When Quarro attacked, immediately after Orghis gave instructions to his soldiers, he went to the summoning magic circle in the basement of the castle together with Layla.
"…No way, the Evil is attacking us today…!"
"Father…"
Layla looked worried as Orghis frowned. Then Orghis noticed her gaze and exhaled slowly.
"Fuh… it's unavoidable. For the time being, I've left the soldiers to Royle. We… have no choice but to rely on the other world."
Orghis saw the match between the Sword Saint and Yuuya and was impressed by how strong they were, and almost thought that there was no need to rely on the other world to counter the Evil. However, when he saw the Evil that had arrived, he immediately changed his mind.
He saw that the Sword Saint, who was supposed to be the strongest Holy, was being overwhelmed by Quarro. Convinced that the country would be destroyed by the Evil if things had continued as they were, Orghis immediately began to move. Even if they were able to defeat Quarro, he did not think that this was enough to eliminate all of the Evil.
This was why he finally made up his mind to summon a hero from another world.
When he moved to the summoning room, there were the magicians of the Regal Kingdom. They had already completed the magic circle under his direction.
"Your Majesty. The preparations are in place. We just need to pour in the magic power, and the magic will be activated."
"…Layla."
"Yes, father. I will bring a hero or a saint into this world. I'm sure that person will be able to save this world."
Prompted by Orghis, Layla stepped forward and touched the magic circle with her hand. When the magic power was poured in from her hand, the magic circle began to glow mysteriously.
"Kuh. T-this is…"
At first, Layla was pouring in the magic power smoothly, but gradually the magic circle began to suck the magic power from Layla, and she frowned at the amount of absorption. The magic circle shone brighter and brighter as it tried to suck up all of Layla's magic power at a tremendous rate.
How much time had passed?
Layla, whose face was pale from her magic power being drained, could not tell, but when her magic power was about to run out… it finally stopped.
"Ah…"
"Layla!"
Orghis hurriedly supported Layla, who was wobbling and about to fall. Then, the shine of the magic circle reached its brightest in front of the two of them, and the light finally burst out.
"Ugh!"
"F-finally…!"
When the light subsided, there was a single figure floating in the air. Seeing that, Orghis and the others knew that the summoning magic had succeeded.
And then──.
"──W-what is this? What on earth is going on?"
What appeared from the magic circle was a girl in a shrine maiden costume ── Mai Kagurazaka.
＊＊＊
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"Hmm… for that reason…"
After I finished defeating Quarro, I was interrogated by Iris-san about how I acquired Evil's power since I had activated it in front of her.
"It really was just like Usagi said, wasn't it?"
(That's what I told you. Why don't you believe me?)
"How can I believe you from such a tall tale?"
(Well, he's just a big idiot, isn't he?)
"Ugh…"
I shrunk under the stunned gazes of Iris-san and Master Usagi. Then, Kuro, who was inside me, burst into laughter.
"Ahahahaha! You're so weak that it's hard to believe you were fighting with the Evil until just now!"
"I-it can't be helped, can it?"
Because Quarro had to be defeated, I fought with him. Otherwise, I would have been killed. And I wasn't that strong to begin with.
Iris-san turned a dumbfounded gaze at me, but after letting out a single sigh, she let out a bitter laugh.
"…Well, it's true that Yuuya-kun saved my life. I-I was protected. I've never had such a thing happen to me before… Well, I mean, I was happy about it… or something like that…"
"Eh?"
(Sigh…)
The latter half of the words were too small to be heard, but Master Usagi let out a sigh to Iris-san. After that, he immediately returned to his serious expression and stared at me.
(Yuuya. You must have understood the threat of Evil from this incident. In addition, he left behind a few mysteries that we don't know about yet… We can't let our guard down.)
"…Yes."
(And then. The next time, I will increase the intensity of my training so that we can prepare for another attack at any time.)
"Ugh… I understand…"
I would be happier if I could just relax and enjoy my time, but I can't say that, so I nodded to Master Usagi's words. For some reason, Iris-san, who was gazing enviously at the exchange between Master Usagi and me, laughed a little sadly.
"I see… So this is where I have to part ways with you, Yuuya-kun…"
"Ah… that's right."
"What do you plan to do now?"
"Well, as Master Usagi said earlier, I guess I'll train."
It seems that the training was going to be tough. Will I be able to stay safe? I…
"I finally met someone who's stronger than me…"
"Eh?"
With a sad expression, Iris-san muttered something, but I couldn't hear her. Then Iris-san looked up, suddenly realizing something, and her eyes lit up.
"Yes, that's it!"
"W-what's wrong?"
The tension was so high that I was slightly pressured to ask.
"Yuuya-kun! I'll make you my disciple too!"
"…Huh?"
(Hou?)
For some reason, Master Usagi nodded in admiration while I looked puzzled at Iris-san's words.
(That's good. My technique is not enough for you. You should train with Iris for a while.)
"Ueeeee? W-wait! Even if you suddenly say something like that!"
"It's okay, it's okay! Please don't be shy; leave it all to this Onee-san! …You're already stronger than me. If we continue to deepen our relationship as master and disciple, we can get married! I'm a genius!"
"U-um, Iris-san?"
"Now that we've decided, let's start training right away!"
"Eeeeeeehhh! N-now? We just finished fighting!"
"That's why!"
Iris-san's words made my face turn pale.
S-seriously… the training with Master Usagi was going to be more severe from now on, and now I also have to add the training with Iris-san…?
Will my stamina really be enough?
When I had such a question in my mind, Iris-san and Master Usagi suddenly turned their gazes sharply towards the castle.
"What's wrong?"
"…There's an incredible amount of magic power just now…"
(Did you feel it too, Iris…? What the heck is that magic power…?)
It seems that they felt a great magic power from the castle, and they have a stern expression on their faces.
──However, at this time, I did not think that what was happening in the castle of the Regal Kingdom would be directly related to me at all.