Volume 2 - CH 5.1

Act 2-5.1 : Hero’s Visit 1

Rox Kingdom was the name of a certain inland country presiding nearby a forest, the one on the outskirts of Vandohl plains. It was located right at the center of the main highway of the continent’s Eastern area; a highway used by many. Its ruler was King Roxros the Eighth, and its population numbered 8000 people, a fitting number for a small country like Rox Kingdom and a similar one to most kingdoms in this world. If you only accounted for those facts, then Rox Kingdom had nothing special about it and was but a mere common country among many.

However, what made Rox Kingdom truly stand out from the rest were its rare and unique two traits.

Firstly, Rox Kingdom possessed a world renowned hot spring, known for its miracle curative effects, which made it popular in this world and a prime destination for travellers. Many people would come to this kingdom only to patronize this hot spring.

Secondly was that it was close to the abode of a Holy Dragon, the Dragon King of Silver, who presided in Holy Dragon Mountain, a mountain just a short trip away from the kingdom. According to this country’s history, the founder of Rox Kingdom was only allowed to create a kingdom in this area because he had made a pledge with the Holy Dragon King. It was precisely on this founding day, the pride of many citizens of Rox Kingdom, when the country and all of its people would hold a week long festival, which, this year, started today.

During the festival, the kingdom’s inns and its famous hot spring would lower their charges, giving a fifty percent discount to its patrons. Moreover, the kingdom would change their entry policies and make them unrestricted during the celebration, which was why at this time of the year, Rox Kingdom would be faced with hundreds upon thousands of visitors.

This time, during the celebration, among those tourists and visitors were the Hero, Reiji, and his women.

（There are far more people this time than when we came before.）

One of Reiji’s women, Chiyuki, thought so while she surveyed the main street.

This was their second time visiting Rox Kingdom. They had come here before since they had heard that this particular country had a hot spring. Owing to their Japanese blood, the word “hot spring” was just like a mystifying melody that charmed them and lured them to this place.

A month ago, they had come here for a short break during the Demon King’s subjugation. However, their short break was very short lived as they had met with many mishaps. They were confronted by Striges, who had attacked them for no reason whatsoever, and had defeated them. Then they had faced a peeping tom, who had tried to develop his role up a notch and had tried to assault one of the Hero’s women, which subsequently led the woman in question to seeth in terrifying rage, resulting in the demolishing of a part of the rampart.

During their last visit, they had not known that a Holy Dragon presided near this kingdom. It might have been due to some kind of barrier since even Nao’s superior perception ability failed to notice that dragon. Had they known of this fact, they would’ve immediately gone to meet this Dragon King, at least that was what Chiyuki would have done; she really wanted to visit this dragon.

（If I’m not wrong, the Holy Dragon King of Silver is said to be a white dragon who invites fortune. It’s just like the dragon that appeared in Ende’s novel. But then, why is the Dark Knight aiming for this Holy Dragon’s horn?）

In truth, their real goal this time was to secure the Holy Dragon King’s horn. According to Goddess Rena, who was the one who requested them to go on this mission, the Dark Knight was aiming for this horn, and they wanted to prevent him from getting it.

Naturally, when Goddess Rena had asked Reiji for such a favor a few days ago, Chiyuki and the others had opposed it. Reiji had just recovered from his previous injury, all thanks to Sahoko’s constant treatment and the secret medicine they received from the Goddess of medicinal plants, Fanacea. The Dark Knight was an extremely powerful foe, so despite Reiji’s full recovery and replenishment of strength, Chiyuki and her fellow sisters wanted to avoid fighting with the Dark Knight as much as possible.

Yet, despite their counselling, Reiji, who couldn’t just abandon a troubled girl, said that he couldn’t refuse Rena’s request. Thus they had all parted together. If Reiji went alone, he could be beaten till he was on the verge of death for all they knew, just like the last time he fought the Dark Knight. Chiyuki had wanted to consider the situation more before making a choice, but, at the end, she had to forgo her musings and had accepted accompanying Reiji and the others due to Reji’s haste. However, she and the other women had still made an effort to slow down their travels as much as possible so they could avoid meeting the Dark Knight, which was successful since they had slowed down their pace by a lot. However, rather than their efforts, it was probably safe to say that their travels slowing down was mostly mostly due to Sahoko and Shirone crying along the journey.

But, their good intentions were all for naught, Chiyuki’s wish to avoid the Dark Knight didn’t come true as the Dark Knight had not taken the Holy Dragon’s horn yet, which meant that it was inevitable for them to cross paths with him.

Chiyuki looked at the bell in her hand that Rena had given her.

It seemed that Rena and her subordinate angels had set an alarm similar to the one equipped in Alrena Temple. It would ring when an unauthorized person entered the Holy Dragon Mountain.

That said, the bell had yet to ring ever since she got it from Rena.

Chiyuki had many doubts about the current situation.

–“In the first place, how did Rena know about the Dark Knight’s movements?”

–“Did she plant a spy in Nargol?”

–“And, why is the Dark Knight aiming for the Holy Dragon King’s horn?”

Naturally, it was obvious that it wasn’t for a good reason since he was going to snatch the horn of Holy Dragon, who hailed as the Holy White Dragon Of Good Fortune.

But, Chiyuki couldn’t help but ponder about the Dark Knight’s actions.

While Chiyuki was deep in her musings, she and the others had already left the rampart gate and were now walking along Rox Kingdom’s main road. They had entrusted their coach to the sentinel who guarded the rampart gate. After that, they went all the way till the Royal castle on foot.

She could feel a few gazes toward their direction as they walked.

Upon closer look, most people were looking at the Hero’s party.

Chiyuki felt many unpleasant gazes amongst them. It was for this very reason that many Temple Knights were sent with them from the Holy Republic of Lenaria as their escort, and now were driving away the mob.

Unlike before, she thought that bringing them along this time was the correct choice.

「Uhm, as expected… This is too embarrassing, Chiyuki-san…」

Shirone, who felt the same unpleasant gazes, whispered to her while on the verge of crying.

「Please don’t mention it… I feels the same way as you.」

Chiyuki looked at Shirone and felt that she really did have an alluring body and look. It was as if she was only wearing her underwear.

She wore the so-called bikini armor. That attire fitted nicely on Shirone who had such nice proportions. But then, it seemed that the person herself didn’t wish to wear that.

But, this didn’t mean that Chiyuki couldn’t say the same thing in regards to her appearance. Currently, her figure was wrapped in a gothic lolita top and ultra-mini skirt combo. She had to be extra careful with the way she moved since she could expose her underwear if she just slouched a little.

If one were to ask why Chiyuki and the others wore such embarrassing clothes, then the answer was that it was all for the sake of luring out the pervert who had groped Kyouka’s breast in the Holy Republic of Lenaria.

Chiyuki and the others couldn’t return to their world since the summoning devices were destroyed by the Dark Knight. Thus, they were dejected when they knew that they lost their way back.

No matter how amusing an amusement park was, there was no way they would enjoy it if they couldn’t leave it at all.

That was their current situation.