As my vision, wrapped in light, cleared, I found myself underwater.
「Glub glub glub glub gl—」
Lopple-san, having been suddenly thrown into the water, was thrashing about in confusion.
(Well, I guess that’s to be expected… Right then 『——Magic Armor: Crocell!』)
Deploying my hybrid dragon and angel magic armor, I swam at high speed, breached the surface, and landed on the edge.
「Hah… Hah… Are you two alright?」
Both Amilia and Lopple-san seemed unwell.
(Now that I think about it, I remember reading in a manga that surfacing too quickly while scuba diving can make you feel sick.)
「For now, for both of you 『——Complete Status Recovery (Extra Heal)』」
「Uweh~ Thank you, Yuuki…」
「Cough cough, I thought I was going to die…」
「Ahaha… Come to think of it, we didn’t know Amilia dove in last time. Though I forgot about that too…」
「So then… How many days have passed now… guh!」
Since the moon was still overhead, I looked up at the stars to check the passage of time, though it was difficult to see. The moment I did, something slammed into my solar plexus.
「Waaaaaah!! Yuuki-saaaaan!!」
It was a rainbow-colored brilliance I hadn’t seen in about a month.
「Haha, I’m back, Selene」
Selene rubbed her face, on the verge of tears, against my clothes.
「And where exactly have you been, Yuuki-sama?」
Liliana, who had flown over smoothly, landed behind me.
「Ahaha… I went to save the past world a little…」
「The past world…? I do not understand, but I imagine it was quite trying… And who, might I ask, is that woman?」
「Eek!? W-w-w-w-w-w I am Holy Knight-sama’s subordinate!!」
Liliana pointed at Lopple-san, who was wrapped up in a mat, with a sword she had somehow produced. Though the highlight was gone from her eyes…
「Um… She’s a war orphan. She said she wanted to work in my world, so I scouted her.」
「I see. I am Liliana Noble-Bloody, princess of the vampires. Though inexperienced, I have the honor of being Yuuki-sama’s wife.」
「Noble-Bloody… Isn’t that the king of the eastern superpower!?」
「My, you are well-informed about my lineage originating from the eastern country… Even though that was quite some time ago…」
「But the princess of the Theocracy is the younger sister of the head of the Noble-Bloody house!!」
「Heh~ Is that so」
Amilia, now recovered, came over. It seemed her condition was fine, which was good.
「And the Theocracy you mentioned earlier, would that be the Grimms Theocracy?」
「Yes, that’s right.」
Lopple-san, still lying down, answered the question directed at her.
「Ah— Amilia, could you untie Lopple-san?」
「Got it. My, you really can’t move, can you?」
Since Selene was clinging to me and wouldn’t let go, I asked Amilia to do it instead.
「And what were you all doing?」
「Well… an evil god appeared, and we defeated it.」
「An evil god… That means you went back over 2000 years, didn’t you?」
「Two thousand… you’re serious…?」
「Yes. According to oral traditions passed down in my house, it is said, ‘The evil god was driven out by the Holy Maiden of the Holy Sword and her consort, the Holy Knight, filling the world with the light of peace.’」
Huh? That rings a lot of bells.
「There is more. It is also said, ‘To ensure the great deeds of these two are never forgotten, records were kept, oral traditions were passed down, and eternal gratitude shall not fade.’」
「Aah! So that’s why I was made to carry a sword when I was going around as the Holy Maiden!」
「Indeed. The tale of the ‘Holy Maiden of the Holy Sword’ has even become a children’s story. In our country, it is uniformly told to children from a young age, as a bedtime story or during story time.」
「So that’s how it was… Hey, Amilia? What’s wrong?」
Amilia had buried her face in her knees and was trembling.
「No… I used to read that picture book to the children at the orphanage… And I was trying to be cool while doing it…」
Ah… that ‘is’ embarrassing…
「W-well, I’m sure the children at the orphanage never dreamed they’d have the real Holy Maiden of the Holy Sword reading to them.」
「That’s… true, bu—「A-A-Achoo!!」」
Lopple-san let out a huge sneeze and shivered.
「Come to think of it, her clothes have been soaking wet this whole time… Liliana, could you take Amilia and Lopple-san to have a bath?」
「Understood. And what shall we do about Selene-sama?」
「I’ll go too…」
I couldn’t tell if I was soaking wet or if Selene’s face was just a mess, but my clothes were damp.
「Then let’s all go. We can’t use Selene’s house, so I’ll bring out a house.」
「Okay.」
「That house from back then!?」
「Yeah, that one. It’s spacious there, so everyone can rest, right?」
「「Bring out a house?」」
Liliana and Lopple-san tilted their heads in confusion.
「Ah, you two haven’t seen it, have you? Well, seeing is faster… Selene, is there a wide-open space I can use?」
「There is! Over here, over here!」
Guided by Selene to an empty lot, I took a house out of my Dimensional Storage. The two of them were speechless.
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