Kyou kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou! Vol 8 Chapter 6

      “Th-th-th-this has gone really bad!”

      “This is bad.  It can’t get any worse than this.  It’s like the time I messed up at my wife’s parents’ house.”

      Even in times like these, Stefan Fanberlain was not failing to provide words of praise for women.

      Sizemore muttered ‘don’t do it’ to himself, but Dacascos, lost in thought in his mental notebook, did not hear the words from Sizemore’s heart.

      The first half of the journey was so easy they didn’t even think to be worried about going back.  The treasure at their feet was covered by a green cloth.  It appeared to be an icebox for drinks at first glance, but with security like this they wouldn’t be able to avoid interrogation and if the guards removed the cloth and looked at the box, that would be it.

      “… Is this really the armory toilet?  It’s so foul-smelling I feel like it’s bad for my heart.”

      A bug fell out of the air right in front of Dacascos’s face.

      “But its head is an elephant from any angle,” Sizemore commented.  Using his good common sense, he wondered just why someone would give the previous Demon King a statue of a Demon King.  But as expected, the voice in his heart did not reach.  “However, everyone, we cannot stay in this room doing nothing.  Our mission is to deliver the swapped box to His Majesty’s group.  We can’t stay stranded here forever.”

      “Yeah, a field trip doesn’t end until we get home!”

      Waiting for a break in the foot traffic, they sneak out of the room.  They make a beeline for the side entrance.  Even though they want to get out as fast as possible, since they aren’t soldiers they’ll stick out if they run inside of the temple.  Now they need to persevere and creep forward.

      Finally the side entrance came into view.  They could even see the darkness outside through the glass.

      “Ah, Captain, Mr. Fanfan, just a little farther.  Just a little farther and we’ll get out of this te-”

      “I-is there a problem, Mr. Soldier?” Sizemore answers as their representative.  All of them are staring at the ground.  Half of the soldier’s face was covered in a beard so the Captain was frankly a bit jealous.  He was a man with quite the strong hair roots.

      Ack!

      “That box, who’s lost, eh?”

      “The casket you know, yeah.  It’s white so it was a boy, right?  How sad, yeah.  He was still so little…”

      “Oh, it’s sad huh, yeah.  Children’s funerals are really painful huh, yeah.  My younger brother died in the war when he was ten, you know.  He was in a pure white casket just like this one yeah, yes… Shimaron burned the whole village you know, yeah… Actually, actually I hate war, you know.  The ones who always get hurt are women and children yeah, yes.  But now I’m a soldier for the country that killed my brother, yeah… I can’t ever face my ten year old brother who burned to ash, you know.”

      “If it’s alright, I’ll give this to you okay, yeah.  My little brother loved laughing cicadas yeah, yes.  He loves playing pranks, but if you meet my little bro on the other side, have some fun with him okay, yeah.”

      “I kind of feel bad because we tricked him,” said Dacascos.

      “I of course do business even in war,” Fanfan said in a strained voice as he pushed the door open.  He was holding down his anger.  His voice was the complete opposite of when he was praising beauty.  “I do not want to introduce an inelegant weapon like this into battles between countries.  It was written in the Sward News that the eastern earthquake was caused by a box similar to this one.  Also that the damage to the river and harbor and the castle town was enormous.  A weapon that destroys beautiful things is not something that humans should use.”

      “… I wonder what His Majesty thinks.”  Sizemore lifted his face to sky and gazed at the stars that had doubled in number.

      “If the wish of this person is not granted, the International Refereeing Alliance will not stand by.”

      After a meal that left me still hungry, I hurried over to the side of the chief referee.

      Mr. Stubbly twisted his lips into a broad grin.  “It was a rather amusing fight.  For the first time in a while I had fun overseeing a match.”

      Especially since I hardly remember any of it.

      “… Confidentiality…”

      “M-Mr. Change-y…”

      I hadn’t heard that there would be these kinds of festivities so I had wanted to get to bed as soon as possible, but the people in charge of the ceremony filled with Shimaronians who were in high spirits for some reason would not allow the guests of honor to be excused.  It seems that they were from regions that were turned into territories of Shimaron.  They gave us their blessings for defeating the Shimaron mainland in the final contest as if it were their own victory.

      That being said, tonight I was in the hands of a stylist and was lectured severely with girly words.

      After seeing the color of my eyes and hair, she (he?) fainted for a full five minutes with her eyes wide open.  Both of her hands were spread wide open next to her face as if frozen in surprise and she was motionless.  Thinking I should grab the opportunity, I dug out a green knit from the closet on my own.  It looks warm.  Although as I was putting my legs into a pair of stretchy pants, the stylist couldn’t take it anymore and recovered.

      After saying that to the female assistant, she walks over while swaying her thin hips.  Without even asking, she pets my hair and peers right into my face.

      Even stylists take pledges of confidentiality!  Naturally, the green pants I picked were rejected and they laid out an ivory tuxedo on the bed for me that was embarrassing just to look at.  On top of that, there were five extra layers of lace on the collar and sleeves and an excessive amount of ornamentations were added to it.  I reluctantly put the suit on and I was thrown out into the banquet.

      “You’re the leader of the Caloria representatives, aren’t you?  Unfortunately I was unable to watch in the stands and instead watched from the seats designated for noble visitors, but… that snow in the final match was amazing!”

      “Honestly, the wish of a gentleman is obvious.”

      World Peace, becoming an official catcher, my team’s victory.  Those are my personal wishes, but they might be too obvious.

      “Wass wrong, Yuuri.  Arentcha gonna drink anythin’?”

      “That looks good on you, Your Excellency Wolfram.”

      “I shouldn’t have shown you.”

      “Oh Your Majesty, if you stare so intently I might get a bit daring~."

      He was wearing a rouge and dark red dress that went well with his undone, orange hair.  Gurrier suddenly turned serious.

      “Understood.”

      I’ve been to a party once before.  It was a small cocktail party on a boat.

      I was even the partner for a sweet young girl’s first dance.

      “……”

      A performance by something like a piano started.  At every measure a new instrument joined in and the solo performance became its own little orchestra.  This place will probably also start changing into a ballroom.  There were even a few impatient couples standing near the orchestra who were starting to sway.

      Now that I think of it, what sort of costume was Murata forced into?  That fake blonde hair of his was fading and was about to become an unidentifiable color.  He couldn’t find his color contacts anywhere in the room.  I wonder if he’s the only one who got to stay cooped up in his room and is relaxing in luxury.  If so, I won’t forgive him.  We’re lacking sleep too.  I wonder if I should go find him.

      “… Flynn?”

      The wife of the victor and representative of Caloria was surrounded by unwelcome nobles and was standing there bored.

      After looking back and forth twice before finding me, her expression brightens all at once.  It was so excessively happy that I slowed down.

      “You came here with Lady Celi?  Anyway, didn’t I say to stay on the ship because it was dangerous?  Despite me saying that, why did you brazenly come all the way to the capital?  Well, I’m not mad.  I’m not mad, but...”

      “Well, I guess it’s okay if nothing happened to you.”

      She lightly clenches her white-gloved hands and twists her mouth into a humble smile.

      Her peacock blue dress was a little loose so her breasts didn’t fill it out.  Despite that, it went well with the color of her eyes and looked so good on her that there was nothing better for her to wear.

      I shouldn’t have asked that.  At that question that ruined the mood, Flynn answered without hesitation while laughing.

      “It’s my favorite color.”

      “… Ah, Flynn… Come over here.”

      But now everything was over.

      “We won,” I said after grabbing both of her hands and bringing my face to her level.

      “So, did you get your wish?  Did the ownership of the box officially become yours?”

      Not telling her what it was on purpose, I handed her the official document.  Flynn removed the glove on her dominant hand and unfolded the paper with thin, white fingers.  Her eyes got wider the more she read and her hand holding the paper started to tremble.

      The blood ran out of her face from excitement.  It seems she’s at a loss for words.

      “… Captain, that…”

      I feel like I just had a huge success with my secret baseball trick.  My cheeks relax against my will and I can’t even pretend to be a cool guy anymore.

      “You wished for Caloria?”

      Flynn’s voice was tearful.  She’s been living in severe conditions for a long time so this is likely the first time in a while that she’s been dressed up perfectly, but sadly it doesn’t look like she’ll be able to avoid tear streaks.

      “Yes.”

      “… Thank you.”

      “I don’t… know what to say.”

      “Excuse me, may you invite me for a song?”

      Flynn gently wipes her tears with her glove and rejected the young noble.

      “Well, then invite me… I’m bad though,” I say.

      “Captain!”

      She gave a small nod.

      The music suddenly changes to a slow tempo and everyone around us starts to get closer to their partners.

      I remember the words of my dance instructor.

      “… to me.”

      “Why are you so kind to me?”  From her neck down, her back was trembling.  “I mean, I tried to sell you to Big Shimaron.  And before that, I was the one who gave away the Wincott poison and paved the way to your friend being shot.  Despite that, why are you so kind to me?  Caloria’s freedom… you’ve even… given me that.”

      “You’re,” she started.  While still lightly grasping my hand, she wraps her other arm around my back.  Our ears and cheeks touched.  One of our ears was hot and one of our cheeks was cold. “You’re like a god.”

      As if I was speaking into the back of her neck rather than into her ear, I revealed the identity of the mystery man.

      Actually, I’m the Demon King.

      For a moment, Flynn’s body trembled severely.  But that was it and she didn’t scream in panic or curse and loathe me.

      We stood there looking over each other’s shoulders in opposite directions, but still all we saw were people continuing to dance.

      The colors of the clothes and hairstyles and dance steps were different.  The people we were watching were different.  But, we were still looking at the same thing.

      “… I think Flynn Gilbit is already bound to Caloria.”

      “More than to a new lover that will appear later, future husband candidates, or even more than to Norman Gilbit who lost his country and died… I think you’re more bound to Caloria than them.”

      The two of us watched the foreign countries dancing around us.  Watching the cheerful and vigorous countries around us dancing, the unease was unbearable.

      We are always uneasy and sometimes need the arms of another.

      “Flynn.”

      I held Flynn Gilbit close, but what I poured into my arms was not love.  It was the praise of a good fight and accepting a teammate and the ‘good fortune’ that we enjoyed.

      Flynn lifted her face from my shoulder and slightly narrowed her tear-soaked eyes.  Her reddened nose and ears were painful to look at, and when I tried to touch them I was gently brushed away.

      “Okay.”

      “Really?”

      Thinking this was like a quiz, I clumsily moved to the bass as I let out a breath.  Caloria’s leader wrapped her arms around my neck and her silver hair swayed right beneath my eyes.

      “A ceremony for who?”

      “A funeral!?  I haven’t even gone through my coming of age ceremony and all of a sudden I’m getting a funeral?”

      “Your Majesty,” said the new leader of Caloria as she left my arms and her face turned serious.  “Please return what I have entrusted with Your Majesty.”

      “Then Yuuri, you must give that back to me.”

      “I warmed it up.  Because it’s winter.”

      It was the reverse Hashiba Hideyoshi battle plan. (1)

      “This is goodbye.”

      “I will bury a doll with this mask on according to custom.”

      “Your Majesty.”

      She gave me a push as I tried to complain.

      “Hey…!”

      “If my land had a million soldiers and mountains of gold, I would not hesitate.  But now the citizens and the land are starving.  I don’t know how to express my gratitude or even what I should send in recompense to your country.”

      “… But I promise just this and this is definitely not mistaken.

      Flynn smiled gracefully and placed her lips on the back of my hand.  I easily get swept up in the mood, so I imagined a sparkling tiara on her head.

      “I forgive you… Or actually, I don’t.  I don’t want you to be my servant!  Stand.  Stand up, Flynn.  Face the future… Come on, don’t crouch down.  You’re making a scene.”

      “Flynn, Wolfram is over there so go have a chat with him.”

      “It’s okay.  You’ll definitely get along.  Despite appearances, he’s actually a really good guy.  It’s good to build up friendly relationships, no?  He’s that Sexy Queen’s son so he’s a former crown prince of the demons.”

      I hope nothing has happened to him…

      While humming as a way to cover my unease, I press through the sea of people.  Near the entrance to the main hall there were two golden statues of goddesses (and completely naked without their single leaves).  Why didn’t those thieves who forced their way into the treasure room steal things like these?

      “Was that true?”

      “Ow!”

      “Sorry, I didn’t intend to hurt you.  How is your neck?  Your throat, has the blood stopped already?  Hey, tell me.  Was that true?”

      Remembering my injury, I cover my bandage-covered neck with my hand as if to protect it.  The person placed their hands on my shoulders, sunk to his knees on the ground and peered up at me.

      His mud-covered, blonde hair was plastered to his cheek and forehead.  His clothes, hair, and even his shoes were soaking wet and he was dirty all over.

      “Please tell me.  Is it true?”

Chapter end