“Shia, you’re really…”

"Oh my, hehe. In that case, you must come back and let me say 'Welcome back'."

"oh."

"OK!"

Finally, the four of them hugged each other.

Then, Myuu and Remia watched as Hajime and Shia left the deepest part of the Orcus Great Labyrinth.

After passing through the space gate, it was Shizuku who greeted Hajime and Shia outside the gate.

"You're finally here. Dignitaries from various countries have been waiting here for a long time. Follow me."

Shizuku said only this before turning and walking away, looking rather unhappy. Hajime and Shia exchanged a puzzled glance, tilting their heads, before following.

Although it was late at night, the ground was still bright.

Looking up, I saw countless lights in the night sky that were much brighter than the stars.

That was the artifact Hajime had provided. He had prepared this artifact for illumination, in order to facilitate overnight work or the final battle at night. Right now, the plains ahead of the [Heilig Kingdom] were ablaze with light, filled with countless lights, like a lit baseball field.

The royal capital and the sacred mountain in the distance were also cast in shadow by these light sources, looking completely different from usual, giving people an uncanny impression.

"Where are Kaori and the others?"

"With my classmates. Suzu and Ryuutarou are here too. Didn't you send the Time Crystal? They're using its power to improve their proficiency before they go out."

The place was bustling with knights, soldiers, craftsmen, and people running around doing various chores, making it quite noisy.

Along the way, we saw numerous massive trenches, protective walls, and massive anti-aircraft turrets housing large-scale weapons. The most striking feature was the towering fortress.

This red brick fortress, perhaps due to the use of minerals from the abyss, appears unadorned yet majestic. Its completeness doesn't look like it could have been built in a day or two.

"Oh? Isn't that Nagumo? You're finally out!"

Suddenly someone called out to Hajime, and he stopped. Kentaro had just come out of the castle, and seeing Hajime, he ran over. Ayako followed, and then—

“Uoooh! Isn’t this our Master Nagumo!?”

Many familiar faces followed them. Suddenly, an explosion of cheers erupted, so loud that even the soldiers, startled, quickly drew their swords and took precautions. Ayako, standing nearby, rolled her eyes and fainted. Kentaro also seemed dizzy from the impact on his semicircular canals, but he quickly supported her.

"You are Volpon, right? The kingdom's chief alchemist."

"Oh, I didn't expect you to remember me, my master!"

"No, I don't remember ever taking you as my apprentice..."

Before he could finish his words, several Kingdom Alchemists gathered in front of Hajime in an instant and began shouting "Master" in unison.

These followers, filled with immense passion for Hajime, who had once chased him across the kingdom despite his deepest resistance, seemed unwavering in their devotion even at this crucial moment, their fate hanging in the balance. On the contrary, having received the divine artifact offered by Hajime, their reverence for him had risen to the level of worship. Everyone's breathing quickened just by looking at him.

Then, Hajime subdued everyone with Thunder Entanglement and fled. Kentaro and Ayako followed him, their expressions twitching stiffly.

"Nomura, you did a great job. This castle is truly magnificent."

"Uh, no, I just performed the magic as requested by the craftsmen. My proficiency in earth magic has improved to such an extent that even I'm surprised."

"I followed Nomura-san and helped him heal. Eventually, my healing magic improved to the same level as Kaori's before. I was surprised too."

Kentaro and Ayako smiled shyly. They each held a short metal staff, their own special artifact.

"Nagumo, as for you... well, it seems there's no need to ask."

Kentaro's face twitched stiffly at the sight of the living golems. The golems posed for them with unrestrained grace. Ayako rolled her eyes and nearly fainted.

Before they knew it, the surroundings had become quite noisy. The explosive roar of Volpon and the striking presence of the living golems constantly drew the attention of the soldiers and knights.

“That’s the guy…” Everyone looked at Hajime in awe.

At this time──

"Nomura-kun, Ayako. Let's talk later. Lily and the others are waiting for us to attend a military meeting."

"Uh, oh, that's true. Sorry."

"Ah, yeah. Speaking of which, you're quite bold..."

Shizuku hugged Hajime's arm as she spoke, narrowing her eyes and smiling brightly at the two of them. She hugged him tightly, pressing his arm tightly between her breasts.

Kentaro looked away awkwardly, and Ayako blushed. Regardless of their reactions, Shizuku continued to pull Hajime forward, as if she was deliberately hugging him for show.

Seeing this scene, the soldiers—especially those from the Empire—let out cries that resembled wails. Shizuku's face flushed red, but she looked satisfied.

"...Yaegashi, what happened?"

"Could it be that Miss Shizuku has awakened!?"

Ignoring Shia's nonsense, for Shizuku, who completely adheres to the traditional Japanese woman's reserved style in love, such behavior is indeed not like her usual self.

"Call me Shizuku. It might be a little late to ask at this point, but I hope you'll call me by my name. I'll call you Hajime, too."

"what?"

Hajime looked quite confused. Shizuku sighed wearily upon seeing this.

"His Majesty the Emperor is obsessed with me. He's constantly trying to find excuses to keep me by his side and even courting me... The annoying thing is, his excuses always make perfect sense, and he does everything he's supposed to do perfectly. I can't find any fault with him at all."

It seems that Gahalud's pursuit of her during this period has made her very irritated.

"Didn't I tell you? It's okay to mention my name at a time like this."

"I told him. I told him that the one I like is Hajime."

"Why are you so shy? What will happen? If he continues to harass you, why not just let me know?"

At this point, Shizuku's expression suddenly changed from displeasure to annoyance.

"I...I don't want to bother you with such a trivial matter. After all, Shiji is the key to the coalition's victory. I also want you to concentrate on preparing to deal with Esid."

"Don't worry about that for me. I can just use the Space-Time Gate to come over and shower him with bullets. It's no big deal."

"Haha, I knew you'd do this, that's why I was cautious. Even if I had to use rubber bullets, it's inappropriate to ask you to use violence against the head of a country at such a critical moment. So, I choose to be patient. In return, you can let me act coquettishly as much as I want. His Majesty is in the meeting room too, so it's a good opportunity to pretend to be intimate with him."

"I see. So you also deliberately let the Imperial soldiers see it, right?"

"That's what's going on. So, Shia, please bear with me for a moment, okay?"

"Now that you've said that, I'm embarrassed to intervene. Okay, I'll agree. I'll just make do with the prosthetic limb."

Shia hugged Hajime's prosthetic leg, sinking it deeply between her breasts.

From the perspective of others, Hajime looked like a ridiculous man, strutting around in a military facility surrounded by women... However, the audacity he exuded with a group of living golems behind him made the men dare not complain.

Under the eyes of fear and jealousy, Hajime and the others left leisurely. Kentaro and Ayako, who stayed at the scene, looked at each other and said in unison:

"It's the Demon King after all."

"Yes, it's the Demon King."

Both of them deeply agreed.

As soon as Hajime and the others entered the meeting room, there was a commotion in the room.

He stopped at the entrance and looked around the room.

The first thing I saw was a huge round table. In the center of the table sat a three-dimensional map, showing the Sacred Mountain, the fortress, and the terrain between them. Also placed were several chess pieces, depicting the deployment of personnel and supplies.

Sitting around the round table were the world's top leaders, each of whom was followed by a few close associates.

First, it is the innermost location when viewed from the front of the entrance.

——The voluptuous goddess Aiko Hatayama

──Follower Sonobe Yuka

The left and right are:

——Liliana S.B. Heilig, Acting King of the Kingdom of Heilig

——Kujeli Rael, leader of the Knights of the Follower Kingdom

—His Holiness Pope Simon L.G. Liberace

—Deacon Sylvia L.G. Libelair

——David Zahler, Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Clockwise from Liliana's position, they are:

——Longie F. Jegen, Lord of the Principality of Ankaji

——Emperor of the Horusha Empire, Jaharud D. Horusha

—Elfred Hepster, the Elder of Feyalbergen

──Kam Hauriya, the leader of the Hauriya tribe

──Squire Eltina Habister

——Barus Laputa, Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild

-- Katherine Voka, Secretary General

——Christabel, the representative of the adventurers including Follower Jin

—Gurrel Kudeta, representative of the neutral commercial city of Fren

──Will Kudeta, the follower

——Yilva Qianggu, the branch leader of the Adventurer's Guild in Furen City

In addition, officers from various countries' armies and the highest-ranking nobles were also present.

When the people in the seats saw Hajime come in, they all showed expressions of finally seeing someone coming. Then, they noticed Shizuku and Hiago clinging to him closely on both sides, and everyone's expression became stiff with awkwardness.

Although he wasn't late, he made important people from all over the world wait, showed no remorse, and even cuddled with two women. He must have been too careless... Everyone present must have thought so.

Aiko and Liliana stood up from their chairs with a thud, while Yuka kept her lips tightly shut.

"Nangumo-san! I think you're doing this is inappropriate! Hugging two girls at once... This is shameless! I won't allow you to do this!"

"That's right! How could you do this? Are you showing off? Even a princess like me can only be treated perfunctorily by you. How can I save face like this!?"

“…Nagumo, you idiot, idiot~”

"What, what? Is that the guy Aiko-sama told Miss Yuka about? How enviable... No, it's really indecent. He actually monopolized such plump breasts—huh!?"

"Grandfather! Please don't forget your consciousness as the Pope! As a family member, I feel deeply ashamed!"

Pope Simon seemed about to say something, but his granddaughter, Deacon Xiweier, struck him hard on the back of the head, sending him sprawling onto the table. Even Yuka, her face flushed, ran over and slapped him repeatedly.

"I really still don't like you, Nagumo Hajime! You're being so affectionate with Shizuku, are you deliberately being affectionate for me? Huh?"

"As expected of the boss! Even with his beloved woman abducted, he still managed to find new women to keep by his side. Such a calm and composed person! Boss, you must be planning a feast of feasting and drinking to cheer everyone up before the final battle—wufu!?"

Eventually, Gaharud and Cam joined in the booing. Cam was the only one who seemed to have completely misunderstood, so Hajime fired a rubber bullet at him.

Anyway, why is Cam joining in the fun?

News of the Empire's dismantling of slavery must have spread across the lands. Perhaps this is why other nations and adventurer guilds are forced to consider this mad headhunter family a major global power. Or perhaps they're being treated as a particularly dangerous species, requiring constant surveillance.

Let's not talk about that for now. Shizuku, with a shy and pitiful look on her face, let go of Hajime, but her fingers were still pinching Hajime's sleeve. Seeing this, Jaharud's forehead bulged with more veins.

Shia had already left Hajime's side. Seeing her father writhing on the ground in agony, she covered her face with her hands in shame, her whole body trembling.

However, the main reason was probably Eltina. For some reason, she followed Cam, not Elfrelic, as his confidant.

As soon as she saw Xia, her breathing became rapid, her eyes full of enthusiasm, and she said, "This, this is a touching reunion with my first good friend!" Then she approached like a sleepwalker, and Xia immediately ran away.

“Ahh! Shia! Where are you going!? Please wait for me~!”

Eltina-san chased after Shia with a strange pace and speed.

Grandfather Alfred, sitting at the other end of the round table, glanced at Cam and his granddaughter from the corner of his eye. He skillfully and smoothly took out a few pills and swallowed them. They must be stomach medicine.

Hajime was seated next to Aiko. Hajime led Shizuku to his seat and pointed at Gaharud.

"Gaharud. Shizuku is holding my hand because of you. Blame yourself if you want to."

"You, brat... you're still as shameless as ever!"

"Who told you to cause trouble for Shizuku during this critical period? You'd better give up and stop pestering her. Or I'll turn you into a tomboy now. You choose."

“Oh my god♡ Is Shishi-chan going to add another one of my kind? You never forget to give me gifts. I love you so much♡”

Wearing a dress full of cute ruffles like a magical girl, the epitome of muscle—Christabel kept flirting with Hajime in a coy manner.

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