Securing the Porter
The mage was watching this entire process.
Sometimes she used magic to erase her presence, sometimes she used magic to watch from afar, and sometimes—like now, when the Crown Princess and the shield knight were on such good terms—she used a clone to watch from right beside them.
It was strange.
They were clearly lovers whispering sweet nothings to each other in joy, so why did Tigria feel as if they were villains plotting a conspiracy?
Why did she feel pity for Arciel and Nydrian, who were being deceived by the two of them?
Even though the world was ruled by the law of the jungle, and it was only natural for both the strong and the weak to deceive and exploit others to survive.
Tigria wondered if she should finally admit, however belatedly, that something was going wrong with her.
That, for some reason, the way she looked at things had become more emotional than before.
"Halt! Identify yourself."
"Mage of the Hero's party, Tigria."
"Confirmed!"
Since she had been sticking close to Rinacien and Reinhold anyway, Tigria intentionally waited a while after the two entered the conference room before following them inside.
Normally, escort troops would be sent to bring the conference participants.
But that was strictly for the participants only.
"The porter of the Hero's party is not permitted to attend the conference."
"...What did you say?"
The captain of the royal guard, who had arrived in front of Rin and Lucy's room, tensed up at the Hero's cold voice.
Three soldiers had already been sent to their graves for treating the porter carelessly.
He did his best to appear as polite as possible.
"The grand conference is only open to nobles, rulers, and scholars in fields related to the agenda."
Neither Labin nor Lucy liked this.
Leaving aside Lucy, who simply hated being separated from Rin, even Labin, with her sharp instincts, glared at the captain with deep displeasure. The captain felt like he was dying under their gazes.
Lucy continued to press him.
"This involves the future actions of the Hero's party. It makes no sense that the party members can't attend."
"Similarly, not all nobles are attending; only the high lords are present. Please understand that the leaders of each faction consolidate their internal opinions before entering the meeting."
"So in the end, whether we're Hero party members or not, you high-and-mighty folks are just going to decide everything amongst yourselves?"
"The archer, Lady Nydrian, is also not among the attendees. This rule is being applied fairly to everyone, so we ask for your understanding."
Since other members of the Hero's party besides the porter were barred from the grand conference, Lucy and Labin had no excuse to make a scene.
If they insisted on pushing further, they would have to challenge the regulation limiting the participants' status itself. But even Lucy knew that throwing a tantrum right before the meeting would ruin their reputation.
"Have a safe trip."
Ultimately, leaving Rin behind as he waved them off, the two moved to the grand conference room with the royal guard.
Yet, Lucy felt uneasy.
She kept looking back, glancing at the door to his room.
As Lucy fiddled with the red thread on her pinky finger, Labin whispered to her.
"Don't let your guard down for a second. We're surrounded by enemies."
"...I know."
It sounded less like encouragement and more like a warning born of absolute certainty about what was to come.
The grand conference.
Though the word "grand" made it sound magnificent, it was simply a meeting where the high-and-mighty gathered.
"The Hero's party must visit our territory first! As the most critical strategic point in the Empire after the capital, we must verify if there is any threat from the demons here and reassure the people!"
"How can you say only the Empire is to be protected? The Elf Forest is also an allied nation that dispatched the archer Nydrian!"
The redeployment of the Hero's party was agreed upon with anticlimactic speed, reaching a unanimous decision almost instantly.
The problem, however, lay in the party's destination.
Everyone was clamoring for the party to visit their own territories first out of self-preservation.
Had the Demon King been alive, they would have naturally crossed into the Demon Realm and headed for the Demon King's castle.
But the Demon King was dead.
Had the demon army mobilized, they would have naturally headed to the front lines to confront them.
Instead, the demon army had retreated even further and showed no significant movement.
That left only one thing.
Rooting out the demons who were appearing unpredictably in the Empire's cities and waging guerrilla warfare.
The nobles and rulers, desperate to escape the threat of the demons as quickly as possible, had been arguing over this issue for hours.
"Silence, please. The Hero's party will traverse the entire land regardless."
Rinacien presided over the meeting as the Crown Princess, but those blinded by the greed to save their own skins did not listen.
Surprisingly, Reinhold was merely observing, as he did not care in the slightest where they went first.
Rinacien cast pleading glances his way several times, but he had already resolved things to some extent this morning.
His philosophy was that she could never grow unless she took responsibility for herself until the very end.
Slam!
"It seems we won't reach a conclusion at this rate. Since time is of the essence, our Hero's party will regroup in the Holy Kingdom first."
But it was Arciel who put an end to the chaos.
Slamming her fist onto the table, she let her holy power crackle around her like electricity as she glared at the room.
At the assertion of the Saint, the only being besides the Pope capable of wielding holy power, everyone was busy walking on eggshells.
"Saint Arciel, isn't going to the Holy Kingdom far too self-serving?"
"Your Imperial Highness."
Arciel suppressed her holy power without even sparing her a glance.
"Since defeating the Demon King, our Hero's party has only been dragged around for post-war award ceremonies. We haven't had a single physical checkup. My entire body is aching as it is, so I'm not confident I can perform at my best against the demons."
Her attitude was insolent, but Arciel's argument was logical.
Rinacien decided to overlook the Saint's aggressive behavior with composure rather than call her out on it.
She had learned from Reinhold that rather than nitpicking at every little thing, it was more effective to let things slide for now and crush them later all at once when she had gathered enough leverage.
"Very well. The Hero's party will focus on recuperating in the Holy Kingdom, and in the meantime, we shall establish the priorities once more."
The representatives of the Holy Kingdom smiled inwardly, but the other nobles were dissatisfied.
However, since they had no valid counterargument, they had to back down for now.
As they began to leave their seats one by one, Rinacien hastily called them to a halt.
"Wait. There is still an important matter remaining."
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
Reinhold, having heard nothing of this beforehand, was also bewildered.
Rinacien took a deep breath and spoke with authority.
"I, Rinacien Carlun, hereby announce my engagement to Sir Morgan Reinhold, the shield knight."
"...?!"
Everyone in the conference room was dumbfounded.
To use a venue meant for discussing a global crisis as a stage for personal affairs?
While the engagement of the imperial heir was no small matter, it was completely irrelevant to the agenda of this grand conference.
"Congratulations!"
The ones who responded first were the elders of the Elf Forest.
No wonder she had summoned them since morning and talked about giving them the forest; there was a reason for it all.
As the demi-humans clapped first, the other nobles quickly followed suit so as not to be left behind.
Showered with congratulations, Rinacien wore a very, very satisfied smile.
And at that moment,
Clang!
Lucy heard the sound of clashing weapons along with the vibration of the red thread.
"Your Highness, you gave me no warning about this."
"It was only a matter of time anyway. Did you expect me to just watch other noble ladies wag their tails at you? Just as you helped me this morning, all of this is to help you."
"All of this? Is there more?"
As Reinhold took a posture that made it look like he was embracing her, the cheers grew even louder.
Taking advantage of the noise to press her, the Crown Princess revealed an even more shocking truth.
"To make that insolent Hero behave, we need the porter."
"Your Highness...!"
"How foolish of her to leave the porter alone out of sheer overconfidence in herself."
"Don't tell me..."
"I sent the royal guard. They should have secured him by now."
This entire conversation was heard by the Hero, who had heightened her senses to the absolute limit.
She bolted up from her seat.
Everyone held their breath at the sudden, violent movement of the Hero, who had remained silent until now.
"He's in danger."
Reinhold caught sight of the Hero's thighs swelling with power even beneath her skirt.
"Everyone, get back!"
Boom!
He hastily raised his shield to block, but the shockwave generated by the Hero as she lunged forward blew the shield knight away.
Fortunately, because he had blocked it right in front of them, the people nearby were only knocked off their feet.
"What is going on...?"
While everyone was struggling to comprehend the situation, Labin shouted.
"An attack! There's an intruder inside the imperial palace! The Hero sensed it first and rushed out! Follow her!"
Rinacien panicked at the unexpected turn of events.
And the participants grew agitated, swayed by Labin's instigation.
Quickly picking himself up, Reinhold discarded his ruined shield and dashed in the direction the Hero had gone.
Even as a shield knight, his leg strength far exceeded that of ordinary men, allowing him to easily pull ahead of those following behind.
"Reinhold. The porter is confronting the royal guards."
How do you know that?
He was curious, but now was not the time to ask.
Reinhold gave orders to the mage, who was the only one keeping pace with him.
"The porter must not be harmed under any circumstances! If he is, the Hero will run wild!"
"Understood."
"However..."
Since things had already come to this, wouldn't it be better to make the most of it?
"If the Hero shows an opening, teleport the porter away and secure him. We will play the subsequent rendezvous by ear."
"Understood."
Following Lucy's mana, the two arrived at the scene before long.
"Who ordered this?"
The situation was already resolved.
Rin was sitting on the floor, looking exhausted.
He was uninjured.
Instead, the royal guards nearby had all been sliced into at least two pieces.
"...The, the Crown Princess."
Lucy was gripping the neck of the guard captain who had come to fetch them earlier.
Facing death, he answered Lucy's question and begged for mercy.
"I only did as I was ordered, please spare..."
Snap!
But Lucy snapped the captain's neck without hesitation.
"I tolerated it twice."
She drew the temporary holy sword at her waist.
"I believe I made it clear there wouldn't be a third time."
A violent aura of reddish-gold mana erupted from her.
"Ah~ Shall I add a little topping for you?"
Along with the Abyss's playful mutter, a dark energy seeped into the mana, slowly transforming it.
"Luciena, let's talk for a moment...!"
Reinhold said, taking a defensive stance.
He was already prepared.
Once that holy sword was fully charged with mana, she would try to slice him in two immediately.
He could not let himself be defeated so easily.
He was the one destined to become the guardian who balanced this world.
"I finally get to kill you!"
So Rin knew this would happen.
He had already told Lucy.
If anything unfortunate happened to him and Reinhold showed up, she was to tear the bastard apart first.
Lucy decided to carry out his words faithfully.
Rumble!
"I said it's a misunderstanding!"
"Die—!!!!!"
Estelle Style Secret Art: Sky Rend
The temporary holy sword, clad in dark red mana, was drawn with the blinding speed of a quickdraw technique.
It was impossible to block a downward strike delivered with the full twist of her body without a shield.
"Aaaargh!"
"Tch! What kind of muscles are these...!"
She had cut him cleanly.
Yet, due to his abnormally dense muscles, Reinhold was not sliced in half.
Flicking the blood off the temporary holy sword, Lucy took up her stance once more.
This man is dangerous.
I must kill him for good right now...!
As Lucy, thrilled by the thought of parting with her foolish past self, let a cold smile slip onto her face,
"Porter, secured."
Tigria, having teleported behind Lucy, scooped Rin up in her arms.
"You...!"
Not yet.
If she reacted immediately, she could neutralize the mage before she could even chant.
But Lucy saw the shape of Rin's lips.
It's okay.
A split second of hesitation.
Tigria did not miss that hesitation.
"Targeting, transmitting, stabilizing."
Chanting in such a rush, she didn't even have time to review the spell formula.
Even she did not know where they would land.
But the only certainty was that she had to escape with Rin immediately.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"Teleport!"
The Hero's sword sliced through empty air.
At the same time, a heavy silence enveloped Lucy.
No.
The nightmares and illusions of the past, which she had managed to avoid by staying by his side, began to cling to her once more.
The voices from the time her limbs were torn apart echoed in her ears.
The words she had heard in a past nightmare drifted around her.
"Aaaaaah..."
She couldn't breathe.
"Riiiiiiiiiiin—!!!!!!!!!"
A sorrowful shriek shook the imperial palace.
By the time Labin arrived leading the crowd, only Reinhold, barely clinging to life in a pool of blood, and Lucy, screaming incessantly, remained.