Chapter 516: The Unexplored Kingdom 3
After finishing the meal, which was more like food for a siege than an 「Outside」 meal, even with the addition of demon meat, I was put up in the guest room of the temple (this rather shabby building is called so, apparently) and greeted the morning. Incidentally, Neia and Maia stayed in the same room as me. There were several rooms, so High Priest Duke tried to separate us, but both of them prioritised protecting me. The bed was occupied by me and Neia, while Maia stayed the night by the window as a non-sleeper. It seems somewhat unbalanced, but they discussed it and decided it was the safest thing to do.
——————–
And the next day.
“It’s morning, Smithson-san”
“N……Nu”
Neia wakes me up. I woke up more frankly than usual, despite the early hour, partly because I had gone to bed early because there was nothing in this country at night and it was a waste of fuel…….after admiring Neia in her underwear (nothing erotic), I remembered that I had been assigned to a strange role by chance.
“Good morning…….”
“Yes. Good morning”
“Andy-sama. Do you want to do something naughty first thing in the morning?”
“No, you don’t have to. I’m not in the mood for it”
“……You did it when you were caught in the elven territory”
“That was then!”
While declining Maia’s offer, I crawl out of the bed, which is not very soft.
As I wandered out of the room to see if I could wash my face lightly, I saw the high priest practising a sword kata outside the temple.
“……Huu! Ha, seaa!”
Naked in the upper half of his body, he swung his sword as if cutting through the morning mist. The sword is for one hand and at first glance you can feel that it has been used a lot. The first time I saw him, he was a man of great strength and stamina, and he was a man of great courage. The numerous scars that emerge, both from the weapon and from the claws of the beast, remind me of the old Neia. When he had finished, High Priest Duke looked back at me.
“Can I help you?”
“Ah……no, I was wondering if there was somewhere I could wash my face”
“Ah, just in time. I was just thinking of going down to the river below to get some water. Are you coming?”
The high priest sheathed his sword and threw it into the storeroom as if to hide it, then grabbed a tub in each hand and urged me to accompany him. I panicked and fell on my back.
“The high priest is powerful when he undresses, isn’t he?”
“I was a member of the heroes, even if I was rotten. But still, do I look that small in my priest’s clothes?”
“……To be honest, I didn’t get the impression that you were very strong”
“Haha, well, that’s just the way it is. It’s not every day you get to talk to someone who doesn’t know my past, so it’s refreshing”
……When you’re a former hero and the head priest of a religious organisation officially recognised by the royal family, is it possible that you’re unknown in the country?
“Back then, I was Faria’s……Neia’s mentor, but I used to compete with her. I wonder if I could lose to a female hero or something like that. Well, I couldn’t beat her”
“Was she that strong?”
“Hmm, she was given the honor in the competition of arms. In actual combat, she had the ability to mass-produce death like a nightmare, but in the competition, she never took it seriously. I’m so disappointed”
“Haa……”
“I still can’t believe she’s dead, though……I can’t tell Neia”
A splash in the river water. High Priest Duke washes his face vigorously with a shower.
“Are you also going to fight again in case of an emergency, high priest?”
I was a bit curious, so I asked. Even though he was in the background, I thought that if there was someone to replace him, the hero system might be more lenient than I thought. But the priest shook his head.
“That’s impossible. That thing of mine is just an exercise……no, it’s an unexercise. That’s all I’ve had since I was a child. Even though I know I’ll never fight again, I still want to shake it”
“Were your injuries that bad”
“It’s no big deal now. The best hero candidates were waiting behind me. I was not going to wait forever for someone I didn’t know if I would be able to get back to normal. Well, I admit that the fear of death had weakened my will to fight, too”
“…………”
“You look concerned about what will happen to Neia”
“Do you understand……?”
“Not much else of interest, is there?”
The high priest walks up the hill with a tub in each hand.
“I have no idea what the king is thinking. But there is no guarantee that she will return as a hero without a hitch. Definitely”
“Wh, What is it?”
“If you really care about Neia, maybe you shouldn’t have let her come back”
“Not that I didn’t think of that, though…….”
“What do you want from this country in the first place? You knew from Neia that there was nothing in this country”
“That’s…….”
I’m not sure if I should tell this high priest about the demon territory settlement project. However, regardless of Rainer or King Jedha, I thought that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I spoke honestly to this person, so I tried to open my mouth again.
“That’s something I’m interested in too”
Suddenly, a voice calls out to me from the top of the hill. There was a woman with silver hair.
“……You’re Rainer’s”
The high priest mutters in a blur.
“I’m Leila. It’s about time you remembered me”
Unlike the sharp-eyed woman of yesterday……perhaps it was a dragon. The one at the castle yesterday had slightly pasty, floaty-looking hair cut to around her shoulders, but this dragon had shiny, lustrous hair up in an up-do that looked out of place in a dingy country, a perfect balance of clean and shiny. Her eyes, too, are strangely unfathomable, but not quite so grim.
“Nice to meet you, Rider-sama. My household was rude to you yesterday”
“……I thought it was forbidden to touch a rider directly”
I point out, pretending to be as calm as possible. It’s not like she’s about to attack, but the thought of forgetting to bring my bodyguard and suddenly encountering another dragon is bad for my heart.
“Of course, I am aware of that. I’m here today to deal with what happened yesterday”
“Deal……?”
“It’s about your people we left on the outskirts. I assume you want to contact them in some way?”
“……What, are you sure?”
I’m a bit disappointed that they suddenly refuse to let me approach them without question.
“If it’s just a word of mouth, there’s no problem. However, I refuse to move you and Neia Grans outside”
“……What?”
“That is my Lord’s will. Do I need to explain my intentions?”
……So she’s saying that I and Neia are hostages?
“Don’t you want to avoid trouble?”
High Priest Duke says with a dubious look on his face.
“If we simply turn the riders away, there is a high risk that trouble will return many times over. Wouldn’t it be better for the future if we avoid hasty trouble, while at the same time making people understand what this country looks like?”
“…… Don’t think small and clever, Rainer’s”
“If you understand, then it is time for you to stop meddling, High Priest Duke. I am speaking to the rider there”
The silver dragon Leila, who appears mild-mannered but has spikes on the edges of her words. Following Rainer and King Jedha, this is another one who seems to have something on her plate.
“……In that case, I’d like you to leave a message for me”
I smile at Leila the silver dragon.
“Give me Tetes and I’ll take care of the rest”
—————-
Two hours later.
“Master, are you alright?”
“I was worried about you……!”
“Yoo”
Tetes and Apple appeared in the temple, accompanied by Leila.
“Apple came too?”
“Yes, I had to…….”
Apple doesn’t have the warrior’s distinctive intimidation, so I guess it didn’t bother Leila too much. When I said ……However, I really wanted her to stay over there.
“If I’m the only one named, that means……that’s what you mean, right?”
Tetes asks, her face going from smiling to slightly serious.
“Probably, as you might imagine”
……That means that I don’t call Dianne or Laila, which means that we have to regroup. No matter how much you don’t know if they are black or white, you can’t tell them directly. The reason why I only called Tetes out of that group is because she is not a mainstay and she has a stronger imagination for intrigue and is better at magic than I am. And Leila, the one who brought her here, had a very subtle look on her face.
“Just to be sure, I asked them to identify themselves, and these girls claim to be your 『Personal sex slaves』, but……”
“Right?”
“I, there’s no other way to say it……”
Tetes and Apple apparently made the awkward name-calling even more brazenly against a dragon who might be their enemy.
“Was it a culture shock for Leila?”
I hug their shoulders and say teasingly.
“Tsk, I know that in knowledge……because even I go in and out of the outside world. But you’re such a…….”
“Yes, I’m quite a lusty rider when it comes to women. Of course I have plenty of sex with dragons”
“You’re surprisingly naive♪”
“Maybe this person isn’t that familiar with master……?”
“Gee……can you please stop being a lowlife?”
Leila flinched unexpectedly. This is a little surprising. Rainer has such a dark impression, so if he had made a contract with a female dragon, he would have used it as an outlet for his sexual desires. High Priest Duke and Neia, who were looking at us from a distance, were a bit of a surprise.
“I thought he was a young man who didn’t seem to have much to say, but in that respect……”
“…..I can’t deny it, there are a lot of things”
At this rate, it looks like they’ll find out before long that I’ve had a lot of trouble with Neia.