Thank God we're going down.
　I breathed a sigh of relief.

　The Immortal King's confidant, Senior Demon Clan Shuri.
　When he suddenly attacked me, I didn't know what to do.
　He seemed weaker than when I was fighting Lucy's mother, so I managed.
　I guess that's another thing I do on a daily basis.

''Princess, I was able to defeat it!
　I also succeeded in calling up the Great Spirit of Water (Undine) in sync with Mr. Furiae.
　I have to thank him.

　I turned around and what I saw was--

Huh!
　It was Friae, who looked terribly frightened.

(What?　(Huh?)
　Why?

'Wow, wow, wow, my knight!　You're an apostle of the Water Goddess (Ail)!　I didn't lie about the old gods' apostles!　You tricked me!
What?
　What is this all of a sudden?
　I'm only interested in you, Master Noah.

(Ah, but this time the 'sacrificial art/offering' was a waza taught by the Water Goddess, so I guess I was mistaken.)

Princess, that was...
'You're with the Sun Knight (Highlanders)!　You're going to cheat me and do terrible things!　Just like the demons before!　Like the demon race from earlier!
　Mr. Freyae is temperamental.

I won't.
　I chuckled as I approached.

'Get away from me!　You virgin!　I know you're after my body!
Hey!
　How dare you!
　And how did you know I'm a virgin?
　You're Lucy?　Or Mr. Saasan?

(...they both sound like they could say that.)
　It's just a regular girl talk show.

Hime, calm down. I'm not gonna calm down, all right?
　I gestured with my hands, "Well, well, well, well," he said, flapping his hands.
　Gradually, Freyae's demeanor came back to normal.

''........''
　They stare at me with half-lidded eyes.
　She looks like a stray cat in the city.

Well, that's fine. Hmph!　Well done, my knight.
　Oh, it's the usual Mr. Freeliae.

How do you do?
'So, about that magic you mentioned earlier...'
Yeah, that was...
　I was about to tell you that I had my dagger modified by the Water Goddess (Eil).


'Hey, hey, Lucy's boyfriend. What's going on here?　Cheating?


Wow! "Yikes!

　I was suddenly approached from behind.
　Rosalee appeared.
　Is it a teleportation?

I felt a strange miasma earlier, but it quickly disappeared. You don't know anything about it?
Well, it looks like the demon Shuri is actually alive.
'Mmm!　Really?　Where'd you go?
But I put it down.
Did you...?

　Rosalie's eyes turn to look at something suspicious.
'Heh...'

　Stare.
　The illusion of being in front of a prey, a bird of prey.
　Suddenly, I felt Rosalie's hand on my cheek.
　A little hot?

'Mysterious girl I was wondering about you because Lucy was so involved.
　My ears are buzzing.
　

''That senior demon race.......how did they defeat it?''
　Rosalie's eyes are glowing red.
　Her blonde hair is gradually turning orange.

　At the same time, the scent of alcohol is wafting through the air.
　Could it be that she's drunk?

It's the water goddess.
Hey, your powers. Can you show me your powers?
　He asked in an excited tone.
　'Show me,' he said, 'do you mean the sacrificial art?

'Duh, no!　My knight.
　Mr. Furiae rushes to stop her.
　''It's okay, because you can't use it anyway.

''Unfortunately, the waza that defeated the demon race can't be used right away. I just used it earlier.
Oh, really? Too bad.
　Suddenly, the color of her eyes returned to blue and her hair became blonde.
　After that, she removed her gaze from me and turned to Friaree-san.

''Hey, you're also ... interesting. Moon Priestess?''
?
　Mr. Freyae tenses up.

Uh!　Miss Rosalie, the princess....
''It's okay - this generation of moon maidens are on the side of the humans, not the demon race, right?
Oh, of course!
　Rosalie smiled at Friae's strong tone of voice.

'Huh, all of Lucy's friends are so funny. Even her best friend, Lamia's kid, has a magical power.''
　Oh............................They're all exposed.
　I wonder if Rosalie-san also has 'appraisal' skills.

''Oh, but I omitted to strike down the demon race just now~. I wonder if my arm has become dull.
　Lucy's mother stretched out with a hmmm.

'Yes!　Hey, honey. Who's your second favorite girl in your group?　Of course, you're Lucy first, right?
'What?　Um...um...
　Suddenly the subject changed.

'That incredibly beautiful moon maiden over there?　Or is it Aya, the lamia girl?　Or maybe the twinkly one in the golden armor or the tiny one with the light blue hair?

　Rosalie.
　The last boy is a boy.

'Oh, but I can't believe Lucy's got a boyfriend. You haven't seen him in a while, he'll grow up fast. Hey, can't wait to see Lucy's baby.
....

　The topic of conversation has been changing for a while now.

(Yeah, he's drunk, this one.)

　The way he's involved is with Marie-san, the McAllen Adventurer's Guild employee.
　Come to think of it, how are you doing, Marie?
　Suddenly, I was thinking about that.

'Bye,'
　You've finished what you want to say.
　Rosalie-san raises one hand with a swoosh.
　At the same time, while making a shuin, shuin sound, a magic circle emerges around Rosalie-san.

　The next moment - it disappeared.


He's gone...
　She said what she wanted to say and Rosalie disappeared.


'Shall we go back?　The "Princess
Well ... yeah.
　We went back to the chief's house.

　Rosalee was nowhere to be found.


　◇


　I told Satomachi-san and Maximilian, the 'Wind Tree Hero' who was with me, about the demon tribe Shuri.

　By the way, Prince Leonard is sleeping.
　He's nine years old, so he's fast asleep.

''........I see, that senior demon tribe wasn't defeated.
You're safe. Lord Makoto.
　The two of them have a grim look on their faces.

'Rosalie-san's magic allowed us to defeat him because he was so weak.
Mako, I should have been there with you.
Yeah, I'm glad you're okay, Takatsuki.
　Lucy and Sa-san gave me a worried look.
　''Sorry.

''But to think that even Rosalie-sama's holy grade magic can't destroy them.......it's going to be a tough battle.
　With an uneasy look on her face, the one who brought me the tea was 'Tree Priestess' Flona.

''Flona-san, has the Wood Goddess (Freya ) said anything to you?''
　Is there no opinion of the Lord God of the Tree Country?
That's why........we haven't been able to hear you in particular.... Freya, the wooden goddess, is a goddess of few oracles to begin with.
　Hmmm, no.

'Janet, could you ask for reinforcements from the Land of the Sun?
　If we can't rely on God, let's turn to the next great power next door.

''We have asked the home country for support, but it seems that the march has been interrupted by someone, and the arrival of the Order of the Sun has been delayed.
　Janet's voice was hard.
'Interrupting the march?'
　In the land of the sun, who would defy them?

It's a cult of snakes that's disturbing me.
　Mr. Huriae is boringly chewing on a fruit that looks like an apple.

'Huli, how did you know?'
By 'fate magic'. I kind of get it.
　Friae answered Lucy's question.
　Heh, you can even understand that?
　It's useful, "fate magic".

''Fu-chan, I have to tell Janet that as soon as possible.
No, I don't think telling them will help. The Order's subversive activities in the Highlands have always been a part of the Sun Nation.
...Yeah, I see.
　What a pain in the ass.

Maybe we can count on Lucy's mother. The best in the wood country.
　I don't know where he's gone, but I can't see him.

'Mum, well I had too much wine earlier and went out to go for a walk on the moon...'
Do you want to go to the moon instead of looking at the moon?
Yeah, it's a teleportation thing, all the time.
...Oh.

　Is it that easy to get there?
　That's my girl.

I hope she's okay, Mother. I went for a walk before and didn't come back for about a year, but...
""What?"
　Everyone but Lucy's family turned to Lucy's sister.

...Well, I think it's all right this time. Rosalie knows what to expect.
　Satouchou-san, sweat is running down your cheeks.

''.........''
　All of us are mute.
　Eh, what is this air.

　In the end, there's no point in worrying about it.
　We decided to go to bed early and get our strength together, so we said goodnight.


　I lay down on the bed in the guest room that the foster chief had prepared for me.
　On the bed next to me, Prince Leonard was sleeping.
　I take a look at his sleeping face.

(Looks like a beautiful girl...)
　I can't blame Rosalie for getting it wrong.

'Now Now.'
Oh, there you are.
　Quickly, the black cat that had escaped crawled out of the covers.　

　Feeling the cat's tail brush against my right cheek, I looked up at the thatched ceiling.
　On a pillar, a small lamp was lit.


　-- Tomorrow, we're going to the 'Demon King's Tomb'.　

　I still don't know the full extent of the enemy that awaits me.

Let's go to bed...

　I closed my eyes.　


　◇


　I had a dream.
　I wondered if he knew my anxious heart and came to me.
　It's just that things were different.


"Master Noah...?　What are you doing?


　The space of the goddess.
　The endless divine realm that goes on forever.

　There was Noah, the goddess with the greatest beauty in the heavenly realm that I believe in.

　But for some reason, she was standing there with a Buddha's face, holding a whip.
　Next to him, floating in the air is........


Oh, um....are you dressed like that...?


　It was the Goddess of Water (Eil) who was suspended in mid-air after being tied to a turtle shell with a rope.

(Huh?)
　What's this?

Hi, Mako.
　Smiling at you, Eir-sama.

　No, I can't keep up with the tsukkomi!