In the silent night, I was alone in my room.
What Eva-san told me, the report of Lime, the information request of the demon
general called Rona-san…
It has become quite complicated. Because of the information increase, the situation
has progressed, but the things I have to think about increased at once and it is just a
mess in my mind right now.
From my experience, even if I try to think about them in order, this kind of situations
can't be solved. I am not a detective and moreover, I am the type that tries to avoid
deductions and complicated situations.
I am okay when dealing with them one by one, but if they all come at once, my
reasoning ability gets frozen or more like, I want to throw them away. This is one of
my weak points I want to fix.
I wanted to try writing it down and see how it goes, but it's just not going well. How
troublesome.
If things are like this, maybe it would have been better if I heard Eva-san's talk and
deal with it at that time? But she is someone that's not related to the company nor
Rona-san. Also, there's no prove that all she said was true. I really think that returning
to my room to rest was the correct decision.
Yeah, let's stop. Thinking about this by myself will not solve anything. Instead of
thinking by myself and ending up making a wrong decision, it would be better to just
wait for Shiki to return and have the two of us think about it, even if I have to sacrifice
my sleeping time.
In that case, let's arrange what Eva-san told me at least, while waiting for Shiki's
return.
She is a hyuman that came from a small country which was destroyed by the advance
of the demon race. To my surprise, it was the same country as my parents, Kaleneon.
Dad was a noble in an important post, while my mother was a priestess in a temple of
the Goddess. I don't know how important a priestess is, but hearing about having an
important post, I think they were from a pretty well off family. If things played
differently, I might have been born as a noble's son. Oops, right now's not the time to
think about that. And so, Eva-san was a survivor who abandoned her land, even when
she was a noble. It seems like she is recklessly wishing for the revival of her household,
but since she didn't have anyone to help her, she was in a despairing state, is what she
told me. It seems like she didn't know my parents personally.
There's a reason why Eva-san didn't choose suicide and decided to chase after a
reckless dream. That was what she told me after. Being exposed to humiliation and
contemplating suicide, there was a time when she was temporarily in an unstable
emotional state. I think that's only natural. While protecting her little sister Ruria, they
without doubt passed bitter days. As a result, Eva Ansland and her little sister
enclosed themselves in their own world, and doubted and rejected everything that
came from the outside world.
I can't even imagine how serious the situation was, but anyways, when Eva-san began
to doubt even the Goddess, that organization made contact with her. They told her that
there were many who were from satellite countries of Elysion and those who were
believers of the Goddess from Kaleneon, so I could understand that Eva-san throwing
away her beliefs is something quite considerable. That Goddess, she is even hopeless
with the hyumans that believe in her. If I remember correctly, she said that the
invasion of the demon race happened while she was taking a nap.
Organization. That's something that made my mind worry. It seems to be a group that
holds enmity towards the Goddess, but their scale is unknown. Only thing I know is
that it seems their rules are pretty strict and if there's even a sign of betrayal, they
would sever connections and dispose you. It is a system structured of secrecy, and
there are many inside members that don't even know the faces of the others. It seems
that it just goes as far as having means of contact, and only a limited number of
members know as much as their background. It is probably something like a secret
association? But to be erased just by showing signs of betrayal, things like false
accusations won't occur? Oops, my train of thought got derailed again. Keep in track,
keep in track.
The surprising thing is that their members are composed of hyumans, demi-humans
and demons. The race didn't matter. There's varied types of information flowing and
shared, and it seems like the influence it has as an organization is pretty high. What I
have clear is that it hasn't showed its face in public and it doesn't have connections
with any power, or maybe it has connections with all powers; it is uncertain. In the
war of hyumans and demons, there might be a chance that this organization will
intrude as a third power.
I see, if you have connections with such an organization, it wouldn't be strange to have
one or two dreams. Eva-san didn't tell me, but she probably witnessed the power of
that organization in some way. She at least witnessed something that made her think
it would be possible to restore her land that has been ruled over by the demons. I can
tell that they have power, but since there's no concrete show of it, it feels more
troublesome than a country.
…In my previous world the politics were pretty muddy on the inside, but in this
parallel world, the essence of people doesn't change huh. Thinking about it in this
world's common sense, having hyumans and demons, who have a history of strives,
join hands is just impossible; unless I think of it as "the enemy of my enemy is my ally".
In this case, the enemy would be the Goddess. Because it seems to be an organization
that hates the Goddess after all. No matter if they accomplish their objective or if they
break down, later, I think it would return to a relationship where they hate each other
again. To borrow the strength of such a dangerous organization; Eva-san, even when
you look composed, maybe you have actually been engulfed by madness.
And so this time, seeing Eva-san together with Lime, she was about to be disposed.
Since she felt her life was in danger, she requested protection from us.
In this current matter, Rona-san told me that since there were victims from the demihumans and the demons because of the hyumans' inhyuman researches, she wants to
investigate and save the ones that can be saved. This is just an assumption, but she
probably showed me that inhyuman scenery to make my emotions turn into the
demon's side and control me that way. Because if I am shown only the good side of one
of the camps in the war, it wouldn't be strange to hold a prejudiced view. Afterwards,
they might come saying that for the sake of stopping this inhyuman acts the demon
lord dispatched a general, and have me think that they are sincere people who possess
good will. From what Shiki said, Rona-san is a person that uses artifices after all.
?!!
Someone is getting closer. I, who was trying to put in order what Eva-san told me, feel
a strong response.
In the past, from my experience when I was thrown into the battlefield and had to fight
the Dragon Killer and was even seriously injured, I was able to learn how to gauge the
ability of someone from the [Sakai] I expand. The standard right now is Shiki. By
reducing the targets, I am able to expand it to a certain extent and now I am able to
activate it practically unconsciously. In a place like the wasteland where there aren't
many people, I can reduce the conditions even more and use it more conveniently, but
this place is the Academy town. There are a lot of people here. The weakening [Sakai]
I use in my lectures, there's no other people around, so it is easy to use. It is prove that
I haven't mastered this skill yet, so I do feel bad about it as well.
"Boss, it's him. The brat that treated me as a beanbag is approaching!"
Without knocking, Lime opens the room's door and urges me to be cautious in one
breath. For now, that boy seems to have some sort of connection with that
organization. Since his looks are similar in age as mine, it should be fine to call him
boy. To be 1.7m, so jealous. No no. Anyways, his power seems to be at least Shiki-class.
"Lime, you can step back. No, can you please call Shiki here?" (Makoto)
"…No. I may not amount to much, but please let me participa-" (Lime)
"Waka!"
"Waka-sama!"
"Uwa?!!"
Suddenly, two women enter the room. Two women I know. My followers, Tomoe and
Mio. W-Why are these two in Academy town so suddenly? And they are also strangely
hurried.
Isn't their timing way too good? Could it be, I am under surveillance?
"Tomoe, and even Mio?! What happened?" (Makoto)
"…So you are alright. In that case, it is a relief for now" (Tomoe)
"…Hoh"
And now they are showing faces of relief. Could it be that the boy approaching is the
reason? He is pretty close now. But it doesn't look like he is going to attack. There's
not even signs of him using magic power.
"Is the reason of all this, the one that's approaching here?" (Makoto)
"Yeah. I don't know of his reason of contact, but he is a bit of a troublesome one"
(Tomoe)
For Tomoe to use the word troublesome. That… would be harsh for Lime to handle. Or
more like, does she know about the other party?
"Lime, retire" (Mio)
"Mio-nesan that's a bit too much" (Lime)
"Lime, people have their respective roles. Even if you are here, you would only be a
hindrance. If you are vexed by that, you should go train yourself more-ja na. This time
just step back" (Tomoe)
"Sis…" (Lime)
"These two are here Lime. Be relieved. And it isn't like it is set that we will be fighting
anyways" (Makoto)
"Boss… Understood. Please be careful. I will be excusing myself now" (Lime)
He was biting his lips. Even though he is a person that doesn't usually show his
emotions on his face. Maybe he was quite mortified by the fact that Tomoe told him to
step back. He is a person that has a lot more talent and sense than me, so he is most
likely going to get stronger again.
The person in question is… standing at the entrance of the store. Why?
After a while of stopping, he once again moves.
The sound of *pinpon rings inside the store. Even when the store is closed, there is a
button set in case of urgent matters. It is the sound of that.
Of course, when it is used for pranks, I have made it so that they receive a fit
punishment.
…
Uhm. I was pretty sure he would enter suddenly but, just what in the world…
What should I do? I don't think he just came to buy medicine. I even thought the store's
glass would go boom. This is not what I expected.
"Waka, don't let your guard down" (Tomoe)
Tomoe is still looking pretty cautious. Just what big deal is coming?
Well, no choice but to see.
"Tomoe, Mio. Come together with me" (Makoto)
The two nod silently. Heading down from the second floor to the first, I open the door.
A silver haired boy, just like Lime's report, was standing there. He looks the same age
as me. He is around 1.7m, just like the report as well. In this world, 1.8m is the average.
If his age is just as his looks tell, he still has room to grow.
His attire is a white shirt and what looks like denim pants. He is wearing his shirt in a
rough way and has quite a few buttons unfastened. Skin white enough that it looks
slightly unhealthy, was being shown by his exposed chest.
[Do you have some business this late at night?]
I decided to ask his reason normally.
"Yeah, nice to meet you. I am… the master of the adventurer guild. Since I ended up
being rude to Lime Latte who is working with you, I came here to apologize. Can I
please come in?"
"Hah?"
Curiously, Tomoe, Mio and my voice overlap. The Guild Master(?) narrows his black
eyes and shows a full smile with his arms crossed on his back. There's not a single
shred of hostility.
In a situation where I am already filled with information, here comes one more. It
looks like I am heartlessly being given more information to arrange.