Chapter 158 - Volume 8 (1/2)

Volume 8, Chapter 16: The Hero’s Secret Arts, Part 3

The golden saint was missing from the battlefield.

When the news came from the Staff Officer of the Operations HQ of the Joint Coalition, all of the soldiers of the forces of light were shocked.

Yurushia’s participation in this recapture operation was only supposed to be a piece of propaganda for Sail – a mere consideration of politics.

With the exception of some of the influential members, like the Heroes, the upper echelons of the nations were all skeptical of the power of the [Saint] and thought that she wouldn’t sway the battle little even if she participated. Some of them even thought that it would be very convenient for her to die here.

But, the upper echelons of humanity did not know.

They were too concerned over the military might of the heroes, that they thought of the tales of the Saint’s power as merely some sort of fairy tale for the common folk.

But for the common people, the name of the [Saint] was a name mentioned in the same breath as a [Hero],  and just like how [Heroes] like Yuuki inspired the common people as their [sword], the [Saint] healed people, giving them hope as their [Shield].

The soldiers at the forefront of the battlefields understood that better than anyone.

The fact that they had the [Saint] on this battlefield, where death was no stranger, had given them a tremendous feeling of security.

So, what would happen if it was lost to them……?

The officers of every nation were astonished at the sheer influence that the label of [Saint] had, and some of them felt annoyed that she had even appeared.

“Yuru is missing?! What’s going on!?”

When the Hero of the Earth, Kanzo, returned with her wounded soldier and pressed Sefira for an answer, Sefira’s exhausted face grimaced.

“I’m sorry. I can’t believe it either, but it seems that she was set upon by armed bandits……”

“Where are they? I’m going to go kick them around!”

“P-Please wait, Kanzo-sama!”

That Kanzo, who was enormously tough on beautiful women, surprised everyone with her worry for Yurushia, and Sefira jumped to stop Kanzo before she bounced out.

“The armed bandits have already fled, and the horse carriage with Yurushia-sama has already left the area.”

“How did this……”

Sefira’s words caused Kanzo to clench her fists.

Seeing Kanzo in such a state, so far removed from usual, everyone else in the base was moved, and had thoughts of Kanzo as one of the [Heroes] who protected the people of the common folk.

But then.

“(Although this is a great opportunity, the efficiency will drop if Yuru’s not there!)”

Kanzo was trying to create the [Magic Gem] that he’d contracted Yurushia for on this battlefield.

But, without Yurushia, Kanzo’s plans would be compromised.

Kanzo could also create magic gems, but the prototypes she created with her magic were either too small or too flawed to satisfy her compared to the ones that Yurushia and her subordinates made.

The Hero of Wind wasn’t coming to the battlefield for some reason, but the hero of water and the hero of the flame were.

There was this slim chance for her to get the pure magic of the other heroes.

Even if one of the heroes disappeared because of that, the three other heroes could hold the line until a new one was summoned, and if that wasn’t enough, it would have been fine if the [Saint] covered that gap.

The war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness had been ongoing for thousands of years.

The [Skills] that had been born from contracting with the spirits and the summoning of [Heroes] had ground the war into a stalemate, and as a result, both the heroes and the men were carelessly thinking that the state of the war would not shift.

“Kanzo-sama, please leave it to us. I will take responsibility for finding Yurushia-sama.”

“……Yes. If it’s you, Sefira, I’ll trust in it.”

Kanzo, who seemed so impatient, reluctantly said so after hearing Sefira’s declaration, and changed her opinion relatively easily.

Originally, women like Sefira were the type that had no love for Kanzo, and everyone around them should have known it, but it was accepted naturally.

“…………”

Watching as the hero of earth returned to the battlefield again, Sefira sighed internally and grimaced when she thought that nobody was looking.

The heroes were not to be offended. The heroes of flame and wind aside, the hero of water didn’t trust others and was very careful with his actions, while the hero of earth was suspicious of small things like having perfectly womanly bodies.

Still, there were now no obstacles in Sefira’s plans.

The little “gap” in her plan was still well in the range of her corrections.

There was only one problem now…… she’d lost sight of where the [Golden Saint] that’d shifted her plans off track had gone.

“Where are you…… my “irregular” girl”

*  * *

“Princess, your feet are starting to get worse. Please, let me.”

“Shall I hold you? You’re a girl, so you’re not too heavy to be held, right?”

“Hmm……”

What is this situation……!

Geas and Onzada-kun who were both in their humanoid forms again were trying to pamper me.

Honestly, this experience is new to me, so I’m having trouble reacting to it.

Geas is still okay. It feels like when I had a pampering grandpa as a Princess. But anyway, he gave off the feeling of a of a grandparent pampering their grandchild, so my heart just felt a little flittering, but the real problem is Onzada-kun.

“Things like this…… It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to hold Milady like this.”

While saying that, he brushed my hair with his fingertips and brought his face closer to sniff my hair.

Is this some sort of male behavior? Or is this the behavior of your animal side, o rabbit?

“Hey, Onzada-kun, you never did that before!?”