Hero, Making a Resolution
Once he stepped on a surface which did not sway, Urushihara went weak at his knees and sprawled on the ground.
“Hey, are you alright?”
Lailah, standing beside him, asked this, not looking that concerned.
“How can I be alright? I really want to cause a huge ruckus right now to vent out all this discomfort and frustration.”
Urushihara, who was very pale, stared that the ship behind him in hatred.
It took only two days to travel between the southernmost commercial harbour city in the Northern Continent, Welland Isla to the administrative city at the north end of the Central Continent, Noza Quarters, but to Urushihara, who was really bad at taking transport, this was a hellish journey.
During this period of time, he barely ate, and even if he did, he would vomit it out immediately.
He would feel more comfortable on the deck, but the crew on the ship asked them not the leave the hull at night, so Urushihara, who was seasick, could not sleep properly at all.
The groans when Urushihara could not sleep seemed to have caused Lailah to be sleep deprived. Her gaze was filled with frustration and dark circles lined her eyes.
“We are going to take the public horse wagon to the suburbs of Noza Quarters next. Please pull yourself together already.”
“I don’t care about the stability of the world, let me fly there directly! We’re still taking a public horse wagon, what era is this! There are even adjustable seats now!!”
Urushihara began to ramble incoherently. Even if there were adjustable seats, it would not help to ease the symptoms of motion sickness. Either way, it seemed like Urushihara did not want to take any forms of transport anymore.
“It’s easy to be followed by someone if we take a public horse wagon. And after coming here, Kinanah might turn big any time, so even if we have to take some risks, we need to distance ourselves from the town immediately!”
Urushihara sat on the ground of the harbour and shouted like a stubborn child.
“…… Currently, it doesn’t look like anything changed……”
As if she was taking care of a noble’s pet, Lailah was carrying a large wicker basket. She opened the lid slightly and peeked at the ancient demon sleeping within ---- Kinanah from the Renrebellbebelbe clan.
The ancient demon Maou and the others met in the Demon World seemed to be of higher seniority than the current oldest demon, Camio. He was a living witness of the history of the Demon World, but the troublesome part was that he had serious dementia.
The stone on Kinanah’s neck was thought to be one of the Ancient Demon King’s legacies, the ?Astral Gem?, but he was seriously injured during that battle in the underground facility and lost a significant amount of vitality after that.
Kinanah, who would grow big and destroy things after absorbing demonic magic, had been ?reared? in Japan before.
He might be one of the legacies, and no one knew what problems would be caused if he died just like that, so even if they knew that there was a risk of him losing control, they still had to bring him back to Ente Isla where he could replenish the bare minimum amount of demonic magic.
However, even after returning to the Central Continent, which had the most remaining amount of demonic magic in Ente Isla, Kinanah showed no traces of recovering.
“I want to let Ashiya know about what I remembered as soon as possible. With this, everyone’s mind will be more at ease. So……”
“Even so, we can’t fly there. It’s too eye-catching.”
Amongst the spellcasters in Ente Isla, there were people who knew how to fly for long distances.
But doing so would still attract a lot of intention and what Lailah and Urushihara wore were normal clothes from the Central Continent which Farfarello prepared for them, so they did not look like sorcerers at all.
“……”
But if this went on, this hopeless NEET would definitely refuse to leave the area around Lailah’s feet.
“Oh yes. Lucifer, I have a good method which can prevent motion sickness.”
“I’m not going to believe in folk remedies such as pressing the base of the thumb, eating mint flavoured candy or drinking cola before boarding the vehicle.”
“Pressing the base of the thumb still has scientific basis.”
“No matter what basis there is, this kind of naïve method will not work on an entity like me! Then, what motion sickness prevention method were you talking about?”
“I recently heard that one can try to reduce the amount of light entering the eyes. As long as you wear sunglasses, you won’t feel that sick.”
“How are you supposed to find sunglasses now? This is Ente Isla.”
“Yeah, so I am going to use a more reliable method.”
“Eh? Another method?”
“This method is rather reliable.”
Lailah declared confidently.
“As long as you drive the vehicle yourself, you won’t get motion sickness.”
Lailah’s confident words caused Urushihara to raise his eyebrows with all his might.
“………… Hah?”
“Wait, wait a bitttt!!”
“…… What are you doing……”
After Urushihara said this tiredly, he pulled the reins slightly to stop the horse.
There was an unmoving horse some distance away from him, and Lailah was hugging the horse’s neck with all her might.
“How many times has it been already? We won’t be able to advance like this.”
“I, I didn’t do anything at all, but this child is unwilling to move!”
“I didn’t do anything at all is the most untrustworthy sentence in the whole of the Japanese language.”
With well honed movements, Urushihara pulled the reins to make the horse turn back and returned to Lailah’s side.
“T, this is strange! I have practiced how to take care of livestock at a farmer’s place, why are my horse riding skills worse than you who stayed at home all day surfing the internet!!”
“That is slander, and these two things can’t be compared in the first place.”
After Urushihara said this calmly, he moved next to Lailah’s horse, taking the reins from her and swinging them lightly.
Lailah’s horse shook its head unhappily but it still started to move forward, matching the pace of Urushihara’s horse.
“Hey, hold the reins properly.”
“This…… is really embarrassing.”
“You pulled the reins too hard. Do you know why the reins are connected to the horse’s mouth? Because their mouth is sensitive, if you pull too hard, the horse will be in so much pain that it does not know how to move. Hey, if you bend at the waist, your posture will flatten and pull the reins too tightly, so straighten your back.”
Lailah probably never expected that there would be a day when Urushihara would instruct her to ?straighten your back?.
Even if she was shaking from shame and embarrassment, Lailah still asked Urushihara who was skilfully handling two reins at the same time.
“W, why are you so good at riding horses? I don’t think Satan and Alsiel would have asked you to learn how to ride a horse……”
The ?method which definitely would not cause motion sickness? was to drive the vehicle.
The two of them were currently in Ente Isla, so the long distance travelling method which could be prepared immediately were only horses used for transporting goods.
However, an unexpected situation happened then.
Lailah, the one who brought up the suggestion, did not know how to ride a horse at all. On the contrary, Urushihara showed perfect horse riding skills, as if he was riding a beloved horse which he had owned for ten years.
Not only was the pack horse carrying the luggage which they needed on their journey to the Demon Fortress, to avoid the shakiness Kinanah would feel when the horse was moving, they set up a balancing mechanism which resembled a loading carrying pole, but all of this did not affect Urushihara when he was riding the horse, which showed that he really had a high level of skill.
In comparison, Lailah had to struggle to get on the horse’s back, had a hard time getting the horse to take a step forward, and had a hard time making it continue moving forward, so she lost all confidence in herself.
“I learned how to ride a horse after invading the Western Continent. Of course, it was not for the sake of replacing travelling by foot or transporting materials, but for the sake of carrying out various games.”
After Urushihara said this, he showed a very evil smile, and Lailah frowned when she saw this.
“Exactly what kind of games did you play?”
“I don’t mind explaining it in detail, but Emilia and Bell would definitely get angry. Think about it, isn’t the faith of the Theocracy strong in the West?”
“Y, yeah, that’s right.”
“In the legends passed down there, there are many anecdotes of angels or heroes on horses who saved the humans.
So, I would spread out my wings and ride a horse to look for the people we are attacking. My appearance resembles that of a human, right? Even if I have black wings, their judgement is still blinded by the fact that a winged human riding a horse is coming and passionately believe that an angel had come to save them.”
“…… That’s enough, I understand. Don’t say anymore.”
“Wrecking those people was really fun.”
“I told you to stop talking about it.”
Simply put, Urushihara learned to ride a horse in order to prank and torture the humans of the Western Continent.
“Even if you did not ride a horse, you could still masquerade as an angel.”
“What, are you talking about my white wings?”
“Uh, yeah……”
“Don’t the adults frequently say that playing is a waste of time? But it’s interesting simply because it’s a waste of time, to make our lives more fulfilling, there is a need to enjoy this kind of wastefulness. In other words, if someone says that something is a waste of time, it means that person’s life is missing something important. That’s too pitiful. Games have to be a waste of time to be interesting. And just like now……”
As if Urushihara truly felt happy, he gave Lailah a sidelong glance.
“Having an advantage over the people who normally look down on me really feels good. The thing about learning is that you will never know when it will become useful. Oh my~ for people whose only good point is living for a long time, they would probably never understand this feeling.”
Though Urushihara ignored his usual attitude and made sarcastic remarks, Lailah was completely unable to rebuke them.
“But based on this current pace, we would probably reach our destination faster than walking or taking public horse wagons.”
“You usually have a lazy personality, it’s rare for you to show such a sense of urgency, what is the information which you need to share so urgently?”
“Even if this information is known, it would not affect the future plans that much. However, if they know this earlier, if an unexpected situation occurs, it would be easier on the mental state when handling it. Haah…… though I would have to reveal some of my dark history.”
“…… I am a little surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know what kind of dark history you have, but simply put, it is an experience which you would avoid talking about if you could, right?”
“That is correct.”
“However, you are working so hard to reach the destination quickly, it really does not suit your style.”
“I understand. You’re looking down on me, aren’t you?”
After Urushihara scoffed unhappily, he looked up at the sky and said,
“If the information only affects Maou, Ashiya and Emilia, I would not be that serious about it, but this involves Alas=Ramus. In addition, there is still Iron and Acies. They might be stronger than Maou and Emilia. I don’t want to become enemies with them because I did not handle it well.”
“Uh, yeah……”
“Seeing a kid I know cry would make me feel very bad, and it’s also troublesome. In the first place, I usually do not really want to make Alas=Ramus sad. Therefore, it would be better to do things properly to make it easier in various ways.”
Urushihara’s explanation was roundabout and difficult to understand, but Lailah could still understand that Urushihara's actions were for the sake of Alas=Ramus, which surprised her.
“Let me ask this, what happened in the past year?”
“Eh?”
“Just some time ago, didn’t you damage Sasazuka Station and the Shuto Expressway? And before that, you have been causing havoc everywhere in the Demon World and Ente Isla…… you only stayed in Sasazuka for one year, what changed?”
However, it was Urushihara who looked perplexed at Lailah’s question.
“If you went to a new restaurant and you are satisfied with the food there, wouldn’t you continue to go there?”
“…… Eh?”
“Internet, games and manga are also very interesting, you know? And Maou would help me pay for everything. If I continue to destroy things, I would definitely be unable to obtain these things. If so, of course I will have to protect this environment where I can continue to get these things, right?”
“I do feel that there is a room for discussion on whether Satan will continue helping you pay for these things.”
“However, if I cause Alas=Ramus to feel unhappy, Maou would definitely be angry. If revealing some of my dark history can solve things, then the price is considered cheap.”
One side was a dark history within his memories which was lost for a few thousand years, the other side was an internet environment which was considered outdated for the standards of that era, and after Urushihara evaluated the two, he chose the internet. Lailah did not know if she should accept this fact or say that it was very strange.
“Haah…… as long as you think it’s good.”
“The way you phrased it is annoying. Do you want to fight?”
“You’re troublesome!!”
“You’re the same.”
After Urushihara grinned evilly, he sighed deeply.
“Haah, anyway, I won’t get motion sickness like this, so it’s fine if we go slowly. Based on the situation in the Northern Continent, those people from the Church can’t take action immediately, so we just have to travel at a normal speed.”
“Didn’t you just say that we have to rush due to Kinanah-san’s condition?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, if he looks like he is going to die, then just feed him some bark or grass nearby. Since he can eat the apartment room, there would always be a way.”
“Gosh! Be more serious about it!”
Urushihara showed a relaxed attitude, but since they were already some distance away from the central area of Noza Quarters, they could not abandon the horses at this point, so Lailah could only continue riding the horse.
In fact, as long as the huge breakwater known as Din Dem Urs of the Northern Continent continued to be useful, it was unlikely for the situation to change suddenly.
At least for more than three weeks from now, Maou would still be scheduled for work as normal.
Because of this, the longer the period of stability lasted, the more drastic the effect of the changes would be.
Spring. The season of meetings and farewells.
The preparations for the Battle to Defeat God had started since late last year, and four months had passed since then.
In Japan, in order to do her best to fulfil her responsibilities as a student, she expressed that she was going to quit her part time job at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station.
After receiving a transfer order, the Shop Manager who had frequently guided the Demon King and Hero from another world, Kisaki Mayumi, handed over her position as Shop Manager to her successor Iwaki Kotomi and left the store.
As Shop Manager Iwaki was busy trying to re-establish the system for the store in front of Hatagaya station, a demon from the Demon World, Libicocco, one of the Malebranche Chieftains, appeared like a comet, filling up a gap left by those who resigned.
When Maou and Ashiya went to rescue Emi who was imprisoned in the Eastern Continent of Ente Isla, they started to plant the seeds for a plan to have the demons migrate to Ente Isla in small numbers.
While Ashiya was preparing for the Battle to Defeat God, the King of the Eastern Continent of Ente Isla, Afsahan’s Unifying Azure Emperor, the spiritual pillar of the Northern Continent, ?Enclosure Leader? Din Dem Urs, they key to the military balance in the Southern Continent and the Warrior Leader of the Warrior Nation Wathewlama, Lagides Raz Ryan, he made secret agreements with all these influential people one after another.
Having Libicocco become an employee at MgRonalds, the reason behind it was to make him a role model for the demons who would migrate into human society.
Though Libicocco acted compliant, Emi found it difficult to hide her uneasiness with regards to him coming to Japan to work. Emi made a decision to conclude the Battle to Defeat God as soon as possible, but the current situation in Ente Isla was such that they had no room for careless behaviour.
The Church Knights of the Theocracy prepared to carry out a large scale invasion on the Central Continent known as the ?Holy Conquest?, so even if the deadline was approaching steadily, Emi and the others were stuck in a situation where they could not even ascertain the true identity behind Heaven’s faction.
In addition, one of the key players to the invasion of Heaven, the Ancient Demon Kinanah which possessed an
Ancient Demon King Legacy? had become frail, increasing the number of uncertain elements.
Of course, other than the humans of Ente Isla, they needed to actively avoid any sacrifices from the Demon King Army, so to eliminate the uncertain elements as soon as possible and ascertain the situation of Heaven’s forces, Urushihara and Lailah took Kinanah and travelled to the Demon Fortress in the Central Continent via the Northern Continent.
During the period of time starting from when they boarded the ship in Welland Isla at the southern end of the Northern Continent until they reached Noza Quarters at the northern end of the Central Continent, Urushihara, who was bad at riding transportation, got a serious bout of seasickness and because of that, remembered very old memories.
According to him, those memories seem to be strongly related to the secrets of Heaven and the Ancient Demon King Legacies……
Under the sunlight of a warm spring day, Chiho breathed in deeply.
Shirt, skirt and employee hat.
Chiho gently hugged the laundry shop paper bag containing these three things and walked through the automatic door which she had walked through countless times.
“Welcome! …… Ah.”
The rough voice of a man was heard from behind the counter. The owner of that voice noticed Chiho immediately and bowed towards her slightly.
With forceful steps, Chiho walked on the shiny floor, advancing step by step. She looked up at the large stature of her
junior? who was wearing a red employee uniform which seemed a little too tight for him and asked.
“Has Shop Manager Iwaki come?”
“Yeah. She’s in the Shop Manager’s office.”
“I see.”
After Chiho nodded, she looked around in a perplexed manner.
“…… What’s wrong? It can’t be that you don’t know where the Employee Room is.”
“Ah, yeah, that is correct.”
Her?junior? spoke in what could be considered an arrogant tone, causing Chiho to show a troubled smile.
Chiho glanced towards the calendar located at the back of the kitchen, which could still be seen from the counter.
“I am already an outsider from today, so it doesn’t seem appropriate to go in without permission.”
“…… So you were bothered by this kind of meaningless thing.”
Chiho seemed to have expected this reaction.
“This is very important to me, Libicocco-san.”
After Chiho called out the name of her junior, she shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly.
The calendar showed that today was 1st of May.
Yesterday, on 30th of April, Chiho resigned from her position as an employee of the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya Station.
“This is the first time I have resigned from a job. And it is impossible for my seniors to teach me this during training, so I don’t know what to do.”
“There shouldn’t be much difference between yesterday and today. It’s not as if a barrier had been put up.”
“Human barriers are within the heart…… ah.”
At this moment, Shop Manager Iwaki, the topic of their conversation, walked out from the door which Chiho had been walking through on a normal basis until yesterday.
Iwaki noticed Chiho immediately. The gaze behind her large spectacles showed some loneliness, but she still smiled and waved at Chiho.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance.”
After Chiho bowed towards Libicocco, she ran to look for Iwaki.
After the two chatted for a while, Iwaki brought Chiho into the Employee Room.
Libicocco watched the pair walk into the room,
“I don’t understand……”
And stretched his neck while feeling confused,
“Welcome!!”
But he immediately reacted to the opening of the automatic door, and showed a smile towards the new customers, something which had become up to standard after close to three weeks of training, appearing friendly despite his menacing appearance.
“Alright, I have received it.”
After Iwaki carried out a simple inspection of the uniform set which Chiho brought over, she nodded and said this.
“But I had not expected that you would really return it the next day. It’s fine even if you return it after the holiday.”
“If someone gets hired immediately after I leave, then there will be one less uniform, right? I heard that Libicocco-san was unable to start work immediately because there were no uniforms.”
“Libi-kun’s situation is an exception. There should not be any branches which has any uniforms which fit him.”
After Iwaki said this with a smile, for unknown reasons, she placed the uniform, while still in the bag, on the storage cabinet.
Chiho thought that Iwaki would put the uniform on some shelf or inside a locker, so her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Iwaki showed a seemingly teasing expression and said softly,
“Because this is Sasaki-san’s uniform.”
“Eh?”
“After successfully furthering your education and settling down in university life, please consider returning to your position here.”
After sensing Iwaki’s intentions, Chiho replied with a smile,
“If possible, I would like to come back, but I heard that after becoming a university student, there will be many other part time jobs with better hourly pay, and I will be attending cram school starting from next week, so I might be busy studying and totally forget about working.”
“If it’s Sasaki-san, it’ll definitely be alright. Of course, I will not be so petty to give you a trainee salary again, you will start from the level of A grade employee!”
Her tone was relaxed, but Iwaki must truly appreciate Chiho’s value as an employee.
“Oh yes, do you want to take this with you?”
Iwaki took out a MgRonalds Barista certificate with the name ?Chiho Sasaki? printed on it.
This was originally hung behind the MdCafe counter on the second floor. It was probably taken down after Chiho left her job.
Chiho had completely forgotten about the existence of his certificate, but when she saw the ?certificate? with her name printed on it, the memories accumulated in the past year while at this store flooded her mind and filled her heart with warmth.
“Can I take it with me?”
“Of course. Because this belongs to you.”
Even if they did regularly clean the place properly, there was still some dust on the frame of the certificate, but right now, even the dust evoked feelings of love in Chiho. She placed that MgRonalds Barista certificate into the bag she brought with her.
The title of ?MgRonalds Barista? was essentially an in-house qualification which could be easily obtained by any MgRonald employees after attending a short course.
Chiho’s life had been filled with ups and downs in the past year. To her, this title was a symbol of her future.
After Chiho breathed in deeply, she straightened her back and bowed.
“I have received a lot of help from this store in this past year. I am very grateful.”
“I should be the one thanking you…… it’s strange for me to say this when I have just assumed this position, but the things you have left behind will be treasured properties of this store. We welcome you to come here and play anytime.
Of course, we are very welcome to you coming back to work here.”
“I will think about it properly.”
After this mature conversation, Sasaki Chiho, in the truest sense, finally completed her last task of the year.
After Chiho returned home, she found a prominent space on her desk to place her MgRonalds Barista certificate, then exhaled deeply, staring at her desk which she had tidied up.
From today onwards, this would be her battlefield.
Not the apartment where the Demon King and his subordinates lived, not the fast food store where the Demon King and the Hero worked, and clearly not the foreign world where the holy cross continent was.
As a third year high school student living in Japan, she should be fighting here.
Of course, as a third year high school student in Japan, the fact that she had to specifically make a decision like this was already strange, but Chiho no longer cared about this kind of thing.
After Chiho motivated herself, she exhaled slightly and took the textbooks for cram school out from her desk drawer.
Before confirming her last day of work, Chiho had already enrolled into cram school.
However, based on the current standards of society, only beginning exam preparations during May of third year was really a little too late.
In addition, Chiho did rather well in her regular school exams, but if she thought that she would have an advantage during exam preparations because of this, she would definitely trip up later.
Especially since the adults around Chiho harboured expectations for her to the point that it resembled ?a promise ?, Chiho wished to meet their expectations.
Therefore Chiho was unable to face the examinations with a laid back attitude. Because of this, she might feel that she needed to cut off contact with those Ente Isla inhabitants who were important to her.
This would turn into a harsh battle.
But this was not the time to feel depressed and weep.
Even if there were many amazing people amongst the Demon King Army and the Hero’s comrades, it was impossible for any of them to understand Japan’s university examinations.
She could not act spoilt towards anyone.
Just as Chiho left the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station and prepared to step onto the intense battleground known as university exams.
“……Hm?”
The mobile phone within her bag rang.
Chiho might have encountered a setback just as she just gathered her motivation, but it would be useless even if she complained to the person who called.
She frantically took out the pink flip phone from her bag and opened it and discovered that an unexpected name was displayed.
It was a person who should be actively avoiding any form of communication.
But for reasons unknown, it was really a normal ?phone call?.
It was not the long distance communication spell ?Idea Link? which Chiho usually used to contact her friends from the foreign world.
In other words, the caller was within the borders of Japan.
“Hello, Suzuno-san? What’s wrong? Are you in Japan?”
Kamazuki Suzuno, the high ranking priestess of the Theocracy, the religion with the highest number of believers in Ente Isla, should currently be in Saint Ignord, the headquarters of the Theocracy, using her position to support the plans of the ?Demon King Army? from outside.
To ensure that the Ente Isla humans did not sense the true purpose of the Demon King Army, Suzuno should minimise establishing contact with the people connected to the Demon King Army.
Especially for Chiho, before her exam preparations got on track, she decided to actively avoid getting involved in the matters related to the Demon King Army. Even during the time when she was working with Maou and Emi, they tried their best not to talk about Ente Isla.
Therefore, even if Libicocco arrived in Japan a few weeks ago and Urushihara and Lailah took Kinanah to travel to Ente Isla, Chiho did not know anything about what they were doing there, or about any information received by Maou.
In this kind of situation, Suzuno, who should be in Ente Isla obstructing the Church, actually called Chiho while within Japan’s borders.
This gave Chiho a bad feeling.
“Did something really bad happen in Ente Isla……”
Yeah…… it’s really bad. ?
Suzuno’s voice sounded very frail, making it easy to imagine that her face must be very pale right now.
“R, really bad…… did something happen to the Demon Fortress?! Or did Urushihara-san get stranded somewhere?! Or Lailah-san was eaten by Kinanah-san?!”
In one breath, Chiho said things which were very disrespectful to Urushihara and Lailah, but Suzuno did not rebuke her at all.
No, erhm, it’s actually about me. ?
Chiho thought about a few bad situations based on the current situation, but Suzuno’s answer surpassed her expectations.
I didn’t do anything, but I was promoted. ?
“…… Eh?”
I…… got promoted. ?
“Eh? Promoted? Suzuno-san, what are you talking about? Can you phrase it such that it’s easier to understand…… by the way, where are you right now?”
Apartment. Room 202. ?
This normal yet currently strange answer caused Chiho to feel dizzy.
I have to rush back to Ente Isla immediately after this, so I just wanted to share this fact with someone else…… but during this time, the Demon King and Emilia might still be working now, sorry about this, even though Chiho-dono is busy preparing for exams now……?
Suzuno seemed to be rather shaken.
“It’s alright! I’m not particularly doing anything now! Rather than that, what happened? Please take a deep breath first, then explain things properly!”
It could be said that this was the first time Chiho saw Suzuno acting so troubled, and even if she did not know what to do, Suzuno replied,
I became an Archbishop……?
After Chiho spent a few seconds digesting this term, she finally realised the significance.
“Ehhh?!”
Then she shouted in surprise.
“A, archbishop, the ones from the Theocracy?! With six people, the ones in the highest position?!”
…… That’s the one. ?
The commotions within this year caused two empty spots within the highest ranking strategic body ?The Six Archbishops?.
In Ente Isla, the Theocracy was currently orchestrating an operation targeting the Demon Fortress in the Central Continent, making plans to initiate a ?Holy Conquest? to vanquish evil.
For the goals of the Demon King Army, consisting of Chiho and the others, there was a need to slow down the pace of the Holy Conquest. Suzuno should be handling such tasks, so if her meddling actions were exposed and she was punished, it would still be understandable, but why was she promoted?
Once she became the highest authority in the Church, she would continuously be in the limelight and would be unable to move as freely as now.
If Suzuno’s freedom was restricted, it would cause a huge blow to the Demon King Army, but even after ignoring this, Suzuno’s behaviour was still very strange.
If it was the usual Suzuno, she would make use of this situation and craft out a plan together with Emerada and Lumark.
However, she seemed rather beaten down now, so Chiho felt that other than suddenly being made an Archbishop, something else must have happened.
“Please wait for me. I will go to the apartment right now.”
…… Yeah. If it’s just me, I might be unable to handle this situation. ?
Chiho, who felt that the situation was not trivial, did not care that she had just arrived home. She immediately neatened her appearance and rushed out of her room.
For unknown reasons, an image of Suzuno, who normally showed a strong attitude, kneeling on the tatami by herself in her apartment without turning on the lights floated in Chiho’s mind.
If she did not rush over at this time, what kind of friend was she?
However, the voice of Suzuno which drifted into Chiho’s ears when she was running, described a fact which threw Chiho’s mind into utter chaos.
Not only that…… I was appointed to be the commanding officer of this Holy Conquest. ?
“……………… Eh?”
Suzuno, was the commander of the Holy Conquest.
Did that mean that in the near future, Suzuno would be fighting against Ashiya who was leading the Demon King Army in the Central Continent of Ente Isla?
Chiho momentarily thought that this was not much different from usual, but immediately remembered that the battle this time would not happen in the common corridor of Villa Rosa Sasazuka and was a battle in the lands of Ente Isla which would snatch away many lives, causing her to shake her head frantically.
…… What should I do? ?
“I don’t know……”
Suzuno said this with a sigh, but Chiho did not know how to reply.
“Can’t you just resign?”
In front of Suzuno who looked smaller than usual, Maou made a direct comment.
“…… Demon King-sama, that comment might be too irresponsible.”
The one who rebuked this comment in a serious manner was Libicocco who had just got off work.
“First, they might be called the Spiritual God Church, but don’t we know better than anyone that there is no God in Ente Isla?”
“…… Demon King-sama, religion isn’t that simple.”
“Uh, but at this point in time, it’s improbable for Suzuno to still be afraid of such a small matter of being promoted.”
“…… There’s probably many unimaginable troublesome things behind this.”
“Since a while ago, it was always Libicocco’s words which are more sensible.”
Emi said while feeling stunned.
“If I can resign, of course I would do so. The authority and responsibilities between an archbishop and bishop are on completely different levels.”
Suzuno, who looked very depressed, deviated from her usual behaviour and spoke despondent words.
“But then again, why did Suzuno-san get promoted? You said that you did nothing at all?”
Chiho’s question sounded like the words she usually used to scold Urushihara, but because it was the truth, Suzuno nodded slightly and replied,
“How should I say it, in the end, everything progressed too smoothly……”
Based on Suzuno’s explanation, once she returned to the Headquarters of the Theocracy, it could be said that she took an overly serious attitude when preparing for the Holy Conquest, and this caused various operations to stagnate.
She spent a lot of time on conducting inquiries and carried out inquisitions in a meticulous manner. She would occasionally lie and make use of the reputations of Theologists to go to various holy lands for a holiday, causing the inquisition operations to be stalled for a few days, or make adjustments among the staff with the reason of wanting to preach to the believers in order to postpone the various tightly scheduled operations……
Therefore, when she was summoned by the capable leader of the Six Archbishops Servantes Reberiz one day, Suzuno thought that she would be lectured because of the postponement of the work progress.
Suzuno had planned to seriously explain the necessity of the various operations, but she received a notification that she would be ordinated as an archbishop as a special exception.
“But there should be four archbishops left right? Other than Servantes, the other three are old men, but could it be that they suspect you, so they wish to keep you nearby to monitor you?”
“Is, is someone bullying you?”
After Emi asked this with a stern expression, Chiho imagined a scene of Suzuno being bullied by the other archbishops.
But Suzuno rejected this explanation.
“I said it just now…… it’s because everything progressed too smoothly…… how should I phrase this, my private communications with the Demon King Army, or my collusion with Emerada and Madam Din Dem Urs, none of it was discovered…… that’s why it turned out like this.”
Suzuno said with a hallowed gaze.
“Some time back, in order to match up with the operations of the Holy Conquest in the Northern Continent, a large consolidation area was built for goods and people and Archbishop Servantes travelled to Welland Isla for negotiations.
The representative sent by the North was Madame Din Dem Urs. Haah, it was an expected result but Archbishop Servantes felt it was difficult to obtain a satisfactory answer from her.”
This was because of the agreement between Din Dem Urs and the Demon King Army, but the problems occurred after this.
Archbishop Servantes felt that this negotiation would drag on for a long time, and he was already weighed down by many duties before this.
If they continuously spent their time on negotiations where the result was difficult to predict, new troubles might occur in areas other than guaranteeing the flow of materials.
Therefore the four archbishops concluded that they could solve the problem if they increased manpower and decided to choose a new Archbishop.
“Servantes-sama told me ?The reason why the preparations of the Inquisition are going so slowly and the fact you have to undergo so many unnecessary clearing of blockages beforehand is because your position is too low. ?”
Without any light in her eyes, Suzuno looked down at the gaps between the tatami in Room 201.
“But, the position of Bishop is already considered very high, right?”
In response to Emi’s question, Suzuno nodded with some hesitation.
“But there are still different levels amongst bishops.”
Kamazuki Suzuno, also known as Crestia Bell, was the person in charge of the Doctrinal Correction Council and had the title of Bishop, therefore her position amongst the priests was definitely not considered low, but she was actually only a ?titular Bishop? with no bishop seat.
A bishop seat was similar to the territory of a priest, there was an obvious difference in status between a ?Diocese bishop? with a bishop seat and a titular bishop.
“And within the Church organisation, there are many people who are hostile towards the Doctrinal Correction Council.
It was originally the Inquisition, so in terms of human nature, it is very easy to be disliked. In addition, in the name of the Doctrine, we enforce discipline and eliminate corruption amongst the priests, so we are normally seen as a nuisance.”
“The Church is a pillar of human morales, yet they dislike discipline and elimination of corruption, such a contradiction.”
Suzuno showed a troubled smile in response to Maou’s mockery of the human race.
“And…… to minimise the issues which may occur later, the four Archbishops decided to unanimously approve the nomination for me to become an Archbishop…… once I am internally appointed as an Archbishop, it means that I will have an equal amount of authority. They want me to use this position in the future to forcefully push through various tasks. Haah, the events are something like this.”
Servantes seemed to have also told Suzuno this.
Suzuno had very close relations with Saint Aire’s high ranking officers who were playing an important role in this Holy Conquest.
With the title of Archbishop, the procedures in foreign negotiations would be much more simplified. The response of the other party would also change.
To explain things further, considering Archbishop Crestia Bell’s achievements in the Inquisition and the Doctrinal Correction Council, she would succeed Olba Meyer’s position and be in charge of the External Relations - Missionary Department.
She was originally a Doctrinal Correction Officer under Olba, having a promised newcomer promoted in this special way could repair the reputation sullied by Olba, improving the image of the Doctrinal Correction Council.
In addition, the sailing route of the Northern Continent was seen as the most optimal Holy Conquest route.
With regards to the miracle which occurred during the Jirga, which was the Northern Continent’s most important political gathering, not only did Saint Aire make contact with the ?Enclosure Leader? Din Dem Urs, they received a rather good response.
Therefore the other Archbishops hoped that Suzuno could make use of her own connections to quicken the negotiations between Saint Aire and Din Dem Urs.
Once Caesar suggested this, the remaining Servantes, Maulo and Verdegris approved immediately.
“……”
“Ehh……”
“…… Saying something like that.”
“That’s really bad.”
Maou, Chiho, Emi and Libicocco were stunned by Suzuno’s confession.
After all, to this group of people, for Caesar to say these things now was really ?too late ?.
“…… How am I supposed to face Emerada-dono and General Lumark after this?”
After this, Suzuno would have to travel to various places related to the Holy Conquest as the representative of the Church.
From the official point of view, she would have to hold a meeting with Emerada and Din Dem Urs, but they have already known each other in private for a long time and established a strong friendship……
“I will probably be nagged for a long time later…… once I think about how Emerada-dono would, from time to time, complain how bad I am at handling matters, I feel a sense of melancholy.”
They were unable to refute Suzuno’s explanation, but would she really become this depressed from just this sort of thing?
“Ah.”
At this moment, Chiho, who noticed something, asked Suzuno,
“E, erhm, Suzuno-san, ?which place? did Suzuno-san return from?”
“…… Haah.”
After Suzuno sighed slightly, she opened her mouth to reply,
“From the ?Goat’s Enclosure?.”
Chiho sensed something from that sentence.
“…… Could it be, you have already heard from Grandma Lidem……”
“I never thought that at this age, I can still be scolded by someone until I cried.”
“……Ahh.”
Goat’s Enclosure, Fiensi.
That is the central city of Ente Isla’s Northern Continent and the spiritual pillar of the natives.
It seemed like Suzuno had already been lectured by the master of the Goat’s Enclosure Din Dim Urs.
To view it from another point of view, because everyone thought that Suzuno was currently staying in the Northern Continent, she was able to return to Japan while feeling sad.
“When do you have to return?”
“Tonight…… I lied that I was feeling slightly unwell and wanted to stay within the Consular Office dormitory which they had assigned for me. But there are still various ordination procedures and rituals which I have to handle, so I still have to make a trip to the Church Headquarters tomorrow.”
Suzuno looked really reluctant to return, but she had no choice but to do so.
“It still a little early, but let’s go eat udon! Let’s go to the udon shop together and discuss what should be done!”
“…… Alright.”
As if Suzuno was a duckling who had determined Chiho was her mother, she followed shakily behind Chiho and left.
As Maou, Emi and Libicocco saw this, they could not help but exchange glances with each other.
“…… Haah, we probably have to eat with her and listen to her complain about her troubles?”
“It doesn’t matter if this happens occasionally, but I don’t think that Hanamaru udon would be enough to cheer her up.”
Even in the eyes of Maou and the others, Suzuno looked rather gaunt currently.
In this kind of situation, Maou, Emi and Libicocco looked that the calendar in Room 201.
1st of May.
The Demon Fortress was scheduled to journey towards the moon in July. Therefore, there were two months left.
“This situation might be unexpectedly bad.”
“Hey, Emerada, did you hear about it?”
“…… You’re referring to the matter about Miss Bell, right~? Of course I heard about it~”
Within the Director’s office of the Sorcery Management Institute in Saint Aire’s capital of Irihem, Emerada watched Heather Lumark rush into the room with a scary expression.
“What’s the current situation!”
“It’s close to the worst case scenario we can currently think of~”
Emerada knit the eyebrows on her small forehead with all her might and said this while looking down.
“Is it possible that the collusion between Crestia Bell and us or the relationship between her and the Demon King and the others were found out, and she was forced to do this?”
From the viewpoint of Lumark and the others, it was natural for them to think this way, but Emerada shook her head and replied,
“The ordination of an Archbishop is not a ritual which can be carelessly used on this kind of thing~. The number of bishops and cardinals waiting to succeed the position are piled up like a mountain~ she is originally only a titular bishop~ and based on past cases, it would be impossible for her to be an Archbishop~”
“It was not officially publicised, but it had already caused a huge commotion in all levels of the nation. Was she born in Saint Aire?”
“I never heard about this~ and I can’t find any data even if I investigate~ I really regret not confirming with her before~
she was originally from the Inquisition~ so all her history had been hidden~”
The actual authority possessed by the Six Archbishops might possibly be more than the kings of the Western Continent countries.
Therefore, for the believers of the Theocracy, ?the birth country? of the new Archbishop was very important.
Robertio Iguno Valentia, who just passed away, was born in a small country in the southern region of the Western Continent.
He was a priest born in a small country but climbed to the top of the believers of the Theocracy and became known throughout the world. His successful legacy had already become an achievement well known by believers.
Servantes, Verdegris, Caesar, Maulo and Olba were seen as great people in their birth countries. There were even countries who set the Archbishop ordination date of the priests from their countries as a day of celebration.
“Probably~~ Servantes and the others~~ seriously thought to initiate the Holy Conquest using their identities as priests.”
“…… They’re being serious ……”
“The religious leaders need to have a certain level of understanding on the politics and economics of the secular world~
so even if they harbour faith~ they are not like local priests to feel that ?God is absolute?~”
“Haah, that is true. For Servantes, rather than being a church worker, he would be more useful as a Church Knight Captain.”
“However~ the holy dream from earlier seemed to have given him a huge shock~ their unpolished and pure beliefs should have been frozen during their climb to the top of the Church which was filled with many evil spirits and ghosts~
but they are now burning anew~”
Emerada was still considered a devotee of the Theocracy, but she was merciless in her comments.
“Miss Bell’s ordination is part of that~ to the devotees and commoners, this is enough to be a rival to the beautiful legend of the Hero~”
Emerada rested her chin on her hands and continued to speak in a lazy manner.
“It’s not because she is a diocese bishop or a titular bishop~…… she was used because her diplomatic and missionary ability honed from her activities with the Inquisition and Doctrinal Correction Council were acknowledged~…… and a young and beautiful new Archbishop leading the largest Holy Conquest in history~…… this has the signs of a holy miracle no matter how one looked at it~. These guys are serious, you know~ they really plan to conquer the world through this Holy Conquest~”
Even if they used the holiness of the Church as a cover, when viewed in an objective way, this was simply invading the Central Continent using forces from the Western Continent.
Simply because this was a ?Holy Conquest?initiated by the Theocracy, people assumed that the Theocracy did not have any plans to occupy the land.
In reality, even if the Church Knights captured the Demon Fortress in the Central Continent, they would not actually proceed to conquer the old Isla Kentorum and the lands of the cities in the East, West, South and North.
However.
“No matter what, the achievements of the Church would be preserved forever.”
That’s right~ it’s because you and the others were dragging out things too much~”
Emerada pouted and complained to Lumark, and the latter rebuked immediately.
“Is this the time to say such things? If you really want to bring such matters in, none of this would have happened if the Demon King and the others did not attack this place. Quickly send troops to the foreign world of Japan and bring Emilia back.”
“Pu~”
It seemed that Emerada expected Lumark to make such a rebuttal, so she did not continue the topic.
Simply put,?You and the others? mentioned earlier referred to the Five Continent Knight Alliance who stayed in the Central Continent after the defeat of the Demon King Army.
Before the Hakin Knights left due to the commotion in the Eastern Continent, because the Five Continent Knight Alliance were involved in the dispute of interests between the various countries and continents, they were not considered a unified organisation.
Compared to the scale, the efficiency of this organisation was considered rather low, to the point that Lumark entertained the thought of resigning as Commander a few times.
Even if they were responsible for helping the surviving cities and kingdoms rebuild public facilities and maintaining public safety at the moment, the original purpose of establishing this organisation was to dismantle the Demon Fortress, and there was no progress in this project at all.
Amongst the surviving four administrative cities, the functions and population of the Wez Quarters had not recovered even half of what they had in the past, but the restoration of the Noza Quarters was mostly completed, therefore the Five Continent Knight Alliance did not have any reasons to remain there.
Perhaps it was because they were concerned about the reaction of the Afsahan Empire in the Eastern Continent, Ia Quarters in the East wanted to keep the Five Continent Knight Alliance at a distance. As for Saza Quarters, they maintained close relations with Southern Continent’s Harlan Nation who participated in the Knight Alliance and did not get along with the other three cities at all.
In this kind of situation, if the Theocracy made their purpose clear and planted their own flag in the middle of the Central Continent, what would happen?
Currently, the Central Continent did not have any administrative city or country or any independent force who could resist the Church Knights.
Compared to when Isla Kentorum still existed, the Central Continent was currently lacking in unity. The locals also felt very worried about this situation.
If this went on, the Church Knights from the Theocracy who have successfully completed the Holy Conquest would have the meritorious deed of truly ending the war with the Demon King Army and could directly establish a new Isla Kentorum in the Central Continent.
Isla Kentorum did not have any ruler in the first place and mainly depended on a free economy to prosper. Therefore, it might be seen as a holy city where the God’s army exorcised the Demon King Army and become a city belonging to the Theocracy.
“However, even though the Demon King and the others are really there, unlike what the Theocracy is imagining, there are no evil beings from unknown origins. How are they going to determine if the ?Holy Conquest?is a ?success??”
“It doesn’t matter even if there are no enemies to defeat~…… the simplest method would be the dismantle the Demon Fortress, right~? With that, they can get rid of the traces of evil~, completing the solemn wish which could not be fulfilled by the Five Continent Knight Alliance~, and they can claim that humans have retrieved Isla Kentorum with their own hands~. In the first place, rather than fighting~, 60 percent of the Church Knights are experts in construction
and agriculture~. To them~ just the fact that they can deploy smoothly~ means that they have achieved 90 percent of the goal~”
The Holy Conquest would definitely not ?fail?.
Regardless of how many sacrifices were made, or how much money was wasted, since the final goal was to ? show the dignity of God?, they would have already ?succeeded?the moment it was initiated.
Of course, it would be better if they could obtain results matching that of their announced cause, so the Holy Conquest this time also had a clear goal, which would be the currently empty Demon Fortress which everyone in the world knew about.
After the Demon King Army retreated, there was no opposing force in the world who could publicly question the righteousness of this Holy Conquest. To the Theocracy, there was no other situation which was easier to handle.
“The only thing bothering me is~…… even though they know that this Holy Conquest will end in a huge success, why would they give the honorary position of overall Commander to Miss Bell.”
“They probably plan to have her carry the same responsibilities as Emilia.”
“No~…… this time, there is no easy to understand and concrete enemy existence like Demon King Satan~, without considering Servantes, even if the other three Archbishops are already of old age~~ the Commander does not need to personally enter the battle~ so they should be no reason to pass this opportunity of achievement to a young girl who had just joined~……”
After Emerada said this, she sunk deep into thought and Lumark sighed after seeing this.
“Either way, since a new Archbishop appeared, Saint Aire would be unable to watch quietly from the side-lines. As part of the festivities on the eve of the Holy Conquest, they would probably hold an elaborate ordinance ceremony in Saint Ignord. In addition, the places linked to her would be included within the route of the advancement of the Holy Conquest. The plans on our end need to be reworked as well. Hey, if you’re really free, remember to find me after your council meeting today……”
Just as Lumark invited Emerada, someone knocked on the door of the office with much force.
Lumark frantically shut her mouth, as for Emerada,
“So noisy~ what is it~”
She chided the person who knocked on the door.
“S, so sorry. An emergency notice was sent from the Northern Continent……!”
A male sorcerer appeared from behind the door, he was one of the members of the Battle to Defeat God, whom Emerada had chosen from her subordinates.
Once Emerada and Lumark saw his expression, they felt an unexplainable ominous feeling, causing their hearts to feel heavy.
“Northern Continent? Is it Madam Din Dem Urs?”
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