CH 16

“… That being said, isn’t that super bad?”

Kanata was momentarily stunned by Aguila’s unexpected disappearance before him, but his muttering caused Maria and Alphana to move in panic.

“Individually, there seems to be nothing wrong with it, but… and for a saint, it’s definitely not good!”

“I too wanted to say that… No-no, but for a princess, that’s a matter of concern.”

By the way, Kanata didn’t hear them muttering.

Whatever that pitch-black sphere was, Kanata had never seen it before, but Alphana had said earlier that it was a sign of evil.

He knew that meant it was the work of the demon tribe.

But he had no idea why the demons were interested in Aguila.

“Could it be the demons too?”

“… Is it possible? Well, it might be possible if it’s about the prestige of Haishin-sama!”

“What have you been mumbling about all this time?”

The moment Kanata asked this, the black sphere from earlier appeared again.

“?”

“Kya!”

“Ah ♪.”

Pulling Maria and Alphana, both of whom had their backs turned, behind him to protect, Kanata positioned himself to intercept it at any time.

Even though he had an unlimited magical power, he did not have much fighting knowledge. Still, as a man, he naturally moved his body to protect them.

“…?”

However, despite his caution, it was Aguila who showed up.

He was foaming at the mouth, partly because he had passed out, and a disgusting smell wafted through the air as he showed up.

The smell was Aguila’s urine, and not only Kanata but even Maria and Alphana had their hands over their noses.

“Haha, what an embarrassment of a human.”

Right after him, another figure appeared. It was an inhuman being with giant wings.

He had a goofy voice, and with his tone and looks… he seemed to be a coquettish person.

Aside from his large wings, he had a large body, golden hair, and slightly visible sharp teeth that looked like blades.

“Demons!”

“Back off, Kanata-kun!”

Kanata was still on his guard, but Maria, with her sword drawn, and Alphana, who had begun casting magic, stood in front of him.

The demon looked at Kanata and the others, but he showed no hostile intent at all.

“Oops, sorry for showing up out of the blue. My master is very upset with this guy who pretended to be Haishin. So we had to take him away for a slight punishment.”

“… Eh?”

“Haishin-sama?”

“Oh?”

Well, suddenly, the chaotic atmosphere began to spread…

Kanata was shocked to hear the name Haishin from the mouth of a demon while Maria and Alphana rolled their eyes, letting their guard down, if only for a moment.

“If you say Haishin-sama… Don’t tell me?”

“… Yeah.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Oh, hey…”

Kanata was puzzled by the three, who seemed to be somehow communicating with each other.

Maria retracted her sword, and Alphana also dispelled the magic she had been casting.

“… Kukuh! So that’s how it is. I guess we’re on the same side!”

The demon, with a friendly smile on his face, approached them unguardedly.

Although the demon world has just offered a non-intervention treaty to the human world, it is natural for them to be somewhat wary.

“….? Oh, well, I guess you guys are still wary of me. Humans and demons have a long way to go before we fully understand each other. No matter how many words Haishin has to say.”

“You are…”

“… Fumu.”

The three of them had solemn looks on their faces, but Kanata was the only one who looked tired and wondered what was going on between them.

Were they already thinking of Aguila as something that didn’t exist? It’s too sad, but it’s better if he was still alive.

Well, you might want to die as a man when the princess and the saint, both considered the country’s supreme treasures, see you like that.

”Well, I merely wanted to punish this guy this time. There are many followers of Haishin among the demon tribe, including me. I’m not so inclined, but my master, the Demon Lord… is a bit obsessed with him. She always listens to him without fail.”

“… Seriously?”

“Surprised, right? Well, that’s how interesting Haishin is!”

The demon then smiled again and said so.

It was the first time Kanata saw a demon say many good things about his work. He felt better and was happy.

Well, it’s no surprise that he couldn’t say he is Haishin, but it was still a delightful surprise that the demon people were his followers.

“That’s how wonderful Haishin-sama is…”

“Yes… a being that connects across the boundaries between humans and demons… ahh, Haishin-sama ♪.”

“You… you have the same as the Demon King.”

So the demon turned to Kanata.

He looked at Kanata and muttered in admiration.

“You’ve got more convincing magical powers than the guy lying around there that was faking Haishin, don’t you?”

“I wonder why.”

He pretended not to be shaken, but his heart was racing.

Even Maria began to stare at him with a questioning look after hearing the demon’s words, but he was afraid to look in that direction, unfortunately.

Alphana clapped her hands to save Kanata, who was thinking about how to settle the situation.

“Demon one, if you have no intention to be hostile, then let’s end the matter here. As for him, we had something to say about him. We would give him the worst punishment possible.”

“Yeah. Though this guy had already received the worst punishment possible as the Demon Lord themselves subdued him with her magical power.”

“Then I guess that should be enough since he had committed such a great sin.”

“Fu~n? You’ve got a pretty good personality, don’t you, young lady?”

“Ufufu ♪.”

“Haha ♪.”

Kanata already wanted to tell the three, who were getting along for some reason, that he wanted to go home.

Soon after that, the demon left, but as for Kanata, it was like he had spent a very intense time.

“Maria, stop staring at him like that.”

“But…”

“Speaking of which, Maria, didn’t you say you had something to do today?”

“… Ah! How could’ve I missed that!?”

Apparently, Maria had something to do so she ran off immediately.

The way she stared at him, like staring at the absolute dark, was frightening, but he felt like he had somehow been saved.

“… What a day today.”

“Can’t agree more.”

Alphana, with her petite body, looked up at Kanata as she approached.

“Kanata-sama.”

“What is it?”

Looking down at her, he found her very cute, partly because of her petite body. It was enough to make Kanata’s heart pound.

“Thank you for protecting me. It made me so happy ♪.”

“Ohh, you mean about that?”

Well, it’s a man’s job to protect the ladies, or so he wanted to say, but Kanata scratched his cheek and looked away.

It is at times like this that his lack of familiarity with women becomes apparent.

However, even though he averted his gaze, Alphana never laughed and continued to look at Kanata with respect.

“… So cool.”

By the way, he heard this muttering.

Kanata’s face turned even redder, but he could not leave Aguila alone, so he approached him to carry him to the dormitory.

“Well, that was a disaster.”

“You are very kind, Kanata-sama.”

“That’s pretty normal, isn’t it?”

He picked Aguila up and was about to put his arm around his shoulder when he woke up.

“W-where am I…?”

Then he looked at Kanata and crouched down in fear.

“Ha, Haishin-sama help me… Haishin-sama help me, I beg of you!”

“…”

“Ara…”

Kanata and Alphana looked at each other at the sight of Aguila, who should have hated Haishin, but for some reason, asked Haishin for help.

(“About how he hated Haishin, and when he came back, he asked for his help.”

“It’s like a story in the making.”)

Kanata was very curious as to what kind of punishment he had received.

However, in a sense, this event was certainly bountiful for Kanata as he learned something about the demon tribe.

(… If what that demon said is true, then the demon king listens to me too? Oh, was that why humanity received an offer for a non-intervention treaty?)

It was rumoured that the non-interference that the demon tribe side had suggested might be due to the influence of Haishin, but it may not be so.

Incidentally, as an aside, Aguila fully admitted that he lied.

In a very short span, he transformed into a completely different man as he accused his family of all the wrongdoings, or so the rumour goes.

“It’s outrageous to try to demean Haishin-sama, and I won’t tolerate such an act.”

‘That was what Aguila had become accustomed to saying,’ his friends said in horror.