◆ Sword Maiden Shirone

  The ogres have left. Velos regained its peace.

  Fortunately, no one died in this incident. Well, everything is thanks to Kuroki’s intervention.

  If Kuroki didn’t drive away those ogres, the Velos kingdom might have been annihilated in a single night by Kyouka-san.

  After that, Kuroki vanished without a trace along with that silver-haired girl.

  Now that I recall about her, she was an extremely beautiful girl. I wonder who that girl is? I am really worried about Kuroki now.

  I recalled Chiyuki-san’s words before we came to Velos.

  According to Chiyuki-san, it seems there’s a magic drug that could be used to manipulate humans. Isn’t this exactly as everyone said before? What if that girl is the one who drugged Kuroki using that magic drug?

  I was thinking of such things while walking along the corridor of Velos.

  We were walking in the royal palace, led by Eclas.

  Nobody died in this incident, but some people were still injured. Those people were currently resting in the medical quarters of the royal palace.

  The doctors and the priests employed by this kingdom were currently treating those patients, but they were suffering from a lack of manpower. That’s why the three of us were led by Eclas to this place.

  Though my skill can’t match Sahoko-san’s, I could still use basic healing magic. As for Kaya-san, she possesses the ability to raise a person’s bodily resilience, thereby raising their natural recovery speed.

  Upon hearing about our skills, Eclas came to ask for our assistance.

  Since we were the main reason for the ogre’s raid in this country, even if he hadn’t asked for our assistance, we would have taken up the responsibility of treating the victims, at the least.

  Eclas, who had yet to recover from his dislocated disc, led us while being supported by Corfyna and an attendant.

  「Well then, here is the place, senorita. Since I still have to visit various other places……」


  Eclas bowed to us when we arrived in front of the medical room.

  「Well, please leave this place to us. You just need to fulfill your own duties.」


  Kyouka-san said with a haughty tone.

  Since Kyouka-san can’t use recovery magic, it’s up to me and Kaya-san though……

  We entered the medical room. The interior was huge with many beds furnished inside, all occupied by patients. The patients with minor wounds didn’t need a bed, so they were sitting on the chairs.

  When I took a glance around the room, I found that the majority of the people lying on the beds were the soldiers of this country.

  It seems the number of guests injured during last night’s incident was minimal.

  However, Eclas told us that he wanted the guests to be healed first, so we headed towards the guest section first.

  The people who wore gorgeous dresses were gathered in a separate area from the rest of the soldiers.

  Most of them were only suffering from minor injuries.

  A majority of them might have injured themselves when they ran away from the ogres.

  We started searching the surroundings to identify the ones with the gravest wounds.

  Suddenly, my eyes were attracted to someone.

  「EH, OMIROS-KUN?!」


  Omiros was there amongst the patients.

  「If it isn’t Shirone-sama.」


  Omiros bowed to us upon noticing our arrival.

  「What’s the matter?」


  I went towards Omiros’s position. Did he injure himself last night?

  I felt sorry for him when I recalled that I was the one who left him alone last night.

  Thus, I noticed that there was someone beside Omiros.

  A woman was sitting right by his side.

  A wet cloth was draped on her ankle.

  It looked like Omiros was the one who treated her wound.

  「She twisted her ankle when we were running away from the ogres……」


  「He~, I see.」


  Omiros was tending to her wound. Quite a gentleman, isn’t he? Aren’t you quite a smooth talker here? Have you recovered from that Regena matter?

  I looked at the face of that woman. She was quite a beauty.

  「N?!」


  Suddenly, I realized.

  「EH, PRINCESS REGENA?!」


  When I shouted, the girl looked at me.

  「AH! YOU’RE THE WIFE OF THE HERO!!」


  Regena muttered those words when she saw us.

  Though we never spoke with each other, it seems that both of us remember each other from the past.

  「What …… is the wife of the hero doing here?」


  That should be our question. According to Omiros’s story, she and her clan should have been banished to the goblin nest.

  「I have a question for you, Regena. Weren’t you and your clan supposed to be banished into the goblin nest? So, why are you here in the Velos kingdom?」


  Omiros asked that question on behalf of us.

  「Eh, about that……」


  Regena seemed to be hesitant to tell us about that matter.

  「OOOH! A gentleman saved us when we were in a pinch!! I have to go back to his side.」


  Regena tripped when she turned around to leave.

  Omiros caught her before she fell.

  「Don’t force your injured feet, Regena.」


  Omiros responded with a worried tone.

  「Are you okay?」


  I chanted healing magic while asking her that question.

  「Eh? My feet are healed!?」


  Regena separated from Omiros and then stood on her feet. If it was just this degree of injury, my healing magic was enough.

  「T-Thank you very much. Well, I’ll excuse myself then……」


  Regena was about to leave after saying those words.

  「WAIT, REGENA!」


  「Sorry, Omiros! You cannot stop me anymore!!」


  But, Omiros didn’t let go of Regena’s hand.

  There was something I wanted to ask Regena too.

  「Please wait a minute. You forgot about your baggage, Regena-san.」


  Kaya-san who was looking at the unfolding situation from the side presented the object in her hand to Regena.

  The thing in her hand was a short sword furnished with a beautiful sheath.

  「EH? AAH!」


  Regena was tapping her skirt in panic.

  「Thank you very much.」


  Saying so, she stretched her hand to try to take the sword from Kaya’s hand, but before Regena could take her short sword back, Kaya suddenly kept it away from Regena’s reach.

  「EH?!」


  Regena seemed to be shocked by Kaya’s action.

  「Kaya …… What are you doing here?」


  Kyouka-san was surprised as well. Kaya-san wouldn’t do such an ill-mannered act without a proper reason.

  When Kaya-san unsheathed the short sword I could see black flames coiling around the black blade.

  「These are …… black flames. What’s the meaning of this?!」


  Kyouka-san started screaming.

  「I just felt something strange when I touched this short sword, but…… As I expected……」


  I was also aware of the origin of this black flame.

  「It’s Kuroki’s flame.」


  I muttered so.

  Hearing me mutter Kuroki’s name, Regena questioned me.

  「Why do you know about my dear master’s true name?」


  「Eh?!」


  I looked at Regena who said those words.

  Regena blocked her lips with her hands due to the slip of her tongue.

  「I think I have an idea about the identity of the kind person who saved you.」


  I agreed with Kaya.

  The one who saved the clan who were driven out into the goblin nest might have been Kuroki.

  Why did he come to Velos? I wonder why he came with HER last night?

  「It seems that we can’t just let you go.」


  Saying so, Kaya-san stared at Regena.

  ◆Former Princess of Algore, Regena

  「I ABSOLUTELY WON’T TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT MY MASTER!」


  Saying so, I glared at those girls.

  Standing in front of me are the little sister of the hero, her maid, and one of the hero’s wives.

  I absolutely won’t tell them anything about my dear master.

  Currently, I’m being interrogated in the office of the king of Velos.

  I was captured after they became aware of my connection to my dear master.

  I don’t care about Omiros. I just want to go back to Nargol ASAP.

  But, because I got carried away when I met Omiros, I missed the chance to return to Nargol.

  And then, my dear master’s short sword and the gem loaded with return transfer magic were also confiscated.

  The gem aside, I wish they returned the short sword given by my dear master.

  In front of my eyes, the woman called Kaya, the one who captured me, kept asking about my dear master.

  But I had no intention to tell her about my dear master, even if they were to kill me.

  These women were my dear master’s enemies. Thus, they were my enemies, too. I won’t tell anything to my enemies.

  Puffing my cheeks, I averted my face from her.

  「U~hm, this is kinda troublesome. Even though I just want to know about Kuroki’s current condition.」


  The girl called Shirone seemed to be troubled.

  「Shall we make her confess by torturing her?」


  The woman called Kaya asked.

  I trembled in fear upon hearing her statement.

  「Uhm …… Please. If possible, please don’t hurt Friona’s daughter……」


  The one making that request was the king of this kingdom.