Book 3: Chapter 9

In the capital city of the St. Altlis Kingdom, Edius, where a large number of Beastmen, Sylphid, Metalio had left all at once due to the Demi-Human rejection, the period of chaos had ended.

The personnel that flowed out and vanished were replaced with people that came flowing in from other regions and Humans that came back from foreign countries, and other than the point that there was almost no demi-humans, things could be said to have almost returned to how things were.

The reason why the end of the chaos came quickly was because the business transactions with the other countries had continued.

Putting aside the Jiol Forest Kingdom that they were in a state of tension with, the merchants of the other countries──especially the merchants of the Canal Kingdom and the small countries other than the four major nations, were still doing business with the merchants of the St. Altlis Kingdom.

So while there was a circulation of goods from other countries through merchants like that, the endeavors to raise self-sufficiency in the St. Altlis Kingdom also continued.

Like that, Edius was at peace on the surface──However, with the atmosphere of the smell of war definitely intensifying in the air, today as well, it received the night.

「……So it’s you again.」

What appeared at the side of the young girl who sat on the roof of a vacant house was a single young boy. He probably entered the house without permission, and climbed up from the attic.

Ignoring the young girl’s annoyed face, the young boy sat down beside her.

The young girl’s name was Ein.

The young boy’s name was Kain.

The two of them possessed similar sounding names, however, there was a decisive difference between them.

It was how Ein was a Mazoku, and Kain was a Human.

Incidentally, Ein was here to perform an investigation on the St. Altlis Kingdom on Rokuna’s orders, so having Kain following her around was a bit of a bother.

However, ever since she saved Kain from an Alva attack, Kain came to visit Ein almost every night as if to see what was going on.

The fact that she would definitely be discovered by Kain no matter where she was also hurt Ein’s pride as a spy a bit.

「I am sure that I told you to not get near me though.」

「Haha……You’re just the same as always.」

「You’re the one who is the same as always. Don’t tell me that you still haven’t given up.」

When Ein cast a sharp glare at him, Kain averted his eyes and scratched his head.

「No, I actually haven’t given up.」

「Give it up. It’s a waste of time.」

Kain, who was a student of the Edius Adventurer School, was tenaciously inviting Ein to join his Adventurer party.

Of course, since Ein had the objective of investigating and needed to do covert actions, she continued to refuse even now.

「If you want a vanguard,, then that spear wielding, wild boar of a girl should be sufficient.」

While remembering one of the girls that got along with Kain and was the daughter of the Necros Duke house that was called the Spear Princess, Ein said that sounding like she found him to be a pain.

Thanks to Kain coming to see her like this, Ein had come to be acquainted even with the female group that was around Kain.

It was extremely bothersome, but on the other hand, for some reason, there were a lot of people related to important people among the girls, so there was the merit of being able to obtain various information. To Ein, this gave her mixed sentiments.

「Ahh, you mean Seria. I had thought of trying to invite her too……but, there’s this whole situation going on, see. It seems that her worries are pretty big even as a Duke.」

「It seems that a majority of the royal capital has calmed down though?」

「Uーn……Certainly, it looks like it’s calmed down on the surface. But it’s really muddy on the inside.」

「Is it about that Demi-Human argument thing? Then it would be fine if you relied on that woman you call senpai. She holds an important position, right?」

The one that Ein was talking about was Quelia who was Kain’s senpai as well as the daughter of the Head Priest of St. Altlis’s Grand Temple.

It seemed that she had built a good senpai-kouhai relationship with Kain, and she could sometimes be found happily walking together with him.

「Ahー, yeah. Qu-senpai, huh……」

When Kain was about to say something, he hesitated, and just like that, he turned into a groaning ornament.

The reason for that was simple. It was because Quelia was a supporter of the Demi-Human argument.

Publically, she demonstrates an understanding with ways of thinking other than the Demi-Human argument, and although she might not be self-aware of it, Quelia was also one of the people that created the current atmosphere of the St. Altlis Kingdom.

「A bit more……I think that I’ll consult Qu-senpai a bit later.」

「I don’t care. Do as you like.」

「Yeah, I’ll do as I like.」

Seeing Kain say that with a smile, Ein breathed a blatant smile.

She had gotten involved with a truly bothersome man.

Also, ever since that day she made direct contact with Kain, the strange Alva continued to appear.

The Alva that attacked Kain spoke words and tried to obey orders, which were features that made it hard to imagine that it was an ordinary Alva.

To begin with, the action of the Alva targeting a specific person itself was something strange.

In order to investigate what the Alva’s objective was and what the person that was being targeted by Alva was, Ein monitored Kain, but as a result of trying to prevent the Alva’s strange actions, she ended up revealing her figure in front of Kain.

Like this, although she became acquainted with Kain and no longer had to hide from him, it seemed like the Alva would also come to attack her frequently if she were to make movements that were even a little showy.

「And so.」

「What, do you still have some kind of business with me?」

「Ahh, yeah. It would be great if you knew though.」

Seeing Kain acting hesitant, Ein clicked her tongue and urged him to continue on with her gaze.

Since Kain had also gotten completely used to this, he saw that as an acknowledgement and continued his story.

「Do you know anything, about things like the Jiol Forest Kingdom’s internal conditions?」

Hearing the words “Jiol Forest Kingdom”, Ein reacted in her mind, but she feigned calmness.

Certainly, the internal conditions of the Jiol Forest Kingdom weren’t known in the current St. Altlis Kingdom.

The St. Altlis Kingdom had sent out spies……but since the Jiol Forest Kingdom’s vigilance level had increased, they could not get a great deal of information.

……That is the story that Ein had heard from the spy of some country that she had just happened to find and defeat not too long ago though.

「Why, would you want to know something like that?」

Information related to the Jiol Forest Kingdom needed to be treated especially carefully nowadays.

The fact regarding the treaty of friendship between the Jiol Forest Kingdom and the Zadark Kingdom was continuing on in secrecy for the time being.

According to Rokuna, since 「the first impact is important」, that information couldn’t be circulated to other countries……especially the St. Altlis Kingdom, until tomorrow’s announcement.

If Kain were to know something, she would need to identify and crush the information route, restrain Kain until tomorrow morning or afternoon when the situation moves, and prevent the diffusion of information.

However, what came out of Kain’s mouth were some unexpected words.

「……I’m, worried about Luuty-san, see.」

Ein immediately understood when he mentioned Luuty Ligas.

She was a Sylphid, and one of heroes that were a part of the Hero Ryuuya’s party.

She was formerly the board chairman of the Edius Adventurer School……and then.

「Another woman, huh. Do you have some kind of disease where you’ll die if you don’t bury your entire field of vision with women?」

「N, no. That isn’t really the case though……」

「Then, just think “she’s probably doing fine……” or something.」

When Ein said that, Kain didn’t say anything more than that and sank into silence.

Seeing him look like he was enduring something, Ein reluctantly gave him a minimum amount of information.

「……There aren’t any stories of her dying. Are you satisfied with this? If you are satisfied, stop making that irritating face.」

「Eh, ah, yeah. Thanks. If she isn’t dead, then she’s fine, isn’t she.」

「You should just think that a person you haven’t met in a long time is doing fine. That’s all there is to it.」

「No news is good news, huh……」

Hearing Kain’s muttering, Ein made a puzzled face.

「Could it be, are you exchanging letters with Luuty Ligas or something?」

It would be a huge problem if that were the case.

By going through Luuty, there was the possibility of various information being circulated to the St. Altlis Kingdom.

Thinking that, Ein shuddered.

「Eh? No, it isn’t that sort of thing.」

「Not that sort of thing? So it’s a tryst. What’s the meaning of this when you’re just a mere student.」

Ein pressed him for answers as she tried to somehow pull information out of him, while Kain was slowly backing away while being impatient for some reason.

Determining that the fact that he was shedding what seemed to be a cold sweat to be proof that he was keeping something secret, Ein decided that she wouldn’t let him escape and grabbed Kain’s collar and pulled him close.

She wouldn’t allow him to use magic and escape, and on top of that, he was within super close range, which Ein specialized in.

Maybe because he resolved himself from knowing that he couldn’t escape, Kain shouted while becoming increasingly flustered.

「L, like I said, that isn’t it! It’s just an old saying! The one that says that when letters don’t come, it’s proof that they’re doing fine……」

「So you really are exchanging letters with her……Spit it out, what were the topics.」

「I’m telling you, that’s wrong! It’s a metaphor!」

Hearing him go that far, Ein finally stopped questioning him.

Taking her hands off of Kain’s collar, she threw him down onto the roof.

「How pointless. Say that from the start.」

「Didn’t I tell you that it was different from the start……」

Having no interest in Kain who was muttering his complaints, Ein looked up at the night sky.

As expected, the information blockade was perfect.

Up until today, the talk about the Jiol Forest Kingdom that flowing about within the St. Altlis Kingdom stopped at the level of just being rumors.

Everything would happen tomorrow──Tomorrow, the world would move greatly.

For the sake of the peace that Demon King Vermudol desired, a time where the Mazoku would also greatly move more than they are now would come.

「……Nn?」

Suddenly, Ein felt a sense of discomfort in the sky.

As if something, were cracking……that kind of faint sense of discomfort.

However, Ein knew the source of it.

「Oi, no-faithfulness.」

「Eh, are you talking about me?」

「It looks like a guest has come today as well.」

Kain reacted to those words, and he hurriedly stood up and drew the sword on his waist.

「The Alva……so they really came tonight as well!」

That’s right, that was the sign of an Alva’s appearance, the Alva’s characteristic Space Transfer method.

The spacial crack eventually expanded from an ellipse to a circle, and a thin Alva made its appearance.

The opened space extinguished one the Alva’s transfer was completed, and returned to being the original night sky.

「……So, it became stronger again.」

Seeing the Alva that appeared, Ein evaluated it as such.

The Alva that appeared and targeted Kain were weak to the point of being useless at first, but ever since Kain was added to the battles, they gradually became stronger.

They started to widen their tactics, and even the Alva themselves, they started to vary depending on the day such as having the type that attacked with magic or the type that attacked directly.

The Alva that appeared in the sky opened its black wings, and making a quick survey of the area, it confirmed Kain and Ein’s location.

「……I always say this but. I don’t mind if you die, just don’t get in my way.」

「I’d like it if you gave me some words of encouragement sometimes though……」

「Do your best to not get in my way. Are you satisfied with that?」

Leaving Kain, whose tension was complicatedly raised, alone, Ein took out her short sword.

It was possible for her to use her strength as a Majuu (magic beast) even in her Majin form, but with her being in front of Kain, she couldn’t use those techniques.

In that sort of meaning, Kain was getting in the way, but there was no helping that now.

When Ein came to that kind of clear decision, she readied her short sword.

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