Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Black-haired Sage, Chiyuki

While flying above Kisonia Great Prairie, I could see people running across the prairie below me.

The ones running across of the prairie possess the upper body of a human and lower body of a horse – centaurs.

Those centaurs are looking at us in panic.

The cause might be me. I'm currently riding on a griffon, after all. They might be afraid of the griffon.

There are many races inhabiting this Kisonia Great Prairie. The representatives of them are the centaur race below us and the satyr race who have the lower body of a goat and upper body of a human.

Though I felt excited at first when I saw those races which only came out in a myth, that fantasy of mine was smashed by the current cruel reality.

Centaur race is a lustful race who rush at us upon seeing us, save for one part of them. Though we can drive them away, it seems their race is composed of nothing but men, and thus will assault female human for the sake of perpetuation of their race.

Though that was one of the reasons that smashed my fantasy, when I think about it again, they also have that kind of personality in the myth about them.

Though I was deeply moved when I saw the dragon from the myth, those dragons are fiendish existences for human of this world. That characteristic also doesn't change from the myths in my original world.

It's the difference between hearing the story and seeing the reality. Though we can just laugh it off due to our power, in fact, this world is a cruel world for humans to live in. I must never forget about that fact.

And properly speaking, the griffon itself is a huge demon beast after all.

「Even so, they're cute, aren't they…」

I slowly brush the griffon.

The griffon is a demonic beast that is a composition of the body of a lion, a pair of wings, and the head of an eagle. They're usually living in the middle of mountain range, and their field of activity covers a large area from the westside of Minon plains all the way to the west of Kisonia prairie.

In a mountain range without any dragon inhabiting it, the griffons become the strongest existences. And these strongest demonic beasts of the Kisonia prairie is obediently letting us ride on their backs.

By making the full use of the powers of Nao and Rino, we successfully made four hippogriff-like creatures and griffons as our mount. We can also summon them at any time by making full use of a dwarven summoning tool.

With mediation from Rena regarding the matter of flying in the sky, we were treated as exceptions regarding the ban of flying in the skies of territories of Elios. For this reason, this griffon also can fly away from their original habitat.

Our field of activity also expanded even further due to the presence of the griffon.

Currently, we are riding on the back of a griffon toward a certain place.

After riding a while on the griffon, I can see a tall and steep mountain ahead.

This mountain is the one that splits the continent into eastern and western parts.

When we fly near the middle of the mountain range, I could see numerous harpies flying around.

Harpy is a race that has the upper body of a female human, pair of eagle wings as arms, and the lower body of an eagle. And they're not too friendly toward humans.

But they're not coming to attack us since we're riding on a griffon which is stronger than them, or should I rather say that they're running away from us, instead.

Different from the centaur race, harpies are composed of nothing but females. They'll attack male humans for the sake of sustenance of their race.

By the way, in case of cross breeding, the child will be of the mother’s race if it's a female and will be the father’s race if they're male.

Though it might be a good idea to pair centaurs with harpies, unfortunately both races prefer human race. However, it's not like I'm making the chart of their most preferred race, it seems most of them simply prefer humans.

Though I felt it was strange, I couldn't help but accept such facts.

While I am pondering about such things, we pass through the middle of the mountain range. From here on lies the westside of the continent. And then, after leaving Minon plain, there's Saria Academy, our destination that is located a little ahead of Ariad inlet.

The reason we're going toward Saria Academy was to investigate a certain matter.

The identity of Dark Knight Diehart was the childhood friend of Shirone. He might have been summoned by the demon king.

But, there's something that we couldn't understand. Why was he cooperating with someone like the demon king?

While it was true that he was summoned by the demon king, it's not like he needed to abide by the demon king’s orders.

According to Shirone, there's no way he would cooperate with the demon king due to his kind personality. [TL: ….]

In that case, he is probably being manipulated with some kind of skill or magic.

The Saria Academy, to which we're heading right now, is the gathering place of the scholars in this entire world; it's a university-like place where one could learn and research about magic.

There are records of various magic in Saria Academy. They might have information related to the means of controlling people. That's why I am heading to the academy by myself.

The reason why I came alone was because no one but me could do this kind of investigation. The other member weren't suited for this kind of boring and plain job. Though Kaya would be able to help me in this case, she stayed behind since she was worried about the other members. That's why, it was decided that I, Chiyuki would go to Saria Academy alone.

Though Shirone wanted to come along, the current Shirone couldn't think calmly and was obviously nothing but a hindrance to me. That's why she chose to go to Holy Republic Lenaria.

She might be venting her frustration by exterminating the demons in the vicinities of the city around this time.

Therefore, I rode on the back of the griffon and flew straight toward Saria Academy.

◆Black-haired Sage, Chiyuki

Magic City Saria is a city built on a basin surrounded by mountains.

Though each city of this world was often considered as a separate country, Saria couldn’t be called as such. That's why something like a Saria citizen doesn't exist.

In the first place, Saria is the city that governs over the Magic Association and has spread its branches across the entire world. One could say that every magician who belonged to the association are essentially citizens of the city.

The magic association created by Saria Academy was for the sake of nurturing magicians and researching the profound ways of magic.

When I reached the surroundings of Saria, I release the griffon and head toward Saria.

Though it's better if I could establish a teleportation magic circle in this Saria, they are yet to grant their permission to do so. It appears that I need to possess considerable status in the association to be granted with such permission.

I'm currently passing through the entry procedures at the gates of the rampart. Then, I take out a silver plate-like card that displays my status as the magician of the association to the gatekeeper.

Saria is a city where anyone could come in and out as much as they like as long as they're magicians who belonged to the association. I belong to the Magic Association of Holy Republic Lenaria branch. This silver plate-like card is something that was issued there.

I enter Saria and keep walking toward my destination.

It’s my second visit to Saria. I came for the first time to satisfy my own curiosity after I knew about the existence of Saria. I was confirming the general outline of the location at that time. But now, my destination is Saria Academy’s library.

When I walk to my destination, I pass by some people that do not seem like magicians. They might be normal people who live in this city.

A magician could easily be distinguished amongst the normal people since they’re always wearing a black robe.

As one might expect from the city of magicians, there were at least a few hundreds of magicians living in Saria.

Nevertheless, just because it's being called as city of magicians, it didn't mean that only magicians might live in this city. The palace guard in the rampart who are protecting this city from demons and monsters are normal people who can't use magic. It seems that they're employing the power of free fighters, too. And there were also some shopkeepers who were dealing with daily necessities.

60% of the citizens might be ordinary people.

Finally, I arrived at the library. I start performing the procedures for entering.

Unlike the gatekeeper of the rampart, the receptionist of the library had to be a magician. Using a magician like him as the receptionist of this library was indicating the importance of the library.

And just like before, anyone is allowed to enter the library as long as they're a magician of the association.

Just like the case with the gatekeeper, I show my silver plate to the receptionist. Upon viewing the plate, the male receptionist has a strange smile on his face. Is there something strange with my card?

「Uhm, could it be that you are… The one called black-haired sage? 」

The male receptionist was asking that with a timid tone.

「Though I never call myself by that name, some people do use that name to refer to me」

I replied so after knowing the reason for his surprised expression from before.

I never referred myself as a [Wiseman]. But, I should still reply appropriately since denying it would cause a problem, too.

「I just guessed since you are a real beauty; on top of that, the presence of the silver plate issued by Holy Republic Lenaria, you really are the black-haired sage, Chiyuki-dono herself, huh. Meeting you right now is—」

「Uhm… I want to enter the library if possible….」

I interrupted his talk since it seemed this would be going to be a long one.

「Ah, my deepest apologies. Please go ahead, Chiyuki-dono」

Though he seemed like he had more to tell me, I ignored him and went ahead.

I'm currently searching for a certain location for the book that I had located from the catalogue near the entrance. The book is the one that holds the information regarding the type of magic that could manipulate humans from the inside, like manipulating their soul.

Confusion and sleep magic also fell under such category. So, there should be a similar type of magic that might be able to manipulate humans in the same way.

Walking in between the shelves that was used to store the books, I reached my destination before long.

It seems that the documents about the type of magic that could manipulate soul was located in this entire region of shelves.

Though the title of the book was written with the letters of this world, it's not a problem.

This world letters weren't that complicated

The basic letters are composed of 63 letters separated into three different category of lower case letters, middle case letters, and uppercase letters, with each having 21 letters. Moreover, few symbols were added when writing sentences. Moreover, the syntax was easier to learn for us since it's closer to the Japanese language.

Naturally, it's easier to say than doing it, and the matter of reading the letters of another world was quite the challenge. Besides Rino who has already given up, it seems it's still hard for someone like Shirone or Sahoko to read the letters. I doubted my ears when Kyouka said that she could read the letters. It seemed Kaya mastered the letters in her own way.

The exceptions were Reiji and Nao. The learning speed of those two was incredible.

Especially in Reiji’s case, his learning speed was breathtaking. Though he didn't seem to be putting much effort in his study, he could read the letters at the same level as me. It really pissed me off since even I had to put in several late nights to be able to read the letters with ease. This was why a guy like him really pissed me off.

Though Nao possesses those incredible physical abilities of her, she's in fact quite a smart ass, too.

As a result of my great efforts, I could read and write normally now. But, I still keep having this strange feeling while reading even until now. It feels like all roman letters have turned into Japanese letters.

Well, I guess I'd get used to it immediately. Moreover, though it's still difficult for me to read the book that written with profound and archaic words, I have no problem in reading normal books.

I took a few books. As for the book that were placed out of my reach, I would use《Magic Hand》 to pick it.

This magic hand skill creates a transparent hand with magic to pick something that’s out of my reach.

Though normal magicians were limited to 2-3 《Magic Hand》at the most, I could make up to 100 hands with each one’s length could extending upton 100 metres at maximum.

But, the weight that could be supported by magic hand was limited to the weight that could be supported by the caster’s own hand power. That's why a twerp can't carry a heavy load even if they're using magic hand. But then, I became quite powerful in this world, thus heavy luggage wasn't such a big problem for me. If I really wanted to, I could even crush a human cranium.

After taking out about 20 books, I looked for an empty desk.

According to the guide, this library wouldn't lend any of its books. For this reason, anyone must read the book within the library. For the same reason, the management has prepared several desks for reading the books in the library. Thus, I brought several books with me since I needed to transcribe the contents of the book.

After discovering an empty desk, I started reading the book. First was the magic about domination magic. The contents of the book was about the experiment about how much one could control a hostile demon of different races. This might be useful for something.

I read the contents of the book.

「Black-haired sage, Chiyuki-dono」

Someone suddenly called my name with low voice when I was reading the book.

When I turned around, it was the receptionist from before.

「Uhm…. Do you need something?」

I replied with a small voice since we must not speak loudly in the library.

「Uhm…. Chiyuki-dono. Actually, Vice President Tarabos wants to meet you but…. Do you have some spare time to meet the Vice President?」

The receptionist man was saying so with apologetic tone.

「The Vice President? 」

「Yes, the Vice President of the Magic association」

The receptionist nods in response

I never met the man called Tarabos. But, someone in the position of Vice President did have quite the high standing. So, I have to meet him since it couldn't be helped.

I was led by the receptionist toward a certain room in the library.

When I entered that room, a plump middle aged man was already waiting in there. He was around 50 years old, and his always smiling, friendly made him more like a merchant than a magician. He didn't seem like a magician at all.

「Chiyuki-dono, this personage is Vice President Tarabos」

The receptionist introduced the plump man.

「Ahaha, so you're that black-haired sage, Chiyuki-dono, this is the first time we meet. You're even more beautiful than the rumors」

The plump man was placing his right hand on his left chest and then bowing to greet me. From his attitude, it seemed this person knows proper etiquette to some extent.

「Just Chiyuki. May I ask about your business, Vice President Tarabos?」

I also greeted him back similarly. Though I, in fact, wanted to return to my research as soon as possible. Please, skip all those idle chatter and just mention your business.

「My deepest apologies for bothering you during your investigation, Chiyuki-dono. In fact, I have a request for hero-dono」

Tarabos was saying so with an apologetic tone.

「And that request is?」

Though I don't know what kind of request it'll be, I decided to hear his story since the one who made the request was the Vice President of Magic Association.

「Well then, now I have to report about my investigation」

After finishing my investigation, I returned to Holy Republic Lenaria. Returning was simple since I only needed to use transition/teleportation magic.

After I returned, I gathered everyone.

「According to my investigation, there are three methods to control someone namely, charm magic, memory manipulation magic, and domination magic. First is domination magic. It is a magic that dominates the named individual. But it has the demerit of lowering the intelligence of the target」

The one put under domination magic was just like a robot. Though there's no change in the target’s calculation ability and knowledge, the target is incapable of adapting to sudden changes in situation. Depending on the situation, he couldn't take any action without the corresponding command each time.

Once, it was tried on a goblin, and the said goblin became completely useless and unable to even make a move without giving detailed commands.

So, how about his case?

「That magic will turn the target into a fool, right? It’s definitely more troublesome to control him, right?」

I agree with Rino’s words.

「I'm also in agreement」

「Thus, we can set aside that method」

Agreeing to Nao's words, I continued my explanation.

「The next one is memory manipulation magic, but this magic requires a complete overwrite of the target’s memories to become more convenient for the user. It'll involve tampering memories to make the target obey the user’s command as if it's the natural thing to do. But this memory manipulation magic is too difficult. It's almost impossible to overwrite the entire pre-existing memory as there's a possibility that it'll cause total mental collapse if the caster keeps forcing that way」

According to Shirone, he should have led a normal life as a Japanese person. Naturally, it should be extremely difficult to tamper his memories in order to make him obey the Demon King’s commands.

Moreover, trying to erase his entire memories to make it easier to control him was also impossible because the time needed to raise him ever since he was a baby would take quite a lot of time.

「The explanation of this magic is more adequate than domination magic. Even though it's quite a challenge to manipulate the memories of the humans of this world, it's next to impossible to do the same thing to the humans from our world」

After I express my opinion, everyone is making a subtle face.

And then, the case needed to use this magic is when it couldn't be helped. The memories that were lost during the rewritten process couldn’t be recovered. Even if he went back to our original world, it's already impossible for him to lead a normal life. Because rewriting his entire memories basically implies deleting his life until that point.

Thus, it really couldn't be helped that Shirone was making a face with a pained, crying expression. We had no choice but to pray that the demon king didn't use this magic. Then, I move on to the next magic.

「And the last one is charm magic. Rino-san, you might be more knowledgeable about this magic, aren't you?」

I look at Rino.

Rino could use magic such as charm, confusion, and sleep. There should be a case where she used this magic on the demon sometime ago.

「Yup, if he's being manipulated, this magic should be the one. Even goblin-san and orc-san will listen to whatever Rino-san says when she uses this magic on them」

Rino's saying so as if she enjoys doing it.

Charm magic was a magic to make the targeted party like the caster of the magic.

The target would be acting voluntarily for the one they loved unlike the domination magic where the target needs to hear precise orders. It's just that the "Acting voluntarily" part also has its own demerit: the target is capable of performing some unexpected actions.

「Even so, I'm convinced that this magic won't work on demons, isn't it?」

「U~hm, yeah, it's as you say, Sahoko-san. It works nicely on centaur-san, but it's not that effective against harpy-san」

「It might be due to the difference between a male and a female. That should probably be the weakness of charm magic」

Charm magic’s effect is to turn the user of the magic into a charming existence.

The effectiveness in case the target was hostile toward the caster was only to the level of making him being friendly.

For this reason, this magic was unreliable.

「Even so, what do you think will happen if the Demon King himself was the one who is using this magic?」

I start pondering about Nao's words. If he's being manipulated by charm magic…

「Do you mean that Shirone’s childhood friend is… charmed by the Demon King?」

「It should be possible if the Demon King…. He is the one who charmed him with charm magic, right?」

I agree with Reiji’s words.

「I-In another words… He is currently madly in love… With THAT Demon King」

Kaya suddenly cut in. Her tone of voice seemed higher than usual.

「Uwaa… With THAT… Demon King」

Everyone was making a subtle face when Nao said so. All of us had seen the figure of the Demon King image via magic. His figure was ugly and atrocious.

Everyone might be imagining about him doing XXXX with the Demon King right now.

I also ended up imagining their naked figures embracing each other and felt slight nauseous.

「It's gross…」

「Not something that you want to see… Right」

Rino and Kyouka are making disgusted faces.

「WAHAHA. IF HE REALLY DOES THAT WITH THE DEMON KING DUDE! WAHAHAHA, THIS IS A MASTERPIECE! ! 」

Reiji is laughing loudly. Maybe too loud.

「Reiji-kun….」

Sahoko is admonishing Reiji. Yup, he should restrain himself a bit in front of Shirone.

「But, this is strange. Charm magic shouldn't work for the same sex, right?」

Kyouka is pondering about it.

Certainly, charm magic shouldn't have that much effect on the same sex.

「Uhm…. What if he's in fact a gay?」

「W-WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, KAYA!!」

「It's nothing, my lady. Those kind of things also exist here. He is for sure being charmed by the burly body of the demon king」

Kyouka is slightly flustered due to Kaya's words.

However, in the assumption that he's a gay as Kaya described, it should be the effect of charm magic that made him to like demon king Modes.

Reiji's laughing even further after hearing that.

「SOUNDS GOOD FOR ME, SO LET'S SAVE HIM. LET'S SAVE SHIRONE’S CHILDHOOD FRIEND. KUHAHAHA….」

Reiji's saying so while laughing loudly.

I thought it was truly unusual for Reiji to go his way to save a man.

Maybe because he considered that a gay isn't his enemy, thus he could go to save Diehart.

「Reiji-sama!」

Kaya's suddenly speaking loudly.

「WHA…. What's the matter, Kaya?」

Even Reiji was taken aback by Kaya’s voice.

「Since you have decided to save a gay, does that mean you have that kind of preference, too?」

「Yes!?」

Reiji lets out a surprised voice.

No matter how you look at it, Reiji wasn't a gay.

「A man like him was into that you see. And he's quite a looker」

Though there's no change on Kaya’s expression, she seemed to be quite excited.

It came as a surprise to me that Kaya could turn like this.

「How nice it would be if that was true~」

Rino's saying so as if enjoying it.

「Surely, if it's true」

Nao was also giving a thumb up.

「…. You too, Nao-san」

I facepalmed.

But, he certainly made quite a picture when embracing Reiji rather than with the Demon King.

Reiji's handsome, moreover Shirone’s childhood friend was also quite a looker. It might be quite a joy for this side if they were to become a couple.

「WHAT THE! STOP RIGHT THERE! I DON’T SWAY THAT WAY!!」

Reiji started denying with a flustered face.

Though I feel bad for him, I'm currently enjoying the sight of the flustered Reiji.

But, Reiji isn't gay, that is for sure.

「E~h, bo~ri~ng」

Rino is saying so with a disappointed voice in hearing Reiji’s words. For some reason, Kaya seems disappointed too.

「Look, we're in front of Shirone」

Reiji's rebuking everyone. You're one to talk.

「U~hn. Unfortunately everyone, Kuroki seems to like women like any normal guy would do. I mean he kept staring at my breasts during summertime….」

Shirone who remained silent until now is saying so.

Rino, Kaya, and even Reiji were showing a disappointed face in hearing that.

You guys are really….

「The person himself keeps saying that he isn't staring at them, but his actions basically betray his words. He also hides quite a lot of porn books under his bed. So yeah, he definitely likes women!」

Shirone kept insisting her claim. Though it's her intention to protect her childhood friend reputation, she ended up destroying half of it herself. Moreover, it seemed like he had no privacy at all.

「But in that case, we have another problem….」

Said Sahoko. Yup, we have a more problematic question now.

「Come to think of it, Chiyuki-san. Do you think it'll work on a powerful person who possesses all magic resistances? I mean Kuroki did have it. His magic resistance is extremely powerful」

「Yup, it's as you say, Nao-san. Whether it's charm magic or ruling magic, it won't work on someone who has high magic resistance. And then, from the fact that he can survive from my strongest magic should be proof that his magic resistance is extremely high」

That's why he wouldn't be easily manipulated by magic.

「Then, what method is the Demon King using to manipulate him?」

I pondered hardly as I heard Rino’s question.

「It shouldn't be a normal method. For example, magic potion of love」

「Magic potion of love? What the hell is that」

Reiji asked a question.

「The one you call as love potion. I accidentally discovered the description about that potion in one book inside the library, but it seems that not even god can resist the effect of such potion」

「Then, do you mean that Kuroki is being manipulated with that magic potion?」

I shake my head to answer Shiron’se question.

「I don't know about that. It's not like it won't eliminate other possible manipulation with other methods outside of those I described just now. We won't be able to pinpoint anything no matter how long we discuss about this matter」

Eventually, we hit the wall.

In addition, there's still the possibility that he isn’t being manipulated by magic.

「It seems the method to release the one who is manipulated by magic also involves extremely delicate work. We need to do more investigation on this matter」

I conclude our meeting with this declaration. In the end, we can’t conclude anything unless we investigate about what kind of situation he’s currently in. And unless we understand his situation, we can't find a way to deal with him.

「I think we should also tell Rena about this matter just in case, so she can help with our investigation. She should have more information about this matter….」

In short, Rena who knew that Diehart was going to trim the horn of holy dragon king should have long since known that he was Shirone’s childhood friend. I'm sure that she might have her own way to know some information about Nargol. Could it be that she planted her mole in Nargol?

But, something or another might have happened back in the Rox kingdom, thus Rena didn't make her appearance lately. We couldn't expect much from her.

「Rena is… It seems something happened to her in Rox kingdom. Is she alright now?」

Reiji is worried about Rena. The expression of several people in this room turned severe upon hearing that.

I don't know what happened. Also, there has been no explanation after her sudden withdrawal from the front lines. Everyone except for Reiji was angry at Rena.

「Well, it seems we need to have Rena… To confess about various things」

There were so many things that I wanted to ask her the next time we meet: about what happened in Rox Kingdom or the identity of that masked man. And then, the number of people summoned by the Demon King. Whether there's another people summoned by someone else except the Demon King and Rena.

Especially the fact if Rena knew about the Demon King could do the summoning, too.

We're in deep trouble if the Demon King decides to keep summoning more people.

Thus, we decided to make a report to Rena about the one summoned by the Demon King. But since we couldn't meet Rena, we had no choice but to relay our report via Nier. Thus, Nier would know about the one summoned by the Demon King.

And then, I heard the story that the Demon King wouldn't perform another summon due to the power of the king of gods, Oudith.

When I asked why she didn't tell us about such an important matter, it seemed that Nier was also not privy about such information.

That's why I need to hear proper explanation from Rena by meeting her.

「But, it seems that Rena can't meet us right now. I think we should just wait for her」

Reiji is covering for Rena.

The face of few people turned even more darker due to those words.

Reiji dotes on Rena. I'm also slightly irritated by such a fact.

「Hey, if Rena can't make her move, let's just go to Nargol by ourselves!」

Shirone puts forth a startling suggestion.

But, that's an impossibility.

「Shirone-san… That's impossible. We have to breakthrough Nargol in order to search for him. Moreover, it'll cause a war for sure. Do you want to fight him?」

Nao is the only one amongst us who could sneak in secretly without being noticed, but it's too dangerous for her to travel alone.

「That's a bit too much… But… But then, let's go to the place near Nargol」

「Well, if you're not going to enter Nargol… But then, we might not be able to gain more accurate information」

「Just a little information is enough as long as it's someone who understand Kuroki」 [TL: ….]

It seems Shirone couldn't stand still without doing anything. Maybe she wanted to go there even if it's just a bit closer.

「Speaking of which, the closest place to Nargol should be the kingdom of Veros. How about we go there?」

「Well, that place is surely the biggest kingdom within that area」

「But then, it isn't the closest kingdom to Nargol, though?」

「Yeah, the closest one to Nargol is a kingdom called Algore. But, it is a country who caused trouble to us last time. I heard that a coup d'etat happened after we left, but I don't know about the current situation of that kingdom」

I reply to Rino question. Algore kingdom was trying to mess with us when we went there before. The soldiers of the king were taken down by Reiji. We don't know what happened to that kingdom later since we left immediately to enter Nargol. I heard that a coup d'etat happened after we left.

「Well, since I'm also worried about that kingdom, shall we take a look for a bit then?」

Reiji also had his share of worry. He might be the last person to be concerned with the aftermath of Algore kingdom.

「Come to think of it, the princess of Algore is quite a beauty, isn't she?」

Nao is saying so with a wide grin on her face.

「WHAT THE! NAO!!」

Reiji's shouting in panic.

「Rei-kun…」

「Reiji-san…」

Sahoko and Nao were pouting.

「Wait a minute, Reiji-kun… You really are….」

I had enough of this kind of attitude from him. I was sure that her name is Regena. Yup, she's quite a beauty. Since we only stayed for a short time in Algore, there wasn’t enough time for Reiji’s evil claws to reach her.

I forgot about her until Nao reminded us.

After hearing about Regena, we couldn't let Reiji travel to Algore.

「Come to think of it, Chiyuki-sama, What had happened when you were in Saria?」

Kaya's words reminded me about it. I briefly told everyone about this matter before our meeting.

「Yeah, I met the Vice President of Magic Association in Saria’s library」

There were three Vice Presidents and one President in the Magic Association. The Magic Association’s branches are spread throughout the central continent and had more authority than the King in each region, and Tarabos is the Vice President of that Magic Association. And that person said that he wanted to meet Reiji.

I heard that Tarabos was responsible as the advisor of many kingdoms. It seemed that he's facing quite a lot of trouble in one of those advisor jobs to the point that he needed the help of the hero and also borrow his power, if possible.

That's the content of my report.

「But he wants to meet Reiji within a few days if possible. In my opinion, we should go meet him, how about you guys?」

I didn't know what should I do since I thought that the matter of Shirone’s childhood friend was also important. I really wanted more information. Thus, we had no choice but to wait for Rena’s recovery to get more information about Nargol.

That's why I'm considering to go to the Magic Association first.

Though there's no specific date and time for Tarabos’s request, it might not be a good thing to reply too late. The faster we meet him, the better his impression toward us would be.

And our field of activity would expand even further as long as we could have a good relationship with the Magic Association.

We were summoned by Rena in the eastern part of the continent where her influence was deeply rooted, and we gained free access to the kingdoms in eastern parts of the continent which came along with favorable treatment, too.

But, it seemed that our influence wasn't that widespread in the western part of the continent. it's very much possible for us to not be allowed to enter a kingdom.

Thus, there's nothing better than building a good relationship with the Magic Association which has strong influence in the whole continent. There's no need for us to go to the western part of the continent for now, but better safe than sorry.

「Even so, going to Algore is….」

「I'm okay with going to Algore by myself. It's my selfish idea after all. That's why everyone else can go to Saria」

Shirone interrupts when Reiji is mentioning about going to Algore.

Magic Association was basically dominated by men since there were many male magicians who had elven blood from their mother flowing inside their veins. That's why he didn't want to go. And then, there's princess Regena in Algore. When comparing Regena, a young princess with Tarabos, a middle aged man, it was obvious which one Reiji would choose,

So, it's not like Reiji was going to Algore for Shirone’s sake. But still, good job, Shirone.

「Well then, Reiji-kun will come with us to Saria. Sorry, Shirone-san」

「Uhn. Don't mind it」

Shirone replied cheerfully. But, there's a slight gloom within her cheerful face. She might be worrying about the safety of her childhood friend.

It was an extremely cruel story if it turned out that the Demon King was manipulating her childhood friend with the magic potion of love.

Even so, to think that the Demon King would use such a method to manipulate someone he just summoned and had yet to understand the situation with such drug.

That might have been us if we were summoned by that ugly Demon King.  Fortunately, we were summoned by Rena.

There's no way a goddess like Rena will use such cowardly methods to manipulate us with such drug. [TL: ….]

I was burning with wrath toward that cowardly Demon King.

I returned to my abode in Elios.

When I reminisce about it, I felt that someone just called my name in the human country called Lenaria.

Someone might be talking about me.

Well, it might be Reiji and his harem. They're surely talking about my beautiful heart.

Though Chiyuki seemed to want to meet me when I was asleep, I sent Nier to deal with her. I wasn't in the right mental state for a discussion at that time.

But, I've calmed down right now. I didn't want to meet Chiyuki. But still, I'm going to meet her sooner or later anyway.

What should I tell her at that time, I wonder.

Though I was not going to let them attack Nargol before, now it’s different. Reiji-tachi who injured him might attack Nargol at any time now.

I look at the little portrait in my hand.

Drawn on that portrait was the figure of a young man.

「Kuroki….」

I heaved a sigh in seeing the young man in that portrait.

I could only dream about him these days. This was the dream of Kuna.

Kuroki created a new goddess called Kuna but upon her creation, I no longer dreamed of Mona.

I don't know the reason why I became the receiving side, it might have something to do with me being the original.

But, this was a happy miscalculation. Now, I didn't have to see that ugly Modes inside my dreams anymore.

Instead, I'm seeing nothing but Kuroki right now. If it's Kuroki, I'm willing to see him no matter how many times it is inside my dream. For that reason, sleeping has become an enjoyable activity these days.

I don't care about Modes anymore. That's why I have no need for Reiji-tachi anymore, too.

「Ufufufufu」

I unintentionally let out a smile.

「Uhm…. Rena-sama」

Someone was calling my name from behind. I hide the portrait in my hand in a hurry.

「NI! NIER!! WHEN DID YOU COME!?」

The one standing behind me was the female angel subordinate of mine, Nier.

「Uhm…. Since there was no reply from inside no matter how many times I knocked on the door… So I….」

Nier was saying so in an awkward manner.

「O-Oh my, s-so that's the c-case! Sorry Nier!! Then, I wonder what’s the matter」

I'm panicking right now. She did not look at the person in the portrait, right?

「I came to notify you since it's almost the time to meet Oudith-sama, but then….」

「Ah, it’s time, huh…. I'll go right away」

What’s the matter about, I wonder? Well, I guess I'd know about it once I go there.

「Well then, I'll excuse myself」

Nier leaves my room after informing about the situation.

I couldn't leave my room even if I want to.

I put on my underwear and then prepared to leave.

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