154-Episode 152: Makoto Takatsuki is attacked




Come on, let's kill each other.

 An exotic brown-skinned beauty who makes outrageous statements right from the start.
 From her body, an orange aura of fighting spirit rises.

The Burning Hero........Olga Saul Talisker. The brave goddess of fire........)

 In case you're wondering, the purpose of coming to the Land of Fire (Great Keith) is to meet a hero and a priestess.
 In that sense, it matches the purpose.
 However, it seems that the brave man in a battle position in front of me doesn't seem to be able to talk to me at all.

''!''
 I noticed that the scorching fist of the brave man was looming in front of me.
 Yay!

(Or, 'evasion' skills!)

 I can't avoid it at the last second!
 I felt a jolt in my shoulder area and was blown away.
 Ouch.

"Takatsuki-kun! 
 Sa-san's voice rang out.

'Oh my.......did I hit it?'
 Olga, the scorchingly brave, nodded her head in a cute little way.
 You hit me!

You! What are you doing?
 Sa-san pounces on the fire hero.

"What a surprise!
 He's saying he's surprised with his mouth, but he's handling Sa-san's attacks without moving at all.
 Seriously, I can't understand Sa-san's melee attacks?
d*mn. 
 I can see Sa-san's impatient face.

 --Water Magic, Ice Needle

 In an attempt to cover Sa-san, I tried to blind her with water magic.
 Without the water spirits, this is the limit!

Hmm?
 I was able to avoid it normally!
 

'Annoying.'
Gulp.
 I was supposed to have been attacked by Sa-san a moment ago, but somehow he was right in front of me.
'Evasion' skill!

"Whoops!
 A heavy jolt to my abdomen.
 I can't avoid it at all!
 After seeing the evasion skill, the attack tracks me.

"What are you doing to Takatsuki-kun?
 Sa-san uses the 'Action Player' skill dash attack to hit me, but.
'Heh ... you're pretty but strong.'
 The fire heroes ducked and ate more counters with plenty of time to spare.
''AUGH!''
 Sa-san was blown to pieces?
 He slammed into the wall of a nearby house.

Aya!
 I hear Lucy scream.
 d*mn it, what a monster!
 Are you okay, Mr. Sa?

Hey, what's the matter?" "Master Olga's on the rampage." "Again, who's on the rampage?
 People have heard the commotion and have gathered around.
 What is this, a habitual offender?

Stop it! Brave Olga!
 Princess Sophia's sharp voice rose.
 With a snap, the Fire Nation's heroes stopped moving.

''Hmm? That's Sophia-chan~
 Olga, the heroic goddess of fire, with a spateful face, waving her hand.

''Olga! What do you think you're doing? Attacking our heroes and their friends!
Just a quick hello!
 From the scowl on his face, he doesn't seem to take offense at all.

(...........Why did you get involved right after we arrived in this country?
 Clearly, he was aiming at the brave man of the Water Country.

I heard that you defeated the Demon King and Gerald, so I was expecting it, but haha, it's not what I expected~. So long~
 As if peering at me from below, he looked at me with narrowed eyes and laughed at me, and then - with a schtick, he jumped and disappeared somewhere else.

''What the hell was that guy........''
 Friae is hiding in the shadows, frightened.
 Sorry, I'm a guardian knight and I forgot about it.

'Sa-san!
 I rush over to Sa-san, who has been blown away.
 Lucy is taking care of Sa-san.
 She doesn't seem to be particularly injured, but........
 Saasan looks at me and says a few words.

I'm sorry, Takatsuki-kun.......I lost.
No, it's because he's crazy...
 Sa-san, you needn't worry about it.
 I'm glad you're okay.

''Brave Mako, people are gathering. First, let's move to a place where we can rest.
'Well, we need to give Sa-san a break,'

 We headed for the inn at a fast pace.


 ◇


 When we arrived at the inn, me, Princess Sophia and the old guardian knight gathered in the big room.
 Saasan, who may have been shocked by the fight, has shut himself up in his room.
 Lucy and Furiae are cheering him up.

(I'll have to go check on her later...)

'Brave Mako I'm sorry, the Roses have protested the disrespect by the brave fire goddess earlier.
 Princess Sophia's shoulders are shaking.
 I was pissed off too, but Princess Sophia's anger seemed to be more than that.
 I set my 'Clear Water' skill to 99% and spoke up.

''But then, what is this brave man from the Fire Nation who suddenly attacked us?
 They knew we were coming, and they attacked us.
 Even if it were a country's brave men, this is not something that a group of people, including the princess, would do.

This raid........probably involves the top brass of the Fire Nation (Great Keith).
 Princess Sophia blurted out, dropping her gaze.
'Huh?'
 The upper echelon of the Fire Nation (Great Keith)?
 What do you mean?

"My dear Lord Braveheart, the Fire Nation (Great Keith) is the second largest country on the continent. ........Perhaps, but the Fire Nation (Great Keith) doesn't like the fact that the Water Nation defeated the Demon King. The fact that Roses, the weakest of the six nations, has made the achievement of defeating the Demon King ahead of the rest of the world, is thought to have hurt the face of the second largest in the continent.
 The old man, the guardian knight, said regretfully.

''The Land of Fire (Great Keith) has apologized for the rudeness of the brave man. It was just good fortune that he defeated the Demon King', the rumor goes around. The one who started the rumor must be from the Fire Nation (Great Keith).'
 Princess Sophia bites her lip.

''Then it was a bad idea for me to lose, as a water country (Roses)...?''
 Sheesh.
 But in that place where there wasn't even a water spirit, I honestly didn't have nearly enough to do anything about it. 

''No, no! It doesn't take away the achievements of the heroic Mako who prevented the resurrection of the Demon King!
 Princess Sophia hurriedly followed up with Princess Sophia.

''That's right, brave Lord. Besides, lately, Princess Noel of the Land of the Sun (Highland) has been frequently touted as being friendly with Roses. That must be a big part of why the Fire Nation (Great Keith) has taken such an outburst.
'The Sun Nation (Highland) and the Fire Nation (Great Keith) have been competing with each other militarily for years. And now that the Water Nation has intervened there, they're getting impatient.
Huh, it's complicated...

 A mess between countries.
 That's a tough one for the average person to understand.
 Well, I don't see how it's any of my business.
 Let's just do our heroic duty.

I'm sure you're aware that one of the reasons why Princess Noel is so close to us is because the brave Lord of Light, Sakurai-sama, and Makoto-dono are close friends.
What?
 The old guardian knight's words freaked me out.

'Brave Mako you don't think it's any of my business, do you? Your relationship is now well known even among the Six Nations.
 Princess Sophia sighed in dismay.
 

''But I didn't expect it to turn out like this.......I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come to the Land of Fire (Great Keith)........ Let us return to the Land of Water (Roses) at once.
'No, no, no, no, it's not Sophia's fault. It's the guys in the Fire Nation who are to blame.
 He hurriedly cheered up Princess Sophia, who had become sluggish.

''Besides, it would be awkward to leave right now, as if you ran away and came back. Since we've come all this way, we have to bring something back with us.
 It was just a matter of convenience, and I was actually angry at the brave man from the Fire Nation who attacked me out of the blue and for depressing Sa-san.
 Returning home as it is, I can't get rid of the stomach bug in any way. 

''........I understand. But please stay quiet at the inn for a while.
 Princess Sophia may have found out what's in my heart.
 I nodded meekly.
 I'm not going to suddenly start thinking about getting even.
 The first thing to do is to gather information. And besides--

(I'm tired ... let's just see Sa-san's face and then go to sleep.

 I dropped by Sa-san's room, but he seemed to be asleep, so I couldn't talk to him after all.


 ◇

 --The next day.

'Lord Tuckey! I heard that you were badly injured in a battle with the heroic goddess of fire, Lord Olga. Is it okay?!
Takatsuki! Are you hurt? I have the best elixir. Please drink quickly!
 Fujiyan and Nina came into the room at a great pace.
 Oh, that?
 Isn't there a rumor that has a tail on it?

Fujiyan, no one's hurt.
 The best recovery pill (elixir) costs about 1 million G(gals) to buy, right?
 It's an oral pill....
 I'm not sure what they taste like.

Oh.........I flew over when I heard that Tacky-dono is in critical condition and unconscious. That was a false alarm........that's good.......
Hmm, that's a lot of rumors to spread.
 Is this another Fire Nation (Great Keith) group?
 It really pisses me off.
 I'm sorry that I've caused so much worry to Fujiyan and Nina, too.
 I explained the situation.

''I see........the relationship between the Land of the Sun and the Land of Water? Certainly the combination of Highland, which holds the reincarnation of the savior, and Roses, where the much talked about brave Tacky-dono, who defeated the demon king, is a threat to other countries.
...topic?
 Fujiyan's eyebrows rose at his words.

'Oh? Don't you know? There's a lot of talk about Tucky-dono as the hero who sashayed into the Woodland (Spring Rogue) and saved the country from destruction with the Red Lotus Witch.
 Oh, come on. It's too tailed, too.
 I mean, you were asleep as a rock at the end.

Moreover, the source of the information is the people of the tree country, who are usually not interested in the affairs of other countries. It's a highly credible story, and it's been bandied about among the merchants.
 Nina added, shaking her ears with a twitch.

(I had no idea...)
 I haven't been able to talk to Fujiyan lately, so I wasn't well informed.
 Maybe I should pay a little more attention to gathering information.

 After that, we shared some information, Fujiyan and I stayed in the room, and Nina left after she went to check on Sa-san.


 ◇


You've been through a lot.
Oh, yeah.

 Fujiyan murmured sincerely.
 We talked over a cup of tea that Nina had made for us.

 At first, we talked about what we were up to.
 After that, we chatted for a while.

 After a while.
 I looked at my friend's face, which I hadn't seen in a long time, and I suddenly felt a sense of discomfort.

 He must have rushed to the royal capital of the Fire Nation in a hurry.
 I wondered if he was tired from his long journey, but something was different about him.

"Speaking of which, I heard you have something to do in the Fire Nation (Great Keith), what do you want?
It's just business.
 He's hiding something.
 Normally, he'd be more specific.

"What's bothering you?
....
I don't want to force you to listen to him, but...
 Have I embarrassed you?

'No it's not so much that I'm hiding anything. 
 What is it?
 He seemed hesitant to say it for a while.
 I waited quietly for my next words.
 Then Fujiyan quietly announced.


''Actually it seems that my classmates are being held as slaves in the royal capital of the Fire Nation (Great Keith).


 --Oh, so that's what you're talking about....