Chapter 174

I feel like I had a lively time last night.

Eva was going to stay in senpai’s room, so the four of us, plus Kazuki, decided to talk about our trip until it was time to go to bed, but it turned out to be quite noisy.

Senpai had to deal with Eva’s outbursts of “Suzune-san is such a fun person!” or “You know a lot of difficult words!” from Eva’s mouth, she would react as if she was being blown away by nothing.

Kazuki and I watched them interacting with each other and laughed smilingly despite our dismay.

I hope that the time we spent together, me, Kazuki and senpai, will be a good memory for Eva.

And now, as we were about to witness the third meeting, we were facing the end of it.

“–This concludes the meeting of the four kingdoms. To the representatives of Samaria Kingdom, Nirvarna Kingdom, and Calm Helio Kingdom, thank you very much for attending the meeting …….”

The end of the meeting.

It means that the four kingdoms present here have been able to fully cooperate with each other through the discussion.

…… Battles are always frightening, but it is always reassuring to have someone to fight with and help you. In addition, as a healing magician of the Rescue Squad, I am quietly prepared to not let the lives of those who fight with me be lost.

After Welshy-san’s words, the meeting ended and was dismissed on the spot, but everyone didn’t go out immediately, but instead exchanged a kind of farewell greeting with their respective representatives.

“So, Usato. We may meet again soon, but please take care of us then.”

“Likewise, I look forward to working with you, Hyde-san.”

I exchanged a few words with Hyde-san, who spoke to me first, and then we shook hands.

Although it was only for a short time, I learnt a lot from this person. I will continue to train myself so that I can make good use of it in the future.

I made up my mind as I watched Hyde-san turn his back to me and leave with a wave of his hand.

“Hey, healing magician.”

“Yes?”

The one who approached me was Prince Kyle of the Kingdom of Calm Helio.

He looked at me with a grumpy expression, but Princess Naia, who was standing next to him, slammed her elbow into his side and let out a distracted scream.

“Oh, sister! What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“No, I thought I’d preempt you before you do something rude.”

“This is absurd! I haven’t done anything yet!”

“…… yet?”

“Uhh, Princess Naia, we’ll get to that …….”

I admonished Princess Naia, who tilted her head and lowered her voice.

This unfamiliar irrationality reminds me of Rose, but in her case, I guess it’s limited to her brother, Prince Kyle.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“No, no, I don’t mind it. ……”

On the other hand, I could say that I was used to it by now.

“We, the royal family, cannot go to the battlefield, but we sincerely hope for the victory of the Lingle Kingdom and the safety of Suzune-sama, Kazuki-sama, and Usato-sama.”

“Thank you very much.”

“…… Actually, when I came here, I was a little anxious to see Suzune-sama and Kazuki-sama, the two heroes, and Usato-sama, the rescue squad.”

“Is that so?”

“Eh? It’s impossible for sister to be anxious…”

She elbowed Prince Kyle again, who was about to say something, and turned her attention back to us.

“Rumours are just that, rumours. It doesn’t matter how famous they are or how many compliments they receive, you can’t know their character or true nature until you meet them.”

“I see. ……”

I’m not a factual to rootless article ……, but rather a handsome, aristocratic-looking altered sketch that’s been circulating.

I can’t help but feel uneasy.

“Usato-sama, in particular, seemed like a very scary person at first, but when I looked at him up close, I could see that he was forcing himself to look scary, so I quickly changed my perception of him.”

“Oh, you knew that?”

“Yes, I did. Kyle didn’t notice it at all, though.”

It seemed that Princess Naia knew that I had deliberately put on a scary expression.

Now that she knows, it’s kind of embarrassing.

…… Hmm? So Princess Naia knew when I unintentionally glared at Prince Kyle during the meeting. ……?

“When all is said and done, please come and visit us at Calm Helio. We’ll do our best to make you feel welcome.”

With that, Princess Naia smiled and turned to Prince Kyle who was standing next to her.

“Kyle. You have something to say, don’t you?”

“…… Yeah.”

Prince Kyle, who had taken a step forward while paying attention to Princess Naia, spoke with the same sullen expression on his face.

“Hey, healing magici–…… No, Usato! You’re a mess for sure! I’m not even sure if you’re human anymore, but I’ll leave it at that for now!”

For me personally, I’d rather they just leave it there. ……

Glancing once at Princess Naia, he continues to speak.

“I’m not going to let you beat me!”

“…… A-about what?”

“I’m not going to lose to you because of my magic, my pride, or anything else I have as a prince!”

“U-huh……”

For some reason, the rivalry was ignited.

I think Prince Kyle and I compete in too many different fields, but I wonder if it’s uncouth to say that.

“That’s all I have to say! Don’t die before I beat you! See ya!”

With that, Prince Kyle left without waiting for Princess Naia.

The remaining girl sighed as she watched Prince Kyle leave as if running away.

“I see that he’s finally turned his attention to something other than pleasure. I hope this will help him grow up a bit. …… I’m sorry about my brother until the very end. Now, I look forward to seeing you again.”

With that, Princess Naia left the scene, following Prince Kyle.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but her words and actions when she mentioned Prince Kyle seemed to be somewhat kind.

“I guess it’s his sister after all.”

I had heard from Princess Naia the other day that she didn’t dislike Prince Kyle, but she too seemed to be concerned about his reckless behaviour.

I’m an only child, so I don’t know if that’s how siblings are supposed to be.

…… Now that we’ve exchanged words with Hyde-san, Princess Naia, and Prince Kyle, let’s go to Lucas-sama for the last time.

“Last but not least …… Where is Lucas-sama ……?”

“I’m here.”

I turned around at the sound of Lucas-sama’s voice approaching from behind me and quickly bowed my head.

“Lucas-sama. I’m sorry. I was going to ask you from here ……”

“Haha, don’t worry about it. I was going to ask you before the other delegates got together with you, but, well, you’ve become quite popular.”

“I’m more of an icon than a popular person, though. ……”

Lucas-sama laughs happily, and I twitch a smile. It’s not that I’m a popular person, it’s just that I’m kind of an idiot.

There were many things that I did too flamboyantly in this meeting.

However, in hindsight, I think it was excessive, but it was enough to show the rescue squad’s ability as healing magicians.

If I had shown off my abilities half-heartedly on that occasion, they would not have believed in my abilities as a healing magician of the Rescue Squad. When I’m running on the battlefield, they might not have asked for my help.

“I don’t have to tell you, the Kingdom of Samaria will do everything in its power to help you. I also have something to protect. In order to not lose that again, we must do something about the threatening Demon King’s army.”

“…… Lucas-sama.”

I nodded to Lucas-sama who said that with a serious expression.

“I’ve already told Suzune and Kazuki this, but don’t die.”

“…… Yes.”

“Because you are the man who will eventually follow in my footsteps.”

“Yeah …… wait a minute that’s different!”

When I look up, I see Lucas-sama with an evil smile on his face, and a sky-blue knight behind him, pointing something that looks like a magic tool at me.

“Okay, I took it! Did you get it?”

“Of course! Lucas-sama!”

“Well done!”

I was momentarily taken aback by Lucas-sama and the sky-blue knight giving me a thumbs-up, but the next moment, the magic tool played an exchange between Lucas-sama and me, and I immediately came back to myself.

I-Is this a recording tool?!

No, no, no, no! I know that Samaria is a kingdom that is known for making magic tools, but can they even make something like that?

“Oops, Usato. I’ve prepared this for the meeting, so don’t destroy it. Of course, I’ve got permission from Welshey-san!”

“You’ve conspired, haven’t you?”

“I meant what I said to you, and I meant it! But since you seem to be in a hurry to die if you don’t do this, I’ve created a reason why you should survive at all costs!　…… The rest is just insurance to push you into a corner in case of emergency.”

The words and actions themselves were very flattering, but the fact that I heard him say “to push me into a corner” in a very low voice ruined it for me.

I didn’t know what to do, so I couldn’t move. Lucas-sama flipped his palm and left with a big smile on his face, along with his knight escort.

“I’m getting into a lot of trouble at the end of the day …….”

Should I consider that I have more reasons to leave alive, or did I give Lucas-sama a nasty hand ……?

Well, I can’t be mad at him because I know he was thinking of me.

But I’ll definitely do something about that recording someday. ……!

After the meeting in the four kingdoms, we went with Welshey-san to the headmaster’s office where Gladys-san, the headmaster of Lukvis Academy, was.

Gladys-san seemed to have been busy during the meeting, so we were finally able to meet her today after the meeting. At a seat at a large table in the headmaster’s office, the headmaster was sitting and looking around at us as if she was somewhat nostalgic.

“It’s only been a few months, but each of you has grown so much.”

“Dean Gladys, did you also watch the exchange game the other day?”

“Of course. Suzune wore magic power, Kazuki excelled in magic manipulation, and Usato was a little …… unclear, but it was immediately clear that each of you had grown much more than before.”

Why am I the only one who you don’t understand?

As I tilted my head, Welshy-san nodded her head in agreement and spoke to Gladys-san.

“Usato-sama’s techniques are not as easy to understand as those who are familiar with magic, so it’s not unreasonable.”

“Indeed, Usato’s technique was incredible for a magician right?”

“Yes. It’s something you can’t imitate, just like me and Kazuki-kun.”

“Yes, it is.”

…… Are we agreeing on something now? And Gladys-san is the one pulling these strings!

I know you’re referring to the application of the outburst of systemic enhancement, but to me, Kazuki and senpai’s technology seems more amazing. ……

“And anyway, I’m glad the meeting went well, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Now we can also concentrate on preparing for the battle against the Demon Lord’s army.”

Now that the talks are over, tomorrow we’ll be going back to the Lingle Kingdom.

When that happens, we have to prepare for the battle against the Demon King’s army, which could come at any time.

“We, Lukvis, will assist you as much as we can when the battle occurs. At any rate, the threat of the Demon King’s army is not only for the Lingle Kingdom, but also for this place. ……”

Lukvis is a city located in the neighbouring country of Lingle Kingdom.

If the Lingle Kingdom is defeated and taken over by the Demon King’s Army, the Demon King’s Army’s next point of attack will be directed at Lukvis.

No matter how good the kingdom is at magic, it can’t even fight in Lukvis, where the percentage of children is higher.

“Lukvis will be responsible for carrying and delivering supplies from the allied kingdoms. In that case, we will organize the supplies to be sent and send them through Hoot Bird, so you can leave it to us.”

“Thank you. As a matter of fact, I have other things that I need to get around to, so this is very helpful. One thing I was wondering about ……, do you evacuate the students who live here in case of a battle?”

“Yes. In the event of war, students will be evacuated or sent back to their parents’ homes. Still, we teachers have to protect this place because for some of the children, there are reasons why they can’t leave or they have nowhere to go. There’s no guarantee that the demons that got separated during the battle won’t attack us for supplies.”

You never know what might happen in a battle against the Demon Lord’s army.

The opponent is not a target like the one we faced the other day, but a living, breathing creature that thinks and acts properly. So, it’s not surprising that they would act in unexpected ways.

As I was nodding to Gladys-san’s words, she suddenly remembered something and called out to me with an expression on her face.

“Usato, how is Nack doing at the Rescue Squad?”

I thought for a moment why Gladys-san, but Nack is also a former student here.

It was not surprising that she would be concerned about him.

I was surprised, but I told her about him.

“If it’s Nack, he’s doing well. He’s probably being trained by our Leader right now. Hahaha.”

“Is he fine…..?”

“Hahaha, it’s totally fine. The Leader also takes it easy on Nack, you know.”

As you can see, Nack is still a child, so he can’t train at the level of me and the others, so Nack is trained at a few levels lower than us.

Me in the beginning? There was no holding back.

“I’m relieved he’s doing so well. I couldn’t do anything for him when I was in Lukvis. ……”

“As I recall, you couldn’t intervene because of the nobility issues, right?”

“Yes.”

Gladys-san nodded at senpai’s words.

This is a place that, unlike other kingdoms, is built on the support of nobles and influential people, so the teachers could not intervene in the affairs of the nobles Nack and Meena.

If the school side were to cause a problem, it would develop into a credibility problem, so Gladys-san probably couldn’t even offer Nack a helping hand.

“But you don’t have to worry about that anymore. ‘I’m leaving the academy’, he was much more grown up when he visited here than he was before. He still is, isn’t he?”

“Of course he has. In fact, I’m sure he’ll grow even more from now on.”

His life as a rescue squad had only just begun.

There will certainly be more rigorous training ahead, but I am confident that he will be able to overcome it.

Gladys-san smiled reassuringly at my words.

“Nack has grown a lot, but there’s another girl who’s growing just as much as he is.”

“Is that Halfa-san?”

“You could say that Halfa is too, but this is a different girl.”

Another girl?

If it’s not Halfa-san, then no, Halfa-san said something about that girl the other day.

“Is it Meena, by any chance?”

“Yes. Meena Liasia is also striving for a new goal right now, after her match with Nack.”

“I heard from Halfa-san that she had a change of heart as well. ……”

I can’t imagine what her impression was back then, but if Gladys-san and Halfa-san are like that, it must mean that the girl is really making an effort.

Even at …… I was curious as to why Meena was making the effort.

Is she simply preparing to fight the reunited Nack, as Nack talked about in the rescue squad, or is she genuinely pursuing strength?

I’d like to hear what she has to say if I get the chance, though I’m sure she’d give me a very unpleasant look the moment she sees me.