Chapter 43: Circumstances And Secret Maneuvers (Epilogue?)

Chapter 43 Circumstances and Secret Maneuvers (Epilogue?)

After I won the 「battle」 against the demon.

From the guild's investigation in various areas, a conclusion was made that the great amount of Armor Ants that were secretly breeding had been exterminated safely.

Most of the Armor Ants that crawled out from the nest charged into water or jumped from high place to their death. The queens that couldn't move from the bottom of their nest destroyed their own space and died from collapsing rocks. At the very least all the nests that were doing parasitism to dungeon had been confirmed to be destroyed.

Even if by some chance there was an ant that had the cunning to parasite on dungeon survived, the number would be very few and the adventurer guilds would never fail to notice them from here on after the information had been shared.

Like this the massive outbreak of Armor Ants that could possibly become an unprecedentedly great disaster was taken care of without problem.

It looked like there were cases where some villages or towns that were near a nest got damaged considerably, but it looked like that loss would be compensated by the tens of thousands of ant materials that suddenly fell on their lap. The price for ant materials would drop within the country but, there would be enough profit to be obtained if the materials were processed and sold to neighboring countries.

Because of that the tumultuous Armor Ant incident didn't cause any human casualties and the curtain was closed with the best possible result but......there was only one troublesome thing.

「My master♥ My master♥ I beg you, please I beg you for your mercy♥ Specifically please tie up my whole body before you mess me up without any mercy at all♥ If you tell me to lick then I'll lick you anywhere even your shoes......please treat me like your belonging my master......♥」

「Wait, Regina, we're in front of the guild master right now giving explanation so calm down! I'm begging you please calm down!」

The demon girl Regina was too crazy.

In order to suppress the Armor Ants who started to rampage everywhere, I「got along」 with her in order to form Master-Servant Contract between us. That was good and all, but somehow, it ended up with her acting, like this.

Her queenly attitude when we first encountered her had gone without a trace. She was clinging on me while begging for「mercy」. She did it regardless of time and place, even when there were other people around.

This was strange no matter how I thought about it.......

In the end Master-Servant Contract could only make someone obey an order that I strongly commanded to them. It shouldn't be something that could get positivity level MAX & personality change to extreme masochism like this, and yet.......

But, well, nothing could be done about it now that it had happened.

It would hurt my conscience to one-sidedly kill a demon who had been reduced into this kind of state, so I brought her back to the city.

With the Sunflower of the Wide Sky having witnessing Regina treating me amicably? when they woke up, it was necessary to give a proper explanation to the guild.......

Fortunately, Regina was able to disguise herself as human by hiding her feelers and carapace.

I had used Master-Servant Contract to firmly order her「You must never hurt human other than when it's necessary to protect yourself」. We came to the office of the guild master because there was no more problem with safety but......,

「My master, what's the matter? Why won't you violate me? Even though you had ravaged my womb that time without any care at all no matter how hard I begged you to stop. Where have that brutish master vanish to──」

「Stop talking for a while!」

The safety of my social status was in extreme danger.

I didn't want to use it but there was no other choice.

I strongly recited in my mind for Regina to stop talking.

「Mmf mmf mmfff──♥ (Aa!♥ My master has taken away another of my free will......ah, aaaaaaaaaaah♥ I'm coming again just from that......♥」

Regina was still noisy even with her becoming unable to talk, but there was nothing else to do here but to ignore her.

「......W-well, this is」

The guild master Goudo-san opened his mouth while looking greatly awkward.

「In the first place there are confirmed cases of demon building friendly relationship with human due to having matching interest, although the number is extremely small. You have tamed this demon, and not only that, a demon who should have high pride and would never abase themselves to other people is reduced into this kind of state, so it doesn't look like we will have much to worry about.」

「A-ahaha, thank you very much.」

I could only laugh to gloss over the matter.

「And, about your absurdity of taming a demon......」

The atmosphere around the guild master changed.

My body stiffened with how terribly serious he sounded.

I formally reported this because it would be bad if I got strangely suspected or feared but......what would someone who was in the position of guild master would do after knowing about my outrageous skill?

His decision would also affect my elopement with Alicia after this. I waited for his words with bated breath.

Then the guild master made a conflicted expression while,

「For now let's keep this a secret among the guild master me and the Sunflower of the Wide Sky party.」

「Eh?」

My eyes widened hearing those words. I asked him with bewilderment.

「Err, umm. Is that okay? It might not be my place to say this but, an affair at the level of taming a demon normally has to be reported to the country no matter what......」

「Yeah, normally that's the case. But──」

The guild master showed some kind of hesitation at my question, but then he spoke firmly.

「You can say that it's my instinct as guild master. For a demon's appearance to happen at the same time with an invasion from another country, the incident this time is just questionable. In the first place, it's strange for the royal family to be reluctant to dispatch Holy Knights to here just because of a bit of invasion from other country, not when our country's national strength is prominent even throughout the continent.」

「That's......」

I didn't know what to say in regard to the points that the guild master listed.

Seeing my reaction the guild master added 「Well, it's not like I'm suspecting the royal family though......」 and,

「In any case my instinct is telling me that it'll be better if to put this matter on hold for the moment. As expected I'll have to tell someone like the feudal lord the truth, but for the time being I'll give an explanation to the surrounding area that we successfully compromised with the demon. It doesn't look like there is any reason to doubt you who are so naively honest that you even reported something like this anyway. The guild will have to at least do some monitoring over that demon but, I think there won't be any problem as long as she doesn't harm any human.」

「......Tsu, t-thank you very much!」

The guild master grinned mischievously. I patted my chest in relieve.

If the matter about Regina and me got reported to the country, I'd have to make up some excuses before getting out of here while covering my track. I was already resolved to do just that, but the guild master's unexpected decision made me felt heartfelt relieve.

Thus, the story of how I tamed a demon became a secret that was only know by very few people including the Sunflower of the Wide Sky. Alicia and I would be able to continue spending time in this city Gretona just like before.

About the discomfort that the guild master harbored toward the country, there were a lot of things that I myself was still concerned about but......for now we could relax.

And speaking about remaining problem that still hadn't been solved,

「Fuu♥ Fuu♥」

There was only how Alicia got triggered by Regina and now she was caressing my thigh nonstop with the face of a girl who was all hot and bothered I guess.......

「L-look here Alicia. The case of Regina is being overlooked for now but, my status plate has become really bizarre so, I want to prioritize checking it out for a bit before──」

My persuasion was meaningless.

The moment we returned to our inn, Alicia didn't even waste time to take off her clothes and dragged me to the bedroom.

Regina who couldn't talk & couldn't go wild in the inn got locked out from the bedroom using Sacred Defense.

And then,

「AA───────────────────────────!?」

I was feeling guilt toward Alicia because of how I 「got along」 with Regina, so I couldn't go against her too insistently and like that I got devoured by Alicia for the whole day.

.

I didn't know how long I would be able to stay together with Alicia.

But for the time being it looked like our life of elopement in order to respond to her feeling would still continue for a while like this.

.

At the same time we still didn't know at all about the disquieting movement that would shake this kingdom──no, this whole continent.

*

「Haven't you find the Sacred Knight yet!?」

A majestic voice resounded angrily through the audience hall that was filled with grand designs.

The voice's owner was the king of Spermaria Kingdom that Erio and Alicia belonged to.

And then kneeling in front of the king were two Sacred Knights who were counted among the strongest within the country.

Erio's father Duke Scarlet.

Alicia's father Marquis Blueaiz.

The two men who were at their prime bowed their head in order to display their deep loyalty. The king of Spermaria yelled even more vehemently toward them.

「In the first place how could you allow the Sacred Knight to run away from home! In addition her whereabouts are still remaining unknown even after more than a month has passed......are you two really searching for her seriously!?」

「We are ashamed. But when my son obtained that abnormal Gift, this humble servant was also pressed with the need to deal with that country in regard to the banishment of my son because it can affect the church's reputation......to think that the Sacred Knight would leave the capital during that time, it was something that I couldn't possibly predict. In addition the disappearance of the Sacred Knight is something that we can't possibly announce publically, so the search need to be done by very few personnel and carried out with extreme cautiousness──」

「Enough with the excuse!」

The excuse from Erio's father, Duke Scarlet was cut off by the king.

「The Sacred Knight is the highest class of Holy Knight that is the symbol of the church. In addition the leader of the church, the exalted Priestess of Oracle strongly wished for Alicia Blueaiz to study abroad in her country. In order to strengthen the ties between our country and the church, the Sacred Knight has to be dispatched to the headquarters of the church in Holy Theocracy Romalia as emissary of friendship as soon as possible! Bring back the Sacred Knight here immediately!」

「......Yes, as my king command.」

Duke Scarlet and Marquis Blueaiz replied to the king heated lecture with a hard tone.

.

After they left the audience hall.

Duke Scarlet and Marquis Blueaiz paid attention to the surrounding while walking side by side.

「Still, I was already faintly aware that my daughter is harboring feeling toward your son, but to think that she would suddenly run away from home. It was a splendid act even for my daughter. She will definitely become a big deal in the future! ......Just like my wife......」

「This isn't the time to speak easygoingly like that. The Sacred Knight running away from home in elopement is an unheard-of severe problem.」

The large man who praised his daughter while his voice trembled slightly nearing the end, Marquis Blueaiz was commented by Duke Scarlet with an exasperated tone.

But his exasperation immediately turned serious. Duke Scarlet spoke with a low voice.

「Even so......as expected the king's policy feels strange somehow.」

「......Umu. So you also think so.」

「Yeah. I can still understand if he only asks us to bring the Sacred Knight back. That's the natural thing to do.」

Duke Scarlet vigilantly paid attention to his surrounding using his skill while continuing with smaller voice.

「But even if it's to strengthen our ties with the headquarters of the church, the Holy Theocracy Romalia, to suddenly send away the Sacred Knight to another country like that is......it's simply strange no matter how I think about it.」

Normally it wasn't that rare for Holy Knights of other countries to study abroad at the Holy Theocracy Romalia.

By studying abroad in that powerful country that was also church's headquarters, the Holy Knights would train diligently in mind and body, obtaining the strength and nobility that were worthy for knights who would protect their country. Studying there would also serve as a great status symbol.

But......the study abroad would only be done after the Holy Knight had grown to some degree. And only when the person in question strongly wished for it. On top of that there was also a need for a strict agreement between countries to be signed for it. Immediately sending out a hopeful candidate that would become powerful combat strength in the future for the national defense to study abroad in another country, even if that country in question was the church's headquarters was simply out of the question.

Furthermore, the church felt somewhat strange during these several years.

And if they could speak further, even the talk of the highest leader of the church, the Priestess of Oracle wishing for the Sacred Knight to study abroad also sounded suspicious. That honorable personage had been falling sick for many years and not only she hadn't shown herself in public for a while, even requests to have an audience with her had been all refused without exception.

Then she suddenly wished for the Sacred Knight to study abroad at her country like this.

There would be no end to it if they kept bringing up the suspicious matters like this. Marquis Blueaiz rubbed his chin while opening his mouth.

「......As I thought, this started since the king welcomed his queen from the holy theocracy. Since then his majesty's behavior was becoming stranger and stranger each day.」

「......Don't speak something like that so carelessly. It will cause international problem.」

Duke Scarlet chided Marquis Blueaiz for his speculation.

But Duke Scarlet never said anything that actually refuted that speculation before he continued.

「In any case......in hindsight it might actually be convenient that my son and Alicia are completely cutting off contact and going off somewhere in elopement. With our position, there would be a limit if we try go against the king's order to shelter Alicia.」

「Umu」

「Even so, as expected I'm worried for the two of them. No matter what even the church won't overstep the kingdom's knight order to openly search for Alicia but......just in case I'll monitor the movement of the church within this country. If they take action I'll disturb them within limitation, and I'll make arrangement for spy to notify us if it looks like they have grasped Alicia's whereabouts. It's irritating that the number of people we can share this concern with is limited but......while we're able to buy time like this I hope those two......I hope the Sacred Knight Alicia will be able to grow stronger to protect herself.」

Between Erio and Alicia, it was actually Erio who was bestowed with the perverted Gift who was growing rapidly and obtaining strength to protect themselves, but his father couldn't possibly imagine that even in his dream.

The two fathers were secretly scheming to somehow outwit the people who were showing suspicious movement and contact their children.

*

「What's the meaning of this?」

Late at night, in the west great forest.

A woman's voice echoed inside the nest of Armor Ants that had become completely empty.

「I can still understand if the queen who I evolved into demon got exterminated, but for all the Armor Ants to be annihilated before they could ransack this country......? Just what in the world happened here? Or perhaps, there was some kind of defect with the evolution acceleration's technique?」

The blond haired beauty was idly floating in the air like a ghost as she spoke in bewilderment.

Her voice was filled with the irritation that her plan failed. Magic power was whirling aggressively around her.

But before long that beauty switched her line of thought as she shook her head.

「Well, doesn't matter. There're still other ways to throw this country into chaos, and it'll still be some time in the future before we move to break down this country for real. I don't know who did this but, they can enjoy their sweet victory for now. More importantly now......」

The ghost-like blond beauty said that before vanishing like air.

And then her figure next appeared right above a blond haired beauty who was sleeping on a luxurious and gorgeous bed. The ghost got pulled toward the body of the sleeping beauty and their figures overlapped.

Then the blond haired beauty who was sleeping like the dead until then opened her eyes and marched through the palace as though she owned the place. And then she arrived──at the bedroom of Spermaria's king.

The beauty slipped to the side of the king who was just about to sleep as though it was only natural and whispered her voice sweetly into his ear.

「Say dear king? Have you found the whereabouts of the Sacred Knight?」

「O, ou ou. My beloved wife. About that, my servants are moving really slowly even now. Can you wait a little more for that?」

「Be quick okay? The Priestess of Oracle is waiting impatiently for her at my home the holy theocracy after all.」

The blonde haired beauty──Spermaria's queen displayed her peerlessly beautiful smile.

──Find her quickly you dumb pig.

──Hand over the shitty brat who got bestowed with something like Sacred Knight quickly.

──We have to kill the human's greatest fighting strength before she can grow and harm us.

The queen didn't show that thinking at the slightest on the surface. She continued to chirp with her sweet voice at the king who kept making an expression of someone with his sanity robbed away.