Chapter 378: Reunion
“Waa♪ Ryousuke-kun! Meeting you in a place like this feels like destiny!” (Inoue)
“Haha…yeah, I guess so.” (Sakurai)
A classmate was hugging Sakurai-kun with a bright, beaming smile.
Sakurai-kun’s expression was about half confusion and half happiness.
Inoue Ruka: our classmate from Tokyo Metropolitan Higashi-Shinagawa High School, 1st year Class A.
If I remember right, she was the ace of the tennis club, and since Sakurai-kun was also an ace athlete in the soccer club, the two were pretty close.
There was even a rumor for a while that they were dating…
(You sure remember that well, considering it’s such an oldstory.)
Noah-sama jabbed at me.
Well, memories of the previous world are over a thousand years old for me now. Looks like becoming a god made my memory a bit beyond human?
“Ryousuke-kun! Did you come here to see me!?” (Inoue)
“Ah…no, coming here was more like…a coincidence…” (Sakurai)
“I’m so happy! I wanted to see you too!” (Inoue)
Inoue-san was getting excited and didn’t seem to be listening much to what Sakurai-kun was saying.
Well, after living in an isekai without any acquaintances around, I totally get the feeling of being happy to see someone from our original world after so long.
It reminded me of when I reunited with Sa-san in Laberintos.
“Takatsuki-sama…are you acquaintances of my daughter…?”
The Ice Queen (mother) asked hesitantly.
“Yes. Sakurai-kun and I came here from another world, and Inoue-san was our classmate in the previous world.” (Makoto)
“I see… My daughter doesn’t speak much of her previous life, so I wasn’t aware. I never imagined she knew the Dragon King…”
The Ice Queen crossed her arms, looking troubled.
But seeing her up close… She’s seriously beautiful and young.
Snow-white hair, skin so pale it looks almost translucent.
A light-blue dress and deep-blue eyes.
Her features were so perfectly arranged she almost looked like a doll.
…But isn’t this person a long-lived Demon Lord?
(Wasn’t the Ice Queen-chan about the same age as the Ancient Dragon King?) (Noah)
I heard Noah-sama’s voice in the thought transmission.
…Wait, she’s the same generation as Astaroth?
So she’s…100,000 years old?
I stared, but no matter how I looked at her, she only seemed like a beautiful woman in her twenties.
“W-What is it, Dragon King-sama? Did I commit some impropriety?”
The Ice Queen hugged herself and stepped back.
Crap, I must’ve stared too much.
(Heey, heey, Mako-kun.)
A voice echoed in my head.
This one must be the Water Goddess.
(What is it, Eir-sama?) (Makoto)
(Try telling the Ice Queen-chan, ‘Let me embrace you.’ I wanna see how she reacts. Aren’t you curious what she’d do if the Dragon King Mako-kun made a move on her?) (Eir)
(…………What are you talking about?) (Makoto)
Even if she’s reincarnated, she’s still my classmate’s mother, you know?
(If the Ice Queen forms a relationship with Mako-kun, wouldn’t that make her country compatible with ours? We might be able to absorb the whole thing~) (Eir)
The Water Goddess casually said something terrifying.
And if we were to invite her to the Goddess Church, obviously she’d be worshiping Noah-sama.
(…Wait. Maybe it is an option?) (Makoto)
After all, she’s the ruler of the Arctic Continent, and as I just saw, she has an enormous number of subordinates.
If even a portion of them started believing in Noah-sama, it would become a huge faction.
This…might actually be part of my job as an Apostle.
“Ice Queen-sama.” (Makoto)
“Y-Yes? What is it?”
“Do you worship any particular god?” (Makoto)
“We have no unified belief. Some tribes worship Typhon, the Serpent God, or Nya, the Moon Goddess… Is your question meant to imply that you command us to worship the Old Goddess Noah-sama whom you serve?”
Oh, fast.
She saw right through me.
But she seems to think I intend to force worship on them.
Our Goddess’s policy is freedom, though…
(Ugh, this ‘Dragon King’ title is way too strong.) (Makoto)
Forcing faith is no good.
Belief should be free.
“No, never mind. Forget I asked. More importantly, Sakurai-kun and I have other companions with us; would it be okay to call them over? Quite a few of them knew your daughter in the previous world.” (Makoto)
“Eh!? Really!? Who who!?” (Inoue)
Inoue-san reacted immediately, apparently listening to our conversation.
“Sa-sa— Sasaki Aya, and Fujiwara Michio, for example.” (Makoto)
“Wah! Aya-chan! So nostalgic! I wanna see her! Mother! May we invite them to the castle?” (Inoue)
“Right now!? …If they are the Dragon King-sama’s companions, I cannot refuse.”
“It’s also fine if we return later. We can pick a better time.” (Makoto)
Right now the entire Arctic Continent’s demons and monsters were visiting to celebrate the new queen.
“No! There’s no need for that! Someone! Prepare a reception!”
The Ice Queen gave her orders.
Women with pale-blue skin wearing white maid-like outfits began bustling around.
Well… I feel a little bad, but since preparations have already begun, I’ll accept the hospitality.
“Then, I should be going. Takatsuki Makoto-sama, it was an honor to meet you.” (Focalor)
The Northern Ancient Dragon, Focalor-san, who had been quietly standing there, returned from human form to dragon form.
He no longer wore the storm he had earlier.
Looks like he can turn it on and off.
“Focalor-san, thank you for everything.” (Makoto)
“Not at all. I live with my clan in the hidden village atop Glacial Peak, at the edge of the Arctic Continent. If you ever take interest, I will guide you anytime. Well then.” (Focalor)
The ancient northern dragon Focalor beat his great wings elegantly and disappeared into the sky.
I watched until he was completely gone.
“Well then, I’ll go call everyone.” (Makoto)
I said, returning to the airship.
Sakurai-kun was still completely held captive by Inoue-san, so I left him there.
◇◇
“Ruka-chan!” (Aya)
“Aya-chan!” (Inoue)
Sa-san and Inoue-san happily hugged as they reunited.
Sa-san sure has a lot of close friends.
The place was a large guest room in the White Crystal Castle.
I was worried it might be an icy room, but it was a normal one.
“Fujiwara-kun! Long time no see!” (Inoue)
“Inoue-dono, it has been too long! To think that you reincarnated as the daughter of Her Majesty the Ice Queen!” (Fuji)
“Yeah! I could never meet any acquaintances since no info ever comes from the Arctic Continent. I’m sooo happy to see everyone today☆” (Inoue)
Inoue-san was cheerful.
A complete extrovert.
“Long time no see, Ruka.”
“Ah! Saki! Long time no see!” (Inoue)
Yokoyama-san and Inoue-san exchanged greetings.
Well, they were classmates, so of course they knew each other.
A perfectly normal greeting on the surface…
(…Sakurai-kun looks troubled.) (Makoto)
Because Inoue-san still had her arm firmly locked around his.
She let go briefly when hugging Sa-san, but immediately returned to her position beside him.
She wasn’t hiding her affection for him at all.
But right now, Yokoyama-san is Sakurai-kun’s wife.
And he has many other wives in the Sun Country.
(…Looks like Sakurai-kun hasn’t explained any of that to her.) (Makoto)
Inoue-san doesn’t seem familiar with the West Continent culture -or this world’s culture at all- so explaining it will be tough.
I mean, you can’t suddenly say “By the way, I have a bunch of wives” without being asked.
I wondered how they’d handle this, watching the Sakurai and Yokoyama couple…
“By the way, Ryousuke, are you staying here tonight too? I hope we weren’t barging in too suddenly.” (Saki)
Yokoyama-san said, touching her finger to her lips.
On her ring finger, a large magic stone glittered.
“Oh? Saki’s ring…” (Inoue)
As expected, Inoue-san noticed it.
She is good at guiding the topic.
Yokoyama-san smiled gently.
“Oh, this? My engagement ring with Ryousuke.” (Saki)
“……………………Eh?”
As expected, Inoue-san froze.
Her neck creaked as she turned toward Sakurai-kun.
“Ryousuke-kun…you’re engaged to Saki?” (Inoue)
“U-Uh, well, that’s…” (Sakurai)
“You see~, Sakurai-kun is the husband of the Queen of the Sun Country, Highland~. He has lots of wives, and Saki-chan is one of them~” (Aya)
Sa-san smoothly cut in and explained.
She conveyed what would have been hard for Sakurai-kun or Yokoyama-san to say.
As expected of someone with great communication skills.
“……………………Huh? Eh? W-Wives… Lots…?” (Inoue)
Naturally, Inoue-san couldn’t keep up.
Her eyes were spinning.
“It’s a shocking story, but there are many cultural circumstances in this world. It will be a long explanation, so shall we first tell Inoue-dono about western continent culture and our journey so far? Since we were even given a place for this.” (Fuji)
Fuji-yan must have used his mind reading skill.
He stepped in to support smoothly.
Meanwhile, the Ice Queen’s attendants were bringing in drinks and food.
Not everything was cold, there were hot dishes like soups and roasts too.
The alcohol mostly seemed like strong spirits common in cold countries.
“Then, let us toast to our reunion with Inoue-dono.” (Fuji)
Fuji-yan declared.
“““““Cheers!!”””””
A reunion feast -along with a crash course for Inoue-san on this world- began.
◇◇
“Haaah… Inoue-san has it rough too.”
After hearing stories from Sa-san, Fuji-yan, Sakurai-kun, and Yokoyama-san about their time in the West Continent, she was pretty shocked.
She even teared up listening to Sa-san’s Laberintos story. She must be a good person at heart.
At first she seemed taken aback by the “many wives” revelation, but after hearing about Sakurai-kun being treated as the reincarnated Savior, being pushed into that role, and facing life-threatening danger many times, she looked much more serious.
From the looks of it, she genuinely congratulated Sakurai-kun and Yokoyama-san on their engagement, so no carnage incident happened.
Even now, in the guest room, the reincarnated group was enthusiastically talking around Inoue-san.
Lucy, Nina-san, Janet-san, and the native members seemed a bit bored.
Still, getting close with Inoue Ruka -the daughter of the Ice Queen- was important for our exploration of the Arctic Continent.
As for me, the high social ability folks were keeping Inoue-san busy, so I slipped out of the room.
I didn’t have a deep connection with Inoue-san back in high school, and we didn’t have any shared stories.
So, since I came all the way to the Arctic Continent, I thought I’d explore this legendary Demon Lord’s Castle…
“Takatsuki Makoto-sama.”
Someone called my name.
The one who appeared gracefully was the master of this castle, the Ice Queen.
(Did she notice I was about to explore the castle?) (Makoto)
I wasn’t planning to rummage through rooms or anything, but maybe it was still bad…
“Um…is something wrong?” (Makoto)
I replied with an awkward smile.
The Ice Queen’s deep-blue eyes pierced straight into me.
“…………”
No response.
She looked like she wanted to say something.
Huh?
Was there something I did to upset her?
“Did something happen?” (Makoto)
When I asked, the Ice Queen spoke as if making up her mind.
“We, the demons of the Arctic Continent…shall be the believers of the Goddess of Freedom and Beauty, Noah-sama.”
…We got a whole ton of new believers.
■Comments Response:
>There’s so many dangerous people who were transferred!
>Even though Makoto had elementary water magic.
-She would be at the top 3 when it comes to the most dangerous otherworlders, excluding Sakurai-kun.
Sasaki Aya: the Lamia Queen with broken skills.
Sashiogi Sumire: A Fire Demigod, Ifrit.
Inoue Ruka: Daughter of a Demon Lord.
And so, she would totally be able to become a heroine with her background, but her appearance was way too late.
■Author’s Comment:
I wanted to see an illustration of the Ice Queen.
I wanted her to show up in the main story.
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