Happy Wednesday!
「…how unusual.」
Zeal-kun said that, and let go of my nape.
He brushed the dust off of his clothes while looking quite provokingly at me who stood up unruffled.
If you're going to brush me off, then please don't drag me with you in the first place…
Was what I thought but I didn't say that out loud.
I'm so smart.
「Stop thinking about useless things; won't you give me an explanation?」
Sometimes, I suspect that he was psychic.
Please don't read my mind.
「What, I was doing on my own?」
「There's that as well, but it's been a while since I last saw you having such a happy look on your face.」
「…that's true.」
Certainly, it may be true that it's been a long time since I last smiled.
The facial muscles on my face that usually had a forced smile on was hurting a little because I haven't genuinely smiled in a while.
That was just how, interesting both he and his stories were.
「What were you two talking about?」
「Stories about their world. In exchange, I told him about this world.」
Akira-kun's stories were, like a single ray of light breaking through the dark clouds.
Don't tell anyone else, but I'm a little suspicious of him.
He knew about the secret art of summoning heroes that was passed down from one generation to the next within the royal family, as well as heroes having been summoned from another world in the past and them defeating the demon king.
However, perhaps I'm the type of person to see something for myself before I believe it, but even when I received news that the princess and a few court magicians had succeeded in summoning the hero, I did not believe it.
Even if I saw it with my own eyes, I wouldn't wholeheartedly believe in it.
How stubborn it was, my heart.
When I heard his stories, I felt like the breath that I had been holding onto was released.
「Was it that interesting?」
「Yes. They were strange stories that I, who was known as a 'sage' in those days, had never heard of.」
「Stories that Saran-sama doesn't know…」
It seems that he was so shocked that he switched back to what he used to call me.
「Incidentally, what were the stories about?」
「Let's see, …they were stories about a world that prospered not because of magic, but because of something called science.」
And so, I told Zeal-kun word for word what Akira-kun had said.
When I finally finished telling him everything, we had arrived at our office that was within the royal castle.
「That's hard to believe. …an iron box that moves and an iron mass that flies in the sky. Information being circulated throughout the world in an instant, and a thin sheet of metal that transmits your voice in real time even when one is somewhere far away.」
「I was thinking that as well.」
I sat down on a chair within the office, and massaged my forehead.
I gratefully gulped down the water that Zeal-kun thoughtfully handed to me in one go.
「Thank you. …however, Akira-kun's eyes did not look like those of a liar's.」
This is something that I'm proud of, but I know when someone's lying.
I'm not someone who showed off.
「If you say so, then that's how it is. …so, how do you plan on dealing with him?」
「Him, huh, he is hiding his true strength. Perhaps he's even stronger than the hero. And it seems that his stealth is MAX level.」
「Lv. MAX…was it? However, wasn't that something that only the legendary hero-sama had achieved…」
That's right, the highest level for the residents of this world was Lv.9.
To begin with, even a person who raised it above Lv.7 was rare.
However, someone who came from another world could smoothly cross that barrier.
The decisive difference between Moriganians and otherworlders was just that.
TN: the author put 'モルガン人' here when it should've been 'モリガン人', but I put the correct name in the translation.
「I don't have an 'observation' type special skill, so I'm not completely certain, but this isn't a lie either.」
「But, why didn't the king move to intervene…I see.」
「That's right. He used 'stealth' and did not go through with the crystal ceremony. Not only does he know how to use his skills, but he is also clever.」
If he was here, he would most likely shake his head vehemently.
「Are you planning on having him, join our camp?」
「Yeah. That, and I will train him. Although I call it training, I will, naturally, get rid of the pointless parts of the assigned menu, and will have him do just the necessary parts though.」
He, more or less, heard what the menu contained, but he doesn't believe in it at all.
He's quite the stoic child.
Zeal-kun did not give any objections to my decision, bowed his head, and then withdrew.
Now then, it will be busy tomorrow as well.