Chapter 107: Takatsuki Makoto participates in the victory party
Chapter 107: Takatsuki Makoto participates in the victory?party
A grand party that has been opened at the great hall of the Highland Castle.
I have come to this place before.
The difference from before is that…
“Hero Makoto-sama! You have done a great job on this occasion!”
“How about participating in the training of the Sun Knights?!”
“Please come to the Northern Sky Knight Order, too! Geralt-sama would be happy about that.”
A lot of knights were surrounding me.
The Sun Knight Captains Ortho-san and Sutora-san, and their subordinates.
Also, I tried to talk with the Northern Sky Knights and they were unexpectedly open-hearted.
“A spell that wiped out that army of monsters all at once! What spell was that?”
“Uhm, it is an arrangement of the Water Magic: Water Prison…” (Makoto)
“It felt like a completely different thing… A water giant that felt as if it could pierce through the clouds, it is my first time seeing something like that.”
It is true that I as the creator also felt as if it were something completely different.
“Even so, where did those 5,000 old monsters come from…?”
“Obviously, there’s only one place where there are still a lot of 1,000 year monsters still alive in.”
“The northern continent…”
The Sun Knights were talking with complicated expressions.
The northern continent is called the demonic continent, and it is controlled by the demon race, right?
“Must be. And the one the monsters are obeying in that continent must be the Beast King, Zagan.”
“One of the 3 Demon Lords ruling the Demonic Continent…the Demon Lord, Zagan, huh.”
“The northern continent monsters don’t go out from the continent without the orders of the Beast King…”
“Are you saying the Beast King has joined forces with the Snake Church?”
“At the very least, there’s a high chance there was some sort of negotiation involved.”
“…How problematic.”
“Yeah. It might affect the Northern Expedition Plan.”
It somehow turned into a complicated military talk.
I separate from the knights and head to a table where there’s food.
The food of Highland is as luxurious as always.
“U-Uhm, thank you very much for before!”
A blonde female knight turned her face away as she spoke to me.
Uhm, this person is the little sister of Geralt, Janet Valentine, was it?
Before? Did I do something?
I didn’t even get the chance to talk to her, she just went somewhere else.
What was that just now…?
After that…
“Good evening, Rozes Hero-sama. I am Sandra from the Rolland Household.”
“Nice to meet you, Hero-sama. Want to talk with me over there?”
“Hero-sama? Can you tell us heroic stories? And after the party, we could take our time in my room…”
Noble ladies were talking with me a whole lot.
…I am not good with people, so I am not good at dealing with strangers talking to me one after the other…
{…What’s that?}
{Takatsuki-kun is going all blushy blushy.}
{It is annoying me…}
I somewhat heard the voice of people I know.
Lucy, Sa-san, and Princess Sofia?
By the way, Furiae-san is absent.
“Want to go to the Highland Castle together?’, is what I asked and she said ‘Definitely no. But give my regards to Ryosuke’.
And so, I am currently flustered by the approach of beautiful noble ladies.
“Hero Makoto-sama, thank you for your laborious contribution in this time’s victory.”
The crowd of people open up.
Princess Noel in an extravagant dress appears.
Sakurai-kun is by her side.
“Takatsuki-kun, I heard you defeated 5,000 1,000 year monsters all at once?” (Sakurai)
“And you defeated more than 100 Taboo Monsters, right? You must have had it rougher, Sakurai-kun.” (Makoto)
This is something I heard after.
There was a massive amount of Taboo Monsters attacking from the ocean side.
…The Snake Church went all out.
They were defeated by the Light Hero Sakurai-kun though.
“By the way, where’s Furiae…?” (Sakurai)
“Absent. She told me to give you her regards.” (Makoto)
“I see… Where is she right now?” (Sakurai)
“I think she is together with Fuji-yan at the inn.” (Makoto)
“I see… I will check later.” (Sakurai)
While we were having that conversation, Princess Noel cut in.
“Ryosuke-sama, you must not do that. You have plans later, right? Did you forget?” (Noel)
“N-Noel, but…” (Sakurai)
“You must not.” (Noel)
Princess Noel says with a smile and a peaceful tone, and yet, that voice of hers had a pressure that didn’t allow a no for an answer.
It sends shivers down my spine.
I feel like Sakurai-kun ain’t the one with the pants.
At that time…
“Hey there, are you having fun, Rozes Hero? Good job on your contribution.”
The one who spoke suddenly to me with a haughty attitude is a tall man.
First Prince, Gaius Highland.
He entered the conversation all proudly and placed a hand on my shoulder with a grin.
“If you want something, I will give it to you. How about it? Want to work under our Sun Country?”
“…Huh?” (Makoto)
What is this old man (prince) saying?
“P-Please wait, Gaius-sama! He is the Hero of Rozes!” (Sofia)
Princess Sofia jumps in.
“Princess Sofia, I think that his talent should be put to better use in a large country. How about it, Hero Makoto? Fame, wealth, women; I will give you anything you want. It won’t be comparable to the Water Country. Doesn’t sound bad, right?”
“Hero Makoto…” (Sofia)
“…Uhm…” (Makoto)
What a pain.
I want to refuse, but I have a past offense in the Laberintos City.
How do you refuse on these occasions without making it sound rude?
“Don’t do that, Gaius-anisama. Makoto-sama is the person that might be engaged to Princess Sofia, you know?” (Noel)
““Eh?””
Princess Sofia and I raised voices of surprise at the same time.
“It looks like that’s the first time those two heard about that though…”
First Prince Gaius says in amazement.
“The Oracle of the Goddess and the Hero coming from another world getting together and saving the world. You know about that oracle of the Goddess, right?” (Noel)
Princess Noel says this with a gentle expression.
What’s that?
That’s the first time I have heard of that.
“Hmph, that’s about the Light Hero and you, right? Well, fine. Rozes Hero-dono, I will send an official envoy at a later time.”
Gaius leaves the place in a bad mood.
“Princess Noel, Princess Sofia, I heard that the Hero Makoto-sama there is the Guardian Knight of the Moon Oracle. If the Moon Oracle were to cause a rebellion, I would be uneasy with the military force of the Water Country.”
The one who appeared next was the Prime Minister.
“I wonder about that. How about having the Rozes Hero-dono live here in the Highland Castle?”
“T-That’s…” (Sofia)
Princess Sofia was objecting flustered.
I am beginning to read the situation a bit here.
They want to put a reason one way or another to keep us here in the Sun Country.
I have heard that Highland tries to gather as many useful people as possible, and that seems to be true.
I want to help Princess Sofia, but I have no idea about the rules when negotiating between countries…
I listened to the conversation of the big shots for a while and…
“Oi, Spirit User. If you are in the Highland Castle, why aren’t you coming to my place?”
“Great Sage-sama?” (Makoto)
The Great Sage-sama suddenly appeared!
The Great Sage-sama tapped my shoulder and the people closeby took a step back.
{The Great Sage-sama appearing in a public place like this?} {Even though she hates crowds. This is rare.} {This is the first time I have seen her so up-close.} {What an unbelievable presence.}
Looks like it is rare for her to appear at places like this.
“Fumu, a celebration for the battle of before, huh. Making such a big deal from a war of that level.”
“Great Sage-sensei…it is rare for you to show yourself in a place with this many people.” (Noel)
Princess Noel speaks nervously.
“I felt the presence of the Spirit User-kun, you see.”
“I thought about going later.” (Makoto)
The Great Sage-sama looked around with arms crossed while still looking like she was in a bad mood.
Her whole body is floating in the air.
“Getting ahead of yourselves just because you did a bit well. Oi, you are probably getting tempted by nobles, but don’t go throwing away your precious virgini—”
“Hey!” (Makoto)
I hurriedly cover the mouth of the Great Sage-sama.
What are you saying in a place with this many people?!
{Oi, don’t cover my mouth. I can’t talk like that.}
{Don’t say weird stuff!} (Makoto)
{What, you should take pride in your virginity.}
{As if I can! I won’t be giving you anymore blood!} (Makoto)
{Muh…that would trouble me.}
You understand now?
That was dangerous.
It seems like she doesn’t appear much in front of people, so she might have lost her common sense…
“Well then, I will be waiting.”
“Yes yes, I will go later.” (Makoto)
“Definitely, okay?!”
After saying that, the Great Sage-sama used teleport to disappear.
What a troubling person.
““““““……””””””
By the time I noticed, all the people in the venue were looking over here.
Princess Noel, the Prime Minister, the nobles, the sacred profession people, knights, the people doing their jobs in the party.
Even the King at the seat of honor had his mouth wide open.
…Why?
“Takatsuki-kun…you are really close to the Great Sage-sama, huh.” (Sakurai)
Sakurai-kun speaks to me nervously.
“No, I wouldn’t say close.” (Makoto)
I am simply giving her my blood every now and then.
After that, people who spoke to me at the party went down drastically.
Really, why?
It is fine by me since strangers stopped talking to me and I was feeling more relaxed now though.
◇◇
“Good evening~.” (Makoto)
Since I had nothing to do after the amount of people talking to me had decreased, I went to the Great Sage-sama’s place.
Lucy and Sa-san were talking to the 3rd and 4rd Division of the Sun Knights and the Southern Sky Knights that they fought together with, so I came here alone.
“You are late!”
When I entered the residence, the Great Sage-sama was lying on the sofa.
She is still in a bad mood it seems.
“Sit here.”
“Okay…” (Makoto)
I sat by the side of the Great Sage-sama.
“Alright.”
“Eh?! Wait, Great Sage-sama?” (Makoto)
The Great Sage-sama straddles my lap facing me.
Of course, it ended up with us facing each other at an incredibly close range.
The red eyes of the Great Sage-sama, her white skin, and her young face were approaching me.
Her cold breath hit my face.
“Oi, support my back. You are inconsiderate.”
“Okay.” (Makoto)
(This selfish Great Sage-sama…) (Makoto)
I mutter this in my heart while wrapping my arms around the back of the Great Sage-sama.
She is light.
“Fufu, time to dig in.”
My neck was bitten.
I am getting used to this pain already.
I can hear the gulping sounds of the Great Sage-sama in my ear.
I had nothing to do while the Great Sage-sama was drinking, so I rubbed her back.
(What a small body…) (Makoto)
But the mana I can feel from her is overwhelming.
She looks as if she were 10 though.
A legendary mage that has been alive since more than 1,000 years ago.
(I can’t see that…) (Makoto)
I put my hand on top of the Great Sage-sama’s head and pet it.
“!”
The Great Sage-sama raises her head with a surprised expression.
Her big red eyes were wide open as she looked at me.
Oops, was I rude?
She is a big shot of Highland.
Did I make her angry?
But judging from her expression, she doesn’t seem to be angry.
“…Continue.”
She said in a low voice that I couldn’t pick up at first.
“What?” (Makoto)
“…Continue petting my head.”
“O-Okay.” (Makoto)
I continued petting the head of the Great Sage-sama with her on my lap for a while.
Looks like she liked it.
I continued getting my blood sucked.
Is she charging extra here?
On this day, my blood was sucked more than normal.
I felt a bit anemic.
On top of that, this is the residence of the Great Sage-sama.
I lowered my guard thinking there wouldn’t be any ‘enemies’ coming.
Maybe that’s why…
I didn’t notice the people entering the room until they got close.
“T-Takatsuki-kun and the Great Sage-sama?! What are you doing?!”
Sakurai-kun shouts in surprise.
“Eeeeeh?! Sofia-san, you must not look!” (Noel)
“E-Eh? Noel-sama, did something happen?” (Sofia)
Princess Noel was there covering both of the eyes of Princess Sofia.
(…Eh?) (Makoto)
Looks like a big misunderstanding has happened here…