CH 299

At my question, Mikoto fell silent with a troubled face. I guess it’s hard to say out loud, after all.

“No matter what you call it… our country is Ooyashima,” Mikoto said.

“Ooyashima…Oyashuoyashima……?” I asked, recalling the Kanji.

On Earth, when you think of Ooyashima, you’re talking about Japan on Earth… It is often described as a country consisting of eight islands: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Awaji, Iki, Tsushima, Oki, and Sado.

But actually “eight” means many more, eight million, and when they say Yaoyorozu when referring to gods, they don’t mean that there are exactly 8 million gods, but that there are so many gods they’re just as plentiful as the islands. Similarly, Ooyashima does not mean 8 fixed islands, but its original meaning is a country made up of many islands.

Well, the meaning of words on Earth is good. More than that, I don’t understand the meaning of what Mikoto is saying at all.

“Ah… well… if it’s easy for humans to understand… it’s the Demon Country, so it’s in the Demon Realm, right?”

“Demon Realm…”

Makai, it would have been in Japanese. I have no idea what Mikoto is saying. Some kind of joke… but I don’t think so. Mikoto speaks very seriously.

“Could it be… a different dimension… or a different world or something like that?” I asked.

“Huh? What do you mean, different dimension or different world?” Mikoto asked.

“Huh?”

“What?”

When I tilted my head, Mikoto also tilted her head. Did we both miss the point? I think desperately while floating in confusion. Didn’t she come from another dimension or another world?

“The north side of Hexennacht is the Kingdom of Del, right?” I asked.

“Right,” Mikoto said. “The village at the foot of the mountain is already part of Del.”

Yes, yes. So far so good. This matches my research. I don’t know much about the inland area, but at least the coastal area to the base of this peninsula is almost entirely the territory of the Kingdom of Del, with towns and villages belonging to it. Then onto the next question.

“So you mean the Demon Country is not located on this peninsula, but somewhere far away?” I said. “Hence, there’s a door, yes, there’s something like a door, isn’t there?”

“There is no door,” Mikoto said. “There’s a temple, and the whirlpool swallows you up, then spits you out the other side.”

Swallowed by a whirlpool… well that’s good. Let’s leave it at that. I knew for a long time that Mikoto was a child who couldn’t explain properly because she was always using peculiar expressions. More than that, there was an important point with the current information.

First, this “temple”. Apparently, there is a temple on the north side of Hexennacht. There is no doubt that it is an important place for demons. And Mikoto said “the whirlpool swallows you up”… Maybe… I wonder if there’s some kind of mechanism like teleportation or a warp gate?

When I say door, I don’t really mean doors that connect room to room. Mikoto didn’t seem to get it, but I just called it a door in the sense that it was a gate for some kind of transfer or warp. That’s why I think Mikoto’s “swallowed by a whirlpool” talk is probably a kind of gate.

“From that ‘Temple’ in Hexennacht, you can go back and forth between the Demon Country, the Demon Realm, and here,” I said. “But there is no Demon Country or Demon Realm around here. So you’re saying this ‘temple’ is some means of transportation?”

“Eh~…, hm~…? Probably, yeah! I’m not sure!” Mikoto said.

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You don’t even know?!

No, calm down, me… don’t get caught up in Mikoto’s pace. Maybe Mikoto and I have different concepts and perceptions, so we just can’t sync up our semantics and how exactly we’re putting it. We should be thinking the same thing.

“If it bothers you that much, would you like to go next time?” Mikoto asked.

“Huh!? We can go there!?”

I was surprised that Mikoto would say such a thing casually. Is it possible to go to the Demon Country that was completely unknown until now, even though its existence was no question? Is it really so easy?

“I’m not really supposed to do it, but you’ll be fine, Floto,” Mikoto said. “You’re going to be my wife, so let’s introduce you to my parents anyway.”

“Huh? You’re my wife, Mikoto?” I asked.

“Huh? You’re my wife, right, Floto?”

““…………””

Once again, we tilted our heads at each other and fell silent. Huh? What? What do you mean? Since I’m a man, Mikoto is my wife, right? It’s like it’s already confirmed that we’re going to be legally bound to each other, but I don’t care because it’s already too late to question that. More than that, I can’t ignore the fact that I’m the bride in this union. Mikoto will be the bride. I’m a man, so I’d rather get a wife.

“That’s fine enough, then. I’ll be your wife, Floto.”

Somehow…, goodness, if you say that like that, it’s kind of inexplicable… what I’m saying should be correct. Since I’m a man, I’m the type to take everyone as my wife, and I’m not the man who goes to be a bride.

I won’t say anything about it because even if I reheat the issue any further, Mikoto will just say no to me again.

“Anyway… is it okay for us to go to the Demon Country?” I asked.

“Ah~… I’ll tell you this first, but if you’re going, it has to be only you and me, Floto. I can’t bring anyone else with me,” Mikoto said apologetically.

What does that mean? Why can’t everyone go? Well, demons are hostile to humans, so it might be natural to say that it’s inevitable, but…

“There are various circumstances. I’m not saying I’m trying to be cruel,” Mikoto said.

“I know that,” I said

Mikoto has a bad mouth and a bad attitude, but she’s not the type to be mean to everyone. She is actively trying to get along with the other four by taking the initiative with interacting. She is trying to get the other brides together. There’s no way Mikoto would try to do something mean like that for no reason.

“Then let’s go back to the Demon Realm soon. You also have time to spare in your schedule, Floto. I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to return immediately once you go, so that’s why I’m bringing this up now.”

“It’s not guaranteed I can return right away, you said…” I muttered.

Maybe it takes time for the gate energy to accumulate. You can’t freely come and go at any time, but you can’t teleport or warp unless certain conditions are met.

Come to think of it, I don’t think Mikoto has returned to her parent’s home even once since she came to study abroad. Is it because you can’t come and go so easily?

“Maybe you will be asked various things over there, and I’ll be forced to explain, and I don’t think they’ll let us go any time soon,” Mikoto said. “Well… at the worst chance we might get detained.”

“Huh!? Get detained!?”

Why? Mikoto will be the second princess there. What does she mean, a member of royalty will get detained?

“I don’t know what the situation is over there right now, but since I’ve left home, I haven’t returned since,” Mikoto said. “If they’re still arguing over succession, I might get assassinated because they think I’ll get in the way of the succession when I come back, you know?”

“Hold! Hold!” I yelled.

You’re saying something outrageous. Is it okay to go back to such a place? In such a situation, it would be better to have more of an escort and preparations…

And just now, she thinks I’m her wife after all… I didn’t miss it. On the surface, she says that she should be the bride, but in her heart, she still thinks that I am the bride. It’s okay, but… I can’t help but reheat it now… I just can’t understand it.

“It’s alright,” Mikoto said. “If you’re with me, Floto, we’ll beat my brothers back.”

“I don’t think that’s ‘alright’, but…” I said.

There is nothing but the scent of conflict brewing… is this really a magical world? Is it okay to go to? Wouldn’t it be better not to go there anymore?

“I can go anytime, so let me know when you’re ready, Floto,” Mikoto said. “I think we can be back in a few days, but all things get messy, it could be a week or so. Be ready for that.”

“Understood……”

Well… I thought I’d like to go to the Demon Country once. It’s not that I don’t want to go, even though I suddenly decided to go in an unexpected way. It would be good to know the other party better when thinking about future friendships, or rather, future familial relationships.

However, even if it’s the worst case, it’s quite difficult to prepare for a week’s trip. Even if you can’t help the work that accumulates in the meantime, you have to clean up the work that is piling up now so it’s okay if it piles up while you’re gone.

If you want to move within the territory, you can carry the remaining work with you, but if you go to another country, which is not friendly at the moment, and you don’t know the details of the situation, you can’t bring the work in this territory with you. For the time being, confidentiality is also included, so I can’t easily run the risk of information leaks.

That’s why I immediately started working on the paperwork that was piling up in preparation for going to the Demon Country with Mikoto.

I’ve been working really hard these past few days. I finished the current work as much as possible, even if it wasn’t urgent. All that’s left is the unfinished business. It doesn’t mean that I have troublesome work left behind, but it means that it takes time and days more to finish, such as projects that could never have been finished quickly or that require you to go to the site itself.

While I’m away from here and going to the Demon Country, I can’t finish the new work. If there is work left until I leave, then they keep accumulating while I’m gone, it will be a tremendous amount when I get back. That’s why I finished everything I could handle now.

I plan to return to the royal capital in 2 weeks. That’s why I can stay in the Demon Country for 2 weeks at most. In fact, if I stay for 2 weeks, I’ll have too much work on my side and I’ll die later… anyway, today I’m going to act separately from everyone else and go to the Demon Country with just me and Mikoto.

Only a few people know that I’m going to the Demon Country. As expected, I had to explain to the wives because Mikoto and I would be gone for days. I have also explained to Helmut and Isabella, who are always around me, and those who are in the higher ranks in relation to work.

A few days at the shortest, Mikoto said that if it drags on, it’s possible that we won’t be able to return for about a week. If you can still let me go, I definitely want to go. What kind of place is the Demon Country?

“Have a nice trip, Miss Flora,” Katharina said.

“Be careful,” Louisa said.

“If I could have, I’d have loved to be your escort detail, but…” Claudia said.

“Oh, my? I’ll take care of Flora’s work here. It’s important to help her with her work, after all,” Alexandra said.

Katharina tightly clenches her hand. She really wants to come with me. But she can’t go. That’s what I think. Louisa, Claudia, and Alexandra see us off as we Manor Caanburg. Mikoto and I headed for Hexennacht on our own, as using a carriage could cause trouble later.

“This is nostalgic, isn’t it?” Mikoto said.

“Indeed it is,” I said. “I can remember it as if it was just a few days ago…”

I run through the forest with Mikoto. I’m just running, but Mikoto feels like she’s magically bouncing. Passing through the place where Mikoto and I met a long time ago, which we all came to see before, then we headed past it. That stone, that rock? The two of us were wandering around not only at the place but also around here. Somehow it feels very nostalgic, like something that happened just yesterday, and it was a strange feeling.

From there, we headed for Hexennacht under the guidance of Mikoto. Once you reach the foot of the mountain, the rest is unknown to me. I’ve explored the territories ceded to House Caan, but I’ve never climbed Hexennacht. I’ve climbed Hexennacht on the Cien side that stretches over there, but I’ve never been to this part of the mountain range.

Originally, it was the border with the Demon Country, and it was said that the demons were dangerous, so I thought that I would not get close to it and get into a fight with them. I’ve been to the foot of this mountain, but I’ve never climbed it. Now, we go up and further into Hexennacht.

“We’re almost there,” Mikoto said.

“Okay… aren’t you cold, Mikoto?”

I climbed a lot of mountains, and I thought of it and couldn’t help but ask as we crossed the low range of the mountain, before the temperature and elevation changes dramatically. To be frank, I’m pretty cold. Even though it’s the winter season in a cold region, if you climb a high mountain… naturally, the area will be covered in snow. It was strange that Mikoto seemed to be fine even though she was wearing light clothes for mountain climbing, even though she was going through quite deep snow.

“It’s because the airflow is suppressed by magic,” Mikoto said. “It’s not that cold, is it?”

“… Huh? Is there such magic?” I asked.

“Yeah, there is?” Mikoto said.

“…………””

If there is such convenient magic, why didn’t you tell me…? I thought because Mikoto was lightly dressed, I should also dress normally, but it’s actually quite cold. I thought Mikoto would be fine with the same equipment, but was there such a convenient thing?

Mikoto easily explained that convenient magic before climbing the mountain, no, descending the other side of the mountain? Then we moved again. The spell I learned was very useful. If you cut off the outside air completely, you’ll probably die from lack of oxygen sooner or later, but it’s not magic that seals up that much. It’s just like trying to reduce the airflow around you to keep heat from escaping.

Thanks to this magic, the cold has weakened a little, so we go over the lower peaks of the mountain range and went down the other side. And what there saw was…

“Over there,” Mikoto said.

“That’s a temple…? A shrine?”

The place that Mikoto guided me to was… a shrine standing in the middle of the deep snow, where the snow didn’t even pile up. Obviously a Japanese shrine. There’s a torii gate… that’s…

“Stop! No outsiders will pass through here!”

“Better you turn back now!”

“………… Guardian dogs?” I asked.

In front of the shrine, there were two demon-like figures wearing masks that looked like komainu, Japanese guardian dogs, they pointed their spears at us as they threatened us.