After talking for a bit, Tora leaves to go take a bath.
She was going to leave in a sheet, so I had to call her and tell her not to leave her clothes.
And now, as I stand here alone, I see Durandal on the floor, shaking.
“You had a fun night didn’t you?”
“Where did you learn that reference?”
“My former master.”
Takeshi!
So Durandal did see what happened between me and Tora. Even though I have no idea where her eyes could be.
“But it’s nice, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
I ask, not understanding where Durandal is going with this.
Nice? Does she mean Tora liking me?
“Remember what Tora said? That she would direct her affection only to you? If that is true, that means Tora won’t keep doing indecent things that will get her arrested. Isn’t that nice?”
“Ah, that?”
If Tora stops being arrested, that’s one less reason for me to have a stomachache.
Especially since it happened to her the most in our party.
It’s nice, but being told someone likes me so directly is embarrassing too.
I don’t mean to be mean about it, but I really don’t know how to respond.
And I’m scared of how Dal might react. I realized during our conversation a couple of days ago that she likes me. How would she react if she knew Tora and I were intimate?
I’m scared to even imagine it. If she hates me for it, that’s still not too bad. As long as she doesn’t get hurt, and the shock causes a big problem.
Jealousy leading to the fall of the party is the worst outcome.
This could worsen relations between me, Tora, and Dal. That’s half the party. It definitely wouldn’t work as well.
“Durandal.”
“What is it?”
“Should I tell Dal?”
“I think you should not. She will definitely be shocked, and I can imagine what she would do.
More importantly, you are not together with Dal, are you?”
“I’m not. With Dal or Tora.”
“Then you should let Dal figure it out. That should lessen the shock a little.
Timing is important, so when she does figure it out, take action quickly. Being too late might mean being unable to smooth things over.”
“All, right, I’ll be careful. You’re pretty good at this.”
“Something similar happened with my former master.”
Takeshi!
So you were pretty popular, uh Takeshi? Durandal’s harsh judgment gave me the wrong idea.
She said his personality wasn’t bad, so I guess he met people who could really look at how he was?
“With my former master, it turned into a big fight between women, and a terrible situation where he was stabbed in the stomach. Please make sure you do not end up like him.”
Takeshi!
“Okay, I’ll be careful.”
No, I really will. I don’t want one of my friends to stab me to death. Especially if it’s about jealousy.
I’m already in a situation where I might die, as well as my friends, because the demon king is one of them. I want to avoid a situation where the demon king uses a situation like this as a cover to kill someone.
Speaking of which, I’m currently looking for the demon king, but it’s proving to be difficult.
I’m not used to mistrusting my friends. If I at least had a clear hint…
This is my opinion, but I think the demon king is very cautious.
Thinking back to our travels, there were plenty of times for the demon king to make a move. Especially as we killed demons and monsters as a part of our job.
And yet, that didn’t happen. Or was there a reason why that couldn’t happen? Was the demon king just waiting for the right timing?
What could prevent the demon king from making a move?
An issue with power? Mirabel said none of us could beat the demon king alone.
It should be easy to assassinate one of us when we have our guard down. Is the demon king really looking for the right time?
The demon king is probably looking for a strategic victory.
It should be easy to kill the hero’s party, or at least make it collapse, but we’re not its only enemies.
All races except demons are their enemies. Killing us would only accomplish that, and wouldn’t be much of a strategic win.
It might sound harsh, but our deaths wouldn’t change the world much.
It would cause confusion, but we’re not the only ones capable of fighting. Even the King of Arcadia is a fighter. And in the Jungle Empire, even regular people can fight.
We were chosen as more capable than others, but we’re not irreplaceable.
Surely the demon king knows all this, and therefore, is waiting for the right time.
The demon king wants to betray us at the most crucial moment. To deal us a big loss that is unrecoverable. Waiting for a situation so big that it warrants making a move.
“Durandal.”
“What is it?”
“Can you imagine a situation so grand that it can shake this world?”
“I can imagine a few.”
I ask, thinking that it’s easier to be on the lookout for those things if I know what they are, and apparently Durandal already has the answer.
That’s my Durandal sensei.
“What are they?”
“First, Yggdrasil, which the elven country protects, withering or being destroyed. It would be an unrecoverable event that would affect all magic energy and life on the planet.”
“Yggdrasil?”
That should affect demons too. They can’t do that unless they’re sacrificing themselves.
“Second, killing the god worshiped by the church.”
“Can they do that? They say their god is currently not on this planet, so can they even reach god?”
“There are ways to reach the heavens where gods live. But you would need to be invited.”
“I see, so it is possible to reach the heavens with an invitation from a god.”
“Yes. But the god the church worships being killed would throw the world into disarray.
We are talking about the god with the most believers. Priests would be shaken, and there would be a big rumble among devout members of royalty.”
But if you need an invitation, wouldn’t that be impossible?
Even the hero’s party is just a slightly stronger group of people, from the eyes of a god. Not worthy of being invited to the heavens.
“And… If the three calamities sealed by god were to awaken?”
“Three calamities? I’ve never heard of that.”
“Priests who serve the church should know. They are mentioned in their teachings, and sometimes called the promised calamities.”
This is getting scary all of a sudden. If something like that does exist, isn’t that a big deal?
“But worry not master. The seals are linked to god’s vital energy. They are strong, there is no way to unseal them, and they have no expiration date.
They will not wake up as long as god lives.”
“And if something happens that leads to the death of god, the world is pretty much done.”
“That would never happen, so rest easy.”
I feel like a bad flag is being set.
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