“Earth, I’m sure you’ll meet us again at the top!”
“See you!”
“Stay healthy, Little man! Please come back anytime.”
“Earth, take care of yourself.”
“Master, please be well.”
“Goddess, High Priestess, and Big Brother will definitely come again!”
“I’m sure they will!”
“”””Uooooooohh!!!!!!!Masteeeeeeeeeeer, Goddeeeeeeeeeeees, Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarth!!!Um, Hiluaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!””””
The Seraphs and everyone riding with them on Pegasi flew from the clouds as they were waving at us.
There were some tears. But there were smiles and a refreshing feeling.
A lot happened today, it was a tough time mentally and physically, but I smiled and waved back.
“Little man… I’ll talk to the Master and Madam myself… I’m not going to chase you anymore… but…… but I ask you to trust me.”
“Um, I will also talk to them. But I’m not saying that this is the last farewell.”
Come to think of it, I ran away from the Imperial City and had many encounters, but this may be the first time that I was able to part with a smile on my face.
Sadiz, Phianse, everyone else…
“Honey, we’ll definitely meet again♡…Ufufufu… Kron, my rival, doesn’t intend to travel or live with Honey… Phianse-hime is already going home… Sadiz-san wishes the best for her Botchama… Ufu, ufufufufufufufufu… to think that the rivals around Honey would disappear by themselves without any effort on my part… this is it! All that’s left, find the proper timing and from the shadows again… ufufufufufu, with this, it’ll be my win!”
Somehow, even though Shinobu was waving her hand, she had a terrifying grin on her face… well…… that’s fine.
“Everyone, take care?”
“Let’s all play again!”
Kron and Hilua smiled and waved at everyone.
“…… Hmph…”
And Jamdi’el crossed her arms and remained silent.
Both eyes were normal eyes, her Heraldic Eyes will no longer open… I expect…….
“Everyone… they are already so far away…”
“Kron…”
“Lady Kron…”
Kron muttered sadly as she watched everyone on Pegasi who had already moved far away to the point where they looked like peas.
But she quickly clenched her fists and looked up with eager eyes.
“Come on, let’s go, Jamdi’el, Hilly. Earth is with us halfway, right?”
“Huh, Lady Kron… is that…… right?”
“Leave it to me!”
Jamdi’el was also a little puzzled by Kron, who quickly switched and looked forward.
This time, Kron changed and became really strong, to the extent that even Jamdi’el, who had been with her for over a decade, had become like that.
I was worried about a lot of things, but it seemed that they will be okay from now on.
Besides, from now on, ‘that guy’ will be…
“So, let’s get going too?”
“Yeah.”
And I stopped waving my hand at Sadiz and the others who were already far away.
Jamdi’el and Kron ride on Hilua’s back, and I get behind the prince.
Anyway, this was still a bad idea.
“Now then, Hiyo~!”
“Whoa!”
“Come now, hold fast, princess ♪.”
“I’m a man! Whoa!?”
The prince, who teased me for being embarrassed, sent a signal to the Pegasus.
Then the Pegasus raised its front legs to gain momentum and jumped straight off the clouds.
“Uoh, nuh, fall, abu, nuh-uh, guh”
“Ah…… nh.”
At first I felt embarrassed to put my hands around the prince’s waist, but the moment we jumped off, I reflexively clung to his body.
“…… Huh?”
“Hahaha, thou art too startled, boy. Art thou so scared to hold on so desperately?”
“Oh? No… no, I’m fine.”
“Hahahaha, is that so? Then, firmly put thy arms around my ‘waist’.”
I lost my balance a little and, to my embarrassment, clung to the prince’s body in a daze, and the prince made fun of me for that, but… right now, I felt something strange in my palm… it was soft… no, it’s firm, but… just a little softer? What part of the prince’s body did I just touch?
Oh, are we too close? The scent… even though he’s a man, why does this guy smell so good?
『Ah, child? You… have you not realized it at all?』
「Huh?」
『Well, this one may be dressed as such, but actually――――』
At that moment, Tre’ainar gave me a scowling look and said…
“So, where are we headed?”
“Huh? … oh, um…”
Tre’ainar was about to say something, but was upset by the prince’s question.
“Ah~, Kron’s party will head to the westernmost coastline of the Empire, where they will be picked up.”
That was decided after talking with Paripi.
And I…
“I see. So, where should I send thee, boy?”
“Oh, I want you to go a little further after we’ve dropped Kron.”
“Ah, I don’t mind.”
“…… I mean, if you think about it carefully, we’ll just stop for a while and then we’ll be back in the territory of the Empire we’ve left…”
That was the particulars Tre’ainar and I decided on.
“Fufufu, my Pegasus is a capable escort at great distances in little time. However, is that funny dragon over there doing fine?”
“Oh, what, did you just make fun of me?! Watch me! I, I’m quite confident in my flying speed!”
“Wow, fast fast fast!”
“Lady Kron, don’t lean out too much… then again, what is this dragon? Where in heavens did thou find it… Earth Lagann?”
“Huh? Ah. Me and Kron summoned him.”
And while we were talking, the continent closest to Cacretale came into our sight.
“Oh, look, boy. Over there…”
“Huh? Oh…… a continent came into view… but that’s not it……. that’s…”
「…… The Kingdom of Bethreal…… or…”
“Wow, that’s another country, I’ve never seen one!”
A large port town can be seen along the coastline facing the sea, and several ships were anchored.
A country I’ve never been to.
Kron had a twinkle in her eye.
『Oh… is that… The Kingdom of Bethreal…』
Tre’ainar was also looking at it, with a “Hoh~.”
「Tre’ainar, have you ever been to that country?」
『No, never that country, I was not particularly interested. Although a member state of the Union, its national strength is below the middle level… tis a country far inferior to the Empire and the Kingdom of Japone…』
「I see. Well, I don’t know much about it either.」
Primarily, I want to freely travel, so I guess stepping into a country I’ve never been to is one of the pleasures.
If it weren’t for transporting Kron’s party, I might have thought it would be okay to take a little detour.
And then……
『The Kingdom of Bethreal… speaking of which…… “that little girl” who was one of the Seven Heroes was from that country… come to think of it, what is she doing? Did she not notice that Jamdi’el had been lurking just a stone’s throw away for more than a dozen years?』
“The Kingdom of Bethreal… speaking of which…… “that little girl” who was one of the Seven Heroes was from that country… well, she never did return to that country after the war, so I was able to hide in Cacretale, not far away.”
Tre’ainar and Jamdi’el muttered almost simultaneously.
And they both spoke of the member of the Seven Heroes from that country.
『Hmm?』
Tre’ainar responded to Jamdi’el’s mutterings.
『Oi, child…』
On that subject, of the Seven Heroes except father and mother, only one of them mattered to Treina…
「Huh? Oh~…… didn’t you know? Oh yeah, we didn’t talk about that.」
『Hmm. What do you mean? I thought all the Seven Heroes had high positions in their homes, but… well, most of them are from the Empire.』
「Oh. Five of them. Father, mother, the Emperor, Rebal’s father, Fu’s father.」
『And Kojirou of Japone is the head of the Samurai Warriors, is he not? I did hear that much. But then again, I am yet to hear about the last, ‘That Little Girl’.』
If I remember correctly, you talked about that during the Cacretale tournament, right?
As I recall, it was in the course of talking about the Six Supremacy…
『The youngest of the Seven Heroes… at the time, she was still a little girl, about seven or eight years of age? “Espie”… I suppose she will be over twenty now, but she was quite the interesting one… no, that is why she was so interesting… she must have been used by the adults of Bethreal, but… could it be due to the circumstances there?』
Saying that, Tre’ainar fondly mentions the name of one of the Seven Heroes, who was also a former enemy.
I know that ‘name only’.
「I’ve only heard about her in stories, and I’ve never met her.」
『Hoh~, she was a companion to your parents, and she seemed like a little sister to them, but… did you never come across each other in all that time?』
「I haven’t. My father and mother may have met occasionally after the war, but at least I haven’t met Kojirou or Espie.」
We’ve never met.
Well, I don’t know about before I could remember.
Even that Old man Mikado said he had met me when I was a baby.
『Tis fine. That aside… what is Espie doing now?』
「Now?」
『…… Now?』
「No, I don’t know. But from what I’ve heard… there were various incidents with her country, so they cut off their relationship… it seems that she didn’t have any family… and for a while she was doing something with the Allied Force, but what are they doing now? I don’t know, my father and mother wouldn’t tell me about it in detail, and I wasn’t really that interested either…」
I’ve heard a lot about the saga of the Seven Heroes, and even read about it in textbooks.
That included the post-war political relationship with the demons and the Demon Realm.
But I don’t know much about Espie.
“Earth Lagann, thou… what does thou know about Espie?”
I was about to tell Tre’ainar that I didn’t know, but it was Jamdi’el who asked.
“Huh? No, only the name… unlike the other Seven Heroes, what is she doing now…”
“Is that so…”
When I replied, Jamdi’el stared at the port town of Bethreal and then…
“Before… I asked Hakuki… he told me that Espie and Norja were working on――― “
But before she could say it, her words were interrupted.
“I found theeeeeeem!!!!”
“There they aaaaaaaaaaare!!!!
――――――――――――eh!!??
“I’m sorry, Horsey! But go faster now”
“I’ll heal you up if you get tired! I’ll give you lots of great carrots later! So, please!”
I turn around.
There, from far behind, someone was chasing after us at breakneck speed.
“Wh, wha, what!? So fast! Something is coming…! I mean, uh…”
When I strained my eyes, I saw it was a Pegasus flying at a furious pace.
And straddling it with a loud voice…
“Uh, wai… why!?”
“Wh… what!?”
Me and Jamdi’el were stunned at the same time.
“Oh? Who is it?”
“Tch,… Hiro… Mamu!”
Father!? Mother!? Why?
Because Sadiz and Phianse said they’d talk to them…
『…… I guess they never even listened to what they had to say, borrowed the Pegasus from the Seraph for the time being, and chased after you with all their might…』
“…… most likely…”
I see… those two… they don’t listen to people… even if Sadiz and Phianse say to “trust me”… they won’t even believe them…. no, they chased after me before even hearing about it?
Either way…… this is bad
And I was in such a hurry, I hadn’t noticed it yet.
Neither Jamdi’el nor Kron noticed.
Father and mother chasing after us on a single Pegasus carrying two.
But, they weren’t actually “two people”.
In fact, there was one other… a very small one… between father and mother… clinging tightly to my father’s back, and my mother hugging her from behind…