    Onzada-kun was going to say something to me as I summarily decided it, but I didn¡¯t hear anything. I felt like I heard ¡°You Demon¡±, but please stop making strange damaging rumors.

    Besides, there was the intent of a [Devil] along with the material infused with a [Archdemon]¡®s magic power, so isn¡¯t it quite a suitable [Vessel]? Hooray, Onzada-kun.

    ¡°I, by the name of [Demon Lady Yurushia], designate this soul as a Demon. Dedicate yourself to me eternally, and possess this vessel¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Waitaminut-¡±

    A dying person should just go quietly. As Onzada-kun¡¯s body disappeared and slowly morphed into the soul of a Demon, I forcibly packed him into the rabbit stuffed toy.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I will give you a ¡®race name¡¯ as a Demon.¡±

    Well, uhm¡­¡­ Rabbit Demon¡­¡­

    ¡°Be born ¡­ Demon [Laplace]¡­¡±

    A Demon that can see time. I imagined the rabbit from ¡°[Through the Looking Glass]¡±.

    I wonder if it might match up with Onzada-kun¡¯s ability to read attacks¡­¡­.

    After a little while, the rabbit stuffed toy Onzada-kun got up, and after looking around, it started nodding at me.

    Thanks to the high-level contract that was established, I felt the power of a Greater Demon.

    The memories¡­¡­ it might be the same situation as Geas. Amidst the vague memories, it still recognizes me.

    The memories are sure to return over time, too. If it increased its power, it might even become human-shaped.

    I will be waiting¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°Nn~?¡±

    Onzada-kun suddenly pointed towards something and began to run.

    I thought that he¡¯d found something in the wreckage, and then he ran back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Onzada-kun.¡±

    It was holding a bottle of sake and a glass.

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (*glug glug*)]¡±

    Geas, who saw it, came up to Onzada-kun, and both the bear and the rabbit started drinking like two middle-aged salarymen.

    It¡¯s so surreal¡­¡­ Ah, well.

    ¡°Is it really that great¡­¡­ that stuff¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice. ¡­¡­ Anyways, what will Yuuki-kun do? Are you returning to your hometown?¡±

    As I looked over at Yuuki-kun, I asked him nastily.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve just gotten married, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Misa isn¡¯t done with you yet, that girl.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too late for that now, isn¡¯t it!¡±

    Yuuki-kun¡¯s face looked disappointed even though he was laughing. ¡­¡­ Well, didn¡¯t you agree yourself to come with me?

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I avenge you instead?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ve brought you something else as well. It¡¯s the information of the different world [Tess] that I have.¡±

    ¡°Heeeh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In it, I¡¯ve recording as much as I know of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] and all the coordinates I have. However, there are some parts that I can¡¯t remember, so it¡¯s not entirely complete.¡±

    ¡°Is it alright to send a [Demon] to your hometown?¡±

    ¡°I trust you, somewhat.¡±

    Somewhat¡­¡­ huh.

    ¡°I understand¡­¡­ Thanks for this, then.¡±

    ¡°But be careful. Although you are stronger than them, the scary part of the [Heroes from Another World] isn¡¯t their strength.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As he left that message, Yuuki-kun parted with us to restore the dimensional cracks from the earth side. We could completely close this if we restored the rip from both here and the other side.

    It means that I would say goodbye to this world.

    ¡­¡­ Now.

    I don¡¯t know how to get to the Holy Kingdom yet. But, I think there will be some clues in the world of Yuuki-kun which summons from other worlds.

    And also¡­¡­ how would the [Heroes] who betrayed Yuuki-kun taste like¡­¡­?

    Fufufu¡­¡­

    ¡°Well then everyone, shall we go?¡±

 Volume 6 - CH 19

    Volume 6, Chapter 19: Setting Info [Demon Encyclopedia]

    [Demon Encyclopedia]

    [Demons], who inhabit the Demon World, one of the worlds of spirits, can be divided into several kinds.

    [Least Demon]

    Basically without note, they don¡¯t have any intellect and are weak and selfish in the Demon World, but when summoned into the material world, they have as much power as an average soldier, and could be summoned without human sacrifice, they are basically snacks for other Demons: a pitiful existence.

    [Lesser Demon]

    These are the kinds of demons that most people would think of when asked to imagine demons. They have terrifying appearances like some sort of mutant animal that walks on two legs.

    They roughly look similar to one another, but the strange thing about them is their combat prowess.

    With a body made entirely out of magic power, they can use [Magic] by converting parts of themselves into power, and with a shrewd wit and a giant body that exceeds 2 meters in height, they can disable a knight in full armor with a single blow.

    Their fighting ability is said to match around 3~5 knights together.

    [Greater Demon]

    With an even bigger body than a Lesser Demon, their silhouettes are much closer to human.

    Their most terrible aspect is their ¡®intelligence¡¯ which is said to be equal to that of, or higher than, a human being, and with their enormous Demonic magic power they could shoot out many attack spells with a single roar.

    They always cheat their summoners to devour their souls, and need great care and attention to summon.

    It was said that each one¡¯s battle capacity is equal to that of at least 100 average men, up to around the size of a small army.

    [Archdemon]

    A higher class of Demon. Even in the entirety of the Demon World, there are only around 100 of them.

    Their power is equal to that of a [Greater Spirit] that can create natural disasters, and when they appeared in the physical world in the past, even when they didn¡¯t manifest fully, they would require the power of the whole country to subjugate, or for a [Hero] party to link arms and take them on together.

    It is said that when they showed up, they looked like humans, clad in clothes that looked as if they had been weathered for thousands of years.

    [Highest-Order Demon]

    A great individual that rarely appeared amongst the Archdemons after a long time.

    The existence of three types of them, the [Demon Lord], the [Demon Beast], and the [Devil], have been confirmed.

    They were the [Gods] of the Demons, whose abilities were shrouded in mystery.

    [Demon Character Introductions]

    [Yurushia]

    Magic Power: 120,000 ( 530,000 in Demon form) Species: Golden Beast

    Demonic Title: [Devil][Demon Beast] [Devil Princess] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 158 cm. She is a beautiful girl with golden eyes, and long, straight golden hair going down to the middle of her back.

    A special individual with memories reincarnated from a human being. Summoned to the material world by accident and fusing with a stillborn baby, she became a powerful Demon with human attributes.

    Besides being a humanoid [Devil], she is also a golden cat-type [Demon Beast], which Yurushia uses for magical warfare and physical warfare respectively.

    Although the person herself doesn¡¯t know this, she has become one of the [12 Pillars of the Demon World] after single-handedly destroying one of the pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lord].

    [Rinne]

    Magic Power: 1,080,000 Species: Dark Beast

    Demon Titles [Demon Beast] [Legendary Demon Beast] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    Originally a jet-black leopard whose total length exceeded 10 meters, more recently, it has been more and more like an ordinary ¡®black cat¡¯,

    It had been summoned to a world as a larva, gained an intellect, and then set itself up as a beast type for battle.

    Several thousand years ago, when he was summoned again as a [Greater Demon], he killed his summoner, and through destroying the country, became a [Demon Beast], and came to be called the [Legendary Demon Beast].

    Although he was always bloodthirsty, he has become a Demon with a heavy air of intellect after thousands of years of being a Demon.

    He is still a body without a vessel, and now he is looking for one so that he could maintain his presence stably.

    [Noa]

    Magic Power: 77,000 Species: Incubus

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 15 year old. Height, 174 cm. Yurushia¡¯s exclusive butler, with brunette hair hanging over his forehead covering his blue-grey eyes, with the appearance of an attractive boy.

    A special individual who had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a specially remodeled Demon.

    When he takes on his Demon form, he grows out jet-black goat horns.

    Uses a [Release] ability that is paired with his twin¡¯s [Absorption] ability.

    Prudent and always looking thoughtful, he is always thinking of how he can better serve his mistress, and constantly pours over strategies.

    Occasionally, he wears glasses.

    [Nea]

    Magic Power: 76,000 Species: Succubus

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 15 year old. Height, 164 cm. Yurushia¡¯s exclusive bodyguard knight who takes the form of a beautiful girl with blue-grey eyes and long brunette hair.

    A special individual that had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    Whenever she assumes her demon form, jet-black goat horns grow.

    Uses the [Absorption] ability that is paired with her twin¡¯s [Release].

    Her behavior is reckless, and although she¡¯s quite the carefree character, she has comparatively more common sense then expected.

    The ¡®Golden Sword: Nyanko¡¯ that makes a [Nya] sounds in her mistress¡¯ voice is her treasure.

    [Tina]

    Magic Power: 80,000 Species: Gorgon

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 155 cm. Yurushia¡¯s handmaiden with blonde hair and blue eyes, a cool-looking girl.

    A special individual changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    When she takes on her Demon form, her hair becomes hundreds of golden snakes.

    An individual with great fighting prowess with physical attacks, with her golden snakes and a powerful ¡®petrifying¡¯ ability with her gaze.

    Although her speech and behavior are usually quite cool and collected, and she works hard, her love for her mistress is too strong, and makes her head hazy.

    Incidentally, she is a dirty-minded one¡­ And flat as a board.

    [Fannie]

    Magic Power: 74,000 Species: Nightmare

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Devil Candidate]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 152 cm. Yurushia¡¯s maid who took the form of a fanciful-looking girl with blue eyes, and silver hair that reached her shoulders.

    A special individual that had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    In her demon form, her hair turns white and her face will form into a harlequin¡¯s mask.

    She can plunge thousands into a ¡°nightmare¡± just by them seeing her. The events that they experience in the nightmare are felt by them in reality, and destroy the spirits of those experiencing it.

    Her speech and behavior are childish, and only happen whenever something fun to her has happened. On things that concerned her and Yurushia. though, she works seriously.

    Very good at being spoiled. Unexpectedly large chest.

    [Geas]

    Magic Power: 5,000 Species: Behemoth

    Demon Title: [Greater Demon] [Potential Demon Beast]

    Its original appearance was a brutal demon with a bull¡¯s head and a bear¡¯s body the size of a mountain, but after the recoil from being rapidly grown by Yurushia set in, it¡¯s currently a teddy bear.

    Being reincarnated from earth into another world, his regret over his wife on earth had been used by the [Demon Lord].

    Afterwards, his [Contract] had been snatched up by Yurushia, and his soul reincarnated on earth again.

    Having committed countless sins, and having taken countless lives, this powerful soul that had been reborn twice was reborn as a demon, and became Yurushia¡¯s subordinate.

    It¡¯s being spoiled.

    [Onza (Onzada)]

    Magic Power: 4,000 Species: Laplace

    Demon Title: [Greater Demon] [Potential Devil]

    He became a Demon through a contract with Yurushia while he was human, but since there was only a stuffed toy as a vessel nearby when this happened, he is now a moving rabbit stuffed toy.

    The childhood friend of Yuzu, Yurushia¡¯s past life, or rather, her childhood sweetheart? Because of his promise to protect her, as soon as he protected Yurushia and was reborn, he had become a strong individual.

    A Laplace is a Demon that could look into the reaches of time, and that power had been integrated into Onzada¡¯s prediction abilities that he¡¯d had since he was a human being.

    His speech and behavior, far from being a young boy, sounded more like a tired older uncle in life.

    His favorite thing is sake.

    [Mephi (?)]

    Magic Power: ?????? Species: ?????

    Demon Title: [Devil] [Bestower of Wisdom]

    Appearance of someone in their mid-twenties. Height, 185 cm. A beautiful youth with red eyes and navy blue hair that didn¡¯t reflect any light, making it look like black.

    A true Devil that had been travelling between dimensions for thousands of years.

    His demonic form causes him to grow 6 bat wings the same colour as his hair.

    Until Yurushia had appeared, he had been the sole [Devil] in the multiverse for thousands of years, and as the only person of the same type as Yurushia, he called himself [Older Brother].

    Nobody knew what he was thinking, but it seems that he¡¯d given Yurushia, who had become a [Devil] through unusual means, insufficient knowledge.

    His hobby is winning arguments on the internet.

    [Greater Demon Army Members]

    Magic Power: 2000 ~ 3000

    Number: Population reduced from 2000 to 400.

    Special individuals that the attendants had created with the bodies of the vampires.

    Stronger than normal [Greater Demons], they were a Demon Army that existed only for Yurushia.

    They¡¯ve been given a certain amount of modifications and education, and worked well even if they were only given dry seaweed.

    Usually, they would be in the subspace that was governed by Noa, [Lost Eden], processing the seafood.

    [Heraness] [Annihilated]

    Magic Power: 650,000 Species: Monkey

    Demon Title: [Demon Lord] [Harvester] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    A normal demon that had been born in the Demon World that had eventually advanced to a [Demon Lord] after a thousand years.

    Usually looked like a human noble, but when his emotions surfaced, his monkey-like appearance would emerge.

    Although he excelled in his cunning and in gathering souls, because he gave priority to his hobbies like many other demons, he took hundreds of years to harvest good souls.

    He was one of the seven Demon Lord pillars of the Demon World, but since he¡¯d only existed about a thousand years, he was the youngest of them.

    Having lost the contract with Yurushia in the battle to take the soul of Geas, he had been destroyed by a slim margin after fighting Yurushia, who was slightly inferior to him.

    He enjoys working with bonsai.

 Volume 7 - CH 1

    Volume 7, Chapter 0: Hero Summoning

    In a large room surrounded by walls of stone, a huge crystal ball hung like a chandelier from the ceiling, emitting a pale, wafting light.

    It made the entire room look rather mystical.

    With no windows and only a single set of double doors, there was a gigantic [Magic Circle] drawn on the floor of this place that looked like a nobleman¡¯s mansion.

    The pale light that illuminated the room suddenly went dark, and then glowed brightly again.

    In this uninhabited room, the crystal ball in the ceiling pulsed slowly, getting brighter, and as light and darkness alternately dyed the room, the magic formation on the floor began to glow, filling up with magic.

    *Bachin*!

    The pale light shone brighter and brighter until it popped, the space distorted, and a dense fog covered the room.

    The light from the ceiling returned to normal, and silence returned.

    However, something was different.

    ¡°¡­¡­owowoww¡­¡­ what?¡±

    The voice of a boy, or should I say, a young adult, was heard.

    That boy: ¡°Daichi¡±, was rubbing his sore forehead with his hand, having fallen suddenly onto the cold floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­What the¡­¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    No, he remembered an event that was so far removed from reality that his common sense couldn¡¯t accept it.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ where¡­¡­ am I?!¡±

    There was a deep mist, like from dry ice, covering the room up to his waist, but it was thinner above, and he could tell that this was a stone room.

    ¡°I-is anyone there!?¡±

    There was a moving shadow in the fog.

    What was this creature that was in such a strange place¡­¡­?

    If it was something dangerous, it would have been foolish, but Daichi instinctively understood ¡®who¡¯ it was and rushed towards them.

    ¡°Touka? oi, get a hold of yourself!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uu¡­¡­n¡±

    When Daichi shook her shoulders, the girl slowly opened her eyes.

    ¡°¡­Dai¡­chi¡­?¡±

    The girl who had a slightly strong jaw opened her eyes wide when she get ahold of herself, and hugged her chest to fool herself over her relief at seeing Daichi¡¯s face.

    ¡°D-Daichi, what are you doing to me¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything, what are you even saying!¡±

    The boy and the girl stared at each other until, noticing that their faces were too close to one another, they hurriedly turned away, their faces turning red.

    ¡°W-we shouldn¡¯t be doing that!¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    The two young adults continued glancing at one another. When it seemed like the atmosphere under the lights would be unbearable, they hear a low groaning sound from nearby that startled them.

    ¡°Eh, who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯s here?¡­ This is Futa!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here too! It¡¯s Mizuki!¡±

    The lights on the ground moved slightly, showing the two new figures.

    Two of their classmates were now visible, the first a girl named Mizuki, who looked up from the light and gave a small smile, before her expression became unsteady again.

    The other person, a boy named Futa, adjusted his glasses and makes a face as he looked down and asked:

    ¡°Where is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea¡­ Futa, do you remember what happened before you woke up here?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, we were at school¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the school end bell rang and I was staying in class waiting for the crowds to calm down.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    A shout from Mizuki at the shining lights covered up what was he was going to say, but Futa, just nodded.

    Futa, seeing that his words weren¡¯t be heard, gave a light shrug and sighed as if used to it, not giving a complaint.

    The four people begin comparing memories, to get a picture of what happened.

    Daichi and Touka met in kindergarten, Futa and Mizuki joining them as childhood friends in elementary school, and all four of them advanced through the same escalator school, acting like typical childhood friends.

    The four of them were talking after school in their high school junior year classroom before looking at the sky as a rumbling sound began and the sky turned black.

    Most of the students hurried home after seeing it, but Mizuki said she saw something in the sky so they stayed for a moment.

    When a sound like thunder echoed after a bit, the clouds cleared up and Mizuki suddenly said ¡°I can hear a girl¡¯s voice from the sky,¡± the next moment, a magical shine surrounded them and the four¡¯s memories ended there.

    ¡°Maybe this is an [Isekai] situation?¡±

    ¡°Haah?¡±

    A harsh sounding voice came from Touka at the mutter from Futa.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to enjoy those types books Futa, don¡¯t be so loud, Mizuki is getting frightened.

    ¡°Y-yeah, Touka-chan, be nice, Futa-kun knows a lot of things.¡±

    Mizuki defends him with a reddened face, all huddled up. Whether it was because of the lighting or how sullen she was, she looked like a small animal. Daichi finally spoke up from the side in a loud voice.

    ¡°Yeah, I also borrowed some from Futa and read them. So, does that make us Heroes?¡±

    So he actually read them? When Daichi shared his thoughts, Futa nodded with a serious looking face.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure this will sound stupid, but please listen a bit. How likely is it that we were kidnapped suddenly together from school and put into a room with this fog and other strange scenery? How much would some guy need to spend just to deceive us.¡±

    The other three couldn¡¯t come up with a good counterargument to Futa.

    They couldn¡¯t think of any way a kidnapper could make money if they set up such an elaborate stage.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we¡¯re in a different world?¡±

    Futa gives a slow nod.

    ¡°Mizuki, you said that you heard a ¡®voice¡¯ at back then, do you remember what they said?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No, it was a beautiful girl¡¯s voice, but I couldn¡¯t understand what they said¡­¡±

    Futa shook his head, which caused Mizuki to jump.

    ¡°No, sorry. I was thinking that that ¡®voice¡¯ might have been the spell from a summoner¡­ I figure that if it¡¯s a spell it¡¯s natural that you wouldn¡¯t understand the words.

    Futa looks at the three people before him.

    ¡°People who have been summoned to a different world are typically called ¡°Heroes,¡± as Daichi said, although there is no excuse to rely on the knowledge from those books, there is a possibility that we will be forced to fight if that is the case.¡±

    ¡°Something like that¡­¡±

    Mizuki is leaking out a small whine, Futa putting his hands on her shoulder, feeling embarrassed.

    ¡°Apologies, we¡¯re all together on this. Now, what was your strange request¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, I hear something.¡±

    They quickly looked where Daichi was staring.

    The white mist floating all around them began to flow and compress, and a ¡®pressure¡¯ could be felt from where it was flowing, the two boys stepped in front of the girls as if to protect them.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    In the silent tension, the four held their breath and keep looking around.

    Until¡­

    The first thing they saw were two quietly approaching figures¡­

    When the shadows fell away from the two people as they emerged from the fog, the four were astonished.

    A man and a woman stood in front of them, they seemed to be related, with similar foreign looking faces, silver eyes, and mousey hair color.

    What surprised the four was that they seemed to be younger than them. The boy was wearing a high quality butler outfit that they hadn¡¯t seen before and the girl was wearing shining knight armor.

    The dazzling boy and girl seem to have finally noticed the ground and looked at them with contemplation.

    However, as the two moved forward and to either side, revealing two more girls, the four high schoolers could only stare.

    The first of them was a coldly beautiful girl with shining blond hair curled into vertical rolls.

    The other was smiling widely, with long silver hair that spread out around her shoulders.

    Both of them were wearing pretty clothes, long skirted maid uniforms that didn¡¯t look at all like the imitations worn in Japan. On top of that, Futa and Mizuki noticed that each had what looked like a stuffed animal in their chests.

    The blond girl was hugging the bear plushie and the silver haired girl hugged the rabbit plush. They seemed to be very well made, and even looked around like they had their own wills.

    As they watched to see whether it was a [Creature] from a different world, Mizuki was staring at the moving eyes, her eyes glistening.

    The four beautiful children stopped moving after moving a few meters to stand in front of the four people who arrived from Japan and stared without saying anything.

    ¡°¡­ Guys¡­¡±

    Futa broke the silence with sleight fear in his tone, and the atmosphere changed.

    Nothing changed visibly¡­. The temperature or the moistness of the air¡­

    However, behind the fog, where the four people arrived, there was something new, something unfamiliar.

    The four well dressed people shifted further to the sides, and as they all bowed and fell to their knees, ¡®something¡¯ scattered the mist from the depths.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­!¡±¡±¡±¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 1.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 1: I Became a Saint Again, Part 1, Part 1

    ¡°[Yurushia, would you mind if I killed it?]¡±

    ¡°Sure, feel free.¡±

    Since he seems frustrated with his lack of fights lately, I¡¯ll leave it to Rinne this time. To be honest, I¡¯m a bit nervous, but I won¡¯t complain since my attendants seem to be unworried.

    Well, it should be fun, at least¡­ I just can¡¯t understand boys sometimes. Since I just finished a hard task, I wouldn¡¯t want to work more.

    ¡°[Gao Gau]¡±

    ¡°Geas, do you want to come?¡±

    ¡°[Gao]¡±

    Apparently, Geas (Teddy Bear) wants to go along. Good luck together than. What do you call a little boy that¡¯s hundreds or thousands of years old¡­

    Are other boys better? As I thought this, I looked over and a certain bunny was gesturing at Rinne and Geas, pointing towards me and making a fist over his heart.

    Something like¡­ leave this place to me and fight without worries¡­ huh.

    Oh my¡­ how cool, Rabbit-kun.

    Strangely, Fanny grabbed up and hugged him full power, but didn¡¯t break him.

    On a side note, Noah is the only one who doesn¡¯t price physical strength.

    By the time we arrived at the battle on foot, Rinne had already won.

    Since Geas seemed to have become all tattered, I eventually decided to use magic to repair him¡­ huh, my work hasn¡¯t decreased.

    Anyways, since all the garbage was blown away by the ¡®Other Dimension Demon,¡¯ the road ahead was actually smooth sailing.

    ¡°[¡­ *PonPon*]¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    After walking, or rather not walking, for a while, as far as that term means anything in this dimension, I felt Onzada-kun kick me in my side.

    ¡°[¡­ *Rustle*]¡±

    ¡°Over there?¡±

    Geas also doesn¡¯t seem to understand Onzada-kun since he doesn¡¯t use words.

    ¡°He said that there are signs of people over there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Apparently, Fanny is able to understand the language of stuffed animals. Just why?

    ¡°You all, what do you sense?¡±

    All of my attendants have better sensing capabilities than the stuffed animals, they should be able to tell what it is, demon or no.

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°Apparently, some humans are being summoned.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, four people, it looks like.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yeah, it¡¯s no small thing. Onzada-kun was saved because I stayed here.

    Still, it¡¯s amazing how many people are summoned so sloppily. Are they okay¡­?

    ¡°Let¡¯s chase them.¡±

    I don¡¯t feel any obligation to help, but I would be remiss to ignore this.

    Besides, we can always come back here for more enjoyment by opening the [Gate] from the other side.

    The [Gate] that the humans have made is small, but we should be able all fit through since we¡¯re all small at the moment.

    And so, we go off to a new stage¡­ the Isekai, [Tess].

 Volume 7 - CH 2.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 2: I became a Saint Again, Part 2, Part 1

    ¡°How long are you going to ignore me!?¡±

    I cut off my flashback seeing as someone was making noise nearby.

    Indeed, it was the Princess of this country who was calling out¡­¡­ uhh¡­¡­ Bianca-chan, was it? But anyway, the flashback was almost over. ¡­¡­ She might be surprisingly cute?

    ¡°W-why, are you smiling while looking at me like that¡±

    She got frightened when I looked at her gently with a warm smile on my face. How impudent.

    ¡°Oi, you peasant, answer Her Highness¡¯ words!¡±

    Among the knights that were escorting Bianca, a man wearing an important-looking armor came out and rudely cut in, shouting loudly.

    I wonder if the blood rushed to his head? I¡¯m alright, though, I¡¯m not scared of strangers in another world, and given that I look like a lady who has her own escort knights and followers, I wonder if he¡¯ll suddenly try to pull a sword on me?

    Even if he is a knight, he¡¯s really no different from an ordinary person to us. Although I¡¯ll see this to the end, it¡¯s no fun to be hostile from the start even if you are just being vigilant.

    However, the moment I notice that sword getting pointed at me, my followers, who are currently watching passively by my side, will disintegrate him in an instant.

    Well, what should I do now¡­¡­

    As I thought as much, *swoosh*, someone stepped forward to protect me, stepping in front of the knight.

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s Onzada (rabbit)-kun.

    The knight stared with their eyes wide at the rabbit soft toy that was about half a meter tall that popped out.

    In this atmosphere, where everyone had been stunned into silence, only one person, one of the summoned little girls, was looking on with shining eyes.

    ¡°W-what the heck is this joke item! Some sort of autonomous magic tool, you suspicious magician!¡±

    The knight that returned to his senses faster than I thought turned towards me in alarm, but he still turned his sword at Onzada-kun with a somewhat stupid face.

    Heeh¡­¡­ So there are ¡°autonomous magic tools¡±. Was it some sort of golem that incorporated a Lesser Spirit? Or did they develop things like artificial intelligence.

    Nevertheless, against the knight that was pointing a sword at him, Onzada-kun took up a position like a kenpo fighter, and tried to motion with his fingers¡­¡­  but he¡¯s a stuffed toy, so he couldn¡¯t bend his hands for this, as he tried to provoke the knight.

    ¡°¡­¡­This guy!¡±

    The knight fell for it beautifully and his face went red.

    The other knights with him all had troubled faces, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s because I¡¯m smiling, but rather, as knights with pride, they couldn¡¯t tell if their leader was being mocked or if she was angry.

    If it was the latter case, then if these one-track-minded people had high statuses as knights, then this country was a small one¡­¡­

    ¡°HIYAHHHHHH!¡±

    As the knight approached Onzada-kun, he swung his sword about in a casual manner.

    Hmm¡­¡­ Although it seems that his brain is made of muscle, it seems that his sword is pretty good, and so are his swings. Was it a magic sword that had been enchanted? It was of a poorer quality than the swords that I gave to my escort knights.

    Putting aside if it was powerful, his sword was surprisingly fast.

    The moment its straight tip came into contact with Onzada-kun, Onzada-kun put his hands on the core of the sword and gently turned it aside.

    *GAN*!

    ¡°Dooguooooohhh!¡±

    Before the sword had even struck the stone floor, Onzada-kun¡¯s hands had struck out at the knight¡¯s face.

    [(*swoosh*)]

    Onzada-kun leapt up onto the knight who had been staggered back and knocked flying and began to rapidly hit the face of the knight who hadn¡¯t yet come to terms with what had happened.

    ¡°*GUHO*!? Wait, *GUHA*, this¡­ *KAAH* O- ¡°

    In front of this somewhat heart-warming sight, Bianca and the knights were mostly stunned, while several of the knights were grinning, some wore severe grimaces¡­¡­

    ¡°*guhiii* Stop, *kuho*¡­ Y-yo¡­ *gaa*¡­ *higu*, *guooo*, *goho*¡­ o¡±

    *bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash¡­¡­*

    Because it sounded like that, there wasn¡¯t quite the feeling of urgency, but as the blood splattered and his teeth broke, covered in blood, the faces of those observing gradually paled and cramped up.

    The four people summoned by Bianca, who had no resistance to this gory scene whatsoever, looked like they were about to vomit.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, come back.¡±

    When the knights finally recovered from their daze to reality, and pulled out their swords, I stopped Onzada-kun and recalled him.

    I think he was probably going easy on them because the other party was a human, but if Onzada-kun, who held the power of a Greater Demon, continued to beat him up, it would start getting awkward soon.

    ¡°[(Doyaa)]¡±

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    As Onzada-kun returned, Geas seemed to be saying something to him by going ¡°Gaugau¡±, but I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what he was saying.

    In such an atmosphere, that child named Mizuki that had looked like she was going to vomit a little while ago was making a wonderful set of *kirakira* eyes at the rabbit and bear¡¯s conversation.

    ¡­¡­ though Onzada-kun still returned blood-stained.

    ¡°Someone get a healer!¡±

    ¡°Hurry up, or he won¡¯t make it!¡±

    The knights began to raise a ruckus and the older ones gave instructions to the junior knights. While a few of the knights were rushing about hurriedly, our side that was next to them was rather calm, and it was excellent that they didn¡¯t panic despite their rush.

    Ah¡­¡­ could it be? Is this proud knight hated?

    And that knight, whose face had been so beaten up that he couldn¡¯t be recognized, was on the floor, his limbs thrashing about, twisted in strange directions.

    Uwahh¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light!]¡­¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 2.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 2: I became a Saint Again, Part 2, Part 2

    It¡¯s bad to show all these ugly scenes to good children, so I cast some holy magic. It seems that holy magic activates properly even in this world¡­¡­

    As the soft and gentle light expanded, the bustling knights stopped running around and their jaws dropped with a *pokan* as they were stunned into silence despite their caution.

    The magic I used this time has high entertainment value, the [Elixir] that combines both high-level healing and high-level regeneration.

    As the light faded, the knight¡¯s limbs were set properly, his missing teeth returned. He checked his own body, and then his eyes went as wide as saucers looking at me.

    As I put down the black cat that I was holding (Rinne), with a [Tadaa~h] motion, I slowly walked forward, holding the hem of my black and silver dress up above my feet, and bowed gracefully.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Princess Bianca. I came from a different world, [Atra], from the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo, the granddaughter of the 22nd generation King, King Verusenia, the daughter of the Verusenia ducal house of the same name, 6th in line for the throne of Tariterudo, Yurushia Ra Von Verusenia.¡±

    When I received my title as the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom], I also received a succession right to the throne and a [Fond] (TL note: french; lit. ¡®background,¡¯ pronounced ¡®Fon¡¯) as a member of the royal family. Formally, it should have come into effect when I turned 13, but when I was travelling in other countries, Grandfather (His Majesty) permitted me to use it up to my discretion.

    Well, when I became a daughter-in-law it would become effective too, but should I use it¡­¡­? I thought so, so let¡¯s put it to use this time.

    But why am I the sixth in line¡­¡­? Well, Father is fourth in line. And my older sisters¡­¡­ Well, they¡¯ve got many issues, okay.

    But now, I used my ¡®Name¡¯, which was rather significant, even though I didn¡¯t plan to.

    Princess Bianca too had a ¡®Fond¡¯ as princess, like in Tariterudo, but the manner of kings and nobles was far too similar to ¡®Earth¡¯.

    Perhaps, it¡¯s due to the influence of ¡®otherworlders¡¯ who have flowed over, and if it was the case that both worlds were being affected this would not be a problem, but if only the knowledge of Earth was being spread, I feel that it¡¯s somewhat artificial.

    In my mind this was a good idea, but I also wanted to confirm the degree of infiltration by expressing my ¡®position¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­eh, ah¡­¡±

    As I suddenly expressed my gratitude as a noble, Bianca took a while to reboot.

    ¡°¡­¡­Excuse me. I am the second princess of the Sail Country, Bianca Von Do Sail¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeh, I have already heard you before, Bianca-sama. I¡¯m sorry for having you introduce yourself twice.¡±

    ¡°Is t-that so¡­¡±

    As I gave her a faint smile, Bianca looked like she had forgotten that she had introduced herself already, but after a moment¡¯s frustration she lifted up her eyebrows and stared at me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Another world¡¯s ¡­¡­ ¡®Princess¡¯¡­?¡±

    That was the mutter coming from the knight that was still sitting on the floor.

    If they were to misunderstand here, then it would get noisy again when it hit everyone.

    Are you still confused?

    ¡°Oh, you are most welcome.¡±

    What would it be like to be holding the royal family of another country in such a place? ¡­¡­ As she made a troubled face and tilted her head in thought, a knight that seemed well-informed went to her, whispering something in her ear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ T-that¡¯s right. Yurushia¡­-sama, please, follow me. My father¡­¡­ I will seek an audience with His Majesty the King of the Sail Country.¡±

    As Bianca said so, she didn¡¯t apologize at all or explain anything that happened here regarding the summoning, but turned away after saying her piece.

    It¡¯s good enough for me, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Please wait a moment. What is going to happen to them?¡±

    As I spoke, I pointed at the four of them who had been summoned from Earth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    At my words, Bianca who had completely forgotten in her fluster accidentally let a noise slip. Well, more than half of this is my fault.

    The four of them cowered as they caught my gaze, but they had a look of relief that they weren¡¯t about to be ignored in this unfamiliar kingdom.

    I also don¡¯t intend to just neglect them.

    Anyway, I think the only four people that I could believe in in this castle were these four.

    Even if it wasn¡¯t everyone, this country is dubious. There¡¯s that particular sweet smell that¡¯s peculiar to aristocratic corruption.

    An audience with the king¡­¡­ I think I¡¯ll enjoy it for a while.

    This country, it will slowly be ¡®eroded¡¯, no?

    ¡°Yaa, pretty Princess-san, are these the people who were summoned this time?¡±

    A person called out to us from the large door that was still open.

    Wearing dark blue tailored clothes, was a tall man dressed partially in an iridescent armor, with black hair and brown eyes that were close to black and a yellowish skin, completely unlike anyone else in this world, but remarkably close to the four of them who had been summoned.

    Maybe¡­¡­¡­ is it Japanese?

    He looks to be about 30 to me. One of the knights next to him approached and quietly listened to him, and then he nodded slightly, walking towards me.

    ¡­¡­Hey, this person¡­¡­

    ¡°Forgive my manners, Princess of another world. I am Kidou Kyoji. ¡­¡­Please, call me Kyoji.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Who the heck are you?

 Volume 7 - CH 3.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 3: I Became a Saint Again, Part 3, Part 1

    Kyoji knelt before me, taking my hand as he lightly touched it to his lips.

    I¡¯m still not quite used to getting ¡®Kissed on the Hand,¡¯ but somehow I felt that Kyoji was remarkably familiar with it.

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (Yurushia) ]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­(What¡¯s the matter?)¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (Don¡¯t you remember? This is that guy that you sent to another dimension.)]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even if he does get jealous, Rinne can¡¯t be jealous when it comes to human beings, as usual. Although it¡¯s good that you want to show me your better side, but for me, it¡¯s okay to show your baser sides too, you know?

    That being said, now that he mentioned it I remembered.

    He was one of those kidnappers, who I¡¯d sent into a different dimension through the dimensional gate that had no air, no water, and no light, right? I was trying to help him, but I¡¯d never thought that he¡¯d make it to another world.

    ¡°Is something the matter, Princess?¡±

    ¡°No, Kyoji-sama. My name is Yurushia. ¡­¡­ Are you possibly the ¡°hero-sama¡± of this country, Sail?

    Somehow, from the Kyoji of now, I could feel a power similar to that of Yuuki-kun that I hadn¡¯t felt before.

    Instead of like a toad, it¡¯s more like a fast straight now, and Kyoji smiled at my question, even as his eyes narrowed slightly.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia has very nice eyes.  Your golden eyes look as if they would expose everything. ¡­¡­ don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    Kyoji added some sweet words to his question and muddied the answer, and so I riposted with a question of my own.

    ¡°Oh my, Kyoji-sama, I feel that your power is as pure as water.¡±

    Certainly, according to Yuuki-kun¡¯s data, the hero of Sail is supposed to be the [Hero of Water]. As I gave him an appropriate reply, I could feel Kyoji get ever so slightly warier against me.

    ¡°Hohoo¡­¡­ Princess-san seems to have a pretty good ¡°power¡±. We should talk again later¡­¡±

    ¡°Kyoji-sama!¡±

    Suddenly, a voice cut in, interrupting our conversation.

    Bianca directed a sharp gaze at me, even as her face turned red and her eyes reflected the image of Kyoji. I see how it is¡­¡­ her motives are indeed thin.

    ¡°My apologies, Bianca-sama. I left you alone, but I am thankful for you, for constantly supporting me despite my imposing on you. ¡°

    ¡°Well, such a thing¡­¡­ Kyoji-sama¡±

    Bianca¡¯s cheeks turn rosy as Kyoji gently stroked her cheeks, turning towards me with an expression of victory.

    ¡­¡­ No, even if you give me that face, that reaction means trouble.

    Anyway, I guess we¡¯ll have to restart negotiations with Kyoji later. At least that clearly tells me that he was the hero, although, I thought that it was a girl, and not Kyoji.

    While re-contemplating Kyoji afresh, the nearby knights began to carry out their instructions.

    ¡°His Majesty will grant you your audience. Please come with us, Princess Yurushia and your followers.¡±

    At Kyoji¡¯s words, he had a very natural expression of gratitude just like an aristocrat¡¯s.

    He seems to not be making light of me¡­¡­ Although I couldn¡¯t get positive proof about Kyoji, but that¡¯s what my intuition said.

    Then, this fellow is one of the ¡°Heroes of another world¡± that had killed Yuuki-kun.

    But then¡­ the timeline doesn¡¯t actually fit¡­¡­ Let¡¯s examine our surroundings later.

    Kyoji took Bianca¡¯s hand to please her and walked ahead, leaving my escort to one of his subordinates, a beautiful knight.-

    ¡°[¡­¡­(Hyooi)]¡±

    When Onzada-kun appeared to block the knight that was approaching me inadvertently, they trembled with a start and moved away from Onzada-kun hastily.

    There, there, you were quite scared, right? Though there was that spurt of blood, too.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    I lightly used the [Purification] holy magic and erased the blood that was stuck on Onzada-kun.

    Maybe it was because he had no tolerance for [Holiness] unlike I, who was human, but Onzada-kun seemed to be trembling slightly like he was feeling disgusted.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I felt someone lightly gazing at me. Kyoji was observing the [Magic] that I used.

    I stopped as Kyoji spoke to me as if he hadn¡¯t been looking, even as I gave him, who was in front of me, a little smile.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ was what you used just now [Holy Magic]?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called that in this world. Is Kyoji-sama able to use it as well?¡±

    ¡°Mine is like mere child¡¯s play next to Princess¡¯.¡±

    We evaded answering each other and tried to lightly probe the other.

    On Kyoji¡¯s side, he wants to know if I am someone that he can use, and if I can be his ally, and so he wants to hide his abilities as much as possible.

    But for me, I am merely [Checking the Facts].

    I knew Yuuki-kun¡¯s ability, and from the information that I¡¯d gotten from his about heroes, heroes couldn¡¯t use healing magic, and could only use [Recovery Magic] to boost their healing ability.

    But that was information from twenty years ago.

    And yet, Kyoji looked as if he was about 30 years old right now¡­¡­ Although my intuition told me that Yuuki-kun had been killed by him, when Yuuki-kun died, Kyoji was still on Earth.

    Did I guess wrongly? Or did the timelines get messed up¡­¡­?

    Although I haven¡¯t done a thorough examination of the area, I wasn¡¯t able to precisely measure Kyoji¡¯s ability¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! Kyoji-sama was summoned as a hero 14 years ago. With his healing powers as the [Hero of Water], the other heroes are nothing compared to him.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°

    As Bianca proudly declared so, Kyoji¡¯s smile grew cold, and my smile deepened slightly.

    Is that alright, Kyoji? ¡®I have to recover quickly¡¯, no?

    No, no, Bianca-chan, you¡¯ll tell me a lot of things that I want to know.

    A hero who can use the power of water to heal¡­¡­ Which reminds me, I remember someone saying that the demons of Atra used that power too.

    And 14 years ago? Surely, that means that the timeline has gotten screwed up. Even if you crossed a dimension, as long as you were a ¡®soul¡¯ like in Geas¡¯ case, you could only really arrive early or arrive late, and not go back in time.

    No, this is no good. I don¡¯t have enough information yet.

    There was the example where Geas became my grandpa, too, but he was an ally. In the case of an enemy, however, it worried me that I had no information about him at all.

    Well, it¡¯s no fun anymore, since Kyoji isn¡¯t going to give me any more information, so I escorted Bianca and began walking ahead.

    Although, that pretty knight from a little while ago also escorted us.

    ¡°Splendid.¡±

    I kept walking as if I hadn¡¯t heard anything. Because otherwise, I¡¯d have to talk to those people who were trying to talk to me, and I don¡¯t want that.

    One of them was the knight that Onzada-kun had viciously beat up a while ago, and how he was looking at me with sparkling eyes, only to divert his gaze when I looked at his face. ¡­¡­ Is there something you¡¯re really itching to say? And then, there¡¯s the other bunch.

    ¡°H-hey, you¡­¡±

    I thought it was the glasses-wearing guy, but it was a girl with strong features. Looking at the girls who had been abducted from Earth, I didn¡¯t really trust them, but it was preferable to talk to them compared than the criminal ones.

    ¡°Oh, is something the matter?¡±

    I turned as I lowered my voice so that only she could hear me as we walked, and although she seemed frightened, she resolved herself to speak.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ weren¡¯t the one to summon us? You didn¡¯t do it, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yep, sorry. It was a cruel joke.¡±

    As I suppressed my presence while smiling as gently as I could, she looked a little more relieved.

    ¡°But, why are things like this?¡±

    ¡°U-uhm,, you were also summoned, were you not?¡±

    As I loosened up the atmosphere, the little girl also spoke to me.

    ¡°I am Yurushia. You are?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, my name is Mizuki,¡±

    ¡°I am Touka¡±

    Oh yeah, there was one of them named that. I¡¯d forgotten that I heard it, though.

    ¡°I-I am Daichi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Futa.¡±

    The mood started to lift a little as they started a conversation. ¡­¡­ when I forget again, I¡¯ll just get Rinne to teach me.

    ¡°And so¡­¡­ why did you end up trying to imitate that situation?¡±

    Touka and Futa turned towards me with looks of suspicion about that whole act.

    ¡°It was a little¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s because you guys have no sense of danger.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Futa had a hint of regret creep onto his face when he realized what I meant.

    ¡°Also, with regard to what Mizuki asked, no, I wasn¡¯t summoned. I was just on my way back to my world, and merely took advantage of your summoning.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Can you advise us?¡±

    Mizuki and Touka¡¯s eyes went wide as they looked at me intently. I didn¡¯t answer them, and merely gave them a vague smile.

    ¡­¡­ Sorry, I¡¯m not going to reply you because it¡¯s funnier this way.

    ¡°Heey, who so you think you are?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave the minor talk to later.¡±

    And with that, I put a sock in that conversation.

    ¡°Soon, we will be meeting His Majesty the King. Please do not be careless with your words. Ask for help from my servants if you feel it is dangerous.¡±

    As I said so to the four of them, they turned towards my attendants and swallowed hard.

    They¡¯re properly steeling themselves. Because after this the real main event for today.

    If things broke down¡­¡­ it might just be the end of this country today.

 Volume 7 - CH 3.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 3: I Became a Saint Again, Part 3, Part 2

    We finally reached our meeting place after heading through a considerably long white passage. I was a little tired.

    When the knights opened the door, I saw the figure of the king sitting on the throne in the back of the great hall.

    ¡°Ooh, are these the heroes at last?¡±

    The King of Sail had solidly-built physique, and looked at us from his seat, and spoke far too loudly.

    The castle¡¯s size felt somewhat similar to that of the Holy Kingdom (Tariterudo)? It was a similar castle, but the people surrounding the king who looked rather minister-like were rather extravagant-looking.

    ¡°You insects, in front of His Majesty the King, you dare not kneel?¡±

    An old man next to the king who was wearing the most pompous armor out of everyone stood up, and the four of them started to kneel, but I stopped them with a gesture.

    ¡°Oh? Why, though?¡±

    ¡°You bastard!¡±

    Why is that¡­¡­ I feel he¡¯s got the same smell as that knight that got beaten up just a while ago. When I saw that knight¡¯s face turn green, I wondered if he would be calling for reinforcements. ¡­¡­Aah, now that I look at it, their faces look similar too.

    ¡°Good, good, unlike the usual visitors from [Terra], it seems we have a princess from another world. Indeed, you¡¯re very young yet beautiful¡­¡­¡±

    The King of Sail stopped the old knight as he looked at me, a broad grin on his face.

    Aah, I see. It was rare for there to be nobles. A person who only based impressions on the reputation, and not on the age or sex.

    ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve met, King Sail. I am Yurushia Ra Von Verusenia. I am the granddaughter of the King, but since I¡¯m actually the daughter of a Duke, it¡¯s a little embarrassing to be called [Princess].¡±

    ¡°I hear that you¡¯re also in line to succeed the throne, too. Although we conducted the summoning to save our world, I would like to hear the story of your world. I welcome you as a guest to our castle.¡±

    ¡°What about me¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nn? Your aides will also be treated similarly.¡±

    ¡°Then, what about them?¡±

    When I turned to look at them, everyone present turned their eyes towards the original protagonist characters who were summoned to this place, and they trembled under the combined gazes of everyone.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh? These were the people summoned from Terra, huh. In that case, then, I welcome you all if there are any of you who have the capacity to be a [Hero].¡±

    King Sail spoke haughtily, waving his hand as he finished speaking, and several civil-official-like people were approaching the four.

    ¡°Geas, Onzada-kun.¡±

    [Gau] [¡­(Kokun)]

    This time, I told my attendants to remain spectators as much as possible. The two of them, who were soft toys, jumped out at that moment and blocked the way of the civil officials.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ what do you mean by this?¡±

    King Sail¡¯s smile disappeared from his face. What do I mean?

    ¡°You were still in the midst of telling me, no? So, what are you going to do if they don¡¯t have this capacity?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not something for Princess to worry about. Take them away.¡±

    At King Sail¡¯s words, one of the civil officials grabbed the arms of Touka.

    ¡°Wait a minute, it hurts-¡±

    ¡°Oi, what are you trying to do?¡±

    ¡°Resist a little.¡±

    I knew that ¡®people from another world¡¯ that had just come to this world had little power. In order for them to take away the girls, the soldiers aimed their weapons at the boys who tried to get in their way.

    ¡°You bastard! Come here at once. That¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s order¡­*guho*¡±

    Onzada-kun struck the civil official mid sentence and knocked him flying. No, I told him to only match his ability to their power.

    ¡°¡­¡­Na-¡±

    As someone muttered out, the surroundings that had gone quiet suddenly burst out in an uproar.

    ¡°What are you doing, you bastard!¡±

    ¡°Knights, arrest them!¡±

    ¡°Come quietly and do not resist!¡±

    I had a feeling that more than half of the country was like this.

    But I guess it can¡¯t be helped now that things have come to this. Neither these people nor King Sail were problems, the only person who could do something would be the [Hero] Kyoji.

    ¡°Acid Cloud¡±

    Without a pre-cast aria, something like a fog cloud struck the four of them who had been summoned, but not me.

    Kyoji suddenly cast such an incredible spell so maliciously.

    ¡°[Let there be Light]¡±

    I too instantly deployed the holy magic [Greater Protection] and guarded the four of them who were huddled together in fear from their first battle.

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!?¡±

    ¡°GUOOOOOOOOOOOO¡±

    ¡°Guhoo¡±

    ¡°Hiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!?¡±

    The knights who approached us writhed on the floor as their skin burned.

    That magic¡­¡­ as expected, it was [Acid Cloud], huh. It was an advanced-level water magic that could corrode metal, but it exerted outrageous power against biological creatures. Still, taking aim at those who were weaker in an attempt to involve them, doesn¡¯t that say a lot about King Sail?

    ¡°¡­[Healing Hand of Water]¡­¡±

    But what Kyoji cast next was an advanced-level recovery magic.

    The skins of the knights who were suffering healed bit by bit. Well, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll die from that.

    ¡°Everyone, have you calmed down?¡±

    As soon as Kyoji released his battle state, he spoke out as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Kyoji! What are you doing!¡±

    King Sail is truly angry. Well, now, let¡¯s see what kind of excuses he¡¯ll be making for this.

    ¡°King Sail, it¡¯s unwise to fight here. I¡¯m sorry that I had to step in and be slightly rough while arbitrating.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­h-, humph.¡±

    As Kyoji bowed awfully obediently, the king looked taken aback.

    But mediation, huh¡­¡­ I think they would have died if I hadn¡¯t protected them, but Kyoji seemed to have placed greater emphasis on knowing ¡®which side¡¯ I was on compared to the children¡¯s lives.

    ¡°I knew that Princess Yurushia would protect them. I know how helpless one feels after being summoned from another world.¡±

    Kyoji had a slightly lonesome look on his face, and the whole atmosphere of the place began to change as if it was natural to keep listening to Kyoji¡¯s story.

    ¡°How about doing it this way, then. Princess Yurushia seems concerned with those four, so why not leave entrust their care to her? Princess has a wonderful power and seems rather familiar with the knowledge of other worlds. That knowledge can help this country.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This guy, is he trying to use the four of them as ¡®deadweights¡¯ on me?

    I won¡¯t go so far as to let myself be fettered by them, but I think that I¡¯ll change my interactions with them depending on whether I would protect them. I won¡¯t protect my enemies, so he must have had the confidence that he beat me with his poor knowledge. And if I protected them, he would use them to bend my will.

    Was that his ¡®quality¡¯ as a person? Besides, I wasn¡¯t summoned by chance ¨C and it seems that he knew that I knew of other worlds when I came here.

    ¡­¡­ Well, I understand what the circumstances are, so I calmed down, and didn¡¯t ask them anything at all.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ Certainly that¡¯s some good luck. As expected of Kyoji.¡±

    The King seemed to have something he wanted to stay that he held himself out on, but he still supported Kyoji. Was he trusted because he was a hero, or was it out of fear?

    Perhaps, because he¡¯s a [Hero], it¡¯s about preserving the honor of the nation?

    The bloodthirsty air eased up, and this suited Kyoji perfectly.

    The ministers and civil officials too followed up and praised Kyoji. ¡­¡­ such safe people.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be the light of healing]¡­¡±

    As I spoke, a soft golden light glowed out.

    ¡°!?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    They were on guard. They were surprised. In the midst of the dumbfounded, I spread out my [Brilliant Wings] like an angel on the spot and healed the knights and soldiers who were unable to stand.

    ¡°¡­¡­Angel¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Saint¡­sama¡­¡±

    The knights muttered under their breath as everyone¡¯s gaze went from Kyoji to me.

    I smiled quietly as the scattered golden light began to fade and the light became feathers that fluttered like snow.

 Volume 7 - CH 4

    Volume 7, Chapter 4: The Brilliant Daily Life of a Saint, Part 1

    14 years ago¡­ Kidou Keiji¡¯s broken body sat there, in a stone room illuminated by the light of a crystal ball.

    Soon after, he was carried out by the residents of this world and received treatment, but it was two more weeks before he was able to leave his bed, having been weakened so much by his injuries.

    In that time, Keiji had been told that, of all things, he was one of the hero candidates of this world, [Tess].

    From the hospitality being shown to him, they had probably investigated without telling him, and Keiji might have had the makings of a [Hero].

    Keiji felt a sense of incongruity when he was finally able to speak again.

    He felt a sense of incompatibility as a modern person in this different world, and when he talked, he felt a strange sense of incongruity between his mind and his body, the summoner, the first princess, sounded like she was in her early teens, but she talked to him as he was someone in her age group.

    Finally, Keiji, who managed to move himself to look at himself in the mirror, was astonished. He looked at least ten years younger than he remembered.

    Keiji, who in his own memories was a 26-year old, stared at the person who looked like he was in his early teens looking back at him in the mirror¡­¡­ At the very most he was 14 or 16. He didn¡¯t know how it had happened, but Keiji put this fact away and began to ¡®live¡¯ within this world.

    What he discovered was that this world had the development level of the Middle Ages on Earth and had a cultural system that was very much like Earth¡¯s.

    As for the language, he was able to speak it from the beginning, and after coming to this world it seems that he¡¯d gained the benefits of the [Skills] that were particular to this world.

    And he understood it, it would be almost impossible to return to his original world.

    It seemed that the technology to send things back to earth for this world that summoned [Heroes] from earth for war existed, but since it was vastly more expensive to send them back than summon them, they wouldn¡¯t consume precious magic for such a thing.

    If it was a [Hero] that they could use, there was no way that they would let him go, and if they were asked to use it on an ordinary person, they weren¡¯t going to waste magic on such things.

    Also, even if they had been told that they would be [Sent Home], the odds of them ending up in some other dimension was high.

    Being exiled to another dimension¡­¡­ the sheer horror of it couldn¡¯t be imagined without feeling it for yourself.

    He had been thrown out by that ¡°monster¡± in the shape of a young girl who called herself Yuzu, and Keiji seems to have been [Summoned] the instant he had been tossed out into the dimensional space.

    His grudge against that girl outweighed his relief at being saved.

    But, even if it was possible for him to return to earth, there was no point going back if he couldn¡¯t beat that. And Keiji, as an ambitious person, didn¡¯t really have a strong sense of country and thought that it was important first of all for him to strengthen himself in this different world [Tess].

    Fortunately, Keiji had the ability to be a [Hero] and took the name of ¡°Kyoji¡± in the phonetics of this world and started his second life in Tess.

    And the years passed, and Kyoji gained strength and reputation as a hero, and the fact that the Sail country had summoned a hero from another world was known.

    Kyoji didn¡¯t have any bad thoughts about it. Kyoji didn¡¯t concern himself with whether the abduction of people was good or bad, merely if they were usable or not.

    Having attended the summoning ceremonies several times now, although he¡¯d heard that other countries had performed summoning ceremonies, the next person with the potential to be a hero after Kyoji was the boy that had been summoned by the large country Harko, and nobody that was suited to be one of Kyoji¡¯s party members had been summoned in Sail.

    Those who could not be used were banished from the castle with a bit of gold, and if the knave even thought of doing something sneaky, they would be disposed of by the knights.

    However, if the person could be used, they would be educated and made the tool of Kyoji.

    However, this time around, although there was a large scale summoning of four people, what actually appeared was 9 and a little more, and among them there were irregular people, who were visiting from another world that wasn¡¯t earth.

    After examining the literature for these fourteen years, he didn¡¯t understand any other world other than this one, [Tess], and [Earth (Terra)]. By coincidence, these ¡®otherworlders¡¯ also happened to be attempting a transfer, and their cultures were also somewhat similar.

    It would not be strange for their world to have sorcery that could transfer them to other worlds.

    And there were more of them that had come with that magic power that should only have summoned four, and they used a summoning formation as well, so it was possible that they intended to come to this world.

    And these otherworlders had girls who were so beautiful that he couldn¡¯t possibly think of them as human.

    Those singular good looks that were almost inhuman, made Kyoji the same impression as that ¡®monster¡¯ that had thrown him to another dimension and made him wary.

    From that golden ¡®princess¡¯ that seemed to be the central figure amongst them, Kyoji felt a terrifying magical power. Having felt it, Kyoji confirmed his own hypothesis by intuition, and thought of whether to dispose of her before she obtained knowledge of this world.

    In and of itself for Kyoji, it would be dangerous if she started to obtain the skill even if she was to partner with him.

    The impression of ¡®Yuzu¡¯ that he¡¯d experienced had become a deep trauma in Kyoji¡¯s heart.

    That girl, even though she was using polite mannerisms, he could feel something from her speech and behavior.

    And this time, by showing the pretense that he worried about the four children who had been summoned this time, Kyoji thought that she would become hostile to the kingdom for using them.

    For the kingdom, it was but a matter of due course, and even Kyoji thought of it as nothing more evil than kidnapping.

    When she rebelled against the kingdom, Kyoji would move to eliminate her.

    He would attack her as a hero with the impression of an ¡®enemy¡¯. It would be alright if he had the opportunity to clean up this place, eliminating the risk of the four of them in the attack magic he used, but she dispersed the magic and didn¡¯t even avoid it.

    He intended to make her defend them, forcibly embroiling the four of them.

    Having just come to this world, even if she could have averted getting hit directly in that moment, they would die, and she could be drawn in by the commotion.

    Although it was out of Kyoji¡¯s calculations that several of the knights had been caught in his ranged magic, because he had expected her to avoid the attack, all of them had been hit directly.

    However, in the aftermath of getting directly hit by his [Acid Cloud], not even the knights had been taken out, that girl had not only protected herself, but everyone else as well, perfectly.

    Seeing that, Kyoji changed his plan instantly.

    As to why she cared so much about the four children, he didn¡¯t know, but he re-contemplated the idea of making use of her sweet side, and though it was somewhat forced, if he used his power as a Hero, he could use them as her ¡®shackles¡¯.

    He saw a little of the current state of affairs. Although he couldn¡¯t trust her because she felt like that ¡°Yuzu¡±, but as long as she was obedient as one of Kyoji¡¯s limbs it would be good for him to drop that second princess as his ¡®woman¡¯ and instead use that girl for his plans.

    That was a very large bet, but as it always was, things couldn¡¯t be earned without putting oneself at risk.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Yurushia Here! It¡¯s now the season where lightly seared cuttlefish and octopus are tasty.

    Did you know? The cuttlefish and octopus I¡¯ve been seasoning with souls that I thought came out of nowhere have actually been being made manually by the Greater Demon craftsmen.

    Aren¡¯t Demons great?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, another cup of tea?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why sure.¡±

    Sitting alonside my personal maids Tina and Fannie, they lightly squeezed souls into the tea until it turned the color of blood.

    I¡¯m currently in the courtyard of the castle, observing the training of the cavalry.

    If I were to say what happened to my plan, I could only say that I ¡®let it be¡¯. I was going to go against the king, but I had been forcibly drawn into things by Kyoji.

    With him taking responsibility, his credit as the [Hero]-sama rose massively¡­¡­

    The Kingdom doesn¡¯t forgive otherworlders who go against them easily. However, his hero magic had been defended against, and I¡¯d shown them my power by healing all those injured people.

    Therefore, I had been saddled with those four¡¯s education.

    A troublesome person with power, but because it was preferable to having to go to another country, so as long as I remained docile, nothing would happen to those four. As it was, the castle would retain my power and the fame that came with it. ¡­¡­ Or something like that?

    Apparently, the king of Sail had announced that he had summoned me as a [Saint]. I wondered how it would have gone for me if they had told me that they had announced me as an angel¡­¡­

    Although I had dealt with them as if they were ¡®kidnappers¡¯ at first, I only just realized how it may not be best to oppose the country of [Heroes].

    Perhaps because I had only heard bad things from Yuuki-kun, but from the beginning they¡¯ve been looking at me with suspicious eyes.

    The target this time was the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] that Yuuki-kun had [Contracted] for, so let¡¯s keep moving.

    As I used a tea set that Noa had put out to the courtyard, elegantly drinking tea, I noted that the knights in the castle seemed pretty hot-blooded, even though some had delicate expressions.

    The senior knights who knew of the incident that had happened before that audience were plainly wary of us, whereas the younger knights that didn¡¯t know were nervous under the gazes of the girls who had come to visit.

    As for the fragile expressions, it was the knights that I had healed while being called a [Saint]. It seems that they couldn¡¯t understand the feeling of distance in the way they pointed their swords. The knight that Onzada-kun had viciously beat up was also mixed into that group.

    And in that situation, the younger knights that didn¡¯t know of the circumstances were watching the beautiful female knight (lol) Nea, who was attending their practice for her own fun with Futa and Daichi.

    ¡°Ei¡±

    ¡°Uwaah!¡±

    Daichi and Futa were avoiding the casual swings of Nea with her training wooden sword with great desperation.

    Even if it seemed like a really light blow with an equally flat shout, it was still the blow from an [Archdemon], so even with a wooden sword it still tore a hole in the hard training grounds as if it was pudding, and this caused a stir amongst the knights.

    At first Nea was about to use [Nyankoken] but I stopped it. It¡¯s obvious why. If I kept hearing that [Nyaa] or whatever in my own voice, my delicate Demonic spirit would take damage.

    Aah, that¡¯s right, the four of them actually don¡¯t have any potential as heroes. And that child Mizuki that gave off a regrettable feeling, I wonder if she was hero-level? If she tried her best, she should be able to use the easier techniques of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].

    And that situation happened like this:

    £ª

    ¡°W-well then, I¡¯ll be checking your ¡®Status¡¯.¡±

    So said one of the royal magicians of the castle with a nervous look.

    Although I¡¯d said to leave them to me for a while, in the case that they didn¡¯t have any aptitude to be a hero, they¡¯d be expelled, and if they did, the education of a [Hero] was waiting for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a game¡­¡­¡±

    Touka revealed her thoughts, but I and the other three also thought the same thing.

    Yuuki-kun had cast [Appraisal] on me while I was Yuzu, but will it be displayed properly with the castle¡¯s facilities?

    Either way, I don¡¯t want to show my status in front of so many other people.

    Especially, my ¡®Dexterity¡¯¡­¡­

    Although I¡¯ll be going to a magic facility where they can use [Superior Appraisal] without an audience, Kyoji and Bianca are also going along.

    ¡°By the way, Bianca, what are yours?¡±

    ¡°W-wait, why did your tone suddenly change!?¡±

    If I asked Kyoji, it would just end up being another roundabout verbal battle again, so I asked the talkative Bianca, but was I too frank?

    Bianca was trying to complain, but still she remembered my power and obediently replied me.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright¡­¡­ Fuuhn, my stats aren¡¯t low, But I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡±

    Maybe¡­ she wants to brag about it?

    HP: 67 MP: 128

    Strength: 8

    Defense: 7

    Agility: 7

    Dexterity: 7

    Magic: 9

    ¡°¡­¡­ All single digits¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at your MP, 128 !? That¡¯s more than an elf¡±

    I guess that¡¯s how physical and mental strength is being displayed. Seriously game-like.

    But, an elf? ¡­¡­ As expected, it was as Yuuki who pronounced it in the syllables of this world.

    I suppose it¡¯s better than calling them ¡°Atora,¡± my stomach couldn¡¯t take it if it were another strange name.

    Still, neither Bianca never told me her skills. Well, that¡¯s obvious I guess. It would be exposing your weaknesses.

    ¡°You too, saying such things¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    I¡¯ll admit it, since I¡¯m being honest.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯d like to see mine as well.¡±

    Daichi spoke out from beside me, emanating a nervous feeling. It seems that the other three were all rather bothered over their status.

    And so, this was Daichi¡¯s status.

    HP: 95 MP: 83

    Strength: 12

    Defense: 12

    Agility: 11

    Dexterity: 7

    Magic: 9

    ¡°Average values.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ is that so?¡±

    Daichi was disappointed, but the attributes weren¡¯t so bad. His values were average, but it seems that his spirit values were slightly higher as a person from another world.

    The other three were the same as well, having only general education and moderate exercise.

    ¡°I also have [Water Magic Ability] and [Light Magic Ability].¡±

    Mizuki said so, knowing that all of them also had magic skills.

    In this world, it seems that most people only had one magic ability, but it seems that many of the otherworlders often had multiple magic skills.

    ¡°Fufun, finally it¡¯s Yurushia¡¯s turn. Let¡¯s see what your status is.¡±

    Bianca seems to have stopped using honorifics with me.

    Well, it¡¯s fine, but it¡¯ll be seriously problematic when the strange numbers come out.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s begin¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    As the royal magician used the device, the attached crystal ball shined and the [Appraisal] began. Yuuki-kun took 5 minutes because of the magic consumption, but as expected, the castle¡¯s facilities are fast.

    After about one minute, the words were projected onto the wall brightly.

    Name: ¦Å¦Ñ¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê Age: 12 Race: ¦Î¦É¦Á¦Â¦Ï¦Ë Sex: Female

    HP: ¡ë©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é¦Ò  MP: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Õ¦Á¡­¡­

    Strength: ©g¡Þ¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì¦Î©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ

    Defense: ¡ê©g¡é¦Ò¦Á¦Ò¦Ø¦Ø¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¡Þ

    Agility: ©g¡Þ©g¦·?¦É¦Ò¦Ø¡ë¡ê¦Å¦Õ

    Dexterity: 2

    Magic: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¦Ò¦Ø¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Õ¦Á¡­¡­

    ¡é¦Ò¦É¦Á¦Â¦Á¦Ò¦·?¦É¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Ø¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é?¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê?¦É¦Ò¦Ø©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Ò¦Ø¡ê¦É¦Á¦Â¡ë¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·?¦É©g¦Ì§è¦Ì¦Á§ê¡ê?¦·¡é¦Ø?¦É¦Â¦Â¦Ë¦É¦Æ¦Æ¦Å??¦Á¦Ì?¦Ò¦Ø¦Ø¡ë?©g¡Þ¡ê§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·?¦É©g¦Ì§è¦Ì¦Ø¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é?¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì¦Ò¦Ø¡ê¦É¦Á¦Â¡ë¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¦Æ¦Å??¦Á¦Ì?¦Ò¦Á¦Ò¦·?¦É¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Ø¦Ò¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Everyone present was taken by surprise at the garbled characters that continued after without stopping, before the crystal ball began to make an ominous noise like ¡®Gigigigigi¡¯ and melted like it was undergoing thermal runaway.

    ¡°¡­¡­Why?¡±

    Why was the only part I wanted to hide showing up!

    My dexterity that didn¡¯t increase even in my demon form.

 Volume 7 - CH 5

    Volume 3, Chapter 5: The Brilliant Daily Life of a Saint, Part 2

    That year, the great power Sail in the east announced that it had successfully summoned a [Saint].

    Not much information about the Saint had been disclosed, but from the information that seemed to have been intentionally leaked from the officials, the Saint was not summoned from [Terra], but had been summoned from a different world for the first time in hundreds of years; a person with strong magic.

    The reason why it had been deliberately leaked was because Sail wanted to keep the information about the Saint from the other countries as a whole, only wanting to give information that would be beneficial to them without getting questioned by the other countries.

    A few decades ago, [Information Sharing Magic] had been developed by one of the otherworlders and was somewhat similar to a simplified version of the modern internet. This careful leak limited information about the [Saint] had been instantly spread through human society.

    Summoning from another world¡­¡­ Moreover, summoning that many people at once, Sail was showing to have a slight advantage over the other three countries, and if it was capable, then their influence would also increase.

    Every country had begun to search for information on the magic of the [Foreign World Atra] from which she had come.

    As the spies of the various countries had gathered at Sail¡¯s borders, contacting within and those who were in charge, from the little information that they were able to glean, they knew that she was going to be called the [Golden Saint].

    As for the saint, she was studying the various nations on this continent and the magic of this world at the library in the castle. Among these things, she was most interested in [Heroes], and was looking for information about them, especially the special magic that they wielded. However, the hero of water had instructed them not to disclose anything to her yet, and those in the castle with this information were being kept away from the [Saint].

    £ª

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, it seems that they¡¯re trying to keep the information hidden.¡±

    ¡°Ah, as expected?¡±

    Several weeks have passed since I¡¯ve come to this different world, [Tess].

    Somehow the higher-ups in the castle don¡¯t approach us at all, and since I can¡¯t get permission to leave this area of the castle, to accomplish my goal I had no choice but to investigate the library.

    So, with the butler Demon Noa leading them, my followers were searching the library.

    The only exception being my escort Nea, who was drilling the four others in simple ¡®human¡¯ magic. The magic of this world is similar to that of Atra¡¯s, but it¡¯s also somewhat different, so it¡¯ll be good to go and visit some of the magic teachers here. ¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not suited for that girl to investigate things, though.

    Me, well, since I¡¯m not going, I¡¯m just here drinking tea. The same is true for Rinne too, who¡¯s stuck at the table. It¡¯s hard to read books with paws.

    Arranging several books in front of us, Noa began to explain.

    ¡°As Yurushia-sama sensed, the four major powers on this continent are about the size of the Holy Kingdom. Unlike Atra, though, there are about 30 smaller states which have lesser territories or so?¡±

    ¡°Are there any elf or dwarf countries?¡±

    ¡°There are in some of the countries, but it seems that in the region called the Great Forest in the far west there are a number of small villages of various demi-human races, including Elves and Dwarves¡±

    ¡°Fuuu~hn.¡±

    In Atra there were only human beings, elves, dwarves, beasts, and demons, but it seems that here, there are more ¡®races¡¯.

    And¡­¡­ I yielded to temptation and examined the unique proper pronunciation of [Elf] in [Tess], it turns out to be [Sukashi (watermark)]. ¡­¡­ Why does you sound like Japanese, you bastard? Some transmigrator who had come through from Japan must have been involved in the name.

    ¡°Mistress, in this era, it seems that each of the four great nations have one hero each.¡±

    So said Tina, as she brought a platter of sweets from somewhere, arranging them on the table. By the way, the sweets were various types of small cakes, and looking at all of them, they seem to all be recipes that the ¡®otherworlders¡¯ had taught them to make.

    People who¡¯d come from Earth seem to live unexpectedly comfortable lives¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know, but it seems a bit different.

    So, what this means is that it¡¯s basically the end result of the [Knowledge Cheat] for people coming to this otherworld [Tess].

    It seems that a lot of adults who were not heroes but had knowledge had been summoned, and their knowledge cheats had been used all the time.

    Papermaking and modern agriculture. Industrial tools and products. Food, cakes, pizza, pudding, and mayonnaise had already been done, so the knowledge of high schoolers who had been recently summoned was worth nothing in this harsh environment.

    It seems that both guns and bombs that were intricately engineered could not be made with their level of industry, but there were similar things, and magic was faster.

    The people living in this otherworld weren¡¯t stupid, and they¡¯d developed magic instead, and had thought things over themselves.

    Oops, I¡¯d digressed again.

    ¡°Anything in regard to Yuuki-kun¡¯s information?¡±

    ¡°Yes. However, he seemed to only have been called as a new Hero just two years ago as a successor.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we can exclude him for now.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    As I said so, Tina and Noa lowered their heads.

    Since it might end up being a battle, I needed more information, but what I absolutely needed was information about the other three ¡°Heroes from another world¡±.

    However, there was almost no such information. Even in Sail, where Kyoji was, there was no information about him, were they trying to intentionally keep it from my eyes?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I got a little of it~¡±

    This time, it was Fannie who was bringing me sandwiches as snacks.

    ¡­¡­ A snack right after cakes?

    ¡°Why is it all coming with food?¡±

    ¡°Well, While I was walking about the castle the maids gave this to me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s what happened to me too.¡±

    ¡°Heehh~¡±

    Were we being favored by unknown people?

    ¡°So, what did you get?¡±

    ¡°Un, the power of darkness seems to be not much different from Atra¡¯s demons. It seems that dark elves exist. Ah, that¡¯s right, there also seems to be a ¡°dragon¡± here.¡±

    ¡°Oooohhh~¡±

    It¡¯s great. Atra was fantasy-like but there weren¡¯t any Dragons. ¡­¡­ in exchange, there were elephants and hippopotamuses attacking travelers.

    In short, this world, [Tess], is a world of fantasy that anyone can easily imagine.

    But, the knowledge gains have almost come to an end.

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s information about the northern Gamble country.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°There was a massive zombie incident, Gamble took the brunt of it and now it¡¯s headed south.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    What? Did you get lied to?

    ¡°Hey, Rinne. Is there any relation between the ¡°earth attribute¡± and zombies?¡±

    [¡­¡­ Do you think it might have something to do with the hero of earth?]

    Rinne, who was busy swallowing bagels sandwiched souls, raised his face to look at me.

    ¡°Something, well, you see¡­ I got the impression that zombies sprouted out of the ground¡­¡±

    [Hmm¡­¡­ if you created a large amount of them together, it might be easier to do so if you had the earth attribute.]

    ¡°¡­¡­ only to that degree?¡±

    Would it not be possible to link it as the weakness of the hero of earth? I wanted to traumatize them like what happened to Yuuki-kun when he was killed if I can¡­¡­

    ¡°But, I¡¯m a little worried.¡±

    [Why don¡¯t you go check it out if it bothers you?]

    ¡°I want to do so, but if I do, this country will be annoying¡­¡­¡±

    Although the fault is mine, once I¡¯d announced my status as the [Saint], it¡¯s become surprisingly difficult to make a move.

    ¡°Rinne, could you go?¡±

    [I want to go there as a dark power. I¡¯m interested in seeing dark elves for the first time.]

    ¡°Like tasting them¡­¡­?¡±

    [The texture is also important.]

    It¡¯s the appetite after all, huh. Well, it seems that even after eating the demon of another dimension he¡¯s not recovered yet.

    ¡°Yes yes, Yurushia-sama, I want to go out.¡±

    ¡°I will take care of Mistress and stay by her side.¡±

    As Fannie raised her hand asking for permission, Tina wanted to stay next to me.

    ¡°Well then, Tina will stay here¡­¡­ then about Nea? Is everyone else going out to check it out?¡±

    As I suggested, everyone else nodded lightly, and it seems that everyone else can go freely from the castle.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Geas says that he¡¯ll follow Rinne-sama.¡±

    Fannie was interpreting Geas¡¯ words as usual. To be following Rinne, do you have something between you fellow Demon beasts?

    ¡°What about Onzada-kun?¡±

    [(purupuru)]

    ¡°Staying here, then.¡±

    It seems that they have differing personalities, and Onzada-kun chose to stay. Well, Onzada-kun made a [Pact] to protect me.

    And so, we chose to split up like this and investigate each country.

    Rinne and Geas were headed towards the forces of darkness, while Noa was going south to explore, and Fannie was going in search of the zombie incident that was heading from the north.

    ¡­¡­ I wonder. I have this uneasy feeling. I wonder if it¡¯ll be okay to leave these children be this time.

    £ª

    The Demons decided to head out after properly obtaining permission from Sail.

    Although there were four of them with Yurushia, from the perspective of Sail, as it was only the butler and maid going out to see the country, they couldn¡¯t deny them.

    Still, a number of knights from Sail were deployed and were supposed to watch them under the name of escorting them, but the moment the pair left the kingdom they lost sight of them, that was when they realized the power of the followers of the [Saint].

    Remaining in Sail was Yurushia, Tina, Nea¡­¡­ and Onzada.

    [(trod trod)]

    With a gait like an infant in an old Saturday evening cartoon, the 50cm long stuffed toy rabbit was walking about the castle lightly.

    Although Onzada¡¯s memory as a human was ambiguous, he properly guarded Yurushia and moved of his own will.

    Although he¡¯d become a Demon, since his soul wasn¡¯t dyed black like Geas¡¯, his behavior was close to a human¡¯s.

    The young accompanying maids that were watching this rabbit walking about were wriggling. Mizuki, who was on her way back from the toilet, was also twitching together with them, and couldn¡¯t endure it, tailing Onzada.

    Although the sight of a little girl walking and tailing after a rabbit was a pleasant sight, she was clearly stalking it.

    ¡°A, uhm, Mr. Rabbit?¡±

    [¡­(Kurun)]

    Looking back to face the voice, Mizuki was looking at the rabbit (note: actually, a middle-aged man) with glittering eyes as it tilted its head, and Onzada, seeing that she wasn¡¯t moving, moved off again, and Mizuki hurriedly called out to it again.

    ¡°W-wait, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    [¡­(kokun)]

    When Onzada stopped and nodded, Mizuki who was running over hugged him to her (surprisingly big) chest.

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ where are you going?¡±

    ¡°(Hyogo hiyo)¡±

    As if answering Mizuki¡¯s question, Onzada pointed out the direction of his travel with his rounded hands.

    ¡°Over there¡­? Is that the cafeteria?¡±

    ¡°(nod)¡±

    In that direction was the soldiers¡¯ and knights¡¯ dining hall that Mizuki also used.

    When Onzada started to walk, Mizuki, thinking that the rabbit was going to get ¡°snacks¡± for its master, walked right behind it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    She really wanted to hold him, but Mizuki endured it since she had been carefully instructed by Touka not to touch the rabbit without permission.

    It was crowded with people in the dining hall during meals, but surprisingly enough, it was empty at other times.

    However, today only a few hundred of them could eat at any one time in the dining hall, and several soldiers were eating with tired faces after their duty shifts, and noticing the walking soft toy that came in, they were all staring with shocked faces.

    Onzada didn¡¯t pay them any heed and headed towards the kitchen, and feeling the stares, Mizuki nodded and followed after it.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here again.¡±

    From the kitchen, a good-looking middle-aged woman called out to Onzada as she saw it.

    ¡°You, little one¡­¡­ you¡¯re one of the ones from another world, right? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing, it¡¯s just Mr. Rabbit¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, this little one comes by often. Hold on a moment.¡±

    The woman called out to Onzada and retreated to the back of the kitchen.

    Mizuki looked at the kitchen counter above, and there, there was a long-lasting sweet that she took by her own convenience, handing one to Onzada.

    ¡°Will you take this to your mistress?¡±

    [¡­¡­(nod)]

    Onzada showed off a troubled look after taking it from Mizuki,

    ¡°Oi, you, you¡¯re one of the people that came with the Saint!¡±

    The soldiers surrounded Mizuki and Onzada before they noticed.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡±

    ¡°You guys are coming here all the times for meals, you¡¯re causing a lot of problems you know¡±

    The soldiers were in charge of cracking down on people who were trying to find information about the [Saint], and even so, because the saint¡¯s followers had just left the country under the pretext of ¡®investigation¡¯, there was an upsurge of spies, and their time to eat and rest had been cut down.

    Although she understood their irritation, Mizuki was just a bystander caught in the middle, from the view of the soldiery though, she looked like one of the Saint¡¯s companions.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°¡°

    As the lady returned from the kitchen, she called out to them, and the soldiers fell silent at her matronly attitude.

    ¡°What are you guys doing¡­¡­ Here, I¡¯ve brought it.¡±

    As the lady handed over the bottle, the soldiers¡¯ face grew strained.

    ¡°Is that liquor?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s liquor in the daytime.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you, this is¡­¡±

    ¡°You stay out of it.¡±

    Thinking that Mizuki was trying to drink in the day, the soldier shouted at the woman who froze, and reached out for the shoulders of the small Mizuki.

    ¡°Giyaa!¡±

    Mizuki inadvertently closed her eyes at the soldier¡¯s anguished expression and exhausted spirits.

    *gashi*

    ¡°¡­¡­Wha-¡±

    The hand of the soldier was caught in the small hand of the soft toy that sat on Mizuki¡¯s shoulder.

    [¡­(heave)]

    ¡°DowAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    When Onzada twisted his hand, as if the laws of physics themselves had been twisted, the soldier¡¯s body twisted around his head, dancing and tossing in the air, even as Mizuki felt no extra weight from holding him.

    ¡°¡­o, OI!?¡±

    ¡°What the!?¡±

    The soldier¡¯s friends raised their voices with an incomprehensible look rather than anger.

    [(hyoi hyoi)]

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ ah, here.¡±

    Onzada took the bottle of wine from the lady who had a look of blank surprise, and opening it dexterously, began to drink and swallow with a gobble.

    As Mizuki and the rest of the soldiers were stunned at the sight, Onzada took the bottle that was about 70% full still and handed it to the soldier who he had tossed.

    ¡°¡­O-okay¡±

    While being puzzled¡­¡­ the soldier who was in a state of confusion took up the liquor bottle despite still being on duty.

    ¡°¡­¡­Puhaaa¡±

    [(hyoi)]

    ¡°¡­¡­hei¡±

    And again, receiving the bottle of liquor, the rabbit poured the liquor into its mouth and enjoyed itself with a very middle-aged gesture.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    After that, the soldiers and Onzada began a drinking party on the floor, and even after being found out by the captain and reproached, their faces were surprisingly cheerful.

    On this occasion, Onzada came to be accepted by a portion of the soldiers, and was from then on  called: [Rabbit Boss].

 Volume 7 - CH 6

    Volume 7, Chapter 6: The brilliant daily life of the Saint, Part 3

    The storm of romance abruptly began.

    ¡°W-we will escort you on your journey.¡±

    Fannie was going to go investigate one of the smaller nations near the center of the continent, but it was about 1700km away.

    For modern earth, it was a distance reachable within a day, a distance equal to about two countries in Europe, but, for horse-drawn carriages, it was about a month¡¯s distance. Even if they were to use a fast warhorse-drawn carriage it was estimated to take over two weeks.

    The Sail country, with the excuse that they couldn¡¯t just let a maid travel alone to such a faraway place, attached someone to surveil her.

    After all, this girl was one of the attendants of the [Saint], who had been able to take and block the attack of a hero right after being summoned. Because she might have some special magic, they wanted to confirm it, but more than that, danger might befall her, since the [Saint] didn¡¯t make an excuse to leave the country.

    That¡¯s why Fannie¡¯s departure was accompanied by five soldiers and three knights, with two large carriages drawn by three large warhorses. However, since Fannie¡¯s mistress Yurushia had 15 people escorting her and four servants originally, she didn¡¯t feel off, since they usually commuted by a four-horse carriage.

    Although it was trivial, the knights appointed as escorts were the young sons of the aristocracy who were all between 15 and 17 and were meant to give the expedition gravitas.

    In fact, three agents of the country were mixed into the soldiery, and they would move if anything happened, but the problem was the knights were formally supposed to be in charge, and all of them were riled up by Fannie¡¯s adorable appearance.

    ¡°Yes, thanks~¡±

    Soft silver hair that flowed smoothly to her shoulders.

    Fine, white skin. Slightly moist cherry-pink lips. Beautiful eyes like gems that shone through her eyelashes¡­¡­

    A thing of devilish beauty that didn¡¯t have any of the flaws of humanity.

    Yurushia, her master, was slightly frightening because her beauty was too perfect, but Fannie, who always had a lovely smile next to her, was a hot topic amongst the knights that didn¡¯t know them.

    Fannie was still 12 years old, but even with their honor, it wasn¡¯t so strange that she was being looked at that way.

    In this world, noble children made their social debuts at 13, and would be recognized as marriageable at that time. For the men, the age of marriage was appropriate, but for noble ladies, it was desirable to marry between 15 and 20, so they might be engaged before they turned 13.

    Especially in the case of Fannie and the Demons, because they looked like junior high school students due to their good looks, they were well within the ¡®strike range¡¯.

    With that kind of situation, she was leaving Sail, but then there was another problem.

    While it was comfortable, and it seemed that everything was alright, having a carriage with cushioned seats like a noble, and having all her lodging and meals on the way arranged for¡­

    (Bored~~)

    Fannie had nothing to do, and so she was very bored.

    After all, if Fannie had been alone, she could have easily covered the distance in half a day.

    Even when she wanted to beat up the bandits that appeared along the way in the wastelands, she didn¡¯t get a turn at all because the knights were being awfully enthusiastic. At the beginning, she had been told by her mistress that she should hide her abilities as a Demon as much as possible while in Atra.

    And¡­¡­

    ¡°Fannie-san, I picked you some flowers. I wanted to present them to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you~¡±

    The youngest one here was the blonde knight Friedel, the youngest son of a Viscount, who handed her a flower with a smile. Fannie thought that if he was so free, it would have been better if they just sped up instead but received it with a smile.

    Because this Friedel stuck to her side for some reason or another, Fannie, whose movements were being restricted, accumulated stress.

    ¡°¡­¡­ can this state of affairs be changed?¡±

    ¡°Ms. Fannie, did you say something?¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    The fifth day after Fannie started to think from the stress. She saw a group of zombies along the mountain road of a small country.

    Although it was merely a small crowd, it was rare to see that many along this mountain road, which was neither a labyrinth nor a graveyard. In this world, there were ¡°adventurers¡± unlike Atra, so it seemed that that would be the end of that party, who were a ramshackle bunch of varying ages and clothes.

    ¡°Ms. Fannie, please. stay back!¡±

    ¡°Everyone! Do not be afraid!¡±

    ¡°Draw your swords!¡±

    The knights held their shields, and pulled out their longswords, while the soldiers turned towards the zombies with their spears.

    Zombies in the movies had more strength than humans, but because it was a lesser spirit possessing and moving a corpse, the rotten muscles were slow to move, and they weren¡¯t a big threat.

    It was a monster that even novice adventurers could kill and couldn¡¯t possibly be a match for knights and soldiers who¡¯d received battle training, but the knights were strangely concerned under Fannie¡¯s gaze and were very enthusiastic.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it too~¡±

    Fannie had reached her limit, and since this was something her mistress had ordered of her, she wasn¡¯t going to abandon it.

    The movements of the knights slowed for a moment without a sense of urgency at all, as if they were shopping in a city.

    ¡°Eeh?! Ms. Fannie, it¡¯s dangerous!¡±

    Fannie¡¯s Demonic ability was to show people a ¡®nightmare¡¯, which normally would have little effect on corpses, but such a thing wasn¡¯t an issue for an [Archdemon].

    ¡°eei!¡±

    As Fannie struck the foreheads of the zombies with a tree branch she¡¯d picked up, the zombies collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut.

    What Fannie did was simply pouring pure Demon ¡®Miasma¡¯ into them.

    The zombies themselves were moving under the power of a tiny bit of miasma, but just like how plants died if you overwatered them, the dense miasma of a Demon decomposed the zombie¡¯s muscles in an instant, rendering them inoperable.

    In the blink of an eye, with all four of them defeated, the stunned knights spoke out.

    ¡°¡­¡­ oOH, is this the [Holiness] of those who serve the saint?¡±

    It¡¯s completely off the mark, but they couldn¡¯t tell.

    ¡°Well then, please dismantle this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    The eyes of the knights were moving up and down from the corpses.

    Nobody wanted to do something like disposing of a corpse, but they couldn¡¯t let Fannie, a girl, do it, and so the knights began to disassemble the corpses together with the soldiers.

    Fannie actually didn¡¯t mind breaking the corpses with her bare hands, but since she didn¡¯t want to get herself dirty, she hit them with a stick.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, Ms. Fannie, something came out.¡±

    ¡°Show me~¡±

    As Fannie looked at the source of the voice, there was something like a crumbling gem around the heart.

    ¡°It seems different from the mana stones¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡±

    Mana stones were generated in the bodies of [Demonic Beasts] that had been mutated by magic, and the magic power would crystallize the blood, solidifying like a gallstone, and came mostly in shades of coal.

    Of course, there were demonic beasts that were bloodless such as golems or skeletons, but between their ores, the bone meal, and the coagulated mana stones, there was surprisingly little difference.

    In Atra, since demonic beasts didn¡¯t come out much, mana stones were uncommon, but in this world, they were used like batteries for [Magic Tools], and as proof of subjugation for an adventurer when they slew them.

    However, when the gems in the corpses were extracted and rolled on the ground, they crumbled into dust as if weathered by the wind.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Fannie pinched some of it between her fingers, recovering a little of it in her handkerchief.

    ¡°W-, what did you discover?¡±

    ¡°There was magic power~¡±

    Fannie only replied Friedel¡¯s question with the bare facts.

    If one thought about it, there was no way that this zombie could have spawned spontaneously. A special magic power was felt from within the jewel that wasn¡¯t buried within the body and felt like the zombie had been created intentionally with the mana stone supplying the magic power.

    ¡°That¡­¡­ what is that then? Is it still a kind of mana stone?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to show this to Yurushia-sama to examine.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know if the zombie was created by the jewel or if it was a simple byproduct. Crumbling to the wind, even as a by-product. it couldn¡¯t be used as a gem or mana stone.

    But Fannie¡¯s curiosity was piqued by this stone.

    Even with the sand from the jewel, Noa could still analyses it, and if she could find a gem that would keep its shape she would keep it as a souvenir and might be praised by Yurushia.

    ¡°Should I go out and defeat more?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡±

    Fannie was talking to herself, but Friedel replied to her, and she turned back to him with a smile.

    ¡°I will be going ahead.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As she said so, Fannie began to skip down the road lightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­O, Oii¡±

    ¡°Follow her!¡±

    ¡°Someone, the wagon¡­¡­ no, the horses¡±

    In a hurry, they ran over to their beloved horses and gave chase, but no matter how hard they chased they couldn¡¯t match her speed and catch up to Fannie, and before they knew it, that small maid¡¯s figure disappeared from the sights of the knights. The first mission of the team ended in failure.

    ¡°Ms. Fannie¡­¡­ I will not give up¡±

    £ª

    A maid girl dressed in a white apron over a long black dress ran down the 1000km road in hours, distorting the space as she went.

    Fannie was good at teleporting through space, but it was dangerous to travel long distances to places that one didn¡¯t know, so she had to go there with her own legs first.

    ¡°Uhmm¡­¡­ I think it¡¯s around here.¡±

    According to the intelligence report, it seems that that [Mass Zombie Generation] that had occurred in Gamble was slowly subsiding, and that it could be encountered in Krishare, a small country west of Sail but south of Gamble.

    According to the sign that she¡¯d seen along the way, Fannie was already in Krishare.

    This country used to be larger than the four major powers, but since they did not have a hero, internal divisions occurred and the state split into several pieces.

    Krishare¡¯s name was all that remained, and while the past heroes of Sail were nicknamed the [Blue Dragon], Krishare¡¯s were named [Kirin].

    ¡°Is that a castle?¡±

    It was already deep at night, but Fannie¡¯s eyes caught the shape of a castle a few kilometers ahead.

    If that was it, Fannie thought that she was near the center of Krishare and ignoring the physics of going hundreds of kilometers an hour, changed direction to head north at a right angle.

    If she proceeded at her current pace, she would reach Gamble the next afternoon.

    If she could find a group of zombies on the way without reaching, she would be able to return to Yurushia the morning after.

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±

    She¡¯d found a few zombies in mere seconds.

    Fannie kept up her speed and plucked the hearts off of the zombies in passing.

    ¡°¡­¡­ failed¡±

    This time around, she managed to retrieve the heart without worrying about getting dirty, and the gems had been buried in them indeed, but when it touched the air, it crumbled away in the wind.

    Although it seemed that ¡°Jewel Zombies (temp)¡± appeared in the area, it seems that they hadn¡¯t reached the stage of an ¡®outbreak¡¯ yet.

    ¡°Huuu¡­¡­¡±

    Once she stopped, she had trouble running again. Still Fannie wanted to bring Yurushia a souvenir.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Should I just make one?¡±

    Her thoughts began to stray off course.

    She remembered the magical wavelength of the previous zombie. Changing the magic wavelength little by little, a zombie ¡®experiment¡¯ was being born by the enormous magic power of the Demon.

    And Fannie went out to find a large cemetery in her immediate vicinity.

    And as a result¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s a success?¡±

    More than one hundred of the zombies were spawned in a cemetery near the Krishare capital. it seems that the range had been increased too much, and she could even feel the presence of monsters in the forest that had been zombified.

    Fannie hadn¡¯t expected that she would manage it on her first try.

    She thought that she would be trying various different patterns one by one using relatively new corpses in the cemetery, but not only had she succeeded suddenly, but she¡¯d also made a whole load of zombies by making a mistake with the range.

    In any case, just reporting this magic power pattern would be a great result for an initial investigation. After that, what would happen after would be up to her Mistress.

    And Fannie, who was trying to rid herself of the zombies to fly back, felt the presence of someone fighting zombies in the distance.

    She didn¡¯t know if it was some adventurer from the country, but it would be handled completely by them, and she feared that the zombies would be examined.

    ¡°This might be bad¡­¡­¡±

    If there were people with analysis techniques on the level of Fannie or Noa, Fannie might become accused of being the criminal behind the zombie outbreak.

    Then Yurushia would get angry. She was scared of Yurushia¡¯s anger.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Fannie¡¯s face hardened like pottery and turned into the face of a jester.

    Her enormous magical power overflowed into miasma, and the nearby zombies turned to dust instantly.

    And for the first time in the foreign world [Tess], the threat of an [Archdemon] with a vessel bloomed.

    £ª

    ¡°Fannie! That was fast, that¡¯s great~¡±

    ¡°Ehheh~¡±

    Yurushia stroked Fannie¡¯s head and praised her for investigating the cause of the magic power that was creating zombies.

    And after that, Fannie cleared out all of the zombies and collected the remaining gems, returning to Yurushia.¡±

    The gems that Fannie had taken from the zombies she produced kept their original shape even after being exposed to the air, for some reason, so it became a good souvenir.

    And after that¡­¡­ the [Mass Zombie outbreak] that had happened in Krishare was ended in a day, and the fact that Fannie had done it was be hidden, but at the time, the surviving adventurers somehow only knew that the messenger of the [Saint] had come to rescue them from the national crisis, and only the fact that she had destroyed the zombies was spread, causing Yurushia¡¯s fame to rise.

    But we haven¡¯t yet gotten to Rinne and the gang¡­¡­

 Volume 7 - CH 7

    [Tess] as a world had a moderate difference in temperature compared to earth, but just like earth, it was still colder in the north, and more temperate in the south.

    In Gamble, though, which was located in the north of the continent, they did not experience heavy snowfall even in winter since the Caudle mountain range further north blocked the winter winds.

    Beyond the Caudle mountain range lived the forces of darkness.

    However, they weren¡¯t living buried under snow and ice, but lived out of underground caves.

    One would imagine that they would be living in the dark hearing that they lived in caves, but the places were surprisingly bright thanks to a special moss that glowed.

    Not only that, but since there was a volcano nearby, the insides of it were also quite warm, and using the light of the moss, they could grow plants and mushrooms, and with a beastmen children running about with runny noses, you could feel a rural atmosphere.

    The large cave had quite the high ceiling and had more area than that of the larger human nations, big enough for a dragon to fly around.

    To invade the human nations from there, they had to go through a dark and long maze-like cave, with one of the exits in the Caudle mountain range in the human nation, and while the humans didn¡¯t know where all the caves were, the humans had already built a fort in front of the largest one which an army could pass through, to guard against it.

    The humans couldn¡¯t invade through the maze either, and, because of this, they weren¡¯t able to settle the issue and the battle continued for thousands of years.

    Large armies could not make it through, and the forces of darkness were in a position to commit attacks and maintained the advantage for hundreds of years.

    A couple of years ago, four [Heroes] had planned the assassination of the drow king, but because one of the heroes was betrayed before it was all over, in a sense, the forces of darkness had been left alone.

    However, there was now a true [Darkness] quietly approaching them.

    ¡°How about a delicious shimeji mushroom~ They¡¯re also poisonous~.¡±

    A dark elf girl was raising her voice on the street, selling full baskets of mushrooms she¡¯d harvested.

    Purplish-red eyes. Not brown, but blue-black skin. Long ears about 10cm long that erupted out of her silver hair.

    Since elves had lifespans of over 500 years, her appearance didn¡¯t quite square with her age, but she was still in her teens.

    Dark elves seemed arrogant and demonic to humans, but that was only the upper classes of the dark elves, the aristocrats and their warriors. The civilians themselves weren¡¯t evil.

    The dark elves were far too pure to live in human society.

    Still, it was quite like a resident of the darkness to sell food and poison in the same basket.

    ¡°Oi, you, who let you do business here!¡±

    Although it was bright out, it was no sunlight, and could at best be compared to the brightness of an indoor lamp. Two Beastmen soldiers called out to the girl in the alley where the light didn¡¯t reach.

    ¡°¡­u-, uhm¡­ I¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You have to have a permit to do business here. Do you?¡±

    ¡°Oh. I suppose we¡¯ll have no choice but to have you pay for it now, since you want to do business.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡­¡±

    The beastman soldiers grinned at the frightened girl.

    ¡°Oi, come to think of it, recently there¡¯s been missing persons cases. Do you know anything about that?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know anything! I¡¯ll pay the money¡­¡­ but I don¡¯t have much¡±

    ¡°Then come here. We¡¯re going to need to interrogate you.¡±

    ¡°Hiii¡±

    In this country where only strength ruled, if one was strong, most things would be allowed.

    As the soldiers tried to drag the girl by the arm towards the dark backstreet, the rest of the residents could not do anything but avert their eyes.

    ¡°Please, stop¡±

    ¡°Hey, hurry up and come over¡±

    ¡°First of all, you might be hiding a weapon on you, so why don¡¯t you take off all your clothes.¡±

    They had been committing criminal acts regularly.

    Dragging the girl into the darkness with practiced hands, he looked at the frightened girl from head to toe as if licking her and licked his lips.

    ¡°[GAoooooo¡­¡­]¡±

    At that point, he could hear the barking roar of a ¡®beast¡¯ from the darkness behind him.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±

    ¡°Kyaa!¡±

    As the soldiers pushed the girl into the dark corner, he readied his halberd¡­¡­ or at least a spear with an axe blade.

    Even if he had the attitude of a small fry, he was still a soldier of the dark forces. Taking up a battle stance, he stared into the darkness with the Darkvision that was peculiar to his race.

    After all, they were here to investigate an incident happening in this neighborhood, where the residents and soldiers were going missing. It wasn¡¯t unusual for the residents of darkness to suddenly disappear. There was always fighting here, so it wasn¡¯t strange when they died.

    He wasn¡¯t investigating seriously, but it would be convincing if he said that the criminal behind it was a ¡®beast¡¯.

    Still, something was wrong¡­¡­

    If there were beasts, there should have been signs of one. However, he couldn¡¯t find any signs, nor could he smell the beast, and it was instead filled with a ¡®darkness¡¯ that he could not see through with his night vision.

    However, there was certainly something there.

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    From the darkness, several two-legged things walked out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Bear?¡±

    As the girl who was being pushed around murmured, stunned, out walked a small teddy bear, about 50cm tall.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­¡­ why is a toy moving by itself?¡±

    The tense atmosphere disappeared, and the soldiers who felt completely disappointed lowered their weapons.

    ¡°¡­¡­You can sell this, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you going to take it home?¡±

    Although it was moving, it was difficult to keep the heart of a town guard with a teddy bear soft toy. As the soldiers approached it carelessly, reaching out-

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    Suddenly, one of the Beastmen collapsed, leaning against the wall of the alley.

    ¡°o-Oi, what happened¡­ Hii!?¡±

    The beastman soldier was missing half of his body, as if it had been bitten off and eaten.

    *gari¡­ gori¡­ gari¡­¡­* (sfx: chewing noises)

    As the beastman and the girl turned towards the source of the sound, they saw the teddy bear chewing on something in its mouth, its lips covered in blood.

    And then, it swallowed with a gulp¡­¡­

    ¡°[Gauu?]¡±

    The two of them recoiled with looks of horror at the teddy bear that was inclining its head cutely.

    ¡°y-y-y-you go closer.¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaa¡±

    As the beastman reached for the girl to use as a decoy, his arm disappeared suddenly before reaching the girl.

    ¡°[Gau.]¡±

    ¡°HIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?¡±

    As the beastman screamed out in fear and pain, the teddy bear jumped forward and opened its mouth, exposing the hundreds of teeth within that shone.

    And then, only the dumbfounded girl was left alone in the alley.

    The teddy bear plushie seemed to have been fine with eating just the two soldiers and had disappeared elsewhere without eating the dark elf girl.

    It was just that the Demon had been satisfied, but she didn¡¯t know it, and that girl decorated a teddy bear stuffed animal that she¡¯d made herself and worshipped it daily.

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°[Are you done eating?]¡±

    As the small teddy bear entered a small fort some distance away, a calm voice could be heard speaking to him.

    Usually, there would be soldiers training or drinking alcohol, but now, there were no signs of life there.

    It would have been alright if the place was abandoned or something, but the weapons and armor of over 100 people were rolling on the floor as if the people who were wielding them had disappeared suddenly.

    Inside, there was an enormous [Beast] that seemed to be made out of pure condensed darkness, with only its silver eyes shining in the dark.

    ¡°[Now, that¡¯s enough souls.]¡±

    ¡°[Gau.]¡±

    ¡°[Shall we move?]¡±

    The deep darkness disappeared like a haze and began to move. The fear that had come to this country had only just begun.

 Volume 7 - CH 8

    Volume 7, Chapter 8: Children of Night, Part 2

    Millions of the citizens of darkness lived in these large caves.

    They fought against the elves and humans, the forces of light, as the forces of darkness, but even so, they weren¡¯t monolithic.

    Dark Elves. Beastmen. Intelligent magic beasts.

    In the world of Atra where Yurushia lived, there was the existence called the Demon King, but here, while they honored those who were powerful, they didn¡¯t get along as a matter of fact.

    In the center of the cavern was an old castle, reminding people that there had once been a person who had united them. The castle had been unmanned for thousands of years, and if any one king tried to take it, they would be attacked by the other races.

    The three races each had their castles along the wall of the large cavern away from the castle.

    One of them, the castle for the dark elves, ran into a problem several years ago.

    ¡°Hey, Nefi. Is your father still busy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Rimi. They¡¯re preparing for war.¡±

    The little girl answered the question of the other little girl.

    The dark elf girls looked like 5 or 6-year-olds, but one couldn¡¯t tell the age of elven children by their appearance, and if they¡¯d grown like human children they¡¯d be about 15 years old though they looked like ordinary children.

    The elven species were usually split into the normal whiter elves and the dark elves. And then there was the high elf, that was the progenitor of both species.

    It was said that the white elves were born when the high elves, who were close to spirits, had children with humans, while the dark elves were those who had children with the demonic beasts.

    It was said that high elves had infinite lifespans, and because there were so many of them who had the free time to spare, there were strange ones.

    They were creatures that didn¡¯t really fit the pattern of being praiseworthy just because they were old.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut it out.¡±

    These girls weren¡¯t really poor. The stone-cut room was lacking in the colors typical of a pretty little girl, but it still had extensive furnishings and many items.

    The two of them were also wearing gorgeous dresses that were labor-intensive to the point that ordinary wealthy merchants could not afford them for their children.

    They were the royal family of the Dark Elves. The girl with the golden hair and blue eyes was Nefi, and the one with silver hair and purple eyes was Rimi, and the two were born as twins.

    Still, there were no maids to take care of the young girls, and it was more like they were left alone in the castle.

    How did this happen?

    In the castle, the rest of the royal children were adults and now the five princes and three other princesses were competing to be the successor to the throne, and so tensions were high. Their mothers were all different, and the two of them whose ages were so far from the others were excluded from the succession race, so their siblings, who were jumping at shadows, even if they weren¡¯t being hostile, were trying to keep them at a distance.

    ¡°Nefi, I smell something nice.¡±

    ¡°Really. Rimi.¡±

    Their caregivers had deserted them, fearing the other princes and princesses¡¯ displeasure.

    Over the past few months, the two of them managed to live together and survive somehow.

    When they opened the door, they didn¡¯t know who had put down the wagon filled with delicacies and luxurious dishes, but they reached out, and threw every little bit of it out of the window.

    ¡°It¡¯s poisoned again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of this.¡±

    Since they¡¯d been fed small amounts of poison since young, they¡¯d gotten the [Poison Resistance Skill]. Still, they would know the instant they tasted it that it was poisoned, and if they kept eating it every day they would die in about six months.

    ¡°Well then Rimi, let¡¯s go have rice.¡±

    ¡°I hope that it¡¯s delicious today.¡±

    The two of them were pretty and cute, so their brothers weren¡¯t very wary of them, but they were intelligent and had more cunning than any of their siblings.

    Ironically, since their lives were in danger ever since their childhood, their strength and cunning had been polished, and their talent as the royals of the Dark Elves had bloomed.

    Nefi and Rimi dove into a hole that was only wide enough for children and headed towards one of the kitchens. Their siblings were all afraid of being poisoned, and had segregated the kitchens, having their food cooked by their subordinate chefs separately.

    After confirming the stage of the cooking with their smell and intuition, they snuck into the kitchen that was for the first princess¡¯ exclusive use.

    While the cooks busied themselves working, they were able to confirm that some of the dishes that were being made were the same as those that were delivered today, and the two of them took bread and cheeses, mixing in the poisoned dishes that they¡¯d been brought into the food.

    It was only a small amount, since they¡¯d thrown almost all of it away, but if they continued this for a couple of years, it might be possible to ruin their sister.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two of them were aware that this wouldn¡¯t change things, though.

    Because their father, the king, took a neutral stance, he wouldn¡¯t protect them even if they were young. Also, their mother, who wasn¡¯t a dark elf, had been assassinated soon after they were born.

    The two of them who had neither backing, nor strength wouldn¡¯t survive these years. It just made too much sense to eliminate them, since they would mature, even if they seemed harmless now.

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Rimi.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Nefi.¡±

    The two of them shared bread and cheeses on an empty terrace.

    Actually, it wasn¡¯t really that delicious, but eating it together made it a treat.

    How many more years could they keep this up¡­¡­ The two of them weren¡¯t interested in the throne, and only hoped to live together peacefully. ¡­¡­ That was it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Nefi¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Rimi?¡±

    The two of them called out to each other suddenly.

    They could feel presences other than their own. It was closer to an ¡®odor¡¯ rather than a presence, a ¡®sense of incongruity¡¯ akin to a deodorant that all traces of it wiped from the air.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Seeping out of the darkness like black ink, a black-dressed man emerged. It knew that it had been noticed and had probably come to kill them.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Whilst thinking of an escape route with each other, they built up a magic structure in their heads.

    But why had he come here to kill them directly? The two of them hadn¡¯t noticed it, but some of their siblings were aware of their talents.

    Slowly, the assassin moved, his dagger wet with something liquid. But then,

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Everyone turned their eyes to look at the teddy bear soft toy that walked in a wobbly manner on its short legs, stunned into blank silence.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­Bear?¡±¡±

    As Nefi and Rimi murmured at the same time, the assassin instantly moved to slash the teddy bear.

    Thinking about it normally, one could only think that it was a type of magic tool with a self-contained thought-circuit.

    Because it meant that there was a witness, naturally, the assassin knew that it had to be cleaned up even though its ability wasn¡¯t known. ¡­¡­but.

    *GAKIN!*

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    The dagger was caught in the teddy bear¡¯s fangs as it turned around and bit it off.

    The assassin who¡¯d quickly let go of his dagger tried to pull out his spare sword but stopped moving in the dark suddenly ~~~ and turned to dust in an instant, disappearing.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, who¡¯s there?¡±

    As the two of them glared at the ¡®darkness¡¯, unable to see more than the teddy bear, a black cat prowled out from within.

    ¡°¡­¡­a cat.¡±

    ¡°A bear and a cat.¡±

    They sounded carefree, but sweat was on their faces, and their bodies were trembling.

    Although it only seemed and felt like black cat, but their intuition as one of the royalties of the forces of darkness knew that the existence that stood in front of them was an [Overlord].

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Under the gaze of the black cat, Rimi fainted and collapsed to the floor, while Nefi also fell to her knees on the spot.

    No, she kneeled. ¡­¡­ I guess you could say that. The girls who felt the difference in sheer level of existence between themselves and what stood before them, could only nod at each other with their eyes while stricken in fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡­ Is what I see before me the ¡®God of Demons¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Please¡­¡­ please save us from our situation¡­¡­¡±

    When it heard the words of the two, the silver pupils of the black cat narrowed.

    ¡°[¡­¡­What will you offer me? Black elves.]¡±

    ¡°m-¡±

    At the overwhelming pressure emitted from that [Voice], the young children lowered their heads yet further, raising their charm.

    The two of them were hoping that one day some [Prince Charming on a White Horse] would come to save them.

    But¡­¡­ If such a person came, they had decided that they would give them half of their ¡®lives¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­C-compensation¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Our lives¡­ we will give you half of each of us.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Half¡­¡­ as the black cat heard¡­ Rinne¡¯s face distorted slightly.

    Even for the elves who had lifespans of over 500 years, it seemed that their long lives made them lazy, and the souls of the dark elves weren¡¯t that delicious.

    Rinne had found these two girls among them.

    The souls of these girls, born of the blood of the ancient elves, that had desperately polished themselves to survive, seemed like the only jewels in this country.

    Half of their lives was quite considerable, but it was still a little insufficient to move Rinne, who was a [Great Beast].

    Some of the [Devils] who had human features would not mind, since the Demons kept their promises, and it would always be able to get the rest of it at a bargain.

    [¡­¡­ Wait a moment.]

    ¡°¡°Y-yes¡­¡±¡±

    Rinne wasn¡¯t great at such fine contracting. Not just Rinne¡­¡­ but the entirety of the [Demon Beasts] weren¡¯t that great.

    If a Demon Beast was called, usually they would just destroy everything on the spot as a sacrifice and devour it all and so they were used like ¡®bombs¡¯. Those demon cultists who tried to bind Demon Beasts by making untactful contracts would by and large be devoured by the Demon Beasts that they summoned.

    Therefore, the [Demon Beasts] had never made a careful contract, and what with this contract being [Rescue us from this predicament], he would have to change their surroundings, and the effective scope of the contract was too ambiguous.

    Anyway, Rinne, who wasn¡¯t good at fine contracts, called on Geas to send a message to its master, the [Devil], using their connection.

    *Uhm, uhm, could you send over Noa?*

    When the message was sent out, immediately after the ringtone of a pirororon, a reply arrived.

    *Why, is it urgent?*

    *Since contracting is troublesome, I want your subordinate to oversee it.*

    *Noa is out right now, though?*

    *Then, could you send someone? I can¡¯t move directly. I need someone who can protect the contractor.*

    *Don¡¯t you have Geas? The appearance is lacking, but the insides are usable, y¡¯know.*

    *Well¡­¡­ the content of the contract is troublesome. And there are two contractors.*

    *What kind of people are they?*

    *Two Dark elf children.*

    *Hohhoh. Then I know just who to send. Rinne, do your best~*

    *¡­¡­Alright.*

    It seemed good since someone would be coming. It would be the ideal to have Noa come, but Nea wouldn¡¯t be such a bad choice either.

    If that crappy maid duo came together, they would have to be careful, but it wouldn¡¯t be bad.

    ¡°[Oh children of the dark elves. Offer up half of your soul and make the contract.]¡±

    ¡°¡°T-thank you!¡±¡±

    A thin chain stretched from Rinne as the proof of the contract was entwined with their soul.

    It became a contract that seemed to have been left quite vague, but it wasn¡¯t too bad for a Demon Beast. [Save us from our predicament] meant that in the worst-case scenario, he could just kill everything but the two girls.

    However, he would have no objections whatsoever if they could recover the souls of the others in the royal family as they died.

    ¡°[I will assign someone to protect you. That should be enough.]¡±

    ¡°An ¡­¡­ escort?¡±

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    Unexpectedly Geas muttered something and opened his mouth wide, facing them directly.

    And from among them¡­¡­ An unknown black substance overflowed, and it seemed as if someone was trying to appear from there.

    ¡°[¡­¡­(Hyooo~i)]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­A rabbit?¡±¡±

    As the rabbit soft toy raised one arm lightly, they muttered it out in shock, and gazing at the bear and rabbit plushies, they regained their sanity.

    ¡°Ehh!? Demon-god-sama!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s!? It can¡¯t be!¡±

    Certainly, Rinne didn¡¯t think that Onzada(rabbit) would be coming to escort the child, but before Rinne even got to play the straight man, it disappeared.

    And so, it seemed that Geas and Onzada, the two of them, would be protecting the two princesses as their business.

    The two little younger sisters, who had hidden in the shadows until now, began to show up on the main stage, and their siblings became wary and acted, not noticing the soft toys were stopping these actions, the girls rapidly strengthened their position in the castle.

    Onzada regularly reported back to Yuru. Although she doesn¡¯t understand a word.

 Volume 7 - CH 9.1

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I Became an Adventurer, Part 1, Part 1

    Dear father and mother in the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo, how are you all doing?

    It¡¯s been a while since I left on my latest journey.

    This country that I am in, Sail, has a climate very similar to that of the Holy Kingdom, and I am still living as I was, unchanged.

    Although I wasn¡¯t allowed to leave the upper reaches of the castle for a while, I finally got permission to head out into the castle town.

    Yours truly, Yurushia.

    ¡°Well, princess, it certainly matches you well.¡±

    As I stood in front of the mirror, the older salesgirl who was in her mid-twenties said so happily.

    Recently, I¡¯d been given several maids from Sail.

    It seems that this is normally standard for anyone with the [Hero class] who are received warmly from the start, whereas in my case, they were just a little awkward and afraid, and since Noa and the rest of the followers were with me from the beginning, they postponed it.

    Well, I think the attachment of maids was also for the sake of watching me, the four kids from Earth were also similarly given maids, so even if I rely on them, I don¡¯t trust them not to report me. Still, the maids¡¯ attitudes were surprisingly good.

    This world has long been relying on the summoning of [Heroes from another world] for well over a thousand years, so we were an object of adoration.

    However, over the past few months I¡¯ve been hunting down documents in the library, I found something that¡¯s a little bit strange.

    The Japanese folks who were summoned to this world a thousand years ago were all described like Japanese who lived in the Heian period.

    In other words, the flow of time of Earth compared to Atra, or even [Tess], didn¡¯t change at all.

    But Yuuki-kun was reincarnated 12 years in the past when he was killed, and Kyoji¡¯s age was the same, de-aged more than 10 years ~ maybe 12 years.

    Twelve¡­¡­

    It was probably because of the fact that space and time was being distorted by that technique called the [Twelve Period Hourglass] that was applied to me.

    As such, I decided to go down into the castle town to see how much the influence of the otherworlders had affected things.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.

    After saying all that, it¡¯s all actually just for killing time.

    Besides, I¡¯d taken great pains to follow to the template of going to another world, so I want to go sightseeing.

    That¡¯s why, all this time, I¡¯ve been applying for permission to go into the city, and at last, I got it.

    If we were alone, I was thinking of secretly going out of the castle and then sneaking back, but I¡¯d like to bring those children from Japan if I can.

    It seems that I finally got permission to go because I became famous after sending my followers here and there, so it¡¯s getting harder to just put me aside.

    However, I was told that I could only go along with two other people.

    There are four of my attendants.

    Apparently, they think it¡¯s necessary to have some of those four to tie me down to this country, but all of them could leave as they were.

    There¡¯s no confidence in me at all¡­¡­ (How Oblivious)

    Well, if there was a place that was better than this country, it would be great to migrate to.

    But since I¡¯ve basically been asked to say, I¡¯ve just been eroding away at this country from the inside.

    Well, it¡¯s not that much different from what Kyoji¡¯s doing.

    He¡¯s not officially a hero, but by showing off the power befitting a hero, he won position and trust.

    I feel that Kyoji seems to be working through the underworld of this country, though, and I wonder if I could use vampires like I did in the Holy Kingdom¡­¡­

    Ah, my storytelling wandered away again.

    Well, in short, I was able to go out into the castle town now, but I had the horribly embarrassing nickname of the [Golden Saint], it was like the spotlights turning on during an idol¡¯s surprise concert, so I decided to go out incognito.

    Ermm¡­¡­ For the time being, because of the other otherworlders¡¯ settings, if we talked like we knew about Earth, I worry about how they¡¯d react.

    ¡°Is there any issue?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but Princess-sama¡¯s waistline is high, so anything you wear suits you.¡±

    That¡¯s not what I said, I was trying to ask if it wasn¡¯t strange for me to go out into the castle town, but since the maids seem to be enjoying putting me in clothes, she doesn¡¯t seem to be listening.

    And even though the princess of this country was Bianca, is it still alright to call me princess? As I asked that, the older sister maid replied me.

    ¡°Her Highness is Her Highness, and Princess Yurushia is Princess.¡±

    ¡­¡­ and I got an incomprehensible reply.

    Is that it? Do you just hold some sort of different meaning for the word ¡°Princess¡±?

    This time around, I was going down into the town with Nea and Tina, along with the two girls, Mizuki and Touka.

    The animal gang seemed to be doing various thing on the side of the forces of darkness and wasn¡¯t following me around at the moment.

    They just went to collect food originally, but really, what are you all doing¡­¡­?

 Volume 7 - CH 9.2

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I Became an Adventurer, Part 1, Part 2

    ¡°This is the royal quarter¡­¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mizuki misunderstood as she got off the carriage in an unlively place, seeing the town of a different world for the first time as she was.

    Well, from her speech alone, she sounds like a bumpkin.

    The streets were lined with white buildings in the Mediterranean style.

    Since it was close to the sea too, it really gave off that impression.

    There were plenty of pale-skinned people walking about, but here and there were a few with darker skin tones and a few yellow-skinned ones.

    Still, there was a slight sense of incongruity thanks to the colors of their hair and eyes, but this was a different world, after all.

    We also got looks from the residents, who glanced and stared at the five girls.

    Mostly the guys.

    Rather worried about the gazes, Touka spoke up.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuru-chan¡­Our outfits aren¡¯t strange, right?¡±

    And also, for some reason, I¡¯m being called [Yuru] again here.

    Am I going to end up becoming laid back again here? ¡­ Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I lightly smiled at Touka who was worrying about her clothes.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it alright? They¡¯re looking because Touka is so cute.¡±

    ¡°Even if Yuru-chan says that¡­¡­¡±

    She certainly has the right figure, though I think the rest of us may be scary for those who aren¡¯t used to seeing the external appearances of us [Demons].

    Touka and Mizuki are rather cute.

    Somewhat rounded faces, but since the rest of the residents were of mixed heritage with the otherworlders they had a somewhat delicate appearance.

    Mizuki was older than I was and she¡¯s a little taller and gave off the impression of a small animal, but her sense of style was pretty good, and I knew that the knights¡¯ gazes were moving up and down every time she moved her body while training.

    Touka was a little more intimidating, but her overall figure was great, so she had a certain beautiful atmosphere about her. I don¡¯t know how far the culture of earth has penetrated, but someone in the castle saw her and muttered ¡°Tsundere get!¡±

    Although, right now, Touka was looking like a little kid in beginning adventurer¡¯s clothes. Anyways, since we were dressed in the castle, it feels like we¡¯re a bunch of rich kids going into the city.

    Like usual, I look like a wealthy heiress, complete with a wide hat to hide my face.

    ¡°¡­If we¡¯re able, would you guys like to change clothes?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ then I couldn¡¯t wear my sword.¡±

    Nea is wearing her escort knight dress. Even though I say knight, she¡¯s not wearing armor, but it still seems utilitarian.

    Two servants with me make me uneasy, unsurprisingly.

    Although Nea would follow common sense to an extent whenever she was separated from me, when close by, it suddenly disappears. It¡¯s mostly harmless, but she¡¯s the first to move.

    On top of that, Tina is well known for overlooking things. If I don¡¯t say something every time we pass by thugs eying us and I don¡¯t notice, a few seconds later they¡¯re always dead.

    It may have been wrong to bring these two along for the trip.

    The knights from the castle said they would escort us, but maybe it would have been better if we had politely refused. It would be better if there were less witnesses whenever we do something¡­

    As such, I was forced to put up with this atmosphere, with everyone trying to win over Nea.

    The knights are all training around us, since they know that Nea is (Due to Clumsiness) a damsel.

    ¡°Heey~ Yuru-chan, Touka-chan, what is that street food? It smells so good!¡±

    ¡°Oh, what a nice smell¡­ is that grilled meat?¡±

    Mizuki said with her light voice while looking to the stalls.

    Things that wouldn¡¯t normally interest you always seem more appetizing when you go sightseeing.

    I¡¯m a Demon, though, so I don¡¯t feel drawn to the fried fatty food.

    ¡°Let¡¯s both get some, so that we can share.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­ I wonder how I should talk to them¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can bring someone from the castle to help translate, you know?¡±

    Obviously, Japanese isn¡¯t the native language of this world. We automatically translate everything since as demons we can use the [Spirit Language], but in in addition to that, we were acquiring [Language Skills] since we came to this world.

    Unlike the Spirit Language, this is a skill that lets us use the native languages of this world like we are fluent. At first, I was speaking in Japanese, but as I listened to Bianca, it seems that switching to the native language just happened.

    This skill is more convenient than I thought¡­ However, it¡¯s impossible to bring it to Atra.

    ¡°Let¡¯s buy some.¡±

    Given her nature, it¡¯s surprisingly Challenger Mizuki who take up the bat.

    ¡°We might as well¡­ What does Yuru-chan¡¯s group want?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine, enjoy yourselves.¡±

    I say to Touka with a smile that doesn¡¯t quite fit, before they nervously moved away from me and went over to the stall to grab their attention.

    A few minutes later¡­

    ¡°Here, Yuru-chan, we got you some¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I told them it was my first time eating this, so they gave us a discount!¡±

    The two held out their meat skewers with excited smiles.

    ¡°Yeah, we both did good!¡±

    Why am I, the youngest, in a guardian¡¯s position¡­

    Everything is an experience, but those two really are Challengers, huh.

    ¡­ No way, I think Touka didn¡¯t see the words ¡°Orc Meat¡± written on the side of the stand, unless the taste of humanoids is a new middle school girl diet?

    Is Orc meat low in fat? It¡¯s been minced and wrapped around a wooden stick, though. We waited for them to finish eating before we moved on to our destination.

    Today, our goal is the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    ¡­ I wonder if this is Karma?

 Volume 7 - CH 10

    Volume 7, Chapter 10: I Became an Adventurer, Part 2

    [3rd Person PoV]

    There are people in [Tess] that are called Adventurers, as well as an adventuring guild which supports them.

    This guild¡­ you could say that the [Adventurer] job and guild were all the result of people summoned from a different world.

    Its history is surprisingly shallow.

    However, although it¡¯s called the adventurer¡¯s guild, only a part of it is for the actual adventurers, most of it is basically a [General Store].

    It really is true that there are no free things for newcomers that don¡¯t do anything.

    There are no rules about entering a request, but there are some points to remember.

    For example, even if an ordinary person wants to set up a request for something, they wouldn¡¯t know what adventurer to ask. If you¡¯re a farmer that wants to get rid of rats from your field, if you just ask adventurers are around to complete it, you wouldn¡¯t have enough money no matter how much you have.

    Thus, the adventurer¡¯s guild ranks tasks and adventurers to manage who will accept a request and made a system where adventurers can accept personal requests.

    There are four ranks of adventurers:

    [Bronze] is the lowest rank of adventurer, mostly these are people that are new or not dedicated to work who are lazy about taking jobs.

    [Silver] is a fine, middle of the road adventurer, which makes up most of the ranks of professional adventurers. These are the type that will be called out to fight Orcs and other monsters.

    [Gold] is restricted to skilled veterans or highly talented people.

    It¡¯s said that this rank can only be nominated by others, and only 12 people can be registered as such in any one country at a time.

    There¡¯s also the highest rank of [God], but that¡¯s a title only given to Hero-class people, so it has nothing to do with general adventurers.

    Anyways, there is an adventuring guild in this capital of Sail.

    To become an adventurer here, you need to spend a small silver coin for the registration fee, which is about $10, as well as an annual membership fee of the same amount, regardless of rank. However, since there are so many Bronze ranked people, the building seems to show how profitable it¡¯s been as it¡¯s truly splendid looking.

    When entering, one could see individual tellers, like you¡¯d see in a bank, were you could see adventurers taking requests early in the morning, since they become sparse in the afternoon.

    In most cases for Bronze adventurers, they will pick up their task in the morning and turn it in in the evening of that same day.

    People who are more selective of the requests they take, people of Silver rank or better, will generally come and wait in the guild for new requests to be posted.

    For those who do that, it¡¯s common for a caf¨¦ to be set up on the first floor, although it doesn¡¯t sell any alcohol.

    If there are multiple hubs in the area, there are cases where it also serves as a tavern, but in most cases, they don¡¯t want the image of the adventurers to be hurt and to make it easier for the general public to come in.

    There are cases where civilians come to give a request, so the typical scene of adventurers bullying a kid like the stories is hardly ever seen.

    You¡¯d almost expect a confrontation, like the stereotype.

    There are people who treat their work as an adventurer like a part-time job, so the image that adventurers put out is similar to handymen, but since they deal in such rough matters, there are still some people with tempers.

    However, since this is the capital of the country, gentlemanly adventurers are the norm, there are very few of the rough folks, although the adventurer guilds off in the east are a bit different.

    ¡°S-someone¡¯s coming ¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you so tense over?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, calm down¡±

    ¡°I see¡­but¡±

    A few of the adventurers had a conversation like that on the first floor.

    They was an adventurer who had just reached the rank of Silver who was waiting for someone to enter the guild.

    However, from their expression and appearance, it seemed like a sort of hazing for the newly upgraded adventurer.

    In the guild here in the eastern countries, a certain culture has been spread around by the foreigners.

    There is a tradition of ¡°Showing new adventurers the harshness of the world.¡± Basically, the silver adventurers would talk down to the newcomers.

    Of course, there are also strong newcomers, so there are cases of blowback, but it¡¯s the job of the other adventurers to support each other.

    This tradition is known by the merchants and others who work with the guild and is used as a test of newcomers¡¯ resolve.

    Apparently, the adventurer in charge of this today seemed to be a good person and was nervous about intimidating a young person who he didn¡¯t know.

    Since there were other adventurers in the building watching them, their own hesitation was making them even more nervous, and the atmosphere in the room was becoming tense.

    *Karrang*

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±

    The adventurers in the guild all turned to face the sound of the door chime.

    Although the door was used often, no new adventurers were expected to come in yet.

    The adventurers had been awaiting their entertainment, so the total number sitting around was higher than usual today.

    Then, the time had come.

    Two black haired girls came in.

    Both of them seemed to be in their early teens, but not from this world¡­ to be exact, one looked like a small Asian girl and the other a little older.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The adventurer responsible for today¡¯s entertainment was relieved to see those two but depressed all the same.

    Even though there were ridiculous rookies every now and them, especially among adventurers, these girls didn¡¯t look like the type. However, the adventurer was still a young man, and because they were cute, he was hesitant to go forward.

    Just as a seasoned adventurer near them was about to get up and take the reins from the poor fellow, the situation changed.

    Two other girls appeared from behind the two, who both looked less Asian, although in a strange way.

    One was a girl wearing maid clothes with a dignified atmosphere around her and a cold expression.

    The other wore a cloak, but there seemed to be a plate dress underneath them.

    Both of them were young, but were so beautiful as to be surprising, and they could imagine that it was an aristocrat or some other noble that they served, given the quality of their tailor-made clothes.

    However, this is a bit of an issue.

    Although Nobility would occasionally ask for tasks, in that case there is no need to send strangers who would be involved in the hazing by the adventurers.

    Even if they were newcomers, it seemed a bit sad to let the adventurer hurt their relationship with the nobility, but right as several adventurers began to leave their seats, the situation changed once more.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­!¡±¡±¡±

    All of the people in the room gasped in awe.

    The girl who followed them was¡­ dressed like a common merchant¡¯s daughter, but the atmosphere around her said that she was anything but.

    Shining gold hair. Even wearing her cap over her eyes, not a man or woman could help their gaze from looking at her, the earlier atmosphere blown away as all of the adventurers attempting to speak out simply fell into their seats.

    £ª

    [Yuru PoV]

    Entering the adventurer¡¯s guild, I thought that I would get involved in the template, I was prepared to be lightly intimidated, but nobody got involved. After all, that only happens in stories.

    What is this, though¡­? Even though nobody will meet my eyes, everybody keeps glancing in my direction.

    OK, then.

    Anyway, I head for one of the receptionists.

    The reason I came here officially was for sightseeing, but I¡¯d also like to register as an adventurer.

    My status was guaranteed by the country of Sail, but since my status is as [Saint] it¡¯d be troublesome to deal with that in another country.

    Even if we try to act in secret, I think it¡¯s possible that Sail will see if I register here immediately and see anything that the Guild would call classified.

    ¡°Welcome to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The receptionist girl looks like she¡¯s about to cry since I chose her counter.

    Why would she do that¡­?

    ¡°I want to register as an adventurer, also are you OK?¡±

    ¡°Heee!¡±

    Hold on, what¡¯s with that response.

    Did I let out my killing intent by accident? I¡¯m pretty shy, so maybe I¡¯m getting nervous since it¡¯s my first time here.

    As I look at the next counter over, I see the other receptionist suddenly freeze with a reddening face, mouth gaping, so I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll be deflected there too.

    While thinking about what to do, a male staff member came up behind me and carefully leaned over to speak.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, will you please come with me out of here?¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m delaying business with my aura, I had to ask.

    I definitely didn¡¯t just want to talk to him since he¡¯s a silver fox.

    ¡°Yes¡­ our Guild Master seems to want to talk to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Suddenly the Guild Master?

    ¡­This better not be confusing.

 Volume 7 - CH 11.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 11: I Became an Adventurer, Part 3, Part 1

    We were guided to the Guild Master¡¯s room by an official looking middle aged man.

    The room was on the top floor of the establishment, so we had to climb two flights of stairs, and it¡¯s super quiet.

    The reason for this is because Nea and Tina are walking right next to me and not hiding their presence at all.

    The presence coming out of them has become proper ¡®Killing Intent¡¯ and now we can¡¯t hear a peep from the lobby downstairs where all the adventurers are.

    ¡°You two, please refrain.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­Hai.¡±¡±

    Yeah, I¡¯m not buying it.

    In response to my muttered request, the aura has gone down, but the other two of our group are in a bad spot. My people are so short tempered¡­ Touka and Mizuki seemed to be about to hyperventilate.

    We Demons generally like to live on our own, but when we¡¯re together our society is very similar to corporate life.

    We¡¯re like the directors of a black company, and the Greater Demons are like the standard office workers, even if they¡¯re worked to the bone, they have to say: ¡°It¡¯s a great place to work!¡± on the homepage.

    In fact, since me and my followers were brought up directly, I can even say that [Family] passes quickly beyond the direct subordinates.

    Because of that, I¡¯m not weird for not having much loyalty to anything. Although that¡¯s a good thing normally, it means I can¡¯t really relate to people, since I don¡¯t understand human behavior, so, in retrospect, the kids seeing their city annihilated was probably pretty traumatizing.

    I think it¡¯s at least partly Rinne¡¯s influence on me.

    Still, we haven¡¯t had much of a chance to study Kyoji¡¯s¡­ or, rather, [A Hero]¡¯s battle strength, so we¡¯re not doing much right now.

    Maybe, just maybe, I think that if a Hero assembled a proper party, they would be comparable to an Arch Demon. If it were me or Rinne, we wouldn¡¯t have any problems, but Yuuki-kun said that the hero isn¡¯t fearsome just because of his strength.

    ¡°Here we are.¡±

    Ah, it seems we¡¯re here.

    The man who guided us seems to have aged 10 years during our trip. I¡¯m sorry.

    ¡°Guild Master, I brought you your guests.¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you for the trouble.¡±

    When we entered the room which the man opened for us, we heard a girls voice coming from the desk at the back of the 20 tatami sized room.

    ¡°Heeh~¡±

    I let escape me as we walked to the desk. She looked like she was about my age with red hair and was shorter than even Mizuki¡­  She has a lot of hair.

    However, her attitude and presence shows that what¡¯s in front of us isn¡¯t quite normal.

    Incidentally, I had heard something about this from Yuki-kun.

    ¡°Are you a Dwarf?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are there dwarves in your world?¡±

    She quickly figured out that we¡¯re from a [Foreign World].

    No, that isn¡¯t it. It feels too soon for her to just tell us she knows that information.

    ¡°She¡¯s a bit strange, but I have a friend who¡¯s a Dwarf.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. In this world filled with people from strange worlds, it seems like there are only ever humans that come, Tell me more about my family from another world.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s 3 meters tall, the beautiful dwarf princess, Iwao.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand the words you¡¯re saying.¡±

    ¡°Ah, can Dwarves not understand Human language?¡±

    ¡°H-hey, what are you saying?¡±

    ¡°Anyways, how long are we going to stand here?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry, please sit down over there¡­¡±

    She guided us to the sofa looking a bit off-kilter.

    Thank goodness. It didn¡¯t come to do this banter.

    The dwarves in this world are stout and short and have manly beards. The females are rarely born and are called Lolis. Their lifespans are longer than humans, and so while she looks like a ¡®little girl¡¯, her age is much higher.

    Is that normal? All my knowledge is useless, because Atra¡¯s Dwarves are completely different from here. They¡¯re less of a race and more of a biological weapon.

    As we sat on the sofa, she sat in front of s and began to speak again.

    ¡°You know, earlier,¡±

    ¡°We never introduced ourselves, yes? Mizuki, Touka, don¡¯t just stand there, take a seat.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    ¡°Ok¡­¡±

    Since Nea and Tina were standing at my sides behind me, I called those two over to let them sit on the sofa with me.

    After seeing this, the woman understood that I was the negotiator on this side and regained her calm before starting my direction.

    ¡°I am the Guild Master of the Sail Country Adventurer¡¯s Guild, Clara Corona.¡±

    ¡°Since my full name and titles are so long, you can just call me Yurushia, these two are¡­¡±

    ¡°T-touka here¡±

    ¡°Mizuki desu~¡±

    The two said their names a little nervously after me.

    ¡°¡­ and the two behind you?¡±

    ¡°My servants.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see¡±

    She could tell that I didn¡¯t intent to say anything else on the matter, so after a beat, Corona let out a tired sigh.

    For a moment, our conversation was interrupted, as our escort brought in tea and sweets.

    Sweets like those from Earth were served regularly in the King¡¯s Castle, but Touka¡¯s and Mizuki¡¯s eyes practically sparkled when seeing the cream puffs and looked to me. I got the full brunt of box puppy eyes, and when I nodded, they reached to each grab a cream puff.

    ¡­ How did I fall into the parental position?

    ¡°Indeed, just like the girls have said. This is a confection spread from the otherworlders, are Touka and Mizuki both Japanese?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey~ Corona. Is there a purpose for all this?¡±

    Those two had been told not to draw much attention to themselves being foreigners, so I¡¯ll try to grab back Corona¡¯s attention.

    ¡°¡­You seem to be in a rush, Yurushia. Can you not afford to relax a moment?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any business, may we go home?¡±

    ¡°Oh? But you weren¡¯t going home before, you came to this guild, did you not?¡±

    Corona give a wide smile while staring me in the eyes.

    That alone proves that this is no ordinary woman. It¡¯s sad to say, but I haven¡¯t been looked in the eyes without fear for a long time.

    Weapons were hung all around the room, but none of the two-handed weapons seemed possible to lift by a normal woman her size, yet all of them show signs of recent use. Both of the axes within reach of Corona also seemed to radiate magic power, Corona definitely wasn¡¯t just an administrator, but a skilled adventurer as well.

    The problem is, what side is Corona on.

    ¡°Sightseeing¡±

    ¡°Sightseeing, huh¡±

    Actually, since we did go out for sightseeing, it isn¡¯t a lie.

    Hearing the response from the middle-aged escort, who introduced himself as Tom Yamada, he seemed skeptical, and Corona¡¯s eyes slim.

    It¡¯s best to draw a line here to start, it¡¯s small, but every advantage counts in negotiations. If the other person is the one asking for the favor, it can be responded to with conditions.

    I wanted to know more information, but I don¡¯t want to have to do troublesome things to get it.

    I don¡¯t want to solve your problems in countries thousands of kilometers away.

    Seeing how serious I am, Corona gives a light shrug.

    ¡°My bad, my bad, I called you here, but I really wanted to see if Yurushia was truly a [Saint].¡±

    ¡°And your impression?¡±

    She definitely seems to be with ¡®somebody¡¯.

    ¡°There definitely is courage. It¡¯s hard to tell whether you¡¯re a Saint, I wonder if it will be declared in the other countries.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the one who claimed it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re an interesting one¡­ but¡­¡±

    The atmosphere of Corona¡¯s laughter abruptly changed.

    ¡°What I want to know is the extent of your true ability, [Saint-Sama].¡±

 Volume 7 - CH 11.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 11: I Became an Adventurer, Part 3, Part 2

    ¡°What I want to know is the extent of your true ability, [Saint-Sama].¡±

    A surprising amount of Killing Intent started radiating from Corona, given her appearance, as she drew and raised the two giant axes behind her with tremendous speed.

    Is her body strengthened by magic, or is it a skill? Either way, she¡¯s much stronger than the knights we encountered at the castle, it should be possible for her to mow her way through lesser demons.

    Perhaps, if I had to give it a rating, it¡¯s at the level of a Greater Demon?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    However, Corona was unable to swing down her axes.

    From behind her, Tina had a hand on her shoulder, while Nea had her Golden Demonic Sword held to Corona¡¯s throat, both of them releasing their presence, which made her instinctively freeze herself, sweating.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    As I called out with a small grin on my face, they came back to rest behind me without a sound, before Corona¡¯s axes fell from her hands as she collapsed to the floor in a heap.

    Oh, the shoulder bones that Tina grabbed must be broken.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    As I casted the holy magics [Heal] and [Regenerate] simultaneously, healing her shoulder, Corona turned her fearful eyes towards me and my followers.

    ¡°¡­ the power of a Saint¡­ and you two ¡®Disciples¡¯¡­ It really wasn¡¯t just a rumor.¡±

    Ah¡­ neither of them are my disciples¡­ it sounds scary when you say it like that.

    Also, the exchange just now has Touka and the others completely wound up.

    Anyways, after Corona finished mumbling, it seemed like she was debating herself about something while staying on the ground.

    ¡°If that¡¯s all, can we go home?¡±

    ¡°W-wait, I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness.¡±

    As Corona hastily stood up at my bored tone, before she lowered herself into a bow.

    Hmmm¡­ I really should go home, but I¡¯m weak to good manners.

    Thanks to my [Demonic] attributes, I¡¯m largely separated from my constraints as a human, but now that I¡¯ve been in human society for months and years, rather than when I came in from another dimension, the social contract has taken hold.

    To put it simply, I don¡¯t want to be rude.

    ¡°So, after all that, what do you want?¡±

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask if you indeed had the skill. I¡¯ll pay, of course, in addition to giving you this¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that¡­¡±

    The escort had brought out and opened a wooden case and taken out a small pendent shining iridescently to hang from his fist.

    ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®God¡¯ rank tag, we can complete your registration under this rank, Yurushia.¡±

    It was a metal plate which was the proof of an adventurer¡¯s skill.

    Only the people with the Hero class can receive it, a proof of the highest rank of adventurers.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t, we can start you from bronze rank, but if you accept, we will also prepare as many silver rank tags for your friends as you need.¡±

    ¡°¡­What do you mean by that?¡±

    I originally thought that I would want to register for the adventurer¡¯s guild to get identity cards to use in other countries, but suddenly being offered God rank?

    Certainly, the Hero classes should be able to have that, but giving all the kids Silver rank suddenly seems too reckless.

    ¡­ God and Silver ranks off the bat, it seems like something out of a manga.

    ¡°Is Yurushia aware of the mass plague of zombies in the country to the north, Gamble?¡±

    ¡°¡­ a little¡±

    You know, since Fanny told you everything she¡¯s done.

    ¡°Each country¡¯s guild has conducted their own investigation in addition to the countries¡¯ separate intel branches, but since the internal groups don¡¯t share between themselves and the guild does, our information is cutting-edge.

    ¡°So you know the cause?¡±

    ¡°¡­ we¡¯re not 100% sure, but Gamble¡¯s guild master and I have a suspected source location.¡±

    ¡°Did you tell this to Gamble¡¯s government?¡±

    ¡°¡­not yet¡­¡±

    Perhaps, considering the guild¡¯s interests, it¡¯s best for the outside world to keep offering for Gold rank missions to contain the zombies.

    Since it¡¯s not a natural event given the magic that uses that jewel, even finding out the principles behind them would be worth considerable money.

    I don¡¯t blame them, but since it¡¯s robbing the coffers of Gable, at least some, wouldn¡¯t that hurt their relationship with the country?

    ¡°The Guild Master up there is also a Dwarf¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Suddenly, I¡¯m not sure where this conversation is going.

    ¡°Out home town is in the area, if we report its location to Gamble, it might be wiped out along with the zombies, and there have been rumors that the Northern Hero has been seen in the area. If he learned our information, the dwarven city would be crushed¡­¡±

    ¡°Fuu~¡±

    The hero of the north¡­ the Hero of Earth? One of the four which killed Yuuki.

    Everything is going to plan so far, but right now, direct hostility isn¡¯t easy.

    I think that Corona isn¡¯t on the side of Kyoji the ¡°Hero¡± but I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s enough to mean she¡¯s an ally.

    It wasn¡¯t very fun the first time fighting a hero, and in this case there¡¯s nothing delicious waiting at the end. Since he¡¯s a Hero, it might be reckless.

    But¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡°Really!¡±

    As I nod, a joyous smile shows on Corona¡¯s face.

    I¡¯m not sure what she expected.

    Maybe she really just wants her home town to be saved, but to willingly set us against a Hero who is incomparable to normal adventurers.

    Has she really suffered in this human town?

    As I stand up with a smile, I grasp Corona¡¯s hand where she¡¯s sitting on the floor.

    ¡°Will you be helping us, Corona?

    ¡°Ah¡­ Of course, I can¡¯t stand against a Hero in my position, but I can offer you guides.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You know, since we¡¯re going to save your home, you might as well put everything on the line, yeah?¡±

    ¡°O-of course.¡±

    I don¡¯t miss seeing her face twitch.

    I smile at Corona and softly whisper to her:

    ¡°Then, Corona¡­ Let¡¯s make a [Deal].

 Volume 7 - CH 12.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 12: In the North, Part 1, Part 1

    LINE HERE

    ¡°Golden Saint¡­ who is that¡­?¡±

    The seat of Luxury¡­ The speaker sits in an exquisitely decorated, royal-class horse drawn carriage, slumping into herself with her eyebrows drawn down.

    Even though she is over thirty, she hadn¡¯t neglected daily care, so her skin is glossy and her long black hair falls to her chest in gentle waves.

    ¡°The latest news is that they are a person summoned in Sail to the east.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­ the little girl.¡±

    Responding to her was a beautiful young man who served her, her eyebrows relaxed as she remembered.

    She didn¡¯t forget at first. In a sense, she was the person who thought of those existences as the most annoying.

    ¡°Hero of the North¡± ¡°Hero of Earth¡± ¡­ People would call her such.

    She was a true hero who was summoned by the northern grand summon more than 15 years ago, who fought the forces of darkness, leading Gamble to victory.

    Her power was specialized towards the [Earth System], with a strong defensive power used to prevent invasions and the ability to cause earthquakes which destroyed millions from the armies of darkness.

    A while ago, the ¡°Hero of Wind¡± had been gaining popularity, but by putting him down with a quick stab to the back, her position became unassailable.

    A new Hero was summoned two years ago, but he¡¯s just a Japanese Student after all, so it¡¯s not like he could threaten the other heroes.

    The other Heroes aren¡¯t allies in the truest sense either.

    Regarding the war that had raged for thousands of years, the heroes had long since given up victory.

    In the war, although skirmishes occurred, with the current tactics used against each other, there will never be a battle where all troops from each side meet at once.

    Still, without the [Heroes], the human side would have long been the loser.

    Knowing that, the powers that be from the side of the light praise the Heroes, which is causing increasing numbers of heroes to be summoned.

    In the past, the countries¡¯ generals led armies to fight off the darkness, but that¡¯s ancient history.

    For modern heroes, the real enemy isn¡¯t [The Power of Darkness], but the Hero who happens to work with a political enemy.

    Still, the veteran heroes, the [Hero of Water], the [Hero of Fire], and the [Hero of Earth], had an [Agreement] of sorts, where none of us will eliminate the other.

    While politically driven, it would still be troublesome to her is that ¡°Fact¡± became publicly known.

    However, the newly emerged [Golden Saint] was different.

    The girl who had come from a world other than earth, that supposedly had used powerful sacred magic, to an extent which exceeded the Heroes even before being granted the secret power of Heroes.

    If added to the coalition of the Hero of Water, the balance of power would shift in his favor.

    Because of this fact, Sail announced the girl as a [Saint] as loudly as possible.

    However, this announcement reminded the other countries of a possibility.

    Even when they had summoned a hero, they would never announce it until they were firmly bound. In the past it¡¯s been recorded that when a small country succeeded in summoning a hero, it was successfully robbed of them by one of the great countries.

    The opportunity remains, even among the great powers. So, considering the time between the summoning and the announcement, the idea that the saint had no loyalty to begin with and Sail was using the announcement to pressure them began to form.

    Gamble had though of this from all sides, although they planned to draw her in if possible, they could not do so directly.

    ¡°Well, it turns out that that little girl is headed towards the Dwarf City of Korokoto.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Saint sent one of their followers north to look into the zombie incidents that had occurred in that vicinity, so perhaps that¡¯s the relation.

    ¡°¡­ How troublesome.¡±

    The hero of earth swept back her long hair, scattering the scent of her perfume and leaving sighs in her wake.

    If the saint is moving in regarding the zombie incident, she may be aware of the inciting dungeon.

    This was a dungeon unknown to the other countries, and even in Gamble only the upper ranks knew of it. The Hero of Earth had found it a few years ago and had personally made a contract with the ¡°Dungeon Master¡± to give full resource rights to the country of Gamble.

    Dungeon Master is a collective term for those who settle and manage underground ruins or labyrinths in this continent.

    Some of these people register with the state and properly pay taxes, but most of them are intelligent monsters or outlaws and aren¡¯t likely to broker negotiations.

    For that reason, there are some cases where adventurers attack a dungeon master who is properly registered by mistake, but in these cases, the adventurer is marked as a criminal.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to address this, then¡±

    The hero of Earth takes out one of her many jeweled ornaments from her bosom and gives a look to the soldier.

    It¡¯s said to be a subsection of ¡°Magic Stone¡± which came from one of the zombies knocked out, and the adventurer submitted it to the guild, the Hero using ¡°Hero¡¯s Priority¡± to forcibly buy it.

    For now, the Hero of Earth will be heading for that dungeon, to show the ¡°Finished goods¡± to the dungeon master to improve their research.

    ¡°Using your position as Chancellor, make contact with the Saint and take them here¡­¡±

    ¡°Wha!? Why should I bring in that girl and show her all this?¡±

    To the Hero of Earth, the [Saint] annoys her more than anyone else.

    This is because said saint is still a ¡°Young Girl¡±

    She had heard rumors of beautiful golden locks and eyes of dazzling beauty¡­ perhaps it¡¯s trye that beauty truly can be seen in children.

    The Hero of Earth could not forgive those who others call more beautiful than herself.

    Never mind that the ¡°Hero of Fire¡± is also a woman, in her rightful opinion, she is clearly more beautiful than her, so there¡¯s no problem.

    Besides, the Hero of Earth had been turned down when she had begged to be called a ¡°Saint¡± rather than a ¡°Hero¡± when she first came to this world.

    Sail had managed to give the lone title of [Saint] to that girl, although she is convinced that in truth she is but another [Hero] summoned into this world and the announcer was feeling off.

    That can not be forgiven. Younger, more beautiful women can not be given pardon. She could not tolerate any who were praised more than herself.

    ¡°Because she won¡¯t escape! You know exactly what will happen when she goes against me, right?¡±

    ¡°O-of course!¡±

    The knights in her carriage ¨C to be precise, her carefully selected Hero¡¯s Party, which, by accident of course, contained only beautiful young boys and shotas, lowered their heads quickly.

    ¡°Fufufu, these cute little ones. Let¡¯s have a good time.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±

    As the Hero of Earth gently reached out towards the still knights, in an instant the carriage shook before stopping in place.

    ¡°¡­It seems that we¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    ¡°It seems so¡­ That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll have our fun tonight¡­¡±

    The Hero of Earth has a sour look on her face before she exits the carriage, the door opening by itself, the earth trembling from her landing.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai, Kanzo-sama!¡±¡±¡±

    The Hero of Earth ¨C Kanzo.

    She is 2 Meters tall, ridiculously muscular, with slight traces of five o¡¯clock shadow on her cheeks colored a strange blue, she is 32 years-old, and she was born a Man with the heart of a Woman.

    LINE HERE

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Hey, it might be a joke, but still, gotta give that single prop to the author for at least having a trans-female here, even if she¡¯s an awful person, hehe. LGBTQ Pride and all that.

    We also learn a bit more about our heroic minion¡¯s betrayers, as well as confirmation that Kyoji was indeed involved. I hope y¡¯all enjoyed!

 Volume 7 - CH 12.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 12: In the North, Part 1, Part 2

    ¡°Dwaaaaaa?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The person behind me just won¡¯t stop.

    Looking back for a moment, I see Tina holding onto Daichi¡¯s legs as he loudly shouts out.

    Yeah, he¡¯s still fine. Though at the moment I wish he wasn¡¯t quite as fine.

    We¡¯re currently headed towards Dwarf country in Gamble at the request of Guild Master Corona.

    Since Gamble is a place that spans hundreds of miles in any direction, even a fast carriage moving at military speed means it would take more than a month to arrive. As a result, we decided to leg it. Didn¡¯t we decide to take a carriage halfway there, you ask? Well, I got bored of that after one day of travel.

    If this were the Holy Kingdom, I would have had the social pressure of being the Duke¡¯s Daughter, but here, when Fanny demonstrated her monstrous mobility to report about 20 knights wearing Gamble uniforms blocking the road ahead, I knew just what to do.

    I didn¡¯t want to encounter another county other than Sail¡¯s people, so I had one response when I noticed the leader of the group waving us down.

    Nope, ignore him.

    We ran past the blockade, leaving behind the knights who were just now mounting their horses.

    Viva-la-Saint. I may have been called one in the Holy Kingdom, but here I can do anything, and people just say ¡®Well, she¡¯s a Saint.¡±

    It would still be faster to fly, but since that showed off my bat wings we decided not to for the sake of our identities.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, you seem to be rather happy.¡±

    ¡°Ah, really?¡±

    Nea says as she runs beside me.

    Ah¡­ I wondered why I only heard Daichi¡¯s voice from halfway through our run. Futa, who Nea is carrying has his eyes rolled up and is rather limp.

    Why are you holding him like a rice bag? Well, it¡¯s still better than Tina, who is running while grasping Daichi¡¯s ankles.

    We¡¯re currently running at about 300 kilometers per hour, so if the speed was any less, Daichi would be dragging along the ground.

    The fact that he hasn¡¯t fainted at this point shows how much he¡¯s been training. When Futa wakes up, we¡¯ll have to give him more of the special training course.

    The make-up of my followers has changed again, with Touka and Mizuki swapping out for Daichi and Futa.

    When I said that we would be going to capture a dungeon in another country, they immediately asked to come. I suppose I understand the want of ¡®adventure¡¯ as a boy, but why do I feel like they wanted to skimp on my training plan?

    Girls are to be loved and be beautiful. Boys are to be tough and strong. Because of these expectations from long ago, they had to work hard.

    ¡°Hey, you signed a contract with Corona, right? It looked like a proper contract this time.¡±

    ¡°Great, I want a taste¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t finish right away, girls.¡±

    This is the reason for my happiness.

    With Onzada-kun back then, it was a very ambiguous contact because he was an idiot, but I did it properly this time.

    ¡®To solve the issue and prevent further intervention by the Hero.¡¯ This is also vague, but we know exactly what to do to fulfill it.

    When we complete the contract, we can collect the souls from both Corona and the Guild Master in Gamble.

    Good gracious, it really was hard to get the agreement right for that.

    Corona had to make a long-distance call to Gamble. While they don¡¯t have anything like personal phones or cell phones, adventurers¡¯ guilds had a communication array between branches.

    ¡°My Lord, Daichi has fainted, so we¡¯re almost there.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡­¡­Are you measuring time by how long it takes to faint?

    Anyways, after about half a day¡¯s run, we arrived at the edge of the Dwarven Lands.

 Volume 7 - CH 13.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 13: In the North, Part 2, Part 1

    ¡°Is this the Dwarven Nation¡­?¡±

    Well, it¡¯s definitely a country with Dwarves in it. Looking from left to right all you can see are Dwarves.

    It may be better to think of this nation as more of a grouping of several villages. It¡¯s said that there are about 10,000 people here, so it¡¯s just a little bigger than a village.

    Apparently, this is a dungeon.

    Now, you may ask that if everyone here knows about the existence of a dungeon, why do the surrounding human areas recognize the city dug out by dwarves.

    The answer is, it¡¯s horrible for PR. If I didn¡¯t know what it was, I would think that it was something Dwarves would dig out normally.

    Isn¡¯t it illegal to occupy a dungeon? But maybe if they don¡¯t want to kill off the dungeon keeper, it might not be too bad.

    Even then¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re seeing it.¡±

    ¡°Definitely seeing it.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here~.¡±

    Tina and Nea enthusiastically responded to my mutters.

    The village set on the surface serves the role of a front door, so if you look around, there are humans to be seen.

    Still, even here a group of girls dressed as maids and knights appearing without taking a carriage caused a ruckus as everyone stared at us.

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t Dwarves look too similar to each other?¡±

    The only difference to be seen was between Dwarven man and women.

    The lady Dwarves, like Corona, are all ¡°Lolis.¡± The children are just smaller in stature.

    The elderly are only distinguished by the ¡®old person¡¯ atmosphere around them¡­ but their appearance is about the same. Maybe if you look hard you can see wrinkles or something.

    Maybe Corona is actually normal?

    Even though the guild master looked about ten or twelve years old, I was sure that she was past 30, but now 50 wouldn¡¯t be surprising.

    Anyways, just as the women were all lolis, the men all seemed like old men.

    The physique of beards was present, just like the ¡°Dwarves¡± in a fantasy setting, but they didn¡¯t at all look like the same species as the lolis.

    ¡°Maybe if they lost their beards they¡¯d look younger.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to try and see?¡±

    I tried not to think about the conversation I heard between Tina and Nea, but at their gaze, the male dwarves in the area swiftly backed away.

    Although, this still didn¡¯t reduce the number of looks we were getting.

    I¡¯m in my usual black silver-lined dress, which at the moment is sitting at a length just above my ankles, so maybe I look like I¡¯m from a noble family?

    ¡°U-umm¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    As a lone Dwarf girl (Loli) spoke to me, I gave her a smile so as not to intimidate her.

    ¡°Are you in need of a healer?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    Following her gaze, Daichi and Futa were laying on the ground motionless with their eyes rolled back, right where we had left them.

 Volume 7 - CH 13.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 13: In the North, Part 2, Part 2

    ¡°How cruel, Shisho~¡±

    ¡°¡­ I thought I would die.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s fine as long as you didn¡¯t die.¡±

    Nea seems to be called Shisho by Daichi and Futa. It must have happened from when she put them through training at the parade grounds.

    She would run them around everywhere until they collapsed, I even had to revive them with holy magic twice a day.

    Rather than be disappointed, it¡¯s impressive how much they¡¯ve gown that they¡¯re not still knocked out, it means their spirits still haven¡¯t been broken.

    After all, those two were alive, so they couldn¡¯t say anything about Nea¡¯s methods.

    Hmm¡­ I wonder if they have more time each day for training?

    ¡°Well then, shall we all go shopping?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Shopping, us?¡±

    ¡°A break¡­¡±

    I tried to keep myself from flinching at their mutters, as Futa gives me a hopeful look.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m not a demon after all.¡±

    I am a Demon, though.

    ¡°Why the change in heart?¡±

    I give a quick explanation to Futa, who still looked confused.

    ¡°When you think of Dwarves, aren¡¯t high quality weapons a classic?¡±

    And so, we began to move towards the underground shopping mall.

    The dungeon has many entrances, close to subway entries in feel.

    Since people live below ground, I assumed there would be a light source, but it was much brighter than I thought.

    It¡¯s not as bright as daylight, but since the floor and ceiling are glowing steadily, as soon as my eyes got used to the dimness, it was easy to move around in.

    It doesn¡¯t seem to have been added earlier, so is it some sort of mechanic of the dungeon?

    I may have just said so, but the Dwarves seem to be fine workmen and smiths after all. Although there was a weapons shop on the ground level, as far as impressions, it felt more like a ¡°souvenir shop¡± and when I asked the clerk there, they told us that the proper weapons are sold in stores in the underground shopping area.

    Therefore, I came up with the idea of getting weapons for those two, since their equipment was so awful.

    It was provided from Sail Country, why complain, you ask? Well, what they¡¯re equipped with is the level of an ordinary squire, not even to the level of a Hero¡¯s companion.

    Actually, come to think of it, they weren¡¯t recognized as heroes, but it¡¯s still better than a certain game by a few hundreds of times, since the king throws the Hero out there with only a wooden rod and ordinary clothes, but still, they only have iron swords.

    I saw the production area of the castle, so I know they¡¯re awful, although I¡¯m not an expert.

    They just poured iron into a sword mold and hit it until it was the right shape before sharpening it, steel making technology is out there, but it looked like an iron decoration sold by a house decoration store.

    At least cough up a magic sword, even a used one. They¡¯re stingy in such strange places for a large country.

    Still though, I think if I left it to Noa, he would make them vicious [Demon Swords], which would be about as dangerous as handing new recruits a bazooka to start with.

    So, as I came to the Dwarven lands, I decided to buy swords that looked good enough.

    ¡°Here we are.¡±

    ¡°So big¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ It looks like a department store.¡±

    After listening to the natives, we came to the recommended weapon shop, only to see a big building built like a small fort.

    There¡¯s no mistaking it, however, since you can hear the *gachin* sounds of metal striking metal from beyond.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in, then¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°We¡­ do we have enough money?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll give you some.¡±

    ¡°Is that okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no problem.¡±

    I have far too much money.

    Why, you ask? In this world there may be Sacred Magic, but nobody out there can treat the scalp quite like me.

    ¡°Huh¡­ the selection is really good here.¡±

    As we entered, we could see weapons lined up like home electronics at big box stores, with Dwarven female lolis running the reception and moving throughout the shop.

    However, the items in front of us were not too bad, but also not very good. Apparently, it seems that the higher quality goods are sold from the back, so we decided to proceed further in.

    ¡°Hello customers, what kind of things are you looking for?¡±

    Since I look like a noble, the clerk (Loli) speak to me first.

    It was the same outside, but it seems like the Dwarves aren¡¯t too frightened of my doll-like appearence. With Corona, I was wondering if it was just because she was the Guild Master, but apparently the Dwarven race has poor eyesight.

    ¡­ If I lived in such a dark place, my eyes would definitely get worse.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for swords that a weak human boy and a super-weak human boy can use, can you help me find some?¡±

    ¡°¡­Weak¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Super-Weak¡­¡±

    Daichi and the other were muttering something, but I paid no mind.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s take care of that. First let me ask whether you are looking for a normal sword or magical sword-¡±

    ¡°[Why would you charge so much to a beauty like me!!]¡±

    Suddenly, a big voice came from the back of the store.

    ¡°¡­What was that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am¡­ it¡¯s one of our regulars.¡±

    At my question, the Clark girl (Loli) looked frustrated.

    Since there are customers like that no matter where you are naturally, I wasn¡¯t very concerned. Also, although the words were feminine, the voice was a deep bass.

    ¡°Ah, I apologize, would you mind coming with me to the back if you¡¯ll follow me.¡±

    ¡°Customer-sama!¡±

    The clerk hurriedly spoke to us before heading towards the noise and calling out, so we headed straight to the back of the store.

 Volume 7 - CH 14

    Volume 7, Chapter 14: In the North, Part 3

    ¡°What kind of price are you charging for this quality? Although it¡¯s a new product, the strength is lower than the last model, so make it cheaper!¡±

    He really looks like Francois-san.

    Also, looking at the racks of weapons, there are signs saying [New Product] or [Up to 15% more magical conductivity], or [Surprisingly Powerful Design] etc¡­ have those other worlds leaked this contamination here?

    The person yelling enough to cause the manager to sweat was a tall, muscular, well-groomed man. Ah, rather, a ¡°Woman~.¡±

    Surely as a noble, they have plenty of money, why are they being so cheap?

    I guess it can¡¯t be helped¡­

    ¡°If you let the strength of a weapon fall, perhaps your priorities are off.¡±

    ¡°Ara, Dearie, do I know you?¡±

    ¡°C-customer-sama?¡±

    I want to get a price cut as well, now.

    ¡­Hmm? Did I do something strange?

    In a case where a manager is having trouble with a customer, it¡¯s natural to join in, to have allies in getting a discount¡­

    Hehehe, I truly am a Demon.

    While here, I¡¯m projecting my newly integrated ¡°Yuzu¡± common sense, rather then Yurushia.

    I feel like I¡¯ve moved up as a Demon as a result.

    Seeing what seemed to be a noble girl join into the price bartering, the broad shouldered person laughed, a wide smile on their face, while the clerk¡¯s expression fell dramatically.

    ¡°H-however, this product is a breakthrough in the use of new alloys¡­¡±

    ¡°And yet, it¡¯s twice as expensive as any other weapon of this strength, It¡¯s too high. As such a valuable repeat customer, I demand you make it cheaper.¡±

    ¡°Maa maa~, hold for a moment. You wouldn¡¯t want to spoil your beautiful face, no?

    ¡°Ara?¡±

    As I gently interrupted the tirade, my new comrade gave me a dazzling smile, stretching their stubbled cheeks. I return the smile in kind and restart the conversation with the manager.

    ¡°To what extent has the strength fallen? Please explain.¡±

    ¡°Well, this material is¡­¡±

    Although the explanation took a long time, in short, it has better overall performance, but the strength dropped by a step due to the new material. It seems like the high price is due to the research expenses that went into the creation of the new material, rather than the material itself being expensive.

    ¡°I understand, but while it may be natural to include development costs in a new product, a sword with a lowered strength can¡¯t be called a finished good. So, how about we use this other price instead?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I see. It¡¯s too expensive.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped for a new product to some extent, but with that performance, anything more is impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±

    With the new price being discounted to the same as the previous model, I buy two swords and the large man buys one.

    He seemed frustrated that he didn¡¯t get it for even cheaper, but he seemed to like the new product so he didn¡¯t raise a fuss.

    The store manager seemed relieved that Francois-san¡¯s annual visit went smoothly, it seems he was expecting a larger discount.

    ¡°He~ey, Manager-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-what is it?¡±

    As I spoke up, the manager looked at me with a slightly intimidated expression.

    ¡°It will be okay; this day can still end on a good note. Would you like a special Magic Formula to increase the strength of this magical weapon?

    ¡°¡­ HoHo.¡±

    The store manager¡¯s composure shifted to that of a cutthroat merchant in the blink of an eye.

    The magic items in this world are not miniaturized or very complex since they rely on magic stones.

    I have made my own formations, but in this case, I¡¯m trying to sell Atra¡¯s more common place permanent enchantments.

    After an example was placed on a weapon and the strength increase was demonstrated, the negotiations with the manager closed at a sale total of 200 gold coins ¨C about 20 million yen.

    I also wanted a patent fee, but I might save that for the larger engagements.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±

    ¡°¡°Welcome back, Yurushia-sama.¡±¡±

    After spending about half a day in negotiations, my two attendants graciously greeted me.

    Behind them, the tired eyes of Daichi and Futa grow fearful, but I don¡¯t mind.

    I helped that person get a discount, and, on the store side of things, improved on their problem so everyone is happy.

    In a sense, this kind of knowledge is a cheat too.

    ¡°Dearie, so your name is Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you for your help in there.¡±

    Suddenly moving straight to ¡°Yuru¡± is¡­ eh it¡¯s fine.

    The loud fellow who approached seemed to have been waiting for me here even though it had been half a day since they left the store.

    ¡°Well, I normally dislike pretty little girls, but I liked Yuru-chan¡¯s way of handling that discount negotiation.¡±

    ¡°Maa, sorry about that, you resemble a certain ¡®Princess¡¯ friend of mine, so I may have joined in without asking.¡±

    He¡¯s just like that 3-meter-tall princess.

    When I compared him to a ¡®Princess,¡¯ he put a hand over his mouth and made an [Ufu] laugh.

    ¡°Well, you may be young, but you certainly don¡¯t speak wrong, are you perhaps the daughter of a merchant leader?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination.¡±

    ¡°Ufufufu¡±

    ¡°Ho ho ho¡±

    As the two of us laughed together, the various guests around us seemed to be moving further and further away.

    ¡°I¡¯ve truly fallen for you. Please call me Kan-chan, Yuru.¡±

    ¡°Are you from a noble family, Kan-chan?

    ¡°Fufufu¡­ I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination as well.¡±

    For some reason Kan-chan seemed like a ¡°Isekai Person.¡±

    I think the only people in this world who would dye their hair and use such words at an age past 30 would be foreigners. That said, I don¡¯t hold anything against that type.

    ¡°Oh how I wish all the children in this world were like Yuru.¡±

    ¡°Ara? Kan-chan, did something happen?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, I need to deal with some mysterious little girl, or so I¡¯ve been told.¡±

    ¡°That sounds troublesome. I also have to deal with some troublesome guy for my job.¡±

    ¡°Yuru shouldn¡¯t be so serious, after all, young lady, are not your escort boys ¡°Isekai People¡±?

    Kan-chan turned to gaze lazily at Futa and Daichi, who puffed their chests out proudly.

    ¡°Isekai Children who can fight must be strong, I bet they were expensive to hire.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re correct.¡±

    Aside from the chosen Heroes, they¡¯re all expelled as useless, but it seems that they still have more job opportunities than normal people, because their souls are strong.

    I personally think they should use them as knights after training them at the castle, but I guess it costs too much money to educate people who don¡¯t have any training from scratch.

    ¡°Ufufufu, what if, instead, you hired them to me? I¡¯ll cherish them dearly~¡±

    As they speak, Kan-chan gives Daichi and Futa a wink with their centimeter-long eyelashes, and their knees buckle as they squirm away, shaking their heads.

    ¡°Anything can be experience, no?¡±

    As I looked their way with a kind smile, they flew back several meters in an instant.

    Hmm. It seems that the true outcome of the special training has finally come out. I¡¯ll have to make sure they¡¯re advanced to the next level in that case.

    And thus, I met the true Dwarf of this country, the mysterious Isekai person, Kan-chan.

    It seems like we¡¯ll be good friends, we both value a partner and we¡¯re both now thinking of how to use the other to help with our problems.

    I thought this would be nothing but a chore, but it turned out to be a good bit of fun.

    ¡­ Come to think of it, where is that Hero around here?

 Volume 7 - CH 15.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 15: In the North, Part 4, Part 1

    There is apparently a dungeon here, which might be the cause of the zombie incidents.

    However, the contract between me and Corona is to: [Go to the Dwarven Country and deal with the Northern Hero who would destroy the country as part of resolving the issue], so, if I want to finish off this contract, I only need to find and terminate the hero.

    But I won¡¯t do that.

    It¡¯s not that I particularly want to get along with the hero. It¡¯s just that I gave a promise to Yuuki-kun: expose the crimes of the traitor Heroes and to let him deal with them himself.

    Yes¡­ A [Promise].

    For all that a Demonic [Contract] is absolute, there are in fact back roads to follow. For example, a Demon, which has no concept of a life expectancy, can just leave the request to be completed later if they don¡¯t like it.

    Even in the case of a contract with a deadline like this one, as long as the Dwarven Country remains in form, if not function, I can declare that the minimum contract needs have been completed.

    Always be careful when a Demon comes by as a door to door salesman.

    However, promises are different.

    I don¡¯t know about other Demons, but I always fulfill my promises¡­ to my friends, at least.

    Besides, if it¡¯s too easy, isn¡¯t that boring?

    And so¡­ when we came to this world, I made a decision.

    I¡¯ll do my best to complete this without looking like a Demon.

    ¡°In other words, Futa and Daichi will be working with my servants to capture the dungeon room by room.¡±

    ¡°¡°What was that!?¡±¡±

    Mu~. Was that not enough explanation? Daichi and Futa both gave me a tsukkomi at the same time.

    Well, maybe I need to explain better.¡±

    ¡°Nea, Tina, give those two their new equipment.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    At my direction, Nea gives the newly forged magical swords we bought to those two. Tina also has half plate which I bought properly.

    The swords were quite pricey in all, even one costed as much as a small car. Due to the reinforcing magic circles on top of that, it¡¯s the price of getting a new car for every family member. When I told them the price, they both went blue in the face.

    ¡°W-wait a minute, aren¡¯t you putting me and Daichi on the chopping block too fast?¡±

    Futa looks at Daichi before glancing back at me.

    ¡°It¡¯s different since you¡¯re with me. Since I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll heal you and provide support magic, since you weren¡¯t accepted as a Hero to fight the Demon King, if you¡¯re coddled here it wouldn¡¯t be training, right?¡±

    ¡°Training through combat, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that.¡±

    At the downtrodden words of Daichi, I give a light giggle.

    The plan at the moment is to make this a life risking battle drill for Futa and Daichi. Ultimately, my goal is to make them strong enough that they won¡¯t easily die against a Hero, but I won¡¯t say that aloud.

    Those four: made up of these two along with Mizuki and Touka, are slated to eventually become [Heroes].

    After leaving the training of those two to Nea and Tina, I¡¯ll move to the end of the dungeon.

    If there¡¯s a dungeon master there, I¡¯d like to talk with them about some things. I intend to just hold back the Hero, although Tina and Nea both think that they won¡¯t lose even if they battle the entire Heroes party alone.

    According to my estimates, the [Hero¡¯s Party] and an [ArchDemon] are about equal in power.

    Since my little ones are higher than most of the greater demons in fighting power, while it would be dangerous if they fought all four heroes, I don¡¯t think that a single Hero¡¯s party would be a problem.

    However, since it might spoil my status as a Demon, I want them to avoid battle as much as possible.

    ¡°Should we put the hero¡¯s companions into ¡°Snacks?¡±

    ¡°¡­In moderation¡±

    For Tina, the soul of a Heroic party member was about the same as a banana, feeling-wise.

    ¡°Well then, shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Where is this dungeon? I know Corona-san said that it was underground, but we don¡¯t know where the entrance is, right?¡±

    Futa gave a neat summary of the situation.

    According to the adventurer¡¯s guild of Gamble, the dungeon should be nearby. Maybe one of the residents here would know?

    ¡°I bet the Dwarf Elder here knows where it is.¡±

    ¡°Well then, should we start from there?¡±

    Daichi and Futa seem to be excited to feel like adventurers.

    BuBuu~ Wrong answer

    ¡°We¡¯ll knock it down¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­Wha?¡±¡±

    At my statement, the two of them look towards me, and when they look back, Nea has pulled out the [Nyanko Sword].

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    *Dogoooon!*

    The sound of crumbling earth overshadows the slashing sound that causes me to blush as usual, as the ground of the lesser traveled road is penetrated by Nea¡¯s blow.

    As expected, it easily split the less magical rocks.

    A few earthquakes are still rumbling, and I can hear the screams of residents here and there, but this is just as calculated. Honest.

    I don¡¯t think there were any witnesses, so using the large dust clouds thrown in the air, we quickly jumped down into the dungeon before anyone could see.

    We made a landmark. Come on over, Hero. Please follow along.

    ¡­ Now that I think about it, it might have been bad if there wasn¡¯t a dungeon below.

 Volume 7 - CH 15.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 15: In the North, Part 4, Part 2

    ¡°GehoGeho.¡±

    Appreciating their luck with their risky entrance, the three demons who fell into the dungeon split up and begin their exploration.

    The first, Tina looks down coldly at Futa, who¡¯s still coughing from the dust, and blankly speaks:

    ¡°Are you an insect?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s wrong!¡±

    Futa gives a reflexive retort, as Tina tilts her head, her expression unreadable.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Futa considers Tina as he looks at her.

    After being summoned into the world kidnapping-style, the four of them had been saved by the [Saint], who kept them from being thrown out due to their insufficient abilities.

    Although they have different backgrounds, the four people feel indebted to Yurushia, who helped them in this stressful world.

    Protecting the four of them from the threats of this strange world, saving their lives, teaching them how to fight¡­

    Although he wished she would go a little easier on them¡­

    While Yurushia is younger than him, she¡¯s more mature due to being a noble, even more than Mizuki or Touka, although her breaks in composure are amusing.

    Also, Yurushia¡¯s appearance is top-notch, and though he tends to forget the others due to wowing over her, looking again, Tina also has a flawless face.

    So long as a person is alive, some faults would happen to their face.

    Eyebags from lack of sleep, too much sleep causing swelling. Even just the habit of chewing on the right or left side while eating makes changes with enough time.

    Within families, even the members who aren¡¯t related by blood somehow tend to resemble each-other due to the common points of their lifestyle causing small changes. Conversely, when raised in a different environment, even twins can look quite different.

    However, the Saint¡¯s face was in no way marred.

    Futa, who was familiar with 3-D CG things, didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with having nothing wrong with their faces, treating it like a beautiful girl who was doll-like.

    Even though she was still junior high aged, looking at her he couldn¡¯t help but blush.

    He thinks Mizuki has a similar but smaller effect, with the young single knights in the castle looking at her and the other girls with blushes all around.

    Nea, with her mature appearance is especially popular, and Fanny always gives the loveliest smiles.

    Tina seems to be the most beautiful among the servants, but Futa thought that it fell off due to the coldness of her facial expressions.

    Futa has a habit of looking at things calmly, which makes people other than Daichi think that he¡¯s a cold person, so he had very few friends.

    As such, he couldn¡¯t help but think: if Tina would just relax a little, and undo her villainous hair rolls, and had something more than a wash board for a chest¡­

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­No.¡±

    Feeling like his thoughts are being read, Futa quickly breaks eye contact.

    Incidentally, this brings him to brazenly look at Tina¡¯s chest.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s get on with exploring the dungeon. This unworthy servant, Tina, will accompany you. Are you ready, Futa-sama?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Having learned long ago to never not be prepared, Futa draws his sword in a panic. From his prior experience, saying that you¡¯re not ready just gets you dragged in anyways.

    ¡°Umm, will Tina be helping with the fight?¡±

    ¡°Yes, to some degree, depending on my mood.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At her nodding response, Futa feels even more nervous.

    Due to her taking them apart time and time again, Nea¡¯s skills in battle is well known to him, but how strong is this gorgeous maid?

    Having seen Tina dragging Daichi by his legs as she sprinted at tremendous speed, he knows that her physical abilities are far from normal, but he still feels anxious.

    Whether she can fight or not, when something happens, he¡¯s unsure of whether he could protect the younger girl as a man.

    The only thing she¡¯s wearing is her maid outfit, which doesn¡¯t seem to have much defensive power, and she doesn¡¯t seem to have any kind of weapons.

    ¡°Here we go!¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    At Tina¡¯s signal, despite his trembling form he moves forward.

    Within the dungeon, the ceiling glows slightly, although it¡¯s not as good as a lamp.

    The floor, walls, and ceiling are all made of stone,

    Hearing a *Zuruzuru* it sounded like something was being dragged towards Futa.

    ¡°It¡¯s Woof-chan the zombie, see?¡±

    ¡°¡­W-woof-chan?¡±

    Seeing her face with such an expression, Futa felt his strength leave him.

    It was definitely a dog. However, it definitely wasn¡¯t cute enough to be called Woof-chan.

    Is this thing a variation of a hellhound or some off-shoot of Cerberus? Even as a joke, calling this rotting, 3-meter-long, two-headed dog cute is too much.

    Futa looks at his first real fight, its eyes glowing maliciously, releasing a presence of the cold embrace of death inherent to undeath, and he can¡¯t help but gulp.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem too fast, so why not aim to cut its legs?¡±

    ¡°G-got it.¡±

    Futa gathered himself and stepped forwards while holding out his sword.

    ¡°[Gauoooooooo~]¡±

    ¡°Hee!¡±

    Letting out a bark, the zombie dog attacked.

    Although it was slow due to its rotting muscles, due to its large body, the space between them was covered in a blink on an eye. Futa let out a small yelp.

    *Gachin*

    In from of Futa, the dog¡¯s fangs don¡¯t reach him.

    Without him moving, Tina seems to have grabbed him by the collar and moved him behind her, allowing him to dodge the zombie dog¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Futa-sama, once again, from the beginning.¡±

    ¡­Eh?¡±

    After her quiet comment, Tina calmly and regally walked to the zombie dog, grabbing it by the neck and dragging it back to its initial position.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­]¡±

    It seems that he wasn¡¯t the only one stunned, the zombie dog, even with its great amounts of brain damage, seemed to be speechless as well.

    ¡°Retsu ripito!¡±

    ¡°[¡­Growl!]¡±

    The zombie dog, having recovered from its stunned state, attacked Tina as she spoke again, this time in dubious English. However;

    ¡°Sit!¡±

    Contrary to expectations, Tina grabs the zombie dog by the neck again and helps (forces) it to sit down before coming back beside him.

    ¡°Okay, now, Futa-sama, let¡¯s first start by targeting the legs.¡±

    ¡°¡­ok.¡±

    ¡°[¡­roo.]¡±

    After repeating that process over and over again, Futa defeated a zombie for the first time in his life. At the same time, Futa felt sympathy from the bottom of his heart for the terrible existence of the zombie for the first time in his life.

 Volume 7 - CH 16.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 16: In the North, Part 5, Part 1

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, Kanzo-sama.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Listening to the words of the bishounen knight, Kanzo gives a leering smile past their bright red lips while playing with their hair.

    The knight, somewhat overwhelmed by the smile, quickly retreated (Ran away) as though a great bear was chasing him, leaving Kanzo to admire his backside.

    ¡°Ufufu~¡±

    The knight¡¯s pace speeds up again at the giggle from his superior behind him and soon enough the destination was in sight.

    The Dwarf Country¡¯s underground shopping mall. Usually you would need a torch underground to keep away the darkness, but this mall is bright enough that no additional lighting was necessary.

    The reason: the mall was part of a dungeon.

    The dungeon is managed by the dungeon master which keeps it clean and some degree of lighting is ensured.

    However, since the dwarves settled in this dungeon over a thousand years ago, very few people would even suspect this area being a dungeon.

    Only the dwarven elders, settlement managers, the upper echelons of Gamble and a small part of the adventuring guild know, with the exception of a few others. Naturally, this includes the Great Hero Kanzo and their party members.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s this¡­¡±

    As they walked into the dusty area to the area, Kanzo¡¯s party members could be seen surrounding a huge hole straight through the bedrock.

    Although the inhabitants here had claimed it as a sinkhole caused by a shift in the groundwater, just looking at it Kanzo could see that it kept going all the way down to the lower level of the dungeon.

    ¡°Is this a natural phenomenon?¡±

    The knight captain who kept himself near quietly asked Kanzo.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not¡­ It¡¯s just a little, but some magical residue remains. It¡¯s almost completely pure, very few signs of a missed cast¡­ they must be quite a mage.

    Despite their looks, Kanzo has been fighting as a [Hero] constantly for more than 10 years now without losing a single time.

    Just at first glance, they could see the skill of the ones who created this hole, and knew right away that their goal was to reach the dungeon below.

    ¡°¡­Then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. An invader.¡±

    An invader in a secret dungeon.

    A terrible smile came upon Kanzo¡¯s face at a thought: Perhaps this was the work of that golden saint, who seemed to have come to investigate the zombie incidents.

    ¡°And here I thought it was all rumors, this will be pleasurable after all¡­ Darlings!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai!¡±¡±¡±

    The knights respond as one to Kanzo.

    ¡°I will follow the invaders directly through this hole, you all should go down the regular path, don¡¯t let anyone escape!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai!¡±¡±¡±

    Kanzo jumps into the hole in the road as soon as they hear the knights¡¯ response.

    As Kanzo fills in the hole in the road behind them with [Earth Magic], the knights rushed to the dungeon entrance in order to pursue the intruders from the only remaining exit.

 Volume 7 - CH 16.2

    Volume 7, Chapter 16: In the North, Part 5, Part 2

    There are monsters in the dungeon.

    Wild beasts may come to mind at first at the term, which tend to live in ordinary caves and ruins,

    Monsters, though¡­ what makes a true monster?

    There are some theories around, but the lead theory is the influence of mana.

    Mages can capture animals and turn them into monsters, and dead bodies filled with magic become undead.

    Other than that, there are things that are possessed by lower demons or other spirits, and even things like unicorns and dragons, but generally, the term monster includes those too,

    It is believed that dungeons contain so many monsters because the levels are magically created by the dungeon master, but in fact, with the amount of ambient mana, animals would not become monsters in a short period.

    Dungeons have ¡°Something¡± which draws in monsters. However, nobody knows exactly what.

    ¡°Dowaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    A long boy is running through such a dungeon.

    Daichi was running at full power, sweat, tears, and snot dripping from him as he ran down the passage while holding the sword bought for him by their blonde haired ¡°guardian¡± in this different world.

    ¡°[Urgh]¡±

    A few goblin zombies appeared in front of Daichi.

    He had never seen a live goblin before now, but these were definitely zombies, from the smell of rotting skin and glowing eyes.

    Apparently, this dungeon is a prime hang-out for undead monsters.

    Since Daichi had heard from Yurushia that this dungeon was the cause of the zombie plague, he wasn¡¯t surprised to find zombies here, but even so, scary things are scary.

    No matter how much strangeness he¡¯d experienced in the last few months since being a high schooler, it¡¯s natural to fear moving corpses and deadly monsters.

    A common story like a summoned hero defeating a monster, when Daichi thought of that, he would picture someone far from ordinary.

    However¡­

    ¡°Hyaaa!¡±

    *Zuba~*

    ¡°[Uoooo]]¡±

    With his nose running, and tears falling, Daichi quickly strikes out at the goblin zombies.

    The blade falls accurately, and his muscles don¡¯t fail him.

    The [Battle Skills] and ¡°Terror¡± engraved into his body and soul over the past few months gave Daichi the power to fight, even if he believed he¡¯d lose.

    No¡­ Rather than that, Daichi is demonstrating his resolve.

    What happened to him, you asked?

    ¡°Kyaaaaaa!¡±

    Daichi screamed like a maiden before a speeding shadow defeated the zombies in moments.

    Standing in front of him now, Nea, holding an evil-feeling golden sword, turned to Daichi with a surprisingly lovely smile.

    When they fell into this dungeon they were separated from the others, and Nea, now alone with him, all of a sudden acted like a shy little girl.

    ¡°[I¡¯ll follow you, alright? If I catch up again, please prepare your neck, Daichi.]¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure what she meant by that.

    It sounded cute, but that doesn¡¯t matter.

    Even though it sounded like a joke, the words make Daichi feel instantly more serious, rather, what she said sounded Serious.

    Even if her manner was like asking him to keep his second button closed, he can¡¯t trust that tone.

    After all, in past trainings, Nea would often slice at Daichi with practice swords without remorse.

    It was only because of their ¡°Guardian,¡± Yurushia that they hadn¡¯t died until now, with her staying close by and healing all their injuries.

    However, now there¡¯s no safeguard.

    Nobody is here to scold Nea when she goes for overkill, by taking her attention back.

    Even then, every now and then, after being scolded, Nea would shout out the word ¡°Repent¡± before beating up Daichi the next day.

    Daichi acknowledges Nea as a master swordswoman but there is a problem.

    He has to admit that there is a wide difference between Nea and Daichi¡¯s combat capabilities.

    However, although his teacher is so far beyond him, and mysterious besides, a boy¡¯s heart yearns to prove his strength, simply because Nea¡¯s appearance is that of a beautiful girl around his age.

    Adolescent libido takes priority every time.

    Back to the subject at hand.

    Currently, in order for Daichi to survive, the only option is to survive and make it to Yurushia.

    If Nea catches up to him before then, death is waiting. Although she said ¡°Neck¡± in such a sweet tone, that can¡¯t be interpreted as anything other than hell training.

    In the depths of his heart, he hoped that this training would stop if he were about to die, but picturing Nea¡¯s pleasant smile, his hopes died a swift death.

    ¡°Owaaaaaaa!¡±

    Suddenly, a gigantic Orc Zombie appeared, Daichi screamed before he slid under its legs.

    ¡°[Bumo!?]¡±

    The moment Daichi saw the Orc Zombie, with it¡¯s fighting power, he calculated the time it would take to defeat it and the time for Nea to catch up with him, and, mustering up his instincts, took that action.

    Somewhere along the line, he had forgotten his fear of monsters.

    Even though more enemies awaited him, it was better than Nea, who was approaching behind him.

    Beyond the battle training, the ¡°Treatment¡± that Yurushia had performed without Daichi¡¯s knowledge was starting to take effect.

    It¡¯s best for ordinary people not to know what exactly was done.

    *[Nyaaa]*

    Looking behind him at the strange slashing sound, the orc zombie had been reduced to rotten chunks in a single blow by Nea

    ¡°Aha~¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    Seeing Nea¡¯s pretty smile while surrounded by rotting gore, Daichi screamed and ran as fast as he could once more.

    ¡°What¡¯s that!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the intruder!¡±

    The next obstacle to appear were a few men wearing knight-like plate.

    Why would humans be in this kind of place? Were they originally humans? What did they mean by ¡®Intruder¡¯?

    While he is wary of the normal humans, Daichi appreciates their presence from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°Prepare yourselves, attack!¡±

    The knights pull their swords at the order and slash at Daichi¡¯s heading without hesitation.

    No use arguing.

    Usually, attacking a dungeon is unrestricted unless the adventurer¡¯s guild makes it impossible.

    Any adventurer can move at their discretion, except for dungeons that are licensed in some countries and have dungeon masters paying their taxes.

    So even though Daichi is here, he can¡¯t be blamed.

    However, from the knight¡¯s point of view, this is a dungeon managed by Gamble. A place that needs to be kept secret for matters of national security.

    Therefore, any intruder is evil and must be slain.

    It¡¯s a difference is thought, but which is incorrect differs depending on the perspective.

    ¡°Heeeee¡±

    Sharp blade shaking in his hands, Daichi bends down and slides forward.

    ¡°You!¡±

    ¡°Hiya!¡±

    Blocking the sword swing at him without stopping his run, Daichi pushes through the tunnel filled with knights.

    ¡°Ah, I leave what¡¯s following me to you!¡±

    The knights are stunned at the fearless method of avoiding them, pausing for a moment.

    ¡°W-wait!¡±

    ¡°Follow him, he won¡¯t escape!¡±

    ¡°Hold on, something¡¯s coming!¡±

    One of the younger knights noticed a presence approaching from further in the tunnel.

    A young woman is running around the passage with a skip in her step. The knights in their flamboyant adornments who have trained themselves to call an elephant a beautiful girl forget all about battle for a moment.

    ¡°What are you guys doing? Isn¡¯t that an intruder?¡±

    Among them, the knight captain turns his sword towards the approaching girl.

    He was Kanzo, a follower of the Hero, a vice captain of the Hero¡¯s party which they led.

    He was an aristocrat of Gamble, the second son of the Countess and formerly a senior knight.

    He was unsatisfied with his current position. He was chosen on paper to be a member of the Hero¡¯s party because of his appearance and fighting ability, but the real reason was because he was the highest-level disposable knight available.

    He think¡¯s he would be a better heir than his useless elder brother.

    Although he¡¯s in such an honorable [Hero¡¯s Party], he was unhappy to be serving such a special hero.

    Kanzo had taken on the Hero¡¯s sexual harassment with a smile in order to raise himself within the group.

    If he could show that he¡¯s competent and get more results from upcoming battles, he may even be chosen as a royal guard.

    By doing that, he thought, he could become the son-in-law of someone even higher up, enough to look down on the parents who put him here.

    Everything was for his goal¡­

    But even then, in the life he chose, he wants ¡°Charm.¡±

    Not just to get more money, but to enjoy beautiful women and relax, he wants this as much as anything else.

    And here, before him, is a prey that perfectly matches his desire.

    A beautiful girl with a cute smile.

    He doesn¡¯t know why she¡¯s intruding and why the boy seemed scared, but he¡¯ll catch up to the boy later, and ambush this girl for some pleasant times.

    If they die later on, he can just report that they took care of the intruder.

    ¡°You all, pursue that little boy, hurry!¡±

    ¡°¡­Got it¡±

    Although the other knights don¡¯t follow Kanzo from the bottom of their hearts, they will still serve the [Hero] as their duty as knights of Gamble.

    The men obviously could tell that their captain had dark thoughts in mind, but they wouldn¡¯t resist orders from their boss, who was a noble at that, but they seemed to all feel sympathy for the beautiful girl as they left.

    ¡°Terya!¡±

    The lead knight sharply swings at the girl¡¯s arms.

    The sword stopped moving. He couldn¡¯t push it forward either. Looking at what happened, however¡­

    When the sharp point of his sword came towards the girl, she didn¡¯t even use the expensive looking magic sword in her hand, just gently grabbed his sword in her pale delicate fingertips.

    The knight who had swung the sword, and the knights who were still nearby stood in amazement.

    ¡°T-this¡­¡±

    The knight, at his humiliation, tried to pull back the sword, dark emotions clouding his face, but the sword was immobile, as if caught in a huge rock.

    As he looked at the girl, he noticed that he had made a fundamental misunderstanding of that smile¡­ it was like a carnivorous flower, looking straight at him.

    The prey at this time was himself¡­

    ¡°Aha~¡±

    With that lovely smile, giggling slightly, the girl gracefully pushed her fingertip into the knight¡¯s chest.

    Her bare hands penetrated the metal full-plate without ceremony, the knight, feeling her fingertip at the edge of his heart shook his head at the child, tears falling from his eyes.

    The girl¡¯s fingertips finished puncturing the poor knight¡¯s heart, before she pulled out her hand along with ¡°Something¡± and licked her bloody fingertips with a beautiful look, her lips bright red with blood as she turned her cute smile at the remaining knights.

    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!¡±

    The knight threw down their weapons as one and ran away screaming.

    Nobody can tell that their faces hold the same expression as Daichi from before.

    ¡°Awawa~¡±

    Nea¡¯s cheery tone echoed through the dungeon as both Daichi and the knight ran through the corridors, staining the ground with tears as they ran side by side.

 Volume 7 - CH 17.1

    Volume 7, Chapter 7: The Devil¡¯s Temptation, Part 1

    The Hero of the North. The Hero of Earth. The Earth Hero.

    There were many titles that she¡¯d been called in the dozen years since she had been summoned as the [Hero] of Gamble, the northern country, as a beauty of about 15~16 years old.

    She was confused at first. She didn¡¯t cooperate, either. But, as she realized that she could fight in this world as if she was in a ¡°game¡± world, since she was carrying the power of a Hero, she reached the conclusion she had been chosen as a ¡°protagonist¡± in this world.

    In less than a year, she was called the strongest in Gamble.

    Naturally, they were popular with the women since they were strong in ability and had a powerful political position as a Hero.

    However, she paid no notice to the women, and even had expressed contempt towards them.

    She had been born in an old family in the Tohoku region, and had been the youngest of four siblings¡­¡­ born as the eldest son with three older sisters.

    Raised by their severe parents, their older sisters teased him like they would a pet cat.

    Before she had become aware, she had been discretely dressed up in her sisters¡¯ old clothes and had grown up while being treated like a girl, but she had gotten suspicious at some point.

    [Why is my body different from my sisters¡¯¡­¡­?]

    By the time she arrived at that question, her first love was an older boy in the neighborhood, and her heart by then was that of a maiden¡¯s, it could be said that in every sense of the word, it was too late.

    Her sisters didn¡¯t restrain themselves against this troubled youth. Being told to take care of their ¡°brother¡± because their parents were busy, they nurtured him into a fine ¡°woman¡±.

    However, unlike what her sisters wished for, she didn¡¯t turn into a ¡°trap¡±. Exceeding the height of an average adult in her senior years of elementary school, although she became a tall and beautiful youth, but with the appearance of a man and the heart of a maiden she became the exact opposite of a ¡°Trap¡± and became something like a [Trans-Female] instead.

    By the time her parents noticed everything, it was too late.

    {App¡¯s Note: Sorry to stop the action for a second, but as a member of the LGBT community, I just need to add a quick interjection that this isn¡¯t quite how gender identity and sexual preferences (Different things) are determined, although I¡¯m sure there are Drag Queens (Another, separate thing) who are cis, to which this origin may apply, thank you for your time}

    Her strict parents, who were unable to correct her, gave up completely, and began to treat her as if she didn¡¯t exist.

    She suffered. Was it really such a terrible thing to have the heart of a maiden while being born a man?

    Why didn¡¯t her parents admit it themselves?

    She suffered, with her parents who didn¡¯t even look at her, and with her sisters who had toyed with her to this point¡­¡­ she came to despise other women.

    And then, she was summonsed as a [Hero] in another world.

    As she gained strength, and everyone began to both fear and respect her, she realized.

    [Oh¡­¡­ I don¡¯t have to pretend any more¡­]¡­

    She bought women¡¯s accessories and make-up that she so coveted and began to polish herself.

    She didn¡¯t care for what anyone said. Anyone who complained about it, she would silence and get rid of with the power and authority of a [Hero].

    And with her spirit freed from repression and her physical ability rising as a Hero, her body grew to more than twice her previous size, and as a result of this, she thickened her make-up further, leaving her appearance craggy like a rock. With her interest in men and appearence, people began to fear her for more than her strength.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Strange.¡±

    More feminine than the average woman, Kanzo lightly tapped her face.

    In a way, it was overdoing it, but Kanzo, with a maiden¡¯s heart in a too-masculine body, used the full dialect of a noble lady.

    Well, even though she didn¡¯t fancy women, there were manyyoung noble ladies who were attracted to Kanzo¡¯s feminity, and she got along well with them.

    Kanzo was walking alone through the underground dungeon in the Dwarf country.

    Even though it was called the Dwarf country, it was really just the largest settlement among the many dwarf settlements.

    The Dwarves were somewhat like the template, with thick beards and stocky builds like a blacksmith, that¡¯s the kind of race they were. Her first visit, Kanzo had come to order a large sword with a heart pattern on the handle for herself.

    However, with her special ability as the Hero of Earth, Kanzo found a dungeon in the basement.

    Threatening the Dwarf elders¡­¡­ Kanzo had ferreted himself into the dungeon, sensually conquered it, and met the dungeon master.

    He¡¯d invaded the dungeon again by drilling a hole in pursuit of the [Golden Saint], but hadn¡¯t been able to find her yet.

    If the Golden Saint was here investigating the [Zombie Incident] then she should be headed towards the innermost chamber where the dungeon master was. Even though there were a few branch corridors and diversions. if the girl was aiming for the same location as she was, the trail should have appeared already. Kanzo, however, still hadn¡¯t seen even the shadow of the Saint.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t she be the Saint? Still, I think a fair number of people have invaded this place besider her¡­¡­¡±

    While Kanzo was walking towards the deepest reaches in contemplation, a huge zombie attacked him from the side.

    ¡°Ogre Zombie¡­¡­¡±

    Ogre. A demon-like monster with horns and fangs, with physical power similar to that of a high-ranking magic beast.

    Its muscles were eye candy for Kanzo, but it stank from rot. Still, she wouldn¡¯t dislike the smell of a more living man.

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    [Guoooooooooooooooohhhhhhh]

    Kanzo grasped firmly to the Ogre Zombie and folded its back with her well-trained strength, snapping it in half and finishing it off.

    Disgusting¡­¡­ as the ogre zombie collapsed to the ground, Kanzo sighed.

    ¡°It¡¯s just fake muscle¡­¡­ As expected, ¡°that person¡± is different.¡±

    The profile of a particular man stuck in Kanzo¡¯s mind.

    The hero of wind, Fortellis.

    The first person that Kanzo had given her heart to after coming to this world.

    He wasn¡¯t bothered by Kanzo¡¯s lifestyle, and treated her sincerely, fostering a friendship as fellow Heroes protecting the world together.

    But Kanzo wasn¡¯t satisfied. She wanted to be in a relationship with him.

    Kanzo who had her desperate desires rejected gently, didn¡¯t hate him for it. However, she could not stand the thought of him becoming another woman¡¯s, and killed him off to keep him for herself for all eternity.

    He didn¡¯t know what the other heroes¡¯ motives were. Everyone just happened to want to kill Hero Fortellis, and so they conspired.

    ¡°¡­¡­ That butt was more than any other woman deserved.¡±

    If the hero who had been reincarnated to earth heard this, it might have stirred up his desire for revenge again.

    Anyway, Kanzo managed to reach the dungeon master without ever meeting the Saint.

    He had planned to embarrass the Saint who had received positive evaluations from everyone and place a curse on her that even she couldn¡¯t remove with the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]. This was the vigilante justice for women that Kanzo didn¡¯t like, and in the past many of those cursed had taken their own lives.

    Kanzo wasn¡¯t some outrageous ¡°villain¡±, and if she liked someone she could socialize normally, but she was a person who couldn¡¯t help her ¡°selfishness¡±.

    ¡°It¡¯s Kanzo, open the door.¡±

    As Kanzo called out in front of a huge door with finely cut motifs ¡­¡­ it opened slowly, with a creak.

    In the dim gloom, there was a dazzling spectacle reminiscent of a royal palace.

    However, neither the shine of spectacular decorations nor red of the carpets remained, and the rotten areas were abandoned, while on the throne, protected by a knight who had become only bones, sat a black figure.

    [¡­¡­ Why. If it isn¡¯t the Hero of Gamble¡­¡­]

    It wasn¡¯t a human. Sounding like a wind blowing through a cave, wrapped up in a jet-black robe that seemed as if it were cut from the darkness was a silver skeleton with a red glow in its empty eye sockets.

    Elder Lich.

    The culmination of a mad magician who had mastered necromancy. Among the monsters that surpassed death, it was said to be the greatest.

    ¡°You have a poor complexion, as usual¡­¡­¡±

    [¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯m already dead.]

    It seemed that the Elder Lich didn¡¯t want to hear such things from her either.

    Kanzo and the Elder Lich weren¡¯t hostile to one another.

    In this place in the past, they¡¯d fought, and the Hero Kanzo had won, but she couldn¡¯t completely vanquish him, winning only barely while losing half of her subordinates.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t think that she¡¯d lose now if they fought, but a flawless victory was impossible.

    Although the winner and loser had long been determined between them, and they were cooperating now, there was a subtle tension between the two.

    ¡°Did that little girl pretending to be a Saint come here?¡±

    [¡­¡­Haha. She hasn¡¯t been here. There seems to be intruders, but aren¡¯t those your subordinates?]

    ¡°What¡­¡­ Do you not have the surveillance camera footage of them?¡±

    [Camera¡­¡­ Is that a recording device that the Heroes from several generations ago spread? It¡¯s only weaker, more recent dungeon masters who have such things. Well, did you manage to do *that*?]

    Kanzo¡¯s eyebrow cocked up a little at the Elder Lich¡¯s last words.

    ¡°There was still that matter, huh. Here, look at this.¡±

    The Elder Lich caught the thing that Kanzo threw towards him casually with a single hand.

    [¡­¡­¡­Hohoh. Well done. Is it complete¡­?]

    It was a small magic stone that had the glow and look of a gem.

    Magic stones were usually things that were the crystallization of magic within magical beasts that were embedded within their bodies.

    The magic beasts who could not use magic power techniques and didn¡¯t exhibit their powers intentionally, but, rather, sent magic power throughout their bodies through their blood. Because of that, it gathered up in the heart and formed a stone, but since it was crystallized from blood, it was usually black or dark red.

    At that time, Kanzo realized that a mana stone was attached to the ancient treasures of the Elder Lich, and that it was shining like a gem, and when she heard about it, she found out that it was possible to make a different color of magic stone with a special environment and controlling for the quality of the magic power.

    Although the mana stone that was jewel-like had come out of the body of a demonic dragon that had lived for thousands for years, Kanzo thought that it could be artificially done, and repeated various experiments with different magic powers in zombies with the power of the Elder Lich.

    Kanzo was dissatisfied.

    Mana stones that were supposed to be attached to ornaments that were supposed to be beautiful could not be dirty black.

    She didn¡¯t think that there was any point for it as a magic tool, but if it was a beautiful gem there was nothing better for her.

    However.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s an accidental discovery. I bought it from the adventurer¡¯s guild of Krishare, but the zombies that went there seemed to have absorbed some magic power and then turned out like this.¡±

    [Hoohh¡­¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you. Since I¡¯ll be in town for a while, please investigate what kind of magic power it is.¡±

    [¡­¡­ Got it.]

    As the loser, the Elder Lich was reluctant but accepted it.

    Those [Mass Zombie Outbreaks] that happened in Gamble and in the north, which had brought down a number of villages and caused a large number of deaths, had begun with Kanzo¡¯s selfishness.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t stop it at all even though she knew that there had been a large number of victims.

    [¡­¡­Wait.]

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    The Elder Lich stopped Kanzo, who had turned her back to leave to search for the Saint.

    [¡­¡­The middle layer¡­¡­ I feel a strong magic power around the corpse warehouse. Is that the person you¡¯re looking for?]

    ¡°¡­¡­ The deadhouse.¡±

    There was a warehouse where a large number of corpses were gathered in the middle layer.

    It was impossible to use the usual procedures to enter, and the dead bodies were sent out of the dungeon one by one from there, and when Kanzo visited previously, a couple dozen zombies started to move at her, and it became troublesome.

    ¡°Oh, well. It¡¯ll be quite amusing to see the little girl being attacked by zombies. Fufufu¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯ll be going with you then.¡±

    [¡­¡­ Don¡¯t break too many things.]

    ¡°Fufu, I¡¯m going to be careful.¡±

    Not breaking things, would this be for the dungeon or the Saint¡­¡­?

    Kanzo thought that the Saint managed to get away *by chance* and headed there.

    [¡­¡­¡­]

    As he watched Kanzo leave, and the big door closed behind her, the Elder Lich quietly stood up from his throne, kneeling towards the darkness behind the throne, and gently and quietly bowed his head.

    [It is as you said. ¡­¡­Demon Princess.]

    In response to that voice, the gloominess of the surroundings darkened a little. Cutting apart the darkness, a girl with beautiful golden eyes and hair stood.

    ¡°Yes, it was well-acted, Richard.¡±

    Kanzo didn¡¯t know, but the Princess of the Demon World, who had even given a ¡°name¡± to this Elder Lich, bestowed upon him a gentle smile for his efforts¡­¡­

    And the Elder Lich received his signed autograph to [Richard-kun] from [Demon Lady Yurushia], carrying it as if it were a precious treasure.

 Volume 7 - CH 18

    Volume 7, Chapter 18: The Demon¡¯s Temptation, Part 2

    [Oooooh! Princess, my deepest gratitude to you.]

    ¡°I-is that so? Well, that¡¯s good¡­¡­¡±

    Is that really enough, Richard?

    I could see that he was extremely pleased, hugging the ¡°signature board¡± that I had handed him as if it were a treasure, visually adoring it.

    Although I don¡¯t know for sure, this [Elder Lich¡¯s] magic power, from what I can see, is no lower than that of a [Greater Demon], but definitely less than that of an [Arch Demon]. He¡¯s a pretty powerful magical creature, and I definitely can¡¯t underestimate him, since he was formerly human.

    At first, when I arrived in this boss room, I was worried about how I would make him surrender, but when I turned on my full pressure, Richard surprised me by suddenly falling to his knees.

    [Ahem¡­¡­ pardon me.]

    It¡¯s quite useless to try to keep your dignity while you still have that colorful signature board in your pocket, you know?

    ¡°¡­¡­ By any chance, had you already heard of me beforehand?¡±

    [Yes, of course.]

    After affirming, Richard-kun¡¯s eye cavities began to sparkle brightly within his silver skull. ¡­¡­ oh, oh my.

    [I¡¯ve been an immortal for hundreds of years¡­¡­ having gained various pieces of knowledge, I learned that there were many worlds, but I knew that the Demon World had to be somewhere. I heard rumors of a Princess from the Greater Demon that I¡¯d gotten acquainted with as a monster.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    What? Rumors of me have spread to the Demon World all the way from Tess?!

    [Consigning one of the Pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lord] to the void with an amazing show of force, adding their name to the center of the [Twelve Pillars of Hell], and taming another of the Twelve Pillars, the [Dark Beast], called the ¡°Unstoppable Beast of the Demon World¡± that was obsessed with violence, leading and taking an army of Demons headed by four [Arch Demons], devouring all comers in the Demon World, the diabolic, truly demonic Demon Princess.]

    ¡°Oi¡±

    [Guwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

    Silencing his hot-blooded speech with a small poke at his forehead, Richard screamed and was blown into the wall of the 50-tatami boss room.

    ¡­¡­ I made a mistake in adjusting the power. I put in the same amount of magic power as I instinctively did when Tina invaded my personal space, but it seems that Richard got defeated by that and now couldn¡¯t get up¡­ before he came back crawling on all fours like an insect.

    Well¡­¡­ it¡¯s disgusting.

    [Thank you.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­what?

    Richard seems to be pretty energetic despite having cracked his skull and being defeated. Truly, an immortal. He¡¯s also the healthiest amongst monsters that I¡¯ve seen. I wonder if he¡¯d like to drink my special green juice? It¡¯s a health drink that I made all by myself out of 100% seaweed. ¡­¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know.

    [Because you didn¡¯t hit my ribs¡­¡­]

    Oh yeah, he was a skeleton.

    Still, what was with that ¡°rumor¡±? It¡¯s baseless to the extreme.

    What Twelve Pillars of the Demon World? I don¡¯t know where this large idol group came from, and now, before I knew it, I¡¯ve gained such an embarrassing nickname¡­¡­

    Should I resume my singing lessons again?

    ¡°¡­¡­Richard. It¡¯s not good to listen to such rumors, you know?¡±

    [I don¡¯t see the problem¡­¡­ Ah! I-I understand, stop! I¡¯m going to die, I¡¯m going to dieeeeeeee!!!]

    When I grabbed Richard-kun¡¯s skull in my hands and gripped it tightly, it gave off grinding noises and he replied me obediently with a desperate tone.

    [¡­¡­F-for now, leave the rest to your humble servant. The Dungeon Master association will announce the advent of the ¡°Princess¡± of Monsters, and carry out Princess¡¯ will.]

    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll leave it to you, Richard.¡±

    At Richard¡¯s affirmation, I smiled at him thinly in my [Duke¡¯s Daughter Mode].

    The real reason for me to come here was to put the Dungeon Masters under my control.

    Previously, in the Holy Kingdom, I had let the vampires infiltrate the underworld to gather information and clean up the garbage of society, so in this world, I¡¯m using the Monsters.

    Since they don¡¯t look like ¡°people¡±, it seems that they have had little effect on human society, and in this world the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild] has a decent influence beyond the boundaries of nations.

    For the general public, it would seem as if the dungeon masters and the adventurer¡¯s guild would be at each other¡¯s throats, but in fact they actually have a give-and-take relationship.

    Without dungeons, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild would not be able to secure a stable income nor material for adventurers, and if dungeon masters didn¡¯t have adventurers, they wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain stable [Food]sources.

    In addition, the fact that the capture of dungeons could be left to adventurers meant that countries wouldn¡¯t actively attack them with their armies.

    It worked well, adventurers and monsters. Soon, though, both of them will begin moving according to my will, before they even know it.

    Doesn¡¯t it feel very Demon-like to do all this? It¡¯s absolutely the kind of thing those muscle-headed idiot Demons who only have magic power would never say.

    ¡°¡­¡­But, will the other dungeon masters really move at my command?¡±

    I¡¯m a little nervous about that. I didn¡¯t think that there was a Dungeon Master¡¯s union, but with my direct threats¡­¡­ Would they cooperate without my direct involvement?

    [Do not worry. Since we¡¯re monsters, they have instincts to obey those who are strong. It will take time for the human masters, but since there are many of them who were betrayed by the human nations and the [Heroes], it¡¯s only a matter of time.]

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    After all, they did all sorts of things, those Heroes.

    I heard that one of the other human dungeon masters, had their lair ¡°raided¡± by the Heroes the other day, even though they dutifully paid their taxes and residence fees to the countries.

    The Heroes were steadily making enemies¡­¡­

    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s time for me to meet with Mr. Hero.¡±

    [Certainly. Princess, would you like to wear this?]

    Richard took out the [Magic Power Gemstone] that he had received from the Hero earlier from his robes.

    Surely, the hero couldn¡¯t have been the one generating the zombies¡­¡­ I had my doubts, but I had thought that that ¡°Kan-chan¡± would surely have been a proper hero.

    However much she disliked [Other Maidens], no matter how vain, no.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for you to hold on to it, Richard.¡±

    [Understood. Then, please take care. Although she looks that way, she¡¯s considerably skilled. Although, I am acquainted with one of the Greater Demons, I want to enter Princess¡¯ [Fan Club (Guards)], so I think I¡¯ll go and interview, until then I¡¯ll be in your care.]

    ¡°My [Black Company (Guards)]? Okay.¡±

    There are some strange Demons, too.

    ¡­¡­ Are they all masochists? Once they joined the company, they would start by drying the seaweed in the subspace.

    [Also¡­¡­]

    ¡°¡­¡­What is it?¡±

    Because we¡¯re cooperating, I¡¯m willing to listen to your requests, but what is it now?

    [Could you sign this T-shirt for me too?]

    ¡°¡­¡­T-shirt?¡±

    Hey, I guess there were T-shirts in this world.

    [It¡¯s my casual wear.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Apparently, those villain-like black robes were his work clothes.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­!¡±

    In the middle of the dungeon, at a dead end, Kanzo pushed her magic power into the stone, and the wall opened, revealing a passage.

    Because it required a certain amount of magic power and strength, it couldn¡¯t be opened by a normal scout, and would be difficult to discover without a considerable magic power in the first place.

    Behind that dark passage was the ¡°corpse storage warehouse¡± for sending in undead monsters to this dungeon.

    It was linked to several pits and managed the humanoid corpses that dropped down from those holes. Small animals and others were used as food for the ghouls.

    Sometimes, strong adventurers would survive, but they would end up being brought down by the monsters roaming the dungeon, and their equipment auctioned off to the dwarves.

    Competent adventurers were listed in the guild, so sometimes they would be returned as-is.

    As a dungeon, it was the locked-off type, which didn¡¯t attract many adventurers, since they didn¡¯t need too many bodies, but for the sake of making a [Magic Stone] from transforming corpses into monsters, a large number of corpses were needed.

    ¡°¡­¡­ How did you find this place? Did you have a strong informant within the scout corps? Oh, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Kanzo thought about the what the [Saint] could possibly have had up her sleeve to crawl in here, but abandoned the thought before heading for the corpse storage quickly.

    She didn¡¯t know if the girl had lost her way or discovered it, but either way, given that she was the [Saint], this would be trouble.

    She was going to watch the Saint get attacked by the moving corpses¡­¡­ so she had said to the Elder Lich, but internally, Kanzo was getting impatient.

    Recently, due to Kanzo producing too many zombies, the number of corpses has decreased.

    If the Saint used her rumored [Saint Magic], everything might be purified and turned to ash even before the dead bodies could begin to move.

    Those corpses were the ¡°seedbeds¡± for the [Magic Stones] that Kanzo wished for. Although she expressly said that it had been a *coincidence* that that product had been made, it wouldn¡¯t do to have a decrease in the number of seedbeds.

    Kanzo had never been prudent about her actions, and hated being patient more than anything.

    ¡°[Magic, defend my body¡­¡­ Shield]¡±

    As Kanzo walked along the tunnel quickly, she prepared herself for battle, strengthening her body and protecting it with magic, and reinforcing her weapons by applying enchantments.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t make light of the [Saint] despite her comments about their foolishness.

    Just being a young woman who looked pretty and was attractive to men made her an enemy to Kanzo, but to disrupt her hobbies, this could not be allowed.

    *bang*¡­¡­ As she opened the door of the corpse warehouse, she could smell a slight odor, and feel the frost magic that was used to keep the dead bodies from decaying.

    Hundreds of human and monster corpses were neatly arranged as the passage opened up. There were also some fairly large corpses, but because of the cold haze, it was hard to see.

    In that place that looked like the chiller of a meat processing plant, Kanzo felt something move in the corner of her vision.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    As Kanzo struck out with her sword gracefully, her target snapped off and bounced away.

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±

    One of the skeletons that managed the warehouse was shattered, rolling about on the floor, and Kanzo frowned.

    The skeletons, which were just bones animated by low-grade spirits, were the weakest existences in this dungeon, moving only by magic power. Even though their muscles had rotted, the zombies still had greater power, and their defenses were better, too.

    In addition, even among the undead, the bloodless skeletons would take a long time to create magic stones, but even after that amount of time, they would only make an extremely tiny garbage-like magic stone.

    ¡°¡­¡­Where is she?¡±

    Since there were a certain number of skeletons working, there were signs of movement.

    There might be some corpses that might have started moving after feeling out Kanzo¡¯s magic power, but she felt that there was ¡°something¡± there before all that.

    Because of that, Kanzo attacked that moving thing without thinking.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    When Kanzo turned around to face that faint voice, she saw a light far from him, and several corpses collapsed.

    ¡°Tsch,¡±

    Kanzo clicked her tongue and began to run in that direction silently.

    It wasn¡¯t the same as the [Holy Magic] that she heard about, but it was a spell aria that had similar meanings to that of [All Light].

    Rumors said that the [Saint] didn¡¯t learn her magic in this world like Kanzo did, but rather used the magic of her own original world.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    Once again, the voice sounded out faintly and the light shone from far away, and several corpses fell.

    ¡°¡­¡­Little girl.¡±

    As the ¡°seedbeds¡± were crushed, Kanzo stepped up her pace even as her face distorted with anger.

    In that moment, faintly¡­¡­ as Kanzo wielded her sword, feeling a slightly different movement from skeletons, the kobold zombies fell to the floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit.¡±

    Zombies that had just started moving didn¡¯t have magic stones within their bodies.

    Moreover, the power of a hero seemed to have some force of purification, and the zombies that Kanzo defeated could not be resurrected as a zombie any more.

    ¡°Where are you! Come out!¡±

    Kanzo, who had reached the limit of her patience, barked out. At first, she pretended to be a hero that had just incidentally passed by, and was thinking of attacking her under the pretense of carelessness, but even knowing that she would be on the alert, she shouted out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh my, this is quite the strange place. Kan-chan.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Turning around to face the voice, there was a beautiful golden girl standing there smirking at him, the one she¡¯d met at the underground weapons shop.

 Volume 7 - CH 19

    Volume 7, Chapter 19: The Demon¡¯s Temptation, Part 3

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm, Yuru-chan is the Saint after all?¡±

    With the girl¡¯s sudden appearance before her, Kanzo felt a tinge of surprise, but immediately schooled herself, giving the golden-haired girl in the black dress a composed smile.

    Yurushia narrowed her eyebrows slightly at Kanzo¡¯s words, and slowly tilted her neck to the side as she smiled pleasantly back at her.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­? You¡¯re not surprised, are you?¡±

    ¡°Somehow¡­¡­ I had the feeling that you weren¡¯t simply ¡°normal¡±.¡±

    To Kanzo, Yurushia was a highly suspicious girl.

    She gave off a presence that made Kanzo feel at welcome, like any common adventurer. Yet, she had breathtaking beauty and elegance that would not have been strange on some princesses.

    Still, even having noticed that she wasn¡¯t normal and knowing full well that a beautiful ¡°young lady¡± they termed a [Saint] was coming, her sense of recognition had gone awry. She was unable to place the title of [Saint] to her in her mind, even after knowing all that.

    Right now, just looking at Yurushia gave Kanzo the chills, and she trembled, knowing full well that she was at least on the same power level as a [Hero class] like herself.

    ¡°Were you just acting back then?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡­ that was ¡°me¡± as well.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­ So, then, what¡¯s a ¡°Saint¡± doing in a place like this?¡±

    Kanzo raised her magic power output, baring her teeth in an intimidating smile that would scare even most knights. Yurushia only deepened her smile.

    ¡°If you call me ¡°Saint¡± in this labyrinth of the dead, I¡¯m not quite sure how to respond¡­ What a strange question to ask¡­¡­ Hero of Earth.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ so you knew of me? What a mischievous child.¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­¡­ If you are a [Hero], then shouldn¡¯t you rightfully cooperate with me to eliminate all of the dead bodies in this place?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ If you¡¯re even a real [Saint], that is.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never really identified with that, myself.¡±

    What a bother¡­¡­ Yurushia put one hand on her cheeks and let out a small sigh just like a young noblewoman would.

    Looking at her¡­¡­ Kanzo was reminded of Yurushia¡¯s earlier smirk and voice, and her pretty face, before she shook herself free of the haze in her mind ¡­¡­ and ground her molars together.

    ¡°This is a dungeon that is being managed by Gamble.¡±

    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s alright to attack someone who was summoned in Sail, is that it? Won¡¯t it become an international problem? Oh, I should really ask Sail, Gamble, Hawk, and Suzaku about this dungeon here, then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yurushia giggled as she spoke, knowing full well that this dungeon was a secret. Kanzo noticed her meaning.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t know how much of it they knew, but she knew that they knew. If they realized that it wasn¡¯t Gamble that managed this dungeon but Kanzo herself, the other heroes would definitely butt in.

    If they did, they would discover that Kanzo was the mastermind behind the [Mass Zombie Outbreaks], and for her to keep her current fame and position, she needed to seal the mouth of the dungeon master, the Elder Lich.

    But then, that would reduce all of Kanzo¡¯s plans to nothing more than seafoam.

    Even if she proposed a back-room deal with them to get it back, with that crafty Hero of Water ¨C Kyoji around, he would take everything away from her if he could.

    ¡°¡­¡­Taking my things from me¡­¡­?¡±

    All of the beautiful things in the world were hers, and anyone who tried to take them away from her was ¡°evil¡±.

    ¡°[Shaker©`]!!!¡±

    Without a single hint of any wind-up, she uttered a single word of power, and around Yurushia, all the corpses were vibrated to dust.

    ¡°Ahahaha, little girl! Trying to take things away from me,¡±

    Kanzo shouted out with an in-suppressible laugh.

    [Light!]

    ¡°tsch! [Accel]!¡±

    As an explosive beam of light and heat burst toward her from that voice, Kanzo used [Acceleration] magic to dodge, as the light burnt dozens of corpses to ash in its wake.

    ¡°Tch, [Earth Shot]!¡±

    Enormous shards of rock burst forth like a giant shotgun, and Kanzo plunged forward in their wake.

    Kanzo favored the use of simultaneous weapon and spell attacks in her training.

    ¡°Hmmph!¡±

    Her muscles swelled, and around where she had heard the holy magic and the voice come from, she swung down with a sword of light from the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts].

    ¡°Aah, what a pain!¡±

    Kanzo groaned in annoyance as the rock bullets and her sword strikes destroyed even more corpses.

    ¡°Where are you! Come out here and face me, you coward!¡±

    Not having felt anything connect, Kanzo searched for Yurushia, and called out to her.

    ¡°Starting with a surprise attack, how nasty.¡±

    That voice came from directly behind Kanzo.

    ¡°Tsch, Boulder Cleaver!¡±

    ¡°[Radiant Spear]¡±

    As she turned, Yurushia was still standing there in a spotless black dress that hadn¡¯t even been sullied, let alone damaged, and she parried her with a spear of light.

    *GAKIN*!

    The magic sword coated with the power of a hero lost to the power of the spear of light and shattered.

    However, Yurushia still ended up being blown away from the reactionary force, thanks to her light weight.

    ¡°[Spirit Descent], [O, Great spirit of the earth, bestow your power upon your servant].¡±

    Without breaking momentum, Kanzo combined the spell aria for [Create Undead] that she¡¯d learned from the Elder Lich with her own elemental earth magic, changing the corpses around Yurushia into zombie soldiers clad in rock armor.

    ¡°Eat the girl!¡±

    But Yurushia, who should have been frightened, instead blew away two of the zombies that tried to attack her, striking the rocky armor off of their heads with a forehead poke.

    ¡°[Light!]¡±

    ¡°Shi-¡±

    The sacred light burned even the armored zombies to ash, and as it faded, Yurushia was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!¡±

    Kanzo, despite her teeth grinding together, began to analyze the situation calmly.

    It was harder than she¡¯d thought. She¡¯d thought that a sacred magic user would have battle endurance and be hard to defeat, but she hadn¡¯t planned further than these moves.

    And she had a high-power means of attack with that spear of light.

    After breaking the sword that she¡¯d just bought, Kanzo pulled the mithril longsword that she normally used, grinding her teeth together.

    It was bad to keep fighting here.

    It was hard to use Kanzo¡¯s preferred earth magic with the magical nature of the dungeon¡¯s walls and floors. Even if she could use shards of rock like this, she couldn¡¯t use wide-area spells like [Earth Shaker] to cause an earthquake to attack.

    And, of course,

    ¡°My [Magic Stone] nursery¡­¡­¡±

    Yurushia was destroying all of the corpses, either intentionally or not.

    Further destruction would mean a delay in the plan. Also, it was unlikely that Yurushia would follow her if she moved.

    It was also entirely possible that she would be able to escape once all of the corpses were destroyed.

    It was a catch-22, leaving her unable to advance or retreat.

    It was as if everything had already been learned, but remembering a feeling like attraction drawing her to this place, Kanzo cooled her perplexed head.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ch.¡±

    Should she continue fighting, or turn to negotiating?

    Kanzo knew that if she were to continue fighting, she would have to seriously go on the offensive and give up on all of the corpses.

    Making a deal¡­¡­ From what she¡¯d felt from having that conversation, she thought that she would accept if she made more concessions.

    However, it wasn¡¯t interesting or fun for Kanzo to just unilaterally lose.

    What could she obtain¡­¡­ or was it entirely possible to unsettle her?

    *Tap*¡­¡­

    ¡°Wh-¡±

    A large gem had rolled over to Kanzo¡¯s feet while she was thinking.

    It wasn¡¯t just any gem. Kanzo could tell by its brightness and the magic power within that it was clearly a [Magic Stone] had had achieved full crystallization.

    ¡°W-why is this here!?¡±

    ¡°I made it.¡±

    Turning back toward the voice, she watched as Yurushia approached her slowly, with such a relaxed gait that she couldn¡¯t believe that they had been fighting each other up until now.

    ¡°Y-you, why do you have this?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more, you know?¡±

    As she dropped a few more [Magic Gemstones] onto the floor with a clatter, Kanzo¡¯s eyes went wide.

    ¡°Want them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you want.¡±

    As Yurushia took out more [Magic Jewels] and quietly waited, playing with them absentmindedly, Kanzo had a sour expression.

    ¡°I want to know Gamble¡¯s [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo was both convinced and astonished at her words.

    Yurushia was seeking the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]. This battle had probably been a farce just to bring Kanzo to the negotiating table.

    Given how much of each other¡¯s hands they¡¯d seen now, it was bound to be a dirty deal. Yet, this was something with far better guarantees than a contract with a major merchant.

    She wanted the Magic Stone Jewels. But, the pride of a [Hero] lingered like sediment in a corner of her heart, and she was hesitant to pass these secret arts to someone who wasn¡¯t a hero.

    ¡°You want the recipe too, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s words came like the devil¡¯s whispers, tempting her with her desires.

    The carefree Yurushia had somehow naturally sidled up to her, and gently whispered words into Kanzo¡¯s ears, throwing her alertness into confusion.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a little now. You need¡­¡­ strong ¡®pure magic power¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Pure magic power¡­¡­ What are you saying, isn¡¯t that impossible unless you¡¯re a spirit?¡±

    Kanzo knew that the magic power of a spirit was so pure that it couldn¡¯t be compared to that of a human being, and their magic power efficiency was also good.

    The scales fell from her eyes, as she realized that there were too many impurities in the magic power of a physical creature to manufacture a magic stone jewel.

    And she was instantly disappointed as well. To obtain this pure magic power, she would have to capture a spirit and then force it into servitude.

    But that would mean pitting herself against the spirits. And if that were to happen, Kanzo, who was a [Hero] by the grace of the spirit of light, could lose most of her power doing so.

    While Demons were also spiritual life forms, the lesser demons had little intellect, and their magic power was as muddied as a human¡¯s.

    Calling a greater demon was possible, but she didn¡¯t know what price it would demand in exchange.

    ¡°Ah, you seem to have forgotten something. ¡­¡­here.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo stared at Yurushia in surprise as she gently glided her fingers over her chest.

    A [Hero] beloved by the spirits could create some amounts of pure magic power. But it was one of their ¡°trump cards¡± that couldn¡¯t be used without shaving off her lifespan.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ But, you¡¯re not the only hero, are you, Kan-chan¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wh-¡±

    As Kanzo recoiled in shock, Yurushia gently smiled.

    ¡°That jewel looks good on a beauty like you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I-is that so¡±

    ¡°Kan-chan and I¡­¡­ if we worked together, we could get as many as we wished.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ that¡¯s right¡±

    And as they spoke, Kanzo lost every bit of her normality.

    ¡°Well, Kan-chan. Shall we make a [Promise] to be friends?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, let¡¯s. I promise.¡±

    As Kanzo affirmed the words of the golden beauty, a thin chain glinted momentarily, sticking out from her chest.

 Volume 7 - CH 20

    Volume 7, Chapter 20: The Hero is Contracted¡­ and then

    I did it. I successfully managed to close a deal with Kan-chan, a Hero.

    I would surely get an additional amount in my summer bonus! (nonsense).

    Moreover, it was even pretty ¡°vague¡± in its terms of fulfilment. It being ambiguous was going to make the binding weak, but the details wouldn¡¯t matter at all as long as I had her commitment.

    Even better was the fact that Kan-chan wasn¡¯t aware of the contract, thinking it to just be a ¡°turn of phrase¡±.

    Any modern person of Earth would have at least some knowledge of ¡°contract language¡±, and would prove troublesome to a Demon, but only if they noticed that they were a ¡°Demon¡± in the first place.

    At the same time, the subconscious denial of the existence of Demons caused them to assume that those words were ¡°promises¡± that weren¡¯t binding.

    However, this was a [Demon¡¯s contract],

    Because, well, you know? She doesn¡¯t know though~

    This time, the terms of the contract were such:

    In exchange for giving Yurushia giving her what she wanted, she could demand a favor.

    That was it. Only that.

    There were a few other small details, but the gist of it was that.

    At first glance, one might think that this favored Kan-chan. Because she had the freedom to choose what price she would receive.

    But that was only in the case that it was ¡°between humans¡±.

    The real rub was the part where it mentioned [Things that Kanzo wished for].

    Kan-chan wanted the [Magic Stone Jewels] very, very badly.

    At first, it was only at the level of thirsting for something which she could not obtain, a [Desire]. But, as she spent time attempting over and over to attain it, the  personal value of the [Magic Stone Jewel] rose rapidly.

    Her collector¡¯s heart was further stimulated by this material¡¯s rarity.

    Like a crazy collector, Kanzo¡¯s obsession was so complete that she would sell her home and disown her family for the sake of pursuing this item.

    As much as she wanted it¡­¡­ the amount wasn¡¯t quantifiable, so instead she would receive what her ¡°heart¡± sought.

    So what would be a suitable price?

    Kanzo¡¯s ¡°heart¡± would have to determine that. After only an instant of thought, her soul settled upon a ¡°value¡±.

    I requested the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] from Kan-chan.

    That was an entirely plausible [Compensation] value, and Kan-chan was more than happy to pay with something that hadn¡¯t been hers in the first place.

    And she would have been saved had that been enough for her. But, of course, it wasn¡¯t.

    Things that nobody else in the world have, thangs that would garner looks of ¡°envy¡±, and Kan-chan wanted even more than most.

    It was almost like putting a bonus prize into a gacha game.

    The next thing she gladly paid with was [the Other Heroes] that weren¡¯t her to give.

    Kan-chan was the type that would spare no efforts if it didn¡¯t hurt her to do so, something I understood from our little conversation.

    She is going to sell out all of the [Heroes].

    But then¡­¡­ what is left?

    To want more, even after she had given all she had to give, exactly what would she give¡­¡­?

    Somehow or other, I feel very Demonic.

    Is this supposed to be praise?

    I suddenly understand the feelings that generic employee-like [Demon Lords] had after having had hundreds of years¡¯ worth of contracts.

    Kan-chan somewhat resembles my friend the ¡°Dwarf princess¡±, and is even more delicate than she is, so I had to harden my heart so that I could be properly demonic.

    Well, for now, I handed over the [Magic Jewel] that had been made with Fannie¡¯s magic power to Kan-chan, and was taught the [Level-up Method] in return.

    This was the secret art of [Level-up] that only heroes could use.

    I¡¯d heard of it from Yuuki-kun, but since he was a reincarnator, his memories were fuzzy at best, but he could still use it, somewhat. As a Demon, though, I¡¯d rather not risk it, given how incomplete it felt.

    Level up. Skills could obviously be levelled up, but ordinarily, you couldn¡¯t improve your physical levels or evolve.

    It was clearly irregular to be able to obtain physical power rivalling a dragon just by defeating enemies.

    If someone had the muscle density of about lead or platinum, it might have been possible. But then, living properly would be impossible.

    What then is this ¡°level up¡±?

    Put simply, it seems to generate something like a [Forcefield] around a person.

    An aura-like thing combining both the force of light and magic power, it seemed that it also increased one¡¯s HP since it reduced a percentage of the damage taken from attacks.

    MP would also go up, and so would physical ability, resulting in a level-up like in a game.

    ¡°¡­¡­Should I do this too?¡±

    ¡°Yuru-san, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    As I muttered to myself, I heard Daichi call out towards me.

    Even though he¡¯d been an ordinary high schooler just some months ago, he¡¯d gotten some guts now.

    I¡¯ve already left Kan-chan behind, returning to the nation of the Dwarves on the ground floor.

    After handing Kan-chan a few more pieces of the [Magic Stone Jewel] she so desired, she¡¯d left with her subordinates in tow, all pleased with herself.

    Daichi was sweating profusely, but it seems that not being able to stand hasn¡¯t really affected him.

    Also, Nea seems to have done something to the knights under Kan-chan, but Daichi said he didn¡¯t see anything.

    She seems to have done quite the number of things while out of sight of the humans, and, well, if she was eating people¡­ it¡¯d be too obvious if she was grinding her teeth. If she was just licking her blood-covered fingertips it might be fine, though.

    Either way, we¡¯ve secretly possessed those knights with [Greater Demons] after taking their souls. They¡¯ll be on surveillance duty, making sure that information doesn¡¯t get to the heroes.

    As a bonus, I¡¯ve also added octopus and cuttlefish to their diets.

    Alongside them is the Elder Lich Richard-kun¡¯s friend, so do your best, okay!

    Among the to-be heroes, Futa seemed to have gotten spartan training from Tina. He was rolling on the ground, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be a problem since he was twitching.

    The both of them have become stronger.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Leaving that aside, Daichi, Futa, once we get back to Sail I¡¯ll teach you how to fight alongside Touka and Mizuki.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*gulp*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    I laughed lightly. Daichi sighed as if he had just been told that he would receive additional training, while Kazuya¡¯s body just twitched again.

    Now that I got all this information, it¡¯s time to prepare to teach Daichi the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].

    Will they become heroes?

    Even though¡­¡­ they won¡¯t be using the power of light, but a Demon¡¯s protection.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to Sail. Everyone, let¡¯s go~¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Daichi and Futa, answer me.

    Fainting instantly (into sleep) after only a quick 4-day trip without sleep, how unlike the youth. Even though they weren¡¯t even walking the distance themselves.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe it¡¯s hard being a human?

    ¡°According to the information I gathered, it seems that during events called [School Trips], the boys will sleep if they travel continually without sleep, so it¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Oh, well.¡±

    Tina said so, so I guess it¡¯s okay. The current situation we¡¯re in is similar, now that I think about it.

    For a moment, I worried that my [Human common sense] was failing.

    We had a light meal, and then returned to Sail.

    That being said, humans would die without food, wouldn¡¯t they¡­¡­

    On the way home, we passed by the knights who were supposed to spy on us, but well, we¡¯re already returning. Sorry.

    We were moving at well over 300 kilometers per hour over the mountain roads and forests, and when we landed in Sail¡¯s castle, Daichi and co. fainted immediately. It was then that I noticed something was wrong with the castle.

    ¡°Something¡­?¡±

    ¡°Maybe you forgot to tighten the screws on some noble?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m busy, so stop that.¡±

    What was it? The atmosphere of the castle was tense.

    The knights and the ladies-in-waiting that I knew of were all hesitating to talk to me.

    Is this some sort of control?

    ¡°Yuru-chan!¡±

    As I contemplated capturing someone to get them to talk, Touka and Mizuki rushed up to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m home, you two. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Ah, welcome back.¡±

    ¡°Waitaminute, Yuru-chan something terriblehappened!¡±

    One of the human countries near the border had been destroyed by the forces of darkness.

    And so, on that day, after a decade of stalemate, the state of the battle lines between the forces of darkness and light began to move.

    ¡­¡­ Eh? Isn¡¯t Rinne and the rest of them on that side now?

    What are those boys up to now¡­¡­

 Volume 8 - CH 1.1

    Volume 8, Chapter 1: The Dark Twins, Part 1

    Within the world [Tess], they were called the [Forces of Darkness].

    Why were they called ¡°of Darkness¡±?

    It¡¯s simply because their race had the ¡°bloodline¡± of a ¡°Demon¡±.

    The forces of darkness were mainly comprised of the beastmen, intelligent monsters, and Dark Elves.

    The beastmen were partly people who had mutated as a result of being steeped in ¡°Magic power¡± for a long time, and had become ¡°demonized¡±.

    It was not usual for a normal person to turn into a Demonic form even if they had been exposed to a lot of magic power. Instead, they would usually show signs of poisoning and die.

    However, the peoples of certain regions became Demonized by incorporating certain [Beastly] attributes into their bodies as a result of magic power, creating the [Beastmen].

    Animals that had taken in too much magic would Demonize into monsters.

    Unlike normal animals, they could increase their powers and lifeforce by taking in more magic, gaining an extreme lifespan.

    Those who gained great power would gain ¡°wisdom¡± in their years, turning into ¡°intelligent monsters¡± that formed a kind of society.

    And then there were the dark elves. It was said that the dark elves were the result of the original High Elves breeding with demonic things.

    It was said that when high elves bred with humans they would get white elves, and dark elves were the result of breeding with demons, but it was unverifiable as it happened in ancient myth.

    It would certainly be correct to say that dark elves had stronger magic than the white elves, and were of a much more brutal and cunning nature.

    However, they were part of the [Darkness] not because of their bad characters, but rather because of their terrible living environments.

    They lived north of the northern nation of Gamble. Living spaces were far from each other in those huge mountain ranges, and it was impossible for them to eke out a decent living.

    The earth was frozen over by the bitter cold blizzards that devastated the land, and the warm underground was tinged with a powerful dark magic. Seeking what little land and food there was, they had to fight and devour one another.

    It was the first ¡°otherworlders¡± that had suddenly appeared several thousand years ago that had bound them together into the [Forces of Darkness] from a people that only knew strife.

    This otherworlder had accidentally drifted into this world after being pulled into the dimensional ripple, and seemed to have also become the first [Hero].

    Nobody knows what it was that he had seen or had thought at the time, but the [Hero] seemed to have sympathized with them being trapped underground in that particular way of life, and he wanted to take them all to the ¡°land of light¡± where the rest of the people lived.

    But the [Hero] failed.

    He labored under the illusion that they had the same ¡°common sense¡± from his own knowledge.

    If he had abandoned his role as the [Hero], and lived together underground with the [Evil Races] as the [Demon Lord], the story between light and darkness might have been very different.

    He had instead pleaded to the ¡°humanity¡± within those monsters, and tried to form a ¡°republic¡± based on ¡°equality¡± with the various tribal chiefs.

    And so it came to pass that even though they became the [Forces of Darkness], their fundamental behavior changed little, and all they did was rob people more¡­¡­

    In the end, the hero that had wished for their happiness had their life taken away by those forces.

    Still, a tiny bit of the hero¡¯s ideals had been preserved.

    At least they were united. But they could not look past the boundaries of race, and eventually formed into the three groups, beastmen, monsters, and dark elves.

    Their ¡°equality¡± took on the worst possible form, becoming a competition to see who could take things away from another by force.

    They refused to accept anyone that wasn¡¯t from their own tribe. Even though they could have easily robbed the humans by uniting, they could only think of using each other.

    This was especially so for the dark elves, who believed in racial purity and had beautiful forms.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t generally true, the powerful amongst them had equally powerful urges, and the nobles held all others in contempt and didn¡¯t think twice about robbing someone else.

    And finally, the two youngest princesses of the dark elven royalty.

    The black king didn¡¯t care at all for the twins, rather, only the pleasures of life. Their elder siblings constantly warred with one another, never even sparing a look at the twins.

    Nefi©` who had blue eyes and golden hair.

    Rimi ©` who had purple eyes and silver hair.

    They were abandoned by their caregivers, and struggled to live, and only the first princess Nefertia observed them.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You failed again?¡±

    As the maid humbled herself to her, Nefertia sighed.

    The only decent thing that she¡¯d inherited from parents was her platinum hair ©` a combination of her silver-haired father and blonde mother, the first Queen. In contrast, the twins had inherited a split of each from their parents, with the sixth Queen also being blonde.

    Nefertia was the favorite of the king, with her glossy brown skin and intelligent eyes that sparkled like jewels.

    Thanks to that, she prided herself as being the closest to the king over her two foolish elder brothers.

    She had merely thought of messing with the twins on a whim.

    As the two of them were too young, there was no way they could possibly contest the succession to the throne. Her other brothers agreed with Nefertia on this.

    Besides, for her two brothers, the twins weren¡¯t even in the running for succession because they weren¡¯t real dark elves.

    Her father, the black king, had impregnated a white elf with the twins on a whim.

    Nefertia had seen that beautiful white elf only once, and her father cared very much for that wife, and had lost interest in the twins after she had been poisoned.

    Even though they were related to the king by blood, they were children without a single backer.

    Still, if they were sheltered by their brothers, they might obtain the right to speak out, and become a source of troubles.

    They had to go, just in case.

    Even if Nefertia had taken them under her wing, they couldn¡¯t be relied on to not betray her unless she brainwashed them.

    At first, she tried putting poison into their food. But since it was a slow-acting poison, or perhaps due to luck in obtaining [Poison Resistance], they didn¡¯t weaken even after a few years. She¡¯d plotted for them to fall into traps, and be attacked by wild beasts in accidents too, but they¡¯d managed to avoid all of it.

    It was at that point that Nefertia began to suspect that the twins were more talented than they let on.

    They looked like children who didn¡¯t have the ability or the knowledge, and she¡¯d initially thought that they were exactly as they appeared.

    Nefertia had had the twins investigated and came to realize a few things.

    The twins¡¯ mother, the white elf, hadn¡¯t been assassinated by any of their brothers, but by dark elf racial supremacists.

    Even though that person was a racial supremacist, they had sworn absolute loyalty to the black king. The next king, regardless of whomever took the throne, would never have allowed the bloodline to mix. There was almost no possibility of the twins succeeding the throne either, so was it really necessary to kill their mother before the king had become senile and incompetent?

    Nefertia thought that if a boy had been born, it was entirely possible for him to become one of the successors, regardless of the twins.

    And then something came to mind.

    The twins¡¯ mother, she couldn¡¯t possibly be a [High Elf], could she¡­¡­

    The High Elves were the origin of both the dark and the white elves.

    Marriages between White Elves would occasionally result in the birth of High Elves, but they were almost never born between Dark Elves.

    The elven subspecies longed for High Elves. It was a kind of instinctive desire for them, and every home had their own little [High Elf Photo Album].

    It was entirely understandable why the king didn¡¯t let anyone else even look at the twins¡¯ mother if she had been a High Elf.

    If her existence was exposed to the public, people would gather each day to worship her like a god. And the twins would easily become the successor to the throne from the enthusiastic support of the people.

    Perhaps the king¡¯s hedonistic behavior was because of the sorrow of losing her?

    Or maybe it was because it was hard to not be reminded of her looking at the twins?

    ¡°¡­¡­It definitely bears investigating.¡±

    She definitely needed to deal with the twins before the king could recall himself.

    Barring the fanatical racial supremacists, the twins were pretty cute, even to the cold Nefertia.

    She could not allow anything that could betray her to live, though¡­¡­ even if it was only a suspicion.

    Then, the skilled assassin that she¡¯d sent out to murder the twins did not return.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    The female dark elven knight by her side was strangely voluptuous and sexy, but apparently that was decided upon by the first hero.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm¡±

    Nefertia thought to herself, her eyelashes curling downwards.

    It would not do for other people to know that the twins were related to high elves. She wanted it to be dealt with as soon as possible, but they knew that Nefertia had shown her hand hastily, and it would be even worse if the rest knew about the twins.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder if someone else can take the blame.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 1.2

    Volume 8, Chapter 1: The Dark Twins, Part 2

    A couple of days after the failed assassination, a crowd of humanoid figures gathered in the old castle in the center of the giant underground cave ¨C the base for the combined Forces of Darkness.

    The castle was said to have existed for thousands of years, and some theories proposed that it was the castle that the first [Hero] had built.

    Thanks to the stories, those who entered this sacred place were kings amongst the Forces of Darkness, and with the amount of blood shed that dotted its history, it had been sealed for nearly a millennium.

    But now, the seal had been broken, and several hundred from the Forces of Darkness had entered the castle courtyard.

    ¡°Is ¡¶that¡· thing here¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yeah, there¡¯s no mistake¡±

    The First and Second Prince of the Dark Elves, the Crown and Third Prince of the beastmen, and their retinues of nobles and knights were here.

    They were the so-called [Loser Gang]. Although they had the right to succeed the throne by virtue of their ranks, with their lack of talents, all of them were unlikely to become kings, and were even placed in positions where their lives were threatened because of their ranks.

    Grasping at straws for power, they chased the legends.

    Such as the legend that the one who controlled the castle would be the king. And that a [Sorcerous Weapon] had been sealed within the castle.

    Of course, if there really had been such a thing, it would long since been in someone else¡¯s hands. But, thanks to the skillfully manipulated ¡°information¡±, they all assumed that this was some secret that only that had acquired.

    The basement of the castle was dedicated to the ¡°daughters¡± of the dark elven royal family.

    They would be given [Power] to rule.

    It was hilarious that they clung to such terrible information, but that was perhaps a better sign of how skillful Nefertia¡¯s information manipulation was, and how desperately cornered they were.

    Gathered here were the scapegoats for Nefertia¡¯s attempt upon the twins¡¯ life.

    They would offer up the twins for sacrifice, and in the end, only Nefertia¡¯s desires would be realized.

    ¡­¡­ Or at least that was how it was supposed to be.

    ¡°Enter quickly.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°

    Held roughly by their arms, Nefi and Rimi were thrown into the underground altar by their brothers, wincing at the pain.

    They were still little girls around five years of age. Some of the beastmen felt a twinge of guilt, watching the girls hold onto their stuffed toy so tightly.

    An ancient altar set in the basement of the castle.

    The princes and knights were somewhat uncomfortable sacrificing a few people. But, for the sake of obtaining that [Sorcerous Weapon], they pushed their doubts out of their mind.

    ¡°Rejoice, my foolish little sister. You should be proud that we will obtain great power with your lives!¡±

    The second prince drew his sword and thrust it toward the twins.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­*boink*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­aA¡­¡­AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?¡±

    The second prince¡¯s hand was cut off at the wrist by the outstretched ears of the girl¡¯s stuffed rabbit.

    The First Prince and the Beastmen royals were all stunned into uncomprehending silence, even as the Second Prince screamed in pain and confusion.

    In their midst, the two girls¡¯ soft voices rang out like bells.

    ¡°Mr. Bear.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Rabbit.¡±

    ¡°¡°If you will¡±¡±

    The beastmen and dark elven knights were each equal to at least a few human knights.

    They were usually even able to defeat [Lesser Demons], and some of the royal guards were even able to take on [Greater Demons].

    But that was only ¡°normally¡±.

    Of course, there would be no such knights among the [Loser Gang]. In addition, as they were all confused and afraid of this unknown¡­¡­ the soft toy jumped out, defeating the knights in the blink of an eye, and began to feast.

    Besides, what they were facing was a [Greater Demon] whose powers were greater than usual by twofold, that had a [Name] and had even fully [Manifested].

    ¡°¡°Goodbye, brothers.¡±¡±

    As the little girls called out to them, the First Prince sank into the sea of blood, his face etched with disbelief.

    And with that, the blood and souls of several hundred losers were gathered, as on the side of the altar, runes began to glow with light.

    ¡°¡­¡­It came out.¡±

    ¡°The first hero¡¯s¡­¡­ original secret arts¡±

    The tales weren¡¯t entirely untrue. It¡¯s just that they¡¯d misinterpreted it.

    It had been dedicated to the daughters of the royal families. It was tradition for the royal family who had inherited the blood of the Hero to obtain the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] as a ruler by pouring their strong magics into the altar.

    The magic power could be substituted with souls, contained within the blood. It had just been the whim of the hero to limit the succession to daughters.

    It had all been in the twins¡¯ hands from the very beginning.

    The First Princess had also intended to kill the twins by deceiving her elder brothers using these tales that Nefertia truly didn¡¯t believe in.

    It had been the twins who had propagated this particular version of legend. They thought that their sister would definitely act upon it, and their original plan had been to use the First Princess to obtain the [Secret Arts] easily.

    Well, when they were investigating this tradition, let¡¯s just say that they had the advantage of help from a certain Butler Demon who had been commissioned by a black cat.

    And in doing so, in [Saving the Twins from their Predicament], the Demons would throw the forces of darkness into confusion.

 Volume 8 - CH 2

    Volume 8, Chapter 2: I became a Hero, Part 2

    The Allied Nations¡¯ Strategic Command. It was made up of a coalition of nations built to oppose the [Forces of Darkness] formed of the [Forces of Light]: the humans, elves, and dwarves.

    Each country provided a budget in exchange for quick relief and support coming from the coalition whenever one of the member states got attacked.

    Such an organization was undeniably beneficial for the smaller nations, but less so for larger countries, which were capable of relying on their own militaries to repel attacks.

    But, in this powerful alliance, there was a matter that even the great powers¡­¡­ nay, even the four great nations who had Heroes could not ignore.

    ¡°Staff Officer Sephyr, the preparations to depart towards Lucell are complete.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±

    As the soldier came up to report to the young-looking Staff Officer, she gave him a hint of a smile, and the young soldier¡¯s cheeks turned red.

    The forces of darkness had taken one of the human nations, and now the Allied Nations were scrambling to send a massed force north.

    Not only were the Allied Nations dispatching a military in accordance with the agreement, but now, even the four Heroes were headed to the small country Lucell that was acting as the forward headquarters.

    ¡°Seriously, if Staff Officer Sephyr does not come, then the Heroes will¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright. I know. ¡­¡­ They¡¯re really a troublesome bunch.¡±

    Not only would the men swell up onto their toes troublingly and link arms sighing when she made a graceful gesture like waving her arms, but the women would as well.

    ¡°Make the preparations, please.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡±

    Sephyr headed to her own room to prepare herself even as she called out to the soldier watching her in fascination.

    The Staff Officer of the Allied Nations¡¯ Strategic Command.

    This youthful woman was placed in this powerful position because she was the only person who was trusted by all the Heroes, who weren¡¯t particularly friendly with one another, and as a result, was an indispensable part of the Alliance between Nations.

    ¡°¡­¡­I really do hope that the new ¡°Saint¡± will be useful.¡±

    * * *

    Dear Father and Mother in the Holy Kingdom,

    Are you all well?

    It should be winter over there, should it not? Here, even in winter we¡¯re living in warmth and cheer unless we head north, and my followers have been playing in the ocean, fishing up the souls of the drowned out of the water, adding a touch of flavor to my dining table for me. You know that food doesn¡¯t taste like much to me.

    I¡¯d like to be able to return to the Holy Kingdom if possible, but I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t show my face there right now thanks to my current circumstances.

    We were able to catch loads of great seafood in the countries that were facing trouble, and I think I¡¯ll be able to award all of my employees who are working hard 23 hours a day with the dried fish as souvenirs.

    Yours Truly,

    Yurushia.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I can¡¯t receive the reply.¡±

    I sent an ¡°e-mail¡± to Rinne who wasn¡¯t in the Holy Kingdom but rather on the side of the Forces of Darkness, but no reply came.

    At the moment, it was even incredibly difficult to communicate with Geas, who was Yuzu¡¯s grandfather, by sending a message through the ¡°bloodline¡±.

    Even when I tried contacting Geas directly, all I got in return was [Gau gau].

    ¡­¡­ No, wait a minute.

    If you could send back a line like ¡°Gau gau¡±, then write a proper sentence, gramps.

    I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s because this is what he is, if it¡¯s because he¡¯s a child, or if it¡¯s because he¡¯s just being silly.

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    After completing a contract with Kan-chan and returning from the northern country, some small human nation had fallen to the forces of Darkness.

    I thought that perhaps Rinne would know something, but I couldn¡¯t get in touch with them for some reason.

    I could still feel the three of them were connected to me, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any immediate danger to myself, but what in the world were they doing?

    ¡°Princess.¡±

    As I stood in the courtyard of the castle with the servants along with Daichi and the gang, one of the maids assigned by the castle to me came to find me.

    ¡­¡­ Is it really okay for you to be calling an otherworlder [Princess] like this?

    Well, I¡¯m a Demon, though.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re back.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but wait just a minute. Do you have any details about what happened?¡±

    What was this maid¡¯s name again¡­¡­?

    She was a rather pretty lady in her late twenties (and single), so she didn¡¯t bear me a shred of malice, but I¡¯ve been indebted to women of this type since I was little, since she reminded me of the [Three Maiden Maids], and our interactions were pleasant, even though she was the cat¡¯s paw of the castle.

    Well, those three maids were now all married, so I couldn¡¯t really call them maidens anymore.

    Their marriage had raised their statuses to those of the female knights.

    I hadn¡¯t seen their faces in more than a year, and by the time I returned, they might have well already had babies.

    ¡°Yes, I was looking for you, Princess, about that.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation?¡±

    If a country had fallen, naturally, the [Hero] would have to be dispatched.

    I think Kan-chan, who had close ties with the Forces of Darkness, would move first, but the other heroes wouldn¡¯t keep still either.

    For a country to have been annihilated in the war was impossible even if it had fallen, and there would definitely be a large number of refugees and injured. Because of that, I, and that ¡°billboard¡± above my head called [Saint], would very likely be called upon.

    Thinking about such things, I wondered if the maid was relieved to find me as she gently lowered her head.

    ¡°Yes, regarding that, we have to hurry to the discussion between Hero Kyoji and the Royal Princess. I was told to invite you to lunch the day after tomorrow around noon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ The day after?¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­eh? Seriously? Even though the war had begun, what are you doing, still arranging for lunches the day after tomorrow, you aristocrat? Yeah, she¡¯s clearly an aristocrat through and through.

    No, I myself am also a noble, but I¡¯m 6th in line for the throne, and the King (grandpa) was so simple as a human being that it was kind of refreshing.

    Tina and Nea were talking to me too, and it seems that that maid¡¯s thoughts were obvious, so I arranged for a place and nodded naturally.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What, is it that strange?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uhmmm, I don¡¯t think Yuru-chan is wrong.¡±

    I was a little relieved from Mizuki¡¯s words.

    As I listened on, I thought of making a dress for the meal with the Royals, but it seems that getting it done by the day after tomorrow was kind of rushed.

    ¡­¡­ as expected of the nobles. The Holy Kingdom was casual everywhere, apparently.

    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s only in the vicinity of Yurushia.¡±

    The next day, Demon Butler Noa explained as much to me when I explained it to him.

    Currently, I¡¯ve been dressed up like a doll by a few of the ladies-in-waiting in the castle.

    Of course, Noa, being a boy, is on the other side of the screen.

    I¡¯m choosing a dress to wear for tomorrow¡¯s luncheon, since it¡¯s not quite fitting for me to wear my usual black and silver dress as the [Princess of the Holy Kingdom].

    But since I couldn¡¯t choose the clothes I wanted, I¡¯m reworking the premium items from the best brands.

    It¡¯s quite wasteful¡­¡­ The black and silver dress would never dirty and regenerated itself, although I didn¡¯t have many sweat glands in the first place and never really got too dirty.

    Oh yeah, in other news, I¡¯ve finally reached 160cm in height.

    If it all goes well, I think I should be able to reach my desired 170cm height in my late teens. If I had been Yuzu this would have been impossible.

    The thickness of my chest armor is also growing. ¡­¡­ and for some reason, Fannie, the shortest of us, had the greatest defense power. And as for the thinnest, I won¡¯t say it.

    ¡°Tina-chan will also grow up quickly, Right~? ¡°

    ¡°Why is that a question?¡±

    Hey, hey, Fannie. Stop corning people with your words.

    And Nea, who was on guard duty by the door, put her hands on her chest armor that wasn¡¯t quite thick enough despite being a Succubus, letting out a dark aura.

    And in the end, the dress was undecided.

    For some reason, my sweet ladies-in-waiting started telling me to postpone the luncheon tomorrow, but while we were deliberating if this was an appropriate thing to do, my attendants put a stop to it.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem at all. Leave it to your humble servant.¡±

    Noa smiled over his silver-rimmed glasses that he¡¯d taken out from somewhere.

    To me, it was incredibly doubtful, but the ladies-in-waiting were enraptured by Noa¡¯s 15-year-old butler self. Even in this world, it seems that there was a very deep genre of ¡°study¡± of [Glasses Men Moe].

    ¡°If you say so¡­¡­ Noa. Have you not heard anything from Rinne?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve asked them a bit¡­¡­ there are no problems.¡±

    ¡°Hmm~¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ Noa is definitely plotting something behind-the-scenes again. Well, hopefully no real damage will be caused this time.

    As to the dress, it seems that the twins, Noa and Nea, would be making it.

    My current black and silver dress was made by the Hades combination of Tina and Fannie, so I think the twins can make it. But with Nea being as clumsy as I am, is it really okay¡­¡­?

    Tina was the only one amongst them who originally knew how to sew, but it seems that the twins have been practicing to present me with a dress.

    ¡­¡­ a Demon that practices sewing in the night¡­

    So my employees are like that, whether they¡¯re a Demon or not.

    ¡°This is the finished product.¡±

    On the next day, or should I say, on the day of the luncheon, Fannie bathed me in the morning and then Noa showed me the dress.

    And as to why I got Fannie and not Tina to wash me, it¡¯s because Tina would be touching me with an unpleasant hand.

    ¡°Why is it a pure-white dress¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s platinum-colored, to be precise¡­¡­ pretty flashy.

    Because it was made from my attendants¡¯ hair, I thought that the twins¡¯ brunette hairs would make a brown or red dress, so why was it white?

    Well, now that I think about it, I really want to know why Tina¡¯s golden hair turned into that black dress, but that¡¯s a question for another time. ¡­ I think.

    ¡°I-I did my best¡±

    ¡°Isee, I see, it¡¯s been hard on you.¡±

    And as my [Awkwardness Skills] activated, I praised Nea while stroking her hair. Even though it was probably Noa that made most of it¡­¡­!?

    The dress had an American sleeve and a slightly daring exposure of my chest, while the skirt was layered over with muslin and lace multiple times. (TL Note: the american sleeve is something like a half-sleeve, that is, ending about halfway between your wrist and elbow.)

    I didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable wearing these kinds of dresses since I¡¯d been wearing them even while I was still Yuzu.

    ¡­¡­ or at least, I shouldn¡¯t be, but for some reason, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of strangeness.

    My usual black and silver dress was a kind of ¡°Cursed item¡±, so I transformed it into a Gothic black choker, and it¡¯s surprisingly good as an accent. ¡­¡­ but.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe this platinum dress is also cursed.

    Even as I worried, Fannie and Tina and the rest of the maids changed me, and my hair was now being tied up to the point I could see my nape again.

    ¡°Come, come, Princess, I will guide you to the room.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, thank you.¡±

    What¡­¡­why were all of the maids¡¯ eyes swimming?

    It seems that the luncheon is held with the Royal Family and was a bit of a distance away from where I had been ¡°isolated¡±.

    Even though I call it isolated, it¡¯s still in the same property, so it¡¯s about a 10 minute walk away. Along the way, though, I spotted Daichi and Touka  training with the knights in the courtyard.

    ¡°Ah, Yuru-chan¡­¡­¡±

    Mizuki noticed me and called out to me, but her voice got stuck midway.

    Amongst the *clash*, *hrgh*, *hiyas* and other strange sounds, the knights facing Daichi and Touka turned to look and then immediately averted their eyes with a red face, and the two of them knocked the wooden training swords out of their training partners.

    ¡­¡­ suddenly, chaos!

    Is this my fault?

    When I looked in the mirror a while ago, I thought that it was a bit risqu¨¦ but normal¡­¡­ or so I thought.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wow, Yuru-chan, how erotic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hnh?¡±

    I turned to look at a nearby window glass after Touka made comments about eroticism after looking at my back, reviewing my dress.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    All the way down to my lower back, from the neck down, was detailed thin lace that was almost see-through.

    ¡°I worked especially hard for that part.¡±

    As Nea proudly declared as much to me, my face reddened, and I slammed her into the floor so hard the flagstones cracked.

 Volume 8 - CH 3

    Volume 8, Chapter 3: I became a Hero, Part 3

    Ever since I became Yurushia, I¡¯ve become used to being given sponge baths by my maids. Even now, I¡¯m still getting cared for in the bath by Fannie, so my sense of shame has become quite lax, it¡¯s still the ¡®same-sex¡¯ after all.

    ¡­¡­ Well¡­ being hand-washed by Tina was still kind of a turn-off even though we were the same sex.

    Even so, the story was different when it came to men.

    No, I should actually have noticed it from the beginning. The platinum dress made by Noa and Nea this time formed an [All-in-one Undergarment design] alongside the black and silver dress, but to think that the maids of the castle wouldn¡¯t even say anything about wearing a corset equivalent¡­¡­

    I¡¯m not a big fan of exposure, so to having all that floral lace going all the way down my back to the bottom makes my face flush even if it¡¯s me I¡¯m looking at. Even then, my chest doesn¡¯t feel unsupported. In fact, any swelling up while wearing such thin clothes is sure to be troubling.

    Even now, the young hot-blooded knights were trying very hard to avert their eyes, while Daichi was being held down and barred from looking by Touka.

    What is this obscenity censoring behavior¡­¡­?

    The maids who¡¯d tied up my hair so that my back could be seen are also guilty, damn it.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh?¡±

    When I tried to use magic power to ¡°transform¡± the black and silver dress, instead of turning back into a dress, it turned from a choker into a ¡°shawl¡± with the same lace pattern as the one on my back, and gracefully hung over my shoulders.

    ¡°¡­¡­ a rather uselessly high-performance item.¡±

    ¡°Was there such a function?¡±

    ¡­¡­Eh? Tina, didn¡¯t you make it?

    I managed to cover most of my back¡­¡­ though a bit of my waistline can still be seen¡­¡­ and arrived at the room where we were to have the luncheon.

    ¡°Ms. Yu-Yurushia, please come in.¡±

    It was neither the butler nor the maid, but rather the senior knight who opened the door for us.

    I don¡¯t know whether it was because he was nervous or afraid, but it felt very awkward.

    Please don¡¯t look at my back.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been expecting you, Yurushia.¡±

    Bianca, the second princess of Sail, greeted me as I entered.

    It¡¯s been a long time, Bianca-chan. We rarely ever ran into each other in the castle, but as to whether that was because the castle was just that large, or if she was avoiding me, or¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, Princess Yurushia, it¡¯s been a long time. I nearly couldn¡¯t recognize you today in that nice dress.¡±  Kyoji chimed in.

    ¡°I see that both of you haven¡¯t changed much.¡±

    Or, could it be that the Hero of Water was trying to keep her close in fear of her leaking information¡­¡­?

    As I entered, one of the knights guided me to my seat.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry for my previous rudeness.¡±

    It was that greenhorn knight who had immediately underestimated Onzada-kun and had been beaten up.

    Although the expression of despair from that time had disappeared, it seems that he was deep in thought about something, just glancing at his face I could tell that he was blushing and frowning, clearly enduring something.

    Yeah, have no idea what.

    If he held malice against me, I wouldn¡¯t have condoned it, but for now, I couldn¡¯t feel anything from him, so I didn¡¯t pay him any special attention.

    I thought of addressing him, but if I asked him [Is your health well?] as the Lord of Onzada-kun, it would surely be construed as sarcasm¡­¡­

    Well, maybe.

    ¡°Would you allow me to treat your scalp¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a problem¡­¡­ wha¡±

    Oh, my bad.

    Even if you¡¯re young, carelessness is a powerful enemy, you know. For knights and the like who liked to abuse their bodies, they would continue to prefer oily food well into their middle ages, and with the way he was shook up just from these comments, he kind of resembles the old knight behind Bianca right now.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, so please¡­¡­sit down.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    I sat down gently in the proffered chair. As I did so, my shawl turned back into a choker without my permission, and the knight visibly started shaking.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because it suddenly transformed, right? It¡¯s not because my back is exposed, right?

    I could feel myself flushing, but I felt like I was able to keep my cool. Since I¡¯ve been keeping myself in check ever since I was young, I have been able to behave in a very ¡°human¡± fashion.

    4 of us sat at a large table that could easily seat 20. Kyoji was right next to me. Bianca sat directly across of him. And next to Bianca, directly opposite of me, sat a small boy.

    ¡°Sis, introduce me!¡±

    The little blonde boy of about 10 called Bianca ¡®Sis¡¯ impatiently and was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°How shameless, Fio. Excuse me, Yurushia. This is my younger brother, the First Prince¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Fjord, nice to meet you, Princess Yurushia.¡±

    Fjord, unable to wait for his sister to finish her words, greeted me enthusiastically.

    I see¡­¡­ he¡¯s got the exact look and the personality that was in the attendants¡¯ report.

    Because he was born so late as a boy, he kept a grudge against the First Princess, who had been married off to another country but was still aiming for the throne. Yep, that¡¯s the First Prince without a doubt.

    ¡°Yes, I have heard some things about you, Fjord-sama. I am Yurushia of Tariterudo.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what those rumors are¡­¡­ ah, please, call me Fio.¡±

    ¡°Sit down properly, Fio.¡±

    Bianca immediately chastised Fjord, whose face turned red even as Bianca frowned.

    ¡°S-Sorry, sister¡­¡­¡±

    It seems their sibling relationship is more complex than at first look. I found it rather refreshing, since my own relationships with my relatives were so simple.

    Was Bianca aiming for the throne herself? Was that really her intentions?

    As I gave Kyoji a fleeting glance, it seems that he also turned to look at me that instant and gave me a ¡°sweet smile¡± as though his mouth was full of pebbles.

    To put it simply, it was one of those saccharine-sweet smiles that looked like sugar had been sprinkled on top of condensed milk on top of fried batter.

    ¡°A smile like grilled meat for five.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get what you mean.¡±

    It¡¯s about the calories.

    The silver cutlery and white porcelain tableware were laid out, but I only knew for certain that the King of Sail would not come when the appetizers arrived.

    Did they think that sending two royals was enough? Or maybe he was afraid because I had released my [Intimidating Presence] every time we¡¯d met¡­¡­

    No, but I didn¡¯t release my intimidation so freely, right? Wasn¡¯t that true? He didn¡¯t think it was because I was planning to call on him in the middle of the night, you know?

    ¡­¡­ I cursed his hair roots to die.

    The appetizers were crisp sliced and colored vegetables and jellied fish. Next up was a salad of seaweed and boiled tubers, and the third was a consomm¨¦-like soup. The bread was a mix of black and white breads, and the pasta was good too.

    Following that was a fish with a crisp texture that I¡¯d never had, served with a citrus sauce.

    After that, I thought it would end with a sorbet of some sweet fruit, but it seems that it was time for the main course, a lamb dish.

    After that came a fruit platter filled with treats that I¡¯d never seen before in this region, and a sweet cake, and then finally the tea, accompanied by a few baked sweets.

    ¡­¡­ I can¡¯t tell their taste, so this is like light torture. It¡¯s really heavy for a midday meal.

    Even if it had been seasoned with souls, my stomach had already been filled with the appetizers, salads, and fish.

    ¡°uh, uhm¡­ was it not to your tastes?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never had a large appetite.¡±

    Since I only ate about two mouthfuls of everything else, Fio was giving me a worried look.

    Well, of everyone, only Kyoji ate everything.

    Noa and Tina were allowed in to serve me my meal, but as expected, it was impossible for them to squeeze out a soul in front of me.

    ¡°For our country, we¡¯d like to have the Hero Kyoji deal with the invasion of the forces of darkness, separate from the Sail Army. ¡­¡­Kyoji-sama, is that amenable?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will do my best to repay the kindness that Your Highness Bianca has given me.¡±

    ¡°Oh you, Kyoji-sama.¡±

    Bianca¡¯s cheeks flushed red with Kyoji¡¯s sweet smile and words.

    I couldn¡¯t help but stop drinking my tea hearing this farce start up abruptly.

    What kindness was there in this current conversation? How about a stomach medicine that was half-buried in headache medicine? Did you call me here to have this 1-minute talk?

    ¡°¡­¡­Uhm, I¡¯d like to request Yurushia to join Kyoji-sama¡¯s battle lines. You would be moving as the [Saint] working with the Hero of Sail.¡±

    Bianca hurriedly spat out the truth when I had begun to ooze out my presence silently with a smile.

    Would that be making me a member of Kyoji¡¯s [Hero Party]?

    Even though it would be more efficient if we moved separately, it seems like Sail wants to show off to the other countries with a perfect Hero party with both a [Hero] and a [Saint].

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ well, I don¡¯t mind. ¡°

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    When I said so, Bianca looked relieved, as if she had been on the receiving end of some stern order, while Kyoji¡¯s eyes went slightly wider. Because I would have to be subordinate to Kyoji, he must have thought that I would refuse.

    However, since I thought this was a good time to contact Kyoji again, it¡¯s not an issue. I thought that it would be easier to touch base with Kyoji than the [Hero of Flame] or Kan-chan, who I¡¯ve not yet officially met.

    ¡­¡­ That being said, stop oozing killing intent, Noa and Tina. The room¡¯s temperature has gone way down and now Fio-kun is scared.

    Kyoji stood up, and, without a single change in his expression, bowed lightly to me.

    ¡°Then, Princess Yurushia, I hope we will get along well. Although you will be my subordinate, as your position is the same as mine, please, feel free to tell me any of your concerns.¡±

    ¡°Hai, Kyoji-sama. Thank you for your help.¡±

    Was there anything being said?

    Well, now I¡¯ll be able to go to the battleground in the North.

    And after that¡­¡­

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, please be safe. I would love to have tea with you again when you return.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Fio-sama. I look forward to it.¡±

    I plan to raise him against the harassment those two are giving him.

    ¡°Princess¡­¡­  I will accompany you as your escort.¡±

    ¡°Well, thank you.¡±

    The knight who had guided me to my seat was also looking at me with a complex expression¡­¡­

    ¡°Princess, I will happily accompany you, so please, give me that ¡®Secret Treatment¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    The old knight who was waiting behind Bianca bowed, showing me his shiny head¡­¡­ it seems that another shining one was going to be lost from Sail.

 Volume 8 - CH 4

    Volume 8, Chapter 4: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 1

    The great kingdom of the east, taking the entire coast, the Sail Kingdom.

    Population, 1.8 million. Holding many huge harbors, it is a maritime country holding riches incomparable to their neighboring countries due to intercontinental trade and abundant ocean resources.

    Due to this abundance, the morale of the people is relatively high, but beyond that, the military might of the country is large. It holds more than 500 naval vessels at sea and over 2,000 battle mages to support their troops on the ground. It is widely feared by other countries because of this.

    Above the crown city, high above the harbor, the royalty lives in a beautiful castle.

    The interior of the castle is split into two areas, the royal wing for the royal family, and the general wing, where knights and other civil servants such as butlers and maids lived to serve the family in the royal wing.

    One such maid that could be seen serving was Catalina, the third daughter of the Seashack family.

    She was 27 years old this year.

    She originally came to be a maid at the royal palace at 15 years old but wasn¡¯t able to find another noble to marry and give an heir to.

    Initially, her appearance crossed into the realm of beauty, but she didn¡¯t have an edge¡­ or maybe she didn¡¯t have any luck with men, so she¡¯s still a working single now.

    Because the Seashack family isn¡¯t very wealthy, and beyond that, being the third daughter in a family with five brothers, after being unable to get contracted to marry a rich noble, her parents [Set her Free]. Hmm, if she tried to put it more concisely into a [Proper Story]: because money was short, she was sent out of the house at age 15 without any further schooling planned, and with only dumb knights and greedy nobles calling on her for their own fun, she was stuck in this situation. As for her own thoughts, forcing a shotgun wedding¡­ never entered her mind¡­

    Originally, Catalina was hired as the maidservant of the first princess, who was close to her in age, but the princess didn¡¯t take her with her when she was married off to the royalty of another country.

    The reason was simple: the first princess was sent purely as a political piece, raised as such from a young age.

    Although there were many maids left after the princess¡¯ departure, including Catalina, most of them had left by now, marrying appropriate knights or nobles in their teens, the only one with the bad luck to be left behind was her.

    As the maid of a former princess, with the other positions for the royal family the senior knights taken, she was left purposeless in the castle.

    Eventually, the job that was given to Catalina was as the caretaker of the newly summoned [Hero].

    However, when Kyoji was summoned at first, Catalina was still the first princess¡¯ maid, and he had other members of the staff to care for him. Also¡­

    ¡°That person¡­ is so difficult.¡±

    Due to the dark aura he let off when only she was around, Catalina didn¡¯t trust Kyoji¡¯s smile.

    Even though he¡¯s someone who was newly summoned from [Another World], with him saying that he was middle aged just five years ago, and the quick discharge of the woman before her, Catalina assumed that her days without normal work would continue forever. Then, a new party of heroes was summoned.

    It was largest summoning since the royal-led summoning of the Hero, Kyoji.

    Although there were only 3 or 4 people expected to be summoned, it seems like 9 or so [Hero Candidates] were summoned for some reason, with five of them being from a completely different world of their own.

    Those five¡­ the ones who came from a world other than Kyoji¡¯s [Terra], the world where people are usually summoned from, began by treating the King with irreverence, but due to their strength on par with the Hero, the King forgave them, and even gave the leader the title of [Saint].

    The beautiful princess from another world¡­ Yurushia.

    Even if she wasn¡¯t her royalty or a hero, Catalina would gladly serve Yurushia exclusively.

    ¡°What a surprise¡­¡±

    When she saw Princess Yurushia for the first time, Catalina felt a shock like lightning running through her.

    She was so beautiful for her age that she felt inner despair despite her own beautiful appearance.

    In reality, Yurushia, who had still been wary of the castle side at the time had been letting out a light amount of intimidation, but the presence of this ¡®Princess¡¯ was enough that she hadn¡¯t noticed the effect.

    Catalina had never called the first princess anything other than [Your Highness], she also would call Bianca, the second princess [Your Highness].

    In this country, all of the King¡¯s children are called [Your Highness]. Even when talking casually, she would never even consider calling them ¡®Princess.¡¯

    However, when she saw the appearance of Yurushia, the word ¡®Princess¡¯ immediately came to her thoughts.

    Between her greater curves and higher height than the average 12-year-old, and her appearance like a fairy, she had both the innocence of a girl and the glamor of a woman grown.

    Her golden eyes show a willpower beyond a child and her hair of golden threads frame her beautiful face like a cold doll¡­

    In addition, she wears fine black and silver dresses that glisten like nothing she¡¯s ever seen before, she was a ¡®Princess¡¯ who brought her beautiful servants into this world, what else would they call her other than that?

    Her appearance alone is enough to convince Catalina that she should be called [Saint].

    Due to the shock, she couldn¡¯t get close in the beginning, and she completely forgot that she was supposed to spy on Princess Yurushia as her maid.

    Along with the other maids who weren¡¯t able to get close, all she could do was hand over meals, tea, and other snacks to the servants of the ¡®Princess.¡¯

    The senior nobles who had the ears of the king were wary of the ¡®Princess¡¯ but the maids and knights unfamiliar with the surrounding events began to let their hearts fall for the girl.

    To be so merciful as to save the hero candidates who were summoned alongside her who were being expelled¡­ There are plenty who are attracted to her appearance alone, but her kindness and lack of typical noble thinking caused the general staff of the castle to become completely ¡®charmed¡¯ by the ¡®princess.¡¯

    After that, when a massive number of zombies were destroyed by the [Saintly Servants], the fame among the commoners and soldiers increased further. In addition to that, when men who had begun to have lonely strands on their heads began to support her, the nobility itself began to call her ¡®Princess.¡¯

    ¡­ Everything was starting to fall apart from the inside.

    Orders were made to isolate those who would say ¡®Princess-sama¡¯ and those who had avoided contact kept away so that opinions could be rewritten little by little.

    Actually, that seems like a hopeless response.

    ¡°Catalina-san, did you know about this back¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess-sama¡±

    At the Princess¡¯ putting look with puffed out cheeks, Catalina looks down and away like a child whose prank had been found out.

    ¡°¡­ Mou, you should have said something.¡±

    ¡°My most humble apologies.¡±

    So long as she obediently apologized, the Princess would never get angry.

    Thinking about it, Catalina had never seen the rage filled Bianca as ¡®Princess-like¡¯ in her head. Well, thinking about Yurushia, there was that girl knight who was sent off into the wall, but since they got up afterwards, it¡¯s probably fine.

    Cataline really wanted to become closer with the princess.

    For that reason, she brought all of her skills to bear to bring up Yurushia¡¯s hair to make her look better.

    Although it seemed like she wouldn¡¯t want to show her beautiful spotless back, hiding her beauty like that would be a ¡®sin.¡¯

    More than anything, Catalina wanted to brag to everyone about being a servant of the Princess.

    The princess gently gives her a relaxing smile, that brings out the terrifying, god-given beauty which can¡¯t even be thought of as human.

    And like that, the [Saint] begins her travels across the land to the north to face evil with the help of the Heroes and the church.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m off,¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess-sama, we will await your swift return.¡±

    A week after that eventful meal, I decided to head to the northern countries occupied by darkness alongside Kyoji.

    The time of departure is the same as Kyoji, but we¡¯re in separate carriages.

    As his party, he is taking ten knights and four mages, two ranger, and four men and women as porters.

    Even with speed and stealth as a priority, it¡¯s more people than I expected.

    Well, I guess you can¡¯t just have Heroes, Warriors, Wizard, and Monks in reality.

    The maids of the castle watch us depart.

    Among them, Catalina-san¡¯s voice showed her worry for our safety.

    ¡­ If I¡¯m not mistaken, and this is a bit scary, but I¡¯ve been feeling a bit of ¡®Faith¡¯ recently. Little snacks are being given to me as ¡®Offerings.¡¯

    ¡°Catalina-san¡­ maybe it isn¡¯t too bad to call her [Princess] after all?¡±

    ¡°Well, Princess-sama is our ¡°Princess¡± after all¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what they¡¯re talking about, but the others are nodding along, is it best just to keep this out of mind from now on¡­?

 Volume 8 - CH 5

    Volume 8, Chapter 5: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 2

    Travelling together with Kyoji, the Hero of Water, they departed the great nation of Sail with twelve horsemen and 4 high-speed military carriages.

    Along with the 4000-strong army consisting 500 knights, 2500 soldiers, 300 mages and their logistics and support force, they paraded through the main streets of the Kingdom¡¯s capital as a show of force and left immediately after.

    Incidentally, the masses had all gathered to see the ¡®rumored¡¯ [Saint] but because of certain ¡®circumstances¡¯ they were unable to do so, and their shoulders sagged with disappointment.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What do you mean, because some of them might have weak hearts¡­¡­?¡±

    While murmuring about what someone else had said, Hero Kyoji was deep in thought as he rode his beloved pure-white horse that he¡¯d gotten from the royal family.

    This time around for Kyoji, there was little to gain in going to battle.

    Since he had already gained immense fame as a hero during the past ten years, he needed no further achievements, but if for ¡®some reason¡¯ he chose not to move, his fame would fall.

    Kyoji¡¯s main goals were, in a word, nefarious.

    He wanted to become the King of Sail.  The only person who supposedly knew about this besides the knights who had followed him for years was the Second Princess, Bianca.

    But to put it across strongly, those were pretexts to deceive those who were familiar with him.

    Kyoji had thrown the First Princess, who had similar ambitions to him, into disgrace, and bearing a grudge against her newborn prince, married him to another country.

    Thereafter, he worked hard for the Royal family, gained the trust of the king, and then gradually brainwashed the young Bianca to favor him.

    Now, before that young prince matured, all he needed was to ensure that the current king and the First Prince both ¡®died of illness¡¯.

    Though his plans were supposed to only kick in in a few years, Kyoji had decided to take advantage of this war.

    And it was all because Yurushia¡¯s fame as a Saint and that her powers were greater than Kyoji speculated or even imagined.

    The Lower-ranked knights and the soldiers had begun to favor her. He heard that the boys and girls from the other world, who were supposed to have been cut off and labelled useless, were quickly acquiring enough power to match the senior soldiers.

    Although they didn¡¯t reach the level of Kyoji yet, as some of the older statemen were beginning to lean towards the Saint, he felt the impending collapse of his domestic power.

    The plan needed to be brought forward.

    And the first stage was bringing Prince Fjord and Yurushia together.

    The prince, whose age was similar to hers, had heard the rumors of the beautiful Princess from another world and was interested in her after hearing from one of the spies that had been placed next to her by the Royal Family.

    Prince Fjord was already 10. It would not have been strange to have a fianc¨¦e already.

    But since he was a late-born boy of the royal family, the selection of his consort was being conducted very carefully, as since overtures had come in from the other imperial families, he would not be able to convince the other nations to stand aside unless it wasn¡¯t someone of similar stature.

    For example,¡­ someone who was a [Saint] of such fame that they rivalled a Hero?

    Yurushia was 12. As a fianc¨¦e, she was of the appropriate age, and she was even a duchess with succession rights to a throne, though it was the throne of another world. And if she raised her achievements in this war, the ¡®case¡¯ would be flawless.

    Just that in order to do so, he needed ¡®either¡¯ of them to want it.

    For Kyoji, understanding what that girl was thinking was very difficult. But that terrifying beauty that incited fear at a glance should have captivated the heart of the prince, who had already become accustomed to beautiful things.

    And as expected, it seems that Prince Fjord developed a crush on Yurushia.

    According to the reports from one of the maids who was spying for him, the Prince seemed to only talk about Yurushia. Of course, the maids had also been guiding his interest, but it was a matter of time before this longing turned into love.

    The second step of the plan was to lure the prince out onto the battlefield.

    As a prince who¡¯d turned 10, he was supposed to have taken over command of the army as one of the Royals, as a future king. But since he had been mollycoddled since birth, they stopped him from doing so now.

    If the war dragged out, the people he¡¯d left in the castle would incite the prince, and then the prime minister that Kyoji had installed would direct the prince to take to battle [For the Princess].

    However, he needed to manufacture the situation where it would become convenient to do so.

    He needed to prolong the battle into a stalemate.

    But for the prince to head into battle, the war needed to also be in a somewhat stable state.

    And he would need to draw the Saint Yurushia into the forefront of the war.

    On top of that, he would need to deceive both the prince and Yurushia simultaneously¡­¡­

    [Buruu¡­]

    ¡°Oops¡­¡­ were you worried for me?¡±

    As Kyoji¡¯s eyebrows knitted over this problem, his beloved horse sensed his mood and neighed softly.

    Kyoji smiled, and tapping the neck of his horse, sighed lightly.

    ¡°The worst thing is, I¡¯ll need to borrow the help of the hero of the south¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s his last resort.

    But since this was going to be one of the stepping stones on the way to his ¡®ultimate purpose¡¯, as long as that was achieved, Kyoji had no problems doing so¡­¡­¡­

    * * *

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that it doesn¡¯t shake¡­¡­¡±

    said Mizuki as she looked out of the window of the carriage.

    We were occupying the last two carriages of the line formation, travelling together with Kyoji. This carriage had the girls, and the boys were at the back.

    In this carriage I rode with Tina and Fannie, along with the two girls who we forcibly dragged along, Touka and Mizuki.

    On the men¡¯s side, there was Noa, Daichi and Futa. As well as some of the lesser nobles who were the overseers from the castle.

    There was someone surveilling us, but that¡¯s alright, because he¡¯s one of the prime minister¡¯s men, who¡¯s been drawn to our side by scalp ¡®rejuvenation¡¯. There is no problem at all.

    fufufu¡­¡­ It seems that he¡¯d been on Kyoji-kun¡¯s side for nearly ten years, but really, that person¡¯s ¡®karma¡¯ was terrible. Don¡¯t underestimate the power of a Demon.

    Anyway, the reason why the carriages weren¡¯t mixed gender is simple. Mizuki would start  getting ¡®sick¡¯ immediately, even on carriages that weren¡¯t particularly bumpy. I didn¡¯t say any of this, but it¡¯s inevitable since there were no cures in this world And so, with that reason, the men are placed together in a single carriage.

    ¡°What¡¯s with this carriage, does it have a ¡®suspension¡¯? I heard that otherworlder technology is being used for this.¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­¡­ it¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it.¡±

    No no no, Touka-chan, it¡¯s just an ordinary technology available on Earth, and you¡¯re already impressed. Well, I don¡¯t know much about the principle either¡­¡­

    It seems that ¡®antibiotics¡¯ or similar seems to have been developed recently, and so when the war against the [Forces of Darkness] is over, the population would explode and then the [Fear] would vanish from the earth, and then all of the magic would disappear, no?

    Because it seems like magic runs the world instead of science, civilization would collapse when magic power declines.

    I can¡¯t even laugh at the otherworlders¡¯ knowledge cheats when as a result, the other world is collapsing.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Or maybe we were called to this [World]?¡±

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Was I overthinking it? Because there seems to be Demons in this world, I was called to this world by the will of the world, or rather¡­¡­ by their human resource shortage, so to speak.

    Here¡­¡­ it seems that the Demon World entrance for [Tess] was relatively close to the Demon World for [Atra]where we were from, given that rumors flowed from there to here, but Noa has yet to find the coordinates for Atra.

    I wonder if it¡¯ll be easier to just pull out one of the [Demon Lord] pillars of the Demon World¡­¡­?

    Well, not that I want to.

    Even that ¡°ordinary-class¡± guy, had he fought me in the material world with Rinne, would have caused inestimable millions of lives in damage.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe there was a shortage of Demon resources, because Rinne and I have crushed two of the pillar [Demon Lords]¡­¡­

    No, there¡¯s no way.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Touka?¡±

    Touka that¡¯d been relatively quiet ever since we started out journey suddenly asked me a question with a serious expression.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to war now, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    I thought that she¡¯d been quiet since we¡¯d forcibly dragged her along. Because I pulled them along forcibly, having forgotten to tell them that they would be coming, and I¡¯d been pushy.

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡­ going to¡­¡­ have to kill people?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    At Touka¡¯s words, Mizuki next to me gasped.

    Well, that¡¯s certainly true¡­¡­ Ever since I became a [Demon], the only differences between human and animal lives was in their [Taste], but I can empathize.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t have to do it, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°B-but¡­¡±

    As I gave them that offhand answer, Touka and Mizuki had complex expressions on their faces.

    Since you¡¯ve been kidnapped to this world for a few months, you¡¯ve already begun to think about what it means to live in this world, haven¡¯t you?

    One has to fight to live. But; there were mountains of people who weren¡¯t fighting in this world.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to force yourself to do anything. But¡­¡­ even if you don¡¯t want to ¡®kill¡¯ on the battlefield, it¡¯s also possible to ¡®help¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been training you. Well, it was also because it was convenient for me.

    ¡°Save people. Allies¡­¡­ I don¡¯t care even if it¡¯s an enemy. If anyone has any complaints, ¡®I¡¯ will do something about it.¡±

    I smiled as gently as I could at the two to put them at ease.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡­ we¡¯ll rely on Yuru-chan¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. That¡¯s part of my ¡®work¡¯ too.¡±

    As I told them so, the sadness that hung around Touka and Mizuki¡¯s faces lightened.

    Do your best!

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯ll become a problem if you all don¡¯t become proper [Heroes].

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want them to kill. ¡­¡­ or so I told myself, but along the way, I became unsure of that.

    Fannie suddenly turned away towards the window as I spoke.

    ¡­¡­ Fannie-chan, are you turning away to hide the fact you¡¯re laughing at me?

 Volume 8 - CH 6

    Volume 8, Chapter 6: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 3

    The journey¡¯s going well ¡­¡­ but really, it¡¯s a pain.

    We were on a forested road that ran between countries. It was a road that was impassable for armies, but it would get our smaller group there earlier.

    If I had chosen to fly it would have taken a fraction of the time, but since I¡¯m part of the [Hero Party] right now, I can¡¯t just head off without a reason. Besides, even if it were possible, due to the knights of the castle that had gotten along with Daichi and gang, it would be improbable for them to believe that I would do it, even as a joke.

    Can¡¯t I go off on a leisurely journey by myself? I¡¯ve been stuck with regulations ever since I¡¯ve been in this world, so I¡¯d really like to take a pleasure trip around the world.

    ¡­¡­ But.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, you know, it¡¯s a clich¨¦ that bandits will appear in regions like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You¡¯re saying things like that again, Mizuki.¡±

    You don¡¯t have to set the flags so grandly in a place like this.

    In short, Mizuki, Touka, and the rest of the children were getting bored. I, too, have gotten tired of playing cards. I get dizzy when we play in the carriage.

    Why am I immune to poison, but still get carsick¡­¡­?

    [The bandits appeared~!]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Come on!

    Touka, who had been so worried about killing people all this time suddenly lit up. It seems that the children have had entirely too much free time.

    Behind Mizuki, who was wearing the same expression as Touka, the Demons were smiling with their fangs out.

    Run away, bandits! From the clutches of these Demons.

    ¡°¡­¡­there¡¯s no helping it, I guess¡±

    As the carriage stopped because of the bandits, I stood up spryly with a sigh. If I left them alone, it¡¯s going to be a pain later.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuru-chan is going out there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go out, but you guys should stay here, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes~¡±¡±

    That¡¯s good girls. But at first glance, Touka and the rest are about 5 years older than I am, you know? And why hadn¡¯t Fannie or Tina replied to me?

    As Tina opened the door and I tried to get off the carriage, Daichi and a young knight were hurriedly getting off with me. The young knight that was about the same age as Daichi looked nervous as he tried to help me off the carriage.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing¡±

    As I smiled at him, his face turned bright red and he looked down.

    Hmm¡­¡­ when he shows me such a pure expression, I start to feel a bit embarrassed. After all, most people in Sail didn¡¯t dare to look at me directly.

    It¡¯s not like I have a special ability like Tina¡¯s, so I don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation, then¡­?¡±

    ¡°Understood, I will report it now.¡±

    I bit myself.

    As I hear it from him, there were about 30 bandits, but at least they were ¡®au naturel¡¯ bandits, and not disguised soldiers from another country.

    In other words, this wild produce was going to taste better than farmed produce.

    What¡¯s that?

    I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I was just rationally explaining why I¡¯m interested in the bandits.

    That being said, I headed quickly for the front.

    When I arrived¡­¡­ it was about 10 seconds or so on foot, but I was looking at peasant-like people who were glaring at the knights.

    They looked like farmers, but were all holding poorly-maintained military equipment that looked like they¡¯d picked it up somewhere. They were primarily armed with spears, but looking at them more carefully, while most of them were wielding iron spears, some of them just had knives or wooden sticks.

    ¡°Kyoji-sama, what¡¯s happened?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Princess Yurushia. ¡­¡­ It seems that these people used to be villagers from a small holding nearby but were plagued with famine. Though, they would be arrested if we were on Sail soil¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    I wonder, though, why these bandits are attacking armed knights. Was it because of some bad harvest or something, so they attacked? But even then, I thought that it would have been a better idea to attack merchants, so I wonder what their reason is.

    When I exposed myself to them, there was a wave of emotion that swept across them.

    ¡­¡­ they seem scared. The maids in the castle told me that it would take the people in the countryside some time to get used to my appearance, and to be honest, it makes me a little depressed.

    ¡°Oohh, you are of high status! Taking your aristocratic mistress to go sightseeing! We¡¯re lacking a little something for our next meal! So, give us the women and children along with the food!¡±

    Among the bandits, one particularly bear-like man with a huge spear stood out as he shouted at us.

    He looks like the head of the bandits. I see¡­¡­ so you¡¯re unhappy with the aristocrats?

    It feels like everyone there is unhappy with the aristocratic class, and the rest of the bandits were glaring at us as well. They might have been following the orders of the bear-person, but it seems that they attacked out of their own free will as well.

    ¡­¡­ However, they don¡¯t look very delicious.

    ¡°So, what will you do, Kyoji-sama?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­¡±

    Because he¡¯s a hero, he can¡¯t possibly raise his hand against these villagers.  While I was thinking that, Kyoji was looking at them like one would a pebble by the pavement.

    ¡°I should execute bandits that I find in any other country on the spot.¡±

    With a *bang*, Kyoji gouged a small hole in the ground as he sped forward.

    Maybe he wanted to look like he disappeared to my attendants and I. I wonder if Daichi and Futa were able to catch what he was doing at all? Well, since I¡¯d had them watch my attendants fight from the special front-row seat, if they hadn¡¯t grown at least that much, they¡¯d really be in trouble now.

    It didn¡¯t matter, but Kyoji had pulled out his sword as he turned his blade towards that bearded bear man.

    Half a second hadn¡¯t even passed yet, but if I continued to sit on the sidelines for another half a second, half of the bandits would be killed by Kyoji.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    The holy magic that I cast flew towards Kyoji and the bear-man. And in the meantime, I secretly signaled Fannie with my eyes.

    What I¡¯d cast on them was [Citadel of Light], the defensive magic, but unlike the normal [Citadel] it also included a [Barrier] that protected one from magic, making it impossible to move from their spot.

    In short, I cast a restraining magic, but the [Citadel of Light] that I¡¯d cast on Kyoji was unnaturally countered.

    But thanks to that instant¡¯s restraint, and the [Citadel of Light] on the bear, it seems like he¡¯s only had his arm slashed.

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you trying to do?¡±

    Asked Kyoji in a low voice, as he stood there between the bandits and I. Even if you¡¯re trying to hide it, your killing intent is leaking, you know?

    Personally, I don¡¯t really care about the bandits given the way they acted, peasant or not, but it¡¯s not to the point where I¡¯d immediately kill them¡­¡­ though that could just be me.

    Still, how did Kyoji resist my magic?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that it¡¯s impossible to resist. I think that if there was a difference in our magic power, it would have been resisted, but I felt like it was because of some other factor.

    Hmm¡­¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand the [Heroes¡¯ Secret Arts] yet, but maybe it¡¯s one of Kyoji¡¯s abilities or [Skills].

    ¡°Well, well, isn¡¯t it better not to be so brutal? Anyway, could you leave this one to me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Instead of applying intimidation, I smiled at him while my magic power overflowed from me. Kyoji gave me the tiniest frown that nobody else could possibly tell, but I smiled at him, holding one hand to my chest while I bowed slightly towards him.

    ¡°I understand. If that is the will of the ¡°Saint¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What a bad-mannered person.

    Putting the word [Saint] out there so the bandits and villagers would know.

    Now I¡¯ll have to approach them as the [Saint] and conduct negotiations. If it were a normal person who had been summoned normally to a different world and made a saint, they might care about appearances, becoming unable to do anything without their common sense getting in the way. And then, knowing that no solution could be reached, he was raising the hurdle.

    ¡°S-saint-sama? Do you think we¡¯ll go away with just that! This ain¡¯t for kids, so go back!¡±

    The bear ignored his injured arm, gripping his weapon with his remaining arm.

    He seems somewhat nervous about it, but hasn¡¯t quite stopped being hostile. I didn¡¯t use my intimidation at all, just my magic power, but it seems like it doesn¡¯t affect people like Kyoji, who can¡¯t sense magic power.

    Looking at the bear, I slowly walked towards him, smiling all the way like a proper [Saint].

    ¡°This brat, you won¡¯t understand if you don¡¯t get hurt¡­¡­ eh?¡±

    At the instant where the bear reached out, going easy on me, my escort knight Nea had overtaken him.

    ¡­¡­ that¡¯s good. It¡¯s Nea. I wonder what would have happened if this had been Tina, whose fingers were wiggling this whole time? Anyway.

    ¡°Come, bandits. Surrender if you want him back.¡±

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    Not only the bandits, but the knights that were with us were stunned into silence at this.

    ¡°¡­¡­ku¡±

    ¡°B-big bro!¡±

    ¡°You guys, ignore me! Never surrender!¡±

    While his arms were being twisted to the point of failure by Nea, the bear was glaring at me hatefully even as he called out to his companions.

    ¡°What are you doing! The Saint is torturing me!¡±

    Ah, I see¡­¡­ You¡¯re underestimating me.

    But¡­¡­ your opponent is no ¡°saint¡± or even ¡°noble lady¡±, but rather a most terrible [Demon]. Fufu.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill off all of your ¡°hair follicles¡± now.¡±

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    As I made my proclamation, the faces of the men all cramped up slightly.

    ¡°W-wait¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­[Light!]¡­¡±

    As I incanted the holy magic, the light lightly touched the [Fur?] and all of the hair on his arms fell out, and his skin became smooth.

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    ¡°¡­[Light]¡­¡±

    As I applied more magic to the astonished bear, his rough chest hair all fell off.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s make this entire body beautifully clean¡±

    ¡°Wai-wait-waitaminute¡±

    It was fun, and my smile was widening, while the newly baby-like bear and the rest of bandits surrendered immediately.

    ¡­¡­ Why does it feel like the distance between the knights and I is getting further?

    *

    The bandits¡¯ minds were all changed by my sincere persuasion.

    Apparently, as Kyoji said, they were men from a nearby village, who had turned to banditry because of poor harvests.

    The reason why the bear had attacked was as a form of retaliation against the lord for not reducing the tax despite the bad harvest.

    ¡°So, do you know why the harvest has suddenly become bad?¡±

    ¡°U-uhm, Saint-sama¡­¡­? It seems that the storm winds have caused the soil in the fields to shift¡­¡­ If it were only that, it would have only been once in a year, but, hmm¡­¡­ I brought up the soil and mixed it with a mixture of dead leaves I collected from the mountains, according to the [Agriculture from the Otherworld], but that too eroded with the storm¡­¡­¡±

    We were now on our way back to the village where the bandits were from.

    The journey at this point has collapsed somewhat, but even if it¡¯s not a soft bed, I personally don¡¯t want to sleep on a hard floor. It¡¯s true.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, could this be related to the circumstances of other countries?¡±

    So Kyoji reproached me¡­¡­ well, I say that, but he¡¯s been talking to me secretly.

    By the way, for the others, they were separated from us as much they (emotionally) distant from us.

    I cured his hair roots properly, and also healed the sick in the village, so why is nobody approaching us¡­¡­?

    ¡°Ah, is that no good?

    ¡°The country is not wealthy. Such villages are everywhere. Is Saint-sama intending to save them all¡­?¡±

    In short, he was asking me if I was going to be a sentimental ¡°hypocrite¡±.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­¡±

    I laughed softly.

    ¡°It¡¯s just an ¡°experiment¡±. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    As I said that, I felt that Kyoji¡¯s heart was getting further away from mine. But then.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°OOHHHHHHHHH¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The exclamations came from the village.

    When I planted things in the fields by sprinkling seeds, potatoes and plump tomatoes grew.

    ¡­¡­ The tomatoes and potatoes were slightly greenish, but they should be more nutritious.

    ¡°Ooh, Saint-sama, thank you for saving our village.¡±

    As the village chief lowered his head towards me, the near-100 villagers did the same.

    ¡°How on earth¡­¡­ no, that doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­ but the bandit act was because I instigated our youth. The blame should be mine alone¡­¡­¡±

    So said bear-beard, impressed by the field.

    Even when it goes to trial, banditry usually results in death. It seems that they didn¡¯t kill many people, whether it was robbing merchants or attacking travelers, but had they been reported to the lord, they would have been sentenced to death.

    ¡°We are people from another nation. So, we won¡¯t interfere further in the affairs of this country.¡±

    Because it¡¯s a pain.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry¡±

    The bear-beard lowered his head in shame again.

    ¡­¡­¡­ It became that I was intentionally not reporting the crime, but since this was an ¡°experiment¡±, it¡¯s embarrassing that you¡¯re so touched.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I got it.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work.¡±

    Fannie, who had been away, had gone to reap the souls of the lord of this land and the other delicious, syrupy souls.

    It can¡¯t be helped since the villagers¡¯ souls aren¡¯t that great. After all, good dietary habits are the most important.

    I wonder if it¡¯s alright, though¡­¡­

    Please, continue to survive, bandits. That new parasitic see-¡­¡­ the crops would grow by absorbing magic from the earth, but their favorite food was souls, if the crops grew too much, they would start attacking others.

    And so we left. A few weeks later, we arrived at the mountain nation of Cebrill, close to the battle front.

    By the way, this is completely unrelated, but a few villages in some country would be attacked by some flock of demons in a few years¡¯ time, but the story went that the ¡°crops¡± attacked the demons and kept the villages safe.

 Volume 8 - CH 7

    Volume 8, Chapter 7: I met a Hero, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuru-chan, is this ¡°The Dragon¡¯s Tendon¡±?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    I replied Mizuki as we got off the carriage together.

    At the foot of the mountain range that sat on the border of the Forces of Darkness, there were a group of five small nations called the [Northern Dragons].

    Long story short, because the individual power of each country was too little, they formed an alliance of powers to repulse the forces of darkness, and to stand up to unreasonable demands from the larger powers like Gamble.

    After a few weeks of travel, we arrived at Lucell, a country that was close to the front.

    Nothing particular happened along the way. There were a few monster attacks, but the Knights defeated them handily, so I had no chance to make an appearance.

    Although the monsters that appeared were different from those of Atra, according to Futa they were all common monsters in the Fantasy genre, I think this one was a g-goblin or something? It had quite the adorable name.

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t it? The name felt like what you¡¯d call an idol, some [XX-rin], so it¡¯s probably quite cute.

    Though, the fact of the matter is that we¡¯ve arrived at Lucell, one of the five countries that made up the [Northern Dragon]. Telluza, the northernmost of them, had been destroyed by the forces of darkness.

    According to the [Northern Dragon] nations, they were all nicknamed after parts of dragons, and Lucell was called [The Dragon¡¯s Tendon].

    ¡­¡­ Why did they choose such a specific part?

    Give it a better name, darn you, like Dragon¡¯s Tail, or Dragon¡¯s Fang.

    What. Was this country being teased for being plain? I thought so at first, but it turns out that the other countries had equally bad names, like [Dragon¡¯s Adam¡¯s Apple] and [Dragon¡¯s Tongue] and [Dragon¡¯s Tailbone].

    Incidentally, Telluza was called [The Dragon¡¯s Subcutaneous Fat].

    I don¡¯t know why.

    ¡°Welcome, Hero-sama, Saint-sama. On behalf of the Lucell Principality, we warmly welcome you!¡±

    The slightly chubby king of Lucell welcomed us.

    Well, even Lucell was called a Principality, it really only had a population of about 100,000, which was half of that that of even just the capital of Sail, so in my view, the King was really only something like the ¡°chairman¡± of a city.

    ¡°Apologies for troubling you.¡±

    And so Kyoji and the knights ignored the King, leaving the butler-looking fellow, who started following behind them on their mission to greet the king of Lucell.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    My god, I almost can¡¯t stand it anymore¡­¡­!

    ¡°¡­¡­King of Lucell, I am Yurushia. I hope we will get along.¡±

    ¡°¡­O¡­oOh, Lady Yurushia, I offer you all that I can give!¡±

    I smiled as gently as I could and greeted him properly, and the King of Lucell seemed so moved. The people of the castle were also dabbing away their tears with their handkerchiefs. ¡­¡­ It must be tough being a small country.

    King Lucell, whose mood seemed to have improved, told us about various things as he guided us in.

    It seemed that the names of the kingdoms came from the body parts of an evil dragon defeated long ago. Several heroes had defeated the dragon, and taking its parts, they founded the kingdoms.

    ¡°In other words, my ancestor was one of the heroes that defeated that dragon.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing.¡±

    Well¡­¡­ I guess I miscalculated.

    It looks like they split up the parts quite finely, but where did the fangs, horns, and nails etc. go?

    If the parts that they had received from fighting were these, then I think that those ancestors weren¡¯t actually very useful at all¡­¡­

    I want to give up thinking about this for now, so please excuse my monotonous replies.

    We¡¯d come to Lucell so that we could use it as a forward base to take back Telluza.

    It was difficult to assault with a large army, so it was rarely attacked, but was incredibly convenient for the dozens of us in the [Hero Party]to use.

    As the armies sent forth by each country were bigger, they were gathering in a country that was better suited for large forces, and only the other heroes, including Sail¡¯s, were gathering in this country.

    ¡°The Hero of Wind of Harko hasn¡¯t arrived yet, but Suzark¡¯s Hero of Flame has already come.¡±

    ¡°What about Kan-cha-¡­ what about Kanzo-sama?¡±

    ¡°The Hero of Earth stopped by already and has already headed off.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    You¡¯re not here, huh, Kan-chan¡­¡­ Although it would get sultry if Kan-chan was here, but in its own way I like Kan-chan¡¯s aesthetic desires.

    But this is this and that is that, and I don¡¯t intend to forgive Kan-chan either.

    The Demon will lie and betray you, and only the ¡°Contract¡± will be kept.

    Well, the problem lies with the ¡°Hero of Flame¡±, though.

    According to Kan-chan, she looked like a girl without a doubt, but Kan-chan didn¡¯t get along with her, and it seems like she¡¯d never spoken in nearly 10 years.

    You ¡°heroes¡± really don¡¯t get along, do you¡­¡­

    I had tea with the King and Queen of Lucell. I don¡¯t feel the need to go greet the Hero of Flame anyway, since we¡¯re going to meet each other at the dinner.

    The Queen¡­¡­ for some reason she really felt like an aunt from Kansai.

    She was so pleased with the leopard-print shawl, but I wonder where she¡¯ll get to wear it?¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know where this is going.

    My butler Noa seemed to like it as well, and it seems that his pockets full of sweets were receiving the brunt of the blows.

    Now, it¡¯s time for the dinner.

    It was a meal with only the Heroes and myself. Daichi and the knights were having their meals in the castle¡¯s cafeteria with the other knights.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I could not accompany you.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡­ you¡¯ve been very helpful.¡±

    Daichi looked like he still couldn¡¯t get used to the way nobles ate. The knights were nobles, but because they were so used to camping outside, they didn¡¯t bother with etiquette and were happy-go-lucky types.

    In other words, it would have been better if I had been like that too. I would rather Tina go and squeeze for me the souls of the murderers of this country than have beef.

    I don¡¯t know if this is some sort of twisted export, but there were a lot of homicides.

    Incidentally, King Lucell had his food separately. It also took a few days for all of the Heroes to gather, and it hurts my stomach to keep eating together with them day after day. ¡­¡­ Pitiful.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia has arrived.¡±

    As the castle chamberlain declared my arrival, the door swung inwards.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I smiled lightly at the tired-looking ladies-in-waiting, and entered. I was accompanied by Tina and Fannie. Noa was off gathering information at my request, and Nea was escorting Daichi.

    I was nervous having only the two of them with me. Not that it was for my safety or anything ¨C I just didn¡¯t want to leave the two of them alone in this place where delicious souls were everywhere, and I wonder if I could even stop myself.

    Well, I¡¯m a famously ¡°rational¡± Demon, so surely, I could stop myself.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Once I entered the room, there was a single person already seated, drinking something that looked like wine.

    It was a lady wearing an evil-looking red armor scrutinizing me, and I returned her look with a grin.

    ¡°Huhh¡­¡­ you¡¯re the Saint?¡±

    A woman who looked like she was in her late twenties¡­¡­ stared at me like an object¡­¡­ and smiled.

    Yeah, she¡¯s most likely female. And most likely human¡­¡­ I think.

    She had soft features and seemed like she weighed in at more than 100 kilograms. There¡¯s no special meaning ¨C I just meant that she was fat. And it seems like the unit price per gram would be low, that¡¯s all.

    Even though she had twin-tails, I could only think such things, but that¡¯s not a problem.

    Her brown hair also looked greasy compared to a normal Japanese person¡¯s.

    Even though she had rough skin and was heavily pimpled, you shouldn¡¯t give up, okay.

    If you¡¯re going to hide it, you can easily use foundation then blush, and it would be artistic¡­ like a clay work.

    Her eyes were hazy with lack of sleep, and actually, once you get used to it, it kind of feels like a stuffed toy.

    I¡¯m also used to the fact that there are people with various tastes in the nobility who like to draw various ¡°male comrades¡± doing their best while naked on paper.

    Her bright red lipstick with plenty of gloss on her thick lips might have been sexy if she was cut off above that and the resolution set to about 480p or less.

    I¡¯m not bothered by decorum, so I don¡¯t mind if the female knights spit on the carpet as long as they clean up after.

    She was scratching her butt when a thick fart leaked out, and even though she was gobbling down her wine, I wasn¡¯t going to frown at her. ¡­¡­ hohoho.

    ¡°Fannie, there¡¯s a pig oinking in here.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, how unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°What, you shitty kid!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    As I spoke out bluntly, the adults who snapped in an instant began to pull out their weapons.

    Hohoho¡­¡­ why are you all getting so upset.

    I was usually quite gentle, and didn¡¯t really care about most things, but it seems that we¡¯ve exceeded the limit of being forgiven for being the same sex. And given that I spoke so bluntly, it seems that she¡¯s getting angry too.

 Volume 8 - CH 8

    Volume 8, Chapter 8: I met a Hero, Part 2

    The Hero of Flame: Minkichi, 2X years old. But of course, she was eternally 15. And very clearly, that wasn¡¯t her real name.

    Minkichi, who was a junior high student at the time, was a sober and modest girl who was, at the time, unhappy.

    ¡°I am a Chosen One, after all. I would be getting strange looks if a child could do it and I couldn¡¯t.¡±

    Being summoned to another world, she¡¯d had a grand misunderstanding.

    If the girl¡¯s appearance had been plain and her character had been serious, then she would have been able to lead a happy life making friends with those of the same hobby. But thanks to the terrible ideas of the adults, she had been summoned at a mentally immature age, and feeling ashamed of herself, she¡¯d abandoned her real name and began to call herself [Minkichi].

    Minkichi, who hadn¡¯t managed to make a ¡°high school debut¡±, tried to make an [Otherwold Debut], and stopped fearing conversation with others for fear of being hurt, and began to talk to others more actively.

    This was the result of yet more misunderstandings by Minkichi.

    Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Minkichi had great aptitude as a [Hero]. Suzark, a large nation founded by a hero, needed a hero, and with the appearance of Hero Minkichi, they treated her like their ¡°princess¡±, and praised all of her work. It was to the point where even if she had been villainous, they would have called it virtuous.

    The nobles and their children would have approached her even if she were silent. Every night, they would hold banquets, and the world¡¯s jewels and gourmets were dedicated to Minkichi.

    At that time, Minkichi was just a middle school student. It might have been impossible for the result to have changed, even if she hadn¡¯t misunderstood. ¡­¡­ But if she had just a little more self-respect and empathy, it might have been different.

    In this world, [Tess], which had been summoning people for more than a thousand years, the efforts of otherworlders had already brought cuisine and commercial goods close to that of the modern world.

    As a result of this horrific misunderstanding, the king of Suzark, who was thinking of having Minkichi marry the prince to carry the blood of the hero into the royal family, immediately gave up and returned to square one once he saw her walk around the castle with bleached hair, extravagant makeup and in sensational underwear-like clothing.

    When the royals began to distance themselves from her, so too did the nobles, and once Minkichi¡¯s strange behaviors and aptitude became clear, the young people in the castle began to abandon her.

    Some of the knights were in charge of guarding Minkichi in the castle. They never mistreated Minkichi as a hero, but still, the knights were only human. Minkichi hated to bathe, since she would have to re-do her hair and nails and reapply all of her makeup. So, in an attempt to mask her body odor, she wore loads of perfume, but the knights, especially the younger ones, began to avoid her.

    ¡°I-I already have a sweetheart!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Mikichi suffered her first setback. After confessing to one of the handsome knights who had been relatively kind to her, Minkichi¡¯s dreams were beautifully crushed, and finally realized that she was being avoided.

    If she had taken a good look at herself and changed her mind, it might not have been so bad.

    Minkichi began to think that [it was not I that was in the wrong, but women who seduce men who are wrong], and began to hang out with the others who had similar thoughts.

    Like Minkichi, these women gathered information about the knights they loved, and would inform Minkichi about it, letting her threaten those maids who had knights as lovers with her authority as a hero.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to have your lover sent to the frontlines?¡±

    ¡°Pl-please, don¡¯t¡­¡­ Please, I¡¯ll do anything.¡±

    But that was not all. She would even threaten the young knights and officials who had taken maids as their lovers.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright to take the maids on this trip, but the security is bad, you know¡­¡­ I wonder who would be better?¡±

    ¡°Please¡­¡­ please, she only¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Then in that case, you¡­¡­ do you **understand**?¡±

    If the king of Suzark had taken this into his hands at that point, there might not have been any lasting damage.

    But, since Minkichi was the [Hero] that Suzark had longed for, and her power was greater than any hero before, the King of Suzark was unable to reprimand her strongly, especially given her popular support from those who did not know better.

    Minkichi, who had become arrogant, stopped polishing her femininity, and greedily searched out cooks who could make gorgeous cakes and dishes for her, gradually deviating from the appearance of a ¡®woman¡¯.

    Although the officials of Suzark began to fear this person who had abandoned being a ¡®woman¡¯, only one person advised Minkichi as a ¡°hero¡±.

    ¡°Why do you behave so poorly? If you continue so, everyone will eventually leave you.¡±

    ¡°Sh-shut up!¡±

    The Hero of Wind, Fortellis. His casual words gave Minkichi a greater shock than she had ever thought possible.

    In her heart of hearts, she knew that she was ¡®drifting¡¯ through this world, but she had locked herself in so tightly that she didn¡¯t notice.

    She had been summoned to this world unilaterally, dependent only on her own power. Being unable to ever return to earth, having been abducted to this world, shouldn¡¯t she be allowed to play the victim as much as she wished?

    Fortellis, unlike the other three ¡°Otherworlder Heroes¡±, was beloved by the people, regardless of nation, even though he was weaker than they were.

    If he was going to become even more popular¡­¡­ and if he strengthened as a Hero any further, then what would the point of her existence be?

    It was Minkichi¡¯s sole fear, having been cut off from her family and home, and being so reliant on her ¡®own¡¯ power.

    * * *

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°What, this shitty brat!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The other people who were with the Hero of Flame were all cut to their core by my words and drew their weapons.

    ¡°Oh my, oh my, what an annoying bunch of adults.¡±

    I smiled, covering my mouth with a half-open fan.

    ¡°I was just talking about pigs. Whoever said anything about you all?¡±

    ¡°What the hell!¡±

    A female knight who stank like an orc wearing perfume threatened me with the heavy axe she was carrying.

    ¡°Wait a minute, Chi-chan. ¡­¡­ What guts, little girl. You know what¡¯s going to happen if you go against us?¡±

    *Bounce*¡­ As her stomach jiggled, the hero of flame pointed her strange magic blade at me.

    Ohh¡­¡­ that female knight is called Chi-chan? Unless the other heroes, she seems to have good relationships.

    ¡°Oh my, a knife that looks perfect for cutting cheese. Are you not done eating?¡±

    ¡°Huh? This flamberge¡­¡­ for cheese¡­¡­ oi, Fia-tan, bring me some cheese!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    ¡°Now of course I¡¯ll forgive you once you kneel in front of me stark naked in the courtyard of this castle!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If I thought this was an average Earthling, I would find it unbearable too.

    Kan-chan told me she hated this person and said that she was prettier¡­¡­ but sorry¡­¡­ it seems I only heard about half of the truth. Certainly, Kan-chan was much more feminine and pretty.

    However, for some reason I can¡¯t find it in myself to forgive someone like that of the same sex. Kan-chan, who was pursuing femininity, probably had the same feeling.

    When I glanced sideways, Tina¡¯s cheeks were twitching slightly even though she maintained an emotionless expression. Well, it seems that Tina was bottling in her anger too since she liked pretty things.

    Well, if either Tina or I were to be their opponent¡­¡­ I can¡¯t be sure I can rely on my Demonic powers.

    ¡°Fannie¡­¡­ go play a little.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you, Fannie.¡±

    ¡°Nn? Okay~¡±

    I left it to the only one among us who didn¡¯t see her as a person at all from the start, Fannie.

    Tina, sensing that I was enduring it too, also gave away the role quickly.

    It might not be a good result, but it would probably end better than if Tina and I did it and this country vanished.

    ¡°Haah!? You¡¯re going to leave!¡±

    ¡°Fannie, remember to go easy on them.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°KILL them!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Even though we¡¯re like this, we¡¯re all called heroes and saints.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    The brawl opened with that sumo-wrestler-like female knight. It looks like fat, but it¡¯s also like muscle¡­¡­ It might be different, or maybe it¡¯s just marbling.

    Maybe, a mithril gauntlet¡­¡­ she stretched out her log-like arms as she moved to strike Fannie¡¯s face.

    Fannie tilted her head to dodge, and as she did so, several of her beautiful silver hairs were shredded. With an unchanging smile, Fannie kicked out.

    *Buyoyoyon!*

    Fannie¡¯s ogre-pulverizing kick that looked incredibly light was stopped not by the female knight, but rather by the fat of the Hero of Flame, who shielded her.

    Her fat rippled up and down as it carried the shockwave, absorbing and distributing the force of Fannie¡¯s strike.

    ¡°Kyahaha, your strikes are ineffective against me!¡±

    So laughed the Hero of Flame as the thick foundation on her face cracked off in large drops with her laughter.

    Aah, I see¡­¡­ it¡¯s like the HXXX person from the end of the century. (Note: Hokuto no Ken reference) Speaking of which, their appearances are similar too.

    ¡­¡­ to be able to absorb various things, I¡¯m kind of impressed.

    ¡°Hiya, Explosion!¡±

    Suddenly, the female knight behind, whose skin had become thin and dry raised her voice strangely, and incanted the aria for the typical fire spell, [Explosion].

    Kabooooooommmmmmm!!!!

    Part of the castle was blown away by the fire and the blast, whilst Tina protected me from it, destroying the wall behind us as we jumped out of the castle.

    How unreasonable¡­¡­ Did you even think about the fact that your allies would get caught in the crossfire by your advanced fire magic?

    ¡°Tina, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Everyone seems lively.¡±

    ¡°Ahh.¡±

    On the other side of all the smoke and flame was the tiny silhouette of Fannie and the Hero of Flame, who had flown onto the roof of the castle and continued fighting.

    As the screams came from all over the castle, the soldiers were left stunned by the devastation, and some of the maids sank to the floor in fear and shock, unable to move.

    ¡°My Master, would you like a cup of tea?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡­¡±

    I sat spectating the fight at the white table that Tina plucked out of nowhere. Perhaps she¡¯s become able to use [Subspace Storage] from the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]?

    Anyway¡­¡­

    ¡°Surprisingly strong.¡±

    The Hero of Flame¡¯s party seems to have pretty high combat power. Although they were all fighting as they pleased, they had good coordination.

    The Hero of Flame saw through the fact that Fannie wasn¡¯t an ordinary person instantly and received the attack in lieu of their subordinates. They probably also knew that they were all flame-resistant, so they trusted each other to survive the fire.

    Just eyeballing it, it seems that the battle power of the [Hero Party] was roughly equal to that of an [Arch Demon].

    Purely on magic power, humans wouldn¡¯t be able to even compete with a Lesser Demon. So as to how humans could fight Demons was because Demons¡¯ battle power was directly proportional to their magic, so once they destroyed a country, for example, both their life force and battle powers would be significantly reduced.

    In short, it was difficult to get Demons to go all out, so even humans could fight them somewhat.

    On the other hand, humans fought with the combined power of their body, their minds, and their magic, and even if they fought and were hurt in their full strength, their companions could heal and return again.

    The ultimate card on the human side was the [Hero], whose overall individual fighting power surpassed that of a Greater Demon, and the [Hero Party], the companions whose combined powers acted as a force multiplier.

    My attendants were all stronger than normal Greater Demons, but the Hero Party of Flame was stronger than a normal Hero Party, and Fannie was being forced to limit her output.

    ¡­¡­ It might be a little disadvantageous for Fannie.

    ¡°Mistress, should I participate too?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    Seeing that my attendants are like this, it¡¯s likely that they¡¯re all battle-frenzied. In the current situation, if I were to send one more of them out, then the twins, Noa and Nea, would also surely move.

    I don¡¯t want this to turn into a big incident. ¡­¡­ Also, I was lining up the various sassy lines I¡¯d prepared, but more importantly, I wasn¡¯t going to let Fannie lose to That thing.

    As I gently traced the lip of the teacup with my finger, I quietly muttered to myself while I watched the Red Tea boil over with my feelings.

    ¡°Fannie, first limiter release.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°!?¡±¡±¡±

    Without revealing her true nature as a Demon, nor using her miasma or abilities, Fannie¡¯s suddenly overflowed with magic power, tossing the Hero Party of Flames aside in an instant.

    Even while the Hero of Flames was wary of Fannie, I could see her glaring at me.

    ¡°Girl!! What are you doing! This is clearly not any decent human magic!¡±

    Thinking that my attendants could only have the magic power of maids at most, the Hero of Flame might have thought that I was giving her power by some ¡°unfair means¡±.

    ¡°Oh, but you can run away if you¡¯re scared, you know? I¡¯ll keep it a secret.¡±

    I drank my tea, smiling gracefully as I spoke. ¡­¡­ oof, it¡¯s hot.

    ¡°You can¡¯t be joking! Everyone, prepare to use the extreme magics!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yah!¡±¡±¡±

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t like my attitude more than Fannie¡¯s return strike and wanted to go on the offensive right away.

    Even though she was rotten to the core¡­¡­ literally, ¡®rotting¡¯, it seems that she was going to use the ¡®large scale destruction magic¡¯ with her party, just like a hero.

    ¡­ But, what are you even thinking of, using a magic in a place like this?

    At this rate I¡¯m totally going to have to get involved. Was it because they thought that Fannie¡¯s power was greater than I thought¡­¡­?

    If I didn¡¯t do something about this, the castle might vanish. Fannie somehow¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s no good.¡±

    Oh no, Fannie¡¯s got a really good smile on.

    Whether she was being serious or not, Fannie was about to use spatial magic to summon magma directly from a volcano or from the mantle.

    If it hit, the castle would be destroyed. As I rose to my feet naturally to prevent this unnatural disaster from happening,

    [Dragon Squall.]

    The sky became overshadowed in an instant, and the silhouette of a storm dragon appeared, pouring down a torrential rain.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The massive fire magic was interrupted with the deluge, and both Fannie and the Hero Party of Flame were soaked, blinking their eyes in puzzlement.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia and Miss Minkichi, just what are you doing to the castle of another country?¡±

    Even as Kyoji appeared, heaving heavily with the exertion of large-scale magic, he raised his eyebrows at us, scolding us both with ¡°reason¡±.

    ¡­¡­ I tried to stop it, okay.

 Volume 8 - CH 9

    Volume 8, Chapter 8: I met a Hero, Part 3

    The battle between the [Saint] of Sail and the [Hero] of Suzaku was being treated as a minor quarrel.

    ¡­Not. The majority of people around us showed their true thoughts on their faces, but for now, the thought of letting the enemy know that something like a civil war happened between the countries of the light as they united to fight the dark powers was unthinkable, and for the sake of morale this story was kept to.

    It must be hard for adults¡­ I couldn¡¯t say because I¡¯m a 12-year-old kid. While I might have thoughts about human resources¡­ well it¡¯s someone else¡¯s job already.

    The fallout from the damage done to the castle was taken out of my hands, and it was decided that both the Hero of Flame and Sail would pay compensation.

    The reason nobody asked for me to take responsibility was that the King and Queen of this country, Lucell, defended me.

    From the perspective of the great nation¡¯s heroes, even if they¡¯re just the Mayor of a town somewhere, do you have to act like the UN? If a nation joins in on acting against the forces of darkness and is an obvious victim, their opinion is mostly acceded to.

    Do unto others as you would have done to you.

    Between the violently acting Heroes and the ¡°Weak¡± girls that had been chatting with the King and his wife like me, there really wasn¡¯t much to think about.

    It seems even sympathy can be used against people.

    Well, I am a Demon after all.

    ¡°I mean really, who could think that a gentle girl like Yuru-chan would fight such a savage brute.¡±

    ¡°Mah, Your Majesty, I¡¯m glad you believe me¡­¡±

    Although I was originally a bit angry, I don¡¯t mind anymore.

    After all, I was able to skip the ¡®welcome feast¡¯ that they had prepared, so instead I¡¯m eating alongside the King and Queen.

    ¡­What¡¯s this? Isn¡¯t this more luxurious than the original spread?

    ¡°This is all because the cooks worked themselves ragged for you, Princess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Did the chefs get caught up in the fight before?

    At that time, they seemed so impressed and tearful at my defense, I feel like their feelings have been ¡®delivered¡¯ through this dish.

    When eating alone with those heroes, with national pride, benefits to be gained, and nastiness abound, the mood was heart pounding. It truly is best to have a variety of delicious things.

    Even for a Demon, a life is best spent eating delicious things.

    During the meal, I was told the backstory of Minkichi, the Hero of Flame.

    I it seems like everyone knows a little, so it might be the same as the information collected by Noa or Fannie, however, depending on their location at the time, the information coming in might be different. I have been intentionally limited in my knowledge of the [Heroes] in Sail, so although this was a small country¡­ actually because it was a small country, they gathered information to counter the threats of the great countries, so the information given by the King of Lucell was quite pleasing.

    It¡¯s like this:

    Her name is Minkichi, but it¡¯s obviously not a real name, it¡¯s not even like the relatively good name of ¡®Byoji-kun¡¯ name. It seems like what you might use as a pseudonym to sell yourself as a net idol. That¡¯s the feel of it.

    ¡­ It¡¯s so painful to hear that I felt chest pains.

    Although Kan-chan and her crew are jealous of women, they¡¯re surprisingly tolerant to girls who leave them alone, however Minkichi seems to have created a potentially large number of enemies, as all men and all women that men like are enemies to her.

    Since that¡¯s the case, with what she¡¯s done to herself, that¡¯s almost everyone.

    As a hero, you have considerable reputation, but even for a hero, is that allowed? It seems to be the case, as the royal family of Suzaku is bowing their heads my way and asking for forgiveness.

    Unlike the Sail Kingdom, the royal family of Suzaku seems to have a sense of shame¡­

    Why are the current heroes so bad?

    I¡¯ve not yet met the [Hero] who took over form Yuuki-kun, but from my understanding, they treat this world like a game according to what the good dungeon master told me, looting anything that catches their eye.

    However, looking into the histories, there were many good people who had been summoned as heroes.

    In short, after the dawn of the modern age, Heroes (Lol) like them came to be.

    Good or Evil have nothing to do with the strength of one¡¯s soul.

    Speaking proportionately, the soul of a human will be stronger in one who is fully faithful to their desires.

    The deep souls which demons love taking ¡®Work¡¯ for are, in a sense, people with strong souls.

    This may be a side effect of the humans from that world having lost their natural enemy. Without ¡®Darkness¡¯ on earth, souls like their can reincarnate over and over without being eaten by demons¡­

    Even the Heroes seem to accept this world immediately.

    Well, it might not be natural to consider a summoning a kidnapping but considering it for even a little¡­ it¡¯s troublesome.

    Even after getting a reason, I think the ¡®strength¡¯ is what the ¡®Heroes¡¯ actually care about.

    So, what is the strength of a hero? ¡­ I think while eating buttered crab.

    With the case of the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom], who happened to be my childhood friend from back home in Atra, the basic attributes are the accommodation of the power of light spirits, and combat ability is raised by using the power of greater and greater spirits.

    It¡¯s like how my ¡®Yurushia¡¯ body is optimized for demonic powers, I¡¯m able to move power freely by optimizing my body with spiritual power, even to fortify the body itself.

    That¡¯s why even if you have the power of 10 greater demons in one place, it¡¯s able to compare to an [Arch Demon]in pure combat power.

    However, I don¡¯t think that the Hero of the Holy Kingdom would be able to be on par with an Arch Demon.

    It¡¯s pitiful to compare them with Kyoji, who¡¯s been a hero for more than 10 years, but I can still feel the difference in ¡®strength¡¯ between Atra¡¯s hero and Tess¡¯s Hero.

    So, what¡¯s the difference? I continue to think while eating a cut of saut¨¦ed salmon.

    It¡¯s not fighting strength, but [Power]. There¡¯s also the existence of this world¡¯s unique mysterious Hero Arts, born from the long history of relying on Heroes.

    However, I think that that only has a meaning in that it makes battle more convenient.

    The magic of the level up raises the hero¡¯s power, and in the early stages you move from Cypress Pole to Iron Sword, but after leveling fully as a hero, would a difference of that degree matter?

    The Minkichi party members are so strong that they couldn¡¯t be compared to the other citizens.

    The magic used by Kyoji, [Dragon Squall] is also fairly high-level magic that could rain down on large enemies if used normally.

    Kan-chan also easily used powerful magic that a mage would dedicate decades to train, and also used game-like sword techniques.

    I think that this world¡¯s unique power¡­ is [Skills].

    Skills. It¡¯s a useful thing to be able to use any skill quickly just by learning it.

    A unique thing on this world held by neither Earth nor Atra.

    I won¡¯t deny the use of [Skills].

    With some training, you would get the appropriate ¡®skill,¡¯ which is the case in any world. But oh, this carrot is a sweet one.

    In this world alone, if you develop a skill, there¡¯s almost no chance of failure.

    For example, it¡¯s should be impossible for the body to move freely just by acquiring skill in [Kenjutsu].

    Even if you don¡¯t use a measuring spoon for cooking, how about knowing the right amount to add only by hand?

    Even if general skills are understandable, there are special skills such as Appraise, where even if you have no knowledge, they can understand the name and status of anything they see.

    B-besides, aren¡¯t I complaining too much about a lack of benefits as a Demon?

    Yuuki-kun told me that these skills, along with the Hero¡¯s Secret Arts were said to have been created in the past by ancient sorcerers by sacrificing their lives.

    I can understand that. It¡¯s superficially similar to defensive support magic.

    I can be convinced that the special support of the Hero¡¯s Secret Arts is that, but I can¡¯t understand how the heroes can learn ordinary magic and weapon skills, and that ordinary people can gain them without any problems.

    I can¡¯t be convinced that there¡¯s a system in this world where anyone can learn these skills.

    To do that, there would need to be a system to manage the skills of the whole population.

    No world is normally like that.

    If that¡¯s the case, after creating the Hero¡¯s Secret Art, it would be strange that nothing like a supercomputer was made to manage it or something like a magical management system was created.

    Of course, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a god.

    ¡­ Seriously, it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯ll be fighting something like [New God Tokyo].

    ¡°¡­Ah¡±

    ¡°Oh, what did you think of, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­¡±

    Ah, a murderer¡¯s soul was in this one.

    I feel much better now¡­

    Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Northern potatoes really are delicious.

    For the time being¡­ In conclusion, it might be easier to deal with the skills than deal with the heroes.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This time, lots of explanations.

    Next time, we enter the front lines.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    I¡¯m on my own for this and the next month of chapters since Piro has finals. On the up-side, my work until July will be pretty tame, so I should be able to put out full chapters still. (Albeit occasionally a wee bit late).

    I¡¯m really liking the whole circle of life worldbuilding here, it makes the presence of demons pretty interesting to see what happens when they¡¯re gone when they¡¯re actually important.

    I love the little implication that Yuru¡¯s servants have been lacing the food through this whole inner monologue.

 Volume 8 - CH 10

    Volume 8, Chapter 10: I Got Lost, Part 1

    A gathering of heroes from all over the world, and my group, will be leaving this country for the battlefield tomorrow.

    Due to the bad relations between the heroes, we won¡¯t be leaving at the original time.

    It can¡¯t be helped.

    I wasn¡¯t originally planning to be a ¡°Mediator,¡± but we¡¯re surrounded by people who enshrine the Hero groups at least a little and we aren¡¯t leaving right away due to the ¡°Hero of Wind¡± being late.

    It¡¯s going to be a privilege to be keeping these heroes together.

    If all goes well, we¡¯ll depart next morning.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped, since the Wind Hero still hasn¡¯t come. I¡¯m really not liking the feeling of Yuuki-kun¡¯s replacement as a Hero.

    Well, he was only summoned a year ago while he was still a junior high school student, so even with the knowledge that you¡¯re responsible for protecting the world, he might not have internalized it yet.

    And, as it often does, information came from a strange place.

    ¡°Yurushia! I¡¯ve received a message from Richard!¡±

    It seems that a message has been given to Noa from the Elder Lich Richard, the Dungeon Master in the Northern Dwarven State, but I¡¯m not sure of the contents.

    [The Hero of Wind has been caught in a Honey Trap.]

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡­What does he mean by that?

    Honestly, I can¡¯t tell the meaning. Slowly looking back to Noa to voice my thought, Noa, still wearing the fine butler¡¯s garb provided by my Ducal House, smiled in a meaningful manner before gesturing grandly.

    ¡°It seems that he fell in love at first sight with the Elven Granddaughter of one of the Dungeon Masters Association¡¯s members.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Was that a coincidence?

    Why are you making an ¡°All according to plan¡± face?

    Dungeon masters can be human beings as well as demons, so it¡¯s possible. Besides, the boys on earth seem to have a strange obsession with elves.

    ¡°The members of the Dungeon Masters Association, including Richard, are now planning to attack the Hero of Wind on his aircraft, so it¡¯s fine to leave it as it. They all seem to have spent a lot of money on this.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. First of all, send about 100 gold coins to that grandmother or granddaughter, call it a business expense.¡±

    ¡°It will be done.¡±

    It¡¯s definitely not a bribe, just don¡¯t look too hard.

    I¡¯m not completely sure if it will work, but I¡¯m not particularly interested in the Hero of Wind, so it won¡¯t matter if I leave them as is.

    Speaking of which, wasn¡¯t there a registered Dungeon Master who was robbed by the Hero of Wind a little ago? I¡¯ll just let them settle their grudge themselves.

    I had taken over the Association on a whim, but it¡¯s good to know that it¡¯s working out well.

    ¡°Also, are you doing a signing?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to get ¡®tickets¡¯ for free.¡±

    ¡­I don¡¯t have anything else to do, so let¡¯s train a little.

    In the dawn hours of the next morning, we were at last preparing to leave.

    From here on out, we would be serving the important role of opportunistic fighters who would enter the battlefield as an assault unit.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Kyoji-sama¡­¡±

    Since the Hero of Wind didn¡¯t explain why he didn¡¯t come, I was going to separate from Kyoji and was supposed to be in charge of my own area, he doesn¡¯t have a reason to speak to me right now¡­ did he want to say goodbye?

    Hmm~? He¡¯s together with a woman I don¡¯t recognize.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re still here. Before I leave, there is someone I would like to introduce to you, Yurushia-hime.¡±

    ¡°Hai. Nice to meet you, Yurushia-sama. I am the coordinating officer in charge of managing the Heroes, Sefira, General Staff of the Allied Forces Operations Headquarters.¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±

    I see, so she¡¯s their minder?

    If you think about countries on earth, she seems to be from an organization like the United Nations.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you, Sefira-sama, I¡¯m Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Maah~ Yurushia-sama, I¡¯m from but a humble merchant noble house in a small country. There¡¯s no need to address me so formally.¡±

    She said as she bows lightly, an embarrassed smile on her face.

    She seemed to be in her early 20¡¯s, holding herself in a straight posture, and when I return a smile, she seemed to sway slightly.

    I would say that based on her face, 6 or 7 out of 10 people would say she¡¯s beautiful. Well, at least she still looked human, I¡¯m more like a doll, anyways, she definitely had an appearance that men would not object to.

    Fufufu¡­ I can feel her fear of my appearance.

    Still, I can¡¯t help but wonder what such a beauty would be doing as the coordinator of all the Heroes¡­?

    When I began to worry about her stare and smile at me, she waved her hand like how I saw from older sisters and turned away to look behind us.

    ¡°Ah, yes, please come on out as well, Minkichi-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Sure.¡±

    At Sefira¡¯s call, the Pi- the Hero of Fire came out from the shadows of the surrounding forest.

    To be honest, I had seen her there from the beginning due to the mass sticking out from the side of the tree trunk, but I could read the atmosphere and put on a surprised face.

    As Minkichi reluctantly came out, she spat on the ground while giving me and Fanny a glare. Before my disgust could even register, although it¡¯s overflowing from Tina behind me, Sefira gives out a light sigh.

    ¡°Mou~, please be civil, Minkichi-sama. I know that the two of you had a fight, but you are the older one, so acting this way is no good.¡±

    And now, Sefira is acting like we¡¯re cute little sisters. Hold on Sefira-san, why are you taking that attitude with this person¡­

    ¡°¡­ Aww, I just can¡¯t help it if Sefira¡¯s the one saying that.¡±

    ¡­Huh?¡±

    I thought that, given her character, Minkichi would be angry. I definitely didn¡¯t expect a gleaming smile returned to Sefira.

    A woman liked by everyone; I could have sworn that she would be a target of hatred by Minkichi.

    ¡°Are you good as well, Yurushia-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah.¡±

    Should I give up my goal as mediator? Or should I praise her skills?

    I had just obediently nodded, and even the suspicious Kyoji just gave a wry laugh, embarrassment showing on his face, the atmosphere is so nice.

    ¡­What is this power?

    ¡°If it would please you, Yurushia-sama, would you listen to my request?¡±

    ¡°¡­What is it?¡±

    Whether it¡¯s strength or something else, answering Sefira¡¯s requests seems natural.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ your servants, could they attack the enemy forces as planned, while Yurushia-sama, as the [Saint], can heal the refugees¡­¡±

    ¡­Huh?

    In other words, I¡¯d be working alone separated from my servants¡­ and?

    Right as I¡¯m about to say [I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll have to refuse], Sephira looks me straight in the eye.

    Her eyes were still just as pretty as before, but her behavior and the atmosphere around us changed into something like [Don¡¯t refuse Sefira¡¯s request].

    ¡°¡­I understand.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much! Yurushia-sama truly is a saint. I think that all of the refugees will be really happy now too.¡±

    Sefira responds with a big, innocent smile.

    ¡­This doesn¡¯t feel right.

    I don¡¯t feel particularly strange, but I feel like this should have gone differently.

    Well, the reason my little ones are accepting is because it¡¯s their best use, and since I have no issues of strength when alone. However, in this place I feel like I¡¯m following a script. Does that make any sense¡­?

    ¡°Ah, also, Yurushia-sama will be escorted by our soldiers, so please don¡¯t feel inconvenienced.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Wow, this area is really like going with the flow. It just feels natural to do the ¡°right thing,¡± probably because I¡¯m so narrow minded.

    It can¡¯t be helped, so I ask my followers to move my packages to another carriage.

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°Fanny, what¡¯s happened.¡±

    Sefira is still among us, and the atmosphere hasn¡¯t changed at all since her appearance, with Fanny¡¯s unchanging smile in the background adding a sense of ¡°Uncomfortableness¡± to the situation that I haven¡¯t felt in a long time.

    ¡°Why are you dressed in women¡¯s clothing, Sefira?¡±

    Seriously. That is not the thing to say in this situation.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Teruza, one of the small dragon kingdoms occupied by the forces of darkness.

    In the capital, all ¡°Able bodied¡± people, including the king and captain of the guard were executed without exception, and although the general population was allowed to leave their houses, most of those were mercilessly killed.

    Even in the city outskirts, women and children had fled the area. The farmers beyond the outskirts were, however left without violence.

    It may be the case that the Forces of Darkness ¡°Group¡± had attacked this land, but the only occupants were the Dark Elves and the Beastmen armies.

    When the country of their hated human enemies was first defeated, there were officers who would attempt to attack women or slaughter indiscriminately, all of which were ¡®corrected¡¯ by the hands of the Dark Elf Princesses.

    The Dark Forces which took this land were led by the Dark Elf Twins, as well as the youngest prince of the Beast Nation.

    In the King¡¯s Castle, no humans were present. A small beast-like child was sitting on the throne.

    Was this child the prince of the Beast Nation?

    This army had assembled by Nefertiti, first princess of the Dark Elves, with the expectation that they would lose, and despite the little ones being victorious, not even a single beast-eared maiden surrounded him to take care of him.

    Hair as black as night all throughout, he looked like a little toddler with cute cat ears, sitting with their eyes closed, although not curling up on the throne.

    In this place with no others, two small, similar looking figures appear without a sound.

    Glossy black skin and long ears. Gold and silver hair colors.

    When the twin princesses, holding a bear and rabbit plushie each came to stand before the throne, they held something which looked like a glowing fruit, and quietly bowed her head.

    ¡°¡°Today¡¯s offering for you. Our [God]¡­¡±¡±

    As they softly spoke¡­ behind a slowly opening eyelid, dark eyes with platinum cat-like slits glowed ominously.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Another strange person has arrived.

    Next time, Yuru-chan will do magic.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s always fun to see Yuru get taken along with the atmosphere. She may have an immovable will, but she¡¯s always getting thrown around on the things she doesn¡¯t care about, it¡¯s adorable.

 Volume 8 - CH 11

    Volume 8, Chapter 11: I Got Lost, Part 2

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, please allow me to be your guide as continue on towards the refugees.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Thank you very much, Sefira.¡±

    It seems Sefira will be my guide, while we travel to the refugee camp area.

    She¡­ well, maybe not strictly ¡®She,¡¯ but I¡¯ll use that for convenience, she¡¯s been giving suggestions to the staff, rather than ¡®Orders,¡¯ the various male soldiers are swooning, giving off a feeling of ¡®It can¡¯t be helped¡¯¡­ How impressive. In more ways than one.

    Sefira. What exactly do you have packed into your extra-size chest?

    Is it hopes and dreams? Is it love? Meat? Are they cut up melons?

    ¡°Remodeling¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    Fanny, while unloading my packages, dropped a bomb with a straight face.

    The words said are surprising, but, Fanny-chan, what¡¯s with your appraising eye all of a sudden¡­ Is it a demonic ability? As a [Nightmare] can you just do that? For that matter, I wasn¡¯t even talking to you just now, right?

    I feel like my children have gradually deviated from the category of [Arch Demon]. I hope they will grow up into Devils if they can. Who do they even resemble with their actions, I wonder¡­?

    Hmm, I¡¯m still not sure what kind of ¡°remodeling¡± was needed to pack those full of dreams, Sefira looks completely natural even to my eyes.

    Anyways, back on topic, my thought on my growth as a woman?

    While I am interested in such things since I¡¯m a young woman of age, I don¡¯t think about chest armor like middle school boys do at all hours.

    For that matter, my mother¡¯s set of armor was only enough for small arms fire.

    However, my Aunt on my Father¡¯s side had chest defenses that would stand up to tank rounds.

    I seem to be getting my looks from the other side, but I hope that in the future, even if I have less defense in that area, I will at least have the security and stability of a car air bag.

    ¡­I¡¯m not sure why, but I¡¯m suddenly craving soy milk. It¡¯s said that the ingredients in it are effective when taken during growth.

    ¡°Hmm, Yurushia-sama, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I was just musing on the relationship between vehicle safety and soybeans.¡±

    ¡°Wow, what a difficult thing you¡¯re thinking about. I can guarantee to you that our carriages are safe.¡±

    Sefira gives her response with a smile as bright as a sunflower.

    In every way, she seems like a woman.

    Unlike Kan-chan, who perfectly portrays the stereotypes of a woman, Sefira seems to be more natural¡­ While a part of me thinks how she acts is off, the other just agrees that it¡¯s how an ordinary girl would act.

    Well, I¡¯m sure I could think of something, but I just realized that I don¡¯t actually care

    ¡°Well then, Yurushia-sama, we¡¯ve set everything up. Everything is all according to your wishes.¡±

    The four servants lined up with Noa to deliver the news. Noa had that smile again, but, surely, he won¡¯t be deciding to do strange things again¡­?

    Actually, in this situation am I the lady who swoons about everyone going off to war?

    I¡¯m sure I have nothing to worry about.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, will you be fine on your own¡­?¡±

    ¡°Rather than me, I¡¯m concerned about Touka and Mizuki going to the battlefield from here on out.¡±

    I give smiles to the other group which came to see me off.

    Standing before me were Touka and Mizuki¡­ Oh, and Daichi and Futa were off to the sides due to their fear of more training.

    While I¡¯m not worried about them in terms of strength, I¡¯m worried that those two girls will be surrounded by bad boys from now on.

    Noa and Fanny are the same as ever, staying right next to me even though I don¡¯t need bodyguards.

    What¡¯s this? For some reason, Tina looks frustrated.

    This kid, is she worried about her job since she¡¯s not great at being a maid? I give Tina a smile to cheer her up.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Tina¡¯s cheeks start to redden as she closes her eyes, leaning towards me while pushing out her lips.

    So, since she¡¯s asking, I stuff five slimy octopus legs from storage into her mouth.

    I really don¡¯t understand the appeal. Though I¡¯ve kept them for a while, I just don¡¯t like it.

    ¡°Now then, shall we be off, Sefira?¡±

    ¡°S-sure.¡±

    She stutters, after seeing me smile like nothing happened while Tina looked like a squirrel as her cheeks puff out as she scrapes off the octopus slime.

    It looks like Sefira¡¯s composure has been broken for the first time.

    £ª

    ¡°So, how long until we reach the refugees?¡±

    ¡°Oh, my great apologies, I forgot that I hadn¡¯t told you.¡±

    At the moment, I¡¯m traveling alone in a carriage with Sefira.

    With us are thirty soldiers of the International Allied Forces who are all subordinates of Sefira. Of course, while there are a small number of women among them, since they were high energy, it was decided that only the two of us would ride in the carriage for the sake of comfort.

    ¡­ I wonder what I should do to pass the time.

    I wonder, does everyone else know about her¡­? I wonder if it¡¯s just considered more acceptable here.

    ¡°¡­And so, some of them decided to stay soldiers to protect them.¡±

    Ah, I missed her answer.

    In a nutshell, the refugees have been split into camps of about 1,000 people each, with about 1-2% of each being made up of the injured or ill.

    Actually, is this like make a wish as an Idol?

    ¡­ I haven¡¯t practiced recently; will I need to sing well? I haven¡¯t ever sung.

    ¡°¡­So, I¡¯ve been thinking recently. While the knowledge from other words may be convenient, are the people actually happy?¡±

    Oh, the topic has changed again.

    With my special ability as a demon, even while I¡¯m thinking, I can kindly smile and nod whenever the story pauses, changing the subject seamlessly.

    Hmm? Maybe it¡¯s not demonic.

    ¡°How could it be otherwise, this world has the benefit of [Skills]! People both rich and poor all benefit from skills equally. With skills, there is almost no chance of failure. It truly is a world of equality.¡±

    It seems that Sefira is excited by the idea, however it just doesn¡¯t translate.

    I can understand what she¡¯s trying to say, but skills aren¡¯t equal.

    Since general skills can be gained with effort, I would agree, but with the idea of skill levels, isn¡¯t there inequality in that the products are all the same for each level?

    In a world where natural talent and sense are ignored, culture will decline.

    If culture declines, the worth of their souls goes down.

    If their soul¡¯s value goes down, the quality of the diets for demons goes down as well.

    ¡­ Earth was also on the edge of a cliff, spiritually, and it seems that this world isn¡¯t very good either. For food.

    [Bandits!]

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard it.¡±

    Suddenly¡­ it seems bandits have come out.

    There really are a lot near the battlefield. Perhaps they¡¯re the same farmers who haven¡¯t been able to eat as they normally would?

    While I think about that, Sefira opens the door of the carriage after a knock.

    ¡°Sefira-sama, they seem to be well armed. We can handle them¡­ probably.¡±

    ¡°Is it deserters? ¡­ How difficult.¡±

    Ah, is that what it is?

    If they deserted the battlefield on a platoon or squadron scale and the command structure remains, it would be like fighting against an army, although that depends on their numbers.

    More so, looking at the middle-aged man who came to report, he doesn¡¯t seem used to hard work or rough times.

    ¡°Should I deal with them?¡±

    At my words, the man looks between me and Sefira in surprise.

    ¡°S-such a thing¡­¡±

    ¡°There is no need, as a Saint, Yurushia-sama does not need to put herself into such a dangerous situation.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    Wait, no, there is a system that blesses [Heroes] with battle skills, so isn¡¯t it embarrassing to say things like that?

    I could just defeat all the [Bandits] with one shot, but if you don¡¯t want that, you¡¯ll still be safer than the bandits if you accept my protection.

    ¡°Actually, I¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be done. How could we have such a beautiful princess as Yurushia-sama do such a thing. Please, leave this to us. We will protect this carriage with our lives.¡±

    ¡°Eh, umm.¡±

    Without listening to my complaints, Sefira gets off the carriage, completely ignoring me.

    The door is swiftly closed, the sound of a lock clicking into place immediately after.

    Hey, hey, I can¡¯t get out of there. Normally wouldn¡¯t the door lock from the inside?

    ¡°¡­Kyaa.¡±

    All of a sudden, the carriage starts moving at high speed.

    That scream seemed to come from a manly voice. Rather, what happened? Are they really rushing through with only this carriage?

    As the wagon kept on moving forward, swaying from side to side, I opened up the small window on the front to the driver¡¯s seat, and saw one of the soldiers moving the reigns of the carriage with a fearful face.

    ¡°Hey¡­Hey, driver.¡±

    [¡­]

    It¡¯s useless, he can¡¯t seem to hear me. There also only seems to be one soldier.

    ¡°¡­Haaa~¡±

    After I close the small window again, I sit down on the couch with a sigh.

    Didn¡¯t they say they would guarantee my safety? I wonder if I should just destroy the carriage and go outside.

    I¡¯m craving tea, but there is no convenient Tina or Fanny to bring out a full set out of nowhere at any location.

    Beyond that, the carriage is shaking too much, and when I opened my mouth, I ended up biting my tongue.

    The suspension clearly isn¡¯t working. Where the heck are we going?

    After 10 or 15 minutes, I open up the small window again to see what¡¯s happening.

    ¡°[Gyaaaa~]¡±

    I heard the soldier and horse scream out, and the carriage swayed and jolted to a stop.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s over.¡±

    As I got up, instinctually holding my backside, I heard a bestial roar from outside.

    Ah, no good.

    ¡°Soldier-san, are you okay¡­¡±

    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaaa~aa~¡±

    Rather than the sound of the soldier getting up¡­ it seems like that was his scream as he immediately ran away.

    ¡°¡­Seriously?¡±

    What kind of soldier leaves their escort and runs away¡­?

    Rather, I wonder if that soldier will be able to survive alone, since we¡¯re surrounded by beasts?

    It really would have been better to stay with me¡­ maybe it¡¯s because of the propaganda from Sail calling me a [Saint], but I seem to be treated like a decorative doll.

    ¡­ It¡¯s a little frustrating.

    After a moment, the roars of the surrounding beasts calm down.

    I quietly put my hand on the carriage door handle, the brass handle breaking with a flash.

    As soon as I take a step out¡­

    [Gyawoo!?]

    A group of dozens of wolf-like monsters that surround the carriage begin to scream in seeming fear, as the birds from the surrounding forest scatter in all directions at the sound.

    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±

    I went and did it again. I didn¡¯t mean to overwhelm all the animals in the forest¡­. Wait, forest? Where am I!?

 Volume 8 - CH 12

    Volume 8, Chapter 12: I Got Lost, Part 3

    ¡°¡­ Okay, let¡¯s calm down.¡±

    I was so surprised I had forgotten to breathe.

    ¡­ Well, not that I actually need to breathe. I usually do because of my experience as a human, but it can be difficult to keep reminding my servants to stay in the habit of breathing like ¡®humans¡¯.

    I take a deep breath, even though it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Now, what should I do¡­¡±

    Looking around again, it seemed like a normal forest.

    However, because this is a different world from Earth and Atra, there are some differences in the vegetation.

    ¡­ I wonder what sort of evolution would lead to leaves shaped like hearts.

    Luckily, it isn¡¯t dark out since the sun is still high in the air, but with so many tall trees, you can¡¯t tell which side the sun is shining unless it falls further.

    By the way, even with the sun shining bright, the forest right now has a presence such that any creature smarter than a bug would run away, with even wind spirits avoiding this ¡°Forest of Death.¡±

    A small squirrel-like creature that had latched onto the carriage had fallen over spasming, foam coming out of its mouth and its eyes rolled back in its head.

    Who could do such a terrible thing!

    ¡°¡­ I suppose I should go.¡±

    Even if I just sat here, there¡¯s no guarantee that Sefira would come to pick me up.

    She had been pulled away from her followers and officers who left with the sail country group, leaving with only a humble escort all while promising safety.

    I almost suspect that it was on purpose.

    In order to walk through the woods, I reduced the size of the heels in my shoes and my skirt transformed from a shin-length to a knee-length. I unlatched the horses from the carriage and threw out more killing intent towards the woods so that they would not be attacked until they woke.

    ¡­ Please don¡¯t run away, rescue teams.

    Now, I wouldn¡¯t be going into the forest without a plan.

    I don¡¯t know where the carriage got off the road, but at least this is a place where a horse-drawn carriage can go, and it seems that there are tracks from the wheels as well. If I follow them, it should lead me somewhere. Fufufu, it¡¯s all coming together.

    Oh, also, my style for today is my typical black and silver dress.

    As for the platinum backless dress¡­ Since it¡¯s a noble dress I might wear it to a night party, but I have no guts to wear that kind of thing in the middle of the day.

    Like how my black-silver dress can be transformed into a choker or shawl, the platinum dress seems to be enchanted as well.

    ¡­ What is it at the moment, you ask?

    Right now, the dress is taking the form of a set of ebony earrings.

    They¡¯re pretty cute and are my current favorites. As I lightly pulled at them with my fingertips, they turned into a lace veil covering me from head to shoulders.

    This should eliminate the risk of my hair catching on a branch as I move.

    Finished preparing, I followed the tracks of the wheels. After a few minutes of walking and enjoying the forest greenery, I quickly got bored and really wanted to fly, but I can¡¯t risk someone seeing me flying with my wings out.

    It would be troublesome to have my demonic traits discovered, since everyone things I¡¯m like an angel. I¡¯d die of shame.

    Since I had no other choice, I jogged through the forest at the slow speed of about 100 km/h and reached the mountain road quickly.

    ¡­ The road splits into five ways!

    ¡°¡­Which one?¡±

    When did this happen, what country could decide to make such a crossroads?

    ¡°Fuu~¡­¡±

    I¡¯m no wise sage, but I chopped up a tree nearby to sit on the sump and think.

    Even if this is clearly not the main road, surely it isn¡¯t only used by locals who know the directions. If a merchant was going this way, is there something like a ¡°Signpost¡± that tells them where to go?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Somehow, I had a foreboding feeling as I looked at the stump I was sitting on.

    I stood up without a sound and swiftly placed the tree back to where it originally was before walking around to the other side where I figured ¡®something¡¯ was written, and I saw it.

    ¡°This will work.¡±

    I was able to get to a village-like place after about an hour after I started to look.

    I saw one of the villagers, a young man by the looks of him¡­

    ¡°Heya, welcome to the village of Kanpei.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Something¡¯s not quite right here

    £ª£ª£ª

    North of the large mountain range is a small village of about 300 people called Kanpei village.

    Kanpei village is famous for its specialty, which is potatoes, its notable export, which is potatoes, and its staple food, which is potatoes.

    It¡¯s quite far from the capitals of any countries, and is bothersome to take over, leaving it as a peaceful and quiet village. Despite how close it was to the land of darkness; they had been left alone.

    ¡°Headsman, please let¡¯s buy more medicine.¡±

    ¡°Our village is rarely attacked.¡±

    The owner of the general store and the village head speak with a serious tone.

    It was a quiet village, but the situation changed completely after the neighboring country fell to the forces of darkness.

    A large number of refugees from the neighboring lands with money were taken into refugee camps, where they would receive food and medical care, but those who fled with only the clothes on their back were turned away, and, after a period of wandering, ended up in a remote village like Kanpei village.

    About 150 people came to the village.

    150 people added to a village that originally only had 300.

    It was clearly overcrowded, the supplies of potatoes which weren¡¯t sent to support the war were running low, and more than half of the refugees were injured or sick and there wasn¡¯t enough medicine to support them.

    There wasn¡¯t enough space to live.

    The headman and other villagers went to the nearest city for several days to beg for assistance at the office of the Allied Forces in charge of the refugee camps, but the clerk wouldn¡¯t see them, and it seemed like the only way to get anything would be to provide a bribe.

    Having carts what were only full of potatoes to offer for the war effort, the headsman was without money and came back to the village without assistance, to another problem.

    It had taken a few weeks to travel back and forth to the city. During that time, some of the more seriously injured people had passed away, and some of the families were complaining about the work the villagers had been providing for free.

    Of course, most of the refugees thanked the villagers and took the lead in helping with the work in the village.

    Also, it seemed like the hooligans who wouldn¡¯t work had gotten bored with eating the same meals every day and had begun to harass the villagers taking care of them to give them meat.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what is ¡°Butler-sama¡± going to do about it.¡±

    ¡°If we refuse to get them, things will get even worse¡­¡±

    One day, an old gentleman had appeared in the village.

    The old man dressed in fine butler clothes with no traveling cloak or luggage and looked for all purposes to have simply come by during a stroll. When he appeared, he took away the dead bodies, removed the families and delinquents who constantly complained, and quickly returned the town to order.

    The old gentleman, at the thanks of the village headsman, simply smiled calmly, without even giving his name.

    When the villagers took to respectfully calling him ¡°Butler-sama¡± and asked him why he came to such a village, he responded saying that he that he was searching for a noble ¡®Ojou-sama¡¯ and had just dropped by for a quick ¡®Meal¡¯.

    ¡°Excuse me, Headsman!¡±

    ¡°What happened, John.¡±

    As the village head was discussing with the general store owner, Kawagishi Imohata¡¯s third son John barged in through the back door.

    ¡°S-something black and golden, it looks like the ¡°Princess¡± has come here.¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Heya, welcome to the village of Kanpei.¡±

    Is this Villager A? He just repeated the same thing he said at the entrance of the village.

    Eh¡­ what a scene, it doesn¡¯t look to be in a good situation here at all.

    When I looked around me, all the surrounding villagers averted their eyes when I looked their way or ran out somewhere.

    Why do they always run!?

    ¡°Ah, hello there, Oji-san.¡±

    I greeted a middle-aged farmer that had passed across the street from us.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, miss¡­¡±

    As the man approached without a thought, he took off his straw hat and stiffened the moment he saw my face, his eyes darting back and forth as if terrified.

    It¡¯s been quite a while since this has happened.

    ¡°Oji-san, are you okay¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah, sorry¡­ miss, it¡¯s just the first time I¡¯ve seen a city beauty, so I was just surprised¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you then¡­?¡±

    It doesn¡¯t feel like a compliment.

    ¡°Umm¡­ rather than that, is this boy I¡¯m with okay?¡±

    Does he know Villager A who keeps repeating the same line? He looks over to him.

    ¡°Ah, Taro-san. He came with the recent arrival of refugees, and couldn¡¯t speak at all, until he had a conversationwith ¡®Butler-sama.¡¯ Now he¡¯s become such a serious person.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that so¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s okay to leave that under the one-word description of ¡®Serious¡¯.

    ¡°Butler-sama?¡±

    While he was speaking normally, he said a word that piqued my interest.

    ¡°Indeed, he has become the savior of this village.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s right over there.¡±

    When I turned around at the man¡¯s words, I saw a slim man of medium build, aged in about his sixties? Atop his head was a luscious full head of greyed hair.

    Far from the landscape of potato fields, he wore a single monocle and fine butler garbs.

    The old butler who you might automatically call Sebastian seemed to have seen me and walked over with an unearthly quiet smile and strange step, letting loose a ¡®fofofo.¡¯

    What¡­? Have I seen that somewhere before?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡­¡­?¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 13

    Volume 8, Chapter 13: I Got Lost, Part 4

    I remember him from somewhere. Not here. It wasn¡¯t Atra at my [Home] the Holy Kingdom.

    Or, more correctly, I didn¡¯t feel that spiritual ¡°connection¡±. ¡­¡­ maybe.

    ¡°¡­¡­Geas?¡±

    ¡°As expected, Miss.¡±

    Appetizing, that. If I looked at it closely, it wasn¡¯t the same man as Yuzu¡¯s grandfather, but that¡¯s no surprise.

    How did that happen? When did he learn [Humanization]?

    Not contacting me for so long, what is this child doing? Ah~¡­¡­ It¡¯s hard to call it ¡®this child¡¯ now.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this a good thing? This is my fourth life, and now, for me, Yurushia is now both my ¡°master¡± and my ¡°young lady¡±¡°

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite true¡­¡­¡±

    As I was now, I would be hard-pressed to say that I have any sense of being Yuzu at all. Still, it was difficult to instruct Geas as he was now.

    It¡¯s almost like the feeling one gets toward their chaperone.

    ¡°I have taken up the ¡®setting¡¯ of being Rinne-sama¡¯s butler. At Rinne-sama¡¯s instructions, I have come to pick up Lady Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Setting, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Wait,¡­¡­ what?

    ¡°Rinne¡¯s not in human form by any chance, is he? No, it¡¯ll be good to give Rinne a vessel soon¡­¡­ eh? What¡¯s Onzada-kun doing, then? ¡­¡­ no way¡±

    ¡°Hohohohohoho, that¡¯s a story for later. Since we don¡¯t have time now, could I have Lady Yurushia help in healing the refugees?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Somehow, I was relieved at the demon-like change in topic.

    Well, I was one too, but having the attributes of a former human made the spiritual life form called a [Devil] be less restricted, and sometimes even allow us to act with human common sense.

    Still, the number one priority was that of ¡®food¡¯.

    I don¡¯t know why we didn¡¯t have time, but if the extra refugees were already there, I had no qualms healing them.

    It wasn¡¯t entirely bad to advertise my name given that it came originally from my work.

    ¡°Which reminds me, I saw a group of humans hunting someone in the forest. I don¡¯t know who they were trying to hunt. Either way, Lady Yurushia, you¡¯ve been a bit too carefree lately.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I was prodded in a slightly sore spot.

    On Atra I had my parents, and on earth there were Yuzu¡¯s family.

    I respected their needs and lived modestly.

    But since I didn¡¯t have to worry about that here on [Tess], I¡¯ve really cut loose.

    I might have overdone it and made a few too many enemies¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t know which of my enemies were here, so I needed to be careful. I would live a righteous and upright life as a Demon.

    ¡­¡­ Geas, you¡¯re really just here to be my ¡°chaperone¡±, aren¡¯t you?

    *

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    The light of the holy magic spread out softly and healed the ill and injured children.

    ¡°Waaah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It moved.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore¡±

    The children, who had been led by Geas to this public-square-like space, stood up with uncomprehending expressions and smiles.

    ¡°T-this lady healed all of us.¡±

    As the children¡¯s eyes followed the words of the slightly tense mayor, I gave them a small smile.

    ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, miss!¡±

    Their shining eyes and the pure love I could feel was very cute.

    Children were obedient and nice. ¡­¡­ Because they¡¯re not afraid of me at all. But the adults refused to even meet my gaze.

    Looking at it, why were they able to interact with Geas so normally¡­¡­?

    ¡°U-uhh ¡­¡­ Princess, well¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    As the village chief¡¯s trembling voice called out to me, I replied to him with equal parts tenderness and pride.

    Ah¡­¡­ now that I mention it, it seems that the holy church here has been charging the townspeople high fees under the pretext of ¡°tithes¡±.

    In any case, I¡¯m not hard up for money in any sense.

    Although Sail was giving us a sum of money to move around, my own profits from selling my scalp treatment, my magic, etc, was enough to buy me a home in the royal capital.

    I met Sephira and came up with a new business idea. ¡­¡­ fufufu.

    I wonder if this is the result of Yuzu¡¯s sensibilities?

    But, to take money from those that don¡¯t have it? As I smiled gently at him, the village chief swallowed with a gulp, and finally opened his mouth as if he¡¯d finally come to a decision.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would you please withdraw your angel of light?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I understand¡±

    When I first got here and tried healing the children, some of the people tried to get themselves healed first, or that because of my lateness, I would have to compensate them if their injuries got worse.

    It¡¯s not like you really need it at all if you have the energy to complain¡­¡­

    Geas, did you really let them ¡­¡­ well, as you said, there might have been more of them.

    Even then, I healed them all equally because I was being ¡°kind¡±.

    I used the [Feast of Blessings] properly.

    Ah, also, it seems that the [Feast of Blessings] I used is a little different from usual.

    A regular [Feast of Blessings] would give [Divine Protection] to many people at the same time and would split the power to heal their wounds, strengthen their bodies, and gradually ward off disease.

    But this [Feast of Blessings] poured a huge amount of magic power into healing, with the surplus turning into a spirit of light, and this unscrupulous angel of light gave out a large amount of [Divine Protection].

    When acquired for the first time, it would heal the weak, so that was okay. But, when someone was poor but healthy, it was as effective as chugging a certain famous nutrient drink by the mug wholesale.

    And so those people who were energetic enough to be complaining, were all convulsing on the floor while bleeding from their noses in healthiness,

    It became a vicious cycle were the angels of light would be clinging to them, giving them more Divine Protection since they thought the people were still unwell!

    ¡°¡­¡­ It was an unfortunate accident.¡±

    ¡°We understand, but please put an end to it quickly!¡±

    As I mumbled while staring into the distance, the village chief finally put in a straight-man reply.

    * *

    Geas and I went out to see the whole village.

    I wasn¡¯t accepting alms, but the children made me [Offerings] of potatoes.

    However, because I had so much left overs, I gave them about 1 ton of dried seaweed in return. This will improve their nutritional balance.

    The seaweed production from Atra is small, and on earth and Tess, seaweed production is mainstream, so as one of the ¡°truths of the universe¡± giving seaweed wasn¡¯t a problem at all.

    As I kept taking out seaweed endlessly from the pocket of my dress, I felt a little scared too, but I¡¯m alright.

    I think salted seaweed is an excellent partner for steamed potatoes.

    ¡°So Geas, just ¡®whose¡¯ hunting party was that in the forest, and who were they?¡±

    ¡°Yes madam. Apparently, they were adventurers hired directly and not through the guild. It seems that the client hid their face in a hood, and did not give a name, but they said that it sounded like a young woman. However¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re ¡°requesting¡± to know about that particular thing right now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuuu~n¡±

    It just gets more and more suspicious. They probably thought that they could do it given that it was just a single noble Lady.

    The question is, why did they try to kill me?

    Certainly, I¡¯m making some very remarkable moves, but I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s entirely out of the frame expected from a [Saint] that Sail has acknowledged¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t think that they were trying to send these adventurers to their deaths, nor was it because they thought I was a Demon. Were they trying to probe out my power? Or was the existence of the [Saint] itself a hindrance?

    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough information¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. If only we had Miss Fannie and her abilities as a [Nightmare], it would have been different.¡±

    It was only after I was without the four of them that I realized just how capable they were.

    But them being close also has its own problems¡­¡­¡­

    Ah¡­¡­? It seems that my escort knights and friends were pretty decent when it didn¡¯t involve me¡­¡­

    No, it¡¯s just my imagination. Maybe. Yeah, that¡¯s definitely the case.

    ¡°And so, Rinne and the others¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, there was also that. There was a bit of information that Lady Yurushia had been looking for about Rinne-sama¡­¡±

    *Poof*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­ what?¡±

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Are you getting jealous!?¡±

    Suddenly Geas turned into the teddy bear.

    I lifted it up and shook it, but Geas only went [Gau?] and tilted its neck cutely, and there was no sign at all of the ¡°can-do old butler¡± that was there previously.

    Darn your useless cuteness.

    What happened to Rinne? What was the information?

    Did you run out of time, so you couldn¡¯t keep your human form any longer?

    I thought that it was funny that its magic power hadn¡¯t changed at all from that of a [Greater Demon], even after taking on a human form.

    ¡°Tell me that firrrrrrrrst!¡±

    [Gaugau]

    Geas separated from my dejected self, and climbed a tree with its short limbs, offering me several blood-red mushrooms he found.

    No, I don¡¯t need these ugly mushrooms.

    [Gau]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Well, it¡¯s not that delicious¡­

    There were many things I wanted to say, but I held it in for when I saw Rinne again.

    As it was, I was in a situation not unlike that of a fairy tale, where a [Girl was being guided by a teddy bear into a forest].

    In fact, while we were running at 300 km/h in the cold forest of the northern countries, Geas hungrily devoured all of the monsters that he ran into, and it was quite a scene.

    And so, a few hours later¡­¡­ we arrived at the castle occupied by the forces of Darkness.

 Volume 8 - CH 14

    Volume 8, Chapter 14: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 1

    The royal capital of Telluza which had been occupied by the forces of Darkness was nowhere near as desolate as one would imagine it to be. On the contrary, it seemed to have hardly changed at all.

    Of course, since the flow of goods has been stopped and supplies stagnated, it wouldn¡¯t be fair to compare it to their original vibrancy, but the citizens continued to roam the town, and children played in the alleys.

    Actually, it seems as though security has improved. Although it was a royal capital before, there would have been some unscrupulous types in the back alleys back then.

    It seems that the dark elves and beastmen soldiers were actually patrolling this royal capital.

    The residents were scared because they were invading soldiers, but the children, who were unprejudiced unlike the adults, would only look at them curiously.

    On the other side, the soldiers all wore featureless expressions. It seems that they were shy of and somewhat scared of the twin princesses of the Dark Elves.

    The two of them, who had long been oppressed and neglected by others, had no malice towards humans. In fact, they even banned the army from harming the population.

    Of course, there were some officers who tried to rebel against their orders to try pillaging and plundering the goods and women, but all of them were cruelly killed by the princesses¡¯ plushie, and the rest of the soldiers obeyed out of fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡±

    In the midst of these soldiers was a female dark elven knight named Tiera.

    She was a hundred this year¡­¡­ though in human maturity, she¡¯s about 20 years old, and she had grown up listening to the elders and her parents in her village speak about how ugly and mean humans were.

    She had been told by them about the time where the cowardly Heroes had tricked and trapped them in this frigid land, but they were talking about an event a thousand years ago with the air of someone who had been there¡­ when the dark elves only had about 500 years¡¯ lifespan.

    This was a commonplace occurrence among the forces of darkness, and in every village, children who grew up this way would naturally become embittered towards humans.

    Tiera was puzzled.

    No matter how horrible the human race was, as a knight serving the royal family, she harbored no ill-intent toward the inhabitants.

    Still convinced that the humans were terrible, she was afraid to get involved with the residents since she had been forbidden from manhandling them.

    However, since her long ears and glossy brown skin were rare to see, the human children followed behind her every time she appeared.

    According to the standard knowledge from the otherworld, it was traditional for female dark elven knights to wear armor with high exposure, and even while the children patted her skin, she was helpless to retaliate and could only remain mutely embarrassed.

    If that had been all it would have still been alright, but recently, since she¡¯d been taking care of the younger children, one of the boys, a lovely ten-year-old, had started giving her passionate looks.

    Tiera was incredibly shy being looked at by those sparklingly pure and innocent eyes, but still, it wasn¡¯t all that bad.

    Gradually, though, she began to talk to the boy, and they chatted with each other about their troubles.

    ¡°I have a younger sister, but she catches colds easily¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Nobody was starving in this country since their staple potatoes were abundant and could be preserved, but since the distribution of goods stopped, their diets began to suffer, and younger children became more vulnerable to catching a cold.

    ¡°So, when I grow up, I¡¯m going to be a cook and open my own restaurant and serve delicious meals with my wife.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    At the boy¡¯s burning gaze and mention of the word ¡°wife¡±, she had a fleeting image of herself standing in a store with the grown-up version of the boy. But Tiera shook her head, annoyed with herself for having joined in his delusions.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t entirely impossible for him to have a chance in ten years, since she was an elf.

    Tiera, whose brown skin was tinged slightly red even while she swam in her own delusions, suddenly heard screaming coming from a distance away.

    ¡°It-it¡¯s my sister¡¯s voice!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    As Tiera and the boy headed into the dark alleyway where they heard the screaming, they saw two men carrying an unconscious girl that was about 4 or 5 years old.

    ¡°What are you doing!¡±

    ¡°Geh, it¡¯s a dark elf¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t get closer!¡±

    The human men looked at Tiera, pointing their knives at the little girl.

    ¡°L-let go of my sister!¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Because of these guys, I haven¡¯t been able to make any money!¡±

    These obviously rabble looking men were people from the underbelly of this nation.

    Tiera and the knights were barred from touching the humans, but they were told to hunt criminals down actively.

    Since abusing innocents was punishable, the soldiers could kill offenders to blow off their stress. There was no trial allowed nor excuses taken.

    As a result, a certain portion of the citizenry were grateful to them, whereas the criminals who had gotten away by bribing the police were getting reported, and the underworld was unable to do anything about it.

    ¡°In order to escape from this country, we need money!¡±

    As the men began to confess even without being prompted, their plan was to abduct children, flee to another nation, and then sell the children.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to kidnap children where you¡¯re escaping to?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ SHUT UP!!!¡±

    Ah, and they were short-tempered criminals too.

    ¡°Human criminal, let go of the child quietly.¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t get any closer, or this kid gets it!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­tsch¡±

    As Tiera hesitated, the men who thought that the dark elf wouldn¡¯t care about the child were astonished for a moment, but as understanding hit them, their faces spread with vulgar smiles.

    ¡°¡­¡­ You¡¯re a pretty woman, dark elf. If you don¡¯t want this kid to get hurt, drop your weapons¡­¡­ no, take off all of your armor and clothes.¡±

    ¡°Heheheeheheee, we¡¯re going to sell you too, after we do you of course!¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    Tiera hid her bare upper body and thighs with her arms, even as she was being ogled, and she begrudged the Demon King of a millennium ago for adopting this high-exposure armor.

    ¡°S-sister¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ku-¡±

    Should she endure the humiliation of being like this in front of the boy, or abandon the boy¡¯s sister and defeat these underhanded men?

    If it had been even a little while ago, she would surely have abandoned the girl while she raged at the cowardly men.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    But¡­¡­ Tiera smiled at the boy gently and begun to throw away her weapons.

    *gishi¡­¡­i*

    There was a sudden grating sound in the air.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Nothing changed. There wasn¡¯t anything strange at all about the sound.

    However, everyone present felt chills and shivered.

    There was definitely something. Something that was approaching.

    They didn¡¯t know why they felt chills over that ¡°something¡±, but when their heads ratcheted to face it like rusted tin dolls, they saw something that should have been impossible.

    Golden hair that glistened in the sun.

    A black and silver dress with a luster that they had never even seen before.

    A face that looked absolutely perfect, and beautiful, silky smooth skin.

    And golden irises that shined through all of her beauty like a cold doll.

    A miracle of a lady that looked like she was in her early teens.

    But¡­¡­ was that really a human? No¡­¡­ was she really of this world or even a living creature?

    Her heart was enchanted with that beauty, and the [Fear of the Unknown] that bubbled up within her was stopped as Tiera unconsciously took a step back.

    Although it might not have been noticeable to humans, her keen senses honed by living in the world of darkness as a dark elf instinctively caused Tiera to step back to protect her soul.

    In that frozen world, the girl smiled gently only at Tiera, who had moved, and then the world began to move again.

    ¡°¡­¡­whaa-¡±

    The half-asleep voice of that little girl snapped everyone back to sanity from a state of fascination.

    ¡°¡­¡­eh? Ah?¡±

    Before anyone realized, the little girl was already in the golden girl¡¯s arms, and the kidnappers¡¯ eyes went wide, darting in confusion from their arms to hers.

    Nobody had noticed when the girl had been moved.

    As the little girl was about to start crying as she realized what had happened, a stuffed-toy bear came up from behind the golden girl and began to pat her.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Bearrrr¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    The girl¡­¡­ smiled gently as if the whole incident up until then had been a nightmare, and the little girl¡¯s face went from surprise to laughter as she looked at the girl¡¯s face.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, big sister~¡±

    As the tension in the air suddenly loosened, her older brother sank to the floor in exhaustion.

    ¡°¡­¡­ wh-what, youuu!?¡±

    His tongue was stuck.

    The golden girl scrunched her eyebrows slightly at his impolite words.

    ¡°He¡¯s a kidnapper, please be careful¡­¡±

    Before Tiera, who had a bad feeling about this, could finish her sentence, the golden girl covered the eyes and ears of the little girl.

    [Gau.]

    And then the cute stuffed-toy bear leaped onto the two kidnappers.

 Volume 8 - CH 15

    Volume 8, Chapter 15: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 2

    ¡°P-Princess, this one shall guide you to the castle!¡±

    A female dark elven knight saluted me, even though I should have looked like an ordinary human being and even bit her tongue in her eagerness to guide us.

    It seems that she got scared, but not because of me. It¡¯s all because of Geas. ¡­¡­ Maybe.

    ¡°bye bye, nee-chan¡±

    ¡°Yes, bye bye to you too.¡±

    As the little girl hugged her elder brother and waved to me, I waved back at her with a smile on my face. Because she was sickly, I handed her brother a bunch of dried seaweed too.

    The girl¡¯s eyes and ears had been blocked, but since the boy had seen it all, his eyes were darting about like a mouse cornered by a cat.

    Since I told Geas to stop eating people in cities, all he had done was strike them, but it seems that the bloody splatters were hard for the children to stomach.

    But man, I got saved. I had seen the castle in the distance and tried to make a beeline for it, but I got totally lost.

    I was unintentionally giving away my presence from how anxious I was, and thought that I was surprising the public, but about half of them were okay because they weren¡¯t citizens anyway.

    ¡°T-then I shall guide you forth¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you. But¡­¡­ Why are you guiding me?¡±

    ¡°W-well, that bear is¡­¡­ that magic tool was the one on her Highness¡¯ knee¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, I see. So they thought I was related to Geas.

    How diligent, this child¡­¡­

    It¡¯s a diligent dark elf, and she¡¯s a knight at that too, how cute¡­¡­ Such a good child. I felt soothed since there had only been rough exchanges recently.

    ¡°!¡±

    Suddenly, the female knight¡¯s face cramped and stiffened magnificently.

    ¡°Oh¡­? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡±

    ¡­¡­ No, I know exactly what the cause is. Wasn¡¯t it because you were surprised at the smiles of the other people?

    Now she had the feeling of a small dog that¡¯d accidentally met a hungry brown bear in the forest and panicked so hard that her heart rate rose to the point that she flushed, and now worried if she could work properly. How cute.

    *

    After guiding me to the castle, she left us to enter on our own, since she seemed unable to advance any further, and returned towards her post.

    That knight¡¯s cute, so I wanted to push her forward until she could meet with the Princess.

    Even so, it¡¯s like there¡¯s some sort of ¡­¡­ Barrier? It¡¯s not like a holy barrier, nor is it laid out in [Spirit Language], but it feels like an art I don¡¯t know either.

    It¡¯s like¡­¡­ the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art]? But something is different.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Yes, Geas, lead me on from here.¡±

    It seems that everyone fears approaching, as Geas gets a clear walkway through.

    I¡¯d rather have had butler Geas guide me through, but since he¡¯d expended his energy from his incomplete humanization, he¡¯s still stuck as a stuffed toy.

    *katsu¡­n*

    As my heels clicked against the marble floor when I stopped, two small black shadows could be seen in the dark passage ahead.

    ¡°Welcome.¡±

    ¡°Please, come in.¡±

    ¡°¡°Our Queen.¡±¡°

    Queen¡­¡­!? I don¡¯t want to go from Princess to Queen so fast.

    Right now, there were two young girls that looked like they were about five years old. Glowing brown skin. Long ears with a slight droop.

    Although their hair colors were silver and gold respectively, the impression they gave off and their features were surprisingly similar. ¡­¡­ Such it was for twins.

    Oh my¡­¡­ they¡¯re so cute.

    I¡¯d like to have them hug Geas and Onzada-kun separately and sit on a gothic style sofa.

    ¡°¡°Queen¡­?¡±¡°

    Ah, excuse me¡­¡­ my consciousness flew off for a bit.

    ¡°¡­¡­What are your names, girls?¡±

    ¡°Hai, I am Nefi.¡±

    ¡°And I am Rimi.¡±

    The golden one was Nefi and the silver was Rimi.

    ¡°I am Yurushia. ¡­¡­ by the way, what¡¯s with the ¡°Queen¡± ?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes, you must be the Queen, since you stand beside our Demon God.¡±¡°

    ¡°nonononononono, you can absolutely call me by name, you know?¡±

    I tried to get them to meet my gaze.

    I¡¯ve had too many embarrassing names up until now, but this one is an especially tough nut. ¡­¡­ The demon god is Rinne? What are you all saying?

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°If not so, then Goddess¡­¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono¡­¡­¡±

    Oh my god, the rank went up.

    Rinne, you terror, what did you whisper into these cute girls?!

    ¡°Well, I called you here, so let me do what you wish for, my Princess.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­hah?¡±

    Suddenly, someone called out from within the darkness.

    Even if I wasn¡¯t good at detecting things, to not notice until it got so close¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡­¡±

    What I saw was a man that looked like he was in his thirties.

    Short cropped black hair. A tall, slender body with wide shoulders.

    Although the appearance was neat, the untidy knight¡¯s dress ruined it, and so it looked strange.

    ¡­¡­ so I say, but I¡¯m not going to go that far.

    ¡°What are you doing, Onzada-kun¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, so Princess knows, too. As expected, you are my master, after all.¡±

    I turned you into such a cute rabbit, so why did you turn into this layabout again. I¡¯m going to pluck you.

    But [Princess]? [Master]? If you just called me [Yuzu]I¡¯d be worried for your demonhood, but maybe¡­¡­

    ¡°Onzada-kun, do you know who [I] am¡­¡­ ?¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you not our master? Geas called you Lady.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see¡±

    It seems that the memory of his days as a human haven¡¯t returned yet.

    Rinne, too, said that it was unusual for a Demon to reincarnate with their human memories. Geas wasn¡¯t quite normal since Geas was already used to reincarnation.

    ¡°Did Geas return?¡±

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°That¡¯s the way, hahaha¡±

    I¡¯m relieved.

    Well, this easygoing nature in this situation is definitely Onzada-kun after all.

    ¡°So, I found this cheap sake in the castle town, do you want some too, Geas?¡±

    [Gau]

    ¡°There¡±

    ¡°Dowaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!?¡±

    The two of them who left my side and suddenly started drinking were blown away by my forehead pokes. ¡­¡­ I think I scared the children by putting in the wrong amount of power.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me before that I shouldn¡¯t drink so much alcohol?¡±

    Ah? Didn¡¯t you say that while you were in elementary school?

    Onzada-kun, who had been blown away, stood up and looked at me with a look of dissatisfaction even while he held his forehead, tears in his eyes.

    ¡°I also told you before that you should stop saying that because you were weak then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuuh~n¡±

    ¡­¡­ Before, huh.

    I wouldn¡¯t have any scruples at all with Onzada-kun as my partner.

    However, it¡¯s been a long time, and I wanted to check for something rather than just ¡°frolic about¡±.

    ¡°So, Onzada-kun, about Rinne¡±

    ¡°O-oi, don¡¯t just change the topic suddenly. Your darling Rinne is on the throne. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be able to keep this up, so we¡¯re going to walk and talk.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    It seems there¡¯s a limit for him as well after all.

    When Nefi and Rimi were still little, I asked Geas to take care of them while we went on ahead to where the throne was.

    ¡°Our [Humanization] is derived from our analysis of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] left behind by the [First Hero] who was part of the forces of darkness.¡±

    ¡°The first hero¡­¡­? Why was he part of the forces of darkness?¡±

    ¡°I think Noa knows the details, because he analyzed it.¡±

    That child¡­¡­ Is he plotting something again?

    ¡°Geas and I have a little magic, so we¡¯re somewhat stable, but milord seems to have more magic power than you, Princess?  We tried to use the prince of the beastmen who was assassinated on the march here to stabilize him, but it¡¯s not working.¡±

    ¡°Not working¡­¡­ Is he alright? Are there any solutions?¡±

    ¡°According to Noa, we should be preparing a large number of sacrifices, and even that is just to manifest him normally.¡±

    Was he plotting for the war to intensify¡­¡­? I gathered souls, but it wasn¡¯t a hobby. I guess I¡¯ll have to punish him.

    ¡°Also, it seems that there was something else left behind by the first hero.¡±

    ¡°Is Noa examining it?¡±

    ¡°No, it was impossible for us. It was impossible for Noa, the pure demon, much less demons with less magic power like Geas or I.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­¡±

    Was I the one lacking common sense? ¡­¡­ It makes me sad to even say that.

    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    *skreeek* ¡­¡­ As Onzada-kun pushed the door open with a creak, I saw a figure sitting on the throne in the back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Princess?¡±

    I smiled and pulled on the ears of Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Why is he in the shape of a child, and furthermore, why does he have cat ears?¡±

    Sitting down on the throne was Rinne¡­¡­ and Rinne was probably¡­¡­ a shota.

    How did this happen? Why do you have cat ears?

    ¡°Owwwwwww, What¡­¡­ But isn¡¯t that what milord was originally?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very manly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s shrunk that he¡¯s got that appearance, right? So will he become bigger if he stabilizes?¡±

    But it was appropriate for this guy¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I slowly walked towards Rinne.

    ¡°Oi, hold up, Princess¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    As if I had been stung by static electricity, my hand shot back.

    ¡°Sorry, I forgot to mention. He¡¯s in a sleep-like state until his consciousness stabilizes. That¡¯s why milord and the rest of the children have put up a great barrier. It won¡¯t be broken before he awakes, and it¡¯ll be dangerous for even you, Princess, to go too near.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Didn¡¯t he call for me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that milord did call for Princess¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°O-oi!?¡±

    I ignored Onzada-kun and strode forward.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rinne¡±

    I¡¯m a little bit angry now. It¡¯s dangerous to do things without permission.

    Did you come here to protect the children under contract? Or to meet me¡­¡­?

    Every time I moved forward, the static force struck me like a bolt of electricity. It was so powerful that even an [Arch Demon] would be destroyed before they even got through half of it.

    ¡°Princess!¡±

    At first, my hairclip vanished, and all of my hair electrified.

    Then, my relic-class dress could not bear it, and began to burn up.

    Onzada-kun tried to approach me, but I repelled him with magic.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even while I endured the pain and burning of my body all over, I reached out to the throne and put my hands on Rinne¡¯s cheek, and shut my eyes.

    ¡°Wait for me. I¡¯ll wake you up soon.¡±

    Since I told him that I was in the human world, Rinne had sought out a human appearance so we could meet each other. Even though it was very difficult for Rinne to ever manifest in a form that was humanoid¡­¡­

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    As I patted Rinne¡¯s cheeks lightly even as I burned, I think he opened his eyes a little.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±

    As I left the throne after speaking my final piece, the dress regenerated in the blink of an eye, sucking up my magic.

    ¡°Onzada, stay with Geas. I will be heading to the capital of the forces of darkness.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 16

    Volume 8, Chapter 16: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 3

    The golden saint was missing from the battlefield.

    When the news came from the Staff Officer of the Operations HQ of the Joint Coalition, all of the soldiers of the forces of light were shocked.

    Yurushia¡¯s participation in this recapture operation was only supposed to be a piece of propaganda for Sail ¨C a mere consideration of politics.

    With the exception of some of the influential members, like the Heroes, the upper echelons of the nations were all skeptical of the power of the [Saint] and thought that she wouldn¡¯t sway the battle little even if she participated. Some of them even thought that it would be very convenient for her to die here.

    But, the upper echelons of humanity did not know.

    They were too concerned over the military might of the heroes, that they thought of the tales of the Saint¡¯s power as merely some sort of fairy tale for the common folk.

    But for the common people, the name of the [Saint] was a name mentioned in the same breath as a [Hero],  and just like how [Heroes] like Yuuki inspired the common people as their [sword], the [Saint] healed people, giving them hope as their [Shield].

    The soldiers at the forefront of the battlefields understood that better than anyone.

    The fact that they had the [Saint] on this battlefield, where death was no stranger, had given them a tremendous feeling of security.

    So, what would happen if it was lost to them¡­¡­?

    The officers of every nation were astonished at the sheer influence that the label of [Saint] had, and some of them felt annoyed that she had even appeared.

    ¡°Yuru is missing?! What¡¯s going on!?¡±

    When the Hero of the Earth, Kanzo, returned with her wounded soldier and pressed Sefira for an answer, Sefira¡¯s exhausted face grimaced.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t believe it either, but it seems that she was set upon by armed bandits¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Where are they? I¡¯m going to go kick them around!¡±

    ¡°P-Please wait, Kanzo-sama!¡±

    That Kanzo, who was enormously tough on beautiful women, surprised everyone with her worry for Yurushia, and Sefira jumped to stop Kanzo before she bounced out.

    ¡°The armed bandits have already fled, and the horse carriage with Yurushia-sama has already left the area.¡±

    ¡°How did this¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira¡¯s words caused Kanzo to clench her fists.

    Seeing Kanzo in such a state, so far removed from usual, everyone else in the base was moved, and had thoughts of Kanzo as one of the [Heroes] who protected the people of the common folk.

    But then.

    ¡°(Although this is a great opportunity, the efficiency will drop if Yuru¡¯s not there!)¡±

    Kanzo was trying to create the [Magic Gem] that he¡¯d contracted Yurushia for on this battlefield.

    But, without Yurushia, Kanzo¡¯s plans would be compromised.

    Kanzo could also create magic gems, but the prototypes she created with her magic were either too small or too flawed to satisfy her compared to the ones that Yurushia and her subordinates made.

    The Hero of Wind wasn¡¯t coming to the battlefield for some reason, but the hero of water and the hero of the flame were.

    There was this slim chance for her to get the pure magic of the other heroes.

    Even if one of the heroes disappeared because of that, the three other heroes could hold the line until a new one was summoned, and if that wasn¡¯t enough, it would have been fine if the [Saint] covered that gap.

    The war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness had been ongoing for thousands of years.

    The [Skills] that had been born from contracting with the spirits and the summoning of [Heroes] had ground the war into a stalemate, and as a result, both the heroes and the men were carelessly thinking that the state of the war would not shift.

    ¡°Kanzo-sama, please leave it to us. I will take responsibility for finding Yurushia-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. If it¡¯s you, Sefira, I¡¯ll trust in it.¡±

    Kanzo, who seemed so impatient, reluctantly said so after hearing Sefira¡¯s declaration, and changed her opinion relatively easily.

    Originally, women like Sefira were the type that had no love for Kanzo, and everyone around them should have known it, but it was accepted naturally.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Watching as the hero of earth returned to the battlefield again, Sefira sighed internally and grimaced when she thought that nobody was looking.

    The heroes were not to be offended. The heroes of flame and wind aside, the hero of water didn¡¯t trust others and was very careful with his actions, while the hero of earth was suspicious of small things like having perfectly womanly bodies.

    Still, there were now no obstacles in Sefira¡¯s plans.

    The little ¡°gap¡± in her plan was still well in the range of her corrections.

    There was only one problem now¡­¡­ she¡¯d lost sight of where the [Golden Saint] that¡¯d shifted her plans off track had gone.

    ¡°Where are you¡­¡­ my ¡°irregular¡± girl¡±

    *  * *

    ¡°Princess, your feet are starting to get worse. Please, let me.¡±

    ¡°Shall I hold you? You¡¯re a girl, so you¡¯re not too heavy to be held, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡±

    What is this situation¡­¡­!

    Geas and Onzada-kun who were both in their humanoid forms again were trying to pamper me.

    Honestly, this experience is new to me, so I¡¯m having trouble reacting to it.

    Geas is still okay. It feels like when I had a pampering grandpa as a Princess. But anyway, he gave off the feeling of a of a grandparent pampering their grandchild, so my heart just felt a little flittering, but the real problem is Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Things like this¡­¡­ It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve been able to hold Milady like this.¡±

    While saying that, he brushed my hair with his fingertips and brought his face closer to sniff my hair.

    Is this some sort of male behavior? Or is this the behavior of your animal side, o rabbit?

    ¡°Hey, Onzada-kun, you never did that before!?¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    When I took my hair back from Onzada-kun¡¯s hands and scolded him, he has a slightly dejected expression.

    Stop that, it¡¯s horrifying seeing that on a 30-something year old man.

    As the Onzada-kun in my head was still in junior high, I don¡¯t quite know what kind of face I would expect to see from this adult figure.

    Although I love dandy uncles, but I don¡¯t think this expression is cute at all.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ Why do you even look like that in the first place¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Was it better to look younger?¡±

    ¡°Onzada-dono and I look wonderful as we are now. Although we could change what age we look, but it consumes a lot of magic power, so the amount of time we can stay in our human forms will shorten. Oh, there¡¯s a pothole there, so please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Waah¡±

    Before I could even turn my attention to it, Geas lifted me up gently and carried me over to the end of the bumpy road.

    We were in the enormous cavern that was home to the forces of darkness.

    I asked the two of them to guide me, but I worried about letting them away from those two children for so long, so I called Onzada-kun, who was the chief on-site, to call in 150 [Greater Demons] from [Paradise Lost] and left them behind to guard.

    ¡­¡­ Is 150 too much? Nah, there¡¯s no such thing as too much. It¡¯s important to pamper small children, you know?

    Though my story¡¯s gotten sidetracked again, we ran all the way here to the entrance of the cavern by foot.

    It would have been nice if I could have teleported, but Onzada-kun and Geas didn¡¯t have enough magic power to carry my enormous presence.

    I could have been faster had I flown, but because various wild dragons were flying about, it would have been troublesome to deal with them had we run into them along the way.

    Well, I can distort space to some degree, so walking normally didn¡¯t bother me since we were travelling at the speed of a car.

    ¡°Milady, the dark elves and beastmen will begin to appear from here on in, so please let us deal with them.¡±

    ¡°Leave everything to us, Milady. ¡­¡­ Will you behave?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­okay.¡±

    You say it like I¡¯m some sort of troublemaker¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, you, stop right there!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­ eehh~¡­¡­ What is this timing? Were you waiting just for it?

    The soldier-like dogman called out to us, two subordinates in tow, and either because we were approaching him, or because it was dark, he lowered his spear towards us.

    ¡°Y, you guys, you¡¯re Humans!?¡±

    ¡°Oi, do we look like ¡°humans¡±?¡±

    ¡°Bugh!¡±

    I burst out involuntarily.

    What? Wait, I¡¯m growing rabbit ears!?

    Even though they were wary of me having burst out suddenly, as I suddenly stiffened from the shock of growing rabbit ears, the dogman officer¡­¡­ nodded in assent and walked away with the soldiers.

    ¡°What, it¡¯s a beastman. You scared me. That little girl¡­¡­ well, you¡¯re alright.¡±

    Wait a minute. I didn¡¯t do anything to disguise myself, though?

    ¡°¡­¡­What was that about me¡­¡­?¡±

    I was told not to do anything, so I only spoke to them with a smile on my face, but the soldiers diverted their eyes in a hurry.

    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufufu, may I go now?¡±

    ¡°O-ok¡±

    I don¡¯t know why, but we were able to easily slip past the soldiers stopping us and head to the center of the city.

    ¡°Thanks to Milady, we were able to get in quickly. Thank you.¡±

    But why?

    ¡°Why does Onzada-kun also have rabbit ears¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it. I was turned into a rabbit by Milady to begin with.¡±

    Ah, it seems that even Onzada-kun knows what shame is. I was a little relieved. At least, I think it¡¯s good. ¡°Geas; What is that?¡±

    Geas was also imitating a beastman, but slightly different horns from Noa and Nea¡¯s were growing from both sides of his head. Well I guess you could say it¡¯s well within expectations, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Why are you horns sheep horns? I thought you had bull horns?¡±

    When I asked him, Geas smiled slowly at me while his eyes lit up kindly like a child¡¯s.

    ¡°Yes, but now I am a butler¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ GRAMPS!

    Then we arrived at the sealed ancient castle in the center of the great cavern with no problems.

    The castle of the demon king of old, that had united all of the forces of darkness.

    And¡­¡­ the castle of ¡°the first hero¡±.

 Volume 8 - CH 17

    Volume 8, Chapter 17: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 4

    ¡°Princess, we¡¯re going over the walls.¡±

    ¡°Why? Is the castle gate locked?¡±

    I tilted my head slightly at Onzada-kun¡¯s remarks.

    The huge 6-wide-by-10-metre-tall castle gate loomed in front of me.

    With a gate this size, was it being secured by a latch instead of a lock? The gate was a tarnished-copper green, looking as if it hadn¡¯t been touched in hundreds of years.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s because if we wanted to enter, we could use the service entrance beside the gate.¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­¡±

    Did we have some sort of inside man? Now that I think about it, I completely forgot about him mentioning that he had found the secret arts within.

    ¡­¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think even I could blow it open if I didn¡¯t have the key.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be troublesome if we got spotted by a soldier. If you intend to murder them all, it¡¯s fine, but Milady is not going to, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes.¡±

    It seems that Onzada-kun understood that part after all.

    I don¡¯t really care about their lives at all since we¡¯re all demons, but meaningless slaughter was something that even demons didn¡¯t do.

    After all, as far as spirits or demons were concerned, human and animal lives were no different.

    ¡­¡­ Well, they tasted different, though.

    Because only Gods and humans, in their selfishness, would discriminate against the value of lives and force others to discriminate.

    Well, that was a lot of pretentious talk, but in short, I didn¡¯t really [care one way or the other] about them.

    Having said that, if I was going to eat, I wasn¡¯t going just go out and actively slaughter them when these ordinary people weren¡¯t as tasty.

    I didn¡¯t do stupid things like kill things just to waste them in vain.

    I perk up. That¡¯s it, Onzada-kun!

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°fufufufu, the two of you sure are young aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Apparently Onzada-kun seemed to be a bit more ¡°human-friendly¡± than I was.

    While taking a little bit of mental damage from this discovery, we vaulted over the castle gate and snuck into the old castle.

    I tried to jump over by myself, but Onzada-kun held me in a princess-carry.

    Then again, I¡¯ve been held like that ever since I was young by plenty of people regardless of age or gender, so there¡¯s really no feeling of freshness anymore. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s just that I feel a tiny twinge of nostalgia for sitting on father¡¯s knee.

    As Geas opened the door leading in from the castle courtyard, the air smelled faintly of dust and mold.

    ¡°There are footprints.¡±

    ¡°The royal families of the dark elves and the beastmen entered. It seemed as if they were looking for something left behind by the king of the demons in order to take the throne.¡±

    ¡°I ate them.¡±

    You ate them?

    Well, it¡¯s not as if I cared about such things in the first place, so I strode into the depths of the castle, following the footprints.

    Although it was dark in here, it had no relation at all to the darkness of demons that were born in the abyss. That is¡­¡­ except for me.

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Milady is glamorous as always.¡±

    There were no more kind words as I ran face-first into a massive wall as we turned the corner.

    Even though it was dark, I stupidly didn¡¯t slow my pace at all, and while it certainly left no lasting damage, it hurt a bit?

    ¡°Does milady have no night vision?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Why do the two of you have it?¡±

    It that it? Is it because I¡¯m awkward?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Haah. I¡¯m almost at the time limit, so I¡¯ll guide you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    And with an almost comical pomf, Onzada-kun turned back into a rabbit stuffed-toy.

    It seems like we¡¯d hit the time limit for his humanization.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    Onzada-kun, who was glowing faintly in the dark, beckoned me forward and led me, lighting up the footprints to show me the way.

    [Laplace.] The rabbit that led Alice into wonderland.

    Some of his spec was exactly as I had ¡°set¡± them, but I¡¯m glad that Onzada-kun¡¯s kindness let him do more than just that.

    ¡°¡­¡­Here is?¡±

    As I headed down to the basement, I could make out something that looked like an altar that faintly glowed.

    ¡°Yes, it was here that Lady Nefi and Rimi learned the [Original Secret Art]. In order to activate it, the blood of the royal family which has the bloodline of the Hero is necessary, and we left behind some of the royals¡¯ blood that we used previously just in case.¡±

    ¡°Blood¡­¡­?¡±

    Geas presented me with a perfume bottle filled with a jet-black liquid.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s not rotten, right?

    I was confident that if I opened the lid and smelled something foul, I would throw up, so I started examining the altar first.

    There were some ancient etchings, but the contents of these weren¡¯t much different from what Geas had said.

    But, just how was the blood of the hero drawn out? How as this eligibility being determined? Was it some sort of mechanism to read genetic information?

    It might be possible to read an individual¡¯s magical wavelength, but as far as blood was concerned, it was impossible since magical wavelengths differed from parent to child.

    Could this possibly be¡­¡­ some sort of attribute?

    ¡°¡­¡­hmmm¡±

    Gathering a bit of energy, I made a small scratch on my left finger with my [Crimson Claw] on my right index finger.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ow.¡±

    I think it was my imagination that Onzada-kun had a slightly disappointed look on his face even though he was a stuffed toy.

    ¡°Oh, and Lady Nefi and Rimi said that you could use their blood¡­¡­¡±

    You should have told me that in the first place. No, wait, I can¡¯t do that to little children. If this wasn¡¯t enough, I was going to use the rotten blood.

    I knelt down slowly and rubbed a little of my blood-stained fingers on the letters of the altar.

    ¡°Ooohhh¡±

    As Geas exclaimed out, the altar activated, and the etchings began to shine.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as before?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    [¡­¡­¡­]

    ¡°No, wait, Onzada-dono says that the letters are shining brighter than before¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    How in the world are the two of you talking to each other?

    As good as it was, given the technology of the magicians in the world and considering the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] that I¡¯ve obtained, reading the genetic information shouldn¡¯t have been possible.

    So I thought that the key to it was [Magic Power] and [Attributes].

    Thus, when they said that they needed the blood of many sacrifices, I considered that what they were after was in fact the [Pure Magic Power] that was obtained from the soul present within that blood.

    But if it was merely pure magic, Geas or Onzada-kun should easily have managed it. Therefore, that¡¯s not enough ¨C you also needed the hero¡¯s [Light Attribute].

    Even though it had the same attributes as my human self, Geas and the rest didn¡¯t have it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ eh? Wait, does that mean that it would have started up if I had hit it directly with [Sacred Magic] even if I hadn¡¯t used my own blood?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­Is that the passage through?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    As I gave up on pursuing those deep thoughts, Geas didn¡¯t probe further. What emerged was a passageway that lead within. At this point, I couldn¡¯t care less about the details now.

    The First Hero had left something behind here.

    ¡°Stone monuments?¡±

    As we entered, there were stone monuments with glowing letters that flanked both sides of the passageway.

    Written on all of them was the story behind the creation of this country of darkness. All of the secret arts that had been used in those days.

    The further back one went, the more detailed the information was, and the more dangerous the techniques detailed.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. This is the limit for us.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ okay.¡±

    The sacred barrier that had been laid in layers was getting denser as we went deeper.

    For humans, it seemed as if having a strong light-attributed magic power would let them go deeper? Or perhaps you couldn¡¯t return without the power of a hero?

    Ordinary demons and monsters who didn¡¯t have the light attribute would be repelled by the barriers. A high-ranking demon would be able to forcibly push their way in, but the stone monuments wouldn¡¯t have survived the impact.

    Something that would rather be extinguished, than be used by evil¡­¡­ huh? How thorough.

    Is there something behind that was that dangerous?

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    In the middle of the passageway, I found something that described a [Phantom Beast Humanization Art].

    This was the method that Rinne and the rest used to humanize. So that¡¯s as far as the twins managed to go. If I examined it a bit more closely, I could spot their small footprints.

    H~~mmm¡­¡­ This method was fundamentally different from the method that demons used to incarnate as humans.

    It feels as if you would have to seal yourself with your own power? It wasn¡¯t that much of a problem for the Beast-Demons like Geas who had little magic, but it didn¡¯t suit Rinne at all.

    Reading the details, it¡¯s obvious that there were some very tearful efforts to transform a companion monster into a beautiful girl¡­¡­

    However, the method is still interesting.

    For the time being, I¡¯m going to just quickly browse through it and then go on ahead.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    Gently releasing the sacred light, the stone monuments¡¯ carving all lit up, glowing all the way down the passage.

    It appeared to record the diary of the first hero or something like his monologues.

    It was also slightly embarrassing to read through the feelings he held when he was building this nation and the dreams he wanted to achieve.

    Hmmm, because it¡¯s so embarrassing to read, I didn¡¯t actually read it that carefully?

    The person who¡¯d created this might have lived not only in a different world, but in a different era entirely. There were elements of freedom and equality, which were philosophical ideas that were definitely less than a thousand years old.

    But¡­¡­

    Paired with being this [Demon King ] and ruling them with fear for a hundred years, if he¡¯d had a decent education, it shouldn¡¯t have happened this way¡­¡­ I think.

    ¡°An idealistic hero¡­¡­?¡±

    And as I reached the end of the passageway, an enormous stone monument stood before me.

    No, this ¡­¡­¡­ this is¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­A Contract¡­¡­¡±

    A contract for a [Skill System] that he had established with all of the [Greater Spirits] of this world.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ A replica.¡±

    It would be utterly surprising if this was the original, but a mere Copy was meaningless to have.

    Still, the information written on it is the real deal. The conditions for acquiring certain skills, the considerations in doing so, and how new skills should be handled should they arise were well documented.

    In addition, since all of it was written in the [Spirit Language], if I inserted my magic power into it, it would still have some effect even if it was just a replica. This castle might have been built just to channel magic into this.

    When I examined it closely, there was a certain part of the text that was strange.

    It was as if someone had been forced to re-write certain parts of an English passage into German with nothing more than a dictionary.

    Hohoh¡­¡­ Because of this stone monument being in the center here, it seems that even creatures not covered in the contract, like Demons, could gain skills.

    ¡°¡­wai-¡­ what is this?¡±

    As I read on, I found something that was slightly less interesting.

    It¡¯s true that it was a ¡°contract¡± where neither the spirit or the contractor was at an advantage, but if you factored this in¡­¡­

    ¡°Rinne can¡¯t possibly ever humanize¡­¡­¡±

    What we were trying to do was to find our own way, one that wasn¡¯t okay to get disturbed by someone else.

    This world had been distorted by someone¡¯s ideas. Even the spirits who should have corrected it had been played without their knowledge.

    And if this were allowed to continue, then this world would repeat the same mistake as that of Earth.

    So¡­ Because of that, I was able to enter into this ¡°world¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ fufufu, I just thought of something interesting.¡±

 Volume 8 - CH 18

    Volume 8, Chapter 18: Demon Lord, Part 1

    A few days have passed since the golden saint disappeared.

    However, the only people who were in a real panic were some of the officials from Sail, who were upset that they were unable to use the leverage of having both the [Hero] and the [Saint] as billboards to push their own agendas, and the general soldiery. Otherwise, it seemed that everything was calm¡­ at least on the surface.

    At first, the retinue of the Saint and her young followers were in a flurry of activity searching for her, but as time went on, the other countries present all began to move behind the scenes to try to draw them into their own nations.

    It was clear that the battle lines weren¡¯t tense enough.

    After all, it wasn¡¯t the first time that a human-controlled region had fallen to the forces of darkness in history.

    The forces of darkness weren¡¯t as powerful as those of the light, and no matter what special circumstances happened in the past, the occupied areas had always been recaptured in about half a year.

    To those humans who were in the upper class, it felt more like a board game.

    Even when they attacked, they wouldn¡¯t chase them too far in. And whenever they attacked, they would retreat quickly.

    Because of the long history behind this war, it had become something like a ¡°strategy game¡± where the outcome could be predicted to some extent from the outset.

    Each and every one of them moved not for victory, but under their own speculations.

    Each country that had participated in the war had already begun moving to shape the post-war period and were having little skirmishes with each other to improve their own war contributions.

    There were a lot more that were wounded because of that than because of the actual war, which benefitted the forces of darkness, but the forces of darkness were also doing the same thing.

    The occupying force, eerily enough, hadn¡¯t moved much at all, barring a few extremists, but in their home base of the great cavern, a massive army that numbered greater than a million was on the move.

    However, this entire force hadn¡¯t been moved to reinforce the occupying army, nor had it been assembled to invade another human state to take advantage of their carelessness. No, it was moved purely on the speculation of a single Princess.

    ¡°How long has it been¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been about two days.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re running late. Move the plan forward by half a day.¡±

    Nefertia, First Princess of the dark elves, issued her orders while she rode upon the back of an Earth Dragon, whilst sweat beaded upon her knight and foster sister¡¯s forehead.

    It would be appropriate to have called this a death march.

    It was impossible to move this huge army of Dark Elves, beastmen, and monsters without being noticed by the human powers or the other forces of darkness.

    Moreover, because this army had been assembled impromptu by Nefertia through her charm and guile, it was a ragtag army that didn¡¯t coordinate well with each other.

    Nonetheless, Nefertia had a reason to rush.

    ¡°¡­¡­ those children are still alive.¡±

    Nefertia bit her nails when her ladies-in-waiting could not see.

    The twins who had been exiled to the human state with the Second Prince of the beastmen, who ought to have died, were still alive. They had also easily occupied the human nation with ease, suffering close to no losses to their armies.

    Just how had they done it? How had they managed to assemble such a fearsome officer corps and army?

    The beastman prince was a child too, and not much different from the twins. So why were all these officers and soldiers following the orders of these child royals who were only commanders in name?

    Whatever the reason was, what was true was that the twins had defeated a human nation.

    Nefertia had entrapped her brothers in her efforts to become king.

    It was good that the first and second princes died when they fell for her plots, but the twins that seemed like they were favored by the current king survived.

    Her father might have been happy with her otherwise.

    Nefertia had only tried to get rid of the twins as a ¡°just in case¡± measure.

    If they were able to distinguish themselves with war merit, though, it was entirely possible that their father might once again turn his eyes towards the two of them.

    To prevent this potential threat from arising, Nefertia had to kill them.

    And so, she set out to get rid of them.

    As soon as possible. No more acting through others, but by her own hand this time.

    For Nefertia, the war with the humans was nothing more than a game being played for their self-satisfaction.

    She had only one ambition. It was to ascend to the throne, subjugate all of the other races, and then reign supreme, obeyed by all.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Half a day is not enough. It has to be faster¡­¡­kyaa!?¡±

    The sudden jolt of the earth shocked Nefertia into screaming.

    ¡°Princess, are you hurt?¡±

    ¡°WHAT HAPPENED!?¡±

    As a maid rushed up to her, Nefertia shouted out impatiently even as she heard a shriek coming from a good distance away.

    *

    The Hero of Wind, who hadn¡¯t yet arrived, and the other three heroes, had all begun to move for their own goals.

    The first to move was the hero of flame, Minkichi.

    What she wanted most was ¡°enjoyment¡±. Although, in her case, it was paired with the ¡°anxiety¡± of being abandoned by the world that stuck deep in her heart.

    ¡°Hyahahahahaha! Kill! Screw them!!! ¡°

    It wasn¡¯t a very hero-like remark, but that was about par for Hero Minkichi.

    Minkichi had secretly bet that it would serve as a form of ¡°inspiration¡± for the soldiers to scream like this if all the violence was only being directed at the enemy.

    On the battlefield, a crazed warrior would sometimes be honored as a hero.

    Especially given that there was no [Saint] about now that needed to be protected, for all of those soldiers who had fought up to the very limit of their spirits, Minkichi would look like a battle maiden.

    Minkichi understood that some fame was necessary to push out the unease she¡¯d been suppressing.

    Her supposed purpose was to gain fame enough to act however she wished, but she covertly had wanted to kill off that annoying [Saint]¡¯s ¡°followers¡± she had brought along while making it look like it was just a normal fight between them.

    Since Minkichi couldn¡¯t go all out in that tiny castle, she wanted to kill off that little girl Fannie who had humiliated her and taken away all the people Minkichi had brought with her to harass the Saint.

    And so, for the first time, Minkichi felt better. ¡­¡­ And if she was right, the other two heroes would also be feeling the same way.

    Minkichi had originally intended to shave away at the power of the Hero of Water and the Hero of Earth, even to the point of treating her previous objectives as mere fronts.

    They were heroes, existences who had been tied together by fighting together, and as accomplices who had killed one of their companions.

    Minkichi intended for not only the hero parties, but also their support units, to die in this war.

    ¡°¡­¡­Fufu, what an idiot¡±

    Besides Minkichi then there were those people who kept hiding below ground and followed her.

    The hero of Earth, Kanzo, and her party.

    The battleground that had been ravaged by gunpowder and magic was of an equal size to the Hero of Earth¡¯s domain.

    Kanzo spread out her power evenly over the entirety of the battlefield, and by molding the softened earth, she stripped the enemy of their mobility and achieved great war merit.

    However, Kanzo did not discriminate in this current battleground. Even if it disadvantaged the human forces, who should have been allies, it wasn¡¯t worthwhile for her to do such unflashy things on this spectacular stage where all of the other heroes were rampaging about.

    She and Minkichi were polar opposites, and yet their reasons were similar.

    They did it for the fame. If it didn¡¯t earn fame, don¡¯t do it. It¡¯s just that.

    Kanzo followed behind Minkichi while hiding underground.

    It was all to get the best magic gem possible.

    When the battlefield would be exhausted, where nobody¡¯s eyes would reach. But until that scene, she came quietly¡­¡­

    Kanzo¡¯s pastime was living like a young maiden.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem at all. Please keep monitoring.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes¡±¡±¡±

    As Kyoji, the Hero of Water, issued instructions, the spies that he had trained scattered themselves.

    The battlefield was the game board, and the soldiers were the pieces.

    Kyoji had taken the war in hand from the very beginning, and controlled not only Sail¡¯s army, but also the armies of all of the eastern nations and was manipulating them at will.

    There was no room for either love or mercy.

    From the very beginning, Kyoji¡­¡­ had no feeling of anxiety at all ever since he had faced down that monster as Keiji.

    No matter how brilliantly the others shone on the battlefield, he would always take the head of the enemy general.

    Fame was born not of the few who were on the battlefield, but from the families awaiting the soldiers¡¯ return in their home countries.

    His first objective was to rise to the top of the world.

    And the next was to rule it from behind a screen.

    But that was all a lie that Kyoji used to fool the idiots into following him.

    He really just wanted to own everything.

    Everything¡­¡­ yes, he wanted it *all*, including the world.

    The forces of light and darkness, the humans, the nations, these were all small things. He wanted it all, including the world of spirits and fairies.

    Some people once asked, ¡°What will you do once you get everything you wish¡­¡­?¡±

    To Kyoji, there was no question more foolish than that one.

    If it existed, he wanted to own it. And once he got it, he would break it. After breaking it, he would remake it. And then the cycle would repeat itself.

    For the sake of being that [King], everything, including this world, was nothing more than a game for him.

    ¡°Sefira, did you manage to find where that person went?¡±

    As Kyoji asked that question, Sefira quietly knelt down before Kyoji.

    ¡°Yes, Lord Kyoji. That person went into the very center of the forces of darkness, within the great cavern.¡±

    ¡°Will there be any problems?¡±

    ¡°It was impossible for me, but Lord Kyoji, you should have no problems whatsoever. The way to your [Kingship] is open.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Kyoji laughed at Sefira¡¯s foolishness in his heart, even as he lightly stroked her cheek and gazed upon her face.

    It had been ten-odd years since he had fallen into this world. And finally, the path to his kingship approached.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°Did you manage to find the Saint?¡±

    ¡°No, ¡­¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry. I have no clue¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    For Kyoji, neither the war nor the powers of light and darkness nor the other heroes who were his match in fighting power were enemies.

    For Kyoji, there was only one ¡°enemy¡±.

    The irregular in the world. Coming in from a strange world, an unknown quantity with unknown knowledge that was under no-one, whose influence swelled with the knowledge it gained from this world, just like that monster he met on terra¡­¡­ All of these were things that made Kyoji jealous.

    That otherworld Saint, Yurushia.

    What was she thinking? He didn¡¯t understand how she worked at all.

    What she did, ¡­¡­ no, he couldn¡¯t even predict what she was going to do.

    It made the same impression as that monster called ¡°Yuzu¡± that had traumatized Kyoji.

    ¡°Continue your search. This is our top priority.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Kyoji!¡±

    And with that, Sefira nodded seriously and left¡­¡­ and the moment she turned her back on Kyoji, a tiny smile crept onto her face.

    And then¡­¡­ it suddenly happened.

    ¡°Wha-!?¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    All three heroes suddenly shouted out from where they were, spread out across the battlefield.

    They heard the screaming of the soldiers. There was some strange irregular black things wriggling on the battlefield.

    They ran across the battlefield, attacking and scattering the forces of light.

    But it wasn¡¯t a normal part of the forces of darkness. The darkness who were on the battlefield attacked everyone else but themselves, including Nefertia¡¯s army that planned to strike at them from behind.

    It looked like both a human and a beast. Anything living was considered its enemy.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Demons¡­¡­¡±

    Someone uttered the phrase.

    They were something that only existed in fairy tales, that had almost never appeared in this world.

    They were the natural enemy of all living things that evoked the primeval [Fear] that was rooted at the core of humanity.

    The [Demons] that were the nightmare of thousands suddenly bared fangs in the ¡°real world¡±.

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    Kyoji¡¯s shout was drowned out by the screaming of the soldiery, and the battlefield that should have been a board game turned into a hellish pandemonium filled with screams of horror.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What is that¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Someone spoke out again. It might have been Kyoji, or Kanzo, or Minkichi.

    An enormous black beast with the body of a bear with bull¡¯s horns the size of a mountain emerged from the dust clouds of the battlefield.

    As the very image of despair set in¡­¡­ some of the soldiers stopped fleeing altogether and sank to the ground, unable to move.

    But that was not the true despair. The real [Fear] was of the thing on top of that behemoth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ the Saint¡­¡­but how?¡±

    A girl in a platinum dress that stood on top of the behemoth.

    Everyone, from the soldiers to the officers to the heroes, knew that figure.

    It was the golden saint that had come from another world.

    But was that girl truly a Saint?

    The Saint, who had always had a soft smile, wore no such expression now. Her face only radiated a terrifying beauty that chilled to the bone.

    The golden hair, that symbolized the golden saint¡­¡­

    It had turned into black hair as it lengthened to her feet.

    And as they saw the black Saint, the thousands of demons who had been rampaging across the battlefield all stopped, prostrating themselves to bow before her. It was then that the rest of them all realized.

    A true [Demon Lord] had eaten the heart of the kidnapped holy maiden, and descended upon this world.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The heroes are all rotten.

    Next time, the behind-the-scenes!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Ahahaha, it seems Yuru has written herself a blank check with nothing more than hair dye.

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    And finally, we see a full return to form! there just hasn¡¯t been enough Yuru recently and finally we get some of that delightful spice again

 Volume 8 - CH 19

    Volume 8, Chapter 19: Demon Lord, Part 2

    The battlefield fell into chaos.

    The general soldiery, who had been uneasy over the missing [Saint] began to despair and flee in terror.

    Riding atop of the behemoth, the Black Saint had black, velvety hair, and had an escort of Demons that numbered in the thousands.

    The natural enemy of all living things.

    They were an existence that lived only to destroy the world, not even bothering to conquer or rob, nor creating anything at all.

    The ¡°souls¡± of the people instinctively understood that this was a being that was fundamentally incompatible with the world.

    That which would bring the Apocalypse¡­¡­ the true [Demon Lord] had descended upon them.

    As the cold, emotionless beauty gently raised her hands toward the sky, dark clouds gathered, turning the bright day into an overcast night.

    As the uneasy people stared towards the sky, *drip*¡­ *drip*, a bone-chilling ¡°black rain¡± began to fall. (TL Note: The reference here is too important to miss: black rain in Japanese refers to nuclear fallout rain, where the rain is turned black because of the radioactive ash thrown up into the air by the force of a thermonuclear weapon. It¡¯s a horrific cultural memory.)

    ¡°Hya, ah¡­¡­ hurgk¡±

    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    ¡°T-Toxic rain ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    The black rain began to paint the battlefield. The soldiers who were struck by it all began to shiver and turn blue, faces contorting in anguish.

    It wasn¡¯t unbearably painful. It wasn¡¯t a pain that would break minds.

    And so they all thought it was some sort of poison, and recognized it as a clear act of malice, and their despair seeped through the pain.

    ¡°All forces, retreat!!!¡±

    The Hero Kyoji shouted out the command, and the officers and soldiers who heard him began to withdraw as quickly as they could, whilst those who didn¡¯t began to rush to flee anyway.

    Command had collapsed. It was an ugly rout where every man fled for himself, completely unbefitting professional soldiers ¨C and yet, it saved their lives.

    The Demons did not pursue them despite the wonderful opportunity.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡­kuh!¡±

    Kyoji glared at the Demonic host that was tormenting him in irritation.

    The Demons who hadn¡¯t moved an inch up until this point suddenly parted to two sides, and turned their heads to roar at the heavens like beasts.

    ¡°Run, you fools! Hurry!¡±

    From elsewhere, the panicked voice of the Hero of Earth, Kanzo.

    As the Hero-class and several warriors who hadn¡¯t lost heart looked back, the behemoth that carried the Black Saint opened its mouth, erupting with a roar that shook the very atmosphere.

    [GUUUUUUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!]

    In that instant, a huge shockwave overturned the ground itself, the earth erupting in clouds of dust and clods of dirt, blowing away everyone from the blast.

    In that dusty haze, some of those who had been blown away and buried halfway into the earth staggered to stand and help their fellows.

    ¡°¡­¡­ oi, what¡¯s that¡±

    ¡°Wha-what in the world¡­¡­¡±

    The battlefield upon which they had been fighting on had vanished, leaving only a crater.

    Is this what a [Demon Lord] was¡­¡­?

    Up until now, there had been many self-proclaimed Demon Lords, and some who had been named as Demon Lords because of their heinous acts.

    But everyone could feel that this thing was a fundamentally different thing.

    Could humans even resist such a foe¡­¡­?

    Was there no hope for this world?

    There was the Hero, who was supposed to be humanity¡¯s hope and its [Sword]. But¡­¡­ at the very least ¡­¡­ if the Saint that had fallen to darkness was here¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s¡­¡±

    Someone was muttering.

    In the midst of the battlefield where all of human despair was on show, there were still those whose hearts had not yet broken, who were trying to figure out what was happening.

    Toward that terrible scene of destruction that lay before her, they could see that the eyes of the expressionlessly cold and doll-like Black Saint were shimmering slightly as if she was grieving¡­¡­

    As they withdrew from the battlefield, talk from those who had seen it began to spread, and rumors abounded that the Saint had not completely fallen to the darkness. People began to speculate and grieve for the Saint that had been kidnapped by the Demons and then forcibly turned into a vessel for the Demon Lord, and a small hope began to bloom in their hearts.

    * * *

    ¡°Thank you for all the good work, everyone!¡±

    After confirming that all of the troops that could see me had withdrawn, I returned to [Lost Eden] and took a breather, taking off the black wig.

    ¡°It must have been hard on you, Lady Yurushia. Fannie is preparing your tea over there.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Tina.¡±

    I handed the wig off to Tina with my thanks while I walked over to the table where the I could smell the aroma of tea being prepared.

    ¡°It¡¯s well done, but a bit too warm.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Because it¡¯s prepared with the heat of my love¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    I don¡¯t get it.

    The long black hair was a wig made from Tina¡¯s hair. When I took hold of it at first, it was a small blonde wig, but the moment I shifted roles into being a villain, it suddenly turned into that body-length black hair and surprised me.

    Tina had prepared a towel for me, so as I wiped my eyes free of the dust, Tina spoke to me.

    ¡°Shall I prepare eyedrops?¡±

    ¡°Eh, we have those?¡±

    ¡°It seems that such things exist in the city. Geas has purchased some.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Eyedrops were being sold, huh.¡±

    The transmigrators from Terra really didn¡¯t care about not being shameless.

    Still, I am thankful for it and will use it. When Geas blew up the ground, the dust rose in great clouds, causing my eyes to tear up.

    Geas has also turned back into a teddy bear again after forcibly turning back into his monstrous form and has been following behind me for a while now.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. I didn¡¯t actually turn into a [Demon Lord].

    First of all, Demons and a Demon Lord are very different things.

    Demons were a part of the world, so if they destroyed the world, they would be removing the source of their own meals.

    That¡¯s why the real Demon Lord only appears when the world is about to end, and anything else is definitely 100% a ¡°self-proclaimed Demon Lord¡±.

    The entire purpose of this whole farce was to find a certain thing.

    In order to rid the world of this sloppy trickle of a war, and push all of them into dire straits to use that thing.

    So as a result of those varied considerations, I wanted to clean up all of the problems I¡¯d been making in one fell swoop, so it turned out this way.

    As a result of a combination of summoning the maid duo, Tina and Fannie, giving instructions to Noa and Nea, and forcibly injecting magic back into Geas to transform him into his monstrous form, I was quite tired.

    There¡¯s just so many things to do¡­¡­¡­

    Originally, I was going to advance all of my plots slowly, but I didn¡¯t want to spend all that free time thinking about Rinne.

    ¡­¡­geh, besides wanting Rinne to manifest earlier, I also gradually missed Mother and Father more and more?

    Ah, and even after only half a year in this world, I tired of it.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°One moment, please¡­¡­ Right now, Nea is on their way back, so they will report directly.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Tea first, then?¡±

    ¡°Yes~, Lady Yurushia, your souls are waiting for you.¡±

    As Fannie brewed up a tea with too many souls in the spirit of trying to replicate a beef bowl (but of magic power), Nea emerged out of the darkness, fresh from commanding on the battlefield.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, I¡¯ve returned.¡±

    ¡°Yes, welcome back. How¡¯s the damage?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ the Demon¡¯s attack this time around hasn¡¯t caused any damage to the humans at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    This time around, I¡¯d banned the killing of certain people: the heroes, or the ordinary soldiers who wouldn¡¯t be tasty at all even when eaten. I would pray for the happiness of those who died whilst collecting their souls, but I¡¯d prefer if more of them were left alive.

    I¡¯d told her that I would accept deaths of those who had exquisitely muddy souls, but nobody died?

    ¡°Ah, there were a lot of people who died because they were dragging down each other when they tried to flee. They were unworthy of collection, so I didn¡¯t bother.¡±

    ¡°I see. ¡­¡­well, that¡¯s alright.¡±

    Wouldn¡¯t the plan be crippled with such souls? Well, although it ended safely, to kill each other like that, these humans really are beyond saving.

    ¡°Well, leave alone those people who have many [Skills]. They will be useful in our plan.¡±

    ¡°I understand~¡±

    Nea smiled and saluted me in the Holy Kingdom fashion. ¡­¡­ You do understand, right? It¡¯s important.

    ¡°How are we looking overall?¡±

    ¡°This time around, we employed 400 of our regular Demons. There were also 1200 new recruits who manifested in monsters. They were given those souls as a signing-on bonus. In addition, 2700 [Lesser Demons (part timers)]were recruited from the nearby Demon World with a daily salary of 2 kilograms of seaweed and the promise of Lady Yurushia¡¯s live performance on their last day.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Nea.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I told you not to use my name without permission¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ but brother said it was fine.¡±

    Noa¡­¡­ you little brat¡­¡­

    I previously allowed for a meet-and-greet handshaking session, but how did I end up being bait again? ¡­¡­ I guess it can¡¯t be helped, I¡¯m going to have to practice singing again.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would you like a new dress made?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Have the Demons try their best to not kill indiscriminately. Fannie and Tina, you will help me here, but as for Nea and the rest, I¡¯ll have to trouble you all to take care of the human-tempting along with Touka and Mizuki¡¯s parties. I¡¯ll let Noa and Onzada-kun know too.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    For the time being, we¡¯re fully ready to go.

    Having some of them place on the finishing touches will work better than if I intervened personally.

    Well¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°I wonder who will be the first to fall into the ¡°trap¡±¡­¡­?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, wielding people~!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Oh my, well I suppose this is Yuru¡¯s equivalent of ¡®Rocks fall, everyone dies¡¯

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    Cheers for the week, and for Yuru!

 Volume 8 - CH 20

    Volume 8, Chapter 20: Demon Lord, Part 3

    As the allied human forces pulled back their defensive lines in withdrawal to reorganize, their confusion subsided and the battle lines grew calm again.

    Despite the disaster, the human casualties were minimal.

    Still, that didn¡¯t mean that they could sleep relieved.

    Was that [Black Saint]¡®s presence really that of the true [Demon Lord]?

    From the eyewitnesses, they could feel the fear of something that fundamentally couldn¡¯t coexist with them deep in their ¡°souls¡±, whereas the various militaries were threatened by the sporadic attacks and pinned down in the battlefield without being able to retreat fully to their own countries.

    They couldn¡¯t forget about the forces of Darkness, too.

    That was the original enemy for which all of these soldiers had been gathered to fight. As it was right now, with that enemy called [Demons] in front of them taking up their attention, the allied forces were worried that the Forces of Darkness would attack them from the flank.

    But it seems that the Demon forces attacked the occupying forces of Darkness as well.

    It seemed like it was something of a siege situation at the capital at the moment, and as the new information trickled into the camp, the upper echelons of every country breathed easy for a moment.

    But, unbeknownst to them, a massive army of what could be called reinforcements for the forces of darkness was approaching at an alarming speed.

    However, the Demons did not fail to notice them.

    Coming from the land of the forces of Darkness to the place where the humans lived required them to pass through a labyrinthine cave system, but although they were nocturnal and had night vision, they were actually unable to see in pitch blackness unlike the Demons.

    Assaulted under the cover of darkness, half of the attacking forces of darkness were destroyed in the blink of an eye, and then scattered towards the human nations as if they had been guided there.

    They numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Although they numbered less than the sum total of the human nations¡¯ armies, the individual prowess of the soldiers of darkness was higher, and as soon as they regrouped, they would have been a sizable threat to the human states.

    Tribalism was the greatest enemy of a nation, and this was a terrible enemy that they had been fighting for thousands of years.

    It would have been the same for them as well, and so it shouldn¡¯t have been unusual for the hastily organized defensive lines to be tense when the battle started.

    Still, the one that they had to be the most vigilant of and deal with right now had to be the [Demon Lord] and her troops.¡¯

    At present, the Demon forces had been attacking only sporadically, and so the stalemate had been maintained. But the instant the Demon Army launched an all-out offensive, with both of them unable to move easily, there was a real fear that they would be annihilated without being able to put up a resistance.

    So. What could they do?

    The commanders of each country gathered to hold a meeting, but since all of the larger nations were self-serving their interests over the general good, nobody would give them an affirmative answer, whilst all of the smaller countries tried to push responsibility to the greater nations, insisting on their duty as superpowers as they all tried to protect their own national strengths.

    And hence, they could never come to a point. At the same time, the spy inserted into the Allied Operations Command to speak with Sefira, who herself was trying to make contact with the forces of darkness, and brought information that the Forces of Darkness¡¯ leaders were willing to meet with them.

    Some of them were wary of this early development, but ascertaining that it was the best course available, and that even in the worst case it would buy them time to deal with the [Demon Lord], they prepared an ambassador immediately.

    But still, there was a problem.

    The forces of darkness had specified the meeting location to be in the midst of their defensive lines, and only with a small number of people.

    It would have been best if they would have met over in the general headquarters, but since there had been a long history of betrayal, there was no chance that they would agree to it.

    At the start of the talks, the senior officials of every country were trying to get a seat at the table so that they could dictate rights, but the physical power of the Dark Elves and the beastmen were so great that there was a real possibility that they would be overwhelmed and forced into concessions.

    And so, the upper echelons of every nation vested their hopes in the three [Heroes] and entrusted them with the future of humanity.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s boring.¡±

    In a tent that had been set aside for her, Sefira bit her nails in frustration.

    This mysterious [Demon Lord] that was a completely unknowable variable had appeared all of a sudden.

    She too had felt that primal terror in her soul, but at the same time it represented a chance. If the [Heroes] that she guided defeated the [Demon Lord], the power and influence of the heroes would increase, and Sefira¡¯s plan would advance one step further.

    Creating a world of her own ideals. For that very purpose, Sefira had turned herself into a woman, guided various people, showing them the paths to walk so that the [Heroes] would eventually become true Heroes.

    What irked her was the presence of something that came in from outside of her calculations.

    One of them was the girl they called the [Golden Saint]. Although other individuals were occasionally summoned from other places than Terra, there had never been any such person like her, who wielded such influence and yet did not seek anything in return.

    She thought that she could have been left to her own devices, but then the girl vanished out of the reach of Sefira¡¯s designs, and the next time she was seen again, she had been devoured and turned into this [Demon Lord].

    What happened during those few weeks?

    She didn¡¯t understand. And so it wasn¡¯t of immediate interest.

    She cared not for these ¡°irregularities¡± that might have disrupted her plans.

    The truce between the forces of darkness and the forces of light had been brokered by a spy that had been sent in to help Sefira, and, in a sense, it was similar to what she had been hoping for, but it was only to be temporary.

    Humanity had not yet matured enough to build a fair and equitable world.

    And this was why Humanity needed Sefira¡¯s plan.

    If they would settle for such a half-baked peace like this, then they would not grow into the [True Heroes] that would guide all of humanity.

    ¡°¡­¡­ could I use it?¡±

    There was a movement in the general soldiers and militiamen.

    It had begun with the soldiers who had witnessed the tears of the [Black Saint], and was backed by some of the hero-class warriors, an [attempt to save the Saint from the clutches of the Demon Lord] had been started.

    At their center were a few younglings.

    They might not have wanted to be in the center of things, but after being summoned from Terra, they had been sheltered by the Saint, and taught how to live in this world. They¡¯d headed out into battle to help her, and seeing their enthusiasm, the soldiery began to warm to them.

    ¡°Excuse me, but could I have a minute?¡±

    Sefira called out to the little girl that was treating the soldiers in the barracks.

    ¡°¡­wha- me?¡±

    She seemed to be a water magician, and was using water magic instead of holy magic to clean, disinfect and dress wounds. The soldiers loved her dearly for her delicate skills.

    ¡°Yes, you. Miss¡­¡­ Mizuki?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, yes, you¡¯re the one Yuru-chan was talking to, from the Allied Forces¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am Sefira.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m Mizuki¡±

    The two bowed to each other in turn like the salarymen of a certain country.

    Sefira took a closer look the girl named Mizuki.

    A girl who was timid but had a dignified look. However, in her eyes, she could see something that glowed. Checking her skills with [Greater Appraisal], Sefira could tell that even though it hadn¡¯t been a year since she had been summoned to this world, already she had few skills, but a remarkably high proficiency in them, like a ¡°specialist type¡±.

    It might have been her nature, too. It seems that Sail had thought that she had no potential as a [Hero], but in Sefira¡¯s view, there was a certain ¡°hero-class¡± nature about her.

    The other three otherworlders had also been trained, but it seemed that this girl Mizuki was head and shoulders beyond them.

    ¡°U, uh¡­¡­ what can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. ¡­¡­ did you treat all of these people alone? Won¡¯t your MP be in trouble?¡±

    ¡°ah, it¡¯s alright, there¡¯s the doctors too, so I¡¯m not alone. Besides, Yuru-chan has given me plenty of lessons in using my magic efficiently.¡±

    Mizuki, as if remembering her special spartan-like training, began pouring with cold sweat.

    ¡°Really? I¡¯m sorry about that girl¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! Yuru-chan can¡¯t possibly lose! We¡¯ll definitely manage to help her!¡±

    Mizuki¡¯s eyes suddenly changed in expression as she declared her intention to save the Saint, and all of the soldiers around her were looking at her with gentle eyes.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ I see¡±

    Sefira smiled gently, and gazed long at Mizuki, convinced that she could be used.

    Leading people onto the right path ¨C that was one of the qualities of a true [Hero].

    It was also one of the things that not one of the heroes had.

    ¡°What would you do¡­¡­ if I told you there was a way to save Lady Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°eh!?¡±

    ¡°Here we go.¡±

    Sefira drew Mizuki out of the barracks with those surprising words.

    ¡°Uh, umm, what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°To save Lady Yurushia as you are now would be difficult¡­¡­ no, it would be difficult even if you had the other three Heroes.¡±

    ¡°B-but¡±

    ¡°But! You have hidden power. Given that you were raised by the Saint Lady Yurushia, you can definitely do it.¡±

    ¡°I-is that true?¡±

    Mizuki, staring at Sefira¡¯s eyes and listening to her voice, began to believe in her unsubstantiated words.

    Sefira¡¯s words sounded right. Sefira¡¯s words were believable.

    ¡°B-but¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. If you gain more skills, soon you will become stronger.¡±

    As Mizuki expressed her lingering doubts, Sefira smiled gently at her again.

    (¡­¡­ it doesn¡¯t show in the appraisal. I wonder if she¡¯s been blessed by some strange spirits.)

    Heroes received the blessings of the spirits of light and became Heroes by receiving the title of [Hero].

    For example, Kyoji was blessed by the great spirit of water, but it did not show in the appraisal, either.

    ¡°Now, come with me. I¡¯ll make sure that you get all the right skills.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuse me for cutting in.¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    Sefira jumped back a few meters, surprised at the sudden voice when she hadn¡¯t noticed the presence of anything there.

    ¡°Ah, you are¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ah, Noa-kun.¡±

    Mizuki, who had been staring blankly for an instant, noticed Yurushia¡¯s pretty boy butler and chirped out.

    ¡°Ah, yes, Yuru-chan is still¡­,¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re also doing our best, so please be patient.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As she was suddenly interrupted, and Mizuki began to chat with Noa, Sefira gritted her molars.

    He was one of the Saint¡¯s attendants and servants and was probably a direct combatant.

    Sefira thought that some of Yurushia¡¯s power as a [Saint] was related to the strengths of these attendants. That¡¯s why she wanted to pull them away from Yurushia.

    These followers merited caution. But that was because there were four of them.

    With four attendants that were probably hero-class in strength, Yurushia had the power of a Hero as a Saint.

    But now, there was only one of them. And Sefira¡¯s ability was more effective in men than in women.

    ¡°Noa-sama, could you listen to my wish?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±

    As Sefira smiled at him, Noa smiled back.

    Soft, tender brunette hair. Although he was still a teenager, he had a cold beauty that dazzled just by looking at someone else.

    Even Sefira who had lost all carnal interest in humans had her head clouded, and as she shook herself free of that haze¡­¡­ she glimpsed for an instant a [Darkness] that boiled in the back of Noa¡¯s eyes like jet-black magma, and she tore her eyes away from his.

    ¡°¡­¡­n¡­o, Not¡­ it can¡¯t be¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I understand that you want to help Mizuki, but Milady has an educational policy in place for her, so would you please hold off for a moment?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Noa left, leaving Mizuki and Sefira with a chilling, creepy smile that caused Sefira to erupt with cold sweat herself.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The main character isn¡¯t present, so it¡¯s back to serious.

    Noa is not like the other three. Whenever Noa gets a turn it gets difficult for everyone else because Noa is peerless when he gets the chance to shine.

    Next time, the heroes move.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Hmm, now, I wonder if anyone has guessed what Sefira is¡­

    Also, I¡¯m travelling next week, so the chapter might come out Sunday.

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    Mistakes were made, I see¡­

 Volume 8 - CH 21

    Volume 8, Chapter 21: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 1

    Under the threat of the true [Demon Lord] that had been spoken of since time immemorial, a meeting between the forces of light and darkness was organized.

    Representing the forces of darkness was the First Princess of the Dark Elves, Nefertia, and the General of the Beastmen.

    The three heroes, Kyoji, Kanzo, and Minkichi, were the delegates for the forces of light.

    The other members of their parties, as well as the Dark Elven and Beastmen knights were also present, for a total of about 20 people per side.

    The meeting was set at a place close to the battle lines, and an awning was set up for the conference on an empty plain with nothing else within the range of a few kilometers. Since both sides had already swept the area with their armies, there was no possible way for either side to set an ambush.

    ¡°Ah, we meet for the first time, Heroes. It¡¯s an honor to meet you all.¡±

    Nefertia, who was widely acknowledged as the most beautiful of the Dark Elves, immediately began to push with her beauty.

    There were many elves who were beautiful, but against the full might of Nefertia¡¯s smile, even the general of a smaller nation would have been wrapped around her little finger in seconds.

    ¡°That is very polite of you. I¡¯m happy to see that the rumors about you, oh beautiful princess, was true.¡±

    The hero of water, Kyoji, didn¡¯t tic at all, but smiled back.

    It was too bad for her that these few were sitting opposite her at this meeting.

    Kyoji only saw the beauty of women as a tool, whereas Kanzo felt jealousy at their beauty, and as for Minkichi, popular women were her hated foes.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good¡­¡­¡±

    So, Nefertia changed tracks instantly. The only person here worth calling an ¡°enemy¡± at the negotiating table to her was Kyoji, so she let it fall flat.

    As a shrewd, skeptical dark elf, Nefertia had in her time as a royal disposed of many political opponents through cloak-and-dagger means, including with her words.

    The purpose of the meeting was ostensibly to establish a temporary ceasefire, but they were here now to discuss how long it would last, and how they would resolve problems, feel out how much the two could expect to cooperate with each other over their lack of knowledge.

    Even if the worst came to pass, they knew that they definitely needed to establish a ceasefire, but the humans sought to use the individually capable forces of darkness as a shield, whilst Nefertia sought out food and supply terms that were favorable to her.

    As the discussion wore on about various conditions, the generals of the beastmen and the other heroes gave their opinions, but Kyoji and Nefertia had very naturally been separated from each other.

    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding! It¡¯s humiliating to have to cooperate with you.¡±

    Kanzo stood up as he slammed his fist on the table.

    In order for them to confront the [Demon Lord] together, it was necessary to make a show of cooperating to the soldiery. It was needed to relieve their fears since the long-standing feud wasn¡¯t that easy to wipe clean from their minds.

    But Kanzo could not trust Nefertia. It was largely due to personal reasons, but also because of a ¡°woman¡¯s intuition¡±.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    But then, Minkichi that everyone thought would be the most antagonistic, piped up.

    ¡°¡­¡­you¡¯ll what?¡±

    ¡°What, Kanzo? Unlike you, I won¡¯t say things for my own indulgence. Think a little, you old coot.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll support Lady Minkichi.¡±

    The general of the beastmen, who had been swayed by Minkichi, grinned.

    ¡°You guys¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo glared at the two of them as if seeing something unbelievable.

    For some reason, it felt very artificial to Kanzo, who was the hero of the North and the first amongst the heroes to have battle experience with the forces of darkness. But, the general whom she had given such a hard time to seemed as if he was trying to be cooperative at this desperate time.

    Especially given that this was a fight for the future of all beings that transcended race, it made Kanzo seem as if her opposition to this flow of events was purely emotional.

    There was a mountain of things that she wanted to say, but feeling the impossibility of persuasion, Kanzo fell silent. As Nefertia and Kyoji¡¯s eyes met, the ceasefire and cooperation agreements were rapidly advanced.

    ¡°¡­¡­Have you all gone soft in the head?¡±

    As the talks ended, Kanzo, who had returned to her tent, ran her fingers through her luscious hair in annoyance.

    Kyoji and Nefertia. Minkichi and the general.

    At first there had been this very strained atmosphere, but all of them changed their opinions eerily quickly, as if the meeting had already been concluded from the start.

    The wrongness she felt refused to go away. But disagreeing at this point would only compromise Kanzo¡¯s position and change nothing.

    For the sake of the future of mankind, she had to cooperate. It was ¡°evil¡± to oppose.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Just what are those two planning?¡±

    Kanzo trusted Kyoji and Minkichi as much as she did the forces of darkness.

    There was definitely something fishy. But when had this happened? They had just met.

    Unless, this was all playing into the hands of someone else behind the scenes¡­¡­?

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, someone wishes to meet with you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­right now?¡±

    Kanzo frowned as her thoughts were disturbed by the voice of her subordinates calling to her from outside the tent.

    As a Hero, Kanzo had never let herself be interrupted by those people who wanted to meet her all the time. So if those guys had let this person meet Kanzo, it surely couldn¡¯t have been some nobody.

    ¡°Who is it? Some noble?¡±

    As she expressed her displeasure at having been interrupted, it seemed as if the person themselves had already arrived as he felt the presence of someone in the hero class outside.

    ¡°It¡¯s Noa, the follower of the Saint.¡±

    * * *

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ this, isn¡¯t the work of the Demon Lord, is it?¡±

    ¡°Work hard, Lady Yurushia.¡±

    While drinking the tea that Fannie had brewed for me, I battled a mountain of documents.

    ¡°¡­¡­ There¡¯s just so many.¡±

    Well, putting it briefly, I¡¯d asked Noa who had been moving around to give me a detailed report, so in came this massive number of documents.

    They numbered in the hundreds of sheets. It seems that Noa¡¯s terrible nature came out all at once.

    Looking through them, going through this terrible punishment game, I was rapidly stamping them with a potato seal, wait, why was it a potato-carved seal!?

    Furthermore, what¡¯s this inky substance? It¡¯s not the blood of Dark Elves, is it?

    It¡¯s true that a lot of my plans were being left to Noa to execute, but there were a lot more things to settle, and if I left it to someone else I would be having a hard time.

    What¡¯s this [Cow Beastman Fresh Milk Farm Plan]! Rejected! Rejected!

    ¡°¡­¡­ Princess, is it alright for me to be working so hard?¡±

    Onzada-kun was carrying a lot of documents in and out in his human form.

    These few days, because I¡¯ve been doing something like sending homing pigeon messages to Noa, I feel like Onzada-kun is getting gaunt.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Afterwards, I¡¯m going to add octopi and squid into the beastmen¡¯s specialty milk-wine. And tell Noa and Nea to go on ahead and start the second phase of the plan.¡±

    ¡°Yes~ ¡­¡­ roger.¡±

    As I gave him my maximum concession, Onzada-kun went back to work with a sigh.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada-kun certainly fits the look of someone who¡¯s destined to live poor.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    My work seems unlikely to end soon.

    * * *

    Just as the forces of light and darkness regrouped, the Demons attacked them both.

    They numbered about 3,000.

    Although it seemed to be too small a number for the two armies together that numbered over a hundred thousand, but for the Demons that handled magic freely, every single [Lesser Demon] was the equivalent of ten-odd soldiers.

    However, even the Demons that were capable of nullifying physical attacks would have lost to the human side with this kind of numerical disadvantage.

    The problem lay with the [Greater Demons].

    The Demons¡¯ abilities grew immensely with every rank.

    In particular, the [Greater Demons] were special individuals who had been ¡°manifested¡± by using special vassals and were all serious workaholics who worked all night despite their hunger.

    If you thought of their combat strength as equaling their magic power, then [Lesser Demons] would rate at about 500.

    The [Greater Demons] that were one stage higher was about 2000~3000.

    On the other hand the general soldiery were around 10, and even with the benefits of their skills, they didn¡¯t exceed about 50~100.

    However, battles weren¡¯t solely about status values. In reality, even if there had been a [Greater Demon], they would have been able to pin it down with about 30 soldiers with knights and commanders.

    But this was war.

    No matter how many much they overwhelmed the Demons, there were only tens of thousands who were actively able to fight them, and that 10-to-1 strength difference could not hurt them.

    The humans had the [Hero class] who could take on the [Greater Demons] alone, but there were only a few in each country, and they didn¡¯t have the numbers to beat the 1000 [Greater Demons].

    Still, the human forces did not give up.

    The forces of darkness, led by the general of the beastmen and Minkichi, bravely attacked the Demon army from the center and took down hundreds of Demons.

    But¡­¡­ there was a reason for their success.

    ¡°Hey, Noaa? Are you sure about this information?¡±

    The Hero of Earth, Kanzo, turned red while wriggling her large, two-meter tall body, even as she talked to the beautiful teenager dressed in butler clothing.

    Although it wasn¡¯t very pleasant to watch, Noa sat in that two-person love seat, touching the back of Kanzo¡¯s hand with a gentle smile.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you believe in me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, no! That¡¯s not it, I absolutely believe in you.¡±

    Minkichi and the beastman general had obtained information from a certain source indicating that the Demons were losing control of the center and were going to attack certain places.

    Those locations were the camps of the Hero of Water, Kyoji, and the Dark Elves¡¯ Princess, Nefertia.

    If the information could have been corroborated, they would have gathered up the Heroes and the hero-class folk to land a solid blow to the Demon army.

    Even though Minkichi and the general of the beastmen knew this, in order to be rid of their political rivals, they had joined hands through the machinations of a ¡°certain person¡±.

    That information Kanzo had taken, along with her companion knights who had become collaborators since the Elder Lich¡¯s dungeon ¨C It was as if they had suddenly changed, and they took a back seat.

    Kanzo was on cloud nine.

    A long time ago, she had been rejected, but she had had that ¡°premonition about love¡± since the previous generation of the Hero of Wind.

    ¡°I can¡¯t forgive Minkichi.¡±

    Kanzo wished for all of them to go away as well, so he made a show of ¡°anger¡± in front of Noa after he¡¯d brought him the information.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like you said. It¡¯s all¡­¡­ ah, yes, there was something I wanted to give to you, Kanzo.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what would that be?¡±

    As Kanzo spoke, Noa smiled bewitchingly, and retrieving out something that looked like a bottle of liquid from his bosom, he passed it over to Kanzo.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This is¡­¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s face tightened as she saw it. It was what Kanzo had been requesting from that Golden Saint.

    ¡°It¡¯s a magic medicine that will make your dreams come true.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s the first host.

    Next time, the Demon¡¯s trap closes on the Beautiful Hero.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Ah, chaos abound in the armies of mortals.

 Volume 8 - CH 22

    Volume 8, Chapter 23: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 2

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, news has come from Butler Noa and Ser Nea.¡±

    I raised my head at Geas¡¯ voice as he brought me steamed potatoes instead of my usual afternoon snacks as I plowed through the mountain of incomprehensible documents with my potato stamp.

    ¡°nn¡­? Is there an issue with plan¡¯s progress?¡±

    ¡°Nothing of that sort. But they said that the Hero of Fire Minkichi has been defeated in battle.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ that¡¯s very early.¡±

    I¡¯d certainly ordered Noa to do that, but I¡¯d thought that it would take him longer than that.

    ¡°We did plant information that Minkichi and the Beastmen were in a conspiracy, but apparently Kyoji used that information to make it seem as if she had betrayed humanity.¡±

    ¡°Kyoji, huh.¡±

    Well, I think that¡¯s all for him.

    ¡°But weren¡¯t those three heroes the ones who were all accomplices in murdering the ex-Hero of Wind, Yuuki? Betraying an accomplice again like that has to be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It was quite a blitzkrieg, so I think they beat her down too quickly. Still, Minkichi seems to have escaped, but the Hero of Earth Kanzo has entered the battle and seems to be in pursuit.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Through Noa, I had given Kan-chan the potion to produce [Magic Gems].

    I thought that it would be interesting if Kyoji or Minkichi took advantage of the tumultuous battlefield, but Kan-chan seems to have taken this opportunity to legally kill Minkichi.

    That is, if that was a drug that really produced [Magic Gems]¡­¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s the battlefield situation?¡±

    ¡°The Beastmen army was somewhat destroyed by the combined forces of the Dark Elves and Kyoji, who are allied now. The general of the beastmen was killed, and their remaining forces have been absorbed into the Dark Elves¡¯. However, the betrayal of one of the heroes of mankind has sown confusion into the human forces, and now that Kanzo isn¡¯t there anymore, Kyoji has taken to the front.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess the hour is approaching?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be so.¡±

    Tina and Fannie popped up with the costume, stuffing their mouths with the remaining steamed potatoes.

    ¡°Milady, please.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Even though I call it a costume, it¡¯s really just a black wig that¡¯s long enough for it to touch and drag on the floor.

    ¡°Fannie, could you guide Minkichi and Kan-chan to that place? Tina, let Onzada-kun know.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°I hear and obey.¡±

    ¡°Well then, I guess it¡¯s time to start doing the work of a [Demon Lord]?¡±

    All of the Demons in [Paradise Lost] began to move at my word.

    Although nearly 3000 Demons had been going all out in their work, there were still more than a thousand [Greater Demons] here.

    After all, even the part-timers¡¯ wages weren¡¯t something to sneeze at, I couldn¡¯t have all of my regular full-timers work as much as I¡¯d like.

    ¡°Geas!¡±

    [GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!]

    In response to my magic power, Geas transformed from a human into his original [Demon Beast Behemoth] form. ¡­¡­¡­ That¡¯s a surprisingly huge reaction at being forced to transform again.

    Tina and Fannie opened the doors of [Paradise Lost], and over 1000 [Greater Demons] and the mountain-like [Behemoth] leapt into the battlefield of the human world again.

    ¡­¡­ after so long, I finally see the yellow sunlight again.

    * * *

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s the Demon Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±

    The battlefield was swept with fear and confusion when it appeared.

    The Hero of Fire had betrayed them and the Hero of Earth was absent.

    As if mocking their efforts to preserve the delicate balance, the Demon army rushed forth, and an enormous beast trampled over the battlefield.

    However, the people feared the lone girl on top of that mountainous beast more than either the thousands of Demons or even the gigantic beast itself.

    The Black Saint, who looked down upon them with a cold beauty from atop the head of the beast¡­¡­

    They were crushed by terror from the overpowering fear emanating from the true [Demon Lord].

    ¡°Do not be afraid! Yuru-chan has not yet fallen!¡±

    But there was the voice of a girl that echoed across the battlefield.

    Black of hair and eye. As the little girl named Mizuki called out, voices across the battlefield answered her call.

    ¡°Rescue our Saint!¡±

    ¡°Demon Lord, release the Saint!¡±

    The vast majority were all the sorliers and militiamen, but because of their sheer number, their momentum seemingly pushed the Demon Army away from them.

    Then, the deserters who were trying to run for their lives returned to march with them, leaving the command of their original armies.

    Of course, there were those who didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Who is that human!¡±

    Nefertia slammed down her cup of fruit liquor, watching the battle from the back of her riding dragon.

    It was all going so well.

    Conspiring with one of the human heroes, Kyoji, they had succeeded in assassinating each others¡¯ political opponents.

    She¡¯d even come to an agreement with Kyoji to continue a stable state of war after they defeated the Demon Lord.

    It was the [Hero] that would become redundant if the war disappeared, and because the royal Dark Elves would be in trouble with nothing to pillage, in a certain way, they could trust each other more than their allies.

    But if they couldn¡¯t defeat that [Demon Lord]it would all be for naught.

    For that reason, they had assembled their armies together on this side of the battlefield, not intending to use it at all until they were sure of victory.

    ¡°Kill that screaming girl on the battlefield. Do it now.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes!¡±

    Kyoji had the same idea as well.

    His purpose was different from Nefertia, but he saw Mizuki and her companions as a hindrance, and had tried having her assassinated multiple times, but all of his plans about her had been ruined by the attendants of the Saints.

    ¡°¡­¡­You obstruct my plans no matter where you are¡±

    When that obstructive [Saint] that he had hated for so long fell to evil, and became that [Demon Lord], it was out of his expectations, but he laughed from the bottom of his heart at the opportunity to be rid of her.

    However, even after that Saint became such a thing, she still hindered his plans.

    As he was about to rise to take action personally, one of Kyoji¡¯s subordinates came up to report.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°His Highness Fjord has come. There is something he wishes to directly tell you.¡±

    ¡°His Highness? Here?¡±

    Kyoji, who was kept his emotions well-schooled, asked.

    Some of the countries had their leaders personally taking the charge, but he highly doubted that Sail would let a 10-year-old boy who was first in line for the throne out here.

    Perhaps His Royal Highness who favored Lady Yurushia had suppressed the opposition from his surroundings and come, aided by his sister Bianca.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    The corners of Kyoji¡¯s mouth curled upwards, but the smile never reached his eyes.

    It was one of those plans that he never expected to come to fruition from the beginning, but if he played his cards right, it might be possible to be rid of that Mizuki girl, His Highness, and Yurushia together.

    Then he could get all of the wealth, fame, and status of this world, and push ahead with his plan.

    ¡°Then, accompany His Highness. Treat him with utmost courtesy.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Lord Kyoji!¡±

    And then, one of the soldiers rushed into the Kyoji¡¯s frontline tent.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Th-the Demon forces, they¡¯re attacking us all at once!¡±

    What had happened? How had it happened? As if ignoring the front-line soldiers, the Demons rushed straight for Kyoji¡¯s headquarters.

    Certainly, he had been told that they would hit his army, but, Kyoji had taken advantage of the information and used it to lay blame upon the beastman army, even labelling them as traitors.

    As if they had a grudge against Kyoji, when the soldiers heard that the attack was coming for them again, Kyoji¡¯s subordinates began to lose their composure.

    ¡°Kyoji!¡±

    ¡°Your Highness.¡±

    And as if by Murphy¡¯s Law, Fjord arrived.

    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s dangerous here. Please, retreat with me.¡±

    ¡°What is this talk! Lady Yurushia has been brainwashed by the enemy. Are you going to do nothing and run as a Hero?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­haah¡±

    Kyoji frowned slightly at His Highness¡¯ demands to save the fallen Black Saint, asking himself who had planted those words into the prince¡¯s head.

    ¡°If you say so, Your Highness. I heard you had a message for me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. It is a message from my sister. It says that the heroes are headed towards that place¡­¡­ that¡¯s all it said, so I wonder what it¡¯s about?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji fell silent at the unexpected contents of the letter.

    Bianca had a certain amount of knowledge as his accomplice in stealing from the country. But even then, he had never told her anything concrete about his plans, and Bianca¡¯s role in Kyoji¡¯s plan was merely as the necessary [Bloodline] for taking over Sail.

    How was she able to learn that information about the heroes going to [That Place] while she was back in the country?

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ When did you hear this message?¡±

    ¡°Eh? It was this morning beside the magic storm. My sister wanted to call me with the magic tool, but it seems that the surrounding magic was so chaotic that she couldn¡¯t make the call.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    He would have liked to be able to ask her directly, but as Fjord said, ever since the [Demon Lord] had appeared, a storm of magic power had surrounded the region, and the communications magics they used was almost unusable on the battlefield.

    It was highly doubtful, but if the two of them were really headed there, it would put all of Kyoji¡¯s plans in jeopardy.

    (¡­¡­ the time has come).

    Just like he betrayed his master back on Terra, Kyoji made the quick decision to throw humanity away, and corrected the plan in his head.

    The fame and status of being a hero was something that he sought, but from where he was now, that was a mere blip on the map.

    In any case, it was only going to be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by the Demon forces, and that result just wasn¡¯t interesting, plus it wasn¡¯t such a bad time, either.

    ¡°Well then, Your Highness. Could I have you persuade Lady Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course!¡±

    Kyoji then used the prince as a decoy and left the battlefield with a few subordinates.

    Their objective was the center of power for the forces of Darkness. The ancient castle in the middle of the giant cavern.

    As the three [Heroes] left the battlefield, the dark forces and humans who had been abandoned were pushed back by the Demon army and put into a spot of trouble.

    At this point, it was no longer the generals of the country who were supporting this decimated army, but the forces that were trying to save the Saint, centered around Mizuki and her companions, who were being gradually driven into a corner.

    Would the human armies be brought down by the hands of the Demons?

    However, before the end could come someone appeared to lead the armies to rescue them from this crisis. It was the twin Dark Elven princesses, who had been forgotten on this battlefield, and were the original occupying forces of this country.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The war is almost over now.

    Next time, the decisive battle between the [Hero] and the [Demon]¡­¡­ will begin?

    App¡¯s Notes:

    And so, everything is falling apart all at once for the heroes. The big showdown is on it¡¯s way!

    Side note: Sorry for being late tonight, I got caught up in de-janking my newest Mario Maker level (Took like 10 hours to get it where I wanted it)

    If any of you want to give it a shot, see what made this late, the level code is: 0JH-NMV-6GF

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    What will happen next on Yuru vs the world?!?!

 Volume 8 - CH 23

    Volume 8, Chapter 23: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 3

    ¡°Everyone, this isn¡¯t a time for us to fight each other.¡±

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s time to show those Demons the power of us all.¡±

    ¡°¡°Let¡¯s stand together and take on this threat to all of us!¡±¡±

    The voices of the little girls echoed out across the battlefield of despair.

    The soldiers of both the human nations and the forces of darkness stopped fleeing, and inspired by the beautiful girls and their dignity, began a counterattack.

    The millennia of prejudice was not easily dismissed. Yet, seeing these twin girls who looked no older than 5 fighting on this dangerous battlefield, the soldiers¡¯ hearts were lit with the ¡°thought¡± of a new era.

    Mankind would not lose to the Demon Lord or the Demons. In order to win their futures, the soldiers stood beside those they once called enemy, and confronted the common enemy of all together.

    ¡°¡­¡­ How did this happen?¡±

    Sefira stared out at this spectacle from the tents of the Allied Command.

    Far from their innate sense of superiority causing them to scorn each other, they joined hands to deal with this ¡°external enemy¡± called the [Demon Lord] and the [Demons], confronting them as one.

    It was, in a way, the ¡°peaceful world¡± that Sefira has been working towards.

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s different.¡±

    This was different from Sefira¡¯s goal of a [world where everyone was equal and kind].

    All this time¡­¡­ for the longest time, Sefira had tried to guide humanity. Having failed once, a long time ago, Sefira understood that she needed a certain ¡°something¡± absolute in order to lead the foolish human race into an eternal peace.

    It was supposed to have been within reach right now. That is¡­¡­

    ¡°I won¡¯t allow it to end this way¡­¡­¡±

    It was a play that was too good to be true.

    But at the same time, although it wasn¡¯t exactly her last card, Sefira had made contact with the Dark Elven Princess, Nefertia, and tried to get rid of the youngsters that the Saint had taken in. But then two young princesses suddenly appeared and censured her¡­¡­ and immediately after she seemed to have immediately pivoted her plans, the female knight in her entourage acted, and Nefertia lost her young life.

    Despite that¡­¡­ or rather, because of that, all of the forces of darkness had gathered under the twin princesses, and in a very real sense, they were now united with the human forces into one.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What happened?¡±

    Sefira felt as if she was being played for a fool by an enormous ¡°something¡±.

    As if everything had been ¡°foretold by a story¡±, the Demon Army was gradually being pushed back by the new combined forces.

    There was no [Hero] here on the battlefield who would have originally changed the tide of battle as expected by Sefira, and there were rumors and mysterious ¡°strange reports¡± that the Heroes had fled the battle.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And so, Sefira disappeared from the battlefield alone, quietly leaving without notifying anyone.

    She was headed to the one place where the heroes would gather to be guided.

    The final hope for Sefira¡¯s dreams ¡­¡­ [The Land of Origin].

    * * *

    ¡°Hey, how much further are you going to flee?¡±

    The hero of Earth, Kanzo, was following the traitorous hero of Flame, Minkichi, all the way into the caves of the mountain ranges that separated the human nations from the forces of darkness.

    Kanzo knew that Minkichi¡¯s betrayal had been the machinations of the Hero of Water, but Minkichi, who had been driven into a corner and could no longer pretend, had made her way here to get rid of the other two before they could pin the ¡°crimes¡± that they had all together committed in the past on her.

    But even as a Hero, Kanzo¡¯s party members were unable to complement her strengths as much as Minkichi¡¯s were, even as they pushed her here.

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, how about we split the party and pincer her here? I¡¯ve investigated the geography of this cave. If we do it right, pinning her should be possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Oh well.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why Minkichi went to that place in the middle of the forces of darkness, but it might be that there was some sort of weapon that was hidden by the forces of darkness there.

    Even in these labyrinthine caves that were so intricate that even the human forces could not invade this far, Minkichi¡¯s party had proceeded without hesitation, as if they were being guided.

    And then ¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, if you say so.¡±

    In the past, she had been the party adjutant who had only superficially obeyed her, but ever since they had gone to the dungeon with the Elder Lich and met that Saint, she had become incredibly capable, as if the ¡°person¡± inside had changed, and become loyal to Kanzo.

    It seems as if it would be good to favor them once this fight was over¡­¡­

    (¡­¡­ No, I can¡¯t. I already have Noa, so cheating is no good.)

    Kanzo shook her head for a moment to clear her thoughts and then accepted the proposal of her trustworthy lieutenant.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. I will definitely dispose of Minkichi.¡±

    ¡°Sir!.¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s party split in two and pursued Minkichi.

    It would normally be incredibly foolish for them to split the party in this intricate cave system, but for Kanzo, the Hero of Earth, the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] taught in Genble allowed hrr to sense where the location of her party was to some extent, even when separated.

    Although she didn¡¯t know where his adjutant had gotten this geographical information from, she moved to catch up to Minkichi¡¯s party.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wha!?¡±

    But the reactions of four people, including his adjutant, suddenly disappeared.

    For an instant, Kanzo suspected that Minkichi¡¯s party had beset them or that Demons in the caves had struck, but Kanzo¡¯s party members, including the adjutant, were all considerably well-known knights in Genble. It was impossible for them to simply disappear while moving without a fight.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go to where they were last seen.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Sir!¡±¡±¡±

    The three knights with her were slightly upset with Kanzo¡¯s decision, but they acquiesced.

    And a few minutes after they weaved their way into the caverns¡­¡­

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­¡±

    One of the young knights who had been with the lieutenant was lying there in a gruesome state.

    ¡°Only one¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°What happened to them¡­¡­? This is¡­¡±

    The dead knight had a frozen expression of fear on his face, and his chest cavity was hollow, as if his heart had been eaten.

    Were there any monsters that could kill knights like this? Or had they been attacked by Minkichi, and then disguised to look as if they had been attacked by monsters? Looking at it skeptically, there was no way that this corpse hadn¡¯t been laid here as bait for a trap.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move out now. We¡¯ll go check out where the lieutenant disappeared.¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±

    ¡­¡­ She hadn¡¯t noticed it yet.

    Irritation rushing through her, Kanzo ran through the cave system.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    And once again, she found the body of another knight.

    This one had managed to draw his sword, but there were no markings on the blade nor scuffing, and the knight¡¯s head had been bent back over itself.

    ¡°Arrgh, just what is happening?! Let¡¯s go on.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Then Kanzo and the knight arrived at the location where the adjutant had disappeared.

    ¡°¡­¡­What is the meaning of this¡±

    There was a knight¡¯s corpse there as well.

    That knight had been one of the old-timers in Kanzo¡¯s party. A strong knight that could have been her lieutenant if his noble house had been high enough.

    He had died with an expression of great fear, crying like a child. How in the world was this happening? What the hell was going on in this cave?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ why¡±

    Kanzo finally realized that she was alone.

    Kanzo pulled her magical greatsword from its scabbard and became wary of his surroundings.

    ¡°¡­¡­there!¡±

    And with a momentary flourish, Kanzo swung the massive blade like a twig, and shot out a shockwave towards the darkness of the cave.

    *SCHWINGGGGG¡­¡­*

    It didn¡¯t sound like the sound of something being killed. It wasn¡¯t the sound of a rock being cut, either.

    It wasn¡¯t the sound of contacting something hard like a sword or armor, but rather that something had ¡°gently¡± accepted it.

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    It meant that whatever it was he was facing, it was at least of the Hero class¡­¡­ Kanzo thought that it was worth it to see something that was in the realm of [Heroes] like herself, and pretended to anticipate the enemy¡¯s move while casting her own buffing and support spells on herself.

    ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Sir Hero.¡±

    Even though it sounded mostly emotionless, she could still hear the carefree tone in the voice.

    A girl who had blonde coronet hair, who wore a pure white apron dress over a jet black maid¡¯s outfit that was even darker than the pitch black of the darkness, suddenly appeared as if she had been out on a walk.

    ¡°¡­¡­ y-you are¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    It was the attendant of the Golden Saint. Yurushia¡¯s sole lady-in-waiting. Tina.

    They were acquainted with one another, and given what she¡¯d heard about the abilities of his friend¡¯s attendants, there was no way that she was meeting here by coincidence.

    ¡°What are you doing here even though Yuru is in such a grave situation¡­¡­?¡±

    Her mistress Yurushia, who was too pure as a Saint, had been swallowed by darkness, and had become the [Demon Lord] that was the natural enemy of all creatures.

    Was it because of the ¡°sin¡± of humanity for waging war without end like this¡­¡­

    It was unclear how it had happened, but both that evil presence and that cataclysmic power were truly worthy of the name of Demon Lord.

    Tina and the rest of the attendants ought to have been fighting on the battlefield to save their mistress.

    ¡°Yep, my mistress will be rescued by the hands of Lady Mizuki and Touka, with the help of the lovely pets the twins.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    It was a harsh statement, but Kanzo was far more disturbed by the distortion in her words.

    ¡°¡­¡­ And so, what are you doing?¡±

    Kanzo readied her greatsword and slowly moved to a more advantageous position for herself.

    A wide space where she could make full use of the greatsword. A place with things like soil or sand that would move more easily than rock¡­¡­ Even as she faced against Kanzo, who was being incredibly vigilant of her, Tina hadn¡¯t even budged or moved to put her hands out from the neutral curtsey that she maintained ever since she had appeared before them.

    ¡­¡­ no, it was strange.

    Kanzo was moving. But despite that, Tina, who hadn¡¯t even stirred was always facing Kanzo.

    ¡°What was I doing¡­¡­ that¡¯s right.¡±

    Tina tilted her head slightly as she heard Kanzo¡¯s question.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The time has come for Sir Kanzo¡¯s soul to be harvested.¡±

    The meaning of those words. Hearing Tina talk about him as if he were cherry tomatoes in the kitchen garden to be harvested, Kanzo unleashed the magic power that he had been storing up in a flash.

    ¡°As I expected, you were being possessed!¡±

    A single blow that borrowed from the power of the spirit of light. As the energy wave struck forth, Tina nimbly ducked away from it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ once again, small proves to be better.¡±

    If Tina had had Fannie-like chest armor, it might have grazed her.

    Even while Tina convinced herself of irrefutable fact, Kanzo, whose full-power blow had been readily dodged, gnashed her teeth, her lips pulling back.

    Kanzo thought that Tina had been tainted by that [Evil Power] just like Yurushia. She thought that those incomprehensible words she said was evidence of it.

    She was being possessed by a powerful [Evil], just like Yurushia had been turned into the [Demon Lord], so Tina was quite the threat, but she didn¡¯t think that she would lose.

    Those who were being possessed took a while to fall completely under the control of their possessor. For an existence like Yurushia, who was called a [Saint], corrupting her would threaten the world with despair, and it took more time to corrupt her, and this opened up a chance for them to save her.

    However, something was off.

    She thought that it was merely some sort of mistaken messaging because she was being forcibly controlled and not completely dominated, but Tina was saying that Yurushia was ¡°destined¡± to be rescued.

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, that¡¯s that. I¡¯m not going to bother saving you!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You don¡¯t understand.¡±

    As Kanzo wielded his sword and cast while shouting, Tina tilted her head to the side while she dodged.

    *BANG!*

    And Kanzo, who had been fighting as a hero for well over a decade, finally caught up to Tina, but Tina formed a fist of magic power and deflected the blow.

    ¡°You monster! As I expected you were the one who killed my companions!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The left hand that was used to block the sword was scorched by the power of the light, and Tina knitted her pretty eyebrows.

    Tina was surprised to find that she had been scratched, but Kanzo was even more surprised at the scratch.

    As a [Hero], Kanzo was capable of fighting and defeating powerful demons if his party supported him.

    There were also the blessings of the spirit of light. An environment that was favorable to human beings called the material world. The long history of humans fighting powerful enemies for many years. The strange combination of their techniques and combat technology. Their combined power was enough to fight on even ground against mighty, legendary-tier monsters like the [Evil Dragon], the [True Ancestor Vampire], the [Elder Lich], or the [Greater Demon].

    And Kanzo, who was alone, still had the benefit of her decade-odd experience as a hero, and the [Combat Skills]that formed the core of her [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts].

    Especially for [Combat Skills], which would allow one to automatically wield a sword and defend themselves and get optimal battle results.

    Even though other worlds didn¡¯t have [Skills], in this world, even if the enemy was legend-tier, Kanzo should have been able to compete.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Kanzo suddenly felt as if his sword had slowed.

    Tina had said [It¡¯s about time]. Did she do something? Was it like some sort of undetectable poison? Was she cursing him?

    *clash*!

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    Just like before, Tina was using her bare hands to receive the blow that was infused with the power of light.

    Even so, Kanzo couldn¡¯t control the power, and her hands burned, but Tina seemed to be mostly unfazed as she slightly knitted her eyebrows.

    ¡°It hurts. But, it will make this by far all the sweeter.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡­¡±

    Certainly her physical capability had been altered, but even so, there shouldn¡¯t have been any way that a mere possessed human could have caught her sword with their bare hands.

    ¡°How does it feel? To be unable to use what you previously could?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    It was an ambiguous line that showed that she had seen through his situation.

    ¡°Uohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Kanzo desperately swung his sword and tried to use her [Sword Skill], attempting to use her [Sword Technique], but it didn¡¯t activate.

    Even as Kanzo continued her desperate struggle, Tina, who had been completely emotionless up until this point, smiled, the edges of her smile reaching up inhumanly to her ears.

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, you thought I was being possessed, didn¡¯t you? It¡¯s a secret¡­¡­ but¡­ I¡¯ve always been a Demon, yaknow?¡±

    Tina¡¯s coronet hair turned into hundreds of golden serpents, and as Kanzo looked up at her face at the rapid transformation, an earth-shaking magic power and a miasma so thick that it would rot the very earth erupted.

    ¡°Hiee!¡±

    If it had been a normal [Arch Demon], Kanzo might have been able to cope.

    But his opponent Tina was one of the greatest [Arch Demons] who had been personally remodeled by a Devil.

    Her greatsword crumbled in her hand, and Kanzo, facing the miasma that far exceeded that of a normal [Arch Demon], was torn apart, unable to even scream as she crashed into the darkness at the bottom of the cave.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, The Evil Nightmare Clown attacks the pitiful Hero of Flame!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    And so, the attendant channel Queen for their Queen today. Another one bites the dust.

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    Oh Yes!!

 Volume 8 - CH 24

    Volume 8, Chapter 24: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 4

    As the hero of earth, Kanzo, was being held by the Demon, the other hero Minkichi was being pursued by a ¡°Nightmare¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    Her party members stopped as she muttered.

    ¡°Minkichi-sama, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡­ Fia.¡±

    Minkichi called out to the female knight that looked like a sumo wrestler as she slapped her own flabby belly.

    Minkichi¡¯s external appearance was¡­¡­ well, her hair and skin were dirty, her usual behavior was enough to make someone frown, and she was even a craven who wouldn¡¯t bat an eyelid doing terrible things, but only as a [Hero], she had surpassed the others in ability.

    The other party members who had been scouted by Minkichi all shared her sympathies, which helped her to feel comfortable about being unpopular with the opposite sex. They trusted in Miyukichi¡¯s senses and began to warily observe the dark corners of the cave.

    Minkichi¡¯s current party only numbered 4 women.

    A musclehead that applied so much perfume to mask her orc-like body odor, Chi-chan.

    The sumo-sized one who could hide an entire roast and a wheel of cheese on herself, Fia-tan.

    The skeletal one with sunken eyes, Rena-chan.

    The one who looked normal at first glance but was actually a massive pervert that liked molesting young boys, Miss Coco.

    Of course, these weren¡¯t their real names, but the nicknames Minkichi had given them.

    Minkichi had personally trained these four [Hero Class] people, along with some other companions, but those that could not survive the chaotic battlefield that they had passed through had not been brought along.

    And, despite their dishonorable behavior, both their skills and combat ability as a party was higher than that of Kanzo¡¯s and Kyoji¡¯s.

    Thanks to Kyoji¡¯s ploy ¨C or rather, since she actually had tried to kill Kyoji and Nefertia by colluding with the beastmen army, it wasn¡¯t entirely untrue ¨C she had been branded a traitor to humanity and was being pursued.

    If she had been given the chance to explain herself, there would have been many people defending her because of the fact that she had been doing the dirty work for many nobles and royals from other nations.

    Minkichi had no intention of divulging her past sins without being pressed into a corner, but her accomplice, Kanzo, who feared being tarnished by the same brush had pursued Minkichi to silence her.

    ¡°Gyeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!¡±

    Suddenly, someone screamed, and the members of the party all turned to look at her, leaping back in shock.

    ¡°Chi-chan!?¡±

    The muscle-headed knight looked confused and afraid, the heavy greataxe in her hands began to shake violently as she gripped it tighter.

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing, oooff!¡±

    ¡°Rena-chan¡±, who had impatiently approached her, was struck by the wild swing of the axe that lashed out as she had gotten closer.

    ¡°Rena-chan!¡±

    ¡°Bleugh¡±

    Thanks to either her armor, or maybe the fact that she too was ¡°hero-class¡±, she hadn¡¯t suffered too serious an injury, but she was still unable to stand.

    ¡°Damn it! Coco, we¡¯ll suppress her!¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, I understand.¡±

    At Minkichi¡¯s instruction, ¡°Miss Coco¡± approached the front of ¡°Chi-chan¡±.

    In reality, they needed the magician ¡°Rena-chan¡± to help deal with her deranged vanguard, but she was in no condition to move.

    In the party, the only person with recovery magic was Minkichi, who could use the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] to cast recovery magic, but with ¡°Fia-tan¡± acting aggressively and taking such a huge berth in the cave, ¡°Rena-chin¡± was taking potions to heal up.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, Chi-chan!¡±

    ¡°You monster! Dieeeeeeee!!!¡±

    ¡°Minkichi-sama!¡±

    ¡°Miss Coco¡±, who was the party tank, took a heavy blow from the greataxe.

    ¡°ugh¡±

    This time, the wild swing didn¡¯t find its mark, but ¡°Miss Coco¡± grimaced at the brutal blow filled with killing intent.

    ¡°Chi-chan¡­¡­ come back to us¡±

    ¡°KYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!¡±

    ¡°¡°!?¡±¡°

    Suddenly, an explosion of fire and a scream resounded from behind them.

    While they had kept their eyes on ¡°Chi-chan¡± in front of them, ¡°Rena-chin¡± had crawled over and then trampled down on ¡°Fia-tan¡±.

    ¡°GYAHHHHHHHHH!HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    Frothing at the mouth with blood and staring with bloodshot eyes, ¡°Fia-tan¡± seemed unable to move at all after taking a blow from that fire magic.

    ¡°Wh-what is that!?¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s mental state was shaken by this situation.

    If this had been someone else, Minkichi would have been overwhelmed by the power of the hero, and thrown down without caring about her opponent¡¯s life. But everyone here was Minkichi¡¯s ¡°friend¡±, or even her only family, the only people who she could be patient with.

    How could she do something so terrible to her own friends?

    ¡°DIEDIEDIEDIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!¡±

    ¡°GGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!¡±

    If seems that her comrades who had lost their sanity now saw each other as their ¡°enemies¡±, and began to murder each other with the full power of their [Hero-class] strength.

    ¡°Stop¡­¡­ stop iiiit!!!!¡±

    ¡°M-Minkichi-sama, I will stop those two. The cause of this¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Coco-san.¡±

    That ¡°unpleasantness¡± that she had felt at first¡­¡­ she didn¡¯t know if this was the reason why things were doing the way they were now, but she had no choice but the move upon the assumption that it was. Thus, she would go off to deliver the iron hammer of justice after overcoming this trap.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Minkichi felt the presence of [Evil] as a [Hero].

    ¡°¡­¡­There!¡±

    Turning all of her accumulated magic power into fire, she shot it forth with full power.

    As a person who was formerly from the modern era, she should well have known about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from using so much flame in a cave, but Minkichi¡¯s anger at having her comrades hurt blew all of her concerns away.

    SWOOOOOOOSH, the flame burned brightly up the passage.

    Whether it was a normal magic beast, or some sort of monster, the magic flames would devour them. The only thing that could possibly defend against it was the ¡°hero of the earth¡±, but that¡¯s because Kanzo is a [Hero] as well. There was no way that he could have been giving off this evil presence.

    ¡°!¡±

    In those hellfire-like flames, a shadow slowly moved towards her, one step at a time.

    ¡°Wh-what¡­¡­¡±

    Coming out of the flame, It wore a unscarred [Clown¡¯s] mask, even though its dress had been burned and their entire body was coated with the flames.

    As the harlequin swung its arm, the burning dress disappeared, and she saw a glimpse of white arm for a moment, before a brand new black and white apron dress covered her.

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-you!¡±

    ¡°Heyo~¡±

    She was wearing a strange mask, but that excellently-made, old-fashioned dress and that white hair could not have been anyone else but the attendant of that hateful saint that Minkichi had previously fought.

    ¡°You brat¡­¡­ you were the one who did this horrible thing!?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why the attendant of a saint would have such a malevolent presence and do such inhumane things, but thought that it might have been the influence of that little girl who had been taken in by evil and turned into the [Demon Lord].

    ¡°¡­¡­Horrible?¡±

    Fannie, the attendant maid wearing a harlequin¡¯s mask, tilted her head to the side cutely as if she didn¡¯t understand what was being said.

    ¡°Stop playing dumb! You¡¯re clearly the one who deprived them of their sanity, you brat!¡±

    ¡°Aah~¡±

    As she was spoken to, Fannie clapped her hands together with a *poff*, and the clown mask twisted into a rictus grin as if it were her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny!!!!¡±

    ¡°Well, you know¡­¡­ You¡¯re the hero of flame, who takes advantage of others¡¯ human weakness, treats the young knights and their handmaiden lovers as slaves, right? That still hasn¡¯t changed?¡±

    ¡°Y-you brat¡­¡­¡­¡±

    To Minkichi, Fannie looked nothing like a ¡°human¡± right now, but more like a fundamentally different existence, and she instinctively took a step back.

    Was this maid always like this¡­¡­? Although she hadn¡¯t been serious before, Minkichi understood that this maid was capable of going head to head with them. But when she was with that Yurushia, or rather, the [Saint], the atmosphere was a lot more laid-back.

    ¡°¡­¡­You are,¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it fine to do whatever you wish? Then again, it seems we¡¯re running out of time.¡±

    ¡°Minkichi-sama!¡±

    Minkichi heard the voice of ¡°Miss Coco¡± screaming.

    ¡°Miss Coco!¡±

    It seemed that in the meantime, ¡°Miss Coco,¡± who was supposed to be stopping the two members who had gone mad, had been simultaneously attacked by both and put into a bad position.

    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    In an instant. Even while she turned towards her companions for those few seconds, she could hear the maid¡¯s voice breathing at her ear.

    ¡°You c***!¡±

    Minkichi boosted her body with physical strengthening, slamming her flamberge towards the clown masked girl.

    ¡°Stop that~¡±

    Fannie evaded the blade by centimeters even as it was being swung from right in front of her.

    At the same time, she felt it graze the frills of her dress apron, probably because of her ¡°chest armor¡± that wasn¡¯t quite in line with a twelve-year old¡¯s.

    ¡°There!!¡±

    ¡°Hmm~, no.¡±

    As Minkichi tried to get her with the backswing from where she¡¯d avoided the blade, magic power struck her, ruining her attempt.

    Since she wasn¡¯t being directly struck, Minkichi wasn¡¯t taking damage either.

    It might be that she was wary of Minkichi¡¯s offensive power as a hero, but in the current situation, all it was was frustrating and embarrassing.

    ¡°Minkichi-Samaaaaaaaaaaaa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Miss Cocoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!¡±

    It seems that the greataxe wielded by ¡°Chi-chan¡± finally broke through the shield, and ¡°Rena-chin¡± burned through it with fire magic, taking down ¡°Miss Coco¡±.

    If Minkichi hurried over to heal her, there might still have been a chance of resuscitation. But Fannie wouldn¡¯t allow that.

    The two mad women began to attack each other again.

    ¡°Get out of my wayyyyyyyy! Get out of my waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    The truth is that Fannie always smiles and looks as if she¡¯s enjoying herself, but internally, all of her thoughts raged darkly.

    This world¡­¡­ even though she was being commanded by her most beloved of all the worlds, most respected of all, her Mother, her Creator, the Sun of her being, her [Mistress], she had still been drawn to those human beings called Heroes for a long time.

    They surely must be tormented and their souls taken away. So Fannie had determined.

    ¡°Ubohhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    ¡°Guh!?¡±

    Something impacted Minkichi strongly on the back even as something shouted behind her.

    ¡°F-Fia-tan¡­¡­¡±

    It was ¡°Fia-tan¡± who ought to have been taken down by the flame magic of ¡°Rena-chin¡±.

    She was cruelly burned all over, but still, she snarled and attacked Minkichi with her battered body, her eyes flashing dangerously like a drug addict¡¯s.

    ¡°Fia-tan¡± usually used the martial arts of the ¡°sumo-wrestlers¡±, making use of her immense girth, but Minkichi, thanks to her bodily fat, had [Impact Nullification], her body was still immobilized by the incoming impact that exceeded the threshold of her resistance.

    ¡°Stop it, Fia-tan, come back to reality!¡±

    ¡°Ubooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!¡±

    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!¡±

    At the same time, the balance of power finally collapsed, and Chi-chan¡¯s greataxe cut ¡°Rena-chin¡± from shoulder to heart.

    ¡°RENA-CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s scream of grief at the loss of another friend drew the attention of her killer, ¡°Chi-chan¡±,

    ¡°Stop, STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPP!!¡±

    Minkichi was forced onto the defensive by the combined offense of the two hero-class fighters. But even under such circumstances, Minkichi was able to seize the gap in their offense and strike them down.

    Yet, she was unable to lift her hand against her own comrades, even though they were being manipulated.

    Fannie, the manipulator, was watching Minkichi from a distance, laughing as though she was declaring that dealing with Minkichi didn¡¯t require her to get her hands dirty.

    Actually, Fannie wasn¡¯t able to completely control the so-called [Hero class] people, so was instead showing them a nightmare, where she too would be getting attacked if she got closer.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s about time?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-!?¡±

    It happened suddenly.

    Until now, Minkichi had only been wary of the greataxe attacks, and the attacks by the martial arts that would hit vital points that weren¡¯t covered by [Impact Nullification], but the strikes suddenly began to hurt.

    And not only was that happening, but the [Automatic Skills] like [Evasion] and [Parry] weren¡¯t working well. Minkichi, who was used to [Skill Combat], was still able to move, but found herself unable to even defend, much less attack.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go~¡±

    And as she said that, Fannie used the [Lava Summon] that she¡¯d used in her first battle against her.

    There was no way that anyone could survive it in this narrow cave if they were human, but Fannie didn¡¯t have to worry about it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even while she was being attacked by her friends, Minkichi stopped moving as the heat of the lava approached her feet.

    As it was, she was surely going to die by her comrades¡¯ hands. So¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Fire Storm!!!¡±

    So Minkichi gave up her mercy. It wasn¡¯t about survival, but about her giving up the odds of surviving with her companions.

    For some reason, it took longer for her to use, as she¡¯d lost access to her [Magic Skills], but Minkichi drowned her former comrades with the high-ranking flame magic.

    ¡°Absolutely¡­¡­ I will absolutely kill you!!!!¡±

    *

    In that dark cave, there was a human figure that walked as if every step were their last.

    To be honest, it resembled crawling much more than walking.

    Its body had been torn to pieces, and the combined blood loss and magic loss now meant that it was moving only by survival instinct.

    ¡°¡­¡­Magic Jewels¡­¡­ my magic jewels¡­¡­¡±

    At the same time, what was in her head was the image of herself adorned with beautiful [Magic Jewels] that made her the envy of all who saw her.

    ¡°Come on already¡­¡­ my magic jewels¡­¡­¡±

    Even as she dragged himself forward in a daze, she noticed a figure that was in an even worse state than she was, covered in deep burns all over, crawling down one of the passageways.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Min¡­ kichi¡­?¡±

    It was the hero of flame, Minkichi, who had killed her irreplaceable companions who she should have trusted just to survive.

    She had been kidnapped into this world, and indulged herself to conceal all of her anxiety, and now she had lost everything she had gained.

    Still, she feared to die. Collapsing into a sitting position, she burned her life force to generate [Pure Magic] to heal her own wounds. There¡­¡­

    ¡°Gurhhk! sssu¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s heart was stabbed through by Kanzo creeping up on her with a knife.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ka-¡­ Kanzo¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ Yes! I finally found it!¡±

    Kanzo and Minkichi had been getting along like oil and water ever since they had met.

    Still, she had been a hero who was the hope of humanity, and because they were both in the position of being accomplices to each others¡¯ crimes, she had never aimed at the other¡¯s life directly.

    But now, Kanzo rapturously took away Minkichi¡¯s life.

    ¡°Now, please die¡­¡­ For me!¡±

    ¡°Kanzo¡­¡­ why, me¡­¡±

    As the words [So this is how it ends] left Minkichi¡¯s lips with her final breath, Kanzo twisted the blade, and as the light faded from her eyes, her pure magic flowed into Kanzo.

    ¡°Ahhhhh, this is it!¡±

    Kanzo had taken a potion from Noa, Yurushia¡¯s butler.

    After drinking it, she didn¡¯t need to threaten the other heroes to extract their magic power, instead becoming able to turn a [Hero¡¯s] life force into pure magic power for the creation of [Magic Jewels].

    Under the effects of the potion, the pure magic power flowed from Minkichi, and was absorbed by Kanzo, only to flow back into Minkichi¡¯s corpse again, infused with the potion¡¯s power.

    Now Minkichi¡¯s body would produce the pinnacle of [Magic Jewels] just like how monsters would produce magic stones.

    ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡­ it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here !!!!¡±

    And so, on the surface of Minkichi¡¯s corpse was an egg-sized [Magic Jewel].

    It had an iridescent beauty¡­¡­ Both in its size and the strength of the magic, it surpassed any [Magic Jewel] she had seen thus far, clearly a gem worthy to be a national treasure.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-why?¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s face turned from joy to annoyance.

    The growth wasn¡¯t stopping. Despite all of the pure magic from Minkichi being converted into the gem, the magic flowing from Kanzo didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Wait, stop¡­¡­ STOP!¡±

    Kanzo tried to grab onto the [Magic Jewel] in a bid to stop it, but she was repelled by the strong magic, unable to even touch it. Kanzo would have been able to touch it if she squeezed pure magic out of himself, but since it was flowing out of her already, she was helpless.

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    As the life drained from Kanzo¡¯s skin, her muscular body withered, becoming thin.

    ¡°Oh my, you finally got the [Magic Jewel]. My congratulations.¡±

    Kanzo looked up toward the voice and saw the boy who primly wore his finely-made butler clothes looking back at her, smiling softly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Noa¡­¡±

    Without even wondering why the boy was here, Kanzo stretched out her withered, twig-like hand towards the boy.

    ¡°Ple¡­ase¡­¡­help me¡­¡­ Noa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t, Sir Kanzo. This is all accordingly to the wishes of ¡°my master¡±.¡±

    And at those words, the scales finally fell from Kanzo¡¯s eyes. In Kanzo¡¯s hazy sight, there was the figure of a man, standing behind Noa.

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    It was Kanzo¡¯s deputy. The one who had completely turned over a new leaf, who had become Kanzo¡¯s capable deputy, was looking at him with a rictus grin that wasn¡¯t quite human, like Tina.

    ¡°Ah, he¡¯s also one of Milady¡¯s more capable contracted servants.¡±

    And then she finally noticed.

    The true identity of the maid, Tina, that had fought them.

    If their master, Yurushia, was also the same, then her deputy¡­¡­ and the boy in front of him were¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­[Demons]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, how very observant of you.¡±

    Leaving only that, the hero of earth Kanzo expired from despair.

    Noa recovered the black souls and the magic jewels that was dyed in the despair of the two people, and, grinning sweetly to himself, he hurried back towards his beloved lady.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This one was a little long. The Demons appear quite a bit.

    Nea is protecting the children outside.

    Next time, Saint vs. Hero!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Well, that got pretty brutal, no joke.

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    This chapter is way way wwaaaay too long.

 Volume 8 - CH 25

    Volume 8, Chapter 25: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 1

    Let¡¯s rewind the clock to a little bit before the Demon attendants started fighting with the [Heroes].

    Kyoji, the hero of water, arrived at the great cavern that was the stronghold of the forces of darkness with about 10 people in tow.

    ¡°Do you spot any enemies?¡±

    ¡°Yes. According to our intel, since the army and all of the mercenaries in this area have been recruited by Nefertia¡¯s army, it seems that only patrolling guards remain.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all we have, huh. Well, then we¡¯ll proceed. Leave no eyewitnesses, whether soldiers, civilians, or even livestock.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    No matter how much of a hero he was, there was no way he could have fought an entire army here.

    Besides, the dark elves and the beastmen were stronger than human soldiers, even as civilians, so they had to be killed before they had the chance to assemble.

    Even the livestock were being killed since many of the animals here were monsters, and if they left behind an intelligent monster that opposed them, they could potentially manipulate the animals into even more troublesome enemies than soldiers.

    Kyoji himself had chosen to abandon humanity, but the members that he had brought along with him were the only subordinates who knew of his ambition to conquer the world, including the country of Sail, which Kyoji called the ¡®New World¡¯ he would create.

    Kyoji, who understood that he was inferior to the hero of flame, trained up ten of his subordinates to [hero-class].

    However, because they were ¡°cultivated¡±, and because they had only raised their combat capability and not yet honed their abilities in real battle, they needed to commanded directly by Kyoji.

    Kyoji and his men hid their identities under cloaks that they pilfered from someone¡¯s home, and proceeded along, killing all of the soldiers and residents whom they encountered.

    Their objective was the town center of the giant cavern. The ancient castle that had been built by the [First Hero]who had consolidated the forces of darkness a long time ago.

    There was something there that Kyoji was aiming for,

    It was said that the person who obtained it would be the king of the forces of darkness, and because the dark elves and beastmen were restraining each other from it, it was something like a neutral zone. With tens of thousands of inhabitants in the city, Kyoji and the others tried to blend in to infiltrate the castle.

    ¡°Is there no one in charge?¡±

    ¡°According to the residents here, this was is ¡°holy ground¡±, and it seems that they were afraid to enter at all, much less manage it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just the ¡°grave¡± of a fool¡­¡­¡±

    That existence called the First Hero was an Earthling just like Kyoji, who had brought together the disparate tribes together and tried to instill in them a culture with the ideas of freedom and equality ¡­¡­ but failed.

    He hadn¡¯t been summoned here as a hero, but like Kyoji, he seemed to be a castaway that had accidentally drifted here and become a hero.

    Although it was quite a long time ago, from the thoughts that he expressed, and what he¡¯d left behind, it was highly possible that he was a ¡°modern person¡± who had jumped across not just space but time to arrive here.

    Kyoji scorned his thoughts and what that man had left behind.

    ¡°It¡¯s foolish to teach anything to hungry beasts who have no culture. First you suppress them with power, then only after you are ruler, do you get to speak.¡±

    Still, with what that man had left behind¡­¡­ Kyoji¡¯s ambition, his ¡°true purpose¡± could be achieved.

    Because of that, he had made a believer outside of his own circles in Sefira, and investigated the [First Hero].

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s rush in. Split the troops into two groups of five, you¡¯re all knights after all, All of you are my sword and shield, and you must remember to cover for each other.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    Kyoji wrenched open the door and intruded into the castle.

    It seemed that Sefira wasn¡¯t able to obtain detailed information about what was inside, but as a castle that had to be livable, it couldn¡¯t be too-maze-like a structure.

    Even so, Kyoji and the others cautiously advanced forward, especially since there were no obvious security devices or magical traps.

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s beautiful.¡±

    ¡°I agree. It¡¯s quite the aesthetically wonderful decor¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s Spotless, though, for something that¡¯s over a thousand years old.¡±

    According to Sefira¡¯s report, the royal families of the Dark Elves and the Beastmen invaded this castle a few months ago, but he didn¡¯t think that they would have cleaned it. It was also possible that purification magic had been cast upon it¡­¡­

    ¡°Was someone else here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uwahhhhhhhhhh!!?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    The half who had been advancing ahead suddenly disappeared, seemingly swallowed up by the floor that had abruptly opened. As Kyoji rushed forward in a hurry to check, the hole in the floor had closed entirely before he had the chance to even look in, and whatever seam it had opened from was no longer visible.

    ¡°Kyoji-sama, let¡¯s break the floor!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we sho-¡­¡­ no, wait. Everyone else back down, let a person with high attack power try first.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Among his remaining men, the largest knight raised his two-handed mithril axe.

    ¡°Huuuuuuuuup!¡±

    *TINK!* The knight swung down the axe from an overhead stance with a shout, but the floor was barely scratched.

    His attack power was very close to that of a hero¡¯s, so even if Kyoji tried, there wouldn¡¯t have been much difference.

    ¡°¡­¡­Let¡¯s move on. If what we desire is underground, we may still meet with them yet.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­Yes, sir.¡±¡±¡±

    *

    ¡°¡­¡­Where is this place?¡±

    ¡°If everyone is safe, someone light a lamp.¡±

    ¡°Two of us are slightly injured¡­¡­ but we should be able to fight still.¡±

    The five of them had fallen down a pitfall into an ancient stone passage.

    From their reckoning, they had fallen quite the distance, but since all of them were [hero-class], they had managed to only suffer minor injuries. One of their members was capable of using water-based recovery magic, so this was no issue.

    ¡°Can we head back up?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, it¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s no means to go so high.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go ahead. Our first order of business is to find stairs leading back up and rejoin Lord Kyoji.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    At the squad leader¡¯s words, the knights all picked up their weapons and lifted their spirits.

    They could be called existences that were synchronized by Kyoji, young warriors whose skills were inferior to the squad that they had left behind, but they had a strong camaraderie, and were great at coordinating with one another.

    ¡°Hold on¡­¡­ something¡¯s coming.¡±

    As one of them called out a warning, all of them stopped in unison, and the knight wielding the shield stood at the fore.

    Waiting a while, they heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching them from the front.

    ¡°It¡¯s not Lord Kyoji. Open with magic.¡±

    ¡°Step back.¡±

    A slender-looking knight stepped out from the back, and shot several Ice Javelins, a mid-tier water magic, down the passage.

    ¡°¡­¡­Did you get it?¡±

    However, no screams or sound came from the depths of the passage. On the contrary, the heavy footfalls continued to approach as if nothing had happened.

    [Gau!]

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­Hah?¡±¡±¡±

    The knights gaped at the adorable teddy bear that raised one arm to wave at them joyfully in greeting as it approached them.

    ¡°Wh-what is this?¡±

    The shield knight pointed at the plushie even as nervous sweat beads rolled down his face. But the commander of the squad rushed forward to stop the knight in front who was about to approach it.

    ¡°Oi.¡±

    ¡°What, are you scared of something like this¡±

    The shield knight looked back as he paused his footsteps and words.

    And then he slowly fell down, half of him entirely missing as if it had been cleanly cut out.

    [Gau.]

    The mouth of the plushie that spoke again was blood-splattered, and they could hear the sound of something stiff and hard being crushed.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It ate¡­¡­ him?¡±

    ¡°This, this thiiiiiiiiiiiiing!¡±

    The magic-wielding knight cast Ice Javelin again. But the attack was sucked into the mouth of the plushie that suddenly grew to envelop it, and it crushed the ice javelin with crunching sounds.

    ¡°Everyone, on alert! It¡¯s a [Greater Demon] class demon at least!¡±

    ¡°How dare you!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take it!¡±

    One of them had been defeated by the stealthy attack, but there were still four warriors of the [hero-class] here.

    For a battle between a [Greater Demon] and one of the [Hero class], the advantage lay with the [Hero class]unless something completely unthinkable happened.

    Even if the demon in front of them was stronger than that, they thought that they wouldn¡¯t lose as long as they fought together.

    But they forgot¡­¡­ That there had been ¡°multiple¡± heavy footfalls.

    [GuoooooooooooooHHHHHHHH!]

    And in the next instant, the stuffed toy roared at them as dozens of [Greater Demons] rushed in from the darkness and attacked the four of them.

    [Gau].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It got longer than I thought it would, so I split it into two parts.

    I didn¡¯t manage to get to Yuru still.

    Next time, the second half! Kyoji¡¯s battle!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    I¡¯m so sorry for being late this week, I¡¯ve been at work for 15 hours a day for the past 6 days and only today got a couple hours of free time to do this.

    Is it strange that for this scene, I couldn¡¯t get the Danganronpa bear out of my head for imagining him?

 Volume 8 - CH 26

    Volume 8, Chapter 26: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 2

    ¡°This is ¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji advanced carefully with the remaining half of his forces, and a few hours later they found something that resembled an altar behind the steps that lead down into the basement.

    Just looking at it, Kyoji could tell that this altar would only respond to the pure magic power of the [Hero]. He didn¡¯t know if he could get at it, and it was certainly not in the range of things that he sought out.

    ¡°Still, I have no choice but to try. Everyone, back up.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems to only react to a Hero.¡±

    As Kyoji had everyone else step back and squeezed out [Pure Magic] from his soul into the altar, the altar began to glow brightly, and letters began to form on the walls.

    ¡°¡°¡°Oohhhhhhhhhhhh!!¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­ the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]?¡±

    The [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], left by the first hero. Kyoji¡¯s shoulders drooped a little, even though knowing secrets of all of the other heroes¡¯ military power was cause for celebration.

    ¡°Lord Kyoji, there¡¯s a small passageway through here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡±

    Hearing his subordinates call out, Kyoji rushed forth.

    The passageway that his subordinate had found was a really cramped and dark passage, and even though it wasn¡¯t quite clear, it seemed like monolith-like objects continued down the corridor on its sides.

    ¡°We¡¯re going in. Everyone, line formation. Jared, take point.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The oldest of the senior knights stood in front with his shield out.

    Only Jared had been with Kyoji from the very beginning when he came to this world, and he was the only one amongst them who had become [Hero-class] through tempering in battle, and not through artificial growth. Kyoji trusted Jared the most.

    They walked down the dark passage in a line.

    Nothing seemed to happen, but when Kyoji, who was in the rear, walked past it, the stone plates lit up.

    ¡°Is this also a secret art?¡±

    ¡°It looks like it¡­¡­ but it¡¯s not meant for battle. And it¡¯s from an older language than the writing in the last room, so I can¡¯t quite tell. ¡°

    When Kyoji had been summoned to this world, he had acquired the [Common Language Skill], but the characters on this stone board were old, and it would take a long time to read even if he had the skills to.

    ¡°We¡¯ll decipher it later. Let¡¯s advance.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±¡±

    Things were going well. What he sought was ahead. But,

    ¡°guh¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think we can advance any further¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems like there¡¯s a barrier for you all. I will go on alone here. The rest of you, return to the front hall and secure the perimeter.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I apologize.¡±

    Jared bowed his head again, but Kyoji waved him off and walked all the way to the back of the passage alone.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­¡­ This is the contract for skills?¡±

    At the very end of the passage was an enormous stone monolith.

    It seemed that the castle itself was a magic circle to concentrate and absorb magic from the surroundings, and the small letters that had been carved deep into the enormous stone plate glowed with a pulse.

    It was an ancient contract made by the great mages with the Great Spirits for their lives, to give people the use of skills.

    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡­ heheHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHEHEUEHUEAHAHA!! I can use any skill as I like with this. I can give and take as I wish! With this power, I can become the prophesized god of the new world!¡±

    Kyoji, who usually kept his calm, was unable to suppress his excitement as he touched the stone stele.

    While the fine print of the spirit language was unreadable to Kyoji, but Sefira had told him that he could control this contract by pouring his own magic into it and then ¡°overwriting¡± the contractor.

    ¡°Kuuuh¡­¡­¡±

    However, no matter how much magic he poured in, the overwriting didn¡¯t end.

    It wasn¡¯t something that he could do in a day, and in fact it would take months at the least.

    ¡°What, this is¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji tried to break contact, but his hand could not be removed from the stone board. And in fact, even if Kyoji tried to stop the flow of magic power, it was being forcibly ripped from him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare take me lightly!!!¡±

    Kyoji rapidly calculated a counterplan and drew out [Pure Magic] from his soul. Although it was forced, he thought that the use of the pure magic power would rip out some of the control of this stone tablet.

    ¡°HYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your efforts~¡±

    When the voice of the young girl suddenly cut in, the stone stele suddenly stopped absorbing his power, and Kyoji, whose hand was freed, jerked backwards, falling onto his butt.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Oh my, it¡¯s been a while, Keiji.¡±

    She suddenly appeared there ¨C the golden Saint, Yurushia, who was supposed to have been taken over by evil and turned into the [Demon Lord].

    Something was wrong. It felt different from before. Kyoji¡¯s eyebrows knitted even while he was surprised at her casual neighborly attitude.

    ¡°How are you here¡­¡­ no, how did you get rid of the curse of the [Demon Lord]?¡±

    Kyoji¡¯s senses as a [Hero] caused him to recognize the existence of the [Demon Lord] or some other equivalent ¡°evil¡±.

    It was insane to try to even save the vessel from that existence.

    That was why Kyoji had started to work on his own purposes and abandoned humanity, who dreamed to rescuing Yurushia.

    Was that really Yurushia before him? Her black hair had returned to its original beautiful golden blonde, but that didn¡¯t mean that it was real. As Kyoji doubted, Yurushia smiled beautifully and knowingly¡­¡­ a smile that seemed a little pleased with herself.

    ¡°Of course, I had everyone¡¯s help. Aah, yes, there was some ¡°Traitor¡± who had run away early from the [Demon Lord] earlier than anyone, but Mizuki¡¯s squad has become the new [Heroes], and there were the two Dark Elven Princesses who helped them, and it seems that they¡¯ve both calmed down too. The Demon Lord is gone, and I think they¡¯ve signed a ceasefire agreement too?¡±

    It was like he was being rejected from a job interview. Yurushia giggled along, and then laughed, as Kyoji watched on bug-eyed.

    In the outside world, Kyoji was being called a traitor who had fled from the Demon Lord, and in that new, peaceful world, where the warrior heroes were no longer needed, new heroes were born.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ is that so?¡±

    But Kyoji had all the time in the world to be able to mock himself over his own failure.

    In order to get rid of everything and attain everything in this world, he had asked for this [Skill Contract] without gathering sufficient information about it.

    Various things were in motion, and as long as this suspicious girl died, it could all go well.

    Up until this point, Kyoji was unable to do so thanks to the bindings of his own social position, and all of those annoyingly powerful Hero-class attendants of hers were supporting her.

    It was unexpected that Yurushia could come to this place where only Heroes were supposed to be able to, but here, it would be possible for him to dispose of her without being obstructed by anyone.

    Even if she had the ability of a [Hero-class], she was still the [Saint]. In a straight-up battle, there was no way she could stand against him, a [Hero].

    ¡°Oh, my, Keiji. You sure got up suddenly. Aren¡¯t you tired from releasing all that magic?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, it¡¯s not much of a problem if it¡¯s just this much.¡±

    ¡°As expected of a Hero. But¡­¡­ Are you really sure you have that much leeway?¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­?¡±

    And in that instant, an outcry reached Kyoji¡¯s ears as if it had come from a long distance away.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure. We¡¯ll see soon.¡±

    ¡°What? Oi!¡±

    As Yurushia suddenly spoke in a monotone, she skipped away, back through the long corridor.

    Kyoji chased after her, but it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn¡¯t reach her.

    There was a strange sense of incongruity as he ran down the passage, but he couldn¡¯t quite tell what it was.

    As he emerged out of the passage and squinted at the sudden light of the room, something terrifying entered his view.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Demon¡­¡­¡­¡±

    There were his subordinates being overrun by dozens of [Greater Demons].

    Jared, who was the only one left, was clutching his sword with both hands while he looked worn under the strain of fighting, but the sight of Kyoji¡¯s return brought light back to his eyes.

    ¡°Kyoji?§ã¦Ø¡­¦Ò¦Ò¦Ñ¡­The¡­land¦Ì¡­¡­ ¡°

    ¡°What¡­¡­ what are you saying, Jared?¡±

    He could understand a little, but most of what Jared was saying was incomprehensible to him.

    It seemed true for Jared too, and as he heard Kyoji, his face stiffened, and his giant body was blown away handily by a small stuffed rabbit.

    ¡°Jared!¡±

    ¡°My, my, Keiji. Would you like some pudding? Touka¡¯s handiwork is surprisingly delicious, you know?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me!¡±

    As Kyoji tried to assist Jared, Yurushia cut in, disturbing his concentration about some unknown new factor.

    Despite being a pretty little girl who he should have immediately been able to blow away, Kyoji¡¯s instinct instantly drew his attention to that unknown hindrance.

    ¡°Well, because the people of earth who came here were all excessive and absurd, there¡¯s a lot of food. Dried cuttlefish?¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    The feeling of incongruity grew stronger still. While he tried to uncover what it was, Jared let out a death cry of agony.

    ¡°Jared!¡±

    Jared fell bloodily, while the little stuffed rabbit proudly lifted its chin and crossed its arms across its chest.

    And as he watched, the giant figure of one of the [Greater Demons] bent low, offering the little stuffed rabbit something that looked like a cheap bottle of sake and kelp boiled in soy sauce.

    ¡°Well done, Onzada-kun! But you can¡¯t drink too much, okay~¡±

    As he heard Yurushia speak, Kyoji suddenly remembered the soft toy as the [Independent Magic Tool] that she was carrying when they¡¯d met.

    But was it really a magic tool at all? Why were the Demons with her? Had Yurushia really been released from the curse of the [Demon Lord]?

    The number of questions he had were overflowing. And the sense of incongruity only grew.

    ¡°Thanks for all your hard work, Keiji. Because you worked so hard, Onzada-kun here doesn¡¯t need to be needlessly injured.¡±

    ¡°What are you even talking about!¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ haven¡¯t you noticed? We¡¯re currently speaking Japanese, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ what?¡±

    Kyoji had indeed been speaking in Japanese. Even if he tried to use the vocabulary that he¡¯d gained in Tess in his mind, the words were merely familiar to him, and he couldn¡¯t gel them together into a sentence.

    ¡°The language skills¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Those things don¡¯t exist anymore.¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s smile sent Kyoji¡¯s already-fragile mental state into even greater shock.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice at all? I rewrote the lettering on the stone stele. I couldn¡¯t quite adjust it right with my magic power, but thanks to yours, I managed to get it activated.¡±

    ¡°An inability to use skills¡­¡­ huh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not quite right. I have rewritten the stone stele, so actually, all [Skills] have been removed from this land.¡±

    That initial discomfort. That none of the writing of the stone stele could be read.

    It was possible for him to replicate the effects of the skills he used frequently, but he couldn¡¯t do anything at all that had previously relied on skills to achieve.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ who are you, Yurushia!¡±

    ¡°Oh my, my, and here I was, giving you various hints, Keiji.¡±

    ¡°That name¡­¡­¡±

    He had finally noticed the difference in intonation in what Yurushia had been calling him. It was not ¡°Kyoji¡± like the rest of this world had pronounced it, but rather the native Japanese pronunciation of ¡°Keiji¡±.

    ¡°Are you going to swim back to Earth this time? There¡¯s no air at all, but you seem pretty confident in your lung capacity, yeah?¡±

    Keiji began to sweat profusely as she spoke, the words bringing up the memory of the name of a little girl that had traumatized him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it. ¡­¡­Keiji.¡±

    Her hair and pupil colors were different. But, ever-so-slowly¡­¡­ Yurushia¡¯s irises began to quietly fill with crimson red, and her sclera turned black, and as the presence of a supreme Demon began to emanate out, Keiji¡¯s face paled and his teeth rattled.

    ¡°Ah, that stone stele¡¯s a replica, so you can¡¯t quite control the [Skills], you know? Oh, and by the way, the previous hero of wind sends his ¡°regards¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­UAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±

    Knowing fully now that he had been dancing on the palm of someone else¡¯s hand this whole time, Keiji was overcome with both fear and the memory of his trauma. He tried to draw his blade, but without the skills to wield it, he dropped it, trying to strike at Yurushia with his bare hands.

    *SMACK*!!!

    He could hear the sound of his bones shattering under his flesh, and Keiji, who had taken Onzada¡¯s right straight directly, was punted across the hall, bouncing several times as he did so, finally slamming into the wall before collapsing in a pile.

    ¡°Thank you, Onzada-kun.¡±

    [¡­¡­¡­(sip)]

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to end it.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the end to the world¡¯s troubles.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Ah, sweet sweet release at last. Been waiting for the ever amusing comeuppance.

 Volume 8 - CH 27

    Volume 8, Chapter 27: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 3

    ¡°Strange¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira returned alone to the enormous underground cavern that housed the forces of darkness and approached the ancient castle that had been left behind by the first hero.

    She couldn¡¯t sense the presence of any of the heroes.

    Sefira had spent a long time in vain to gain trust from the paranoid Kyoji, all in order to lead him to this place.

    She had wanted to personally lead him there if she could, but Kyoji had never lost sight of his purpose. It might have helped to speed up her plans too.

    She had also noticed that the heroes of flame and earth were also headed this way. In fact, it could be said to be the first time in history that the [Heroes] were so hostile towards one another. If they were closer, then Kyoji would have hurried in vain, and they would have gotten to where they wanted before the others got in the way.

    But now¡­¡­ the presence of the heroes had all vanished from Sefira¡¯s senses.

    ¡°Did they die¡­¡­? No, none of this trash are capable of killing the heroes around here¡­¡­¡±

    If Kyoji, Kanzo and Minkichi, who were regarded by Sefira as spare [Heroes], disappeared, Sefira¡¯s plan would be reset to square one.

    And then¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Sefira suddenly felt an immense heaviness weigh upon her.

    Her body, which shouldn¡¯t have felt an ounce of fatigue despite having not slept for weeks and days, suddenly became heavier, and her clear thoughts dulled as if trapped within her own head.

    ¡°¡­¡­wh¡­at?¡±

    Sefira muttered ever softer.

    She suddenly felt tired, and felt as if her [Camouflage Skill] had become less precise, which was also strange. She had passive [Skills] for both fatigue and tiredness.

    And as Sefira tried her hardest to find the ¡°cause¡± of all this with a hazy mind, she suddenly sensed the presence of Kyoji, who had disappeared from the basement of the castle.

    ¡°¡­¡­That shithead, what did he mess up!¡±

    As she cursed him foul-mouthedly, Sefira rushed down through the old castle¡¯s hidden door to the altar in the basement.

    Journeying towards it at an astonishing speed, her face twisted as she saw its open state, running into the opened hidden passage with the stone slabs.

    The stone slabs, that only reacted to heroes¡­¡­ or those with ¡°strong¡± light attributes, lit up as Sefira ran through, glowing letters emerging.

    Bursting through the barrier that stopped anyone who wasn¡¯t of the hero-class, she reached the back.

    ¡°What, this is¡­¡­!!!¡±

    There was the enormous stele that was a replica of the [Skill Agreement], lit up with finely-written characters in the spirit language, as before.

    However, the light had faded from some of the letters, where they had been dug out, and the meaning had turned to utter nonsense.

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­¡­¡­a¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kyoji!!!¡±

    There, behind the stone, was the sorry figure of Kyoji.

    What happened to him? He had been a self-confident man with the ambition to match his ability. Now, he was thin, as if all of his life force had been used to generate magic power, and couldn¡¯t even move his lips, stretching his feeble, trembling hand out towards Sefira.

    ¡°You, what did you do!!¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Sefira kicked Kyoji¡¯s shoulder with her boot.

    From how things looked, Sefira seemed to now be stuck in the [Magic Absorption Trap], but was forcibly resisting it, and the [Skill Use Agreement] seemed to be defective.

    Still, considering the circumstances, even though she should have been protected several times over, she wasn¡¯t sure how much she¡¯d lost, and now she was unsure of what the [Skill Use Agreement] had become.

    ¡°The reason why skill control has gone wrong is all because of you.¡±

    Sefira, who had been kicking Kyoji over and over, grabbed his hair and spit in his face, thinking about how she would have been able to prevent this, had she been here to lead him¡­¡­¡­.

    ¡°No¡­¡­ it¡¯s not over yet.¡±

    Sefira wasn¡¯t going to be able to fix the [Skill Use Agreement] now.

    She knew what was on the contract, but not all of its details, and it would take an enormous amount of effort to both check and correct the minor details in the spirit-language characters.

    A hundred years¡­¡­ It might be possible in two hundred years, but Sefira, who had come so close to finally having his goal in grasp, was loath to spend more time getting there.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, Kyoji-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­uh¡­¡­¡±

    As Sefira suddenly put on the mask of a ¡°kind woman¡±, she laughed softly, not even caring that she couldn¡¯t use her [Charm].

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take you to a special place. It¡¯s alright¡­¡­it won¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­¡±

    As Kyoji heard Sefira¡¯s words, the light returned to his eyes just slightly, and he shook his head in fear.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ let¡¯s go. You should feel honored, you know. You¡¯re the second person ever to see it.¡±

    Sefira, with her delicate physique, carried Kyoji in all his armor over her shoulder, and walked out of the secret passage.

    He was heavy, and not being able to use her Skills caused Sefira to grimace here and there, but suddenly, the weight became lighter, and she breathed out lightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°How annoying. Have I finally gotten used to doing things without skills¡­¡­?¡±

    Sefira turned her gaze to Kyoji, who muttered as if afraid of something.

    She wasn¡¯t going very far in the first place.

    It was hard to get there in places with strong magic, like that place with the stone tablets and altars, but otherwise moving there wasn¡¯t difficult.

    ¡°By the covenant, lead me to this land.¡±

    As Sefira intoned the [Words] in the courtyard of the old castle, an entrance of light opened in the space before her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­ ya¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be scared. This is just one of the little in-between spaces between the [Material World] and the [Spirit World].¡±

    In the [Spirit World], nothing with substance could exist.

    Still, as an intermediate point between the worlds, it was entirely possible for someone to stay there, provided they had strong magic power.

    ¡°You¡¯re really afraid. Are you even a hero? How pitiful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­aAh¡­¡­u¡­¡­¡±

    After what felt like several minutes.

    Even though time and space weren¡¯t quite meaningful in this space, but Sefira inclined her neck as they walked toward their target.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­where are the spirits?¡±

    There were always [Lesser Spirits] and [Middle Spirits] who were interested in the material world, who she had chatted to the last time she was here, and while they were annoying, they were always here.

    ¡°I wonder if a Greater Spirit came¡­¡­¡±

    Even Sefira had rarely seen a [Greater Spirit].

    If it appeared in this world, there would be cataclysmic results. As one of the [Greater Spirits] that controlled the phenomena of the material world, other spirits would naturally hide in fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­there¡±

    As Sefira arrived at the brightest place within this realm, the original [Skill Use Contract], that was carved into an enormous crystal, appeared.

    This was the true body of the [Skill Use Agreement] that the great wizards of the past had burned their lives to make with the [Greater Spirits], and was the ¡°system¡± behind allowing all things in this world to use [Skills].

    ¡°fufu¡­¡­ Now, Sir Kyoji, let¡¯s make your wish a reality. With this, you can become the God the New World that you so dream of¡­¡­ Sorry to say, though, your soul will be absorbed by this crystal, and you¡¯ll become a puppet to the system with no consciousness.

    Ufufu¡­¡­¡­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Your dream will finally come true! As long as all of the people in this world are forced to attain the [Controlled Skill], all people will be equal, and a truly peaceful world will be created!!!¡±

    Sefira aimed to eliminate all differences between everyone and create a world where everyone was equal.

    If everyone was equal, then there would be no conflict, and a truly peaceful world would be created.

    After her previous failures, Sefira no longer believed that it could be done without a sacrifice. As something to completely control the world, the strong soul of the [Hero] would be built into the system, and her goals would be achieved through the trivial sacrifice of the free will of all humanity.

    ¡°Hahaha, ¡­¡­eh?¡±

    And then, Sefira noticed something that looked like a small crystal plate hanging off the corner of the enormous crystal.

    That wasn¡¯t there before. She might not have noticed it before, but Sefira noticed it now because it was so incredibly eye-catching.

    As she took it in her hands, she noticed something written in the language of the spirits.

    To be able to touch this area at all¡­¡­ was this left behind by the [Great Spirit of Light]? There was only one sentence written there¡­¡­¡­

    [We¡¯ve made a Strategic Withdrawal]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira reflexively fell silent. She thought that it was some sort of joke, but would [Spirits] make jokes in the first place?

    And speaking of the [Great Spirit of Light], it was revered as a [God], a pillar of existence holding up the world. Was there a threat that would make such a being withdraw? In the first place, a threat like that wouldn¡¯t even been able to come to this place where spirits gathered alone.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s that.¡±

    Even as she got an eerie feeling she couldn¡¯t quite pin down, Sefira tried to make the unmoving Kyoji touch the crystal.

    ¡°Sir Kyoji, all you need to do is touch this. Pure magic power will be drawn out automatically¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira noticed that Kyoji had gotten slightly lighter, that despite everything, his frightened gaze looked behind her, and so she turned to follow his gaze.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And there, smiling pleasantly at her, was the golden-haired girl, kindly lifting up Kyoji¡¯s legs and cooperating with Sefira.

    ¡°Yu-Yurushia-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you noticed!¡±

    That was the girl who had been drawn into this world because of her purity, and should have been turned into the true [Demon Lord], the Saint from another world: Yurushia.

    ¡°Why are you here!¡±

    ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve been here this whole time, you know.¡±

    ¡°W-w-When!?¡±

    ¡°Since you were kicking Keiji in the basement of the castle¡­¡­?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t noticed the girl at all. On the contrary, Sefira couldn¡¯t even imagine that Kyoji had become suddenly afraid, or that he had become suddenly very light, because Yurushia had been carrying him from behind.

    She just thought that the sounds she had heard along the way was just spirits whispering.

    ¡°Kuh¡±

    Sefira discarded Kyoji, taking her distance.

    ¡°You, how did you break free of the curse of the Demon Lord? That evil presence¡­¡­ there¡¯s no way that you could have faked it.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Ah, yes.¡±

    Yurushia scratched her cheeks with her fingers lightly as Sefira spoke.

    ¡°Ah~ ¡­¡­ Well, the [True Demon Lord] is one of the [Laws of the World], unlike a ¡°self-proclaimed demon lord¡±. It¡¯s there to ¡°reset¡± the world that¡¯s gone off in the wrong direction, and when it appears, humanity will have no choice, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t understand what Yurushia was saying, but understood that Yurushia had been interfering with her plans by pretending to be a Demon Lord.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­You¡­¡­ You irregular from another world. My intuition was right to have tried to get rid of you first.¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    As Yurushia tilted her head sideways in feigned ignorance, Sefira bared her teeth.

    ¡°As you might have imagined, I am the savior of the world, this world¡¯s [First Hero].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    There was an awkward atmosphere.

    ¡°¡­¡­Why did you have to obstruct me?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­¡­for development?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­I- I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    And so, the battle for the fate of the world began between the [First Hero] and the [Demon] of another world in this world.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The Demons are in charge.

    Now please re-read it imagining Yuru behind it this whole time.

    Next time, will Sefira save the world from the tyrannical Demons?

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Huh, I guessed that reveal, but only at the start of this chapter, they did a good job. Did anyone beat me to it?

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    National day happened this week, so I almost forgot to submit this to App.

 Volume 8 - CH 28

    Volume 8, Chapter 28: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 4

    Hello there. It¡¯s Yurushia again!

    With me right now, Sefira is glaring with hatred in her eyes.

    No, I¡¯m really sorry! I really don¡¯t mean to. I¡¯m a Demon after all.

    No way. Sefira was the [First Hero]? I didn¡¯t think that he had been moving around for this many years for the peace of this world.

    ¡°Uhh, thank you for your hard work¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me!¡±

    How cruel. Did you not get enough calcium and minerals? Would you like some dried seaweed? Ah, I got glared at.

    ¡°What are your intentions!!¡±

    Sefira readied herself for combat. Her tone had gone all weird too.

    Isn¡¯t subspace storage supposed to be a skill? Sefira¡¯s entire body was covered with a dull, silver armor in a blink, and there she stood, holding a two-handed single-edged curved blade that looked like a katana made of the same material.

    ¡°What a good sword. Is that Oricon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s orichalcum!¡±

    Ah, oh no, Sefira¡¯s vein is bulging.

    Well, you know, I intentionally made the mispronunciation just to see if Sefira was a modern earthling.

    I¡¯m sorry. That was a lie. My fantasy knowledge is just a lot less than the game-playing Yuuki-kun.

    As Sefira silently swung down, a shockwave erupted from her blade. She aimed straight for the opening I had left, being deep in thought, without thinking.

    As expected of the [First Hero]. Her power is several stages better than Kan-chan. She would definitely even give my attendants trouble. I¡¯m glad that there are no other spirits here. They might have gotten hurt. Well, everyone else left just because I came here, so¡­¡­

    Either way, my attendants couldn¡¯t come here, since they were [Arch Demons], but that¡¯s inconsequential. That¡¯s just how terrible this place is.

    It¡¯s in-between the [Material World] where the humans lived, and the [Sprit World], one of the Spiritual Realms.

    It¡¯s so full of magic that human souls couldn¡¯t get here, and it¡¯s so close to the spirit world that Demons like myself weren¡¯t compatible with it.

    To give an example¡­. It¡¯s like getting suddenly thrown out of a city into the desert, or a snowy mountain?

    I¡¯m slightly better-off than other Demons since I have fully formed [Human] attributes, but as Sefira is a [Hero] with the light attribute, her power was doubled like an athlete who had suddenly transitioned from hill climbs to flat land.

    ¡°My purpose is to clear my friend¡¯s name. Everything else was just ¡°consequence¡±.¡±

    ¡°For such a reason, you ruined my plans!¡±

    ¡°[Night¡¯s Spear.]¡±

    The jet black spear I created and Sefira¡¯s blade touched, sparks flying.

    ¡°Dark magic!¡±

    ¡°Sefira, do you really think that making everyone equal will achieve real equality?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t make everyone average. Those with luck survive, and those with ability are victorious. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! I¡­¡­ I will guide all of mankind!¡±

    ¡°So you will be the privileged class, then?¡±

    I smiled at Sefira, whose eyes went wide.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only person who can save humanity? What about the livestock you eat? Do they not have the right to live freely too? Just because you don¡¯t understand their words, they¡¯re not intelligent, and hence they¡¯re not [Equal]? Living creatures all have to oppress others to live, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­th¡­that¡¯s¡±

    ¡°Even plants are alive. There are intelligent plants in this world. What would you do if they asked for [Equality] by asking you all not to eat vegetables that are of the same family as them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Even if you don¡¯t kill every living thing, you might not need to fight at all if everyone had enough food for their needs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible. All people seek ¡°more¡±. Progress stems from desire. To be rid of all conflict, you must fulfil all their desires. But how do you satisfy the sweetest desire of humanity, for ¡°victory¡±? The moment you satisfy it, the decline would begin again.¡±

    There is no equality to be found in the plant or animal world.

    If you were born in a good place, you would survive, and if you weren¡¯t, you would be trampled on, and die.

    ¡°That¡¯s why people struggle. They all want to live better, and hence they fight desperately. They desperately try. An equal world is a ¡°world without freedom¡±, denying their efforts to live.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira¡¯s sword dulled. The heart of a hero who had been fighting for more than a thousand years was shaken.

    Not all weak people were unhappy.

    Not all of the strong were happy.

    ¡°Even if you had an AA-cup size, you could make efforts by drinking soy milk every day to work towards a bombastic figure. Even those with large chests would have stiff shoulders from the weight, and it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be good, to be stared at so much¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And suddenly, Sefira¡¯s attacks became harsh again.

    Captain, I failed to talk down the target!

    What¡¯s wrong!? She¡¯s being so narrow minded even though she has those giant things.

    ¡­¡­ ah, was that chest fake?

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Anxious over Sefira¡¯s chest melons, I moved to poke them.

    ¡°D-don¡¯t touch them!!!¡±

    Sefira sharply raised her voice when I started to move.

    However, I was the fastest demon in all of the Demon realm. Hohoho, here I comeee! I wasn¡¯t trying to, but I¡¯d come before the giant crystal ¨C the [Skill Use Agreement].

    ¡°Stoppppppppppppp!!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­[Shatter]¡­¡­¡±

    CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK¡­¡­¡­

    The [Skill Use Agreement] shattered under my fingertips.

    And in that instant, the world shook. [Skills] had been taken from this world, [Tess].

    Those [Special Skills] which could not be completely erased just by messing with the replica were also disappearing.

    Well, mostly. I don¡¯t think those skills that had been the results of their own effort or had been given directly by the Great Spirit of Light would disappear completely, but those cheat-like skills that the heroes had acquired would.

    And whatever little remaining skills would almost certainly disappear in a hundred years.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­AH,¡­ AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±

    Oh? Sefira seems to be acting strangely.

    I thought that she was stunned from the crystal breaking, but her figure began to shift. I can¡¯t stop it at all even if I hit the B button repeatedly, but is that a slender boy? a girl? A rather androgynous young man turned towards me with hatred in his eyes.

    Was Sefira¡¯s previous figure a [Skill]¡­¡­? I was supposed to report to Tina about the chest, but what will I tell her now?

    No, no, that¡¯s not it.

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    I could only see Sefira as a ¡°girl¡±. But Fannie said that Sefira was a ¡°man¡±.

    Why did she see that? While it might have been a [Skill], could it possibly be strong enough to mislead the eyes of a [Devil] and an [Archdemon]?

    Even now, I still don¡¯t know if the skills have entirely disappeared. But this feeling¡­¡­ Somewhat¡­¡­ no. In that one instance of consciousness, my knowledge as a [Devil] arrived at an answer.

    ¡°A hermaphrodite¡­¡­ no, rather, I should call you a sexless being?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira did not answer. But I could see the hatred in his eyes deepen.

    That¡¯s¡­¡­¡­ it, huh.

    Because she¡¯s neither man nor woman. Did you equip those fake chest pieces to represent the ¡°weak¡± who was being discriminated by everyone in search of your ¡°equal world¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­I hate them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nn?¡±

    As Sefira muttered under his breath, and I responded, his face looked up.

    ¡°¡­¡­I hate humans. I hate school. I hate my parents. I hate everything that discriminates in this world. I hate Kyoji, who only sees women as tools. I hate Kanzo, who was born a man but wants to be a woman. I hate Minkichi, who was born a woman but threw her femininity away.¡±

    Sefira harshly hissed, cursing the world on her knees, and jolted up.

    ¡°Every hero is the same! They are all hot-blooded idiots with no brains of their own who look down on others. That¡¯s why I killed the hero who appeared in the war, and deprived him of his magic power, and lived for so long! The same goes for that hero of wind. Born and blessed with everything, did they ever struggle for their strength? No! So I made all of the other heroes kill him! And I took his pure magic and increased my own! This is no true equality!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    So that¡¯s why¡­¡­ Yuuki-kun had died for such a reason.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ah?¡±

    Sefira¡¯s face froze and his expression hardened.

    The look she gave me gradually stiffened, and then turned to fear.

    What are you looking at? What¡¯s so terrifying?

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    And as I whispered to her, Sefira¡¯s body shattered, and her black soul was sucked into me, disappearing.

    ¡­¡­*burp*. Excuse me. Thank you for the meal.

    What kind of expression did Sefira have towards me? Hmm. It was the visage of a Demonic smile, maybe. I¡¯m sure.

    Well, I¡¯m done with my errands, but I think I forgot something¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­UUOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    And at that instant, the existence I¡¯d clean forgotten about jumped out at me with a yell.

    ¡°YurushiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!¡±

    Holding the sword of Sefira was Keiji, the hero of water, attacking me the instant I was off-guard.

    Was Keiji able to recover here as the hero?

    Ah¡­¡­ Ta-daaa! Something caught my eye. And it was difficult to evade in time.

    But, you know¡­¡­

    ¡°Welcome home.¡±

    I smiled softly towards him.

    It wasn¡¯t a smile for Keiji. This embarrassed smile that I wouldn¡¯t even dare to show myself was only for [Him].

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    The sword fell with a clang from Keiji¡¯s hands, as a small brown hand pierced his chest from behind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve received the [Pure magic ] and the [Souls] of the two heroes you¡¯ve given me, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re moving again, Rinne¡±

    Rinne and I smiled gently at each other, even as Keiji was twitching.

    Rinne had the appearance of a beastman who was about 4~5 years old. He¡¯s got cute cat ears too.

    Still, the magic jewels filled with pure magic and the souls of the two heroes seems to have given him enough strength to come to this point between worlds.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s finish this.¡±

    Rinne, who was floating a little since he was tiny, made the ¡°Demon¡¯s whisper¡± in Keiji¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Let me make your wish come true. Don¡¯t you want great power?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Keiji turned his eyes towards me for help, I was holding a box of laundry powder.

    ¡°Thank you for your consent.¡±

    As I refreshed myself smiling at him to my heart¡¯s content, Keiji¡¯s eyes were dyed in despair, and his body was absorbed by Rinne.

    He will become one of the strongest in histoy, but there¡¯s no clause at all in his contract that his consciousness will remain.

    ¡°Is this it?¡±

    ¡°Oh my.¡±

    As I watched, Rinne¡¯s body grew to that of a 20-year-old. Was that something in between Keiji¡¯s age and being a baby?

    He¡¯s pretty tall now. I think he¡¯s one head taller than I am now, and his face no longer had the babyish looks of the beastmen, but was slightly Japanese.

    His skintone was a rich olive tone, and he gave off the atmosphere of a ¡°prince¡± from the middle east.

    But, it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Rinne, your cat ears are gone!!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that so important?¡±

    He was stunned.

    But paying close attention, it seems that his ears would grow out when he switched from his [Human mode] to his [Devilish Mode]. It¡¯s good work.

    Rinne was able to completely [Manifest] as a demon. Good, good.

    ¡°It¡¯s not good. It¡¯ll be very bad if we don¡¯t go back soon. I¡¯m not as strong as you are here. And there¡¯s also multiple greater spirits coming towards us. And time flows strangely here. It may have been several months in the world below.¡±

    ¡°Wah, then let¡¯s go back.¡±

    If I took any longer, it would take me even longer to return to the Holy Kingdom.

    Rinne offered his hand to me like a noble, and I took it, and together we returned to the world where my attendants awaited.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Rinne took quite a while to become humanoid

    I was worried about his body¡¯s age, but it¡¯s relatively close to Yuru¡¯s.

    Next time, the final chapter of this second series?

    App¡¯s Notes:

    And here we are! We¡¯re getting to the end of the second series, with only one more to go!

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    *squeeing like a teenage girl*

 Volume 8 - CH 29

    Volume 8, Chapter 29: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Final

    One of many worlds¡­¡­ [Tess].

    The great ¡°will¡± of the world, of [Tess], felt like it was relieved.

    Although the forms of its thought were so removed from those of living things that there was no way to confirm that it felt ¡°relief¡±, but the atmosphere that enveloped the world felt gentler than before.

    The will of the world was like the ¡°intention¡± of the planet, something we¡¯ve never been able to confirm is alive.

    The world acted like a single living being, and had a kind of [thought] somewhat like a computer designed to perform life support.

    But, the [Will of the World] wasn¡¯t the same as a [God].

    Human beings and the other living organisms were like the ¡°gut bacteria¡± of the lifeform called the [World]. If the number of bad gut bacteria began to spread throughout, gnawing at the world, the world would take in [Otherworlders] to themselves just like humans drank ¡°probiotics drinks¡±.

    And in some cases, where the parasites were stubbornly buried within the body, they might take in the ¡°medicine¡± called [Heroes], which would sometimes act like ¡°deworming pills¡±, other times, like ¡°laxatives¡±, flooding everything and rinsing them out.

    It would be a burden upon the world, and things would get worse until new gut bacteria regrew, but it was better than falling sick because of an infection from bad bacteria.

    Even though it had a will, the [World] did nothing.

    It merely maintained life and kept up its internal environment.

    It didn¡¯t care if some of the gut bacteria were running rampant. Though it was more like it didn¡¯t notice than it didn¡¯t care.

    It¡¯s quite like how humans only realized that something was wrong when their stomachs hurt.

    Still, the young [World], [Tess] had been unwell for a while.

    The [Spirits], which were supposed to be something like the red blood cells that carried oxygen around its body, had made selfish rulings with the [Gut Bacteria], and caused abnormal gut behavior.

    Because of that, it had been very active at first, and everything was in a good condition, but after a while, the blood of the world, [Magic Power], decreased, and it became anemic.

    So [Tess] thought.

    It was necessary to destroy the rule called the [Skill System] that had spread throughout its body.

    But [Tess]could not directly move the world just like humans couldn¡¯t directly manipulate their bodies.

    In order to destroy those rules that had been inundating the populace for thousands of years, [Tess] had prepared two things.

    The first was a laxative to wipe out all life, a [Large-scale Cataclysm].

    The other was the powerful medicine that would completely destroy all civilization, the [True Demon Lord].

    Both of them would put a burden on its body, but [Tess] preferred to introduce the [True Demon Lord] into its body first, which would be relatively effective anyway, instead of the [Large-Scale Cataclysms] that would take longer for it to recover.

    The [True Demon Lord] was a pretty powerful drug. Those [Self-proclaimed Demon Lords], and the [Heroes], would all be eliminated, and all intelligent life would die in an instant.

    But at that time, the otherworld [Tess] noticed that there was a [Poison] that had infiltrated in from another world.

    If it could constrain the amount of poison, it would be a good medicine. Even then, it needed to be a [Strong Medicine], but compared to the [True Demon Lord], it felt that it was kind of made only with ¡°50% tenderness¡±.

    But for the will of the world [Tess], it felt that it was worth taking in this [Medicine] that had some of the effect of the [True Demon Lord] into its body.

    And as [Tess] expected, the [Medicine] managed to destroy the distorted rules of the world and restored its physical condition.

    And that existence would now leave its body now that it was done.

    The effect of the [True Demon Lord] had also been handed over to this thing, and unless it tried to, it wouldn¡¯t activate this [Poison].

    The world did nothing. It just continued to support life.

    * * *

    The people living in the world of Tess were confused.

    The [Skills] that had been part and parcel of them and their daily lives had suddenly become unusable.

    The [Skill System] was such that once you gained an ability it would never fade.

    One cook, who had extremely high cooking skills, suddenly became unable to understand the amount of seasoning and how much heat was needed just by waving his hands, and had to lower his head to his apprentice, who had been trying to learn under him.

    The noble who relied only on his swordsmanship skill and neglected his body had it disappear on him, and he found it difficult to even keep swinging his sword, finally resigning from the post of Knight Commander.

    But only a portion of those who had relied on [Skills] got into trouble despite the fact that everyone was confused.

    [Skills] were a system that automatically quantified one¡¯s abilities, and if one put serious effort into their training, there would be little impact even if they had lost this automated system.

    But, thanks to the loss of [Battle Skills], humanity¡¯s battle ability was considerably reduced.

    It wouldn¡¯t be possible anymore to defeat large monsters with just a few dozen knights like before.

    ¡°This might be good.¡±

    muttered Fjord, First Prince of Sail, as he looked upon the blue sea and castle town. His new royal guard perked up.

    ¡°What is affecting you, my liege?¡±

    This was the knight who had been the first to challenge the Golden Saint, and at that time, lost horribly to the soft toy. It seemed that being healed directly by the saint had changed him, and he had begun to practice his swordsmanship seriously, so when the skill system vanished, it hadn¡¯t affected him much, and he had been newly promoted to being the captain of the royal guard.

    ¡°Well, even if the [Skills] are gone, the commonfolk still live the same. The damage from monsters has increased, but thanks to that, we were able to make peace with the [Forces of Darkness].¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    The reason why the humans, who formed the core of the [Forces of Light], had fought so many wars with the demi-humans who formed the [Forces of Darkness] was simply because they had never had to fear an [External Threat] thanks to the power of their skills.

    Ironically, the [Skill System], which had been made to help mankind, had instead caused conflict for them.

    The skills had all disappeared, and now, humanity no longer reigned supreme, and joined up with others once again to protect themselves from the other threats.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s all because of her¡­¡­¡±

    The golden saint, who had brought the world together by threatening mankind as the true [Demon Lord], had been rescued by the new heroes, and disappeared with her attendants from her hospital room, refusing all visitors.

    Those [Heroes] who had fled were the real [Demon Lords]. The battle had been fierce, but the damage had been surprisingly limited¡­¡­ no, rather, it was unnaturally few.

    It seemed that the pure and quiet saint had fought desperately with the Demon Lord even while she had been under its thrall.

    After she disappeared, the minstrels sang that she had left with soldiers and the common folk to completely eradicate the [Demon Lord].

    Was the skill system¡¯s disappearance also because of that¡­¡­?

    Perhaps the battle between the true demon lord and the golden saint had been fierce enough to break the world.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ I would love to see you again.¡±

    As Prince Fjord unintentionally let slip his intentions, the knight smiled.

    The world was changing rapidly.

    The heroes had become the traitors of the world, and the standing of the four great nations who had summoned [Heroes] worsened, and it was no longer possible to call [Heroes] from other worlds.

    In Sail, His Majesty had collapsed from anxiety, and the second princess Bianca who had been in charge of the hero had been forced to take responsibility, banished to the borderlands, and stripped of her rights to the throne, leaving young Fjord to rebuild the nation.

    With the disappearance of the heroes, the commonfolk were exposed to the threat of monsters, but the new [Heroes], who belonged to no nation, travelled the world to save people.

    Those heroes¡­¡­

    ¡°Daichi, those were my donuts!!¡±

    ¡°EeehHH??! Touka, didn¡¯t you say you were going on a diet?¡±

    ¡°I was going to eat that later!!!¡±

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t want to think about it, and that somehow going on a diet didn¡¯t mean enduring against sweets.

    Watching the two of them chase each other on the forest path, Futa and Mizuki looked at each other¡¯s faces in amusement, laughing out loud.

    Mizuki and the others, who saved people during the battle they now called the [Great Demon Lord Battle], and rescued the saint from the Demon Lord, had been named the new heroes.

    Their achievements were also recognized by the [Forces of Darkness], and together with the wishes of the twin princesses of the Dark Elven royalty, they had signed a ceasefire agreement, bringing the millennia of war to a close.

    As the new heroes, they refused to side with any single state, and wandered around the world as a team to save everyone, human or demi-human.

    ¡°Yuru-chan protected us when we were abandoned and gave us the power to live in this world. So, we will carry it forward to everyone else.¡±

    The people in this world remembered what it meant to [Fear], and this otherworld, [Tess], slowly had its [Common Sense] returned to normalcy.

    * * *

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, Lord Rinne, we have been eagerly awaiting your return.¡±

    As Rinne and I returned from that in-between place, the attendants all came out to greet us.

    As expected, the spirit world was dangerous to even [Arch Demons]. It seems that they had been quite worried waiting for us.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, since I had time, I tried making something like ¡°Ramen¡±, would you like to try some?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll eat it later, Fannie.¡±

    It¡¯s worrying, you know¡­¡­? I¡¯m terrified of ¡°what¡± went into that black soup.

    [Gauu] [¡­¡­ (wave)]

    Onzada-kun and Geas seemed perfectly alright. But the two of them were still stuffed toys because they made a mess of that plan. It seems their human forms are still a while off.

    Well, that¡¯s fine too¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Tina?¡±

    ¡°What do you desire, My Mistress?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Tina was being strange. More accurately, a certain part of Tina is very strange.

    The attendant gang was investigating the replica of the [Skill Usage Agreement] while the two of us had been there.

    We were studying if we could only use some of the skills that were useful on that stone slab, or if we could handle things ourselves¡­¡­

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you talking about?¡±

    Tina¡¯s chest was already at the watermelon level, much less regular melons.

    Fannie was large for her age, but Tina¡¯s chest was just unnatural.

    ¡°Did you find Sefira¡¯s skills?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    Hohoho, is that how it is?

    ¡°There!¡±

    ¡°Aaaahhhh!¡±

    As I poked them with my crimson nails, Tina¡¯s chest deflated.

    ¡­¡­ What is this skill?

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it for you, so just wait, and don¡¯t rely on strange things like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes.¡±

    Tina¡¯s reply was barely a whisper as she fell to her hands and knees on the ground.

    I¡¯m not just consoling you, I am going to do something about it.

    Just like how I treated scalps with the application of [Sacred Magic] with my modern knowledge, chest-growing magic has finally reached a practical stage by applying the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] that were cultivated in this world.

    When we return to the Holy Kingdom, we¡¯ll be making another killing.

    ¡­¡­ But well, since everyone¡¯s slightly different, it¡¯s not certain that everyone will grow to that extent.

    ¡°So have you all found the coordinates to the Holy Kingdom?¡±

    It¡¯s time to get down to business. I don¡¯t know why, but when I talk to these children, the conversation gets lost.

    ¡°Yes, Lady Yurushia. After examining all of the stone tablets in the old castle, there was a record of them trying to summon heroes from places other than earth in the past.¡±

    As I asked, butler Noa put on his glasses and unfurled the documents. ¡­¡­ wait, those are just decorative glasses right?

    ¡°There seems to be a description that matches that of the world with the Holy Kingdom, [Atra], and the coordinates have been determined, but we can¡¯t confirm that it¡¯s [Atra].¡±

    Noa gave me a fleeting look as he finished his sentence.

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll go make sure of that.¡±

    Only I could confirm that it was Atra. Just as Fannie, who was better at spatial magic, taught me, I turned my attention towards the world.

    ¡­¡­¡­ Yep. There¡¯s the Holy Kingdom. And there are at least two people connected to my [Soul]. My [Name-givers].

    ¡°Father, Mother¡­¡­¡±

    My father had thought of my name, and my mother had given it to me. And so I could find them just like I could find Rinne, who I¡¯d named.

    ¡­¡­ But the signal¡¯s so weak that I can barely tell where they are.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯re finally returning to the Holy Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Lady Yurushia, please wait.¡±

    As soon as I tried returning home, Nea¡¯s relaxed callout gave me pause.

    ¡°Hnn?  Why?¡±

    ¡°Actually, everyone prepared these for you.¡±

    It seems that several months have passed in this world while we were in that in-between space near the Spirit World where time flowed strangely.

    In the Holy Kingdom, it seems that I¡¯ll be turning 13 soon in autumn.

    I fought with the [Demon Lord] for half a year while I was 11, then I was trapped in the past for nearly half a year, and then after that I came to [Tess], and two years have nearly gone by.

    ¡°Everyone¡­¡­¡±

    They thought of celebrating my birthday in this different dimension before we returned to the Holy Kingdom, and while the birthday cake wasn¡¯t exactly correct, but with the knowledge of Earth from Onzada-kun, they were able to make some ¡°semblance¡± of it.

    [¡­¡­oOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOooOooOooOooOo¡­¡­]

    There were the countless whispering roars coming from that black soup with countless faces, where thirteen candles had been set into the [Ramen].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This ramen, that was being served by the {Ramen-shop Onzada-kun} was delicious.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    This time, I held onto Rinne¡¯s proffered hand, that was firmly grasping mine without considering the mood, and stepped through the dimensional door that my attendants had opened.

    We are finally returning to the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo.

    I will finally be able to meet all of my friends and family again.

    But¡­¡­ I hadn¡¯t noticed.

    I might have noticed it if I had looked at my status.

    In addition to the titles like [Devil], [Demon Beast] and [Saint], there was one other¡­¡­

    The title of [True Demon Lord] that heralded the destroyer of worlds¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you for reading with me.

    This is the end of the isekai tours, and we return to the third part in the Holy Kingdom.

    As to the third part, I was really struggling to write this second part since I had come up with things as I went along, so I¡¯m going to only resume this series after taking some time to write a bit more out.

    That¡¯s how things are, so I¡¯m probably going to put in a few slice-of-life stories along the way.

    The second part will also have a few more side stories.

    Thank you for your continued support.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Aaaah, it¡¯s an actually good ending! So happy to have made it this far.

    I hope everyone¡¯s ready for the end, we¡¯ve got a couple weeks of side-stories, then Piro and I will be taking a vacation from the series before coming back for book 3!

 Volume 8 - CH 30

    Volume 8, Chapter 30: Side Story, Earth: When I got trapped, part 1.

    AN: This story is about the time before Yuzu gets stabbed and awakens as Yurushia.

    As for where it stands in the timeline, it¡¯s around the time where Yurushia visits earth and has been sealed for 6 months, but it contains part of the [Spoilers].

    No matter how much civilization flourished, and no matter how much the towns were flooded with light, wherever there are ¡°people¡±, there is always ¡°darkness¡±.

    However, even though it seemed like there was nothing, this place was overflowing with life.

    The sound of insects playing about at night. The birds rested their wings in the branches of trees, whilst small animals gnawed on nuts that had fallen onto the leaves below.

    But this calm ¡°night¡± was suddenly disturbed.

    The sounds of all the insects suddenly vanished, and the animals ran away as if frightened of something.

    *smash*!!

    As the sound of ¡°something¡± bursting open resounded¡­¡­ two small figures appeared in the forest where there were none before.

    One of them was a girl with gorgeous golden hair in curls.

    The other had glimmering silver hair.

    As the two of them glanced at each other, looking about strangely while dressed in a beautifully fitted maids¡¯ outfit, the silver-haired one opened her mouth.

    ¡°Hey, this is the right place, right~?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I would make a mistake about Mistress¡¯ ¡°scent¡±. And I only showed you the direction, you were the one to bring us here, no?¡±

    ¡°I just sort of understood the way here~. But, it seems that it¡¯s still impossible for those two.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be helped. If they didn¡¯t help us with their [Absorption] and [Release] we wouldn¡¯t have been able to get here either.¡±

    The two of them had arrived ¡°here¡± early.

    Even though the four of them had great power, it was impossible for them to cross worlds with just power alone without a road.

    ¡°But the ¡°path¡± has been secured. Before the other two catch up, we have to make sure of the Mistress¡¯ whereabouts.¡±

    ¡°Hai~¡±

    The silver-haired one responded with an energetic smile at the words coming from the emotionless blonde girl.

    On that day, that particular night¡­¡­ This world, which had been exposed to the great threat of ¡°evil¡±, greeted two new disasters.

    * * *

    ¡°Is it here¡­¡­?¡±

    Shijima Yuuki was sightseeing in the Kansai region.

    About fifteen years ago, Yuuki had been manipulated by ¡°something¡± that nested within this country, and turned against a girl he considered his friend, resulting in her death.

    But Yuuki didn¡¯t kill her. Rather, Yuuki regretted that it was because she had left a ¡°gap¡± open with her abilities that exceeded his.

    Yuuki was in her debt. He had been forced to take his revenge on the spot, exhausting her energy, and he had been so stunned by her death that he retreated, unable to involve her friends in this.

    But that friend ¨C Onzada ¨C refused to give up.

    Onzada seemed to believe that she was still alive because the sealing ceremony that was to be conducted against the ¡°evil¡± hadn¡¯t been stopped, despite the fact that she had died and everyone had been to her funeral.

    The time-sealing extermination art ¨C [Twelve-Period Hourglass].

    The ¡°evil¡± that would have appeared in the future had been sealed in the past, and over a dozen years, their existence would be whittled down to nothing.

    At that time, had she not died, then the technique would have been broken. According to Onzada, if the seal of the ¡°real her¡± that was supposed to appear in the future was unsealed, then she would be revived.

    But there was no way for Yuuki to check that this was true. Still, he decided to believe fight for his friend¡­¡­ in order to repay his debt.

    And more so, he couldn¡¯t forgive that ¡°existence¡± that had manipulated him.

    To have let her honor be hurt, to have let her die, and to watch her family grieve over her death, as a former ¡°Hero¡±, he could not allow it for the sake of his beloved wife.

    Several months ago, Onzada had called him about an ¡°evil¡± appearing in the world that had been immediately sealed.

    How he wished that he could have interfered at that point, but even as a former hero, he could not deal with thousands of demon-sealing monks. So Yuuki and Onzada began moving to weaken the seal.

    Onzada had been collecting information about this, but he was still being monitored by the organization called [Miyama] thanks to past events.

    Yuuki was working as the arms of the operation, backed by the Kuon and Nikku families who wanted to know the truth.

    Even today, hundreds of people continued to pour effort into the seals around the temple in Kanto, day and night, with hundreds of satellite locations using their techniques to reinforce the seal.

    Yuuki teleported with his [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], crushing the sites and purifying them, and now this was the next location on his list.

    ¡°Now, then¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not that he couldn¡¯t move about in broad daylight. Although he could teleport in daylight, information about this couldn¡¯t be leaked out, so it was better for him to attack and leave in darkness.

    He was leaving his home with a variety of reasons, like getting groceries or a business trip, but somehow, he sensed that his wife knew what he was doing. Still, he couldn¡¯t afford to speak honestly and cause her worry, so he left while it was still bright, and only had a little time left.

    And at that time, he decided to eat the local ramen. His brother-in-law had ¡°franchised¡± the ramen shop out to him and was still the owner of a ramen shop himself.

    If the ramen was particularly delicious, he might sometimes bring ramen home to the delight of his wife.

    ¡°¡­¡­ this is also for the sake of training.¡±

    Throwing out excuses even though nobody was around to hear him, Yuuki went around the various famous ramen shops that he had been investigating in advance.

    ¡°nn?¡±

    Along the way, Yuuki saw some very unnatural-looking girls.

    There were a lot of tourist destinations and foreign tourists, but the two of them had blonde and silver hair and looked to be about 12 or 13. Also, more notably, that they were wearing full-fledged maid¡¯s clothing that was rarely seen in this country. It was certainly very eye-catching.

    As the two of them seemed to be getting hit on and picked up by some high school boys who were on a school excursion, Yuuki, who ought to have been unconcerned, rushed over to ¡°help¡± them.

    ¡°You guys, leave these girls alone.¡±

    ¡°What, you old geezer¡­¡­¡±

    Even as a twenty-something, he was an ¡°old geezer¡± to these high schoolers.

    That didn¡¯t bother him in the slightest, but as Yuuki let out the faintest hint of his killing intent, the high schoolers immediately turned blue and left.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, old man¨C¡±

    The two girls immediately thanked him formally.

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s alright¡±

    Yuuki also replied sort of offhandedly.

    He hadn¡¯t been the ones to help them. From the way they carried themselves and their beautiful appearance, he could feel the same atmosphere as that friend he had had, and his body had unintentionally moved to help them against the high schoolers.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯d like to ask something of you. What is that ¡°raboumen¡± written on the board over there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ra¨C¡´Bo¡µ men.¡±

    Yuuki mulled the words over for about two seconds, thinking that it clearly couldn¡¯t be read that way, and as realization stunned him, he spoke.

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t know what ramen is?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, is this the so-called ¡°ra-men¡±? I remember hearing Mistress speak of such a dish before.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¨C! I can feel the deep-seated grudges of stewed pig, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Really?¡±

    Yuuki couldn¡¯t believe that there were tourists who could not know about ramen even though their Japanese was so good, decided to explain a little to them about ramen, pretending that the silver-haired one hadn¡¯t said anything.

    ¡°Ramen differs according to the shop, and while it has the image of being a local dish made quickly, in reality, it¡¯s quite rich and unique. Of course, there are also some with lighter tastes. But I recommend the stronger-tasting ones. Shirayu¡¯s chicken soup, which is made by boiling chicken until it turns to mush, is great, and I recommend you try it at least once. Shirayu is famous for their Hakata-style pork bone broth, and newbies tend to shy away from it thanks to its strong smell, but once you get used to it it¡¯s addictive. I was wondering how it¡¯d taste like in a warmer region, but the thinness and solidity of the noodles are great. When you eat it, you should order hard noodles, and so when you get tired of the taste, you can add the red ginger and refresh the palate again, which is also quite addictive.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, I see.¡±

    As Yuuki ran his mouth along, the little golden-haired one bowed her head and thanked him.

    The silver-haired one had already left and was posing with for the students on school excursion and tourists as if she was a cosplayer.

    * * *

    ¡°Come out, ¡°Black Mask!¡±¡°

    ¡°tsch.¡±

    As Yuuki attacked the old shrine where they were performing the ritual, there were more demon-sealing monks than expected, since he¡¯d been raiding several places.

    ¡°[Windstorm!]¡±

    A storm blew into the bamboo forest, blowing away the demon-sealing monks along with the soil and dead leaves.

    But even so, after battling them for ten years, Yuuki¡¯s attack magic was now countered with Ki. Despite Yuuki going easy on them since he¡¯d decided to live in this world, a majority of the monks were still taken out of the fight.

    ¡°Strangely hardworking people.¡±

    In Yuuki¡¯s original world, Tess, they would have immediately given up when they realized their situation couldn¡¯t be mitigated with their skills, but since this world lacked skills, they would all try desperately to counter him with their skills.

    ¡°Corner him! Encircle him with Ki-¡­ kurgh!¡±

    ¡°Too slow.¡±

    But nonetheless, Yuuki was still the strongest human, the ultimate weapon of humanity, a [Hero].

    And he had been repeatedly training himself bloodily since he was born, and after learning the magic of another world from that ¡°evil¡± from another world, the Yuuki of today was more than capable of fighting more than one person, even if they were the ¡°hero of another world¡± like Tess¡¯.

    Yuuki swung his greatsword about him lightly, defeating the monks handily as he ran through the bamboo forest like the wind rapidly at a speed that were several times faster than a normal human.

    ¡°How many people are there? I don¡¯t want to use so much magic¡­¡­¡±

    If Yuuki was going to annihilate them all, he would have settled it by now, but it took a long time since he wasn¡¯t.

    The reason why he was avoiding the use of his magic was also because of the land rather than his aversity to wasting it.

    The demon-sealing monks used this place as a field of ¡°strong spiritual power¡± to help seal evil, but it also meant that this land¡¯s ¡°magic¡± was strongly influenced by that ¡°evil¡±.

    And in such places, it was possible for there to be monsters. If Yuuki used a lot of magic, monsters would definitely appear. And if that happened, the demon-sealing monks would be in danger, but they would not be able to deal with them since they had never dealt with, or even seen, real monsters before.

    If it was possible, he¡¯d like to just purify the land and then leave. But just as he began thinking of the worst, purifying the land and then teleporting away ¡­¡­ it appeared.

    [[[¡­¡­!?]]]

    Yuuki and the demon-sealing monks stopped their fight for an instant.

    Yuuki could feel sweat bead up on his forehead beneath his mask.

    In the depths of the bamboo forest¡­¡­ from the endless darkness beyond, he could feel the presence of an immense ¡°evil¡± approaching.

    The evil presence felt similar in scale to that of the ¡°evil dragon¡± Yuuki had faced in the past.

    Would Yuuki be able to beat it now? At that time, it had taken not only Yuuki¡¯s party, but the combined might of the other hero parties to defeat it¡­¡­

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    And in that instant, Yuuki moved immediately as he caught a glimpse of innumerable snakes slithering out of the bamboo grove, spotting something looming over them.

    ¡°Everyone, retreat! Don¡¯t look back! You¡¯ll die!¡±

    As he shouted, Yuuki began to run immediately, not looking back at the monks.

    He knew with a look. That wasn¡¯t some ¡°normal monster¡±. Yuuki had unconsciously used [Appraisal] just had he had when he had been a hero.

    The report was: [Unknown]. It indicated that whatever it was, it was something that overwhelmed Yuuki, a hero. Violence and destruction incarnate. If Yuuki wanted to kill it, he would have to stake his life on the line.

    He didn¡¯t look back at all, but he could tell that the monks who had heard him were fleeing. Whether they would make it or not was entirely dependent on their luck.

    He had actually considered the possibility that there would have been some evil monster coming out, but he never imagined that would appear instead.

    ¡°¡­¡­If you can release Yuzu, I will help you defeat them.¡±

    Yuuki thought that if it was because of Yuzu who had been sealed, she would gladly take responsibility, but if someone asked Yuuki whose fault it was, it wasn¡¯t quite his, either.

    *

    ¡°Escaped-¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    As the presence faded, a silver-haired girl ¨C Fannie appeared from the darkness, and the golden-haired girl ¨C Tina, raised her eyebrows as she returned the golden snakes to her curly hair.

    ¡°Ah, but isn¡¯t it good that we didn¡¯t show your true nature?¡±

    The two of them, who had come all this way for a certain task, felt the presence of a strong soul by luck and was thinking of recovering it.

    ¡°There seems to be a ¡°custom¡± here that girls ¡°transform¡± whenever they fight, no¨C?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Where did you get this information?¡±

    ¡°I heard it from that ¡°TV¡± thing.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    Tina consented quickly and resumed her original business with Fannie.

    It was to collect the magic that had accumulated in this place. In the blink of an eye, they had absorbed all of the magic around them, and then imitating their Mistress, they put their palms together.

    ¡°¡°Thank you for the meal.¡±¡±

    The two of them, who had recovered the magic power that they had lost through crossing dimensions from this ¡°snack¡±, weakened the seal without realising it, and the demon-sealing monks of [Miyama] began to ¡°fear¡± these unknown monsters, and as a result, helped Yuuki and Onzada¡¯s movements.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the Onzada story.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    A pleasant bit of slice of life here, just a bit to go!

 Volume 8 - CH 31

    Volume 8, Chapter 31: Side Story, Earth: When I got trapped, part 2.

    ¡°Hey, welcome!¡±

    A ramen shop that had opened several years ago in a certain place in Tokyo.

    This was the branch store of a certain famous store, with the main store being a very traditional place that was dedicated to ¡°ramen¡±. But this store was a bright and cheery one with plenty of personal touches from the young couple that owned and ran the place, and it came to be beloved of the community within a few years.

    However, since this store¡¯s owner would occasionally be away for a business trip every few weeks or so, during that time they had a male part-timer who manned the kitchen.

    Although his skills and personality weren¡¯t bad, he drank throughout the day, and with his manly influence, the place attracted more young athletes than their usual families.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada, are you still doing that?¡±

    ¡°geh, elder brother¡­¡­¡±

    Ever since that incident in his childhood, Onzada had become distrustful of [Miyama], and deviated from being a demon-sealing monk, working as a freelancer exorcist under the name ¡°Haimiya¡±.

    He was a so called ¡°sympathetic¡±, and his reputation was stellar in some parts of the industry, but it wasn¡¯t quite profitable as someone so softhearted.

    It was about 2pm in the afternoon, when most of the customers of the store weren¡¯t in, and his elder brother, who had taught Onzada how to seal evil, walked in, thinking that Onzada had gone mad.

    Although Onzada had been treated as if he had been formally disowned by his house, this one elder brother would still come by to see Onzada with some reason or another.

    ¡°What, are you not going to lecture me?¡±

    ¡°I just came here to eat ramen.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Sigh. I recommend the seaweed ramen.¡±

    There was a local legend that a certain girl who loved ramen had eaten this ramen with seaweed in it, where the seaweed never ran out no matter how much she ate, and who came by to eat it again and again.

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ve troubled you.¡±

    As the elder brother thanked the young woman who brought him his chilled tea, she smiled innocently, like a child.

    ¡°Please, take your time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Misa, don¡¯t be mean.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. ¡­¡­¡­ ah, welcome!¡±

    As Misa turned towards the foreign girls who walked in, there was a fragile atmosphere settling between Onzada and his older brother, and the two began to chat with the sound of Misa serving the girls in the background.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Will you not apologize to our father?¡±

    ¡°What do I have to apologize for¡­¡­? I have done nothing wrong.¡±

    ¡°That was a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°Welcome~ So what do you expect me to do?¡±

    ¡°I heard that the stuff called ¡°ryamen¡± here is famous.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s ¡°Ra-men¡±.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ is this your first time eating ramen?¡±

    ¡°A long time ago ¡­¡­ you let her die. ¡°

    ¡°¡­¡­ There was nothing I could have done. You know that too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. And would you say that it wouldn¡¯t have changed a thing?¡±

    ¡°We recommend the seaweed ramen. It¡¯s easy to eat.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯ll be good. I am also interested in remodeling the seaweed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ the seaweed ramen for me too.¡±

    ¡°Righty ho!¡±

    ¡°Onzada, living this kind of life¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t interfere with my work. ¡­¡­ hang on, your seaweed ramen will be right out.¡±

    ¡°What is this stick?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t you know what chopsticks are?¡±

    ¡°Of course I know who Mr Chopstick is.¡±

    ¡°I know~ It¡¯s for knitting, right!¡±

    ¡°Please stop nosing about the seal. Miyama is watching you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I know that. I¡¯m not doing anything, though.¡±

    ¡°You know you can¡¯t make that excuse.¡±

    ¡°This is a pretty good use of the seaweed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Delicious.¡±

    *crack* *tink* *clatter* *slurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurp¡­¡­*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The strange conversation and noises that were coming from the corner seats caused Onzada and his brother to lose their train of thought, and fell silent.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Take care of yourself for now. That respected shrine maiden has come to Kanto. Keep your eyes open out there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Aah. I get it.¡±

    After seeing his elder brother who had given him valuable information off, Onzada looked back with a sigh at Misa who was holding an empty tray with nothing on it, standing there with a blue face.

    ¡°Oh? Misa, who were those customers just now?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ they ate everything and then left, and they then left this behind with the bill bill¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why, is it not enough?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ do you think this is alright?¡±

    Misa reluctantly held out a heavy golden coin that was exquisitely carved, which looked like it could easily fetch a 7-figure price if it were solid.

    * * *

    ¡°Well, then.¡±

    After somehow getting a month¡¯s worth of sales in an unexpected windfall, he thought about going out to drink, but then remembered that he couldn¡¯t go out and play with his newly-married friend, and went off to work in the evening.

    Working in the evening. Of course, it was an ¡°exorcism¡±.

    Although it was called an exorcism, in this mana-depleted world, neither demons or creatures of myth appeared naturally. What the exorcists of this world did was to remove spirits, and the targets for exorcism were evil spirits.

    Onzada was currently working for the Kuon family long-term. who managed the land, and with his reputation for being a gentle soul, he was asked by the old woman who owned the land to [appease] the spirits of the old trees that had to be moved for the road expansion, and worked and drank nearly daily.

    Although it wasn¡¯t quite a negative evaluation, Onzada, who disliked being called ¡°uncool¡± in this underground industry, wore an anachronistic leather jacket to give himself a wild look, but he very much oozed the atmosphere of an old man behind his back.

    ¡°This is not the only purpose¡­¡­¡±

    Persuading the spirits of the old trees was important, but that wasn¡¯t all.

    The information that his elder brother had leaked was that that shrine maiden who had killed Yuzu was coming to Kanto. Perhaps she would stay here in Kanto until the seal was complete, but by that time, he hoped to find out her whereabouts.

    Of course, even though he still believed that she was still alive, he still wanted to avenge the loss of Yuzu, but it was also important for his friends and collaborators ¨C the people of the Kuon and Niku families ¨C to avoid facing the poisonous reach of that shrine maiden.

    But that shrine maiden ~ Matsuri ~ hadn¡¯t given up on the Kuons or the Nikus. And in fact Matsuri had once sprinkled Onzada with that poisonous powder in secret.

    ¡°You¡¯re fucking kidding me, that lecherous woman.¡±

    Still, in the underground industry, there were plenty of rumors about her, and even some of the monks of [Miyama] had become dissatisfied and complained about her.

    Tonight, it seemed that one of the information brokers had gotten their hands on information about the shrine maiden, and Onzada came to the temple in the middle of the night, not too far from the old tree, to meet the broker.

    ¡°They¡¯re late¡­¡­¡±

    As Onzada sipped from his metal hip flask, he suddenly turned a sharp eye towards the darkness.

    ¡°Oi, come out!¡±

    ¡°heeh¡­¡­¡±

    As he heard the voice of a young man replying foolishly, out stepped beautiful youths dressed in monk¡¯s clothes, chests bared to the world.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    As if they were some sort of visual kei band or an idol group, the youths all looked visually distinct from one another, one of which was handsome, another cool, another cute, another metropolitan, and their hair colors were equally distinct like traffic lights, one red, one blue, one yellow, and one white.

    ¡°So you are the one who is sniffing around for Matsuri.¡±

    ¡°It seems that he refused Matsuri once.¡±

    ¡°This old uncle? What a joke.¡±

    ¡°No, if you shave and dress like us, you¡¯ll be quite splendid too.¡±

    Onzada felt sick to his stomach after being winked at by the last guy.

    ¡°Haah?! There aren¡¯t any men who don¡¯t understand this hard-boiled wildness.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    It¡¯s impossible for either to understand the other since they were so different from each other. It was a feeling that was hard to accept for normal folk in the first place.

    Anyway, these were clearly subordinates of the shrine maiden Matsuri, or her harem members. The information broker might have betrayed him, or been tortured, and they had come here to capture or dispose of him.

    He didn¡¯t want to die, but he¡¯d rather die than be Matsuri¡¯s plaything. That was why there was no choice but for Onzada to defeat them.

    (¡­¡­ these guys are clearly possessed)

    They had been possessed by that existence ¨C that [God].

    If so, it was impossible to persuade them, and if they fought, their abilities would have been boosted considerably.

    A terrible pinch. Onzada, who felt that even his chastity was in danger from that beautiful man¡¯s gaze, looked around for anything at all.

    ¡°¡­¡­(hah?)¡±

    In the distance, something black and white fluttered.

    As he made out the shape of a skirt, and the white-stockinged legs that fluttered out towards the palm of his hand, he suddenly heard a ¡°voice¡± in his head.

    [Onza, quickly, run!!!]

    ¡°!¡±

    He snapped out of the haze muddying his thoughts.

    That was the voice of the ¡°ancient tree¡±. Onzada noticed that the outcry was both serious and angry, a far cry from its usual moody and bossy tone.

    A girl with a mask, that looked like a [Jester], advanced towards them soundlessly. As the hard mask turned into a distorted smile, baring black fangs, Onzada knew in an instant that it was beyond him, and fled.

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    ¡°Ah? A clown?¡±

    Onzada heard the youths talk to each other, seemingly unworried, like their heads were full of wool, even as he ran without looking back, he could hear an ugly, childlike laugh, and then the screaming of their last moments.

    Onzada kept running, unable to find relief even after a few minutes of running, finally collapsing at dawn, sweating all over, shouting with a loud cry from the depths of his heart, thanking the spirits of the old trees.

    ¡°SCARYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!¡±

    * * *

    ¡°Will be searching for Mistress soon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah~ I didn¡¯t get full from the ramen, but I¡¯m glad that I managed to fill myself with the 4 little snacks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not Ramen, it¡¯s Ra~men.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Then, when the twins arrive, I¡¯ll tell them to go have Ra~men.¡±

    And so, just like this, while having this dangerous conversation as casually as workmates, the Demons enjoyed this world, awaiting being called by their Mistress, all while causing massive trauma in many ways.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    And this is the end of the Earth stories.

    Next time, before the third part, a small story in the in-between worlds.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    A pleasant bit of slice of life here, just a bit to go!

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    fufu the side stories are great/

 Volume 8 - CH 32

    Volume 8, Chapter 32: Side Story: Ship upon the Stars, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    By the time I was aware, I was in a strange place.

    A white floor that felt like stone but looked like non-slip plastic.

    Although the walls and the floor were all of the same texture, the ceiling shone faintly, its gentle glow lighting the surroundings.

    ¡­¡­ why was I here?

    Well¡­¡­ I had found a way back to Atra from the other world, Tess, and I was crossing dimensional space with my abilities, but¡­¡­¡­ did I hit something?

    Well, it seems like I¡¯ve gone into a space I don¡¯t quite know, but for now, I¡¯m unhurt, and my clothes are intact, down to my usual black and silver dress, but I can¡¯t see anything else, and I don¡¯t know why I ended up popping out of my dimensional travel.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mysterious.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that all you have to say, Yurushia?¡±

    As I looked down towards the source of the grumpy voice, I saw a beautiful dark-skinned twenty-something glaring at me from under me as I sat on top of him.

    ¡°Oh, Rinne. What a pleasant surprise.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You didn¡¯t notice at all, did you?¡±

    No, no, I realized about halfway through. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s much more comfortable sitting on those strong muscles than it is on the cold floor.

    ¡°Speaking of which, Rinne, doesn¡¯t your voice seem younger?¡±

    It¡¯d gone from that moody old voice that I¡¯d liked, to something that was a bit younger and calmer. This might be a good thing¡­¡­

    ¡°When I look older, it¡¯ll return. For now, please get off me.¡±

    ¡°Aww.¡±

    Rinne pulled himself up with only his abs, and then as he got up, he lifted me by the scruff of my neck, picking me up gently and then putting me back on my feet softly.

    ¡­¡­ Rinne had been my cushion and protected me from my fall, so I wanted to soak in the atmosphere a little more.

    ¡°So. what do you think we¡¯re in?¡±

    ¡°Let me see¡­¡­¡±

    No such luck for now. With Rinne, who has thousands of years of knowledge, not knowing, I feel somewhat in charge.

    According to my attendants, there should have been no other [World] between where we were and Atra. Looking at the material, it seems to be a bit more advanced than that of Terra. The floors are quite narrow, too. Windowless space. And I could feel it moving slightly. So, if I had bumped into something, then¡­¡­

    *pipipirorinnn~*

    ¡°¡­¡­hah?¡±

    Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like a stringed instrument, and then the door slid open, and several ¡°humanoid¡± people rushed in.

    They wore loose clothing that looked to be made of artificial fibers. The expressionless men, hidden by their goggles, pointed their toy-like guns at me, while I heard the voice of a young woman behind them.

    ¡°We mean you no harm. Would you please comply?¡±

    She looked to be in her mid-twenties, and was quite the beauty, but looked completely like a cosplayer, with her bright blue hair and orange eyes that weren¡¯t quite possible even with color contacts.

    ¡°Do they understand what I¡¯m saying¡­¡­? It¡¯s a psychic translator, so if they can communicate, I should be able to talk to them¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I hear you.¡±

    Is that why it sounded like noise at first? Well, maybe my own [Spiritual Language] translator interfered with it and mixed it up.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good. Even so, a girl and a cat?¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­¡±

    When I turned around to look, Rinne was no longer in his [Human Form] but had turned into his [Black Cat mode], and had climbed on top of my shoulder, whispering quietly in my ear.

    [(This form will be less suspicious. Play along.)]

    ¡°¡­¡­(got it.)¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No. Just asking, but how did I get here?¡±

    She had a slightly suspicious look on her face, and then smiled, mumbling.

    ¡°Would you like to move first? Welcome to our world. I am Sebra. I welcome contact with any aliens.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Aliens¡­¡­ huh.

    The woman ¡ª Sebra led the way down the white corridors. There was a large window along the way, and I saw a river of stars and a city of pure white.

    It¡¯s not the sky. There was a city built upside-down in the sky, and I suppose it¡¯s as expected.

    ¡°¡­¡­A ship¡­¡­¡±

    I could see the river outside of the enormous window.

    This was a colony spaceship and, apparently, I seem to have caused an accidental contact with this ship that was sailing in a different dimension.

    * * *

    The colony ship 00302 encountered a sapient intelligence for the first time 506 years after leaving the home star.

    The ship housed 80 million humans and was travelling in search of a planet to settle.

    Up until now, they had discovered multiple planets with life on them, but all of them had been abandoned as they¡¯d determined that it would take thousands of years to terraform, thanks to their atmospheres and their environments.

    Amongst them, there had been natives with their own cultures and languages, but they had not been recognized as sapient since their appearances and thought processes were too different from theirs.

    One day, while they were in their bi-yearly long-distance jump, a dimensional quake happened aboard the ship.

    Such accidents were rare, but not impossible. There had been cases where the ship had collided with foreign objects in the past, but this time, the guard had been mobilized for the first time in decades because they¡¯d detected ¡°life¡± in one of the warehouses of the ship.

    Sebra, the security chief in charge of that block, was nervous.

    Lifeforms that had gotten lost while navigating the dimensions¡­¡­ Although it was unfair to them, they couldn¡¯t help but imagine that the creatures were some sort of grotesque alien that would lay their eggs in humans, like in those classic movies.

    But the ship¡¯s main system, [Mother], had given Sebra an astounding command through psychic communication.

    From the magnitude of the dimensional quake, the damage that had been done to the ship, and the magnitude of the mental waves it had observed, it had judged that these were sapient beings capable of dimensional navigation on their own, and had ordered her to ¡°capture¡± them.

    And furthermore, it seems that one of them was also likely to be humanoid, given its mental waves.

    First contact with an intelligent alien lifeform.

    And if they had come alone instead of on a ship, it was entirely possible that they were far beyond this civilization.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯ll be unpleasant if it was some sort of creature with long limbs, pale skin, and no hair.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Her subordinates didn¡¯t answer her attempt at a joke. They hadn¡¯t been made to do so in the first place.

    Sebra knew that, but made the joke anyway to calm her nerves, and then saw something completely astounding when she entered the warehouse.

    A gorgeous dress that was made of silver thread embroidered upon black, the likes of which she had only seen in classics that were over a thousand years old.

    A beautiful girl that caused Sebra, who had been genetically modified and had only ever seen beauties, to be stunned at her grace.

    Beauty standards changed with culture and even age. And yet, why did she feel that this alien girl was so beautiful¡­¡­?

    Designer children had been banned hundreds of years ago, since the pursuit of beauty drained the person¡¯s vitality. And yet, there was none of the unnaturalness that surrounded designer children, and Sebra, who had been stunned by her fascinating natural beauty, only managed to contact her after [Mother] helped to suppress her emotions.

    A golden-haired girl and a black cat.

    She was incredibly intelligent and responded with a smile as they quizzed and questioned her.

    ¡­¡­ But even though smiling meant the same to the girl and herself, Sebra could not help but feel a chill on her back when she saw that smile.

    * * *

    I was finally released after they questioned us for an hour and did tests on me.

    As I listened to Sebra¡¯s story, it really felt like an SF novel, with this place being a spaceship.

    I don¡¯t think this was the future of Terra¡­¡­ but I hadn¡¯t been able to confirm anything since I hadn¡¯t been allowed near an information terminal.

    This ship was a colony ship with a population of about 80 million¡­¡­ incredible. I didn¡¯t know what their units of measurement were, but it felt as big as the UK.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yurushia, you sure are calm.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡±

    Somehow, Sebra¡¯s gaze hurt a little¡­¡­ I¡¯m too calm?! But, everyone on this ship was no different from normal people, and nobody seemed to feel threatened¡­¡­ I wonder, was she suspicious because of my strange deceptive smile?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As I turned my eyes to Rinne in my lap, he curled up into a ball.

    ¡­¡­ This rascally cat. Leaving me to deal with all the trouble.

    For now, even though they were like space people, in their appearances, their ways of thought, and their expressions of emotion, they were no different from the ¡°humans¡± I knew.

    ¡­¡­ Well, now that I thought about it, humans weren¡¯t much different on Terra, Atra, or even Tess, so if these other worlds were on another star, it might have been the same as aliens.

    ¡°Maybe, it¡¯s because I¡¯m a ¡°Demon¡±?¡±

    As I answered cheekily towards her, Sebra looked angry for an instant, but then broke out laughing.

    ¡°Ahahaha, Yuru, you sure are interesting. Gods and Demons and ¡°religions¡± were things that were from a thousand years ago, Yuru sure must have studied them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahaha¡±

    Ah, I see now. I don¡¯t know if Demons had been translated correctly, but it seems that here, religions were a thing of the past, like something you¡¯d learn of in history class.

    But without religion, what did they rely on when their hearts wavered?

    Sebra, who was in front of me, looked normal¡­¡­ but her men, who were watching me from a distance, didn¡¯t seem to have any emotions I could sense at all.

    ¡­¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m being called ¡°Yuru¡± here too, huh.

    All of the meals on this ship, even after several days, was incredibly tasteless. But at least I finally got permission to go down into the city.

    Far from being an object of worship, rice here was being made by machines, so it didn¡¯t suit my palate. And Rinne has disappeared somewhere else today. ¡­¡­ If you¡¯re going to get snacks, you should have invited me.

    Although I had borrowed some casual clothing to blend in with them, when I went into the city, everyone¡¯s attention was on me for some reason. I wonder if it¡¯s my hair that¡¯s conspicuous after all.

    Oh? As the people watching me all turned expressionless for an instant, they all returned to work as if nothing had happened.

    Is there some system in place to protect their spirits so that they didn¡¯t need religion? I guess it¡¯s okay unless it¡¯s some sort of strange drug.

    ¡°¡­¡­n?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yuru?¡±

    Sebra noticed that I had found something strange.

    ¡°That child¡­¡­ I think I¡¯ve seen him before? But that hair color¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a model 0247. It¡¯s a cloned fertilizer body that¡¯s been popular these past few years, so there are a lot of them in this regard.¡±

    ¡°Heh. heehhh¡­¡­¡±

    Clones¡­¡­ But what did they mean fertilizer? Was it a normal human born of a cloned egg with similar appearance? And his soul was rather weak ¡­¡­ somewhat weaker than a normal human¡¯s. But if I examined them closely, some of their spirits were clearly very thin.

    For example, the shop vendors and the people like Sebra¡¯s subordinates. ¡­¡­ It seems like something irreversible if I decide to interfere.

    ¡°Ah, but I¡¯m not a copy clone like them. I was made from the biological data of the [Mother] of this ship.¡±

    ¡°I, I see.¡±

    Don¡¯t tell me. ¡­¡­ Sebra¡¯s soul didn¡¯t quite feel stable.

    *ping~*

    ¡°Eh, what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s something like breaking news.¡±

    As I stood surprised by the sudden sound, the river that flowed with stars turned into a screen, and the breaking news began to scroll.

    [When we launched our probe during our dimensional navigation, we found a planet that had an 87% chance of being a successful colony, and it will be our destination next.]

    I heard the loud cheering from the city. I¡¯m not sure, but is 87% very high? Does it represent a planet that resembles Terra? But¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuru, it¡¯s amazing! We can finally get to a planet where we can colonize by dimensional travel!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sebra was excited too.

    ¡°Hey, Sebra. ¡­¡­ What happens if there are natives there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­what? Ah, right. If they are like us, a [Human type], then we¡¯ll be able to collect their genes and life nucleus, and save ourselves a lot of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Collecting¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯ll be nice if we can harvest more than a hundred million of them, since they would die when we collect their life nucleus. Ah, it¡¯s alright, because the collection is easy. The number is only because there¡¯s only about a 0.0000419% chance. But we can increase it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­oh. Are these genes so important?¡±

    ¡°They are. Because there are only 1291 sets of genes left over from our mother star.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t the closest dimension from here¡­¡­ [Atra]?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    We will continue this with the next part.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Oh wow, this is a bit more suspenseful than I expected. I¡¯m on the edge of my seat.

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    Doop de doo, yuru in space!

 CH 33

    Volume 3, Chapter 3: I Turned Eight Years Old, Part 1

    I finally turned eight years old.

    Has anything changed? Well I might just be imagining it, but the difference in feeling between being a [Little Girl] and a [Young Lady] is very important.

    Though I¡¯m growing normally, I wonder how my body¡¯s doing.

    Well¡­ although I had the customary birthday party, I spent it in the royal capital. It wasn¡¯t split into multiple events and was neatly resolved in one place¡­ very normally.

    I didn¡¯t want to have it in the castle, but thinking about it, given the [Rumors] that have been going around about the Duke¡¯s daughter and all that, it would have been impossible to accommodate all the guests just in the Ducal Villa that we had in the capital.

    Anyways, the Archbishop of the main religion in this country made an unusual display of coming in with his entourage of priests in tow.

    Are you trying to win me over or do you want to maintain your distance, what do you want me to do?

    Since I was thinking those types of thoughts, I decided that it was best to end the party in the castle early.

    After all, with that guy, I don¡¯t know how to present myself as I talk to him¡­

    A few days later, I used my authority as the [Princess] and left the royal capital.

    Before you say anything, I wasn¡¯t playing hooky.

    Father is often invited to many other countries on his diplomatic missions, but this time, the schedules clashed. Moreover, it was a wedding and a funeral.

    So, even though Father was worried about me, I felt like I needed to play my role as the [Princess] and volunteered to go.

    I-I¡¯m not running off, okay?

    Naturally, since I¡¯m the [Princess] who is the diplomatic face of the Holy Kingdom, the school waived my absence. They¡¯re treating it like I¡¯m away for a holiday break.

    What about the school arc? Haven¡¯t you already had enough of that?

    Anyways, since His Majesty the King bestowed the title of [Princess] purely so that he could spoil his grandchild as a Grandfather, he and Father both opposed it.

    Still, I made my cute grand-daughter¡¯s sweetness appeal to Grandfather-sama. Also, according to Grandmother and Elea-sama¡¯s advice, if I sat on Father¡¯s lap and earnestly [Persuaded] him, he would do what I said.

    Now that Father has finally yielded, I¡¯m travelling to the neighboring country Shiguresu where Aunt-sama lives to attend the wedding of my younger cousin.

    ¡°Princess-sama! The mercenary company is approaching!¡±

    On the day we departed, Sara-chan, who has become the vice-captain of my escort knight corps, reported to me.

    Before I knew it, Sara-chan had become the vice-captain¡­ by winning a fist-fight.

    Don¡¯t pick that role with a process like that¡­

    Why is it that the only female knight corps in the whole Kingdom is so hot-blooded¡­?

    Mercenaries, the so-called [Jack-of-all-trades] of roughness.

    I must regretfully say, there is no such profession as [Adventurer] in this world.

    When a monster appears in a village, the feudal lord will usually send out their soldiers, and a convenient thing like a dungeon doesn¡¯t exist¡­ what a dream-crusher.

    Instead of adventurers, we have [Mercenary Companies], who are people who undertake nobles¡¯ requests or guard travelling merchants.

    There were a few mercenary companies in the capital, and as one of the conditions for going to Shiguresu, Father insisted that I should be accompanied by one of the mercenary companies that he trusts.

    In the end, the guards accompanying me to the wedding are as follows: Female escort knights: 15 members. Kingdom soldiers: 20 members. Cooks and Caretakers: 8 members. Mercenaries: 18 members. And with the inclusion of my 4 attendants, the total rounds off to 65 people.

    ¡­ that¡¯s a lot, you know.

    No, even as a representative of the country, isn¡¯t that too many?

    Among the caretakers, Vio is accompanying us at Mother¡¯s request.

    An impeccable choice. No matter how capable, Noa and Tina are still children.

    As for Bree-chan and Sara-chan, for the sake of [Showing off] to the Shiguresu knights, they¡¯ve been practicing their flashiest drills¡­¡­

    Yup. I can see why Father and Mother would be worried.

    Well, whatever. For now, let¡¯s just greet the representatives from the mercenary company who will be with us.

    To tell the truth, I¡¯m looking forward to what kind of dandy uncle would I meet.

    It¡¯s a Bear¡­ (TL: There¡¯s a pun here, his name basically means bear-man and he looks like a bear)

    ¡°Princess-san, we¡¯ve arrived. Please leave it to us to get you there safely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care, Bear-san.¡±

    I gave away my thoughts when I replied too quickly, but the mercenary troop leader, contrary to what I thought would happen, seemed rather pleased that I had addressed him as plainly as [Bear-san].

    It seems that god hasn¡¯t abandoned me.

    I¡¯m a Demon who prayed to god, and at last salvation has come.

    ¡°Lucy!¡± (Note: A kindly reminder from last volume: Yurushia -> Rushia -> Lucia -> Lucy)

    ¡°Noel?¡±

    That¡¯s right. The one who bravely defended me, my lovely and cute Noel-kun.

    We meet again after two years. Noel-kun, who has turned ten years old, seems to have gotten taller, though it doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s gotten manlier.

    ¡°Finally¡­ I was able to meet you again.¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­ yeah¡±

    Noel ran up to me like a puppy, and cupped my hands in his with a lovely smile on his face.

    Wha-what? This skinship is intense¡­

    ¡°Hey, Noel!¡±

    *Gochin*, a fist landed squarely painfully on Noel¡¯s head, looking rather painful.

    ¡°~~~¡±

    ¡°Suddenly grabbing the Princess-san¡¯s hands, what¡¯s wrong with you!?¡±

    Bear-san has gotten angry.

    In this case, Bear-san was correct, but the instant that he brought down his fist again, I had already unwittingly thrust out my hand in response.

    ¡°Tei!¡±

    ¡°DuooooOOOOOOOOOH!?¡±

    ¡°Hee!¡±

    After my forehead poke, Bear-san and Tina both clasped their foreheads and squatted down.

    Since Noel was holding my hands, Tina approached with a strange look on her face, so I gave her a forehead poke too.

    By the way, the difference in magical power put into the forehead poke between Tina and Bear-san was about 500 times in magnitude.

    How dangerous, how dangerous, it would have been a huge disaster if I¡¯d made a mistake between my right and left hands.

    ¡°Bear-san, Noel is a friend of mine, can you forgive him?¡±

    Even though I asked so modestly, Bear-san and Tina both didn¡¯t move from their crouching positions, and Bree-chan and Sara-chan were grasping each other¡¯s hands in fear, it seems nobody listened to me

    ¡°Wow, as expected of Saint-sama! I haven¡¯t received a good strike like that in ten years!¡±

    Bear-san, who resurrected unexpectedly early, let out a hearty laugh.

    Viva la Saint-sama. Thanks to that common-sense defying phrase: ¡®As expected of Saint-sama,¡¯ it was ignored.

    ¡°But, Noel, even as a friend of the [Princess] that¡¯s no good. I apologize; this fellow is still a newbie.¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m sorry, Lucy¡­sama.¡±

    He got scolded¡­ that look on Noel is cute.

    It was an unexpected surprise, but as this mercenary troop captain, Ba-Bar¡­na¡­bas¡­¡­¡­ as Bear-san said, Noel was a newbie that joined one year ago and they had high expectations of him.

    Well, that¡¯s natural given Noel¡¯s absurd talent.

    ¡°By the way, Noel, why did you join a mercenary company¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well¡­ I wanted¡­ to become strong.¡±

    Noel said while stealing glances at me.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter¡­? As a boy, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s shameful for you to want [Strength], do you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ no.¡±

    As Noel was fidgeting shyly like a small animal, Bear-san gave a broad grin and violently pat him on the back.

    ¡°Men ought to be like that. Make sure to support Princess-san.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got it. Do your best, Noel.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes!¡±

    Noel answered my encouragement with a smile, his cheeks flushing bright red.

    Yep, Noel is cute. ¡­¡­¡­ I wonder if I can get him to work for me instead.

    £ª

    Thus, our journey began.

    Travelling to the neighboring country Shiguresu usually took about two weeks. But so as to not have me endure sleeping outside, the journey took three weeks as we went to the various inns on the way there.

    Although I thought that it would be a smooth and peaceful journey, around the tenth day of our travels, our travelling party finally encountered a [Monster].

    *Guboh*

    ¡°It¡¯s a [Hippo], be careful!¡±

    Said Bear-san, as he took the mercenary troops out ahead of us while the escort knights formed a protective line around me.

    Even though Noel didn¡¯t head out to the front lines, Bear-san had him use his support magic on the swords of the middle line of guards.

    Vio had been teaching Noel holy magic and household magic during the journey.

    Incidentally, I couldn¡¯t teach him. My explanations were overly vague, and he couldn¡¯t understand it at all¡­ *sniffle*

    The yellow hippopotamus was reasonably strong, but somehow or another they managed to repel it.

    Still¡­ it really was a hippo. I really didn¡¯t think one would attack a traveler.

    ¡°I wonder if it was driven out by the elves of the forest¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    According to Bear-san, there¡¯s a village of Elves in the nearby forest, and it seems they¡¯ve been cutting down large parts of the forest for agricultural land.

    We technically rule their land. Are you okay with that, people of the forest? Cut it out, you Salt Daifukus. (TL: See early chapters for reference)

    They¡¯re so different from the elves of my imagination¡­

    Well, after another three weeks we safely arrived in Shiguresu.

    It¡¯s my first time in a foreign country. I wonder what kind of country Shiguresu is?

    By the end, I wasn¡¯t able to talk much with Noel¡­

 CH 34

    Volume 3, Chapter 4: I Turned Eight Years Old, Part 2

    The agricultural country, Shiguresu. Population: two million people, largely spread out in villages. In short, it¡¯s a country made mostly of fields. As expected, the city centers were beautiful towns.

    Although we got to Shiguresu early, by the time we got to town it was already too late to have a little walk on my own.

    ¡°Princess-sama, this baked potato is delicious¡±

    ¡°No, no, this sorghum is so sweet¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s freshly-harvested raw white asparagus here¡­¡±

    ¡­You guys are fully enjoying this as a vacation, huh. In the middle of the village road we travelled, there were open-air stalls strewn all over the place, and my escort knights jumped at the chance to go shopping.

    Everyone in the mercenary troop was left dumbfounded at the entirely carefree female knights¡¯ actions.

    No, no, please forgive them.

    Well, ever since I enrolled at the Royal Capital¡¯s Magic Academy, they haven¡¯t had much time outside. Since we¡¯re having this long trip after so long, they naturally felt like carousing.

    Although my aim was to be a laid-back boss, I wonder if I pampered them way too much.

    ¡°Vio. Make sure that they all submit a detailed report on what they¡¯re eating right now.¡±

    I instructed Vio, who was the only one riding in the same carriage as me outside of my four attendants. Vio nodded with a serious face, and I laughed a little.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama you¡¯re very gentle, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°But I gave them more work to do¡­?¡±

    Mu~¡­ it¡¯s very sweet, huh. While there¡¯s nothing I can think of to export to Shiguresu, if there¡¯s something that¡¯s cheap and delicious, we should definitely import it.

    Before being a Princess or a Saint, I¡¯m the daughter of Duke Verusenia.

    £ª

    ¡°Presenting herself to Her Royal Younger Brother, Oslo, for his Wedding, on behalf of Taterudo, Yurushia-la-Verusenia sends her congratulations.¡±

    The wedding ceremony between His Royal Highness Oslo and the lady of Marquis Etia¡¯s household was held three days after our arrival at the capital of Shiguresu.

    Although it wasn¡¯t especially showy, it was held in the Royal Castle, the largest in Shiguresu. The various royal families were announced in front of the rest of the attending parties. After that, there were three more rounds of greetings in total for those present for the wedding reception.

    Three rounds of greetings; with all three rounds between the same people¡­ it¡¯s quite severe.

    After all, as the representative of the Holy Kingdom of Taterudo, it was necessary for me to express our congratulations to a lot of different people.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, great work, it went splendidly.¡±

    As I finished the greetings and was about to go back to the venue, the Queen-sama came up to thank me and tightly hugged me.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Q-¡­Queen-sama.¡±

    ¡°Ufufu, it¡¯s fine to just call me ¡®Aunt-sama¡¯.¡±

    A great beauty with luxurious blonde hair, this is my aunt, Camille-sama, who married into the royal family of Shiguresu.

    And now, I¡¯m buried in her chest.

    ¡°Um¡­ I will call you that outside of formal occasions, then.¡±

    ¡°Really, Yuru-chan, you¡¯re so responsible¡­ as expected of Folt¡¯s daughter, you even look like him.¡±

    When she said that I resembled Father, I instinctively gave a complacent smile.

    Speaking of Father¡­ I wanted to hear about something from Aunt-sama.

    ¡°Aunt-sama¡­¡­¡­ where are my elder sisters?¡±

    When I asked, a somewhat un-queenly smile spread across Aunt Camille-sama¡¯s face as she contemplated it.

    My elder sisters both went to boarding schools in this place, Shiguresu.

    I was really looking forward to meeting those wonderful elder sisters again, I was wondering what they¡¯d try this time¡­

    Although Aunt-sama¡¯s face looked like she didn¡¯t want to think about it, she told the story to me, since I¡¯m the [Little Sister].

    ¡°Although Folt requested that they study abroad, those two barely attend their classes, recently they¡¯ve been with the Hero-sama all the time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Although my elder sisters seem to be doing well, some strange words came out.

    ¡°¡­Hero-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Did Yuru not know¡­? It¡¯s been all the talk of the country lately.¡±

    Hero. A man of courage. Standing at the forefront of humanity, a person that gives others hope.

    I wasn¡¯t aware, but recently there have been kidnappings in this country by [Daemons], and a small party broke through and cleared their camp, rescuing all the children. ¡­¡­ how typical.

    Huh¡­ so there¡¯s a person like that.

    When I helped the children back then, and I got called [Saint] without asking, I wonder if it¡¯s that same sort of situation.

    While I was thinking simple thoughts, Aunt Camille-sama seemed to be worrying about my carefree self.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, be careful if you¡¯re staying in the hall. Since you¡¯re a beautiful little girl, there might be some bad people that might come after you.¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡±

    Just like everyone else who¡¯s related to me, she¡¯s excessively overvalued my appearance.

    ¡°Would you allow my sons to escort you? And, if Yuru-chan agrees, can the three of us can take you home?¡±

    ¡°No, well, err¡­¡±

    That¡¯s right. Aunt-sama¡¯s children were all boys.

    Normally, a male child in a royal family would be good. ¡­¡­ For the first boy, that is that, and this is this. Once more boys keep coming, words like ¡°A Princess would be nice¡± start to spring out of thin air.

    Now that I¡¯m eight years old, talk of marriage proposals have started coming from all over.

    My standing, although I have royal blood, is that of a daughter of a duke, the social threshold for marrying was lower, and yet, with my recognition as the Holy Kingdom¡¯s [Princess], everyone sees me as a [Princess-sama], so at the moment, it feels like I¡¯m a popular item at a shop that¡¯s about to run out of stock.

    The reason that I enrolled at the magic academy was because I wanted to experience love¡­ But, because of [That Guy], I can¡¯t find a target, which is a problem.

    I definitely don¡¯t want to be looked at with those sorts of eyes¡­

    But, if it turns out that ¡®m misunderstanding, I¡¯d be terribly embarrassed.

    In any case here, without Father-sama or Mother-sama around, it¡¯s impossible for this eight-year-old daughter to be [Sold] away.

    ¡°Aunt-sama, my escort, umm¡­ he is here. Noel~!¡±

    To be honest, my guard in this party is only supposed to be Sara-chan and Bree-chan. As the famous mercenary company Ba-, Bruna¡­¡­¡­ Bear-san¡¯s only available [friend] whose age was close to that of mine, Noel-kun came along too.

    Noel-kun who was wearing gorgeous clothes that were rented from a town in Shiguresu, he¡¯s so shy, it¡¯s seriously cute.

    Seeing Noel like that, it was so cute that I was satisfied just looking at him. Aunt-sama let out a giggle, and whispered gently in my ear.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, when you leave this country, be careful of the hero of the Kostoru religion¡¯s Hero.¡±

    £ª

    The worship of the Harvest Goddess Kostoru was the most popular religion, and was recognised as the official religions of both Taterudo and Shiguresu.

    What does she mean to [Be Careful] of the Kostoru religion?

    And Aunt Camille-sama said to be careful of the [Hero].

    In the stories, isn¡¯t the Hero is usually a [Good person]¡­?

    ¡°¡­Lu-Lucy¡­?¡±

    Because I was brooding for a while, my escort, Noel, seemed anxious.

    ¡°Ah, sorry about that.¡±

    While I was lost in my thoughts, I moved my hand onto Noel¡¯s arm, and his face stiffened.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing¡­¡­¡±

    How strange, Noel¡­he¡¯s been acting strangely ever since we reunited. Because of that, we weren¡¯t able to speak much during the journey, I wonder if we can have a relaxed conversation today.

    As we walked, everyone¡¯s gazes turned to focus on us. Since the people of this country aren¡¯t used to [Me], it¡¯s good that I didn¡¯t have to talk too much, but still, it was terrible to be stared at like that.

    ¡°Noel, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh, for what?¡±

    ¡°Since I¡¯m so conspicuous, aren¡¯t you uncomfortable while you¡¯re with me?¡±

    When I said that, Noel shook his head with a little bit of astonishment.

    ¡°Lu-, Lucy stands out, so it can¡¯t be helped. Because you¡¯re a Princess-sama and the Holy Saint.¡±

    Both of those titles were just given by other people without my permission¡­

    The church people, although they tried to win me over, never gave their [Certification of Sainthood] to me. What do they want, exactly?

    As I pondered this with a tenuous smile, Noel blushed and spoke softly.

    ¡°Besides¡­ Lucy is¡­ beautiful¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Uwaaah¡­¡­ I¡¯m feeling really embarrassed.

    Wherever I went, I was feared, so it was always a choice between being surrounded or leaving, this is the first time I¡¯ve ever heard such words from a boy¡­

    My face¡­¡­ I wonder if my face is red too.

    Since I¡¯m Noel-kun¡¯s [Esteemed Holy Saint], his evaluation of me is abnormally high. I wish that I could see how I look in Noel¡¯s eyes¡­

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, are you okay?¡±

    To Noel and I, who were standing there in embarrassed silence, someone I didn¡¯t know called out.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    The voice¡¯s owner was a well-dressed uncle wearing the holy symbol of the harvest goddess.

    ¡­ the Kostoru religion, huh.

    ¡°I am the high priest Calisto, of the Kostoru church in Shiguresu¡¯s capital. I wanted to speak to you, to give Yurushia-sama a message¡­¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Calisto-sama, I am Yurushia-la-Verusenia.¡±

    I instantly switched to my [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mode.

    But, high priest, huh¡­ I completely don¡¯t know what level of position that is. The thin 50 year old uncle that doesn¡¯t seem to be doing so well.

    ¡°Today I¡¯d like to introduce someone to Yurushia-sama¡­¡­ would that be fine by you?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, it¡¯s not an issue.¡±

    Somehow or another the flow of the conversation went in that direction. As Aunt Camille-sama¡¯s advice crossed my mind, Calisto-san sent his gaze behind him, and several men and women came over.

    ¡°As you may know, this is the [Hero], Alfonso.¡±

    It arrived¡­¡­ the Hero-sama.

    Author¡¯s Note: It¡¯s a flag.

 CH 35

    Volume 3, Chapter 5: I Turned Eight Years Old, Part 3

    The Hero had dark hair and eyes, he was a man of medium build that looked like he was in his early twenties.

    That¡¯s the [Hero-sama], huh¡­¡­

    Although he¡¯s a bit charming right now, it¡¯s too bad¡­ You should come back again in ten years, youngster.

    You either fancy adult men, or fancy school boys. There is no middle ground.

    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°What a pleasure meeting you, oh beautiful princess. I am named Alfio, and while I am very boastfully called a hero by other people, Princess-sama, I would prefer for you to call me Al.¡±

    This is the Hero? Alfio knelt in front of me, and was about to kiss my hand¡­ right before that happened, Noel cut in and stopped him.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A threatening atmosphere almost engulfed us immediately, as Alfio stood up instantly, and looked down upon Noel from above with a bright smile on his face.

    ¡°Princess-sama seems to have an excellent knight.¡±

    Although he had a bright smile on his face, after hearing Aunt-sama¡¯s words, it clearly seemed somewhat off.

    For now, even as I gave Noel a thumbs-up in my heart, I should return his greeting as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°I- I am, Yu-Yurushia-la-Verusenia¡­¡±

    C-Crap, my cheeks cramped up.

    Apparently, after Noel¡¯s act of courage, I couldn¡¯t bring forth the mental strength for that situation.

    Hero Alfio looked puzzled at the state I was in, but I was able to convince him to ignore it by smiling right away.

    ¡°Hahaha, Yurushia-sama. Although I¡¯m called a hero, but you need not be so nervous. I merely wanted to introduce you to my party.¡±

    Wrong. That¡¯s completely different.

    ¡°First off, the person taking the role of healer, Antique.¡±

    *Buho*

    At that point, I hit the limits of my self-control, and couldn¡¯t help but leak a chuckle.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-what is it¡­¡±

    As I was there trembling and holding my stomach, she ¡­ the Elf Antique-san, frowned and muttered.

    ¡°Deepest apologies¡­ I¡¯m Yurushia-la-Verusenia¡­¡±

    I never would I have thought that I would experience the surprise of an Elf at this occasion.

    Although I greeted her with my cheeks still cramping, Antei-Kowa-san seemed to be making light of me as a child, and introduced herself arrogantly.

    ¡°Apology accepted¡­ I am Antique. If you would call Alfio ¡®Al,¡¯ then you should call me ¡®Anko.¡¯¡±  (TL: There¡¯s a joke here: red bean paste (anko) is commonly found as filling for small glutinous rice cake (daifuku) and shiodaifuku is this world¡¯s word for elf)

    *Buha*

    Once again, I couldn¡¯t hold my breath in. This Shiodaifuku (Elf)¡­ how terrible to name her that.

    While I was still mysteriously suffering from the cramp, Anko-san¡¯s face became stiff, and she forced a smile at me with a condescending attitude.

    ¡°Should I heal you? Although I may look like this, in the north, I¡¯m called the [Saint of the Elves], you know. Isn¡¯t it terrible to be called a [Saint] when you¡¯re so young? It¡¯s tough to be alone as a saint, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    For this elf girl to not only have long ears, just like I imagined, but to be a beautiful woman with slender curves, this is no good¡­¡­ I started laughing the moment I saw her face.

    ¡°Yurushia, stop that at once!¡±

    From behind Anko-san came a voice scolding me, as I kept laughing. It can¡¯t be helped that they¡¯d get angry.

    But, this turn of events is really good.

    ¡°Elder sister-sama, I wanted to meet you again.¡±

    As soon as my view shifted away from Anko-san, my laughter finally abated. My Elder Sister-sama seemed to be surprised to see me, and had a smile on her face.

    She finally arrived, my half-sister, Athena-sama, and hidden behind her, staring pointedly at me, was Ophelia-sama.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡¯s sisters have also become my companions.¡±

    Under Hero Alfio¡¯s guidance, my Elder Sister-samas seem to be part of Hero-sama¡¯s entourage as their resident [Mages].

    Aaah, I finally managed to meet them again. My delightful Elder-sister-samas.

    Especially Sister Athena-sama, who is clearly [Ripening] quite well, I plan to greatly enjoy the harvest.

    ¡°Hah, an idiot child like you, after hearing Alf-sama¡¯s words, still think of being allowed to display such disregard towards Anko-sama!?¡±

    Because I was smiling too much, it seems that Sister Athena-sama has been drawn in, somehow.

    ¡­Please don¡¯t speak again, Anko. I¡¯ll start laughing again.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, towards the Hero Alfio-sama¡¯s companions, you dare¡­¡±

    At Sister Ophelia-sama, who began to spout things like some petty toady, I gave her a silent look and applied some light [Intimidation], she immediately quieted down.

    ¡°As Father¡¯s daughter, you¡¯re quite shameless, Elder Sister-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡±

    Sister Athena-sama came forward, sheltering Ophelia-oneesama behind her.

    The grand sister showdown¡­¡­ didn¡¯t happen. Even though Athena-oneesama glared at me, I only smiled normally at her.

    But¡­ I seem to have gained a little understanding of Athena-oneesama.

    Even as I smiled at them, in my eyes they couldn¡¯t even be seen as [Human] ¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Elder Sister-samas. I¡¯m just so happy to be able to play with you again.¡±

    It¡¯s not good to be picking fruit before it ripens, I broke off the conversation gently with a full-faced smile, and Athena-oneesama gritted her teeth together with a *giri*.

    ¡°I¡¯ll remember this¡­¡­¡±

    Taking in my meek, [Sarcastic] obeisance, Elder-sister-sama left behind a sharp and tasty parting shot, before walking away once again.

    Of course I won¡¯t let you forget. Although I only did it just a little, I wonder if I messed with her too much¡­

    Hero-sama and Anko-san both followed behind my Elder-sister-samas and left, while Callisto-san blanked out in surprise at what happened, and, after giving me a panicked bow, turned away to follow them, saying.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, the year after the next I will¡­¡­ no, next year, the bishops of the Kostoru religion will be finalising our decision. On that occasion, I will come again to greet you without fail¡­¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    The Hero of Shiguresu, Alfio Pet. 22 years old, has an unspeakable secret.

    Born the second son to a large orchard owner in the north of Shiguresu, although he was not a noble, his family was plenty affluent.

    His first change came when he was two years old.

    During the magic inspection, although he had no affinity for spiritual magic, he was compatible with all of the normal magical elements like wind, water, earth and fire. Alfio¡¯s surprised parents gave him a specialised education, and he grew up being praised by everyone.

    The second major change in his life came when he was four years old.

    His parents and siblings all had dark red hair and tea-coloured eyes, while he was the only one who had black hair and eyes. Although nobody in his family seemed to make much of it, Alfio still felt alien to his family, and, gradually, his thoughts changed until he finally thought of himself as [A Chosen One].

    Then¡­ at seven years of age, when he fell asleep from a high fever, he suddenly recalled memories of a [Previous Life].

    His name in his previous life, his face, and even his family he couldn¡¯t remember.

    In Alfio¡¯s previous life Magic didn¡¯t exist, it was a world that overflowed with scientific knowledge. By recalling that otherworldly [Knowledge], he remembered that his previous self died of alcohol poisoning while still in university, and he became convinced that he had been reincarnated into this world.

    After that, Alfio began to train in magic and swordplay as if he was a whole other person.

    With the knowledge that he had gained in his previous life, he created new magics and trained himself in magic with an unnatural fervor. By processing the fruits that his family produced with the technology of his previous life, he greatly expanded his family¡¯s business.

    After defeating a monster that attacked a village near his family¡¯s orchards and repelling the mass of elephants that had attacked the Elven lands after they cleared the forest for development together with a beautiful Elf lady, Alfio had been hailed as the [Hero] of Shiguresu before he knew it.

    Alfio tenderly smiled at the elf girl and the daughter of a knight, who was both a warrior and his childhood friend as he thought how he could show her his favor.

    {¡­ Finally, it¡¯s just the two of us.}

    Although cases of polygamy were few in the neighbouring Holy Kingdom, in Shiguresu it wasn¡¯t unusual.

    In his previous life he longed for a beautiful Elf.

    And a childhood friend that was the daughter of a knight.

    It wasn¡¯t enough. If he had been reborn to such a world, he seriously felt that at the very least he wanted to have six brides.

    Why six people specifically? It was to have one to enjoy on each day, and on the last day enjoy all of them together.

    One day, the high priest that sponsored Alfio invited him to attend His Highness the Second Prince¡¯s wedding.

    Although his strange personality made him keep his distance from the royal family no matter how famous he became, the moment he heard from the noble girls that he had made his [Bride (Harem)] candidates a few months ago, that their beautiful [Younger Sister] would be attending, he immediately decided to attend.

    The day of the wedding. Although he was a little disappointed upon hearing that that [Younger Sister] was only eight years old, he reconsidered and thought that it would be [Acceptable], and attended the wedding reception anyway. He was stunned by the beauty of the girl that he met.

    Faintly shimmering hair that seemed like it was made of gold thread.

    Smooth white skin that resembled top-quality porcelain.

    Features that were so beautiful that they were faultless, and even in his previous life, where he was used to seeing 2D girls and CGs, she was so beautiful that he felt that it couldn¡¯t possibly have been natural, a girl that he couldn¡¯t help but perceive as absolutely perfect.

    {I must obtain this beautiful girl}

    So Alfio swore to himself, as he accepted his mission from the high priest to attack the kidnappers and save the children.

    Something strange, she had struggled to contain her laughter when she first met the existence of the Salt Daifuku (Elf), it gave him a strange sense of intimacy with the girl.

    Author¡¯s Notes:  Thank you for the pointers on the errors. It was very helpful. I await your impressions.

 CH 36

    Volume 3, Chapter 6: The Magnificent Daily Life of Demons, Part 1

    It¡¯s been several months since my [Princess] business in Shiguresu ended and we returned to Tariterudo.

    Daytime life hasn¡¯t really changed much. Going to school in a carriage, I walk with my four attendants while being stared at by the rest of the students who would surround  us.

    ¡­¡­Wait what? Thinking about those [Stories] that I¡¯d heard about my Elder Sister-samas, don¡¯t I also give off the feeling of a [Villainous Young Lady] right now?

    I sometimes meet with Rick during the evening. Since whenever he comes to the classroom, everything fall apart, I¡¯ve been avoiding him.

    With an attitude like that, it¡¯s almost a copy of [His] character¡­¡­¡­

    The point is, that attitude is clearly a no-go. Put bluntly, the reason why I¡¯m having a headache is because these days, Timothy-kun keeps coming over to see me to ¡°Fuss over his cousin as a gentle Prince-sama¡± to make up for Rick, but since he comes over so frequently, [Dubious Rumours] began to arise. It¡¯s scaring me.

    Well, while I¡¯ve been making idle complaints about having this kind of school life, I haven¡¯t been too busy.

    Participating in other nobles¡¯ tea parties, studying magic, answering and writing letters to Noel, shopping with Shelly, Betty, and my own escort knights in a group, although we trouble the shops. I¡¯ve been really busy as the [Duke¡¯s Daughter Yurushia], but I there were times where I was really worried both as a human and demon as the [Demon Princess].

    My attendants (Demons), have you all been diligently working?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­ Here¡¯s the report.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. Would you like a candy?¡±

    At the sight of an eight year old little lady presenting [Black Candy], the vampire butler had a strained smile upon his face¡­ but he still gladly received it, and disappeared into the darkness of the town.

    Left behind was a small girl with pure white hair, dressed in a maid¡¯s uniform.

    Late at night with all the devout residents having already gone to bed¡­ in an incongruously dark alley, Fannie was seeing off a vampire with a bright smile as she took from her pocket a piece of [Black Candy] that she threw into her mouth appetizingly.

    Of course, anything that demons or vampires which found human food unpalatable, found delicious couldn¡¯t be a good thing. It would be better if you didn¡¯t think about the [Raw Materials].

    Under her master, Yurushia¡¯s, orders, Fannie was investigating the Kostoru church.

    Due to Fannie¡¯s childlike disposition, Yurushia had Millaine cooperate with her, and asked the vampires to investigate the rumours in the populace.

    Although she¡¯s called childish, at her level, it didn¡¯t really hinder her carrying out her task.

    Fannie would receive the intelligence reports from the vampires, and from there would extract the essential points of it. Besides investigating the church in the capital, she would also go to Shiguresu and investigate the high priest there, Callisto.

    Fannie¡¯s [Power] as a Demon was the lowest among the four Arch Demons.

    But it¡¯s not the [Case] that her overall ability is lower, but rather that her powers aren¡¯t really suited for direct combat.

    Fannie¡¯s [Power] can be used to perform  [Spatial Teleportation] by using human souls as markers.

    Other demons could also use teleportation, but only Fannie could use long-ranged teleportation without cost, an ability that was most suited for espionage.

    Yurushia, was even more unusual as a demon, since she has no ability, but an enormous amount of magical power¡­

    ¡°Is something wrong¡­?¡±

    In the church of the Royal Capital, nothing was out of the ordinary. Although a little bit of embezzlement and dishonesty were found, the kinds of intel that the master was looking for didn¡¯t exist. Fannie didn¡¯t know if Millaine had received any other instructions to deal with the matter from her master.

    However, the one thing that worried her master was high priest Callisto of Shiguresu¡¯s church. Although on the surface there weren¡¯t any problems, the aforementioned [Hero¡¯s Party] was being dispatched on unusual tasks.

    The contents of the requests were all proper, and the Heroes also diligently performed their contents.

    However, for someone like Fannie, who [Sensed] things through people¡¯s [Nightmares], she thought that what she saw was very unnatural.

    ¡°Why, are so few people being helped?¡±

    The Heroes received the request to find a few children and rescued them.

    But, on the day the request was received, she would always find a large number of other people caught somewhere else.

    ¡°N~~¡­¡±

    As much as she thought about it, she couldn¡¯t understand. Therefore, Fannie decided to go to the scene herself to satisfy her curiosity.

    In that place, there was one child and three adults. Fannie chose the most appropriate out of several locations she knew of.

    If she were forced to say why she chose this place, it would be that it looked [The Most Delicious].

    While she peeked into the small hut that looked like a restroom or an old storeroom on a farm, she heard

    ¡°Shut up, brat!¡±

    Someone yelled as a large man kicked the small child. It seems the man wasn¡¯t kicking the child with full force, since the little girl who was smaller than Fannie was doubled over in pain, rolled up in fear and crying.

    ¡°Fu~hnn¡­¡±

    Fannie let out an emotionless humph. As a demon, she didn¡¯t have the heart to feel pity for humans, the feelings that flowed from that little girl and the adults weren¡¯t what Fannie preferred, so she wasn¡¯t particularly interested.

    ¡°¡­Who¡¯s there?¡±

    The big man, who noticed Fannie¡¯s faint voice, instantly went on alert, drawing his thick-bladed cutlass and turning towards the door.

    As an ex-mercenary with battle experience in forests and remote regions, he was well-prepared.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hyuu¡­¡±

    As he walked out, he met the gaze of [Something]. He sucked in a breath to scream, but the flame of his life was instantly extinguished by the tens of thousands of [Nightmares].

    ¡°Good evening©`¡±

    When the victims saw a young girl dressed in maid clothing coming back in instead of the kidnapper that had gone out, the men and women looked at the girl in both fear and confusion.

    Strangely, the girl looked around the hut then approached the crying little girl, patting her head gently.

    Fannie didn¡¯t say anything, instead she kept stroking the hair of the little girl, who turned her tear covered face upwards with a look of fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­Woo¡¯re yuu?¡± (TL: who¡¯re you, slurred for little kid crying)

    Fannie smiled brightly at the little girl who lisped out the words.

    ¡°Would you like a candy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Wanna eat.¡±

    Fannie took out a [Black Candy] from her pocket and presented it to the little girl, but she didn¡¯t move. Fannie could see her own reflection in those cloudy eyes.

    ¡°Are you blind?¡±

    ¡°Yeahh¡­¡±

    ¡°Well then, open your mouth.¡±

    When the little blind girl obediently opened her mouth, Fannie put the candy into her mouth and tore apart the rope that bound her body easily with the tip of her finger.

    ¡°¡­Thank you, Onee-chan¡­¡­ but does this candy tastes strange?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it delicious?¡±

    ¡°Umm, well¡­¡­ it¡¯s delicious, but strange.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I see.¡±

    Fannie laughed delightedly at the little girl¡¯s honest impressions.

    Just don¡¯t think about the raw ingredients of that candy.

    At the carefree scene between little girls, the man and woman who had been kidnapped let down their guard, but suddenly, a commotion broke out.

    ¡°Oi, Missy, before that man comes back, cut the ropes binding us.¡±

    ¡°Leave that brat alone, cut the ropes binding me, hurry!¡±

    Fannie turned around with an annoyed look towards those men and women.

    ¡°Are you not this child¡¯s parents¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t know that brat at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, so missy, hurry up and cut these ropes¡±

    ¡°Fuh~n¡­¡±

    At that answer, Fannie instantly lost her interest and began stroking the little girl¡¯s hair again.

    ¡°Oii?¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    As the little girl was getting scared from the adults¡¯ voices, Fannie¡¯s smile began to twist.

    ¡°¡­¡­Annoying¡±

    Fannie stood up and walked towards the men and women, finally answering their calls for help, the man couldn¡¯t conceal his irritation even though he looked glad.

    ¡°Now, hurr-¡­¡­ byu¡±

    As he started to say something again, Fannie struck the man¡¯s head, instantly crushing it.

    The blood and flesh splattered onto the face of the woman next to him, dying her red.

    ¡°Hiie¡±

    Just before she could release a scream, Fannie tore her head off at the neck, after a second of soundless screaming, the light faded from the woman¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°¡­Onee-chan, what¡¯s happened? What happened to the other people?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­ they fell asleep?¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ what a strange smell.¡±

    ¡°That is the smell of [Death]¡±

    As Fannie had a self-satisfied face that said [Hey, I Said Something Cool] while the smell of blood hung in the air, the blind little girl inclined her neck, and muttered, ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Fannie didn¡¯t especially mean to help this girl. Just like finding a feral cat in the neighbourhood, she merely wanted to pat that hair since it looked like it was really soft.

    Had it not been a human child, but a kitten, Fannie would have done the same thing.

    So, now that the uselessly annoying human beings were gone, Fannie once again began to stroke the hair of the little girl.

    ¡°Put your hands up!¡±

    As the voice came from the entrance to the hut, so too did multiple fireball magics, but Fannie put on her Clown Mask and stopped the attacks.

    ¡°Release that child, Daemon!¡±

    The black haired man shouted and pointed his sword at Fannie, along with an Elf that came after, and a girl who looked like a swordswoman, stared at her with both anger and caution.

    {That¡¯s definitely the hero¡­ right? But what in the world is a Daemon?}

    Few people could tell at first glance that Fannie, with the mask and form of a human child, was actually an Arch Demon.

    The hero savagely slashed at Fannie that was inclining her neck in puzzlement from the misunderstanding.

    ¡°Die, Daemon!¡±

    Swinging his sword so quickly that the little girl near him couldn¡¯t even see, Fannie dodged it simply, before it continued and destroyed the wall of the hut, leaving a hole to the outside.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    To suddenly be shouted at and then violently attacked, Fannie couldn¡¯t wrap her head around why.

    As the little girl began to cry again, the swordswoman hugged her close, soothing her repeatedly, saying ¡®It¡¯s alright, you¡¯re safe now¡¯. For Fannie, however, it felt like her beloved [Kitten] had been stolen from her.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Human scum.¡±

    Although she wanted to exterminate them all due to her feelings, according to her master, Yurushia¡¯s, instructions, she was told to avoid getting into a serious fight.

    Besides, Yurushia was concerned about the [Hero¡¯s] combat ability.

    Although Fannie didn¡¯t think that her opponent would be a serious problem, since this was the word of her creator and mother Yurushia, she thought that Yurushia must surely have some significant reason.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Lie-t]¡± (TL: this is Yurushia¡¯s ¡°Let there be light, but with forced pronunciation.¡±)

    The Elf girl, used Holy magic without speaking the incantation properly, casting defensive divine protection magic upon her companions.

    Fannie was preoccupied with comparing this ungraceful use of magic to her master¡¯s own, while the hero, who had been magically-enhanced, swung his sword with a speed that exceeded that of human beings. The moment Fannie dodged it, the swordswoman who left the little girl behind showed up on her flank.

    ¡°Got you now!¡±

    At the sudden lunge of the saber, Fannie pinched the blade with the tips of her fingers, and with a *pakin* snapped the blade.

    {Heeh¡­ are they cooperating?}

    While Fannie leisurely entertained these thoughts, from behind,

    ¡°¡±Fireball!¡±¡±

    Two overlapping voices were heard and two fireballs came flying.

    It was troublesome, and she thought about blowing away those magic power users with all her strength,

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Fannie unexpectedly stopped and received the fireballs squarely.

    ¡°I did it!¡±

    ¡°Well done, Athena, Ophelia.¡±

    ¡°Hold, don¡¯t let your guard down.¡±

    The two girls rejoiced at being praised while the Elf girl admonished them.

    ¡°It broke my sword easily¡­¡­ Is this guy at the level of a Daemon King¡¯s aide?¡±

    The swordswoman girl borrowed a spare sword from the elf, and readied herself, cold sweat running down her back as Fannie was engulfed within the fireball.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Everyone held their breath as it became clear that from all that flame and smoke, only Fannie¡¯s maid clothing had been burned.

    But Fannie, not so much.

    First, was the redheaded girls that had released the fireballs, the two of them ¡­¡­¡­

    Master Yurushia has talked about those humans, saying: ¡°If you touch my prey, you¡¯ll be punished.¡± Fannie knew that she might be scolded if they were damaged.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going home.¡±

    Punishment was scary.

    Since she didn¡¯t originally plan to fight, after giving the little girl a reluctant look, she rapidly left that place.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Did she escape¡­?¡±

    The heroes, after that strong [Daemon] retreated, finally let out the breath they didn¡¯t know they¡¯d been holding and sat down.

    ¡°¡­¡­She was strong. ¡­¡­even though she looked like a child.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because she¡¯s a Daemon. There are tribes of them that¡¯re small-sized.¡±

    ¡°Ah, the child.¡±

    Rushing over to the child that the swordswoman had left alone, the little girl that was constantly crying and calling out for [Onee-chan]. Once the heroes¡¯ party discovered the corpse of the woman in the hut, it seemed that she was an awfully kind child, mourning for the woman¡¯s death.

    As the sun rose, the hero made a vow.

    ¡°That Daemon, the next time we meet, I will definitely exact revenge for this child¡¯s [Onee-chan].¡±

    Later, when the blind girl was returned to her parents¡¯ home, a little light returned to her eyes. To her parents, who wondered about it, she said: ¡°I received a mysterious candy from the gentle onee-chan.¡± Although, that is a story for another time.

    Author¡¯s Notes: I¡¯m not used to writing in third person, so I did well this time.

 CH 37

    Volume 3, Chapter 7: The Magnificent Daily Life of Demons, Part 2

    As Yurushia¡¯s attendants were students too, they couldn¡¯t always be at her side since they had to attend classes.

    This was especially the case for the twins, who were in a different year, which often separated them from their master, outside of regular meeting and reporting appointments.

    Two girls were seated at an outdoor table of the Magical Academy¡¯s cafeteria.

    One was a transfer fourth year student, a brunette with long hair and silver eyes¡­ Nia.

    The other was a new first year student with blonde curly hair and green eyes¡­ Tina.

    They were servants of the Duchess of Verusenia who had been causing such a [Commotion] this year, though they tended to be overlooked, since they were at the side of such an un-approachable, beautiful, Lady, they, along with Fannie, were recognized as beautiful as well.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Nia. Where did I go wrong¡­¡±

    Tina let out a complaint in a voice like a tired office lady, Nia gave her a gentle look while sweating from the summer rays.

    To be honest, Tina had been complaining like this for a long time. Since she couldn¡¯t say ¡®I don¡¯t know, something¡¯ like she wanted to, Nia eventually said

    ¡°Hmm¡­ why not hold back a little?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Tina suddenly leaned forward and Nia nearly pulled out her sword on instinct, before remembering that she was in uniform, holding onto Tina with one hand.

    *Pon* The small sound of leaves dancing in the wind filled the air. A student in air spirit magic might think that a spirit was moving past, but certainly wouldn¡¯t think that it would be the result of a conflict between the magic auras of two upper class demons.

    ¡°There, there. Yurushia-sama is a cat-type, she¡¯ll slap you if you move so suddenly.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that really it?¡±

    Tina puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

    Tina¡¯s problem was that whenever she gave her overflowing [Love] to her lord, she would either duck out-of-the-way or intercept her.

    ¡°That¡¯s about right.¡±

    Nia nodded at Tina¡¯s muttering.

    Nia knew, however, that this wasn¡¯t correct. Even though she knew that it wasn¡¯t much of a solution to let her love overflow, but she had long ago given up trying to argue that point.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    How had things come to this? Although it was strange to associate with powerless demons, but that only felt [Strange] when they were in the Demon World.

    Nia had merged with the human soul who called herself [Ninette] and had inherited her memories and [Emotions].

    Disrespectful feelings against their lord existed in them, even though Nia had eaten the emotions of hatred, some of them were closer to [Love of Herself], which fit with Nia¡¯s originally relaxed personality.

    Regardless of the content of their conversation, since they were two famous girls in the academy talking with such terse expressions, it couldn¡¯t help but attract attention.

    Although they¡¯re usually avoided due to their actions, since their cold attitudes were seen as being because of their loyalty, and due to their pleasant attitude given to their Lord, those two had garnered popularity in the school, regardless of gender.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tina, who was sipping her tasteless tea slightly raised her eyebrows.

    She felt the [Thoughts] of the eyes on them and looked curiously at Nia.

    ¡°Ready to go again?¡±

    Nia said in a relaxed tone, still narrowing her eyes a little.

    Tina and Nia left their tea without a word, walking side by side after standing up.

    Fannie had an excellent ability, but her personality was childish.

    Noa was talented at everything, but after fusing with that human soul, he began gleefully planning events for Yurushia.

    In that respect, these two were serious not only in work, but serious in life. When it came to actions to be taken in human society, they trusted each other the most.

    In the school, there were not just teachers and students.

    There were also many guards due to the many nobles, some of the nobles bring followers like Tina as well.

    Besides them, there were a considerable amount of external presences in the school, such as suppliers of food and supplies, or merchants who came to speak with the teachers.

    The two girls slowly walked through the academy until they entered an old classroom which the school wasn¡¯t using. Tina frowned and tensed her mouth.

    ¡°¡­ Quite a lot of dust.¡±

    Footprints were left behind as the two girls walked in, the classroom was covered in dust.

    ¡°Umm, that¡¯s not particularly great. No need to worry, though.¡±

    Nia said in a calm voice as the two began waiting in the classroom without desks or chairs until finally, the person they were waiting for arrived.

    ¡°Umm¡­ are you Ninette-sama and Christina-sama?¡±

    The person in question was not a student, he was dressed as a commoner and looked to be around thirty years old.

    Although he was dressed that way, his attitude was nothing like that of a commoner. The follower of a noble?  or a spy?

    The two girls¡­ or rather the four attendants came into contact with various humans every day.

    Some people wanted to become acquaintances or friends.

    Students would confess their feelings.

    A noble would try to poach them for themselves instead, having seen them work.

    Some who wanted connection to the young duchess of Verusenia, but could not arrange a meeting in person.

    So on and so forth¡­

    ¡°I am Ileo, of the holy church, pleased to meet you. I¡¯m honored to speak with the attendants of your master, please allow me to tell you my situation¡­¡±

    The man who used the name Ileo said he was a messenger from the church.

    These incidents were not uncommon. Since Yurushia was still young, there were very few opportunities to speak with her at official parties. Since the requests filtered through her father, Duke Verusenia, only so many requests made it to Yurushia, leading to non-standard message giving.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Tina did not return Ileo¡¯s greeting, she just glared at the insect in front of her in silence.

    ¡°W-wow, this place is dusty¡­ hehehe¡­¡±

    Ileo was having trouble breathing under the child¡¯s gaze and aimed a smile at Nia, hoping to get help. Nia had not listened to his story from the start, since she had been polishing her nails since the beginning.

    Ileo¡¯s smile shrunk, and made a tiny click of his tongue as he began to righteously speak.

    ¡°As expected of those who are at the side of Saint-sama. I am definitely not a suspicious person. In fact, I¡¯m part of the faction that supports a new interpretation of Kostoru religion and we want to recognize Yurushia as a [Saint] as we launch our new [Church].¡±

    In short, he wanted to establish a new [Sect], and wants Yurushia to become their official [Saint]¡­ or so he said.

    ¡°So, what about being a messenger from the church?¡±

    Nia, who was polishing her nails caught his expression.

    First of all, to call himself a [Messenger of the Church] was wrong from the beginning, since they support a different doctrine.

    ¡°No, no, we are current members of the church at the moment, so there¡¯s no problem.¡±

    Ileo said fearlessly.

    Since him not being a real representative was a huge problem, she guessed he was going to try to bluff and smile through this since Nia and her were children.

    ¡°What kind of interpretation do you follow?¡±

    Ileo nodded happily as Tina broke the silence.

    ¡°We can hear the voices. The spirits of the world speak of an unspeakably evil demon, and the Goddess can not show us where it is. Therefore, we will collect people with magical power like you and, with the help of the saint, we hope to be able to bring forth [God].¡±

    ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    At Ileo¡¯s confident words, Tina and Nia¡¯s faces twisted into disgust.

    Both of them knew¡­ as demons who lived in the Demon World, no one had ever encountered [God].

    Still, while they did not care about such an absurd delusion, they could not forgive them.

    ¡°You say that you are collecting people with magical power, are you [Summoning] it?¡±

    It may be impossible to believe, but with the friendship of a certain powerful country, an Archbishop was able to get us help.¡±

    How could there be a [Great Country] that would lend their aid to such trash?

    Ileo was speaking with a confident expression, ecstatic as if flying through the air.

    In contrast, the two girls had icy looks, and Ileo, realising that he had made light of them, tightened up his fake smile.

    ¡°Originally, I was planning on speaking with you when Yurushia turned 10 years old, Yurushia-sama¡¯s power and name have traveled far, and various countries and religions are all wanting for her to become their [Saint-sama]¡­  For us, until Yurushia is ready I ask that you not take the invitations of other religions.¡±

    For the various religions, the conference to decide on Yurushia¡¯s saintdom has come.

    Since nobody had talked directly to Yurushia she didn¡¯t know, the country and royal family were very involved in the result of the the title of [Saint] of the Holy Kingdom, but were unable to claim it due to the intentions of the religion.

    The royal family decided that the saint title should come when Yurushia reached 10 years old.

    Until then, it wasn¡¯t possible to come to the table to almost certainly certify Yurushia as a saint by the Kostoru state religion.

    Nobody wanted to miss a huge [Advertisement Opportunity] like Yurushia, and so the various sects were fighting one another covertly, where Yurushia wouldn¡¯t see.

    It is a violation of the rules to directly give an invitation for [Certification as a Saint] to Yurushia.

    Because of that, many [Doubtful] religions who were unable to solicit in a decent way would come to these dusty places to try to persuade her four attendants.

    ¡°By the way, it was interesting to listen to you prattle on.¡±

    This is not the first time that either Tina or Nia have been invited by dubious religions. There have been many cases of the non-proper sects doing [Various Things] behind the Holy Kingdom¡¯s back. Those people have been becoming [Food] for the demons and vampires.

    ¡°Wh-what do you ¡­?¡±

    Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed, Ileo stepped back as he took a shallow breath, looking at the [Child] in front of him.

    {¡­ This girl¡­ is clearly not normal}

    Ileo was onset by anxiety after realising that the girl was not what she seemed, and immediately began speaking to try to get away from that place.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, but I must-¡±

    ¡°The power of our lord, you wish to use it?¡±

    She interrupted Ileo with a quiet anger in her voice, Ileo felt a pain as he turned his head towards the little girl who was only as old as his daughter.

    ¡°S-such a thing¡­ excuse me, it seems I¡¯ve been too hasty. I must say-¡±

    Ileo began to speak more quickly, lowering his head to the girls and as he began to leave¡­ he felt a strange presence.

    ¡°Are you going home¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Ah-¡±

    The voice came from Nia, who had been in front of him just the moment before, but the voice came from behind. There was a black sword held against his neck.

    Ileo recognized the presence the sword was putting out, greasy sweat dripping from his brow.

    The crisis was felt by a man facing an insurmountable foe, his very soul instinctively afraid.

    ¡°Another interesting thing you were saying¡­ summoning God¡­ was it?¡±

    The girl who was too beautiful to be human began to float, wearing an [Inhuman] smile.

    Ileo¡¯s teach began to chatter.

    ¡°Ileo-sama¡­ Allow me to give you an [Invitation]. If you will, Nia.¡±

    When Tia called Nia with her distorted smile, Nia raised her black demonic sword with a smile of her own.

    ¡°Open¡­ [Lost Eden] ¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, the old dust covered classroom was replaced by inky darkness.

    It is not shadow, though. Ileo can see Tina and Nia with his eyes. The classroom was not surrounded by darkness, rather, it was completely changed to another place.

    Using Nia¡¯s absorption and Noa¡¯s release, a new world was created in this space.

    ¡°Welcome, to our [Lost Eden].¡±

    From the darkness, a boy in butler clothes called out from an ebony desk with a kind smile.

    Ileo also knew him.

    This butler boy was responsible for scheduling for the Duke¡¯s daughter¡­ Noa.

    ¡°¡­ Ah¡­ ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you unable to speak? People with weak souls can¡¯t stand the magic here in [Lost Eden]¡±

    Noa, who had just finished tidying up a series of documents, took off a set of silver rimmed glasses and walked forward.

    Noa was a demon, but usually acted much like a human 11 year old, but given that people who wore glasses were rare, all the ladies at school were swooning over him..

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work, Noa. As busy as ever, I see.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you think so, Tina?¡±

    Noah let out a light sigh and dropped his eyebrows.

    Tina was very capable, but with her strengths best suited for battlefields, she only took cared of Yurushia¡¯s personal needs. Nia, his sister, was biased towards waste, and while motivated, didn¡¯t have a skill that translated to work.

    Fannie was fine and intelligent, but under the orders of their lord, she was undertaking espionage activities, so once she went out, she didn¡¯t come back easily.

    That was why Noa was left doing all of the work, the least they could do is put their feelings towards their efforts.

    ¡°So¡­ who is that person?¡±

    ¡°Apparently this is related to the things that Yurushia-sama has had Fannie and Milaine investigating, I found something interesting so I brought it to you.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing Ileo having thoughts of his likely death, Noa began to laugh.

    *Pachin* When a bell sound came from Noa¡¯s finger, the world which had been inky [Black] changed into a huge black hall.

    In the back of the hall was a jet black altar of worship to [God].

    Kneeling by its side was the new species of [Greater Demon] created from the vampires [Provided] by Millaine using Noa¡¯s [Control] of his [Release].

    They numbered in the hundreds.

    Even with its raw power alone, it was a fighting force comparable to a small country.

    ¡°Now, tell me everything you know, and I will give you the honor of dedicating your soul to the [God] Yurushia.¡±

    As Noa whispered, the three girls and boy grew goat-like horns of jet black, the golden hair turned into snakes, and their forms changed into demons.

    Demons residing in [Lost Eden]. The newly born Demon Realm began to quietly spread beneath the Holy Kingdom.

    £ª

    ¡°Hey Fannie. Where did those three go?¡±

    ¡°Umm, they¡¯re making a secret base. Yurushia-sama, can I have some candy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead, go ahead. Having a secret base seems a bit childish, though.¡±

    To Yurushia who did not know anything of all this, today was carefree and peaceful as ever.

 CH 38

    Volume 3, Chapter 8: I Became a Second-Grader, Part 1

    The year changed, and the seasons rolled around, I have become a second-grader at the magic academy, and will be nine years old in a few months.

    I¡¯m in the same grade as a certain magic-cannon using girl. (Read: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.) I can¡¯t be called a little girl any longer.

    ¡­¡­ Should I make a [Transformation] for myself too?

    But, if I transformed into a so called magical girl, I¡¯d be troubled about what to do about my [Second Transformation].

    Well, although I¡¯m attracted to the idea, putting that aside for the time being, my life as a second year student hasn¡¯t particularly changed much.

    I go out to play with Shelly and Betty, having tea parties with them as always.

    If I were to talk about things that were a little unusual, it would be that my classmates seem to finally have gotten used to me, and have finally reached the point where we exchange greetings.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯ve suffered for almost two years for this.

    Although I speak regularly with my attendants, and receive letters from them, it feels quite different for some reason.

    Even if I ask Shelly to explain:

    ¡°Yuru-sama is so pretty that it¡¯s a crime¡±

    Is the kind of incomprehensible thing that is repeated over and over, I still don¡¯t understand the truth of it.

    Anyways, besides all that, the [Shitty brat Rick-chan] incidents seem to have settled down for the time being, as least on the surface.

    Although I¡¯ve been conscientious about it, since there was no special confession event my attitude hasn¡¯t changed, it might have just been my misunderstanding, after all.

    ¡­ That rascal¡­ playing with a maiden¡¯s feelings, how unforgivable.

    But thank goodness that he didn¡¯t ask me¡­ If I had gotten careless, there may have been a [Sore Baby] who would have misunderstand again. How dangerous, how dangerous.

    Although I still feel a little depressed¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia¡±

    As I dragging Tina to the salon with me to skip lessons, I was stopped by someone calling me without honorifics.

    There was only one [Person] who would do those kinds of things in this school.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rick.¡±

    Although Rick was basically a [Self-Important Bastard], who normally leaves his servants behind and rudely barges into things, these days, he¡¯s been rather different.

    Looking like valiant warriors pulling a [Train] of chasing monsters, Rick was swarmed with waves and waves of girls.

    Oh, it increased again.

    ¡­¡­It seems. I¡¯m not angry at things like that.

    I¡¯m just a little resentful that even though he¡¯s still a brat, when he turned 12 years old and became a [Young Man], his height rapidly shot up to 170 cm, and now he¡¯s fully one head taller than I am.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yurushi¡­¡±

    When Rick approached me, my face cramped momentarily and his feet stopped.

    The girls who were following him around finally caught up to him. They were out of breath, but hearing Rick call out, they froze.

    ¡°¡­Roderick-nii-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­O, oh¡±

    Everyone, what are you so afraid of? Although I know that I¡¯m a dreaded person, the girls were all staring with their mouths open. Staring at their faces that were red like they were ill, I quivered softly at how strange they looked.

    ¡°¡­¡­How may I help you all?¡±

    When I called out to the girls and turned my eyes towards them, it seems they were freed of their paralysis, and they all pulled back like the tide.

    ¡­¡­Eh? Was I that intimidating?

    ¡°Y-you, come here for a minute¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    Rick grabbed my arm with a grim face, and began walking quickly, leaving the girls behind.

    ¡°¡­Again, with grabbing my arm¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up¡±

    What is it, already¡­¡­ Tina, who usually makes a fuss about such things is being awfully quiet¡­¡­ or so I thought, but Tina¡¯s face was cramped and she followed right behind us.

    In the salon which only upper-class nobles could use, after confirming that there wasn¡¯t anyone else around, Rick looked into my eyes.

    ¡°Yurushia¡­ you, why are you becoming more expressionless¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Expressionless? Although Rick was used to [Me] and my face; because everyone else wasn¡¯t, were they afraid¡­? Hmm¡­¡­

    Although I don¡¯t understand it well, I realised that I was acting [Inhuman], and so I rubbed my cheeks with a *munimuni* and took a deep breath and Rick gave a sigh of relief.

    It is alright already? Looking at Tina, she was nodding her head *kokukoku* in relief too.

    ¡°¡­¡­At last, you returned to normal Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°¡­What kind of face does the ¡®usual me¡¯ have?¡±

    ¡°Aahh~ ¡­ A sleepy face¡­?¡±

    What the heck. Why is that a question?

    ¡°Have you been in a bad mood¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t understand¡±

    I wonder what¡¯s really the matter? Even I myself don¡¯t know.

    I see. That rather annoying but cute kid Rick became slightly cool, and he just became the kind of samurai kid that seduced girls. Yes.

    ¡°It¡¯s because Rick has become a bad child.¡±

    ¡°What the heck!?¡±

    Muuu¡­ are you trying to feign ignorance?

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you been walking around with a huge amount of girls?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know them! They appeared all by themselves. Ah~¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Although Rick got indignant, as I tilted my head to the side, his lips tightened up. I feel bad.

    ¡°By the way, Rick¡­¡­ Can you release my arm soon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick finally seems to have noticed that he¡¯s been holding my arm this whole time.

    Gripping it with all his strength¡­¡­¡­ This, might become a bruise. This guy is really overbearing, seriously.

    ¡°No, I have business with you.  Come with me for a while.¡±

    ¡°Eh, what?¡±

    Rick went directly into the nearby salon, and in the end, he still didn¡¯t release my arm until we got inside.

    Eh, could it be? Does he have some kind of restraint hobby¡­¡­?

    £ª

    In the salon, the sound of a piano being played quietly could be heard.

    It was a relaxed melody that made me want to sleep, a tune that I liked.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    For some reason, I¡¯m alone with Rick, listening to him play the piano. ¡­¡­why.

    The tea that I drank while sitting in the chair, was not brewed by me, but rather by him. I¡¯m strangely annoyed that he¡¯s so skilled at that.

    Is it detestable? Is it detestable that I have this clumsy skill? I sulked.

    Although since Tina, who was stuck outside the salon, is leaking out an intense bloodthirst, I wonder if it¡¯s alright¡­

    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t fall asleep, Yurushia.¡±

    The music stopped suddenly, and Rick said something rude.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m not sleeping.¡±

    I was only slightly sleepy, you know.

    Assured that I wasn¡¯t sleeping, Rick smiled and parted from the piano, walking to me.

    ¡°Have you calmed down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ahh~¡­ I see. As I thought, when my mood is bad I have a scary face.

    Although now I¡¯m as calm as I am normally, my spirits don¡¯t raise and lower as intensely as a human in the first place. Probably.

    ¡°¡­Ah, oh well. Leaving that aside, Yurushia. Did you know that there¡¯s a new cathedral of the Kostoru religion in the Colto territory?¡±

    Rick sat down lightly next to me with a sigh and finally got to the main subject.

    ¡°Cathedral¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. For this fifth cathedral in Tariterudo, the lord of the territory put up half of the construction budget.¡±

    Did the country properly budget¡­¡­ Is that actually okay? Is it because it¡¯s the state religion? We don¡¯t enforce the separation of church and state, after all.

    ¡°What happened¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing¡¯s happened as of yet. ¡­¡­But either tomorrow or the next day, Honoured Uncle¡­ Duke Verusenia thought of declaring Yurushia the Saint of the new generation and the [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom together with the new Archbishop and the lord over there, and he wants you to come.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    What a way to ask¡­¡­ how rough.

    ¡°So I go over, and then¡­¡­ what am I supposed to do?¡±

    ¡°Weeeelll¡­¡­¡­ It seems likely that they want the residents of the territory to see your Holy Magic, for you to heal the seriously injured and sick and to preach to and recruit people for a long time¡­¡­It¡¯s quite unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°Muuu¡­¡±

    How detestable¡­ and stupid. But,

    ¡°It¡¯s not for forever, is it? How long?¡±

    ¡°Although the other side hoped for a year, it¡¯s up to Yurushia¡¯s convenience. It¡¯s generally be around several weeks.¡±

    I¡¯ll of course I¡¯d reject if it¡¯s a year, but what about several weeks?

    I was a little interested in what he said, but then I saw Rick¡¯s face.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡­ why are you telling me about this now, Rick?¡±

    If that was the only thing, there¡¯d be no need for Rick to bring me into the salon alone to talk. So what were the other reasons? As I gazed at him inquisitively, Rick looked strange.

    ¡°Uh, um, well ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because you¡¯re the daughter of a duke? More or less.¡±

    ¡°Wha-, what¡±

    ¡°The Colto territory¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s the territory of Duke Kaperu.¡±

    ¡°A¡­Aah~¡±

    The one with terrible relations with House Verusenia, House Kaperu.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick¡¯s face became even more strange. ¡­I wonder if it¡¯s a face of resignation.

    ¡°Anyway. It seems that Honoured Uncle doesn¡¯t want you to go to such a place. However, as the matter concerns the nation, and it¡¯s a formal request for the [Princess], so you can¡¯t ignore them if they say that they want Yurushia to go.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah¡±

    It¡¯s suspicious that Duke Kaperu is calling for me specifically. But I can¡¯t refuse as I am the [Princess] and receive treatment like that of a member of the royal family. As part of the royal family, I can¡¯t just refuse them with the excuse that [It¡¯s Suspicious].

    Well, that is entirely the fault of Grandfather-sama.

    Moreover, if I heard correctly, the schedule matches when Father is going overseas on business exactly.

    Wow¡­¡­ how blatant. I¡¯m getting a little excited now.

    And the new [Archbishop] too ¡­¡­

    ¡°Therefore, when Yurushia goes, I will as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Why is that.

    ¡°Uh, ehrm¡­¡­ I¡¯ll probably be fine?¡±

    ¡°I know that Yurushia has more than enough [Power] to be called a Saint. But I think the danger is not towards your [Life] but rather your [Reputation] and your [Spirit]. If I go along with you, they will not be able to play their hand easily.¡±

    As a matter of fact, even if it is Duke Kaperu, I don¡¯t think that he would be so foolish as to aim for my life when I am so beloved by Grandfather-sama, His Majesty the King.

    Therefore, as Rick said, it¡¯s quite likely that he¡¯s aiming at the [Reputation] and the [Honour] of House Verusenia, and intends to torment my [Heart].

    Although, that is my favourite dish to serve¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick went silent, and just stared at me with serious eyes.

    If he said that I was in danger, then wouldn¡¯t Rick who would be protecting me be in danger too?

    ¡­¡­ Because you look at me with such eyes, various girls have already started to misunderstand our relationship.

    It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­¡­

    Rick¡­¡­ I will protect you.

    Author¡¯s Notes: As always, thank you for pointing out my mistakes.

 CH 39

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I became a Second-grader, Part 2

    Yurushia¡¯s classmates at the magic academy lived lives that wore down their nerves almost every day.

    It started with the first years¡¯ entrance ceremony.

    Already being called a [Saint] before entering school, the granddaughter of the King and also the daughter of a duke, she was the [Princess] that was the face of the kingdom.

    Just hearing about such a god-like person would make them dizzy already, and the commoner students admired her regardless of their fear, while the nobles¡¯ children were all harshly warned not to make a blunder in front of her, and so everyone was nervous about learning alongside her.

    Even the non-religious children adored her.

    A child the same age as them who had a level of [Magic Power] that could make adults moan in admiration, that had [Beauty] that even adults were in awe of, it was an almost fairy-tale like story.

    The day of the magic academy entrance ceremony.

    Chaperoned by her parents, the Duke Verusenia and his wife, walking along like a [Princess], surrounded by her attendants and female escort knights, not only the new students but even the enrolled students were all captivated from that moment.

    She was the very picture of a beautiful [Princess] from fairy tales that everyone had known as children.

    Some whispered [Angel-sama], forgot to breathe in, and fainted on their feet.

    Those who hadn¡¯t built up any resistance towards her was frozen for a little after she passed by. Finally, the teachers came out of their trance and started to induct the new students.

    During the freshman representative¡¯s opening address, everyone let out a sigh of relief when they saw that Yurushia was having difficulty in making the opening address from the embarrassment.

    To see that that perfect [Princess] was also [Human], just like everyone else, made them all thank the gods inside their hearts.

    But, it seems that [God] loved her especially.

    Because the instant that she turned her compassionate eyes towards the students, an unthinkable amount of [Angels of Light] and [Archangels of light] manifested, and for the many people that were experiencing ¡¾Greater Divine Protection¡¿ for the first time, some of them became feverish while many others were traumatised.

    The Princess is scary.

    Although there were many different class groups, since students went to different classes to take their lessons the division between classes didn¡¯t mean anything except for who the home room teacher would be for that group.

    But since the lower grades have mostly general level lessons in their curriculum for every class, Yurushia¡¯s classmates inevitably spent a lot of time with her.

    Those classmates were able to get used to Yurushia¡¯s beauty relatively quickly.

    Yurushia had the cold beauty of a doll, but on the inside, she was considerably [Gentle], so it was possible for them to keep calm as long as they didn¡¯t look straight at her.

    After that, her [Form of Address] was the next hindrance.

    There was no way that a commoner could simply call out to the daughter of a Ducal house, and though the noble daughters and sons tried their best to speak to her, but the two servants who were in the same class would keep a watchful eye over them.

    Anyone who tried to get close to Yurushia were glared at by the two girls like they were insects and were silently [Intimidated] away.

    Although a few super M people blushed under their gazes, those types were rare, so the majority of the class was unable to even talk to her.

    There were still some times where Yurushia would come to class alone.

    As the classmates, who had gotten used to Yurushia were calling her [Princess-sama] behind her back, and exchanged looks with one another, [He] appeared.

    Yurushia¡¯s cousin, the Second Prince Roderick, came to visit her often.

    When that happened, it became hard to talk to her in a different sense.

    Although Yurushia calls him [Elder Brother], the two of them weren¡¯t brother and sister.

    Seeing the good looking [Prince-sama] and [Princess-sama] together was exactly like witnessing a scene out of a fairytale, the female students all writhed about going *kyaa kyaa* in delight.

    Their delusions had progressed to the point that the boy that the girl called [Brother], didn¡¯t treat her as a [Sister] but rather as a [Woman].

    Although they wanted to speak, they couldn¡¯t, as they were overwhelmed by Yurushia¡¯s sheer [Presence] in the classroom. Since they couldn¡¯t invest themselves into their lessons, to keep up their grades and stay the classmates of the [Princess-sama], they cut into their sleeping times to study.

    More challenges awaited those classmates.

    At first they were delighted. After the trauma that was planted in them at the entrance ceremony unintentionally and automatically, the [Fear] of Yurushia had gradually relaxed.

    Like the people around her, she too was pleased that they had finally reached that stage, but realised that it was a mistake.

    Although it was a story that only she knew, but she recalled the time when she was only two years old.

    That she would be [A beautiful flower at 10 years old]¡­¡­¡­

    The root of others¡¯ [Fear] of Yurushia was the sheer [Presence] that came from her huge Demon¡¯s magical power, rather than from her status or title.

    That [Fear] came from Disparity.

    Overwhelming beauty and force of presence packed in her intense gaze, all stuffed into an adorable infant, it was way too unnatural.

    To put it in an extreme way, it would be like an infant showing off an adult style kitchen knife to cook in the park.

    As she approached nine years old, she had grown taller, and her body had also taken on a soft roundness, transforming from a child into a [Young Lady]. The unnaturalness started to fade, and in place of  the [Fearsome] appearance was a dazzling [Beauty].

    It wasn¡¯t her friends or family that felt the [Change] in Yurushia first, but rather her classmates.

    They wanted to speak to her, but couldn¡¯t¡­¡­¡­ The reason was different from before, though.

    Thanks to the easing of the fear, they could exchange greetings with her, but they couldn¡¯t continue on from there.

    They would return her greetings, but their faces would flush when they saw her smile and their heartbeats would quicken and that would spell the end of the conversation.

    She could never figure out how her classmates were thinking.

    Before they could get used to it, they had already been [Fascinated] by her very existence.

    She would be nine years old soon.

    More beautiful than the year before, and would be more beautiful the next.

    There were eight years until she graduated from the academy. Her classmates would all spend their days in these hard, painful, and yet [Sweet] days.

    So they thought.

    By that time¡­ they hoped that they could be friends with the [Princess-sama].

    Author¡¯s Notes: A round of explanations for the present state of affairs. It¡¯s slightly short.

 CH 40

    Volume 3, Chapter 10: I turned Nine years old, Part 1

    I turned nine years old the other day.

    This time round, the birthday party was rather light. The reason being that I wasn¡¯t in a very good condition.

    When I say light, what I mean is that while the scale of the party was still the same, the amount of time that I had to show myself decreased. Honestly speaking, I was saved by the fact that I was unwell.

    Recently, the number of people who are afraid of me seems to have decreased. Although I¡¯m glad about that, the people that came to greet me wouldn¡¯t go home without a fight. Their eyes were scary.

    ¡°Owowowowowow¡­¡­¡±

    In the stale-smelling house in the royal capital, when I stood up from the chair with a [Heave-ho], Vio and the housemaid gang looked at me in disappointment.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ it hurts.¡±

    Since I¡¯ve been pampered for my entire childhood, I have no pain tolerance whatsoever.

    When I soaked into the bathtub, I would groan with a [U~i~].

    Right now, my leg is hurt. It fell asleep in the middle of the night. Also, it hurts in the parts I can¡¯t mention. ¡­¡­ They¡¯ve started to grow, recently.

    Well, they¡¯ve been lighter since a few months ago, but still, these growing pains¡­

    Don¡¯t those usually only happen in middle school? I¡¯ve grown about 5 centimetres in half a year alone, rounding my height to approximately 150 cm, which is about as tall as Betty, who¡¯s two grades older.

    Although, Rick also shot up suddenly before his time,  maybe it¡¯s something in the constitution of the royal bloodline? While I yearn to be a tall girl, growing bigger than Father-sama would be unpleasant¡­

    Because of that, my appearance has changed a bit.

    Talking about the changes, my infant¡¯s figure and pudgy stomach seem to have receded somewhat, and here and there I¡¯ve rounded out and filled out, according to Vio and the housemaids¡¯ words, it¡¯s a complete shift in image.

    Mother and Grandma have also stopped dressing me in children¡¯s clothes and have begun to order dresses with adult designs¡­ If they make it now won¡¯t my size have changed by the time they finish?

    In addition, Tina¡¯s been giving me a carnivorous look every now and then. It¡¯s scary.

    ¡°Too early.¡±

    Today, I¡¯m going on an inspection of the Touru territory together with Father. but my legs still hurt, so I¡¯ve been hugging him while riding the carriage. After getting onto Father-sama¡¯s knee after a long while, he said this to me:

    ¡°Is something the matter¡­?¡±

    Because I¡¯ve gotten bigger and it¡¯s gotten hard to hold me, when I wrapped my arms around Father-sama¡¯s neck he gave me a worried expression.

    Whenever I ride on his lap, our lines of sight are almost the same, so I was happy that I could look at his face so closely.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I think it¡¯s still a bit too early for Yurushia to be wearing that dress.,¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Really?¡±

    The dress I¡¯m wearing today was the first adult style dress that I received from Mother.

    Unlike the dresses from the parties, it isn¡¯t stuffy. It¡¯s a rose-coloured dress that comes up to my calves, with a chic blouse and a fluffily cute skirt. It¡¯s a favorite of mine¡­¡­

    Father-sama quickly lowered his gaze from mine.

    ¡°Your neck is showing¡­¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    That¡¯s true.

    It¡¯s silly that I hadn¡¯t noticed until now.

    Although I thought that the dress I¡¯d been wearing up until now was for all children¡¯s use, but apparently, it was actually a habit for a [Saint]. (TLN: habit as in ¡°nun¡¯s habit¡±)

    After all, the sleeves went all the way to my wrists, and everything below my chin was covered. It was a dress that only exposed the hands and face.

    The sleeves are the same as before, but this dress exposes the base of my neck. For the first time, a little bit of my collarbone can be seen. The collarbone is the foundation of eroticism.

    ¡°Father¡­¡­ isn¡¯t that too overprotective? Shelly¡¯s arms are fully showing.¡±

    ¡°No, no, Yurushia is still only nine years old.¡±

    But only my collarbone can be seen¡­Betty came to this year¡¯s birthday party with a shoulderless dress that exposed her shoulders entirely, to say nothing of her collarbone.

    Yes, that was sexy but cute.

    Still, Father is still as dashingly handsome as ever.

    Now in his mid-thirties, his sex appeal is more polished than ever, I can say that after ten years it¡¯s definitely an outstanding talent.

    But please take care of your hair. I still have a mountain of dried seaweed.

    Incidentally, about the massive amount of seaweed that I pushed onto Millaine, she seems to have sold it in the form of seaweed bread and it¡¯s become a special product of that city¡­¡­ despite it being in the mountains.

    I¡¯ll have to get the vampires to teach me how to make the seaweed bread¡­¡­ I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. Nothing.

    Millaine¡¯s earnestness makes this Demon¡¯s conscience hurt¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡±

    Father-sama pulled me back from my dreamy thoughts about the seaweed bread with a serious voice.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter¡­?¡±

    Although I thought I knew what he was going to talk about, since I¡¯m a nine-year-old girl  I tilted my head with a quizzical look.

    Father-sama patiently stared into my eyes, then he gave a small sigh and began to speak.

    ¡°This year, in two months¡­ Well, next year, Yurushia will become a third year student.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    ¡°Although you¡¯ve been quite a small child all this time, you¡¯re completely a lady now¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡±

    Even though I¡¯m going to be an adult, I like to be spoiled, but then Father suddenly said something that sounded like I was about to be married away¡­¡­

    As a noble child, am I supposed to be happy to be treated like an adult? In this country¡­ or rather in this world, people are so serious.

    Why then, are there so many hopeless people around me¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself to go to the Colts Territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, the expected topic.

    Since the word came, Father-sama has been negotiating directly with Grandfather¡­ although for various reasons Grandfather and Uncle privately wanted to refuse, since it was an official request from Duke Kaperu and the Kostoru religion, refusing would show that the Royal Family was over favoring Duke Verusenia.

    In short, it¡¯s because Grandfather-sama recognised me as a [Princess] for the sake of being able to pamper me¡­¡­

    The duration of the post in the Kostoru cathedral in the Colts territory is one month.

    Coincidentally in the same period, there was a request from the [Military Branch of Taterudo] that had close ties with Duke Kapell for Father-sama to attend a ceremony.

    It¡¯s so obvious, it¡¯s surprising.

    In this situation, if I said that I didn¡¯t want to go, then it would mean that Father-sama would have to take responsibility for it.

    If such a thing happened then he would likely lose his job as the Foreign Minister and the trade operations of the Verusenia house might have restrictions put into place.

    Above all that, it would probably reach the point that the people affiliated with Duke Kaperu would persistently backbite Father-sama at the parties or dances.

    Even if he had to endure all that, Father-sama still wanted to protect me.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Father. I¡¯m strong, you know.¡±

    I let out a light laugh and smiled without worry.

    To be honest, if Father had to suffer like that, I would crush the Kaperu house. Extremely violently.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia. I¡¯m worried for you.¡±

    ¡°Father¡­¡±

    I put my tiny hand on his big one on my cheek.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Duke Kaperu will be so stupid as to directly attack me. Besides, Rick is coming along.¡±

    Although I personally felt dicey over it, I used Rick¡¯s name to soothe Father.

    Although I preferred it if an [Adult with Status] came along as my breakwater, the other ducal houses just looked on, trying to avoid being rolled into the quarrel, and since I liked Uncle-sama and Elea-sama, it could be said that Rick has just enough.

    But Father-sama, far from being relieved when Rick¡¯s name came out, grimaced.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ Does Rick really understand and get along with you so well¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    Wha-why do you look like that¡­?

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s wrong, Father-sama?¡±

    ¡°Rick is a good boy, and I can understand how he would be so engrossed with Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Fa~ther~¡±

    Why are your words going in that strange direction?

    ¡°Yurushia, I worry for you. Your beauty gathers various men around you like starving carnivores. Even now, the proposals from within the country and other countries haven¡¯t slowed down¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeeh!?¡±

    This is the first time I¡¯ve heard that, Father.

    Wait a minute. Weren¡¯t we talking about being afraid for me because I might be getting tormented by Duke Kaperu or that there might be dangers to my life?

    Although I knew about the marriage proposals that had been coming from within, this is the first time that I¡¯ve heard that marriage proposals have been coming from outside the country, too. Has Father been smothering those?

    ¡°Although Duke Kaperu himself doesn¡¯t have a very good character, I¡¯ve heard that his sons are rather upright and that they were handsome. They might also forget themselves in Yurushia¡¯s beauty and try to seek your hand in marriage. It seems that many other noble houses will try to introduce their sons, too. That being said, it doesn¡¯t mean that Rick going is good. Timothy hasn¡¯t decided on his fiancee, and there have been rumours that he is waiting for Yurushia to come of age, and I worry about that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eeehh~¡­¡±

    What in the world. Were you this sort of extreme doting parent?

    Although I didn¡¯t want to let myself get married easily, it seems that if I just leave it be I will never be married.

    Is my body safe¡­? While I was thinking of how all those people were turning their scornful eyes towards me with such feelings, Father, who noticed that my feelings were running out of control coughed lightly with a *kohon*.

    ¡°I have entrusted Yurushia¡¯s safety to captain Barnabas whom you know. Although he was a baronet, thanks to his distinguished services I awarded him the title of viscount.I think that him holding my letter of authority should also serve for him to be a sort of barrier.¡±

    ¡°Re-really¡­?¡±

    Ba, Baru¡­? Who was that again? Well, I guess I¡¯ll remember when we meet.

    But, to award a viscount title just for the sake of protecting me¡­ I¡¯mconvinced. Although I thought he wasn¡¯t the same as them, after this sort of scene, it¡¯s clear that him and Grandfather are parent and child.

    While I was thinking of such things earnestly, Father-sama put cotton on my forehead.

    ¡°I also know that Yurushia is a stronger child than you look. Both Riastea and I believe that you will come back safely,¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ Father.¡±

    Believe¡­ You believe in me.

    Although I think that my parents impression of [Strong Child] and mine were significantly different, I will crush anybody that dares to show malice to me. ¡­¡­ Violently.

    Two months later, as I advanced into being a third-grader, I left for the Colts Territory.

    There, I would [Reunite] with a certain someone.

    Author¡¯s Notes: The story moves¡­ finally

 CH 41

    Volume 3, Chapter 11: I turned Nine Years Old , Part 2

    There was a clatter.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    How did this happen?

    I am currently in a carriage headed towards the Colts territory.

    As I headed towards the Colts territory at the request of Duke Kaperu and the Archbishop, I was surrounded by my attendants and guards.

    As always, I was with Bree-chan¡¯s 15 female knight corps members, my four attendants, 10 house maids that Mother-sama arranged, including Vio, 8 of Rick¡¯s royal maids, 18 of the elite royal guards that, including the Holy Knights, numbered 18, three civil officials, and finally, 20 mercenaries from the company Father-sama arranged for. Because Rickif part of the royal family, there¡¯s this size of a retinue even for moving inside of the country.

    And that Ba- Bar¡­¡­ something or another, was actually Bear-san.

    It was Bear-san that Father-sama had forced the rank of [Viscount] upon unreasonably with his status, but while putting on a troubled face that said ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡±, Bear-san cheerfully took up being my guard.

    At some point, it seems that Bear-san, who is single, adopted Noel-kun as his son.

    How nice of Bear-san. I wonder if I can talk carefreely with Noel now? When I gave him the wakame seaweed as a reward, I suffered from the gurgling noises they made through the night after drinking.

    And thus the tragedy repeats itself¡­¡­

    Normally, while travelling in a carriage that held ten people, I would be riding with my attendants, but because this time round there¡¯s an issue with my [Dignity], the attendants were placed in other carriages while only Vio sat anxiously across from me.

    I¡¯m jealous of them.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    The silence is heavy¡­¡­¡­

    There were two boys sitting next to me. Rick on my right. Noel on my left.

    The two of them were silent, with Rick gripping my right arm, and Noel holding my left hand.

    How did this happen¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I sent a look to appeal to Vio, but for some reason Vio was troubled and turned eyes that were filled with encouragement towards me, nodding many times as if saying [I know].

    That¡¯s not it¡­ That¡¯s really not it. Really, save me from this situation by any means.

    Things were normal until Bear-san who¡¯s now a Viscount introduced Noel to Rick.

    Because Rick was 12 years old and Noel was 11 years old, they could be friends¡­ or so I thought.

    Now then, the flashback scene.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Your Highness Roderick. I¡¯m Noel.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I know of Barnabas¡¯ great fame. I was told that the Viscount¡¯s son had excellent sword skills that surpassed that of a Holy Knight, are you really strong, Noel?¡±

    ¡°It is because I am undergoing training¡­¡­ In a mercenary company, we are trained in the heat of battle.¡±

    ¡°I see. Since our ages are close, during this journey, would you mind having a spar with me? I hope you will consider enlightening me in the sword¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that true? I¡¯ve heard that Your Highness Roderick¡¯s sword technique is as good as that of a knight¡¯s, so I thought I should be the one to ask.¡±

    Then the two of them laughed and shook hands.

    Things like the friendship between young boys is healing. Although Bree-chan was holding her nose and crouching down, did something happen to her?

    And the maids were chittering noisily like cicadas.

    When I peeked my face out to take a look, for some reason the atmosphere had changed.

    ¡°¡­Lucy!¡±

    Noel who leaped out like a faithful dog rapidly grabbed onto my hands.

    Since Bear-san got angry before, is it okay to do that now? I wonder if Noel also became a noble, so it¡¯s okay?

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Noel¡­¡­ You¡¯ve gotten bigger.¡±

    ¡°Lucy¡­ You¡¯ve become more beautiful.¡±

    Saying such a thing so lightly again¡­¡­ Noel has also grown to about 160cm tall, and since he was good-looking and cute, the maids made a commotion again.

    Unlike what I remembered from the Dream World, boys here praise me without hesitation.

    ¡°Yurushia!¡±

    Rick who had been dazed for a moment remembered himself and rudely cut in again, grabbing my arm as usual.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where!? Wait, Roderick-onii-sama, it hurts¡±

    When Rick tried to walk out while holding my arm as usual, I got pulled to the other side.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ Lucy is in pain.¡±

    Noel clasped my left hand firmly, staring at Rick while speaking in a low voice.

    ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    The two of them stared at each other in silence.

    Even though it had been harmonious so far, why did it become this way? ¡­ Why, eh, I¡¯m not going to play dumb anymore.

    Even though they¡¯re being misled by their feelings of love, Rick is thinking of me as his [Younger Sister] while Noel is longing for me as the [Saint-sama].

    As a girl, it feels a little bit disappointing, but favor is favor. It seems that both of them are strongly possessive, though.

    The one who truly loved me should let me go¡­¡­ although that sort of story exists, if I said it here I would surely be given disappointed looks.

    The ones that were happiest were the maids and the female knights. Under Bree-chan¡¯s feet, there was a dark red puddle, while Sara-chan was repeatedly chopping at the back of Bree-chan¡¯s head, was she possessed or something?

    Flashback end¡­

    Afterwards Bear-san, taking us into consideration, put us three on the same carriage,but that¡¯s no good. Please don¡¯t take their needs into consideration, please pay attention to mine instead.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    It¡¯s hopeless, I can¡¯t say anything. I can¡¯t say ¡°Let go of my hand.¡± Well, I understand that both of them are worried for me, which is why they¡¯re gripping my hands¡­¡­

    But¡­ what are you two worried about?Both of you are acting like children.

    Four days have passed on the carriage from the Royal Capital to the Colts territory¡­¡­

    It seems like the atmosphere inside the carriage would be like this until we arrived. At night, the two of them had had their sparring bouts with each other, as promised, but the scene seemed like they were strangely fired up in their practice together.

    I didn¡¯t know for sure, since I was sleeping.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Everyone around me had complained about my going to the Colts territory so much that my stomach hurt, but actually arriving was a joy.

    The joy from being released from that room was so terrific that even I even happily talked for 30 minutes with Duke Kaperu, who came to sarcastically receive us while wearing a bright smile, I¡¯m sure you can understand.

    I decided to attend the evening party on the same day that I arrived.

    It¡¯s ostensibly a welcoming party. Because we children had just had a several-day journey to reach this place, normally we would be resting today with the knights and civil officials, but since I was willing to accept the invitation, Duke Kaperu was even more astonished.

    Please forgive this weak Demon for being unable to withstand that strained atmosphere.

    ¡° ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡±

    When I attended the evening ball, many people came to give their greetings, but stuck as I was between Rick who was in an ill mood and Noel who was emitting a bloodthirst, most of them backed away in a hurry.

    Even though they¡¯re not holding my hands, the situation didn¡¯t change¡­¡­ Ah,

    ¡°Duke Kaperu.¡±

    As I spotted Duke Kaperu, who was pretending not to notice me, I pushed through the gap between the two boys and approached Duke Kaperu with a wide smile on my face.

    ¡°Th-there you are, Miss Yurushia, are you enjoying yourself¡­?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for holding such a grand evening ball for a child like me.¡±

    At my polite words, Duke Kaperu¡¯s face cramped slightly. Rude.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. It must have been difficult for Duke Verusenia to send his only daughter here, Miss Yurushia..¡±

    ¡°Well, understandably so. Since it was the King¡¯s order, I can¡¯t really ignore it, please don¡¯t feel down, Duke Kaperu.¡±

    ¡°¡­I-Is that so, how terrible¡­¡­ Then, Miss Yurushia, your [Princess] title must weigh heavily on you¡­¡±

    ¡°I was only four years old when it was decided, but most of the knights approved it, so before I knew anything else, it it had been decided. Did the other ducal houses¡¯ daughters not protest it?¡±

    ¡°That is ¡­¡­ a blood issue¡­ Th-that¡¯s right, doesn¡¯t the [Saint] title weigh heavily on you? I heard that when Miss Yurushia was kidnapped along with many children.¡±

    ¡°Roderick-onii-sama and Noel were among the children who had been kidnapped. If you would like to hear to story, shall I call them over?¡±

    ¡°N-no, that¡¯s alright. So then¡­ are you really capable of using Holy Magic at the level of a [Saint] like they say you can? Naturally, you¡¯re able to use ¡¾Blessing¡¿¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, would you like to see? I¡¯ll do it, okay? I¡¯ll be using the higher-grade ¡¾Feast of Blessings¡¿. Although I think that an ¡¾Archangel of Light¡¿ might appear, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s be as much [Damage] as last time.¡±

    ¡°Eh!? No, please stop, ¡­ ex, excuse me, I just remembered I have something urgent to deal with.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    For some reason, Duke Kaperu seemed to rapidly distance himself from me after that cute exchange with his cheeky words.

    I didn¡¯t think much, and just returned all of it to the sender¡­¡­ It¡¯s a failure. I wanted to reply more to his muddled sarcasm and to investigate how much his [Soul] had matured for harvesting¡­¡­

    Because I was mentally exhausted, I wanted to ¡®use¡¯ Duke Kaperu to refresh myself.

    After that, since I made those two worry with my disappearance, I was tightly surrounded once again.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    I cast Holy Magic on the obviously-heavily-injured child that had been carried into the cathedral.

    But to be injured so badly that the child¡¯s body is wrapped entirely with bandages¡­ That¡¯s not it. It might be because of some terrible disease, or possibly a [Curse] from being careless.

    After all, [Curses] exist in this world.

    Although most cases involved ¡¾Demons¡¿, it was also possible to be cursed with normal magic. Most of them come from [Traps]. Treasure chests, tools, and other items that would trigger traps if anyone but the maker used it. They¡¯re particularly troublesome, since they can activate even after the maker has died.

    As for this child, I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s disease or a curse, but ¡¾Healing¡¿ didn¡¯t seem to have any effect, so I used my original magic.

    The image I used, was an item that I¡¯d never used before in my games, the ¡¾Last Elixir¡¿.

    Because it wasn¡¯t an item that would be depleted after use, it¡¯s something that could be used on a poor commoner could use, but with an effect that powerful.

    And in the blink of an eye, the child¡¯s injury scars faded, and not even a single sign of disease remained.

    Because I didn¡¯t want it to spread, I also spread the spell to the mother and the surrounding priests. Since this world¡¯s cosmetic surgery is terrible, I¡¯ll restore that, too.

    ¡°Thank you very much, oh Saint!¡±

    ¡°Nee-chan, thank you~¡±

    No need, no need, you¡¯re welcome. Although the small boy doesn¡¯t seem to understand it very well, the mother is so happy that she¡¯s shedding tears of joy.

    ¡°¡­Ah, about the offering¡­¡±

    Ah, right, there was that.

    While wiping away her tears, the mother cowered a little, probably thinking that she needed to pay a large tithe.

    Even if it is called a place of worship, what we¡¯re doing is the same as a hospital, so even though it¡¯s called an offering the value is fixed.

    If it was a fracture, the going rate is around 30% of their monthly salary, but when it comes to the Holy magic that I used, it¡¯s about the same level as the cost of several months¡¯ worth of hospitalisation in an intensive care unit that I remembered from the dream world, so I could only speculate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it to the will of God¡­¡±

    After saying that, one of the middle-aged priests brought over a paper that looked like an invoice.

    Glancing at it, the amount written could buy me many sets of dresses.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    ¡°DoaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    After quickly poking his forehead in a tsukkomi (read: straight-man comedy act, classic japanese comedy), and sending the middle-aged priest flying several meters, I smiled at the mother and child.

    ¡°I am still in training. You don¡¯t need to tithe.¡±

    ¡°B, bb-b-b-b-b-but¡±

    Crap, they got scared. ¡­¡­ that¡¯s okay, though, it¡¯s normal.

    ¡°Although this is a church, the magic that I used is a magic of my own making that I created during my training, so to make an offering now would be an insult to God¡¯s will.¡±

    Right? ¡­ After I looked around with an [Intimidating] glare at the surrounding church officials, all of them averted their gazes wonderfully. ¡­ Wait, please don¡¯t avert your gaze too, mother-san.

    ¡°Okaa-san, cake ¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait a moment, please stay quiet for a bit.¡±

    Is the child hungry? They¡¯re looking for sweets in the mother¡¯s bag. That child, doing as they pleased ¡­ the child handed me the sweets that they found.

    ¡°Onee-chan, here~¡±

    ¡°Oh my, can I have it?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, I will receive your wonderful [Offering].¡±

    Not to mention, the money can be withdrawn from Duke Kaperu {who has plenty of it}.

    As the priests looked at me with fear in their eyes, the mother took her child, who was waving and smiling happily at me, and went home.

    Something from this might find its way to Duke Kaperu, but honestly I¡¯ve got no issue with that, especially since I wanted him to get agitated and come after me.

    Also¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The sweet that was given to me¡­¡­ It¡¯s unusual ¡­ and I¡¯m not making a bad joke here.

    I don¡¯t know why, but it seems that that child¡¯s [Feelings]¡­? Hmm, there seems to be something that feels like a bit of a [Soul] inside of it.

    Perhaps it¡¯s not a tithe to the church, but rather an [Offering] to me?

 CH 42

    Volume 3, Chapter 12: I turned 9 years old, Part 3

    ¡°¡­Yu-Yurushia-sama¡±

    Although I was disturbed from my good mood, since my mood had been so good, I greeted the owner of the voice with a smile anyways.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Archbishop Callisto, how may I help you?¡±

    How did he, who was previously the Archbishop of the church in the neighbouring country Shiguresu, become the archbishop here¡­ well, I wasn¡¯t surprised. He said he¡¯d be coming to Taterudo, so I wasn¡¯t surprised when I heard that Archbishop was calling for me.

    ¡°That thing before, about your changing the offering¡­ well¡­¡±

    As I steadily smiled at him, he stopped talking.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    How weak. I¡¯m worried that this Archbishop won¡¯t be able to make a living like this.

    And, Callisto¡­¡­ although he was trembling with fear, when he met my eyes, he blushed a bit. I felt disgusted for a moment.

    Ever since I started growing, my [Intimidation] hasn¡¯t been very stable¡­

    ¡°So, that Holy magic that you used just now, how much magical power does it use?¡±

    ¡°Magical power¡­?¡±

    How much? Maybe if the magic power expenditure is huge, there was supposed to be an equal tithe?

    ¡°Hmm, well¡­ It¡¯s about three times the cost of a ¡¾Feast of Blessings¡¿.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Callisto¡¯s eyes went wide and he stared at me. Well, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s the kind of magic that only the pope should be able to use.

    ¡°That¡­ that much magical power¡­¡­¡±

    As Callisto squeezed out the words, he lowered his head as if deciding something.

    ¡°There is a ceremony asking for Yurushia-sama.¡±

    ¡°What is that, I wonder¡­?¡±

    ¡°We would like for you to use your great magical power in the service of God. We will do my very best to repay you. We will try our best to accommodate you, so please.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s too suspicious¡­¡­

    ¡°It is to be done in the old castle owned by Duke Kapell in the suburbs, and as for the guards, I have left the  [Hero]in charge of security, so it¡¯s safe.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    Although it¡¯s a failure of a presentation, I¡¯m interested.

    Besides, if they could arbitrarily conduct such a dubious ceremony in a place where I couldn¡¯t see, then I¡¯d be worried anyways.

    I¡¯ve understood from our investigations that the Daemons might be involved.

    But I don¡¯t know if Callisto and the [Hero] have any relation to the Daemons¡­¡­

    ¡°Very well. I will help you.¡±

    ¡°Ooohhh, thank you so much Yurushia-sama. I will guide you.¡±

    If possible, I¡¯d like to crush it on the spot.

    Besides, since my sister-samas are in the hero¡¯s party, let¡¯s check on how much they¡¯ve matured in this long absence.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡­ do you really believe that Archbishop Callisto¡¯s words?¡±

    ¡°I have never heard of Callisto. If he was capable enough to have become an archbishop, it¡¯s nearly impossible for me not to have heard of him.¡±

    Even though I didn¡¯t want to talk about it at all, after hearing that I had been given a request by Callisto, Rick and Noel said those sorts of things.

    ¡°As a citizen of the Holy Kingdom, should you really be doubting an archbishop of the state religion?¡±

    Although I know what¡¯s behind him, I glossed over it because I would be troubled if they opposed me now.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama, I am also against it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Vio¡±

    While walking from the cathedral to the carriage, I stopped when Vio spoke up.

    Because we can¡¯t bring all the members of the guardian knights into the town, today the guards are about half-strength.

    Still, of the knights that Rick brought, three of them came from the [Holy Knights] that were the primary force of the Holy Kingdom, and I also only took the elite of my guardian knights like Bree-chan and Sara-chan.

    Although we brought various people from the mercenary company like Noel and Bear-san, Vio still seems to be uneasy about our war potential¡­¡­

    ¡°Rick, Noel, could you all go to the carriage first?¡±

    ¡°I want to know what¡¯s going on first before I move,¡±

    ¡°Understood. Let¡¯s go then, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Oi, Noel.¡±

    Noel who heard something in my voice dragged the reluctant Rick away.

    ¡­¡­ they¡¯re unexpectedly chummy.

    There was still Bree-chan and gang, but my attendants read the mood and soon everyone else had left.

    ¡°Vio¡­ now that you mention it, you used to hate the church, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Your memory¡¯s unexpectedly good. It was when you were two, I think.¡±

    ¡°It was Vio¡¯s family¡­¡±

    At my words, Vio was surprised, but smiled gently at me.

    ¡°What happened¡­ may I ask?¡±

    ¡°Will you reconsider if I tell you my story¡­?¡±

    Vio was a little anxious¡­ so I looked her straight in the eyes and answered honestly.

    ¡°U~n, if I don¡¯t know I can¡¯t understand.¡±

    When I said such, Vio smiled a little bitterly and let out a light chuckle.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama. I think I¡¯ve talked to Ria-sama about this in the past, do you remember?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remember.¡±

    Vio was Mother¡¯s junior in school, and when when her family was in decline and she fell behind on her studies, Mother helped her.

    ¡°Just like Yuru-sama, I was able to use Holy Magic at a young age. Besides my capacity for water and wind magic, because my magical power was high, I caught the attention of the church and they attempted to woo me many a time.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    I can understand that a little.

    ¡°At the time, I was being constantly solicited by a priest but after I refused him because I was helping out my family¡¯s business, nasty rumors began to circulate¡­¡­ I was too young at the time, so I can¡¯t tell you any concrete details of what happened but Ria-sama, who was close to Archbishop Molt, helped get that priest excommunicated. After that, the malicious rumors died off.¡±

    ¡°What happened to that priest¡­?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, there was an effort to protect church members, so I heard that he had been handed over to the neighbouring country, Shiguresu, without being deprived of his priesthood.¡±

    That makes it nearly impossible for me to believe in the church¡­¡­

    ¡°His name¡­ do you know it?¡±

    Although my voice sounded slightly disgusted, Vio hesitated a little bit before she lost to my gaze and said the name.

    ¡°Although my memory might be a bit faulty, but I¡¯m sure¡­¡­¡­ it was Cristor¡± (TL: Callistoru in engrish)

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    It seems that my mouth has spontaneously curled into a smile.

    It¡¯s probably¡­ not the kind of smile a decent [Human Being] would make. Vio¡¯s face somewhat scrunched a little.

    ¡°Well then, shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Did you think I would back down after hearing such a tale¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Although I won¡¯t say it¡¯s malicious, I prioritized my own thoughts like a selfish egoistic bad child, and personally, it¡¯d be Demon-like to ignore it and give up.

    Vio gave up and sighed visibly, waiting for my orders.

    ¡°Vio. I will investigate this nest of parasites leeching our Holy Kingdom. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yes.¡±

    Vio has known me ever since I was born. She is my family.

    Let¡¯s get rid of this stone in her heart.

    When this is over¡­¡­ well, we¡¯ll gradually find her a husband.

    £ª£ª£ª

    A few hours passed as I was bumped about on the carriage. Following the lead of Callisto¡¯s carriage, we arrived at the ancient castle owned by Duke Kapell.

    On the carriage, I got sandwiched between Rick and Noel again, both my hands were held but the expressions on the two¡¯s faces were super serious to the point that I was starting to seriously get worried, enough that I was letting off a bit of [Intimidation] without meaning to.

    ¡­¡­Are they worried that I¡¯m in danger?

    Surrounding the old castle were beautiful forests and lakes, but the castle itself was full of weeds and poorly maintained, in a state of ruin.

    ¡°Now, Yurushia-sama, come this way!¡±

    ¡°¡­ Got it¡±

    Callisto who was awfully lively, led us on with a few priests in tow.

    Rick walked next to me, while Noel walked several steps behind me, directing the mercenaries into formation.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It seems like everyone¡¯s being very serious¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia-sama.¡±

    As I was being guided into the banquet hall of the old castle, someone called out my name.

    Can I even call it a banquet hall at this point? Where previously one would hold ballroom parties, there are now various types of magic formations positioned about the room.

    Slipping through the not-insignificant amount of priests and officials, a young man ran up to us with short steps and called out to us.

    ¡°Aah, my beautiful Princess, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s true, Alfio-sama.¡±

    He came out, the Hero {lol} Alfio-kun.

    ¡°Oooohhh, you¡¯ve become even more beautiful in the past year. Please give this Al the honor of kissing your hand¡­¡±

    Are you dangerously ill? With a face that was incomparably redder than last time and his rough breathing, Alfio tried to take my hand, but Rick and Noel interrupted him immediately.

    ¡°I am Roderick of Taterudo. Dear sir, did you forget your manners?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As expected of the name of the grandson of Taterudo¡¯s King, Alfio immediately withdrew with a slightly crooked face, and bowed to Rick.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry. But I am neither a noble, nor a citizen of this country¡­¡±

    Wow¡­ that attitude is disgusting. He¡¯s probably really confident in his strength. However, as one would expect of this kind of disrespect, one of the Holy Knights put a hand onto his sword, Rick stopped him with a raised hand, though.

    ¡°And your name is?¡±

    ¡°¡­I am called the Hero of Shiguresu, Alfio.¡±

    ¡°I see. I haven¡¯t heard anything of you from my aunt, who is part of the Shiguresu royalty, but, nevermind that. You may return to your duties.¡±

    ¡°tsch. ¡­¡­¡­ well then, excuse me.¡±

    As Alfio went back on the road he came with a black face, the rest of the hero party rejoined him with worried faces.

    Among them were my elder sister-samas, and Athena was glaring daggers at me with a horrible look, but when I waved at her with a full-faced smile, she averted her gaze with a start.

    What a fantastic reaction, elder sister-sama.

    Regardless of what other people called him, unless he was a [Hero] that had been approved by the state, he was the same as an arrogant self-proclaimed ¡®hero¡¯ of a foreign country. I¡¯m in the same situation, though.

    As Alfio disappeared, Rick turned around and exchanged a look with Noel for an instant, then the two of them instantly went back to sandwiching me.

    What was that¡­¡­ that exchange just then?

    Although the atmosphere had been strained just a while ago, they seem to have come to an understanding. I don¡¯t understand the relationships of boys.

    ¡°Yurushia. I say, you shouldn¡¯t let such a suspicious character get close to you so easily.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, sorry. But isn¡¯t it unusual to hear you say these kinds of things, Rick? You¡¯re totally a ¡°Prince-sama¡±, after all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Was that what you thought of me?¡±

    While making an astounded face, Rick flushed a little and tapped my head softly.

    Although it didn¡¯t hurt, when I puffed up my cheeks and rubbed my head with a little indignation, Noel lightly stroked my head, only to retract his hand in panic when I turned to look at him, his cheeks flushing red.

    Rick and Noel were really cute¡­¡­

    I¡¯m getting worried that Bree-chan will be possessed by the [Degenerate God] again, though.

    Proceeding into the banquet hall, Duke Kapell was talking to some researcher-like people.

    As expected, he couldn¡¯t ignore the amount of people coming in, and while he averted his gaze from mine when our eyes met, he couldn¡¯t ignore Rick, and came over from the other side.

    ¡°Oh my oh my, it¡¯s Roderick-sama. I apologise for not receiving you.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Incidentally, what is this facility?¡±

    As Rick probed him with a slightly interrogative tone, Duke Kapell grinned from ear to ear.

    ¡°Well, this is a temple for summoning the [Retainers] of Goddess Kostoru.¡±

    ¡°A temple¡­¡­? You mean to say that you intend to summon a god?¡±

    ¡°That is the end goal. First, if we can summon the kin of a god to let the world know that God truly exists in this world, then Taterudo will become a true Holy Kingdom, a magnificent country with a true God.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    That is, if God actually exists¡­¡­¡­ By the way, it feels like I¡¯m being ignored, is it just me?

    ¡°Duke Kapell¡­?¡±

    When I spoke, Duke Kapell¡¯s shoulders gave a start.

    ¡­¡­ Why is he so skittish?

    ¡°Yu-Princess Yurushia, I heard from Callisto that you could help us with your wonderful magical power¡­¡±

    ¡°You did not hear incorrectly. Incidentally, I am learning summoning magic at the magic academy, so I¡¯d like it very much if I could see that summoning formation by all means.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ that, it¡¯s not ready yet, so¡­ to begin with, how about a meal first? I will have it prepared by then.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I know that it takes time to draw up the summoning formation, so to prepare it in the time it would take for a meal, I wonder what the teachers at the academy would say?

    But since Duke Kapell looks like he¡¯s having a [Conniption Fit] right now, I guess I¡¯ll accept it.

    ¡°Well then, I will be imposing on your kindness.¡±

    ¡°Really. Then¡­¡­ the dining hall here isn¡¯t very big, so how about we have just the young people alone, along with Princess Yurushia¡¯s attendants? I will be entertaining everyone else in a separate room.

    The young people¡­? It¡¯s just Rick, Noel and I. Well, that and my 4 attendants. To not have Bear-san, who¡¯s a Viscount, with us, Duke Kapell sure is bold.

    Although Rick and Noel both had their suspicions about it, since we had no reason to refuse, I accepted it with a sullen face.

    Sorry¡­¡­ the two of you.

    What is Duke Kapell plotting, that he¡¯s in such a good mood despite his sweating?

    Was he getting impatient, or was everything going according to plan¡­¡­¡­

    I wonder what he¡¯ll show me from here on in?

    Author¡¯s Notes: It¡¯s getting serious, little by little.

 CH 43

    Volume 3, Chapter 13: Unleashed, Part 1

    ¡°Now, please, come take a seat.¡±

    The dining hall that we were led to was way too strange.

    In the middle of the wider corner of the castle, there were luxurious large tables and chairs that looked like they were brought from somewhere, while carpets were laid out as if trying to hide something on the floor.

    ¡­¡­Were you guys unable to keep up the appearances a little more?

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you say this dining room is a little big?¡±

    ¡°Well, no¡­ because of the constraints, this was prepared in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I think if I tease him any more, Duke Kapell¡¯s self-respect will tear itself to rags.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them were glaring at me from both sides silently. ¡­ it seems that one side was unable to calm down, given that my elder sister-samas who were also Duke Verusenia¡¯s daughters were here.

    Well, although I¡¯m a self-indulgent person, since I¡¯m the younger sister, surely it¡¯s alright to call out to my elder sisters.

    ¡°Elder Sister Athena, if you keep wrinkling your brows like that, your cute face will be ruined.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia. What kind of joke are you trying to make by calling me [Sister]¡­?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only a formality, so don¡¯t mind it. Oh yeah, I heard you became part of the hero¡¯s party¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ Al-sama is strong and his knowledge is splendid. It¡¯s far removed from someone who¡¯s the [Princess] of a country where old-fashioned traditions are in charge.¡±

    ¡°Ara, ara, ufufu. That is good. Because it would be troublesome for the family which Elder Sister marries into to look after her, it would be great if he could look after you properly and train you.¡±

    My words cause Elder Sister¡¯s face to change colour.

    The Hero that Elder Sister was after tried to kiss my hand twice and was interrupted both times.

    ¡°¡­Even if it¡¯s you, I won¡¯t allow you to besmirch Al-sama¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ooh, scary.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t hold in my joy, and when I involuntarily broke out into a full laughter at them, my Elder Sister-sama physically took a step back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡±

    Rick tapped my shoulder with a *pon* and looked at me with a shocked face.

    Glancing back, I could see that Noel also had a troubled and bitter smile. I wonder if my enjoyment went just a little over the limit?

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Athena.¡±

    ¡°¡­Roderick-sama¡±

    The two of them exchanged greetings and then settled back into silence with strained faces.

    Was Rick the person that Elder Sister Athena used to be betrothed to? Well, for now I¡¯ll leave Athena-onee-sama to Rick for a bit.

    ¡°Ophelia-onee-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Hee!¡±

    What is with that reply¡­¡­¡­ I haven¡¯t said much so far, so why are you so afraid?

    ¡°¡­Y-Yu-Yurushia¡­¡­ I have nothing to say to you.¡±

    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t say such a thing. Won¡¯t you listen to your cute little sister¡¯s request?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-what?¡±

    If you keep making such a frightened face, my Demon blood will be roused and I¡¯ll need to hold it back¡­¡­

    ¡°What was it between the two of you?¡±

    As I dragged her closer and whispered that to her, Ophelia-onee-sama gave a small nod with teary eyes.

    ¡°W-we¡­¡­¡­ played together with Roderick-sama when we were little kids¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    A childhood friend, huh¡­? So for your engagement to be annulled, what exactly did you do, Onee-samas¡­¡­

    Thing is, Ophelia-onee-sama seems like she¡¯s regressing into an infant.

    ¡°W-well, let¡¯s eat!¡±

    Duke Kapell, who couldn¡¯t bear the atmosphere, said so loudly.

    That¡¯s right. It¡¯s time for the main dish.

    What a scene¡­¡­

    Duke Kapell was talking to himself in a nervous sweat, Rick was there silently eating while Noel, who wasn¡¯t used to this atmosphere, was warily surveying his surroundings with a nervous face. Athena-onee-sama was ignoring everyone else as if they weren¡¯t there, while Ophelia-onee-sama just sat, unable to even speak with a cramped face, and my attendants and I were eating without even hiding the displeased expressions on our faces.

    Incidentally, despite saying that it¡¯s only for young people¡­ are Duke Kapell, Callisto and that unknown old guy just waiting for a tsukkomi for being present?

    ¡°Who is that person?¡±

    Ah, Rick seems to have gotten to the tsukkomi first.

    ¡°How rude of me¡­ This is Kord-dono that I¡¯ve invited from Terutedo for guidance in summoning magic.¡±

    At Duke Kapell¡¯s introductions, the man built like a rock rose smoothly and nodded.

    ¡°I am Kord. I have heard of your name. Because I¡¯m a boorish person who only engages in research, I hope you¡¯ll forgive my rudeness¡­¡±

    He says he¡¯s a researcher, but he looks more like a warrior¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Do all the men of Terutedo forge their bodies like Kord-sama?¡±

    When I let out my side comment, Kord lost his breath for a moment, and then answered without looking at me.

    ¡°¡­In a warrior country, if one is not strong, one will be treated with contempt.¡±

    The common names for the nations, or should I say, their nicknames, like [Holy Kingdom], [Agricultural Country], or [Warrior Country], weren¡¯t officially their names, but rather labels so that others could understand what they did.

    For example, this country¡¯s [Holy Kingdom] title is commonly used in diplomacy because its official name is rather hard on the ears, while Shiguresu¡¯s [Agricultural Country] was rude to use in official settings.

    Despite being called a [Warrior Country] Terutedo isn¡¯t actually fond of war, but they¡¯re a people that loves to train their bodies and collect weapons, and are mostly harmless except towards those who were [Clear Enemies] like the Daemons and Demons, a self-proclaimed [Warrior Country].

    For better or for worse, the people of Terutedo are lovable [Muscle Heads].

    ¡°So Kord-sama is a rare type in Terutedo¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ you could say that¡±

    There are serious researchers in the muscle-brained country called Terutedo, but those people were mostly those with weak bodies or who were women.

    Those people are mostly doing their very best to make [The Strongest Weapon Imaginable], so besides Kord, while they all trained in fighting with weapons, there are almost no people studying summoning magic.

    ¡°Oh, right, Kord-dono gave me a rare fruit liquor from Terutedo. Let¡¯s serve it immediately.¡±

    Somehow sensing the delicate air between Kord and I, Duke Kapell panicked and ordered the serving of the wine.

    Quickly, as if they had had it already prepared in the next room, a slightly cold and orange fruit liquor was poured into all the glasses.

    Although the official age for drinking alcohol was 15 years old, generally people would gradually start to develop a taste for it from the age of 10. From the age of 15 it becomes alright to sit in a bar and drink as much as you want.

    Although Betty did recommend that I drink, I never thought that it could be delicious since I couldn¡¯t get drunk.

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Lucia¡­ what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Well, It was just a little delicious¡­¡±

    It really was a little delicious. Although originally it was supposed to be a famous and precious sake, but as Rick, Noel and I were drinking it deliciously and having a conversation¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­This¡­¡±

    If I looked closely, I could see a [Cloudiness] in the clear orange liquid that was invisible to [Human Beings].

    This is, magical power¡­¡­

    *Gatta¡­¡­a*

    Rick and Noel¡­ and my Older Sister-samas all lost consciousness abruptly and collapsed.

    ¡°¡­Poison?¡±

    I failed. No, I was careless. Poison doesn¡¯t work on Demons, so I didn¡¯t even try to guard against it.

    ¡°[Let there be¡­¡±

    AsI tried to cast the Holy Magic¡¾Detoxification¡¿, I was assailed by a sudden weakness, and slid down when I tried to stand up from the chair I was on.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°MASTER!¡±

    My attendants came rushing over at the state of affairs¡­ Did the poison not work on those children?

    ¡°As expected of the one called a [Saint], Princess Yurushia. You¡¯re still conscious¡­¡­¡±

    Said Duke Kapell, with a voice that seemed like it was going to burst into laughter at any moment.

    ¡°What about these brats? Did they not drink the wine?¡±

    Kord said crudely, standing next to Duke Kapell.

    My consciousness seems to be breaking off¡­¡­ But that was foolish. My attendants¡¯ anger was boiling over, and they were about to go berserk. If my attendants went into a rampage in this situation, Rick and Noel will die.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Let there be Light]!¡±

    I mustered my will and shouted out the Holy magic¡¯s incantation.

    Even if the poison¡¯s effect causes me to be unable to control my raging magical power well, it should have at least neutralised the poison in Rick a little.

    ¡°¡­You all, carry Rick outside of the castle¡­¡­ and then Vio¡­¡±

    ¡°B-, but Yurushia-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°Hurry up and do it!¡±

    Under the light of the Holy Magic, my attendants reluctantly followed my instructions to them, and teleported out with Rick.

    Although it normally isn¡¯t an issue for me to teleport with them as well, if I teleport out with my magical power in this state, I don¡¯t know what kind of accident might happen.

    As the dazzling light faded, I could see that Duke Kapell had a panicked expression on his face, while Kord wielded a huge sword, grimacing as he looked down on me.

    ¡°Despite being in that state, to think that you could still cast magic¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened, where is Roderick!? Did those servants evacuate him!?¡±

    Bellowed Duke Kapell at his men, but the guards in front of the door could only shake their heads, their faces blue.

    ¡°Kapell, those brats are inconsequential. With just the little lady alone, we should be able to get enough magical power.¡±

    ¡°B-,but¡­ With the witnesses alive¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut the waffling and resolve yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I understand.¡±

    ¡°Du-Duke Kapell-sama¡­¡­ what is the meaning of this¡­¡±

    Callisto, who had been dazed until then drew close at that point, sweating profusely, while Duke Kapell, on the contrary, turned to Callisto with an arrogant look.

    ¡°Watch quietly as our ¡¾God¡¿ is summoned.¡±

    ¡°S-so, is that how it is¡­¡±

    Staring with contemptuous eyes, Kord came to me, who hadn¡¯t lost consciousness yet and kneeled.

    ¡°Rejoice. Your magic will realise the grand wish of our [King].¡±

    Kord¡¯s face radiated a sense of accomplishment¡­ and then as thinking of what would come next, joy.

    It seems that the poison was effective on the part of me that was [Human]¡­ Normal poison wouldn¡¯t work, so what kind of creature could produce this kind of poison¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Daemons.¡±

    As I lost control over my mouth, the smile on Kord¡¯s face disappeared as I leaked out the last word.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see. It will be dangerous if you¡¯re left alive.¡±

    As I muttered, Kord started up the magic formation under the carpet and began to cast at the same time.

    So as I expected, it was a Daemon, huh¡­¡­ It was too suspicious in various ways.

    ¡°[Magic Power Transfer]¡­!¡±

    As Kord¡¯s incantation completed, my rampaging magical power was absorbed by the formation.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ is this amount of magical power¡­ Is this girl even human¡­¡±

    Nope, I¡¯m a Demon¡­¡­ But this might be bad. My rampaging magical power has disappeared and the strain on my body has eased, but my consciousness is still cut off.

    Without my magic power and my consciousness, it¡¯s impossible to resist¡­¡­

    So sleepy¡­¡­ can¡¯t ¡­ I shou¡­¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­eh,

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    £ª

    Kord who was the Daemon King¡¯s confidant and general had received a secret mission from the Daemon King, and so had been collecting magical power from the various human nations.

    As a warrior that battled humans on the front lines, he wanted to cross swords with the [Hero] that would appear.

    But he respected and loved the Daemon King and he knew that there would be no future for Daemons even if they won over the humans. While Kord didn¡¯t understand the theory,  he knew they were attempting to call out something ¡¾Massive¡¿.

    The three types of Demons of the ¡¾Ruling Class (Master Class)¡¿ that would appear after a long time of being a ¡¾Greater Demon (Arch Demon)¡¿.

    ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿

    ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿

    ¡¾The Devil¡¿

    If it was let out not under control, the Daemon Race would perish. But without that much power, it would be impossible to force the Daemon race to obey and manage them.

    As for the Daemon King, if a single one of the human nations knew of their [Plan] to summon one of those three ¡¾Pillars¡¿, all of the nations would band together to thoroughly destroy the Daemon race.

    Things had to be done carefully.

    Kord wanted to fight, but of those whom Daemon King trusted, only he was able to work in human society without being uncovered.

    And, despite encountering the man that human society called the [Hero], he could only feel power from him that equaled a Daemon ¡¾Dark Knight¡¿, so he became disillusioned with human beings.

    Agitating the priests and fanatics of the church, and collecting their magic power with sweet words, sending the magic power to the Daemons¡¯ territory.

    Forced to make round-trips between the Daemons¡¯ territory and human society, Kord who was tired and frustrated plotted to make use of the [Saint] after hearing Duke Kapell talk about her.

    There was a legend among the Daemons of an existence that led the [Hero] to victory with its mighty magic power and merciful heart.

    As long as the Saint was next to him, the hero would be nigh-invulnerable.

    The girl was still young, but if she was the [Genuine Article], then not only would there be enough magic power, but there might be the benefit of removing this troubling existence called a [Saint].

    He did not think that the Saint would be such a beautiful girl.

    With that youth, that beauty, and after witnessing her continue to use magic after drinking the medicine that was created to deprive the Hero of his strength, Kord was well and truly convinced that she was the [Genuine Article].

    Kord had thought of offering her up to the Daemon king, but judged that she would be a danger to them since she managed to see through Kord as a Daemon.

    After absorbing her enormous magical power, she fell unconscious and lay there on the cold floor.

    Kord who stepped forward to end her life without increasing her suffering was suddenly beset by an unspeakable chill.

    The beautiful golden hair of the fallen girl swelled, ¡­¡­ and *fuuuhn*, the girl disappeared, leaving only her dress.

    What happened? Where is the girl¡­?

    ¡°GUAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?¡±

    A small golden lump jumped out of the shadow of the dress and bit deeply into Kord¡¯s side.

    Reflexively falling to one knee, Kord saw something even as his face warped in pain, it was a small [Golden Cat].

    It wasn¡¯t just a cat. It couldn¡¯t be just a cat.

    With fiendish red eyes that were devoid of reason. Crimson fangs and nails that dripped blood.

    It was throwing out a violent, ominous presence. A human servant who wandered closer by accident was instantly decomposed from coming into contact with that miasma, rotting until his putrid flesh collapsed onto the ground.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­¡­?¡±

    That day¡­¡­ the restraints of the ¡¾Human Heart¡¿ and ¡¾Human Body¡¿ were released,

    And the upper-class Demon ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, was unleashed upon the Holy Kingdom.

    LINE HERE

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Because I¡¯ve received a number of questions, I¡¯ll supplement it a bit.

    There are many other religions in this world other than the Kostoru religion, such as the god of fire, the god of trade, and the god of knowledge, but I¡¯ve divided them into [Sects].

    Most of the religions were treated the same, which includes the hundreds of emerging religions.

    Magic and sorcery differ in that [Magic] is mostly intuition, whilst the stuff that¡¯s studied and researched is called [Sorcery], but the boundary is ambiguous and mostly it¡¯s the professors in the schools that care about the divide.

    Normal people also can¡¯t tell the difference between magic and sorcery. The students of the academy also call it only by feeling.

    To be exact, summoning is [Sorcery], but other subjects are called [Magic] so it¡¯s also named accordingly.

    Sorry about the carefree world setting. I too sometimes get overwhelmed, so forgive me.

 CH 44

    Volume 3, Chapter 14: Unleashed, Part 2

    Author Note: Lots of gore again. Entirely in third person.

    Kord was confused.

    It¡¯s understandable. His Daemon King had spent several years¡­¡­ if you included the preparation period, nearly 20 years had been spent on trying to summon this thing, and here it was right in front of him.

    ¡°It can not be¡­¡±

    It couldn¡¯t be that a¡¾Demon Beast¡¿was in front of him. The documents that spoke of its existence was thousands of years old.

    Who could believe that one would encounter such a legendary existence this easily even if they asked for it?

    [ShaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    However, Kord¡¯s dream was shattered as the small golden cat let out a cry, and the entire castle shook, cracks appearing in the thick walls and stone floors. In the midst of the enormous swirling magic power and miasma, the shadow of the cracks materialized and began to flow and spread, and he could feel a sheer amount of corruption that exceeded that of an ¡¾Arch Demon¡¿.

    It looked like a thin, short-haired golden cat.

    Along its small back, wings that were the same colour as its golden fur that were disproportionately larger than the body by a few tens of centimeters spread out. then, flapping a single time with its huge wings that exceeded 5 metres, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ slowly floated into the air.

    What was this Demon going to do¡­?

    The ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ let out a low growl as it faced a certain direction, and Kord, noticing that the direction was the [Daemons¡¯ territory], turned pale, even as he bled from his face and side.

    ¡°¡­Oh, Ohhhhh, so this is a Demon Beast!¡±

    Calling out in joy, Duke Kapell forgot himself as he neared the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿. He hadn¡¯t noticed what happened, and he hadn¡¯t even noticed that it had been Yurushia.

    ¡°Now, Demon Beast, kill the weak Royal family, and all the other obstructive Ducal houses! Obey me, and I will sacrifice thousands to-,¡±

    The foolish Duke Kapell believed Kord¡¯s lies and was convinced that the summoned Demon would obey him.

    His grandfather was the youngest brother of the king, so he believed that he had only been unlucky, thinking that if he could become king he would be able to subjugate all the surrounding countries including Shiguresu and Terutedo and lead them into being a true Holy Kingdom.

    Duke Kapell had tried several strategies, and was related to both Demon summoning incidents: supplying money and information to the one thought to be the mastermind, Marquis Bruneau.

    Since his plan that had taken him such a long time at last to reached its final stage, Duke Kapell lost his calm and became talkative, and in the middle of his words, and carelessly stepped into the blanket of [Darkness] that spread across the floor.

    *splat*¡­

    ¡°¡­GyyaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHH, aAAaaAAa, Aa¡­¡­¡±

    Duke Kapell turned into a skeleton as thousands of years seemed to pass in an instant, the man who had been secretly maneuvering behind the back of the Holy Kingdom crumbled away like a pile of dust in the wind, closing the curtains upon his life.

    His soul was inhaled by the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ with great relish, who chewed it for a bit before swallowing.

    Whether [She] was in the form of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ or not, she was still a gourmand, and there was a hint of pleasure as she pulled out all the weak-willed humans¡¯ [Souls]. All the subordinates who knew of Duke Kapell¡¯s plans simply ceased to live without a single outward injury.

    For an upper-class Demon that¡¯s beyond the realm of mere Greater Demons (Arch Demons), there wasn¡¯t even a need for her to even lift a finger to take a human¡¯s [Soul], just like a believer would dedicate [Offerings] to their gods, so did the weak-minded humans offer up their souls.

    Their dead faces showed not joy, but an [Anguish] that caused one to wonder just how much pain they went through.

    No one would ever think of wanting to die like this.

    The only one who survived was Kord, who believed not in God but the Daemon King, and Callisto, who was able to use a little Holy Magic.

    ¡°Th-that¡­ I¡­ God¡­¡­why¡­¡±

    Frozen in fear from seeing that unbelievable thing, Callisto shook his head like a small child while crying.

    Callisto had believed that everything would be perfect if God descended.

    If God descended, this world would find peace, so he had no qualms about destroying the little peace of the people who lived happily now.

    He believed with all his heart that if the Holy Kingdom threw away all of it¡¯s military for a God, even the Daemons would relent.

    Not realizing that he had merely replaced [Military] with [God] to protect the people, he couldn¡¯t understand the reason for his exile from the Holy Kingdom, and didn¡¯t realize the contradiction of harming others¡¯ happiness for peace.

    Finally given the means to make his ideal a reality by Duke Kapell, on the verge of seeing his dream a reality, Callisto preached an incredible dream.

    Before him, with the beauty and power of God, was a Demon¡­¡­

    Unable to accept reality, Callisto¡¯s spirit gave way to the fear from the miasma, foaming at the mouth with bloodshot eyes wearing a thin smile.

    As a matter of fact, this loss saved Callisto¡¯s life.

    Callisto¡¯s soul that had suffered a mental collapse and had no more value and so became of no interest to the gourmand¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    But with all of the living humans gone and only the grating rasp of a mentally deranged human, a hint of annihilation was shortly aimed towards him, but then,

    ¡°GaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    Kord¡¯s greatsword slashed down, releasing a shockwave toward the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    It wasn¡¯t that Kord was going to help Callisto. Rather, that his warrior instincts told him that if he didn¡¯t use his greatest attack during this small gap in its defense, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to scratch this Demon Beast.

    As the impact crushed the stone wall, and enormous rubble fell, Kord felt a little chill and dodged, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ tore off his right arm, and broke apart his greatsword.

    ¡°GowaaaaaaaAAAAAA¡±

    Kord released his [Human] illusion, and reverted to the figure of a [Daemon] with grey skin. Along with that, he released magic power to heal his injuries, also raising his offensive and defensive power, but that ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ tore through it like thin paper.

    Daemons couldn¡¯t use Holy Magic, but they could use Water Magic to close wounds and improve healing. In the first place, Daemons had way more physical strength than a human, but every strike from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ on his flanks and his arms left a curse-like miasma coiling about them, which degraded his body from the inside.

    ¡°¡­¡­Monster¡­¡±

    ¡°Master!?¡±

    As the attendants who sensed that enormous presence returned, they were surprised by Yurushia returning to the form they dearly missed¡­¡­ the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    ¡°Tina!¡±

    [ShaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    As Nia raised her voice, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ struck the exact same moment with terrifying speed and bit off Tina¡¯s arm clean off her shoulder.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*kuu*¡±

    Instantly Noa used ¡¾Unleash¡¿ and stopped Tina from collapsing using his magic power, but Tina who had turned pale refused to believe her eyes about her [Master]¡¯s body.

    ¡°Can you still move? Tina?¡±

    ¡°¡­Ye, Yes, but leaving that aside, our Master¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be back!¡±

    Fannie¡¯s voice brought everyone to attention. Having a taste of a lower-rank Demon, the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿brimmed with a brutal presence, and, spreading its golden wings, it attacked them again.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    Nia immediately took the blow with her Cursed Blade, but was unable to fully ¡¾Absorb¡¿ the power of the blow and was blown off into the wall, falling to her knees.

    ¡°*cough*¡­¡­so strong¡±

    ¡°You brats!¡±

    Kord called out to the attendants who were somehow able to battle that [Monster].

    ¡°Help me! I am General Kord of the Daemon King¡¯s army. If you leave this monster be, the human nations will be finished!¡±

    The only thing in Kord¡¯s mind, was the Daemon King¡¯s territory and the Daemon King himself.

    Why the [Saint¡¯s] disappearance would cause the [Demon Beast] to appear was beyond his understanding, but when the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ turned its head toward the direction of the Daemons¡¯ territory, Kord knew that it was seeking out the magic power that he had transferred.

    {I won¡¯t let you get to the Daemon King-sama¡­!}

    He prided himself as being one of the top five of the Daemon King¡¯s subordinates, but he was being trampled to his wits¡¯ end by this little Demon.

    Kord had already resolved to die, for the sake of the Daemon King he chose to throw away his pride and work together with the [Humans].

    ¡°¡­¡­ Monster¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    As Kord turned to the sudden voice coming from behind him, he saw a boy wearing an enraged expression staring at him.

    Noa didn¡¯t even give him the time to raise his voice, and used the greatest force of¡¾Unleash¡¿to instantly pulverise his body and soul.

    ¡°¡­Low-life.¡±

    As Noa spit out the words, half the castle collapsed under the force of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ and his ¡¾Unleashing¡¿.

    *Gagin*

    ¡°¡­kuhh¡±

    Meanwhile, Nia who held the power of ¡¾Absorption¡¿ was barely taking the attacks of the¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    The attendants couldn¡¯t strike Yurushia.

    However, since Tina and Fannie couldn¡¯t even take a single blow from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, and Nia suffered increasing damage with every single blow that she ¡¾Absorbed¡¿, as it stood, they would be overwhelmed.

    ¡°Fannie, supplement Nia¡¯s magic power! Tina! We will stop Yurushia-sama, so attack with full force.¡±

    Tina¡¯s eyes went wide at Noa¡¯s instructions.

    ¡°Wha-what are you saying!? To attack our Master¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­A half-baked attack won¡¯t do any damage. In order to wake up Yurushia-sama who is the fastest in the Demon World, the instant that Nia takes the blow we counterattack with full force. Even she should stop moving then. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Tina gritted her teeth as her left shoulder regenerated, her curly golden hair turning into countless snakes.

    The other three also shed their human forms and raised their magic power to their maximum.

    For these four Demons, neither the affairs of this country, nor the affairs of the world mattered to them.

    If Yurushia wished it, they would be happy to turn the whole world into their enemies and reap the souls of all the living beings.

    As a result, even if they had to perish, they felt a joy rather than fear at the thought of dying for their [Master].

    However, the current ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ was different.

    It was different from their Master [Yurushia] who was like a mother to them, the only source of warmth in the Demon World like the sun.

    Their true Master ¡­¡­ [Yurushia] had to be recovered. Even if they had to perish.

    ¡°I¡¯m starting©`!¡±

    The Harlequin-masked Fannie focused a mental assault on the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿to divert its attack even a little.

    When it came, Nia jumped into the line of fire and took the blow, whilst Tina¡¯s snakes coiled around the body of the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿, tying it up until it couldn¡¯t be seen.

    ¡°Now¡±

    ¡°¡¾Unleash¡¿!¡±

    Nia took the power absorbed from the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿¡¯s assault, and channeled it straight into Noa¡¯s attack as magic power.

    The full manifestation of the four ¡¾Greater Demons¡¿ and their special characteristics in a combination attack.

    [KiyshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!]

    As the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ cried out in pain, half the snakes crushing it solidified and stopped moving. ¡­But¡­

    A huge amount of magic power was released explosively from within, tossing off the golden snakes, smashing Nia¡¯s cursed sword, and tearing up the four Demons.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The Demons fell to the ground and looked up silently as the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ calmly fluttered into the air as if nothing had happened.

    They knew better than anyone that Yurushia was [Superior] to them. But, because her everyday self didn¡¯t feel threatened, her usual magical power was only somewhat larger than theirs, split from the Demon Beast form, giving her human self an unexpectedly large [Magic Power].

    Would everything end without them being able to recover [Yurushia]¡­¡­¡­ Just as the Demons were thinking that¡­

    *plop*¡­¡­

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­eh?¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    The golden cat suddenly fell, and a naked [Yurushia] rolled on the ground.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Daemon King Hebrad was born as a Daemon more than 30 years ago.

    His father was the previous Daemon King, and his mother was killed by the other wives after giving birth to him.

    In addition, Hebrad had a secret he couldn¡¯t tell anyone,  he had memories of a previous life as a human.

    If this was to be known, he would be killed by the Daemons that hated humans. Even so, he never considered himself an ally of the humans.

    In his past life, he had been a corporate slave to a black company, had been exploited by everyone around him, and had lived being held in contempt.

    His parents had died while he was still in school and his uncle¡¯s family cheated him of the insurance money, so he despaired and hated human beings despite being one. One night he spit blood into his futon, dying without ever being cared for.

    He thought that he had been given a chance at last to avenge himself on human beings by being reborn as a Daemon.

    His hatred was seen as strange among the Daemons and the previous Daemon King, who had no affections for his own children, made use of that hatred, so Hebrad was given a harsh and elite education.

    But as Hebrad gained the knowledge necessary to command the Daemon Army, his despairing thoughts began to change.

    Daemonkind had already reached the limit.

    Humans were hated, and the Daemons were descended from persecuted humans.

    Despite his attempts at reform using the knowledge from his previous life, the Daemons only knew how to take from others, to deceive others, and to pull others who aspired to rise in society down, so the reforms were all in vain.

    After that, he changed.

    At the age of ten, he killed the previous Daemon King, united the foolish Daemons, and realised that a strong power was necessary to get his revenge on human beings.

    And now, it¡¯s 20 years later.

    The plan began, the summoning formation had collected magic power for over ten years.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ this is¡­¡±

    The magic power sent from General Kord was approximately 80% of all the magic power collected thus far, all put together, Hebrad had exceeded the amount of magical power that he needed for the summoning.

    ¡°What happened¡­¡±

    It was clearly an abnormal situation. The amount was abnormal, on top of that, he had never seen such pure magic power with such a golden colour before.

    Although Hebrad rejoiced over Kord¡¯s results, he worried for the man.

    ¡°¡­¡­Naa¡±

    The abnormal things didn¡¯t end there.

    To summon the upper-class demon, a variety of constraints were applied, and not only magic power, but a large amount of sacrifices were prepared as [Offerings] and it was necessary to repeatedly check through each preparation step.

    The huge summoning magic formation filled with magic power suddenly started shining.

    ¡°Who started it up!? Stop it now, even if you have to break a part of the summoning circle!¡±

    At Hebrad¡¯s shout, the technicians started to panic and moved even as the Dark Knights moved to prepare their weapons.

    Such a thing was impossible.

    In response to the golden magic power that was being poured in, [Something] was forcing its way through to manifest from the Demon World.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hebrad began to cast magic without even bothering to hide his frustration and impatience.

    Using his otherworldly knowledge, he forcefully attempted to contaminate the area being used for the trial, unleashing a magic that would diminish his lifespan.

    ¡± [Nuclear Destruction]! ¡±

    Even if the plan had to be restarted because the summoning formation was destroyed, it would be better than letting whatever that [Thing] was inside out without the restraints.

    As the bright light engulfed several of the mages, during the instant he tried to destroy the magic formation¡­¡­ It manifested.

    [GaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    The angry roar shook the entire Daemon territory.

    Countering the nuclear strike magic with only a roar, it was an inky black leopard that was well over 10 metres to a side¡­ darker than darkness itself.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡­¡­ can¡¯t¡­¡­ be¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad numbly muttered as he collapsed with an expression of pure despair.

    He knew what that [Demon] was.

    An ancient Demon recorded in ancient texts that had only been seen once in the distant past, and had laid waste to several countries.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿¡­ ¡±

    The Daemons would perish today¡­¡­

    In front of Hebrad who was having such thoughts, ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿ crushed all the mages and Dark Knights with a single roar, and then suddenly raised its head as if it had noticed [Something].

    [¡­¡­Guruu¡­]

    In an instant, the ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿ broke through the bedrock ceiling of the underground altar and leaped out, flying away without devouring their souls.

    And thus the plan that the Daemon King had taken several decades to execute vanished, and the Daemons escaped their extinction.

    Author¡¯s Notes: A protagonist has appeared, but another is still absent.

    Thank you for pointing out the various typos etc.

 CH 45

    Volume 3, Chapter 15: Dark Beast

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    After being momentarily dumbfounded, but the attendants came to their senses, dragging their wounded bodies over to Yurushia¡¯s fallen form.

    However,

    ¡°Wait, has she really returned¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Noa¡¯s spoke, Nia, who had repeatedly taken on attacks, quickly stopped her movement.

    In her hand was the sword that had been shattered by ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿ leaving only the handle, and Nia wasn¡¯t sure how many more serious attacks she could take.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s fine.¡±

    While regenerating her left arm and restoring her maid outfit from her hair, Tina calmly smiled at the twin Demons.

    ¡°And why is that¡­?¡±

    Noa wanted to rush up to Yurushia immediately. However, at the same time, since he had taken up the role of administering the servants from her, their Mistress, he was responsible for organising everyone so that they could get their Mistress back.

    At Noa¡¯s question, Tina puffed up her chest with a *fufun*.

    ¡°Regarding Yurushia-sama, everything from her preferred food to her health and even the growth of her chest measurements have been perfectly grasped with these eyes and this nose¡­ I would understand more if I could lick her, but even without I am sure that she has completely returned.¡±

    As Tina said this in a matter-of-fact manner with a self-satisfied look, Noa and Nia¡¯s wore delicate expressions.

    Even though they were Demons, they drew back slightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­is that so.¡±

    First of all, he didn¡¯t need to understand that. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem if it¡¯s the pervert¡¯s (Tina¡¯s) words.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, is merely sleeping.¡±

    When the three looked back towards the voice, Fannie was already kneeling down next to Yurushia with without her guard up, smiling in satisfaction while listening to her making sleeping noises.

    The ancient castle on the shores of the lake had mostly collapsed, and the light from the sun poured through the holes.

    ¡°Tina. Can you make Yurushia-sama some clothing?¡±

    Although she was sleeping, it just wouldn¡¯t do to leave their Mistress naked outdoors. The dress that Yurushia had been wearing was buried under the rubble, so even if they could find it, it wouldn¡¯t do to put it on.

    ¡°Well, of course I can do it.¡±

    As Nia covered Yurushia with her cloak, Tina, who was looking at Yurushia¡¯s bare skin and feet with desire, replied to Noa a little too fast.

    ¡°Ah~, I can help~¡±

    ¡°¡­Well then, please do so then Fannie.¡±

    Tina and Fannie knelt down next to their sleeping Mistress, and poured magic power into their hair, stitching Yurushia¡¯s new dress onto her.

    Noa, as a [Male-type], wasn¡¯t allowed to go near their Mistress while her skin was still exposed. As Nia, who wasn¡¯t allowed to help make the dress because of her clumsiness, watched on enviously, she suddenly raised a question.

    ¡°Why is the dress black even though Tina¡¯s hair is golden?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t know.¡±

    She had the thought that she was [Black-hearted], but was kind enough not to mention it outloud.

    ¡°How strange.¡±

    As Fannie muttered so, a part of her hair was made into beautiful silver threads, and a few minutes passed while it decorated the black dress, after which the dress was finished.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­Muu¡±

    When I woke up, all I saw was the sprawling blue sky and the happy faces of my attendants.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°Mistress, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I, why was I asleep¡­?¡±

    The attendants told me about the events that happened after I lost consciousness.

    I didn¡¯t think that the poison would work so well on my human half, but there was no way that I should have returned to my Demon form (cat) just because of that¡­

    I think I was able to revert back because I poured out all the magic of my human half to save everyone from the poison, so that¡¯s why I transformed completely into a Demon.

    ¡°By the way, what happened to the rest of the humans?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Roderick-sama, Noel-sama, and your sisters are all sleeping by the lake away from the castle. Vio and the maids, along with your knight-samas were all drugged and sleeping but we woke them after moving everyone there. Ater explaining the circumstances, we requested for Vio to help detoxify the Highnessess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ Ah? What about the Hero?¡±

    I had completely forgotten, but since I suddenly remembered, I asked.

    ¡°Just in case, we moved them along with the rest¡­¡­ Is that bad?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ ah, well.¡±

    As Nia reported what happened while I was out, as I answered properly, I looked over at the destroyed castle.

    Maybe those people died just for getting involved. I don¡¯t feel sad about it, though.

    I wonder if Vio is worried¡­ I don¡¯t know the details of what happened, so I shouldn¡¯t stay around here now, since the rest of them are working so hard.

    Before I knew it, my clothes had changed to a black and silver dress. They¡¯re so comfortable that it¡¯s scary.

    ¡°Still, even though I ate Duke Kapell¡¯s soul, I don¡¯t remember its taste¡­¡±

    What a waste. It was in a great state, matured and ripe.

    As I muttered, Noa grinned with a Demonic smile.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem. When Nia took Yurushia-sama¡¯s attack, although it didn¡¯t take in everything, a part of the magic power and the soul was recovered. I will be using Duke Kapell¡¯s soul for tonight¡¯s dinner.¡±

    ¡°Ohh~¡±

    As expected of Noa. Such meticulous work. But¡­¡­

    ¡°Nia, let me see your sword.¡±

    ¡°¡­ulp¡±

    Since they said that Nia had stopped it, she probably took the attack from the Demon (cat) with her sword. Did she think that I would get mad at her because the sword got broken? ¡­¡­ Even though I¡¯m such a gentle Master.

    ¡°Noa. Please repair the sword with my magic power and Kapell¡¯s soul.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that really alright?¡±

    ¡°Yep¡±

    Even I have things that I consider more important than my own appetite.

    ¡°It is repaired.¡±

    ¡°So fast.¡±

    He¡¯s fast as always. I didn¡¯t manage to see him repair it this time either.

    Although, the Demon¡¯s sword now¡­¡­ what the heck¡¯s this? Even though the sword was previously pitch-black, now it¡¯s shiny gold and leaves sparkly gold particles behind with every swing.

    ¡­¡­ How flashy.

    ¡°Nia¡­¡­ here you are¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­ thank you, thank you! Yurushia-sama~¡±

    I think that it¡¯s too flashy, but Nia seemed very pleased.

    Nia held the sword in front of her and gave a test swing towards the rubble of the castle,

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­haa?

    As Nia continued to swing the Demon Blade,

    ¡°[Nya]¡± ¡°[Nya]¡± ¡°[Nya]¡±

    With every swing a [Sound Effect] was made, as the stone rubble split like pudding.

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    Why did it turn out like this¡­?

    Is it my fault? Is it because of my magic power? Also, am I imagining it, but is that my [Voice]?

    ¡°A~ma~zing, Yurushia-sama, this, this is amazingly wonderful~¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono, hold on¡±

    I put a stop to Nia¡¯s happy fantasizing.

    ¡°I will try to fix it, so hand it back to me for a bit. ¡­¡¯kay?¡±

    ¡°Eehh~~¡­¡±

    Nia hugged her Demon Blade and refused, shaking her head with tears in her eyes. ¡­Ku. Is she pleased to be disobeying me¡­¡­?

    After that, I made a new Demon sword by using a sword I found in the castle and infusing it with my magic power along with Holy Magic to form an ordinary [Golden Demon Blade], but Nia never exchanged the original for it¡­¡­ My sense of shame is being put to the test.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡­ something¡¯s coming.¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    Fannie gave a sketchy warning with a laid-back tone.

    I understood that her words were a [Warning] because as she said it, her face changed into her Harlequin mask.

    Fannie¡¯s perception is the best among us. Incidentally, mine is almost nonexistent¡­ Since she didn¡¯t delay at all in assuming a battle form, the other attendants instantly transformed back into the Demon forms.

    Incubus. Succubus. Gorgon. Nightmare.

    Those were the horrifically chuunibyou [Settings] that I had made, but was quite the spectacle when they were lined up seriously like this.

    But¡­ these children, why were their bodies also growing like mine? I wonder if they were in sync with me.

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    I finally felt [Something]. ¡­¡­No, it¡¯s clearly not just [Something]. Violent and rough, it¡¯s the presence of a [Big Shot]¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°[GuaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    A tempest blew, and the lake waters roiled as the roar of a huge beast echoed.

    ¡°[I¡¯ve finally found you! Golden beast!!!!]¡±

    As expected, it was ¡¾Him¡¿¡­¡­¡­ My benefactor from the demon world and owner.

    Demon Beast¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿.

    ¡°H-hiya~ Long time no see~¡±

    As always, ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t have a single shred of shame, while I spoke in a light tone, waving my hands in a cold sweat.

    When I looked, the attendants that were supposed to be next to me were already a few steps behind me. ¡­You guys¡­ I¡¯ll remember this later.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡¾Golden Beast¡¿¡­? Why are you in the form of a human¡­?]¡±

    When ¡¾He¡¿just so much as glanced at me, ¡¾He¡¿ let out an overwhelmingly powerful [Intimidation].

    ¡°¡­¡­ Please stop calling me by my species name. I am ¡®Yurushia.¡¯¡±

    I countered ¡¾His¡¿ intimidation with an [Intimidation] of my own while smiling.

    ¡°[What¡­¡­ you are a Demon, so why would you have a [Name] like a human being¡­]¡±

    There¡¯s no point being surprised. Although I didn¡¯t understand it at first, giving a [Name] to a powerful Demon imposes a [Burden] to their very [Existence].

    In order to endure it, a strong magic power was necessary, Mother-sama was only fine after naming me because she was a mage and also because I was about as strong as a baby at the time.

    ¡°[¡­¡­For the time being, that¡¯s fine.]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ suddenly said in a gentle voice as ¡¾He¡¿descended in front of me.

    *kapu*

    ¡°Hey-¡±

    and just as suddenly, ¡¾He¡¿ bit my shoulder. ¡­¡­ it hurt a little but not as much as I thought it would.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯d missed this gentle play-biting that ¡¾He¡¿did, and I also reached out my hands to ¡¾Him¡¿ and threaded my hands into his chest and *mofumofu*¡¯d. ¡­¡­ I wanted to *mofu* him with my face, but I endured it.

    As I closed my eyes slightly in bliss, ¡¾He¡¿licked my neck with his rough tongue.

    ¡°Oy, don¡¯t get carried away~¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    How nostalgic¡­¡­ When I was in the Demon Realm, we often did this together.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Why did you leave the Demon Realm?]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ growled out as his presence strengthened.

    ¡°¡­I wanted to see the world of light.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to deceive him, so I honestly answered, but ¡¾He¡¿ bit down on my shoulder with a little more force.

    ¡°[Is it because you wanted to have the appearance of a human¡­?]¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ that¡¯s just the result of coincidence, but I do like it now¡­¡­ uhm¡­ How did you get into this physical world¡­?¡±

    I changed the topic because ¡¾He¡¿ kept biting me with more and more force and it started getting painful.

    ¡°[I felt your magic power¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait¡­ that hurts!¡±

    Although I was shielding myself with magic power, ¡¾His¡¿ huge fangs slowly bit into me.

    ¡°¡­L-let me go¡­¡±

    ¡°[It¡¯s useless. You will return to the Demon Realm. ¡­I will destroy this human body.]¡±

    ¡­Eh? ¡¾He¡¿ said something unexpected as his teeth bit further into me.

    ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ serious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­[Let there be Light]!¡±

    I released my magic power, and struck ¡¾Him¡¿ on the face with my strongest [Holy Light].

    ¡°[Guooo¡­¡­ the Holy Light¡­ Are you, going to resist me¡­?]¡±

    As ¡¾He¡¿ growled out while narrowing his eyes against the radiance, I let out my [Intimidation].

    The Demon [Intimidation], the [Presence] that I¡¯m releasing my Demon half¡¯s magic power. For an ordinary creature of this world, it seems that they would be destroyed just by receiving ¡¾His¡¿ [Intimidation], but for the current [Me], it¡¯s not too difficult to stand.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t indulge your selfishness to that extent.¡±

    I spread out my bat wings and took some distance from ¡¾Him¡¿. Although I will return to the Demon World someday, today is not that day.

    Although I told ¡¾Him¡¿ that ¡¾He¡¿ was being [Selfish], my desire to live in the human world is my own selfishness.

    What a reason for [Demons] to fight one another¡­¡­

    Therefore, I am going at it [Seriously]. So that ¡¾He¡¿will understand my [Feelings].

    ¡°[Piercing Light]¡±

    Combining Holy Magic and Demon magic through the Spirit Language, an enormous [Spear of Light] was created.

    ¡°[Sparkling Sacred Spear]!¡±

    As I uttered the last word, the spear of light morphed into a [Golden Spear]and threw itself towards ¡¾Him¡¿.

    The golden spear tore through the sky,

    ¡°[GuaaaaaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    In the instant ¡¾He¡¿ roared, a huge dark tornado was born, as it clashed with the golden spear it annihilated the remains of the ruined castle.

    [Impossible¡­¡­ The power of a ¡¾Devil¡¿!?]

    Some words I don¡¯t recognize came out¡­¡¾Devil¡¿? I just combined the suitable Demon¡¯s magic with the knowledge from the world of light, it¡¯s nothing special.

    As ¡¾He¡¿ dashed up towards me like lightning, I put my entire magic power into my body.

    ¡°[Demon Beast (cat)] mode¡±

    As I [Manifested] my entire Demon form, I turned into the Demon Beast (cat) and avoided ¡¾His¡¿ fierce attack.

    ¡°[You could return to that form¡­¡­]¡±

    I thought about removing the black and silver dress that I had been wearing, but it turned into a ribbon of the same colour around my cat neck.

    I had been scared of fully transforming up until now. However, if I could transform back from human properly, the Demon Beast (cat) mode really was useful for fighting physical battles.

    ¡°[If you already have your Demon Beast (form), then stop being unreasonable and come back with me!]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Flying away from the ruined castle, ¡¾He¡¿ and I engaged in a high-speed aerial battle. Well, because there¡¯s a difference in size, it¡¯s practically a one-sided chase¡­

    In the Demon World, ¡¾His¡¿ speed was equal to mine, but in the air, I could freely move with my wings.

    ¡°[ShaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    ¡°[GuaoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    Roaring at each other, the golden storm met the black tempest and rose upwards.

    From a third party¡¯s perspective, it looked like a good match. Still, as expected, his power was ridiculously high if ¡¾He¡¿ hit directly.

    A part of the forest was destroyed due to ¡¾His¡¿  attacks and was turned into a corrupted sea. It¡¯ll be a pain if I don¡¯t ¡¾Purify¡¿ it later¡­

    Still, ¡¾He¡¿ isn¡¯t being fully serious yet. ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ unconsciously suppressing his power so that ¡¾He¡¿ won¡¯t destroy me.

    I will make use of him spoiling me¡­¡­

    ¡°[Piercing Light]¡±

    I returned to [Human] mode in the sky, and drew back a bow and arrow made of light.

    ¡°[Radiant Bow]!¡±

    It¡¯s easier to use magic in my human mode. Or perhaps I should say, I can¡¯t use Holy Magic well in my Demon Beast (cat) mode.

    I struck [Him] with over a hundred [Golden Arrows] from all directions.

    ¡°[GuaoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    ¡¾His¡¿ roar called out [Black Lightning] that intercepted the arrows.

    Each arrow was only one hundredth of the power of the golden spear, but it seems that ¡¾He¡¿ didn¡¯t  intend to receive a Devil¡¯s power directly.

    Because of that, his consciousness was too spread out.

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    With that off-color slashing sound, Nia slashed at ¡¾His¡¿ back with full power.

    [Gu¡­¡­ you¡­]

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    The moment Nia took ¡¾His¡¿ attention, Tina¡¯s voice came from behind him, and she entangled ¡¾Him¡¿ with countless golden snakes.

    ¡°[You dare defy me! This level of binding¡­]¡±

    It¡¯s certainly true that Tina could only hold ¡¾Him¡¿ for a short while. But it¡¯s enough. In the small time that Nia and Tina earned, I took in the power that Noa [Unleashed], and cast my magic.

    ¡°[Shining Sacred Spear]!¡±

    Over the full-powered [Golden Spear] that I shot out, Fannie generated hundreds of illusions of spears that all shot towards ¡¾Him¡¿.

    ¡°[GuaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    Unable to discern the illusions, ¡¾He¡¿ received a direct hit and fell to the ground.

    ¡­¡­ Did I overdo it? Although I thought that, ¡¾He¡¿ had fallen onto the castle ruins right side up, and although ¡¾He¡¿ had taken damage, ¡¾He¡¿ was still glaring at me.

    We descended next to ¡¾Him¡¿, and I confronted ¡¾Him¡¿ in my human form.

    ¡°¡­ You, it seems that you didn¡¯t ¡¾Manifest¡¿ fully¡­¡­¡±

    [¡­¡­]

    Because ¡¾He¡¿ had forced himself through the summoning formation and into the Demon World forcibly without either sacrifices or a vessel, ¡¾He¡¿ had not managed to fully ¡¾Manifest¡¿ into the material world.

    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry¡­¡­ In your current state of ¡¾Manifestation¡¿ you would be hard pressed to beat those of us who have [Names].¡±

    That being said, as expected, ¡¾His¡¿ power is outstanding.

    I would like him to return peacefully, but rather contrarily, because ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t have a body here, a Demon that¡¯s essentially a spirit-like lifeform won¡¯t return unless his spirit is broken.

    If we (the pets) beat him and ¡¾He¡¿ still didn¡¯t lose his spirit, then what would we do, I wonder¡­¡­

    ¡°Yurushia!¡±

    ¡°Lucy!¡±

    And at that time, I suddenly heard voices calling for me from far away.

    Oh, my~¡­¡­ They¡¯ve come back at a terrible time.

    Author¡¯s Notes: Until now it¡¯s all been stomps, so this is the first actual fight.

    I await your impressions.

    10/2 I reworked it a little.

 CH 46

    Volume 3, Chapter 16: I Turned 10 Years Old ¡­¡­ And So On, Part 1

    Rick and Noel were at the front of the people who were running towards us¡­¡­ Or not, it was three Holy Knights.

    Those who piled up training in a temple and were practically heavy tanks that practiced defensive Holy Magic.

    Due to that, they knew of Demonic Magic, and upon seeing ¡¾His¡¿ body, they subconsciously stopped walking, while Rick and Noel rushed forward.

    ¡°Yurushia, are you alright!?¡±

    ¡°Lucy, come down!¡±

    Rick (once again) grabbed my arm and pulled me away, while Noel held out his sword, covering me.

    ¡°¡­¡­What is that thing ¡­¡±

    Rick let out a hoarse whisper, as Noel¡¯s face turned pale and started sweating profusely.

    We (the attendants and I) had shaved down a lot of it, but ¡¾His¡¿ sheer existence¡­ that presence was incomparably brutal if matched against the creatures of this world.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    He stared as us-¡­¡­ No, ¡¾He¡¿ was only gazing intently at [Me].

    I wonder what ¡¾He¡¿ is thinking now¡­¡­ Although if I were to be frank, I was a little happy that he was thinking of of bringing me home after [Breaking] my body, but I just can¡¯t respond to his one-sided selfishness.

    ¡°Roderick-sama, Yurushia-sama, please come down¡±

    A little later, the Knights reached us. 3 Holy Knights and 8 Royal Knights. Along with 7 of my escort knights, including Bri-chan and Sara-chan. As expected, Vio is also close by.

    One of the Holy Knights¡­ a silver-grey-haired uncle, turned his shield towards ¡¾Him¡¿ with a nervous look.

    ¡°¡­That, is a considerably high-ranking Demon. I think it is a Demon Beast¡­¡­ Did Yurushia-sama suppress it with her power?¡±

    ¡°Ye-, yeah¡­¡­ Well, I-¡±

    Now¡­¡­ what to do? No matter how weakened a lion is, it can¡¯t be beaten by rabbits. Since their existences are of a whole different [Class],  it can¡¯t be helped that the Human Knights can¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°This is where us knights will take over. Please, evacuate¡­¡±

    Another one of the Holy Knights gave us a stoic smile. Even Bri-chan¡¯s face had greatly stiffened, but it looked as if she wasn¡¯t about to back down.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    I could see the signs of¡¾Him¡¿ getting annoyed at the humans that were moving to [Protect] me and noticed his magic power gradually rising.

    To tell the truth, neither I nor ¡¾He¡¿ has much magic power left.

    In order to try to force me to return, ¡¾He¡¿ would try to replenish his magic power by devouring the souls of these humans who were in his way.

    If it wasn¡¯t a soul that was tormented and then made to deepen, even if it was taken, it would not be able to help ¡¾Him¡¿ recover.

    ¡­¡­ It seems that ¡¾He¡¿ wouldn¡¯t give up on me until his heart broke.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ It¡¯s bad to get everyone involved, but I have to break ¡¾Him¡¿ here.

    ¡°¡­[Light of Protection]¡±

    Suddenly, hearing me recite a spell that they¡¯d never heard of, Rick and Noel turned towards me in surprise.

    ¡°[Radiant Shield]¡­!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡°!?¡± ¡± ¡±

    The bodies of all the humans were enveloped in a [Golden Light], and the Holy Magic-using Holy Knights¡¯ eyes widened at the [Greatest Protective Power]of the most ridiculous magic they had ever experienced.

    Then,

    ¡°[GuooooGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    Seeing me protect the [Humans], ¡¾He¡¿ let off an angry roar.

    The sheer overwhelming power of his evil roar was enough to instantly kill a human being as soon as they heard it, but with the added protection of my [Radiant Shield],  I prevented it and further increased the power of the humans.

    ¡°Everyone, show your pride as Knights of the Holy Kingdom!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡± ¡±

    As Rick raised his voice in encouragement, the Knights who had had stoic expressions righted themselves and regained their fighting spirits, raising their swords.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ah,¡±

    I did it again¡­¡­

    I had added the function of ¡¾Raising Fighting Spirits¡¿ to the ¡¾Radiant Shield¡¿ to help counter the pressure of the Demon roar, but it seems that it was too effective¡­¡­

    ¡°We shall support them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes¡­¡­ please.¡±

    As my attendants who read the mood said before I could ask, since they asked me, I gave my assent to Fannie.

    ¡°[GuaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    Raising a roar, ¡¾He¡¿ dashed across the ground, but he¡¯s lost the speed he previously had. Still, even that was enough to lay waste to the human Knights.

    ¡°I will receive~ it¡±

    Speaking with a relaxed voice, Nia rushed out ahead of the Holy Knights, and stopped ¡¾His¡¿ attack with the Golden Blade (Nyanko Blade).

    The attendants¡¯ magic powers were starting to run out, but if Nia used ¡¾Absorption¡¿, she could still take ¡¾His¡¿ attack.

    ¡± ¡± ¡°OOOOOOOOOOH¡± ¡± ¡±

    The Knights expressed their astonishment as they witnessed a 12 year old lady knight receive the attack of that Demon Beast.

    Since it couldn¡¯t be helped so that the collateral damage would be completely nullified, it was  too conspicuous if they thought too much about it, so had to make a decision quick.

    ¡°Noel~, get back here!¡±

    ¡°Lucy?¡±

    When I caught him trying to get on the front line, Noel returned obediently even though he had a doubtful look.

    ¡°Lucy, what¡¯s wrong¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, well, just wait a moment. ¡­Fannie.¡±

    As I called Fannie, she reverently presented the golden Demon blade that I had made as a spare.

    ¡°In the name of Yurushia-la-Verusenia, I bestow upon you this [Holy sword]. Receive it, Noel.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Noel who had been taken aback for a moment knelt down, and received the [Holy Sword] (temp) like a Knight.

    For some reason Rick, who was next to him, looked sullen, but I don¡¯t care.

    The Knights were fighting surprisingly well.

    With the additional protection of my ¡¾Radiant Shield¡¿, Nia receiving ¡¾His¡¿ attacks, and Noa and Tina assisting them with ¡®normal¡¯ magic power, the result is obvious, even if I say so myself.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, shall I go as well?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. That said, I¡¯m thirsty, so please serve up some tea. Ah, go heavy on the souls.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    Since Rick¡¯s already gone to give instructions to the knights, I just changed to watching mode, and waited, fully prepared.

    As the Holy Knights fought, they healed their companions with the Holy Magic ¡¾Cure¡¿, and my attendants were assisting them by shaving off ¡¾His¡¿ magic power. I instantly healed those who were seriously injured as the timing I was waiting for drew near, and finally the moment came.

    ¡°¡­¡¾¦Ì¦Ô¦Á¡¿¡­¡±

    Speaking the [Spirit of Light¡¯s Language] as he had done previously, the power of light condensed within the Golden Demon Blade in Noel¡¯s hands, and he swung down at ¡¾Him¡¿ as ¡¾He¡¿exposed a slight gap.

    ¡°[Splitting Light, Holy Sword]¡­¡±

    Aiming for that exact moment, I reinforced the ¡¾Shining Sacred Sword¡¿magic on Noel¡¯s Golden Blade.

    Although the spell ¡¾Holy Sword¡¿exists in Holy Magic, my magic is of the highest caliber, and the power of it was a complete order of magnitude greater.

    ¡°Perish, Demon!¡±

    ¡°[GuoooooooooooOOOOOOO!]¡±

    When Noel swung down the sword, it emitted a bright light and turned into a huge golden sword, forcing ¡¾Him¡¿ to fall back dozens of meters.

    ¡­¡­ To not have taken much damage even from that attack, he¡¯s really really far out of their league.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Guu¡­]¡±

    Nonetheless, its power exceeded his expectations, and for the first time in the fight, ¡¾He¡¿ became wary of a human, setting Noel who was wielding the golden demon blade firmly in his sights.

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡­ not enough¡­¡±

    ¡°Noel¡¯s attack seemed effective, so are you going to do it again?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    As Rick spoke to Noel, he took up a position beside him, readying his sword.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I finished drinking my tea, I approached them quietly, putting myself one step in front of them so as to protect them, and showed a [Sly] expression that nobody but ¡¾Him¡¿ noticed.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Gugu¡­]¡±

    When I heard the sound of ¡¾His¡¿teeth grinding together, I finally noticed how unfavourable my position was and leapt up into the sky, as he stared at me from a distance.

    I could feel the anger, but I can¡¯t feel ¡¾His¡¿ will to fight anymore.

    He¡¯d been defeated once by me (pet), albeit while I was being protected by my attendants, and after which he couldn¡¯t defeat even a single human being, as I acted like a [Human] and lived amongst them, finally causing ¡¾Him¡¿ to break down.

    It was bothersome in various ways¡­¡­

    I wish I could just return to the Demon World happily as it is¡­¡­¡­

    Staring at ¡¾Him¡¿ with that thought, as I turned away from ¡¾Him¡¿, he finally called me by my ¡¾Name¡¿ and not just¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    ¡°[YurushiaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I will definitely bring you back to the Demon World the next tiiiiime!]¡±

    ¡­¡­ Has he not been broken completely yet?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The next round is the final story of book 3

 CH 47

    Volume 3, Chapter 17: I Turned Ten Years Old, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­What in the world was that monster¡­¡±

    Said the so-called Hero Alfio in a cracking voice.

    Nobody blamed him for being [Timid]. Antique the Elf and the swordswoman Cheria both had had pale faces as they watched the battle with the [Demon Beast].

    Alfio had his meals early after the indignant exchange between him and His Highness Roderick. While thinking about what means he would use to get close to the beautiful maids and female knights, he was struck with a sudden torpor and lost consciousness.

    The [Hero] was blissfully unaware that their magic power had been forcefully stolen. and indeed when Alfio woke up in the forest by the lakeside, Roderick and his escorts were preparing to head to the place where the castle previously stood.

    {The ancient castle has disappeared¡­¡­?}

    Although to be precise it wasn¡¯t gone, rather, about half remained, but it was clearly no longer the castle from Alfio¡¯s memory. Not to mention, in the sky above, there was a [Golden Storm] fighting a [Black Tempest] and the beautiful forest around the castle had been painted an inky black.

    The situation was clearly not good.

    Looking at that place which gave off a malicious presence from even where they were, Alfio thought that he would be crazy to even go, but because of Antique, Cheria, and Athena, who didn¡¯t for a moment doubt that he was a true Hero, he reluctantly decided to head to the old castle.

    Even if his disposition made him be ignored by the Royal Family of Shiguresu, Alfio wasn¡¯t an incapable fellow.

    Other than reverse engineering the body reinforcement magic that Daemons and Demons naturally used, he had the [Quick Casting Magic] of the high speed and protective types, a wonderful talent for magic.

    Applying the high speed magic to his companions, Alfio was able to reach the location before Roderick by taking a back route.

    Alfio¡¯s party saw a terrible sight there.

    A [Demon Beast] that one could tell at a glance was on the level of a [Natural Disaster], and of all things, that beautiful princess¡­ Yurushia was battling that terrifying [Demon Beast] with her attendants.

    Because he put his priority on keeping a safe distance, he couldn¡¯t make out the details, but Yurushia was flying in the air on golden wings, throwing a golden spear made of magic, and throwing the [Demon Beast] to the ground.

    But that wasn¡¯t the problem.

    Certainly, the magic that Yurushia used, gave off a mighty feeling of [Holiness], and Antique, who was also named a [Saint], was shocked in the sheer difference in power, though that wasn¡¯t the problem.

    The problem was the attendants of that [Saint].

    Fighting with that Saint were figures that looked [Irregular]from a distance, and of them, one of them was the [Daemon] that Alfio¡¯s party had fought before.

    ¡°Wh-, what the heck does this mean!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I don¡¯t know, but is the princess cavorting with the Daemons?¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t be stupid, Anti, that child is the [Princess] of the Holy Kingdom and Athena¡¯s younger sister! Surely, she must have been deceived by the Daemons.¡±

    Alfio was in a state of confusion. Athena, who had remained silent thus far, began to laugh.

    ¡°Fufu¡­ As expected, that child¡­ Yurushia truly is a wicked existence.¡±

    ¡°Si-Sister-sama¡­?¡±

    Ophelia broke into a cold sweat at the sight of her sister smiling arrogantly.

    ¡°No, well¡­ isn¡¯t she our sister, more or less¡­¡±

    ¡°Ophelia!¡±

    ¡°W-wait, Athy. Such a beautiful girl¡­ No, that child is fighting against that monster.¡±

    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s strange. It¡¯s impossible for Yurushia to have the ability to take on such a [Monster]. The proof is the fact that she¡¯s bragging.¡±

    As Alfio looked in the direction that Athena was pointing to when she answered him, Roderick arrived.

    ¡°Roderick-sama has just arrived with perfect timing. As I expected, that girl collaborated with the Daemon King and summoned that monster to try to deceive Roderick-sama!¡±

    ¡°I-Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t understand the theory, he couldn¡¯t come up with an immediate rebuttal since that¡¯s what Yurushia¡¯s own elder sister said, but Alfio was convinced that there was something that Athena was keeping from them.

    Although to Alfio, all measures of social class held no measure to [Pretty girls], it was easier to capture a disgraced princess than a proper one as he remembered on the [Thin Books] that he had read in his previous life. (TLN: he¡¯s talking about H doujins.)

    ¡°O-okay¡­¡­¡­ We should withdraw for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Why!? We should reveal Yurushia¡¯s evil plot to His Highness,¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. If His Highness doesn¡¯t actually believe your story, wouldn¡¯t you be going against everyone over there? Let¡¯s aim for her when she¡¯s alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. Roderick-sama might have been brainwashed.¡±

    Alfio¡¯s persuasive words brought Athena to understand that possibility and she nodded, gritting her teeth.

    By no means would he say that he was afraid of the Demon Beast, as Alfio held his chest in relief.

    ¡°But where will we be withdrawing to?¡±

    ¡°First of all, let¡¯s get out of this country¡­¡±

    Alfio smiled superficially to Cheria who seemed uneasy while hugging her shoulder.

    Up until now, he¡¯d done as Callisto requested and saved up a small amount of money.

    Alfio¡¯s wish wasn¡¯t to become a king or save the world, but to live happily forever after with his [Brides].

    To fight for the sake of getting a bride was alright, but other than that, he didn¡¯t intend to risk his life. So he was thinking of spending time at his parents¡¯ in Shiguresu until the commotion died down.

    ¡°I see! Then, we will prepare to go to the Daemons¡¯ territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Antique¡¯s determined words made Alfio leak out a voice reflexively.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Ally. While whittling down the strength of the Daemons, we can gather evidence that that child is connected to the Daemons and get training at the same time!¡±

    ¡°As expected of Al-sama! To have thought through this so deeply, we sisters have renewed our respect for you again.¡±

    ¡°Al-sama, how wonderful¡­ when will we depart?¡±

    Cheria, Athena and Ophelia, all nodded in tandem with Antique¡¯s words, staring at Alfio with dreamy eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ L-let¡¯s set off!¡±

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    He could no longer escape. Alfio was asking himself how it came to this, but for the sake of appearances in front of the girls, he decided to head to the Daemon Territory.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Among them, Athena smiled at the thought of finally causing Yurushia to have a tearful face¡­ she was hit by a slight sense that she was making a major [mistake], but forcibly pushed it to the bottom of her heart.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    As ¡¾He¡¿ left after throwing down this enormous parting shot, everyone present was staring at me in a tense silence instead of delighting in their victory.

    What do I do¡­

    That guy¡­ when he says things like that, it makes it sound as if I¡¯m acquainted with Demons.

    Although it can¡¯t be helped because it¡¯s true, when I looked pointedly at my attendants for help with deceiving them, they were all pretending to not know me like they were a hundred metres away.

    ¡­¡­¡­ You guys, I¡¯ll seriously remember this.

    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be, Duke Kapell had summoned forth such a frightening Demon¡­ ¡±

    I intend to pass the buck with a sorrowful look.

    It¡¯s not a problem because it¡¯s mostly fact¡­¡­ The other half is my fault, though.

    ¡°¡­¡­What did Duke Kapell do?¡±

    It worried them, too. Rick rode in on my story.

    ¡°The Demon appeared¡­¡­ as before I could counteract the poison that had been given to us, all of the people were sacrificed¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ Although, it would have been good if we could have caught the perpetrator¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Still, given that situation¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t think that anything that had gotten embroiled in the battle between ¡¾Him¡¿ and I would still be alive. In order to change the flow of the conversation, I really need to find some evidence that Duke Kapell is to blame.

    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡±

    Turning around to face the voice, I saw Noa walking up to us, holding a ragged human who was laughing a little.

    ¡°This person is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Archbishop Callisto. Fortunately, he was thrown off by the blast of wind, and I found him lying around in the forest.¡±

    So my attendants were looking for witnesses¡­

    But with a witness, and no other evidence, could he have managed to see it when I turned into a Demon? As I mulled over that thought, Fannie, who was good with mental manipulation secretly signed ¡®Okay¡¯ to me with her hands, and I felt relieved.

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it was!¡±

    Suddenly, Noel yelled out loudly.

    Oh this is bad¡­¡­ While holding himself like he couldn¡¯t be deceived, Rick placed his hand on Noel¡¯s shoulder and spoke to him.

    ¡°Noel¡­ You understand that the person who is taking this the hardest is Yurushia¡­¡±

    ¡°That is¡­¡­ I see, Lucy is quite pitiful¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­eh?

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Princess-sama is being targeted by such a terrifying Demon Beast.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it was afraid of Yurushia-sama¡¯s power¡­ Such a Demonic aura must have wanted Yurushia-sama as a [Sacrifice].¡±

    Springing off Noel¡¯s words, the guardian knights and Holy Knights all comforted me.

    In short, they seemed to think that what ¡¾He¡¿ said was him asking for me to sacrifice myself to him as a Saint, and they thought that I was nervous and afraid.

    Their trust in me is so high that my Demon heart feels a little pained.

    After everything settled down, and it seems that the battle was over, Vio and the girls were escorted to us by Bear-san and the mercenary company.

    ¡°Princess Yuru-sama, are you alright!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry! I was unable to serve you when I was needed the most¡­¡±

    Bear-san, who looks to be an alcoholic, seems to have drunk wine with a lot of sleeping medicine in it, so it took time for Vio to detoxify his system.

    Since we couldn¡¯t stay here, we returned to the town before it got dark.

    ¡°By the way, Princess Yuru-sama. ¡­ Why have your clothes and shoes suddenly changed¡­?¡±

    While everyone was preparing to leave, Vio¡¯s eyes flashed at the sight of the black and silver dress that she was seeing for the first time.

    ¡°Although it definitely looks like an upper-class good¡­¡±

    ¡°I was also concerned about that. Weren¡¯t you wearing a different dress when you went for the meal?¡±

    Uu¡­ They¡¯re sharp. Rick, who heard it, commented and questioned me from the side, while Noel, who finally saw it, gave me a strange look.

    ¡°Lucia¡¯s dress¡­¡­ could it be a magical item?¡±

    Magical items exist in the world.

    Although it¡¯s common in Fantasy, there aren¡¯t ¡°Enchantments¡± that have sustained magical effects applied on them, but rather [Magic Tools] which have magic formations carved on them that activate when magic power is poured into them.

    Certainly there are people who make their living off of researching magic formations, but a complex magic like the one used for my dress has never been seen before.

    Although there are magic swords, those were usually magic formations carved into the blade, creating a rechargeable type of magic item that would store magic power.

    To tell the truth about this dress, it has ¡¾Magic Barrier¡¿, ¡¾Automatic Regeneration¡¿, and ¡¾Shapeshift¡¿magic applied on it, because it¡¯s an artifact-class dress made by multiple Greater Demons (Archdemons) ¡­¡­ Now, whatever should I do¡­? When I turned my gaze towards my attendants this time, Tina came out in front of me.

    ¡°Excuse me for my rudeness. This dress was made for Yurushia-sama with magic, a cloth with magic woven into it meant for the exclusive use of the [Saint].¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­ was there such a thing? Which laboratory made it? Can they make other things?¡±

    As Rick asked questions, impressed, Tina straight-up answered him with absolute nonsense while wearing a straight face.

    ¡°The four of us were the ones who made this, but Yurushia-sama¡¯s Holy magic was indispensable for weaving the magic formations into the cloth, and since it¡¯s still in the research stage, it takes an immense amount of magic power. The best we could do is to make this one piece. To make multiple copies of this in a short period would put an immense burden on Yurushia-sama, and it¡¯s possible that it could hurt her health¡­¡±

    ¡°No, I understand¡­ what a pity.¡±

    ¡°Then, were those [Holy Swords] also made by Lucy? They both look vibrant, though, why is the dress black¡­? ¡±

    As Noel casually spoke, Tina¡¯s speech froze for a moment.

    Noel¡¯s asking why the equipment that¡¯s made for a saint can be any colour that is [Black]? Well, at least that¡¯s what I think he wanted to say. Yes, I think that too.

    Even Tina hasn¡¯t seemed to have thought of an appropriate reply, but for some reason Tina put on an evil smile on her face and puffed her (nonexistent) chest out.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama¡¯s white skin and golden hair that greatly accentuates [Black]. Of course, her undergarments are also black and made of the same material.¡±

    At that one line, Rick and Noel¡¯s faces reddened and they turned away from me. My own face flushed too and I slammed Tina¡¯s head forcefully into the ground.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Several months have passed since that incident.

    The attendant that unveiled the colour of the underwear being worn by her mistress in front of a man was being reprimanded by her mistress all night on the bed¡­¡­¡­ eh? You wanted to be there?

    When we returned to the royal capital, the leader that had already contacted the royal castle was hurriedly going about putting things in order.

    Callisto, who I healed a little, confessed fluently and as a result the house of Duke Kapell was ruined¡­¡­ or so it would have been. As expected, to crush two ducal houses in only a few years, since they thought that it would make the country look weak and become the target for mockery, Zest-san, the younger brother of the family that had Grandfather-sama¡¯s trust, became the new Duke Kapell.

    It¡¯s a member of the [Society for Turning Light into Darkness], a representative of the Carpe Merchant Guild in the royal capital, and the manager of my secret funds.

    ¡­¡­ Somehow when I explain it the image becomes worse.

    There¡¯s another problem too, which regards me.

    The [Demon Beast] that had blown an entire castle away had been repulsed once, but because the [Demon Beast] had tried to persuade me to become a [Sacrifice] to him, every ducal territory around the Royal Capital decided to implement a harsh surveillance system against foreign enemies.

    Although it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for me if I moved to a mansion in a remote area, since nobody cared about my opinion it couldn¡¯t be helped, so I had to work.

    I went around the five ducal territories, setting up huge ¡¾Holy Barriers¡¿, and casting ¡¾Feasts of Blessings¡¿ to soothe the anxieties of the people¡­¡­ when I said that I¡¯ve been doing so for half a year and not even once did a single ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ show up, I was able to regain my peaceful days.

    I am now taking classes in school normally again.

    Speaking of what¡¯s changed, Bree-chan and the escort knights were lined up outside in the hallway, waiting for me.

    ¡­¡­ and the distance between my classmates and I got widened again. Well, it¡¯s too late¡­¡­

    That reminded me of a strange rumour.

    [The ¡¾Princess¡¿ of the Holy Kingdom, violently struggled against becoming the ¡¾Bride¡¿ of the Demon Beast]¡­¡­

    Although it was a rumour, it was surprisingly closer to the truth than the official report.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Several more months have passed since then, and I will be 10 years old soon.

    My height is still growing, but my joints don¡¯t hurt as much as before. My current size is¡­ about half a head smaller than that of an average child of the same age?

    More importantly, I¡¯m more concerned with my body weight than with my height now¡­¡­

    Although on the surface I could say that it¡¯s become peaceful, in reality the problem hasn¡¯t been solved.

    I wonder what ¡¾He¡¿ is doing right now?

    Since I had that sort of feeling, I wonder if there will be a birthday party this year? ¡­¡­Thinking about it, having one seems to be normal.

    But things are different now. They seem to want to do some sort of ceremony in the Kostoru cathedral of the Kingdom before the party.

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡±

    It¡¯s the day of my birthday. I am wearing that black dress that I said was a specialised equipment for a Saint, but since it was too black and I had felt like it had an overwhelming feeling, I wore a luxurious, pure white surcoat over it. While waiting in a room in the cathedral, I suddenly heard the voice of my cute puppy after a long time.

    ¡°Noel~¡±

    When I waved my hand lightly at him, Noel crawled over like a puppy and grasped my hand. ¡­¡­Just like that Rick, you touch a girl way too familiarly.

    ¡°Noel, you look great.¡±

    ¡°¡­Uhn, it¡¯s flashy¡­¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡±

    It seems that Noel hasn¡¯t changed either, since he¡¯s grown as well, the height difference hasn¡¯t changed. What he¡¯s wearing this time is a beautifully polished silver shoulder pauldron, breastplate, and gauntlets along with other small armour pieces. The other parts of the armour are made of leather, so I wonder if it¡¯s supposed to be heavy or light armour?

    On top of all that he was wearing a navy blue surcoat that greatly resembled mine, and hanging on his waist was the Golden Magic Blade I¡¯d given him.

    All this luxurious-looking equipment made Noel feel uneasy.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You look seriously cool, Noel.¡±

    ¡°Th-thanks¡­ Lucy.¡±

    Noel¡¯s bashful smile is really cute.

    ¡°How about me, then?¡±

    ¡°Eh? ¡­ Rick?¡±

    Throwing open the door, Rick walked in¡­¡­ eh?

    ¡°That appearance¡­¡±

    Rick¡¯s appearance was as luxurious as Noel¡¯s, but since his had more metal armor plates than Noel, it had a more ¡®knight-ish¡¯ feeling.

    ¡°Tall¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s that?¡±

    At my answer, Rick poked my forehead with an amused face, and after seeing Noel holding my left hand, he took my right hand and began to pull me along with him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°But, where!?¡±

    While I was wondering if I would be getting dragged along again, Noel walked next to me holding my left hand, and I was pulled together by the two of them through the corridor.

    ¡­¡­eh? you¡¯re going to show the public this scene?

    ¡°Roderick-la-von-Verusenia. Thou, for your great achievements and protection of the people from the evil Demon Beast, I confer upon you the title of [Paladin].¡±

    ¡°Yes sir¡±

    In the Kostoru church, the words of Pope Theophilus echoed throughout the cathedral and a roar of approval rose from the upper nobles and their knights.

    ¡°Noel Barnabas. Thou, for the achievement of driving off the evil Demon Beast, I confer upon you the title of the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom].¡±

    ¡°Hai¡±

    As that was said¡­¡­ there was an especially loud roar from the knights in particular.

    ¡°Yurushia-la-Verusenia. Thou, for protecting our warriors from the evil Demon Beast, and for your achievements in easing the people¡¯s anxiety, I confer upon you the title [Saint of the Holy Kingdom].¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    At that moment, there was a resoundingly loud cheer, and the Paladin-sama and Hero-sama next to me pulled up the listless me.

    But, I¡¯m a Demon¡­¡­¡­

    Things like, the threat of the Demon Beast, the unease of the citizens, and the distrust of the nobility, and sweeping away other things, a [Title] was conferred upon us, who repelled the Demon Beast, and it seems that this will spread far and wide both in and out of the country.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rick and Noel were waving to the audience with slightly nervous expressions, while I wasn¡¯t able to wave my hand at all, since the two of them were restraining my arms on both sides. For the time being all I could do was smile as hard as I could.

    I¡¯ll say it again.

    I¡­¡­ am a Demon, you know?

    A few days later¡­¡­ in the name of the [Daemon King Hebrad], a declaration of war from the Daemons¡¯ territory was issued to the human nations.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you very much for reading.

    This concludes [Book 3: The Beast¡¯s Bride].

    I wanted to reveal the bride bit earlier, but it just didn¡¯t work.

    [Book 4: The Devil Princess] is the final book of part 1, so I want to take my time to write it as I like.

    Well, I look forward to your impressions.

 CH 48

    Volume 3, Chapter 18: Setting: ¡ºYurushia¡¯s Secret¡» , Bonus Chapter

    The Secret of Yurushia-chan (At the end of the third book)

    Name: Demon name Yurushia

    Human Name: Yurushia-La-Verusenia

    Species: Demon Beast ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿

    Age: Human Age 10

    Mental Age: Teenager

    Human mode appearance:

    Height 152 cm Weight  ????

    Fair skin. Hair is shiny and golden, rather than blonde, and is straight, extending to below the chest level. Past a certain point, the hair ends curl upwards and become rounded.

    Her eyes are pinkish with a slight tinge of gold, and with slightly droopy eyes.

    Of the things that make up a living being: blood vessels, skeletal structure, muscles, living habits, fatigue, health condition, temperature, humidity, all do not show on her, a living being without ¡¾Flaws¡¿.

    She has few pores and sweat glands, causing her to be lacking a human air.

    Demon Beast (cat) mode appearance:

    Length: approximately 60 cm. A Golden cat that resembles a Russian Blue.

    Coming out of her golden fur is a pair of golden bat wings, a single wing being more than 5 metres long.

    Ruby eyed, with crimson red crystalline fangs and teeth.

    Status (parenthesis denote ability values when using demonic power).

    Supplement: the average human being has around 10. A Hero is around 100 ~ 300.

    Endurance : 5 (3600)

    Physical Strength : 3 (312)

    Defense : 2 (265)

    Speed : 7 ( 24000)

    Magic : 80000 (530,000)

    Skills:

    Note: Level 1 is a beginner, level 5 a master, and level 10 is god-tier.

    Awkward ¡¾Level 3¡¿ (Carried over from Previous Life)

    Laid Back ¡¾Level 5¡¿ (Carried over from Previous life)

    Intimidate ¡¾Level 7¡¿

    Holy Magic ¡¾Level 8¡¿

    Summoning Magic ¡¾Level 6¡¿

    Spiritual Magic ¡¾Level 5¡¿

    Nobility ¡¾Level 3¡¿

    Mental Resistance ¡¾Mental Attacks Nullified¡¿

    Abnormal Status Resistance ¡¾Level 6¡¿ (Only in Demon Form)

    Love Resistance ¡¾Level 2¡¿ (Junior High school student average) (Carried over from past life)

    Villainous Lady ¡¾Level 1¡¿

    Automatic Effect ¡¾Level 1¡¿

    Remarks:

    ¡¾Laid Back¡¿

    When in the conscious range of the person with the skill, atmosphere becomes ¡ºlaid-back¡».

    ¡¾Automatic Effect (passive skill)¡¿

    The appearance of the golden fur always seems fluffy and shiny. ¡¾Stealth ¨C 1¡¿

    Titles:

    ¡¾Demon God (The Devil)¡¿ ¡¾Creator of Demons¡¿ ¡¾Holy Mother of the Demon World¡¿ ¡¾Gourmand¡¿ ¡¾Otherworld Transmigrator¡¿

    ¡¾Daughter of a Ducal House¡¿ ¡¾Princess of the Holy Kingdom¡¿ ¡¾Saint of the Holy Kingdom¡¿ (NEW)

    Remarks:

    The title of ¡¾Demon Beast (small)¡¿ acquired in the Demon World, has been combined with ¡¾Demon God (The Devil)¡¿ through the acquisition of a human body.

    The title of ¡¾Saint of the People¡¿ has been integrated into ¡¾Saint of the Holy Kingdom¡¿.

    Evaluation:

    Although the elaborate ¡¾Human form¡¿is cold like a doll, causing humans to feel an instinctive ¡¾Fear¡¿, thanks to the human-ness granted by her plebeian thinking, its effect has been neutralised subtly.

    Because in the¡¾World¡¿ of her mind she¡¯s automatically rebutting other people, she seems taciturn, so to people around her she looks like a ¡¾Sheltered Princess¡¿.

    The longer one associates with Yurushia the higher the level of ¡¾Mental Resistance¡¿will rise.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    I wanted to try writing a status page once, since it¡¯s fashionable¡­¡­

 CH 49

    Volume 4, Chapter Prologue: Lurking in Dark Places

    A declaration of war was made by the Daemons towards the human nations.

    As a result, the human nations, especially the commoners, felt an unfamiliar anxiety and shock. However, the Daemon Kingdom¡¯s residents who received this announcement from the Daemon King were even more surprised and confused.

    The Daemon territory was named such for the sake of differentiating it from the human nations. Although there was the [Daemon King], a symbolic existence that all respected, the land was actually divided into three portions, each one its own independent [State].

    The Daemons and demi-humans that resembled humans lived in [Gistez], which was under the direct jurisdiction of Daemon King Hebrad.

    The Beastmen and those who resembled beasts, lived under the Beast King Gallus¡¯ [Vosto]

    As for the Demon-like demi-humans and the intelligent monsters, they lived in [Herteldeath] under the Dark Princess Killian.

    The three nations of the Daemon territory could hardly be called monolithic. Even though they nominally paid respects to the Daemon King, each of them looked down on the other two and have been squabbling with each other for hundreds of years.

    The only reason why the three countries hadn¡¯t completely destroyed themselves in infighting yet was the existence of the Daemon King and their shared hatred of humans.

    However, despite having a common enemy they continued to have skirmishes amongst themselves, and, while that was part of the nature of the Daemons, there were also some that were afraid of a full-scale war with the humans.

    In the 2,000 year history of Daemonkind, there had been several invasions of the human nations performed in the name of the Daemon King, but they all ended in failure. After each time, the Daemonkind would end up going into a recession.

    The reason why Daemons had staved off destruction up until now was because of the humans, even though they could exterminate the Daemons and claim their territory, the territory itself wasn¡¯t desirable.

    But with things as they were now, with an invasion of not one single country, but declaring war on every human nation on the continent, the humans might actually unite and try to destroy the Daemons.

    For the selfish Daemons, although they would normally rebel against the Daemon King at the drop of a hat, right now the Daemon territories were in a state of great confusion.

    One of the highest pillars on the totem pole of Demonkind¡­ the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿¡­¡­ ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿.

    Manifesting after devouring the magic power accumulated over decades, it flew away at once from the Daemon King¡¯s territory, the Demon Beast returned again, coercing those who lived in the Daemon territory to help him gather [Magic Power].

    While the Daemon King was looking for sacrifices to offer it, he thought that it would be necessary to devote thousands of people and Daemons, but the Demon Beast¡¯s ¡¾Manifestation¡¿ didn¡¯t need a vessel, it only wanted enough Magic Power from the Daemon King to remain.

    In the upper floors of the Daemon King¡¯s castle, several of the local lords and tribe chieftains were gathered in various conference rooms. In one of them that was spectacularly decorated and equipped with superior soundproofing and magic defences, the King and his aides were gathered together, staring at each other with bitter expressions.

    ¡°¡­Daemon King-sama, what is the meaning of this¡­?¡±

    A bewitching¡­ yet young voice reminiscent of a pretty maiden, calmly¡­ asked¡­ Daemon King Hebrad, in a poisonous tone.

    The Dark Princess Killian. She looked like a beautiful black-haired lady, but her lower body was that of a snake, long and scaled, and her tail was touching the back of the room 10 metres away.

    ¡°What are you going to do about that ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿! And on top of that, declaring war on all of the human nations, does Your Majesty have any stratagems to secure victory?! ¡±

    A lion beastman that exceeded 3 metres in height¡­ Beast King Gallus slammed his thick arm on the obsidian table as he called out in anger.

    At that state of affairs, a dark-skinned Daemon in the prime of his life grabbed his sword, and released both magic power and a bloodthirsty aura toward the two.

    ¡°You are being rude to Daemon King-sama!¡±

    Taking in that bloodlust, Gallus laughed as he bared his fangs as his fighting spirit surged from all over his body, while Killian was¡­ she narrowed her eyes and the atmosphere chilled.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s leave it at that.¡±

    It settled down¡­ but the slightly tired voice of the Daemon King Hebrad caused the presence of all three of them to be slightly shaken.

    ¡°B-But¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Darnell, you must have restraint.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes¡±

    One of the Daemon King¡¯s aides, Demon General Darnell, who was in charge of the domestic affairs of Gistez, backed down at Hebrad¡¯s words while staring at the two of them.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tch.¡±

    Killian¡¯s lips edged slightly upwards with interest, while Gallus clicked his tongue as if someone had rained on his parade.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Another man was staring at them¡­ A Daemon usually had a slightly longer lifespan than a human, but he was so old that nobody else even remembered how old he was. He refrained from the quarrel, smiling slightly.

    Daemon Mage Geas. Including this old man, who could be called the head magician of the Daemon King¡¯s Army, these five people were the heavyweights that held in their hands the power to make decisions over the Daemon King¡¯s Territory, and all of them were participating in this meeting.

    Besides, even if more people were to be called to this meeting, the heads of each region would only be looking out for their own interests, and nothing would be achieved.

    Hebrad let out a sigh, seeing that the Daemons had fallen to this state, and began to speak without a care about his prestige.

    ¡°Although I can understand what you¡¯re saying, leave the matter about the Demon Beast to me. I also do not know what it is thinking, but it desires magic power right now. We will try to make the most of the current situation.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Do you intend to fight the humans with that Demon Beast¡­?¡±

    As Killian said as much with an unreadable expression, Hebrad shook his head slowly.

    ¡°It is to let the humans know of its existence, and use it as a precaution. If you don¡¯t know when the Demon Beast might attack, you cannot move your armies easily.¡±

    Furthermore, it would be difficult to send relief forces from other countries due to the fact that the Daemon King had declared war on all of the human nations.

    ¡°So while the humans are taking these precautions, will we be crushing them one at a time? Is it finally that wonderful time?¡±

    Gallus¡¯ face was in a grimace, but it seemed that for the time being, he would listen to what the Daemon King had to say.

    ¡°I have decided that for this war, the first strike of the Daemon King army must take down a human nation.¡±

    ¡°Haah?!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s words took Gallus and Killian by surprise, and even Darnell, who¡¯d heard it beforehand, began to sweat profusely from his forehead.

    The Daemon King¡¯s army was comprised of everyone who lived in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Not to mention the various occupations, excluding the infants and bedridden, the soldiers of the Daemon King army would exceed 70% of the population of the Daemon King territory.

    For those who knew even a little about human wars, that kind of strategy was insane.

    However, Beast King Gallus smiled with delight at the Daemon King¡¯s words.

    ¡°Kill them¡­ is it alright we pillage and eat them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Take everything from them. Bind the war slaves with fear, and use them as the vanguard against other human nations. You may kill the rest and eat them.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oooooooh¡±

    How simple¡­¡­ Unlike Gallus, who was strongly affected by bestial instinct to be able to kill humans and to be able to commit as many atrocities as he liked, Killian gave Hebrad a cold glance before bowing her head down gracefully.

    ¡°Since it has been decided, I will be releasing all of my soldiers. ¡­doing things as we like is fine, right¡­? ¡±

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t care.¡±

    Hebrad nodded to Killian¡¯s loaded words with nary a change in his expression.

    ¡°Then, I shall be heading back to my country¡­¡­ Our next meeting shall be on the battlefield, Daemon King-sama¡­¡±

    Leaving those words behind, Black Princess Killian calmly left the conference room. It might be that in the confusion caused during the war, she would make her own moves to secure an advantage.

    Killian believed that the strength of the Daemon Race came from their [Monstrous] blood. She would continue to take aim at Hebrad¡¯s life when the opportunity arose.

    In order to make herself the Daemon King¡­¡­¡­

    The Daemon King could only see her off with a sad look from behind.

    No matter how shrewd and clever she was, she didn¡¯t understand the state of the Daemon Race after all.

    The resource-poor Daemon territory, didn¡¯t even have enough stores to spearhead an attack.

    Just to move even a portion of the Daemon King¡¯s army would necessitate taking a large portion of the food of the Daemon territory, and if that happened, those who were left behind would have to scramble for what was left.

    For this reason, Hebrad decided to take everything with them, and abandon those who could not fight.

    If they raided a human country, killed everyone, and took the rest, then there wouldn¡¯t be a need to bring food for those he ruled.

    It was a foolish all-or-nothing strategy that was practically a suicide attack, but because the Daemon Race was a belligerent one that thrived on raiding it was enacted.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s heart was heavy, if he said so himself.

    Unlike all the previous wars up to this point, the Daemon race might be entirely wiped out if they lost. If their stamina dropped, if their march started to slow, the human side would be fully prepared.

    For this strategy, it could be said that the key to victory would be in getting the Daemons stupidly intoxicated in raiding.

    The two foolish Daemon Lords left the meeting room and returned to their countries to prepare for war.

    There wasn¡¯t a true ¡®strategy¡¯ per se, but once the target and the movements to the target of the Daemon King¡¯s army were decided, there was little else to be said.

    Even Daemon General Darnell, who was from the intellectuals of the Daemon Army, was no exception. He left, following Gallus and Killian¡¯s exits, and was now gathering the generals.

    ¡°Even Darnell, is also like that, huh¡­ when will it be that I will give up on the Daemon race?¡±

    Daemon Mage Geas, who was left in the conference room, finally voiced out his impressions for the first time towards Hebrad, who was there alone with him.

    ¡°¡­¡­It takes time for them to understand. They have never received an education on these matters.¡±

    ¡°There is very little of that time left.¡±

    As Hebrad spoke with a bitter tone, Geas¡¯ voice was almost mocking.

    Although Hebrad didn¡¯t have much knowledge in that direction, he¡¯d introduced some [Modernised] tactics to the Daemon King¡¯s army with Geas¡¯ help.

    However, since it was based around the endurance and rationality of [Humans], the Daemons who lacked both weren¡¯t able to execute it.

    ¡°Hebrad, don¡¯t strain yourself. Well¡­ I suppose I shall return too. Don¡¯t worry, I will give you my full cooperation in this strategy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Why, why are you going so far to cooperate with me?¡±

    Hebrad¡¯s voice gave Geas, who was holding onto the doorframe, pause, and he turned around.

    Geas wasn¡¯t one of Hebrad¡¯s subordinates in the beginning.

    While Hebrad was working on reforming the Daemon King¡¯s territory with methods that were unusual to their world, Geas suddenly appeared and talked to him with nostalgic words.

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s someone with the same [Hometown].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Only Hebrad and Geas realised that there was going to be no future for the Daemon territory.

    Even if they did nothing, once the Demon Beast finished absorbing the magic that it demanded, only a future in which the Daemons would be eaten by the Demon Beast and utterly destroyed remained.

    Thinking of silver linings, Hebrad thought that the only chance was now, since all the Daemons were gathered now by their fear of the Demon Beast.

    If they delayed the gathering of magic power, while mostly absorbing the war potential of the human nations, and didn¡¯t destroy the Demon Beast with all that, then the Daemons would not survive.

    How did this happen¡­¡­ what went wrong?

    Hebrad couldn¡¯t help but to pray to the God of his fate, the Demon God, wishing for it to please light the path of survival for the Daemon Race.

    £ª£ª£ª

    At that moment, a certain ¡¾Demon God¡¿, was performing a summoning experiment at the cave in the basement of Count Orbel¡¯s house, trying to dispose of the large quantity of ¡¾Octopi¡¿ (Devilfish) that had been summoned. Together with many vampires and Demons, they were trying to make dried octopus and cuttlefish.

    It¡¯s a seafood festival.

    Classification Supplements:

    ¡¾Demon¡¿ Resident of the Spirit World. Loves humans. Likes souls that are syrupy and full of flavour.

    ¡¾Spirit¡¿ Resident of the Spirit World. Loves humans. Likes the lightly-flavoured magic power that leaks from souls.

    ¡¾Human¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Delicious. Lifespan of 70~80 years.

    ¡¾Elf¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Their way of life is full of variety. Lifespan of approximately 500 years.

    ¡¾Demi-human¡¿ Resident of the physical world. Dwarves and Beastmen, etc. Lifespan of 50~120 years.

    ¡¾Daemon¡¿ Resident of the physical world. A mixed-blood group with both human and demi-human and monster blood. Incredibly hot-blooded. Lifespan of about 120 years.

    ¡¾Monsters¡¿ Residents of the physical world. Magical mutants. Vampires are under this, too.

    ¡¾Animals¡¿ Delicious. Somehow tend to attack travellers.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The fourth book has begun.

    Thank you for pointing out my mistakes.

 CH 50

    Volume 4, Chapter 1: I became a 4th Grader, Part 1

    A year has passed and I¡¯m a 4th grader, now.

    Of course, I hardly ever go to school¡­ so having a school arc was completely impossible, after all.

    There was a declaration of war from the Daemon King, but the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo is still too peaceful.

    Since Tariterudo is far from the Daemon territory and a ¡¾Holy Boundary¡¿ was stretched across the whole country in preparation for the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿from the start, the magic that the Daemons¡¯ riders use can¡¯t break through it.

    Though I had a hard time making sure that my attendants weren¡¯t affected¡­¡­¡­

    Also, given that the brand-name products of this country like the[Hero of the Holy Kingdom], the [Holy Paladin], and the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom], the public is naturally at ease.

    I was having doubts about Rick¡¯s fighting strength¡­¡­ but when I thought about it, once he¡¯d been given that [Title], it seems that the ¡¾Spirit of Light¡¿ have sort-of stayed, and the skills of the two have been going up. It¡¯s different from the self-proclaimed hero.

    Although that Vampire beauty Millaine-chan did mention once that the Holy Kingdom was the ¡°Land from which the Holy Ones were born,¡± was this it?

    ¡­ The blessing didn¡¯t come to me, though. Spirits-of-light, won¡¯t you speak just a little? Eh, you¡¯re sleepy? Is that so¡­

    Although there were [Intelligence Reports] that came from who-knows-where that said that the Daemon King¡¯s army was using the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, even then it was still relatively calm.

    After all, since I had repelled the Demon Beast, ¡¾He¡¿ had openly declared that I would be his first target, so the ambassadors from the other countries were unexpectedly sympathetic to me. Internally, though, they were just relieved that their countries were safe.

    Still, being the ambassador of a small country that didn¡¯t have much military strength, we couldn¡¯t entirely stamp out the feeling of unease, so it seems like I¡¯m going to have to go on a Saint (Idol) tour once again in the meantime.

    ¡­¡­ Is it okay if I don¡¯t sing?

    What I meant earlier by too peaceful, is that tonight there¡¯s a [Party for the Heroes of the Holy Kingdom], and I¡¯m attending this ball.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, you came.¡±

    The ball was organised by the merchant guild in the capital. When Zest-san who became the new Duke Kapell called out to Millaine, who I had forced to attend, a large amount of people congregated around her¡­ made entirely of males, who trembled as she met their gaze.

    ¡­What the heck¡¯s with those reactions?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I am feeling a little warm, so let¡¯s go outside to the terrace.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh, Millaine-sama?¡±

    Millaine, who gave the man an elegant smile, left the men surrounding her, and took my hand, heading to the terrace.

    Because you¡¯re feeling warm, huh¡­¡­ Although there isn¡¯t much in the way of temperature differences here between the seasons, is it winter now?

    ¡°Millaine¡­¡­ please don¡¯t use me as your pest repellent.¡±

    When I took off my [Duke¡¯s Daughter] mask out on the terrace, Millaine also reverted from her [Countess Successor] mode and sighed heavily.

    ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t help it if a [Soul] that¡¯s that thin approaches me.¡±

    Millaine is 18. As the beautiful maiden called the [Silver Princess], she was already remarkably popular. Now that she was tentatively the head of the Count¡¯s house, a large number of marriage proposals from the second and third sons of other aristocrats aiming to become the son-in-law of the house came fluttering in.

    Millaine used to lavish smiles upon everyone regardless of gender previously, but after I taught her how to distinguish what kind of person would have tasty blood, she¡¯s totally become an [Gourmet].

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me, I have the prototype, Millaine, would you like to try it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please.¡±

    When I brought out the octopus tentacles that I¡¯ve secretly brought, Millaine received it with a sullen face.

    ¡°¡­¡­These things that come from the basement of my home¡­¡­ they¡¯re annoyingly good. ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not merely good. It¡¯s delicious, no?¡±

    ¡°But, my hands still stink of the ocean after handling these¡­¡­¡±

    Only the two of them were on the terrace at this party¡­¡­ seeing the [Golden Princess] and the [Silver Princess] talking, many eyes watched them intently.

    In the midst of this, the dried octopus that was seasoned with souls for the consumption of the Demons that lived in the Holy Kingdom was being concealed by the Demon and Vampire aristocrat with a fan. ¡­¡­ Yup, nothing to say about that.

    A portion of the ¡¾Octopi¡¿ were being sold by the Carpe company, but it wasn¡¯t popular with human beings¡­ even though it¡¯s so delicious.

    ¡°When you look for a groom, will you be searching for a noble with a rich soul, to be able to make him a vampire?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m not that desperate in terms of age yet.¡±

    For a noble lady, it was best if they married by the age of 20.

    ¡°Come to think of it, when does a vampire reach adulthood¡­? I mean, aren¡¯t you actually dressing younger than you are? Millaine, aren¡¯t you actually over 200 years old?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yurushia-sama, please don¡¯t make people sound like they¡¯re grannies. There¡¯s no reason that Vampires should age, you know? I haven¡¯t changed a bit since I became a vampire in my late teens.¡±

    ¡°Really? I thought that you grew a little since we first met¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I tampered with my own bones and muscles, not because I was forcibly changed. Well, it¡¯s best to be between one¡¯s teens and twenties¡­Are Demons different?¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m growing naturally, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s¡­ not entirely normal.¡±

    When I replied readily, Millaine had an amazed face as she muttered under her breath ¡®Yurushia-sama is really irresponsible¡­¡¯ Hey, that¡¯s rude in various ways.

    I think that my core is that of a [Demon], but since I have a human¡¯s mind and body as well, I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s been affected.

    I¡¯m growing normally, but I wonder if I¡¯ll grow old? If so, there won¡¯t be a problem for me to live as a human being, but that hope is slim at best¡­

    Perhaps, if my body is just trying to remain in its [Optimal] state, I may not even have a fixed lifespan.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, Millaine, what do you think of those two?¡±

    In my line of sight, were two boys that were surrounded by noble ladies and young knights in this extravagant hall.

    Rick and Noel. Aged 13 and 12. They¡¯re on the cusp of growing into adults.

    While I came to this ball being escorted by the two of them, since so many people wanted to talk to the Holy Paladin and Hero, we¡¯ve been separated.

    Even then, only the religion-related people are talking to me¡­

    ¡°Well~¡­ 50 points?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? What¡¯s with the scoring system? Rather, why that amount of points?¡±

    If she says it¡¯s because of their looks, I¡¯m going to fill Millaine¡¯s house with seaweed.

    ¡°Although they seem to have tasty souls, it¡¯s a pity that their combat power seems to be low, since they¡¯re young.¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡±

    It was a surprisingly serious assessment. I was surprised.

    I hadn¡¯t meant to hear her evaluation of their fighting power¡­ Well, I guess it¡¯s a mistake to ask a [Non-human] for their assessment of a human.

    I have few people I call friends.

    For human friends I guess it¡¯s Shelly and Betty, then Noel and Rick.

    The two girls seem to accept [Me] as I am more or less, but what about Rick and Noel?

    Especially Noel, who is now the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom]-sama, what will he do if he ever discovers that I¡¯m not human?

    ¡­Even if I¡¯m worrying about it now, it can¡¯t be helped.

    Now, what I have to worry more about is ¡¾Him¡¿.

    Even with ¡¾His¡¿ disposition, I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll be having a rematch with him before he ¡¾Manifests¡¿ a body.

    I¡¯m sure ¡¾He¡¯s¡¿ saving up power now.

    And by the time we have a rematch, I have to decide ¡°Where we stand.¡±

    Until then¡­¡­

    ¡°Millaine, are you going out to play soon?¡±

    As I asked her with a Demon¡¯s smile on my face, Millaine had an astonished face and her eyes brightened.

    ¡°¡­¡­That is, the Daemon King¡¯s army?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re tired of the underworld of the Holy Kingdom, no? It¡¯s too peaceful for a state at war. Perhaps the backers of the underworld are with the Daemon King¡¯s army, so why don¡¯t you go and play with them?¡±

    As I said so, Millaine smiled wryly and leaked out a small sigh.

    ¡°Finally, I¡¯m not working behind the scenes.¡±

    ¡°Go out to play, go play. Seriously, I don¡¯t really understand that Daemon King. To give such a grand declaration of war like it was nothing, I don¡¯t get it at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Ah~¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Hmm?¡±

    Millaine suddenly leaked a voice of understanding, even as she stared into the distance.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s that? Did you figure something out?

    Anyways, it¡¯s really peaceful¡­¡­

    I had asked my attendants to go and [Keep an Eye] on the Daemon army¡­ you guys, you¡¯re clearly doing something on your own, aren¡¯t you¡­?

 CH 51

    Volume 4, Chapter 2: I became a Fourth-grader, Part 2

    Half a year has passed since the Daemon King declared war on all of the human nations.

    In the three human nations that bordered the ¡ºForest of Monsters¡» which was close to the Daemon¡¯s territory, forts had been constructed in various places and mercenaries had been contracted in preparation of the invasion of the Daemon King¡¯s army. In the last six months, there had only been minor skirmishes with the Daemon army¡¯s scouts and beastmen bandits, along with small groups of monsters.

    So, where had the Daemon King¡¯s army gone?

    What had they been doing up until now, and what were they doing now¡­¡­

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    A beastman, wearing a slightly stained armour, stabbed poorly-clothed other beastman with a spear.

    Even though they were both Beastmen, while the one who had been killed looked like a human, the one who was wearing the armour looked like a wolf with a reptile¡¯s eyes. After being splattered with blood, it licked its own face with a snakelike tongue and a distorted smile.

    The Daemons¡­ a mixed-blood group of abandoned humans and demi-humans and monsters.

    The agonising screams of death were the only thing that could be heard.

    They who were armed with rusty swords and spears, wearing thin and dirty armour, had struck a small village, killing and looting its fleeing inhabitants with extreme cruelty.

    The ¡ºForest of Monsters¡» that separated the Daemon territory from the human nations was a dangerous place where monsters rampaged, but there were also a few villages within it.

    There were people who separated themselves, being unable to accept the way of the Daemons. There were humans who had chosen to share their lives with the beastmen and Daemons. There were slaves and stragglers who¡¯d run away from human society.

    These people had gradually congregated, seeking escape from both humans and Daemons, and had built a village in this dangerous forest, and although they feared the Daemons, they were able to eke out a bare-bones life.

    That is, until today¡­¡­

    ¡°M-mother¡±

    A five year old cat-eared young girl was crying, her face distorted as she shook the still body of a bloodstained human woman.

    ¡°Tch, she died so easily, it¡¯s going to be a pain in the rear to transport.¡±

    As the lizard beastman spit out his complaint, he ripped off a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth, sloppily chewing.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll eat the innards first¡­ Oi, brat! I¡¯ll take you back as my fresh food, so just be docile until I eat you.¡±

    ¡°Heee¡­¡±

    The Daemons who had thick monster blood would even stoop to eating humans or other beastmen.

    The soldiers of the Daemon army attacked all the settlements, pillaging all the food from the villages, killing everyone but the young women and children, as they were tasked with bringing back playthings for food and ¡®comfort¡¯.

    However, this was a mission in name only. Even if they were left to their own devices, the Daemons would have done the same by instinct.

    There is not a single one with the heart of a ¡ºPerson¡».

    For the Daemons, anyone weaker than they were were existences to take from, and they wouldn¡¯t come to a mutual understanding even if they talked, only ever seeing the weak as livestock.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm?¡±

    A lizard beastman realised that the area was strangely quiet.

    Wiping the bloodstains from his mouth, he could only hear the muffled crying of the little girl.  Even if he strained his ears, he could hear nothing else at all.

    There were ten-odd of them who had raided this place. There were only about 50 people in the village, so it should have been easy to annihilate, so it was unnatural that he couldn¡¯t hear any of the women or children making tormented noises or screaming.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­? Brat, you¡¯re coming with me!¡±

    ¡°¡­N-Nooooo¡±

    ¡°Shutup!¡±

    The little cat-eared girl was struck and went silent, and the lizardman left the roughshod cabin with his spear.

    ¡°Wha¡­¡±

    As the lizard beastman walked out to look, he saw all of the villagers that they had killed¡­¡­ and all of his comrades with their swords and spears at the ready¡­  had become stone statues.

    ¡°What the¡­ this¡­¡±

    The lizardman couldn¡¯t recognise that those stone statues were his companions.

    Why were there stone statues that looked like his companions? Where did the people that he had personally put into place go?

    Maybe they¡¯d found prey and had intentionally left him out of it, and he felt indignant that he had been made a fool of and that they¡¯d run off without telling him.

    As a lizardman, who was of limited intelligence, he didn¡¯t understand that this situation was due to an ¡ºEnemy¡».

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The lizardman noticed a petite person walking about the centre of the village.

    Looking completely out of place, it was a human girl dressed up in a white apron over a black dress of excellent make.

    More than her unperturbed expression, even in the face of this miserable scene, she was walking about as if she were on nothing more than a calm stroll while on her errands, which was even more strange.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hehe¡­¡±

    Looking at the pretty girl, with her beautiful blond hair and soft, not-yet-adult flesh, the lizardman smiled vulgarly. ¡­But,

    ¡°¡­He-Hey, girlie.¡±

    Rushing towards the girl who looked like she was walking slowly past his eyes, the lizardman hurriedly lowered his spear and called out to her to stop.

    ¡°Oi!?¡±

    But that girl didn¡¯t stop walking at all, as if she hadn¡¯t heard a voice. The lizardman¡¯s face twisted with anger, and he rushed towards her, stabbing his spear.

    *buchii*¡­

    There was the sound of fibres being torn¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Excuse me. May I help you¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­e¡­¡­a¡±

    Snatching away the lizardman¡¯s spear in an instant, tearing off both of his arms and throwing them both away like garbage, the girl turned to look at the lizardman for the first time.

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­GyaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    His brain finally catching up to reality, the lizardman fell to his knees even as he screamed out in fear and pain.

    The girl looked down coldly at him.

    ¡°If you have no business with me, then I do. ¡­¡­oh?¡±

    Even as the lizardman¡¯s piteous screams went on like the BGM, the blond-haired girl looked at the terrified catgirl who was staring at her with fear in her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As the girl stared quietly, from under the feet of the cat-eared girl, something was giving off a vague steam.

    As the girl continued to stare at the child who made an accident, she spoke

    ¡°¡­Please be quiet.¡±

    She casually stuck her hands into the chest cavity of the screaming beastman, and pulled out his heart without making a single sound.

    ¡­*gehi*

    Without even glancing at the lizardman who had grown quiet with a strange sound, the girl offered that blood-covered heart to the cat-eared child with an expressionless face.

    ¡°Want to eat it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    The little girl paled and shook her head vigorously.

    ¡°Is that so¡­ Then¡­ will you be eating this?¡±

    The young lady faintly knitted her eyebrows, and then swallowed the bloody lump of meat in a single mouthful, taking out the dried seafood from her pockets and presenting it to the little girl.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As expected the little girl didn¡¯t refuse, as she received it in shock. The young lady patted the little girl¡¯s cat ears, and the edges of her lips went up slightly, then vanished into the forest outside the village.

    She loved cats.

    By sheer luck, there were villages on the way to her destination, and she couldn¡¯t resist the charm of the ¡ºCat Eared Ones¡» while she removed the obstacles in her way. Tina had stroked them instinctively when she fed the little girl, so she continued towards her original destination with a satisfied face.

    ¡°¡­¡­Cats don¡¯t like hearts.¡±

    She wrote in her love diary about her most beloved master.

 CH 52

    Volume 4, Chapter 3: I became a Fourth-Grader, Part 3

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡­?¡±

    In a giant tent in the Forest of Monsters, Black Princess Killian was biting her black claws in frustration.

    Half a year ago, the whole of the Daemon King¡¯s army began to prepare after the Daemon King had made his proclamation.

    Some of them objected to the reckless strategy, but most of them couldn¡¯t bear the terror of the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, and gladly prepared to flee the Daemon territory.

    Even though the Daemon King¡¯s army was called an ¡®army,¡¯ it was more like a group of rampaging monsters in reality.

    As expected, the main forces of the three states grouped up and moved out together, deployed early in the New Year, three months after the declaration of war. As for the others, the local lords and various tribal chieftains of the various regions took their hundreds and thousands of men and headed towards the human nations on their own.

    A month after passing through the [Forest of Monsters], they thought that the scout troops would have come into contact with the humans¡­¡­¡­ but there had still been no results.

    Even the battle reports never came, and none of the scout units¡¯ locations were known. While a few traces of battle and dozens of dead bodies were found, about 200,000 troopers had simply just disappeared.

    The Daemons prided themselves upon their strength; hence they didn¡¯t pay serious attention to it. At most, it merely resulted in laughter that they didn¡¯t get to have any of the prey at all.

    The Daemon Lord that was the most familiar with the Forest of Monsters, Black Princess Killian, promptly advanced the main force, built up a base and started an invasion¡­ But, there weren¡¯t any battle reports from any of their units, and the Forest of Monsters was strangely quiet, as if frightened by something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Could I be, has the Hero has come?¡±

    The one passed down through the Daemons¡¯ legends, the natural enemy of Daemon kind. A human butcher.

    However, only those who had received the [Blessings of the Light] were true heroes, and that type of hero, unless an [Evil] powerful enough to destroy nations came, would not appear  in human society, it simply couldn¡¯t appear.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What¡¯s happening?¡±

    As Killian lost her patience, her black snakelike lower half uncoiled, smashing one of the furnishings brought from the Daemon territory to smithereens, and the terrified maids drew back.

    ¡°I will be heading out personally¡­¡­ tell everyone!¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes!¡±

    Black Princess Killian¡¯s forces were composed of: 270,000 Daemons who had thick monster blood, 320,000 Intelligent Magic Beasts, and with a 150,000-strong Beast-rider cavalry, it was an army totaling 740,000.

    From them, 250,000 of the more fleet-footed ones would advance together under the command of the Black Princess.

    Without using the forest roads, in the face of the undulating terrain of the forest, they seemed like a tsunami rushing forth swallowing up the forest.

    Normally, Killian would never have taken such rash actions.

    Her usual style of combat would be to set up a trap and wait for prey to fall into it while she drank her time away.

    But another, more serious, problem was approaching than merely not knowing the identity of their enemy.

    It¡¯s been several months since they started invading from the Daemon territory¡­ The food that they¡¯d brought was starting to run out, so were the lower-class monsters and animals that they¡¯d hunted. If the situation stagnated any further, the Daemons might start cannibalizing each other.

    ¡°Everyone charge! Charge until you¡¯ve either reached a human dwelling or I allow you.¡±

    Before anyone knew it, Black Princess Killian was riding at the front of the army, carried by a beast chariot pulled by four huge snakes.

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    Feeling a chilling sense of dread, the four serpents stopped moving.

    Although they only felt it for a moment, and while most of the soldiers didn¡¯t understand what they¡¯d felt, the intelligent monsters and the feral magic beasts of the cavalry felt something of the presence¡¯s true nature by instinct, and the whole troop stopped moving spontaneously.

    The riders urged their mounts, but the mounts and beasts didn¡¯t move.

    Within, Black Princess Killian realized that it was an aura of [Killing Intent] with an extreme range, and she glared into the depths of the dark forest as cold sweat ran down her back.

    ¡°Who are you¡­? Show yourself before thou!!¡±

    Due to her pride as a Daemon Lord, Killian raised her voice, and thrust out her own [Calming Intent] towards the depths of the forest.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When she felt the [Killing Intent] only subside slightly and her subordinates continued to stay silent, Killian began to bare her teeth and radiate bloodlust.

    Up until now, nobody had been able to ward off her Killing Intent and still produce this level of Killing Intent other than the [Daemon King].

    Who lay beyond? She didn¡¯t think that someone else of Daemon King Hebrad¡¯s level existed, although she strengthened her caution given that it might be a [Hero] or [Saint]-level existence.

    As the killing intent of the Black Princess dispersed, a few of the mount beasts foamed at the mouth and began to collapse¡­ a small humanoid emerged as if cut out from the depths of the forest.

    It was a beautiful young lady with curly, gently-fluttering golden hair.

    Dressed in the high quality clothes of a human aristocrat¡¯s maid, she walked quietly with her hands in front of her, and seemed like either a noble or a lady-in-waiting of the royal family.

    Although she looked horribly out of place, her iron expression and icy eyes told them that the girl wasn¡¯t just a simple human.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    Pulling back her bloodlust, Killian¡¯s voice was held up with the dignity of a ruler, and the girl picked up the hem of her skirts without hesitation, and lowered her waist in a curtsey.

    ¡°I, am one of the attendants of the noble [Princess], ¡¾Gorgon¡¿ Tina.¡±

    At those irreverent words, a surge of anger and bloodlust came from Killian¡¯s admirers.

    To remain unfazed even in front of an army of over several hundred thousand, and on the contrary, declaring that she served someone who was a greater[ Princess] in front of the [Black Princess], everyone was shocked and some even doubted whether she was sane.

    ¡°¡­Gorgon¡­? I¡¯ve never heard of such a word¡­ is that your official position?¡±

    Hearing such a strange word for the first time, Killian continued to try collecting information the enemy that they couldn¡¯t afford to relax their guards against, and continued the conversation without foolishly exerting her killing intent.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the name of my race.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hohooh, so does that mean that you¡¯re not [Human]¡­?¡±

    Tina didn¡¯t answer Killian¡¯s question, but merely returned an elegant smile. At that creepy smile that lacked any sense of kindness, Killian felt the atmosphere was like swallowing a lump of lead.

    The sheer pressure of her appearance, a creepily beautiful young woman that looked exactly like a real human being was unnerving.

    Although there were Daemons that looked like humans too, this felt like a completely different existence from them.

    There was also the matter of that [Killing Intent] just now. Could such a small girl release such an overwhelming Killing Intent¡­? That there was a large crowd behind the girl, and hearing that there was the [Princess] there, she was convinced that the rest of them had been intimidated by that horde behind the girl.

    But¡­ that wasn¡¯t it.

    If there was an army sizable enough to make one feel such a level of Killing Intent, there was no way that they wouldn¡¯t have perceived their existence.

    If¡­ If this girl wasn¡¯t just an envoy of the battle ahead, but really had come here alone¡­

    What kind of [Monster] was she to produce this level of Killing Intent¡­?

    It¡¯s impossible. Thinking about it, Killian lost the mood to continue the conversation with that insolent young girl, and looked down at her as she uttered just one word.

    ¡°¡­¡­Kill.¡±

    As she spoke, several soldiers behind Killian leapt out soundlessly.

    A wolf man, a girl with wings for arms, a one-eyed giant, and a horned man with scaled skin:

    They who were called monsters, unlike the beast-men, attacked the girl who had made a fool of their Lord together.

    *Gagon¡­*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!¡±

    Killian was thrown into a state of shock, and gasped in spite of herself.

    The four fiercest of her bodyguard that had served her for many years, had become [Stone Statues] in an instant and fell to the earth while maintaining their momentum, rolling away.

    [Petrification] was rare, but it wasn¡¯t her first time seeing it.

    Apart from the portion of Daemons that would have their flesh and magical power slowly harden because of [Disease], the cases of [Petrification] were all because of magic crystallizing the impurities within the body, or cases where they were trapped within a stone-like material and then hardened.

    However, it was impossible to do any of them in an instant, and it was mostly commonly seen as a trap or a form of torture in places where one was trapped and unable to run away, it was a magic that didn¡¯t kill.

    But¡­

    There wasn¡¯t a single sign of [Life] from the four bodyguards. They had been killed in an instant.

    ¡°¡­Kill her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±

    Killian shouted out with all her strength.

    In order to release the petrification, they either had to perform rituals of Holy Magic or kill the caster.

    It also had to be done within a few hours to preserve the lives of the victims, and although they were already dead, Killian still couldn¡¯t help but shout it.

    If it had been Hebrad or Geas, they might have been able to respond a little more calmly, but for the trap-loving, always-victorious Killian, this was too much to bear.

    An unknown magic¡­ an unknown existence¡­ Not knowing was more terrifying than anything.

    ¡°Well then, I shall begin the extermination.¡±

    An indifferent voice came from beside her.

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Killian instantly leapt back and shook her giant snake tail. The blow that would have sent an elephant flying, was stopped by Tina¡¯s tiny hands, and half of it was cut off.

    ¡°GyaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    As the Black Princess screamed, the dumbfounded soldiers struck Tina all together.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Tina gazed at the 5 metre long snake tail, and then threw it behind her into the depths of the forest, tearing into the hundreds of Daemons around her with the golden snakes.

    As they choked on their own blood in their death throes, the curly golden hair turned into countless snakes, and as Tina put on a devilish smile, the soldiers¡¯ faces cramped in fear.

    Wherein Tina was looking for the Black Princess whose tail had been torn to pieces¡­¡­

    ¡°AhahahahAHahAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±

    As the ground shook with the echoing of her laughter, she approached Killian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t come closer, stay back! HiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII¡­¡±

    Although the soldiers were all trying to protect Killian, they were too close to Killian to use magic. If they approached they would be torn up by golden snakes, while if they retreated they would be petrified by that red gaze, and with the angry screaming, the scared fleeing, and the crying and confusion all mixed together, the battlefield became chaotic.

    The ¡¾Arch Demon¡¿¡¾Gorgon¡¿ created by the golden ¡¾Devil¡¿.

    Tina was inferior to Noa in attacking power, worse than Nia at defending, and worse than Fannie in mental attacks and strange powers.

    However, her overall combat ability outstripped the other three, especially when battling in the physical world. Even among all of the Arch Demons that existed in the Demon World, she was unrivalled.

    But, even for Tina, hundreds of thousands of troops was too much.

    She deliberately provoked the enemy, didn¡¯t kill the enemy general, and harassed them while throwing them into chaos, if they had been allowed the time to recover their wits, their numbers would have been a threat.

    ¡°This is so much fun, but no¡­¡±

    If she delayed any further, she would be late for her master¡¯s dinner.

    Tina took out a small golden key from her pockets and thrust it into the air.

    ¡°Open¡­¡­ ¡¾Paradise Lost (Lost Eden)¡¿¡±

    In that instant¡­¡­ the battlefield was enveloped in ¡¾Blackness¡¿.

    It wasn¡¯t night. It wasn¡¯t darkness. The sunlit [Forest of Monsters], was simply replaced with an empty space devoid of anything but blackness¡­¡­

    As it happened, the 250,000 soldiers were all filled with a fear of something next to them.

    The new race of Greater Demon that had manifested with vampires as its vessels¡­ all 500 of them were there.

    A special type of Demon that had a body which resembled a human¡¯s, they was clad in warped armor and were armed with black, visibly cursed, swords.

    The Greater Demon all gave a cry of delight at the large amount of [Food] that had been given to them by their lords.

    ¡°At least, it¡¯s protein this time. I don¡¯t want seaweed anymore¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    Tonight¡¯s dinner¡­ as I was enjoying the [Grilled] food that Tina had gathered, I turned to ask Fannie who was waiting on me.

    ¡°This is quite delicious ¡­ what is this meat?¡±

    ¡°Snake. Because its grease is delicious, I was told to hunt it©`¡±

    ¡°Fuu~, snake really is delicious, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    I can¡¯t help but wonder, when is the Daemon King¡¯s army going to get here¡­?

    I should probably go out on my Saint (Idol) tour soon.

 CH 53

    Volume 4, Chapter 4: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Daily Life, Part 1

    As I¡¯ll be turning 11 soon, I decided to visit the countries close to the Daemon territory as a Saint.

    Actually, I was going to fly~ over there with my servants, so that I could spend several months enjoying myself before teleporting back. I had made plans for a trip with us alone, but I seem to have been found out before I knew it¡­

    ¡°Noel¡­?¡±

    Noel comes over to my house often. The threshold for entry had become slightly lower since he¡¯s become a noble too, but now when he walks through the door he¡¯s not the son of a Viscount, but the [Hero].

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy¡­¡±

    Noel didn¡¯t run up to me like a puppy like he normally did, but rather walked up to me with a slightly lonely expression.

    By the way, nobody told me that he was coming. If there is a visitor, you guys should inform me¡­ in the shadow of a nearby pillar, I saw the maids and the attendants giving me covert thumbs-up¡­ What are you guys doing?

    ¡°Noel, what¡¯s the matter? Ba¡­ Bar¡­¡­ where¡¯s Bear-san?¡± (Piro Note: she keeps forgetting Barnabas, lol)

    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m not having training today, so the group¡­ Father didn¡¯t come along. Putting that aside¡­¡±

    Bear-san and Noel often came to practice with the knights and to practice coordinating with me, but now Noel¡¯s come alone. He walked up next to me, and gently held my hand.

    ¡­ Ah, as expected he¡¯s holding my hand. It¡¯s alright because I¡¯m still a child, but will I still be able to be married if Noel turns 15 and becomes not ¡®safe¡¯?

    As a 13 year old, Noel was 10-odd centimeters taller than I was; he knelt in front of me all of a sudden.

    ¡°N-Noel, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡­ Will you rely on me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As he looked straight into my eyes, I felt a little itch in my heart.

    ¡°Why are you trying to go alone to a place near the Daemon Territory¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ err¡­¡±

    Where did it leak from¡­? It¡¯s probably one of those maids-in-waiting.

    That aside, what do I do? I thought about deceiving him, but his face wasn¡¯t his usual puppy face, and I was off put by his grown-up expression.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I the same as you, Lucy? People who are in trouble¡­ I want to help the people who are suffering.¡±

    ¡­¡­Eh? But I just want to go sightseeing? ¡­¡­I can¡¯t say that now.

    ¡°¡­Umm, Noel,¡±

    ¡°I understand your feelings. Therefore, I will go whenever and wherever Lucy goes.¡±

    ¡°U-umm¡­¡±

    Oh crap, I¡¯ve lost the chance to speak. Noel interrupted my words, calmly¡­¡­ and while smiling gently with determined eyes, he touched his lips to my hand.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ am [Hero] that will always stand beside the gentle hearted [Saint]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°~~~¡­¡±

    Dangerous¡­¡­ Even though Noel himself is turning bright red ¡­¡­ Still, since I don¡¯t have any resistance, don¡¯t hit me with such a big surprise attack¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ Behind us, the maid-sans, were all being annoying with their *kyaa~ kyaa~*.

    ¡°Yurushia¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­Roderick-onii-sama, did you finish your greetings?¡±

    At a social gathering that was held every few days¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s just an evening ball, but Rick was surrounded by foreign aristocrats and their daughters until he came over to me, who was surrounded by greasy ministers.

    ¡­¡­ For some reason I feel that there¡¯s an unreasonable [Difference].

    ¡°It¡¯s over. Don¡¯t talk about it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡±

    As soon as he got to me he already had his pouty face and sullen voice¡­ That¡¯s probably why all those ministers all took their leave while sweating profusely.

    It¡¯s not my fault to have parted from them after Rick arrived, right¡­?

    ¡°Come over here¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    Rick stretched out his hand for a moment, and stopped halfway¡­ ooh, I thought that he would grab my arm again but he¡¯s finally growing up.

    We walked out to the garden. Because we¡¯re so conspicuous, we can¡¯t be hidden from view by simply going to the terrace, so to speak without being disturbed we took a stroll in the garden at night.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Rick?¡±

    As Rick walked silently without a word, I changed my term of address and called out to him.

    What happened? Rick wore a different look than usual while he craned his neck a little to the side, and then quietly spoke.

    ¡°¡­I am weak¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    But you¡¯re not as weak as you were before¡­?

    ¡°Although I was given the title of [Holy Paladin] for participating, Noel and I ¡­¡­ are just not an equal match for Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The [Holy Paladin] was a precious treasure of the Holy Kingdom and different from the Holy Knights, rather, it was a title that was rather similar to being a [Hero].

    The hero with the protection of the light was the hope of the people.

    While the Hero was the guiding light that lit the way for the people, the Holy Crusader wielded the power of the light to avenge the people¡¯s suffering upon their enemies.

    In other words, it means that the Holy Crusader must be stronger than the Hero as an individual¡­¡­

    ¡°I have to become strong as the [Holy Paladin]. If you head to the Daemon territory, I will too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Rick¡±

    Rick is also following Noel¡­¡­

    ¡°Although I thought that I could defend Yurushia, but every time you¡¯ve protected me¡­¡±

    He¡¯s aware of it himself¡­¡­¡­ I¡¯m unable to refuse Rick whenever he displays his straightforward [Masculinity].

    Well, in any case, if Noel is coming, I can¡¯t refuse Rick either.

    To me, since Rick was a young kid when I first met him, I¡¯ve always taken him lightly.

    As I reminisced about the old days, the moment that the eyes of our chaperones were obstructed by the shade of a tree, Rick grabbed my arm and pulled me in.

    ¡°I cannot lose to Noel.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯scloseit¡¯sclose your face is too close! We¡¯re almost stuck together!

    Did Rick realize it too? His eyes went wide momentarily and drew apart, returning to holding my hand with only one hand and walking again.

    What¡¯s going on, hmmmph? ¡­¡­ You¡¯re not meeting my eyes.

    Anyways, various things happened, but it seems that the [Holy Kingdom Hero¡¯s Party] can¡¯t help but head out together.

    But still, we¡¯re being accompanied by a team of escort knights again¡­¡­ Our Hero¡¯s Party is basically being accompanied by chaperones.

    ¡°¡­¡­eee~tto, are you all coming with us too?¡±

    Since my departure has become public knowledge, naturally my guardian knights from the Ducal household, along with Vio, Fell and Min were going to be accompanying me as my caretakers.

    ¡°Naturally. Ria-sama specially instructed us to take care of Princess Yuru-sama.¡±

    As Vio replied for them all, Fell and Min both smiled and nodded behind her.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we just sightseeing?¡±

    I¡¯m mostly focused on the sightseeing.

    ¡°Of-of course we understand. I haven¡¯t hugged Yuru-sama lately, but I can¡¯t force it even if I¡¯m lonely.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, about those local guide books that Yuru-sama told us to order, I¡¯ve made special arrangements.¡±

    Oi¡­¡­¡­

    Well, the maids that have been taking care of me since I was young¡­ even now that they¡¯re my ladies-in-waiting, these three girls still worried about me from the bottom of their hearts.

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t that right? This doesn¡¯t have a vacation-y mood?

    Aren¡¯t all three of them newlyweds¡­¡­ is it alright to leave their husbands alone¡­¡­¡­?

    These three girls¡­ Now that half of their twenties have gone by, if I was asked to introduce them marriage partners, I would have decided readily on anyone that was convenient.

    Vio was with a single bachelor steward who was in his 30s, Fell with a young knight under the Duke, and Min with the sous chef of the house.

    Did you all ever date anyone else before? I think that the three of them just chose partners that would allow them to continue prioritizing their current work¡­¡­ I¡¯m okay with that, though.

    Well, I interviewed them too, and I was relieved since they¡¯re all good people.

    Since I had a serious personal interview and put them under [Killing Intent] for an hour or so until they started to cry, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll cheat even if they¡¯re about to die.

    Because of that, it seems that the husbands have all said that [If you are by Yurushia-sama¡¯s side, I¡¯ll be relieved] and I¡¯ve acquired a strange trust.

    I am but a weak noble lady¡­¡­

    If this trend continues in the following years, I wonder if I¡¯ll have to be the one finding husbands for the 15 girls of the escort knights as well. To be blunt, it¡¯s a pain in the rear.

    Those girls, when they saw that the [Holy Saint-sama(me)] give the blessings at Vio, Fell and Min¡¯s weddings at the behest of the priest, they¡¯ve all been brimming with eagerness to receive my favor.

    Oh, come to think of it, they aren¡¯t my [Escort Knights] any longer.

    It seems that they became the [Saint Guard Squadron] when I became the [Holy Saint].

    They ranked up. Their equipment was completely changed too, and it can¡¯t be helped that I had to turn to Zest of the Carpe Merchant Association and ordered 15 magic swords for them.

    It was a huge expense. My private slush fund was halved.

    Regarding my own marriage¡­¡­ For me, since my sister-samas¡¯ returns are a delicate matter, will I have to take a groom into the family?

    Aunt-sama of the Shiguresu Royal Family¡¯s fierce promotion of her son is scary.

    When I brought up the topic with Mother-sama discreetly, it seems that seven marriage proposals have come from the royal families of the surrounding countries.

    Including a newly-born third prince¡­¡­ what are you all thinking?

    ¡­¡­¡­ Is that my bridegroom?

    ¡­Ah, I got off track; this was supposed to be a story about my Saint (idol) tour.

    Since someone might ask [Saint-sama, sing us a song], I can¡¯t avoid singing practice¡­¡­ It¡¯s just in case? I don¡¯t really actually want to sing, promise¡­

    The estimated journey will take several months, and it absolutely wasn¡¯t purposely scheduled to be on my birthday.

    So, Grandfather-sama, please stop throwing a tantrum. Please don¡¯t try to inspect the border? ¡­¡­ Since I¡¯m going to break through it with my ability.

 CH 54

    Volume 4, Chapter 5: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Daily Life, Part 2

    We left the Holy Kingdom headed towards the [Warrior Nation Taterudo] in the north. I wanted to head there directly, but in order to do that we needed to cross two countries to our destination.

    Since we¡¯re more or less a party made up of the Royal Family and the Hero-sama, we can¡¯t just pass through without stopping, and so we¡¯ve been forced to stay an additional week or so for parties and parades.

    Taterudo gave us an opportunity to go and visit their weapons workshops, I guess that¡¯s par for the course for the Warrior Nation. Isn¡¯t a new-model magic sword supposed to be a state secret?

    Eh¡­? I can buy branded magic swords here cheaply¡­¡­¡­?

    While suffering damage to my wallet and heart, I arrived at one of the three countries near the Daemon Territory, [Kolkopo].

    Although the country¡¯s name is pretty cute, it seems that they¡¯re in quite a troubled state as a small country.

    The royal family of this place had a pretty little boy who¡¯s turning 10 years old this year.

    ¡°I a-am Ko-kokokokokoko-ko-Kolpo, Yu-Yuru-ru-Yuyuyuyu-Yurushia-sama, it-it-it-it¡¯s nice to me-mehehehehehe meet you!¡±

    ¡­¡­ Hah? It¡¯s funny to meet me? Kolpo, who had suddenly said something ridiculous, turned bright red and was carried away to the medical quarters.

    I¡¯m used to being feared by older uncles, but being feared by a cute young boy, I was overwhelmed for a moment.

    Oh, come to think of it, this child¡¯s name was on the list of children who were proposing to me. I wonder if the marriage proposal¡¯s been called off. Well, it¡¯ll work out.

    It was a light evening party with everyone who was involved with the war. After it ended, we stayed at the castle and I decided to go down to a small town by the front lines the following morning.

    *Zupah!* Making such an onomatopoeic yell, Rick sliced through a monster.

    ¡°Noel, there¡¯s one there!¡±

    ¡°Roger, [Wind that rules all, blow violently like a blade]¡­Wind Blade!¡±

    Noel¡¯s wind magic cut the giant raccoon Daemon in half, and Rick rushed over to deal the finishing blow with the Golden Magic Sword (No. 3).

    Yup, I made Rick¡¯s sword!

    It was made with the soul of the [Daemon Race Female Black Knight]

    ¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t get that snack. *sniffle*

    As one would expect of Taterudo that¡¯s close to the Daemon King territory, it¡¯s not rare to see [Monsters] spring up. Well, they¡¯re weaker than a Hippo or Rhinoceros.

    But even so, normal magic is still being used as needed.

    By the way, that last word seems to be shouted. Invoking spells in the simple [Spirit Language] seems to be easier to activate if you pair the image with the words.

    [¡­¡­Splendid!]

    When the battle ended, applause and cheering came from our [Guardians] behind us.

    This time around the Guardians were 12 Holy Knights, 24 Royal Palace Guards, 15 Saint Guardian Knights, 80 Soldiers of the Royal Capital, 6 Royal Magicians, and 30 people from Bear-san¡¯s mercenary group.

    ¡­¡­ Are we intending to start a war? When we got to Kolkopo, the border guards¡¯ faces were cramped.

    From where the guardians were sitting, calls of [Your Highness] and [Steady, Boy!] were heard, and Rick and Noel¡¯s faces went red.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s up with that?

    As we went along, we were only allowed to fight the monsters and the younglings that showed up.

    It¡¯s training¡­¡­ but it feels shameful.

    The Holy Kingdom¡¯s Hero party was a 4-man composition comprising Noel, Rick, me, and Nia, who had been praised by the Holy Knights in the fight against ¡¾Him¡¿.

    Nia stood out in the end. But well, she¡¯s mainly my guard.

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Rick and Noel, who were deeply embarrassed, came back to me with delicate expressions.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you two, would you like some tea?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No thanks.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What are you doing?¡±

    Apparently the two of them want to say something to me.

    However, after I apply the Holy Magic of Protection, there¡¯s almost nothing for me to do, so I¡¯ve just been drinking tea at the table Noa prepared for me.

    ¡°But the tea sweets are pretty and delicious, you know?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean¡­¡­ Haa¡­¡±

    Rick, who tried to say something sighed lightly and Noel soothed him with a strained smile.

    They¡¯re at a delicate age. Rick is 14 years old, so maybe it¡¯s something like [My demon sword seeks blood]?

    As we were doing that, we slowly arrived at the town on the front lines that evening.

    It¡¯s a distance that we could have travelled and arrived at by the early afternoon if we had gone directly with the knights leading the front, but I promised not to complain.

    Now then, here is the main event, ma¡¯am.

    There¡¯s no single place that could accommodate such a large number in a small town like this, so Rick and the Holy Knights were put up in the local lord¡¯s mansion. Noel and the rest of the mercenary group were preparing to camp with the soldiers. My close guardian knights and the children reserved a large inn room to spend the night.

    Finally, we separated.

    ¡°Princess-sama, Vio and me are done with the inn arrangements~¡±

    Deputy Captain Sara-chan came to report to me. Because they were dazzled by the new equipment, the snot-nosed children (little brats) were all running around her.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, please also tell Bree-chan to take a break. Please don¡¯t drink too much, okay?¡±

    ¡°I-I understand, Princess-sama.¡±

    ¡°Honestly¡­?¡±

    Well, since we¡¯ve come to such a dangerous place, I won¡¯t scold her much.  But for the sake of warning her, I pulled Sara-chan¡¯s cheeks softly since her expression was still fidgety after giving her report, but she flushed red and thanked me with ¡®Thank you very much.¡¯

    I don¡¯t understand exactly what she¡¯s thinking.

    ¡°Tina, Fannie, prepare me some [Traveler]-like clothing.¡±

    And this, I changed my clothes and escaped out the window of the third floor.

    I was dressed like a normal traveler, but since I couldn¡¯t do anything about my shiny hair I gave up and did it up in a ponytail.

    By the way, the [Black and Silver Saint¡¯s Dress], has been transformed into a choker around my neck.

    When I tried to take it off, it transformed into that¡­¡­ This is cursed equipment, isn¡¯t it¡­!

    There are a large number of mercenary groups in this town at the moment.

    There were those employed by the country, those who were hired by other countries to collect information, and there were those who were here to gain military accolades when battles happened, there were even some who just hunted monsters for materials.

    All these people were gathered here in mercenary groups, so the city was full of life, even though it is at war¡­ the security¡¯s getting worse, though.

    Because there¡¯re so many muscle-brained rascals around, many of the bars in this town are completely filled up¡­ or more precisely, because there weren¡¯t enough for them, the public halls and communal spaces have been opened, and the merchants came down to sell food and alcohol , so it was almost like a simple food court.

    It¡¯s a place where information tends to gather. It¡¯s also a place where materials that I haven¡¯t seen before are sold.

    It¡¯s also a place where the spies from other countries and the Daemon King were mixed.

    Ufufufu, isn¡¯t it a fun place?

    The bar is for 15 year olds and above, but my height is between a 12 and 13 year old, and Noa and Nia are 14 years old so it won¡¯t be so obvious.

    Giii~¡­ *Gatan*¡­

    As I opened the door and walked in, some mercenaries that saw me fell off their chair, and the sound of a glass of ale dropping to the floor was heard.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s an intense reaction. Although if you think about it properly, it¡¯s normal?

    For the time being, I suppressed my [Presence] and proceeded inside without stopping to take notice of anything. Only Noa and Nia were accompanying me; Tina and Fannie were left back in the room.

    If anything happened at the lodgings, there wouldn¡¯t be any problems, as Fannie would come pick us up while Tina dealt with the problem. Also, it¡¯s just my luck that I left the two troublemakers behind.

    The building was larger than it looked from the outside. Although I was able to conceal the signs well, it seems that I astonished several people near the entrance with my appearance.

    ¡°Little Miss, hold up.¡±

    Someone stopped me on my way to a vacant table.

    Is this that thing? The ¡°This isn¡¯t a place for kids¡± moment, and the signal for the start of a legitimate [Bloodbath]!?

    While I was thinking that way as I turned around and gave him my best smile, the older guy who¡¯d called out to me turned red and froze in place.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s the matter? Hey.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­N-no, sorry Miss, ¡­¡­ it¡¯s just that-¡­¡­ please forget it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so.¡±

    As I uttered my disappointment, a younger older guy who was at the same table as that other guy suddenly spilled his ale through his nose while looking at me.

    The older lady at the next seat also stared at me with her mouth wide open as she accidentally poked her forkful of chicken into her nose instead of her mouth. ¡­¡­ Is that a custom in this neighborhood?

    ¡°Gallus, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­ah, boss¡­¡±

    Looking back at the older guy who first called out to me, there was the form of a good looking young man in his late twenties.

    When the youth who called out ¡®boss¡¯ saw me, he had his breath taken away a little, and I gave him a *proper* refreshing smile.

    The [Properness] is important. I don¡¯t give these to the young greenhorn upstarts.

    ¡°Excuse me, Miss. I am Elmer, the head of the [Hawk¡¯s Eye Mercenary Group]. Did my members do anything rude to you¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, although they seemed to have some business with me¡­¡­¡±

    When I responded in my [Prim and proper Young Lady]-mode, he glanced at Gallus and sighed a little.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Also Gallus isn¡¯t a bad fellow, but he must surely have been thinking that it¡¯s dangerous for an adorable lady like yourself to come to a place like this¡­¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was¡­ I appreciate your advice, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°So young and yet you¡¯re so proper. Are you here for [A Meal]?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ and I am also here for some [Shopping].¡±

    Playing back and translating the current conversation,

    [¡°There¡¯s no way you came to such a place just to eat, is there?¡±] [¡°Of course not, I¡¯m here to buy and sell information.¡±]

    That¡¯s what it was.

    ¡°Well, then, why don¡¯t you have a meal at my table as an apology? I¡¯m also a merchant, so I think I can advise you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Forgive my late greeting, my name is Lucia. I will accept your generosity.¡±

    Elmer¡¯s [Hawk¡¯s Eye Mercenary Group]-which is not a very apt name- seems to be a major mercenary group on the scale of 100 people.

    With a friendly demeanor, his group members spread out the table as he called out, and he took us to our seats on the second floor, which was lightly partitioned and looked over the first floor.

    ¡°Does Miss Lucia drink alcohol? If tea is alright with you, there is some good eastern tea, how about that?¡±

    It¡¯s different from the tea from the Dream World, but a mercenary that was this considerate was unusual.

    ¡°I like both. I am sure that whatever Mister Elmer chooses will be the best.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s quite a heavy responsibility. In that case I will have them serve this sweet regional fruit wine that was stocked just the other day. It tastes better when chilled. Will the two of you be alright with that?¡±

    He interacted with Noa and Nia properly too. Is this a success?

    ¡°As the war continues, it would be difficult to continue shipping special products¡­¡­ I hope the war will end soon.¡±

    ¡°I agree¡­¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be a problem if the [Hero] could hurry up and defeat the Daemon King. Oh yes, Miss Lucia. Did you know that there¡¯s been talk of the [Hero] recently in this region?¡±

    Well¡­¡­ talk of  ~which~ Hero?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Supplementary information that can be left unread:

    Why is the price of a magic sword worrying?

    Normal magic sword: costs as much as a light car ~ normal car.

    Second-hand magic swords: costs as much as a domestic used car.

    High-grade magic swords: costs as much as a luxury car.

    The 15 swords that Yurushia bought today is about the same as buying 15 C-class Mercedes.

 CH 55

    Volume 4, Chapter 6: The Holy Saint¡¯s Adorable Everyday Life, Part 3

    ¡°A few months ago, a party of people claiming to be the Heroes of Shiguresu came in, and after staying for a month, they travelled into the Daemon Territory.¡±

    Rumors of my elder sisters.

    From Elmer¡¯s words, it seems like the residents and mercenaries here all gave skeptical looks towards this sudden party of [Heroes].

    When such a huge event happens, many self-proclaimed Heroes appear among the young people of the countryside, and for the towns near the Daemon King territory, it almost seems like a travelling bard.

    But, well, even if one didn¡¯t have the recognition of the Shiguresu Royal Family, it was entirely possible to call yourself the [Hero of Shiguresu]. It¡¯s the [Freedom] of the thick-skinned.

    ¡°When they first came, they went hunting in the [Forest of Monsters] and brought back materials. But after they created problems for the mercenary soldiers who cooperated with the hunters for the materials, and the mercenary groups complained. I heard that they¡¯d given the group a word of warning.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I understand how you feel.¡±

    Those people are the types who cause problems for others easily.

    They¡¯re people who¡¯ve read too many fantasy novels. You¡¯re free to hunt monsters, but if you hunted around this town, you needed to receive a request from the local lord, and needed to get along well with the local hunters who paid their tax dues to the country¡­¡­

    ¡°So, what happened to that self-proclaimed Hero?¡±

    ¡°To tell the truth, that Hero, shouted out that the dish called [Tempura] was invented by Shiguresu, and seriously injured eight mercenaries while laughing, especially that magician girl who did a pretty terrible thing with her fire magic. I heard that they¡¯d been chased off by the military police and headed towards the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Again, what did you do this time, elder sister¡­¡­¡­

    Cruel things with fire magic¡­ it would be awkward if I don¡¯t cast ¡¾Recovery¡¿ on those still in the hospital.

    But, to think, [Tempura] is in this world, huh¡­¡­ I thought that they were things like fritters, but there¡¯s just something magical about it having the same name.

    Tempura¡­¡­ why did you shout out the name of the dish?

    While I thought about that, Elmer poured the fruit wine into my glass personally, with an implicating smile appeared on his face.

    ¡°Those criminals¡­ the magician girl said something interesting.¡±

    ¡°Well, what was it?¡±

    Finally, Elmer-san stopped talking about that Hero. He said the magic-user, so that¡¯s definitely my elder sisters.

    ¡°The rumor that Princess Yurushia of Taterudo, was an evil being that had sold her soul to the Daemons.¡±

    ¡°Heeehhh¡­¡­¡±

    Did she notice anything¡­? I hope that it¡¯s just slander, but if she noticed, then it¡¯s about time for me to [Harvest] her.

    ¡°Did you know that, Lucia-san?¡±

    ¡°Know what?¡±

    ¡°Princess Yurushia seems to be beautiful princess with golden hair, called the Golden Princess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    At those words, the aristocrat¡¯s smile that I had stuck to my face, deepened in pleasure.

    This person noticed¡­¡­ I wonder how many people behind the scenes here know.

    The facial expressions dropped from Noa and Nia, and at the same time, the [Presence] and [Killing Intent] that I had been suppressing began to run off me like a lava wave.

    My Killing Intent has neither hostility nor malice. It¡¯s a Demon¡¯s [Intent] that planted pure [Terror] into the people in the building.

    ¡°W-wait a moment, Yu-¡­¡­ rushia-sama¡­¡±

    Elmer-san immediately threw on his nobleman¡¯s smile and stood up, kneeling before me at my seat.

    ¡°What are you going to do¡­?¡±

    ¡°Please forgive me. I am not your adversary. I only meant to convey to you that a hostile fool was lurking about¡­¡­ and I, felt a little bit mischievous.¡±

    As he paled, Elmer-san looked at me seriously.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, it¡¯ll be alright.¡±

    If he had been a few seconds slower with his apology, Noa and Nia might have already begun the slaughter.

    If it was Tina, she¡¯d be filling the blood oceans by now, and if it was Fannie, the soul collection might have already ended.

    As I retracted my Killing Intent, Elmer-san breathed out in relief while wiping away his sweat.

    ¡°Still¡­ as expected of the legendary [Saint of the Holy Kingdom]. I¡¯d heard rumors, but that was¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, as expected it was resolved simply with [As expected of the Holy Saint-sama].

    It¡¯s strange¡­¡­ the only one who had realized it was my elder sister-sama.

    ¡°Elmer-san, please, stand. It¡¯s strange if you keep kneeling to a simple traveler.¡±

    The other people who didn¡¯t know the circumstances were all tilting their heads in puzzlement, drinking to warm themselves back up, or making an uproar.

    It¡¯s not like letting out my Killing Intent is my favorite pastime ¡­¡­ It¡¯s true, you know? The rats that had run off in terror had all been caught by Noa by now.

    Well, it was actually the attendants that had thought of the whole thing.

    Now that we¡¯d smoked them all out I changed my thoughts back to normal, I didn¡¯t want my true nature to be exposed.

    ¡°No, I have been impolite. From here on, my mercenary group shall become your eyes and hands and feet. I, without fail, shall pledge my loyalty to the beautiful Princess.¡±

    As Elmer-san said that, he touched his lips to the back of my hand.

    Another worshipper has appeared¡­¡­

    I wonder if this delicious fruit wine is also an [Offering].

    But this Elmer-san, although I like him quite a bit, my heart didn¡¯t start thumping like when Noel kissed my hand.

    Even if I looked at him closely, he didn¡¯t make me afraid of his gaze as much as Rick did.

    ¡­¡­Why was that?

    After becoming a Demon, human beings feel just like other animals.

    I love Father-sama and Mother-sama who gave my soul a name, and I worried about getting along with other human beings, but I thought this was because of the [Me] that was in the Dream World.

    I left the simple tavern to Noa and Nia, and strolled out into the city alone at night.

    My footsteps naturally became faster.

    I was going somewhere without permission.

    ¡°¡­¡­I want to see you¡­¡±

    The moment I entered a deserted back alley¡­¡­ I took off my traveler¡¯s clothes, and flew off into the night sky of the city as the ¡¾Golden Beast¡¿.

    £ª

    Nyaa¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­Eh, a cat?¡±

    Noel, who was swinging his sword alone in the field, stopped as the cat appeared suddenly.

    A very beautiful, golden-haired cat.

    Reminding him of the girl that had a similar color, Noel smiled involuntarily.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ come here.¡±

    Sheathing his sword and squatting down, although the golden cat seemed to hesitate at Noel¡¯s outstretched hand, it approached.

    ¡°Uwaa¡­ how cute.¡±

    Instinctively remarking out loudly at the elegance of the cat, the cat¡¯s eyes suddenly widened and it backed off a step.

    ¡°S-sorry, did I scare you¡­? I wonder what I did¡­¡­¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t intend to feed it, when he took out the dried seafood as a substitute for snacks, that cat licked the finger of the right hand that he¡¯d presented to it.

    ¡°¡­¡­How friendly. Are you someone¡¯s pet? There¡¯s a ribbon on you.¡±

    The golden cat put both of its front legs on Noel¡¯s knee and gazed at the boy with bright red eyes.

    ¡°Where is your owner? Did you get lost?¡±

    While he gently stroked its chin, the cat narrowed its eyes in comfort, and at that state Noel stretched out his arms timidly, and softy lifted the cat up.

    ¡°Where are you from¡­ you look familiar.¡±

    As he closed his eyes, he thought of that beautiful golden-haired girl.

    One that he¡¯d admired since his childhood, and was aware that she was an important person, a girl that he wanted to stand by.

    Although she crawled into people hearts as soon as she arrived, if one reached out to her, she would escape and get away from them like a cat.

    He wanted her to be happier than anyone else. ¡­¡­ But he didn¡¯t want to hand her to anyone.

    Did his feelings reach her¡­? He wondered if she would realize them someday.

    When the cat licked the cheeks of the boy who seemed a little lonely, Noel smiled with joy and rubbed his cheeks on the cat.

    ¡°You¡¯re kind¡­ If you don¡¯t know how to get home, will you sleep in my bed?¡±

    Thinking that the cat wouldn¡¯t understand him, when he touched his nose to the cat¡¯s, the cat was suddenly surprised and slipped through Noel¡¯s hands, and took several steps back.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    While suffering more damage than he¡¯d thought as the warmth was lost from his hands and the feeling of loss set in, Noel smiled at the cat.

    ¡°Do you have a place to go home to¡­?¡±

    The golden cat quietly looked at Noel who said this to it¡­¡­

    And with a *nyaa*, it disappeared into the darkness.

    Nyaa¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Roderick, who was reading a book by the light of the fireplace in the guest room of the local lord¡¯s residence, noticed a cat coming in from an opened window.

    He gazed at the cat silently, but given that his eyes went a little bit wide, he might have been somewhat surprised, too.

    It was a beautiful cat with a coat that reminded him of someone.

    The moment that he met eyes with the cat, he wondered if that girl had appeared in front of him.

    Remembering that wild, unnatural girl, Roderick¡¯s mouth molded into a faint smile, and then silently tapped his knees with a *tap-tap*.

    ¡°Come over here.¡±

    From that silent, commanding appeal, the cat pulled back for an instant, then descended from the window, putting its front legs on his knees.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    *Pon-Pon*¡­ it also tapped on Roderick¡¯s knees.

    The golden cat leaked out a sigh like a human, got on his knees obediently, rolled over, and lay down.

    He was speechless. He didn¡¯t pamper it, either.

    For some reason, in front of that slowly-weakening fire of the fireplace, a boy and a cat curled up together in gentle warmth.

    It seemed, at least, that he could only be gentle when someone was by his side.

    In the beginning, he had only gone to see a younger child that had become his relative.

    He didn¡¯t have any interest in her, thinking that she would turn a curious eye to him like children of the same age, or be frightened.

    He ended up meeting a beautiful girl that looked like a doll that first time, who wasn¡¯t frightened by Roderick, who touched him like he was any other child, and covered him with a clumsy flower garland.

    Her appearance was cold like a [Doll], but on the inside was an outrageous girl.

    For the first time outside of his family, he spoke with someone as an equal. Only that young girl stood next to him meeting his gaze.

    That flower garland from his memory was still hanging up as a decoration in Roderick¡¯s room.

    Roderick gently stroked the back of the cat that curled into a ball on his knees.

    Was this awfully docile cat being kept by someone in this house? While his hands stroked her back, the cat twisted its body in ticklishness, and looked up at Roderick with red eyes like rubies.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything. The cat didn¡¯t purr.

    When he put his finger close to the nose of the cat that watched him quietly, the golden cat play-bit down on his fingertip a little strongly, and leaped off of Roderick¡¯s knee.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡±

    At Roderick that leaked out a voice for the first time, the cat, gave a *nyaa*¡­ and leaped out of the open window.

    Roderick, who had stiffened with his hands outstretched, looked at his hands that still held the warmth of the cat, and sensing a certain meaning, gave a big sigh.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wanted to get to know you¡­¡­¡±

 CH 56

    Volume 4, Chapter 7:  I turned 11 years old, Part 1

    Deep in the basement of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle ¡­¡­ ¡¾He¡¿ was having a light dream.

    He wasn¡¯t asleep. ¡¾He¡¿ doesn¡¯t know what sleep is.

    Lying on top of the massive magic formation that had already lost its light, he closed his eyes and tried to recover the magic power that he¡¯d lost.

    A small distance away, several hundred of the people called [Daemons], were pouring their magic power into ¡¾Him¡¿ with faces that looked like they were about to die.

    If they were killed, and their souls devoured, he knew that he could gain some magic power.

    But ¡¾He¡¿ didn¡¯t do so.

    From his thousands of years of experience, he knew that mere diluted souls wouldn¡¯t help recover much.

    It was worthless unless it was a soul that was filled with fear which fell into madness and depravity.

    It was better that he bound them with fear and had them supply him with magic power.

    Also, if he killed every living creature within his sight, he might be able to ¡¾Manifest¡¿ in this world with their bodies and souls.

    But ¡¾He¡¿ did not.

    Although he had been defeated once, ¡¾His¡¿ pride did not allow him to go seriously against her.

    There was anger. ¡­¡­ But there was no resentment.

    Even the anger almost faded when he kept his eyes closed like that.

    He recalled the ¡¾Girl¡¿.

    Every day that ¡¾She¡¿ spent in the Demon World¡­¡­

    At first she was tiny, and with her knowledge she was clearly a foolish existence.

    Because he thought that her existence was interesting, he decided to keep her until he got bored, but ¡¾She¡¿ was different from anyone else ¡¾He¡¿ had met thus far.

    Quite like a human being¡­¡­ While ¡¾He¡¿ had more knowledge and intelligence than humans, he¡¯d only done and said foolish things.

    That weak existence wasn¡¯t afraid of ¡¾Him¡¿, and buried its face in his fur, and it was very strong, its power easily rising to match his with only a little help.

    Before he knew it, it had become normal for ¡¾Her¡¿ to stay be his side. It was like the thousands of years of loneliness was a lie, and it reached the point where he preferred ¡¾Her¡¿ gentle, laid-back atmosphere.

    He knew that ¡¾She¡¿ loved the material world.

    Thinking that ¡¾She¡¿ would someday forsake the Demon world to go to that place, ¡¾He¡¿, for the first time in his existence, was embarrassed about the [Feelings] that he couldn¡¯t identify.

    So he bound her. In order to keep ¡¾Her¡¿ from going away. He bound her with fear, bound her with power, gave her a toy (pet), and bound her with feelings.

    But ¡¾She¡¿ still went away¡­¡­ To the human world.

    Angry, ¡¾He¡¿ rampaged across the Demon World.

    Just with a roar, he would send weaker demons scrambling to hide, and with several ¡¾Arch Demons¡¿, ¡¾He¡¿ challenged one of the pillars, a ¡¾Demon Duke¡¿, killing and eating him. Even the six remaining pillar ¡¾Demon Dukes (Demon Lords)¡¿ all avoided fighting with ¡¾Him¡¿, and nobody dared to stay around ¡¾Him¡¿.

    There was no resentment.

    Only a burning anger that continued to burn ¡¾Him¡¿ from the inside.

    What kind of anger was this¡­? Just [Who] was it directed at?

    Before he even knew or realized why he had become angry, he felt a mighty magic power that distorted the dimensions.

    Actually, the space was really being distorted. Feeling a nostalgic [Magic Power] leaking from that, ¡¾He¡¿ used his own magical power to wrench open the dimension, and ¡¾He¡¿ headed towards the material world¡­¡­ only to be rejected by ¡¾Her¡¿.

    He didn¡¯t give up.

    If she wouldn¡¯t return to him, he would kill and eat her himself just to reclaim her.

    And then¡­ ¡¾He¡¿ woke from his dream.

    It was slightly sweet¡­¡­ that drunken feeling of that nostalgic magic power¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    There was no day or night in the Daemon King¡¯s Territory. Although it¡¯s merely a metaphor, the Daemon King¡¯s Territory was in fact thick with clouds due to the miasma and malice caused by the rotting meat of those who had been cruelly killed, the sun didn¡¯t shine even at midday.

    There were many nocturnal Daemons among those with strong monster blood, it was possible to move in the night or the day, so naturally whether it was daytime or night time didn¡¯t matter.

    In the country of the Daemon King¡­ Gistez, everyone who could fight had already headed out in the [Daemon King¡¯s Army], and all those that remained, were the [Weak] that couldn¡¯t fight.

    The sick, the young, the elderly, and the disabled all had their food taken away by the rest, and were given no choice but to die.

    But the Daemons didn¡¯t give up.

    They refused to accept their fate and die docilely, and the weak aimed for the even weaker, struggling desperately and taking everything to survive.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    Those that were afraid, held their breath and hid.

    In a devastated, filth-covered city, a single [Human] [Girl] was lightly strolling.

    She wore a well-tailored dress of black and silver, and had smooth, white skin, and golden hair that let out a faint glow.

    With a beauty that could charm anyone, even the Daemons who didn¡¯t believe in gods thought that she was an angel.

    Although the strong had disappeared, if a human girl walked around this horrible Daemon city, she would have been reaped and ended before she even took a few steps.

    However, nobody stopped the girl. No one even made eye contact.

    It had been a few hours since this girl showed up in the town.

    And the Daemons thought of the horrible brutalities that that girl had committed in that short time.

    [The Black Demon is here!]

    The girl didn¡¯t show a single change in expression when she saw this ruined town.

    She just loosened her cheeks with nostalgia, and walked lightly through the city.

    ¡°O, Oi, Human! Hand over the food!¡±

    The children were not as sensitive to danger as the adults.

    They misled themselves into thinking that that [Fear] that they felt instinctively was because of them seeing a human for the first time.

    Still, they were young children.

    Approximately 5 to 8 years old, the young Daemons looked no different from a human.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The girl stopped her feet, and turned her pale gold eyes to face the five children who called out to her.

    ¡°Y¡­ You heard me! Hand over the food!¡±

    While feeling the pressure from that glance, the oldest boy held out a rusty knife, and shouted his demands to the girl again¡­¡­

    [¡­¡­,]

    As the girl smiled like a Demon, the children screamed out noiselessly.

    The adult Daemons who were observing while hiding behind cover, gave the children a look of pity.

    But, it was hopeless. They couldn¡¯t do a thing.

    And so¡­¡­

    The girl threw the [Black Thing] that she held in her hand against the Daemon youth¡¯s face at a terrifying speed.

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    The children didn¡¯t understand what had happened.

    The girl that their boss had caught, had thrust some black thing into his mouth.

    ¡°¡­S-stop, *moga*¡±

    The puzzled, terrified-looking boy was violently pinned down, as the girl tore out more dried seafood with a grinding sound and thrust it into the boy¡¯s mouth.

    Even as he cried out or shouted, she did not stop.

    It might perhaps be called kindness that dried seaweed was thrust in alternately with the seafood.

    As the youth¡¯s stomach began to swell out after a few minutes as the seafood products were thrust into him, he was crying and curling up like a maiden who¡¯d been defiled.

    However, the horror wasn¡¯t over.

    As the time passed, the dried food in his stomach began to swell, and then the true fear began.

    The girl nodded with a satisfied face, and then turned to face the remaining frightened children with a smile.

    Their horror was not yet over¡­¡­

    Several minutes later¡­¡­ After the satisfied girl left, the Daemon adults rushed over to rescue the children whose stomachs had were swollen and filled to the point of bursting, buried under all the dried, [Black] seafood.

    Forcing others to eat, it was as if that evil girl was a Demon like the shape of the dried goods she forced them to eat.

    As the girl walked off towards the [Daemon King¡¯s Castle], they murmured with horrified faces, even as they collected the remaining seafood products.

    ¡°¡­¡­The Black (food that she forced others to eat) Demon¡­¡±¡­¡­ and so on.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Daily ranking in the top 50!? Wow, it grew like *deruderu*¡­¡­ like seaweed!

    I¡¯d like to thank you all new readers and the old readers who¡¯ve been reading them here and there.

    The whole day today, I¡¯ll be working on it¡­¡­

 CH 57

    Volume 4, Chapter 8: I turned 11 years old, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you mean?¡±

    The old Daemon mage- Royal Magician Geas- murmured with a hoarse voice, staring at the Forest of Demons While floating in the air with air magic.

    Several months have passed since the [Black Princess Killian]¡¯s army, which had proceeded ahead of the main troops, had disappeared.

    Before them, there was an issue with the various chieftains and their troops going missing. Since the Daemons couldn¡¯t command them because of their wills, they changed their course halfway and went on to attack the human towns, but encountered the human armies along the way and got annihilated, so that had been predicted somewhat.

    When they lost contact with Killian, Geas thought that since it was that cunning woman who plotted against the Daemon King and tried to propagate the mood of rebellion, she would have hit another human nation by herself.

    Black Princess Killian¡¯s army numbered around 700,000.

    With their forced-march advance, even those wild ones would have surely headed out for a sortie, but with so many troops there would definitely still be traces of their passage in the forest. Geas sent a few subordinates down Killian¡¯s trail, secretly intending to come in contact with her.

    However, the signs abruptly disappeared, and there weren¡¯t any signs of damage to the human nations either, so said the report by his subordinates that participated in the search.

    After Geas thoroughly searched the place he was led to, he finally found traces of battle in the forest near where the tracks disappeared.

    He hadn¡¯t noticed since they were too unnatural.

    He might not even have noticed at all had he not found [Stone Statues] scattered around in that place.

    For a battle involving 250,000 troops, the traces of battle were far too localized, as if a small force had trampled them one-sidedly. But that couldn¡¯t be.

    The most unnatural thing of all, was that there was no trace of the bodies anywhere.

    Were Killian¡¯s Daemons all turned into food for the monsters? But then, he didn¡¯t know why Killian¡¯s forces had disappeared.

    To begin with, he couldn¡¯t imagine a force of 250,000 losing.

    In comparison, even if the hero and the saint were together, it would have been impossible to defeat a combined force of 250,000 Daemons and magic beasts.

    ¡°¡­¡­Damn, it was a precious chance,¡±

    Geas slipped into the words of his previous life, unlike the elderly manner he¡¯d always adopted.

    For decades¡­¡­ no, ever since he had been born into this world over a hundred years ago, he had looked forward to that opportunity, and it was supposed to have come into his hands.

    Although he was hindered by the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ that appeared at its own convenience, he still held on to his last hope, but even after he had planned for the entirety of the Daemon King¡¯s Army to take the field¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­muu¡±

    Geas noticed someone flying towards him.

    Even in the Daemon King¡¯s Army, only the Daemons who had devil bird blood could fly, so the person who was approaching Geas and using ¡¾Concealment¡¿, that would have learned the ¡¾Flying Magic¡¿ created by Geas, could only be his disciple.

    ¡°¡­Did you find anything?¡±

    What appeared was a dark-skinned Daemon youth.

    His magic power was comparatively bigger than that of the other disciples, but because he¡¯d been flying daily, the youth¡¯s glossy skin seemed to have lost its color.

    ¡°Geas-sama¡­¡­, in the woods to the west¡­ armed humans¡­ I found some¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Really?¡±

    Maybe it was his exhaustion, but the youth reported as if he was out of breath and Geas didn¡¯t thank the youth, instead pausing slightly as he gave a curt reply.

    ¡°The forest in the west¡­? You should go and rest¡­¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I am fine¡±

    Geas stared at the youth who tried to get behind him as the youth shook his head at his master¡¯s orders¡­

    ¡°When I told you to [Rest]¡­ [Blazing Arrow]¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    Geas released the fire magic with a single chant, and the Daemon youth caught the blow that would normally have downed him in a single hit, as his face distorted into that of a beast.

    ¡°As expected, you have been possessed!¡±

    As Geas shouted out while flying downwards, the burning Daemon youth pursued at a terrifying speed, despite him being on fire.

    ¡°You even forgot the magic that I taught! [Magic power that governs all creation, devour mine enemy!]¡±

    Geas invoked the magic, and the [Jaws] that were born of magic power kept the Daemon youth at bay for a moment as it bit at him.

    What had happened to the Daemon youth¡­?

    Without even the time to think about it, Geas saw a shadow with bat wings over where the Daemon youth disappeared.

    He probably didn¡¯t see it truly and only saw the appearance on the surface.

    A beautiful girl with bat wings, floating in the sky.

    ¡°¡­Who are you?¡±

    At Geas¡¯ question, the silver-haired girl wearing a purple dress smiled bewitchingly and replied in a melodious voice.

    ¡°I came to play.¡±

    ¡°¡­Wha¡±

    In the next moment, Geas had already been cut down from behind.

    If the blow had pierced the defensive magic, he would have received a fatal injury in that instant he failed to dodge.

    When had she gotten behind him? ¡­¡­ No, since when did he think that that girl was in front of him?

    Geas looked at the girl who was licking the blood off her long, black claw.

    ¡°Vampire?!¡±

    A legendary monster that weren¡¯t accepted in the Daemon King¡¯s Army¡­¡­ ¡¾Vampire¡¿.

    The vampires that thirsted for blood, and would treat their comrades as [Food] were unacceptable existences even in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Besides, that overwhelming feeling¡­ that ominous presence¡­ that beauty¡­¡­ Considering the power that she showed just now, she was clearly a [Greater Vampire] that was past a certain age.

    Geas feared that all of his disciples had already had their blood sucked dry.

    There were still several hours before the morning would come and the power of a vampire would wane.

    ¡°¡­¡­tch¡±

    Geas clicked his tongue and resolved himself.

    Why, though, in this sort of place, had a [Greater Vampire] that had the power to suppress even the Daemon King appeared? Was the disappearance of the Daemon King¡¯s Army because she ate them all?

    But no, no matter how ancient the vampire, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible to fight Killian without injury.

    As an existence that could truly be called the [King of Monsters], it was unthinkable that she would join forces with the humans.

    What was he missing¡­?

    Had he been laboring under a serious [Misunderstanding]?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Nevertheless Geas wasn¡¯t going to die in such a place. Even if he had to release all of the magic power that he¡¯d hoarded away for the fulfilment of his desire, he would survive.

    £ª

    Millaine, who used the [Paid Leave] she had received, had come for a [Vacation] near the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Freed from her friend and employer¡¯s (Demon¡¯s) unreasonable everyday demands, finally being able to stretch her (literal) wings after a long time, the number of Daemons that she and her subordinates had eaten reached into the tens of thousands.

    In addition to choosing those who looked like they would be good at their [Business] into their fold, she also took those that looked and tasted good as souvenirs for her friend, and enjoyed herself at her leisure.

    ¡°Certainly, that child did come in this direction, didn¡¯t she? I wonder if she secretly went in¡­¡±

    The originally overly-serious character of the vampire, in spite of all the clawing and turning around, was still thinking about such a thing.

    While all the vampire maids were going [How pitiful¡­] about their master, and secretly wiping away their tears with a handkerchief, well, it doesn¡¯t matter, but there was the appearance of a new Daemon youth as a butler apprentice, and Millaine who was his teacher was also the leader of the Daemons, and only a small number of subordinates had come here to report.

    ¡°fu~hn¡­¡±

    Previously, she wasn¡¯t interested in old people, but according to her friend it¡¯s the old people who constantly think of their issues that have a [Deep and Matured Taste], it seems.

    Millaine spread her black bat wings, and flew up into the starry sky.

    Because it was only a few hours to dawn, there was danger, but considering that perhaps the followers of her friend might be hunting, she couldn¡¯t stay still.

    Flying into the sky at a speed that left her maids and butlers behind, the Daemons that she met along the way weren¡¯t turned into vampires, but they weren¡¯t [Good-for-nothing], and rather were helpful in searching for that old man.

    The blood of the old man on her claws was a little tart, but had deep flavor.

    If she [Played] with him a little more it might become even more tasty, but the old man suddenly released a strong wave of magic power, and for the first time, began to chant a spell.

    ¡°¡­O-oh? It might be a bit dangerous¡­¡­?¡±

    That magic power ¡­ that killing intent¡­¡­ although she didn¡¯t understand what he was chanting, Millaine could tell that it was a powerful spell, to the extent that it might threaten her existence.

    Running was not a good plan. Because she didn¡¯t know its range, she might be defenseless if she turned her back and ran.

    To begin with, vampires had such high offensive strength and recovery ability that they seemed invulnerable, but their defensive abilities weren¡¯t a big deal.

    ¡°[Nuclear Meltdown]¡­!¡±

    The trump card [Super Magic] that only the Daemon King and Geas could use expanded with a speed and range that far exceeded the estimate of Millaine, who¡¯d taken a stance to dodge.

    ¡°Crap!¡±

    Millaine, who immediately realized its power, gave up dodging it and wrapped her body with magic-infused feathers, preparing to take the hit.

    Feeling an unimaginably huge heat and light rush at her as Millaine shut her eyes tightly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡¾Nya~¡¿¡±

    ¡°Millaine-sama, I have something I¡¯d like to ask you~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hah?¡±

    When Millaine opened her eyes at that carefree and out-of-place voice, the heat and light had disappeared as if they had never been there at all, and she saw the figure of Nia wielding a golden magic sword (Nyan Blade) that crackled with electricity.

    ¡°Millaine-sama, are you listening~?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ ah¡­, I heard you.¡±

    Although she recognized Nia¡¯s appearance, but Millaine looked at Nia again.

    She¡¯d heard that the girl had the ability of ¡¾Absorption¡¿, but was all that magic really absorbed¡­¡­?

    At Millaine who was stunned at seeing the power of an Arch demon again, Nia furrowed her eyebrows with a troubled face.

    ¡°Hey~¡­ Millaine-sama?¡±

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°That  grandpa from just now, he seems to have escaped.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­EHh!?¡±

    After pausing for a second, Millaine, who finally understood what was being said, turned to look, but the figure of that old man was already gone.

    ¡°Nia, where did that old man go!?¡±

    ¡°Unn, well¡­ that way.¡±

    As Nia pointed towards the north, Millaine tracked the finger with her eyes, and looked up to stare into the distance.

    ¡°The Daemon King¡¯s Territory¡­¡­¡±

    Even Millaine, who was called a [Greater Vampire], didn¡¯t have the temper to chase him all the way into the Daemon¡¯s main camp¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, Nia¡­¡­ Will you help me search for that person from just now¡­?¡±

    As Millaine tried asking with upturned eyes, Nia clapped her hands as if she¡¯d hit upon something.

    ¡°Right, right, Millaine-sama, Yurushia-sama didn¡¯t come back last night, and seems to have gone somewhere, might you know where she¡¯s gone?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­HaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The Ranking went up, and lots more people bookmarked!

    Thank you all, everyone. Thank you all very much.

    I was really happy since I realized that many people enjoyed this since the beginning of the work.

    The hero (Yuru) will return next time.

    After a long time, it¡¯s another explanation I can¡¯t put in the chapter synopsis.

    The concept of this work is,

    [A template story of a protagonist that¡¯s relatable, but also a dramatic persona who¡¯s a ¡¾story-script-destroying monster¡¿ that lurks behind an innocent face].

    For that reason, Demon Noble Girl¡¯s template story usually develops in several directions at once.

    If you take into account the different perspectives and read it, you might see a different face.

    Well then, see you next time!

 CH 58

    Volume 4, Chapter 9: I turned 11 years old, Part 3

    ¡°Yurushia-sama has gone missing!¡±

    When morning came, the maid who came to take care of Yurushia reported such to Vio, who was in charge.

    ¡°Where is the Princess!?¡±

    ¡°Where are the Saint-sama¡¯s attendants?¡±

    ¡°We have not seen them¡±

    As they searched for the [Saint] and the [Princess] who had suddenly disappeared, all of the staff went into a panic and couldn¡¯t conceal their unease.

    Today was Yurushia¡¯s 11th birthday, and the faces of the maids, who had used the kitchen of the inn to bake a cake, sunk in worry.

    Although she acted like an adult, she was only 11: the youngest in the whole group.

    However, nobody thought that she had run away.

    It was Yurushia¡¯s desire to come here in the first place, and even as they were fighting monsters along the journey, she was the calmest.

    In contrast, the knights and soldiers realized how they needed the [greatness of her being] that came from the [Saint].

    Healing all their injuries in an instant, and since most of the monsters couldn¡¯t break through her [Protection], they felt like they were standing naked in the battlefield without the [Saint-sama].

    ¡°Everyone, calm down¡±

    Roderick¡­ the [Grandchild of the King] and the [Holy Paladin], calmed everyone down with his rebuke.

    ¡°Yurushia¡¯s most likely destination¡­ is probably the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    At those words, heartbroken noises leaked out of the knights and maids.

    A little girl that was not yet 11, who wished for the peace of the world, had understood, and chosen to confront the Daemon King alone as the Holy Saint for the sake of those that were grieving.

    ¡°Noel and I will head for the Daemon King¡¯s territory. I will not ask you all to follow us. You will not be punished even if you do not come along, so do not worry. Let¡¯s go, Noel!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness¡±

    He made eye contact with Noel who was by his side, and they nodded to each other.

    As for Noel and Rick, they knew that Yurushia was concerned about the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿.

    There was a terrifying ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ that was aiming for her¡­¡­

    The two of them thought that she went by herself since she might have harmed the two of them who were close to her if they had gone together.

    Also¡­¡­ those strange events last night. Perhaps it was that the [Cat] came to tell them about the girl¡¯s pure heart before she left.

    The next day, Rick and Noel finished their preparations and departed for the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    The knights and soldiers that followed them of their own volition, joined midway by several hundred mercenaries including the [Hawkeye Mercenary Company], came to number around the scale of about 500 people.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Nnn~~~¡­¡±

    Walking as I was in a town of the Daemons, I was fully enjoying my first time by myself in a long while.

    How long had it been since I had walked outside by myself? ¡­¡­ Uhhh, ehh?

    Even if I read through all of my memories as Yurushia, I couldn¡¯t find a single time where I had been alone other than inside of the mansion¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Ever since I met ¡¾Him¡¿¡±

    How long have I been pampered?!

    When I entered the town in the Daemon King¡¯s territory, I didn¡¯t want to stand out so I walked, but there wasn¡¯t anything particularly interesting.

    Most of the stores weren¡¯t open. The only ones that were had been looted.

    The town was completely dead¡­¡­ I suppressed my presence, although it brought about a vulnerable atmosphere, however, after the first few attacked there haven¡¯t been any more of them.

    Everyone was thin and emancipated, so I had instinctively fed them with the dried octopus and squid, but I wonder if they liked it?

    I thought about the balance of nutrients properly, so I let them eat the seaweed together too.

    ¡­¡­ This dress can really store a whole lot of dried food.

    I think, this might be the only piece of equipment in the world that is cursed with seafood products¡­

    While I was thinking such things, I arrived at the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    ¡­¡­ This is the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, huh? It¡¯s got an old and eerie atmosphere, but I didn¡¯t feel a single bit of presence.

    I wonder if Daemon King-san is out¡­?

    It seems a bit insecure to not even have a guard. I wonder if that self-styled Hero person is opening treasure boxes and stuff without permission somewhere.

    ¡­¡­ah, there¡¯s someone.

    A big person stood alone at the gate of the Daemon King¡¯s castle.

    Big¡­¡­ I wonder, he must be close to 3 meters tall. He¡¯s a muscly strongman.

    ¡°Uho, uho, uho, (Welcome, foolish human. As long as I live, then it is impossible for this gate to open)¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ha?

    Oh no¡­¡­ I wonder if the automatic translation function of the ¡¾Spirit Language¡¿ has gone wrong somewhere¡­¡­

    ¡°Uhoho, Uho! (Why are you silent? I see you¡¯re a thin human girl¡­¡­Hey, why does everyone ignore Francois, the Iron Princess of the dwarves)¡±

    ¡°Dwarf!?¡±

    Finally, they appeared¡­¡­

    Furthermore, it¡¯s everyone¡¯s long awaited [Princess-sama], yo!

    ¡°Uhoo, uhouhouhoho (Is this your first time seeing a dwarf? But, you understand the dwarf language, I will praise you, human.¡±

    Amazing, Mochipurun. (remember that old, old chapter with ridiculous names?) Even though that Salt Daifuku (read: Elf) looked so decent¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Uhoho©`, Uhoohooho (Then, I will reintroduce myself again in light of that. I am the iron Princess Francois. I am the woman that will be Daemon King Hebrad-sama¡¯s wife.)¡±

    ¡°o-Ooh¡­¡±

    Still, looking at this Daemon King¡­¡­ his strike zone is infinite.

    ¡°S-sorry, I didn¡¯t think that there would be a Dwarf in the Daemon King¡¯s territory.¡±

    When I said so, Francois¡¯ boulder-like face turned a little downcast and lonely.

    ¡°Uho¡­ uho, uho (I see¡­¡­ Seven years ago, when I was four years old, since my sisters were jealous of my beauty, they exiled me to this place)¡±

    ¡°The same age¡­¡­!¡±

    This child is only 11 years old¡­¡­¡­!?!

    ¡°Uhoo? Uhoho, Uho©`o (Well, is that so? Is your growth stunted? If you don¡¯t put on some meat, you won¡¯t be attractive to men, hohoho)¡±

    But an ordinary Dwarf is about 2 meters tall, I hear¡­¡­

    ¡°Pardon the late introduction, I am Yurushia. ¡­and, uh, why is a queen-candidate like Francois in such a place?¡±

    ¡°Uuho©`uhouhouhoo (Hebrad-sama went forth in order to destroy the humans. In his absence he left guarding Daemon King¡¯s castle to me. ¡­¡­ Because I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll get injured¡­)¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Is that so.¡±

    What a troublesome rose¡­¡­ No, that¡¯s not it.

    This girl has a very beautiful maiden¡¯s heart! Daemon King-san, should also understand.

    I gently touch Francois¡¯ basketball-sized fist.

    ¡°Francois¡­¡­ because you¡¯re a lovely child, the Daemon King-sama didn¡¯t want to do anything that might have hurt you¡­¡±

    ¡°uho¡­ (Yurushia¡­)¡±

    Thud¡­

    The girl who probably weighed 300 kilograms knelt down, and put her eyes at my height.

    ¡°Uhoo, uhoho, uho¡­ (Thank you¡­ that¡­ Will you be my friend¡­? I don¡¯t have¡­ any friends of the same age)¡±

    ¡°Yes, I wish for that too. Nice to meet you, Fran.¡±

    ¡°Uho©`, uho, uho (Nice to meet you, Yuru¡­¡­ Hey¡­ Yuru¡¯s dress, is very wonderful¡­) ¡±

    When Francois saw my dress, she wiggled bashfully, and fumbled with her hair.

    ¡­¡­ that¡­ it was curly hair. I had thought that it was a helmet made of black iron.

    ¡°Do you like this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uhoo, uhouho, uhoho (Yes¡­ but it¡¯s impossible. If I tried to wear it, it would surely tear immediately¡­)¡±

    ¡°This was made by my attendants. It¡¯s really durable, so I¡¯ll ask them to make one for you, Fran.¡±

    ¡°Uho©`o, uhouhoho, uhoo! (Really!? I, I¡¯m sorry, that was immodest of me. But, I¡¯m very glad. If it¡¯s Yuru, I¡¯ll let you into the Daemon King¡¯s castle. Because, you¡¯re a friend, and that¡¯s special!)¡±

    ¡°Waa, thank you, Fran¡±

    And in this way, I was able to enter the Daemon King¡¯s castle without issue.

    Because there isn¡¯t much food left in the castle to speak of, I gave a lot of dried goods to Francois for food in passing, in order for her to feed the elephants that she kept in the castle garden, and she ran off like a storm.

    ¡­¡­ With this, she¡¯ll be in no danger.

    And then¡­¡­¡­ I walked alone into the Daemon King¡¯s castle.

    It transmitted¡­¡­ my warmth.

    Just as I felt it, ¡¾He¡¿ has certainly noticed.

    A slightly sweet and nostalgic feeling that tickled the nose¡­¡­

    With each step that I took down the stair into the basement, the ¡¾Smell¡¿ became stronger.

    The other side¡­¡­ of this door.

    ¡°¡­¡­ At last,¡±

    The two of us met.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    I am reflecting. I am also regretting it a little.

    Explanations that are not particularly important to read:

    Last time, we spoke about the templates for the story.

    ¡¾Because the evil lady¡¯s sister had everything snatched away from her, she rose in the world!¡¿

    ¡¾I will take revenge on the world! ¨C The poor Daemon King¡¯s reform diary-¡¿

    ¡¾The God¡¯s cheat was forgotten! Taking over the world with vegetables. Also, a harem.¡¿

    ¡¾-Escape- Will my beloved wife be waiting for me? Limit X000 days¡¿

    Flag that have already been broken.

    ¡¾Magic College Story ¨C The Prince and the commoner I¡¯s love story¡¿

    ¡¾Mahou Shoujo Mochipurun(read: dwarf) Love Fist!¡¿

 CH 59

    Volume 4, Chapter 10:  The Demon Verse, Part 1

    Before my eyes are large metal doors.

    It¡¯s like the gate before the last boss in a game: a double-door with many reliefs carved into it.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    Maybe it was sealed with magic, but when I flicked my fingers, I heard a static-electricity-like snap, and the door slowly collapsed towards the other side.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The space ahead stretched out into an enormous underground space.

    To both the left and right were carved stairs that led downwards¡­¡­ Several hundred meters down that stairway, an enormously large magic formation could be seen.

    And on top of that magic formation¡­¡­¡­

    *katsun*¡­*katsun*¡­ the sound of my black low-heeled shoes echoed on the carved-rock stairway.

    Don¡¯t panic¡­ I walked slowly. There is no need to panic. There is nobody who could interfere with us now in this place.

    As I went down the stairs, the magic formation came into my line of sight.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    On top of the magic formation, the night-like ¡¾Dark Beast¡¿raised his body and stared at me in silence.

    *katsun*¡­¡­

    I descended down the last step of the stairway, and then gently ¡¾Smiled¡¿ at him.

    ¡°Has your body recovered¡­?¡±

    As my voice echoed in that lifeless space, ¡¾His¡¿ silver eyes narrowed a little.

    ¡°[¡­¡­The physical body matters not to a Demon. Did you forget even such a thing¡­?]¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­¡±

    I stepped forward again, and stepped into the magic formation.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s been a long time, I forgot.¡±

    When I smiled at him sweetly, ¡¾He¡¿ bore his teeth slightly.

    Are you smiling? Or are you angry¡­¡­ probably both. If I understand ¡¾His¡¿expressions correctly, it¡¯s about me?

    Around him are some clothes that look like they¡¯re from Daemons, scattered about as if the people wearing them had just disappeared.

    They were eaten¡­¡­ I noticed as I approached that all the souls of everyone that were in this underground space were eaten.

    Even though Daemon¡¯s souls weren¡¯t very nice to eat at all¡­¡­

    As expected ¡­¡­ we¡¯re serious.

    ¡°[I will make you mine.]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ flatly spoke out about his [Wish].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yes¡±

    I don¡¯t reject ¡¾His¡¿ wish. I don¡¯t reject the Demon¡¯s wish.

    When I heard his desire expressed so directly, my chest felt warm.

    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do as I like¡±

    I looked directly into ¡¾His¡¿ eyes, and spoke of my own [wish].

    ¡¾His¡¿ wish is to make me his and to take me back to the Demon World.

    [My] wish is to live freely in the human world.

    Both are equally selfish wishes, and neither of us want to find a compromise.

    Why¡­?

    ¡°The whims of my fellow Demon¡­ that¡¯s certainly something I don¡¯t get¡­¡­¡±

    The whites of my eyes slowly corroded to [Black], and my pupils were dyed crimson like the color of blood.

    Crimson fangs and claws pushed out, and a set of golden bat wings spread out from behind me.

    Along with that, my low heels responded by turning into sharp stilettos, and my knee-length dress stretched downwards to cover my feet in order to raise my defensive power.

    ¡°[Even if I have to kill and eat you, I will make you return¡­¡­¡­ Yurushia¡­]¡±

    As I turned into a human-shaped Demon, the ¡¾Words¡¿ that ¡¾He¡¿ spoke in the spirit language became a pressure that assaulted me. I took it on directly from the front.

    ¡°If you win: tear me up, tear my head off, and make me return with you to the Demon World. But¡­ if I win, then you must accept my love¡±

    Starting from that word, [Magic] and [Miasma] began to gush out and spill from the two of us, and at the same time the huge underground space shook and was corrupted into the ¡¾Demon World¡¿.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s begin.¡±

    The foolish struggle of obstinacy between demon companions.

    At that time¡­ the expression on my face was for the first time, I think, the most devilishly bright smile I had ever had.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°u-ho!? (Wh-what was that!?)¡±

    The [Earthquake]¡¯s shockwave spread out, with the Daemon King¡¯s Castle as its epicenter, and stirred up the entirety of the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Just a few seconds¡­¡­ she thought it couldn¡¯t be an earthquake. The shock that felt like being struck, which passed her and all of the living creatures in the Daemon King¡¯s territory caused them to shiver in revulsion.

    If they were humans, perhaps they might have locked themselves indoors and hoped for rescue from [God]. However, the Daemons who were forsaken by the gods went out and instinctively turned to face the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Iron Princess Francois too, holding hands with her beloved war elephants in the garden of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle felt fear of that repulsive presence, but thinking of that [Weak] girl that had become her new friend, she hesitated to run away.

    Francois¡­ rather all of the Daemons who lived around the Daemon King Castle, they saw terrifying things.

    The ground broke apart with a thunderous roar, and the upper portion of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle was blown away. As a hole was drilled into the [Clouds of Malice] that the sun never shined through, two pillars, one [Jet Black] the other [Gold], pierced the sky.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­This is¡­¡±

    Daemon King Hebrad raised his head to look toward the repulsive presence he felt in the distance.

    Hebrad had been stalled within this Forest of Demons for several months

    Black Princess Killian had gone missing. The force that went to search for them didn¡¯t return, either, and from Geas, who had returned from that [Greater Vampire], he heard that there might be [enemies] that were beyond even that, so it became impossible to move the army around carelessly.

    However, if they stagnated any further the morale of the army would be lost.

    Unless they promptly invaded the Human nations and prepared an army that could take down that unchained ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿, it would evolve into a crisis for the world itself, not just of the Daemons.

    Hebrad mocked his own stupidity that he, who was trying to avenge himself on humans, was trying to save the world.

    Where did he go wrong¡­¡­¡­?

    Was it in claiming the humans¡¯ magic power? Was it his summoning scheme? He had a relatively decent understanding of the pillar called the ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿, so why was he unable to summon it?

    Did the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ substitute for the ¡¾Demon Lord¡¿ and force its way into materializing?

    Was there something suspicious that he had overlooked¡­¡­?

    Hebrad, who was feeling anxious, suddenly felt a repulsive presence in the far distance.

    ¡°¡­Shit.¡±

    Hebrad spat a little as he began the incantation of the ¡¾Flying¡¿ spell.

    He felt it from the center of the Daemon King¡¯s territory. Perhaps the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ had awoken and begun to move.

    By Hebrad¡¯s estimates, it should still have been six months away¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Where are you going, Hebrad!¡±

    Throwing away the mask of being a subordinate, Geas called out Hebrad by his first name in panic.

    ¡°Geas, did you not feel that!?¡±

    ¡°I know that! But, what are you saying by returning to that land that you abandoned!¡±

    The Daemon King, for the sake of keeping the Daemon race alive, had abandoned the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    But¡­ Hebrad had still left a single hope in that place.

    He had reformed the territory. Most of the reforms had failed, but they had taken root in some of the villages, and the productivity had been increased.

    And¡­¡­ there was that Dwarf girl that he had picked up several years ago: a girl who was a born hero that had hence been ostracized and banished. If that girl ever got the chance to wield power, she probably would have walked a different path in life.

    Hebrad had imparted to her some of his [Knowledge]. If the Daemon King¡¯s army were defeated by the humans and entirely annihilated, he had hoped that she would escape and lead the remaining Daemons.

    ¡°The land is beyond saving; give it up¡­ besides, even if the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ rampaged, and ate the people of that land, he would not get souls. I couldn¡¯t do it in the Daemon King¡¯s Castle because he would notice, but I went all around the Daemon territory to apply that special magic.¡±

    Geas who was usually of few words, grinned broadly with a creepy smile.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Hebrad who was of the [Same Background] as Geas, knew the purpose for his actions. Still, Hebrad believed that even if Geas knew of his intentions, he would cooperate, but Hebrad finally noticed that even if Geas cooperated with him, he didn¡¯t consider the Daemons at all.

    ¡°¡­I am going¡±

    ¡°Hebrad!¡±

    Floating up into the sky instantly, Geas could only call out towards Hebrad¡¯s back as he flew towards the Daemon territory.

    Geas could also use ¡¾Flight¡¿, but he couldn¡¯t possibly catch up with the Daemon King, who had the greatest amount of magic power.

    And if the ¡¾Demon Beast¡¿ had awakened, returning to the Daemon territory was suicide.

    For he who was of the same background, even Geas had occasionally thought of him as a son, but Geas had thoughts of killing those feelings.

    ¡°I will make use of the Daemon King¡¯s army I have received¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    The daylight filled up the blue skies. A black cloud spread like the sea below.

    I broke through the bedrock, and confronted ¡¾Him¡¿ as I sprang up above the clouds.

    ¡°[Radiant Bow]!¡±

    ¡°[GuaooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    The hundreds of golden arrows were intercepted by black lightning.

    While it struck down all the golden arrows, the black thunder raged and began to shave off the protection of my [Radiant Shield].

    But for me, it didn¡¯t mean that I was doing nothing.

    ¡°¡­[Come, darkness, where there was light]¡­¡±

    I imagined a [Door of Darkness]¡­ on the other side.

    ¡°[Open, Black Gate]¡±

    At my ¡¾words¡¿, a door to empty space opened. The air, the light, the darkness, the nothingness, and the black lightning was sucked into it as the ¡¾Black Gate¡¿ crumbled into nothingness.

    Honestly speaking, that magic is dangerous.

    I think it¡¯s part of the Spirit World, but if I kept forcing the spaces together, the whole country might have disappeared¡­¡­ but my magic power would run out first.

    I had to go to the extent of using such a magic because of the difference in power between ¡¾Him¡¿ and I.

    I had prepared several trump cards.

    That ¡¾Black Magic¡¿ I¡¯d just used was one of them, but the biggest trump card could only be used once. Moreover, if I misjudged the timing, I would be in quite the pickle.

    I had barely expected it, but it was more tiresome than I thought.

    ¡°[GooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ roared towards the sky, and summoned a black storm.

    In this place where violent winds and lighting storms raged all the time, a middle-tier demon wouldn¡¯t even be able to exist.

    Although I took only a little damage, it was starting to accumulate.

    ¡­¡­ It seems he seriously doesn¡¯t intend to let me escape.

    The reason why I wanted to settle things with ¡¾Him¡¿ via [battle] rather than words wasn¡¯t because I thought I could beat ¡¾Him¡¿.

    But, rather, even if there was a difference in power, I wanted him to think of me as an [equal]¡­

    Otherwise, my ¡¾words¡¿ would never reach ¡¾Him¡¿.

    As a result I had to use my final [Trump Card]¡­¡­

    To use my words.

    ¡°[Light, flap your wings]¡­ [Shining Wings]!¡±

    To compete with ¡¾Him¡¿, I could only use speed.

    Light gathered on my bat wings, and turned into golden feathers like the wings of an angel.

    I didn¡¯t choose to make the angel feathers on a whim.

    ¡­¡­ It is completely not a whim and preference that they were angel feathers.

    ¡°[What!?]¡±

    ¡¾He¡¿ cried out. It seems to him that I disappeared.

    These wings weren¡¯t for flapping. Using the knowledge I got from the dream world, I pushed out magic power from the feathers, and increased my speed temporarily.

    Even I myself couldn¡¯t react fast enough for my speed, and I was hit by lightning, but I didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°[GuaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    At the moment ¡¾He¡¿ released a wide-ranging black tornado,

    ¡°[Let there be Black Light]!¡±

    I shot out a ray of ¡¾Black Light¡¿ in reaction to his roar, and blocked out ¡¾His¡¿ hearing and sight.

    And in that same instant, I spread out my golden wings, and rushed towards ¡¾Him¡¿ beyond the limit of my speed.

    In order to use¡­ my final [Trump card].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This time everything is so serious.

    * Based on the battle results, the Daemon King¡¯s armies were adjusted.

    * As for Yuru and Him, they were of the same class, but there was a level difference due to their differing age.

    Well then, please lay it on me straigh-¡­¡­ er, I await your impressions.

 CH 60

    Volume 4, Chapter 11: The Demon Verse, Part 2

    Within the [Blackness] which nobody could see through, I spread my golden wings and broke through the black storm.

    To ¡¾His¡¿ original position¡­¡­

    To convey my feelings.

    ¡°[¡­!]¡±

    As I broke through the black light and storm, ¡¾He¡¿ bared his fangs at me.

    ¡¾He¡¿ was still wary of my power as a ¡¾Devil¡¿ .

    ¡¾He¡¿ was better than I was at close-quarters, but he chose to fight at long range, and I think that I approached him as a ¡¾Devil¡¿ in [Human Form] since I was confused and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    I also wanted it. Not because people thought that the ¡¾Devils¡¿ were specialized in magic combat, but because I wanted to show him that I could stand up to ¡¾Him¡¿ with my own power.

    Besides, I had other reasons for keeping my [Demon Beast (Cat)] mode in reserve.

    ¡°[!?]¡±

    The instant ¡¾He¡¿ bared his fangs, I transformed into a cat.

    I¡¯m sorry¡­ Showing ¡¾Him¡¿ that nostalgic figure of all the times we spent in the Demon World, his born fangs shook and hesitated for an instant.

    And in that instant that I leapt into ¡¾His¡¿ reach, I turned back into my [Human Form], and softly wrapped his nose with both of my hands.

    I took a breath. And stared straight into ¡¾His¡¿ eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­I am yours¡­ ¡¾Rinne¡¿¡±

    I recalled the time we met¡­¡­

    Commanding (Ri-ri) and Black (kuro)¡­¡­ That is the name that I gave ¡¾Him¡¿.

    ¡°[!]¡±

    As the shock of a name hit ¡¾Him¡¿¡­¡­ Rinne stiffened.

    The only one that could have ¡¾Named¡¿ him, was I, who was a [Human] with the magic power of a [Demon].

    Naming a Demon was to mutually carve that name on each other¡¯s soul. A sharp, intense pain wracked my body as I ¡¾Named¡¿ Rinne.

    But even then, it didn¡¯t mean that I fainted.

    This, was the only opportunity that I would get to say it.

    If I had an [Eternity] of time, I would give it all to Rinne.

    ¡­¡­Therefore,

    ¡°¡­Rinne¡­ become mine¡±

    At that moment, the black tempest and light faded away.

    Slowly¡­¡­ thousands of meters in the air, our power ran out, and we began to fall.

    ¡°[¡­¡­You¡¯re ¡­ really an outrageous one. ¡­¡­Yurushia]¡±

    Rinne, who went stiff longer than I expected, seemed to be astonished¡­¡­ he leaked out a gentle voice. It¡¯s a little bit ticklish to call out your name.

    ¡°~~¡­¡­¡­Sorry¡±

    Going with the flow, it feels like I said some ridiculous things.

    Again, my face felt awfully hot¡­¡­

    ¡°[It was absurd¡­¡­¡­ Why, did you return to a human form? If you had stayed in your Demon form, you would not have received such a huge shock¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yeah.¡±

    Even now, my body hurt a lot. But¡­¡­

    ¡°I wanted Rinne to know¡­¡­¡­ I have the heart and the mind of a [Human]. I wanted you to know that both of them are ¡®me¡¯.¡±

    Both of them were the real me. I can¡¯t choose between either.

    ¡­¡­ Because, well, I¡¯ve gotten accustomed to the body of a human, and it¡¯s somewhat convenient.

    Rinne looked at me as I thought about such things, and gave a light sigh.

    ¡°[That is true. ¡­¡­¡­You are a ¡¾Devil¡¿¡­ the Demon with the most freedom.]¡±

    A Demon that was bound by no-one, Rinne said. ¡­¡­ But even then it¡¯s alright to be fettered once in a while, you know? I felt puzzled as things suddenly improved.

    I didn¡¯t say anything as I might have gotten carried away.

    But, what exactly was a ¡¾Devil¡¿¡­¡­¡­? I sort of feel what it means, but¡­¡­ it doesn¡¯t fit well.

    ¡°[¡­I am yours¡­¡­ Yurushia.]¡±

    It was a [Vow] that was engraved in the soul just like the ¡¾Naming¡¿.

    ¡°As I am yours as well¡­¡­ Rinne.¡±

    Those words were engraved on my soul.

    The sky became bright. The thick clouds cleared.

    The clouds that were formed of miasma and resentment, were ripped apart in fear of us, and were absorbed entirely by us, disappearing.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The Daemon King¡¯s Base¡­¡­ the people who had been left in [Gistez] that was directly under the control of the Daemon King, all stared up at the sky.

    The black storm disappeared, and the clouds that were dyed black returned to their original colors, the warm sunlight falling like a pillar of light from the hole in the clouds that had opened up in the sky above the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Daemons all witnessed it.

    In that light, the figure of an ¡¾Angel¡¿ with golden wings was descending, accompanied by that huge black beast.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The Daemons all stared in blank amazement at the ¡¾Angel¡¿.

    When she descended below the clouds, the clouds that that blocked out the sun for thousands of years disappeared, as if they had been purified.

    For the first time they saw the blue sky that stretched on forever.

    A warm sunshine that brought with it endless blessings.

    The Daemons that had been cast away to a forsaken land by humans, and who had cursed the [Gods] who didn¡¯t save them even as they prayed, lived.

    Humans had also, in the name of the [Gods], turned a violent hand towards the Daemons, painting them as [Evil].

    For the Daemons, the Gods were an [Enemy].

    The gods didn¡¯t exist. The Daemons who believed so, witnessed an ¡¾Angel¡¿ on this day.

    An old Daemon was silently shedding tears.

    A Daemon child despite not being taught to by anyone, was kneeling reverently at the sky.

    For the Daemons, on this day¡­¡­ to who had given up their hope, the [God of the Daemons] descended.

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ I¡­¡±

    ¡°[The Daemon God?]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    I wanted to show it to you up until here. Well, it¡¯ll be on the weekend next.

    I am still waiting for someone to play the straight man with me.

    Concluded. It¡¯s a little short.

 CH 61

    Volume 4, Chapter 12: Becoming an Idol, Part 1

    ¡°¡­Wh-what, is that shaking now¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio, feeling the slight tremors, raised his head.

    They were in the treasure vault of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle. The [Hero], that [Self-proclaimed Man of Valor] that had come this far had been defeated in battle, and was in the place where the Daemons kept weapons that couldn¡¯t be used.

    So, it might have been more accurate to say that it was a [Storeroom] rather than the treasure vault.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Al. I wonder if we can use these weapons that the Daemons possess¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Staring at the gorgeous magic sword that had been adorned with a holy symbol, Swordswoman Cheria murmured to the Hero Alfio as he searched through the treasure box.

    Alfio, who wasn¡¯t expecting such a thing let out an undignified sound, but glossed over it fluently¡­¡­ putting on a somewhat stiff smile spread across his face.

    ¡°It-it¡¯s only natural that the Hero picks up new equipment in the hideout of the Daemon King. This is for the sake of the world.¡±

    The hero of Shiguresu, Alfio, and his companions, who had been, just like the [Template], preemptively attackedby the mercenaries of Kolkopo before they turned the tables on them, had been protested about by the cowardlyfeudal lord, and had been chased by the military police all the way as they headed to the Daemon King¡¯s territory to defeat the Daemon King.

    They didn¡¯t run into too much trouble on the way to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    They had considered that they would encounter the Daemon King¡¯s Army, but such a thing never happened.

    Even in the Daemon villages, as long as he showed a little bit of [Strength] without subjugating them, he was able to receive food, and even the rare encounters with the Daemon King¡¯s Army were of small units that had food and were easily defeated.

    The trouble was the fact that the female brigade had been complaining about not having a place to stay in, because Alfio rejected every Daemon village.

    Even as they proceeded towards the Daemon King¡¯s Capital, they did not encounter strong Daemons. On the contrary, those Daemons that they met along the way to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle were weak, and it hurt his heart to knock down the old man that was barely standing, even as Alfio cut down the Daemons that wielded weapons without mercy.

    That¡¯s why when they were surprised when they, who had arrived at the Daemon King¡¯s Castle without fighting a single strong Daemon, had suffered a crushing defeat under the large warrior that guarded the gates.

    Judging that soldier as an [Event Boss], Alfio ran for dear life, and leading his companions in a so called [Dirty Trick], they vaulted the wall and entered from the back door.

    If they defeated the event boss, you would definitely get strong equipment. So he figured that if he got his hands on that equipment first with [Exploits], he would be able to defeat that warrior easily.

    For Alfio, who had the memory of a previous world, and who read so many novels about transmigration, it was important and only-too-natural that he use any means to deprive the enemy of their abilities and take their equipment.

    Even when he himself had provoked them, Alfio declared justice upon his opponents the moment they called him names and pulled out their weapons, as robbing them of their equipment and money should have been permitted.

    ¡°S-See, Cheria. Is this not a good weapon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yep¡±

    Cheria received the longsword that Alfio held out to her, and nodded awkwardly.

    Although she was watching Alfio robbing the items of unrelated parties under some unknown pretext, she had convinced herself that the opponent was a bad person.

    As a childhood friend, Cheria had longed for Alfio, who was knowledgeable in various things ever since she was a child, and tried to tell herself that he was right.

    However, as the daughter of a knight, Cheria innately resisted the idea of robbing and thieving even for the sake of triumphing over an enemy.

    Of all the equipment that they were trying to steal, most of them weren¡¯t necessary. The majority of them were just very well-decorated and would sell for a high price. Practical items almost didn¡¯t exist.

    Furthermore, Cheria began to feel something like a sense of anxiety and discomfort while watching Alfio, who was gathering all these items gleefully.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Her best friend, the Elf Anteikowa, and the noble sisters couldn¡¯t do anything like [Stealing] the items of others, so they kept a lookout at the entrance of the treasure room, the three of them constantly talking, occasionally casting a cold gaze at the two.

    ¡°Cheria, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nothing.¡±

    Alfio raised his voice as Cheria breathed a sigh. It¡¯s good that he noticed these fine details, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Alright, now then, let¡¯s get out of this castle quickly and leave this town.¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Was he not imitating a thief to defeat a mighty enemy? The moment Cheria tried to open her mouth to say so,

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    They felt an ominous, mighty, and terrible [Presence] coming from underground.

    It was a power so huge that it would be absurd to measure, a mighty presence filled with an overwhelming killing intent¡­¡­ Anteikowa that felt the [Wickedness] in particular and turned blue in the face, while Athena and Ophelia ran towards each other.

    ¡°¡­Wha-what¡¯s happening¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Th-the Daemon King¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While Athena soothed Ophelia, who had been frightened, Athena realized that that [Presence] wasn¡¯t something that they had felt for the first time, but hesitated to speak.

    It wasn¡¯t possible¡­¡­

    Athena pushed this feeling that caught on the corner of her mind, which would have been the answer to that [Uncomfortable Feeling] that she had felt all along, in fear of the [Truth], directly into the deepest corners of her heart.

    ¡°¡­¡­Al-sama, everyone, I think it would be best if we retreated now¡­¡±

    ¡°Ye-yeah, that¡¯s right! Let¡¯s retreat¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right¡­Let¡¯s retreat like Atty says. Even if it is not the Daemon King, I can feel the evil of a thousand Demons.¡±

    And so, just like that, the Shiguresu Hero¡¯s party decided to withdraw from the Daemon King¡¯s castle without even engaging in an honest battle.

    Whether this was lucky, or unlucky for the world, cannot be known.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­What is¡­¡­ this¡­¡±

    Daemon King Hebrad drank in the sight of the intimately-familiar [Daemon King Territory], and murmured in blank surprise.

    The Kingdom that he had seen since birth, the Daemon King territory that had been covered in black clouds regardless of day or night, was exposed to the dazzling sun under the blue sky.

    He stood there in mute amazement for a couple of minutes, but when he saw the half-destroyed Daemon King Castle, and the Daemon tribes that were gathered there in worship, Hebrad flew over to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    ¡°Uho!¡±

    ¡°Francois¡­!¡±

    Hebrad descended into the garden of the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, and as the Dwarf girl sprinted over with a thundering [dodododododododododododododo], Hebrad cast [Impact Absorption], [Physical Defense], [Physical Barrier], [Inertial Dampening], and [Body Strengthening] magics, so he was able to catch the Dwarf girl even as he was pushed back only 5 meters, tearing up the ground below him.

    ¡°You¡¯re alright, Francois¡±

    ¡°Uho¡­ uho, uhouho~¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­? I¡¯m sorry, I made you worry.¡±

    ¡°Uho, uho, uhoho, uhoo¡±

    ¡°What¡­!? Such a thing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Uho, uho, uho~¡±

    As Francois described the circumstances, she twisted herself with a *mojimoji* as if a little shy.

    ¡°A human girl¡­? Is that so, I see.¡±

    ¡°Uhoo! Uhouho¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. There might be danger in the castle. Francois, leave the castle and take a look at the circumstance of the people¡±

    ¡°Uho~o, uhoo¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say such things. ¡­I know your feelings, but please understand.¡±

    ¡°Uho¡­¡±

    Francois had just a little bit of sadness on her face, but she nodded her giant, boulder-like head to Hebrad¡¯s words, and, shouldering her beloved elephant that was frightened by all the events, she walked gracefully toward the gates of the castle.

    Hebrad sent her off while gazing at her big back, filled with adoration as she walked off.

    According to Francois, pillars of [Gold] and [Jet Black] destroyed the Daemon King¡¯s Castle as they ascended into the air, and after they scattered the [Clouds of Malice], the [Demon Beast] was followed behind [Golden Angel] as it descended into the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    The Dwarf language was hard to fully understand for anyone that wasn¡¯t a Dwarf.

    She didn¡¯t know their name, but Francois spoke about a female friend that she had made for the first time, and was very worried about her.

    Francois was pure of heart, and although he was happy that she finally had a friend of the same age, even if it was a human being, Hebrad also felt the loneliness of a father with a daughter of that age.

    And so, Hebrad had sent Francois, who was a mighty warrior, outside of the castle, as judging by the state of the castle, it was highly unlikely that a human girl would be able to survive where the [Demon Beast] was involved.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­¡­¡±

    For Francois, that human girl was a very important existence.

    Those words that she left behind ¡­¡­

    ¡°[Uhoo]¡±

    Everything had been put into that single word.

    Hebrad pulled himself together with a heavy heart and headed into the castle.

    Expecting that the [Demon Beast] would have started to move¡­¡­ and that unknown [Golden Angel]¡­¡­ their presences were¡­¡­ no, he had to make sure of what they [Intended] for the whole Daemon race.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It gradually becomes relaxed again from here on in.

    Francois¡¯ words were full of love.

    The protagonist will return next time.

    We are still awaiting your straight-man corrections.

    Thank you for all the corrections and critiques.

 CH 62

    Volume 4, Chapter 13: Becoming an Idol, Part 2

    I returned to the Daemon King¡¯s Castle since I had something to do.

    You might say that I made a dangerous bet in fighting against Rinne for the sake of doing this.

    It was just that [Important].

    I had both the strong [Will] and the [Duty] to do so.

    ¡°[Mofu~]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­Oi]¡±

    I could hear Rinne¡¯s voice, but I didn¡¯t care.

    I¡¯m busy mofumofuing Rinne¡¯s fur for the first time in 11 years.

    Rinne was complaining, but he rolled over so it was easy to mofu properly. Fufu, this naughty tsundere!

    I was also properly in my cat mode.

    It was pleasant mofuing with human skin, but it was hard to give up the feeling of burying myself into Rinne¡¯s fur.

    Because it¡¯s Demon fur it¡¯s always silky and doesn¡¯t dirty, and even if I rolled myself in it I wouldn¡¯t get entangled, and being as smooth as it is fluffy, the stomach part is soft, when I was wrapped in it there was a complete feeling of relief and healing.

    Furthermore, there¡¯s a nice scent too, I say.

    It¡¯s the rich aroma and intoxicating sweet smell of a fruit wine that¡¯d been left to ferment for many years. I felt it even more clearly than when I was in the Demon world because our souls were connected.

    This is it, this is. This mofumofu, this fragrance, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    [Hey, cut it out.]

    ¡°[eh]¡±

    As I was in the midst of swimming about in Rinne¡¯s fur and *goronyan*ing,  I was suddenly pushed into the air.

    ¡°[What? What?]¡±

    When the huge figure of that idiot Rinne suddenly disappeared, I quickly returned to sobriety, became flustered and searched for Rinne.

    ¡°[I¡¯m Here, Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­eh? Rinne-]¡±

    Turning back towards the source of the voice, there was a normal-sized black cat that was slightly larger than me, standing there with a look of triumph on its face.

    ¡°[O, OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Rinneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]¡±

    ¡°[oWAa]¡±

    Seeing Rinne in [Black Cat] mode suddenly, my sense of reason broke.

    Cute cute cute cute cute Rinne is so cute! Oh my god what a thing!

    I remember that I loved [Kitty cats] from that memory of the dream world, but it was different being one myself compared to seeing one before my eyes.

    Whenever the cats of this world were in front of me, they would howl like [Shaaaa] or [Migya] and run away, and not let me hold them as much as I wanted! That¡¯s why!

    [So anyways¡­ let¡¯s stop now~]

    *kapu* (TL: Bite)

    I¡¯m reflecting¡­¡­¡­¡­

    Although it seems like I¡¯ve broken completely, I¡¯m fine.

    Oh my, the charm of mofumofu kitty is terrifying. For me, a Demon who was famous for keeping her calm, to forget myself¡­¡­

    Truly he is the strongest in the Demon world¡­¡­ terrifying.

    Thanks to Rinne¡¯s [Kapu] I was able to stop myself. Rinne¡¯s fangs hurt, even if they¡¯ve become tiny. But I was licked immediately.

    Whether you call it following the flow, or my apology after punishment, this time I was being mofumofu¡¯d by Rinne. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s tickly.

    We were in the half-broken Daemon King¡¯s Castle. Since we had blown away the upper half, the sunlight was warm and I felt like a cat.

    ¡°[Come to think of it, when did Rinne get the ability to turn into a [Black cat]?]¡±

    ¡°[Not until today¡­]¡±

    As Rinne murmured as if amazed, he stopped mofuing and stretched out across the floor just like a real cat.

    ¡°[Probably¡­ after I received a name from you. The magic power and my body stabilized quite considerably.]¡±

    I don¡¯t feel a violent presence spreading from the current Rinne, unlike the time when we had just met while I was in the Demon World.

    It¡¯s calm¡­ is it alright for me to say it? The anger and impatience have disappeared, and unlike the first time we met¡­¡­ there¡¯s a more mature atmosphere in the air.

    When I listened calmly like this, I loved Rinne¡¯s mature voice after all.

    For a while he was being too restrictive and I [Ran away from home], and I also rebelled against the brutal Rinne, but after all that he¡¯s calmed down.

    Although it¡¯s calm¡­¡­

    ¡°[Hey¡­¡­ won¡¯t you [Manifest]¡­?]¡±

    As I asked him while rolling and lying there on the warm bed that was the floor, Rinne made a little delicate face.

    ¡­¡­even though he¡¯s a cat, he¡¯s dextrous.

    ¡°[Thanks to the fact I was [named], my presence has also grown. I don¡¯t know how many sacrifices it would take for me to obtain a vessel. and also¡­¡­]¡±

    Rinne was a [Demon Beast] with a brutality that was entirely different from the elegant taste of the [Greatest Demons].

    ¡°[It¡¯s greedy to ignore the nature of [Demons] to kill.]¡±

    [Demons] were fundamentally different from [Gods].

    I don¡¯t know if the thing called God really exists, and since believing in them did nothing, and disasters and unhappiness were called the scourge of god, they only sought the [Innocent Hearts] of Man.

    On the contrary, the Demons ¡­ while the low-ranking demons were all stupid¡­ all the Greater Demons knew about the [Value] of humans, and to increase the value of the [Forbidden Knowledge] that they dispensed, they cultivated them.

    Put simply, both of them were sweatshop companies, but the Demon enterprise was the one that would [Feed] its employees. If you counted the seafood that I gave, I would likely have been superior even amongst Demons.

    Anyway, Rinne, who didn¡¯t manifest, would not be able to stay long in this world.

    ¡°[So what will you do now? Although I said as much, I won¡¯t be going back to the Demon World for another few hundred years.]¡±

    I¡¯m not being selfish, but this is one line I refuse to cross.

    I laid bare my stubbornness, and bared my fangs in a bitter smile.

    ¡°[If you¡¯re returning in several hundred years, it¡¯s not actually very long¡­ but I will probably only be able to maintain the name for about a year. What do you think?]¡±

    ¡°[I see¡­¡­]¡±

    It looks like we won¡¯t be able to manage it somehow, huh¡­¡­

    For the time being, since everything else is troublesome and the mood has become calm, let¡¯s worry about the small things later.

    Rinne felt the same too, and I suddenly felt someone¡¯s eyes on me while the two of us were splayed out on the sunny floor.

    ¡­¡­ My embarrassing moment was just peeped at by someone else!!?

    £ª

    Hebrad was perplexed.

    When he entered the Daemon King¡¯s Castle, he was chasing after the presence of the [Demon Beast], but the presence that he felt was that the anger from when it had first appeared had faded, replaced by a calm of an even greater intensity.

    ¡°What¡­ on earth¡±

    And as for this thing that he felt cuddled close to it, just who was this [Presence]?

    From Francois¡¯ witness account, he thought that it was some [Golden Angel] that was worshipped by the abandoned Daemons, and even though that presence didn¡¯t have any feelings of violence or vulgarity, it was ominous and terrifying: completely something that was [Malicious].

    Hebrad didn¡¯t know whether it was a Demon, but perhaps, it was an [Evil] existence on the same level as that of the [Demon Beast].

    ¡°Angel? or Demon¡­¡­?¡±

    Either way, if he made a mistake in his interactions here, the Daemon King¡¯s territory would perish.

    For the whole of the Daemons that had once forsaken the Daemon King territory. Hebrad laughed at himself as a failure of the Daemon King that that was still unable to let go even at the very end.

    Although he had given his whole life until now for the sake of his vengeance on the [Human society] that had betrayed him, at the end it seemed that he was unable to discard the naivety of his [Humanity].

    Was it a mistake to attempt to implement reform as a tool of vengeance, to have gotten attached because he¡¯d gotten involved more than was necessary¡­¡­?

    In that case, he would play out his role as the [Daemon King] that was king of all the Daemons, and die for the sake of the Daemons.

    With this determination, Hebrad headed towards his [Grave].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Seeing two [Cats] there basking and relaxing in the sun, he could not close his mouth that had sprung open.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Two¡­ [Demon Beasts]¡­?¡±

    But it looked and felt like a cat¡­¡­ Even so, that ominous and fiendish [presence] threw Hebrad¡¯s head for a spin.

    For there to be two of the legendary existence called the [Demon Beast], was this some sort of joke?

    While Hebrad was stunned out of his common sense, the golden cat seemed to have started out of panic, and begun to move, and the previously gentle air was filled with the incredible intimidation of a [Demon].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s the mofumofu time. The protagonist seems to have broken.

    No need to read this¡­

    More story templates that aren¡¯t deeply related to the story.

    [Is it wrong to aim for the hero for the sake of the princess?]

    [The Handmaiden¡¯s Blank Mind: Should I get closer to the Mistress¡­?]

    I love story templates.

    Although it gets twisted if the story drags, because I¡¯m in the middle of writing a short story from a template that I can¡¯t get out of my head, I¡¯m thinking of adding it later.

    I also wanted to talk about the Mochipurun and the sisters.

 CH 63

    Volume 4, Chapter 14: Becoming an Idol, Part 3

    I wonder what I said¡­¡­ The person who appeared in front of us was a silver-haired, black-skinned, slightly sullen and cool-looking older man.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    I felt like Rinne wanted to say something, and since it was good to give one¡¯s beloved some space, I gave him some elbowroom. ¡­¡­ Wait, that¡¯s not it.

    Yeah, yeah, this person was that Daemon who [Peeked] at us.

    I had been seen while I forgot myself and was *kyahaha* and *ufufu*-ing and mofuing with all my might. It seems I was embarrassed and instinctively let out my [Presence], but because it wasn¡¯t a misrepresentation, it was safe. I judged that I could win the court case.

    ¡°[¡­¡­King of the Daemons?]¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­ eh?

    Rinne got up, and in his enormous [Dark Beast] form, he murmured towards that older uncle in a low voice.

    King of the Daemons¡­? Daemon King? Francois¡¯ husband (candidate)¡­?

    That uncle¡­ er, rather, the Daemon King-san, who seemed to have overcome his stiffness at Rinne¡¯s voice, kneeled down in a hurry.

    ¡°¡­¡­I am the King of the Daemons, Hebrad¡±

    The Daemon King-san¡¯s waist was bent really low¡­¡­ Are you a salaryman, as well?

    Even though he seemed to have an absurdly delicious soul, I shouldn¡¯t sample it¡­¡­

    Is that¡­? The Daemon King-san looked up at me motionlessly.

    That¡¯s no good Daemon King-san, you have a wife (to be) you know? I can¡¯t betray my friends¡­¡­eh? Is that wrong?

    ¡°You, in the past, I heard of the [Golden Beast] that was the talk of the humans. Art thou the same one, who has scattered the clouds of the Daemon King territory, and gave the land this blessing?¡±

    I¡¯m being looked at with entreating eyes¡­¡­ Before, when I was in my Demon body, although there was fear, but I wasn¡¯t being shown behavior like I was detested.

    When I glimpsed at Rinne, who already lost interest, I figured that it didn¡¯t matter and yawned a little.

    This cat-haired guy¡­¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t quite understand, but I, as a Demon, can¡¯t not greet my friend¡¯s husband (provisional).

    ¡°[I am greatly honored by your politeness, Lord Daemon King¡­¡­]¡±

    Wh-what¡¯s this feeling?

    It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever talked to another race as a Demon, and I don¡¯t understand the feeling.

    But it seemed that I¡¯ve been recognized as an [Intelligent] Demon properly, and Daemon King-san openly made a relieved face.

    ¡°I would like to request something of the two of you. The Daemon tribes are on the edge of a crisis. As a result, we have presently sortied the entire Daemon King¡¯s army, so by all means I would like to borrow your power.¡±

    ¡°[Why?]¡±

    When I automatically replied, the Daemon King-san stiffened again. He¡¯s mentally weak.

    Am I not at an advantage?

    ¡°Well, that is¡­¡±

    Daemon King-san faltered in his words, and then resolved himself again, and began to speak slowly.

    ¡°I¡­ because I hated humankind, I lived in order to bring ruin to human beings. I won¡¯t lie about my desire to save Daemonkind. ¡­¡­but, I still cannot forgive humans¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    While speaking, he remembered his resentment for humankind, and Daemon King-san¡¯s muddy hatred leaked out with his magic power. ¡­¡­ it looks delicious.

    That sort of reason, I can certainly agree with.

    If I could just get this [Soul], if the contract was for one or two countries, it¡¯d be alright to do it, it seemed.

    ¡°[No]¡±

    ¡°¡­W-¡­¡­ Why? If my soul is not enough, then I will dedicate all of the souls of the human beings that the Daemon King¡¯s Army will kill from here on in! Then¡­¡±

    He wanted to destroy humans. He wanted to save the Daemons. For that purpose, he would offer up the Daemon King¡¯s soul and the humans¡¯ souls to the Demon.

    Both of the contracts don¡¯t make me lose much, but regardless of the Demons around here, [I] cannot accept it.

    ¡°[It¡¯s no good. The humans¡¯ [souls], were already [My] things to begin with.]¡±

    This [world], was my feeding ground where I can get whatever I wanted just by reaching my claws out for it.

    In other words, it was an environment with a remote control, sweets, and a refrigerator beside my Kotatsu for all eternity. ¡­¡­¡­I wonder why, but I had a sudden feeling of depravity.

    Although I¡¯m now doing some deliberate [cultivation] for some of them, I just can¡¯t stand stopping now for the sake of getting a bunch of cheap souls in large quantities.

    ¡­¡­My thoughts seemed to have turned rather Demonic.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Haha, is that so, is that so?¡±

    Daemon King-san who had been overcome with blank amazement at my words began to laugh.

    Would he give in to his despair and attack me? I thought that would happen, but unexpectedly, Daemon King-san had a relieved face.

    ¡°If you are as much of a [Demon] as you claim, the humans will perish soon. ¡­¡­fufu, that¡¯s right, humans and Daemons are both [Livestock]¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­Y-yeag]¡±

    I don¡¯t intend to do so, but¡­¡­ well, Daemon King-san is convinced, so, ah, whatever.

    Daemon King-san once again kneeled in front of me and prostrated himself deeply.

    ¡°¡­¡­I have no regrets. I offer my soul.¡±

    Arara¡­¡­ did that just happen?

    Rinne threw a fleeting glance at me at those words, but I hit him with my tail and held him down.

    Although I want to eat it very much.

    ¡°[Daemon King, make the [Person (female)] around you happy. That is your obligation.]¡±

    To eat Francois¡¯ husband (nearly confirmed), would be a poor thing to do.

    When I said those words, Daemon King-san had a very surprised face, and lowered his head again.

    ¡°After all¡­¡­ all the surrounding Daemon tribes were worshipping you, and I could feel the depth of your benevolence¡­ You don¡¯t seem to be a [Demon Beast]¡­¡­ it¡¯s as though you¡¯re the [God of the Daemons]¡±

    ¡°[Well, I suppose¡­¡­]¡±

    Oh dear¡­¡­ In addition to having an embarrassing nickname, now there¡¯s equally embarrassing feelings.

    My heart hurts whenever Rinne gives me that look that says [What are you doing, you¡­]

    ¡°[Well then, will you stop the invasion of the Daemon King¡¯s Army?]¡±

    I tried to change the topic for now.

    It¡¯ll become a problem if the city where Rick and Noel were became a battlefield. ¡­¡­ah, it came out without me saying anything, is that alright? Well, even if I¡¯m not there, it¡¯ll be alright.

    ¡°¡­¡­It can¡¯t be done. Your benevolence gave us the blessings of the sun, but the land around here was barren from the start, and these several thousand years where the Daemon elements have lived, the crops have never grown properly.  Now, unless we invade, the Daemon tribe will only die of hunger¡­¡±

    They were cornered more than I thought.

    Will plants not grow where the Daemons dwell¡­ That [cloud] that had collected the grudges and the miasma tasted like [Cotton Candy], and the Daemon element in the earth¡­¡­

    Hmm? ¡­¡­Wait a minute.

    ¡°[That¡¯s no problem. Leave it all to me]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh! Goddess¡±

    And so, it was stopped¡­¡­

    I moved a little, and approached the thick wall that hadn¡¯t broken when I hit it. Fufufu, today I¡¯ll get to show the results of my research.

    ¡°[Summoning Magic Formation!]¡±

    Pouring my magic power into the [Spirit Language], I drew out an enormous magic circle on the huge wall.

    ¡°Thi-this is !¡±

    Mori¡­morimori¡­morimorimorimorimori¡­

    A black shadow emerged from the summoning circle¡­¡­ that¡¯s right, it¡¯s an [Infinitely Unlimited Seaweed Summoning Circle].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    At this magnificent sight, Daemon King-sama and Rinne were both so impressed that they went silent.

    ¡°[This magic formation, can not only summon seaweed from this continent, but from all of the seas of the world indefinitely. With this, the food problem is solved]¡±

    ¡°¡­Wa-wait a minute, can it be turned off?!¡±

    As I boasted of my research results, Daemon King-san raised the question. Being eager to learn is a wonderful thing. If the magic power is cut off to that, and the food is gone, there might be insecurity again.

    I dragged Millaine into my studies for this. The [Unlimited Wakame Seaweed] is a revolutionary magic circle that boasts performance that is six times higher in comparison to regular magic circles, with a magic power use of less than half that of a conventional one.

    Being given such a wonderful thing, he would surely think that he was special, and he would feel just like the favored grandson of a grandfather and be happy.

    I nodded slowly to reassure him.

    ¡°[Worry not. There are no problems whatsoever. This magic circle draws on the Daemon elements present in the soil to power itself, so it won¡¯t stop easily.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Daemon King-san, who was now standing before a pile of seaweed that was so large that it could not even fit it on a 10-ton truck, sat down as if he was exhausted.

    I wonder if he was that relieved.

    ¡°[Oh, right, right, because the formation will continue for thousands of years with the Daemon element in this area, if you don¡¯t do your best in eating it, it¡¯ll bury the Daemon King territory, so please be careful. ]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Daemon King-san jolted vigorously at my words, and smiling a little with a ¡°Haha¡± he placed both his hands and knees on the floor loosely.

    After doing good things, the Demon becomes comfortable.

    Daemon King-san was muttering something or another, but Rinne gently tapped the Daemon King-san with his giant paws affectionately.

    ¡°¡­¡­She¡¯s a Demon after all¡­¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    For a few days after that, we stayed at Daemon King-san¡¯s house.

    I was in my [Demon Beast (cat)] mode when I came into contact with Daemon King-san, but I properly reported to Francois in my [Human] mode.

    Well, today at Daemon King-san¡¯s request I¡¯m going to show myself to the Daemons.

    The people¡¯s belief in god seems to be something like the desire for an [Idol].

    Finally, my debut!

    ¡°[Well then¡­¡­ what should I sing?]¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t sing.¡±

    ¡°[¡­You don¡¯t need to be reserved, you know?]¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not being reserved¡±

    ¡°[You don¡¯t need to fuss about the problem of having a backup dancer while I sing?]¡±

    ¡°Please do not sing. Please do not dance¡±

    What¡¯s this¡­¡­? Daemon King-san¡¯s attitude towards me seems a little [Sloppy].

    For the sake of everyone¡¯s peace of mind, I wanted to be in human mode. I thought that it would be good if my dress was a miniskirt.

    It¡¯s for everyone¡¯s sake¡­ It¡¯s not that I want to sing¡­ It¡¯s true~.

    Even though so many people are gathered here¡­¡­ *kusun*

    When I spread my wings in my [Demon Beast (cat)] mode and made my appearance, all of the Daemons kneeled down on the spot and began to worship me.

    ¡­¡­ wait, what? Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be cheering?

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°[¡­eh?]¡±

    Turning around to face a familar voice that I suddenly heard, Demon butler Noa and Demon maid Fannie teleported in out of thin air.

    ¡°¡­¡­We were looking for you¡±

    ¡°[Ah~, sorry, there was the matter of [Him], [Rinne].]¡±

    ¡°eh?¡±

    ¡°ah¡­¡±

    Noa and Fannie hurriedly kneeled down before Rinne who was beside me in his black cat mode.

    ¡°Ri-Rinne-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°[At ease. Why were you in such a hurry¡­?]¡±

    Waving his two tails calmly when Noa lapsed into silence after greeting us, Rinne prompted him on.

    ¡°Yes. Actually, the Daemon King army has gathered together and begun to advance, and we were led by Roderick-sama and Noel-sama out to search for Mistress, and after meeting with the mercenary group and knights numbering 500, they started to fight.¡±

    ¡°[eh¡­¡­]¡±

    Isn¡¯t that terribly dangerous? The Daemon King¡¯s army was still well in excess of a million strong.

    Daemon King-san¡¯s black face also turned blue¡­¡­ how deft.

    ¡°Foolish¡­ did they not receive the message. Who was it¡­¡­Geas?¡±

    He murmured. There wasn¡¯t a need to fight anymore.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright?¡±

    ¡°[How is it alright?]¡±

    When I yelled my tsukkomi in without thinking at Noa¡¯s mutter, Fannie continued from the side.

    ¡°Uhm, well, Tina-chan and Nia-chan have gradually become unable to endure it and seemed to have started rampaging, so I came to pick you up©`¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­eEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?]¡±

    How many of them will survive¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The 4th book is entering its climax.

    One of the common story templates,

    [I avenged myself against the world -reforms of the poor Daemon Lord-] has ended.

    The original story was that Rinne was supposed to be knocked down in an outburst of anger, and the [Demon Duke] was going to be summoned by the Daemons, and they had to cooperate with the humans in order to defeat it, it was a story about the proper way to rule the world¡­¡­

    The Daemon King, do you think he¡¯s happy?

    * The template story assumes that Yuru is born a human being.

    Thank you for rating.

    Well, then, I await your impressions.

 CH 64

    Volume 4, Chapter 15: On the Battlefield, Part 1

    A man was knocked into hell from the pinnacle of happiness.

    He didn¡¯t even know the meaning of misfortune when he was a child.

    Born the only child of two parents, with no poverty in sight for his dual-income family, the man had no doubt in thinking that his was an extremely normal household.

    He noticed when his parents did not come for the school¡¯s athletics meet. Did the whole family only eat together about once a week? They weren¡¯t able to have a family conversation, not even once, even as the days went by.

    He alone was the only person who thought of it as a family, but for the rest of them who lived in that house, they were just not interested in family life. They were just cohabiting.

    If he had noticed it, perhaps he would have realized that he was unhappy.

    However, the man himself didn¡¯t think that he was unhappy. He knew that there were unhappier things in the world, and, above all, there was a girl, a childhood friend, who worried about him.

    Almost every day, ever since they were young, she would bring him lunch. He was the first person that she treated to her mother¡¯s cooking at her house.

    It could be said that the man was raised by the girl¡¯s family.

    A father and a gentle mother that were kind-hearted, a bratty older brother that thought of him as his younger brother, playing together in elementary school, becoming conscious of her in middle school, and becoming lovers in high school. Although he slightly ran wild in various ways, out of consideration for the girl¡¯s family, he kept a pure relationship.

    And¡­¡­ when they lived together after they graduated from university, while thinking of paying for their marriage with his own money, he went to the government office to register their official marriage and have her entered into his family register¡­ but fell into a manhole along the way.

    When he came to, he was in a dark, shabby room.

    Actually, he¡¯d noticed that the room was shabby months before he managed to get his eyes to look straight¡­ the man had become a baby.

    He quickly realized that the world was not a good one.

    A dark sky that never changed, regardless of day or night, people who had horns or scaled skin seemed to be very normally taking care of him.

    But he couldn¡¯t be bothered to care about such things.

    Where was this? He didn¡¯t care how or why he became a baby.

    He had finally had his wish come true, with her¡­ with the childhood friend that was his wife. They were supposed to be having their first night together, and he couldn¡¯t understand why he had to be in this place.

    He felt frustrated every day. Because he wanted to return to his wife so much, he cried like a baby, but since he was a baby, nobody knew.

    One day, a turning point in his life came.

    He was taken along while huddled together with his parents into a dim basement where adults with beast and monster features were gathered.

    He saw a black altar. Noticing the drifting odor of rotting blood, his face paled.

    When he looked at his parents with a questioning look regarding that [Demonic] altar, he finally noticed that his parents¡¯ eyes had the same look that the parents of his previous life had, as if they were looking at some [Other] creature.

    He had neither the horns nor scales of his parents.

    He understood that he had been dragged here as a [Sacrifice] for a demon.

    The ceremony began. He couldn¡¯t do anything to resist with that baby¡¯s body of his.

    Why did things turn out this way¡­¡­?

    He wanted to return to my wife. It was nothing new. He wanted to go back to my loving wife and escape from this hell¡­¡­

    The magic circle shone around him, and in the instant that the man who he thought of as his father swung down the rusty dagger¡­¡­

    [¡­Surely, just these sacrifices and offerings to try and summon me¡­ it seems I¡¯m being taken lightly.]

    The dagger that was swung down stopped right in front of his eyes as if time had stopped.

    All of a sudden, everything that he could see around him had frozen in place, and it seemed that time really had stopped.

    In the frozen world in which only he could move, that [Voice] spoke only to him.

    [Among these, the one with the strongest soul turns out to be a baby¡­ But even if I took your soul, I could hardly interact with the world¡­ So, I will make a contract to you. Name your wish. And in return, what will you give to me?]

    He didn¡¯t hesitate, and wished instantly to return to his wife. He didn¡¯t need anything else. He swore to offer all of himself.

    [Then I will take your soul after you die. However, that is not enough for me to let you cross worlds. What will you give? The answers are before you.]

    At those words, he instantly shut his mouth¡­¡­ and answered what the Demon desired to hear.

    £ª£ª£ª

    By the order of Geas, the Court Mage, whom Daemon King Hebrad had charged with the right to command, the Daemon King¡¯s Army, who had been spread out in their various units, had been assembled, and the invasion had begun.

    Total number: 400,000.

    Since there was a lack of food and some of the Daemons were slow-footed, there should have been some variation in the time they took to arrive, but, still, wasn¡¯t this was far too few?

    The Daemon King¡¯s Army had left the Daemon King¡¯s territory with a troop well in excess of 2 million. Where did the vast majority of them disappear to¡­¡­?

    ¡°Hurry up! As Beast King Gallus¡¯ subordinates, it is shameful to be late to battle!¡±

    The Beast King¡¯s second-in-command, the White Monkey General Gretel, directed 100,000 soldiers as he ran through the Forest of Monsters.

    Gretel¡¯s head was full of impatience and irritation. Thus far, he had subdivided the army to move, but unexpectedly some of them did not return and their numbers had been decreased in vain.

    Something was lurking in the forest¡­

    Using their bestial instincts, they sensed someone in the shadows, and the movements of the Beast King¡¯s army became sluggish.

    Relying solely on their animalistic night vision, they were able to run through the woods at night, but it seems that their fellows that were beside them had run into [Something] unfamiliar.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hieee,¡±

    Someone¡¯s muffled screaming was heard, and then a couple of the Beastmen Daemons burst into tiny pieces.

    ¡°Wh, what!?¡±

    ¡°An enemy!¡±

    They could faintly discern a distorted figure in the darkness of night.

    When someone cast a magical light quickly to try to illuminate things, there was the figure of a [Demon], wearing tattered clothes, laughing while holding up the face of a beast and slurping on fresh blood.

    ¡°Hiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    The brave soldiers of the Beast King¡¯s Army screamed out at the presence of the [Demon] that evoked the fundamental [Terror] of living beings.

    Not restricted to one place, the screams of terror arose throughout the entire army, and the massacre began.

    ¡°Steel your hearts! The Demons will take advantage of your fear!¡±

    Gretel scolded his men even though he was confused as well.

    Why had these Demons appeared here? Furthermore, they weren¡¯t simply Demons. [Greater Demons] that had manifested within a vessel¡­ and there was a presence that felt even stronger than those.

    In front of Gretel, a huge and stout Demon appeared.

    ¡°¡­¡­Gollow¡­?¡±

    The Demon¡¯s face and body shape greatly resembled the 3rd Army¡¯s Pig Beast General, Gollow.

    ¡°Did you make Gollow¡­ your vessel¡­ aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    With the righteous fury for his friend whose soul had been devoured, Gretel slammed his huge battle axe against the Demon.

    [¡­Buhahahaha]

    The Demon picked up and crushed the battle axe as it roared and grabbed into Gretel¡¯s chest, eating the heart while it was still beating, savoring the desperation and hatred that it was full of.

    *[Nya]*

    In that instant, with that slashing sound, the Demon and Gretel were sent flying in little pieces.

    A golden blade cut through the night, and a single girl emerged from the darkness.

    ¡°Hey~, that¡¯s no good, you know? I thought I told you that you could only have one soul (snack) a day?¡±

    Her voice was not particularly loud, with the tone of an older sister in high school scolding her younger brother, but all of the Greater Demons in the area straightened their backs as their faces stiffened.

    The Demon who had been scolded with that carefree voice, seemed to have had his existence blown away with a single blow, but Nia herself seemed to not care at all.

    The number of Daemons that Millaine had turned into Vampires and transferred over to Nia were in the thousands. They had also used a large amount of souls, and had raised the number of the [Newtype Greater Demon] by the thousands.

    Nia just did not have the patience to educate all of these new Demons.

    Along with Tina, they had split the 1500 Demons between the two of them, and came here for practical training and soul collection.

    ¡°Al~right, Everyone~, stop moving~ The bad children¡¯s meals, will be that thing, okay?¡±

    Nia¡¯s voice sent the Demons scrambling in panic.

    All the Demonic pleasure and smiling disappeared from their faces, and 749 Greater Demons tried their best to slaughter them all.

    This time around, the boxed lunch for Nia¡¯s cohort of Demons was 15 kilograms of dried seaweed and one octopus. The snack was one soul.

    The Demons spoke together.

    ¡°[To be frank we¡¯re getting tired of eating seaweed¡­ But unlike Tina-sama¡¯s cohort, we don¡¯t have any octopus. Compared to that, we¡¯re better off, but I prefer Fannie-sama after all. She will give us [Black Candy] if we do our best. She rarely takes anyone out with her, but if anyone is taken along they¡¯re the envy of everyone else. Besides¡­¡­ that thing is dangerous¡­¡­]¡±

    It seems that [the naughty children¡¯s meals] Nia spoke of was a terrifying existence.

    The moment their Master Yurushia had her face cramp up from the gem from that [Seal], the Lesser Demons whose egos were weak had multiplied and prospered, squealing with a ¡°[Kisha, Kisha~]¡± and had had their mouths ¡®willingly¡¯ stuffed with that dreamlike [Seaweed].

    Thanks to Noa using it properly, the Demons had stopped complaining about their meals.

    And thus in that way (?) the Daemon King¡¯s Army had their numbers quietly reduced in fear and deep darkness.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s the promotion of the mysterious seaweed.

    There are a few chapters to go before the end of the first story part.

 CH 65

    Volume 4, Chapter 16: On the Battlefield, Part 2

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    Anteikowa¡¯s Holy Magic was applied on Alfio¡¯s [Holy Blade].

    ¡°Alright, Rock Cutter!¡±

    Using the [Sword Skills] that he had acquired from an old man living in Shiguresu¡¯s forest in exchange for 50 Chinese cabbages, Alfio slew the two horned giants.

    ¡°Al, here too!¡±

    ¡°Roger¡±

    The commanding officer of the Daemon King¡¯s army had crossed swords with Cheria, and was chasing her down with about 10 Daemon soldiers.

    ¡°Lightning Spear!¡±

    Ophelia¡¯s lightning struck at the bodies of the Daemon soldiers, sapping their muscles of strength,

    ¡°Fireball!¡±

    Meanwhile, Athena¡¯s fireballs burned up the Daemon soldiers who were immobilized.

    ¡°Yaa!¡±

    Cheria¡¯s saber pierced deeply into the heart as she took the life of the commander who was distracted by the spectacle.

    ¡°We did it, guys!¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡±

    ¡°¡­mhmm¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Their reactions were lacking as a reward for Alfio, who was working hard with a refreshed expression. Recently, even when he called out to Athena, there were times where she wouldn¡¯t reply.

    Whether in battle or while adventuring, she had relied on Alfio previously.

    However, she would suddenly become cold when their bodies came into contact.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±{Was it something I said!?}

    It felt like his destiny had been twisted at some point.

    Did it turn strange somewhere¡­¡­?

    Anteikowa admittedly turned pale from shock when they were being pursued by the guards in Kolkopo.

    Cheria¡¯s attitude became strange when they were searching for items in the Daemon King¡¯s Castle.

    Athena and Cheria¡¯s eyes went wide when he told them that they were going to escape from the Daemon King¡¯s Castle and were going to withdraw from the Daemon King¡¯s territory.

    Wasn¡¯t it natural to punish those bastards who quarreled with you?

    Wasn¡¯t it natural to steal the things of one¡¯s enemies?

    Wasn¡¯t it the basics of an adventurer to escape from an enemy that one couldn¡¯t beat?

    Isn¡¯t that what all the protagonists in the stories do?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Originally, he should have only come after he had gotten stronger. He was supposed to have been able to train on the way towards the Daemon King¡¯s Territory. If he was strong, most of these things could have been forgiven.

    And he should never have fought against the main force of the Daemon King army without gaining strength like this.

    On their way back towards the human territory, Alfio got embroiled into the war.

    In order for him to regain his position among his comrades, Alfio had to intervene in this battle.

    ¡°Al!¡±

    When he heard Anteikowa¡¯s voice and turned back to look, he saw tens of giants that were larger than the one that he had defeated.

    ¡°¡­R-ru¡­¡±

    Let¡¯s escape. Alfio wanted to say it, but he couldn¡¯t speak the words through Athena¡¯s silent stare.

    Athena pressed Alfio to show off his power as a [Hero], so in a way, that meant that she still had expectations of him, but Alfio felt like he was already going to cry.

    About 10,000 of the Daemon King¡¯s Army was here.

    Because there were only about 1300 humans facing them, rather than simply roughly crushing them with numbers, they deployed an elite force, 1,000-strong, to devastate them.

    Alfio, whose aim was to build a harem for himself in peace, was not ready to die.

    Nevertheless, he had raised his sword stubbornly at this time, and the rightmost giant had suddenly been blown away.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    What appeared, was the figure of a [Warrior] clad in a navy blue surcoat on top of his silver armor.

    ¡°GaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    The giants became aware of the warrior, and turned their spears towards him.

    A giant that stood over 5 meters swung with his club, but the warrior deflected it with the shield in his left hand, and slashed at the knees of the giant with a golden Magic Sword in his right.

    The warrior who wasn¡¯t afraid of the giants approached, slashed, and with movements that were faithful to the basics like a knight, he swept past them with his shield and kept swinging.

    ¡°Fuhn!¡±

    With a single overhead swing with both of his arms, he sliced the last giant apart, club and all.

    ¡°¡­Roderick-sama¡­?¡±

    From someone leaked out that line¡­¡­ Behind Roderick¡¯s line of sight, the appearance of close to one hundred Daemons nearly caused the Shiguresu Hero Party to scream out loud.

    ¡°[¦Ì¦Ô¦Á]!¡±

    The genuine [Spirit Language] that was not simplified by the elves echoed across the battlefield.

    The golden sword raised by the youth let off a light, and he sent the majority of the Daemons flying with a single blow.

    ¡°Noel?¡±

    Roderick called out to the youth, and he returned a fearless smile with that lovely girl-like face.

    The soldiers that were holding themselves behind him all raised a cheer of [Hero!] in celebration.

    Noel and Roderick. The [Hero of the Saint Kingdom], and the [Crusader], had brought out 500 men to follow the girl who was their [Saint].

    They were made up of Holy Knights and Knights, along with strong mercenaries, but if they had actually encountered the Daemon King¡¯s Army, they would have been defeated by the difference in numbers.

    Reality, however had proven different.

    The legendary [Hero], the [Crusader], and the [Saint], who were blessed by the spirit of light, had arrived in the Daemon King¡¯s territory with only the three of them, and had enough power to take the head of the Daemon King.

    But the [Power of Light] that had been suppressed for some reason, bloomed rapidly now that it was temporarily away from the [Irregular], and they fought even with the 10,000 Daemon soldiers.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± {How¡­}

    Alfio was shocked by the difference in the [Class] of hero.

    Until now, he had been making efforts along the template, and while he had become strong enough to be called a Hero in Shiguresu¡­¡­

    {Am I¡­¡­ not the main character¡­¡­?}

    He looked at the [Hero] in the distance, who had a strong power, was praised by the knights, had royal friends, and with extraordinarily beautiful girls in his group.

    Alfio¡¯s companions, also looked at them with dazzling eyes¡­¡­ like the eyes that that they had previously made towards Alfio.

    ¡°Oy¡­¡±

    Alfio returned to reality with that call out.

    Roderick noticed Alfio, and saw him calmly walking towards him silently.

    ¡°¡­Hey, Your Highness, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re so close that we can address each other so intimately? For lending you our power, some gratitude is in order.¡±

    His pride refusing to admit defeat, Alfio replied to Roderick.

    But, Roderick merely glanced at him.

    ¡°¡­Ah, my thanks then.¡±

    He just walked past Alfio, and stood in front of Athena and Ophelia.

    ¡°You guys, how long are you going to continue living like that¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Roderick-sama¡­¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­¡±

    Although Ophelia could do it, Athena couldn¡¯t take the eyes of the boy who had been her fianc¨¦ since a young age and averted her eyes.

    As everyone was rendered mute by the delicate atmosphere, only one person called out, his voice full of anger.

    ¡°What are y-you doing with my companions!¡±

    At that, even Anteikowa and Cheria knit their eyebrows, and tried to grasp onto Alfio who tried to drive away Roderick with his arm.

    ¡°I was just speaking to my cousin¡­?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about your relationship!¡±

    Although Roderick nearly sighed at Alfio while he kept his silence, he raised his head towards the sound that he heard from afar.

    ¡°Let¡¯s cut the talk. It seems that the Daemon King¡¯s army is getting impatient.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    When he heard that there were [Heroes] among their opponents, Beast King Gallus jumped into battle leading his Beast King Army.

    ¡°Gahahahahahaha! Where are you! Heroooooooooooooo!¡±

    If one was willing, it was quite easy to be patient with Gallus.

    Although he didn¡¯t feel like listening to Geas¡¯ orders in the beginning, he was wary of the terrifying [Unknown] that was striking at the Daemon King¡¯s Army and accepted the commands that Geas gave him.

    However, it was different if there was a [Hero].

    As a warrior and the Beast King of the Daemons, fighting the Hero was an honor, and it was his earnest wish to defeat him with nobody getting in the way.

    The number of humans were small. Due to Gallus moving in, dozens of mercenaries died, and from among them¡­ a lance made of [Light] scattered the Daemon King Army that was within the forest.

    ¡°[¦Ì¦Ô¦Á]!¡±

    A slash of light slaughtered hundreds of Daemons and a single boy stood there in front of Gallus.

    ¡°Ooooooooh¡­¡­ Hero!¡±

    Instead of answering him, Noel crossed his golden magic sword with Gallus¡¯ in an instant.

    *Gokinchi¡­! * The grey greatsword and the golden sword violently collided, and even shockwaves boomed out.

    ¡°Where is Lucy!¡±

    ¡°What in the world are you saying! Don¡¯t get distracted, Hero!¡±

    Gallus¡¯ face broke into a smile as the power of the Hero was greater than he had thought.

    However, it was unfortunate that the suppressed power was released because he was thinking of the girl and not because he saw Gallus as a [Worthy Enemy].

    ¡°¡­Then, you¡¯re just in the way¡±

    The performance level of the weapons they had was too different.

    Chipping with the first blow, at the second the blade cracked, and at the third it cut through the sword and carved through his body. In an unbelievable sight, Gallus collapsed in battle.

    Noel glanced at him emotionlessly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy¡±

    He sorrowfully muttered as he turned his sword towards the Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    The natural enemy of the Daemons. The butchers of the human race.

    For the sake of a young girl, a terrifying little Asura was unleashed on the battlefield.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This time, I tried to focus seriously on the [Heroes].

 CH 66

    Volume 4, Chapter 17: On the Battlefield, Part 3

    Geas was getting impatient.

    He had attacked the human kingdoms with all of the Daemon King¡¯s Army and collected a large amount of souls, but someone had disturbed the operation, and now the Daemon King¡¯s Army itself was in a semi-destroyed state.

    Before this, Geas had intended to release the Demon whom Daemon King Hebrad had summoned without establishing a contract, to let it kill both humans and Daemons.

    For that purpose, Geas had spent several decades planning and placing secret [Soul Collection] devices around the Daemon King¡¯s and the humans¡¯ territory, waiting for that exact time.

    Geas¡¯ plan required far too many [Souls].

    What was the purpose of that greater Vampire and those unknown enemies that disturbed him? What had caused his plans to collapse entirely before fruition?

    The human army that they encountered in their advance had high value [Souls], mostly from their knights and others, and group of ten thousand soldiers that he had sent to collect their souls efficiently were being destroyed for some reason.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit¡±

    muttered Geas under his breath as he looked towards the corner of his eye.

    There seemed to be counters that only he could see.

    The remaining number was [001].

    When Geas poured 100 of the [Souls] that he had accumulated into the counter, the three digit number changed to [002].

    A counter that would only increase by [1] despite pouring one hundred souls into it;

    Considering how many souls he had on hand, he couldn¡¯t spend them wantonly.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    Something was shining in the middle of the battlefield, and it gradually grew in intensity as he watched that [Something] slowly push through the center of the nearly 400,000-strong Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    That light¡­¡­ was a wave of holy power.

    ¡°¡­¡­A Hero¡­!¡±

    An apostle of light that lingered in the legends of the Daemons; the natural enemy of Daemonkind; it would be a disaster if that light was really a Hero.

    That [Demon] had said the value of a soul for the Demons was determined by ¡®how much emotion¡¯ there was in each one¡­

    Love, Hate, Sorrow, Anger, Fear, Desire, Regret, Jealousy, Happiness, Despair¡­¡­ although the souls¡¯ tastes were differently tasty to the Demonic palate, the [Sacred Light] of the Hero would surely cleanse it all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is this the limit?¡±

    Geas muttered bitterly as he steeled himself.

    ¡°¡­Geas-sama?¡±

    The confused voices of his disciples came as they approached Geas slowly with [Flight].

    ¡°¡­¡­Sorry. But to cut things short, leave this place quickly.¡±

    ¡°What happened!?¡±

    Geas did not reply to his panicking disciples, and as he began to chant [Magic], his disciples backed away, faces full of doubt over the sanity of their master.

    ¡°[Dragon Crusher]¡­!¡±

    With the second highest magic power after the Daemon King, Magic General Geas released the extermination magic with his full power.

    An enormous amount of heat and light bloomed as a dragon of light approached from behind the Daemon King¡¯s Army. The soldiers were left dumbstruck as they were enveloped by the light that was cast by their ally soundlessly.

    High-temperature winds savaged the survivors. After that, screams and shrieks of pain burst out, as nearly half of the Daemons were killed in that single stroke.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Geas gathered the tens of thousands of souls which were full of fear and grudges.

    However, it wasn¡¯t enough. Geas didn¡¯t have enough power for another [Dragon Crusher], and as he was trying to aim wide-area magics at the survivors, a pillar of light extended towards the sky.

    ¡°¡­¡­He managed to survive?¡±

    £ª

    ¡°Such a thing¡­¡­¡±

    As far as the eye could see there was just the earth that had been burned black and Daemons who were unmoving.

    ¡°¡­¡­upu¡±

    Forcibly enduring the urge to vomit, Noel shook his shoulders, breathing roughly as he sank to his knees.

    Noel would have followed those Daemons in their fate, had he not put up a [Composite Barrier] which combined spirit, water, and wind magic.

    Although he had charged in alone, he had managed to survive thanks to the fact he hadn¡¯t been in the epicenter of the blast.

    Noel¡¯s magic power had nearly been exhausted just blocking that single strike.

    But even so, when he glanced at the old Daemon mage who did it, the mage glared at Noel, and began to cast another magic.

    ¡°Noel!¡±

    A voice called him from behind.

    ¡°¡­¡­Your Highness, don¡¯t approach!¡±

    Roderick approached Noel with a dozen Holy Knights in tow.

    Turning back, Noel gulped instinctively. The Daemons who were unable to die were there, struggling in misery.

    The mercenaries, who were all worried for Noel and had desperately rushed forward, came into view, and Noel strained himself, readying his sword as Roderick arrived.

    ¡°Noel, what is this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°The enemy mage¡­ all his allies¡­¡­ everyone quickly¡­¡±

    ¡°That mage¡­¡±

    Feeling the might of the magic power of the mage that had begun to chant, Roderick grit his teeth.

    Although there were many humans still alive, they could only be said to be barely alive and if they had to run they would all die.

    Noel didn¡¯t know if he could block it this time, and he didn¡¯t know if Roderick and the Holy Knights would be able to survive it.

    The mage had finished casting¡­¡­

    An enormous [Fire Giant] that resembled the Daemons appeared, and breathed out fire.

    ¡°¡­¡­A Fire¡­[Greater Spirit]¡­?¡±

    A summoning magic that called on a contracted, disaster-causing, [Greater Spirit], which summoned that power temporarily even without a formation.

    One of the Holy Knights whispered its name, and that fact caused everyone on the spot to prepare for [Death].

    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t it a little too early to die?¡±

    Golden feathers fell from the heavens.

    An elegant dress of black that was darker than the night and silver that shone like the moon.

    A pair of beautiful golden wings spread out as the golden angel fluttered and descended onto the cruel battlefield.

    £ª

    Spreading the angel wings from my [Shining Holy Wings] spell as I floated down, everyone raised their heads to watch me¡­ and that Fire [Uncle] was swallowing the fire it had spit out with a stiff face.

    Did all [Greater Spirits (Uncles)] react like that¡­

    ¡°Well, everyone. I see you¡¯re not dead yet.¡±

    As I descended, I lightly clapped my hands, and walked between those that were dead and dying.

    ¡°¡­[Let the light of healing shine down upon you]¡­¡±

    The [Devil magic], which combined both spirit magic and holy magic, was scatted with a flutter of my golden wings and healed [All] of the living things that were on the battlefield.

    ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡± ¡± ¡± ¡±

    Everyone who woke up looked at me with stunned faces.

    Meanwhile, I smiled gently at the [Greater Spirit (Uncle)], who promptly returned without a sound to the spirit world.

    A~ah, maybe it won¡¯t come out again.

    ¡­¡­ Well, now,

    Who¡¯s the [Idiot-san] who laid a hand on my [Prey]¡­?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    * The names of types of magic changed.

    Just a little more story left.

 CH 67

    Volume 4, Chapter 18: The Demon Princess, Part 1

    I walked across the battlefield, leaving angel feathers in my wake.

    It seems that most of the humans survived, but only about half of the Daemons could be saved.

    Everyone was looking at me stupidly. It seems that even the Daemons could make dumbfounded faces, their spirits having gone beyond their limits.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Among them, Rick¡¯s face twisted into a look of anger and happiness. ¡­¡­ when you have such a face, you really resemble Grandfather-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­Lucy!¡±

    In that silence where even the sound of the breeze was audible, Noel spoke out.

    When he moved to rush towards me, several of the blank-faced Daemons reacted and drew their weapons.

    ¡­¡­¡­suu.

    At that time, something black dropped onto my shoulder directly from above.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    A silent pressure¡­¡­ Rinne¡¯s [Black Cat] mode froze the battlefield with a light release of his [Killing Intent] ¡­¡­ hey, what¡¯re you doing?

    If you got exposed as a [Demon], I would get suspected by association.

    Gradually, the humans and Daemons began to clamor, and unrest spread among them.

    [¡­I-is that a tiny Demon Beast-sama?] [By any chance, did that lass tame it?] [Saint-sama, amazing~!] [Wait, what? She made Demon Beast-sama her familiar¡­?] [Princess Yurushia, why do you have wings?!] [¡­¡­eh~¡­ that girl is such a monster¡­] [As ex~pect~ed, Princess-sama! (laugh)] [Yurushia-sama¡­¡­ please step on my face!] [A-angel-sama¡­?] [I don¡¯t think you can make a Demon Beast a familiar¡­] [¡­¡­Did she help us¡­?] [That girl, she¡¯s really scary for some reason¡­¡­] [Yuru-sama¡¯s wings (laugh)] [Such a beautiful face¡­¡­ dang] [Saint-sama, scary~]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Uhhhmmm¡­¡­ I feel like some terrible things were being said.

    For the time being, Bree-chan and Sara-chan, definitely need to be punished later.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who¡­¡­ are you!?¡±

    Is that magic? An old man that was floating in the sky yelled with a voice that could pop a vein.

    [¡­ {It¡¯s the Daemon Mage}]

    ¡°{Well, I wonder if this was caused by him.}¡±

    I was talking to Rinne in such a way that only we could hear each other.

    This place was strange. Even though so many people had died, their souls didn¡¯t appear.

    [Someone] had collected the [Souls] on this battlefield¡­¡­ My demons were horrible bastards.

    But the criminal wasn¡¯t any of the children.

    ¡°Was it you who did this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The old man refused to answer me even as he stared at me. I wonder just how much he was aware of it.

    ¡°The war is over. I have reached an understanding with Daemon King-san after some [Persuasion].¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    Not only the old man, but the Daemons and the humans all raised their voices.

    Even if they didn¡¯t believe it normally, but with me, who had put my [Ridiculousness] out on full throttle, I think that it should be accepted¡­¡­ Even if I didn¡¯t intend for it.

    Now then, what will this person do?

    I used my wings to rise up to the same height as the old man, and I carefully directed and released my Demonic [Presence].

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    The old man¡¯s eyes went wide, and he began to sweat profusely even as his face was full of dread. Fear¡­ suffering¡­ despair¡­¡­ his [Soul] was just filled to the brim.

    Ah¡­¡­ oh my¡­¡­ It looked delicious.

    ¡°¡­¡­aA¡­aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!¡±

    When I smiled involuntarily, the old man went mad and cried out.

    ¡°Demon! Demon Highness! By the [Contract], open the gates of time and space!¡±

    ¡­huh? Did he contract with a Demon somewhere? So he was gathering the souls.

    [Yurushia, be careful¡­¡­ I sense the presence of a high-ranking Demon.]

    ¡°¡­¡­looks like it.¡±

    The color of the sky transformed unnaturally, and the humans and Daemons began to clamor.

    ¡°¡­Ah, that, you¡¯ll die if you don¡¯t leave.¡±

    I felt something strange in the ground, and when I called out to them, the Daemons and humans scattered like baby spiders from that place.

    ¡­¡­ by chance, did they think that I would kill them?

    [The bottom of the earth opened¡­]

    As Rinne¡¯s words flowed into my ear, a [Black Whirlpool] appeared on the ground as if it had been waiting, and began to swallow those who ran away.

    ¡°[Let there be light!]¡±

    Instantly, I spread out the holy magic [Sanctuary], and sealed the whirlpool that was still drawing things in.

    But, in that momentary gap that I showed, that old man had jumped into the whirlpool.

    ¡­¡­ He escaped.

    Ah, oh no, I wonder if I had messed this up one way or another? The [Sanctuary] stopped the suction, but the black whirlpool began to spread through little by little.

    Is this bad? I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be so terrible a thing as to swallow the world,

    [If you don¡¯t close it soon, all the living beings here will be wiped out.]

    ¡°Rinne¡­¡­ can you do something?¡±

    [I am specialized in [Breaking]. You are far better than I am at that, being a [Devil].]

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡­¡±

    I can use the power of a Devil, but truth be told I¡¯m not particularly skillful at fine control.

    I¡¯m daintily rough. ¡­¡­If anyone else said that, though, I would hit them.

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Uwaa¡±

    Looking back at the abrupt speech, the four attendants were standing there along with Noa.

    Everyone had a desperate look trying to deal with the situation, but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t tense. Good grief, whose fault was this.

    ¡°Then, what will you all do?¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us. Open¡­ [Lost Paradise]¡±

    ¡°¡­hah?¡±

    As the black space immediately expanded, and wrapped around the [Black whirlpool], the black space disappeared like it had been swallowed¡­¡­ what is that? It¡¯s the first time I saw it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a failure.¡±

    ¡°How fast!¡±

    If one looked closely, some of the wisps of the whirlpool were still there, and it sparked on contact with the [Sanctuary].

    Noa was working fast, but I don¡¯t know anything but the basics, so I gave up.

    ¡°Maintain the status quo¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­that would be good, maintain it for several hours.¡±

    Opening the golden magic-engraved pocket watch that I had given him, he spoke matter-of-factly.

    ¡°Is it hard to break it up from inside©`?¡±

    When Nia said so, Tina and Fannie smiled Demonic smiles. Well¡­ there¡¯s no choice but to do so in the end?

    The size of the whirlpool is about 2 meters. When we descended onto the ground, the two boys came rushing towards us.

    ¡°Lucy¡­¡±

    ¡°Oi, this is dangerous¡­¡±

    Noel and Rick tried to follow us, and the two of them were playing at something.

    ¡°¡­¡­I see¡±

    This is probably a pocket dimension made by an unknown Demon.

    People who had a holy [Air] or a strong aura of [Malice] couldn¡¯t enter it.

    ¡°Rick, Noel, [We] can¡¯t enter this. Don¡¯t worry. It will turn back to normal.¡±

    ¡°Such a thing¡­¡­ only Lucy¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to worry since it¡¯s you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­ Hey.

    ¡°Well, in that case, I¡¯m off¡±

    We went into the vortex with the cheeriest voice that I could muster, as we were sent off by the people who were looking on worriedly.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯m not letting such a delicious soul escape so easily.

    However, I didn¡¯t notice.

    There was someone with a strong will and deep [Malice] that was staring at our backs¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    [Here are the souls of the people who were here¡­ if it is not enough, I will gather as much as needed.]

    That was the price he¡­¡­ the price of the [Contract] between Geas and the Demon.

    Geas had named himself as such so that he would never forget his status and oath.

    Geas, who had obtained knowledge and secret arts from the Demons, had used magic against the adults as a baby child, and killed a person for the first time.

    Then Geas had lived through summoning Lesser Demons in order to promote himself.

    The number [999] had appeared in his peripheral vision after he had contracted with the Demon, but three years had passed before he even noticed it.

    The amount of souls that that Demon wanted in order to break through the walls between dimensions was huge.

    Still, knowing of the existence of high-quality souls, he steadily gathered them, and became able to collect them well.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is the number decreasing?¡±

    He noticed that the number that hadn¡¯t changed thus far was decreasing like a counter.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Please answer me, Lord Heraness.¡±

    The named Demon that called itself Heraness declared.

    [When that number reaches [0], your wife will cease to be your [Wife].]

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh¡­at?¡±

    Heraness showed images of the [Other World] inside Geas¡¯ brain.

    There, his wife, his childhood friend, was being handed a ring from an unknown man, and was laughing with an embarrassed face.

    His wife was a little older than when he knew her. It seemed that since then¡­ a few years had passed since he had disappeared.

    [The number decreases by one a day. This image is a picture of the [Future]. When that number disappears, your wife will give up, and become the property of another man.]

    Geas sank to his knees in disbelief.

    The counter numbered [627]¡­¡­ so if the words of the Demon were to be believed, in less than two years, that image would become [Reality].

    ¡°¡­¡­T-, two years¡­?¡±

    The amount of souls that he had collected in these three years, was only about 20% of the amount. Regardless of how efficiently he collected them, he would not be able to fulfil more than half in less than two years.

    To the terrified Geas, the Demon whispered.

    [Then, put in that [Number] of souls. In compensation for that number, the counter will increase.]

    Increase the number on the counter with souls, and delay the time.

    Since that day, Geas¡¯ hardships began, and a century had passed.

    £ª

    [What¡¯s wrong, Geas. You¡¯ve only gathered about 70% of the souls.]

    The Space-Time Gate¡­¡­ the so-called subspace. In its deep dark innards, the man sitting on the throne whispered.

    A slender, slim body. Bright red lips on a beautiful face of pure white. Combing his fingers through his long, rust-colored hair, his golden snake-like eyes reflected Geas¡¯ image with a tinge of amusement.

    ¡°Heraness¡­¡­ I¡¯ve reached the limit. I don¡¯t have any more time¡­¡±

    While shedding tears from his old, weathered body, Geas fell onto his knees.

    [If you use half the souls now, won¡¯t you be able to extend the deadline for another few years?]

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible now. My body doesn¡¯t have many years left in it¡­¡­¡±

    [Would you rather give up? Wow, the heart of a human sure is fickle. Even if she became the property of another man, and had a child and became happy, you only need to steal it. Isn¡¯t it easy¡­? Fufufu]

    ¡°¡­¡­Su-such a thing¡±

    Heraness knew that Geas was already at his limit.

    That was why he thought that it was time to destroy that heart and harvest that soul full of despair.

    [Well, to deprive, to kill, you¡¯ve done all these just to gather souls? You should be able to do it easily. ¡­Fufuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]

 CH 68

    Volume 4, Chapter 19: The Demon Princess, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Al. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to come?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio couldn¡¯t reply to Anteikowa the Elf¡¯s, words.

    It was the first time he¡¯d gone to war. The threatening power of the real Hero. A raging, large-scale magic. Even the Daemons were afraid of the genuine Saint, who had healed tens of thousands of the injured in a flash.

    The girl that he had thought was collaborating with the Daemons had brokered peace with the Daemons, and in addition, she rushed in to a horrible place where even he could not enter as a Hero.

    It was like a black vortex that continued into hell.

    Since he had memories of his previous life, he thought that it would be impossible to head into such a place, where common sense didn¡¯t exist.

    Anteikowa, who had been called a [Saint] as well, was having issues when compared with a true Saint, and Alfio who was also trying to show his power as a [Hero].

    But she didn¡¯t recognize that she wasn¡¯t the [Real Thing], or that the Hero that she had chosen was a [Fake].

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ In that case, I will be walking my own path from here on in.¡±

    ¡°Eeh¡­¡­ Anko¡­?¡±

    Anteikowa pulled her hand out of Alfio¡¯s outstretched hand, and then began to collect her things.

    ¡°Well, err¡­¡­ Al, I will also be going back to my home.¡±

    ¡°Ch-Cheria¡­?¡±

    Looking somewhat sorry, the swordswoman Cheria began to pack her equipment beside Anteikowa.

    ¡°Al is a hero¡­ I would be happy if I could help. But, I am about to get married, and my parents are starting to getting annoyed¡±

    In other words, if he wasn¡¯t a hero, then they wouldn¡¯t want to spend time with him normally.

    ¡°Bye then, Al. It was fun up until now. I will go home escorted by Anko.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your help. Let¡¯s go, Cheria.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­O-oi¡­¡±

    Even as he spoke in an inaudible, husky voice that couldn¡¯t be heard, the two of them turned around, and broke away from Alfio.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio crumbled as if he had been knocked over, as his lovers experienced a change of heart even after they¡¯d travelled together for years.

    Alfio didn¡¯t know what had gone wrong. Was it because he didn¡¯t have the [Courage] to fight like a hero? It was really impossible to avoid that much danger.

    Someone gently approached Alfio who was stuck there without an answer.

    ¡°¡­¡­E-err¡­ Al-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Ophe~¡­?¡±

    Alfio faltered as he looked at the only girl that remained.

    When he thought about it, Alfio had no memory of interacting or conversing much with Ophelia.

    He saw her only as the [Younger sister of the beautiful noble sister siblings], and since she was 13 at the time, he was more fascinated with the beauty and nobility of Athena, but had invited her anyway, being unable to lay his hands on the two of them, since they were very young.

    A younger sister who couldn¡¯t do anything without her older sister; a girl that liked the things her sister liked, and turned herself away from the things her sister didn¡¯t.

    Only such a little girl¡­ called out to Alfio by herself.

    Athena had recently been cold towards Alfio. Be that as it was, Alfio didn¡¯t know why Ophelia was calling out to him.

    ¡°A-Al-sama, please cheer up¡­ those two¡­ they¡­ if you do your best, they will come back.¡±

    Speaking for herself for the first time, Ophelia¡¯s words raised Alfio¡¯s spirits.

    ¡°Ophe~¡­¡­¡±

    Alfio felt like he had finally seen what the inside of this girl was like.

    Clumsy, weak, foolish, a simpleton, an idiot¡­ and yet really gentle.

    ¡°¡­¡­A, Al-sama¡­?¡±

    ¡°Opheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    As Alfio tried to hug Ophelia with a teary face that was overflowing with emotion, Ophelia screamed and fell backwards on her butt.

    ¡°I, I was a fooooooool¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine if only Ophe remained. Let¡¯s go home and start a farm. Let¡¯s work hard to do food processing. I won¡¯t let you be poor; I will never cheat on you, so please marry meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee¡±

    ¡°eh? ah, Yes¡­  EeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH??¡±

    Ophelia replied despite being in a huge fluster. She was surprised by Alfio and his actions, and held on to his crying face that was like a child¡¯s, quietly stroking it.

    Alfio had finally gained the [Courage] to live as a true person after experiencing two lives.

    Ophelia also finally remembered that he was to be 15 this year, the age of marriage.

    What would her sister say if she saw this situation?

    And if those two who went elsewhere were to know that the two of them were going to get married¡­¡­

    {¡­¡­¡­ah.}

    Ophelia, who was always following at the back in the Shiguresu Hero party remembered well the contents of the [Wanted Poster] she noticed as they left the last city.

    {Strangely, there were a lot of features of Alfio listed¡­ Since there¡¯re few Elves here, they would stand out, but will be okay to go to the town?}

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°[FuhahahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]¡±

    ¡°Ahahahahahahaahahahahahahhahahahahahahahah¡±

    ¡°[Haa!?]¡±

    Heraness jumped back with a startled face as he noticed a golden-haired girl that was laughing in the same way next to him.

    ¡°[You!]¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been rude. I am Yurushia. I¡¯m pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±

    With not even a shred of tension, plucking at the hem of her black and silver dress was a [Devil] that was gracefully greeting him, and Heraness¡¯ face warped.

    And at his other shoulder¡­

    ¡°[Yurushia, that is one of the Demon World¡¯s Seven Pillars, the [Demon Lords]¡­ well, now it¡¯s 6 pillars. That¡¯s one of them.]¡±

    The violent [Demon Beast] that had killed and eaten one of the pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lords], was sitting there as a black cat.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s considerably strong, Rinne?¡±

    ¡°[It¡¯s weaker than I am. Or rather, it¡¯s the weakest among the [Demon Lords]. It¡¯s just a little bit stronger than Yurushia.]¡±

    ¡°Fuuhn~¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    He was irritated by that attitude that lacked in nervousness, and it seemed both of them were Demons that were [Named] just like Heraness, the first in thousands of years, with uncertain abilities, and usually the [Demon Lords]paid attention to the new [Devils].

    Moreover, they were even able to [Manifest] here fully due to his negligence, something that even he couldn¡¯t do.

    ¡°[Welcome, Yurushia, and Rinne. Welcome to my, Heraness¡¯, base¡­ or perhaps I should say it was good of you to have come. This is a pocket dimension that I made for the sake of connecting to the material world. If you were an ordinary Demon¡­¡­ no, because you are Demons, you shouldn¡¯t have been able to make it here easily.]¡±

    Because of that he was careless.

    Heraness knew that there was an unknown [Demon] that was near Geas that could be called an [Irregularity], but he didn¡¯t think that it would get involved.

    An unknown [Demon]¡­¡­ How could such a ridiculous existence be born?

    ¡°Is that so? I was able to come normally¡­¡±

    ¡°[It¡¯s only just because of [Yurushia]. If I wasn¡¯t on your shoulder, I wouldn¡¯t know if even I would be able to reach it properly. In fact, the four of them haven¡¯t arrived yet, right?]¡±

    ¡°Ah~¡­ that¡¯s true.¡±

    The three kinds of Demons that stood at the top of the Demon World, a [Demon Lord], a [Demon Beast], and a [Devil] were together in a narrow space that was not even a tenth of the world, that should never have happened.

    Moreover, this [Relaxed] atmosphere should be impossible.

    Even though there are three pillar Demons, even though the magic power and miasma swirled, and even as the space began to decay, it would not be strange to say that this would become a second Demon World where lesser Demons would spawn infinitely.

    ¡°By the way¡­¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s atmosphere changed, and there was a slimy, coal-tar-like presence.

    ¡°Hirai-san, won¡¯t you give me this?¡±

    ¡°[Who, is that¡­]¡±

    Heraness was puzzled by the feeling of wanting to make multiple questions at the same time, but forcibly returned it to the main line of questioning forcibly.

    ¡°[Is this¡­¡­? You knew that there was a [Contract] with me, cousins?]¡±

    There was Geas surrounded by the three Greater Demon Pillars, on the verge of death and madness. Heraness¡¯ appearance cheered upon seeing a decent reaction.

    The contracts of Demons were [Absolute]. If one broke it of their own will, it would cause [self-denial], and their very existence would be compromised.

    Trying to nullify it was to be declare complete hostilities to that Demon, and indeed, it was as if they were proclaiming their [Enmity] towards [Demon Lord] Heraness.

    And yet¡­¡­

    ¡°Did you say something? Monkey-san¡±

    A beautiful Demon girl that had a smile like a flower.

    With that one line, Heraness¡¯ face distorted into that of a Demonic monkey, and the [Demon Beast] that was on the shoulder of the [Devil] breathed a quiet sigh.

    In that instant, Heraness and Yurushia¡¯s hands stretched towards Geas at the same time, and as their hands clashed, discernible sparks scattered, and Heraness grasped Geas with one hand and fled to the rear.

    The right sleeve of the Yurushia¡¯s dress was broken, and Heraness bled black from where he had been struck across the left cheek, even as he laughed.

    ¡°[¡­Fast. But, it¡¯s my win here.]¡±

    Even as he spoke Heraness flew backwards and disappeared into a big door that was formed from the shadows.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­He got away.¡±

    ¡°[The opponent is a several-thousand-year-old [Demon Lord], after all. An [Arch demon] would have been annihilated with that amount.]¡±

    ¡°Am I not old enough?¡±

    While looking at my dress that was happily sucking up my magic power to regenerate itself, I appropriately responded to Rinne¡¯s sermon.

    But it was strong indeed. Before I fought against Rinne I would have been afraid.

    ¡°[¡­Are you planning on pursuing?]¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°[Stop that. The space is especially strange on the other side. I thought of it looking at this subspace, that Heraness might be doing research to connect dimensions. It is said that it¡¯s not easy for a [Devil] to return after travelling through many dimensions.]¡±

    ¡°Un~¡­¡­¡±

    But, there weren¡¯t many souls like that of that grandpa¡¯s. It looked like karasumi and seemed delicious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­Master!¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    She heard voices of the followers who had finally caught up.

    If even those children took this much time, it must really be a scary space. Anyway, they were all assembled. Nn¡­? 5 people?

    ¡°There¡¯s one person extra¡­?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me. It was picked up along the way.¡±

    Tina dropped the person she was carrying in front of me appropriately. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s sloppy.

    ¡°Araara, well, well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yurushia¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t expect to see this person in such a place.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Athena-onee-sama. How are you?¡±

    I gave her a happy, sweet smile, while she stared at me with her teeth out.

    ¡°Ara, that¡¯s no good.¡±

    ¡°Annoying. You, after all, had connections to the Daemons! I know that that Demon Beast was also one of your [Familiars] originally!¡±

    ¡°Hohoo.¡±

    Those are some interesting things being said.

    Fannie burst out with a [Fuu] while looking at Rinne, but well, such things don¡¯t matter.

    ¡°To say these kinds of things expressly, in this dangerous place¡­¡­ is it love?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!¡±

    Crap, this is too fun. After all, it¡¯s great fun to [play around] with onee-sama.

    ¡°Fannie, take Onee-sama outside. I¡¯ll return after relaxing and enjoying myself.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°What are you saying!? I just told you not to joke around. I will reveal all of your evil deeds, to Father-sama,¡±

    ¡°What would Yurushia-sama like to do?¡±

    As if onee-sama wasn¡¯t even there, Noa was confirming the future schedule. From Noa¡¯s view, it seems onee-sama was as good as absent from the schedule. ¡­don¡¯t tremble, me.

    ¡°I-I well,¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, now that you mention it, this place does seem to be pretty badly distorted.¡±

    ¡°Wai-¡±

    ¡°Is it okay to withdraw? In the meantime, I¡¯ll send you all several thousands of subordinates for examination.¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­ subordinates? thousands!? What is that!?¡±

    ¡°Listen.¡±

    You¡¯re being annoying, onee-sama.

    ¡°EEi!¡±

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    With no sense of caution to a surprise attack at all, I dropped Rinne from my shoulder, and went through the big door that was open with onee-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuhn¡±

    She came along¡­¡­ Athena onee-sama.

    ¡°[Yurushia!]¡±

    ¡°Master, are you alright?¡±

    I could hear everyone¡¯s voice from the other side of the door. I couldn¡¯t see the other side, but it looked like it wasn¡¯t completely disconnected.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t come over this way.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine it¡¯s fine¡±

    I tried to reach out to the door for now.

    ¡°Fu~n¡±

    ¡°How is it~?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be difficult to return through this door¡­¡­ I¡¯ll look for another¡­ Now, then¡±

    I turned my eyes towards onee-sama who was still staring at me.

    ¡°It¡¯s just the two of us¡­¡­ onee-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-, what?¡±

    As I gradually leaked out my [Presence], onee-sama¡¯s complexion began to turn white.

    ¡°Fufuu. You said something interesting earlier? ¡­about Father-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s unrelated.¡±

    This reaction¡­¡­perhaps.

    ¡°Unless, when I was born, I had monopolized all of Father-sama¡¯s affection¡­¡­ is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re honestly being very disobedient.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    To let things get into such a state¡­¡­ she¡¯s guilty of letting things go too far.

    ¡°How old were you when you became twisted?¡±

    ¡°Shut up shut up! I know that you¡¯re a bad person who¡¯s collaborated with the Daemons! Because my blood was pure, you specially caused my engagement annulment, and why with Roderick-sama,¡±

    ¡°Hohoo.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It seemed that onee-sama was also aware of the fact. It would be bad if the blood became too thick¡­¡­

    ¡°Really¡­ you¡¯re so twisted.¡±

    ¡°SHUUT UUP!¡±

    Athena-onee-sama, how cute¡­¡­

    However. Although it was nice to have a Tsundere, it¡¯s a huge amount of trouble for everyone else, you know?

    Besides that¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena onee-sama seems to have misunderstood¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiie¡±

    When I released the presence of a Demon, the whites of my eyes were corroded with [Black], and my pupils were stained a bloodlike crimson.

    ¡°¡­ah, ¡­Aa¡±

    At my onee-sama who was speechless, I smiled quietly at her, showing her my red crystalline fangs.

    ¡°As you can see, I am¡­ a [Demon] after all.¡±

    I thrust myself at my sister¡¯s throat, while she was frozen with fear.

    ¡°Aaaa, ¡­a, Ah.¡±

    Sweet¡­ Sweet! What a sweet soul! It was even better than that beauty¡¯s¡­ better than most.

    I wanted to slurp it all up at once. ¡­But, aaaah, it was wasteful.

    But¡­

    ¡°Puhaaa¡±

    A small amount of blood. While halfway through taking the soul, I took my mouth off of my sister¡¯s throat.

    As expected, it was best to slurp it up while it was alive.

    Sitting down my mute, hollow-eyed sister, I spoke to her kindly.

    ¡°Athena onee-sama. With half of your soul, I took most of your memory.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe it will be difficult before you can live a decent life from now on, but please do your best to live. I suppose that if your soul is able to revive, I will get the other half as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If I left about half her soul, she shouldn¡¯t become a vampire. It¡¯s an experiment, and if it succeeds, I can increase the number of people.

    ¡°Tina, Fannie, can you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send onee-sama over there after this. I think I might be able to send her since her soul is diminished, but please deliver her to Father-sama. She¡¯s lost her memory.¡±

    Well, then, now that I¡¯ve tasted the soul of onee-sama. I¡¯d really like to harvest another, you know?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    She has a Demonic expression. It¡¯s the sisters¡¯ turn.

    I cut it here because it was too long.

    The Hero¡¯s [Fourth Heroine¡¯s End], the older sister¡¯s [half bad end].

    Two chapters remain. They¡¯re scheduled for Friday night and Saturday.

    Thank you for keeping with me.

 CH 69

    Volume 4, Chapter 20: The Demon Princess, Part 3

    ¡°[Well, Geas¡­¡­ You can stop holding it in. It¡¯s okay to speak your desires. With this special soul, I will send you to the time when that girl was happy.]¡±

    Deep within the plane¡­ In the [Laboratory] that created [Doors] to various dimensions, the Demon Heraness whispered into the ears of Geas.

    A strong soul that could cross over to another world wasn¡¯t too rarely seen, but after maturing the soul for over a hundred years, it was about time to harvest it.

    Deliberately, the last stroke¡­¡­ The Demon broke Geas¡¯ heart to injure his soul.

    ¡°[Take the girl. It¡¯s easy with your power. Even if she has become the thing of another man, even if they have already made a child, you should just kill it and take it all.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Such a thing¡­ she¡±

    ¡°[Isn¡¯t it fine¡­? Aren¡¯t you the only one able to bring happiness to her? Is it okay for her to be happy with someone other than you? Is it acceptable that you have been deprived of your rightful place?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Aaah¡­¡±

    The Cruel [Demon¡¯s whisper] tore at his heart, and Geas covered his face with his hands as he shed tears.

    At this sight, an expression of joy floated on the Demon¡¯s face,

    ¡°[Why are you troubled? You should just do whatever you like. Take back what was taken from you]¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do¡­ such a thing¡±

    ¡°[Then, let me show you their current situation. This is reality.]¡±

    In the darkness of the plane, the scenery of another world was shown to Geas.

    ¡°[Look¡­Right now, that unknown man is taking out the ring. Look closely at the face of the woman that was your wife.]¡±

    ¡°Have all her feelings for me already been lost?¡±

    ¡°[You are already past tense to her now. Are you alright with that¡­? Did you really believe that she would keep waiting for you?]¡±

    ¡°A woman¡¯s heart is as fickle as an autumn sky¡­ didn¡¯t you know that?¡±

    ¡°[Yes, yes¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­Whaat!?]¡±

    In that moment, he realized that there was a golden-haired girl that was torturing Geas together with him, Heraness flew off in a hurry and took his distance.

    ¡°[Y-you, how did you get here!?]¡±

    ¡°Ara, I¡¯m here to obstruct you, Hera¡­ he¡­ Hyacinth-san¡±

    ¡°[Who the heck is that!]¡±

    Heraness¡¯ angry roar shook the entire plane, and Yurushia who was bad at remembering names of people made a slightly embarrassed expression as the ends of her eyebrows drooped, and she hid her mouth with a black fan.

    ¡°A monkey did it. By the way, your breath smells¡­¡­ I can smell it even from here. Do you have an upset stomach?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­You bitch]¡±

    If his stomach was really upset, Heraness really wanted to say that it was her fault, but somehow, he got the feeling that that would be falling into the pace of this strange Demon.

    His intuition was proven right as a strange atmosphere was born the moment that he noticed her [Presence] that made him dizzy.

    First of all: how did she even get here?

    Other than Heraness, only people who had [Committed a Sin] or were those who [Had Malicious Intent] could pass through that gate, and if other Demons and spirits tried to pass through, they would take considerable amounts of time and magic power.

    Even if it was a limit-exceeding [Devil], it was no exception.

    Then¡­¡­ who was this [Demon] that was in front of him¡­¡­?

    ¡°[¡­¡­Coming to a place like this alone¡­ Young [Devil], aren¡¯t you too overconfident in your own power?]¡±

    He would search for it later.

    Just now Heraness had retreated due to the presence of Rinne, the [Demon Beast].

    It was rare for conflicts to happen between the high-ranking Demons in the Demon World, and even if they destroyed their opponent, since others would know that their powers were weak afterwards, they would come to destroy them.

    The only exception that Heraness had never ever thought of fighting was the [Dark Beast] that struck out with his fangs without fear of death.

    But that [Demon Beast], would take several months to reach this place.

    ¡°What can I do with me alone¡­?¡±

    ¡°[That¡¯s what I said, Yurushia.]¡±

    Gradually¡­ as the two peak Demons began to leak out their [Presence], Geas¡¯ body began to spasm as his soul withered.

    ¡°Oops¡­ Please wait. If you do, I¡¯ll show you something good.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­Are you hesitant now?]¡±

    ¡°Well, well, if you want to [Finish] that human soul, there are also a few methods.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    The Demon watched and waited as Yurushia talked to Geas with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Geas-san? I¡¯ve been doing my best for a long time. ¡­¡­It¡¯s been more than 50 years.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    50 years. Feeling something strange about those words, Geas raised his head.

    Geas had been collecting souls for over 100 years. What in the world was this little girl saying?

    ¡°That spectacle¡­¡­ I know of it a little. However, I¡¯d have thought it a dream¡­¡­ That scene is at least 40 to 50 years in the past, from what I know.¡±

    ¡°eh¡­ wh-¡­¡­what?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s strange. You didn¡¯t think much about what you were [Seeing]. Perhaps, you were misled about the flow of time?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-¡±

    The sight that Geas had been shown at the age of 3 had been [Current] events then.

    Heraness had lied to Geas with words of the [Future], and adjusted Geas¡¯ perception of time so that she would be at the cusp of happiness with another man when Geas reached his limit.

    ¡°To think that thanks to your perseverance, it would take 50 years.¡±

    When Yurushia glanced his way, Heraness¡¯ face abruptly grimaced.

    Heraness¡¯ original plan had been around 30 years. He had probably meant to break Geas¡¯ heart by showing him his [Wife] surrounded by her husband and a child when he was an [Old Man] at the age of 60.

    But Geas had held out for 50 years¡­¡­ and had held out for 100 years.

    ¡°Even for Demons, to foresee the future and to control time is impossible, you know? The first thing you were shown was real¡­ How many years have passed since then?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­a¡­AAA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!¡±

    Geas crumbled down crying when he heard the [Truth]¡­¡­ and the reality of the situation.

    He didn¡¯t know whether he would live more than 50 years from the time when he was 22.

    The soul of Geas was dyed in despair¡­¡­

    To break the hearts of those who had been deceived, there was nothing better to say than the [Truth].

    And¡­ to Geas who was in this state, Yurushia handed him a small box with a smile.

    ¡°Geas-san, please make your wish. Make a [Contract] with me.¡±

    ¡°[You bitch! What are you saying?!]¡±

    Heraness pressed angrily to Yurushia, who was trying to snatch his prey from the side. ¡­ But

    ¡°[Wh-this is¡­, why!?]¡±

    At the instant he approached the two, Heraness noticed that time seemed to slip, and that he was seeing double.

    ¡°[YurushiaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!]¡±

    A [Devil] who understood the hearts of men, and collected souls with sweet words.

    There was a remarkable difference between souls that were collected by killing and those obtained by a [Contract].

    For that reason, Yurushia had set a trap.

    By including the [Spirit Language] in the conversation,

    ¡°[The flow of time was tampered with.]¡±

    ¡°[That Demon cannot foresee the future nor can he control the time of the world.]¡±

    And, with those words, she had delayed the [Observed] time of Heraness by several dozen seconds with that [Demonic Magic].

    And in the meantime, she brought everything to an end.

    ¡°¡­¡­Please¡­ kill me.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you for your contract©`¡±

    *bon¡­.*

    ¡°[AAAAAAAAAAAAAA]¡±

    In front of Heraness¡¯ eyes, Yurushia shattered Geas¡¯ body in an instant, and made it disappear.

    ¡°fufu¡­¡±

    In Yurushia¡¯s hands was Geas¡¯ soul, which had been stained black with deep despair.

    In Heraness¡¯ eyes, he could clearly see that all the sins, all the despair within that soul had been chained by the [Contract], and bound to Yurushia.

    ¡°[¡­¡­You did it. Yurushia¡­]¡±

    ¡°The moment when you were unable to fulfil Geas¡¯ wish, the contract between you two was gone. Well¡­ even I didn¡¯t think that I would be able to do this much. I was quite desperate.¡±

    Yurushia gently took a breath and gestured as if she was wiping away her sweat as she did the unreasonable.

    In the first place, why was she, a newly born [Devil], able to so naturally swindle a [Demon Lord]?

    While saying that Demons couldn¡¯t manipulate the time of the world, how was she an existence that could cheat time locally?

    ¡°Ever since I was called a Devil, I¡¯ve been getting strange knowledge about how to use my power¡­¡­ Is this normal?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    It was certainly true that as a Demon¡¯s [Class] went up, they would acquire new [powers].

    But the [Devil] in front of him was just too irregular.

    In any case.

    ¡°[¡­¡­To obtain that soul, I must destroy you]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    Yurushia spoke lightly as she threw out the soul of Geas that she had worked hard for all too easily.

    ¡°[Wha¡­ Oi!]¡±

    Geas¡¯ soul fell through the door of [Space-time] that was being used in an experiment, and disappeared to a place where the Demons couldn¡¯t reach.

    ¡°[Why would you do that?!]¡±

    Even as Heraness¡¯ anger filled the plane, Yurushia¡¯s relaxed smile didn¡¯t change.

    Heraness didn¡¯t understand what this [Devil] was trying to do.

    This [Devil] was just too [Different]¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°[Has there ever been a [Devil] like you¡­¡­ However, you¡¯re not a [Demon Beast]. You can¡¯t even be a [Demon Lord]. Just [What] are you¡­!?]¡±

    As the [Hostility] and [Bloodthirst] overflowed from the two high-ranking demon pillars, the plane cracked, and the dimension screamed.

    Yurushia tilted her head slightly, as she smiled lightly at Heraness, and her cherry-colored lips spilled the words into the darkness.

    ¡°¡­[Demon Princess]¡­¡±

    That sweet smile, turned into the gruesome [Demon]¡®s smile.

    The two high-ranking pillars then began to fight wordlessly, their impacts shocking and destroying the plane, for several months without end.

 CH 70

    Volume 4, Chapter 21: And so, a Legend was born¡­

    A man was born in a small town in Japan.

    When he was born, he wondered why he felt like some kind of [Compulsory Gift], and he marveled at the foreign [Brands] that he didn¡¯t know, but other than that, he grew up ordinary and normal.

    From a young age, he was a child that was more sensitive towards familial love over others.

    Ever since he was a child, he had been searching for [Someone].

    He wished to return somewhere¡­ Without any knowledge of [Where] that place was, he graduated from college, and when he¡¯d gotten a job and started to live alone, he met [Her].

    She was a lady who seemed to have lost her husband right before she was about to be married.

    She lived in the apartment where she was to live with her [Husband] without returning to her parents, and lived while thinking of her husband that had suddenly gone missing.

    The man fell in love with her. Although the woman wasn¡¯t extraordinarily beautiful, her tears stopped the moment he saw her, and before he had noticed, he was calling out to her.

    Naturally, he had been rejected by her at first.

    However, the man was still not willing to give up. This was the one that he¡¯d been looking for ever since he¡¯d been born, and he thought that he¡¯d finally found it.

    Three years passed, and he gradually healed her sorrow, and she seemed to miss the [Presence] of a man, and so the ice in her heart gradually melted.

    Ever since he was young, he was being driven by this [Black Chain] on his mind.

    In his pocket was an engagement ring that he¡¯d poured three months¡¯ salary into.

    As he grasped it and gathered himself, he could hear a cat¡¯s [Nyaa] as if it was encouraging him.

    £ª£ª£ª

    A few months later, the [Black Vortex] disappeared after the girl called the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom] had gone in.

    Nobody knew what had happened, and the girl never returned from that place.

    The people prayed to the gods that the girl would return, even though rumors went that the [Saint] had sealed the evil at the expense of her own body.

    There couldn¡¯t be a settlement between the Daemons and humans.

    The survivors of the Daemon King¡¯s army had been touched by the mercy of the [Saint], and went back to the Daemon King¡¯s territory without fighting any further, and after that, under the name of the Daemon King Hebrad, a non-aggression pact was made with the human nations.

    The human nations were scared of the Forest of Monsters, and had never thought of robbing the Daemon Kingdom of its wastelands by force, and accepted the non-aggression pact, and the way to the Daemon Kingdom was sealed.

    Later, according to the tales that travelled out, the Daemon King had apparently become devoted to the creation of strange seaweed dishes, and married a beautiful Dwarf princess.

    ¡°¡­¡­Uho¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That girl will come again.¡±

    ¡°Uho~¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s good. When that girl comes, let me know.¡±

    The humans were saddened by the fact that the Saint didn¡¯t return, but those who knew the girl didn¡¯t despair or become lost hope.

    After the girl had rushed into the black vortex, her attendants had returned once, and brought back a single message along with a girl who¡¯d lost her memory.

    [I went somewhere that¡¯s a little troublesome, so I¡¯ll be coming back home in about 1~2 years. Father, Mother, I¡¯m sorry to make you worry, but I¡¯ll leave Sister-sama in your care.]

    With that polite sentence that was unmistakably like her, all of the people present had delicate expressions on their faces.

    But it was thanks to her [Virtue] that the heavy atmosphere lightened with that.

    The companions of the girl with amnesia that¡¯d been rescued were already gone, and the elf and the female swordsman seemed to have been arrested by the guards in the city of Kolkopo, so she was sent home to Tariterudo where she¡¯d been born.

    And, the girl with amnesia¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena-chan, call me mother.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ye¡­s¡­¡±

    Athena lived in a separate residence from Duke Verusenia¡¯s official one, under the protection of Duke Folt and Duchess Riastea.

    A girl who¡¯d lost most of her emotions along with her memory.

    A girl who could do the bare minimum, and had become like a child.

    Riastea felt pity for her, and took care of her as if she was her own, but the situation barely improved after six months.

    It wasn¡¯t uncommon for her to become dazed throughout the day, and the maids who had been harmed by her had initially hated her, but now, they took the initiative to talk to her.

    Athena also began to learn to talk little by little, but her emotions barely returned.

    Only one¡­¡­

    ¡°Athena-sama, there¡¯s a visitor for you¡±

    The boy called the [Holy Warrior] of the Holy Kingdom came to see her at times.

    The boy regretted being unable to convince Athena who was both his relative and a childhood friend, and came around to see her once every few days.

    A girl who fell in love with the same prince as her mother and couldn¡¯t be honest about her feelings, would only occasionally smile then.

    The friends of the girl felt lonely rather than sad.

    They believed that she was safe, but lived in loneliness and resentment for not being able to meet her.

    ¡°I wonder when Yu-Yuru will come back¡±

    ¡°Why, are you worried?¡±

    Timothy, who was in the [Kyle Imperial Palace Garden], replied relaxedly while holding the indignant Beatrice by the shoulder.

    What was the reason for this? At first Betty didn¡¯t really understand, and it seems that he liked her during the time when they were a couple in school, and she was the [Prime Candidate for the Fianc¨¦ of the First Prince]¡­¡­ that is, Timothy¡¯s wife.

    While it remained to be seen was whether this [disappointingly neat and trim black haired maiden] would be the future Queen, but unexpectedly it seemed that she got along very well with the light and fluffy Timothy. ¡­¡­ She was still anxious.

    The Hero of the Holy Kingdom gained the title of [Count] at the tender age of 13 as a result of successfully repelling the Daemon King¡¯s Army.

    Although various calculations and intentions were hidden behind this, Noel, who had never attended magic school despite having an aptitude for magic, was sent to the magic school in the capital for the sake of improving his connections and refinement as a noble against his will.

    For him, though, there was unexpectedly an [Enemy] waiting for him there.

    ¡°Noel-sama, where are you going! Are you going to search for Yuru-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Shelly-san, please don¡¯t follow me.¡±

    Noel had gone out of the school many times during the break in search of the girl who was the Saint.

    But, no matter how much of a [Hero] he was, he couldn¡¯t go looking on the other side of the dimension, and as a consequence he was frustrated with the distance of the school.

    Originally, he had been surrounded by the female students, but now there were no girls who chose to speak to him, instead surrounding him at a distance.

    However, Shelly, who had heard that Noel was going to search for the girl, had followed him about every time, and kept saying that she had come to follow Noel exploring.

    ¡°I am not going anywhere today. And aren¡¯t the places I go to dangerous? A girl like Shelly-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! I¡¯ve learned to use weapons from Yuru-sama¡¯s guardian knights, so, take a look. ¡­Eii¡±

    Shelly picked up a tree branch and swung it at a speed that wouldn¡¯t even have killed an insect.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Haa~¡±

    If he took her along, he would surely have to protect both himself and her, Noel sighed.

    He knew of Shelly¡¯s thoughts and her efforts too. Every time he noticed it, he realized that he couldn¡¯t refuse her, and he sighed heavily.

    Everyone who knew of that [Saint] girl¡­¡­ He believed that Yurushia would be safe, but he was anxious to have her come back soon.

    That girl wished for the happiness of people, and used her mercy to stop the war with the Daemons, and the depth of her love caused even the evil monsters to repent.

    People praised her as the [Legendary Saint], and started to tell tales of her to their children as bedtime stories.

    What was Yurushia doing now¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    While absorbing the resentment left behind when a high-ranking Demon disappeared that tasted like [butter pancakes covered in vanilla ice-cream and honey], I took a rest at last.

    ¡°¡­¡­Aah~ that was tough.¡±

    Just how many days did it take¡­?

    After that last [Meal], I was now completely out of magic power. Although a demon doesn¡¯t need to eat or sleep, since it¡¯s an [Indulgence], I got annoyed if I couldn¡¯t have it.

    Ah, uhm, err¡­¡­ he was stronger than I was.

    When his emotions swayed, his more demonic character came through, and although I had to fight unexpectedly, I thought that I had a good chance to win.

    Well, victory ended up being through a difference in stamina.

    ¡°Fuu~¡­¡±

    I sat on the shattered fragments of the floor that remained, and ate the octopus that was seasoned with souls. Thanks to this, I was able to replenish my magic power in the end.

    Nonono, it would be nice if I didn¡¯t have any [equipment that was cursed with marine products (dresses)].

    I felt an octopus¡¯ tentacles while I was fighting, but I was being looked at with horrified eyes¡­¡­

    Strong monkey-san, I¡¯ll never forget your name. ¡­¡­Rinne.

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s the matter¡±

    I wanted to sigh at this plane that spread out as far as I could see.

    At first, there was still a passage and a room, but now there¡¯s almost no floor nor ceiling¡­¡­in short, the way from which I came has completely collapsed.

    Yes, I know I was using my magic absurdly as I rampaged, but for the dimensions to be broken and distorted like this¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    For now, I will wait patiently.

    My magic power has hardly fully returned, and I¡¯ve been waiting for something too.

    I¡¯d made a [Landmark] for myself to return from this broken plane, and it¡¯s my aim.

    Beyond that, my soul is connected to [Rinne]. I think I¡¯ll be able to return someday if I followed it¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ swoosh

    ¡°[I finally caught up with you, Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Rinne, in his black cat mode, suddenly descended onto my shoulder, but why do you have that [I¡¯ve come now so it¡¯s alright] expression on your face, you muscle-brain.

    Well, I guess I¡¯ll just mofumofu as much as I can.

    I¡¯m in the mood now.

    ¡°[¡­¡­I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d lose, but I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d win.]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    ¡°Yeah, but there were various factors. For one, there was someone who taught me to fight during the battle.¡±

    ¡°[In a place like this? ¡­¡­who was that?]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    ¡°¡­¡­Someone who called himself [Onii-chan]¡­¡±

    ¡°[What¡¯s with that¡­¡­?]¡±

    Mofumofu.

    Ever since I became a Devil, a number of things that I previously didn¡¯t know have appeared.

    How to distinguish souls. How to use the spirit language. And the Devil magic combined with the Holy magic¡­¡­

    He taught me all of those. Or rather, I don¡¯t know anyone who could do such a thing other than that person.

    That youth that had proclaimed that he and I were [Siblings] in an unknown dream.

    A true [Devil] that had travelled the dimensions for thousands of years¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to figure out how to go back¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[I¡¯ll say this first, it¡¯s impossible to rely on the four of them. You see, they too have been chasing the presence of Yurushia.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Those children¡­ Well, it¡¯s okay. I still have my last resort.¡±

    I¡¯ll keep waiting.

    In this laboratory connected to various dimensions. This broken plane, linked to [That Place].

    ¡°¡­¡­come¡±

    A click¡­ and it was finally connected with that small sound.

    I thought that it was a [Dream] all this time. But now I realized that it was a [Reality].

    ¡°[¡­¡­This is]¡±

    A crack ran through the space, and beyond it, high-rise buildings¡­ trains¡­ a myriad of automobiles¡­ an endless cityscape¡­¡­ it was the [World of Light] that I¡¯d seen in my [Dream].

    This was why I released the [Soul] that wanted to return to that place. To discover that [World].

    There were many people. A countless number of them¡­¡­

    There were so many wonderful [Souls] that were so tainted with rot that was more than I could eat.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Rinne. I¡¯ll replenish my souls over there and then return home to where Father and Mother and everyone else is.¡±

    A nostalgic world that was full of light. But it¡¯s not my hometown any longer. I¡¯ll just stop by a bit to get what I need to return.

    But what floated up onto my face, was an unbearably delighted smile¡­¡­

    ¡°Fufufu, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you in person for the first time, nostalgic-world-san Now, please excuse this [Demon] coming in.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you for reading. The first part of the [Demon Princess] ends like this.

    Thank you so much to everyone who¡¯s read and supported this.

    I was a bit lost on whether I should have extended it, but I just let it proceed according to the plot.

    It¡¯s quite a strange short tale.

    The second part, [Demon Princess II ~The fluffy Devil¡¯s travels~ [Remake]]

    will be starting soon

    I await both your comments and criticisms.

 CH 71

    Volume 5, Chapter 0: The Prelude for Part 2

    As space-time violently rippled, the shattered human soul was sent through the torrent of the dimensions.

    It was a storm of emptiness raging in a void that had nothing.

    ¡°I¡± dreamt in that violent whirlpool.

    Beautiful, gentle parents¡­ Living as a noble¡­ Smiling towards servants¡­

    Golden hair¡­ Black hair¡­ little friends.

    A big castle¡­ a splendid king¡­ a little boy with a defiant face¡­

    A boy with earnest eyes that held a sword¡­¡­

    And¡­

    The sweet smell of overflowing blood¡­

    A dark sky¡­ A dark world¡­

    Thousands of grotesque monsters, all kneeling before me¡­

    Four boys and a girl¡­

    An enormous cat¡­ dark like ink¡­

    Reflected in its eyes¡­¡­

    A golden cat.

    I quietly dreamed it all.

    A wall that was made to stop ¡°Me¡±, that had enormous power,

    And a great force called out for ¡°Me¡±.

    Someone was calling.

    An unknown voice¡­? No, I know this voice. A boy¡­? A girl¡­?

    I faintly heard the quiet whine of a ¡°Beast¡±.

    Were you¡­ calling out to me?

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, you¡¯re awake.¡±

    When I opened my eyes, the white light shone against my eyes. I heard someone¡¯s voice in the background that was still blurry to me.

    A young woman¡­? But for some reason it¡¯s a nostalgic feeling.

    My body wouldn¡¯t move. I felt like I was asleep.

    ¡°Ah, hold on, don¡¯t get up yet.¡±

    I kept pushing against the lady that was holding my body down, but she pulled me into an embrace and touched her forehead to mine. It¡¯s a little¡­ cold and pleasant.

    ¡°Mm¡­ the fever¡¯s gone down. You¡¯ve had a terrible fever and been asleep since yesterday morning. The women were making a terrible commotion. Hey, aren¡¯t you hungry?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No¡±

    A small voice came out. But it felt a little different. Was it because of fever? It seemed like it¡¯d been a long time since I¡¯d gotten sick¡­

    ¡°Is that so¡­? Then, shall I peel some fruit for you? You won¡¯t get better if you don¡¯t eat something, you know.¡±

    In my field of vision that gradually widened, I saw a girl smiling at me.

    A spirited girl with black hair and eyes¡­ that looked like a junior high school student.

    Someone I don¡¯t know¡­? But, it felt like I knew her.

    A nostalgic smile. A bright room that I feel like I¡¯ve seen somewhere.

    A flower-patterned wallpaper. Crayon graffiti. A colorful picture book. A stuffed teddy bear.

    A large cushion that had faded colors. A small white chair and desk.

    At that scene¡­ tears fell unbidden from my eyes even as I was unaware because of that nostalgic feeling.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    The girl¡¯s voice was surprised, and hugged me gently, stroking my head quietly.

    A big hand¡­¡­ No, I¡¯m just small.

    ¡°I saw a scary dream¡­ It¡¯s okay¡­¡­ Yuzu¡­¡­¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Today I¡¯m going to post about 5 chapters. They¡¯re scheduled for every hour.

    The prologue is short, but the next will be about 3000-4000 words.

    From the sixth chapter, I¡¯ll post about once every 2 days, but if I have leeway, I¡¯ll post ahead of schedule.

 CH 72

    Volume 5, Chapter 1: I became Yuzu, Part 1

    ¡°Your memory must be muddled¡­¡­? Yuzu, do you not remember us?¡±

    ¡°Kotone, you¡¯re being too loud. You¡¯re going to upset the poor girl.¡±

    ¡°Well, Yuzu remembers some things, but it seems like she¡¯s forgotten things too. When she reads picture books or watches movies that we watched together, she might have all of these memories mixed up because of the heat, and can¡¯t distinguish reality from fiction.¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡­ is it not curable?¡±

    ¡°The doctor said that it should settle over time¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yuzu¡¯s body is rather delicate, so don¡¯t try to forcibly remind her. You might make her even more damaged and cause her to run a fever again.¡±

    ¡°Understood¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand, Father.¡±

    ¡­¡­ I heard that conversation coming from the living room.

    Father, Mother, and my elder brother and sister were talking.

    ¡­ If you don¡¯t want me to hear, you guys should really lower your voices¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuu¡­¡±

    I was thinking of heading from the top of the stairs to the bottom, the living room, but when I heard my family¡¯s voices, I sighed and turned back towards my room where I had been sleeping up until a while ago.

    The room was far away and quiet. Although it was only two stories, I think that it is quite a big house, having six rooms on the second floor¡­ what is this house?

    Still, I felt like it was far away as I was tiny.

    I was a little girl whose height only reached the doorknob, a 5-year-old girl¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuzu,¡± apparently.

    Was my memory cloudy¡­¡­? I certainly didn¡¯t know what my name was until it was said, but it felt like the mixed memories were really real as well¡­ did I ever see a movie like that?

    Still, I certainly remembered more things whenever I looked at the inside of the house or met with the family. But, not all of it. There were a lot of things that I didn¡¯t remember despite being shown a picture.

    I wonder if I could live a decent life like this.

    Yesterday, after I cried in that room, I didn¡¯t remember that that girl was my ¡°Onee-chan¡± and I was attended to by my Father and Mother who had come back from their work in a panic, before being taken to the university hospital.

    So when the doctor said that my memory was going to be this way, I was like ¡®mmhmm I see¡¯ but my parents were rather dismayed.

    Well, I¡¯m still about 5 years old, so if I live normally in the future, all the memories that I¡¯ve jumbled up will become filled with new memories¡­¡­ if I am an ordinary 5 year old.

    Even though I said this myself, but I don¡¯t think that this was naive because of the strange memories.

    In the fragmented, cloudy, memories, a black-haired me was wearing a uniform and attending junior high, and then I was golden-haired and in a European-style castle.

    Because of that I could act like an adult and keep myself quiet, and while wondering if something was wrong, I was forced to go straight to bed.

    Because of that, I am very busy now. But until I settled down for them, both the picture books and the TV of the room were sealed from me.

    And so, since I couldn¡¯t sleep since I was feverish, I went downstairs and heard my family talking about that.

    Well, it¡¯s nice to return to my room, but there¡¯s really nothing to do. I¡¯m not allowed to sleep on the adults¡¯ bed.

    For the time being, I decided to take a look at myself in the full-length mirror that was in my room. I don¡¯t remember my face that well, either.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, so that¡¯s my face.¡±

    When I looked at myself in the mirror, there was a black-haired girl in a thin pink negligee.

    I don¡¯t remember, but I thought to myself that I looked pretty¡­ If one looked at themselves in the mirror and felt uncomfortable, they¡¯d only feel anxiety about life in the future, after all.

    I wasn¡¯t very worried, because my onee-chan was cute too, but my face was actually quite good for a young child¡­ it¡¯s just a bit¡­ unnatural.

    And there¡¯s that too¡­ As a rich person, it seems that being a beautiful wife and mother and a groom have been arranged for.

    But my eyes are droopy¡­ Onee-chan resembled mother and looked ordinary, but I looked like a dead grandma with slightly droopy eyes.

    When I looked at myself I looked sleepy. Indeed, if anyone saw me, they¡¯d definitely say I should go to bed as soon as possible.

    Well, it¡¯s alright. Because my hair was shiny black and glossy, I looked like an adorable little lady.

    ¡°Ah ah ah, Yuzu, it¡¯s no good if you don¡¯t go to bed.¡±

    While I was thinking about that, my onee-chan came into my room saw me in front of the mirror and called out loudly to me.

    ¡°Kotone¡­¡­ Onee-chan?¡±

    As I spoke out her name with almost no confidence, Kotone-onee-chan looked lonely for a moment¡­ but then immediately smiled and lifted me up. It was unexpectedly powerful.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s Kotone-onee-chan~. Let¡¯s go to bed, Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But, I¡¯m not sleepy.¡±

    ¡°Oh well¡­¡­ but only one picture book, okay.¡±

    Togaki Kotone. My older sister. A third year student attending junior high. 14 years old. She¡¯s got quite the age gap with me.

    As you can plainly tell, onee-chan is very kind to me. It seems that it was caused by her lonely childhood, because both father and mother have been busy with their jobs and couldn¡¯t be home much.

    There were domestic helpers, but because they weren¡¯t live-in helpers they returned home in the evenings.

    Because she was often with her elder brother who was two years older than her alone in this large house, the two of them were very pleased that the number of family members had increased, and a sister with a great age gap, regardless of day or night I was beloved. ¡­¡­ so it seemed.

    I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know for sure because my memory is hazy. Still it is pretty easy to imagine from the current state of affairs.

    ¡°Yuzu, I brought you pudding.¡±

    When Kotone onee-chan put away the picture book, another person came into the room to pacify me with pudding.

    Togaki Ohba. My onii-chan. A second-year in a private high school. 16 years old.

    Errr¡­¡­ why didn¡¯t you knock? This is a girl¡¯s room, onii-chan.

    A five-year-old child really has no privacy.

    ¡°Aah, onii-chan, I was going to bring that over later to Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright for anyone to do it. Didn¡¯t Kotone buy it?¡±

    ¡°So give me half, and give Yuzu half to eat.¡±

    It was decided that I would eat it before I knew it.

    Pudding¡­¡­ I felt like it had been a long time. Of course, there is no child that hates pudding, so I was very pleased to get it.

    Now that I mention it, when I got up, I was given an un-tasty sports drink and tasteless rice gruel but my hunger hasn¡¯t abated at all. I didn¡¯t notice it, but am I really ill?

    ¡°Here, Yuzu, say ah~¡±

    ¡°¡­a, Ah~n¡±

    I was a little embarrassed. It¡¯s because I don¡¯t have the mental age of a five year old or as a younger sister, so even if it¡¯s onii-chan, it¡¯s embarrassing to have a boy that age take care of me.

    But I¡¯ll take it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it delicious?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-yes.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Oh no. What¡¯s this¡­ I can¡¯t taste it?

    I thought that my sense of taste had become strange because of my fever, but my fever is already fading, and I can taste the eggs, milk, and sugar properly.

    I wonder what I should say¡­¡­¡­ From the pudding, I could feel the ¡°richness¡± and ¡°umami¡± of the egg and the milk. Perhaps the porridge that the helper made was also supposed to be delicious¡­¡­ Maybe I did something bad by not finishing it and leaving it.

    ¡°Would you like to eat ice cream next?¡±

    ¡°If you eat only cold things you¡¯ll ruin your stomach. Onee-chan will make you a hotcake.¡±

    ¡°No! It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m sleepy now that I ate.¡±

    I shook my head at onee-chan¡¯s cheerful proposal. I¡¯m sorry, but any more of this ascetic behavior is impossible for me.

    Maybe ice-cream would be a soft sugared ice, but hotcake sounds like it¡¯ll be nothing but the taste of burnt flour.

    It seems¡­ I am strange.

    I know things and understand things that I shouldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t get hungry. I can¡¯t taste food.

    As I laid down on the fancy bed to rest, Kotone onee-chan laid with me until I fell asleep, but she smelled like a very sweet fruit¡­¡­

    I felt for some reason like she was very ¡®delicious¡¯¡­¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, let¡¯s head outside.

 CH 73

    Volume 5, Chapter 2: I became Yuzu, Part 2

    It¡¯s been a week since I got permission to go out. Up until then, I hadn¡¯t taken a step from home and haven¡¯t even gone to kindergarten.

    That¡¯s right. I am a ¡°Kindergartener¡± now.

    ¡­¡­ what kind of face should I make if I want to go to kindergarten?

    Because I was still sick, I heard that I would be accompanied by Kotone-onee-chan when I went out. In other words: I can¡¯t be allowed out alone. Onii-chan wanted to come along, but his schedule and onee-chan¡¯s didn¡¯t match, and it had been arranged to match her schedule.

    It seems that I¡¯ll be escorted by the chauffeur instead.

    ¡­¡­eh? This is such a big household that we have a chauffeur?

    Well, I heard that Father ran a food processing company with around 500 employees, and Mother was a director of accounts in a foreign company that did cosmetics.

    How did the two of them even meet¡­?

    Our family wasn¡¯t one of those conglomerate households, nor were we among the rich, but since onee-chan and onii-chan were going to prestigious schools, I think that it was a necessity to commute by car.

    I¡¯m afraid of stepping into high society. I didn¡¯t realize it since I usually ate convenience store pudding and natto at home.

    ¡­¡­By the way, did you know? Natto without its flavor is just rotten beans.

    Anyway, since I seem to have gone off on a tangent, I¡¯m going out for my rehabilitation.

    If I was a genuine high-class lady, I think I¡¯d be wearing custom-made clothes when I head out into the neighborhood, no? Still, although I¡¯m wearing ordinary clothes I still feel unwilling to buy new items at the department store each time my size changes, since I¡¯m a child.

    ¡­¡­My way of thinking is surprisingly plebian.

    Anyway, Kotone-onee-chan¡­ sorry, that¡¯s too troublesome to say¡­ ¡°Kotone-chan¡± and I headed to a municipal park that was about 30 minutes away by car. Oh, but of course I¡¯ll usually call her ¡°Kotone onee-chan,¡± though.

    As for why we were going to a remote metropolitan park, it was because they thought that it would be less dangerous in a more populated park than in a small park that was nearby.

    Outside the window, the scenery of the city flowed by¡­¡­ But since we didn¡¯t talk at all about my memories, we arrived at the park just like that. Dropping Kotone-onee-chan and I off at the entrance, the driver went to park the car.

    Although it¡¯s a large park, I don¡¯t see anyone sunbathing on the grass like in a foreign country. Instead, there¡¯s housewives jogging normally and people who were walking their dogs, and there¡¯re also signs for hot dog stands and shops selling soft-serves.

    ¡°Yuzu, don¡¯t walk off on your own, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    I was afraid that my legs would atrophy because I hadn¡¯t gone about in a week, but as I ran around a little, I was relieved that I could run normally.

    It seems that it¡¯s dangerous if I wander out of sight of Kotone-chan, and there¡¯s a little freedom.

    ¡°I should have brought some toys to play with Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°What kind of toys?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm~¡­¡­ Frisbee¡­?¡±

    Please stop. I can¡¯t retrieve it.

    Somehow my strides were different from how I thought they should be and I fell down rolling, but since it was in the grass it didn¡¯t hurt. While I fell a few times, I got used to running quite a bit.

    But I have no physical strength. Come to think of it, I think I was told that my body wasn¡¯t very strong, and that I would run out of breath when I ran about 100 meters.

    This must be what they meant by having no physical strength. With myself in such a condition, there¡¯s no way I can go with other children in kindergarten. While I was thinking while running, it seems I¡¯ve gotten a distance away from Kotone-chan.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    A small noise leaked out from my mouth.

    In front of me, there was an older man with no defense on his scalp that was pulling along a very big dog that had short fur. If it was a medium-sized dog it¡¯s all well and good for it to be seen in the park, but I think that to bring such a large dog into a park where there¡¯s a small infant is a breach of etiquette.

    In short, the problem is that I just jumped out in front of this huge dog that looked like a hunting dog.

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    I heard Kotone¡¯s voice coming from the distance.

    But the dog owner didn¡¯t even notice my existence even with that yell.

    Although this is just my perspective, I had the impression that people that were larger in height and width were oblivious to their surroundings so that they didn¡¯t have to look around too much.

    This man was exactly that type. Even though he knew that the dog that he owned could easily kill an infant with a bite, he thought that his dog was different, and even if it wasn¡¯t, he believed that others would avoid him and be wary.

    ¡­¡­ in this case, it¡¯s my fault for being careless.

    ¡°[¡­¡­Guruu¡­]¡±

    The big dog saw me. I, too, looked at the dog.

    It¡¯s a big, black dog¡­ but, I¡¯m not too scared.

    In spite of myself, I stretched out my hands to pat the dog, and smiled gently. Hey¡­ it¡¯s not scary?

    ¡°[Kyaaaaaain!!!!]¡±

    ¡°Betty-chan!?¡±

    Suddenly, the doggy raised up a sorrowful cry and tried to drag away the confused pet owner, and disappeared out of sight quickly.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    After watching that scene, when Kotone-chan came running to me, she had an equally stunned expression, like myself who was still holding out my hand.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s the meaning of this!?

    ¡°¡­¡­I think we should go home for now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    Kotone-chan had a somewhat tired expression on her face as she said so, and I nodded honestly as I felt that the mood had been ruined.

    Was I scared? I don¡¯t know. It doesn¡¯t make sense.

    Although it¡¯s a little earlier than scheduled, but I decided to go home, and the driver brought the car up from the parking lot to the park entrance.

    ¡°Would you like to get some juice from the shop?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­just water.¡±

    ¡°Eh~¡­¡­ My throat got thirsty in the car, so let¡¯s go get some.¡±

    Apparently, Kotone-chan wants to get a drink. I¡¯ll pass, sorry. Juice that isn¡¯t tasty is harder to drink than plain sugar water.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡­ heard a voice.¡±

    ¡°A voice¡­¡­?¡±

    At my words, Kotone-chan craned her neck at me with a strange expression. Was it my imagination¡­¡­? No, it¡¯s not, I heard it again. Something breaking in the distance¡­¡­ and someone screaming.

    It¡¯s getting closer¡­¡­ little by little.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything¡­¡­ Ah, the car¡¯s here. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m going to get some drinks.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kotone-onee-chan¡±

    *bakibakibaki!!!*

    The instant that I called out to her, there came a big truck crashing into the park, breaking through the fence and the shrubbery behind the shop.

    ¡°Hee~!¡±

    Kotone-chan froze at the suddenness of the event.

    I heard a scream in the vicinity. The truck didn¡¯t slow down and continued to plow straight ahead.

    ¡°Onee-chan¡±

    ¡°Yuzu, come here now!¡±

    I was running to Kotone-chan¡¯s side.

    ¡­¡­ I saw it. The world around me swam slowly, and the truck driver¡¯s eyes met mine.

    He was smiling while blowing bubbles from his mouth, Eyes that were erratic and bloodshot¡­¡­

    He had obviously gone insane.

    And clearly¡­ he was looking at me, and aiming for ¡°me¡±¡­¡­?

    Kotone-chan clung onto me as I stopped my feet.

    Feeling myself trembling, as if bubbling up from the bottom of my heart, some kind of [Emotion] filled me.

    ¡°[¡­¡­What are you doing with to onee-chan¡­¡­]¡±

    Looking over the shoulder of Kotone-chan who was hugging me, the face of the driver who ought to have gone insane cramped in fear, the birds and pigeons in the park few away in fear for some reason.

    As the truck approached ever closer, I put out my hand in front of me, gently¡­

    And with one hand, I caught the truck.

    Gigagagan!!!

    Like a small car colliding with a train, like a motorbike smashing into a concrete-reinforced bollard, it jumped up and over us contrary to its inertia, and rolled across the beautiful lawn, scraping it.

    Screams and shouts of anger came from around us. In the midst of the confusion, I pulled Kotone-chan, who was still in a blank daze up, and quickly left the park before we got caught.

    What¡­ am I?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, she will finally go to the kindergarten.

 CH 74

    Volume 5, Chapter 3: I became a kindergartener, Part 1

    Because of the strange incident that had happened at the park where I was, my prohibition on going out was extended another two weeks. Incidentally, there haven¡¯t been rumors about me either. Even if there were witnesses, nobody would believe such a thing had happened.

    It seems that the apparent reason why the prohibition got extended was because I had gotten a shock from the scene of the accident.

    Well, to be honest, I¡¯ve been crestfallen for a while.

    After all¡­¡­ how was I able to do such a thing¡­¡­?

    I don¡¯t understand myself. For I that, until now, couldn¡¯t even bend a spoon, I didn¡¯t know at all that I could do such a thing.

    Still, in that instant where I felt anger against that [Existence]that had frightened Kotone-chan, I don¡¯t know why, but I suddenly felt like ¡°I could do it¡±.

    ¡­¡­ well, there¡¯s no point in worrying about what I don¡¯t understand. It seems that I chafe at difficulty.

    Anyways, beyond all of that, I¡¯m going back to kindergarten starting today.

    ¡­¡­ is it alright for me?

    ¡°You grew so well, Yuzu, you¡¯re so cute.¡±

    The kindergarten uniform made me look about three times cuter than I thought.

    It looks amazingly expensive.

    As for why the uniform is such, it seems that it¡¯s because of Kotone-chan and onii-chan, who are in Takamine Academy, which is affiliated to the kindergarten.

    ¡­¡­ how much does it cost for these clothes that will only be worn for a couple of years??

    Well, the tuition fees are high, but children from ordinary families are also enrolled. It might be that an ordinary family would get the uniforms through net auctions or maybe they wear hand-me-downs.

    So¡­ I think my family is somewhere in the upper-middle class?

    For the time being, I¡¯m quietly attending kindergarten. There are also children of families who have relationships with Father¡¯s company, so although I¡¯m not normal I¡¯m not going to feign friendliness.

    My appearance reminds me of one of those high-class daughters if I was older.

    ¡­¡­ However, there¡¯s still some problems.

    I feel like my appearance changed subtly since I woke up.

    Although my aged, droopy-eyed expression hasn¡¯t changed, it feels like a subtle ¡°distortion¡± has disappeared.

    Even when I wake up in the morning, my eyelids aren¡¯t puffy. My face is also less puffy.

    I had good skin since I was a child, but it was now strangely glossy, and my sunburns faded back into my original skin color, but the skin looked whiter even while my complexion got better.

    And it seems improbable, but I think my features are now perfectly symmetrical¡­¡­

    It feels like an elaborate [Human-shaped Bisque doll] rather than a human¡­¡­ I do.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haa~¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yuzu, you¡¯re seriously cute today.¡±

    Ooba Onii-chan hugged me and took me to the car.

    Kotone-chan also wanted to hold me, but because of the size difference it seems that my uniform would crease if she did and become disorderly. For some reason the words ¡°hugging personnel¡± came to mind.

    Even then, my hair was tied by Kotone-chan. The hair that reached my collars was tied into a small pair of twintails with red ribbons.

    Uwaa¡­¡­ It¡¯s cute if I looked at it objectively, but at the same time it¡¯s embarrassing.

    A real twin tail, is this a certain consumer-electronics street (read: Akihabara), or am I in some Catholic school that¡¯s being watched over by a goddess?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because I think about these things that I¡¯mtold my memory has become hazy.

    The car came to pick us up and send me to kindergarten, which started early, then to the middle and high school sections which were next door.

    I can¡¯t even recall the faces of my kindergarten classmates, and I worried if this was okay, but it seems that that matter had been made known well in advance.

    Besides, if I saw their face, I might remember. So said the goddess-sama¡­¡­ hmm, for some reason it feels like I don¡¯t have the protection of the ¡°gods¡±.

    ¡°Yuzu, if you get into trouble you can ask the teacher to call for me, okay?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s better to call for me, if any boy decides to bully you, onii-chan will take care of them, okay.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going.¡±

    I got out of the car in front of the kindergarten, and was accompanied by the teacher who came to pick me up as I entered the compound. Sorry, teacher, but I don¡¯t remember.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­In short, because Yuzu has just recovered from an illness, please treat her kindly, everyone.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes~¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What do I do? The teacher seems to have omitted the fact that I don¡¯t remember things. It can¡¯t be helped. I just don¡¯t understand the difficulties of a kindergartener.

    I was surrounded with some distance. I managed to remember some faces somewhat, but it just doesn¡¯t come to me. A barrier was put up separating us automatically.

    It might be because of the change in my appearance¡­ The Yuzu that they knew seemed somewhat different, and they might be scared of me who seemed to resemble a doll.

    I¡¯m in trouble now. ¡°I¡± was remarkably carefree about my change.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ are you alright?¡±

    There was a tough guy speaking to me.

    I was a little bit surprised and turned to look, there was this tiny little cutey looking at me with a worried expression.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, erm¡­¡­¡±

    For some reason I felt like I played with this boy. But his name eluded me.

    That boy game me a harmless smile.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright, I heard from my father. My name is Handsome, remember?¡±

    ¡°Han¡­¡­ oh, I remember.¡±

    In an instant, my whole back was covered in a cold sweat, and I felt like my consciousness was about to fly off.

    Come to think of it, I remember hearing from Father yesterday that there was a boy with such a name. I thought at that time that he was joking with me¡­¡­

    When I hear it from the person himself, the destructive power of it is outrageous. What were this child¡¯s parents thinking when they gave him this name? Recently, I heard that such fancy and sparkling names were popular, but for them to evolve this far¡­¡­¡­ Were they unable to cancel the evolution?

    Oh crap, my face is making various expressions.

    But if I scrunch my nose in I lose. He¡¯s the scion of a famous meat processing company¡¯s president and a major client of father¡¯s company.

    The capital of his company and the number of employees were at national levels, with completely different orders of magnitude.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad¡­ I, had been worried.¡±

    ¡°Sorry¡­¡­¡±

    He had a pleasant plump smile on his face. Apparently, he has no doubts whatsoever about his own name¡­¡­ the industry¡¯s power is indeed deep.

    While I spoke with him, memories of him gradually came to light. He was quite the carefree character, but because of his body shape, he was getting teased by the stronger boys in the class.

    He was also biased towards our friendship, and played mostly only with children whose houses were like mine.

    It¡¯s more than I deserve¡­¡­ As the scion of a large enterprise, with a good personality and looks¡­¡­ he was cute like a stuffed toy, but had few friends whom he approved of.

    Was he easy to remember because he¡¯d had a big impact on me¡­¡­?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, shall we play over there?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ but, are you alright with me?¡±

    When you¡¯re with me, aren¡¯t you scaring off the other children? I thought so, but he blushed a little and shook his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s because Yuzu-chan is gentle that I get teased. ¡­¡­erm, but¡­ *you¡¯re cute*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! Would you like some snacks?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even though it¡¯d only been one hour since kindergarten began, he¡¯s already taken out a majestic ¡°snack¡± for me.

    So I thought while receiving a round ham.

    ¡­¡­ Please let me stay thin.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the secret of Handsome.

 CH 75

    Volume 5, Chapter 4: I became a kindergartener, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan, what¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Zo-san¡±

    For the [Tsubaki group] in my kindergarten, it was time to play with clay.

    Although we all started to clumsily play with the clay when the teacher whose name I still cannot remember said [Let¡¯s make our favorite animal today], I was thinking of a strange looking thing which felt a little off, and, as a result, I ended up trying really hard.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ What¡¯s this?¡±

    In front of me were several avant-garde-ish objects which each asserted a strange uniqueness.

    Handsome-kun said as much without meaning harm. ¡­¡­urgk, even if I say his name in my thoughts it makes me receive damage.

    Since he¡¯s such a carefree child, I was working on this with light thoughts, however; as a result, the child sitting opposite me began to cry before I¡¯d even spent five minutes making my things.

    ¡­¡­¡­ is it that bad?

    I certainly didn¡¯t feel like I had dexterous fingers, but to think that I was that bad with handicrafts¡­

    ¡°Haah¡­ oh my¡­ Wha-what did you make?¡±

    ¡°This? It¡¯s a Japanese shorthorn.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­unn??¡±

    Indeed¡­¡­ it¡¯s the cow that produces my favorite meat. As expected of the scion of a famous meat processing company.

    ¡­¡­ the darkness of the food industry runs deep.

    It¡¯s recess, now.

    All boys ran into the garden. Half the girls also went outside, while the other half went to the corner to play where the building blocks and picture books were.

    As Handsome-kun took out a frankfurter from his cooler box, I grasped his hands to stop him.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Han, Hyamu-kun, do you want to go outside to play?¡±

    I bit myself on his name. But I kept at it.

    ¡°Well~ umm, what about my food¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go now¡­okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, I¡¯ll play with Yuzu-chan.¡±

    I tightly grasped his hands to stop him from grabbing more meat, and he took them with a smile.

    Please go on a diet. I¡¯ll have him lose weight to make sure that he can make friends properly and not be teased.

    What to do with my friend? Well~¡­¡­ what other girls in kindergarten play?

    In the end, I spent the recess taking a walk while holding his hand. Handsome-kun didn¡¯t have much physical strength, but I don¡¯t have any strength either now.

    Why were the teachers looking at us strangely with such warm eyes¡­

    The next period is English. Engurishu¡­ as expected of the kindergarten affiliated to Takamine School; a gifted education even from early childhood.

    However, it¡¯s still the English education of kindergarten, after all. Anyway, were they going to line up the blocks on which ABC is written? Or so I thought. An English picture book was placed in front of me.

    ¡­¡­ eh? Can you all read this? I looked around, and understood two things.

    An ordinary child from a normal family was playing with the child next to him without opening the book at all. Even if the teachers saw it, they didn¡¯t scold them. They¡¯re being completely ignored.

    Aah¡­¡­ I understand now, we¡¯re being sorted. If we were left as we were now, then our education will likely change as we get separated into classes when we advanced to elementary school.

    Some of the children were actually opening the English book and reading normally.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, this is interesting.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes¡±

    What should I do? Did I read these books normally before I lost my memory, or did I give up and just play instead?

    Since it couldn¡¯t be helped even if I worried about it, I tried opening the recommended picture book Handsome-kun handed to me.

    Yeah, it¡¯s written horizontally¡­¡­ But, what?

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    I can read it¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know how, but I can read it.

    I understand English if it was individual words, but I don¡¯t know them when they¡¯re strung into sentences.

    However, when I stared at them, I could ¡°see¡± the meanings of the words and the flow of the sentence that would be expressed in a form that I understood.

    To put that into words, English came easily from my mouth.

    ¡°You, you¡¯re good at English, huh.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Handsome-kun who was saying that.

    Turning to look at the voice that came from behind me, there was a pretty boy with light brown hair  there smiling with his blue-black eyes.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Kouki-kun¡±

    ¡°Yaa, Handsome.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    My cheeks were tightening at hearing someone else call Handsome by his name so casually. ¡­¡­ it¡¯s pretty hard to get used to. Maybe my is soul rejecting it.

    Anyway, he¡¯s another  friend of Handsome-kun and he¡¯s quite the good-looking boy.

    Several girls that were holding picture books came along behind Kouki-kun¡­¡­ you¡¯re being shadowed. Heh, he¡¯s not very manly, but it seems like he¡¯s a [Prince-sama]-like existence.

    ¡°You must be Togaki-san¡¯s daughter¡­¡­ are you not?¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ yes.¡±

    It seems that he knew things about me too. It seems like they aren¡¯t exactly friends, but maybe they knew each other through their fathers¡¯ work?

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuuuh~¡±

    Kouki-kun looked at my face with a strange expression¡­ he moved closer and closer. Hey, pretty boy¡­¡­ the girls behind you are getting noisy.

    ¡°Your impression has changed quite a bit¡­¡­ I remember being ahead in English in the past¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun came over while looking at the children playing in English,

    It seems that I was previously part of that group. I assume that it¡¯s a good thing that he said that [My impression has changed]? Is it about my appearance?

    I was aware that it wasn¡¯t normal, but it¡¯s not like some strange ¡®power¡¯, is it?

    ¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡±

    I smiled unintentionally at them. ¡­¡­ Is this a five-year-old? Amazing. I can¡¯t tell anything about people.

    ¡°¡­¡­Kouki-kun, Yuzu-chan¡±

    Handsome-kun¡¯s voice got louder as he held my hand tightly. It didn¡¯t surprise me, but rather Kouki-kun.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Handsome, your voice is really loud. Yeah, that¡¯s better ¡±

    Kouki-kun smiled as he looked between Handsome and I.

    ¡°Well, Yuzu-chan? Handsome seems to be on very good terms with you.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ yes, Han¡­ tch¡­¡­ Sam-kun is a friend¡­¡­¡±

    I bit myself again. I can¡¯t say his name with a straight face, because it feels really¡­¡­ ¡®strange¡¯.

    ¡°Ah¡­ So you call him Sam. That¡¯s pretty good. Can I call you that too?¡±

    ¡°Aah, yes, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Sam!? What an American nickname!?

    I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s because Handsome isn¡¯t particularly attached to his name or that he gave up, but he is purely Japanese, so calling him Sam is pretty tough.

    ¡°No, that isn¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± ¡±

    Due to my unintentional interruption, the two of them who were smiling at each other turned to look at me strangely.

    I stopped in spite of myself, but what should I do now!? Is Sam preferable to Handsome? No, well¡­¡­¡­ think, me.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ find ¡°Ouji¡± easier to call you by¡­¡­ I think.¡±

    On the spur of the moment, that nickname leaked out of my mouth.

    It¡¯d be painful if he didn¡¯t have a prince-like face, but fortunately for him he had a very cute one. Ah, my mental endurance.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ I thought it was easier to call him Sam.¡±

    Kouki-kun made a disappointed face.

    I guess for Kouki-kun, who¡¯s half-foreign and would associate plenty with foreigners, it¡¯s alright, but for a purely Japanese person it¡¯s hard.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind either way¡­¡­ but it¡¯s better if Yuzu-chan decides.¡±

    In the end, the person himself decided it with a single line.

    ¡­¡­ he was okay with this. It¡¯s good that the person himself was okay with it.

    Later, though, when I thought about it, I used to call Kouki-kun [Prince-sama] for his princely looks, my stomach became somewhat sore.

    In this fashion, I transferred myself away from the ¡°commoner¡¯s group¡± that I used to belong to, to the group where Kouki-kun and the rest belonged to with Ouji-kun, as a set.

    My peaceful life seems to be fading¡­¡­

    I wonder if I would cause my father problems if my strange ¡®power¡¯ got exposed to this group.

    £ª£ª£ª

    The meat processing company [Niku¡¯s Ham] had its own dedicated ranches and factories nationwide, and employed about 8000 employees and had sales exceeding 200 billion yen a year.

    At Niku¡¯s Ham, they didn¡¯t process everything in-house, but they had ties with small and medium enterprises and factories to develop new products and expand their sales channels from their earlier days.

    Although they were affiliated with hundreds of companies, the companies that they kept close were just a handful that had had relationships since the previous generation.

    So, because that sort of company tended to get involved in new products that were especially important, even if it was a small company, it was necessary for them to have a proper relationship.

    The first-born son of the Niku family was Handsome. His name was given to him by his parents who were overly tense about their first child since they were old.

    The entire family had ¡®full¡¯ figures, and in a sense it was the occupational hazard of eating too much meat, but since they were older, nobody could stop them. In a way, it could be called the darkness of the meat industry.

    However, the person himself didn¡¯t mind the name at all due to his own personality.

    My mother¡¯s friend had a child called ¡± Excalibur¡±-kun, so perhaps maybe he was biased.

    By the way, his sister was originally called Venus, but when she was being delivered and they told the government office staff, they had to be persuaded that they were still sane. In the end, she was delivered as ¡°Minako¡± and like that, further problems were averted.

    Handsome got his gentle and docile character from his equally gentle and docile surroundings.

    Because of his physique, he was made fun of by children of the same age, and although they thought that he was gentle due to his size, the root cause was his stress.

    The Niku family members do not have a very long lifespan.

    It was really just the simple fact that they were overweight due to overeating meat, but Handsome thought that it was the ¡°curse¡± from the animals that became the meat and imagined it as such, causing him to stress and making him overeat more.

    And thus, Beautiful Prince had few friends. Because he got stressed over being teased, in the end he ended up only associating with those who were connected to his family, like Kouki¡¯s Kuon family.

    Among them there was Yuzu, the daughter of director Togaki, who had partnered with them long ago. Yuzu had an easygoing character, and when he was by her side, Handsome felt his heart calm down.

    However, she gradually drifted away from Prince.

    Yuzu, who had been living the life and having the education of an ordinary household despite being in an upper-class family, couldn¡¯t keep up with the education of the Takamine school and began to play with only the children of ordinary families.

    One day, he¡¯d heard from his father that Yuzu had had a high fever and that her memories were muddled.

    Handsome¡¯s father and Yuzu¡¯s father were schoolboy friends, and when Handsome was born, it was as if it was Yuzu¡¯s father¡¯s joy too.

    Her memory is messed up¡­¡­ He didn¡¯t know how bad it was, or if she would keep a greater distance from him.

    A few days later, when Yuzu returned to the kindergarten, she was definitely the Yuzu he knew, but her atmosphere had changed somewhat.

    When Beautiful Prince saw Yuzu, he felt his heart beating as if he had been enchanted by a fairy-tale wizard.

    As he looked around, most of the children were blushing and couldn¡¯t make themselves get close to her, so Handsome greeted Yuzu.

    Yuzu seemed to have changed a little, but it was the Yuzu that Beautiful Prince knew, and she had a soothing and carefree atmosphere about her.

    The Yuzu who had previously distanced herself from him took his hands now, and taught him the splendor of the outside world that he had never noticed before.

    As it was¡­¡­ if she was beside him, then he wouldn¡¯t be scared of anything anymore.

    ¡°I wish that tomorrow morning would come quickly. I want Yuzu-chan to play with me again.¡±

    Seeing that their son¡¯s appearance had improved and become better recently, his sizable parents were pleased, and the two of them faced each other, nodding slowly as they smiled.

 CH 76

    Volume 5, Chapter 5: Summer Vacation, Part 1

    When was the first time that the [Existence] had appeared?

    It was during the Westernization movement during the Meiji Restoration. As the Japanese culture and entertainment changed rapidly and the Japanese people¡¯s consciousness changed, it was born into this world.

    As first, it was small and powerless.

    However, that changed in the 1950s. When Japan¡¯s economy began to rapidly evolve after the recovery of the post-war period, the [Existence] began to gain [Power] as well.

    As its power grew, people began to notice it.

    Although it might have been a coincidence that he found it, one of the people who noticed it talked to a politician about it, and the politician, who was rushing to raise the status of Japan, heard that it was in the big cave in underground Tokyo, and found the [Existence].

    For those who had a true wish, it had great [Power] to give.

    The old military scientists and the exorcists who located it were asked to investigate it.

    There was a wish. But it didn¡¯t wake up. Its discovery was reported to powerful conglomerates and politicians, and they investigated the use of that [Power].

    A few years later, in cooperation with the religious groups that had protected the country for a long time, they were able to prove that some little girls were compatible with it in both existence and will, and by installing the girls as [Shrine Maidens], it would be possible to utilize the power.

    And so, Japan began to grow.

    They did not know whether it was due to the power of this [Existence]. However, by raising their national strength and attracting attention from other countries, the foundation of Tokyo became the center of the new culture, and the [Existence] felt its power grow even further.

    And now in modern times¡­¡­ it awoke¡­

    In fear of a single [Young Girl] that had come from a different world, far away¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    It¡¯s summer now. It came so abruptly. It was around spring that ¡°I¡± became me now, so in the autumn I¡¯ll be six years old.

    I received an invitation to go to their Switzerland ranch from Ouji-kun, but I¡¯m had to decline. Our household is not the type to go to Switzerland during the summer break.

    Still, it¡¯s really a good thing that he ended up not being Sam ¡®hah!.¡¯ If it¡¯s Ouji-kun, it doesn¡¯t shave my mental endurance as much.

    The full name makes my soul hurt, while just Sam makes my heart cold¡­ It¡¯s not a pun.

    (TL note: ¡®cold¡¯ is read ¡®samui¡¯, while ¡®sam¡¯ is read ¡®samu¡¯, hence the pun.)

    I kept pulling Ouji-kun around by the hand, so he got a little skinnier.

    It¡¯s also in big part because he¡¯s been refraining from those amazing ¡°snacks¡±. If I hadn¡¯t stopped him from taking them every time, he would have been taking in well over 2000 Calories every single day just being in kindergarten.

    It was unexpectedly easy to stop him. When I felt uncomfortable with it, I would take his hand, and then he would conveniently forget to eat it with a smile.

    I wonder if he thought of me as a friend.

    The goal for the future is to make him thin enough so that it wouldn¡¯t be awkward to call him [Ouji-kun]. (TL Reminder: Prince)

    As expected, after three months my muddled memory has settled down a lot.

    There were a lot of memories that I still couldn¡¯t remember, but I think that that¡¯s because the memories of these three months have overwritten it.

    Well, nevertheless, I¡¯m still not very child-like¡­¡­

    Ahh, come to mention it, my ban on going outside got extended further.

    No, of course it¡¯s okay for me to go to kindergarten, but it wasn¡¯t okay for me to take up piano lessons. It surprised me to discover that I could actually play the piano.

    It was as if I had been doing it for years¡­¡­ or should I say that I had a fragmented memory within me that remembered myself playing it normally in a castle.

    However, the position of the keys and such were slightly different¡­¡­ Why was that?

    Ah, so, the reason why I¡¯ve been prohibited from going out again is because I¡¯ve had two traffic accidents in three months, and encountered a street slasher once.

    ¡­What¡¯re the odds of that? Since we were able to avoid most of it in advance, it¡¯s great, but all of them involved someone who had lost their sanity.

    Erm, just like that truck driver.

    ¡­¡­¡­ I think I¡¯m being targeted¡­

    By ¡®someone¡¯¡­ somewhere.

    For that reason, even I judged that it was better for me not to go out to places where there were a lot of people.

    In the end it¡¯s just being careful, but it¡¯s quite fine.

    Due to that, I have no free time at all. Since I only played with either Kouki-kun or Niku-kun, and both of them had lessons on their own, I couldn¡¯t play with them every day.

    I have no girlfriends whatsoever. The girls in that group refuse to talk to me, the only one who can speak normally to Kouki-kun. Even as kids, women are scary.

    Mentally, it¡¯s easier to play with people around Kotone-chan¡¯s age, and mentally I¡¯m comfortable with that age, but I feel like a cat. A cat toddler.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    While putting away the picture book in my room and looking out the window idly by chance, I saw something red on the hill behind the house.

    I wonder what that is¡­¡­ or should I say, what is that? I feel like I have some idea.

    A memory of ¡°mine¡± came forth, that wasn¡¯t the memory of my five-year-old self, but rather from that fragmented jumble.

    It might be the tori gates of a shrine. I certainly remember worshipping at it; I think it was something like a Kitsune-sama or an earth spirit.

    I didn¡¯t think about it at all, even for a moment¡­¡­ I want to go there and play.

    Isn¡¯t a place like a quiet shrine where the light of sunbeams leaks through the leaves just attractive?

    And for that reason,

    ¡°Ooba-onii-chan, can we go to the shrine behind our house.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, let¡¯s go, there are cicadas. Your Onii-chan is really good at catching them.¡±

    As I asked my older brother who¡¯d just gotten home, I got a favorable reply immediately.

    I¡¯ve been saved, since onii-chan doesn¡¯t seem to wonder why I would like to go to a shrine or why I even know that that shrine exists.

    Also, I don¡¯t need cicadas.

    I got permission to go to the shrine with Ooba-onii-chan. Yahooo~!

    Incidentally, onii-chan is wearing a straw hat and a towel around his neck. Why are you so serious about catching the cicadas¡­¡­?

    I was also wearing a white wide-brimmed hat and had an insect net, but I don¡¯t want to catch cicadas. As we got off the road and drew near, he suddenly began to skip and jump while singing. It¡¯s pretty traumatic.

    ¡°Yuzu, the stone steps are steep, are you alright? Do you need onii-chan to carry you on his back?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll climb it myself.¡±

    I think it¡¯s about 50 steps, but it¡¯s hard for a kid. Also, if I fell, I¡¯d die.

    ¡°Mmm¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    The moment I tried to climb, I felt something like static electricity.

    What was that? The rope wrapped around the huge tree broke, but that¡¯s got nothing to do with me, right?

    Well, it¡¯s better to not give mind to that. I¡¯m just an ordinary person, after all.

    Still, these stone steps are pretty tough.

    Even though it¡¯s like a normal staircase, with its staggered height and tread, kids like me with narrow strides would tire themselves out much more than usual.

    But once I overcome it, I can relax in a quiet environment.

    ¡°Miii~n, Min-min¡± ¡°Gyahahaha¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go over there!¡± ¡°Miii~n, Miii~n¡± ¡°Something came down!¡± ¡°Is that a rhinoceros beetle?¡± ¡°Mii~n, minmin, Miii~n¡± ¡°eeh~n¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Arriving at the shrine was nice, but it wasn¡¯t that quiet.

    The students from the nearby elementary school were catching cicadas frenziedly. ¡­¡­Did all boys feel like that¡­¡­? And there were a lot of people who came to visit the shrine as well.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s different from what I expected.¡±

    I wanted to kill time in something like a quiet forest shrine, but I think this place is noisier than normal.

    Because I got tired climbing the stone steps, after washing my hands ceremonially and making my visit, I sat down in the shrine grounds and stared at the sky idly.

    I could hear the noisy sounds of children¡­¡­ The sound of loud cicadas. ¡­¡­Have they been exterminated?

    Baaan~ Baaaaaaan~

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    When I turned my head to the source of the sound of hands being clapped in prayer, a grandma I didn¡¯t know was offering a pack of Mitarashi Dango in front of me and worshipping.

    ¡°¡­¡­erm, wai-¡­¡±

    As soon as I called out to her, the grandma headed off elsewhere. There were also some Daifuku and rice crackers when I looked closely, along with a 5-yen coin on top of it all.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Why didn¡¯t she say anything to me? Who are you looking to tie the knot with, obaa-chan?

    It might be better for me to go home before another insanity encounter happens¡­¡­

    ¡°Heey, Onii-chan¡­¡±

    When I turned around, Ooba-onii-chan was there giving the elementary school students a lecture on cicadas¡­¡­

    I wonder if there¡¯s any way to kill time¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ah¡±

    There was a black cat behind the stone steps leading to the shrine that looked very unconcerned.

    A really dark cat that had no other colors mixed in its fur¡­¡­

    And its silver eyes looked straight at me¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu!¡±

    Before I noticed, I had been hugged by my onii-chan, and brought down the stone steps.

    ¡°What are you doing, Yuzu, you could have fallen!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­aa, ¡­ uhnn, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you feeling unwell? Let¡¯s go home. I¡¯ll bring you out here again when you want to come back¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes¡±

    Onii-chan gently stroked my head, and stopped scolding me as I lost my vigor.

    ¡­¡­I , what was I doing?

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Someday, they¡¯ll meet¡­¡­

    Next time, We¡¯ll head to the shopping area.

 CH 77

    Volume 5, Chapter 6: Summer Vacation, Part 2

    I¡¯ve been quite free during summer vacation, but recently my relationship with Kotone-chan has deteriorated.

    Kotone-chan is in her third year in junior high.  Because the entrance examinations are imminent, she¡¯s been going to the library to do summer revision. Come to think of it, since it¡¯s an affiliated school, there isn¡¯t actually an examination.

    Kotone-chan, won¡¯t you spare some time for your little sister? Where are you going?

    Both father and mother were busy as usual, and when I thought of going to the O-bon festival, it seems that grandfather lost grandmother only a year ago, and he didn¡¯t want the noisiness of a gathering around him.

    ¡°Because of that, Onii-chan, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Where did that come from?¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped since only Ooba-onii-chan was free. It¡¯ll be a terrible thing if Kotone-chan had been caught by some bad guy, so we have to investigate.

    It is definitely not because I have nothing to do with my free time.

    ¡°Oh, Ooh, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Ooba-onii-chan understood his younger sister¡¯s thoughts at once.

    Kotone-chan, I¡¯m worried about you¡­¡­ It would be good if she could make new normal friends, but because I have deep love for Kotone-chan, I¡¯m worried that she might be picked up by some middle-aged man old enough to have children.

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s unexpectedly harsh.¡±

    Oops, it seems my voice leaked out. Onii-chan¡¯s face was a little bit cramped.

    The next day, Ooba-onii-chan came back at a dash after his summer revision course¡­ even though he was picked up by the car to come home, so, in addition, the driver got dragged into it as we went forth in pursuit of Kotone-chan.

    According to the driver¡¯s testimony, she had gone out to shop with some friends, and it seems that she¡¯s been visiting a shopping district some distance away.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting a bit nervous about this¡­¡±

    There isn¡¯t some powerful enemy, right?

    That aside, onii-chan, don¡¯t you usually call yourself differently? (TL note: he uses ¡®ore¡¯, which is a more masculine tone, instead of ¡®boku¡¯, the more polite one, that he usually uses.) It seems that Ooba-onii-chan wants to puff himself up in front of his cute little sister.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Kotone.¡±

    ¡°Ehh, where?¡±

    ¡°There, behind that bookstore.¡±

    Looking out the window from inside the car, I saw the Takamine school uniform that I recognized in that distant place.

    It¡¯s certainly Kotone-chan. But she¡¯s alone. What¡¯s that? She came here to buy a book normally? But it¡¯s a big shopping district, and buying stuff here feels a bit lonely. If she just went to the station she¡¯d be able to buy books from the many big bookstores nearby.

    As the driver drove slowly behind her, we got honked at by a car behind us on our way, and Kotone-chan eventually entered one particular ramen shop.

    ¡°¡­¡­is she hungry?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s eating!?¡±

    Come to think of it, Kotone-chan has been strangely glossy recently, is it because of oily food? I felt so.

    ¡°Nonono, wait, Yuzu. I heard recently that there¡¯s been rumors going around that our family¡¯s company is going into the noodle business.¡±

    ¡°ehhh~¡­ Well, why is only Kotone-onee-chan having ramen?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Saying that Kotone-chan is helping father while keeping it a secret¡­ is a bit far-fetched. There¡¯s no point in keeping it secret from onii-chan and I.

    I can¡¯t help but think that way in the car, so we decided to head into that ramen place. Sneaking in from the outside¡­¡­ is it impossible?

    ¡°Then I will take a look at the shop from behind the store.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, but even if we don¡¯t,¡±

    Not long after I quietly stepped forth, I got halted. This isn¡¯t a game, okay? Aren¡¯t you concerned about Kotone-chan? Say so, Onii-sama.

    ¡°¡­¡­why?¡±

    A five year old girl was left alone in front of the ramen shop in the shopping district. It¡¯s dangerous.

    But I¡¯m not alone. A little girl holding a rubber ball was staring at me while peeking out at me from the side street beside the shop.

    Even if I say that she¡¯s little, but she¡¯s about the same as me. A cute girl with hair like a kokeshi doll, and when I saw her and smiled, and she started in place, frozen as I approached her.

    ¡°Hey¡­ are you a Princess?¡±

    It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard that. ¡­¡­wait, is it the first time? And it seems that for the time being she¡¯s not scared of my doll-like appearance.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s different. You¡¯re cute too¡­¡­¡±

    She looked like a kokeshi doll. I suddenly noticed it as I continued¡­ I felt that this child was somewhat similar to Kotone-chan and I.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Nothing~. I¡¯m called Yuzu. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m, Misa.¡±

    I played with this pretty kokeshi doll called Misa until onii-chan returned. Since we were both awkward, we didn¡¯t end up playing with the rubber ball.

    Err¡­¡­ How do you write circles on the road and play? As I picked up a pebble and drew a circle on the path, Misa also began to draw and write and play.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Errrmh¡­¡­ ramen.¡±

    ¡°Do you like ramen?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and when I grow up I¡¯ll run a ramen shop!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Perhaps this one,¡±

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    When I raised my head to look at the sudden interruption, I saw Kotone-chan who had a slightly angry expression on her face. Behind her was Ooba-onii-chan who was drooping his head like a chastised child, and a tall man.

    It¡¯s an approximately 30-year old uncle, I guess? A little bit of a dandy uncle would be better, but maybe this person is with Kotone-chan?

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re done with your work?¡±

    Misa walked over with a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at the uncle. This person is¡­

    ¡°Misa¡¯s ¡®Father¡¯!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still only 20!¡±

    Haha, it was only a joke.

    £ª

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­I see¡±

    I listened to their story. It seems that he was one of the wait staff in the ramen shop, who is blood-related with Misa, but he¡¯s not her father, but, rather, her older brother¡­ They do look alike.

    ¡°Hey, Yuzu, did you come here with onii-chan¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ But why are you in this ramen shop?¡±

    Since we were standing outside, we moved into the store to continue speaking, since the store was pretty vacant past lunchtime.

    By the way, Ooba-onii-chan was seated on the floor because he¡¯d bothered the store by going round the back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, erm¡­yeah¡­ You know, Yuzu. Misa-chan and he are our cousins. That¡¯s why I came to see how they were doing¡­okay?¡±

    Kotone-chan¡¯s cheeks were a little flushed while she glanced at him.

    ¡­¡­Fuu~hn?  I was still a toddler, so my words were still lispy, but putting it all together, it seems that their parents passed away early. Since their parents used to work with my father, they couldn¡¯t rely on their relatives. When their parents got into trouble, he distanced themselves from them.

    He seems to be living with young Misa alone while working at this ramen shop.

    ¡­¡­ Praise me for deciphering it this far.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I love ramen.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Onii-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very thick, and everyone is eating my ¡°ramen¡±, but, I don¡¯t ask children to pay.¡±

    A true Tokyoite!?

    ehh? Why is Kotone-chan looking at him with enraptured eyes¡­¡­? I am still a child, so I can¡¯t understand.

    Besides, isn¡¯t it good just to eat it at your own convenience? Looking at the person who seems to be the shop owner, the tottering grandpa nodded with a gentle smile.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a meal¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not being dumb, right!?

    ¡°Hey, here¡¯s your ramen.¡±

    While observing the grandpa in front of us the ¡®ramen¡¯ was served.

    It seems that the ramen he makes is ¡®ramen¡¯. It¡¯s a very subtle difference. Somehow I can understand it with my soul, but I can¡¯t put it into words.

    In front of Misa and I was ramen and a small donburi for children. About two servings per person.

    It¡¯s especially precious, so Misa and I sat side-by-side and ate at the counter.

    Foreigners who come to Japan misunderstand, but eating Japanese noodles with slurping is neither well-mannered nor a custom. A dish that a chef cooks with spirit will go stale without the ¡®spirit¡¯ of the eater that it gets.

    But my infant tongue is picky so I can¡¯t eat it all at once. ¡­¡­What do I do?

    Somehow when I looked at Kotone-chan, she had a different bowl from ours, and ours was full of toppings like naruto fish cake, and seaweed.

    They¡¯ve thought properly about the nutritional value for children too¡­ such a nice person.

    While watching the seaweed that was moving under the convection current in the hot soup, suddenly the seaweed raised its ¡°body¡± and one hand.

    [Yoo, I, am not a bad wakame]¡­¡­ or something like [Leave this to me eat up]?

    After a while of the wakame seaweed wiggling, it sank into the ramen soup like it was drowning, and the auditory hallucinations of its last moments were left in my ear.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Beside me, Misa was opening her mouth with a *pokan* expression while alternately looking at the donburi in front of her and me. ¡­¡­ Unfortunately, it doesn¡¯t seem to be a hallucination.

    And as I tried eating the cooled ramen¡­ ooooh? There was a ¡°taste¡±!

    ¡°Dad, this is delicious!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father!¡±

    ¡­¡­ But you haven¡¯t told me your name.

    I don¡¯t understand why, but it seems that I can still taste delicious things. In fact, the sweets that were given to me at the shrine had its proper taste.

    The strange ¡°power¡± hasn¡¯t appeared since I was at the park, so I guess it seems that I¡¯m an abnormal person.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, she becomes an elementary school student.

 CH 78

    Volume 5, Chapter 7: I became an elementary schooler, Part 1

    The days passed by quickly and I suddenly found myself an elementary school student.

    I also had my sixth birthday along the way, but it wasn¡¯t anything particularly interesting.

    Every year Father would buy me a stuffed bear from a famous brand, Mother bought me several picture books from overseas, and Kotone-chan and Ooba-onii-chan got me pretty hair decorations and sweets.

    Also, from Ouji-kun for my birthday, I got a pig of the American Duroc variety.

    The Duroc is a very fine pig with lots of marbling in its flesh.

    ¡°[Buuhi?]¡±

    Its round eyes were also unbelievably cute.

    ¡°Father, please send it to a meat processing plant.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu.¡±

    Even if he looks at me with that sort of eyes, there¡¯s no reason for me to keep a pig which is over 300 kilos as a pet.

    There were no problems with the elementary school entrance ceremony¡­ huh? I wonder why that came to mind. I felt like there were problems with my entrance ceremony in the past¡­ but maybe I¡¯m just dreaming it.

    Kotone-chan also entered high school safely, and Ooba-onii-chan entered senior year in high school. This time around, it¡¯s onii-chan who¡¯s the one that¡¯s got a major exam. He¡¯s taking an external exam.

    So it¡¯s Kotone-chan and Misa¡¯s dad¡­¡­ is that wrong? It¡¯s her onii-chan, well, that¡¯s inconsequential. Her dad is quite a good person.

    Since it was a junior high school student who had first told him that they were relatives, the dad didn¡¯t really trust her, but Misa took to Kotone-chan, and as Kotone-chan became a high-school student, she became very beautiful.

    ¡­¡­Is she into good-for-nothing men?

    They divided us into classes in elementary school, but I was placed in the same class as Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun.

    ¡­ Was this really a division of classes?

    Still, thinking about it properly, this classification was pretty natural.

    Because Takamine School has a middle school and high school section, there seem to be many parents who think that paying a high tuition fee for elementary school is better than paying for cram schools and private tutors, and from kindergarten and elementary school, good children from good families commuted to the school, for the sake of their parents who wanted the brand of [Takamine].

    That¡¯s why there are only 4 classes per grade in the elementary school that¡¯s attached to Takamine.

    And since there was only one class of children who were better educated than the average, they would be with each other for all six years as long as they didn¡¯t cause any problems.

    ¡­¡­ I guess it must have failed.

    If I had my original abilities, wouldn¡¯t I have been in the remaining three classes?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I feel like I¡¯ve made a mistake in my life choices.¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you say some very difficult things.¡±

    It was Ouji-kun (provisional) who was talking to me.

    As a result of my hard work over the past year, Ouji-kun¡¯s size has been reduced by about 20%. Thanks to that, Ouji-kun is now a [somewhat chubby but still cute little boy].

    I even saw some of the girls in the class talking to Ouji-kun, but Ouji-kun still comes to me for some reason.

    Because bringing ice boxes was prohibited when we entered elementary school, I wonder if I wouldn¡¯t have to stay by his side¡­¡­ thinking about it, because I buy things from shops and vending machines every time I stop, we ended up spending time together a lot after all.

    During that time, it seems that he I¡¯ve best friends with Ouji-kun, and the head contestant for [Oji-sama], Kouki-kun.

    At the same time, Kouki-kun seems to be rather bad at conversation with the young girls in class, as his intelligence is already well past elementary school. As a result, the very un-elementary schooler-like conversations he had with me increased, and the girls in the class got jealous, so I have no girlfriends.

    ¡°Life is cruel.¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you say some very difficult things¡­¡­¡±

    But the gods have not yet forsaken me¡­ Every time I speak about gods, it feels like there¡¯s a tiny earthquake, but if I spent time thinking about it, I¡¯d lose.

    ¡°Yuzu-san. ¡­¡­There¡¯s something I want to speak to you about.¡±

    There was a girl speaking to me.

    Is it this pattern again? And why is this child staring at me? It¡¯s pretty impressive, since she¡¯s such a beautiful girl.

    ¡­¡­Ehh? Do you hate me after all, God?

    Still, Kouki-kun was beautiful like that, but as a first-grader in elementary school I felt that words like ¡®cute¡¯ were more appropriate than the word ¡°beautiful¡± for an impression. Indeed, the bloodlines of high society are amazing.

    ¡°Could I hear your reply?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah, it¡¯s okay.¡±

    By the way, I¡¯m in the girls¡¯ toilet. Not even Ouji-kun could stick with me this far. As this girl called out, I was surrounded by several girls¡­ or that¡¯s what I thought would happen, but this girl was alone.

    ¡°Is it not okay to speak here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit¡­ in a place like this¡­¡­¡±

    Well, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s a pretty restroom, but I don¡¯t know if anyone will come.

    That girl and I¡­¡­ Shijiyuuin Kako-san will meet in the rearing shed nearby after school.

    By the way, it¡¯s not read Hanako, but Kako-chan. (Note: these two are written the same in Japanese.) It¡¯s misleading.

    I was wondering what the rearing shed was, and Kako was one of the keepers. ¡­¡­ something unexpected?

    For now, I have a children¡¯s use mobile phone, so I let the driver-san know. I don¡¯t know what she wants to say, but I only have Misa as a girlfriend around my age, so even in such a situation, I¡¯m rather excited.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I arrived at the rearing shed, which was a concrete building with cages like in a zoo.

    I guess it¡¯s because this is a rich school that they can spend money on such a place.

    Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. What I was concerned about was the ¡°brazier¡± which was located just a little way away from the rabbits and the cages containing pheasants and chickens.

    Yeah¡­¡­ Someone clearly forgot to put it back in storage after using and left it here. That¡¯s must be it.

    ¡°Ah, Yuzu-san, you¡¯ve come.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kako-san?¡±

    Since she called me by name, I called her by name as well, but she had a slightly surprised look on her face that told me that she wasn¡¯t used to being called that by her friends.

    Did I come too soon?

    For a moment, I gave her space, since she was carrying a bucket full of bait while wearing a jersey. A diligent one, her.

    ¡°Are you feeding them? Should I wait?¡±

    ¡°Would you mind waiting a little?¡±

    After looking at her troubled face, Kako broke off after that one line and began feeding the rabbits.

    I was free while waiting, so I helped out with the bait, and the rabbits and chickens ate greedily.

    ¡°The students of this school don¡¯t take animals seriously¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    At one point, as part of the school¡¯s cultivation of our aesthetic sensibility, they had the students take care of animals. The students of this school, because there were many boys and girls with great egos, even if they kept pets, would only pet them, and it seems that they wouldn¡¯t even feed them properly.

    ¡°In addition, recently, there have been cases where animals disappear¡­¡­ about one every few weeks.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    For some reason I glanced towards that charcoal brazier. ¡­¡­It can¡¯t be.

    This school is scary.

    ¡°Thank you for your help. ¡­¡­now, as to what I wanted to say¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°What kind of relationship do you have with Kuon Kouki-san?¡±

    Kako¡¯s eyes, which had been calm until then, were suddenly glaring at me.

    Come to think of it, Kouki-kun was the son of the Kuon family. This place spawned a great number of politicians, and I wonder if we know it. My father told me too I shouldn¡¯t be rude to Kouki-kun.

    His grandfather had been a member of the Diet, but resigned after it emerged in a weekly magazine that he had been given bribes a few years ago.

    For that reason, she seems to be in a bad mood now, so it seems better to not get involved.

    Still, he¡¯s a person of some status, so I can¡¯t ignore it.

    Surely the Shijiyuuin family, should be of approximately the same pedigree as the Kuon family. This flow is possibly¡­

    ¡°Kako-san, are you engaged to Kouki-kun¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    When I asked if there was such an ¡°engagement,¡± Kako¡¯s face turned red as if it had been boiled in a flash.

    Did I hit the mark? Moreover, it seems to be more than just that the house decided, but also that she herself was in love with him.

    ¡°Wh-what do you mean! I don¡¯t look at him that way¡±

    Looking at her with warm eyes, Kako¡¯s face became redder and redder and she hid her face with her hands.

    Whoops, I accidentally let my expression out. I¡¯m quite the middle-aged man, if I do say so myself.

    ¡°I only know Kouki-kun from kindergarten. Hmm¡­ because he¡¯s Handsome-kun¡¯s friend and so am I, we¡¯ve had many chances to talk.¡±

    In short, it seems that Kako became jealous because her fianc¨¦e is talking to girls other than herself.

    ¡°¡­¡­But, he doesn¡¯t talk to other girls, only Yuzu-san.¡±

    ¡°It seems like he doesn¡¯t talk to the others because they¡¯re too immature. I, personally, am not a very childlike person either. But, if Kako-san can speak so properly, won¡¯t Kouki-kun talk to you normally as well?¡±

    ¡°Bu-but, the saying goes that a woman should walk three steps behind a man, I, as a lady, have always stayed 30 steps behind Kouki-san¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This girl, she seems so intelligent, but she¡¯s such an idiot!

    £ª

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    After that, I asked Kako to be my friend, and explained how to interact with Kouki-kun to her.  It was rough trying to explain how to get along with him, and when I looked up, the sky had turned red.

    ¡­¡­ my mind had gotten fatigued after so long. But it was good that she understood.

    ¡°¡­¡­ then I¡¯ll accompany you to the school gate.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Yuzu-san, is it alright if I continue to consult with you in the future?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Oh? Isn¡¯t this the sign that we¡¯re friends now? With this, Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun should no longer be waiting for me outside of the girls¡¯ toilet.

    ¡°In the first place, Yuzu-san was good friends with Nikuno-kun, so you¡¯d never look at other men.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Unless¡­ are we being looked upon that way¡­¡­?

    I walked with Kako to the school gate, holding some feelings that I didn¡¯t understand. To be emotionally attached to Ouji-kun¡­ I hadn¡¯t calculated that there would be such a rumor.

    As I was internally about 20 years old, I felt as if I was pampering and fawning over him like a dandy uncle¡­¡­

    Because of the time, there were no other students on our way from the rearing shed to the school gate.

    Although it feels a little dangerous, both Kako and I are calling up our cars to the school gate so we won¡¯t be in any danger.

    ¡­¡­ For some reason, I feel like I¡¯m raising a flag for myself.

    ¡°[UHYAHYAHYAHYAHAHYAHYAHYAH!]¡±

    ¡°Look out! Here it comes!¡±

    A rapid reaction, kami-sama!

    That strange sound that came from a little distance away from us was a young man that was wearing the pants of what looked like what high schoolers wore nowadays.

    Oh, my eyes got drawn to it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ wh-what is it?¡±

    It was the first time Kako had seen such a person, and she was scared stiff.

    While whirling about an iron pipe, he was saying various things like [This school], or [This me], etc.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s a Takamine dropout, isn¡¯t it¡±

    *tremble*¡­¡­ He turned his bloodshot eyes towards me as I casually leaked out those words.

    ¡°I¡¯m NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT!¡±

    What a bother.

    If you came here for such a reason, please go to the high school division, and not the elementary school one.

    Ah, but that¡¯s no good. Kotone-chan and Ooba-onii-chan are there.

    The high school student approached us while brandishing the iron pipe.

    He¡¯s faster than I thought. As his muscles screamed, the blood vessels on his face popped out.

    Nevertheless¡­ I wasn¡¯t afraid.

    The [Power] that I hadn¡¯t felt since the park a year ago came from my deep¡­¡­ ¡°dark¡± part.

    Protecting the terrified Kako behind me, I gazed into his eyes.

    ¡°Heeeee¡­!?¡±

    The movement of the high school student stopped for a moment. In that time,

    ¡°Urrryaaaaaaa!!!¡±

    Someone called out at the same time and struck the back of the high school student.

    When I looked in the direction of the striker, there was a male senior who had thrown it, a used brazier which I remembered.

    When the high school student collapsed, the teachers and security who finally noticed the noise rushed in and detained the high schooler.

    ¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t get my turn.

    Protected by the teacher, we waited on the sofa in the school infirmary until our drivers came to pick us up. Kako, who was still in shock and fright, held my hands tightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Thank you¡­¡­ for protecting me. U-uhm, may I call you Yuzu-sama¡­¡­?¡±

    With her flushed cheeks¡­¡­ and wet eyes, Kako thanked me as she looked directly at me¡­¡­

    Ehh? Did I accidentally raise a strange flag?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Please prepare for the serious, demonic parts. It might become more gruesome.

    Next time, the secret of the cooking brazier!

 CH 79

    Volume 5, Chapter 8: I became an Elementary Schooler, Part 2

    There was a bit of a commotion after I entered elementary school, but now that the seasons have changed and we¡¯re wearing different uniforms.

    I often play outside with Misa, who goes to a public elementary school, but at school I stay more with Kako, and a Kako who got more opportunities to speak with Kouki-kun was a happy Kako.

    Still, this child, who talks to me often regarding Kouki-kun, is a bit of a problem, I think.

    Speaking of problems, there¡¯s several.

    One thing is Misa. It¡¯s that ¡°Dad¡± thing.

    It¡¯s not because of the relationship with Kotone-chan. The thing about Kotone going over to the dad¡¯s place, it seems like Father doesn¡¯t make much comment, but the problem is that at the shopping street where the ramen shop where the dad works is, it seems that the number of the shops rolling up their shutters has increased.

    The dad doesn¡¯t say anything to Misa or me, but when I was playing with Misa, I overheard the name of ¡°Kuon¡±.

    ¡­¡­Just to make sure, he did resign from the Diet under the allegations of taking bribes, right? Kouki-kun¡¯s grandfather.

    There¡¯s nothing we can do as children, but it¡¯s a little lonely that we haven¡¯t seen many children other than ourselves in the shopping area.

    The other problem isn¡¯t really a problem, but the atmosphere of the class has changed quite a bit.

    As a result of that ¡°ruffian¡± entering the school, the deficiencies in the school¡¯s security were exposed and the gate was permanently closed, and the security guards patrolled about outside the fence.

    Why is that a problem? Although you might think it wouldn¡¯t be, it was a really big deal since they thought that it was me who had repelled that ¡°ruffian¡±.

    How could a first-grade elementary schooler do such a thing¡­¡­?

    Virtually all of the upper-graders didn¡¯t believe it, but the first-and-second-graders thought ¡®No way!¡¯, and stopped approaching me.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. If I think about it, it¡¯s just keeping the status quo.

    It seems that people will continue to be scared by me.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, at that time, Yuzu-sama caught me when I was scared of that evil ruffian¡­¡±

    It¡¯s because of you, Kako.

    Also, I began to feel stares from one of the boys in the class.

    That child is also a celebrity in a way. He was the child of a normal family, but his grades were excellent and he was in our class. Not to underestimate an elementary schooler¡¯s grades, but he¡¯d mastered English, German, and Chinese, and even in sixth-graders¡¯ tests, he scored nearly full marks.

    As a consequence he¡¯s been cut off from the rest of the class, but he doesn¡¯t seem to mind.

    ¡­¡­ how adult-like.

    His name was Shijima Yuuki-kun. He first looked at me after I got a lot of attention thanks to that incident, but when I first felt his gaze, I was really surprised.

    It¡¯s the dawn of my popular life! ¡­¡­Totally not.

    That look wasn¡¯t that of a boy looking at a girl. He was looking at me with a certain amount of vigilance.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s become rather troublesome around here.

    £ª

    Today, I headed towards the animal house as usual.

    It¡¯s not that I¡¯m one of the keepers, but from all the times I went to the animal house because I was accompanying Kako, I got attached to the animals. And while Kako was busy with her training, I would feed them.

    Since then, there haven¡¯t been any more of those mysterious disappearances of the animals. ¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be because of that brazier being broken from that time¡­¡­?

    It¡¯s scary when I think about it.

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    As I walked down my usual path, I heard a short shout from the back of the pet house.

    The students who were assigned to raise things in this school were still as unserious as ever, and were hardly ever seen.

    So who would be there¡­¡­ when I peeked behind the shed, there was a boy who was taking a stance like in Kenpo.

    ¡­¡­ Who¡¯s that?

    He slowly released his stance and thrust his hand forward.

    ¡°Hah¡­!¡±

    He raised his voice spiritedly, and the empty can about a meter in front of him rattled.

    ¡°¡­Woah¡­¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±

    The boy spun around and took a pose as I unexpectedly spoke out.

    ¡­¡­ Who is it? Well, because it¡¯s a school, anyone involved would be from the school.

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­you,¡±

    Seeing me walking out unconcernedly and very normally, his eyes widened a little.

    It was an upperclassman boy who had a somewhat wild feeling about him. The good uniforms that were painstakingly tailored had been lightly crumpled and wrinkled by him. It feels like I¡¯ve seen him somewhere.

    ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re from that time when you  beat up that strange high school student.¡±

    ¡°Aah~¡±

    Finally, I remembered. At that time, he was the boy who threw the brazier.

    Because I wanted to thank him at least once, I searched for him with both Kako and my parents, but as soon as he left, I couldn¡¯t recognize him.

    ¡°Yo, did you get hurt at that time?¡±

    ¡°No. Thank you for that.¡±

    He¡¯s unexpectedly candid¡­¡­ or rather, he has the feel of an ordinary boy. The boys in my class are stranger.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s natural for me to protect women as an ally of justice.¡±

    I properly thanked him, and he said such a thing while looking shy.

    ¡°Uwaah, amazing~.¡±

    While being praised I didn¡¯t forget myself.

    ¡°I am Kaijima Onzada, a fourth year. Which year are you in?¡±

    ¡°I am Toukaki Yuzu, a first year.¡±

    For now, a self-introduction is important.

    ¡°So what was the ¡®Ally of Justice¡¯ Onzada-san doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I feel like something¡¯s being implied by your words. Also, since I am three years your senior, you should call me ¡®Onzada-senpai.¡¯¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not you, it¡¯s Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yuzu. Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°So Onzada-kun, what was *that* that you threw out?¡±

    ¡°You, did you see it?¡±

    I didn¡¯t notice that I changed the subject, but Onzada-kun raised a pitiful voice.

    ¡°Something¡± had flown out of his hand. It was a disease that troubled 14 year olds, and he was throwing pebbles and nails.

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ ehm, that¡¯s right, I threw a shuriken.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ then where is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Don¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Onzada-kun looked around and brought his face close to my ear.

    ¡°That was because I threw it with ¡°ki¡±.¡±

    The answer fell far into the ¡°disease¡± category, it would normally seem like it was too late for him, but I was satisfied with the answer.

    At that time, something that was accumulating in Onzada-kun¡¯s body was shot out through the palm of his hand, and it ¡®shot out¡¯ something. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the ¡®ki¡¯ that Onzada-kun is talking about, but the answer seems to be most appropriate.

    If I hadn¡¯t seen it, I might have thought that it was a shuriken.

    ¡°Is that something like¡­¡­ a fighting game?¡±

    I only have knowledge of that degree.

    ¡°It¡¯s something like that¡­¡­ but the real thing is much more amazing. You can attack things like ghosts, too.¡±

    ¡°Ghosts¡­¡­ Onzada-kun can do those kinds of things, huh. Amazing.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, it¡¯s because I was born in a temple.¡±

    ¡°Oh~~~¡±

    Onzada-kun was a temple child. Indeed, I thought that his name was strange. To enter Takamine school, is he the child of some great shrine keepers?

    And although I thought that it was impressive, did all ordinary monks have ¡®ki¡¯ or fly?

    If all of the people in the world could do such things, then wouldn¡¯t there be more people applying to work in the shrines?

    I don¡¯t know the circumstances of the shrines, but I don¡¯t care, either.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I want to try too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    At my sudden words, Onzada-kun had a half-astonished-half-uncertain expression on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that the little childlike Yuzu can do it. It took a while before I could even rattle the can. It¡¯s not child¡¯s play, you know.¡±

    Since when were you an adult, Onzada-kun¡­

    ¡°Give me a chance. Teach me, Onzada-kun. I¡¯ll do it seriously.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well~¡±

    Onzada-kun began to have doubts for a moment.

    I was being serious. I wished that I could control my weird [Power] to some extent.

    One more push.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I can keep it a secret from everyone.¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be struck by your parents if you leak it out, so don¡¯t say it! It¡¯s said at the temple that if you practice too early, you¡¯ll be unable to do it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I-I see.¡±

    Onzada-kun seems to have chattered out his weakness to me. It¡¯s a spontaneous kind of digging one¡¯s own grave. What is it again¡­¡­ it seems like he¡¯s the ¡°gets-carried-away-easily¡± kind of person.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯ll be a secret between the two of us.¡±

    ¡°Tha-that¡¯s right.¡±

    With one last push tipping him over, Onzada-kun suddenly became nervous and averted his gaze. What is it?

    I managed to persuade him with that feeling, and began to learn the technique of the ¡°temple¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, so, you suck up the spirit of nature from your soles, and store it under your belly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Imagine circulating the gathered spiritual power inside your body¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure.

    I don¡¯t need to collect it from the outside, since there¡¯s that [Power] inside my body, so I can just use that.

    Perhaps the quality of the power¡¯s different? Is it not ¡®ki¡¯ spiritual energy? If I did it with mental power, I got the feeling that it¡¯d be [Destroyed]¡­¡­

    *Gishiiiii¡­¡­¡­*

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    When I tried to stick out my hand to release the [Power], there was a sound like rushing air.

    ¡­¡­ what was that sound? I wonder if I did something again¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­B-Because it¡¯s tiring if we do a lot all of a sudden, I think it¡¯s better to stop here.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡¯s right. I should go home soon.¡±

    It concluded like that.

    Onzada-kun said he would teach me from now on whenever we meet.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll eat something then go home¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Something¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun, took out the contents of his sports bag that he¡¯d brought with him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I saw it, I quietly took my distance from Onzada-kun, and drop-kicked Onzada-kun who had taken out the ¡°brazier¡±.

    ¡°You¡¯re the criminal!¡±

    And when I went home¡­ It¡¯s certainly not my fault that all of the 90 year old zelkova trees in the school yard have suddenly withered and have their leaves fall¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    While we still can, the heartwarming part is progressing slowly.

    Next time, the [Heroine] attacks.

 CH 80

    Volume 5, Chapter 9: I became an Elementary Schooler, Part 3

    I have only a few friends, but I¡¯m alright.

    In my class, I have Prince-kun, Kako and Kouki-kun, so I don¡¯t feel particularly alienated. For my lunch breaks, I¡¯ve been taking walks with Prince-kun in the schoolyard for the sake of his diet and my physical fitness.

    Well, I didn¡¯t really want to move, but because Prince-kun didn¡¯t want me to remain still, he took my hand and pulled me along forcibly.

    ¡­¡­There¡¯ve been strange rumors because of that, but I can¡¯t stop them at this late hour.

    I¡¯m being instructed by Onzada-kun on a regular basis, but I still can¡¯t understand ¡®ki¡¯.

    As per usual, after stripping and withering 3 more trees in the schoolyard with my [Power] I¡¯ve been restraining myself.

    I might be in a different grade from Onzada-kun, but he might be the friend I¡¯m the most relaxed with at the moment. This person, regardless of whether he¡¯s genuinely good-natured or just pretending, is easy to speak to.

    Of course, I tried to convince him properly about that brazier.

    ¡°When you train in the mountains, do you always catch rabbits?¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s hygienic because it¡¯s an expensive school, but you have to be careful because it¡¯s not meant for food use, you know?¡±

    As the daughter of a food processing company, I can¡¯t let something like that slide.

    Well, erm¡­¡­ were there other reasons?

    ¡°Then, that girl stopped it with just a kick. And so¡­¡­ you know¡­¡­ you, you look weak, so I¡¯ll protect you.¡±

    ¡°ehh¡­¡­ uh, thanks?¡±

    It seems that our friendship has grown thanks to this exchange of blows by the river¡­¡­?

    Carrying on like that, it turned to autumn, and I turned seven years old.

    This year, another wonderful ¡®present¡¯ came from Ouji-kun. What a cute Texel lamb this year.

    [Baa]

    And then, nobody saw the lamb ever again. It¡¯s a light mystery.

    Incidentally, although it doesn¡¯t matter, it seems that the meat of the Texel lamb is the finest and has little fat, so it¡¯s great for diets.

    Ouji-kun has become much thinner, but he¡¯s still a little chubby compared to other children. Even then, when he gets called [Prince] by Kouki-kun, it gives me less mental damage.

    Today, Ouji-kun and Kouki-kun were playing something like soccer in the school yard.

    Kako was heroically holding onto a sports towel nearby, but I¡¯m the kind that gets dizzy if I stay too long under the sun, so I went into the shade.

    ¡°Hey, you there, come over for a moment.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    The wall that surrounded the academy is about 4 meters tall, and is electrified at the top. Still, it¡¯s not entirely fully enclosed, and the design was such that every few meters, there would be a small portrait-sized latticed window.

    When I looked through the nearby window, there was a pretty girl the same age as I was clinging onto the lattice.

    ¡°Hey~, you~, come over here for a bit.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Who is this girl¡­¡­? She¡¯s cute but her tongue¡¯s sharp. Her face was that of an ordinary Japanese person, but the color of her hair was weak and her eyes were brownish.

    ¡°¡­¡­You, what¡¯s your school? You¡¯re not from Takamine, are you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that, I¡¯m the [Heroine] of this world!¡±

    My question was answered while she puffed up her chest with pride, even while clinging to the lattice.

    ¡°Heroine¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t expect a mob character like you to understand, but everything that I do takes precedence. Such a thing is good. Hey, would you happen to know Kuon Kouki? He¡¯s supposed to be in this school.¡±

    ¡°Kouki-kun?¡±

    A friend of Kouki-kun¡¯s? No, no, I can¡¯t imagine him that way¡­¡­ he¡¯s a pleasant person and a friend. But I casually turned my eyes towards Kouki-kun, and she seemed to have found Kouki-kun after that.

    ¡°Aahh! It¡¯s really Kuon Kouki-kun! He¡¯s really as cool as I imagined. But he¡¯s still young. I¡¯ll, be collecting still images¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ehh¡±

    Oh crap, it¡¯s a stalker? And what on earth¡­¡­ I heard something strange about that pronunciation of that long ¡°kuon¡±.

    ¡°Who¡­¡­ are you?¡±

    ¡°What, begone! I am Sakurazaki Matsuri. The suburban genki-girl.¡±

    With a pose that seemed as if she expected a *sparkle* was about to happen, Matsuri closed one eye and stuck out her tongue. ¡­¡­Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

    ¡°Anyway, who¡¯s that near Kouki-kun? Might it be Handsome-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    ¡°After all it¡¯s so, but why is he so thin? Although he¡¯s still fat, but has the event already started¡­¡­? No, he might still get fat again¡­¡­¡±

    Matsuri began to grumble something or another.

    But how rude those words were¡­¡­ Prince-kun has also lost his habit of snacking, so I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll become fat.

    After that, Matsuri named several people, but I either didn¡¯t know them or their names were subtly different, so I couldn¡¯t answer. I have no intention of speaking out about others¡¯ personal information.

    And I nodded gently at her tales while I quietly pushed the button on the wall.

    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t be of use. Well, you¡¯ve been useful thus far, so if I enter Takamine, I¡¯ll take you into my group.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that person, wait, it¡¯s Kako, what¡¯s that villainous woman doing¡­¡±

    *pon*

    ¡°Missy, what are you doing over there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh¡±

    Inside the fence of the school, every several dozen meters, there was a direct communication line to the guards, a [Report Button] had been installed. It was just nice that it was close by.

    Just 2 minutes after pressing the button, a security guard was tapping Matsuri lightly on the shoulder.

    ¡°I am the heroine of this world¡± then,

    ¡°When I¡¯m done with my plan, I¡¯ll bury you¡± then,

    ¡°Hey, say something to these guys, what are you doing!¡± then

    She cried out a lot and was taken elsewhere.

    By the way, it was famous amongst some people that the security guards of Takamine were unforgiving to even minors who trespassed, thanks to the example of high school girls.

    Oh my~, I got to see something I don¡¯t usually get to see often.

    By the way, I shot everything that happened properly on my mobile phone.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Matsuri was born as an only daughter to an ordinary house in the suburbs.

    Although her father was occasionally absent at times when she was growing up and her mother worked in the nightlife business, she never had to live in need. Because her neighbors were friendly people, she grew up without ever feeling like she was lonely.

    Her steady mother dedicated herself to raising Matsuri alone as a single mother.

    Matsuri had the talent to charm and attract men unwittingly, and growing up with her bright and cheerful personality in the suburbs, she was beloved by everyone.

    With this kind of upbringing, she would have grown into a ¡®little devil¡¯ that attracted men unconsciously and innocently.

    However, when her mother remarried with the president of a start-up company, a certain event caused her life to flow in a different direction.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡­¡­ am Sakurazaki Matsuri.¡±

    It was a little different from the spelling of the Sakurazaki that was the surname of her new father, but she noticed that her appearance in the mirror looked like the heroine of the Otome game [Layered Love Mille-feuille ~ Ikemen Paradise~] that she had played many times.

    And at that moment she whispered those words, a huge volume of memories rushed back into her, and her little brain couldn¡¯t tolerate the load, and when she woke up from her sleep a couple of days later, she was the Matsuri of now.

    Matsuri recalled the memories of her previous life. The details were ambiguous, but she was now fully combined with the Matsuri of her previous life.

    The Matsuri of her past-life was the student of a school that would enroll any student just because they were lacking in student numbers, and played this game through the night for four days and lost her life because she fell asleep while eating steamed buns.

    However, Matsuri delighted that she was born again into this world rather than being in her previous life.

    Although she had heard of reincarnation in the world of games, she realized that this was the world of the Otome game [Layered Love Mille-feuille ~ Ikemen Paradise~].

    The story of the game started from the Middle school of Takamine School where the sons of the upper class gathered and their graduation six years from then was the stage.

    Here, Matsuri, as the healthy daughter of the suburbs, was going to grow her ¡®love¡¯ with the capture targets.

    There were 5 capture targets.

    Kuon Kouki.

    The grandson of the Kuon family that was both a lawmaker and a celebrity, suffered from his grandfather¡¯s involvement in bribing, and when one encountered an event where he went out in the middle of the night with a popularity rating of over 50%, one would hear of his troubles, and would change from friends to the path to lovers.

    Nikuno Handsome.

    The scion of a well-known meat processing company, he was convinced that he was cursed by the animals which became meat and wouldn¡¯t live long, and was stressed and became fat from overeating.

    He was troubled by having to slim down when the engagement event happened, and the flag was established by solving his troubles.

    Besides this, there was the black-hearted glasses-wearing friend of Kouki in the student council, for which events wouldn¡¯t be generated unless their compatibility was 80% or more.

    A boy born in a temple that used his mysterious power to solve the problem of Handsome Prince, and his love level wouldn¡¯t rise unless Handsome Prince¡¯s event progression went past 70%.

    A young teacher, who was distressed over his name being ¡°The electric beast of a certain game¡±, solved the problem of Handsome Prince who was also a fellow sufferer, and the compatibility would become negative if one didn¡¯t take part in his intervention.

    Evidently, this game was a multiple simultaneous strategy simulation, and the final goal was to make a [Ikemen Paradise Harem] like the title suggested.

    In order to avoid the criticisms that such a thing was impossible in reality, the final happy end was a rare relationship without marital relationships which could be called a ¡°carnal paradise¡±, which even included R-rated content. The game was a phantom game that was discontinued 3 months after release.

    From her previous experience playing this game for more than 2000 hours without studying, she knew what was essential for the initial capture of Kouki and Handsome Prince.

    Finding out at last about the Takamine School that was slightly different in setting and name from the game, Matsuri wondered if there were other differences since the game became a reality, and unable to wait until she entered secondary school, she forced her new father to move her to the primary school.

    As for this world, it was [Reality] and not the [Game World].

    It was only a story that a game scenario writer managed to write by chance by seeing what happened in reality in a kind of ¡°prophetic dream¡±.

    Still, by following the content of the game, Matsuri¡¯s hope could come true to a certain extent.

    Only, there was this one person¡­¡­ there was a [Girl] that hadn¡¯t appeared before in this world.

    LINE HERE

    LINE HERE

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Come to think of it, if this was to be placed within a sub-genre, what would it be? Urban low-fantasy? Or thinking about the 3rd book, high fantasy?

    Temple Story

    [Layered Love Story ~Ikemen Paradise~] added.

    Next time, the story begins to move. ¡­¡­ Finally.

 CH 81

    Volume 5, Chapter 10: I Got Involved in all Sorts of Trouble, Part 1

    ¡°Time sealing technique¡­¡­? What¡¯s that?¡±

    Onzada¡¯s father and elder brothers came home less often nowadays.

    Onzada, who was the fourth male amongst five brothers, knew that his parents¡¯ families were a bit different from those of the general [Shrines].

    Priests in ordinary temples did not learn how to fight and train their bodies. They did not go out to purge evil spirits.

    His own father destroyed evil spirits that normal people couldn¡¯t even touch that possessed other people by filling up his body with ¡°Ki¡± which was a mixture of the body¡¯s own energy and the power drawn from the outside air.

    Onzada, as a child who knew of it, admired it as an ¡°ally of justice¡±, and devoted himself to practicing ¡°Ki¡± to the point of exclusion.

    Onzada, as he was now, has power approaching either his eldest brother or close to that of his second brother, who was without peer. When his eldest brother came home, he asked to be taken along for a demon extermination.

    Of course, he was refused. Still, Onzada that clung on to him, causing his elder brother to be greatly embarrassed and inadvertently spilled out one of his secrets.

    That was: the [Time-sealing technique].

    ¡°Onzada, do you know of the [Mountain]?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ It¡¯s where father and brother go to help out, no?¡±

    ¡°Several years ago, there was a [Shrine Maiden] who reported from the [Mountain] of a prophetic vision. It seems that there will be a tremendous [Evil] that will appear in the world about 19~20 years from now. At that time, we, cannot do anything but send it to the past.¡±

    ¡°Hah? I don¡¯t understand, Aniki.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand it well myself, but it seems that there¡¯s a technique that uses the ¡°zero¡± and the ¡°twelve¡± figures, and seems to be called the [Hourglass Technique.]¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand at all.¡±

    ¡°What I do know is that we¡¯ll be able to defeat that [Evil] several years before it commences its assault, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Beat it before it comes¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°If we can successfully defeat it, then the world will be peaceful in 20 years. Now, though, the [Evil] has caused the evil spirits to increase in number. Leave all these evil spirits in these few years to Father and I.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­But¡±

    ¡°Onzada should continue to train for the future. It will be your responsibility to seal that [Evil] that will come back 20 years into the past. If you don¡¯t, I won¡¯t be able to protect my future wife.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know¡­¡­but, I understand.¡±

    The story was too difficult for him to understand, but the fact of the matter was that within a few years, there would be considerable danger. Based on that, knowing that he had been entrusted with the ¡°future¡±, he obediently nodded.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Protecting the future¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t the teasing of his brother, but that singular girl that floated up in the back of Onzada¡¯s mind, and he hurriedly shook that image from his head in a fluster.

    £ª£ª£ª

    I¡¯ve move into the second grade in elementary school.

    There have been no changes¡­¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say, but it¡¯s changing bit by bit.

    Ouji-kun has become extremely thin. While he was cute when he was like a plush toy up until a while ago, when he lost weight, his appearance became much better¡­¡­

    I often see the girls in the class call him [Prince-kun] and talk to him.

    However, whenever I tried to join the conversation, the girls would all disappear at once. Are they still not accustomed to my appearance, or are they taking into consideration my needs¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t want to know about the subtle feelings that I don¡¯t really know much about.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, there was a party at our company, but Yuzu-chan didn¡¯t come? Uncle Tagaki and even Shijiyuuin-san¡¯s father came.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ It¡¯s kind of a little bit too high society for me¡­¡­¡±

    Where even people like the president of a company and a real Princess-sama like Kako went? My father would be troubled if a ¡°fake Princess-sama¡± like myself went.

    Besides, at a party, if I was to get along well with the party¡¯s organizer¡¯s child, even if I was being watched with strange looks, strange rumors wouldn¡¯t spring up.

    Even though it was such a wonderful party, Kouki-kun and his father didn¡¯t attend.

    I heard that the relationship between Kouki-kun¡¯s parents and his grandparents weren¡¯t good because of the matter of ¡°land speculation¡±.

    When I say ¡°rumors¡±, it was something I heard from the ¡°Spirit of the Wakame Seaweed¡± using hand gestures in the ramen at the ramen shop where the Dad was working.

    ¡­¡­ I wonder if I¡¯m just tired.

    By the way, only Misa and I could see the ¡°Spirit of the Wakame¡±. It¡¯s surely because both of us have pure and innocent hearts.

    £ª

    ¡°Are you a child from this shopping district?¡±

    While Misa and I were playing in the alleyway beside the ramen shop, an elegant man in his mid-twenties talked to me.

    I could tell that his suit was fine at a glance. Behind him was someone in a black suit with a bulge in it that made Misa a little bit frightened.

    ¡°¡­¡­ and you are?¡±

    I was a little wary, but I asked him in a childlike way.

    Still, noticing that I was trying to protect Misa, the man took an exaggerated step forwards, turning a sweet smile at us.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a suspicious person. I spoke to you out of curiosity because there aren¡¯t many children despite being such a wonderful shopping street.¡±

    ¡°Fuuhn~¡­¡­¡±

    He was saying plausible things, but he ultimately didn¡¯t answer my question. His face was smiling, but to me that smile looked like that of a ¡°snake¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­Misa, go back to dad-chan¡¯s place.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    I held off the conversation as I took Misa¡¯s hand and went to the back of the shop.

    Just when I thought that he would follow us, the man just gently shrugged and went back to the shopping district. ¡­¡­ Behind him, there were some more evil-looking men in black suits, but when the man looked lightly at them, they scattered into the shopping district.

    I wonder what¡­¡­ what was this feeling.

    After talking to the man who was just here before, I felt something light up in my heart. What is this small, fluctuating ¡°feeling¡±¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­I won¡¯t let anyone say that about our ramen!¡±

    We got in from the back and heard dad-chan shouting loudly.

    ¡°¡­¡­O-onii-chan?¡±

    ¡°Misa, please stay here.¡±

    Leaving the anxious Misa behind me, I looked at the situation happening in the store.

    Kotone-chan seems to not have come in yet, but in the shop there seems to be some ill-bred customer and dad-chan who were glaring at one another and in their own world. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant atmosphere.

    The other customers sneakily payed up and leave the store. The grandpa who owned the shop was cutting green onions in the kitchen as if he couldn¡¯t heard them.

    ¡­¡­ Actually, it¡¯s quite likely that he couldn¡¯t hear them.

    And, sure enough, that customer was one of those evil-looking men near the man we had talked to earlier.

    ¡°What is this ramen? It seems I made a mistake, and should have eaten instant ramen, which would have been better.¡±

    ¡°What was that? Could you say that again? ¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fraud to take my money like this. Ramen is supposed to be fully stewed with pork and chicken, and at the moment when it¡¯s at its best, it is supposed to be a clear and refreshing soup, and not skimped on time or material or effort like this.¡±

    This hoodlum, he¡¯s actually a great lover of ramen, isn¡¯t he?

    ¡°And you call these noodles? Is this used paper? I thought it was a rubber band.¡±

    ¡°You little¡­ You can¡¯t even use the chopsticks properly, so what are you going on about¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to eat it. Aah, but if it were in some remote region, I might still be able to tolerate it. Your store should just go out of business quickly!¡±

    ¡°This bastard¡­¡­¡±

    Oops, that¡¯s a no no. That man absolutely refused to make a move, but was waiting for dad-chan to hit him.

    I¡¯m also¡­¡­ feeling like my heart is throbbing.

    ¡°Ooh, a brat!¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, get back.¡±

    As I entered the store, both the hoodlum and dad-chan spoke.

    Dad-chan put his knife down first. If he were to leave the kitchen as it was now, it would be a breach of the firearms and swords laws.

    ¡°Why did you decide to eat ramen?¡±

    ¡°Yu-Yuzu-chan?¡±

    Replying with a cheerful look full of smiles, Dad-chan had a confused expression on his face.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s been a while since I felt like this. I directed my look at the hoodlum. He¡¯s got a violent presence. And he¡¯s radiating malicious intent¡­¡­

    Was my heart thumping? Maybe it¡¯s because I met that man just before, but¡­¡­?

    For some reason¡­¡­ it seems¡­¡­ really tasty.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­tsuuu¡±

    As I gazed at him, the thug¡¯s body stiffened and he shut up.

    I wonder what he saw¡­¡­ I won¡¯t do anything, you know? I¡¯m just a harmless, helpless child?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s okay. After seeing such a superb man, you are unsatisfactory.

    ¡°Sit down, uncle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The hoodlum¡¯s eyes began to swim as the child smiled cutely at him.

    Perhaps the uncle is only looking at my eyes. Dad-chan seemed to notice something between the hoodlum and me, and seemed to notice the unusual state of events despite being confused.

    ¡°¡­¡­Sit down.¡±

    When I whispered please in a low voice, the hoodlum sat down slowly next to myself, as I sat down at the counter.

    ¡°Grandpa-chan, dad-chan, Ramen for two. Please put plenty of seaweed.¡±

    ¡°O-, oh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Aiyooo¡±

    Instead of Dad-chan who seemingly hasn¡¯t kept pace with reality, it was grandpa shop owner who started to make ramen briskly. ¡­¡­He heard me.

    ¡°Right, there we go.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, the ramen noodles were layered onto the wakame, and placed in front of us.

    ¡°Eat. Is it delicious?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eat.¡±

    At the end, when I was muttering softly, the hoodlum hurried, and began to eat ramen greedily. Oh no, how shameless.

    ¡°¡­¡­Goho, guho¡±

    Yeah, dad-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious, but grandpa-chan¡¯s ramen is also delicious.

    When I glanced to my side at him, it seems that he¡¯d been possessed by the ¡°spirit of the wakame¡± in his bowl and not mine, and it seems to be invading his stomach vigorously along with the noodles.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Uwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

    The hoodlum¡¯s face was starting to turn ¡°green¡±.

    What¡­¡­? Why did it become like this? I felt like it just happened on impulse.

    Surely, it¡¯s because of him. ¡­¡­ Sorry? If you want to resent, resent your boss.

    The green-colored hoodlum, put down a large bill while shaking unsteadily like a ¡°fish taking its first bipedal steps on land¡± and went off.

    It¡¯s a little bit too much, but it also includes the service charge (being next to a beautiful little girl).

    If I stayed here, would I meet that wonderful person again?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The otome-game capture targets have been changed.

 CH 82

    Volume 5, Chapter 11: I Got Involved in all Sorts of Trouble, Part 2

    ¡°No, Yuzu-chan, you don¡¯t have to come every day you know!?¡±

    From that day earlier onwards, I¡¯ve been waiting for that delicious¡­¡­ *cough*, for that wonderful person to come to dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop, because I couldn¡¯t go meet in the places where hoodlums gathered.

    I think dad-chan thinks that I¡¯m apologetic and that¡¯s the reason I come every day.

    Should I extend my net to the other shops too¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu, you, what did you do?¡±

    That¡¯s rude, Kotone-chan.

    ¡°I am waiting for that lovely man to come.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ Yuzu likes older men. It¡¯s honestly a bad hobby.¡±

    I don¡¯t want to be told that by Kotone¡­¡­¡­

    Since I was here so often, I began to assist the shop along with Misa, and the number of customers seems to have increased.

    ¡°I will help my onii-chan and make this ramen shop a splendid one.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s amazing, you can do it Misa.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Yuzu-chan.¡±

    Misa is the same age as me, but I felt like she was cute and young like if she was my little sister.

    As I was kneading the cheeks of the cute Misa, Kotone, who heard Misa¡¯s declaration came in.

    ¡°Before that, is this shop going to stay in business forever? I hope that it can continue until he can run it alone¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? Why? There¡¯re a lot of customers.¡±

    The harassment from the hoodlums had also been decreasing.

    As soon as the hoodlums who were harassing the other shops came around to this place, I entertained them, and they all became honest. Before I knew it, the harassment to the entire shopping district was reduced.

    It¡¯s a lucky break? Or maybe something a little different.

    ¡°Hey, the shopkeeper is getting pretty old, no? He said that he would return to the countryside and retire once he couldn¡¯t make soup. He has good skills too, but it¡¯s important for the customers to trust the shopkeeper¡¯s taste.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Ojii-chan¡¯s ramen has a kind taste to it, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I too, like grandpa-chan¡¯s ramen.¡±

    It¡¯s not going to turn out well. Trust in the product¡­¡­ or perhaps I should say it differs from ¡°selling¡±.

    Will it sell if people¡¯s complexions turn green?

    £ª

    One day, the chauffeur didn¡¯t come to pick me up due to mother¡¯s circumstances.

    Although I called a taxi and it was okay, only Ooba-onii-chan had returned when I got home, and onii-chan had to eat ramen with me while we waited together.

    Both Father and Mother seemed to know about dad-chan and Misa. I knew, but I couldn¡¯t do much more to lend a hand and say that we won¡¯t stop involving ourselves, it¡¯s a subtle position.

    The adults were not being honest.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to buy some juice~¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go too far~¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    It¡¯s not a matter of me wanting to drink juice particularly, but recently, it¡¯s been getting hotter, so dealing with the roaring fire in a ramen shop is tough.

    I have become much stronger, but from the point of view of others I¡¯m still considered weak.

    ¡°Haa¡­¡­ how refreshing¡±

    It¡¯s comfortable at night. As always, I¡¯m not very sleepy. I might be turning nocturnal.

    I don¡¯t feel afraid of the night like a normal child, and since I haven¡¯t had any more run-ins with random attackers as well in this half-year, it¡¯s been a relief.

    Something came unexpectedly on such a night¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While I was chilling my forehead with the cold tea that I¡¯d bought from a vending machine, I saw a black ¡®cat¡¯ in the side alley in the shopping area.

    A jet-black cat with silver eyes like the one I saw at the shrine¡­¡­ From the depths of my heart, ¡®something¡¯ came out, and I felt like there was something itching in me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who¡­¡­ are you¡­¡­?¡±

    When the words fell from my lips, the black cat¡¯s silhouette¡­¡­ was getting further away.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    I started chasing after it once I noticed. My legs aren¡¯t fast. But I will follow [Him].

    ¡­¡­[Him]?¡­¡­

    ¡°Kyaa¡±

    ¡°Uwahh¡±

    I suddenly bumped into someone. The other party was also tiny, but I was weak so I fell over and landed on my bottom.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡±

    The black cat¡­¡­ was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kouki-kun?¡±

    The person I bumped into was Kouki-kun. ¡­¡­ At the corner of the road?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would it be better if I was holding bread in my mouth?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Kouki-kun reached out his hand to me to support me up, even though he didn¡¯t understand what I was saying.

    ¡°Sorry, Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ but, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kouki-kun. I was at a shop with which I was acquainted¡­ and then¡­ I went for a walk.¡±

    ¡°I too¡­ went for a walk.¡±

    This lie, I¡¯ll endure it. It¡¯s a somewhat strange atmosphere¡­¡­ Ah, come to think of it, he had a poor relationship with his grandfather over that land speculation ruckus, no?

    ¡°¡­¡­Then, goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?¡±

    Kouki-kun raised his voice in shock as I tried to escape quickly¡­¡­ such a toublesome fellow.

    ¡°With this flow, isn¡¯t it like listening to a story?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s troublesome.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s way too honest! You¡¯re kinder and more friendly in school.¡±

    ¡°A troublesome man, you are.¡±

    ¡°How mean.¡±

    He seems more like a little ¡®cat¡¯ than ¡®the scion of a distinguished family¡¯¡­¡­ I remembered that I¡¯d lost sight of the black cat because of this.

    ¡°Understood. Speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan sure moves at her own pace. Is this your ¡®core¡¯?¡±

    That¡¯s right. I am a narrow-minded person.

    ¡°You can think of this however you please. While Ouji-kun is someone who¡¯s easy to be with, Yuzu-chan is the only friend I have with which I can discuss difficult things.¡±

    Well, that might be true. Because we¡¯re surrounded by ordinary elementary school students.

    ¡°What about Yonjiuman Yuuki-kun? That person seems to understand, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That guy is even more insistent on doing things at his own pace than you. Certainly, he feels like he doesn¡¯t have time for other people.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ and I¡¯m free?¡±

    ¡°Well, well, I don¡¯t mean that. But you seem to be soft-hearted, and there¡¯s also the fact that you don¡¯t deeply involve yourself even if you do know the story, Also¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun scratched the end of his nose with his fingers as if he was feeling a little shy.

    ¡°Kako trusts Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ I was wondering if she hated me because she kept a distance from me, but¡­¡­ Yuzu-chan told Kako something, did you not?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well¡±

    Hoho¡­¡­ the misunderstanding has been unraveled, and the distance with his fianc¨¦ has shrunk all at once?

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡­¡­ please stop grinning like that, you look like my mother.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s all good.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    My good friend Ouji-kun was becoming a handsome young man, and it was unfortunate that he was getting clung onto by the onee-samas in the upper years like a god of rot.

    Kouki-kun¡¯s story was, as expected, about his grandfather.

    As expected, he didn¡¯t talk about the land speculation, but it seems like they were gathering a ridiculous amount of money for a return to politics.

    Kouki-kun¡¯s father was his grandfather¡¯s secretary and wanted to oppose the idea but he had found a bride in Germany when he¡¯d gone overseas to study, and ignored the marriage that he had been forced into by the grandfather. Because of that, it seems like his father wasn¡¯t in a position to speak out against his grandfather.

    ¡°Kouki-kun hates his grandfather?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate him, but I don¡¯t like him either. As a politician I think he¡¯s amazingly upfront, but I don¡¯t have any good memories of conversations with him, and he treated my mother quite badly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuhn~¡±

    ¡°Generally, the problem with my grandfather is having done things with the secretaries and the butlers for a long time, it¡¯s the  problem of Kidou¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kidou¡­san?¡±

    ¡°According to what Father says, it was a person that was willing to do anything for my grandfather, and it would have been good if that had been the only person, but when his son started to help out at work, he began doing unmentionably cruel things¡­¡­¡±

    Kidou-san¡­¡­ and his son? These two people are the problem.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    ¡°Did you hear that voice?¡±

    From the other side of the road, came the sound of multiple men¡¯s voices.

    ¡°They came to look for me¡­¡­ Sorry, Yuzu-chan, but thanks for listening. I was able to be happy for a while.¡±

    ¡°Just listening to the conversation? I can¡¯t do anything you know.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s fine, then, I¡¯ll see you in school.¡±

    ¡°See you again.¡±

    Kouki-kun disappeared into the dark residential district after shaking my hands lightly¡­¡­ Although he¡¯s a distinguished son of a high-ranking family, it¡¯s still dangerous. I can¡¯t say anything about other people, though.

    Maybe, a little bit of the problem that¡¯s plaguing this shopping district can be seen?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Kidou, how¡¯s it going with that shopping district?¡±

    In a luxurious office, an old man directed a sharp look at a young one.

    There were three people in this room. An old man wearing traditional dress was sitting on the sofa, and a man in his prime stood near him, while the young man stood by the door which was further away.

    ¡°The eviction rate has exceeded 30%. Although it is taking a while¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That time is a problem. How much time do you think remains until the next election? And 30%? That hasn¡¯t even increased by 5% over the last month!¡±

    ¡°But, sir. There are only a few shopkeepers who own their shops remaining. If we clear them off, the other stores will accept being cleared out.¡±

    The man in his prime~ Kidou, had served this master since his father¡¯s generation.

    He was a rather arrogant and ambitious man as a politician, and it wasn¡¯t just for money that he was doing land speculation; he understood that it was necessary for the development of the region, and felt an impatient hatred for the shopkeepers who were reluctant to leave.

    ¡°Shops like that should just be pushed onto the tracks with those usual guys.¡±

    ¡°Sir, we can¡¯t do that. In the current situation where the media is still paying attention, if an incident related to the speculation occurs, then they will suspect that it is linked to you, sir.¡±

    ¡°That is no way to speak.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­with all due respect.¡±

    It was the young man who had kept silent up until then.

    ¡°Control yourself, Kyoji, you¡¯re just a youngster.¡±

    ¡°No, let¡¯s hear your opinion.¡±

    The old man stopped Kidou and turned to look at Kidou¡¯s son, Kyoji.

    ¡°The shopping district, has begun to regain its vibrancy recently. The people who¡¯ve gotten involved with it have become strange and the development is delayed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What is there?¡±

    ¡°We have not been able to investigate, so it¡¯s currently still unknown. Although it¡¯s just a shopping district, if the uneasiness has disappeared and the vibrancy has returned, then all we need to is to add more uneasiness.¡±

    ¡°However, won¡¯t we have to worry that this case involving a gang will be linked to us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it would be best if incidents that have nothing to do with land speculation were to happen. ¡­¡­for example,¡±

    Catching the sharp gaze of the old man directly, Kyoji laughed faintly.

    ¡°The children in the shopping distrct going missing¡­¡­ how does that sound that?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, Onzada-kun takes a leading role.

 CH 83

    Volume 5, Chapter 12: What I Wanted to Say, Part 1

    Early in the autumn, I turned eight years old.

    Recently, I¡¯ve been a little busy after school. There was that practice, but mostly it was because I ate ramen in the shopping district and played with Misa. Also, when I explored the shopping district, I feel like the hoodlums were somewhat nervous recently. It¡¯s strange.

    I also heard Kouki-kun¡¯s story by chance, but I get the feeling that it¡¯s not going in a good direction.

    Next is taking care of the animals in the breeding shed with Kako. Ouji-kun also helped.

    Ouji-kun has completely stopped eating snacks, and has become quite slim. And hence, I heard that Ouji-kun¡¯s parents wanted to see me.

    ¡­¡­ Those parents who gave him that name? I was scared of that meeting, so I put it on hold. The excuse was that my body was still frail.

    Was I really that weak?

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Because it was cold out, I caught a cough while I was outside.

    ¡°¡­¡­oi, are you alright?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who had begun to train seriously, stopped his ki-training and approached me.

    The final reason why I was busy was because I was learning how to use ki with Onzada-kun. Even though I was taught for a year, I still can¡¯t do anything, so I often just observe Onzada-kun while taking a break.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a little cough?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been getting colder recently¡­ Since Yuzu¡¯s body is weak, you shouldn¡¯t make too much tea. See, your hands are becoming cold again.¡±

    Ah, that¡¯s just because I don¡¯t have much muscle, and it¡¯s cold out.

    Onzada-kun was doing martial arts up until just now, so his hands when they held mine were still warm.

    ¡°Is Onzada-kun feeling warm? Your face is red.¡±

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve been moving around too much. Yours would be too, you know.¡±

    When I let go of his hand, Onzada-kun threw over his jacket. And of course, I couldn¡¯t catch it with my hands, and ended up catching it with my face.

    ¡°*bleh*, it¡¯s quite sweaty.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, have some patience with me.¡±

    Still, I borrowed Onzada-kun¡¯s coat and put it over my shoulders. This time, I¡¯ll value the contribution.

    In this way, Onzada-kun began to train seriously beginning in summer, and I also felt his kindness. Even though I couldn¡¯t master ¡®ki¡¯ after a long time, I was amazed but didn¡¯t disturb him. I didn¡¯t say that I wouldn¡¯t come, after all.

    Onzada-kun was a fifth-grader. As an 11 year old male, I understood that he was becoming a ¡®man¡¯ rather than a boy, but isn¡¯t that too quick?

    ¡°¡­¡­What happened?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    Onzada-kun who was kneeling calmly turned to face my voice.

    ¡°What is¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nnn~¡­¡­ What is it? Did you get into a fight?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Something like that.¡±

    When Onzada-kun returned to my side, he placed his hand on my head with a pop. He¡¯s gotten taller.

    ¡°I will protect Yuzu¡¯s future with my life. So be at ease.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Of course I knew that he didn¡¯t mean it that way, but this is kinda¡­¡­

    My face was red.

    Also¡­¡­ I think I heard the sound of a small ¡®chain¡¯ somewhere.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Onzada was feeling impatient.

    Although it could be said that he was motivated, he, who had only practiced skills that looked cool as a child, made his parents very pleased that Onzada who had lacked ¡®mental fortitude¡¯ had begun to practice seriously, and his eldest brother who occasionally returned home regretted that he had spoken of the circumstances of the ¡®other side¡¯.

    ¡°Onzada, don¡¯t overdo it. We still have nearly 20 years.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Brother. It¡¯s not unreasonable.¡±

    There have been groups in Japan that have defended the nation since time immemorial.

    Destroying evil spirits and monsters that were the enemies of the world, readjusting the flow of the ¡®ki¡¯ of the land, they had protected Japan from ¡®foreign enemies¡¯ for more than a thousand years.

    Buddhist priests. Exorcists. Spiritualists. Of the ones who had handed down techniques for exorcising the foreign demons since long ago, the largest religious organization in the country¡­¡­ had no clear name, but was commonly called the [Oyama].

    Approximately 30% of the shrines and temples in the whole country were connected to the [Oyama], and of them, a tenth of them were families that directly exterminated evil spirits, and Onzada¡¯s family was one of them.

    And when that [Powerful existence] was found under Tokyo, they used that power to more efficiently get rid of the evil spirits.

    That existence was very sensitive to the things that could bring it harm.

    Just like a little child¡­¡­

    Onzada¡¯s elder brother also came to teach Onzada about that matter.

    Because he wanted to know what kind of [Enemy] he was going to have to confront, and felt that sense of crisis, Onzada took even bolder actions.

    ¡°Good, this is fine.¡±

    Changing into clothes that were easy-to-move in, they left their home at midnight.

    Although Onzada was delighted about his progress with his serious training, as ever, he wasn¡¯t making an excited face about his ¡®ki¡¯ training.

    After all, it was difficult for a child to handle and easy for them to injure themselves, he honestly felt that one would be in danger of neglecting one¡¯s studies if they seriously delved into it.

    It was a hard truth, however, that to become a true priest of the [Oyama], one needed a certain level of education. The fourth son of Onzada¡¯s family went to a good university and his parents were thinking of letting him get a regular job.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s fine, for I know I am on the side of justice!¡±

    Onzada said something that he would never be able to say in front of his parents absentmindedly.

    He didn¡¯t want to protect many people, just those few precious people.

    For that reason, Onzada was planning on making a ¡®prayer shop¡¯ which would leave him relatively free.

    ¡°¡±Onzada¡¯s House of Worship¡± ¡­¡­or something like that.¡±

    Even if he had grown, he was still a child like that.

    Well, the reason why Onzada had gone out of his family home in the middle of the night was for the sake of training his battle skills.

    Onzada realized himself that his ¡®ki¡¯ level was close to that of his older brother. The reason for that rapid growth was that ¡®pseudo-ki¡¯ that that female junior was using.

    If anyone saw it, they would think of it as a failure, even she herself thought of it as a failure, but Onzada realized that it was close to psychic powers. To the degree that Onzada felt that there was ¡®power¡¯ in his vicinity.

    Despite her cheek, it was easier to talk to that junior and it seemed that her mental strength was great, although she herself was weak. At first, he had only taught her ¡®ki¡¯ because he had let his guard down from her beauty, but now Onzada liked her as a person.

    When his father and brothers used ¡®ki¡¯, they forged their hearts with training, keeping their hearts still with willpower, and controlled their ki. That was because it was a stable way of doing so and would cause fewer accidents.

    However, how that girl used her ¡®power¡¯ was the complete opposite.

    Rather than letting it run wild with her immature feelings, she let it run wild in a stable manner with her high mental strength. Even though it sounded unreasonable just saying it, it fit her perfectly on the first try.

    Onzada listened to his brothers¡¯ words, but felt that this power method suited him.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder where it is.¡±

    Onzada calmed his wandering mind and searched for that presence. Looking for the spirits of the land or a wandering ghost. They didn¡¯t have the presence of a living being, but there were times where he could feel the flow of a gaze and their emotion.

    While it would be especially strong if it were an evil spirit or a vengeful ghost, they were rare, so encountering one shouldn¡¯t be common.

    ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡­¡±

    Although spirits weren¡¯t visible to the normal eye, they were able to be seen by a person with strong ¡®ki¡¯. And by recognizing that it was ¡®present¡¯, it became clearer.

    It was at the corner of the park. He didn¡¯t know if the spirit had been in an accident or had committed suicide. It was a vague outline of a middle-aged male, but as it turned its dark eyes towards Onzada he recognized it as the spirit.

    ¡°¡­¡­uuuh¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d seen a spirit, but it was his first time confronting one, and hence Onzada felt a bit of cold feet.

    ¡°¡­¡­You, did you want to say something?¡±

    Until now, Onzada who felt that he had only seen spirits as something to ¡®destroy,¡¯ spoke to it.

    Neither his father nor brother felt anything, they just got the exorcism done. What Onzada felt, although it might just have been his gullibility and childish sentiment, caused him to hesitate in doing so.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    The gaze of the ghost tethered to the earth shifted slightly. Following the gaze, he found the flowers that someone had offered it withering, and a small sake bottle was visible.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it okay if I open it?¡±

    Even though he asked, the spirit didn¡¯t answer. Onzada opened the cap of the bottle of sake, and splashed it on the stone that the flower rested on.

    ¡°Is that okay?¡±

    After being asked again, the spirit looked at Onzada.

    ¡°Can you even talk? ¡­¡­¡­*cough*¡±

    Onzada made an unpleasant face and coughed unexpectedly when he licked a bit of the liquor. Seeing that the expression of the bound spirit seemed gentler than before, Onzada took a closer look.

    ¡°Is that enough?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Onzada scattered the spirit with the ¡®ki¡¯ in his palm. There was no resistance¡­¡­ at all.

    Onzada didn¡¯t feel any sense of euphoria at his first exorcism, and his mouth twisted with the taste of the remaining sake.

    ¡°Haah¡­¡­ how bitter.¡±

    £ª

    On that night, Onzada exorcised another bound spirit.

    It was the spirit of an infant with an indeterminate shape, that spoke about a fairy tale that was somewhat familiar, and then faded away even without being struck by ki.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Remembering the taste of the sake that he had licked a while ago, Onzada felt like drinking. He grimaced, since he was unable to do so as he was a grade-schooler.

    Onzada was shocked by the realization of the truth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This was¡­ not a practice battle at all, was it?¡±

    He was slow to notice it.

    ¡°¡­¡­geh.¡±

    And as he walked along looking for a strong presence, he saw something strange in the corner of a scrap bin.

    Simply put, it was the form of a ghost of a glitzy woman. Strangely enough the outline was very clear and so was the malice.

    Remembering his brothers¡¯ words: that the number and malice of the evil spirits were increasing because of the [Evil], Onzada¡¯s face turned green.

    It was the kind of evil spirit that made him want to call out for his brother, but Onzada hesitated. It wasn¡¯t that he was overestimating his own power, but that the evil spirit had collected other floating spirits and was eating them.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit.¡±

    Because they were already dead, there was nothing he could do.

    While thinking so, Onzada rushed out towards that evil spirit.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    Screaming that, Onzada infused his fist with the ki of his ¡®anger¡¯ and drove it into the back of the spirit.

    ¡°[KishaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]¡±

    At the evil spirit¡¯s ¡®scream¡¯, the scrap bin around it cracked and shook, bursting open.

    ¡°Are you serious¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    It was a fairly powerful evil spirit. If this was just the influence of that [Evil], then just how much power would that evil have?

    ¡°Uwah!¡±

    Onzada managed to dodge the evil spirit¡¯s swipe, but the back of his hand that had touched it slightly was bruised.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is this a spiritual attack?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help it. To say nothing of exorcism, with Onzada¡¯s power, even escape was difficult.

    ¡°¡­[Holy]¡­¡±

    At this point, the evil spirit was wrapped in a pillar of light by that voice.

    ¡°[GyaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?]¡±

    The evil spirit screamed in agony.

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    A few meters behind the evil spirit, there was a black, diminutive shadow.

    It was wielding a sword as large as it was, and, with a speed that even Onzada couldn¡¯t follow, it slashed the evil spirit vertically down from the head.

    ¡°[¡­¡­o¡­¡­ ah¡­¡­]¡±

    To easily destroy that kind of evil spirit, he wondered if that sword was some sort of divine instrument.

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-you¡­¡±

    That person who was wearing black clothing and whose face was covered in a black mask was even younger than Onzada, who was only in the fifth grade himself, and looked like a very young elementary schooler given their height.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And after glancing at Onzada who was dumbfounded, that black-masked person suddenly began to slash the floating spirits that were drifting around with the sword.

    Every time it slashed, Onzada saw that something like light was being absorbed by the black covering, and he instinctively kicked them.

    ¡°Stop it!¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Onzada¡¯s ki-loaded kick was caught by that large sword and spat an unusual spark.

    Even knowing that that black-masked person was his savior, Onzada couldn¡¯t overlook them.

    ¡°You, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    The black-masked person looked at Onzada oddly, and then nonchalantly swung the sword at him.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two of them faced each other dead on.

    At that moment,

    *Jajan, jajajajan*

    The theme song of a certain old man played, and the two of them unexpectedly lost the tension.

    ¡°Wai-wait a moment¡±

    After clarifying, Onzada took out his mobile phone with a red face, and his face changed at the email with no title and no content.

    Onzada felt the anxiety that bound his heart as he looked at the mail.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Story Template:

    [Onzada¡¯s House of Worship [Adolescence Arc]] added.

    Next time, the malicious shadow that approaches Yuzu.

    ¡­¡­ Should we be worrying about the protagonist?

 CH 84

    Volume 5, Chapter 13: What I Wanted to Say, Part 2

    ¡°What¡¯s making all that noise?¡±

    I came to the shopping district ramen shop again today.

    If you¡¯re eating ramen all the time like this, you would get fat, so Kotone-chan, who noticed that number on the scale for her was terrifying, decided that today she would be swimming at the gym instead of coming.

    ¡°Erm, well, it seems that there¡¯s some roadwork?¡±

    To my mutter, Misa, who was doing homework with me, raised her head to tell me.

    ¡°Is there a lot in the works this time?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know.¡±

    When I looked outside from the window of the restroom instead of the inside of the store, I could hear some sounds but I couldn¡¯t see where they were coming from.

    ¡°Just how many places are they working¡­¡­?¡±

    The roadwork itself weren¡¯t unusual, but was it being done all over the shopping area?

    Since it¡¯s a school holiday tomorrow, it¡¯s not a problem even if Kotone-chan comes to pick me up, but I wonder if the car can even enter?

    Well, it can¡¯t be helped; I guess I¡¯ll have to stay at the shop.

    Now that I think on it, the backroom and the second floor of this ramen shop is grandpa shopkeeper¡¯s house, and Misa and Dad-chan are lodging on the second floor.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you should stay over~.¡±

    ¡°What should I do?¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s sleep together in the futon.

    We¡¯re sharing a bed. Yeah, that¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it¡­ When I started to drift off into my own thoughts, Dad-chan came from the shop to the restroom with his cellphone.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, there was a phone call from Ooba-kun, but since there were so many roads that were blocked due to construction work today, he might be late, so please make your way back by taxi before it¡¯s too late.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°And Yuzu-chan, did your phone¡¯s battery run out? I heard that Ooba-kun couldn¡¯t reach you.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­?¡±

    I took out my mobile phone from my bag, and indeed, it really was off.

    When I pressed and held down the power button, it turned on, but after a couple of seconds, I saw the picture of an empty battery on the screen.

    ¡°A dead battery, huh¡­¡­¡±

    You can use our shop¡¯s phone, so stay in contact. Would you like to call a taxi?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, you¡¯re not going to stay over¡­¡­?¡±

    Misa looked sad when she heard.

    ¡°¡­¡­Dad-chan, is it no good for me to stay?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. And I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father! Recently Misa has been imitating you and calling me [Dad-chan], so the rest of the people in the shopping district are also starting to call me [Dad] these days!¡±

    ¡°It was an accident¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°It obviously wasn¡¯t an accident!?¡±

    As expected, the straight riposte from Dad-chan is strong.

    After that, I called Ooba-onii-chan and then asked Dad-chan to call me a taxi.

    Ah, I wish I¡¯d charged my mobile phone before the taxi had come¡­¡­ I managed to charge it for one minute just before the taxi arrived.

    It was around nine when I boarded the taxi and the ramen shop was closed.

    It was quite late. It took me well over an hour to get a cab. At this rate, it might really be better to just stay over.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Miss. Because there was so much construction work ongoing, there were only a few roads that I could use.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Because the young driver with a well-built physique was talking to me, I answered properly, and went with the flow.

    If I can¡¯t even handle small talk, I don¡¯t think I can ever become a full member of society. I am an elementary school student.

    ¡°Miss¡¯s uniform, are you from the Takamine school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You know of it?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the best school in this area. With that kind of school tuition, I think it¡¯s impossible for my children to attend.¡±

    ¡°There aren¡¯t many of them, but there are children from ordinary families, you know?¡±

    ¡°Haha, those children are clearly treasured by their parents. If I had a cute little girl like you, dad would have liked her to go to Takamine, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Dad?¡±

    Does Dad know Driver-san? No, it¡¯s not a taxi company that¡¯s often around here? Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t seen any such company, either.

    Anyway, this driver, seems rather talkative¡­¡­

    ¡°When I got on the taxi, didn¡¯t your dad come to see you off? What a pleasant parent-child relationship.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Did he think that Dad-chan and I were parent and child? ¡­¡­ It¡¯s strange putting it into words.

    People who come by the shopping district often would know that I call him [Dad-chan], but when did this driver hear of it?

    Even though he was from the taxi company that was used by the shop, he didn¡¯t seem acquainted with dad-chan.

    And even though he¡¯s a taxi driver, he doesn¡¯t seem to know where I¡¯m going¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The conversation got interrupted as I stayed silent.

    The driver seemed to be trying to get ¡°something¡± out of me. No¡­¡­ It seems that he wanted ¡°confirmation¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Mr. driver, isn¡¯t this the wrong way?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ My apologies, but there are many roads that aren¡¯t accessible thanks to the road construction.¡±

    This might be bad¡­¡­ I¡¯m not one to panic in such a situation, generally, but it¡¯s quite the distance between being afraid of the danger and being at ease.

    That strange [power] doesn¡¯t always come out according to the situation. Since it comes out only when I tried to protect someone, I still don¡¯t know for sure if I¡¯m in danger.

    Besides, this construction work itself is also suspicious.

    ¡°I wish to get off here. Please stop the car.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I can¡¯t do that. It¡¯s only a little more until we get onto the highway.¡±

    ¡°The highway?¡±

    Although it could take up to 20 minutes by car to get to the ramen shop from the Toukaki estate, there¡¯s no need at all to use the expressway.

    Ah, this is bad. Even if it wasn¡¯t a kidnapper or some devious criminal, there¡¯s no doubt at all that this is one of those corrupt taxis.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t stop¡­¡­ I¡¯ll get violent?¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ why not try?¡±

    The driver dropped his veneer of goodness, and his voice dripped with condescension. It¡¯s a guilty confession.

    ¡°¡­¡­Then, I won¡¯t hesitate. *pusu*¡±

    Without a single ounce of restraint, I stabbed a sharp pencil into the base of the driver¡¯s skull.

    ¡°GyaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    He howled. But, because I was weak, it only stabbed in about a centimeter. I pulled out the tip of the pencil, and rolled myself under the seat.

    *gagon*!

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    The fake driver made a sound like he was spitting out air, and the car came to a sudden stop. Thinking about it properly, it would¡¯ve been dangerous if he¡¯d collided with an oncoming car. But it¡¯s too late by far now.

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡­ you cheeky brat¡±

    ¡°Oh my, you survived?¡±

    While he bled profusely from his forehead and neck, he stretched out his hand to grab me, but I gave an elegant smile, and left the car from the back seat.

    Bag: ok, wallet: ok, uniform: a little wrinkled, and the mobile phone was charged to 3% or less. I¡¯m all set.

    ¡°But¡­ where is this place¡­¡­?¡±

    Apparently, it seems to be a street lined with office buildings. There seems to be a lot of places without power because of the hour of the day.

    Let¡¯s search for a police box for the time being. Even though I can¡¯t see it, I think there¡¯s a convenience store somewhere.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Why¡­¡±

    That [Black Cat] was in the alley of the office town¡­¡­

    Those silver eyes stared straight at me. Did you want to say something¡­¡­? What did you want to tell me? What on earth are you¡­¡­

    ¡°Ah, wait!¡±

    As I approached it, it ran away. Even as I stopped, it ran further away. ¡­¡­ But, you were the one to appear before me.

    ¡°Something¡± was scratching with its claws in the depths of my heart and mind.

    It urged me to follow [Him] as he ran away.

    I¡¯m out of breath. It¡¯s natural, since I have no stamina. But I could still move more? And I was faster? And¡­ stronger?

    The fractured memories that my daily life had painted over, slowly regained their color.

    You¡­¡­ what did you want of me?

    ¡°You brat, I¡¯ve found you!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Where¡­¡­ was I? I was in something that looked like a vacant lot when I recovered my consciousness, and from behind me, while holding the back of his neck with a cloth that was dyed with spots of red, was the fake driver, looking at me angrily.

    ¡°¡­¡­oh my, you seem energetic.¡±

    ¡°Stop playing the fool.¡±

    Beside the fake driver, there were also some other ill-bred ruffians.

    At my words, the fake driver clenched his fists and came at me. Will it hit?

    ¡°Cease your actions, Shimabara.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tch¡±

    A calm voice came from behind him, and the fake driver Shimabara stiffened, and stopped.

    Two black-suited men came from the right of the car. A slender man walked in the middle of them.

    Surely, meeting like this in this place¡­¡­

    ¡°Long time no see, Miss.¡±

    Said the man calmly, with a snake-like smile. The very man who I met in that shopping district.

    ¡­ To lead me to such a place, you, what did you want from me.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The serious tone will continue a little more.

    The volume enters its climax.

    Next time, what will Yuzu who got exposed to malice do?

 CH 85

    Volume 5, Chapter 14: What I Wanted to Say, Part 3

    ¡°It seems that nowadays, elementary schoolers also have stuff like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­society nowadays is dangerous?¡±

    I was struck with an idea, and tried to do something I hadn¡¯t with the battery-powered cellphone inside of my pocket.

    Even if the battery was running out, it would still startup for a few seconds. I tried to touch the screen while it was in my pocket, and if I was lucky it would redial someone.

    However, my unnatural movements were discovered, and my mobile phone was taken.

    ¡°Fumu¡­¡­ The battery seems to be out. Oi.¡±

    One of the black-suited men handed my cellphone to that man I met in the shopping district.

    ¡°After charging it and checking the contents, leave it at the riverside there. It¡¯s likely that they¡¯ll track the GPS function. Also, watch out for fingerprints.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°You, what are you doing¡­¡­?¡±

    As I asked him with a somewhat unpleasant premonition, he had a thin smile on his face and bowed as if he was facing a noble.

    ¡°Please, call me Kyoji. Oh yeah, you were carrying that phone. But it¡¯s so common for children to go missing in the river¡±

    So said Kyoji as he cut himself off in the middle of his explanation.

    Was it because it was troublesome? Did he think that children wouldn¡¯t understand? Maybe it was both.

    But surely it was something like this.

    If they mistook that I had drowned in the river, the police would take their time to search it. But since I wasn¡¯t going to be in the river, the investigation would be derailed.

    And finally, he was going to make me a ¡°drowned body¡±.

    ¡­¡­ again.

    From the depths of my heart, ¡°something¡± like a fragment of a memory emerged. It gradually connected the dots little by little and filled with color.

    There was something like this before¡­¡­? I was kidnapped¡­¡­ what did I do? I remember little boys and girls¡­¡­ eh?

    As it was, I was taken onto their car and taken somewhere.

    By the feel of it, it was about an hour. I thought that we were going quite fast because we got on a highway along the way, but we got off and on several times, and ended up in a narrow street as if we were waiting for someone.

    As I glimpsed behind me, the fake taxi driver who was sitting in the rear passenger¡¯s seat stared at me with eyes filled with hatred, and I waved at him lightly while smiling.

    ¡°You¡¯re rather composed.¡±

    Kyoji looked at me with eyes of amazement.

    ¡°Is it uncute?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re definitely composed¡­¡­¡±

    While that was happening, we entered a region with many trees, and reached a building.

    ¡°¡­¡­A school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. It was a school that went out of business five years ago due to the decrease in enrolment. They had thought that the countermeasures against the declining birthrate would be effective and the number of children would increase, but the results are as you see.¡±

    ¡°Even though countermeasures and subsidies are alright¡­ with no hope for the future, the number of children won¡¯t increase, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ are you really an elementary schooler?¡±

    I was taken out of the car and was having a conversation while we walked, but Kyoji stopped for a moment and stared at my face.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a second-grader in elementary school. In other words, I have nothing to do at all with that shopping district.¡±

    It was meaningless to keep it hidden now that we were here. I didn¡¯t mean to capitalize on it anyway.

    ¡°As expected, you are smart, Yuzu-san¡±

    Kyoji called my name despite me not having introduced myself.

    ¡°When did you notice that we were aiming for the shopping district?¡±

    ¡°That aside¡­¡­ I also thought that it would be good to show my hand. But¡­¡­ are you ok with me?¡±

    ¡°At first I thought that you were the child from that shop¡­¡­ but it was good either way. Because Yuzu-san is famous in the shopping district.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Life sure is full of parts where things don¡¯t go one¡¯s way.¡±

    ¡°Truly, you are unlike any child. If you were an adult, I might well fall in love with you. It is a pity that I will not see you again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­ it is.¡±

    Really¡­¡­ why am I not afraid?

    I knew that it might be possible that I wouldn¡¯t be able to see my family any more, but in one corner of my head, I got this sense that it wasn¡¯t entirely certain that if I was killed, my life would disappear. ¡­¡­ or so I thought of myself.

    Whatever kind of elementary school student I am.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the principal¡¯s office on the second floor of the office building.¡±

    ¡°It is because there¡¯s a reception area?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The leader wanted to know the progress, so we came to this place. Will you make trouble if we meet?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡­ I wonder if you¡¯re having trouble with your subordinates?¡±

    ¡°Really, I¡¯m just a worrier.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any electricity except for some emergency lamps in the corner of the hallway where we passed by. When I entered the principal¡¯s office, there was an older man that looked very much like Kyoji, and next to him was a powerful-looking grandpa in a kimono.

    There were several other black-clothed guys in this room. By the time I¡¯d gotten into the principal¡¯s office and the school building, I¡¯d seen dozens of these black-suited, ill-bred men.

    ¡°Kidou, is this child related to the shopping district?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She is related to one of the people living in the shopping district. Because her face is well known, it should be enough to fuel the anxiety.¡±

    ¡°Might you be Kouki-kun¡¯s grandfather?¡±

    As I said my thoughts, the grandfather¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and he looked straight at my face.

    ¡°¡­¡­that uniform, is it Takamine¡¯s? I see, did you hear about me from Kouki? Loose-lipped fellow. It would have been good if he had just married who I chose for him. It¡¯s horrible to think of that child as my grandson.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Seriously¡­¡­ talking about doing whatever you like.

    ¡°I am looking for someone to carry on my post. Let¡¯s carry on with the plan after I return to the world of politics.¡±

    ¡°Understood. Make sure you get a good partner that will bear me decent grandchildren.¡±

    ¡°Is Sir going to make one himself?¡±

    Said Kyoji from the side, interrupting the conversation between the grandfather and Kidou.

    ¡°Hey, Kyoji!¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ Myself? That is also agreeable, but it would be a scandal if I had a child at this age. Even if I raised him as a grandchild, a girl from a well-educated and well-groomed family would not accept being relegated to just having such a child. Besides, I do not have the time to wait until he becomes an adult.¡±

    ¡°Several years from now¡­¡­ Thinking about it, it should be someone of a good family, and with intelligence. Hey¡­ here, is someone who has seen through the plan that Sir is behind the entirety of everything¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hohooh.¡±

    Suddenly, everyone¡¯s eyes were staring at me.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be able to have children in about 5~6 years. She¡¯s pretty and has a good head. Furthermore, she¡¯s a missing person too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I could feel their ¡°malice¡± bubbling up like hot coal tar¡­¡­

    From within me, something brushed aside my warm everyday life, and a dark lump slowly appeared, smiling faintly.

    A person who doesn¡¯t think of others as people, a rotten heart. Aah¡­¡­ why¡­¡­

    It just looks so delicious¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji felt something, and then started back when he looked at me.

    With his eyes following me quietly, perched on top of the large tree outside of the window of the principal¡¯s office, was that [Black Cat].

    ¡­¡­ I see. [He], wanted to tell me this¡­¡­

    I¡­¡­ am a [Demon].

    ¡°¡­¡­aHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s a serious development.

    Next time, on Demon Noble II, 1-15, [A Demonic Christmas.]

 CH 86

    Volume 5, Chapter 15: The Demonic Christmas

    ¡°Why did you follow me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada had received Yuzu¡¯s ¡°silent mail¡±, and had taken action immediately.

    Although he had sent back several e-mails, she didn¡¯t reply, and even when he called, Yuzu¡¯s mobile phone didn¡¯t connect; either because it was out of the signal range, or it just wasn¡¯t on.

    He didn¡¯t know what was happening. Still, Onzada ran with an uneasy feeling constricting his chest. Somehow, he could feel which direction Yuzu was.

    And that black-masked person who saw what was in Onzada¡¯s heart was running behind Onzada, following him.

    ¡°¡­¡­What is it?¡±

    Even though Onzada was irritated by the black-masked man who didn¡¯t reply at all even when called out, he wasn¡¯t now.

    Gathering the spirit of the earth, he immediately filled his body with his ¡®ki¡¯. Due to his need, Onzada was able to bolster his weak physical ability with ki.

    Nonetheless, the black-masked person was able to keep up with more to spare.

    And that big sword that he used, it would seem to be as heavy as the user at that size, but the black-masked man was wielding it in one hand.

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s up with that guy¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°¡­Ee!?¡±

    They stopped their feet at the same time, and looked far towards the horizon where they were going.

    ¡°What¡­¡­? Right now¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    There was the sense that some horrible [Power] was spreading out. He couldn¡¯t tell what it was coming from, but it was clearly out of the norm.

    And as if he felt it as well, the black-masked person went running in that direction.

    ¡°Hey, wait. ¡­¡­This¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­aHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    In the dark, abandoned school, it began abruptly.

    The adults who were conversing felt something about the [Presence] of the girl who had gone silent change, and suddenly, she began to laugh out loudly.

    *BishiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!*

    ¡°Hiie?!¡±

    ¡°Wha-!¡±

    The window panes cracked, and not only the principal¡¯s office, but every single piece of glass in the school was turned gray with tiny fractures.

    Those who were outside the principal¡¯s office looked about at the ominous ¡°sound of laughter¡± that came from their surroundings, and those who were outside the school building felt uneasy, but hurried inside.

    And¡­¡­ those of them inside the principal¡¯s office witnessed incredible things.

    The whites of the adorable girl¡¯s eyes had gone turned completely black, as if corroded by the darkness, and in those black eyes, a blood-red glow. From the white teeth that peeked out of her cherry-blossom-pink lips emerged beast-like fangs that were a brilliant, crystalline red.

    Not only her appearance, but even her very [Essence] became violent and repulsive, and everyone who was at the scene couldn¡¯t even move because they were gripped by this very real and unknown fear.

    At the ¡°Monster¡± that looked like a dreamy, beautiful girl.

    ¡°hiiii¡±

    The fact that that girl had grabbed the head of the leader, Kidou, and forcibly dislocated his back by sitting him down onto the floor caused everyone to realize that this was not a nightmare, but reality.

    ¡°¡­¡­ua, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡­¡­!¡±

    Even though the girl had stopped laughing, that scornful laugh continued to echo inside their ears, and the creaking noise of a skull grating, as deep, crimson claws extended from those adorable little fingers and pierced into Kidou¡¯s forehead, and he let out a scream of anguish.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    While Kidou¡¯s body suddenly looked dehydrated and went dry, his hand that was stretched out towards his son looking for salvation broke like a dead twig and fell to the floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­Thanks for the meal.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    As they heard the girl murmur, and saw her smiling brightly like a flower, Kenji rammed himself towards the door of the principal¡¯s office, attempting to break it open.

    ¡°Sir, please get away quickly!¡±

    ¡°¡­o, Ah¡±

    ¡°tsch.¡±

    Kyoji clicked his tongue, and kicked one of the black-clothed men that was still frozen towards the girl, but she deflected him away lightly, and as another one of the black-clothed men got involved, he struck the wall, his blood splattering brilliantly as it contrasted with the wall.

    Seizing that gap, Kyoji ran out of the principal¡¯s office with Lord Kuon.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The girl didn¡¯t pursue, and only smiled faintly with her mouth, as she touched the crack on the window panes with her hands.

    ¡°¡­[Close]¡­¡±

    At that point, even though he felt a dreadful chill, the sense of ¡°danger¡± was still slight.

    However, it gradually turned into a very real terror.

    ¡°Th-the outside doors can¡¯t open!¡±

    ¡°The windows are impossible to open, too! It¡¯s clouded over and I can¡¯t see out!¡±

    ¡°Break it.¡±

    ¡°It-it¡¯s also hopeless, it doesn¡¯t break even if I strike it with a chair!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­O, oi, where did that come from!?¡±

    In the dim corridor of the school, a small shadow with long hair was slowly approaching.

    Beautiful black hair that shimmered gently. An elaborate, doll-like perfect beauty¡­¡­

    She had red pupils and bloody crimson fangs, and the young girl who had the presence of a monster, caused the men¡¯s screams of terror to resonate throughout the dark school building.

    The adults were running about screaming while they tried to escape from the school building with no exit.

    Chasing after them, a small, cute little girl.

    The men ran away, but were overtaken, and at their wits¡¯ end, they were torn apart.

    These men, who had lived in the underworld had scorned the weak up until now, were unable to even think of resisting. Threatening others with their fists, they would be obeyed by the general public who had frightened expressions on their faces when dealing with them.

    But these men, even if they did survive this, would never be able to live in that kind of shady world again.

    Because this world, there was someone who looked so [Weak], was actually a hidden [Monster] who was crushing them like insects.

    ¡°It¡¯s coming, it¡¯s comiiiing AHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    *pan*, *pan*, one of the black-clothed men had discharged his gun towards her, but the girl wasn¡¯t even hit.

    As he had shot his last bullet, the girl had poked her finger in space as if there she was poking a forehead, and as if he had been shot by a gun, his head exploded.

    ¡°D-d-d-DIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!¡±

    As the hoodlum thrust out his dagger wildly at the little girl, she grabbed the blade gently with her fingers, and flung the blade and its owner towards the men who were trying to escape through the other end of the corridor.

    Seeing his companions who had run with him being toyed with and flung about like the pieces of some plastic toy, the man ran into the restrooms.

    *katsun*¡­*katsun*¡­ the sound of those tiny loafers pattered down the corridor.

    The man hiding inside the bathroom held his breath as he waited for her to pass by, but the sound of the footsteps never got fainter, and with a *knockknock*, she began to knock on the doors of the toilet cubicles one by one.

    *knock¡­¡­¡­*

    ¡°¡­¡­ii¡±

    The door he was hiding behind was knocked on, but the man clamped a hand over his mouth and held down his scream.

    And then the door next to his cubicle was rapped on, and the man who had lost all of his strength from the tension sagged and leaned on the thin partition¡­¡­

    *DON!*

    ¡°HiyaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    Again, the cubicle door he was in was hit, and the man shrieked out instinctively.

    *DONDONDONDONDONDONDONDONDONDONDONDONDON!*

    ¡°UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    The door was hammered repeatedly with a terrifying power, and the hinges flew off, the door smashed, and a hole was opened in the panel boards.

    Seeing that girl¡¯s face from that hole smiling with her fangs bared, a scream that echoed throughout the school leaked out of the man¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Hiiiieee!?¡±

    Hearing that scream of someone in their death throes, the fake taxi driver, Shinohara, yelled out and tried to draw attention.

    ¡°That brat, that brat, that brat, that brat aaAAAAAHHHHHH¡±

    Curling up in the corner of the science classroom where he had barricaded himself, Shinohara waited for the fear to pass.

    That damned, brazen child who had stabbed him with a pencil. He had planned to ask Kyoji to let him torture that girl to death with his own hands when the time came to get rid of her.

    Shinohara had already crossed beyond the boundary of understanding into a world where a child was killing him.

    ¡°What is that¡­¡­¡±

    Shinohara was shaking while holding his head, unaware that he couldn¡¯t hear any sound from the surroundings.

    Had someone been killed? Had she killed everyone and gone away somewhere else¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Shinohara chewed his nails and asked himself while trembling.

    She might still be there. She might not even exist. Shinohara stooped over, hoping to not be seen as he hid under the science classroom table.

    A little bit more¡­¡­ surely, if there was nothing up to the door, that monster should have gone away somewhere else.

    And just then, when he had relaxed and let his heart hope again,

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    His eyes met those of the girl, who was crouching under the table.

    ¡°HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    Screaming like his throat was being torn out, Shinohara backpedaled on all fours and ran all the way.

    ¡°Yaiaaaaaa!¡±

    A small hand was holding his ankle.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hiyahhh¡­¡±

    Shinohara leaked out a strange voice as his eyes rolled back into his head, and after one last quiver, his heart stopped.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°The ghost story of the school¡­¡­¡±

    Excuse me, it seems I overdid it for a moment¡­¡­

    Hey, it¡¯s that thing. It¡¯s one of those test-of-courage things that people get strangely enthusiastic over¡­ or something like that?

    But it¡¯s different from a test of courage from that if you get found, you die instantly.

    Well, since their soul was being collected, isn¡¯t it nice¡­¡­?

    Yes¡­¡­ I am a [Demon].

    I don¡¯t think I did anything wrong when I laughed out explosively when I realized it.

    My memory was still kind of jumbled, but I finally understood that I was not a [Human].

    That was what that [Black Cat] wanted to tell me.

    It told me what I really was¡­¡­

    Surely that [Black Cat] that knew of the [Truth] behind my clouded memory, and is the key to me recovering my memories.

    Surely, I am ¡°someone¡± that that black cat knows.

    When I recalled the black cat, something clawed up from the depths of my heart, but it didn¡¯t come out completely.

    ¡°¡­¡­I will see you again.¡±

    That¡¯s what I thought. And there were things to do now.

    A Demon feeds on the ¡°souls¡± of humans.

    I got excited by the malicious intent of others, because I subconsciously wanted that delicious soul.

    I don¡¯t want pure and innocent souls. I wanted a rich soul that had been steeped in malice and hatred.

    I recovered the souls of the hoodlums and the black-clothed men, but their taste was monotonous and hollow like eating candy floss.

    The soul of that uncle, Kidou, had a reasonably good taste. Still, although it had been aged, it wasn¡¯t delicious enough, and it just stimulated the appetite after eating a soul for the first time in so long.

    ¡­ I¡­ seem to really have quit being a [Human Being].

    ¡°¡­¡­Just two people left.¡±

    Well, shall we proceed with the main dish of the day?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The Demon appears.

    Yuzu is a playfully mischievous girl.

    Next time, what will she do with those two? Only a few chapters left in this volume.

    The update will be scheduled tomorrow.

 CH 87

    Volume 5, Chapter 16: The Demon¡¯s Mercy

    ¡°Yeah, I think things have settled down.¡±

    The Demonic impulses that I¡¯d had when I remembered my own identity have resolved themselves. I was a starving demon¡­. Although I had been offended by those people if I do say so myself, I should still reflect on how I played around.

    ¡°¡­¡­But¡±

    Two more people¡­¡­ Kyoji and Grandpa Kuon can¡¯t be overlooked as it is. Although their land speculation I could overlook, they¡¯d tried to harm me, and if I left them alone, they might do the same thing to Misa.

    Also¡­¡­

    ¡°Because they know my true identity, I don¡¯t think things will end so easily like this.¡±

    ¡­¡­ What is with that villainous-sounding line?

    Now then, where did those two people hide?

    A while ago, while using the demonic language¡­¡­ the [Spirit Language]? I¡¯d ¡®sealed¡¯ all the ways out of this school.

    If it wasn¡¯t someone with more power than I had, they couldn¡¯t even force an air molecule in.

    Because of all the hoodlums making so much noise in here up until a while ago, the oxygen¡¯s getting thin, but we can still go on for a few more days before the oxygen runs out.

    Even for demons, willpower is important. Right now, just because I ate a lot of souls I¡¯m not really feeling greedy. Well, that was inconsequential.

    ¡°¡­¡­fumu.¡±

    My fragmented memories also emerged, and they were a mess, but after rearranging and looking for things that I could use from them, a bit of ¡®knowledge¡¯ that seemed useful came up.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Summon]¡­¡­¡±

    I used my power to create a small summoning formation in my hands.

    If I can sort out my memory, I think I can draw a more complex summoning circle, but for now, that¡¯s enough.

    From my hands, black pieces fell with a clatter to the floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I might not know what I wanted, but it was supposed to have summoned the lowest [Spiritual life form] from the surroundings, but what I summoned was dried ¡°seaweed¡±.

    As a last resort, I scattered it across the corpses that were lying around, and the wakame seaweed that absorbed the blood began to move into the body, manipulating them as it groaned with an [Uboo~Uboo~], getting up.

    This just feels kind of horrible.

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, whatever. You, look for humans that are still alive.¡±

    [Ubo~]

    What was with that, I wonder¡­ I wonder if I was under a seafood products curse.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°What, what is that!? Explain it!¡±

    In the dimly-lit AV room, Lord Kuon was deeply confused by the absurdity and chaos. He barked at the young man while blabbering.

    The broadcasting room, with its soundproof walls and thickly-walled doors, was perfect as a bunker, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t be noticed by that ridiculous monster that exceeded common sense with the commotion they were making.

    While he thought that, Kyoji remained with a calm and collected attitude, and bowed his head to Lord Kuon while pointing something out.

    ¡°That is definitely the daughter of the Toukaki family.¡±

    ¡°Toukaki? It¡¯s a rising family from the last generation. But that doesn¡¯t matter! That thing is what I¡¯m asking about!¡±

    As far as he could tell, it really was the youngest daughter of the Toukaki family, Yuzu. Why did she turn into that, and how did she gain the power to bend, twist, and kill a large adult?

    Kyoji was also confused from the start, and up until now fear still gripped him, but as someone who was familiar with the circumstances of the Kuon family, he came to a single conclusion.

    ¡°When accidents happened on sites, and I requested assistance from those people, I saw similar things.¡±

    ¡°Accidents¡­¡­ You mean that thing!¡±

    ¡°Yes. I guess this girl might have been possessed by a ¡®vengeful spirit¡¯.¡±

    Sometimes, when they tried to do land speculation by force, there were ¡®accidents¡¯.

    Even when they asked the shrines around the area, they couldn¡¯t get rid of it, so when they came to their wits¡¯ end, they asked the institution that the politicians relied on to dispel the cause.

    The largest demon-hunting organization in the country: the monks of [Oyama].

    Kyoji had once seen a ¡®vengeful spirit¡¯ possess stray dogs in a region that had no sacred tree. A dog that had bitten several of the Kuon family¡¯s people to death in the twinkling of an eye, with a repulsive appearance that continued to cackle even after taking a bullet, it stuck firmly in Kyoji¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Then, call the monks of [Oyama]! That is not a child¡­¡±

    ¡°But, cellphones have stopped working.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    Lord Kuon picked up his phone himself in an attempt to make a call.

    ¡°Sir, you are in danger here.¡±

    The broadcasting room was not completely surrounded by walls, and one section of it faced the hallway with a large, fixed window. He feared that even though the window was one way, that ¡®monster¡¯ would see them through the window from the corridor.

    ¡°Eeh, Kyoji, you run out and make contact for me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Understood.¡±

    He didn¡¯t move in front of the window, and sighing internally at Lord Kuon who glossed over his own faults with a shout, Kyoji murmured.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is this a good time?¡±

    *BANG!!*

    ¡°Gyah!?¡±

    Suddenly, the thick window glass shook under the force of a blow, causing Lord Kuon to curl up and yelp.

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    His subordinates were leaving bloody prints on the glass, their eyes blank. Even though they were clearly no longer alive, but they moved and shuddered at their wrists broke hitting the glass.

    ¡°Tsch, they got here.¡±

    Kyoji clicked his tongue as he tried to leave the broadcasting room alone without Lord Kuon.

    ¡°K-Kyoji, I¡±

    ¡°Sir, I will head out alone.¡±

    ¡°Wh-what are you saying¡­¡±

    ¡°In any case, even if you don¡¯t die, returning to politics will be difficult. Shouldn¡¯t you take responsibility for this?¡±

    Slipping through the hands of the moving dead who were sluggish with their grasping, Kyoji left the man who was his master and started running.

    ¡°KyojiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII¡­¡­ uAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    From behind Kyoji, who didn¡¯t turn back, came the screams of Lord Kuon who had been attacked by the dead, but for Kyoji, this was no longer his problem.

    Kyoji did not serve his master seriously, unlike his father.

    His own rise in the world, starting from the bottom of the political world and rising up, had only been stepping stones.

    Therefore, there was no longer any use for Lord Kuon, either as a person, or a politician. Following him to that place was all for the sake of making a decoy so that he could make his escape to a safe place.

    But, as the dead bodies began to move, he had to use that ¡®decoy¡¯ much earlier.

    Some of the dead bodies with expressions of anguish on their faces still hadn¡¯t started moving, but he couldn¡¯t tell when they would.

    ¡°¡­¡­No, I can¡¯t die yet.¡±

    Kyoji thought for a while, and then headed to the rooftop.

    The door downwards had been sealed with a strange power, and that ¡®monster¡¯ would mostly be wandering around.

    He was certain that the rooftop door had been broken, and should have been removed, but remembered that it had only been blocked with a blue sheet without being repaired after it had become an abandoned school.

    With Kyoji¡¯s physical prowess, he should be able to get to the ground floor by climbing down the drainpipe, even if it was from the roof.

    Running out of breath as he ran up to the rooftop, Kyoji tore off the blue tarp that blocked his way to the roof and breathed in the outside air for the first time in a long while.

    ¡°Now, where do I¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji muttered as he looked around, stopping his feet as he looked for a place to get down.

    No one should have been there¡­¡­ but at the entrance leading to the school building, the girl that he absolutely didn¡¯t want to meet at all was smiling up at him with her crimson eyes and fangs.

    ¡°¡­¡­u¡­a¡­¡­¡±

    Looking at her dragging around Lord Kuon by the neck, grasping it firmly in her hands, Kyoji faintly knitted his eyebrows.

    ¡°¡­¡­He¡¯s still alive, huh?¡±

    If he survived by any chance, it would interfere with Kyoji¡¯s future plans. As he thought of that, he muttered to himself.

    ¡°Oh my. I only asked them to find you. You didn¡¯t have to run away, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­,¡±

    Kyoji didn¡¯t think that the girl who was supposed to be possessed by evil spirits would answer, and caught his breath.

    ¡°¡­¡­Unless¡­¡­ you¡¯re fully conscious?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. I¡¯m not in the hobby of having dreams while awake.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    In that short conversation, Kyoji understood that that monster before him was exactly the ¡°Yuzu¡± who he had been talking to when they were coming here.

    ¡°¡­¡­Why are you keeping that man alive?¡±

    If Yuzu was conscious, there was a possibility that she could be deceived by his words. Even if she was smart, she was still ¡®a grade schooler¡¯, and Kyoji tried to probe her with conversation.

    ¡°You said so yourself. It would be a problem if nobody took responsibility.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    Yuzu seemed to know the conversation that happened between Kyoji and Lord Kuon.

    In front of Kyoji, who was tongue-tied, Yuzu gently lifted up Lord Kuon with one hand and stabbed her fangs into his shoulder.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­puhaaaaaa¡±

    Yuzu who lifted her head after sipping blood, threw him down where she stood, and Lord Kuon didn¡¯t even groan, and was merely looking up at the sky with a blank gaze.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. You won¡¯t remember anything, and you¡¯ll just become a cripple.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    To be one step short of being a vegetable unable to do anything, that was taking responsibility. Kyoji realized that various connections related to this incident might not end up being exposed if that happened.

    ¡°Yuzu-san¡­¡­ could you please overlook this?¡±

    ¡°Oh, but why? There¡¯s no reason for me to go easy on you. ¡­¡­Why, weren¡¯t you thinking that I should just die honorably¡­¡­?¡±

    Kyoji desperately sought an out, fully flustered on the inside.

    He had knowledge of martial-arts, but now it was meaningless. Martial arts were a technique for the weak to defeat the strong, but it was impossible for the cat to defeat the tiger.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji took that moment to turn his back and flee.

    Even if he took measures according to his plan, there would only be tragic ¡°death¡± waiting for him, since he had only planned for ¡°human beings¡±.

    So, Kyoji decided it was sink-or-swim, and jumped off the rooftop. There was a possibility that he would survive if he could grab onto something, whether it was a drainspout, some window frame, or even a tree branch along the way down.

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    In front of Kyoji who had jumped over the wire mesh of the roof, there was a hole in the sky, opening itself up.

    A black hole about 1 meter in diameter started to suck in Kyoji along with the neighboring air.

    ¡°What is thiissssssssss AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!?¡±

    While light and darkness and the very air itself were being swallowed into the space, a severe pain crushed his whole body, and Kyoji cried out.

    ¡°As expected, it¡¯s only to that extent with half-baked knowledge, huh.¡±

    As if answering a question, Yuzu had a troubled expression on her face as she spoke.

    ¡°Because I picked it out of my memories, it was only to that degree¡­¡­ I guess I¡¯ll give Kyoji a chance for taking the trouble.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Chan¡­ce?¡±

    ¡°Through there, living things cannot reach you, and I don¡¯t know what [dimension] it¡¯ll go to. I won¡¯t make a move on you. Consider yourself lucky.¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Y¡­¡­es¡±

    ¡°I ate half of that grandpa¡¯s soul, so I¡¯m feeling quite full right now.¡±

    Kyoji realized that the little girl in front of him was a far more daunting existence than a mere evil spirit or vengeful spirit.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ I, dying in a place like this, is impossibleeeeeeeeee! ¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Well then, do your best. There isn¡¯t any air in there, so I guess you¡¯re confident in your lung capacity?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHaAa¡­a¡­¡­¡±

    As he gave his last cry, Kidou Kyoji fell into the space between dimensions.

    And¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­who?¡±

    As Yuzu turned her head back slowly, on the roof of the water tower, was a small, black-masked shadow staring at her silently.

    The black-masked person formed a tiny black hole in her hand, and putting their hands into it, took out a huge sword that was as tall as they were, turning the tip towards Yuzu slowly.

    ¡°¡­¡­You, are you a ¡®reincarnator¡¯?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the final chapter of this volume.

 CH 88

    Volume 5, Chapter 17: The End of the Incident

    The black-masked person took out an incomprehensibly huge sword from nowhere and came towards me.

    How dexterous. ¡­¡­ I wonder if they hid that sword in their pants.

    When I released the seal for the sake of letting Kyoji get onto the rooftop, it seems a suspicious person managed to enter in the small amount of time.

    ¡­¡­ now that I mention it, they have a certain unique aura and ¡°presence¡±.

    ¡°What are you doing here, Shijima Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I called the name, both Yuuki-kun¡¯s presence and the other person shook.

    ¡°¡­¡­How did you know?¡±

    ¡°eh,¡­¡­ aren¡¯t we in the same class?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­is-is that so?¡±

    A lie. As expected of someone who¡¯s never talked to classmates, I only had a vague recollection of his face.

    But now, with the awareness of a Demon, I could see that his soul wasn¡¯t ¡°ordinary¡±. I just didn¡¯t know what it meant until just now.

    When I returned to human form, he was still wary, but Yuuki-kun¡¯s tension lessened considerably, and he jumped off the water tower, coming closer without pointing the sword at me.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ who exactly are you?¡±

    ¡°Answer my question first. Are you a ¡°reincarnator¡±?¡±

    Reincarnator¡­¡­¡­ Those who died but whose soul did not return to their [World], and those who were born again while leaving their bodies behind.

    But his question didn¡¯t mean that. He was asking if I remembered my previous life. In that sense, I am what Yuuki-kun calls a ¡°reincarnator¡±.

    ¡°My memory is hazy. I have knowledge of things that ¡°I¡± do not remember.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ Reincarnation makes the memory vague. I¡¯ll believe your words for now.¡±

    For now¡­¡­ huh. He won¡¯t set aside his weapons even though he lowered them. Well, I, too, am wary of him, so it can¡¯t be helped.

    Besides¡­¡­ this particular ¡°presence¡±, is a little familiar.

    This was a person with the [Power] to hurt ¡°me¡±.

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re a reincarnator yourself¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, that¡¯s right. There are various circumstances. Are you¡­¡­ a different world¡¯s ¡®magician¡¯? Moreover, one that seems to have forsaken humanity¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun was watching everything happening up until now. I didn¡¯t know where he was watching it from, but it seems that he saw it all and thought I was some sort of mad mage.

    ¡°¡­¡­And so? Would you have let such a dangerous knave go?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Oi, don¡¯t release your [Magic Power] so easily. There is only a little magic in this world. I don¡¯t know where you are from, but understand that this world is ¡®distorted.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuuuhn.¡±

    I see, so the power inside of me was [Magic Power].

    ¡°Hey, about this world being distorted¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll explain more later. There are plenty of things I want to know too, but if you don¡¯t leave quickly, there¡¯ll be trouble later.¡±

    ¡°Oh well¡­¡­ Let¡¯s talk in school next time. After that¡­¡­¡±

    As he trailed off, Yuuki-kun stilled his feet, and cast his eyes towards me again.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun. I have a name, it¡¯s ¡°Yuzu,¡± use it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Understood.¡±

    And with that short line, Shijima Yuuki-kun leapt off the rooftop and faded into the dark of the night.

    Will we be making a mutually profitable relationship? Well, as long as it benefits each other, we can depend on each other even though we don¡¯t trust each other.

    I told the dead zombies to carry grandpa Kuon to the entrance, and then when they were done, I told them to all die, and jumped off the roof, away from this terrible scene. ¡­¡­ I wonder if this event will be wrapped in mystery.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­¡­!¡±

    Moving a few kilometers from the school compound, I heard a voice calling my name.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ Onzada-kun?¡±

    When I turned around, I saw Onzada-kun running towards me with an exhausted gait.

    I turned towards him, and Onzada-kun, who ran up with his hands on his knees, completely out of breath, had a look of sullen relief on his face.

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡­ Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, didn¡¯t Yuzu sent a strange e-mail without anything written?!¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ Aah~¡±

    At that time, when I was just feeling for my phone, did I send off an e-mail to Onzada-kun?

    ¡­¡­Oh? But then how did Onzada-kun figure out where I was?

    ¡°Really, Yuzu, you¡¯re really on your own pace¡­¡­ I was worried.¡±

    When Onzada-kun¡¯s eyes turned gentle, and patted my head, I leaned hard against his chest.

    ¡°Ow.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Something like this, I somehow feel like this has happened before. ¡­¡­ But.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, you stink!¡±

    ¡°How mean! I ran dozens of kilometers here, but I worried so much after getting that strange e-mail that I endured it.¡±

    Onzada-kun laughed mischievously, and then rubbed his sweaty chest into my face. I¡¯ll remember this later.

    ¡°Yuzu, did your phone run out of power? I couldn¡¯t call you.¡±

    said Onzada-kun, finally releasing me after a while.

    ¡°Ah, now that I think about it, it got taken by my kidnappers.¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you serious about the kidnapping!?¡±

    ¡°Un, yeah. Well, it¡¯s okay anyway, since I got away. Isn¡¯t the conclusion alright?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu sure is relaxed about this¡­¡­ I¡¯ll lend you my phone later, so please contact your house. Your parents are going to be incredibly worried.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uuu.¡±

    As I ducked away thinking of my family¡¯s faces, Onzada-kun patted my head with a *ponpon*.

    ¡°From now on, if you are in danger, call me right away, okay? I¡¯m going to get stronger from now on¡­¡­ to protect Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uun.¡±

    Something was set alight inside of me as I heard Onzada-kun¡¯s words¡­¡­¡­ I watched as a thin, translucent chain stretched out of my hand, and connected to the heart of Onzada-kun.

    ¡­¡­ What¡¯s this.

    £ª£ª£ª

    When I returned home, I was scolded while crying tears of worry.

    As they told me later that it seems that my situation was just one step away from them contacting the police and turning this accident into an incident.

    For some reason Ouji-kun¡¯s Niku family was contacted, and they were pressured to pressure the central government to move. ¡­¡­ why did the Niku family help?

    Also, the Kuon family didn¡¯t appear at all through this incident. On the contrary, they even concluded that there had been no mass murder at all inside of that abandoned school.

    ¡­¡­ did the ¡°country¡± change things behind the scenes?

    After that, I was grounded at home for more than a month. Although I wasn¡¯t grounded from school, I mostly I went to the hospital for physical examinations and the psychiatric department. It was natural because a child had been kidnapped, but of course I felt nothing.

    Doing all that took about a month?

    And as the month passed like that, several more months passed while I got frustrated organizing my memories until, one day,

    ¡°Yuzu, I¡¯d like to have a word with you, so come to Father¡¯s study, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­hmm? Yes~.¡±

    I replied at once, and then followed Mother to Father¡¯s study.

    What did they want to talk about? Was it about the kidnapping? But since Grandpa Kuon was admitted into the hospital and was insensate, I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d make any progress.

    ¡­¡­ Was my identity revealed? Nah, I don¡¯t think that was it.

    ¡°Father, what did you want to talk to me about?¡±

    ¡°Ohh, you¡¯re here. Yuzu, come sit.¡±

    My father was in the office, and my mother sat down with me on the sofa.

    ¡°A formal apology has come from the new head of the Kuon family. Yuzu doesn¡¯t need to know the details of it. I don¡¯t want you to tell Kouki-kun about this, so I¡¯d like you to not worry about the subject. Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    I have no issues since I don¡¯t want to cause Kouki-kun to be awkward around me.

    ¡°And¡­¡­ regarding that ramen shop in the shopping district¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait, it¡¯s not a bad thing. The two of them have been officially adopted by the shopkeeper, Mr. Iino, and they will take over his shop. After he hands over the shop, he intends to retire to the countryside.¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.¡±

    Will dad-chan become the new shopkeeper? It¡¯s good that Misa and dad-chan will be happy, but will the shop be alright?

    ¡°Ah~¡­¡­ We were also a little immature. It was good that you children were kind enough to be worried about them, but it ended up that you were kidnapped because the adults were hesitant. So, we are providing them the new line of noodles from the Toukaki company, and we decided to give them a leg up with their new business with the new bamboo shoots products along with Nikuno Ham.¡±

    ¡°Ooohh~¡­¡­¡±

    So there was such a thing. I knew that new products were being developed at Nikuno Ham, but would they normally be ¡°sold¡± to new stores?

    Well, that certainly was a good piece of news.

    ¡°That¡¯s all. ¡­¡­Ah~, that¡¯s right, Yuzu. Onzada-kun, who came to try to protect you is quite the decent young man. Are the two of you getting along well?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Yes, we talk often at school?¡±

    ¡°Muu, is that so? Well¡­¡­ Although this isn¡¯t decided yet, I should respect Yuzu¡¯s opinion for once¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Father?¡±

    Why would you say something like that? When I turned my gaze at my mother while thinking so, she breathed a sigh at my dad and told me.

    ¡°From the head of the Niku family has come to talk about wanting an ¡®engagement¡¯ of Yuzu with Ouji-kun, so what do you think¡­¡­?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    And thus concludes this volume. Thank you for reading.

    I am relieved that it managed to develop like I expected.

    Next time, we introduce the character for the next volume.

 CH 89

    Volume 6, Chapter 0: Character Introduction [Current Volume Version.]

    Introducing the characters that have appeared to date in the [Current Volume].

    For the starting point of the next volume:

    ¨C Toukaki Yuzu, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader.

    The main character of this book. She woke up with various fragmented memories and remembered that she wasn¡¯t a human, but a [Demon].

    Because she was playing the straight man to the world at first, she seemed like a reserved, quiet young lady, but her inner self was always klutzy and rough.

    She wasn¡¯t a human with the power of a demon, but a genuine demon who had gained the knowledge and sensitivity of a female high schooler, who respected human values while keeping a Demonic thought pattern.

    ¨C Kaijima Onzada, Takamine Elementary School 6th Grader (general class)

    he fourth of the five sons born to the temple, Onzada¡¯s family were exorcists of the religious organization called [Oyama]. He recently became friends with Yuzu, who went to the same school and practiced his family¡¯s arts with him there.

    His personality was straightforward, but occasionally he would dig his own grave with his carelessness.

    At the present he is seeking to improve rapidly for the sake of protecting little Yuzu.

    ¨C Shijima Yuuki, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    A talented person who had excelled in the sixth-grade tests when he was in the first grade, he believes that he is a ¡°reincarnator¡± from a different world with memories of his past life.

    Because he only remembered being an adult, he wasn¡¯t familiar with the classes children took.

    He has a high physical ability, wielding a large iron sword as tall as he is, with considerable ability.

    According to Yuzu, he¡¯s an existence that could harm Yuzu in Demon form.

    Other Takamine School Students:

    ¨C Nikuno Handsome, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The scion of the famous meat manufacturer, Nikuno Ham, he had grown fat because of binge eating, but after being brought by Yuzu to discover the world, she and her friends started calling him [Prince].

    Yuzu was a childhood friend of his, and their parents were mutual friends. His parents, who had discovered that Yuzu was the reason that he slimmed down and changed his outlook for the better, wanted Yuzu to be engaged with him.

    ¨C Kuon Kouki, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The scion of the Kuon Family, who were local celebrities. His mother was a Japanese-German mix. With a spirit that was much more mature than his age, he was interested in Yuzu who also seemed to not act like a child.

    He had been worried about his grandfather, who aimed to return to the world of politics, being involved in land speculation, but his grandfather has become bedridden, so that problem was resolved.

    ¨C Shijiyuuin Kako, Takamine Elementary School 3rd Grader

    The daughter of the Shijiyuuin family, who was of the same standing as the Kuon family, she was the betrothed of Kouki.

    Although she had received an education as befitting a genuine lady, she has a [Foolish] side to her. Because of that, she had misunderstood Yuzu at first, but now they were good friends.

    She was also getting along much better with Kouki, her fianc¨¦, than before.

    Family Members

    ¨C Toukaki Kotone, Takamine High school 3rd Year

    Yuzu¡¯s older sister. She was overprotective of the weak Yuzu, who was much younger than her, who she loved, but at some point, although they were sisters with a large age gap, their relationship changed and they became like friends.

    Her type of man is a mystery.

    ¨C Toukaki Ooba, Takamine University, Economics Department 2nd Year

    Yuzu¡¯s elder brother. He too was overprotective of weak little Yuzu who was much younger than he was, but now they¡¯ve settled into a boke-tsukkomi routine (TL Note: This is a kind of straight-man-funny-man comedy). Recently, he feels kind of happy being often chastised by his little sister.

    ¨C Iino Misa, Public Elementary School 3rd Grader

    Yuzu¡¯s cousin and friend. She lost her parents in an accident and rented a room with her elder brother in the ramen shop where he worked, but this spring, she was officially adopted by the shopkeeper Mr. Iino.

    Both her appearance and personality are younger than her age, and Yuzu loves her like a younger cousin and sister despite being the same age.

    Her future dream is to be a Ramen shop owner.

    ¨C Dad-chan

    He was Misa¡¯s older brother, but because he looked older, he seemed to look like Misa¡¯s father to Yuzu, who gave him that nickname, which stuck. He¡¯s an obscure character where his real name will never get called despite being a main character.

    In the shopping district, it seems he¡¯s being regarded as the father of both Yuzu and Misa.

    He is the next generation ramen shop owner, with a suspicious Tokyoite accent.

    Others

    ¨C Sakurazaki Matsuri, Public Elementary School 3rd Grader

    She was a cheerful downtown girl with a very cute face.

    She believed that this world was the world of an [Otome Game], and was a ¡°reincarnator¡± whose previous life was that of a high school girl.

    For this reason, she acted as if other people weren¡¯t ¡°people¡±, and her personality got distorted considerably thereafter.

    Usually Matsuri didn¡¯t act like the [Energetic Town Girl], but as a result of her naturally high energy, her behavior became considerably ¡°excessive¡±.

    ¨C [Black Cat]

    Something that appeared before Yuzu that she couldn¡¯t catch or touch, it guided Yuzu whose memories were cloudy, and let her awaken as a [Demon].

    I wonder what that cat¡¯s real identity is¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The next chapter will be the story proper again.

 CH 90

    Volume 6, Chapter 1: I became a 3rd Grader, Part 1

    Recently, I, Yuzu, the evil, soul-devouring Demon hidden in the Kanto district, was beginning to struggle with math classes.

    I¡¯ve safely become a 3rd Grader.

    Ah¡­¡­ oh, I¡¯m sorry. Why was I having trouble with 3rd grade Math?

    Even though I said this before, since I remembered various things I¡¯m still organizing my memories, after all that¡­ I originally thought I was a ¡®reincarnator¡¯.

    Still, I couldn¡¯t remember much about my true ¡®identity¡¯. Still, there were ¡®memories¡¯ that I couldn¡¯t explain if I wasn¡¯t a reincarnator.

    I¡­ Yuzu, had memories of having lived 15 years, around when [Yuzu] was born.

    And I had died of illness when I was 15.

    Since most of the memories were muddy, even though I had memories of the future, I couldn¡¯t predict the future, and, in fact, it¡¯s already changed quite a lot, so the parts I remembered were useless too.

    When I went to elementary school, I should never have been in the same class as either Ouji-kun or Kouki-kun. And, as for the grade-schooler, Ouji-kun, I felt like he was supposed to gain weight¡­¡­

    ¡­¡­ Did I do something?

    And anyways, how did the talk of an ¡®engagement¡¯ with Ouji-kun happen¡­¡­ It¡¯s troublesome.

    By the way, why had I been turned back into five-year-old Yuzu?

    I wonder if I¡¯m a ¡®rewinder¡¯ instead of a reincarnator¡­ Anyways, the reason that I thought that I was a reincarnator was because I had fragments of memory that I had spent as a [Demon].

    Perhaps, after I had died at the age of 15, I had reincarnated as a [Demon].

    Even with my fragmented memories, I didn¡¯t think that reincarnation was so easy, but I wondered if my previous life hated dying that much. In other words, was it a reincarnation by sheer fighting spirit?

    Why did I become a demon¡­¡­?

    Personality? Is it because of my personality?

    Oh, I sidetracked. Well, err¡­ In short, for some reason, Demon-me is living in the body of my previous life before I died¡­ish?

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯re you doing, Yuzu?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who was watching me deep in thought while he was wiping off his sweat, spoke up.

    I didn¡¯t like the smell of sweat, but the sweat of a hard-working man was pretty to look at. I understood the feelings of those girls who wiped off the sweat of others in those girls¡¯ comics for about 2 milliseconds.

    Onzada-kun was a sixth grader who seems to have been given the okay from his parents to train officially, but, as per usual, we were practicing behind the animal shed.

    He¡¯s grown a lot too, and now there¡¯s a considerable height difference. He¡¯s already totally like a full-grown man¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Hnn?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Before I noticed, I had suddenly touched Onzada-kun¡¯s face. Only one thing to do.

    ¡°Tei~¡±

    ¡°Owwoww¡±

    I grasped a single hair and pulled it out.

    ¡°Yuzuu, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Ah, did a strand of beard hair grow out?¡±

    ¡°What!? My beard finally grew? Don¡¯t pull it out!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­While I understand that you¡¯re happy that it grew, please shave.¡±

    ¡°For a man to have stubble, isn¡¯t that wild and cool? Women like Yuzu wouldn¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    But the current Onzada-kun is so smooth.

    ¡°Stop moving, you. Are you really a lady? Well, to me, I find that more comfortable. So, strange miss Yuzu, what was it you were groaning about?¡±

    ¡°eh, well~¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to deny being a strange lady¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem¡­Well, a little while ago¡­ I was thinking about my ¡®engagement.¡¯¡±

    ¡°*cough*, E-Engagement?¡±

    Onzada-kun sputtered out his water and started coughing. That was a good reaction. Ah? Was this the first time I¡¯d mentioned it?

    ¡°¡­¡­What so you mean by engagement?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a relationship between our families¡±

    Although talk of engagement had come from Ouji-kun¡¯s Nikuno Family, right now that was still ¡®pending¡¯.

    Hey, we¡¯re still elementary school students¡­¡­ Wait, Kouki-kun and Kako were also still elementary school students. However, I¡¯d be troubled if I was joined to such an old family. My family¡¯s business was doing well, but it still felt like an ordinary household.

    So, when we became junior high students, it becomes possible for us to have both ¡®personal¡¯ as well as ¡®familial¡¯ relationships, and get officially engaged.

    So right now, my position is as Ouji-kun¡¯s fianc¨¦e (provisional).

    However, while our feelings are there on the ¡®personal¡¯ level, the ¡®family¡¯ part is most definitely a hindrance. In other words, the connections with the Nikuno Family,

    ¡®[I want to continue to have business relations with Nikuno Ham, you know?]¡¯

    That¡¯s what I was told. On my shoulders rested the lives of 500 company employees and their families in the Toukaki company.

    Well, Ouji-kun recently has gained more friends, and I think that he¡¯ll be fine because he seems to have become popular.

    I wonder if Nikuno-san¡¯s family really just wanted to know the secret to the dieting process that much¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s why, it seems like the decision was ¡®postponed¡¯ until junior high.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t it unpleasant?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡­ If I said that I seriously disliked him, I don¡¯t think the other party or Father would force me, but I would be the [Eccentric Mistress] who only thought of her own [Wishes], and it would be dreadful.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­But that¡¯s not it.¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    ¡°For Yuzu who¡¯s easy to talk to, as a woman who can diffuse tension just by being around, people would love to have you be with them¡­¡­¡±

    What¡¯s this, are you praising me? Are you looking for a fight? Am I some loose person?

    ¡°Uhmm¡­¡­ Are you worried about me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. I said that I would protect you forever. You are weak, so if you stood behind me, I would be relieved.¡±

    Forever¡­ huh. I don¡¯t think I will die at the age of 15 this time because I became a Demon, but how long will I live? Do I even have a life expectancy?

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ Onzada-kun, do your best.¡±

    As I said that, Onzada-kun, who looked somewhat cranky up until a now, smiled happily and laughed.

    ¡°Hehe. I¡¯ll be alright sticking by Yuzu even if you get into terrible trouble. I will bet my life.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡±

    A thin chain floated out of my hand.

    Even though it was much thinner than normal¡­ This careless person. It seems he¡¯s not used to being praised, and got carried away as soon as I praised him.

    ¡­¡­ This chain is a Demon¡¯s [Contract], right?

    Somehow, I don¡¯t have a single ounce of hesitation.

    If I let this get carried away any further, it seems like the [Contract] would become disadvantageous to myself.

    It can¡¯t be helped. I¡¯ll have to forcibly change the [Contract].

    ¡°Well, I will also help Onzada-kun. If you help me, I¡¯ll give you something nice.¡±

    ¡°Something nice¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned red. Hey, what are you imagining!?

    For the contract as it was right now, it would be bad for Onzada-kun if he didn¡¯t protect me perfectly. So by creating this situation where I can get out of it, I will be able to eliminate the dangers to me and to Onzada-kun. Furthermore, I should be able to fine-tune the contract¡¯s compensation.

    Fufun~ This is the wisdom of a Demon who has obtained the intellect of a modern person.

    ¡°Eh, you don¡¯t need to do anything for me. I swear on my immortal soul.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah,¡±

    This fellow¡­¡­¡­ The chain was dyed black in an instant. Because the word [Soul] was put into it, the contract was completely fixed.

    What do I do¡­¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯ll manage somehow.

    And another thing I noticed. There wasn¡¯t just one chain¡­¡­ If I don¡¯t check it, I can¡¯t rest easy.

    ¡°But, something good, huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Although I said that, some things are impossible, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yup~¡­¡­ if it¡¯s Yuzu, anything is fine.¡±

    ¡°Appropriate¡­¡­hah?¡±

    When I picked up the PET bottle of water that Onzada-kun spilt, I smelled something strange.

    ¡°Ah, that, huh. Drinking that became a habit when I was doing exorcisms, but I got annoyed when I had to buy it with my own pocket money.¡±

    ¡°Fuuh~n?¡±

    When I gently placed the PET bottle on the ground, I smiled and beckoned Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Nn? What¡±

    I softly wrapped Onzada-kun¡¯s cheeks with both of my hands as he approached, gently staring into his eyes and keeping him quiet.

    ¡°¡­¡­O, oi¡­¡­ Yuzu?¡±

    Really, this person¡­¡­

    I twisted the cheeks of Onzada-kun, whose common sense was misaligned to the limit.

    ¡°Owwwwwowowowowwowow!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious, you idiot!¡±

    The contents are of course OOOO. (TL: Insert clear alcohol of your choice, as the author couldn¡¯t choose)

    £ª£ª£ª

    Onzada-kun really causes me anxiety. I kept him seated down on the ground and explained it properly. That his judgement was dulled. That it wasn¡¯t good during exercise, and since there was the possibility that he might have broken the building. I explained to him that he should keep it to the level of a single drink after work, and Onzada-kun whose cheeks were swollen nodded obediently.

    Because Onzada-kun had really only ever been training, his common sense was weak.

    ¡®[¡­¡­Sa¡­¡­ve¡­¡­me¡­¡­]¡¯

    Several months after I awoke as a Demon, I became able to hear a [Voice].

    The voice of a child crying out for help¡­¡­ Whose voice was that? Where did it come from? I didn¡¯t get any answers even when I yelled out towards the night sky.

    It¡¯s a little¡­¡­ annoying.

    And ever since I heard that [Voice], the number of crazy assailants increased.

    Once I saw their eyes I understood. They weren¡¯t in control. They were insane¡­¡­ they were being manipulated.

    These peoples¡¯ heart¡¯s desires were taken advantage of. Their intentions were being controlled.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s it.

    ¡°Aniki, I¡¯m still preparing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, don¡¯t take your time, okay.¡±

    ¡°Fuuuu, the shop is closing soon, Aniki.¡±

    On a certain moonlit night, a pair of strange people were trying to harass a store at the corner of the shopping district.

    These people were not related to the Kuon. They seemed to be related to the stakeholders of another property developer who was taking advantage of the muddy waters that the Kuon family had dredged up by their hand. The scale was much smaller, though.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll quickly set the fire, did you bring a lighter?¡±

    ¡°Yes Big Brother, I¡¯ll prepare it quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, this.¡±

    ¡°Ohoh, how sensible~¡±

    ¡°Big Bro, there¡¯s only the matches from the pub.¡±

    ¡°Ohoh, you idiot, give me the lighter¡­¡­¡±

    The two of them, stared at the disposable lighter in the Aniki¡¯s hand, and turned their heads to the one who was standing next to them slowly.

    ¡°Oy, what is with this brat?!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Aniki¡±

    ¡°Oy, because you¡¯ve seen us, don¡¯t think you can get back safely, now, brat!¡±

    ¡°Aniki is seriously showing off now, awesome.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Uhn, they were surely being manipulated. Surely such people can¡¯t be sane.

    They were interesting people, but for the time being, I dumped them into the space between dimensions. I firmly believe that they would be able to maintain their energetic selves even in a different dimension.

    Well, why were the desires of these people to attack these properties being used? After all, I¡¯m not supposed to be here today.

    After that was over, while walking about the shopping district at midnight, a ¡®presence¡¯ I knew appeared.

    ¡°Good evening. You¡¯re right on time, Yuuki-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What were you just doing? ¡­¡­ Yuzu¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    That ¡°holy water¡± has been aged 20 years.

    Next time, a study in magic. Will she be able to do it properly this time?

 CH 91

    Volume 6, Chapter 2: I became a 3rd Grader, Part 2

    Shijima Yuuki-kun, who had come for the meeting right on time, unmasked and turned his face away in embarrassment when he noticed that his actions had been seen.

    Although I was waiting for Yuuki-kun in the middle of the night, this wasn¡¯t some secret rendezvous, and if anything, our feelings could not be further from that.

    If I were to describe our relationship, it was like meeting someone again when I¡¯d just come back from Tokyo to the countryside, and even then, more like one of my classmates from back there who had a bad relationship with me.

    All we really wanted was information on each other¡¯s ¡®place of origin¡¯.

    And then¡­ just a little bit of the ¡®nostalgia¡¯ that you get from fellowship¡­ I wonder.

    ¡°Well then, shall we move on?¡±

    ¡°oi¡­¡­ do you know what you were doing just now¡­? Moderate your strange experiments.¡±

    ¡°Did it bother you?¡±

    ¡°To the the inhabitants of this world¡­¡­? Well, whether they live or die, or if you kill them, it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±

    How barbaric. It seems that there were various things had happened when he was being reincarnated.

    Even if I was doing something, I thought of all the experiments done by the mages who had quit on their humanity but never felt bothered by it.

    Anyway, we started moving off while the feeling was like that.

    It¡¯s so amazingly easy since we don¡¯t need to use vehicles like regular people. Well, for two elementary schoolers to get into a car at midnight would stand out.

    Yuuki-kun, with his high physical abilities, jumped from rooftop to rooftop, not worrying at all about me behind him. And I followed without saying a thing.

    I¡¯ve gotten quite used to using [Magic Power] to move my body¡­ Because of that, I feel like the inside of my thighs are getting squishy, what do I do¡­¡­

    ¡°Will this area work?¡±

    ¡°It should.¡±

    We arrived at a big disused factory in the middle of the industrial district, and dropped down.

    It was for the sake of an information exchange that Yuuki-kun and I met at night. If it was just normal information, we could have done it in school, but Yuuki-kun didn¡¯t want to speak about his past life much, and what I wanted to know was about the [Sorcery] of his world. And what Yuuki-kun wanted to know about me was the [Magic] of opening dimensional walls.

    So I couldn¡¯t practice where there were people, and had to change locations every time.

    ¡°¡­[Fire at the root of all things, gather in my hands, become arrows and defeat mine enemies]¡­¡­ Flare Arrow¡±

    *fwooosh* and from Yuuki-kun¡¯s hands, arrows of flame about 30 centimeters long flew out, scorching the concrete walls.

    ¡°Oohhh~~¡±

    ¡°Basically you memorize the incantation, keep a clear image of [Fire] and [Arrows], and [Shoot] in your head, and it¡¯ll activate. Of course, there is no [Magic Power] in this world, so it won¡¯t work for humans.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­incantation?¡±

    ¡°The thing that I was chanting a while ago.¡±

    ¡°Aah, I see. I thought that it sounded weird¡­¡­ but it seems that it was translated.¡±

    ¡°Translated¡­¡­? You, have the [Translation] skill?¡±

    ¡°Skill¡­? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ In the world that Yuzu lived in, was it the same as this world, without [Skills]? ¡­¡­ No, is there no concept of this? I also lost my usual skills, and even the [Secret Arts] could not be used¡­ that¡¯s the difference? But then that means that the translation of the cantrip in the first place¡­¡±

    ¡°Oi~, come back~. Aren¡¯t you¡­¡­ just using [Words]? Although they weren¡¯t words used by ¡®people¡¯, I knew them, so they just automatically translated.¡±

    ¡°No way, you know the language of the greater spirits¡­¡­? Although I have heard rumors, aren¡¯t they completely unpronounceable to humans? But then, the spell¡­ shouldn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°If you were using the language of the greater spirits, just by putting magic power into your [Words], you would be able to cast real [magic]. What I use is merely the ¡®knock-off¡¯ that was made to allow humans to use it¡­ Thinking about how long it took me before I understood the meaning of the spell¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun had an exceptionally sulky expression for his age. Apparently, it seems like he was quite the serious fellow in his past life.

    That being said, I was doing it unconsciously, but I used magic with the [Spirit Language] even in that school.

    I imitated what Yuuki-kun was doing and pointed my hands at the wall.

    ¡°¡­[Flames come out]¡­¡±

    ¡­*pusuuu*

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Eeh~¡­¡­ why did it turn out like that?

    ¡°Yuzu¡¯s magic power is strong. It¡¯s to the point that it¡¯s superhuman, and that might have influenced it. I felt magic power even the first time I met Yuzu, so I was cautious. I couldn¡¯t see you status¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Sta-tus? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun who I thought of as quiet normally grimaced. But in our current state of cooperation, because it seemed like he was an ¡®accomplice¡¯, it seems he gave up, and gave me a detailed explanation as to what was wrong.

    ¡°Ah, it feels like a game.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, it feels like that. When I translated it into the words of this world, it was most casual¡­¡­ even my [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].¡±

    ¡°Fuuuhn.¡±

    ¡­¡­ As expected, he¡¯s a [Hero] type.

    As I understood that, I knew that Yuuki-kun was the natural enemy to [Demon me]

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡°No, just thinking about how Yuuki-kun plays games¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It-it can¡¯t be helped. My parents bought it. It would be very odd if I didn¡¯t play.¡±

    Yuuki-kun, who had been taken in by my words, turned red and made an excuse. My parents now are the good people. My family has not lost.

    *pon*

    ¡°Don¡¯t tap my shoulder while having that strange agreeable smile.¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­tsch. Yuzu, show me your status. I couldn¡¯t see it in school because I didn¡¯t have the time. In the meantime, you have to stay still, so it¡¯s a little unnatural?¡±

    ¡°Uwaa, I want to see it too. But¡­ how do you see it? Can I use it too?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I can use it but the time spent depends on the magic power being consumed, it is about 5 minutes at maximum magic power. If I cut down on the power, it might take 30 minutes, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Then in 5 minutes, please.¡±

    ¡°Please hold still. We are normal humans, after all.¡±

    ¡°Normal, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Hero-sama is not a normal human being, is he?

    Before that, I¡¯ll briefly explain. I was told the average values of a normal person.

    Physical Endurance: 100. Mental Endurance: 60

    Strength: 12

    Defense: 10

    Dexterity: 10

    Intelligence: 7

    Magic Power: 8

    It seems that this is the status of the general adult male¡­¡­

    ¡°How much is Physical Endurance 1? What is it based on? What about the mental endurance of an insect?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Please don¡¯t ask such difficult questions.¡±

    It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried. This is not a game world.

    According to Yuuki-kun¡¯s explanation, a great magician in the past decided on it after talking to a [Greater Spirit], and the numeric values were approximate, the smaller decimals were ¡¯rounded up¡¯.

    So even mosquitos and cicadas who had [Physical Endurance 1] would die by being stepped on normally, but if small animals had the same [Physical Endurance 1], they would not die from being stepped on.

    In short, the [Physical Endurance 1] was ¡¯rounded up¡¯ so in fact it might only have been 0.1.

    Even if there was a person with [Physical Endurance 1], they wouldn¡¯t die by being stepped on. Because the body itself had a durability and defense value thanks to its size, if one didn¡¯t kick, or only hit it lightly, the physical endurance wouldn¡¯t decrease. ¡­¡­Such a stupid living thing is impossible, though.

    Well, for the time being, enough about [Skills] and magic, let¡¯s try to eavesdrop on the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] that he doesn¡¯t want to talk about.

    ¡°Then, be still.¡±

    ¡°Five minutes long, huh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Please spare a thought for the hardship I have to go through. Besides, I would think it¡¯s natural to take time to read what a soul contains. Because the information will be on the floor for a few seconds, don¡¯t miss it. ¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Yuuki-kun was surprisingly kind. Although you could think of it as being good-natured, but I guess it¡¯s because he¡¯s well-bred.

    And I felt magic power coming from Yuuki-kun¡­ a few minutes later¡­

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Yuuki-kun!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun¡¯s expression suddenly paled, and sweat dripped from his face onto the ground.

    What¡¯s going on?

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    When I tried to rush over, I noticed the letters floating under my feet. I didn¡¯t need to see them now. ¡­¡­ While I thought so when looking at them, the strange letters jumped into the light.

    Name: ¦Å¦Ñ¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê Age: 8 Race: ¦Î¦É¦Á¦Â¦Ï¦Ë Gender: Female

    Physical Endurance: 57 Mental Endurance: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ¡­¡­

    Strength: 5

    Defense: 4

    Dexterity: 2

    Intelligence: 7

    Magic Power: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ¡­¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ why is my [Dexterity] so low!?

    £ª£ª£ª

    Shijima Yuuki was born to an ordinary household nine years ago.

    His family comprised his sister, and their parents in a four-member family, and if the child currently in his mother¡¯s stomach was born, it would become five. His older sister, who was three years his senior, believed that his younger sibling would be born a girl, and played sword-fighting games and had silly disputes with his father, all while the mother smiled and stared at them.

    In this happy family, only Yuuki was different.

    While he was always close to normal, he would always pull away from it just a little. It seemed that he was afraid to involve himself more than was necessary.

    The Hero of Wind, Fortellis. That was Yuuki¡¯s [Name] in his past life.

    When he was born as a baby that couldn¡¯t hear or see well, anger and hatred was born in his heart.

    Yuuki¡­no, Fortellis had been betrayed. By those who protected, his friends and comrades in arms, the other ¡®heroes¡¯.

    In the world that Yuuki was in, [Tess], the [Forces of Light] were the humans, the elves, and the dwarves, while the [Dark Forces] were the dark elves, the beastmen, and the intelligent monsters, and they had been fighting each other for thousands of years.

    The [Darkness], who were good at robbing others, were the stronger, while the [Forces of Light] were the weaker in the war. Requesting for the [Hero] to stand at the frontlines, genius magicians and priests spent a long time completing the [Secret Arts] for the hero.

    Also known as the [Hero System].

    Originally, [Heroes] were born from the spirits of light giving their divine protection to a fitting person when humanity experienced a crisis. However, the conflict between the races wasn¡¯t being regarded as a ¡®crisis for humanity¡¯ for the spirit of light, and no hero was born.

    Then, using the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art], they forcibly gave the candidate the light attribute, and produced an artificial half-hero, and some of them virtually had the divine blessings of the spirits of light.

    But, it seems that it was too difficult for them to use a lot of magic powers, and rather than talent, it needed their [Souls] to be strong.

    Although a small number of them could handle it, one or two in a hundred years was too helpless, and the magicians consumed a huge amount of magic power and cast a large-scale magic, to summon heroes from [Another World].

    The souls that could cross dimensions were often strong, and although not everyone called had strong powers, they were able to overcome their weaknesses.

    The four heroes who had survived at that time, with the inscriptions of the four great elements, married the princesses of the four greatest powers on the continent, and each became a king.

    Since then, for over a thousand years, the conflicts between the light and darkness hadn¡¯t ended, and thousands of people continued to be summoned from other worlds.

    It wasn¡¯t officially decided that there would only be 4 heroes, but in any single age, there were never more than 4 heroes. It was because the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] was difficult, and required immensely strong souls.

    In the era that Yuuki lived in, the heroes that were summoned were only three, and all of them were still young boys, while the King of the Hako Kingdom, who could not summon a hero, appointed the son of the Knight Commander, the most talented knight, Fortellis, as a substitute until a hero could be summoned.

    Fortellis wasn¡¯t the equal of the heroes summoned from another world, but from his inborn seriousness, he grasped the [Ancient Secret Art] that the other heroes could not, and with the powers of healing and magical barriers, he was able to show his power on the battlefield.

    Then, when compared to the heroes summoned from another world who had suddenly experienced being worshipped and grown arrogant, people began to pin their hopes on the hero that was from their own world.

    And then, as Fortellis¡¯ name spread far and wide, when he set off with only a few elites and his followers on a mission to assassinate the dark elves¡¯ king, Fortellis, the Hero of Wind¡­¡­ was murdered by the heroes from another world.

    It was a betrayal by the fellows whom he called his comrades. A cowardly trap that had been laid by his followers, who had been blinded by gold and fame.

    In his suffering, pain and despair, he was swallowed up by the darkness, and when he came to, he had become a baby, reborn into the world of the heroes who had betrayed him.

    He did not feel like fighting for his world any more. This world, the world where the other heroes had come from, became the subject of his hatred.

    Among all this, only the girl called ¡®Yuzu¡¯, who had come from another world that was not his own or this one, could let him put his guard down slightly.

    He had first seen her when he¡¯d entered elementary school.

    It wasn¡¯t just because he had felt the magic power that this world had nearly none of from her, she was as beautiful as a demon deceiver, Yuuki was wary of Yuzu.

    But, even though he guessed that Yuzu was some inhuman sorcerer, whose character was innocent and not cruel, she was a ¡®fairy¡¯-like girl who did not understand the difference in the value of life of humans and animals.

    Yuuki, who tried to appraise her power, got dizzy from the sheer amount of information that was distorted, and her magic power, which could not even be determined by the upper limits of the appraisal, was proof that her magic power was much greater than his, and he smiled quietly.

    Yuuki quietly sharpened his fangs as he thought of using Yuzu.

    Someday, he would return to his original world, and take his revenge on those heroes¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    * Yuuki¡¯s story is becoming excessively serious.

    Template Story~

    [The betrayal of the Hero¡­¡­ I will never forgive you.] Added.

 CH 92

    Volume 6, Chapter 3: Turned into a mob character, Part 1

    On a quiet piece of land in Kamakura, an old man lived away from his family.

    The house wasn¡¯t as big as the ones surrounding it, but for a single person, it was extensive, and could even be called a mansion.

    Originally, this house was prepared for the sake of spending the rest of his live together with his wife after he relinquished his company to his son.

    But his wife had left him and the world a few years ago and risen to heaven.

    Written on the nameplate of the house was [Toukaki].

    When he was younger, he¡¯d started his business together with his wife, and by luck, they had gotten acquainted with the heir to a large corporation, and the company grew immensely in one generation. But that was also because his wife was beside him and supporting him.

    He¡¯d met his wife around the age of 20. And the moment he saw her for the first time, he knew that she was ¡®the one¡¯.

    At that time, she had just lost her fianc¨¦, and after healing her heart for three years, he was able to marry her.

    He¡¯d founded his company, and had children, and it was a smooth life, though busy. Hence, he¡¯d always wanted to live with his wife together quietly when they grew older.

    But after giving up the company, and beginning to live in the world of their own, he¡¯d lost his wife to illness.

    Unable to fill up the sense of loss, he lived alone in this house that he¡¯d set aside to live with his wife, away from his children and grandchildren.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    He gazed at the garden idly.

    Every day, the housekeeper would come by to prepare the meals, but he despised interacting with people, and never ever had a conversation.

    ¡®(¡­¡­ who was the last person I talked to?)¡¯

    To him, though, that wasn¡¯t a big problem. He didn¡¯t want to disturb the memories of his wife in his mind, and forget the time when he was happy.

    However, he recently found something strange in his memory.

    He had met his wife when he had become an adult. But, when he plumbed his memories, he would remember the look of his wife as a child.

    The eyes of his wife when they were young, staring at him¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­!?¡±

    When he had noticed, there were a pair of ¡®eyes¡¯ that were the same as his wife¡¯s staring at him from the garden.

    Eyes that closely resembled his wife¡¯s¡­¡­ but it wasn¡¯t the phantom of his wife as a child. And, dredging up his memories, he remembered his granddaughter, who greatly resembled his wife.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­ is it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Grandfather¡­¡±

    Yuzu said, as she smiled.

    After not meeting his granddaughter for many years, she had grown much larger than she had been previously. Why was Yuzu here?

    Yuzu smiled, and held out one hand towards him.

    She grabbed a little black chain that shone in her hand, a chain was linked to his chest.

    ¡°¡­¡­aah¡­¡­¡±

    In that instant, he remembered.

    What had happened before he¡¯d met his wife¡­ what had happened in his past life. And of his life before that.

    And when he saw the light in Yuzu¡¯s eyes, in the same light, the shape of a beautiful [Golden Demon] appeared before him.

    ¡°You remember everything¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, I remembered the reason why I am here¡±

    With a gentle smile, he bowed deeply towards his granddaughter.

    ¡°Thank you¡­ Yuzu. Grandfather was able to be happy.¡±

    When he raised his head, his granddaughter was nowhere to be seen.

    £ª£ª£ª

    No way, another one of the chains was connected to my grandfather¡­¡­

    I wonder what ¡®I¡¯ did before my memories was messed up¡­? But the new one seems like a long term contract¡­ Un~.

    Well, whatever. I noticed something recently.

    What was with me taking math for sixth-graders?

    Even though I thought it was strange, but the ordinary classes learned mathematics for third-graders. The curriculum is different only in this class with Kouki-kun and Kako.

    Apparently there was one class in the entire grade, a class for special children, which has been adjusted to be of the same difficulty as a special class for those who were trying to skip grades.

    Right now, it¡¯s a lesson of a junior high standard, but thanks to having a tutor, I managed to still get into the fourth grade safely.

    I am already quite a woman. A young lady, if you will. I refuse to be called a little girl. I¡¯ve started to swell a little.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, would you like to study with me?¡±

    It was Ouji-kun that spoke to me.

    He had already become completely slim, and even if you looked at it from any angle, he was already getting flocked by the all the Onee-samas who were in love with him.

    Amazing. It was no longer stomach-pain-inducing like when the prince-like Kouki-kun called Ouji-kun [Prince] that time. I really am a Demon.

    ¡°Really? I would be happy if Ouji-kun would help me, but where¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Would you like to come over? My parents aren¡¯t home on the weekdays.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Of course, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m nervous that his parents won¡¯t be there. I was just thinking about what he said, but since he spoke all of a sudden like I was his junior high or high school girlfriend, my voice leaked out unconsciously.

    ¡°D-did I say something wrong? My younger sister Minako-chan wanted to meet Yuzu-chan, so¡­¡±

    Ouji-kun also noticed what he¡¯d accidentally said, and flushed red as he shook his head hurriedly.

    Minako-chan, is that one who was originally going to be Venus-chan? Ouji-kun showed her to me on his cellphone, and she was saved from the fate of a storyboard (of doujinshi and manga). She was a cute child, like she belongs at a ball.

    Well, since she¡¯ll be a first year in Takamine Elementary School this year, I¡¯ll be able to meet her anytime.

    ¡°Ouji and Yuzu-chan are fianc¨¦es.  Isn¡¯t it alright for the two of you to be in the same room?¡±

    From the side, Kouki-kun cut in.

    ¡°Kouki-kun, you do know our engagement hasn¡¯t been made official, right?¡±

    Although, the two of us didn¡¯t have a problem about it becoming official¡­ But¡­ is it alright as an elementary schooler? Minako-chan is also there.

    ¡°Oh, was that so? But, I don¡¯t care about that. After all, Kako comes over to my house often and we study together.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes.¡±

    Standing next to Kouki-kun, Kako¡¯s cheeks turned red, and she bashfully touched her fingers together¡­ Are you really doing normal studying?

    Right now, we are in the school cafeteria having tea. Since the opening ceremony is tomorrow, I don¡¯t see any other students, so I can relax.

    So, why are the four of us at school today? I came to help Kako feed the animals, and Ouji and Kouki-kun came to be our bodyguards.

    Can the two elementary school boys really be escorting us? Unquestionably. Just by having the three of them together, some private security guards came to the school.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yuzu-sama. Let¡¯s borrow one of the conference rooms after school to study together.¡±

    ¡°Erhm¡­¡­ can we borrow it?¡±

    There was a conference room for professionals and others for the schools¡¯ use, such as meeting with external vendors, but I¡¯d never heard that students could borrow it.

    ¡°Aah, there¡¯s a conference room that¡¯s been contracted for a year to the Kuon family and the Shijiyuuin family. Although it¡¯s small, but I think it¡¯s enough for four people, is Ouji alright with it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. If Yuzu-chan is willing, I can go anywhere.¡±

    Before I knew it, I¡¯d decided to study in this group of four¡­ No, is that it? Given my grades, it seems like I¡¯ll be the one teaching the other three. But¡­ actually, why are you guys able to just borrow school facilities? Indeed, the daughter of the upper crust of society doesn¡¯t hesitate.

    ¡­¡­ But, to study at the level of a middle schooler? What was I doing before I fell sick?

    However¡­¡­

    ¡°What is it, Yuzu-chan?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    I wonder if Ouji-kun accepted the engagement as something normal? I looked at him with a smile now, but since his attitude didn¡¯t change from kindergarten at all, it¡¯s become even more difficult to understand his feelings now.

    Even though you¡¯re so popular amongst girls, why did you still pick me? Even if I do say so myself, I be anything but the bottom of the relationship charts amongst those in our year.

    ¡°Ah, did you hear? It seems like there¡¯s going to be a transfer student to our year this term.¡±

    Kako¡¯s cute hands clapped together as she brought up the topic.

    With her adult beauty and her cute behaviors, she gives off that gap moe feel. I¡¯d have to wear glasses and a suit when I get to middle school to do the same thing.

    ¡°Transfer student? In the elementary division of Takamine? That¡¯s rare.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I think it¡¯s more bothersome than just entering the special class in middle school.¡±

    My words supplemented Ouji-kun.

    If you wanted to enter the middle school, you only needed to complete the special course. If you wanted to put the [Takamine] brand on your resume it didn¡¯t make much sense if you hadn¡¯t already gone through the six years from the start.

    So if you were to transfer in halfway, it wouldn¡¯t be for some strange reason. On top of that, they would need to have considerable academic ability, along with good connections and a sizable donation.

    I didn¡¯t care about it at this time. Because, it wasn¡¯t that unusual¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t think that someone strange would appear.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Ahh, you there, could you come over for a moment?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­,¡±

    After taking a note to the staffroom after school, as I took a shortcut through the school and passed by the school building, I almost did a double-take when a pig-tailed person called out to me.

    Wrong. What I was calling out wasn¡¯t the ¡®hairstyle¡¯, but rather the ¡®body¡¯.

    A big ribbon that could be used for a fan that somewhat reminded me of a desperate rookie performer at the bottom. Oh, perhaps¡­¡­

    ¡°Are you waiting for a tsukkomi¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Haa? What are you saying, you. Come over here quickly.¡±

    It seems that without hearing what I said, she began to walk over rudely.

    No, no, no, I didn¡¯t expect to actually see a twin-tail tied with a huge ribbon in the fourth grade of elementary school. Is this the main character of some girls¡¯ manga?

    And so I waved her off, picked up my bags from the classroom, and studied with Ouji-kun and the rest of them, then went home.

    That was the second encounter with her, the self-proclaimed heroine, Matsuri Okazaki.

    ¡°Hey, you, where are you going!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The next day, I was caught again by Matsuri.

    Since Onzada-kun had advanced to the middle school section, my range of actions after school had narrowed. The middle and high school are next to each other, but they¡¯re bit far from the elementary school.

    Ah, that¡¯s right.

    ¡°Why are you fiddling with the phone while I¡¯m talking to you?¡±

    ¡°Friend¡¯s email.¡±

    ¡°Haa? A mob character has friends? But I don¡¯t care about that, come over here. I have some questions for you.¡±

    Matsuri started to walk again without waiting for my answer again as I replied to her.

    Ah, I responded to Onzada-kun¡¯s email¡­ Is there a sashimi set meal in the school meals?  You don¡¯t have such a thing in your school meals? Nn? It¡¯s not normal?

    Please eat deep-fried food like a normal male middle-schooler. I replied and I went home as per usual.

    Ah, let¡¯s go to dad-chan¡¯s for ramen. Will Onzada-kun come?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Neither of them are listening to others¡¯ stories.

    Next time, accidentally touching the wickedness of the world, what will happen to her?

 CH 93

    Volume 6, Chapter 4: Turned into a mob character, Part 2

    ¡°You, why aren¡¯t you following me diligently. If I¡¯m walking alone while talking I look like a fool.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Two days later, I encountered Matsuri again.

    How strange¡­¡­ I changed my route home, so how did I still meet you?

    ¡°Anyway, just come over here.¡±

    ¡°Ehhh~¡­¡­¡±

    Was Matsuri capable of learning? She grabbed my hand this time and started walking. After walking for a while, I was brought to the back of the PE equipment room where people didn¡¯t come at all.

    ¡°This place will do. Really, it was all because you¡¯re such a dullard. Don¡¯t get lost this time.¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    I didn¡¯t get lost.

    ¡°How is it? Are you Surprised? I made it into Takamine.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ yes.¡±

    I was really surprised. It might just be me, but shouldn¡¯t you have said that line when I met you on the first day of the year? Anyway, I already knew that Matsuri was the transfer student even before I met her.

    ¡°I was going to enter in junior high, it¡¯s true, but I felt like the events were progressing too quickly, so I got Dad to get me in.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­events?¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s alright. Because you¡¯re a mob character, it¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t understand anything, you know? Upupupu, it¡¯s sad to be a mob character.¡±

    ¡°Mob?¡±

    ¡°Fufu. To be able to speak like this to a mob character, it¡¯s certainly a really good simulation. I don¡¯t discriminate, even against mob characters. I will add you to my group.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, you¡¯ll be an easy mark for a spy. It¡¯s quite annoying. Certainly, the timing is different, but I should end up in the same class as Kouki-kun due to the heroine correction.¡±

    Matsuri who spouted all those interesting things¡­ didn¡¯t end up entering our class.

    It was possible to transfer in from outside with appropriate connections and donations, but our class was fixed for the year, and it was impossible to join the class unless one was an amazingly talented person like Yuuki-kun.

    In short, Matsuri¡¯s academic ability was insufficient, and ended up in the regular class.

    And also, there was a rumour being spread.

    After all, I¡¯d made a video before©` someone making a racket after climbing over the outer wall of Takamine school, and after I showed that to Kouki-kun who¡¯d burst out laughing, it seems that some other people in other classes had seen it.

    Then, on the first day of the transfer,

    [I am Sakurazaki Matsuri from the suburbs. Please take care of me.]

    With a self-introduction that could have been accompanied by a ~yaruuun~ noise, people who¡¯d watched that little animation were straining their abdominal muscles. Matsuri was truly a sinful child.

    ¡°Mob character, tell me. You know Kouki-kun and Handsome-kun, don¡¯t you? Why is Kouki-kun by Kako¡¯s side?¡±

    Hearing Prince-kun¡¯s full name for the first time in a long while, my body twitched and trembled. Is this becoming a trauma at the level of the soul¡­¡­?

    ¡°Umm? Aren¡¯t the two of them fianc¨¦es? Isn¡¯t it alright, for a beautiful couple?¡±

    ¡°Haaa? Mob child, what kind of joke are you trying to make? There is no way that that villainous daughter is a beauty. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Kako might be easily misunderstood. To me, though, the inside of Matsuri¡¯s head is in a completely different dimension.

    What the world is a Mob? Is it a technical term? I guess she heard that Kako was a villainous daughter.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Besides, Kako had drawn herself away from Kouki-kun, so shouldn¡¯t their relationship not be that great?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you familiar with Kako?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s well-known.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, is that so?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and now, Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°Why is he so thin? He¡¯s supposed to be getting slimmer in the second year of junior high. Was it because I remembered the events, that they came early? But, I think it was a lucky turn. I didn¡¯t expect him to be so cute since his elementary school days.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Such improper talk¡­¡­ Although I agree that he¡¯s cute. ¡­¡­ah, Onzada-kun sent me an email.

    ¡°If I can successfully solve the problem here, I can bring the events up ahead of time. Ah, but he¡¯s not a junior high school student now, so I can¡¯t get rid of the vengeful spirits. Well, although it started early, there¡¯s no common ground, so I can¡¯t advance. Hey, mob character, do you know of [Onsa-kun] who¡¯s three years older than you? He¡¯s a boy with a wild feeling.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know him.¡±

    Eeh~¡­¡­ Onzada-kun, do you also want to go to Dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop? Didn¡¯t we have it just two days ago? Did you like it a lot?¡­¡­ and, send.

    ¡°What, you¡¯re no use at all. Well. He should be the son of a priest in a temple¡±

    ¡°Hey hey¡±

    ¡°More than that, about Kako. Her behaviour is different up until now¡­¡­ perhaps. Yeah, that¡¯s surely right. She also has ¡®memories¡¯. Because this story is a staple.¡±

    ¡°Hoho¡±

    I¡¯v gotten lots of emails from Onzada-kun this year. Because he was in junior high, when he wanted to eat it he went alone, but when he was with me there were a lot more service.

    ¡­¡­ Ah, I did it again. That¡¯s why I said that it would only be okay when I turned 20.

    ¡°There seems to be a need for me to teach you a little¡­¡­ Mob character, can you prepare a dead animal?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­N? Kagoshima Wagyu sirloin is good?¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly thinking of putting such high class meat in the shoe locker!?¡±

    ¡°I got it as a Christmas gift, but I can¡¯t eat it yet.¡±

    ¡°Nobody ever gives such stupid presents!?¡±

    ¡­¡­ But I have it.

    Most of it ended up being processed and eaten with my family or distributed to the employees, but it seems that I made a mistake thinking about consuming only the filets and sirloin because it was a gift.

    There¡¯s still a lot of it in our company¡¯s freezer.

    ¡°Ah, oh well. You should go and spy on and grasp Kako¡¯s weaknesses. I have something else to do for now. Fufu, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t quite get it, but there was something about Kako¡­¡­?

    Having said everything that she wanted to say, Matsuri skipped away as if flying, and left.

    ¡°What was that¡­¡­¡±

    It has nothing to do with me, please leave  me out of your gossip¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­That girl, what does she want with me?¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Fufufu, watch me, Kako.¡±

    Matsuri grinned while looking at the white plastic bag that I¡¯d brought.

    Inside of it was the dead bodies of some mice I¡¯d bought at the pet shop yesterday. But it wasn¡¯t for harassing Kako by putting it in her shoe locker.

    After all, in Takamine, the personal lockers for shoes and luggage couldn¡¯t be opened without a keycard.

    Then, what use was there for the rats?

    Matsuri seemed to have [No clue] apart from what they were usually used for, but it seems she¡¯s not stupid.

    Takamine wouldn¡¯t allow a student without the academic ability to transfer regardless of how large the donation was in the first place, so Matsuri had to have more than just these hobbies.

    Matsuri was contemplating the current situation.

    In the memories of her past life, when someone was reincarnated as the main character of the game, she knew that there was a possibility that they weren¡¯t the only [Reincarnator].

    Although she thought that events were advancing quickly because her memory had returned, but given that Matsuri hadn¡¯t involved herself yet, it seemed natural to think that there were other [Reincarnator] involved.

    Who benefitted in this situation? Matsuri who thought that only Kako benefited, and believed her to be the [Reincarnator].

    Perhaps, in order to force the heroine to act to generate an event, Kako would [make up] being bullied.

    Kako would try to use it to cause the heroine Matsuri to fall into a trap.

    Because Matsuri was the legitimate heroine, she thought that it was her right to attain the harem end which was the ¡®selling point¡¯ of the game.

    Those who disturbed this would not be forgiven.

    Kako in the game was jealous of Matsuri, who was making friends with Kouki, and would make sarcastic remarks about her out of jealousy, and repeatedly harassed her. Although she denied it even when there was a conviction event, Kouki believed in the heroine Matsuri, and dissolved his engagement with Kako who refused to admit to her crimes.

    If Kako was a reincarnator, then in order for her to be framed for a crime that she couldn¡¯t avoid she would desperately need to get the alibi of a friend.

    Perhaps, since she was recently secluding herself somewhere after school, it wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Then, what should she do¡­¡­?

    ¡°If I can¡¯t think of anything, I just have to start some trouble.¡±

    Everyone was free to enter and leave the locker rooms according to their class and gender, but since some people would change clothes inside, there were no surveillance cameras.

    Matsuri entered the locker room while grinning, and threw out everything in her locker, trampling the still-warm corpses underfoot.

    Her new textbooks, shoes, etc, were all covered in blood. There were many things that she hadn¡¯t used yet, but she would be able to buy new ones again as soon as she asked for them from her father.

    And as her brand new packages got soiled, Matsuri¡¯s position as the ¡®victim¡¯ should be set in stone.

    Matsuri intended to let the suspicion for this be gradually guided onto Kako.

    There was no need for other evidence. On the contrary, there was no evidence, so if Matsuri put on a show, she wouldn¡¯t get there. Matsuri herself also didn¡¯t intend to make a fuss about Kako being a criminal.

    The only people who could open the lockers other than herself was a teacher or someone like Kako who was able to influence teachers in the game.

    A clever person¡­¡­ for example, Kouki, would be able to conclude the ¡®answer¡¯ for himself, and it was enough that he started to distrust Kako for having her own way.

    ¡°The rest of it¡­¡­¡±

    In the setting of the game, it was said that Kako liked a certain character, so she would drop a pen with that mascot character to seal the impression.

    ¡°If I repeat this a few times, Kouki would have accumulated enough distrust in Kako and begun to have interest in me, and his favor level should increase. It¡¯ll be good for him and me~¡±

    If the nuisance didn¡¯t exist anymore, then the event with Handsome would be able to proceed.

    If the two of them, Kouki and Handsome, were simultaneously captured, the capture of other characters would be possible, and the [18-Restricted] events need not begin in high school but rather from middle school.

    Imagining a sweet erotic event with Kouki, she couldn¡¯t suppress a smile, and Matsuri left the locker room with her face hidden in her hands.

    Although this is unrelated, do you know of the story where the land gets ¡®purified¡¯ right after a demon passes by?

    This is because when the demon is nearby, carcasses of those who were murdered would decay into nothing, and instead of generating disasters from the miasma, a hungry demon would eat up all of the miasma.

    But that was only the case for Lesser Demons and Greater Demons.

    If there was a higher-ranking demon there, what would happen¡­¡­?

    That day, Yuzu happened to pass by.

    There was no particular meaning in that, just that she was a little hungry and entered the shop. Even if she ate human foods, the Demon wouldn¡¯t be satisfied, but it was better than nothing.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    As Yuzu passed by, the dead mice decayed to the bone in a matter of seconds, and ¡®miasma¡¯ began to leak out of the locker that was now only slightly soiled.

    And that miasma, was instantly absorbed into Yuzu, whose belly was empty at the time.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuzu who unintentionally picked it up felt sorry for the owner, and went home with a sour face.

    Early the next morning, Yuzu came to the locker rooms with an item for her apology, and put her hands on the locker, gently murmuring.

    ¡°¡­[Open]¡­¡±

    And as the students started school, a disturbance began with a smell.

    However, it wouldn¡¯t be right to call it a terrible smell.

    While Matsuri was hiding her grin behind a look of fright, she and the teachers were gathered in front of the locker, and the teachers were talking to one another.

    ¡°Sakurasa-san, can I open your locker?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    And, upon seeing the thing that was in the locker, everyone was stunned.

    There, a T-bone steak that was still steaming hot was scattering a wonderfully fragrant smell on an iron skillet.

    ¡°¡­¡­Sakurasa-san, it¡¯s not okay to put such things in your locker.¡±

    ¡°Wh-th¡­ harassment!¡±

    ¡°Why would anyone harass anyone else by putting a steak in a locker!¡±

    The boys had their appetites stimulated by the smell of the steak and the girls were disgusted at having the smell of grilled meat on their clothes, but they both nodded at the teachers¡¯ words.

    ¡°Now, come to the staff room.¡±

    ¡°Noooooooooooooooooo, I¡¯m the viiiiiiiiictiiiiiiiiiiiiim¡±

    ¡°Your locker can only be opened by either you or a teacher, so come quickly!¡±

    And so, just like that, transfer student Matsuri Sakurasa received a strict reprimand within her first week, and her parents called while her teachers monitored her during the semester.

    Also, due to the requests of some of the students, a yakiniku set meal was added to the cafeteria the following week.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Writing about meat makes me want to eat meat.

    Next time: the story of the ramen shop.

 CH 94

    Volume 6, Chapter 5: The Lovely Daily Life of an Elementary School Girl, Part 1

    Me and Onzada-kun had tired ourselves out, so we decided to get ramen together.

    Ramen is high in calories, after all¡­ and since I became [Me], my body won¡¯t grow any direction than up, however, even Demons shouldn¡¯t be reckless. Since I started to use magical power recently, I¡¯ve been getting tired more easily.

    Oh, Dad-chan gave me the default when I asked for ramen. It seems like there is a delicate line not to cross when ordering, normally that wouldn¡¯t happen by just ordering ¡®ramen¡¯ casually like that.

    Dad-chan¡¯s ramen carries a rich, rustic flavor, and the broth shines golden all the way to the bottom. I also enjoy the noodles our company makes for here. Recently, the chicken used for the stock has come from the higher ranked items from Nikuno Ham, so I¡¯ll order this soup for life. Well, the bowl is also child-sized still.

    ¡°What are you talking about, Yuzu. I like the soup, but the roasted pork ramen is unbeatable.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s just a bit oily for me.¡±

    Dad-chan¡¯s pork cutlets are prepared a bit differently than usual. It seems he didn¡¯t like the cutlets from Nikuno Ham, so he talked with people in product development and made a fattier option.

    It¡¯s actually close to simmered pork. When it¡¯s heated with soup, the fat seems to drip off and add more richness, Onzada-kun liked to ask for a lot of noodles along with the special sauce and rice.

    ¡­Hmm? Did he say something?

    ¡°Onzada-kun, did you just say we should come again?¡±

    ¡°Because dinner is always so late, I always feel really hungry by this time.¡±

    ¡­Oh well. If I gain weight I¡¯ll force him on a diet too.

    Today we came to the shopping district by foot rather than driving.

    To explain, Onzada-kun hates the feeling of the chairs in my car, saying ¡°I can¡¯t feel calm,¡± so he refused to ride and we came this way instead.

    I¡¯m also a fourth grader now, and my parents aren¡¯t as worried since I haven¡¯t been attacked or kidnapped lately.

    Also, Koto-chan has seen to it that Onzada-kun protects me; she seems to like it and approved me to go out as long as I¡¯m with him.

    For some reason, Koto-chan would have a strangely warm smile on her face whenever I talked about Onzada-kun¡­ She truly is mysterious, having such an interest in a male junior high student.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Recently, for some reason everything has been quiet around here. For example, whenever people see a male junior high schooler and a female elementary schooler wearing the Takamine school uniform walking side by side, it¡¯s really conspicuous. I don¡¯t know how we look from the outside, but since he and I don¡¯t look alike we probably don¡¯t look like brother and sister.

    During our walk, two laughing male high schoolers saw us and approached while swaying slightly to and fro.

    ¡­ Why are they shaking? Are they possessed?

    Even if they pick a fight, Onzada-kun¡¯s ready to protect me, which I thought would drive them away, but as they approached they became stranger and their eyes changed color.

    Intimidating them didn¡¯t work, they had a strange [Presence].

    ¡­Ah, they¡¯re really single minded.

    ¡°What is with them¡­?¡±

    Even though Onzada-kun was anxious, he naturally took a half-step in front of me.

    ¡°Sorry, Onzada-kun, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    I took Onzada-kun¡¯s arm and moved forward calmly. Everything will be alright.

    We passed to their side where their eyes were unfocused, but the next moment they raised their fists to attack from behind¡­ I turned around and they froze as they looked at my crimson eyes.

    At the sign that showed me as a [Demon], the annoying [Presence] that had possessed them dissipated.

    At the same time, something like ¡°experience points¡± came out of their soul and were scattered and reformed into something that looked like a child, which looked at us peacefully.

    I don¡¯t know whether or not to hit the child, but I don¡¯t really care so I just want to move on.

    Because this all happened before a real fight started, nothing is reacting around us.

    ¡­ Really, what¡¯s with all this?

    £ª

    ¡°Dad-chan, I¡¯m here for ramen~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve said this before, Yuzu-chan, you know that I¡¯m not Misa¡¯s father, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Yuzu-chan¡±

    ¡°Misa¡±

    Misa was helping a little around the shop so she came over and gave me a hug.

    Misa¡¯s gotten quite strong recently from helping in the shop, but I think I¡¯d still win if I used the powers form being a demon.

    The shop seems to be trending recently, so even though it¡¯s early I can see some customers. Since I¡¯m one of the more often seen children wandering around, me and Misa got smiles from the storeowners.

    Last year, Dad-chan was adopted by Ino-san, the ramen store owner, and officially handed over the store this spring, so Dad-chan became the shopkeeper here.

    Also, since Ino-san was quite the grandpa, he¡¯s retiring out to the country and doing ¡°Matagi.¡±

    ¡­ What is Matagi¡­?

    ¡°I see you brought Onzada-kun today, what will he be having?¡±

    ¡°Ah, the usual, please.¡±

    ¡°Got it, pork noodles and pork mesh, coming up.¡±

    As expected from Dad-chan. I wonder what else I should eat¡­ For someone like me who doesn¡¯t taste food properly, Dad-chan¡¯s ramen that he puts his soul into is really a treat.

    ¡°Order up, Seaweed ramen for Yuzu-chan.¡±

    The ramen was put in front of me before I ordered.

    ¡°¡­Dad-chan, I haven¡¯t ordered, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, since Yuzu-chan came during the day, the shopping center has doing well enough that I couldn¡¯t possibly take money from Misa¡¯s friends.¡±

    No, not that, When did he decide I wanted seaweed ramen? I guess you only get to decide what you¡¯re eating when you pay. Well, I¡¯ll eat it.

    Looking to my side, Onzada-kun was slurping down his ramen with a rich bowl of rice. Do I have meat like that?

    ¡°This is why I said that whenever Yuzu comes, the service is really good.¡±

    Onzada-kun noticed my look and said as such with a straight face.

    Well, even though there are other customers, surely we didn¡¯t get all the service, right? Thinking of that, I saw Misa just now taking orders from the other customers.

    Impossible¡­ is this why everyone scowls at us when we come in?

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, it looks like I have a message on my phone.¡±

    While eating my ramen, the seaweed told me that a message was coming to my cell phone before it sunk into the broth and drowned. Hot ramen is really not an environment you can live in.

    First, before checking my messages I finished up my noodles before they got stretched. It seems that a few e-mails came from this morning.

    I had completely forgotten to check it fully¡­ When I looked at the sender, it was all from Yuki-kun.

    ¡­ Ah, I forgot that yesterday night was the information exchange.

    I see, so that was the reason Yuki-kun was staring at me this morning.

    Yuki-san is so serious, he might have been waiting all the way until morning.

    For the time being, I typed [Ramen Time] and sent it with a picture of my ramen before I drank up the rest of my soup.

    Humu, it seemed somewhat cold.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After I finished the soup, I felt a ¡®Killing Intent¡¯ like a frosty blizzard.

    Since the other guests were still calm, I knew that the murderous feeling was only directed at me. It was to the extent that Onzada-kun only barely looked around out of curiosity.

    Due to its strength and control, it seems like this enemy is quite powerful. Such a thing, it¡¯s the level where I have to protect everyone.

    *Gara~*

    ¡°Dad-chan, get this kid some ramen.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Dad-chan all the time¡­ who is that kid?¡±

    Misa ran over and took the hand of the boy who entered the shop.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m here¡­¡±

    ¡°You were outside the shop? My Ni-chan¡¯s ramen is delicious!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The boy gripped something and mumbled something, I could see his killing intent rising, as he stared at me again.

    ¡°Yuki-kun, you really should eat this because it¡¯s delicious, right?

    £ª

    After that, Yuki-kun went home bringing two noodle dishes with him while glaring at me.

    Apparently he wasn¡¯t interested in the food from this world, but was touched by the taste of ramen he tried here.

    ¡°Is he your friend, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s a classmate.¡±

    Since Koto-chan was a first year university student now, she came to pick me up. Whether she came just to pick me up or to see Dad-chan, I¡¯m not quite sure.

    Koto has become quite beautiful since becoming a college student. Dad-chan also clearly felt like she¡¯d grown up, so every time Koto-chan comes, he seems a little softer. Spring may have passed, but ¡®Spring¡¯ is on its way.

    Ah, I got a hateful email from Yuki-kun¡­ He might seriously fight me if I miss tonight again¡­. I feel sort of tired now.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­ do you know him well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah? What about Yuki-kun?¡±

    It¡¯s been quiet since Yuki-kun came, so Onzada-kun spoke to me while raising an eyebrow.

    ¡°I see¡­ I feel like that wasn¡¯t the first time I met them.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that so?¡±

    I wonder what Yuki-kun did.

    ¡°Anyways Yuzu, please be careful. I can¡¯t protect you all the time.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun? What happened¡­?

    ¡°Yuzu¡­? Your face is becoming red.¡±

    Koto-chan, who was watching my and Onzada-kun¡¯s conversation suddenly looked serious and put a hand on my forehead.

    ¡°¡­There might be a slight fever.¡±

    ¡°Yeah? I can¡¯t tell.¡±

    I feel a little heavy.

    This body is still so weak¡­ It seems like even Demons can catch a cold. Tonight has become troublesome for real.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time is Yuki-kun¡¯s training.

 CH 95

    Volume 6, Chapter 6: The Lovely Daily Life of an Elementary Schooler, Part 2

    Born in the underground tunnels of Tokyo, was a [Presence] that embodied the [Ambition] of [Power].

    Politicians of the country who had discovered the [Presence] had, with the help of the religious organisation [Oyama], built a shrine to surround it in the underground tunnels, and through the [Miko], channeled that [Power]for many years for their use. That [Presence] that had been sleeping all this time, suddenly awoke a few years ago.

    That thing was like a fearful child.

    It didn¡¯t know what there was to fear, but even though it was said to have awakened, it still couldn¡¯t communicate with anyone but the [Shrine Maiden], and the shrine maiden had been gnawed at by bearing the burden of the spirit.

    ¡°The third Shrine Maiden has collapsed.¡±

    In a room reminiscent of the European-style buildings of the Taisho period (1912-1926), an old man dressed in a haori-hakama in subdued hues spoke in a tired voice to another old man wearing a tailored suit.

    ¡°¡­¡­Again. Only four years have passed since it awoke.¡±

    ¡°No wonder¡­¡­ even if you say it can talk, the other party isn¡¯t a ¡®human¡¯. Children who can accept the massive amounts of information that aren¡¯t even words aren¡¯t common.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡¯s the status of that shrine maiden?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s alive. But, given that she¡¯s mentally unstable now, she¡¯s unusable.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡±

    Three of the five shrine maidens had collapsed, with only two of them remaining.

    When the second person collapsed, they¡¯d confirmed that there was an orphan with the qualities to be a shrine maiden, but amongst the children of the branch families, there wasn¡¯t anyone suitable left.

    The five shrine maidens were all between 5 and 13, and the ones that remained were 13 and 11 years old. Because of their age, the two of them were mentally stronger, and were able to tolerate it.

    But, the moment they became adults, they would lose their aptitude of being a [Shrine Maiden].

    That [Existence] only accepted children, and rejected those that had become adults.

    ¡°Why did you wake up¡­¡­No, what was so terrifying that you woke up?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Perhaps, it would be the [Evil] that will appear in the country after ten years. And we, in the future, would borrow the power of that [Existence], and use it to seal the [Evil] like we did in the past.¡±

    ¡°Why are you still so afraid if you¡¯ve sealed it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The future time it would be released is ¡®now¡¯. It¡¯s frightened because of it.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ is that not dangerous?¡±

    ¡°Be assured. The technique [Twelve Period Hourglass] isn¡¯t something so weak. We will risk our lives to protect this country.¡±

    The two old men, who headed the political and religious institutions of the country, quietly nodded with the determination to fight.

    To protect the future of the people living in the country.

    * * *

    ¡°Good evening, Yuuki-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It seems that you¡¯ve come today.¡±

    Apparently, he¡¯s in an unusual humor.

    I made the excuse that I had a cold, I was pretending to have shut myself in my room, and took a leisurely journey to Yuuki-kun¡¯s meeting point.

    My power as a Demon was usable, but since my body was that of a weak ¡®human¡¯, me using too much Demonic magic power might be the reason I¡¯m not feeling so well. ¡­¡­ Maybe. In a word, it¡¯s like muscle pain¡­¡­?

    But since I¡¯m actually quite tired, let¡¯s end this quickly.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nn, what¡¯s that?¡±

    Looking at the fancy wrapped present I handed him, Yuuki-kun made a strange face.

    ¡°I guess it was about time? That your younger brother or sister has been born? I don¡¯t know which one it is, but since it¡¯s a baby I think a stuffed toy is appropriate, right?¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡­¡­ Aah.¡±

    ¡°Has it not been born yet?¡±

    Oh dear, it seems I¡¯ve made a false start. Is it okay that he accepts this now?

    ¡°No, she¡¯s been born¡­¡­ it¡¯s a sister. ¡­¡­ Subaru.¡±

    ¡°Congratulations~¡±

    What, were you just being embarrassed?

    But actually, it¡¯s a complex feeling¡­¡­ Yuuki-kun wanted to learn the magic of opening a dimensional door from me so that he could return to the world of his previous life.

    I didn¡¯t hear his circumstances, but I could feel the ¡®anger¡¯ and ¡®hatred¡¯ at the heart of his words. There was something very forlorn¡­¡­ maybe, he had been murdered.

    He wanted to get back to his world and exact his revenge. ¡­¡­ I think that¡¯s the case, but since he was taking his time to gain power and grow, he had a number of ¡®lingering affections¡¯ for this world and his heart began to shake.

    They¡¯re quite terrible, humans.

    ¡°Ah, sorry¡­¡­ Thanks. Yuzu, please do continue teaching me.¡±

    ¡°Yes yes.¡±

    They sure aren¡¯t upfront about their feelings¡­¡­ humans.

    ¡°As I mentioned before, this is an application of [Summoning Magic]. If you want to open a door that leads to a different world, you will need to know its coordinates, and have the enormous magic power needed to summon creatures from that other world.¡±

    ¡°I know that. Even in my world, [Summoning from Another World] was a national project¡­¡­ But, it seems that in Yuzu¡¯s world, magic formations had been developed considerably.¡±

    Yuuki-kun muttered as he struggled to practice the [Three-dimensional stacked magic formation] that could effectively produce a summoning gate within a small area.

    In Yuuki-kun¡¯s homeworld¡­¡­  In [Tess], it seems that it was common for them to draw on paper or carve them onto the floor.

    Well, that¡¯s the normal way. Normally one wouldn¡¯t think of drawing magic power directly on the air.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Did you remember something, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°No. Not at all.¡±

    I don¡¯t see that ¡®black cat¡¯ around too often these days¡­¡­

    Yuuki-kun seems to be paying a lot of attention to me, and worries about me every now and then. Especially when his heart wavers.

    ¡°Does Yuuki-kun hate this world?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ahh, I despise it. It was because of humanity¡¯s arrogance that our magic power is this low. Because of them, the spirits sleep, and I was born as a helpless human being.¡±

    So there are no other Demons¡­¡­

    In Yuuki-kun¡¯s tale, it seems like spirits exist to manage souls. Due to the spirits being asleep, it turned out souls that didn¡¯t have enough experience points to be human and should have been born animals were born human.

    And because there were no Demons, there were no existences to eat sinful humans. That¡¯s why there was a vicious cycle that would cause humans to keep increasing in number.

    ¡°But even then there are good people, you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡­ the transmigration of souls is absurd. Good and bad people are born properly. On the contrary, souls with egos that were too strong would be flicked to another world.¡±

    ¡°Well, then, it¡¯s a good thing that people like Dad-chan and Misa are here then. The ramen was good, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I smiled sweetly at that, Yuuki-kun stopped practicing the layered magic formation, and made a face like he¡¯d bit on a particularly bitter bug.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s about time for me to show the results of my practice. Because Yuzu neglected her meeting yesterday, I absolutely have to return the favor.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­hehh¡±

    Yuuki-kun, who had gradually begun to release his magic power, had a slight smile on his mouth.

    The results of his practice¡­¡­ huh.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would it be better if I were to show it?¡±

    I also released magic powers up to the point that it didn¡¯t burden my body.

    Previously, since there was little magic power in this world, I felt like saying that I could do it easily, but since Yuuki-kun invited me to watch, it can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°You won¡¯t die, right?¡±

    ¡°I said that.¡±

    Yuuki-kun opened a hole in space in his hand and from the space within took out his sword. ¡­¡­ It wasn¡¯t inside his pants.

    ¡°Teach me that too.¡±

    ¡°When I win.¡±

    Is that a promise?

    ¡°¡­[Become ashes]¡­¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    When Yuuki-kun instantly avoided it like flying, the scrap metal behind him immediately burnt to ashes.

    As expected, it¡¯s probably better to use [Spirit Language], huh. When I ordered things, it was difficult to remember what it should have acted on, but if I only used the ¡®result¡¯ and imagined it and put magic power into my words, the effects would appear.

    It seems that it¡¯s okay to make some noise in this abandoned factory.

    ¡°I felt killing intent!?¡±

    ¡°Eh~¡­¡­ you avoided it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You knave, you mad archmage.¡±

    Yuuki-kun drew a small magic formation in the air, and I smashed it with a big sword enveloped in the light of the [Holy Attribute].

    ¡°Wow.¡±

    ¡°Sword of Brilliance!¡±

    The sacred light that stretched a few meters out from the sword swung down, and collided with my magic barriers, getting annihilated while releasing violent sparks.

    ¡°Suddenly serious?¡±

    ¡°I guess it works well against evil sorcerers?¡±

    I was a Demon, so it was getting to be too much and I was taking damage.

    ¡°Sword of Brilliance¡­¡­ how Chuunibyou.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    And so, the serious training where the partner wasn¡¯t to die started.

    Why did it happen? Well, it¡¯s alright. I don¡¯t really worry about it, since I didn¡¯t really seriously go at it.

    After about an hour, as I thought that we were making too much commotion, Yuuki-kun suddenly dropped his sword.

    ¡°Wait, Yuzu. Someone¡¯s approaching.¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­¡±

    It seems that we¡¯ve made too much of an uproar and someone came to check. I didn¡¯t understand it well, but it seems that Yuuki-kun detected their ¡®presence¡¯ somewhere. ¡­¡­ how convenient.

    ¡°Shall we withdraw then?¡±

    ¡°Yep ¡­¡­ hold on a minute, it¡¯s fast.¡±

    Is that not a normal human? Stopping our retreat for a moment, we waited, and the person vaulted over the wall of the disused factory and appeared immediately.

    ¡°eh¡­¡­ Onzada-kun?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu !?¡±

    Onzada-kun, who appeared while sweating and breathing heavily, had a surprised look on his face as he saw me, and grimaced when he saw Yuuki-kun next to me.

    ¡°Why is Onzada-kun here?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my line! What are you doing when your body is so weak? ¡­¡­ Good grief, I was doing exorcisms and came here since there was a commotion.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    That [Contract Chain] connecting Onzada-kun to my hand was shining black. Ah~¡­ I see, the fighting was getting pretty serious, so he was called over to [Protect Me].

    ¡°Also, Yuzu, why are you with him? And that sword¡­¡­ you, you¡¯re the black-mask from that time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki-kun did not answer, and only slowly tried to grip his sword. It¡¯s scary as is¡­¡­ come to mention it, a black mask? He might seriously have Chuunibyou.

    ¡°Ah, Yuuki-kun was teaching me magic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun both looked at me with stunned looks.

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face had an expression like ¡®what are you saying¡¯¡­¡­ while Yuuki-kun had a look that was questioning me for lying to him and was thinking over why I was trying to deceive him.

    Because¡­¡­ it¡¯s troublesome.

    ¡°S-so, that was¡­¡­?¡±

    As a consequence of our persuasions and explanations, Onzada-kun was convinced in the end.

    The explanation was that I had decided to learn magic from Yuuki-kun who was born with a mysterious power, in order to eliminate the weakness of my body, and I lied about my previous life.

    He finally believed us when we showed him magic.

    ¡°I understand the reason now. So, teach me magic as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    Yuuki-kun had a shocked voice at Onzada-kun who had suddenly spouted this thing.

    ¡°Why do I have to teach you?¡±

    ¡°Because you don¡¯t want anyone else to know what you¡¯re doing in the middle of the night? I promised to protect Yuzu. Are you going to protect Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Well¡­ Yuuki-kun unexpectedly diverted his eyes away from Onzada-kun¡¯s serious gaze.

    ¡°It is necessary for me to become stronger to protect Yuzu. If you teach me, I will also teach you to use ¡®Ki¡¯,¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Alright.¡±

    Yuuki-kun also seems to be interested in Onzada-kun¡¯s methods. Onzada-kun smiled when he heard the answer.

    ¡°Thanks. But, I won¡¯t forgive you for killing off the wandering spirits. Why did you do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°If I defeat it, I could absorb some of its power¡­¡­ It¡¯s nice, I guess, to have such things.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that. Game experience points! That spirit-severing sword, teach me that.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do it.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, ya stingy?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not stingy.¡±

    To absorb the power of the opponents you defeat¡­¡­ Is that the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art]?

    I¡¯ll find out eventually.

    Somehow, though, I was left alone and the two of them seem to get along. That¡¯s good¡­¡­ I guess.

    ¡­¡­ Ah, Rotten God, please go home, there¡¯s nothing for you.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, a Tea Ceremony of Yuzu who advances to the 5th Grade.

    I¡¯m trying to get the story to go in a serious direction, and in a sense, Yuuki-kun is the natural enemy of the author like he is to Yuzu.

 CH 96

    Volume 6, Chapter 7: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­ Junikoko Hourglass?¡±  (TLN: Junikoko: 12, 2 hour periods, related to the zodiac)

    Onzada heard those words after he had been summoned by his brothers.

    Even though he was still young, since he¡¯d trained seriously ever since he had been an elementary schooler, his abilities had nearly reached that of his older brothers¡¯, and was considered to be an adult, and so he would be taught the secrets accordingly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Originally, you should have heard this from Honored Father, but I told you a while ago. So, because of that I was told to take responsibility for this. This will be quite a serious talk, so are you ready for it?¡±

    ¡°O-oh¡­ yes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

    His older brother smiled gently upon seeing Onzada become nervous in the midst of his reply. Bracing himself at once, he quietly spoke of it all in the main hall that was only lit by candlelight.

    ¡°Onzada, I¡¯ve told you about the great [Evil] that will appear ten years from now.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°To be precise, there was a prophecy about the spring 17 years from now. And at that time, we had already successfully deployed the technique we used. Its name was the [Junikoko Hourglass].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What kind of technique it is to have such a name?¡±

    ¡°The true meaning of the technique is not yet known to us as well. However, there was once a large-scale operation that made use of hundreds of practitioners, even us, to seal off that [Evil] over the course of half a year.¡±

    ¡°Half a year!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, half a year. In that time, the monks and practitioners who were affiliated with [Oyama], exerted their powers continually day and night, taking shifts, and even when they were taking breaks off shift they would serve as guards to protect the ritual, it was quite a bit of hard work.¡±

    ¡°What happened¡­ to that evil that was sent into the past?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know. Sent into the past¡­¡­ I think that the evil is present ¡®now¡¯, but father and the other monks have not yet been able to ascertain if it is asleep or not. It should have been considerably weakened¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it not possible to find and defeat it?¡±

    ¡°It seems that if we defeat it, the burden on the future would be lessened. But it¡¯s more important that we not wake it over defeating it. If we can wake up that evil in its weakened state on purpose, then we can kill it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If they did not awaken that [Evil], it seems like they would be able to completely seal it or destroy it in the past.

    His older brother didn¡¯t know anything more, and stopped speaking then.

    But something stuck in Onzada¡¯s heart.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Why is that evil presence just called ¡®evil¡¯?¡±

    In his brother¡¯s words, it was that there was a prophesy that it would bring darkness to the hearts of the people of this world, and return the way to its chaotic state as it was in ancient times.

    But, to say that [We must destroy it for it is Evil]¡­¡­ Onzada felt a little discomfort.

    The evil being had yet to do a single thing.

    Then, Onzada thought to himself, why couldn¡¯t they just do the same things as they did to castaway or lingering spirits to this, but insist on destroying it?

    ¡°That is¡­¡­¡±

    He was learning magic from that young boy Yuuki whom he¡¯d recently gotten to know alongside Yuzu.

    Although the magic had seemed fake to him at first, somehow, he managed to understand the concept of [Magic Power]. The two of them said that magic was an ancient [Power]  of this world.

    Because magic power had disappeared from this world, science developed and humans were able to expand their influence.

    Then¡­ is this ancient magic power, an evil to the world¡­¡­?

    ¡°¡­¡­Well, I don¡¯t know either.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­. Are you going to the party that¡¯s coming up soon?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ where is it?¡±

    One day, when I¡¯d been called to father¡¯s study, he suddenly told me this.

    What kind of party was that? The anniversary of our company was still a ways away, so what¡¯s the occasion?

    ¡°Where, hmm¡­¡­ it¡¯s the 70th anniversary party of Nikuno Ham. Didn¡¯t I tell you, Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    I shook my head a lot at Father¡¯s words.

    ¡°I see¡­¡­ I thought that you¡¯d surely have heard it from Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°He¡¯s very fit, and turned out quite a bright boy. Even though his father the director of Nikuno Ham used to say that his son had a strange fear of ghosts and was worried all the time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Aah, there was certainly that feeling before.

    It was some sort of evil spirit or something, and if he still felt that way now I was going to introduce him to Onzada-kun¡¯s services. I¡¯ll e-mail him later.

    ¡°Yuzu also had something of a physical condition that last time, but now that you¡¯ve stabilized for quite a bit, will you be attending?¡±

    No, it¡¯s not decreased or stabilized at all. But it¡¯s been peacefully resolved.

    ¡°But since I¡¯ve never gone out of his household, what if I don¡¯t know how to perform formal greetings?¡±

    ¡°Since Father will be going with you, just greet the people how I greet and it¡¯ll be fine. Yuzu¡¯s also become a fifth grader, and sometimes people have asked me ¡®Oh, where¡¯s your youngest daughter?¡¯ If you¡¯re not feeling well then it¡¯s okay, but otherwise I¡¯d be quite happy if you would come.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­.¡±

    As expected, it¡¯s impossible to play hooky for this. It seems like I¡¯m going to be drawn into the trouble¡­¡­

    Also, like father said, I¡¯ve just entered the fifth grade in elementary school.

    This body of mine has grown quite a bit, no? As to how much larger I¡¯ve gotten, well, Ooba-onii-chan tried to hug and lift me for the first time in a while, and started to strain his back.

    ¡­¡­ How rude. I am very light. However much I eat ramen, my stomach hardly changes, and I hardly eat any other meals. Comparing it to Kotone-chan who has to swim laps to lose weight thanks to overeating ramen¡­¡­ that¡­¡­ in an instant, I felt a chill.

    Oh yeah, there were things like that too, now that we¡¯re talking about ramen.

    *

    One day, when I entered Dad-chan¡¯s ramen shop, I had a slight feeling that something was very wrong.

    To express it clearly, I thought that it was like the heavy soul of that corrupt business family that I ate, and not anything like the sweet taste of a wicked lady, that¡¯s the kind of feeling.

    ¡°W-Welcome¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    My eyes wandered towards the kitchen as I gazed upon him silently.

    ¡°You should greet customers more energetically.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Welcome!¡±

    At he who spoke out with a more or less desperate voice, I could only gaze at him scornfully.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What are you doing? Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    In the kitchen, Yuuki-kun was washing the dishes while wearing a loose cook¡¯s uniform.

    While I was standing at the entrance, Misa noticed me and came closer.

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, welcome¡±

    ¡°Hey, Misa¡­¡­ what¡¯s that.¡±

    ¡°Ah, this. Yuuki-kun loves ramen, so he brought me souvenirs from all over the country, it¡¯s amazing.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    *chira*¡­¡­

    ¡°So after talking to my onii-chan properly, he decided to help out with the shop.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    *chira*¡­¡­

    ¡°I-I, it¡¯s because Misa said that I¡¯d never eaten the ramen of the province¡±

    As my twinkling eyes looked at him, Yuuki-kun began to confess.

    I see¡­¡­ It¡¯s [Misa], huh. It¡¯s a good thing you get along well with her. Given that Dad-chan didn¡¯t say anything, does he approve of this too?

    Then I¡¯ll be the one instead.

    ¡°My daughter is not easy, young¡¯un.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about suddenly?!¡±

    *

    ¡­¡­ Well, that was that.

    Hmm, isn¡¯t it nice that you¡¯re having some lingering affection? Well, it can¡¯t be helped since Misa is so cute. As per usual, she¡¯s like a ¡®kokeshi doll¡¯.

    As to why he might be attracted to an elementary school girl, despite having the memory of his past life, it was because his feelings were considerably influenced by his actual age.

    ¡°Does this mean that Yuzu will not be attending?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah, yes¡±

    Oops. I didn¡¯t hear anything that was being said in between. ¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s alright. It just means that people will say that I couldn¡¯t attend the party because I was sick.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it. Both Ooba and Kotone will be attending.¡±

    ¡°Ooba-onii-chan is going to be the heir, right?¡±

    ¡°At first, he¡¯ll be going to Nikuno Ham to intern and learn, as one of the rank and file.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. If you let him start off as a company manager, he¡¯d become a failure, right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuzu sure is strict with Ooba.¡±

    ¡°The employees of the future are important too. In the case of Kotone-onee-chan, there¡¯s going to be a lot of suitors?¡±

    ¡°Ooh, Kotone surely will, for how pretty she is! She¡¯ll be nearly 20, but she still hasn¡¯t brought home her boyfriend¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about the youngsters.¡±

    ¡°Did Yuzu pick all these up from Father saying them!?¡±

    What, did Father say those too? Anyway, because Kotone-chan¡¯s significant other is Dad-chan, he can¡¯t be brought home to the family easily.

    And so, I ended up agreeing to attend Nikuno Ham¡¯s party.

    Nn~¡­¡­ I wish I wouldn¡¯t run into any problems.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the heroine returns again.

 CH 97

    Volume 6, Chapter 8: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 2

    ¡°How cute, Yuzu. It suits you well.¡±

    As I was attending a party for the first time, Kotone-chan coordinated with me most enthusiastically.

    Wearing dark colors so as to not be gaudy, it was a knee-length one-piece that had fluffy hems, with an American-style sleeve that exposed both shoulders while covering the nape, with many beige-colored areas. The back was also slightly visible.

    Since I¡¯m an elementary schooler, I thought that a more childish dress would have been better, but it seems that the mood isn¡¯t one for a child.

    ¡°¡­¡­So, is it good?¡±

    ¡°O-of course.¡±

    Ah, a stammer.

    Even so, I was surprised that I didn¡¯t feel much resistance towards baring my shoulders, and felt a sense of incompatibility about the knee-length. I got a feeling that the hem was longer than was supposed to be on the dress, but why is that?

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s Yuzu¡¯s first time wearing a proper dress, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct?¡±

    ¡°You seem strangely accustomed to it? Or perhaps I should say, you wear a dress like it¡¯s a normal piece of clothing for you.¡±

    ¡°U~n?¡±

    Aah, now that I mention it, I wonder if I was able to wear this dress normally because of those fragmented memories of that castle.

    And now, today is the 70th anniversary of Nikuno Ham.

    It¡¯s a big party where affiliate companies like ours, celebrities and local politicians are all attending.

    For the children like us, to put it bluntly, the reason for these is for us scions to meet face-to-face and make our choices of marriage partners. I¡¯m worried for Kotone-chan.

    I went out early with my family and had my make-up lightly done by my usual hair stylist, and having done up my hair in a half-up, I affixed a flower hair ornament carved out of a seashell that I¡¯d gotten from my mother.

    Is it necessary for a grade-schooler to have makeup? After all, the skin of a Demon doesn¡¯t even have visible pores, much less acne. The makeup artist only put on foundation and blush, and seemed to be at a loss.

    The venue seems to be a combination of three banquet halls that can hold 500 people total in a luxury hotel.

    With that many people coming, I think that the possibility of me meeting with Kouki-kun and Kako, who are supposed to be attending is quite low.

    I told them to meet me after they were done with their greetings via email, but I guess that the two of them have an incomparable number of greetings compared to me¡­¡­

    We came as a family, but once we were done with the greeting, mother broke away from us.

    It seems that she got captured by the other wives of the company directors, and couldn¡¯t leave, and since she seemed like she wouldn¡¯t be done soon, we left. That is the Hell of this world.

    Next, Ooba-onii-chan got captured by two executives from Nikuno Ham. Because it¡¯s someone that would be looking after him in his department when he takes the job, it seems that his conversation wouldn¡¯t end any time soon.

    And then¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yuzu, there¡¯s a cake smorgasbord over at the other side. I¡¯ll go get something.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kotone-onee-chan¡±

    Her back walking away¡­¡­ that was the last I saw of Kotone this day. Also, her enthusiasm for swimming will definitely intensify tomorrow.

    ¡°F-father is on the other side.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, President Toukaki. There¡¯s a matter that I would like to discuss with the Nikuno Company, I would like to ask of you¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    As father was called out by the secretary of the president of Nikuno Ham and walked off, I felt that it was going to be bothersome, so I took a break out on the sofa out in the hallway.

    As I emailed Kako, I noticed something approaching.

    ¡°Ah, Mob-girl, you were here.¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    There, a cute girl wearing a pink princess dress with a twin tail set in drills pointed at me with an imposing stance.

    ¡­¡­ Oh, ah, it¡¯s Matsuri. As always, the only thing cute about her is her face. Her dress taste is on the level of a Showa-era idol.

    ¡°For once, you look like a lady. Pupu, what is with that lowborn dress? Well, you¡¯re  Mob-girl after all, so it¡¯s normal to be shoddy.¡±

    ¡°Why are you here, Matsuri?¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you stupid? There is no party where the heroine¡¯s ¡®event¡¯ doesn¡¯t happen. Papa was invited, so I came as his daughter. Papa is fortunate to have such a lovely girl as me.¡±

    ¡°Heeeh¡±

    Is Kako going to take much longer? I received an email from Kako, replying that she was done.

    ¡°But papa didn¡¯t want to take me along at first. As expected of a mob character parent.¡±

    ¡°Fuu~hn.¡±

    ¡°So I kept bothering my dad. Mob-girl, if you¡¯re supposed to be part of my entourage, you should have some great ideas for harassment, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, aah, I think it¡¯ll be good to go get your hands on some chicken bones.¡±

    ¡°Why would you try to harass people with chicken bones!? Really, you¡¯re useless.¡±

    Ah, was it wrong? Which reminds me, since Dad-chan had been done a good turn by them, perhaps I should go and make my greetings to the President of Nikuno Ham.

    Should I mail Ouji-kun too?

    ¡°Mob-girl, Kouki-kun is supposed to have come here, did you see him?¡±

    ¡°Nn~? I haven¡¯t seen him.¡±

    ¡°Previously, I had bumped into Kouki-kun at the corner outside the school, but no event occurred. I wonder if it has to be at night, after all. I knew from Papa that the grandfather of the Kuon family had retired, but wasn¡¯t he a bad guy? Even though the event hadn¡¯t occurred, such a thing happened. I don¡¯t understand it at all, even though I¡¯m talking to a mob character~¡±

    ¡°Hoho.¡±

    ¡°Is Kako doing something after all¡­ Damn it, it makes me angry. She really doesn¡¯t reveal her true colors easily, that girl. Hey, you, have you figured out any of Kako¡¯s weaknesses?¡±

    ¡°Recently, it seems that she hasn¡¯t been able to speak to Kouki-kun.¡±

    ¡°Heeh! It¡¯s clearly to be expected! How satisfying.¡±

    Yep yep, it was their puppy love up until now, but it seems that she¡¯s finally realized her romantic feelings now that we¡¯re heading into adolescence, and she went into that cute state, and went into a tizzy when the two of them were alone.

    ¡­ I didn¡¯t make a mistake, right?  It¡¯s not a pretense, right?

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I thought that Kako being here would bring me good. Mob-girl, seize the opportunity and mix this into Kako¡¯s drink.¡±

    ¡°Nn? What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, it¡¯s gonna be good. There is no need for one such as you to know. Pupupu.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Because it¡¯s a pain in the rear for now, I¡¯m going to leave it in the drink that Matsuri brought. Since it¡¯s a good thing, there¡¯ll be no problems.

    ¡°And hey, Mob-girl, about Handsome-kun.¡±

    *twitch*

    ¡°Did you know about a woman who¡¯s been involved with the Nikuno family? Apparently there¡¯s someone aiming at the seat of being his fianc¨¦.¡±

    ¡°I know no such thing.¡±

    Ouji-kun sure is popular lately¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be strange even if there was such a person.

    ¡°It was, err¡­¡­ Kabosu or Zabon or something, some citrus-related name. (TL note: Yuzu is a citrus fruit.) I think even a dullard like you would be able to investigate if you know this much.¡±

    What, is that person some freezer accessory¡­¡­

    It seems that in our school, there¡¯s another child who¡¯s named after citrus fruit other than myself.

    ¡°The event for Handsome-kun haven¡¯t started either. It seems that in the end, nothing starts if I do not acquire Toshikuni-kun. It¡¯s really annoying. Go search for Toshikuni-kun quickly, Mob-girl, and remove yourself from my surroundings. When a mob character doesn¡¯t remain involved with me, their lives will end, hahaha, ukyuu.¡±

    After saying all these funny things without consideration, Matsuri disappeared somewhere else into the hall.

    Just what do you want me to do¡­¡­?  Do you really think that I am not human but some character in a story instead?

    Haha, surely, there¡¯s no idiot that dumb, right?

    ¡°¡­¡­Ara?¡±

    While I was playing with my phone on the sofa as I was, two e-mails had come in. One of them was from Father, and the other was from Ouji-kun.

    Both of the mails had roughly the same content, and it seems that both his parents and mine wanted me to go over, and it seems that Ouji-kun was going to come pick me up.

    ¡­¡­ This is about Prince-kun¡¯s engagement.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    As per usual, the conversation doesn¡¯t really mesh.

    Next time, a serious party continuation.

 CH 98

    Volume 6, Chapter 9: I became a Fifth Grader, Part 3

    ¡°Yuzu-chan, so cute!¡±

    After waiting a while, a boy emerged from the crowd, gleefully calling out my name as he found me, a relieved expression on his face.

    ¡°Ah, Ouji-kun, sorry for making you come and fetch me.¡±

    ¡°No, it was good to see Yuzu-chan. Ah, uhm¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Your dress suits you¡­ I was surprised by how beautiful it is.¡±

    ¡°T-thank you¡­¡­¡±

    Kouki-kun was like that too, but really, Ouji-kun could say things like that so lightly.

    No, it wasn¡¯t lightly said at all¡­¡­ I was embarrassed, and it seemed that Ouji-kun was incredibly embarrassed at his own words too.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    As he put out his hand in the same way that he did back in kindergarten, I took his hand like normal.

    Come to think of it, we¡¯d stopped holding each other¡¯s hands since the second grade in elementary school. Why did that happen¡­¡­ was it that as he slimmed down, he didn¡¯t feel the need to hold my hand?

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡±

    Is that¡­¡­ did you mature as a man? I thought that I could see the shadowy profile of Ouji-kun as an adult.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. Yuzu-chan, I will be changing my name officially.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ehh?! Really?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan has always called me Ouji, no? Recently, my family has started calling me that too, and since I¡¯m called that even in school, the court accepted that it was in common use.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good! ¡­¡­ Should I be saying that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, thank you.¡±

    Somehow, I subtly feel that being called ¡®prince¡¯ is not really okay, though, it seems that it¡¯s a load on his shoulders. With this, I¡¯m going to have more trauma and stomach pain, too.

    After that, we walked in silence.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan, thank you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nnn?¡±

    On our way toward Ouji-kun¡¯s parents, Ouji-kun suddenly murmured such in a mostly-empty corridor. Is this some continuation of what he was saying previously?

    ¡°Hey, you remember Onzada-san who I introduced to you who¡¯s in middle school?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahh, Onzada-kun. Was that person helpful to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he taught me a lot. I was also able to be at ease¡­¡­ thanks to Onzada-san, or I would have been worried about Yuzu-chan.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡­ Onzada-kun pledged that he would protect me from quite a while back, though.¡±

    Thanks to that¡­ I seem to have made a very weird contract¡­.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu-chan seems to be quite close to Onzada-san.¡±

    ¡°I wonder about that, though? It¡¯s certainly true that it¡¯s easy to talk to him.¡±

    ¡°I spoke with Onzada-san and received a bit of a shock. ¡­¡­That¡¯s *different*, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu-chan¡±

    Ouji-kun stopped at the corner of the corridor where there was no one and looked me in the eyes.

    ¡°I like you, Yuzu-chan.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°But, as a childhood friend that I¡¯ve known forever, I also feel like you¡¯re family. I was so happy to hear of the engagement. I thought that I could stay with Yuzu, my favorite, forever.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ But I don¡¯t dislike it, you know?¡±

    ¡°I know. Yuzu-chan thought of me as family too, no? But I feel that Yuzu-chan would be better if she could stay with someone who needed her.¡±

    ¡°Ouji-kun, am I no longer necessary?¡±

    ¡°I need you, but it¡¯s not just me, but other people *need* Yuzu-chan too.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°From what I heard from my father, I think he wants to introduce you to everyone as my fianc¨¦e today. I¡¯ll go speak to father about this, and is it alright for us to associate until we reach middle school?¡±

    ¡°To associate with you¡­¡­ an engagement?¡±

    ¡°Yes, so. Although I thought that I was incompatible, I wanted to prevent some strange person from coming onto Yuzu with the rumors of the engagement for a while. Of course, I wished for Yuzu-chan to fall in love with me during that time¡­¡­ there was that desire too.¡±

    As he spoke, Ouji-kun laughed ruefully. ¡­¡­ And I don¡¯t know what kind of face I should be making.

    Ouji-kun¡­¡­ he was seriously watching out for me, wasn¡¯t he?

    ¡°Well then¡­¡­ Should I become a pest repellent for Ouji-kun?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But even if you weren¡¯t here to repel pests, I won¡¯t let myself be caught up with that funny transfer student, so feel relieved.¡±

    ¡°Yup. I will quit being your friend if that happens.¡±

    ¡°It seems that Kouki-kun is being aimed for more than I am, though. Shijiyuuin-san is also in for it.¡±

    ¡°Certainly¡­¡­¡±

    I replied to Ouji-kun and we exchanged gentle smiles.

    This¡­¡­ is it okay for me to be shaking¡­¡­? Well, it can¡¯t be helped. I think that I only ever saw Ouji-kun as a younger brother.

    If I were older, my feelings might change, but then it would be rude to Ouji-kun.

    But¡­¡­ for Ouji-kun to be this determined, what kind of conversation did he have with Onzada-kun?

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°My body itches¡­¡­ what is this, this ain¡¯t a rash. Good grief, is it because of this cheesy dress after all? Well, papa¡¯s only good for his money, but even so, if I want to have a dress custom made, that¡¯s a no. Really, I can¡¯t even make use of him. ¡±

    Matsuri prowled the venue alone, looking for Kouki and Handsome.

    If it was in the original timeline, this event shouldn¡¯t have happened while they were in elementary school, but Matsuri had talked to Kouki and Handsome many times, trying to raise her favor points with them.

    Kako still hadn¡¯t done anything to Matsuri, so she wasn¡¯t able to raise the conviction event, but Matsuri was hoping internally that the engagement event with Handsome would happen.

    ¡°Kako you knave, I managed to avoid all of your pitiful traps, so why didn¡¯t it advance? That steak was surely Kako¡¯s work¡­¡­ The teachers must surely have noticed.¡±

    Matsuri had surrounded herself with mob character girls who were timid for the past few years, and hence obtained some influence in her year.

    Even though she flirted with the male teachers, it was only to the extent of getting noticed by them, and she was sure that this was due to Kako.

    ¡°Given that I¡¯m so cute, there¡¯s no way in the world that there could be a man that wouldn¡¯t fall in love with me¡­¡­¡±

    Matsuri chewed her nails as she thought of the event progression that wasn¡¯t going well.

    *don*

    ¡°Ouch! What the heck?¡±

    It seems that Matsuri had accidentally bumped into someone else while thinking.

    Even though there was no sense of pain at all, looking down instinctively and stepping back, she saw a ball-likegirl that had fallen on her butt, looking up at Matsuri.

    Was she in the junior classes? The girl stood up, and beating the dust off of her dress with a *pon pon*, she bowed her head to Matsuri.

    ¡°Onee-chan, I¡¯m sorry for bumping into you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It was Matsuri who had bumped into her, but just from the things that she wore, Matsuri could tell that she had been brought up well.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, you.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Matsuri, who was in a poor mood after seeing a girl wearing a first-class tailored dress that was nicer than her own, pinched her cheeks.

    ¡°Owwie¡±

    ¡°Ara? Oh, so your cheeks hurt if I pinch them.¡±

    ¡°Owwwww it huuuuurts¡­¡­¡±

    When the girl raised her voice and began to weep, Matsuri clicked her tongue lightly at all of the bystanders¡¯ gazes. ¡°Ara, she fell down and hurt herself¡­¡­¡±

    So she said, glancing at the boys nearby coquettishly, before instantly fleeing the scene.

    ¡°Wh-what, to that extent. I want to cry for the events that aren¡¯t advancing.¡±

    Still, it would have been terrible had either Kouki or Handsome seen it.

    Matsuri moved about the place, and when she peeped quietly from the shadow of the table where the dishes were placed, her eyes went wide at the people there.

    ¡°Kouki-kun¡­¡­ and Kako.¡±

    The two of them looked like the perfect couple with their formal wear on. They didn¡¯t look at all like grade schoolers.

    The two of them comforted that little girl, with Kako on her knees gently stroking the hair of the girl with a gentle face, even as the girl cried, and with Kouki calmly fussing about Kako.

    The voices of the surrounding adults reached Matsuri¡¯s dumbfounded ears.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s the young scion of the Kuon house. And that pretty young lady next to him is¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the daughter of the Shijiyuuin house. They grow up so fast.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fianc¨¦es, no.¡±

    ¡°Well, for such a beautiful couple, they¡¯re certainly like eye candy.¡±

    ¡°A distinguished young man, and an honorable maiden in love.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not just beautiful, but also kind to the children.¡±

    ¡°After the retirement of Lord Kuon, the current household head has been hard at work restoring the family¡¯s power, but it seems that the house is in safe hands.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    While she listened to the adults¡¯ gossip, Matsuri ground her molars together at the appearance of the two of them in good spirits.

    What was going on? How did this happen? How did the relationship between the two of them develop this far?

    ¡°¡­¡­I am¡­¡­ the heroine of this world¡­¡­ but then¡±

    It felt like she had her feelings played by some monster that she couldn¡¯t touch.

    ¡°No¡­¡­ Still, there¡¯s the event in junior high school¡­¡­ there¡¯s still Handsome-kun.¡±

    At that time¡­¡­

    Matsuri heard a noise from the corner of the hall even as she walked while muttering her grievances under her breath.

    ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it seems that the scion of Nikuno has his fianc¨¦e standing with him.¡±

    ¡°I saw her. It was a pretty child.¡±

    ¡°Did she reveal herself for the 70th anniversary? It gives a sense of security for the next generation.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    Matsuri panicked at the rumors that she heard and turned to look at the commotion.

    ¡°Wh-why¡­¡­?¡±

    The fianc¨¦e event should still have been far away. Even if the event came early, Matsuri was supposed to be chosen as the fianc¨¦e, and such a thing couldn¡¯t be happening.

    As Matsuri looked towards the center of the commotion from the gaps between the adults, she saw that between the presidents and his wife and Handsome, there was a girl holding his hand.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mob-girl¡­¡±

    That girl, who Matsuri had watched when she came to Takamine School, was a child who had an adult-like appearance, who looked very beautiful despite being a dullard, and because she didn¡¯t ever act against Matsuri, she had been one of the mob characters that Matsuri intended to use as her crony to capture her targets.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s that girl¡¯s name!?¡±

    Matsuri asked as she clung onto a man next to her.

    The man, thinking that she was the daughter of someone involved, grimaced at Matsuri¡¯s attitude, but answered her.

    ¡°She¡­¡­ is the daughter of Director Toukaki, Yuzu, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­!¡±

    Although she didn¡¯t appear in the game, Matsuri remembered that in the setting materials for ¡°Nikuno Handsome¡±, that was the name of his first love.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yu¡­¡­zu¡­¡­¡±

    Was Yuzu lying to Matsuri all this while¡­?

    But from her foolish attitude with regard to Matsuri, it seemed more likely that Kako was behind it instead of her, and she thought that Kako had gotten them together to get in Matsuri¡¯s way.

    However, she wasn¡¯t intending to forgive Yuzu either.

    ¡°¡­¡­I won¡¯t forgive you. Both of you.¡±

    Matsuri ran out of the hotel venue and walked through the city at night.

    In her chest, she embraced the boiling anger and hatred that was like a smelter furnace burning within her¡­¡­

    Even if she had the memories of her previous life, it was no good for a fifth-grade girl, who was powerless, to walk alone.

    Towards the pretty-looking Matsuri, a malicious adult crept closer.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! Ahahahahaha!¡±

    Matsuri who recalled a certain sentence in the setting laughed out suddenly.

    The biggest reason for Handsome to believe that he was cursed was because his childhood first love had fallen sick when he had entered junior high.

    ¡°Yes, Yuzu should get sick as soon as possible, in fact, even sooner! Heeheehehe¡±

    ¡°O, oi, ojou-chan¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Matsuri, who had been interrupted, hit the neck of the man who had been behind her, and he crumpled down, staggering to the floor as he stopped moving.

    Why could Matsuri do such a thing?

    The bones of the fingers that Matsuri had used to hit him were also broken, but Matsuri kept laughing without minding it¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, Yuzu.¡±

    Her eyes were stained with desire and madness, as if possessed by the same thing as the attackers who had tried to attack Yuzu.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s feeling serious now.

    The story starts to move.

    Next time, what exactly influenced Matsuri?

 CH 99

    Volume 6, Chapter 10: The Malicious Presence, Part 1

    The 70th anniversary party of Nikuno Ham¡¯s founding ended without incident.

    Talks of my engagement with Ouji-kun and I ended up on hold, and it seems that the deferment continued. It seems that Ouji-kun had managed to persuade them to consider our feelings first.

    That cute, ball-like Minako-chan still called me ¡®Onee-sama¡¯.

    ¡°Ermm, Yuzu-onee-sama.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Minako-chan?¡±

    ¡°I want to become slim too, just like Onii-chan.¡±

    I smiled gently at Minako-chan, who was being so sweet, and stroked her head, even as she was hesitantly nibbling on a piece of cheese.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat while walking.¡±

    That¡¯s right, come to think of it, according to Kouki-kun and Kako, there was an insolent person who had made Minako-chan cry at the party.

    Considering the eyewitness reports of the people who were around Minako-chan at the time, it seems that it was some upper-grade elementary school girl wearing a pink ¡®frilly-frilly¡¯ princess dress who had drill-like twin tails. It seemed like she was a pretty girl but had horrible behavior.

    ¡­¡­ Wait? It seems like someone matches that description.

    That name is¡­¡­ And the following week, I did not see that child at all at school. Oh yeah, it was Matsuri. Of course, now I remember.

    Even though she were so full of herself, I wonder why she¡¯s taking a break from school? Well, the mood felt like she was up to something, but for now it¡¯s peaceful.

    Although she looked tasty at first, thinking about it, she¡¯s thin and I don¡¯t really feel like it, so I wasn¡¯t really interested¡­¡­ I don¡¯t remember the conversations either.

    And so the heroine-sama disappeared, and my peaceful days began¡­ but they didn¡¯t come.

    First of all, there were strange people who would wander about in the vicinity of the school, and about once or twice a month, the police and the security guards would have to take action.

    For those who had been possessed by ¡®something¡¯, it was too suspicious that they had wandered aimlessly around the elementary school vicinity without causing a ruckus.

    It got to the point that we started seeing clean-shaven men all around us. Their clothes were normal, but their body builds and eyes were markedly harder than a normal person.

    And also, my body condition got worse and it seems to have become serious.

    I thought that it was because a human body couldn¡¯t bear the magic power of a demon, but apparently it¡¯s not only that.

    I¡¯ve been feeling a slight fever lately, and my body also feels heavy. Because I¡¯ve been hiding it, it seems that the people surrounding me have only been able to tell that I have a weak constitution¡­¡­

    Is this¡­¡­ I wonder. Hadn¡¯t I originally taken ill when I¡¯d reached middle school?

    ¡°¡­¡­this is bad.¡±

    I don¡¯t know why it had onset prematurely, but I got the feeling that once it did, I couldn¡¯t be saved.

    It¡¯s a disease that needs a transplant, and even if one was arranged for, the survival rate was 50%. And at that time, I had had no relatives who could donate to me.

    But for me of the now, there is a way to get better.

    If I could regain all my memories and return to being a full [Demon], it wouldn¡¯t matter if I was ill with a human disease.

    But doing that means that I would have to resign from being the human ¡®Yuzu¡¯, which means that I might have to separate from my family¡­¡­ that was what it meant.

    Well, that being said, it could just be a cold, so I¡¯m not saying anything.

    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s no good if I don¡¯t regain my memories, huh.¡±

    And with these lingering suspicions that I would likely get into more troublesome things, I entered the sixth grade.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Onii-sama, what is the meaning of this!¡±

    On the day that the new semester rolled around and Onzada became a third-year middle schooler, he was called to the main hall by his elder brother for the first time in a while.

    Onzada also knew that his father and elder brother had been busy since the situation changed last year. He knew that it was related to that [Evil], but Onzada was troubled by the one-sidedness of the view that that existence was ¡®evil¡¯.

    A shocking fact had been delivered by his elder brother.

    ¡°From the girl that had become a new shrine maiden, it seems that a [Prophesy] had been issued, that the [Evil]was in the elementary school section of Takamine School.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s just what that person is saying!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Prophesy said that it was Shijiyuuin Kako and Toukaki Yuzu. The two of them were said to be especially suspicious, and now, in order to enhance the effect of the [Twelve Period Hourglass] in wiping out the evil, we are solidifying the town with a barrier.¡±

    ¡°I know the both of them, and they can¡¯t be it.¡±

    ¡°Onzada, that thing must not exist in this world. If it were to be released in its perfect state, the entirety of human history would be overwhelmed and overturned.¡±

    ¡°But, what if it was a mistake¡­¡­¡±

    The boosted barrier technique was being centered upon the two girls.

    The [Evil] presence would be the only thing affected by the barrier if it had been applied normally, but if the city was bound by a barrier, there would be considerable adverse effects on the two of them.

    ¡°To save the country¡­¡­ no, to save this world. It can¡¯t be helped that a few must be sacrificed, and you too are a member of this Demon Exorcising House!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada was stunned at the words of his brother ¨C no, the words of an exorcist who defended the country.

    ¡°This duty was also given to us as the monks of this area. If they make any suspicious movements, report it.¡±

    As he said that, Onzada¡¯s brother turned his back to him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada, who had been left alone in the main hall, gripped his fist so tightly that his nails bit into his palm, and spoke out under his breath.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ I will do it.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    Sakurazaki Matsuri came back at the start of the new school term.

    Although she had gone missing temporarily, when she returned, she had a confident look on her face, and several other newly-transferred students were following her.

    ¡°How unusual, to have multiple transfer students join us in the final year.¡±

    ¡°Aah, that¡¯s right. I was curious, so I investigated a bit, but I don¡¯t understand why at all.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Kouki-kun. But, does the Kuon family not know either?¡±

    ¡°Their backgrounds were investigated. They¡¯re the scions of fairly large temples. However, given that they come from as far as Kyushu and Hokkaido, I don¡¯t know why they all transferred in at the same time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Maybe, it¡¯s about that person?¡±

    ¡°Aah, suddenly speaking to Ouji and I, that strange woman was chattering on about some unknown private circumstances for a long time. Ouji should be careful.¡±

    ¡°I think Kouki-kun is rather more entangled than I am, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s troublesome.¡±

    ¡°There are more people following her about now in school, so I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°You should avoid being alone with her as much as possible.¡±

    Kouki-kun and Ouji-kun were having their conversation inside a conference room that they¡¯d borrowed from the school.

    It¡¯s been a few months since the first semester of sixth grade started, but Matsuri has not contacted me. I¡¯m starting to get worried¡­¡­

    We had gathered inside this room for the sake of studying, but recently, the two of them have coming here to exchange information about the goings-on within the school.

    Well, I¡¯ll lose if I pay it any attention, given that I need to study.

    So, while the boys had their conversation, Kako and I studied, listening quietly¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­*cough*¡±

    ¡°Kako, are you alright¡­?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just a cough. Yuzu-sama, your complexion is unwell as well¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been like this since I was young, so I wonder if I got used to it?¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two boys turned to look at us with worried faces at this.

    My physical condition got worse, and then after a short time, Kako¡¯s physical condition started to get worse.

    Her symptoms were similar to mine. In my case, I have the power of a Demon and could move even if I was somewhat sick, but Kako was just a regular human being whose physical strength seemed to have waned quickly, and, recently, the amount of time that she¡¯d spent motionless at her desk during breaks had increased.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry, but please excuse me.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go alone.¡±

    When Kouki-kun stood up at Kako¡¯s words, Kako waved her hands in a panic.

    ¡°A, erm, ¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to the restroom.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ sorry.¡±

    ¡°Shall I go with you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. With Yuzu-sama in such a bad state, I can¡¯t possibly let you go with me. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­okay.¡±

    At that, if I were to forcibly follow her, Kako would worry about me, so I couldn¡¯t say anything.

    There is only a toilet for visitors on this floor, and the toilets for students was only accessible one flight of stairs down.

    ¡­¡­ That¡¯s a bit far.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go too after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yuzu-chan, please take care of Kako.¡±

    Although it had only been 2~3 minutes since Kako had walked out, Kouki-kun bowed to me when I went out of worry.

    It seems to be the case that Kouki-kun and Ouji-kun were concerned about the state of the school recently.

    Even as I walk down the corridor like this, there are times when I feel disgusting gazes being aimed at me. Everyone else noticed it too, and it bothered them.

    Me? I don¡¯t really care because I ¡®love¡¯ [Humans].

    ¡­¡­ To be honest, I don¡¯t care because others¡¯ malice is [delicious] to me. It would be different if they got involved with Kako and the rest, though.

    But, I feel a thin ¡®presence¡¯ within the school¡­¡­ it¡¯s that usual malicious-possession fellow again?

    For even I, who was bad at noticing such things, to notice it, why didn¡¯t Yuuki-kun, who was very sharp, say anything? I haven¡¯t really met him since the semester started, though.

    And for Misa to become worried since he hadn¡¯t gone to the ramen shop recently, just what is he doing?

    ¡°[¡­¡­ Please step aside.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Kako?¡±

    I could hear Kako¡¯s voice from the stair landing.

    While heading there in a hurry, Matsuri was there with several young boys in tow, surrounding Kako¡­¡­ were they the transfer students?

    ¡°Oh my, Kako. What¡¯s wrong? You seem to be in a poor condition.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I don¡¯t recall having introduced myself to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s troubling¡­¡­ the villainous miss trying to be the heroine.¡±

    ¡°Villainous¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, since you are not long for this world, just leave Kouki-kun to me. Even though you were also a reincarnator, it seems that your plans haven¡¯t gone well, my condolences!¡±

    ¡°Reincarnator¡­¡­? What are you saying?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to act innocent.¡±

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    When I called out to them in a poor mood, all of them there turned around to face me at once.

    I wouldn¡¯t normally have any problems, but since my humanity would disappear the moment I took a cold attitude, those interesting little rubbernecks all got out of the way as I drew near.

    ¡­¡­ These people too, although light, have been affected by that ¡®presence¡¯.

    ¡°Yuzu-sama!¡±

    ¡°Kako, come over here.¡±

    Kako rushed over to me as I spoke. ¡­¡­ Why are your cheeks dyed with joy.

    ¡°¡­¡­ As expected, you were Yuzu¡­¡­ Mob-Girl.¡±

    Matsuri seemed to glare at me as she spat out her words through gritted teeth.

    ¡°Ah, sorry. I couldn¡¯t just give my name to any such suspicious person.¡±

    ¡°Suspicious person, eh. It seems that you got carried away just because I treated you well for a mob character.¡±

    ¡°How unrefined your words are.¡±

    ¡°Shut up! This world of mine,¡±

    ¡°Ah, Kako, please come over here first. I¡¯ll talk to you in a bit.¡±

    ¡°Listen to what I¡¯m saying!¡±

    As per usual, a noisy child¡­¡­¡­

    Although Kako hesitated a little over my words but reminded of the time when I had been attacked for the first time and I¡¯d spoken like that, she nodded deeply and returned to the meeting room.

    Is she calling for the boys? It would be troublesome if the two of them were to be affected by Matsuri.

    ¡°Wait, you! Stop that at once!¡±

    ¡°But I haven¡¯t done anything?¡±

    ¡°I am the heroine of this world! You, come here!¡±

    The pretty transfer student boys who were around Matsuri approached her and kneeled in front of her.

    They, too, were possessed¡­¡­ Just how did you gather this lot. Well, even though it¡¯s Matsuri herself who seems to be possessed by the most dangerous thing.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ look! This is my charm. That¡¯s what the mysterious [voice] told me. If I used my charms the world would move my way. I became a [Shrine Maiden] of this country, and am waited upon by the important people of this country, I am different from Kako and a mob character like you, Ahahahahahahaha, look¡±

    Wow, that was extremely fluent. She wasn¡¯t just possessed by that strange thing, but rather, she was the shrine maiden of that ¡®presence¡¯? Is that why she¡¯s receiving its power?

    ¡°So what¡­¡­?¡±

    When I spoke out with a cold voice, Matsuri who was laughing idiotically, and all the children around her all had cramped faces. I¡¯m, starting to feel a little angry. I don¡¯t mind people turning their malicious intent towards me, but to turn it towards Kako¡­¡­

    ¡°What do you want with me?¡±

    As I walked forwards, gradually letting the Demonic aura leak out, Matsuri backed off, startled.

    ¡°W-well, you say such things now, guys, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Matsuri said so quickly as she took the pretty boys away.

    ¡­¡­ Still, it¡¯s too thin. It needs time to mature.

    As Matsuri left, the bystanders also scattered, and there were only a few girls left.

    When I tried to leave the stairway landing and return to the meeting room,

    *DON*

    ¡°¡­eh?¡±

    Someone pushed me from behind, sending me down the stairs.

    When I turned my eyes to glance at who it was on the way down, they were two girls that I didn¡¯t know, who were grinning while watching me.

    Ah, were they also reincarnators? I didn¡¯t notice since they didn¡¯t have any sign of being possessed by that ¡®presence¡¯.

    ¡­¡­ that is to say, these actions were the ¡®cause¡® of that child.

    In that case¡­¡­

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll stop going easy now.¡±

    It¡¯s been around 0.2 seconds since I was pushed in the back. My eyes turned crimson red like blood as I used my physical capacity as a Demon.

    Catching their hands on the way down, the two of them had their faces change from smiles to ¡®fear¡¯, as I threw them, using my full force  for the first time in a while.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two girls disappeared from my view in an instant and vanished from this world, not even leaving behind a scream as they pulverized the window.

    ¡°Ah, crap.¡±

    I¡¯ve made a small mistake. The smoky smell of burned cloth was coming from my uniform as my sleeves failed to endure the friction from the air.

    Will I have to use my replacement uniform in the locker? But if I did so and went down the stairs, I might be spotted by a ¡®witness¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°ah¡­¡­ Onzada-kun¡­¡±

    For some reason, Onzada-kun who was supposed to be in middle school was staring at me from under the stairway at the elementary school.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, dialogue with Onzada-kun. Demon or human, what will she do?

 CH 100

    Volume 6, Chapter 11: The Malicious Presence, Part 2

    ¡°¡­¡­Come with me.¡±

    Said Onzada-kun as he walked ahead of me, and I followed him out of Takamine.

    I contacted Kako via email to take care of my bags, and, walking out with my coat while hiding the burned cuff, I felt cold for a moment.

    ¡°¡­¡­*cough*, *cough*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Put this on.¡±

    Said Onzada-kun as he threw me the blazer he was wearing.

    ¡°*Bufu*¡±

    And of course, I didn¡¯t manage to catch it and caught it with my face instead¡­¡­ so embarrassing.

    Just how long have we been walking¡­¡­ About 30 minutes? In the meantime, I wasn¡¯t getting bored because both Ouji-kun and Kako were sending me mail, while Onzada-kun didn¡¯t say anything more than in the beginning. Onzada-kun was also sending e-mails.

    We arrived at a shrine that I didn¡¯t recognize.

    Although it was old, there were people around, so we couldn¡¯t have a secret conversation.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­ Are you the [Evil] presence¡­¡­?¡±

    Onzada-kun turned back to face me after coming all this way to where he lived. But¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that¡¯s a bit too abstract of a question for me to answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I told him so with my normal tone of voice, Onzada-kun scratched his head and stared at me a little.

    ¡°You, are you the [Evil] existence that has come to destroy humanity?¡±

    Ah, I see, so you thought so because you¡¯d seen me.

    Hmm¡­¡­? That¡¯s right, they said that Matsuri was surrounded by the scions of famous temples. Well, maybe Onzada-kun was told something strange.

    ¡°What are you!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m a Demon.¡±

    ¡°*choke*¡±

    When I disclosed it, Onzada-kun choked.

    ¡°D-Demon?¡±

    ¡°When I thought of telling you, I was thinking of making the really bad joke of [Ah, Bear], but I realized that Onzada-kun would take it seriously, so I said it properly¡­¡± (TLN: Ah, Bear => A, Kuma => Akuma => Demon)

    ¡°I understand what you said, I¡¯m not an idiot!¡±

    Anyway, it was getting difficult to keep deceiving people, and either way I¡¯m going to be in a bad state if I don¡¯t get my memories and power as a Demon back soon.

    ¡°A Demon¡­¡­ there¡¯s no way that exists!¡±

    I¡¯m kind of glad to hear such a normal response.

    ¡°Neither Onzada-kun¡¯s ki, nor Yuuki-kun¡¯s magic is considered normal, right? But Onzada-kun knows that it exists.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­¡­ That means, you¡¯re not ¡°Yuzu¡±¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°I am absolutely the real Yuzu. But rather, I¡¯m the second incarnation of ¡°Yuzu¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Second incarnation¡­¡­?¡±

    It seems that Onzada-kun doesn¡¯t really understand what my brief explanation was.

    ¡°I have the memories of ¡°Yuzu¡± up to around 15 years old¡­¡­¡­ Would you believe me if I said that? That I had died at that time because of my illness¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I think that I was born again as a [Demon], but I don¡¯t remember it well¡­¡­ When I realized it, I had already become ¡°Yuzu¡± again, and so I began to live normally.¡±

    ¡°Wa-wait a minute, if you¡¯re being Yuzu for the second time¡­¡­ Uh, aren¡¯t you a Demon now?¡±

    I slowly shook my head at Onzada-kun¡¯s misunderstanding.

    ¡°No, I only regained the power of the [Demon] after that kidnapping incident. It¡¯s still not complete. Because the memories of me being a Demon are still murky, it seems that my body protests at containing the power of a Demon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ what do you mean?¡±

    Looking at the eyes of Onzada-kun staring back at me, I told him the truth.

    ¡°I think I will die again. ¡­¡­Without even reaching the age of 15.¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°I, have actually been in poor health this whole time¡­¡­? I thought that the disease had onset early, and originally I thought that I would not have gotten truly ill until I hit the age of 12, but recently, it¡¯s been getting worse faster.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ St-stop joking! Aren¡¯t you alright!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only because I¡¯ve been forcibly moving myself with Demonic power¡­¡­ Onzada-kun, are you worried for me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Of course I am, you fool!¡±

    I got scolded. But, to get so angry, Onzada-kun is still clearly my ¡®friend¡¯¡­¡­ But anyway, given the situation.

    ¡°Well then, a second time, a return to the past¡­¡­ To be sealed in the past¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, Onzada-kun. I heard something amazing there¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Nn? ¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s the [Prophesy] about the appearance of the [Evil] ten years from now, and with the 12 Period Hourglass, the past evil¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Onzada, that¡¯s it!¡±

    When I suddenly spoke up, I realized that I had been surrounded.

    There was about 10~20 of them. To not notice that there were so many, it seems that I¡¯ve haven¡¯t been very sharp. ¡­¡­ Well, Onzada-kun didn¡¯t notice either, though.

    I was done in¡­¡­ When I looked around carefully, there were no ¡®normal people¡¯. This was clear to me given that there were only people with good physiques.

    ¡°B-brother!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You really do love to push your luck. You were moved by your emotion easily. Come over here now!¡±

    ¡°Why are all of you here!¡±

    ¡°You and that girl were under watch. I thought that when you encountered her true colors you would understand, but you talked too much.¡±

    ¡°I, I¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun was despondent at realizing that he had been used by his elder brother. Still, I guess that there was still some familial affection?

    ¡°¡­¡­ What are you going to do with me?¡±

    Were these people going to do ¡®something¡¯ to me? ¡­¡­ But what was in the past was sealed in the past by the future? If that¡¯s the case, I wonder if the people now have been changed some way or another?

    As I cut in, Onzada-kun¡¯s brother turned a vigilant eye towards me.

    ¡°¡­¡­ You are the [Evil] presence? Incomplete and not yet fully awoken. Our role is to¡­ before you fully awaken¡­¡±

    ¡°Kill her!¡±

    That voice that cut in, where have I heard it before¡­¡­

    ¡°Miko-sama!? It¡¯s dangerous, why did you come here.¡±

    ¡°I came to see where Yuzu would die! Since you all forced me to become the Miko by all means, and I don¡¯t know what kind of bear she is, so just listen to what I say!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Ooh¡­¡­ it¡¯s that idiot. There¡¯s an idiot.

    Matsuri, that was dragging around an entourage of pretty boys¡­¡­ is also a shrine maiden? I don¡¯t really know, but that [Existence] that kept bothering me, seemed to be recognized as something that wasn¡¯t just some wild monster.

    But at least, I managed to get some positive confirmation. If I managed to awaken completely, I would be able to break the seal.

    While Matsuri was squawking noisily, and I was contemplating that existence, it seems that Onzada-kun managed to recover his spirits and whispered to me:

    ¡°Yuzu¡­¡­ You¡¯re not doing any evil with the Demon power, right? ¡­¡­Don¡¯t look away.¡±

    Because his expression was so serious, I instinctively ¡®averted my gaze¡¯.

    Jokes aside, I too whispered back to him.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ aren¡¯t Demons normally a part of this world?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Like how wolves hunt livestock, or like how small animals feed on grains. You understand?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­So in short, you are the Yuzu I know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­That¡¯s right.¡±

    I don¡¯t know. It seems typical of Onzada-kun, though.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Are you going to die?¡±

    ¡°As it is, yes. But if my memories were to return¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, I will protect Yuzu until then. ¡­¡­ I promised.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Thank you.¡±

    This person sure speaks lightly. ¡°Besides, help should come soon. I managed to persuade them to come using Yuzu¡¯s name.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Help?¡±

    ¡°Listen up, okay, just kill Yuzu quickly!¡±

    Matsuri¡¯s voice sounded out again as we were talking.

    Onzada-kun¡¯s older brother and his colleagues, while looking saddened, set up their staves, and began to channel their ¡®ki¡¯ as per usual.

    Every one of them seems to be stronger than Onzada-kun. I think that I might be able to win if I went at my full power, but with my physical condition at the moment, I don¡¯t think I can keep Onzada-kun alive while sustaining my full power.

    But then,

    [Windstorm!]

    *Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh*

    Suddenly, a voice cried out, and a wind storm blew into the quiet shrine from the forest.

    ¡°Who,¡±

    ¡°GyaaaAAAAAA¡±

    ¡°What,¡±

    ¡°Uoooo¡±

    It¡¯s not just a gust of wind. It was a magical wind that was filled to the brim with magic power. There were those who had been torn apart by what seemed like invisible blades, and those of them who were hiding in the shadow of the trees were blown away into the air.

    ¡°¡­[Protect]¡­!¡±

    I defended Onzada-kun and myself by constructing a [Magic Barrier] with the spirit language.

    Being able to do such things, there was only one person.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ that¡¯s reckless.¡±

    He was the only person that could have been called by Onzada-kun for reinforcement, among the people I knew.

    What were you doing to make Misa this worried, you¡­¡­ But this magic, since it couldn¡¯t be resisted without magic power, have some people died?

    ¡°¡­¡­Since my brothers are demon exorcists who live on the battlefield, they should be fine, but what¡¯s the meaning of involving Yuzu?¡±

    Ah, was it not alright?

    Onzada-kun looked anxious, though I thought that it was clear.

    ¡°Oooi! You, attack this way!¡±

    As Onzada-kun shouted out, a boy wearing a black mask appeared with a very distinctive ¡®presence¡¯ from the shadow of a tree.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, retreat.¡±

    ¡°Nn? What¡¯s wrong? He¡¯s¡­¡±

    At that time, Yuuki-kun unexpectedly released a tremendous magic power and a rippling killing intent.

    ¡°¡­¡­UoOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    It was a shout that sounded like he had unleashed something he was suppressing.

    It was after all¡­¡­ that ¡®presence¡¯¡­¡­

    The people who had been attacking me for a long time had all had ¡®desires¡¯ and ¡®malice¡¯ within their hearts, and so they had been possessed.

    Desire and malice were used simply because they were the strongest and simplest feelings that people had, but some people had some pretty strong [Negative] emotions.

    Those feelings, like ¡®rage¡¯, or ¡®hatred¡¯¡­¡­

    There¡¯s a tremendous energy in sustaining such emotions. Of all the people in the area, the only one a ¡®rage¡¯ that was this strong ¡­¡­ was him.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ were your feelings used?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the [Hero] who¡¯d trained his power in multiple worlds faces Yuzu.

 CH 101

    Volume 6, Chapter 12: Awakening, Part 1

    Even though Shijima Yuuki was a sixth grader, he continued to help out with the ramen shop in the shopping district.

    Takamine School was well known as a school for children of good families, but with the number of them decreasing, there was a renewed focus upon academics, and the secondary school side had also reoriented themselves into a preparatory school.

    Yuuki was receiving the treatment of a special student with excellent results at his prep school, and although the number of other students would swell when they advanced to middle school, they would still have to maintain their top grades. Yuuki, with the memory and intelligence of his previous life, studied earnestly, due to his serious character, and didn¡¯t feel anything special about Takamine School.

    Rather, he was happier helping out in the ramen shop.

    Up until now, Yuuki had wanted to return to his own world sooner or later, to have his revenge on the ¡°heroes from another world¡± who had ambushed him in his previous life, and had tried to avoid being involved in this world as much as possible.

    However, Yuuki was unexpectedly able to make a friend.

    Another reincarnator like Yuuki, a human who had already quit being human, the magician of another world¡­¡­ Yuzu.

    Yuzu¡¯s friend, who was a practitioner of ¡®Ki¡¯ that Yuuki wasn¡¯t familiar with, Onzada.

    And the one who grabbed onto Yuuki¡¯s hand and showed him a new world¡­¡­ Misa.

    Earth, the home world of the heroes who had killed him, was the object of hatred for Yuuki, but Misa taught him that there were wonderful things in this world too.

    He wanted to get to know this world with her¡­¡­ he began to think that way before he knew it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Fuu¡±

    Yuuki was on his way home after having just finished helping out in the ramen shop on a sunny day.

    Before he knew it, he had begun to think of Misa¡¯s older brother, the shopkeeper, as his teacher, but he didn¡¯t feel like such a relationship was bad either.

    However, Yuuki had something on his mind, and sighed in spite of himself.

    A certain ¡®presence¡¯ that he had felt since a long time ago increased in strength with each passing day, and now it covered the entirety of Tokyo thinly, and that ¡®presence¡¯ stimulated the anger and hatred within Yuuki.

    Within he could hear it crying out ¡°[Help me¡­¡­]¡± As a former hero, he was worried, but feeling the ¡®distortion¡¯ of that voice, Yuuki was wary of it.

    Someone stepped out and blocked Yuuki¡¯s path even as he walked down the road having these thoughts.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Fuuhn, is this guy a hidden character?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yuuki was caught off guard by the girl who had suddenly begun to say things that he didn¡¯t understand at all.

    ¡°You, I don¡¯t know whether you¡¯re a bug or something, but won¡¯t you come over to my side? Thanks to this, I¡¯ve been stuck with something unpleasant, no?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    From the girl, who was the same age as Yuuki, he could feel that ¡®presence¡¯ strongly overflowing.

    Though usually people like this would lose their mind, this girl wasn¡¯t quite normal in the head, so she still seemed to keep her sense of self.

    ¡°Fufufu, I am Matsuri. The true protagonist of this world. Be grateful that I am speaking to you, minor character.¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­*twitch*

    Yuuki suddenly felt a strong dizziness assail him, and fell to his knees on the spot. He had been wary, but he wondered if he had been struck during that gap thanks to her idiotic behavior.

    ¡°Waa, it¡¯s just as that [God] said! He completely surrendered to my ¡®charm¡¯ at once!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You bastard¡­¡­ who are you?¡±

    The ¡®presence¡¯ that was overflowing from Matsuri strongly fanned Yuuki¡¯s anger and hatred, muddying his consciousness. It seemed that Matsuri had come this far after being tempted by that [Existence].

    ¡°Fufufu, I can¡¯t go back now. You, your face isn¡¯t so bad, even as someone in my periphery¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Flash!¡±

    ¡°Giyaa!?¡±

    A flash of light that tore up the night burned Matsuri¡¯s retinas.

    Yuuki, who managed to cast the spell at the last minute, was able to escape¡­¡­ Although he had avoided becoming Matsuri¡¯s puppet, his spirit had been contaminated with each passing day, and his hatred was distorted.

    And now¡­¡­

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°¡­¡­UOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡±

    Yuuki-kun shouted as if he was shaking off his reason.

    Taking out his huge sword from within his subspace, he started to cast as he stared at me.

    ¡°O-oi, what are you doing!¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun.¡±

    I grabbed onto Onzada-kun¡¯s neck and flung him away.

    ¡°DowaaaaAAH!?¡±

    ¡°[Protect!]¡±

    ¡°Lightning!¡±

    At the same time I put up my magical shields, Yuuki-kun¡¯s lightning struck and sparked off of it.

    The lightning strikes were of the wind attribute¡­¡­ Come to think of it, he was a hero who used the element of wind.

    Was his possession incomplete? He regarded me as an ¡®enemy¡¯, but hasn¡¯t fully lost his mind, so it¡¯s quite a troublesome situation.

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ are you serious about this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Destroy¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    In an instant, he swung the sword that was the same size as his body to the side, and I deflected it off of my fists narrowly by cladding them in magic power.

    Is it not just body-strengthening magic, but also ¡®Ki¡¯ being infused into his movements? It was pretty fast, so I wasn¡¯t able to break the sword.

    Yuuki-kun had been training his power since the very moment he had been born. Not only that, he had also been absorbing the power of his enemies through the power of his [Hero¡¯s secret arts] and raising his physical [levels], plus he had the knowledge of ¡®Ki¡¯ from Onzada-kun and my own knowledge as well.

    ¡­¡­ This cheating bastard. Are you a protagonist somewhere?

    ¡°[Burn away.]¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    As Yuuki-kun leapt out in response to my magic power, the trees around him burned to nothing in an instant.

    ¡°You, you¡¯re a demon!¡±

    I heard Onzada-kun protesting from where I¡¯d tossed him earlier, but what had he expected from a Demon and a former hero who was driven mad by thoughts of revenge¡­¡­

    To offer love no matter how hostile your opponent was something only found in children¡¯s fairy tales, you know?

    Nonetheless, given that he dodged that blow, I don¡¯t think I will be able to defeat him easily with magic. Although I had the physical strength of a demon, it¡¯s impossible for me to engage in hand-to-hand combat with him.

    ¡°¡­[Summon]¡­¡±

    A small magic circle formed within my hand, and black things fell out of it with a pitter-patter.

    ¡­¡­ Is that more seafood? But as the seaweed grew at a strange rate, it turned into a humanoid figure and stood up. ¡­¡­ eeww, gross.

    [Ubo~]

    ¡°Lightning Sword!¡±

    Against the seaweed possessed by a lesser Demon, Yuuki-kun built up a small magic formation and tore through it with his extreme ¡®Chuunibyou sword¡¯, and absorbed its power.

    Ah, it¡¯s no good. Still, I unleashed the [Spirit Magic] I¡¯d prepared in the meantime.

    ¡°[Open Dimensional Gate]¡±

    A door that by my reckoning was about twice as large as it was normally opened up at Yuuki-kun¡¯s feet, and the dimensional rift tried to swallow Yuuki-kun together with the surrounding air and the tree leaves.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be great if you returned to your home world?¡±

    Although there was no air or water on the journey there.

    ¡°UoooooooOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    As I spoke of it lightly, Yuuki-kun placed a similar summoning magic circle on his sword and hit the dimensional door. Eh¡­¡­ Did you just repair the dimensional rift?

    You seriously practiced what I taught¡­¡­ what a diligent pupil.

    ¡°Lightning!¡±

    ¡°Uwaa¡±

    *BZZT*

    I deflected the shot again with my bare hands as I set up a defensive barrier with magic power. Thanks to that, my blouse sleeve got burnt.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­¡±

    I used my physical strength as a Demon and grabbed the slender trees in my vicinity, pulling them out and throwing them at him.

    ¡°Tei!¡±

    ¡°HAaaAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    Yuuki-kun slashed down at the trees that were flying at him with a thunderous roar and dragging clods of earth behind them, as he sliced down cleanly, splitting the trunk in two.

    Naturally, I expected him to do as much.

    ¡°How about this?¡±

    In the middle of the fight, a single ¡®phrase¡¯ came to mind.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    As a dazzling light was emitted from my whole body, a bright light emerged from the whole forest surrounding the shrine, and something like an ¡®angel of light¡¯ appeared.

    Ah? Why did it turn out like this?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun tried to slash at me with his sword, but it bounced off the angel.

    I didn¡¯t feel any backlash. Maybe, it was the same attribute as Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ the power of a spirit of light?

    However, even though it doesn¡¯t let attacks through, it doesn¡¯t attack. Still, it should earn me enough time.

    ¡°¡­ [Penetrating light¡­¡­ form a Sparkling Sacred Spear]¡­!¡±

    With the ¡®words¡¯ emerging in my mind in the [Spirit Language], I poured magic power into it.

    ¡°¡­¡­uh¡­¡±

    This, uses quite a bit of my magic power. It¡¯s not to the point that it exhausts my magic power, but ¡®Yuzu¡¯s¡¯ body was screaming out under the strain of channeling the magic.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    I threw the golden spear that looked to be about 5 meters long towards Yuuki-kun.

    ¡°OOOOO!?¡±

    Yuuki-kun threw his thunder-coated sword at the Sparkling Sacred Spear, leaping away from the impact. ¡­¡­ He¡¯s got a good intuition.

    The Sacred Spear instantly destroyed the sword, and deflected a little away, it hit the ground, exploding its surroundings in a burst of light.

    Ah, it had the holy attribute¡­¡­ It¡¯s not very effective against Yuuki-kun, but that¡¯s kind of meaningless if the ground itself is left glowing red. If someone kept staying in the sun, they¡¯d die eventually.

    Yuuki-kun, who had been blown away by the blast and was rolling away, turned about sharply, and ran towards me with a new sword, even with his worn-out body.

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    I can¡¯t move? My body has lost its strength and I can¡¯t move.

    Oh crap, I pushed my human body far too much. I hurriedly channeled my magic power into my body and tried to move myself forcefully,

    * cough*

    I suddenly coughed, and my body stiffened, stuck.

    ¡°UOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    His straight sword thrust out towards my heart. But¡­¡­

    *Gashi*!

    In front of my belly, the sword was kicked away, and grazing across a few centimeters of my face, it pierced the ground.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡±

    I heard someone speak out, and then I was hauled away from Yuuki-kun by the waist.

    ¡°Sorry, now I can finally make my move. Leave it to me. I will protect you, Yuzu.¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡±

    It was Onzada-kun, who both Yuuki and I had thought to be out of commission, who had saved me.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the [Monk] vs the [Hero]¡­¡­ and¡­¡­ an awakening.

 CH 102

    Volume 6, Chapter 13: Awakening, Part 2

    ¡°Bastard! Stop it, that¡¯s enough! To raise a sword towards a girl.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Onzada-kun cried out at the indecent state we were in, Yuuki-kun began to hold up his sword in preparation for another strike.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I¡¯m fi-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t move, Yuzu!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I got scolded¡­¡­ But I guess it¡¯s okay after all.

    ¡°Haaaaa!¡±

    The next moment, Yuuki-kun had moved in the blink of an eye, sticking his sword though Onzada-kun.

    He¡¯d taken damage from my Radiant Spear, and his movements had slowed, but it seems that it¡¯s still beyond the realm of normal humans.

    ¡°Ku-¡±

    Onzada-kun groaned with pain¡­¡­ But still, he¡¯d managed to deflect the sword by hitting its side with a fistful of ¡®Ki¡¯, He was able to handle it despite being at that speed?

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    Onzada-kun threw out his punch in that momentary gap. A large sword has an equally large backswing, and Yuuki-kun met the fist with one of his own, and in front of me, I saw their ¡®Ki¡¯ collide, sparking.

    Without a doubt, Yuuki-kun¡¯s physical prowess is not ordinary. With his body that had been trained with the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], he was able to handle an enormous iron sword weighing a few dozen kilograms with a single hand. It was a perfect system for letting him take on Onzada-kun¡¯s attack with one hand as well.

    Yuuki-kun was clearly a few steps higher in both speed and power. Besides, he had his battle experience and skills as a [Hero] that he¡¯d gained in his previous life that had been forged over ten years.

    There was no chance at all for Onzada-kun ¨C it was like comparing an adult and a child.

    And yet¡­¡­

    ¡°[Root of All Things¡­]¡±

    ¡°Too slow!¡±

    As he began to chant in that moment, Onzada-kun kicked him as if he had anticipated it, and interrupted the casting.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Yuuki-kun instantly swept his sword sideways with one hand, but Onzada-kun was no longer there, instead kicking him in the back, but Yuuki-kun took it on the handle of his sword.

    ¡­¡­ Was Onzada-kun predicting his attacks?

    ¡°Flash!¡±

    Still, he¡¯s a former hero. He swapped over to a magic with a short aria instantly.

    A dizzying light¡­¡­? It seems that it¡¯d be over if he got blinded, but Onzada-kun seemed to have read even that.

    Onzada-kun leapt in under cover of the light.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    ¡°Kuh¡±

    As he was kicked in the back, Yuuki-kun whirled around, taking out his enormous sword as a shield even as he lost himself for a moment.

    ¡­¡­ Amazing, Onzada-kun, you can seriously fight! Only barely, though.

    ¡°I know how to fight you. Besides, I too can read the ¡®signs¡¯ that of the techniques that you taught. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun had learned magic from Yuuki-kun, but he wasn¡¯t able to use it because he didn¡¯t have magical power.

    It seems that he taught Onzada-kun something instead, was it the way to read the signs that someone was going to use a spell?

    Maybe, because Onzada-kun takes even the feelings of ghosts into consideration, he was able to predict what actions his opponent was going to take according to their feelings¡­¡­ seriously?

    And once again, for Onzada-kun, battle began.

    Predicting Yuuki-kun¡¯s attack, he ducked and hid, waiting for a gap to appear for him to strike at.

    But Onzada-kun wasn¡¯t able to keep his composure. To begin with, there was a massive difference in their attack powers, and even if he had taken a small slash or a bit of magic, it would have been likely fatal.

    There was only instant death if his concentration flagged. But before Onzada-kun¡¯s concentration flagged, Yuuki-kun lost his nerve and got serious.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Flame¡±

    ¡°Muu¡±

    As Yuuki-kun crushed the little magic circle he made onto his sword, it burst into flame.

    That looks bad¡­¡­ Since it was a magical flame, it doesn¡¯t transfer heat by radiation, but if he took Onzada-kun¡¯s attack on the flaming blade, Onzada-kun¡¯s body would burn.

    But, just a little¡­¡­

    I could gradually feel my breath coming back to me, and the strength return to my legs.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    When I forcibly stood up, Onzada-kun looked like he wanted to speak, but said nothing at all, even as Yuuki-kun turned his wary eyes to look at me.

    Onzada-kun could use ¡®Ki¡¯, but he was an ordinary human, unlike us. And I knew the limits of a ¡®human¡¯ well.

    Although it was quite a good match to watch, why I ended up joining the battle in the end is because Yuuki-kun had taken some damage from me previously, and it was different for us, who were of a class able to oppose an army alone.

    Yuuki-kun was also human, but he¡¯d taken a step into the realm of ¡®monsters¡¯,

    Still¡­¡­ I was unable to use a lot of magic power, but I think that if I just use ¡®Light¡¯, I could strengthen Onzada-kun.

    Comparing magic, humans can¡¯t compare with me, a Demon. Once Yuuki-kun ran out of magic power, or my bodily condition recovered¡­¡­ we would win.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go, Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Don¡¯t push it.¡±

    ¡°Of course. ¡­¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    ¡°Owaah!?¡±

    My magic enveloped Onzada-kun¡¯s body in light.

    Maybe it would improve his physical strength and defense? I don¡¯t know why I could use my Demonic power like this, but it¡¯s convenient and I have no complaints.

    ¡­¡­ Something about this ¡°magic¡± stimulates my memories.

    I wonder what it is¡­¡­ It seems that I used it all the time. With this power of mine¡­¡­ I was fighting?

    ¡­¡­ Vampires¡­? Stupid humans¡­? Something¡­¡­ a pitch black¡­¡­ beast¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuzu!¡±

    As I was swept up in my own thoughts, Onzada-kun cried out to me.

    But Yuuki-kun hadn¡¯t moved. Then what¡­¡­ I casually looked around. Nearby¡­¡­ there was a small shadow that ran up to me from a few meters away.

    ¡°Yuzuuuuu! You should disappear!!!!¡±

    ¡°Matsuri!?¡±

    Between the pressure from Yuuki-kun and my magic, how was Matsuri alright? How did I not notice her until she got this close?

    I could feel that ¡®presence¡¯ from Matsuri quite strongly now.

    I see¡­¡­ is that ¡®presence¡¯, that thing which is so afraid of ¡®me¡¯? It went and gave an unreasonable and distorted [Power] to the human Matsuri.

    But¡­ why was it so afraid of me¡­¡­?

    Demons were the natural enemy of human beings, but ¡®me¡¯, do I have the kind of [Power] that a [Being] that is worshipped by human beings through shrine maidens needs to be afraid of me?

    And the only way to fight against it¡­¡­ power.

    That¡¯s right¡­¡­ I fought against that ¡®pitch-black beast¡¯.

    Matsuri was slowly approaching me. My thoughts were accelerated, so I could see her approaching as if in slow motion, but my body can only move at the same rate as a normal person.

    I could see Onzada-kun trying to rush towards me, shouting something.

    I wonder if that small knife in Matsuri¡¯s hands could kill me¡­¡­?

    In that slow-moving world, I watched as the sharp edge buried itself into my stomach little by little, Matsuri¡¯s smile filled with madness in front of me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    However, I¡¯m not looking at Matsuri.

    Behind her, I saw that [Black Cat] appear.

    Those silver eyes that stared at me¡­¡­ I see¡­¡­ that¡¯s how it is.

    That was¡­ [Dark Beast]¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Have I kept you waiting¡­¡­ Rinne¡­¡­¡±

    *GIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGIGI¡­¡­¡­¡­!!!*

    The air¡­¡­ no, the world, squirmed and shook.

    An enormous magic power, several times that of the total that I¡¯d used up until now, was unleashed from my whole body.

    The color drained from the world, cracking and collapsing around me, as it all fell off.

    As the ¡®presence¡¯ was blown away, Yuuki-kun was left dumbstruck and dropped the sword out of his hand¡­¡­

    As I ran out, Onzada-kun¡¯s crying face cracked away with the world¡­¡­

    **KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN¡­**

    Along with the sound of a tuning fork, the colorless world disappeared and faded away, and I saw a clear blue sky.

    I saw a woman¡¯s hands, which were outstretched towards the sky, wrapped in a dress of black and silver lace that flowed with the breeze, her hair like golden thread waved in the wind.

    Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­ it¡¯s me.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Yurushia ¡­¡­¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    She revived.

    Next time, 2-14 [The Devil war].

 CH 103

    Volume 6, Chapter 14: The Devil War, Part 1

    That¡¯s right! I¡¯m Yurushia!

    With those memories back, I have all of my power now. Looking now, I can see my golden hair and pale, porcelain hands after a long absence¡­ It really is a completely different body from ¡®Yuzu,¡¯ who was just human.

    Both bodies were ¡®Me,¡¯ but while being in Yuzu was familiar for my mind, this body of Yurushia is completely optimized for handling my demonic powers.

    I thought that this form came from a demon possessing a dead baby, but this body had the same features as ¡®Yuzu.¡¯

    What do I mean by that?

    Not to say that it isn¡¯t still creepy, it¡¯s just that this body has attributes from this [Incarnation].

    Eh, it¡¯s fine anyways.

    ¡°Where¡­ is this?¡±

    Around me is something like a field of lightning, shining lights suspended in the air.

    I can move my arms and legs normally, and can see the daytime sky above, but my other surroundings are blocked by the lights and I can¡¯t see past them.

    ¡°Hn?¡±

    Just then, I saw a black dot falling from the sky right above me.

    ¡°[Yurushia!]¡±

    ¡°Rinne!¡±

    The same [Black Cat] that I had seen as Yuzu landed on my shoulder.

    Honestly¡­ after such a long time apart.

    ¡°Rinne¡­ Sorry. It was hard for me to remember.¡±

    ¡°[No, it¡¯s okay.]¡±

    Now that I look closer, the amount of magical power that Rinne feels like he has is much smaller.

    ¡°Did you get weaker¡­?¡±

    ¡°[¡­ I used the seal that Yurushia made to interfere with [The Past]. I could barely even take my ability to speak with me like this¡­]¡±

    ¡®¡­ Thank you.¡±

    As I touched Rinne¡¯s face, he gave my face a gentle lick.

    ¡°¡­ What was that? You¡¯re really not a dream?¡±

    ¡°[This is unmistakably [The Past]. The history of the world has changed accordingly.]¡±

    ¡­ if that¡¯s the case I died not because of sickness at 15, but of being stabbed and dying before I even reached 12.

    When I thought that, I got a bit mad.

    That woman¡­ If that ¡°Matsuri¡± is still in this world, she¡¯d better be ready.

    ¡°So, when is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been¡­ six months since we¡¯ve came to this dimension.¡±

    ¡°Half a year¡­¡±

    It was quite a long time to be sealed.

    That reminds me, it feels like my arms and legs have grown.

    I see¡­ without knowing it, I turned 12 years old.

    This past year, half was spent fighting [Demon Road]¡¯s Hi¡­ Hira¡­ what was it, something like Nurarihyon over and over, the other half I spent in a seal.

    So anyways, I¡¯m 12 years old now¡­

    ¡°¡­ I see¡±

    Back then, Onzada said the technique was called something with ¡°12¡± and ¡°Hourglass¡± in it.

    Maybe the original technique was meant to keep a presence away from being a baby up through being 12 years old.

    Since Yusushia was close to 12 years old, was the original ceremony cheated?

    If that¡¯s correct, I would have been completely destroyed when Yuzu, or rather Yurushia now, reached age 12, but since I traveled to the past, it couldn¡¯t crush my life and tried to re-start at age 6.

    Due to the ambiguity from the memories of ¡°Me¡± remaining, as well as the interference from Rinne¡¯s sacrifice, I was able to regain my [Demonic] power.

    That irritated the [Presence]. So, using a person like Matsuri, who interfered with the completion of the technique, a fight happened that allowed me to awaken before I was twelve years old.

    ¡­ something like that?

    ¡°Rinne, I¡¯ll be escaping form this ¡®cage¡¯ for now¡±

    ¡°[¡­ And then?]¡±

    Since Rinne seemed to understand my plan, based on his tone, I gave a little smile.

    ¡°An Extermination.¡±

    This is the first time I¡¯ve been made into such a fool¡­

    ¡°¡­[Shine the Light of Terror]¡­¡±

    The cage of light isn¡¯t holy attribute, but it had the effect of sealing a ¡®Demon.¡¯ So, my anti-demon weapon [Sacred Series] won¡¯t work.

    So I was making a new type of magic from the spiritual world, something I¡¯ll need to defeat other hostile non-demons.

    ¡°¡­[Pierce!¡­ Spear of Night]¡­!¡±

    A jet-black spear more than 5 meters long appeared, and I scraped the cage of light with it.

    *Pakyiiiiiiiiin*

    The struck light cage made a sound like glass breaking.

    ¡­ Is this a temple? No, a Shrine? It¡¯s surrounded by forests, but since I can see skyscrapers in the distance, it shouldn¡¯t be far from Tokyo.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Looking around, hundreds of priests were surrounding me within a dozen meters.

    Their eyes were filled with awe and fear as they looked at me. So, as I looked away from them, I took in my unreal features and made a face.

    Among the men, one wearing only casual clothes and a leather jacket with another person were being held back by the surrounding people.

    That person¡­ where¡¯s he going.

    ¡°¡­Yuzu!¡±

    The voice is different, but something sounds nostalgic about how he said that word.

    *Shara*¡­ the thin black chain appeared that stretched from my hand straight to that person.

    No way¡­

    ¡°Onzada-kun!?¡±

    When I yelled out, the men finally seemed to get back their bearings after the shock.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­¡±

    ¡°The dark one has been let out¡­¡±

    ¡°This guy got in the way¡­¡±

    ¡°Be calm, I will restart the ritual ceremony.¡±

    ¡°¡­ For world peace.¡±

    ¡°Work together.¡±

    ¡°Gyaaa¡±

    ¡°Guuaaaaaa!¡±

    ¡°Who is that!?¡±

    Something was coming from behind them.

    A dust cloud like from a small tornado was blowing, the priests and monks being blown away while screaming.

    Past that, there was a black mask wearing figure holding a huge sword¡­ That¡¯s Yuuki!?

    Oops, I entered audience mode without thinking.

    I descended to the ground and called to where Onzada-kun was detained.

    ¡°Put up a holy based defense!¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°Hold on!¡±

    ¡°[Penetrating light¡­ Radiant Spear]¡­¡±

    Yuuki came over in a hurry and flow to Onzada-kun¡¯s side, putting up a holy magic barrier up, at the same time, my [Unholy Spear] blew away all the priests.

    ¡­ well, some were blown away then rolled back towards me, though.

    Still, I don¡¯t think it will be over with just this¡­

    ¡°[Everlasting Light¡­ Celestial Bow]¡­¡±

    Hundreds of golden arrows shot from the shining bow and struck the priests.

    Those who ran, those who tried to fight, those who were stunned in place, everything was blown away by the carpet bombing of my attack.

    If they¡¯re lucky, they¡¯ll still be alive.

    It¡¯s been a while since you¡¯ve fought an enemy so one-sidedly.

    After the annihilation of light, two stunned people came closer.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    When we stepped forward, we looked at eachother with mixed expressions. Then, Onzada-kun opened his mouth first.

    ¡°¡­Is it¡­ really you, Yuzu?¡±

    Yes, though now my name is Yurushia¡­ Onzada-kun sure has gotten old.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not old!¡±

    Onzada¡¯s appearance has changed a lot.

    He was older, about 30 years old. Well, if you were a modern person at age 30, you¡¯d still look young, but it still has a little of the old person scent coming from you.

    ¡°Should I shave my beard?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­ this feeling, it really is Yuzu.¡±

    When he came claser to me, Onzada-kun dropped to his knees like he¡¯d lost all his strength.

    ¡°¡­ thank¡­ god¡­ I didn¡¯t believe you were dead¡­ if the deal had gotten you, I¡­¡±

    I¡¯ve been looking into how to save you forever, I was lucking to get in the way just before the final stage of the ritual.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yuuki-kun¡±

    Yuuki lowered his mask and showed a slim face.

    Is he also in the latter half of his twenties? Maybe because I looked at Onzada first, the impression was less.

    I was able to remember everything because they helped me.

    ¡°Thank god¡­? Here, let me help you up.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re a bit more of a terrifying ¡°Demon¡± than I thought, but I don¡¯t mind the way you took care of all the priests. Besides¡­ now I can return what I owe.

    ¡°¡­What a serious look.¡±

    As normal, his gaze is hard¡­ wait, is it becoming warmer?¡±

    ¡°I can not forgive that [Presence].¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s right.¡±

    The Presence sensed my return and trapped all of the people in the country within its seal.

    Even though it¡¯s powerful, it feels young in how it does things, and it feels like it is being used by the shrine maidens, rather than being worshiped.

    ¡°Yuzu¡­ or Yurushia now, let me give you the memories I¡¯ve recorded. It should help you understand what I found out about the Presence.¡±

    ¡°¡­Do it¡±

    Yuuki-kun casted a layered spell wrapped around me.

    When I let the magic power pass through me, the events up to now flowed into my head.

    ¡­ Something is coming. It was like a scattered scene without sound, but I was able to understand it.

    Koto-chan got married to Dad-chan¡­

    Yuuki-kun and Misa also married? I didn¡¯t get my chance at the shovel speech¡­¡±

    It seems like Yuuki-kun is the second in command of Dad-chan¡¯s shop.

    Ooba-nii-san has become the president of my family¡¯s company.

    Dad and Mom are still fine¡­

    Kouki and Kako have gotten together too, and there are already babies.

    Ouji-kun¡­ thank goodness. He has a normal, full-bodied wife as well.

    Onzada-kun was not a monk at his family¡¯s temple, but at a shrine. I wonder if it was because he didn¡¯t like what his older brothers did.

    It seems like Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun were studying together.

    And¡­

    Matsuri seems to be in the middle of a circle of shrine maidens now.

    Although she was able to have me killed, she wasn¡¯t able to control it? Maybe there was a wavelength of thought in young people.

    So¡­ maybe that¡¯s where the [Presence] gets its power.

    ¡°Is this the truth¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t be awake yet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s too soon.¡±

    In a distorted world with little magic, it went inot hibernation, but the directions the departing ¡°Souls¡± takes went wrong.

    It was supposed to be born in the future, but it still responded to it.

    Human ¡°Desire¡± dug it out.

    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±

    I raised my golden bat wings to the sky.

    ¡°Wings! Where are you going, Yuzu?¡±

    I heard Onzada-kun¡¯s voice, but ignored it, there was something I needed to confirm.

    While flying high into the air, there were huge cities all over the place.

    I recognized the [Presence]¡­ when I looked through my eyes, I saw a huge thing overlapping with the town.

    The center of culture, the city that doesn¡¯t sleep. A huge city recognized all over the world.

    Desire¡­ Longing¡­ Emptyness¡­ those feelings gathered, human selfishness created this [Presence] in this world.

    A true [God] born only in this world, from a new, human ideal¡­

    ¡°¡­ [True God ¨C Tokyo]¡­¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the army of god versus the Devil¡¯s army will begin!

 CH 104

    Volume 6, Chapter 15: The Demon-God War, Part 2

    ¡°[¡­ he¡­l¡­p]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­H¡­el¡­p]¡±

    ¡°[¡­H¡­e¡­lp¡­¡­]¡±

    Suddenly, I heard [sounds] in my head.

    I don¡¯t understand what the extent of that power is. I can¡¯t see the whole picture¡­¡­ Even for me, being a [Devil], even though I had power beyond both Onzada-kun and Yuuki-kun together, I could see that giant light rising into the sky¡­¡­ it¡¯s not unlike looking at a [Pillar].

    An aggregation of human desires and dreams.

    A whirlwind of ¡®prayers¡¯ filled with desires, a God that was created only for ¡®humans¡¯.

    The ultimate ideal of humans¡­¡­ a true God.

    The true god¡­¡­ [Tokyo]¡­¡­¡­

    Zuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzu¡­¡­¡­

    A quiet earthquake shook the entire city of Tokyo.

    Was it scared? Was it angry? All I could say with certainty was that this [Full God ¨C Tokyo] regarded me as an enemy.

    That [Power], seething strongly like magma, boiled over and rose like steam from the city of Tokyo¡­¡­ and it started to create something.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oni¡­?¡±

    Judging by their appearance, they were translucent Oni larger than a human being. With all that collected desire, were they collecting and strengthening the evil spirits? From that Oni, I could feel a similar power to that of a Lesser Demon.

    There were tens of thousands of them¡­¡­ They weren¡¯t my match one-on-one, but with this many of them, I would waste time and power.

    ¡°[Yurushia, I will attack from underneath with that Onzada guy]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As Rinne told me to keep an eye on it, the black dots below me moved restlessly.

    ¡°[We should quickly move before that Devil gets here.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Oh well.¡±

    At times like this, if it had been the normal Rinne, he would have plunged in and bitten both of them. For him to be staying on my shoulder not doing so¡­ just how weak has he gotten¡­¡­?

    For now, I folded in my wings, and dived downwards.

    I couldn¡¯t see Yuuki-kun, did he think I had disappeared? Or was he attacked by those priest people who¡¯d returned? ¡­¡­ Was Onzada-kun turned traitor by them?

    ¡°¡­ [Blow Away] ¡­¡±

    My Holy Spirit magic blew away all the priests who looked like Onzada-kun. ¡­¡­Of course, I put Onzada-kun in the center of the explosion?

    As I descended, I found Onzada-kun and called out to him.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so ridiculous, Yuuzu!¡±

    Onzada-kun was fine even though he had been covered in soil.

    ¡°What about Yuuki-kun?¡±

    ¡°He went somewhere else. Perhaps his family? You¡¯re spouting nonsensical things again.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    I don¡¯t mean to stay quiet about this, but I feel like hearing Yuuki-kun¡¯s impression of me, but I stopped because no matter how I put it sounded bad.

    ¡°That guy¡¯s acting like a newlywed¡­¡­ it gives me stress.¡±

    As Onzada-kun talked, he took a sip from his bottle as he sat down on a rock.

    ¡°is that sake again?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get along well with the Buddhist monks. After working all night, I would look forward to eating ramen and having drinks at Yuuki¡¯s shop while on my way home.¡±

    ¡°The work in a temple¡­¡­ is that the sake from the blessing?¡±

    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s as you expected.¡±

    ¡°How does that make it any different?¡±

    I wonder¡­¡­ I feel like a totally useless adult.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuzu, could you do something about that?¡±

    Onzada-kun spoke out a little seriously, gesturing towards that flock of Onis, the [True God Tokyo] ¡­¡­ Still, in any case, it¡¯s already been decided. Because my aim is to take care of them too.

    ¡°That one that looks like a [Oni], is probably what [Oyama] uses as a proxy. Those guys, while they stayed in the temple, they were placing magics upon Yuzu, all in preparation for a fight.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Are you using the power of that [Existence]?¡±

    ¡°Aah, that¡¯s right. It seems that they draw power through the shrine maidens.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ That is to say: that girl, is also nearby?¡±

    Smiling as I asked him, Onzada-kun nodded slowly as he swallowed his spit.

    ¡°Yes. She should be in one of the nearby temples.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Got it.¡±

    I nodded and looked about quietly for the flock of Oni.

    They¡¯re getting closer. This place is no longer safe. If that was a summoning, then maybe it was coming here to save the monks who¡¯ve fallen here.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, you should leave here. If at all possible, leave Tokyo¡­¡±

    ¡°[Yurushia, I¡¯m staying with this guy.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Rinne?¡±

    Rinne suddenly said such a thing, and Onzada-kun suddenly started, surprised by the black cat talking.

    ¡°[Now, it¡¯s only that hindrance left. Because of that I¡¯ve recovered a little¡­¡­ due to Onzada, amongst other things. Let me guide you to a place where the miasma is stronger]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I-I understand.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what happened, but I guess I¡¯ve leave Onzada-kun to Rinne?

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m off.¡±

    [Don¡¯t relax your guard.]

    ¡°Be careful!¡±

    I spread out my bat wings and flew into the sky. At the same time, a group of the Oni approached and attacked.

    ¡°[The Darkness that the Light fears¡­¡­ come forth, Spear of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    Towards the Oni that were blocking my way like a wall, I pierced them all and cleared a path with the [Spear of Darkness]

    [GigyaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

    The Oni let out raw screams. Maybe, that¡¯s the screams of the people who were manipulating the projections?

    As the Oni were extinguished, it seems like the damage also transferred over.

    I flew in the direction of the city of Tokyo and cast magic while surrounded by the Oni.

    ¡°[The Darkness that fears the light¡­¡­ Pierce, Bow of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    I released hundreds of arrows from the Oni-less sky over the city of Tokyo.

    All of them aimed at the [True God, Tokyo] ¡­¡­ It overlapped with the streets of Tokyo, so if I chose to shoot it, it would be easier to hit.

    ZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUUZZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZU¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    Feeling the pain, or was it fear? [True God, Tokyo] trembled, and the city of Tokyo shook like under an earthquake, the windowpanes cracked.

    I could hear screaming from the city¡­¡­

    Anxiously looking up into the sky were a few people who saw the [Oni] and had their faces cramp up in fear.

    They could see the [Oni]¡­¡­ But, I wasn¡¯t going to be prudent. I didn¡¯t have that in the first place.

    There were too many people in this world, and because they destroyed the natural environment and clustered up there¡¯s no magic power around, and all the spirits and Demons are gone.

    Because of that, the balance of circle of reincarnation has collapsed, and the world is beginning to collapse.

    ¡®Humanity¡¯, who has lost its natural enemy, needs to ¡®fear¡¯.

    It was necessary to respect that which could not be seen with fear, and necessary to restore the spirits.

    Therefore¡­¡­ ¡®I¡¯ had been summoned to this ¡®world¡¯.

    To deliver the blessings of a Demon to this world that was beginning to decline¡­¡­

    Well, cover story aside.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness] ¡­!¡±

    At the center of Tokyo¡­¡­ no, at the heart of the [True God Tokyo], I threw a spear of darkness with all my might.

    The spear roared as it flew, destroying hundreds of Oni as it flew towards Tokyo.

    [¡­HELP¡­!!!]

    ¡°Boom!¡±

    An enormous quake shook Tokyo, blocking off my [Spear of Darkness], as the tsunami-like shockwave emanated from [True God Tokyo].

    ¡°[Brilliant Shield]!¡±

    I blocked that off quickly, but my consciousness grew hazy for a moment from the sheer force of that impact.

    ¡­¡­ As expected of a god.

    Following that gap where I lost my posture for an instant, the group of Oni attacked again.

    Right now, even a [God] would have barely been an opponent for [True God Tokyo], and moreover, I couldn¡¯t keep up with the countless opponents.

    ¡°[Dark winter that falls from the sky] ¡­¡­¡±

    Although I¡¯m not good at it, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m unable to do ranged attacks, you know? And, the range of this magic¡­¡­ is the entirety of the city of Tokyo.

    ¡°¡­ [Rain of Darkness] ¡­¡±

    As I cast my spirit magic, the entirety of the blue sky was covered with dark clouds.

    And falling with the black rain that came from the clouds was a massive magic that struck at the spirits.

    ¡°Hey, if you don¡¯t block it, the humans will be harmed, you know?¡±

    Somehow, that sounds like a line a supervillain would use.

    They might not have heard my voice, but tens of thousands of the Oni gathered to try and prevent the Rain of Darkness.

    It won¡¯t cause them a lot of damage, but their movements are sealed¡­¡­ right?

    Those Oni are not the [True God Tokyo], and it seems that the monks have the power to decide their own actions.

    ZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZUZZUUZUZUZUZUZUZUZU¡­¡­¡­

    The streets of Tokyo are rumbling again.

    What is it this time? Were you getting impatient at the Oni who weren¡¯t moving as you expected? From the land of Tokyo, an immense [Power] erupted, and created something massive.

    ¡°¡­¡­ A Dragon¡­? No, a snake?¡±

    Simply put, it¡¯s just a snake-like shape, almost as if a child was trying to draw it with a pen and scribbled it out sloppily.

    However, I still feel a strong power.

    Around 10 of those things came out. Among them, there was a particularly large eight-necked snake that had the overpowering feeling of an Arch Demon.

    Finally, you¡¯re getting serious, forming your own [Underlings].

    Then.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I too, have to call out to my own underlings¡±

    Whether they¡¯d come or not was a gamble. But the odds are in my favor.

    ¡°¡­¡­ [Demon Summoning] ¡­¡­¡±

    As I cast my summoning magic, a huge [layered magic formation] formed in the air.

    I don¡¯t know why, but I don¡¯t have any compulsion in my summoning magic, and I can only summon things that voluntarily cooperate. ¡­¡­ such as marine products.

    But when I came here, Rinne told me that they would follow me. Even if I didn¡¯t know where the Holy Kingdom was, if they were trying to follow me and came close¡­¡­

    ¡°Come on now¡­¡­ my cute little attendants¡­¡­¡±

    The dark cloud that remained in the sky got even darker, enough to turn the day into night.

    In opposition to the god¡¯s underlings, four pillars of light faded as they pierced through the sky, thunder roaring as four humanoid figures appeared.

    [[[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]]

    The demons that came into this world¡­¡­ four terrifying arch demons that rivaled the power of a greater spirit that could cause a natural disaster.

    KIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIIIKIIIIIIKIIIIKIII!!!!

    Like several thousand people running their nails down blackboards at the same time, the laughter of the rejoicing demons echoed throughout Tokyo, shattering the glass windows of Tokyo skyscrapers.

    I could hear humans screaming from the ground. While the demons laughed and rejoiced at that.

    You guys, you¡¯re getting too ahead of yourself with happiness.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    Ripping up the Oni that blocked their way, my four follower Demons flew to my four sides.

    The first two to come were the girls with blonde and silver hair in maid dresses. As Fannie instantly jumped for my chest and Tina followed, I grabbed onto her face out of habit.

    ¡°W- Wryy?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, sorry, I¡¯m glad to see you again.¡±

    As I grabbed onto Tina¡¯s cheeks with a *punipuni* and humored her, the brother and sister duo approached me after annihilating the surrounding Oni.

    ¡°It has been too long. Master.¡±

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, we¡¯ve arrived~¡±

    ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s been too long¡­¡­ you¡¯ve worked hard. Are you all aware of what¡¯s happening?¡±

    As I asked them somewhat unreasonably, Nea the Escort Knight, and Tina the maid who didn¡¯t understand at all confidently nodded, while Fannie busied herself fawning on me and wasn¡¯t listening in the first place. Among them, Noa the butler was grinning.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. We are your arms and your legs. Your sword and shield. Please give us our orders.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ah, well.¡±

    I grinned broadly gave them their orders.

    ¡°Destroy these knaves who are obstructing me.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±¡±Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Well, the preparations are complete¡­¡­ but, to leave the four of them, who are Arch Demons, is it alright to let them be?

    As they scattered despite my worries, I took out something like a ¡®key¡¯ from my pocket and slotted it into the sky.

    ¡°[Open¡­¡­ [Lost Eden] ¡­]¡±

    Suddenly, from the remaining clouds that were dyed black¡­¡­ a [Door] opened.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Uwaah.¡±

    What is this¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t hear about this.

    Thousands of [Greater Demon]-like evil beings appeared from there and descended upon the city of Tokyo just like black snow.

    ¡°Noa!?¡±

    ¡°There are no problems. All of them are a part of Yurushia-sama¡¯s army.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    Well, whatever¡­¡­ But now, we no longer have an issue with numbers.

    Well then, I¡¯ll give them their orders. It¡¯s a bit exciting.

    ¡°Greater Demons!¡±

    [OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡­¡­¡­]

    As I called out to them, thousands of them looked up to me and cheered.

    ¡°Rout the Oni. Broil the puppet masters.¡±

    [OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡­¡­!]

    And so, the battle between the God¡¯s underlings, and the Demon army began.

    There were some differences in number, but their strengths were nearly equal.

    In the town that was covered in darkness as if deep at night, the [Demons] and [Oni] clashed with one another.

    For the people who were living in the Tokyo area, they looked uneasily at the dark sky, and among them, some of those who could ¡®see¡¯ knelt on the spot with an expression of despair as if the Apocalypse had come.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Clairvoyance]¡­¡­¡±

    As I chanted my spirit magic to use it to peer and check on the [True God Tokyo], I finally found what I wanted from the temple that was under attack by the Demons.

    Wearing a lascivious kimono like a poor villain in some horribly-remembered period play, a woman who had twenty-something pretty boys serving her wandering around, came out in a panic with a fearful expression.

    ¡°I found you¡­¡­ Matsuri¡­¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the actions of Onzada and Rinne?

 CH 105

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 3, Part 1

    While I had managed to find her, the actual attacks from [True God Tokyo] were both sporadic and irritating.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness]¡­!¡±

    ¡°[He¡­lp¡­me!]¡±

    As my power collided with that of [True God Tokyo] and disappeared, its shockwave rocked the city of Tokyo.

    For some reason, I feel like [True God Tokyo] is doing more damage to the city than I am.

    Still, even though I was being pushed back earlier, this time I was able to cancel it out¡­¡­ Maybe, its [Power]decreases with each human in Tokyo that feels powerless?

    That is to say, if I annihilated every inhabitant of Tokyo, I might be able to easily disable the [True God Tokyo], but I¡¯m not interested in that.

    Ah, Matsuri is about to make her escape. It can¡¯t be helped, I have to just give her an offhand blow. She shouldn¡¯t die that easily right?

    ¡°[The light that shines through¡­¡­ Sacred Bow]!¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°What¡¯s going on ¡ª Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?¡±

    As Matsuri ran out of one of the temples in Tokyo, a number of light arrows flew down from the sky, blowing away the temple building.

    ¡°Matsuri-sama!¡±

    ¡°*cough* Ahhh, what is it!?¡±

    ¡°Quickly, this way¡±

    The [Shrine Maidens], who the [True God Tokyo] could communicate to, were limited to young girls with special souls.

    The reason why it was limited to girls was because they were said to have a childlike character that was similar to that of [True God Tokyo], and gave it a sense of familiarity, and the only reason why they were limited to children was that [True God Tokyo] was afraid of adults and so refused.

    Matsuri, despite being grown-up, was able to hear the voice of [True God Tokyo] for some reason.

    Was it because Matsuri¡¯s spirit was young¡­¡­ or rather, that it went beyond childish, and Matsuri who never matured specialized in only using nefarious methods, taking up a position to manage the younger shrine maidens, she twisted the words from [True God Tokyo] for her own convenience and told them to the monks, all for the sake of satisfying her own desires.

    ¡°The building suddenly collapsed and people were blown away! What exactly is going on?!¡±

    As Matsuri threw a temper tantrum at the teenager who had been chosen for his appearance alone, he looked up anxiously toward the dark sky.

    ¡°I-I can¡¯t tell! It¡¯s probably because the seal on that [Evil] was released, but let¡¯s hurry over to the other shrine maidens as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ U-understood¡±

    In fact, Matsuri could not see the spectacle in the sky.

    Matsuri, who could only hear the voice and had neither special power nor ability, who had lived until now with just her beauty and her scheming, she had not trained any of its power even though the remains of the power had accumulated in her soul.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ [The Evil Presence] ¡­ is called, uhh¡­¡­ Yuzu, isn¡¯t it? What happened with her? Wasn¡¯t she defeated a long time ago, how in the world did she revive!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how¡­¡­¡­ They probably failed.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying I was wrong!¡±

    ¡°N-no¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Really, why is the world always trying to disrupt me!¡±

    In the end, Matsuri was unable to start the ¡®events¡¯ for either Kouki nor Handsome Prince.

    She thought that Yuzu had done something, but even killing Yuzu didn¡¯t solve it, since even after destroying the evidence, it seems that what Matsuri had done had been told to them, and as a result she could only be hated.

    ¡°Someday, I will make you kneel¡­¡­ Aah, that¡¯s right! You! Prepare the car quickly and bring some of the monks along with it.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡±

    Watching the young monk who ran away in a hurry, Matsuri threw off the thin kimono that had become dirtied in the bombing, and an unpleasant smile floated onto her face.

    ¡°¡­¡­ If Yuzu is going to get in my way again, I have an idea¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°[Please wait, Onzada. I feel a lingering miasma over there.]¡±

    ¡°Lord Rinne? The temple that way though, you know?¡±

    Onzada, who was travelling in a light truck with a black cat on his shoulder, quietly responded to Rinne¡¯s words. Although he didn¡¯t know how it understood what Onzada was saying, but he was really quick to pick up and accept the existence of the weird.

    ¡°[If it¡¯s a temple then there aren¡¯t any corpses. Because it¡¯s a temple, everything should be kept clean and bounded.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Certainly. But Lord, there are those guys inside of the temple?¡±

    ¡°[If their powers are lessened, even with the number of humans, it won¡¯t be a problem. Drive through!]¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡­¡­ This minitruck is still on its loan payments!¡±

    While saying that, Onzada stepped on the accelerator and rammed into the temple from the front.

    ¡°W-who are you!?¡±

    ¡°You bastard! You¡¯re the younger brother of Emishima!¡±

    There were several monks in plain clothes, not in their robes. However, from what they said, it was very likely that they were monks from [Oyama].

    And as if proving it, the monks began to manipulate their ¡®ki¡¯.

    ¡°There¡¯s no use discussing!¡±

    ¡°[I said that it wasn¡¯t going to be a problem.]¡±

    *CRASH*

    Rinne broke through the front glass of the light truck easily, and Onzada, who still had loan payments left on the truck, turned blue.

    ¡°[GraAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]¡±

    As the monks were left confused over the carnivorous roar coming from the small black cat, Rinne cut them down where they stood.

    ¡°[Onzada, I¡¯m going to eat all of this miasma¡­¡­ what are you doing?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    As Onzada looked at the light truck that had suddenly become riddled with holes, he sat on the ground and immediately took a sip of the holy wine, his eyes staring into the distance as he muttered to himself.

    ¡°[Are you still alive back there? Did you hear me?]¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Most of the monks had already died despite their light injuries.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This¡­ is a Demon?¡±

    As Onzada saw the state of affairs, he swallowed hard. Perhaps their souls had been devoured.

    However, Yuzu had told him: ¡®Demon are a part of this world too.¡¯

    Onzada had thought that she had been saying ¡®abandon your narrow perspective.¡¯ Thinking of herbivorous animals that were hunted in the food chain, he had been denying to himself that humans ate animals and plants.

    Those who could say that, were only those who had never touched anything but milk and fruits since birth.

    Even liquor and fermented foods, you would be killing the bacteria in your mouth.

    Onzada was by no means arrogant enough to try to compel others to do so.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ uU¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you out of breath? Our luck is turning, but we only wear those clothes in an emergency, where are you going? Are you escaping?¡±

    ¡°Are you an idiot! We are different from you. We are following Matsuri-sama¡¯s instructions¡­¡±

    Although the monk who was in plainclothes succumbed to temptation and answered, he regained his calm and threw that out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oi, what the hell did that girl spew!¡±

    As Onzada heard Matsuri being mentioned, he picked up the monk by the nape with a serious expression on his face.

    ¡°¡­u¡­¡­ It¡¯s already too late¡­¡­ that¡¯s what Matsuri-sama said¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Say it.¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Onzada shot out the ¡®ki¡¯ that he had gathered in a moment into the internal organs of the monk, hurting them.

    ¡°If all of your organs get crushed, I¡¯ll just ask someone else. ¡­¡­ Now, speak quickly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    After that, after one of them had collapsed from having his organs crushed, the other surviving monks talked, and Matsuri¡¯s plans became known.

    ¡°This is just like a joke¡­¡­ Lord, come back! We need to move right now.¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Kyaa, ¡­¡­ another earthquake?¡±

    ¡°¡±kyaa¡±, you say¡­¡­ you sure have some guts.¡±

    ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t say anything!¡±

    With a man who has hardly aged at all since he was young, and a woman who could only be said to be in her thirties, a comedy sketch started up again, as another girl in her twenties turned around, calling out to them.

    ¡°Kotone-nee-chan, Dad-chan, cut it out. This is a hospital room.¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry, Misa-chan.¡±

    ¡°Hey, stop calling me Dad-chan, Misa.¡±

    ¡°Dad-chan, Dad-chan¡±

    A little girl ran around the legs of the trio as she said such things.

    ¡°Look, now even Karin is calling me Dad-chan. I wanted to be called ¡®Papa¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fufu¡­¡­¡±

    At this scene, an old man lying in a single room smiled gently.

    ¡°Ah, Grandfather, were you awake?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Aah, it seems like you¡¯ve grown a little more¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about¡­¡­? Dad and the rest are coming soon, then we can talk again.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, that¡¯s right¡­¡­¡±

    Kotone¡¯s grandfather from the Toukaki side was on the cusp of death. He hadn¡¯t contracted anything. His internal organs were weakening, and his life span was almost at an end.

    Long ago, thanks to his granddaughter Yuzu, he was able to face his family again.

    At some point, Yuzu had passed away after being stabbed by a phantom killer, but the grandfather still occasionally saw a chain extending from his breast and knew that she had not disappeared completely.

    He didn¡¯t fear death.

    Because he knew that when he died, his soul would return to his granddaughter¡¯s side.

    *konkon*¡­¡­ the door was being knocked on.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    When Misa stood and opened the door, there were several doctor-like people wearing white coats, and a few well-built male nurses. And¡­¡­ there was a nurse with awfully thick make-up.

    ¡°How is he doing?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ He woke up earlier.¡±

    She did not know what this doctor, who wasn¡¯t the doctor in charge, had come to do, but as Misa turned back to look at old man Toukaki, the doctors and nurses swooped into the sickroom.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡±

    ¡°Annoying¡­¡­ You guys! Silence them!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Yes¡±¡±¡±

    As Kotone voiced her dissent, that nurse gave her orders, and the male nurses tried to detain them all.

    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t keep quiet, do you know what will happen to that child~?¡±

    ¡°What are you trying to say¡­¡­?¡±

    Matsuri, who had only seen nurse cosplay, looked down upon those who had been restrained and began to cackle.

    ¡°You all will become hostages for me to use against Yuzu. Isn¡¯t that a perfect role for a mob character?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­ wait, what are you even saying!? That child is already-¡±

    ¡°Yes yes, she¡¯s dead yadda yadda, I¡¯m sure of it because I was the one who stabbed her, but I won¡¯t find out what happened even if speak to a mob character anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ The criminal was never caught¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufu.¡±

    Old man Toukaki, because he was about to die, had been moved to another ward, and there were few people in this ward.

    Although the nurses would come if the call button was pressed, but it had been cut when the fake doctors came.

    ¡°This brat¡­¡­ I¡¯ve seen you before¡±

    ¡°Hii¡±

    As Matsuri looked at her face, Kotone¡¯s daughter Karin let out a frightened wail.

    ¡°Stop it! Don¡¯t touch Karin!¡±

    ¡°Huuuh¡­¡­ so she¡¯s called Karin.¡±

    Karin looked very similar to Kotone¡¯s grandmother with her eyes, probably because of her atavism. That is to say, both she and Yuzu had similar eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ that face makes me angry.¡±

    Matsuri muttered as she reached out for Karin, and then.

    ¡°[To go that far, huh.]¡±

    *GASHAN*! (glass shattering SFX)

    Breaking through the glass window of the hospital ward, a black-masked person wielding a great sword rushed in.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Misa who realized who that was leaked her voice for a moment, but hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand at Yuuki¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Who is that!?¡±

    ¡°Matsuri-sama! That is the black-masked person who has been obstructing us for years.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Yuuki had come so far to protect Misa, and it seems that he was able to arrive at a good pace, although he was still quite a distance away from Matsuri.

    He was thinking of cutting them down, but since the young Karin was watching, he put away his sword, and Yuuki fought the monks with his bare hands.

    ¡°As expected, you can¡¯t use that large sword in such a confined space!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    However, their physical capacities were too different.

    He may be the young shopkeeper of a ramen shop now, but Yuuki had been the ultimate weapon of the human nation.

    A [Hero].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It was slightly longer than usual, but I chose not to divide it.

 CH 106

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 3, Part 2

    ¡°[Bow of Darkness]¡­!¡±

    A jet black arrow that split into several hundred were loosed towards [True God Tokyo], and it emanated shockwaves like a huge tsunami, offsetting the attack.

    The battle between [True God Tokyo] and I was in a stalemate.

    It was almost my equal, even though I was a [Devil] who was near the top of the ranking of the Demon species¡­¡­ No, considering that I am still young and not at full power, it¡¯s my disadvantage.

    I think that if Rinne regained his power, we would win, but it would take thousands of souls for Rinne to recover his power as a [Beast]¡­¡­

    Also, unlike myself, who could only replenish my magic power with dried octopus, the [God] had infinite power reserves as long as it had ¡®believers¡¯.

    The believers were the residents of Tokyo who dedicate themselves to their desires. ¡­¡­ In enough time, it seems it will get to a point where I will lose unless I massacre them all.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    I heard a worried voice from my attendants.

    There were the four of them facing ten enemies of nearly the same power level as them, so it would be bad for me to ask for help.

    Muu¡­¡­ that Matsuri person was in such a place.

    Kotone-chan¡­¡­? Misa? Is that little child my niece?

    ¡°[Sacred Wings]¡­!¡±

    I added golden feathers to my bat wings and changed to a high-speed mode.

    ¡°¡­Kuu¡±

    At that instant, shock waves wracked me. Crap, I want to fly, but now but I can¡¯t move.

    I have to leave it to Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ It seems like Rinne and Onzada-kun were also headed for them, will they make it in time?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I thought a little bit and took out a single feather from my Sacred Wings. ¡­¡­ Maybe, this could do the trick?

    ¡°Even buying a moment would be good, please¡­¡­ [Alias]¡­¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Guwa¡±

    With a shining strike from Yuuki, one of the fake nurses was sent flying through the door.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    When one of the fake doctors struck out a fist full of ¡®ki¡¯, Yuuki not only received that fistful of ¡®ki¡¯ with a single hand, but also crushed the bones with his fist.

    ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡±

    Due to the overwhelming difference in combat ability, the remaining fake nurses retreated with frightened faces.

    Seeing that, Yuuki stepped forward in a dash, but

    ¡°STOP!¡±

    Matsuri had unexpectedly took up a fruit knife and pointed it at Karin¡¯s throat before he¡¯d known it.

    ¡°Karin¡±

    ¡°Hiieeeneenen, Mother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Annoying brat, I¡¯ll cut your face.¡±

    Matsuri grinned while she looked at the fake nurses. The monks who were looked at, despite having reservations about taking a child hostage, took up their staves to hold off Yuuki.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Don¡¯t hate me for this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°DowaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    At that time, someone was thrown through the now broken window.

    ¡°Wh-what is it this time?¡±

    Stunned by the sudden appearance of a man who rolled across the floor and slid out onto the broken door in the hallway, Matsuri momentarily dropped her knife away from Karin¡¯s throat, but this time, a jet-black mass jumped in through the window, biting Karin¡¯s collar and pulling her away.

    ¡°A Cat!?¡±

    ¡°KYAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    ¡°Guwaah¡±

    When she heard a scream, she looked back only to see Yuuki beating down the last of the monks to the floor.

    ¡°Karin¡±

    ¡°Moooom!¡±

    Karin ran to Kotone. While looking at them, Matsuri looked up and rushed at Kotone and Karin with the fruit knife.

    ¡°Why! Why can¡¯t you all just do what I want! I don¡¯t understand!¡±

    Indeed, in this situation, they didn¡¯t expect someone to have such reckless behavior.

    It was an instant of carelessness¡­¡­ Matsuri¡¯s malicious blade approached the two¡­ and as the fruit knife pierced deeply all the way forward, Yuuki wailed.

    ¡°Onzada!?¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­¡­¡±

    The one among them who had failed to protect a ¡®girl¡¯ in the past from a blade, protected that girl¡¯s family at the expense of his own body.

    ¡°You¡¯re a nuisanceeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡±

    Seeing Onzada, who had cut in, Matsuri was foaming from the mouth, and she tried to push the knife in further.

    In the current situation, her push only lengthened Onzada¡¯s wounds. Even just twisting the stabbed knife would be fatal.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    There was now a person who was grasping onto Matsuri¡¯s knife hand.

    With blonde hair like golden threads¡­¡­ and a cold beauty like a perfect doll.

    A girl who looked down upon Matsuri coldly with her golden eyes uttered a single word as she placed her hand on Matsuri¡¯s face.

    ¡°[Burn]¡±

    ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡±

    As she screamed like a beast at a slaughterhouse, Matsuri staggered backwards while holding her burning face, and fell out of the broken, third-floor window.

    The golden girl in a black and silver dress smiled softly at Kotone and her husband, Misa, and Karin, and then disappeared as it melted into motes of light.

    Yurushia¡¯s holy spirit magic had created for a [Virtual Alias] for a few minutes.

    As Misa looked at the ¡®face¡¯ of the girl that disappeared, her eyes went wide, and Kotone¡¯s voice leaked out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time: we¡¯ll finish this volume.

 CH 107

    Volume 6, Chapter 16: The Demon-God War, Part 4

    The glass on the building cracked from the shockwave, rather than the tremors, fell from the buildings.

    People looked up into the sky uneasily as the earthquake settled down, dark clouds spiraling overhead, they seemed to be stunned into silence at the battle between tens of thousands of Oni and Demons.

    How could they escape? Where was there that was safe to escape to?

    No matter where they fled to in Tokyo, if they looked up towards the sky there were ¡®monsters¡¯.

    A few courageous people took videos on their phones and put them up onto the net, though many of them seemed like dumb videos that only showed the clouds and nothing else, for those that could see ¨C about one in a thousand ¨C the eyes of people all across the world were focused upon [Tokyo].

    People with strong souls¡­ Mostly, it was the celebrities with talent, and decent politicians.

    The battle between the [Greater Demons] and the [Oni] was turning into one of annihilation.

    It was not a one-sided massacre. It was not a war where one could surrender and be captured by the other, and they could only smash at the sanctity of each others¡¯ souls for so long as they lived.

    The Oni were greater in number, but the Demons were of better quality. In a fight where souls couldn¡¯t be obtained from the winners, the Demons were gradually being beaten back, but that changed in the middle of the battle.

    [Fushururururu¡­¡­]

    ¡°Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhh, they¡¯re coming ahhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Some of the Demons had found a temple with the monks who were manipulating the Oni, and attacked them, drinking of the Monks¡¯ blood, stealing their souls.

    Each had a superhuman physique that exceeded 2 meters, and black bristles like a monkey that covered their whole body. Against the Demons who had come to eat them with muddy yellow eyes and fangs, the monks who had only ever fought evil spirits could only run.

    The Demons, too, had to collect the souls on-site.

    After all, today¡¯s daily allowance was two souls and 4 kilograms of dry seaweed per person.

    Although it was little for a daily allowance, if they were able to distinguish themselves, then they would be able to get the right to shake hands with the Devil Idol that they had never been allowed to directly see before.

    That was why the Demons were looking for souls. To increase their daily allowance, and to gain the right to a handshake.

    Above the clouds, the four [Arch Demons] and the ten underlings of the god was unfolding.

    Only the great eight-headed snake had as much power as the Arch Demon, but the other snakes had less power than the attendants.

    However, the underlings who gained power directly from [True God Tokyo] were able regrow themselves in an instant when they lost bits.

    ¡°¡­¡­What a pain in the rear.¡±

    Tina, who had the highest combat power among the attendants, had released her full power as a [Demon Gorgon]and was fighting with four of the underlings at the same time.

    The remaining five were being suppressed by the twins Noa and Nea, the [Incubus] and [Succubus], but they weren¡¯t able to defeat them soundly.

    As for the last one¡­¡­ Fannie was fighting alone against the eight-headed hydra and didn¡¯t seem to be able to attack head on despite nimbly evading all of its attacks.

    Given that it was the strongest enemy, it was great that Fannie, who wasn¡¯t good at physical attacks, was able to pin it down.

    ¡°Fannie, are you still not done?¡±

    As Noa called out, Fannie had just dodged, and blew away one of the eight heads with one of the clown masks spawned from her [Nightmare].

    ¡°Ehh? Is playtime already over?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not playing¡ª.¡±

    As Nea who had grown out jet-black goat¡¯s horns replied her without any urgency, Fannie¡¯s mask twisted, and she gave a bright smile.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll send you the analysis¡±

    ¡°I await it¡ª¡±

    Fannie examined the ¡®graffiti¡¯-like structure of this enemy for the first time,

    although the analysis had already been done thirty minutes ago.

    ¡°Here, take it¡ª.¡±

    Holding the golden magic sword that he¡¯d gotten from the mistress, Nea charged in alone into the middle of the enemies.

    Stopping a number of attacks from several of the bodies with [Absorption] and the sword, she passed the power to her older brother, Noa.

    [¡­¡­Decay¡­¡­]

    As he uttered in the spirit language, the breath that Noa released from his mouth exterminated a number of the underlings, cutting a line through the clouds.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Crap, Onzada-kun got stabbed.

    My clone separating went alright and managed to repel Matsuri, but the magic power that I put in the feather I sent has run out.

    I wanted to send it again, but it took quite a bit of magic power, so if I use it now, I¡¯ll have trouble dealing with [True God Tokyo].

    Ah, that¡¯s right, I still had the [Contract] on, so if I helped Onzada-kun, his soul would be completely bound.

    Yuuki-kun could also use recovery magic, and since it¡¯s a hospital he¡¯d be saved¡­¡­ right?

    ¡°[HELP ME¡­¡­!!!]¡±

    ¡°Kuu.¡±

    *ZUN*¡­¡­ Once again, it attacked me with a shockwave.

    My children are doing their best, so I shouldn¡¯t be distracting them.

    The battle situation is still even. My four Demon attendants had reduced the numbers of the ten underlings, but the battle continued. The Greater Demons were doing their best, but their numbers had decreased considerably¡­¡­

    Well, even if they were defeated, unless they were completely destroyed, they would just resurrect in the Demon World.

    But thanks to the fact that the children bought some time, the core of [True God Tokyo] came into sight.

    Deep underground in Tokyo¡­¡­ Was it found while sleeping in such a place?

    Well, I¡¯d like to mount an attack now, but I¡¯m a little worried about my remaining magic power thanks to the skirmishes with [True God Tokyo].

    Should I have Noa and Nea replenish me? ¡­¡­ No, it¡¯s not good to break the balance of their battle there.

    If I poured all of my remaining magic power into the [Spear of Darkness], would it be able to break through all of the barriers of [True God Tokyo], and penetrate the ground to hit the main body¡­¡­¡­?

    If I could at least break the barrier then¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    Something reacted to the words in my heart¡­¡­ What is¡­

    £ª

    After the incident occurred at the hospital, several of the fake doctors were being detained by the police.

    The black masked person who seemed to know the details of the incident and the man who had been stabbed by the fake doctor had disappeared without a trace and the patient in the ward where the incident occurred was moved to another room with the family.

    However, the old man who wasn¡¯t able to get up from his bed, even during the incident, had his already-short life expectancy run out even further, and his life was exhausted.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It seems that I¡¯m being called¡­¡­¡±

    Old man Toukaki put his hand on his chest and gently smiled.

    When he said that he was being [Called], the rest of the family thought that he was [Nearing death] and gathered around the old man.

    ¡°Grandfather, we¡¯re here for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, please come and eat ramen with me again. Come here, Karin.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    At the grandchild who came to his side, old man Toukaki stared at the gaze that resembled his deceased wife and granddaughter, and gently stretched out his hand to stroke the head of Karin.

    ¡°¡­¡­Was it¡­¡­ scary¡­¡­ for you?¡±

    ¡°No, it was alright. A golden girl helped me and that uncle.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that so¡±

    Old man Toukaki, recalled that beautiful golden [Demon] and smiled quietly, looking up at the ceiling from the bed as he gently closed his eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m going to sleep¡­¡­¡±

    And old man Toukaki muttered his last words, closing the curtains on his life quietly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Now,¡­¡­ I¡¯m off to join you¡­¡­¡±

    £ª

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    One of the chains stretching out from my hand from the [Chains of Obligation] was broken, and suddenly, it was entwined with a black sphere that appeared from that space. ¡°Grandpa¡¯s¡­¡­ no¡­ Geas¡¯ soul?¡±

    Regardless of how it was when I was Yuzu, now that I¡¯ve returned to being Yurushia, I feel like there¡¯s something wrong about saying [Grandfather] somehow.

    With thousands, no, tens of thousands of Demons dedicating their lives to him, a contract with a [Demon Lord], one who had his soul robbed by a contract with me, a [Devil], he was shining black with misfortune and sin.

    It truly was a strange destiny¡­¡­

    Dying in this world, transmigrating into another one, being cheated by Demons, he had been thrown outwards by me so that I could find this world, and I feel like fate was very strange, reincarnating again and having him becoming Yuzu¡¯s grandfather.

    With so many souls, he was worth well in excess of several thousand normal souls.

    If I ate this, I¡¯ll not only be able to fully recover my magic power, but my own power would even increase, but using it that way is too wasteful.

    ¡°You sure are useful¡­¡­ Geas.¡±

    As I spoke, the soul of Geas shone brighter for a moment as if answering me.

    ¡°¡­¡­[Demonic Reincarnation]¡­¡­¡±

    Ignoring the minor price, I forcibly reincarnated Geas¡¯ soul into a [Demon]. As expected of a soul so steeped in sin, it¡¯s easy to Demonize.

    In the twinkling of an eye, the soul reincarnated, and now trembling in my hand was a black-slime like Demon larva.

    My attendants and I, forcibly stuffed information into the Demonic larva, remodeling it.

    This considerably accelerated growth, and I think Geas¡¯ soul should be able to take it. Furthermore, I fed half of my remaining magic into it, and forcibly evolved him, giving him an image to mold his existence to.

    ¡°Destroy my enemies, Demon Beast [Behemoth]¡­¡­!¡±

    [GuGAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!]

    As my servants tore up the dark clouds, it roared and took off.

    It appeared, a huge beast that filled the sky. A monster with bull-horns that looked like a black bear: the [Behemoth].

    ¡°[OH GOD! HELP ME¡­!!!!!]

    *[GroOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]*

    The shockwaves burst forth from both [True God Tokyo] and [Demon Beast Behemoth]at the same time, and as the earthquake shook Kanto, the barrier protecting [True God Tokyo] and Tokyo itself was blown away.

    ¡°[The Darkness that the light fears]¡­¡­¡±

    I started chanting the incantation for [Spear of Darkness] with the last of my magic power. By my calculations, it will pierce through the center of [True God Tokyo] that¡¯s deep underground beneath the rock.

    ¡°¡­¡­EEEHHHH?!¡±

    For some reason, in a straight line between me and [True God Tokyo], Matsuri was laughing madly with her face half-burned off.

    How in the world did she get there?! Didn¡¯t she fall out the window of the hospital!?

    ¡­¡­ Was there residual power in Matsuri that had brought her to [True God Tokyo]?

    She sure uses it easily¡­¡­ It¡¯s a nuisance to shave off her soul, and it seems like she¡¯s got some sort of magical barrier. ¡­¡­Then in that case her soul should have been annihilated.

    Even when Demons ate souls, only their ¡®experience values¡¯ were absorbed, the rest of the soul was returned to the world, but it seems that hers has completely vanished.

    It¡¯s not for me to worry, but it¡¯s a pain.

    ¡°[Yurushia!]¡±

    ¡°Rinne ?¡±

    Rinne landed onto my shoulder, having recovered somewhat.

    ¡°¡­¡­It looks like it¡¯s still not complete?¡±

    ¡°[Nonetheless, I¡¯ve recovered enough that I can return a blow to that thing. But first.]¡±

    ¡°N?!¡±

    Rinne who was sitting on my shoulder, suddenly poured magic power into me by feeding me¡­ mouth-to-mouth.

    ¡°[I guess you want to settle things by your own hands?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Well, thanks.¡±

    Touching my lips lightly with my fingertips, I completed the chant of the spell with the magic power I¡¯d received.

    ¡°[Spear of Darkness]¡­¡­!¡±

    GoooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO¡­¡­

    The jet-black spear flew with a roar, piercing the still-shrilly-cackling Matsuri through her barrier and continuing through the rest of the asphalt and bedrock to smash into [True God Tokyo].

    [GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAAAAAaaAAAaAAAA, HELP ME!]

    In an instant¡­¡­ the city of Tokyo appeared to fade out slightly.

    [¡­¡­ He¡­lp¡­¡­ H¡­elp¡­me¡­ ¡­He¡­l¡­p¡­¡­]

    The sound of [True God Tokyo]¡®s thoughts grew gradually softer, and the figure that was overlapping Tokyo city also sunk into the ground as if melting.

    That voice, it was crying out for help¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­From the very beginning, it was actually begging for its life from ¡®me¡¯¡­¡±

    As long as there was human desire from the people living within the city of Tokyo, [True God Tokyo] couldn¡¯t be destroyed.

    However, you can sleep now. Only for another, about, 5.6 billion years?

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    But I realized that I¡¯d done something bad.

    When [True God Tokyo] and [Demon Beast Behemoth] collided, a huge dimensional rift was created in the Tokyo skyline.

    And worst of all, because Behemoth had exhausted its power, it had begun to shrink, and even for those who could see, only I could be seen in the sky, with my angel-like wings.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Most of them were looking up at me, who was looking at them on the ground.

    Well, isn¡¯t that just great¡­¡­ It¡¯s difficult to open another rift if I repair this dimensional rift, and I also have things I want to do.

    ¡°[Listen well, human beings!]¡±

    By exerting the Spirit Language in the air, I transmitted my message to the whole world. It¡¯s impossible for every single person to hear it since I don¡¯t have enough magic power, but they should hear it if their souls are strong enough.

    ¡°[I will be returning where I came¡­¡­ but, I will come back one day. One hundred years from now¡­¡­ or one thousand years from now¡­ the Demons will surely return to this world, and we will devour all of you, along with your gods.]¡±

    As I widened my golden wings and covered the dimensional tears, I went inside, camouflaging it to look like the sky.

    The humans have surely seen and heard it. Those whose souls were strong¡­¡­ the decent politicians and the top leaders of each country should surely have heard it.

    The people in this world would know. That humankind had an unknown ¡®natural enemy¡¯. That there were ¡®predators¡¯ hiding in the dark that were aiming at them.

    The hearts of those who knew fear would create darkness in this world, and with that, they would create a source of magic power.

    This, this was my parting gift to this world, the claw-mark of a Demon¡­¡­

    A Demon¡¯s blessing.

    ¡°[For whatever little time, enjoy your peace. Next time, I will return with an even greater Demon army¡­¡­]¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The serious parts are over now. It¡¯ll become relaxed for a little while now.

    Next time, the final chapter of this book.

 CH 108

    Volume 6, Chapter 18: Onwards

    One day, a major earthquake shook a portion of the world.

    Some videos on the various video-hosting sites only had the images of dark clouds, but those with strong souls saw [Demons] in the images.

    Because there were those that could see and those that couldn¡¯t, this didn¡¯t seem like some typical fake video. It seemed like the ¡°monsters¡± from fairy tales or legends were overwhelming and filling up the sky.

    In it was a huge monster the size of a mountain blowing away the clouds, then a beautiful [Voice] could be heard after that. Needless to say, the world¡¯s religions and governments were rather confused.

    That young girl¡¯s voice that claimed to lead the army of [Demons], had declared that she would return to this world one day and eat all the gods and the humans, and those with stronger souls felt a terrible fear.

    Still, the humans had hope yet.

    That there was an [Existence] that had fought against the Demons and repelled them.

    Although the people at the centers of power smelled a threat, they only comprised about 0.01% of the global population, and most of the other people didn¡¯t feel threatened.

    The Demon¡¯s ¡®words¡¯ had planted darkness in the world, but it was still only slight.

    Still, the Demons had planted something within the hearts of people. After all, everyone, and not merely some people could see proof.

    There was the image of an [Angel] floating in the blue skies above.

    Could it really be called an angel? A girl wearing a dress that was black as the night, with shimmering golden hair and golden wings.

    Most of the images weren¡¯t understood, but that figure, who was only clearly shown in a single frame a cameraman had captured, had taken the world by storm, creating a global fan club for her sheer beauty.

    Surely, she had to be the [Archangel] that had repelled the Demons.

    And so, in this way the [World] learned that there were powerful beings that were not human.

    Even if it was impossible right now, with darkness returning to this world the spirits would also return.

    However¡­¡­ It was neither fear of Demons nor her words that had done it, but rather, the single picture of a pretty angel.

    £ª£ª£ª

    My attendants also followed me into the dimensional cracks and knelt before me.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, Rinne-sama, will it be alright?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? But you guys were in the sky too. Where were all of you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Because there was the possibility that we would be seen by the humans, we landed quickly and blended into the crowd.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Eehh~¡­¡­ Then¡­ was I the only one who foolishly exposed myself to the humans¡­¡­? I wanted to be hidden too if you all were hiding.

    When I looked into that other dimension again, it already looked slightly different from the one that I knew.

    Was it because the space where [True God Tokyo] resided had been had unraveled? But Japanese bicycles, flowerpots, signboards, etc., drifted about like satellites in orbit.

    There were also slightly disturbing things like skeletons inside minicars, but it can¡¯t be helped, even if did care about them.

    Most of all, there was ¡®air¡¯ here that shouldn¡¯t have existed in the other dimension.

    It was about as thin as when climbing a mountain, and we were fine because we didn¡¯t need to breathe, but being exposed to vacuum suddenly was bad for the body¡­¡­ No, if this much air was sucked in, the earth¡¯s atmosphere might have been drained considerably.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Perhaps, this is the effect of [Otherworld Summoning].¡±

    ¡°Yuuki-kun?¡±

    For some reason Yuuki-kun was here. He would be fine for now since there was air, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to return to earth now, you know? Well, that¡¯s alright too.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Why did you bring him?¡±

    ¡°It was Onzada¡¯s wish.¡±

    On Yuuki-kun¡¯s back was Onzada-kun, whose stomach had been wrapped round and round with saran wrap, his face anemic from shock.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuu, is it over¡­¡­Yuzu?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ it¡¯s over. Why did you come here?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­How harsh. To the last¡­ I wanted to see with my own eyes, Rinne¡¯s master¡­¡­ I asked him to bring me here¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°[Yes. It was a warrior¡¯s wish. I brought him to a place where he could see the fight.]¡±

    As I glanced at my shoulder, Rinne told me that very naturally.

    ¡­¡­ Eh, what is this, am I the strange one? He¡¯s going to die, so he needs to be treated by the adults at the hospital. Then, since the battle was over, Yuuki-kun was brought here too?

    I don¡¯t understand the minds of men at all¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuuki-kun¡­¡­ what about your recovery magic?¡±

    ¡°Recovery magic is a magic that raises the physical strength and forcibly stimulates the natural healing response. It doesn¡¯t work on wounds that can¡¯t be cured naturally. ¡­¡­ My recovery magic won¡¯t help. We need healing magic.¡±

    ¡°Is it really that terrible¡­¡­?¡±

    Perhaps, Onzada-kun is not long for this world. Feeling the depth of Onzada-kun¡¯s injuries, he¡¯d probably chosen to come to me for his last moments.

    My healing magic could cure him, but Onzada-kun had lost too much blood and his soul had been diminished, so he would likely become a vampire, and if I helped him Onzada-kun¡¯s soul would become mine by [Contract], so when his life was over I would get his soul.

    Matsuri really screwed the pooch at the end¡­¡­ But if the price of saving his soul was to blow away hers, I didn¡¯t feel the need to be merciful.

    Well, in that state, it would probably be better for her to reincarnate as a mitochondria.

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia-sama, what are you going to do~?¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    Nea who couldn¡¯t read the mood at all even though we were having serious conversations asked me as she held the exhausted Geas to her chest.

    ¡°This is Benjamin.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s Behemoth.¡±

    I guess it¡¯s somewhat suitable.

    ¡°This is  Behemoth, but it seems that he¡¯s degenerated to the level of a Greater Demon as a sort of reaction to the explosive growth?¡±

    ¡°Yeah~¡­¡­¡±

    Geas, who had released all of the magic power he had and shrunk down, now looked like a teddy bear.

    Taking a spare soul from Nea and splitting it up, he looked a baby, as he gnawed boisterously on the soul with his short hands and feet.

    Ara? He¡¯s surprisingly cute. ¡­¡­ Even though on the inside was a grandpa. ¡­¡­ Perhaps.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to have any resistance against eating souls¡­¡­?¡±

    As I muttered so, the Teddy Bear (Geas) tilted its head slightly, its round eyes the color of obsidian.

    ¡°[Gau?]¡±

    ¡°As expected¡­¡­ it has no memories?¡±

    As I looked into its bear face with surprise, Rinne told me the answer.

    ¡°[Yurushia, you maintaining the memories of when you were human is a rarity. They usually have a certain amount of personality from their past lives, but Geas¡¯ state is normal. He might possibly be able to remember bit by bit.]¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­¡±

    Was he reincarnated like a normal Demon? That must mean that I¡¯m a pretty rare species¡­¡­ When we¡¯d first met, Rinne must have been interested.

    My own memory was hazy to me, but it seems that for Geas it¡¯s even more vague, and he doesn¡¯t even remember being human.

    That means that Demons adapt easily, and don¡¯t all have bad backstories.

    Either way, Geas right now is just a teddy bear that¡¯s a little strong. ¡­¡­ But the eyes that were looking at me were kind. Maybe it¡¯s because it¡¯s Yuzu¡¯s grandfather.

    Putting that aside, back to Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Hey, Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡±

    ¡°Put simply¡­¡­ You¡¯re going to die.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Haha, I guess that¡¯s so.¡±

    He was laughing. What¡­¡­ I guess this is the feeling of regret over this state of affairs? However, I had to give him the choice, as a Demon.

    Now choose¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Did you know that you were saving a [Demon]?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t regret saving a Demon¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    Onzada-kun spoke without hesitation in a quiet voice.

    ¡°Then I will give Onzada-kun your options. Would you like to die beautifully as a [Human Being]? Or would you rather live a greedy, dirty life as a [Demon]¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned serious as he quieted down.

    This was a proposal for a new [Contract]. Because Onzada-kun had helped me, I could extend the terms of the contract with far better conditions than before. I can even throw in free detergent for three months! (TL note: a stereotypical renting perk in Japan)

    If he died as he was as a [Human], then the contract upon his soul would be lifted and he would die peacefully.

    But on the earth, where souls were saturated, it would be difficult for him to reincarnate, and he would melt away into the world and be reborn anew with a different personality.

    If he reincarnated as a Demon, then his soul would be bound to me forever. His memories of being human would also disappear.

    However, Onzada-kun¡¯s ¡®personality¡¯ would remain.

    Which would be better¡­¡­? Onzada-kun must decide for himself.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuzu¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡­¡­ do you have a lot of enemies¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well. I am a Demon, so my enemies are naturally plentiful.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    I waited for Onzada-kun¡¯s words as he mulled it over.

    ¡°I¡­¡­ well, when I was a kid¡­¡­ I wanted to be an ally of justice¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­I know.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to defeat things like¡­¡­ Evil spirits¡­¡­ But it turns out that the bad guys aren¡¯t so bad, either¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ That¡¯s rather philosophical.¡±

    ¡°Can even Demons¡­¡­ still become an ally of justice¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Onzada-kun¡­¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to say anything, but I just had to say this.

    ¡°Demons are free.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see¡±

    Onzada-kun closed his eyes¡­¡­ and then quietly opened his mouth.

    ¡°It was¡­¡­ a promise from when I was a child. As an ally of justice¡­¡­ I will protect you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡±

    And so, the ¡®re-contract¡¯ was complete.

    As he said that ¡°I will protect you¡±, a new [Contract] was formed.

    Yuuki-kun, who was watching, didn¡¯t say anything even though he looked like he wanted to.

    ¡°[Yurushia]¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    Rinne who was watching from my shoulder spoke out quietly.

    ¡°[Onzada¡¯s soul is already at the limit. Unlike Geas, who was strong from the beginning, in any other dimension like the Demon World, the soul would likely scatter even if he became a Demon unless you prepared a vessel.]¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­Eh?¡±¡±

    Both and I and Onzada-kun¡¯s faces scrunched up.

    Wa-wait, the nice atmosphere was ruined. A vessel? How in the world would I get such a thing in this different dimension!?

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, err, how about this?¡±

    Drifting about in the vicinity, I saw one of the Kero-chan dolls from the drugstore, as Onzada-kun¡¯s face turned blue, and shook his head. Eei, it¡¯s totally not my selfish desire or anything.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, will you use this?¡±

    ¡°Eh, what?¡±

    Fannie who was holding open the tear in the dimensions came, rustling around in her skirt as she looked for something.

    Onzada-san¡¯s gaze was attracted to Fannie, the cute maid who was turning over her skirts, and so she hit his face with a *bachin*. ¡­¡­ Fannie, your garter stockings¡­

    ¡°Onzada died!?¡±

    ¡°Died?¡±

    As Yuuki-kun¡¯s panicked voice rang out, I answered quickly. Males¡­¡­

    ¡°It was, ah, here it is.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    It was my rabbit stuffed toy, which Fannie, as Fontaine, had previously destroyed, that had been meticulously restored by her with her hair and magic power.

    She still kept it¡­¡­

    That rabbit stuffed toy that I¡¯d gotten from my father on my third birthday was a cartoonish looking one, with a round head and teardrop-shaped body with cylindrical limbs, a lovely disproportionate rabbit.

    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s start.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh, wai-¡±

    Onzada-kun was going to say something to me as I summarily decided it, but I didn¡¯t hear anything. I felt like I heard ¡°You Demon¡±, but please stop making strange damaging rumors.

    Besides, there was the intent of a [Devil] along with the material infused with a [Archdemon]¡®s magic power, so isn¡¯t it quite a suitable [Vessel]? Hooray, Onzada-kun.

    ¡°I, by the name of [Demon Lady Yurushia], designate this soul as a Demon. Dedicate yourself to me eternally, and possess this vessel¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Waitaminut-¡±

    A dying person should just go quietly. As Onzada-kun¡¯s body disappeared and slowly morphed into the soul of a Demon, I forcibly packed him into the rabbit stuffed toy.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, I will give you a ¡®race name¡¯ as a Demon.¡±

    Well, uhm¡­¡­ Rabbit Demon¡­¡­

    ¡°Be born ¡­ Demon [Laplace]¡­¡±

    A Demon that can see time. I imagined the rabbit from ¡°[Through the Looking Glass]¡±.

    I wonder if it might match up with Onzada-kun¡¯s ability to read attacks¡­¡­.

    After a little while, the rabbit stuffed toy Onzada-kun got up, and after looking around, it started nodding at me.

    Thanks to the high-level contract that was established, I felt the power of a Greater Demon.

    The memories¡­¡­ it might be the same situation as Geas. Amidst the vague memories, it still recognizes me.

    The memories are sure to return over time, too. If it increased its power, it might even become human-shaped.

    I will be waiting¡­¡­ Onzada-kun.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°Nn~?¡±

    Onzada-kun suddenly pointed towards something and began to run.

    I thought that he¡¯d found something in the wreckage, and then he ran back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Onzada-kun.¡±

    It was holding a bottle of sake and a glass.

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (*glug glug*)]¡±

    Geas, who saw it, came up to Onzada-kun, and both the bear and the rabbit started drinking like two middle-aged salarymen.

    It¡¯s so surreal¡­¡­ Ah, well.

    ¡°Is it really that great¡­¡­ that stuff¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nice. ¡­¡­ Anyways, what will Yuuki-kun do? Are you returning to your hometown?¡±

    As I looked over at Yuuki-kun, I asked him nastily.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve just gotten married, so¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Misa isn¡¯t done with you yet, that girl.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too late for that now, isn¡¯t it!¡±

    Yuuki-kun¡¯s face looked disappointed even though he was laughing. ¡­¡­ Well, didn¡¯t you agree yourself to come with me?

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I avenge you instead?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ve brought you something else as well. It¡¯s the information of the different world [Tess] that I have.¡±

    ¡°Heeeh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In it, I¡¯ve recording as much as I know of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] and all the coordinates I have. However, there are some parts that I can¡¯t remember, so it¡¯s not entirely complete.¡±

    ¡°Is it alright to send a [Demon] to your hometown?¡±

    ¡°I trust you, somewhat.¡±

    Somewhat¡­¡­ huh.

    ¡°I understand¡­¡­ Thanks for this, then.¡±

    ¡°But be careful. Although you are stronger than them, the scary part of the [Heroes from Another World] isn¡¯t their strength.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As he left that message, Yuuki-kun parted with us to restore the dimensional cracks from the earth side. We could completely close this if we restored the rip from both here and the other side.

    It means that I would say goodbye to this world.

    ¡­¡­ Now.

    I don¡¯t know how to get to the Holy Kingdom yet. But, I think there will be some clues in the world of Yuuki-kun which summons from other worlds.

    And also¡­¡­ how would the [Heroes] who betrayed Yuuki-kun taste like¡­¡­?

    Fufufu¡­¡­

    ¡°Well then everyone, shall we go?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    At last, this book has come to an end.

    I¡¯m sorry for keeping you waiting.

    The atmosphere seems to have changed a lot, but I think that it¡¯ll be as per usual from the next book.

    Before the next book begins, I¡¯d like to talk about one more setting for my own interest. It¡¯s a commentary on Demons.

 CH 109

    Volume 6, Chapter 19: Setting Info [Demon Encyclopedia]

    [Demon Encyclopedia]

    [Demons], who inhabit the Demon World, one of the worlds of spirits, can be divided into several kinds.

    [Least Demon]

    Basically without note, they don¡¯t have any intellect and are weak and selfish in the Demon World, but when summoned into the material world, they have as much power as an average soldier, and could be summoned without human sacrifice, they are basically snacks for other Demons: a pitiful existence.

    [Lesser Demon]

    These are the kinds of demons that most people would think of when asked to imagine demons. They have terrifying appearances like some sort of mutant animal that walks on two legs.

    They roughly look similar to one another, but the strange thing about them is their combat prowess.

    With a body made entirely out of magic power, they can use [Magic] by converting parts of themselves into power, and with a shrewd wit and a giant body that exceeds 2 meters in height, they can disable a knight in full armor with a single blow.

    Their fighting ability is said to match around 3~5 knights together.

    [Greater Demon]

    With an even bigger body than a Lesser Demon, their silhouettes are much closer to human.

    Their most terrible aspect is their ¡®intelligence¡¯ which is said to be equal to that of, or higher than, a human being, and with their enormous Demonic magic power they could shoot out many attack spells with a single roar.

    They always cheat their summoners to devour their souls, and need great care and attention to summon.

    It was said that each one¡¯s battle capacity is equal to that of at least 100 average men, up to around the size of a small army.

    [Archdemon]

    A higher class of Demon. Even in the entirety of the Demon World, there are only around 100 of them.

    Their power is equal to that of a [Greater Spirit] that can create natural disasters, and when they appeared in the physical world in the past, even when they didn¡¯t manifest fully, they would require the power of the whole country to subjugate, or for a [Hero] party to link arms and take them on together.

    It is said that when they showed up, they looked like humans, clad in clothes that looked as if they had been weathered for thousands of years.

    [Highest-Order Demon]

    A great individual that rarely appeared amongst the Archdemons after a long time.

    The existence of three types of them, the [Demon Lord], the [Demon Beast], and the [Devil], have been confirmed.

    They were the [Gods] of the Demons, whose abilities were shrouded in mystery.

    [Demon Character Introductions]

    [Yurushia]

    Magic Power: 120,000 ( 530,000 in Demon form) Species: Golden Beast

    Demonic Title: [Devil][Demon Beast] [Devil Princess] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 158 cm. She is a beautiful girl with golden eyes, and long, straight golden hair going down to the middle of her back.

    A special individual with memories reincarnated from a human being. Summoned to the material world by accident and fusing with a stillborn baby, she became a powerful Demon with human attributes.

    Besides being a humanoid [Devil], she is also a golden cat-type [Demon Beast], which Yurushia uses for magical warfare and physical warfare respectively.

    Although the person herself doesn¡¯t know this, she has become one of the [12 Pillars of the Demon World] after single-handedly destroying one of the pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lord].

    [Rinne]

    Magic Power: 1,080,000 Species: Dark Beast

    Demon Titles [Demon Beast] [Legendary Demon Beast] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    Originally a jet-black leopard whose total length exceeded 10 meters, more recently, it has been more and more like an ordinary ¡®black cat¡¯,

    It had been summoned to a world as a larva, gained an intellect, and then set itself up as a beast type for battle.

    Several thousand years ago, when he was summoned again as a [Greater Demon], he killed his summoner, and through destroying the country, became a [Demon Beast], and came to be called the [Legendary Demon Beast].

    Although he was always bloodthirsty, he has become a Demon with a heavy air of intellect after thousands of years of being a Demon.

    He is still a body without a vessel, and now he is looking for one so that he could maintain his presence stably.

    [Noa]

    Magic Power: 77,000 Species: Incubus

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 15 year old. Height, 174 cm. Yurushia¡¯s exclusive butler, with brunette hair hanging over his forehead covering his blue-grey eyes, with the appearance of an attractive boy.

    A special individual who had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a specially remodeled Demon.

    When he takes on his Demon form, he grows out jet-black goat horns.

    Uses a [Release] ability that is paired with his twin¡¯s [Absorption] ability.

    Prudent and always looking thoughtful, he is always thinking of how he can better serve his mistress, and constantly pours over strategies.

    Occasionally, he wears glasses.

    [Nea]

    Magic Power: 76,000 Species: Succubus

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 15 year old. Height, 164 cm. Yurushia¡¯s exclusive bodyguard knight who takes the form of a beautiful girl with blue-grey eyes and long brunette hair.

    A special individual that had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    Whenever she assumes her demon form, jet-black goat horns grow.

    Uses the [Absorption] ability that is paired with her twin¡¯s [Release].

    Her behavior is reckless, and although she¡¯s quite the carefree character, she has comparatively more common sense then expected.

    The ¡®Golden Sword: Nyanko¡¯ that makes a [Nya] sounds in her mistress¡¯ voice is her treasure.

    [Tina]

    Magic Power: 80,000 Species: Gorgon

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Demon Lord Candidate]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 155 cm. Yurushia¡¯s handmaiden with blonde hair and blue eyes, a cool-looking girl.

    A special individual changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    When she takes on her Demon form, her hair becomes hundreds of golden snakes.

    An individual with great fighting prowess with physical attacks, with her golden snakes and a powerful ¡®petrifying¡¯ ability with her gaze.

    Although her speech and behavior are usually quite cool and collected, and she works hard, her love for her mistress is too strong, and makes her head hazy.

    Incidentally, she is a dirty-minded one¡­ And flat as a board.

    [Fannie]

    Magic Power: 74,000 Species: Nightmare

    Demon Title: [Archdemon] [Devil Candidate]

    Appearance of a 12 year old. Height, 152 cm. Yurushia¡¯s maid who took the form of a fanciful-looking girl with blue eyes, and silver hair that reached her shoulders.

    A special individual that had been changed by Yurushia at the larva stage, a modified Demon.

    In her demon form, her hair turns white and her face will form into a harlequin¡¯s mask.

    She can plunge thousands into a ¡°nightmare¡± just by them seeing her. The events that they experience in the nightmare are felt by them in reality, and destroy the spirits of those experiencing it.

    Her speech and behavior are childish, and only happen whenever something fun to her has happened. On things that concerned her and Yurushia. though, she works seriously.

    Very good at being spoiled. Unexpectedly large chest.

    [Geas]

    Magic Power: 5,000 Species: Behemoth

    Demon Title: [Greater Demon] [Potential Demon Beast]

    Its original appearance was a brutal demon with a bull¡¯s head and a bear¡¯s body the size of a mountain, but after the recoil from being rapidly grown by Yurushia set in, it¡¯s currently a teddy bear.

    Being reincarnated from earth into another world, his regret over his wife on earth had been used by the [Demon Lord].

    Afterwards, his [Contract] had been snatched up by Yurushia, and his soul reincarnated on earth again.

    Having committed countless sins, and having taken countless lives, this powerful soul that had been reborn twice was reborn as a demon, and became Yurushia¡¯s subordinate.

    It¡¯s being spoiled.

    [Onza (Onzada)]

    Magic Power: 4,000 Species: Laplace

    Demon Title: [Greater Demon] [Potential Devil]

    He became a Demon through a contract with Yurushia while he was human, but since there was only a stuffed toy as a vessel nearby when this happened, he is now a moving rabbit stuffed toy.

    The childhood friend of Yuzu, Yurushia¡¯s past life, or rather, her childhood sweetheart? Because of his promise to protect her, as soon as he protected Yurushia and was reborn, he had become a strong individual.

    A Laplace is a Demon that could look into the reaches of time, and that power had been integrated into Onzada¡¯s prediction abilities that he¡¯d had since he was a human being.

    His speech and behavior, far from being a young boy, sounded more like a tired older uncle in life.

    His favorite thing is sake.

    [Mephi (?)]

    Magic Power: ?????? Species: ?????

    Demon Title: [Devil] [Bestower of Wisdom]

    Appearance of someone in their mid-twenties. Height, 185 cm. A beautiful youth with red eyes and navy blue hair that didn¡¯t reflect any light, making it look like black.

    A true Devil that had been travelling between dimensions for thousands of years.

    His demonic form causes him to grow 6 bat wings the same colour as his hair.

    Until Yurushia had appeared, he had been the sole [Devil] in the multiverse for thousands of years, and as the only person of the same type as Yurushia, he called himself [Older Brother].

    Nobody knew what he was thinking, but it seems that he¡¯d given Yurushia, who had become a [Devil] through unusual means, insufficient knowledge.

    His hobby is winning arguments on the internet.

    [Greater Demon Army Members]

    Magic Power: 2000 ~ 3000

    Number: Population reduced from 2000 to 400.

    Special individuals that the attendants had created with the bodies of the vampires.

    Stronger than normal [Greater Demons], they were a Demon Army that existed only for Yurushia.

    They¡¯ve been given a certain amount of modifications and education, and worked well even if they were only given dry seaweed.

    Usually, they would be in the subspace that was governed by Noa, [Lost Eden], processing the seafood.

    [Heraness] [Annihilated]

    Magic Power: 650,000 Species: Monkey

    Demon Title: [Demon Lord] [Harvester] [12 Pillars of the Demon World]

    A normal demon that had been born in the Demon World that had eventually advanced to a [Demon Lord] after a thousand years.

    Usually looked like a human noble, but when his emotions surfaced, his monkey-like appearance would emerge.

    Although he excelled in his cunning and in gathering souls, because he gave priority to his hobbies like many other demons, he took hundreds of years to harvest good souls.

    He was one of the seven Demon Lord pillars of the Demon World, but since he¡¯d only existed about a thousand years, he was the youngest of them.

    Having lost the contract with Yurushia in the battle to take the soul of Geas, he had been destroyed by a slim margin after fighting Yurushia, who was slightly inferior to him.

    He enjoys working with bonsai.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This is completely for the sake of special interest.

    The next volume starts from the next chapter.

 CH 110

    Volume 7, Chapter 0: Hero Summoning, Part 1

    In a large room surrounded by walls of stone, a huge crystal ball hung like a chandelier from the ceiling, emitting a pale, wafting light.

    It made the entire room look rather mystical.

    With no windows and only a single set of double doors, there was a gigantic [Magic Circle] drawn on the floor of this place that looked like a nobleman¡¯s mansion.

    The pale light that illuminated the room suddenly went dark, and then glowed brightly again.

    In this uninhabited room, the crystal ball in the ceiling pulsed slowly, getting brighter, and as light and darkness alternately dyed the room, the magic formation on the floor began to glow, filling up with magic.

    *Bachin*!

    The pale light shone brighter and brighter until it popped, the space distorted, and a dense fog covered the room.

    The light from the ceiling returned to normal, and silence returned.

    However, something was different.

    ¡°¡­¡­owowoww¡­¡­ what?¡±

    The voice of a boy, or should I say, a young adult, was heard.

    That boy: ¡°Daichi¡±, was rubbing his sore forehead with his hand, having fallen suddenly onto the cold floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­What the¡­¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    No, he remembered an event that was so far removed from reality that his common sense couldn¡¯t accept it.

    ¡°What¡­¡­ where¡­¡­ am I?!¡±

    There was a deep mist, like from dry ice, covering the room up to his waist, but it was thinner above, and he could tell that this was a stone room.

    ¡°I-is anyone there!?¡±

    There was a moving shadow in the fog.

    What was this creature that was in such a strange place¡­¡­?

    If it was something dangerous, it would have been foolish, but Daichi instinctively understood ¡®who¡¯ it was and rushed towards them.

    ¡°Touka? oi, get a hold of yourself!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­uu¡­¡­n¡±

    When Daichi shook her shoulders, the girl slowly opened her eyes.

    ¡°¡­Dai¡­chi¡­?¡±

    The girl who had a slightly strong jaw opened her eyes wide when she get ahold of herself, and hugged her chest to fool herself over her relief at seeing Daichi¡¯s face.

    ¡°D-Daichi, what are you doing to me¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything, what are you even saying!¡±

    The boy and the girl stared at each other until, noticing that their faces were too close to one another, they hurriedly turned away, their faces turning red.

    ¡°W-we shouldn¡¯t be doing that!¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    The two young adults continued glancing at one another. When it seemed like the atmosphere under the lights would be unbearable, they hear a low groaning sound from nearby that startled them.

    ¡°Eh, who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯s here?¡­ This is Futa!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here too! It¡¯s Mizuki!¡±

    The lights on the ground moved slightly, showing the two new figures.

    Two of their classmates were now visible, the first a girl named Mizuki, who looked up from the light and gave a small smile, before her expression became unsteady again.

    The other person, a boy named Futa, adjusted his glasses and makes a face as he looked down and asked:

    ¡°Where is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea¡­ Futa, do you remember what happened before you woke up here?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Yeah, we were at school¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the school end bell rang and I was staying in class waiting for the crowds to calm down.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    A shout from Mizuki at the shining lights covered up what was he was going to say, but Futa, just nodded.

    Futa, seeing that his words weren¡¯t be heard, gave a light shrug and sighed as if used to it, not giving a complaint.

    The four people begin comparing memories, to get a picture of what happened.

    Daichi and Touka met in kindergarten, Futa and Mizuki joining them as childhood friends in elementary school, and all four of them advanced through the same escalator school, acting like typical childhood friends.

    The four of them were talking after school in their high school junior year classroom before looking at the sky as a rumbling sound began and the sky turned black.

    Most of the students hurried home after seeing it, but Mizuki said she saw something in the sky so they stayed for a moment.

    When a sound like thunder echoed after a bit, the clouds cleared up and Mizuki suddenly said ¡°I can hear a girl¡¯s voice from the sky,¡± the next moment, a magical shine surrounded them and the four¡¯s memories ended there.

    ¡°Maybe this is an [Isekai] situation?¡±

    ¡°Haah?¡±

    A harsh sounding voice came from Touka at the mutter from Futa.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to enjoy those types books Futa, don¡¯t be so loud, Mizuki is getting frightened.

    ¡°Y-yeah, Touka-chan, be nice, Futa-kun knows a lot of things.¡±

    Mizuki defends him with a reddened face, all huddled up. Whether it was because of the lighting or how sullen she was, she looked like a small animal. Daichi finally spoke up from the side in a loud voice.

    ¡°Yeah, I also borrowed some from Futa and read them. So, does that make us Heroes?¡±

    So he actually read them? When Daichi shared his thoughts, Futa nodded with a serious looking face.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure this will sound stupid, but please listen a bit. How likely is it that we were kidnapped suddenly together from school and put into a room with this fog and other strange scenery? How much would some guy need to spend just to deceive us.¡±

    The other three couldn¡¯t come up with a good counterargument to Futa.

    They couldn¡¯t think of any way a kidnapper could make money if they set up such an elaborate stage.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we¡¯re in a different world?¡±

    Futa gives a slow nod.

    ¡°Mizuki, you said that you heard a ¡®voice¡¯ at back then, do you remember what they said?¡±

    ¡°¡­ No, it was a beautiful girl¡¯s voice, but I couldn¡¯t understand what they said¡­¡±

    Futa shook his head, which caused Mizuki to jump.

    ¡°No, sorry. I was thinking that that ¡®voice¡¯ might have been the spell from a summoner¡­ I figure that if it¡¯s a spell it¡¯s natural that you wouldn¡¯t understand the words.

    Futa looks at the three people before him.

    ¡°People who have been summoned to a different world are typically called ¡°Heroes,¡± as Daichi said, although there is no excuse to rely on the knowledge from those books, there is a possibility that we will be forced to fight if that is the case.¡±

    ¡°Something like that¡­¡±

    Mizuki is leaking out a small whine, Futa putting his hands on her shoulder, feeling embarrassed.

    ¡°Apologies, we¡¯re all together on this. Now, what was your strange request¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, I hear something.¡±

    They quickly looked where Daichi was staring.

    The white mist floating all around them began to flow and compress, and a ¡®pressure¡¯ could be felt from where it was flowing, the two boys stepped in front of the girls as if to protect them.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    In the silent tension, the four held their breath and keep looking around.

    Until¡­

    The first thing they saw were two quietly approaching figures¡­

    When the shadows fell away from the two people as they emerged from the fog, the four were astonished.

    A man and a woman stood in front of them, they seemed to be related, with similar foreign looking faces, silver eyes, and mousey hair color.

    What surprised the four was that they seemed to be younger than them. The boy was wearing a high quality butler outfit that they hadn¡¯t seen before and the girl was wearing shining knight armor.

    The dazzling boy and girl seem to have finally noticed the ground and looked at them with contemplation.

    However, as the two moved forward and to either side, revealing two more girls, the four high schoolers could only stare.

    The first of them was a coldly beautiful girl with shining blond hair curled into vertical rolls.

    The other was smiling widely, with long silver hair that spread out around her shoulders.

    Both of them were wearing pretty clothes, long skirted maid uniforms that didn¡¯t look at all like the imitations worn in Japan. On top of that, Futa and Mizuki noticed that each had what looked like a stuffed animal in their chests.

    The blond girl was hugging the bear plushie and the silver haired girl hugged the rabbit plush. They seemed to be very well made, and even looked around like they had their own wills.

    As they watched to see whether it was a [Creature] from a different world, Mizuki was staring at the moving eyes, her eyes glistening.

    The four beautiful children stopped moving after moving a few meters to stand in front of the four people who arrived from Japan and stared without saying anything.

    ¡°¡­ Guys¡­¡±

    Futa broke the silence with sleight fear in his tone, and the atmosphere changed.

    Nothing changed visibly¡­. The temperature or the moistness of the air¡­

    However, behind the fog, where the four people arrived, there was something new, something unfamiliar.

    The four well dressed people shifted further to the sides, and as they all bowed and fell to their knees, ¡®something¡¯ scattered the mist from the depths.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­!¡±¡±¡±¡±

 CH 111

    Volume 7, Chapter 0: Hero Summoning, Part 2

    The girl before them was wearing a black and silver dress that sparkled like a starry sky as she moved.

    Long hair, like shining golden threads shone upon her head.

    It was as if a God had took all of the negative traits from the cold beauty of a doll, but the four Japanese children, rather than being impressed be her beauty, felt fear.

    It brought home that they were truly in a [Different World].

    The beauty filled the space with her presence and all of them felt like they had been dropped into ice cold water, their hearts stopping.

    However, before the spirits of the four were taken past their limit¡­

    *Fu¡­* The golden eyed girl smiled gently at them and they were released from their spell.

    When the black cat the beautiful girl was holding let out a meow, the children finally felt able to breathe, and Mizuki fell down as if she had locked her knees for too long.

    The golden girl gently held out her hands.

    ¡°Welcome [Heroes from Another World]. It¡¯s good to meet you.

    With these words, the reality of the situation was confirmed, Futa knew for sure that they were Isekai¡¯d as he looked at the girl before them.

    Daichi was still stunned, and Mizuki was unlikely to be useful as she was staring at the realistic eyes on the stuffed animals and black cat.

    ¡°¡­ So this is really a different w-world?¡±

    At Touka¡¯s words, the girl gives a slow nod.

    ¡°You are correct. You have been summoned as ¡°Heroes¡± from another world-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Futa interrupted the girl¡¯s speech.

    ¡°Why did you summon us? Are you a ¡®Princess¡¯ or something?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know whether they were simply asking them or whether they planned to treat them like slaves, but if they kept going without considering the other party, he wouldn¡¯t take it lying down.

    However, even with how rude he was, the little girl smiled a little, while the servant¡¯s faces were stone blank.

    ¡°U-umm, well, I have been called that before.¡±

    The girl seemed to be shy based on her expression¡­ taking in that image, Futa shook his head to dispel his distraction before looking at the girl again.

    ¡°Futa-kun¡­ that girl¡¯s voice¡­ it¡¯s just like that one I heard back then.¡±

    ¡°¡­as I thought.¡±

    Futa nods to Mizuki, who had whispered to him, before speaking to the golden girl once more.

    ¡°How do you think anyone in our position would feel about this? This is a kidnapping.¡±

    It¡¯s going well, this line of thought is working, Futa thought to himself.

    For the time being, they would listen to her story, but it was his job to make sure that they made it through this negotiation without crossing any lines. While he thought he failed on his first impression, it seems like she wasn¡¯t as judgmental as was possible.

    Futa was thinking about how to get the best conditions from this situation, but the words from the golden girl were rather unexpected.

    ¡°Actually, the summoning can¡¯t force anyone to come that doesn¡¯t agree, you know?¡±

    ¡°Wha¡­?¡±

    A dumbfounded sound comes from his mouth at the unexpected development.

    ¡°If it¡¯s a mindless creature, you can force it to obey with magical power, if it¡¯s animal-like, you can force it to a certain extent, but you can¡¯t summon an intelligent thing like a human without the other¡¯s consent.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Buut, we were summoned without our permission!¡±

    ¡°The consent from the summoned party is not limited to [words], it can be taken from their psychology and past behavior. If you see the magic circle and step in while recognizing it as such, then it is considered consent.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat us like idiots! We never did that!¡±

    ¡°So¡­ you never wanted to go to another world?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we want to be in the real world¡­ and that¡¯s that¡­¡±

    Touka had raised her voice, glancing at Daichi.

    ¡°I see, so ¡°I don¡¯t want to study today¡± or ¡°I don¡¯t want to take an exam¡± or ¡°I want to go to a dream world without worrying about everything¡± ¡­ you¡¯ve never thought things like that?¡±

    ¡°¡­Th-that is-¡°

    To think there was a rule like that, Touka disapproved.

    ¡°Such a¡­ such a dumb¡­ saying that we¡¯re responsible! If you never did the ¡®Summoning¡¯ none of this would have happened!¡±

    Still trying to protect his friends through negotiations, Futa¡¯s head fell, the anger filled eyes he looked at her with seemed to cause the little girl to smile deeper.

    ¡°You should be careful what you wish for¡­ with something like a summoning to a different world. Once you move forward, it will come for you regardless. You really should accept it and move on. That¡¯s how ¡®adults¡¯ work.

    ¡°Bullshit! This is your fault¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh? You would put the responsibility on me?¡±

    The girl looked excited, and the followers to either side of them were smiling like demons.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Feeling the anger that suffused her words, it felt like the earth and sky itself was closing in on them, keeping their eyes looking at her.

    The smiles of the residents of this new world kept steady, not changing a bit, even as the anger spiraled around them.

    Just when the thread of tension seemed about to snap¡­

    *Gakooon*

    The large door in the room began to open with a sound, and light began streaming in.

    ¡°I am the second princess of the Seiru Kingdom, Bianka von do Seiru. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, [Heroes from Another World] ¡°

    What appeared in the doorway was a light blonde haired girl of about 16 years of age with a knight be her side, who claimed herself as the ¡®princess¡¯ of this country.

    Now knowing that this person seems to be the ones who had summoned them, the four Japanese children blink in surprise.

    Naturally, Bianca was surprised by the atmosphere of the place, as well as the amount of people, which was much more than they planned. Not to mention the rounded eyes on the aristocratic looking girl which was different form all of the heroes that had been summoned up till now.

    The four Japanese people seemed to be looking alternately between the little girl and Bianca¡¯s stunned face, before Bianca and them said the same words at the same time.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­ Wait, who the heck are you¡­!?¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±

 CH 112

    Volume 7, Chapter 1: I Became a Saint Again, Part 1, Part 1

    ¡°Wait a minute, you didn¡¯t summon us!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, who are they then!?¡±

    ¡°These people are suspicious, move away from them, your highness!¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you! Oy, Princess, tell us your story.¡±

    ¡°All of you be quiet! Or rather, well, who are you all?¡±

    Everyone other than us started making a racket due to the confusion of the knight and the four summoned people. Bianca, the princess of this country was pointing straight at me.

    It¡¯s rather rude of someone who calls themselves royalty to point like that

    ¡­ As I thought, this isn¡¯t going to work. It¡¯s just too much.

    On our way towards this world, we saw that these four people were summoned perfectly, so we joined in after them, and before we knew it, a ¡®school play¡¯ kind of event had started in front of us, so I just had to join in.

    So, I did?

    That whole [Summoned into a Different World] thing¡­ Although it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen it, it¡¯s really quite emotional when seeing it in person. When I was in the demon world, I was often thinking of what to do when I was summoned by humans, but it seems like summoning humans is quite interesting as well.

    To make a long story short, we came into this world through [Seaweed], but before that, let¡¯s recap the events from the null-space to now.

    And so, we enter a flashback¡­

    ¡°You, golden girl! Why are you ignoring me!?¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, here it is.¡±

    Having closed the rift in space and stabilized Geas and Onzada-kun as new [Devils], we started moving.

    ¡­ Well, before that, I first shook hands with 400 greater demons, so the departure was delayed by two hours. Why did that need to happen?

    Anyways, after that they all went back to [Lost Eden]; do they just live there all the time¡­?

    For the time being, I¡¯m aiming for the home town of Yuuki-kun, the former ¡°Hero from Another World,¡± the world [Tess].

    Even though I didn¡¯t know the location well, I don¡¯t need to worry about getting lost, because it seems like Fanny has a high navigation ability.

    That world, [Tess], is the sort of world we wouldn¡¯t normally go to.

    My goal is to return to the world where Father and Mother are waiting, so I don¡¯t want to stop off, but before that can happen, I don¡¯t actually know where the world of the Holy Kingdom is.

    Speaking of¡­

    ¡°Hey, Rinne¡­ what¡¯s the name of the world that we were at just before?¡±

    ¡°[That world? It¡¯s a relatively new world, it was called ¡°Atora¡± by the Demons]¡±

    ¡°¡­ Hmm? We¡¯re not demons from Atora?¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t quite understand, I asked for help, and Rinne sighed softly before replying.

    ¡°[Your thinking is biased. There¡¯s only one Demon World]¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ Hold on a moment. So, if we go back to the Demon World, can we just¡­ go back to Atora at will?¡±

    All of my hardships up to now¡­

    Or so I thought, but it seems like there¡¯s a slight nuance to it.

    ¡°[That Earth had no magical power, and passage to the Demon World had been closed, so the section of the Demon World near that world has been abandoned.]¡±

    ¡°Hmm~¡±

    I didn¡¯t understand at first, but with enough explaining I finally understood.

    In short, the size of the [Spirit World] which includes the Demon World is infinite, searching through the Demon World for a specific world would feel like searching for a planet that can support life within the universe.

    Since the distance is crossable in the spirit world, it¡¯s possible to go to another world if you work really hard.

    Only [Devils] seem to be able to easily cross through worlds using dimensional magic, but I don¡¯t actually know the coordinates¡­

    The six or seven pillars, known as the [Demon Road], in the Demon World mostly regulate the extent of the connection to the worlds around their territories, but if you go far away, some other existence governs things.

    It seems like back home, there might have used to really been Demons like in the Old Testament around back then.

    Rinne hadn¡¯t ever seen this area, and it seems like the empty space in the Demon World around Atora is as large as the Earth¡¯s surface.

    Anyways, that¡¯s why passing through different dimensions is the only quick way to cross between worlds.

    I don¡¯t think it should be that different of a feeling from when I was back on Earth, but I did know that it would take thousands of years to find without knowing the location.

    One positive is that my Father and Mother gave me my ¡°Name,¡± so there is a connection to their souls, but I won¡¯t be able to sense it until I get closer to it.

    There¡¯s also another couple reasons for us to stop in on [Tess].

    First, a place which performs ¡°Isekai¡± summons may be connected to the world where the Holy Kingdom exists.

    Also, although it might be faulty information, there is the reason of figuring out the [Hero¡¯s Inventory]

    If I recall, I may be able to analyze it so that we can give it to Noah, who can store things.

    The other reason is the [Level System], but that isn¡¯t that juicy of a piece of information for us, since we can just elevate our power from eating souls. Still, I want to investigate that hero ability since I feel sorry for the Greater Demons.

    Besides, I promised Yuuki-kun that I would visit his world and do something about the situation there.

    Even so¡­

    ¡°Stop getting in the way.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Seriously¡±

    Tina and Nea commented on my mutterings, as we move a fully loaded car that floated in our way.

    Various items from Japan are scattered in the different planes here, which isn¡¯t good. Food can also transport over, but without an atmosphere, the normal groceries had completely shriveled up.

    As we moved things out of the way, since there wasn¡¯t any gravity there were often sequential collisions, making fierce clanging sounds.

    ¡°¡­ how is there this much stuff here?¡±

    There is just too much debris (garbage) drifting everywhere.

    Even though the beast of Tokyo is in there and the space is still warped, shouldn¡¯t there be limits on the amount of junk?

    ¡°[Apparently space seems to be open all over in this place. Here.]¡±

    Rinne jumped off of my shoulder towards something drifting nearby, I grab it with my power and float it towards me.

    ¡°¡­ A Charm?¡±

    It was an old charm from a famous shrine I had visited.

    ¡°[I saw the same thing in a place where humans gathered in the south. Is there something in this area?]¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    There is a shrine in the north, but it¡¯s not likely that a Demon from another world would be able to guess that exactly.

    Because it¡¯s the charm from a famous shrine, there are a high number of souvenirs taken from it, but on the other hand, there are items not found in Tokyo as well as cars with non-Kanto plates.

    ¡°¡­ Just how often has Tess abducted people from Japan¡­¡±

    All of the garbage around here was the result of being caught up in summons from [Tess].

    It seems as though a summoning passage was completed between [Tess] and [Japan], but¡­

    ¡°[Yurushia, have you noticed it?]¡±

    ¡°.. yeah¡±

    There were a lot more corpses that I thought.

    Even if they¡¯re successfully summoned to a different world, not everyone can safely come over. You need to have enough life force and strength of soul to withstand crossing through the dimensions.

    It¡¯s also possible to summon only the soul, but in that case the original body would die in their dimension.

    Based on the number of corpses, though, it seems like this summoning has been carried out without completing the necessary sub-sections, such as examining the suitability of the soul or the magnitude of magical power.

    There is a proper method to summon someone¡­

    Humans shouldn¡¯t be summoned unless they are unconscious, and if consent hasn¡¯t been obtained before they are unconscious, they also shouldn¡¯t be summoned.

    With just half of the requirements¡­ or maybe less than that¡­

    ¡°Horrible, isn¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡°[¡­ Yeah, it is]¡±

    Human greed is truly amusing¡­ and as a result, we¡¯re absorbing all the souls drifting around the area.

    There¡¯s no helping it. The souls which have been torn apart here and scattered around disappear and are absorbed by us as soon as we approach, without any input from us.

    It¡¯s not very tasty, but it should be enough to restore our magical power.

    ¡°[Truly, you really don¡¯t seem to enjoy this, Yurushia.]¡±

    ¡°¡­Wha?¡±

    When I looked towards Rinne, I saw a mountain like profile in the distance beyond the floating debris.

    What¡­? Is it a demon type from another dimension? It definitely looks like a giant slime in appearance, is it coming this way? Ah~ do we have any bait that we haven¡¯t eaten for that?

    ¡­Hm? Could it be a situation of it not being able to see us?

    We approached the GudaGuda thing.

 CH 113

    Volume 7, Chapter 1: I Became a Saint Again, Part 1, Part 1

    ¡°[Yurushia, would you mind if I killed it?]¡±

    ¡°Sure, feel free.¡±

    Since he seems frustrated with his lack of fights lately, I¡¯ll leave it to Rinne this time. To be honest, I¡¯m a bit nervous, but I won¡¯t complain since my attendants seem to be unworried.

    Well, it should be fun, at least¡­ I just can¡¯t understand boys sometimes. Since I just finished a hard task, I wouldn¡¯t want to work more.

    ¡°[Gao Gau]¡±

    ¡°Geas, do you want to come?¡±

    ¡°[Gao]¡±

    Apparently, Geas (Teddy Bear) wants to go along. Good luck together than. What do you call a little boy that¡¯s hundreds or thousands of years old¡­

    Are other boys better? As I thought this, I looked over and a certain bunny was gesturing at Rinne and Geas, pointing towards me and making a fist over his heart.

    Something like¡­ leave this place to me and fight without worries¡­ huh.

    Oh my¡­ how cool, Rabbit-kun.

    Strangely, Fanny grabbed up and hugged him full power, but didn¡¯t break him.

    On a side note, Noah is the only one who doesn¡¯t prize physical strength.

    By the time we arrived at the battle on foot, Rinne had already won.

    Since Geas seemed to have become all tattered, I eventually decided to use magic to repair him¡­ huh, my work hasn¡¯t decreased.

    Anyways, since all the garbage was blown away by the ¡®Other Dimension Demon,¡¯ the road ahead was actually smooth sailing.

    ¡°[¡­ *PonPon*]¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    After walking, or rather not walking, for a while, as far as that term means anything in this dimension, I felt Onzada-kun kick me in my side.

    ¡°[¡­ *Rustle*]¡±

    ¡°Over there?¡±

    Geas also doesn¡¯t seem to understand Onzada-kun since he doesn¡¯t use words.

    ¡°He said that there are signs of people over there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    Apparently, Fanny is able to understand the language of stuffed animals. Just why?

    ¡°You all, what do you sense?¡±

    All of my attendants have better sensing capabilities than the stuffed animals, they should be able to tell what it is, demon or no.

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°Apparently, some humans are being summoned.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, four people, it looks like.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yeah, it¡¯s no small thing. Onzada-kun was saved because I stayed here.

    Still, it¡¯s amazing how many people are summoned so sloppily. Are they okay¡­?

    ¡°Let¡¯s chase them.¡±

    I don¡¯t feel any obligation to help, but I would be remiss to ignore this.

    Besides, we can always come back here for more enjoyment by opening the [Gate] from the other side.

    The [Gate] that the humans have made is small, but we should be able all fit through since we¡¯re all small at the moment.

    And so, we go off to a new stage¡­ the Isekai, [Tess].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, one of the heroes meets¡­ ¡°That Man¡±

 CH 114

    Volume 7, Chapter 2: I became a Saint Again, Part 2, Part 1

    ¡°How long are you going to ignore me!?¡±

    I cut off my flashback seeing as someone was making noise nearby.

    Indeed, it was the Princess of this country who was calling out¡­¡­ uhh¡­¡­ Bianca-chan, was it? But anyway, the flashback was almost over. ¡­¡­ She might be surprisingly cute?

    ¡°W-why, are you smiling while looking at me like that¡±

    She got frightened when I looked at her gently with a warm smile on my face. How impudent.

    ¡°Oi, you peasant, answer Her Highness¡¯ words!¡±

    Among the knights that were escorting Bianca, a man wearing an important-looking armor came out and rudely cut in, shouting loudly.

    I wonder if the blood rushed to his head? I¡¯m alright, though, I¡¯m not scared of strangers in another world, and given that I look like a lady who has her own escort knights and followers, I wonder if he¡¯ll suddenly try to pull a sword on me?

    Even if he is a knight, he¡¯s really no different from an ordinary person to us. Although I¡¯ll see this to the end, it¡¯s no fun to be hostile from the start even if you are just being vigilant.

    However, the moment I notice that sword getting pointed at me, my followers, who are currently watching passively by my side, will disintegrate him in an instant.

    Well, what should I do now¡­¡­

    As I thought as much, *swoosh*, someone stepped forward to protect me, stepping in front of the knight.

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s Onzada (rabbit)-kun.

    The knight stared with their eyes wide at the rabbit soft toy that was about half a meter tall that popped out.

    In this atmosphere, where everyone had been stunned into silence, only one person, one of the summoned little girls, was looking on with shining eyes.

    ¡°W-what the heck is this joke item! Some sort of autonomous magic tool, you suspicious magician!¡±

    The knight that returned to his senses faster than I thought turned towards me in alarm, but he still turned his sword at Onzada-kun with a somewhat stupid face.

    Heeh¡­¡­ So there are ¡°autonomous magic tools¡±. Was it some sort of golem that incorporated a Lesser Spirit? Or did they develop things like artificial intelligence.

    Nevertheless, against the knight that was pointing a sword at him, Onzada-kun took up a position like a kenpo fighter, and tried to motion with his fingers¡­¡­  but he¡¯s a stuffed toy, so he couldn¡¯t bend his hands for this, as he tried to provoke the knight.

    ¡°¡­¡­This guy!¡±

    The knight fell for it beautifully and his face went red.

    The other knights with him all had troubled faces, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s because I¡¯m smiling, but rather, as knights with pride, they couldn¡¯t tell if their leader was being mocked or if she was angry.

    If it was the latter case, then if these one-track-minded people had high statuses as knights, then this country was a small one¡­¡­

    ¡°HIYAHHHHHH!¡±

    As the knight approached Onzada-kun, he swung his sword about in a casual manner.

    Hmm¡­¡­ Although it seems that his brain is made of muscle, it seems that his sword is pretty good, and so are his swings. Was it a magic sword that had been enchanted? It was of a poorer quality than the swords that I gave to my escort knights.

    Putting aside if it was powerful, his sword was surprisingly fast.

    The moment its straight tip came into contact with Onzada-kun, Onzada-kun put his hands on the core of the sword and gently turned it aside.

    *GAN*!

    ¡°Dooguooooohhh!¡±

    Before the sword had even struck the stone floor, Onzada-kun¡¯s hands had struck out at the knight¡¯s face.

    [(*swoosh*)]

    Onzada-kun leapt up onto the knight who had been staggered back and knocked flying and began to rapidly hit the face of the knight who hadn¡¯t yet come to terms with what had happened.

    ¡°*GUHO*!? Wait, *GUHA*, this¡­ *KAAH* O- ¡°

    In front of this somewhat heart-warming sight, Bianca and the knights were mostly stunned, while several of the knights were grinning, some wore severe grimaces¡­¡­

    ¡°*guhiii* Stop, *kuho*¡­ Y-yo¡­ *gaa*¡­ *higu*, *guooo*, *goho*¡­ o¡±

    *bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash bash¡­¡­*

    Because it sounded like that, there wasn¡¯t quite the feeling of urgency, but as the blood splattered and his teeth broke, covered in blood, the faces of those observing gradually paled and cramped up.

    The four people summoned by Bianca, who had no resistance to this gory scene whatsoever, looked like they were about to vomit.

    ¡°Onzada-kun, come back.¡±

    When the knights finally recovered from their daze to reality, and pulled out their swords, I stopped Onzada-kun and recalled him.

    I think he was probably going easy on them because the other party was a human, but if Onzada-kun, who held the power of a Greater Demon, continued to beat him up, it would start getting awkward soon.

    ¡°[(Doyaa)]¡±

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    As Onzada-kun returned, Geas seemed to be saying something to him by going ¡°Gaugau¡±, but I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what he was saying.

    In such an atmosphere, that child named Mizuki that had looked like she was going to vomit a little while ago was making a wonderful set of *kirakira* eyes at the rabbit and bear¡¯s conversation.

    ¡­¡­ though Onzada-kun still returned blood-stained.

    ¡°Someone get a healer!¡±

    ¡°Hurry up, or he won¡¯t make it!¡±

    The knights began to raise a ruckus and the older ones gave instructions to the junior knights. While a few of the knights were rushing about hurriedly, our side that was next to them was rather calm, and it was excellent that they didn¡¯t panic despite their rush.

    Ah¡­¡­ could it be? Is this proud knight hated?

    And that knight, whose face had been so beaten up that he couldn¡¯t be recognized, was on the floor, his limbs thrashing about, twisted in strange directions.

    Uwahh¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light!]¡­¡±

 CH 115

    Volume 7, Chapter 2: I became a Saint Again, Part 2, Part 2

    It¡¯s bad to show all these ugly scenes to good children, so I cast some holy magic. It seems that holy magic activates properly even in this world¡­¡­

    As the soft and gentle light expanded, the bustling knights stopped running around and their jaws dropped with a *pokan* as they were stunned into silence despite their caution.

    The magic I used this time has high entertainment value, the [Elixir] that combines both high-level healing and high-level regeneration.

    As the light faded, the knight¡¯s limbs were set properly, his missing teeth returned. He checked his own body, and then his eyes went as wide as saucers looking at me.

    As I put down the black cat that I was holding (Rinne), with a [Tadaa~h] motion, I slowly walked forward, holding the hem of my black and silver dress up above my feet, and bowed gracefully.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Princess Bianca. I came from a different world, [Atra], from the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo, the granddaughter of the 22nd generation King, King Verusenia, the daughter of the Verusenia ducal house of the same name, 6th in line for the throne of Tariterudo, Yurushia Ra Von Verusenia.¡±

    When I received my title as the [Saint of the Holy Kingdom], I also received a succession right to the throne and a [Von] (TL note: German; like the title) as a member of the royal family. Formally, it should have come into effect when I turned 13, but when I was travelling in other countries, Grandfather (His Majesty) permitted me to use it up to my discretion.

    Well, when I became a daughter-in-law it would become effective too, but should I use it¡­¡­? I thought so, so let¡¯s put it to use this time.

    But why am I the sixth in line¡­¡­? Well, Father is fourth in line. And my older sisters¡­¡­ Well, they¡¯ve got many issues, okay.

    But now, I used my ¡®Name¡¯, which was rather significant, even though I didn¡¯t plan to.

    Princess Bianca too had a ¡®Fond¡¯ as princess, like in Tariterudo, but the manner of kings and nobles was far too similar to ¡®Earth¡¯.

    Perhaps, it¡¯s due to the influence of ¡®otherworlders¡¯ who have flowed over, and if it was the case that both worlds were being affected this would not be a problem, but if only the knowledge of Earth was being spread, I feel that it¡¯s somewhat artificial.

    In my mind this was a good idea, but I also wanted to confirm the degree of infiltration by expressing my ¡®position¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­eh, ah¡­¡±

    As I suddenly expressed my gratitude as a noble, Bianca took a while to reboot.

    ¡°¡­¡­Excuse me. I am the second princess of the Sail Country, Bianca Von Do Sail¡­¡±

    ¡°Eeh, I have already heard you before, Bianca-sama. I¡¯m sorry for having you introduce yourself twice.¡±

    ¡°Is t-that so¡­¡±

    As I gave her a faint smile, Bianca looked like she had forgotten that she had introduced herself already, but after a moment¡¯s frustration she lifted up her eyebrows and stared at me.

    ¡°¡­¡­Another world¡¯s ¡­¡­ ¡®Princess¡¯¡­?¡±

    That was the mutter coming from the knight that was still sitting on the floor.

    If they were to misunderstand here, then it would get noisy again when it hit everyone.

    Are you still confused?

    ¡°Oh, you are most welcome.¡±

    What would it be like to be holding the royal family of another country in such a place? ¡­¡­ As she made a troubled face and tilted her head in thought, a knight that seemed well-informed went to her, whispering something in her ear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ T-that¡¯s right. Yurushia¡­-sama, please, follow me. My father¡­¡­ I will seek an audience with His Majesty the King of the Sail Country.¡±

    As Bianca said so, she didn¡¯t apologize at all or explain anything that happened here regarding the summoning, but turned away after saying her piece.

    It¡¯s good enough for me, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Please wait a moment. What is going to happen to them?¡±

    As I spoke, I pointed at the four of them who had been summoned from Earth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah,¡±

    At my words, Bianca who had completely forgotten in her fluster accidentally let a noise slip. Well, more than half of this is my fault.

    The four of them cowered as they caught my gaze, but they had a look of relief that they weren¡¯t about to be ignored in this unfamiliar kingdom.

    I also don¡¯t intend to just neglect them.

    Anyway, I think the only four people that I could believe in in this castle were these four.

    Even if it wasn¡¯t everyone, this country is dubious. There¡¯s that particular sweet smell that¡¯s peculiar to aristocratic corruption.

    An audience with the king¡­¡­ I think I¡¯ll enjoy it for a while.

    This country, it will slowly be ¡®eroded¡¯, no?

    ¡°Yaa, pretty Princess-san, are these the people who were summoned this time?¡±

    A person called out to us from the large door that was still open.

    Wearing dark blue tailored clothes, was a tall man dressed partially in an iridescent armor, with black hair and brown eyes that were close to black and a yellowish skin, completely unlike anyone else in this world, but remarkably close to the four of them who had been summoned.

    Maybe¡­¡­¡­ is it Japanese?

    He looks to be about 30 to me. One of the knights next to him approached and quietly listened to him, and then he nodded slightly, walking towards me.

    ¡­¡­Hey, this person¡­¡­

    ¡°Forgive my manners, Princess of another world. I am Kidou Kyoji. ¡­¡­Please, call me Kyoji.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Who the heck are you?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Do you remember how many pieces of bread you¡¯ve ever eaten?

    Next time, meeting with a king that¡¯s a little more than usual.

 CH 116

    Volume 7, Chapter 3: I Became a Saint Again, Part 3, Part 1

    Kyoji knelt before me, taking my hand as he lightly touched it to his lips.

    I¡¯m still not quite used to getting ¡®Kissed on the Hand,¡¯ but somehow I felt that Kyoji was remarkably familiar with it.

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (Yurushia) ]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­(What¡¯s the matter?)¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­ (Don¡¯t you remember? This is that guy that you sent to another dimension.)]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even if he does get jealous, Rinne can¡¯t be jealous when it comes to human beings, as usual. Although it¡¯s good that you want to show me your better side, but for me, it¡¯s okay to show your baser sides too, you know?

    That being said, now that he mentioned it I remembered.

    He was one of those kidnappers, who I¡¯d sent into a different dimension through the dimensional gate that had no air, no water, and no light, right? I was trying to help him, but I¡¯d never thought that he¡¯d make it to another world.

    ¡°Is something the matter, Princess?¡±

    ¡°No, Kyoji-sama. My name is Yurushia. ¡­¡­ Are you possibly the ¡°hero-sama¡± of this country, Sail?

    Somehow, from the Kyoji of now, I could feel a power similar to that of Yuuki-kun that I hadn¡¯t felt before.

    Instead of like a toad, it¡¯s more like a fast straight now, and Kyoji smiled at my question, even as his eyes narrowed slightly.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia has very nice eyes.  Your golden eyes look as if they would expose everything. ¡­¡­ don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    Kyoji added some sweet words to his question and muddied the answer, and so I riposted with a question of my own.

    ¡°Oh my, Kyoji-sama, I feel that your power is as pure as water.¡±

    Certainly, according to Yuuki-kun¡¯s data, the hero of Sail is supposed to be the [Hero of Water]. As I gave him an appropriate reply, I could feel Kyoji get ever so slightly warier against me.

    ¡°Hohoo¡­¡­ Princess-san seems to have a pretty good ¡°power¡±. We should talk again later¡­¡±

    ¡°Kyoji-sama!¡±

    Suddenly, a voice cut in, interrupting our conversation.

    Bianca directed a sharp gaze at me, even as her face turned red and her eyes reflected the image of Kyoji. I see how it is¡­¡­ her motives are indeed thin.

    ¡°My apologies, Bianca-sama. I left you alone, but I am thankful for you, for constantly supporting me despite my imposing on you. ¡°

    ¡°Well, such a thing¡­¡­ Kyoji-sama¡±

    Bianca¡¯s cheeks turn rosy as Kyoji gently stroked her cheeks, turning towards me with an expression of victory.

    ¡­¡­ No, even if you give me that face, that reaction means trouble.

    Anyway, I guess we¡¯ll have to restart negotiations with Kyoji later. At least that clearly tells me that he was the hero, although, I thought that it was a girl, and not Kyoji.

    While re-contemplating Kyoji afresh, the nearby knights began to carry out their instructions.

    ¡°His Majesty will grant you your audience. Please come with us, Princess Yurushia and your followers.¡±

    At Kyoji¡¯s words, he had a very natural expression of gratitude just like an aristocrat¡¯s.

    He seems to not be making light of me¡­¡­ Although I couldn¡¯t get positive proof about Kyoji, but that¡¯s what my intuition said.

    Then, this fellow is one of the ¡°Heroes of another world¡± that had killed Yuuki-kun.

    But then¡­ the timeline doesn¡¯t actually fit¡­¡­ Let¡¯s examine our surroundings later.

    Kyoji took Bianca¡¯s hand to please her and walked ahead, leaving my escort to one of his subordinates, a beautiful knight.-

    ¡°[¡­¡­(Hyooi)]¡±

    When Onzada-kun appeared to block the knight that was approaching me inadvertently, they trembled with a start and moved away from Onzada-kun hastily.

    There, there, you were quite scared, right? Though there was that spurt of blood, too.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    I lightly used the [Purification] holy magic and erased the blood that was stuck on Onzada-kun.

    Maybe it was because he had no tolerance for [Holiness] unlike I, who was human, but Onzada-kun seemed to be trembling slightly like he was feeling disgusted.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I felt someone lightly gazing at me. Kyoji was observing the [Magic] that I used.

    I stopped as Kyoji spoke to me as if he hadn¡¯t been looking, even as I gave him, who was in front of me, a little smile.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ was what you used just now [Holy Magic]?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called that in this world. Is Kyoji-sama able to use it as well?¡±

    ¡°Mine is like mere child¡¯s play next to Princess¡¯.¡±

    We evaded answering each other and tried to lightly probe the other.

    On Kyoji¡¯s side, he wants to know if I am someone that he can use, and if I can be his ally, and so he wants to hide his abilities as much as possible.

    But for me, I am merely [Checking the Facts].

    I knew Yuuki-kun¡¯s ability, and from the information that I¡¯d gotten from his about heroes, heroes couldn¡¯t use healing magic, and could only use [Recovery Magic] to boost their healing ability.

    But that was information from twenty years ago.

    And yet, Kyoji looked as if he was about 30 years old right now¡­¡­ Although my intuition told me that Yuuki-kun had been killed by him, when Yuuki-kun died, Kyoji was still on Earth.

    Did I guess wrongly? Or did the timelines get messed up¡­¡­?

    Although I haven¡¯t done a thorough examination of the area, I wasn¡¯t able to precisely measure Kyoji¡¯s ability¡­¡­

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! Kyoji-sama was summoned as a hero 14 years ago. With his healing powers as the [Hero of Water], the other heroes are nothing compared to him.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°

    As Bianca proudly declared so, Kyoji¡¯s smile grew cold, and my smile deepened slightly.

    Is that alright, Kyoji? ¡®I have to recover quickly¡¯, no?

    No, no, Bianca-chan, you¡¯ll tell me a lot of things that I want to know.

    A hero who can use the power of water to heal¡­¡­ Which reminds me, I remember someone saying that the demons of Atra used that power too.

    And 14 years ago? Surely, that means that the timeline has gotten screwed up. Even if you crossed a dimension, as long as you were a ¡®soul¡¯ like in Geas¡¯ case, you could only really arrive early or arrive late, and not go back in time.

    No, this is no good. I don¡¯t have enough information yet.

    There was the example where Geas became my grandpa, too, but he was an ally. In the case of an enemy, however, it worried me that I had no information about him at all.

    Well, it¡¯s no fun anymore, since Kyoji isn¡¯t going to give me any more information, so I escorted Bianca and began walking ahead.

    Although, that pretty knight from a little while ago also escorted us.

    ¡°Splendid.¡±

    I kept walking as if I hadn¡¯t heard anything. Because otherwise, I¡¯d have to talk to those people who were trying to talk to me, and I don¡¯t want that.

    One of them was the knight that Onzada-kun had viciously beat up a while ago, and how he was looking at me with sparkling eyes, only to divert his gaze when I looked at his face. ¡­¡­ Is there something you¡¯re really itching to say? And then, there¡¯s the other bunch.

    ¡°H-hey, you¡­¡±

    I thought it was the glasses-wearing guy, but it was a girl with strong features. Looking at the girls who had been abducted from Earth, I didn¡¯t really trust them, but it was preferable to talk to them compared than the criminal ones.

    ¡°Oh, is something the matter?¡±

    I turned as I lowered my voice so that only she could hear me as we walked, and although she seemed frightened, she resolved herself to speak.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ weren¡¯t the one to summon us? You didn¡¯t do it, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yep, sorry. It was a cruel joke.¡±

    As I suppressed my presence while smiling as gently as I could, she looked a little more relieved.

    ¡°But, why are things like this?¡±

    ¡°U-uhm,, you were also summoned, were you not?¡±

    As I loosened up the atmosphere, the little girl also spoke to me.

    ¡°I am Yurushia. You are?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, my name is Mizuki,¡±

    ¡°I am Touka¡±

    Oh yeah, there was one of them named that. I¡¯d forgotten that I heard it, though.

    ¡°I-I am Daichi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Futa.¡±

    The mood started to lift a little as they started a conversation. ¡­¡­ when I forget again, I¡¯ll just get Rinne to teach me.

    ¡°And so¡­¡­ why did you end up trying to imitate that situation?¡±

    Touka and Futa turned towards me with looks of suspicion about that whole act.

    ¡°It was a little¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s because you guys have no sense of danger.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Futa had a hint of regret creep onto his face when he realized what I meant.

    ¡°Also, with regard to what Mizuki asked, no, I wasn¡¯t summoned. I was just on my way back to my world, and merely took advantage of your summoning.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Can you advise us?¡±

    Mizuki and Touka¡¯s eyes went wide as they looked at me intently. I didn¡¯t answer them, and merely gave them a vague smile.

    ¡­¡­ Sorry, I¡¯m not going to reply you because it¡¯s funnier this way.

    ¡°Heey, who so you think you are?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave the minor talk to later.¡±

    And with that, I put a sock in that conversation.

    ¡°Soon, we will be meeting His Majesty the King. Please do not be careless with your words. Ask for help from my servants if you feel it is dangerous.¡±

    As I said so to the four of them, they turned towards my attendants and swallowed hard.

    They¡¯re properly steeling themselves. Because after this the real main event for today.

    If things broke down¡­¡­ it might just be the end of this country today.

 CH 117

    Volume 7, Chapter 3: I Became a Saint Again, Part 3, Part 2

    We finally reached our meeting place after heading through a considerably long white passage. I was a little tired.

    When the knights opened the door, I saw the figure of the king sitting on the throne in the back of the great hall.

    ¡°Ooh, are these the heroes at last?¡±

    The King of Sail had solidly-built physique, and looked at us from his seat, and spoke far too loudly.

    The castle¡¯s size felt somewhat similar to that of the Holy Kingdom (Tariterudo)? It was a similar castle, but the people surrounding the king who looked rather minister-like were rather extravagant-looking.

    ¡°You insects, in front of His Majesty the King, you dare not kneel?¡±

    An old man next to the king who was wearing the most pompous armor out of everyone stood up, and the four of them started to kneel, but I stopped them with a gesture.

    ¡°Oh? Why, though?¡±

    ¡°You bastard!¡±

    Why is that¡­¡­ I feel he¡¯s got the same smell as that knight that got beaten up just a while ago. When I saw that knight¡¯s face turn green, I wondered if he would be calling for reinforcements. ¡­¡­Aah, now that I look at it, their faces look similar too.

    ¡°Good, good, unlike the usual visitors from [Terra], it seems we have a princess from another world. Indeed, you¡¯re very young yet beautiful¡­¡­¡±

    The King of Sail stopped the old knight as he looked at me, a broad grin on his face.

    Aah, I see. It was rare for there to be nobles. A person who only based impressions on the reputation, and not on the age or sex.

    ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve met, King Sail. I am Yurushia Ra Von Verusenia. I am the granddaughter of the King, but since I¡¯m actually the daughter of a Duke, it¡¯s a little embarrassing to be called [Princess].¡±

    ¡°I hear that you¡¯re also in line to succeed the throne, too. Although we conducted the summoning to save our world, I would like to hear the story of your world. I welcome you as a guest to our castle.¡±

    ¡°What about me¡­?¡±

    ¡°Nn? Your aides will also be treated similarly.¡±

    ¡°Then, what about them?¡±

    When I turned to look at them, everyone present turned their eyes towards the original protagonist characters who were summoned to this place, and they trembled under the combined gazes of everyone.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh? These were the people summoned from Terra, huh. In that case, then, I welcome you all if there are any of you who have the capacity to be a [Hero].¡±

    King Sail spoke haughtily, waving his hand as he finished speaking, and several civil-official-like people were approaching the four.

    ¡°Geas, Onzada-kun.¡±

    [Gau] [¡­(Kokun)]

    This time, I told my attendants to remain spectators as much as possible. The two of them, who were soft toys, jumped out at that moment and blocked the way of the civil officials.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ what do you mean by this?¡±

    King Sail¡¯s smile disappeared from his face. What do I mean?

    ¡°You were still in the midst of telling me, no? So, what are you going to do if they don¡¯t have this capacity?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not something for Princess to worry about. Take them away.¡±

    At King Sail¡¯s words, one of the civil officials grabbed the arms of Touka.

    ¡°Wait a minute, it hurts-¡±

    ¡°Oi, what are you trying to do?¡±

    ¡°Resist a little.¡±

    I knew that ¡®people from another world¡¯ that had just come to this world had little power. In order for them to take away the girls, the soldiers aimed their weapons at the boys who tried to get in their way.

    ¡°You bastard! Come here at once. That¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s order¡­*guho*¡±

    Onzada-kun struck the civil official mid sentence and knocked him flying. No, I told him to only match his ability to their power.

    ¡°¡­¡­Na-¡±

    As someone muttered out, the surroundings that had gone quiet suddenly burst out in an uproar.

    ¡°What are you doing, you bastard!¡±

    ¡°Knights, arrest them!¡±

    ¡°Come quietly and do not resist!¡±

    I had a feeling that more than half of the country was like this.

    But I guess it can¡¯t be helped now that things have come to this. Neither these people nor King Sail were problems, the only person who could do something would be the [Hero] Kyoji.

    ¡°Acid Cloud¡±

    Without a pre-cast aria, something like a fog cloud struck the four of them who had been summoned, but not me.

    Kyoji suddenly cast such an incredible spell so maliciously.

    ¡°[Let there be Light]¡±

    I too instantly deployed the holy magic [Greater Protection] and guarded the four of them who were huddled together in fear from their first battle.

    ¡°GyaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!?¡±

    ¡°GUOOOOOOOOOOOO¡±

    ¡°Guhoo¡±

    ¡°Hiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!?¡±

    The knights who approached us writhed on the floor as their skin burned.

    That magic¡­¡­ as expected, it was [Acid Cloud], huh. It was an advanced-level water magic that could corrode metal, but it exerted outrageous power against biological creatures. Still, taking aim at those who were weaker in an attempt to involve them, doesn¡¯t that say a lot about King Sail?

    ¡°¡­[Healing Hand of Water]¡­¡±

    But what Kyoji cast next was an advanced-level recovery magic.

    The skins of the knights who were suffering healed bit by bit. Well, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll die from that.

    ¡°Everyone, have you calmed down?¡±

    As soon as Kyoji released his battle state, he spoke out as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Kyoji! What are you doing!¡±

    King Sail is truly angry. Well, now, let¡¯s see what kind of excuses he¡¯ll be making for this.

    ¡°King Sail, it¡¯s unwise to fight here. I¡¯m sorry that I had to step in and be slightly rough while arbitrating.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­h-, humph.¡±

    As Kyoji bowed awfully obediently, the king looked taken aback.

    But mediation, huh¡­¡­ I think they would have died if I hadn¡¯t protected them, but Kyoji seemed to have placed greater emphasis on knowing ¡®which side¡¯ I was on compared to the children¡¯s lives.

    ¡°I knew that Princess Yurushia would protect them. I know how helpless one feels after being summoned from another world.¡±

    Kyoji had a slightly lonesome look on his face, and the whole atmosphere of the place began to change as if it was natural to keep listening to Kyoji¡¯s story.

    ¡°How about doing it this way, then. Princess Yurushia seems concerned with those four, so why not leave entrust their care to her? Princess has a wonderful power and seems rather familiar with the knowledge of other worlds. That knowledge can help this country.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This guy, is he trying to use the four of them as ¡®deadweights¡¯ on me?

    I won¡¯t go so far as to let myself be fettered by them, but I think that I¡¯ll change my interactions with them depending on whether I would protect them. I won¡¯t protect my enemies, so he must have had the confidence that he beat me with his poor knowledge. And if I protected them, he would use them to bend my will.

    Was that his ¡®quality¡¯ as a person? Besides, I wasn¡¯t summoned by chance ¨C and it seems that he knew that I knew of other worlds when I came here.

    ¡­¡­ Well, I understand what the circumstances are, so I calmed down, and didn¡¯t ask them anything at all.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ Certainly that¡¯s some good luck. As expected of Kyoji.¡±

    The King seemed to have something he wanted to stay that he held himself out on, but he still supported Kyoji. Was he trusted because he was a hero, or was it out of fear?

    Perhaps, because he¡¯s a [Hero], it¡¯s about preserving the honor of the nation?

    The bloodthirsty air eased up, and this suited Kyoji perfectly.

    The ministers and civil officials too followed up and praised Kyoji. ¡­¡­ such safe people.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be the light of healing]¡­¡±

    As I spoke, a soft golden light glowed out.

    ¡°!?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    They were on guard. They were surprised. In the midst of the dumbfounded, I spread out my [Brilliant Wings] like an angel on the spot and healed the knights and soldiers who were unable to stand.

    ¡°¡­¡­Angel¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Saint¡­sama¡­¡±

    The knights muttered under their breath as everyone¡¯s gaze went from Kyoji to me.

    I smiled quietly as the scattered golden light began to fade and the light became feathers that fluttered like snow.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, what does Yuru learn about the circumstances of the world?

 CH 118

    Volume 7, Chapter 4: The Brilliant Daily Life of a Saint, Part 1

    14 years ago¡­ Kidou Keiji¡¯s broken body sat there, in a stone room illuminated by the light of a crystal ball.

    Soon after, he was carried out by the residents of this world and received treatment, but it was two more weeks before he was able to leave his bed, having been weakened so much by his injuries.

    In that time, Keiji had been told that, of all things, he was one of the hero candidates of this world, [Tess].

    From the hospitality being shown to him, they had probably investigated without telling him, and Keiji might have had the makings of a [Hero].

    Keiji felt a sense of incongruity when he was finally able to speak again.

    He felt a sense of incompatibility as a modern person in this different world, and when he talked, he felt a strange sense of incongruity between his mind and his body, the summoner, the first princess, sounded like she was in her early teens, but she talked to him as he was someone in her age group.

    Finally, Keiji, who managed to move himself to look at himself in the mirror, was astonished. He looked at least ten years younger than he remembered.

    Keiji, who in his own memories was a 26-year old, stared at the person who looked like he was in his early teens looking back at him in the mirror¡­¡­ At the very most he was 14 or 16. He didn¡¯t know how it had happened, but Keiji put this fact away and began to ¡®live¡¯ within this world.

    What he discovered was that this world had the development level of the Middle Ages on Earth and had a cultural system that was very much like Earth¡¯s.

    As for the language, he was able to speak it from the beginning, and after coming to this world it seems that he¡¯d gained the benefits of the [Skills] that were particular to this world.

    And he understood it, it would be almost impossible to return to his original world.

    It seemed that the technology to send things back to earth for this world that summoned [Heroes] from earth for war existed, but since it was vastly more expensive to send them back than summon them, they wouldn¡¯t consume precious magic for such a thing.

    If it was a [Hero] that they could use, there was no way that they would let him go, and if they were asked to use it on an ordinary person, they weren¡¯t going to waste magic on such things.

    Also, even if they had been told that they would be [Sent Home], the odds of them ending up in some other dimension was high.

    Being exiled to another dimension¡­¡­ the sheer horror of it couldn¡¯t be imagined without feeling it for yourself.

    He had been thrown out by that ¡°monster¡± in the shape of a young girl who called herself Yuzu, and Keiji seems to have been [Summoned] the instant he had been tossed out into the dimensional space.

    His grudge against that girl outweighed his relief at being saved.

    But, even if it was possible for him to return to earth, there was no point going back if he couldn¡¯t beat that. And Keiji, as an ambitious person, didn¡¯t really have a strong sense of country and thought that it was important first of all for him to strengthen himself in this different world [Tess].

    Fortunately, Keiji had the ability to be a [Hero] and took the name of ¡°Kyoji¡± in the phonetics of this world and started his second life in Tess.

    And the years passed, and Kyoji gained strength and reputation as a hero, and the fact that the Sail country had summoned a hero from another world was known.

    Kyoji didn¡¯t have any bad thoughts about it. Kyoji didn¡¯t concern himself with whether the abduction of people was good or bad, merely if they were usable or not.

    Having attended the summoning ceremonies several times now, although he¡¯d heard that other countries had performed summoning ceremonies, the next person with the potential to be a hero after Kyoji was the boy that had been summoned by the large country Harko, and nobody that was suited to be one of Kyoji¡¯s party members had been summoned in Sail.

    Those who could not be used were banished from the castle with a bit of gold, and if the knave even thought of doing something sneaky, they would be disposed of by the knights.

    However, if the person could be used, they would be educated and made the tool of Kyoji.

    However, this time around, although there was a large scale summoning of four people, what actually appeared was 9 and a little more, and among them there were irregular people, who were visiting from another world that wasn¡¯t earth.

    After examining the literature for these fourteen years, he didn¡¯t understand any other world other than this one, [Tess], and [Earth (Terra)]. By coincidence, these ¡®otherworlders¡¯ also happened to be attempting a transfer, and their cultures were also somewhat similar.

    It would not be strange for their world to have sorcery that could transfer them to other worlds.

    And there were more of them that had come with that magic power that should only have summoned four, and they used a summoning formation as well, so it was possible that they intended to come to this world.

    And these otherworlders had girls who were so beautiful that he couldn¡¯t possibly think of them as human.

    Those singular good looks that were almost inhuman, made Kyoji the same impression as that ¡®monster¡¯ that had thrown him to another dimension and made him wary.

    From that golden ¡®princess¡¯ that seemed to be the central figure amongst them, Kyoji felt a terrifying magical power. Having felt it, Kyoji confirmed his own hypothesis by intuition, and thought of whether to dispose of her before she obtained knowledge of this world.

    In and of itself for Kyoji, it would be dangerous if she started to obtain the skill even if she was to partner with him.

    The impression of ¡®Yuzu¡¯ that he¡¯d experienced had become a deep trauma in Kyoji¡¯s heart.

    That girl, even though she was using polite mannerisms, he could feel something from her speech and behavior.

    And this time, by showing the pretense that he worried about the four children who had been summoned this time, Kyoji thought that she would become hostile to the kingdom for using them.

    For the kingdom, it was but a matter of due course, and even Kyoji thought of it as nothing more evil than kidnapping.

    When she rebelled against the kingdom, Kyoji would move to eliminate her.

    He would attack her as a hero with the impression of an ¡®enemy¡¯. It would be alright if he had the opportunity to clean up this place, eliminating the risk of the four of them in the attack magic he used, but she dispersed the magic and didn¡¯t even avoid it.

    He intended to make her defend them, forcibly embroiling the four of them.

    Having just come to this world, even if she could have averted getting hit directly in that moment, they would die, and she could be drawn in by the commotion.

    Although it was out of Kyoji¡¯s calculations that several of the knights had been caught in his ranged magic, because he had expected her to avoid the attack, all of them had been hit directly.

    However, in the aftermath of getting directly hit by his [Acid Cloud], not even the knights had been taken out, that girl had not only protected herself, but everyone else as well, perfectly.

    Seeing that, Kyoji changed his plan instantly.

    As to why she cared so much about the four children, he didn¡¯t know, but he re-contemplated the idea of making use of her sweet side, and though it was somewhat forced, if he used his power as a Hero, he could use them as her ¡®shackles¡¯.

    He saw a little of the current state of affairs. Although he couldn¡¯t trust her because she felt like that ¡°Yuzu¡±, but as long as she was obedient as one of Kyoji¡¯s limbs it would be good for him to drop that second princess as his ¡®woman¡¯ and instead use that girl for his plans.

    That was a very large bet, but as it always was, things couldn¡¯t be earned without putting oneself at risk.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Yurushia Here! It¡¯s now the season where lightly seared cuttlefish and octopus are tasty.

    Did you know? The cuttlefish and octopus I¡¯ve been seasoning with souls that I thought came out of nowhere have actually been being made manually by the Greater Demon craftsmen.

    Aren¡¯t Demons great?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, another cup of tea?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why sure.¡±

    Sitting alonside my personal maids Tina and Fannie, they lightly squeezed souls into the tea until it turned the color of blood.

    I¡¯m currently in the courtyard of the castle, observing the training of the cavalry.

    If I were to say what happened to my plan, I could only say that I ¡®let it be¡¯. I was going to go against the king, but I had been forcibly drawn into things by Kyoji.

    With him taking responsibility, his credit as the [Hero]-sama rose massively¡­¡­

    The Kingdom doesn¡¯t forgive otherworlders who go against them easily. However, his hero magic had been defended against, and I¡¯d shown them my power by healing all those injured people.

    Therefore, I had been saddled with those four¡¯s education.

    A troublesome person with power, but because it was preferable to having to go to another country, so as long as I remained docile, nothing would happen to those four. As it was, the castle would retain my power and the fame that came with it. ¡­¡­ Or something like that?

    Apparently, the king of Sail had announced that he had summoned me as a [Saint]. I wondered how it would have gone for me if they had told me that they had announced me as an angel¡­¡­

    Although I had dealt with them as if they were ¡®kidnappers¡¯ at first, I only just realized how it may not be best to oppose the country of [Heroes].

    Perhaps because I had only heard bad things from Yuuki-kun, but from the beginning they¡¯ve been looking at me with suspicious eyes.

    The target this time was the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] that Yuuki-kun had [Contracted] for, so let¡¯s keep moving.

    As I used a tea set that Noa had put out to the courtyard, elegantly drinking tea, I noted that the knights in the castle seemed pretty hot-blooded, even though some had delicate expressions.

    The senior knights who knew of the incident that had happened before that audience were plainly wary of us, whereas the younger knights that didn¡¯t know were nervous under the gazes of the girls who had come to visit.

    As for the fragile expressions, it was the knights that I had healed while being called a [Saint]. It seems that they couldn¡¯t understand the feeling of distance in the way they pointed their swords. The knight that Onzada-kun had viciously beat up was also mixed into that group.

    And in that situation, the younger knights that didn¡¯t know of the circumstances were watching the beautiful female knight (lol) Nea, who was attending their practice for her own fun with Futa and Daichi.

    ¡°Ei¡±

    ¡°Uwaah!¡±

    Daichi and Futa were avoiding the casual swings of Nea with her training wooden sword with great desperation.

    Even if it seemed like a really light blow with an equally flat shout, it was still the blow from an [Archdemon], so even with a wooden sword it still tore a hole in the hard training grounds as if it was pudding, and this caused a stir amongst the knights.

    At first Nea was about to use [Nyankoken] but I stopped it. It¡¯s obvious why. If I kept hearing that [Nyaa] or whatever in my own voice, my delicate Demonic spirit would take damage.

    Aah, that¡¯s right, the four of them actually don¡¯t have any potential as heroes. And that child Mizuki that gave off a regrettable feeling, I wonder if she was hero-level? If she tried her best, she should be able to use the easier techniques of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].

    And that situation happened like this:

    £ª

    ¡°W-well then, I¡¯ll be checking your ¡®Status¡¯.¡±

    So said one of the royal magicians of the castle with a nervous look.

    Although I¡¯d said to leave them to me for a while, in the case that they didn¡¯t have any aptitude to be a hero, they¡¯d be expelled, and if they did, the education of a [Hero] was waiting for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a game¡­¡­¡±

    Touka revealed her thoughts, but I and the other three also thought the same thing.

    Yuuki-kun had cast [Appraisal] on me while I was Yuzu, but will it be displayed properly with the castle¡¯s facilities?

    Either way, I don¡¯t want to show my status in front of so many other people.

    Especially, my ¡®Dexterity¡¯¡­¡­

    Although I¡¯ll be going to a magic facility where they can use [Superior Appraisal] without an audience, Kyoji and Bianca are also going along.

    ¡°By the way, Bianca, what are yours?¡±

    ¡°W-wait, why did your tone suddenly change!?¡±

    If I asked Kyoji, it would just end up being another roundabout verbal battle again, so I asked the talkative Bianca, but was I too frank?

    Bianca was trying to complain, but still she remembered my power and obediently replied me.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s alright¡­¡­ Fuuhn, my stats aren¡¯t low, But I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped¡±

    Maybe¡­ she wants to brag about it?

    HP: 67 MP: 128

    Strength: 8

    Defense: 7

    Agility: 7

    Dexterity: 7

    Magic: 9

    ¡°¡­¡­ All single digits¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at your MP, 128 !? That¡¯s more than an elf¡±

    I guess that¡¯s how physical and mental strength is being displayed. Seriously game-like.

    But, an elf? ¡­¡­ As expected, it was as Yuuki who pronounced it in the syllables of this world.

    I suppose it¡¯s better than calling them ¡°Atora,¡± my stomach couldn¡¯t take it if it were another strange name.

    Still, neither Bianca never told me her skills. Well, that¡¯s obvious I guess. It would be exposing your weaknesses.

    ¡°You too, saying such things¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    I¡¯ll admit it, since I¡¯m being honest.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯d like to see mine as well.¡±

    Daichi spoke out from beside me, emanating a nervous feeling. It seems that the other three were all rather bothered over their status.

    And so, this was Daichi¡¯s status.

    HP: 95 MP: 83

    Strength: 12

    Defense: 12

    Agility: 11

    Dexterity: 7

    Magic: 9

    ¡°Average values.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ is that so?¡±

    Daichi was disappointed, but the attributes weren¡¯t so bad. His values were average, but it seems that his spirit values were slightly higher as a person from another world.

    The other three were the same as well, having only general education and moderate exercise.

    ¡°I also have [Water Magic Ability] and [Light Magic Ability].¡±

    Mizuki said so, knowing that all of them also had magic skills.

    In this world, it seems that most people only had one magic ability, but it seems that many of the otherworlders often had multiple magic skills.

    ¡°Fufun, finally it¡¯s Yurushia¡¯s turn. Let¡¯s see what your status is.¡±

    Bianca seems to have stopped using honorifics with me.

    Well, it¡¯s fine, but it¡¯ll be seriously problematic when the strange numbers come out.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s begin¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    As the royal magician used the device, the attached crystal ball shined and the [Appraisal] began. Yuuki-kun took 5 minutes because of the magic consumption, but as expected, the castle¡¯s facilities are fast.

    After about one minute, the words were projected onto the wall brightly.

    Name: ¦Å¦Ñ¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê Age: 12 Race: ¦Î¦É¦Á¦Â¦Ï¦Ë Sex: Female

    HP: ¡ë©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é¦Ò  MP: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Õ¦Á¡­¡­

    Strength: ©g¡Þ¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì¦Î©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ

    Defense: ¡ê©g¡é¦Ò¦Á¦Ò¦Ø¦Ø¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¡Þ

    Agility: ©g¡Þ©g¦·?¦É¦Ò¦Ø¡ë¡ê¦Å¦Õ

    Dexterity: 2

    Magic: ¦Ì¦Å¦Õ¦·?¦É¡ë¦Ò¦Ø¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡Ê¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Õ¦Á¡­¡­

    ¡é¦Ò¦É¦Á¦Â¦Á¦Ò¦·?¦É¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Ø¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é?¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Á¡ê?¦É¦Ò¦Ø©g¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¦Ì¦Æ?¡é¦Ò¦Ø¡ê¦É¦Á¦Â¡ë¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·?¦É©g¦Ì§è¦Ì¦Á§ê¡ê?¦·¡é¦Ø?¦É¦Â¦Â¦Ë¦É¦Æ¦Æ¦Å??¦Á¦Ì?¦Ò¦Ø¦Ø¡ë?©g¡Þ¡ê§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·?¦É©g¦Ì§è¦Ì¦Ø¡Þ¦Å¦Õ¡é?¡ë¡é¦Ò¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì¦Ò¦Ø¡ê¦É¦Á¦Â¡ë¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¡ê¦·¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í§ì§ì?¦Ò¦Á¦Æ¦Å??¦Á¦Ì?¦Ò¦Á¦Ò¦·?¦É¡ê©g¡Þ¦Å¦Ò¦Ø¦Ò¦Ò¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¦Ø?¡ê¦Ø§í¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Everyone present was taken by surprise at the garbled characters that continued after without stopping, before the crystal ball began to make an ominous noise like ¡®Gigigigigi¡¯ and melted like it was undergoing thermal runaway.

    ¡°¡­¡­Why?¡±

    Why was the only part I wanted to hide showing up!

    My dexterity that didn¡¯t increase even in my demon form.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the daily lives of the other demons.

 CH 119

    Volume 3, Chapter 5: The Brilliant Daily Life of a Saint, Part 2

    That year, the great power Sail in the east announced that it had successfully summoned a [Saint].

    Not much information about the Saint had been disclosed, but from the information that seemed to have been intentionally leaked from the officials, the Saint was not summoned from [Terra], but had been summoned from a different world for the first time in hundreds of years; a person with strong magic.

    The reason why it had been deliberately leaked was because Sail wanted to keep the information about the Saint from the other countries as a whole, only wanting to give information that would be beneficial to them without getting questioned by the other countries.

    A few decades ago, [Information Sharing Magic] had been developed by one of the otherworlders and was somewhat similar to a simplified version of the modern internet. This careful leak limited information about the [Saint] had been instantly spread through human society.

    Summoning from another world¡­¡­ Moreover, summoning that many people at once, Sail was showing to have a slight advantage over the other three countries, and if it was capable, then their influence would also increase.

    Every country had begun to search for information on the magic of the [Foreign World Atra] from which she had come.

    As the spies of the various countries had gathered at Sail¡¯s borders, contacting within and those who were in charge, from the little information that they were able to glean, they knew that she was going to be called the [Golden Saint].

    As for the saint, she was studying the various nations on this continent and the magic of this world at the library in the castle. Among these things, she was most interested in [Heroes], and was looking for information about them, especially the special magic that they wielded. However, the hero of water had instructed them not to disclose anything to her yet, and those in the castle with this information were being kept away from the [Saint].

    £ª

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, it seems that they¡¯re trying to keep the information hidden.¡±

    ¡°Ah, as expected?¡±

    Several weeks have passed since I¡¯ve come to this different world, [Tess].

    Somehow the higher-ups in the castle don¡¯t approach us at all, and since I can¡¯t get permission to leave this area of the castle, to accomplish my goal I had no choice but to investigate the library.

    So, with the butler Demon Noa leading them, my followers were searching the library.

    The only exception being my escort Nea, who was drilling the four others in simple ¡®human¡¯ magic. The magic of this world is similar to that of Atra¡¯s, but it¡¯s also somewhat different, so it¡¯ll be good to go and visit some of the magic teachers here. ¡­¡­ Well, it¡¯s not suited for that girl to investigate things, though.

    Me, well, since I¡¯m not going, I¡¯m just here drinking tea. The same is true for Rinne too, who¡¯s stuck at the table. It¡¯s hard to read books with paws.

    Arranging several books in front of us, Noa began to explain.

    ¡°As Yurushia-sama sensed, the four major powers on this continent are about the size of the Holy Kingdom. Unlike Atra, though, there are about 30 smaller states which have lesser territories or so?¡±

    ¡°Are there any elf or dwarf countries?¡±

    ¡°There are in some of the countries, but it seems that in the region called the Great Forest in the far west there are a number of small villages of various demi-human races, including Elves and Dwarves¡±

    ¡°Fuuu~hn.¡±

    In Atra there were only human beings, elves, dwarves, beasts, and demons, but it seems that here, there are more ¡®races¡¯.

    And¡­¡­ I yielded to temptation and examined the unique proper pronunciation of [Elf] in [Tess], it turns out to be [Sukashi (watermark)]. ¡­¡­ Why does you sound like Japanese, you bastard? Some transmigrator who had come through from Japan must have been involved in the name.

    ¡°Mistress, in this era, it seems that each of the four great nations have one hero each.¡±

    So said Tina, as she brought a platter of sweets from somewhere, arranging them on the table. By the way, the sweets were various types of small cakes, and looking at all of them, they seem to all be recipes that the ¡®otherworlders¡¯ had taught them to make.

    People who¡¯d come from Earth seem to live unexpectedly comfortable lives¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know, but it seems a bit different.

    So, what this means is that it¡¯s basically the end result of the [Knowledge Cheat] for people coming to this otherworld [Tess].

    It seems that a lot of adults who were not heroes but had knowledge had been summoned, and their knowledge cheats had been used all the time.

    Papermaking and modern agriculture. Industrial tools and products. Food, cakes, pizza, pudding, and mayonnaise had already been done, so the knowledge of high schoolers who had been recently summoned was worth nothing in this harsh environment.

    It seems that both guns and bombs that were intricately engineered could not be made with their level of industry, but there were similar things, and magic was faster.

    The people living in this otherworld weren¡¯t stupid, and they¡¯d developed magic instead, and had thought things over themselves.

    Oops, I¡¯d digressed again.

    ¡°Anything in regard to Yuuki-kun¡¯s information?¡±

    ¡°Yes. However, he seemed to only have been called as a new Hero just two years ago as a successor.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we can exclude him for now.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    As I said so, Tina and Noa lowered their heads.

    Since it might end up being a battle, I needed more information, but what I absolutely needed was information about the other three ¡°Heroes from another world¡±.

    However, there was almost no such information. Even in Sail, where Kyoji was, there was no information about him, were they trying to intentionally keep it from my eyes?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I got a little of it~¡±

    This time, it was Fannie who was bringing me sandwiches as snacks.

    ¡­¡­ A snack right after cakes?

    ¡°Why is it all coming with food?¡±

    ¡°Well, While I was walking about the castle the maids gave this to me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s what happened to me too.¡±

    ¡°Heehh~¡±

    Were we being favored by unknown people?

    ¡°So, what did you get?¡±

    ¡°Un, the power of darkness seems to be not much different from Atra¡¯s demons. It seems that dark elves exist. Ah, that¡¯s right, there also seems to be a ¡°dragon¡± here.¡±

    ¡°Oooohhh~¡±

    It¡¯s great. Atra was fantasy-like but there weren¡¯t any Dragons. ¡­¡­ in exchange, there were elephants and hippopotamuses attacking travelers.

    In short, this world, [Tess], is a world of fantasy that anyone can easily imagine.

    But, the knowledge gains have almost come to an end.

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s information about the northern Gamble country.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°There was a massive zombie incident, Gamble took the brunt of it and now it¡¯s headed south.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    What? Did you get lied to?

    ¡°Hey, Rinne. Is there any relation between the ¡°earth attribute¡± and zombies?¡±

    [¡­¡­ Do you think it might have something to do with the hero of earth?]

    Rinne, who was busy swallowing bagels sandwiched souls, raised his face to look at me.

    ¡°Something, well, you see¡­ I got the impression that zombies sprouted out of the ground¡­¡±

    [Hmm¡­¡­ if you created a large amount of them together, it might be easier to do so if you had the earth attribute.]

    ¡°¡­¡­ only to that degree?¡±

    Would it not be possible to link it as the weakness of the hero of earth? I wanted to traumatize them like what happened to Yuuki-kun when he was killed if I can¡­¡­

    ¡°But, I¡¯m a little worried.¡±

    [Why don¡¯t you go check it out if it bothers you?]

    ¡°I want to do so, but if I do, this country will be annoying¡­¡­¡±

    Although the fault is mine, once I¡¯d announced my status as the [Saint], it¡¯s become surprisingly difficult to make a move.

    ¡°Rinne, could you go?¡±

    [I want to go there as a dark power. I¡¯m interested in seeing dark elves for the first time.]

    ¡°Like tasting them¡­¡­?¡±

    [The texture is also important.]

    It¡¯s the appetite after all, huh. Well, it seems that even after eating the demon of another dimension he¡¯s not recovered yet.

    ¡°Yes yes, Yurushia-sama, I want to go out.¡±

    ¡°I will take care of Mistress and stay by her side.¡±

    As Fannie raised her hand asking for permission, Tina wanted to stay next to me.

    ¡°Well then, Tina will stay here¡­¡­ then about Nea? Is everyone else going out to check it out?¡±

    As I suggested, everyone else nodded lightly, and it seems that everyone else can go freely from the castle.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Geas says that he¡¯ll follow Rinne-sama.¡±

    Fannie was interpreting Geas¡¯ words as usual. To be following Rinne, do you have something between you fellow Demon beasts?

    ¡°What about Onzada-kun?¡±

    [(purupuru)]

    ¡°Staying here, then.¡±

    It seems that they have differing personalities, and Onzada-kun chose to stay. Well, Onzada-kun made a [Pact] to protect me.

    And so, we chose to split up like this and investigate each country.

    Rinne and Geas were headed towards the forces of darkness, while Noa was going south to explore, and Fannie was going in search of the zombie incident that was heading from the north.

    ¡­¡­ I wonder. I have this uneasy feeling. I wonder if it¡¯ll be okay to leave these children be this time.

    £ª

    The Demons decided to head out after properly obtaining permission from Sail.

    Although there were four of them with Yurushia, from the perspective of Sail, as it was only the butler and maid going out to see the country, they couldn¡¯t deny them.

    Still, a number of knights from Sail were deployed and were supposed to watch them under the name of escorting them, but the moment the pair left the kingdom they lost sight of them, that was when they realized the power of the followers of the [Saint].

    Remaining in Sail was Yurushia, Tina, Nea¡­¡­ and Onzada.

    [(trod trod)]

    With a gait like an infant in an old Saturday evening cartoon, the 50cm long stuffed toy rabbit was walking about the castle lightly.

    Although Onzada¡¯s memory as a human was ambiguous, he properly guarded Yurushia and moved of his own will.

    Although he¡¯d become a Demon, since his soul wasn¡¯t dyed black like Geas¡¯, his behavior was close to a human¡¯s.

    The young accompanying maids that were watching this rabbit walking about were wriggling. Mizuki, who was on her way back from the toilet, was also twitching together with them, and couldn¡¯t endure it, tailing Onzada.

    Although the sight of a little girl walking and tailing after a rabbit was a pleasant sight, she was clearly stalking it.

    ¡°A, uhm, Mr. Rabbit?¡±

    [¡­(Kurun)]

    Looking back to face the voice, Mizuki was looking at the rabbit (note: actually, a middle-aged man) with glittering eyes as it tilted its head, and Onzada, seeing that she wasn¡¯t moving, moved off again, and Mizuki hurriedly called out to it again.

    ¡°W-wait, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    [¡­(kokun)]

    When Onzada stopped and nodded, Mizuki who was running over hugged him to her (surprisingly big) chest.

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ where are you going?¡±

    ¡°(Hyogo hiyo)¡±

    As if answering Mizuki¡¯s question, Onzada pointed out the direction of his travel with his rounded hands.

    ¡°Over there¡­? Is that the cafeteria?¡±

    ¡°(nod)¡±

    In that direction was the soldiers¡¯ and knights¡¯ dining hall that Mizuki also used.

    When Onzada started to walk, Mizuki, thinking that the rabbit was going to get ¡°snacks¡± for its master, walked right behind it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    She really wanted to hold him, but Mizuki endured it since she had been carefully instructed by Touka not to touch the rabbit without permission.

    It was crowded with people in the dining hall during meals, but surprisingly enough, it was empty at other times.

    However, today only a few hundred of them could eat at any one time in the dining hall, and several soldiers were eating with tired faces after their duty shifts, and noticing the walking soft toy that came in, they were all staring with shocked faces.

    Onzada didn¡¯t pay them any heed and headed towards the kitchen, and feeling the stares, Mizuki nodded and followed after it.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here again.¡±

    From the kitchen, a good-looking middle-aged woman called out to Onzada as she saw it.

    ¡°You, little one¡­¡­ you¡¯re one of the ones from another world, right? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing, it¡¯s just Mr. Rabbit¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, this little one comes by often. Hold on a moment.¡±

    The woman called out to Onzada and retreated to the back of the kitchen.

    Mizuki looked at the kitchen counter above, and there, there was a long-lasting sweet that she took by her own convenience, handing one to Onzada.

    ¡°Will you take this to your mistress?¡±

    [¡­¡­(nod)]

    Onzada showed off a troubled look after taking it from Mizuki,

    ¡°Oi, you, you¡¯re one of the people that came with the Saint!¡±

    The soldiers surrounded Mizuki and Onzada before they noticed.

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but¡­¡±

    ¡°You guys are coming here all the times for meals, you¡¯re causing a lot of problems you know¡±

    The soldiers were in charge of cracking down on people who were trying to find information about the [Saint], and even so, because the saint¡¯s followers had just left the country under the pretext of ¡®investigation¡¯, there was an upsurge of spies, and their time to eat and rest had been cut down.

    Although she understood their irritation, Mizuki was just a bystander caught in the middle, from the view of the soldiery though, she looked like one of the Saint¡¯s companions.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°¡°

    As the lady returned from the kitchen, she called out to them, and the soldiers fell silent at her matronly attitude.

    ¡°What are you guys doing¡­¡­ Here, I¡¯ve brought it.¡±

    As the lady handed over the bottle, the soldiers¡¯ face grew strained.

    ¡°Is that liquor?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s liquor in the daytime.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you, this is¡­¡±

    ¡°You stay out of it.¡±

    Thinking that Mizuki was trying to drink in the day, the soldier shouted at the woman who froze, and reached out for the shoulders of the small Mizuki.

    ¡°Giyaa!¡±

    Mizuki inadvertently closed her eyes at the soldier¡¯s anguished expression and exhausted spirits.

    *gashi*

    ¡°¡­¡­Wha-¡±

    The hand of the soldier was caught in the small hand of the soft toy that sat on Mizuki¡¯s shoulder.

    [¡­(heave)]

    ¡°DowAAAAAAAAA!?¡±

    When Onzada twisted his hand, as if the laws of physics themselves had been twisted, the soldier¡¯s body twisted around his head, dancing and tossing in the air, even as Mizuki felt no extra weight from holding him.

    ¡°¡­o, OI!?¡±

    ¡°What the!?¡±

    The soldier¡¯s friends raised their voices with an incomprehensible look rather than anger.

    [(hyoi hyoi)]

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ ah, here.¡±

    Onzada took the bottle of wine from the lady who had a look of blank surprise, and opening it dexterously, began to drink and swallow with a gobble.

    As Mizuki and the rest of the soldiers were stunned at the sight, Onzada took the bottle that was about 70% full still and handed it to the soldier who he had tossed.

    ¡°¡­O-okay¡±

    While being puzzled¡­¡­ the soldier who was in a state of confusion took up the liquor bottle despite still being on duty.

    ¡°¡­¡­Puhaaa¡±

    [(hyoi)]

    ¡°¡­¡­hei¡±

    And again, receiving the bottle of liquor, the rabbit poured the liquor into its mouth and enjoyed itself with a very middle-aged gesture.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    After that, the soldiers and Onzada began a drinking party on the floor, and even after being found out by the captain and reproached, their faces were surprisingly cheerful.

    On this occasion, Onzada came to be accepted by a portion of the soldiers, and was from then on  called: [Rabbit Boss].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the actions of the demons away from Yuru.

 CH 120

    Volume 7, Chapter 6: The brilliant daily life of the Saint, Part 3

    The storm of romance abruptly began.

    ¡°W-we will escort you on your journey.¡±

    Fannie was going to go investigate one of the smaller nations near the center of the continent, but it was about 1700km away.

    For modern earth, it was a distance reachable within a day, a distance equal to about two countries in Europe, but, for horse-drawn carriages, it was about a month¡¯s distance. Even if they were to use a fast warhorse-drawn carriage it was estimated to take over two weeks.

    The Sail country, with the excuse that they couldn¡¯t just let a maid travel alone to such a faraway place, attached someone to surveil her.

    After all, this girl was one of the attendants of the [Saint], who had been able to take and block the attack of a hero right after being summoned. Because she might have some special magic, they wanted to confirm it, but more than that, danger might befall her, since the [Saint] didn¡¯t make an excuse to leave the country.

    That¡¯s why Fannie¡¯s departure was accompanied by five soldiers and three knights, with two large carriages drawn by three large warhorses. However, since Fannie¡¯s mistress Yurushia had 15 people escorting her and four servants originally, she didn¡¯t feel off, since they usually commuted by a four-horse carriage.

    Although it was trivial, the knights appointed as escorts were the young sons of the aristocracy who were all between 15 and 17 and were meant to give the expedition gravitas.

    In fact, three agents of the country were mixed into the soldiery, and they would move if anything happened, but the problem was the knights were formally supposed to be in charge, and all of them were riled up by Fannie¡¯s adorable appearance.

    ¡°Yes, thanks~¡±

    Soft silver hair that flowed smoothly to her shoulders.

    Fine, white skin. Slightly moist cherry-pink lips. Beautiful eyes like gems that shone through her eyelashes¡­¡­

    A thing of devilish beauty that didn¡¯t have any of the flaws of humanity.

    Yurushia, her master, was slightly frightening because her beauty was too perfect, but Fannie, who always had a lovely smile next to her, was a hot topic amongst the knights that didn¡¯t know them.

    Fannie was still 12 years old, but even with their honor, it wasn¡¯t so strange that she was being looked at that way.

    In this world, noble children made their social debuts at 13, and would be recognized as marriageable at that time. For the men, the age of marriage was appropriate, but for noble ladies, it was desirable to marry between 15 and 20, so they might be engaged before they turned 13.

    Especially in the case of Fannie and the Demons, because they looked like junior high school students due to their good looks, they were well within the ¡®strike range¡¯.

    With that kind of situation, she was leaving Sail, but then there was another problem.

    While it was comfortable, and it seemed that everything was alright, having a carriage with cushioned seats like a noble, and having all her lodging and meals on the way arranged for¡­

    (Bored~~)

    Fannie had nothing to do, and so she was very bored.

    After all, if Fannie had been alone, she could have easily covered the distance in half a day.

    Even when she wanted to beat up the bandits that appeared along the way in the wastelands, she didn¡¯t get a turn at all because the knights were being awfully enthusiastic. At the beginning, she had been told by her mistress that she should hide her abilities as a Demon as much as possible while in Atra.

    And¡­¡­

    ¡°Fannie-san, I picked you some flowers. I wanted to present them to you¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you~¡±

    The youngest one here was the blonde knight Friedel, the youngest son of a Viscount, who handed her a flower with a smile. Fannie thought that if he was so free, it would have been better if they just sped up instead but received it with a smile.

    Because this Friedel stuck to her side for some reason or another, Fannie, whose movements were being restricted, accumulated stress.

    ¡°¡­¡­ can this state of affairs be changed?¡±

    ¡°Ms. Fannie, did you say something?¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    The fifth day after Fannie started to think from the stress. She saw a group of zombies along the mountain road of a small country.

    Although it was merely a small crowd, it was rare to see that many along this mountain road, which was neither a labyrinth nor a graveyard. In this world, there were ¡°adventurers¡± unlike Atra, so it seemed that that would be the end of that party, who were a ramshackle bunch of varying ages and clothes.

    ¡°Ms. Fannie, please. stay back!¡±

    ¡°Everyone! Do not be afraid!¡±

    ¡°Draw your swords!¡±

    The knights held their shields, and pulled out their longswords, while the soldiers turned towards the zombies with their spears.

    Zombies in the movies had more strength than humans, but because it was a lesser spirit possessing and moving a corpse, the rotten muscles were slow to move, and they weren¡¯t a big threat.

    It was a monster that even novice adventurers could kill and couldn¡¯t possibly be a match for knights and soldiers who¡¯d received battle training, but the knights were strangely concerned under Fannie¡¯s gaze and were very enthusiastic.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it too~¡±

    Fannie had reached her limit, and since this was something her mistress had ordered of her, she wasn¡¯t going to abandon it.

    The movements of the knights slowed for a moment without a sense of urgency at all, as if they were shopping in a city.

    ¡°Eeh?! Ms. Fannie, it¡¯s dangerous!¡±

    Fannie¡¯s Demonic ability was to show people a ¡®nightmare¡¯, which normally would have little effect on corpses, but such a thing wasn¡¯t an issue for an [Archdemon].

    ¡°eei!¡±

    As Fannie struck the foreheads of the zombies with a tree branch she¡¯d picked up, the zombies collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut.

    What Fannie did was simply pouring pure Demon ¡®Miasma¡¯ into them.

    The zombies themselves were moving under the power of a tiny bit of miasma, but just like how plants died if you overwatered them, the dense miasma of a Demon decomposed the zombie¡¯s muscles in an instant, rendering them inoperable.

    In the blink of an eye, with all four of them defeated, the stunned knights spoke out.

    ¡°¡­¡­ oOH, is this the [Holiness] of those who serve the saint?¡±

    It¡¯s completely off the mark, but they couldn¡¯t tell.

    ¡°Well then, please dismantle this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    The eyes of the knights were moving up and down from the corpses.

    Nobody wanted to do something like disposing of a corpse, but they couldn¡¯t let Fannie, a girl, do it, and so the knights began to disassemble the corpses together with the soldiers.

    Fannie actually didn¡¯t mind breaking the corpses with her bare hands, but since she didn¡¯t want to get herself dirty, she hit them with a stick.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, Ms. Fannie, something came out.¡±

    ¡°Show me~¡±

    As Fannie looked at the source of the voice, there was something like a crumbling gem around the heart.

    ¡°It seems different from the mana stones¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡±

    Mana stones were generated in the bodies of [Demonic Beasts] that had been mutated by magic, and the magic power would crystallize the blood, solidifying like a gallstone, and came mostly in shades of coal.

    Of course, there were demonic beasts that were bloodless such as golems or skeletons, but between their ores, the bone meal, and the coagulated mana stones, there was surprisingly little difference.

    In Atra, since demonic beasts didn¡¯t come out much, mana stones were uncommon, but in this world, they were used like batteries for [Magic Tools], and as proof of subjugation for an adventurer when they slew them.

    However, when the gems in the corpses were extracted and rolled on the ground, they crumbled into dust as if weathered by the wind.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Fannie pinched some of it between her fingers, recovering a little of it in her handkerchief.

    ¡°W-, what did you discover?¡±

    ¡°There was magic power~¡±

    Fannie only replied Friedel¡¯s question with the bare facts.

    If one thought about it, there was no way that this zombie could have spawned spontaneously. A special magic power was felt from within the jewel that wasn¡¯t buried within the body and felt like the zombie had been created intentionally with the mana stone supplying the magic power.

    ¡°That¡­¡­ what is that then? Is it still a kind of mana stone?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to show this to Yurushia-sama to examine.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know if the zombie was created by the jewel or if it was a simple byproduct. Crumbling to the wind, even as a by-product. it couldn¡¯t be used as a gem or mana stone.

    But Fannie¡¯s curiosity was piqued by this stone.

    Even with the sand from the jewel, Noa could still analyses it, and if she could find a gem that would keep its shape she would keep it as a souvenir and might be praised by Yurushia.

    ¡°Should I go out and defeat more?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What?¡±

    Fannie was talking to herself, but Friedel replied to her, and she turned back to him with a smile.

    ¡°I will be going ahead.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    As she said so, Fannie began to skip down the road lightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­O, Oii¡±

    ¡°Follow her!¡±

    ¡°Someone, the wagon¡­¡­ no, the horses¡±

    In a hurry, they ran over to their beloved horses and gave chase, but no matter how hard they chased they couldn¡¯t match her speed and catch up to Fannie, and before they knew it, that small maid¡¯s figure disappeared from the sights of the knights. The first mission of the team ended in failure.

    ¡°Ms. Fannie¡­¡­ I will not give up¡±

    £ª

    A maid girl dressed in a white apron over a long black dress ran down the 1000km road in hours, distorting the space as she went.

    Fannie was good at teleporting through space, but it was dangerous to travel long distances to places that one didn¡¯t know, so she had to go there with her own legs first.

    ¡°Uhmm¡­¡­ I think it¡¯s around here.¡±

    According to the intelligence report, it seems that that [Mass Zombie Generation] that had occurred in Gamble was slowly subsiding, and that it could be encountered in Krishare, a small country west of Sail but south of Gamble.

    According to the sign that she¡¯d seen along the way, Fannie was already in Krishare.

    This country used to be larger than the four major powers, but since they did not have a hero, internal divisions occurred and the state split into several pieces.

    Krishare¡¯s name was all that remained, and while the past heroes of Sail were nicknamed the [Blue Dragon], Krishare¡¯s were named [Kirin].

    ¡°Is that a castle?¡±

    It was already deep at night, but Fannie¡¯s eyes caught the shape of a castle a few kilometers ahead.

    If that was it, Fannie thought that she was near the center of Krishare and ignoring the physics of going hundreds of kilometers an hour, changed direction to head north at a right angle.

    If she proceeded at her current pace, she would reach Gamble the next afternoon.

    If she could find a group of zombies on the way without reaching, she would be able to return to Yurushia the morning after.

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±

    She¡¯d found a few zombies in mere seconds.

    Fannie kept up her speed and plucked the hearts off of the zombies in passing.

    ¡°¡­¡­ failed¡±

    This time around, she managed to retrieve the heart without worrying about getting dirty, and the gems had been buried in them indeed, but when it touched the air, it crumbled away in the wind.

    Although it seemed that ¡°Jewel Zombies (temp)¡± appeared in the area, it seems that they hadn¡¯t reached the stage of an ¡®outbreak¡¯ yet.

    ¡°Huuu¡­¡­¡±

    Once she stopped, she had trouble running again. Still Fannie wanted to bring Yurushia a souvenir.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Should I just make one?¡±

    Her thoughts began to stray off course.

    She remembered the magical wavelength of the previous zombie. Changing the magic wavelength little by little, a zombie ¡®experiment¡¯ was being born by the enormous magic power of the Demon.

    And Fannie went out to find a large cemetery in her immediate vicinity.

    And as a result¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s a success?¡±

    More than one hundred of the zombies were spawned in a cemetery near the Krishare capital. it seems that the range had been increased too much, and she could even feel the presence of monsters in the forest that had been zombified.

    Fannie hadn¡¯t expected that she would manage it on her first try.

    She thought that she would be trying various different patterns one by one using relatively new corpses in the cemetery, but not only had she succeeded suddenly, but she¡¯d also made a whole load of zombies by making a mistake with the range.

    In any case, just reporting this magic power pattern would be a great result for an initial investigation. After that, what would happen after would be up to her Mistress.

    And Fannie, who was trying to rid herself of the zombies to fly back, felt the presence of someone fighting zombies in the distance.

    She didn¡¯t know if it was some adventurer from the country, but it would be handled completely by them, and she feared that the zombies would be examined.

    ¡°This might be bad¡­¡­¡±

    If there were people with analysis techniques on the level of Fannie or Noa, Fannie might become accused of being the criminal behind the zombie outbreak.

    Then Yurushia would get angry. She was scared of Yurushia¡¯s anger.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Fannie¡¯s face hardened like pottery and turned into the face of a jester.

    Her enormous magical power overflowed into miasma, and the nearby zombies turned to dust instantly.

    And for the first time in the foreign world [Tess], the threat of an [Archdemon] with a vessel bloomed.

    £ª

    ¡°Fannie! That was fast, that¡¯s great~¡±

    ¡°Ehheh~¡±

    Yurushia stroked Fannie¡¯s head and praised her for investigating the cause of the magic power that was creating zombies.

    And after that, Fannie cleared out all of the zombies and collected the remaining gems, returning to Yurushia.¡±

    The gems that Fannie had taken from the zombies she produced kept their original shape even after being exposed to the air, for some reason, so it became a good souvenir.

    And after that¡­¡­ the [Mass Zombie outbreak] that had happened in Krishare was ended in a day, and the fact that Fannie had done it was be hidden, but at the time, the surviving adventurers somehow only knew that the messenger of the [Saint] had come to rescue them from the national crisis, and only the fact that she had destroyed the zombies was spread, causing Yurushia¡¯s fame to rise.

    But we haven¡¯t yet gotten to Rinne and the gang¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, Rinne¡¯s tale.

 CH 121

    Volume 7, Chapter 7: Children of Night, Part 1

    Author¡¯s note: It¡¯s the Demons¡¯ time to shine. Take care if you¡¯re eating while reading this.

    [Tess] as a world had a moderate difference in temperature compared to earth, but just like earth, it was still colder in the north, and more temperate in the south.

    In Gamble, though, which was located in the north of the continent, they did not experience heavy snowfall even in winter since the Caudle mountain range further north blocked the winter winds.

    Beyond the Caudle mountain range lived the forces of darkness.

    However, they weren¡¯t living buried under snow and ice, but lived out of underground caves.

    One would imagine that they would be living in the dark hearing that they lived in caves, but the places were surprisingly bright thanks to a special moss that glowed.

    Not only that, but since there was a volcano nearby, the insides of it were also quite warm, and using the light of the moss, they could grow plants and mushrooms, and with a beastmen children running about with runny noses, you could feel a rural atmosphere.

    The large cave had quite the high ceiling and had more area than that of the larger human nations, big enough for a dragon to fly around.

    To invade the human nations from there, they had to go through a dark and long maze-like cave, with one of the exits in the Caudle mountain range in the human nation, and while the humans didn¡¯t know where all the caves were, the humans had already built a fort in front of the largest one which an army could pass through, to guard against it.

    The humans couldn¡¯t invade through the maze either, and, because of this, they weren¡¯t able to settle the issue and the battle continued for thousands of years.

    Large armies could not make it through, and the forces of darkness were in a position to commit attacks and maintained the advantage for hundreds of years.

    A couple of years ago, four [Heroes] had planned the assassination of the drow king, but because one of the heroes was betrayed before it was all over, in a sense, the forces of darkness had been left alone.

    However, there was now a true [Darkness] quietly approaching them.

    ¡°How about a delicious shimeji mushroom~ They¡¯re also poisonous~.¡±

    A dark elf girl was raising her voice on the street, selling full baskets of mushrooms she¡¯d harvested.

    Purplish-red eyes. Not brown, but blue-black skin. Long ears about 10cm long that erupted out of her silver hair.

    Since elves had lifespans of over 500 years, her appearance didn¡¯t quite square with her age, but she was still in her teens.

    Dark elves seemed arrogant and demonic to humans, but that was only the upper classes of the dark elves, the aristocrats and their warriors. The civilians themselves weren¡¯t evil.

    The dark elves were far too pure to live in human society.

    Still, it was quite like a resident of the darkness to sell food and poison in the same basket.

    ¡°Oi, you, who let you do business here!¡±

    Although it was bright out, it was no sunlight, and could at best be compared to the brightness of an indoor lamp. Two Beastmen soldiers called out to the girl in the alley where the light didn¡¯t reach.

    ¡°¡­u-, uhm¡­ I¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°You have to have a permit to do business here. Do you?¡±

    ¡°Oh. I suppose we¡¯ll have no choice but to have you pay for it now, since you want to do business.¡±

    ¡°Th-that¡­¡±

    The beastman soldiers grinned at the frightened girl.

    ¡°Oi, come to think of it, recently there¡¯s been missing persons cases. Do you know anything about that?¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know anything! I¡¯ll pay the money¡­¡­ but I don¡¯t have much¡±

    ¡°Then come here. We¡¯re going to need to interrogate you.¡±

    ¡°Hiii¡±

    In this country where only strength ruled, if one was strong, most things would be allowed.

    As the soldiers tried to drag the girl by the arm towards the dark backstreet, the rest of the residents could not do anything but avert their eyes.

    ¡°Please, stop¡±

    ¡°Hey, hurry up and come over¡±

    ¡°First of all, you might be hiding a weapon on you, so why don¡¯t you take off all your clothes.¡±

    They had been committing criminal acts regularly.

    Dragging the girl into the darkness with practiced hands, he looked at the frightened girl from head to toe as if licking her and licked his lips.

    ¡°[GAoooooo¡­¡­]¡±

    At that point, he could hear the barking roar of a ¡®beast¡¯ from the darkness behind him.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±

    ¡°Kyaa!¡±

    As the soldiers pushed the girl into the dark corner, he readied his halberd¡­¡­ or at least a spear with an axe blade.

    Even if he had the attitude of a small fry, he was still a soldier of the dark forces. Taking up a battle stance, he stared into the darkness with the Darkvision that was peculiar to his race.

    After all, they were here to investigate an incident happening in this neighborhood, where the residents and soldiers were going missing. It wasn¡¯t unusual for the residents of darkness to suddenly disappear. There was always fighting here, so it wasn¡¯t strange when they died.

    He wasn¡¯t investigating seriously, but it would be convincing if he said that the criminal behind it was a ¡®beast¡¯.

    Still, something was wrong¡­¡­

    If there were beasts, there should have been signs of one. However, he couldn¡¯t find any signs, nor could he smell the beast, and it was instead filled with a ¡®darkness¡¯ that he could not see through with his night vision.

    However, there was certainly something there.

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    From the darkness, several two-legged things walked out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Bear?¡±

    As the girl who was being pushed around murmured, stunned, out walked a small teddy bear, about 50cm tall.

    ¡°¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this¡­¡­ why is a toy moving by itself?¡±

    The tense atmosphere disappeared, and the soldiers who felt completely disappointed lowered their weapons.

    ¡°¡­¡­You can sell this, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you going to take it home?¡±

    Although it was moving, it was difficult to keep the heart of a town guard with a teddy bear soft toy. As the soldiers approached it carelessly, reaching out-

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    Suddenly, one of the Beastmen collapsed, leaning against the wall of the alley.

    ¡°o-Oi, what happened¡­ Hii!?¡±

    The beastman soldier was missing half of his body, as if it had been bitten off and eaten.

    *gari¡­ gori¡­ gari¡­¡­* (sfx: chewing noises)

    As the beastman and the girl turned towards the source of the sound, they saw the teddy bear chewing on something in its mouth, its lips covered in blood.

    And then, it swallowed with a gulp¡­¡­

    ¡°[Gauu?]¡±

    The two of them recoiled with looks of horror at the teddy bear that was inclining its head cutely.

    ¡°y-y-y-you go closer.¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaa¡±

    As the beastman reached for the girl to use as a decoy, his arm disappeared suddenly before reaching the girl.

    ¡°[Gau.]¡±

    ¡°HIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?¡±

    As the beastman screamed out in fear and pain, the teddy bear jumped forward and opened its mouth, exposing the hundreds of teeth within that shone.

    And then, only the dumbfounded girl was left alone in the alley.

    The teddy bear plushie seemed to have been fine with eating just the two soldiers and had disappeared elsewhere without eating the dark elf girl.

    It was just that the Demon had been satisfied, but she didn¡¯t know it, and that girl decorated a teddy bear stuffed animal that she¡¯d made herself and worshipped it daily.

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°[Are you done eating?]¡±

    As the small teddy bear entered a small fort some distance away, a calm voice could be heard speaking to him.

    Usually, there would be soldiers training or drinking alcohol, but now, there were no signs of life there.

    It would have been alright if the place was abandoned or something, but the weapons and armor of over 100 people were rolling on the floor as if the people who were wielding them had disappeared suddenly.

    Inside, there was an enormous [Beast] that seemed to be made out of pure condensed darkness, with only its silver eyes shining in the dark.

    ¡°[Now, that¡¯s enough souls.]¡±

    ¡°[Gau.]¡±

    ¡°[Shall we move?]¡±

    The deep darkness disappeared like a haze and began to move. The fear that had come to this country had only just begun.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, Rinne¡¯s story, for real.

 CH 122

    Volume 7, Chapter 8: Children of Night, Part 2

    Millions of the citizens of darkness lived in these large caves.

    They fought against the elves and humans, the forces of light, as the forces of darkness, but even so, they weren¡¯t monolithic.

    Dark Elves. Beastmen. Intelligent magic beasts.

    In the world of Atra where Yurushia lived, there was the existence called the Demon King, but here, while they honored those who were powerful, they didn¡¯t get along as a matter of fact.

    In the center of the cavern was an old castle, reminding people that there had once been a person who had united them. The castle had been unmanned for thousands of years, and if any one king tried to take it, they would be attacked by the other races.

    The three races each had their castles along the wall of the large cavern away from the castle.

    One of them, the castle for the dark elves, ran into a problem several years ago.

    ¡°Hey, Nefi. Is your father still busy?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Rimi. They¡¯re preparing for war.¡±

    The little girl answered the question of the other little girl.

    The dark elf girls looked like 5 or 6-year-olds, but one couldn¡¯t tell the age of elven children by their appearance, and if they¡¯d grown like human children they¡¯d be about 15 years old though they looked like ordinary children.

    The elven species were usually split into the normal whiter elves and the dark elves. And then there was the high elf, that was the progenitor of both species.

    It was said that the white elves were born when the high elves, who were close to spirits, had children with humans, while the dark elves were those who had children with the demonic beasts.

    It was said that high elves had infinite lifespans, and because there were so many of them who had the free time to spare, there were strange ones.

    They were creatures that didn¡¯t really fit the pattern of being praiseworthy just because they were old.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut it out.¡±

    These girls weren¡¯t really poor. The stone-cut room was lacking in the colors typical of a pretty little girl, but it still had extensive furnishings and many items.

    The two of them were also wearing gorgeous dresses that were labor-intensive to the point that ordinary wealthy merchants could not afford them for their children.

    They were the royal family of the Dark Elves. The girl with the golden hair and blue eyes was Nefi, and the one with silver hair and purple eyes was Rimi, and the two were born as twins.

    Still, there were no maids to take care of the young girls, and it was more like they were left alone in the castle.

    How did this happen?

    In the castle, the rest of the royal children were adults and now the five princes and three other princesses were competing to be the successor to the throne, and so tensions were high. Their mothers were all different, and the two of them whose ages were so far from the others were excluded from the succession race, so their siblings, who were jumping at shadows, even if they weren¡¯t being hostile, were trying to keep them at a distance.

    ¡°Nefi, I smell something nice.¡±

    ¡°Really. Rimi.¡±

    Their caregivers had deserted them, fearing the other princes and princesses¡¯ displeasure.

    Over the past few months, the two of them managed to live together and survive somehow.

    When they opened the door, they didn¡¯t know who had put down the wagon filled with delicacies and luxurious dishes, but they reached out, and threw every little bit of it out of the window.

    ¡°It¡¯s poisoned again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of this.¡±

    Since they¡¯d been fed small amounts of poison since young, they¡¯d gotten the [Poison Resistance Skill]. Still, they would know the instant they tasted it that it was poisoned, and if they kept eating it every day they would die in about six months.

    ¡°Well then Rimi, let¡¯s go have rice.¡±

    ¡°I hope that it¡¯s delicious today.¡±

    The two of them were pretty and cute, so their brothers weren¡¯t very wary of them, but they were intelligent and had more cunning than any of their siblings.

    Ironically, since their lives were in danger ever since their childhood, their strength and cunning had been polished, and their talent as the royals of the Dark Elves had bloomed.

    Nefi and Rimi dove into a hole that was only wide enough for children and headed towards one of the kitchens. Their siblings were all afraid of being poisoned, and had segregated the kitchens, having their food cooked by their subordinate chefs separately.

    After confirming the stage of the cooking with their smell and intuition, they snuck into the kitchen that was for the first princess¡¯ exclusive use.

    While the cooks busied themselves working, they were able to confirm that some of the dishes that were being made were the same as those that were delivered today, and the two of them took bread and cheeses, mixing in the poisoned dishes that they¡¯d been brought into the food.

    It was only a small amount, since they¡¯d thrown almost all of it away, but if they continued this for a couple of years, it might be possible to ruin their sister.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    The two of them were aware that this wouldn¡¯t change things, though.

    Because their father, the king, took a neutral stance, he wouldn¡¯t protect them even if they were young. Also, their mother, who wasn¡¯t a dark elf, had been assassinated soon after they were born.

    The two of them who had neither backing, nor strength wouldn¡¯t survive these years. It just made too much sense to eliminate them, since they would mature, even if they seemed harmless now.

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Rimi.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Nefi.¡±

    The two of them shared bread and cheeses on an empty terrace.

    Actually, it wasn¡¯t really that delicious, but eating it together made it a treat.

    How many more years could they keep this up¡­¡­ The two of them weren¡¯t interested in the throne, and only hoped to live together peacefully. ¡­¡­ That was it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Nefi¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Rimi?¡±

    The two of them called out to each other suddenly.

    They could feel presences other than their own. It was closer to an ¡®odor¡¯ rather than a presence, a ¡®sense of incongruity¡¯ akin to a deodorant that all traces of it wiped from the air.

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Seeping out of the darkness like black ink, a black-dressed man emerged. It knew that it had been noticed and had probably come to kill them.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Whilst thinking of an escape route with each other, they built up a magic structure in their heads.

    But why had he come here to kill them directly? The two of them hadn¡¯t noticed it, but some of their siblings were aware of their talents.

    Slowly, the assassin moved, his dagger wet with something liquid. But then,

    ¡°[Gaugau]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Everyone turned their eyes to look at the teddy bear soft toy that walked in a wobbly manner on its short legs, stunned into blank silence.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­Bear?¡±¡±

    As Nefi and Rimi murmured at the same time, the assassin instantly moved to slash the teddy bear.

    Thinking about it normally, one could only think that it was a type of magic tool with a self-contained thought-circuit.

    Because it meant that there was a witness, naturally, the assassin knew that it had to be cleaned up even though its ability wasn¡¯t known. ¡­¡­but.

    *GAKIN!*

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    The dagger was caught in the teddy bear¡¯s fangs as it turned around and bit it off.

    The assassin who¡¯d quickly let go of his dagger tried to pull out his spare sword but stopped moving in the dark suddenly ~~~ and turned to dust in an instant, disappearing.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rimi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, who¡¯s there?¡±

    As the two of them glared at the ¡®darkness¡¯, unable to see more than the teddy bear, a black cat prowled out from within.

    ¡°¡­¡­a cat.¡±

    ¡°A bear and a cat.¡±

    They sounded carefree, but sweat was on their faces, and their bodies were trembling.

    Although it only seemed and felt like black cat, but their intuition as one of the royalties of the forces of darkness knew that the existence that stood in front of them was an [Overlord].

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Under the gaze of the black cat, Rimi fainted and collapsed to the floor, while Nefi also fell to her knees on the spot.

    No, she kneeled. ¡­¡­ I guess you could say that. The girls who felt the difference in sheer level of existence between themselves and what stood before them, could only nod at each other with their eyes while stricken in fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡­ Is what I see before me the ¡®God of Demons¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Please¡­¡­ please save us from our situation¡­¡­¡±

    When it heard the words of the two, the silver pupils of the black cat narrowed.

    ¡°[¡­¡­What will you offer me? Black elves.]¡±

    ¡°m-¡±

    At the overwhelming pressure emitted from that [Voice], the young children lowered their heads yet further, raising their charm.

    The two of them were hoping that one day some [Prince Charming on a White Horse] would come to save them.

    But¡­¡­ If such a person came, they had decided that they would give them half of their ¡®lives¡¯.

    ¡°¡­¡­C-compensation¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Our lives¡­ we will give you half of each of us.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­¡­¡­]¡±

    Half¡­¡­ as the black cat heard¡­ Rinne¡¯s face distorted slightly.

    Even for the elves who had lifespans of over 500 years, it seemed that their long lives made them lazy, and the souls of the dark elves weren¡¯t that delicious.

    Rinne had found these two girls among them.

    The souls of these girls, born of the blood of the ancient elves, that had desperately polished themselves to survive, seemed like the only jewels in this country.

    Half of their lives was quite considerable, but it was still a little insufficient to move Rinne, who was a [Great Beast].

    Some of the [Devils] who had human features would not mind, since the Demons kept their promises, and it would always be able to get the rest of it at a bargain.

    [¡­¡­ Wait a moment.]

    ¡°¡°Y-yes¡­¡±¡±

    Rinne wasn¡¯t great at such fine contracting. Not just Rinne¡­¡­ but the entirety of the [Demon Beasts] weren¡¯t that great.

    If a Demon Beast was called, usually they would just destroy everything on the spot as a sacrifice and devour it all and so they were used like ¡®bombs¡¯. Those demon cultists who tried to bind Demon Beasts by making untactful contracts would by and large be devoured by the Demon Beasts that they summoned.

    Therefore, the [Demon Beasts] had never made a careful contract, and what with this contract being [Rescue us from this predicament], he would have to change their surroundings, and the effective scope of the contract was too ambiguous.

    Anyway, Rinne, who wasn¡¯t good at fine contracts, called on Geas to send a message to its master, the [Devil], using their connection.

    *Uhm, uhm, could you send over Noa?*

    When the message was sent out, immediately after the ringtone of a pirororon, a reply arrived.

    *Why, is it urgent?*

    *Since contracting is troublesome, I want your subordinate to oversee it.*

    *Noa is out right now, though?*

    *Then, could you send someone? I can¡¯t move directly. I need someone who can protect the contractor.*

    *Don¡¯t you have Geas? The appearance is lacking, but the insides are usable, y¡¯know.*

    *Well¡­¡­ the content of the contract is troublesome. And there are two contractors.*

    *What kind of people are they?*

    *Two Dark elf children.*

    *Hohhoh. Then I know just who to send. Rinne, do your best~*

    *¡­¡­Alright.*

    It seemed good since someone would be coming. It would be the ideal to have Noa come, but Nea wouldn¡¯t be such a bad choice either.

    If that crappy maid duo came together, they would have to be careful, but it wouldn¡¯t be bad.

    ¡°[Oh children of the dark elves. Offer up half of your soul and make the contract.]¡±

    ¡°¡°T-thank you!¡±¡±

    A thin chain stretched from Rinne as the proof of the contract was entwined with their soul.

    It became a contract that seemed to have been left quite vague, but it wasn¡¯t too bad for a Demon Beast. [Save us from our predicament] meant that in the worst-case scenario, he could just kill everything but the two girls.

    However, he would have no objections whatsoever if they could recover the souls of the others in the royal family as they died.

    ¡°[I will assign someone to protect you. That should be enough.]¡±

    ¡°An ¡­¡­ escort?¡±

    ¡°[Gau]¡±

    Unexpectedly Geas muttered something and opened his mouth wide, facing them directly.

    And from among them¡­¡­ An unknown black substance overflowed, and it seemed as if someone was trying to appear from there.

    ¡°[¡­¡­(Hyooo~i)]¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­A rabbit?¡±¡±

    As the rabbit soft toy raised one arm lightly, they muttered it out in shock, and gazing at the bear and rabbit plushies, they regained their sanity.

    ¡°Ehh!? Demon-god-sama!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s!? It can¡¯t be!¡±

    Certainly, Rinne didn¡¯t think that Onzada(rabbit) would be coming to escort the child, but before Rinne even got to play the straight man, it disappeared.

    And so, it seemed that Geas and Onzada, the two of them, would be protecting the two princesses as their business.

    The two little younger sisters, who had hidden in the shadows until now, began to show up on the main stage, and their siblings became wary and acted, not noticing the soft toys were stopping these actions, the girls rapidly strengthened their position in the castle.

    Onzada regularly reported back to Yuru. Although she doesn¡¯t understand a word.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, we return to Yuru.

 CH 123

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I Became an Adventurer, Part 1, Part 1

    Dear father and mother in the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo, how are you all doing?

    It¡¯s been a while since I left on my latest journey.

    This country that I am in, Sail, has a climate very similar to that of the Holy Kingdom, and I am still living as I was, unchanged.

    Although I wasn¡¯t allowed to leave the upper reaches of the castle for a while, I finally got permission to head out into the castle town.

    Yours truly, Yurushia.

    ¡°Well, princess, it certainly matches you well.¡±

    As I stood in front of the mirror, the older salesgirl who was in her mid-twenties said so happily.

    Recently, I¡¯d been given several maids from Sail.

    It seems that this is normally standard for anyone with the [Hero class] who are received warmly from the start, whereas in my case, they were just a little awkward and afraid, and since Noa and the rest of the followers were with me from the beginning, they postponed it.

    Well, I think the attachment of maids was also for the sake of watching me, the four kids from Earth were also similarly given maids, so even if I rely on them, I don¡¯t trust them not to report me. Still, the maids¡¯ attitudes were surprisingly good.

    This world has long been relying on the summoning of [Heroes from another world] for well over a thousand years, so we were an object of adoration.

    However, over the past few months I¡¯ve been hunting down documents in the library, I found something that¡¯s a little bit strange.

    The Japanese folks who were summoned to this world a thousand years ago were all described like Japanese who lived in the Heian period.

    In other words, the flow of time of Earth compared to Atra, or even [Tess], didn¡¯t change at all.

    But Yuuki-kun was reincarnated 12 years in the past when he was killed, and Kyoji¡¯s age was the same, de-aged more than 10 years ~ maybe 12 years.

    Twelve¡­¡­

    It was probably because of the fact that space and time was being distorted by that technique called the [Twelve Period Hourglass] that was applied to me.

    As such, I decided to go down into the castle town to see how much the influence of the otherworlders had affected things.

    ¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.

    After saying all that, it¡¯s all actually just for killing time.

    Besides, I¡¯d taken great pains to follow to the template of going to another world, so I want to go sightseeing.

    That¡¯s why, all this time, I¡¯ve been applying for permission to go into the city, and at last, I got it.

    If we were alone, I was thinking of secretly going out of the castle and then sneaking back, but I¡¯d like to bring those children from Japan if I can.

    It seems that I finally got permission to go because I became famous after sending my followers here and there, so it¡¯s getting harder to just put me aside.

    However, I was told that I could only go along with two other people.

    There are four of my attendants.

    Apparently, they think it¡¯s necessary to have some of those four to tie me down to this country, but all of them could leave as they were.

    There¡¯s no confidence in me at all¡­¡­ (How Oblivious)

    Well, if there was a place that was better than this country, it would be great to migrate to.

    But since I¡¯ve basically been asked to say, I¡¯ve just been eroding away at this country from the inside.

    Well, it¡¯s not that much different from what Kyoji¡¯s doing.

    He¡¯s not officially a hero, but by showing off the power befitting a hero, he won position and trust.

    I feel that Kyoji seems to be working through the underworld of this country, though, and I wonder if I could use vampires like I did in the Holy Kingdom¡­¡­

    Ah, my storytelling wandered away again.

    Well, in short, I was able to go out into the castle town now, but I had the horribly embarrassing nickname of the [Golden Saint], it was like the spotlights turning on during an idol¡¯s surprise concert, so I decided to go out incognito.

    Ermm¡­¡­ For the time being, because of the other otherworlders¡¯ settings, if we talked like we knew about Earth, I worry about how they¡¯d react.

    ¡°Is there any issue?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but Princess-sama¡¯s waistline is high, so anything you wear suits you.¡±

    That¡¯s not what I said, I was trying to ask if it wasn¡¯t strange for me to go out into the castle town, but since the maids seem to be enjoying putting me in clothes, she doesn¡¯t seem to be listening.

    And even though the princess of this country was Bianca, is it still alright to call me princess? As I asked that, the older sister maid replied me.

    ¡°Her Highness is Her Highness, and Princess Yurushia is Princess.¡±

    ¡­¡­ and I got an incomprehensible reply.

    Is that it? Do you just hold some sort of different meaning for the word ¡°Princess¡±?

    This time around, I was going down into the town with Nea and Tina, along with the two girls, Mizuki and Touka.

    The animal gang seemed to be doing various thing on the side of the forces of darkness and wasn¡¯t following me around at the moment.

    They just went to collect food originally, but really, what are you all doing¡­¡­?

    Author¡¯s Notes: A heartwarming chapte

 CH 124

    Volume 3, Chapter 9: I Became an Adventurer, Part 1, Part 2

    ¡°This is the royal quarter¡­¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mizuki misunderstood as she got off the carriage in an unlively place, seeing the town of a different world for the first time as she was.

    Well, from her speech alone, she sounds like a bumpkin.

    The streets were lined with white buildings in the Mediterranean style.

    Since it was close to the sea too, it really gave off that impression.

    There were plenty of pale-skinned people walking about, but here and there were a few with darker skin tones and a few yellow-skinned ones.

    Still, there was a slight sense of incongruity thanks to the colors of their hair and eyes, but this was a different world, after all.

    We also got looks from the residents, who glanced and stared at the five girls.

    Mostly the guys.

    Rather worried about the gazes, Touka spoke up.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuru-chan¡­Our outfits aren¡¯t strange, right?¡±

    And also, for some reason, I¡¯m being called [Yuru] again here.

    Am I going to end up becoming laid back again here? ¡­ Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I lightly smiled at Touka who was worrying about her clothes.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it alright? They¡¯re looking because Touka is so cute.¡±

    ¡°Even if Yuru-chan says that¡­¡­¡±

    She certainly has the right figure, though I think the rest of us may be scary for those who aren¡¯t used to seeing the external appearances of us [Demons].

    Touka and Mizuki are rather cute.

    Somewhat rounded faces, but since the rest of the residents were of mixed heritage with the otherworlders they had a somewhat delicate appearance.

    Mizuki was older than I was and she¡¯s a little taller and gave off the impression of a small animal, but her sense of style was pretty good, and I knew that the knights¡¯ gazes were moving up and down every time she moved her body while training.

    Touka was a little more intimidating, but her overall figure was great, so she had a certain beautiful atmosphere about her. I don¡¯t know how far the culture of earth has penetrated, but someone in the castle saw her and muttered ¡°Tsundere get!¡±

    Although, right now, Touka was looking like a little kid in beginning adventurer¡¯s clothes. Anyways, since we were dressed in the castle, it feels like we¡¯re a bunch of rich kids going into the city.

    Like usual, I look like a wealthy heiress, complete with a wide hat to hide my face.

    ¡°¡­If we¡¯re able, would you guys like to change clothes?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ then I couldn¡¯t wear my sword.¡±

    Nea is wearing her escort knight dress. Even though I say knight, she¡¯s not wearing armor, but it still seems utilitarian.

    Two servants with me make me uneasy, unsurprisingly.

    Although Nea would follow common sense to an extent whenever she was separated from me, when close by, it suddenly disappears. It¡¯s mostly harmless, but she¡¯s the first to move.

    On top of that, Tina is well known for overlooking things. If I don¡¯t say something every time we pass by thugs eying us and I don¡¯t notice, a few seconds later they¡¯re always dead.

    It may have been wrong to bring these two along for the trip.

    The knights from the castle said they would escort us, but maybe it would have been better if we had politely refused. It would be better if there were less witnesses whenever we do something¡­

    As such, I was forced to put up with this atmosphere, with everyone trying to win over Nea.

    The knights are all training around us, since they know that Nea is (Due to Clumsiness) a damsel.

    ¡°Heey~ Yuru-chan, Touka-chan, what is that street food? It smells so good!¡±

    ¡°Oh, what a nice smell¡­ is that grilled meat?¡±

    Mizuki said with her light voice while looking to the stalls.

    Things that wouldn¡¯t normally interest you always seem more appetizing when you go sightseeing.

    I¡¯m a Demon, though, so I don¡¯t feel drawn to the fried fatty food.

    ¡°Let¡¯s both get some, so that we can share.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­ I wonder how I should talk to them¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can bring someone from the castle to help translate, you know?¡±

    Obviously, Japanese isn¡¯t the native language of this world. We automatically translate everything since as demons we can use the [Spirit Language], but in in addition to that, we were acquiring [Language Skills] since we came to this world.

    Unlike the Spirit Language, this is a skill that lets us use the native languages of this world like we are fluent. At first, I was speaking in Japanese, but as I listened to Bianca, it seems that switching to the native language just happened.

    This skill is more convenient than I thought¡­ However, it¡¯s impossible to bring it to Atra.

    ¡°Let¡¯s buy some.¡±

    Given her nature, it¡¯s surprisingly Challenger Mizuki who take up the bat.

    ¡°We might as well¡­ What does Yuru-chan¡¯s group want?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re fine, enjoy yourselves.¡±

    I say to Touka with a smile that doesn¡¯t quite fit, before they nervously moved away from me and went over to the stall to grab their attention.

    A few minutes later¡­

    ¡°Here, Yuru-chan, we got you some¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I told them it was my first time eating this, so they gave us a discount!¡±

    The two held out their meat skewers with excited smiles.

    ¡°Yeah, we both did good!¡±

    Why am I, the youngest, in a guardian¡¯s position¡­

    Everything is an experience, but those two really are Challengers, huh.

    ¡­ No way, I think Touka didn¡¯t see the words ¡°Orc Meat¡± written on the side of the stand, unless the taste of humanoids is a new middle school girl diet?

    Is Orc meat low in fat? It¡¯s been minced and wrapped around a wooden stick, though. We waited for them to finish eating before we moved on to our destination.

    Today, our goal is the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    ¡­ I wonder if this is Karma?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time will be the church and the guild.

 CH 125

    Volume 7, Chapter 10: I Became an Adventurer, Part 2

    [3rd Person PoV]

    There are people in [Tess] that are called Adventurers, as well as an adventuring guild which supports them.

    This guild¡­ you could say that the [Adventurer] job and guild were all the result of people summoned from a different world.

    Its history is surprisingly shallow.

    However, although it¡¯s called the adventurer¡¯s guild, only a part of it is for the actual adventurers, most of it is basically a [General Store].

    It really is true that there are no free things for newcomers that don¡¯t do anything.

    There are no rules about entering a request, but there are some points to remember.

    For example, even if an ordinary person wants to set up a request for something, they wouldn¡¯t know what adventurer to ask. If you¡¯re a farmer that wants to get rid of rats from your field, if you just ask adventurers are around to complete it, you wouldn¡¯t have enough money no matter how much you have.

    Thus, the adventurer¡¯s guild ranks tasks and adventurers to manage who will accept a request and made a system where adventurers can accept personal requests.

    There are four ranks of adventurers:

    [Bronze] is the lowest rank of adventurer, mostly these are people that are new or not dedicated to work who are lazy about taking jobs.

    [Silver] is a fine, middle of the road adventurer, which makes up most of the ranks of professional adventurers. These are the type that will be called out to fight Orcs and other monsters.

    [Gold] is restricted to skilled veterans or highly talented people.

    It¡¯s said that this rank can only be nominated by others, and only 12 people can be registered as such in any one country at a time.

    There¡¯s also the highest rank of [God], but that¡¯s a title only given to Hero-class people, so it has nothing to do with general adventurers.

    Anyways, there is an adventuring guild in this capital of Sail.

    To become an adventurer here, you need to spend a small silver coin for the registration fee, which is about $10, as well as an annual membership fee of the same amount, regardless of rank. However, since there are so many Bronze ranked people, the building seems to show how profitable it¡¯s been as it¡¯s truly splendid looking.

    When entering, one could see individual tellers, like you¡¯d see in a bank, were you could see adventurers taking requests early in the morning, since they become sparse in the afternoon.

    In most cases for Bronze adventurers, they will pick up their task in the morning and turn it in in the evening of that same day.

    People who are more selective of the requests they take, people of Silver rank or better, will generally come and wait in the guild for new requests to be posted.

    For those who do that, it¡¯s common for a caf¨¦ to be set up on the first floor, although it doesn¡¯t sell any alcohol.

    If there are multiple hubs in the area, there are cases where it also serves as a tavern, but in most cases, they don¡¯t want the image of the adventurers to be hurt and to make it easier for the general public to come in.

    There are cases where civilians come to give a request, so the typical scene of adventurers bullying a kid like the stories is hardly ever seen.

    You¡¯d almost expect a confrontation, like the stereotype.

    There are people who treat their work as an adventurer like a part-time job, so the image that adventurers put out is similar to handymen, but since they deal in such rough matters, there are still some people with tempers.

    However, since this is the capital of the country, gentlemanly adventurers are the norm, there are very few of the rough folks, although the adventurer guilds off in the east are a bit different.

    ¡°S-someone¡¯s coming ¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you so tense over?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, calm down¡±

    ¡°I see¡­but¡±

    A few of the adventurers had a conversation like that on the first floor.

    They was an adventurer who had just reached the rank of Silver who was waiting for someone to enter the guild.

    However, from their expression and appearance, it seemed like a sort of hazing for the newly upgraded adventurer.

    In the guild here in the eastern countries, a certain culture has been spread around by the foreigners.

    There is a tradition of ¡°Showing new adventurers the harshness of the world.¡± Basically, the silver adventurers would talk down to the newcomers.

    Of course, there are also strong newcomers, so there are cases of blowback, but it¡¯s the job of the other adventurers to support each other.

    This tradition is known by the merchants and others who work with the guild and is used as a test of newcomers¡¯ resolve.

    Apparently, the adventurer in charge of this today seemed to be a good person and was nervous about intimidating a young person who he didn¡¯t know.

    Since there were other adventurers in the building watching them, their own hesitation was making them even more nervous, and the atmosphere in the room was becoming tense.

    *Karrang*

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±

    The adventurers in the guild all turned to face the sound of the door chime.

    Although the door was used often, no new adventurers were expected to come in yet.

    The adventurers had been awaiting their entertainment, so the total number sitting around was higher than usual today.

    Then, the time had come.

    Two black haired girls came in.

    Both of them seemed to be in their early teens, but not from this world¡­ to be exact, one looked like a small Asian girl and the other a little older.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The adventurer responsible for today¡¯s entertainment was relieved to see those two but depressed all the same.

    Even though there were ridiculous rookies every now and them, especially among adventurers, these girls didn¡¯t look like the type. However, the adventurer was still a young man, and because they were cute, he was hesitant to go forward.

    Just as a seasoned adventurer near them was about to get up and take the reins from the poor fellow, the situation changed.

    Two other girls appeared from behind the two, who both looked less Asian, although in a strange way.

    One was a girl wearing maid clothes with a dignified atmosphere around her and a cold expression.

    The other wore a cloak, but there seemed to be a plate dress underneath them.

    Both of them were young, but were so beautiful as to be surprising, and they could imagine that it was an aristocrat or some other noble that they served, given the quality of their tailor-made clothes.

    However, this is a bit of an issue.

    Although Nobility would occasionally ask for tasks, in that case there is no need to send strangers who would be involved in the hazing by the adventurers.

    Even if they were newcomers, it seemed a bit sad to let the adventurer hurt their relationship with the nobility, but right as several adventurers began to leave their seats, the situation changed once more.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­!¡±¡±¡±

    All of the people in the room gasped in awe.

    The girl who followed them was¡­ dressed like a common merchant¡¯s daughter, but the atmosphere around her said that she was anything but.

    Shining gold hair. Even wearing her cap over her eyes, not a man or woman could help their gaze from looking at her, the earlier atmosphere blown away as all of the adventurers attempting to speak out simply fell into their seats.

    £ª

    [Yuru PoV]

    Entering the adventurer¡¯s guild, I thought that I would get involved in the template, I was prepared to be lightly intimidated, but nobody got involved. After all, that only happens in stories.

    What is this, though¡­? Even though nobody will meet my eyes, everybody keeps glancing in my direction.

    OK, then.

    Anyway, I head for one of the receptionists.

    The reason I came here officially was for sightseeing, but I¡¯d also like to register as an adventurer.

    My status was guaranteed by the country of Sail, but since my status is as [Saint] it¡¯d be troublesome to deal with that in another country.

    Even if we try to act in secret, I think it¡¯s possible that Sail will see if I register here immediately and see anything that the Guild would call classified.

    ¡°Welcome to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The receptionist girl looks like she¡¯s about to cry since I chose her counter.

    Why would she do that¡­?

    ¡°I want to register as an adventurer, also are you OK?¡±

    ¡°Heee!¡±

    Hold on, what¡¯s with that response.

    Did I let out my killing intent by accident? I¡¯m pretty shy, so maybe I¡¯m getting nervous since it¡¯s my first time here.

    As I look at the next counter over, I see the other receptionist suddenly freeze with a reddening face, mouth gaping, so I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll be deflected there too.

    While thinking about what to do, a male staff member came up behind me and carefully leaned over to speak.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, will you please come with me out of here?¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m delaying business with my aura, I had to ask.

    I definitely didn¡¯t just want to talk to him since he¡¯s a silver fox.

    ¡°Yes¡­ our Guild Master seems to want to talk to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Suddenly the Guild Master?

    ¡­This better not be confusing.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the Guild Maste

 CH 126

    Volume 7, Chapter 11: I Became an Adventurer, Part 3, Part 1

    We were guided to the Guild Master¡¯s room by an official looking middle aged man.

    The room was on the top floor of the establishment, so we had to climb two flights of stairs, and it¡¯s super quiet.

    The reason for this is because Nea and Tina are walking right next to me and not hiding their presence at all.

    The presence coming out of them has become proper ¡®Killing Intent¡¯ and now we can¡¯t hear a peep from the lobby downstairs where all the adventurers are.

    ¡°You two, please refrain.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­Hai.¡±¡±

    Yeah, I¡¯m not buying it.

    In response to my muttered request, the aura has gone down, but the other two of our group are in a bad spot. My people are so short tempered¡­ Touka and Mizuki seemed to be about to hyperventilate.

    We Demons generally like to live on our own, but when we¡¯re together our society is very similar to corporate life.

    We¡¯re like the directors of a black company, and the Greater Demons are like the standard office workers, even if they¡¯re worked to the bone, they have to say: ¡°It¡¯s a great place to work!¡± on the homepage.

    In fact, since me and my followers were brought up directly, I can even say that [Family] passes quickly beyond the direct subordinates.

    Because of that, I¡¯m not weird for not having much loyalty to anything. Although that¡¯s a good thing normally, it means I can¡¯t really relate to people, since I don¡¯t understand human behavior, so, in retrospect, the kids seeing their city annihilated was probably pretty traumatizing.

    I think it¡¯s at least partly Rinne¡¯s influence on me.

    Still, we haven¡¯t had much of a chance to study Kyoji¡¯s¡­ or, rather, [A Hero]¡¯s battle strength, so we¡¯re not doing much right now.

    Maybe, just maybe, I think that if a Hero assembled a proper party, they would be comparable to an Arch Demon. If it were me or Rinne, we wouldn¡¯t have any problems, but Yuuki-kun said that the hero isn¡¯t fearsome just because of his strength.

    ¡°Here we are.¡±

    Ah, it seems we¡¯re here.

    The man who guided us seems to have aged 10 years during our trip. I¡¯m sorry.

    ¡°Guild Master, I brought you your guests.¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you for the trouble.¡±

    When we entered the room which the man opened for us, we heard a girls voice coming from the desk at the back of the 20 tatami sized room.

    ¡°Heeh~¡±

    I let escape me as we walked to the desk. She looked like she was about my age with red hair and was shorter than even Mizuki¡­  She has a lot of hair.

    However, her attitude and presence shows that what¡¯s in front of us isn¡¯t quite normal.

    Incidentally, I had heard something about this from Yuki-kun.

    ¡°Are you a Dwarf?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are there dwarves in your world?¡±

    She quickly figured out that we¡¯re from a [Foreign World].

    No, that isn¡¯t it. It feels too soon for her to just tell us she knows that information.

    ¡°She¡¯s a bit strange, but I have a friend who¡¯s a Dwarf.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear. In this world filled with people from strange worlds, it seems like there are only ever humans that come, Tell me more about my family from another world.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s 3 meters tall, the beautiful dwarf princess, Iwao.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand the words you¡¯re saying.¡±

    ¡°Ah, can Dwarves not understand Human language?¡±

    ¡°H-hey, what are you saying?¡±

    ¡°Anyways, how long are we going to stand here?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry, please sit down over there¡­¡±

    She guided us to the sofa looking a bit off-kilter.

    Thank goodness. It didn¡¯t come to do this banter.

    The dwarves in this world are stout and short and have manly beards. The females are rarely born and are called Lolis. Their lifespans are longer than humans, and so while she looks like a ¡®little girl¡¯, her age is much higher.

    Is that normal? All my knowledge is useless, because Atra¡¯s Dwarves are completely different from here. They¡¯re less of a race and more of a biological weapon.

    As we sat on the sofa, she sat in front of s and began to speak again.

    ¡°You know, earlier,¡±

    ¡°We never introduced ourselves, yes? Mizuki, Touka, don¡¯t just stand there, take a seat.¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡±

    ¡°Ok¡­¡±

    Since Nea and Tina were standing at my sides behind me, I called those two over to let them sit on the sofa with me.

    After seeing this, the woman understood that I was the negotiator on this side and regained her calm before starting my direction.

    ¡°I am the Guild Master of the Sail Country Adventurer¡¯s Guild, Clara Corona.¡±

    ¡°Since my full name and titles are so long, you can just call me Yurushia, these two are¡­¡±

    ¡°T-touka here¡±

    ¡°Mizuki desu~¡±

    The two said their names a little nervously after me.

    ¡°¡­ and the two behind you?¡±

    ¡°My servants.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see¡±

    She could tell that I didn¡¯t intent to say anything else on the matter, so after a beat, Corona let out a tired sigh.

    For a moment, our conversation was interrupted, as our escort brought in tea and sweets.

    Sweets like those from Earth were served regularly in the King¡¯s Castle, but Touka¡¯s and Mizuki¡¯s eyes practically sparkled when seeing the cream puffs and looked to me. I got the full brunt of box puppy eyes, and when I nodded, they reached to each grab a cream puff.

    ¡­ How did I fall into the parental position?

    ¡°Indeed, just like the girls have said. This is a confection spread from the otherworlders, are Touka and Mizuki both Japanese?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey~ Corona. Is there a purpose for all this?¡±

    Those two had been told not to draw much attention to themselves being foreigners, so I¡¯ll try to grab back Corona¡¯s attention.

    ¡°¡­You seem to be in a rush, Yurushia. Can you not afford to relax a moment?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any business, may we go home?¡±

    ¡°Oh? But you weren¡¯t going home before, you came to this guild, did you not?¡±

    Corona give a wide smile while staring me in the eyes.

    That alone proves that this is no ordinary woman. It¡¯s sad to say, but I haven¡¯t been looked in the eyes without fear for a long time.

    Weapons were hung all around the room, but none of the two-handed weapons seemed possible to lift by a normal woman her size, yet all of them show signs of recent use. Both of the axes within reach of Corona also seemed to radiate magic power, Corona definitely wasn¡¯t just an administrator, but a skilled adventurer as well.

    The problem is, what side is Corona on.

    ¡°Sightseeing¡±

    ¡°Sightseeing, huh¡±

    Actually, since we did go out for sightseeing, it isn¡¯t a lie.

    Hearing the response from the middle-aged escort, who introduced himself as Tom Yamada, he seemed skeptical, and Corona¡¯s eyes slim.

    It¡¯s best to draw a line here to start, it¡¯s small, but every advantage counts in negotiations. If the other person is the one asking for the favor, it can be responded to with conditions.

    I wanted to know more information, but I don¡¯t want to have to do troublesome things to get it.

    I don¡¯t want to solve your problems in countries thousands of kilometers away.

    Seeing how serious I am, Corona gives a light shrug.

    ¡°My bad, my bad, I called you here, but I really wanted to see if Yurushia was truly a [Saint].¡±

    ¡°And your impression?¡±

    She definitely seems to be with ¡®somebody¡¯.

    ¡°There definitely is courage. It¡¯s hard to tell whether you¡¯re a Saint, I wonder if it will be declared in the other countries.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m the one who claimed it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re an interesting one¡­ but¡­¡±

    The atmosphere of Corona¡¯s laughter abruptly changed.

    ¡°What I want to know is the extent of your true ability, [Saint-Sama].¡±

 CH 127

    Volume 7, Chapter 11: I Became an Adventurer, Part 3, Part 2

    ¡°What I want to know is the extent of your true ability, [Saint-Sama].¡±

    A surprising amount of Killing Intent started radiating from Corona, given her appearance, as she drew and raised the two giant axes behind her with tremendous speed.

    Is her body strengthened by magic, or is it a skill? Either way, she¡¯s much stronger than the knights we encountered at the castle, it should be possible for her to mow her way through lesser demons.

    Perhaps, if I had to give it a rating, it¡¯s at the level of a Greater Demon?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    However, Corona was unable to swing down her axes.

    From behind her, Tina had a hand on her shoulder, while Nea had her Golden Demonic Sword held to Corona¡¯s throat, both of them releasing their presence, which made her instinctively freeze herself, sweating.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    As I called out with a small grin on my face, they came back to rest behind me without a sound, before Corona¡¯s axes fell from her hands as she collapsed to the floor in a heap.

    Oh, the shoulder bones that Tina grabbed must be broken.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    As I casted the holy magics [Heal] and [Regenerate] simultaneously, healing her shoulder, Corona turned her fearful eyes towards me and my followers.

    ¡°¡­ the power of a Saint¡­ and you two ¡®Disciples¡¯¡­ It really wasn¡¯t just a rumor.¡±

    Ah¡­ neither of them are my disciples¡­ it sounds scary when you say it like that.

    Also, the exchange just now has Touka and the others completely wound up.

    Anyways, after Corona finished mumbling, it seemed like she was debating herself about something while staying on the ground.

    ¡°If that¡¯s all, can we go home?¡±

    ¡°W-wait, I¡¯m sorry for my rudeness.¡±

    As Corona hastily stood up at my bored tone, before she lowered herself into a bow.

    Hmmm¡­ I really should go home, but I¡¯m weak to good manners.

    Thanks to my [Demonic] attributes, I¡¯m largely separated from my constraints as a human, but now that I¡¯ve been in human society for months and years, rather than when I came in from another dimension, the social contract has taken hold.

    To put it simply, I don¡¯t want to be rude.

    ¡°So, after all that, what do you want?¡±

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s something I wanted to ask if you indeed had the skill. I¡¯ll pay, of course, in addition to giving you this¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that¡­¡±

    The escort had brought out and opened a wooden case and taken out a small pendent shining iridescently to hang from his fist.

    ¡°It¡¯s a ¡®God¡¯ rank tag, we can complete your registration under this rank, Yurushia.¡±

    It was a metal plate which was the proof of an adventurer¡¯s skill.

    Only the people with the Hero class can receive it, a proof of the highest rank of adventurers.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t, we can start you from bronze rank, but if you accept, we will also prepare as many silver rank tags for your friends as you need.¡±

    ¡°¡­What do you mean by that?¡±

    I originally thought that I would want to register for the adventurer¡¯s guild to get identity cards to use in other countries, but suddenly being offered God rank?

    Certainly, the Hero classes should be able to have that, but giving all the kids Silver rank suddenly seems too reckless.

    ¡­ God and Silver ranks off the bat, it seems like something out of a manga.

    ¡°Is Yurushia aware of the mass plague of zombies in the country to the north, Gamble?¡±

    ¡°¡­ a little¡±

    You know, since Fanny told you everything she¡¯s done.

    ¡°Each country¡¯s guild has conducted their own investigation in addition to the countries¡¯ separate intel branches, but since the internal groups don¡¯t share between themselves and the guild does, our information is cutting-edge.

    ¡°So you know the cause?¡±

    ¡°¡­ we¡¯re not 100% sure, but Gamble¡¯s guild master and I have a suspected source location.¡±

    ¡°Did you tell this to Gamble¡¯s government?¡±

    ¡°¡­not yet¡­¡±

    Perhaps, considering the guild¡¯s interests, it¡¯s best for the outside world to keep offering for Gold rank missions to contain the zombies.

    Since it¡¯s not a natural event given the magic that uses that jewel, even finding out the principles behind them would be worth considerable money.

    I don¡¯t blame them, but since it¡¯s robbing the coffers of Gable, at least some, wouldn¡¯t that hurt their relationship with the country?

    ¡°The Guild Master up there is also a Dwarf¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Suddenly, I¡¯m not sure where this conversation is going.

    ¡°Our home town is in the area, if we report its location to Gamble, it might be wiped out along with the zombies, and there have been rumors that the Northern Hero has been seen in the area. If he learned our information, the dwarven city would be crushed¡­¡±

    ¡°Fuu~¡±

    The hero of the north¡­ the Hero of Earth? One of the four which killed Yuuki.

    Everything is going to plan so far, but right now, direct hostility isn¡¯t easy.

    I think that Corona isn¡¯t on the side of Kyoji the ¡°Hero¡± but I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s enough to mean she¡¯s an ally.

    It wasn¡¯t very fun the first time fighting a hero, and in this case there¡¯s nothing delicious waiting at the end. Since he¡¯s a Hero, it might be reckless.

    But¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡°Really!¡±

    As I nod, a joyous smile shows on Corona¡¯s face.

    I¡¯m not sure what she expected.

    Maybe she really just wants her home town to be saved, but to willingly set us against a Hero who is incomparable to normal adventurers.

    Has she really suffered in this human town?

    As I stand up with a smile, I grasp Corona¡¯s hand where she¡¯s sitting on the floor.

    ¡°Will you be helping us, Corona?

    ¡°Ah¡­ Of course, I can¡¯t stand against a Hero in my position, but I can offer you guides.¡±

    ¡°¡­ You know, since we¡¯re going to save your home, you might as well put everything on the line, yeah?¡±

    ¡°O-of course.¡±

    I don¡¯t miss seeing her face twitch.

    I smile at Corona and softly whisper to her:

    ¡°Then, Corona¡­ Let¡¯s make a [Deal].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    A good sale is made from a smile. Next time, we leave for Gamble.

 CH 128

    Volume 7, Chapter 12: In the North, Part 1, Part 1

    LINE HERE

    ¡°Golden Saint¡­ who is that¡­?¡±

    The seat of Luxury¡­ The speaker sits in an exquisitely decorated, royal-class horse drawn carriage, slumping into herself with her eyebrows drawn down.

    Even though she is over thirty, she hadn¡¯t neglected daily care, so her skin is glossy and her long black hair falls to her chest in gentle waves.

    ¡°The latest news is that they are a person summoned in Sail to the east.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­ the little girl.¡±

    Responding to her was a beautiful young man who served her, her eyebrows relaxed as she remembered.

    She didn¡¯t forget at first. In a sense, she was the person who thought of those existences as the most annoying.

    ¡°Hero of the North¡± ¡°Hero of Earth¡± ¡­ People would call her such.

    She was a true hero who was summoned by the northern grand summon more than 15 years ago, who fought the forces of darkness, leading Gamble to victory.

    Her power was specialized towards the [Earth System], with a strong defensive power used to prevent invasions and the ability to cause earthquakes which destroyed millions from the armies of darkness.

    A while ago, the ¡°Hero of Wind¡± had been gaining popularity, but by putting him down with a quick stab to the back, her position became unassailable.

    A new Hero was summoned two years ago, but he¡¯s just a Japanese Student after all, so it¡¯s not like he could threaten the other heroes.

    The other Heroes aren¡¯t allies in the truest sense either.

    Regarding the war that had raged for thousands of years, the heroes had long since given up victory.

    In the war, although skirmishes occurred, with the current tactics used against each other, there will never be a battle where all troops from each side meet at once.

    Still, without the [Heroes], the human side would have long been the loser.

    Knowing that, the powers that be from the side of the light praise the Heroes, which is causing increasing numbers of heroes to be summoned.

    In the past, the countries¡¯ generals led armies to fight off the darkness, but that¡¯s ancient history.

    For modern heroes, the real enemy isn¡¯t [The Power of Darkness], but the Hero who happens to work with a political enemy.

    Still, the veteran heroes, the [Hero of Water], the [Hero of Fire], and the [Hero of Earth], had an [Agreement] of sorts, where none of us will eliminate the other.

    While politically driven, it would still be troublesome to her is that ¡°Fact¡± became publicly known.

    However, the newly emerged [Golden Saint] was different.

    The girl who had come from a world other than earth, that supposedly had used powerful sacred magic, to an extent which exceeded the Heroes even before being granted the secret power of Heroes.

    If added to the coalition of the Hero of Water, the balance of power would shift in his favor.

    Because of this fact, Sail announced the girl as a [Saint] as loudly as possible.

    However, this announcement reminded the other countries of a possibility.

    Even when they had summoned a hero, they would never announce it until they were firmly bound. In the past it¡¯s been recorded that when a small country succeeded in summoning a hero, it was successfully robbed of them by one of the great countries.

    The opportunity remains, even among the great powers. So, considering the time between the summoning and the announcement, the idea that the saint had no loyalty to begin with and Sail was using the announcement to pressure them began to form.

    Gamble had though of this from all sides, although they planned to draw her in if possible, they could not do so directly.

    ¡°Well, it turns out that that little girl is headed towards the Dwarf City of Korokoto.¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Saint sent one of their followers north to look into the zombie incidents that had occurred in that vicinity, so perhaps that¡¯s the relation.

    ¡°¡­ How troublesome.¡±

    The hero of earth swept back her long hair, scattering the scent of her perfume and leaving sighs in her wake.

    If the saint is moving in regarding the zombie incident, she may be aware of the inciting dungeon.

    This was a dungeon unknown to the other countries, and even in Gamble only the upper ranks knew of it. The Hero of Earth had found it a few years ago and had personally made a contract with the ¡°Dungeon Master¡± to give full resource rights to the country of Gamble.

    Dungeon Master is a collective term for those who settle and manage underground ruins or labyrinths in this continent.

    Some of these people register with the state and properly pay taxes, but most of them are intelligent monsters or outlaws and aren¡¯t likely to broker negotiations.

    For that reason, there are some cases where adventurers attack a dungeon master who is properly registered by mistake, but in these cases, the adventurer is marked as a criminal.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to address this, then¡±

    The hero of Earth takes out one of her many jeweled ornaments from her bosom and gives a look to the soldier.

    It¡¯s said to be a subsection of ¡°Magic Stone¡± which came from one of the zombies knocked out, and the adventurer submitted it to the guild, the Hero using ¡°Hero¡¯s Priority¡± to forcibly buy it.

    For now, the Hero of Earth will be heading for that dungeon, to show the ¡°Finished goods¡± to the dungeon master to improve their research.

    ¡°Using your position as Chancellor, make contact with the Saint and take them here¡­¡±

    ¡°Wha!? Why should I bring in that girl and show her all this?¡±

    To the Hero of Earth, the [Saint] annoys her more than anyone else.

    This is because said saint is still a ¡°Young Girl¡±

    She had heard rumors of beautiful golden locks and eyes of dazzling beauty¡­ perhaps it¡¯s trye that beauty truly can be seen in children.

    The Hero of Earth could not forgive those who others call more beautiful than herself.

    Never mind that the ¡°Hero of Fire¡± is also a woman, in her rightful opinion, she is clearly more beautiful than her, so there¡¯s no problem.

    Besides, the Hero of Earth had been turned down when she had begged to be called a ¡°Saint¡± rather than a ¡°Hero¡± when she first came to this world.

    Sail had managed to give the lone title of [Saint] to that girl, although she is convinced that in truth she is but another [Hero] summoned into this world and the announcer was feeling off.

    That can not be forgiven. Younger, more beautiful women can not be given pardon. She could not tolerate any who were praised more than herself.

    ¡°Because she won¡¯t escape! You know exactly what will happen when she goes against me, right?¡±

    ¡°O-of course!¡±

    The knights in her carriage ¨C to be precise, her carefully selected Hero¡¯s Party, which, by accident of course, contained only beautiful young boys and shotas, lowered their heads quickly.

    ¡°Fufufu, these cute little ones. Let¡¯s have a good time.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡±¡±¡±

    As the Hero of Earth gently reached out towards the still knights, in an instant the carriage shook before stopping in place.

    ¡°¡­It seems that we¡¯ve arrived.¡±

    ¡°It seems so¡­ That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll have our fun tonight¡­¡±

    The Hero of Earth has a sour look on her face before she exits the carriage, the door opening by itself, the earth trembling from her landing.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai, Kanzo-sama!¡±¡±¡±

    The Hero of Earth ¨C Kanzo.

    She is 2 Meters tall, ridiculously muscular, with slight traces of five o¡¯clock shadow on her cheeks colored a strange blue, she is 32 years-old, and she was born a Man with the heart of a Woman.

    LINE HERE

 CH 129

    Volume 7, Chapter 12: In the North, Part 1, Part 2

    ¡°Dwaaaaaa?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    The person behind me just won¡¯t stop.

    Looking back for a moment, I see Tina holding onto Daichi¡¯s legs as he loudly shouts out.

    Yeah, he¡¯s still fine. Though at the moment I wish he wasn¡¯t quite as fine.

    We¡¯re currently headed towards Dwarf country in Gamble at the request of Guild Master Corona.

    Since Gamble is a place that spans hundreds of miles in any direction, even a fast carriage moving at military speed means it would take more than a month to arrive. As a result, we decided to leg it. Didn¡¯t we decide to take a carriage halfway there, you ask? Well, I got bored of that after one day of travel.

    If this were the Holy Kingdom, I would have had the social pressure of being the Duke¡¯s Daughter, but here, when Fanny demonstrated her monstrous mobility to report about 20 knights wearing Gamble uniforms blocking the road ahead, I knew just what to do.

    I didn¡¯t want to encounter another county other than Sail¡¯s people, so I had one response when I noticed the leader of the group waving us down.

    Nope, ignore him.

    We ran past the blockade, leaving behind the knights who were just now mounting their horses.

    Viva-la-Saint. I may have been called one in the Holy Kingdom, but here I can do anything, and people just say ¡®Well, she¡¯s a Saint.¡±

    It would still be faster to fly, but since that showed off my bat wings we decided not to for the sake of our identities.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, you seem to be rather happy.¡±

    ¡°Ah, really?¡±

    Nea says as she runs beside me.

    Ah¡­ I wondered why I only heard Daichi¡¯s voice from halfway through our run. Futa, who Nea is carrying has his eyes rolled up and is rather limp.

    Why are you holding him like a rice bag? Well, it¡¯s still better than Tina, who is running while grasping Daichi¡¯s ankles.

    We¡¯re currently running at about 300 kilometers per hour, so if the speed was any less, Daichi would be dragging along the ground.

    The fact that he hasn¡¯t fainted at this point shows how much he¡¯s been training. When Futa wakes up, we¡¯ll have to give him more of the special training course.

    The make-up of my followers has changed again, with Touka and Mizuki swapping out for Daichi and Futa.

    When I said that we would be going to capture a dungeon in another country, they immediately asked to come. I suppose I understand the want of ¡®adventure¡¯ as a boy, but why do I feel like they wanted to skimp on my training plan?

    Girls are to be loved and be beautiful. Boys are to be tough and strong. Because of these expectations from long ago, they had to work hard.

    ¡°Hey, you signed a contract with Corona, right? It looked like a proper contract this time.¡±

    ¡°Great, I want a taste¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t finish right away, girls.¡±

    This is the reason for my happiness.

    With Onzada-kun back then, it was a very ambiguous contact because he was an idiot, but I did it properly this time.

    ¡®To solve the issue and prevent further intervention by the Hero.¡¯ This is also vague, but we know exactly what to do to fulfill it.

    When we complete the contract, we can collect the souls from both Corona and the Guild Master in Gamble.

    Good gracious, it really was hard to get the agreement right for that.

    Corona had to make a long-distance call to Gamble. While they don¡¯t have anything like personal phones or cell phones, adventurers¡¯ guilds had a communication array between branches.

    ¡°My Lord, Daichi has fainted, so we¡¯re almost there.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡­¡­Are you measuring time by how long it takes to faint?

    Anyways, after about half a day¡¯s run, we arrived at the edge of the Dwarven Lands.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time! A dungeon capture!

 CH 130

    Volume 7, Chapter 13: In the North, Part 2, Part 1

    ¡°Is this the Dwarven Nation¡­?¡±

    Well, it¡¯s definitely a country with Dwarves in it. Looking from left to right all you can see are Dwarves.

    It may be better to think of this nation as more of a grouping of several villages. It¡¯s said that there are about 10,000 people here, so it¡¯s just a little bigger than a village.

    Apparently, this is a dungeon.

    Now, you may ask that if everyone here knows about the existence of a dungeon, why do the surrounding human areas recognize the city dug out by dwarves.

    The answer is, it¡¯s horrible for PR. If I didn¡¯t know what it was, I would think that it was something Dwarves would dig out normally.

    Isn¡¯t it illegal to occupy a dungeon? But maybe if they don¡¯t want to kill off the dungeon keeper, it might not be too bad.

    Even then¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re seeing it.¡±

    ¡°Definitely seeing it.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here~.¡±

    Tina and Nea enthusiastically responded to my mutters.

    The village set on the surface serves the role of a front door, so if you look around, there are humans to be seen.

    Still, even here a group of girls dressed as maids and knights appearing without taking a carriage caused a ruckus as everyone stared at us.

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t Dwarves look too similar to each other?¡±

    The only difference to be seen was between Dwarven man and women.

    The lady Dwarves, like Corona, are all ¡°Lolis.¡± The children are just smaller in stature.

    The elderly are only distinguished by the ¡®old person¡¯ atmosphere around them¡­ but their appearance is about the same. Maybe if you look hard you can see wrinkles or something.

    Maybe Corona is actually normal?

    Even though the guild master looked about ten or twelve years old, I was sure that she was past 30, but now 50 wouldn¡¯t be surprising.

    Anyways, just as the women were all lolis, the men all seemed like old men.

    The physique of beards was present, just like the ¡°Dwarves¡± in a fantasy setting, but they didn¡¯t at all look like the same species as the lolis.

    ¡°Maybe if they lost their beards they¡¯d look younger.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to try and see?¡±

    I tried not to think about the conversation I heard between Tina and Nea, but at their gaze, the male dwarves in the area swiftly backed away.

    Although, this still didn¡¯t reduce the number of looks we were getting.

    I¡¯m in my usual black silver-lined dress, which at the moment is sitting at a length just above my ankles, so maybe I look like I¡¯m from a noble family?

    ¡°U-umm¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    As a lone Dwarf girl (Loli) spoke to me, I gave her a smile so as not to intimidate her.

    ¡°Are you in need of a healer?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    Following her gaze, Daichi and Futa were laying on the ground motionless with their eyes rolled back, right where we had left them.

 CH 131

    Volume 7, Chapter 13: In the North, Part 2, Part 2

    ¡°How cruel, Shisho~¡±

    ¡°¡­ I thought I would die.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s fine as long as you didn¡¯t die.¡±

    Nea seems to be called Shisho by Daichi and Futa. It must have happened from when she put them through training at the parade grounds.

    She would run them around everywhere until they collapsed, I even had to revive them with holy magic twice a day.

    Rather than be disappointed, it¡¯s impressive how much they¡¯ve gown that they¡¯re not still knocked out, it means their spirits still haven¡¯t been broken.

    After all, those two were alive, so they couldn¡¯t say anything about Nea¡¯s methods.

    Hmm¡­ I wonder if they have more time each day for training?

    ¡°Well then, shall we all go shopping?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Shopping, us?¡±

    ¡°A break¡­¡±

    I tried to keep myself from flinching at their mutters, as Futa gives me a hopeful look.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m not a demon after all.¡±

    I am a Demon, though.

    ¡°Why the change in heart?¡±

    I give a quick explanation to Futa, who still looked confused.

    ¡°When you think of Dwarves, aren¡¯t high quality weapons a classic?¡±

    And so, we began to move towards the underground shopping mall.

    The dungeon has many entrances, close to subway entries in feel.

    Since people live below ground, I assumed there would be a light source, but it was much brighter than I thought.

    It¡¯s not as bright as daylight, but since the floor and ceiling are glowing steadily, as soon as my eyes got used to the dimness, it was easy to move around in.

    It doesn¡¯t seem to have been added earlier, so is it some sort of mechanic of the dungeon?

    I may have just said so, but the Dwarves seem to be fine workmen and smiths after all. Although there was a weapons shop on the ground level, as far as impressions, it felt more like a ¡°souvenir shop¡± and when I asked the clerk there, they told us that the proper weapons are sold in stores in the underground shopping area.

    Therefore, I came up with the idea of getting weapons for those two, since their equipment was so awful.

    It was provided from Sail Country, why complain, you ask? Well, what they¡¯re equipped with is the level of an ordinary squire, not even to the level of a Hero¡¯s companion.

    Actually, come to think of it, they weren¡¯t recognized as heroes, but it¡¯s still better than a certain game by a few hundreds of times, since the king throws the Hero out there with only a wooden rod and ordinary clothes, but still, they only have iron swords.

    I saw the production area of the castle, so I know they¡¯re awful, although I¡¯m not an expert.

    They just poured iron into a sword mold and hit it until it was the right shape before sharpening it, steel making technology is out there, but it looked like an iron decoration sold by a house decoration store.

    At least cough up a magic sword, even a used one. They¡¯re stingy in such strange places for a large country.

    Still though, I think if I left it to Noa, he would make them vicious [Demon Swords], which would be about as dangerous as handing new recruits a bazooka to start with.

    So, as I came to the Dwarven lands, I decided to buy swords that looked good enough.

    ¡°Here we are.¡±

    ¡°So big¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ It looks like a department store.¡±

    After listening to the natives, we came to the recommended weapon shop, only to see a big building built like a small fort.

    There¡¯s no mistaking it, however, since you can hear the *gachin* sounds of metal striking metal from beyond.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in, then¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°We¡­ do we have enough money?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll give you some.¡±

    ¡°Is that okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no problem.¡±

    I have far too much money.

    Why, you ask? In this world there may be Sacred Magic, but nobody out there can treat the scalp quite like me.

    ¡°Huh¡­ the selection is really good here.¡±

    As we entered, we could see weapons lined up like home electronics at big box stores, with Dwarven female lolis running the reception and moving throughout the shop.

    However, the items in front of us were not too bad, but also not very good. Apparently, it seems that the higher quality goods are sold from the back, so we decided to proceed further in.

    ¡°Hello customers, what kind of things are you looking for?¡±

    Since I look like a noble, the clerk (Loli) speak to me first.

    It was the same outside, but it seems like the Dwarves aren¡¯t too frightened of my doll-like appearence. With Corona, I was wondering if it was just because she was the Guild Master, but apparently the Dwarven race has poor eyesight.

    ¡­ If I lived in such a dark place, my eyes would definitely get worse.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for swords that a weak human boy and a super-weak human boy can use, can you help me find some?¡±

    ¡°¡­Weak¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Super-Weak¡­¡±

    Daichi and the other were muttering something, but I paid no mind.

    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s take care of that. First let me ask whether you are looking for a normal sword or magical sword-¡±

    ¡°[Why would you charge so much to a beauty like me!!]¡±

    Suddenly, a big voice came from the back of the store.

    ¡°¡­What was that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am¡­ it¡¯s one of our regulars.¡±

    At my question, the Clark girl (Loli) looked frustrated.

    Since there are customers like that no matter where you are naturally, I wasn¡¯t very concerned. Also, although the words were feminine, the voice was a deep bass.

    ¡°Ah, I apologize, would you mind coming with me to the back if you¡¯ll follow me.¡±

    ¡°Customer-sama!¡±

    The clerk hurriedly spoke to us before heading towards the noise and calling out, so we headed straight to the back of the store.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, an encounter with the Hero!

 CH 132

    Volume 7, Chapter 14: In the North, Part 3

    ¡°What kind of price are you charging for this quality? Although it¡¯s a new product, the strength is lower than the last model, so make it cheaper!¡±

    He really looks like Francois-san.

    Also, looking at the racks of weapons, there are signs saying [New Product] or [Up to 15% more magical conductivity], or [Surprisingly Powerful Design] etc¡­ have those other worlds leaked this contamination here?

    The person yelling enough to cause the manager to sweat was a tall, muscular, well-groomed man. Ah, rather, a ¡°Woman~.¡±

    Surely as a noble, they have plenty of money, why are they being so cheap?

    I guess it can¡¯t be helped¡­

    ¡°If you let the strength of a weapon fall, perhaps your priorities are off.¡±

    ¡°Ara, Dearie, do I know you?¡±

    ¡°C-customer-sama?¡±

    I want to get a price cut as well, now.

    ¡­Hmm? Did I do something strange?

    In a case where a manager is having trouble with a customer, it¡¯s natural to join in, to have allies in getting a discount¡­

    Hehehe, I truly am a Demon.

    While here, I¡¯m projecting my newly integrated ¡°Yuzu¡± common sense, rather then Yurushia.

    I feel like I¡¯ve moved up as a Demon as a result.

    Seeing what seemed to be a noble girl join into the price bartering, the broad shouldered person laughed, a wide smile on their face, while the clerk¡¯s expression fell dramatically.

    ¡°H-however, this product is a breakthrough in the use of new alloys¡­¡±

    ¡°And yet, it¡¯s twice as expensive as any other weapon of this strength, It¡¯s too high. As such a valuable repeat customer, I demand you make it cheaper.¡±

    ¡°Maa maa~, hold for a moment. You wouldn¡¯t want to spoil your beautiful face, no?

    ¡°Ara?¡±

    As I gently interrupted the tirade, my new comrade gave me a dazzling smile, stretching their stubbled cheeks. I return the smile in kind and restart the conversation with the manager.

    ¡°To what extent has the strength fallen? Please explain.¡±

    ¡°Well, this material is¡­¡±

    Although the explanation took a long time, in short, it has better overall performance, but the strength dropped by a step due to the new material. It seems like the high price is due to the research expenses that went into the creation of the new material, rather than the material itself being expensive.

    ¡°I understand, but while it may be natural to include development costs in a new product, a sword with a lowered strength can¡¯t be called a finished good. So, how about we use this other price instead?¡±

    ¡°¡­ I see. It¡¯s too expensive.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped for a new product to some extent, but with that performance, anything more is impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±

    With the new price being discounted to the same as the previous model, I buy two swords and the large man buys one.

    He seemed frustrated that he didn¡¯t get it for even cheaper, but he seemed to like the new product so he didn¡¯t raise a fuss.

    The store manager seemed relieved that Francois-san¡¯s annual visit went smoothly, it seems he was expecting a larger discount.

    ¡°He~ey, Manager-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-what is it?¡±

    As I spoke up, the manager looked at me with a slightly intimidated expression.

    ¡°It will be okay; this day can still end on a good note. Would you like a special Magic Formula to increase the strength of this magical weapon?

    ¡°¡­ HoHo.¡±

    The store manager¡¯s composure shifted to that of a cutthroat merchant in the blink of an eye.

    The magic items in this world are not miniaturized or very complex since they rely on magic stones.

    I have made my own formations, but in this case, I¡¯m trying to sell Atra¡¯s more common place permanent enchantments.

    After an example was placed on a weapon and the strength increase was demonstrated, the negotiations with the manager closed at a sale total of 200 gold coins ¨C about 20 million yen.

    I also wanted a patent fee, but I might save that for the larger engagements.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±

    ¡°¡°Welcome back, Yurushia-sama.¡±¡±

    After spending about half a day in negotiations, my two attendants graciously greeted me.

    Behind them, the tired eyes of Daichi and Futa grow fearful, but I don¡¯t mind.

    I helped that person get a discount, and, on the store side of things, improved on their problem so everyone is happy.

    In a sense, this kind of knowledge is a cheat too.

    ¡°Dearie, so your name is Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you for your help in there.¡±

    Suddenly moving straight to ¡°Yuru¡± is¡­ eh it¡¯s fine.

    The loud fellow who approached seemed to have been waiting for me here even though it had been half a day since they left the store.

    ¡°Well, I normally dislike pretty little girls, but I liked Yuru-chan¡¯s way of handling that discount negotiation.¡±

    ¡°Maa, sorry about that, you resemble a certain ¡®Princess¡¯ friend of mine, so I may have joined in without asking.¡±

    He¡¯s just like that 3-meter-tall princess.

    When I compared him to a ¡®Princess,¡¯ he put a hand over his mouth and made an [Ufu] laugh.

    ¡°Well, you may be young, but you certainly don¡¯t speak wrong, are you perhaps the daughter of a merchant leader?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination.¡±

    ¡°Ufufufu¡±

    ¡°Ho ho ho¡±

    As the two of us laughed together, the various guests around us seemed to be moving further and further away.

    ¡°I¡¯ve truly fallen for you. Please call me Kan-chan, Yuru.¡±

    ¡°Are you from a noble family, Kan-chan?

    ¡°Fufufu¡­ I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination as well.¡±

    For some reason Kan-chan seemed like a ¡°Isekai Person.¡±

    I think the only people in this world who would dye their hair and use such words at an age past 30 would be foreigners. That said, I don¡¯t hold anything against that type.

    ¡°Oh how I wish all the children in this world were like Yuru.¡±

    ¡°Ara? Kan-chan, did something happen?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, I need to deal with some mysterious little girl, or so I¡¯ve been told.¡±

    ¡°That sounds troublesome. I also have to deal with some troublesome guy for my job.¡±

    ¡°Yuru shouldn¡¯t be so serious, after all, young lady, are not your escort boys ¡°Isekai People¡±?

    Kan-chan turned to gaze lazily at Futa and Daichi, who puffed their chests out proudly.

    ¡°Isekai Children who can fight must be strong, I bet they were expensive to hire.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re correct.¡±

    Aside from the chosen Heroes, they¡¯re all expelled as useless, but it seems that they still have more job opportunities than normal people, because their souls are strong.

    I personally think they should use them as knights after training them at the castle, but I guess it costs too much money to educate people who don¡¯t have any training from scratch.

    ¡°Ufufufu, what if, instead, you hired them to me? I¡¯ll cherish them dearly~¡±

    As they speak, Kan-chan gives Daichi and Futa a wink with their centimeter-long eyelashes, and their knees buckle as they squirm away, shaking their heads.

    ¡°Anything can be experience, no?¡±

    As I looked their way with a kind smile, they flew back several meters in an instant.

    Hmm. It seems that the true outcome of the special training has finally come out. I¡¯ll have to make sure they¡¯re advanced to the next level in that case.

    And thus, I met the true Dwarf of this country, the mysterious Isekai person, Kan-chan.

    It seems like we¡¯ll be good friends, we both value a partner and we¡¯re both now thinking of how to use the other to help with our problems.

    I thought this would be nothing but a chore, but it turned out to be a good bit of fun.

    ¡­ Come to think of it, where is that Hero around here?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, two people receive training inside a dungeon.

 CH 133

    Volume 7, Chapter 15: In the North, Part 4, Part 1

    There is apparently a dungeon here, which might be the cause of the zombie incidents.

    However, the contract between me and Corona is to: [Go to the Dwarven Country and deal with the Northern Hero who would destroy the country as part of resolving the issue], so, if I want to finish off this contract, I only need to find and terminate the hero.

    But I won¡¯t do that.

    It¡¯s not that I particularly want to get along with the hero. It¡¯s just that I gave a promise to Yuuki-kun: expose the crimes of the traitor Heroes and to let him deal with them himself.

    Yes¡­ A [Promise].

    For all that a Demonic [Contract] is absolute, there are in fact back roads to follow. For example, a Demon, which has no concept of a life expectancy, can just leave the request to be completed later if they don¡¯t like it.

    Even in the case of a contract with a deadline like this one, as long as the Dwarven Country remains in form, if not function, I can declare that the minimum contract needs have been completed.

    Always be careful when a Demon comes by as a door to door salesman.

    However, promises are different.

    I don¡¯t know about other Demons, but I always fulfill my promises¡­ to my friends, at least.

    Besides, if it¡¯s too easy, isn¡¯t that boring?

    And so¡­ when we came to this world, I made a decision.

    I¡¯ll do my best to complete this without looking like a Demon.

    ¡°In other words, Futa and Daichi will be working with my servants to capture the dungeon room by room.¡±

    ¡°¡°What was that!?¡±¡±

    Mu~. Was that not enough explanation? Daichi and Futa both gave me a tsukkomi at the same time.

    Well, maybe I need to explain better.¡±

    ¡°Nea, Tina, give those two their new equipment.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    At my direction, Nea gives the newly forged magical swords we bought to those two. Tina also has half plate which I bought properly.

    The swords were quite pricey in all, even one costed as much as a small car. Due to the reinforcing magic circles on top of that, it¡¯s the price of getting a new car for every family member. When I told them the price, they both went blue in the face.

    ¡°W-wait a minute, aren¡¯t you putting me and Daichi on the chopping block too fast?¡±

    Futa looks at Daichi before glancing back at me.

    ¡°It¡¯s different since you¡¯re with me. Since I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll heal you and provide support magic, since you weren¡¯t accepted as a Hero to fight the Demon King, if you¡¯re coddled here it wouldn¡¯t be training, right?¡±

    ¡°Training through combat, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that.¡±

    At the downtrodden words of Daichi, I give a light giggle.

    The plan at the moment is to make this a life risking battle drill for Futa and Daichi. Ultimately, my goal is to make them strong enough that they won¡¯t easily die against a Hero, but I won¡¯t say that aloud.

    Those four: made up of these two along with Mizuki and Touka, are slated to eventually become [Heroes].

    After leaving the training of those two to Nea and Tina, I¡¯ll move to the end of the dungeon.

    If there¡¯s a dungeon master there, I¡¯d like to talk with them about some things. I intend to just hold back the Hero, although Tina and Nea both think that they won¡¯t lose even if they battle the entire Heroes party alone.

    According to my estimates, the [Hero¡¯s Party] and an [ArchDemon] are about equal in power.

    Since my little ones are higher than most of the greater demons in fighting power, while it would be dangerous if they fought all four heroes, I don¡¯t think that a single Hero¡¯s party would be a problem.

    However, since it might spoil my status as a Demon, I want them to avoid battle as much as possible.

    ¡°Should we put the hero¡¯s companions into ¡°Snacks?¡±

    ¡°¡­In moderation¡±

    For Tina, the soul of a Heroic party member was about the same as a banana, feeling-wise.

    ¡°Well then, shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Umm¡­ Where is this dungeon? I know Corona-san said that it was underground, but we don¡¯t know where the entrance is, right?¡±

    Futa gave a neat summary of the situation.

    According to the adventurer¡¯s guild of Gamble, the dungeon should be nearby. Maybe one of the residents here would know?

    ¡°I bet the Dwarf Elder here knows where it is.¡±

    ¡°Well then, should we start from there?¡±

    Daichi and Futa seem to be excited to feel like adventurers.

    BuBuu~ Wrong answer

    ¡°We¡¯ll knock it down¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­Wha?¡±¡±

    At my statement, the two of them look towards me, and when they look back, Nea has pulled out the [Nyanko Sword].

    ¡°[Nya]¡±

    *Dogoooon!*

    The sound of crumbling earth overshadows the slashing sound that causes me to blush as usual, as the ground of the lesser traveled road is penetrated by Nea¡¯s blow.

    As expected, it easily split the less magical rocks.

    A few earthquakes are still rumbling, and I can hear the screams of residents here and there, but this is just as calculated. Honest.

    I don¡¯t think there were any witnesses, so using the large dust clouds thrown in the air, we quickly jumped down into the dungeon before anyone could see.

    We made a landmark. Come on over, Hero. Please follow along.

    ¡­ Now that I think about it, it might have been bad if there wasn¡¯t a dungeon below.

 CH 134

    Volume 7, Chapter 15: In the North, Part 4, Part 2

    ¡°GehoGeho.¡±

    Appreciating their luck with their risky entrance, the three demons who fell into the dungeon split up and begin their exploration.

    The first, Tina looks down coldly at Futa, who¡¯s still coughing from the dust, and blankly speaks:

    ¡°Are you an insect?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s wrong!¡±

    Futa gives a reflexive retort, as Tina tilts her head, her expression unreadable.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Futa considers Tina as he looks at her.

    After being summoned into the world kidnapping-style, the four of them had been saved by the [Saint], who kept them from being thrown out due to their insufficient abilities.

    Although they have different backgrounds, the four people feel indebted to Yurushia, who helped them in this stressful world.

    Protecting the four of them from the threats of this strange world, saving their lives, teaching them how to fight¡­

    Although he wished she would go a little easier on them¡­

    While Yurushia is younger than him, she¡¯s more mature due to being a noble, even more than Mizuki or Touka, although her breaks in composure are amusing.

    Also, Yurushia¡¯s appearance is top-notch, and though he tends to forget the others due to wowing over her, looking again, Tina also has a flawless face.

    So long as a person is alive, some faults would happen to their face.

    Eyebags from lack of sleep, too much sleep causing swelling. Even just the habit of chewing on the right or left side while eating makes changes with enough time.

    Within families, even the members who aren¡¯t related by blood somehow tend to resemble each-other due to the common points of their lifestyle causing small changes. Conversely, when raised in a different environment, even twins can look quite different.

    However, the Saint¡¯s face was in no way marred.

    Futa, who was familiar with 3-D CG things, didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with having nothing wrong with their faces, treating it like a beautiful girl who was doll-like.

    Even though she was still junior high aged, looking at her he couldn¡¯t help but blush.

    He thinks Mizuki has a similar but smaller effect, with the young single knights in the castle looking at her and the other girls with blushes all around.

    Nea, with her mature appearance is especially popular, and Fanny always gives the loveliest smiles.

    Tina seems to be the most beautiful among the servants, but Futa thought that it fell off due to the coldness of her facial expressions.

    Futa has a habit of looking at things calmly, which makes people other than Daichi think that he¡¯s a cold person, so he had very few friends.

    As such, he couldn¡¯t help but think: if Tina would just relax a little, and undo her villainous hair rolls, and had something more than a wash board for a chest¡­

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°¡­No.¡±

    Feeling like his thoughts are being read, Futa quickly breaks eye contact.

    Incidentally, this brings him to brazenly look at Tina¡¯s chest.

    ¡°So, let¡¯s get on with exploring the dungeon. This unworthy servant, Tina, will accompany you. Are you ready, Futa-sama?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    Having learned long ago to never not be prepared, Futa draws his sword in a panic. From his prior experience, saying that you¡¯re not ready just gets you dragged in anyways.

    ¡°Umm, will Tina be helping with the fight?¡±

    ¡°Yes, to some degree, depending on my mood.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    At her nodding response, Futa feels even more nervous.

    Due to her taking them apart time and time again, Nea¡¯s skills in battle is well known to him, but how strong is this gorgeous maid?

    Having seen Tina dragging Daichi by his legs as she sprinted at tremendous speed, he knows that her physical abilities are far from normal, but he still feels anxious.

    Whether she can fight or not, when something happens, he¡¯s unsure of whether he could protect the younger girl as a man.

    The only thing she¡¯s wearing is her maid outfit, which doesn¡¯t seem to have much defensive power, and she doesn¡¯t seem to have any kind of weapons.

    ¡°Here we go!¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    At Tina¡¯s signal, despite his trembling form he moves forward.

    Within the dungeon, the ceiling glows slightly, although it¡¯s not as good as a lamp.

    The floor, walls, and ceiling are all made of stone,

    Hearing a *Zuruzuru* it sounded like something was being dragged towards Futa.

    ¡°It¡¯s Woof-chan the zombie, see?¡±

    ¡°¡­W-woof-chan?¡±

    Seeing her face with such an expression, Futa felt his strength leave him.

    It was definitely a dog. However, it definitely wasn¡¯t cute enough to be called Woof-chan.

    Is this thing a variation of a hellhound or some off-shoot of Cerberus? Even as a joke, calling this rotting, 3-meter-long, two-headed dog cute is too much.

    Futa looks at his first real fight, its eyes glowing maliciously, releasing a presence of the cold embrace of death inherent to undeath, and he can¡¯t help but gulp.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem too fast, so why not aim to cut its legs?¡±

    ¡°G-got it.¡±

    Futa gathered himself and stepped forwards while holding out his sword.

    ¡°[Gauoooooooo~]¡±

    ¡°Hee!¡±

    Letting out a bark, the zombie dog attacked.

    Although it was slow due to its rotting muscles, due to its large body, the space between them was covered in a blink on an eye. Futa let out a small yelp.

    *Gachin*

    In from of Futa, the dog¡¯s fangs don¡¯t reach him.

    Without him moving, Tina seems to have grabbed him by the collar and moved him behind her, allowing him to dodge the zombie dog¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Futa-sama, once again, from the beginning.¡±

    ¡­Eh?¡±

    After her quiet comment, Tina calmly and regally walked to the zombie dog, grabbing it by the neck and dragging it back to its initial position.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°[¡­]¡±

    It seems that he wasn¡¯t the only one stunned, the zombie dog, even with its great amounts of brain damage, seemed to be speechless as well.

    ¡°Retsu ripito!¡±

    ¡°[¡­Growl!]¡±

    The zombie dog, having recovered from its stunned state, attacked Tina as she spoke again, this time in dubious English. However;

    ¡°Sit!¡±

    Contrary to expectations, Tina grabs the zombie dog by the neck again and helps (forces) it to sit down before coming back beside him.

    ¡°Okay, now, Futa-sama, let¡¯s first start by targeting the legs.¡±

    ¡°¡­ok.¡±

    ¡°[¡­roo.]¡±

    After repeating that process over and over again, Futa defeated a zombie for the first time in his life. At the same time, Futa felt sympathy from the bottom of his heart for the terrible existence of the zombie for the first time in his life.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Tina has no common sense, but a strong work ethic.

    Next up is the Nea and Daichi pair.

 CH 135

    Volume 7, Chapter 16: In the North, Part 5, Part 1

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, Kanzo-sama.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Listening to the words of the bishounen knight, Kanzo gives a leering smile past their bright red lips while playing with their hair.

    The knight, somewhat overwhelmed by the smile, quickly retreated (Ran away) as though a great bear was chasing him, leaving Kanzo to admire his backside.

    ¡°Ufufu~¡±

    The knight¡¯s pace speeds up again at the giggle from his superior behind him and soon enough the destination was in sight.

    The Dwarf Country¡¯s underground shopping mall. Usually you would need a torch underground to keep away the darkness, but this mall is bright enough that no additional lighting was necessary.

    The reason: the mall was part of a dungeon.

    The dungeon is managed by the dungeon master which keeps it clean and some degree of lighting is ensured.

    However, since the dwarves settled in this dungeon over a thousand years ago, very few people would even suspect this area being a dungeon.

    Only the dwarven elders, settlement managers, the upper echelons of Gamble and a small part of the adventuring guild know, with the exception of a few others. Naturally, this includes the Great Hero Kanzo and their party members.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s this¡­¡±

    As they walked into the dusty area to the area, Kanzo¡¯s party members could be seen surrounding a huge hole straight through the bedrock.

    Although the inhabitants here had claimed it as a sinkhole caused by a shift in the groundwater, just looking at it Kanzo could see that it kept going all the way down to the lower level of the dungeon.

    ¡°Is this a natural phenomenon?¡±

    The knight captain who kept himself near quietly asked Kanzo.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s not¡­ It¡¯s just a little, but some magical residue remains. It¡¯s almost completely pure, very few signs of a missed cast¡­ they must be quite a mage.

    Despite their looks, Kanzo has been fighting as a [Hero] constantly for more than 10 years now without losing a single time.

    Just at first glance, they could see the skill of the ones who created this hole, and knew right away that their goal was to reach the dungeon below.

    ¡°¡­Then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. An invader.¡±

    An invader in a secret dungeon.

    A terrible smile came upon Kanzo¡¯s face at a thought: Perhaps this was the work of that golden saint, who seemed to have come to investigate the zombie incidents.

    ¡°And here I thought it was all rumors, this will be pleasurable after all¡­ Darlings!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai!¡±¡±¡±

    The knights respond as one to Kanzo.

    ¡°I will follow the invaders directly through this hole, you all should go down the regular path, don¡¯t let anyone escape!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Hai!¡±¡±¡±

    Kanzo jumps into the hole in the road as soon as they hear the knights¡¯ response.

    As Kanzo fills in the hole in the road behind them with [Earth Magic], the knights rushed to the dungeon entrance in order to pursue the intruders from the only remaining exit.

 CH 136

    Volume 7, Chapter 16: In the North, Part 5, Part 2

    There are monsters in the dungeon.

    Wild beasts may come to mind at first at the term, which tend to live in ordinary caves and ruins,

    Monsters, though¡­ what makes a true monster?

    There are some theories around, but the lead theory is the influence of mana.

    Mages can capture animals and turn them into monsters, and dead bodies filled with magic become undead.

    Other than that, there are things that are possessed by lower demons or other spirits, and even things like unicorns and dragons, but generally, the term monster includes those too,

    It is believed that dungeons contain so many monsters because the levels are magically created by the dungeon master, but in fact, with the amount of ambient mana, animals would not become monsters in a short period.

    Dungeons have ¡°Something¡± which draws in monsters. However, nobody knows exactly what.

    ¡°Dowaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    A long boy is running through such a dungeon.

    Daichi was running at full power, sweat, tears, and snot dripping from him as he ran down the passage while holding the sword bought for him by their blonde haired ¡°guardian¡± in this different world.

    ¡°[Urgh]¡±

    A few goblin zombies appeared in front of Daichi.

    He had never seen a live goblin before now, but these were definitely zombies, from the smell of rotting skin and glowing eyes.

    Apparently, this dungeon is a prime hang-out for undead monsters.

    Since Daichi had heard from Yurushia that this dungeon was the cause of the zombie plague, he wasn¡¯t surprised to find zombies here, but even so, scary things are scary.

    No matter how much strangeness he¡¯d experienced in the last few months since being a high schooler, it¡¯s natural to fear moving corpses and deadly monsters.

    A common story like a summoned hero defeating a monster, when Daichi thought of that, he would picture someone far from ordinary.

    However¡­

    ¡°Hyaaa!¡±

    *Zuba~*

    ¡°[Uoooo]]¡±

    With his nose running, and tears falling, Daichi quickly strikes out at the goblin zombies.

    The blade falls accurately, and his muscles don¡¯t fail him.

    The [Battle Skills] and ¡°Terror¡± engraved into his body and soul over the past few months gave Daichi the power to fight, even if he believed he¡¯d lose.

    No¡­ Rather than that, Daichi is demonstrating his resolve.

    What happened to him, you asked?

    ¡°Kyaaaaaa!¡±

    Daichi screamed like a maiden before a speeding shadow defeated the zombies in moments.

    Standing in front of him now, Nea, holding an evil-feeling golden sword, turned to Daichi with a surprisingly lovely smile.

    When they fell into this dungeon they were separated from the others, and Nea, now alone with him, all of a sudden acted like a shy little girl.

    ¡°[I¡¯ll follow you, alright? If I catch up again, please prepare your neck, Daichi.]¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure what she meant by that.

    It sounded cute, but that doesn¡¯t matter.

    Even though it sounded like a joke, the words make Daichi feel instantly more serious, rather, what she said sounded Serious.

    Even if her manner was like asking him to keep his second button closed, he can¡¯t trust that tone.

    After all, in past trainings, Nea would often slice at Daichi with practice swords without remorse.

    It was only because of their ¡°Guardian,¡± Yurushia that they hadn¡¯t died until now, with her staying close by and healing all their injuries.

    However, now there¡¯s no safeguard.

    Nobody is here to scold Nea when she goes for overkill, by taking her attention back.

    Even then, every now and then, after being scolded, Nea would shout out the word ¡°Repent¡± before beating up Daichi the next day.

    Daichi acknowledges Nea as a master swordswoman but there is a problem.

    He has to admit that there is a wide difference between Nea and Daichi¡¯s combat capabilities.

    However, although his teacher is so far beyond him, and mysterious besides, a boy¡¯s heart yearns to prove his strength, simply because Nea¡¯s appearance is that of a beautiful girl around his age.

    Adolescent libido takes priority every time.

    Back to the subject at hand.

    Currently, in order for Daichi to survive, the only option is to survive and make it to Yurushia.

    If Nea catches up to him before then, death is waiting. Although she said ¡°Neck¡± in such a sweet tone, that can¡¯t be interpreted as anything other than hell training.

    In the depths of his heart, he hoped that this training would stop if he were about to die, but picturing Nea¡¯s pleasant smile, his hopes died a swift death.

    ¡°Owaaaaaaa!¡±

    Suddenly, a gigantic Orc Zombie appeared, Daichi screamed before he slid under its legs.

    ¡°[Bumo!?]¡±

    The moment Daichi saw the Orc Zombie, with it¡¯s fighting power, he calculated the time it would take to defeat it and the time for Nea to catch up with him, and, mustering up his instincts, took that action.

    Somewhere along the line, he had forgotten his fear of monsters.

    Even though more enemies awaited him, it was better than Nea, who was approaching behind him.

    Beyond the battle training, the ¡°Treatment¡± that Yurushia had performed without Daichi¡¯s knowledge was starting to take effect.

    It¡¯s best for ordinary people not to know what exactly was done.

    *[Nyaaa]*

    Looking behind him at the strange slashing sound, the orc zombie had been reduced to rotten chunks in a single blow by Nea

    ¡°Aha~¡±

    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    Seeing Nea¡¯s pretty smile while surrounded by rotting gore, Daichi screamed and ran as fast as he could once more.

    ¡°What¡¯s that!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the intruder!¡±

    The next obstacle to appear were a few men wearing knight-like plate.

    Why would humans be in this kind of place? Were they originally humans? What did they mean by ¡®Intruder¡¯?

    While he is wary of the normal humans, Daichi appreciates their presence from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°Prepare yourselves, attack!¡±

    The knights pull their swords at the order and slash at Daichi¡¯s heading without hesitation.

    No use arguing.

    Usually, attacking a dungeon is unrestricted unless the adventurer¡¯s guild makes it impossible.

    Any adventurer can move at their discretion, except for dungeons that are licensed in some countries and have dungeon masters paying their taxes.

    So even though Daichi is here, he can¡¯t be blamed.

    However, from the knight¡¯s point of view, this is a dungeon managed by Gamble. A place that needs to be kept secret for matters of national security.

    Therefore, any intruder is evil and must be slain.

    It¡¯s a difference is thought, but which is incorrect differs depending on the perspective.

    ¡°Heeeee¡±

    Sharp blade shaking in his hands, Daichi bends down and slides forward.

    ¡°You!¡±

    ¡°Hiya!¡±

    Blocking the sword swing at him without stopping his run, Daichi pushes through the tunnel filled with knights.

    ¡°Ah, I leave what¡¯s following me to you!¡±

    The knights are stunned at the fearless method of avoiding them, pausing for a moment.

    ¡°W-wait!¡±

    ¡°Follow him, he won¡¯t escape!¡±

    ¡°Hold on, something¡¯s coming!¡±

    One of the younger knights noticed a presence approaching from further in the tunnel.

    A young woman is running around the passage with a skip in her step. The knights in their flamboyant adornments who have trained themselves to call an elephant a beautiful girl forget all about battle for a moment.

    ¡°What are you guys doing? Isn¡¯t that an intruder?¡±

    Among them, the knight captain turns his sword towards the approaching girl.

    He was Kanzo, a follower of the Hero, a vice captain of the Hero¡¯s party which they led.

    He was an aristocrat of Gamble, the second son of the Countess and formerly a senior knight.

    He was unsatisfied with his current position. He was chosen on paper to be a member of the Hero¡¯s party because of his appearance and fighting ability, but the real reason was because he was the highest-level disposable knight available.

    He think¡¯s he would be a better heir than his useless elder brother.

    Although he¡¯s in such an honorable [Hero¡¯s Party], he was unhappy to be serving such a special hero.

    Kanzo had taken on the Hero¡¯s sexual harassment with a smile in order to raise himself within the group.

    If he could show that he¡¯s competent and get more results from upcoming battles, he may even be chosen as a royal guard.

    By doing that, he thought, he could become the son-in-law of someone even higher up, enough to look down on the parents who put him here.

    Everything was for his goal¡­

    But even then, in the life he chose, he wants ¡°Charm.¡±

    Not just to get more money, but to enjoy beautiful women and relax, he wants this as much as anything else.

    And here, before him, is a prey that perfectly matches his desire.

    A beautiful girl with a cute smile.

    He doesn¡¯t know why she¡¯s intruding and why the boy seemed scared, but he¡¯ll catch up to the boy later, and ambush this girl for some pleasant times.

    If they die later on, he can just report that they took care of the intruder.

    ¡°You all, pursue that little boy, hurry!¡±

    ¡°¡­Got it¡±

    Although the other knights don¡¯t follow Kanzo from the bottom of their hearts, they will still serve the [Hero] as their duty as knights of Gamble.

    The men obviously could tell that their captain had dark thoughts in mind, but they wouldn¡¯t resist orders from their boss, who was a noble at that, but they seemed to all feel sympathy for the beautiful girl as they left.

    ¡°Terya!¡±

    The lead knight sharply swings at the girl¡¯s arms.

    The sword stopped moving. He couldn¡¯t push it forward either. Looking at what happened, however¡­

    When the sharp point of his sword came towards the girl, she didn¡¯t even use the expensive looking magic sword in her hand, just gently grabbed his sword in her pale delicate fingertips.

    The knight who had swung the sword, and the knights who were still nearby stood in amazement.

    ¡°T-this¡­¡±

    The knight, at his humiliation, tried to pull back the sword, dark emotions clouding his face, but the sword was immobile, as if caught in a huge rock.

    As he looked at the girl, he noticed that he had made a fundamental misunderstanding of that smile¡­ it was like a carnivorous flower, looking straight at him.

    The prey at this time was himself¡­

    ¡°Aha~¡±

    With that lovely smile, giggling slightly, the girl gracefully pushed her fingertip into the knight¡¯s chest.

    Her bare hands penetrated the metal full-plate without ceremony, the knight, feeling her fingertip at the edge of his heart shook his head at the child, tears falling from his eyes.

    The girl¡¯s fingertips finished puncturing the poor knight¡¯s heart, before she pulled out her hand along with ¡°Something¡± and licked her bloody fingertips with a beautiful look, her lips bright red with blood as she turned her cute smile at the remaining knights.

    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!¡±

    The knight threw down their weapons as one and ran away screaming.

    Nobody can tell that their faces hold the same expression as Daichi from before.

    ¡°Awawa~¡±

    Nea¡¯s cheery tone echoed through the dungeon as both Daichi and the knight ran through the corridors, staining the ground with tears as they ran side by side.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Nea actually things Daichi¡¯s pretty cute. She¡¯s just clumsy and a bit of a Yandere.

    Next time, the dungeon master.

 CH 137

    Volume 7, Chapter 7: The Devil¡¯s Temptation, Part 1

    The Hero of the North. The Hero of Earth. The Earth Hero.

    There were many titles that she¡¯d been called in the dozen years since she had been summoned as the [Hero] of Gamble, the northern country, as a beauty of about 15~16 years old.

    She was confused at first. She didn¡¯t cooperate, either. But, as she realized that she could fight in this world as if she was in a ¡°game¡± world, since she was carrying the power of a Hero, she reached the conclusion she had been chosen as a ¡°protagonist¡± in this world.

    In less than a year, she was called the strongest in Gamble.

    Naturally, they were popular with the women since they were strong in ability and had a powerful political position as a Hero.

    However, she paid no notice to the women, and even had expressed contempt towards them.

    She had been born in an old family in the Tohoku region, and had been the youngest of four siblings¡­¡­ born as the eldest son with three older sisters.

    Raised by their severe parents, their older sisters teased him like they would a pet cat.

    Before she had become aware, she had been discretely dressed up in her sisters¡¯ old clothes and had grown up while being treated like a girl, but she had gotten suspicious at some point.

    [Why is my body different from my sisters¡¯¡­¡­?]

    By the time she arrived at that question, her first love was an older boy in the neighborhood, and her heart by then was that of a maiden¡¯s, it could be said that in every sense of the word, it was too late.

    Her sisters didn¡¯t restrain themselves against this troubled youth. Being told to take care of their ¡°brother¡± because their parents were busy, they nurtured him into a fine ¡°woman¡±.

    However, unlike what her sisters wished for, she didn¡¯t turn into a ¡°trap¡±. Exceeding the height of an average adult in her senior years of elementary school, although she became a tall and beautiful youth, but with the appearance of a man and the heart of a maiden she became the exact opposite of a ¡°Trap¡± and became something like a [Trans-Female] instead.

    By the time her parents noticed everything, it was too late.

    {App¡¯s Note: Sorry to stop the action for a second, but as a member of the LGBT community, I just need to add a quick interjection that this isn¡¯t quite how gender identity and sexual preferences (Different things) are determined, although I¡¯m sure there are Drag Queens (Another, separate thing) who are cis, to which this origin may apply, thank you for your time}

    Her strict parents, who were unable to correct her, gave up completely, and began to treat her as if she didn¡¯t exist.

    She suffered. Was it really such a terrible thing to have the heart of a maiden while being born a man?

    Why didn¡¯t her parents admit it themselves?

    She suffered, with her parents who didn¡¯t even look at her, and with her sisters who had toyed with her to this point¡­¡­ she came to despise other women.

    And then, she was summonsed as a [Hero] in another world.

    As she gained strength, and everyone began to both fear and respect her, she realized.

    [Oh¡­¡­ I don¡¯t have to pretend any more¡­]¡­

    She bought women¡¯s accessories and make-up that she so coveted and began to polish herself.

    She didn¡¯t care for what anyone said. Anyone who complained about it, she would silence and get rid of with the power and authority of a [Hero].

    And with her spirit freed from repression and her physical ability rising as a Hero, her body grew to more than twice her previous size, and as a result of this, she thickened her make-up further, leaving her appearance craggy like a rock. With her interest in men and appearence, people began to fear her for more than her strength.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Strange.¡±

    More feminine than the average woman, Kanzo lightly tapped her face.

    In a way, it was overdoing it, but Kanzo, with a maiden¡¯s heart in a too-masculine body, used the full dialect of a noble lady.

    Well, even though she didn¡¯t fancy women, there were manyyoung noble ladies who were attracted to Kanzo¡¯s feminity, and she got along well with them.

    Kanzo was walking alone through the underground dungeon in the Dwarf country.

    Even though it was called the Dwarf country, it was really just the largest settlement among the many dwarf settlements.

    The Dwarves were somewhat like the template, with thick beards and stocky builds like a blacksmith, that¡¯s the kind of race they were. Her first visit, Kanzo had come to order a large sword with a heart pattern on the handle for herself.

    However, with her special ability as the Hero of Earth, Kanzo found a dungeon in the basement.

    Threatening the Dwarf elders¡­¡­ Kanzo had ferreted himself into the dungeon, sensually conquered it, and met the dungeon master.

    He¡¯d invaded the dungeon again by drilling a hole in pursuit of the [Golden Saint], but hadn¡¯t been able to find her yet.

    If the Golden Saint was here investigating the [Zombie Incident] then she should be headed towards the innermost chamber where the dungeon master was. Even though there were a few branch corridors and diversions. if the girl was aiming for the same location as she was, the trail should have appeared already. Kanzo, however, still hadn¡¯t seen even the shadow of the Saint.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t she be the Saint? Still, I think a fair number of people have invaded this place besider her¡­¡­¡±

    While Kanzo was walking towards the deepest reaches in contemplation, a huge zombie attacked him from the side.

    ¡°Ogre Zombie¡­¡­¡±

    Ogre. A demon-like monster with horns and fangs, with physical power similar to that of a high-ranking magic beast.

    Its muscles were eye candy for Kanzo, but it stank from rot. Still, she wouldn¡¯t dislike the smell of a more living man.

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    [Guoooooooooooooooohhhhhhh]

    Kanzo grasped firmly to the Ogre Zombie and folded its back with her well-trained strength, snapping it in half and finishing it off.

    Disgusting¡­¡­ as the ogre zombie collapsed to the ground, Kanzo sighed.

    ¡°It¡¯s just fake muscle¡­¡­ As expected, ¡°that person¡± is different.¡±

    The profile of a particular man stuck in Kanzo¡¯s mind.

    The hero of wind, Fortellis.

    The first person that Kanzo had given her heart to after coming to this world.

    He wasn¡¯t bothered by Kanzo¡¯s lifestyle, and treated her sincerely, fostering a friendship as fellow Heroes protecting the world together.

    But Kanzo wasn¡¯t satisfied. She wanted to be in a relationship with him.

    Kanzo who had her desperate desires rejected gently, didn¡¯t hate him for it. However, she could not stand the thought of him becoming another woman¡¯s, and killed him off to keep him for herself for all eternity.

    He didn¡¯t know what the other heroes¡¯ motives were. Everyone just happened to want to kill Hero Fortellis, and so they conspired.

    ¡°¡­¡­ That butt was more than any other woman deserved.¡±

    If the hero who had been reincarnated to earth heard this, it might have stirred up his desire for revenge again.

    Anyway, Kanzo managed to reach the dungeon master without ever meeting the Saint.

    He had planned to embarrass the Saint who had received positive evaluations from everyone and place a curse on her that even she couldn¡¯t remove with the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]. This was the vigilante justice for women that Kanzo didn¡¯t like, and in the past many of those cursed had taken their own lives.

    Kanzo wasn¡¯t some outrageous ¡°villain¡±, and if she liked someone she could socialize normally, but she was a person who couldn¡¯t help her ¡°selfishness¡±.

    ¡°It¡¯s Kanzo, open the door.¡±

    As Kanzo called out in front of a huge door with finely cut motifs ¡­¡­ it opened slowly, with a creak.

    In the dim gloom, there was a dazzling spectacle reminiscent of a royal palace.

    However, neither the shine of spectacular decorations nor red of the carpets remained, and the rotten areas were abandoned, while on the throne, protected by a knight who had become only bones, sat a black figure.

    [¡­¡­ Why. If it isn¡¯t the Hero of Gamble¡­¡­]

    It wasn¡¯t a human. Sounding like a wind blowing through a cave, wrapped up in a jet-black robe that seemed as if it were cut from the darkness was a silver skeleton with a red glow in its empty eye sockets.

    Elder Lich.

    The culmination of a mad magician who had mastered necromancy. Among the monsters that surpassed death, it was said to be the greatest.

    ¡°You have a poor complexion, as usual¡­¡­¡±

    [¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯m already dead.]

    It seemed that the Elder Lich didn¡¯t want to hear such things from her either.

    Kanzo and the Elder Lich weren¡¯t hostile to one another.

    In this place in the past, they¡¯d fought, and the Hero Kanzo had won, but she couldn¡¯t completely vanquish him, winning only barely while losing half of her subordinates.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t think that she¡¯d lose now if they fought, but a flawless victory was impossible.

    Although the winner and loser had long been determined between them, and they were cooperating now, there was a subtle tension between the two.

    ¡°Did that little girl pretending to be a Saint come here?¡±

    [¡­¡­Haha. She hasn¡¯t been here. There seems to be intruders, but aren¡¯t those your subordinates?]

    ¡°What¡­¡­ Do you not have the surveillance camera footage of them?¡±

    [Camera¡­¡­ Is that a recording device that the Heroes from several generations ago spread? It¡¯s only weaker, more recent dungeon masters who have such things. Well, did you manage to do *that*?]

    Kanzo¡¯s eyebrow cocked up a little at the Elder Lich¡¯s last words.

    ¡°There was still that matter, huh. Here, look at this.¡±

    The Elder Lich caught the thing that Kanzo threw towards him casually with a single hand.

    [¡­¡­¡­Hohoh. Well done. Is it complete¡­?]

    It was a small magic stone that had the glow and look of a gem.

    Magic stones were usually things that were the crystallization of magic within magical beasts that were embedded within their bodies.

    The magic beasts who could not use magic power techniques and didn¡¯t exhibit their powers intentionally, but, rather, sent magic power throughout their bodies through their blood. Because of that, it gathered up in the heart and formed a stone, but since it was crystallized from blood, it was usually black or dark red.

    At that time, Kanzo realized that a mana stone was attached to the ancient treasures of the Elder Lich, and that it was shining like a gem, and when she heard about it, she found out that it was possible to make a different color of magic stone with a special environment and controlling for the quality of the magic power.

    Although the mana stone that was jewel-like had come out of the body of a demonic dragon that had lived for thousands for years, Kanzo thought that it could be artificially done, and repeated various experiments with different magic powers in zombies with the power of the Elder Lich.

    Kanzo was dissatisfied.

    Mana stones that were supposed to be attached to ornaments that were supposed to be beautiful could not be dirty black.

    She didn¡¯t think that there was any point for it as a magic tool, but if it was a beautiful gem there was nothing better for her.

    However.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s an accidental discovery. I bought it from the adventurer¡¯s guild of Krishare, but the zombies that went there seemed to have absorbed some magic power and then turned out like this.¡±

    [Hoohh¡­¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you. Since I¡¯ll be in town for a while, please investigate what kind of magic power it is.¡±

    [¡­¡­ Got it.]

    As the loser, the Elder Lich was reluctant but accepted it.

    Those [Mass Zombie Outbreaks] that happened in Gamble and in the north, which had brought down a number of villages and caused a large number of deaths, had begun with Kanzo¡¯s selfishness.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t stop it at all even though she knew that there had been a large number of victims.

    [¡­¡­Wait.]

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    The Elder Lich stopped Kanzo, who had turned her back to leave to search for the Saint.

    [¡­¡­The middle layer¡­¡­ I feel a strong magic power around the corpse warehouse. Is that the person you¡¯re looking for?]

    ¡°¡­¡­ The deadhouse.¡±

    There was a warehouse where a large number of corpses were gathered in the middle layer.

    It was impossible to use the usual procedures to enter, and the dead bodies were sent out of the dungeon one by one from there, and when Kanzo visited previously, a couple dozen zombies started to move at her, and it became troublesome.

    ¡°Oh, well. It¡¯ll be quite amusing to see the little girl being attacked by zombies. Fufufu¡­¡­ Well, I¡¯ll be going with you then.¡±

    [¡­¡­ Don¡¯t break too many things.]

    ¡°Fufu, I¡¯m going to be careful.¡±

    Not breaking things, would this be for the dungeon or the Saint¡­¡­?

    Kanzo thought that the Saint managed to get away *by chance* and headed there.

    [¡­¡­¡­]

    As he watched Kanzo leave, and the big door closed behind her, the Elder Lich quietly stood up from his throne, kneeling towards the darkness behind the throne, and gently and quietly bowed his head.

    [It is as you said. ¡­¡­Demon Princess.]

    In response to that voice, the gloominess of the surroundings darkened a little. Cutting apart the darkness, a girl with beautiful golden eyes and hair stood.

    ¡°Yes, it was well-acted, Richard.¡±

    Kanzo didn¡¯t know, but the Princess of the Demon World, who had even given a ¡°name¡± to this Elder Lich, bestowed upon him a gentle smile for his efforts¡­¡­

    And the Elder Lich received his signed autograph to [Richard-kun] from [Demon Lady Yurushia], carrying it as if it were a precious treasure.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    She¡¯s an idol.

    Next time, the Demon¡¯s cruel hands, reach out for the elegant Hero.

 CH 138

    Volume 7, Chapter 18: The Demon¡¯s Temptation, Part 2

    [Oooooh! Princess, my deepest gratitude to you.]

    ¡°I-is that so? Well, that¡¯s good¡­¡­¡±

    Is that really enough, Richard?

    I could see that he was extremely pleased, hugging the ¡°signature board¡± that I had handed him as if it were a treasure, visually adoring it.

    Although I don¡¯t know for sure, this [Elder Lich¡¯s] magic power, from what I can see, is no lower than that of a [Greater Demon], but definitely less than that of an [Arch Demon]. He¡¯s a pretty powerful magical creature, and I definitely can¡¯t underestimate him, since he was formerly human.

    At first, when I arrived in this boss room, I was worried about how I would make him surrender, but when I turned on my full pressure, Richard surprised me by suddenly falling to his knees.

    [Ahem¡­¡­ pardon me.]

    It¡¯s quite useless to try to keep your dignity while you still have that colorful signature board in your pocket, you know?

    ¡°¡­¡­ By any chance, had you already heard of me beforehand?¡±

    [Yes, of course.]

    After affirming, Richard-kun¡¯s eye cavities began to sparkle brightly within his silver skull. ¡­¡­ oh, oh my.

    [I¡¯ve been an immortal for hundreds of years¡­¡­ having gained various pieces of knowledge, I learned that there were many worlds, but I knew that the Demon World had to be somewhere. I heard rumors of a Princess from the Greater Demon that I¡¯d gotten acquainted with as a monster.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    What? Rumors of me have spread to the Demon World all the way from Tess?!

    [Consigning one of the Pillars of the Demon World, the [Demon Lord] to the void with an amazing show of force, adding their name to the center of the [Twelve Pillars of Hell], and taming another of the Twelve Pillars, the [Dark Beast], called the ¡°Unstoppable Beast of the Demon World¡± that was obsessed with violence, leading and taking an army of Demons headed by four [Arch Demons], devouring all comers in the Demon World, the diabolic, truly demonic Demon Princess.]

    ¡°Oi¡±

    [Guwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

    Silencing his hot-blooded speech with a small poke at his forehead, Richard screamed and was blown into the wall of the 50-tatami boss room.

    ¡­¡­ I made a mistake in adjusting the power. I put in the same amount of magic power as I instinctively did when Tina invaded my personal space, but it seems that Richard got defeated by that and now couldn¡¯t get up¡­ before he came back crawling on all fours like an insect.

    Well¡­¡­ it¡¯s disgusting.

    [Thank you.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­what?

    Richard seems to be pretty energetic despite having cracked his skull and being defeated. Truly, an immortal. He¡¯s also the healthiest amongst monsters that I¡¯ve seen. I wonder if he¡¯d like to drink my special green juice? It¡¯s a health drink that I made all by myself out of 100% seaweed. ¡­¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know.

    [Because you didn¡¯t hit my ribs¡­¡­]

    Oh yeah, he was a skeleton.

    Still, what was with that ¡°rumor¡±? It¡¯s baseless to the extreme.

    What Twelve Pillars of the Demon World? I don¡¯t know where this large idol group came from, and now, before I knew it, I¡¯ve gained such an embarrassing nickname¡­¡­

    Should I resume my singing lessons again?

    ¡°¡­¡­Richard. It¡¯s not good to listen to such rumors, you know?¡±

    [I don¡¯t see the problem¡­¡­ Ah! I-I understand, stop! I¡¯m going to die, I¡¯m going to dieeeeeeee!!!]

    When I grabbed Richard-kun¡¯s skull in my hands and gripped it tightly, it gave off grinding noises and he replied me obediently with a desperate tone.

    [¡­¡­F-for now, leave the rest to your humble servant. The Dungeon Master association will announce the advent of the ¡°Princess¡± of Monsters, and carry out Princess¡¯ will.]

    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll leave it to you, Richard.¡±

    At Richard¡¯s affirmation, I smiled at him thinly in my [Duke¡¯s Daughter Mode].

    The real reason for me to come here was to put the Dungeon Masters under my control.

    Previously, in the Holy Kingdom, I had let the vampires infiltrate the underworld to gather information and clean up the garbage of society, so in this world, I¡¯m using the Monsters.

    Since they don¡¯t look like ¡°people¡±, it seems that they have had little effect on human society, and in this world the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild] has a decent influence beyond the boundaries of nations.

    For the general public, it would seem as if the dungeon masters and the adventurer¡¯s guild would be at each other¡¯s throats, but in fact they actually have a give-and-take relationship.

    Without dungeons, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild would not be able to secure a stable income nor material for adventurers, and if dungeon masters didn¡¯t have adventurers, they wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain stable [Food]sources.

    In addition, the fact that the capture of dungeons could be left to adventurers meant that countries wouldn¡¯t actively attack them with their armies.

    It worked well, adventurers and monsters. Soon, though, both of them will begin moving according to my will, before they even know it.

    Doesn¡¯t it feel very Demon-like to do all this? It¡¯s absolutely the kind of thing those muscle-headed idiot Demons who only have magic power would never say.

    ¡°¡­¡­But, will the other dungeon masters really move at my command?¡±

    I¡¯m a little nervous about that. I didn¡¯t think that there was a Dungeon Master¡¯s union, but with my direct threats¡­¡­ Would they cooperate without my direct involvement?

    [Do not worry. Since we¡¯re monsters, they have instincts to obey those who are strong. It will take time for the human masters, but since there are many of them who were betrayed by the human nations and the [Heroes], it¡¯s only a matter of time.]

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    After all, they did all sorts of things, those Heroes.

    I heard that one of the other human dungeon masters, had their lair ¡°raided¡± by the Heroes the other day, even though they dutifully paid their taxes and residence fees to the countries.

    The Heroes were steadily making enemies¡­¡­

    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s time for me to meet with Mr. Hero.¡±

    [Certainly. Princess, would you like to wear this?]

    Richard took out the [Magic Power Gemstone] that he had received from the Hero earlier from his robes.

    Surely, the hero couldn¡¯t have been the one generating the zombies¡­¡­ I had my doubts, but I had thought that that ¡°Kan-chan¡± would surely have been a proper hero.

    However much she disliked [Other Maidens], no matter how vain, no.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine for you to hold on to it, Richard.¡±

    [Understood. Then, please take care. Although she looks that way, she¡¯s considerably skilled. Although, I am acquainted with one of the Greater Demons, I want to enter Princess¡¯ [Fan Club (Guards)], so I think I¡¯ll go and interview, until then I¡¯ll be in your care.]

    ¡°My [Black Company (Guards)]? Okay.¡±

    There are some strange Demons, too.

    ¡­¡­ Are they all masochists? Once they joined the company, they would start by drying the seaweed in the subspace.

    [Also¡­¡­]

    ¡°¡­¡­What is it?¡±

    Because we¡¯re cooperating, I¡¯m willing to listen to your requests, but what is it now?

    [Could you sign this T-shirt for me too?]

    ¡°¡­¡­T-shirt?¡±

    Hey, I guess there were T-shirts in this world.

    [It¡¯s my casual wear.]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Apparently, those villain-like black robes were his work clothes.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­!¡±

    In the middle of the dungeon, at a dead end, Kanzo pushed her magic power into the stone, and the wall opened, revealing a passage.

    Because it required a certain amount of magic power and strength, it couldn¡¯t be opened by a normal scout, and would be difficult to discover without a considerable magic power in the first place.

    Behind that dark passage was the ¡°corpse storage warehouse¡± for sending in undead monsters to this dungeon.

    It was linked to several pits and managed the humanoid corpses that dropped down from those holes. Small animals and others were used as food for the ghouls.

    Sometimes, strong adventurers would survive, but they would end up being brought down by the monsters roaming the dungeon, and their equipment auctioned off to the dwarves.

    Competent adventurers were listed in the guild, so sometimes they would be returned as-is.

    As a dungeon, it was the locked-off type, which didn¡¯t attract many adventurers, since they didn¡¯t need too many bodies, but for the sake of making a [Magic Stone] from transforming corpses into monsters, a large number of corpses were needed.

    ¡°¡­¡­ How did you find this place? Did you have a strong informant within the scout corps? Oh, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    Kanzo thought about the what the [Saint] could possibly have had up her sleeve to crawl in here, but abandoned the thought before heading for the corpse storage quickly.

    She didn¡¯t know if the girl had lost her way or discovered it, but either way, given that she was the [Saint], this would be trouble.

    She was going to watch the Saint get attacked by the moving corpses¡­¡­ so she had said to the Elder Lich, but internally, Kanzo was getting impatient.

    Recently, due to Kanzo producing too many zombies, the number of corpses has decreased.

    If the Saint used her rumored [Saint Magic], everything might be purified and turned to ash even before the dead bodies could begin to move.

    Those corpses were the ¡°seedbeds¡± for the [Magic Stones] that Kanzo wished for. Although she expressly said that it had been a *coincidence* that that product had been made, it wouldn¡¯t do to have a decrease in the number of seedbeds.

    Kanzo had never been prudent about her actions, and hated being patient more than anything.

    ¡°[Magic, defend my body¡­¡­ Shield]¡±

    As Kanzo walked along the tunnel quickly, she prepared herself for battle, strengthening her body and protecting it with magic, and reinforcing her weapons by applying enchantments.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t make light of the [Saint] despite her comments about their foolishness.

    Just being a young woman who looked pretty and was attractive to men made her an enemy to Kanzo, but to disrupt her hobbies, this could not be allowed.

    *bang*¡­¡­ As she opened the door of the corpse warehouse, she could smell a slight odor, and feel the frost magic that was used to keep the dead bodies from decaying.

    Hundreds of human and monster corpses were neatly arranged as the passage opened up. There were also some fairly large corpses, but because of the cold haze, it was hard to see.

    In that place that looked like the chiller of a meat processing plant, Kanzo felt something move in the corner of her vision.

    ¡°Haa!¡±

    As Kanzo struck out with her sword gracefully, her target snapped off and bounced away.

    ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±

    One of the skeletons that managed the warehouse was shattered, rolling about on the floor, and Kanzo frowned.

    The skeletons, which were just bones animated by low-grade spirits, were the weakest existences in this dungeon, moving only by magic power. Even though their muscles had rotted, the zombies still had greater power, and their defenses were better, too.

    In addition, even among the undead, the bloodless skeletons would take a long time to create magic stones, but even after that amount of time, they would only make an extremely tiny garbage-like magic stone.

    ¡°¡­¡­Where is she?¡±

    Since there were a certain number of skeletons working, there were signs of movement.

    There might be some corpses that might have started moving after feeling out Kanzo¡¯s magic power, but she felt that there was ¡°something¡± there before all that.

    Because of that, Kanzo attacked that moving thing without thinking.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    When Kanzo turned around to face that faint voice, she saw a light far from him, and several corpses collapsed.

    ¡°Tsch,¡±

    Kanzo clicked her tongue and began to run in that direction silently.

    It wasn¡¯t the same as the [Holy Magic] that she heard about, but it was a spell aria that had similar meanings to that of [All Light].

    Rumors said that the [Saint] didn¡¯t learn her magic in this world like Kanzo did, but rather used the magic of her own original world.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    Once again, the voice sounded out faintly and the light shone from far away, and several corpses fell.

    ¡°¡­¡­Little girl.¡±

    As the ¡°seedbeds¡± were crushed, Kanzo stepped up her pace even as her face distorted with anger.

    In that moment, faintly¡­¡­ as Kanzo wielded her sword, feeling a slightly different movement from skeletons, the kobold zombies fell to the floor.

    ¡°¡­¡­Shit.¡±

    Zombies that had just started moving didn¡¯t have magic stones within their bodies.

    Moreover, the power of a hero seemed to have some force of purification, and the zombies that Kanzo defeated could not be resurrected as a zombie any more.

    ¡°Where are you! Come out!¡±

    Kanzo, who had reached the limit of her patience, barked out. At first, she pretended to be a hero that had just incidentally passed by, and was thinking of attacking her under the pretense of carelessness, but even knowing that she would be on the alert, she shouted out.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh my, this is quite the strange place. Kan-chan.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Turning around to face the voice, there was a beautiful golden girl standing there smirking at him, the one she¡¯d met at the underground weapons shop.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, will the petty hero ever make her way out after being exposed to the malice of a Demon?

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Hi Folks! Fun chapter to work on, with a little more world building and the start of the big conflict coming up. Let¡¯s have some fun together!

    Arm¡¯s still broken but getting better all the time. I¡¯m starting to be able to spend time out of the splint.

 CH 139

    Volume 7, Chapter 19: The Demon¡¯s Temptation, Part 3

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm, Yuru-chan is the Saint after all?¡±

    With the girl¡¯s sudden appearance before her, Kanzo felt a tinge of surprise, but immediately schooled herself, giving the golden-haired girl in the black dress a composed smile.

    Yurushia narrowed her eyebrows slightly at Kanzo¡¯s words, and slowly tilted her neck to the side as she smiled pleasantly back at her.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­? You¡¯re not surprised, are you?¡±

    ¡°Somehow¡­¡­ I had the feeling that you weren¡¯t simply ¡°normal¡±.¡±

    To Kanzo, Yurushia was a highly suspicious girl.

    She gave off a presence that made Kanzo feel at welcome, like any common adventurer. Yet, she had breathtaking beauty and elegance that would not have been strange on some princesses.

    Still, even having noticed that she wasn¡¯t normal and knowing full well that a beautiful ¡°young lady¡± they termed a [Saint] was coming, her sense of recognition had gone awry. She was unable to place the title of [Saint] to her in her mind, even after knowing all that.

    Right now, just looking at Yurushia gave Kanzo the chills, and she trembled, knowing full well that she was at least on the same power level as a [Hero class] like herself.

    ¡°Were you just acting back then?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡­ that was ¡°me¡± as well.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­¡­ So, then, what¡¯s a ¡°Saint¡± doing in a place like this?¡±

    Kanzo raised her magic power output, baring her teeth in an intimidating smile that would scare even most knights. Yurushia only deepened her smile.

    ¡°If you call me ¡°Saint¡± in this labyrinth of the dead, I¡¯m not quite sure how to respond¡­ What a strange question to ask¡­¡­ Hero of Earth.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ so you knew of me? What a mischievous child.¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­¡­ If you are a [Hero], then shouldn¡¯t you rightfully cooperate with me to eliminate all of the dead bodies in this place?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ If you¡¯re even a real [Saint], that is.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never really identified with that, myself.¡±

    What a bother¡­¡­ Yurushia put one hand on her cheeks and let out a small sigh just like a young noblewoman would.

    Looking at her¡­¡­ Kanzo was reminded of Yurushia¡¯s earlier smirk and voice, and her pretty face, before she shook herself free of the haze in her mind ¡­¡­ and ground her molars together.

    ¡°This is a dungeon that is being managed by Gamble.¡±

    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s alright to attack someone who was summoned in Sail, is that it? Won¡¯t it become an international problem? Oh, I should really ask Sail, Gamble, Hawk, and Suzaku about this dungeon here, then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Yurushia giggled as she spoke, knowing full well that this dungeon was a secret. Kanzo noticed her meaning.

    Kanzo didn¡¯t know how much of it they knew, but she knew that they knew. If they realized that it wasn¡¯t Gamble that managed this dungeon but Kanzo herself, the other heroes would definitely butt in.

    If they did, they would discover that Kanzo was the mastermind behind the [Mass Zombie Outbreaks], and for her to keep her current fame and position, she needed to seal the mouth of the dungeon master, the Elder Lich.

    But then, that would reduce all of Kanzo¡¯s plans to nothing more than seafoam.

    Even if she proposed a back-room deal with them to get it back, with that crafty Hero of Water ¨C Kyoji around, he would take everything away from her if he could.

    ¡°¡­¡­Taking my things from me¡­¡­?¡±

    All of the beautiful things in the world were hers, and anyone who tried to take them away from her was ¡°evil¡±.

    ¡°[Shaker©`]!!!¡±

    Without a single hint of any wind-up, she uttered a single word of power, and around Yurushia, all the corpses were vibrated to dust.

    ¡°Ahahaha, little girl! Trying to take things away from me,¡±

    Kanzo shouted out with an in-suppressible laugh.

    [Light!]

    ¡°tsch! [Accel]!¡±

    As an explosive beam of light and heat burst toward her from that voice, Kanzo used [Acceleration] magic to dodge, as the light burnt dozens of corpses to ash in its wake.

    ¡°Tch, [Earth Shot]!¡±

    Enormous shards of rock burst forth like a giant shotgun, and Kanzo plunged forward in their wake.

    Kanzo favored the use of simultaneous weapon and spell attacks in her training.

    ¡°Hmmph!¡±

    Her muscles swelled, and around where she had heard the holy magic and the voice come from, she swung down with a sword of light from the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts].

    ¡°Aah, what a pain!¡±

    Kanzo groaned in annoyance as the rock bullets and her sword strikes destroyed even more corpses.

    ¡°Where are you! Come out here and face me, you coward!¡±

    Not having felt anything connect, Kanzo searched for Yurushia, and called out to her.

    ¡°Starting with a surprise attack, how nasty.¡±

    That voice came from directly behind Kanzo.

    ¡°Tsch, Boulder Cleaver!¡±

    ¡°[Radiant Spear]¡±

    As she turned, Yurushia was still standing there in a spotless black dress that hadn¡¯t even been sullied, let alone damaged, and she parried her with a spear of light.

    *GAKIN*!

    The magic sword coated with the power of a hero lost to the power of the spear of light and shattered.

    However, Yurushia still ended up being blown away from the reactionary force, thanks to her light weight.

    ¡°[Spirit Descent], [O, Great spirit of the earth, bestow your power upon your servant].¡±

    Without breaking momentum, Kanzo combined the spell aria for [Create Undead] that she¡¯d learned from the Elder Lich with her own elemental earth magic, changing the corpses around Yurushia into zombie soldiers clad in rock armor.

    ¡°Eat the girl!¡±

    But Yurushia, who should have been frightened, instead blew away two of the zombies that tried to attack her, striking the rocky armor off of their heads with a forehead poke.

    ¡°[Light!]¡±

    ¡°Shi-¡±

    The sacred light burned even the armored zombies to ash, and as it faded, Yurushia was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!¡±

    Kanzo, despite her teeth grinding together, began to analyze the situation calmly.

    It was harder than she¡¯d thought. She¡¯d thought that a sacred magic user would have battle endurance and be hard to defeat, but she hadn¡¯t planned further than these moves.

    And she had a high-power means of attack with that spear of light.

    After breaking the sword that she¡¯d just bought, Kanzo pulled the mithril longsword that she normally used, grinding her teeth together.

    It was bad to keep fighting here.

    It was hard to use Kanzo¡¯s preferred earth magic with the magical nature of the dungeon¡¯s walls and floors. Even if she could use shards of rock like this, she couldn¡¯t use wide-area spells like [Earth Shaker] to cause an earthquake to attack.

    And, of course,

    ¡°My [Magic Stone] nursery¡­¡­¡±

    Yurushia was destroying all of the corpses, either intentionally or not.

    Further destruction would mean a delay in the plan. Also, it was unlikely that Yurushia would follow her if she moved.

    It was also entirely possible that she would be able to escape once all of the corpses were destroyed.

    It was a catch-22, leaving her unable to advance or retreat.

    It was as if everything had already been learned, but remembering a feeling like attraction drawing her to this place, Kanzo cooled her perplexed head.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ch.¡±

    Should she continue fighting, or turn to negotiating?

    Kanzo knew that if she were to continue fighting, she would have to seriously go on the offensive and give up on all of the corpses.

    Making a deal¡­¡­ From what she¡¯d felt from having that conversation, she thought that she would accept if she made more concessions.

    However, it wasn¡¯t interesting or fun for Kanzo to just unilaterally lose.

    What could she obtain¡­¡­ or was it entirely possible to unsettle her?

    *Tap*¡­¡­

    ¡°Wh-¡±

    A large gem had rolled over to Kanzo¡¯s feet while she was thinking.

    It wasn¡¯t just any gem. Kanzo could tell by its brightness and the magic power within that it was clearly a [Magic Stone] had had achieved full crystallization.

    ¡°W-why is this here!?¡±

    ¡°I made it.¡±

    Turning back toward the voice, she watched as Yurushia approached her slowly, with such a relaxed gait that she couldn¡¯t believe that they had been fighting each other up until now.

    ¡°Y-you, why do you have this?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more, you know?¡±

    As she dropped a few more [Magic Gemstones] onto the floor with a clatter, Kanzo¡¯s eyes went wide.

    ¡°Want them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What do you want.¡±

    As Yurushia took out more [Magic Jewels] and quietly waited, playing with them absentmindedly, Kanzo had a sour expression.

    ¡°I want to know Gamble¡¯s [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo was both convinced and astonished at her words.

    Yurushia was seeking the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]. This battle had probably been a farce just to bring Kanzo to the negotiating table.

    Given how much of each other¡¯s hands they¡¯d seen now, it was bound to be a dirty deal. Yet, this was something with far better guarantees than a contract with a major merchant.

    She wanted the Magic Stone Jewels. But, the pride of a [Hero] lingered like sediment in a corner of her heart, and she was hesitant to pass these secret arts to someone who wasn¡¯t a hero.

    ¡°You want the recipe too, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s words came like the devil¡¯s whispers, tempting her with her desires.

    The carefree Yurushia had somehow naturally sidled up to her, and gently whispered words into Kanzo¡¯s ears, throwing her alertness into confusion.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a little now. You need¡­¡­ strong ¡®pure magic power¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Pure magic power¡­¡­ What are you saying, isn¡¯t that impossible unless you¡¯re a spirit?¡±

    Kanzo knew that the magic power of a spirit was so pure that it couldn¡¯t be compared to that of a human being, and their magic power efficiency was also good.

    The scales fell from her eyes, as she realized that there were too many impurities in the magic power of a physical creature to manufacture a magic stone jewel.

    And she was instantly disappointed as well. To obtain this pure magic power, she would have to capture a spirit and then force it into servitude.

    But that would mean pitting herself against the spirits. And if that were to happen, Kanzo, who was a [Hero] by the grace of the spirit of light, could lose most of her power doing so.

    While Demons were also spiritual life forms, the lesser demons had little intellect, and their magic power was as muddied as a human¡¯s.

    Calling a greater demon was possible, but she didn¡¯t know what price it would demand in exchange.

    ¡°Ah, you seem to have forgotten something. ¡­¡­here.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo stared at Yurushia in surprise as she gently glided her fingers over her chest.

    A [Hero] beloved by the spirits could create some amounts of pure magic power. But it was one of their ¡°trump cards¡± that couldn¡¯t be used without shaving off her lifespan.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡­ But, you¡¯re not the only hero, are you, Kan-chan¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wh-¡±

    As Kanzo recoiled in shock, Yurushia gently smiled.

    ¡°That jewel looks good on a beauty like you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I-is that so¡±

    ¡°Kan-chan and I¡­¡­ if we worked together, we could get as many as we wished.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ that¡¯s right¡±

    And as they spoke, Kanzo lost every bit of her normality.

    ¡°Well, Kan-chan. Shall we make a [Promise] to be friends?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, let¡¯s. I promise.¡±

    As Kanzo affirmed the words of the golden beauty, a thin chain glinted momentarily, sticking out from her chest.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    How laid-back~

    I guess it ended up being a Demon-like feeling. It¡¯s both easy and hard.

    Next time, the final chapter of the volume!

 CH 140

    Volume 7, Chapter 20: The Hero is Contracted¡­ and then

    I did it. I successfully managed to close a deal with Kan-chan, a Hero.

    I would surely get an additional amount in my summer bonus! (nonsense).

    Moreover, it was even pretty ¡°vague¡± in its terms of fulfilment. It being ambiguous was going to make the binding weak, but the details wouldn¡¯t matter at all as long as I had her commitment.

    Even better was the fact that Kan-chan wasn¡¯t aware of the contract, thinking it to just be a ¡°turn of phrase¡±.

    Any modern person of Earth would have at least some knowledge of ¡°contract language¡±, and would prove troublesome to a Demon, but only if they noticed that they were a ¡°Demon¡± in the first place.

    At the same time, the subconscious denial of the existence of Demons caused them to assume that those words were ¡°promises¡± that weren¡¯t binding.

    However, this was a [Demon¡¯s contract],

    Because, well, you know? She doesn¡¯t know though~

    This time, the terms of the contract were such:

    In exchange for giving Yurushia giving her what she wanted, she could demand a favor.

    That was it. Only that.

    There were a few other small details, but the gist of it was that.

    At first glance, one might think that this favored Kan-chan. Because she had the freedom to choose what price she would receive.

    But that was only in the case that it was ¡°between humans¡±.

    The real rub was the part where it mentioned [Things that Kanzo wished for].

    Kan-chan wanted the [Magic Stone Jewels] very, very badly.

    At first, it was only at the level of thirsting for something which she could not obtain, a [Desire]. But, as she spent time attempting over and over to attain it, the  personal value of the [Magic Stone Jewel] rose rapidly.

    Her collector¡¯s heart was further stimulated by this material¡¯s rarity.

    Like a crazy collector, Kanzo¡¯s obsession was so complete that she would sell her home and disown her family for the sake of pursuing this item.

    As much as she wanted it¡­¡­ the amount wasn¡¯t quantifiable, so instead she would receive what her ¡°heart¡± sought.

    So what would be a suitable price?

    Kanzo¡¯s ¡°heart¡± would have to determine that. After only an instant of thought, her soul settled upon a ¡°value¡±.

    I requested the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] from Kan-chan.

    That was an entirely plausible [Compensation] value, and Kan-chan was more than happy to pay with something that hadn¡¯t been hers in the first place.

    And she would have been saved had that been enough for her. But, of course, it wasn¡¯t.

    Things that nobody else in the world have, thangs that would garner looks of ¡°envy¡±, and Kan-chan wanted even more than most.

    It was almost like putting a bonus prize into a gacha game.

    The next thing she gladly paid with was [the Other Heroes] that weren¡¯t her to give.

    Kan-chan was the type that would spare no efforts if it didn¡¯t hurt her to do so, something I understood from our little conversation.

    She is going to sell out all of the [Heroes].

    But then¡­¡­ what is left?

    To want more, even after she had given all she had to give, exactly what would she give¡­¡­?

    Somehow or other, I feel very Demonic.

    Is this supposed to be praise?

    I suddenly understand the feelings that generic employee-like [Demon Lords] had after having had hundreds of years¡¯ worth of contracts.

    Kan-chan somewhat resembles my friend the ¡°Dwarf princess¡±, and is even more delicate than she is, so I had to harden my heart so that I could be properly demonic.

    Well, for now, I handed over the [Magic Jewel] that had been made with Fannie¡¯s magic power to Kan-chan, and was taught the [Level-up Method] in return.

    This was the secret art of [Level-up] that only heroes could use.

    I¡¯d heard of it from Yuuki-kun, but since he was a reincarnator, his memories were fuzzy at best, but he could still use it, somewhat. As a Demon, though, I¡¯d rather not risk it, given how incomplete it felt.

    Level up. Skills could obviously be levelled up, but ordinarily, you couldn¡¯t improve your physical levels or evolve.

    It was clearly irregular to be able to obtain physical power rivalling a dragon just by defeating enemies.

    If someone had the muscle density of about lead or platinum, it might have been possible. But then, living properly would be impossible.

    What then is this ¡°level up¡±?

    Put simply, it seems to generate something like a [Forcefield] around a person.

    An aura-like thing combining both the force of light and magic power, it seemed that it also increased one¡¯s HP since it reduced a percentage of the damage taken from attacks.

    MP would also go up, and so would physical ability, resulting in a level-up like in a game.

    ¡°¡­¡­Should I do this too?¡±

    ¡°Yuru-san, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    As I muttered to myself, I heard Daichi call out towards me.

    Even though he¡¯d been an ordinary high schooler just some months ago, he¡¯d gotten some guts now.

    I¡¯ve already left Kan-chan behind, returning to the nation of the Dwarves on the ground floor.

    After handing Kan-chan a few more pieces of the [Magic Stone Jewel] she so desired, she¡¯d left with her subordinates in tow, all pleased with herself.

    Daichi was sweating profusely, but it seems that not being able to stand hasn¡¯t really affected him.

    Also, Nea seems to have done something to the knights under Kan-chan, but Daichi said he didn¡¯t see anything.

    She seems to have done quite the number of things while out of sight of the humans, and, well, if she was eating people¡­ it¡¯d be too obvious if she was grinding her teeth. If she was just licking her blood-covered fingertips it might be fine, though.

    Either way, we¡¯ve secretly possessed those knights with [Greater Demons] after taking their souls. They¡¯ll be on surveillance duty, making sure that information doesn¡¯t get to the heroes.

    As a bonus, I¡¯ve also added octopus and cuttlefish to their diets.

    Alongside them is the Elder Lich Richard-kun¡¯s friend, so do your best, okay!

    Among the to-be heroes, Futa seemed to have gotten spartan training from Tina. He was rolling on the ground, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be a problem since he was twitching.

    The both of them have become stronger.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Leaving that aside, Daichi, Futa, once we get back to Sail I¡¯ll teach you how to fight alongside Touka and Mizuki.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­*gulp*¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­*twitch*¡±

    I laughed lightly. Daichi sighed as if he had just been told that he would receive additional training, while Kazuya¡¯s body just twitched again.

    Now that I got all this information, it¡¯s time to prepare to teach Daichi the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art].

    Will they become heroes?

    Even though¡­¡­ they won¡¯t be using the power of light, but a Demon¡¯s protection.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to Sail. Everyone, let¡¯s go~¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    Daichi and Futa, answer me.

    Fainting instantly (into sleep) after only a quick 4-day trip without sleep, how unlike the youth. Even though they weren¡¯t even walking the distance themselves.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe it¡¯s hard being a human?

    ¡°According to the information I gathered, it seems that during events called [School Trips], the boys will sleep if they travel continually without sleep, so it¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Oh, well.¡±

    Tina said so, so I guess it¡¯s okay. The current situation we¡¯re in is similar, now that I think about it.

    For a moment, I worried that my [Human common sense] was failing.

    We had a light meal, and then returned to Sail.

    That being said, humans would die without food, wouldn¡¯t they¡­¡­

    On the way home, we passed by the knights who were supposed to spy on us, but well, we¡¯re already returning. Sorry.

    We were moving at well over 300 kilometers per hour over the mountain roads and forests, and when we landed in Sail¡¯s castle, Daichi and co. fainted immediately. It was then that I noticed something was wrong with the castle.

    ¡°Something¡­?¡±

    ¡°Maybe you forgot to tighten the screws on some noble?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m busy, so stop that.¡±

    What was it? The atmosphere of the castle was tense.

    The knights and the ladies-in-waiting that I knew of were all hesitating to talk to me.

    Is this some sort of control?

    ¡°Yuru-chan!¡±

    As I contemplated capturing someone to get them to talk, Touka and Mizuki rushed up to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m home, you two. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Ah, welcome back.¡±

    ¡°Waitaminute, Yuru-chan something terriblehappened!¡±

    One of the human countries near the border had been destroyed by the forces of darkness.

    And so, on that day, after a decade of stalemate, the state of the battle lines between the forces of darkness and light began to move.

    ¡­¡­ Eh? Isn¡¯t Rinne and the rest of them on that side now?

    What are those boys up to now¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    And so concludes this book.

    Next time, it¡¯ll be a small story about the power of the darkness.

 CH 141

    Volume 8, Chapter 0: The Dark Twins, Part 1

    Within the world [Tess], they were called the [Forces of Darkness].

    Why were they called ¡°of Darkness¡±?

    It¡¯s simply because their race had the ¡°bloodline¡± of a ¡°Demon¡±.

    The forces of darkness were mainly comprised of the beastmen, intelligent monsters, and Dark Elves.

    The beastmen were partly people who had mutated as a result of being steeped in ¡°Magic power¡± for a long time, and had become ¡°demonized¡±.

    It was not usual for a normal person to turn into a Demonic form even if they had been exposed to a lot of magic power. Instead, they would usually show signs of poisoning and die.

    However, the peoples of certain regions became Demonized by incorporating certain [Beastly] attributes into their bodies as a result of magic power, creating the [Beastmen].

    Animals that had taken in too much magic would Demonize into monsters.

    Unlike normal animals, they could increase their powers and lifeforce by taking in more magic, gaining an extreme lifespan.

    Those who gained great power would gain ¡°wisdom¡± in their years, turning into ¡°intelligent monsters¡± that formed a kind of society.

    And then there were the dark elves. It was said that the dark elves were the result of the original High Elves breeding with demonic things.

    It was said that when high elves bred with humans they would get white elves, and dark elves were the result of breeding with demons, but it was unverifiable as it happened in ancient myth.

    It would certainly be correct to say that dark elves had stronger magic than the white elves, and were of a much more brutal and cunning nature.

    However, they were part of the [Darkness] not because of their bad characters, but rather because of their terrible living environments.

    They lived north of the northern nation of Gamble. Living spaces were far from each other in those huge mountain ranges, and it was impossible for them to eke out a decent living.

    The earth was frozen over by the bitter cold blizzards that devastated the land, and the warm underground was tinged with a powerful dark magic. Seeking what little land and food there was, they had to fight and devour one another.

    It was the first ¡°otherworlders¡± that had suddenly appeared several thousand years ago that had bound them together into the [Forces of Darkness] from a people that only knew strife.

    This otherworlder had accidentally drifted into this world after being pulled into the dimensional ripple, and seemed to have also become the first [Hero].

    Nobody knows what it was that he had seen or had thought at the time, but the [Hero] seemed to have sympathized with them being trapped underground in that particular way of life, and he wanted to take them all to the ¡°land of light¡± where the rest of the people lived.

    But the [Hero] failed.

    He labored under the illusion that they had the same ¡°common sense¡± from his own knowledge.

    If he had abandoned his role as the [Hero], and lived together underground with the [Evil Races] as the [Demon Lord], the story between light and darkness might have been very different.

    He had instead pleaded to the ¡°humanity¡± within those monsters, and tried to form a ¡°republic¡± based on ¡°equality¡± with the various tribal chiefs.

    And so it came to pass that even though they became the [Forces of Darkness], their fundamental behavior changed little, and all they did was rob people more¡­¡­

    In the end, the hero that had wished for their happiness had their life taken away by those forces.

    Still, a tiny bit of the hero¡¯s ideals had been preserved.

    At least they were united. But they could not look past the boundaries of race, and eventually formed into the three groups, beastmen, monsters, and dark elves.

    Their ¡°equality¡± took on the worst possible form, becoming a competition to see who could take things away from another by force.

    They refused to accept anyone that wasn¡¯t from their own tribe. Even though they could have easily robbed the humans by uniting, they could only think of using each other.

    This was especially so for the dark elves, who believed in racial purity and had beautiful forms.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t generally true, the powerful amongst them had equally powerful urges, and the nobles held all others in contempt and didn¡¯t think twice about robbing someone else.

    And finally, the two youngest princesses of the dark elven royalty.

    The black king didn¡¯t care at all for the twins, rather, only the pleasures of life. Their elder siblings constantly warred with one another, never even sparing a look at the twins.

    Nefi©` who had blue eyes and golden hair.

    Rimi ©` who had purple eyes and silver hair.

    They were abandoned by their caregivers, and struggled to live, and only the first princess Nefertia observed them.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You failed again?¡±

    As the maid humbled herself to her, Nefertia sighed.

    The only decent thing that she¡¯d inherited from parents was her platinum hair ©` a combination of her silver-haired father and blonde mother, the first Queen. In contrast, the twins had inherited a split of each from their parents, with the sixth Queen also being blonde.

    Nefertia was the favorite of the king, with her glossy brown skin and intelligent eyes that sparkled like jewels.

    Thanks to that, she prided herself as being the closest to the king over her two foolish elder brothers.

    She had merely thought of messing with the twins on a whim.

    As the two of them were too young, there was no way they could possibly contest the succession to the throne. Her other brothers agreed with Nefertia on this.

    Besides, for her two brothers, the twins weren¡¯t even in the running for succession because they weren¡¯t real dark elves.

    Her father, the black king, had impregnated a white elf with the twins on a whim.

    Nefertia had seen that beautiful white elf only once, and her father cared very much for that wife, and had lost interest in the twins after she had been poisoned.

    Even though they were related to the king by blood, they were children without a single backer.

    Still, if they were sheltered by their brothers, they might obtain the right to speak out, and become a source of troubles.

    They had to go, just in case.

    Even if Nefertia had taken them under her wing, they couldn¡¯t be relied on to not betray her unless she brainwashed them.

    At first, she tried putting poison into their food. But since it was a slow-acting poison, or perhaps due to luck in obtaining [Poison Resistance], they didn¡¯t weaken even after a few years. She¡¯d plotted for them to fall into traps, and be attacked by wild beasts in accidents too, but they¡¯d managed to avoid all of it.

    It was at that point that Nefertia began to suspect that the twins were more talented than they let on.

    They looked like children who didn¡¯t have the ability or the knowledge, and she¡¯d initially thought that they were exactly as they appeared.

    Nefertia had had the twins investigated and came to realize a few things.

    The twins¡¯ mother, the white elf, hadn¡¯t been assassinated by any of their brothers, but by dark elf racial supremacists.

    Even though that person was a racial supremacist, they had sworn absolute loyalty to the black king. The next king, regardless of whomever took the throne, would never have allowed the bloodline to mix. There was almost no possibility of the twins succeeding the throne either, so was it really necessary to kill their mother before the king had become senile and incompetent?

    Nefertia thought that if a boy had been born, it was entirely possible for him to become one of the successors, regardless of the twins.

    And then something came to mind.

    The twins¡¯ mother, she couldn¡¯t possibly be a [High Elf], could she¡­¡­

    The High Elves were the origin of both the dark and the white elves.

    Marriages between White Elves would occasionally result in the birth of High Elves, but they were almost never born between Dark Elves.

    The elven subspecies longed for High Elves. It was a kind of instinctive desire for them, and every home had their own little [High Elf Photo Album].

    It was entirely understandable why the king didn¡¯t let anyone else even look at the twins¡¯ mother if she had been a High Elf.

    If her existence was exposed to the public, people would gather each day to worship her like a god. And the twins would easily become the successor to the throne from the enthusiastic support of the people.

    Perhaps the king¡¯s hedonistic behavior was because of the sorrow of losing her?

    Or maybe it was because it was hard to not be reminded of her looking at the twins?

    ¡°¡­¡­It definitely bears investigating.¡±

    She definitely needed to deal with the twins before the king could recall himself.

    Barring the fanatical racial supremacists, the twins were pretty cute, even to the cold Nefertia.

    She could not allow anything that could betray her to live, though¡­¡­ even if it was only a suspicion.

    Then, the skilled assassin that she¡¯d sent out to murder the twins did not return.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    The female dark elven knight by her side was strangely voluptuous and sexy, but apparently that was decided upon by the first hero.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hmm¡±

    Nefertia thought to herself, her eyelashes curling downwards.

    It would not do for other people to know that the twins were related to high elves. She wanted it to be dealt with as soon as possible, but they knew that Nefertia had shown her hand hastily, and it would be even worse if the rest knew about the twins.

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder if someone else can take the blame.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s a new book. There¡¯s going to be a lot of serious explaining to do.

 CH 142

    Volume 8, Chapter 0: The Dark Twins, Part 2

    A couple of days after the failed assassination, a crowd of humanoid figures gathered in the old castle in the center of the giant underground cave ¨C the base for the combined Forces of Darkness.

    The castle was said to have existed for thousands of years, and some theories proposed that it was the castle that the first [Hero] had built.

    Thanks to the stories, those who entered this sacred place were kings amongst the Forces of Darkness, and with the amount of blood shed that dotted its history, it had been sealed for nearly a millennium.

    But now, the seal had been broken, and several hundred from the Forces of Darkness had entered the castle courtyard.

    ¡°Is ¡¶that¡· thing here¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yeah, there¡¯s no mistake¡±

    The First and Second Prince of the Dark Elves, the Crown and Third Prince of the beastmen, and their retinues of nobles and knights were here.

    They were the so-called [Loser Gang]. Although they had the right to succeed the throne by virtue of their ranks, with their lack of talents, all of them were unlikely to become kings, and were even placed in positions where their lives were threatened because of their ranks.

    Grasping at straws for power, they chased the legends.

    Such as the legend that the one who controlled the castle would be the king. And that a [Sorcerous Weapon] had been sealed within the castle.

    Of course, if there really had been such a thing, it would long since been in someone else¡¯s hands. But, thanks to the skillfully manipulated ¡°information¡±, they all assumed that this was some secret that only that had acquired.

    The basement of the castle was dedicated to the ¡°daughters¡± of the dark elven royal family.

    They would be given [Power] to rule.

    It was hilarious that they clung to such terrible information, but that was perhaps a better sign of how skillful Nefertia¡¯s information manipulation was, and how desperately cornered they were.

    Gathered here were the scapegoats for Nefertia¡¯s attempt upon the twins¡¯ life.

    They would offer up the twins for sacrifice, and in the end, only Nefertia¡¯s desires would be realized.

    ¡­¡­ Or at least that was how it was supposed to be.

    ¡°Enter quickly.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡°

    Held roughly by their arms, Nefi and Rimi were thrown into the underground altar by their brothers, wincing at the pain.

    They were still little girls around five years of age. Some of the beastmen felt a twinge of guilt, watching the girls hold onto their stuffed toy so tightly.

    An ancient altar set in the basement of the castle.

    The princes and knights were somewhat uncomfortable sacrificing a few people. But, for the sake of obtaining that [Sorcerous Weapon], they pushed their doubts out of their mind.

    ¡°Rejoice, my foolish little sister. You should be proud that we will obtain great power with your lives!¡±

    The second prince drew his sword and thrust it toward the twins.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­*boink*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­aA¡­¡­AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?¡±

    The second prince¡¯s hand was cut off at the wrist by the outstretched ears of the girl¡¯s stuffed rabbit.

    The First Prince and the Beastmen royals were all stunned into uncomprehending silence, even as the Second Prince screamed in pain and confusion.

    In their midst, the two girls¡¯ soft voices rang out like bells.

    ¡°Mr. Bear.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Rabbit.¡±

    ¡°¡°If you will¡±¡±

    The beastmen and dark elven knights were each equal to at least a few human knights.

    They were usually even able to defeat [Lesser Demons], and some of the royal guards were even able to take on [Greater Demons].

    But that was only ¡°normally¡±.

    Of course, there would be no such knights among the [Loser Gang]. In addition, as they were all confused and afraid of this unknown¡­¡­ the soft toy jumped out, defeating the knights in the blink of an eye, and began to feast.

    Besides, what they were facing was a [Greater Demon] whose powers were greater than usual by twofold, that had a [Name] and had even fully [Manifested].

    ¡°¡°Goodbye, brothers.¡±¡±

    As the little girls called out to them, the First Prince sank into the sea of blood, his face etched with disbelief.

    And with that, the blood and souls of several hundred losers were gathered, as on the side of the altar, runes began to glow with light.

    ¡°¡­¡­It came out.¡±

    ¡°The first hero¡¯s¡­¡­ original secret arts¡±

    The tales weren¡¯t entirely untrue. It¡¯s just that they¡¯d misinterpreted it.

    It had been dedicated to the daughters of the royal families. It was tradition for the royal family who had inherited the blood of the Hero to obtain the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] as a ruler by pouring their strong magics into the altar.

    The magic power could be substituted with souls, contained within the blood. It had just been the whim of the hero to limit the succession to daughters.

    It had all been in the twins¡¯ hands from the very beginning.

    The First Princess had also intended to kill the twins by deceiving her elder brothers using these tales that Nefertia truly didn¡¯t believe in.

    It had been the twins who had propagated this particular version of legend. They thought that their sister would definitely act upon it, and their original plan had been to use the First Princess to obtain the [Secret Arts] easily.

    Well, when they were investigating this tradition, let¡¯s just say that they had the advantage of help from a certain Butler Demon who had been commissioned by a black cat.

    And in doing so, in [Saving the Twins from their Predicament], the Demons would throw the forces of darkness into confusion.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The otherworlders seem to really love indulging themselves.

    Next time, the twins. It¡¯s full of youth again.

 CH 143

    Volume 8, Chapter 1: I became a Hero

    ¡°¡­¡­well, what do we do now?¡±

    Rinne was distressed. As a high-ranking demon [Demon Beast], or rather, because he was the Demon Beast, all of the contracts that he¡¯d made were either [Quick], [Expensive], or [Delicious], and usually ended only because the summoner was either killed, defeated, or eaten.

    After all, the people who would even call a Demon Beast in the first places were all looking for ¡°destruction¡±, so there were no problems then.

    But, now¡­ they didn¡¯t want destruction, but protection. It was vital that they get rid of all the danger around the two girls who had formed a contract with them.

    For a Demon Contract, it wasn¡¯t enough to just do what the contract said at that particular point in time.

    Instead of signing contracts on parchment, they were signed between hearts and souls, and the outcomes would change depending on various factors.

    That [Demon Lord] Heraness had also been trying to draw out as many concessions as he could in his contract with Geas, delicately manipulating him as he pleased like a poker game.

    But that overzealousness had instead drawn the attention of that [Devil] upon him, destroying him as the [Contract] was taken from him.

    And perhaps because of her human intelligence and sensitivity, that Devil ©` Yurushia, was able to act like much more of a ¡°devil¡± than him, who had been living in the Demon World.

    So, what was different from then and now?

    Yurushia and himself¡­¡­ how were they different as Demons?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Maybe we should try taking on human forms as well.¡±

    * * *

    ¡°We did it, Rimi¡­¡±

    ¡°We did it, Nefi¡­¡±

    After disposing of their elder brothers, the twins had returned to their room in the Dark Elves¡¯ Castle looked at each other with expressions that didn¡¯t fit their youth.

    After the two of them had contracted with that extreme existence that they wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to call an [Evil God], who had sent them their two right-hand Demons, their circumstances had changed.

    [Gau.] [¡­¡­(struggle)]

    The twins were hugging them like plush toys¡­¡­ but in reality, the rabbit and the bear, while only looking like soft toys, were having some sort of conversation that they didn¡¯t understand.

    In their hands, they were squeezing a small, glowing fruit-like ball. It was very adorable, but knowing that the ball was the knights¡¯ souls, the twins couldn¡¯t stay calm.

    The souls of their elder brothers, and the beastmen royalty had already been offered up to the [Evil God] along with the [Original Arts]. Certainly, they¡¯d asked to be saved from their plight, and knew that their siblings were in the way of the faraway ¡°peace¡± that they truly wanted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get food¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    Thanks to the plushies, they were able to have proper meals.

    As per usual, the twins¡¯ meals were poisoned, but the stuffed bear ate all of the poisoned bits, and the twins could eat in peace.

    The amount of food was decreased, but the rabbit helped them manage.

    It would occasionally disappear and return, having procured meat from somewhere. The twins were surprised to hear that they used the [Subspace Storage] used by the Hero, and at the size of the unidentifiable ¡°meat¡± that they took out.

    They once spotted a small dragon flying around in the underground cavern, but nobody seemed to have cared that its tailed had been shortened.

    The rabbit and bear were surprisingly dexterous with the use of the charcoal brazier for meat, and it¡¯d become their main dish as of late.

    Sometimes, they¡¯d bring some sort of dried fish or some other marine product that the twins had never seen before as a snack.

    And they seemed to be having conversations with someone mysterious while the twins were sleeping.

    Once, when Rimi was awake just by chance and had roused Nefi, they¡¯d seen the silhouette of a boy who looked about 15 in the darkness.

    He was wearing a well-tailored butler suit that was obvious even in the dark, with a handsome face that couldn¡¯t be found even among the elves.

    He looked just like a ¡°prince¡± that they¡¯d read in picture books, and their hearts fluttered for a moment. But, as the boy gave the ¡°smile of a Demon¡±, the twins quickly returned to bed, and swore to themselves to never wake up in the middle of the night again.

    ¡°Something¡± felt wrong the next morning, when they felt the ¡°presence¡± of that ¡°youth¡± there.

    As if they had magically attained sleep-learning, they had knowledge of things that they should never have known. Thanks to that knowledge, they were able to protect themselves thanks to the Hero¡¯s Secret Arts.

    All of a sudden, all the maids and caretakers, that had distanced themselves from the twins up to that point, began to pay lip service to caring for the twins with a look of terror on their faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s scary¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­¡±

    They held a deep fear that ¡°something¡± was going on that they didn¡¯t know about.

    But they found relief in the adorable stuffed animals.

    The teddy bear would sometimes cause the aristocrats who held the twins in contempt to simply disappear, and its mouth would be coated with blood, but it was very gentle with young children, almost treating them as if it were a ¡°grandpa¡±, which didn¡¯t quite match its cute appearance.

    The stuffed rabbit didn¡¯t move much, but when danger approached the twins, it would kick away the enemies like an older brother protecting his younger siblings.

    These frighteningly reliable soft toys caused the twins to laugh when they saw the toys drinking over dinner.

    So thought the two girls,

    ¡°¡°I wish I could live peacefully like this¡­¡­¡±¡±

    But being involved with that Golden [Devil], one could never hold such hopes¡­

    * * *

    ¡°Abominable children¡­¡­¡±

    Nefertia, First Princess of the Dark Elves, couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of bitter regret.

    Her little sisters should long have been offered up as sacrifices by her brothers, given that shady tradition that her servant had heard of from somewhere. She¡¯d intended to eliminate them in the same fell swoop for the crime of murdering their own, but they went missing, and only the twins had returned before she¡¯d even caught on.

    She had no idea what had transpired.

    Even if she¡¯d asked the twins, who had been there, their young age would surely have made their accounts useless.

    Although Nefertia thought of the twins as a threat to her plans, but she didn¡¯t think for an instant that they were any more intelligent than typical five-year olds.

    ¡°You, what are your thoughts?¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I-I don¡¯t think I could have considered anything that Your Highness hasn¡¯t¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Just tell me.¡±

    The female knight that by Nefertia¡¯s side averted her eyes a bit, but turned to face the First Princess, her mistress, again.

    ¡°¡­¡­Maybe it was the peasants who defended the two of them?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­¡±

    Nefertia sighed internally at the words of her knight even as she carefully nodded.

    The knight was the daughter of her nursemaid and her childhood friend. Thanks to her good looks and the Princess¡¯ favor, she was employed as the Princess¡¯ knight, even if she was slightly dim. There hadn¡¯t been anything that Nefertia hadn¡¯t considered in her words.

    ¡°Ah, and recently, I saw maids returning to the side of the twins.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is that so?¡±

    The twins¡¯ caretakers should have been afraid of Nefertia and her brothers¡¯ displeasure.

    What could have happened to change their minds?

    She wanted to ask them, but given that they didn¡¯t fear Nefertia right now, she would have to torture the answer out of them.

    She didn¡¯t want to engage in torture, especially if the twins had a collaborator. If that person knew that Nefertia had tried to take the initiative and eliminate the twins, she feared that they would leak the secret.

    They would also know that Nefertia was opposed to the twins.

    ¡°¡­¡­ If we¡¯re going to do that, then should we use ¡°Plan 2¡±?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-yes¡±

    The knight shrunk back at Nefertia¡¯s dark smile.

    ¡°Go to the army. Notify them.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    Nefertia thought of her Plan B.

    Had she failed to charge her brothers for the sacrifice of the twins, she would entice some of the hawks in the army to have her brothers become flagbearers to clash against the forces of light and the hero.

    She knew how strong the Heroes were.

    14 years ago, had the Hero of Wind not have been betrayed, the Dark Elf King would definitely have been killed, and the forces of darkness would have suffered a massive blow.

    With such power, even if only one Hero came to meet the charge, it would make all her future plans much easier.

    There was the slim possibility that her brothers would succeed in beating the hero and return gloriously. However, if the plan were to go through, she would ensure that they would not return alive.

    After all, the royalty were merely ¡°decorations¡± for the advancing army.

    Then¡­¡­

    ¡°The twins won¡¯t matter¡­¡­¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It seems that the male team is also doing serious work away from the girls. It¡¯s also about time for the animals to get human forms.

    Next time, it¡¯s a return to Yuru.

 CH 144

    Volume 8, Chapter 2: I became a Hero, Part 2

    The Allied Nations¡¯ Strategic Command. It was made up of a coalition of nations built to oppose the [Forces of Darkness] formed of the [Forces of Light]: the humans, elves, and dwarves.

    Each country provided a budget in exchange for quick relief and support coming from the coalition whenever one of the member states got attacked.

    Such an organization was undeniably beneficial for the smaller nations, but less so for larger countries, which were capable of relying on their own militaries to repel attacks.

    But, in this powerful alliance, there was a matter that even the great powers¡­¡­ nay, even the four great nations who had Heroes could not ignore.

    ¡°Staff Officer Sephyr, the preparations to depart towards Lucell are complete.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±

    As the soldier came up to report to the young-looking Staff Officer, she gave him a hint of a smile, and the young soldier¡¯s cheeks turned red.

    The forces of darkness had taken one of the human nations, and now the Allied Nations were scrambling to send a massed force north.

    Not only were the Allied Nations dispatching a military in accordance with the agreement, but now, even the four Heroes were headed to the small country Lucell that was acting as the forward headquarters.

    ¡°Seriously, if Staff Officer Sephyr does not come, then the Heroes will¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s alright. I know. ¡­¡­ They¡¯re really a troublesome bunch.¡±

    Not only would the men swell up onto their toes troublingly and link arms sighing when she made a graceful gesture like waving her arms, but the women would as well.

    ¡°Make the preparations, please.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes¡±

    Sephyr headed to her own room to prepare herself even as she called out to the soldier watching her in fascination.

    The Staff Officer of the Allied Nations¡¯ Strategic Command.

    This youthful woman was placed in this powerful position because she was the only person who was trusted by all the Heroes, who weren¡¯t particularly friendly with one another, and as a result, was an indispensable part of the Alliance between Nations.

    ¡°¡­¡­I really do hope that the new ¡°Saint¡± will be useful.¡±

    * * *

    Dear Father and Mother in the Holy Kingdom,

    Are you all well?

    It should be winter over there, should it not? Here, even in winter we¡¯re living in warmth and cheer unless we head north, and my followers have been playing in the ocean, fishing up the souls of the drowned out of the water, adding a touch of flavor to my dining table for me. You know that food doesn¡¯t taste like much to me.

    I¡¯d like to be able to return to the Holy Kingdom if possible, but I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t show my face there right now thanks to my current circumstances.

    We were able to catch loads of great seafood in the countries that were facing trouble, and I think I¡¯ll be able to award all of my employees who are working hard 23 hours a day with the dried fish as souvenirs.

    Yours Truly,

    Yurushia.

    ¡°¡­¡­ I can¡¯t receive the reply.¡±

    I sent an ¡°e-mail¡± to Rinne who wasn¡¯t in the Holy Kingdom but rather on the side of the Forces of Darkness, but no reply came.

    At the moment, it was even incredibly difficult to communicate with Geas, who was Yuzu¡¯s grandfather, by sending a message through the ¡°bloodline¡±.

    Even when I tried contacting Geas directly, all I got in return was [Gau gau].

    ¡­¡­ No, wait a minute.

    If you could send back a line like ¡°Gau gau¡±, then write a proper sentence, gramps.

    I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s because this is what he is, if it¡¯s because he¡¯s a child, or if it¡¯s because he¡¯s just being silly.

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    After completing a contract with Kan-chan and returning from the northern country, some small human nation had fallen to the forces of Darkness.

    I thought that perhaps Rinne would know something, but I couldn¡¯t get in touch with them for some reason.

    I could still feel the three of them were connected to me, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any immediate danger to myself, but what in the world were they doing?

    ¡°Princess.¡±

    As I stood in the courtyard of the castle with the servants along with Daichi and the gang, one of the maids assigned by the castle to me came to find me.

    ¡­¡­ Is it really okay for you to be calling an otherworlder [Princess] like this?

    Well, I¡¯m a Demon, though.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re back.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but wait just a minute. Do you have any details about what happened?¡±

    What was this maid¡¯s name again¡­¡­?

    She was a rather pretty lady in her late twenties (and single), so she didn¡¯t bear me a shred of malice, but I¡¯ve been indebted to women of this type since I was little, since she reminded me of the [Three Maiden Maids], and our interactions were pleasant, even though she was the cat¡¯s paw of the castle.

    Well, those three maids were now all married, so I couldn¡¯t really call them maidens anymore.

    Their marriage had raised their statuses to those of the female knights.

    I hadn¡¯t seen their faces in more than a year, and by the time I returned, they might have well already had babies.

    ¡°Yes, I was looking for you, Princess, about that.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation?¡±

    If a country had fallen, naturally, the [Hero] would have to be dispatched.

    I think Kan-chan, who had close ties with the Forces of Darkness, would move first, but the other heroes wouldn¡¯t keep still either.

    For a country to have been annihilated in the war was impossible even if it had fallen, and there would definitely be a large number of refugees and injured. Because of that, I, and that ¡°billboard¡± above my head called [Saint], would very likely be called upon.

    Thinking about such things, I wondered if the maid was relieved to find me as she gently lowered her head.

    ¡°Yes, regarding that, we have to hurry to the discussion between Hero Kyoji and the Royal Princess. I was told to invite you to lunch the day after tomorrow around noon.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ The day after?¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­eh? Seriously? Even though the war had begun, what are you doing, still arranging for lunches the day after tomorrow, you aristocrat? Yeah, she¡¯s clearly an aristocrat through and through.

    No, I myself am also a noble, but I¡¯m 6th in line for the throne, and the King (grandpa) was so simple as a human being that it was kind of refreshing.

    Tina and Nea were talking to me too, and it seems that that maid¡¯s thoughts were obvious, so I arranged for a place and nodded naturally.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What, is it that strange?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Uhmmm, I don¡¯t think Yuru-chan is wrong.¡±

    I was a little relieved from Mizuki¡¯s words.

    As I listened on, I thought of making a dress for the meal with the Royals, but it seems that getting it done by the day after tomorrow was kind of rushed.

    ¡­¡­ as expected of the nobles. The Holy Kingdom was casual everywhere, apparently.

    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s only in the vicinity of Yurushia.¡±

    The next day, Demon Butler Noa explained as much to me when I explained it to him.

    Currently, I¡¯ve been dressed up like a doll by a few of the ladies-in-waiting in the castle.

    Of course, Noa, being a boy, is on the other side of the screen.

    I¡¯m choosing a dress to wear for tomorrow¡¯s luncheon, since it¡¯s not quite fitting for me to wear my usual black and silver dress as the [Princess of the Holy Kingdom].

    But since I couldn¡¯t choose the clothes I wanted, I¡¯m reworking the premium items from the best brands.

    It¡¯s quite wasteful¡­¡­ The black and silver dress would never dirty and regenerated itself, although I didn¡¯t have many sweat glands in the first place and never really got too dirty.

    Oh yeah, in other news, I¡¯ve finally reached 160cm in height.

    If it all goes well, I think I should be able to reach my desired 170cm height in my late teens. If I had been Yuzu this would have been impossible.

    The thickness of my chest armor is also growing. ¡­¡­ and for some reason, Fannie, the shortest of us, had the greatest defense power. And as for the thinnest, I won¡¯t say it.

    ¡°Tina-chan will also grow up quickly, Right~? ¡°

    ¡°Why is that a question?¡±

    Hey, hey, Fannie. Stop corning people with your words.

    And Nea, who was on guard duty by the door, put her hands on her chest armor that wasn¡¯t quite thick enough despite being a Succubus, letting out a dark aura.

    And in the end, the dress was undecided.

    For some reason, my sweet ladies-in-waiting started telling me to postpone the luncheon tomorrow, but while we were deliberating if this was an appropriate thing to do, my attendants put a stop to it.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem at all. Leave it to your humble servant.¡±

    Noa smiled over his silver-rimmed glasses that he¡¯d taken out from somewhere.

    To me, it was incredibly doubtful, but the ladies-in-waiting were enraptured by Noa¡¯s 15-year-old butler self. Even in this world, it seems that there was a very deep genre of ¡°study¡± of [Glasses Men Moe].

    ¡°If you say so¡­¡­ Noa. Have you not heard anything from Rinne?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve asked them a bit¡­¡­ there are no problems.¡±

    ¡°Hmm~¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ Noa is definitely plotting something behind-the-scenes again. Well, hopefully no real damage will be caused this time.

    As to the dress, it seems that the twins, Noa and Nea, would be making it.

    My current black and silver dress was made by the Hades combination of Tina and Fannie, so I think the twins can make it. But with Nea being as clumsy as I am, is it really okay¡­¡­?

    Tina was the only one amongst them who originally knew how to sew, but it seems that the twins have been practicing to present me with a dress.

    ¡­¡­ a Demon that practices sewing in the night¡­

    So my employees are like that, whether they¡¯re a Demon or not.

    ¡°This is the finished product.¡±

    On the next day, or should I say, on the day of the luncheon, Fannie bathed me in the morning and then Noa showed me the dress.

    And as to why I got Fannie and not Tina to wash me, it¡¯s because Tina would be touching me with an unpleasant hand.

    ¡°Why is it a pure-white dress¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s platinum-colored, to be precise¡­¡­ pretty flashy.

    Because it was made from my attendants¡¯ hair, I thought that the twins¡¯ brunette hairs would make a brown or red dress, so why was it white?

    Well, now that I think about it, I really want to know why Tina¡¯s golden hair turned into that black dress, but that¡¯s a question for another time. ¡­ I think.

    ¡°I-I did my best¡±

    ¡°Isee, I see, it¡¯s been hard on you.¡±

    And as my [Awkwardness Skills] activated, I praised Nea while stroking her hair. Even though it was probably Noa that made most of it¡­¡­!?

    The dress had an American sleeve and a slightly daring exposure of my chest, while the skirt was layered over with muslin and lace multiple times. (TL Note: the american sleeve is something like a half-sleeve, that is, ending about halfway between your wrist and elbow.)

    I didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable wearing these kinds of dresses since I¡¯d been wearing them even while I was still Yuzu.

    ¡­¡­ or at least, I shouldn¡¯t be, but for some reason, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling of strangeness.

    My usual black and silver dress was a kind of ¡°Cursed item¡±, so I transformed it into a Gothic black choker, and it¡¯s surprisingly good as an accent. ¡­¡­ but.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe this platinum dress is also cursed.

    Even as I worried, Fannie and Tina and the rest of the maids changed me, and my hair was now being tied up to the point I could see my nape again.

    ¡°Come, come, Princess, I will guide you to the room.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes, thank you.¡±

    What¡­¡­why were all of the maids¡¯ eyes swimming?

    It seems that the luncheon is held with the Royal Family and was a bit of a distance away from where I had been ¡°isolated¡±.

    Even though I call it isolated, it¡¯s still in the same property, so it¡¯s about a 10 minute walk away. Along the way, though, I spotted Daichi and Touka  training with the knights in the courtyard.

    ¡°Ah, Yuru-chan¡­¡­¡±

    Mizuki noticed me and called out to me, but her voice got stuck midway.

    Amongst the *clash*, *hrgh*, *hiyas* and other strange sounds, the knights facing Daichi and Touka turned to look and then immediately averted their eyes with a red face, and the two of them knocked the wooden training swords out of their training partners.

    ¡­¡­ suddenly, chaos!

    Is this my fault?

    When I looked in the mirror a while ago, I thought that it was a bit risqu¨¦ but normal¡­¡­ or so I thought.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wow, Yuru-chan, how erotic.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Hnh?¡±

    I turned to look at a nearby window glass after Touka made comments about eroticism after looking at my back, reviewing my dress.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    All the way down to my lower back, from the neck down, was detailed thin lace that was almost see-through.

    ¡°I worked especially hard for that part.¡±

    As Nea proudly declared as much to me, my face reddened, and I slammed her into the floor so hard the flagstones cracked.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The upper part of the dress is almost flesh-colored when seen from the back.

    It makes the 12-year-old Yuru exude a sense of immorality, making it hard for adults to look at her directly.

    Next time, a luncheon with the Royals.

 CH 145

    Volume 8, Chapter 3: I became a Hero, Part 3

    Ever since I became Yurushia, I¡¯ve become used to being given sponge baths by my maids. Even now, I¡¯m still getting cared for in the bath by Fannie, so my sense of shame has become quite lax, it¡¯s still the ¡®same-sex¡¯ after all.

    ¡­¡­ Well¡­ being hand-washed by Tina was still kind of a turn-off even though we were the same sex.

    Even so, the story was different when it came to men.

    No, I should actually have noticed it from the beginning. The platinum dress made by Noa and Nea this time formed an [All-in-one Undergarment design] alongside the black and silver dress, but to think that the maids of the castle wouldn¡¯t even say anything about wearing a corset equivalent¡­¡­

    I¡¯m not a big fan of exposure, so to having all that floral lace going all the way down my back to the bottom makes my face flush even if it¡¯s me I¡¯m looking at. Even then, my chest doesn¡¯t feel unsupported. In fact, any swelling up while wearing such thin clothes is sure to be troubling.

    Even now, the young hot-blooded knights were trying very hard to avert their eyes, while Daichi was being held down and barred from looking by Touka.

    What is this obscenity censoring behavior¡­¡­?

    The maids who¡¯d tied up my hair so that my back could be seen are also guilty, damn it.

    ¡°¡­¡­Oh?¡±

    When I tried to use magic power to ¡°transform¡± the black and silver dress, instead of turning back into a dress, it turned from a choker into a ¡°shawl¡± with the same lace pattern as the one on my back, and gracefully hung over my shoulders.

    ¡°¡­¡­ a rather uselessly high-performance item.¡±

    ¡°Was there such a function?¡±

    ¡­¡­Eh? Tina, didn¡¯t you make it?

    I managed to cover most of my back¡­¡­ though a bit of my waistline can still be seen¡­¡­ and arrived at the room where we were to have the luncheon.

    ¡°Ms. Yu-Yurushia, please come in.¡±

    It was neither the butler nor the maid, but rather the senior knight who opened the door for us.

    I don¡¯t know whether it was because he was nervous or afraid, but it felt very awkward.

    Please don¡¯t look at my back.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been expecting you, Yurushia.¡±

    Bianca, the second princess of Sail, greeted me as I entered.

    It¡¯s been a long time, Bianca-chan. We rarely ever ran into each other in the castle, but as to whether that was because the castle was just that large, or if she was avoiding me, or¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, Princess Yurushia, it¡¯s been a long time. I nearly couldn¡¯t recognize you today in that nice dress.¡±  Kyoji chimed in.

    ¡°I see that both of you haven¡¯t changed much.¡±

    Or, could it be that the Hero of Water was trying to keep her close in fear of her leaking information¡­¡­?

    As I entered, one of the knights guided me to my seat.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry for my previous rudeness.¡±

    It was that greenhorn knight who had immediately underestimated Onzada-kun and had been beaten up.

    Although the expression of despair from that time had disappeared, it seems that he was deep in thought about something, just glancing at his face I could tell that he was blushing and frowning, clearly enduring something.

    Yeah, have no idea what.

    If he held malice against me, I wouldn¡¯t have condoned it, but for now, I couldn¡¯t feel anything from him, so I didn¡¯t pay him any special attention.

    I thought of addressing him, but if I asked him [Is your health well?] as the Lord of Onzada-kun, it would surely be construed as sarcasm¡­¡­

    Well, maybe.

    ¡°Would you allow me to treat your scalp¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a problem¡­¡­ wha¡±

    Oh, my bad.

    Even if you¡¯re young, carelessness is a powerful enemy, you know. For knights and the like who liked to abuse their bodies, they would continue to prefer oily food well into their middle ages, and with the way he was shook up just from these comments, he kind of resembles the old knight behind Bianca right now.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, so please¡­¡­sit down.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    I sat down gently in the proffered chair. As I did so, my shawl turned back into a choker without my permission, and the knight visibly started shaking.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s because it suddenly transformed, right? It¡¯s not because my back is exposed, right?

    I could feel myself flushing, but I felt like I was able to keep my cool. Since I¡¯ve been keeping myself in check ever since I was young, I have been able to behave in a very ¡°human¡± fashion.

    4 of us sat at a large table that could easily seat 20. Kyoji was right next to me. Bianca sat directly across of him. And next to Bianca, directly opposite of me, sat a small boy.

    ¡°Sis, introduce me!¡±

    The little blonde boy of about 10 called Bianca ¡®Sis¡¯ impatiently and was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°How shameless, Fio. Excuse me, Yurushia. This is my younger brother, the First Prince¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Fjord, nice to meet you, Princess Yurushia.¡±

    Fjord, unable to wait for his sister to finish her words, greeted me enthusiastically.

    I see¡­¡­ he¡¯s got the exact look and the personality that was in the attendants¡¯ report.

    Because he was born so late as a boy, he kept a grudge against the First Princess, who had been married off to another country but was still aiming for the throne. Yep, that¡¯s the First Prince without a doubt.

    ¡°Yes, I have heard some things about you, Fjord-sama. I am Yurushia of Tariterudo.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what those rumors are¡­¡­ ah, please, call me Fio.¡±

    ¡°Sit down properly, Fio.¡±

    Bianca immediately chastised Fjord, whose face turned red even as Bianca frowned.

    ¡°S-Sorry, sister¡­¡­¡±

    It seems their sibling relationship is more complex than at first look. I found it rather refreshing, since my own relationships with my relatives were so simple.

    Was Bianca aiming for the throne herself? Was that really her intentions?

    As I gave Kyoji a fleeting glance, it seems that he also turned to look at me that instant and gave me a ¡°sweet smile¡± as though his mouth was full of pebbles.

    To put it simply, it was one of those saccharine-sweet smiles that looked like sugar had been sprinkled on top of condensed milk on top of fried batter.

    ¡°A smile like grilled meat for five.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get what you mean.¡±

    It¡¯s about the calories.

    The silver cutlery and white porcelain tableware were laid out, but I only knew for certain that the King of Sail would not come when the appetizers arrived.

    Did they think that sending two royals was enough? Or maybe he was afraid because I had released my [Intimidating Presence] every time we¡¯d met¡­¡­

    No, but I didn¡¯t release my intimidation so freely, right? Wasn¡¯t that true? He didn¡¯t think it was because I was planning to call on him in the middle of the night, you know?

    ¡­¡­ I cursed his hair roots to die.

    The appetizers were crisp sliced and colored vegetables and jellied fish. Next up was a salad of seaweed and boiled tubers, and the third was a consomm¨¦-like soup. The bread was a mix of black and white breads, and the pasta was good too.

    Following that was a fish with a crisp texture that I¡¯d never had, served with a citrus sauce.

    After that, I thought it would end with a sorbet of some sweet fruit, but it seems that it was time for the main course, a lamb dish.

    After that came a fruit platter filled with treats that I¡¯d never seen before in this region, and a sweet cake, and then finally the tea, accompanied by a few baked sweets.

    ¡­¡­ I can¡¯t tell their taste, so this is like light torture. It¡¯s really heavy for a midday meal.

    Even if it had been seasoned with souls, my stomach had already been filled with the appetizers, salads, and fish.

    ¡°uh, uhm¡­ was it not to your tastes?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never had a large appetite.¡±

    Since I only ate about two mouthfuls of everything else, Fio was giving me a worried look.

    Well, of everyone, only Kyoji ate everything.

    Noa and Tina were allowed in to serve me my meal, but as expected, it was impossible for them to squeeze out a soul in front of me.

    ¡°For our country, we¡¯d like to have the Hero Kyoji deal with the invasion of the forces of darkness, separate from the Sail Army. ¡­¡­Kyoji-sama, is that amenable?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will do my best to repay the kindness that Your Highness Bianca has given me.¡±

    ¡°Oh you, Kyoji-sama.¡±

    Bianca¡¯s cheeks flushed red with Kyoji¡¯s sweet smile and words.

    I couldn¡¯t help but stop drinking my tea hearing this farce start up abruptly.

    What kindness was there in this current conversation? How about a stomach medicine that was half-buried in headache medicine? Did you call me here to have this 1-minute talk?

    ¡°¡­¡­Uhm, I¡¯d like to request Yurushia to join Kyoji-sama¡¯s battle lines. You would be moving as the [Saint] working with the Hero of Sail.¡±

    Bianca hurriedly spat out the truth when I had begun to ooze out my presence silently with a smile.

    Would that be making me a member of Kyoji¡¯s [Hero Party]?

    Even though it would be more efficient if we moved separately, it seems like Sail wants to show off to the other countries with a perfect Hero party with both a [Hero] and a [Saint].

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ well, I don¡¯t mind. ¡°

    ¡°R-really?¡±

    When I said so, Bianca looked relieved, as if she had been on the receiving end of some stern order, while Kyoji¡¯s eyes went slightly wider. Because I would have to be subordinate to Kyoji, he must have thought that I would refuse.

    However, since I thought this was a good time to contact Kyoji again, it¡¯s not an issue. I thought that it would be easier to touch base with Kyoji than the [Hero of Flame] or Kan-chan, who I¡¯ve not yet officially met.

    ¡­¡­ That being said, stop oozing killing intent, Noa and Tina. The room¡¯s temperature has gone way down and now Fio-kun is scared.

    Kyoji stood up, and, without a single change in his expression, bowed lightly to me.

    ¡°Then, Princess Yurushia, I hope we will get along well. Although you will be my subordinate, as your position is the same as mine, please, feel free to tell me any of your concerns.¡±

    ¡°Hai, Kyoji-sama. Thank you for your help.¡±

    Was there anything being said?

    Well, now I¡¯ll be able to go to the battleground in the North.

    And after that¡­¡­

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, please be safe. I would love to have tea with you again when you return.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Fio-sama. I look forward to it.¡±

    I plan to raise him against the harassment those two are giving him.

    ¡°Princess¡­¡­  I will accompany you as your escort.¡±

    ¡°Well, thank you.¡±

    The knight who had guided me to my seat was also looking at me with a complex expression¡­¡­

    ¡°Princess, I will happily accompany you, so please, give me that ¡®Secret Treatment¡¯¡­¡­¡±

    The old knight who was waiting behind Bianca bowed, showing me his shiny head¡­¡­ it seems that another shining one was going to be lost from Sail.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The number of middle-aged men who believe is increasing.

    Next time, heading to the northern battlefield.

 CH 146

    Volume 8, Chapter 4: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 1

    The great kingdom of the east, taking the entire coast, the Sail Kingdom.

    Population, 1.8 million. Holding many huge harbors, it is a maritime country holding riches incomparable to their neighboring countries due to intercontinental trade and abundant ocean resources.

    Due to this abundance, the morale of the people is relatively high, but beyond that, the military might of the country is large. It holds more than 500 naval vessels at sea and over 2,000 battle mages to support their troops on the ground. It is widely feared by other countries because of this.

    Above the crown city, high above the harbor, the royalty lives in a beautiful castle.

    The interior of the castle is split into two areas, the royal wing for the royal family, and the general wing, where knights and other civil servants such as butlers and maids lived to serve the family in the royal wing.

    One such maid that could be seen serving was Catalina, the third daughter of the Seashack family.

    She was 27 years old this year.

    She originally came to be a maid at the royal palace at 15 years old but wasn¡¯t able to find another noble to marry and give an heir to.

    Initially, her appearance crossed into the realm of beauty, but she didn¡¯t have an edge¡­ or maybe she didn¡¯t have any luck with men, so she¡¯s still a working single now.

    Because the Seashack family isn¡¯t very wealthy, and beyond that, being the third daughter in a family with five brothers, after being unable to get contracted to marry a rich noble, her parents [Set her Free]. Hmm, if she tried to put it more concisely into a [Proper Story]: because money was short, she was sent out of the house at age 15 without any further schooling planned, and with only dumb knights and greedy nobles calling on her for their own fun, she was stuck in this situation. As for her own thoughts, forcing a shotgun wedding¡­ never entered her mind¡­

    Originally, Catalina was hired as the maidservant of the first princess, who was close to her in age, but the princess didn¡¯t take her with her when she was married off to the royalty of another country.

    The reason was simple: the first princess was sent purely as a political piece, raised as such from a young age.

    Although there were many maids left after the princess¡¯ departure, including Catalina, most of them had left by now, marrying appropriate knights or nobles in their teens, the only one with the bad luck to be left behind was her.

    As the maid of a former princess, with the other positions for the royal family the senior knights taken, she was left purposeless in the castle.

    Eventually, the job that was given to Catalina was as the caretaker of the newly summoned [Hero].

    However, when Kyoji was summoned at first, Catalina was still the first princess¡¯ maid, and he had other members of the staff to care for him. Also¡­

    ¡°That person¡­ is so difficult.¡±

    Due to the dark aura he let off when only she was around, Catalina didn¡¯t trust Kyoji¡¯s smile.

    Even though he¡¯s someone who was newly summoned from [Another World], with him saying that he was middle aged just five years ago, and the quick discharge of the woman before her, Catalina assumed that her days without normal work would continue forever. Then, a new party of heroes was summoned.

    It was largest summoning since the royal-led summoning of the Hero, Kyoji.

    Although there were only 3 or 4 people expected to be summoned, it seems like 9 or so [Hero Candidates] were summoned for some reason, with five of them being from a completely different world of their own.

    Those five¡­ the ones who came from a world other than Kyoji¡¯s [Terra], the world where people are usually summoned from, began by treating the King with irreverence, but due to their strength on par with the Hero, the King forgave them, and even gave the leader the title of [Saint].

    The beautiful princess from another world¡­ Yurushia.

    Even if she wasn¡¯t her royalty or a hero, Catalina would gladly serve Yurushia exclusively.

    ¡°What a surprise¡­¡±

    When she saw Princess Yurushia for the first time, Catalina felt a shock like lightning running through her.

    She was so beautiful for her age that she felt inner despair despite her own beautiful appearance.

    In reality, Yurushia, who had still been wary of the castle side at the time had been letting out a light amount of intimidation, but the presence of this ¡®Princess¡¯ was enough that she hadn¡¯t noticed the effect.

    Catalina had never called the first princess anything other than [Your Highness], she also would call Bianca, the second princess [Your Highness].

    In this country, all of the King¡¯s children are called [Your Highness]. Even when talking casually, she would never even consider calling them ¡®Princess.¡¯

    However, when she saw the appearance of Yurushia, the word ¡®Princess¡¯ immediately came to her thoughts.

    Between her greater curves and higher height than the average 12-year-old, and her appearance like a fairy, she had both the innocence of a girl and the glamor of a woman grown.

    Her golden eyes show a willpower beyond a child and her hair of golden threads frame her beautiful face like a cold doll¡­

    In addition, she wears fine black and silver dresses that glisten like nothing she¡¯s ever seen before, she was a ¡®Princess¡¯ who brought her beautiful servants into this world, what else would they call her other than that?

    Her appearance alone is enough to convince Catalina that she should be called [Saint].

    Due to the shock, she couldn¡¯t get close in the beginning, and she completely forgot that she was supposed to spy on Princess Yurushia as her maid.

    Along with the other maids who weren¡¯t able to get close, all she could do was hand over meals, tea, and other snacks to the servants of the ¡®Princess.¡¯

    The senior nobles who had the ears of the king were wary of the ¡®Princess¡¯ but the maids and knights unfamiliar with the surrounding events began to let their hearts fall for the girl.

    To be so merciful as to save the hero candidates who were summoned alongside her who were being expelled¡­ There are plenty who are attracted to her appearance alone, but her kindness and lack of typical noble thinking caused the general staff of the castle to become completely ¡®charmed¡¯ by the ¡®princess.¡¯

    After that, when a massive number of zombies were destroyed by the [Saintly Servants], the fame among the commoners and soldiers increased further. In addition to that, when men who had begun to have lonely strands on their heads began to support her, the nobility itself began to call her ¡®Princess.¡¯

    ¡­ Everything was starting to fall apart from the inside.

    Orders were made to isolate those who would say ¡®Princess-sama¡¯ and those who had avoided contact kept away so that opinions could be rewritten little by little.

    Actually, that seems like a hopeless response.

    ¡°Catalina-san, did you know about this back¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess-sama¡±

    At the Princess¡¯ putting look with puffed out cheeks, Catalina looks down and away like a child whose prank had been found out.

    ¡°¡­ Mou, you should have said something.¡±

    ¡°My most humble apologies.¡±

    So long as she obediently apologized, the Princess would never get angry.

    Thinking about it, Catalina had never seen the rage filled Bianca as ¡®Princess-like¡¯ in her head. Well, thinking about Yurushia, there was that girl knight who was sent off into the wall, but since they got up afterwards, it¡¯s probably fine.

    Cataline really wanted to become closer with the princess.

    For that reason, she brought all of her skills to bear to bring up Yurushia¡¯s hair to make her look better.

    Although it seemed like she wouldn¡¯t want to show her beautiful spotless back, hiding her beauty like that would be a ¡®sin.¡¯

    More than anything, Catalina wanted to brag to everyone about being a servant of the Princess.

    The princess gently gives her a relaxing smile, that brings out the terrifying, god-given beauty which can¡¯t even be thought of as human.

    And like that, the [Saint] begins her travels across the land to the north to face evil with the help of the Heroes and the church.

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m off,¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess-sama, we will await your swift return.¡±

    A week after that eventful meal, I decided to head to the northern countries occupied by darkness alongside Kyoji.

    The time of departure is the same as Kyoji, but we¡¯re in separate carriages.

    As his party, he is taking ten knights and four mages, two ranger, and four men and women as porters.

    Even with speed and stealth as a priority, it¡¯s more people than I expected.

    Well, I guess you can¡¯t just have Heroes, Warriors, Wizard, and Monks in reality.

    The maids of the castle watch us depart.

    Among them, Catalina-san¡¯s voice showed her worry for our safety.

    ¡­ If I¡¯m not mistaken, and this is a bit scary, but I¡¯ve been feeling a bit of ¡®Faith¡¯ recently. Little snacks are being given to me as ¡®Offerings.¡¯

    ¡°Catalina-san¡­ maybe it isn¡¯t too bad to call her [Princess] after all?¡±

    ¡°Well, Princess-sama is our ¡°Princess¡± after all¡±

    I¡¯m not sure what they¡¯re talking about, but the others are nodding along, is it best just to keep this out of mind from now on¡­?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time is the journey. They could run the whole way in half a day, though.

 CH 147

    Volume 8, Chapter 5: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 2

    Travelling together with Kyoji, the Hero of Water, they departed the great nation of Sail with twelve horsemen and 4 high-speed military carriages.

    Along with the 4000-strong army consisting 500 knights, 2500 soldiers, 300 mages and their logistics and support force, they paraded through the main streets of the Kingdom¡¯s capital as a show of force and left immediately after.

    Incidentally, the masses had all gathered to see the ¡®rumored¡¯ [Saint] but because of certain ¡®circumstances¡¯ they were unable to do so, and their shoulders sagged with disappointment.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What do you mean, because some of them might have weak hearts¡­¡­?¡±

    While murmuring about what someone else had said, Hero Kyoji was deep in thought as he rode his beloved pure-white horse that he¡¯d gotten from the royal family.

    This time around for Kyoji, there was little to gain in going to battle.

    Since he had already gained immense fame as a hero during the past ten years, he needed no further achievements, but if for ¡®some reason¡¯ he chose not to move, his fame would fall.

    Kyoji¡¯s main goals were, in a word, nefarious.

    He wanted to become the King of Sail.  The only person who supposedly knew about this besides the knights who had followed him for years was the Second Princess, Bianca.

    But to put it across strongly, those were pretexts to deceive those who were familiar with him.

    Kyoji had thrown the First Princess, who had similar ambitions to him, into disgrace, and bearing a grudge against her newborn prince, married him to another country.

    Thereafter, he worked hard for the Royal family, gained the trust of the king, and then gradually brainwashed the young Bianca to favor him.

    Now, before that young prince matured, all he needed was to ensure that the current king and the First Prince both ¡®died of illness¡¯.

    Though his plans were supposed to only kick in in a few years, Kyoji had decided to take advantage of this war.

    And it was all because Yurushia¡¯s fame as a Saint and that her powers were greater than Kyoji speculated or even imagined.

    The Lower-ranked knights and the soldiers had begun to favor her. He heard that the boys and girls from the other world, who were supposed to have been cut off and labelled useless, were quickly acquiring enough power to match the senior soldiers.

    Although they didn¡¯t reach the level of Kyoji yet, as some of the older statemen were beginning to lean towards the Saint, he felt the impending collapse of his domestic power.

    The plan needed to be brought forward.

    And the first stage was bringing Prince Fjord and Yurushia together.

    The prince, whose age was similar to hers, had heard the rumors of the beautiful Princess from another world and was interested in her after hearing from one of the spies that had been placed next to her by the Royal Family.

    Prince Fjord was already 10. It would not have been strange to have a fianc¨¦e already.

    But since he was a late-born boy of the royal family, the selection of his consort was being conducted very carefully, as since overtures had come in from the other imperial families, he would not be able to convince the other nations to stand aside unless it wasn¡¯t someone of similar stature.

    For example,¡­ someone who was a [Saint] of such fame that they rivalled a Hero?

    Yurushia was 12. As a fianc¨¦e, she was of the appropriate age, and she was even a duchess with succession rights to a throne, though it was the throne of another world. And if she raised her achievements in this war, the ¡®case¡¯ would be flawless.

    Just that in order to do so, he needed ¡®either¡¯ of them to want it.

    For Kyoji, understanding what that girl was thinking was very difficult. But that terrifying beauty that incited fear at a glance should have captivated the heart of the prince, who had already become accustomed to beautiful things.

    And as expected, it seems that Prince Fjord developed a crush on Yurushia.

    According to the reports from one of the maids who was spying for him, the Prince seemed to only talk about Yurushia. Of course, the maids had also been guiding his interest, but it was a matter of time before this longing turned into love.

    The second step of the plan was to lure the prince out onto the battlefield.

    As a prince who¡¯d turned 10, he was supposed to have taken over command of the army as one of the Royals, as a future king. But since he had been mollycoddled since birth, they stopped him from doing so now.

    If the war dragged out, the people he¡¯d left in the castle would incite the prince, and then the prime minister that Kyoji had installed would direct the prince to take to battle [For the Princess].

    However, he needed to manufacture the situation where it would become convenient to do so.

    He needed to prolong the battle into a stalemate.

    But for the prince to head into battle, the war needed to also be in a somewhat stable state.

    And he would need to draw the Saint Yurushia into the forefront of the war.

    On top of that, he would need to deceive both the prince and Yurushia simultaneously¡­¡­

    [Buruu¡­]

    ¡°Oops¡­¡­ were you worried for me?¡±

    As Kyoji¡¯s eyebrows knitted over this problem, his beloved horse sensed his mood and neighed softly.

    Kyoji smiled, and tapping the neck of his horse, sighed lightly.

    ¡°The worst thing is, I¡¯ll need to borrow the help of the hero of the south¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s his last resort.

    But since this was going to be one of the stepping stones on the way to his ¡®ultimate purpose¡¯, as long as that was achieved, Kyoji had no problems doing so¡­¡­¡­

    * * *

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that it doesn¡¯t shake¡­¡­¡±

    said Mizuki as she looked out of the window of the carriage.

    We were occupying the last two carriages of the line formation, travelling together with Kyoji. This carriage had the girls, and the boys were at the back.

    In this carriage I rode with Tina and Fannie, along with the two girls who we forcibly dragged along, Touka and Mizuki.

    On the men¡¯s side, there was Noa, Daichi and Futa. As well as some of the lesser nobles who were the overseers from the castle.

    There was someone surveilling us, but that¡¯s alright, because he¡¯s one of the prime minister¡¯s men, who¡¯s been drawn to our side by scalp ¡®rejuvenation¡¯. There is no problem at all.

    fufufu¡­¡­ It seems that he¡¯d been on Kyoji-kun¡¯s side for nearly ten years, but really, that person¡¯s ¡®karma¡¯ was terrible. Don¡¯t underestimate the power of a Demon.

    Anyway, the reason why the carriages weren¡¯t mixed gender is simple. Mizuki would start  getting ¡®sick¡¯ immediately, even on carriages that weren¡¯t particularly bumpy. I didn¡¯t say any of this, but it¡¯s inevitable since there were no cures in this world And so, with that reason, the men are placed together in a single carriage.

    ¡°What¡¯s with this carriage, does it have a ¡®suspension¡¯? I heard that otherworlder technology is being used for this.¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­¡­ it¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it.¡±

    No no no, Touka-chan, it¡¯s just an ordinary technology available on Earth, and you¡¯re already impressed. Well, I don¡¯t know much about the principle either¡­¡­

    It seems that ¡®antibiotics¡¯ or similar seems to have been developed recently, and so when the war against the [Forces of Darkness] is over, the population would explode and then the [Fear] would vanish from the earth, and then all of the magic would disappear, no?

    Because it seems like magic runs the world instead of science, civilization would collapse when magic power declines.

    I can¡¯t even laugh at the otherworlders¡¯ knowledge cheats when as a result, the other world is collapsing.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Or maybe we were called to this [World]?¡±

    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Was I overthinking it? Because there seems to be Demons in this world, I was called to this world by the will of the world, or rather¡­¡­ by their human resource shortage, so to speak.

    Here¡­¡­ it seems that the Demon World entrance for [Tess] was relatively close to the Demon World for [Atra]where we were from, given that rumors flowed from there to here, but Noa has yet to find the coordinates for Atra.

    I wonder if it¡¯ll be easier to just pull out one of the [Demon Lord] pillars of the Demon World¡­¡­?

    Well, not that I want to.

    Even that ¡°ordinary-class¡± guy, had he fought me in the material world with Rinne, would have caused inestimable millions of lives in damage.

    ¡­¡­ Maybe there was a shortage of Demon resources, because Rinne and I have crushed two of the pillar [Demon Lords]¡­¡­

    No, there¡¯s no way.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Hey, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Touka?¡±

    Touka that¡¯d been relatively quiet ever since we started out journey suddenly asked me a question with a serious expression.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to war now, right¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    I thought that she¡¯d been quiet since we¡¯d forcibly dragged her along. Because I pulled them along forcibly, having forgotten to tell them that they would be coming, and I¡¯d been pushy.

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡­ going to¡­¡­ have to kill people?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    At Touka¡¯s words, Mizuki next to me gasped.

    Well, that¡¯s certainly true¡­¡­ Ever since I became a [Demon], the only differences between human and animal lives was in their [Taste], but I can empathize.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t have to do it, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°B-but¡­¡±

    As I gave them that offhand answer, Touka and Mizuki had complex expressions on their faces.

    Since you¡¯ve been kidnapped to this world for a few months, you¡¯ve already begun to think about what it means to live in this world, haven¡¯t you?

    One has to fight to live. But; there were mountains of people who weren¡¯t fighting in this world.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to force yourself to do anything. But¡­¡­ even if you don¡¯t want to ¡®kill¡¯ on the battlefield, it¡¯s also possible to ¡®help¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been training you. Well, it was also because it was convenient for me.

    ¡°Save people. Allies¡­¡­ I don¡¯t care even if it¡¯s an enemy. If anyone has any complaints, ¡®I¡¯ will do something about it.¡±

    I smiled as gently as I could at the two to put them at ease.

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡­ we¡¯ll rely on Yuru-chan¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. That¡¯s part of my ¡®work¡¯ too.¡±

    As I told them so, the sadness that hung around Touka and Mizuki¡¯s faces lightened.

    Do your best!

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯ll become a problem if you all don¡¯t become proper [Heroes].

    It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want them to kill. ¡­¡­ or so I told myself, but along the way, I became unsure of that.

    Fannie suddenly turned away towards the window as I spoke.

    ¡­¡­ Fannie-chan, are you turning away to hide the fact you¡¯re laughing at me?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Note: the will of the world, isn¡¯t a god, but rather something like the [Singular Life] of the world. It doesn¡¯t have feelings like people do.

    Just like how people don¡¯t deal with a single fungus in their body individually, but only adjust their bodily conditions, so too does the world.

    Next time, the journey continues.  It¡¯ll get a bit relaxed.

 CH 148

    Volume 8, Chapter 6: Princess-sama¡¯s Magnificent Daily Life, Part 3

    The journey¡¯s going well ¡­¡­ but really, it¡¯s a pain.

    We were on a forested road that ran between countries. It was a road that was impassable for armies, but it would get our smaller group there earlier.

    If I had chosen to fly it would have taken a fraction of the time, but since I¡¯m part of the [Hero Party] right now, I can¡¯t just head off without a reason. Besides, even if it were possible, due to the knights of the castle that had gotten along with Daichi and gang, it would be improbable for them to believe that I would do it, even as a joke.

    Can¡¯t I go off on a leisurely journey by myself? I¡¯ve been stuck with regulations ever since I¡¯ve been in this world, so I¡¯d really like to take a pleasure trip around the world.

    ¡­¡­ But.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, you know, it¡¯s a clich¨¦ that bandits will appear in regions like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You¡¯re saying things like that again, Mizuki.¡±

    You don¡¯t have to set the flags so grandly in a place like this.

    In short, Mizuki, Touka, and the rest of the children were getting bored. I, too, have gotten tired of playing cards. I get dizzy when we play in the carriage.

    Why am I immune to poison, but still get carsick¡­¡­?

    [The bandits appeared~!]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Come on!

    Touka, who had been so worried about killing people all this time suddenly lit up. It seems that the children have had entirely too much free time.

    Behind Mizuki, who was wearing the same expression as Touka, the Demons were smiling with their fangs out.

    Run away, bandits! From the clutches of these Demons.

    ¡°¡­¡­there¡¯s no helping it, I guess¡±

    As the carriage stopped because of the bandits, I stood up spryly with a sigh. If I left them alone, it¡¯s going to be a pain later.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuru-chan is going out there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go out, but you guys should stay here, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes~¡±¡±

    That¡¯s good girls. But at first glance, Touka and the rest are about 5 years older than I am, you know? And why hadn¡¯t Fannie or Tina replied to me?

    As Tina opened the door and I tried to get off the carriage, Daichi and a young knight were hurriedly getting off with me. The young knight that was about the same age as Daichi looked nervous as he tried to help me off the carriage.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing¡±

    As I smiled at him, his face turned bright red and he looked down.

    Hmm¡­¡­ when he shows me such a pure expression, I start to feel a bit embarrassed. After all, most people in Sail didn¡¯t dare to look at me directly.

    It¡¯s not like I have a special ability like Tina¡¯s, so I don¡¯t get it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation, then¡­?¡±

    ¡°Understood, I will report it now.¡±

    I bit myself.

    As I hear it from him, there were about 30 bandits, but at least they were ¡®au naturel¡¯ bandits, and not disguised soldiers from another country.

    In other words, this wild produce was going to taste better than farmed produce.

    What¡¯s that?

    I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I was just rationally explaining why I¡¯m interested in the bandits.

    That being said, I headed quickly for the front.

    When I arrived¡­¡­ it was about 10 seconds or so on foot, but I was looking at peasant-like people who were glaring at the knights.

    They looked like farmers, but were all holding poorly-maintained military equipment that looked like they¡¯d picked it up somewhere. They were primarily armed with spears, but looking at them more carefully, while most of them were wielding iron spears, some of them just had knives or wooden sticks.

    ¡°Kyoji-sama, what¡¯s happened?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Princess Yurushia. ¡­¡­ It seems that these people used to be villagers from a small holding nearby but were plagued with famine. Though, they would be arrested if we were on Sail soil¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    I wonder, though, why these bandits are attacking armed knights. Was it because of some bad harvest or something, so they attacked? But even then, I thought that it would have been a better idea to attack merchants, so I wonder what their reason is.

    When I exposed myself to them, there was a wave of emotion that swept across them.

    ¡­¡­ they seem scared. The maids in the castle told me that it would take the people in the countryside some time to get used to my appearance, and to be honest, it makes me a little depressed.

    ¡°Oohh, you are of high status! Taking your aristocratic mistress to go sightseeing! We¡¯re lacking a little something for our next meal! So, give us the women and children along with the food!¡±

    Among the bandits, one particularly bear-like man with a huge spear stood out as he shouted at us.

    He looks like the head of the bandits. I see¡­¡­ so you¡¯re unhappy with the aristocrats?

    It feels like everyone there is unhappy with the aristocratic class, and the rest of the bandits were glaring at us as well. They might have been following the orders of the bear-person, but it seems that they attacked out of their own free will as well.

    ¡­¡­ However, they don¡¯t look very delicious.

    ¡°So, what will you do, Kyoji-sama?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­¡±

    Because he¡¯s a hero, he can¡¯t possibly raise his hand against these villagers.  While I was thinking that, Kyoji was looking at them like one would a pebble by the pavement.

    ¡°I should execute bandits that I find in any other country on the spot.¡±

    With a *bang*, Kyoji gouged a small hole in the ground as he sped forward.

    Maybe he wanted to look like he disappeared to my attendants and I. I wonder if Daichi and Futa were able to catch what he was doing at all? Well, since I¡¯d had them watch my attendants fight from the special front-row seat, if they hadn¡¯t grown at least that much, they¡¯d really be in trouble now.

    It didn¡¯t matter, but Kyoji had pulled out his sword as he turned his blade towards that bearded bear man.

    Half a second hadn¡¯t even passed yet, but if I continued to sit on the sidelines for another half a second, half of the bandits would be killed by Kyoji.

    ¡°[Let there be Light!]¡±

    The holy magic that I cast flew towards Kyoji and the bear-man. And in the meantime, I secretly signaled Fannie with my eyes.

    What I¡¯d cast on them was [Citadel of Light], the defensive magic, but unlike the normal [Citadel] it also included a [Barrier] that protected one from magic, making it impossible to move from their spot.

    In short, I cast a restraining magic, but the [Citadel of Light] that I¡¯d cast on Kyoji was unnaturally countered.

    But thanks to that instant¡¯s restraint, and the [Citadel of Light] on the bear, it seems like he¡¯s only had his arm slashed.

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you trying to do?¡±

    Asked Kyoji in a low voice, as he stood there between the bandits and I. Even if you¡¯re trying to hide it, your killing intent is leaking, you know?

    Personally, I don¡¯t really care about the bandits given the way they acted, peasant or not, but it¡¯s not to the point where I¡¯d immediately kill them¡­¡­ though that could just be me.

    Still, how did Kyoji resist my magic?

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s not that it¡¯s impossible to resist. I think that if there was a difference in our magic power, it would have been resisted, but I felt like it was because of some other factor.

    Hmm¡­¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand the [Heroes¡¯ Secret Arts] yet, but maybe it¡¯s one of Kyoji¡¯s abilities or [Skills].

    ¡°Well, well, isn¡¯t it better not to be so brutal? Anyway, could you leave this one to me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Instead of applying intimidation, I smiled at him while my magic power overflowed from me. Kyoji gave me the tiniest frown that nobody else could possibly tell, but I smiled at him, holding one hand to my chest while I bowed slightly towards him.

    ¡°I understand. If that is the will of the ¡°Saint¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    What a bad-mannered person.

    Putting the word [Saint] out there so the bandits and villagers would know.

    Now I¡¯ll have to approach them as the [Saint] and conduct negotiations. If it were a normal person who had been summoned normally to a different world and made a saint, they might care about appearances, becoming unable to do anything without their common sense getting in the way. And then, knowing that no solution could be reached, he was raising the hurdle.

    ¡°S-saint-sama? Do you think we¡¯ll go away with just that! This ain¡¯t for kids, so go back!¡±

    The bear ignored his injured arm, gripping his weapon with his remaining arm.

    He seems somewhat nervous about it, but hasn¡¯t quite stopped being hostile. I didn¡¯t use my intimidation at all, just my magic power, but it seems like it doesn¡¯t affect people like Kyoji, who can¡¯t sense magic power.

    Looking at the bear, I slowly walked towards him, smiling all the way like a proper [Saint].

    ¡°This brat, you won¡¯t understand if you don¡¯t get hurt¡­¡­ eh?¡±

    At the instant where the bear reached out, going easy on me, my escort knight Nea had overtaken him.

    ¡­¡­ that¡¯s good. It¡¯s Nea. I wonder what would have happened if this had been Tina, whose fingers were wiggling this whole time? Anyway.

    ¡°Come, bandits. Surrender if you want him back.¡±

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    Not only the bandits, but the knights that were with us were stunned into silence at this.

    ¡°¡­¡­ku¡±

    ¡°B-big bro!¡±

    ¡°You guys, ignore me! Never surrender!¡±

    While his arms were being twisted to the point of failure by Nea, the bear was glaring at me hatefully even as he called out to his companions.

    ¡°What are you doing! The Saint is torturing me!¡±

    Ah, I see¡­¡­ You¡¯re underestimating me.

    But¡­¡­ your opponent is no ¡°saint¡± or even ¡°noble lady¡±, but rather a most terrible [Demon]. Fufu.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill off all of your ¡°hair follicles¡± now.¡±

    [[[¡­¡­¡­¡­]]]

    As I made my proclamation, the faces of the men all cramped up slightly.

    ¡°W-wait¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­[Light!]¡­¡±

    As I incanted the holy magic, the light lightly touched the [Fur?] and all of the hair on his arms fell out, and his skin became smooth.

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    ¡°¡­[Light]¡­¡±

    As I applied more magic to the astonished bear, his rough chest hair all fell off.

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s make this entire body beautifully clean¡±

    ¡°Wai-wait-waitaminute¡±

    It was fun, and my smile was widening, while the newly baby-like bear and the rest of bandits surrendered immediately.

    ¡­¡­ Why does it feel like the distance between the knights and I is getting further?

    *

    The bandits¡¯ minds were all changed by my sincere persuasion.

    Apparently, as Kyoji said, they were men from a nearby village, who had turned to banditry because of poor harvests.

    The reason why the bear had attacked was as a form of retaliation against the lord for not reducing the tax despite the bad harvest.

    ¡°So, do you know why the harvest has suddenly become bad?¡±

    ¡°U-uhm, Saint-sama¡­¡­? It seems that the storm winds have caused the soil in the fields to shift¡­¡­ If it were only that, it would have only been once in a year, but, hmm¡­¡­ I brought up the soil and mixed it with a mixture of dead leaves I collected from the mountains, according to the [Agriculture from the Otherworld], but that too eroded with the storm¡­¡­¡±

    We were now on our way back to the village where the bandits were from.

    The journey at this point has collapsed somewhat, but even if it¡¯s not a soft bed, I personally don¡¯t want to sleep on a hard floor. It¡¯s true.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, could this be related to the circumstances of other countries?¡±

    So Kyoji reproached me¡­¡­ well, I say that, but he¡¯s been talking to me secretly.

    By the way, for the others, they were separated from us as much they (emotionally) distant from us.

    I cured his hair roots properly, and also healed the sick in the village, so why is nobody approaching us¡­¡­?

    ¡°Ah, is that no good?

    ¡°The country is not wealthy. Such villages are everywhere. Is Saint-sama intending to save them all¡­?¡±

    In short, he was asking me if I was going to be a sentimental ¡°hypocrite¡±.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­¡±

    I laughed softly.

    ¡°It¡¯s just an ¡°experiment¡±. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    As I said that, I felt that Kyoji¡¯s heart was getting further away from mine. But then.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°OOHHHHHHHHH¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The exclamations came from the village.

    When I planted things in the fields by sprinkling seeds, potatoes and plump tomatoes grew.

    ¡­¡­ The tomatoes and potatoes were slightly greenish, but they should be more nutritious.

    ¡°Ooh, Saint-sama, thank you for saving our village.¡±

    As the village chief lowered his head towards me, the near-100 villagers did the same.

    ¡°How on earth¡­¡­ no, that doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­ but the bandit act was because I instigated our youth. The blame should be mine alone¡­¡­¡±

    So said bear-beard, impressed by the field.

    Even when it goes to trial, banditry usually results in death. It seems that they didn¡¯t kill many people, whether it was robbing merchants or attacking travelers, but had they been reported to the lord, they would have been sentenced to death.

    ¡°We are people from another nation. So, we won¡¯t interfere further in the affairs of this country.¡±

    Because it¡¯s a pain.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry¡±

    The bear-beard lowered his head in shame again.

    ¡­¡­¡­ It became that I was intentionally not reporting the crime, but since this was an ¡°experiment¡±, it¡¯s embarrassing that you¡¯re so touched.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, I got it.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your hard work.¡±

    Fannie, who had been away, had gone to reap the souls of the lord of this land and the other delicious, syrupy souls.

    It can¡¯t be helped since the villagers¡¯ souls aren¡¯t that great. After all, good dietary habits are the most important.

    I wonder if it¡¯s alright, though¡­¡­

    Please, continue to survive, bandits. That new parasitic see-¡­¡­ the crops would grow by absorbing magic from the earth, but their favorite food was souls, if the crops grew too much, they would start attacking others.

    And so we left. A few weeks later, we arrived at the mountain nation of Cebrill, close to the battle front.

    By the way, this is completely unrelated, but a few villages in some country would be attacked by some flock of demons in a few years¡¯ time, but the story went that the ¡°crops¡± attacked the demons and kept the villages safe.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, bonding with the Hero of Fire.

 CH 149

    Volume 8, Chapter 7: I met a Hero, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yuru-chan, is this ¡°The Dragon¡¯s Tendon¡±?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    I replied Mizuki as we got off the carriage together.

    At the foot of the mountain range that sat on the border of the Forces of Darkness, there were a group of five small nations called the [Northern Dragons].

    Long story short, because the individual power of each country was too little, they formed an alliance of powers to repulse the forces of darkness, and to stand up to unreasonable demands from the larger powers like Gamble.

    After a few weeks of travel, we arrived at Lucell, a country that was close to the front.

    Nothing particular happened along the way. There were a few monster attacks, but the Knights defeated them handily, so I had no chance to make an appearance.

    Although the monsters that appeared were different from those of Atra, according to Futa they were all common monsters in the Fantasy genre, I think this one was a g-goblin or something? It had quite the adorable name.

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t it? The name felt like what you¡¯d call an idol, some [XX-rin], so it¡¯s probably quite cute.

    Though, the fact of the matter is that we¡¯ve arrived at Lucell, one of the five countries that made up the [Northern Dragon]. Telluza, the northernmost of them, had been destroyed by the forces of darkness.

    According to the [Northern Dragon] nations, they were all nicknamed after parts of dragons, and Lucell was called [The Dragon¡¯s Tendon].

    ¡­¡­ Why did they choose such a specific part?

    Give it a better name, darn you, like Dragon¡¯s Tail, or Dragon¡¯s Fang.

    What. Was this country being teased for being plain? I thought so at first, but it turns out that the other countries had equally bad names, like [Dragon¡¯s Adam¡¯s Apple] and [Dragon¡¯s Tongue] and [Dragon¡¯s Tailbone].

    Incidentally, Telluza was called [The Dragon¡¯s Subcutaneous Fat].

    I don¡¯t know why.

    ¡°Welcome, Hero-sama, Saint-sama. On behalf of the Lucell Principality, we warmly welcome you!¡±

    The slightly chubby king of Lucell welcomed us.

    Well, even Lucell was called a Principality, it really only had a population of about 100,000, which was half of that that of even just the capital of Sail, so in my view, the King was really only something like the ¡°chairman¡± of a city.

    ¡°Apologies for troubling you.¡±

    And so Kyoji and the knights ignored the King, leaving the butler-looking fellow, who started following behind them on their mission to greet the king of Lucell.

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    My god, I almost can¡¯t stand it anymore¡­¡­!

    ¡°¡­¡­King of Lucell, I am Yurushia. I hope we will get along.¡±

    ¡°¡­O¡­oOh, Lady Yurushia, I offer you all that I can give!¡±

    I smiled as gently as I could and greeted him properly, and the King of Lucell seemed so moved. The people of the castle were also dabbing away their tears with their handkerchiefs. ¡­¡­ It must be tough being a small country.

    King Lucell, whose mood seemed to have improved, told us about various things as he guided us in.

    It seemed that the names of the kingdoms came from the body parts of an evil dragon defeated long ago. Several heroes had defeated the dragon, and taking its parts, they founded the kingdoms.

    ¡°In other words, my ancestor was one of the heroes that defeated that dragon.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing.¡±

    Well¡­¡­ I guess I miscalculated.

    It looks like they split up the parts quite finely, but where did the fangs, horns, and nails etc. go?

    If the parts that they had received from fighting were these, then I think that those ancestors weren¡¯t actually very useful at all¡­¡­

    I want to give up thinking about this for now, so please excuse my monotonous replies.

    We¡¯d come to Lucell so that we could use it as a forward base to take back Telluza.

    It was difficult to assault with a large army, so it was rarely attacked, but was incredibly convenient for the dozens of us in the [Hero Party]to use.

    As the armies sent forth by each country were bigger, they were gathering in a country that was better suited for large forces, and only the other heroes, including Sail¡¯s, were gathering in this country.

    ¡°The Hero of Wind of Harko hasn¡¯t arrived yet, but Suzark¡¯s Hero of Flame has already come.¡±

    ¡°What about Kan-cha-¡­ what about Kanzo-sama?¡±

    ¡°The Hero of Earth stopped by already and has already headed off.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    You¡¯re not here, huh, Kan-chan¡­¡­ Although it would get sultry if Kan-chan was here, but in its own way I like Kan-chan¡¯s aesthetic desires.

    But this is this and that is that, and I don¡¯t intend to forgive Kan-chan either.

    The Demon will lie and betray you, and only the ¡°Contract¡± will be kept.

    Well, the problem lies with the ¡°Hero of Flame¡±, though.

    According to Kan-chan, she looked like a girl without a doubt, but Kan-chan didn¡¯t get along with her, and it seems like she¡¯d never spoken in nearly 10 years.

    You ¡°heroes¡± really don¡¯t get along, do you¡­¡­

    I had tea with the King and Queen of Lucell. I don¡¯t feel the need to go greet the Hero of Flame anyway, since we¡¯re going to meet each other at the dinner.

    The Queen¡­¡­ for some reason she really felt like an aunt from Kansai.

    She was so pleased with the leopard-print shawl, but I wonder where she¡¯ll get to wear it?¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know where this is going.

    My butler Noa seemed to like it as well, and it seems that his pockets full of sweets were receiving the brunt of the blows.

    Now, it¡¯s time for the dinner.

    It was a meal with only the Heroes and myself. Daichi and the knights were having their meals in the castle¡¯s cafeteria with the other knights.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I could not accompany you.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡­ you¡¯ve been very helpful.¡±

    Daichi looked like he still couldn¡¯t get used to the way nobles ate. The knights were nobles, but because they were so used to camping outside, they didn¡¯t bother with etiquette and were happy-go-lucky types.

    In other words, it would have been better if I had been like that too. I would rather Tina go and squeeze for me the souls of the murderers of this country than have beef.

    I don¡¯t know if this is some sort of twisted export, but there were a lot of homicides.

    Incidentally, King Lucell had his food separately. It also took a few days for all of the Heroes to gather, and it hurts my stomach to keep eating together with them day after day. ¡­¡­ Pitiful.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia has arrived.¡±

    As the castle chamberlain declared my arrival, the door swung inwards.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I smiled lightly at the tired-looking ladies-in-waiting, and entered. I was accompanied by Tina and Fannie. Noa was off gathering information at my request, and Nea was escorting Daichi.

    I was nervous having only the two of them with me. Not that it was for my safety or anything ¨C I just didn¡¯t want to leave the two of them alone in this place where delicious souls were everywhere, and I wonder if I could even stop myself.

    Well, I¡¯m a famously ¡°rational¡± Demon, so surely, I could stop myself.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Once I entered the room, there was a single person already seated, drinking something that looked like wine.

    It was a lady wearing an evil-looking red armor scrutinizing me, and I returned her look with a grin.

    ¡°Huhh¡­¡­ you¡¯re the Saint?¡±

    A woman who looked like she was in her late twenties¡­¡­ stared at me like an object¡­¡­ and smiled.

    Yeah, she¡¯s most likely female. And most likely human¡­¡­ I think.

    She had soft features and seemed like she weighed in at more than 100 kilograms. There¡¯s no special meaning ¨C I just meant that she was fat. And it seems like the unit price per gram would be low, that¡¯s all.

    Even though she had twin-tails, I could only think such things, but that¡¯s not a problem.

    Her brown hair also looked greasy compared to a normal Japanese person¡¯s.

    Even though she had rough skin and was heavily pimpled, you shouldn¡¯t give up, okay.

    If you¡¯re going to hide it, you can easily use foundation then blush, and it would be artistic¡­ like a clay work.

    Her eyes were hazy with lack of sleep, and actually, once you get used to it, it kind of feels like a stuffed toy.

    I¡¯m also used to the fact that there are people with various tastes in the nobility who like to draw various ¡°male comrades¡± doing their best while naked on paper.

    Her bright red lipstick with plenty of gloss on her thick lips might have been sexy if she was cut off above that and the resolution set to about 480p or less.

    I¡¯m not bothered by decorum, so I don¡¯t mind if the female knights spit on the carpet as long as they clean up after.

    She was scratching her butt when a thick fart leaked out, and even though she was gobbling down her wine, I wasn¡¯t going to frown at her. ¡­¡­ hohoho.

    ¡°Fannie, there¡¯s a pig oinking in here.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, how unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°What, you shitty kid!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    As I spoke out bluntly, the adults who snapped in an instant began to pull out their weapons.

    Hohoho¡­¡­ why are you all getting so upset.

    I was usually quite gentle, and didn¡¯t really care about most things, but it seems that we¡¯ve exceeded the limit of being forgiven for being the same sex. And given that I spoke so bluntly, it seems that she¡¯s getting angry too.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It seems that there¡¯s a limit to the gentle Yuru-chan too.

    Next time, the strength of the Hero of Flame.

 CH 150

    Volume 8, Chapter 8: I met a Hero, Part 2

    The Hero of Flame: Minkichi, 2X years old. But of course, she was eternally 15. And very clearly, that wasn¡¯t her real name.

    Minkichi, who was a junior high student at the time, was a sober and modest girl who was, at the time, unhappy.

    ¡°I am a Chosen One, after all. I would be getting strange looks if a child could do it and I couldn¡¯t.¡±

    Being summoned to another world, she¡¯d had a grand misunderstanding.

    If the girl¡¯s appearance had been plain and her character had been serious, then she would have been able to lead a happy life making friends with those of the same hobby. But thanks to the terrible ideas of the adults, she had been summoned at a mentally immature age, and feeling ashamed of herself, she¡¯d abandoned her real name and began to call herself [Minkichi].

    Minkichi, who hadn¡¯t managed to make a ¡°high school debut¡±, tried to make an [Otherwold Debut], and stopped fearing conversation with others for fear of being hurt, and began to talk to others more actively.

    This was the result of yet more misunderstandings by Minkichi.

    Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Minkichi had great aptitude as a [Hero]. Suzaku, a large nation founded by a hero, needed a hero, and with the appearance of Hero Minkichi, they treated her like their ¡°princess¡±, and praised all of her work. It was to the point where even if she had been villainous, they would have called it virtuous.

    The nobles and their children would have approached her even if she were silent. Every night, they would hold banquets, and the world¡¯s jewels and gourmets were dedicated to Minkichi.

    At that time, Minkichi was just a middle school student. It might have been impossible for the result to have changed, even if she hadn¡¯t misunderstood. ¡­¡­ But if she had just a little more self-respect and empathy, it might have been different.

    In this world, [Tess], which had been summoning people for more than a thousand years, the efforts of otherworlders had already brought cuisine and commercial goods close to that of the modern world.

    As a result of this horrific misunderstanding, the king of Suzaku, who was thinking of having Minkichi marry the prince to carry the blood of the hero into the royal family, immediately gave up and returned to square one once he saw her walk around the castle with bleached hair, extravagant makeup and in sensational underwear-like clothing.

    When the royals began to distance themselves from her, so too did the nobles, and once Minkichi¡¯s strange behaviors and aptitude became clear, the young people in the castle began to abandon her.

    Some of the knights were in charge of guarding Minkichi in the castle. They never mistreated Minkichi as a hero, but still, the knights were only human. Minkichi hated to bathe, since she would have to re-do her hair and nails and reapply all of her makeup. So, in an attempt to mask her body odor, she wore loads of perfume, but the knights, especially the younger ones, began to avoid her.

    ¡°I-I already have a sweetheart!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Mikichi suffered her first setback. After confessing to one of the handsome knights who had been relatively kind to her, Minkichi¡¯s dreams were beautifully crushed, and finally realized that she was being avoided.

    If she had taken a good look at herself and changed her mind, it might not have been so bad.

    Minkichi began to think that [it was not I that was in the wrong, but women who seduce men who are wrong], and began to hang out with the others who had similar thoughts.

    Like Minkichi, these women gathered information about the knights they loved, and would inform Minkichi about it, letting her threaten those maids who had knights as lovers with her authority as a hero.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to have your lover sent to the frontlines?¡±

    ¡°Pl-please, don¡¯t¡­¡­ Please, I¡¯ll do anything.¡±

    But that was not all. She would even threaten the young knights and officials who had taken maids as their lovers.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright to take the maids on this trip, but the security is bad, you know¡­¡­ I wonder who would be better?¡±

    ¡°Please¡­¡­ please, she only¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Then in that case, you¡­¡­ do you **understand**?¡±

    If the king of Suzaku had taken this into his hands at that point, there might not have been any lasting damage.

    But, since Minkichi was the [Hero] that Suzaku had longed for, and her power was greater than any hero before, the King of Suzaku was unable to reprimand her strongly, especially given her popular support from those who did not know better.

    Minkichi, who had become arrogant, stopped polishing her femininity, and greedily searched out cooks who could make gorgeous cakes and dishes for her, gradually deviating from the appearance of a ¡®woman¡¯.

    Although the officials of Suzaku began to fear this person who had abandoned being a ¡®woman¡¯, only one person advised Minkichi as a ¡°hero¡±.

    ¡°Why do you behave so poorly? If you continue so, everyone will eventually leave you.¡±

    ¡°Sh-shut up!¡±

    The Hero of Wind, Fortellis. His casual words gave Minkichi a greater shock than she had ever thought possible.

    In her heart of hearts, she knew that she was ¡®drifting¡¯ through this world, but she had locked herself in so tightly that she didn¡¯t notice.

    She had been summoned to this world unilaterally, dependent only on her own power. Being unable to ever return to earth, having been abducted to this world, shouldn¡¯t she be allowed to play the victim as much as she wished?

    Fortellis, unlike the other three ¡°Otherworlder Heroes¡±, was beloved by the people, regardless of nation, even though he was weaker than they were.

    If he was going to become even more popular¡­¡­ and if he strengthened as a Hero any further, then what would the point of her existence be?

    It was Minkichi¡¯s sole fear, having been cut off from her family and home, and being so reliant on her ¡®own¡¯ power.

    * * *

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°What, this shitty brat!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The other people who were with the Hero of Flame were all cut to their core by my words and drew their weapons.

    ¡°Oh my, oh my, what an annoying bunch of adults.¡±

    I smiled, covering my mouth with a half-open fan.

    ¡°I was just talking about pigs. Whoever said anything about you all?¡±

    ¡°What the hell!¡±

    A female knight who stank like an orc wearing perfume threatened me with the heavy axe she was carrying.

    ¡°Wait a minute, Chi-chan. ¡­¡­ What guts, little girl. You know what¡¯s going to happen if you go against us?¡±

    *Bounce*¡­ As her stomach jiggled, the hero of flame pointed her strange magic blade at me.

    Ohh¡­¡­ that female knight is called Chi-chan? Unless the other heroes, she seems to have good relationships.

    ¡°Oh my, a knife that looks perfect for cutting cheese. Are you not done eating?¡±

    ¡°Huh? This flamberge¡­¡­ for cheese¡­¡­ oi, Fia-tan, bring me some cheese!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡±

    ¡°Now of course I¡¯ll forgive you once you kneel in front of me stark naked in the courtyard of this castle!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    If I thought this was an average Earthling, I would find it unbearable too.

    Kan-chan told me she hated this person and said that she was prettier¡­¡­ but sorry¡­¡­ it seems I only heard about half of the truth. Certainly, Kan-chan was much more feminine and pretty.

    However, for some reason I can¡¯t find it in myself to forgive someone like that of the same sex. Kan-chan, who was pursuing femininity, probably had the same feeling.

    When I glanced sideways, Tina¡¯s cheeks were twitching slightly even though she maintained an emotionless expression. Well, it seems that Tina was bottling in her anger too since she liked pretty things.

    Well, if either Tina or I were to be their opponent¡­¡­ I can¡¯t be sure I can rely on my Demonic powers.

    ¡°Fannie¡­¡­ go play a little.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you, Fannie.¡±

    ¡°Nn? Okay~¡±

    I left it to the only one among us who didn¡¯t see her as a person at all from the start, Fannie.

    Tina, sensing that I was enduring it too, also gave away the role quickly.

    It might not be a good result, but it would probably end better than if Tina and I did it and this country vanished.

    ¡°Haah!? You¡¯re going to leave!¡±

    ¡°Fannie, remember to go easy on them.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°KILL them!¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Even though we¡¯re like this, we¡¯re all called heroes and saints.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    The brawl opened with that sumo-wrestler-like female knight. It looks like fat, but it¡¯s also like muscle¡­¡­ It might be different, or maybe it¡¯s just marbling.

    Maybe, a mithril gauntlet¡­¡­ she stretched out her log-like arms as she moved to strike Fannie¡¯s face.

    Fannie tilted her head to dodge, and as she did so, several of her beautiful silver hairs were shredded. With an unchanging smile, Fannie kicked out.

    *Buyoyoyon!*

    Fannie¡¯s ogre-pulverizing kick that looked incredibly light was stopped not by the female knight, but rather by the fat of the Hero of Flame, who shielded her.

    Her fat rippled up and down as it carried the shockwave, absorbing and distributing the force of Fannie¡¯s strike.

    ¡°Kyahaha, your strikes are ineffective against me!¡±

    So laughed the Hero of Flame as the thick foundation on her face cracked off in large drops with her laughter.

    Aah, I see¡­¡­ it¡¯s like the HXXX person from the end of the century. (Note: Hokuto no Ken reference) Speaking of which, their appearances are similar too.

    ¡­¡­ to be able to absorb various things, I¡¯m kind of impressed.

    ¡°Hiya, Explosion!¡±

    Suddenly, the female knight behind, whose skin had become thin and dry raised her voice strangely, and incanted the aria for the typical fire spell, [Explosion].

    Kabooooooommmmmmm!!!!

    Part of the castle was blown away by the fire and the blast, whilst Tina protected me from it, destroying the wall behind us as we jumped out of the castle.

    How unreasonable¡­¡­ Did you even think about the fact that your allies would get caught in the crossfire by your advanced fire magic?

    ¡°Tina, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Everyone seems lively.¡±

    ¡°Ahh.¡±

    On the other side of all the smoke and flame was the tiny silhouette of Fannie and the Hero of Flame, who had flown onto the roof of the castle and continued fighting.

    As the screams came from all over the castle, the soldiers were left stunned by the devastation, and some of the maids sank to the floor in fear and shock, unable to move.

    ¡°My Master, would you like a cup of tea?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡­¡±

    I sat spectating the fight at the white table that Tina plucked out of nowhere. Perhaps she¡¯s become able to use [Subspace Storage] from the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]?

    Anyway¡­¡­

    ¡°Surprisingly strong.¡±

    The Hero of Flame¡¯s party seems to have pretty high combat power. Although they were all fighting as they pleased, they had good coordination.

    The Hero of Flame saw through the fact that Fannie wasn¡¯t an ordinary person instantly and received the attack in lieu of their subordinates. They probably also knew that they were all flame-resistant, so they trusted each other to survive the fire.

    Just eyeballing it, it seems that the battle power of the [Hero Party] was roughly equal to that of an [Arch Demon].

    Purely on magic power, humans wouldn¡¯t be able to even compete with a Lesser Demon. So as to how humans could fight Demons was because Demons¡¯ battle power was directly proportional to their magic, so once they destroyed a country, for example, both their life force and battle powers would be significantly reduced.

    In short, it was difficult to get Demons to go all out, so even humans could fight them somewhat.

    On the other hand, humans fought with the combined power of their body, their minds, and their magic, and even if they fought and were hurt in their full strength, their companions could heal and return again.

    The ultimate card on the human side was the [Hero], whose overall individual fighting power surpassed that of a Greater Demon, and the [Hero Party], the companions whose combined powers acted as a force multiplier.

    My attendants were all stronger than normal Greater Demons, but the Hero Party of Flame was stronger than a normal Hero Party, and Fannie was being forced to limit her output.

    ¡­¡­ It might be a little disadvantageous for Fannie.

    ¡°Mistress, should I participate too?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡±

    Seeing that my attendants are like this, it¡¯s likely that they¡¯re all battle-frenzied. In the current situation, if I were to send one more of them out, then the twins, Noa and Nea, would also surely move.

    I don¡¯t want this to turn into a big incident. ¡­¡­ Also, I was lining up the various sassy lines I¡¯d prepared, but more importantly, I wasn¡¯t going to let Fannie lose to That thing.

    As I gently traced the lip of the teacup with my finger, I quietly muttered to myself while I watched the Red Tea boil over with my feelings.

    ¡°Fannie, first limiter release.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°!?¡±¡±¡±

    Without revealing her true nature as a Demon, nor using her miasma or abilities, Fannie¡¯s suddenly overflowed with magic power, tossing the Hero Party of Flames aside in an instant.

    Even while the Hero of Flames was wary of Fannie, I could see her glaring at me.

    ¡°Girl!! What are you doing! This is clearly not any decent human magic!¡±

    Thinking that my attendants could only have the magic power of maids at most, the Hero of Flame might have thought that I was giving her power by some ¡°unfair means¡±.

    ¡°Oh, but you can run away if you¡¯re scared, you know? I¡¯ll keep it a secret.¡±

    I drank my tea, smiling gracefully as I spoke. ¡­¡­ oof, it¡¯s hot.

    ¡°You can¡¯t be joking! Everyone, prepare to use the extreme magics!¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yah!¡±¡±¡±

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t like my attitude more than Fannie¡¯s return strike and wanted to go on the offensive right away.

    Even though she was rotten to the core¡­¡­ literally, ¡®rotting¡¯, it seems that she was going to use the ¡®large scale destruction magic¡¯ with her party, just like a hero.

    ¡­ But, what are you even thinking of, using a magic in a place like this?

    At this rate I¡¯m totally going to have to get involved. Was it because they thought that Fannie¡¯s power was greater than I thought¡­¡­?

    If I didn¡¯t do something about this, the castle might vanish. Fannie somehow¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, that¡¯s no good.¡±

    Oh no, Fannie¡¯s got a really good smile on.

    Whether she was being serious or not, Fannie was about to use spatial magic to summon magma directly from a volcano or from the mantle.

    If it hit, the castle would be destroyed. As I rose to my feet naturally to prevent this unnatural disaster from happening,

    [Dragon Squall.]

    The sky became overshadowed in an instant, and the silhouette of a storm dragon appeared, pouring down a torrential rain.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±

    The massive fire magic was interrupted with the deluge, and both Fannie and the Hero Party of Flame were soaked, blinking their eyes in puzzlement.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia and Miss Minkichi, just what are you doing to the castle of another country?¡±

    Even as Kyoji appeared, heaving heavily with the exertion of large-scale magic, he raised his eyebrows at us, scolding us both with ¡°reason¡±.

    ¡­¡­ I tried to stop it, okay.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    There¡¯s no steam explosion since it¡¯s magical flame. It¡¯s convenient.

    Everyone remember to be good children and not fight in other peoples¡¯ houses.

    Next time, the dinner continues.

 CH 151

    Volume 8, Chapter 8: I met a Hero, Part 3

    The battle between the [Saint] of Sail and the [Hero] of Suzaku was being treated as a minor quarrel.

    ¡­Not. The majority of people around us showed their true thoughts on their faces, but for now, the thought of letting the enemy know that something like a civil war happened between the countries of the light as they united to fight the dark powers was unthinkable, and for the sake of morale this story was kept to.

    It must be hard for adults¡­ I couldn¡¯t say because I¡¯m a 12-year-old kid. While I might have thoughts about human resources¡­ well it¡¯s someone else¡¯s job already.

    The fallout from the damage done to the castle was taken out of my hands, and it was decided that both the Hero of Flame and Sail would pay compensation.

    The reason nobody asked for me to take responsibility was that the King and Queen of this country, Lucell, defended me.

    From the perspective of the great nation¡¯s heroes, even if they¡¯re just the Mayor of a town somewhere, do you have to act like the UN? If a nation joins in on acting against the forces of darkness and is an obvious victim, their opinion is mostly acceded to.

    Do unto others as you would have done to you.

    Between the violently acting Heroes and the ¡°Weak¡± girls that had been chatting with the King and his wife like me, there really wasn¡¯t much to think about.

    It seems even sympathy can be used against people.

    Well, I am a Demon after all.

    ¡°I mean really, who could think that a gentle girl like Yuru-chan would fight such a savage brute.¡±

    ¡°Mah, Your Majesty, I¡¯m glad you believe me¡­¡±

    Although I was originally a bit angry, I don¡¯t mind anymore.

    After all, I was able to skip the ¡®welcome feast¡¯ that they had prepared, so instead I¡¯m eating alongside the King and Queen.

    ¡­What¡¯s this? Isn¡¯t this more luxurious than the original spread?

    ¡°This is all because the cooks worked themselves ragged for you, Princess.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Did the chefs get caught up in the fight before?

    At that time, they seemed so impressed and tearful at my defense, I feel like their feelings have been ¡®delivered¡¯ through this dish.

    When eating alone with those heroes, with national pride, benefits to be gained, and nastiness abound, the mood was heart pounding. It truly is best to have a variety of delicious things.

    Even for a Demon, a life is best spent eating delicious things.

    During the meal, I was told the backstory of Minkichi, the Hero of Flame.

    I it seems like everyone knows a little, so it might be the same as the information collected by Noa or Fannie, however, depending on their location at the time, the information coming in might be different. I have been intentionally limited in my knowledge of the [Heroes] in Sail, so although this was a small country¡­ actually because it was a small country, they gathered information to counter the threats of the great countries, so the information given by the King of Lucell was quite pleasing.

    It¡¯s like this:

    Her name is Minkichi, but it¡¯s obviously not a real name, it¡¯s not even like the relatively good name of ¡®Byoji-kun¡¯ name. It seems like what you might use as a pseudonym to sell yourself as a net idol. That¡¯s the feel of it.

    ¡­ It¡¯s so painful to hear that I felt chest pains.

    Although Kan-chan and her crew are jealous of women, they¡¯re surprisingly tolerant to girls who leave them alone, however Minkichi seems to have created a potentially large number of enemies, as all men and all women that men like are enemies to her.

    Since that¡¯s the case, with what she¡¯s done to herself, that¡¯s almost everyone.

    As a hero, you have considerable reputation, but even for a hero, is that allowed? It seems to be the case, as the royal family of Suzaku is bowing their heads my way and asking for forgiveness.

    Unlike the Sail Kingdom, the royal family of Suzaku seems to have a sense of shame¡­

    Why are the current heroes so bad?

    I¡¯ve not yet met the [Hero] who took over form Yuuki-kun, but from my understanding, they treat this world like a game according to what the good dungeon master told me, looting anything that catches their eye.

    However, looking into the histories, there were many good people who had been summoned as heroes.

    In short, after the dawn of the modern age, Heroes (Lol) like them came to be.

    Good or Evil have nothing to do with the strength of one¡¯s soul.

    Speaking proportionately, the soul of a human will be stronger in one who is fully faithful to their desires.

    The deep souls which demons love taking ¡®Work¡¯ for are, in a sense, people with strong souls.

    This may be a side effect of the humans from that world having lost their natural enemy. Without ¡®Darkness¡¯ on earth, souls like their can reincarnate over and over without being eaten by demons¡­

    Even the Heroes seem to accept this world immediately.

    Well, it might not be natural to consider a summoning a kidnapping but considering it for even a little¡­ it¡¯s troublesome.

    Even after getting a reason, I think the ¡®strength¡¯ is what the ¡®Heroes¡¯ actually care about.

    So, what is the strength of a hero? ¡­ I think while eating buttered crab.

    With the case of the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom], who happened to be my childhood friend from back home in Atra, the basic attributes are the accommodation of the power of light spirits, and combat ability is raised by using the power of greater and greater spirits.

    It¡¯s like how my ¡®Yurushia¡¯ body is optimized for demonic powers, I¡¯m able to move power freely by optimizing my body with spiritual power, even to fortify the body itself.

    That¡¯s why even if you have the power of 10 greater demons in one place, it¡¯s able to compare to an [Arch Demon]in pure combat power.

    However, I don¡¯t think that the Hero of the Holy Kingdom would be able to be on par with an Arch Demon.

    It¡¯s pitiful to compare them with Kyoji, who¡¯s been a hero for more than 10 years, but I can still feel the difference in ¡®strength¡¯ between Atra¡¯s hero and Tess¡¯s Hero.

    So, what¡¯s the difference? I continue to think while eating a cut of saut¨¦ed salmon.

    It¡¯s not fighting strength, but [Power]. There¡¯s also the existence of this world¡¯s unique mysterious Hero Arts, born from the long history of relying on Heroes.

    However, I think that that only has a meaning in that it makes battle more convenient.

    The magic of the level up raises the hero¡¯s power, and in the early stages you move from Cypress Pole to Iron Sword, but after leveling fully as a hero, would a difference of that degree matter?

    The Minkichi party members are so strong that they couldn¡¯t be compared to the other citizens.

    The magic used by Kyoji, [Dragon Squall] is also fairly high-level magic that could rain down on large enemies if used normally.

    Kan-chan also easily used powerful magic that a mage would dedicate decades to train, and also used game-like sword techniques.

    I think that this world¡¯s unique power¡­ is [Skills].

    Skills. It¡¯s a useful thing to be able to use any skill quickly just by learning it.

    A unique thing on this world held by neither Earth nor Atra.

    I won¡¯t deny the use of [Skills].

    With some training, you would get the appropriate ¡®skill,¡¯ which is the case in any world. But oh, this carrot is a sweet one.

    In this world alone, if you develop a skill, there¡¯s almost no chance of failure.

    For example, it¡¯s should be impossible for the body to move freely just by acquiring skill in [Kenjutsu].

    Even if you don¡¯t use a measuring spoon for cooking, how about knowing the right amount to add only by hand?

    Even if general skills are understandable, there are special skills such as Appraise, where even if you have no knowledge, they can understand the name and status of anything they see.

    B-besides, aren¡¯t I complaining too much about a lack of benefits as a Demon?

    Yuuki-kun told me that these skills, along with the Hero¡¯s Secret Arts were said to have been created in the past by ancient sorcerers by sacrificing their lives.

    I can understand that. It¡¯s superficially similar to defensive support magic.

    I can be convinced that the special support of the Hero¡¯s Secret Arts is that, but I can¡¯t understand how the heroes can learn ordinary magic and weapon skills, and that ordinary people can gain them without any problems.

    I can¡¯t be convinced that there¡¯s a system in this world where anyone can learn these skills.

    To do that, there would need to be a system to manage the skills of the whole population.

    No world is normally like that.

    If that¡¯s the case, after creating the Hero¡¯s Secret Art, it would be strange that nothing like a supercomputer was made to manage it or something like a magical management system was created.

    Of course, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a god.

    ¡­ Seriously, it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯ll be fighting something like [New God Tokyo].

    ¡°¡­Ah¡±

    ¡°Oh, what did you think of, Yuru-chan?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­¡±

    Ah, a murderer¡¯s soul was in this one.

    I feel much better now¡­

    Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Northern potatoes really are delicious.

    For the time being¡­ In conclusion, it might be easier to deal with the skills than deal with the heroes.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This time, lots of explanations.

    Next time, we enter the front lines.

 CH 152

    Volume 8, Chapter 10: I Got Lost, Part 1

    A gathering of heroes from all over the world, and my group, will be leaving this country for the battlefield tomorrow.

    Due to the bad relations between the heroes, we won¡¯t be leaving at the original time.

    It can¡¯t be helped.

    I wasn¡¯t originally planning to be a ¡°Mediator,¡± but we¡¯re surrounded by people who enshrine the Hero groups at least a little and we aren¡¯t leaving right away due to the ¡°Hero of Wind¡± being late.

    It¡¯s going to be a privilege to be keeping these heroes together.

    If all goes well, we¡¯ll depart next morning.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped, since the Wind Hero still hasn¡¯t come. I¡¯m really not liking the feeling of Yuuki-kun¡¯s replacement as a Hero.

    Well, he was only summoned a year ago while he was still a junior high school student, so even with the knowledge that you¡¯re responsible for protecting the world, he might not have internalized it yet.

    And, as it often does, information came from a strange place.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama! I¡¯ve received a message from Richard!¡±

    It seems that a message has been given to Noa from the Elder Lich Richard, the Dungeon Master in the Northern Dwarven State, but I¡¯m not sure of the contents.

    [The Hero of Wind has been caught in a Honey Trap.]

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡­What does he mean by that?

    Honestly, I can¡¯t tell the meaning. Slowly looking back to Noa to voice my thought, Noa, still wearing the fine butler¡¯s garb provided by my Ducal House, smiled in a meaningful manner before gesturing grandly.

    ¡°It seems that he fell in love at first sight with the Elven Granddaughter of one of the Dungeon Masters Association¡¯s members.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Was that a coincidence?

    Why are you making an ¡°All according to plan¡± face?

    Dungeon masters can be human beings as well as demons, so it¡¯s possible. Besides, the boys on earth seem to have a strange obsession with elves.

    ¡°The members of the Dungeon Masters Association, including Richard, are now planning to attack the Hero of Wind on his aircraft, so it¡¯s fine to leave it as it. They all seem to have spent a lot of money on this.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see. First of all, send about 100 gold coins to that grandmother or granddaughter, call it a business expense.¡±

    ¡°It will be done.¡±

    It¡¯s definitely not a bribe, just don¡¯t look too hard.

    I¡¯m not completely sure if it will work, but I¡¯m not particularly interested in the Hero of Wind, so it won¡¯t matter if I leave them as is.

    Speaking of which, wasn¡¯t there a registered Dungeon Master who was robbed by the Hero of Wind a little ago? I¡¯ll just let them settle their grudge themselves.

    I had taken over the Association on a whim, but it¡¯s good to know that it¡¯s working out well.

    ¡°Also, are you doing a signing?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to get ¡®tickets¡¯ for free.¡±

    ¡­I don¡¯t have anything else to do, so let¡¯s train a little.

    In the dawn hours of the next morning, we were at last preparing to leave.

    From here on out, we would be serving the important role of opportunistic fighters who would enter the battlefield as an assault unit.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Kyoji-sama¡­¡±

    Since the Hero of Wind didn¡¯t explain why he didn¡¯t come, I was going to separate from Kyoji and was supposed to be in charge of my own area, he doesn¡¯t have a reason to speak to me right now¡­ did he want to say goodbye?

    Hmm~? He¡¯s together with a woman I don¡¯t recognize.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re still here. Before I leave, there is someone I would like to introduce to you, Yurushia-hime.¡±

    ¡°Hai. Nice to meet you, Yurushia-sama. I am the coordinating officer in charge of managing the Heroes, Sefira, General Staff of the Allied Forces Operations Headquarters.¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡±

    I see, so she¡¯s their minder?

    If you think about countries on earth, she seems to be from an organization like the United Nations.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you, Sefira-sama, I¡¯m Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Maah~ Yurushia-sama, I¡¯m from but a humble merchant noble house in a small country. There¡¯s no need to address me so formally.¡±

    She said as she bows lightly, an embarrassed smile on her face.

    She seemed to be in her early 20¡¯s, holding herself in a straight posture, and when I return a smile, she seemed to sway slightly.

    I would say that based on her face, 6 or 7 out of 10 people would say she¡¯s beautiful. Well, at least she still looked human, I¡¯m more like a doll, anyways, she definitely had an appearance that men would not object to.

    Fufufu¡­ I can feel her fear of my appearance.

    Still, I can¡¯t help but wonder what such a beauty would be doing as the coordinator of all the Heroes¡­?

    When I began to worry about her stare and smile at me, she waved her hand like how I saw from older sisters and turned away to look behind us.

    ¡°Ah, yes, please come on out as well, Minkichi-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Sure.¡±

    At Sefira¡¯s call, the Pi- the Hero of Fire came out from the shadows of the surrounding forest.

    To be honest, I had seen her there from the beginning due to the mass sticking out from the side of the tree trunk, but I could read the atmosphere and put on a surprised face.

    As Minkichi reluctantly came out, she spat on the ground while giving me and Fanny a glare. Before my disgust could even register, although it¡¯s overflowing from Tina behind me, Sefira gives out a light sigh.

    ¡°Mou~, please be civil, Minkichi-sama. I know that the two of you had a fight, but you are the older one, so acting this way is no good.¡±

    And now, Sefira is acting like we¡¯re cute little sisters. Hold on Sefira-san, why are you taking that attitude with this person¡­

    ¡°¡­ Aww, I just can¡¯t help it if Sefira¡¯s the one saying that.¡±

    ¡­Huh?¡±

    I thought that, given her character, Minkichi would be angry. I definitely didn¡¯t expect a gleaming smile returned to Sefira.

    A woman liked by everyone; I could have sworn that she would be a target of hatred by Minkichi.

    ¡°Are you good as well, Yurushia-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah.¡±

    Should I give up my goal as mediator? Or should I praise her skills?

    I had just obediently nodded, and even the suspicious Kyoji just gave a wry laugh, embarrassment showing on his face, the atmosphere is so nice.

    ¡­What is this power?

    ¡°If it would please you, Yurushia-sama, would you listen to my request?¡±

    ¡°¡­What is it?¡±

    Whether it¡¯s strength or something else, answering Sefira¡¯s requests seems natural.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ your servants, could they attack the enemy forces as planned, while Yurushia-sama, as the [Saint], can heal the refugees¡­¡±

    ¡­Huh?

    In other words, I¡¯d be working alone separated from my servants¡­ and?

    Right as I¡¯m about to say [I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll have to refuse], Sephira looks me straight in the eye.

    Her eyes were still just as pretty as before, but her behavior and the atmosphere around us changed into something like [Don¡¯t refuse Sefira¡¯s request].

    ¡°¡­I understand.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much! Yurushia-sama truly is a saint. I think that all of the refugees will be really happy now too.¡±

    Sefira responds with a big, innocent smile.

    ¡­This doesn¡¯t feel right.

    I don¡¯t feel particularly strange, but I feel like this should have gone differently.

    Well, the reason my little ones are accepting is because it¡¯s their best use, and since I have no issues of strength when alone. However, in this place I feel like I¡¯m following a script. Does that make any sense¡­?

    ¡°Ah, also, Yurushia-sama will be escorted by our soldiers, so please don¡¯t feel inconvenienced.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Wow, this area is really like going with the flow. It just feels natural to do the ¡°right thing,¡± probably because I¡¯m so narrow minded.

    It can¡¯t be helped, so I ask my followers to move my packages to another carriage.

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia-sama¡±

    ¡°Fanny, what¡¯s happened.¡±

    Sefira is still among us, and the atmosphere hasn¡¯t changed at all since her appearance, with Fanny¡¯s unchanging smile in the background adding a sense of ¡°Uncomfortableness¡± to the situation that I haven¡¯t felt in a long time.

    ¡°Why are you dressed in women¡¯s clothing, Sefira?¡±

    Seriously. That is not the thing to say in this situation.

    £ª£ª£ª

    Teruza, one of the small dragon kingdoms occupied by the forces of darkness.

    In the capital, all ¡°Able bodied¡± people, including the king and captain of the guard were executed without exception, and although the general population was allowed to leave their houses, most of those were mercilessly killed.

    Even in the city outskirts, women and children had fled the area. The farmers beyond the outskirts were, however left without violence.

    It may be the case that the Forces of Darkness ¡°Group¡± had attacked this land, but the only occupants were the Dark Elves and the Beastmen armies.

    When the country of their hated human enemies was first defeated, there were officers who would attempt to attack women or slaughter indiscriminately, all of which were ¡®corrected¡¯ by the hands of the Dark Elf Princesses.

    The Dark Forces which took this land were led by the Dark Elf Twins, as well as the youngest prince of the Beast Nation.

    In the King¡¯s Castle, no humans were present. A small beast-like child was sitting on the throne.

    Was this child the prince of the Beast Nation?

    This army had assembled by Nefertiti, first princess of the Dark Elves, with the expectation that they would lose, and despite the little ones being victorious, not even a single beast-eared maiden surrounded him to take care of him.

    Hair as black as night all throughout, he looked like a little toddler with cute cat ears, sitting with their eyes closed, although not curling up on the throne.

    In this place with no others, two small, similar looking figures appear without a sound.

    Glossy black skin and long ears. Gold and silver hair colors.

    When the twin princesses, holding a bear and rabbit plushie each came to stand before the throne, they held something which looked like a glowing fruit, and quietly bowed her head.

    ¡°¡°Today¡¯s offering for you. Our [God]¡­¡±¡±

    As they softly spoke¡­ behind a slowly opening eyelid, dark eyes with platinum cat-like slits glowed ominously.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Another strange person has arrived.

    Next time, Yuru-chan will do magic.

 CH 153

    Volume 8, Chapter 11: I Got Lost, Part 2

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, please allow me to be your guide as continue on towards the refugees.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Thank you very much, Sefira.¡±

    It seems Sefira will be my guide, while we travel to the refugee camp area.

    She¡­ well, maybe not strictly ¡®She,¡¯ but I¡¯ll use that for convenience, she¡¯s been giving suggestions to the staff, rather than ¡®Orders,¡¯ the various male soldiers are swooning, giving off a feeling of ¡®It can¡¯t be helped¡¯¡­ How impressive. In more ways than one.

    Sefira. What exactly do you have packed into your extra-size chest?

    Is it hopes and dreams? Is it love? Meat? Are they cut up melons?

    ¡°Remodeling¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    Fanny, while unloading my packages, dropped a bomb with a straight face.

    The words said are surprising, but, Fanny-chan, what¡¯s with your appraising eye all of a sudden¡­ Is it a demonic ability? As a [Nightmare] can you just do that? For that matter, I wasn¡¯t even talking to you just now, right?

    I feel like my children have gradually deviated from the category of [Arch Demon]. I hope they will grow up into Devils if they can. Who do they even resemble with their actions, I wonder¡­?

    Hmm, I¡¯m still not sure what kind of ¡°remodeling¡± was needed to pack those full of dreams, Sefira looks completely natural even to my eyes.

    Anyways, back on topic, my thought on my growth as a woman?

    While I am interested in such things since I¡¯m a young woman of age, I don¡¯t think about chest armor like middle school boys do at all hours.

    For that matter, my mother¡¯s set of armor was only enough for small arms fire.

    However, my Aunt on my Father¡¯s side had chest defenses that would stand up to tank rounds.

    I seem to be getting my looks from the other side, but I hope that in the future, even if I have less defense in that area, I will at least have the security and stability of a car air bag.

    ¡­I¡¯m not sure why, but I¡¯m suddenly craving soy milk. It¡¯s said that the ingredients in it are effective when taken during growth.

    ¡°Hmm, Yurushia-sama, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I was just musing on the relationship between vehicle safety and soybeans.¡±

    ¡°Wow, what a difficult thing you¡¯re thinking about. I can guarantee to you that our carriages are safe.¡±

    Sefira gives her response with a smile as bright as a sunflower.

    In every way, she seems like a woman.

    Unlike Kan-chan, who perfectly portrays the stereotypes of a woman, Sefira seems to be more natural¡­ While a part of me thinks how she acts is off, the other just agrees that it¡¯s how an ordinary girl would act.

    Well, I¡¯m sure I could think of something, but I just realized that I don¡¯t actually care

    ¡°Well then, Yurushia-sama, we¡¯ve set everything up. Everything is all according to your wishes.¡±

    The four servants lined up with Noa to deliver the news. Noa had that smile again, but, surely, he won¡¯t be deciding to do strange things again¡­?

    Actually, in this situation am I the lady who swoons about everyone going off to war?

    I¡¯m sure I have nothing to worry about.

    ¡°Yuru-chan, will you be fine on your own¡­?¡±

    ¡°Rather than me, I¡¯m concerned about Touka and Mizuki going to the battlefield from here on out.¡±

    I give smiles to the other group which came to see me off.

    Standing before me were Touka and Mizuki¡­ Oh, and Daichi and Futa were off to the sides due to their fear of more training.

    While I¡¯m not worried about them in terms of strength, I¡¯m worried that those two girls will be surrounded by bad boys from now on.

    Noa and Fanny are the same as ever, staying right next to me even though I don¡¯t need bodyguards.

    What¡¯s this? For some reason, Tina looks frustrated.

    This kid, is she worried about her job since she¡¯s not great at being a maid? I give Tina a smile to cheer her up.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Tina¡¯s cheeks start to redden as she closes her eyes, leaning towards me while pushing out her lips.

    So, since she¡¯s asking, I stuff five slimy octopus legs from storage into her mouth.

    I really don¡¯t understand the appeal. Though I¡¯ve kept them for a while, I just don¡¯t like it.

    ¡°Now then, shall we be off, Sefira?¡±

    ¡°S-sure.¡±

    She stutters, after seeing me smile like nothing happened while Tina looked like a squirrel as her cheeks puff out as she scrapes off the octopus slime.

    It looks like Sefira¡¯s composure has been broken for the first time.

    £ª

    ¡°So, how long until we reach the refugees?¡±

    ¡°Oh, my great apologies, I forgot that I hadn¡¯t told you.¡±

    At the moment, I¡¯m traveling alone in a carriage with Sefira.

    With us are thirty soldiers of the International Allied Forces who are all subordinates of Sefira. Of course, while there are a small number of women among them, since they were high energy, it was decided that only the two of us would ride in the carriage for the sake of comfort.

    ¡­ I wonder what I should do to pass the time.

    I wonder, does everyone else know about her¡­? I wonder if it¡¯s just considered more acceptable here.

    ¡°¡­And so, some of them decided to stay soldiers to protect them.¡±

    Ah, I missed her answer.

    In a nutshell, the refugees have been split into camps of about 1,000 people each, with about 1-2% of each being made up of the injured or ill.

    Actually, is this like make a wish as an Idol?

    ¡­ I haven¡¯t practiced recently; will I need to sing well? I haven¡¯t ever sung.

    ¡°¡­So, I¡¯ve been thinking recently. While the knowledge from other words may be convenient, are the people actually happy?¡±

    Oh, the topic has changed again.

    With my special ability as a demon, even while I¡¯m thinking, I can kindly smile and nod whenever the story pauses, changing the subject seamlessly.

    Hmm? Maybe it¡¯s not demonic.

    ¡°How could it be otherwise, this world has the benefit of [Skills]! People both rich and poor all benefit from skills equally. With skills, there is almost no chance of failure. It truly is a world of equality.¡±

    It seems that Sefira is excited by the idea, however it just doesn¡¯t translate.

    I can understand what she¡¯s trying to say, but skills aren¡¯t equal.

    Since general skills can be gained with effort, I would agree, but with the idea of skill levels, isn¡¯t there inequality in that the products are all the same for each level?

    In a world where natural talent and sense are ignored, culture will decline.

    If culture declines, the worth of their souls goes down.

    If their soul¡¯s value goes down, the quality of the diets for demons goes down as well.

    ¡­ Earth was also on the edge of a cliff, spiritually, and it seems that this world isn¡¯t very good either. For food.

    [Bandits!]

    ¡°Yurushia-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard it.¡±

    Suddenly¡­ it seems bandits have come out.

    There really are a lot near the battlefield. Perhaps they¡¯re the same farmers who haven¡¯t been able to eat as they normally would?

    While I think about that, Sefira opens the door of the carriage after a knock.

    ¡°Sefira-sama, they seem to be well armed. We can handle them¡­ probably.¡±

    ¡°Is it deserters? ¡­ How difficult.¡±

    Ah, is that what it is?

    If they deserted the battlefield on a platoon or squadron scale and the command structure remains, it would be like fighting against an army, although that depends on their numbers.

    More so, looking at the middle-aged man who came to report, he doesn¡¯t seem used to hard work or rough times.

    ¡°Should I deal with them?¡±

    At my words, the man looks between me and Sefira in surprise.

    ¡°S-such a thing¡­¡±

    ¡°There is no need, as a Saint, Yurushia-sama does not need to put herself into such a dangerous situation.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    Wait, no, there is a system that blesses [Heroes] with battle skills, so isn¡¯t it embarrassing to say things like that?

    I could just defeat all the [Bandits] with one shot, but if you don¡¯t want that, you¡¯ll still be safer than the bandits if you accept my protection.

    ¡°Actually, I¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be done. How could we have such a beautiful princess as Yurushia-sama do such a thing. Please, leave this to us. We will protect this carriage with our lives.¡±

    ¡°Eh, umm.¡±

    Without listening to my complaints, Sefira gets off the carriage, completely ignoring me.

    The door is swiftly closed, the sound of a lock clicking into place immediately after.

    Hey, hey, I can¡¯t get out of there. Normally wouldn¡¯t the door lock from the inside?

    ¡°¡­Kyaa.¡±

    All of a sudden, the carriage starts moving at high speed.

    That scream seemed to come from a manly voice. Rather, what happened? Are they really rushing through with only this carriage?

    As the wagon kept on moving forward, swaying from side to side, I opened up the small window on the front to the driver¡¯s seat, and saw one of the soldiers moving the reigns of the carriage with a fearful face.

    ¡°Hey¡­Hey, driver.¡±

    [¡­]

    It¡¯s useless, he can¡¯t seem to hear me. There also only seems to be one soldier.

    ¡°¡­Haaa~¡±

    After I close the small window again, I sit down on the couch with a sigh.

    Didn¡¯t they say they would guarantee my safety? I wonder if I should just destroy the carriage and go outside.

    I¡¯m craving tea, but there is no convenient Tina or Fanny to bring out a full set out of nowhere at any location.

    Beyond that, the carriage is shaking too much, and when I opened my mouth, I ended up biting my tongue.

    The suspension clearly isn¡¯t working. Where the heck are we going?

    After 10 or 15 minutes, I open up the small window again to see what¡¯s happening.

    ¡°[Gyaaaa~]¡±

    I heard the soldier and horse scream out, and the carriage swayed and jolted to a stop.

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s over.¡±

    As I got up, instinctually holding my backside, I heard a bestial roar from outside.

    Ah, no good.

    ¡°Soldier-san, are you okay¡­¡±

    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaaa~aa~¡±

    Rather than the sound of the soldier getting up¡­ it seems like that was his scream as he immediately ran away.

    ¡°¡­Seriously?¡±

    What kind of soldier leaves their escort and runs away¡­?

    Rather, I wonder if that soldier will be able to survive alone, since we¡¯re surrounded by beasts?

    It really would have been better to stay with me¡­ maybe it¡¯s because of the propaganda from Sail calling me a [Saint], but I seem to be treated like a decorative doll.

    ¡­ It¡¯s a little frustrating.

    After a moment, the roars of the surrounding beasts calm down.

    I quietly put my hand on the carriage door handle, the brass handle breaking with a flash.

    As soon as I take a step out¡­

    [Gyawoo!?]

    A group of dozens of wolf-like monsters that surround the carriage begin to scream in seeming fear, as the birds from the surrounding forest scatter in all directions at the sound.

    ¡°¡­Ah.¡±

    I went and did it again. I didn¡¯t mean to overwhelm all the animals in the forest¡­. Wait, forest? Where am I!?

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    What a suspicious development.

    Where will Yuru get lost next time? Who will she meet?

 CH 154

    Volume 8, Chapter 12: I Got Lost, Part 3

    ¡°¡­ Okay, let¡¯s calm down.¡±

    I was so surprised I had forgotten to breathe.

    ¡­ Well, not that I actually need to breathe. I usually do because of my experience as a human, but it can be difficult to keep reminding my servants to stay in the habit of breathing like ¡®humans¡¯.

    I take a deep breath, even though it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Now, what should I do¡­¡±

    Looking around again, it seemed like a normal forest.

    However, because this is a different world from Earth and Atra, there are some differences in the vegetation.

    ¡­ I wonder what sort of evolution would lead to leaves shaped like hearts.

    Luckily, it isn¡¯t dark out since the sun is still high in the air, but with so many tall trees, you can¡¯t tell which side the sun is shining unless it falls further.

    By the way, even with the sun shining bright, the forest right now has a presence such that any creature smarter than a bug would run away, with even wind spirits avoiding this ¡°Forest of Death.¡±

    A small squirrel-like creature that had latched onto the carriage had fallen over spasming, foam coming out of its mouth and its eyes rolled back in its head.

    Who could do such a terrible thing!

    ¡°¡­ I suppose I should go.¡±

    Even if I just sat here, there¡¯s no guarantee that Sefira would come to pick me up.

    She had been pulled away from her followers and officers who left with the sail country group, leaving with only a humble escort all while promising safety.

    I almost suspect that it was on purpose.

    In order to walk through the woods, I reduced the size of the heels in my shoes and my skirt transformed from a shin-length to a knee-length. I unlatched the horses from the carriage and threw out more killing intent towards the woods so that they would not be attacked until they woke.

    ¡­ Please don¡¯t run away, rescue teams.

    Now, I wouldn¡¯t be going into the forest without a plan.

    I don¡¯t know where the carriage got off the road, but at least this is a place where a horse-drawn carriage can go, and it seems that there are tracks from the wheels as well. If I follow them, it should lead me somewhere. Fufufu, it¡¯s all coming together.

    Oh, also, my style for today is my typical black and silver dress.

    As for the platinum backless dress¡­ Since it¡¯s a noble dress I might wear it to a night party, but I have no guts to wear that kind of thing in the middle of the day.

    Like how my black-silver dress can be transformed into a choker or shawl, the platinum dress seems to be enchanted as well.

    ¡­ What is it at the moment, you ask?

    Right now, the dress is taking the form of a set of ebony earrings.

    They¡¯re pretty cute and are my current favorites. As I lightly pulled at them with my fingertips, they turned into a lace veil covering me from head to shoulders.

    This should eliminate the risk of my hair catching on a branch as I move.

    Finished preparing, I followed the tracks of the wheels. After a few minutes of walking and enjoying the forest greenery, I quickly got bored and really wanted to fly, but I can¡¯t risk someone seeing me flying with my wings out.

    It would be troublesome to have my demonic traits discovered, since everyone things I¡¯m like an angel. I¡¯d die of shame.

    Since I had no other choice, I jogged through the forest at the slow speed of about 100 km/h and reached the mountain road quickly.

    ¡­ The road splits into five ways!

    ¡°¡­Which one?¡±

    When did this happen, what country could decide to make such a crossroads?

    ¡°Fuu~¡­¡±

    I¡¯m no wise sage, but I chopped up a tree nearby to sit on the sump and think.

    Even if this is clearly not the main road, surely it isn¡¯t only used by locals who know the directions. If a merchant was going this way, is there something like a ¡°Signpost¡± that tells them where to go?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Somehow, I had a foreboding feeling as I looked at the stump I was sitting on.

    I stood up without a sound and swiftly placed the tree back to where it originally was before walking around to the other side where I figured ¡®something¡¯ was written, and I saw it.

    ¡°This will work.¡±

    I was able to get to a village-like place after about an hour after I started to look.

    I saw one of the villagers, a young man by the looks of him¡­

    ¡°Heya, welcome to the village of Kanpei.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Something¡¯s not quite right here

    £ª£ª£ª

    North of the large mountain range is a small village of about 300 people called Kanpei village.

    Kanpei village is famous for its specialty, which is potatoes, its notable export, which is potatoes, and its staple food, which is potatoes.

    It¡¯s quite far from the capitals of any countries, and is bothersome to take over, leaving it as a peaceful and quiet village. Despite how close it was to the land of darkness; they had been left alone.

    ¡°Headsman, please let¡¯s buy more medicine.¡±

    ¡°Our village is rarely attacked.¡±

    The owner of the general store and the village head speak with a serious tone.

    It was a quiet village, but the situation changed completely after the neighboring country fell to the forces of darkness.

    A large number of refugees from the neighboring lands with money were taken into refugee camps, where they would receive food and medical care, but those who fled with only the clothes on their back were turned away, and, after a period of wandering, ended up in a remote village like Kanpei village.

    About 150 people came to the village.

    150 people added to a village that originally only had 300.

    It was clearly overcrowded, the supplies of potatoes which weren¡¯t sent to support the war were running low, and more than half of the refugees were injured or sick and there wasn¡¯t enough medicine to support them.

    There wasn¡¯t enough space to live.

    The headman and other villagers went to the nearest city for several days to beg for assistance at the office of the Allied Forces in charge of the refugee camps, but the clerk wouldn¡¯t see them, and it seemed like the only way to get anything would be to provide a bribe.

    Having carts what were only full of potatoes to offer for the war effort, the headsman was without money and came back to the village without assistance, to another problem.

    It had taken a few weeks to travel back and forth to the city. During that time, some of the more seriously injured people had passed away, and some of the families were complaining about the work the villagers had been providing for free.

    Of course, most of the refugees thanked the villagers and took the lead in helping with the work in the village.

    Also, it seemed like the hooligans who wouldn¡¯t work had gotten bored with eating the same meals every day and had begun to harass the villagers taking care of them to give them meat.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what is ¡°Butler-sama¡± going to do about it.¡±

    ¡°If we refuse to get them, things will get even worse¡­¡±

    One day, an old gentleman had appeared in the village.

    The old man dressed in fine butler clothes with no traveling cloak or luggage and looked for all purposes to have simply come by during a stroll. When he appeared, he took away the dead bodies, removed the families and delinquents who constantly complained, and quickly returned the town to order.

    The old gentleman, at the thanks of the village headsman, simply smiled calmly, without even giving his name.

    When the villagers took to respectfully calling him ¡°Butler-sama¡± and asked him why he came to such a village, he responded saying that he that he was searching for a noble ¡®Ojou-sama¡¯ and had just dropped by for a quick ¡®Meal¡¯.

    ¡°Excuse me, Headsman!¡±

    ¡°What happened, John.¡±

    As the village head was discussing with the general store owner, Kawagishi Imohata¡¯s third son John barged in through the back door.

    ¡°S-something black and golden, it looks like the ¡°Princess¡± has come here.¡±

    ¡°¡­What?¡±

    £ª£ª£ª

    ¡°Heya, welcome to the village of Kanpei.¡±

    Is this Villager A? He just repeated the same thing he said at the entrance of the village.

    Eh¡­ what a scene, it doesn¡¯t look to be in a good situation here at all.

    When I looked around me, all the surrounding villagers averted their eyes when I looked their way or ran out somewhere.

    Why do they always run!?

    ¡°Ah, hello there, Oji-san.¡±

    I greeted a middle-aged farmer that had passed across the street from us.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, miss¡­¡±

    As the man approached without a thought, he took off his straw hat and stiffened the moment he saw my face, his eyes darting back and forth as if terrified.

    It¡¯s been quite a while since this has happened.

    ¡°Oji-san, are you okay¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah, sorry¡­ miss, it¡¯s just the first time I¡¯ve seen a city beauty, so I was just surprised¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, thank you then¡­?¡±

    It doesn¡¯t feel like a compliment.

    ¡°Umm¡­ rather than that, is this boy I¡¯m with okay?¡±

    Does he know Villager A who keeps repeating the same line? He looks over to him.

    ¡°Ah, Taro-san. He came with the recent arrival of refugees, and couldn¡¯t speak at all, until he had a conversationwith ¡®Butler-sama.¡¯ Now he¡¯s become such a serious person.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Is that so¡­¡±

    I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s okay to leave that under the one-word description of ¡®Serious¡¯.

    ¡°Butler-sama?¡±

    While he was speaking normally, he said a word that piqued my interest.

    ¡°Indeed, he has become the savior of this village.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s right over there.¡±

    When I turned around at the man¡¯s words, I saw a slim man of medium build, aged in about his sixties? Atop his head was a luscious full head of greyed hair.

    Far from the landscape of potato fields, he wore a single monocle and fine butler garbs.

    The old butler who you might automatically call Sebastian seemed to have seen me and walked over with an unearthly quiet smile and strange step, letting loose a ¡®fofofo.¡¯

    What¡­? Have I seen that somewhere before?

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­¡­¡­?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Who is he?

    Next time, the true identity of the old butler.

 CH 155

    Volume 8, Chapter 13: I Got Lost, Part 4

    I remember him from somewhere. Not here. It wasn¡¯t Atra at my [Home] the Holy Kingdom.

    Or, more correctly, I didn¡¯t feel that spiritual ¡°connection¡±. ¡­¡­ maybe.

    ¡°¡­¡­Geas?¡±

    ¡°As expected, Miss.¡±

    Appetizing, that. If I looked at it closely, it wasn¡¯t the same man as Yuzu¡¯s grandfather, but that¡¯s no surprise.

    How did that happen? When did he learn [Humanization]?

    Not contacting me for so long, what is this child doing? Ah~¡­¡­ It¡¯s hard to call it ¡®this child¡¯ now.

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this a good thing? This is my fourth life, and now, for me, Yurushia is now both my ¡°master¡± and my ¡°young lady¡±¡°

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite true¡­¡­¡±

    As I was now, I would be hard-pressed to say that I have any sense of being Yuzu at all. Still, it was difficult to instruct Geas as he was now.

    It¡¯s almost like the feeling one gets toward their chaperone.

    ¡°I have taken up the ¡®setting¡¯ of being Rinne-sama¡¯s butler. At Rinne-sama¡¯s instructions, I have come to pick up Lady Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Setting, huh¡­¡­¡±

    Wait,¡­¡­ what?

    ¡°Rinne¡¯s not in human form by any chance, is he? No, it¡¯ll be good to give Rinne a vessel soon¡­¡­ eh? What¡¯s Onzada-kun doing, then? ¡­¡­ no way¡±

    ¡°Hohohohohoho, that¡¯s a story for later. Since we don¡¯t have time now, could I have Lady Yurushia help in healing the refugees?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Somehow, I was relieved at the demon-like change in topic.

    Well, I was one too, but having the attributes of a former human made the spiritual life form called a [Devil] be less restricted, and sometimes even allow us to act with human common sense.

    Still, the number one priority was that of ¡®food¡¯.

    I don¡¯t know why we didn¡¯t have time, but if the extra refugees were already there, I had no qualms healing them.

    It wasn¡¯t entirely bad to advertise my name given that it came originally from my work.

    ¡°Which reminds me, I saw a group of humans hunting someone in the forest. I don¡¯t know who they were trying to hunt. Either way, Lady Yurushia, you¡¯ve been a bit too carefree lately.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    I was prodded in a slightly sore spot.

    On Atra I had my parents, and on earth there were Yuzu¡¯s family.

    I respected their needs and lived modestly.

    But since I didn¡¯t have to worry about that here on [Tess], I¡¯ve really cut loose.

    I might have overdone it and made a few too many enemies¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t know which of my enemies were here, so I needed to be careful. I would live a righteous and upright life as a Demon.

    ¡­¡­ Geas, you¡¯re really just here to be my ¡°chaperone¡±, aren¡¯t you?

    *

    ¡°¡­[Let there be Light]¡­¡±

    The light of the holy magic spread out softly and healed the ill and injured children.

    ¡°Waaah¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It moved.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore¡±

    The children, who had been led by Geas to this public-square-like space, stood up with uncomprehending expressions and smiles.

    ¡°T-this lady healed all of us.¡±

    As the children¡¯s eyes followed the words of the slightly tense mayor, I gave them a small smile.

    ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, miss!¡±

    Their shining eyes and the pure love I could feel was very cute.

    Children were obedient and nice. ¡­¡­ Because they¡¯re not afraid of me at all. But the adults refused to even meet my gaze.

    Looking at it, why were they able to interact with Geas so normally¡­¡­?

    ¡°U-uhh ¡­¡­ Princess, well¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    As the village chief¡¯s trembling voice called out to me, I replied to him with equal parts tenderness and pride.

    Ah¡­¡­ now that I mention it, it seems that the holy church here has been charging the townspeople high fees under the pretext of ¡°tithes¡±.

    In any case, I¡¯m not hard up for money in any sense.

    Although Sail was giving us a sum of money to move around, my own profits from selling my scalp treatment, my magic, etc, was enough to buy me a home in the royal capital.

    I met Sephira and came up with a new business idea. ¡­¡­ fufufu.

    I wonder if this is the result of Yuzu¡¯s sensibilities?

    But, to take money from those that don¡¯t have it? As I smiled gently at him, the village chief swallowed with a gulp, and finally opened his mouth as if he¡¯d finally come to a decision.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would you please withdraw your angel of light?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I understand¡±

    When I first got here and tried healing the children, some of the people tried to get themselves healed first, or that because of my lateness, I would have to compensate them if their injuries got worse.

    It¡¯s not like you really need it at all if you have the energy to complain¡­¡­

    Geas, did you really let them ¡­¡­ well, as you said, there might have been more of them.

    Even then, I healed them all equally because I was being ¡°kind¡±.

    I used the [Feast of Blessings] properly.

    Ah, also, it seems that the [Feast of Blessings] I used is a little different from usual.

    A regular [Feast of Blessings] would give [Divine Protection] to many people at the same time and would split the power to heal their wounds, strengthen their bodies, and gradually ward off disease.

    But this [Feast of Blessings] poured a huge amount of magic power into healing, with the surplus turning into a spirit of light, and this unscrupulous angel of light gave out a large amount of [Divine Protection].

    When acquired for the first time, it would heal the weak, so that was okay. But, when someone was poor but healthy, it was as effective as chugging a certain famous nutrient drink by the mug wholesale.

    And so those people who were energetic enough to be complaining, were all convulsing on the floor while bleeding from their noses in healthiness,

    It became a vicious cycle were the angels of light would be clinging to them, giving them more Divine Protection since they thought the people were still unwell!

    ¡°¡­¡­ It was an unfortunate accident.¡±

    ¡°We understand, but please put an end to it quickly!¡±

    As I mumbled while staring into the distance, the village chief finally put in a straight-man reply.

    * *

    Geas and I went out to see the whole village.

    I wasn¡¯t accepting alms, but the children made me [Offerings] of potatoes.

    However, because I had so much left overs, I gave them about 1 ton of dried seaweed in return. This will improve their nutritional balance.

    The seaweed production from Atra is small, and on earth and Tess, seaweed production is mainstream, so as one of the ¡°truths of the universe¡± giving seaweed wasn¡¯t a problem at all.

    As I kept taking out seaweed endlessly from the pocket of my dress, I felt a little scared too, but I¡¯m alright.

    I think salted seaweed is an excellent partner for steamed potatoes.

    ¡°So Geas, just ¡®whose¡¯ hunting party was that in the forest, and who were they?¡±

    ¡°Yes madam. Apparently, they were adventurers hired directly and not through the guild. It seems that the client hid their face in a hood, and did not give a name, but they said that it sounded like a young woman. However¡­¡±

    ¡°However?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re ¡°requesting¡± to know about that particular thing right now.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Fuuu~n¡±

    It just gets more and more suspicious. They probably thought that they could do it given that it was just a single noble Lady.

    The question is, why did they try to kill me?

    Certainly, I¡¯m making some very remarkable moves, but I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s entirely out of the frame expected from a [Saint] that Sail has acknowledged¡­¡­

    I don¡¯t think that they were trying to send these adventurers to their deaths, nor was it because they thought I was a Demon. Were they trying to probe out my power? Or was the existence of the [Saint] itself a hindrance?

    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough information¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. If only we had Miss Fannie and her abilities as a [Nightmare], it would have been different.¡±

    It was only after I was without the four of them that I realized just how capable they were.

    But them being close also has its own problems¡­¡­¡­

    Ah¡­¡­? It seems that my escort knights and friends were pretty decent when it didn¡¯t involve me¡­¡­

    No, it¡¯s just my imagination. Maybe. Yeah, that¡¯s definitely the case.

    ¡°And so, Rinne and the others¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah yes, there was also that. There was a bit of information that Lady Yurushia had been looking for about Rinne-sama¡­¡±

    *Poof*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­ what?¡±

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Are you getting jealous!?¡±

    Suddenly Geas turned into the teddy bear.

    I lifted it up and shook it, but Geas only went [Gau?] and tilted its neck cutely, and there was no sign at all of the ¡°can-do old butler¡± that was there previously.

    Darn your useless cuteness.

    What happened to Rinne? What was the information?

    Did you run out of time, so you couldn¡¯t keep your human form any longer?

    I thought that it was funny that its magic power hadn¡¯t changed at all from that of a [Greater Demon], even after taking on a human form.

    ¡°Tell me that firrrrrrrrst!¡±

    [Gaugau]

    Geas separated from my dejected self, and climbed a tree with its short limbs, offering me several blood-red mushrooms he found.

    No, I don¡¯t need these ugly mushrooms.

    [Gau]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Well, it¡¯s not that delicious¡­

    There were many things I wanted to say, but I held it in for when I saw Rinne again.

    As it was, I was in a situation not unlike that of a fairy tale, where a [Girl was being guided by a teddy bear into a forest].

    In fact, while we were running at 300 km/h in the cold forest of the northern countries, Geas hungrily devoured all of the monsters that he ran into, and it was quite a scene.

    And so, a few hours later¡­¡­ we arrived at the castle occupied by the forces of Darkness.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Who is he?

    Next time, reunion¡­¡­ when it comes.

 CH 156

    Volume 8, Chapter 14: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 1

    The royal capital of Telluza which had been occupied by the forces of Darkness was nowhere near as desolate as one would imagine it to be. On the contrary, it seemed to have hardly changed at all.

    Of course, since the flow of goods has been stopped and supplies stagnated, it wouldn¡¯t be fair to compare it to their original vibrancy, but the citizens continued to roam the town, and children played in the alleys.

    Actually, it seems as though security has improved. Although it was a royal capital before, there would have been some unscrupulous types in the back alleys back then.

    It seems that the dark elves and beastmen soldiers were actually patrolling this royal capital.

    The residents were scared because they were invading soldiers, but the children, who were unprejudiced unlike the adults, would only look at them curiously.

    On the other side, the soldiers all wore featureless expressions. It seems that they were shy of and somewhat scared of the twin princesses of the Dark Elves.

    The two of them, who had long been oppressed and neglected by others, had no malice towards humans. In fact, they even banned the army from harming the population.

    Of course, there were some officers who tried to rebel against their orders to try pillaging and plundering the goods and women, but all of them were cruelly killed by the princesses¡¯ plushie, and the rest of the soldiers obeyed out of fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡±

    In the midst of these soldiers was a female dark elven knight named Tiera.

    She was a hundred this year¡­¡­ though in human maturity, she¡¯s about 20 years old, and she had grown up listening to the elders and her parents in her village speak about how ugly and mean humans were.

    She had been told by them about the time where the cowardly Heroes had tricked and trapped them in this frigid land, but they were talking about an event a thousand years ago with the air of someone who had been there¡­ when the dark elves only had about 500 years¡¯ lifespan.

    This was a commonplace occurrence among the forces of darkness, and in every village, children who grew up this way would naturally become embittered towards humans.

    Tiera was puzzled.

    No matter how horrible the human race was, as a knight serving the royal family, she harbored no ill-intent toward the inhabitants.

    Still convinced that the humans were terrible, she was afraid to get involved with the residents since she had been forbidden from manhandling them.

    However, since her long ears and glossy brown skin were rare to see, the human children followed behind her every time she appeared.

    According to the standard knowledge from the otherworld, it was traditional for female dark elven knights to wear armor with high exposure, and even while the children patted her skin, she was helpless to retaliate and could only remain mutely embarrassed.

    If that had been all it would have still been alright, but recently, since she¡¯d been taking care of the younger children, one of the boys, a lovely ten-year-old, had started giving her passionate looks.

    Tiera was incredibly shy being looked at by those sparklingly pure and innocent eyes, but still, it wasn¡¯t all that bad.

    Gradually, though, she began to talk to the boy, and they chatted with each other about their troubles.

    ¡°I have a younger sister, but she catches colds easily¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    Nobody was starving in this country since their staple potatoes were abundant and could be preserved, but since the distribution of goods stopped, their diets began to suffer, and younger children became more vulnerable to catching a cold.

    ¡°So, when I grow up, I¡¯m going to be a cook and open my own restaurant and serve delicious meals with my wife.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so?¡±

    At the boy¡¯s burning gaze and mention of the word ¡°wife¡±, she had a fleeting image of herself standing in a store with the grown-up version of the boy. But Tiera shook her head, annoyed with herself for having joined in his delusions.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t entirely impossible for him to have a chance in ten years, since she was an elf.

    Tiera, whose brown skin was tinged slightly red even while she swam in her own delusions, suddenly heard screaming coming from a distance away.

    ¡°It-it¡¯s my sister¡¯s voice!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    As Tiera and the boy headed into the dark alleyway where they heard the screaming, they saw two men carrying an unconscious girl that was about 4 or 5 years old.

    ¡°What are you doing!¡±

    ¡°Geh, it¡¯s a dark elf¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t get closer!¡±

    The human men looked at Tiera, pointing their knives at the little girl.

    ¡°L-let go of my sister!¡±

    ¡°Shut up! Because of these guys, I haven¡¯t been able to make any money!¡±

    These obviously rabble looking men were people from the underbelly of this nation.

    Tiera and the knights were barred from touching the humans, but they were told to hunt criminals down actively.

    Since abusing innocents was punishable, the soldiers could kill offenders to blow off their stress. There was no trial allowed nor excuses taken.

    As a result, a certain portion of the citizenry were grateful to them, whereas the criminals who had gotten away by bribing the police were getting reported, and the underworld was unable to do anything about it.

    ¡°In order to escape from this country, we need money!¡±

    As the men began to confess even without being prompted, their plan was to abduct children, flee to another nation, and then sell the children.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to kidnap children where you¡¯re escaping to?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ SHUT UP!!!¡±

    Ah, and they were short-tempered criminals too.

    ¡°Human criminal, let go of the child quietly.¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t get any closer, or this kid gets it!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­tsch¡±

    As Tiera hesitated, the men who thought that the dark elf wouldn¡¯t care about the child were astonished for a moment, but as understanding hit them, their faces spread with vulgar smiles.

    ¡°¡­¡­ You¡¯re a pretty woman, dark elf. If you don¡¯t want this kid to get hurt, drop your weapons¡­¡­ no, take off all of your armor and clothes.¡±

    ¡°Heheheeheheee, we¡¯re going to sell you too, after we do you of course!¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    Tiera hid her bare upper body and thighs with her arms, even as she was being ogled, and she begrudged the Demon King of a millennium ago for adopting this high-exposure armor.

    ¡°S-sister¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ku-¡±

    Should she endure the humiliation of being like this in front of the boy, or abandon the boy¡¯s sister and defeat these underhanded men?

    If it had been even a little while ago, she would surely have abandoned the girl while she raged at the cowardly men.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    But¡­¡­ Tiera smiled at the boy gently and begun to throw away her weapons.

    *gishi¡­¡­i*

    There was a sudden grating sound in the air.

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    Nothing changed. There wasn¡¯t anything strange at all about the sound.

    However, everyone present felt chills and shivered.

    There was definitely something. Something that was approaching.

    They didn¡¯t know why they felt chills over that ¡°something¡±, but when their heads ratcheted to face it like rusted tin dolls, they saw something that should have been impossible.

    Golden hair that glistened in the sun.

    A black and silver dress with a luster that they had never even seen before.

    A face that looked absolutely perfect, and beautiful, silky smooth skin.

    And golden irises that shined through all of her beauty like a cold doll.

    A miracle of a lady that looked like she was in her early teens.

    But¡­¡­ was that really a human? No¡­¡­ was she really of this world or even a living creature?

    Her heart was enchanted with that beauty, and the [Fear of the Unknown] that bubbled up within her was stopped as Tiera unconsciously took a step back.

    Although it might not have been noticeable to humans, her keen senses honed by living in the world of darkness as a dark elf instinctively caused Tiera to step back to protect her soul.

    In that frozen world, the girl smiled gently only at Tiera, who had moved, and then the world began to move again.

    ¡°¡­¡­whaa-¡±

    The half-asleep voice of that little girl snapped everyone back to sanity from a state of fascination.

    ¡°¡­¡­eh? Ah?¡±

    Before anyone realized, the little girl was already in the golden girl¡¯s arms, and the kidnappers¡¯ eyes went wide, darting in confusion from their arms to hers.

    Nobody had noticed when the girl had been moved.

    As the little girl was about to start crying as she realized what had happened, a stuffed-toy bear came up from behind the golden girl and began to pat her.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Bearrrr¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    The girl¡­¡­ smiled gently as if the whole incident up until then had been a nightmare, and the little girl¡¯s face went from surprise to laughter as she looked at the girl¡¯s face.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, big sister~¡±

    As the tension in the air suddenly loosened, her older brother sank to the floor in exhaustion.

    ¡°¡­¡­ wh-what, youuu!?¡±

    His tongue was stuck.

    The golden girl scrunched her eyebrows slightly at his impolite words.

    ¡°He¡¯s a kidnapper, please be careful¡­¡±

    Before Tiera, who had a bad feeling about this, could finish her sentence, the golden girl covered the eyes and ears of the little girl.

    [Gau.]

    And then the cute stuffed-toy bear leaped onto the two kidnappers.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    None this time.

 CH 157

    Volume 8, Chapter 15: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 2

    ¡°P-Princess, this one shall guide you to the castle!¡±

    A female dark elven knight saluted me, even though I should have looked like an ordinary human being and even bit her tongue in her eagerness to guide us.

    It seems that she got scared, but not because of me. It¡¯s all because of Geas. ¡­¡­ Maybe.

    ¡°bye bye, nee-chan¡±

    ¡°Yes, bye bye to you too.¡±

    As the little girl hugged her elder brother and waved to me, I waved back at her with a smile on my face. Because she was sickly, I handed her brother a bunch of dried seaweed too.

    The girl¡¯s eyes and ears had been blocked, but since the boy had seen it all, his eyes were darting about like a mouse cornered by a cat.

    Since I told Geas to stop eating people in cities, all he had done was strike them, but it seems that the bloody splatters were hard for the children to stomach.

    But man, I got saved. I had seen the castle in the distance and tried to make a beeline for it, but I got totally lost.

    I was unintentionally giving away my presence from how anxious I was, and thought that I was surprising the public, but about half of them were okay because they weren¡¯t citizens anyway.

    ¡°T-then I shall guide you forth¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you. But¡­¡­ Why are you guiding me?¡±

    ¡°W-well, that bear is¡­¡­ that magic tool was the one on her Highness¡¯ knee¡­¡­¡±

    Ah, I see. So they thought I was related to Geas.

    How diligent, this child¡­¡­

    It¡¯s a diligent dark elf, and she¡¯s a knight at that too, how cute¡­¡­ Such a good child. I felt soothed since there had only been rough exchanges recently.

    ¡°!¡±

    Suddenly, the female knight¡¯s face cramped and stiffened magnificently.

    ¡°Oh¡­? What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡±

    ¡­¡­ No, I know exactly what the cause is. Wasn¡¯t it because you were surprised at the smiles of the other people?

    Now she had the feeling of a small dog that¡¯d accidentally met a hungry brown bear in the forest and panicked so hard that her heart rate rose to the point that she flushed, and now worried if she could work properly. How cute.

    *

    After guiding me to the castle, she left us to enter on our own, since she seemed unable to advance any further, and returned towards her post.

    That knight¡¯s cute, so I wanted to push her forward until she could meet with the Princess.

    Even so, it¡¯s like there¡¯s some sort of ¡­¡­ Barrier? It¡¯s not like a holy barrier, nor is it laid out in [Spirit Language], but it feels like an art I don¡¯t know either.

    It¡¯s like¡­¡­ the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art]? But something is different.

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°Yes, Geas, lead me on from here.¡±

    It seems that everyone fears approaching, as Geas gets a clear walkway through.

    I¡¯d rather have had butler Geas guide me through, but since he¡¯d expended his energy from his incomplete humanization, he¡¯s still stuck as a stuffed toy.

    *katsu¡­n*

    As my heels clicked against the marble floor when I stopped, two small black shadows could be seen in the dark passage ahead.

    ¡°Welcome.¡±

    ¡°Please, come in.¡±

    ¡°¡°Our Queen.¡±¡°

    Queen¡­¡­!? I don¡¯t want to go from Princess to Queen so fast.

    Right now, there were two young girls that looked like they were about five years old. Glowing brown skin. Long ears with a slight droop.

    Although their hair colors were silver and gold respectively, the impression they gave off and their features were surprisingly similar. ¡­¡­ Such it was for twins.

    Oh my¡­¡­ they¡¯re so cute.

    I¡¯d like to have them hug Geas and Onzada-kun separately and sit on a gothic style sofa.

    ¡°¡°Queen¡­?¡±¡°

    Ah, excuse me¡­¡­ my consciousness flew off for a bit.

    ¡°¡­¡­What are your names, girls?¡±

    ¡°Hai, I am Nefi.¡±

    ¡°And I am Rimi.¡±

    The golden one was Nefi and the silver was Rimi.

    ¡°I am Yurushia. ¡­¡­ by the way, what¡¯s with the ¡°Queen¡± ?¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes, you must be the Queen, since you stand beside our Demon God.¡±¡°

    ¡°nonononononono, you can absolutely call me by name, you know?¡±

    I tried to get them to meet my gaze.

    I¡¯ve had too many embarrassing names up until now, but this one is an especially tough nut. ¡­¡­ The demon god is Rinne? What are you all saying?

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°If not so, then Goddess¡­¡±

    ¡°Nonononononono¡­¡­¡±

    Oh my god, the rank went up.

    Rinne, you terror, what did you whisper into these cute girls?!

    ¡°Well, I called you here, so let me do what you wish for, my Princess.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­hah?¡±

    Suddenly, someone called out from within the darkness.

    Even if I wasn¡¯t good at detecting things, to not notice until it got so close¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡­¡±

    What I saw was a man that looked like he was in his thirties.

    Short cropped black hair. A tall, slender body with wide shoulders.

    Although the appearance was neat, the untidy knight¡¯s dress ruined it, and so it looked strange.

    ¡­¡­ so I say, but I¡¯m not going to go that far.

    ¡°What are you doing, Onzada-kun¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, so Princess knows, too. As expected, you are my master, after all.¡±

    I turned you into such a cute rabbit, so why did you turn into this layabout again. I¡¯m going to pluck you.

    But [Princess]? [Master]? If you just called me [Yuzu]I¡¯d be worried for your demonhood, but maybe¡­¡­

    ¡°Onzada-kun, do you know who [I] am¡­¡­ ?¡±

    ¡°Haa? Are you not our master? Geas called you Lady.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see¡±

    It seems that the memory of his days as a human haven¡¯t returned yet.

    Rinne, too, said that it was unusual for a Demon to reincarnate with their human memories. Geas wasn¡¯t quite normal since Geas was already used to reincarnation.

    ¡°Did Geas return?¡±

    [Gaugau]

    ¡°That¡¯s the way, hahaha¡±

    I¡¯m relieved.

    Well, this easygoing nature in this situation is definitely Onzada-kun after all.

    ¡°So, I found this cheap sake in the castle town, do you want some too, Geas?¡±

    [Gau]

    ¡°There¡±

    ¡°Dowaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!?¡±

    The two of them who left my side and suddenly started drinking were blown away by my forehead pokes. ¡­¡­ I think I scared the children by putting in the wrong amount of power.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me before that I shouldn¡¯t drink so much alcohol?¡±

    Ah? Didn¡¯t you say that while you were in elementary school?

    Onzada-kun, who had been blown away, stood up and looked at me with a look of dissatisfaction even while he held his forehead, tears in his eyes.

    ¡°I also told you before that you should stop saying that because you were weak then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Fuuh~n¡±

    ¡­¡­ Before, huh.

    I wouldn¡¯t have any scruples at all with Onzada-kun as my partner.

    However, it¡¯s been a long time, and I wanted to check for something rather than just ¡°frolic about¡±.

    ¡°So, Onzada-kun, about Rinne¡±

    ¡°O-oi, don¡¯t just change the topic suddenly. Your darling Rinne is on the throne. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be able to keep this up, so we¡¯re going to walk and talk.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    It seems there¡¯s a limit for him as well after all.

    When Nefi and Rimi were still little, I asked Geas to take care of them while we went on ahead to where the throne was.

    ¡°Our [Humanization] is derived from our analysis of the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] left behind by the [First Hero] who was part of the forces of darkness.¡±

    ¡°The first hero¡­¡­? Why was he part of the forces of darkness?¡±

    ¡°I think Noa knows the details, because he analyzed it.¡±

    That child¡­¡­ Is he plotting something again?

    ¡°Geas and I have a little magic, so we¡¯re somewhat stable, but milord seems to have more magic power than you, Princess?  We tried to use the prince of the beastmen who was assassinated on the march here to stabilize him, but it¡¯s not working.¡±

    ¡°Not working¡­¡­ Is he alright? Are there any solutions?¡±

    ¡°According to Noa, we should be preparing a large number of sacrifices, and even that is just to manifest him normally.¡±

    Was he plotting for the war to intensify¡­¡­? I gathered souls, but it wasn¡¯t a hobby. I guess I¡¯ll have to punish him.

    ¡°Also, it seems that there was something else left behind by the first hero.¡±

    ¡°Is Noa examining it?¡±

    ¡°No, it was impossible for us. It was impossible for Noa, the pure demon, much less demons with less magic power like Geas or I.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡­¡±

    Was I the one lacking common sense? ¡­¡­ It makes me sad to even say that.

    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    *skreeek* ¡­¡­ As Onzada-kun pushed the door open with a creak, I saw a figure sitting on the throne in the back.

    ¡°¡­¡­Onzada-kun.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Princess?¡±

    I smiled and pulled on the ears of Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Why is he in the shape of a child, and furthermore, why does he have cat ears?¡±

    Sitting down on the throne was Rinne¡­¡­ and Rinne was probably¡­¡­ a shota.

    How did this happen? Why do you have cat ears?

    ¡°Owwwwwww, What¡­¡­ But isn¡¯t that what milord was originally?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very manly.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s shrunk that he¡¯s got that appearance, right? So will he become bigger if he stabilizes?¡±

    But it was appropriate for this guy¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I slowly walked towards Rinne.

    ¡°Oi, hold up, Princess¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    As if I had been stung by static electricity, my hand shot back.

    ¡°Sorry, I forgot to mention. He¡¯s in a sleep-like state until his consciousness stabilizes. That¡¯s why milord and the rest of the children have put up a great barrier. It won¡¯t be broken before he awakes, and it¡¯ll be dangerous for even you, Princess, to go too near.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Didn¡¯t he call for me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that milord did call for Princess¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°O-oi!?¡±

    I ignored Onzada-kun and strode forward.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rinne¡±

    I¡¯m a little bit angry now. It¡¯s dangerous to do things without permission.

    Did you come here to protect the children under contract? Or to meet me¡­¡­?

    Every time I moved forward, the static force struck me like a bolt of electricity. It was so powerful that even an [Arch Demon] would be destroyed before they even got through half of it.

    ¡°Princess!¡±

    At first, my hairclip vanished, and all of my hair electrified.

    Then, my relic-class dress could not bear it, and began to burn up.

    Onzada-kun tried to approach me, but I repelled him with magic.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even while I endured the pain and burning of my body all over, I reached out to the throne and put my hands on Rinne¡¯s cheek, and shut my eyes.

    ¡°Wait for me. I¡¯ll wake you up soon.¡±

    Since I told him that I was in the human world, Rinne had sought out a human appearance so we could meet each other. Even though it was very difficult for Rinne to ever manifest in a form that was humanoid¡­¡­

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    As I patted Rinne¡¯s cheeks lightly even as I burned, I think he opened his eyes a little.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±

    As I left the throne after speaking my final piece, the dress regenerated in the blink of an eye, sucking up my magic.

    ¡°Onzada, stay with Geas. I will be heading to the capital of the forces of darkness.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Onzada-kun is Onzada-kun.

    Next time, the capital of the forces of darkness.

 CH 158

    Volume 8, Chapter 16: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 3

    The golden saint was missing from the battlefield.

    When the news came from the Staff Officer of the Operations HQ of the Joint Coalition, all of the soldiers of the forces of light were shocked.

    Yurushia¡¯s participation in this recapture operation was only supposed to be a piece of propaganda for Sail ¨C a mere consideration of politics.

    With the exception of some of the influential members, like the Heroes, the upper echelons of the nations were all skeptical of the power of the [Saint] and thought that she wouldn¡¯t sway the battle little even if she participated. Some of them even thought that it would be very convenient for her to die here.

    But, the upper echelons of humanity did not know.

    They were too concerned over the military might of the heroes, that they thought of the tales of the Saint¡¯s power as merely some sort of fairy tale for the common folk.

    But for the common people, the name of the [Saint] was a name mentioned in the same breath as a [Hero],  and just like how [Heroes] like Yuuki inspired the common people as their [sword], the [Saint] healed people, giving them hope as their [Shield].

    The soldiers at the forefront of the battlefields understood that better than anyone.

    The fact that they had the [Saint] on this battlefield, where death was no stranger, had given them a tremendous feeling of security.

    So, what would happen if it was lost to them¡­¡­?

    The officers of every nation were astonished at the sheer influence that the label of [Saint] had, and some of them felt annoyed that she had even appeared.

    ¡°Yuru is missing?! What¡¯s going on!?¡±

    When the Hero of the Earth, Kanzo, returned with her wounded soldier and pressed Sefira for an answer, Sefira¡¯s exhausted face grimaced.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t believe it either, but it seems that she was set upon by armed bandits¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Where are they? I¡¯m going to go kick them around!¡±

    ¡°P-Please wait, Kanzo-sama!¡±

    That Kanzo, who was enormously tough on beautiful women, surprised everyone with her worry for Yurushia, and Sefira jumped to stop Kanzo before she bounced out.

    ¡°The armed bandits have already fled, and the horse carriage with Yurushia-sama has already left the area.¡±

    ¡°How did this¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira¡¯s words caused Kanzo to clench her fists.

    Seeing Kanzo in such a state, so far removed from usual, everyone else in the base was moved, and had thoughts of Kanzo as one of the [Heroes] who protected the people of the common folk.

    But then.

    ¡°(Although this is a great opportunity, the efficiency will drop if Yuru¡¯s not there!)¡±

    Kanzo was trying to create the [Magic Gem] that he¡¯d contracted Yurushia for on this battlefield.

    But, without Yurushia, Kanzo¡¯s plans would be compromised.

    Kanzo could also create magic gems, but the prototypes she created with her magic were either too small or too flawed to satisfy her compared to the ones that Yurushia and her subordinates made.

    The Hero of Wind wasn¡¯t coming to the battlefield for some reason, but the hero of water and the hero of the flame were.

    There was this slim chance for her to get the pure magic of the other heroes.

    Even if one of the heroes disappeared because of that, the three other heroes could hold the line until a new one was summoned, and if that wasn¡¯t enough, it would have been fine if the [Saint] covered that gap.

    The war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness had been ongoing for thousands of years.

    The [Skills] that had been born from contracting with the spirits and the summoning of [Heroes] had ground the war into a stalemate, and as a result, both the heroes and the men were carelessly thinking that the state of the war would not shift.

    ¡°Kanzo-sama, please leave it to us. I will take responsibility for finding Yurushia-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yes. If it¡¯s you, Sefira, I¡¯ll trust in it.¡±

    Kanzo, who seemed so impatient, reluctantly said so after hearing Sefira¡¯s declaration, and changed her opinion relatively easily.

    Originally, women like Sefira were the type that had no love for Kanzo, and everyone around them should have known it, but it was accepted naturally.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Watching as the hero of earth returned to the battlefield again, Sefira sighed internally and grimaced when she thought that nobody was looking.

    The heroes were not to be offended. The heroes of flame and wind aside, the hero of water didn¡¯t trust others and was very careful with his actions, while the hero of earth was suspicious of small things like having perfectly womanly bodies.

    Still, there were now no obstacles in Sefira¡¯s plans.

    The little ¡°gap¡± in her plan was still well in the range of her corrections.

    There was only one problem now¡­¡­ she¡¯d lost sight of where the [Golden Saint] that¡¯d shifted her plans off track had gone.

    ¡°Where are you¡­¡­ my ¡°irregular¡± girl¡±

    *  * *

    ¡°Princess, your feet are starting to get worse. Please, let me.¡±

    ¡°Shall I hold you? You¡¯re a girl, so you¡¯re not too heavy to be held, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­¡±

    What is this situation¡­¡­!

    Geas and Onzada-kun who were both in their humanoid forms again were trying to pamper me.

    Honestly, this experience is new to me, so I¡¯m having trouble reacting to it.

    Geas is still okay. It feels like when I had a pampering grandpa as a Princess. But anyway, he gave off the feeling of a of a grandparent pampering their grandchild, so my heart just felt a little flittering, but the real problem is Onzada-kun.

    ¡°Things like this¡­¡­ It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve been able to hold Milady like this.¡±

    While saying that, he brushed my hair with his fingertips and brought his face closer to sniff my hair.

    Is this some sort of male behavior? Or is this the behavior of your animal side, o rabbit?

    ¡°Hey, Onzada-kun, you never did that before!?¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    When I took my hair back from Onzada-kun¡¯s hands and scolded him, he has a slightly dejected expression.

    Stop that, it¡¯s horrifying seeing that on a 30-something year old man.

    As the Onzada-kun in my head was still in junior high, I don¡¯t quite know what kind of face I would expect to see from this adult figure.

    Although I love dandy uncles, but I don¡¯t think this expression is cute at all.

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ Why do you even look like that in the first place¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Was it better to look younger?¡±

    ¡°Onzada-dono and I look wonderful as we are now. Although we could change what age we look, but it consumes a lot of magic power, so the amount of time we can stay in our human forms will shorten. Oh, there¡¯s a pothole there, so please be careful.¡±

    ¡°Waah¡±

    Before I could even turn my attention to it, Geas lifted me up gently and carried me over to the end of the bumpy road.

    We were in the enormous cavern that was home to the forces of darkness.

    I asked the two of them to guide me, but I worried about letting them away from those two children for so long, so I called Onzada-kun, who was the chief on-site, to call in 150 [Greater Demons] from [Paradise Lost] and left them behind to guard.

    ¡­¡­ Is 150 too much? Nah, there¡¯s no such thing as too much. It¡¯s important to pamper small children, you know?

    Though my story¡¯s gotten sidetracked again, we ran all the way here to the entrance of the cavern by foot.

    It would have been nice if I could have teleported, but Onzada-kun and Geas didn¡¯t have enough magic power to carry my enormous presence.

    I could have been faster had I flown, but because various wild dragons were flying about, it would have been troublesome to deal with them had we run into them along the way.

    Well, I can distort space to some degree, so walking normally didn¡¯t bother me since we were travelling at the speed of a car.

    ¡°Milady, the dark elves and beastmen will begin to appear from here on in, so please let us deal with them.¡±

    ¡°Leave everything to us, Milady. ¡­¡­ Will you behave?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­okay.¡±

    You say it like I¡¯m some sort of troublemaker¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Hey, you, stop right there!¡±

    ¡­¡­¡­ eehh~¡­¡­ What is this timing? Were you waiting just for it?

    The soldier-like dogman called out to us, two subordinates in tow, and either because we were approaching him, or because it was dark, he lowered his spear towards us.

    ¡°Y, you guys, you¡¯re Humans!?¡±

    ¡°Oi, do we look like ¡°humans¡±?¡±

    ¡°Bugh!¡±

    I burst out involuntarily.

    What? Wait, I¡¯m growing rabbit ears!?

    Even though they were wary of me having burst out suddenly, as I suddenly stiffened from the shock of growing rabbit ears, the dogman officer¡­¡­ nodded in assent and walked away with the soldiers.

    ¡°What, it¡¯s a beastman. You scared me. That little girl¡­¡­ well, you¡¯re alright.¡±

    Wait a minute. I didn¡¯t do anything to disguise myself, though?

    ¡°¡­¡­What was that about me¡­¡­?¡±

    I was told not to do anything, so I only spoke to them with a smile on my face, but the soldiers diverted their eyes in a hurry.

    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufufu, may I go now?¡±

    ¡°O-ok¡±

    I don¡¯t know why, but we were able to easily slip past the soldiers stopping us and head to the center of the city.

    ¡°Thanks to Milady, we were able to get in quickly. Thank you.¡±

    But why?

    ¡°Why does Onzada-kun also have rabbit ears¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it. I was turned into a rabbit by Milady to begin with.¡±

    Ah, it seems that even Onzada-kun knows what shame is. I was a little relieved. At least, I think it¡¯s good. ¡°Geas; What is that?¡±

    Geas was also imitating a beastman, but slightly different horns from Noa and Nea¡¯s were growing from both sides of his head. Well I guess you could say it¡¯s well within expectations, but¡­¡­

    ¡°Why are you horns sheep horns? I thought you had bull horns?¡±

    When I asked him, Geas smiled slowly at me while his eyes lit up kindly like a child¡¯s.

    ¡°Yes, but now I am a butler¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ GRAMPS!

    Then we arrived at the sealed ancient castle in the center of the great cavern with no problems.

    The castle of the demon king of old, that had united all of the forces of darkness.

    And¡­¡­ the castle of ¡°the first hero¡±.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, what was left behind in the castle!

 CH 159

    Volume 8, Chapter 17: The Hero¡¯s Secret Arts, Part 4

    ¡°Princess, we¡¯re going over the walls.¡±

    ¡°Why? Is the castle gate locked?¡±

    I tilted my head slightly at Onzada-kun¡¯s remarks.

    The huge 6-wide-by-10-metre-tall castle gate loomed in front of me.

    With a gate this size, was it being secured by a latch instead of a lock? The gate was a tarnished-copper green, looking as if it hadn¡¯t been touched in hundreds of years.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s because if we wanted to enter, we could use the service entrance beside the gate.¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­¡±

    Did we have some sort of inside man? Now that I think about it, I completely forgot about him mentioning that he had found the secret arts within.

    ¡­¡­¡­ I don¡¯t think even I could blow it open if I didn¡¯t have the key.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be troublesome if we got spotted by a soldier. If you intend to murder them all, it¡¯s fine, but Milady is not going to, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes.¡±

    It seems that Onzada-kun understood that part after all.

    I don¡¯t really care about their lives at all since we¡¯re all demons, but meaningless slaughter was something that even demons didn¡¯t do.

    After all, as far as spirits or demons were concerned, human and animal lives were no different.

    ¡­¡­ Well, they tasted different, though.

    Because only Gods and humans, in their selfishness, would discriminate against the value of lives and force others to discriminate.

    Well, that was a lot of pretentious talk, but in short, I didn¡¯t really [care one way or the other] about them.

    Having said that, if I was going to eat, I wasn¡¯t going just go out and actively slaughter them when these ordinary people weren¡¯t as tasty.

    I didn¡¯t do stupid things like kill things just to waste them in vain.

    I perk up. That¡¯s it, Onzada-kun!

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    ¡°fufufufu, the two of you sure are young aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Apparently Onzada-kun seemed to be a bit more ¡°human-friendly¡± than I was.

    While taking a little bit of mental damage from this discovery, we vaulted over the castle gate and snuck into the old castle.

    I tried to jump over by myself, but Onzada-kun held me in a princess-carry.

    Then again, I¡¯ve been held like that ever since I was young by plenty of people regardless of age or gender, so there¡¯s really no feeling of freshness anymore. ¡­¡­ It¡¯s just that I feel a tiny twinge of nostalgia for sitting on father¡¯s knee.

    As Geas opened the door leading in from the castle courtyard, the air smelled faintly of dust and mold.

    ¡°There are footprints.¡±

    ¡°The royal families of the dark elves and the beastmen entered. It seemed as if they were looking for something left behind by the king of the demons in order to take the throne.¡±

    ¡°I ate them.¡±

    You ate them?

    Well, it¡¯s not as if I cared about such things in the first place, so I strode into the depths of the castle, following the footprints.

    Although it was dark in here, it had no relation at all to the darkness of demons that were born in the abyss. That is¡­¡­ except for me.

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Milady is glamorous as always.¡±

    There were no more kind words as I ran face-first into a massive wall as we turned the corner.

    Even though it was dark, I stupidly didn¡¯t slow my pace at all, and while it certainly left no lasting damage, it hurt a bit?

    ¡°Does milady have no night vision?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Why do the two of you have it?¡±

    It that it? Is it because I¡¯m awkward?

    ¡°¡­¡­ Haah. I¡¯m almost at the time limit, so I¡¯ll guide you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­?¡±

    And with an almost comical pomf, Onzada-kun turned back into a rabbit stuffed-toy.

    It seems like we¡¯d hit the time limit for his humanization.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    Onzada-kun, who was glowing faintly in the dark, beckoned me forward and led me, lighting up the footprints to show me the way.

    [Laplace.] The rabbit that led Alice into wonderland.

    Some of his spec was exactly as I had ¡°set¡± them, but I¡¯m glad that Onzada-kun¡¯s kindness let him do more than just that.

    ¡°¡­¡­Here is?¡±

    As I headed down to the basement, I could make out something that looked like an altar that faintly glowed.

    ¡°Yes, it was here that Lady Nefi and Rimi learned the [Original Secret Art]. In order to activate it, the blood of the royal family which has the bloodline of the Hero is necessary, and we left behind some of the royals¡¯ blood that we used previously just in case.¡±

    ¡°Blood¡­¡­?¡±

    Geas presented me with a perfume bottle filled with a jet-black liquid.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s not rotten, right?

    I was confident that if I opened the lid and smelled something foul, I would throw up, so I started examining the altar first.

    There were some ancient etchings, but the contents of these weren¡¯t much different from what Geas had said.

    But, just how was the blood of the hero drawn out? How as this eligibility being determined? Was it some sort of mechanism to read genetic information?

    It might be possible to read an individual¡¯s magical wavelength, but as far as blood was concerned, it was impossible since magical wavelengths differed from parent to child.

    Could this possibly be¡­¡­ some sort of attribute?

    ¡°¡­¡­hmmm¡±

    Gathering a bit of energy, I made a small scratch on my left finger with my [Crimson Claw] on my right index finger.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ow.¡±

    I think it was my imagination that Onzada-kun had a slightly disappointed look on his face even though he was a stuffed toy.

    ¡°Oh, and Lady Nefi and Rimi said that you could use their blood¡­¡­¡±

    You should have told me that in the first place. No, wait, I can¡¯t do that to little children. If this wasn¡¯t enough, I was going to use the rotten blood.

    I knelt down slowly and rubbed a little of my blood-stained fingers on the letters of the altar.

    ¡°Ooohhh¡±

    As Geas exclaimed out, the altar activated, and the etchings began to shine.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as before?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±

    [¡­¡­¡­]

    ¡°No, wait, Onzada-dono says that the letters are shining brighter than before¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    How in the world are the two of you talking to each other?

    As good as it was, given the technology of the magicians in the world and considering the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] that I¡¯ve obtained, reading the genetic information shouldn¡¯t have been possible.

    So I thought that the key to it was [Magic Power] and [Attributes].

    Thus, when they said that they needed the blood of many sacrifices, I considered that what they were after was in fact the [Pure Magic Power] that was obtained from the soul present within that blood.

    But if it was merely pure magic, Geas or Onzada-kun should easily have managed it. Therefore, that¡¯s not enough ¨C you also needed the hero¡¯s [Light Attribute].

    Even though it had the same attributes as my human self, Geas and the rest didn¡¯t have it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­ eh? Wait, does that mean that it would have started up if I had hit it directly with [Sacred Magic] even if I hadn¡¯t used my own blood?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­Is that the passage through?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡±

    As I gave up on pursuing those deep thoughts, Geas didn¡¯t probe further. What emerged was a passageway that lead within. At this point, I couldn¡¯t care less about the details now.

    The First Hero had left something behind here.

    ¡°Stone monuments?¡±

    As we entered, there were stone monuments with glowing letters that flanked both sides of the passageway.

    Written on all of them was the story behind the creation of this country of darkness. All of the secret arts that had been used in those days.

    The further back one went, the more detailed the information was, and the more dangerous the techniques detailed.

    [¡­¡­¡­¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. This is the limit for us.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ okay.¡±

    The sacred barrier that had been laid in layers was getting denser as we went deeper.

    For humans, it seemed as if having a strong light-attributed magic power would let them go deeper? Or perhaps you couldn¡¯t return without the power of a hero?

    Ordinary demons and monsters who didn¡¯t have the light attribute would be repelled by the barriers. A high-ranking demon would be able to forcibly push their way in, but the stone monuments wouldn¡¯t have survived the impact.

    Something that would rather be extinguished, than be used by evil¡­¡­ huh? How thorough.

    Is there something behind that was that dangerous?

    ¡°¡­¡­nn?¡±

    In the middle of the passageway, I found something that described a [Phantom Beast Humanization Art].

    This was the method that Rinne and the rest used to humanize. So that¡¯s as far as the twins managed to go. If I examined it a bit more closely, I could spot their small footprints.

    H~~mmm¡­¡­ This method was fundamentally different from the method that demons used to incarnate as humans.

    It feels as if you would have to seal yourself with your own power? It wasn¡¯t that much of a problem for the Beast-Demons like Geas who had little magic, but it didn¡¯t suit Rinne at all.

    Reading the details, it¡¯s obvious that there were some very tearful efforts to transform a companion monster into a beautiful girl¡­¡­

    However, the method is still interesting.

    For the time being, I¡¯m going to just quickly browse through it and then go on ahead.

    ¡°¡­[Let there be light]¡­¡±

    Gently releasing the sacred light, the stone monuments¡¯ carving all lit up, glowing all the way down the passage.

    It appeared to record the diary of the first hero or something like his monologues.

    It was also slightly embarrassing to read through the feelings he held when he was building this nation and the dreams he wanted to achieve.

    Hmmm, because it¡¯s so embarrassing to read, I didn¡¯t actually read it that carefully?

    The person who¡¯d created this might have lived not only in a different world, but in a different era entirely. There were elements of freedom and equality, which were philosophical ideas that were definitely less than a thousand years old.

    But¡­¡­

    Paired with being this [Demon King ] and ruling them with fear for a hundred years, if he¡¯d had a decent education, it shouldn¡¯t have happened this way¡­¡­ I think.

    ¡°An idealistic hero¡­¡­?¡±

    And as I reached the end of the passageway, an enormous stone monument stood before me.

    No, this ¡­¡­¡­ this is¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­A Contract¡­¡­¡±

    A contract for a [Skill System] that he had established with all of the [Greater Spirits] of this world.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ A replica.¡±

    It would be utterly surprising if this was the original, but a mere Copy was meaningless to have.

    Still, the information written on it is the real deal. The conditions for acquiring certain skills, the considerations in doing so, and how new skills should be handled should they arise were well documented.

    In addition, since all of it was written in the [Spirit Language], if I inserted my magic power into it, it would still have some effect even if it was just a replica. This castle might have been built just to channel magic into this.

    When I examined it closely, there was a certain part of the text that was strange.

    It was as if someone had been forced to re-write certain parts of an English passage into German with nothing more than a dictionary.

    Hohoh¡­¡­ Because of this stone monument being in the center here, it seems that even creatures not covered in the contract, like Demons, could gain skills.

    ¡°¡­wai-¡­ what is this?¡±

    As I read on, I found something that was slightly less interesting.

    It¡¯s true that it was a ¡°contract¡± where neither the spirit or the contractor was at an advantage, but if you factored this in¡­¡­

    ¡°Rinne can¡¯t possibly ever humanize¡­¡­¡±

    What we were trying to do was to find our own way, one that wasn¡¯t okay to get disturbed by someone else.

    This world had been distorted by someone¡¯s ideas. Even the spirits who should have corrected it had been played without their knowledge.

    And if this were allowed to continue, then this world would repeat the same mistake as that of Earth.

    So¡­ Because of that, I was able to enter into this ¡°world¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ fufufu, I just thought of something interesting.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    A lot of exposition this chapter

    Next time, another person¡¯s perspective. What did Yuru come up with?

 CH 160

    Volume 8, Chapter 18: Demon Lord, Part 1

    A few days have passed since the golden saint disappeared.

    However, the only people who were in a real panic were some of the officials from Sail, who were upset that they were unable to use the leverage of having both the [Hero] and the [Saint] as billboards to push their own agendas, and the general soldiery. Otherwise, it seemed that everything was calm¡­ at least on the surface.

    At first, the retinue of the Saint and her young followers were in a flurry of activity searching for her, but as time went on, the other countries present all began to move behind the scenes to try to draw them into their own nations.

    It was clear that the battle lines weren¡¯t tense enough.

    After all, it wasn¡¯t the first time that a human-controlled region had fallen to the forces of darkness in history.

    The forces of darkness weren¡¯t as powerful as those of the light, and no matter what special circumstances happened in the past, the occupied areas had always been recaptured in about half a year.

    To those humans who were in the upper class, it felt more like a board game.

    Even when they attacked, they wouldn¡¯t chase them too far in. And whenever they attacked, they would retreat quickly.

    Because of the long history behind this war, it had become something like a ¡°strategy game¡± where the outcome could be predicted to some extent from the outset.

    Each and every one of them moved not for victory, but under their own speculations.

    Each country that had participated in the war had already begun moving to shape the post-war period and were having little skirmishes with each other to improve their own war contributions.

    There were a lot more that were wounded because of that than because of the actual war, which benefitted the forces of darkness, but the forces of darkness were also doing the same thing.

    The occupying force, eerily enough, hadn¡¯t moved much at all, barring a few extremists, but in their home base of the great cavern, a massive army that numbered greater than a million was on the move.

    However, this entire force hadn¡¯t been moved to reinforce the occupying army, nor had it been assembled to invade another human state to take advantage of their carelessness. No, it was moved purely on the speculation of a single Princess.

    ¡°How long has it been¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been about two days.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re running late. Move the plan forward by half a day.¡±

    Nefertia, First Princess of the dark elves, issued her orders while she rode upon the back of an Earth Dragon, whilst sweat beaded upon her knight and foster sister¡¯s forehead.

    It would be appropriate to have called this a death march.

    It was impossible to move this huge army of Dark Elves, beastmen, and monsters without being noticed by the human powers or the other forces of darkness.

    Moreover, because this army had been assembled impromptu by Nefertia through her charm and guile, it was a ragtag army that didn¡¯t coordinate well with each other.

    Nonetheless, Nefertia had a reason to rush.

    ¡°¡­¡­ those children are still alive.¡±

    Nefertia bit her nails when her ladies-in-waiting could not see.

    The twins who had been exiled to the human state with the Second Prince of the beastmen, who ought to have died, were still alive. They had also easily occupied the human nation with ease, suffering close to no losses to their armies.

    Just how had they done it? How had they managed to assemble such a fearsome officer corps and army?

    The beastman prince was a child too, and not much different from the twins. So why were all these officers and soldiers following the orders of these child royals who were only commanders in name?

    Whatever the reason was, what was true was that the twins had defeated a human nation.

    Nefertia had entrapped her brothers in her efforts to become king.

    It was good that the first and second princes died when they fell for her plots, but the twins that seemed like they were favored by the current king survived.

    Her father might have been happy with her otherwise.

    Nefertia had only tried to get rid of the twins as a ¡°just in case¡± measure.

    If they were able to distinguish themselves with war merit, though, it was entirely possible that their father might once again turn his eyes towards the two of them.

    To prevent this potential threat from arising, Nefertia had to kill them.

    And so, she set out to get rid of them.

    As soon as possible. No more acting through others, but by her own hand this time.

    For Nefertia, the war with the humans was nothing more than a game being played for their self-satisfaction.

    She had only one ambition. It was to ascend to the throne, subjugate all of the other races, and then reign supreme, obeyed by all.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Half a day is not enough. It has to be faster¡­¡­kyaa!?¡±

    The sudden jolt of the earth shocked Nefertia into screaming.

    ¡°Princess, are you hurt?¡±

    ¡°WHAT HAPPENED!?¡±

    As a maid rushed up to her, Nefertia shouted out impatiently even as she heard a shriek coming from a good distance away.

    *

    The Hero of Wind, who hadn¡¯t yet arrived, and the other three heroes, had all begun to move for their own goals.

    The first to move was the hero of flame, Minkichi.

    What she wanted most was ¡°enjoyment¡±. Although, in her case, it was paired with the ¡°anxiety¡± of being abandoned by the world that stuck deep in her heart.

    ¡°Hyahahahahaha! Kill! Screw them!!! ¡°

    It wasn¡¯t a very hero-like remark, but that was about par for Hero Minkichi.

    Minkichi had secretly bet that it would serve as a form of ¡°inspiration¡± for the soldiers to scream like this if all the violence was only being directed at the enemy.

    On the battlefield, a crazed warrior would sometimes be honored as a hero.

    Especially given that there was no [Saint] about now that needed to be protected, for all of those soldiers who had fought up to the very limit of their spirits, Minkichi would look like a battle maiden.

    Minkichi understood that some fame was necessary to push out the unease she¡¯d been suppressing.

    Her supposed purpose was to gain fame enough to act however she wished, but she covertly had wanted to kill off that annoying [Saint]¡¯s ¡°followers¡± she had brought along while making it look like it was just a normal fight between them.

    Since Minkichi couldn¡¯t go all out in that tiny castle, she wanted to kill off that little girl Fannie who had humiliated her and taken away all the people Minkichi had brought with her to harass the Saint.

    And so, for the first time, Minkichi felt better. ¡­¡­ And if she was right, the other two heroes would also be feeling the same way.

    Minkichi had originally intended to shave away at the power of the Hero of Water and the Hero of Earth, even to the point of treating her previous objectives as mere fronts.

    They were heroes, existences who had been tied together by fighting together, and as accomplices who had killed one of their companions.

    Minkichi intended for not only the hero parties, but also their support units, to die in this war.

    ¡°¡­¡­Fufu, what an idiot¡±

    Besides Minkichi then there were those people who kept hiding below ground and followed her.

    The hero of Earth, Kanzo, and her party.

    The battleground that had been ravaged by gunpowder and magic was of an equal size to the Hero of Earth¡¯s domain.

    Kanzo spread out her power evenly over the entirety of the battlefield, and by molding the softened earth, she stripped the enemy of their mobility and achieved great war merit.

    However, Kanzo did not discriminate in this current battleground. Even if it disadvantaged the human forces, who should have been allies, it wasn¡¯t worthwhile for her to do such unflashy things on this spectacular stage where all of the other heroes were rampaging about.

    She and Minkichi were polar opposites, and yet their reasons were similar.

    They did it for the fame. If it didn¡¯t earn fame, don¡¯t do it. It¡¯s just that.

    Kanzo followed behind Minkichi while hiding underground.

    It was all to get the best magic gem possible.

    When the battlefield would be exhausted, where nobody¡¯s eyes would reach. But until that scene, she came quietly¡­¡­

    Kanzo¡¯s pastime was living like a young maiden.

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem at all. Please keep monitoring.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes¡±¡±¡±

    As Kyoji, the Hero of Water, issued instructions, the spies that he had trained scattered themselves.

    The battlefield was the game board, and the soldiers were the pieces.

    Kyoji had taken the war in hand from the very beginning, and controlled not only Sail¡¯s army, but also the armies of all of the eastern nations and was manipulating them at will.

    There was no room for either love or mercy.

    From the very beginning, Kyoji¡­¡­ had no feeling of anxiety at all ever since he had faced down that monster as Keiji.

    No matter how brilliantly the others shone on the battlefield, he would always take the head of the enemy general.

    Fame was born not of the few who were on the battlefield, but from the families awaiting the soldiers¡¯ return in their home countries.

    His first objective was to rise to the top of the world.

    And the next was to rule it from behind a screen.

    But that was all a lie that Kyoji used to fool the idiots into following him.

    He really just wanted to own everything.

    Everything¡­¡­ yes, he wanted it *all*, including the world.

    The forces of light and darkness, the humans, the nations, these were all small things. He wanted it all, including the world of spirits and fairies.

    Some people once asked, ¡°What will you do once you get everything you wish¡­¡­?¡±

    To Kyoji, there was no question more foolish than that one.

    If it existed, he wanted to own it. And once he got it, he would break it. After breaking it, he would remake it. And then the cycle would repeat itself.

    For the sake of being that [King], everything, including this world, was nothing more than a game for him.

    ¡°Sefira, did you manage to find where that person went?¡±

    As Kyoji asked that question, Sefira quietly knelt down before Kyoji.

    ¡°Yes, Lord Kyoji. That person went into the very center of the forces of darkness, within the great cavern.¡±

    ¡°Will there be any problems?¡±

    ¡°It was impossible for me, but Lord Kyoji, you should have no problems whatsoever. The way to your [Kingship] is open.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Kyoji laughed at Sefira¡¯s foolishness in his heart, even as he lightly stroked her cheek and gazed upon her face.

    It had been ten-odd years since he had fallen into this world. And finally, the path to his kingship approached.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°Did you manage to find the Saint?¡±

    ¡°No, ¡­¡­¡­I¡¯m sorry. I have no clue¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    For Kyoji, neither the war nor the powers of light and darkness nor the other heroes who were his match in fighting power were enemies.

    For Kyoji, there was only one ¡°enemy¡±.

    The irregular in the world. Coming in from a strange world, an unknown quantity with unknown knowledge that was under no-one, whose influence swelled with the knowledge it gained from this world, just like that monster he met on terra¡­¡­ All of these were things that made Kyoji jealous.

    That otherworld Saint, Yurushia.

    What was she thinking? He didn¡¯t understand how she worked at all.

    What she did, ¡­¡­ no, he couldn¡¯t even predict what she was going to do.

    It made the same impression as that monster called ¡°Yuzu¡± that had traumatized Kyoji.

    ¡°Continue your search. This is our top priority.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Kyoji!¡±

    And with that, Sefira nodded seriously and left¡­¡­ and the moment she turned her back on Kyoji, a tiny smile crept onto her face.

    And then¡­¡­ it suddenly happened.

    ¡°Wha-!?¡±

    ¡°Haa!?¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    All three heroes suddenly shouted out from where they were, spread out across the battlefield.

    They heard the screaming of the soldiers. There was some strange irregular black things wriggling on the battlefield.

    They ran across the battlefield, attacking and scattering the forces of light.

    But it wasn¡¯t a normal part of the forces of darkness. The darkness who were on the battlefield attacked everyone else but themselves, including Nefertia¡¯s army that planned to strike at them from behind.

    It looked like both a human and a beast. Anything living was considered its enemy.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Demons¡­¡­¡±

    Someone uttered the phrase.

    They were something that only existed in fairy tales, that had almost never appeared in this world.

    They were the natural enemy of all living things that evoked the primeval [Fear] that was rooted at the core of humanity.

    The [Demons] that were the nightmare of thousands suddenly bared fangs in the ¡°real world¡±.

    ¡°Retreat!¡±

    Kyoji¡¯s shout was drowned out by the screaming of the soldiery, and the battlefield that should have been a board game turned into a hellish pandemonium filled with screams of horror.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What is that¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Someone spoke out again. It might have been Kyoji, or Kanzo, or Minkichi.

    An enormous black beast with the body of a bear with bull¡¯s horns the size of a mountain emerged from the dust clouds of the battlefield.

    As the very image of despair set in¡­¡­ some of the soldiers stopped fleeing altogether and sank to the ground, unable to move.

    But that was not the true despair. The real [Fear] was of the thing on top of that behemoth.

    ¡°¡­¡­ the Saint¡­¡­but how?¡±

    A girl in a platinum dress that stood on top of the behemoth.

    Everyone, from the soldiers to the officers to the heroes, knew that figure.

    It was the golden saint that had come from another world.

    But was that girl truly a Saint?

    The Saint, who had always had a soft smile, wore no such expression now. Her face only radiated a terrifying beauty that chilled to the bone.

    The golden hair, that symbolized the golden saint¡­¡­

    It had turned into black hair as it lengthened to her feet.

    And as they saw the black Saint, the thousands of demons who had been rampaging across the battlefield all stopped, prostrating themselves to bow before her. It was then that the rest of them all realized.

    A true [Demon Lord] had eaten the heart of the kidnapped holy maiden, and descended upon this world.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The heroes are all rotten.

    Next time, the behind-the-scenes!

 CH 161

    Volume 8, Chapter 19: Demon Lord, Part 2

    The battlefield fell into chaos.

    The general soldiery, who had been uneasy over the missing [Saint] began to despair and flee in terror.

    Riding atop of the behemoth, the Black Saint had black, velvety hair, and had an escort of Demons that numbered in the thousands.

    The natural enemy of all living things.

    They were an existence that lived only to destroy the world, not even bothering to conquer or rob, nor creating anything at all.

    The ¡°souls¡± of the people instinctively understood that this was a being that was fundamentally incompatible with the world.

    That which would bring the Apocalypse¡­¡­ the true [Demon Lord] had descended upon them.

    As the cold, emotionless beauty gently raised her hands toward the sky, dark clouds gathered, turning the bright day into an overcast night.

    As the uneasy people stared towards the sky, *drip*¡­ *drip*, a bone-chilling ¡°black rain¡± began to fall. (TL Note: The reference here is too important to miss: black rain in Japanese refers to nuclear fallout rain, where the rain is turned black because of the radioactive ash thrown up into the air by the force of a thermonuclear weapon. It¡¯s a horrific cultural memory.)

    ¡°Hya, ah¡­¡­ hurgk¡±

    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    ¡°T-Toxic rain ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    The black rain began to paint the battlefield. The soldiers who were struck by it all began to shiver and turn blue, faces contorting in anguish.

    It wasn¡¯t unbearably painful. It wasn¡¯t a pain that would break minds.

    And so they all thought it was some sort of poison, and recognized it as a clear act of malice, and their despair seeped through the pain.

    ¡°All forces, retreat!!!¡±

    The Hero Kyoji shouted out the command, and the officers and soldiers who heard him began to withdraw as quickly as they could, whilst those who didn¡¯t began to rush to flee anyway.

    Command had collapsed. It was an ugly rout where every man fled for himself, completely unbefitting professional soldiers ¨C and yet, it saved their lives.

    The Demons did not pursue them despite the wonderful opportunity.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­¡­kuh!¡±

    Kyoji glared at the Demonic host that was tormenting him in irritation.

    The Demons who hadn¡¯t moved an inch up until this point suddenly parted to two sides, and turned their heads to roar at the heavens like beasts.

    ¡°Run, you fools! Hurry!¡±

    From elsewhere, the panicked voice of the Hero of Earth, Kanzo.

    As the Hero-class and several warriors who hadn¡¯t lost heart looked back, the behemoth that carried the Black Saint opened its mouth, erupting with a roar that shook the very atmosphere.

    [GUUUUUUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!]

    In that instant, a huge shockwave overturned the ground itself, the earth erupting in clouds of dust and clods of dirt, blowing away everyone from the blast.

    In that dusty haze, some of those who had been blown away and buried halfway into the earth staggered to stand and help their fellows.

    ¡°¡­¡­ oi, what¡¯s that¡±

    ¡°Wha-what in the world¡­¡­¡±

    The battlefield upon which they had been fighting on had vanished, leaving only a crater.

    Is this what a [Demon Lord] was¡­¡­?

    Up until now, there had been many self-proclaimed Demon Lords, and some who had been named as Demon Lords because of their heinous acts.

    But everyone could feel that this thing was a fundamentally different thing.

    Could humans even resist such a foe¡­¡­?

    Was there no hope for this world?

    There was the Hero, who was supposed to be humanity¡¯s hope and its [Sword]. But¡­¡­ at the very least ¡­¡­ if the Saint that had fallen to darkness was here¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­That¡¯s¡­¡±

    Someone was muttering.

    In the midst of the battlefield where all of human despair was on show, there were still those whose hearts had not yet broken, who were trying to figure out what was happening.

    Toward that terrible scene of destruction that lay before her, they could see that the eyes of the expressionlessly cold and doll-like Black Saint were shimmering slightly as if she was grieving¡­¡­

    As they withdrew from the battlefield, talk from those who had seen it began to spread, and rumors abounded that the Saint had not completely fallen to the darkness. People began to speculate and grieve for the Saint that had been kidnapped by the Demons and then forcibly turned into a vessel for the Demon Lord, and a small hope began to bloom in their hearts.

    * * *

    ¡°Thank you for all the good work, everyone!¡±

    After confirming that all of the troops that could see me had withdrawn, I returned to [Lost Eden] and took a breather, taking off the black wig.

    ¡°It must have been hard on you, Lady Yurushia. Fannie is preparing your tea over there.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Tina.¡±

    I handed the wig off to Tina with my thanks while I walked over to the table where the I could smell the aroma of tea being prepared.

    ¡°It¡¯s well done, but a bit too warm.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Because it¡¯s prepared with the heat of my love¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    I don¡¯t get it.

    The long black hair was a wig made from Tina¡¯s hair. When I took hold of it at first, it was a small blonde wig, but the moment I shifted roles into being a villain, it suddenly turned into that body-length black hair and surprised me.

    Tina had prepared a towel for me, so as I wiped my eyes free of the dust, Tina spoke to me.

    ¡°Shall I prepare eyedrops?¡±

    ¡°Eh, we have those?¡±

    ¡°It seems that such things exist in the city. Geas has purchased some.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Eyedrops were being sold, huh.¡±

    The transmigrators from Terra really didn¡¯t care about not being shameless.

    Still, I am thankful for it and will use it. When Geas blew up the ground, the dust rose in great clouds, causing my eyes to tear up.

    Geas has also turned back into a teddy bear again after forcibly turning back into his monstrous form and has been following behind me for a while now.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. I didn¡¯t actually turn into a [Demon Lord].

    First of all, Demons and a Demon Lord are very different things.

    Demons were a part of the world, so if they destroyed the world, they would be removing the source of their own meals.

    That¡¯s why the real Demon Lord only appears when the world is about to end, and anything else is definitely 100% a ¡°self-proclaimed Demon Lord¡±.

    The entire purpose of this whole farce was to find a certain thing.

    In order to rid the world of this sloppy trickle of a war, and push all of them into dire straits to use that thing.

    So as a result of those varied considerations, I wanted to clean up all of the problems I¡¯d been making in one fell swoop, so it turned out this way.

    As a result of a combination of summoning the maid duo, Tina and Fannie, giving instructions to Noa and Nea, and forcibly injecting magic back into Geas to transform him into his monstrous form, I was quite tired.

    There¡¯s just so many things to do¡­¡­¡­

    Originally, I was going to advance all of my plots slowly, but I didn¡¯t want to spend all that free time thinking about Rinne.

    ¡­¡­geh, besides wanting Rinne to manifest earlier, I also gradually missed Mother and Father more and more?

    Ah, and even after only half a year in this world, I tired of it.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation?¡±

    ¡°One moment, please¡­¡­ Right now, Nea is on their way back, so they will report directly.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Tea first, then?¡±

    ¡°Yes~, Lady Yurushia, your souls are waiting for you.¡±

    As Fannie brewed up a tea with too many souls in the spirit of trying to replicate a beef bowl (but of magic power), Nea emerged out of the darkness, fresh from commanding on the battlefield.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, I¡¯ve returned.¡±

    ¡°Yes, welcome back. How¡¯s the damage?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡­ the Demon¡¯s attack this time around hasn¡¯t caused any damage to the humans at all.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    This time around, I¡¯d banned the killing of certain people: the heroes, or the ordinary soldiers who wouldn¡¯t be tasty at all even when eaten. I would pray for the happiness of those who died whilst collecting their souls, but I¡¯d prefer if more of them were left alive.

    I¡¯d told her that I would accept deaths of those who had exquisitely muddy souls, but nobody died?

    ¡°Ah, there were a lot of people who died because they were dragging down each other when they tried to flee. They were unworthy of collection, so I didn¡¯t bother.¡±

    ¡°I see. ¡­¡­well, that¡¯s alright.¡±

    Wouldn¡¯t the plan be crippled with such souls? Well, although it ended safely, to kill each other like that, these humans really are beyond saving.

    ¡°Well, leave alone those people who have many [Skills]. They will be useful in our plan.¡±

    ¡°I understand~¡±

    Nea smiled and saluted me in the Holy Kingdom fashion. ¡­¡­ You do understand, right? It¡¯s important.

    ¡°How are we looking overall?¡±

    ¡°This time around, we employed 400 of our regular Demons. There were also 1200 new recruits who manifested in monsters. They were given those souls as a signing-on bonus. In addition, 2700 [Lesser Demons (part timers)]were recruited from the nearby Demon World with a daily salary of 2 kilograms of seaweed and the promise of Lady Yurushia¡¯s live performance on their last day.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Nea.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I told you not to use my name without permission¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­ but brother said it was fine.¡±

    Noa¡­¡­ you little brat¡­¡­

    I previously allowed for a meet-and-greet handshaking session, but how did I end up being bait again? ¡­¡­ I guess it can¡¯t be helped, I¡¯m going to have to practice singing again.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Would you like a new dress made?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It can¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Have the Demons try their best to not kill indiscriminately. Fannie and Tina, you will help me here, but as for Nea and the rest, I¡¯ll have to trouble you all to take care of the human-tempting along with Touka and Mizuki¡¯s parties. I¡¯ll let Noa and Onzada-kun know too.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    For the time being, we¡¯re fully ready to go.

    Having some of them place on the finishing touches will work better than if I intervened personally.

    Well¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°I wonder who will be the first to fall into the ¡°trap¡±¡­¡­?¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, wielding people~!

 CH 162

    Volume 8, Chapter 20: Demon Lord, Part 3

    As the allied human forces pulled back their defensive lines in withdrawal to reorganize, their confusion subsided and the battle lines grew calm again.

    Despite the disaster, the human casualties were minimal.

    Still, that didn¡¯t mean that they could sleep relieved.

    Was that [Black Saint]¡®s presence really that of the true [Demon Lord]?

    From the eyewitnesses, they could feel the fear of something that fundamentally couldn¡¯t coexist with them deep in their ¡°souls¡±, whereas the various militaries were threatened by the sporadic attacks and pinned down in the battlefield without being able to retreat fully to their own countries.

    They couldn¡¯t forget about the forces of Darkness, too.

    That was the original enemy for which all of these soldiers had been gathered to fight. As it was right now, with that enemy called [Demons] in front of them taking up their attention, the allied forces were worried that the Forces of Darkness would attack them from the flank.

    But it seems that the Demon forces attacked the occupying forces of Darkness as well.

    It seemed like it was something of a siege situation at the capital at the moment, and as the new information trickled into the camp, the upper echelons of every country breathed easy for a moment.

    But, unbeknownst to them, a massive army of what could be called reinforcements for the forces of darkness was approaching at an alarming speed.

    However, the Demons did not fail to notice them.

    Coming from the land of the forces of Darkness to the place where the humans lived required them to pass through a labyrinthine cave system, but although they were nocturnal and had night vision, they were actually unable to see in pitch blackness unlike the Demons.

    Assaulted under the cover of darkness, half of the attacking forces of darkness were destroyed in the blink of an eye, and then scattered towards the human nations as if they had been guided there.

    They numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Although they numbered less than the sum total of the human nations¡¯ armies, the individual prowess of the soldiers of darkness was higher, and as soon as they regrouped, they would have been a sizable threat to the human states.

    Tribalism was the greatest enemy of a nation, and this was a terrible enemy that they had been fighting for thousands of years.

    It would have been the same for them as well, and so it shouldn¡¯t have been unusual for the hastily organized defensive lines to be tense when the battle started.

    Still, the one that they had to be the most vigilant of and deal with right now had to be the [Demon Lord] and her troops.¡¯

    At present, the Demon forces had been attacking only sporadically, and so the stalemate had been maintained. But the instant the Demon Army launched an all-out offensive, with both of them unable to move easily, there was a real fear that they would be annihilated without being able to put up a resistance.

    So. What could they do?

    The commanders of each country gathered to hold a meeting, but since all of the larger nations were self-serving their interests over the general good, nobody would give them an affirmative answer, whilst all of the smaller countries tried to push responsibility to the greater nations, insisting on their duty as superpowers as they all tried to protect their own national strengths.

    And hence, they could never come to a point. At the same time, the spy inserted into the Allied Operations Command to speak with Sefira, who herself was trying to make contact with the forces of darkness, and brought information that the Forces of Darkness¡¯ leaders were willing to meet with them.

    Some of them were wary of this early development, but ascertaining that it was the best course available, and that even in the worst case it would buy them time to deal with the [Demon Lord], they prepared an ambassador immediately.

    But still, there was a problem.

    The forces of darkness had specified the meeting location to be in the midst of their defensive lines, and only with a small number of people.

    It would have been best if they would have met over in the general headquarters, but since there had been a long history of betrayal, there was no chance that they would agree to it.

    At the start of the talks, the senior officials of every country were trying to get a seat at the table so that they could dictate rights, but the physical power of the Dark Elves and the beastmen were so great that there was a real possibility that they would be overwhelmed and forced into concessions.

    And so, the upper echelons of every nation vested their hopes in the three [Heroes] and entrusted them with the future of humanity.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s boring.¡±

    In a tent that had been set aside for her, Sefira bit her nails in frustration.

    This mysterious [Demon Lord] that was a completely unknowable variable had appeared all of a sudden.

    She too had felt that primal terror in her soul, but at the same time it represented a chance. If the [Heroes] that she guided defeated the [Demon Lord], the power and influence of the heroes would increase, and Sefira¡¯s plan would advance one step further.

    Creating a world of her own ideals. For that very purpose, Sefira had turned herself into a woman, guided various people, showing them the paths to walk so that the [Heroes] would eventually become true Heroes.

    What irked her was the presence of something that came in from outside of her calculations.

    One of them was the girl they called the [Golden Saint]. Although other individuals were occasionally summoned from other places than Terra, there had never been any such person like her, who wielded such influence and yet did not seek anything in return.

    She thought that she could have been left to her own devices, but then the girl vanished out of the reach of Sefira¡¯s designs, and the next time she was seen again, she had been devoured and turned into this [Demon Lord].

    What happened during those few weeks?

    She didn¡¯t understand. And so it wasn¡¯t of immediate interest.

    She cared not for these ¡°irregularities¡± that might have disrupted her plans.

    The truce between the forces of darkness and the forces of light had been brokered by a spy that had been sent in to help Sefira, and, in a sense, it was similar to what she had been hoping for, but it was only to be temporary.

    Humanity had not yet matured enough to build a fair and equitable world.

    And this was why Humanity needed Sefira¡¯s plan.

    If they would settle for such a half-baked peace like this, then they would not grow into the [True Heroes] that would guide all of humanity.

    ¡°¡­¡­ could I use it?¡±

    There was a movement in the general soldiers and militiamen.

    It had begun with the soldiers who had witnessed the tears of the [Black Saint], and was backed by some of the hero-class warriors, an [attempt to save the Saint from the clutches of the Demon Lord] had been started.

    At their center were a few younglings.

    They might not have wanted to be in the center of things, but after being summoned from Terra, they had been sheltered by the Saint, and taught how to live in this world. They¡¯d headed out into battle to help her, and seeing their enthusiasm, the soldiery began to warm to them.

    ¡°Excuse me, but could I have a minute?¡±

    Sefira called out to the little girl that was treating the soldiers in the barracks.

    ¡°¡­wha- me?¡±

    She seemed to be a water magician, and was using water magic instead of holy magic to clean, disinfect and dress wounds. The soldiers loved her dearly for her delicate skills.

    ¡°Yes, you. Miss¡­¡­ Mizuki?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah, yes, you¡¯re the one Yuru-chan was talking to, from the Allied Forces¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am Sefira.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m Mizuki¡±

    The two bowed to each other in turn like the salarymen of a certain country.

    Sefira took a closer look the girl named Mizuki.

    A girl who was timid but had a dignified look. However, in her eyes, she could see something that glowed. Checking her skills with [Greater Appraisal], Sefira could tell that even though it hadn¡¯t been a year since she had been summoned to this world, already she had few skills, but a remarkably high proficiency in them, like a ¡°specialist type¡±.

    It might have been her nature, too. It seems that Sail had thought that she had no potential as a [Hero], but in Sefira¡¯s view, there was a certain ¡°hero-class¡± nature about her.

    The other three otherworlders had also been trained, but it seemed that this girl Mizuki was head and shoulders beyond them.

    ¡°U, uh¡­¡­ what can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. ¡­¡­ did you treat all of these people alone? Won¡¯t your MP be in trouble?¡±

    ¡°ah, it¡¯s alright, there¡¯s the doctors too, so I¡¯m not alone. Besides, Yuru-chan has given me plenty of lessons in using my magic efficiently.¡±

    Mizuki, as if remembering her special spartan-like training, began pouring with cold sweat.

    ¡°Really? I¡¯m sorry about that girl¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! Yuru-chan can¡¯t possibly lose! We¡¯ll definitely manage to help her!¡±

    Mizuki¡¯s eyes suddenly changed in expression as she declared her intention to save the Saint, and all of the soldiers around her were looking at her with gentle eyes.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­ I see¡±

    Sefira smiled gently, and gazed long at Mizuki, convinced that she could be used.

    Leading people onto the right path ¨C that was one of the qualities of a true [Hero].

    It was also one of the things that not one of the heroes had.

    ¡°What would you do¡­¡­ if I told you there was a way to save Lady Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°eh!?¡±

    ¡°Here we go.¡±

    Sefira drew Mizuki out of the barracks with those surprising words.

    ¡°Uh, umm, what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°To save Lady Yurushia as you are now would be difficult¡­¡­ no, it would be difficult even if you had the other three Heroes.¡±

    ¡°B-but¡±

    ¡°But! You have hidden power. Given that you were raised by the Saint Lady Yurushia, you can definitely do it.¡±

    ¡°I-is that true?¡±

    Mizuki, staring at Sefira¡¯s eyes and listening to her voice, began to believe in her unsubstantiated words.

    Sefira¡¯s words sounded right. Sefira¡¯s words were believable.

    ¡°B-but¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. If you gain more skills, soon you will become stronger.¡±

    As Mizuki expressed her lingering doubts, Sefira smiled gently at her again.

    (¡­¡­ it doesn¡¯t show in the appraisal. I wonder if she¡¯s been blessed by some strange spirits.)

    Heroes received the blessings of the spirits of light and became Heroes by receiving the title of [Hero].

    For example, Kyoji was blessed by the great spirit of water, but it did not show in the appraisal, either.

    ¡°Now, come with me. I¡¯ll make sure that you get all the right skills.

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Excuse me for cutting in.¡±

    ¡°?!¡±

    Sefira jumped back a few meters, surprised at the sudden voice when she hadn¡¯t noticed the presence of anything there.

    ¡°Ah, you are¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ah, Noa-kun.¡±

    Mizuki, who had been staring blankly for an instant, noticed Yurushia¡¯s pretty boy butler and chirped out.

    ¡°Ah, yes, Yuru-chan is still¡­,¡±

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re also doing our best, so please be patient.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As she was suddenly interrupted, and Mizuki began to chat with Noa, Sefira gritted her molars.

    He was one of the Saint¡¯s attendants and servants and was probably a direct combatant.

    Sefira thought that some of Yurushia¡¯s power as a [Saint] was related to the strengths of these attendants. That¡¯s why she wanted to pull them away from Yurushia.

    These followers merited caution. But that was because there were four of them.

    With four attendants that were probably hero-class in strength, Yurushia had the power of a Hero as a Saint.

    But now, there was only one of them. And Sefira¡¯s ability was more effective in men than in women.

    ¡°Noa-sama, could you listen to my wish?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±

    As Sefira smiled at him, Noa smiled back.

    Soft, tender brunette hair. Although he was still a teenager, he had a cold beauty that dazzled just by looking at someone else.

    Even Sefira who had lost all carnal interest in humans had her head clouded, and as she shook herself free of that haze¡­¡­ she glimpsed for an instant a [Darkness] that boiled in the back of Noa¡¯s eyes like jet-black magma, and she tore her eyes away from his.

    ¡°¡­¡­n¡­o, Not¡­ it can¡¯t be¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I understand that you want to help Mizuki, but Milady has an educational policy in place for her, so would you please hold off for a moment?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Noa left, leaving Mizuki and Sefira with a chilling, creepy smile that caused Sefira to erupt with cold sweat herself.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The main character isn¡¯t present, so it¡¯s back to serious.

    Noa is not like the other three. Whenever Noa gets a turn it gets difficult for everyone else because Noa is peerless when he gets the chance to shine.

    Next time, the heroes move.

 CH 163

    Volume 8, Chapter 21: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 1

    Under the threat of the true [Demon Lord] that had been spoken of since time immemorial, a meeting between the forces of light and darkness was organized.

    Representing the forces of darkness was the First Princess of the Dark Elves, Nefertia, and the General of the Beastmen.

    The three heroes, Kyoji, Kanzo, and Minkichi, were the delegates for the forces of light.

    The other members of their parties, as well as the Dark Elven and Beastmen knights were also present, for a total of about 20 people per side.

    The meeting was set at a place close to the battle lines, and an awning was set up for the conference on an empty plain with nothing else within the range of a few kilometers. Since both sides had already swept the area with their armies, there was no possible way for either side to set an ambush.

    ¡°Ah, we meet for the first time, Heroes. It¡¯s an honor to meet you all.¡±

    Nefertia, who was widely acknowledged as the most beautiful of the Dark Elves, immediately began to push with her beauty.

    There were many elves who were beautiful, but against the full might of Nefertia¡¯s smile, even the general of a smaller nation would have been wrapped around her little finger in seconds.

    ¡°That is very polite of you. I¡¯m happy to see that the rumors about you, oh beautiful princess, was true.¡±

    The hero of water, Kyoji, didn¡¯t tic at all, but smiled back.

    It was too bad for her that these few were sitting opposite her at this meeting.

    Kyoji only saw the beauty of women as a tool, whereas Kanzo felt jealousy at their beauty, and as for Minkichi, popular women were her hated foes.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good¡­¡­¡±

    So, Nefertia changed tracks instantly. The only person here worth calling an ¡°enemy¡± at the negotiating table to her was Kyoji, so she let it fall flat.

    As a shrewd, skeptical dark elf, Nefertia had in her time as a royal disposed of many political opponents through cloak-and-dagger means, including with her words.

    The purpose of the meeting was ostensibly to establish a temporary ceasefire, but they were here now to discuss how long it would last, and how they would resolve problems, feel out how much the two could expect to cooperate with each other over their lack of knowledge.

    Even if the worst came to pass, they knew that they definitely needed to establish a ceasefire, but the humans sought to use the individually capable forces of darkness as a shield, whilst Nefertia sought out food and supply terms that were favorable to her.

    As the discussion wore on about various conditions, the generals of the beastmen and the other heroes gave their opinions, but Kyoji and Nefertia had very naturally been separated from each other.

    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding! It¡¯s humiliating to have to cooperate with you.¡±

    Kanzo stood up as he slammed his fist on the table.

    In order for them to confront the [Demon Lord] together, it was necessary to make a show of cooperating to the soldiery. It was needed to relieve their fears since the long-standing feud wasn¡¯t that easy to wipe clean from their minds.

    But Kanzo could not trust Nefertia. It was largely due to personal reasons, but also because of a ¡°woman¡¯s intuition¡±.

    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    But then, Minkichi that everyone thought would be the most antagonistic, piped up.

    ¡°¡­¡­you¡¯ll what?¡±

    ¡°What, Kanzo? Unlike you, I won¡¯t say things for my own indulgence. Think a little, you old coot.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll support Lady Minkichi.¡±

    The general of the beastmen, who had been swayed by Minkichi, grinned.

    ¡°You guys¡­¡­¡±

    Kanzo glared at the two of them as if seeing something unbelievable.

    For some reason, it felt very artificial to Kanzo, who was the hero of the North and the first amongst the heroes to have battle experience with the forces of darkness. But, the general whom she had given such a hard time to seemed as if he was trying to be cooperative at this desperate time.

    Especially given that this was a fight for the future of all beings that transcended race, it made Kanzo seem as if her opposition to this flow of events was purely emotional.

    There was a mountain of things that she wanted to say, but feeling the impossibility of persuasion, Kanzo fell silent. As Nefertia and Kyoji¡¯s eyes met, the ceasefire and cooperation agreements were rapidly advanced.

    ¡°¡­¡­Have you all gone soft in the head?¡±

    As the talks ended, Kanzo, who had returned to her tent, ran her fingers through her luscious hair in annoyance.

    Kyoji and Nefertia. Minkichi and the general.

    At first there had been this very strained atmosphere, but all of them changed their opinions eerily quickly, as if the meeting had already been concluded from the start.

    The wrongness she felt refused to go away. But disagreeing at this point would only compromise Kanzo¡¯s position and change nothing.

    For the sake of the future of mankind, she had to cooperate. It was ¡°evil¡± to oppose.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Just what are those two planning?¡±

    Kanzo trusted Kyoji and Minkichi as much as she did the forces of darkness.

    There was definitely something fishy. But when had this happened? They had just met.

    Unless, this was all playing into the hands of someone else behind the scenes¡­¡­?

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, someone wishes to meet with you¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­right now?¡±

    Kanzo frowned as her thoughts were disturbed by the voice of her subordinates calling to her from outside the tent.

    As a Hero, Kanzo had never let herself be interrupted by those people who wanted to meet her all the time. So if those guys had let this person meet Kanzo, it surely couldn¡¯t have been some nobody.

    ¡°Who is it? Some noble?¡±

    As she expressed her displeasure at having been interrupted, it seemed as if the person themselves had already arrived as he felt the presence of someone in the hero class outside.

    ¡°It¡¯s Noa, the follower of the Saint.¡±

    * * *

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡­ this, isn¡¯t the work of the Demon Lord, is it?¡±

    ¡°Work hard, Lady Yurushia.¡±

    While drinking the tea that Fannie had brewed for me, I battled a mountain of documents.

    ¡°¡­¡­ There¡¯s just so many.¡±

    Well, putting it briefly, I¡¯d asked Noa who had been moving around to give me a detailed report, so in came this massive number of documents.

    They numbered in the hundreds of sheets. It seems that Noa¡¯s terrible nature came out all at once.

    Looking through them, going through this terrible punishment game, I was rapidly stamping them with a potato seal, wait, why was it a potato-carved seal!?

    Furthermore, what¡¯s this inky substance? It¡¯s not the blood of Dark Elves, is it?

    It¡¯s true that a lot of my plans were being left to Noa to execute, but there were a lot more things to settle, and if I left it to someone else I would be having a hard time.

    What¡¯s this [Cow Beastman Fresh Milk Farm Plan]! Rejected! Rejected!

    ¡°¡­¡­ Princess, is it alright for me to be working so hard?¡±

    Onzada-kun was carrying a lot of documents in and out in his human form.

    These few days, because I¡¯ve been doing something like sending homing pigeon messages to Noa, I feel like Onzada-kun is getting gaunt.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Afterwards, I¡¯m going to add octopi and squid into the beastmen¡¯s specialty milk-wine. And tell Noa and Nea to go on ahead and start the second phase of the plan.¡±

    ¡°Yes~ ¡­¡­ roger.¡±

    As I gave him my maximum concession, Onzada-kun went back to work with a sigh.

    But¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada-kun certainly fits the look of someone who¡¯s destined to live poor.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    My work seems unlikely to end soon.

    * * *

    Just as the forces of light and darkness regrouped, the Demons attacked them both.

    They numbered about 3,000.

    Although it seemed to be too small a number for the two armies together that numbered over a hundred thousand, but for the Demons that handled magic freely, every single [Lesser Demon] was the equivalent of ten-odd soldiers.

    However, even the Demons that were capable of nullifying physical attacks would have lost to the human side with this kind of numerical disadvantage.

    The problem lay with the [Greater Demons].

    The Demons¡¯ abilities grew immensely with every rank.

    In particular, the [Greater Demons] were special individuals who had been ¡°manifested¡± by using special vassals and were all serious workaholics who worked all night despite their hunger.

    If you thought of their combat strength as equaling their magic power, then [Lesser Demons] would rate at about 500.

    The [Greater Demons] that were one stage higher was about 2000~3000.

    On the other hand the general soldiery were around 10, and even with the benefits of their skills, they didn¡¯t exceed about 50~100.

    However, battles weren¡¯t solely about status values. In reality, even if there had been a [Greater Demon], they would have been able to pin it down with about 30 soldiers with knights and commanders.

    But this was war.

    No matter how many much they overwhelmed the Demons, there were only tens of thousands who were actively able to fight them, and that 10-to-1 strength difference could not hurt them.

    The humans had the [Hero class] who could take on the [Greater Demons] alone, but there were only a few in each country, and they didn¡¯t have the numbers to beat the 1000 [Greater Demons].

    Still, the human forces did not give up.

    The forces of darkness, led by the general of the beastmen and Minkichi, bravely attacked the Demon army from the center and took down hundreds of Demons.

    But¡­¡­ there was a reason for their success.

    ¡°Hey, Noaa? Are you sure about this information?¡±

    The Hero of Earth, Kanzo, turned red while wriggling her large, two-meter tall body, even as she talked to the beautiful teenager dressed in butler clothing.

    Although it wasn¡¯t very pleasant to watch, Noa sat in that two-person love seat, touching the back of Kanzo¡¯s hand with a gentle smile.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you believe in me¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, no! That¡¯s not it, I absolutely believe in you.¡±

    Minkichi and the beastman general had obtained information from a certain source indicating that the Demons were losing control of the center and were going to attack certain places.

    Those locations were the camps of the Hero of Water, Kyoji, and the Dark Elves¡¯ Princess, Nefertia.

    If the information could have been corroborated, they would have gathered up the Heroes and the hero-class folk to land a solid blow to the Demon army.

    Even though Minkichi and the general of the beastmen knew this, in order to be rid of their political rivals, they had joined hands through the machinations of a ¡°certain person¡±.

    That information Kanzo had taken, along with her companion knights who had become collaborators since the Elder Lich¡¯s dungeon ¨C It was as if they had suddenly changed, and they took a back seat.

    Kanzo was on cloud nine.

    A long time ago, she had been rejected, but she had had that ¡°premonition about love¡± since the previous generation of the Hero of Wind.

    ¡°I can¡¯t forgive Minkichi.¡±

    Kanzo wished for all of them to go away as well, so he made a show of ¡°anger¡± in front of Noa after he¡¯d brought him the information.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like you said. It¡¯s all¡­¡­ ah, yes, there was something I wanted to give to you, Kanzo.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what would that be?¡±

    As Kanzo spoke, Noa smiled bewitchingly, and retrieving out something that looked like a bottle of liquid from his bosom, he passed it over to Kanzo.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This is¡­¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s face tightened as she saw it. It was what Kanzo had been requesting from that Golden Saint.

    ¡°It¡¯s a magic medicine that will make your dreams come true.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It¡¯s the first host.

    Next time, the Demon¡¯s trap closes on the Beautiful Hero.

 CH 164

    Volume 8, Chapter 22: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 2

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, news has come from Butler Noa and Ser Nea.¡±

    I raised my head at Geas¡¯ voice as he brought me steamed potatoes instead of my usual afternoon snacks as I plowed through the mountain of incomprehensible documents with my potato stamp.

    ¡°nn¡­? Is there an issue with plan¡¯s progress?¡±

    ¡°Nothing of that sort. But they said that the Hero of Fire Minkichi has been defeated in battle.¡±

    ¡°Heeh¡­¡­ that¡¯s very early.¡±

    I¡¯d certainly ordered Noa to do that, but I¡¯d thought that it would take him longer than that.

    ¡°We did plant information that Minkichi and the Beastmen were in a conspiracy, but apparently Kyoji used that information to make it seem as if she had betrayed humanity.¡±

    ¡°Kyoji, huh.¡±

    Well, I think that¡¯s all for him.

    ¡°But weren¡¯t those three heroes the ones who were all accomplices in murdering the ex-Hero of Wind, Yuuki? Betraying an accomplice again like that has to be dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It was quite a blitzkrieg, so I think they beat her down too quickly. Still, Minkichi seems to have escaped, but the Hero of Earth Kanzo has entered the battle and seems to be in pursuit.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Through Noa, I had given Kan-chan the potion to produce [Magic Gems].

    I thought that it would be interesting if Kyoji or Minkichi took advantage of the tumultuous battlefield, but Kan-chan seems to have taken this opportunity to legally kill Minkichi.

    That is, if that was a drug that really produced [Magic Gems]¡­¡­

    ¡°What¡¯s the battlefield situation?¡±

    ¡°The Beastmen army was somewhat destroyed by the combined forces of the Dark Elves and Kyoji, who are allied now. The general of the beastmen was killed, and their remaining forces have been absorbed into the Dark Elves¡¯. However, the betrayal of one of the heroes of mankind has sown confusion into the human forces, and now that Kanzo isn¡¯t there anymore, Kyoji has taken to the front.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess the hour is approaching?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be so.¡±

    Tina and Fannie popped up with the costume, stuffing their mouths with the remaining steamed potatoes.

    ¡°Milady, please.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Even though I call it a costume, it¡¯s really just a black wig that¡¯s long enough for it to touch and drag on the floor.

    ¡°Fannie, could you guide Minkichi and Kan-chan to that place? Tina, let Onzada-kun know.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°I hear and obey.¡±

    ¡°Well then, I guess it¡¯s time to start doing the work of a [Demon Lord]?¡±

    All of the Demons in [Paradise Lost] began to move at my word.

    Although nearly 3000 Demons had been going all out in their work, there were still more than a thousand [Greater Demons] here.

    After all, even the part-timers¡¯ wages weren¡¯t something to sneeze at, I couldn¡¯t have all of my regular full-timers work as much as I¡¯d like.

    ¡°Geas!¡±

    [GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!]

    In response to my magic power, Geas transformed from a human into his original [Demon Beast Behemoth] form. ¡­¡­¡­ That¡¯s a surprisingly huge reaction at being forced to transform again.

    Tina and Fannie opened the doors of [Paradise Lost], and over 1000 [Greater Demons] and the mountain-like [Behemoth] leapt into the battlefield of the human world again.

    ¡­¡­ after so long, I finally see the yellow sunlight again.

    * * *

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s the Demon Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±

    The battlefield was swept with fear and confusion when it appeared.

    The Hero of Fire had betrayed them and the Hero of Earth was absent.

    As if mocking their efforts to preserve the delicate balance, the Demon army rushed forth, and an enormous beast trampled over the battlefield.

    However, the people feared the lone girl on top of that mountainous beast more than either the thousands of Demons or even the gigantic beast itself.

    The Black Saint, who looked down upon them with a cold beauty from atop the head of the beast¡­¡­

    They were crushed by terror from the overpowering fear emanating from the true [Demon Lord].

    ¡°Do not be afraid! Yuru-chan has not yet fallen!¡±

    But there was the voice of a girl that echoed across the battlefield.

    Black of hair and eye. As the little girl named Mizuki called out, voices across the battlefield answered her call.

    ¡°Rescue our Saint!¡±

    ¡°Demon Lord, release the Saint!¡±

    The vast majority were all the sorliers and militiamen, but because of their sheer number, their momentum seemingly pushed the Demon Army away from them.

    Then, the deserters who were trying to run for their lives returned to march with them, leaving the command of their original armies.

    Of course, there were those who didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Who is that human!¡±

    Nefertia slammed down her cup of fruit liquor, watching the battle from the back of her riding dragon.

    It was all going so well.

    Conspiring with one of the human heroes, Kyoji, they had succeeded in assassinating each others¡¯ political opponents.

    She¡¯d even come to an agreement with Kyoji to continue a stable state of war after they defeated the Demon Lord.

    It was the [Hero] that would become redundant if the war disappeared, and because the royal Dark Elves would be in trouble with nothing to pillage, in a certain way, they could trust each other more than their allies.

    But if they couldn¡¯t defeat that [Demon Lord]it would all be for naught.

    For that reason, they had assembled their armies together on this side of the battlefield, not intending to use it at all until they were sure of victory.

    ¡°Kill that screaming girl on the battlefield. Do it now.¡±

    ¡°Y-yes!¡±

    Kyoji had the same idea as well.

    His purpose was different from Nefertia, but he saw Mizuki and her companions as a hindrance, and had tried having her assassinated multiple times, but all of his plans about her had been ruined by the attendants of the Saints.

    ¡°¡­¡­You obstruct my plans no matter where you are¡±

    When that obstructive [Saint] that he had hated for so long fell to evil, and became that [Demon Lord], it was out of his expectations, but he laughed from the bottom of his heart at the opportunity to be rid of her.

    However, even after that Saint became such a thing, she still hindered his plans.

    As he was about to rise to take action personally, one of Kyoji¡¯s subordinates came up to report.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°His Highness Fjord has come. There is something he wishes to directly tell you.¡±

    ¡°His Highness? Here?¡±

    Kyoji, who was kept his emotions well-schooled, asked.

    Some of the countries had their leaders personally taking the charge, but he highly doubted that Sail would let a 10-year-old boy who was first in line for the throne out here.

    Perhaps His Royal Highness who favored Lady Yurushia had suppressed the opposition from his surroundings and come, aided by his sister Bianca.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    The corners of Kyoji¡¯s mouth curled upwards, but the smile never reached his eyes.

    It was one of those plans that he never expected to come to fruition from the beginning, but if he played his cards right, it might be possible to be rid of that Mizuki girl, His Highness, and Yurushia together.

    Then he could get all of the wealth, fame, and status of this world, and push ahead with his plan.

    ¡°Then, accompany His Highness. Treat him with utmost courtesy.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Lord Kyoji!¡±

    And then, one of the soldiers rushed into the Kyoji¡¯s frontline tent.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Th-the Demon forces, they¡¯re attacking us all at once!¡±

    What had happened? How had it happened? As if ignoring the front-line soldiers, the Demons rushed straight for Kyoji¡¯s headquarters.

    Certainly, he had been told that they would hit his army, but, Kyoji had taken advantage of the information and used it to lay blame upon the beastman army, even labelling them as traitors.

    As if they had a grudge against Kyoji, when the soldiers heard that the attack was coming for them again, Kyoji¡¯s subordinates began to lose their composure.

    ¡°Kyoji!¡±

    ¡°Your Highness.¡±

    And as if by Murphy¡¯s Law, Fjord arrived.

    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s dangerous here. Please, retreat with me.¡±

    ¡°What is this talk! Lady Yurushia has been brainwashed by the enemy. Are you going to do nothing and run as a Hero?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­haah¡±

    Kyoji frowned slightly at His Highness¡¯ demands to save the fallen Black Saint, asking himself who had planted those words into the prince¡¯s head.

    ¡°If you say so, Your Highness. I heard you had a message for me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. It is a message from my sister. It says that the heroes are headed towards that place¡­¡­ that¡¯s all it said, so I wonder what it¡¯s about?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji fell silent at the unexpected contents of the letter.

    Bianca had a certain amount of knowledge as his accomplice in stealing from the country. But even then, he had never told her anything concrete about his plans, and Bianca¡¯s role in Kyoji¡¯s plan was merely as the necessary [Bloodline] for taking over Sail.

    How was she able to learn that information about the heroes going to [That Place] while she was back in the country?

    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡­ When did you hear this message?¡±

    ¡°Eh? It was this morning beside the magic storm. My sister wanted to call me with the magic tool, but it seems that the surrounding magic was so chaotic that she couldn¡¯t make the call.¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­¡±

    He would have liked to be able to ask her directly, but as Fjord said, ever since the [Demon Lord] had appeared, a storm of magic power had surrounded the region, and the communications magics they used was almost unusable on the battlefield.

    It was highly doubtful, but if the two of them were really headed there, it would put all of Kyoji¡¯s plans in jeopardy.

    (¡­¡­ the time has come).

    Just like he betrayed his master back on Terra, Kyoji made the quick decision to throw humanity away, and corrected the plan in his head.

    The fame and status of being a hero was something that he sought, but from where he was now, that was a mere blip on the map.

    In any case, it was only going to be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by the Demon forces, and that result just wasn¡¯t interesting, plus it wasn¡¯t such a bad time, either.

    ¡°Well then, Your Highness. Could I have you persuade Lady Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course!¡±

    Kyoji then used the prince as a decoy and left the battlefield with a few subordinates.

    Their objective was the center of power for the forces of Darkness. The ancient castle in the middle of the giant cavern.

    As the three [Heroes] left the battlefield, the dark forces and humans who had been abandoned were pushed back by the Demon army and put into a spot of trouble.

    At this point, it was no longer the generals of the country who were supporting this decimated army, but the forces that were trying to save the Saint, centered around Mizuki and her companions, who were being gradually driven into a corner.

    Would the human armies be brought down by the hands of the Demons?

    However, before the end could come someone appeared to lead the armies to rescue them from this crisis. It was the twin Dark Elven princesses, who had been forgotten on this battlefield, and were the original occupying forces of this country.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The war is almost over now.

    Next time, the decisive battle between the [Hero] and the [Demon]¡­¡­ will begin?

 CH 165

    Volume 8, Chapter 23: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 3

    ¡°Everyone, this isn¡¯t a time for us to fight each other.¡±

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s time to show those Demons the power of us all.¡±

    ¡°¡°Let¡¯s stand together and take on this threat to all of us!¡±¡±

    The voices of the little girls echoed out across the battlefield of despair.

    The soldiers of both the human nations and the forces of darkness stopped fleeing, and inspired by the beautiful girls and their dignity, began a counterattack.

    The millennia of prejudice was not easily dismissed. Yet, seeing these twin girls who looked no older than 5 fighting on this dangerous battlefield, the soldiers¡¯ hearts were lit with the ¡°thought¡± of a new era.

    Mankind would not lose to the Demon Lord or the Demons. In order to win their futures, the soldiers stood beside those they once called enemy, and confronted the common enemy of all together.

    ¡°¡­¡­ How did this happen?¡±

    Sefira stared out at this spectacle from the tents of the Allied Command.

    Far from their innate sense of superiority causing them to scorn each other, they joined hands to deal with this ¡°external enemy¡± called the [Demon Lord] and the [Demons], confronting them as one.

    It was, in a way, the ¡°peaceful world¡± that Sefira has been working towards.

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s different.¡±

    This was different from Sefira¡¯s goal of a [world where everyone was equal and kind].

    All this time¡­¡­ for the longest time, Sefira had tried to guide humanity. Having failed once, a long time ago, Sefira understood that she needed a certain ¡°something¡± absolute in order to lead the foolish human race into an eternal peace.

    It was supposed to have been within reach right now. That is¡­¡­

    ¡°I won¡¯t allow it to end this way¡­¡­¡±

    It was a play that was too good to be true.

    But at the same time, although it wasn¡¯t exactly her last card, Sefira had made contact with the Dark Elven Princess, Nefertia, and tried to get rid of the youngsters that the Saint had taken in. But then two young princesses suddenly appeared and censured her¡­¡­ and immediately after she seemed to have immediately pivoted her plans, the female knight in her entourage acted, and Nefertia lost her young life.

    Despite that¡­¡­ or rather, because of that, all of the forces of darkness had gathered under the twin princesses, and in a very real sense, they were now united with the human forces into one.

    ¡°¡­¡­ What happened?¡±

    Sefira felt as if she was being played for a fool by an enormous ¡°something¡±.

    As if everything had been ¡°foretold by a story¡±, the Demon Army was gradually being pushed back by the new combined forces.

    There was no [Hero] here on the battlefield who would have originally changed the tide of battle as expected by Sefira, and there were rumors and mysterious ¡°strange reports¡± that the Heroes had fled the battle.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And so, Sefira disappeared from the battlefield alone, quietly leaving without notifying anyone.

    She was headed to the one place where the heroes would gather to be guided.

    The final hope for Sefira¡¯s dreams ¡­¡­ [The Land of Origin].

    * * *

    ¡°Hey, how much further are you going to flee?¡±

    The hero of Earth, Kanzo, was following the traitorous hero of Flame, Minkichi, all the way into the caves of the mountain ranges that separated the human nations from the forces of darkness.

    Kanzo knew that Minkichi¡¯s betrayal had been the machinations of the Hero of Water, but Minkichi, who had been driven into a corner and could no longer pretend, had made her way here to get rid of the other two before they could pin the ¡°crimes¡± that they had all together committed in the past on her.

    But even as a Hero, Kanzo¡¯s party members were unable to complement her strengths as much as Minkichi¡¯s were, even as they pushed her here.

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, how about we split the party and pincer her here? I¡¯ve investigated the geography of this cave. If we do it right, pinning her should be possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Oh well.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why Minkichi went to that place in the middle of the forces of darkness, but it might be that there was some sort of weapon that was hidden by the forces of darkness there.

    Even in these labyrinthine caves that were so intricate that even the human forces could not invade this far, Minkichi¡¯s party had proceeded without hesitation, as if they were being guided.

    And then ¡­¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, if you say so.¡±

    In the past, she had been the party adjutant who had only superficially obeyed her, but ever since they had gone to the dungeon with the Elder Lich and met that Saint, she had become incredibly capable, as if the ¡°person¡± inside had changed, and become loyal to Kanzo.

    It seems as if it would be good to favor them once this fight was over¡­¡­

    (¡­¡­ No, I can¡¯t. I already have Noa, so cheating is no good.)

    Kanzo shook her head for a moment to clear her thoughts and then accepted the proposal of her trustworthy lieutenant.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. I will definitely dispose of Minkichi.¡±

    ¡°Sir!.¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s party split in two and pursued Minkichi.

    It would normally be incredibly foolish for them to split the party in this intricate cave system, but for Kanzo, the Hero of Earth, the [Hero¡¯s Secret Art] taught in Genble allowed hrr to sense where the location of her party was to some extent, even when separated.

    Although she didn¡¯t know where his adjutant had gotten this geographical information from, she moved to catch up to Minkichi¡¯s party.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wha!?¡±

    But the reactions of four people, including his adjutant, suddenly disappeared.

    For an instant, Kanzo suspected that Minkichi¡¯s party had beset them or that Demons in the caves had struck, but Kanzo¡¯s party members, including the adjutant, were all considerably well-known knights in Genble. It was impossible for them to simply disappear while moving without a fight.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Let¡¯s go to where they were last seen.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Sir!¡±¡±¡±

    The three knights with her were slightly upset with Kanzo¡¯s decision, but they acquiesced.

    And a few minutes after they weaved their way into the caverns¡­¡­

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­¡±

    One of the young knights who had been with the lieutenant was lying there in a gruesome state.

    ¡°Only one¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°What happened to them¡­¡­? This is¡­¡±

    The dead knight had a frozen expression of fear on his face, and his chest cavity was hollow, as if his heart had been eaten.

    Were there any monsters that could kill knights like this? Or had they been attacked by Minkichi, and then disguised to look as if they had been attacked by monsters? Looking at it skeptically, there was no way that this corpse hadn¡¯t been laid here as bait for a trap.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move out now. We¡¯ll go check out where the lieutenant disappeared.¡±

    ¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±

    ¡­¡­ She hadn¡¯t noticed it yet.

    Irritation rushing through her, Kanzo ran through the cave system.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    And once again, she found the body of another knight.

    This one had managed to draw his sword, but there were no markings on the blade nor scuffing, and the knight¡¯s head had been bent back over itself.

    ¡°Arrgh, just what is happening?! Let¡¯s go on.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Then Kanzo and the knight arrived at the location where the adjutant had disappeared.

    ¡°¡­¡­What is the meaning of this¡±

    There was a knight¡¯s corpse there as well.

    That knight had been one of the old-timers in Kanzo¡¯s party. A strong knight that could have been her lieutenant if his noble house had been high enough.

    He had died with an expression of great fear, crying like a child. How in the world was this happening? What the hell was going on in this cave?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ why¡±

    Kanzo finally realized that she was alone.

    Kanzo pulled her magical greatsword from its scabbard and became wary of his surroundings.

    ¡°¡­¡­there!¡±

    And with a momentary flourish, Kanzo swung the massive blade like a twig, and shot out a shockwave towards the darkness of the cave.

    *SCHWINGGGGG¡­¡­*

    It didn¡¯t sound like the sound of something being killed. It wasn¡¯t the sound of a rock being cut, either.

    It wasn¡¯t the sound of contacting something hard like a sword or armor, but rather that something had ¡°gently¡± accepted it.

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    It meant that whatever it was he was facing, it was at least of the Hero class¡­¡­ Kanzo thought that it was worth it to see something that was in the realm of [Heroes] like herself, and pretended to anticipate the enemy¡¯s move while casting her own buffing and support spells on herself.

    ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Sir Hero.¡±

    Even though it sounded mostly emotionless, she could still hear the carefree tone in the voice.

    A girl who had blonde coronet hair, who wore a pure white apron dress over a jet black maid¡¯s outfit that was even darker than the pitch black of the darkness, suddenly appeared as if she had been out on a walk.

    ¡°¡­¡­ y-you are¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±

    It was the attendant of the Golden Saint. Yurushia¡¯s sole lady-in-waiting. Tina.

    They were acquainted with one another, and given what she¡¯d heard about the abilities of his friend¡¯s attendants, there was no way that she was meeting here by coincidence.

    ¡°What are you doing here even though Yuru is in such a grave situation¡­¡­?¡±

    Her mistress Yurushia, who was too pure as a Saint, had been swallowed by darkness, and had become the [Demon Lord] that was the natural enemy of all creatures.

    Was it because of the ¡°sin¡± of humanity for waging war without end like this¡­¡­

    It was unclear how it had happened, but both that evil presence and that cataclysmic power were truly worthy of the name of Demon Lord.

    Tina and the rest of the attendants ought to have been fighting on the battlefield to save their mistress.

    ¡°Yep, my mistress will be rescued by the hands of Lady Mizuki and Touka, with the help of the lovely pets the twins.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­Haah?¡±

    It was a harsh statement, but Kanzo was far more disturbed by the distortion in her words.

    ¡°¡­¡­ And so, what are you doing?¡±

    Kanzo readied her greatsword and slowly moved to a more advantageous position for herself.

    A wide space where she could make full use of the greatsword. A place with things like soil or sand that would move more easily than rock¡­¡­ Even as she faced against Kanzo, who was being incredibly vigilant of her, Tina hadn¡¯t even budged or moved to put her hands out from the neutral curtsey that she maintained ever since she had appeared before them.

    ¡­¡­ no, it was strange.

    Kanzo was moving. But despite that, Tina, who hadn¡¯t even stirred was always facing Kanzo.

    ¡°What was I doing¡­¡­ that¡¯s right.¡±

    Tina tilted her head slightly as she heard Kanzo¡¯s question.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The time has come for Sir Kanzo¡¯s soul to be harvested.¡±

    The meaning of those words. Hearing Tina talk about him as if he were cherry tomatoes in the kitchen garden to be harvested, Kanzo unleashed the magic power that he had been storing up in a flash.

    ¡°As I expected, you were being possessed!¡±

    A single blow that borrowed from the power of the spirit of light. As the energy wave struck forth, Tina nimbly ducked away from it.

    ¡°¡­¡­ once again, small proves to be better.¡±

    If Tina had had Fannie-like chest armor, it might have grazed her.

    Even while Tina convinced herself of irrefutable fact, Kanzo, whose full-power blow had been readily dodged, gnashed her teeth, her lips pulling back.

    Kanzo thought that Tina had been tainted by that [Evil Power] just like Yurushia. She thought that those incomprehensible words she said was evidence of it.

    She was being possessed by a powerful [Evil], just like Yurushia had been turned into the [Demon Lord], so Tina was quite the threat, but she didn¡¯t think that she would lose.

    Those who were being possessed took a while to fall completely under the control of their possessor. For an existence like Yurushia, who was called a [Saint], corrupting her would threaten the world with despair, and it took more time to corrupt her, and this opened up a chance for them to save her.

    However, something was off.

    She thought that it was merely some sort of mistaken messaging because she was being forcibly controlled and not completely dominated, but Tina was saying that Yurushia was ¡°destined¡± to be rescued.

    ¡°¡­¡­ well, that¡¯s that. I¡¯m not going to bother saving you!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You don¡¯t understand.¡±

    As Kanzo wielded his sword and cast while shouting, Tina tilted her head to the side while she dodged.

    *BANG!*

    And Kanzo, who had been fighting as a hero for well over a decade, finally caught up to Tina, but Tina formed a fist of magic power and deflected the blow.

    ¡°You monster! As I expected you were the one who killed my companions!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The left hand that was used to block the sword was scorched by the power of the light, and Tina knitted her pretty eyebrows.

    Tina was surprised to find that she had been scratched, but Kanzo was even more surprised at the scratch.

    As a [Hero], Kanzo was capable of fighting and defeating powerful demons if his party supported him.

    There were also the blessings of the spirit of light. An environment that was favorable to human beings called the material world. The long history of humans fighting powerful enemies for many years. The strange combination of their techniques and combat technology. Their combined power was enough to fight on even ground against mighty, legendary-tier monsters like the [Evil Dragon], the [True Ancestor Vampire], the [Elder Lich], or the [Greater Demon].

    And Kanzo, who was alone, still had the benefit of her decade-odd experience as a hero, and the [Combat Skills]that formed the core of her [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts].

    Especially for [Combat Skills], which would allow one to automatically wield a sword and defend themselves and get optimal battle results.

    Even though other worlds didn¡¯t have [Skills], in this world, even if the enemy was legend-tier, Kanzo should have been able to compete.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Kanzo suddenly felt as if his sword had slowed.

    Tina had said [It¡¯s about time]. Did she do something? Was it like some sort of undetectable poison? Was she cursing him?

    *clash*!

    ¡°Gah!¡±

    Just like before, Tina was using her bare hands to receive the blow that was infused with the power of light.

    Even so, Kanzo couldn¡¯t control the power, and her hands burned, but Tina seemed to be mostly unfazed as she slightly knitted her eyebrows.

    ¡°It hurts. But, it will make this by far all the sweeter.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡­¡­¡±

    Certainly her physical capability had been altered, but even so, there shouldn¡¯t have been any way that a mere possessed human could have caught her sword with their bare hands.

    ¡°How does it feel? To be unable to use what you previously could?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    It was an ambiguous line that showed that she had seen through his situation.

    ¡°Uohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    Kanzo desperately swung his sword and tried to use her [Sword Skill], attempting to use her [Sword Technique], but it didn¡¯t activate.

    Even as Kanzo continued her desperate struggle, Tina, who had been completely emotionless up until this point, smiled, the edges of her smile reaching up inhumanly to her ears.

    ¡°Sir Kanzo, you thought I was being possessed, didn¡¯t you? It¡¯s a secret¡­¡­ but¡­ I¡¯ve always been a Demon, yaknow?¡±

    Tina¡¯s coronet hair turned into hundreds of golden serpents, and as Kanzo looked up at her face at the rapid transformation, an earth-shaking magic power and a miasma so thick that it would rot the very earth erupted.

    ¡°Hiee!¡±

    If it had been a normal [Arch Demon], Kanzo might have been able to cope.

    But his opponent Tina was one of the greatest [Arch Demons] who had been personally remodeled by a Devil.

    Her greatsword crumbled in her hand, and Kanzo, facing the miasma that far exceeded that of a normal [Arch Demon], was torn apart, unable to even scream as she crashed into the darkness at the bottom of the cave.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, The Evil Nightmare Clown attacks the pitiful Hero of Flame!

 CH 166

    Volume 8, Chapter 24: The Demon¡¯s Trap, Part 4

    As the hero of earth, Kanzo, was being held by the Demon, the other hero Minkichi was being pursued by a ¡°Nightmare¡±.

    ¡°¡­¡­What?¡±

    Her party members stopped as she muttered.

    ¡°Minkichi-sama, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡­ Fia.¡±

    Minkichi called out to the female knight that looked like a sumo wrestler as she slapped her own flabby belly.

    Minkichi¡¯s external appearance was¡­¡­ well, her hair and skin were dirty, her usual behavior was enough to make someone frown, and she was even a craven who wouldn¡¯t bat an eyelid doing terrible things, but only as a [Hero], she had surpassed the others in ability.

    The other party members who had been scouted by Minkichi all shared her sympathies, which helped her to feel comfortable about being unpopular with the opposite sex. They trusted in Miyukichi¡¯s senses and began to warily observe the dark corners of the cave.

    Minkichi¡¯s current party only numbered 4 women.

    A musclehead that applied so much perfume to mask her orc-like body odor, Chi-chan.

    The sumo-sized one who could hide an entire roast and a wheel of cheese on herself, Fia-tan.

    The skeletal one with sunken eyes, Rena-chan.

    The one who looked normal at first glance but was actually a massive pervert that liked molesting young boys, Miss Coco.

    Of course, these weren¡¯t their real names, but the nicknames Minkichi had given them.

    Minkichi had personally trained these four [Hero Class] people, along with some other companions, but those that could not survive the chaotic battlefield that they had passed through had not been brought along.

    And, despite their dishonorable behavior, both their skills and combat ability as a party was higher than that of Kanzo¡¯s and Kyoji¡¯s.

    Thanks to Kyoji¡¯s ploy ¨C or rather, since she actually had tried to kill Kyoji and Nefertia by colluding with the beastmen army, it wasn¡¯t entirely untrue ¨C she had been branded a traitor to humanity and was being pursued.

    If she had been given the chance to explain herself, there would have been many people defending her because of the fact that she had been doing the dirty work for many nobles and royals from other nations.

    Minkichi had no intention of divulging her past sins without being pressed into a corner, but her accomplice, Kanzo, who feared being tarnished by the same brush had pursued Minkichi to silence her.

    ¡°Gyeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!¡±

    Suddenly, someone screamed, and the members of the party all turned to look at her, leaping back in shock.

    ¡°Chi-chan!?¡±

    The muscle-headed knight looked confused and afraid, the heavy greataxe in her hands began to shake violently as she gripped it tighter.

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing, oooff!¡±

    ¡°Rena-chan¡±, who had impatiently approached her, was struck by the wild swing of the axe that lashed out as she had gotten closer.

    ¡°Rena-chan!¡±

    ¡°Bleugh¡±

    Thanks to either her armor, or maybe the fact that she too was ¡°hero-class¡±, she hadn¡¯t suffered too serious an injury, but she was still unable to stand.

    ¡°Damn it! Coco, we¡¯ll suppress her!¡±

    ¡°Fufufu, I understand.¡±

    At Minkichi¡¯s instruction, ¡°Miss Coco¡± approached the front of ¡°Chi-chan¡±.

    In reality, they needed the magician ¡°Rena-chan¡± to help deal with her deranged vanguard, but she was in no condition to move.

    In the party, the only person with recovery magic was Minkichi, who could use the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] to cast recovery magic, but with ¡°Fia-tan¡± acting aggressively and taking such a huge berth in the cave, ¡°Rena-chin¡± was taking potions to heal up.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, Chi-chan!¡±

    ¡°You monster! Dieeeeeeee!!!¡±

    ¡°Minkichi-sama!¡±

    ¡°Miss Coco¡±, who was the party tank, took a heavy blow from the greataxe.

    ¡°ugh¡±

    This time, the wild swing didn¡¯t find its mark, but ¡°Miss Coco¡± grimaced at the brutal blow filled with killing intent.

    ¡°Chi-chan¡­¡­ come back to us¡±

    ¡°KYaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!¡±

    ¡°¡°!?¡±¡°

    Suddenly, an explosion of fire and a scream resounded from behind them.

    While they had kept their eyes on ¡°Chi-chan¡± in front of them, ¡°Rena-chin¡± had crawled over and then trampled down on ¡°Fia-tan¡±.

    ¡°GYAHHHHHHHHH!HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    Frothing at the mouth with blood and staring with bloodshot eyes, ¡°Fia-tan¡± seemed unable to move at all after taking a blow from that fire magic.

    ¡°Wh-what is that!?¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s mental state was shaken by this situation.

    If this had been someone else, Minkichi would have been overwhelmed by the power of the hero, and thrown down without caring about her opponent¡¯s life. But everyone here was Minkichi¡¯s ¡°friend¡±, or even her only family, the only people who she could be patient with.

    How could she do something so terrible to her own friends?

    ¡°DIEDIEDIEDIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!¡±

    ¡°GGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!¡±

    If seems that her comrades who had lost their sanity now saw each other as their ¡°enemies¡±, and began to murder each other with the full power of their [Hero-class] strength.

    ¡°Stop¡­¡­ stop iiiit!!!!¡±

    ¡°M-Minkichi-sama, I will stop those two. The cause of this¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Coco-san.¡±

    That ¡°unpleasantness¡± that she had felt at first¡­¡­ she didn¡¯t know if this was the reason why things were doing the way they were now, but she had no choice but the move upon the assumption that it was. Thus, she would go off to deliver the iron hammer of justice after overcoming this trap.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Minkichi felt the presence of [Evil] as a [Hero].

    ¡°¡­¡­There!¡±

    Turning all of her accumulated magic power into fire, she shot it forth with full power.

    As a person who was formerly from the modern era, she should well have known about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from using so much flame in a cave, but Minkichi¡¯s anger at having her comrades hurt blew all of her concerns away.

    SWOOOOOOOSH, the flame burned brightly up the passage.

    Whether it was a normal magic beast, or some sort of monster, the magic flames would devour them. The only thing that could possibly defend against it was the ¡°hero of the earth¡±, but that¡¯s because Kanzo is a [Hero] as well. There was no way that he could have been giving off this evil presence.

    ¡°!¡±

    In those hellfire-like flames, a shadow slowly moved towards her, one step at a time.

    ¡°Wh-what¡­¡­¡±

    Coming out of the flame, It wore a unscarred [Clown¡¯s] mask, even though its dress had been burned and their entire body was coated with the flames.

    As the harlequin swung its arm, the burning dress disappeared, and she saw a glimpse of white arm for a moment, before a brand new black and white apron dress covered her.

    ¡°¡­¡­Y-you!¡±

    ¡°Heyo~¡±

    She was wearing a strange mask, but that excellently-made, old-fashioned dress and that white hair could not have been anyone else but the attendant of that hateful saint that Minkichi had previously fought.

    ¡°You brat¡­¡­ you were the one who did this horrible thing!?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why the attendant of a saint would have such a malevolent presence and do such inhumane things, but thought that it might have been the influence of that little girl who had been taken in by evil and turned into the [Demon Lord].

    ¡°¡­¡­Horrible?¡±

    Fannie, the attendant maid wearing a harlequin¡¯s mask, tilted her head to the side cutely as if she didn¡¯t understand what was being said.

    ¡°Stop playing dumb! You¡¯re clearly the one who deprived them of their sanity, you brat!¡±

    ¡°Aah~¡±

    As she was spoken to, Fannie clapped her hands together with a *poff*, and the clown mask twisted into a rictus grin as if it were her face.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny!!!!¡±

    ¡°Well, you know¡­¡­ You¡¯re the hero of flame, who takes advantage of others¡¯ human weakness, treats the young knights and their handmaiden lovers as slaves, right? That still hasn¡¯t changed?¡±

    ¡°Y-you brat¡­¡­¡­¡±

    To Minkichi, Fannie looked nothing like a ¡°human¡± right now, but more like a fundamentally different existence, and she instinctively took a step back.

    Was this maid always like this¡­¡­? Although she hadn¡¯t been serious before, Minkichi understood that this maid was capable of going head to head with them. But when she was with that Yurushia, or rather, the [Saint], the atmosphere was a lot more laid-back.

    ¡°¡­¡­You are,¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it fine to do whatever you wish? Then again, it seems we¡¯re running out of time.¡±

    ¡°Minkichi-sama!¡±

    Minkichi heard the voice of ¡°Miss Coco¡± screaming.

    ¡°Miss Coco!¡±

    It seemed that in the meantime, ¡°Miss Coco,¡± who was supposed to be stopping the two members who had gone mad, had been simultaneously attacked by both and put into a bad position.

    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    In an instant. Even while she turned towards her companions for those few seconds, she could hear the maid¡¯s voice breathing at her ear.

    ¡°You c***!¡±

    Minkichi boosted her body with physical strengthening, slamming her flamberge towards the clown masked girl.

    ¡°Stop that~¡±

    Fannie evaded the blade by centimeters even as it was being swung from right in front of her.

    At the same time, she felt it graze the frills of her dress apron, probably because of her ¡°chest armor¡± that wasn¡¯t quite in line with a twelve-year old¡¯s.

    ¡°There!!¡±

    ¡°Hmm~, no.¡±

    As Minkichi tried to get her with the backswing from where she¡¯d avoided the blade, magic power struck her, ruining her attempt.

    Since she wasn¡¯t being directly struck, Minkichi wasn¡¯t taking damage either.

    It might be that she was wary of Minkichi¡¯s offensive power as a hero, but in the current situation, all it was was frustrating and embarrassing.

    ¡°Minkichi-Samaaaaaaaaaaaa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Miss Cocoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!¡±

    It seems that the greataxe wielded by ¡°Chi-chan¡± finally broke through the shield, and ¡°Rena-chin¡± burned through it with fire magic, taking down ¡°Miss Coco¡±.

    If Minkichi hurried over to heal her, there might still have been a chance of resuscitation. But Fannie wouldn¡¯t allow that.

    The two mad women began to attack each other again.

    ¡°Get out of my wayyyyyyyy! Get out of my waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    The truth is that Fannie always smiles and looks as if she¡¯s enjoying herself, but internally, all of her thoughts raged darkly.

    This world¡­¡­ even though she was being commanded by her most beloved of all the worlds, most respected of all, her Mother, her Creator, the Sun of her being, her [Mistress], she had still been drawn to those human beings called Heroes for a long time.

    They surely must be tormented and their souls taken away. So Fannie had determined.

    ¡°Ubohhhhhhhhhhh!¡±

    ¡°Guh!?¡±

    Something impacted Minkichi strongly on the back even as something shouted behind her.

    ¡°F-Fia-tan¡­¡­¡±

    It was ¡°Fia-tan¡± who ought to have been taken down by the flame magic of ¡°Rena-chin¡±.

    She was cruelly burned all over, but still, she snarled and attacked Minkichi with her battered body, her eyes flashing dangerously like a drug addict¡¯s.

    ¡°Fia-tan¡± usually used the martial arts of the ¡°sumo-wrestlers¡±, making use of her immense girth, but Minkichi, thanks to her bodily fat, had [Impact Nullification], her body was still immobilized by the incoming impact that exceeded the threshold of her resistance.

    ¡°Stop it, Fia-tan, come back to reality!¡±

    ¡°Ubooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!¡±

    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!¡±

    At the same time, the balance of power finally collapsed, and Chi-chan¡¯s greataxe cut ¡°Rena-chin¡± from shoulder to heart.

    ¡°RENA-CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s scream of grief at the loss of another friend drew the attention of her killer, ¡°Chi-chan¡±,

    ¡°Stop, STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPP!!¡±

    Minkichi was forced onto the defensive by the combined offense of the two hero-class fighters. But even under such circumstances, Minkichi was able to seize the gap in their offense and strike them down.

    Yet, she was unable to lift her hand against her own comrades, even though they were being manipulated.

    Fannie, the manipulator, was watching Minkichi from a distance, laughing as though she was declaring that dealing with Minkichi didn¡¯t require her to get her hands dirty.

    Actually, Fannie wasn¡¯t able to completely control the so-called [Hero class] people, so was instead showing them a nightmare, where she too would be getting attacked if she got closer.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯s about time?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wh-!?¡±

    It happened suddenly.

    Until now, Minkichi had only been wary of the greataxe attacks, and the attacks by the martial arts that would hit vital points that weren¡¯t covered by [Impact Nullification], but the strikes suddenly began to hurt.

    And not only was that happening, but the [Automatic Skills] like [Evasion] and [Parry] weren¡¯t working well. Minkichi, who was used to [Skill Combat], was still able to move, but found herself unable to even defend, much less attack.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go~¡±

    And as she said that, Fannie used the [Lava Summon] that she¡¯d used in her first battle against her.

    There was no way that anyone could survive it in this narrow cave if they were human, but Fannie didn¡¯t have to worry about it.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Even while she was being attacked by her friends, Minkichi stopped moving as the heat of the lava approached her feet.

    As it was, she was surely going to die by her comrades¡¯ hands. So¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Fire Storm!!!¡±

    So Minkichi gave up her mercy. It wasn¡¯t about survival, but about her giving up the odds of surviving with her companions.

    For some reason, it took longer for her to use, as she¡¯d lost access to her [Magic Skills], but Minkichi drowned her former comrades with the high-ranking flame magic.

    ¡°Absolutely¡­¡­ I will absolutely kill you!!!!¡±

    *

    In that dark cave, there was a human figure that walked as if every step were their last.

    To be honest, it resembled crawling much more than walking.

    Its body had been torn to pieces, and the combined blood loss and magic loss now meant that it was moving only by survival instinct.

    ¡°¡­¡­Magic Jewels¡­¡­ my magic jewels¡­¡­¡±

    At the same time, what was in her head was the image of herself adorned with beautiful [Magic Jewels] that made her the envy of all who saw her.

    ¡°Come on already¡­¡­ my magic jewels¡­¡­¡±

    Even as she dragged himself forward in a daze, she noticed a figure that was in an even worse state than she was, covered in deep burns all over, crawling down one of the passageways.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Min¡­ kichi¡­?¡±

    It was the hero of flame, Minkichi, who had killed her irreplaceable companions who she should have trusted just to survive.

    She had been kidnapped into this world, and indulged herself to conceal all of her anxiety, and now she had lost everything she had gained.

    Still, she feared to die. Collapsing into a sitting position, she burned her life force to generate [Pure Magic] to heal her own wounds. There¡­¡­

    ¡°Gurhhk! sssu¡±

    Minkichi¡¯s heart was stabbed through by Kanzo creeping up on her with a knife.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ka-¡­ Kanzo¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ Yes! I finally found it!¡±

    Kanzo and Minkichi had been getting along like oil and water ever since they had met.

    Still, she had been a hero who was the hope of humanity, and because they were both in the position of being accomplices to each others¡¯ crimes, she had never aimed at the other¡¯s life directly.

    But now, Kanzo rapturously took away Minkichi¡¯s life.

    ¡°Now, please die¡­¡­ For me!¡±

    ¡°Kanzo¡­¡­ why, me¡­¡±

    As the words [So this is how it ends] left Minkichi¡¯s lips with her final breath, Kanzo twisted the blade, and as the light faded from her eyes, her pure magic flowed into Kanzo.

    ¡°Ahhhhh, this is it!¡±

    Kanzo had taken a potion from Noa, Yurushia¡¯s butler.

    After drinking it, she didn¡¯t need to threaten the other heroes to extract their magic power, instead becoming able to turn a [Hero¡¯s] life force into pure magic power for the creation of [Magic Jewels].

    Under the effects of the potion, the pure magic power flowed from Minkichi, and was absorbed by Kanzo, only to flow back into Minkichi¡¯s corpse again, infused with the potion¡¯s power.

    Now Minkichi¡¯s body would produce the pinnacle of [Magic Jewels] just like how monsters would produce magic stones.

    ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡­ it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here it¡¯s here !!!!¡±

    And so, on the surface of Minkichi¡¯s corpse was an egg-sized [Magic Jewel].

    It had an iridescent beauty¡­¡­ Both in its size and the strength of the magic, it surpassed any [Magic Jewel] she had seen thus far, clearly a gem worthy to be a national treasure.

    ¡°¡­¡­Wh-why?¡±

    Kanzo¡¯s face turned from joy to annoyance.

    The growth wasn¡¯t stopping. Despite all of the pure magic from Minkichi being converted into the gem, the magic flowing from Kanzo didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Wait, stop¡­¡­ STOP!¡±

    Kanzo tried to grab onto the [Magic Jewel] in a bid to stop it, but she was repelled by the strong magic, unable to even touch it. Kanzo would have been able to touch it if she squeezed pure magic out of himself, but since it was flowing out of her already, she was helpless.

    ¡°This is¡­¡­¡±

    As the life drained from Kanzo¡¯s skin, her muscular body withered, becoming thin.

    ¡°Oh my, you finally got the [Magic Jewel]. My congratulations.¡±

    Kanzo looked up toward the voice and saw the boy who primly wore his finely-made butler clothes looking back at her, smiling softly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Noa¡­¡±

    Without even wondering why the boy was here, Kanzo stretched out her withered, twig-like hand towards the boy.

    ¡°Ple¡­ase¡­¡­help me¡­¡­ Noa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t, Sir Kanzo. This is all accordingly to the wishes of ¡°my master¡±.¡±

    And at those words, the scales finally fell from Kanzo¡¯s eyes. In Kanzo¡¯s hazy sight, there was the figure of a man, standing behind Noa.

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    It was Kanzo¡¯s deputy. The one who had completely turned over a new leaf, who had become Kanzo¡¯s capable deputy, was looking at him with a rictus grin that wasn¡¯t quite human, like Tina.

    ¡°Ah, he¡¯s also one of Milady¡¯s more capable contracted servants.¡±

    And then she finally noticed.

    The true identity of the maid, Tina, that had fought them.

    If their master, Yurushia, was also the same, then her deputy¡­¡­ and the boy in front of him were¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­[Demons]¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, how very observant of you.¡±

    Leaving only that, the hero of earth Kanzo expired from despair.

    Noa recovered the black souls and the magic jewels that was dyed in the despair of the two people, and, grinning sweetly to himself, he hurried back towards his beloved lady.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This one was a little long. The Demons appear quite a bit.

    Nea is protecting the children outside.

    Next time, Saint vs. Hero!

 CH 167

    Volume 8, Chapter 25: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 1

    Let¡¯s rewind the clock to a little bit before the Demon attendants started fighting with the [Heroes].

    Kyoji, the hero of water, arrived at the great cavern that was the stronghold of the forces of darkness with about 10 people in tow.

    ¡°Do you spot any enemies?¡±

    ¡°Yes. According to our intel, since the army and all of the mercenaries in this area have been recruited by Nefertia¡¯s army, it seems that only patrolling guards remain.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all we have, huh. Well, then we¡¯ll proceed. Leave no eyewitnesses, whether soldiers, civilians, or even livestock.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    No matter how much of a hero he was, there was no way he could have fought an entire army here.

    Besides, the dark elves and the beastmen were stronger than human soldiers, even as civilians, so they had to be killed before they had the chance to assemble.

    Even the livestock were being killed since many of the animals here were monsters, and if they left behind an intelligent monster that opposed them, they could potentially manipulate the animals into even more troublesome enemies than soldiers.

    Kyoji himself had chosen to abandon humanity, but the members that he had brought along with him were the only subordinates who knew of his ambition to conquer the world, including the country of Sail, which Kyoji called the ¡®New World¡¯ he would create.

    Kyoji, who understood that he was inferior to the hero of flame, trained up ten of his subordinates to [hero-class].

    However, because they were ¡°cultivated¡±, and because they had only raised their combat capability and not yet honed their abilities in real battle, they needed to commanded directly by Kyoji.

    Kyoji and his men hid their identities under cloaks that they pilfered from someone¡¯s home, and proceeded along, killing all of the soldiers and residents whom they encountered.

    Their objective was the town center of the giant cavern. The ancient castle that had been built by the [First Hero]who had consolidated the forces of darkness a long time ago.

    There was something there that Kyoji was aiming for,

    It was said that the person who obtained it would be the king of the forces of darkness, and because the dark elves and beastmen were restraining each other from it, it was something like a neutral zone. With tens of thousands of inhabitants in the city, Kyoji and the others tried to blend in to infiltrate the castle.

    ¡°Is there no one in charge?¡±

    ¡°According to the residents here, this was is ¡°holy ground¡±, and it seems that they were afraid to enter at all, much less manage it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just the ¡°grave¡± of a fool¡­¡­¡±

    That existence called the First Hero was an Earthling just like Kyoji, who had brought together the disparate tribes together and tried to instill in them a culture with the ideas of freedom and equality ¡­¡­ but failed.

    He hadn¡¯t been summoned here as a hero, but like Kyoji, he seemed to be a castaway that had accidentally drifted here and become a hero.

    Although it was quite a long time ago, from the thoughts that he expressed, and what he¡¯d left behind, it was highly possible that he was a ¡°modern person¡± who had jumped across not just space but time to arrive here.

    Kyoji scorned his thoughts and what that man had left behind.

    ¡°It¡¯s foolish to teach anything to hungry beasts who have no culture. First you suppress them with power, then only after you are ruler, do you get to speak.¡±

    Still, with what that man had left behind¡­¡­ Kyoji¡¯s ambition, his ¡°true purpose¡± could be achieved.

    Because of that, he had made a believer outside of his own circles in Sefira, and investigated the [First Hero].

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s rush in. Split the troops into two groups of five, you¡¯re all knights after all, All of you are my sword and shield, and you must remember to cover for each other.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    Kyoji wrenched open the door and intruded into the castle.

    It seemed that Sefira wasn¡¯t able to obtain detailed information about what was inside, but as a castle that had to be livable, it couldn¡¯t be too-maze-like a structure.

    Even so, Kyoji and the others cautiously advanced forward, especially since there were no obvious security devices or magical traps.

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s beautiful.¡±

    ¡°I agree. It¡¯s quite the aesthetically wonderful decor¡­¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s Spotless, though, for something that¡¯s over a thousand years old.¡±

    According to Sefira¡¯s report, the royal families of the Dark Elves and the Beastmen invaded this castle a few months ago, but he didn¡¯t think that they would have cleaned it. It was also possible that purification magic had been cast upon it¡­¡­

    ¡°Was someone else here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Uwahhhhhhhhhh!!?¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    The half who had been advancing ahead suddenly disappeared, seemingly swallowed up by the floor that had abruptly opened. As Kyoji rushed forward in a hurry to check, the hole in the floor had closed entirely before he had the chance to even look in, and whatever seam it had opened from was no longer visible.

    ¡°Kyoji-sama, let¡¯s break the floor!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we sho-¡­¡­ no, wait. Everyone else back down, let a person with high attack power try first.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    Among his remaining men, the largest knight raised his two-handed mithril axe.

    ¡°Huuuuuuuuup!¡±

    *TINK!* The knight swung down the axe from an overhead stance with a shout, but the floor was barely scratched.

    His attack power was very close to that of a hero¡¯s, so even if Kyoji tried, there wouldn¡¯t have been much difference.

    ¡°¡­¡­Let¡¯s move on. If what we desire is underground, we may still meet with them yet.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­Yes, sir.¡±¡±¡±

    *

    ¡°¡­¡­Where is this place?¡±

    ¡°If everyone is safe, someone light a lamp.¡±

    ¡°Two of us are slightly injured¡­¡­ but we should be able to fight still.¡±

    The five of them had fallen down a pitfall into an ancient stone passage.

    From their reckoning, they had fallen quite the distance, but since all of them were [hero-class], they had managed to only suffer minor injuries. One of their members was capable of using water-based recovery magic, so this was no issue.

    ¡°Can we head back up?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, it¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s no means to go so high.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go ahead. Our first order of business is to find stairs leading back up and rejoin Lord Kyoji.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    At the squad leader¡¯s words, the knights all picked up their weapons and lifted their spirits.

    They could be called existences that were synchronized by Kyoji, young warriors whose skills were inferior to the squad that they had left behind, but they had a strong camaraderie, and were great at coordinating with one another.

    ¡°Hold on¡­¡­ something¡¯s coming.¡±

    As one of them called out a warning, all of them stopped in unison, and the knight wielding the shield stood at the fore.

    Waiting a while, they heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching them from the front.

    ¡°It¡¯s not Lord Kyoji. Open with magic.¡±

    ¡°Step back.¡±

    A slender-looking knight stepped out from the back, and shot several Ice Javelins, a mid-tier water magic, down the passage.

    ¡°¡­¡­Did you get it?¡±

    However, no screams or sound came from the depths of the passage. On the contrary, the heavy footfalls continued to approach as if nothing had happened.

    [Gau!]

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­Hah?¡±¡±¡±

    The knights gaped at the adorable teddy bear that raised one arm to wave at them joyfully in greeting as it approached them.

    ¡°Wh-what is this?¡±

    The shield knight pointed at the plushie even as nervous sweat beads rolled down his face. But the commander of the squad rushed forward to stop the knight in front who was about to approach it.

    ¡°Oi.¡±

    ¡°What, are you scared of something like this¡±

    The shield knight looked back as he paused his footsteps and words.

    And then he slowly fell down, half of him entirely missing as if it had been cleanly cut out.

    [Gau.]

    The mouth of the plushie that spoke again was blood-splattered, and they could hear the sound of something stiff and hard being crushed.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It ate¡­¡­ him?¡±

    ¡°This, this thiiiiiiiiiiiiing!¡±

    The magic-wielding knight cast Ice Javelin again. But the attack was sucked into the mouth of the plushie that suddenly grew to envelop it, and it crushed the ice javelin with crunching sounds.

    ¡°Everyone, on alert! It¡¯s a [Greater Demon] class demon at least!¡±

    ¡°How dare you!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take it!¡±

    One of them had been defeated by the stealthy attack, but there were still four warriors of the [hero-class] here.

    For a battle between a [Greater Demon] and one of the [Hero class], the advantage lay with the [Hero class]unless something completely unthinkable happened.

    Even if the demon in front of them was stronger than that, they thought that they wouldn¡¯t lose as long as they fought together.

    But they forgot¡­¡­ That there had been ¡°multiple¡± heavy footfalls.

    [GuoooooooooooooHHHHHHHH!]

    And in the next instant, the stuffed toy roared at them as dozens of [Greater Demons] rushed in from the darkness and attacked the four of them.

    [Gau].

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    It got longer than I thought it would, so I split it into two parts.

    I didn¡¯t manage to get to Yuru still.

    Next time, the second half! Kyoji¡¯s battle!

 CH 168

    Volume 8, Chapter 26: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 2

    ¡°This is ¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji advanced carefully with the remaining half of his forces, and a few hours later they found something that resembled an altar behind the steps that lead down into the basement.

    Just looking at it, Kyoji could tell that this altar would only respond to the pure magic power of the [Hero]. He didn¡¯t know if he could get at it, and it was certainly not in the range of things that he sought out.

    ¡°Still, I have no choice but to try. Everyone, back up.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems to only react to a Hero.¡±

    As Kyoji had everyone else step back and squeezed out [Pure Magic] from his soul into the altar, the altar began to glow brightly, and letters began to form on the walls.

    ¡°¡°¡°Oohhhhhhhhhhhh!!¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­ the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts]?¡±

    The [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], left by the first hero. Kyoji¡¯s shoulders drooped a little, even though knowing secrets of all of the other heroes¡¯ military power was cause for celebration.

    ¡°Lord Kyoji, there¡¯s a small passageway through here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡±

    Hearing his subordinates call out, Kyoji rushed forth.

    The passageway that his subordinate had found was a really cramped and dark passage, and even though it wasn¡¯t quite clear, it seemed like monolith-like objects continued down the corridor on its sides.

    ¡°We¡¯re going in. Everyone, line formation. Jared, take point.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The oldest of the senior knights stood in front with his shield out.

    Only Jared had been with Kyoji from the very beginning when he came to this world, and he was the only one amongst them who had become [Hero-class] through tempering in battle, and not through artificial growth. Kyoji trusted Jared the most.

    They walked down the dark passage in a line.

    Nothing seemed to happen, but when Kyoji, who was in the rear, walked past it, the stone plates lit up.

    ¡°Is this also a secret art?¡±

    ¡°It looks like it¡­¡­ but it¡¯s not meant for battle. And it¡¯s from an older language than the writing in the last room, so I can¡¯t quite tell. ¡°

    When Kyoji had been summoned to this world, he had acquired the [Common Language Skill], but the characters on this stone board were old, and it would take a long time to read even if he had the skills to.

    ¡°We¡¯ll decipher it later. Let¡¯s advance.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±¡±

    Things were going well. What he sought was ahead. But,

    ¡°guh¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think we can advance any further¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems like there¡¯s a barrier for you all. I will go on alone here. The rest of you, return to the front hall and secure the perimeter.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I apologize.¡±

    Jared bowed his head again, but Kyoji waved him off and walked all the way to the back of the passage alone.

    ¡°Ohhh¡­¡­ This is the contract for skills?¡±

    At the very end of the passage was an enormous stone monolith.

    It seemed that the castle itself was a magic circle to concentrate and absorb magic from the surroundings, and the small letters that had been carved deep into the enormous stone plate glowed with a pulse.

    It was an ancient contract made by the great mages with the Great Spirits for their lives, to give people the use of skills.

    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡­ heheHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHEHEUEHUEAHAHA!! I can use any skill as I like with this. I can give and take as I wish! With this power, I can become the prophesized god of the new world!¡±

    Kyoji, who usually kept his calm, was unable to suppress his excitement as he touched the stone stele.

    While the fine print of the spirit language was unreadable to Kyoji, but Sefira had told him that he could control this contract by pouring his own magic into it and then ¡°overwriting¡± the contractor.

    ¡°Kuuuh¡­¡­¡±

    However, no matter how much magic he poured in, the overwriting didn¡¯t end.

    It wasn¡¯t something that he could do in a day, and in fact it would take months at the least.

    ¡°What, this is¡­¡­¡±

    Kyoji tried to break contact, but his hand could not be removed from the stone board. And in fact, even if Kyoji tried to stop the flow of magic power, it was being forcibly ripped from him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare take me lightly!!!¡±

    Kyoji rapidly calculated a counterplan and drew out [Pure Magic] from his soul. Although it was forced, he thought that the use of the pure magic power would rip out some of the control of this stone tablet.

    ¡°HYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your efforts~¡±

    When the voice of the young girl suddenly cut in, the stone stele suddenly stopped absorbing his power, and Kyoji, whose hand was freed, jerked backwards, falling onto his butt.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Oh my, it¡¯s been a while, Keiji.¡±

    She suddenly appeared there ¨C the golden Saint, Yurushia, who was supposed to have been taken over by evil and turned into the [Demon Lord].

    Something was wrong. It felt different from before. Kyoji¡¯s eyebrows knitted even while he was surprised at her casual neighborly attitude.

    ¡°How are you here¡­¡­ no, how did you get rid of the curse of the [Demon Lord]?¡±

    Kyoji¡¯s senses as a [Hero] caused him to recognize the existence of the [Demon Lord] or some other equivalent ¡°evil¡±.

    It was insane to try to even save the vessel from that existence.

    That was why Kyoji had started to work on his own purposes and abandoned humanity, who dreamed to rescuing Yurushia.

    Was that really Yurushia before him? Her black hair had returned to its original beautiful golden blonde, but that didn¡¯t mean that it was real. As Kyoji doubted, Yurushia smiled beautifully and knowingly¡­¡­ a smile that seemed a little pleased with herself.

    ¡°Of course, I had everyone¡¯s help. Aah, yes, there was some ¡°Traitor¡± who had run away early from the [Demon Lord] earlier than anyone, but Mizuki¡¯s squad has become the new [Heroes], and there were the two Dark Elven Princesses who helped them, and it seems that they¡¯ve both calmed down too. The Demon Lord is gone, and I think they¡¯ve signed a ceasefire agreement too?¡±

    It was like he was being rejected from a job interview. Yurushia giggled along, and then laughed, as Kyoji watched on bug-eyed.

    In the outside world, Kyoji was being called a traitor who had fled from the Demon Lord, and in that new, peaceful world, where the warrior heroes were no longer needed, new heroes were born.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ is that so?¡±

    But Kyoji had all the time in the world to be able to mock himself over his own failure.

    In order to get rid of everything and attain everything in this world, he had asked for this [Skill Contract] without gathering sufficient information about it.

    Various things were in motion, and as long as this suspicious girl died, it could all go well.

    Up until this point, Kyoji was unable to do so thanks to the bindings of his own social position, and all of those annoyingly powerful Hero-class attendants of hers were supporting her.

    It was unexpected that Yurushia could come to this place where only Heroes were supposed to be able to, but here, it would be possible for him to dispose of her without being obstructed by anyone.

    Even if she had the ability of a [Hero-class], she was still the [Saint]. In a straight-up battle, there was no way she could stand against him, a [Hero].

    ¡°Oh, my, Keiji. You sure got up suddenly. Aren¡¯t you tired from releasing all that magic?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, it¡¯s not much of a problem if it¡¯s just this much.¡±

    ¡°As expected of a Hero. But¡­¡­ Are you really sure you have that much leeway?¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­?¡±

    And in that instant, an outcry reached Kyoji¡¯s ears as if it had come from a long distance away.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure. We¡¯ll see soon.¡±

    ¡°What? Oi!¡±

    As Yurushia suddenly spoke in a monotone, she skipped away, back through the long corridor.

    Kyoji chased after her, but it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn¡¯t reach her.

    There was a strange sense of incongruity as he ran down the passage, but he couldn¡¯t quite tell what it was.

    As he emerged out of the passage and squinted at the sudden light of the room, something terrifying entered his view.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Demon¡­¡­¡­¡±

    There were his subordinates being overrun by dozens of [Greater Demons].

    Jared, who was the only one left, was clutching his sword with both hands while he looked worn under the strain of fighting, but the sight of Kyoji¡¯s return brought light back to his eyes.

    ¡°Kyoji?§ã¦Ø¡­¦Ò¦Ò¦Ñ¡­The¡­land¦Ì¡­¡­ ¡°

    ¡°What¡­¡­ what are you saying, Jared?¡±

    He could understand a little, but most of what Jared was saying was incomprehensible to him.

    It seemed true for Jared too, and as he heard Kyoji, his face stiffened, and his giant body was blown away handily by a small stuffed rabbit.

    ¡°Jared!¡±

    ¡°My, my, Keiji. Would you like some pudding? Touka¡¯s handiwork is surprisingly delicious, you know?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me!¡±

    As Kyoji tried to assist Jared, Yurushia cut in, disturbing his concentration about some unknown new factor.

    Despite being a pretty little girl who he should have immediately been able to blow away, Kyoji¡¯s instinct instantly drew his attention to that unknown hindrance.

    ¡°Well, because the people of earth who came here were all excessive and absurd, there¡¯s a lot of food. Dried cuttlefish?¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    The feeling of incongruity grew stronger still. While he tried to uncover what it was, Jared let out a death cry of agony.

    ¡°Jared!¡±

    Jared fell bloodily, while the little stuffed rabbit proudly lifted its chin and crossed its arms across its chest.

    And as he watched, the giant figure of one of the [Greater Demons] bent low, offering the little stuffed rabbit something that looked like a cheap bottle of sake and kelp boiled in soy sauce.

    ¡°Well done, Onzada-kun! But you can¡¯t drink too much, okay~¡±

    As he heard Yurushia speak, Kyoji suddenly remembered the soft toy as the [Independent Magic Tool] that she was carrying when they¡¯d met.

    But was it really a magic tool at all? Why were the Demons with her? Had Yurushia really been released from the curse of the [Demon Lord]?

    The number of questions he had were overflowing. And the sense of incongruity only grew.

    ¡°Thanks for all your hard work, Keiji. Because you worked so hard, Onzada-kun here doesn¡¯t need to be needlessly injured.¡±

    ¡°What are you even talking about!¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­¡­ haven¡¯t you noticed? We¡¯re currently speaking Japanese, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ what?¡±

    Kyoji had indeed been speaking in Japanese. Even if he tried to use the vocabulary that he¡¯d gained in Tess in his mind, the words were merely familiar to him, and he couldn¡¯t gel them together into a sentence.

    ¡°The language skills¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Those things don¡¯t exist anymore.¡±

    Yurushia¡¯s smile sent Kyoji¡¯s already-fragile mental state into even greater shock.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice at all? I rewrote the lettering on the stone stele. I couldn¡¯t quite adjust it right with my magic power, but thanks to yours, I managed to get it activated.¡±

    ¡°An inability to use skills¡­¡­ huh.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not quite right. I have rewritten the stone stele, so actually, all [Skills] have been removed from this land.¡±

    That initial discomfort. That none of the writing of the stone stele could be read.

    It was possible for him to replicate the effects of the skills he used frequently, but he couldn¡¯t do anything at all that had previously relied on skills to achieve.

    ¡°You¡­¡­ who are you, Yurushia!¡±

    ¡°Oh my, my, and here I was, giving you various hints, Keiji.¡±

    ¡°That name¡­¡­¡±

    He had finally noticed the difference in intonation in what Yurushia had been calling him. It was not ¡°Kyoji¡± like the rest of this world had pronounced it, but rather the native Japanese pronunciation of ¡°Keiji¡±.

    ¡°Are you going to swim back to Earth this time? There¡¯s no air at all, but you seem pretty confident in your lung capacity, yeah?¡±

    Keiji began to sweat profusely as she spoke, the words bringing up the memory of the name of a little girl that had traumatized him.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yuzu¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it. ¡­¡­Keiji.¡±

    Her hair and pupil colors were different. But, ever-so-slowly¡­¡­ Yurushia¡¯s irises began to quietly fill with crimson red, and her sclera turned black, and as the presence of a supreme Demon began to emanate out, Keiji¡¯s face paled and his teeth rattled.

    ¡°Ah, that stone stele¡¯s a replica, so you can¡¯t quite control the [Skills], you know? Oh, and by the way, the previous hero of wind sends his ¡°regards¡±.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­UAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±

    Knowing fully now that he had been dancing on the palm of someone else¡¯s hand this whole time, Keiji was overcome with both fear and the memory of his trauma. He tried to draw his blade, but without the skills to wield it, he dropped it, trying to strike at Yurushia with his bare hands.

    *SMACK*!!!

    He could hear the sound of his bones shattering under his flesh, and Keiji, who had taken Onzada¡¯s right straight directly, was punted across the hall, bouncing several times as he did so, finally slamming into the wall before collapsing in a pile.

    ¡°Thank you, Onzada-kun.¡±

    [¡­¡­¡­(sip)]

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to end it.¡±

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the end to the world¡¯s troubles.

 CH 169

    Volume 8, Chapter 27: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 3

    ¡°Strange¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira returned alone to the enormous underground cavern that housed the forces of darkness and approached the ancient castle that had been left behind by the first hero.

    She couldn¡¯t sense the presence of any of the heroes.

    Sefira had spent a long time in vain to gain trust from the paranoid Kyoji, all in order to lead him to this place.

    She had wanted to personally lead him there if she could, but Kyoji had never lost sight of his purpose. It might have helped to speed up her plans too.

    She had also noticed that the heroes of flame and earth were also headed this way. In fact, it could be said to be the first time in history that the [Heroes] were so hostile towards one another. If they were closer, then Kyoji would have hurried in vain, and they would have gotten to where they wanted before the others got in the way.

    But now¡­¡­ the presence of the heroes had all vanished from Sefira¡¯s senses.

    ¡°Did they die¡­¡­? No, none of this trash are capable of killing the heroes around here¡­¡­¡±

    If Kyoji, Kanzo and Minkichi, who were regarded by Sefira as spare [Heroes], disappeared, Sefira¡¯s plan would be reset to square one.

    And then¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­!?¡±

    Sefira suddenly felt an immense heaviness weigh upon her.

    Her body, which shouldn¡¯t have felt an ounce of fatigue despite having not slept for weeks and days, suddenly became heavier, and her clear thoughts dulled as if trapped within her own head.

    ¡°¡­¡­wh¡­at?¡±

    Sefira muttered ever softer.

    She suddenly felt tired, and felt as if her [Camouflage Skill] had become less precise, which was also strange. She had passive [Skills] for both fatigue and tiredness.

    And as Sefira tried her hardest to find the ¡°cause¡± of all this with a hazy mind, she suddenly sensed the presence of Kyoji, who had disappeared from the basement of the castle.

    ¡°¡­¡­That shithead, what did he mess up!¡±

    As she cursed him foul-mouthedly, Sefira rushed down through the old castle¡¯s hidden door to the altar in the basement.

    Journeying towards it at an astonishing speed, her face twisted as she saw its open state, running into the opened hidden passage with the stone slabs.

    The stone slabs, that only reacted to heroes¡­¡­ or those with ¡°strong¡± light attributes, lit up as Sefira ran through, glowing letters emerging.

    Bursting through the barrier that stopped anyone who wasn¡¯t of the hero-class, she reached the back.

    ¡°What, this is¡­¡­!!!¡±

    There was the enormous stele that was a replica of the [Skill Agreement], lit up with finely-written characters in the spirit language, as before.

    However, the light had faded from some of the letters, where they had been dug out, and the meaning had turned to utter nonsense.

    ¡°¡­¡­a¡­¡­¡­a¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Kyoji!!!¡±

    There, behind the stone, was the sorry figure of Kyoji.

    What happened to him? He had been a self-confident man with the ambition to match his ability. Now, he was thin, as if all of his life force had been used to generate magic power, and couldn¡¯t even move his lips, stretching his feeble, trembling hand out towards Sefira.

    ¡°You, what did you do!!¡±

    ¡°*cough*¡±

    Sefira kicked Kyoji¡¯s shoulder with her boot.

    From how things looked, Sefira seemed to now be stuck in the [Magic Absorption Trap], but was forcibly resisting it, and the [Skill Use Agreement] seemed to be defective.

    Still, considering the circumstances, even though she should have been protected several times over, she wasn¡¯t sure how much she¡¯d lost, and now she was unsure of what the [Skill Use Agreement] had become.

    ¡°The reason why skill control has gone wrong is all because of you.¡±

    Sefira, who had been kicking Kyoji over and over, grabbed his hair and spit in his face, thinking about how she would have been able to prevent this, had she been here to lead him¡­¡­¡­.

    ¡°No¡­¡­ it¡¯s not over yet.¡±

    Sefira wasn¡¯t going to be able to fix the [Skill Use Agreement] now.

    She knew what was on the contract, but not all of its details, and it would take an enormous amount of effort to both check and correct the minor details in the spirit-language characters.

    A hundred years¡­¡­ It might be possible in two hundred years, but Sefira, who had come so close to finally having his goal in grasp, was loath to spend more time getting there.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hey, Kyoji-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­uh¡­¡­¡±

    As Sefira suddenly put on the mask of a ¡°kind woman¡±, she laughed softly, not even caring that she couldn¡¯t use her [Charm].

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take you to a special place. It¡¯s alright¡­¡­it won¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­¡±

    As Kyoji heard Sefira¡¯s words, the light returned to his eyes just slightly, and he shook his head in fear.

    ¡°Fufufu¡­¡­ let¡¯s go. You should feel honored, you know. You¡¯re the second person ever to see it.¡±

    Sefira, with her delicate physique, carried Kyoji in all his armor over her shoulder, and walked out of the secret passage.

    He was heavy, and not being able to use her Skills caused Sefira to grimace here and there, but suddenly, the weight became lighter, and she breathed out lightly.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahh¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°How annoying. Have I finally gotten used to doing things without skills¡­¡­?¡±

    Sefira turned her gaze to Kyoji, who muttered as if afraid of something.

    She wasn¡¯t going very far in the first place.

    It was hard to get there in places with strong magic, like that place with the stone tablets and altars, but otherwise moving there wasn¡¯t difficult.

    ¡°By the covenant, lead me to this land.¡±

    As Sefira intoned the [Words] in the courtyard of the old castle, an entrance of light opened in the space before her eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­ ya¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be scared. This is just one of the little in-between spaces between the [Material World] and the [Spirit World].¡±

    In the [Spirit World], nothing with substance could exist.

    Still, as an intermediate point between the worlds, it was entirely possible for someone to stay there, provided they had strong magic power.

    ¡°You¡¯re really afraid. Are you even a hero? How pitiful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­aAh¡­¡­u¡­¡­¡±

    After what felt like several minutes.

    Even though time and space weren¡¯t quite meaningful in this space, but Sefira inclined her neck as they walked toward their target.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­where are the spirits?¡±

    There were always [Lesser Spirits] and [Middle Spirits] who were interested in the material world, who she had chatted to the last time she was here, and while they were annoying, they were always here.

    ¡°I wonder if a Greater Spirit came¡­¡­¡±

    Even Sefira had rarely seen a [Greater Spirit].

    If it appeared in this world, there would be cataclysmic results. As one of the [Greater Spirits] that controlled the phenomena of the material world, other spirits would naturally hide in fear.

    ¡°¡­¡­there¡±

    As Sefira arrived at the brightest place within this realm, the original [Skill Use Contract], that was carved into an enormous crystal, appeared.

    This was the true body of the [Skill Use Agreement] that the great wizards of the past had burned their lives to make with the [Greater Spirits], and was the ¡°system¡± behind allowing all things in this world to use [Skills].

    ¡°fufu¡­¡­ Now, Sir Kyoji, let¡¯s make your wish a reality. With this, you can become the God the New World that you so dream of¡­¡­ Sorry to say, though, your soul will be absorbed by this crystal, and you¡¯ll become a puppet to the system with no consciousness.

    Ufufu¡­¡­¡­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Your dream will finally come true! As long as all of the people in this world are forced to attain the [Controlled Skill], all people will be equal, and a truly peaceful world will be created!!!¡±

    Sefira aimed to eliminate all differences between everyone and create a world where everyone was equal.

    If everyone was equal, then there would be no conflict, and a truly peaceful world would be created.

    After her previous failures, Sefira no longer believed that it could be done without a sacrifice. As something to completely control the world, the strong soul of the [Hero] would be built into the system, and her goals would be achieved through the trivial sacrifice of the free will of all humanity.

    ¡°Hahaha, ¡­¡­eh?¡±

    And then, Sefira noticed something that looked like a small crystal plate hanging off the corner of the enormous crystal.

    That wasn¡¯t there before. She might not have noticed it before, but Sefira noticed it now because it was so incredibly eye-catching.

    As she took it in her hands, she noticed something written in the language of the spirits.

    To be able to touch this area at all¡­¡­ was this left behind by the [Great Spirit of Light]? There was only one sentence written there¡­¡­¡­

    [We¡¯ve made a Strategic Withdrawal]

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira reflexively fell silent. She thought that it was some sort of joke, but would [Spirits] make jokes in the first place?

    And speaking of the [Great Spirit of Light], it was revered as a [God], a pillar of existence holding up the world. Was there a threat that would make such a being withdraw? In the first place, a threat like that wouldn¡¯t even been able to come to this place where spirits gathered alone.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Well, that¡¯s that.¡±

    Even as she got an eerie feeling she couldn¡¯t quite pin down, Sefira tried to make the unmoving Kyoji touch the crystal.

    ¡°Sir Kyoji, all you need to do is touch this. Pure magic power will be drawn out automatically¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira noticed that Kyoji had gotten slightly lighter, that despite everything, his frightened gaze looked behind her, and so she turned to follow his gaze.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And there, smiling pleasantly at her, was the golden-haired girl, kindly lifting up Kyoji¡¯s legs and cooperating with Sefira.

    ¡°Yu-Yurushia-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you noticed!¡±

    That was the girl who had been drawn into this world because of her purity, and should have been turned into the true [Demon Lord], the Saint from another world: Yurushia.

    ¡°Why are you here!¡±

    ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve been here this whole time, you know.¡±

    ¡°W-w-When!?¡±

    ¡°Since you were kicking Keiji in the basement of the castle¡­¡­?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t noticed the girl at all. On the contrary, Sefira couldn¡¯t even imagine that Kyoji had become suddenly afraid, or that he had become suddenly very light, because Yurushia had been carrying him from behind.

    She just thought that the sounds she had heard along the way was just spirits whispering.

    ¡°Kuh¡±

    Sefira discarded Kyoji, taking her distance.

    ¡°You, how did you break free of the curse of the Demon Lord? That evil presence¡­¡­ there¡¯s no way that you could have faked it.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡­? Ah, yes.¡±

    Yurushia scratched her cheeks with her fingers lightly as Sefira spoke.

    ¡°Ah~ ¡­¡­ Well, the [True Demon Lord] is one of the [Laws of the World], unlike a ¡°self-proclaimed demon lord¡±. It¡¯s there to ¡°reset¡± the world that¡¯s gone off in the wrong direction, and when it appears, humanity will have no choice, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t understand what Yurushia was saying, but understood that Yurushia had been interfering with her plans by pretending to be a Demon Lord.

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­You¡­¡­ You irregular from another world. My intuition was right to have tried to get rid of you first.¡±

    ¡°Nn?¡±

    As Yurushia tilted her head sideways in feigned ignorance, Sefira bared her teeth.

    ¡°As you might have imagined, I am the savior of the world, this world¡¯s [First Hero].¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    There was an awkward atmosphere.

    ¡°¡­¡­Why did you have to obstruct me?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­¡­for development?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­I- I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    And so, the battle for the fate of the world began between the [First Hero] and the [Demon] of another world in this world.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    The Demons are in charge.

    Now please re-read it imagining Yuru behind it this whole time.

    Next time, will Sefira save the world from the tyrannical Demons?

 CH 170

    Volume 8, Chapter 28: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Part 4

    Hello there. It¡¯s Yurushia again!

    With me right now, Sefira is glaring with hatred in her eyes.

    No, I¡¯m really sorry! I really don¡¯t mean to. I¡¯m a Demon after all.

    No way. Sefira was the [First Hero]? I didn¡¯t think that he had been moving around for this many years for the peace of this world.

    ¡°Uhh, thank you for your hard work¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me!¡±

    How cruel. Did you not get enough calcium and minerals? Would you like some dried seaweed? Ah, I got glared at.

    ¡°What are your intentions!!¡±

    Sefira readied herself for combat. Her tone had gone all weird too.

    Isn¡¯t subspace storage supposed to be a skill? Sefira¡¯s entire body was covered with a dull, silver armor in a blink, and there she stood, holding a two-handed single-edged curved blade that looked like a katana made of the same material.

    ¡°What a good sword. Is that Oricon?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s orichalcum!¡±

    Ah, oh no, Sefira¡¯s vein is bulging.

    Well, you know, I intentionally made the mispronunciation just to see if Sefira was a modern earthling.

    I¡¯m sorry. That was a lie. My fantasy knowledge is just a lot less than the game-playing Yuuki-kun.

    As Sefira silently swung down, a shockwave erupted from her blade. She aimed straight for the opening I had left, being deep in thought, without thinking.

    As expected of the [First Hero]. Her power is several stages better than Kan-chan. She would definitely even give my attendants trouble. I¡¯m glad that there are no other spirits here. They might have gotten hurt. Well, everyone else left just because I came here, so¡­¡­

    Either way, my attendants couldn¡¯t come here, since they were [Arch Demons], but that¡¯s inconsequential. That¡¯s just how terrible this place is.

    It¡¯s in-between the [Material World] where the humans lived, and the [Sprit World], one of the Spiritual Realms.

    It¡¯s so full of magic that human souls couldn¡¯t get here, and it¡¯s so close to the spirit world that Demons like myself weren¡¯t compatible with it.

    To give an example¡­. It¡¯s like getting suddenly thrown out of a city into the desert, or a snowy mountain?

    I¡¯m slightly better-off than other Demons since I have fully formed [Human] attributes, but as Sefira is a [Hero] with the light attribute, her power was doubled like an athlete who had suddenly transitioned from hill climbs to flat land.

    ¡°My purpose is to clear my friend¡¯s name. Everything else was just ¡°consequence¡±.¡±

    ¡°For such a reason, you ruined my plans!¡±

    ¡°[Night¡¯s Spear.]¡±

    The jet black spear I created and Sefira¡¯s blade touched, sparks flying.

    ¡°Dark magic!¡±

    ¡°Sefira, do you really think that making everyone equal will achieve real equality?¡±

    ¡°Wha-¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t make everyone average. Those with luck survive, and those with ability are victorious. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! I¡­¡­ I will guide all of mankind!¡±

    ¡°So you will be the privileged class, then?¡±

    I smiled at Sefira, whose eyes went wide.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only person who can save humanity? What about the livestock you eat? Do they not have the right to live freely too? Just because you don¡¯t understand their words, they¡¯re not intelligent, and hence they¡¯re not [Equal]? Living creatures all have to oppress others to live, you know?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­th¡­that¡¯s¡±

    ¡°Even plants are alive. There are intelligent plants in this world. What would you do if they asked for [Equality] by asking you all not to eat vegetables that are of the same family as them?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­ Even if you don¡¯t kill every living thing, you might not need to fight at all if everyone had enough food for their needs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible. All people seek ¡°more¡±. Progress stems from desire. To be rid of all conflict, you must fulfil all their desires. But how do you satisfy the sweetest desire of humanity, for ¡°victory¡±? The moment you satisfy it, the decline would begin again.¡±

    There is no equality to be found in the plant or animal world.

    If you were born in a good place, you would survive, and if you weren¡¯t, you would be trampled on, and die.

    ¡°That¡¯s why people struggle. They all want to live better, and hence they fight desperately. They desperately try. An equal world is a ¡°world without freedom¡±, denying their efforts to live.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira¡¯s sword dulled. The heart of a hero who had been fighting for more than a thousand years was shaken.

    Not all weak people were unhappy.

    Not all of the strong were happy.

    ¡°Even if you had an AA-cup size, you could make efforts by drinking soy milk every day to work towards a bombastic figure. Even those with large chests would have stiff shoulders from the weight, and it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be good, to be stared at so much¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    And suddenly, Sefira¡¯s attacks became harsh again.

    Captain, I failed to talk down the target!

    What¡¯s wrong!? She¡¯s being so narrow minded even though she has those giant things.

    ¡­¡­ ah, was that chest fake?

    ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Anxious over Sefira¡¯s chest melons, I moved to poke them.

    ¡°D-don¡¯t touch them!!!¡±

    Sefira sharply raised her voice when I started to move.

    However, I was the fastest demon in all of the Demon realm. Hohoho, here I comeee! I wasn¡¯t trying to, but I¡¯d come before the giant crystal ¨C the [Skill Use Agreement].

    ¡°Stoppppppppppppp!!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­[Shatter]¡­¡­¡±

    CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK¡­¡­¡­

    The [Skill Use Agreement] shattered under my fingertips.

    And in that instant, the world shook. [Skills] had been taken from this world, [Tess].

    Those [Special Skills] which could not be completely erased just by messing with the replica were also disappearing.

    Well, mostly. I don¡¯t think those skills that had been the results of their own effort or had been given directly by the Great Spirit of Light would disappear completely, but those cheat-like skills that the heroes had acquired would.

    And whatever little remaining skills would almost certainly disappear in a hundred years.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­AH,¡­ AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±

    Oh? Sefira seems to be acting strangely.

    I thought that she was stunned from the crystal breaking, but her figure began to shift. I can¡¯t stop it at all even if I hit the B button repeatedly, but is that a slender boy? a girl? A rather androgynous young man turned towards me with hatred in his eyes.

    Was Sefira¡¯s previous figure a [Skill]¡­¡­? I was supposed to report to Tina about the chest, but what will I tell her now?

    No, no, that¡¯s not it.

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    I could only see Sefira as a ¡°girl¡±. But Fannie said that Sefira was a ¡°man¡±.

    Why did she see that? While it might have been a [Skill], could it possibly be strong enough to mislead the eyes of a [Devil] and an [Archdemon]?

    Even now, I still don¡¯t know if the skills have entirely disappeared. But this feeling¡­¡­ Somewhat¡­¡­ no. In that one instance of consciousness, my knowledge as a [Devil] arrived at an answer.

    ¡°A hermaphrodite¡­¡­ no, rather, I should call you a sexless being?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sefira did not answer. But I could see the hatred in his eyes deepen.

    That¡¯s¡­¡­¡­ it, huh.

    Because she¡¯s neither man nor woman. Did you equip those fake chest pieces to represent the ¡°weak¡± who was being discriminated by everyone in search of your ¡°equal world¡±?

    ¡°¡­¡­I hate them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Nn?¡±

    As Sefira muttered under his breath, and I responded, his face looked up.

    ¡°¡­¡­I hate humans. I hate school. I hate my parents. I hate everything that discriminates in this world. I hate Kyoji, who only sees women as tools. I hate Kanzo, who was born a man but wants to be a woman. I hate Minkichi, who was born a woman but threw her femininity away.¡±

    Sefira harshly hissed, cursing the world on her knees, and jolted up.

    ¡°Every hero is the same! They are all hot-blooded idiots with no brains of their own who look down on others. That¡¯s why I killed the hero who appeared in the war, and deprived him of his magic power, and lived for so long! The same goes for that hero of wind. Born and blessed with everything, did they ever struggle for their strength? No! So I made all of the other heroes kill him! And I took his pure magic and increased my own! This is no true equality!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    So that¡¯s why¡­¡­ Yuuki-kun had died for such a reason.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Ah?¡±

    Sefira¡¯s face froze and his expression hardened.

    The look she gave me gradually stiffened, and then turned to fear.

    What are you looking at? What¡¯s so terrifying?

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    And as I whispered to her, Sefira¡¯s body shattered, and her black soul was sucked into me, disappearing.

    ¡­¡­*burp*. Excuse me. Thank you for the meal.

    What kind of expression did Sefira have towards me? Hmm. It was the visage of a Demonic smile, maybe. I¡¯m sure.

    Well, I¡¯m done with my errands, but I think I forgot something¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­UUOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!¡±

    And at that instant, the existence I¡¯d clean forgotten about jumped out at me with a yell.

    ¡°YurushiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!¡±

    Holding the sword of Sefira was Keiji, the hero of water, attacking me the instant I was off-guard.

    Was Keiji able to recover here as the hero?

    Ah¡­¡­ Ta-daaa! Something caught my eye. And it was difficult to evade in time.

    But, you know¡­¡­

    ¡°Welcome home.¡±

    I smiled softly towards him.

    It wasn¡¯t a smile for Keiji. This embarrassed smile that I wouldn¡¯t even dare to show myself was only for [Him].

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    The sword fell with a clang from Keiji¡¯s hands, as a small brown hand pierced his chest from behind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve received the [Pure magic ] and the [Souls] of the two heroes you¡¯ve given me, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re moving again, Rinne¡±

    Rinne and I smiled gently at each other, even as Keiji was twitching.

    Rinne had the appearance of a beastman who was about 4~5 years old. He¡¯s got cute cat ears too.

    Still, the magic jewels filled with pure magic and the souls of the two heroes seems to have given him enough strength to come to this point between worlds.

    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s finish this.¡±

    Rinne, who was floating a little since he was tiny, made the ¡°Demon¡¯s whisper¡± in Keiji¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Let me make your wish come true. Don¡¯t you want great power?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ah¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As Keiji turned his eyes towards me for help, I was holding a box of laundry powder.

    ¡°Thank you for your consent.¡±

    As I refreshed myself smiling at him to my heart¡¯s content, Keiji¡¯s eyes were dyed in despair, and his body was absorbed by Rinne.

    He will become one of the strongest in histoy, but there¡¯s no clause at all in his contract that his consciousness will remain.

    ¡°Is this it?¡±

    ¡°Oh my.¡±

    As I watched, Rinne¡¯s body grew to that of a 20-year-old. Was that something in between Keiji¡¯s age and being a baby?

    He¡¯s pretty tall now. I think he¡¯s one head taller than I am now, and his face no longer had the babyish looks of the beastmen, but was slightly Japanese.

    His skintone was a rich olive tone, and he gave off the atmosphere of a ¡°prince¡± from the middle east.

    But, it doesn¡¯t matter.

    ¡°Rinne, your cat ears are gone!!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that so important?¡±

    He was stunned.

    But paying close attention, it seems that his ears would grow out when he switched from his [Human mode] to his [Devilish Mode]. It¡¯s good work.

    Rinne was able to completely [Manifest] as a demon. Good, good.

    ¡°It¡¯s not good. It¡¯ll be very bad if we don¡¯t go back soon. I¡¯m not as strong as you are here. And there¡¯s also multiple greater spirits coming towards us. And time flows strangely here. It may have been several months in the world below.¡±

    ¡°Wah, then let¡¯s go back.¡±

    If I took any longer, it would take me even longer to return to the Holy Kingdom.

    Rinne offered his hand to me like a noble, and I took it, and together we returned to the world where my attendants awaited.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Rinne took quite a while to become humanoid

    I was worried about his body¡¯s age, but it¡¯s relatively close to Yuru¡¯s.

    Next time, the final chapter of this second series?

    App¡¯s Notes:

    And here we are! We¡¯re getting to the end of the second series, with only one more to go!

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    *squeeing like a teenage girl*

 CH 171

    Volume 8, Chapter 29: It seems Like I¡¯ve Become a Legend Again, Final

    One of many worlds¡­¡­ [Tess].

    The great ¡°will¡± of the world, of [Tess], felt like it was relieved.

    Although the forms of its thought were so removed from those of living things that there was no way to confirm that it felt ¡°relief¡±, but the atmosphere that enveloped the world felt gentler than before.

    The will of the world was like the ¡°intention¡± of the planet, something we¡¯ve never been able to confirm is alive.

    The world acted like a single living being, and had a kind of [thought] somewhat like a computer designed to perform life support.

    But, the [Will of the World] wasn¡¯t the same as a [God].

    Human beings and the other living organisms were like the ¡°gut bacteria¡± of the lifeform called the [World]. If the number of bad gut bacteria began to spread throughout, gnawing at the world, the world would take in [Otherworlders] to themselves just like humans drank ¡°probiotics drinks¡±.

    And in some cases, where the parasites were stubbornly buried within the body, they might take in the ¡°medicine¡± called [Heroes], which would sometimes act like ¡°deworming pills¡±, other times, like ¡°laxatives¡±, flooding everything and rinsing them out.

    It would be a burden upon the world, and things would get worse until new gut bacteria regrew, but it was better than falling sick because of an infection from bad bacteria.

    Even though it had a will, the [World] did nothing.

    It merely maintained life and kept up its internal environment.

    It didn¡¯t care if some of the gut bacteria were running rampant. Though it was more like it didn¡¯t notice than it didn¡¯t care.

    It¡¯s quite like how humans only realized that something was wrong when their stomachs hurt.

    Still, the young [World], [Tess] had been unwell for a while.

    The [Spirits], which were supposed to be something like the red blood cells that carried oxygen around its body, had made selfish rulings with the [Gut Bacteria], and caused abnormal gut behavior.

    Because of that, it had been very active at first, and everything was in a good condition, but after a while, the blood of the world, [Magic Power], decreased, and it became anemic.

    So [Tess] thought.

    It was necessary to destroy the rule called the [Skill System] that had spread throughout its body.

    But [Tess]could not directly move the world just like humans couldn¡¯t directly manipulate their bodies.

    In order to destroy those rules that had been inundating the populace for thousands of years, [Tess] had prepared two things.

    The first was a laxative to wipe out all life, a [Large-scale Cataclysm].

    The other was the powerful medicine that would completely destroy all civilization, the [True Demon Lord].

    Both of them would put a burden on its body, but [Tess] preferred to introduce the [True Demon Lord] into its body first, which would be relatively effective anyway, instead of the [Large-Scale Cataclysms] that would take longer for it to recover.

    The [True Demon Lord] was a pretty powerful drug. Those [Self-proclaimed Demon Lords], and the [Heroes], would all be eliminated, and all intelligent life would die in an instant.

    But at that time, the otherworld [Tess] noticed that there was a [Poison] that had infiltrated in from another world.

    If it could constrain the amount of poison, it would be a good medicine. Even then, it needed to be a [Strong Medicine], but compared to the [True Demon Lord], it felt that it was kind of made only with ¡°50% tenderness¡±.

    But for the will of the world [Tess], it felt that it was worth taking in this [Medicine] that had some of the effect of the [True Demon Lord] into its body.

    And as [Tess] expected, the [Medicine] managed to destroy the distorted rules of the world and restored its physical condition.

    And that existence would now leave its body now that it was done.

    The effect of the [True Demon Lord] had also been handed over to this thing, and unless it tried to, it wouldn¡¯t activate this [Poison].

    The world did nothing. It just continued to support life.

    * * *

    The people living in the world of Tess were confused.

    The [Skills] that had been part and parcel of them and their daily lives had suddenly become unusable.

    The [Skill System] was such that once you gained an ability it would never fade.

    One cook, who had extremely high cooking skills, suddenly became unable to understand the amount of seasoning and how much heat was needed just by waving his hands, and had to lower his head to his apprentice, who had been trying to learn under him.

    The noble who relied only on his swordsmanship skill and neglected his body had it disappear on him, and he found it difficult to even keep swinging his sword, finally resigning from the post of Knight Commander.

    But only a portion of those who had relied on [Skills] got into trouble despite the fact that everyone was confused.

    [Skills] were a system that automatically quantified one¡¯s abilities, and if one put serious effort into their training, there would be little impact even if they had lost this automated system.

    But, thanks to the loss of [Battle Skills], humanity¡¯s battle ability was considerably reduced.

    It wouldn¡¯t be possible anymore to defeat large monsters with just a few dozen knights like before.

    ¡°This might be good.¡±

    muttered Fjord, First Prince of Sail, as he looked upon the blue sea and castle town. His new royal guard perked up.

    ¡°What is affecting you, my liege?¡±

    This was the knight who had been the first to challenge the Golden Saint, and at that time, lost horribly to the soft toy. It seemed that being healed directly by the saint had changed him, and he had begun to practice his swordsmanship seriously, so when the skill system vanished, it hadn¡¯t affected him much, and he had been newly promoted to being the captain of the royal guard.

    ¡°Well, even if the [Skills] are gone, the commonfolk still live the same. The damage from monsters has increased, but thanks to that, we were able to make peace with the [Forces of Darkness].¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­¡±

    The reason why the humans, who formed the core of the [Forces of Light], had fought so many wars with the demi-humans who formed the [Forces of Darkness] was simply because they had never had to fear an [External Threat] thanks to the power of their skills.

    Ironically, the [Skill System], which had been made to help mankind, had instead caused conflict for them.

    The skills had all disappeared, and now, humanity no longer reigned supreme, and joined up with others once again to protect themselves from the other threats.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s all because of her¡­¡­¡±

    The golden saint, who had brought the world together by threatening mankind as the true [Demon Lord], had been rescued by the new heroes, and disappeared with her attendants from her hospital room, refusing all visitors.

    Those [Heroes] who had fled were the real [Demon Lords]. The battle had been fierce, but the damage had been surprisingly limited¡­¡­ no, rather, it was unnaturally few.

    It seemed that the pure and quiet saint had fought desperately with the Demon Lord even while she had been under its thrall.

    After she disappeared, the minstrels sang that she had left with soldiers and the common folk to completely eradicate the [Demon Lord].

    Was the skill system¡¯s disappearance also because of that¡­¡­?

    Perhaps the battle between the true demon lord and the golden saint had been fierce enough to break the world.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia¡­¡­ I would love to see you again.¡±

    As Prince Fjord unintentionally let slip his intentions, the knight smiled.

    The world was changing rapidly.

    The heroes had become the traitors of the world, and the standing of the four great nations who had summoned [Heroes] worsened, and it was no longer possible to call [Heroes] from other worlds.

    In Sail, His Majesty had collapsed from anxiety, and the second princess Bianca who had been in charge of the hero had been forced to take responsibility, banished to the borderlands, and stripped of her rights to the throne, leaving young Fjord to rebuild the nation.

    With the disappearance of the heroes, the commonfolk were exposed to the threat of monsters, but the new [Heroes], who belonged to no nation, travelled the world to save people.

    Those heroes¡­¡­

    ¡°Daichi, those were my donuts!!¡±

    ¡°EeehHH??! Touka, didn¡¯t you say you were going on a diet?¡±

    ¡°I was going to eat that later!!!¡±

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t want to think about it, and that somehow going on a diet didn¡¯t mean enduring against sweets.

    Watching the two of them chase each other on the forest path, Futa and Mizuki looked at each other¡¯s faces in amusement, laughing out loud.

    Mizuki and the others, who saved people during the battle they now called the [Great Demon Lord Battle], and rescued the saint from the Demon Lord, had been named the new heroes.

    Their achievements were also recognized by the [Forces of Darkness], and together with the wishes of the twin princesses of the Dark Elven royalty, they had signed a ceasefire agreement, bringing the millennia of war to a close.

    As the new heroes, they refused to side with any single state, and wandered around the world as a team to save everyone, human or demi-human.

    ¡°Yuru-chan protected us when we were abandoned and gave us the power to live in this world. So, we will carry it forward to everyone else.¡±

    The people in this world remembered what it meant to [Fear], and this otherworld, [Tess], slowly had its [Common Sense] returned to normalcy.

    * * *

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, Lord Rinne, we have been eagerly awaiting your return.¡±

    As Rinne and I returned from that in-between place, the attendants all came out to greet us.

    As expected, the spirit world was dangerous to even [Arch Demons]. It seems that they had been quite worried waiting for us.

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, since I had time, I tried making something like ¡°Ramen¡±, would you like to try some?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯ll eat it later, Fannie.¡±

    It¡¯s worrying, you know¡­¡­? I¡¯m terrified of ¡°what¡± went into that black soup.

    [Gauu] [¡­¡­ (wave)]

    Onzada-kun and Geas seemed perfectly alright. But the two of them were still stuffed toys because they made a mess of that plan. It seems their human forms are still a while off.

    Well, that¡¯s fine too¡­¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Tina?¡±

    ¡°What do you desire, My Mistress?¡±

    ¡­¡­ Tina was being strange. More accurately, a certain part of Tina is very strange.

    The attendant gang was investigating the replica of the [Skill Usage Agreement] while the two of us had been there.

    We were studying if we could only use some of the skills that were useful on that stone slab, or if we could handle things ourselves¡­¡­

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What are you talking about?¡±

    Tina¡¯s chest was already at the watermelon level, much less regular melons.

    Fannie was large for her age, but Tina¡¯s chest was just unnatural.

    ¡°Did you find Sefira¡¯s skills?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    Hohoho, is that how it is?

    ¡°There!¡±

    ¡°Aaaahhhh!¡±

    As I poked them with my crimson nails, Tina¡¯s chest deflated.

    ¡­¡­ What is this skill?

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it for you, so just wait, and don¡¯t rely on strange things like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­yes.¡±

    Tina¡¯s reply was barely a whisper as she fell to her hands and knees on the ground.

    I¡¯m not just consoling you, I am going to do something about it.

    Just like how I treated scalps with the application of [Sacred Magic] with my modern knowledge, chest-growing magic has finally reached a practical stage by applying the [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts] that were cultivated in this world.

    When we return to the Holy Kingdom, we¡¯ll be making another killing.

    ¡­¡­ But well, since everyone¡¯s slightly different, it¡¯s not certain that everyone will grow to that extent.

    ¡°So have you all found the coordinates to the Holy Kingdom?¡±

    It¡¯s time to get down to business. I don¡¯t know why, but when I talk to these children, the conversation gets lost.

    ¡°Yes, Lady Yurushia. After examining all of the stone tablets in the old castle, there was a record of them trying to summon heroes from places other than earth in the past.¡±

    As I asked, butler Noa put on his glasses and unfurled the documents. ¡­¡­ wait, those are just decorative glasses right?

    ¡°There seems to be a description that matches that of the world with the Holy Kingdom, [Atra], and the coordinates have been determined, but we can¡¯t confirm that it¡¯s [Atra].¡±

    Noa gave me a fleeting look as he finished his sentence.

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll go make sure of that.¡±

    Only I could confirm that it was Atra. Just as Fannie, who was better at spatial magic, taught me, I turned my attention towards the world.

    ¡­¡­¡­ Yep. There¡¯s the Holy Kingdom. And there are at least two people connected to my [Soul]. My [Name-givers].

    ¡°Father, Mother¡­¡­¡±

    My father had thought of my name, and my mother had given it to me. And so I could find them just like I could find Rinne, who I¡¯d named.

    ¡­¡­ But the signal¡¯s so weak that I can barely tell where they are.

    ¡°Now then, we¡¯re finally returning to the Holy Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Lady Yurushia, please wait.¡±

    As soon as I tried returning home, Nea¡¯s relaxed callout gave me pause.

    ¡°Hnn? Why?¡±

    ¡°Actually, everyone prepared these for you.¡±

    It seems that several months have passed in this world while we were in that in-between space near the Spirit World where time flowed strangely.

    In the Holy Kingdom, it seems that I¡¯ll be turning 13 soon in autumn.

    I fought with the [Demon Lord] for half a year while I was 11, then I was trapped in the past for nearly half a year, and then after that I came to [Tess], and two years have nearly gone by.

    ¡°Everyone¡­¡­¡±

    They thought of celebrating my birthday in this different dimension before we returned to the Holy Kingdom, and while the birthday cake wasn¡¯t exactly correct, but with the knowledge of Earth from Onzada-kun, they were able to make some ¡°semblance¡± of it.

    [¡­¡­oOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOooOooOooOooOo¡­¡­]

    There were the countless whispering roars coming from that black soup with countless faces, where thirteen candles had been set into the [Ramen].

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    This ramen, that was being served by the {Ramen-shop Onzada-kun} was delicious.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    This time, I held onto Rinne¡¯s proffered hand, that was firmly grasping mine without considering the mood, and stepped through the dimensional door that my attendants had opened.

    We are finally returning to the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo.

    I will finally be able to meet all of my friends and family again.

    But¡­¡­ I hadn¡¯t noticed.

    I might have noticed it if I had looked at my status.

    In addition to the titles like [Devil], [Demon Beast] and [Saint], there was one other¡­¡­

    The title of [True Demon Lord] that heralded the destroyer of worlds¡­¡­

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Thank you for reading with me.

    This is the end of the isekai tours, and we return to the third part in the Holy Kingdom.

    As to the third part, I was really struggling to write this second part since I had come up with things as I went along, so I¡¯m going to only resume this series after taking some time to write a bit more out.

    That¡¯s how things are, so I¡¯m probably going to put in a few slice-of-life stories along the way.

    The second part will also have a few more side stories.

    Thank you for your continued support.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Aaaah, it¡¯s an actually good ending! So happy to have made it this far.

    I hope everyone¡¯s ready for the end, we¡¯ve got a couple weeks of side-stories, then Piro and I will be taking a vacation from the series before coming back for book 3!

 CH 172

    Volume 8, Chapter 30: Side Story, Earth: When I got trapped, part 1.

    AN: This story is about the time before Yuzu gets stabbed and awakens as Yurushia.

    As for where it stands in the timeline, it¡¯s around the time where Yurushia visits earth and has been sealed for 6 months, but it contains part of the [Spoilers].

    No matter how much civilization flourished, and no matter how much the towns were flooded with light, wherever there are ¡°people¡±, there is always ¡°darkness¡±.

    However, even though it seemed like there was nothing, this place was overflowing with life.

    The sound of insects playing about at night. The birds rested their wings in the branches of trees, whilst small animals gnawed on nuts that had fallen onto the leaves below.

    But this calm ¡°night¡± was suddenly disturbed.

    The sounds of all the insects suddenly vanished, and the animals ran away as if frightened of something.

    *smash*!!

    As the sound of ¡°something¡± bursting open resounded¡­¡­ two small figures appeared in the forest where there were none before.

    One of them was a girl with gorgeous golden hair in curls.

    The other had glimmering silver hair.

    As the two of them glanced at each other, looking about strangely while dressed in a beautifully fitted maids¡¯ outfit, the silver-haired one opened her mouth.

    ¡°Hey, this is the right place, right~?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I would make a mistake about Mistress¡¯ ¡°scent¡±. And I only showed you the direction, you were the one to bring us here, no?¡±

    ¡°I just sort of understood the way here~. But, it seems that it¡¯s still impossible for those two.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ It can¡¯t be helped. If they didn¡¯t help us with their [Absorption] and [Release] we wouldn¡¯t have been able to get here either.¡±

    The two of them had arrived ¡°here¡± early.

    Even though the four of them had great power, it was impossible for them to cross worlds with just power alone without a road.

    ¡°But the ¡°path¡± has been secured. Before the other two catch up, we have to make sure of the Mistress¡¯ whereabouts.¡±

    ¡°Hai~¡±

    The silver-haired one responded with an energetic smile at the words coming from the emotionless blonde girl.

    On that day, that particular night¡­¡­ This world, which had been exposed to the great threat of ¡°evil¡±, greeted two new disasters.

    * * *

    ¡°Is it here¡­¡­?¡±

    Shijima Yuuki was sightseeing in the Kansai region.

    About fifteen years ago, Yuuki had been manipulated by ¡°something¡± that nested within this country, and turned against a girl he considered his friend, resulting in her death.

    But Yuuki didn¡¯t kill her. Rather, Yuuki regretted that it was because she had left a ¡°gap¡± open with her abilities that exceeded his.

    Yuuki was in her debt. He had been forced to take his revenge on the spot, exhausting her energy, and he had been so stunned by her death that he retreated, unable to involve her friends in this.

    But that friend ¨C Onzada ¨C refused to give up.

    Onzada seemed to believe that she was still alive because the sealing ceremony that was to be conducted against the ¡°evil¡± hadn¡¯t been stopped, despite the fact that she had died and everyone had been to her funeral.

    The time-sealing extermination art ¨C [Twelve-Period Hourglass].

    The ¡°evil¡± that would have appeared in the future had been sealed in the past, and over a dozen years, their existence would be whittled down to nothing.

    At that time, had she not died, then the technique would have been broken. According to Onzada, if the seal of the ¡°real her¡± that was supposed to appear in the future was unsealed, then she would be revived.

    But there was no way for Yuuki to check that this was true. Still, he decided to believe fight for his friend¡­¡­ in order to repay his debt.

    And more so, he couldn¡¯t forgive that ¡°existence¡± that had manipulated him.

    To have let her honor be hurt, to have let her die, and to watch her family grieve over her death, as a former ¡°Hero¡±, he could not allow it for the sake of his beloved wife.

    Several months ago, Onzada had called him about an ¡°evil¡± appearing in the world that had been immediately sealed.

    How he wished that he could have interfered at that point, but even as a former hero, he could not deal with thousands of demon-sealing monks. So Yuuki and Onzada began moving to weaken the seal.

    Onzada had been collecting information about this, but he was still being monitored by the organization called [Miyama] thanks to past events.

    Yuuki was working as the arms of the operation, backed by the Kuon and Nikku families who wanted to know the truth.

    Even today, hundreds of people continued to pour effort into the seals around the temple in Kanto, day and night, with hundreds of satellite locations using their techniques to reinforce the seal.

    Yuuki teleported with his [Hero¡¯s Secret Arts], crushing the sites and purifying them, and now this was the next location on his list.

    ¡°Now, then¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not that he couldn¡¯t move about in broad daylight. Although he could teleport in daylight, information about this couldn¡¯t be leaked out, so it was better for him to attack and leave in darkness.

    He was leaving his home with a variety of reasons, like getting groceries or a business trip, but somehow, he sensed that his wife knew what he was doing. Still, he couldn¡¯t afford to speak honestly and cause her worry, so he left while it was still bright, and only had a little time left.

    And at that time, he decided to eat the local ramen. His brother-in-law had ¡°franchised¡± the ramen shop out to him and was still the owner of a ramen shop himself.

    If the ramen was particularly delicious, he might sometimes bring ramen home to the delight of his wife.

    ¡°¡­¡­ this is also for the sake of training.¡±

    Throwing out excuses even though nobody was around to hear him, Yuuki went around the various famous ramen shops that he had been investigating in advance.

    ¡°nn?¡±

    Along the way, Yuuki saw some very unnatural-looking girls.

    There were a lot of tourist destinations and foreign tourists, but the two of them had blonde and silver hair and looked to be about 12 or 13. Also, more notably, that they were wearing full-fledged maid¡¯s clothing that was rarely seen in this country. It was certainly very eye-catching.

    As the two of them seemed to be getting hit on and picked up by some high school boys who were on a school excursion, Yuuki, who ought to have been unconcerned, rushed over to ¡°help¡± them.

    ¡°You guys, leave these girls alone.¡±

    ¡°What, you old geezer¡­¡­¡±

    Even as a twenty-something, he was an ¡°old geezer¡± to these high schoolers.

    That didn¡¯t bother him in the slightest, but as Yuuki let out the faintest hint of his killing intent, the high schoolers immediately turned blue and left.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, old man¨C¡±

    The two girls immediately thanked him formally.

    ¡°¡­¡­it¡¯s alright¡±

    Yuuki also replied sort of offhandedly.

    He hadn¡¯t been the ones to help them. From the way they carried themselves and their beautiful appearance, he could feel the same atmosphere as that friend he had had, and his body had unintentionally moved to help them against the high schoolers.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯d like to ask something of you. What is that ¡°raboumen¡± written on the board over there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ra¨C¡´Bo¡µ men.¡±

    Yuuki mulled the words over for about two seconds, thinking that it clearly couldn¡¯t be read that way, and as realization stunned him, he spoke.

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t know what ramen is?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, is this the so-called ¡°ra-men¡±? I remember hearing Mistress speak of such a dish before.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¨C! I can feel the deep-seated grudges of stewed pig, though.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Really?¡±

    Yuuki couldn¡¯t believe that there were tourists who could not know about ramen even though their Japanese was so good, decided to explain a little to them about ramen, pretending that the silver-haired one hadn¡¯t said anything.

    ¡°Ramen differs according to the shop, and while it has the image of being a local dish made quickly, in reality, it¡¯s quite rich and unique. Of course, there are also some with lighter tastes. But I recommend the stronger-tasting ones. Shirayu¡¯s chicken soup, which is made by boiling chicken until it turns to mush, is great, and I recommend you try it at least once. Shirayu is famous for their Hakata-style pork bone broth, and newbies tend to shy away from it thanks to its strong smell, but once you get used to it it¡¯s addictive. I was wondering how it¡¯d taste like in a warmer region, but the thinness and solidity of the noodles are great. When you eat it, you should order hard noodles, and so when you get tired of the taste, you can add the red ginger and refresh the palate again, which is also quite addictive.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Ah, I see.¡±

    As Yuuki ran his mouth along, the little golden-haired one bowed her head and thanked him.

    The silver-haired one had already left and was posing with for the students on school excursion and tourists as if she was a cosplayer.

    * * *

    ¡°Come out, ¡°Black Mask!¡±¡°

    ¡°tsch.¡±

    As Yuuki attacked the old shrine where they were performing the ritual, there were more demon-sealing monks than expected, since he¡¯d been raiding several places.

    ¡°[Windstorm!]¡±

    A storm blew into the bamboo forest, blowing away the demon-sealing monks along with the soil and dead leaves.

    But even so, after battling them for ten years, Yuuki¡¯s attack magic was now countered with Ki. Despite Yuuki going easy on them since he¡¯d decided to live in this world, a majority of the monks were still taken out of the fight.

    ¡°Strangely hardworking people.¡±

    In Yuuki¡¯s original world, Tess, they would have immediately given up when they realized their situation couldn¡¯t be mitigated with their skills, but since this world lacked skills, they would all try desperately to counter him with their skills.

    ¡°Corner him! Encircle him with Ki-¡­ kurgh!¡±

    ¡°Too slow.¡±

    But nonetheless, Yuuki was still the strongest human, the ultimate weapon of humanity, a [Hero].

    And he had been repeatedly training himself bloodily since he was born, and after learning the magic of another world from that ¡°evil¡± from another world, the Yuuki of today was more than capable of fighting more than one person, even if they were the ¡°hero of another world¡± like Tess¡¯.

    Yuuki swung his greatsword about him lightly, defeating the monks handily as he ran through the bamboo forest like the wind rapidly at a speed that were several times faster than a normal human.

    ¡°How many people are there? I don¡¯t want to use so much magic¡­¡­¡±

    If Yuuki was going to annihilate them all, he would have settled it by now, but it took a long time since he wasn¡¯t.

    The reason why he was avoiding the use of his magic was also because of the land rather than his aversity to wasting it.

    The demon-sealing monks used this place as a field of ¡°strong spiritual power¡± to help seal evil, but it also meant that this land¡¯s ¡°magic¡± was strongly influenced by that ¡°evil¡±.

    And in such places, it was possible for there to be monsters. If Yuuki used a lot of magic, monsters would definitely appear. And if that happened, the demon-sealing monks would be in danger, but they would not be able to deal with them since they had never dealt with, or even seen, real monsters before.

    If it was possible, he¡¯d like to just purify the land and then leave. But just as he began thinking of the worst, purifying the land and then teleporting away ¡­¡­ it appeared.

    [[[¡­¡­!?]]]

    Yuuki and the demon-sealing monks stopped their fight for an instant.

    Yuuki could feel sweat bead up on his forehead beneath his mask.

    In the depths of the bamboo forest¡­¡­ from the endless darkness beyond, he could feel the presence of an immense ¡°evil¡± approaching.

    The evil presence felt similar in scale to that of the ¡°evil dragon¡± Yuuki had faced in the past.

    Would Yuuki be able to beat it now? At that time, it had taken not only Yuuki¡¯s party, but the combined might of the other hero parties to defeat it¡­¡­

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    And in that instant, Yuuki moved immediately as he caught a glimpse of innumerable snakes slithering out of the bamboo grove, spotting something looming over them.

    ¡°Everyone, retreat! Don¡¯t look back! You¡¯ll die!¡±

    As he shouted, Yuuki began to run immediately, not looking back at the monks.

    He knew with a look. That wasn¡¯t some ¡°normal monster¡±. Yuuki had unconsciously used [Appraisal] just had he had when he had been a hero.

    The report was: [Unknown]. It indicated that whatever it was, it was something that overwhelmed Yuuki, a hero. Violence and destruction incarnate. If Yuuki wanted to kill it, he would have to stake his life on the line.

    He didn¡¯t look back at all, but he could tell that the monks who had heard him were fleeing. Whether they would make it or not was entirely dependent on their luck.

    He had actually considered the possibility that there would have been some evil monster coming out, but he never imagined that would appear instead.

    ¡°¡­¡­If you can release Yuzu, I will help you defeat them.¡±

    Yuuki thought that if it was because of Yuzu who had been sealed, she would gladly take responsibility, but if someone asked Yuuki whose fault it was, it wasn¡¯t quite his, either.

    *

    ¡°Escaped-¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    As the presence faded, a silver-haired girl ¨C Fannie appeared from the darkness, and the golden-haired girl ¨C Tina, raised her eyebrows as she returned the golden snakes to her curly hair.

    ¡°Ah, but isn¡¯t it good that we didn¡¯t show your true nature?¡±

    The two of them, who had come all this way for a certain task, felt the presence of a strong soul by luck and was thinking of recovering it.

    ¡°There seems to be a ¡°custom¡± here that girls ¡°transform¡± whenever they fight, no¨C?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Where did you get this information?¡±

    ¡°I heard it from that ¡°TV¡± thing.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±

    Tina consented quickly and resumed her original business with Fannie.

    It was to collect the magic that had accumulated in this place. In the blink of an eye, they had absorbed all of the magic around them, and then imitating their Mistress, they put their palms together.

    ¡°¡°Thank you for the meal.¡±¡±

    The two of them, who had recovered the magic power that they had lost through crossing dimensions from this ¡°snack¡±, weakened the seal without realising it, and the demon-sealing monks of [Miyama] began to ¡°fear¡± these unknown monsters, and as a result, helped Yuuki and Onzada¡¯s movements.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    Next time, the Onzada story.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    A pleasant bit of slice of life here, just a bit to go!

 CH 173

    Volume 8, Chapter 31: Side Story, Earth: When I got trapped, part 2.

    ¡°Hey, welcome!¡±

    A ramen shop that had opened several years ago in a certain place in Tokyo.

    This was the branch store of a certain famous store, with the main store being a very traditional place that was dedicated to ¡°ramen¡±. But this store was a bright and cheery one with plenty of personal touches from the young couple that owned and ran the place, and it came to be beloved of the community within a few years.

    However, since this store¡¯s owner would occasionally be away for a business trip every few weeks or so, during that time they had a male part-timer who manned the kitchen.

    Although his skills and personality weren¡¯t bad, he drank throughout the day, and with his manly influence, the place attracted more young athletes than their usual families.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Onzada, are you still doing that?¡±

    ¡°geh, elder brother¡­¡­¡±

    Ever since that incident in his childhood, Onzada had become distrustful of [Miyama], and deviated from being a demon-sealing monk, working as a freelancer exorcist under the name ¡°Haimiya¡±.

    He was a so called ¡°sympathetic¡±, and his reputation was stellar in some parts of the industry, but it wasn¡¯t quite profitable as someone so softhearted.

    It was about 2pm in the afternoon, when most of the customers of the store weren¡¯t in, and his elder brother, who had taught Onzada how to seal evil, walked in, thinking that Onzada had gone mad.

    Although Onzada had been treated as if he had been formally disowned by his house, this one elder brother would still come by to see Onzada with some reason or another.

    ¡°What, are you not going to lecture me?¡±

    ¡°I just came here to eat ramen.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Sigh. I recommend the seaweed ramen.¡±

    There was a local legend that a certain girl who loved ramen had eaten this ramen with seaweed in it, where the seaweed never ran out no matter how much she ate, and who came by to eat it again and again.

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ve troubled you.¡±

    As the elder brother thanked the young woman who brought him his chilled tea, she smiled innocently, like a child.

    ¡°Please, take your time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Misa, don¡¯t be mean.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. ¡­¡­¡­ ah, welcome!¡±

    As Misa turned towards the foreign girls who walked in, there was a fragile atmosphere settling between Onzada and his older brother, and the two began to chat with the sound of Misa serving the girls in the background.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Will you not apologize to our father?¡±

    ¡°What do I have to apologize for¡­¡­? I have done nothing wrong.¡±

    ¡°That was a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°Welcome~ So what do you expect me to do?¡±

    ¡°I heard that the stuff called ¡°ryamen¡± here is famous.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s ¡°Ra-men¡±.¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ is this your first time eating ramen?¡±

    ¡°A long time ago ¡­¡­ you let her die. ¡°

    ¡°¡­¡­ There was nothing I could have done. You know that too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. And would you say that it wouldn¡¯t have changed a thing?¡±

    ¡°We recommend the seaweed ramen. It¡¯s easy to eat.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯ll be good. I am also interested in remodeling the seaweed.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ the seaweed ramen for me too.¡±

    ¡°Righty ho!¡±

    ¡°Onzada, living this kind of life¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t interfere with my work. ¡­¡­ hang on, your seaweed ramen will be right out.¡±

    ¡°What is this stick?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t you know what chopsticks are?¡±

    ¡°Of course I know who Mr Chopstick is.¡±

    ¡°I know~ It¡¯s for knitting, right!¡±

    ¡°Please stop nosing about the seal. Miyama is watching you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I know that. I¡¯m not doing anything, though.¡±

    ¡°You know you can¡¯t make that excuse.¡±

    ¡°This is a pretty good use of the seaweed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Delicious.¡±

    *crack* *tink* *clatter* *slurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurpurp¡­¡­*

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The strange conversation and noises that were coming from the corner seats caused Onzada and his brother to lose their train of thought, and fell silent.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Take care of yourself for now. That respected shrine maiden has come to Kanto. Keep your eyes open out there.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Aah. I get it.¡±

    After seeing his elder brother who had given him valuable information off, Onzada looked back with a sigh at Misa who was holding an empty tray with nothing on it, standing there with a blue face.

    ¡°Oh? Misa, who were those customers just now?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡­ they ate everything and then left, and they then left this behind with the bill bill¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Why, is it not enough?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡­ do you think this is alright?¡±

    Misa reluctantly held out a heavy golden coin that was exquisitely carved, which looked like it could easily fetch a 7-figure price if it were solid.

    * * *

    ¡°Well, then.¡±

    After somehow getting a month¡¯s worth of sales in an unexpected windfall, he thought about going out to drink, but then remembered that he couldn¡¯t go out and play with his newly-married friend, and went off to work in the evening.

    Working in the evening. Of course, it was an ¡°exorcism¡±.

    Although it was called an exorcism, in this mana-depleted world, neither demons or creatures of myth appeared naturally. What the exorcists of this world did was to remove spirits, and the targets for exorcism were evil spirits.

    Onzada was currently working for the Kuon family long-term. who managed the land, and with his reputation for being a gentle soul, he was asked by the old woman who owned the land to [appease] the spirits of the old trees that had to be moved for the road expansion, and worked and drank nearly daily.

    Although it wasn¡¯t quite a negative evaluation, Onzada, who disliked being called ¡°uncool¡± in this underground industry, wore an anachronistic leather jacket to give himself a wild look, but he very much oozed the atmosphere of an old man behind his back.

    ¡°This is not the only purpose¡­¡­¡±

    Persuading the spirits of the old trees was important, but that wasn¡¯t all.

    The information that his elder brother had leaked was that that shrine maiden who had killed Yuzu was coming to Kanto. Perhaps she would stay here in Kanto until the seal was complete, but by that time, he hoped to find out her whereabouts.

    Of course, even though he still believed that she was still alive, he still wanted to avenge the loss of Yuzu, but it was also important for his friends and collaborators ¨C the people of the Kuon and Niku families ¨C to avoid facing the poisonous reach of that shrine maiden.

    But that shrine maiden ~ Matsuri ~ hadn¡¯t given up on the Kuons or the Nikus. And in fact Matsuri had once sprinkled Onzada with that poisonous powder in secret.

    ¡°You¡¯re fucking kidding me, that lecherous woman.¡±

    Still, in the underground industry, there were plenty of rumors about her, and even some of the monks of [Miyama] had become dissatisfied and complained about her.

    Tonight, it seemed that one of the information brokers had gotten their hands on information about the shrine maiden, and Onzada came to the temple in the middle of the night, not too far from the old tree, to meet the broker.

    ¡°They¡¯re late¡­¡­¡±

    As Onzada sipped from his metal hip flask, he suddenly turned a sharp eye towards the darkness.

    ¡°Oi, come out!¡±

    ¡°heeh¡­¡­¡±

    As he heard the voice of a young man replying foolishly, out stepped beautiful youths dressed in monk¡¯s clothes, chests bared to the world.

    ¡°¡­¡­Who are you?¡±

    As if they were some sort of visual kei band or an idol group, the youths all looked visually distinct from one another, one of which was handsome, another cool, another cute, another metropolitan, and their hair colors were equally distinct like traffic lights, one red, one blue, one yellow, and one white.

    ¡°So you are the one who is sniffing around for Matsuri.¡±

    ¡°It seems that he refused Matsuri once.¡±

    ¡°This old uncle? What a joke.¡±

    ¡°No, if you shave and dress like us, you¡¯ll be quite splendid too.¡±

    Onzada felt sick to his stomach after being winked at by the last guy.

    ¡°Haah?! There aren¡¯t any men who don¡¯t understand this hard-boiled wildness.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±¡±

    It¡¯s impossible for either to understand the other since they were so different from each other. It was a feeling that was hard to accept for normal folk in the first place.

    Anyway, these were clearly subordinates of the shrine maiden Matsuri, or her harem members. The information broker might have betrayed him, or been tortured, and they had come here to capture or dispose of him.

    He didn¡¯t want to die, but he¡¯d rather die than be Matsuri¡¯s plaything. That was why there was no choice but for Onzada to defeat them.

    (¡­¡­ these guys are clearly possessed)

    They had been possessed by that existence ¨C that [God].

    If so, it was impossible to persuade them, and if they fought, their abilities would have been boosted considerably.

    A terrible pinch. Onzada, who felt that even his chastity was in danger from that beautiful man¡¯s gaze, looked around for anything at all.

    ¡°¡­¡­(hah?)¡±

    In the distance, something black and white fluttered.

    As he made out the shape of a skirt, and the white-stockinged legs that fluttered out towards the palm of his hand, he suddenly heard a ¡°voice¡± in his head.

    [Onza, quickly, run!!!]

    ¡°!¡±

    He snapped out of the haze muddying his thoughts.

    That was the voice of the ¡°ancient tree¡±. Onzada noticed that the outcry was both serious and angry, a far cry from its usual moody and bossy tone.

    A girl with a mask, that looked like a [Jester], advanced towards them soundlessly. As the hard mask turned into a distorted smile, baring black fangs, Onzada knew in an instant that it was beyond him, and fled.

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    ¡°Ah? A clown?¡±

    Onzada heard the youths talk to each other, seemingly unworried, like their heads were full of wool, even as he ran without looking back, he could hear an ugly, childlike laugh, and then the screaming of their last moments.

    Onzada kept running, unable to find relief even after a few minutes of running, finally collapsing at dawn, sweating all over, shouting with a loud cry from the depths of his heart, thanking the spirits of the old trees.

    ¡°SCARYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!¡±

    * * *

    ¡°Will be searching for Mistress soon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah~ I didn¡¯t get full from the ramen, but I¡¯m glad that I managed to fill myself with the 4 little snacks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not Ramen, it¡¯s Ra~men.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Then, when the twins arrive, I¡¯ll tell them to go have Ra~men.¡±

    And so, just like this, while having this dangerous conversation as casually as workmates, the Demons enjoyed this world, awaiting being called by their Mistress, all while causing massive trauma in many ways.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    And this is the end of the Earth stories.

    Next time, before the third part, a small story in the in-between worlds.

    App¡¯s Notes:

    A pleasant bit of slice of life here, just a bit to go!

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    fufu the side stories are great/

 CH 174

    Volume 8, Chapter 32: Side Story: Ship upon the Stars, Part 1

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­eh?¡±

    By the time I was aware, I was in a strange place.

    A white floor that felt like stone but looked like non-slip plastic.

    Although the walls and the floor were all of the same texture, the ceiling shone faintly, its gentle glow lighting the surroundings.

    ¡­¡­ why was I here?

    Well¡­¡­ I had found a way back to Atra from the other world, Tess, and I was crossing dimensional space with my abilities, but¡­¡­¡­ did I hit something?

    Well, it seems like I¡¯ve gone into a space I don¡¯t quite know, but for now, I¡¯m unhurt, and my clothes are intact, down to my usual black and silver dress, but I can¡¯t see anything else, and I don¡¯t know why I ended up popping out of my dimensional travel.

    ¡°¡­¡­Mysterious.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ is that all you have to say, Yurushia?¡±

    As I looked down towards the source of the grumpy voice, I saw a beautiful dark-skinned twenty-something glaring at me from under me as I sat on top of him.

    ¡°Oh, Rinne. What a pleasant surprise.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ You didn¡¯t notice at all, did you?¡±

    No, no, I realized about halfway through. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s much more comfortable sitting on those strong muscles than it is on the cold floor.

    ¡°Speaking of which, Rinne, doesn¡¯t your voice seem younger?¡±

    It¡¯d gone from that moody old voice that I¡¯d liked, to something that was a bit younger and calmer. This might be a good thing¡­¡­

    ¡°When I look older, it¡¯ll return. For now, please get off me.¡±

    ¡°Aww.¡±

    Rinne pulled himself up with only his abs, and then as he got up, he lifted me by the scruff of my neck, picking me up gently and then putting me back on my feet softly.

    ¡­¡­ Rinne had been my cushion and protected me from my fall, so I wanted to soak in the atmosphere a little more.

    ¡°So. what do you think we¡¯re in?¡±

    ¡°Let me see¡­¡­¡±

    No such luck for now. With Rinne, who has thousands of years of knowledge, not knowing, I feel somewhat in charge.

    According to my attendants, there should have been no other [World] between where we were and Atra. Looking at the material, it seems to be a bit more advanced than that of Terra. The floors are quite narrow, too. Windowless space. And I could feel it moving slightly. So, if I had bumped into something, then¡­¡­

    *pipipirorinnn~*

    ¡°¡­¡­hah?¡±

    Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like a stringed instrument, and then the door slid open, and several ¡°humanoid¡± people rushed in.

    They wore loose clothing that looked to be made of artificial fibers. The expressionless men, hidden by their goggles, pointed their toy-like guns at me, while I heard the voice of a young woman behind them.

    ¡°We mean you no harm. Would you please comply?¡±

    She looked to be in her mid-twenties, and was quite the beauty, but looked completely like a cosplayer, with her bright blue hair and orange eyes that weren¡¯t quite possible even with color contacts.

    ¡°Do they understand what I¡¯m saying¡­¡­? It¡¯s a psychic translator, so if they can communicate, I should be able to talk to them¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I hear you.¡±

    Is that why it sounded like noise at first? Well, maybe my own [Spiritual Language] translator interfered with it and mixed it up.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good. Even so, a girl and a cat?¡±

    ¡°eh¡­¡­¡±

    When I turned around to look, Rinne was no longer in his [Human Form] but had turned into his [Black Cat mode], and had climbed on top of my shoulder, whispering quietly in my ear.

    [(This form will be less suspicious. Play along.)]

    ¡°¡­¡­(got it.)¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ Is something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No. Just asking, but how did I get here?¡±

    She had a slightly suspicious look on her face, and then smiled, mumbling.

    ¡°Would you like to move first? Welcome to our world. I am Sebra. I welcome contact with any aliens.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Aliens¡­¡­ huh.

    The woman ¡ª Sebra led the way down the white corridors. There was a large window along the way, and I saw a river of stars and a city of pure white.

    It¡¯s not the sky. There was a city built upside-down in the sky, and I suppose it¡¯s as expected.

    ¡°¡­¡­A ship¡­¡­¡±

    I could see the river outside of the enormous window.

    This was a colony spaceship and, apparently, I seem to have caused an accidental contact with this ship that was sailing in a different dimension.

    * * *

    The colony ship 00302 encountered a sapient intelligence for the first time 506 years after leaving the home star.

    The ship housed 80 million humans and was travelling in search of a planet to settle.

    Up until now, they had discovered multiple planets with life on them, but all of them had been abandoned as they¡¯d determined that it would take thousands of years to terraform, thanks to their atmospheres and their environments.

    Amongst them, there had been natives with their own cultures and languages, but they had not been recognized as sapient since their appearances and thought processes were too different from theirs.

    One day, while they were in their bi-yearly long-distance jump, a dimensional quake happened aboard the ship.

    Such accidents were rare, but not impossible. There had been cases where the ship had collided with foreign objects in the past, but this time, the guard had been mobilized for the first time in decades because they¡¯d detected ¡°life¡± in one of the warehouses of the ship.

    Sebra, the security chief in charge of that block, was nervous.

    Lifeforms that had gotten lost while navigating the dimensions¡­¡­ Although it was unfair to them, they couldn¡¯t help but imagine that the creatures were some sort of grotesque alien that would lay their eggs in humans, like in those classic movies.

    But the ship¡¯s main system, [Mother], had given Sebra an astounding command through psychic communication.

    From the magnitude of the dimensional quake, the damage that had been done to the ship, and the magnitude of the mental waves it had observed, it had judged that these were sapient beings capable of dimensional navigation on their own, and had ordered her to ¡°capture¡± them.

    And furthermore, it seems that one of them was also likely to be humanoid, given its mental waves.

    First contact with an intelligent alien lifeform.

    And if they had come alone instead of on a ship, it was entirely possible that they were far beyond this civilization.

    ¡°¡­¡­ It¡¯ll be unpleasant if it was some sort of creature with long limbs, pale skin, and no hair.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±¡±

    Her subordinates didn¡¯t answer her attempt at a joke. They hadn¡¯t been made to do so in the first place.

    Sebra knew that, but made the joke anyway to calm her nerves, and then saw something completely astounding when she entered the warehouse.

    A gorgeous dress that was made of silver thread embroidered upon black, the likes of which she had only seen in classics that were over a thousand years old.

    A beautiful girl that caused Sebra, who had been genetically modified and had only ever seen beauties, to be stunned at her grace.

    Beauty standards changed with culture and even age. And yet, why did she feel that this alien girl was so beautiful¡­¡­?

    Designer children had been banned hundreds of years ago, since the pursuit of beauty drained the person¡¯s vitality. And yet, there was none of the unnaturalness that surrounded designer children, and Sebra, who had been stunned by her fascinating natural beauty, only managed to contact her after [Mother] helped to suppress her emotions.

    A golden-haired girl and a black cat.

    She was incredibly intelligent and responded with a smile as they quizzed and questioned her.

    ¡­¡­ But even though smiling meant the same to the girl and herself, Sebra could not help but feel a chill on her back when she saw that smile.

    * * *

    I was finally released after they questioned us for an hour and did tests on me.

    As I listened to Sebra¡¯s story, it really felt like an SF novel, with this place being a spaceship.

    I don¡¯t think this was the future of Terra¡­¡­ but I hadn¡¯t been able to confirm anything since I hadn¡¯t been allowed near an information terminal.

    This ship was a colony ship with a population of about 80 million¡­¡­ incredible. I didn¡¯t know what their units of measurement were, but it felt as big as the UK.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Yurushia, you sure are calm.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡±

    Somehow, Sebra¡¯s gaze hurt a little¡­¡­ I¡¯m too calm?! But, everyone on this ship was no different from normal people, and nobody seemed to feel threatened¡­¡­ I wonder, was she suspicious because of my strange deceptive smile?

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    As I turned my eyes to Rinne in my lap, he curled up into a ball.

    ¡­¡­ This rascally cat. Leaving me to deal with all the trouble.

    For now, even though they were like space people, in their appearances, their ways of thought, and their expressions of emotion, they were no different from the ¡°humans¡± I knew.

    ¡­¡­ Well, now that I thought about it, humans weren¡¯t much different on Terra, Atra, or even Tess, so if these other worlds were on another star, it might have been the same as aliens.

    ¡°Maybe, it¡¯s because I¡¯m a ¡°Demon¡±?¡±

    As I answered cheekily towards her, Sebra looked angry for an instant, but then broke out laughing.

    ¡°Ahahaha, Yuru, you sure are interesting. Gods and Demons and ¡°religions¡± were things that were from a thousand years ago, Yuru sure must have studied them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Ahaha¡±

    Ah, I see now. I don¡¯t know if Demons had been translated correctly, but it seems that here, religions were a thing of the past, like something you¡¯d learn of in history class.

    But without religion, what did they rely on when their hearts wavered?

    Sebra, who was in front of me, looked normal¡­¡­ but her men, who were watching me from a distance, didn¡¯t seem to have any emotions I could sense at all.

    ¡­¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m being called ¡°Yuru¡± here too, huh.

    All of the meals on this ship, even after several days, was incredibly tasteless. But at least I finally got permission to go down into the city.

    Far from being an object of worship, rice here was being made by machines, so it didn¡¯t suit my palate. And Rinne has disappeared somewhere else today. ¡­¡­ If you¡¯re going to get snacks, you should have invited me.

    Although I had borrowed some casual clothing to blend in with them, when I went into the city, everyone¡¯s attention was on me for some reason. I wonder if it¡¯s my hair that¡¯s conspicuous after all.

    Oh? As the people watching me all turned expressionless for an instant, they all returned to work as if nothing had happened.

    Is there some system in place to protect their spirits so that they didn¡¯t need religion? I guess it¡¯s okay unless it¡¯s some sort of strange drug.

    ¡°¡­¡­n?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yuru?¡±

    Sebra noticed that I had found something strange.

    ¡°That child¡­¡­ I think I¡¯ve seen him before? But that hair color¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a model 0247. It¡¯s a cloned fertilizer body that¡¯s been popular these past few years, so there are a lot of them in this regard.¡±

    ¡°Heh. heehhh¡­¡­¡±

    Clones¡­¡­ But what did they mean fertilizer? Was it a normal human born of a cloned egg with similar appearance? And his soul was rather weak ¡­¡­ somewhat weaker than a normal human¡¯s. But if I examined them closely, some of their spirits were clearly very thin.

    For example, the shop vendors and the people like Sebra¡¯s subordinates. ¡­¡­ It seems like something irreversible if I decide to interfere.

    ¡°Ah, but I¡¯m not a copy clone like them. I was made from the biological data of the [Mother] of this ship.¡±

    ¡°I, I see.¡±

    Don¡¯t tell me. ¡­¡­ Sebra¡¯s soul didn¡¯t quite feel stable.

    *ping~*

    ¡°Eh, what¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s something like breaking news.¡±

    As I stood surprised by the sudden sound, the river that flowed with stars turned into a screen, and the breaking news began to scroll.

    [When we launched our probe during our dimensional navigation, we found a planet that had an 87% chance of being a successful colony, and it will be our destination next.]

    I heard the loud cheering from the city. I¡¯m not sure, but is 87% very high? Does it represent a planet that resembles Terra? But¡­¡­

    ¡°Yuru, it¡¯s amazing! We can finally get to a planet where we can colonize by dimensional travel!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sebra was excited too.

    ¡°Hey, Sebra. ¡­¡­ What happens if there are natives there?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­what? Ah, right. If they are like us, a [Human type], then we¡¯ll be able to collect their genes and life nucleus, and save ourselves a lot of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Collecting¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯ll be nice if we can harvest more than a hundred million of them, since they would die when we collect their life nucleus. Ah, it¡¯s alright, because the collection is easy. The number is only because there¡¯s only about a 0.0000419% chance. But we can increase it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­oh. Are these genes so important?¡±

    ¡°They are. Because there are only 1291 sets of genes left over from our mother star.¡±

    ¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t the closest dimension from here¡­¡­ [Atra]?

 CH 175

    Volume 8, Chapter 33: Side Story: Ship upon the Stars, Part 2 [Finale]

    ¡°Yu-Yuru, what happened? Are you scared?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯m alright. Sorry.¡±

    The ship wasn¡¯t just a colony ship. It was an Invader.

    In short, there were only 1291 real humans left in Sebra¡¯s home star, and their genes had been used to create clones and maintain the state of civilization.

    There were two types of clones ¨C fertilized clones, which were almost the same as humans, and copied clones that served as a labor force.

    If that had been all, that would be alright, but they weren¡¯t going out into the universe in search of colonies, but rather ¡°gene ranches¡± to increase the variety in their genes.

    The ship had found their target for their next stop.

    The only earth-type [World] around here was Atra, where mother and father were.

    The people of Atra weren¡¯t incapable, either. There was a hero. ¡­¡­ But even then, with the sheer power of this ship, it might not even take days to conquer.

    And then, Atra¡¯s people would become like livestock who lived only to be extracted from.

    The biggest problem was¡­¡­ the people of this ship. Even Sebra didn¡¯t feel like this was a problem.

    ¡­¡­ It¡¯s a bit on the nose for me to be criticizing them.

    I hunted in the mountains and ate meat. Sebra and her kind raised livestock. Which one of us is worse?

    But¡­¡­ the answer is clear to me.

    ¡°Hey, Sebra. Has information about that planet already been transmitted to the home planet?¡±

    ¡°Eh? ¡­¡­ Uh, I don¡¯t think so. It would be a disaster if another colony ship came by right now while we aren¡¯t certain yet. Well, I think the rest of the colony ships are on the other side of the galaxy anyway.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­ that¡¯s good. I¡¯m relieved.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuru¡­?¡±

    As I smiled at her, Sebra¡¯s expression turned blue.

    ¡°That world is mine.¡±

    In that same instant I fully exposed my presence, the expressions disappeared from Sebra and the other residents.

    ¡°Capture and collect the seed of life!¡±

    As Sebra called out emotionlessly, the guards and inhabitants attacked me. It seems like they were also aiming for my genes, too.

    If they were conscious humans, I could have gotten rid of them with [Intimidation], but while I was thinking of what to do, the copy-clone guards who were approaching me were suddenly blown away.

    ¡°Rinne!¡±

    ¡°Yurushia, are you alright?¡±

    It¡¯s alright. They hadn¡¯t been pulverized.

    ¡°Rinne, I¡¯m going to destroy this ship. I want you to destroy their communications facilities at once¡­¡­ but do you even know what those are?¡±

    I feel like I¡¯m saying crazy things. But Rinne frowned a little, raising his eyebrows slightly while he manifested something that looked like a sketch on his skin.

    ¡°I have been looking about inside the ship for the past few days, and I felt like my telepathy was being disrupted around here and here. Maybe around here¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°Rinne, you¡¯re amazing!¡±

    You hadn¡¯t been off snacking! Well, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s correct, but in the worst case we¡¯ll just destroy anything antenna-like. Well, that aside¡­¡­

    ¡°What is this skin¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, it¡¯s commonly referred to as a two-legged sheep.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to hear such jargon.

    ¡°[Eliminate the intruders. Eliminate the intruders.]¡±

    Rinne¡¯s human form caused them to try killing us both instead of capturing me.

    ¡°Ha!¡±

    ¡°uh¡­¡±

    I defeated Sebra with a poke to the forehead, even while she was repeating herself like a siren, and parted from Rinne.

    ¡°Sorry, Sebra.¡±

    I aimed for the main system of the ship. A biological computer¡­¡­ perhaps it was one of the 1291 people who were the source of all genes here, the [Mother].

    ¡°¡­[Radiant Sacred Spear]¡­!¡±

    I mowed down security drones and guards alike with my Radiant Sacred Spear.

    ¡­¡­ My demon-busting [Radiant Series] and god-busting [Black Magic] were less effective here. I realized that I wasn¡¯t quite good at physical combats.

    No, no, I had my attendants for that, but what if I called them here¡­¡­? For some reason I felt like I would mess it up, so let¡¯s not do that.

    I could hear the explosions off in the distance. ¡­¡­ they seem to be underestimating Rinne.

    It¡¯s not my hobby to involve the innocent people in things, but could I even call these copy clones people? Unlike the fertilized clones, I couldn¡¯t feel any will or a soul in them.

    ¡°Hup!¡±

    BANG! Thick walls slammed down over the other side.

    ¡°[Radiant Shield]¡±

    The humans were gone, and the barrage of attacks from the laser turret were blocked by Radiant Shield.

    These were the areas that Rinne weren¡¯t able to get into, that he hadn¡¯t even drawn properly on his sketch. It was a toss-up between being an engine or a control room, but apparently, I guessed right.

    ¡°[This is a restricted area. This is a restricted area.]¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    As I destroyed the last bulkhead ¡­¡­ I was suddenly in a place that resembled a baseball field.

    There was nothing particularly wrong. It looked every bit the spitting image of a baseball field, but for the giant tower of crystal that was tens of meters tall in the middle of it all. The spectator seats that were lined up in the bleachers weren¡¯t cheap plastic chairs, but ¡°brains¡± suspended in the tens of thousands in tanks.

    ¡°Is this the [Mother]¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­ What are you?]¡±

    As I inquired of it, I received a reply in an ever-so-slightly emotional tone that sounded starkly different from those emotionless warnings.

    ¡°I want you to stop your invasion of this planet.¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­Invasion? What are you talking about?]¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you going to domesticate the indigenous people to harvest their genes?¡±

    ¡°[Yes. Is it a problem for us to effectively use livestock?]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is it really ok to domesticate human beings?¡±

    ¡°[No. But there are legally no such things as ¡°humans¡± besides those from our mother star.]¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you here, you know¡­?¡±

    [Yes. You are not a human. And therefore, you are not legally protected.]

    ¡°¡­¡­ Then the copy clones?¡±

    ¡°[They are not classified as humans. They are merely the copies of the 1291 people controlled by the 1291. The same person cannot exist twice at the same time.]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ I see.¡±

    I finally understood a little. The same person could not exist twice at the same time. In short, their copy technology only copied the body, and not the self.

    There was only a remnant of a soul in the copy, just like how there were no souls in hair that had been cut. Even so, thinking of these humans, I could only think of them as having one soul. No matter how many brains they had, there was only one will, and it was almost like a hive.

    So, the copies weren¡¯t people. And similarly, the indigenous folk who weren¡¯t protected in their laws weren¡¯t people. Therefore, their own self-indulgent theory let them do whatever they wished.

    ¡°Well, then, this is not murder.¡±

    As I swung my arms, hundreds of brains that were encased in their containers were blown away.

    ¡°[What are you doing?!]¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re just moving the ship, you don¡¯t need so many brains, do you?¡±

    As I destroyed yet more brains with my Saint Bow, [Mother] screamed at me in anger.

    ¡°[Stop that at once! It took me hundreds of years to copy those brains. I can only operate about 100 people with each brain. Stop!]¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ So you were manipulating the people with these.¡±

    [Mother] was busy governing the spirits of everyone else, even as I thought of how to eliminate their anxieties.

    It was a twisted ideal, in a way¡­¡­ being happy without drugs or brainwashing, like domesticated animals.

    ¡°¡­¡­Are you trying to be God?¡±

    ¡°[¡­¡­G¡­od¡­¡­ Yes, God. I am the true God that leads all of mankind.]¡±

    And in an instant, all of the remaining brains began to glow in unison.

    The language had given them purpose. And at this instant, the processing powers of all of the brains were integrated by this thought, and a new [God] was born.

    And then¡­

    ¡°Ah, my old enemy.¡±

    The whites of my eyes were eroded away by darkness and began to shine brightly. My demonic eyes manifested and found the brain where the soul of [Mother] was housed, in the center of the tower of crystal.

    ¡°[Sparkling Sacred Spear]!¡±

    ¡°[Stop ¡­¡­ Stopp!!!]¡±

    As it cried out its dirge, the brain that was pierced through with my Sparkling Sacred Spear was shattered, along with the tower of crystal.

    As the broken crystal rained down like powdered snow, I looked about to make sure that the soul of [Mother] had not been transferred, and then destroyed all of the remaining brains.

    ¡°¡­¡­Yuru.¡±

    As I broke everything, I heard a voice calling out to me from the bulkhead I¡¯d blasted through.

    ¡°¡­¡­Sebra.¡±

    As I called out to her, she looked around, a complicated expression on her face.

    ¡°¡­¡­ This ship is done for. Even though it can sustain itself with its subsystems, dimensional navigation just isn¡¯t possible without Mother¡¯s computations.¡±

    ¡°But you are all still alive.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡­¡±

    As Sebra glanced down, I walked past her, leaving her statement hanging in the air.

    *

    ¡°¡­¡­!¡±

    And at that moment, Sebra, who was looking down, whirled around, stabbing a sharp shard towards Yurushia¡¯s back with madness in her eyes¡­¡­

    Yurushia had [Human] attributes, so she had more ¡°freedom¡± than other demons, but similarly, if she was not in her Demon form, she was equally humanly ¡°vulnerable¡±.

    Even a tiny knife, like those used for cooking, could be deadly if she was caught off-guard.

    ¡°!?¡±

    But at that instant, Sebra could feel herself being jerked back bodily.

    Yurushia¡¯s back looked so far away, but in fact, her body was still exactly where it had been, and only her mind had been pulled away from her body.

    ¡°[Is this a ¡°deified¡± soul? It¡¯s disgusting.]¡±

    As the young dark-skinned man spoke, moving his mouth merely for form¡¯s sake, Sebra ¨C [Mother]¡®s ¨C spirit twisted with shock.

    Whether it was because it was the first time she had ever seen him, or because the spirit of an old woman who was hundreds of years old was pulled out of its body, the instant she was about to scream out, she was silenced by the overwhelming aura of the [Demon Beast].

    ¡°[Do not make a sound¡­¡­ I¡¯m not interested in your jokes.]¡±

    Sebra was but one of the many bodies with the same brain and genetic information as that of [Mother].

    Although she had some free will, for [Mother], it was beyond simple to strip her of her will and control her body.

    [Mother] who had lost her main body and all of her cloned brains, had moved her soul and self over to Sebra just before she¡¯d dissipated. Since all of the brains had been destroyed, her calculation powers that had been equal to a God¡¯s had been lost.

    ¡­¡­ But because the brains were no longer connected to the machine, their emotions were dominated by hatred, and attacked Yurushia.

    (I¡­¡­ I am the God who was supposed to lead mankind¡­!!!)

    ¡°[Perish.]¡±

    As Rinne crushed the spirit between his lips, [Mother]¡®s spirit was crushed, and her soul shattered.

    ¡°¡­¡­Rinne?¡±

    As expected, Yurushia started, turning back with a look of mild surprise.

    ¡°Welcome home.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    Yurushia had a slightly wistful expression as she smiled, even as she exchanged pleasantries with Rinne, looking at the remains of the ¡°deified¡± soul in Rinne¡¯s hands.

    ¡°What happened to Sebra¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°There was only a tiny sliver of soul left. Still, she¡¯s alive.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I guess.¡±

    Sebra, who had regained herself, was staring at where [Mother] had been with a childlike expression.

    ¡°Go home.¡±

    ¡°Aah.¡±

    The two shared the fragments of the broken soul with each other, restoring the magic that they had lost in battle.

    As Yurushia opened the dimensional door, her four attendants along with a rabbit and a bear stuffed toy, were kneeling there awaiting them.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s go home. To my home¡­¡­ the Holy Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±¡±¡±

    And Yurushia and the others finally returned home after a two year journey.

    ¡­¡­ To the Holy Kingdom, that was wrapped in raging flames.

    Author¡¯s Notes:

    This is the end of the side stories.

    Thank you all for reading so far. Till next time!

    Piro¡¯s Notes:

    MY NAME IS YURU, DESTROYER OF-

    ¨Ceh? ehhhh? it broke already!!

    App¡¯s Notes:

    Well, folks, it¡¯s been a wild ride these past three years and change, but I¡¯m happy we did it together! Me and Piro will be taking a break from the series, so this will be all for a while. I¡¯m glad to have gone through this journey with all of you!

    Thank you!

 CH 176

    I Have Returned (1-1)

    The Taterudo Saint Country, Viscount Carrow in the west of the Thule territory.

    Surrounded by vast forests, this land was famous for its abundant fruit wine. Although some of the fruits were in season for harvesting, no one was seen harvesting it.

    Meanwhile a carriage was advancing through the forest in such a territory. A fine, four-seater, one-horse carriage, a very out of place sight in this rural area. The small window in front of it suddenly opened and a bright voice was thrown at the nervous female knight who was acting as a coachman.

    ¡°Sarah, you¡¯re on the right track. Just a little bit more.¡±

    ¡°Fer¡­, let¡¯s go back after all.¡±

    ¡®Both of them are a maidservant and knight belonging to the Verusenia¡¯s family, but I don¡¯t feel any difference in status between Fer, who is from a commoner¡¯s background, and Sarah, who is from a knight¡¯s family,  a low rank noble.¡¯

    The red-haired female knight- Sarah cries in a pitiful voice at the blonde woman in the maid outfit ¨C Fer¡¯s words. The other woman in the carriage interrupted their conversation as she leaned out of the side door.

    ¡°No, Sarah. We need to get the ¡®Kogyoku¡¯ (Note : ¼tÓñ {Kogyoku} mean red ball), for Lady Ria and Vio.¡±

    ¡°Min~¡­¡­.¡±

    Sarah¡¯s shoulders slumped in dismay when Min, who is a senior member of the duke¡¯s family, told her to do so.

    In most aristocratic families, not to mention other dukes, a person from a noble family would have a higher status than a person from a commoner family, but the Verusenia Duke family doesn¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to differentiate between nobles and commoners. This is all because of the influence and the nature of the Duke and Duchess. Even the royal family can¡¯t complain about it because the Duchess, the ¡°last boss¡± of the Dukedom of Verusenia, doesn¡¯t care about such things at all.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­ please come home quickly!¡±

    Even though they are in their mid-twenties and two of whom claim to be married women, which is the two handmaids of the duchess, why are they here in this place moreover they are so insistent on seeking something for their beloved Duchess Riastea and her colleague Vio?¡­. Even though danger are lurking around, truly what strange women.

    ¡°Just zip off and get the hell back here and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Even if you say so, Fer, we¡¯re still very much out of the Carrow family¡¯s sphere of influence. They might come out from anywhere. I knew I should have gotten a soldier here to help me¡­¡±

    ¡°No you can¡¯t. We can¡¯t use our strength here.¡±

    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you take my kids with you and go?¡±

    ¡°No we can¡¯t, it¡¯s no good decreasing Lady Ria¡¯s Protection.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­. You¡¯re right¡±

    In the Holy Kingdom of Taterudo, a civil war began about half a year ago due to the rebellion of the Southern Sector Knights.

    This has left about half of Taterudo in a state of warfare, with the Duke of Bellrose, the southern guardian, and their factions, the Marquises and Earls, supporting their rebellion.

    The Duke of Verusenia from Thule territory in the west is no exception. Even though it is protected from the rebels, the head of the family, Folt, as a member of the royal family and a foreign minister, was required to stay in the royal capital to keep in check other countries and restrain them through diplomacy. Consequently, only his family could get secretly evacuated to the Viscount Carrow¡¯s territory.

    Originally, there was a plan to evacuate to a safer place and that is in the new head of the Duke of Capel¡¯s family, who was madly in love with and worship the Duchess of Verusenia, so a plan was made to evacuate to that place. The place was specifically chosen as the evacuation site  just so that in the worst case scenario, they could escape to the Sigiless Kingdom in the west where Folt¡¯s sister was married.

    And that was the reason why the ladies couldn¡¯t travel too far.

    ¡°I really  hope Yuru comes back soon.¡±

    ¡°She said it was 1-2 years, but it has already been 2 years¡­¡±

    ¡°As long as Yuru was here, that rebel army would disperse in just a second with the help of the Saint¡­¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ What is that about saint?¡±

    In fact, it is said among the people that if only the [Saintess] had been there, the rebellion would not have even occur.

    This came from a deep sense of gratitude and trust in the ¡°legendary saintess¡± who had supposedly saved the world at the expense of herself. Her two companions, the [Holy Kingdom¡¯s Brave] and [Holy Warrior], also acknowledged this.

    Currently, the progress of the rebel army to the capital is being held back. The two main rebel leaders are being pinned down on the front lines, leaving the rebel stronghold in limbo.

    This caused the battle lines to spread out of control and skirmishes to occur in various places.

    It is no exception in this Viscount Carrow estate.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that easy to encounter them. You know how big the Saint Country is right?¡±

    ¡°I know, right? I thought, ¡®How unlucky are we to run into the rebels on the only day we went out in secret?¡¯ That was what we were talking about.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha¨C¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s someone over here! Turn the troops around!¡±

    ¡°They really came after all¡ª¨C!¡±

    At the noise of what sounded like soldiers rushing from deep in the forest, the three of them screamed at the same time.

    ¡°This is Fer¡¯s fault! It¡¯s because you raised a flag!!¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhhhh¡­¡­..isn¡¯t it the same for Min?¡±

    ¡°We are all in big trouble¡­¡­¡±

    Even though there is one person who is capable of combat, in the end they are still just three young women who were found by the enemy soldiers. But even so, there is just no way to make them feel nervous.

    It¡¯s not that they had any means of escape or that they had prepared a secret plan, it¡¯s just that the longer they spend with the inhumane duchess, the more their [Mental Tolerance] rises. As a result, the three maids who have been watching the duchess since they were born were feared by the duke¡¯s servants as special maids who could calmly deal with any situation.

    ¡®To put it simply, it¡¯s not that I¡¯m the tense one because I¡¯m ¡®bad¡¯.¡¯

    ¡°You¡¯ll both have to run. I¡¯ll hold them off.¡±

    Sarah, a female knight whose [Mental Tolerance] has not risen comparatively among the three, jumps down from the driver seat of the horse-drawn-carriage and draws her sword from her waist while exuding a sense of urgency.

    ¡°¡­¡­.Hey, Fer. Can you be the driver?¡±

    ¡°What is Min saying? Do you think I¡¯ve ever done that growing up in the city?¡±

    ¡°You two¡­¡­.¡±

    Min smiles kindly at Sarah, who wants to say something, and gets out of the carriage, wiping the sweat from Sarah¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this alone.¡±

    ¡°Master Yuru would scold me if I said I had abandoned Sarah.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s figure out a way for the three of us to escape.¡±

    At their unfounded smiles, Sarah nodded strongly and regripped her sword, even though her back was drenched in sweat.

    ¡°There they are! Let¡¯s go!¡±

 CH 177

    Editor : Jestersurge

    ¡°There they are! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Emerging from the forest were five soldiers wearing the insignia of the Southern Army.

    ¡®Maybe it¡¯s just the scouts of the squad, that¡¯s less people than I thought. There are no heavily armed knights but it¡¯s still more than what Sarah can handle alone.¡¯

    Sarah steps forward to protect the two maids.

    ¡°Three women¡­. Hey! Be quiet and don¡¯t resist!¡±

    ¡°Captain these women¡­..¡±

    ¡°Yes. What house are you from? Hiding it won¡¯t do you any good.¡±

    ¡®The noble families in the region are largely hostile to the Southern Army. Nevertheless, there are some noble families that maintain neutrality so it¡¯s only natural to want to know which family they belong to and what they are doing, but I had a more important purpose in mind: I was looking for someone related to a certain noble family.¡¯

    ¡°We are merchants, sir. The Lord has sent us to buy fruit and vegetables.¡±

    Fer, who seemed to be the most solid looking person on the outside, stepped out quietly and bowed to the squad leader.

    ¡°At a time like this¡­?Which merchant family?¡±

    ¡°It should exactly be at a time like this when distribution is slow everywhere and for that reason, the lord sent us. We, the Pinkiri trading company, are still a small company, so people like us can¡¯t afford to play around.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..The Pinkiri Company? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±

    ¡°If only we could get our name out there a little bit more, we would have been able to buy more, so it¡¯s a bit frustrating.¡±

    Fer speaks flippant bullshit with a natural smile on her face.

    At this point, Fer and the other two managed to gain the soldiers¡¯ pity. After all, they are beautiful women with each having different styles.

    The soldiers almost instantly bonded to them, as if to show that beauty is a win-win for both sides, but

    ¡°That wagon has a boarded-up insignia. Hey, take that thing off for me.¡±

    But the squad leader unfortunately had a liking for more childish women.

    That¡¯s why he wasn¡¯t interested in the three beauties, who were slightly older even if they were more beautiful, and he felt uncomfortable with Fer, who was too nonchalant in a situation where the soldiers were pointing their weapons at them.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Just as the soldiers were about to move at the squad leader¡¯s command, Min threw chili and pepper powder at the soldiers.

    ¡°Ohhhhh!!!¡±

    Sarah, her face twitching, also slashes at the soldier¡¯s hand at the same time.

    The three of them were aware that the soldiers had been searching for them.

    If she could fool them with her mouthpiece, that was fine, but if they wanted to go on the offensive, they figured now was the perfect time to do so just when their enemies were still skeptical.

    ¡°You are related to the Duke of Verusenia, after all.¡±

    The squad leader yell at the actions of the three women.

    Troops who go out on scouts like them have lower combat experience. Fer and the other two¡¯s surprise attack seemed to work but to avoid the blinding powder, Sarah did not take a step forward and was only able to make a shallow slash at the soldier¡¯s arm. The powder in the small bag didn¡¯t spread as much as she thought it would and the squad soon regained its position with only one soldier¡¯s eyes and throat hurt.

    As the soldiers dispersed and blocked the escape route, the squad leader spoke again.

    ¡°This is your last chance. Surrender. Or I¡¯ll cut you down.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The squad¡¯s objectives were more than half accomplished once Fer and the other¡¯s identities were discovered.

    All that¡¯s left to do is to report to the main squad and detain Fer and the two others until the main squad arrives on the Viscount Carrow family and captures the Duchess of Verusenia.

    It doesn¡¯t matter whether they are alive or dead.

    ¡°If it comes to this¡­.¡±

    The only condition for Fer and the other two to win is to delay the soldiers without letting any of them flee back to disclose the family¡¯s location or if  any one of the three ladies managed to return and notify Viscount Carrow and Duchess Verusenia of the crisis.

    The squad leader sneers at Fer who grips the dagger in her bosom in a desperate attempt to make a decision.

    ¡°Haha, what a waste of time. What can a knight and two maids do together?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the power of women!¡±

    ¡°What will you challenge us with, that unreasonableness?  We don¡¯t need to have you alive either, you know that, right?¡±

    If the duke¡¯s household members were present in Viscount Carrow¡¯s territory, then simply attacking Viscount Carrow¡¯s territory with rebel forces would allow them to put pressure on the royal family.

    The orders the squad leader received were almost accomplished as the only thing he had to do was to find evidence of the Duke of Verusenia¡¯s family¡¯s presence here, but it would be better if he could get a clear location.

    That¡¯s why he was trying to break the hearts of Fer and the others, even if it meant having a conversation that wasn¡¯t necessary.

    ¡°You must be unhappy. You are a lowly aristocrat at best, but even you didn¡¯t think that you¡¯re going to be put in a dangerous place like this, right?¡±

    ¡°How dare you!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know I was going to lose my life in a place like this after serving a master like that too. Don¡¯t you also regret being treated so unfairly?¡±

    ¡°We are here of our own free will. I¡¯m not with you traitors!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°Traitors huh¡­.. ? Now that you mention it, while the center and the north became the main force in the fight against the Demon King, didn¡¯t the south abandon us?¡±

    ¡°That didn¡¯t count as a betrayal!¡±

    ¡°And if you¡¯re going to call it a betrayal, how about the saints at your place? It¡¯s been two years and I haven¡¯t heard from her. Didn¡¯t she also betray you and defect to some country?¡±

    ¡°That is not true!¡±

    ¡°Master Yuru fought for the world!¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t she come home? The truth is she really got tired of it and ran away, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like that!¡±

    ¡°Then why hasn¡¯t she come back yet? If what you guys said is true and she didn¡¯t defect to another country, then it could only mean she either  lost and ran away or died.¡±

    ¡°Master Yuru will not be defeated! She will definitely come back for us.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    Everyone in the area fell silent with a subtle look on their faces.

    We all look to the side in a strange, aligned, slow motion¡­. There was a beautiful girl in a black and silver dress with golden hair dominating her face and a soft smile on her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m back¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s here! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    The screams of all of them were extremely loud in the quiet, deep forest where no one would pass.

 CH 178

    Editor: Jestersurge

    Let¡¯s rewind time a little bit.

    We crossed from Earth to another world, Tess. Although we made some stops along the way,  we finally returned to the long-forgotten Atla after a year and a half of long travel.

    No, in fact, it has been two years since that [Demon Lord] incident¡­¡­..Well, I have been fighting with Sloth for half a year in that subspace too, so it has been two years in fact.

    ¡®It¡¯s been such a long time¡­¡­. And now I¡¯m already 13 years old.¡¯

    ¡°¡­.Where am I, by the way?¡±

    It was nice to be able to open a portal to another dimension and finally get back to Atla, but when I got out, it was only a vast forest as far as the eye could see.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s Atla!¡±

    Fanny, the maid who has been acting the role of a boatman up to this point, upon hearing my mutterings cheerfully raises her hand and says the right thing. ¡­¡­..That was helpful.

    ¡°Based on the type of plant life and the position of the sun, I would say we are probably in a forest around the southwest corner of Taterudo.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    The butler Noa who just finished inspecting around and examining the area reported with a finger on his glasses.

    The Knight Nia and the Maid Tina, both the muscle-brain duo were playing with Geass and Onzada as if they didn¡¯t think they could be of use at all. You guys are really that free huh?

    ¡°Let¡¯s just move on for now.¡±

    ¡°You are right.¡±

    The most free of all, Rinne, is in his black cat mode because he is still not used to his human form yet. He comfily sleeps around on my shoulder while sometimes rubbing himself to me and purring contentedly.  ¡®¡­¡­¡­You cat-haired bastard. What am I going to do¡­¡­. It feels like I¡¯m the only person with common sense here.¡¯

    ¡°Anyway¡­. Nia and Tina, can you help me find a way to get to the nearest village?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    They both nodded in happiness when I asked them to work because I had let them go out to ¡®play¡¯.

    ¡®¡­¡­..You guys are that bored huh¡­¡¯

    ¡°Are those two going to be alright I wonder?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®¡­¡­¡­Are they really going to be alright?¡¯ Rinne¡¯s words made me call back the two of them who were about to spring out running joyfully.

    ¡°Be careful when you meet someone. And you can¡¯t fly, you can¡¯t pick up a fallen murderer¡¯s soul and eat them.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Yes¡±

    ¡®Why do they look so disappointed.¡¯

    ¡®Well those children are still kids¡­¡­ kids huh? Well anyway, you cannot help but worry about those two devils.¡¯ While I was still lost in my thoughts, a set of tables and tea sets came out and was arranged neatly.

    I was drinking the green tea Noa had brewed for me when Tina had returned in less than five minutes.

    ¡°Master. There is a village nearby.¡±

    ¡°Oh, dear¡±

    ¡°It is on fire¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡®What is that?! I don¡¯t understand the situation. What¡¯s going on?¡¯ I thought while looking at Tina. Then I turned around slowly and there she was, dragging two bloodied soldiers with her, her face smeared dreadfully with blood. Nia was there with a good smile, wagging her imaginary tail waiting for a compliment.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã

    ¡°So you people are from the Southern Army?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­..Yes.¡±

    It seems that Nia ¡®accidentally¡¯ did it because the soldier was suddenly showing hostility. But because they were wearing the armor of the Saint Country Taterudo¡¯s army, I still healed them just to the point where they could speak easily. They then aptly surrendered themselves to us.

    They say that the South revolted being led by the Duke of Bellrose, the guardian of the south, and his knights.

    ¡°What is the reason for the South¡¯s rebellion?¡±

    ¡°We- We are being treated unfairly just because we did not join in the Demon King¡¯s War.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes.¡±

    I was thinking what noble reason do they actually have for this uprising, but turns out there wasn¡¯t much of a reason.

    ¡°You are not lying, are you¡­..?¡±

    When I exude just a little [Intimidation] and with Nia and Tina putting their hands on the soldiers¡¯ shoulders, their faces turn pale in an instant.

    ¡°It- it¡¯s the truth¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..In the first place, if we had known that the princess would return, we wouldn¡¯t have rebelled. But because the princess who twisted the demon with one hand did not return for more than a year, we thought¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®Hey, hey, who are you talking about?¡¯

    Even though Atla¡¯s information network is still underdeveloped compared to Tess, it seems like there is still a lot of rumour that reaches even here.

    ¡°By the way,¡­¡­. is it fine to leave the village burning?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Oh!¡±

    Rinne¡¯s murmur reminded me of something important.

    ¡°Tina, take us to the village! Fanny, go ahead with Onzada! Noa, you will take care of these soldiers! Nia and Geass, the two of you come with me!¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± everyone answered at the same time.

    At my command, my followers immediately start to act.

    I¡¯m terrible at flying so we all started running at once. Fanny who was holding Onzada immediately phased silently into space.

    ¡®¡­¡­.¨CI have seen them going wild on the battlefield every now and then and I know saying this only now is a bit too late, but I really hope we don¡¯t make any more strange rumors.¡¯

    After a few minutes of running, we could see smoke rising through the gaps of the trees. As a matter of fact, the fire itself doesn¡¯t matter¡­¡­. Well, I am sure it is a big deal for the people involved, but really, the real problem is the group who set the fire ¨C the rebel soldiers.

    The fire itself was probably just a warning. ¡®If you don¡¯t do what I say, the villagers will be the next victims¡¯ or something along those lines.

    ¡®As expected, I can¡¯t revive those who have lost their lives. And it¡¯s a bit awkward to eat those souls too¡­¡­.¡¯

    As I entered the village from the woods.

    ¡°Eh¡­..?¡±

    There was a figure of Onzada, standing at the top of the pile of stunned soldiers, with his arms crossed in a proud manners.

 CH 179

    Editor: Jestersurge

    ¡°We are so grateful for saintess¡¯ help, even though this is such a remote village.¡±

    ¡°I am glad that no one died.¡±

    Even though it was easily taken care of by Onzada and the others, now I am the one receiving the gratitude from the village chief and everyone else in the village.

    ¡®Right now, we are in the middle of the field. Well, it really cannot be helped, the village chief¡¯s house got burned down after all. I wonder if there is anything else I can do.¡¯

    By the way, there were a good number of people who were injured, but i have healed them all. Their joy can be seen in the way the villagers bowing and prostrating themselves to me.

    ¡®¡­¡­You don¡¯t have to look at me like that, okay? I am not scary, okay?¡¯

    ¡°By the way, Mr. Chief, do you have an idea on what the soldiers were doing?¡±

    ¡°Well, there is something I have to report to you, Your Highness. Our village¡¯s relationship with Viscount Carrow has always been very good. He was very kind to us and we also treated him the same way. So no matter what the soldiers ask us, we wouldn¡¯t tell them no matter what.¡±

    Then the village chief start telling a long story with his accent.

    ¡®Our [Divine Spirit Language] translator is too good, isn¡¯t he! How did you manage to get the accent right too?¡¯

    When I was still lost in thought about how great the [Divine Spirit Language] is, the village chief had just said something that caught my attention.

    ¡°Mr. Folt¡¯s wife seems to be here and they are still looking for her.¡±

    ¡°Eh?!¡±

    ¡®Folt is¡­.. father right¡­..? That means mother is here¡­¡­ Then, the person the rebel soldiers have been searching for is¡­¡­.¡¯

    ¡°Everyone! Let¡¯s go to my mother¡¯s side immediately!¡±

    Everyone began to move in unison at my call. No, I said, ¡°Everyone,¡± but the villagers don¡¯t have to move! What is this? A little kid with a runny nose was running around and a withered old man was toddling with his hoe as a cane.

    ¡°My wife¡­.. the rice is ready.¡±

    ¡®Who¡¯s that? Hurry up and eat with that old man!¡¯

    ¡°Calm down.¡±

    Rinne hit me with his small paw and I came to myself. By the way, she¡¯s not a wife of an old man.

    ¡°Oh, um, the people of the village, please rebuild the village! Tie up the soldiers and carefully keep an eye on them. I will go with my servants to see my mother. Then, good day to all of you.¡±

    After bidding a quick farewell to the astonished villagers, I hurriedly left the village with my followers.

    ¡°So, do you even have the slightest idea where your mother is?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­.¡±

    Noa¡¯s calm words brought my running legs to a halt. Incidentally, we were going 300 kilometers per hour at our initial speed, resulting in turning the forest ground up about ten meters. I feel sorry for the animal that live in this forest.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave it to them?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Looking down at Rinne¡¯s voice, I saw a Bear and a Rabbit stuffed doll looking up at me and raising one hand.

    ¡°Gau gau¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    I don¡¯t understand what they are saying.

    ¡°Geass said he could smell something familiar to Lady Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Gau¡±

    ¡®I still don¡¯t understand what they are saying. Anyway, how can Fanny and her friends know what to do when they can¡¯t even translate the spirit language into a normal language and all they can say is ¡®gau¡¯? ¡®

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Someone familiar to me?¡±

    ¡®Who is that I wonder? Anyway, I am really curious about who it is.¡¯

    ¡°Gau gau¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡±

    Onzada, who had been discussing something with Geass, nodded and ran deeper into the forest.

    ¡­Oh, his footprints are glowing. It¡¯s like Laplace¡¯s ¡®rabbit guide¡¯ mode, so something must be going on in that direction.

    A few minutes of running again¡­¡­.. Onzada¡¯s short legs do not give him that much speed, but after moving just a few dozen kilometers, Noa and Nia suddenly come closer to me.

    ¡°Even I can smell it now especially when we¡¯ve come this close.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I wonder if this is a hint of ¡­ Fer, Min, and Sarah?¡±

    ¡°Are those three people there?¡±

    ¡®What kind of combination is that? I think Fer and Min are going on an errand and Sarah is their escort. People who are very close ¨C do they have similar body odors when they are together all the time I wonder?¡¯

    ¡°Yeah. They are probably being attacked by the rebel.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®You should have told me that earlier!¡¯

    ¡°So, shall I go ahead and do it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡­.No, let¡¯s wait a bit.¡±

    I nodded at Noa¡¯s suggestion with a devilish smile and stopped him in a hurry.

    ¡®I¡¯m afraid I will really lose my cool when the people who were around me since birth get into a tight pinch¡­¡­.¡¯

    Her thoughts, which had become much more demonic ever since she was far away from the people dear to her, have changed to become much more humane the moment she returned home.

    ¡°It¡¯s bad to be taken as a hostage¡­¡­ I¡¯m going to distract them and catch them by surprise.¡±

    Not slowing down at all, we hurried to the scene, muffling our footsteps and erasing signs of our presence. ¡®I¡¯m really bad at hiding so I can¡¯t increase my speed anymore than this.¡¯

    ¡®Ah¡­¡­ I found them. Maybe it is because we were able to find them so quickly that all three seem to be perfectly unharmed and safe, although they are currently surrounded by five soldiers.¡¯

    ¡­¡­¡­..I felt a little bit of a pang at the sight of the faces I had missed so much.

    They seem to be in a plight, but it doesn¡¯t seem like a desperate situation yet.

    ¡°Stop.¡±

    I immediately stopped Nia and Tina, who was about to spring out. I was the only one who quietly approached them.

    ¡°And if you¡¯re going to call it a betrayal, how about the saints at your place? It has been two years and I have not heard from her. Didn¡¯t she also betray you and defect to some country?¡±

    ¡°That is not true!¡±

    ¡°Master Yuru fought for the world!¡±

    I have already come this close to them, but surprisingly no one noticed me yet.

    ¡°Then why hasn¡¯t she come back yet? If what you guys said is true and she didn¡¯t defect to another country, then it could only mean she either lost and ran away or died.¡±

    ¡°Master Yuru will not be defeated! She will definitely come back for us.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    After a couple seconds, everyone there began to pale frightfully and sweat coldly, and their faces quietly turned to me.

    ¡°I have returned.¡±

    ¡°S-she¡¯s here! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!¡±

    I wonder am I some kind of a tsuchinoko or something.

 CH 180

    Editor: Jestersurge

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, I¡¯m done.¡±

    Noa reports as he brushes off the dust that is not even on him in the first place.

    ¡®Well, it seems like I don¡¯t even have to capture or question the four or five human soldiers. After all, all of the rebel soldiers¡¯ will to fight fell at mach speed with just my mere appearance. Before I even got the chance to do anything, they all just went and surrendered to me.¡¯

    ¡®¡­Now I¡¯m really curious about how audacious the rumors are, but I am also kind of scared to hear them.¡¯

    ¡°¡­Yuru-sama!¡±

    When I turned my head when I was called, I saw Fer with her moist eyes and Min¡­¡­.and Sarah, who was already crying profusely.

    ¡°I¡¯m home¡­ everyone.¡±

    What can I say, it¡¯s really touching. This feeling¡­.. I feel like I¡¯m finally home. Everyone has been waiting for me to come back.

    I open my arms and embrace Fer firmly as she jumps on me.

    ¡°Hmmmmmmmm¡±

    ¡°¡­..Eh?¡±

    What? Are you trying to lift me up?

    While Fer left me stunned, she put her handkerchief to her eyes and began to cry deliberately with a loud sound.

    ¡°Really, I can¡¯t even carry you anymore, growing up so much in just two years¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡°Ehhhhh¡­¡±

    I have certainly grown up. Now my height is already around 160 cm so I¡¯m about the same height as Fer.

    I am not sure what Fer was thinking about as she compared the two of my exclusive maids. She then slightly clicked her tongue, embraced Tina, and started stroking her head.

    ¡°I¡¯m relieved to see you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­What does that mean?¡±

    Hmm¡­ Well, you know. If you look at Tina and Fanny, there is only one part where Fanny is larger than Tina.

    Anyway, now is not the time for that.

    ¡°By the way, why are the three of you here? What happened to my mother?¡±

    When I ask that with a serious look, the three all put on a forlorn face and Min speaks on all of their behalf.

    ¡°Yuru-sama¡­ Civil war is currently happening in this saint country.¡±

    To summarize the explanation, it was almost exactly the same as what the soldiers said.

    Several aristocrats, including the Southern Army and the Duke¡¯s family, revolted against the royal family for reasons unknown.

    It¡¯s good up to that point, but the problem is with my mother.

    According to Min and the others, the war is fast approaching our territory, so the family has evacuated here to the territory of the Viscount Carrow¡¯s family.

    Then. why didn¡¯t you just evacuate farther away ¨C that is, to the neighboring country where my aunt married into the Sigiless royal family, where there would be more guards? And, even more so, I still don¡¯t get why the three of them dare to leave mother¡¯s side.

    The three of them averted their gazes slightly as I turned my gaze on them with that thought in mind.

    ¡­¡­¡­.What did you guys do?

    ¡°By the way, Yuru-sama, please introduce them to me!¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I feel like I¡¯ve been misled in some way, but I didn¡¯t know what it is so I just brushed it off and then turned my sight to where Fer¡¯s eyes were looking at¡­

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah¡±

    There was Rinne in his human form, and Onzada and Geass, who had become humanoid before they knew it.

    Wearing exotic clothes with dark hair and light brown skin, a man about 20 years old with silver eyes.

    A wild man about thirty years old wearing a knightly garment with rough stubble on his face.

    An elegant gentleman with silver hair wearing a monocle and butler clothes.

    ¡­¡­..Suspicious. At first glance, they do look like an exotic nobleman and his squires, but their presence is so out of the ordinary that it is just completely suspicious!

    Why did you become a humanoid here!? ¡­¡­Oh well, I guess it would be easier to explain it now rather than later when these three people would appear out of nowhere¡­

    ¡°¡®Oh, um, well, um, they are from different¡­ aristocracy? The Lord? And¡­you know, someone who looks like that! They come from a different place! Yeah, something like that¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    I tried to explain it in an appropriate way, but it turned out to be too suspicious instead.

    The disoriented stares from the three of them hurt. I could not convince them and now even Rinne is looking at me in a dazed way.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.(whisper)¡±

    Fer and the other two sneakily discussed something with each other, glancing at me and Rinne.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..(whisper)¡±

    After the three of them finished discussing, Fer turns to Rinne and takes a graceful aristocratic bow, one I have never seen her do even though I¡¯ve been with her for over a decade.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, sir. We are the caretakers of Lady Yurushia from the Verusenia family. We are ever grateful to you for taking care of the lady.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t reveal my identity for a reason, but you can call me Rinne. I gladly took the invitation of Miss Yurushia and decided to accompany her.¡±

    ¡°Well, our lady must have been a bit of a nasty piece of work, wasn¡¯t she? Mr. Rinne, the entire Verusenia family welcomes you.¡±

    That! What the heck is that? Even though Rinne was a stray beast, he can actually speak in an aristocratic manner¡­

    But how could Fer and the others trust such a suspicious trio so quickly¡­¡­..

    ¡®I knew it. It is because Rinne¡¯s voice is so sexy, isn¡¯t it?¡¯

    ¡°My lady! I have a request!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Suddenly, Sarah raised her hands up and screamed.

    That¡¯s fine, but why has she been teary-eyed ever since she saw me again¡­? Well, I¡¯d like to think they were tears of joy.

    ¡°Actually¡­¡±

    Sarah told me that the three of them came to this forest to look for something.

    It seems that the name is ¡°Kogyoku¡±(Note : ¼tÓñ {Kogyoku}  mean red ball), and it¡¯s a very precious resource.

    ¡­What is it? Is it a champion in the sky or something to protect them? Could it be that it¡¯s a secret weapon that could round up the rebels?

    They came looking for it and met the rebels, and now she wants me to help them obtain it. Well, since I am a princess from the Duke household, it is my duty and I have to uphold it.

    ¡°¡­ Well, okay then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± the three of them thanked me delightedly.

    We use the carriage that Fer had been riding on to continue the journey. However, due to it only being a small four-seater carriage, I and Rinne sit comfortably inside, Fer and Min ride on the driver¡¯s seats, and the rest is on foot.

    ¡®This is a problem. Although, it is really nice to see them again, we are actually accustomed to sprinting and it would have only taken a few minutes if we were to run. At this speed of walking, I could not even guess how many days it will take.¡¯

    I suddenly realized that Noa and Geass were gone. Hmm they probably went to get a carriage. ¡­¡­.I don¡¯t dare to guess where they will get it from. Let¡¯s hope the rebels are the lucky ones this time again.

    ¡°Where did Rinne learn your manners?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you think I¡¯ve existed for thousands of years for nothing?¡±

    I had forgotten about it because all I usually got was the impression that he is a cat who likes to curl up in my lap. Come to think of it, he is right. Whether it¡¯s a demon beast or a demon lord, when you get to live that long, you can¡¯t use common sense to judge them because of the strange abilities and knowledge they would have obtained over the years.

    As they were having such a helpless conversation, there was a knock on the small window from the front, revealing Min¡¯s face.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, it¡¯s about time.¡±

    The place we arrived at was a big, fantastic forest.

    If it¡¯s a nice day, this looks like a place you could happily have a wonderful picnic at. But if the weather were to turn bad, it looks like it will immediately appear spooky and terrifying.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, look. Here it is.¡±

    When Fanny called me, I turned around only to see that she was wearing a decaying buffalo-like skull. She was wearing it with a proud look on her face too¡­. Beyond that, a humanoid Onzada is in a head-to-head brawl with a humongous white crocodile that looks about eight meters long.

    I can¡¯t believe that there is a crocodile here. As always, the ecosystem of this world is tricky and you just cannot understand it all.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah¡±

    When I turned around in that voice, I saw a huge tree looming expansively over the field.

    There is something that looks like a luscious fruit among the bright green leaves¡­

    ¡°There it is!¡±

    From underneath the tree, Fer and the others quickly scuttled back and proudly showed me the product of their efforts they have finally gotten safely after an arduous journey.

    ¡°Kogyoku, was it? Isn¡¯t it an apple?¡±

    Apparently, apples are very nutritious and are considered a good luck charm.

    Saint Country¡­In this area, it is a common practice to give it to pregnant women, postpartum mothers, infants who have started eating, etc.

    ¡°I understand that it¡¯s a good luck charm and good for you, but why did Fer and the others come far just to get it?¡±

    ¡°¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±¡±

    I asked curiously. The three of them looked embarrassed and slowly opened their mouths as they checked each other¡¯s eyes to see what their answer should be.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..Actually we came out without informing Ria-sama. Oh, I did leave a note behind though¡­¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why would you do that again?

    ¡°That is¡­¡±

    ¡°No, well¡­ I¡¯ve been foolishly thinking that they would like to tell Yuru-sama themselves, if possible¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Please just say it.¡±

    For some reason, the three of them straightened up vigorously when I said that with a totally normal smile that did not contain any single sign of intimidation.

    ¡°Vi, Vio is pregnant!¡±

    ¡°What did you sayyy?!¡±

    That Vio has a baby¡­? No, actually, it is not strange at all, but to think that the maid, Vio, who has been with me since I was born¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to congratulate her immediately! Which direction should I go!!?¡±

    ¡°Calm down.¡±

    Rinne calmly gave me a chop on my head as if to cool down my hurriedness, while Fer just secretly sighed.

    ¡°Master Yuru, knowing that you¡¯ll be amazed and happy to hear the news, they wanted to tell you themselves.¡±

    ¡°Both of them have been discussing just that.¡±

    ¡°¡­?? Both?¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, you said ¡®they themselves¡¯ or something in the plural earlier. Who else is exactly having a baby?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡­ in fact¡­. Ria-sama.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°He was born safely last year, and he will be one year old soon. It¡¯s your brother, Yuru-sama!¡±

    ¡°Younger brother!!!¡±

    During the two years I was away from this world, I have become a big sister.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    TL Note : Hi, everyone I am the new translator (and a newbie at being a translator) for this novel starting from volume 9 chapter 1 part 1 I¡¯ve been reading your comments and I realized that I¡¯ve a lot of flaws in my translation, especially for the name of the character, since I haven¡¯t read all the previous chapter so I translate the character name or their gender pronunciation wrong. Therefore I hope if you guys saw errors in my translation please do tell me and I¡¯ll change it from the next chapter, although I may not be able to reply to your comments I do read all of it! I really appreciate you guys pointing out my mistakes. I hope I could translate better and I hope you guys enjoy my translation. Have fun reading everyone ! >w

 CH 181

    Editor Jestersurge

    Hi guys apparently we have hit the 6$ mark! So as promises here is the bonus chapter! Thank you to Lepsy is Lost, Gadorach, Phantom Phoenix, and Nyx that has donated!

    This translation belong to Centinni, please only read and donate at Centinni. Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã

    Younger brother¡­.. I¡¯m finally a sister! I have always been a loner in every world, but now to think that the day will actually come when I will finally be called ¡®sister¡¯. Finally I could 120% understand what Fer¡¯s feelings are!

    ¡°A -Anyway¡­¡­.¡±

    When I tried to uproot the good-luck ¡°Kogyoku¡± and exterminate all the dangerous creatures in the area such that they can come back to harvest for more, Min who is an animal lover and an environmentalist scolded me shrilly.

    She said that if I were to change the ecosystem, the apples would be devoured by ordinary small animals and critters in a matter of seconds.

    ¡°Yurushia-sama, sorry to keep you waiting.¡±

    While they were doing this, Noah and Geass returned with a captured military carriage. A large two-horse, eight-seater. As what can be expected from a military carriage, the ride does not look that comfortable. However, with this carriage and Fer¡¯s carriage, all of us can now finally relax our legs and just enjoy the ride.

    If possible, we should give Onza and Geass a break now. Otherwise, they would not be able to maintain their human form by the time we get to our destination. ¡­¡­..Incidentally, Noah and Geass didn¡¯t tell us what happened to the soldiers who were robbed of their carriages, but I could pretty much imagine what happened to them.

    We¡¯ll need to move quickly. My brother, whom I have not seen yet, is waiting for me.

    About the rebellion¡­? Well, honestly, I think seeing my brother and my mother is a bigger priority.

    I tried to pull Fer or Min into the carriage I¡¯m going to ride and interrogate them for my brother¡¯s name and how Vio was doing. However both Fer and Min refused to do so, wanting me to hear it in person from them.

    The talkative Sarah, who seemed to be aware of the situation, quickly escaped and took her place in the driver¡¯s seat on the other side of the carriage.

    Now that I¡¯ve calmed down my head a bit, I¡¯m not going to be in a hurry and run off again.

    The family is currently staying at Viscount Carrow¡¯s residence. I wondered if the house wasn¡¯t such an obvious place to hide in and why didn¡¯t they just obtain a villa somewhere on the outskirts of the city instead. They then explained that if such an unknown place was to be heavily guarded, the rebels would find out effortlessly. It took Fer and the others two days by carriage to get here from the Viscount¡¯s house in such circumstances.

    This is, well, we¡¯re relying on a basic map and a local¡¯s story, but according to it, if we hurry and spend less time resting, we¡¯ll be able to get there before sunrise tomorrow.

    We can force ourselves to march onwards without staying overnight in a village on the way and we don¡¯t need sleep or human food, but Fer and the other two can¡¯t do that. That¡¯s why Nia went out to hunt and captured a deer-like animal from the woods which I quickly made into soup. I then went for a nap with the maids in the big carriage.

    ¡°Yuru-sama¡­.. I¡¯m really glad you¡¯re back. Vio had actually said that she wouldn¡¯t have children until Yuru-sama returned¡­.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t blame her for giving birth to a baby you know¡­..¡±

    ¡°Right now, Vio is doing her best not to give birth until Yuru-sama returns!¡±

    ¡°She shouldn¡¯t try so hard¡­¡­¡±

    We left early the next morning and finally arrived at the Viscount¡¯s house in the early afternoon. If this is the Verusenia family¡¯s house, I would have felt extremely excited and happy since I¡¯ve finally come home, but right now, for some reasons, I¡¯m not particularly impressed.

    It was a pretty hard march. Although it¡¯s no surprise that we were okay, Fer, the other two ladies, and the horses were looking drained and limp.

    ¡°Princess!¡±

    A woman who had quickly rushed at our arrival. She shouted in surprise and emerged from behind the Viscount¡¯s servant.

    ¡°Long time no see, Bri.¡±

    No pun intended. (Note : in the raw it¡¯s written : ¥Ö¥ê¤Á¤ã¤ó¾Ã¤·¤Ö¤ê¡« {Buri-chan hisashiburi~} so¡­.. you know buri and buri)

    This is Bridgette, the captain of my personal female escort group.

    ¡°When did you return? Why didn¡¯t you come back for two years! Why did you leave us? If only the princess were here¡­¡­.. Huwaaaaaaaaaaaaa¡±

    ¡°Eeeeeehhhhhhhh?¡±

    Why did you start crying all of a sudden! That¡¯s right¡­¡­Well that¡¯s true.You were my knight escort and I left you behind. You missed me dearly, didn¡¯t you?

    When I gently pull Bri-chan into a hug, a teary-eyed Sarah also comes to cling to me from the side.

    ¡°Anyway, hurry up and introduce us to a man already!¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute, you¡­.¡±

    What a thing to say. The girls were crying snot and tears just now, and now right after they feel relieved that I had returned, they shamelessly ask me to hurry up and introduce them to a man. Well, the girls are approaching their mid-twenties, so I can understand why they are kind of anxious. In this world, aristocratic ladies cannot not be married by the time they reach twenty years old. But If it was a commoner lady then even if they didn¡¯t get married by 25, she won¡¯t be told anything.

    If it were Earth, I wouldn¡¯t even be old enough to marry and I wouldn¡¯t be in a hurry or think about the matter at all¡­. But wait. I think I was the one who brought up this whole Vio thing, but I think I just left it to the other servants to find her.

    ¡°Are the ladies-in-waiting here too?¡±

    ¡°No, the lady-in-waiting and the chief steward remained in the Royal Palace to accompany and help the duke¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..Is that so?¡±

    It seems that all the old people and the men in the family remained in the royal capital and the Thule territory, while everyone else including the mothers, the children, and the young women were evacuated.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.Fine, I¡¯ll help you search for a man.¡±

    ¡°Please!¡±

    After that short intercession, Bri-chan led us into the mansion. The servants had gone in first before us, they must have hurried to inform mother and Viscount Carrow. On the way there, I had a conversation with her and she mentioned that about half of the female escort knights had retired in the past two years, and now there were only eight of them left, including Bri and Sarah. That means that the remaining kids may not even have a boyfriend, and I may have to find a groom for all of them.

    We continued down the corridor in a vaguely excited mood and soon arrived at a gorgeous door.

    ¡°Yuru!¡±

    ¡°Mother!¡±

    When we opened the door, we quickly ran to each other and we hugged each other tightly yearningly. Mother is still fluffy and smells good just like in my memories.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re back. I was worried about you.¡±

    ¡°I am sorry for making you worry¡­¡­.. I am back.¡±

    Well, people normally worried about me anyhow¡­¡­¡­

    ¡°Welcome back, Yuru-sama¡±

    ¡°Vio, I¡¯m home.¡±

    Vio was also present in the room. She¡¯s wearing a maid¡¯s uniform as usual, but her belly is now big enough to be obvious even from a distance.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be surprised¡­. Did you hear from those three? Hmm, I¡¯ll have to reprimand them later for going out without permission.¡±

    ¡°I really wanted to tell you myself that Yuru has a little brother now.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Oh, yes, please let me see my brother!¡±

    When I said this with great excitement, Mom and Vio looked at each other expectedly, chuckled, and led me to the next room.

    ¡°Aa¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Babu!¡±

    There was an adorable baby with blonde hair and pinkish gold eyes, just like me, slowly crawling in the crib.

    ¡°Aa?¡±

    The baby sees me for the first time and tries to grab onto the bed grate, but fails and rolls over in a heap.

    ¡°This is your brother¡­¡­ Cyril¡±

    ¡°Cyril¡±

    Mother picked Cyril up and let me hold him in my arms.

    ¡°Aaaa..¡±

    I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s just not afraid of things and strangers, but when I held him, he was curious and playfully pulling my sparkly gold hair.

    It hurts, but it doesn¡¯t hurt! I shouted with a high pitched voice as I did my best to hold down my excitement as much as I could because Cyril was just so cute.

    ¡°Wonderful! He¡¯s going to be the most beautiful boy in the world!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..Yuru¡±

    For some reason, mother wore a distressed look.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, may I have a word with you?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    After loving Cyril for a moment, Vio called out to me when I had finally calmed down. I leave my mother and Cyril and go back to the first room, and Vio makes me a cup of tea.

    Incidentally, my subordinates are in the hallway waiting for me to call upon them. Rinne and the others were unaware of what happened because Fel and the others had led them towards the reception room.

    ¡°Once again, welcome back, Yuru-sama. I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re safe and sound.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you¡±

    All of a sudden, Vio makes a serious face.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, what I am about to tell you now is known to only a few in the duke¡¯s household. But I¡¯ve decided to tell Yuru-sama about it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, tell me about it.¡±

    What happened I wonder? It must have been a big deal for Vio to say so much.

    ¡°The rebellion is thought to be led by the Southern Army and its supporters, including the Duke of Belrose. However behind the rebellion, there are hints of a ¡°royal member¡± ¡°

    Royal member¡­¡­.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Who is it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡±

    At my querying words, Vio blinked once and slowly rubbed her brow.

    ¡°He is the younger brother of His Majesty the King and the fifth in line of succession to the throne. He¡¯s Yuru-sama¡¯s great-uncle.¡±

    ¡°A,aah¡­¡±

    It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m hearing about this. But, if you actually think about it, there¡¯s no way my grandfather was an only child. Even my uncle, the first in line of succession to the throne, has been told that two sons are too few.

    Come to think of it, I had a claim to the throne too. I did wonder why I was sixth, but that royal great-uncle was actually the fifth?

    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that the king¡¯s brother rebelled to take the throne away from my grandfather?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I think at least. But we don¡¯t know if it was the will of the King¡¯s brother himself or the Duke of Bellrose is the one who instigated it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡­.¡±

    I don¡¯t know what his intentions are, but he has caused my father a lot of trouble. Not only did he put a heavy burden on my mother who was still holding my little brother in her arms, he even made Vio, who is currently in her late pregnancy, come to faraway a place like this.

    Fufufufufu. I¡¯ll let you know what happens when you mess with my family.

    ¡°Yu- Yuru-sama?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What is it?¡±

    I guess I have been holding a vague and expressionless countenance so when I give Vio a wide smile she instantly looks relieved.

    ¡°As for Yuru-sama, I know you wouldn¡¯t be quiet even if I tell you to not do anything. But please don¡¯t do anything reckless. And¡­¡­.if you could, please save my husband and the father of this child¡­.¡±

    As Vio was saying that, she was stroking her belly and her expression became affectionate and motherly. As expected, Vio knows exactly what she¡¯s doing.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Leave it to me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Normally I would have to reprimand you, but Yuru-sama¡¯s words are more reassuring than anything else. We look forward to your safe return. ¡­¡­. Would Yuru-sama like to name this child?¡±

    ¡°Oooo~¡±

    Godmother! I¡¯m getting a little excited.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 182

    Editor Jestersurge

    Just a kind reminder, This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni. Enjoy!

    Therefore I¡¯ve been entrusted with the task of naming Vio¡¯s newborn baby.

    ¡­¡­.Eh? Naming¡­¡­.?

    Come to think of it, I actually already had the experience of naming high ranking demons, but I think this is the first time I have the opportunity to name a human¡­¡­.

    For some reason, I had a bad feeling for a second, but it should be okay. It is not unusual for a demon with human attributes to bestow a name on a human baby. As long as you suppress any sign of the demon and try to name them with as little excitement as possible, you probably won¡¯t have a problem!

    Heehee, I¡¯m looking forward to it.

    ¡°Hey, Yuru. I heard you had a visitor.¡±

    My mother, who just came back from Cyril¡¯s room, asked me.

    ¡°The guests ¡­ Oh, you mean Rinne and the others.¡±

    I had forgotten all about it after meeting my brother Cyril and Vio.

    As I recall, Fel and the others took them to one of the reception rooms, right? Rinne has been calm ever since he got his name, and since Geass and Onza are also former humans, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a problem¡­ but I¡¯m somehow starting to feel uneasy about it.

    ¡°I- I¡¯m just gonna go check them out.¡±

    ¡°Rinne¡­. Yuru seems to care a lot about him. Which one is he?¡±

    ¡°Uh, well, uh¡­ uh¡­¡±

    They are so suspicious that even mother are questioning them. I don¡¯t think that such an inexplicable and appropriate explanation will convince mother?

    ¡°Lady Leah, excuse me, may I tell you something¡­.¡±

    That¡¯s when Min appeared and started to whisper something to mother. Then she grinned a rare grin for both these two laid-back people, and the next thing I knew, she gave me a radiant smile.

    ¡°Oh, well, just when I think you won¡¯t be back for a long time, sighs¡­ Yuru is already 13 years old after all. Fufufufu.¡±

    ¡°Ha..ahahaha¡­¡±

    What is it¡­. I don¡¯t understand what mother is saying¡­..

    At any rate, it¡¯s early in the day after I got back, but there¡¯s a lot of work to do. Firstly, the most important is to play with Cyril to my heart content and imprint the existence of his sister to his soul¡­ No, I mean, I¡¯m going to see my father first.

    To be honest, I think I should do something about The King¡¯s Brother as soon as possible, but there is no higher priority than visiting my father right now. By the way, number two and number three will be, of course, playing with my mother and Cyril.

    Now, as I was thinking of flying to the Imperial Palace, my mother said:

    ¡°Can¡¯t we at least relax for a couple of days¡­?¡±

    My mother looked a little sad, so I think I should take it easy with my family for a couple of days to relax.

    ¡­¡­.Family. ¡­¡­..I feel like I¡¯m forgetting something.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, please let me take care of you while you are here.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­? But, how about your tummy?¡±

    As I was thinking about what to do with Vio¡¯s much larger belly and her offer, she smiled a bit dumbly and said.

    ¡°City people like us don¡¯t miss work just because our bellies get a little bigger! But, thank you for your concern.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    I have been in Vio¡¯s care since I was born, so she¡¯s used to it. It seems like there won¡¯t be any problem.

    Apparently, there are other people who wants to be the one to take care of me. So this time around, I¡¯ll let Tina and Fani take a look at Rinne and the others who definitely will be in trouble when their humanization unravels.

    ¡°That was just fine. We have a lot of preparations to make on our end.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What are you planning on doing?¡±

    It¡¯s not my fault that I got only bad feelings from Tina¡¯s words.

    However, if you listen carefully.

    ¡°The Lady¡¯s dress was made by us. However, the design is already two years old even if we can adjust the size. I am planning with Noah and the others to remodel it to incorporate the latest trends such as the ¡°Chitama¡± and ¡°Tess¡± designs.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Is that so?¡±

    There were strange words mixed in, but I feel like I¡¯ll lose if I stick in.

    But the dress renewal¡­ The black-silver dress have little exposure, but the platinum dress has erotic laces with an exposed back. It is no wonder I¡¯m getting worried.

    ¡°Then, let me go take a look at Rinne and the others¡­.¡±

    ¡°Young lady Yuru, first of all, would you like to greet Viscount Carrow? I¡¯m sure they are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Yuru-sama¡­¡±

    Oh right, this is Viscount Carrow¡¯s residence.

    At first, it seems that Viscount Carrow tried to receive me properly, but the others stopped him since I went to visit my mother first. Although, right now I am still quite reluctant to leave my mother and brother¡­

    ¡°And, Yuru, are you not forgetting one more person?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Indeed, it seems like I have forgotten something¡­

    For the time being, the greeting to Viscount Carrow comes first. Hence, Vio guides me to the reception room where Viscount Carrow is waiting in.

    One side of the corridor was facing the garden with many windows showing the beauty outside.

    ¡°The garden is quite expansive.¡±

    ¡°¡­Because it¡¯s in the countryside.¡±

    Vio blurted out something inconsequential.

    ¡°¡­This¡­ this is trouble¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    From the garden, I heard a little girl¡¯s impatient voice. ¡­¡­ I feel like I have heard of it somewhere? But I just can¡¯t point where.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    When I casually looked across Vio¡¯s face, her face was a bit unusually strained.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±

    ¡°Yuru-sama¡±

    What I care about is an immediate solution. Even the devil gets stressed out when you leave things that are bothering you. Or maybe it¡¯s only me.

    Halfway down the corridor and out into the garden, I looked around and beyond ¨C through the glass and into the garden-like greenhouse where flowers are growing abundantly, a pair of men and women seemed to be arguing.

    ¡°¡ª- You have no position here either.¡±

    ¡°Tha- that sort of thing!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually giving you good terms, you know?¡±

    ¡°I have a family¡­¡±

    ¡°And what if I told you¡­¡­ that your family well-being depends on my mood.¡±

    ¡°Please stop this!¡±

    ¡°Your family might just alienate you in order to avoid trouble. I am pretty sure you don¡¯t want to disrupt your family¡¯s blissful life, right?¡±

    ¡°Such a thing¡­.¡±

    Clearly, a well-dressed, aristocratic-looking young man is threatening a beautiful, feeble-seeming girl.

    ¡°Give up and just be mine already. You are already a grown-up. Do you really think a woman like you can have a decent relationship?¡±

    ¡°I- I am¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Now, come here.¡±

    The young man grabbed the girl¡¯s arm forcibly.

    ¡°Kyaa¡­.¡±

    ¡°Guaahhhh!?¡±

    On my command, the young man smashed through the glasses of the greenhouse and hit the trees outside.

    I was a little ¡­ well, more than a little annoyed, and I probably did it a little too hard, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s dead. ¡­¡­maybe.

    I turned around feeling refreshed and sunny. I then saw the girl with her eyes rolled back and her posture trying to stop me. Vio was stiffening, her mouth wide open.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°Ye- Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh, Huh?

    I¡¯m guessing it was a 17 to 18 years old red-haired beauty with a slightly frail face, but I feel like I have seen it somewhere¡­

    ¡°¡­Yuru-sama. Your sister, Ataline.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    After hearing Vio¡¯s words, I look at the girl¡¯s face again and again.

    ¡­ Seriously. It¡¯s actually big sis Ataline .

    The most aristocratic noble daughter, a tsundere villain, Ataline.

    I don¡¯t know why, but for some reason two years ago, my sister, who had lost half her soul and was in a state of amnesia, transformed into a weak and kind girl.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Yuru-sama!?¡±

    I was stupefied on the spot as my sister and Vio¡¯s cries echoed. As I felt my hands and knees on the ground, I suddenly realized that I had failed to farm her soul.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 183

    Editor: Jestersurge

    Hi everyone! Just a kind reminder this translation belongs to Centinni! Only read and donate at Centinni! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Big sister Ataline, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Verusenia. Um, she is maybe 18 years old this year.

    My half-sister, who loved her father and her childhood friend so much that she had ended up becoming a villain. She boldly and seriously fell into the path of evil, becoming the companions of the brave little villain of the Sigeless, she was the only one in the world to actually find out who I was and ended up being deliciously eaten by me.

    It would have taken a great deal of effort and luck to cultivate such a delicious, twisted gem. If it could really be resurrected with just half a soul¡­. I wonder if I could harvest it again and again¡­..

    ¡°Yurushia¡­.my little sister¡­.right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, my big sister Ataline. How is your health?¡±

    Although I could only sense it roughly, I can still feel that my sister¡¯s soul has not recovered much after having been cut in half.

    It seems that when she just returned to the duke¡¯s house, my sister spent her time in a daze. Only now after about a year had she been able to have a proper conversation with people.

    In other words, the demon eats only the soul¡¯s memories. So for the past two years, she had only increased her experience and it seems that experiences are different from memories and she had no way to recover her memory on her own.

    Moreover, she has even turned into such a composed and quiet person!

    That sludgy all-around thorny wire, big sister Ataline is now actually a normal unappetizing person!

    ¡­¡­Well, but if I think about father and mother, it will actually be a problem if she doesn¡¯t change and still acts the same as before, making troubles everywhere.

    At any rate, I¡¯m sure the mother of big sister Ataline, who had died in the accident, would be happy to see that her tsundere daughter had rehabilitated and turned over a new leaf.

    ********************

    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry!!!!¡±

    After promising my sister that I would have tea with her later, I went to greet Viscount Carrow. At the sight of me, he suddenly dropped to his knees as hard as he could.

    The top of his head is so thin that it looks like an iris and it¡¯s a little scary.

    ¡°¡­What happened?¡±

    ¡°My foolish son had actually done something so absurd and unreasonable to Lady Ataline, the princess¡¯ sister¡­¡±

    Oh, so that was the son of Viscount Carrow! I treated him just enough to keep him alive, so he¡¯ll be fine¡­ right?

    From what I¡¯ve heard, Viscount Carrow was originally only a lord with large land holdings. Then, using his affiliation as subordinates to the Verusenia Family which is a retainer of the royal family, the Carrow family managed to build up affluence and had become quite wealthy in the past ten years.

    His son had no magical qualities and as such, he was attending a different school. Consequently, he had never met me or my sister, only knowing us from rumors here and there.

    He was a bit arrogant as he attended a school in the territory of Thule where only children of the so-called great nobles above the Count family were enrolled!

    The prodigal daughter of a Duke¡¯s family, who ran away from home and lost her memory and had suddenly changed into a very quiet beauty, was the cause of the rumors. He believed that if he married my sister, the Carrow Viscounty would eventually become on par with those so-called great noblemen.

    ¡°¡­And your son?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve put him under house arrest. It will be good medicine for my son. I am very sorry for the displeasure I have caused you, Princess. By all means ¡­ by all means, please have it in you to give mercy on my family!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..¡±

    Why is it even until here and now is everyone so afraid of me?! It is like it doesn¡¯t even matter whether I¡¯m a Duke daughter or not!

    ¡°And by all means, please grant me the ¡®miracle¡¯ of the princess!! At the recommendation of Viscount Lupon, I¡¯ve also joined the ¡®regular meeting¡¯ !¡±

    What a thing to say¡­.

    Viscount Carrow was also a member of the Dark Secret Society. The Society of Saints Bringing Darkness to Shine consisting of those with a shining scalp centered around the royal capital who worships me as an ¡®Apostle of Kami¡¯ (T/N : in the raw the word Kami is written ¥«¥ß{Kami}, Kami could mean God or Hair, it¡¯s a pun by the author)

    How was it still there, a group with only that old man?

    Damn, this time, I don¡¯t want a dark society like that. I want a proper, peaceful association where ordinary troubled girls can stop by.

    ¡°For the time being, please pay the donation.¡±

    ¡°¡­I understand.¡±

    Anyway, when I treated Viscount Carrow¡¯s scalp to bring darkness to his brilliance, he renewed his loyalty to the Duke of Verusenia and me personally.

    I wonder if it¡¯s alright. I feel that the aristocrats in this world are different from my common sense.

    The next day, I had tea with my sister Ataline as promised.

    ¡°Yurushia knew me before I lost my memory, right? The maidservants didn¡¯t tell me much about it, but I heard I caused a lot of trouble¡­ Did I cause trouble for you as well?¡±

    ¡°No, big sister Ataline has always been very delicious¡­No, a pretty, cute, lovely noble woman¡±

    ¡°Is that so¡­¡­?¡±

    That¡¯s right! It was much better food than it is right now. Geez! Geez!

    ¡°By the way, Yurushia. I don¡¯t remember, but I heard I have another sister, one younger sister¡­ Do you know?¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­ was there such a person?¡±

    In my memories of my big sister Ataline, I have a vague feeling that there was something like a figure behind her, but I don¡¯t remember it.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡±

    My sister and I groaned and thought about it, but in the end, we could not produce an answer. Strange.

    Of course, we also have tea and play with my mother and brother Cyril as a family.

    Surprisingly, big sister Ataline was good friends with Cyril and was very good at taunting him.

    ¡°Cyril-kun, there¡¯s a big sister over here too~¡±

    ¡°Dah¡±

    Out of nowhere, Cyril pulls on my glittery blonde hair and it hurts, but somehow it doesn¡¯t hurt either!

    And for some reason, Cyril is quite fond of Rinne who is now a regular invitee to the family¡¯s tea party. Everytime Cyril cackles in his lap, Rinne turns to me with a troubled look on his face.

    ¡°¡­Yurushia¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes¡±

    As expected, even Rinne, who has lived for thousands of years and experienced the vicissitudes of life, doesn¡¯t know how to handle a baby? Fufu.

    A demonic ruffian. He is a brutal demonic beast that even the demon lord does not dare to offend. However, ever since he came here, he had only shown a surprisingly gentlemanly and intelligent side.

    Apparently, demons can be quite crude when they are young. However, over time, they will naturally become more intelligent.

    But, well, this guy is still ruthless and brutal even though he is already thousands of years old. His nature is the opposite of those of a human being who becomes more and more idle and calm as he gets older.

    I think it¡¯s quite a hassle for demon to manifest in human world. You¡¯ll need name and a body to manifest. However, when I asked Rinne about why he choose to come with me, Rinne give me a dumbfounded look on his face.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re someone whom I treasure¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡­¡­Well, anyway, it¡¯s about time to leave for the royal capital.

    However, just as I was about to leave with Rinne and the others as usual, my mother, who was worried about me, made a sudden proposal.

    ¡°Yuru. Take your escort knight properly.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh¡±

    Glimpsing behind a pillar, my guardian knights, Bri and Sarah, with tears in their eyes, were holding my exclusive knight, Nia¡¯s arms tightly in their arms.

    Actually, my movement speed would be lowered if I bring them and I¡¯d rather have Bri-chan and the others protect the family, but¡­¡­.I¡¯m not in the mood to say it.

    ¡°Yurushia. I will remain.¡±

    ¡°Rinne?¡±

    I was more than shocked by Rinne¡¯s sudden proposal.

    I thought given his personality, he would choose to travel and run amok rather than stay in this rural area.

    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s just some humans¡±

    ¡°I see¡±

    In short, from Rinne¡¯s point of view, dealing with a normal human being now is like dealing with a flying insect, only more annoying and troublesome.

    Something tells me I¡¯m more aggressive than Rinne, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just my imagination.

    It seems that he will use this countryside for practice, recognizing that he is lacking a little of common sense to be able to suddenly mix into human society, unlike his followers and Geass who are former humans.

    ¡°After all, Yurushia can¡¯t unleash her real power if we¡¯re not safe right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ thanks, Rinne.¡±

    That¡¯s why I decided to start with an irregular member.

    Where is the irregular part you say? Well first of all, I will bring Onzada and Geass who have problems with humanization time. I¡¯m leaving Noa for Rinne, who is still unsure of his common sense, and Fanny as a contact person who can perform teleportation.

    The departing members were me, Tina, Nia, Onzada, Geass, and the escorting eight knights. What to do, I¡¯m worried about the members!

    Then we leave early the next morning for the royal city where my father is currently staying in.

    Our first goal is the Thule territory where the residence of the Duke of Verusenia is located.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    You can also help us and donate on Ko-fi(from the main page). Extra 1 chapter will be released when 6$ is reached on Ko-fi. Please mention the novel you are supporting.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni.

 CH 184

    Editor Jestersurge

    Hey! Just a Kind reminder this translation belongs to Centinni! Please only read and donate at Centinni! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°Yuru¡­¡­ you have to be careful. And do me a favor about Folt-sama..¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me, mother. Cyril is going to be fine, too.¡±

    ¡°Dah¡±

    As is customary of Cyril, he somehow pulls my hair in a way that it hurts but at the same time also doesn¡¯t.

    Oh, and my dress has been spruced up just like the way the others keep proclaiming.

    Black silver dresses are easier to use for everyday use and platinum dresses are more specialized for party dresses.

    The design changed from a childish design to a more adult-looking one and the black silver dress became more showy¡­.I don¡¯t want the platinum dress to be any more revealing than it already is though.

    The black silver dress I¡¯m wearing now has become lacy and shows a lot of skin. That¡¯s a bit too revealing for my liking, so I¡¯m going to use it with a white silver dress that has been transformed into a shawl.

    ¡°If Folt-sama sees you, he might have to say something.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh¡­¡±

    Just like that, we set off for Thule.

    I would estimate it is about a five days¡¯ ride in a carriage to the territory of Thule from the estate of Viscount Carrow, who was currently revering me with a big smile on his bushy head.

    ¡­If I was serious about running, it wouldn¡¯t even take me more than an hour.

    Well, there is still something we need to do. We need to come up with a name for Vio¡¯s baby. Hmm, is it a boy or a girl? I hope he or she will be a friend with Cyril.

    Then, there are the personal interviews I need to wrap up. My eight escort knights are all riding horses and one by one, I call them inside for a meeting.

    This is not simply a leisure or a way to pass the time until we reach the territory of Thule.

    ¡°So Bri, what kind of husband do you want?¡±

    Sitting face-to-face in the carriage, I interrogate her ¡­ No, I mean I interview her.

    Flanked by Tina and Nia who are famously merciless to both enemies and allies, Brigitte, the captain of the Order of Saint¡¯s Guards, nervously states her request.

    ¡°I like cute boys¡­¡±

    I unexpectedly got a tough blow from the opening. Shota? A shota really? I tried to take a step back and think about what to say, but at Bri-chan¡¯s earnest expression, I could only promise her.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll keep it in mind¡­..¡±

    ¡°Next is Sarah-chan. What kind of husband do you want?¡±

    Sarah, who came next, was given a cold look by the two squires on either side of her. With a somewhat uptight red face, she answered the question shyly.

    ¡°If he¡¯s a sadist then¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    It¡¯s a nice day today. It can even be said that the weather is perfect. ¡­It¡¯s really funny. I cannot help but somehow feel that my memory on the way is getting hazy.

    Well, escaping reality aside, after interviewing all eight escort knights, I felt that I barely got a glimpse of why even though they were all nobles from knight families, they were still single and had no lovers despite the fact that they were already of age to get married according to the noble tradition.

    It was still acceptable if they say they wanted to marry a rich merchant, a middle-class nobleman above a baronet, etc. Instead they ask for a shota, a sadist and some of them even asked me to introduce them to the sixty-something looking Geass. They insistently say that they just wanted to take care of him in his old age.

    What was interesting was that none of them had asked me to introduce Onzada to them, even with their diverse range of sexual preference.

    I was curious why no one inquired about him. When I asked them why he wasn¡¯t even mentioned, they only said, ¡®He seems like a good person¡­¡¯

    Well, it¡¯s that you know. Those relatively popular men, but no one wants to date him because ¡°he is too kind¡±.

    ¡­..Does he exude such a good-natured stench?

    And so the trip is going well. If it¡¯s only a tiger or a bear that emerges from the woods, it¡¯s enough to let Bri and her friends handle it.

    The only thing that would be troubling would be the most powerful wildlife in this world, hippos. What does it mean to be the strongest in a world where demons exist? Well, let¡¯s just say, if we were to be attacked by a herd of hippos, even an advanced demon like Onzada might be in grave danger.

    But, well, the actual strongest creature is the Dwarf. I wonder how our friend Francois is doing right now.¡­

    Anyway, on the fourth day, we arrived near the territory of Thule.

    Supposedly, there should be rebels around here so we have to proceed very carefully. I don¡¯t know what the situation all around currently is like because I had only returned back and the intelligence I obtained might be old and possibly outdated information as it was from people holed up in the countryside. So I can¡¯t be too careful.

    ¡°Gau Gau¡±

    ¡°(Kyun)¡±

    I¡¯ve asked Nia and Tina to go out and scout out what¡¯s going on in the area for a bit.

    That¡¯s why today¡¯s escort was the two moving golems on my knees who are having an incomprehensible conversation.

    ¡­¡­It¡¯s fine, though. They both understand me.

    Actually, I was going to send Onzada and Nia to scout ahead, while having Tina the maid and Geass the butler remaining behind. However, I was keeping in mind their limited humanization time. Therefore I send Nia and Tina to scout instead.

    I make it so it looks like they are holed up in the carriage that has been allocated for the two of them because otherwise it would look suspicious if they were to suddenly disappear. For some reason however, Bri and the others guarding the empty carriage keep turning their woozy eyes in its direction with a blush on their cheeks imagining why the two men hadn¡¯t come out after a long time.

    ¡­¡­It is suspicious.

    Knock knock.

    ¡°Princess, is everything alright?¡±

    The carriage door was knocked and a voice that sounded like Sarah came from outside.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s okay. What happened?¡±

    As I replied, the door opened and a slightly nervous-looking Sarah peeked into the carriage, looking around with only her upper body inside.

    I explained that Geass and Onzada who have turned into doll-like golems was something I found somewhere.

    ¡°There were still new rut marks. It¡¯s most likely only two carriages. I hope these are the soldiers of the Thule territory but¡­¡±

    ¡°Is it more likely to be rebels?¡±

    ¡°Yes, presumably.¡±

    Sending those two out on a scouting mission has actually backfired. I would have liked to call them back immediately, but, although we have a soul connection, the only way I can contact them in detail is with Geass that has an email function.

    ¡°Gau?¡±

    That Geass tilts his head adorably in my lap. But before I could react, one of the escort knights came and suddenly made a report.

    ¡°Princess! I could see light and dust in the distance. We think they¡¯re in the middle of a battle.¡±

    ¡°Princess, please take a step back. I¡¯m worried because Nia is not here.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    That¡¯s the right thing to do as an escorting knight, but really if it were just me, I¡¯d just take a shot from here and see what happens.

    ¡°You two, go.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    The girl who came to report with Sarah made a startled sound for a moment, but the ¡°you two¡± is not referring to the two girls.

    ¡°Gau¡±

    ¡°(Kokun)¡±

    Immediately understanding, Geass and Onzada responded cutely and stood up. They then speedily jumped out of the open carriage entrance.

    ¡°P- Princess? Are you sure? Isn¡¯t that a precious golem¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s for combat¡±

    ¡°It was made for combat!?¡±

    You wouldn¡¯t even guess that thing was actually an advanced demon¡­

    I was a little worried.

    If there¡¯s going to be a battle, I want to go out and help because one of the parties involved is on my side. The safety of Sarah and the others is more important to me than a stranger soldier however, so I was willing to step back.

    But the report said they could even see lights flashing from the battle.

    I don¡¯t think that swords and armor could give off such lights. Perhaps if it was the light produced by magic, but there¡¯s only a limited number of people in this country who could use the light attribute in combat.

    ¡°Sarah, go after those two now. I will intervene in the fight.¡±

    ¡°Ye- Yes!¡±

    Since I didn¡¯t want to waste time arguing, I commanded Sarah with just a little bit of intimidation. Sarah immediately jumped out of the way, stretching her back as she was jumping off. ¡­Why are you even blushing?

    ¡°The Holy Guardian Light¡­Brilliant Holy Shield¡±

    As I poured the highest level of defensive blessings from inside the carriage on not only Sarah and the others but also on the horses, I heard a startled cry from outside. The carriage suddenly started rushing while I was still standing up, tumbling me over.

    After darting the carriage for a few minutes, I could hear the sounds of battle outside penetrating inside.

    I leaned out of the carriage and saw what appeared to be a rebel-looking soldier shouting something at us as he ran towards us and tried to stab his spear into the carriage.

    ¡°No problem. ¡®Push through¡¯¡±

    The level of an ordinary soldier¡¯s spear is obviously not enough to even make a dent on my [Brilliant Holy Shield]. After urging the horse with [Divine Spiritual Language], the stallion left the soldiers in a hit-and-run attack with the momentum of the carriage.

    The soldier was left laying on the ground.

    ..¡­He is not an ally, right?

    The battle was almost settled due to our intervention.

    But instead of soldiers-against-soldiers battle, what we saw was only one person fighting with the whole group of rebels. The warrior-like person in the cloak turned his sword in the direction of Geass and Onzada as if he was extremely wary of the intruders.

    ¡­¡­..Well, they are indeed suspicious.

    ¡°The person over there, sheathe your sword!¡±

    As I jumped down from the carriage and called out to that person, Geass and the others turned back to me. When the warrior-like person saw me, he lowered his sword and shouted in surprise.

    ¡°Rushia¡­!?¡±

    Ah¡­is that someone I know?

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    You can also help us and donate on Ko-fi(from the main page). Extra 1 chapter will be released when 6$ is reached on Ko-fi. Please mention the novel you are supporting.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 185

    Editor Jestersurge

    Author Note : Today¡¯s chapter will be from a third person point of view.

    TL Note : Hi, everyone I¡¯m sorry for putting this up here because I¡¯m afraid if I put it at the bottom no one will read it. Anyway, I read the comments from the past chapter and here is the respond to your suggestion :

    For the suggestion about picking up ¡®Miss Demon Maid¡¯ I can¡¯t promise anything but I have leave your suggestion in Centinni discord group. If anyone have suggestion about picking up novels or manga you can join our discord and leave your suggestion there, if it is possible we will pick it up!

    The update day for this series¡¯ are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, though if we got 6$ on Ko-fi we will upload a bonus chapter (every time we reach 6$, 1 chapter will be updated), you can join our discord so you will be notified every time a chapter is updated.

    Thank you @Mac Mac Marinas/Beer_Kitty for leaving this information about the character! Anyway here you go!

    Yurushia/Yuru/Rushia ¨C Our MC

    Riastea/Ria ¨C Yurushia(MC)¡¯s Mother, appeared in the 1st volume

    Cyril ¨C Yurushia(MC)¡¯s Little Brother / Riastea¡¯s Son

    Ataline ¨C Yurushia(MC)¡¯s Half sister

    Noa ¨C demon butler incubus

    Nia ¨C demon knight succubus

    Tina ¨C demon maid gorgon

    Fanny ¨C demon maid nightmare

    Rinne ¨C best boy dark beast

    Onzada ¨C alcoholic demon bunny 2nd volume character

    Noel Barnabas ¨C The hero

    Sherlind de La Allen/ Shelly ¨C Saintess Best friend

    I hope I got the character¡¯s name and description right if it¡¯s wrong please leave a comment about the right name and description.

    On another note I have edited all the character¡¯s name and the way to address them (he/she/him/her) starting from Vol 9 chap1 part1 although since I¡¯ve been busy I haven¡¯t got time to edit the translation itself. Anyway that¡¯s it from me enjoy the chapter!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°I can¡¯t find any clue here either. Should we go somewhere else now?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­¡­.¡±

    Her soft golden hair sways gently.

    She was a girl who appears very mature even though she is only in her early teens. When she looked back with tension, she seemed to be very unyielding. The earnest looking boy of the same age who was approached by her could only nod with some reluctance.

    This is a field of ruins that were said to be once the site of an ancient portal to another dimension.

    Even from the nearest village, the ruins is in such a remote place that it would take five days of walking. It¡¯s a dangerous place to live. Perhaps because it¡¯s a land with abundant magical energy, or maybe it¡¯s a perilous place where intelligent and cunning demons reside, although curiously those demons were never once witnessed to descend to the village.

    It¡¯s not that bad, but it¡¯s still not a place that boys and girls in their teenage years could casually visit or easily get to.

    Moreover, of the two of them, one is dressed like a noble student and the boy with only a long sword at his waist is only lightly armed with armor on his hands and knees. However, it could be said that the scene was strange in a sense that the clothes of the two had only a little stain.

    ¡°There¡¯s something coming down!¡±

    ¡°I can also fight! ¡®O you who reform the world, be a flame to avenge your enemies. ¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..¡±

    ¡°Cho¡±

    ¡°Fire arrow!¡±

    Before the boy could stop her, the magic of the [Fire Arrow] was released, appearing in the form of a sweet potato-like shape. It plopped on the ground in front of the beast like a lump of rock and quickly disappeared.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    A faint air flows and an awkward silence rules the area. As he was enduring the subtle air from that rock-like demon, the girl who fired the fire arrows let out a huff.

    ¡°Noel-sama, now!¡±

    ¡°What are you doing, Sherlind-san!¡±

    ¡°¡­You guys should go home¡­..¡±

    The rock monster was surprisingly intelligent.

    Noel La Barnabas, Viscount of the Barnabas household, the hero of the Holy Kingdom. Fifteen years old.

    Sherlind de La Allen, heir to the Countess of the Allen Household. Fourteen years old.

    For the past two years, the two of them have been traveling to various places in search of a clue to the whereabouts of the legendary saint who had saved the world and suddenly disappeared.

    Originally, Noel was alone searching for the girl who was his friend and part of the hero party. However, when the girl¡¯s best friend, Shelly, found out about it, she forcibly accompanied him on his journey.

    ¡°Noel-sama, you can call me Shelly. She¡­¡­No, I mean all my friends call me that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Sherlind- No, Shelly doesn¡¯t always act outrageously like that.

    If anything, the girl you usually see at the academy is as calm and collected as a senior nobleman and she is actually as calm as she appears to be, but when it comes to her best friend, she is suddenly in a disarranged state.

    Still, from Noel¡¯s point of view, he too knows well how Shelly feels. After all, he too could feel his heart aches and burns with frustration whenever he thinks of the legendary saint. He understands her feelings, therefore he couldn¡¯t strongly reject her, no matter how annoying she is.

    But it would have been nice if he could at least rely on her to some extent as a traveling companion. However, whether it was weapons or sorcery, Shelly¡¯s lack of aptitude for both was fatal, which inevitably led to nothing but more hardship for Noel.

    And yet, Noel found himself wondering why it didn¡¯t feel like that much of a pain as they journeyed together.

    ¡°¡­ Then I¡¯ll be back today, Sherlind-san¡±

    ¡°Yes. Noel-sama, it¡¯s supposed to be Shelly.¡±

    If you¡¯re alone, you won¡¯t cave in even if you have to march tirelessly to explore the area for weeks without rest, even if you have to sip the blood and eat the flesh of a beast in the mountains, you will hold on and continue endlessly. But you can¡¯t take a genuine countess who was raised to be a butterfly and as a flower in a greenhouse to experience that kind of thing for days and days.

    Noel was casually taught about this magic by his friend, the prince. After making a lot of effort, Noel finally mastered¡¾Transition of Light¡¿, the magic of the hero.

    ¡¾Transition of Light¡¿is not a convenient magic like spatial transition. It is just a magic created by the past heroes for the sole purpose of ¡°appearing cool¡± by moving at high speed but only to places in sight. Although there is a limit to the number of times it could be used, it was a perfect replacement for a taxi that would deliver the young lady since Noel has to take Shelly home before dinner.

    But because of that superficial magic, Noel, as a person and an aristocrat, was able to faithfully keep his promise to take Shelly home early, so it is kind of ironic.

    Even so, since a man who just became a viscount takes out a young lady of age without any clear relationship, one might think that Countess Allen would complain about it. But perhaps due the fame of the¡¾Saint Country¡¯s Hero¡¿, the Countess has not said anything about it yet eerily enough.

    On the other hand, a senior noble with a daughter of the same age once asked to bring his daughter with us, but I didn¡¯t know what it meant, so I just left it alone.

    But for some reason because of that request, my adopted father and former mercenary leader, Viscount Barnabas, ended up looking flustered.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    He usually goes to school like most kids his age and on the weekends, they would go on a day trip together to explore.

    All of a sudden, their lives changed one day.

    It is a revolt of the Saint Country Southern Army.

    The country requested Noel¡¯s assistance who is a nobleman and also now a hero, but he had only thought that it was annoying.

    Noel was only interested to find the girl who had suddenly disappeared and put zero significance in the disputes between the aristocrats. But when he considers his adoptive father, and his friend, the Prince, and his position as a nobleman and also as the [Hero], he needs to show that he is at least not hostile towards the country.

 CH 186

    Editor Jestersurge

    Heya guys! We got our second 6$ donation! Huge thanks to Asekhan! Therefore as promises here is the bonus chapter! Thank you for the support and donation!

    TL Note : you can also support me and my editor by leaving a comment on the comment section! It will help me and my editor to fill our mental gauge by reading all your funny and heart warming comments!

    Want to read faster? Read only at Centinni and donate only at Centinni! Everytime we got 6$ on Ko-fi we will release 1 bonus chapter! Do not donate and read this translation at other websites because you won¡¯t get any benefit! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Noel was only interested to find the girl who had suddenly disappeared and put zero significance in the disputes between the aristocrats. But when he considers his adoptive father, and his friend, the Prince, and his position as a nobleman and also as the [Hero], he needs to show that he is at least not hostile towards the country.

    Noel can¡¯t afford to lose the peerage, even if it mean he needs to deal with the troublesome noble. He needs to demonstrate that he is befitting for the daughter of the Lord, the ¡°princess of the holy kingdom¡± and the ¡°maiden of legend¡±.

    His friend, the prince, led the holy knights and knights to the battlefield as a ¡¾Holy Warrior¡¿. Noel however chose to go on a rampage by himself instead of leading the army as a¡¾Saint Country¡¯s Hero¡¿.

    The ability to lead the army is one of the aptitudes a [Hero] and a noble needs. They¡¯ll ride into the enemy¡¯s camp with only a small group of elites and attack the enemy. But Noel, who is still not conscious of his stature as an aristocrat, chose to instead end the battle quickly by directly hitting the enemy general.

    But¡­

    ¡°Noel, where are you going today? I won¡¯t let you go anywhere without me!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a search!¡±

    No matter where Noel goes, Shelly will follow.

    As if she had some special sense of smell, she somehow will always manage to find Noel. The moment Noel is ready to go out, Shelly would catch him and pester him to let her follow him. Even if he refused, Shelly would just stubbornly hold onto his clothes and ended up being moved with him in the transition.

    ¡°My wild instincts tell me that today is the day!¡±

    ¡°¡­.A nobleman¡¯s daughter does not have wild instincts.¡±

    There was a mountain of tweaks and complaints at his throat, but Noel just couldn¡¯t say anything when Shelly¡¯s carefree smile was turned on him.

    ¡°¡­. Sherlind-san should stay here for the time being. I will check the safety of the surroundings.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Noel-sama, I understand. By the way, Shelly is fine.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡®Because I used [Transition of Light] several times today, my usage limit had already reached its limit.¡¯

    It seems that it will be possible for him to transfer again within three hours. However, he is not certain where they currently are and since he had moved so far away, the only feature in the surroundings he could recognize is the tall spire of the Count Allen¡¯s residence which now only seems like a tiny dot from where he is standing.

    But Noel¡¯s view of the forest suggests that

    ¡°¡­.We¡¯ve jumped all the way to Thule?¡±

    Noel¡¯s complexion turned pale as he realized that it was the best record he had ever achieved, and remembering how often the two of them jumped together, it¡¯s a relief that they never had an accident.

    Noel might come out unscathed after crashing into the trees, but Shelly would have been badly injured.

    The moment I walked away, thinking that I would pick up Shelly once I was sure of my current position¡­¡­.

    ¡°¡­!¡±

    Noel¡¯s super senses as the [Hero] tingle. He felt a chill as if something incredibly ¡°evil¡± was rapidly approaching him.

    The Saint Country¡¯s heroes are chosen by the Spirit of Light to appear when evil appears in the land.

    For the past few days, Noel had been feeling suffocated and the sensation of his heart being squeezed had only been increasing.

    That sense was supposed to be only something he had been feeling ever since he met the golden girl at a young age and became aware of his feelings for her. Remembering that, he felt nostalgic.

    But he didn¡¯t think that the chill he felt just now was that feeling of longing for the girl.

    ¡°¡­Shelly!¡±

    With a bad feeling, Noel quickly ran in the direction where Shelly was hiding and soon encountered a group of rebels who were heading in the same direction.

    ¡°Who are you?! There¡¯s a suspicious guy here!¡±

    ¡°Which way?!¡±

    Noel discerned that the chills he felt were not overwhelming and so, the battle began in a blunt manner. Noel promptly releases his powers to keep the rebel¡¯s soldier from reaching Shelly.

    ¡°¡­¡¾Mind¡¿¡­!¡±

    ¡°Guaa!?¡±

    The light and the shockwave forcefully knocked down the rebel soldiers. Those who could recognize the light were immediately in dismay.

    ¡°You- You are the Hero!?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡±

    Many of the rebels were unconscious with the rest forcing themself to stay conscious. Among the soldiers who were able to keep themselves awake, some knew about the power of the Hero who alone was able to lay waste to the Demon King¡¯s army. They unconsciously take a step back fearfully.

    ¡°Let¡¯s surrender! Then¡­. in that case we will¡­.¡±

    ¡°Gau Gau¡±

    ¡°Eh¡±

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    Suddenly, the soldiers were blown away by something small and brown.

    It was surely a small object, but he is not certain what it is since it just flew too fast and covered by the scattering of the confused soldiers.

    ¡°Ku¡±

    Noel could instantly sense that this is not just an ordinary opponent. So instead of the iron dagger he was using to hide his identity, he pulled out the golden magic sword given to him by the girl and released its bindings.

    Noel jumped like an arrow towards the trespasser who was stunned for a moment due to the power of the sword.

    ¡°Daaaaaah!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Wha?!¡±

    But in the instant just before it reached the brown intruder, the blade was deflected tauntingly by a white object and the sword stabbed the earth instead.

    ¡°Gau Gau¡±

    ¡°¡­ (Ko-kun)¡±

    ¡°Bear and¡­ stuffed rabbit¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Uwaakk!?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    This time, a military carriage rushed in from out of nowhere and knocked down the rebel soldiers.

    ¡®Seems like they are on our side because it looked like they just went and attacked the rebels.¡¯

    As Noel pointed his sword at the extremely suspicious moving stuffed toys, the door of the carriage opened and a wistful golden glow was reflected in Noel¡¯s eyes.

    Nostalgic shimmering golden hair that flows smoothly.

    Golden eyes that exhibit the deep and strong willpower just like from his memories.

    She looks more mature than he remembers. Her beautiful face, like a doll created by God, has just started to unravel from the buds like a dainty flower¡­ She is the one I¡¯ve been looking for all this time¡­

    ¡°Rushia¡­!?¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 187

    Editor Jestersurge

    TL Note : This chapter is a regular chapter.

    On another note starting from yesterday I¡¯ll upload one chapter a day until all bonus chapters got uploaded, thanks to Asekhan for the donations!

    Want to read faster? Read only at Centinni and donate only at Centinni! Everytime we got 6$ on Ko-fi we will release 1 bonus chapter! Do not donate and read this translation at other websites because you won¡¯t get any benefit! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°Rushia¡­..?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Yuru-sama! When did you get back? Why didn¡¯t you let us know? I have been waiting so long for Yuru-sama¡¯s return and praying to the stars every night until late at night. I even ended up late for school! Oh, Yuru-sama has become exceedingly beautiful in these two years! Of course, you were beautiful before, two years ago you were so beautiful and so pretty that my heart skipped a beat. But now the pretty lilies bloomed like golden roses and I can¡¯t help but be dazzled by your beauty¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­..Ha?¡±

    Like an actress in the spotlight, Shelly took a few steps forward, holding up her hand to block the sun as she made her way forward, her footsteps fluttered walking on the grass.

    ¡®Won¡¯t she run out of breath talking that¡ª wait isn¡¯t she¡ª¡®

    ¡°Shelly?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yuru-sama, I am Sherlind¡±

    My childhood friend, Shelly, had grown a little taller in these two years and was now a beautiful girl. She answered my question with a big smile.

    ¡®If what I saw under the spotlight was a hallucination from the sunlight that shone through the trees, can the sound of footsteps also be an illusion? More importantly, where did you come from? You weren¡¯t there when we arrived, were you?¡¯

    It was so outlandish that both the soldiers and the wounded who were still conscious stopped moving and could open their mouths agape.

    Predictably, I don¡¯t think much of the ¡®nobleman¡¯s flattery¡¯. Indeed, the only ones reacting to that fluent and flowing compliment were Nia and Tina, who were nodding deeply with satisfaction.

    Ha! Oh yeah, more importantly, the warrior-like person from earlier called me ¡®Rushia¡¯. I remembered and turned my head in that direction.

    ¡°¡­.er, um, Rushia¡­ It¡¯s been a while?¡±

    Noel¡¯s face emerged from the cloak he was wearing and he gave me a quiet greeting with an indescribable expression.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Now, with two of my childhood friends, Lady Shelly and the Hero Noel-kun, we had an emotional (?) reunion.

    It¡¯s emotional, very emotional. I won¡¯t accept any objection.

    ¡°Rushia, I¡¯m really¡­ really glad you¡¯re okay.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Noel. I¡¯m sorry I made you worry.¡±

    Noel who was kneeling while in tears as he held my hand finally calmed down. I¡¯m sure he as the hero and my best friend must have regretted sending me to a dangerous place.

    Incidentally, Shelly, who had been clinging to me for a while now, had apparently been hiding in a tree with magic at that time. So, when she suddenly saw the rebel soldiers coming, she was quite shocked.

    Shelly finally came to her senses when Tina who was preparing tea suddenly called out.

    ¡°Yuru-sama, the tea is ready.¡±

    For the time being, I really hope Noel would stop staring at me and just let go of my hand.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã

    The rebel soldiers surrendered unconditionally when they saw [Saint Country¡¯s Hero] and the [Saint Country¡¯s Saintess] were together.

    ¡­¡­¡­They were scared because of the Hero right? Not just because I appeared, right? They were quickly disarmed and tied up by my knights, but they didn¡¯t even show any resistance to it at all, as if their will to live had completely disappeared.

    ¡°So how did Noel and Shelly end up in this place?¡±

    Me, Shelly, and Noel sat down at the white table set that Tina took out from her subspace storage in her skirt.

    Tea sets and baked goods were also lined up casually in a beautiful manner. No one was wondering, but if I were to tell other people that all of these were being brought by Tina all this time, my instinct tells me that everyone will think I¡¯m insane.

    ¡°Of course, we were looking for Yuru-sama.¡±

    Shelly answers my question with a smile as she eats her caramel waffle. That was really nice of her. Anyway, Shelly has grown so much, she is plainly bigger than me even though I have an optimized body.

    ¡­. Hmm? Could it be that because of the optimized demon body, it won¡¯t grow above a certain limit? No, no, no, Rinne is taller than average, so it shouldn¡¯t be that way. Gosh, Tina, can you stop looking at me with pity like that.

    ¡°Hee~, so you guys were looking for me together.¡±

    ¡°Ah, tha- that Rushia, even though we were looking for you together, we weren¡¯t always together. I went home properly in the evening, and I tried to stop her from being with me because it was dangerous. No, that¡¯s not it, what I want to say is Miss Sherlind and I are nothing but just friends¡­¡±

    For some reason Noel started confessing, but I didn¡¯t give him a reply because I was thinking.

    I don¡¯t know what you are so flustered about, but as expected of the hero, even his fluttering hand could move so fast.

    Looking again, I can feel that Noel is way stronger than he was two years ago.

    Compared with the hero of the different world, Tess, Tess¡¯ Hero might be superior in terms of simple offensive power as they were strengthened by the hero¡¯s secret technique. However, Noel seems to have somehow reached a natural state. His flow of power is very smooth and I can sense that he had achieved a high degree of completion. Is this the difference between organic and farmed products¡­?

    You¡¯re two years older than me, so you¡¯re only 15, right? If he¡¯s already this accomplished at this age, I think he would be able to have a decent battle against Kyotoki. He perhaps can¡¯t compete with the four of my followers, but he definitely has enough fighting power to rival an ordinary [Great Devil].

    ¡­.The Saint Country¡¯s heroic leader, huh? How scary.

    ¡°No! It¡¯s not what you are thinking!¡±

    When I narrowed my eyes at him, Noel suddenly denied it.

    ¡°Eh? But Noel did properly escort Shelly to her house, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yuru-sama. Noel-sama was always very kind and he protected me perfectly.¡±

    ¡°Ooohhh¡­¡±

    Noel slid out of his chair, as if aghast, and dropped weakly with his hands and knees on the ground.

    ¡°¡­Shelly. What happened to Noel?¡±

    ¡°Well, you know, maybe he is tired¡­¡±

    For some reason, Noel was depressed though I didn¡¯t know why he was suddenly so despondent. As I leaned back, I carefreely put a waffle in my mouth, just like Shelly did.

    ¡°So what¡¯s going on in the royal capital? Father-is the Duke of Verusenia safe?¡±

    I asked two people who lived near the Thule territory, but for some reason, they didn¡¯t know anything about the Thule territory at all, or about the royal capital.

    In the royal capital, there might be a bit of tension in the atmosphere. However, the commoners are still praying to the gods in temples and other places as usual and are relatively untroubled.

    Our state religion is the goddess of fertility though. I wonder if it¡¯s alright?

    Apparently, my father is still in the castle, talking to the ambassadors of the neighboring countries and keeping them in check, but as far as they know, he¡¯s safe.

    ¡­¡­That was great.

    The Academy of Magic in Royal Capital continues to hold classes as usual. The Saint Country is a lenient country, so there¡¯s nothing like the officials tormenting people from the south, but I heard that southern aristocrats who have a separate residence in the royal capital rather study at home than to go to classes.

    Perhaps, they are scared that the country may be spying on them¡­

    I heard that Noel, as a Hero, was thinking of charging into the south alone to take out the ringleader.

    ¡°When I met Rushia, my head got a little clearer. As a hero, I shouldn¡¯t be too crude¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­You are right.¡±

    Why do I¡­I am the saintess and yet I was thinking the same thing as him?

    When I inform them I¡¯m going to the Royal Capital, they seem to wish to follow me.

    I was thinking that if they come along, it will surely reduce the speed of the travel even further. But indeed, I am not that evil to let my sweet Shelly just camp out in the field.

    Forced marching will be difficult when there is a young lady, but I¡¯m not going to waste Shelly¡¯s spirit. When I was wondering about what to do, I found out that Noel could use a transition type magic that seemed to be incredibly useful.

    ¡°With this number of people, I¡¯m limited to once a day¡­.¡±

    Transition was actually just a high speed magic, but if we could proceed without walking through the woods and valleys even once a day, it would be a great help to our schedule.

    Still, in fact, it¡¯s actually faster for us to just run, but I¡¯ve decided not to say it.

    At any rate, when we arrived at the city of the Thule territory, there was a squad of knights guarding the city gate.

    ¡°It¡¯s Yurushia. Please open it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Your Highness? Oh, my God! The princess has returned!¡±

    What do you mean, ¡®Oh my God¡¯?

    When everyone knew of my return and the gates of the city were opened, I knew that the buzzing was going to spread towards the city like a chain message.

    ¡°¡­Oooooooooooooooooooo!!!!¡±

    Citizens¡¯ voices were echoing loudly from the city.¡­¡­..this is going to be tough.

    Hearing Shelly¡¯s words that if I chose to continue hiding myself, rioting could occur, I hurriedly removed the roof of the carriage¨Ccan I get it¡­? I managed to remove the carriage¡¯s roof and waved lightly from the open carriage, smiling softly, as if responding to the citizen¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Princess Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa¡±

    ¡°Saintess Ahhhhhhh¡±

    ¡°The old man freaked out and collapsed!¡±

    ¡°Hold on, Grandma! Come on, breathe.¡±

    ¡°Send the weak hearted ones back!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Not my fault. Not my fault! I didn¡¯t even use [Intimidate]! I was just smiling kindly and waving my hand graciously.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ [Brilliant sacred wings, be the healing light.]¡±

    Golden wings ¨C dazzling feathers flew off from the glorious sacred wings and healed all creatures as they enveloped the city of the Thule territory.

    ¡°Woooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!¡±

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, Banzaaiii !¡±

    ¡°Waaaaaaaahhhh!¡±

    For some reason, the ¡®Saintess Return Festival¡¯ started on the spot and the commotion continued until the knights came to escort us to the mansion. This is totally not my fault. It¡¯s really not my fault.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Author¡¯s Note : The population of the Thule territory is about 500,000. In the center of the city alone, more than 200,000 people were in the streets. The rebels were too alarmed by the sudden commotion to do anything about it.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 188

    Editor : Jestersurge

    TL Note : Hey guys! Here is another bonus chapter! Huge thanks to Asekhan! Thank you for the support and donation!

    Want to read faster? Read only at Centinni and donate only at Centinni! Everytime we got 6$ on Ko-fi we will release 1 bonus chapter! Do not donate and read this translation at other websites because you won¡¯t get any benefit! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Author¡¯s Note : Another third person point of view. Rebel side of the story. All hell breaks loose.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°The Saintess, Princess Yurushia, has returned!¡±

    Such shocking news suddenly spread to the territories of the Saint Kingdom.

    A letter was sent by a fast carrier horse. The transmission of letters by magic exists only in the royal capital and the five great dukes¡¯ estates. The rebel intelligence services have covertly infiltrated all territories. The information disseminated by them with the clandestine reconnaissance by other countries had a tremendous impact on all sides.

    It was the ordinary citizens who were most honestly happy about her return.

    The ¡°Princess¡± is the ¡°face¡± of the Saint Country. Even as a child, she had a beauty that would make people who glanced at her forget to breathe. She is a true saint who heals everyone without discrimination and is recognized by the country as the Saintess of the Saint Kingdom alongside the Hero. Her generosity melts even the demon king¡¯s frozen heart, and she even traveled alone to an unknown world to save the world from danger. She is truly the world¡¯s savior.

    ¡®¡­¡­ Who are you talking about?¡¯

    Most likely, there won¡¯t be anybody thinking like that when they hear the stories. Since the general public in the Saint Country all know about her stories and legends, the joy and enthusiasm they have can be imagined from seeing the state of the city of Thule when they found out that the Saintess have returned.

    Despite the fact that the information is still uncertain, the  ¡®Saintess Return Festival¡¯ has already begun in various parts of the Saint Country even with her absence. Lights and noises of celebration continue day and night without noting the time. All of the people decisively decided that if she happens to appear in the area, they will just hold another festival to welcome her.

    The noise was as great in the royal capital as it was in the Thule territory.

    In particular, His Majesty the King, the grandfather of Princess Yurushia, insisted on confirming her safety in person. Even her father, the Duke of Verusenia, who was in charge of coordinating with various countries, tried to throw out his official duties and flee the castle. The appearance of the crown prince desperately stopping the Duke of Verusenia from fleeing the castle was embarrassingly seen too. Soon after, Princess Yurushia¡¯s safety was confirmed by the princess¡¯ cousin who is both a member of the royal family and also the Holy Warrior.

    The royal family then enthusiastically decided to sponsor a large welcoming ¡®Saintess Return Festival¡¯ in the royal capital.

    The reaction of the nobles however is not as simple as that of the commoners¡¯.

    The nobles, whether those loyal to the royal family or neutral, were all showing joy that the Princess had returned. However, many of the other nobles feared that power soon would be more concentrated in the Duke of Verusenia, the family of the Princess. Moreover, the duke¡¯s daughter was immensely popular among the citizens to the point it could be said that the Princess is even more beloved than the royal family. Therefore, the nobles were afraid that the Princess would have a greater say than the royal family.

    Remarkably, there are several old noblemen, who are supposed to be the most wary of such dangers, raised their hands and enjoyed the return of Princess Yurushia instead. Rather, they suppressed the other noble families who regarded the princess as threathening.

    There are also rumors floating around that those old noblemen belong to a dubious ¡°group¡± and their involvement with Princess Yurushia is also suspected.

    The joy and enthusiasm of the commoners was the same even in the south where the rebels were established.

    Normally for the commoners, any rebellion by their lords against their country, regardless whether it was led by aristocrats or merchants, would be frowned upon, especially by the most patriotic of them. They won¡¯t even hesitate to voice their complaint loudly.

    However, for the commoners of the Saint Country, a peaceful daily life and everyday prayer to God was the most important thing to them. They would just indifferently accept the change of lords and kings as a sign of the times, not making a great deal of the event as long as there¡¯s no damage that was done to them.

    But if it¡¯s about Princess Yurushia, then it¡¯s a different matter altogether.

    As a member of the royal family, albeit only a member of the branch families, Princess Yurushia is a true saint who had compassionately helped the people including the poor and even managed to subdue the demon king. She is the pride of the country and the commoners are proud to be born in the same country as the saintess who had saved the world.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    The rebel higher ups of the Southern Army headquarters and the Duke of Bellrose were hectic trying to block the information about Princess Yurushia¡¯s return from being known to the people of the south. Princess Yurushia was just too prominent of a royalty among the commoners.

    However, despite all their efforts, it was impossible to erase the information network of the Magic Academy branch and stop the merchants from gossiping. Thus, the story of the princess¡¯s return soon spread so rapidly that the intelligence department themselves was surprised.

    This is why there were repeated daily meetings with intelligence officers at the rebel headquarters of the Southern Army.

    ¡°It¡¯s spread to way more people and much faster than I expected¡­. At this rate, all it takes is one word from Princess Yurushia to call out a disapproval against us and there will be a riot in the land.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, the Princess is an intelligent person. I don¡¯t see why she would so easily cut down all the southern nobles¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? No matter what, Princess Yurushia is still a royalty and no matter how intelligent the young princess is, she couldn¡¯t ignore the request from her grandfather the King and her father the Duke of Verusenia!¡±

    ¡°The morale of the soldiers is going to be a problem. Even though the Heroes and the Holy Warrior on the king¡¯s side alone are already frightening enough, the soldiers are at least still willing to fight. But I fear the moment they realize that the Princess has returned and might become our enemy, not to mention soldiers, even some generals will lose their will to fight!

    ¡°¡­Even I have no desire to have a problem with Princess Yurushia. She¡¯s a true saint who has saved this country and the world!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the problem! Even if the princess¡¯s power is exaggerated, her fame is real! Even if we could somehow remove the princess from being an obstacle and take the throne, other countries will not accept it!¡±

    ¡°At the very least, the Kingdom of Sigeless which has close ties to the royal family would be against it. The armed state of Taterudo, who was friendly with the princess, might even launch a military invasion when it has such good cause.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do!¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    You can also help us and donate on Ko-fi(from the main page). Extra 1 chapter will be released when 6$ is reached on Ko-fi. Please mention the novel you are supporting.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 189

    Editor Jestersurge

    TL Note : this is a regular chapter! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°At the very least, the Kingdom of Sigeless which has close ties to the royal family would be against it. The armed state of Taterudo, who was friendly with the princess, might even launch a military invasion when it has such good cause.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we looking for the solutions right now!¡±

    The staff members ended up having a fruitless verbal fight.

    This rebellion was started on the premise that Princess Yurushia will not return or has died in the Otherworld. As a result, the revolt is now almost dead in the water just because Princess Yurushia has unexpectedly returned.

    ¡°¡­Can¡¯t we just get in touch with the Princess and draw her over to our side?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that if we can hold the princess on our side, we¡¯ll definitely be the one to win. But what are you going to say to attract her in? Do we even have anything the merciful saintess would want?¡±

    ¡°If we complain that our people and the Royal Army will be hurt by the battle¡­¡±

    ¡°Bollocks¡­¡­¡­ You¡¯ll only incur the princess¡¯s wrath!!¡±

    ¡°¡­We might as well think about assassinating Princess Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Such impudence!!¡±

    ¡°What are you even saying? We¡¯ve pointed our bows towards the king! Now is not the time to turn back!¡±

    ¡°You dare show disrespect to the saint who had sacrificed herself to save the world! Did you forget the teachings of the gods!¡±

    It is an unfortunate blunder. If any one of them had a direct connection with Yurushia, they would have realized that their evaluation was all a huge misunderstanding.

    While they were still arguing, some men suddenly appeared in the conference room.

    ¡°Harming Yurushia doesn¡¯t necessarily mean going against the will of God!¡±

    ¡°His Excellency Duke Bellrose¡­¡±

    He was the Duke of Bellrose, the head of the southern aristocrats that supported the rebels.

    He was a mild-looking mature man who has reached his fifties, but the sharp eyes underneath his smile stared coldly at the general and his staff.

    ¡°But your Excellency¡­¡±

    ¡°We have the blessings of the gods too. As a testament of our righteousness, we have received word from the Pope of the Southern Siberian nation that he approves of our actions and legitimacy.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh, finally the church is here.¡±

    ¡°But the princess¨C¡±

    ¡°Yurushia is but a child of a duke like me. Don¡¯t call her a princess.¡±

    Although Yurushia is the King¡¯s granddaughter and a Princess of the Saint Country recognized by the King, she is still just a daughter of the Duke of Verusenia¡¯s family. Duke of Bellrose¡¯s family has superior stature compared to them.

    When Yurushia turned 13, she was officially crowned with the royal title of ¡°Von¡± and became the sixth in line of succession to the throne. As the sixth in line of succession to the throne, she would be in a position to call on the Duke of Bellrose. So, in a sense, what the Duke of Bellrose is saying is not right either.

    And¡­

    ¡°If you want to put it in perspective, we have a royal family that is in line for the throne too.¡±

    Those words were uttered by a young man who stepped up next to the Duke of Bellrose. A man who was only about twenty years old.

    Reddish-gold hair. Light brown eyes. Their color and facial features were very similar to the characteristics of the Saint Kingdom royalty.

    ¡°Your Highness Clement. This way.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for troubling you, Duke Bellrose.¡±

    As recommended by the Duke of Bellrose, the young man sits down on the top seat of the conference hall.

    Clement La Verusenia.

    The eldest son of the royal brother who has the same family name as the royal family. In order to prevent competition for the throne, the children of the ¡°royal brother¡± are not recognized as royalty in the Saint Kingdom and are not bestowed with the name ¡°Von¡±.

    ¡°I will not acknowledge a little girl like Yurushia as a royalty or a saint. How can the daughter of a measly Folt be given the right to succeed the throne? I should be the one to assume the throne.¡±

    There was a slight but unconcealed fire of jealousy and hatred in his eyes.

    ¡°The extent of Yurushia¡¯s accomplishments is very questionable¡­ Nobody even witnessed her slaying the demon king. Do you really think a little girl like her can actually defeat the Demon King? It is either her conspiracy or a coincidence she then claimed as if it were her own achievement.¡±

    In every era of every country, someone like this would surely appear.

    The kind of people would do everything to drag and pull those on the top rather than improving themselves and reaching the peaks with their own abilities. In their course to overthrow and replace the summit, they would make light of others¡¯ achievements, twist the truth, and embellish their own power.

    But the real trouble with these people is that they are forever convinced that they are in the right and will do whatever it takes to achieve to achieve their false justice.

    ¡°There is zero justification for the current royal family to defend such a bogus saint. The true king is my father. We will overthrow the old regime and set up a genuine Holy Kingdom with my father as King! Together with the Siberian nation that supports us, we will create a true Kingdom of God!¡±

    ¡°¡±Ha!¡±¡±

    Everyone in the room gain their confidence at Clement¡¯s theatrical speech..

    Nodding with satisfaction at the sight, Clement urged the men to be seated.

    ¡°The first thing to do is to prevent Yurushia from reaching the royal capital. Even with all that fame of the absurd make-believe, Yurushia herself is just a little girl. She won¡¯t even know how use that fame to her advantage if she didn¡¯t join up with grandfather and her father.¡±

    ¡°¡­Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ve already taken certain measures in case Yurushia returns to the royal capital.¡±

    Looking around at his anxious underlings, Clement¡¯s neat face twisted into a twisted smile as he said this.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    TL Note : Back to Yurushia¡¯s point of view

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°Yuru-sama¡­ really, it¡¯s truly good to see you are well.¡±

    ¡°Granny. I¡¯m sorry for worrying you..¡±

    After seeing the situation in the Thule territory, I was thinking of leaving for the royal capital as soon as possible, but I was caught by Granny who came to pick me up.

    ¡­¡­..If you say that with tears in your eyes, then I really can¡¯t refuse.

    That¡¯s how I got stuck in the main residence of the Duke of Verusenia in the territory of Thule for all of three days. I can hear the festivities are actually still ongoing noisily outside.

    The only thing I can condone is that the meal cooked by the chefs at the main residence is specially for me. They were reasonably delicious.

    Since I left Noah behind with Rinne, I need to look for Tina if I want to eat a proper soul-seasoned meal.

    Now that Geass is back in his humanoid form and performing as my senior butler, I¡¯m leaving the serving to him. Truly, as expected of a nice senior, all the older maidservants in the main residence were looking at him hotly.

    Share your popularity with Onza-kun¡­.

    Every time Granny talks with Geass, she sounds like a lady who has met an enka idol. If her husband in the royal capital were to see this¡­ Grandpa is surely going to cry.

    ¡°Princess, Onzada is back.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just send him this way.¡±

    One of the female knights in the escorting knights told me that Onzada, who had been sent out to scout, had returned. Onzada came over here immediately, twisting his head and looking at me with a complicated face.

    ¡°Onzada, what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°It was there, well, what was it¡­¡±

    What Onzada said was not very clear. When I urged him to speak, Onzada finally opened his mouth with a complex expression.

    ¡°Well, that¡­ I happen to hear that a saint and a hero appeared in the town on the way to the royal capital and forcibly collected travel expenses without mercy. Young lady, would you perhaps know what caused this?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What?¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    You can also help us and donate on Ko-fi(from the main page). Extra 1 chapter will be released when 6$ is reached on Ko-fi. Please mention the novel you are supporting.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 190

    Editor Jetersurge

    TL Note : Hi everyone! We have another bonus chapter! Once again thanks to Asekhan!

    Since today is Sunday I¡¯ll upload 2 bonus chapters! If possible I¡¯ll upload 3 bonus chapters! Hope this 2 or 3 chapters can make your Sunday more special! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    According to Onzada who was sent for reconnaissance, people who proclaimed they were saints and heroes have appeared out of thin air. They were even forcibly soliciting money and goods in various places, saying that the travel expenses were for the greater good.

    Right now though, it is not something I would consider a big deal since my reputation is as high as the heavens that I don¡¯t even bother to care about it. Onzada¡¯s intuition told him that this incident was purposely done by someone to spread bad rumours about me and besmirch my reputation. His intuition is probably right.

    I definitely did not do any collecting and Noel, who was listening to the report with me, was speedily shaking his head as if in a panic.

    So, in short, someone was impersonating me and Noel. I guess normally I would be angry, but this time, my honest impression is just¡­

    ¡°¡­. How annoying.¡±

    That is all there is to say.

    Oh, I don¡¯t want my father¡¯s reputation to get tarnished, either. The noble families that don¡¯t get along with our family were probably gloating and having fun, but I don¡¯t care. Although, if my father were to tell me that those nobles annoy him or he didn¡¯t like them, I¡¯m confident that I would be able to turn those people to dust in a jiffy.

    ¡°Bri, can you send a youngster from your squad out on an errand to the Carpe Chamber of Commerce? I¡¯m sure I have some money left in my budget, let her take out about 30%.¡±

    This is a hassle, but it would be in bad taste if it was the Duke who settled it and not me. It would be even worse if I didn¡¯t compensate for the people who were levied.

    Most of the Duke¡¯s money comes from the tax, but my money is purely my own.

    The Carpe Chamber of Commerce is established by Mr. Zesh, the current Duke of Carpel, with branches throughout the Saint Kingdom. He is a member of the ¡°Bringing Darkness to Light¡­¡± or whatever society that is, and he¡¯s been given control of my hidden budget.

    Bri-chan, the captain of the escort knights, was waiting near the wall with a depressed look when she heard my words.

    ¡°Well, we don¡¯t have any youngsters in our group¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll think about replenishing it.¡±

    Come to think of it, the remaining eight people who missed out on retirement were all in their mid twenties¡­.

    It¡¯s young enough in my thoughts, but probably not in the aristocratic sense.

    The youngest one here is the 16-year-old Nia, but she¡¯s a guard knight and my squire. Since the guard knight and the escort knight were not in the same chain of command, Bri can¡¯t treat Nia as a subordinate.

    I was somewhat anxious to send Nia out on an errand by herself. I have a feeling she is going to come back with something extra nasty.

    For the time being, I asked the young maidservant of the Verusenia family to go on an errand with Sarah as her bodyguard since she lost at rock-paper-scissors .

    A few hours later, accompanied by the two of them, the manager of the Carpe Chamber of Commerce came in front of me with greasy sweat all over.

    ¡°On behalf of the Society, I would like to congratulate you on your return, Lady Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    That society isn¡¯t a business association, is it? For that matter, why did the branch manager himself come? Just to say hello? Or was there not much money left in the bank?

    ¡°About the assets of Lady Yurushia¡­..¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°30% of Lady Yurushia¡¯s assets is a very large sum of money. Therefore, it cannot be prepared at our branch immediately¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­.What?¡±

    What are you saying? No, I know what you mean, but why is the funding increasing?

    When I questioned him carefully, I found out that the number of members of that ¡°Whatever Society¡± has actually increased several times in the last two years and a lot of donations have been collected.

    ¡­¡­I don¡¯t know what to say, well the donation is indeed welcomed. But for some reason, I feel like I can hear crying coming from the money.

    ¡°I can get you up to 500 large gold pieces in a heartbeat. But anymore than that, please wait because we will need sometime to prepare it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Half of that is fine¡±

    Let¡¯s see¡­¡­..As I recall, a single large gold coin is enough for a family of four to live for three months. When I think about it, I get too scared to ask how much the original funds have increased. Even 500 large gold coins is already considerably more than the original funds¡­¡­¡­

    After hearing that 250 large gold coins were going to be transported, Sarah and Bri-chan turned pale and took all the escort knights to the Carpe Chamber of Commerce¡¯s branch. What about my protection¡­.?

    ¡°As expected of Yuru-sama. Even if you aren¡¯t there, everyone is still willing to give an offering to you!¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you, Shelly.¡±

    Th- that was a compliment, wasn¡¯t it¡­?

    Now that we are ready, it¡¯s finally time to leave for the royal capital.

    I was only trying to pass by and just casually check the state of the city and the main residence. But, I actually ended up being stopped for almost a week¡­¡­.

    I received an email from Rinne asking for help and an early lift, so I shouldn¡¯t spend too much time here. I left him with my mother for him to study human society. However, in the email Rinne sent, he mentioned that he got invited to tea everyday by mother, Vio, and the others, only for him to be interrogated to the root about my relationship with him and the others.

    ¡­..Rinne has become a lot more rounded, hasn¡¯t he? Well, I guess it¡¯s because he knows I¡¯m going to blow up, if something happens to my mom and the others, even if Rinne wasn¡¯t the one responsible for it.

    For the time being, I¡¯ve texted Rinne back to say ¡®good luck¡¯. For now, I trust he¡¯ll do his best.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    TL Note : Hi everyone! For next week (6 July ¨C 12 July) and next week only! I won¡¯t receive or upload any bonus chapter because I¡¯m not feeling well¡­. I guess I¡¯m not prepared to receive your intense love all at once and ended up getting too full and sick! I will try to make a bigger container for your love (a.k.a I¡¯m gonna stockpile some chapters first) so when you send me some love I could properly store and reply in kind! Don¡¯t worry tho the regular chapter will upload as usual! If you forget, the schedules are :Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday! That¡¯s all for me everyone! Have a nice day and take care of yourself!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 191

    Editor Jetersurge

    TL Note : Hi everyone! We have another bonus chapter! Once again thanks to Asekhan!

    I¡¯m sorry everyone! I was only able to upload 2 bonus chapters today! Here is the 2nd one! Enjoy!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    The members that will accompany me to the royal capital are the same members who were here, plus Shelly and Noel.

    Again, there was a bit of a struggle here. The Knights of the Dukes of Verusenia offered themselves and even pleaded to bring them along too. It took a lot of convincing for them not to follow.

    It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t take away the Knights who protect this place when the rebels might attack at any moment.

    I gave out numerous reasons including the fact that when we have a large army, our movements become slower. Lastly, I could only convince them by saying that Noel, the Hero, will be accompanying me.

    ¡­¡­..Just in case though, I¡¯m going to sneak in about a hundred [ Greater Demon] to stay here for protection, but¡­.

    ¡°¡­Rushia, I sense something evil near you. Be careful.¡±

    ¡°A- Aren¡¯t you imagining things? Noel is such a worrier.¡±

    You guys should be better at hiding your presence if you¡¯re greater demons. Otherwise, the Hero will take you down.

    As we departed, a parade through the main streets of the city was still going on even though it¡¯s the same procession that was started as when we came in.

    The Dukes of Verusenia¡¯s prized 16-horse carriage ¨C powered by magical power, the body alone has the same size as a small mansion. As the carriage left the area, I was waving from the window to the residents¡­My face was starting to cramp due to me smiling the whole time.

    By the way, it seems that this carriage was ordered by my father when I was certified as a saint. My dear dad paid 400 large gold coins at that instant and ordered the construction to begin immediately.

    ¡­You¡¯re still an overly doting parent, father. Then, I realized that grandfather also gave me the exclusive guards knights, I guess the term like father like son is true.

    Luckily, this carriage is as fast as it was expensive. Normally, we would have needed all of three days and two nights for just a one-way trip to the royal capital, but this carriage could get us to the royal capital by tomorrow night.

    However, the world is not that easy. We still need to be wary of the rebels as we move and more importantly, we need to compensate for the money that the fake saints and heroes have forcefully collected. I thought of leaving it to someone else¡­ but I figured I might have to personally show my face to some extent to erase the misunderstanding. It¡¯s a bother.

    Fake saint¡­.. I won¡¯t forgive you.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°Chi, I¡¯m gonna lose it¡±

    In an inn town, in one of the town¡¯s only high-class inns, four men and women were sitting in a circle counting gold coins.

    A brown-haired, frivolous-looking boy, who looked to be in his late teens, spat those words out angrily. A blonde girl of the same age, who was brushing her nails with gold coins, chuckled back.

    ¡°It¡¯s great because you can make so much easy money doing nothing. Everyone in every town is willing to give at the mere mention of the saint¡¯s name.¡±

    ¡°You need to hide your vile nature more. You take too much pleasure in your jewelry.¡±

    ¡°Araa~ I beg your pardon.¡±

    A large man of about twenty with dusky blonde hair complained with a mushy face and the blonde girl returned the complaint like a fool.

    Beside her, a dark-eyed brunette laughed ecstatically as she counted all the coppers, silver coins, and other pennies donated by the town¡¯s residents.

    They were a band of false heroes sent by the king¡¯s royal brother¡¯s son Clement.

    They were originally part of a small band of mercenaries in the south who had been imprisoned for fraudulent activities in a city and were only released due to their similarity to the ¡°Heroes of the Saint Country¡±. However, they don¡¯t even know who they are working for.

    The instructions are simple: solicit money in various places while posing as the Hero¡¯s party. At first, they were only doing it to follow the order, but then, they were told that the money collected would entirely be their reward. Now, even when they are no longer asked to do so, they continue to cheat of their own volition.

    They began cheating and acting as the Hero¡¯s party about two weeks ago. So, clearly, they have been active even before Yurushia and the others arrive.

    This is one of the plans to turn the aristocrats that are reverent to The Hero and The Saintess in the Saint Kingdom to the southern army. Although the content of the operation seems childish, its timing makes it a very effective operation in anticipation of the return of Yurushia.

    If there was one problem though, it was that they couldn¡¯t contact the other party to avoid being searched and having their connection being found out. So, they stuck to collecting money only and didn¡¯t do anything Clement had planned them to do to actively damage the reputation of the Hero and the Saintess.

    And since they had quickly moved around the city to prevent their identities being exposed, they had mistakenly attributed the city¡¯s springing up with joy due to Yurushia¡¯s return to their activities instead.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to a big city, not this little town. There, you¡¯d get a big gold coin or even dozens of them, not just this small one.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you idiot, if you go to a city that big, someone might know the face of the saint.¡±

    ¡°Once you¡¯ve made some money, it¡¯s better to not be too greedy and just run away instead. It¡¯s far easier to cheat in a small town.¡±

    ¡°¡­Small coins are stupid. It¡¯s not good enough.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. I understand.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t like pennies too, do you¡­. But, come on, wouldn¡¯t you like our carriage to be more luxurious? My butt hurts so much from sitting for too long.¡±

    ¡°Sure, having a more luxurious carriage will make it easier for us to cheat, but you¡¯d have to be a nobleman to own a carriage like that.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..Then we should collect from the nobility as well. This is the inn town after all. Nobles come through here too.¡±

    ¡°¡±That¡¯s it.¡±¡±

    Because they were all commoners, they did not understand that to nobles, there was a certain level of nobility and that there was a definite ¡°rank¡± to them.

    And the next day, a huge nobleman¡¯s carriage would arrive in this inn town.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    TL Note : Hi everyone! For next week (6 July ¨C 12 July) and next week only! I won¡¯t receive or upload any bonus chapter because I¡¯m not feeling well¡­. I guess I¡¯m not prepared to receive your intense love all at once and ended up getting too full and sick! I will try to make a bigger container for your love (a.k.a I¡¯m gonna stockpile some chapters first) so when you send me some love I could properly store and reply in kind! Don¡¯t worry tho the regular chapter will upload as usual! If you forget, the schedules are :Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday! That¡¯s all for me everyone! Have a nice day and take care of yourself!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 192

    Editor Jestersurge

    Huge thanks to Shirochi for this bonus chapter!

    TL Note : Hi everyone this is the bonus chapter that was supposed to be uploaded the other day. For this week (6 July ¨C 12 July) and this week only! I won¡¯t receive or upload any bonus chapter because I¡¯m not feeling well¡­. I guess I¡¯m not prepared to receive your intense love all at once and ended up getting too full and sick! I will try to make a bigger container for your love (a.k.a I¡¯m gonna stockpile some chapters first) so when you send me some love I could properly store and reply in kind! Don¡¯t worry tho the regular chapter will upload as usual! If you forget, the schedules are : Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday! That¡¯s all for me everyone! Have a nice day and take care of yourself!

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    That day, a huge carriage arrived at an inn town on its way to the royal capital.

    The town is not too far from the royal capital and it¡¯s not uncommon for aristocrats to have carriages, especially of such size or luxurious one. Moreover, this carriage seems to have come from the domain of a duke related to the royal family so it¡¯s not weird at all even if the carriage was to be bigger or grander.

    But this carriage¡­ The word humongous or extravagant doesn¡¯t do it justice. The body is as enormous as a small mansion and it was driven by sixteen huge war horses in addition to being powered by magic. This carriage is not something that can be easily seen even in the Saint Kingdom¡¯s capital.

    The number of nobles passing through here is dwindling due to the turmoil by the Southern Army.

    Some nobles still traveled in carriages due to unavoidable circumstances, but many removed their insignia from their carriages for fear of being attacked by the other side.

    The action may raise suspicion from either side, but it truly is effective. If you¡¯re an ally, all you have to do is to prove your identity, and if you meet an enemy, you should prepare to escape immediately. But in the first place, if they were in a critical position and cannot risk being harmed by the enemy, they would have brought an army with them or just disguised themself as commoners, and neither side would actively try to examine the carriage.

    The insignia of the noble family had been removed from the huge carriage that day as well.

    The carriage, as big as a small mansion, was armored to the point that it looked like a military carriage and was surrounded by ten horsemen. So, the inhabitants of the town, rather than rejoicing at the arrival of their luxurious visitors, watched with bated breath as they wondered which army had moved.

    They are happy that guests are coming, but they also don¡¯t want this town to be turned into a war zone. Their peaceful life is more important than a customer. It¡¯s the same everywhere, the life of a family is more important than money.

    Even so, the reason why the residents of the town didn¡¯t panic is because ¡®Hero¡¯s Party¡¯ had been staying in this town for a few days now.

    Although not many details have been handed down, according to wandering merchants and bards, the princess of this country found a Hero and a Holy Warrior following an ¡°oracle¡±, and soon after defeating the demon king, she went to the underworld as the Saintess to save the world.

    The arrival of the rumor of the ¡®Hero¡¯s Party¡¯s deeds and their appearance in this town were almost simultaneous.

    Four young men with somewhat a special aura.

    The princess was rumored to be the ¡®Golden Princess¡¯, the most beautiful girl in the world, and indeed, the princess that has arrived was much more beautiful than the village girls there.

    At first glance, the brave man and the other warriors looked like ordinary young men, but they must not be just a nobody since they managed to defeat the demon king.

    In a normal situation, the whole town would have rejoiced and thrown a festival, but they couldn¡¯t afford to offer much hospitality at such a turbulent time. Rather, when the Hero¡¯s Party saw the scarcity and hardship going on in the town, they directly headed to the mayor¡¯s mansion and quickly retreated to a luxury inn.

    ¡®I¡¯m sure they are tired since they have just come back. If possible, I wanted to ask the Saintess to heal the sick, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to ask the princess to do so. But I¡¯m sure once they know that their people are in danger, they will stand up for them.¡¯

    Perhaps, the residents¡¯ wishes may have been heard as the four ¡°Heroes¡± soon stood in front of the carriage as it entered the town..

    ¡°You there in the carriage, halt! I¡¯m the Hero of the Saint Country, let me inspect your chariot.¡±

    In response to the voice of the hero, one of the horsemen stepped forward and spoke back from his horse.

    ¡°The Hero you say¡­? What are you talking about?¡±

    Surprisingly, not only that knight, but the entire cavalry was a group of oddly young aged women.

    When that female knight, who looked like a captain with dignity radiating off her whole body, returned the words with a beautiful frown, the young man who called himself a Hero grinned and continued his words.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, beautiful lady knight.You know the story of the Hero and the Saintess. If you wish, you can join me¡­¡±

    ¡°Ehem! Excuse me, can I talk to you?¡±

    A blonde girl, who was the companion of the Hero wore a seemingly gorgeous but not very well-tailored dress, interrupted the Hero¡¯s words with a strange cough.

    ¡°I¡¯m Yurushia, the princess and the daughter of the Duke. I¡¯m sure even a provincial knight such as yourself knows me.¡±

    ¡°¡­wha¨C¡±

    At the blonde girl¡¯s words, the female knight¡¯s mouth opened so much that her jaw almost dropped.

    The content of the words must have been so shocking to her to the point of speechlessness. The blonde girl giggled at the strength of the impact she gave.

    ¡°We have to travel for this country and for justice. As the Princess of the Saint Country, I am pleased to accept your chariot.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    Hearing those words, fury appeared on the female knight¡¯s face for a moment followed immediately by a frightened look on her face that made her pale.

    After all, the title of ¡®Princess of the Holy Kingdom¡¯ would have a tremendous effect on the knights of this country. She might be angry at the ¡°seizure of the carriage¡± for her Lord¡¯s sake, but she can¡¯t resist the princess.

    What is funny though is that the female knight turned her frightened gaze towards the carriage behind her, rather than the blonde girl who was in front of her.

    Not only that, all of the knights were staring at the carriage with a pale face and cold sweat on their faces. One female knight near the carriage door was even shaking her head with a tearful look on her face.

    ¡­¡­A slight discomfort.

    Just how popular is the Hero¡¯s Party with all the knights in the Saint Kingdom? Even though she is a princess with immense power, is she really that frightening? To be able to make all the knights who were conversing with her show such expressions?

    ¡°(¡­ wha¨C what is this?)¡±

    ¡°(I- I don¡¯t know, you shut up)¡±

    ¡°(You too shut up!)¡±

    ¡°(¡­¡­we have to keep our appearance.)¡±

    At that uncomfortable instinct of feeling something was wrong, the ¡°Hero¡¯s Party¡± couldn¡¯t help but look at each other. Even the inhabitants, who were watching the scene, held their breath. When the carriage door opened, a lady in an elegant dress escorted by a (still crying and frightened) female knight emerged from it.

    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡­!!!!!??¡±¡±¡±¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    Hi guys, you can join us now on our discord server. And get a chance to chat with your favorite translators and editors. Meet more like-minded people and have a fun time with real-time novel updates and much more.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 193

    Editor Jestersurge

    This is a Regular Chapter

    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡­!!!!!??¡±¡±¡±¡±

    At the sight of the lady, both the hero¡¯s party and the residents who were watching cannot help but let out a scream. Glistening, golden hair. Cold beauty like a doll handcrafted by God¡­..

    For the first time, the people there now knew that elegance at its peak could give such inhumane feeling and exude that much intimidation.

    But when the girl smiled softly, the icy winter-like tension disappeared and some of the residents began to kneel and worship with tears in their eyes at the goddess¡¯ smile.

    ¡°Are you one of the heroes?¡±

    A delicate voice like the sound of a bell brought back the consciousness of the ¡®Hero¡¯s party¡¯.

    ¡°Tha- that¡¯s right! I am the Saintess Yurushia!¡±

    The blonde girl stretched her flat chest and screamed out loud trying to intimidate the young lady.

    While the two men were utterly stunned at the young lady¡¯s sight, the blonde girl gnashed her teeth at the realization that there is a girl younger than her, obviously unmistakably younger than her, and was the spitting image of her, a thin-breasted blonde, but that girl was obviously prettier than her.

    ¡°Oh, is that so? I haven¡¯t seen you before.¡±

    The blonde girl¡¯s intimidation was met with a smile by the similarly blonde young lady.

    There was a cute looking boy swordsman and a maidservant behind the young lady, but he was emitting an oddly furious aura. Perhaps, he was the young lady¡¯s bodyguard. Among them, the fluffy-haired lady who was of the same age stared at them with a hint of madness in her eyes. The Hero¡¯s party felt as if their stomachs had been stuffed with lead.

    ¡®But for some reason, the scariest impression I had from them was from the beautiful young lady who was just smiling softly in front of me.¡¯

    Anyway, it was a creepy party. As long as the two men were useless, she still thought she could quickly seize the carriage and leave the place.

    ¡°A- anyway, the carriage¨C¡±

    ¡°By the way, if you¡¯re a saint, why don¡¯t you heal the sick in the town? I¡¯d love to see you do it.¡±

    ¡°You- you, what are you¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal if you¡¯re the real thing, right?¡±

    ¡°You! How dare you show your disrespect to the Duke¡¯s Daughter!¡±

    Realizing that the young lady in front of them might be suspicious of them, the blonde girl hurriedly showed them the dagger insignia she received from her client.

    In this Saint Kingdom, self-serving coinage and defrauding the royalty is a mortal sin.

    Likewise, calling yourself a hero or saint of the Holy Kingdom without permission is considered an action so hateful that all religions within the Saint Country will mark you as a heretic without question.

    Yurushia is a duchess, but at the age of thirteen, she is conferred as royalty in line for the throne. At this point, they would be wanted as criminals in all of Saint Kingdom. Just because they were asked and promised some money to act as the Hero¡¯s Party doesn¡¯t mean they could choose not to weigh on the consequences of doing such a thing. Even a child knows how grave the consequences would be if they do such a thing.

    ¡°Oh, wow. An authentic insignia of the Dukes of Verusenia.¡±

    It is useful.

    ¡°No- Now, if you understand, quickly¨C¡±

    During the same time that the young girl was frantically wielding the dagger in cold sweat, the lady just smiled softly and spread her hands wide.

    ¡°[Brilliant sacred wings, be the healing light]¡±

    Golden wings fan out widely from the back of the young lady. Golden feathers scattered across the city, healing all the injured and sick as they rained down on the city.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s the real saint¡±

    A voice muttered faintly. As more and more of these voices echoed from all over the town, the blonde girl fell on her butt. Her eyes widened and she pointed at the young lady with trembling fingers.

    ¡°¡­Pri- Princess Yurushiaaaaaa!?¡±

    At the cry of the blonde girl, the real Yurushia smiled smugly and gently pointed her fluttering fingertips at the blonde girl.

    ¡°Now, you¡¯re going to be participating in an experiment that I¡¯m going to specially make for you.¡±

    ¡°Hii!?¡±

    At those words, the brunette girl somehow instantly knew to run away. A moment later, the blonde girl turned away in a hurry.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It won¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡®When I was told such a thing, the feeling of relief ran even further. Does she mean that we are going to rise to heaven without suffering?¡¯ The two girls who tried to escape were stopped in their tracks as multiple golden magic circles floated around Yurushia.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡°¡ß¡±¡­¡­¡±

    Is that really a ¡°language¡±?

    As a golden light emanated from Yurushia¡¯s lips and enveloped them, some kind of change came over them.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Aaa¡±

    ¡°Aaaaaaaaaa¡±

    The blonde and brunette girl wept at their change, stumbling to their knees. With their body now able to move, they heavily bowed their head to Yurushia as they rubbed their forehead against the earth.

    ¡°We pledge our undivided and undying allegiance to you, Princess Yurushia.¡±

    As they were watching, women of a similarly thin build to them appeared in a dizzying array from all over the town and began to worship Yurushia deeply.

    The supposedly thin breasts of the two girls who had pledged their allegiance grew a little thicker, and Yurushia¡¯s smile as she stared at them was full of compassion, truly like a goddess.

    ¡°Hii!¡±

    It was then that the frivolous teen and the large man, who had finally come to their senses, swiftly abandoned the two women and began to flee at once.

    ¡°Moooooveeeee!¡±

    The residents were frightened and confused by the frightened, sword-waving fakes. Just as Noel ran after them, the fake heroes were easily knocked down by a certain swordsman walking among the crowd before their swords could even reach him.

    ¡°¡­¡­What the hell are you guys doing?¡±

    ¡°Your Highness!?¡±

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 CH 194

    Editor Jestersurge

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    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°Lady Yurushia, the mayor of the inn town has come to greet you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, send him in.¡±

    We arrived in the inn town close to the Royal Capital and rented out the most exclusive inn in town for our stay.

    No, well, I didn¡¯t have to rent it out, but it¡¯s just that there were no other nobles that stayed here and if I choose to stay at that inn, the merchants who were staying there would voluntarily move to another inn.

    Listening to that alone makes me feel like I¡¯m feared or hated, but that was definitely not true.

    The mayor and some members of the Chamber of Commerce came together to greet us.

    ¡°We are all overjoyed to see you here today. All of us here at the ¡®Society¡¯ have been waiting for your return, Your Highness. From the bottom of our hearts, we welcome you back. It is our greatest pleasure to see you safe and sound. Congratulations on your return, Princess Yurushia!¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Congratulations!¡±¡±¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    ¡°It is with great pleasure that we present to you our most cordial offering.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡­?¡±

    ¡°This is our town¡¯s famous ¡®Hippopotamus Waffles¡¯.

    ¡°Oh~¡­¡­..it¡¯s quite ¡®heavy¡¯-1, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°We put a lot of our ¡®feelings¡¯2 to it.¡±

    ¡°I see. You guys must have put a lot of thought into the confectionery.¡±

    ¡°The inside is filled with shining ¡®golden¡¯ bean paste!¡±

    ¡°Fufu. You truly are a vicious businessman.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I am no match for the princess.¡±

    ¡°¡±Hahahaha¡±¡±

    ¡°¡­What the hell are you guys doing?¡±

    At our conversation, Rick, who was drinking tea in the same room as us, muttered the exact same lines he said when we met again.

    By the way, the waffle was filled with golden custard cream.

    When we arrived at the inn town in the giant carriage of the Verusenia family, we encountered the ¡°Fake Heroes¡±.

    Compared to the real thing, the fakes had more of a rowdy and ostentatious look on them and although their clothes look fancy at a glance but if you look closely their clothes are not well tailored, and although their hairs have the same colour as the real one but it¡¯s also not as gorgeous as the real one.

    Well, I don¡¯t really care, but how dare you stop the Dukes of Verusenia¡¯s carriage? Oh, did I mention that I had to take off my carriage insignia? That¡¯s as far as the deceit went, but the moment I heard one of them tried to trick me using my own name, the carriage was instantly filled with killing intent.

    Not mine, but the others. Even if Nia and Tina couldn¡¯t help it, but the one who was actually giving off the strongest killing intent was Shelly. In fact, the animosity was somehow even stronger than the Saint Kingdom¡¯s Hero.

    For the time being, I don¡¯t mind dealing with the frauds, even if they did make some insult or perjury. But since the other party did not put me in their eyes at all, I will have to thank them for volunteering as test subjects.

    I was in another world called Tess then, researching a special technique for girls in distress, inspired from fake tits filled fully with dreams, hopes, and love.

    To tell the truth, it was much easier than bringing darkness to a man¡¯s brilliant scalp.

    After all, to bring darkness to the scalp, you had to use multiple higher sacred magic to revive the dead hair follicles, but to ripen the unripe fruit, you only need to add special nutrients to it.

    Still, I was a little disappointed since I haven¡¯t got any chance to use it on humans, so their timing was just right.

    ¡°Bianca, Flora, please escort everyone home.¡±

    ¡°¡±Yes, Your Highness.¡±¡±

    At my words, the two girls in knight clothes who were waiting near the door guided the mayor and the merchants who had finished their greetings and brought them out. Direct donations to me are against the rules.

    These two newcomers were the two girls who were in that ¡®False Hero Group¡¯.

    The blond child is Bianca at the age of 16 and the brunette child is Flora at the age of 17.

    We could have arrested them, but since they were my precious experimental subjects, we decided to put them to good use. Well, as it is, normally, they would have received a death sentence.

    Although their looks are better-than-average, it seems like the two of them may have had a bit of a complex about their previous body shape. Therefore, when I altered their body shape, they gave me their eternal loyalty to me, and we ended up making a [contract] too.

    Our escort knights also asked me to replenish the empty spots of the younger ones. Since they were ex-mercenaries, they can do rough stuff, they are loyal, and I can hire them legally at the lowest minimum wage! (This is the most important thing here!)

    And in their next life, they will become demons and they will work for our company as full time employees. We will all have a wonderful future all thanks to the [contract].

    Isn¡¯t it fair to say that I¡¯m a good manager, after all?¡­.If we can get more employees like them, we might be able to cut costs down.

    And to tell you the truth, they didn¡¯t look very tasty. The two men who escaped tasted bland.

    The person who defeated them was my cousin from the Royal Capital, His Royal Highness Ludrick, or just Rick for short. He is a Prince of the Saint Kingdom of Taterudo, and the [Holy Warrior] of the Saint Country Hero Party.

    Apparently, rumors of my return have spread to Royal Capital and Rick was ordered by Uncle to search for me to appease grandfather and my father, both of whom had been trying to find me and leave their work behind. Rick told me the reason why he was alone in that place was because he was in a hurry to immediately go find me and he ended up leaving his guard knights behind.

    ¡°So¡­ let¡¯s hear the explanation? Hmm, Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°¡­Uuuuu¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    {TL Note : 1 is ¡°ÖØ¤¤¡± = heavy and

    2 is : ¡°Ë¼¤¤¡± = feeling both have the same pronunciation and that is ¡°omoi¡±}

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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    Editor Jestersurge

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    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    ¡°So¡­ let¡¯s hear the explanation? Hmm, Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°¡­Uuuuu.¡±

    I can¡¯t help but wince at the anger in Rick¡¯s eyes.

    Rick was definitely angry that I went away without having any sorts of contact with him for two years and causing a lot of people to worry.

    Rick had become sixteen years old, with a height of over 180 cm tall and growing. Apparently, he was getting pretty decent. Well. after all, he¡¯s not a boy anymore, he¡¯s a young man now.

    Rick¡¯s mother, Elea-sama, said when we were still small that ¡®Rick will be like my husband when he grows up¡¯. Though that being said, he has certainly grown big, although not as big as uncle and grandfather.

    I think he is about somewhere between uncle and father? It seems that grandmother and his mother Elea-sama¡¯s genes did a great job. Rick became a beautiful and strong man, making those children from our escort knight squealing.

    I was wondering while the outer appearance has indeed grown up into a young man, but did the inside also develop as well? Hoh, he didn¡¯t clench his fists forcefully like he used to do when his emotions were running high anymore.

    That little brat Rick is actually all grown up! That Rick!

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that¡­¡±

    ¡°Nothing~? More importantly, how is your father doing? What about grandmother and Lady Elea?

    ¡°Did you just change the topic¡­.. Oh well, whatever.¡±

    With a loud deliberate sigh, Rick leaned back against the couch at the fancy inn ¨C it¡¯s a gaudy-looking couch and it creaked- and sat back down again to face me.

    ¡°You are also a royal family member. Let¡¯s talk about the details.¡±

    ¡°Wait, Ludrick. If you¡¯re going to talk about that, then Miss Sherlind and I will go out of the room.¡±

    Rick was about to speak up when Noel, who was present, called out to him in a bit of a panic.

    Oh, Noel just called him Ludrick when it used to be ¡°His Highness¡±¡­

    The relationship between the two was still the same, but I can feel a slight difference from what they had before. After all, it¡¯s been two years of sensitive times, so I¡¯m sure things have changed a lot. More fundamentally ¨C how should I put it ¨C the piercing heat I used to feel between the two of them seemed to have subsided a lot.

    While the air between them did decrease, I somehow felt that the ¡°heat¡± from Rinne was getting stronger by that amount. I didn¡¯t really understand what it was though.

    ¡°No. Noel, listen to me. We¡¯re going to need your help, too. Countess Allen¡­..¡±

    Rick looked at me for some reason without looking at Shelly.

    ¡°Shelly is ¡­ Well, she¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve heard everything there is about Yuru-sama¡±

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡±¡±

    I don¡¯t understand why, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Noel holding his head up like he had a headache.

    Rick¡¯s story wasn¡¯t much different from the stories I¡¯ve heard so far. I mean, I was already getting tired of hearing about it, but at least this time, I got some new information.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, we have information that Lord Christopher is in the vicinity of Royal Capital.¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡­¡­Who?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­Our great uncle, ¡®The Royal Brother¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see¡­ Wait, why?!¡±

    What¡¯s going on, of all times, why was there the enemy head coming this way all of a sudden? Could it be that the southern forces are attacking us?

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not what you are thinking. I hear he came here alone, or to be exact, he comes with only a few men under their command..¡±

    ¡°Why are they doing such a dangerous thing? Is it some kind of trap?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely unlikely, but the information came to us from the man himself ¨C as a request for a meeting with His Majesty the King from Prince Christopher.¡±

    ¡°A meeting after a rebellion? All we have to do is hold him there and the rebellion will be over, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not so easy politically though because if you just detain them thoughtlessly, the Southern Army could attempt something reckless like marching here.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ So they are willing to stop the rebellion in exchange with favorable conditions, is it?

    ¡°But still, he doesn¡¯t have to come by himself¡­.¡±

    Even if I think a lot about it, none of them are definite, and conversely, I also can¡¯t read their intent.

    ¡°That¡¯s why Yurushia must enter Royal Capital at once. Because with your presence alone, you could give the Royal side a tremendous advantage.¡±

    It¡¯s so annoying. Why do you want to involve me in politics and all that?

    ¡°I originally came to see my father, so it¡¯s okay since it is as I planned.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible that things may not go as well as planned. It would be advantageous if the Hero and the Saintess of this country, Yurushia, can be in the Royal Capital especially since Yurushia has the right to succeed to the throne. However, if Yurushia is bound somewhere and unable to enter the royal capital in time, we won¡¯t be able to make a move at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Rushia¡¯s influence is much greater than me as the¡¾Hero¡¿and Rudrick as a royal and the¡¾Holy Warrior¡¿.

    ¡°We will protect Yuru-sama!¡±

    Just by restraining me or holding me back, my grandfather and father as aristocrats will have no choice but to abandon me. And I don¡¯t mean to be egotistical, but there may be a backlash from the public for abandoning me.

    But the principal concern of my three friends who were in front of me right now was the possibility that I could get assassinated.

    It would be best for my grand uncle to capture me and use me to his advantage. However, if that doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s going to happen, it would be better for him to just kill me than to leave me alive and cause some unforeseeable effects on their plans.

    That plan may or may not be viable.

    ¡°I understand. Well then, let¡¯s head to the royal capital.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Yuru-sama.¡±

    ¡°I will protect Rushia and everyone.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to be as fast as we can¡­¡­.But¡±

    With everyone high with excitement (except me), Rick turned to the window with a frown. I wondered if there was some concern he was thinking about.

    ¡°That¡­Can we leave that thing behind?¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    Even now, I could still hear what sounded like a prayer by several women from outside.

    In short, it seemed that a certain segment of women who have somehow heard about the others¡¯ increased thickness of the chest armor were now holding some kind of collective meeting or prayer.

    ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be¡­. Is it that strange ¡®society¡¯ again?¡±

    More importantly, I heard a particular voice coming from the outside. I¡¯d like to think that it was just my imagination that I heard Tina¡¯s voice.

    What are you doing¡­

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    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°So, where did you meet my daughter? Well, I know I¡¯m being impertinent, but my daughter¡¯s retinue seems to have given you their complete trust and confidence. They¡¯ve completely accepted you. By the way, how has she been during your travels? She was traveling with only a small retinue of squires without a large number of companions, so I¡¯m sure there must have been some wonderful heart-to-heart talk.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure there were times on that journey the two of you were alone, but since the lady had just turned thirteen years old and her body is so pure and innocent, I¡¯m sure she has nothing to offer and I believe that you have a proper relationship with the lady. Of course, a man of your stature knows well enough¨C¡±

    ¡°¡­I am aware¡±

    Exposed to the uninterrupted torrent of words from the two women, a beautiful young man with light brown skin, Rinne ¨C responded with a short, slightly dull voice.

    The two women with whom he was dealing were Riastea, Yurushia¡¯s mother, and Vio, the first maid of Yurushia, who had cared for Yurushia since she was born.

    To ward off Yurushia¡¯s worries over her family, Rinne took it upon himself to take on the responsibility to protect her family. But by the first day, Rinne had already regretted it.

    It seems that the two people who were the birth parent and the caretaker to Yurushia care for him very much. Rinne had to come back from his travels in the other world to accept their calls. They invited him to tea parties and dinners every day, trying to get him to talk about her beloved daughter and what she and Rinne are usually talking about. Undoubtedly, they are trying to get the story out.

    As a genuine demon and [Demon Beast], Rinne doesn¡¯t need to understand human emotions or put up with one-sided demands.

    There are demons like [Demon God] and [Demon Lord] who use sweet words to cultivate people¡¯s souls and corrupt them with a distorted smile. However, [Demon Beast] only spreads fear and obtains pleasure from devouring them. But¡­.

    ¡®¡­It¡¯s strange.¡¯

    From the moment he met that peculiar demon, Rinne¡¯s fate changed.

    A single flower that bloomed in the dark, cold, and desolate demon world¡­ It has somehow turned into a sun in the dark that attracts demons like moths to a bonfire in the dark, and even the [Demon Lord]¡¯s five pillars that have ruled the demon world for thousands of years are wary of her.

    [Devil Princess], Yurushia. A new kind of demon that has the power of both the Demon God and the Demon Beast. Moreover, she has the mind of a person too.

    Demons, even the creators and their creations, are always on the lookout for each other, and all believe given a chance, they will sharpen their fangs in the hope of devouring others.

    That¡¯s why the [Great Demon] and others who are genuine demons sincerely respect her and take supreme pleasure in working for her. The demons underneath her were even willing to give their lives for her, as if their souls were tainted.

    ¡®I wonder if I was the same¡­.¡¯

    It was strange to Rinne that he was working for her without any kind of hidden motivation.

    And¡­ although Rinne was troubled by the situation, he wasn¡¯t uncomfortable with it.

    Rinne, a demon that has existed for thousands of years, for the first time he was confused to feel a ¡®deep affection¡¯ toward a mere human being.

    ¡®Did something change when she gave me the name ¡®Rinne¡¯ and when I had a ¡®soul connection¡¯ with her?¡¯ If it was the Rinne before then, no matter how much he mimicked a human, any living creature would instinctively feel the pressure and be terrified at him.

    It¡¯s the same with all the other demons. For example, the maid demon Fani, she happily ate the sweets given to her by the humans and the way the human was happily stroking her head even made me feel a certain amount of dread.

    But ¡­ it¡¯s somehow not uncomfortable.

    ¡°Daaaaaa.¡±

    ¡°Araa~ seems like Cyril is fond of Rinne-san very much.¡±

    There¡¯s a human baby on Rinne¡¯s lap and before they knew it, he was already sitting cutely on Rinne¡¯s lap. The baby, who was expected to start crying, was staring with interest at Rinne with shining eyes that looked very similar to those of his sister¡¯s.

    Cyril is not even scared of Rinne who now had a sour look on his face. Instead, Cyril smiled sweetly and looked at him with an affectionate gaze. So were the other two women. ¡®I stopped using the human¡¯s polite language like I did at first because it annoyed me so much, but now I am pleased with that decision.¡¯

    We decided to protect the people in this house to ward off Yurushia¡¯s concerns, but right now we might as well protect them of our own free will.

    Rinne thought that he will at the minimum give his [Blessings] to this baby named Cyril and the baby in the stomach of the maidservant.

    What is this feeling I wonder¡­¡­¡­ I don¡¯t get it. But ¡­ it¡¯s really not uncomfortable.

    ¡°Oh, yes. We have a favour we want to ask to Rinne-san.¡±

    ¡°¡­ A favour?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Vio. That thing.¡±

    Riastea said so and Vio brought something to the table.

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    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°¡­ A favour?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Vio. That thing.¡±

    Riastea said so and Vio brought something to the table.

    Listen to your favour? Are you planning on using me like those pretentious humans in the past? Suddenly, a letter was placed in front of Rinne, who frowned slightly.

    ¡°I want you to deliver this to Yurushia. This is from that child to her father. She originally asked me to pass it to her father.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    They basically told Rinne to go be with Yurushia.

    It wasn¡¯t just the rebels that Rinne was trying to protect them from. It also acted as a check against the [Demon Lord] who should be paying attention to this place.

    As expected, they weren¡¯t aware of the danger from the [Demon Lord], but the possibility of the [Demon Lord] sending the [Great Demon] under his control on a whim is not zero.

    Rinne couldn¡¯t understand the idea of a human who didn¡¯t understand the level of danger they are in. He stared at the rear seat, and Noa and Fani who stood beside Rinne quietly bowed.

    ¡°Rinne-sama, please grant our wish. The both of us will risk our ¡®existence¡¯ to protect the madams.

    ¡°Please protect Yurushia-sama¡­¡±

    Perhaps the two great demons were also aware of the [Demon Lord]¡¯s movement. Certainly, [Demon Lord] and the others would be more likely to directly target Yurushia than here.

    But it was Yurushia¡¯s ¡®heart¡¯ that Rinne was trying to protect. Besides, even if the [Demon Lord] attacked directly, I don¡¯t think the current Yurushia would be easily defeated.

    As he hesitated on what to do, Riastea and Vio also bowed their heads, and Cyril slapped Rinne¡¯s chest in frustration.

    ¡°¡­¡­I understand.¡±

    Suddenly, a small smile appeared on Rinne for a moment as he let out a sigh.

    ¡®At the very least, let¡¯s give the babies maximum [Blessings].¡¯

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã

    Aaa, somehow I felt like something or someone somewhere has really ¡®screwed up¡¯.

    There were some faces over there that are likely to screw something up. The highest possibility is Fani I guess? No, Noa is there and he has lots of plans, but, hmm¡­. I can¡¯t be too careful.

    ¡°My lady, is there a problem?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing.¡±

    I shook my head lightly at Onzada who spoke to me in a caring manner.

    ¡°Hohohoho. We have almost arrived at the Royal Capital. In the meantime, how about some sweet treats for the ladies?¡±

    ¡°Oh my, I am happy.¡±

    Shelly clapped her hands in delight as Geass in his butler form served her homemade muffins.

    ¡­¡­It¡¯s a really big carriage. We have a kitchen here so it¡¯s actually not weird to have homemade muffins, but the problem is that the one cooking the muffins is a demon and it does make me wonder what the ingredients are¡­..

    Well, I guess the feelings before were just my imagination. And with Rinne there, those kids won¡¯t do anything weird.

    We left the inn town and were on our way to the royal capital.

    If all went well, we should be able to get there this evening. My initial plan was to make up for the damage caused by the false heroes in the neighboring towns and villages first, but Rick rather sent the knights he had brought with him to the villages instead, asking me to prioritize the royal capital.

    The knights turned blue in the face when I gave them the compensation that was 150 large gold coins without batting an eye. I did not hesitate to put that amount of money out, although I would tighten the purse string when I want to tighten it.

    The fixed pay is cheap. There is no overtime fee. But our management policy is to reward hard work with generous bonuses.

    ¡­¡­I felt like the ¡®Yuzu¡¯ business has gotten stronger since I went to Earth.

    Rick led the cavalry on a horse beside the carriage. Noel also borrowed a spare horse originally for the carriage to guard the area.

    The¡¾Hero¡¿and¡¾Holy Warrior¡¿of the Saint Country were going to escort me, so it looked like I won¡¯t have to worry about the dragons coming, let alone the rebels. There are no dragons in this world, though.

    We encountered rebel scouts on the way, but they were subdued before the carriage could even stop. Outside, the captured soldiers were tied to the carriage and desperately marathoning trying to catch up to it.

    Hang in there. There¡¯s only 40km more to go.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã

    Different from the usual road used to travel from the west to the capital, a luxurious six-headed horse-drawn carriage was advancing along one of the roads from the south.

    Even with the decorations removed, one can tell by a look that it is a carriage for a noble, but for some reason, there were no carriages for servants that should have followed. There were only a few horsemen who seemed to be the guards, they were nervously watching the area with faces that could not hide their fatigue.

    ¡°Still huh¡­.. Is there still no sign of the Royal Capital?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make noise, keep your vigilance.¡±

    A dense green forest. There is a road, sure, but it is not the kind of road that a nobleman¡¯s carriage would take. It wasn¡¯t a main road like those in post town, but a narrow road connecting villages which wasn¡¯t easy for a large carriage to pass through. The carriage couldn¡¯t even keep its original speed on rough roads.

    Gasp.

    ¡°What!¡±

    ¡°Knights, forward!¡±

    Suddenly, the leaves on the trees ahead swayed and the knights buzzed. A few seconds later, a long neck slowly emerged as the nervous-looking knights held up their spears.

    ¡°What? It¡¯s just a stray giraffe huh.¡­¡­.You scared the shit out of me.¡±

    A pink polka dot giraffe slowly crossed a few meters in front of the carriage.

    As expected, the knights had no choice but to stop the carriage and wait for the giraffe to pass by. It¡¯s frustrating, but even if it¡¯s a herbivore, that giant is dangerous.

    It was not as big as a hippopotamus or a rhino, but even a knight could easily be incapacitated by a single blow if he were to be kicked with that huge body.

    Whoosh¡­

    ¡°Bwoooooooooooo!!¡±

    ¡°Wha- what the hell was that!?¡±

    There was an arrow lodged in the giraffe¡¯s body. The giraffe began to flail in pain, and multiple arrows were showered from the surrounding forest as the knights hurriedly tried to keep their distance.

    ¡°Enemy attack! Stay-¡±

    A few arrows pierced the screaming knight and he fell off his horse.

    A group of people in light black armor suddenly emerged from the forest and attacked the knights and the carriage without identifying themselves.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get close to the carriage!¡±

    ¡°Protect it! Defend the carriage!¡±

    The black-armored knights outnumbered the cavalry several times over. In front of them, the giraffe was rampaging and the carriage was unlikely to be able to get past it safely.

    ¡°Get the carriage moving! I¡¯ll do something about this!¡±

    One of the larger knights struck the black knight with his shield as he thrusted his horse toward the giraffe.

    ¡°Bwoooooooooo!¡±

    The chariot passed through the empty space as the giraffe kicked the knight away, losing its stance after the rider hit it with his full body.

    Only the carriage managed to advance among the sound of sword fights. A man in the carriage supported by the butler opened his trembling mouth.

    ¡°I can¡¯t die yet¡­. Not until I met my brother.¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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 CH 198

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Princess, I could already see the Royal Capital.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, thank you Flora.¡±

    When I threw a small silver coin at Flora after she came to report to me, she jumped at the small silver coin with ravenous eyes that looked like it could eat the coins.

    I did hear from Bianca that she likes pennies, but somehow, it gave me a discordant feeling. Maybe it¡¯s because of her brunette hair color and her name.

    Less than half a second after that report, the blonde Bianca approached to report.

    ¡°The knights from the Royal Capital are here to welcome you!¡±

    For some reason, the tension was high, but somehow when I gave them some leftover muffin, they shed tears and prostrated on the ground .

    That¡¯s bad¡­¡­. The newcomer girls are very, very ¡®strong¡¯. I can¡¯t help but wonder why all these dense people gather around me.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia, you¡¯ve returned!!¡±

    The explosive shouts of the gatekeepers were heard even at the center of the city. The people who heard it all cried frenziedly and those thundering cheers made the carriage tremble.

    ¡®This again!¡¯ is what I thought to myself, but with a gentle smile on my face, I waved my hand calmly from the carriage window. It¡¯s nighttime, right? But why are there so many people here?

    I will not do anything more than this. If another big feast or heart attack festival starts, it will be morning before we reach the King¡¯s Castle.

    Perhaps what I did worked, or perhaps it was a good thing that we arrived at night when the children were asleep. Whatever it was, it was definitely a good thing because we managed to arrive at the King¡¯s Castle relatively quickly and particularly without producing a single heart failure.

    ¡°Yurushia!!!¡±

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    He boisterously greeted me at the gates of the castle and then came running up to me cheerfully. I ran up to him with my arms outstretched to hug him too, and he lifted me up like a small child and spun me around and gave me a tight hug.

    ¡°Really, I¡¯m glad you made it back in one piece¡­.¡±

    ¡°Father¡­¡­¡±

    I feel a bit of a zing in my chest. I¡¯m sure my father is in his forties by now, but he¡¯s still as charming as ever.

    However, now, he looked a little tired and I felt sorry for making him worried.

    ¡°Thank you, Ludrick and Young Lord Barnabas, for guarding my daughter.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡­¡­No, it¡¯s fine.¡±¡±

    Both Rick and Noel turned their lukewarm eyes with a wry smile to my father as he thanked them with a serious face while still holding me up.

    No, I know you¡¯re happy and I¡¯m happy seeing you too, but I¡¯m already thirteen years old. Why are you still holding me up like a kid? Even though I¡¯m already as tall as some of the officer ladies.

    ¡°Father, it¡¯s time for you to put me down.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? Well, since we¡¯ve come to this point, we¡¯re going to go directly to His Majesty¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­¡±

    ¡°Yurushia!!!¡±

    I turned at the loud voice calling my name, and a large old man appeared, dragging the civilian officers and knights of the Kingsguard who tried to stop him.

    ¡°Grandfather!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Yurushia, you¡¯ve become more beautiful again. As expected of my granddaughter! ¡±

    He was very proud of his grandchildren. And definitely subtly proud of himself.

    More importantly, why did His Majesty the King, who should be sitting and waiting on the throne, showed up at the gate? Though, if you look at it now, somehow you will understand.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to hold her, too. Folt, give her to me.¡±

    ¡°I decline to do so. Father.¡±

    ¡°I am the King! I have the right to hold my granddaughter! Now, hand her over!¡±

    ¡°I refuse. Your Majesty¡±

    ¡°Eei! You stubborn man! Just who did you take after?¡±

    ¡®You, grandfather.¡¯

    ¡°Just hand her over, you idiot!¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    My grandfather forcefully took me from my father, picking me up with a hug.

    ¡°Oh, oh, you are getting so much bigger.¡±

    ¡°Grandfather¡­¡±

    Grandfather stroked my cheek, his eyes blotting out a little bit. He swung me around in a giant circle a few times and then sat me on his shoulders.

    ¡°Then, shall we go! ¡­¡­Ugh!?¡±

    ¡°Grandfather!?¡±

    The grandfather, who had walked off in a high spirit while hugging me, suddenly moaned and fell to his knees.

    ¡°This¡­.. My waist¡­¡±

    ¡°Grandfather¡­¡±

    ¡°Father¡­¡­¡±

    In the meantime, I healed grandfather, who was hurt by my idiot father, with sacred magic. This time, I had to move in a way that both father and grandfather could both hold me.

    What¡¯s this? Where did I do wrong? Why was it such a fuss as soon as I arrived?

    My grandmother was in tears, and Elea-sama was pleased because I was becoming more like my mother.

    Elea-sama¡¯s husband, in another word, my uncle the crown prince, and Timothy, Rick¡¯s brother, arrived late but were still extremely happy to see us return nonetheless.

    Apparently, my grandfather and father had been distracted from their work because of me, and my uncle and Timothy had to shoulder their work for them. Somehow, I felt like I had to apologize for it.

    Grandmother and I scolded grandfather and father, and now they were both trying to schmooze up.

    ¡°You know, with Yurushia around, the atmosphere really became brighter after all.¡±

    Timothy, my sweet gentle older brother, patted me on the head as he said that. Speaking of which, I was really surprised when Shelly told me that Betty had become Timothy¡¯s fianc¨¦e, but unfortunately, she¡¯s not here currently.

    ¡­That sorry looking dark-haired beauty is the future queen of this country¡­.I¡¯ll do everything in my power to back you up.

    ¡°So, Grandfather¨C no, Your Grace, about the Southern Rebellion.¡±

    When I said it, His Majesty¡¯s face became distorted. Was the war situation really that bad? I thought we could turn around the situation in an instant if I just came to the Royal Capital?

    ¡°If you don¡¯t call me ¡°Grandfather¡±, I won¡¯t reply.¡±

    ¡°Ha¡­¡­.¡±

    What¡¯s that? He was sulking over what I called him!

    ¡°But first, we need to do something. All of you, follow me. Prime Minister!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 199

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°But first, we need to do something. All of you, follow me. Prime Minister!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Instead of in the meeting room, father and Rick stood side by side next to grandfather in the audience room. What should I do in this case?

    As I was there wondering what to do with the unusual slightly tense atmosphere, Mr. Prime Minister took me to directly stand in front of my grandfather.

    ¡®Oh, this person is¡­¡¯

    ¡°(We will have a budget report for you to review later.)¡±

    ¡°(¡­I understand)¡±

    He is a marquis and also a member. Anyway, budgets were¡­¡­..scary to look at.

    ¡°Yurushia La Von Verusenia. Come forward.¡±

    ¡°Ye- Yes.¡±

    Suddenly, grandfather called me by my full name and I rushed forward. Huh? This name is¡­.. and just as I was thinking about the name, my father gently told me to kneel down and I humbly obeyed.

    ¡°You¡¯ve turned thirteen years old and have proved yourself. You will now be given the name ¡°Von¡± and named the fifth in line of succession to the throne. Do you swear to serve your country as a member of the royal family?¡±

    ¡°¡­I, Yurushia La Von Verusenia, promise I will serve my country with all my life.

    ¡®Is this all right?¡¯

    ¡°Hm. Then, I¡¯ll give you the royal token.¡±

    In response to what grandfather said, Mr. Prime Minister brought a ring on a velvet pillow.

    Oh, this is that. That¡¯s what my father pressed on his letters when he¡¯s sealing them. My father had two, one for the duke family and the other for the royal family I think?

    I took the ring, glanced at the others, and put it on the ring finger of my right hand.

    ¡°This officially made her a princess¡­. Gahahahahahaha!¡±

    My grandfather suddenly started laughing out loud, and my uncle and my grandmother looked dumbfounded.

    After I turned thirteen, I used to be only allowed to use the Von name when necessary, but now they were basically saying I can make a big deal out of it and declare myself royalty.

    The highest rank in the Saint Kingdom is my grandfather, His Majesty the King.

    The second rank is my grandmother who is the queen and then followed by Elea-Sama who is the princess. They are royals with rights to the throne.

    The fourth rank is the Duke, followed by the Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron, Baronet, Honorary Baron, and Knight. All in all that¡¯s what makes up the whole eleven ranks.

    For the aristocrats starting from the Duke, his wife and children will be one rank lower. In other words, I was a daughter of the Duke, so I was in the same rank as the Marquis, the fifth. Actually, it¡¯s a little bit higher than that.

    Even though before, I was just a daughter of the Duke with rank fifth, however, since I have officially become a royalty this time and became a ¡®princess¡¯, I went up to rank third now.

    Royalties other than His Majesty the King are considered to have the same rank regardless of the order of succession rights. However, the order in which they are greeted and lined up is in the order of the succession, so there is a slight difference, but this part doesn¡¯t really matter.

    ¡°Now you won¡¯t have to worry about it anymore right, Brother Rudrick?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­When has Yurushia ever worried me?¡±

    Rude.

    ¡­¡­But¡­that?

    ¡°Grandfather, I was told before that I was the sixth in line of succession¡­..¡±

    My uncle was first, Timothy was second and Rick was third. My father dropped down to fourth place, and the ¡®royal brother¡¯ was fifth, as I recall¡­¡­.

    ¡°Christopher is an idiot!¡±

    My grandfather suddenly yelled. I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if a crazy man was to attack with all his might. I don¡¯t know why but this kind of thing freaked me out.

    ¡°Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    I turned around when I was approached by my uncle, and he nodded slightly to my father before opening his mouth.

    ¡°Christopher is already no longer royalty, having his royal brother¡¯s position and claim to the throne annulled because of his daring to rebel against the royal family. ¡­Well, they won¡¯t admit it, but they¡¯ve already been notified. So Yurushia will be the fifth in line of succession.¡±

    ¡°¡­So that¡¯s how it is. I am convinced. ¡­¡­. So, is there another problem?¡±

    The color of the faces of my uncle and dad were not good. So I asked them again, and now my father continued the explanation.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t know what to do after the notice, but as the royal family, we could not leave the fifth place blank and still make Yurushia the sixth¡­¡­ Sorry.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­ What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°With Yurushia now fifth in line, it is possible that Christopher and his supporters who were originally fifth may have a grudge against Yurushia¡­..¡±

    ¡°Oh~¡±

    That was great~ I was so nervous thinking that there was a problem with my behavior.

    ¡°Why are you feeling relieved there¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eh? But there¡¯s no problem, right?¡±

    When I replied matter-of-factly, Rick poked me lightly in the forehead.

    But the only people who weren¡¯t shocked were Rick and Noel who knew me well. While my father, my uncle, and the knights in the guard were somewhat dumbfounded.

    Ah¡­ Depending on how you look at it, does it look like I don¡¯t care for the Southern Army? But I felt like it¡¯s really too late to try to be scared of them now.

    ¡°Now, Brother Rudrick, Count Barnabas, shall we go?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­..What?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Wa- Wait a minute. Where are you going, Yurushia?¡±

    I smiled and gracefully picked the hem of my skirt as my fathers called out to me a bit hurriedly.

    ¡°My great-uncle is close by, isn¡¯t he? As a Princess and the fifth in line of succession, I¡¯ll go talk to him in person.¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

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    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 200

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Princess, we will soon arrive at the next horse¡¯s stable.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Bri and Sarah, the escorting knights, led us to the stables in the castle.

    His Royal Highness, the King¡¯s former royal brother, who said ¡®we are on our way there¡¯ ¨C are my and Rick¡¯s great-uncle, and we will be coming out to receive him.

    Everyone was exceedingly opposed to me going out as I was targeted by the former royal brother. My father and uncle told me that I should just wait for them because they will end up coming to me anyway, but then, I think they will just wind up talking about politics.

    I made a point that when I talk to him, I will talk to him as a member of the royal family. But first, I want to talk to him personally as a relative and as a family, and I want to ask him why he did all this. My granduncle told us that he will be coming here privately, and that is why he came here so informally, and I thought he might want to talk about something personally, not just as a royal but as family. Hearing that, my grandfather had a face that bit a lot of grievances, but in the end, he let me go, not as His Majesty The King, but as a brother.

    But well, the real reason why I want to go meet the former royal brother was because I just wanted to get this over with quickly and play with my brother as soon as possible.

    And I can¡¯t wait to see when Vio¡¯s baby is born. Since I have to name the baby, I really don¡¯t have the time to bother with ¡°trivial¡± things like rebellion.

    For that reason, my grandfather who was the most difficult person in the world gave me permission to depart. My father, my grandmother, and Elea-Sama told me to take some hundreds of the Holy Knights and the King¡¯s Guard along. However, this time, I decided to refrain from bringing them along because speed was a priority.

    Simply put, ¡®normal humans¡¯ were just a bother. As escorts, there were already Rick and Noel, so I was convinced that there would not be any problem unless the demon king himself and his army came out. I¡¯m also worried about cutting down the castle¡¯s strength¡­..

    Anyway, let¡¯s go back to the present time. This time, I¡¯m riding on my own horse instead of a carriage because speed is my first concern.

    Can I ride a horse¡­? To be honest, I¡¯m a bit skeptical about it, but I¡¯ve ridden my father¡¯s horse before. Although the horse was really wary and scared of me¡­.. But I have enough motivation. I will definitely find a suitable horse.

    When I tried to change into riding clothes, I don¡¯t know if I was imagining things but my platinum dress had changed to a blouse with frilly lace, and the black and silver dress had changed to pants and boots.

    ¡­ What wasteful performance. When did you add such a function? It¡¯s really a cursed piece of equipment, isn¡¯t it? Tina and Nia had a proud look on their face so for the time being, I satisfied myself with just flicking their forehead.

    And a problem occurred. I usually could just choose a horse to go out with, but right now I am not the only one that has to go out.

    What if even those Tina and Nia can ride a horse normally? What if the only horse that stiffens up and doesn¡¯t move is somehow the horse that I¡¯m to ride? What if the horse stiffens up when I just get close to it? Or they get freaked out and turn into an undisciplined ¡°doggie¡± rather than a horse.

    That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been shown not only the stable of the King¡¯s Guard, but also the other knight orders¡¯ and then even the horses that were used for carriages because it can¡¯t be helped, I need to find a suitable horse. But even after looking around, I still can¡¯t find a normal horse to take me for the ride.

    Kuh¡­ Noel¡¯s and Rick¡¯s amazed half laugh gaze hurt me.

    ¡°Huh? I didn¡¯t know you also had a stable there.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡­. there is¡­¡±

    Hmm? Somehow Buri-chan looked pale. Haha~, this is that thing huh? There¡¯s a stable in the middle of nowhere with a rampaging horse or something that can¡¯t be put in the same stables with the other horses. When I got close to it, that huge horse suddenly became quiet and said something like, ¡®Silly, I don¡¯t need any of you knights!¡¯

    ¡°Then, shall we go see it.¡±

    ¡°Pri- Princess!?¡±

    Bri and the others tried to stop me as I headed for that stable, and the soldiers, noticing this, rushed over to me.

    I pretended not to notice them, and when I looked into the stable, I saw that it was a huge chestnut-haired¨C

    ¡°Boooooooo!!¡±

    There was a ¡°hippo¡±.

    ¡°Oh, Yurushia-sama, it seems like Mr. Hippo wants to give you a lift.¡±

    The chestnut-haired hippopotamus strode out and lowered his body in front of me.

    No, Nia. You don¡¯t need to translate that. Wait, how do you understand the words of animals? Why isn¡¯t my [divine spirit language] translating?

    I mean, what¡¯s with the hippopotamus having chestnut hair? It might not be strange because there were pink and yellow hippos in the wild, but it¡¯s funny, right?

    I wonder if this hippo is like a cowboy¡¯s ride. It even has a saddle. But do they even sell saddles for hippos? Who was going to ride it?!

    ¡°Actually, His Majesty caught him in the woods last year. This is the Lord of the Forest.¡±

    Grandfather again! The stableman who was taking care of Hippo-kun said that to me apologetically. ¡­I¡¯m really sorry on behalf of my grandfather.

    ¡°Boomoooo¡±

    Hippo turned his dull eyes to me and purred sadly as if to say, ¡®Aren¡¯t you going to ride? Aren¡¯t you going to ride?¡¯ ¡­¡­¡­Guh!

    As soon as I got on, I gave in to my feelings and my body shook with excitement. I wasted no time before touching the smooth and comfortable chestnut hair while riding Mr. Hippo. The hippo rose proudly while opening its mouth seemingly to shout. But there is no sound.

    ¡°Oh, the rampaging hippopotamus who couldn¡¯t be ridden by anyone became so docile in front of the Princess. As expected of the Princess!¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

 CH 201

    Editor Jestersurge

    Hi Everyone! This is a Bonus Chapter Thanks To FlashGlue!!! Enjoy everyone!

    ¡°Oh, the rampaging hippopotamus who couldn¡¯t be ridden by anyone became so docile in front of the Princess. As expected of the Princess!¡±

    The soldiers over there, shut up. I didn¡¯t need such praise.

    Wait a minute, don¡¯t tell me grandfather who caught the Hippo himself also can¡¯t ride it? I would like to ask for a little time to find out what purpose Grandfather brought the hippo home with him.

    ¡°¡±¡±Oooooooooo¡­¡±¡±¡±

    As Mr. Hippo strolled off at a snail¡¯s pace with me on his back, the knights and soldiers shouted in admiration and looked at me with respect .

    ¡­. Respect? Are you serious? This damage was bigger than them laughing. The damage was also greater than when I fought the Hero.

    We can¡¯t let our guard down in this world after all. We must live conservatively¡­..

    ¡°Um¡­¡­ Princess.¡±

    ¡°¡­.What is it?¡±

    When I answered the call, feeling a little moody and whimsical, Bri and Sara were all staring at me.

    ¡°We can¡¯t come with you after all?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    This time I told them that only the five of us, me, Rick, Noel, Nia, and Tina will go. Because we were putting speed as the highest priority and it will be dangerous for ordinary humans to follow.

    But it¡¯s hard to tell this to the two women who were my escort knights, ¡°because you¡¯ll make my hands tied.¡± They couldn¡¯t do their escort job for the past two years, so I can understand why the girls were so desperate.

    My mother told me to make sure I do my job well and I¡¯m mainly responsible for protecting the ¡°pride¡± of my guards.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve asked Master Eleanor to arrange an ¡®introduction¡¯ to the King¡¯s Guard.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Take care, Princess!¡±¡±¡±

    Their pride has been protected. For some reason, I heard the voices of all eight knights in the escort knight.

    What is this¡­¡­ I¡¯m sure everything went well, but what is this hazy feeling I wonder.

    I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just embarrassment, right? In the meantime, I¡¯ll give each of the girls 10 gold coins to pay for their hairdressing and makeup and also for a new dress for their blind date.

    ¡­¡­ I wonder if this will be fine?

    ¡°Yurushia ¡­ So ¡­ do you have any idea where Christopher is?¡±

    As I was just finished preparing to leave, Rick came up to me on his white horse.

    ¡­with a subtle twitch at his mouth. Laugh if you want to. You¡¯re riding a white horse and you think you¡¯re the prince now? Come to think of it, he is a prince.

    ¡°We have a pretty good idea of the route, but¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a guess. I think it¡¯s probably okay¡­¡­Tina.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord.¡±

    For some reason, Tina who was riding a black horse in her maid¡¯s long skirt pulled up quickly and held out a letter.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. You¡¯re moving fast.¡±

    ¡°What is that¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a report from my intelligence agency.¡±

    ¡°Hohohou~¡­¡±

    Rick made a slight impression at my words.

    It¡¯s not uncommon for a certain level of nobility to have a family or an individual to work as an intelligence agency and the like for them. As I recalled, the royal family had an intelligence agency separate from the state, and I¡¯m sure Rick got his information from that.

    Rick probably thought I¡¯m using the Dukes of Vercenia¡¯s intelligence agency, but that¡¯s not true. It is just ¡°my¡± agency.

    ¡°¡­ Wow¡±

    When I opened the report, the first thing that jumped out at me was not a report, but a large amount of complaining and whining about me.

    Those who ruled the underworld of this Saint Country Taterudo from the shadows.

    It¡¯s Mylene the great vampire, who was also my friend, and her subordinate vampire army.

    I¡¯ve instructed them not to create ¡°badly made¡± ones so that they don¡¯t stand out, so there weren¡¯t that many of them. But they do look human and they can use [Charm], so the information is very accurate.

    I ordered Tina to make contact with [Shadow]- the vampires that were hiding here and there.

    In the letter, Mylene wrote about the hardships of the past two years and her concerns about me in a tsundere way, making up the whole five letters.

    Ah, Mylene was still single and she was about 20 years old, so she was at the edge of the cliff as a senior noble woman.

    ¡­¡­I wonder if I should find a husband for her too.

    ¡°¡­¡­Ah¡±

    ¡°Did you find anything?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s possible that they have deviated from the common road, but more importantly, I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s a squad chasing your great-uncle¡¯s carriage.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the intelligence unit?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s the Southern army. It seems a bit fishy, so let¡¯s hurry up a bit.¡±

    ¡°I understand¡­. Noel?¡±

    I turned around to follow Rick¡¯s gaze as he called out for the other companions. For some reason, I saw the hero desperately trying to convince Shelly to ride her donkey in preparation for the trip.

    Those two, they got along so well with each other huh.

 CH 202

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    The knight who had been the carriage driver whipped the carriage horse as he spouted filthy words. They have forced their horses to march on the road far and they are making it pretty hard for the horse. It had only been a few minutes since he started running as fast as he can and soon he will be at his limit.

    But that didn¡¯t stop them.

    He was the only knight left to escort the attacked carriage through the forest. He had to send the Lord in the carriage to the royal capital, he can¡¯t let his friends¡¯ sacrifices go to waste. That¡¯s why he can¡¯t just stand still feeling sorry for his friends who took on the enemy and let him go ahead of them.

    He needed to carry out his duties. Otherwise, a crisis will come to this beloved Saint Country.

    ¡°¡­¡­..Guh.¡±

    Something like a killing intent loomed from behind.

    ¡®Those knights in black who were attacking us must have been a recently deployed special forces unit. There are still a few of them following, but there is no way God would allow a being to be created by such evil means to continue existing.¡¯

    ¡°¡­¡­.God, save us!¡±

    Slash!

    ¡°There is no God that will help you.¡±

    ¡°Uwaaa?!¡±

    The knight managed to set the carriage upright just as it was about to fall over after one of the six horses that was pulling the carriage got hit. However, the carriage, still dragged by that one horse, veered off the road and came to a stop as it hit a large tree.

    ¡°Your Highness!¡±

    A knight in black appeared in front of the knight who worried about the Lord, ignoring his own pain.

    ¡°What about the others?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡±

    The black knight muttered emotionlessly to the knight who drew his sword in a fury. Immediately after, several black knights with blood-soaked swords appeared from behind him.

    ¡°Guh¡­..¡±

    All of his friends left on that spot must have been killed. The carriage door slowly opened behind the knight who still held his sword forward to at least try to bring one of them down.

    ¡°It¡¯s not safe. I¡¯ll take care of this.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s fine.¡±

    He had a slender body and grayish golden hair. The elderly nobleman got off the carriage, quietly looked around, and then stared intensely at the black knights.

    ¡°Who put you up to this?¡±

    ¡°You must be Lord Christopher. I¡¯m here to pick you up.¡±

    Instead of answering the man¡¯s questions, one of the black knights responded and bowed his head reluctantly.

    The King¡¯s brother, Christopher. He was believed to be the mastermind of the Saint Country Southern Army Rebellion.

    Yet, how could he be so close to the Royal Capital with so few guards? Who were these black knights who said they were coming for him?

    The escort knight shouted in exasperation while glaring at the black knight who dared to say such words.

    ¡°How dare you act so brazenly!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Back off.¡±

    ¡°But!¡±

    ¡°I said back off¡­ So? Where are you taking me?¡±

    He must have cut himself a little when the carriage bumped into the trees. When Christopher asked again, ignoring the blood flowing from his forehead, the black knight replied shortly without emotion.

    ¡°Your son is waiting.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I see.¡±

    Letting out a slight sigh at the answer, Christopher took a step forward.

    ¡°All you need is me. So, let this man go.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about, Your Highness!¡±

    However, Christopher and the Black Knight have different things in mind.

    ¡°No, your will is not required. Only thing we require is you being alive.¡±

    ¡°You-¡±

    It would be more convenient to drag someone unconscious and drugged. He didn¡¯t need to be conscious. As long as he is still breathing, that¡¯s enough. And those that followed Christopher were not going to make it out alive in this situation anyway.

    Christopher didn¡¯t think he could get away anymore in such circumstances. He gently touched the dagger at his waist with his hand, determined to commit suicide to prevent the worst from happening, having failed to achieve his goal.

    ¡°¡­..Pity.¡±

    ¡º¡¾¦Ì¦Ô¦Á¡¿£¡¡»

    At that moment, a voice rang out from the direction of the Royal Capital, and a rising pillar of light shoved away several black knights.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°This light¡­ It¡¯s the Heroes!¡±

    A few horsemen came approaching from afar. One of them jumped down from his horse and came straight forward at several times the speed of the galloping horse.

    Gakkin!

    ¡°Guaaah!¡±

    A slash that flew in like an arrow straight into the air snapped the entire sword that was trying to block it instantly and sent the captain of the black knights flying.

    Platinum armor standing solidly. The boy¡¯s appearance glazed with dignity. The boy simply swung his golden sword sideways and froze everyone nearby.

    Noel La Barnabas, the hero of the Saint Country.

    ¡°What are you doing? Get Christopher!!¡±

    As the blasted away black knight captain raised his voice as he fell, his subordinate black knights rushed to Christopher and Noel at the same time.

    ¡°Haaaa!¡±

    Several black knights heading towards the king¡¯s brother were knocked down with a golden sword that was different from the Hero¡¯s

    ¡°Noel, don¡¯t jump out alone! ¨CAre you all right? Great Uncle?

    ¡°Oh, Ludrick!¡±

    Ludrick La von Verusenia, the Holy Warrior of the Saint Kingdom.

    He nodded lightly to Christopher and pointed his sword at the remaining black knights with a wry smile.

    ¡°Damn it, why are you here!¡±

    The Hero was known to be moving around all over the place, but the Holy Warrior should have been stuck waiting in the royal capital. Since even just one of them alone can equal an army, their movements were constantly monitored, especially by the rebels.

    Was it because there¡¯s a rumor that the saint had returned, and you actually happened to run into her when you were working to confirm it? Against these two, even the Black Knights will be having a hard time to beat them.

    But-

    ¡°Black knights, hold the heroes back!!¡±

    When the captain shouted that, the black knights, who should have been struck down by Noel and Ludrick, quietly stood up and held their swords.

    ¡°¡­Noel, did you take it easy on them?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ve hit them hard enough to make them barely alive¡­..¡±

 CH 203

    Editor Jestersurge

    This is a bonus chapter thank you to Anonymous!

    ¡°¡­Noel, did you take it easy on them?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ve hit them hard enough to make them barely alive¡­..¡±

    The two of them definitely did enough damage to make them unable to fight. A high-level divine magic might be able to instantly heal them, but there was no way the two of them, who had been given blessings by the Spirit of Light, would not be able to notice it.

    ¡°Ludrick¡­..the armor.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I have a weird feeling. And the inside too.¡±

    The two men felt an unworldly presence from the armors the black knights wore and could not help but to regrip their swords tightly.

    ¡°Gaaahh!¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Two of them intercepted the black knights who were trying to rush past them. However, the golden sword that could cut even the demon race in half was unexpectedly unable to slice through the black armor. Even then, the black knights who were struck down by the impact, suddenly began rising again in silence.

    ¡°What the hell are these guys¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Hahaha, this is good! I bet you didn¡¯t think this was possible right! Black Knights, keep them both¨C¡±

    ¡°Get out of the way please¡±

    Dodo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-dodo!

    The moment they heard a girl-like voice from somewhere, the Hero and the Holy Warrior jumped back as if they were really in the way. Instantly after, a huge hippopotamus passed by with an earth shaking momentum, trampling the black knights.

    As everyone froze in place at the majestic figure that was truly the lord of the forest, they heard a bell ringing-like voice from the golden girl still sitting on top of her mount.

    ¡°Oh my, I beg your pardon¡±

    ¡°You- You are¡­..¡±

    The black knight¡¯s captain peeled his eyes open in surprise under his helmet.

    Golden hair that¡¯s tied up in a fluffy bun. Golden eyes that can seemingly see through everything. In a black and white riding uniform, she straddled over the lord of the forest, impossible to be missed by anybody. The girl then turned to the captain and smiled.

    ¡°So you really came back, you Loli Saint!¡±

    ¡°Who said that?¡±

    *******

    I was told something outrageous from the start. Ever since I come back after two years, my father and grandfather told me that I have become prettier, more mature, and more beautiful.

    ¡°¡­¡­Hippo-kun.¡±

    ¡°Bumooo!¡±

    At the sound of my voice, Hippo-kun stomped around the fallen black knights.

    ¡­¡­Hippo was a very smart, good boy. Even now, he could correctly read my intention and take appropriate actions. I can¡¯t complain. Except for my shame.

    ¡°Ru, Rushia¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±

    Noel and Rick look speechless at Mr. Hippo that are currently stomping around the black knight, but I¡¯m doing this not as a way to get rid of the exasperation of being called a loli!

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. These people are not ¡®human¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡±

    ¡°And you guys, stop wrapping your golden sword in an aura of light! This armor seems to have a very strong light attribute resistance, so you won¡¯t be able to cut it.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just a piece of equipment to counter the Heroes party. Well, that¡¯s not all, though, is it?¡±

    Both Rick and Noel seemed to be unconsciously using the aura of light to strengthen their weapons and armor, but the weapons then turned into ¡®magic swords¡¯. So on the contrary, it weakened its power.

    ¡®I can feel the power of the spirits from that armor, although it¡¯s only a little. You¡¯ve made quite a nasty one.¡¯

    The reason I stepped on it with Hippo-kun was to shatter the armor quickly. More importantly, the real purpose of this armor was to protect the things inside from the light attribute.

    When I noticed it.

    ¡°¡­ ¡ºLet There Be light¡»¡­¡±

    When I used the [Holy Light] sacred magic, something like black tentacles popped out of the black knight¡¯s mouth and ears, it got burned by the light and disappeared.

    ¡°Why is the Southern Army using the [Lower Devil]?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    The last black knight stumbled back at my question and intimidation.

    Those black knights were possessed by a low-grade demon. It¡¯s already at the level where they are fused together.

    Deliberate possession experiments on the person of a demon were taboo. To begin with, it¡¯s not allowed in the Saint Country, and the reason it¡¯s forbidden was because you have to destroy the person¡¯s spirit and cripple them in order to possess them.

    These black knights already had their souls eaten by demons, so the best mercy would be to defeat them instantly.

    You don¡¯t actually think you can get away from us, do you? I¡¯m afraid you have a lot to tell me. Catching up to him, Nia and Tina turned to the side of the Black Knight to block his retreat.

    ¡°¡­¡­It¡¯s true that you are the biggest obstacle¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Who told you that?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to kill you here for him.¡±

    ¡°How are you going to do that?¡±

    I sensed more than one presence.This guy¨C he¡¯s been altered in some way.

    ¡°That¡­ I¡¯ll do it in exchange for my soul!¡±

    As the black knight swallowed something jewel-like, his body began to expand grotesquely.

    ¡°Yurushia, go down!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Tina, Nia, protect my great-uncle.¡±

    ¡°¡±Hah!¡±¡±

    Rick and Noel stepped forward to protect me and the squires evacuated my great-uncle.

    In front of our eyes, the former black knight fused with the black armor and transformed into a fish-like object with black animal skin and scaled wings.

    Oh, that¡¯s not good. It¡¯s more than taboo. It is forbidden.

    ¡°Get ready to get serious, both of you. Don¡¯t let your guard down even a little bit.¡±

    ¡°Rushia¡­?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Maybe¡­¡­¡±

    ¡º©g¡¨??¨¡¨§©g¡¨¡Þ?¨¡?¡Í?¨¡¨§¡Þ©d?©`©c¨S©g¡¨?¨¦¨¡¨§¡Ó?¡Í?¨¡¨§! !! !! ¡»

    The thing that ceased to be human let out a scream¡­¡­ A scream that could not be of a creature of this world.

    ¡°¡­¡­ Spirits and Demon Chimera¡­..¡±

 CH 204

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡¸¡ºThe Holy Guardian Light ¡ª Brilliant Holy Shield¡»¡¹

    I gave Rick and Noel the highest defense protection.

    This was the first time I¡¯m facing such enemies so I don¡¯t know how strong it was. In the worst case scenario, I would have to evacuate the two of them and fight on my own. Anyway, what that black knight did is just foul play¡­..

    Not even the demon would make this kind of demon look-like imitation.

    A Chimera of spirits and demons, mediated by the human body and soul.

    If this was ¡°man¡¯s malice¡±, this alone could be a reason for the ¡°world¡± to destroy mankind.

    ¡¸©fe¡Þ??©d©g¡¨????©g¡¨¡Þ?©`¡©©c¨S©g¡¨?e??¡Ó©V¡Í???¡Þ??£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    The chimera, with a fish-like body and scaled wings, screamed and lurched around.

    There was none of the hostility and fighting spirit left of the man who had been the Black Knight. The two people receiving spirit-type blessings were frowning at the screams of extreme grief and suffering.

    ¡°¡­This¡­What is this? It echoes in my head¡­.¡±

    ¡°What is this¡­ crying?¡±

    ¡¸??¡Ó?©g¡¨¡Þ¡Ó?©`¡©©c¨S©g¡¨?e??£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    Another scream from the chimera became a shockwave that gouged the earth and blew away the trees around it. I jumped down from my mount and stuck my hands out in front of the two of them to protect them.

    ¡¸¡ºLet There Be Light¡»£¡¡¹

    I chanted¡¾Rampart¡¿and¡¾Barrier¡¿. For the time being, I tried to use advanced nature magic and advanced physics magic. I bound the two magics together and it gained a burst of magical power.

    ¡°Rushia!¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡±

    My riding clothes have been replaced with a platinum dress. I see, does this mean that the attack just now on was more of a mental attack than a physical one?

    ¡°Rick, Noel, now while¨C¡±

    I¡¯d like you to run away if you can¡ª but when I turned around a bit, they both looked away with red faces.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡­¡±

    ¡°Your back¡­¡±

    Ah! Come to think of it, the back of this platinum dress was a transparent lace! Moreover, I still have my hair tied up for riding clothes.

    ¡°No- Now is not the time for that!¡±

    I felt as if my face was getting hot. So I stepped back until I was behind the two of them, only then did I feel somewhat relieved. The two men moved to my left and right holding their weapons while standing ready.

    Uh¡­. I wanted the both of you to evacuate, but it can¡¯t be helped now. Just as I couldn¡¯t overlook this, they too must have felt a subconscious sense of urgency when they saw the Chimera.

    ¡¸¡¾¦Ì¦Ô¦Á¡¿£¡£¡¡¹

    Noel, whose aura of light was in full bloom from the opening act, unleashed a slash of light.

    But Noel¡¯s swordsmanship, which was said to be able to break through the demon race¡¯s hordes, was fended off with just a few shattering of the chimera¡¯s scales.

    ¡¸??©g¡¨¡Ó?©`¨S©g¡¨???£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    When the Chimera was about to slam his wings into Noel, a crack ran through Rick¡¯s shield as he interrupted its charge. He just barely withstood it with the golden sword he held up as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Ugh.¡±

    ¡¸¡ºLet There Be Light¡»£¡¡¹

    I immediately recovered Rick who fell down and I put a¡¾Revitalization¡¿on the two of them that gradually restored their strength.

    ¡°The attack isn¡¯t working.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t use the light attribute. Both of you, help me stall it for a little while.¡±

    ¡°¡±Oh!¡±¡±

    Maybe it¡¯s because of that armor, but the light attribute was still not very effective. So I¡¯m going to start chanting a series of¡¾Night¡¿chants for anti-god.

    ¡¸¡­¡ºThe Light of Darkness and Fear¡»¡­¡¹

    The two of them looked surprised for a moment at the chanting they¡¯ve never heard before, but it¡¯s not a situation where they could be worried about either. The two of them quickly started to put their checks and balances in place, distracting the monster from me.

    ¡¸¡ºPierce Through ¨CThe Spear of Night¡»¡¹

    A jet-black spear, about five meters long, was released and shot through one of the Chimera¡¯s wings¡­ Wait, what is that?

    ¡°Hey, Yurushia, did you slip?!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡­..¡±

    Was it possible that magic just doesn¡¯t work¡­? But, I¡¯m not ready for a physical attack or anything like that, okay? I¡¯ve never held anything heavier than cutlery after all.

    The mental attack part of¡¾The Spear of Night¡¿seemed to be working, but does this guy even have a working mind?

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    As if he could tell something from my expression, Noel picked up the sword the black knight left behind and slashed at the chimera with the bare blade, hacking scales and parts of its body off.

    ¡¸e¡Þ??©d©g¡¨???©c¨S©g¡¨?e??¡Ó£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    ¡°Yes, it worked!¡±

    ¡°No¡±

 CH 205

    Editor Jestersurge

    Hey guys! This is a Bonus Chapter Thank You To Anonymous for donating! Enjoy!

    ¡°Yes, it worked!¡±

    ¡°No¡±

    To my dismay, Noel shook his head and discarded his sword. When it hit the ground, it made a dry noise and the blade shattered.

    A sword that wasn¡¯t imbued with magical power will be able to damage the chimera. But, a mere sword can¡¯t withstand the full force of the Hero. And It¡¯s also useless to depend on normal soldiers.

    ¡¸¡Í???¡Þ??£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    Chimera rampaged in pain. I thought of a way to break through its defenses as I chanted healing magic to the two people who were getting hurt.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the golden sword? Even if the magic doesn¡¯t work, amazingly it¡¯s still strong enough?¡±

    ¡°Well that¡¯s¡­.¡±

    Rick¡¯s sword, which he wielded as he said it, slashed through the chimera¡¯s wings, but it didn¡¯t seem to be doing much good.

    ¡°This sword seems to be absorbing aura and emits light.¡±

    Did I add that feature? Well, the amount of magic it contains isn¡¯t infinite, so I guess it¡¯s absorbing the surrounding magic element as well, don¡¯t tell me it also sucked out the user¡¯s life force¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve kept you waiting!¡±

    Whack!! And with a good sound, the Chimera was kicked by Nia to the side.

    So even demonic attacks work if they¡¯re physical¡­ Nia showed a peace sign to me, but maybe that was because that was what she used to win a rock-paper-scissor against Tina.

    ¡°Nia, can you do it?¡±

    ¡°Good luck.¡±

    Nia¡¯s eyes sharpened as she looked at the chimera. As I thought, it felt uncomfortable with Nia¡¯s existence.

    ¡¸©g¡¨???©c¨S©g¡¨?e??¡Ó£¡£¡£¡¡¹

    ¡°Well then¨C¡±

    With a faded shout, Nia lunged in and ducked the chimera¡¯s fangs. Nia struck it with her bare hands and managed to pick the chimera¡¯s scales off of its flesh.

    ¡¸?e??¡Ó£¡£¡£¡£¿¡¹

    The Chimera screamed as the girl punched the monster. The two boys, who were dumbfounded by the sight of the girl beating the monster, picked up the black knights¡¯ swords and began to join in the attack.

    The Chimera was a strong opponent to defeat, but while it was strong, it¡¯s more of a troublesome opponent. But, well, I guess we can get by on this one somehow? Just when I thought the danger would soon disappear, the Chimera instinctively realized the eventuality of it¡¯s annihilation and began to snarl lowly and glare at me, looking for a way to flee.

    ¡­¡­Intimidation? No, this is something different.

    ¡°Everyone, leave this place now!¡±

    ¡º©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g¡¨©d©g£¡£¡£¡¡»

    The scream of the soul. It¡¯s not a physical sound, but a soul curse emitted by the demon and spirit souls in that thing, grinding away at not only it¡¯s existence, but also the surrounding.

    ¡°¡±¡±Guh!!¡±¡±¡±

    In the blink of an eye, the forest around them withered. Not just Rick and Noel, but even Nia, the great demon, fell to her knees, holding her ears.

    The Chimera who was doing such a thing wasn¡¯t safe either. It¡¯s body began to collapse as it continued to scream.

    ¡°Kuh¡­¡±

    I can endure it even if it caused me some discomfort, but a normal demon, let alone a human, can¡¯t endure the scream of the soul until the collapse of the chimera.

    The sorrowful cries of the spirits and demons whose existence has been distorted. Spirits and demons are incompatible, but they are both part of the world, and their very existence maintains the balance of the world.

    This is something that has distorted the world. Why did you make this thing? If you call this human malice¡ª¡ª¡ª

    At that time ¡ª I heard a faint little voice.

    ¡º¡¾Abnormal situation confirmed¡¿¡»

    The words were pouring out of my mouth. ¨CEh? I didn¡¯t say that.

    ¡º¡¾The possibility of global harm have exceed the prescribed level¨C¡¿¡»

    The [words] came out of my mouth on their own. This was bad, I don¡¯t know what it was, but I felt like I shouldn¡¯t say more than that.

    But it¡¯s not on my will that¡¯s overflowing from my mouth. If I don¡¯t stop this immediately¡ª-

    ¡°Calm down, Yurushia.¡±

    The next thing I knew, the chimera had stopped screaming and a young man was holding it down.

    ¡°¡­Eh¡­Ah¡­Rinne?!¡±

    Oh, I can speak normally now. But why was Rinne here? While I was a little surprised to see Rinne, he was blocking the movement of Chimera and he grinned at me.

    ¡°Did you not need it?¡±

    ¡°¡­U- Um. Thank you.¡±

    I needed to clear my mind of a lot of things. I exhaled softly as I leaned into Rinne¡¯s hand as he touched my cheek.

    ¡°You want me to take care of this one?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    I was getting a little pissed off about a lot of things. Certainly, there are a lot of things to worry about, but if you care about each one, you can not be a demon.

    ¡°Hei!!¡±

    My full chop smashed the chimera¡¯s head, and the chimera disappeared easily as it hit the ground.

    What was all that hard work so far for¡­¡­..

    *********

    ¡°Nice to meet you, my great uncle. My name is Yurushia La Von Verusenia, the fifth in line of succession to the throne. Can I have a word with you?¡±

    Tina had long evacuated far away, but at last we were able to meet up and we finally got to talk to my granduncle Christopher.

    When I introduced myself as such, he looked at my face and my ring and muttered quietly, ¡°I see¡­¡± and then my granduncle took a vassal¡¯s bow toward me and knelt down.

    ¡°I am pleased to meet you for the first time, Princess Yurushia. Can you listen to me, please?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here to pick you up.¡±

    It seems that we will finally talk about the main subject. ¨CIt¡¯s good, but after the battle ended, I can feel the three men staring at each other silently behind me¡­.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

    You can also help us and donate on Ko-fi(from the main page). Extra 1 chapter will be released when 6$ is reached on Ko-fi. Please mention the novel you are supporting.

    This translation belongs to Centinni, please only read and donate to Centinni

 CH 206

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Bumoooooo!¡±

    The roar of a fierce beast echoed in the darkness.

    In the woods to the south of the Saint Country. The sorcerers belonging to the Chimera Institute activated their escort Chimera soldiers, the [Black Knight], in response to the sudden attack.

    Although the stability varied from one individual to the next, the Black Knight was studied for use against the Hero. It¡¯s a useful weapon with high attribute resistance from the spirits and the demons, a practical blade whose ego has collapsed and cannot feel pain.

    The overall number was still small. There were only twenty black knights deployed in this institute, but one of them was a captain-type with his ego remaining and having the ability to quickly subdue a surprise attack of a few dozen or so people.

    That group was extraordinary. Dressed in white and silver armor like a holy knight and dark circles under his eyes. He raised a red spear that emitted a strange magical power and laughed as he charged in, looking like a fanatic who had dedicated himself to an evil god.

    The black knights, who have been strengthened by the momentum of the group, were unexpectedly struck down one by one. The black knight¡¯s armor, which could not be scratched by an average magical sword, was actually easily penetrated by the red spear.

    The moment the captain-type black knight sacrificed his soul and turned into a chimera, he lost his ego and tried to rampage. The chimera who was frenzying was trampled by a giant foot and thrown off, and the silver knights followed in to attack it. He had easily repelled the Chimera.

    The hulking body that kicked the Chimera in the face walked out, his steps shaking the ground.

    The head and front legs were covered with golden armor. As the magical power from the immense blessing flickered like flames burning from the giant chestnut-haired body, the giant beast roared excitedly at the Lord on its back.

    ¡°Bumooo!¡±

    Responding to her beloved mount by patting his back, the still young but beautiful angelic golden-haired girl looked back with a slight frown, as if pitying even her vanquished enemy.

    ¡°-No, that man is¨C¡±

    ¡°-But that is¡ª¡±

    ¡°¨CBut- if so¡ª¡±

    ¡°But in fact¡ª¡±

    ¡°¨Cin that case¨C¡±

    The golden-haired girl who was the¡¾Saintess¡¿with a face that looked like she had a headache called out to the¡¾Hero¡¿and the¡¾Holy Warrior¡¿who have been vaguely arguing among each other for a long time even after the battle has begun.

    ¡°You guys, get to work.¡±

    What the hell happened to them. To know that, we have to go back a little bit.

    ***

    ¡°Christopher!¡±

    ¡°Big brother¡­ No, Your Majesty. I have no excuse for my own misdeeds in this matter, sir.¡±

    In the king¡¯s office in the castle of the Saint Country of Taterudo, the former royal brother, who had entered the castle in secret, met the King. The King who saw his brother called out his name and immediately stood up, but then, the former royal brother immediately fell to his knees at the King¡¯s sight and bowed deeply on the spot.

    In this place, there was only the King, the former royal brother, and the son of the king that is the crown prince, and his brother, Folt, who is the duke.

    Allowing the royal family to meet with Christopher, who was believed to be the ringleader of the rebellion, without an escort was seen as dangerous by the Prime Minister and the other retainers. However, since the Saintess who had brought the royal brother back said there was no problem and as a country who was extremely devout and honoring of God, being residents of the country, they could say nothing more.

    In fact, it could be said that there was no need for further security since the [Hero] and the [Holy Warrior], including the Saintess, were waiting in the next room.

    ¡°I would very much like to atone for the sins of this turmoil with my life.¡±

    ¡°What did you say!?¡±

    When the King raised his voice at his brother¡¯s words, Christopher shook his head quietly.

    ¡°Your Majesty. You might have already heard this from the princess, but I beg you to listen to me.¡±

    The rebellion of the southern army was caused by the support of the southern aristocracy, mainly the duke of Bellrose who wanted to raise Christopher to the throne.

    The real mastermind behind all this is ¡ª

    ¡°It¡¯s my foolish son, Clement.¡±

    The Crown Prince and Folt quietly nodded to Christopher¡¯s bloody remarks. To them, Clement was their older cousin and they have seen it many times in the past where his behaviour was not fitting of his position.

    But for the Dukes of Bellrose, one of the five dukes that guarded the country, to also join in, it¡¯s probably because they had long feared that power would be concentrated only in the Duke of Verusenia, who had a Saintess that¡¯s also a Princess.

    One day, the head family of the duke of Capel, who had been the standard-bearer of the anti royal faction, decided to join into the royal faction and their fears became a reality.

    In a way, the source of all of this can be blamed on some loose saint.

    ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s not a good idea to settle for death. I also heard from Yurushia that ¡®his country¡¯ was involved.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it may be to the benefit of ¡®his country¡¯ if uncle chooses to die.¡±

    Christopher painfully distorted his mouth when the Crown Prince and Folt said so.

 CH 207

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s not a good idea to settle for death. I also heard from Yurushia that ¡®his country¡¯ was involved.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it may be to the benefit of ¡®his country¡¯ if uncle chooses to die.¡±

    Christopher painfully distorted his mouth when the Crown Prince and Folt said so.

    Sylber Nation.

    Several small countries away from the Saint Country, located south across the Great Plains, they have a ¡°queen system¡±. The royal family there have announced that they were God descendants with the Church State and their religion worshipping the queen as ¡°Goddess¡± for generations. There¡¯s also a history of excluding other religions.

    Taterudo, a religious kingdom but one that has allowed the freedom to freely worship numerous gods, has been pressured to convert to the goddess of Sylber many times in the past. The Saint Country and the Church Nation have even fought each other at times because Saint Country had rejected their demands on each occasion.

    For the past hundred years or so, it had been limited to political interference in internal affairs. However, ever since the battle with the Demon King, it seemed that in the southern part of the Saint Country, some people have begun to go around preaching to the people that there will be peace if they only abandon all military force and believe in the Goddess of the Church Nation.

    When Christopher found out that the Sylber Nation had been funding and engineering Clement and the others from behind the scenes, he tried to go to the capital to apologize to the King with his son and the Duke of Bellrose. On the contrary, he was instead captured and imprisoned. Luckily he managed to escape from his imprisonment with the help of a rational noble family.

    ¡°There were those who, at the instigation of the hand of the Church Nation, truly believed that if this rebellion was successful, there would be peace. Some were preaching in the streets that if the wealth of the royal family and the nobles who followed them were given to other countries, there would be no more sources of conflict.¡±

    ¡°This is ridiculous! They¡¯re treating us as the enemy!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the way of the Church Nation these days. We can¡¯t let this horrible, evil thing happen to us.¡±

    The creation of chimera made with spirits, demons and humans was provided by the Church Nation.

    The spirits were seen as the angels of God and they believed that the only God is the goddess of the Church and yet, the Church Nation who claimed to be the descendants of God dabbled in such taboo and forbidden techniques.

    Chimera, using brainwashed Saint Country citizens, were still being steadily produced, although the success and stability rate was still low.

    The King, who had been listening to those matters in silence, exhaled slowly.

    ¡°I thought that I should wait until all my grandchildren had grown up, but I guess it¡¯s about time.¡±

    ¡°Brother¡­?¡±

    ¡°From now on, I, the King, and Christopher, the Royal Brother, take responsibility for the disturbance and abdicate the throne to the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°Father¡­¡±

    ¡°Folt, from now on, you will be the Royal Brother to support your brother.¡±

    The King of Taterudo still had no physical problems, but he was over sixty years old already.

    The marriage of Timothy, the King¡¯s grandchild, was near anyway and he was already a proper adult. The Crown Prince and Folt who had already expected it were on their knees in front of their father, and Christopher stepped quietly in front of his brother.

    If a new king were to be crowned, the neutral aristocrats would be forced to choose and the morale of the already upset rebel army would suffer.

    ¡°Brother¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°This is good. From now on, we will just be another big brother and his little brother.¡±

    ***

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡±

    In the next room, they were talking about grandfather¡¯s abdication, uncle¡¯s accession, father becoming the Royal Brother, and all sorts of serious stuff. However, in this room, there were three men still staring at each other in silence.

    How did this happen? I could understand if it¡¯s just Rick, but what¡¯s going on with the sweet Noel?

    Currently, I was still in the room next to my grandfather acting as a guard, so I can¡¯t call Shelly or any other people. My stomach hurt, despite being a demon.

    And finally, the meeting was over and my father came.

    ¡°Yurushia, I¡¯m done talking¡ª¡±

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯m going to shut down the Chimera factory right away.¡±

    Please forgive this frail demon for fleeing from this unbearable air.

    **********

    And then we, the [Hero Party], left with an official request from the country to destroy and eradicate the [Chimera Institute].

    Rinne will not be participating. He had brought a letter from my mother to my father. When my father read the letter, for some reason, he smiled a dodgy smirk and took him away to have a ¡®man talk¡¯ with Rinne.

    ¡­ Mother. What did you write to Father?

    I¡¯m worried about Rinne¡¯s absence in terms of strength, but I¡¯m not neglecting my preparations either.

    Firstly, chimeras had an outer skin that was resistant toward the light attribute and their traits derived from demons and spirits made them resistant against a certain degree of magic power.

    At first, I had thought about improving the three [Golden Magic Sword]. However, once again, with the help of Geass and Onzada, I instead created a new weapon that converts pure magic power into a non-attributed destructive power.

    ¡°Young lady, Geass says it will take about this much.¡±

    ¡°Uwa.¡±

    I needed 50 magical jewels that were filled with pure soul magic to make this¡­ I will have to reduce my snacks consumption yet again.

    The reason why I required 50 pieces was because it¡¯s not just for the Hero and the Holy Warrior. It¡¯s also for the elites of the Holy Knights who will work together with us and also for Bri and the others who didn¡¯t listen to me last time because they had to.

    Apparently, the arrangement went well and he wanted to stay with her until the day he can retire.

    ¡°I was invited by a Holy Knight to go on a date. Now I¡¯m going to be left with no regrets.¡±

    ¡°No, you will live.¡±

 CH 208

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°I was invited by a Holy Knight to go on a date. Now if I were to die, I will leave with no regrets.¡±

    ¡°No, you will live.¡±

    ¡°Bumooo!¡±

    The strongest and most elite fifty from the Holy Kingdom¡¯s fifty raiders. And at the front of the pack was me riding my reinforced Hippo.

    Doped up by [Divine Spirit Magic] to basically make us almost weightless, I was able to eradicate the chimera factory with an unusually high intensity. We were able to gallop in just two days to that place that my great-uncle had told me about, a journey that would normally take a week each way even with a military horse.

    I¡¯m glad there weren¡¯t many finished products. However, if there were going to be more like that in the near future, I should start considering revamping our full time employees.

    When I blurted out something like that, Onzada¡¯s face turned pale.

    Two days after the destruction of the factory, notice of my grandfather¡¯s abdication and my uncle¡¯s formal accession to the throne was given. Many of the nobles who learned that I had returned and became an official princess joined the royal family¡¯s side, and many of the southern army soldiers surrendered. They yielded with their whole troop units and gradually, the rebellion fell apart.

    It¡¯s been two months since I returned. Just like that, the rebellion that had been stalled for six months was almost over. It¡¯s amazing what the title of Saintess can do¡­¡­

    But in the end, several noble families, including Clement and the Duke of Bellrose, and some of the Southern troops were able to flee the country without surrendering. Maybe they went to the Church Nation.

    ¡°Rinne. So, what were you talking to my father about at that time?¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, there were a lot of grumbles and complaints.¡±

    The turmoil in the Holy Kingdom had subsided on the surface. I, who had been held at the royal castle for my uncle¡¯s coronation ceremony, came to see Rinne, who had been staying at the Duke of Verusenia¡¯s residence in the royal capital.

    I¡¯m staying at the castle because my father told me with a black smile, ¡°since you have become a Princess, you should have self-control¡±. Only today, I was finally able to meet Rinne whom I haven¡¯t seen in a few days¡­ Does he look a little tired? He should have looked the same as he did since he was only having tea parties with my mother every day?

    Was my father also under a lot of stress at work? But, let¡¯s not let Rinne hear it¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m glad my father and Rinne were getting along so well.

    When I was enjoying my tea while looking at Rinne¡¯s face, the old lady and the maids whom I was finally able to meet again after a long time were giving me some very intriguing looks.

    Something was bothering me, but more importantly, I have something I need to discuss with Rinne.

    ¡°Hey¡­ What do you think of the ¡°phenomenon¡± that happened to me at that time?¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡±

    In the middle of my fight with the Chimera, I spoke a word that wasn¡¯t ¡°me¡±.

    For some reason, I knew I couldn¡¯t keep that thing going until the end. I stopped when Rinne ceased the chimera¡¯s screams, but I wonder if Rinne would know what the thing was.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that for now. I¡¯ll do something about it.¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡­¡±

    There was something extraordinarily disturbing about it¡­..

    But the only person who would know more than Rinne was his self-proclaimed ¡°big brother¡±. That guy was fickle too, so I don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll give me an answer.

    I, as a saint and a princess and a daughter of the duke¡¯s family, was busy with greetings and stuff and then finally, the day of my uncle¡¯s inauguration was tomorrow.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to see you.¡±

    ¡°My uncle?¡±

    What happened to my uncle who was supposed to be the busiest man in the world right now? I¡¯m also bustling around preparing for my unveiling as a princess and Rick was hectic helping Timothy for his coronation to become the new crown prince, so I¡¯m not getting any fresh political information.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯d better do it soon. I¡¯m on my way.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡±

    My uncle¡¯s attendant bowed his head and guided me to my uncle¡¯s office.

    My father was already in my uncle¡¯s new office and he seemed to be angry about something.

    ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m here to see you.¡±

    ¡°Yurushia. Those guys have done it again¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­What is going on?¡±

    When I asked, my father angrily handed something to Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Prime Minister showed me the white letter with an indignant look on his face.

    This emblem on the wax seal¡­.. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the church?

    ¡°A letter from the Queen by an official envoy. The content is a request for the second prince of the Sylber Church¡¯s royal family to study at the Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry of the Saint Country.¡±

    My uncle turned his gaze sideways, and my father who received the signal sighed and continued on his behalf.

    ¡°About the second prince who comes to study abroad. He is asking for a formal engagement between Yurushia and him.¡±

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

 CH 209

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Princess, you¡¯re so beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you.¡±

    I was in the midst of changing clothes, surrounded by dozens of royal maids.

    In the morning, a ceremony was held in which the throne was passed from my grandfather, His Majesty the King, to my uncle, the Crown Prince. The ceremony for Timothy¡¯s appointment as the Crown Prince was held in the morning. By afternoon, the new King and Crown Prince will be unveiled to the people gathered in front of the Royal Castle, and the whole country will be in a festive mood.

    Wasn¡¯t this too much of a forced schedule, no matter how much it¡¯s meant to hold back the anti-royalists?

    Since I was also showing off the fact that I have become a royal family with the right to succeed to the throne, I was also the person of honor.

    Sigh¡­. I really needed to be healed by playing with Cyril.

    Last night, my mother, my brother Cyril, and my sister Ataline finally arrived. I was relieved that Noa and Fani were escorting them. Even though I knew they were going to be okay, I was extremely eased when I saw them arrive safe and sound.

    But Cyril was fast asleep in Sister Athaline¡¯s arms, so we only got to play a little in the morning. It hurt when he pulled my hair, but it really somehow didn¡¯t hurt.

    During the ceremony, Cyril was playing in a good mood on Rinne¡¯s lap while Rinne was having a sour face for some reason.

    After the parade around the royal city had been completed and the announcement to the public was over, it was time for the nobles to attend the party.

    It¡¯s already my fourth change of clothes today! I thought I could just go with the usual black and silver dress or that white and silver dress, but I got a big no-no from my father.

    I didn¡¯t feel like wearing the black silver dress because Tina has changed the design a little bit. Moreover as a princess, a daughter of the duke, and a saint, she told me not to wear black.

    I guess I can¡¯t wear black after all¡­¡­. And my right of succession to the throne has risen from fifth to fourth place. Since it¡¯s an auspicious event, it¡¯s no wonder.

    That¡¯s why I was wearing the white silver dress. However, I was scolded because the back was too open and they said it¡¯s too early for me to wear such clothes. Queen Elea-sama forgave me, and I was a bit embarrassed about wearing it too, so it¡¯s fine.

    That¡¯s nice, but every time I changed my clothes, I got surrounded by dozens of maids.

    And since the dress was made super-accelerated just for today, fine tuning will have to be done on the spot. It didn¡¯t have an automatic size adjustment function like my previous dress, so I had to stretch my hands up high while they were adjusting the dress¡­I have no strength anymore, my hands were trembling.

    In the Holy Kingdom, soft corsets were in trend now, rather than stiff corsets. However, it¡¯s still painful when it gets tightened.

    My body was optimized by the power of the devil. However, the fact that it was optimized meant that it only looked beautiful to people, different from the waist that aristocratic women desired.

    ¡°Yuru~¡±

    Ah, my friend came.

    Appearing in my dressing room was Bertille, the sorry looking dark-haired beauty who was the daughter of a marquis. She was a friend of mine and Timothy-kun¡¯s fianc¨¦e.

    When I saw her again at the castle, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said she was worried about me¡­

    ¡°Betty, are you done over there?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m done here. It took a long time, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that dress looks good on you.¡±

    Betty has really become pretty over the last two years. She was two years older than me. That meant she was 15 years old now, but I think she has really grown up and would look great standing next to Timothy.

    ¡°¡­So don¡¯t make that miserable face.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    Betty blinked her eyes and hung her head low. It was a real shame because she¡¯s a beautiful girl.

    The reason why Betty was so tired was because it was so hard to adjust her dress. However since for the most part it was Betty¡¯s fault, she can¡¯t complain.

    I don¡¯t know where she heard it from, but Betty asked me to ¡®strengthen her chest armor¡¯.

    Betty wasn¡¯t small in any way, but she¡¯s still being looked down on by her big breasted sisters who were still actively trying to get to Timothy. And Shelly, who was no more than 14 years old who was also by her side, didn¡¯t look like she was a 14 years old with that size.

    I made a very clear explanation already, you know? There was a difference in growth between individuals.

    My technique was an application of ¡®otherworldly wisdom¡¯ only from our perspective. It had the effect of promoting growth but it could only work when there was room for growth.

    It was a very elaborate and advanced magic. It applies sacred magic to [Regenerate] and [Revitalize] substances that have stopped growing in the chest, and use [Recovery] and [Healing] to promote growth that have been stopped.

    So it has no effect on people who have no more room to grow¡­for example, Tina.

    Presently, there was a ¡°secret trick¡±. However, the special sponge that Tina developed was a ¡°sub-object¡± that invaded and parasitized the human body, which is why I banned its use on everyone involved, including Tina.

    It¡¯s not dangerous, but it may be troublesome? I told Betty that, but her determination remained the same and I had no choice but to spea the secret name ¡°Holy Mother¡¯s Mercy.¡±

    When asked if it was success or failure, I could only say that it was a success for the time being. We didn¡¯t see that much of growth, but she was very pleased that she was able to get a little cleavage.

    After all, the dress worn by us senior aristocratic ladies was a lady¡¯s battle uniform.

    It was totally made from scratch depending on the order after careful measurement. The ¡°grade¡± was different from the high-quality ready-made products that the lower class aristocrats bought.

    It¡¯s a weapon to annihilate the enemies who fight on the cruel and bloody battlefield and to survive.

    It may only be a few centimeters, but even if it¡¯s just a few centimetres, you still have to modify your dress so that the blade deviates from your heart by that small difference.

    Seems like all of Betty¡¯s seamstresses will have to stay up all night¡­. I felt sorry for the seamstresses.

    Betty¡¯s struggles were self-inflicted. But It¡¯s such a cute silly thing to do.

    ¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?¡ã?

 CH 210

    Editor Jestersurge

    Betty¡¯s struggles were self-inflicted. But It¡¯s such a cute silly thing to do.

    Well, aside from that unimportant story, we¡¯re currently going to the party.

    ¡°Ludrick, please escort.¡±

    ¡°After two-year have passed you surprisingly¡­¡±

    Hmm? Is he going to say that I become prettier?

    ¡°You got more gutsy.¡±

    How rude. I just got used to it that¡¯s all.

    The truth is, if it was the usual I will enter with father and mother through the door for the noble, even though I have the right to inherit the throne, I am still only a daughter of the Duke after all. But this time I will enter through the door for the royal family.

    Well, it¡¯s for a variety of reasons, for one it¡¯s to show the nobility that the Saintess of Salvation has sided with the crown, and because Rick hadn¡¯t decided on a fianc¨¦e yet and I didn¡¯t have a man to escort me because I didn¡¯t have a fianc¨¦ either.

    As for me, I¡¯m fine with Rinne as an escort, but Rinne is not an aristocrat.

    Of course, me and Rick wil both have men and women come up to us like piranhas flocking to raw meat at the drop of a hat, but I don¡¯t want those status-grabbers.

    Engagement is such a headache, but to keep me inside the country I have to get engaged with a domestic nobleman.

    This is not a good thing, could the royals be thinking about engagement with Rick?

    But if I hurriedly decides on a fianc¨¦, I will be putting mud to the face of the Sylber nation, which has approached me with an official emissary for an engagement.

    As someone who knows what¡¯s going on behind the scenes, I don¡¯t mind tripping over as much mud as I can, but if I do that, other countries will see us as that kind of country, and they might not like the idea of having me in their country, so I¡¯ll have to wait until the second prince of the Church Nation politically studies abroad to see what happens.

    What a troublesome country, the Church Nation is. ¡­¡­¡­Shall I destroy it?

    ¡°¡­ Yurushia, your expression looks bad.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, oh my. Ufufufu.¡±

    My grandfather escorts my grandmother. My uncle escorts Elea-sama. Timothy escorts Betty. And finally Rick escorts me and we enter last.

    Rick¡¯s hand gripped mine tightly. Is Rick nervous?

    Oh, I see that Shelly is escorted by Noel. I know you¡¯re there, so stop waving.

    First up is a dance with us four groups. I¡¯m a little skeptical too, but I wonder if Betty is alright? Ever since Betty came to the castle, we¡¯ve been straining ourselves practicing our dance moves although our dance moves are still quite awkward.

    Rick was surprisingly good at dancing and leading the way. He usually has a sour look on his face, but with a smile like that, he¡¯s like a prince in a storybook.

    When we finish, the nobles now begin to dance. Father and mother dancing together looks lovely.

    Noel and Shelly also start dancing and I leave. I begin my work, dodging the many male aristocrats who try to ask me to dance.

    There are some thick faced southern aristocrats who weren¡¯t directly involved in that rebellion, but I¡¯ll leave that stuff to Rick and Timothy to deal with. It¡¯s a boy¡¯s job.

    First of all, I have to rescue Betty, who is away from her fianc¨¦ and surrounded by a group of noblewomen at a fast pace.

    ¡°Oh, it looks fun. Can I join in the fun too?¡±

    When I called out, the women of mysterious age who surrounded Betty shuddered.

    ¡°Princess Yurushia.¡±

    ¡°We- We are not¡­¡±

    The women who are aiming for Timothy-kun start to act up, to begin with if you¡¯re only an intermediate aristocrat, there¡¯s no problem. The problem is the sisters of the same Marquis family as Betty.

    ¡°Yuru¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, Lady Yurushia, you¡¯re really back.¡±

    A flashy woman steps forward to interrupt Betty¡¯s words with a gaudy face.

    She seemed to be a meat lover in her late teens. The woman in the dress with her bright red lips boldly spread her chest while facing me in a straightforward manner.

    ¡°Did you eat some raw meat? Your lips are so red.¡±

    ¡°Wha! No matter who you are how could you be so rude¡ª ¡±

    With a snap, I close the fan, releasing a moment of intimidation.

    ¡°Identify yourself first. I don¡¯t even know who you are.¡±

    ¡°Gh! Yo- You,¡±

    She trembled with anger as she turns pale and red.

    Oh my, she is surprisingly gutsy. ¡­¡­¡­I like it very much.

    The moment I smiled lightly with some interest, I don¡¯t know why, but her face turned pale and she lowered her head, shaking and mumbling, even though I didn¡¯t use any intimidation.

    ¡°¡­ it¡¯s¡­I¡­solde¡­¡±

    I put the fan on Isolde¡¯s neck to gently stroke her without raising her head.

    ¡°Lady Isolde, state your family name. I will remember it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­P- Please forgive me¡­¡±

    This is bad! I¡¯m starting to get the feeling the ladies around me are misunderstanding what I say. I was just trying to say that I was Betty¡¯s backing.

    It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to take her family hostage.

    Am I some kind of a villainous girl?

    ¡°Yuru-sama!¡±

    ¡°Shelly¡±

    Nice timing!

    ¡°Oh Shelly. May I entrust Bertille to you? You guys look up. I¡¯m going to need you to take care of these girls for me.¡±

    ¡°¡±¡±Ye- Yes!¡±¡±¡±

    The ladies stretched their backs and answered me lively.

    ¡°Are you going somewhere, Yuru-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yuru is very busy, so you don¡¯t have to interrupt her. Because Yuru is the hope of many women.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­What?¡±

    No, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re feeling better, but what are you talking about all of a sudden, Betty?

    At that moment, as if it was something that came to mind, certain women glanced at Betty¡¯s chest with a stern look and bowed their heads at me at exactly 90 degrees.

    ¡°¡±Yurushia-sama, thank you for your hard work.¡±¡±

    ¡°Eh, ah¡­.. thank you.¡±

    I wonder if they are okay but the way they looked at me started to look like those guys from the ¡®Society¡¯.

    I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯m glad they are on Betty¡¯s side.

    ¨D¨D¨D¨D Donation ¨D¨D At Carpe Company ¨D¨D¨D¨D

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    I heard a disturbing statement on the verge of leaving, but I feel like I¡¯m losing if I worry.

    ¡°Lucia, will you have this dance with me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Noel. Please.¡±

    Next is the dance with Noel who was waiting for me. It¡¯s difficult because my father doesn¡¯t allow me to dance unless It¡¯s with someone I know.

    ¡°Lucia is beautiful today¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you¡­.. Noel is also cool.¡±

    It was hard to believe that Noel had become a nobleman two years ago, but he adjusted to it so well. It¡¯s partly due to the fact that he is a Hero, but the ladies were following Noel¡¯s appearance with pretty serious eyes when he praised me with a big smile on his face.

    ¡°And the dance with Shelly was lovely.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah. She¡¯s ¡­ well ¡­ yeah.¡±

    When the dance with Noel was over, I left the dance circle before anyone asked me to join them again and got to work on my next job.

    ¡°Oh, there it is.¡±

    In the corner of the hall, this time a mass of noble men had formed.They seemed to surround one woman and she was surrounded in a group.

    As my father said, it¡¯s indeed happening¡­¡­ Okay, let¡¯s get back to work again.

    ¡°Well, here you are, Sister Ataline.¡±

 CH 211

    Editor Jestersurge

    ¡°Well, here you are, Sister Ataline.¡±

    ¡°Yurushia.¡±

    When I called out to my sister Ataline who was in the center of a group of men, she smiled back at ease.

    My sister really had become a lovely lady (tears).¡­. I missed the lovely look she gave when she glanced at others, spreading her coldness.

    She used to be a big sister who was a tsundere and an especially sore loser. Moreover, she hurt everyone she touched. It has been eight years since she rampaged in the Saint Country as a child and now due to her losing her memories, the atmosphere in the social circles had become quite sympathetic toward her.

    Behind the scenes, mother was actively working hard to bring her to various tea parties and she finally was able to reconcile with Elea-sama who hated her so much.

    Well, now my sister was really a small animal type that was harmless to human beings (tears).

    ¡°Yu, Yurushia-sama!¡±

    ¡°Saintess-sama.¡±

    As the mysterious aged men hurriedly opened the way at my appearance, Sister Ataline rushed over and snuggled up to me.

    My sister, with her thorns gone, was so beautiful and lovely. The domineering attitude from before was completely gone. She only had about half a soul, so it can¡¯t be helped, but because of that, the atmosphere became completely soft.

    At the beginning, the strength of her soul was too strong. Now after she lost half of her soul, she became a normal girl.

    But because of that, she ended up causing a new problem.

    At present, my sister, Ataline, was a lovely and beautiful person with a fragile atmosphere. She was not assertive and she became more obedient. She was the daughter from a duke family whose father was a grand duke and the royal brother of the current King. She was also the sister of the Saintess of Salvation who didn¡¯t have a fianc¨¦ from being out of the country for a long time due to some problems.

    What a seller¡¯s market. As a result of a combination of coincidences and factors, she was the ideal, dreamy, miraculous woman for single men who have never had a woman in their lives.

    ¡­..I really don¡¯t know how this happened (tears).

    ¡°What are you guys doing to my sister?¡±

    I smiled and the men backed off slightly as I smiled at them. I understood that it was because you guys didn¡¯t like powerful, aristocratic, strong women, but this was just too obvious.

    ¡°I did not¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I wanted to talk to Lady Ataline¡­¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to ask her to dance¡­¡­¡±

    So that¡¯s it. But I don¡¯t think you guys would be able to take the lovely daughter who was finally back in her loving father¡¯s arms away from him.

    Although the bridge with the victims has been closed, there were still some people who still held grudges against my sister.

    In order to vanquish their rivals by pretending as sorrowful victims.

    She was a nobleman, so it¡¯s only natural for her to have enemies and resentment. But I would be worried about it too if it was someone I can¡¯t protect myself from.

    ¡°How is it, sister?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I must decline¡­.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t overlook how a pretty woman like Miss Ataline was only acting as a wallflower. Please forgive me.¡±

    ¡°¡­You are?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, beautiful young lady. I am the head of Count Monte, my name is Dante. I am pleased to meet you.¡±

    Dante kneeled down gracefully and touched my fingertips as he kissed the back of my glove with his lips in an experienced gesture.

    I knew there were some powerful people in the mix¡­¡­ As I recalled, Count Monte was a great nobleman of the East and the current head of the family, Dante, although already in his late twenties, was still a bachelor and I heard that he was a young leader famous for his ability and undertakings.

    My sister¡¯s position was attractive enough for any nobleman who wanted to be connected to the dukes and the royal family.

    He¡¯s the perfect partner for a political marriage. As the daughter of a nobleman, we were prepared for a certain amount of loveless marriages but¡­ I wonder why¡­?

    I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll take good care of her if I entrusted him with my sister. However, since he was still single at this age but was used to women, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll have a mistress.

    I turned around to face my sister.

    ¡°Eh¡­ Yurushia?¡±

    ¡°Sister, this gentleman has asked for a dance. So, what do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°I- I¡¯m¡­.um¡­ this is my first time dancing so¡­ that¡­¡±

    Aaah, I see, I see. Since she lost her memories, her experience of dancing at parties seemed to be reset too. But it¡¯s okay, because I kind of get it.

    I turned around to Dante again.

    ¡°Sorry, Count Monte. Would you back off today, please?¡±

    Dante blinked his eyes for a moment when I said this with a smirk and then he grinned.

    ¡°So, I guess that¡¯s a passing grade¡­¡­ Is it fine if I say it that way, princess?¡±

    ¡°Well, I wonder.¡±

    I see, he was undeniably a nobleman.

    ¡°So, Miss Ataline. Will you accept my invitation the next time?¡±

    ¡°Eh, that¡­¡±

    I see, still thinking about putting a little nail on the coffin, were you? That¡¯s what I was thinking when suddenly a call came from a different direction.

    ¡°Yurushia, Ataline.¡±

    ¡°Ludrick-sama!¡±

    ¡°Rick¡­¡±

    Another confusing man was here. No, you can come, but you didn¡¯t have to creep around and drag nobleman¡¯s daughters along with you.

    ¡°Ataline, you were in this place all along?¡±

    ¡°Ye- Yes.¡±

    Speaking of which, I heard that Rick came to visit my sister many times after she lost her memory. Rick called out to my sister and stared at Dante, who was holding her hand in his.

    ¡°And you are¡­ Count Monte right. Do you have a business with Ataline?¡±

    ¡°This¡­ Your Highness, do you perhaps need a royal permission to get close to a woman?¡±

 CH 212

    Editor Jestersurge

    This is a bonus Chapter Thank you To Asanaly and Malk! Enjoy!

    ¡°This¡­ Your Highness, do you perhaps need a royal permission to get close to a woman?¡±

    Uh, oh¡­ What is this situation? At any rate, I smiled at the ladies who were nearby to take a step back and sent them away. No, I didn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on here. Anyway, I needed to find a solution¡­.. Ah, I just needed to find someone who was strong.

    There!

    ¡°Mylene-sama!¡±

    When I called her name, the Countess Aubel who was creeping around with a single man¨C Mylene-chan looked at me with a tremendous frown and turned to me.

    The two men who had been staring at each other couldn¡¯t help but be silenced by the power of the great big beautiful woman who was still as awesome as ever.

    ¡°Oh, dear Lady Yurushia, I did not see you often enough, so I thought you had forgotten about me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I would never forget a good friend of mine.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been busy, haven¡¯t you? Do you even have time to spare for me?¡±

    ¡°Not as much as you do. Did you miss me that badly?¡±

    Both Rick and Dante grew pale as we conversed with each other, smiling and spreading demonic energy, and almost instantly, Mylene¡¯s cronies scattered away as well.

    She has been entrusted with the backstage work of the Saint Country for two years and I haven¡¯t been able to see her yet, so she must have felt a lot of resentment. But let¡¯s talk about it later, I guess.

    Despite the unreasonable request I made, she turned her gaze to my sister for a moment and then turned toward Rick and Dante.

    ¡°Oh, Your Highness and Count Monte, good to see you.¡±

    ¡°Aa, aah..¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure¡­¡±

    There was a slight fright in Dante¡¯s eyes as he looked at her.

    ¡°Oh my, isn¡¯t that you, Miss Ataline?

    ¡°Ye- Yes!¡±

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve ever spoken to you in this manner. If you don¡¯t mind, why don¡¯t we have tea next time? Let¡¯s talk about how to treat a man¡­ as friends.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    As expected of Mylene. When it came to the ¡°Silver Princess¡±, the flower of social circles, her words were taken as a matter of course.

    Moreover, a woman who created her own ¡°space¡± like Mylene was probably Dante¡¯s natural enemy.

    ¡°That would be good, sister Ataline. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right, you have been in a bad condition lately, haven¡¯t you? Brother Rudrick, can you please take my sister away? Although he is also a male, it doesn¡¯t matter since you two are cousins.¡±

    ¡°O- oh.¡±

    ¡°Now then, Count Monte. May I and Mylenne-sama have the pleasure of entertaining you, Count Monte?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­No, I have a stomach ache too, so I¡¯m going to step back.¡±

    Did we get a little too devilish? Rick and my sister were used to it in a way, but it would be tough for the average person.

    We both smiled at Dante and gave one last little chuckle as he staggered away on his wobbly legs. Mylene turned to me with a smile on her face.

    ¡°Can you not use me as an outrider?¡±

    ¡°You also used me as an insect repellent, right?¡±

    ¡°Haa¡­ fine then. I¡¯m glad to see you haven¡¯t changed.¡±

    ¡°You and me both.¡±

    We both got a lot of attention when we¡¯re together, but people didn¡¯t come to approach us. Strange.

    ¡°What have you been doing for two years? Was it hard?¡±

    ¡°You have seriously been saved¡­ The Church Nation men were messing with me in the shadow.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I wanted to hear about that as well¡­ There must be a lot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Various sources from merchants to beggars¡­.to compile information?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please. And next time you see one, you can get rid of it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Can I do it my way?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Well then¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Yurushia, are you willing to invest in a store in the capital?¡±

    ¡°¡­ Isn¡¯t the management of the territory going well?¡±

    ¡°I mean, the specialty foods¡­¡­¡±

    Come to think of it, I still haven¡¯t given her the ingredients for the specialty wakame bread for two years.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you still have some money from the underworld to settle that¡­¡±

    ¡°They are garbage even if they have lives.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡±

    You really have a serious personality.

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll have the Carpe Chamber of Commerce fund it anonymously. And also the materials.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saved.¡±

    Can you believe it? This was a conversation between a demon and a vampire, you know?

    ¡°Since we sell our own seafood, you will handle the staffing and management and we will consult with you on profits.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    After that the two women started to complain to each other for a long time.

    I didn¡¯t know what we were doing..¡­

    Just as the song began to change for the last dance, a faint buzz arose from one corner of the hall, the sea of people started to split open to make way.

    The men were staring and the women let out sighes as they watched one young man walking quietly.

    Wearing an exotic aristocratic outfit.

    His glossy black hair flowing down his back and his silver eyes like the moon.

    The pale brown-skinned beauty, who didn¡¯t seem to care about it while attracting the attention of the audience, quietly held out his hand as he walked up to me.

    ¡°Let¡¯s dance.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you think of a more thoughtful way to entice me?¡±

    I giggled as I took his hand and then we leaped into the center of the dance floor waltzing to the last song.

    In a certain corner ¨C on one of the terraces where no one is paying attention. Sister Ataline smiled a lovely smile. She was dancing with one young man.

 CH 213

    Volume 9 Chapter 22.1 ¨C (V10) Became A Villainess (1-1)

    That last dance was orchestrated by my mother.

    It was nice, and I got a feeling that Rinne is getting used to the human world.

    On the other hand, it seems like Onzada, who is a former human, is the one that wasn¡¯t used to it. In his case, he is not used to the aristocratic society because of his clumsy way of life.

    Nearly two months have passed since my uncle became His Majesty the King, and it¡¯s almost time to start a new school year. ¡­¡­It¡¯s been more than two years since I¡¯ve been to the Academy of Magic, but this year I should be in the seventh grade. Seventh grade is not a word I¡¯m used to saying.

    A lot has changed in the past two months in the Saint Country. The biggest change was the change of the throne, but the south was also making a lot of commotion.

    After all, the Duke of Bellrose and some of his noble families and their attendants have fled with their families and soldiers, creating a lawless area with no lords.

    The lack of knights and soldiers makes it easier for rogues to gather. The people who have run away had hired and surrounded themselves with a lot of mercenary soldiers without thinking twice, and now they suddenly fled, the mercenary soldiers ended up losing their job out of the blue, so now it¡¯s a disaster. That bea¡­ I think that Mr. Bear and his companion are protecting the front castle gate just in case, anyway that¡¯s being the case those people are worse than hooligans because they¡¯re money-grabbers without any morals.

    For that reason, the former Duke family is sending some personnel from the royal capital to manage it. The other Duke family also sent knights and soldiers to help out. But we need to appoint a new lord to govern the south soon, and we also need to find the new head for the other nobles¡¯ position, what should we do?

    I think for the middle nobles¡¯ position like the Viscounts and Barons, we could just appoint a new lord with land as a bonus for those who had contributed, but the Marquesses and Counts position were also vacated one by one.

    Well, as expected of the Marquis family, they have relatives all over the kingdom, so the next head was decided in no time at all, but none of the nobles came forward to say they wanted the county estate, which has a large territory but it had a deep forest where demons come out.

    Perhaps it was a losing business because of the monsters¡­¡­ And maybe that¡¯s the reason why they easily betrayed the country, moreover right now the soldiers who had just barely held that demon in check were also half gone, so that county¡¯s territory was in a bad state of affairs for the people.

    And that¡¯s how Noel, the hero of the Saint Country got chosen.

    Noel was awarded the title of count for his achievements two years ago, but he and his adoptive father Mr. Bear, who is a viscount, were both noblemen with no lands and only have title, so he was given the land there for his contribution for suppressing the rebellion.

    ¡­¡­Did we force the responsibility to him? To say it in a bad way, yes we did, but to put it in a nicer way, we are only appointing the right person to the right place.

    Father also sent out Noel¡¯s adoptive father, Mr. Bear, saying that he will take care of the adjoining baronial territory as well, so Mr. Bear recruited the mercenaries from the mercenary corps with a good ability that had been swarming in the south, and so the original 200 members of the corps moved straight up to knights and soldiers, creating a mercenary knight corps with the Hero as the leader with considerable military strength.

    Mr. Bear has no other children besides Noel, so if Noel has a child in the future, he will receive the count title and if Noel has a second son, the second son will also inherit the title from Noel¡¯s adoptive father so the noble girls were staring at Noel with glittering eyes.

    ¡°No, it was a big deal!?¡±

    ¡°Well, I can understand that, too¡­.¡±

    Near the southern border, Noel and Rick are having a hard time talking to each other, For a moment, I thought I heard my inner voice retorting.

    I know Noel has been busy, but I wonder if Rick is busy doing something too?

    The reason why we are all here at the border is to welcome a group of ¡°royalty¡± from the Sylber Nation who are studying at the Academy of Magic and Wizardry.

    The other party is also royalty, and since we can¡¯t let them meet us with just any normal knights, we asked Sir Noel to send out security personnel as well, and we, who are going to be schoolmates, will meet them. ¡­¡­What a bother.

    ¡°Princess, the royalty of the Church Nation is here.¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡±

    Bianca, who has officially become my escort knight, reports to me.

    Apparently Bri and the others had a great matchmaking experience, and they decided to officially retire.

    ¡­¡­I¡¯m so glad they decided to do this. But it was getting pretty messy.

    Since all the former Escort Knight left, we are currently transitioning to a new system with Nia as our new captain and 10 new ladies from the knight families who are around 15 years old, have been hired as knights.

    ¡­I wonder if Nia is okay with being the captain.

    By the way, the reason why I and Bianca said ¡®royal family¡¯ is because the Church Nation has done it again.

    Shortly after the Saint Country allowed the second prince of the Church Nation to come to our country to study, they also sneak in his sister, the First Princess, at the last minute.