Volume 3 - CH 4.3

Act 3-4.3: The Hero’s Party’s 2nd Assembly Meeting

She simply wanted to get closer to him, even if just a little bit.

「Speaking of the country closest to Nargol, it’s Velos Kingdom if I remember correctly. Shall we go there?」

「Well, that’s indeed the biggest country closest to Nargol.」

「Isn’t there one even closer than Velos?」

「Yes, if I’m not wrong it’s Algore. But, we ended up messing up big time when we were there last time. I even heard there was a coup d’état in that country after we left. Honestly, I have no idea what’s happening to that country right now.」

Chiyuki replied to Rino’s question. A huge incident had happened back when Chiyuki and the others visited Algore. The king for some reason had challenged Reiji. Of course, he was utterly defeated. Chiyuki and her companions had no idea what happened to that country later on as they had immediately entered Nargol afterwards. All she knew from some rumors she heard much later was that a coup d’état had occurred.

「That’s worrying indeed. Shall we go there? I’ve been worrying about Algore ever since that incident.」

Reiji sounded like he couldn’t wait to visit Algore again. Seeing his eagerness, Chiyuki started to suspect his intentions.

「Come to think of it, there was a beautiful princess in that country.」

Nao spoke with a wide grin on her face.

「Rei-kun…」

「Reiji-san…」

Rino and Sahoko pouted upon hearing Nao’s remark.

「Wait a minute! I didn’t do anything?!」

Reiji vehemently denied their implicit claim. In the first place, this country wasn’t that memorable for him since he didn’t get to enjoy himself. That was probably why he was so eager to go back there so he could amend the situation. However, for the others, this was definitely the most memorable place for them since it was the first time Reiji had not gotten his way with a woman. The woman was even quite annoyed with him since his relationship with women was beyond control.

「Good grief, hold back a bit will ya, Reiji-kun…」

Chiyuki spoke with a tired look on her face.

（If I’m not wrong, the princess’ name was Regena? She’s a beauty indeed, but I wonder what she’s doing right now?）

Chiyuki might have forgotten about Regena if not for Nao’s reminder. Now she didn’t wish for Reiji to visit Algore.

「Come to think of it, Chiyuki-sama. Did something happen while you were visiting Saria?」

Upon hearing Kaya’s question, Chiyuki recalled what had happened before she had gathered them for this assembly. Thus, she proceeded to tell everyone about it.

「Yeah, I met the Vice President of the Magician Association.」

Chiyuki then gave them more details about her meeting Tarabos.

There were three vice presidents and one president in the Magician Association. Tarabos was one of those three vice presidents, which gave him a lot of authority, sometimes even surpassing the authority of the kings of the different kingdoms due to how many branches the association had in the entire continent.

And that very person had personally sent a request to Reiji.

From what she knew, Tarabos was also working as a counselor in many other countries, amongst those consultations, there was a troublesome request which needed the Hero’s power to resolve.

Chiyuki passed his request directly to Reiji.

「He wants to meet you one of these days if possible. But, in my opinion, we should accept this request, what do you think?」

Though Tarabos didn’t give a deadline to confirm whether they would accept his request or not, Chiyuki thought that they should give their answer as soon as possible. They should meet Tarabos right away to give him a better impression of them. Moreover, by forming a good relationship with him, they’d be able to form a better relationship with the Magician Association as well, which would help them expand their field of activity.

Chiyuki and her companions, who were summoned by Rena, had received a favorable reception upon their arrival due to their association with the Goddess and could enter most countries in the eastern part of the continent, where the influence of Rena’s faith was stronger.

But, the same couldn’t be said for the western part of the continent, Rena’s influence wasn’t widespread there, so they had a hard time entering the countries there.

Since the Magician Association had influence throughout the entire continent, Chiyuki thought that having a good relationship with them was very beneficial.

「Eh, but Algore is…」

「If it’s Algore, I’ll go there by myself. I won’t impose my selfishness on you guys. That’s why everyone else should go to Saria.」

Shirone cut in before Reiji could finish his sentence.

「It’s decided then, Reiji-kun. Sorry, Shirone-sana.」

「Yeah, it’s not a big deal, don’t worry.」

Shirone replied with a cheerful voice. However, her expression was anything but cheerful. Chiyuki could see that Shirone was really worried about her childhood friend.

（Well, no wonder she’s so worried about him when there’s a good chance that he’s being manipulated by the Demon King with drugs after being summoned. We’re really lucky that Rena is the one who summoned us.）

Chiyuki thought that there was no way Rena, the one known as the Goddess of Justice, would use such underhanded means like the Demon King.

And then, she became even angrier toward the Demon King who used such foul means.

◆

Rena was currently recuperating in her own room in Elios.

Before she returned, she felt that there were people talking about her in a certain human country named after her, more widely known as Lenaria. She guessed that these people might be Reiji and his party. They were definitely talking about how pure she was.

She heard from Nier that Chiyuki wanted to meet her when she was still locking herself in her own room, but it seems that she has already taken care of that matter. Rena had yet to adjust her mental state at that time.

She had already calmed down now, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to meet Chiyuki. She could meet her at a much later time. She was a bit afraid of the aftermath of that meeting, thus she kept on making up reasons to delay their meeting.

Before, she had wanted Reiji and his party to go to Nargol as soon as possible, but the situation now had changed. Now, she was afraid that Reiji and his companions might hurt “Him” when they went to Nargol.

Rena was looking dearly at the small portrait in her hand.

There was a picture of a handsome youth.

「Kuroki…」

She heaved a deep sigh upon looking at the figure in the portrait.

Nowadays, all she saw in her dreams was him. Yes, she was connected with Kuna.

After Kuroki had created a new Goddess called Kuna, she had never entered Mona’s dreams again. She had no idea how that had happened, but she knew that it might have something to do with their origins, which was her. It was a wonderful coincidence for her, now she didn’t see the ugly Modes in her dreams anymore. All she saw now was Kuroki. If it was Kuroki, then she would never get tired of those dreams. That’s why the quality of her sleep had been increasing as of late.

She didn’t care about Modes anymore since he never appeared in her dreams again. Thus, effectively turning Reiji and his party into mere disposable pawns, she didn’t care about them to begin with.

「Fufufufufufu.」

She unintentionally let out a muffled laugh.

「Uhm… Rena-sama.」

She hurriedly hid the portrait upon hearing someone calling her from behind.

「N-Nier! W-when did you get here?!」

The one who stood behind Rena was none other than Rena’s Valkyrie, Nier.

「Uhm… Since you never replied to me no matter how much I called your name… I decided to enter your room to check…」

Nier replied with an uncomfortable look on her face.

「O-Oh m-my, is that so! Sorry Nier! So, what’s the matter?」

Rena was flustered. She kept wondering whether Nier saw “His” portrait or not.

「Yes, I called you since Faeria-sama’s invitation has just come but…」

「Faeria-sama’s invitation? For me? I wonder what she wants to talk about? I understand, tell her that I’ll be there immediately.」

Faeria, Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth was the wife of the King of the Gods, Oudith, she stood as the summit of all the Elios’ Goddesses.

She was also the one who raised Rena, her surrogate mother, that’s why she couldn’t oppose her summons.

「Understood. I’ll tell Faeria-sama’s messenger.」

Nier left the room after she said those words. Rena had no choice but to leave right after her too. Thus, after she wore her underwear and changed her clothes, she left to meet Faeria.