◆Demon King; Modes

  I’ve held a meeting with the Smithing God, Heibos, in one of the Demon King Castle’s rooms.

  「I’m glad Nut has come back safe and sound, Modes.」


  Heibos poured out a golden liquor he’d brought from Elios into our empty cups.

  The golden liquor was a wine that was made from the golden fruit of the golden tree. Naturally, its creator was the God of liquor and food, Nectar.

  Upon taking a sip of the golden liquor poured by Heibos, its rich flavor immediately spread on my tongue.

  「Yeah, Heibos. This is only possible thanks to Lord Diehart effort and your assistance.」


  It seems that Lord Diehart could drive Labrys into a corner even when fighting inside the latter’s labyrinth. According to Nut, he could easily overpower Labrys even without the hero’s cooperation.

  His performance has surpassed my estimation.

  By the way, Nut had returned to his family after he submitted his report to the Demon King’s castle. He should’ve reunited with his wife and children by now.

  「But the end of result is he saved the hero and co too, are you really okay with that?」


  「It doesn’t matter. Nut’s safety is far more important to me. There’s also your unsolved regret in that labyrinth.」


  Some of my ministers were criticizing Lord Diehart’s actions which resulted in him saving the Hero and co. But, I shut them up before they crossed the line…


  I mean, Lord Diehart had done everything he could to save Nut, in that Labrys’ labyrinth nonetheless. We shouldn’t blame him for that.

  「I see… my bad. In addition, I should thank the Dark Knight for resolving the grudge of my beloved children.」


  Thanks to Lord Diehart, the labyrinth’s ownership had been returned to its rightful owner, Heibos.

  The minotaurs in that labyrinth had all escaped after Labrys was no longer in there.

  Currently, the labyrinth had been sealed by the Dwarves. With that, the monster inside won’t be able to go outside.

  「Yeah, please send my gratitude to Lord Diehart. But of course, it seems he will be absent for quite a while.」


  It seems that Lord Diehart had taken a paid leave to enjoy his time with Kuna. After I’d received the report from Nut, another communication via magic came from Lord Diehart saying that he’d be back right away if something happened to Nargol.

  He really was an honest man to boot.

  Honestly, I don’t think that Lord Diehart would betray me. Everyone was simply too paranoid over this matter.

  「Moreover, I never expected for that Rena to go as far as cooperating with the Dark Knight to save her lover.」


  It was just as Heibos had said. It seems that Lord Diehart had worked together with Rena to save Nut. Rena was willing to go as far as working together with the Dark Knight, her enemy, to save her lover.

  I thought my ears were tricking me when I heard the news on that matter for the first time. But I quickly realized that a woman in love might be willing to go that far.

  「Sure enough. I heard that the proud goddess went as far as bowing her head to the Lord Diehart, her enemy. Heibos, women are always such mysterious creatures…」


  「Indeed…」


  Heibos agreed with me.

  「But, there’s something even more worrying than that.」


  「Are you referring to the matter about that Serpent’s Queen, Diadona?」


  I nodded to Heibos.

  Heibos had been informed about this piece of information as well.

  It seems that Diadona had appeared and bailed out Labrys, who was about to die in the midst of battle.

  「Yeah. Diadona, who hid herself until now, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Moreover, she’s also trying to recruit the neutral gods as her allies. I wonder what’s she’s up to this time…」


  Diadona was a woman who resembled her mother the most and said she would destroy all the gods who descended from Mina.

  That included Mona since she was the clone of Rena.

  That’s why she was also this Modes’ enemy.

  Diadona might be wanting to wage a second war against Elios.

  「Has the Dark Knight managed to extract useful information from the Spider Goddess he caught a while ago?」


  I shook my head in response to Heibos’ question.

  「Atlankua had no idea about that… It seems she was in the dark about this matter.」


  Atlankua was being held captive in one of the Demon King castle’s rooms right now. I still have no idea about what I should do with her later.

  Should I tell Atlankua’s husband regarding this matter.

  Atlankua’s husband was one of the desert gods with a poisonous tail. If he has yet to move his home, he should still be in a certain temple in the desert.

  But according to my information source, Atlankua should’ve been living apart from her husband right now.

  Maybe it’s better not to tell her husband about his wife’s situation.

  「She really has no idea huh…」


  「Yeah… just what in the world is that Diadona trying to do?」


  But the answer didn’t come to mind no matter how much I thought about it.

  Since there’s no use mulling over this fruitlessly, I should just enjoy this golden wine with Heibos in silence.

  「Now let’s change the topic, Modes. That Nectar guy wanted gem fruit.」


  Heibos spoke casually as he drank the golden wine.

  「Nectar want gem fruit? I see now, is that for the compensation of this golden wine?」


  「That’s right.」


  Heibos laughed merrily with the cup of wine in one hand.

  Gem fruit was Nargol’s native fruit and grew on the gem tree.

  Even though its name was ‘gem fruit,’ it didn’t mean that it was made of real gems. It was called that way due to its transparent and gem-like beautiful appearance.

  There was almost no one who could find it useful, but the gem fruit was one that would never lose its freshness. There were several harvested gem fruit within the Demon King’s castle.

  「I understand. I’ll give him the gem fruit that was kept in Demon King castle’s treasury. And take some smoked queen salmon while you’re at it too.」


  「Smoked queen salmon?」


  「Yeah. Lord Diehart made some for me. It’s die for and matches very well with any kind of liquor.」


  「That sounds delicious. I’m sure that Nectar will be delighted too.」


  「Sure. Ah, don’t forget to keep this as a secret from Fanacea too. It’ll be a huge headache if Fanacea is reporting the matter about our little mischief to her mother, Faeria, after all.」


  Fanacea, the Goddess of medicinal plants and medicine, was Nectar’s wife. Additionally, she was the oldest daughter of Faeria, the Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth, and big sister of Totona, the Goddess of Book and Knowledge.

  And Goddess Faeria hated this Modes.

  Well, Fanacea herself was a really obedient daughter as she was really close to her mother. That’s why, she’ll definitely report the matter of her husband receiving gem fruit and queen salmon from this Modes to her mother.

  If that were to happen, Nectar would definitely have to face his mother-in-law’s wrath.

  Just imagining Nectar’s poor figure at his in-law’s wrath was enough to bring tears to this Modes’ eyes.

  「I understand. Nectar will never be able to stand up to Faeria after all. Or rather, all Elios’ male gods are henpecked husbands.」


  Heibos spoke with a frown on his face.

  「Elios’ male gods have it hard huh…」


  「They truly do.」


  Heibos spoke with a smile on his face.

  Well then, I wonder what Oudith and co will do from now on? They are the main enemies of Diadona after all.

  Those guys in Elios were about to be in deep sh*t now.

  I thought so as I looked in the direction of Elios.

  ===

  ◆Goddess of Wisdom and Victory; Rena

  「I’m back, Rena-sama.」


  My valkyrie, Nier, had just returned from Fanacea’s place.

  After we returned to Elios, I immediately sent my valkyries who had turned into beautiful gem sculptures to Fanacea.

  「Thanks for your hard work, Nier. How’s the conditions of those girls?」


  Fanacea was the Goddess of medicinal plants and medicine. She should be able to cure the valkyries who’d been turned into gem sculptures.

  「Yes. According to Fanacea-sama, their symptoms aren’t that bad thanks to Rena-sama’s protective shield. They should return back to normal soon enough.」


  Nier gave her report as she bowed her head.

  「I see, all is well then. It seems I can feel at ease now.」


  I sat on my chair and raised my face to stare at the ceiling as I heaved a heavy sigh.

  「Uhm… Rena-sama…」


  Nier looked at me with a worried expression on her face.

  「What’s matter, Nier?」


  「Uhm… your body… that’s…」


  Nier’s line of sight paused on my stomach.

  I looked down at my own stomach.

  It’d become slightly bigger than before.

  I could still hide my pregnancy with loose clothing for now. But, it’ll only became harder and harder to hide it in the future.

  「It’s okay, Nier. All I need to do is stay cooped up in my house after this.」


  「Please don’t worry about us, Rena-sama. Please just stay in your house and let us to take care of the rest.」


  「Fufufu, you’re right. I’ll leave this matter to you then, Nier.」


  「Yes, Rena-sama. Please leave it to us to take care of your needs. I shall take my leave then.」


  Nier bowed her head once before leaving the room.

  Just as she’d said, I might have to stay cooped up in my room for a while.

  But, the Serpent Queen, Diadona, getting involved was rather worrying. And yet, I couldn’t do anything about the matter with my current condition.

  I have to report the matter about Diadona to Oudith. That way, I can leave the rest to him.

  Though, Oudith might not be able to do anything either.

  He was already occupied with protecting Elios.

  And that God of Battle and Power, Thors, might be able to help a little in this matter. But, that muscle head Thors wouldn’t be able to defeat Diadona.

  In short, none of Elios’ gods could stop Diadona at the moment.

  Yes, we couldn’t do anything about Diadona.

  Though I still have Reiji at my disposal, he isn’t that reliable.

  「Haah… No use in pondering this matter anymore.」


  I brushed my hand lightly over my slightly bulging belly.

  I think that I need to give birth to this child faster.

  This child might even become a hero surpassing Reiji.

  I mean, this child is mine and Kuroki’s, after all. There’s no way this child is weak.

  And once this child all grown up, not even Diadona could defeat mine’s and Kuroki’s child.

  「Please born soon. My adorable hero.」