Return of the Former Hero

Chapter 161. Former Hero – Gets Angry

Translator: Raizu

Editor: Shirayuki

[Inspection…?]

When I was relaxing in bed at night, I was interrupted by Rithina.

[Yes, but Haruto-kun doesn’t have to do anything like today. I would like you to go to some place to check the number of people before the Imperial Army departs tomorrow.]

[Haa.]

It seems that the Imperial Army which was stationed here in Aria were forbidden to leave their area.

Of course, the Knights of Millis are monitoring the area around the camp, but it seems that they are checking the total number of people on an irregular basis to see if they are still sneaking away and going somewhere from their watch.

Well, surely, I knew that it would be a problem if the military forces of another country would do as they pleased in other countries as they like.

Well… it seems that the Imperial Army, who will be departing for the Royal Capital tomorrow, will perform one last inspection before departure.

[I will also look into it by the time they depart. Haruto-kun should be present at the inspection team and receive the final confirmation.]

[Hmm…! I understand.]

To Rithina’s explanation, I shrugged and stretched my back before accepting it.

After talking, when I told her during that time that I had a relationship with Elcure, several people had already seen it, so it was accepted without any problems.

Celes and Tanya already knew and accepted it while the other women didn’t blame me for these matters anymore. They are very understanding brides. They were a little disappointed though.

Putting that aside, Tanya, Laurier, and Kagura-san were already completely punished.

Then the next morning…

[Haruto-kun. Good morning.]

As Rithina told me last night, when I went to the Imperial Army’s camp which was stationed outside the city and watched the Knights running for confirmation, I heard the voice of a beautiful Etna.

[Etna-san! Good morning.]

Etna-san, who I haven’t seen in a long time, healed me.

My voice responded in high spirits.

But, why is Etna-san here?

No way, did she miss me for being away from the city for a while? Is that why she bothered to see my face?

Well, I really did it. Ehehe.

[Haruto-kun. Please come to the guild later. If the magic stone mining is completed, you have to report it to the guild properly.]

Ah.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t gone there yet.

The magic stone mining was a quest through the guild so I had to report the completion.

[I-I’m sorry… For you to come all this way…]

My voice turned low.

[No, it’s work after all.]

Etna-san says so with a face saying that she doesn’t care.

It can’t be helped, but when it’s about work, she comes rushing here..

I’m sad.

[Apart from that, please tell us about the story in the labyrinth later.]

[Y-yes!]

Unlike the previous business conversation, Etna-san smiled and asked while tilting her head a little.

Her long ponytail swayed softly.

C-U-T-E!

My spirit rose after being depressed once.

What a lovely technique. I still need to learn more.

My heart was excited.

I wanted to leave it to the spur of the moment and hug her.

Is it okay for me to hug her? Let’s hug her.

I can’t stand it anymore!

[Excuse me. Lord, can I have a moment?]

Haa.

As I was losing my composure, I heard a familiar voice when I almost went ahead.

Looking at the voice, the Prince of the Empire that I met yesterday was accompanied by two soldiers.

His name is… I can’t remember it.

[W-what is it?]

For the time being, I answered him. I’m a little sullen.

Thank you for stopping me before I let myself get loose, but the crime of disturbing my moment with Etna-san is heavy.

After hearing my words, the Prince did not continue and glanced at Etna-san.

[Oh, uh… Then I’ll be going first. Lord-sama, I’ll see you later.]

[Eh… Alright.]

Etna-san, who is usually natural and fluffy, read the air emitted by the Prince and left her seat.

She called me with my title. Etna is a woman who can do anything after all.

However, for disturbing me and Etna-san’s time, what a way to end it.

Is it because the prince? That’s not the problem.

[What do you want to talk about?]

I suppressed the irritation that burned inside and managed to hear it again normally.

[Both of you take your leave.]

[…Haa.]

When the Prince ordered the soldier behind him, the soldier left the place after a short reply.

Although they went away, they could still observe the situation.

[I’m sorry. Thank you for your time.]

The prince looked around and cut out the story after confirming that no one was in here where they could hear his voice.

Why does he care about such things?

The line of sight he felt when he left the guest room yesterday wasn’t an accident it seems.

[I wanted to talk with just us. I was wondering when an opportunity will arise so I’m glad I was able to talk in this way.]

The prince says with a friendly and soft demeanor.

Eh? What is with this guy? Did you want to talk with me alone?

No way… Is hea person with that kind of peculiar interests?

Oi oi, please stop it.

I don’t have such a hobby.

Please refrain from doing it even if the other party looks like a cute girl no matter where you look, even if it is a so-called otokonoko. Seriously. (ED Note: basically a trap)

[Um… haa… I see…?]

[Yes. I don’t have much time so I’m sorry that I’ll get to the main subject right away.]

When I’m thinking unnecessary delusions, the Prince goes on and on alone.

Forgive me if he actually fell in love with me at first sight.

[The demons of Fort Gauge… You are the one who defeated you, not the Hero, right?]

[Ha?]

My anxiety didn’t show up. I’m glad.

No, not yet, I don’t know yet.

Um… what? The demons of Fort Gauge were with that Meteo bastard.

Certainly, I defeated him…

No, it’s true that Leon had defeated him for the outsiders.

That’s why I don’t know where and how he looked it up, but indeed I’m the one who defeated it.

What should I do?

Of course it is not good to answer him honestly… right?

[Wait, I don’t know what you mean by that.]

[…]

I tried pretending to be confused with a poker face.

I can only stay calm except for erotic things.

[…Is that so? Maybe this information was wrong.]

The Prince didn’t pry too deeply and he accepted my words easily.

Well, I don’t know if he really believed it.

[Aside from the fort, the rumors about you have reached the Empire.]

Are you serious?

What kind of rumors are being spread around?

I hope it is not a rumor that there is a demon in Mills.

[Various things; I heard that you won the fighting tournament in Odysseus. You were disqualified in the race at Angel, but you seem to have made an exceptional performance. Other than that, the flood of monsters in the labyrinth was brilliantly controlled around Malt and you destroyed the bandits by yourself. I’ve heard a lot of heroic stories.]

The Prince smiled and talked about me, citing one result after another.

His smile was a smile that was completely different from Etna-san’s smile. Even with the same smile, it was driven by a foreign and indescribable anxiety.

[Thanks…]

And more than that, I’m even afraid that almost everything I’ve done since I came to this world was understood, albeit a little exaggerated.

Does he really know everything? Is he my stalker?

No, yesterday was my first meeting with stalker-san.

[And among them…]

The Prince continued talking. Is there more? Is there anything else?

[I’m very interested in the Demon King’s command to avoid you.]

The Prince who, while saying so, opened his thin, thread-like eyes a little and stared at my eyes.

As usual, the smile on his mouth was creepy. It’s like a snake if you put out a slender tongue with this.

I mean, that story was also heard from Leon before.

What happened to the Demon King’s army?

Isn’t your information too loose here?

[The Demon King himself? It’s my first time hearing that, but that’s stupid. Haha. What kind of joke is that?]

It was the information that I knew beforehand so I squeezed it so smoothly that I wanted to praise myself.

[Oh? You didn’t know?]

[Nothing at all. Even if so, I can’t think of a reason… Do you know the details?]

It’s true that I can’t think of a reason.

If you know the reason for this, I would love to hear it from you.

[I don’t even know the reason.]

I don’t know at all.

[But I think it’s true that the Demon King is avoiding you, even if you don’t know why. That’s why…]

The Prince gradually approached me while saying so.

Close, close, you’re too close.

I’ll really blast you away, you know.

[That’s why Amagi-dono, why don’t you come to the Empire?]

The Prince said so in my ear with a particularly quiet voice.

Ha?

Do you want me to come to the Empire?

Nn?

[Umm…?]

I don’t know what the Prince meant by that, so I made a stupid voice with surprise face.

[So, why don’t you fight together as a member of the Imperial Army and not as a local lord of Millis? In addition to the command from the Demon King, your power will be a wonderful force. It is far better than that hero…that’s what I think.]

The Prince lifted his face from my ear and spoke as if to convince me.

So does he want to recruit me?

I am? Would you like to join the Imperial Army and fight the Demon King Army?

[Of course, we can promise you better treatment. The national power of the Empire is much higher than that of Millis after all.]

I see.

That’s why he wants to talk about this with just two people.

In particular, it was a story that could not be said in front of the third Princess, Rithina.

[It’s a sudden story, so you don’t have to reply immediately. That’s right… I hope you can give me your answer when I come back from our expedition next time…]

The Prince went on with his talk.

No, no, wait.

[I’m sorry, but the answer is no. I have no intention of throwing away Millis.]

[….]

I made a clear refusal before talking or jumping in a strange direction.

Because I refused his offers, the prince’s words stopped immediately… that’s what I thought, but he didn’t stop.

[Are you concerned about the women surrounding Amagi-dono? It’s okay. They all can come together with us. If anything, we will also procure as many women as you like from the Empire.]

The Prince said something crazy.

As expected from the Prince. He presents all-you-can-eat conditions on what I want to do.

However, I have already decided the answer.

[Still, the answer doesn’t change.]

For the time being, no matter how beautiful and cute a girl is being offered, it won’t shake my heart.

It’s boring to receive a girl prepared by another person.

I choose my harem.

Oh. Aren’t I a little cool just now?

I choose my harem.

Since all of it was for my harem, isn’t it cool?

Well whatever.

Besides, it is unlikely that Rithina will abandon her country and go to his Empire in the first place.

She is a Princess after all.

For her country, she wouldn’t be able to abandon her country because she once had given up on her own dream and she thought it was unavoidable to marry Butagori-kun.

As long as one of my harem members never abandons the country, I won’t abandon it either.

[Fumu…]

The Prince, who was being refused without any hesitation, stopped talking this time.

He put his hand on his chin and thought for a while.

He should give up.

Don’t count on me, do your best by yourself to fight the Demon King Army.

I don’t like to do that anymore.

Unless it actually harms me.

Currently, if the Demon King is avoiding me, then I will not come into play either.

The Prince who was thinking started speaking again.

And he continued to talk persistently; it seems he hadn’t given up yet.

[That… Do you care about Princess Rithina… I assume?]

Yeah.

You seem to understand my thoughts well. Do you understand now?

[Well… it’s not only because of that, but that’s right.]

Please give up quickly.

With that feeling, I affirmed the Prince’s opinion.

This may have been a bit of a mistake.

[I see… It can’t be helped. If, in the unlikely event that something happened to Princess Rithina, then at that time by all means…]

[Oi.]

I interrupted the words spoken by the man in front of me and raised my voice.

[I don’t know what I wanted to say now, but if you do something even a little bit to my woman, I’ll kill you.]

I forgot the honorifics so much that I was a little surprised.

[…]

The Prince stood still, speechless.

When I noticed it, the soldier who had been waiting at a distance, where he could not hear our voice, was rushing towards us.

In addition, the Imperial soldiers who were preparing to depart further away were also looking into this situation.

This is bad.

[Laval-sama! Did something happen!?]

An imperial soldier who rushed in asked the prince from the side.

Ah, that’s right. His name was Laval. I remembered.

No, that’s not the case now.

What should I do?

I don’t want to overlook what Laval said earlier, but I’m sorry to Rithina if my remarks just now would make the relationship between Millis and the Empire getting worse.

Oh, should I apologize?

No, it’s something different to apologize.

Nn, but…

[No, it’s nothing…]

[But, the magical power just now… there is no way that…]

[I said nothing happened.]

[…Ha.]

Despite my worries, Laval doesn’t seem to have any complaints.

[Amagi-dono.]

[Ah, um, yes.]

I was talking and screaming to Prince Laval.

Where was my dignity earlier?

[I realized a lot of things. Forget everything I just talked about here. And, I’m sorry for earlier.]

Prince Laval apologizes in words, though he does not bow his head in front of the soldier.

And he asks for a handshake.

[No problem, I don’t mind.]

I responded and shook hands with Laval.

[Then, thank you for your help.]

[No problem, good luck.]

When the last words were exchanged, Prince Laval left.

Probably because he had apologized to the lord, the soldier glanced at me and then followed after Laval.

…..

Haaa… I was nervous.

I’m glad it didn’t become a strange situation.

I was so tired that I sat down on the spot.