by CHIROLU
“The people of the temple seem to have grown vaguely aware of the Platinum Princess’s presence...”
“Well... I suppose it is about time that things would turn out that way.”
Latina had been doing nothing but sleep away in the villa, but lately she had recovered quite a bit, and was now taking strolls about the temple. Her existence and lineage were not known to the majority of those serving in the temple. However, just from looking at Latina, it was obvious at a even just a glance that she had some sort of relation to the current king, Chrysos. The platinum hair that came from their father was rare even in Vassilios, and the two resembled one another so greatly that it was impossible to explain otherwise. Furthermore, their mana wave forms, which devils could naturally see, were nearly identical.
No one would ever imagine that they were entirely unrelated.
Furthermore, just to be sure, Chrysos had gifted her sister with an extravagant, finely crafted headdress, proof of her favor. Latina’s social status was thus rather firmly secured.
“It is becoming common knowledge amongst those of the temple... that in addition to the Platinum Princess and her hero sharing a bed... that they are doing other utterly baseless things.”
Chrysos’s expression grew bitter in response to her subordinate’s words.
Devils were a race with a matriarchal society, and did not have a custom of men and women getting married and living together. And so, the norm was for men to visit women in their home and ask to try for a child together.
Thanks to the unique circumstances they faced, Chrysos and Latina’s parents were much closer than a usual devil “husband and wife.” Latina had only ever seen her parents in terms of devil couples, and then grew up in a nation of humans, which had a different set of values, but she didn’t realize what sort of effect that had on her impression of such matters.
Chrysos also hesitated to give frank advice to her gentle, absent-minded sister. However, she then decided she could simply give blunt “advice” to the other party involved, an ominous conclusion that hid within it an aloofness that was just like that of her sister.
“Restrain yourself at least a little, you deplorable hero, you,” Chrysos said, disparaging Dale after having invited him into her office.
“You really do treat me terribly.”
“You tried to kill me. For what reason must I treat you in a friendly manner?”
“Well, I guess you’ve got me there...” Dale responded, a strained smile on his face as he didn’t hesitate in the least to take a seat in a nearby chair.
Despite how much they bad mouthed one another, the two of them actually didn’t get along that poorly. Chrysos’s thoughts and sense of values were actually closer to those of Dale than those of Latina, who she was nearly identical to in terms of appearance. And on top of that, the person they cared the most about was the same. Furthermore, they were of the same opinion that they couldn’t ever let the kind-hearted Latina ever see them enjoying plotting away.
Chrysos had asked Latina to be their restraints, but the girl may have in actuality held a bigger role in maintaining world peace than she thought.
“Since you have been staying by Platina’s side around the clock, news of your relationship has more or less spread throughout the temple. You can imagine how that must seem to those who are unaware that Platina is currently being treated, yes?”
Seeing Chrysos’s anger, Dale tried to speculate on what was going on. With that said, though, Dale could only understand enough of the devil language to handle short sentences. He could hardly pick up anything from the conversations of the fluent speakers around him. And furthermore, perhaps because of their high level of professionalism, the ladies-in-waiting hardly ever talked amongst themselves when before him and Latina. He had hardly heard anything at all when it came to the “assessment of the people around them.”
However, he was still able to hazard a guess, pulling together the information he had heard. When combined with the question Chrysos had asked, he more or less felt he had found the answer, and voiced it to confirm.
“The devil custom is for the man to visit the woman at her home, yeah...? So people think that I’m not just visiting, but slipping in for a bit of action?” He was likely able to speak so crudely before a young woman because of the ill influence of having been around similarly behaved geezers in the bar since he was a youngster himself. Not to mention, since Latina had been raised while exposed to far more dirty jokes and discussions from such middle-aged men than Chrysos, she had a much greater tolerance for such indelicate statements.
Dale didn’t even realize that Chrysos’s gaze grew more and more suspicious of him, truly living up to his reputation as a deplorable hero.
“I do not care how shameless others may think you are, but I will not accept Platina’s virtue being questioned.”
“Ah... So that’s why you told me to ‘restrain myself’?”
“The great majority currently have that impression. And I have no intention of explaining the situation in detail.”
Regardless of what the truth may be, from an objective point of view, it was just no good. That was the reason behind Chrysos’s expression and words, but after thinking for a bit, Dale said without any hesitation, “But still, it’s not like that’ll really disadvantage Latina, right?”
“What?”
“I mean... Does Vassilios have things like political marriages meant to form relationships through the relatives of those in power?”
“It is exceptionally rare for any to be born as close as Platina and myself were... but I cannot deny such a thing as possible.”
“Then me being openly at Latina’s side will serve to ward off anyone stupid enough to think of trying such a thing, right? I mean, there’s no guarantee that some idiot won’t show up and try to pressure Latina into it. There would be plenty of them crawling out of the woodworks, thinking the spoils would go to whoever manages to carry it out and viewing it as a chance to elevate their status.”
“Hrmm...”
Chrysos had been rendered silent, having completely lost the argument. Indeed, she couldn’t completely refute his claims. Being a woman herself, Chrysos had heard such stories in the past from her mother, who bore great responsibility in the temple.
However, that didn’t mean she was completely satisfied on the matter.
“Platina is still not fully recovered. You must never, ever have her push herself.”
“It really is a strange feeling, being told stuff like that by someone with the exact same face as Latina...”
Chrysos had added that for emphasis, but Dale’s response irritated her. Just whose fault did he think it was that she had to give such ridiculous advice?
“I already said it, but I’ve been restraining myself properly. And of course I’d never have Latina push herself.”
Even so, Chrysos knew that this man put Latina above all else, just as she did.
As such, Chrysos buried the hatchet without ever having truly lifted it to start with.
And then, the next day...
Holding her scepter in place of that hatchet, Chrysos left her office walking in long strides.
According to the lady-in-waiting’s report, Latina was completely exhausted and unable to even get up from bed. From the way that the woman’s gaze wandered about while she was reporting in, Chrysos was able to guess just what sort of thing had occurred to bring about such a result.
After she had warned him just yesterday, things had ended up as such today. Realizing she had underestimated just how deplorable that “deplorable hero” was, Chrysos could almost hear the sound of her own patience snapping.
Sensing Chrysos’s rapid approach towards the villa, Dale came out of it. Perhaps having some self awareness, Dale made a somewhat awkward face as he looked at Chrysos.
Dale did have an excuse. He really had restrained himself. That was absolutely, definitely the truth. However, something had occurred to send that self-restraint flying.
&nbs
p; Dale and Chrysos had frequently been meeting up and talking without her around, and they would never tell her what they discussed. That was because they were primarily the sort of twisted, deplorable conversation that they could never tell her about. But Latina didn’t know that, and had apparently gotten jealous. Reaching a rather ridiculous conclusion that was, nonetheless, just like her, she had asked, “Does Chrysos... have feelings for you...?” Having had the girl he loved so dearly ask him about his relationship with his sister-in-law with an utterly serious look on her face, Dale couldn’t help but find himself at a loss for words.
Latina had more jealousy and a desire to keep Dale all to herself than most, so when she saw that Dale and her twin sister were getting along extremely well, she couldn’t stop herself from worrying and feeling concerned about what was going on between them. She didn’t want to share Dale with anyone, even if that person was Chrysos. However, she also didn’t want her relationship with Chrysos to deteriorate, either. Dale and Chrysos were both precious to her, so the situation unnerved Latina greatly.
Meanwhile, though Dale had been left dumbfounded initially, he was aware that Latina had a bad habit of getting caught up in her own negative thoughts. Even so, he did feel a little irritated, being suspected of infidelity that he never even committed. Naturally, he found no amusement in the situation.
However, seeing Latina so clearly jealous wasn’t so bad. She was displaying such emotions precisely because she cared for him so deeply. Dale was able to immediately turn his mindset around because he was an incredibly positive thinker when it came to Latina, and his thoughts shifted to how he could clear away her unease.
He ended up taking action, self-restraint be damned.
All of that was what Dale asserted, at least, but the whole of his reasoning had been that Latina had been even more adorable than even he had expected.
“Umm... We did it, I guess?” Dale said with an awkward smile. In response, Chrysos landed a blow with her scepter, without even the slightest hint of hesitation. Dale moved to dodge in an instant, only to hear the sound of it rushing by right next to his ear. It didn’t end with just that one blow or another, instead turning into an all-out onslaught of consecutive strikes from Chrysos’s scepter.
“Gah...! That was close...! You’re seriously trying to hit me, aren’t you?!”
Paying no heed to Dale’s angry shout, Chrysos readjusted her grip on her scepter and took another full swing with it. There was no wavering in the movement of her torso, so if Dale hadn’t dodged, it would have surely been a direct hit.
With a sneer of “Hmph,” Chrysos puffed up her slight chest in a somehow pompous manner.
“You would not possibly perish from even countless blows from these slender arms of mine.”
“Hahaha! That’s true! I may not even get hurt! But even so, I’ve got a sense of pain, and it sure would smart if you landed one of those!” Dale yelled back, facing off with the girl grasping her scepter as they both looked for an opening. However, as if growing impatient, Chrysos soon brandished her weapon.
“And hey! A royal scepter isn’t the sort of thing you should be treating as a mace!”
“This is the item I am most used to holding!”
Dale ducked down, and the metallic scepter flew by over his head. The ornamentation on the scepter gave off an elegant swish, unfitting to this scene.
There was a bridge in front of the villa crossing the spring surrounding it. It was a beautiful place, but now it had become the stage of a one-on-one duel between a hero and demon lord. There was a great gap between the image those words implied and the reality of the situation, but the words absolutely were accurate, only adding to the confusion and disappointment.
“Even though Platina is in the midst of recovering...! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Huh...?! Well, you know...” Dale said, his cheeks a little flushed. Apparently he was still feeling a little self-conscious about the subject.
“Even someone like myself, who is not fluent in Western Continental, can see that you are not reflecting on your actions!” Chrysos said, raising her voice and continuing on with her assault. Chrysos was an expert when it came to magic, but she was a complete and utter amateur in terms of physical combat. It was incredibly easy for Dale to dodge her attacks. With that said, though, he wasn’t able to get rough with Chrysos, and that feeling was only strengthened by the realization that he was at fault.
“I’m telling you, Latina was just too cute, so there was no helping it!”
“Do not lay the blame on Platina!”
Hearing them shouting at one another, Latina tottered to the entrance of the villa, her face beet red as she looked at them. She had apparently surpassed the limits of what she could endure.
“This is embarrassing, so cut it out already...!” she said in a voice that was frail, but also clearly conveyed her assertion.
“Both of you, Dale, Chrysos... you really need to just—”
“Latina, you’re up?!”
“Waaaah!”
Latina wasn’t able to get out the entirety of her assertion. Dale had quickly dodged, then hugged her and rubbed his cheeks up against hers.
“You damned deplorable hero...!”
By using her beloved sister as a shield, he had sealed off any further attacks from Chrysos. The demon lord ground her teeth at his cowardly tactics.
The hero in question had no intention of using her as a shield, but as the demon lord squirmed, struggling to break free of his grasp, he whispered into her ear in a sweet voice, as if continuing on with his intimate words from last night, “You really are cute, Latina...”
“Dale, Chrysos is right there...”
“Hmm... I don’t really mind...”
“You should!” Latina yelled out, her face bright red as she pushed off him desperately with her legs. Dale’s actions really made one want to ask if he really knew the meaning of the term “self-restraint.” Her bashfulness was an extremely natural reaction.
Having seen that sickeningly over-sweet sight, Chrysos was left displaying an empty stare. Her brain had simply frozen up.
And so, half-reflexively, Chrysos muttered something that would cause even her to wonder, when she later returned to her senses, what she had been thinking: “...Are you intending to embrace Platina to death...?”
Latina was the one to react to those words. After leaping up in surprise, she started struggling far more violently to escape. By their nature, there were very few things that could threaten the life of a demon lord. Though lower-ranking, they were gods, and were protected by the rules of the world. The only thing that could overturn that was the power of those known as heroes. Understanding what that meant, Latina was struggling in a panic. Not noticing the doubtful expression on Dale’s face, she let slip, “I don’t...!”
“You don’t...?” Dale asked back, then before she could even think it through Latina shouted out, “I don’t want to die from sex...!”
“That sure is an awful remark to make.”
“It would be an unprecedented cause of death for a demon lord, but I cannot say that such a thing would be impossible,” Chrysos said with a scornful, disgusted look, immediately agreeing with Latina. Dale chose to ignore that matter, though.
“I mean, Dale... you’re a hero, right?!”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’ll crush me... My body won’t—”
“If you’re going to be that unreasonable, then you’ll need to be punished.”
Latina looked like a young child, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Dale wrinkled his brows a bit, gave a sigh, and then picked her up. Latina braced herself, but that was hardly enough to resist this hero, who was so out of the ordinary.
“I won’t kill you like that, and I’ll be sure to do it right, so let’s go over that way and talk things over properly.”
“Chrysos... Chrysos, save me...!”
Chrysos very much wanted to respond to her sister’s call for
help, but she didn’t have it in her to charge into someone else’s sleeping quarters. Furthermore, she couldn’t think of any way to possibly stop that deplorable hero. Her thoughts had crawled to a stop and she was left exhausted, as if all energy had been drained from her body.
“Right... I wish you luck in battle, Platina.”
“‘Luck in battle’? That’s not—!”
Leaving those words behind, Latina was carried into the depths of the villa.
Having seen her sister off, Chrysos’s expression looked utterly devoid of energy as her shoulders drooped and she gave a sigh. She was tempted by the desire to throw her scepter aside in frustration, but she somehow restrained herself.
It was an extremely difficult question for Chrysos, whether or not she was fond of Dale as a person. It wasn’t as though she hated him. If she did, she wouldn’t ever have private conversations with him, nor would she permit him to use her name. In fact, she valued Dale highly enough that she was willing to entrust him with her sister, her other half who was more precious to her than anyone else.
She was also grateful to him for killing the Second Demon Lord, that especially hated enemy even amongst the Demon Lords of Calamity, who was the reason they had lost their parents.
But on the other hand, Chrysos had seen how truly deplorable Dale could be. Rather, she hadn’t ever really seen him be any other way. Ever since he got Latina back, Dale had been completely and utterly deplorable the whole time he had been in Vassilios. There wasn’t a trace of the sort of cool, charming protagonist exalted in a heroic epic.
As a young maiden, there was nothing Chrysos could say favorably about him, no matter what bizarre circumstances might come about.
While thinking the incredibly rude thought about her sister’s beloved of, Well, they say love is blind, Chrysos trudged back to her office. No one was around to point out how strange her attempt to rest and refresh herself by returning to work was.
As a result, Chrysos came to regard Dale as part of the reason for Latina’s treatment being prolonged.
3: Prequel: The Platinum-haired Guru and the Purple-haired Lady Oracle
