Side Story 5 – A Certain Servant’s Return Home

“You want to go back to your old village?”

It was a little while after they had settled down in the Black Rose Mansion that Tena had told Anri as such.

“Yes. I had always been hesitant about it, but in the end I really do want to meet with my family once.”

When she had first begun living with Anri, they had discussed this matter as well, but at the time she hadn’t been able to settle her feelings yet, and they postponed the visit. It was natural that she held complex feelings about being sold as a slave, but with time, she was able to sort them out.
And being the case, Anri had only one possible reply.

“Got it. I’ll be fine here, so don’t worry and go.”

There were plenty of things that she’d be troubled with if Tena wasn’t here to do the housework, but if it was just for a short while, then she would manage somehow, which is why Anri easily gave her consent. After all, it wasn’t as though Anri herself couldn’t do housework, and Leonora was here too. Even the young Lili had recently begun to help out around the house, so Anri judged there was no problem.
And so, Anri tried to send Tena off, but Tena herself gave an unexpected reply.

“Umm… If possible, I would like to introduce you to my family, Anri-sama, but is that no good?”

“……………Eh?”

Had anyone else been in the room, they would very probably have tried to stop this, but for better or for worse, it was only the two of them in the room.

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It was a small village, a few days’ carriage from Riemel Town. Almost nobody visited the village, save the occasional merchants, or a pastor from the Church of Sacred Light, and in this village arrived a single luxurious horse-carriage.

Before the eyes of the villagers staring in curiosity, opened the door of the carriage, and from there alighted two girls.
The moment the villagers saw the face of one of the girls, they immediately formed a ring around her at a distance.
The reason was simple; an angular black mask covered her eyes. Together with her entirely black dress with its bewitching design, there was nothing that could be more suspicious, and it couldn’t be helped that the villagers were wary.
Because of how much impact the girl had, the gazes of the villagers completely ignored the girl who they normally would have been concentrating on.

“Umm…”

“? …Tena? Aren’t you Tena!?”

Tena timidly raised her voice, and finally noticing her, the villagers let out cries of surprise.
It was a small village to begin with, and everybody knew each other. All of them remembered the girl who had been sold as a slave. Once one of them noticed her, villagers tried to draw near her, one after another.
But overwhelmed by the strange girl standing next to her, they couldn’t come near and instead stood around a little distance away.

“So you were fine, Tena…”

“Yes, Roi-san.”

A man in the prime of his life called out to Tena, and with that as the impetus, all the other villagers began calling out to her as well.

“Thank goodness. Everybody was so worried for you.”

“Muer-obaasan…”

An old lady with a cane spoke to Tena in tears, and Tena’s eyes became watery as well.

“Tena-oneechan!”

“I’m sorry, Epina.”

A girl around Lili’s age ran up to Tena, hugging her, and Tena stroked her head with a gentle smile.

“………………”

“………………”

And then, silence fell.
All of the villagers were in joy at their reunion with Tena, but because the girl next to her was on their minds, they couldn’t concentrate.
All of them wanted to push the task onto somebody else, and nobody could say the words, but finally the man from before──Roi, timidly asked,

“By the way, who is that person?”

Once again, all the gazes fell onto the girl, but she simply stood there calmly, showing no signs of being overwhelmed.

“Ah, this personage is my master, Anri-sama.”

A commotion ran through the villagers.
After looking back and forth between the faces of the masked Anri, and Tena, complicated expressions appeared on their faces.

The villagers knew that Tena had been sold as a slave.
Being a beauty, even despite her age, had her master been a man, his intention would have been clear, and the villagers would likely have turned their hostility on him.
On this point, the master in question was a young-looking woman, and Tena seemed to be fond of her as well. Tena was somebody close to them, and she couldn’t have been sold to a better person. Normally, the villagers should have welcomed this.
However…

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

──What on earth was that mask!?

So wondered every single villager there.

Whether her age, or her sex, she seemed to be the safest and most fortunate master possible for Tena, but just that suspicious mask on her face weighed on their minds.
They wanted to ask why she was wearing such a mask. They wanted to ask, but once they considered that it might be disrespectful, in the end they couldn’t bring it up.
To begin with, looking at the carriage she arrived in, and the dress that she was wearing, there was no mistaking that she was a powerful person with a considerable sum of assets. If they incurred her displeasure, it was possible that a small village like this would be very simply crushed… Having considered that, the villagers couldn’t give voice to their question.

The truth was that the girl──Anri, was simply an adventurer in Fortera, to which this village belonged to, and leaving aside her substantial connections to the Holy Anri Thearchy, she actually had no official authority at all. However, the villagers had no way of knowing this.

In the end, the villagers didn’t bring up Anri’s mask, and the two of them headed towards Tena’s house.

After parting from the villagers, Tena and Anri came to a stop in front of a house. Even now the villagers were worrying about them at a distance, but the two girls hadn’t noticed.
The house was a cosy one built from wood, and it seemed as though quite some time had passed since its construction, because it was damaged here and there.

“This place?”

“Yes, this is my… this is the house that my family lives in.”

Tena couldn’t bring herself to say 『my house』. Her brows were curved in a difficult expression.
She stood there in front of the door, and stared at the doorknob.

“Not going to go in?”

“…I’ll, be opening it now.”

Anri gently prompted her, and as though finding her courage, Tena tightly clenched her hand before reaching out to open the door.
However, before she could do so, a voice called out to her from the side.

“…………Tena?”

Standing there was a blonde woman in the latter half of her thirties, clad in simple clothes. Her expression seemed to say that she simply couldn’t believe it, and she stared at Tena.

“Mum!”

Tena had hesitated at opening the door, but it seemed that her desire to meet with her family was stronger after all. Tena ran in tears to the woman, and tightly embraced her.
Tena’s mother was dumbfounded for a while, but eventually realising that this was real, she wept and hugged Tena back.

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Noticing voices in front of the door, the rest of the family went out to investigate as well, and after hugging each other in tears at the miraculous reunion, they invited Anri and Tena into the house.
Sitting at the table, Tena recounted her experiences thus far. About being sold to the slave merchants, and almost losing her life to a fatal disease, and upon hearing her treatment until she was sold to Anri as a slave, Tena’s family burst into tears.

“Tena… Tena, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Tena’s father lowered his head to the table and apologised, but Tena calmly shook her head.

“It’s fine, Dad. I know that if I wasn’t sold that day, I would have just starved to death anyway. And thanks to that, I was able to meet with Anri-sama and the others, so… it’s fine already.”

When Tena said so, her father tightly held her hands from across the table, and holding his head against them, he cried.

*imouto*

After crying for a while, this time her father lowered his head to Anri.

“You saved Tena, didn’t you. Thank you very much! Thank you very much!”

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you, Oneechan!”

Her father, her mother, her older brother and then younger brother all began thanking Anri in a bow.

Anri had been spaced out, and sipping tea while watching the family’s reunion without much involvement, but now that they all began focusing on her she fell into confusion and panic.
Raising her hands towards them, she spoke.

“It wasn’t really… anything special.”

Anri said that and tried to downplay herself, but the family’s looks of gratitude were unchanging.
While the back and forth between thanks and modesty continued for a while, eventually somebody asked a certain question.

“Hey, hey, why are you wearing a mask?”

“H-, Hey now!”

Because Tena’s little brother was still young, he innocently voiced the question that the villagers couldn’t.
His mother tried to stop him in a panic, but it was too late.

“Why, you ask? Well…”

There were two reasons that Anri was wearing a mask; the first was to prevent the effect of her mystic eyes from invoking, while the second was out of fear of the consequences of having the same face as a god.
However, if she was to explain these things, then it would require her to touch upon her skills, as well as her relationship with the Evil God.
Just a while ago when Tena recounted her experiences to her family, she introduced Anri as a daughter of a mage family who was presently conducting research in Riemel.
By now it was too difficult to explain the truth.

“Well…”

“Well?”

Anri cut her words short as though in teasing. In reality she was simply troubled on how to answer, but from an outsider’s point of view, it plainly looked like she was building up the suspense.
Everybody in the room waited on Anri’s words.
Even the mother that had tried to stop her son’s rudeness a while ago seemed to be curious as well, because like the rest of her family, she was watching Anri’s every action.

“Well…”

“Well?”

Because Anri was being so suggestive with her words, even Tena who supposedly knew the truth found herself leaning forward in anticipation.
With no way to take back her words, Anri declared the only reason she could come up with.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Because it’s, cool?”

Hearing that reply after all the suspense, everyone besides the youngest boy fell over with astonishment.

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“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it have been good if you stayed there longer?”

“No, it is fine. Staying there any longer would have made the farewell difficult, so…”

After saying farewell to Tena’s family who kept inviting them to stay in their reluctance to part, Anri asked Tena that question.

“And also, right now my house… is the Black Rose Mansion.”

“…I see. Alright then.”

After those last words, a gentle silence filled the returning carriage.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

“U-, Um! I also think that your mask is cool, Anri-sama!”

“…Mn. Thanks.”

---

Even though it was supposed to be a moving reunion scene, because everybody was focused on Masked Anri, they couldn’t concentrate.

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<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Side Story 4 – A Certain Group of Heroes’ Manual Labour

On the second floor of the Evil God Temple, a group of six men and women were gathered before a certain room.
The group comprised three men, and three women, and was in a sense the group that was least fitting to be here.

“Umm, is this the place?”

“Yes. In accordance to Sacred Goddess-sama’s esteemed words, I believe there is no mistake.”

“But still, this place, ey? Why’d Sacred Goddess-sama tell us to come to a place like the Evil God Temple, anyways?”

“Beats me. Having said that though, if it’s to get Arc’s Holy Sword back, of course we had to go.”

“I need my Holy Spear back too, after all.”

“I as well. Without my Holy Bow in hand, I really can’t be said to be fit for the title Hero.”

They were Hero of the Holy Sword, Arc’s party; Hero of the Holy Spear, Lionel; and Hero of the Holy Bow, Orlaine; a total of six members. However, ever since they failed to capture the “Holy Land of the Evil God” and had their weapons stolen from them, their titles now felt a little ironic.
Holy Weapons that served as both the symbols of the Heroes and the source of their powers──weapons blessed by Light God Sophia that chose their owners. Instead of wielders choosing their weapons, it was the weapons themselves that chose and acknowledged the wielders as their owners.
And those acknowledged by these weapons became existences chosen by Light God Sophia, and gained the title of Hero. Arc, Lionel and Orlaine as well had become Heroes in this way.
Because of that, they were Heroes only because of their Holy Weapons, and therefore it was because they were heroes that they ought to be holding their Holy Weapons. Just as Orlaine had said, having their weapons stolen was a fatal defeat for a Hero, and even if they were verbally abused, there was nothing they could say in return.

“It won’t return even when I call for it… Just what on earth has happened to my Holy Bow?”

“Yeah, usually when we call for them they immediately come back, ey?”

In reply to Orlaine’s anxious words, the blue haired Lionel agreed.
The Holy Weapons were the ones who chose the owners, and on top of absolutely nobody else being capable of using them, even if they weren’t in hand, they would immediately fly towards the owner once called for.
Knowing this, when the Heroes had failed the dungeon and woken up without them, they had tried calling for the weapons countless times. However, the Holy Weapons would not return.
When it came to Orlaine, until Arc and the others had stopped her, she called for the Holy Bow again and again until her light purple hair was a mess and her eyes were filled with tears, but there wasn’t any effect.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Sacred Goddess-sama told me that I would be able to recover my Holy Sword if I came here. In that case, the Holy Sword should be safe.”

“It would be good if that was true…”

The blonde haired Arc tried to cheer her up, but Orlaine hung her head, perhaps still worried. To begin with, as a frail girl chosen by the Holy Bow to be a Hero, she had strained herself to fulfil her duties. She was probably emotionally unstable due to the shock of losing the crucial Holy Bow.

“It’s fine. I haven’t broken the Holy Sword, the Holy Spear, or the Holy Bow either.”

While the Heroes were talking, a voice called out from behind them.
Thinking that they hadn’t noticed somebody enter the room because they were too focused on themselves, the party turned around in surprise.
And standing there was a black-haired girl clad in a jet black dress decorated with rose designs.

The moment they saw the girl’s black eyes, a shudder ran through them all.
The blood dramatically left them, and they had goosebumps all over their bodies. Their throats felt parched, and their teeth chattered. Around the time their limbs began to tremble of their own accord, their whole bodies started letting out a cold sweat, as though finally remembering to do so.

It was impossible to beat this girl… Even if they had their Holy Weapons, it was impossible to beat this girl.

Up until that moment, the strongest foe they had ever met was the one currently on standby deep below on the 30th floor, but from this girl standing in front of them they could feel a power even greater than the despair-inducing Imperial Death.

Their instincts, emotions and intellect… the fear experienced by all of these seemed to crush for an instant the pure and strong hearts of these Heroes. But this was certainly not because they were weak of spirit. Had they been so, they would have immediately escaped the moment they met her eyes. The very fact that they still remained there was a testament to their strength.
And how they responded was by dropping on the spot, getting on their hands and knees, and pressing their head against the floor. It was the pose of ultimate apology, passed down in the legends of the Heroes──the dogeza.

“…Ah-, sorry.”

Because the people around her had gotten used to averting their own eyes, the girl had half-forgotten about her own mystic eyes and she reflexively muttered an apology in front of the resulting dogeza festival.

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The girl――Anri, told them to get up while avoiding her eyes, as well as the gist of her mystic eyes. It was only a while after her first appearance that they were able to have a conversation.
There was a small upset when Anri named herself as a relative of the Evil God, but after showing her adventurer card and having them confirm that she was a human, they didn’t ask anything more.
Normally a relative of the Evil God wasn’t something that the Heroes could overlook, but because she was somebody they met at the place that the Light God had told them to visit, the fact that they couldn’t do anything careless was one of the reasons they didn’t inquire further.
The second reason was that there was something even more important to them in her earlier words.

“Then, you have the Holy Sword right now!?”

“The Holy Spear too?”

“And the Holy Bow!?”

Hearing Anri mention the locations of the Holy Weapons, the Heroes reflexively let out cries of surprise.

“Please, return them to us!”

Arc held Anri’s hand in his two, and desperately appealed to her. Normally in a situation like this the two would be looking at each other in the eyes, but because they were making sure not to do so, it looked terrible comical from the side.
The one who had been most shaken due to the loss of their Holy Weapon was Orlaine, but inside, it was Arc that was most anxious. And a big part of that was because unlike Orlaine and Lionel who did their work solo, Arc worked in a party. In the end, it was nothing more than a personal problem for Orlaine and Lionel, but to Arc it was causing inconvenience to his party members, so it couldn’t be helped.

“I’m fine with giving them back, but there will be conditions.”

“Oi, oi, whaddya mean conditions?”

Zio showed his dissatisfaction towards Anri’s words.
From his point of view, the mission of the Heroes was to protect the Human Race, so just the thought of being uncooperative was unthinkable, but that had nothing to do with Anri.

“…Please tell me them. If there’s anything I can do, I will!”

“…I will too!”

“Can’t be helped. Pisses me off, but just say it.”

The Heroes resolved themselves with tragic expressions, and Anri simply informed them of the condition.

*imouto*

“Help me build my house.”

“Hah?”

*imouto*

The six of them were wondering if they had heard wrong, but Anri’s reply didn’t change.
After asking for the third time, the Heroes finally understood that she was serious, and Anri gave them a simple explanation of the situation.
In order for Anri to move out of the temple that she was living in, she needed her house to be built, so in return for the Holy Weapons that she received from the Evil God, she wanted them to help her with the construction.

“So uh, basically construction work? Soz, but I’ve never done that before. Don’t think I’ll be much help, yanno?”

“I have professionals hired as well. Just helping with the heavy lifting and other simple work is enough.”

Lionel voiced his doubts, but Anri expected such a question, and replied with a nod.

“Heroes as labourers, huh…”

“The image is a little…”

“No, that doesn’t matter! It’s not like we’re doing anything bad, so if that’s all we have to do it’s still cheap.”

Frey and Widdi showed their disapproval, but Arc replied as though shaking off the thought. He had been deeply anxious about what kind of job the Evil God’s relative would demand from him, so the construction work was quite the anticlimax.
To a person like him who wanted to help those who needed it, he felt like it was something he would be fine with helping with even without the deal with the Holy Sword.

“Well, can’t be helped, ey? If it’s just manual labour, I think I can do it too, after all.”

“Eh? Wait, Zio. It’s to get back my Holy Sword, so it’s enough that only I work, right?”

“What are you being so distant for. Either way, we aren’t gunna be working until you get the Holy Sword back, so it’d be better to get it back quickly, right?”

“Well, it’s like Zio says. Widdi and I wouldn’t be too useful for manual labour, but there should be other stuff we can help out with. Right, Widdi?”

“Of course. We’ll help out as well! We won’t let you work alone, Arc-sama.”

“Everyone…”

Seeing Arc’s party reaffirm their bonds, Orlaine and Lionel looked a little envious as they looked on.
Also, because of the sudden addition to her workers, Anri was mentally pumping her fist in victory.

“Well, that’s how it is. I’m fine with it.”

“I am as well. Even if I look like this, I do work out, so I can do physical work as well!”

Both Lional and Orlaine agreed, and the six of them agreed to help Anri build her house.

“Thanks. The personnel involved in building the house are gathered in that room over there, so just follow their instructions. The planning stage should be just about finished.”

“Yeah, got it.”

At this point, they all realised why they had been sent here.
After watching Anri leave, the six of them fired themselves up, and opened the door before them.

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

*imouto*

And then closed it.

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Oi, what the hell was that battlefield!?”

Zio let out anxious words after catching a glimpse of what was beyond the door.
Indeed; it was a battlefield.
A number of people were gathered around a model mansion in the middle of the room, and vehemently arguing, while a mountain of discarded blueprints lay to the side.
When they saw the workers frantically run about as angry roars flew about the room, for some reason the six of them saw themselves overlapped with it, and chills ran down their spines.

And that image became a reality.
The door that they had closed on reflex was opened with a bang, and from inside the room came a blonde young man in a luxurious priests’ gown.

“You must be the workers that Anri-sama spoke of! Huhuhu, we have been waiting for you!”

The blonde man had handsome looks, but the dark bags under his eyes put it to waste. Probably on a high from pulling multiple all-nighters fuelled on enthusiasm alone, the man continued to talk happily as the dumbfounded six looked on.

“We were just starting to run short of workers! Quickly, quickly! Please come inside!”

With those words, the young man──Pope Harvin, took their rears at a speed invisible even to the veteran Heroes, and began pushing the six of them into the room.

“Hey-, hang on!?”

“S-, Stop it!”

“Hii!?”

“T-, This isn’t a joke, you know!?”

“N-, No way, oi…”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?”

Having finally understood that it was no simple construction work, the six of them tried to escape in a panic, but the Pope paid no heed to the pitiful sacrifices, and forcefully pushed them in the room before closing the door.

*imouto*

Also, while Anri had no idea, the plans had at some point upgraded from “house” to “palace” and although the time the six of them needed to work had risen in proportion, it was already too late.

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<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Here’s your chapter, sigfig.

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Side Story 3 – A Certain Owner and Pet’s Walk

In the middle of my third-person challenge.

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Monster──a term used to refer to living beings that possess above a certain amount of mana.
However, strictly speaking, this definition was not accurate. The first reason was that humans and demons possessed mana but were not included as monsters. The second is that golems, undead, and other non-living creatures were generally included as monsters as well.
All feared beings that cause harm to humans and demons were being labelled as “monsters” – this was probably the best way to describe the situation.

However, even if they were feared beings that cause harm, although a few monsters did pose a threat by appearing near towns or villages, average people were generally unrelated to the majority of them.
Golems and undead only appeared in specific locations like dungeons or ruins, and the other particularly powerful monsters tended to live in locations far from civilisation, rarely leaving. Of course, it wasn’t the case that these monsters were avoiding settlements, but rather that settlements were built in places far from the territories of these monsters.

With the exception of some adventurers, the beings that come to mind upon hearing the term “monster” were goblins, kobolds, or an orc at best, and from the point of view of normal people who lived their whole lives in town, even these monsters were rarely seen, and only heard of.
To such people, particularly powerful monsters were creatures that existed solely in folktales, legends, and fairy tales.
Of course, these people understood as well that such creatures did exist in the world.
However, these creatures would almost never appear in the personal “worlds” that they each lived in, and were as good as non-existent.

*imouto*

Because of this…

*imouto*

“I-, I-, IT-, IT’S A DRAGONNNNNNNN!?”

“RUN! RUUUUUUUUUUN!!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

*imouto*

if a dragon were to appear in the skies above them, it was natural that panic would ensue.

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It all began earlier that morning.

After breakfast time, Light God Sophia witnessed a strange spectacle during her continued stay at the Evil God Temple.
It was the figure of the Evil God Anri making food. Well, that much was fine.
Tena had left with the human Anri, so seeing the Evil God preparing food was not so strange in itself. To begin with, it wasn’t that she couldn’t cook due to a lack of technical skills, but rather that she couldn’t hold a kitchen knife due to the curse. Now that she had overcome the curse, there was nothing to stop her from cooking.
Being “able to cook” and “able to cook well” are entirely different matters, but for the sake of her honour, let us speak no further on the matter.

Having established this, what was strange was not the cooking in itself, but the food that Anri was cooking──apparently sandwiches──and the fact that she then put them into a basket.
To begin with, they had already eaten breakfast, so what she was cooking was for lunch. Cooking food for lunch despite only having finished breakfast, and then placing the food into a basket.
The only thing imaginable was…

“Umm… Anri? Preparing your food like that, are you intending on going someplace?”

So asked Sophia, whilst believing it was impossible.
It couldn’t be helped that she found it unbelievable. After all, as far as Sophia knew, the black-haired, expressionless newcomer god in front of her was somebody who never went outside even once a year. A complete hikikomori.
With such a person doing something that could only be seen as preparation for going outside, the abnormality of the situation needn’t even be said.

“Mn, I’m going to go out a bit. I’ll be back before evening. I’ve made you sandwiches for lunch, so eat them later.”

Hearing that, she followed Anri’s gaze and found other sandwiches sitting on a plate. They numbered about two people’s worth. Probably made for both Sophia and Anbaal.
It was the case with Anri as well, but both Sophia and Anbaal were divines and thus relied on faith instead of food for sustenance.
To the two of them, eating food was nothing more than enjoyment, but needless to mention Anri who had naturally grown used to a human’s habits, even Sophia and Anbaal almost always ate three meals a day while they were staying in the Temple.

“Well thank you for that, but just where are you going?”

“I haven’t decided yet. Just going for a walk, after all.”

“I see.”

Anri replied that she was just going out without any goal in mind, but since it was healthier to go on a walk than to continue holing up in the temple, Sophia showed her agreement too.
As an Evil God that threw all creatures in the land into an abyss of fear, there was probably no greater nuisance than wandering about on a whim, but Sophia believed that Anri was used to her eyes and aura by now, and would probably make do somehow.

That this was an incredibly naive thought was something that she only realised after hearing Anri’s next line. And by then, it was too late.

*imouto*

*imouto*

“Well, I’m off now. Time for Vnee’s walk.”

*imouto*

*imouto*

“…Hah? W-, Wait, stop right there!?”

Sophia froze due to the unexpected words, and faster than she could recover and call out to stop, Anri had touched the sandwich basket as well as another basket many times larger, before teleporting away.

*imouto*

“By ‘walk’… she meant Black Dragon Vardneel… instead?”

Sophia’s mutter resounded through the empty room.

*imouto*

“…She plans on letting that Black Dragon out?”

Still in a daze, Sophia continued to mutter, but nobody was there to reply.

And like that, due to the Human Race’s supposed guardian deity missing the chance to stop the tragedy, the world’s most powerful and wicked pet was released into the open.

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A massive body of over 20 metres danced through the air as though splitting the clear blue sky in two.
The beats of its wings were powerful, and the explosive propulsive force gave rise to incredible speeds.
Although it was still fine due to the fact that he was high up in the end, had he been flying close to the surface, the wind pressure alone would probably have blown everything away.

Black Dragon Vardneel.
The most wicked dragon, said to bring calamity to the world, was enjoying the skies for the first time in a while.
Even since he had been summoned as a boss for the dungeon, he hadn’t been allowed outside even once, and basically spent his time imprisoned in the small, cramped room. That probably made his sense of liberation even greater.

“GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!”

The roar that he let out in his joy sounded like a joyful song of freedom.
However, as for whether or not he was truly free, of course the answer was that he wasn’t.
The master that he feared the most in the world was present on his back, so it was actually a far cry from freedom.

When he had first been summoned he had cowered at her aura, and because of the terror he lay belly up in submission, but after, he grew closer day by day due to the training, and by now he had stopped running up the wall when he saw her.
Even so, if you had to ask if his fear had completely disappeared, then the answer would be no.
The instinctual terror that he felt due to his master’s aura was not so simply removed.
Although he was not particularly intelligent, he knew by instinct just how dangerous it would be to anger the master on his back.
Because of that, although he was rejoicing his freedom, he was careful to fly so that the feeling of riding his back was comfortable.

*imouto*

But despite his consideration due to fear, to put it simply, it was completely useless.

“S-, So cold…”

The black-robed girl on his back shivered while desperately clinging to his back.
No matter how careful he was being to avoid accidentally shaking her, given the altitude and speed, the feeling of riding his back was already as bad as it could get.
And naturally so, because while the high altitude alone meant that the temperature was quite low, on top of that, she was being exposed to the intense wind pressure from his flying speed.
As divines had high stamina she was able to bear it, but had she been a human it wouldn’t have been strange for her to have frozen to death.
In addition, unlike a horse’s back, the wide back of the dragon made it impossible to straddle, so she could do nothing but cling to the scales and the moment her hand slipped, she would be falling headfirst to the ground.

“I-, I should have just called this off…”

Even if she regretted the walk now, it was much too late.
She had envisioned a pleasant trip through the sky, but the reality was harsh. The path to become a dragon rider was severe.
Also, although she had enough power to easily solve the cold and wind issues, sadly, Anri was still inexperienced as a divine, and the idea of using an Authority in this situation hadn’t quite occurred to her.

“Let’s hurry up and find a plain somewhere to land on.”

The plan was to find a wide plain somewhere and treat herself to lunch.
She had prepared her own portion of sandwiches, and she had the Black Dragon’s lunch in the larger basket as well… Although she actually held neither of them, and stored them in her item box though.
However, at present she hadn’t even the slightest care about lunch, and just wanting to land somewhere was all she could think of.
As a result, no matter what kind of uproar was happening below her, she hadn’t the composure to notice.
And right this very moment, the fact that the people of a town were in a huge panic due to a dragon sighting, was something she had no way of knowing.

“Ah…”

With the wind blowing in her eyes it was hard to see, but the moment that she saw a wide plain in her limit vision, Anri thanked God for the help. Despite the fact that she was a divine herself.
Tapping on the back of the Black Dragon she was clinging to, she gave him instructions on where to land.

“Over there. Land over there.”

“Guru?”

The Black Dragon with low intelligence naturally couldn’t understand her words, but even so, he seemed to understand Anri’s intention, and after turning towards the grass plains, he lowered his altitude and speed to begin landing.
Now that they were heading towards the ground and the wind and cold were receding, Anri let out a relieved sigh.

*imouto*

*imouto*

That she would have to suffer the same ordeal to get home was something she only realised after finishing up her sandwiches.

*imouto*

*imouto*

And taking the chance to mention it, the fact that more suffering was waiting for her in the form of Sophia’s lecturing, was something she hadn’t expected at the time.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Side Story 2 – A Certain Scripture’s Pandemic

I decided to try writing a third-person story this time.

---

“So this is the problem book.”

In a room in a certain country, a number of people gazed down upon a book with black bindings that lay atop a desk.

“Yes, Your Majesty. You must take care never to touch it with your hands.”

“I know.”

The one referred to as Your Majesty was the king of that nation, and the people gathered in the room were also important leaders within the country.
Just the fact that so many people were gathered in this room was in and of itself a sign of the extraordinary circumstances behind it.

“The Black Scripture, huh. It seems that they’ve spread quite the troublesome thing.”

Their gazes were focused on the book called the Black Scripture.
Although, the term ‘Black Scripture’ did not refer to only the book in front of them.

“Just the ones we have been able to identify alone indicate that over a hundred of them have been brought into the country. If we include those unaccounted for, it is likely that they number a few hundred…”

The one who gave the report was the skilled man who was supervisor to the Court Mages of this nation, as well as the Chief of Magical Research.
As he spoke, he turned the cover of the Black Scripture.

“O-, Oi!? Are you fine with touching that!?”

The leaders in the room panicked at the Chief’s actions, but the Chief replied in a resigned voice,

“I have already touched it once, so…”

Now that he had mentioned it, they noticed that for a while now, the Chief had been limping as if to protect his right foot. And now that they had realised this, they all looked at him in pity.

“Please look at this.”

Behind the flipped cover were the warnings of the book.
According to the warnings, the book was a cursed item, and misfortune would befall those who had received this book. If they desired to avoid the misfortune, it was required that they transcribe the contents of the book, and hand it to another person, and unless they did so the misfortune would continue eternally. Furthermore, the curse would manifest in the transcribed copy as well.

The Black Scripture… A book written by the Evil God that was truly most wicked and foul. At that very moment it was making its terror known in countries where it had been propagated further.

*imouto*

“In order to avoid the misfortune, one must transcribe the book, huh. Then it is natural that it has spread this far.”

“Yes.”

Naturally, in order to avoid the misfortune, those who had accepted the book would transcribe a copy and try to push it onto others. To not do so was the same as being tormented by the misfortune for eternity, and was not something anybody would accept. Even if they prohibited this, it would merely lead to a revolt.

“Is it impossible to dispel the curse?”

“It was impossible even for the Archbishops of the Church of Sacred Light. The curse that it contains is far too powerful.”

Having said that though, in contrast to the fiendishness of its propagation mechanism, the misfortunes were light enough to be called an anti-climax, and this gap had caused the researchers much puzzlement. The misfortune that a receiver suffered was randomised, and although the misfortunes differed, none of them were beyond the level of simple harassment. Even the limp on the chief was due to the curse of continually stubbing the little toe of his foot against shelves, and was not a particularly grave injury.
However, it was also difficult to say that this was something that a person could ignore.
Even the Chief had originally not planned to spread the harm to anyone else, but after stubbing his toe three times, he yielded, and pushed a copy onto the Vice-Chief. Because of that, at present, the Vice-Chief’s loyalty towards the Chief had dropped considerably.

“Can it not be stopped?”

“That would likely be difficult. However, there is a way to guide the damage in a more preferable direction.”

“It cannot be helped. At this rate, there is no option but to reduce the harm within our own country.”

It was difficult to stop the book from being pushed onto somebody else. However, it was not impossible to determine who the book was pushed onto. If they guided the harm outside the nation, the country would be saved for now, even without solving the root problem.

“It is likely that this will worsen relations with the neighbouring countries, but…”

“Of course, we will not disclose such a thing publicly. Hand them over to merchants leaving the country and the like, and have them independently carry them outside our borders.”

“I see. Then it will also be necessary to prevent them being taken into our borders from other nations.”

“Indeed. Prepare the arrangements urgently.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Understood.”

With the King’s order, the leaders all began to act.
With this, the damage to the nation could probably be abated.
Of course, the countries that had the books forced upon them would in turn force them on another, and so each nation would suffer the harm one by one. The result was that the nation unfortunate enough to suffer it last would have nowhere to force it onto, and would be forced to push it around within its own borders.

“Considering the state of the other countries, it’s clear who the final nation will be, huh.”

“Your Majesty? Did you say something?”

“Haha, I was simply thinking that it may be time to reconsider our association with the Theocracy.”

Considering the flow from the country that produced this, the closer one was the earlier one would suffer, and the further away one was, the later it would come. In that case, it was not difficult to imagine that the nation with the greatest antagonism with the country of origin would be the eventual target of this curse.
As for which nation in particular, that much was already common knowledge.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

While around the world, the Black Scripture was being treated as an object of fear, there was one country alone that instead saw it with affection.
The Holy Anri Thearchy; a newly established nation formed by a gathering of those who worshipped Evil God Anri. At present it was only a small nation that would be better called a town, but with each passing day, its influence grew.

To the Thearchy, the Black Scripture said to be written by Evil God Anri was truly a “scripture”. Every person in the country had a copy, and it was a virtue to proactively transcribe them and proselytise in other countries. Of course, because the normal citizens of the Thearchy had no export route, the copies would be gathered together in the Thearchy, and sent beyond the borders all at once.
Additionally, although the people of the Thearchy also suffered the curse at first, it was thought of as a trial from God.

And in this Thearchy, two buildings linked to the Temple had been newly established.

The first was the Orphanage; an institution for sheltering children who had lost their parents. Other nations had their own measures for orphans as well, but they were undeniably lacking, and so children with no place to go appeared no matter the nation. Gathering such children within the Orphanage, providing them enough food and a warm bed, and finally thoroughly educating them was the role of this institution.
Together with things like writing and arithmetic, the children gathered in the Orphanage were also taught from a young age the splendour of the deity worshipped by the Thearchy, Evil God Anri (although she was not recognised as “Evil” God within the Thearchy).
With strong piety towards Evil God Anri, as well as a vigorous education, they were also possible future elites for the Thearchy.

The other institution was a building created for the sake of transcribing the Black Scripture. The desks, chairs, paper, and pens required for transcription were lined up neatly inside the building, and at the back were people on standby who turned the pages into books.
This building was also the gathering place for transcribed scriptures, and gathered not only copies from within the institute, but copies from all across the country.
The books stored in the Transcription Hall were gathered and counted, and each month the number of copies was announced on a board.
The one who splendidly managed first place would be publicly commended by the Pope himself, but up until now that had never happened even once. The reason was simple – first place was being monopolised by a certain man.

“Hmm, I’m in good shape today, aren’t I.”

Unwilling to hand over the position of first place was none other than the Pope himself. As long as the position of first was being taken by him, nobody else would be commended. Even at this very moment he was sitting in first place, and transcribing copies in the Transcription Hall, but shockingly, this man was transcribing a different copy with each hand.
Normally the transcription process would be carried out while silently reading the original on the side, but when it came to this man, he had already memorised every word of the Black Scripture, and wrote from memory. In order to fulfil the act of ‘transcribing’, he did in fact have a copy there, but he was not looking inside.
Even ignoring the fact that he had learnt the contents by heart, he was writing with both hands at the same time. Such a feat could be called nothing but skilled, but as a result, he boasted a transcription speed of over twice the average person’s.
As long as there was nobody else who could replicate this feat, the seat of first place would stay with him alone.
Although there was the concern of who was governing the nation if he was doing nothing but transcribing, but it was because he was properly fulfilling those duties as well that made this so difficult to comment on.

“Pope-samaa, I finishedd one~”

“Me tooo~”

“Me tooo~”

“My, how splendid. Anri-sama is surely delighted.”

Boys and girls were sitting by the Pope and transcribing as well, proudly announcing their achievements to him.
With this heartwarming scene before him, the Pope gave a gentle smile and praised the children.

“Yayyy~”

“I’ll go write one moree~”

“I might get first place!”

“Huhu, try your best.”

In addition, separate to the adult rankings was a children’s ranking that was properly functioning. Centred around the children of the Orphanage, they transcribed as a part of their upbringing. It was a ground-breaking arrangement that had them learn the teachings of the scriptures, while practising their reading and writing as well.
The contents of the scriptures were morals regarding how to live properly as a person, so it was nothing unsuitable for a child’s upbringing.
The amount of sweets given out were dependent on the rankings, so all the children assertively competed in transcribing of their own accord.

“Huhuhu, building the Transcription Hall was truly the right answer. With this, the proselytising will surely advance even further.”

---

In addition, had all the nations worked together and used death row prisoners as sacrifices, they might have been able to solve the issue surprisingly simply.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

Side Story 1 – A Certain Religion’s Fall

“The founding of a nation that worships the Evil God, you say…?”

“Heavens…”

The meeting between the higher echelons of the Luxiria Theocracy grew stormy.
The cause was that the cultists that they had sent the Order of the Sacred Light to subjugate the other day had declared the establishment of a country.
However, given how obvious it was that the meeting would grow wild after this announcement, the situation could hardly be called surprising.

There was a square desk in the conference room, and sitting around the north, south, east and west sides were the top brass of the Theocracy.
On the north side, furthest from the entrance, sat the members from the Papal Board, who controlled the affairs of the Theocracy, a Cardinal and two Archbishops.
On the east side sat the members from the Magisterium, who governed the dogma of the Church of Sacred Light, a Cardinal and two Archbishops.
On the west side sat the members from the Eparchia, who governed the parishes including matters of foreign diplomacy, a Cardinal and two Archbishops.
Finally, on the south side sat members from the Presbyterium, who governed the training of priests and the like, a Cardinal and two Archbishops.
And then behind the Papal Board, in the most prestigious seat, furthest back, sat the incumbent Pope.
Together, these thirteen people composed the higher echelons of the Luxiria Theocracy, as well as the top brass of the Human Race’s greatest religion, the Church of Sacred Light.

Each one had their own attendants standing behind them, and I too was one of them; somebody allowed to be here as the attendant to one of the Archbishops from the Presbyterium. However, in my case, the one who originally should have been here had “by chance” fallen ill, so I was actually here as a replacement.

“ABSOLUTE NONSENSE! Who would acknowledge something like that!”

“To begin with, even the very existence of the Evil God is questionable!”

The ones who screamed were the members of the Magisterium.
From the eyes of they who governed the dogma of our Church, the “Establishment of the Evil God Nation” was understandably difficult to accept.
But what did they mean by the existence of the “Evil God” being questionable? …Or so I might have wondered in the past.
To begin with, the concept of the “Evil God” was something loudly insisted by those of the Magisterium, so doubting the existence of the Evil God was at odds with the claim they made themselves.
But if you knew the circumstances of what happened behind-the-scenes, the meaning of their words would be immediately clear.

*imouto*

──To think that the insistence of the Church regarding the existence of the “Evil God” was based on falsehoods…

*imouto*

An imaginary enemy woven into the dogma to agitate the fear of the believers, and thereby increase their dependence on the Church… Was their aim──although the ones who implemented this were their predecessors from generations ago──something along these lines?
Of course, to the high level members gathered here, that much was common sense, and as a result they couldn’t simply accept the fact that the “Evil God” truly existed.

“There was a report regarding the sighting of the true Evil God from the Forteran Army in their spearhead of the Order of Sacred Light, but…”

“Ridiculous. Likely an excuse created by the cowards who fled after mistaking something else for it. There is no worth in trusting impious people who tried to haggle their contribution to the Church.”

Among them, the youngest member, an Archbishop──though already in the prime of life──gave the report from Fortera, but the Cardinal of the Eparchia ignored it as nonsense.
Having said that, that Archbishop himself didn’t seem to actually believe it, and showed no sign of displeasure at having his remark repudiated.

“Well, at this point, whether the Evil God is an impostor, or the real thing is not of importance, for what we ought to do has not changed in the slightest.”

“Exactly as you say. Just the words ‘country of Evil God worshippers’ is the same as declaring hostility against us… no, against all of the Human Race.”

Hearing the statement from Cardinal of the Presbyterium, the Cardinal of the Papal Board agreed. And it seems that this was the same amongst all the members gathered here.
Of course, including the Pope sitting at the back.

“As servants who serve Sacred Goddess-sama, we cannot accept such a declaration. Obvious though it may be, there appear to be no objections.”

The aged Pope rose from his seat, and made his declaration as he overlooked the gathering of leaders.

“Then, Your Eminence…”

“Declare our rejection of the announcement under my name. Further, call for the agreement of the other nations.”

“As you wish.”

The Cardinal of the Papal Board accepted the edict from the Pope, and so ended the meeting.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“What is Fortera thinking!?”

Hearing Fortera’s reaction to the Pope’s earlier proclamation, an urgent, special meeting was called.
To begin with, this kind of meeting was supposed to only be held at a certain time, once per year, and calling for a second meeting in such little time was extremely unusual.
However, considering the circumstances, it could be said that calling a meeting was natural.
Not only had the Kingdom of Fortera had rejected the Theocracy’s appeal and declared neutrality towards the Evil God Nation’s declaration, but they brought attention to the dishonesty of the Church’s upper echelons──in other words, the people in this room, and furthermore showed their hostility by declaring the formation of a new sect.
It was not the case that nobody had ever opposed the headquarters of the Church, Luxiria, but an entire nation taking a position of hostility had never been seen before in history.
Of course, were this simply a rejection of the Church of Sacred Light, then they would have antagonised the other nations who had the Church as their state faith, and ostracised themselves.
However, they rejected not the Church of Sacred Light itself, but complained about the corruption of the current leaders, and formed a new sect based around devotions to the teachings──the Origin Faction.
Such an action was far more dangerous to the people in this room than simple opposition.

“The Origin Faction…? Rejecting our dogma? What nonsense.”

“It is likely mostly out of revenge for our earlier deployment of the Order.”

The Cardinal of the Magisterium openly frowned at the report. The report was the same as disgracing the Magisterium, so it was understandable.
The Cardinal of the Eparchia seemed unhappy as well, but that was due to another reason.

“And so, what was the impact on the other nations?”

“We tried to suppress the news, but it spread quite far. Too openly suppressing it would be liable to have the opposite effect, so we cannot help but act cautiously.”

“I suppose that cannot be helped either… EEI! So irritating!”

What the members of the Eparchia were agonising over was the information control of the announcement by the Kingdom of Fortera regarding the dishonesty of the higher-ups of the Church. From rampant bribery and abuse of power, to even the forgery of dogma – the many years of dishonesty were all made public at once, and the Eparchia were completely busy with suppressing the distrust from the believers.
Of course, had this all been unfounded rumours, doing so would not have been so difficult. However, given that it was tacitly understood amongst the other countries that this was at least half-true, controlling the information was not an easy task.
The Luxiria Theocracy with its small population and land held an advantage over the other nations due to having the absolute authority of being the home to the headquarters of the Church of Sacred Light. Putting things another way, with this advantage becoming unstable, they were liable to lose their superiority in an instant.

“For now, I suppose there is nothing we can do but urge the other nations not to join the faction created by Fortera.”

“Indeed. Let us have the churches in the other nations manoeuvre. Directly dealing with the Kingdom of Fortera will need to be postponed, but I do not suppose we have a choice. If the sect spreads, it will become unmanageable, after all.”

Authority gives rise to rights, and rights give rise to authorities. With the old roots they have formed in various countries, manoeuvring with their connections should prove to be quite effective.
Of course, Fortera understands this as well, and will likely move to suppress it. I suspect that a fierce power struggle will begin behind the scenes.
However, when it comes to the number of personnel they can mobilise, I cannot help but say that the Theocracy has the advantage.
As long as there is no major incident to overturn this situation, it will be difficult for the Kingdom of Fortera to gain the advantage.

It is because they understand this, that the people gathered here were unhappy, but relatively calm.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“It-, It cannot be… Why would Sacred Goddess-sama…?”

One day, a little while after the previous meeting, the situation suddenly changed.
An unprecedented situation where Sacred Goddess Sophia made a revelation to all of the Human Race, and in merely one night, the situation in all the nations took a complete change.
The contents of the revelation included the existence of the Dark God, previously unknown to the Human Race; the “Evil God”, who was different to the one known by the Human Race; and the fact that the Human Race needed to conquer a dungeon in order for her to win the 3-way power struggle between the gods.
Had the revelation been received only by a small minority then it may have been tidied away as lies, but now that the entire Human Race had received the revelation, nobody in this room had the power to make them believe it was false.

And at the same time, this also spelt a major dilemma for the Luxiria Theocracy.
By the hand of none the very Sacred Goddess that they worshipped, in part thought it might have been, their dogma was denied. What’s more, the part that was denied coincided with Fortera’s claims.
If one part of Fortera’s claims were confirmed, then it would naturally make people suspect that the rest of the claims were true as well. The rest of the claims… in other words, the claims regarding the corruption of the upper echelons of the Church of Sacred Light. It’s very likely that all of the Sacred Goddess’s followers believe that Fortera’s claims were correct.

“This is bad. At this rate…”

“We must urgently come up with some countermeasure.”

“But even if you say that, what are we to do. In this situation, taking a firm measure against Fortera would likely backfire on us. Manouevring against the problem country has been forbidden as well.”

“That…”

Hearing the Cardinal of the Papal Board say that, the others in the room fell silent as well. Just as he said, making some declaration about mobilising the Order of Sacred Light would instead heighten suspicion towards them.
Even the option of diverting dissatisfaction towards the “Evil God Nation” had been prohibited by none other than the Sacred Goddess herself.

“It cannot be helped. It seems that we have no choice but to admit to our mistakes in the dogma in regards to the Forteran claims about the Evil God.”

While the room was wrapped in silence, a voice called out from behind the members of the Papal Board.

“But, Your Eminence…”

“Now that Sacred Goddess-sama has affirmed Fortera’s claims, we cannot firmly object. Of course, we will deny the other claims, and must endeavour to abate the damage even a little.”

It was this moment that the Church of Sacred Light, that had thus far ruled humanity from the background, was forced to compromise, as well as the moment that they acknowledged a small, but substantial defeat.
I am sure that the Kingdom of Fortera will not let this chance go, and will use this critical moment to persecute them.

The winter had come for the Luxiria Theocracy, that had held its influence for a long, long time.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“And that concludes the report.”

“Well done. Hu hu hu, the Sacred Goddess’ relevation has given us an advantage. While they are embroiled in their factional disputes, let us plan the strengthening of our nation, for it is the will of Anri-sama.”

“By your will.”

“Now then, the coming days shall be busy. We must not let up on our missionary work either. And the construction of that must go ahead.”

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

1. Yes, the buttons are a lie.
2. Click it for the fullsize image. It’s larger than the cover pic.
3. The text is basically all a rehash
4. The new text is too small, but that’s the only way it would fit.
5. Have you supported an author today? Buy it here.

Thank you as always for your support.
This is Kitaseno Yunaki.

It’s a bit sudden, but I’ve been passed the Character Baton from Amano Hazama-sensei of 『The Simple Job of Being Destroyed By the Hero』 fame.
It’s my first time being invited in this way, so there was the problem of “To begin with, what on earth is a Character Baton?”, but since he went out of the way to nominate me, I decided to do it.

It seems that the other authors interview their main characters, but I’m not suited for that kind of role, so I’ll stick to narrating, and entrust the interviewing to Miss Leonora.

“Hah? O-, Oi… Wait a moment!?”

Leonora was shocked by the sudden mission, but she was too late, and Kitaseno Yunaki had already disappeared like mist. In exchange, she could hear a voice from goodness knows where.

“Wha-!? You’ve already begun the narration!? Youuuu, it’s only at times like these that you work fast! …Well, whatever. Anri, you there?”

“You call?”

Leonora called out, and Anri suddenly appeared from somewhere.

“Umu, I’m reluctant, but since I was already entrusted with this, there is no choice. I am going to begin the interview.”

“So bothersome…”

“I AM GO ING TO BE GIN!”

“Roger.”

Anri had responded sluggishly, but seeing Leonora smile with veins appearing on her forehead, Anri reluctantly accepted the interview.

1. Introductions

“Ahem! Well then, I suppose we should begin with your introduction.”

Pulling herself back together, Leonora asked the first question. Anri gave a nod in reply, and began to introduce herself.

“My name is Anri, 17 years old. I’m female, and I’m 158cm tall. Weight is a secret. Bloodtype AB.”

“What about your three sizes?”

“(¯¯¯-¯¯¯) Chudon.”

Leonora looked at Anri’s breast as she asked in teasing, but Anri paid her back with a darkness bullet. She added on a cute sounding “chudon” sound effect, but there was actually enough power to crush a boulder, so it was really not a laughing matter.
The darkness bullet flew towards Leonora’s chest, and after frantically dodging, she somehow managed to avoid it.

“Uwah!? A-, Are you trying to kill me!”

“Big tit girls are the target(teki).”

“Who’s a 『target(teki)』! At least say 『enemy(teki)』!”

2. Your preferred type

“Honestly… I knew this was going to be a difficult job from the start. Next is your preferred type, I guess.”

Leonora angrily remarked in a huff, but changing gears, she moved onto the next question.

“My preferred type?”

“Well, I suppose in this case it refers to your preference in the opposite sex. I haven’t heard any love gossip about you at all but… how is that?”

At Leonora’s act, Anri folded her arms and thought for a little.

“…Rugged, older gentlemen?” (shibui)

“Oh? How unexpected. Is there anybody in particular like that?”

Hearing the answer that Anri came to, Leonora smiled and asked in great interest. However, her question would lead to an unexpected disturbance.

“Ojisama I guess.”

In that moment, Leonora’s smile cramped. The reason being that there was only one person that Anri referred to as “Ojisama”.

“Huh? Wai-, Wait a moment! By Ojisama, you can’t mean…”

3. Things you like about yourself

“Oi, don’t just casually move onto the next question! The earlier topic was more important, right!”

Leonora tried to question Anri after her bombshell announcement, but tragically, it was time for the next question.

“Next question.”

“Tsk, it can’t be helped. I’ll have you tell me about this in detail later, you know. The next question is what you like about yourself.”

“Everything but eyes and aura.” (me to kehai igai)

Time taken to respond: 0.5 seconds

“T-, That sure was immediate…”

“It’s important after all.”

4. Things you’d like to change about yourself

“Eyes and aura.”

“Again with an immediate answer… Or rather, if you don’t let me ask you the question, I’ll lose my standing.”

At last, the time taken to respond had gone beyond zero, and ended up in the negatives. It wasn’t even an interview anymore.

“You should have known what my answer was the moment it became this question.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Just how much hardship have I faced because of these eyes?”

Saying that, Anri pointed at them.
And here, Leonora made a mistake. Leonora had developed an anti-mystic eye physical skill and lately she basically avoided Anri’s gaze unconciously, but since Anri didn’t normally point at her own eyes, Leonora reflexively looked at them.

In the next moment, Leonora bent her knees with flowing movements, and putting her hands together, she glued her forehead to the ground. In a word, the dogeza.

“Ah-, sorry.”

5. Name the next nominee

“I went through a horrible time again…”

“I’m sorry, I said.”

Leonora’s dogeza had already become standard.

“Well, I’m sad to say that I’m used to it already, though. Well? Who’s going to do it next?”

“I’ll pass it to the Narou Contest participant Emoto Mashimesa 『A Scandinavian Noble and His Raptor Wife’s Life as Hunters in the Land of Snow』”

“Fumu, I see. Emoto-sensei who won a gold prize in the third Narou contest, and whose book was recently published, right? Well then, Emoto-sensei, I’ve heard that it is fine to ignore these, but if possible, please continue to pass the baton.”

“We’re counting on you.”