Vol.9 Bonus Short Stories

Bonus Short Stories

The Water Goddess's Questions

𝘘 Goddess Eir's Perspective 𝘘

"Mako's gone back a thousand years," I said. "He has," Noah replied.

"My, don't you seem cool with it? Aren't you worried about your one and only believer?"

"My Makoto will be fine."

Sophie's lover Mako had set out on a journey a thousand years into the past, meaning that the Wicked Deity Noah currently had no disciples. Despite that, she didn't seem bothered in the slightest—she was just lounging around in the Seafloor Temple like always.

On the other hand...

"Why?! Why can't I find him?! It's absurd! Don't run away from my Past Sight!"

The youngest goddess, Irrie, was ranting and raving. Despite all her abilities, she couldn't take things easy.

"What's up?" I asked her. "He arrived safe and sound, didn't he?" "He did! So why can't I find him?!"

Apparently, she wanted to offer him some support in the past, but Mako was a zealot of the Titanea. Because of his adherence to another faith, we Sacred Deities couldn't give him much help. Even so, Irrie was the Goddess of Fate, so she should be able to detect him by following the slight warping of history.

And yet, she couldn't.

"Wh-What do I do?! If he's dropped dead, then..." She was in a full-on panic, her face pale.

I wasn't that far gone, but I was, admittedly, still worried. The monsters back then were strong, and there were many demon lords. Mako was strong

too, but accidents could happen. "Phwah..." Noah yawned, lying back.

"Hey, Noah, why are you so calm?" I asked. Though we always spoke casually, she was realistically a much higher-ranking goddess than me. As punishment for siding with the demons a millennium ago, she had been stripped of her power and sealed away, and I'd been chosen as her warden. Ever since, I had been with her. At least she was easy to talk to—I thought of her as a friend.

"She'll find him sooner or later." Noah chuckled. "You don't need to worry."

Honestly, even I was envious of how beautiful that little laugh made her look. Others said that she was the most gorgeous in the heavens, and even after all these years, her beauty was alive and thriving.

"Are you...planning something?"

"Me, scheming?" she asked with an exasperated sigh. "I'm sealed and have no power, remember? How could I do anything?"

This was a topic we'd discussed many times, and I still had no idea what she was thinking. Since the talk with Noah wasn't going anywhere, I decided to shift the conversation back to Irrie. "Found him, yet?"

"No, I haven't!" she shouted, her voice lacking any of Noah's composure. "I've looked in every nook and cranny of the area where Roses's territory should be, but I can't find him!"

Hmm, if she couldn't find him after looking that thoroughly, then maybe... "Perhaps he's somewhere else?" I suggested.

"But...he's the Hero of Roses, isn't he? He's spent the most time active in that country."

"That is true..."

The pair of us tilted our heads in consideration. Then, Noah butted in. "Check near Springrogue."

"Springrogue? Mako's barely spent any time there, though."

"There's a strong link between him and the Undead King, along with the demon lord's subordinates."

"Oh." Irrie and I said in unison. Despite the small amount of time he'd been there, his stay had been rather meaningful.

"Ah! This might be it!" Irrie cried out. "There're traces of water elementals being used here!"

Seems like we'll find him sooner than we thought.

I turned to Noah. "You really know him, huh?" "Of course I do," she replied.

She then lay back to nap again, a slight smile gracing her lips.

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The Queen of Laphroaig

𝘘 Furiae's Perspective 𝘘

"Lady Furiae! A hundred new citizens have arrived at the capital!" "Your Majesty! I have a report on the Moon Palace's reconstruction!"

"My Queen! There is a group of dragons near the capital. We are massing forces to deal with them!"

Laphroaig had been reestablished, and the site of the soon-to-be town was in the midst of preparations for a festival. Problems seemed to crop up every day, but everyone was tackling them proactively.

The reason for all of this was that, up until now, we cambions had not had a country of our own. Now, thanks to the Goddess of the Sun, Laphroaig was officially allowed to become a nation again. Cambions from across the continent were gathering in the area. All of this meant that I—as the new queen—was dizzyingly busy.

I'd never led people before. My knight had risked his life to give me this opportunity though, and I wouldn't squander the chance to restore Laphroaig. That was precisely why I was throwing myself into unfamiliar work each day.

𝘘

"I'm exhausted..." After finishing my duties, I sighed, slumping back onto the sofa in my room.

"Good work, Fuu! I made some tea."

"Being queen must be tough, Fuuri. I brought you some magic fruits that apparently keep your energy up."

"Why are you both here?"

For some reason, there were two intruders in my room. It went without saying that they were Aya and Lucy, respectively.

"We came to see how you were doing. Ah, we got permission from Havel."

"Oh! And we dealt with a bunch of dragons and griffins that were rampaging in the country."

Havel was one of my aides. He just let these two pretty much come and go as they pleased. I ignored that part though—the second thing they'd mentioned was much more meaningful to me.

"The dragons only became a problem this morning..." I murmured. "Yup! We got the request today, so we just went ahead and took care of

them," Lucy replied casually.

"We've also got to go back to Great Keith again later," Aya said. "Man, it's annoying..."

I nodded. "Being a hero isn't easy."

Aya shrugged. "Well, I get plenty of money for it... But I'm not carrying on after this year!"

"You're retiring?" Lucy asked. "That's a waste." "I don't wanna! I'm not being a hero again!"

Aya had become Great Keith's State-Authorized Hero by winning their tournament, and now it seemed like she wanted to give it up. I felt like that would be a shame...but the sentiment was definitely very Aya.

"We're off to Great Keith!" Lucy exclaimed. "Bye, Fuu."

The pair of them reminded me of a storm—they said what they wanted, and then, like a flash of lightning, were gone. They were...easygoing.

Almost like my knight.

As I drifted to sleep in my bed, I reminisced about times past.

𝘘

"Oh dear... I think I overslept."

It must have been because of the consecutive days of hard work, but I was late to rise—the sun was well in the sky by the time I woke up.

This is bad... I'm sure my tasks are piling up.

That was what I thought as I headed to my office. However, when I opened the door, I was greeted by something utterly unusual. Sitting in the guest chair, smoothly shifting documents around, was a woman—Princess

Sophia of Roses.

"Lady Furiae, Lady Sophia arrived, so I showed her to your office," Havel told me.

Roses was providing support to Laphroaig, since we had only just become a country. Princess Sophia herself was helping me with my duties as queen.

"Havel! You should have woken me immediately when Her Highness arrived! Why—"

"Ah, I said that he should let you rest," said Princess Sophia. "Please don't berate him too harshly."

I had no response for her. Honestly, I did feel much better for having gotten more sleep last night.

"Um, well I'll get started too... Wait! You've already done all this?!" Documents that I'd thought would take two days were all neatly piled and done.

"I completed the simple things and collected anything that will need your approval separately, so check those first please."

"Right," I answered after a moment, overwhelmed by her efficiency.

She offered a sudden smile at my confusion. "You'll soon get used to it."

I really didn't feel like I'd ever be able to do what she could. My knight...your wives are way too skilled...

I needed to catch up! So, I spurred myself along, setting about my work for the day.

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Princess Sophia and the Crimson Fangs

𝘘 Princess Sophia's Perspective 𝘘

I was sitting in my private office, and I let out a sigh. It hasn't even been a month since Hero Makoto left. I'd thrown myself into my work to distract from my loneliness, but I might have gone at things a little excessively.

"Perhaps I should take a break..."

I picked up some of the snacks from the corner of my desk and took a sip of my cooling tea. Actually, hadn't I eaten these with Hero Makoto that one time? Ah, I was thinking about him again... This wasn't good. Eir had even

told me to avoid dwelling on it too much.

To try and shake off those thoughts, I ended up directing my gaze to the stack of documents I still had to finish. My eyes fell, and as I scanned the page, my attention latched onto a line of text that was of particular concern.

There had been a sighting of a dragon around Orion, the southernmost village in Roses. The village was petitioning the country to deal with it. Apparently, the dragon was beyond the capabilities of the Temple Knights and adventurers in the area. The payment would come from their taxes, and I knew their chief to be a diligent sort, so he was unlikely to try and fleece us.

There was a problem, though... "We don't have enough people."

Roses had very few knights. And the ones we did have weren't exactly strong. Our adventurers were in a similar position. However, this dragon wasn't an issue we could just ignore.

I was fretting over how to deal with it when something broke my concentration.

"Yoo-hoo! You good, Sophia? Not pushing yourself too hard?" "We came to hang, Sophie!"

My guards must have heard the commotion—they came bursting in. "Intruders, Lady Sophia?!"

"No. You are dismissed," I ordered. Then, I turned to the two intruders. "Lucy, Aya, I've told you over and over, but please keep the noise down when you Teleport in."

"Riiiight!" "Sorry, Sophie!"

Indeed, the two yells had come from Hero Makoto's former party members.

𝘘

"Hmm, a dragon?"

"The villagers have gotta be worrying like mad. What do we do, Lu?" "Take it down, of course!"

"Gotcha!"

Lucy and Aya had come to simply talk with me. With Hero Makoto now gone, they were some of the few people who could understand and share my

feelings of loneliness.

I took a brief breath and brought myself back down to earth. "W-Wait just a minute! It's a dragon!" Just the two of them against a beast like that would be ridiculous. A dragon of that level was normally a job for around three dozen knights.

"It'll be fine," Lucy assured me. "Aya's a hero."

"W-Well, she is... But still." Aya's cute, petite form made it easy to forget, but she'd won Great Keith's tournament and become their State-Authorized Hero.

"Besides, we took down a few dragons in Labyrinthos," Lucy remarked. "What?!"

The two of them are putting themselves in such danger?

"See you later, then." "Bye, Sophie."

Suddenly, the two of them cleared the refreshments I'd prepared and vanished with a Teleport, like a lightning flash in a storm.

I chuckled. "They really only answer to themselves."

Hero Makoto was much the same, and those two had really taken on his influence. As I set about finishing the rest of my work, I felt slightly more relaxed.

𝘘 Several Hours Later 𝘘

"We're back!" Lucy called out. "Hi again, Sophie."

When they suddenly popped in again (for the second time today), the sun had dipped completely below the horizon, and night had fully fallen.

They...really are abrupt people.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Did you forget something?"

Preparation was key against a dragon. If they needed something, I'd use every power I had as a princess to get it for them.

"We dealt with the dragon!" Lucy cheered.

Aya nodded excitedly. "Yeah! We just got done telling the guild, but we figured we should let you know as well."

I was silent for several long seconds.

"What?" What are they talking about? They only just got the request,

right?

"Man, that was a piece of cake. Nice one, Aya!" "Your Teleport makes things way easier!"

The two of them were laughing with each other. Later, I'd find out that they really had brought the materials from the dragon back to the guild.

"There anything else bothering you?" asked Lucy.

"We'll take on any long-standing quests!" Aya exclaimed.

Their enthusiasm made me jump...but I knew they were just trying to offer me some help.

"Just rest for today," I told them. "I'll have rooms prepared for you." "You don't need to worry about that," Lucy said.

"Right, we can all share."

I let out a mixture of a sigh and a laugh. Those two always followed their own whims. The thought of it was enough to make me giggle.

"What's up?" Lucy asked.

Aya smiled. "Sophie's happy now."

"I'll have a meal prepared at least," I said. "We can all eat together."

After that, the three of us talked at length, and I found myself in a far better mood.

"Let us know if you need help," Lucy told me. "Yup, no pushing yourself too hard, Sophie."

"I will," I assured them with a smile. It felt like it had been far too long since I'd been able to smile freely like this. It might even be the first time since Hero Makoto left.

I'm waiting for you.

I'd do my best until he got back. Not alone, but with everyone else by my side.

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A Day in the Life of the Pegasus Knights' Commander

𝘘 Janet's Perspective 𝘘

I was circling in the skies around the castle. This was technically part of my duties, but with how peaceful the capital was, it was little different than going for a walk.

A sigh escaped my lips. My thoughts were on the events in the cathedral a few days ago. Makoto Takatsuki—the man I harbored quiet feelings for—had set out on a journey to a distant land. According to the goddess, he wouldn't be able to return...

Even Gerald hadn't been himself since his rival had gone away. He had traveled to a fort in the northernmost reaches of the continent—an extremely dangerous place close to the demon continent. It was all to get himself back to normal.

I didn't have the wherewithal to do even that. However, with Iblis back, the army was on tenterhooks.

Ultimately, my patrol ended up with me capturing a single thief, and that was the end of my day.

𝘘

"Good even— Lady Janet'h?!"

I had arrived at the establishment Makoto Takatsuki had originally introduced me to, planning to order some dinner. The greeter had grown flustered upon seeing my face, and I gestured for her to relax. I took a seat close to the edge of the area and slowly sipped at my wine.

"Here's your food. Enjoy."

The food sold here was somewhat avant-garde—dishes thought up by an otherworlder. It was tasty...but somewhat dull.

The food was much better last time I was here. Is it because I'm alone?

Absently, I drained my second glass of wine.

"I'm taking the seat," someone said, dropping into the chair next to mine. I wasn't happy with that—they were disturbing my alone time.

I turned to see who would ignore my position as part of the Ballantine family and intrude on my space. When my eyes met theirs, I found myself shocked.

"G-Grandsage?!"

The strongest mage in the country was sitting right next to me. "Keep it down. They'll notice."

"R-Right... Um...why are you here?"

She responded as if the answer was obvious. "Because the food is good." Well, what I'd wanted to ask was more like, "Why did you purposefully

sit right next to me?" but the Grandsage was only second in authority to the king and pope, so I couldn't inquire more openly.

Eventually, a bright red cocktail and a bloody steak were set in front of her. The woman heartily dug in.

"Not bad," she said when she was done, wiping her mouth daintily. The flush from the alcohol had completely vanished.

"Do you visit this place often?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, this is my first time. The elementalist recommended it, so I decided to see how it was."

"The elementalist" was how she referred to Makoto Takatsuki... That man! Did he just recommend this place to everyone he knew?!

"Still," she continued, "you seem rather lifeless. Gerald is training in the north, is he not?"

"Well, my brother has his own plans...but I..."

"The water and moon priestesses are rushing around to prepare for when

he returns. Are you happy just letting time pass?"

I jolted at that. "Do you think Makoto Takatsuki will come back?" The goddess had said he wouldn't be able to...

"He will," she said simply. There wasn't a single ounce of mocking in her eyes—she met my gaze steadily and earnestly.

She seems certain he'll be back...? I didn't know why, but that was how it seemed. Then this definitely isn't the time to be moping...

There were almost certainly meetings being held day and night to strategize against Iblis. Once they had decided on a plan, it would be up to us knights to carry it out.

"There. Your face looks much better now." She grinned. "Also, I've dealt with the payment."

"Huh—?"

Before the syllable had even left my mouth, she'd teleported away.

I stared, gaping. Did she...come to cheer me up? Came here just for a little girl like me?

It wasn't something that someone in such a high position should have any need to do...but I vowed in my heart that I would live up to her expectations.