Chapter 190: Takatsuki Makoto listens about the war results
"Demon Lord Zagan has been slain by the Light Hero-sama!"
Right after the meeting began, a young knight reported this excitedly.
The people in the place celebrated in exaltation at that report.
"As expected of the Light Hero-dono!"
"Truly the reincarnation of the Savior-sama!"
"It looks like there weren't any heavy casualties from this."
"At any rate, the clairvoyance of the Destiny Oracle-sama is splendid."
"With this, the ones who have defeated a Demon Lord are the Hero from our Highland and the Rozes Hero, huh."
"No, the one the Rozes Hero defeated was a Demon Lord on the verge of death. You can't compare them."
"That's right. The leader of this continent is -as expected- solely Highland."
"How did the other Heroes do?"
"Geralt-sama and Olga-sama apparently defeated chief officers of the demon lord army."
"As expected of the Heroes chosen by the Goddesses. The very definition of heroes!"
I could hear them say that with my Eavesdrop.
There's people who are honestly happy, and those who are mixing political connotations.
My eyes met with Sakurai-kun who is shown in the projection.
(I did it, Takatsuki-kun!) (Sakurai)
It is not like his voice actually reached me, but that's what I felt he said.
His smile was bright.
It doesn't seem like he is heavily injured anywhere. I am glad he is fine.
Furiae-san could have come as well.
I did invite her to come, but she said: 'with the Destiny Oracle present, I would only get in the way', so she didn't participate.
"Thanks for your hard work, Ryosuke-san. It is truly great."
"Thanks, Noel." (Sakurai)
Princess Noel is giving congratulatory words to Sakurai-kun.
"When will you be returning to Symphonia?" (Noel)
"Hmm, the demon lord army is still settled close to the continent..." (Sakurai)
Princess Noel must want to meet Sakurai-kun quickly.
But the words of Sakurai-kun remind me that the war is still ongoing.
"Princess Noel, even if they have lost a Demon Lord, the demon lord army still has plenty enough power left. Also, we still haven't confirmed where Forneus is. We can't lower our guards until the demon lord army completely retreats."
"Right... Please do continue." (Noel)
After making a slightly disappointed face, Princess Noel returned to her serious expression.
"But the monsters around Symphonia have been noisy lately. Can a part of the Sun Knights return at the very least?"
The one complaining was the second prince of Highland.
"Prince, the defense of the capital is being taken care of by the Templars. It is true that it is slightly worrying to have the Sun Knights absent though..."
Obviously the one who slightly admonished the second prince was the Pope.
"If you are worried about the defense of the capital, how about having the Water Country's Hero there, who seems to be bored, return? Monsters won't be attacking the Moon Country anymore anyways." (Esther)
"No way! Relying on the Apostle of an Evil God must not be allowed! Even if it is the words of Esther-dono, I can't approve of it!"
The Pope objects at the proposal of Esther-san.
I am being completely hated.
"I will return."
The one who said this was the Great Sage-sama.
"The Oracles of the Goddesses are currently gathered in Symphonia. There's a high chance that places with a high density of important people will be targeted. Fortunately, we managed to defeat a Demon Lord...right?"
"The Great Sage-sama herself?! You must be tired from the fight against the Demon Lord, right? You must not push yourself!"
The Pope hurriedly stops her.
He should know that the Great Sage-sama is a demon, but it looks like he still respects the legendary hero.
"I don't really mind. If I repeatedly use Teleport at night, I can get back to the capital in around half of a day. The Sun Knights would take around several days to go back, so I am the best choice. That's fine and all, but..."
"Great Sage-sama, is there something bothering you?" (Makoto)
The attitude of the Great Sage-sama worried me.
She cut off her words in an uncharacteristic manner, so I ended up asking unconsciously.
"Fumu, Spirit User-kun. I saw the Light Hero-kun defeat Zagan. That figure of his was the very same as Abel when he defeated the Demon Lords. There's no doubt it was him, but...I feel that he was weakened for some reason."
"That's proof of Sakurai-dono being the Savior! Defeating a Demon Lord in one slice like the legends!"
As if erasing the words of Great Sage-sama, the Prime Minister (I think) of Highland sings praises of Sakurai-kun.
It seems like he is also pretty excited after hearing about the Demon Lord subjugation success.
"I have no doubts of the strength of Sakurai-dono, but the worry of the Great Sage-sama worries me too. Do you think the Demon Lord that was defeated was a double, Great Sage-sama?" (Yuwein)
General Yuwein asked.
I see, a body double is a possibility!
"...No, that's not possible. There's no other demon who has that big of a body and mana. He matches my memories of 1,000 years ago. He did age from the passing of time though."
"I understand your worry, General Yuwein-dono, but I can tell from my destiny magic that Zagan has indeed perished. There's no doubt that the one who was defeated today was the Beast King." (Esther)
The Great Sage-sama denied slightly the words of General Yuwein, but Oracle Esther clearly refuted them.
Looks like everyone in the meeting was relieved hearing that.
The result was the victory of the humans.
In other words, complete victory.
"Tch, it's not enough." (Geralt)
I heard the mutter of Geralt-san who is the Lightning Hero as well as the captain of the Northern Sky Knights.
Looks like he is the same old battle junkie as always.
Olga-san, Maximilian-san, and Prince Leonard obviously also won.
That's a relief.
"Now, don't relax until the demon lord army retreats. If there's anything to report, report it. Well then, until tomorrow." (Yuwein)
The closing words of General Yuwein put an end to the meeting.
◇◇
"Heeh...is that so. They defeated a Demon Lord." (Furiae)
I told Furiae-san, who was waiting inside the tent, about how a Demon Lord had been defeated.
I thought she would get happier than that, but her reaction was dull.
"You are calm." (Makoto)
"There's no way the Light Hero would lose to a mere Demon Lord. The one that must be defeated is the Great Demon Lord Iblis. Everything else is a weakling." (Furiae)
"I see..." (Makoto)
A Demon Lord is a weakling, huh.
I think she is overblowing it there, but the Light Hero is our trump card against the Great Demon Lord, so we can't get complacent.
In the sense that we shouldn't get cocky because of that, Furiae-san is correct.
This war is just the beginning.
"Hey, Makoto, when can we go back?" (Lucy)
"Monsters won't be coming anymore, right, Takatsuki-kun?" (Aya)
Lucy and Sa-san were already looking to go back home.
"They said that we have to stay alert till the demon lord army retreats from the West Continent." (Makoto)
"Hmm, got it. Then, I will train together with Makoto." (Lucy)
"Okay, Takatsuki-kun. I will make some snacks." (Aya)
Monsters won't be coming here to the Moon Country anymore, so we are free.
Lucy is going to be training with me.
Sa-san is going to be making cookies and stuff like that with the ingredients she got from Fuji-yan, and is going to give some to the soldiers.
It is incredibly popular, with it being handmade by a Hero and all.
I tasted some, and they were on the level that you could sell them in a store.
"Now then, let's go train." (Makoto)
"Wait, My Knight." (Furiae)
I was about to leave the tent, but Furiae-san grabbed my hand.
"What's the matter, Princess?" (Makoto)
"Did the Destiny Oracle say anything? About the future moves of the demon lord army and the Great Demon Lord's resurrection?" (Furiae)
"Esther-san? No, she only told us to not lower our guards until the demon lord army retreats..." (Makoto)
Is she worried about something?
"Is that so... Well, my Clairvoyance isn't that precise, so if the Destiny Oracle hasn't said anything, I think it is okay, but...I have a bad feeling." (Furiae)
"I will tell Ortho-san." (Makoto)
"Don't mind it too much. Sorry for stopping you." (Furiae)
Saying this, Furiae-san placed the black cat on her lap and scratched its chin, and it purred at that.
So peaceful.
Sa-san is in the tent, so even if an enemy comes, it should be okay.
Lucy and I went together to train.
-Evening that day.
"Transmission magic isn't connecting?"
"Yeah... We don't know the reason as to why..."
I went to the biggest tent where Ortho-san is and where the usual meeting takes place but, for some reason, the preparations for the meeting were not done yet.
There's apparently a problem connecting the transmission.
But...can that happen with magic?
It isn't a machine or anything.
"I am sorry! I will restore it at once!"
People that seem like mages were apologizing to Captain Ortho.
"Oi, is there no defect in the magic device?!"
"It is being maintained everyday! There's no problem!"
"What about the weather?! If there's a storm, the mana in the atmosphere gets equally stormy and it affects the transmission!"
"It isn't possible for the transmissions of the whole continent to be affected by a storm."
"In the first place, it is clear on our side..."
"Just what's going on...?"
There's a lot of opinions flying around, but it doesn't look like they are reaching a solution.
"What should we do, Captain Ortho?" (Makoto)
"My apologies, Makoto-dono. Once the meeting begins, I will have someone call you. Can I please ask you to return to your tent for now and stay on standby there?" (Ortho)
"Yeah, I don't mind, but...our Princess said that she had a bad feeling. Is there a chance this is an attack of the enemy?" (Makoto)
"The Moon Oracle-dono said...? If I remember correctly, she was a user of destiny magic." (Ortho)
His eyes grew sharper at my words.
"It is true that it is worrying, but if they could interfere with our transmission magic, they would have done so before the decisive battle. The Demon Lord has been defeated already. The timing is weird, right?" (Ortho)
Ortho-san says this, but it seems like he is slightly uneasy.
"Then, I will be leaving now." (Makoto)
"Yeah, sorry for taking your time." (Ortho)
I returned to the tent where my friends are at, and waited for them to call me.
But there was no meeting that day.
◇◇
"Good morning."
The next morning, wondering if the transmission magic had been restored, I showed my face in the tent of Captain Ortho.
But the inside was hectic and it didn't look like it was restored yet.
Judging from the bags under the eyes of the mages, they must have been working all night.
"It still hasn't been restored, huh." (Makoto)
"Makoto-dono! Looks like the unresponsiveness of the transmission magic might be due to a deliberate move of the enemy..." (Ortho)
"Eh?" (Makoto)
According to Ortho-san, transmission magic is a gold element space spell.
In order to link that magic to long distances, there must be transmission magic devices set, but it seems like those have been destroyed yesterday.
"The magic devices for transmission magic are set deep underground, and their locations are state secret. There should be no one who knows them aside from the Sun Knights... Right now we are trying to see if we can at least connect with Symphonia." (Ortho)
"Ortho-sama! It seems like it is about to connect!"
"Got it! Make haste!" (Ortho)
"Yes sir!"
There's more tension in the air than yesterday.
A Demon Lord has been defeated, right...?
Then, what's with this bad feeling?
With this hazy feeling still in me, I waited for the restoration of the transmission magic by the side of Ortho-san.
At that moment...
"My Knight!" (Furiae)
"Princess?" (Makoto)
Furiae-san jumped into the tent all of a sudden.
Sa-san and Lucy were behind her.
Looks like they followed her.
Furiae-san's face was pale, and she had sweat running down her forehead.
This is my first time seeing her this agitated.
"Furi, what's the matter?" (Lucy)
"Fu-chan, your face is pale white." (Aya)
Lucy and Sa-san must be thinking this is no simple matter as well, they spoke to her worried.
"At this rate, Ryosuke is going to..." (Furiae)
At the moment Furiae-san was about to say something...
"It connected."
I heard the voice of someone.
At the same time as one of the transmissions activates.
The first thing that was reflected in my eyes was the face of the Destiny Oracle Esther.
Beautiful silver hair and face.
However, her expression was not the usual haughty and cold one, but warped into a truly bitter one.
"Is there any Hero who can speak?!" (Esther)
That was the first thing she said.
"The 1st Knight Division and the Rozes Hero Makoto-dono here." (Ortho)
Ortho-san answered briefly.
"...Only?" (Esther)
"That's how it seems. Our transmission magic had been tampered with, and it had now been connected. What is happening?" (Ortho)
Oracle Esther places two fingers on her temples for a few seconds as if she had a headache.
And then, she looks at us.
"...At this rate, the Light Hero is going to lose his life." (Esther)
The Destiny Oracle says this clearly.
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