… … …


  Rena’s throat is making a low gulping sound.

  She has currently removed her hood. Now, I am able to have a better look at her face. A genuine beauty; she should probably be the most beautiful woman I’ve met so far, right?

  I couldn’t think anything when I’m alone with this kind of beauty in this kind of atmosphere. I feel more uncomfortable than happy for being so close with this beauty.

  The experienced Reiji might be able to do something about it. Oh, I can’t help but think of such things.

  Rena is letting out an alluring smile while gazing at me.

  That smile is simply foul play.

  Though there’s charm magic, I think Rena will be able to charm her opponent without even resorting to that kind of magic.

  Rena is looking at me with moist eyes.

  「KUROKI」


  Rena suddenly blurted out my real name.

  EH!? I thought, how do you know my real name?

  I’m being pulled by her while I’m pondering about that question.

  I couldn’t believe it, but Rena’s extremely beautiful face is right in front of me.

  I feel dizzy.

  And then, Rena’s red lips overlapped with mine. The smell of liquor enters my nasal cavity.

  I could hear the sound of something being broken in my head.

  === === ===

  ◆ The Captain of Temple Knights, Lucullus

  「What are you doing!! Hyllus!!」


  I ended up shouting those words.

  I placed my hand on my mouth.

  Raising a loud voice was unbecoming in the holiday villa of hero-sama.

  「What’s the matter, lord Lucullus?」


  A girl approached me.

  「Ah, Chiyuki-sama」


  I bow at her.

  To this beauty.

  Black-haired sage, Chiyuki.

  That is her name.

  She seems to be a girl at glance. But, this girl has unrivalled magical power compared to those bunch of magicians in the temple in Holy Republic Lenaria.

  Even those magician from Saria academy may not be be able to match her magical power.

  Maybe because that black-haired sage was just out of the bath, her wet hair looks really sexy.

  「The truth is, the people who were investigating the city are yet to return」


  「Investigating…. Ahh, about the things we asked, right. We ended up causing you trouble, lord Lucullus」


  She then bowed to me. I’m bewildered by her action.

  「It’s nothing, that’s the job of temple knights, after all」


  I reply so while straightening my posture.

  It seems that the hero-sama is looking for a certain person. So we, the temple knights are helping them search for that person.

  Hyllus is on the move, since the person they’re looking for can use invisible magic.

  While the temple knight Hyllus has his own skill, he is also gifted with ability to gaze through and discover the truth behind invisibility and illusions.

  Thought he can’t see through the illusion magic of the fairy dancer, he can still see through high level illusion magic.

  That’s why I left the search to him.

  But, maybe that was a mistake on my part.

  Though his ability is ranked 1~2 amongst the temple knights, he’s prone to cause a commotion. Though his habit is being overlooked due to his ability, that also has its own limit.

  Even if the ability of the subordinates chosen by him is quite high, they have problematic behaviors. It’s already way past the time for them to go back.

  In the past, they’ve caused trouble for women during their duty, so the same thing might be happening right now.

  Though something might have happened to them right now, they would have blown the whistle to inform us in case there was an emergency situation. If they can’t even do that, then they’re disqualified as temple knights.

  We can’t decrease the number of guards anymore than this just to search for them. I become more and more vexed just by thinking about that fact.

  What should I do when they return?

  「Let’s punish them when they return」


  「No, it’s our selfish request after all. At the least, please be gentle with their punishment」


  Chiyuki-sama is speaking for Hyllus.

  Though this black-haired girl is feared due to her ability to use powerful magic, I just recently discovered that she’s actually a kindhearted girl.

  「That aside, lord Lucullus. Did you happen to know where Reiji’s going to? 」


  「The hero-sama? Though I’m sure that he is secluding himself in his room, I don’t know where he is right now since no one has entered his room after that. Do you want to enter?」


  Chiyuki-sama is nodding at my question.

  Properly speaking, the targets of protection also included hero-sama, but we can’t do anything if hero-sama can’t do anything.

  Chiyuki-sama also won’t be blaming us since she knows clearly about this matter.

  「Geez, where did he disappear to…」


  She heaves a sigh.

  === === ===

  ◆ Princess of the Rox kingdom, Almina

  「Reiji-sama」


  On top of the bed, I bring my face closer to the chest of my beloved person.

  There’s an ugly scar running from his right shoulder to his left hip.

  There wasn’t such scar when we first met before.

  I hate that dark knight who inflicted such a scar upon Reiji, the one hailed as the hero of light.

  The wound inflicted by that dark knight seems to have left a scar that won’t disappear even with the healing power of the saint, Sahoko-sama.

  How dare that dark knight do this kind of thing to the beloved man of the goddess-sama. I’m sure that goddess-sama will bring punishment upon that sinful man. [TL: ….]

  Suddenly, when I’m thinking of such things.

  Is goddess-sama embracing him in this way, too?

  Though I’ve never met that goddess, it seems that sometimes she descends at the Holy Republic Lenaria.

  She might have come to meet Reiji-sama.

  The man loved by that beautiful goddess Rena. Is him. [TL: ….]

  Though this might be rude, I feel like I’ve become a goddess when I’m with him.

  My beloved person went down from the bed. Exposing his bare body.

  It’s a beautiful body which makes me want to stare at it even more.

  But, this is also the end. Since it’s not only limited to goddess Rena, there are several more beautiful girls around him. I can only enjoy a slight amount of time with him.

  「Are you going to leave?」


  「Yeah, I should be back soon」


  I recall about the black-haired sage from Reiji-sama’s words.

  Chiyuki-sama is a beauty and an extremely terrifying person. If our relationship were to get discovered, it’ll be the end for me.

  Well, she could easily demolish that firm rampart with her magical power. I’m definitely no different from a pebble when facing against such terrifying magical power. My fear surfaces just by thinking about that event.

  Nevertheless, I want to be together with Reiji-sama.

  「I see….」


  I said so with a slightly lonely voice. I want to remain in his memory even just a little.

  But my wish was also in vain as Reiji-sama is wearing his clothes now.

  「Ah, come to think of it, Almina. I’ll do something about the matter you’re talking about」


  Reiji-sama said so while smiling at me.

  It was the zombie outbreak matter from last night.

  The survivors of Striges might come to exact their revenge on this kingdom.

  Since Striges are powerful demons, we decided to borrow Reiji-sama’s power.

  This is the request of my fiancee, Rember.

  I feel bad for Rember since I have this sort of relationship with Reiji-sama.

  Though I don’t hate Rember, I can’t bring myself to see another man ever since I knew Reiji-sama.

  「Striges huh…. To think that they managed to survive. I will definitely eradicate them for you, Almina. You have my word」


  I feel relieved upon hearing Reiji-sama’s words.

  === === ===

  ◆ Temple Knight

  「I’ll leave it to you then, Orua-san. We’ll go contact the mansion of hero-sama」


  「Yeah, leave it to me」


  I hear such an exchange from the top of the place I’m lying at.

  My body can’t move. When I’m trying to look around, the temple knight who is suffering the same fate as me is also being carried in the same manner.

  I heard the voice of the men who carried me till this place.

  Why did it become like this? It makes me want to cry.

  I can only regret the fact that I didn’t blow the whistle fast enough.

  Just who the hell was that man we met in the alley?

  He seemed like your usual kind person at a glance, but that man’s maneuvers was anything but normal.

  I was beaten down without even having any chance to resist.

  Though I don’t know what kind of move he used at that time, my body and mouth were already paralyzed.

  Still, I feel a dull pain running throughout my body.

  I felt that everything is captain Hyllus’s fault.

  I hate him.

  It’s all because captain Hyllus was unreasonably doing such things.

  The man called Hyllus, his ability to court women is unparalleled.

  After seeing Sahoko-sama in that kind of attire, we also went to woo women due to captain Hyllus’s invitation.

  Then, I recalled Sahoko-sama’s attire. I never thought that a such pure and gentle girl like her would wear such an attire.

  I simply can’t forget her figure. It’s still vivid in my memories even when I close my eyes.

  Consequently, I’m jealous of the hero who receives love from Sahoko-sama.

  I feel healed just by being at her side.

  No one but Sahoko-sama can make one feel healed like that.

  Any kind of wound will be healed by her, the white saint.

  I wonder if I will have the chance to touch her hand.

  If so, then I will say my gratitude to that man who made me feel this pain.

  Who is that man anyway?

  Could it be that he is Sahoko-sama’s target?

  I must tell Sahoko-sama about this.

  Maybe she’ll praise me for telling her that.

  「Kukuku, how’s your body?」


  The approaching woman is the owner of this house.

  After beaten by that man in the alley, we were brought to the nearby doctor immediately, this woman’s house.

  I somehow managed to see the figure of the woman from my lying position.

  She is a black woman.

  She’s wearing black hood and black clothes to hide her pale face and eyes.

  Though I don’t know how she looks like since I almost unable to see her figure, I think she’s quite old based on the way she spoke.

  It seems this woman has poor sight. I knew from the story of the men who carried us here that she can’t live in an extremely bright place.

  That’s why the room is gloomy, since she closed all the windows in her house. Only a miniscule amount of light from the setting sun managed to enter the room through the gap between the windows.

  As you might expect from a doctor, her house is filled with the smell of medicinal plants.

  My head is dizzy just by sniffing that odor.

  「You guys are the knights protecting that hero, right?」


  Then, I felt a dissonance on hearing her words.

  The tone of this woman was filled with killing intent.

  「Kukuku…. How lucky am I today, for my prey to deliver themselves to me」


  Prey? What the hell is this woman talking about?

  There’s nothing unusual about this woman.

  And then, I was agape when that woman untied the cloth that covered her eyes.

  Those aren’t the eyes of a human.

  Bird…. The eyes of a bird.

  The woman’s bird eyes has black pupils surrounded by yellow color where there should be white.

  Her eyes shining with fiery rage aren’t human eyes.

  Thus, I noticed a fact.

  She is a demon.

  「Uuurgh」


  My collagues and I are groaning upon seeing her eyes.

  「You guys will become my pawns」


  She starts laughing. Suddenly, I spotted long canines from the gap between her lips.

  「To destroy the one who killed my cute daughter, the hero and this kingdom. 」


  She laughed terrifyingly.

  Unfortunately, we couldn’t do anything but groan in pain.