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 demi-humans 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.