Chapter 5: Makoto Takatsuki Gets Lectured
“Umm...”
“What is it?”
“Sophia, are you mad?”
“I am hardly angry, Hero Makoto.”
I was currently in a room in Highland Castle with Princess Sophia. As for what position I was in, well, I was kneeling in front of her. The princess was gazing down at me with cold eyes.
No, it’s more of an exasperated look.
“Did you not say that at today’s meeting, your presence would be limited to simply sitting in?”
“That’s what I meant to do.”
At least...until partway through. Besides, this was Momo’s fault, not mine.
“Our basic policy has been to cooperate with other nations.”
“I am cooperating.”
“No matter how you look at it, this makes us seem like we’re trying to get ahead!” Princess Sophia argued. “Still, I suppose you do have friendly relations with the commander of the Soleil Knights and Sir Sakurai. Perhaps if you can get them on the same page, there won’t be an issue... For crying out loud.”
After that, Princess Sophia transitioned into a detailed explanation of things to keep in mind at the bases on the northern front. I promised myself I’d do my best to remember them. After all, I didn’t want to cause her trouble.
The door suddenly slammed open with a bang.
“Makoto! We’re here! Wait...why are you on your knees?”
“Oh, Takatsuki’s getting a scolding from Sophie!”
“Lucy, Sasa?”
What were these two doing here?
“I called them,” Princess Sophia explained. “You will need to explain it to them, won’t you?”
I paused. “Right.” I was heading to the northern continent, so I needed Lucy and Sasa to agree. That was Princess Sophia all right—attentive to every little detail.
“Hm? What’s up, Makoto?” Lucy asked. “You screw up again?”
“Oh, I know what’s happened,” Sasa said. “He must have gotten friendly with a new girl and Sophie’s reading him the riot act.”
“Wha?! Again?”
“Takatsuki just doesn’t learn... We’ll have to punish him.”
“Aya...that’s a scary look on your face.”
“You say that, but you’re gathering mana in your staff as well, aren’t you?”
“The two of you do not need to worry,” Princess Sophia assured them. “This time, it has nothing to do with entanglements with women.”
Lucy and Sasa were barreling headlong into an awful misunderstanding, but thankfully, Princess Sophia corrected them.
Wait... “This time”?
“Oh! I knew I could count on you, Makoto!”
“C’mon, Lu, you shouldn’t doubt him like that.”
“You two...” I sighed, then broke into their skit and explained how I was going to challenge Astaroth on the northern continent.
“Hm, so we’re going to the demon continent.”
“Astaroth... He sounds strong.”
“Sorry, both of you. I should have talked to you first.”
My words were met by blank looks from both of them.
“Why are you apologizing?” Lucy asked.
“Hooray! We finally get to go adventuring together again!” Sasa cheered.
“Lucy... Sasa...”
Even if I hadn’t talked to them about it first, they were all on board.
“We’ve got to get ready, then. Well, technically, Aya and I already have our usual stuff in place, so this time, we just need to collect your gear.”
“Aw,” Sasa whined, “but our stuff’s getting all worn out. The tent’s only good for the two of us too.”
Lucy nodded. “That’s right, now you mention it. The last one got a bit scorched by fire breath, didn’t it? Plus, it’s a bit small for the three of us.”
“We need to get you some underwear too. You’re always sleeping naked, but are you planning to do that with Takatsuki there?”
“Why not?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll end up taking it off anyway.”
“Well, that’s true...”
I have to cut in. “Uh...guys?”
They were going in a bit of an odd direction. Plus, Princess Sophia was starting to look distinctly unimpressed. That was when the door slammed open again.
“My esteemed Tackie, I have already heard! That you are heading for the northern continent, I mean.”
“Please entrust the Fujiwara Trading Company with your travel gear’h!”
So it was Fujiyan and Nina who’d popped in this time. Princess Sophia must have sent for them as well.
“Your proposal certainly came out of nowhere, my friend!” Fujiyan exclaimed.
“It just turned out like that.”
“I hardly think that you can call it ‘just turning out like that,’” Princess Sophia sniped from the side.
Once Fujiyan heard about how I’d completely turned the military meeting on its head, he couldn’t help but smile. “I see you are the same as you have ever been,” he remarked.
“I am?”
“You certainly haven’t changed,” Princess Sophia agreed.
Apparently, I hadn’t.
“Miss Lucy, Miss Aya, this is our latest catalog’h,” said Nina.
Lucy browsed through the catalog. “Oh, this magic cottage looks nice. It’s pretty big and comfy looking.”
“Clothes first, Lu. Cute underwear as well.”
“Hmm, then what about these?”
“They’re practically string! Waaay too pervy!”
“Aw, no good?”
“You should pick something cuter!”
“Then what do you like the look of, Aya?”
“These! Lu, get a matching set with me.”
“They’re a bit too frilly and cutesy, aren’t they? They’re not going to suit me.”
“They will! Besides, you show off too much skin as it is.”
“This is fine. Besides, it’s not like Makoto’ll try anything.”
“He mi— Actually, no. Takatsuki’s a sheep in sheep’s clothing.”
“He’s a stuffy guy.”
Nina cleared her throat. “Um...so which will you be buying’h?”
Their conversation’s getting pretty rude. Who’re you calling a sheepish sheep?
Another bang on the door resounded throughout the room. This was the third time someone had knocked.
“My knight!”
It was the queen of Laphroaig’s turn to come bursting in. She looked frantic, and her demeanor was far from her usual calm.
“Princess? What’s up?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s Fuuri.”
“Fuu’s back to normal.”
With all three of our gazes directed her way, Furiae looked away awkwardly. “Sorry about yesterday,” she murmured. “I’m a queen now, and I thought that you getting close to me would just cause trouble. I wanted my knight to be able to have a peaceful life, but...”
Lucy and Sasa finished her sentence, their words overlapping.
“But he’s already getting into trouble.”
“And then he went and jumped into trouble himself.”
“Why?!” Furiae exclaimed.
“I mean, it’s Makoto.”
“That’s Takatsuki.”
“Whyyyy?!” Furiae held her head in her hands.
Yup, she was definitely back to her normal self. I felt somewhat nostalgic as I watched the three of them.
“By the way, when are we leaving for the demon continent?” Lucy asked.
Hmm, well... There’s not exactly a reason to hang around here for too long.
“Well, fortune favors the bold. How about tonight?” I asked.
“That’s pretty quick,” Lucy pointed out. “I don’t mind, though.”
“Me either,” said Sasa. “We’ll have to get ready quick, then. Nina, what do you have in stock?”
“Umm, anything you pick should be fine as long as it’s not a special order’h...”
Lucy and Sasa seemed fine with this.
“Wait, wait, wait! Tonight?! You’ve got to be kidding!” Furiae exclaimed, waving her hands around.
“Lady Furiae, this behavior does not befit your status as queen,” Havel said from behind her.
When’d he get here?
“My knight! You’ve only just woken up, haven’t you?!”
“Yesterday, yup.”
“You should take more time to recover!”
I shrugged. “Well, a meandering journey up there’ll be like physio.”
“You don’t need to go to the demon continent of all places! And challenging the dragon king?! Preposterous!”
Guess Furiae is against our plan.
Then...there was a soft knock at the door, and it quietly opened.
“Takatsuki!” Sakurai stepped through the door and smiled. “Whew, you’re still here.”
Yokoyama followed behind him. “You didn’t need to worry about that, Ryousuke. Of course he hasn’t already left.”
Furiae then turned to Sakurai. Her voice was cold as she said, “My knight was planning to leave tonight.”
Sakurai sighed. “Yeah...figures.”
Yokoyama looked shocked. “No way?!”
“Well, traveling takes time,” I said, defending myself. “Besides, I wanted to see how things were in this era.”
I’d seen a few changes to history since I’d woken up in the present, and I wanted to see for myself what exactly had changed.
Sakurai and Yokoyama looked aghast.
“Well...I guess this behavior fits you well,” Sakurai decided.
Yokoyama seemed less convinced. “You don’t need to rush off that quickly though... Aya, are you going with him?”
Sasa nodded. “Yeah. We’re getting ready right now.”
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Well, it’s been ages since we’ve been on a trip.”
“A trip?! You’re going to fight a demon lord, not stay at a resort!”
“Yup! By trip, I meant adventure.”
People told me all the time that I lacked a proper sense of danger, but Sasa was just as bad as I was.
“Lucy, aren’t you going to stop them?” Princess Sophia asked.
“If we left him alone, he’d just go on his own.”
“But you’ve been with him the longest! Surely he’d listen if you told—”
“Nope. Not at all. Besides, it’s not like I can resist him when he asks.”
Princess Sophia sighed. It felt a bit like they were treating me like a naughty kid.
“Ryousuke, stop my knight! You’re childhood friends, aren’t you?!”
“Ah... Actually, I’d be happier if he was fighting alongside us.”
“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” Furiae yelled. She started whacking him. “You could easily take out Iblis by yourself!”
“Ow, ow!”
Heh, they really get along well.
Yokoyama suddenly sidled up and whispered into my ear. “Hey, Ryousuke and Furiae look like they’re having fun. Are you okay with that?”
“Hm? Yeah. It’s nice.”
Since Furiae was acting like this, she probably wasn’t Nevia’s reincarnation. The Witch of Calamity wouldn’t want to be on good terms with the Hero of Light—especially since she died to a hero with that title in the past.
“You’re a weird one, Takatsuki,” she replied.
“I am?” I could say the same to you. “It doesn’t bother you that Sakurai is close to other girls?” I asked.
“He’s already got thirty wives. Besides, he’s always been popular, hasn’t he?”
Oh...he has even more wives now... I was pretty sure it’d been around twenty before. Man, that’s a lot.
Yokoyama and I were looking at each other with slightly odd expressions when another person arrived.
“Sorry I’m late, Sophia,” said Queen Noelle. “Is Sir Makoto still...” She trailed off and went expressionless as she saw Furiae smacking Sakurai.
Furiae immediately hid behind me.
“What’re you doing, Princess?” I muttered.
“A scary woman showed up, so you need to protect me, my knight.”
“Who are you calling scary?” Queen Noelle asked sharply. “Also, you should behave in a somewhat more queenly fashion. You were barely even focused during that meeting.”
“Well, it was boring. Besides, everyone in Laphroaig hates Highland, so none of your people would listen to me anyway.”
“Even then, doing something is the queen’s responsibility!”
“It’d be easier if I just used Charm on the lot of them.”
“Lady Furiae...please refrain from such comments,” Havel said.
“I know. It was a joke.”
“That’s enough, Noelle,” Sakurai added.
“If you say so...”
It felt odd watching Furiae and Noelle talk. They definitely weren’t friendly, but this interaction was a far cry from the tension I’d sensed between them during the meeting.
I looked to Yokoyama for help.
“Well, the people of Highland and Laphroaig are on bad terms, right?” she began. “The meeting went pretty badly. However, both queens always have a separate meeting in another room—they talk to Ryousuke and me. Isn’t that right, Ryousuke?”
“Yeah, we chat about once a month.”
“Huh...”
So the meeting itself had made it look like the countries were on the brink of war, but the actual leaders were on the same page. What a relief.
Queen Noelle walked up to me. “Sir Makoto, speaking of that meeting—are you truly intending on venturing to the demon continent? You’ve only just woken up...and I’m sure Sophia will be worried...” Her face was drawn and concerned.
“That’s right.”
I looked at Princess Sophia. She was still expressionless, though her eyes looked slightly cold.
“Um, are you worried, Sophia?” I asked her.
She remained silent, but her eyebrow twitched. Ack, she’s angry for sure.
She stalked toward me and then pinched my cheek hard.
“Uh...Sho’ia?”
“If you think I am not worried, then that hurts all the more.”
“My apologies for my rudeness,” I said as she let go of me.
“Take care as you travel. Listen to Lucy and Aya.” With that, she spun on her heel.
Queen Noelle started giggling. “You really are close. Oh, you’re still wearing that badge. It suits you...though I’m not sure I should say that.”
“Wait right there!” Furiae interrupted. “What is that supposed to mean, my knight?!”
“Oh, Queen Noelle gave it to me so I could go to the meeting,” I explained.
“What?! Noelle, don’t try and steal my knight!”
“That sounds...rather scandalous. If you don’t like it, give him one of your own.”
“Th-That’s right! Havel! Prepare a crest for my royal guards!”
“Lady Furiae, Laphroaig’s military is made up solely of mages, so we do not have anything designed for knights.”
“Guh... Unthinkable.” She glared at the badge.
Don’t look at me like that! There’s nothing I can do about it.
“Well, I needed it,” I reasoned. “I’m a commoner, so I couldn’t have taken part without it.”
That prompted Princess Sophia, Furiae, Sakurai, Yokoyama, and Queen Noelle to look blankly at me. And it wasn’t just them—Lucy, Sasa, Fujiyan, and Nina were looking my way as well. The noise level of the room suddenly dropped as silence reigned.
Why had the atmosphere grown so awkward?
Princess Sophia was the first to speak. “Hero Makoto, are you trying to say that you believe yourself to be a commoner?”
“You mean I’m not?” I wasn’t a hero anymore, so surely I was a commoner again.
Lucy and Sasa, who’d been standing by Nina, walked over to me.
“Makoto...that’s a pretty big misunderstanding.”
“I was thinking that Takatsuki wasn’t acting quite right.”
What’s going on?
Fujiyan must have read my mind because he offered a simple explanation. “You are considered to be a true hero, or a ‘Legendary Hero,’ so you are far from a mere commoner.”
“A true hero?”
“Like Lady Rosalie or the Grandsage. Your achievements have elevated you.”
“So...what does that mean?” The position itself didn’t really make sense to me.
“Such a person has no obligations,” Princess Sophia explained. “So, as circumstances demand, representatives of each country will make requests. You are a Legendary Hero of Roses, so you actually have a greater standing than I.”
Wh-What the?! The truth shocked me to my core.
“So, considering I have a higher position, and you had me on my knees earlier...” I murmured.
“Let’s not go over that again!” she yelped. She pinched my arm as her face went red.
“You already have that position, and yet you seem to be seeking even greater achievements by challenging Astaroth alone. That was why everyone at the meeting was extremely taken aback,” Queen Noelle explained.
“Now that Highland’s star is starting to fade, they’re all panicking,” Furiae said harshly, glaring at Queen Noelle. “People are worried that Roses’s Legendary Hero will take all the glory.”
“Surely those of Laphroaig are frantic as well?” Queen Noelle asked back with an offended look on her face.
“Their blatant dislike of my knight is definitely a concern...” Furiae said with a tired look.
Apparently, the people of Laphroaig didn’t like that the position of her guardian knight was taken by me.
But still... Either way, I was apparently some legendary hero now.
The position itself meant I could be fairly self-centered concerning what I said, however, the other countries were now wary of me. Maybe I should be more careful about what I say in the future...
As I was lost in pondering, someone interrupted me.
Two people suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Oh, so this is where you all gathered?” asked the first person.
“This is essentially everyone involved,” said the second person.
The first girl was wearing a white robe, and the other was a short priestess—Momo and Estelle.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Judging from their expressions, they must have something pretty important to say.
“It is about the Witch of Calamity,” Estelle said. Furiae’s face stiffened.
“Now that Iblis has returned, so has she,” Momo added casually.
I recalled Nevia’s smile and voice when she’d told me that I had already met the person who she would reincarnate into.
So she succeeded... Unfortunately, it seemed like she hadn’t met her end in the past.
Nevia, the Witch of Calamity, was the queen of Laphroaig a thousand years ago, as well as Iblis’s partner. She was the final boss that the Hero of Light—Anna—and I had defeated. Actually, we hadn’t defeated her. She’d said she would be back in the present era.
“How do we know?” I asked. “Is it Ira’s Future Sight?”
“No.” Estelle shook her head. “Nevia’s unification with one of the Daemons put her in a position where the Sacred Deities are unable to observe her.”
So how did we find out?
“The demons and monsters on the demon continent have once again shown signs of being charmed,” Momo revealed.
“Ah...I see,” I replied, finally seeing the thread. No one else seemed to understand the significance of what she’d said.
“Anyone could do that... Even I could,” Furiae murmured.
I shook my head. “No, you couldn’t, Princess.”
Estelle spoke at the same time. “Queen Furiae, Nevia’s Charm skill was on another level to yours.”
“Just a minute!” she protested. “I can charm hundreds of people at the same time, just so you know! You won’t find anyone better with charm magic in our entire country.”
Her words just made me sigh. Estelle and I exchanged looks.
“Sir Makoto,” Estelle said to me. “Tell us just how many people the Witch of Calamity had under her thrall in the past.”
I turned to Furiae. “Princess, Nevia charmed everyone in Laphroaig, and everyone on the demon continent—both the demons and the monsters.”
Everyone in the room who didn’t already know let out a shocked noise.
“That’s not...possible...”
“It is. After her fusion with Iblis, the witch Nevia had almost unlimited mana. She specialized in Charm, and that was why she was so feared,” Estelle said briskly.
Even Furiae had to fall silent at that. Someone else picked up the conversation, though.
“Say, Queen Furiae—since you are thought to be her reincarnation, I believe you should be more careful with your words,” Yokoyama advised.
Havel nodded. “She is right, Lady Furiae. Take heed and try not to be careless with your statements.”
“I-I know!” Furiae exclaimed, looking away awkwardly.
I still couldn’t help but be hung up on the last thing Nevia had said: I’d already met her reincarnation.
Perhaps realizing what I was thinking of, Estelle smiled softly. “You need not worry, Sir Makoto. I assume you are concerned about how the witch said she would reincarnate into one of your acquaintances. But I want to assure you that this was a lie to sow doubt in your mind. At Lady Ira’s instruction, I gathered all of the private information of your acquaintances and laid bare even their private lives. None of them are the reincarnation of Nevia!”
Almost everyone cried out and looked at her in shock. But as for me, I finally managed to relax.
Whew...thank goodness.
“Nevia is likely within Eden on the demon continent,” she continued. “The charmed demons and monsters are spreading from that location.”
“I see. I haven’t gone to that continent in this era, so I wouldn’t have met her.”
“Exactly. Is that a relief?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
The two of us laughed together.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
“What’s all that about, Takatsuki?!”
“My knight, Estelle! Explain yourselves!”
Lucy, Sasa, and Furiae all crowded in on me. I looked to Estelle. “Didn’t you tell everyone about how Nevia might have reincarnated into someone I know?”
I was pretty sure everyone should have known because Ira informed them.
Momo murmured to me from my side. “That intel would’ve spread doubts among them, so it was kept as secret as possible.”
“So you helped too,” I realized.
“Well, technically, I am really important in Highland,” she said, puffing out her small chest. I stroked her hair.
“Don’t worry, everyone,” Estelle said. “While I mentioned your private information, it was only shared with Goddess Ira, and I was not personally privy to it. She checked things from the heavens.”
“Oh...that’s what you meant.”
“Well, I guess there’s not much we can do, then...”
“It is still less than pleasant.”
So, thanks to Nevia’s activities on the northern continent, no one else was in doubt anymore. There were no worries now, so we could head out as soon as possible.
I felt a tug on my clothes. It was Momo.
“Sir Makoto,” she said. “I assume you are not intending to leave tonight?”
“Yup. I was actually gonna take off right now.”
She let out a big sigh. “Do you not realize why I caused such an uproar when you tried to sneak off?”
“Um...to mess with me?”
“Of course not!” she roared angrily. “A single spell from you can rewrite the map! Even in the past, you changed the weather like it was nothing and called up storms! And on top of that, because you’re pledged to that goddess of yours, Goddess Ira can’t see your future! We can’t have someone like that just wandering around!”
“Ah...right...”
She was really angry. Even though I was no longer a State-Authorized Hero, I apparently couldn’t just do whatever I pleased.
“There was also a proposal from Commander Owain’s subordinates to include your actions in the Third Northern Front Plan. The leaders will be up all night finalizing it, so you need to check it over before you leave tomorrow.”
I fell silent, and my gut twisted—I actually felt kinda bad. Was it really that big of a deal for me to take on the demon lord?
Momo let out a soft huff of laughter. “Honestly, we’ve been in a deadlock over how to deal with Astaroth for a long time. It is such a relief that you will be taking care of the problem.”
“Momo...”
“Go beat the hell out of him.”
She was kinda all over the place, wasn’t she?
“Aren’t you worried about me?” I asked.
“Worrying about you is a waste of time! Do you realize how much time Anna and I wasted doing that?!”
“You did...?”
“You always pulled something ridiculous—every time!”
Huh. In the past, I’d felt like our whole party was really close, but it looked like Momo and I had different perspectives on what had happened back then.
As we chatted about our memories, I felt several gazes focus on us. Lucy, Sasa, Princess Sophia, Furiae, Sakurai, and Princess Noelle were all staring fixedly at us.
Crap, we just ignored all the people from the present.
“Sir Makoto.” Queen Noelle shot me a rueful smile. “We will prepare you a room within the castle, so please use it for tonight. It seems many people still need to speak with you.”
I could hardly refuse a queen... Guess we’re staying in the castle tonight.
“Um, are you all joining us?”
The room we’d been guided to was massive. It could easily hold thirty people. Everyone from earlier had moved here, and we’d started a bit of a feast.
“My esteemed Tackie, we have prepared everything you will need for your journey.”
“If you need anything else, just let us know’h!”
“But it hasn’t even been an hour...” I muttered. The two of them were way too impressive. They’d gotten everything ready in no time at all.
“Furiae, you really need to be more honest,” said Princess Sophia. “Acting as you do just increases the burden on you.”
Lucy nodded. “Yeah, it makes you a really bothersome woman, Fuuri.”
They were reeeally raking her over the coals for how oddly she’d acted when I’d first seen her after waking up.
Furiae hung her head. “Right... I’m sorry.”
Queen Noelle watched in shock as Furiae knelt obediently in front of the two of them. “Furiae... Y-You know you’re a queen, right?”
“I can’t help it... They’ve both helped me so much—Aya too. I can’t go against them...”
It seemed like Laphroaig would’ve never gotten off the ground as a nation without the three of them helping. It was a country with vast numbers of mages, but its queen couldn’t stand up to two adventurers or the princess of the smallest country on the continent. The power dynamics here were utterly bizarre.
“Guh! I want to stay too!”
“You can’t, Grandsage. You still have work left.”
“Sir Makotooooo!”
“Right then, off we go.”
Estelle dragged Momo away. Apparently, the higher your status, the more people bother you.
I’ll make it up to you, Momo. I put my hands together as I mentally thanked her.
“Takatsuki! Over here!” Sasa called out, pulling me over.
We joined Sakurai, Yokoyama, and Fujiyan in a group of former classmates. It’d been so long since we otherworlders had met up like this. We chattered away about school for a while, and then we got to talking about our experiences in junior high. Sakurai, Sasa, and I were all from the same school, but I found out that Yokoyama went there as well.
“H-How could you forget me?!” she demanded angrily.
“Our wonderful Tackie simply has no room in his memory for things that do not interest him... He also forgot about Lady Kei...”
“Fujiyan! I didn’t forget!” I protested. “I remembered her! She just looked so different that I was taken aback!” I didn’t want my best friend thinking I’d forgotten what his wife looked like.
Sasa giggled. “That seems like Takatsuki.”
“Speaking of junior high,” Sakurai said, “do you remember when you helped me with that stalker?”
“Hm?”
I dredged up my memories. Junior high, Sakurai, a stalker... Thanks to those powerful keywords, I located the memory without much difficulty.
Wait, you’re talking about that?!
I was suddenly completely sober. That’s right out of the cringe books!
Meanwhile, Yokoyama and Fujiyan leaped on the topic.
“Huh?! What are you talking about?!”
“What? That is the first I have heard of this!”
No, don’t ask! We promised to keep that secret.
“I remember that!” Sasa cheered. “Takatsuki borrowed my clothes. He was so cute when he cross-dressed.”
“Sasa?!” I yelped.
Crap, she knows about it too! She must’ve just remembered!
“Hey, what’s this about?” Yokoyama asked eagerly. “That sounds hilarious! I wanna know!”
“Ho hoh!” Fujiyan had Mind Reading, and he was grinning... Don’t tell me he saw my memories?!
“Yeah, Takatsuki definitely was cute...” Sakurai mumbled.
“Hey! Sakurai, why are you—?”
Sakurai got a little carried away and slumped toward me. I grabbed him by the collar.
Hang on... Is he...?
“Sakurai, have you been drinking?” I asked.
“Ah! I’m sorry! I might have poured him some accidentally,” Yokoyama apologized.
Sakurai was already asleep and breathing softly. He was just as much of a lightweight as ever.
Whew... At least, the records of my past would now never see the light of day.
“C’mon, Aya, tell us!”
“Um, well, I wasn’t actually there, but—”
“Stop it, Sasa!” I shouted.
Somehow, I managed to get through the conversation without giving anything concrete away.
I never thought my past would get brought up like this... Sasa’s sharp ears meant that she could hear every word, and she was grinning at me. Damn, she’s definitely going to ask me about it later.
Thankfully, with Sakurai now asleep, the festivities ended for the night.
◇
With the celebration before our departure over, the room fell quiet again.
Lucy and Sasa were sharing the guest room, but there were at least technically partitions set up. The two of them were getting their travel gear ready.
Nina had brought all kinds of new products with her, so the girls were having fun selecting their gear. Both had invited me to choose some things with them, but the constant questions about which pair of underwear was better would’ve gotten on my nerves, so I’d escaped.
There was still time before I needed to go to sleep, so I decided I might as well get some training in.
I summoned Dia near a fountain in the palace gardens. Since I’d told her to keep her mana under control, I didn’t need to worry about her frightening anyone.
“You called, my liege?”
“Dia, we’re going to be fighting Astaroth. We met him once before—do you remember?”
She put her hand on her chin and looked up in thought. “Do you mean the descendant of the dragon gods?”
“Yup, that’s the one. The guy Cocytus didn’t work on in the past.”
“I remember him, my liege. He was a powerful enemy back then.”
“Yeah. I promised to fight him again. I hope you’ll help.”
“Of course. Make use of me as much as you want,” she replied with a graceful bow.
Now that I thought about it, there hadn’t been any big battles since I’d come back to the present.
Maybe practicing some elemental magic would be a good idea. Though that’d probably piss Momo off...
“My knight...? What are you doing?”
Her voice broke my train of thought. I didn’t even have to look to see who it was, since there was only one person who called me that.
“Princess? Don’t you need to head back?”
Furiae ignored my question. “Who is that woman?”
Should a queen be so easily distracted? Well, she had someone nearby that was probably a guard.
“Another new woman...” she mumbled. “Maybe I should cast a curse.”
Yikes. I needed to explain things to Furiae now that she was offering distinctly unsaintly suggestions.
“Princess, Dia’s an Undyne. You remember, right?” I used to only be able to summon them when I’d used Synchro with Furiae—I’d gotten much better with elementals since then.
“Undyne...? She looks almost human.”
Furiae was right. She’d been a semitransparent blue before, but now she looked pretty much like a normal human. It was no surprise that Furiae had mistaken her for one.
Dia looked right back at Furiae, and her face twisted in suspicion. “My liege...is this the same witch...?”
Normally, no matter who we faced, Dia didn’t flinch—now, though, she was oddly on guard.
“No, she’s on our side. She’s a different person than the moon priestess back then.”
“I-I see...” There was still a hint of fear in Dia’s words. This really was rare for her. Apparently, Nevia had left a really strong impression.
“Say, do I really look so similar to the Witch of Calamity?” Furiae asked uneasily.
“You really do look sim—” Dia tried to say, but I cut her off.
“You’re way cuter,” I said loudly.
Furiae probably wouldn’t be happy about her resemblance to Nevia. Besides, I didn’t really think they looked alike. Nevia was a bit older—she looked like she was in her late twenties.
“I-I-I am?!” Furiae asked, her face bright red.
“That witch didn’t falter, no matter what situation lay before her. You certainly are different,” Dia marveled.
With that, Dia vanished. Furiae and I walked back to the room. She was probably going to say hi to Lucy and Sasa and then leave.
As we walked, Furiae was silent. She’d been like this for a while.
“Princess?” I asked.
There was a long pause, and then she replied, “What?”
“Well, you just weren’t saying anything.”
Another pause. “Does it matter?”
“Well, I guess not.”
Had I said something to annoy her? She stayed silent until we were getting close to the room.
“Makoto,” someone called out. The voice sounded androgynous, like it could be a girl’s or a young guy’s that hadn’t yet broken.
This was Prince Leonardo.
“Yes? What’s up?” I asked.
“Um... I actually wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay. Let’s talk in the room.”
“No! We can’t go in there. Here is fine.”
Furiae considered his serious expression. “Shall I leave?” she asked considerately.
“No, I want you to hear as well, Queen Furiae.”
“You do?”
What did he want to talk to us about?
He hesitated—the prince was silent for a few moments.
“Prince Leonardo?” I pressed.
“What is it?” Furiae added.
We waited for him to speak.
“Makoto...you’re going to the demon continent with the two Crimson Fangs, right?”
“The Crimson Fangs... Oh, Lucy and Sasa? Yes, I am.”
Furiae sighed. “If only I could come too.”
“You’re a queen now, so you can’t,” I told her.
“I know. Still, we used to go adventuring together.”
“Yeah, I miss it... Oops, sorry about that, Prince Leonardo.” We’d gotten off-topic. “Were you worried about something having to do with the continent?”
It would be the first time I would be going there in the present, but I thought conditions should be way better than they’d been a thousand years ago.
He shook his head. “No, not the continent...I wanted to talk about the two Crimson Fangs.”
“Lucy and Sasa?”
“What about them?”
Both Furiae and I were confused. They’d seemed just as energetic as normal. They were Roses’s top adventurers, so they were really reliable. I had no idea what the problem could be.
Maybe they’d been hurt and were hiding it...? If that was true, I’d need to make sure they didn’t push themselves.
But that wasn’t the case. The next words out of his mouth shocked me.
“There are...rumors that the two of them...are on bad terms.”
Furiae and I took a moment to parse that. “Pardon?” we asked in unison.
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