◆ Sword Maiden Shirone

  We continued our journey while sitting in the rocking carriage, a gift from Eclas. Our hippogriff was the one pulling the carriage.

  We could arrive faster by flying in the sky, but we had to carry more people. Naturally, carrying this many people was impossible even for a hippogriff.

  That’s why we had no choice but to use the land route.

  The carriage that we got from the Velos kingdom was splendid. The windows were big, and I could see the outside scenery with ease. The seat was also comfortable.

  Sitting on those seats were me, Kyouka-san, Kaya-san, and Regena-san.

  There were seven of us. Me, Kyouka-san, Kaya-san, Regena, and Omiros. And then, Echigos and Daigan were also present here.

  Parish wasn’t with us. He returned first since he had something to do.

  That news lightened Kyouka-san’s mood.

  After the ball, the unpleasant feeling I felt from Parish became even stronger. His eyes shined with an unpleasant light whenever he saw the members of the women camp. It worsened by a notch whenever he saw Regena. Breathing roughly, he looked like a dog that was always in heat. I felt bad for Parish, but in this regard, I agreed with Kyouka-san.

  When I told the others about Parish’s condition, it seems that he became like that due to the magic of that Silver Witch who came with Kuroki. I don’t know why she used that magic on Parish, but I might be able to understand the reason soon enough.

  Well, that aside, Parish was now gone.

  Though you couldn’t say they were a suitable replacement, we brought Echigos and Daigan along with us.

  As for why the two of them were traveling with us, Echigos begged us to bring him with us fearing he might be attacked by the ogres for the second time.

  As for how he returned from that forest to Velos, it’s still a mystery to me. He just suddenly appeared in front of our carriage and prostrated right before we left Velos.

  The ogre that was controlling Echigos previously seems to be called Kujig; that ogre is well known as the one governing the Blue Forest that’s present in this area. It appears that Kujig was living inside a confectionary castle present within the Blue Forest.

  I have to be vigilant since she might come to attack us again.

  As for Daigan, we, unfortunately, had to take him along since we couldn’t keep him, a dangerous living werewolf, in the Velos kingdom’s prison.

  Daigan was currently tied up with several chains and placed on the luggage compartment behind the carriage. By the way, Echigos was the driver.

  We not only tied up Echigos, but we also tied up Regena.

  We didn’t want to be rough with her, but she was our precious source of information. So, releasing her as such never came into our mind as an option.

  Fortunately, Regena also possessed a loose tongue. While she uttered that she will never divulge anything to us, she gradually spoke about Kuroki’s life in Nargol. That was why she’ll continue to be our hostage for a little longer.

  It was as Kaya-san had predicted, the one who saved Regena was Kuroki. If Kuroki didn’t come to help her, she might have been toyed by the goblins in their nest right now.

  For this reason, she feels a deeply rooted sense of gratitude towards Kuroki.

  But, because she was saved by Kuroki, there might be some beautification in her story.

  The Kuroki in Regena’s story is more powerful and kinder than anyone.

  Her expression when she talks about Kuroki is the face of a girl that has completely fallen in love with him.

  Especially her expression when Kuroki touched her hand while asking「Is your work too hard for you?」, even we, who were looking from the side, were dyed with embarrassment.

  Just how much is she going to extol Kuroki?

  I mean the real him is quite miserable, and to make matters worse, quite a pervert, too.

  Poor Omiros.

  She even glared at him with hostile intent just because he was traveling with us.

  The fact that he was hated by someone he holds dear must be painful for him.

  There was also the fact that she was bragging about another man in front of him. It’s too painful to look at his expression. [Ed: YOU DENSE MOTHERFU^%@$!#^][TL : I understand your feeling]

  Omiros wanted to bring Regena back to Algore. That was why, for Omiros, Kuroki was a hindrance.

  But, the furious Regena reacted with「BECAUSE MY DEAR MASTER IS FAR MORE AWESOME THAN SOMEONE LIKE OMIROS!!!」


  Omiros slumped when Regena told him so. He looked so pathetic.

  He kept worrying about Regena. For that reason, she should at least have been kinder to him, shouldn’t she?

  Suddenly, I wonder why the figure of the current Omiros was overlapping with

  Kuroki’s? [Ed:%^#@@%##%^

  #W^!&#

  ]

  The dejected Omiros was following alongside us on his horse.

  Should I reconcile these two?

  I was wondering about that.

  The best choice might be to separate Regena from Kuroki, right?

  Yosh, let’s tell her about the real Kuroki. By doing so, Regena, feeling disgusted by Kuroki, might return to the side of Omiros.

  When I made such plans, I could feel several signs of something approaching.

  「Please stop the carriage!」


  Maybe because she felt it too, Kaya-san told Echigos to stop the carriage.

  「Is something up?」


  Since he was told to stop the carriage, Echigos turned around and inquired about it.

  「Is it true, Kaya? Something happened?」


  Kyouka-san was also asking the same question.

  Kyouka-san didn’t know about this since she didn’t not possess a scouting ability.

  「Something is approaching from the front, my princess.」


  We directed our sights to the front.

  There we saw the scene of a horse galloping towards us.

  Omiros went forward to protect us from the horse coming toward us.

  「OMIROOOOOOOOS!」


  The one riding on the horse called Omiros.

  「MacGius! Riettos!!」


  The people on the horse were shouting at Omiros.

  There were two individuals on the horse. A man around the same age as us along with a little girl behind him.

  「Kaya-dono. They’re my relatives.」


  After turning around to say so, Omiros went ahead while waving his hands towards them.

  「PLEASE, WAIT A MINUTE! THE ONE COMING TOWARDS US ISN’T JUST THEM!!」


  After saying so, Kaya-san leaped from the carriage and ran towards them.

  Her movement speed was faster than Omiros’s riding on a horse.

  「EH?!」


  It was at that moment, from the side opposite of where the horse was coming at us, a shadow suddenly leapt from the thicket right beside that horse. The little girl tagging along on the horse coming toward our coach unknowingly shouted.

  That shadow looked like a bipedal ant almost as tall as a human. And it wasn’t just one of them. A Few of them leaped out from the thickets beside us as well.

  「UWAAA!」


  「KYAAA!」


  The duo riding on the horse raised a scream in tandem.

  The ants were approaching them.

  But, Kaya-san was faster than the ants. Pale blue lightning appeared on the gloves that she was wearing on both of her hands.

  They are a pair of gloves called ‘Tourmaline Gloves’ made out of a blue lightning gem.

  A lightning spirit resides in the Tourmaline magic on the top part of the gloves, thereby granting lightning damage along with impact damage.

  Kaya-san’s latest magic armament is far more powerful than the one she had used until now.

  Kaya-san leapt towards the ant heading for those two and punched its head. Then, using the recoil of her punch to twist her body in mid-air, her kick landed on another ant on the opposite side.

  Those ants were completely dead several seconds later.

  「Wooow……」


  The man riding on the horse gasped unintentionally. If I’m not wrong, Omiros called him MacGius.

  「Rietto! MacGius!!」


  Omiros rode his horse and went toward his acquaintance.

  「Why are you here?」


  Omiros asked.

  「Well, Riettos couldn’t be quiet about it …… She was worried about you since you were running late, so she thought that something might have happened……」


  Smiling wryly, MacGius said so while looking at the girl behind him.

  It seems they had come looking for Omiros since they were worried about him. We might be the reason for his late return. If it were just Omiros and Parish, they would have returned to Algore a bit faster.

  「Thanks, Riettos. I made you worry so much……」


  Saying so, Omiros pat Riettos’s head. This put Riettos in a slightly bad mood.

  She then averted her face with puffed cheeks.

  「Humph …… It’s not like I was worried about you. Moreover, stop treating me like a child.」


  She couldn’t be honest with herself. But that made her cuter.

  「Ah, sorry Riettos …… It’s just a habit of mine …… Come to think of it, I got some sweets with me. Is this present enough for you to forgive me?」


  Saying so, Omiros took something out from his bosom pocket.

  「SWEETS! REALLY?!」


  Riettos’s eyes were shining with bright lights as if her pouting a while ago was a lie.

  「Cough.」


  While Omiros and Riettos continued having such an exchange with smiles, Kaya interjected in their conversation with a cough from the side.

  「Omiros-dono. It would be rude for you not to introduce them to us, wouldn’t it?」


  Yeah, they were probably tired from riding the horse. Kaya-san interrupted their conversation.

  「M-My apologies for such inconsideration, Kaya-dono.」


  Saying so, Omiros bowed to Kaya-san. By his tone, he seemed to be scared of her.

  He then clasped on MacGius’s and Riettos’s backs. He seemed anxious for some reason.

  He might have been afraid of how easily she dispatched of those ants.

  I was even more scared than him. Decreasing the number of men courting us was a good thing, but it made me feel a bit down when even a cute child like Riettos was getting scared of me.

  Omiros brought the two of them to the front of the carriage.

  「Kyouka-sama, the two of them are my cousin MacGius and his little sister, Riettos.」


  Omiros introduced them to Kyouka-san sitting inside the carriage.

  「Yes, It’s nice to meet you.」


  Kyouka-san came out from the carriage.

  「Eh? So pretty! Who are you?」


  Rietto unintentionally praised her beauty. It seemed that MacGius was also charmed by her.

  「MacGius, Rietto. This personage is Kyouka-sama, the little sister of the hero. And I’m sure that you remember about Shirone-sama who came to Algore a while back.」


  Omiros introduces me after Kyouka-san.

  「You are …… The wife of the hero.」


  「Ah, it’s true……」


  It seems they remember about me. I should have never met them face to face, though.