Chapter 6: Makoto Takatsuki Makes Preparations
I had a dream. For once, it was just a dream, and not a vision of Noah.
Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa City, Tokyo. I was in a room in a low apartment. The room was plain, with no real decoration. In other words, it was my room. A boy and a girl were inside.
“Hey, your parents are never home,” commented the girl, Sasa. This dream was a recollection of when we used to play games back in junior high.
“They both work, so they don’t get home until late. That’s why I like games so much.”
She paused for a moment. “Doesn’t it get lonely?”
“Not really. It’s always been this way, so I’m used to it.” Even when they were home, we never spoke much. I preferred being on my own.
“You’ve got three little brothers, right?” I asked her.
“Four,” she corrected. “They’re so noisy.”
“Do you get along, though? I’m an only child, so I don’t really get what it’s like.”
“More or less. They used to love me, but now they won’t play games with me.” She pouted.
“So that’s why you come here. Aren’t there any girls that game?”
“There are...but none of them like the same action games I do.”
“I’m not that great at action games either, though,” I said.
“It’s fine. I like your RPGs too.”
“Guess so.” Before Sasa, I’d thought that I liked playing alone...but then, I’d realized that playing with another person was also fun.
Sasa was currently at my side, munching on pocky. She loved sweet things, so she always had snacks like that. If I had to choose, I preferred savory stuff like chips, so we split our snacks.
“Say, don’t you think you spend too long getting ready for the boss battle?” Sasa asked. “You’ve got all the weapons and armor, and so many items.”
“Do I? I thought it was normal.”
“Wellll, I figured you’d give the boss a shot first to see if you were strong enough. If you get wiped out, you can always use a continue.”
“I hate playing like that.”
“Hmm.”
When playing RPGs, I did my best to never get a game over. Sasa found it annoying to watch, but her playstyle, by contrast, assumed that she’d be using continues.
“Hey, if you beat him, we’re playing mine next,” Sasa declared.
“Got it.”
I’d have a game, Sasa would bring a game, and we would take turns playing them. We’d always done that since our first year of middle school.
In my game, I made it through the dungeon and entered the boss room.
“This is the boss room! Are you ready?”
Yes
▶No
Anime-style portraits of the protagonist and the cute heroine were bantering on-screen. The heroine had huge eyes and enormous breasts, and she wore fairly exposing clothes.
Lately, I’ve noticed that girls in games are all designed for sex appeal.
Maybe my thoughts showed on my face.
“So, is this the kind of girl you like?” Sasa asked.
“No,” I answered after a pause.
“She’s cute, though. Are you sure?” she needled, poking me in the side with a grin.
“Sure, she’s got big tits, and she’s cute... ’Cause she’s got big tits.” I glanced at Sasa. When we’d been in our second year of junior high, Sasa’s chest had been extremely modest. Unfortunately, it hadn’t changed much, even in our first year of high school.
“Why are you looking at me?” she asked softly.
“I don’t mind a smaller chest,” I remarked with a smile.
“I’ll kill you, Takatsuki.”
“Hey, no violence!”
She hit me. It hurt.
Still, that was fine. Payback was served, and I challenged the boss. I’d been extremely prepared, so I won without much issue. Once I saved, I quit the game.
“Okay, so next we’re playing this!” Sasa cheered, whipping out a game.
“Oh! That only came out yesterday, didn’t it?”
“My brother bought it, and I borrowed it to bring here!”
“Your poor little brother.” It seemed like a common thing that happened when you had older siblings. I’d seen the same thing play out all the time in junior high. That took me back.
Then, everything started getting hazy. I figured I was about to wake up. Why did I have that dream?
Now that I think about it, the heroine kinda looked like Lucy, I thought, just before I regained consciousness.
“It’s morning?” I asked blearily. This was the Hero of Roses’s room. My room.
I’d stayed the night here. The bed was, what, a king-size? Well, it was huge, around three times bigger than my bed back on Earth.
As I rubbed my eyes, Sasa came into the room. “Takatsuki! We found a great crepe place in town!” She still liked her sweet stuff. Also, she didn’t look much different than she had in the dream. Strange, considering that she’d actually reincarnated as a monster.
That’s right—the dream had reminded me of something important. Recently, I’d just been training on my own. That was wrong, though. We were a party, so we should all aim to work together as much as possible. I also needed to buy the best gear and items that I could.
After all, that was my playstyle.
“Sasa, let’s go shopping!” I exclaimed.
“Hmm?” She cocked her head sideways like a little bird. Really, she hasn’t changed much since junior high.
“Wow, for a minute, I almost thought you were taking me out on a date,” Sasa griped.
“It’s kinda like that, isn’t it?” I asked.
“You don’t go to a weapons shop on a date!”
She really wasn’t happy. I needed to do something.
“Then, what do you want to go for?” I asked.
We were in a weapons shop with swords, axes, and spears. The product range here was way bigger than it was in Macallan, and if I showed my identification as a hero, the royal family would pay for my gear. This was great!
“Hmm... Bladed weapons aren’t exactly my thing...” Sasa muttered with a conflicted look.
“Oh? What do you mean?” I asked.
Turns out, there was a sensible reason for it: while I loved fantasy to begin with, Sasa was a more normal high school girl, so she didn’t want to be swinging swords or knives around. That made sense. She hadn’t been given much choice while living in Labyrinthos, but now that she was on the surface, she also didn’t want to actively pick up a blade and kill monsters. If you cut them, they’d bleed, and she didn’t want to see blood. That’s why she’d rather fight barehanded.
“There are monsters like that blight giant that you can’t touch with your body,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right...”
That thing had been covered in lava. There was no way anyone could’ve hit it without a weapon.
We both sighed in unison.
“Let’s check out some other gear and items,” I suggested.
“Sure. Sorry, Takatsuki.”
“It’s fine. There’s no point in forcing you to fight with a weapon you’re uncomfortable with.”
And so, we bought her a complete set of fighter gear and some accessories enchanted for defense. As for me, I got bucketloads of recovery items. The royal family’d be picking up the bill anyway.
This was great.
“Makoto, you and Aya are back?” I’d bumped into Prince Leonardo on the way to my room.
“Yup. We just went shopping around the town. What have you been up to?”
“I was training magic with Lucy.”
“She didn’t cause you any issues, did she?” I asked hesitantly.
Lucy had said she was training magic today, so I was just a little worried she’d lose control in the castle grounds.
Her fireball would burn the gardens to ashes...
“It was fine,” he said, laughing. “She just got a little manasick, so she’s resting in her room.”
“I see. I’ll go and check on her later.”
Lucy was pushing herself too hard. I’d have to tell her to dial it back a bit.
“What did the two of you buy?” asked the prince.
“Uh, clothes and items, I guess. We bought a whole bunch!” Sasa exclaimed. She seemed happy, but she was also right in front of a member of the royal family. In other words, she was excitedly discussing the money she’d spent in front of the person footing the bill.
“I really wanted to check out the weapons, but we didn’t find anything suitable in the shops,” I explained.
My words caused Prince Leonardo’s face to shine. “In that case, would you like to see our vault? As our hero, you and your companions are welcome to use things from it.”
For real?!
“I’d love to!” I answered immediately.
Sasa was bouncing in place, her body language saying much the same.
“This way, then.”
We should have talked to him to begin with!
He led us to the vault beneath the castle. The huge metal doors squealed open to reveal a dim room.
“It’s kinda...musty,” Sasa commented.
“Yeah...but there’s so much mana in the weapons and armor,” explained the prince. “They’re all enchanted.”
The huge stone room was lined with countless weapons. Selling just one of them would probably earn you enough to buy a house.
“You can look at any of it, but make sure you talk to me before you touch anything,” warned Prince Leonardo. “Things covered with chains or cloth are cursed and have been sealed, so take care.”
“Cursed?!” Sasa exclaimed, yanking her hand back. She’d been right about to touch something... Phew, that was close.
I gave the room my full attention as I peered around. Soon, my eyes fell upon a single magic blade. There was a chill coming off it, and it was shining with mana.
“Prince Leonardo, what’s this?” I asked.
“That is a magic blade, an ice sword. Do you want to touch it?”
“So this is an ice sword...” My dreams... “Can I?”
“Go ahead,” he said with a smile.
I pulled the blade from its sheath, and it shone a pale white. So this was a magic sword... It was extremely heavy. S-Seriously?! I can barely lift it...
I staggered slightly beneath the weight.
“Are you okay, Takatsuki?” Sasa asked, trying to hold me up.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Was it...too heavy?” Leonardo asked with a rueful smile.
“I guess it’s not suited for me,” I responded, putting it back.
My dreams...crushed to smithereens.
“Prince, what’s this?”
Apparently, Sasa had found something.
“Is that a hammer?” I wondered. It had the shape of one, at least, but looked more like one of those squeaky mallets rather than a tool a carpenter would use. It appeared to be made of metal, but the glimmer it exuded meant that it was probably also enchanted. Was it mythril? Despite being a hammer, it was cute... Just what Sasa likes best.
“Whaaat?!” the prince exclaimed in shock.
“What’s wrong?”
“A-Aya! You can lift that with one hand?!”
“Uh? Is there something wrong with that?” She gave the hammer a few test swings. Was that a magic weapon as well?
“Can I try?” I asked, holding out my hand.
“Sure,” she said. “It’s a bit heavy, though.”
“Hmm, let’s have—ahhh!” She passed the hammer over with one hand, and the moment I grabbed it, I was dragged to the floor with a thud.
Wh-What the hell?!
“Makoto, that’s the Fierce Deity’s Hammer. A hero wielded it a thousand years ago, but it’s so heavy that no one has used it since.”
“That’s too much.” It was small, but dense, like it weighed at least a hundred kilos.
“I’ll show you what it really looks like... Let’s see, you spin this and...” He twisted the handle around several times.
The two of us gasped.
In seconds, the hammer had grown to a ridiculous length, at least two meters long. So, this weapon’s size could be changed at will. That thing’s gotta weigh a lot more than a hundred kilos.
And Sasa had waved it around one-handed...
“Oooh, that seems fun. It’s super cute too.”
“Cute?”
Sasa was currently swinging the hammer around again.
Watch out, Sasa!
“I-If it is to your liking, then you can have it. I will inform my sister,” the prince said, backing away slightly.
“What do you want to do, Sasa?”
“Yeah, I’ll take this,” she agreed, twisting the handle back and making it shrink again.
“At its smallest size, it can be worn as an accessory and is much lighter,” Prince Leonardo explained. “When you aren’t using it as a weapon, you can carry it like this.”
“Sure thing.”
That was pretty convenient, though there weren’t many people that could use it.
At least Sasa seemed to like it.
I parted with Sasa and decided to go train my magic. While I was headed to my room, I came across a certain red-headed elf who was swaying on her feet.
“Lucy?”
“Oh, Makoto...?” Her clothes were in disarray...it was kinda hot. Wait, not the time.
“I heard you used too much magic and got manasick. You okay?”
“Yeah... I’ll be fine if I just lay down a bit,” she mumbled, gazing at me with hazy eyes. She looked like she was still half asleep.
“You shouldn’t train too much,” I told her.
“But you train all the time,” she grumbled with a pout.
I suppose she’s right. “Well, I’m heading back to my room right now to do some training. Want to come with?” I hoped to have a chat with her anyway.
“To your room?! S-Sure,” she answered, eyes wide open. I guess she must’ve woken up a bit.
I made it to my room and stepped inside, beckoning Lucy after me.
“E-Excuse me...” she said.
“What’re you being so uptight for?” I asked, watching her cautiously enter the room. Seriously, when’d she get like this?
“I mean, this is the first time I’ve been in your room...”
“Hmm, is it?” Back in Macallan, I’d stayed at the guild, which hadn’t really afforded me my own private space. This was the first room in this world that was mine. Still, it was a room in Roses’s castle. It was borrowed, more like a hotel room, so I didn’t feel any ownership over it.
Oh well, forget all of that.
“Sit down around there,” I told her, gesturing.
“R-Right.”
She sat on the bed, and I sank down beside her. We were alone in the room, and here in front of me was a short-skirted beauty... Wait, begone, unclean thoughts! I cleared my mind and turned to face her with a serious expression.
“Lucy, would you consider taking a break from practicing magic to learn some other skills?”
“Eh, why?”
“When the blight monster appeared, none of the mages could cast anything, could they? If you learn Calm Mind, it’ll come in handy next time.”
Come to think of it, maybe it’d be better if every mage and adventurer in the country learned it. At some point, I’d have to discuss this with Princess Sophia or Prince Leonardo.
“Makoto...Calm Mind is a rare skill, isn’t it?”
“Wha?” Huh? It is?
“There are a lot of skills that stabilize emotions, but Calm Mind is a high-level one. The only thing I could learn would probably be Serenity.”
Huh, I hadn’t known that. “Let’s go with Serenity then. I use Calm Mind all the time, and it kept my concentration up during the battle, I think.”
“You use it...all day?” Lucy was looking at me like I was some bizarre creature. “In that case, it probably has a similar effect to Concentration... I guess using those skills to train might work well.”
“I haven’t paid much attention to that aspect of it, but maybe it does have that effect.” I’d just been using the skill to stave off my unease as my classmates left the Water Temple one after another. Calm Mind must offer a secondary focusing effect too.
Lucy seemed to perk up. “Yeah, you might be onto something there! So far, I’ve been going full tilt into magic, but if I learn Serenity and Concentration first, I might do better! Thanks, Makoto.”
“No worries.” Hopefully, she’d be able to fight alongside us the next time a blight monster showed up. Sasa also had a weapon now. There were plenty of things for our party to practice before the next battle.
“Let’s work on that for now.”
“Right!”
And so, we practiced skills for the next few hours. After a while, I heard gentle and relaxed breathing coming from my training partner.
“Lucy?” I asked softly. “Guess she fell asleep.”
She’d been working hard for a while now, and she hadn’t gotten enough sleep to begin with. She was sprawled on my bed, so I pulled the covers over her. I’d feel bad if I woke her up. She looked really comfortable...but I could see the mood taking a weird turn if I kept watching her as she slept, so I returned to my own training.
First, I disabled Calm Mind, then I called out, “Elementals.”
I heard a chuckle. Had it come from an elemental, maybe? Hmm...I’m not really sure...
I was in my room, so I couldn’t use any large spells...and as time went on, I just got sleepier. At some point, I could no longer fight off sleep, so I fell forward onto my bed and passed out.
The next morning, I awoke to voices speaking outside my room.
“Good morning, Aya.”
“Good morning, Princess Sophia, Prince Leonardo. Do you need Takatsuki for anything?”
“Leo wanted to meet with him.”
“Sister, didn’t you say you wanted to talk to him as well?” That was definitely the prince’s voice.
“Leo...be quiet.”
Urgh, so noisy.
“Takatsuki, you up?” Aya asked with a knock.
“Mrgh, yeah,” I answered, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
I really trained until late last night... Quietly, I opened the door.
“Morning, Takatsuki. Let’s eat break—”
“Good morning, do you—”
Sasa and Sophia both walked in and began to speak, but they immediately froze, their eyes wide.
What was the problem?
“Morning, everyone,” I said while stretching out a bit. “What’s up?”
For several long moments, I got no response.
“Say, Takatsuki...” Sasa began in a frigid tone. An awful chill raced down my spine. Sense Danger was blaring like crazy. What the hell?!
“Makoto Takatsuki...” Princess Sophia’s voice was like a shower of hail. Literally, I felt the room cool down by several degrees.
She was using her ice magic...? Wh-What’s going on?!
“Makoto,” Prince Leonardo said in a cherubic voice. “Lucy seems to not have any clothes on. Maybe you should cover her so she doesn’t catch a cold.”
As soon as he asked that question, I knew what kind of hot water I was in...and boy, was it boiling! I glanced to my side where Lucy was dozing. Right, she’d fallen asleep in my bed last night. Thinking back, I vaguely remembered her stripping her top off while complaining about the room being too warm...
This is awful!
“Hmmm, I see... After we went shopping, the two of you...”
Sasa? Why are you expanding that hammer?! You shouldn’t be pointing that at a classmate!
“You are in the holy room of the hero... This is why otherworld heroes are...”
In all the time I’d known her, Princess Sophia had not given me a colder look than the one she wore now. Even some ice elementals were quickly swirling around her.
Offhandedly, I thought, Cool, the elementals are all stirred up. So this is what Noah meant when she said that emotions affect them.
Wait, not the time!
Hurry up and make an excuse, Noah interjected. You’re on course for a bad ending...
“W-Wait just a minute!” Frantically, I explained what’d happened.
Lucy had been roused by the commotion, and she apologized when she heard the situation. “I-I’m so sorry I fell asleep here.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. It was fine—we’d managed to clear up the details of what’d happened.
“That’s great,” Sasa said, seeming relieved. She grabbed my arm. “I’ll sleep here tonight.”
Prince Leonardo was sitting on the bed with a wide smile. “That sounds like fun!” he exclaimed. “Can I come too?”
“Sure. I’ll be training, though, just so you know.” I guess those two had decided to hang out here tonight. I didn’t exactly mind.
Suddenly, I felt someone’s gaze on me, so I turned and saw Princess Sophia staring. “Did you want to come as well?” I asked her.
“Wh-Wha?!” she sputtered. “How could you even suggest such a thing?!”
Whoops, guess I pissed her off. And here I was, thinking that we were getting along now.
“Hero Makoto,” she said, reverting to a more serious demeanor. “We have a discussion that needs to take place. Come see me this evening.” She then pivoted and left the room.
Once she was gone, the other three started speaking up enthusiastically.
“Hey, Takatsuki, shall we go shopping somewhere?” Sasa asked.
“Come out with me today!” was Lucy’s contribution.
“Makoto! Let’s practice our magic,” Prince Leonardo suggested.
They were all fired up! In the end, I was able to work all three into my schedule—I helped Leo with his spellwork, then went shopping with Sasa, and finally, I had tea with Lucy. Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable day.
That evening, I found myself standing in the castle’s dungeon. The entire area was covered by an inescapable holy barrier; those who had committed wicked crimes were thoroughly trapped within...or something like that. Princess Sophia had brought me here, and I now stood in front of a cell that housed a man. Thick shackles bound his feet, linked with a hefty chain.
Did his face seem familiar...?
“He was the leader of the group behind the monster attack the other day,” the princess explained.
“Huh...” I looked closely at the man’s face. Though we’d only spoken for a brief moment, I thought it was probably him.
“What’s with you two...?” the man said, peering up at us with darkened eyes.
“Makoto Takatsuki is the Hero of Roses,” Princess Sophia answered. “He defeated the monster you incited.”
“This brat? Damn, the awakening must have failed...”
“The awakening?” That wasn’t a term I’d heard before.
“The giant became a blight monster. He defeated it,” the princess stated.
The man stared agape for a second before his face contorted into a hateful glare.
Oh, so when a monster becomes blighted, that must be referred to as an “awakening.” Now that I understood, I decided to bring up something that’d been bothering me.
“You were one of the circus clowns, weren’t you?” When I’d transformed into a clown, I’d had a conversation with someone. I wanted to confirm that the man in the cell was the same one I’d spoken to.
“What are you talking about?” the man answered with a blank expression. Guess he wasn’t going to play ball.
“Hero Makoto. Have you had contact with this cambion—the man from the Snake Sect?” asked Princess Sophia.
“I saw him once when I was around the circus tent. He was with a suspicious-looking clown...” I explained. “Wait, what’s the Snake Sect?”
So, this man was a cambion... Fujiyan had told us that the incident had been caused by them. I’d never heard of the Snake Sect, though.
The man didn’t say anything more. Princess Sophia spoke up in his stead.
“We have proven that the organization of cambions known as the Snake Sect was pulling the strings behind the event. They infiltrated the city and awaited their opportunity, and that clown was likely one of the sect’s upper members. We are currently pursuing him. This was all discovered by your merchant friend, Sir Fujiwara.”
“That’s Fujiyan, all right.” He just never stopped! When the prisoner heard Fujiyan’s name, his face twisted with rage.
“Damn! What is that man?!” The cambion slammed against the bars with a crash. “We’ve hidden that base for over ten years and he found it?!”
More than ten years... So they’d been planning this. They were essentially terrorists, but thanks to Fujiyan, they were being rounded up.
“The Snake Sect has pledged allegiance to the Daemon Typhon,” explained Princess Sophia. “The Great Demon Lord is said to have founded the sect a millennium ago.”
“The ‘Great Demon Lord?!’ Your filthy mouths are not fit to speak of Him so lightly! Our Lord is the prophet that guides us! His miraculous revival will see you humans yanked out by your roots!” The man’s eyes were bloodshot as he hurled vitriol at us. It was kinda scary, to be honest.
“Oh, by the way, Princess Sophia,” I asked. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Now that you are a hero, you need to understand that monsters are not your only enemies,” she said, looking sorrowfully at me. “Most cambions are said to dwell within the ruins of Laphroaig, but some exist in other countries. If they just lived their lives, there would be no issue. However, there are those who threaten our peace. Please learn this well.”
I gave a sigh. “I see...” Just defeating the Great Demon Lord wasn’t enough. Up the difficulty slider goes...
“Oh, so just living our lives would be fine?!” The man was yelling, and he grabbed at the bars with clawed hands, heedless of the chains on his legs. “You root us out of our quiet existences, then exile and kill us!”
“That is the past,” Princess Sophia countered. “The current policy of Roses dictates that a cambion who does no wrong will not face unreasonable discrimination upon discovery...in general.” Her expression didn’t change, but her voice grew quieter.
So, cambions had been hunted here in the past...and the practice might still be happening in other countries. Though a nation might forbid state-sanctioned discrimination, their citizens’ actions were another matter.
“Heed my words... Confining me here is meaningless. Our allies are countless, and your time of peace is at an end,” the man spat, cursing us.
The princess’s reply was calm. “We know that your next objective is Highland’s capital. We have already informed them.”
The cambion’s mouth dropped open.
“How did you...”
“There is no need for you to know that,” Princess Sophia said with finality. “Hero Makoto, let us depart.”
At her word, the two of us left the dungeon.
Once we were back inside the castle proper, the princess apologized to me. “I am sorry. While I doubt it was a pleasant meeting, it felt necessary considering your position.”
“I didn’t have a clue before, so it was definitely helpful.” Seriously, I hadn’t known any of that. It was a bit depressing... There was still a lot for me to learn, and the books in the Water Temple hadn’t contained anything about the dark history of this world.
“The cambions are deserving of pity... Since the Great Demon Lord’s death, they have faced persecution on the western continent and have been ostracized from the northern continent... Over the last millennium, they have been pushed into a nomadic lifestyle, with no country of their own, facing discrimination the entire way.”
“The northern continent’s for demons, so why can’t they live there?” I asked.
“Pure demons look down on cambions. They call them demi-demons.”
“I see...” I gave another sigh. So they couldn’t live with humanity or with demons... That was a hard life.
“With no lands to call their own, they have supported themselves with a heretical religion.”
“What? Heretical?” I asked, jumping.
She doesn’t mean us, Noah interjected in my mind. She’s talking about the snake god.
Oh, that’s what she meant. Thank you, goddess. That was a nasty scare.
“Is something the matter?” Princess Sophia inquired.
“N-No, I’m fine,” I said, before steering the topic of conversation in a different direction. “So, the cambions follow the snake god?”
“‘Snake god’ is an epithet for the Daemon Typhon. Legends say that the Great Demon Lord was Typhon’s disciple, and those same legends aided in spreading the moniker.”
“So that’s the history behind it,” I mused. I needed to get everything together mentally... It would be difficult to remember it all at once. “By the way, are they really trying to go after Highland’s capital?”
“That information also came from your companion, Lord Fujiwara. I do not know the specifics, but investigations by Highland have revealed evidence of a plot...”
“A plot, huh...” Considering that I’d be heading there soon, this news didn’t exactly inspire confidence.
“We will provide you as much protection as we can,” she reassured me.
“You don’t need to go that far.” Things would actually be more dangerous for her; she was a princess being targeted by terrorists, which was a truly perilous position to be in.
Still, though... I reflected on how race and religion seemed to be deep-rooted issues in both this world and my old one. Considering that I also followed a goddess I couldn’t admit to, this whole issue was pretty close to home.
Actually, I should check on that, just in case.
“In Roses, is it forbidden to believe in a deity other than the water goddess?” I asked. That’s what I’d heard from Noah, at least.
“No. People are free to have their own beliefs.”
“What?” Noah! You’ve got it wrong!
“There are a large number of adventurers and travelers in Roses, so restricting religion would mean that fewer people would come to our country,” Princess Sophia explained. “However, spreading the belief system of any god but Eir is forbidden. Anyone found to be doing so is exiled, or, if their intentions are malicious...punished severely.”
“Understood.” So the belief itself wasn’t restricted, but recruiting people to your religion was. Gathering more believers for Noah would be illegal. I was glad I’d checked.
“Hero Makoto, you believe in a deity outside of the six grand goddesses, yes?” asked Princess Sophia.
“Y-Yeah, a minor goddess...” When I’d been granted my hero title, officials of Roses had suggested that I convert, but I’d refused and told them that I followed another goddess.
“If you converted, then I could ask Eir for the greatest blessings she could bestow... But that would be an insult to your faith. Forget I said anything.”
She was indeed an earnest soul. But I didn’t want to convert, so I was grateful for her discretion.
“Incidentally,” she said, changing the subject, “Leo will be coming to your room tonight, it seems. I offer my apologies for the disturbance.”
“It’s fine. We’re just going to practice magic.”
“You really are diligent,” she told me with a smile. “Your otherworld friends that used to reside in Roses simply played around while they were here.”
“Ha ha... Well, they were strong without training.” Thinking back to Okada and Kitayama brought back some fond—and not so fond—memories. I wonder what they’re doing now. Probably chasing tail in some other country...
“I would not be so sure of their strength. I doubt that they would be able to defeat a blight monster.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s a high hurdle to clear,” I remarked with a laugh. “Anyway, I need to train every day because my stats are so weak to begin with.”
“Um, I do not want Leo to impose on you for too long, so I will come to fetch him at a reasonable time,” she offered hesitantly.
To be honest, I wouldn’t care if he just stayed. “You don’t need to worry about that. If anything, I wouldn’t mind if you came along too. I’d like to hear more about that Snake Sect and the Northern Front Plan.”
She gasped, then spoke in a hard, resolute tone. “V-Very well. I shall, then!”
Maybe I made her angry? I guess inviting the princess directly was disrespectful.
“Actually, I shoul—”
“Until later, then,” she interrupted with an elegant bow. In the next instant, she was gliding away with light steps.
Well, whatever. A proper talk would bring us closer...probably.
And it did—that night, the two of us had a long conversation.
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