Chapter 32

"――――――Is it over?"

"Huh?"

Leviathan, who had jumped down from the roof, landed beside me. Shironeko's head was still embedded in the house, not moving an inch.

"There doesn't seem to be any sign of movement..."

"......Let's try to pull it out, then."

I approached Shironeko's massive body, gripped its head, and braced myself. With a slight resistance, the head came out, and when I let go, it fell to the ground with a dull thud. Then its body began to glow and returned to its original human form.

"She's unconscious..."

"I didn't hit her that hard..."

"You're always bad at controlling your strength... You should start to realize that..."

I was being scolded... I'm trying my best, you know?

"But this is a problem, I wanted to ask about the black robe..."

I fiddled with the black robe of the Shironeko lying on her back. As expected, it was the same robe as that shadowy guy. This guy is definitely involved with them.

"Once I strip you down――――――what!?"

Suddenly something hit my head, and I couldn't help but cry out. There's a stone nearby, could it be that?

"Setsu... We're surrounded."

"Huh?"

I looked around and was surprised. Beastmen of all ages and genders were standing around us, apparently residents of the area.

"What do you want?"

I asked the kid who probably threw the stone. The kid glared at us with an angry expression.

"How dare you to Shironeko!"

"What? This guy attacked first, you know?"

I countered the kid's unreasonable statement.

"Can't just leave someone who attacks with the intent to kill, right?"

"Shut up!! Just die honestly!!"

Hey, listen to me, mister...

I glared at the man who was shouting behind the kid.

"Why are you acting like this... This guy beat the kid, shouldn't you respect the stronger one as a beastman?"

"I do respect him!! But this is different!!"

The cat-eared woman answered Leviathan's question. What do you mean, different?

"I have to defeat you to save Shironeko... ...Shironeko's... sister..."

Sister? I was puzzled by the man's words, who seemed to be crying in frustration.

"――――――Sorry, can you leave this to me?"

"You...?"

A man pushed through the crowd and appeared.

"Are you the innkeeper?"

"Yeah, everyone, disperse... We can't beat him anyway."

"Damn..."

The residents, with their heads bowed in frustration, left one by one. They all looked like they had given up...

"Are you going to explain?"

"Yeah, let's go back to the inn."

The innkeeper said, picked up the unconscious Shironeko, and started walking towards the inn. Leviathan and I exchanged glances and decided to follow him.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Hmm... As expected, my master's beloved man is extraordinary..."

Someone was watching Setsu, who was following the innkeeper, from the roof of a nearby house. The voice was high-pitched, and the person was wearing a black robe with a hood, but the distinctive roundness revealed that it was a woman.

"Still, if he can be defeated so easily, he must be punished."

Kuroinu, looking at the Shironeko being carried, made a cruel judgment. In reality, she wasn't ordered to punish the loser, but as someone with a high level of loyalty to Fuyuma, she considered it a sufficient reason to deem the loser useless. And Kuroinu, a woman who believed that anything not useful to him should not exist.

"Right... I might as well dispose of the troublesome sister as well. The useless must be punished..."

With that, Kuroinu disappeared into the night with a light movement――――――

◇ ◇ ◇

"――――――Sister?"

"Yeah, Shironeko has a sister."

We gathered in a room of the inn where we decided to stay. The innkeeper and we were sitting in chairs, and Shironeko was lying on the bed in this room.

"What happened to her?"

"...She's been taken hostage, her sister, Mineko."

"By whom?"

"The guys in black robes. They were frequently seen in this town, and they all had an ominous air about them."

As expected... The guys in black robes.

"She's not exactly being taken away, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Mineko is sick, and she's gradually losing her strength. It's a disease with no hope of recovery. There's a drug that can slow its progression, but..."

"...So the guys in black robes have it?"

"Exactly. And the order given to this guy was to attack you."

So Shironeko didn't want to attack me, but was ordered to. If they specifically targeted me, the leader of the black robes must be... I don't want to think about it, but...

"? Your face looks bad, Setsu."

"...Yeah, I just remembered a face I didn't want to remember."

"Can you continue the story?"

I shook my head to clear the bad thoughts. It's not like he's definitely alive, and without proof, it's better not to worry.

"Yeah, please continue."

"Alright. So we were asked for help. Shironeko is almost the strongest in this area, so everyone was eager to help if he could be of use."

"So you were hiding?"

"Yeah, everyone was worried about him and was hiding."

I see, that's why we were surrounded so quickly.

"I also betrayed you by selling you out to Shironeko. As an innkeeper, I was the worst. I'm sorry."

"That's fine... But I felt like a lot of people were taking his side..."

"It's because of his sister, Mineko... Shironeko and Mineko have a unique synergy. Their teamwork is so strong that they can even hurt the Beast King."

Wow... That's amazing. Being able to hurt the Beast King proves that they have SSS-level or higher strength in this world. The kings of this world, outside of the human kingdom of Distenia, are both extraordinary. It would probably take several SSS-level individuals to defeat them, and even a single SSS-level individual can't even hurt them. With this explanation, their strength should be clear.

Well, I don't intend to lose even to both of them... But I might get injured.

"If they are the strongest, we should respect both of them, right?"

"Well... Yeah."

"For now, as long as she's threatened, Shironeko can't be free... If her illness suddenly cured, it would be a different story..."

"..."

I stood up silently and walked towards Shironeko. The girl in front of me, breathing steadily, seemed like a bundle of immaturity. I picked her up in a princess carry. She's so light, yet how can she be so strong? I've probably wondered this many times since coming to this world. My travel companions Elka and Tia, the Demon King Desus, and my disciple Alize. Where do they get such power?

Huh? Leviathan? The main body has a mass that matches, so it's not a problem.

"Hey, where is this guy's house?"

"It's on the outskirts of town... Are you going to take Shironeko there?"

"Yeah. I have some things I want to check. Leviathan, let's go."

The sky is starting to turn white. We've been talking for a while, and it's almost dawn. Fortunately, I had a good nap, so I'm not sleepy.

"Okay..."

"We should arrive around the time her sister wakes up if we start walking now."

She probably won't be awake, so there's no need to hurry. But... I have a few things to think about. I want to walk a bit to sort them out.

"Then, innkeeper, we're leaving. You won't charge us, right, even though you sold us out?"

"Heh... Yeah."

He turned his face away, as if to say, "You got away, huh?" I think his business sense is quite something.

Leviathan and I smiled wryly and left the inn. I switched from a princess carry to carrying Shironeko on my back because my arms were getting tired, and we walked through the quiet town.

"Why are you going to her house?"

Leviathan, walking beside me, asked, looking at Shironeko's sleeping face.

"...If I were in her shoes, I might be able to save her sister."

"Hmm... I see."

I was met with a sigh of exasperation. No wonder, since I'm trying to do something I was told not to do a few days ago.

"I won't stop you anymore... It seems futile..."

"Sorry. But... Isn't it good to protect a family?"

Seeing a family suffer in front of me... I can't just leave them...

Next time, meeting Mineko

Recently, I've received some wonderful stories. Look forward to my future updates.