Chapter 102 – With an Old Colleague.

“So what’s going on?”

“… What’s going on?”

Benia did not understand Tiaran’s question and tilted her head. Didn’t she already say she was there to take him away? Even though she lost in sparring under those conditions, she became useless.

“I live as an adventurer, but aren’t you the leader of the royal knights? You must be busy in many ways. You probably didn’t come just to see me.”

“Well, that is.”

As soon as she heard that it was Tiaran, she submitted her leave form and ran.

“That’s right. It’s not a position you can easily leave.”

“It looks like you’re very busy as the leader of the Royal Knights.”

“Master, you were a greater person than I thought.”

For some reason, Anis was convinced by Tiaran’s words and Benia broke into a cold sweat as they looked at her with eyes filled with anticipation.

‘I came here on vacation.’

That’s what she meant to say.

“I have something important to do…?”

In fact, Benia’s mouth betrayed her own thoughts and she was spitting out those words.

”’That’s a lie.”’

Annis could quickly tell that she was telling her lies. That’s because Benia’s hesitant expression was very similar to Anise’s troubled expression.

“That’s a lie.”

“In times like this, even if you notice it, you have to keep it to yourself! You’re embarrassed!”

While the girls were thinking, Tiaran spoke casually, so Lucia scolded him as if he was considerate of her.

“… Ugh.”

“I think Lucia is worse.”

“Oops!”

Benia seemed to be even more hurt by the consideration, and she was in such an awkward mood that no one could say anything.

-Kongkongkong!

A small blue bird made its presence known by tapping its beak on the window where they were.

“Jeonseo-gu?”

The little bird had an anklet decorated with sparkling jewels on one of its feet, so they could immediately tell what purpose the bird had come for.

When Tiaran opened the window, their eyes were focused on the sight of a blue bird coming in with bouncy steps and landing on his finger.

“I know it’s a presbyterian bird, but… It’s my first time seeing this bird.”

It has sturdy yet relatively thin and long legs, eyes that look like dots, and even a small beak.

‘Vinous-throated parrotbill? Did a baboon bird live in this world?’

To Tiaran, it looked exactly like the cute bird that was famous in his hometown, and it was enough to capture the hearts of many women.

“It’s cute.”

“It looks furry.”

Even now, Anise and other girls couldn’t take their eyes off that figure. Then, Tiaran noticed the guy’s identity as he was rubbing his chubby body on her hand as if showing affection.

“Oh, this is a spirit?”

Even if an ordinary bird got used to people, it was rare for it to be this cute.

“Spirit?”

“Wow, something this cute?”

“Garion, let’s throw it away right away.”

At his words, the girls lost all their cuteness when they saw Jeon Seo-gu, and when they arrived at Benia, they were ready to swing their swords at Jeon Seo-gu in Tiaran’s hand.

‘As expected, this is the reaction.’

Usually, spirits have the image of being mysterious and dreamy like elves, but at least in this world, they could be said to be an exception.

‘In the past, I wondered why spirits looked like that, but if this was the original eroge world, it would explain it.’

Although there is no such image, it is actually treated as a monster.

“Don’t worry. This is a low-level spirit and can’t do the things you think.”

“Still, I feel a little uncomfortable.”

Lucia also looked at the spirit playing cutely with her hand with a reluctant gaze, but she couldn’t do anything rashly because it was a letter someone had sent her.

“Spirit aside, let’s see who sent the letter.”

When he tapped the jewel on the anklet tied to the spirit’s foot, light poured out for an instant, and that light soon turned into a luxurious letter envelope neatly finished with sealing wax.

“This is Sorrent’s seal, right?”

As I was thinking about the seal imprinted on sealing wax that seemed to have been seen many times somewhere, Lucia was the first to recognize the shape of the seal.

“If it’s Sorrent’s seal. That Stalin guy?”

“It’s not Stalin, it’s Sizak! But why is the Margrave writing a letter?”

“That too by using the spirit as a tool.”

“I didn’t think he was an ordinary person, but…”

Regardless of one’s perception of spirits, those who contract with them are considered to be quite valuable human resources, along with Makashia. In particular, those who know more about the physiology of spirits sometimes rate it higher than Macia.

“Have you met the Margrave of Sorrent?”

“Because of the monster incident, I got a little upset.”

Tiaran roughly answered Benia’s question, removed the sealing wax, and checked the letter.

“Celebration?”

“A celebration?”

To briefly explain the contents of the letter, it was roughly an invitation saying that a celebration was being held at his castle and that he would like to attend. It is safe to say that this is an extension of the victory festival currently taking place outside, or rather, this is the real thing.

Although it has some formality, it is a clean and easy-to-read style, perhaps because I am the type of person who values ​​efficiency.

“I want to praise you for catching the monster and also talk about the problem with Crugild?”

“You mean that impersonator?”

For some reason, Lucia remembered the guy who impersonated the hero with her hair and eye color like Anise, and her frown crumpled as if her forgotten anger came back to her.

“I’m sure he’s not an ordinary impersonator.”

As their eyes flocked to Benia’s words, she tilted her head as if wondering.

“Wait a minute. Lord Salute, do you know anything about a man named Krugild?!”

“That’s right! It’s not an ordinary impersonation! If it’s not a fake, then what is it?”

Benia seemed to be thinking for a moment as the two people, including Anis, who was sitting still, asked questions as if they were interrogating her, then frowned and opened her mouth.

“It’s because this isn’t the first time the church has manipulated people like this.”

“The church is manipulating…?”

The church was held responsible for causing the rapid retreat of the front line by expelling Tiaran, who had played a large role in the war against the demons, without justifiable reason. The church was reduced to the point where it had almost no authority to intervene in the hero party.

“I thought it was too quiet.”

According to what Tiaran has experienced so far, he is good at talking and is not greedy for money because he is a servant of the goddess. However, as is always the case with people, the church also said that there was an added problem of not being greedy for money.

‘The most unexpected thing was that they let me go quietly.’

If you say you will protect what you have to protect, then I have nothing to say.

“Even after bringing Anis in, she also said that we should discuss the hero’s fate with other countries as well.”

They have been electing members of the Hero Party for a very long time and have protested that it is a national organization and that having a hero as an enemy in any one country makes it impossible to maintain neutrality.

In that way, the church even brought in countries adjacent to the demon territory, so much so that the Kingdom of Midias had to hold a large-scale meeting with ambassadors from each country about the whereabouts of the warriors.

“Hey, after all, they know people well.”

From the perspective of other countries, it would not be good for the warrior to have enemies in other countries rather than in a religious denomination that can be said to be neutral in its own way. Because of this, an even bigger question arose.

“But why is Anis in the kingdom?”

If other kingdoms were normal, I would have thought it would be better to give power back to the church.

“I guess other countries also didn’t like the fact that religious denominations continued to grow in power.”

The Queen and Benia’s thoughts were not that different from Tiaran’s, but surprisingly, the majority of countries supported the Kingdom of Midias, not the church.

Thanks to this, Anise was able to live as a warrior in a situation where she was almost out of the hands of the church. It is no exaggeration to say that it was a fortunate situation.

“What does that have to do with this guy Crugild?”

“That guy was sent by the church saying they were looking for a new hero in the empire.”

“In the Empire?”

If it were an empire, it was a country located in the rear of the Kingdom of Midias, with demons at the forefront. It was also close to the border with Sorrent, where they are now.

“The church came with a delegation from the empire, saying they had completed the verification that he was a true hero.”

Just as the queen gave Annis a document acknowledging the right to conscript warriors, Crujild received such a document from the emperor of the empire and then attended an audience with her queen.

“Cult bastards. Are they joining hands with the empire?”

“It seems highly likely.”

The Empire was a rather unique country in this world. Even by Tiaran’s standards.

‘I thought something similar would happen someday.’

I never thought we would work hand in hand with the empire. It seemed like the church was quite desperate enough to blatantly put a fake hero at the forefront.

“So what do you plan to do?”

When Lucia asked, pointing to her letter, Tia Ran answered after much thought.

“I have to participate somehow.”

“Wow, that’s unexpected.”

“That’s right. I thought you would reject this as useless.”

Krusha and Anis were amazed, and Lucia didn’t say anything, but her wide eyes showed how surprised she was.

“… Aren’t you planning on going and blowing it all up?”

“No, what are you looking at me for?”

When Benia asked worriedly, Tia Ran shook her head.

“The most terrifying people in the world are politicians who sacrifice their souls to enemy countries and religious figures who have a taste for power. It is obvious that such people will run wild. We need to keep them in check.”

Although he didn’t particularly like politics, Tiaran knew very well that politics would be ruined if he wasn’t really interested.