128. Eveam's Resolve

Hearing Izumi's words, Eveam started to think of what she lacked. And what Izumi said was true. Her quality as a ruler was too far off. However, she didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Izumi took out a book from his storage space. He was on his knees and presented the book to Eveam.

"If Your Majesty still believes in me, please accept this."

"What is that?"

"A book from my world. But I revised the language to match this world. It's a book to let Your Majesty learn how to be a good sovereign."

While widening her eyes, she unconsciously accepted it. But then, her gaze turned to him in astonishment.

"Wait, did you already prepare even before you came to this world? More importantly…" She turned to Shinobu. "Aside from his so-called girlfriend and Hiiro being summoned to this world, there were no other people who were summoned along with the heroes, right?"

"Girlfriend?" Shinobu tilted her head in confusion. When she looked at Izumi, he spoke.

"It's Kyouko. She's my girlfriend. Also my classmate."

"Eh… Seriously?"

At that moment, Eveam asked.

"Since you're not summoned, how did you come here?"

"Something like that doesn't matter, right? More importantly, the fact that people from this world kidnapped the people from my world without a way to go back didn't change. As such, it's useless if the higher-ups in this country are trying to find fault in my actions." While Izumi said so, he glared at the higher-ups in the surroundings.

All the people who previously glared at Izumi didn't dare to meet his gaze.

Izumi carried on.

"If the hero was smart but also vengeful. I believe that hero would be waiting for the right time to strike back by destroying this world since he didn't have a way to go back. You think it's so simple to forcefully summon someone from another world?"

Eveam let out a bitter smile. What Izumi said was logical enough. People from this world didn't think about the possibility of being summoned to another world. So, they didn't really understand the pain of someone who was forcefully summoned.

"Humph. That's to be expected. You said it already. Since you plan to destroy this world, Your Majesty, let's kill this traitor!"

"SHUT UP, MARIONE! Say it again, I'll throw you to prison. And all of you as well!" Eveam yelled at him and the surrounding higher-ups. Now, her demeanor has changed. As Izumi had said before, her presence was not enough to be respected. Thus, her underlings acted on their whims.

Eveam glared at the surroundings higher-ups and Marione with killing intent. If she didn't change, her country would be a mess up.

She turned her head to Izumi and asked.

"But still, I want to know how you came here."

Izumi sighed. Then he let out a smile before replied.

"I have two items, which can be used to go back and forth from this world to mine. It's just that I gave one to my girlfriend. So…" His gaze turned to Shinobu and Shuri.

"Although I can't send you back to earth due to my limited knowledge, I have a way to send you back to earth."

Shinobu and Shuri lit their eyes. Even the others were surprised to hear that.

"R-Really?" Shuri asked while trembling.

"Yes. But…"

The atmosphere tensed once again. Both heroes shuddered.

Izumi calmed them down after he felt the atmosphere was quite gloomy.

"Ah, you don't need to be so tense! First of all… well, forget it! I will ask you later if all heroes gathered." Then, Izumi turned to Eveam. "Your Majesty, didn't you invite us for a banquet? Isn't it enough to talk about our identities?"

Eveam turned to Aquinas since he could identify if Izumi was lying or not. But, Aquinas couldn't read it at all. Since the first time he met Izumi, he thought Izumi never lied to him. But, he was mistaken. He didn't even know how Izumi could fool him. Regarding Izumi's fake identity, tribe, etc. None of them could be detected as lies.

Aquinas whispered to Eveam. She nodded afterward.

"Well, all this time, even if you weren't an Evila, you've been a great help for us. Also, I owe Hiiro's debt. If I couldn't fulfill the contract, I would die."

Marione wanted to voice out his complaint. But, remembering her words, he tried his best to not let out his complaint.

"Well, Your Majesty's decision is good enough. If you didn't accept me or Hiiro, then forget about world peace, you're unqualified to unify all races all together."

Izumi knew pretty well what Eveam wanted. And this was the first step. Although it was fine if Eveam increased her wariness toward him, once she kicked Izumi out of the Cruel Brigade, then her dream to unify all races was just bullshit.

"Are you done talking? Then how about continuing on with the conversation already? I only came here to eat. Hurry up and end this!" Hiiro complained directly to Eveam.

The moment his speech ended…

*Smack*

He got a kick in the ass, flew, and tumbled head over heels.

"Fuck! What's wrong with you?" Hiiro got up while fixing his glasses.

"Otamegane, there is a limit to how impudent you can be." Izumi's voice echoed through the hall. Before Hiiro could muster his voice, Izumi continued.

"I know you're a rude guy. But, you should learn TPO first! It was inappropriate to say such brazen words in front of a sovereigner. Let's say you weren't sent to this world, but to a warring state-like world, and you stood in front of the king or emperor, your head would fly if you said something like earlier. You're smart. But why can't you think of something so simple?"

Hiiro couldn't argue at all. Shinobu and Shuri smiled awkwardly while looking at them.

"Don't glare at me! I said that because your knife-like mouth could even kill you. Perhaps it's fine if you're talking without formality in private. Talking about your daily life, love, or something else. But, you should refrain from doing so in public!"

"L-Love??" Eveam's face reddened hearing Izumi mentioned that. But then, she cleared her throat.

"A-Anyway, let's start the banquet!"

Although the atmosphere wasn't quite right with a conflict added into it, Hiiro and his companions along with Izumi still calmly ate the dish in the banquet greedily.

— — — —

When the dark of the night came, Izumi was still in the castle. He was outside looking up at the stars in the sky on a sparkling night. While doing so, he reminisced about his past. Then, he sighed.

"Maybe I can't go back to that world ever again."

Then, a sound of footsteps could be heard from behind. The person in question asked him.

"You look like you're thinking about something. Do you miss your world?"

"Aquinas, huh? Yeah, you can say so. You want to ask something, right?"

"Right. Truthfully, my eyes can detect a lie. But, I wonder how you could escape my detection?"

Izumi didn't expect Aquinas to be so honest. It seemed he trusted Izumi unconditionally even though he knew Izumi had fooled him before.

"Detecting lies can be seen from 3, no, 5 factors. Through the eyes, facial expressions, tone, body movement, and a heartbeat. I can control those factors to deceive people's eyes. So my lies were undetectable. But, there's a skill to detect lies even if a person already controlled those factors perfectly. It's just, I'm not sure if people in this world can grasp that skill."

"I see… No wonder. But what skill did you mention earlier?"

"It's Kenbunshoku Haki."

"Kenbu…Haki? This is the first time I hear that… Is that a skill from your world? But, hold on…!"

"What is it?"

"I heard from Hiiro that your world is a world without magic. Even he and the new heroes have powers once they arrive in this world. But you are different, you—"

Izumi pondered. He didn't know how to explain logically. Then, he got an idea.

"Hmmm… how should I explain it? Let's say, what happened to Hiiro when he was summoned to this world, it happened to me as well. But not in this world. When I came back to my world, my power still remained."

Aquinas widened his eyes. So, what Izumi implied was, a lot of different worlds exist. And Izumi happened to have a power from one of those worlds.

Aquinas asked about Haki. Thus, Izumi explained to him three kinds of Haki.

— — — —

Needless to say, a week had passed.

In that week, Eveam got a suggestion from Hiiro to hold a World Strongest Tournament to conquer the stubborn nature of the Gabranth race. She didn't want a war to be escalated, so that suggestion could be a second step to unify all races.