Welcome back, Monica.
I'm back, Mr. Reese.

　At the place named the Black House, Monica met up with Reese again.
　She kneels on the floor and bows her head as it is.

''I'm sorry, Reese-sama. As I reported earlier with magic, that plan failed...............and Weiss-sama was also destroyed. I tried my best, too, but I was not able to make a step forward.
'It's okay, Monica. I'm sorry about Weiss, but you will not feel responsible for that. If I had to assign blame, it would be on me. Because it is my fault for misjudging the power of the person known as the Rain Shroud.
Oh no...!　There is no such thing as responsibility to Mr. Reese. I do not ask for such a thing.

　When Reese apologized, Monica was instantly flustered.
　She was in a hurry to not do that.

　Her appearance showed a strong respect for Reese.
　It was as if there was no sign of the same bewitching spirit that he had shown in front of Rain.

　Just as a believer believes in God.
　Like a child loves their parents unconditionally.

　Monica was showing emotions close to those to Rhys.
　If Arios had been here, he would have been surprised.
　You can look like that too.........

I thought it was a good strategy, even if I had to do it myself, but to be cut down so easily like this.......it really, really hurts my head.

　For Reese, this plan was located in a rather important place.
　Hopefully, he would be able to awaken the Demon King, who was in a dormant phase.
　With that in mind, he decided to make a proper plan and take on the challenge in a reasonable body position.
　That's also why I asked my compatriot Weiss to go out and do it.

　However, the results are scattered.
　Not only would the plan fail, but they would also lose Weiss.
　It was quite a blow.

　When he reflected on such current information, Reese suddenly remembered Iris' words.
　When had he said that it was better not to underestimate Rain.

　Was that what he was referring to?
　Could it be that Iris knew of Rain's power and expected this to happen?

No, no, no.

　Reese gives a small shake of his head, saying that this is not possible.

　Rain Shroud is qualified to be a hero, but the god's blood flowing through his body is thin.
　If you convert it numerically, it's less than half of Arios'.
　It's impossible for such a human to surpass the demon race in the normal course of events.

　The reason why Vice was broken was probably due to some accidental factor, a combination of bad luck.
　Rhys assumed that.

'Master Reese,'
Hmm?　Something.
Do you have any plans for the future?
'Well we have a number of small plans in motion, but I don't have any plans for you to move on at this time.

　That's how much effort he put into the Weiss operation.
　A pretty painful miscalculation.

'Then would you give me permission to move?
'What?　What's on your mind?
'I had an idea, or rather, something I've been thinking about for some time.

　Monica tells Reese her plans in a small voice, as if she's telling a private story...
　Hearing this, Reese nodded several times in admiration and made a pleasant smile.

''That sounds like a good... yeah, I think it's a very good plan. It might be rude of me to say this to you, but I didn't expect Monica to be able to come up with such a plan. Hmph, it's a nice growth.
Thank you.
So can we get on with the action?
Yes, sir.
'It's bad. I just got back.
No, don't worry about it. I'm more than happy to work for you, Mr. Reese. I'd rather have a lot of orders from him.

　Monica smiled.
　That smile was full of trust in Reese.

　No, I would call it more than trust.
　It's not just a mere top and bottom relationship....
　There was something deeper than that in it.



----------



　Although I don't think there is no doubt that Weiss is the source of the problem, I still did a search inside the old castle and the surrounding area, just to be sure.
　This is because I thought that perhaps the cause of the stampede might lie elsewhere.
　There was no need to be too cautious just because of the content.

　But it seemed to be a groundless fear, and we didn't find any problems.
　After confirming this, we left the old castle and returned to Krios.



----------



"'Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!'

　Back to Krios and into the city....
　The people of the city suddenly cheered when they spotted us.

''Nyan!''
What...?

　Kanade and Nina were startled, both with their tails twitching upside down.

'What's all the fuss about?'
Hm?　Everyone's got a smile on their face, for some reason.

　Sola and Luna were quizzical.
　Tania and Tina felt similarly.

　The only one, Rifa, was calm.
　Calm........did you expect this to unfold?
　As such, I'm not particularly surprised.

'Well ... rifa.
What?
Do you have any idea what the situation is?　If you know, you'll tell me what it's all about?
'The people of Krios are flippant. The result.
I'm sorry. Could you try to be a little more specific?
'Well...'

　How can you not understand what you just described?　But Rifa doesn't bother to explain it properly without being bothered.

I'm sure one of my colleagues sensed that I had defeated Weiss. Naturally, the story is spread throughout the city. That's when we came back. Rain is something of a hero. There are a lot of flippant people in this town, so we're going to welcome them with open arms. That's all.
'Uh....'

　After a curt explanation, I somehow understood the situation.

'Rain. You have to respond to everyone.
'What?　Me...?
Lane is our leader. Then our leader will have to answer for it.
'Well...'

　It's embarrassing and out of character.......but Rifa has a point.
　

　I stepped forward and pumped my fist up as if to declare victory.

　After a moment of silence........

"'Ooohhhhhh!

　The people's cheers echoed once more.