Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Black-haired Sage, Chiyuki

Rox kingdom is located around two days away with a coach from Holy Republic Lenaria. It's located in the center of the widely used big highway of the eastern part of the continent.

The ruler is a king called Rocros the eighth with a population of around 30000.

If it's only that much, every country in this world is similar to it.

But, Rox kingdom has two features that can't be found in another kingdom.

First, it's a hot spring. Many people come to this hot spring for its curative effects. The reason for our disguise to come to this place is also for the same.

Second, the Holy Dragon King of Silver lives in the Holy Dragon mountain in this vicinity. In the first place, the founder of Rox kingdom was granted permission to make a kingdom in this area after his pledge with this holy dragon king.

And today is the founding day of the Rox kingdom. Rox kingdom will hold a festival for one week starting today. During that time, the hotel charges for the inn and fee for hot spring are cut by half; moreover, anyone can freely enter this kingdom. That's the reason why many people come for a visit. The number of people is more overwhelming than the time when we came before.

It's the second time we are coming to this kingdom. The reason for our previous visit was because of this kingdom’s hot spring.

For Japanese people like us, it's truly difficult to fight against the charm of the hot spring. It's been around a month since the last time we came to this Rox kingdom for taking a short break from demon king subjugation.

At that time, we exterminated the demon called Striges who tried to peek on us while we were bathing with our full powered magic, resulting in one part of the rampart being destroyed.

We didn't know about the existence called holy dragon king when we came before. It might be due to some kind of barrier since even Nao’s superior perception can't catch it.

If a dragon like that is really present in this place, I want to meet it.

I'm told that the Holy Dragon King of Silver is a white dragon that symbolizes good luck. It's just like a fantasy novel by Ende*. [TL: A novel author]

Regarding this Holy Dragon King of Silver, our true reason for coming this time is for the horn of this Holy Dragon King of Silver which lives in the vicinity of this Rox kingdom.

We are supposed to obstruct that dark knight Diehart from getting his hands on the Holy Dragon King’s horn. We were bewildered when such a request suddenly came from Rena.

Reiji’s wounds have almost healed thanks to the secret potion of the gods and Sahoko’s healing magic.

But, even though Reiji has healed, Diehart is powerful. We must avoid the case of fighting him at all costs.

But, just like any other case, Reiji is weak toward a request from Rena. If it was Reiji alone, he might get beaten to the verge of dying just like the last time we fought against Diehart.

I want him to at least considering his surrounding. Moreover, I don't wish to see Sahoko and Shirone cry again.

That's why I moved slowly on purpose.

But then, for some reason, Diehart is yet to cut off the horn of the Holy Dragon King. The bell that we got from Rena is yet to ring.

It seems that Rena and her subordinate angel has set an alarm similar to the one equipped in Rena's temple that will ring when an unauthorized person trespasses the Holy Dragon mountain.

In the end, the bell never rang.

In the first place, why does Rena know about Diehart’s movement？ Could it be that she has her spy hidden in Nargol？

And then, why is the dark knight aiming for the horn of Holy Dragon King？

Well, though I don't know what he's going to do with it, it might not be a good thing since he's going to snatch the horn of the Holy Dragon King, hailed as the white dragon of sacred fortune.

Leaving along the main street of Rox which stretches from the rampart gates of Rox, we continue to travel till we enter the place close to the rampart gate and leave our coach in the care of the palace guards. We'll be walking until Rox kingdom’s royal palace from here.

I can feel a few gazes looking at us as we walk in the city. And quite unpleasant ones on top of that. There are many people who have gathered to see us. Mostly, it’s the men.

For this reason, the temple knights came with us from Holy Republic Lenaria as our escorts to drive away these mobs. Different from the previous visit, it's a correct choice to bring along our escorts.

Their rather rough method is just the right way to clear away the people.

「Uhm, Chiyuki-san… It's really embarrassing, you know」

Shirone, exposed under similar unpleasant gazes as me, says so with a tone that’s on the verge of crying.

「Please don't say that… Even I don't want to think about it」

Looking at Shirone, I think she possesses a splendid figure. It’s as if she’s only wearing her underwear. She is wearing what you call as bikini armor. It matches very well with Shirone’s balanced proportion. But then, it seems the person herself doesn't want to wear that.

But then, it's not like I can say that to her. Currently, my figure also won't lose to her with the gothic lolita and ultra-mini skirt costume that I am wearing. I must be very careful with my movements since it seems that my underwear can be seen just by slightly bending my body.

If you were to ask why we wore such an embarrassing get up, it's to lure the pervert who groped Kyouka’s breasts.

We lost the way to return to our world after Diehart destroyed the summoning tools. We were slightly discouraged when we learned that we can't go back.

No matter how amusing the amusement park is, there's no way we can enjoy it if we can't even leave it. That's our current situation.

But, there's still a hope to return to our own world. We have placed our hopes on the other person in possession of the summoning tools. The reason we arrived at such a conclusion is that the pervert who groped Kyouka’s breast seemingly comes from the same world as us. In short, there's another person who is in possession of these summoning tools. We have no choice but to look for that person.

Thus, we will start with catching the pervert who groped Kyouka’s breasts.

This person was aiming for Kyouka’s breasts. So he might love women breasts a lot.

That's why all of us[girls only] decided to lure this pervert by wearing such embarrassing get up which emphasizes on our breasts.

Though we were originally going to use Kyouka as a bait, we met with Kyouka’s strong objection, so Reiji suggested a proposal for all of us[girls only] to wear these embarrassing costumes since that pervert might be lured by breasts other than Kyouka's.

For this reason, it's not just me and Shirone, the other girls are also wearing the same kind of extremely embarrassing dresses.

We are going to wear this get up when we are out. That doesn't change even at Holy Republic Lenaria.

By the way, the costume that we are wearing is brought by Reiji. The parts that are exposed isn't just our chest, the other parts are exposed, too. According to Reiji, it's to increase the possibility of that pervert to approach us.

No matter how I think about it, it's nothing but his secret desire; without any clue of that pervert and without any means to lure him out, we ended up resorting to such a method.

Certainly, a large number of perverts will come toward us. In fact, I can feel that the number of men who have come to see us as we walk in the city has increased three-fold.

But, the pervert we're looking for is yet to appear.

Since we resorted to this kind of method, the temple also increased our escort by three times. They're accompanying us to this Rox kingdom. And now, the men who are trying to get closer to us are being hindered by them. If it's the pervert who can fight on par, if not better, than Kaya, our escorts won't pose a problem to him. That's why I know that he is yet to appear.

I wish that he'll appear as soon as possible. How long are we going to wear this embarrassing attire?

Though this attire could pose problems during battle, Diehart aside, we can easily win against common demons or humans. Also, our armaments can be summoned at any time with magic, so there's almost no danger to us.

I am looking at the other members’ appearances now.

First is Nao, wearing a nekomimi paired with mini cheongsam*. [TL*: Cat ears and Chinese dress.] The slit of the cheongsam looks very good with Nao’s slender limbs. Though Reiji thought of giving a cattail along with nekomimi, Nao rejected it after consulting us.

I asked Reiji since I don't know about it, it seems that the tail is apparently an accessory to be inserted in a strange place. When I heard about it, I incinerated the tail while exuding a silent but heavy pressure. Unknown to me, it seems Reiji displayed a slightly sad expression.

That's why Nao is only wearing nekomimi right now.

Nevertheless, I'm still wondering why Reiji has this kind of clothes. I want to smack those guys who made these clothes with Reiji.

Rino is wearing a cheerleader costume. It's a perfect fit for the cute Rino. In Rino’s case, it doesn't pose that much of a problem since she always wears clothes with such a level of exposure.

Since she works as a model, she can wear this kind of embarrassing clothes without flinching.

Though at first, Reiji tried to make Rino wear only a ribbon which twined to cover her important parts, he stopped it since it was already too much. Geez, what on earth was he thinking about….

Kyouka is wearing a dancer’s outfit. She wore the showiest dress in order to lure that pervert.

That's only natural since that pervert aimed for Kyouka’s breasts in the first place.

The one with the best style amongst us is Kyouka; her dress that emphasizes on her constricted waist and abundant chest continuously lure the other men.

Her personality aside, her style will even make another woman feel jealous when seeing her.

Though she was reluctant to wear such an attire at first, she finally agreed after Reiji’s vehement persuasion. Despite being a sibling and in contrast to Reiji, she has an old way of thinking which contradicts her age. She doesn't want to wear the clothes with too much exposure. But then, since she is wearing such gaudy swimsuit now, her standard has become too obscure.

Kaya’s attire is the miniskirt of a maid; originally, Kaya seems to have always worn a maid outfit on a daily basis as an attendant at Kyouka’s house. The white knee-high socks under her miniskirt make her beautiful and slender legs even more prominent.

Though Reiji tried to make her wear more revealing clothes, it seems he is no match for Kaya’s silent pressure. I want to be like her, too.

Thus, it makes me wonder why Kaya follows Kyouka? The relationship between them hasn't changed even after coming to this world; I don't think that they have just a mere master and servant relationship. Maybe there's more to it. But then, it didn't mean that I can just readily barge into someone else’s family matter.

The last is Sahoko, she’s wearing a white bunny attire. This attire, emphasizing the breast area, worn by Sahoko with the biggest breasts amongst us, is causing an extremely destructive impact.

Though Sahoko’s slightly plump figure can't match Kyouka’s best proportion amongst us, it's still destructive enough to attract the men’s lustful gazes. According to others, some men prefer Sahoko’s style.

However, she is quite embarrassed with her high-leg leotard emphasizing her easy-delivery hips. The person herself seems to be almost crying from embarrassment. The fabric isn't the complete see-through kind but still transparent on some parts – absolutely something that can't be shown to the public eyes. If it were me, I absolutely won't wear that attire. But, since Sahoko was never able to refuse Reiji’s request, she’s wearing such an attire, albeit unwillingly.

Her gaze has remained painful for quite some time now. If those temple knights aren't there as our escorts to protect us from the strange guys that are trying to approach us, I might as well as have used explosion magic（Explosion）to blow away those curious men to smithereens due to my embarrassment.

We are heading toward Rox kingdom’s royal palace while enduring such embarrassments. The first thing we have to do is to meet the king of this kingdom.

I heard that it's a custom for important persons from another country to have an audience with the king when they visit the country of that king. We already heard about that even before coming here.

Though it's not like we were VIP's, we have no choice due to the praise from our surrounding.

Moreover, we need to at least have a permit to easily win the trust of the foreign knights.

The escort knights were the people chosen by the temple. Rather than to protect us, they are here with us to prevent us from using our power. If you ask for the reason, it’s because our actions will become a disgrace to goddess Rena. Though I think they're rude on us, I can't say anything since Kyouka or Reiji on a white horse could trigger complete destruction in the city with their magic.

The Knights of Rena's temple become temple knights as a vow of their love to goddess Rena, so it seems that their hearts won't be perturbed in the slightest even when they see us. Though it doesn’t want them to look at me, sometimes I feel vexed by that. Well, we are definitely at a disadvantage if we are to be compared with Rena.

But then, I'm told that Rena is currently moving separately from us with her subordinates. Are you kidding me? I wish that she fights along with us and not leave us alone when it comes to a battle. I'm still wondering, is Rena really standing by in the vicinity of Rox kingdom?

We arrive at the royal palace of Rox. Rox’s royal palace is just one-third of Holy Republic Lenaria’s government office.

Moreover, it seems a bit too cramped for us who are used to living in Rena's temple that’s bigger than the government office of Holy Republic Lenaria. But this size might be just right for a kingdom of this size with around 30000 people.

「Welcome to our place, hero Reiji and the wives of hero」

After entering the royal palace, the king of Rox greets us.

Learning from his previous experience, the attitude of Rox’s king is that of someone greeting people with higher status than him. Reiji also shows an impudent attitude in front of the king.

「Yeah, we'll be in your care again」

Reiji says so with a smile on his face. This kind of attitude actually often causes several troubles to befall upon us in many places; I wish he shows a bit of respect for the king.

But then, it seems that Reiji has no intention to change his attitude.

Reiji thinks about him along the lines of ‘I AM THE BEST MAN IN THIS WORLD,’ maybe he won’t change his attitude even in front of the king of gods.

And then, there's no one here who can make him change his attitude. For as long as I can remember, Reiji has always defeated the ones who oppose his way irrespective of whether it's in this world or in our world.

When was it again I wonder, in Algore kingdom, didn't he annihilate the military power of the king who opposed him.

The coup d'etat after that might be due to Reiji. In fact, you might as well say that Reiji’s power alone can easily annihilate a kingdom. So, it's better to behave if one want things to end in a peaceful manner, and the matter of the king of Rox bowing his head to Reiji is the correct option from his perspective.

It's our second time meeting the Rox king. Isn’t he a bit more haggard than our previous meeting?

Almina, the princess of this kingdom, is by the king’s side. It's our second time to meet her, I wonder how her relationship with her fiancé knight is?

「It's been a while, Almina. How do you do?」

Naturally, Reiji won't change his attitude even before the princess of this kingdom. An overly-familiar attitude.

Though the king should be there, he isn't there. Maybe because he simply can't stand with Reiji’s attitude from before.

「Yes, Reiji-sama. Almina is full of spirit as always」

Almina is looking at Reiji. Those are the eyes of a maiden in love.

Though her father and brother are suffering from cruel treatment from Reiji, Almina welcomes him with a face full of smiles. Is her fiancé okay with this?

The content aside, Reiji has an extremely handsome face, and many girls are charmed by it. Moreover, the person himself is gentle with girls but harsh to men. He will never refuse any girl no matter who they are.

The fangirls of Reiji in Holy Republic Lenaria always intrude into Rena's temple. Maybe they'll follow him all the way to this Rox kingdom if there were no demons outside.

Reiji and Almina exchange passionate gazes. Kyouka and Rino by his side are pouting upon seeing that. Sahoko is a bit sad in seeing that. Shirone and Kaya are calm despite the happening events. Nao doesn't seem to be interested in this. It's always like this when Reiji talks to any other girl except for our group. I'm already used to this situation.

Though it's just an everyday occurrence for me, that's not the case for Almina. She’s almost crying after being glared by Kyouka and Rino. Maybe I should at least save her from this situation.

When I ponder about that, one man pops out.

He looks like a generous man who wants to do something about this situation.

When I look at him, I determine that this man is the prime minister of this kingdom.

「Almina-sama, it's about the lodging of the hero-sama and his wives, but… Since they came so suddenly….」

The notice from Rena's temple about our arrival was just sent day before yesterday. And judging by the speed of the horse of this world, Rox kingdom should have received the notification just yesterday. Maybe they did not have enough time to make the preparations to greet us. His face turned pale in worry for causing Reiji’s displeasure.

Then, he turns around. He saw the regiment of the temple knights that have come as our escorts. Our group becomes quite big if we include those temple knights. Maybe not all members of our group can get accommodation.

「There's no other problem aside from that」

Maybe because she could guess something from the previous exchange, Kaya walks forth.

「Y-You are, Kaya-sama!!」

Prime minister is astonished upon seeing Kaya. I guess he failed to notice Kaya since she was hidden behind Reiji.

「It's been two weeks since the last time we met, right prime minister-dono?」

Did she meet the prime minister two weeks ago? All of us, save for Kyouka, are surprised after hearing her words.

「No need to worry. I already made arrangements regarding our lodging and other matters」

Kaya smiles lightly.

◆ Black-haired Sage, Chiyuki

We are moving toward a mansion that is slightly away from the Rox’s kingdom royal palace.

「We have been waiting, Ojou-sama」

Three maids are bowing to greet us at the mansion’s entrance.

This mansion is the vacation house bought by Kaya.

And those maids were Kaya’s subordinates.

In fact, Kaya became involved in trading business when she was house sitting with Kyouka during our demon king’s extermination journey in the past, and soon enough, she turned into an extremely rich female tycoon.

Naturally, the reason she delved her hand into trading business was to earn massive amounts of money for Kyouka, so rather than saying that Kaya became an extremely rich female tycoon, it's better to say that Kyouka’s the extremely rich female tycoon.

Though I was surprised by Kaya’s skill who garnered such money in just two months, she mentioned that she uses the hero’s name to earn money in a way that can't be used in our world.

Anyhow, Kaya doesn't pay any tax when she trades.

The government office of Holy Republic Lenaria didn't dare to take any tax from the little sister of the hero, the same case happened to any other countries. In short, her profit is as much as her income. Thus, she becomes an extremely rich female tycoon. It seems she made a killing by using a slightly mean trick in another place, too.

In the recent days, she used that to build a big mansion in Holy Republic Lenaria for Kyouka.

And then, it seems she bought a villa in Rox kingdom due to the presence of hot springs. Kaya has purchased houses at several other countries and it seems that this villa in Rox kingdom is one of them.

It seems she met the prime minister of this kingdom when she purchased this villa. In fact, the hot spring in this country is monopolized by the royal family of Rox kingdom and is not private property. It seems that Kaya has forcibly broken that fact.

Though I feel bad for the prime minister for what happened to him at that time, thanks to that we get a villa along with a private hot spring, so I am fine with it.

This mansion, originally one of the hot spring establishments of this kingdom, transformed in two weeks after Kaya bought it.

It's still under renovation but has enough space for us and our escorts. Now, I can feel at ease since I finally released from this embarrassing attire.

The maid of the villa is guiding us.

This maid is one of Kaya’s subordinates in Holy Republic Lenaria. In addition, Kaya is also leveraging the value of a maid girl in Holy Republic Lenaria. It seems that none of the girls who applied to become a maid to get closer to Reiji remained. Kaya chose the best maid from amongst the surviving maids. The standard of her choice is a cut-above-the-rest face and ability.

And that one girl is currently guiding me.

The chosen girl has seemingly received guidance from her senior maid or Kaya and is well versed in etiquette.

Everyone gathered in one room after changing their clothes in their own rooms respectively. Everyone changed into their normal attire. Reiji’s showing a slightly disheartened face. As if I care about that.

「Well then, let's talk about our future plans」

We are only ones in this room, without our escorts or the maids. We cleared out the outsiders since we'll have a meeting after this.

「First is regarding those suspicious guys, right? 」

Some of us are nodding along with me.

「They were everywhere」

Rino says so. But the suspicious person she means might not be the special one.

「….Let's ignore those people」

We have no time to suspect every one of them.

「Nao, how about your side?」

Nao’s perception ability is the best amongst us.

Perception ability is divided into poison perception, enemy perception, magical power perception, and object perception.

Reiji, Shirone, and Kaya can use object perception; Kyouka and I can use magical power perception; enemy perception is also Shirone’s and Kaya’s skill.

However, Nao is capable of all of them.

My magical power perception is superior to her, but in regard to enemy perception and other perceptions, Nao is the best.

If even Nao can't find that suspicious person, no one amongst us can find him.

「There were strange guys indeed, but none of them are special like Chiyuki-san described」

Though we have no need to take extra precaution if the hostile gazes were the usual ones from Reiji’s fans, it seems there was nothing noteworthy amongst the gazes of the men.

「Then next is about Diehart….」

Everyone’s expression changes when I say that name.

That's just natural. He defeated Reiji and overpowered Shirone. Currently, he is the most dangerous existence for us.

And then, our real purpose for coming to this Rox kingdom is to hinder Diehart’s plan.

And his goal is the horn of the Holy Dragon King. We don't know what he will use that for. Maybe for a dangerous plan to swallow this world.

But then, the gods of Elios have done nothing to hinder his plan. The one who's in the move is just Rena.

For the gods of this world to not make their move when there's a danger to their world and making us bet our life is wrong.

That's why I'm vehemently opposing the plan to fight Diehart.

But, Reiji can't ignore Rena’s wish. As long as Reiji makes his move, the other girls including me will go with him and it might culminate in a battle.

The best thing I can do right now is delay time as much as possible. As a matter of fact, we could have arrived at Rox kingdom even faster, but I delayed the departure purposefully to avoid a combat against Diehart. But then, we still arrived on time.

I wonder where Diehart is right now?

「Do you think that Diehart has already arrived at Rox kingdom? 」

I'm looking at everyone.

「As expected, we have no way to know that. According to the information available, I couldn't find that dark knight」

Nao says with dejection. According to her perception results, when she tried to sense his presence right after our arrival to this kingdom, he wasn’t within a two kilometers radius of us. Though there's a possibility that he is hiding in some kind of a barrier, it's hard to imagine such a strong guy hiding inside a barrier. Could it be that he’s yet to arrive at this kingdom?

「I will know if he is directing his hostility toward us, but….」

Shirone says so. Though Shirone, Kaya, and Nao can use enemy perception, it's useless when the other side isn't directing hostility toward them.

In spite of fighting against Shirone, Shirone couldn't feel any hostility from Diehart. It might be because he isn't even considering Shirone as an enemy. What a guy.

Come to think of it, Reiji is the only one who almost died under Diehart’s sword. Maybe Reiji is the only one whom he deemed as a proper opponent.

But then, that Reiji can't use enemy perception ability. Only the close combatants, Shirone and Kaya, can use them. Maybe there's a reason why Reiji isn’t capable of that.

Reiji can keep his composure no matter how many hostilities from the men of our world were directed toward him. It seems enemy perception is unnecessary for Reiji as he was always being showered with hostilities from the surrounding men.

「How about we look for him in this area? 」

Nao puts forth a suggestion.

「No, I think it's not a good idea. I don't want to accidentally poke a snake under the bush. Moreover, this bell will let us know when Diehart is coming to cut the corners of the horn of the Holy Dragon King」

I take out a bell. Moreover, it's not like we have to search for him.

「I agree. It's been a while since we have come to the kingdom of hot springs after all. Let's just enjoy our day at ease」

Reiji is saying so with a cheerful expression.

「You're right. Let's enjoy the hot springs here!」

I noticed that it's been a while since my opinion matched with Reiji’s.

Unpleasant events keep unfurling one after another: Reiji’s near-death experience, losing the way to go back to our world, and doing queer things such as this one. I want us to have some change of pace at this point.

I think we should just enjoy our time in this kingdom where hot spring gushes forth.

Thus, we decided to enjoy the hot springs at the end of our meeting.

◆ Rox kingdom’s knight, Rember

「We are enough as escorts of hero-sama; we have no need for you guys. Your only job is to just patrol around the city to make sure that no one in the city plotting something against hero-sama」[TL: though the ‘you' here isn't kisama, it's still a bit too rude]

This was the reply from the temple knights who became the escorts of hero-sama.

Some of the chosen freedom fighters are enraged by the impolite words of the temple knights.

Even though I managed to gather some trusted people, since there's no need for escort unlike the last time they came here, my effort seems to have been wasted.

「I'm sorry. I asked all of you to come and yet….」

I apologize to the freedom fighters who have gathered at this place with me.

「It can't be helped, we won't get our change if those famous temple knights become their escorts, after all…」

Gallios is trying to comfort me.

「Well, it really can't be helped, Rember-dono. There are some things that we can't do even with great effort」

It seems Kuro isn't that much bothered by it, either.

Naturally, some of the invited freedom fighters were angry about it, but they're persuaded by Gallios.

Moreover, nothing will change no matter how angry they are.

Chivalric order of the temple knights of Holy Republic Lenaria is the best in the eastern part of this continent and twenty of such knights have come as hero’s escorts. It’s natural for someone like us to not even get our chance.

So, we have no choice but to patrol the city as the temple knights told us to.

It's sound a bit pathetic.

It makes me wonder why I have to do this.

Maybe I'm just unfortunate. In fact, different from the other knights, my job should have ended yesterday before the festival. I was supposed to be the first to sortie in case an unexpected matter happened during the festival.

Because of this reason, I ended up drawing the short end of the stick by the hero’s sudden visit. There's also the matter of those zombies. Too many things suddenly happened in one day.

In fact, I should be enjoying the festival with Almina around this time. Since the things that could cause problems aren't happening, I concurred that there's no problem.

But then, I can't enjoy the festival with Almina since she became the hero’s guide. Misfortune keeps piling one after another.

Since no one is willing to patrol the city, the gathered freedom fighter also dispersed.

The only ones left are just Kuro and Gallios.

「I'll be patrolling around with Rember. What about you, Kuro? 」

Gallios is asking Kuro.

「I'm going to patrol the area, too. And then, I think we have to keep our eyes on the festival to prevent any accidents」

Different from the other freedom fighters, Gallios and Kuro are willing to do the job. When I say my gratitude to them, they just laugh it off by saying "It doesn't matter".

「That's right, Kuro. How about you try to woo some women coming to this kingdom after this job is done?」

Gallios suddenly pushes Kuro to woo some woman.

A lot of harlots come this time around as tourists. Maybe Gallios is referring to them.

Though Kuro doesn't seem to be someone who’s used to such things, maybe he won't be able to hold it anymore after seeing the women brought by the hero.

The store which provides that kind of service might be experiencing a boom in their business because of those men who saw the women led by that hero just now. Men whose carnal desires got incited by the scenery are definitely flocking those places right now.

I felt it's necessary so that they won't assault normal female civilians.

「Well, let's do our best then」

Kuro is saying so while smiling wryly.

From his tone, it seems that he takes Gallios’s words as a joke. But, Gallios might really be meaning it.

Kuro went out just like that. He might be patrolling around as he already said.

「Peneroa also gave her permission to bring a woman back to your room」

Gallios is saying so to Kuro’s back. Kuro just waves back at him without even turning around.

「Well, I should do my job too, then. Come to think of it, what should we do about those zombies?」

Naturally, I'm referring to the zombie incident last night.

「Almina will try to ask the hero-sama and his party for their help. It's not like it doesn't have any connection with the hero-sama either if the enemy turned out to be the Striges」

There's a demon called Striges.

A being born from cross-breeding between a female human and a bird. [TL: THE HECK, THIS ISN'T EVEN A JOKE ANYMORE!!!]

It's figure closely resembles a siren living in the southern sea or a harpy living at the center of the mountain range.

The difference between them is the fact that harpies have eagle wings, sirens have wings of seabird, while Striges have wings of an owl.

Maybe because the Striges are a cross-breed between female human and an owl, they are nocturnal.

But, that's not what makes them dangerous. The most terrifying fact about Striges is the fact that they drink human blood. Moreover, they are a race excelling at necromancy.

And someday, these Striges settled down in the tower built in Rox kingdom’s vicinity.

A lot of people in the surrounding countries fell to them as their prey. Rox kingdom also suffered from the same fate.

The ramparts are useless against them as they can fly with their wings.

Since they were nocturnal, the only time to attack them is during noon. But, the subjugation still failed since those Striges remain inside the tower during the daytime and prepared clever traps by summoning undead to block anyone who enters the tower.

Though I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, those Striges didn't go as far as ruining the surrounding country and have no intention to turn humans into their fodder. Nevertheless, it won't justify the death of their victims.

The situation changed about a month ago. One of those Striges attacked a member of the hero's party when that person was strolling at night.

In fact, that Strige was defeated in her own game. [TL: Surprised? Yes, Rember always referred Striges as ‘she’ since all of them are females.]

But, things didn’t end so easily. Somehow, those Striges came to raid the Rox kingdom along with their armies of undead and zombies in the evening after that incident. Maybe it was to take revenge for their comrade’s death.

But, it was a foolish choice. Their undead armies weren't a match against the hero staying at Rox kingdom; those undead were instantly annihilated by the pseudo-sun he created with his magic.

After that, the hero-tachi headed toward the tower and completely annihilated those Striges without even leaving one of them alive.

Therefore, those Striges are no more. Or that's how it supposed to be.

The zombies appeared again as if waiting for the day of the festival. Maybe a Striges managed to survive that slaughter.

And that Striges seems to be full of resentment against this kingdom. But, Striges are so strong to the point that it's hard for us to fight against them. That's why I decided to borrow the hero’s power.

There's no way the hero, who’s always kind to woman, will refuse Almina’s request.

「Are you really okay with asking for the hero’s help? Are you really okay with involving the princess in this matter?」

Gallios is saying so with a worried expression.

「As if…. Hero-sama already has so many splendid women. There's no way he'll turn his hand toward Almina」

Though I say so, I'm a bit anxious in regards to that matter. The one who proposed to become the hero’s guide is Almina herself, after all. Almina had already met the hero before that. Maybe something happened during that time.

But, even I couldn't do anything about that. I can't do anything to the hero, and despite being my lover, Almina is a princess, so I can't even complain about my troubles.

I hope nothing happens between them.

But, I feel rather uneasy about that.

◆ Dark Knight Kuroki

「That was an amazing sight….」

I recall Shirone’s wonderful attire.

Her appearance remains saved into a separate folder in my brain’s vault so that I can enjoy it anytime I want.

The men along the way where Shirone and the rest passed by were sending passionate gazes toward their procession.

It was natural to see the scenery. Even I myself was unintentionally pulled in by that scene.

It can't be helped that my lower body reacted due to her appearance after a while.

I would have become the very definition of a pervert if I didn't wear my mantle.

In the first place, there's very little stimulation in Nargol. I mean there's no human in my surroundings. The women of demon race who have appearances closest to the human race are Mona’s aides, and I can't even approach them since Mona seems to hate me.

Then, I recall about Regena, the human princess whom I saved recently. I think she will let me do ecchi deeds as long as I ask since she’s my slave. But then, I realized that I couldn't destroy her future just because of a moment of carnal desire.

I want to look after them as much as possible until the end. I think I'll send her back to the human society. So it's better to send her in perfect shape for the sake of the man who will become her husband in the future.

Moreover, it's difficult to walk in my current situation.

Shall I go to that kind of shop to do the deed which I took as a joke last night?

I rejected the offer last night since buying a woman with money just doesn't click with me.

Everything is Shirone's fault. That attire is too deadly. Shirone’s butt was completely exposed.

Though we had bathed together in our childhood, I have never seen her in her swimsuit.

She's grown that much, huh… Her breasts have gotten bigger and her waist has become much slimmer. My heart’s beating loudly upon seeing my childhood friend’s growth.

Could it be that Shirone’s always showing such an appearance in front of Reiji when I'm not around?

I recall Reiji’s face when he passed by the road.

Reiji had a smug look on his face.

Reiji’s expression told everything. "See, you guys can't even walk on the street with such fine girls on tow, right?" He's flaunting his girls.

The men who saw Reiji would surely have understood his thoughts.

Though I don't know why they are wearing such revealing attires, it's undoubtedly Reiji’s idea.

I'm so jealous since Shirone never let me see her in that kind of attire even if I begged her.

I'm sure that her silent fists will rain incessantly on my body the moment I made that request to her.

I feel depressed when thinking about such things. But thanks to that, I managed to appease my raging lower body.

Let's do one round of patrol for now, then.

To be honest, the idea of escorting Reiji’s absurd. But, I have promised Rember.

Now then, should I look for the people who are hostile toward Reiji and the rest?

I ascend to the top of the rampart, the highest point in Rox kingdom to see the townscape.

My eyesight improved tremendously ever since I came to this world. I could even see what everyone is doing right now in detail despite seeing them from on top of the rampart.

Let's try to find suspicious personnel.

I'm looking at the center of the city. There, at a glance, I saw one group obviously saying something dangerous. It was the fan club of Sasaki Rino which I could find even in Holy Republic Lenaria. They were holding a flag with Sasaki Rino’s picture on it.

Could it be that they chased her all the way to this place?… I'm shocked.

They are a dangerous group, but the temple knights should be enough to deal with that kind of guys. Let's just ignore them.

I switch my focus and then notice an abnormality when I try to concentrate at a different place. Come to think of it, why are there crowds of men in the surroundings?

I strain my eyes to take a good look at them again. It wasn't a dangerous situation.

They were selling the portraits of the women on Reiji’s side. And not just the portrait of Sasaki Rino, all members, including Shirone’s portrait, were also sold amongst the goods. Moreover, it's the portrait of them in today’s attire.

Maybe it was mass produced with some kind of art printing. It seems they brought quite a number of pictures with them.

I can do nothing but grind myself in frustration for overlooking such important information.

Let's buy them later.

Next is looking at the right side of the town. Then I found five temple knights in that area with nothing special to note about.

Those temple knights were different from the ones whom I met a while ago.

It's the second time I’m meeting them. They are the same guys as the one wearing uniform surcoat when I raided Rena's temple back then.

What are they doing in this kind of place？

The thing that I can consider as a possibility is that it might be because they take turns to rest.

Taking a closer look, they were having a spat with a commoner.

I'm straining my ears to hear their conversation. It seems they were scrambling for harlots.

The temple knights swore their love to Rena and shouldn't fall in love with other women, but as expected, the reality is different, after all.

Well, it can't be helped since it'll only make them suffer even longer to not do the deed after they saw Shirone and the rest in those attires. Rather, that's the reaction of a normal human.

I glance at the left side of the town for the last time. It seems nothing’s special in there, too. But then, a woman in that place caught my intention. This woman is hiding her face with a hood. She seems like a normal tourist.

But for some reason, I can't take my eyes off her.

I strain my eyes to have a closer look at her while wondering about it. And then, I'm surprised when I see through her identity.

I will fail to notice her unless I intentionally focus my attention on her.

Why is she in this city?

Don't tell me a dangerous existence has really come to this city and is aiming for the hero’s life?

I descend from the rampart in hurry.

Then, I dashed toward that girl’s place at full speed.

She finally noticed my presence.

「D… Diehart!?」

The girl is looking at me with a surprised face.

「It's been a while, goddess Rena」

I greet the woman in front of me.

Though she’s pretending to be a normal human, she won't be able to deceive my eyes.

The woman in front of me is undoubtedly the one and only goddess Rena.

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