Amulet?
Yes. There you are.

　Anko comes back from the monastery to the alleyway where I was hiding out.
　Anko handed me the amulet, claiming she received it from Renko. It looks like the plan worked.

"A letter, huh?

　I picked up the amulet or whatever it was and immediately realized that there was something inside. There was something inside.

　I tore off the outer cloth and checked the contents. As I expected, there was a small folded letter in there.

'Tonight at midnight, in the north woods of Aldjo,' it said.

　An invitation to have a secret meeting in a secluded forest.

　But the North Woods of Ordrejo?　There are some strong demons out there, but are they okay?

　Indeed, it's not often that people come into the forest in the middle of the night when demons appear. It's a good place to meet in hiding. However, while I was fine, it seemed to me that Fran might have a problem.

　She even sent me a letter asking for help. Perhaps Fran is in a situation where, for some reason, she can't gain experience. Yes, that means ...... he's been trapped in the Church of Kamel since right after his reincarnation, and so on. If that's the case, it would be suicidal to go to the North Forest alone.

　Do you have someone to represent you, or is it just my unwarranted fear? Well, I guess I'll find out when I get there.

''While the Lord (Aruji-sama) is speaking, shall I have Anko clean up the surrounding demons?
Thank you. That's very helpful. You've been very helpful.
Okay. Leave it to Anko!

　Cute.


　--and then. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the outskirts of Old Joe until the appointed time. I can't walk where the sun shines, but just walking hand in hand from tree to tree underneath the shade of a tree gave me a warm feeling. It's not bad to have a leisurely day like this once in a while.

　But once, we argued over what to do for dinner. I suggested that we should transition to the house, have dinner and then come back, but Anko seemed to want to eat alone in the dark forest. I clashed with Anko, who was reluctant to go back because it was cold and dark, and Anko was still reluctant to eat, and finally I was forced to give in.
　We built a bonfire and ate the meat of the mystery animal Anko had hunted for us, grilled with salt. It wasn't very tasty, but I didn't mind because Anko looked happy.





Well, I guess it's time to go.

　The long hand and the short hand were about to be aligned at the top.

　I was standing alone at the appointed place. Anko has been cleaning up the demons around here, crushing them one by one.


　And.

　Two minutes late, a woman dressed in pitch black (.) appeared.


''--I'm surprised. There aren't any demons at all.


　She is a young woman with long black hair in a ponytail and slender, three-blue eyes. She is tall for a woman, and her red lipstick glows against her white skin.

'My partner is a clean freak (・・・・),'
Oh, it's her. So?
I'm the second. How about you?
I'm Renko. Well, you can go to ......

　It was Renko, a nun, who came to the secret meeting.
　She just sharpened her sharp eyes even more and observed me as if she were assessing me.

　Fran's guy, as expected, sent a messenger. That means there must be some circumstances that make it hard to move after all.

　.............

　...... No, more than anything else, there is one thing that I can't help but be curious about.

　The first person is "Atai", if you are .......


'Hey. Can I get one thing out of the way before we get down to business?
What? Don't give me that crap.

Your real name is Ray.

-Oh!


　Nice reaction. How did you know my name? He looks like. Apparently, she's a very facile girl.

'Thank you, I understand very well,'
'...... What are you talking about?　You're the wrong person. I don't know that name.
Believe it or not, I'll leave it up to you, but there's a Cubero and Bicide at my house right now. They asked me to check on your daughter's safety if you're going to the Kamel God State.
"............ Hmm. That woman Ray is dead. This is just a nun named Renko.
Okay. So let's cut to the chase.
What's up with you, ......?

　I sensed a slightly troublesome atmosphere, so I sputtered out of the conversation. As expected, Renko was puzzled, as if she had been shrugged off.


''So?　Why did you call me here?　No, let's not get into a discussion. Who am I going to help?
"!　Hmmm ...... If you know that much, you're talking fast.

　She opened her mouth with one deep breath and a serious face, dumbfounded and surprised and expressive, and opened her mouth.



''-- Raspberry Belle-sama, please help me out.



　What do you think, you're surprised. You talk like.

　No, uh, .......


"Who are you?
Are you f*cking kidding me?

　I made him yell out.

'Sorry, I don't know. Are you famous?
The Camelian saint!　In this godforsaken country, even babies know that name!

　Saint!　I've been curious about this entity for a long time. Heh, it's called Raspberry Bell: .......

　............ Oh, hey, wait. So, that means. Framboise I is now a saint!　That steel-plated man?　A Camelian saint?　Are you kidding me, ......?

'Wait, I'm getting dizzy: ......'

　It's so far removed from the image that the words "Saint Raspberry Bell" don't even enter my mind. My brain stubbornly refuses to accept it.

Hm. You might as well be surprised to find out.

　No, no, it's not different, but the vector is completely different.

　However, I was surprised, but it made sense. I mean, for some reason (...) Fran is probably being felicitated by the Church of Camel as a saint (...). In addition, she is being carried up. She is not a panda for guests, but a saint for believers. It's no wonder that the church can't let her go. No wonder she's under house arrest. That's why they want help.


I'll get it for now. All you have to do is help her. Where is the saint now?
Yeah, ...... hey, wait a minute. What's that, you mean, like we're on our way to help?
You can use transference magic. If we can get the saint to my house, we'll get one shot.
............ This time I'm feeling a little dizzy.

　What did I say that was so weird?

　Oh!　That's right.

Sorry. - Yeah. You leave so suddenly, we're on the run. You don't want to live in fear of what people think of you. That's what I'm thinking. All right, let's shut down the Camelids.
You can go to ...... and I'll punch you in the face.

　I was pissed. Why?　I'm not convinced.

I think it's a pretty good idea to get rid of your boss.
"Do you wish to involve Lady Raspberry Belle in such a dangerous situation?　And besides, if your cover is blown, it could lead to all-out war. It's not that simple.

　Well, you may be right. Currently, there is no way for me to successfully hide my identity. If by some chance I am found to be the culprit for wreaking havoc on the Kamel God State, it could well be the catalyst for the outbreak of war.

'Then kill every single Pope and Cardinal, every single one of them: ......
'You've got to be kidding me!　No matter how strong you are, there are some things you can do and some things you can't. Are you going to go around the entire Kamel Godland looking for each and every one of them?
Don't we all have a chance to get together?

　I ask, and Renko gives me a huff.

'Oh, there are some, but ...... are you insane?'
You know. What do you think?

　When I stared back at her in a manner of utter sanity, she crossed her arms and shut up.

　For the next few seconds, Renko breaks the silence as she collects her thoughts.

'...... I disagree. It's a bad bet.
So you have an idea?
With all the cards you've got, that's the best you could've given me.

　Is that what happens when you go through the transference of a saint and escape?

　If you think about it, that's a lot of problems. If the saint disappeared suddenly, the Kamel Goddess Kingdom would be in chaos, and if the saint turned out to be in the Castal Kingdom, there would be a big war for sure. In other words, they wouldn't even be able to go out at all. It's just that the place they're trapped in has been moved. It may be a stopgap measure, but it's not the root of the problem.

...... I know I speak for myself, but I disagree. It's unsettling to be the one being chased. Wouldn't it be nice to have some clarity anyway?
Huh. That's not very interesting. ......

　Me, who didn't like the idea of escaping that might leave a bad taste in my mouth, and Renko, who wasn't willing to take unnecessary risks. Our opinions clashed head-on. If this continues, the conversation will be parallel. If we had any other good ideas, the conversation would change again, but this seemed to be the limit for me and Renko.

　Both of us remain silent and think about it.
　Then, after a few dozen seconds, Renko took one look at the clock, raised an eyebrow, and said with a sigh.

'Chit ...... time's up. I'm going to ask Raspberry Belle-sama once. I'll meet you back here tomorrow at this time.
I understand.

　With just that, she hobbled off, her high AGI was visible in the speed at which she was moving.


　If Saint Raspberry Belle was really the Fran I knew, she'd probably agree to my idea. That guy was a strict hierarchical guy who didn't care about the netherworld and all that. It's not surprising that he might have said, "You're going to have to listen to your senpai.

　If that's the case, we need to come up with a better strategy.


　...... Go home and ask Winnemon.



　　* * * *



Listen to your boss.
But...
More. Don't keep me in suspense.
...... Yes.

　A super-beautiful woman with long red and white mingled hair and a slender model's figure gave instructions to the samurai woman, Renko.

　She stroked her own hair with an expert hand and stared languidly out the window at the sky.

　A window with a lattice, never out, a window with bars. Huffing and puffing, the window pane fogged thinly.

　With her whitefish-like fingers, she writes a sibling umbrella on it ...... and is about to put her name in it, and then rubs it out with her fingers.

　It was always the same. I'm not going to be able to complete the umbrella.


It's so difficult, really. ......