On a certain day when the recovery around the world had progressed considerably, and people had begun to get used to living in a world without monsters, albeit temporarily.
Suddenly, Porco-san made this suggestion:
"We fellow men must have a frank talk with each other occasionally, don't you agree? So I'm saying we should hold a 'men's party'."
"Oh, sounds nice. Then I'll try to invite some guys I know. Well, some of them are quite peculiar, so I don't know if they'll come, to be honest…"
"Hahaha, that's totally okay. Even if none of them comes, we can just drink together. I'll prepare dwarves' treasured alcohol, too."
"Okay, then I'll reach out to them."
◇
And so, on the day of the men's party.
Seven men, including myself and Porco-san, were gathered in the dining hall in the "God's Garden".
But.
"…You, aren't your character overlapped with mine?"
"Eh~, really~? But I think I'm cuter…"
"You guys friends of that dude called 'Eden'?"
"Got a problem? You want to settle scores with your pitiful strength? I'm not going to spare your life."
"There, there, that's enough, you two…"
I'm starting to regret inviting them over…
Aside from me and Porco-san, the participants of the men's party also were Canaan, Patty, Agartha, Yomi, and the Hero of Light.
By the way, Agartha's arm had been healed by the pregnant Phinis-sama but he had been trembling like a puppy during the whole process. It was quite a pitiful sight.
It seemed that being turned into a Blackdoll by Phinis-sama was extremely traumatic to him.
Anyway,after clearing my throat I said, "Thank you very much for coming today. Some of you may not know each other, so first, let's introduce ourselves. To start off, as you all know, I'm Exa."
"My name is 'Pangu', a dwarf, but you can just call me Porco, as everyone seems to be more familiar with that. I'm the 'Shield' Saint."
"Err, I guess I'm next. My name is Canaan, the 'Bow' Saint. As for my race, I'm a dark elf."
"'Dark' elf, eh~? That sounds cool!"
"Y-you think so?"
"Yeah! Ah, I'm Patty. Nice to meet you all~."
"I'm next, huh. The name's Agartha, a warrior of the proud dragon race. I'm also the 'Spear Saint'."
Amid the applause sent to Agartha, everyone's eyes glanced at the next person.
—Stare~.
Yomi then opened his mouth, looking awkward, "…I'm Yomi. Just so you know, I don't intend to get friendly here."
"So you say, but you still accompanied me here. That's one of your good points~wait, uwah?!"
"Eek?!"
SLASH! A slash made from fighting spirit released from Yomi's bladehand shot past between Patty and Porco-san, gouging deep into the wall.
"Hey, that was dangerous, Yomi?!"
"Hmph." Yomi calmly folded his arms again, snorting at Patty's protest.
Porco-san, who almost had his head cut off, looked like he was about to cry, but who's going to repair that wall…
"Umm…"
Amid the growing unpleasant atmosphere, the man with a fearless face sitting in the back spoke reservedly, "My name is Klau. People call me 'Hero of Light', but my skill is 'Sword Demon'. I'm very honored to be invited to this party where saints gather."
Nice to meet you all, Klau-san, aka Hero of Light, flashed a gentle smile, and Porco-san came closer to me in a hurry, "E-Exa-sama?!" and whispered, "I've been wondering for a while, but who is that good-looking guy?! He has a handsome face, blond hair, and blue eyes—he's practically Prince Charming?!"
"Well, I'm not sure about the Prince Charming part, but he's an adventurer called the 'Hero of Light' from the country of Vivalk. He helped a lot in the previous battle."
"…I see. Looks like I've got a powerful rival…!"
Porco-san burned with battle intent, and I laughed and said, "No, no, he's not the kind of person who likes to fight with others."
But.
"Ah, no, I mean, a rival in love."
"…Huh?"
Huh?