After another long kiss, she lowered her face and licked the nape of his neck.

“Come to think of it, Katarina-san isn’t here today, right? She’s not going to be around for a while.”

“Yes?”

“Then, won’t it be alright if I sleep next to Cloud-sama today?”

“Why is that?”

“Well, we can’t touch the subtle boundaries of the drawn line without being caught by Katarina-san, right? So, today’s just the day! Whew. I am eagerly awaiting today’s sunset.”

Leslie spoke as if it were a done deal that we were going to sleep together tonight. I was about to say something, but shut up when I saw the pile of papers on the desk and the dark circles under her eyes.

Noticing that, she chuckled.

“It was a nice stroke of luck to accept this job.”

Her arms wrapped around my neck. Just when her pink lips were coming close once again.

– Tuck.

Someone knocked outside.

“…Who is it?”

Leslie’s voice flared with annoyance.

The person who knocked, as if taken aback by her, trembled.

– Me, Meria. It’s Meria.

“I’m busy right now, so if it’s not relevant, would you like to come back later?”

– Well, it seems like something important to me…

“What is it?”

– The princess has returned… But as soon as she arrived, she declared that she won’t inherit the throne…

She said so even after taking a look at the city?

It seems that the princess is only grown up and not mature.

“Cloud? Where are you going?”

“To meet our princess.”

The medicine of maturity, I’ll have to find it.

* * *

The morning after the Heavenly King was subjugated.

– The Hero, Cloud, vanquished one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Creas, to nothingness.

Pope and the Saintess Candidates received an oracle with unbelievable particulars.

Of course, the Holy See was turned upside down.

Although the Four Heavenly Kings are under the command of the Demon King, they are one of the absolute rulers of the Demon Realm.

The rulers of the Demon Realm who reign only through strength, not cause of law, wealth, or politics.

It was hard to believe that such an existence was defeated by a single Hero, and by Cloud alone.

However, they did not dare to doubt the oracle, so the Holy See announced it to the Continent before sending an investigation team.

The Hero, Cloud, had annihilated a Heavenly King.

One of the giant threats hazarding the continent had disappeared.

After hearing the news, Lorian, the Crown Prince and the Hero of the Kingdom of Carta, sent for his retainers and commenced an assembly.

However, Lorian, who had initiated the assembly, was silent with a serious face; the vassals couldn’t help but get nervous as they watched.

After a while, Lorian opened his mouth.

“Do you guys think that Frillite can dispatch a Heavenly King by herself?”

Why was Frillite being mentioned all of a sudden?

The retainers were puzzled, but soon began to think seriously.

“…It’s hard to predict.”

Someone said, and the other vassals nodded in agreement.

They knew that Frillite was a strong Hero.

It was known that she had subjugated the Ogre alone while the Lorian’s party was incapacitated.

But she wasn’t an open book to know exactly where her limits were.

They knew that the Four Heavenly Kings were gigantic evils that threatened the continent. But they didn’t know how threatening such a monster was.

They did not dare to express their opinion because they lacked all the critical information on the subject to compare.

Lorian also nodded in understanding and asked another question.

“Then do you think Frillite is weaker than Cloud?”

Silence ensued again.

However, unlike before, the vassals shook their heads one by one.

Everyone admitted that lately Cloud had become a changed person.

However, comparing him to Frillite was different.

She was fundamentally different from other Heroes.

Comparing him and her was like comparing a just-turned adult dragon to a thousand-year-old elder dragon.

At least they thought so.

“That would mean that something is there. Whatever it is, if it’s enough to defeat a Heavenly King, it won’t be easy. What do you guys think?”

“I think what the prince said is right. It would have been impossible to defeat a Heavenly King through ordinary means.”

“I’ve heard that the location where the Heavenly King descended was Lupus, the capital of the Kingdom of Prona. There is a high probability that it died there too.”

“Anyway, the Kingdom of Prona is going to be in turmoil. Great.”

Lorian smiled and ordered his vassals.

“Please ask all the lords of our Kingdom to mobilize an army within three months. Our army will head for the Kingdom of Prona.”

The vassals gaped at him, astonished.

“To the Kingdom of Prona? The Empire won’t stand still if we do so without justification.”

“There is a justification. Isn’t the harvest day coming just yet?”

Harvest day.

Once a year, a large army of Orcs travelled around the Kingdoms to receive food, a festival-like event for the Orcs.

“It’s time to sort that out, too. We will head to the Kingdom of Alitia to stop the Orcs. We can ask the Kingdom of Prona to open the roads to the Kingdom of Alitia.”

“Ah..!”

The eyes of the vassals shot up.

“Certainly, if that is the case, the justification problem is resolved. And if there is a justification and the Kingdom of Carta starts to move, other countries will not stand by. The Empire will be no different… Eventually, the Kingdom of Prona will be absorbed by other countries.”

“In the end, it’s a race against time. Please do your best for the prosperity of the Kingdom of Carta.”

– Understood, Your Highness!

The retainers bowed their heads and scurried out of the meeting room.

Lorain, left alone, leaned back in his chair and recalled the face of that unlucky bastard.

‘Cloud… I still can’t forget the insults I received from you.’

He probably won’t be able to forget it in the future.

So why not return a double of it all.

Lorian’s teeth grounded agai—

– Thuk!

“Brother! Is it for real — you are going to the Kingdom of Prona?!”

Lorraine bust in, spurring the doors of the conference room open. Lorain was slightly surprised, but he replied calmly.

“Yes. Is there any problem?”

“No. There is no such thing as a problem. Yeah, so… When are you planning to leave?”

“I will leave in three months at the earliest, four months at the latest.”

“…longer than I expected.”

“You know very well that an army is not so easy to organize.”

“It is… it is not. I know. Oh, brother. Are you free this evening?”

“Before dinner? Yes. I don’t have any other plans at that time, but…”

“Can you combat with me then? I feel like I am lacking recently.”

“If that’s the case, I will be happy to.”

“Thanks, brother! Then see you tonight!”

After saying that, Lorraine disappeared.

Lorian felt proud of his younger sister’s determination to move forward.

But at the same time, he felt a bit uncomfortable.

‘Have I missed something?’

He dipped back into the deep sea of thinking.