In the western part of the continent lay the Holy Papal State of [Ruberios].
It was a land that rejected monsters, worshiped the one true god Luminous, and housed more holy knights and divine spellcasters than anywhere else.
Comparable in size to [Sarion] and [Ingrassia], and boasting its own elite warriors known as the [Crusaders], [Ruberios] possessed military strength ranked among the finest on the entire continent. For that reason, it had long been treated as one of the most important nations standing against the forces of the [Demon Lord]s.
Of course...
The handful of powerful figures who knew the true master ruling [Ruberios], and the race hidden beneath that rule, could only sneer at the futile faith of humankind.
For those who still knew nothing of the truth, perhaps ignorance was kinder.
Because—
"Commander!"
—even the woman with the greatest influence in Ruberios had long since sworn loyalty to that true master.
"Litis? What is it?"
The black-haired, black-eyed woman turned at the voice calling to her as she headed toward a room inside the royal castle. She was a cold-looking beauty clad in the distinctive uniform of the [Crusaders].
The one who had called out to her was Litis, a green-eyed woman who was both a member of the [Crusaders] and one of the [Ten Saints]. Catching her breath after running over in a panic, she hurriedly spoke.
"A-a guest...! You have a guest, Commander!"
"...And here I thought it was something serious. Send them to Cardinal Nicolaus. Training still isn't over yet—"
"—I-it's Lord Adelio!"
"...What?"
The black-haired woman, who had been about to turn away in disinterest, froze on the spot like stone the moment she heard the name Litis blurted out.
It was the first time Litis had ever seen her commander go rigid like that, a woman who would not so much as blink even with most monsters right in front of her. She was briefly flustered, but quickly came back to herself and pointed toward the stairs behind her.
"Lord Adelio and everyone from the [Hero Party] are here! His Holiness is entertaining them personally for now, but... it looked like they came to see you, Commander..."
"Where are they now?"
"...T-the papal chamber!"
"I'm going now."
Passing by Litis, the black-haired woman began walking faster than usual. As she gripped the sword at her waist, shining in the sunlight, she repeated to herself inwardly,
'Has it already been three years... no, was it four...?'
Thinking of the teachers she had not seen for years because she had chosen the path of a [Crusader], Hinata drew a rare curve at the corner of her lips.
It was not deep, nor especially obvious, but a faint smile had clearly appeared there.
"...I have already sent word to Lady Luminous."
"Good."
At the very top of the royal castle in [Ruberios] was the papal chamber.
This room, where only the Pope and those he permitted could enter, had now become a place where host and guest had completely traded places.
"...So then, what exactly brings you here this time?"
Louis Valentine, the Pope, spoke in a voice that had lost most of its usual composure. Even though this was clearly his own room, he looked as though he were sitting on thorns.
"It seems you have come to [Ruberios] in your capacity as a [Hero], but your true position is as that person's right hand. It does not seem like a very good look for you to enter territory ruled by Lady Luminous..."
"I know that already. But this matter is more important to these two than it is to me. Of course, it'll be important to Luminous too."
"...I see."
Louis glanced briefly at Ria and Shizue, seated on either side of Adelio, then lowered his head and fell silent.
He wanted to say aloud that nothing good could come of two [Demon Lord] factions gathering together when they had not even formed a concrete alliance, let alone maintained much simple exchange. But knowing how much Luminous favored him, Louis could not bring himself to say it.
Because if those words really did make Adelio visit [Ruberios] less often, he could not even imagine how heartbroken Luminous would be in private.
'Ever since she killed Twilight and became a [Demon Lord], she has always passed her time in boredom... and yet in front of those two [Hero]es, she always smiles as if she's genuinely enjoying herself... As her servant, I can't simply dismiss that...'
Thud!
As Louis sank into thought and a long silence settled over the papal chamber, the sound of the door bursting open shattered it, and a black-haired woman stepped inside.
"Master...!"
The woman's cold expression softened slightly as she took in the three members of the [Hero Party], including Adelio, and bowed her head.
"It's been a while, Hinata."
"Yes. For you as well, Masters."
Normally, Hinata would greet Louis properly as the Pope, even if only for appearances. But perhaps because her teachers had come to see her, this time she did not spare so much as a glance in his direction and continued speaking while looking only at Adelio.
"About a week ago, I heard that you seemed to have met Yuuki in the Kingdom of [Ingrassia]. I was planning to come see you myself before long, but I never imagined you would come all the way to [Ruberios] in person..."
"Hehe, the timing just worked out. We happened to have something we needed to discuss with Luminous anyway, so we came to take care of that too."
"Have you been doing well all this time?"
Ria answered Hinata first, and Shizue looked at her with a gentle smile.
Hinata had already grown enough to stand at the summit of a major power in her own right, but to Shizue she was still a young disciple compared to herself, and the question carried a great deal of concern.
"Of course. The position of commander still feels a little unfamiliar sometimes, but aside from that, there's nothing especially troubling."
And Hinata, as their first disciple, seemed to know very well how much Shizue worried about her. Perhaps because of that, she answered in an exceptionally soft voice—soft enough that her subordinates would have been shocked to hear it.
"......"
Meanwhile, Louis sat alone on the opposite side, reading the atmosphere and keeping his mouth shut in silence. All he could do was pray that Luminous would come and take these people away as soon as possible.
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