Tsukasa Houjou, the president of "Ousei Academy," was working and looking over various documents, when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
The person who entered the room was Tsukasa's secretary, who had several letters in her hands.
"These are the letters that arrived today. There's also a letter from Kasumi-sama."
"Oh, thank you."
When Tsukasa looked away from the papers and took the letters, the secretary continued with a raised eyebrow.
"And… there's one more thing I want to tell you."
"Hmm?"
"Over here."
"Hmm! This is…"
The secretary handed him a sheet of paper with words from a newspaper cut and pasted on it. It was a threatening note to the Houjou family, telling them to prepare money if they didn't want to be in danger.
"Again… how many have you received today?"
"More than ten, I think…"
"At first, I thought it was just a malicious prank, but… it's hard to overlook something like this. In addition, there have been some disturbing developments overseas recently. The other day, the president of an overseas company was arrested for being connected to the underworld. It's also possible that some large organization may be backing the sender of this threatening letter… Sorry, but can you call Kaori?"
"Very well."
The secretary left the room after receiving Tsukasa's instructions, and shortly after, there was another knock on the door of the room.
When Tsukasa urged her to enter, Kaori came in.
"Excuse me. I was told you wanted to see me…"
"I really didn't want to worry you too much, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware of this."
"Hmm?"
"The truth is, we've been receiving threatening letters directed to our family lately. Not just once, but several times…"
"That's…"
Kaori's eyes widened when she heard about the threatening letter for the first time because Tsukasa had kept it a secret so as not to worry Kaori. No matter how wealthy the Houjou family was, she never thought that there would be someone who would send them a threatening note.
In addition to that, Kaori sensed from Tsukasa's words that it was more than just a prank, which made her tighten up.
"Um… what did that threatening letter say?"
"It's demanding money. It says if we refuse, they will harm us… Honestly, with the lack of information, it's hard to predict who these people are or where they plan to target us."
"No way… So what should I do?"
"I think it's best not to go out, but that's difficult too. For now, I think I'll give you a few more bodyguards to protect you and see how it goes. But even so, be very careful when you go out."
"I understand."
Kaori nodded with a serious expression to Tsukasa's words while remembering the [Ring of Crisis Avoidance] that Yuuya had given her. If she has it, she will be able to use magic to move to a safe zone that she has set up in advance the moment she feels she is in danger.
Of course, if the power of this ring were to be activated in public, it would cause a huge commotion on Earth, where magic did not exist, but still, it does not compare to a life threat.
The best thing would be for nothing to happen though.
Tsukasa let out a sigh, then softened his tone and opened his mouth again.
"Oh, by the way, there was a letter from Kasumi."
"Eh? A letter from Kasumi? So that means…"
"Yeah. She'll be back during this summer vacation."
"I see!"
Kaori's eyes sparkled at the cheerful news, which was a complete change from the discussion earlier. Kasumi was the younger sister of Kaori and lived abroad with her mother, so she never had a chance to see her except during long vacations.
"Now that we know that Kasumi is coming back, is it going to be difficult for mother?"
"Yes, I think so. I read in her letter your mother won't be able to come back during this summer vacation."
"Is that so…? But I'm looking forward to Kasumi's return! But… I'm also worried about her coming back alone…"
"Yes. I'm anxious about the possibility of involving Kasumi in this kind of situation… but she won't listen to me… She doesn't want to give in to a threatening letter. Let's find out again who sent the threatening letter so that we can feel a little more secure."
Despite the unsettling atmosphere, the Houjou family was looking forward to their first family reunion in a long time.
＊＊＊
──[Sky Mountain].
It was a harsh environment where powerful monsters competed for survival, although it was not as bad as the [Great Devil's Nest], which was designated as a super dangerous area.
However, unlike the [Great Devil's Nest], the [Sky Mountain] was home to a wide variety of medicinal herbs, many of which could only be found here. Some of these herbs had the effect of giving a person a tremendous amount of magic power or even regenerating a part of their body that they had lost.
That was why there was no end to the number of people who recklessly tried to find these herbs without regard for the danger.
In such a dangerous environment, two shadows were moving at high speed through the forest, despite the poor foothold.
(──Good gracious… I never thought this day would come…)
"That's right…"
The rabbit that bears two Holy titles, "Kicking Saint" and "Ear Saint," muttered in a whisper. Iris, the "Sword Saint," replied to these words with a hint of nervousness.
(The ending of the conflict with the Evil in our generation… not in the hands of a Holy, but in the hands of another… When I first met Yuuya, I thought he was just a person with potential, but you never know what will happen in life.)
"Yeah…"
Next to Usagi who was talking sullenly, Iris was obviously focused on something else than Usagi's story, and kept an eye on every corner of the forest as she moved.
"(I believe there is an important ingredient in this forest that can be used to make a love potion, right? Moreover, it can only be found at this time of year…)"
[T/n: Iris was talking inwardly.]
Yes, Iris was thinking about a love potion while Usagi was talking seriously.
Why does she think about such a thing? It was, of course, to use on Yuuya.
(I'm looking forward to seeing how he grows from now on.)
"(Yuuya-kun… in order to get him, I can't choose my means! The last time I cooked something, it didn't win his heart… but more importantly, because the Evil was destroyed, he didn't need to train anymore, and that was a good excuse for the massage… They were so strong; how could they disappear so easily? They're the Evil, right? They ought to have been stronger!)"
──What a wave of unreasonable anger.
(Even so, this [Sky Mountain] hasn't changed… wait, hey, Iris?)
"(…Well, okay. That's what the love potion is for. As a last resort in case of emergency, it was worth doing all the research I had done in the past. Potions with side effects and or weak effects are out of the question. For this matter, it seems that the love potion made from the ingredients found in this forest is the ideal love potion!)"
In this other world, there were many medicines called "love potions." However, most of them were harmful to the human body or had questionable effects, so there was no ideal "love potion" in existence.
In such a situation, Iris knew that in this forest where she and Usagi were visiting this time, a herb grows in clusters only once every three years and was used as an ingredient for a love potion that had no risk and maximum effect.
Therefore, when it was decided that she and Usagi would go around informing the other surviving Holy and their disciples that the Evil had been defeated, Iris strongly requested that they go to the report from the Magic Saint who lived around this forest.
Usagi, not knowing anything about the love potion, was skeptical at first, but since they were going to report it anyway, he didn't really mind. He also saw a few adventurers who were confident in their skills and looked for the same herbs as Iris, which made Iris even more determined in her search.
"(I'll find it, no matter what…!)"
But…
"(It can be collected only at this time of the year, so if I miss this… there will be no next…!)"
(…Iris. Are you sure you're listening to me?)
"Will you stop talking to me for a second? This is not the time for that!"
(You're not listening to me, huh…?)
Usagi could only let out a sigh at Iris's overly blatant attitude. Iris, who seeks a boyfriend, was powerful.
However, since the situation would remain as it is, there was no point in rushing a report to the Magic Saint, so Usagi stopped in place.
Then, as expected, Iris stopped as well.
"What happened to you?"
(That should be my line. I can see it from earlier. But, if you have something to do in this forest, finish it first. It's annoying…)
"W-what do you mean, "annoying"? You know, my precious future is at stake here!"
(Really, what is it with you…)
Usagi put his hand on his forehead to suppress his headache.
(…I don't care what it is at this point, but hurry up. We've almost arrived at the Magic Saint's house. You never know what kind of magic he's going to shoot at you if you act too stupidly. Even so, we are going to talk about something unbelievable…)
"Ugh… I-I know…"
When Iris heard Usagi's words, she remembered the Magic Saint that they were going to meet and became a little calmer. The Magic Saint had established a base in the Sky Mountain, where he usually spent his time researching the medicinal plants that grew in the area and researching magic.
In addition to the importance of the love potion for Iris, she also knew that the Magic Saint she was about to meet was not a person she could joke with, so she tightened her grip.
After all, she had to go and talk to someone who couldn't take any jokes. It's hard to imagine what kind of response will await Iris and Usagi.
"…Was it a mistake to say that we should go report it to the Magic Saint?"
(We'll have to go anyway though. The difference is whether it's early or late. If we take care of the trouble first, the rest will be easier, right?)
"The rest is easy though; the only one that's troublesome is the Magic Saint…"
(…Don't say that.)
Usagi and Iris breathed a sigh at the same time and resumed moving again.