Shizuku stopped performing the sword-drawing technique, took a deep breath, and then closed her eyes.

The image that came to mind was of a woman. She had red hair and a dark complexion. She had driven their troops into a state of collapse and was humanity's sworn enemy. She was a demon, able to command many monsters and wield powerful earth-attributed magic.

That woman had nearly killed Shizuku, so she had a very vivid impression of her. Shizuku maintained her sword-drawing posture, her hand resting lightly on the blade, trembling unconsciously.

(I must kill her. I must kill her. If I don’t kill her, my companions will really be killed next time!)

Shizuku pushed herself desperately. At that time, it was a miracle, someone came to her rescue, just like in a story; but such miracles could not last forever. She could not rely on uncertain miracles, otherwise she would really lose someone important next time.

and so--

"Hah! Ha!"

With a single cry, a murderous blow was unleashed, and Shizuku had indeed slain the demon in her imagination. However, she didn't stop there. She felt a fleeting stab of weakness on her face, causing her sword's movement to slow. The enemy's wound was only shallow, but Shizuku wouldn't let herself relax and struck again.

"Go—Wind Claw!"

A backhand swing creates a breeze—this is the technique of the man who gifted this black sword. Normally, this move cannot be activated without direct magical power, but after painstaking refinements by the kingdom's chief alchemists, Shizuku can now use it.

The black sword exerted its full potential, following the sword wielder's will, and this time, it finally killed the imaginary female demon. Then—

"Ugh, ah."

A faint groan was heard, and Shizuku hurried to the corner of the training ground, squatting down to vomit out the contents of her stomach.

"Ugh, huh... Seriously, I have to throw up every time I train. What a waste of food. Having said that, I'm almost dying as a human being from eating nutritious food that looks and tastes terrible all the time."

Shizuku sighed deeply, smiled wryly, and muttered to herself.

She walked to the shade of the trees, where she kept a water bottle and the sandwiches she had asked someone to prepare. She knew that if she trained, she would vomit; even if she had no appetite, her body would not be able to cope without food after vomiting, so she had to eat even if she had to force herself.

Shizuku sat down on the ground beneath a tree by the training ground and drank a glass of water. The pre-chilled water refreshed her burning body and bitter mouth.

"well……"

She sighed unconsciously and looked up at the western sky where the sun was setting.

At this moment, a cat's meow suddenly sounded.

"Meow~"

"what?"

Shizuku looked down in surprise and saw a brown cat suddenly appear at her feet. Ordinary cats also existed in Todas, and their appearance was the same as on Earth.

"Where did you come from?"

This was the royal palace, so of course it had towering walls and a moat. And there was a mountain behind it, its defenses as solid as a fortress. It was no place a cat could enter. Shizuku reached out and touched the cat, and it seemed unsuspecting, letting her pet it. Its brown fur was shiny and bright, and it was obvious that it was well cared for.

"You are a pet of some noble, right? Did you escape from your master?"

"Meow~"

Shizuku touched the kitten's neck, and the kitten purred and rubbed against Shizuku's hand, seeming to enjoy Shizuku's "touch." Seeing the brown kitten acting coquettishly towards her—

“…So cute.”

A smile suddenly spread across Shizuku's face. The previous murderous aura and gloomy mood were all gone, and her attention was completely focused on the cat.

Perhaps she was tired, Shizuku usually acted like an icy beauty, being addressed as "Onee-sama" by the daughters of nobles, but now - she had committed a grave offense.

"You're so cute, meow. But you actually ran away from your owner. You're such a bad boy, meow. Shizuku-nee will punish you, meow."

That's right, the biggest taboo is speaking in "cat language." The rich ladies only knew Shizuku's handsome appearance. If they saw Shizuku now, they would definitely wonder if they had gone crazy, or they would happily burst into a pool of blood with a nosebleed.

Shizuku speaks meow language while loving the cats who are close to people.

Because it's very important, I'll say it again - Shizuku was very tired.

After being petted by her for a while, the cat slowly approached the basket of sandwiches and sniffed it a few times.

"What's wrong, meow? You want a sandwich, meow?"

The cat replied with a look of "I really want it, meow."

Seeing the cat's adorable request, Shizuku melted her heart and of course she wouldn't refuse. However, the sandwich she brought was too big to give the cat a whole piece.

"Wait a minute, meow. Shizuku-nee will cut it up for you right now, meow."

No one here could tell Shizuku to "tear it with your hands," and no one could stop her when she, sandwich in one hand, bent down to draw her sword. Yaegashi Shizuku—the woman—was about to cut the sandwich with the same sword she had just used to cut someone (in her mind).

Even though this is the third time, I still want to state here that Shizuku-nyan is very tired!

"Go—Wind Claw!"

The maker certainly didn't expect that his weapon would be used like this. The black knife beautifully cut through the sandwich thrown into the air.

The sandwich returned to Shizuku's palm in its original shape, and the moment she deftly put the knife away with one hand, the sandwich immediately disintegrated.

Cut into cubes with a side length of one centimeter.

Shizuku seemed to think she was very handsome, and said with a smug expression:

"I killed another boring thing, nya."

Then, with a smug look on his face, he turned around—

"..."

"..."

The one Shizuku met eyes with wasn't the cat, but Princess Liliana, whose eyes were filled with pity.

The smug expression on Shizuku's face froze, and the princess remained silent, leaving the room in a hushed silence. Before they knew it, not a single sandwich was left, and the cat was nowhere to be seen.

A gust of wind blew, and someone broke the silence.

"...killed that boring thing, nya?"

The princess asked, and Shizuku-nyan's answer was, of course—

"M-Miaa ...

Screaming in cat language.

"Don't look at me! Don't look at me like this! You might as well just kill me!"

"Okay, okay, it doesn't matter. Hehe, Shizuku is so cute."

Shizuku collapsed on the ground in shame in a corner of the training ground; Princess Liliana sat down beside her and comforted her with a smile.

Afterwards, it took Shizuku a while to revive. She finally managed to pull herself together and asked Liliana with a slightly resentful look:

"So, what's going on? Lily, why are you here? You've come all the way to this rarely visited training ground. Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Hearing Shizuku's words, Liliana put on a slightly serious expression and spoke:

"I do have something to do...but I came to see you because I saw Shizuku wasn't with Mr. Kouki and the others."

It seems that Liliana came to show concern because she saw that Shizuku was not with her companions. Shizuku smiled at Liliana's concern and said:

"Thank you for worrying about me, Lily, but I'm fine."

"But why are you staying alone in a place like this..."

Sometimes people just want to be alone—Shizuku swallowed the words and didn't say it; but Liliana had been scheming with nobles and envoys from other countries since she was a child, and Shizuku couldn't hide her thoughts from her at all.

"Shizuku, you're pushing yourself too hard. Although it's for the sake of the country, I'm in a position where I rely on you, so perhaps I don't have the right to say such things..."

"I don't think you're being unreasonable. We know how dedicated Lily is to us. And I'm not forcing myself. It's just that Kouki and the others' problems are complicated right now, and sometimes I need to distance myself from them like I do now."

Liliana didn't think Shizuku had told everything, but when she saw her smile and her resolute reply, "I'm fine!", she decided to change the subject, thinking further questions would only cause Shizuku more distress.

"Mr. Kouki and the others really suffered a significant blow, didn't they?"

"Yes, the blow of the defeat in Orcus is not so easy to get over, especially with Kaori involved."

Thinking of her good friend who was on a journey with her beloved, Shizuku couldn't help but look towards the western sky.

"Are you lonely?"

Lily didn't sense Shizuku's loneliness from her profile, but vaguely felt it from her eyes, so she asked this question.

"I'm not lonely, okay? Even if I'm not here, I believe Kaori and I are still connected, and there's a caring princess here who will come to see me."

Shizuku said to Liliana with a mischievous smile. Liliana, like those who claimed to be Shizuku's "sister," blushed unconsciously.

"As expected of everyone's onee-sama."

Shizuku pinched Liliana's cheek, as if to punish her for calling her "sister." From the perspective of her "sisters," this must have been a reward. Liliana could almost hear the rich girls resentfully saying, "I'm so jealous~ I'm so envious~"

"And what? What do you want from me?"

Shizuku said that they had talked enough about herself and asked Liliana why she came in the first place. Liliana, who was pinched on the cheek, blushed slightly and replied:

"It's about the transformation of the demon and Mr. Nanyun."

"So that's what it is. What do His Majesty and the Church have to say?"

Ever since returning from the Great Labyrinth of Orcus, the palace has been in a state of chaos. This is understandable, however, as Shizuku and the others have reported that the demons possess an incredibly powerful army of monsters, and the heroic team was once defeated, leaving humanity facing extinction.

At the same time, the enemy who had cornered the hero, the hope of humanity, was driven out by Hajime's overwhelming strength, a fact that caused unrest in the kingdom and the church.

A brief report on the events in Ur Town had already been sent back to the capital. However, due to their sheer strangeness, everyone was skeptical. The events now unfolding in the Orcus Labyrinth had dispelled these doubts.

The boy who was once called "incompetent" is intrigued by the fact that he possesses overwhelming power and an unknown divine weapon that can save humanity from the threat of demons.

However, instead of returning, he even refused to join his companions and insisted on acting alone.

This matter was extremely serious for both the palace and the church, so the topic of discussion for the past few days had been how to deal with him. Although a meeting was held, no conclusion was reached, and the matter remained at a stalemate.

Shizuku thought the situation was finally over and looked forward to the meeting coming to a conclusion, but Liliana rarely shook her head and sighed.

"They haven't come to any conclusions at all. Regarding the demons, all they've talked about is the need to strengthen the heroes like Mr. Kouki so they can fight them; or that since some students can control large numbers of monsters, perhaps others can too, so they're planning to re-investigate the vocation. The problem isn't one of strength, but one of psychology, but those in the church don't understand that. They think, if you've been chosen as God's apostles, why bother killing the enemy? Why shouldn't you be happy to be given a noble mission?"

Liliana was also a devout member of the Holy Church. Shizuku could see from her face that she was incredulous at the fact that a believer like her would speak to someone from the church.

Noticing Shizuku's confusion, Liliana gave a wry smile.

“When it comes to real-world problems, I’m good at separating thoughts from emotions.”

Liliana displayed the abilities of a princess. Shizuku couldn't help but let out a subtle expression, considering she was only fourteen.

"That being said, those people in the church haven't been so extreme before... Perhaps they've been pushed into a corner. Anyway, the church might make some unreasonable demands. Mr. Guanghui and his men are in a precarious situation right now, and no one knows if things will develop in a dangerous direction. So I thought I'd warn you in advance."

"So that's how it is...Okay, I understand. Thank you, Lily."

Being mentally prepared and being unprepared are two completely different things. As long as they know what's going on, even if the church members try to indoctrinate them, they will be able to filter the information to a certain extent and truly think with their own minds.

"What about Nagumo-san?"

Liliana was speechless for a moment at Shizuku's question. A bad premonition crossed Shizuku's mind, and then her premonition seemed to come true.

"Someone mentioned labeling Mr. Nagumo a heretic."

"You're not kidding, are you?"

——Heretics identified.

The Church has the power to punish all humans according to its laws, and heretics are considered part of the Church's powerful authority. Because heretics are enemies of God, any action taken against them will not be condemned. Furthermore, the Church prohibits any act of aiding heretics. This decision is tantamount to not allowing them to exist in this world.

"It's just that someone raised such an opinion, and such a designation wouldn't be passed. We don't make a heretic designation lightly, so we can't just issue an order for someone to disobey the church. But people's opinions are scary, and even if it's just an emotional remark during a meeting, there's a chance rumors will spread that such a topic was raised. Just because someone is suspected of being a heretic, people probably won't have a good impression of Mr. Nagumo."

"Lily, I think what she meant was that we 'shouldn't be influenced by what others say'."

"Yes, humanity is facing a critical moment, so it's inevitable that some will speak too passionately. That's why I brought up the topic of heresy, that's all. Please don't overreact to what you heard. As for the policy towards Mr. Nagumo, the Church will wait for Miss Aiko and the others to return and make a decision after hearing their report."

Liliana offered this advice with a serious look, and Shizuku understood the true meaning of her words. Liliana was protecting Hajime's home so that he would have a place to call home when he returned. This was partly for Hajime, but the biggest reason was probably for Kaori, who had followed Hajime. Even if Kaori returned to her friends, she would surely be heartbroken if her beloved had no place to call home.

"Thank you so much, Lily."

Shizuku thanked Liliana with a heart full of affection.

"...Although it's God's will, it's us who dragged you into this world's conflict. If I don't do my best for you, I'd be failing God. Besides... Shizuku and Kaori are both important friends of mine."

After saying this, Liliana looked away, a bit embarrassed. Shizuku couldn't help but hug Liliana and correct her, saying, "We're not just friends, we're good friends!" Liliana blushed.

After that, the two finished their business and turned to girl-themed topics. Liliana, as a princess, and Shizuku, as the hardest-working student in the class, both accumulated a lot of mental fatigue. Therefore, chatting with friends was the most healing and brief moment for them.

However, their joy came at the cost of several people's dignity. For example, they discussed how Lord Randel, who had fallen in love with Kaori, had been bedridden due to the trauma and had recently been crying to Liliana every night. They also discussed how, just when they thought Lord Randel had regained his composure, he suddenly ran to Kouki and yelled, "You useless bastard, you actually let Kaori be taken away! As a man, aren't you ashamed?!" Kouki collapsed to the ground, hand on his chest. Lord Randel, also devastated by the same words, collapsed to the ground. And then there was the story of Hajime's change in appearance.

These topics all fall into the realm of dark history. If the people involved in the topics heard them, they would probably be bedridden for days.

The things that girls talk about without any taboos are the things that boys in this world should never know.

"Well, Shizuku, I'm going back. You really can't act so stubborn, okay?"

"Okay, I know. I'm going back to my room now. Thank you so much, Lily."

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