Sleep Learning: Cold Princess Irori

Since Gin was one step too late, looking at the spectacle of the battlefield, he did not understand what had happened. The world had been transfigured into a world completely gray, the northern forest smelling and burnt.

"What does this mean?" (Gin)

"Ash? I wonder what happened?" (Maia)

"All the monsta're gone!" (Meer)

"...a sleeping cat." (Christa)

In the ash, Christa easily discovered Harumi sleeping peacefully and pointed towards the breathing figure. The four people direct their line of sight to find Harumi, incredibly, sleeping soundly on.

"To be grandly sleeping in a place like that-" (Gin)

"He'll catch a cold." (Maia)

"Useless cat!" (Meer)

"...Cute." (Christa)

"Did Gin not watch this girl?" One of the skilled adventurers explained what happened here. Harumi had suddenly appeared and began pummeling monsters with lightning breath never seen before. After awhile, the lightning breath seemed wasteful to use on the remaining monsters. Then, even though he did not understand the speech and behavior of Harumi very well, the monsters were cleared with radial lightning to the extent that there could be no comparison. The monsters were erased and burned to ash, creating the current scenery. Then Harumi had immediately started sleeping on the spot, which brought them to the present.

"It's a lie right!? As if Harumi could do all this, seriously." (Gin)

A lie? The adventurer frowned and shook his head. Although it was fortunate the monsters were defeated, the skilled adventurers were conflicted on what they should do. It was probably because they saw the overwhelming magic of Harumi. In these circumstances he seemed to have lost his confidence.

"I don't believe it. Harumi-chan is S rank?" (Maia)

No one answered Maia's question. Everyone directed towards Gin, who was the most approachable, but Gin knew almost nothing about Harumi as they had met just the other day.

"I also-! We should't listen about such a useless cat!" (Meer)

Saying so, Meer began to approach Harumi. Christa stopped her, pulling on her sleeves.

"Stop! Bad things will happen if you approach that boy!" (Christa)

The sudden difference in Christa's tone surprised Gin. Meer also inquired "eh" of Christa in the middle of her complaint.

"Eh? Christa-chan?" (Gin)

"Not right now. I'm called Irori." (Christa/Irori)

"Ah, Yes." (Maia)

Maia follows up with an explanation for Gin who is confused.

"Christa and Irori are a [Dual Personality], and the leader of <Blizzard> is Irori the [Cold Princess] as I have been told." (Maia)

Christa and Irori share one body between two souls. Just like Harumi's [Sleep Learning] their [Dual Personality] is a unique and inherent skill. Although only one of them is associated with certain skill, it plays a major role. Usually, Christa's personality is the base, and only transfers to Irori during battle or in emergencies. Since the skill that causes Irori consumes a large amount of magical power and strength, she was resting.

"That's why I said 'not right now.'" (Irori)

"It is because that personality was Christa." (Maia)

"Crap! Did you notice that no-good cat before!?" (Meer)

"I noticed. I just seriously didn't know." (Irori)

Certainly Christa had immediately perceived something in Harumi. And because she had watched Maia many times, there may have been many hints. (TL: I guess because Maia is S-rank?) But although lunch was eaten together she did still had to wonder what he was good at, so it was probably alright she didn't know. It is true that they didn't even touch.

"It is normal for a person to not understand this. That child has changed." (Irori)

"How Irori-like. Is what caused all this Harumi-chan?" (Maia)

Producing an ornamental hairpin from her pocket, Irori puts it in her hair as she addresses Gin.

"I feel causing him to wake up is a bad sign. If the feeling is correct, if there is no hostility it should be alright, but…it is like a curse for touching a sleeping God." (Irori)

And so, as they must absolutely not approach Harumi, she sat down beside him.

Maia and Meer are accustomed to the inexplicable behavior or Irori, though there is the matter of what to do with Gin in future meetings. Mainz the Guildmaster, Knight's leader Bern Fleet, and third princess Ririade had not been told about this.Speaking simply, this is processed after-the-fact.

"Until Harumi gets up, everyone could leave. I should also tell grandfather." (Gin)

"Thank you. We will now head out to the Knight station who called on us." (Maia)

"How troublesome-!" (Meer)

Maia drags the drooping Meer behind her. Gin and Maia did not know at this time that the knights had abducted Ririade.

Since the damage from the monster invasion was almost zero, third city Hairun had entered into a mood of victory. The adventurers who came back safe and sound and the city's inhabitants immediately began preparations in their district for a feast. Cheerful music started flowing in the city.

Only one person, [Cold Princess] Irori was not in a victorious mood. She directed a sharp gaze toward Harumi who slept soundly and peacefully beside the gray-stained Northern land. At this time, Irori determined that nobody would help this city and country in the future. There is the perception that something is stirring, like an infant in the womb.

– -*Kitano Maou [Hekatonkheires Multifaceted Hundred-hand Giant]* POV – –

The Multifaceted Hekatonkheires is the worst monster, parasitic and spawned from a certain human's mass of hatred. Even the strength of an S rank human is not enough to injure it. (TL: a 'Hekatonkhieres' is a type of monster with a hundred hands – look it up)

In the past, the hero destroyed the earth in the North and sealed the Multifaceted Hekatonkheires using his own body as a human sacrifice. He succeeded in resting it in the underground depths of the Haunts where no human hand would ever find it. In order to protect the world, he entrusted everything to his friend Gurankasso and died.

The Multifaceted Hekatonkheies aimed for revival. But, the time, among other things, kept it from reviving. The presence of the hero's seal and the bahamut were too much.

A long time had passed, and the people had forgotten the existence of the hero and the Hekatonkheires, and even Bahamut was forgotten as the Lord of the Haunts in the north.

But, the Multifaceted Hekatonkheires had obtained an opportunity. For thousands of years it had watched, until the bahamut suddenly disappeared. Marvelling at having one of the two gone, things started moving in favor of Kitano Maou.

It cannot move directly due to its curse, but it called many monsters from the underground depths. The Multifaceted Hekatonkheires' intention was to summon monsters and send them against the humans, absorb the malice from their deaths, and destroy the hero's seal. However, the monsters of the north are not weak. Yet, the presence of those monsters in the northern land had been terminated. Even though it took hundreds of years of trying to tear the seal – the second opportunity had come. After successfully calling on the monsters, it had absorbed large amounts of malice faster than expected.

Trembling in joy, the Multifaceted Hekatonkheires that had been defeated by the hero now had enough power to destroy the seal.