<h4>Volume 1, Chapter 18</h4>


    Trantor: Adam Seacord


    Editor: Weasalopes


    _______________________________________________________________


    「You are both so cruel…」


    At Aearis’ tea party, the hostess mumbled this, as she red at Hiroshi and Haruna, while picking at her pudding a mode.


    「Well, ya ate ‘em a bunch when ya were back at the workshop, ya highne-」


    「No, Hiroshi-sama. Please still address me as Elle. Just as before.」


    Aearis, further offended by Hiroshi’s counter, had taken to giving an order under the guise of asking for a favor. In desperation they look at the Head Priest and servant , who were both nodding with a mischievous smile. Mark, who was also in attendance amidst his busy day, simply sipped on his tea, as if he saw nothing.


    「…I mean, if ya insist…」


    Hiroshi said, squirming at the contentious smiles around the room. Haruna watched on with a chuckle. The remaining members of the tea party were Douga and Rayna, although Rayna was standing back, on guard. They still had not figured out their friends and enemies in court, so only the safe bets with an avability were invited. Needless to say, Eavesdropping precautions were thorough. Makoto, Mio, and Tatsuya were each distributing the puddings in various locations.


    Some politics with the important members of the court,bined with the distribution of the Japanese delicacy had almost given them a clear picture of friends and enemies in court. Still, not everyone (who wasn’t their enemy to begin with) could be won over so easily. Not to mention therge number of people who would flip-flop their alliance to suit their predicament at the moment. Especially for Aearis, whose reputation was quickly being rebuilt thanks to the ball the other night, it was a crucial time to keep that trend going.


    The servant here was rtively of age. Since ill rumors of Aearis had surfaced, she had approached Aearis twice, and was leaning her allegiance towards Aearis. She had been seen isted from those around Katrina because of it, and had been hired to be Aearis’ full-time attendant.


    「Yeah, we didn’t bring ‘em to ya right away, but you can eat all the puddin’s ya want at your beck n’ call…」


    「That’s not the only reason Aearis-sama is upset.」


    The Head Priest chimed in with a gentle smile to Hiroshi’sint. He had quite the sweet tooth. The majority of the Japanese-style donuts they had brought along was consumed by this man. His healthy appetite for his age, along with his body, toned enough to keep him slender posed an odd contrast to his upation as the Head Priest, which seemed more on the gentle side.


    「I do not believe either of you have seen Aearis-sama since the ball on your first night here.」


    「Oh… That’s right.」


    「We were runnin’ around all over the ce…」


    The other members of the Japanese party had seen Aearis here and there, but Haruna, who had been on her own a lot, and Hiroshi, who had been constantly solicited by the doctors and potion makers in the castle when he wasn’t inbat training, had not had a single conversation with Aearis all week.


    「I know that you are both busy. I know that it would be a burden of me to ask… And I knew that we wouldn’t be able to see each other as much. But I do get very lonely without you two…」


    「Ya say that…」


    「We’re even going to leave this country, eventually…」


    「I know. That’s exactly why I want to see you as often as I can, while I can.」


    Aearis said, as she looked at them (mostly Hiroshi) intently. Seeing a certain re in Aearis’ eyes, Haruna sighed internally.


    「I’ll do the best I can, but…」


    「I still got a chance, but it might be tough for ya, Haruna-san.」


    「Yeah, it’s going to be easy, to be honest.」


    Haruna answered with a frown, as she subconsciously twirled her golden hair. Now that everyone knew about her receiving Alfemina’s blessing (on top of her performance at the ball) she had garnered nearly as much attention as Aearis throughout Fane. This had caused her to be invited to all sorts of events from all sorts of people, to where there was just not enough time in the day for Haruna. The silver lining was that most people had seemed to forget about Hiroshi, and there had been no invitations for the entire party, all together, to their relief.


    Under the consensus that things would hit the fan if Haruna were to trigger anything else from the forbidden section of the library, she had been dismissed from the library research team, so that wasn’t a concern, but Haruna did not have the disposition to use her femininity as a tool. Her strengths were her observant eyes and quick wit, but even she wasn’t sure how many tant attempts of sexual harassment she could take.


    She had rescinded any invitations from obviously dangerous (male-only) events, and even tea parties that were mostly female if a suspicious name was on the guest lists. For other events, she honored them firste first-serve without consideration of the host’s clout. Because she kept her strict firste first-serve policy, she was forced to turn down Elena and Aearis. For this tea party, they had used the servants’ grapevine to their advantage, making sure that Haruna was avable.


    「Putting Elena-sama or Elle-chan at a priority won’t bode well for us or the royal family…」


    「I understand. That’s why we had to tie your hands, today.」


    「In either case, we’ll have to spend some time to make sure that no one would be there to hurt you, Elle-chan. Hang time until then, okay?」


    Aearis nodded, reluctantly. Of course, she knew all along how hard Haruna had been working for her.


    「Well, Hiroshi-kun. You should hang out with Elle-chan as much as you can.」


    「Sure thin’. The problem is, though…」


    「What is it?」


    「You’re probably the prime target right now, Haruna-san.」


    Haruna returned a determined nod. She had enough self-awareness for that.


    「You watch your back, too. I would feel better if you could stick with Makoto-san or Mio-chan for awhile…」


    「I mean, you’re a great decoy for keepin’ folks away from messin’ with me. That’s the silver linin’, I guess.」


    「Surprisingly few members of the opposition seem to understand the gravity of your ability to craft ss-3 and all-purpose potions.」


    The Head Priest aptly exined Hiroshi’s situation. Despite serving a crucial role, potions were just not shy, especially since potion-making in Fane was fairly advanced. They were a step or two behind Lorren, which held Rufius (the city of academia) but potion makers in Fane could regrly produce up to ss-5 potions, which was more than sufficient, even for members of the Knights’ Order. It was only natural for many people to consider ss-2s and ss-3s unnecessary, when just gathering ingredients for them could cause mass-casualties.


    Now, ss-1 potions could literally cure anything except death. This would have caused many more people to try and obtain these potions through any means (like a honeypot or false usations of crimes, for example) but Hiroshi had only crafted a ss-3. He could craft ss-1 potions in reality, but arger portion of the opposition didn’t bother themselves with the ss-3 potions since they were nearly impossible to make due to theck of ingredients, rather than consider the possibility that Hiroshi had the capabilities to craft ss-1s. On the other hand, those who rightfully recognized Hiroshi’s potential most considered the risk to outweigh the benefits.


    And so, there was only one asion when the whole party was called to an event, and it was by an ally to the royal family. This was mostly to provide minor advice to small problems, and Hiroshi had been excused from the party. After that, there were no real invitations for Hiroshi, leaving him in the eye of the storm.


    「Right, I almost forgot.」


    Hiroshi blurted out.


    「You think the Crown Prince got an openin’ in his schedulein’ up?」


    「Layotte? He should be avable after dinner.」


    「He wouldn’t mind seeing you, but what for?」


    Aearis and Mark turned, curious to what Hiroshi had to say to Layotte. The Crown Prince was working underground here and there to eliminate potential enemies. It would only mean trouble for the Japanese party to meet him out in the open, so they had not seen each other during the day, so far.


    Hiroshi understood why Layotte was avoiding them, so this question seemed peculiar to Aearis. What important matter could he have to discuss amidst the chaos right now?


    「I mean, it ain’t a big deal, but when I re-did the poleax, I made a longsword with the leftover Magical Steel and Mithril while I was at it.」


    「And you’re going to give to the Prince?」


    「Was thinkin’ ‘bout it. The thin’ is, I bnced it from memory, from when he showed me the sword he had before. I gotta have him swing it so I can make adjustments.」


    No one in their party used a longsword. He might have had just enough materials to work with, but the members of the court were confused as to why he decided to make such a thing for someone he didn’t need to earn anymore favors from.


    「Seriously, I made it ‘cus I was already there, it ain’t much work. They gave us the materials anyway, so I thought I’d make a so-so product to give back to the royal family.」


    Hiroshi exined, chuckling.


    「So-so…?」


    「So-so. The materials for my best stuff are pretty hard toe by.」


    A so-so product using Magical Steel and Mithril…? They couldn’t, and didn’t even want to imagine Hiroshi’s “best work.”


    「You couldn’t have just made an axe or pickaxe?」


    「Those wouldn’t have been much better than the ones with normal steel. It wouldn’t have used up all the ingredients anyways, and thinkin’ that I won’t be usin’ them inbat as much, I thought I’d just give back where it came from. Carryin’ them around as-is didn’t make too much sense who knows when we’lle across Magical Steel next?」


    In fact, a steel pickaxe could be used to mine anything up to Orichalcum, as long as they were still ores. The true potential of these minerals were only realized upon refining them. While there were a few tricks to mining them, the ores themselves were just rocks.


    The same went for wood, where some felling may be more trickier than others, but the durability required of the axe didn’t fluctuate as much. With a few rare exceptions that couldn’t even be scratched with a steel axe (or could only be cut with a specific metal) nearly all trees could be cut down with steel.


    So, there was almost no benefit to using Magical Steel to craft Harvesting tools.


    「I see why you made it. But what’s the rush? Why risk seeing Layotte now?」


    Mark asked.


    「To tell ya the truth, even the rumors I’ve been hearin’ ‘bout are pretty spooky. It won’t hurt the most hated member of the royal family to have the best equipment he can.」


    「…You have a point. If we are right about who’s behind all this, I can’t deny that they’ll be some violent attemptsing soon.」


    「Cleansing the mineral veins thispletely has set them back behind square one, I’d imagine.」


    Douga and the Head Priest added. Brows tightening, the other four nodded. ording to Layotte, it would only take one more push until the enemy will lose their patience. That was why they had (almost obviously) orchestrated a fake internal conflict. Thest thing they wanted was to waste all of that effort.


    「I gotta question. For someone who y’all been strugglin’ to get, they sure fall into y’all traps easily.」


    「Yeah. This would have stopped being a problem a long time ago if it was this easy, right?」


    Hiroshi and Haruna asked, to which Douga and the Head Priest twisted their lips. Mark listened, with something on his mind.


    「This is only a theory, but afflicted people may gradually lose cognitive functions without realizing.」


    「Why do you say that?」


    「The change in Katrina-sama. This theory makes the most sense.」


    Mark nodded in agreement to the Head Priest. Even half a year ago, Katrina was more reasonable, and had more self-control. Recently, though, it has be exponentially more difficult to reason with her.


    「And they could be panicking after their big upset.」


    Douga chimed in.


    「When in a hurry to gain back some ground, most would get themselves into worse circumstances from losing sight of things.」


    Hiroshi and Haruna nodded.


    「It’s pathetic, but the truth is that we didn’t even notice how badly they are afflicted, until things came to light recently. Looking back on it, there were numerous signs…」


    「I mean, unlike monsters, it looks like folks don’t show it until they’re deep into affliction. Barold can hide it too, looks like.」


    As Hiroshi said here, even Barold could blend into a crowd, despite the amount of affliction on him. While the mechanism behind this was unknown, humanoid intelligent species (including elves, for example) seem to be well-equipped at blending in despite their affliction.


    To begin with, only those with specific training or extremely heightened sense (like Hiroshi and Mio) could sense affliction. No one could be med for not being able to detect an afflicted person in a crowd.


    「So, I was too busy to ask you this, but… If the end result is the same, why don’t you gather all the people on your maybe list and have me sing to them?」


    「Because that won’t solve anything.」


    「How so, Mark-O?」


    「Don’t call me Mark-O.」


    Despite Hiroshi’s jest, Mark exined to them:


    「Two reasons. First, it’s not a crime to be afflicted in of itself. It’s not umon to be afflicted enough that purification would be painful after arge-scale hunt of monsters. Undead, especially. In some towns, you can just be afflicted by living there for a while.」


    「Okay. It does seem unfair to punish those people just for happenstance when they can be healed with purification.」


    「That’s right. No one in Fane would take on the Undead any longer.」


    While Haruna and Hiroshi nodded to his sound reasoning, Mark continued:


    「The other reason is that not everyone on the other side is afflicted. Unfortunately, there are a good number of fools ready to serve my sister until the very end, without any direct influence」


    「On top of that, we are mostly aware of all the nobles afflicted beyond the point of return, but we aren’t quite sure when ites to schrs or servants. We can’t leave them alone and have them used in a scheme, but there are too many on the list to preemptively get rid of. The most realistic solution is to iste them somehow. Quietly.」


    「If that’s how the affliction situation is ’round here, won’t some of ’em be allies once we purify ’em? The sober devotees aside.」


    「Those have already joined us. As early as directly after the ball of your first night here. Thest of them have joined us after we spread the rumor that Haruna has been blessed by Alfemina-sama.」


    「Those who haven’t joined us at this point seem to have their lives threatened upon purification.」


    Mark and Douga exined.


    「Then why don’t ya punish ’em as-is? Y’all need more evidence or somethin’?」


    「If we were in Darl, the evidence we have would more than suffice…」


    「In the Fane, the incident with the King before thest is not yet forgotten. If they had a few less followers, we could forcefully arrest Prince Katrina and Barold, but there are a lot of them out there that could im that the rebellion was just, taking advantage of the fact that the royal family had to use such forceful tactics.」


    「On the other hand, squashing all opposition preemptively could cause a civil war. Unfortunately, no matter how wise our nation’s progression is, the king before ourst has cursed our nation with an intense stigma against any executive judgement issued by the royal family.」


    Douga and the Head Priest did an adequate job of illustrating the cumbersome mire that was Fane’s court. The people were allergic, in a sense, to the royal family using their executive powers. This could be akin to the Japanese aversion of the self-defense force, the German fear of intion, or the United States’ disgust for universal healthcare.


    There were many examples throughout history that a nation’s particr attitude, no matter how strange to the foreign eye, seems inevitable to the people living in it. In Fane, the biggest issue was that the highest power of the nation was crippled by this particr allergy.


    「In any case, even Alfemina-sama says that everything will be settled soon. She also said that we should be wary of Haruna-sama’s surrounding for the next three days.」


    Aearis said with a determined expression, which caused Haruna’s stomach to turn. She was aware that she had eyes on her, but she didn’t expect things to have escted so quickly.


    「I might be in for a pickle, then.」


    「A pickle?」


    「I’m invited to dinner at the Marquis Roano’s tonight. I don’t think they’ll make a move right then and there, but…」


    A pickle indeed. The room fell silent. Marquis Roano was a member of a n (most likely) in opposition of the royal family. His position was near the top of them, in fact. Turning him down would have appeared suspicious. But now, they had to worry about Haruna returning safely.


    「Haruna. Do you need a date?」


    「I was thinking of asking Tatsuya-san…」


    「Shall I join you instead?」


    Avin had interrupted Haruna answering Mark.


    「My Lord!?」


    「Avin!?」


    「Brother, that may not be so wise…」


    Aearis retorted, unable to conceal her surprise from her eldest brother’s sudden appearance. Douga and the Head Priest were speechless from his sudden appearance, as well as the danger implied in his proposal. Mark was holding his tongue for the moment, as Aearis had said everything he wanted to.


    「Aearis. Do you mean that it would be unwise to escort a woman who is not my fiancée to a party, or for a member of the royal family to walk right into the home of a potential enemy?」


    「In this case, Brother, it would be both.」


    「As for the former, that isn’t an issue. My dear fiancée has a heart of pure gold. I told her that the saviors of my little sister needed me, and gave me the go-ahead. In fact, “a man should defend ady at all cost” she said.」


    「…I’m d to have Prisea as my sister-inw…」


    A wild message from Princess Prisea, who was in line to be the next queen of Falldania. Aearis’ expression was a mix of admiration and amazement. Hiroshi and Haruna felt some familiarity with Mark, who looked about ready to vomit sugar from hearing such ims of tant affection.


    「If anyone would still use me of infidelity, I’ll have some steamy stories to tell over a voice amplifier.」


    「…Good luck, Haruna-san…」


    「…Looks like I’ll need it…」


    Hiroshi and Haruna felt an onught of exhaustion from Avin nonchnt deration to use the worst weapon imaginable against singles, and his overallck of care for the effects of his public disy of affection.


    「I wouldn’t be too worried about thetter, either. Roano can’ty a finger on me. It would be detrimental for him if our rtionship with Falldania were to suffer in any way by harming me.」


    「Come to think of it, the Marquis Roano and his family mostly traded with merchants from Falldania.」


    「Quite right. And even if Fane and Falldania’s rtionship doesn’t suffer, what merchant would trade with Roano if I were to suffer any harm upon attending his dinner party?」


    The party could only chuckle in response. The Roano family mostly dealt with dairy and some fruit. Truth be told, they could be found elsewhere in Fane quite easily. It was just that the Roano brand was preferred by Falldania. There was nothing really special about their products. There was the matter of production rate, but Fane’s farming was advanced enough that they could easily meet that demand.


    In short, for the merchants of Falldania, Roano wasn’t worth trading with at the cost of hurting their reputation with the royal family of Fane.


    「Then all we gotta worry ’bout’s the dead o’ the night.」


    「Any ideas, Master Craftsman?」


    「I was thinkin’ ’boutyin’ a little trap at the door to Haruna-san’s room.」


    「At the door? Will that suffice?」


    Lord Avin asked. Hiroshi cracked a grin in response:


    「We don’t care ’bout ‘em gettin’ in, so it’ll do. We’ll just have Haruna-san go somewhere safe.」


    「Somewhere…? Are you going to set up a portal at the door?」


    「Somethin’ like that. They could detect the destination with transportation spells, so I thought I’d set up a portal under specific conditions.」


    Hiroshi nonchntly proposed this ridiculous solution. It was Lord Avin’s turn to facepalm.


    「Speaking with you, sometimes I feel like I lose sight of normality.」


    「You’re the one to talk, My Lord.」


    Avin brushed theeback off with a bright smile.


    「This isn’t funny…」


    「Mark-O, normality has no ce in a crisis like this.」


    「Out of all people, Brother! And don’t call me Mark-O!」


    Mark raised his voice, and Haruna watched. Sure, he waspetent at what he did, but still had much growing up to do.


    「So, where’s her hideout?」


    Ignoring Mark’s loud protest, Avin got back on track. Seeing this, Mark had decided that he would only be teased more no matter what he said. So, little Mark-O sat quietly.


    「I was thinkin’ the workshop. It’s pretty hard to break into right now.」


    「A workshop that’s safer than here? That’s some irony.」


    「We don’t got pests walking around over there.」


    In a little less than a month of the Japanese party renting the workshop, it’s defenses had surpassed the average fortress. Anyone that wasn’t on the “whitelist” or had been invited in properly would be weed by all sorts of creative traps, courtesy of Mio blending her high-level skills as a craftswomen and trap-artist. In fact, there were ridiculously powerful barriers set around the parameters to begin with.


    The rushed defense systems that they scrambled to improve when they had to protect the two VIPs, Elena and Aearis. Funny how the defense system (which they thought were useless now with the princesses at their residence) woulde in handy after the fact.


    「I could set it up for Lord Layotte and Princess Elena… And Elle’s room too, if ya like?」


    「Not a good idea for Layotte and Elena, but Aearis might need it.」


    「How ’bout y’all just make up an excuse so Elle stays the night at Haruna-san’s room?」


    「I see. From their point of view, it’s the perfect opportunity where two of their targets converge. They may suspect a trap, but they’re running out of time I doubt they’ll have any other option but to bite. What’s better for them, the perfect scapegoats are right here.」


    And so, the party cemented their ns.


    「Then we’ll have Doul and Rayna-san go back there too. I’ll stay in Haruna-san room here as a decoy.」


    「W-Wait a minute! You’re going to be alone where assassins could strike tonight!? Don’t you think that’s too dangerous!?」


    「I think it might be better with just me. Can’t expect ’em knights to be too quiet.」


    「Still, that isn’t something you should do, Hiroshi-sama!」


    After listening through to the conversation where no one seemed to know who was who’s bait, the Head Priest left to take care of things. Mark had given up on interjecting with logic, and started discussing logistics with Avin. Watching them, each member of the party returned to fulfil their role. Things were just getting heated up.


    Elena’s head servant, Oria, wasn’t sure what to make of her emotions.


    (How am I struggling this much to control my emotions…?)


    Without being told by Elena, she was aware that her attitude towards Hiroshi (and the rest of the Japanese party) was uneptable for her position. Every time an examination ising up, she would consciously prepare herself to act in a way that would not embarrass her mistress, the princess. But when the time came, all she could do was hang onto her sanity by a thread, as her gushing hatred attempted to overwhelm her.


    Sure, Oria had some reservations about Elena leaving without her to be treated. But that all dissipated once she saw Elena return healthy, albeit skinnier than before.


    She felt a change within her when she was introduced to Hiroshi as Elena’s physician, the day after the ball. It wasn’t that she was repulsed by him, and he didn’t have a stuck-up attitude. If anything, her impression of Hiroshi should have been a pleasant one. The moment Oria saw him, however, she nearly clocked him the face, instinctively.


    Shocked by her own urge to do so, she bottled it in throughout the examination. However, she couldn’t conceal all of her unexined hatred. After the examination, she was about to ask Elena to keep her off duty until she could cool her head. When she opened her mouth, the rage that she thought had been resolved erupted again, spewing unreasonableints instead of her intended proposal.


    (It’s like my heart doesn’t belong to me anymore…)


    When she didn’t cross paths with the visitors, she could perform her duties without issue or rush of emotion. But as soon as she saw one of the guests (Hiroshi and Haruna, especially) inexplicable anger and hatred consumed her, flooding her mind with urges to do things that should be unthinkable. All of her self-control was spent keeping her from enacting those things, leaving her unable to bottle in her emotions on top of that.


    Perhaps she had been afflicted without her knowledge. Judging by the pieces of tales she had heard, an afflicted person usually had no knowledge of it. While Oria would be the exception, since she was aware of her changes. With this possibility in mind, Oria had herself purified in the temple, but she felt no changes. She also had herself checked for any curses, and there were none.


    After Elena’s second examination here, Elena had apparently sensed the situation and gave Oria some time off. The problem was, Oria had no other ideas to go on. She couldn’t return to serve Elena without solving this issue. Her only options were to quit or be fired. However, she wasn’t confident that she could even go through with quitting.


    (Something irreversible is going to happen. I have to do something, quick.)


    Stewing in her conundrum, Oria looked around her room. Almost hoping that some strange object in her room was controlling her mind.


    What she didn’t realize was that an unfamiliar, ck vase was sitting on her desk. An unassuming, unfamiliar, ck vase.


    (That conniving little…)


    The Marquis Roano was gritting his teeth through his stered-on smile. His scheme to tank the reputation of the Japanese party stood no chance against the borate desserts like pudding a modes, roll cakes, and Mixy Twirlies, along with some quality-of-life inventions like the massage chair, all distributed by the Japanese party to earn favors.


    These treats, while they may seem trivial, proved to be quite effective. Coupled with the fact that the party went door to door delivering these themselves, and even taught them how to make the treats while providing gossip from quarters that these people could rarely ess. Who wouldn’t wee these visitors with open arms? The Japanese party had boosted reputation in the castle, corner-to-corner. That couldn’t be brought down so easily. Recently, they had gifted the office worker with a painstakingly detailed pen and calctor, along with massage chairs in every break room. Their fan base was rapidly growing, thanks to the boost in the people’s quality of life these gifts brought on.


    The royal guards always judged character bybat prowess. They would have never looked down on anyone who could take down a Wyvern to begin with. All in all, no one would dislike people who prepared plenty of potions and equipment that each department was dreaming of (albeit by using the materials in the castle).


    Things would have been different if the Japanese party was simply trying to buy their reputation, but Hiroshi and Mio had used their engineering to solve problems that people around the castle wereining about while chatting over some Japanese snacks in their break time. In addition, they had provided ways to craft and maintain the items (if it was simple enough) so the people wouldn’t miss the Japanese party for a while when it came to these items.


    The only ones left to take the Roano family’s negative rumors at face value were the nobles already on their side, or those that wouldn’t bother to and wouldn’t have the chance to go see the Japanese party on their own to verify those rumors. In fact, spreading any rumors often resulted in being mocked or disrespected in return. Roano had never before felt such utter defeat against material goods.


    「In any case, you’ve been making quite a name for yourself.」


    「I only wish that I could do more to repay our debts, here.」


    Haruna answered with sublime humility to Roano’s ttery. Even as she ate, she demonstrated impable table etiquette while never making it look like she didn’t enjoy the food. She would speak to the servers and cooks from time to time to ask about the food or cooking method, and discussing alternative ingredients or methods. Despite being on enemy grounds, Haruna seemed only to be having a nice dinner. Just to tick her off, Roano had instructed the cooks to include some dishes that required specific techniques to eat, but Haruna didn’t even hesitate as she ate them all naturally. Roano couldn’t make so much as a snidement.


    「Speaking of, Haruna. How many times have you had an official course meal in Fane?」


    Said Avin, who had been cheerfully expressing his appetite for Haruna’s idea of one of the dishes as she was exining it to a cook.


    「Let me see… This is my fifth, actually. I have only been here for two months, and we always experimented at home to try andbine the best parts of the food and dishes in Fane with those from my home, rather than eating out at all.」


    Several res were shot at Haruna. As if to say, Just a peasant adventurer, after all. wlessly ignoring those stares, Haruna and Avin continued:


    「Come to think of it, Elena and Aearis always tell me that everything you make is delightful. In fact, the dishes of yours I have tasted wereparable to a traditional full-course meal.」


    「I’m very happy to hear that, My Lord. But a traditional, high-ss meal like this looks and taste much better than my meagre imitations. With what we have right now, I could never…」


    「Don’t be so humble. To be honest, I would love to have, at least, one of your dishes served at Prisea and my wedding.」


    Avin said, honestly, and Haruna responded with an ambivalent “If you wouldn’t mind an adventurer in the kitchen.”


    「Do you mean it? You’ll cook at my wedding, if your schedule allows?」


    「As an adventurer with an unstable future, I can’t make any promises, but…」


    「I’m already looking forward to what exotic foods you’ll be cooking, then.」


    「As am I. I think we’ve overdone Wyvern by now, so we’ll have something else ready. I’ve heard rumors about Garbarensia and its vors. Would that be something well-suited for the asion?」


    Haruna made this oundish proposal, nonchntly. With equaled nonchnce, Avin answered “that sounds lovely.” Garbarensia, by the way, is a field boss like Piaranork, and is more powerful than a Wyvern. It’s appearance resembles a giant lion (of over 15 meters) with seven tails, each equipped with a special ability. The difficulty to both hunt and cook the Garbarensia is far beyond that of the Wyvern, but Haruna had heard several ounts in-game that the taste of Garbarensia was superior even to the best cut of the best Wagyu beef in the country.


    Truth be told, it wasn’t a creature she could take on solo. Still, it was just a field boss. With their current party (and their equipment) they could easily go for an insta-kill without the element of surprise. At Haruna’s skill level in the kitchen, cooking it was no different from any other ingredient.


    Of course, the room couldn’t help but murmur upon hearing this girl mention Garbarensia as if it was any old food from the market.


    「Overdone, you say? No more Wyvern meat, then?」


    「Not even close. There’s not enough of us to finish off a creature 10 meters long. I just feel like we’ve just about tried every dish we could think of.」


    「I see. So you still have the Wyvern bone broth left?」


    「We still have the bones, so we can make many more batches.」


    The rest of the room fell speechless. Wyvern bone broth? Any chef that they knew of with the prowess to cook a Wyvern had all be hermits out in the countryside. Amon factor among them, per say, were the reasons given for their decisions. They were all… well, reasons like “I’m tired of the glitz and mor” or “I’m tired of cooking monsters.”


    At the end of the day, the adventurer party were simply eating better food than royalty in this country did on a daily basis.


    「Oh, what’s the matter? While not as rare as a Wyvern dish, this dinner is top ss.」


    「O-Of course, My Lord… But you have really tasted a Wyvern before?」


    「Yes. The first dish, a fried dish, and the broth-based soup were both remarkably delicious. Oh, and not that I could be certain that it was Wyvern, but I did sense the magic of a dragon when I ate it, so the meat certainly belonged to a monster above a certain power level.」


    Avin dered, leaving Roano without room to mention further doubt. During the mass-appearance ofrge monsters five years ago, both Avin and Layotte had seen Wyverns with their own eyes. Naturally, they would have touched a corpse; there was close to no chance that either of them would mistake the magic of a Wyvern.


    「I’ve enjoyed tonight’s dishes. What a nice surprise that Terrona can be made into such a high-ss dish with just a little bit of work.」


    「I’ve heard that Terrona with one of your condiments (soy sauce, was it?) is quite delicious, too. Which do you prefer?」


    「With soy sauce, I’m confident that I can elevate most dishes to a certain level, but that just seems like a stew than Terrona to me.」


    Avin nodded internally. Terrona is a traditional dish of Fane, made by boiling all parts of a Shulp, a bird native only to Fane, except for its guts, in stock.


    Due to its long history, many regions boasted their own touch on Terrona (cooked with demi-ce sauce instead, or cooking seafood with it, for example). So, they could still call it Terrona even if they cooked the bird in soy sauce or ponzu. For Haruna, however, the difference seemed significant enough, almost like the difference between toastini and toast.


    「You are a chef, after all.」


    「It would seem so, My Lord.」


    Haruna nodded sincerely. In the end, Roano decided that he could trigger an international crisis if he went through with it, and rushed to call off his men from poisoning the roll cake that Haruna had brought.


    What Roano didn’t know, was that all deserts given away by the Japanese party already contained a significant amount of all-purpose potion. While the potionsted (for three days) most any poison would be neutralized immediately upon application.


    「My Lord, have you heard?」


    「Of the tant trap?」


    After Avin and Haruna had left, his henchmen addressed Roano.


    「As tant as it may be, this is also a prime opportunity.」


    The henchman said, more aggressive than expected. With how things were going, Roano would have preferred to keep his distance, but he was running out of options.


    「My Lord. How about using that assassin, now?」


    「Yes! Fortunately, we have a potential double on the ready. If all goes well, even Princess Elena will be outcast.」


    「That’s a very precarious “if”…」


    Roano rejected, cinching his face. Unfortunately, he wasn’t too optimistic to think that he would emerge scot-free after jumping into such an obvious trap. Even if the assassination were a sess, Roano’s family would be the top suspect.


    They had attempted to iste them through rumors in the first ce because they wanted to blend in the shadows by introducing the unknowing middlemen into the picture. Now that that had failed, Roano wasn’t feeling too lucky. Truth be told, he wanted out of the whole situation. Someone like Roano, who wasn’t as afflicted as Katrina or Barold, had little reason to aggressively try to eliminate Haruna or Aearis. If he backed away now, Roano would avoid capital punishment for sure, and even a purification, he estimated, would only leave him bedbound for three months or so. The best course of action seemed obvious to him.


    He would lose some ground considerably since he had opposed the royal family more than once now, but he doubted that he would be driven to poverty. He never explicitly opposed the royal family, and he was one of the better lords, ording to the people. Even now, he didn’t oppose the royal family because of hatred. Roano was only dissatisfied that, despite his solid work in politics and in developing hisnd, increasing tax revenue fair and square had gone underappreciated. For his position, he felt undervalued. He had only sided with Katrina because of the horrible rumors about Aearis and Elena falling ill. Who wouldn’t do the same?


    「Marquis Roano… We are on the same boat already, and it has sailed.」


    What pulled Roano out of his thoughts was Katrina’sp dog, who had materialized without Roano noticing.


    「Sailed?」


    「Given how tant this trap is, it wouldn’t take a far stretch of the imagination to think that the royal family has tabs on everyone here. Even if you do nothing, all it would take is one person here to act upon impulse… That will be all it takes for them to try and get rid of everyone here.」


    「…」


    Barold urately pointed out what Roano had been willfully ignoring. He red back with disdain. No matter what excuse he would make, it was true that Roano was aiding in the coup against Aearis. He even provided the assassin, indicating his history of eliminating political enemies by force. It wouldn’t be hard to find evidence for that.


    「Besides… It’s all toote, now.」


    「Toote?」


    「Indeed. Someone seemed to have, impulsively, put in an order for your assassin under your name… Somehow.」


    「What!?」


    「So, you best prepare yourself.」


    A thin grimace of cruelty illuminated Barold’s forgettable face.


    「…If the boat sinks, you’ll drown with me.」


    「All I want is bloodshed. And plenty of it. With every corpse, holiness fills thend. With enough holiness, that rotten goddess falls.」


    Seeing Barold’s madness surface, Roano was speechless. He was dumbfounded by these statements that utterly contradicted what Roano perceived as Barold’s character.


    「…Then why didn’t you do this from the beginning?」


    「Easy. The best oue was for there to be many more like me. I need to fill this city with holiness, and fill it with people who rejected the curse they call the Goddess’ Blessing. Of course, thanks to those pesky adventurers, that n has failed, a moment before its fruition.」


    Barold spat out. This was the first time that anyone here had seen him show emotion like this.


    「Either way, you only have one choice, tomorrow. So,dies and gentlemen…」


    Returning to his monotone, Barold had weaved his words like a rope around their necks.


    「Are your armies ready?」


    「…I’m exhausted…」


    「Good job out there. Ya lookin’ wiped out.」


    「Not at all physically, but mentally? It was brutal…」


    In Haruna’s room inside the castle, Hiroshi was setting up this and that as Haruna was aching in exhaustion.


    「Ya really had a long day, huh?」


    「Mm-hm. It wasn’t too bad thanks to Prince Avin, but still…」


    「I’ll listen if ya wanna talk ’bout it?」


    Haruna sighed. The fact that Hiroshi was saying this signified how bad she looked, Haruna thought. She decided to take him up on his offer.


    「What is their problem…」


    Surprised by the low tone of her voice, Haruna continued to let it out, anyway:


    「“The lowly adventurer thinks she can buy allegiances with food.” “Oh what tasteless gifts!” “She even begs the servants for favors!” And they make sure you can hear them, you know?」


    What was being said, by all ounts, wereughable. Haruna took none of it to heart, but it infuriated her that grown adults were seriously devoting their time to such antics. Exhausting, to say the least. It was painstakingly obvious that any attempt to retort would have been met with a cacophony of nonsense. On the other hand, silence would have been interpreted as affirmative. This sort of maliciousness worked like body blows, slowly but surely. In this past week, Haruna’s spirits were being chipped away, considerably.


    「The worst part, though, is that they look down on people that make potions and tools. Never mind that they reap the benefits! They can’t do anything on their own. They don’t have the charisma, or the leadership tomand anyone without their titles. They have no idea how fragile the ground is they’re standing on…! And they mock you, just for how you look! They say that Mio-chan is worthless! Right to my face, too!」


    Haruna was never bothered by the insults and sarcasm about her. If she had let those things get to her, she wouldn’t have made it this far in life. But when they looked down with their narrow mindset at someone whom she valued, respected, and even liked in a way, she felt almost murderous rage. When they went as far as to deem their lives worthless, her blood boiled.


    Haruna let out all of those feelings bottled up inside her. Some parts were told in spit-fire rants, and others in stato whispers. Without stopping his work but dedicated his attention toward Haruna, and asionally making eye contact with her, Hiroshi listed to all she had to say without saying a word.


    「…Alright.」


    Hiroshi said, summarizing his reaction into a single word, weighted with emotions, after he saw that Haruna had gotten out everything she wanted to. While Haruna picked up on the weight behind his response, she still couldn’t get over the simplicity of his response. Who could me her?


    「Alright? That’s it…?」


    「I mean, I’m sorry ya got the short end of the stick, here, but I’m pretty use to people talkin’ smack ’bout me, in different ways than ya…」


    Hiroshi said, putting out some of the fire in Haruna.


    「Used to it…」


    「Sure, I’m pissed at what they said ’bout Mio, and I’m real sorry ya had to hear it in person. And I’m grateful you’re mad ’bout it, too. But it ain’t somethin’ me or Mio can apologize for, ya know? So, I’m sorry all I gotta say is “alright”… It’s all I can say, really.」


    「Well, yeah… You’re right…」


    Haruna started to cool down, hearing this. In Hiroshi’s shoes, she could see that it might have been difficult to react any differently. She might have been happy to see him enraged as she was, but that didn’t seem like something Hiroshi would do.


    「It’s just funny too, that they don’t even realize they’re startin’ to get isted…」


    「Isted?」


    「Naturally, if folks that yell at everybody all holier-than-thou start talkin’ smack ’bout the folks makin’ their lives easier, they’re gonna start losin’ friends pretty fast.」


    「How did you know?」


    「Lay told me. They’re ’bout to take the bait with the giant hook. Let’s just sit back and watch the train wreck.」


    「…Why don’t youe with me?」


    Haruna was beginning to seriously worry. If they were taking the bait for real, they were going to send their A-team. Even though Hiroshi was inhumanely durable, Haruna doubted how much that meant against for-real assassins. She hadn’t thought of this before in the heat of the moment, but now that she had gotten her emotions out and cooled down, she finally realized that Hiroshi had been given a pretty short stick.


    Haruna had objected initially, but being killed by an assassin was beyond her imagination, and she hadn’t objected it as viscerally as Aearis did. Haruna shuddered, looking back on her cruel optimism at the time.


    「I’ve got it set up so I can duck out if things hit the fan, and I got some leather armor on. Don’t worry too much ’bout me.」


    「Still…」


    「Besides, I ain’t takin’ much of a riskpared to ya. One wrong move, and they can wave thew in ya face, like nderin’ or some nonsense like that, and get rid of ya legally.」


    That was the tricky thing about a ss-based society. If the vile things said at Haruna were spoken by a noble at a noble, or by a peasant at a peasant, it was about fifty-fifty if they could be prosecuted for nder. But when those things were spoken by a noble at a peasant, it was nearly impossible to prosecute. If Haruna responded with something simr (if there was proof and/or witnesses) she could be sentenced for the crime without much consideration, regardless of who started the ordeal. Even though Fane had stripped a lot of privileges from royalty and nobles through its history, it would still take a long time for them to make thews fair and equal across all social sses.


    Most conversations at parties were insults anyway, so that alone wouldn’t amount to much of a punishment in court, but who knows what ridiculous ims they would make to inte the crime and the punishment. Thew wasn’t broken enough for them to easily blow up insults at a party into treason or something, but being sued meant that Haruna’s freedom would be limited for a certain amount of time. In fact, a noble could detain her for a day or two upon being convicted for nder. All in all, Haruna was walking on considerably thin ice.


    「Elle’ll be here soon, and it’s already a done deal. Don’t worry ’bout me, just get yaself out of here.」


    「…Okay, fine. Just get out of here as soon as things get hot.」


    「I know.」


    Then, there was a knock at the door.


    「Here they are.」


    「Mm-hm. Come in!」


    As nned, the familiar trio of Aearis, Douga, and Rayna entered. With barely a greeting, Hiroshi urged them through the closet door to the workshop.


    「Lessee what cards were dealt.」


    To take them by surprise, Hiroshi hid behind the bed, holding his old axe in hand. He couldn’t really wield a pole axe in this room.


    「…Here theye.」


    It was nearing midnight when Hiroshi sensed the subtlest presence emerge. As soon as he did, he notified Layotte and prepared himself. The window opened without a sound, and a figure climbed in.


    (Ya gotta be kiddin’ me…)


    Hiroshi froze upon seeing the figure. The worst possible card he could have been dealt. From the method of entry and security, Hiroshi had subconsciously eliminated the possibility of this from his mind.


    The assassin was a woman.


    「…?」


    Mercilessly for both parties, Hiroshi’s trap engaged as designed. With impable timing, the window closed and the door locked, isted the room from the rest of the world. With the exception of a very specific method, Transportation spells and items were negated. The medicine that filled the room like mist prevent suicide by poison.


    「…」


    The intruder, even as she acknowledged the trap sping around her, observed the interior of the room without any agitation. She wasn’t sure what the mist was, she saw that it wasn’t harmful, and decided to ignore it. Sensing the faint trace of presence Hiroshi let out from his surprise, the assassin threw something behind the bed.


    「Woah!?」


    「…」


    As Hiroshi rolled out from behind the bed, quaking, she looked at him without emotion. Her weapon in hand, she skulked behind Hiroshi without a sound, to eliminate her frozen prey.


    「Dang it!」


    Hiroshi dropped his axe as he dove away. He was shaking. While it didn’t do him much good anyway, the difference between having and not having a weapon was significant. The gaze of the assassin cking even the will to kill) that only saw Hiroshi as a roadblock trigger him further. Lost in the moment, he charged in more recklessly than usual.


    Easily parrying Hiroshi’s attack (if one could call it that) the assassin effortlessly wrapped herself around him from behind. A sure-fire way to kill Hiroshi through his full set of leather armor would be to slit his throat from behind. However, this move assaulted Hiroshi in a different way than the assassin intended.


    The indescribable softness of the female body, and the two soft and sizeable (albeit not asrge as Haruna’s) mounds brought back a certain memory in Hiroshi. Unfortunately for him, the assassin was d in an outfit akin to a bodysuit (specialized for infiltration) which did nothing to prevent Hiroshi from fully experiencing the sensation of her skin.


    Panicking from the softness of her body, Hiroshi flopped around violently. Struggling for a moment, the assassin slit his throat with a swift sh. That should have been the end of it…


    「…?」


    But her weapon, which could have sliced through a Giant Lizard’s scales like a piece of paper, had only left a tiny cut on Hiroshi’s throat. It was a palpable slice, but Hiroshi’s throat barely showed a mark, let alone any blood.


    At this moment, the assassin wondered if Hiroshi was immortal.


    Still, she had no intention of abandoning the mission given to her. In fact, with a majority of her cognitive capabilities erased with drugs, shecked the concept of giving up.


    The knife was useless, and poison seemed futile given the durability of his skin. If she could beat him to death, he would be dead already. So, she decided to go with strangtion. Lucky for her, she already had his back. In a split-second decision, she extracted a wire in a blink of an eye (so fast, in fact, that no one could have stopped her) and went to tighten it around Hiroshi’s neck.


    「Stop! Don’t touch me! Get off me, already!」


    Perhaps fueled by his phobia, Hiroshi struggled with immense strength. He was being strangled, but it didn’t show. As expected, the assassincked the strength to fully strangle him. So, she decided to use their body weight to her advantage. This turned out to be an unfortunate decision for both of them.


    「Ahh!?」


    Hiroshi’s iling foot grazed passed an awkward spot of her anatomy. The assassin, who had remained silent until now, couldn’t help but cry out. Her voice was surprisingly young and innocuous. The weirdly sensual reaction fueled Hiroshi’s panic further, driving him to struggle harder, without realizing that he was only worsening his predicament.


    When two people are practically attached at the hip, with one of them with a wire long enough to hang a man, what could happen if one of them iled about with reckless abandon?


    What followed was entanglement. Just like the cat that ys with a string only to end up being trapped in it. The assassin loosening her grip on the wire because of the surprising physical contact would spell their doom. The wire, which had been starting to tangle here and there from Hiroshi struggling, had now entangled the two of them beyond repair.


    「Aggggggghhhh!?」


    「Ah! Ahh!」


    The constricting wire brought them closer together, which fueled Hiroshi struggling, which entangled them further, which worsened their physical contact. It didn’t take long for this vicious cycle to lock the two of them in a NSFW position. In the process, Hiroshi’s hands and feet had brushed the assassin’s sensitive areas, unintentionally teasing her body.


    Now that they were so tightly entangled, Hiroshi’s struggle was reduced to small jerks and pulls. Neither of them were in a position to do any damage to the other in any capacity. The assassin was still subconsciously shifting her weight to reduce the impact of Hiroshi’s iling, anyway. In the end, Hiroshi was (unknowingly) just brushing up on the assassin’s body here and there and everywhere.


    Normally, this kind of tactic would have had no effect on this assassin. Drugs were administered to her to eliminate these sensations, along with her personality. This drug, in exchange for enhanced physical strength and learning capabilities had extinguished everyst thing essential to human (or any) life. The drug had given the assassin incredible powers, especially for an assassin with no allegiance.


    The downside of this drug was that the numbing effect would wear off over time, and in turn enhanced sensitivity. The all-purpose potion (in its mist form) had negated that effect entirely. The potion had only taken effect after the assassin had slit Hiroshi’s throat because inhaling the potion took longer for it to kick in. To boot, perhaps with consideration for using it with Stamina potions, the all-purpose potion did not negate any side effects…


    「Aaaaagggggggghhhhhh!」


    「Ah! Ahh!?」


    As a result, Hiroshi iled like a madman only to continue teasing and building up heat in the assassin’s body. By the time their bodies were hopelessly entangled, a dangerous switch had been turned on within the assassin, and she was primed. In contrast to the assassin (who couldn’t help but let out sensual sighs at every touch) Hiroshi was about to lose his mind, his face looking dangerously pale. His struggle had subsided significantly, leaving him more quaking than iling.


    「Aaaaaaggggggghhhhh!?」


    「D-Don’t stop…!」


    When their eyes happened to meet, the assassin let out a plea. The mask that was hiding her face was torn off through the struggle. As her voice would suggest, the assassin was young, fifteen or so. This dangerous whisper from this girl sent Hiroshi mind over the edge, leading him to let go of his consciousness. His twitching body illustrated the peril his mind was in… Although…


    「Mmm! Mmmgh!」


    Unconscious or not, Hiroshi’s limbs were still touching her danger zones. His twitching didn’t help mitigate the situation at all.


    「Ahh!」


    Even after Hiroshi had fainted, the assassin was switching up her positions. However, before she could escape the entanglement, she discovered a position that gave her more pleasure than before. Even as she was entranced by this new sensation, the assassin was starting to get frustrated since the only action she got was an unconscious body twitching. In the end, she immediately surrendered to Layotte and his men (who barged in ten minutester, as nned) and spilled all sorts of information, unable to lose her NSFW expression.


    By the way, after going to the workshop as is she was going to keep a low profile there, Aearis (in collusion with Alfemina) was nning to send in Douga at the right time. However, Alfemina had betrayed her after deciding that Hiroshi’s predicament wasn’t suited for the eyes of a little girl (in every sense of the word) so Aearis’ n was utterly foiled.