Interlude: The Change in Hero (I)

In Heiligh Kingdom, a youth gazed absent-mindedly at calm water flowing under the bridge he leaned against. His long brown hair covered his indescribable expression.

On his side, a tall black haired girl slouched carelessly on the bridge and stared at the moon in a daze. Calm wind fluttered her long ponytail making it a mesmerizing sight for any men.

The girl broke the silence. "Hey!"

"What?" the youth asked back.

The girl without looking away from moon continued, "You have been acting annoying for a while."

The youth had a surprised expression for a second, which turned gloomy moments later. "What do you mean?"

"Kouki please try to be open-minded about it. Kaori can choose who she loves. You can't decide who she falls in love with."

He gritted his teeth. "I know… I just… I feel something dark inside every time I see them flirting… I want to know, just what she even see in that Otaku? He is just an average guy with no specialties."

"She has loved him since middle-school, but couldn't bring herself to confess. She only did it after she saw what happened to Evans-san and Eri."

"Even so..." he continued with a pained expression. "Will you also leave me like her?"

The girl released a disappointed sigh. "Like I said, you need to respect people's choices." With her words Shizuku walked away.

"How long will you keep doing that?" she muttered under her breath.

Kouki stood there gazing at the back of his childhood friend. He plopped down and buried his face in his knees.

"Hey, do you want power?"

A voice called out to him. He looked up to see a beautiful woman with striking silver hair and shining blue eyes dressed in a nun outfit.

'Beautiful.'

The nun tilted her head. "What are you looking at?"

"Huh?"

"My Lord wants to grant you power... will you take it?"

"Creation God?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes... the one and only God."

She sounded like a fanatic except her face showed no emotions.

Kouki stood and walked away from her.

The Nun called out to him. "Find me anytime in the Church if you change your decision."

He ignored her and kept walking.

"My Lord is really amused by this hero's stunts... Will he come to ask for power like My Lord said?"

She brought her hands near her chest and prayed to her only Lord.

***

Next day, Heiligh Kingdom Royal palace…

Shizuku walked through the corridors. Her ponytail swayed as she walked while occasionally greeting maids on the way. In all honesty, she was a bit creeped out by the way they called her 'Onee-sama'.

She slowly made her way over to Kaori's room. Recently, her friend felt very happy. She hummed cheerfully as she killed monsters in the labyrinth.

'What will I do about that girl?'

She thought and a smile appeared on her face. This was what people called 'A warm Motherly smile'.

Puchi~

She looked down to see a toy trapped under her shoes. She bent down and picked it up. It was a blue colored plushie of a dog.

"C-Cute."

she said unconsciously and searched around for the owner. Finding no one, her inner side started acting as she started rubbing her face against the cute plushie.

"O-Onee-sama."

She froze at the voice from behind. She turned her head slowly to see a little girl of around nine years, a child of one of the knights.

"K-Ki-chan, is this yours?" she asked and raised the cat plushie in front of her face.

The girl nodded her head repeatedly. "Yes!"

She gave it to her with a reluctant expression and escaped with her skill to hide her beet red face.

She took a deep breath in front of Kaori's room and entered.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi Shizuku," Irene greeted with a smile.

"Shizu Shizu we were just talking about you," Suzu said.

"Shizuku-chan, I kissed Hajime yesterday," Kaori said and dove into her embrace.

Shizuku patted her head with a helpless smile.

"As expected of Onee-sama," Eri said with a smirk.

Shizuku sighed and said, "People from the Empire are coming today and Kouki's head isn't in the right place."

"Should I teach them a lesson?" Irene said with a chilly smile.

"No, we—"

Creak~

The door opened and a beautiful teenage girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes entered. The elegant smile on her face gave everyone a good impression. The people of the earth will scream 'Princess! Princess!' at her mere sight because of the strong aura of royalty around her.

She bowed with graceful movements. "Thank you for helping our kingdom."

Everyone waved their hands to stop her.

Shizuku shook her head with a smile. "Don't worry about it Lily, aren't friends supposed to help each other?"

The girl was the princess of Heiligh Kingdom, Liliana S. B. Heiligh.

Liliana looked at Kaori. "I'm sorry for my little brother's misconduct. Please don't take his act seriously. He will get better."

Kaori sighed and released Shizuku. "I'm also sorry for treating him like that, but he shouldn't have said that about Hajime."

Liliana's brother Randell had a crush on Kaori. He lashed out at Hajime when he heard about Kaori dating him. Kaori ended up slapping him in the face to stop him.

Liliana bowed even deeply. "I'll educate him properly."

Shizuku decided to change the topic. "What about the Envoys coming from Empire?"

"Hero Kouki-sama will meet them. Can you girls accompany him?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

Shizuku smiled bitterly. "That idiot's mind is going through a lot lately. He needs to take a break from all this stuff."

Irene smirked and said, "My offer still stands."

Eri shook her head. "We don't want a war between human countries when the devils are already preparing for war."

Liliana had a puzzled expression after hearing this.

***

All of the students and Leaders of Heiligh kingdom along with a group of priests gathered in a large hall to receive the Envoys from the Hoelscher Empire.

The King, Eliheid S. B. Heiligh stepped forward and greeted the Envoys.

Shizuku watched as the king called Kouki who was lost in thought. She patted his shoulder, but he still didn't respond.

"Kouki!"

"Hugh?"

"Go and greet the Envoys," Shizuku said with a bitter smile.

"So you are Sir hero. Quite a dreamer, I must say. Pardon my rudeness,  but did you really defeat the behemoth on the sixty-five floor?"

"N-Yes, we did."

The Envoy looked at him suspiciously, making Kouki uncomfortable as he wasn't the one who defeated the behemoth. But the royal family still announced it as Kouki defeating the behemoth to keep Hero's face in public.

All of the students felt comfortable about this, but Irene and Eri had no problem with it so Kouki also agreed.

Kouki proposed about sharing the map of 66th floor and various small proofs, but Envoy still had suspicious glint in his eyes.

"There is a quicker method than that. Would you have a mock battle with one of my guards? So we can confirm your strength immediately, Sir Hero."

"Well, I don't mind that, but…"

Kouki looked at the King who in turn looked at Ishtar for approval. Ishtar nodded as this was the easiest way for the Empire to accept them as the Leader of Humanity.

"Very well, Sir Kouki. You may show them your strength as the Hero."

"It's decided then. I must implore you to prepare the ground for duel."