Volume 1 - CH 21.2

Act 1-21.2 : Every Side’s Consideration(Epilogue)

Rino’s words struck a cord, enveloping Chiyuki in a gloomy shadow.

It seems the Dark Knight had misunderstood Rena’s intentions. He probably thought that she was trying to summon another person rather than send them back to the Spiritual World, which was why he came to prevent Rena from performing the summoning ritual.

However, strangely enough, no one had died during last night’s raid.

The Dark Knight didn’t commit wanton slaughter and only purely came to destroy the summoning tools.

「He only came to accomplish his goal and didn’t kill anyone along the way. Even though he’s our enemy, I tip my hat to him.」

「Indeed, Kaya. For some reason, he doesn’t give the image of a Heinous Demon King’s evil subordinate.」

Kyouka, who finally recovered from her drunken state, agreed with Kaya.

「Sure enough, his act is completely unlike a Demon King’s subordinate. It’s even more baffling since his previous image was of a cold-blooded killer.」

Chiyuki recalled the countries that were destroyed by monsters. Those monsters killed anyone standing in their path, even going as far as killing women and children. That’s why Chiyuki couldn’t forgive the Demon King, who had released those monsters in the world.

「But, what shall we do now, Chiyuki-san? We can’t go back to our world anymore.」

Everyone looked down depressedly as they heard Shirone’s dejected remark.

Coming to another world was interesting since they could see and experience new things, but this only applied if they could go back to their world anytime they wanted. It was like a Theme park, a fun experience til you couldn’t get out of it—without the freedom to choose whether to stay or leave, it would only become scary. Now, they were facing such an issue, their only exit had already been destroyed by the Dark Knight.

According to Rena, on top of the summoning tools being destroyed, there was no longer any materials to create new ones either.

「But, everyone is safe and sound. We can still go back to our world. There should be another person who can summon warriors aside from Rena. Let’s find that person.」

Chiyuki spoke to everyone while recalling the suspicious person who groped Kyouka’s chest. That suspicious person wasn’t summoned by Rena, which meant that there was another person who had summoning tools.

「Yes, that possibility does exist.」

「Exactly, let’s find that person.」

Rino and Nao spoke with a bright tone.

「The one who summoned that suspicious person? Sorry, but don’t involve me in this.」

Kyouka frowned as she realized who they were referring to, both hands subconsciously covering her abundant ch*st.

「Please endure it Kyouka-san, we can’t go back to our world unless we find that person after all.」

Chiyuki thought that they should postpone their mission to subjugate the Demon King for the time being. Their current goal was finding the suspicious person who groped Kyouka’s ch*st.

「Sure enough, seeing that Rena’s summoning tools have been destroyed, we have no choice but to find that guy.」

Reiji nodded in agreement.

「It’s decided then, let’s postpone the Demon King’s subjugation and prioritize our goal to find that suspicious person. I wonder where that person is right now?」

Everyone agreed with Chiyuki.

◆

「I see, Kuroki-dono prevented another hero summoning, huh… splendid. I will thank him for that deed later.」

「Yesh.」

Nut replied to Modes.

Until just a while ago, Modes was receiving Nut’s report, who was perched on Loughas’s shoulder.

「So, how’s Kuroki-dono’s current situation?」

「Mmm, he seems to be fine on the surface, but…」

「But?」

「In my opinion, his current situation is similar to Your Majesty’s when you had just been exiled from Elios to this land a long time ago.」

「I see…」

At Nut’s words, Modes started recalling the time when he had just been exiled from Elios.

At the time, he had cried til there were no tears left to cry. He had wondered why those Gods of Light hated him so much. All because of his appearance?

The only reason he could regain his footing was because he finally came up with the idea of creating Mona.

To create Mona, aside from using Rena’s hair as a medium, he also used the secret art of Life Creation, his own magical power. He had combined these components in a tool Heibos had created; his only friend in Elios.

He could persevere in this life only because he had managed to create a Goddess whose beauty could rival Elios’s Goddesses—he had her all exclusively to himself.

The final result of his dream was Mona.

Thinking about his beauty, Modes couldn’t help but start musing about their… activities.

「DEFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU.」

「Uhm… Your Majesty?」

Loughas ended up calling out to Modes with a worried look on his face.

Seeing Loughas’s expression, Modes quickly woke up from his daydreams. Before he realized it, he had ended up imagining his nightlife with Mona.

""

「Whoops, sorry, so about Kuroki-dono, huh.」

「Yes.」

「Then I’ve no choice but to give the best Goddess to Kuroki-dono. That’ll be the best present from this Modes.」

「A Goddess? Like Mona-sama?」

Modes nodded to Loughas.

If possible, Modes wanted Kuroki to stay in Nargol. If Kuroki stayed, he’d always protect him and Mona. However… he had no idea he could make Kuroki stay in Nargol. That was, of course, until he thought of his honeytrap scheme—giving Kuroki a woman was definitely the best choice.

Nevertheless, the Gods of Elios had banned the creation of fake Goddesses.

If it was known to the public that Kuroki had created a fake Goddess, he would become the enemy of the Gods of Elios too, which would result in Kuroki not having any other option but to stay in Nargol.

Moreover, since the news of Kuroki bringing the Holy Knight Order almost to the brink of annihilation on his way back to Nargol spread far and wide, no one would dare to look down on him anymore.

Modes couldn’t help but rub his palms and smile, he had just figured out a way to hit three birds with one stone.

「GUFUFUFUFU」

「Uhm, Your Majesty?」

Though Loughas was trying to voice his anxiety, it was set aside upon seeing Modes laughing non-stop.

◆

Kuroki was currently relaxing in his home.

His room in the Demon King’s Castle, personally given to him by Modes, was really spacious. However, respecting Kuroki’s preferences, the room was still left pretty much empty, containing nothing but a desk, bed, and a carpet spread across the floor.

Modes had also appointed an exclusive servant to him, a demon with a bear-shaped face, who would always ask him whether he needed something else in his room or not. But, unfortunately for the servant, who couldn’t fully perform his duties, Kuroki didn’t even know what he needed since Modes had covered all of his basic necessities.

It was safe to say that Kuroki always received lavish treatment in Nargol.

Even though Nargol’s soil wasn’t in a poor state and could pretty much provide many treasures, it was still by no means a beautiful land. The scenery he saw from the windows was dry, you could literally see a gloomy atmosphere drifting all over the place.

In addition, it was hard to get living necessities in Nargol, trade ceasing due to the merchants’ fear of the Demon King. Even the bedding’s quality fell short compared to the bedding prepared by the kind Wood Elf family, who had allowed him to spend a night in their home. Yet, it seemed that the desk and bedding they had prepared for Kuroki were first class articles in Nargol.

Even so, Kuroki’s life in Nargol was still far better compared to his life back in Japan.

(What should I do from now on?)

Kuroki was lying down on his bed.

He had understood Shirone and the others’ situation. To put it simply, they had no idea about the fact that they couldn’t return to their own world. They were simply deceived by Goddess Rena, which was why he was slightly worried of Rena causing them more harm.

（Should I save them? No, they don’t look like people who need my help. I heard that a few days ago Elios banned the use and creation of summoning tools, so I’m sure that at very least they won’t be sent back to the Spirit World for now.）

Kuroki continued to muse about their situation. It was quite a roundabout way to achieve it, but at least, for the time being, the hero and his companions would not be in any imminent danger. In addition, he was also not worried about Rena as she probably wouldn’t dare to disobey the law. It was for this exact reason that he was confident of leaving Shirone and the others on their own.

Kuroki suddenly shook his head, trying to deny the thought.

He really didn’t wish to get involved with them, that was the truth, and yet, he ended up saving their as*es.

They wouldn’t come to Nargol anymore, that should be the end of their relationship.

Contrary to Kuroki, who always acted by himself, the other party had many comrades by their side.

（It’s definitely not because I’m jealous or anything… Oh no, let’s stop this dangerous thought. Let’s go back to thinking about my future plan.）

However, no matter how much he tried to stop his thoughts from breaching that topic, Kuroki still kept going round and round in self-denial.

The first thing the hero and his party would do was look for a method to go back to their original world.

Though Modes had told Kuroki that he would look for a way to safely send him back to his original world, the former told the latter that finding it wasn’t a simple matter. That’s why he had to live in this world for the time being.

Then, he noticed.

He might have to live in this world for a very long time.

Kuroki didn’t find that to be amusing at all—he had no comrades in this world after all. He really needed to find a partner if he wanted to live for a long time in this world in contentment.

Though Modes and his subordinates could be considered as his comrades, what Kuroki wished for wasn’t that kind of partner.

（As I thought, I really am jealous of Reiji. He has many comrades around him, and all of them are cute girls.）

Kuroki recalled Modes’s promise.

A Fake Goddess.

That was Modes’s promised reward.

Moreover, he felt that he could get over so many things if he had a cute girl by his side.

（Yosh, let’s ask for my reward from Modes. I’ll definitely make a cute girl.）

Kuroki lifted his fist in determination.