Chiyuki.

  Eight of us were gathered in the room.

  Though it’s been three days since Reiji opened his eyes, he’s still not in his peak condition. But his recovery is just a matter of time.

  We could finally regain our everyday life after confirming Reiji’s safety.

  And now, everyone has gathered in one of the temple rooms to discuss about what we will do after this.

  「I think we should just give up with the subjugation of the demon king」


  So I say.

  「Why Chiyuki?」


  Reiji’s asking me.

  「Why you say… Why don’t you think of the answer by looking at yourself? You almost died, you know」


  So I scolded him with those words.

  In the first place, I was going to stop this demon king subjugation if things became too dangerous.

  Until now, we’re on the side who snatched their lives.

  But, our position reversed when we met Diehart.

  To be honest, we should have just given up on this subjugation from the very beginning.

  「Sorry Chiyuki, I have no intention to break my promise with a woman」


  Reiji’s saying that with a firm tone.

  So my anger switch flipped on hearing those words.

  「YOU, YOU MADE SAHOKO AND THE OTHERS WORRIED TO DEATH, YOU KNOW! ! THAT DIEHART FELLOW IS STRONG! ! YOU MIGHT DIE IF YOU FIGHT HIM AGAIN! ! 」


  This guy won’t even care about his own life when it comes to women.

  But, the foolishness of this man is also what saved me before once.

  That’s why I am travelling along with him until now. There’s Shirone and Nao too. They might have been saved by this guy in the past too.

  「My bad, but I’ve no intention to give up on saving Rena」


  Of course I know that. This guy just won’t stop from doing such things.

  「Uhm… Chiyuki-san, there are many people who are hurt because of the demons. So, can we really give up on those troubled people? 」


  It’s Rino who’s saying this.

  In the first place, the purpose of this journey was for the sake of saving the people who were suffering because of the demons.

  The demon king Modes is the king who rules over every demon in this world. And then, he comes to attack the humans by using those demons.

  And then, the demon king Modes is trying to rule over this world to destroy the gods of Elios.

  Though it’s not like we heard those rumors directly from Rena, such rumor were spread amongst the citizens.

  Defeating this demon king Modes for the world peace. That is our goal.

  Well, in fact, we only want to enjoy venturing around, but that is our official reason.

  「There’s also that, but we have something we must to do right? In the first place, THAT is the problem of this world? 」


  I think it’s strange in the fact that we have to take care of the problem of this world.

  「Well, that’s true, indeed」


  Though it’s strange that Kyouka is agreeing with me, so be it.

  「In the first place, we’re the only ones who are working hard, so what were those gods of Elios doing ? Did they never think of settling this problem themselves? 」


  Several of us, who heard Kyouka’s words, are having the expression that says, “You’re also not doing anything, right?”.

  But, Kyouka’s words are reasonable.

  The ones who will be troubled if the demon king Modes attacks Elios were those gods. Why are they not making their move?

  This fact also made me feel uneasy.

  「Yes, what Kyouka-san’s saying is reasonable」


  「Fufufu」


  Kyouka’s expression was filled with pride upon hearing my words.

  「Now, how about we look for Rena and ask for her answer about why the gods aren’t settling their own problem? 」


  Why those gods were leaving the demon king to his own devices.

  We absolutely have to protest if the reason is unreasonable.

  「Uhm, that should be okay right, Chiyuki-sama?」


  Now it is Kaya’s turn to ask me.

  「What’s the matter, Kaya-san?」


  In fact, I’m not very good in dealing with Kaya-san. She always has that expressionless-like noh mask on her face which makes me unable to determine what she’s thinking.

  Moreover, Kaya has always put some distance whenever she talks with others. That’s the reason why she always added “-sama” suffix to everyone. She never opened her heart to anyone amongst us.

  「Moreover, it’s not like we can’t return unless we beat the demon king, right?」


  Several amongst us nodded after hearing Kaya words after realizing that it’s not like we can’t go back if we’re not subjugating the demon king.

  「Thus, I have no choice but to negotiate about that matter in some way or another. I don’t think that the goddess will threaten us, even as a joke. I think she won’t say something like we won’t be able to go back unless we beat the demon king」


  In the first place, we’re talking about Rena, the goddess of abundant affection and appearance.

  「U~hm Chiyuki-san. Can I have a moment? 」


  Now, it is Shirone’s turn.

  「What’s the matter, Shirone?」


  「You see, I wonder what will happen if we return? Let’s say… What if another person got summoned to replace us」


  Then that different person will face the hardest trial in their life. So Shirone says.

  「U~hm, certainly, it’s almost like we’re dumping the trouble on him or her」


  Nao is agreeing with Shirone.

  「That’s right, Chiyuki. We should think about how to return right now rather than worrying about stopping」


  Maybe, it’s as hopeless as Reiji says. But, I couldn’t be satisfied with such a result. Someone might die. Moreover…


  「But you see, everyone. Someone might think that we’re dead right now. Moreover, it’s been over six months already. Our families might be anxious too」


  Yes, it’s been half a year already. It might be the right time to go back.

  Everyone fell silent on hearing my words.

  「Shirone-san, you want to meet your childhood friend right? 」


  So, I’m changing the flow of conversation to Shirone.

  I can’t persuade everyone by myself. I need a like-minded fellow.

  「EH!! I wonder what kind of person that childhood friend of Shirone-san? 」


  Sahoko bit into that topic.

  「A~h, so Sahoko didn’t know about i~t. He must be a childhood friend that made a vow to be together with Shirone-san, ri~ght」


  「W… W-Wait a minute Rino-san. Kuroki hasn’t done something like that, you know! ! 」


  Shirone’s raising an objection.

  「You see, I’m trying to look after him in the dojo of Shirone family since I’m kind of interested in him. He’s quite a plain person but definitely a splendid, cool, and handsome man, you know. Maybe, he’ll be popular if it wasn’t for Reiji」


  Though I have only heard the matter about the childhood friend from Shirone, in fact, I have never met him. [TL : Be strong, Chiyuki]

  But, Rino, who works as a model, was used to looking at handsome men. So, the “Quite handsome” for this girl might be on the level of a general good-looking guy.

  But the other male students are not that conspicuous since Reiji is in the school. That might be the reason why her childhood friend isn’t conspicuous too.

  「…Handsome? But is he really that good looking? 」


  Shirone’s tilting her head. It seems she never considered him as good looking.

  「He~…」


  Reiji’s letting out a voice with a deep meaning.

  「Re… Reiji-kun must have misunderstand too, right. I feel nothing about Kuroki! ! 」


  Shirone’s explaining to Reiji in a confused manner.

  The girls in this place, everyone have feelings toward Reiji. Maybe Shirone also doesn’t want him to misunderstand something.

  If it’s from my perspective, Shirone is really someone that doesn’t have some sort of special feeling toward her childhood friend. She might have not been with Reiji if she really possessed some special feelings for her childhood friend.

  But then, maybe her childhood friend likes her.

  But, Shirone says that she wants to apologize to him since she said some cruel things to him just before being summoned to this world.

  「But Shirone-san, Didn’t you say that you want to apologize to your childhood friend? 」


  So I ask Shirone.

  「That’s…」


  Shirone is faltering.

  Rino and Nao bent their body forward to hear Shirone faltering with her words. It seems that the graceful Sahoko is also listening attentively.

  In case of Sahoko and Rino, they’re greatly interested since there’s a chance to decrease the number of their rivals.

  「Well then, everyone. Should we try to talk to Rena first? It won’t be too late to consider our next plan after hearing her story, right? 」


  Reiji interrupted the girls’ stories.

  「E~h」


  Rino’s saying so while grumbling.

  Certainly, we have so many things that we have to ask to Rena.

  In the first place, we couldn’t ask about many things before embarking on our journey.

  Why the gods of Elios have left the demon king to his own devices?

  Is it really true that we won’t be able to go back unless we beat the demon king?

  We dissolved our conference after saying a few words.