Volume 3 - CH 27.2

Act 3-27.2: Faraway Kingdom

Since the problem was also directly related to the food shortage, the number of citizens couldn’t be allowed to increase infinitely too. That’s why it was literally impossible for foreigners to get citizenship. It was also really difficult to enter a country unless one was a citizen of an allied country or had a close relation with a native citizen.

Then again, a honey-tongued individual could easily get citizenship by talking to the right people as long as no one found out about it.

（Citizenships aside, Kuroki is trying to find a safe country for Regena and her clan as their new home. But that’s rather difficult.）

Shirone knew that Kuroki was an extremely responsible person, he would make sure that nothing wrong would happen to the people he saved after he left. Even though it would’ve been easier if he just left them to their own devices after he saved them, his personality prevented him from doing that.

With such a personality, Kuroki would end up helping many other people too.

That’s why Regena and her clan had yet to leave Nargol until now.

「Oh my. Since that’s the case, how about having us help you solve this problem? We can do that, right Kaya?」

Kaya nodded upon hearing Kyouka’s question.

「Yes, it should be possible for us, Milady. We’re rich on top of being the Hero’s companions, the Hero who received Goddess Rena’s affection! Naturally almost every country will welcome us with open arms.」

Regena couldn’t hide her shock upon hearing that.

「Uuh… But, what I want is… Dear Master… side…」

Regena’s speech became fragmented.

（Regena-san seems to want to stay by Kuroki’s side in Nargol. But, Kuroki wants her to leave Nargol since that place is too dangerous for her. What should I do now?!）

From the way Regena spoke until now, Shirone pretty much guessed that she didn’t wish to leave Nargol. Shirone started getting irritated at Kuroki who hadn’t realized Regena’s feelings.

「Regena-san, are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life in Nargol along with the rest of your clan?」

「Ugh!!」

Regena groaned upon hearing Kaya’s remark.

Kaya’s remark did hit Regena’s sore spot.

Even if she wanted to stay in Nargol, she really couldn’t bring herself to ask her entire clan to live in Nargol with her too.

「Well, you don’t have to answer now. Just tell us when you make up your mind.」

Regena didn’t respond to Kyouka. She just chewed her nails, seemingly thinking about various possibilities.

As they passed their time having such a conversation, voices could be heard from the outside.

When Shirone opened the door, Riette’s figure was already standing there. In front of Riette was a small cart filled with food. She had brought them a meal.

As a matter of fact, they could’ve eaten with the king if they wanted to, but they ended up deciding to have their meal in a separate location due to Regena’s presence. They didn’t want to cause any commotion.

「I-I-I brought a meal for chyou!!」

Maybe because she was too nervous, Riette ended up biting her tongue. She thenpushed the cart into the room.

「Uhm… That…」

Riette fidgeted with her fingers, trying to muster up the courage to say something to Shirone and the others.

In Shirone and her companions’ world, Riette would be a girl in her last year of elementary school, and an extremely adorable one on top of that.

（She’s clearly scared of us. Ugh, for such an adorable child to be this scared of us makes me a bit sad.）

Shirone felt saddened upon seeing Riette’s reaction to them. It seems Reiji’s rampage in Algore during their last visit was still fresh in the memory of Algore’s citizens. Thus, it was only natural for them to be afraid of Shirone and the others, who were Reiji’s comrades.

Riette served the dishes with trembling hands.

The dishes were common popular dishes in this world.

Turnip and beans soup, grilled chicken, and fruit. And lastly, in the corner of the cart was a small bottle, which seemingly contained fish sauce.

The portions were enough for them, but quality wise, it was far below the standard of the meals they had in Velos Kingdom. The dishes were simple and didn’t seem to be that delicious; it was by no means a luxurious meal.

Shirone and co. didn’t seem to be that surprised since they were pretty much aware that Algore was by no means a wealthy country.

They might have not even visited Algore if not for Regena’s matter.

「W-Well… I shall excuse… myself.」

After bidding them farewell, Riette dashed out of the room as if trying to escape from monsters.

Even though Shirone wanted to talk to her more, the little girl had already left.

「Aren’t you going to eat with us, Regena-san? It’s the dishes of your birthplace you know.」

Shirone asked Regena.

Since she hadn’t eaten dinner last night and breakfast this morning, Shirone felt that Regena must be extremely famished right now. Just when she thought about that, an adorable sound resounded in the room.

It came from Regena’s stomach. It seems that her appetite had gotten stimulated after seeing the food.

Hearing that, Shirone and the two other girls looked at each other and burst into laughter.

「W-What’s so funny! It’s not like I’m hungry or anything!!」

Regena spoke bashfully as she pressed her stomach.

「Fufu, Regena-san. I think Kuroki-san will be sad if he see you so lifeless when you reunite with him.」

Kaya took out the Kuroki card.

「Yeah… I can’t make my Dear Master sad…」

And just as expected, Regena readily gave in when they mentioned Kuroki.

（Really, what’s so good about the hopeless Kuroki though?）

Shirone smiled wryly upon seeing Regena being so lovestruck.

「What a luxurious meal… As expected, uncle Montes would never dare to be rude to the Hero’s little sister, even if he dislikes the whole party…」

Regena spoke as she looked at the dishes.

「Is this considered a sumptuous meal in this country?」

Kyouka asked Regena.

Though it might have sounded like sarcasm if it was said by another person, Regena knew that Kyouka was asking purely out of curiosity.

「Yes, this is a luxurious meal for this country. We won’t take out the fish sauce unless it’s an extremely important occasion…」

Regena replied while taking the small bottle of fish sauce.

Generally, seasonings in this world were just salt, vinegar, and fruit oil. Fish sauce was a rare seasoning.

But, in Shirone and co’s knowledge, it was just rare, it didn’t mean that the seasoning was hard to get. And yet, it turned out to be an extremely rare seasoning in Algore.

「Honestly speaking, this is a poor country… No fruit or crops could grow in this land. This place can even be considered poorer than Nargol.」

「Nargol is poor?」

「For humans, yes. Nevertheless, we can get amazing meals since they put some consideration for My Dear Master. The meal in this country is even poorer than the ones we get in Nargol.」

Regena replied to Shirone’s question.

「Uhm, what does Kuroki normally eat everyday?」

「My Dear Master is…」

Regena then started a long winding talk about Kuroki.

She unknowingly revealed more and more information about Kuroki that Shirone really wanted to know about.

Thus, from Shirone’s perspective, she got plenty of information from Regena.

（From Regena’s perspective, it seems that Kuroki is acting on his own free will. Though that Kuna girl wants to get rid of Regena, Kuroki doesn’t seem to allow that. Yet, Kuroki seems to really care about that Kuna girl.）

Shirone concluded that Kuna was most likely the Demon King’s child. It seems that she appeared out of nowhere someday. She also found out that Kuna always said “Kuroki is mine”.

（Yes, that girl must be the one who manipulated Kuroki into becoming the Dark Knight. But her control over him doesn’t seem to be perfect…）

That was the conclusion that Shirone came up with after hearing Regena’s story.

（Things might get resolved much faster if I meet that girl rather than Kuroki. The problem is I don’t know where she is right now. Might she already be in Algore?）

Shirone couldn’t help but ponder about that matter.

Just in case, Shirone and co. told the watchmen to watchout for anything that might appear in the sky. Since Kuroki had a dragon, they felt it a possibility for him to ride the dragon to Algore. Dragons were way too conspicuous, so it would be easy for them to spot it.

「Now come here quickly, Kuroki… I’m waiting…」

Shirone muttered so as she thought about Kuroki.